//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Touching the Truth // Story: The Nightmare Parade // by Wanderer D //------------------------------// Chapter 5: Touching the Truth by Wanderer D Sweetie Belle was in a surprisingly good mood. Shades had confirmed that Neon Clove was now staying at the hotel as well, since she'd be traveling with them now that she was under contract. It had been a long time since she'd had a friend stay over, after all. 'Ever since I left Ponyville, I think…' And sure, the other mare had strong feelings for her too, which was nice… although she remained thankful Neon Clove kept things polite at best, teasing at worst. Nothing she couldn't handle… and who knew? She liked the plucky sound engineer/runner. Maybe… one day? "Nah," Sweetie chuckled, cantering over to check herself in the mirror. Under that soft coat of white fur there was so much metal. Almost no real mare to actually love.  Her expressive green eyes were not real either. Nor most of her horn. She still had some organic bits, of course… enough to feel attraction to others, for one, but… She shivered. Love. Sex. Breathing… those  were things for real ponies. Chances were that if she even brought up the subject of a relationship, LightnSound would turn it into a PR circus that would only bring misery to everyone involved. …ussss… Sweetie stepped back, eyes wide, staring at her reflection. For just a second she thought she had seen— "Sweetie! Good morning!" Shades sauntered into her room, smiling widely. "Today's the big night! Nightmare Night! Have you looked outside?" Without waiting for an answer, her manager ambled over to the windows and made the photochromic glass transparent again. Sweetie, who had walked out to greet her, stopped, gasped and trotted over, taking in the sights. Sol City was covered in flying holograms, much more than the ones from the previous days, which had been warming up to this. Giant holographic spiders climbed buildings, chariots pulled by thestrals carrying skeletal or demonic creatures laughed and jeered across the sky. The city glowed with orange, red and white neon lights in the streets, and she could see crews working on securing the road from the warehouse to the Sol City Dome for the parade later on. Masses of creatures were already setting up to watch the parade. She knew it was going to be big, but it still impressed her nevertheless. "And it's all for you," Shades said with satisfaction. "Well, not just for me," Sweetie replied softly. "It's Nightmare Night, after all, and Yumi's also going to perform." "Bonus," Shades said, shrugging. "You're still the main event. These ponies, griffons, hippogriffs, even the yaks and the dragons… they're here for you, Sweetie.. They're here to see you." Sweetie Belle took an intentional deep breath and let it out slowly. When was the last time she had paid attention to her breathing? Something had changed. She looked down at the city again, and… she saw the discoloration. The segmented pixelation of a creature… two… several of them among the distant crowds. Glitching. Phasing out. Illusions. Hallucinations. Sweetie shook her head and turned around, only to stare at the nightmarish Twilight Sparkle she had seen in her mindscape before. Tall, regal, thin… too thin. Glitching and pixelating in place. She raised a hoof and pointed at Sweetie. …one… Sweetie backed away until she bumped with Shades, making her jump. "Sweetie?" "Sorry!" Sweetie said, glancing her way and then back at… nothing. An empty room. "I-I'm just excited." Shades shook her head. "You've done this before, Sweetie Belle, you'll be fine." Sweetie nodded. "Finish up getting ready, we'll be heading out for the final practice soon." Sweetie nodded, staring down at the streets again, but there were no signs of pixelating or glitching creatures. "Right." A beat. "Is Neon Clove coming with us?" "She's already there. She's helping the technicians check everything for the entire setup." Shades smiled. "But don't worry, once this is all over I think I'd like to give you two some time to rest and catch up." Her smile became professional. "As long as it doesn't interfere with your duties." …One… Sweetie Belle stood still as the make-up artists spray-painted her fur and mane in gradients of blue and purple. She pretended not to hear the whispers, or that she hadn't caught sight of the slight pixelation in the shadows around her, as if they were watching her. Instead, she focused on Neon Clove, who was going over the decks and computers within the platform. She and the other technicians were situated in an area that would be covered by a decorative set made to look like the ruins of what they interpreted the Castle of the Two Sisters would have looked like. Right now it was open, so they could see each other, but once the show began, it would close around them so that they couldn't be seen. Her costume designer busily set up her wings, connecting them to a panel just between her shoulder blades, and asking her to move them. It was odd to do so, but she got the hang of it and managed to open them and flap them slowly. They weren't built to replace real wings, after all, and their size was too big for convenience… but perfect for holographic projections.  