Fallout: Equestria
The Carnival
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Mere hours ago, the sun had set behind the clouds, her majesty hidden from the world below.
Mere hours ago, the field had been desolate, as it had been for countless years.
Mere hours ago, that had changed.
A mist had risen from the soil, twisting and writhing as though alive, tendrils of cool vapour that fogged the mind and hid its secret well... until it was time.
The laughter came first, as always. Soft, at first, as though coming from within a cavern of untold size, echoing and formless, yet quickly building in strength and clarity.
It was followed swiftly by the rattle of wheels on tracks, of ringing bells and hooves on hard-packed earth. Laughter was joined by voices, shouting, screaming, yet never in pain or true fear; a cacophony of joyous wonder.
The smells of food, fried and filling, mingled with grease, sweat and sawdust, thick and heavy in the night air.
A soft glow grew ever stronger, illuminating the crowds, the tents and buildings that lay within the mist. Shining lights, red and green and blue and all the colors of the rainbow cast their muted, dreamlike light, playing with the shadows to lend everything a quality so strange, so unreal, that the only reaction could be to laugh, for fear was playmates with laughter, and ghosties could be banished with but a giggle.
Finally, the music. Siren notes of more innocent years, promising laughter and fun, a lure that gripped even the darkest hearts and pulled them ever nearer, drawing them towards what the mist would part and reveal.
A jacket of patched and faded silk, once the rich purple of an over-ripe plum. A top hat to match, both chased with silver threads in a pattern impossible to describe, vague and strange. A coat of olive, a mane of vibrant green and purple. These are not the things remembered, should one speak of the madmare at the ticket booth. No. It is her eyes.
Colors danced within those eyes, as though a rainbow had gone mad. Reds, yellows, purples, greens and blues whirled, twisted and flashed, never resting, shining as though lit from within by Luna's moon, save for the eternally black depths at their core. Always, though their colors changed, they held a smile to match the one that graced the lips mere inches below. Honest, joyful, without guile or trickery... and hungry. Oh, so hungry.
"Welcome! Welcome!" The mare cried out, slipping from the ticket booth to welcome the newest arrivals, her movements sleek and graceful, yet unnatural all the same. "Welcome, my friends, to my carnival!" The object of her attention started at her approach, lighting his horn and drawing his weapon, a bloody knife that had seen much use. "Oh, come now, this is a place of joy!" Pulling her hat low over her eyes, she cartwheeled and spun, as though the blade that slashed at her was of no concern at all, until she was face to face with her attacker. Idly, she flicked the brim of her hat with one hoof, exposing those depthless orbs to the group before her. "Come in and enjoy yourselves, won't you?"
The slavers, cruel and vicious, forgot why they had come, lured by the lights and sounds and the thought of more slaves. Each was filled with a foal-like curiosity, those strange eyes reaching within them and touching some part of their being long thought dead. First one, then another, they moved forwards, each step taking them deeper into the wonderful place before them, and deeper into the hypnotic sights and sounds that stripped them of their will.
The madmare's grin grew wider, her eyes focusing on those left behind. "Oh, I did not forget you, my little ponies. Come, forget your troubles. Play our games, taste our food, enjoy our rides. It is my gift to you, in these dark times." There was a clank, and a lightening of hooves as shackles fell to the ground, but the slaves, forgotten by their former masters, did not flee. Caught within the spell of this place, they too passed through the gate.
Lady Laughter, the madmare, the mistress of the ring, laughed. It was not a bitter laugh, or a mocking one, and it could never be called cruel. It was the laugh of one untouched by sadness, pain or sorrow, and it rang through the night even as she was swallowed by the mist.
Like a ghost, she moved through carnival. From the shadows she would leap, to scare some foal or couple, only to give them a balloon and share with them her namesake. For Lady Laughter she was, and laughter she desired.
From the haunted house, home to creatures so strange, so absurd, so terrifying, that the minds of ponies can scarcely comprehend them, came the laughter of those who found pleasure in harmless fear, never knowing that the things before them were more than mere puppets or illusions.
From the rides, the laughter of those who enjoyed the thrill. The rollercoaster, hurtling along tracks so old, of rusted steel and rotted wood. The spinning teacups, so large a half-dozen ponies could fit within, their hooves working the wheel in the middle to spin the contraption ever faster.
The young and the elderly found their place at the sideshows. Puppets did battle and told jokes, putting on shows to delight and thrill. Balls were thrown at bottles, and every player was a winner, each recieving a stuffed toy. For those with stranger tastes, the freakshow awaited. A faceless mare, a stallion who seemed stitched together, a mare who almost seemed serpentine in her movements and possessed far too many joints.
