"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.
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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.
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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.
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"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.
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I hate this...