The Nightmare Parade

by Wanderer D

Chapter 6: The Nightmare Parade

Chapter 6: The Nightmare Parade
By Wanderer D

Neon Clove watched entranced, as once again, Sweetie slammed her hoof on the surface of the platform, but this time she changed.

Her legs became longer, as did her horn, the wings—originally decorations only—spread into cables and metal that dug into her flesh, bonding, connecting, growing and spreading violently outwards, sending several dancers flying. Her coat became engulfed in searing flames that stripped away the paint… and for a moment, it was as white as it had been originally, before splotches of dark green and black spread over her, ending in a pixelating, glitching darkness.

Before the echo of Sweetie's hoof hitting the metal even faded, the Moonflow seemed to be expanding, pulled apart by some unseen force. Light and holograms returned to the city, but it was not the benevolent images of friendly bats and spiders and centaurs that greeted the already terrorized populace.

The holographic creatures that emerged from the shreds of the Moonflow were hideous mockeries of anything that lived: snakes with too many heads AND arms. A massive centaur, half minotaur-like with the torso of a horse slithered its way through the city, not on hooves, but on dozens of tentacles each with several eyes.

Winged monstrosities, bloated imitations of harpies and pegasi and birds and dragons with blisters instead of scales, razors instead of feathers, gaping maws full of serrated teeth instead of hooves or claws screeched across the sky.

Whichever creature was touched by these monstrosities shuddered in place as all their cybernetics fizzled, sizzled and fried them alive… and those were the lucky ones who were not unicorns or kirin. The horns of those unlucky ones that were were forcefully overcome by the polluted magical sprites escaping the Moonflow; their bodies convulsed and thrashed around as they inflated or melted when the magic and cybernetics wreaked havoc with their bodies, souls and minds as the chaotic magical constructs invaded their bodies and tried to take them over.

Sweetie flapped her wings and took flight. The cables attached to her legs followed her up like ever-growing tentacles, keeping her connected to the platform, coiling and twisting under her until it looked like some sort of grotesque perch for a giant, murderous bird. All around her the ghostly sprites and constructs caused chaos. Windows shattered, creatures were overwhelmed by all sorts of magically manipulated emotional bursts. From horror to ecstasy, to pain and desperate hysteria.

Sweetie allowed things to continue for a moment before spreading her wings wide, stars and energy trailing behind them and a burst of power shook the entire city.

Before Neon Clove and the others had a chance to react, the world was enveloped in white.

"We've got the samples," a gray-coated earth pony in a lab coat said, glancing dubiously at an elderly male unicorn with a young Stern Label standing by his side, eyes wide. "I must say, sir, that I am concerned about the legality of this whole thing."

The unicorn snorted. "Dead creatures have no rights."

"Actually, sir, they do… there are laws against necromancy for a reason."

The old unicorn glared at the well-dressed pegasus next to him. The pony in question did not even flinch, simply adjusting his glasses. "We are skirting what is allowed by law."

"It's not real necromancy," the old pony said. The security camera followed him across the room until he stood in front of some sort of ethereal energy that kept shifting, from wavy and smooth to sharp, glitching edges. It was trapped in a glass container that glowed with magic circles and runes. "We are creating a body for this to inhabit. We've been rewriting its programming for some time now. It's only missing personality and a body. Since its purpose is to make us money, why not use this prototype to explore how much we can bring back into a new entity?"

"And why this unicorn, Grandpa?" the young Stern Label asked.

"Ah, because when I was very young, little Label, Sweetie Belle was retiring after a long, successful career as an opera singer. She did other things, but her musical gifts were treasured by everycreature. Including Princess Twilight."

Little Stern Label's eyes were wide. "Wait… so you're thinking of making us a new singer?"

The old unicorn laughed and glanced at the pegasus with a grin. "See? My granddaughter gets it!" He leaned down to look her in the eye. "She will be my present to you. I'll let you manage her and make her famous. She'll be ready by the time you graduate. Make all of LightnSound proud, little Label."

"Wh-what?" Neon Clove shuddered and looked around, turning in place as she took in her current whereabouts, and trying to make sense of what she had just experienced. The vision that had been forced into her mind of the lab and the ponies in it was very real, but the fact that it came from a security camera was just strange. As if she had experienced it first-hoof and yet not.