Stalls, stores and tents offered their wares and services. Here, a cotton candy vendor, the sticky pink clouds a perennial favorite. There, a fortune teller, hidden well behind cloak and hood.
These were only some of the attractions, and only Lady Laughter knew them all.
Like a ghost, she slipped through the crowds. Every smiling face, every chuckle or laugh, every joy-filled, vacant expression, she delighted in them all. The sights, the smells, the sounds, she reveled in them all.
But there was one part she truly enjoyed, and for this she made her way to the biggest tent of all, the old fabric dirty white and earthy brown, spooking and laughing with those she passed, before settling into one of the few free seats to wait.
The hours of the night drew ever onward, but Lady Laughter was never impatient. Great beasts performed impossible tricks for the crowd, creatures that could only loosely be called ponies put on performances of daring and skill, and through it all she clapped and cheered, driving those around her to greater heights of happiness and joy. Between acts, she would slip out, sometimes to welcome yet another visitor, other times merely to play with those already within the carnival.
Finally, however, it was time.
At some unspoken, unheard signal, each and every guest proceeded to the center, crowding into the tent. No matter how many entered, however, there always seemed to be room. The inside of the tent stretched away into the distance, climbing so high it should have touched the clouds, but even this oddity paled before what was about to occur.
There, beneath the spotlights, stood Lady Laughter. "Hello, my little ponies. Have you been enjoying yourselves?" A great roar of assent sounded from the massed ponies, and the odd mare's grin seemed to almost split her face in two. "I see, I see... Now, then... mares and stallions, fillies and colts...I give you the highlight of the evening." She waved one hoof dramatically. "I give you... the Mad Parade!"
Winged beasts soared out of the blackness, trailing flames of green as they swooped above the madly dancing figures below. Garishly painted clowns tumbled and rolled, faces frozen into rictus grins. Mimes navigated some invisible maze, coats and manes devoid of color, muzzles held closed by loops of wire. At the edges danced ponies in costumes, their bodies twisted beyond recognition. Floats of every size and shape followed, each more dreadful than the last, bearing such scenes of horror as to rend the mind and drive even the sanest pony mad. As the Mad Parade passed, leaving the tent and beginning to circle through-out the park, the guests joined in. Some leapt upon the floats, others took place with mime or clown, still more found themselves bearing costumes and dancing as though in the grip of some delerium.
Though it all, as the maelstrom of madness wound its way through her park, Lady Laughter shivered with delight. Pleasure, fear, madness, it didn't matter. Only the laughter.
The parade passed by her as she sat beside a cotton candy stand, savoring the sweetness of the sugar, and the coppery taste that came with her favorite way of getting such a rich color to it. Her mind wandered, multi-hued eyes drifting closed as she contemplated her carnival, and her guests, both past and present.
Before the war, laughter had been so much more common. She had barely had to try, and she would be fulfilled. Ever since the bombs, however... she sighed. So much pain, so much sorrow. She could no longer be idle, no longer wait for the sound of laughter to come to her. Instead, she took her carnival, spreading that wonderful sound and freeing all who entered from their earthly cares.
A crunching sound brought her back to reality, and she smiled. Some old pony, a guest of many years, had fallen and been trampled by the parade. The broken body twitched, a wide grin on their face even as their life fled, staining the ground crimson.
As the unseeing parade passed by, neither noticing nor caring that one of their number was lost, shadowy forms crept forth. The creatures of the freakshow, the denizens of the haunted house, they all knew their part. The old pony, like so many others, was taken to shadowy recesses of the carnival to be used to spread joy. The coat would make so many toys and the meat would be a feast for the other guests once properly prepaired, dipped in batter and fried. Bones found homes as part of the carnival proper, keeping the tracks of the rollercoaster strong or used to make the haunted house that bit more believable. As for the blood...
Grinning, she took another bite of her cotton candy. Yes, the blood would not go to waste. Such a lovely, rich color, so warm and inviting. The perfect thing to lighten hearts and bring smiles to so many faces.
Somewhere, far beyond the clouds, the moon began to set. Dawn's light crept over the shrouded horizon, and the mad parade came to an end. Lady Laughter threw her head back and laughed, her voice joined by those of her guests, even as the mist closed in once more. Tomorrow, the carnival would be somewhere else, and they would spread even more happiness and laughter.
For that was what Lady Laughter desired, and what she promised. To make you so happy, you would never leave.