Il Carnevale de Artiglio

Chapters

The Circus Comes to Town.
Greatest Show Unearthed
The Silent Wing
Opening Night Part 1: The Puppetmaster's Tale

The Circus Comes to Town.

The sky flickered for a moment, stars that had shone for centuries dimming and fading if only for an instant. This did not escape Twilight's notice. As her cutie mark held several, the lavender mare had dedicated quite a bit of time to studying their movements and mannerisms. The stars had regained their proper brightness and alignment, but something still seemed off. She put her eye back to the telescope and searched the heavens, searching for the out of place piece she knew was there.

There it was, a scar in the night sky. A single line of crimson light, jabbing directly into Scorpio like an expertly honed claw. She heard something click behind her, like bone on wood. She turned, peering into the darkened bedroom, she could see little in the shadows.

"You know, I kinda like the dark." A glowing line of red appeared in the dark, it was curved slightly, and turned in such a manner that it resembled a crooked smile for some unseen face. She didn't recognize the voice, it was hard to even tell what gender the speaker was. "But I do not enjoy what follows." The red line drifted through the air over to her desk. "Let's not invite her, alright?" It floated over a candle, illuminated by the weak light the line gave off. "You're going to want this." The line- no, finger, she realized- wrapped itself around the candlestick. Picking it up and tossing it to her. She reached out with her magic and caught the candle, bringing it up to her face. "There isn't much light where you're goin'." The finger closed over the candle's wick for a moment before pulling away, leaving a small flame behind. A soft chuckle filled the air and she was falling.

"Aaahhh!" Twilight screamed as she sat bolt upright in her bed, blanket and pillows flopping off to the ground. She sat there for a moment, trying to control her breathing. "Well," she coughed. "That was unexpected." Her bedroom was rather bare, her bed on one end and on the other a desk and mirror. She slid out of her bed, her horn humming as she replaced the things she had knocked off.

"Twilight! Twilight!" The door swung open with a slam as Spike barged in, clutching a piece of paper in his claws.
"What is it Spike?" Twilight rubbed her forehead, still trying to straighten her thoughts out. She didn't like waking up from nightmares, it always left her muddled for a few minutes.
"There's a circus in town." Spike held out a flier, Twilight took it in her magic, bringing it up to her face. "Can we go? Please?" The flier depicted white, faceless stallion with disproportionately long legs and wearing a suit. Behind him a twisted, dead looking forest spelled out the name of the circus with its branches.

"Il Carnevale de Artiglio?" Twilight flipped the flier over. "I've never heard of them." On the back there was a map of the expansive fairgrounds, emblazoned across the top in thick red letters was the phrase 'Darkest show in Equestria'. "When does it open?"
"In an hour." Spike shrugged, "there was this weird guy handing these out with Pinkie Pie, he said they got set up last night, and they were delayed a little because they had to make sure no one noticed."
"What?" Twilight arched an eyebrow at him. "Look at this map Spike, there's no way they could have set all that up in one night, especially not without anyone noticing."

Spike rolled his eyes, walking over to the window. "Willing to bet?" He smirked. "I bet you twenty bits that when I open the blinds, there will be a fair that you can see from here."
"Fine." Spike opened the blinds and sure enough, she could see the fairgrounds from her window. It was a chaotic assortment of colors, with a massive blue, circular tent right in the middle, perched on the eastern side of town. Twilight looked back at the map, the layout was the same. Twilight grumbled, lighting her horn. A drawer in her desk opened, a sack of bits floated out and into Spike's claws.

"Thanks for the entry fee Twilight." He turned to leave, smiling cockily over his shoulder at her. "You coming?" Twilight sighed.
"Yeah, just give me a second to get ready." She made a mental note to ask whoever ran the place how they set all that up in complete silence in one night.

She looked up into the mirror, finding her mane a wreck she whisked up her brush to tame it. As she did, her mind drifted back to her dream, a strange one. She didn't think she'd ever dreamed about floating fingers before, and for all her research into the mental meanings of dreams she could not for the life of her think what it meant. She had never had prophetic dreams before and that was something that manifested at a rather young age, so there was no chance of it being a vision. Twilight looked up to the note pinned on the mirror's frame, she opened a drawer, lifting out a small graphite pencil.

"Remember to research the meaning of disembodied fingers in dreams." She muttered to herself as she added to her list of morning reminders. She nodded, tucking the pencil back into its drawer. Her stomach growled and she glanced at item number three on her list. 'Remember to eat before getting to work.' This one was in Spike's handwriting, he had originally written it to make sure she took care of herself back when they lived in Canterlot. Checking it had become part of her morning routine rather quickly, and though she was pretty sure she could operate without it now, she kept it for sentimental reasons. And to add things she thought up in the mornings before they got swept away by the rest of life's antics, she usually managed to get these things done by the end of the day, with the exception of a spell that had taken a year to perfect. But hey, now she didn't have to worry about harmful molds on her leftovers anymore.

