Encounters

by Dai Kirai

Sleeping Dogs

It was a brisk winter day in Ponyville, and the streets were still clean. The first snow of the season had been scheduled for the next week. It was relatively quiet with only the sounds of other ponies milling about and talking. The birds had already headed south and the rest of the animals had finished their winter preparations and were currently hibernating. School had just gotten out and all the little fillies and colts were running home or off with each other to play; except for Diamond Tiara, who was happily trotting to an abandoned building on the outskirts of Ponyville. Diamond Tiara was a pale pink earth pony filly with a white and plum stripped mane and light blue eyes. She had a diamond tiara on her head and a matching cutie mark on her hip. She had no idea why it was abandoned, just that it was. She thought it had something to do with laying lines, but didn’t really care since that was stuff for unicorns not earth ponies like herself.

She had found a mysterious book on her doorstep that morning while leaving for school. It was a big black book and it was engraved with a weird star shape within a circle on it. The star looked like it was a five pointed star with another five pointed star as one of its legs. The book itself seemed extremely old and was bound in actual leather. Nopony used leather since it was considered barbaric to use the skin of another pony just to cover a book. She quickly put it in her saddlebags and headed off for school. She would look at it at later at school. Somepony had left the book there for her to find, she was always the first to leave in the mornings and something about the book just called out to her, urging her to read it.

During her recess Diamond Tiara found a bench on the playground and put her bags on the ground next to it. She climbed up onto the bench, setting the book beside her so she could look it over. It was old with the pages looking cracked and yellowed. The pages smelled musty and she could barely make out the words because it was in such an old dialect of Equestrian. Looking through the book and at the pictures and descriptions of each creature, she realized it was a guide for summoning demons. She went through the rest of the pages to find the scariest looking one she could from what they looked like, but not one that was truly disgusting like that one on the last page she looked at. The creature had a body shaped like a cone, the head of a lizard that contained really sharp teeth and a head of tentacles. That thing wasn’t nearly scary enough and only turned her stomach. She wanted revenge against the Cutie Mark Crusaders for their continued humiliation of her. She still hadn’t gotten over how she was ignored at her own cuteceniera because of them, or being forced to wear that stupid bunny suit, or nearly getting fired from the newspaper. With a demon, even if it didn’t respond to her, it could at least scare them into not messing with her again; and she could plant the book in their clubhouse afterwards.

Summoning a demon was probably safer than some of the other things the CMC, as they liked to be called, had attempted in trying to get their cutie marks. Looking at the instructions she came upon her first problem: she needed the help of a unicorn. The unicorn didn’t have to know how to cast magic; they just needed the basic ability to use it. Additionally, the spell required a blood red gem as the focal point and also did the actual work of pulling out the magical energy and forming it into the proper patterns. The book stated that the gem had to be flawless and that the unicorn using the gem would be at risk of death due to the spell having the ability to pull out all of their magical energy; as well as use their life as an added source of power in case the unicorn didn’t have access to enough magic so that the spell could still be performed. She read a little more and the book stated that the only risk was to the unicorn casting and to make sure they had a proper magical foundation to avoid the risk of death. After going through a few more pages she found just the right demon. Now she thought I just need to find a unicorn that I can get to perform the spell. After thinking for a few minutes Diamond Tiara knew just the pony to look for.

After putting the book back into her saddle bags and putting the bag onto her back she sets out to look for the needed unicorn. She eventually found the blonde-maned, pale orchid-hued unicorn with dark golden eyes out in the playground with a small red ball. “Hey Dinky, I need your help on a project after school.” Diamond Tiara called out to her as she trotted over to the other filly with a saccharine sweet smile on her face.

The unicorn looked up at the approaching earth pony worriedly. “But I have to wait here for my sister to pick me up after class.” Dinky replied nervously. Her sister, Sparkler, wouldn’t be happy if Dinky made her wait around. Diamond Tiara was never nice to her, not unless she wanted something; and if Diamond Tiara wanted something it normally turned out bad for other ponies.

Diamond Tiara could tell Dinky was suspicious of her. ”But just think, this may give you your cutie mark, and we can tell Cheerilee where we are going and she can tell your sister.” She assured.

Dinky thought for a moment, this could get her into a lot of trouble. She hesitantly shook her head and replied, “I still don’t think I should go with you.” She was worried; she had never stood up to the bully before. As the bully walked closer and closer Dinky started to back up from her, but the pink earth pony could see the uncertainty in the young filly’s eyes and the weakness they showed.

