As the bedlam of the Opera House broke out, no one was more aghast than Radiance the unicorn. Yes, among the crowd of high-brow ponies stood Manehattanās own superheroine and part of the Power Ponies, Radiance! Surely she could save the day. But in fact she was running and screaming at the sight of all that ghastly mutated hair.
She slammed the door to a restroom shut and locked as if that would do much good and backing away she exclaimed. āWHAT A MONSTER!ā
She all but fainted there on the restroom floor at such a display of villainy and perversion on the beauty of manes. But as she wobbled a voice in her head whispered, āI like herā¦ā
Radiance shook her head. āOh, no, no, no! Not now! Not here!ā she pulled her mane and reached into her saddle bag for the relic she usually wore to keep what was about to appear down and shoved deep within her soul. But before she could finish her fur had turned the darkest purple and she screamed as her mane blew back and grew and her entire body was racked with pain.
In a flash of sparkles and mist Radiance had disappeared and so had whatever was floating to the surface of her soul and tainting her appearance.
There on the stage this new sparkling mist appeared in a gigantic show of fireworks and blue flame. And now standing behind the scene of the madmare fiddling, what looked like a Nightmare pony. Long, flowing mane as though she were underwater, diamond-like eyes, taller than most mares could hope to grow, the glittery terror held in her hooves a violin of her own. It looked to be made of pure glass. Of course, it was magic.
āOh!ā the cacophony of demonic voices called out, āMy turn!ā
And with that and a tap of her hoof the lights dimmed and the stage lit up and this mystery pony played a mindbendinglyĀ difficult violin solo accompanied by a self-playing harpsichord. As she played the audience that had managed to escape Mane-iac were grabbed by shadowy tentacles that moved like the mareās hair. It held them in place and forced everyone to watch her performance which was so good that it was frightening. She finished with an explosive ending that, quite literally, blew the manes back of those who still sported normal manes.
As she finished she bowed āOh! Sorry I interrupted, darling! Iām just positively tickled pink to be meeting the Mane-iac! Seeing as youāre a violin fan, I was wondering if you could tell me what you think of my piece?ā
Still lurking in the Orchestral Pit and far from the present center-of-attention, the heinous hair-dresser leered away from the initial spectacle of Donatellaās grand entrance with a theatrically angled stance, grimacingĀ hard - for now, in only puzzled annoyance - as she at once felt spurned by this inexplicably timed segue-way into the next act. One, which had ignorantly displayed the AUDACITY to cut into her ferociouslyĀ fabulous feat of villainy..!
As the dazzling display of fireworks concluded and the sparkling plumb of mist on stage finally parted, however - and an impossibly tall mare baring a striking resemblance to her own fillyhood idol,Ā Nightmare Moon, had taken the center stage... Mane-iac, at onceĀ felt blindsided in awe as the next precedings unfolded.
This certainly wasnāt in the Playbill that she read.
The ethereal equineās demoniac melody complimented the inexpressible configuration of the madmareās own intense mania, as it spiraled into a dreamlike trance of unreality,Ā quite appropriately. Her mind was at once faintly reeling through anxious half-theories in a weak endeavor to absolve this with an explanation which could ground her footing into a more sensible state of reality... One she had so clearly taken a worryingly stark departure from. But, she could account for none of this. The parallels were indeed striking, but this dark beauty was clearly a distinct entity from the fictitiousĀ āMare on the Moonā whom she had read about as a young filly, in the forgotten years of her youth...
...These thoughts were shortly lost upon her, however,Ā as Maneās internal machinations gently fell away, as her conscious attention became more and more enraptured by a show which seemed tailored especially for her. And, though this conceit was spectacularly presumptuous - the enigmatic Night-Mareās closing comment only served to affirm the fondest hopes of her delirious vanity.
The last note had reverberated throughout the opera hall, and the mysterious strangerās remark was initially met with momentary silence... Then, with a generous clamor of enthusiasm; The Mane-iac clapped her hooves as a sole source of applause amidst a despairingly traumatized crowd. Without delay; her wild, ever-expanding mane elevated her sharply dressed figure back onto the stage, where her long-sought after prize was negligently held in a stray lock, as her undivided attention was now fixed solely upon this second operatic interloper.
ā..Iām only a NOVICE player, myself,ā She freely admits, with what could only be described as faux humility,Ā āBut I can certainly admireĀ talent when I see it..!ā
Her broad grin widened into a toothy display of unabashed delight. Her gaze? Positively unhinged with an electric charge of latent mania as she slowly circled in closer.
āIt really isĀ quite a pleasure to meet you, Missss--!ā The Mane-iacās sentence trails off, as she takes a moment to side-eye back at the present state of the audience.Ā āAhahah, ohh..! And I see you must be something of a āmare of fortuneā, like myself..!ā She politely interjects into her own rapid-fire train of thought, eager to establish a fast link toĀ camaraderie in spite of having so little knowledge of this mare to draw upon.
Mane was quick to intuit this symbolic link with her, solely off the increasingly likely possibility that this was a hallucination wrought upon her by an increasingly impoverished state of sanity. And, with so little insight into her own heart to speak of? She was openly optimistic with engaging this dark, towering manifestation.
