//------------------------------// // Chapter 25 // Story: Cafe Dazzling // by brzy //------------------------------// “Hah! OK girls, everyone in position at each corner of the Pentagram,” ordered Midnight Sparkle. “Like I’d let you!” shouted Aria. A bright white light surrounded her. The energy crashed down on her like an ocean wave, her magical dress washing down into place as the tide receded. Pony ears peeked out from her hair, two long flowing ribbons holding her twin pigtails in place. Her green vest spread and connected across her chest, smoothing out even as the cutoff sleeves retained their scruffiness. Her pants shimmered as the energy washed past, replaced by a lavender knee length skirt in front with a long trailing tail behind. An enormous white bow on the small of her back completed the transformation. She started to walk towards the grinning Midnight when a hand grabbed her shoulder. Adagio’s cat eating the canary smile had never left her face. “It’s OK Aria, let her try it.” The Rainbooms each walked to their respective star corners around the mob as Midnight took her slot in the middle of the throng. The crowd seemed to part unconsciously for her, the energy visible as a hazy shimmer. The Rainbooms each ponied up revealing their forms. Purple smart nodded in satisfaction. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" There was a deathly silence. Everyone within the magic circle collapsed to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, save for Sparkle. The temperature suddenly dropped twenty degrees within the circle. The Rainbooms answered her back with a call of their own. "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!" Midnight Sparkle smiled triumphantly as she uttered the last line. "Cthulhu R'lyeh fhtagn!" Sonata looked on in horror. The energy surged and crackled around Scilight Sparkle’s magical alter ego, searching for a ground. She mumbled out her panic. “Twilight… the Chalice of saltwater… you forgot to place the Chalice…” “Huh? No I didn’t, it’s right… here?” Her jaw dropped as she noticed Pinkie and Applejack were not in their spots. She also noticed the large shiny Friendship Games trophy sitting in Pinkie’s hands, tied to a long length of rope leading to AJ's hands. “Sorry sugar cube, but we can’t let ya do this. Had a little talk with Sunset after she dispelled yer little kissy spell, and I don’t appreciate gettin' bamboozled into helpin' you do whatever all this malarkey is.” Aria blushed at the mention of kissing, though no one noticed. Twilight was in full on panic, all her flowery Midnight persona gravitas gone. “Oh my god, AJ! What have you done?! That was the ground for all this power! It goes into the chalice, we drink it, then we use that power to open the portal to Equestria!” The Rainbooms looked dumbfounded. The Dazzlings looked surprised. Having begrudgingly removed her ballgag, Pinkie gave voice to their concerns. “Was that what we were doing this whole time? Cause we’ve got a portal to Equestria sitting right in front of the school.” Not a cricket could be heard over the silence that fell. Even the lightning and wind died down as the Dazzlings and Twilight stared at the Rainbooms. Adagio’s eyes shot daggers at Sunset Shimmer. “What. The. Fuck Sunny!” Before Twilight or anyone else could voice their displeasure over the critical withheld information, black tenebrous tentacles shot out from circle. The Rainbooms and midnight were quickly ensared, suspended in the air as they tried to fight them off. They were no match as they were quickly dragged down into the portal. “Agh! Aria, I’m sorry!” cried Twilight as she vanished beneath the sea of Dirac, where the dark lord that lent her power dreamed. Everyone stood dumbfounded for a moment, a mixture of terror, anger, and confusion running through them. None of the teachers or students on the ground stirred, having been left behind in favor of far more magically potent prey. Small twitches and groans were sporadic at best. In the center of the star a black pool remained, an inky blackness filled with sparse faint swirling stars, as if they were looking at a picture of a galaxy right before it died. Without hesitation Aria flew into it. “Twilight!” “Aria! Wait for me!” cried Sonata as she jumped in after. “Sonata! Aria! You nincompoops!” murmured Adagio as she stepped elegantly into the pool. “Dagi!” Anon dove in. Sunset looked around at all the unconscious students. She thought about having to explain what the heck just happened to Principal Celestial. Her decision wasn’t hard. Eldritch horrors from a dying dimension or dealing with the probably alcoholic underachieving doppelganger of your former mentor? In a sarcastic tone, “Oh no you guys. Wait for me.” She turned her head to the side and said in a slightly muffled higher pitched voice, “No Sunny, don’t go! It’s too dangerous!” “No, no, don’t try to stop me…” Sunset glanced at the unconscious pile of students one last time, then sighed. With a leap, best pony bravely hopped into the portal after the Dazzlings.