Diamond Tiara was running out of patience, she stomped forward and slammed her hoof down on the ground. “Listen here: you will help me with this project, which will take less than thirty minutes, or I will make sure you never enjoy another recess ever again.” Diamond Tiara threatened. She was more than willing to do whatever it took to get Dinky to either help, or regret it for the rest of her life. Dinky knew all too well that it was not an empty threat. After a few minutes of being stared down by the more aggressive pony, Dinky agreed to help Diamond Tiara with her ‘project’. It was the only way Dinky saw to avoid the ire of the pink earth pony. Diamond Tiara smiled at Dinky then gave her some bits and proceeded to give Dinky her instructions on her part of the assignment.

“First, use those bits and buy the largest red gem they have at the jewelry store or stop by Carousel Boutique-” she shuddered at the thought of that garish building “-if the jewelry store doesn’t have a big one.” She looked to make sure that Dinky paid attention and continued with her instructions. “Remember, no imperfections! This won’t work if the gem isn’t perfect. Second, after you get the gem, you will bring it to the old abandoned house on the opposite end of town.” Dinky started to ask a question but was cut off before she could finish the first word. “And if you have any questions I will answer them there.”

“Alright, it’s time to come back inside my little ponies. Recess is over and we need to finish up this lesson so you can all go home for the day.” She could hear their schoolteacher enthusiastically say from inside the cherry red schoolhouse. Diamond Tiara happily watched as the tiny unicorn ran back to the schoolhouse with all the other ponies.

Diamond Tiara entered the darkened house confidently; she was excited and couldn’t wait to get started. There was dust covering every surface of the house’s interior from the wooden floor, to the counter and cabinets. Dust even covered the moldy yellow curtains that were covering the windows. The walls were bare plaster and the exposed beams on the ceiling were beyond dirty. Normally, she would have done something like this at her own house, but if something went wrong with the spell or the demon arriving, she didn’t want it to damage her nice home or for this to come back on her. Besides, a little dust wouldn’t hurt the spell. She set the book down in the middle of the floor, wanting lots of space for the demon to arrive in. She then put some candles she had brought with her around the room to provide illumination so she could read the book without having to open up or even touch the curtains. Now all she had to do was to wait for the pathetic little unicorn to come with the gem so they could get started.

Diamond Tiara didn’t have to wait long as she heard a knocking on the front door. Her hooves clopped on the wooden floors as she made her way over to the door. She opened it up knowing the only pony that would come here, let alone knock, would be her unwitting accomplice.

“Get in here! You didn’t have to knock, it’s only us two.” Diamond Tiara stated tersely. “Did you bring the gem?” She asked as the unicorn walked into the room to join her.

Dinky pulled the gem out of her saddle bags but chose not to say anything, just wanting to get this over with so she could go home. “Good.” Diamond Tiara said, pleased that it looked perfect. “Now sit down on this side of the book next to me and hold the gem up to your horn. Just focus on the gem and the spell will do all the work for you.” She assured Dinky who still looked nervous but was making no move to leave or rat her out. They moved over to sit in front of the book with their backs to the door. Diamond Tiara could hardly hold in her excitement any longer. This was it, she thought the moment she would get her revenge on those three blank flanks and anyone else that had sided with them over her. Dinky held the gem up to her horn using her hoof since she still couldn’t use her magic yet. She screwed her eyes shut in concentration while Diamond Tiara began to recite the incantation.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" the pink earth pony read from the inscription inside of the book. The words echoed around the house after she recited them. Diamond Tiara jumped as the sound of the echoes came back to her from nowhere. She looked over at Dinky, who was practically crying with the gem still touching her horn. But, the book instructed her to keep reciting the passage until “it” appeared and she was too close to stop now. So what if a little blank flank is scared? The pink pony pondered. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" She recited again. Diamond Tiara could feel the magic going from Dinky and into the gem. The gem started glowing from the inside and the light started to dim in the house even though the curtains over the windows had holes in them and the candles were still burning. Diamond Tiara suddenly heard Dinky next to her, whimpering and wanting to stop saying that she was scared and that it was making her feel funny. But Diamond Tiara was almost there, and she wouldn’t stop now just because the pansy was scared and wanted to go home. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" Diamond Tiara chanted once more. This time she stoped to look at the gem. She’s shocked the magic pulsing out of the gem was palpable and dark. It seemed to absorb all light that came near it. Diamond Tiara tried to run; this was too much for her, but her hooves wouldn’t move from their spot on the floor. She tried again and again, but each time her legs wouldn’t respond to her. She saw out of the corner of her eye the gem started to spark and sputter against Dinky’s horn, but the unicorn was unconscious and the gem held itself in position against Dinky’s horn. She never even heard the other filly cry out for help or from pain. She failed to notice; however, the aura around Dinky’s horn. Normally when a unicorn is casting magic, a translucent aura covered their horn in a color similar to their coat color. The aura around Dinky’s horn though was blood red and pulsing.

