Maledictum Insania 2: The BloodClaw Cult By Nero Darkard (aka. NeroTheDarklord)
Chapter 13: Old Acquaintances
With the cultists observing the public transportation and constantly patrolling around everywhere, the keepers of harmony had a very hard time traveling unseen. A lot of police ponies and reapers had to assist and create distractions for them to narrowly slip through each train station.
Compared to how fast and easy they could travel in the beginning of their investigation, this hiding and sneaking, using baggage waggons and illusion magic was a very nerve-racking and time consuming process. It took them days to get even close to Fillydelphia, since they constantly had to skip trains because they were filled with too many potential cultists. In these times, several reapers stationed along their way guarded them, showing them places to hide and wait. But luckily, rumor had it that the high priestess Black Widow had just as much trouble traveling as they did.
Finally, Twilight and her friends got information that a small group of ponies arrived in Fillydelphia, which went through a great amount of effort to ensure the pony they were escorting remained unseen. Apparently, not even the reapers could get close enough to the convoy without suddenly getting attacked by skin-walkers, which again instantly alarmed the group, causing them to change route and disappear into the shadows. This must have been Black Widow and her guardians, Twilight figured.
One day later, the keepers of harmony finally arrived in Fillydelphia. So far, things went smoothly. According to the reapers, the cult was still searching for them in Manehattan. It seemed like they were completely unaware of their journey, which meant a huge advantage when it came to infiltrating the BloodClaw church of Fillydelphia.
It was already very late when Crystal Blossom and Fluttershy guided the group through the darkest streets of the supposedly second most beautiful city of Equestria. Rarity, Applejack and Twilight were all very tired and drained from the journey. All they could think of now was finding a place to rest.
"I can hardly keep my eyes open... Now that we are here, where do we go?" Rarity whispered, very sleepy.
"Don't worry. I thought this through. We have a few friends here who are willing to take us in," Twilight whispered back.
"Friends... I don't remember knowing anyone living in... Oh... wait... you mean-" Fluttershy started.
"Yes. Mr. and Mrs. Cake," Twilight finished.
"So were're hangin' around with cannibals now. That's how low we've stooped already," Applejack commented in a very grim tone.
"Hush, AJ! The Cakes are trustworthy ponies!" Twilight protested quietly.
"Takin' the fact aside that they knew about Pinkie's hobby all along and let her turn mah lil' sis into one of them," the orange mare continued.
"They had no choice, Applejack. They were powerless to change anything. Try seeing it from their perspective: They had two little foals to protect," Crystal tried to reason.
"Ah don't care about their darn perspective," Applejack mumbled angrily.
Twilight sighed in frustration. There was no point in arguing with her friend. Her grief just consumed her too much. Right now, she was just depressed and angry at everypony for not being able to stop the elimination of her family.
After spending nearly the entire night sneaking between buildings and having to stop every now and then for prolonged periods because of ponies roaming through the dark, Twilight and her friends finally arrived at a large sweets shop titled 'The Honey Comb'. The lights were still burning inside, indicating to the group that the Cakes were waiting for them. The reapers quickly scanned the surroundings to make sure they would not be observed. Then, Twilight knocked at the backdoor. It opened nearly instantaneously.
"There you are... By Celestia, I hope you know what you are getting us into again," Carrot Cake spoke while waving them in.
"I'm so sorry for putting you into that kind of trouble, but I promise I will do whatever I can to make it worth it," Twilight replied while quickly entering, the rest of the group doing the same.
"You are not putting us into anything, deary..." Cup Cake whispered in the dark. "As a matter of fact, all that changes when you are here is that we get in even bigger risk to get busted."
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy wondered.
"Not here. Not now. I am not sure Pound and Pumpkin are truly asleep, yet. Let us go to the storage room first," Carrot Cake whispered.
"Hope ya don't have some kind of trap set up there to butcher us up," Applejack growled.
"Applejack! Seriously! Where are your manners?" Rarity spoke quietly.
The orange mare just puffed shortly in anger and turned her head away. The Cakes, though, just hung their heads, apparently in shame. Very unwillingly, Applejack followed them through the kitchen and into a chamber just big enough for all of them to fit inside. As soon as the door closed, Carrot Cake turned on a lamp attached to the ceiling. The room was filled with various ingredients, but all seemingly moved aside beforehand to make room for the group.
"I'm sorry we can't offer you anything better, but we don't have a guest room and you would be seen if you would settle down anywhere else," he apologized.
"We are used to this by now, so we will be fine," Twilight replied.
"Well, we really need to go to bed now. We have a long workday ahead of us. I know we are not quite in the position to make any requests, but... Please, please don't come out while the shop is open or our children are around," Cup Cake requested.
"That is pretty self-explanatory. Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake," the purple mare assured.