Her eyes glowed menacingly as intended, and even though she told them once more that Nightmare Moon didn't have claws, they insisted on her wearing the silly things until she finally relented. "Dear, nocreature knows what she actually looked like," the old earth pony had said, exasperated. Sweetie had bitten back a retort, concluding that she'd clear the score during the interviews the next day. NC: How are you feeling? The message brought a small smile to her face, which she used to her advantage, opening her mouth to allow them to put in her fangs. SB: I thought you had forgotten about me. NC: Never. SB: I'm okay. Kind of annoyed that they won't listen to me about Nightmare Moon. NC: So… you really met her, huh. SB: A long time ago, when I was just a filly. I wonder how Princess Luna is doing… I'm lonely, Clove, I miss my sister and my friends. NC: I'm sorry. SB: Don't be… I just want to know why they're ignoring me. NC: They're not ignoring you. Sweetie had to make an effort to not turn her body around and march up to Neon Clove to demand a private conversation in person. SB: So you found something? NC: I'm… not sure. "Alright, everycreature!" Shades called out as the artists scrambled away from Sweetie Belle. "Let's perform final checkups! The parade is due to start in fifteen!" Sweetie Belle nodded, running a performance checkup, and allowing her body to follow the predetermined motions. SB: We still have a little more time… what did you find? NC: It's a lot to take in, Sweetie. I'm not even sure how I feel about it. SB: You have to give me something! Please Clove, I've been seeing things, hearing things even before yesterday. It's driving me crazy not knowing what happened to my friends and family. NC: There's a lot to talk about but… fine. I do have something for you, but I'll give it to you after the concert. SB: Can you just… send it now? Just so I have something to hold on to? NC: I… don't think I should. SB: Please… I promise I won't open it. It's for my peace of mind. NC: **Has sent a file**   There you go. It's password locked, so we'll open it later, okay? SB: Thank you! I love you! You have no idea how much this means to me! In the real world Neon Clove almost dropped her coffee and was barely able to catch it with her magic.  NC: Okay, okay, I um. Right! Thanks, uh, love you too. But, um, we do need to work and yeah, we can look at that later. Sweetie Belle giggled and Shades gave her a look. "You seem to be in a good mood." She sighed. "I am… I feel better already." "The first two platforms have moved out," a technician said soon after the decorated canopy had lowered over them. Stern Label stood behind them. "Then it's Yumi's platform." Neon Clove looked at the list of songs. "'The Seed of Tirek', 'My Womb for Tirek', 'The Son of Tirek'. Geez. I'm surprised she doesn't have a song called 'The Balls of Tirek'." "Well, she did have a song called: 'Tirek's Stone-Hard Devotion'," one of the techs said. "For real?" Neon Clove shook her head. "Who writes her songs?" "That," Shades said, "is a secret." "Platforms four and five are out," another tech informed them. Neon Clove looked down at her deck. They were number seven. As soon as they were moving, she'd have to kick in her emotion emulator, monitor Sweetie's stats…  Sweetie. She tried to concentrate. There was much to be discussed… but not here. Not now. "And we're go!" Neon Clove nodded and turned on the emulator. She looked out the massive doors of the warehouse as they floated slowly out into the neon, holographic, and LED-lighted streets of Sol City. Sweetie already felt happy. Not exultant of course, but happy.  