Sisters of Willowbrook

by Starscribe

Chapter 1: Foundational

Sister Iris Vale, sworn witness of the Nightmare's divine curse, had never been more nervous for a ritual in her life. It was a good thing her hood and cloak were so dark, or the other members of the sisterhood might have noticed her furtive posture, her tucked tail and folded ears.

But in the gloom of Cyan Mines, maybe they were really no braver than she was. She adjusted the dark robes, helping her horn find the opening meant for it in the hood. It would do no good to cover her entire reason for being here.

This might've been a mine once, but there were little signs of that left anymore. There was an ancient cargo elevator, old enough to rely on the regular motion of a counterweight up and down an empty shaft instead of unicorn magic. A few pale scars on the ground marked where once rail had been, for the workers of times past to push carts of ore.

She slowed in the line as she passed into the cavern, the largest single room she'd yet seen. It was high enough that it obviously connected many layers of light granite, without much in the way of reddish ore veins that the old miners were after.

Iris was not here to lead this ritual—she was scarcely lofty enough to even attend a service so important. But she had. After today, the world would never be the same. And it would partly be because of her. “Should you stumble, your life is forfeit."

Watcher's voice was old and thin, far more like a corpse than an actual pony. He sat atop a stone platform, body wrapped entirely in dark cloth. Only his eyes were visible glittering from within, and a horn that must've been longer than his head. It protruded like a thin saber, and glowed brighter than the candles.

They hadn't skimped on the candles. Hundreds of them were scattered around the room, filling every patch of ground not meant for the ritual. Well, that and the snack tray. Couldn't get wax on the canapés.

"All find entry," called the Watcher, voice thin and wispy in the echoing darkness. "Gather beside the gulf. Mind your hooves to not be swept within.”

Iris somehow managed to weasel her way to the front of the crowd—possibly thanks to her age. Past two dozen ponies in dark robes, she found the thing Watcher warned of, the “gulf.”

From further away, it resembled only a particularly dark patch of stone, sloping violently down into a crevice maybe wide enough to stick her hoof. But the closer she got, the harder it was to ignore how unnatural the “gulf” was.

Even standing close to it made her feel strange, like a blanket of heavy wool was tossed over her whole body. The entire world felt suddenly muted—candle flames lost their color, the crimson strata of the mine all blurred to brown, and her very heart seemed to slow.

A single circle in white chalk ran around the opening, warning the watching ponies of where they shouldn't go. Even so, Iris could make out a few stray threads of cloth, clinging to the damp rock. Like somepony had already gotten too close, and learned just what this void would do.

Iris took a few steps back, or tried. But the crowd had already closed in around her, and she found only the glares of frustrated ponies, blocking her retreat.

You just don't want to be here yourself. Maybe she wasn't as clever as she thought, getting up front. She'd be right beside the opening when the ritual began.

"So we begin our sacred conclave," said Watcher, his voice growing louder and more confident by the second. "Who will witness for the dead?"

"I will witness," Iris said. Her voice was joined by many others, many far more confident than she felt. She would have to lean on that strength, beside a swirling abyss of ambivalence.

"Your testimony is taken," Watcher said. "Equestria cannot be returned to its proper order in a night. Blood cries from the stones at our hooves. Their will cannot be frustrated, only delayed. But through our labors, the ancients will return, banishing the false sunrise."

"So it will be," Iris recited. There was nothing new here—she knew the truths she had come to witness. When the world was put right, she would rise to rule with the old order. Ponies could dream of worse goals.

Being up front did have one advantage, anyway. Iris was right beside the gulf, so she could watch as a group of several ponies walked past it, each one carrying a corner of a heavy... dome? It looked to be made of solid glass, all the way through. Maybe crystal? Either way, it was no wonder none of them had horns or wings emerging from their robes. Only earth ponies could bear such a load.

The group walked all the way around the opening, then shuffled until the dome covered it directly. Iris could still see through it to the opening, though there wasn't much to see. Was that light flickering from the other side, maybe a trickle of strangely-herbal smelling smoke?

A second later, and the ponies deposited the great dome over the gulf, then stepped back to rejoin the crowd. "So long we have waited for the stars to be right. So long we have waited for this world to align with the great darkness below.

"Today the cold will be drawn and bound," Watcher called. "The old oaths will be spoken again. Join me brothers, sisters. Tonight we will rescue an ancient god."

