Magic is real, and Derek is on the verge of unlocking its secrets. It doesn't matter that his best friend doesn't believe any of it, he'll still go along to his first real spell. Unfortunately for the two of them, the magic works a little too well.
Soon they're taken to a strange new world of supernatural horses, a world where intrigue and spellcraft are interwoven to an inescapable prison. An mysterious cult dedicated to the worship of the ancient Alicorns has finally brought two of the ancients back from banishment. Their spell didn't quite work out; they definitely expected the Old Gods to be a little... older.
If the two former humans want to have any hope of seeing their old world and old bodies again, they'll have to make quite an impression to their secret worshipers, or else find themselves at the mercy of the same Alicorn sisters who took over Equestria all those centuries ago.
That's only where their problems start. Growing up as a little pony in a town like Willowbrook might be the greatest challenge they've ever faced.
Updates on Saturdays. This story was edited by Bitera and Sparktail. Cover by Zutcha.
This story was commissioned as a Patreon reward.
Kind of reminds of the premise of "You're a Demon (Apparently)" Except the human will be turned into ponies
Looks good so far.
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.
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
That's friggin' heresy!
Just wait 'til it gets passed to ya and you'll know.
See, they're doing it there, too.
This sounds like fun. If the description wasn't enough to hook me the start definitely was.
Warning! Singularity!
And so it begins.
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?!"
Were it not for Derek and Charlie all the cultists would’ve gotten was nothing but a light mist
Well it's tough to be a god
To tread where mortals dare not trod
Resurrecting ancient gods is all well and good, but you've got to have your priorities in order.
Mind the gap between worlds, fillies and gentlecolts.
I mean, those first two definitely exist. The catch is whether you can make use of them in an arcane context.
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?
Interesting premise so far...
Interesting. I wonder how they will cope.
Welp, welcome to Equestria, Derek and Charlie!
May luck be on Derek's and Charlie's side. They're gonna need it.
Such a horrible mix up. It won't go well if the two can't keep up with expectations.
All magic comes with a price!
And it looks like Derek and Chris have just paid...
Let Occam shave, my dude.
That may be one of the least reassuring reassurances I've ever seen. Also hilariously ironic.
Reminiscent of the first issues of Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Except they've caught something a lot less impressive than Death or Dream. (But don't tell them that!)
Even better. Any cultist who can combine commitment to the cause and actually seeing the world around them is especially dangerous.
And we have isekai. Now to see what our hapless world-hoppers make of their situation, and vice versa.
Charlie has arrived inside Candy Mountain.
Oh shit.
Good first impression with the cultists. Guessing body transformation does wonders to the mind too. Can't really fit an adult mind into a child's brain. Not to mention some sort of magic affecting the memories or humanity of the two.
Would Luna have eased the transition knowing you were summoned as her enemy?
I can't imagine the newly born sisters wanting to stay with the cult for too long.
Looks like the Watcher didn't get what he was fishing for. It's not as if Derek or Charlie were destined to be at the portal at that time. Though maybe Watcher did succeed and we're seeing the start of a new group of powerful alicorn sisters. A match for the ones controlling Canterlot.
Thank You for uploading this chapter today.
When I read "Updates on Saturdays" in the description I thought that I have to wait a few days.
Thank you for the effort of creating a chapter every day.
Houston, we've had a problem...
...WELP.
See how Watcher interprets that last bit to somehow make sense in his 'grand plan' to get revenge...
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1/day for 1 week, then 1/week with occasionally 2/week if you're very good, brush your teeth every day, and eat all your veggies.
Her gender identity was not.
... Ah. Not until she thought about it.
Yeah, getting hurled across worlds with a good chunk of a river isn't good for the memory, to say nothing of the sudden species change. And the Watcher's a lot more unnatural than I thought at first. This is going to be extremely awkward, if not outright deadly. We'll have to see what the cult thinks of much less awe-inspiring results than they were hoping for.
Interesting...
Great story so far look forward to more chapters
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True enough, Dearie!
I don’t see why they’d have to make an impression on the cult if they want to go home. The cult should be begging forgiveness and trying to repair what they broke. I mean, they didn’t so much summon their gods as they did kidnap them and completely cripple them mentally and physically. They even stole their names! Demanding they kill Celestia and Luna is out of the question now.
I wonder if the Earth side of things will eventually contact the Equine side of things given that phone was left behind, and had recorded the whole thing. Hmm.
Oh dear, I hope they get away from this crazy group and get some help.
So we have one 'mother' and one to-be-met father. But how will the 'fillies' react?
They going to be split up?
I think they will try to kill them and she will rescue them
It certainly makes me wonder who exactly they wanted to summon and how much myth and truth was butchered to create their beliefs. Everything so far points to them being utterly misinformed.
I guess we'll see how far Celestia is willing to go to suppress this cult.
If the cult is wrong about 1% there's nothing good that'll come about "returning" the children.
No doubt about that.
Ah. So we do have some contemporary alicorns. This is getting more concerning.
A lot more concerning, depending on what precisely was destroyed. And then there's the matter of clouding the outsiders' mind and binding their power... Lots of setup for trouble down the line.
... and that's putting aside the narrowly averted ritual foal sacrifice.
Because obviously any news the Crystal Empire returning is nothing more than the usurpers' propaganda, obviously.
Yeah, this is going to be fun to watch. We'll see how the situation develops. Two very interesting childhoods are about to unfold.
Reaaaally interesting one here from you this time. Love your work, and this is an excellent premise—can’t wait to see how you play it.
So their intent is to mentally befuddle their own gods, to indoctrinate them to want to be crippled and unable to think or act for themselves. And this is somehow a GOOD thing?
I really hope those two don't go cooperating with them at all. Let them stew in the fact that they just ruined their gods lives and enslaved them for something they don't believe in.
Progress!
Well, now we've got some recognition of each other in the new world. That's good.
The way you're writing these two not really being able to get their words out makes me think of people that have had strokes or other mental traumas. I haven't had one that caused results like that myself (though I have actually had a stroke), but my father did, and this certainly reminds me of how he acted in the NICU. If I may ask, do you know someone who went through something like that?
(On a separate note, great job at the panel yesterday!)
The two are awake and don't seem to be too severely affected by the memory spell. They'll need to be at their best to survive the cult.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
The linguistic issues are fascinating. I'm not sure how much is magical backlash, how much is externally imposed, and how much is just the trauma of getting catapulted across time, space, and the phylogenetic tree.
In any case, our intrepid heroes are both up and at 'em. Wakey wakey, eggs and gender/species dysphoria. Time to figure out what to do now.
... Yeah, good luck there.
Nice chapter
"She looked like a horse, except that she didn't."
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if this follows a Wiccan theme, names have power. Both personal names and name of mankind. The world they are in perhaps resists appearance of something which does not belong.
Oh no, you poor babes... The mental aspects are really hitting them hard, huh. Not that being plucked from your world would be easy on anyone, but still, they've got it bad.
Yes :)
Well, that was a freight train full of feels.