//------------------------------// // Part One: The Eschatology of Pink // Story: Masquerade // by McPoodle //------------------------------// Thought Experiments 2: Masquerade Part One: The Eschatology of Pink There are three normal breeds of pony in Equestria: earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns (alicorns are a special case, which will be covered in Chapter 5). All of them possess magic, but they express that magic in different ways that are precisely defined. Earth pony magic interacts with their bodies and their environment, making them stronger and more dexterous than the other breeds and having a long-term positive effect on the growth and well-being of the plants and animals in their vicinity. A pegasus’ magic allows it to manipulate the weather and to fly. Unicorn magic is the most-varied, as it can be used to generate energy fields, otherwise manipulate the environment, or change appearances. These are the only forms of magic these three breeds possess—there are no exceptions. —from The Equestrian Handbook, 2nd Edition, by M.J.P., Chapter 1 (describing things as they were in the Year 7000, 14 years before the return of Nightmare Moon) Twilight Sparkle and Vinyl Scratch were trapped. The trap had been fashioned by the sworn enemy of the ponies of Equestria, the Dragon Emperor Vasilyevich. This trap took the form of a spell, a spell that had been thought impossible before now: the Dream Trap Chain. A Dream Trap Chain puts a group of victims to sleep and magically links their dreams together. Anything that happens to those victims in those dreams affects them in real life as well. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had all become puppets in Twilight Sparkle’s dream. Twilight Sparkle, mesmerized into thinking that this was just an ordinary dream, used it to fulfill her war-gaming fantasies, and in this way nearly killed them all. They were saved only by the purest of chances, the fact that the seventh pony pulled into the dream trap chain was the blind pony Vinyl Scratch. On being inserted into Twilight’s dream, Vinyl was suddenly made into a seeing pony, and this shock broke the magical strings that compelled her to follow Dreamer Twilight’s will. Vinyl discovered the truth, and woke up Twilight before her dream reached its fatal conclusion. But this escape was not without consequences: Pinkie Pie had nearly been blinded by a cut above her eye, and Twilight had been badly bruised on her hind legs. Relatively minor injuries, but a reminder of the peril they were facing. Twilight and Vinyl were now free of the dreams that threatened them and their friends, but they were not free of the spell. This left them stuck in a sort of limbo. They were safe, but five ponies were still trapped in five dreams, still at the mercy of the spell’s corruption and their own unconscious whims. Only one choice lay open to them: plunging back into the world of dreams, in hopes of saving the others like Vinyl had saved Twilight. “I’m suddenly having second thoughts,” Vinyl said to Twilight. The two ponies were standing in a tiny little room in the royal palace of Princesses Celestia and Luna in Canterlot. But of course they were not really there. This was some sort of dream construct, a place for their two minds to meet when not in the world of a dreamer. “About starting with Pinkie’s dream?” asked Twilight. “Yes,” replied Vinyl. “Pinkie operates in mysterious ways. Even asking the wrong questions about her has nasty consequences.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked with a suspicious tone. “I’m talking about that time you investigated the Pinkie Sense, and the universe decided to get back at you.” Twilight laughed loudly. A little too loudly. “Oh that?” she asked. “Don’t be ridiculous. You must have heard Rarity’s version of the story—she tends to ponify everything, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she invoked ‘The Will of the Universe’ or something equally silly every time my investigations were interrupted by falling objects.” “I just know that there’s more going on with her than I thought there was,” Vinyl stated. “What about that other side of her, the side I saw in your dream?” She put a hoof to her head to think better. “I don’t remember much of the details,” she said, “but she seemed very different than Pinkie. I remember that she insisted on going by the name of Pinkamena Diane Pie.” “Err...you remembered that, huh?” Twilight nervously ground one hoof into the flagstone she was standing on, and then winced as this caused the pain in her flank to flare up. “Look, if you have any insight, I’d appreciate it,” Vinyl said. “Especially considering we’re going to be diving into a reality she has complete control over. And there’s no way of knowing if we might be separated in there.” “Oh that reminds me,” said Twilight. “We need some way to recognize each other in the dream. We might end up looking like anypony in there.” “Um, what do you suggest?” asked Vinyl with trepidation. The possibility that she might not even be physically herself in Pinkie Pie’s dream had not even occurred to her. “If you see somepony you think might be me, ask her about the weather. Ask as if you didn’t already know what it was going to be. If the pony you ask doesn’t treat you like you’re crazy, it’s got to be me! I got that from a Daring Do novel.” “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. Now, what can you tell me about Pinkie Pie? What are her deepest, darkest