A white circle started to appear in front of Diamond Tiara, slowly at first. She didn’t even know when it had first appeared, but it was currently two feet across. The circle was completely flat and levitated itself vertically off the ground and gave off a faint glow. Every one of her senses told her to run anywhere so long as it wasn’t here, but her body wouldn’t respond to her. She couldn’t even scream out in terror, she couldn’t even get her tongue to move in her mouth. Her body started to shake as a low rumble began to resonate from the floating circle in front of her. She couldn’t help but to wonder if it was a void, a thing of pure emptiness or malevolence since everything about the circle just felt wrong to her.

Out of the corner of her eye Diamond Tiara could see a crack that was running down the side of the gem. There was a small imperfection in the gem that all eyes had missed. She didn’t know if this was a good or a bad thing. She started to hope that it would cause the spell to stop, she really wanted it to stop now. She noticed the crack in the gem just as a giant green claw started to stick out of the void. She tried to close her eyes, she didn’t want to see this creature anymore, and she just wanted it all too just stop. To her horror she found that she couldn’t close her eyes and had to watch as the demon came forth into Equestria. She started to think that Dinky was lucky to be unconscious for this. Diamond Tiara finally realized why the book was bound in leather. She wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come and her voice wouldn’t respond to her body’s want to whimper and cry and scream for help. The gem suddenly started to spark at a faster rate, sending out stray bolts of magic in every direction. Each strike would put a burn mark on whatever they hit. Several missed her by scant inches.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" She heard reverberate once more around the room. This wasn’t coming from any echo though, it was coming from her. Somehow, and to her abject horror, the spell was now controlling her voice. The last thing she wanted anymore was to ever say or hear those words again. She started to silently cry, each one moved her body slightly, and after a second she couldn’t even managed that much.

A pale violet unicorn was trotting up to the bright red schoolhouse. Her violet and rosy brown mane and tail bounced as she hurried to the school. Her cutie mark was three diamonds, two atop another, forming a triangle. She was scanning the entire schoolyard with her bright purple eyes for her sister, Dinky, who she had forgotten she had to pick up from school today. When Sparkler couldn’t find her sister she went looking for the mauve colored teacher, hoping that Cheerilee would know where her sister was.

Normally, their mother would have picked Dinky up from school but she was busy today and had asked Sparkler to do it for her. Unfortunately, Sparkler had lost track of time working on her newest project and didn’t realize until school had already been out for thirty minutes. This new project was rather complicated; she had to make fireworks for the local party planner, Pinkie Pie. That was a major problem; figuring that with what had happened the last time she was determined to not have another pony get caught on fire this time due to the pink party pony’s irresponsibility. So her new fireworks had to be over-engineered and have the launchers unable to be adjusted from their launch angle and impossible for anypony other than a unicorn to light them.

“Crazy pony” she muttered under her breath.

Sparkler sighed at the thought of what was happening back home. Her mom was currently saying goodbye to her ‘coltfriend’. She had no clue what else to call him since they weren’t romantic with each other but they spent a lot of time together. They always had enough money but every once in a while her mother would disappear for months at a time. She had never actually talked with the brown stallion for more than five minutes at a time, but she would compare him to a slightly more controlled Pinkie Pie. But this time he was leaving her mother here, saying that he had to do something very important and dangerous and that she couldn’t come. But he had promised to bring her a present and that they could go on more adventures together.

“Can I help you, Sparkler?”

The violet pony was so lost in thought that when she heard the voice behind her she that she almost jumped, but instead just slowly turned around to see the schoolteacher looking at her. Sparkler smiled, at least she found one of the ponies she was looking for.

“Sorry” Sparkler replied, raising a hoof to the back of her neck. “Just got lost in thought for a minute.” She just hoped that Cheerilee couldn’t see how much she had been scared. “Anyway, I was just looking for my sister. Sorry I’m so late, but I forgot it was my turn to pick up Dinky today and I lost track of time,” She sheepishly grinned.

Cheerilee was a cerise colored pony with light grey cerise and light grey rose colored mane with three smiling flowers for a cutie mark adorning her flank. But at this Cheerilee tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Didn’t she tell you where she was going? She left here right after class with Diamond Tiara to work on a project this afternoon. Dinky said she would tell you where she was going.” The school teacher asked, the confusion came through in her voice. But Cheerilee just straightened her head back up and smiled. “Oh well, they said it wouldn’t take that long and that they would return here after they finished. You’re more than welcome to stay here until they get back.” She offered.

Oh no! Sparkler thought as her eyes widened in fear and thoughts ran through the back of her mind. “You let Dinky go somewhere, anywhere, with the school bully and thought nothing of it?!” Cheerilee was taken aback by the quick change in Sparkler’s attitude and the raise in her tone. She was more than willing to give anypony the benefit of the doubt, besides they both said they were working on a project. Surely if Dinky didn’t want to go she would have said something.