As she walked down the stairs to the main floor, she wondered what kind of show the Artiglio would put on. If she remembered correctly from her lessons in different languages, the circus' name was Itailian. Literally translated it came out to, The Circus of Claw. That's odd, she thought to herself as she assembled a sandwich. Why make the distinction? Why not claws? Simply remove the O and it was plural, why singular? Oh well, she shrugged, taking a bite. I guess I'll find out when I get there.

"Come on Twilight, you almost ready?" Spike called to her, Twilight sighed, quickly finishing her sandwich. She hadn't bothered herself with how it tasted before, why should she start now.

"Yeah Spike, I'm coming."

The fairgrounds had a thick, rope fence around them. They looked decrepit, but a quick prodding from a disillusionment spell revealed them to be in perfect condition, if only for a moment. Twilight puzzled over them as she walked Spike to the entrance. The spell making the ropes appear destitute was a rather intricate little piece of work, it also put a shield over the circus, preventing anyone from coming in unauthorized.

A small crowd had gathered around the entrance arch. It was styled to appear rusty and twisted, hanging between the two poles the upper arch was carved out of wood. Carved into the rotted looking wood was the carnival's name.

It wasn't hard to find Rarity and Applejack, the Cutie Mark Crusader's excited babbling made sure of that.
"Hey girls." Twilight, pushed her way through the crowd to them.
"Hiya, Twi. Spike drag ya here the same way these three did us?" Applejack chuckled.
"Yeah." Twilight sighed. Rarity looked about ready to explode, obviously the decrepit appearance of the carnival was getting to be too much for her.
"How they expect to entertain in this trash heap is beyond me." She growled.

"It's an illusion Rarity." Twilight deadpanned. "It doesn't really look like that." Rarity stared at the rotted sign for a moment before turning back to Twilight.
"Why?" All six of the others turned to her.
"Huh?"
"Why would they do that?"
"Big reveal maybe." Spike shrugged. "Speaking of which, look, somebody's coming out."

A large creature strolled up to the edge of the barrier. It stood high above any of them, walking on its hind legs, it raised its left arm in welcome. It wore a double breasted over-shirt and dress pants that appeared to be tie-dyed in white and black, causing the colors to swirl around and blend with each other in a chaotically mesmerizing display. An intricately gold-inlaid beaked mask covered the top half of its face. And its grey mane was pulled back into a ponytail that came down to where its other hand rested behind its back. It coughed loudly and spoke, cementing itself as a he, and as being in possession of a light Itailian accent.

"Signore e signori, boys and ghouls, my name is Kleng. Beyond this illusion lies a ghastly concoction of delight, horror, fantasy and terror. Your every wish is our command, your every whimsical desire brought to life. But I warn you, there's always a price. Welcome," he brought his other hand out from behind his back, ushering out a chorus of gasps from his audience. There on his right hand, where his pointer finger was on his left, there was a massive, red claw, as thin as his other fingers but as long as his forearm. He threw his arms wide, the illusion covering the carnival shattering. The arches straightened, rust dissolving into thin air. The upper arch shed its rot and roughly carved words for a gleaming polish and scarlet lettering. The frayed ropes wove themselves back together, and the destitute looking tents of the fairground stood up straight, their colors brightening. Creatures of all shapes and sizes suddenly populated the once deserted carnival. "To Il Carnevale de Artiglio!"

Greatest Show Unearthed

The air was filled with chanting as the creatures ducked into hiding. The ground behind the arches cracked, a dozen mirrors sprung from the ground, creating a hallway to the main path. Kleng chuckled, flourishing his claw. His shadow reached up, swallowing him before it all vanished in a puff of smoke. Standing in his place was a black pegasus, a scattering of stripes and his muzzle were white as bone. He leaned upright on a large, three pronged scythe, his crimson eyes, blade like silver mane and the skull emblazoned on his flank making what he was playing as obvious.

He smirked, lifting the scythe with both hooves and began to sing.
"The dark carnival is in town, you'd better be ready." He spun around, blue light trailing off the blades. Spreading his wings he flipped backwards, scratching divots into the ground with his scythe. He landed heavily, cracks spider-webbing out from his hooves. There was a moments pause, ponies looking around in anticipation. With a sound like shattering glass, a skeletal hoof broke through the turf, lifting a corpse from the dirt. A scream rose from the audience, prompting more bodies to spring from the dirt. The stallion grinned fiercely, slamming the staff into the ground, the skeletons shook themselves free of dirt and took a step forward. "Just follow the parade, of dancing skeletons." He twirled the scythe in the air before bringing down the blades into the ground. A blaze of blue fire engulfed him and all but one of his skeletons, the fire distended the remaining skeleton's shadow onto a tent. A new voice spoke.