secrets?” “I...uh, I really can’t tell you anything.” “Seriously?” “I’m afraid so,” Twilight said, nodding sadly. “I was in one of her dreams a year ago...” “...How did you manage that?” Vinyl asked suddenly. “I thought dream magic was nearly impossible. Well...at least back then I did. Recent experiences have proved me wrong.” “Princess Luna was involved,” Twilight said evasively. Vinyl Scratch groaned. She had heard rumors that the Princess of the Night had the power to enter dreams at will, but Vinyl had been rather stubbornly insisting that these rumors were wrong, that surely one of the two sovereigns of the pony nation wouldn’t stoop to such an intrusive act, even if her vast magic made her capable of it. “And from that you...?” “Pinkie Pie Promise!” Twilight blurted out. “Of course,” Vinyl sighed. Are you really surprised? asked the mental voice of DJ Pon-3. Vinyl Scratch’s reservations about others poking around her head stemmed from the fact that she wasn’t quite alone in there. She had a handful of voices roaming around in her mind, stemming from events in her past that she never wanted to think about again. The leader of the head-voices was her performance alter-ego, DJ Pon-3, and it was thanks to her strength that the others were kept in check. If circumstances ever forced Twilight Sparkle to poke around in Vinyl’s mind, there was no doubt that she would have forced a similar confession of silence out of the Princess’ student. Not that Pinkie’s anywhere near as messed up as me, Vinyl thought to herself. “But we really have to save Pinkie Pie first,” Twilight insisted. “She knows dreams like it’s nopony’s business, and with her help we ought to be able to get through all of the other ponies’ dreams.” “I know, I know,” Vinyl said, resigned. “I just wish I had some more insight into how she ticks. Like...her favorite song!” It was through a song that Vinyl had been transported into Twilight Sparkle’s dream, a song from a very unique set of compact discs. The two mares concluded that, since the particular song used was Twilight’s favorite, they could use a similar method to control which pony’s dreams they entered next. Vinyl used her unicorn magic to open the saddlebag containing the CDs, and Twilight dug through them for a few minutes, before finally emerging with the one she was looking for. “The Waltz from Masquerade,” she finally announced. “This is the only piece of classical music she listens to regularly, but I’m sure this is Pinkie’s favorite song.” “Masquerade by Kravitz?” Vinyl Scratch asked, suddenly alarmed. Twilight checked the back of the CD. The words were written in the lost language of the Ancients, but she had eventually managed to decipher that language, and now could read the words on the CD with little difficulty. “Well, it actually says by Khachaturian,” she said after a moment. “But Spike has a record with Kravitz’ version on it, and the two are identical.” “Kravitz the dragon?” Vinyl asked, hoping desperately that this would be some other Kravitz that she never heard of. “Yes, it’s Kravitz the dragon. Spike doesn’t collect much pony music. You’re an expert on dragon music, right?” “Yeah.” “So let’s play the song and see if you recognize it.” Twilight walked over to one wall of the tiny cell they were in and addressed her words to a blue-colored stone embedded in the rock. “Cecil, could you memorize and play Track 4?” She used her magic to remove the shiny CD from the case and to hold it in mid-air with the reflective side facing the stone. “Hmm...” said a voice emanating from the rock. A field of magic emerged from it and took the disc from Twilight before focusing into a tight beam. The CD was spun in the air, faster and faster, until Cecil was finally able to read the track...and play it. Vinyl groaned loudly upon hearing the first notes of the song. “Yup, that’s it,” she said sadly. “What’s wrong?” Twilight asked as her eyes closed and she started swaying lightly to the song. “It doesn’t sound so bad.” “Well, maybe we’re lucky,” said Vinyl. “Maybe Pinkie Pie doesn’t know the context of the song.” Twilight’s eyes popped open. “What context?” “This was the song used to overthrow Emperor Reznicek.” “Emperor Reznicek?” asked Twilight. “The first dragon emperor? From 6500 years ago?” Each question saw her becoming more and more excited. Dragon history was an area of knowledge she was woefully lacking in, and thanks to the constant questions of Spike, she was more than aware of that lack. There were certain areas she knew of in great detail, such as the times that dragons and ponies had come into conflict over the centuries. But the doings of dragons among their own kind were almost totally unknown to her. “The same,” answered Vinyl, her head down. “Kravitz was his court composer.” “I know that Reznicek came out of nowhere to unite the dragon tribes,” Twilight recalled, “a feat until then thought to be impossible. He invaded Equestria with an enormous army, telling the dragons that we ponies were immensely rich, and promising a near-unlimited supply of plunder to those who followed him over the border. He was defeated by Princess Luna’s army after a fierce battle of wills that ended with the revelation to the dragon troops that Equestria was far poorer than Draconia when it came to mineral wealth. Emperor Reznicek retreated to his realms with his tail between his legs. I kinda assumed that his followers deposed him right then and there.” The waltz that Cecil had been