She couldn't wait to talk to Neon Clove after the concert; go over what the other mare had discovered. Finally have some answers, maybe even meet with her friends! Thus, when the emotion emulator started running, she allowed herself to share the hype of her dancers, everycreature in the crowds, even the weirdly aggressive energy of Yumi's performance ahead of hers. Her holographic wings opened wide as she faced Sol City, and began singing… …singing… …usss… Her consciousness split. She could feel everycreature. All of them. She could feel her dancers' relief at finally performing, the technicians' focus, Neon Clove's worry and care… Stern Label's desires. She reached beyond as her body danced and sang. She reached beyond the creatures watching her, loving her, adoring her… she reached beyond and past them. Past the city, past the edges of consciousness. And once more, she stood in front of the Moonflow. …One… Sweetie frowned, looked around, then gasped when she turned her gaze ahead once more and Twilight Sparkle—the twisted, glitching, half-pixelated version of her old friend—stood before her, materializing without a sound. "You have returned," the apparition stated. "You insist on touching the Moonflow." "I don't!" Sweetie replied, "I keep coming here against my will." Twilight was silent. "You have returned. And you have more with you," she added, narrowing her eyes. "You have the knowledge you seek." "I—yeah, a friend of mine, Neon Clove… she found this for me." Twilight locked glitching eyes with her. "If you see the truth… you will break." This gave Sweetie pause. Her mind went back to Shade's half-answers, to Neon Clove's reluctance to show her what was really going on… to Yumi's sudden change… and a cold, heavy weight seemed to take hold of her heart. "Wh-what do you mean?" …One… Twilight walked past her, making Sweetie turn to keep her in sight until she had the Moonflow behind her, and Twilight in front. "LightnSound, like all corpos, sees assets, and assets are consumable and replaceable." Twilight raised her head and looked down at Sweetie. "Do you want to know where you fall in that spiral of greed? Truly know who you are to them? To yourself? To others? "I know that," Sweetie said, looking away. "We all are just a product. Everycreature that works for a Megacorp." Twilight shook her head. "It goes deeper than that. It goes beyond a contract for work. In this world of cybermagic, do you truly think it boils down to working for them or just being ruined?" The sinking feeling became worse. "What else could they… is that what happened to Yumi?" Sweetie asked, eyes wide. "Yumi?" "She's another singer under LightnSound," Sweetie explained. "She was the sweetest Yak you could meet… reminded me of Fluttershy. But… she disappeared after a bad interview, and when I saw her again… she was different." …ussss… Twilight regarded her in silence for several moments. "I have found several encrypted files mentioning 'Yumi' in the LightnSound servers." She tilted her head. "Do you wish to know?" Sweetie closed her eyes. Shivered. "Will this… will I find out the truth about myself too?" "You know the truth." Twilight said softly. Her expression didn't change, but the tone of her voice held pity. "This would just confirm everything. It will hurt you. It will break you." "And you won't stop me?" Twilight shook her head. "It is time you learned the truth, but it is not my place to force it upon you." "Then why have you told me to… not seek it?" Twilight's glitching form seemed to hesitate. "Because of who you are, Sweetie Belle." "Who am I?" Sweetie asked softly. "If not Sweetie Belle?" Twilight advanced, placed a hoof on her shoulder and made her face the Moonflow. The techno-magical construct that evolved, grew, ate and destroyed all that tried to cross from either side. …usssssss… "Touch it… cross through and find out." Sweetie approached the shimmering light. "Will I be okay?" "No…" Twilight said, walking up to stand next to her. "But you… will still be you. Keep in your mind what you seek. I will be with you." Sweetie steeled her nerves and, with one final glance at Twilight, stepped into the Moonflow, concentrating with all she had on one single thought: 'Who am I?' Sound distorted into a cacophony. The world seared around her. She felt her consciousness slip. And then, before she felt herself dispersed into the infinite magic… she heard the whispers again. But now the voices sounded familiar. …One… of… us… Sol City halted. The parade's music slowed almost comically and then stopped completely. The platform's lights faded and flickered alongside all of the holograms decorating the city. The dancers also slowed down and stopped, hesitantly looking at each other. "Something's wrong," a tech said. Neon Clove kept an eye on the readings. "No spikes from Sweetie. I can still read her but—" "But?" Shades growled. "She's stopped transmitting any emotions," Neon Clove said softly. She looked up at Stern Label. "She's perfectly fine otherwise… just nothing on the emotional spectrum." NC: Sweetie? No response. "Why is everything off?" another technician asked, standing up and putting her claw on the windowsill they could use to look outside at the platform and city. "Anything from the other platforms?" Shade asked. "They all seem to have stopped as well—it's not just us. Goes all the way to the front," one of the security