"Full of ghoulish delight," the creature from the flier stepped out from the skeleton's shadow before it too was engulfed in flame. "Around every corner." The fire flashed white, blinding the audience for a moment. When they could see again the slender colt was gone. A shadow fell over Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, they turned to find his muzzle not a foot from their own. They shrieked, tripping over themselves as he stood up. "Don't tell your parents you're here," seven black tentacles erupted from his back, closing in on them for a moment before pulling away. "They will soon me mourners." He dove down towards them. The Crusaders clung to each other in terror, closing their eyes and bracing for impact. He slithered around them, his limbs losing all semblance of skeletal structure. Slinking along on his belly, the slender stallion curled around a wooden booth, resting his head atop it like a grotesque wreath. Lounging within, etching glowing symbols into the air with his talon, was Kleng.

"I will be your ticket taker," he took off his mask, revealing a flat, apelike face. "Come inside, it's a dream." He drove his claw through the forehead, the gold wrapping around the new hole. He tossed it into the floating rune, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. One of the more courageous colts had started through the hall of mirrors. "Inside the funhouse of mirrors," the colt's reflection distorted into a shadow monster with dripping fangs and claws. It's right glowed red. The colt looked at it and gasped, looking down at himself to be sure he was still normal. "No one can hear you scream." The mask that he had vaporized suddenly reformed over Rarity's face, perfectly molded to her head. One of the mirrors angled itself so she could see the beak now perched comfortably on her face. Kleng continued to sing. "We can supply anything, that your heart desires." In the reflection shadows crept up around her, faces leering, teeth dripping. "But the consequences, will surely be dire." Rarity yanked the mask off and the shadows abated. A diamond dog [one half of his face turned up in a smile, the other half pulled down in a deep frown] jumped from behind the mirror.

"Welcome to the lower birth!" It howled before it was joined by a cheer from across the entire fairground.
"The greatest show unearthed!" A great bat-like creature dove down from the sky, making not a sound as it swooped over the audience.
"We appear without a sound," A grey unicorn mare took up the next line.
"The darkest show around." Her coat and eyes turned black before a phantom image stepped away from her, darkness billowing off of it. It left behind a shining white mare that sparkled in the afternoon light. The two creatures sang in unison. "We will leave you in a daze." The diamond dog stepped back up to the plate, covering one half of his face and then the other.
"Madness, murder, dismay!" All the shadows in the area, save for the dark mare, ripped themselves away from their owners, pooling in before the audience. Kleng's arm burst from them, his claw glinting darkly in the light no one had noticed was fading until then. He pulled himself the rest of the way out of the darkness.
"We will disappear at night," he flourished his blood red claw. "With blood on the concrete!" The entire circus sung the last line in concert.

"Come inside, for the ride. Your deepest, darkest fears." As one they advanced on the crowd, Kleng standing before them with a bright grin on his face. "The best night of your life, you're never leaving here!" Despite the threatening words, the few in the audience that decided to run were unencumbered. Outside of having to run past some disappointed looking carnies. "The unknown, the unseen, that's what you're gonna find! Witness this," one of the mirrors pulled itself apart, re-arranging the shards into the shape of a pony. "Witness that," A black and red llama turned into a parrot in a puff of pink smoke. "Until you lose your mind!" Kleng pulled a keyboard out of his sleeve, setting it out on thin air he began to play, expertly keeping his claw out of the way. Somewhere in the carnival a pipe organ started playing, filling the air with its melodies. He played for a moment, the audience riveted to him until he brought the music to a crescendo and stopped playing. He threw his head back and cackled, fireworks flew up from the main tent, bursting in all colors of the rainbow, in finale they exploded into a familiar representation of a star bear.

The Silent Wing

"Harmony..."

Now that their song was finished, the carnies slunk back into the fairgrounds, leaving a hesitant crowd stepping out into the carnival. Kleng had stayed behind, motioning for the black and white mares to do the same. They were looking up at the spot where the last firework had gone off, frowning. Kleng knelt down so he was at eye level with the black and white mares. after steeling themselves for a moment, the rest of the crowd took off into the circus, excited to see the sort of shows each of the creatures would put on by themselves. The Cutie Mark Crusaders dragged Applejack to a tent that had a sign in front of it that read "Hall of Mirrors." Twilight and Spike wandered off, simply looking around and Rarity started walking towards Kleng to return the mask.

“You need to put a lid on your little apprentice, I specifically remember telling her not to do that.” Kleng scolded them, ruffling their manes affectionately.
“Sorry sir.” They called in tandem, Kleng winced.
“Alright, I know you do that to get under my skin, what did I do this time?” The two mares shimmered for a moment, molding back into one. She eyed him suspiciously for a moment.
“We're not sure yet.” She turned, walking back towards the large blue tent. Rarity was about to speak when the grey mare spoke again, “Sir.” Kleng twitched slightly.
“Stop calling me sir...” He muttered to himself.