With these words, the Cakes retreated and the group tried its best to get comfortable in this very small room. Luckily, they were all far too tired to think about this situation much. As soon as they put down their saddle bags, Twilight, Applejack and Rarity laid down and fell asleep. Only Fluttershy and Crystal Blossom stood up to guard their hideout.
The next morning, the keepers of harmony had to wait inside the storage room for the Cake family to finish breakfast. By now, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake were both old enough to go to school. As soon as they went on their way, Twilight could hear the Cakes closing all windows and locking all doors. Then, they opened the storage room and made breakfast for the group.
"So, have you heard of an organization calling itself the BloodClaw Cult?" Twilight asked while eating.
"Much more than we would like to... They have been terrorizing this city for a while now," Cup Cake replied.
"Do not be worried. If we succeed, things will return to the way they were when you first arrived here," Crystal stated.
"Oh gosh. Please don't," Carrot Cake commented.
"Huh? Whatever do you mean? That almost sounds like you want the cult to stay!" Rarity wondered.
"Of course we don't! But I think you have no idea how things are around here! When we moved away from Ponyville three years ago, the cult was already here!" Cup Cake explained.
This line nearly made Twilight choke on the piece of pancake she was chewing. After coughing a few times heavily and drinking some juice, she turned her focus to the couple.
"What?! That can't be! The BloodClaw Cult doesn't even exist for that long, yet!" Twilight spoke, trying hard to suppress a shout of disbelief.
"They do, deary! Please, you have to believe us!" Cup Cake begged.
"Twilight. If the cult is truly that old, then it means it must have started growing almost directly after you stopped Nightmare Moon's prophecy. That would explain why it is so big already and has so much power," Crystal analyzed.
"Nightmare Moon's prophecy?" Cup Cake wondered.
"Sorry to keep you in the dark, but we will explain that some other time," Twilight started. "For now... What we really need is to know what you know about Fillydelphia. Please tell us everything you can."
Mr. and Mrs. Cake both sighed briefly. Then Carrot Cake began explaining.
"When we first arrived here, we thought it would be a brand new start. A place where nopony knows us and our... backstory... But soon after we opened our new sweets shop, we got swarmed by cannibals, wanting to make friends with us and giving us their condolence over the loss of our 'adoptive daughter'," he started in a very depressed tone.
"It turned out that Fillydelphia is full of cannibals who joined the BloodClaw Cult. The entire city is in their hooves. All we wanted to do is escape from this bloodshed and just live normal lives. But now, we walked right back into all the old problems. They instantly wanted to drag us back into the circles of pony-eaters. Right now, our family name is both our biggest disadvantage and the only thing that keeps us and our children alive," Cup Cake continued.
"It is so hard to hide all this from Pound and Pumpkin... We constantly have cannibal cultists come up here, wanting to make them gifts. Mostly food containing pony flesh... For Honeybun and I, it is a dance on a knife's edge. We just can't afford to displease the cult, its invitations and gifts. But if we eat just one tiny bit of meat, we will relapse," Carrot Cake finished.
"How do you manage to go by?" Fluttershy wanted to know.
"Well, the only positive thing we learned from living with Pinkamena Diane Pie is how to express ourselves. It is all about playing submissive supportive. I guess it is a role we will never get out of playing..." Cup Cake answered.
"But you do have good connections with the BloodClaw Cult, yes?" Twilight wondered.
"Sadly, yes... Among cannibals, the Cake and the Pie family are both legendary. They put a lot of trust in us and constantly advertise the cult. We keep saying that we are still being observed by Princess Celestia and that right now is a bad time to join them, but I don't know how much longer they will keep buying that... And now that the cult is everywhere, moving out of Fillydelphia is pointless, too. Something must happen very, very soon. Otherwise, they will force us to join them or we will get killed," Carrot Cake replied.
"So I take they told you were their church is?" Crystal wondered.
"Yes, but... Why in the name of Celestia would you want to go there, deary?" Cup Cake asked.
"As I said, we are here to take down the cult. We do have a plan, but we need access to the church here in Fillydelphia. I know, I am asking for a lot, but do you think you might be able to get us in there?" Twilight wondered.
"Oh my..." Carrot Cake spoke, starting to shake. "W-well... there might be a way... But it is very risky."
"A gap in their security, maybe?" Fluttershy asked.
"No. The BloodClaw church has guards all over it. There is absolutely no chance you can sneak in. The only way to get inside is by already being a trusted member of the cult," Cup Cake explained.
"Well, so much for our plans. Just great! Yeah! Why don't we all just walk up there and kindly ask them to let us in?" Applejack started mocking.
"They said there is a chance, AJ. Let's hear it first before we jump to any conclusions," Twilight responded.
"The cult knows that there are other living Cakes out there in Equestria, but they don't know how many. It is a huge risk, but if we introduce you as members of our family, you would instantly get a high level of reputation, respect and acceptance among the cult. All you would need to do is disguise yourselves," Carrot Cake explained.