Iris joined the crowd, packing in around the dome. Horns lit up from around the circle, but the coven was made of more than just unicorns. This was no mere parlor-trick, like unicorn levitation. Real magic cared far more about will than it did about biology.

"By ancients banished," the chant began. "Now returned. By ancients banished..."

---

Things would be different this time, and Derek knew it.

It wasn't just a hunch, not like so many of the other times he'd gone out in to the Nocturne Forest to explore. This time he was prepared.

"I hope we don't have to hike much further," Charlie called, trailing a few steps behind him. Bold of his friend to be the one to complain about the long walk, given how much better shape he was in. But Charlie didn't believe. "Tell me we don't have to go all the way to the falls. You know we're gonna hit traffic if we don't make it onto the five before rush hour."

Derek stopped walking, turning to glare back at his friend. It didn't have much weight—Derek was lengthy and pale, and his back stooped under the weight of his pack. Charlie hadn't helped him carry any of the heavy equipment.

As Charlie caught up, the difference between them became clearer. He was a full head taller, with sleeves that frayed at the edges of his shirt. His skin was deeply tanned, and he had only a bottle of water slung over his shoulder, mostly empty now.

"I found something incredible here," Derek said. "This is it. Proof of things we don't understand. You'll see, then you'll realize how real it all is."

Charlie shrugged. Despite his greater stature, he was no bully. Not back in school, and not now that they'd both moved on. "Maybe I'll see that. Don't take this the wrong way, Derek. It isn't that I don't want you to be right. It's just that everything I've ever seen tells me there's no such thing as..." He waved a dismissive hand. "Well, any of it. There's no extra dimensions, there's no crystals, there's no aliens and magical water cars and MK Ultra. Nocturne Forest is serene and mysterious and it could be a great workout if we wanted it to be, but there's no magic here."

Derek hoisted the heavy pack on his shoulders. It clanked and clattered within, packed with the trappings of his spellcasting. Or so he hoped. "I know, you want something measurable. You'll get it. I was here two days ago—if I read Orion's position right, it will still be here. You'll see it, and be completely blown away. Mark my words."

Charlie shrugged again. "Guess we'll see when we get there."

They walked together in silence for several minutes, following the old trail. This one wasn't technically on any of the maps they could get from the ranger station. In places it thinned to a mere suggestion, more like something used by the hooves of wild deer and other animals. But Derek kept his GPS app handy, and occasionally glanced at the course plotted there for reference.

It was less than an hour before they finally reached the place locals called "hidden falls". And it was no wonder why it was hidden—it was really only ten feet up, formed by a sudden depression in the rock and a pond collecting water below. Anything more spectacular would probably have overflowed with a steady pressure of tourist traffic.

The water was clear, with only a faint green fog of moss and algae along the outermost rocks. Given the sweat and soreness dripping down Derek's back, he was eager to jump in. But that wasn't why they'd come.

"Hidden falls," Charlie said, leaning on one of the many large chunks of fallen granite cliffside, looking out. "Scenic. I could take a girl out here. But magical... that's where I doubt."

Derek hefted the backpack off his shoulders, then stretched. "I know it might not look like much, but that doesn't change anything. It's magical, just wait."

His hands shook as he fished around in the backpack, drawing out what he would need for the first test. Test for him, and demonstration for his friend. A tightly wrapped bundle of sage, specially prepared to produce a lot of smoke.

He held up a lighter in his other hand, then walked over to the water. He stood directly beside it, holding both up for Charlie to see. "First question: what happens if I burn this?"

He lit the bundle, then blew into it a few times to put out the flames and get the whole thing to smoke. A thick plume of white trickled up from the bundle, overpowering the "moving water" scent with sage's distinctive bite.

"That's a stupid question. It w—" Charlie trailed off, taking a few steps over to stare. His mouth hung open as he watched, waving one hand through the vapor.

Instead of rising, the smoke drifted sideways, forming a clear stream over the water as though it were trapped in a pipe. It didn't flow into the vacuum created by the trickling waterfall, but pooled about ten feet over the water's surface, right in the center.

"Okay, but... what?" Charlie finally asked. "What is it doing?"

Derek cleared a patch of ground with his boot, then set the bundle down to keep smoking. It did, gradually darkening the space above the water. This little demonstration also served to illustrate his target. "It's letting us see a current of air. There's a vortex right there, pulling everything in."

"That's your idea of magic?" Charlie asked, indignant. "Don't get me wrong, that's kinda cool, but there's... there's an explanation. You can't expect me to see some funny smoke and believe in your hobby just like that. I think maybe your patients might be getting to you a little, you know? Magical thinking."