Rarity cleared her throat to get his attention, he straightened up, spinning on his heel. “How may I help you miss...?” He gestured for her to respond.
“Rarity. I believe this is yours.” She lifted the mask up for him, he shook his head, pushing it back down towards her.
“Keep it madonna, a treat from Il Artiglio.” Rarity looked at it for a moment.
“Alright then, I need to pay for it somehow.” Rarity was stopped from retrieving her bits by Kleng chuckling darkly, pushing the mask down onto her face.
“Fair madonna, you already know the price.” The shadows started creeping up around her before she pulled the mask off. “It makes a better decoration than it does an accessory, I'll definitely give you that.” He turned on his heels laughing quietly to himself. “Do come to the our opening big-top performance tonight. Yin and Yang have a new act that they're just dying to show off, and Slendy's always a treat.” He stopped suddenly, snapping his fingers. "Oh, and we have a new performer, she's a bit conceded, but she's rather talented." With a wave of his claw, he disappeared in a flash of grey.

"There's something bothering him." Pinkie Pie spoke around a mouthful of green cotton candy. Wait...
"Pinkie? When did you get here?" Rarity jumped slightly.
"About..." she scratched her chin, "an hour before anyone else. They gave me a free pass for helping with the fliers." Rarity eyed the pink mare for a moment before shaking her head.
"What do you mean, something's bothering him? He seems happy enough to me."

"His laugh." Pinkie narrowed her eyes.
"His laugh?" Rarity eyed her eyebrows skeptically.

"It's fake, he's faking a laugh. I should know, ponies do it to me all the time. Especially Twilight when she really, really wants me to leave her alone." Pinkie bounced off, leaving Rarity to locate her sister and Applejack.

Spike had made a beeline for the massive set of five silver poles the bat creature had flown towards, dragging Twilight along with him. There was a small crowd gathered around the bleachers at the base of the poles. Hanging between two of the poles was a banner that read, "Natasha, the Silent Wing." As they approached the stands they saw the bat creature, who's name was apparently Natasha, standing on a stage in the middle of the area marked out by the pillars.

Propped up on her wings, Natasha surveyed the crowd, waiting for the stands to fill to her satisfaction. Spike started trying to push his way through the crowd on the bottom level, to no avail. Twilight rolled her eyes, picking him up with her magic she brought him up to the highest point in the bleachers, Spike pestering her the whole way. There was a set of binoculars in front of each seat, she took one with her magic, setting Spike down in the seat next to her.

"So why are we as far from the show as possible?" He grumbled. Twilight looked down at Natasha with the binoculars, frowning for a moment, whether at something she was looking at or at Spike's grumblings was impossible for him to tell.
"Look up Spike, tell me what you see." Spike gaped at her for a second before looking up.
"I see... hoops, a bar, a slingshot. This is an air show!" Spike gasped, Twilight smirked at him, unable to resist rubbing it in a little more.
"And where is the best place to sit at an airshow?" Twilight said imperiously, turning her nose up like Blueblood at a charity auction.
"Yeah, I know, the highest seat." Spike grumbled, picking up the pair of binoculars in front of him.

He looked down at Natasha, and felt like his stomach was trying to force its way up his throat. Now, being the number one assistant to the element of magic, along with meeting Luna's guards, meant that he was quite familiar with metamorphic magics. Normally, such spells were used to change the appearance of limbs or hair, it was a completely cosmetic change. Like an illusion spell, but more permanent. In this case, the spells had been used to change the overall structure of the subject's skeletal and muscle structure. Bending and stretching the bones, skin and muscle of her forelegs into massive, fleshy wings that had strips of stiff hairs down the leading edge. Her shoulders and chest had been enlarged like some bulbous tumor to house the muscles, heart and lungs that powered her gargantuan wingspan. And her spine had been elongated into a muscular tail to allow for better handling. Her slightly shaggy coat was brown with streaks of blood red through it, almost as if her hide had been split and her mane was cut short so it stuck up along the back of her neck in a streak of darker brown. Long story short, the bat creature had once been a mare, the only recognizable parts on her were the overall shape of her head. Her back legs, although those had been enforced to allow for quicker takeoffs, and her cutie mark, which was a white parachute.

Spike tore his eyes away from what had once been a mare, staring up at Twilight in horror. Twilight, for her part, didn't even have the decency to be mildly disturbed, instead she looked... impressed? Yes, she was looking at Natasha in unconcealed, unapologetic awe. Looking back down at Natasha, Spike realized that he had been being a more than a bit uncharitable. It was actually a rather well done, elegant, piece of work, nothing really seemed out of place when you considered the finished work. She was smiling broadly, not a 'grin and bear it' kind of smile, but an honest to Faust smile. So, none of the modifications were painful. Nothing looked stretched or ungainly, sure she looked a little awkward as she paced back and forth on her stage, but that was to be expected when one's front limbs stretched further back than they were long. Just by looking at her he could tell she would be a thing of beauty once she got airborne. Spike realized that his earlier revulsion was due to the sheer extent to which she had been modified and not the transformation itself. He made a note to work on his kneejerk reactions. Still he had to wonder, "what kind of sicko does something like that to somepony?"