But that was all it was. A memory. And now she was… somewhere. An empty, blank space except for two things: Far in the distance, she could see the shimmering, waving visual representation of the Moonflow.

And nearer… Sweetie Belle was sitting down in the blank space, staring up at bubbles that contained video recordings of the old pony, Stern Label, and others working around the lab Neon Clove had seen in her mind.

In one, the gray pony in the labcoat Neon Clove had seen in her mind was carefully monitoring an experiment. He looked tired, but he kept talking to a glass tank full of liquid and connected to several other devices.

Gulping, Neon Clove approached and sat down next to Sweetie.

They stayed quiet for a moment, then Sweetie spoke up. "That's Beaker."

Neon Clove looked at the pony as he sadly shook his head and disposed of the tank, then started working on bringing another to the device. "That's his name?"

"No. Just what I call him. He's the closest thing I have to a father, I guess." She snorted. "I wasn't the first either. He tried to bring me to life many times, and many times it failed. And every time he showed regret… and every time he was shouted at for his failure."

"Oh." Neon Clove wasn't sure what to say. What could she say? "I'm sorry, Sweetie. I didn't even realize that this is what had happened. All I found out was that all your friends had passed away a long time ago."

Sweetie turned to look at her, and Neon Clove had to fight her instinctive recoil at her friend's appearance. Half of the unicorn's body resembled her original self: fur-coated, soft and with a friendly, green eye. The other half of her, however, had a sickly yellow-green tint to her coat, which showed pixelated glitches that turned it a dull pink or red here and there. Her left eye was slitted, golden-red and angry.

Gulping once more, Neon Clove focused on the familiar eye, trying to block the tendrils of the other side of Sweetie slowly seeping into her friend's 'normal' body. "I—not that it's much better," she clarified quickly, "but I thought they had done to you what they did to Yumi and brainwashed you and reprogrammed your personality. I didn't know this is what they did."

"What they did to Yumi…" Sweetie growled, and with a squelching sound that made no sense in this digital world, extended the batlike wing that had just protruded from her back. "It was cruel beyond measure. They erased her personality like she was nothing!"

"I know, Sweetie," Neon Clove said softly. "We all saw… and even felt some of it."

Sweetie shook her head. "That's all we are to them, Clove: meatsacks that they can reprogram. How long before they get tired of me and turn me into some sort of willing, mindless sex toy?" She looked away. "How long before they do that to you? I'm not even a pony. Even if they had some sort of remorse towards others, which they don't, when it comes to me… I'm just some stupid techno-sprite they fished out of the Moonflow."

"You're not!" Neon Clove said, leaning over a little.

"I don't even deserve my name… Sweetie Belle was a unicorn who met Princesses and monsters! She was there when Nightmare Moon returned, and she survived all of that and became an opera singer… and here I am, pretending to be her." She sighed and slumped down. "Did you know everypony thought I was her granddaughter or just someone who took her name? How stupid can I be? Whenever I said something, they just indulged me, laughed behind my back because 'I was so into it', and I never caught on!"

"That's not your fault, Sweetie," Neon Clove said. "The creatures you trusted built a lie around you and they convinced all of us it was true. Millions of ponies, yaks, griffons, kirin, zebras and other creatures all believe them. So what if you're not the original? You're Sweetie Belle!" She reached out a hoof and touched Sweetie's, wincing when her own started glitching for a few seconds. "You're our—my Sweetie. You're the one I came to Sol City for, and the reason I risked bringing my tech over to LightnSound."

Sweetie curled up into herself, and even the crazy side of her body that glitched, sizzled and pixelated menacingly looked so miserable that Neon Clove couldn't help but hug her, wincing once more as her foreleg also started glitching. It carried on violently, painfully for a moment, but she didn't relent, and slowly, ever so slowly, it stopped pixelating almost completely.

"I love singing," Sweetie Belle sobbed. "But they took all the joy and wonder out of it. They own us, Clove. They own us completely. If we mess up, they violate our minds and force us to be what they want. They can dispose of us and replace us… and creatures out there don't care! They want their own little entertainment, never looking at what it costs anyone else."

