Equestria By Night

by Dusk Jumper

IV: The Harlequin

IV: The Harlequin

It was warm down here. It was stifling. The air was thick with body heat and the scent of sweat-tinged perfume filled Derpy’s nostrils.

It was large, too. She had descended two stories and stood on the main level of a massive underground nightclub. Ponies crowded around two bars to her right and left, the frantic motions of the barmares barely visible behind their silhouettes. Straight ahead, the floor sloped gently down towards a main dance floor where a maddened throng of ponies cavorted wildly to the music. She’d never seen ponies dance this way. It was crazed, almost violent. There was a desperation in their faces, like they were beating off the embraces of unseen assailants.

Above her was a balcony level with a catwalk through the middle. Ponies practically hung from the railings, laughing and hooting and spilling drinks on the dancers below who raged on, oblivious. There looked like there was an office up there, too, with a wall-size window overlooking the commotion, but the glass was shaded so she couldn’t quite tell. On the far side of the dance floor was a raised stage, currently darkened and empty.

The sight was overwhelming. Derpy stood transfixed in front of the door as ponies pushed past her or snickered at the look on her face. One sneered and wrinkled his nose, presumably at her lack of attire. There did seem to be a pattern to the style of dress here; darker shades prevailed amid leathers and laced tops, all put together at sharp, aggressive angles. Metal studs were applied liberally throughout.

“Daydream, jumper, twitch...” A pony moved past Derpy very close and very deliberately. Her voice was low and purposefully casual. “Panic, red hot fever...” She met Derpy’s eye for a half-second but did not break stride and continued into the crowd.

Weird.

Unsure where to go first, Derpy cautiously approached the ponies crowding the left bar area. The three unicorns manning the taps were absorbing shouted drink orders from every direction, wearing faces of intense focus. They squeezed past each other and ducked beneath another’s hooves, levitating bottles and pocketing tips in what was almost like a gracefully choreographed ballet. The central one wiped beads of sweat from her brow and shouted to the crowd as she whipped a drink under the tap. “Show’s about to start, get ‘em in now folks!”

Derpy nudged the slate gray pony to her right. “Excuse me...”

“Wait’cher turn.”

“What show is she talking about?”

“Only show in town, babe.” The pony shot her an incredulous glance from beneath a matte black motorcycle cap before snapping an order at the closest barmare and wading forward to pay.

The song blaring from the speakers strobed to a halt and it seemed like everypony froze, all sharing the moment of anticipation as though with a single mind. Every head turned to the stage, necks craned over flanks and for an instant no one seemed to breathe.

Derpy thought she could see the silhouette of a pony through the darkened glass of the office above, watching the spectacle motionlessly.

At once flames erupted from the foot of the stage, spewing upwards through smoke-filled air, and Derpy’s terrified scream as the heat hit her face was lost amid the howls of the crowd as they went mad, shrieking crazed ecstacy in the dark orange light of the inferno. Music cascaded in from all directions and a pristine spotlight illuminated a single pony on the stage, her head bowed dramatically.

Black latex hugged her body and mesh stockings darkened her legs. From beneath a wild pink mane a face emerged, cheeks purple with glitter. Her wide eyes were full of something that resembled joy, but it felt... wrong. It felt far away.

The music halted just long enough for her to speak into a microphone headset. Her voice came through the speakers in a trembling whisper.

“I just want to see you smile.”

Derpy’s jaw went slack.

Pinkie Pie?

The crowd whooped and the beat roared to life as Pinkie began to dance. She seemed only dimly aware of them, her gaze fixed on some invisible thing floating above their heads. The spotlight was cut and blue light poured in, revealing two stallions flanking her, fedoras tilted forward over their eyes, their grins menacing. As they danced they seemed to gradually close in on her as she strutted and bounced alluringly. The crowd screamed encouragement. She was singing something, but Derpy could barely make out the words. Nopony seemed to be listening, anyway.

--love to see you beam, beam, beam

The dance was growing rapidly more aggressive. The two stallions now dipped and spun Pinkie between them. The poses they landed in were suggestive. Derpy felt blood rising to her face, but the crowd was closer to a fever pitch with every innuendo. The stallions played into the subtext, their motion was unmistakably predatory, but Pinkie was oblivious. Derpy had never seen anyone look so glassy. It scared her.

--all I really need’s a smile, smile, smile

She was on her back now, as one stallion loomed above her and the other upended a bottle of expensive-looking something all over her torso to howls of glee.

Stop that.

--give me a joyful grin, grin, grin

The ponies on the floor were hurling their own drinks, now, drenching the stage. The stallions were laughing.

“Stop that.” Derpy didn’t realize she’d said it out loud.

A drunken pony had clambered onto the stage and joined the dance. The crowd cackled and jeered as he pawed at Pinkie, who blinked at him, dazed.

--what more can I do to make you see

More were jumping onto the stage now. Nopony made any move to stop them. Pinkie was rapidly disappearing behind them.

--fill--fill my heart up--

Somepony forced her head to the ground.

--with sunshine, sunshine

“STOP THAT ! ! !”

And Derpy was diving, diving down from the air with the force of a missile, and even the ponies who couldn’t see her must have felt her rage on the napes of their necks, because they scattered in shock.

And she had her hooves under Pinkie’s forelegs and she was lifting her, rising with more strength than she knew she had, high above the commotion. The crowd was now a mob, spitting and cursing and storming onto the stage with a singular fury. Pegasi swooped at Derpy and she dipped and spun to avoid them, screaming back at them words she could not herself understand. Pinkie laughed as they swooped upwards.

Above the pandemonium came a loud, dull thud followed by a crack. A can sailed over the heads of what was now a full-blown riot, trailing a stream of orange gas.

“SWARM.”

The mob’s attention shifted instantly to the entrance, where a phalanx of black-clad ponies were cutting through them in a wedge shape. The roar changed pitch and screams of terror filled the club as their attackers swung long black batons at everypony in reach, their faces hidden behind gas masks.

Derpy’s eyes stung.

“CONTAIN.”

From the rear of the wedge, pegasi launched into the air, hitting the other flyers like cannon shots and hurling them to the ground. The crowd convulsed like a massive cornered beast, frantic to escape. Derpy whirled, searching desperately for another exit in the blackened corners of the nightclub. Her throat burned. Pinkie shrieked with glee as they spun uncontrollably.

There was motion in the corner of Derpy’s eye. She twisted to face it and watched, as if in slow motion, as a masked pegasus hurtled at her like an arc of lightning. There was a sickening crack, and the world grew mercifully dark.

Comments

[Dusk Jumper]

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. Real life happened and I also wasn't quite sure where I wanted to go with this chapter. Today's episode really put it in focus.

Next chapter should be much more prompt. Thanks for reading!