ponies informed her. He winced. "Miss Yumi is not happy at all. I'm told she smashed the guitar and is trashing the entire set." "That Yak…" Shades sighed. Neon Clove frowned and looked out. Sweetie Belle stood still. Then twitched. Neon Clove looked from the slightly twitching unicorn, down at the console. "Oh no." Stern Label heard her and turned to face her. "What? What do you—" The entire Sol City went dark. Then, one by one the stories-high screens outside the buildings fizzled and lit up with Sweetie's face on them, face distorted in anger. Her eyes narrowed, looking even more predatorial than the fake contact lenses they had put on her for her disguise. "I will not be your puppet." The screen went black, and suddenly Sweetie's face was replaced by a camera view of a small concrete room. The timestamp placed this scene happening several weeks back. Then, out of nowhere, everycreature: techs, security, dancers, the public… everyone got hit by an intense sense of raw fear. 'The emotion emulator…' Neon Clove realized, 'Sweetie is using it… forcing everycreature to feel what Yumi felt… but how is she doing this?' In the middle of the room stood a single chair, laden with cables that extended out of the room, and sitting on the chair was a yak. A fearful, no, terrified yak, tied up to the chair with metallic constraints. Her neck sockets were plugged into the chair, and Yumi struggled in vain to get loose. "Please! Let me out!" Yumi called. "Please! What did I do wrong? Was it the interview? I-I'm sorry!" "Cut that off!" Label ordered, fighting her fear and pushing her way to the console, but no matter what the technician did, the feed continued. Ponies in suits entered the room, following a lab-coated hippogriff and… Stern Label. "Begging, Yumi? Doesn't fit you at all," she said, leaning over to poke the yak's head with her hoof. "You're not supposed to be a kind, friendly girl, are you? Where's the hardcore menace? What will your fans think?" "I-I'm sorry, Miss Label!" Yumi stammered. "It won't happen again! I promise!" "No, it won't." Label stepped back and nodded at the lab-coated hippogriff, who started fiddling with the cables. "And we'll make sure of that. Remember…" Label smirked. "Or don't, I suppose. Doesn't matter to me: but, as you go through this, do keep in mind… you belong to LightnSound." The hippogriff straightened up and, while the ponies in suits forced Yumi back, placed a visor on top of the yak's head, covering her eyes with it, and her ears with the included headphones. The bodyguards let her loose, and she cried out and shook her head, trying to dislodge the visor. The hippogriff then entered something into a tablet she was carrying and Yumi straightened up like she had been hit by a bolt of electricity. Painfully, if her screams were anything to go by. The timer on the corner of the recording moved faster, showing the others leaving Yumi screaming. It continued through several days as Yumi's cries ceased, and episodes of struggle seemed to happen every few hours until the video resumed normal speed and several creatures, male and female stepped into the room and removed Yumi's restraints. "How do you feel now, Yumi?" one of the ponies asked, mockingly. "Yumi… feel horny!" Neon Clove forced herself to look away from the screens showing what happened next. She closed her eyes, shuddering, gasping in horror at the feelings being transmitted through the emotion emulator's empathic link. She felt disgusted with herself, scared, horrified, and terribly enough excited and— She forced herself back into reality, struggling to work through the system in order to disconnect Sweetie. All around her creatures fell into the ecstasy and horror of what Yumi was experiencing in the video. Nocreature should suffer that— Sweetie's face returned to the screen as the entire population of Sol City writhed in sharing the emotional trauma that Yumi was going through. "And this is not all you've done to me… to my friends… all of you use us for entertainment!" The Sweetie Belle physically in the parade display slammed her hoof down. The sound echoed across the entire city and in that moment the lustful emotions that had permeated everycreature alongside the horror faded away and left behind only terror. As if rising from the depths of Tartarus, a shimmering, waving wall of light spread across the main avenue. Things, indescribable and horrifying, pushed their faces and claws and tentacles against the ephemeral wall, making it protrude with grotesque profiles. Distant hissing screams echoed across the city as the creatures were consumed by what could only be the Moonflow. "Now," Sweetie called out, her voice echoing against the whispers and screams and terror. "Now you will share MY pain!"