"We care," Neon Clove said. "I'm sure there's creatures out there who are happy to just get what they want no matter who or where it comes from… but most of us care." She chuckled. "I can't imagine anycreature else's voice singing your songs, or anycreature else's face or soul behind it."

Sweetie raised her face to look straight at Neon Clove. "Even a face like this?" she asked, half of it fizzing in and out of the visual range.

"With all your perfections and imperfections," Neon Clove said gently, leaning in to nuzzle Sweetie..

"I've seen your mind," Sweetie said in a small voice. "You're not obsessed with me… not really. You're not a rabid fan who pretends to understand me. You want to be with me even more now." She took a long shuddering breath, not looking up, still resting her forehead against Neon Clove's. Their horns touched, sending a sudden (if welcome) wave of comforting magic down her body. "You broke the law, hacked our systems just to meet me. All of this… sticking with me, being with me here in the threshold of the Moonflow… you've barely given any of it a thought. Why? Why do this for me?"

"Do I need a reason?" Clove asked just as gently. "I've admired you from afar ever since I heard you the first time. When I got here… I didn't meet a mare who would seduce me out of my mind or whirl me up in the crazy life of a star. I met a lovely pony who is going through a lot of revelations and pain."

"Sorry to disappoint."

Neon Clove shook her head. "You were everything I hoped and more, Sweetie Belle, and what else could I do but do my best to see you happy?"

Sweetie chuckled, raising a hoof to rub tears away. "You're silly. We've known each other for two days."

"Isn't a single second enough time to decide whether you'll help somecreature or not?" Clove asked rhetorically. "I already cared for you; it was just a natural progression."

Sweetie laughed and sobbed at the same time. "I'm a mess," she croaked out, raising a hoof to wipe digital tears from her eyes.

"Yes, yes you are," Clove said. "But I'm here to help you, no matter what you want to do. Just…" She sighed. "Everycreature in Sol City knows what you went through now. What Yumi went through, and what Label and LightnSound did. Those guys deserve what they get… but your dancers and the creatures that live in the city don't deserve your revenge, Sweetie. Neither does Yumi."

"I can't undo what they did to her, Clove. Not without doing the same thing they did to her, and it still would not return her to normal. She'd just be a ghost acting like I think she should," Sweetie whispered. "What kind of life is she going to live?"

"That might not be the way, but we'll help her out," Neon Clove said. "If she wants."

Sweetie paused and stared at the distant Moonflow. "When I crossed through… I felt like I was home. But I felt lonely. When I wanted to come back, Twilight helped me. But I knew I probably didn't belong here anymore." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "If I can't…" She struggled with what to say. "If I decide to go back there…" She waved her hoof at the Moonflow. "...will you go with me?"

Neon Clove's eyes went wide. She looked from Sweetie to the Moonflow, then back to Sweetie. Her throat felt tight. She closed her eyes and nodded once. Then, more firmly, she nodded again and opened them to look straight at Sweetie's. "I'll stay with you."

Stern Label turned around in place, confused. Gone was Sol City. Gone were the dancers, the stage and even Equestria itself. She stood alone, in a blank place of some sort, with the only relatively familiar thing being that Aurora-like wall waving gently in the distance.

"H-hello?" she called out. She yelped and jumped back when she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

The pony who had somehow materialized to her left was a pegasus. Female, slim, sporty… with a rusty orange coat and a reddish pink mane. Her cutie-mark… it fizzled or something. It was hard to make out.

"Hello!" Stern said, smiling as she turned to face the new arrival. "Do you know where we are? The last thing I remember I was in Sol City—" She cut off her greeting as the creature turned to face her. It wasn't a normal pony. It was as if somecreature had taken two ponies, split them perfectly in half, then used the left and right sides of one to make a new one.

Half of it was the pony she had seen… but the other half, it was Sweetie Belle! Or a very glitching version of her.

"So you are here, Stern Label," it said, facing her impassively. Then, she sneered. "I've been wanting to meet you for so long just so I could be rid of you forever."