Derek nodded towards the opening. "I understand why you would believe that. It's easier to think I must be completely wrong. So why don't you throw something in? If smoke has some other explanation, try something bigger."

Charlie selected a rock from the water's edge, clearing the mud away with a thumb. Then he threw it, right at the spot.

It passed through the smoke, drawing a little trail behind it down into the water. But almost the instant it had passed through, it went zipping back up, bringing a little water with it. It shot through the opening, up into the air... then began to fall again.

Soon enough the rock was orbiting there, a little moon for an invisible sun. Flying in midair, right before their eyes.

Charlie pulled out his phone, pointed it directly at the strange object, and started recording. "What are we looking at?" he asked. "What could make it do that?"

"You don't believe in my 'hobby'," Derek countered. He tried very hard not to sound smug. But after years and years of doubt, that was a challenge too difficult to overcome. "You won't believe it when I tell you."

"There's an explanation, there just has to be. Maybe the rocks are magnetic, and there's, uh..." He hesitated, then started moving down the water. He didn't actually step inside, keeping the camera focused on the strange manifestation within.

"There's no explanation you can think of. Just don't get close to it yet, okay? I don't know what that would do."

He set to work, removing a few old wooden boxes from his stuff. He balanced the first one from his backpack, flipping it open. A dozen different drawers were within, each one containing crystals of different types. He selected one, then held it in one arm towards the opening in the sky. He felt the heat instantly, as it glowed bright orange in a sudden, incandescent burst. Perfect.

While Charlie filmed, Derek removed the rest of his raw materials. His spellbook came last, an ancient tome on yellowing paper easily twice the size of a phonebook. He balanced it delicately, flipping through ancient pages. The print within was uneven, faded in places and smeared in others from an original printing. Yet there was more here than anything he'd read in any college textbook.

"So what's your explanation for it?" Charlie asked, a few minutes later. He'd circled all the way around, crossing the stream and back to get a view of the other side. "You tricked me into throwing that specific rock? It's a magician thing, I just didn't know the rock was planted." He took a few steps away, to where the forest proper began, then dug in it with his boot, kicking aside small stones in his search for something a little bigger.

"It's a vortex," Derek said. "This is exactly what the occult community of Shipton has been waiting to see. It's an immensely potent source of magical energy, so strong it has bizarre effects on objects, people, and plants."

"A vortex," Charlie repeated. He hefted a much larger rock this time, the size of his fist. After turning it over in one hand, searching for who knew what, he threw it as hard as he could, laterally.

It smacked straight through the vortex, knocking the smaller rock out of the air as it went. Instead of settling into an orbit, this rock seemed to turn in the air, blasting straight back at them. Charlie dodged, and it hit the bark of the tree beside him like a gunshot. Splinters of wood rained down around him.

"Damn! Okay, okay! You don't have to... hex me, or whatever. That could've broken my head open!"

Derek winced, turning away from his friend to return to his work. He stuck the little shard of crystal into the wand he had prepared under the light of the full moon, then secured it with a few drops of superglue. Only when it was dry could he began to trace in the mud beside the water, imitating the shape of the diagram in his book.

"I didn't do that. I can't do anything with the vortex, yet. But that's why we're out here. I'm the one who found it, so the power it brings will be mine. Maybe even enough that you change your mind."

Charlie raised both hands, defeated. "Alright, alright! Maybe there's something to all of it. I'm willing to see it through, anyway. So long as you're sure it's not all..." He waved one hand. "Like, demonic or whatever. Is that where the magic power comes from?"

"Doubtful." Now that he was started, Derek didn't need to take his attention from his work. "But that is the first thing I want to find out. We talking demons, we talking somewhere more useful? Before I get any power out of that for our own purposes, I have to find out."

Charlie untied the sweatshirt from around his waist, settling it on a nearby rock before hopping up. He looked down, watching closely. "I'm not admitting I believe you yet. God, you should be the one trying to convince me. You're the one with the degree. Were you actually at Hogwarts that whole time?"

Derek didn't laugh. But seeing Charlie's familiar cheerfulness was enough to help him relax. Right in front of them was a hole to somewhere else, and his best friend barely seemed to care.

"No, that was on weekends. Just don't get too comfortable—when the sun goes down, I'll need your help. It takes two people to make this ritual work, and they have to know each other well."

