//------------------------------// // Opening Night Part 1: The Puppetmaster's Tale // Story: Il Carnevale de Artiglio // by Vicron //------------------------------// "...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..."