"But, I don't—"

"Ah guess you didn't think there'd be consequences for yer actions, didya?" another voice asked, this time coming from another similar creature to her right. This one was an earth pony, with a light yellow coat and red mane. An adorably large pink bow decorated her, or at least the half that wasn't the glitching, color-inverted Sweetie Belle.

Stern Label took a step back as the two monsters took one towards her. "S-stay away from me!"

"Begging, Stern?" Sweetie asked, emerging alongside Neon Clove from the emptiness around them. "It really doesn't suit you." She glitched, flickering between her inverse-color version and her normal looks. "Where's the hardcore star producer and manager?" Even her voice sounded distorted.

"N-now, Sweetie, I know those videos are probably bothering you—"

"Bothering?" Sweetie asked. "No. They're disgusting. You're disgusting."

"Neon? Please calm her down."

But their new employee simply shook her head. "It's not my place."

"But—"

"Stop," Sweetie Belle said. "What you did for your own gain is despicable. What do you think you will gain by ordering us, or begging? How can you think my revenge will be sated by whimpering?"

"I made you everything you are today!" Stern said, raising a hoof to Sweetie Belle. "Sure, it's questionable how you came to be, but you can't tell me you don't have everything you could ever need!"

"Friends?" Sweetie asked. "My family? My memories? You don't think those are important?"

"You can have all of that! You're Sweetie Belle! You're immortal! You're a star! Everycreature wants to be you!"

Sweetie took a deep breath. "Everycreature wants to be me?"

Stern Label nodded. "Everycreature!"

"I guess," Sweetie said, "that would be fitting punishment."

"Punishment?" Stern Label asked, but the world was turning white all over again.

Neon Clove opened her eyes from where she was resting on the console and looked outside. The city lights flickered, then returned to full power. And with the light, the ghostly images of monsters beyond the imagination of all creatures witnessing the parade seemed to fade into nothingness.

It was all quiet, as if the city itself were asleep, but slowly creatures started to stir and wake up, undamaged, if still frightened. The dancers, the crowds, everycreature eventually came to their senses and stared at the platform. The holographic decorations came back online, almost hesitantly.

Nocreature seemed to know what exactly they had experienced, but they knew now what had happened to Yumi. The yak herself was shaken, staring wide-eyed around her with a hurt and confused expression.

Sweetie Belle stood still, like a statue. Then her head rose as she stared up into the sky, lifting a hoof as if pleading to the moon, and in a tone that sounded both sad and wondering, sang…

È strano! È strano!
in core scolpiti ho quegli accenti!
Sarìa per me sventura un serio amore?
Che risolvi, o turbata anima mia?
Nessuna cavalla ancora t'accendeva.
Oh, gioia
ch'io non conobbi
esser amata amando!
E sdegnarla poss'io
per l'aride follie dei viver mio?

And then, as if she had ceased to function, she let her hoof fall down and stood still, while the wings and additions of her transformation clattered around her in pieces.

Inside the parade construct, Stern Label stood up from where she had been lying on the floor. She seemed confused for a moment, as if she was unsure of where she was. She stumbled and would've fallen down if Neon Clove hadn't held her up.

"Miss Label!" one of the bodyguards called out, moving over to her, but she raised a hoof to stop him and, with a deep breath, got a hold of her balance. "No, it's okay. I'm going to my office. I need to make a call."

"What about the show?" one of the techs dared ask.

Label gave him a look, then glanced out at Sweetie Belle. "Che risolvi, o turbata anima mia?" she whispered, then shook her head. She walked over to the console and pressed a button. "Sing, Sweetie Belle."

And, as though the world had almost not been gone a moment ago, Sweetie started singing her Nightmare Parade song. The techs stared.

Outside, as the music began anew, the dancers also stared at Sweetie, at each other, and the show simply went on.

Author's Note:

The Opera song Sweetie sings here is from "

E strano! e strano!

" from Verdi's "La Traviata".

The lyrics here mean:

How strange… how strange!
Those words are carved upon my heart!
Would a true love bring me misfortune?
What do you think, o my troubled spirit?
No man before kindled a flame like this.
Oh, joy…
I never knew…
To love and to be loved!
Can I disdain this
For a life of sterile pleasure?

Comments

[Reese]

"Neon Clover said"
"Neon Clove said"?

"If can't…"
"If I can't…"?