"Somebody who either cares quite a lot, or has been paid extremely well." Twilight spoke, not taking her eyes off of Natasha. "It would take a lot of time, skill, precision and concentration to mold a pony like this without killing them or leaving them in extreme pain." Twilight started telekineticaly rooting through the small bag she carried at all times. She took out a pad and pencil, sketching Natasha and taking a few estimated measurements. "And if they did it all at once, the magical energies needed would be immense. This level of transmogrification makes an aging spell look like a cheap parlor trick." She took a couple more notes, muttering to herself as she did so. "Her fur is clumped together like feathers, flutings along the leading edge and membrane of the wing, just like an owl! Silent Wing indeed." She chuckled.

"I'm not going to hear the end of this for a year, am I?" Spike groaned, facepalming.
"Probably not," Twilight admitted without an ounce of embarrassment, shrugging. Her horn glowed a bit brighter. "Would you look at that." She tried, and failed, to contain a squee of enthusiasm. "Now they're just showing off, fluting along the entire leading edge of her body. That isn't modification at that point, that's art." Spike was tuning out, just waiting for the show to start. He didn't need to hear this now, she'd start talking about it again when they got home anyway.
"Boy..." He grumbled to himself.

"Oh, hi there Fluttershy, didn't expect to see you here." Twilight snapped him back in, he hadn't expected to see Fluttershy within a mile of this place, but turning to look, there she was, a single brown bat hanging from her wing.
"Hi Twilight, I wasn't expecting to be here either." The butter yellow pegasus sat next to Twilight, on the opposite side that Spike was on. "But Ferdinand here saw Natasha flying around last night and just had to come see." She leaned in close to Twilight, whispering conspiratorially. "I think he's become a bit twitterpated." She giggled, settling herself into her seat. The bat screeched indignantly, causing Fluttershy to openly chuckle. "I know you're not, it's just fun to poke."

Spike blinked at her, she was acting rather strange.
"You seem rather... confident today." Spike said slowly, changelings, stupid changelings, he had been paranoid about them since the wedding. No matter how much Twilight pestered him, he was never going to let that go.
"Oh, sorry," Fluttershy tittered. "I just get a little excited when one of my animal friends is this worked up." She leaned over, lightly nuzzling Ferdinand the bat. He chattered nervously, brushing her away with a wing. Fluttershy continued to smile even as the bleachers filled up.

Down on stage, Natasha nodded to herself, content with the capacity of the stands. She braced her back legs, readying herself to grab the attention of the ponies that had started chatting away with each other. Unlike most of the other performers who made their home with the Artiglio, Natasha had refused the methods to amplify her voice, especially after she had her work done. She preferred a much more involved approach to getting the audiences attention, only Yin and Yang could match her in the attention grabbing department. Natasha pushed off the ground with her forelegs, balancing on her back legs she spread her wings wide. Her already formidable size amplified by an at least six meter wingspan.

She tensed her legs to avoid being blown back, and flapped hard. Normally her wingbeats were silent, but when she wanted to, she could flap really hard. The resulting gale ripped through the stands, blowing back manes and maps of the fairgrounds. Twilight had to clamp down on her notes to prevent them from blowing away. When the dust finally cleared there wasn't a pony in the stands who wasn't giving her their full undivided attention. Earth pony strength, and the wingspan of a small roc, she loved it. She smirked, tucking her wings in close and leaning down a little.

She was up like a rocket, her powerful back legs springing her into the air, she made rather impressive headway before she even opened her wings again. She flipped onto her back, opening her wings to push herself even higher. Flipping back over she flapped again, more gently this time as to remain silent, but still generating enough force to shoot up. She was up among her props now. She reached out with her wings, grabbing onto the pole. She landed on it, looking down at the ponies below.

Spike felt more than saw Twilight's self-satisfied glance at him, but he didn't really care, he was watching Natasha. And then, the show began. She balanced on her hind-hooves, wrapping her wings around herself and pitched forwards. The air tore past her as she fell. Spike began to worry as she passed what Rainbow Dash called the, Safe Recovery Zone, without even hinting at opening her wings. Closer and closer to the ground, she passed the top of the bleachers and snapped her wings open, the massive span stopping her descent like a unicorn had caught her. She simply angled her body, swooping soundlessly over the audience as her momentum carried her back up.

With a single mighty heave of her wings she re-centered herself between the five poles, spinning in tight circles around a wingtip to keep herself centered as she picked which piece to use first. As she drifted around the ring it became apparent that this was going to be more a show of grace than speed and agility.