"That sounds like it might work," Fluttershy commented.
"Not exactly," Crystal disagreed. "There is a big issue. Cannibals are known to be very distrusting and seeing everypony not confirmed as fellow-cannibal as potential prey. In order to get their trust and thus access to the Fillydelphia church, you would have to confirm your cannibalism by eating pony flesh right in front of their eyes. If you expect them to do that, you are asking for way too much."
"Yeah... I'm sorry, but... Just thinking about Pinkie's cupcakes makes me..." Twilight spoke, struggling with nausea.
"Actually, we have a solution for that, deary!" Cup Cake stated.
The earth pony mare went back to the storage room, pushing a few flour bags around to reveal a hidden barrel. Then, she moved it in the kitchen, right in front of the group and opened the lid. The sight of its content brought shock to the entire group and was reason enough for Fluttershy and Crystal Blossom to instantly summon their scythes and go into battle stance.
"Ah knew ya couldn't trust them! Ah told y'all!" Applejack shouted.
"So you have returned to your cannibal ways," Crystal commented.
"No! No! Stop! This is not what it looks like!" Carrot Cake spoke.
"What in Equestria are you trying to prove here?" Rarity wondered, still in shock. "This barrel is full of meat!"
"Its not meat! Please, you have to believe us! Reapers, please come and look at it yourself!" Cup Cake pleaded.
While most members of the group did not believe them and remained in battle stance, Crystal slowly lowered her scythe and ultimately allowed it to vanish.
"I will have a look at it. Apprentice: Please stay ready to strike in case they try something," she stated.
Fluttershy nodded shortly in confirmation. Then, the elder reaper mare stepped in front of the barrel and lifted a piece of meat out of it. But something really seemed to be strange about it, since she spent nearly a minute analyzing the piece before taking a bite out of it. After chewing and swallowing, she gave Fluttershy the signal to lower her scythe.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I have to congratulate you. This is bordering on ingenuity," she commented, causing the married couple to sigh in relief.
"What do you mean, Crystal?" Twilight wondered.
"This is definitely fake meat. The flavor and texture is next to identical, but I am absolutely sure it most likely is made of tofu," the light blue mare replied, then turned back to the couple. "How you managed to turn it into a next to perfect replication is beyond my understanding."
"As former cannibals, when you try to survive among cannibals, you have to use every trick available," Carrot Cake started. "I don't mean to brag, but we do have quite some skill when it comes to baking. It is thanks to these fake meats that the cult thinks we are still eating ponies and are therefore considers us trustworthy."
"This is brilliant! Okay then. I have a plan," Twilight started. "Rarity: I need you to make two exact imitations of the BloodClaw's robes. One for me, one for yourself. Applejack, Fluttershy and Crystal: You need to bring us supplies. We will need sewing material for the robes, a variety of dyes and makeup. Rarity and I will enter the church undercover as members of the Cake family who want to join the cult."
"Only two robes? You don't want Applejack to come with us?" Rarity wondered.
"Yes. I'm sorry, Applejack, but with your amputated front leg, you would stick out too much. Rarity's nose and scars can be covered, but that... I hope you understand," Twilight replied.
"Yeah... Sure I understand... Leave the useless crippled mare out of the danger 'cuz she might bust ya..." the orange mare mumbled.
"It's not like that, AJ. Its just-" Twilight tried to explain.
"Yeah, Ah get it. Just keep goin'..." Applejack spoke before Twilight could finish.
"Well... We will use the fake meat to confirm our cannibalism and gain access to the BloodClaw church. Then, we will just play along with the cultists and wait for Black Widow to show up. The moment we see an opportunity, we will try to lure her out of her cover. I will give the signal for Crystal and Fluttershy to strike and assassinate her," the purple mare finished.
"You make it sound so easy, darling. Do you really think this will work?" Rarity questioned.
"It has to work! There is not enough time to think of something more foolproof. Who knows how long she will stay in Fillydelphia! If she gets away, she will know that we are after her. I know the risks are high and there is a lot that can go horribly wrong, but this must succeed on first attempt! We won't get a second chance anytime soon!" Twilight stated.
"Very well, then. I will give it all I got! Even though I absolutely detest the idea of recreating something as tacky as their robes," Rarity agreed.
"Thank you very much. Also, thanks to you Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Don't worry. This will all be over soon," Twilight spoke.
"We sure hope so... Anyway, we better get going now. We still need to make a few purchases and our shop needs to open soon, right sugar plum?" Carrot Cake asked.
"Yes, we better... Good luck to you, dearies," Cup Cake spoke.
"Fluttershy and I will make sure we get the supplies anonymously and through a non-reaper. The last thing we can need right now is drawing unwanted attention," Crystal commented.
"Alright. Let us get through this very carefully. Everything has to be just right. See you later, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Twilight spoke.