Prologue- The Show Must Go On
The chains rattle slightly with even the softest of movements, signifying it's continued imprisonment within the steel cage it has been forced to call it's home for several years now. It looks up at its captor, a unicorn by the name of Ring Master. His coat was yellow, appearing almost as if it were made of gold. His deep black mane was covered by an old top hat that just barely allowed enough room for his horn to be shown. He wore several silver rings around his hoof and a red silk cape on his back.
The stallion stared at the creature before him, his large yellow eyes locked onto the yellow pupils of this thing before him. It truly was the most bizarre looking thing he had ever had the pleasure of forcing into a performance. No other ponies knew what it was, it's existence in this world was unknown. No amount of research he did ever led him anywhere close to learning more about it. The knowledge he had was accumulated over time by putting it in several different circumstances and observing how it dealt with them
Even while doing this, he knew he would never truly understand it. The only way he would be able to learn more was it he could get it tell him. However, the beast refused to speak. Instead it would just stare at him with a cold gaze, the permanent smile on its face twisting into a disturbing frown whenever he walked near it.
No matter; the show must go on. Despite the creature's seeming hatred for Ring Master, it would perform several tricks and stunts that many never thought possible. It thrived on the attention it got. Being a circus act was practically in its blood.
Ring Master continued eyeing the chained up creature in its cage, refamiliarizing himself with its features. It's was taller than anything he had ever seen. A good seven feet, if his measurements were accurate. It's skin was almost as white as snow, minus some prominent features on its face. It's eyes had a distinct black design going around them, its nose was red and appeared to be swollen into a round shape. It's lips had a similar swelling that made them appear thicker than they should be and as red as it's nose .
The lips themselves spread almost across it's face, allowing it's smile to go from ear to ear. Behind those lips were a set of sharp teeth and a tongue that was no less than a foot long.
As he looked into its eyes he couldn't help but become reminded of a childhood toy. They looked like blue marbles in its sockets with a yellow X for pupils.
Its long, messy hair, as well as any traces of facial hair it had, were fiery red in color. It's nails were like small, dull yellow daggers coming out of its finger tips.
Truly, the most bizarre creature to ever walk Equestrian soil.
The way it dressed seemed to fit the creatures odd, clowny appearance. It had a large pair of black shoes covering its feet, its legs were wrapped in a pair of long and baggy red pants covered in pockets. It would stuff numerous things in all of these pockets; everything from candy to knives. Covering its torso was a black and white stripped vest over an orange T-shirt.
The vest bore a strange symbol, one that Ring Master could not recognize. It resembled two tendrils in a way, wrapping around each other in an odd purple design. It would carve this mark into any surface that was near it with its finger nails. It was almost as if it worshipped the symbol in some way. Perhaps it represented some sort of higher power, or maybe it was just purely insane and used this as some sort of release from its own mental tyranny.
Shaking any further thoughts from his head, Ring Master knocked on the cage door, making sure he had its full attention. He did; from the look it was giving him it didn't seem all to pleased to see him. However, he knew once he spoke it would brighten up its mood. This time was usually very enjoyable for it.
"I hope you're ready, 'cause you're on in ten minutes." Ring Master said to the creature in a somewhat husky voice.
It glared at him, the edges of its large mouth curving upward in a disturbing smirk. He could hear it beginning to chuckle. The tone it would laugh in always led Ring Master to believe that, if this thing could talk, it would have a dark growl behind every word it spoke. The thought of something like this being sentient was almost terrifying. He's seen some of what this thing is capable of, leading him to believe that anything it would say would likely be very morbid.
He shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts and clapping his hooves together. Two bulky stallions enter the room and lift up the cage with relative ease, carrying out to prepare it for tonight's show.
A feeling came over Ring Master once they had finished carrying the cage out, one he didn't feel too often. It was a feeling of dread. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that something horribly wrong was about to happen. No matter, he had no time to worry about such petty things.
IN less than thirty minutes, Ring Master went out and stood on the stage, the spotlights turning on soon upon his entry and shinning down on him. He looked out into the crowd. Despite being in such a small town, there was a rather large audience tonight. No problem at all, more ponies means more bits in his pocket.
He tossed his cape aside and cleared is throat before speaking. "Ladies and Gentlecolts." He began, remembering the speech he had studied many years ago and used before every show. "Come and see things your eyes won't believe. Behind this curtain lies a ghastly concoction of delight, horror, fantasy, and terror! Your every wish is our command, your every whimsical desire brought to life. Welcome to the freak show!"