Purposefully unacknowledged, the being sifted through the crowds, searching for the one it needed. The six that it was tasked to defeat, the six that could save it. It stopped a moment and sighed, things were so much simpler when you didn't have an agent of Ruin breathing down your neck. Natasha was performing, that was bound to attract the first's attention. Snapping back into the world of the acknowledge, it watched as she finished the last of her lazy swoops. It chuckled, she was saving herself for closing day, when people would flock from miles around to see Il Artiglio before they faded back into the shadows. Ahh, the first was walking out into the field, that would make this much easier.

"Ferdinand, wait!" Fluttershy yelled after the overexcited bat. Who was currently flitting in circles around Natasha's head. The bat had decided that he simply could not wait to officially meet the creature that sported such a magnificent wingspan. Natasha, for her part, was watching Ferdinand with a bemused expression and chuckling to herself.
"Well aren't you a cute little guy?" She laughed as the bat started hovering in front of her face. Natasha's voice was gravelly and low, yet jolly.

Now that she was up close, Fluttershy saw that Natasha was nearly twice her height. Yet, even with her enhanced size, Natasha's wings seemed to pool around her like massive rolls of fabric. Upon noticing this, Fluttershy did what she did best when confronted with strangers vastly larger than she was, she started cowering. Natasha looked down at the shivering pegasus, cocked an eyebrow and looked back at Ferdinand. "She always like this?" Ferdinand nodded, crossing his feet at her, Natasha's brow furrowed, a pained look crossing her eyes for a moment as she looked back at the timid pegasus. "Hey there," she said, adapting a softer voice she normally reserved for children. She lifting a wing to allow Ferdinand to perch on it. "This bat yours?" She asked, extending the wing to let Ferdinand hop back onto Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded hesitantly.
"S-sorry if he was a p-pr-p- bother." She stuttered. Natasha shook her head bemusedly.
"He wasn't in the slightest, I don't know if you've noticed," she lifted a wing, "but I've got a bit of a thing for bats. They're just so cuddly looking." She leaned down to gently nuzzle Ferdinand. Fluttershy perked up considerably.
"He is just the cutest, isn't he?" Ferdinand started to blush under the doting attention from both mares, shuffling his wings and chattering nervously.

"So, is he your pet?" Natasha questioned, feeling that she'd set the butter-yellow mare at ease.
"No," Fluttershy shook her head, looking down at Ferdinand. "I run an animal shelter from my house, Ferdinand here has been with me for about a month. He was attacked by an owl who decided not to finish the job." She looked back up. "He's only been able to fly again for a week. After seeing you flying last night, he had to come see you." Natasha chuckled.
"You saw that, little guy?" Ferdinand nodded, dropping off of Fluttershy's wing to flutter up to Natasha's shoulder.

"He really likes you." Fluttershy smiled. "If you're looking for a pet he'd probably volunteer." Natasha looked to be considering it, she looked over at Ferdinand, who was smiling hopefully up at her.
"That would be nice, I'd have to ask my boss about it though."

"I think it's a splendid idea." Kleng walked up behind Natasha and bowed to Fluttershy. "Kleng, at your service. Now, there is the matter of payment." Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Oh," Fluttershy nearly whispered, "there's really no need for that."
"Nonsense," Kleng waved her off. "For something given, there must always be something returned." He fished in the pocket of his overshirt for a moment. "For you madonna. A backstage pass for tonight's opening performance at the big top." He passed a small ticket with both silver and gold highlights to her. Emblazoned on the front were the three letters V.I.P. And on the back was the image of the black and white mares standing back to back, the gold and silver inlaying seemed to radiate outward from their forms.

"Th-thank you, sir." Kleng flinched, causing Natasha to roll her eyes at him again.
"It's only fair to repay one gift with another. Although I must beg of you, do not refer to me as sir, my name works just as well, fair Fluttershy." He raked his claw through the air, disappearing in a flash of light.

"I guess I'll see you again tonight then." Natasha nodded.

I hate this...

Opening Night Part 1: The Puppetmaster's Tale

"...is not..."

All was darkness within the high top, ponies murmured and shifted in their seats as they waited anxiously for the show to begin. Fluttershy was extremely uncomfortable, she didn't like being around crowds on her best days, much less when she couldn't tell what they were doing. She hugged a struggling Angel Bunny close to her chest, the unhappy rabbit roped along by virtue of his extremely twitchy mistress's teary eyed pleadings.

“Gathered friends,” Kleng's voice called from the darkened ring, “the day has passed, the light has gone and so have our usual tricks. Our feats of the body belong to the Day. The Night is for the mind, for stories, both uplifting and terrifying. You will find no clowns with seltzer or dancing beasts here, but you may come face to face with legends.” He chuckled darkly, “whether you wish to meet them or not.” A spotlight came on, bathing the center ring in light. Instead of Kleng, the faceless stallion stood. Around him were five puppets, crumpled on the ground so none could quite make out what they were. The first was many different colors, impossible to fully identify from where Fluttershy sat. The second was blue and red. The third was green and pink. The fourth was white and gold and the last was blue and black.