playing had reached its conclusion in the middle of Twilight’s explanation. Vinyl sighed. “Keep playing the song in a loop, Cecil,” she instructed. Turning to Twilight as the music resumed, she said, “No, he wasn’t deposed right away. He managed to retain control over the oldest and most-respected of the dragon clans, the Greens, leaving him hundreds of followers. Over the decades that followed, he became more and more insane, until finally Kravitz was convinced to turn against him. The composer decided to time the uprising to start when his master was at his most vulnerable, watching a performance of Kravitz’ own play Masquerade. The specific moment of the strike would be the last note of the waltz, the very waltz you are hearing right now, that was to be played during the titular masquerade ball in the play. Now, with that explanation over with, the way to get into Pinkie Pie’s dream is this: we dance to this song; dance until we’re not even thinking straight anymore. Then Cecil can teleport us back into the dreams.” “Alright,” Twilight said, “but if this is a dragon waltz, it’s only fair that we dance in the dragon fashion.” With that, she reared up on her hind legs and held out her forelegs. Being blind, Vinyl didn’t see this, but she heard enough to figure it out. “Did you just...? Fine.” With a much less graceful effort, she managed to match Twilight’s pose, and grabbed her around the waist. “But I lead.” And so they danced. Nowhere near as gracefully as a pair of dragons, but at least they kept the beat of what was a fairly brisk waltz. “Nothing’s happening,” said Twilight after a few minutes. “Stop thinking,” said Vinyl. “It’ll only work if your mind is completely blank.” “Oh,” said Twilight. They danced some more. “I was wondering,” she said a few seconds later. “You’re thinking again.” “Oh, sorry.” More minutes passed. Vinyl sighed. “What is it, Twilight?” “Oh, well, I wondered if that was it.” “What was it?” “If the fact that the song was used to trigger a coup was the only reason the song creeped you out. Because personally, I wouldn’t let something like that stand between me and a good song. I mean, that song was composed before Kravitz even decided to overthrow the Emperor, right? So it was meant to be a good song, right?” “Are you even listening to it?” Vinyl asked incredulously. “This is no sane song.” “Really?” “Yes, really. It’s a sinister song in a sinister play.” “What’s it about?” “Aarrrggghh!” Vinyl groaned. “Look, if I give you a synopsis, will you stop thinking?” “Yes!” Twilight proclaimed confidently. “Fine!” Vinyl exclaimed, her words beginning to speed up to match the tempo of the waltz. “Masquerade was a work of propaganda, designed to spread the lie about how Reznicek came to power. It was a blockbuster of a play, with eye-popping special effects. It wasn’t performed very often, because it ended with the playhouse burning down around the audience—remember that dragons are fireproof, so they just loved stuff like that.” She suddenly giggled for no apparent reason. Twilight looked with uncertainty into Vinyl’s sunglasses, wishing she could tell for sure why a rictus was growing on the DJ pony’s face. “In the play,” Vinyl continued gleefully, “the dragons of the court are all hopelessly corrupt, and betray each other at every opportunity! Hee-hee! Prince Arbenin falls in love with a mysterious woman and learns that she is to appear at a masquerade ball. He expresses his feelings to those he believes to be his friends, but they instead scheme to make the two of them hate each other!” The madness in Vinyl’s expression had now started to creep into her words, as she had allowed the feelings of the song to take her over. “At the masquerade,” she proclaimed in time with the looping song, “every dragon wears a mask. Masks of rage. Masks of fear. They wear the masks to hide, but the masks reveal what they really are. The nobles dance on a floor of glass, and below them, miles and miles below, the common dragons toil and sweat in the diamond mines. Can you hear them? Can you hear the cries of betrayal from the dragons that toil below the masquerade? Above them the nobles laugh, supported by glass, supported by lies! And sitting in the chandelier as far above them as they are above the commoners is the Prince of Lies, Reznicek the Jester! Renicek the Judge! Oh how he laughs at the fools below him! Reznicek, who had held the dragons in the Celestial balance, and found them wanting! Reznicek! Reznicek! Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie, who will now destroy the ponies with their own LIES, Pinkie Pie who sets the fire that will consume the ballroom, and thanks to her forbidden magic, sets fire to the flesh of the invulnerable nobles! Can you hear the fire, Twilight? Can you smell the flesh of the nobles as they burn! ‘Burn, nobles, burn!’ cackles the Emperor, as the playhouse itself bursts into flames and HE becomes the victim of his very own spell! Die, Tyrant, die, in the flames of your own creation, consumed by your lies!!” Twilight Sparkle’s pupils had shrunk into pinpricks. “And that is Pinkie Pie’s favorite song,” Vinyl concluded, suddenly back to normal. Judging the time was right, Vinyl effortlessly shut down her conscious mind, allowing the groove of the song to once again take her over. Having waited for this moment, Cecil cast his teleportation spell at the mindless ponies, and they disappeared. “Is it wrong that she turns me on so much?!” he proclaimed to nopony.