With a wave of his hoof, lights of all colors began spiraling around the area while carnival music picked up in the background. Ponies were in awe at the sight, seeming almost hypnotized by the swirling of colors that traveled around them. The large red curtain behind Ring Master raised up, revealing numerous cages with black tarps over them.
Ring Master walked over to the closest cage, his magic enveloping the tarp in a golden hue. "Now, now, everypony. The light show may be fun, but that is nothing compared to these." He said, earning the ponies attention once again. They all stared at him, eagerness clearly showing in their features. "Ponies far and wide, I give you...The timber beast!"
He removed the tarp, revealing something that wasn't quite a wolf, but wasn't a pony either. The crowd gasped at the sight as the monster within the cage began barking madly and growling at them. Its body bared many similarities to a pony; it had a red fur and a cutie mark of the moon, its hind legs were still well-formed, and it had a pony shaped head. However, the upper portion of its skull and muzzle were made completely out of twigs and leaves, same went for its hooves and a small section of its torso. These parts were the ones that resembled a timber wolf more than anything else. On top of that, its large eyes were glowing like flashlights in a dark room.
Most of the ponies were in a state of shock, some even seemed scared for their well-being. There were a small few who looked at it with fascination though. They stared at it like it was something to be studied and analyzed. One pony in particular that bore this look was a certain purple alicorn that happened to catch Ring Master's eye.
To think, a princess would show up to a show like this. This could be his big break! If he could impress one of the princesses it would mean big things for him and his show. He wanted so desperately to bring out his secret weapon, but he couldn't, not yet. He needs to be patient. If he were to bring out the grand finale right now then the rest of the show would spoil in comparison. He needs to be patient.
As the show continued he showed off many more glorious and terrifying things. The bearded mare, the two headed filly, a pony who was half stallion half reptile, the mermare, and so much more!
After nearly two hours of showing off, what he called, his trophies, and keeping a close eye on the princess' reaction, it was time to bring it out.
"If you ponies thought those last monstrosities I showed you were terrifying, then you're in for a treat." He said, walking over to the final cage and grabbing the tarp in his magic, "For I promise you, they all pale in comparison to this one. Ladies and gentlecolts, I give you the dashing, the daring, the most horrifying creature you've ever seen! I give you..."
He pulled the tarp back to reveal...nothing.
There was nothing there. No pony, no creature; the cage was simply empty.
Ring Master had to do a double take on the cage to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. Much to his own discomfort, they weren't. He walked around the cage, as if thinking it were hiding behind something. Once he found himself behind the steel prison he found that some of the bars had been bent significantly out of place.
The creature may have been tall, but it was very thin, and after seeing a few of its performances, Ring Master knew that it was very flexible. Its sleek form would have no problem squeezing through the small space it had created between the metal.
Ponies in the crowd began mumbling and whispering amongst each other, nearly all of them shooting Ring Master a questioning gaze.
He was in quite an uncomfortable spot now. He knew that they were talking about him, they were probably judging him, thinking that he was a fraud. No matter, his prized possession may be gone, but he didn't need it. That thing was just icing on the cake. He could put on the final performance all on his own.
In the distance, a tall bipedal form sat up high in a tree, staring down at the awkward stallion attempting to keep his audience entertained. A soft chuckle escaped its lips as it watched Ring Master make a fool out of himself; attempting all sorts of tricks with magic and what not that he clearly had not practiced in years. His lack of doing so caused him to falter in many of his tricks, if not stumble and fall over.
As embarrassing as it must have been to be Ring Master at this very moment in time, one would have to admire the stallions dedication to the show. Even when his best actor/slave vanished he was still ready to keep things interesting. Granted, the ponies went from screaming to laughing, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
"I guess it's true what they say..." The creature spoke in a very peculiar voice. It definitely didn't have a normal tone to it and there was a faint growl behind every word that escaped its lips. "Even when all else fails, the show must go on." It smiled down at the stage, pulling an apple out of its pocket and taking a bite out of it as it continued to watch the slave owner make a fool out of himself.
It looked down at the apple in disgust, spitting the chewed up fruit chunks from its mouth and throwing the remainder into the crowd below. "Bleh, nasty."