“Hello,” the faceless stallion spoke, his voice was echoing and whispering, as if dozens of others spoke at the same time. “I am the puppetmaster, Slender. Tonight I share a tale of corruption, of ruin, of evil.” A myriad of tentacles sprouted from his back, attaching themselves to different parts of the first puppet. It jittered for a moment before slowly rising to its feet. “And this,” as the puppet rose it quickly became apparent who it was, “is my first face of the night.” His voice suddenly changed, becoming a perfect imitation of the being in question. “Discord.” Slender suddenly fell through the floor, disappearing from view as Discord's distinct chuckling could be heard echoing through the tent. Fluttershy clutched Angel closer, momentarily squeezing the air from his body with a pained squeak. Strange music, almost like a musicbox began playing as Discords voice rang out seemingly from everywhere, almost singing, but not quite. The puppet began to move fluidly, almost as if it had come alive under it's handler's skillful touch.

“The first destroyer was a mad god of the Joker.” The puppet pulled a playing card out from behind his ear, throwing it out into the crowd. “Bringing his tricks and games wherever he roamed.” The puppet began to dance, throwing itself around in an almost ungainly manner one moment, pirouetting with skilled grace the next. “They were great fun. For him.” The puppet threw back its head and opened its mouth, Discords insanity soaked cackling filled the air. Chills ran up and down Fluttershy's spine. “In his madness and glee he destroyed, breaking up and twisting around anything he could get his greedy hands on.” The puppet began to play with the dirt, raking long gouges in it with its wooden claws. “But eventually it wasn't enough, so he decided to turn to an avenue that he had yet to exploit before.” Another puppet fell from the ceiling, wobbling at it hit the end of its bonds. It was a unicorn pony, carved from brown wood. “The minds of other creatures.” The Discord puppet leaped for joy, clapping its hands together. Fluttershy got a brief glimpse of the tentacles controlling it, they descended directly into its shadow. “By playing as he wished with them he created ruin of civilizations as well as environments.” The second puppet fell to the ground, clutching its head. “Until someone worked up the courage and power to stop him, he ruled over a land of destruction.” The paint of the Discord puppet began to peel back, a stony grey beneath. “But stop him they did. And so the first destroyer was defeated, for the moment.” The Discord puppet convulsed before falling to the ground, the pony puppet was reeled up to the ceiling in an instant.

The second puppet rose, he was a blue unicorn stallion with a red mane and had been polished until he seemed to shine like crystal. Slender's voice changed again, becoming deep and almost seeming to roll with self assured power.

“The second destroyer was a mighty mage king of the diamond,” The puppet's horn glowed, a card was pulled from its mane and thrown into the crowd. “He ruled his people with firmness and grace.” Three puppets like the pony from Discord's part fell from the ceiling. A unicorn, an earth pony and a pegasus, they bowed in reverence of the gently smiling king. “But there was a terrible fixation to his being, though it was well hidden.” The three ponies flew back up and a black book descended. “He lusted after magic, in all its forms and he believed that he, and he alone could master every trace of it.” The puppet leaned into the book, turning the pages with a hoof. “Although, he was powerful enough to have done it,” a dozen black tentacles sprouted from the book, wrapping themselves around the puppet as it struggled against them, “so much of the magic in this world is corruption incarnate.” The puppet was engulfed by the blackness, a horror stricken face the last bit to be swallowed. The tentacles lifted it off the ground, squeezing tighter and then releasing it. As the puppet fell to the ground Fluttershy recognized it. King Sombra stood up. The three pony puppets fell from the ceiling, on black chains this time instead of ropes. “His gluttonous obsession with black magic devoured first his kingdom,” the chained puppets fell to the ground, “then his body,” the Sombra puppet's mouth opened to reveal its sharpened teeth, “and finally his mind.” The puppet collapsed in a heap, a pained growling filling the air.

The third puppet rose, she was a pink mare with a deep blue-green mane. This time it was an alicorn, the wings spreading wide. Slender's voice changed, this time becoming female and taking on an almost sensual purr.