He didn't have a girlfriend, or that would've been better. Charlie did, but it shouldn't interfere too much. Charlie's relationship was new, but they'd been friends for years. Almost thirty years now.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that," Charlie said. "Magical rituals and religion..."

Derek didn't look back to see Charlie's expression, but he didn't have to. "You were just lecturing me about skepticism, you can't back out now! Besides, you can't tell me you're not a little bit curious. We have to find out where that goes."

Charlie grumbled, but didn't argue. As good as an admission as Derek was likely to get from his old friend. He'd never admit he was wrong, not without having the truth beat into him.

When night finally fell, Derek would do exactly that.

Comments

[Powdered-Toast-Mare]

Kind of reminds of the premise of "You're a Demon (Apparently)" Except the human will be turned into ponies

[Nickzon]

Looks good so far.

[LysanderasD]

I can’t help but think of Good Omens--though hopefully this one will turn out slightly less apocalyptic. The idea of trying to summon something dark and ending up with something... less so is always charming. But I also don’t expect this to take a hard swerve into comedy; there really is something foul brewing here, and I’d hate to be caught in the middle of it.

To blend the deep supernatural tension of something like a cult of the Old Gods with something pastel and sweet like ponies would be daunting to me--it runs the risk of leaning too far one way or the other, either into darkness-induced apathy or bathos; but I’m willing to see where this goes.

Plus, as far as excuses to put humans into Equestria go, “attempting to summon a dark god” is better than most.

[MLfan]

Considering the author and title of the fic, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say our human cast won't remain male for long lol

[Level Dasher]

Hundreds of them were scattered around the room, filling every patch of ground not meant for the ritual. Well, that and the snack tray. Couldn't get wax on the canapés.

That's friggin' heresy!

Was that light flickering from the other side, maybe a trickle of strangely-herbal smelling smoke?

Just wait 'til it gets passed to ya and you'll know.

A tightly wrapped bundle of sage, specially prepared to produce a lot of smoke.

See, they're doing it there, too.

This sounds like fun. If the description wasn't enough to hook me the start definitely was.

[Goodluckfox]

Warning! Singularity!

[minibox]

And so it begins.

[Ralyx]

Let's hope their fast talk is up to the task.

"FOOLS! Did you expect that your little mortal ritual could summon anything more than the merest fragments of our existence?!"

[Rawislon03]

Were it not for Derek and Charlie all the cultists would’ve gotten was nothing but a light mist

[heirofaniu]

Well it's tough to be a god
To tread where mortals dare not trod

[FanOfMostEverything]

They hadn't skimped on the candles. Hundreds of them were scattered around the room, filling every patch of ground not meant for the ritual. Well, that and the snack tray. Couldn't get wax on the canapés.

Resurrecting ancient gods is all well and good, but you've got to have your priorities in order.

"All find entry," called the Watcher, voice thin and wispy in the echoing darkness. "Gather beside the gulf. Mind your hooves to not be swept within.”

Mind the gap between worlds, fillies and gentlecolts.

There's no extra dimensions, there's no crystals, there's no aliens and magical water cars and MK Ultra.

I mean, those first two definitely exist. The catch is whether you can make use of them in an arcane context.

"Damn! Okay, okay! You don't have to... hex me, or whatever. That could've broken my head open!"

That's not magic, my dude. That's orbital mechanics. You just performed a slingshot maneuver around a gravitational anomaly. And NASA you ain't.

Definitely looking forward to seeing where this goes. It definitely won't go as anyone's expecting. And really, what fun would it be if it did?

[Mister Morden]

Interesting premise so far...

[FOXTrot2]

They hadn't skimped on the candles. Hundreds of them were scattered around the room, filling every patch of ground not meant for the ritual. Well, that and the snack tray. Couldn't get wax on the canapés.

The all-important ritual canapes

[Sarda]

"Well, any of it. There's no extra dimensions, there's no crystals, there's no aliens and magical water cars and MK Ultra.

Is this meant to show that he's just that much of a skeptic, or is MK Ultra in there by accident? It was officially declassified in 2001, and public knowledge in the 70's. Or is this also set before that? Hasn't been much in the way of establishing what year, though handheld GPS suggests no earlier than the 90's.

[Reykan]

There's no extra dimensions, there's no crystals, there's no aliens and magical water cars and MK Ultra."

*laughs in Ruby Ridge and gay frogs*

[tsaukpaetra]

Yes, poke at the mystery hole like a good and curious human! 😂