//------------------------------// // A Curious Ritual ( Revised ) // Story: Call Of Cthulhu-Shy // by Forgetful //------------------------------// “Am I too late? Is she a centaur!?” Twilight galloped out of the thick tangled mess of the forest; her horn lit up with a warm glow. Pinkie had just finished setting up a small wooden table with refreshments after the ceremony, as she noticed the alicorn shift out of the abyss with an odd look of worry upon her face. The faint glow of the moon created a mood of the otherworldly upon the land. “You didn't bring guests?” Pinkie took a soft breath of uncertainty, placing cookies, juices and even sandwiches over the wooden surface. Part of her feared to face her friend, that she might see an angry mob of ponies gathered to halt the ceremony. Yet with a swift spin of the hoof she came to a delightful sight, Twilight stood alone in the darkness with a somber gaze. “I thought bringing guests, might be perceived as rude.” Twilight flashed a cute smile over her lips, Pinkie overjoyed bounced to her friend’s side. “I knew you'd come, Twilight!” Pinkie suddenly lifted her friend into a firm hug, giving quite a large squeeze afterwards. “I might not wholeheartedly agree, but it's by no means my choice.” Twilight softly nuzzled the pink mare on the cheek. Twilight let her gaze shift to Fluttershy across the open meadow, she noticed how happy this choice had made her friend. Discord busy etching odd symbols into the damp soil of the earth, both lovers cast in a bright light of true love. Twilight could feel the joyous warmth wash over her, Fluttershy’s happiness all that mattered at this moment. Though this sight in the middle of the night did fill her with some dread, those symbols not of this realm nor anything in equestrian history. She found them not only curious but emitting an aura of the unknown, as if the symbols were alive pulsing of mysterious energy. Shifting on the ground in a dance of chaos drawing in light from the cosmos, as if to open the door of this reality to something far darker. Even as Pinkie spoke of splendors of the future and merry memories of the past, Twilight could just hear her heart race ever faster within her chest. The world tilted on its side as the light of the sky seemed to dim, her eyes locked on Discord’s gaze as they shared a fleeting moment of silence. For a few seconds felt no less than a decade long, the cooling wind more of an icy touch of despair. Twilight felt herself dragged back into reality, a stern hoof adding pressure to her shoulder. “You came!” Fluttershy spoke in a sweet whisper, the stern touch simply a fleeting figment of Twilight's unease. “Of course, Fluttershy, I wouldn't miss anything important to my friends!” Twilight gave a forced smile with a genuine tone. Fluttershy arched her brow curiously yet could sense that Twilight meant well, it was her nature to be a pony of facts and answers. When faced with the unknown it opened a door to her more vulnerable state, one ruled by fear and driven by uncertainty. “I'm just happy to see you!” Fluttershy spoke with love in her tone, wrapping her friend in a tight embrace. Twilight nodded with a smile of joy, her hoof running through the mane of the pegasus. Each gazing deep into each other's eyes as Fluttershy felt her heart suddenly grow complete, without so much as a word, Twilight had given her friend the blessing she so desperately desired. Discord soon called for his special somepony from across the way, the inky black mass of the ground now glowing a bright ocean blue. The symbols were alive with the power of eternity, each pulse threatened to tear the universe asunder. Fluttershy placed a tender kiss upon Twilight's cheek, the alicorn could only watch as her friend fluttered away towards her destiny. The sky above formed into a vortex of blue energy and swirling clouds, the temperature of the area plummeting wildly to an icy chill. “So exciting, do you think she'll become a draconequus!?” Pinkie snorted with childlike enthusiasm, quickly pulling a large pink frosted cake out of seemingly nowhere. “Perhaps.” Twilight used her magic to easily float Pinkie’s party cannon off the wagon, placing it beside the impressive buffet of snacks the earth pony had created. “Or perhaps something else.” Twilight whispered under her breath in near silence, a large bolt of lightning