“The third destroyer was a beautiful alicorn queen of the club.” The puppet flicked its feathers, drawing them through the air in a graceful loop. Another card was flung into the audience, this time landing directly in Fluttershy's lap. She picked up the card, looking first at the back, which bore Slender's faceless visage. She turned it over and almost recoiled. It was a queen of clubs, with Chrysalis' cruelly grinning face as the queen. Looking closer she realized that there was something written on it in green ink. Sorry about this -Slender. Before she could puzzle further over what that meant he began talking again. “She was a lady of pleasures, both subtle and gross; indulging both herself and her people as she pleased.” Another puppet fell from the ceiling, this one was obviously male and just as tall as Chrysalis' puppet. They took a hold of each other and began to dance, unlike Discord's chaotic jerkings, this was a waltz, they moved gracefully but there was a vicious undercurrent of sexuality to it. Fluttershy felt herself blushing as she watched. “But, like the King of Diamonds before her, magics enthralled her.” Green flames began to sprout from the queen's footsteps. “She feared death and age, and so sought a way to sustain herself for eternity. She found the answer in Love magics.” Slender suddenly appeared before Fluttershy, seeming to peel himself away from her shadow. He leaned in close, until their muzzles were almost touching and whispered huskily. “Physical love magics.” A tentacle ran slowly, teasingly along Fluttershy's muzzle. She squeaked in terror and hid behind her wings. Slender's chuckling filled the air, Fluttershy peeked out from between her feathers and he was already gone. She guessed that was what the apology on the card had been about. “By feeding on the love, lust and adoration of her subjects she was able to stave off both age and death.” The flames suddenly roared, engulfing the queen and her dancing beu. “But such magics, always have a price.” When the flames cleared, Chrysalis stood as Fluttershy knew her. “And as each of her subjects was drained, they joined her in this twisted immortality.” The other puppet was cleared of flame, a changeling bowing before his queen. “Within a hundred years, her entire kingdom fell into the same corrupt decadence as their queen, until they found that they could no longer sustain each other.” The flames returned, this time consuming the changeling stallion whole, leaving ash in its wake. “Today, only a fragment of her kingdom remains, but she stands.” Chrysalis' puppet sat down gently.

The last two puppets rose, Fluttershy recognized them immediately. Luna and Celestia stood side by side, yet facing away from each other. Slender's voice changed again, as if both of the princesses were speaking at once.

“The fourth destroyer was actually two, the glorious alicorn sisters of our fair land.” The Celestia puppet stood up straighter as Slender spoke in her voice alone. “The passionate and logical older sister of the heart and sun.” A card fell from the ceiling and into the audience. The Luna puppet stood straight and proud as he spoke in her voice. “And the stubborn and fierce younger sister of the spade and moon.” Another card followed the first. “The sisters quarreled, like any family does, but for quite some time they stood together, refusing to let petty squabbles affect their subjects.” The puppets nodded and bowed to each other. “Their subjects themselves were a different matter entirely.” This time a pair of specialized gold and silver puppets rose from the ground. “Overtime, two churches rose, the church of Celestia.” The golden puppet began to strut about proudly. “And the church of Luna.” The silver puppet stood in its golden counterpart's way. “The sisters, who honestly don't and never did consider themselves divine, were nonetheless flattered by the gesture and were known to attend the services whenever they could.” The puppets of Celestia and Luna stood by the silver and gold ponies. “But the churches, like the sisters, fell into squabbling. Unlike the sisters, the churches knew not the restraint of the two rulers and allowed their anger to vex the entire nation, breaking the land we know today in two.” The silver and gold ponies turned their backs to each other. “The sisters severed ties with both churches, commanding that they stop the bloodshed, but their pleas went unheard. Eventually, the Church of Celestia triumphed, casting down their enemy in what they called a holy crusade.” The silver puppet fell. “Then in their foolishness they came after their enemy's 'Goddess', heedless of their own's pleas.” The Celestia puppet stepped between the golden one and Luna's. “The wrath of Invictus was terrible as she covered her sister's escape.” The Celestia puppet's mane and tail burst into flame while the Luna puppet was lifted into the air, flying away from the other two.

“But alas, the corners of this world are filled with bright and dark creatures, all too eager to exploit a ruler who's people have turned on them.” A mass of bone white tentacles burst from beneath the Luna puppet, enveloping it and dragging it down before it could even struggle. “And when the younger returned, she returned as a being of unyielding order.” The tentacles retreated back away from the Luna puppet, in its place was a black creature that Fluttershy was quite familiar with. “Nightmare Moon returned to the moon sister's sibling, intent on bringing the balance down. She was fueled by a long buried anger, one that she had always worried, but never truly believed. After all, with all those who lived, named, sailed and slept by the stars, who could truly say they did not appreciate the night?” The Nightmare puppet faced off against the Celestia one, clashing horns and glaring. “The older sibling attempted to purge the vile manipulator from her sister, but could not do so alone.” Six large gems rose around the two clashing puppets. “It was only a thousand years later that there appeared six who could.” The gems began to glow fiercely, the black paint peeled off the Nightmare puppet, returning it to its previous state. “The only of the four to return from ruin could only do so because she had something the others did not. Those that cared enough to not only obey, but to also defy.” the six gems were lowered back to the ground.

Slender stepped out from the Celestia puppet's shadow, all five of his main puppets standing up and taking a bow. The light went out for but a moment and he, along with all his tools were gone.

"...lying to them..."

Author's Note

Yes, his story was inspired by the Alice of Human Sacrifice thing. The reason this took so long was that I spent almost that entire time agonizing over trying to make it singable. As you can probably tell, I gave up.