Before Cheerilee could give voice to any of her objections, Sparkler started asking her a question in a worried tone. “Quick! Which way did they go?!” The pyrotechnics pony started desperately looking around in every direction, hoping to see the two little fillies walking about town.

Cheerilee lifted a hoof and pointed towards the southern end of town. “I saw Diamond Tiara go off in that direction after class got out.” She was slightly worried and was hoping that Sparkler wouldn’t do anything rash. Despite common belief, Cheerilee thought Diamond Tiara wasn’t actually a bad pony. But she could tell from looking at Sparkler that she wouldn’t listen to anything the school teacher had to say and she didn’t know what would happen if she didn’t answer the question.

Before Cheerilee could even finish her sentence, Sparkler was galloping in the direction that Cheerilee had indicated as fast as her hooves could carry her. There were so many thoughts rushing through her head as she ran through town. What was that little brat doing to her sister? Why didn’t she remember to pick up her sister today? Why did that stupid stallion have to pick today of all days to leave for Celestia only knew where? What if something bad happens to my sister because I couldn’t be bothered to remember to pick her up from school today?! She started to panic and tried to run faster.

As she ran through the Ponyville market towards where Cheerilee had pointed she began to slow down. She wasn’t afraid of running anypony over; she had just noticed something odd. Complete silence. Everything was quiet. Her hooffalls made no sound, the wind blowing against her coat and through the trees were silent. She looked around only to see that the other ponies in the market had all stopped and were doing the same, they had noticed the quiet too. After a moment of looking around dumbly with everypony else, trying to figure out what was going on, she remembed her sister and started galloping again, redoubling her efforts to find the two fillies. This unnatural quiet unnerved her, felt unnatural. Whatever this dead silence was, it wasn’t good, and was in fact probably very bad. She started trying to think of where they could have gone to. If it was something dangerous and on this side of town, there was only one place it could be. That old abandoned house on the outskirts of town. Fillies and colts always went there if they thought they might get in trouble for trying something.

After making an immediate right down the nearest street, Sparkler spotted the suspected house a few blocks down from the intersection she was standing in. She took a second to catch her breath, happy, in just a few minutes she would get her sister back safe and sound. She picked up speed again and continued for the house, feeling so relieved that in a few minutes she could give her sister a big hug and apologize for being late and allowing this to happen. The bottom fell out of her stomach though as the house came fully into view. There were burn and scorch marks on the house and she felt a dark energy emanating from the abandoned dwelling. Before she could get any closer though, the violet unicorn saw a beam of light from inside rips the roof right off the house, incinerating it in the air. She had never seen such a display of power, and she needed to get in there to get her sister out.

After a few seconds of contemplating how to achieve this, the walls of the house were blown outwards by a huge ball of flame that consumed the entire house and singed anything within fifteen feet of the abandoned building. Smoke started to billow up out of what was left of the house. All Sparkler could do was sit there in shock, this had to be a nightmare. Yes! That’s it, it was a nightmare! That delusion didn’t last long as she could feel the dark energy that still emanated from the blast site. She slowly started to shake, trying not to cry. Her flank fell to the ground in utter shock as her rear legs failed to support her own weight any longer. She started to feel nothing, she didn’t want to feel anything. Somehow she knew that her sister was in that building when it was destroyed, that nopony could ever have survived it. But worst of all, she realized that it was all her fault.

Comments

[Fugly Duckling]

as soon as i knew that they were summoning cthulu i quit reading... nope not reading... nnnnope

[HighTreason25]

That wall o' text! GAH! MY EYES BURN!

[Timballisto]

2003053 Honestly, that's really not fair. I mean I've only just read the chapter and while evidence points to Cthulhu, I highly doubt that's the case. I mean the human tag, along with the fact that if Cthulu was actually summoned Equestria wouldn't last for more than a few more chapters, AND the fact that many strange things were going on such as the cracks in the gem lead me to believe that the spell will change and summon a human instead.

In other news excellent story so far, I shall continue reading.

[Vates Despero]

2091706 Technically 2003053 is right, they WERE summoning Cthulhu. Just not what they are going to end up with. Clearly the whole Cthulhu thing was never going to work out, you don't get Cthulhu without a Dark tag after all!

[the silver-maned pony]

Alright!
A friend recommended me this fic, so let's see what happens.
...
Okay, Diamond Tiara is out!
But Dinky...
...
disableme.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/2-oz-mushroom-top-salt-and-pepper-shaker-1dz.jpg
Let's see how salty this fic will make me.

[Draco Dei]

DT endangering Dinky's life is beyond her brand of evil, and if you give.any clues that it is the book corrupting her, they don't come early enough, I.E. BEFORE she even considers the idea it might be worth the risk.