struck across the sky as the wind gave a wicked howl. The trees towered over the alicorn casting a demonic shadow over the land of Equestria for a split second, almost as if in the shape of a massive behemoth not quite a pony but of a creature with sickening massive squirming tentacles. “Don't worry my dear, this should be quite relaxing as if drifting into a dream!” Discord leaned down kissing the top of Fluttershy's hoof tenderly. “So, do I just walk into the circle?” Fluttershy asked in awe of the moment, a large circle of odd symbols forming a type of opening on the ground. “Indeed, once inside just follow your instincts! You'll be guided to your destination!” Discord placed a claw firmly on the shoulder of the pegasus, giving it a tight reassuring squeeze. “Fluttershy!” Twilight yelled out in a voice of worry; she was quick to fly over to the symbols in the blink of an eye. “Twilight?” Fluttershy nervously spoke. “Be careful.” Twilight calmed her heart slowly, watching as her friend bravely entered the light. Fluttershy felt instantly lost in an endless void, everything around her ceased to exist as even the faintest of noises became lost to the eons. She was certain that she was no longer even on solid ground, the yellow pegasus floated in the abyss of absolute nothingness, numb to the touch. With no sense of direction nor a feeling of belonging, Fluttershy followed her instincts to search out her destination amongst the stars and beyond the cosmos. Her head tilted to the sky, she suddenly felt time itself open before her. The stars shifted across the universe and the darkest fears of her heart melted away, she witnessed The Great Old Ones offer a glimpse into madness itself. The energy of the symbols seeped into her coat like sulfuric acid burning her beyond flesh and bone, the fiery sting of insanity shattered her mind within a matter of seconds. A beam of light suddenly exploded into a eternal chasm below. Twilight and Discord gazed to Fluttershy in surprise that her form didn't alter at all, the slender pegasus petrified in place with hollow eyes locked upon the stars. Pinkie letting out a shrill scream of horror, the pony flesh upon Fluttershy's backside decayed into dark rotting ooze. “Fluttershy!” Twilight zoomed over to her friend helplessly, hooves grabbing the mare by the shoulders shaking her frantically in place. Within the void of her own imagination Fluttershy was shown the splendors of the universe and beyond, green slimy vaults of a rotting corpse city soon sprouted into existence around her. Built from nothing and created into terrifying non-Euclidean shapes, her lungs filled with the bitter taste of saltwater. “Ph'nglui mglw'nafh…” Fluttershy felt her eyes roll back, her body exploded in waves of pain, every muscle cramped as the foul stench of decay spread further up her backside. “Do something!” Twilight screamed in confusion towards Discord, the lord of chaos watching on in calm collected silence. “I couldn't even if I wanted too, it must simply play out.” Discord replied his mare tumbled to the grass in agony, her body twisting and convulsing into unnatural positions. Within the dark depths of her soul, Fluttershy could see ghastly visions of the sleeping gods, colors never meant for pony kind engulfing her body in a spectrum of forbidden knowledge. She could feel the massive city of R'lyeh pulse to life, the reality of this far off realm weakened for the arrival of ancient terrors. “Please Fluttershy, wake up!” Twilight couldn't hold back her tears any longer, the pegasus grew limp in her hooves as black ooze trickled out of the edges of her muzzle. Within a few seconds an eerie rattle of a final breath escaped Fluttershy's lips, her hooves dropping to her side as everything seemed to fade into oblivion. Twilight winced in pain of the moment, wrapping her fallen friend into a loving embrace with alicorn wings. “That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even death may die.” Fluttershy suddenly snapped her neck upward with a loud crack of bone, flashing an inky black smile towards her quivering friend maliciously. The pegasus passed out with a sigh of defeat, her face full of agony as the clouds above blotted out the welcoming moonlight. Slowly Twilight lifted her head towards Discord, the world silent and bleak. Only time could tell, what the future would hold.