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The sun continued to hang in the sky, paused. Wavering on the moments just before afternoon, when its light would bathe the waking world in the most brilliant orange hues. It merely sat there, frozen, as if it too was waiting for the mysterious beat to reveal its nature. That MUST have been what was going on. That… or, maybe Celestia was just feeling lazy today.

Cloud and Cloudy were now trotting through one of the many paths in the small forest outside of Cliffside. Their coats dappled with moving patterns of light coming through the branches of the many leaved trees surrounding them. Initially, Cloud Charmer had lead Cloudy Night on a very direct path towards the town. Yet as they were nearing the edge of the woods she suddenly veered off down a small rightward path. It appeared to Cloudy as if Cloud Charmer meant to skirt around the town entirely.

“Why are we not going into town, Cloud?” Cloudy asked with some concern, she had a feeling that she knew why they weren’t going directly into town.

Of course, this question did not halt Cloud Charmer in her tracks, though she did answer her friend as they trotted down the path. “We are going into town. We’re just going to get Thunderstruck and then we will all head into town together.”

“Oh, yes, I had forgotten.” Cloudy had not forgotten, but she had hoped that Cloud would forget about him. She had only met that strange colt a couple of times since she had started spending her time with Cloud Charmer, but he had still managed to make her nervous enough to fall over her own hooves. She did not want to repeat the first day they had met. “Okay, but his house is in town.”

“I know that.”

“How, you’ve only lived here for a month?”

“When you encounter new terrain you must memorize it. Better it become your advantage than your opponents.”

“Hold on. Did you just quote Long Beak, the second standing general of the first official organized Equestrian griffon platoons?”

“Yes, I did.”

Cloudy Night was amazed. Where had this sudden knowledge of military history come from? To a better point, how did Cloud Charmer know and apparently understand one of the greatest generals of griffon history?

“How do you know Long Beak?”

“No time to tell you right now, we need to go get Thunderstruck. Ask me again later.”

Cloudy fully intended to do just that, though she really didn’t understand just why there was no time to ask Cloud Charmer now. However, the question she had originally asked still stood unanswered. “If he’s not at his home then where is he?”

“Where he always is: the stadium.”

Cloudy Night almost tripped when she said that. The stadium! They were going there! She had to find a way to stop her friend. She couldn’t go to the stadium.

“Well… uh… how exactly do you know that Thunderstruck is even at the stadium?”

“As I said, he’s always there, so that’s where we’ll find him. I’m sure of it.”

This was not going well at all! First the strange beat and now this! She hated the stadium! It was always so full of ponies, and crowds still made Cloudy very dizzy and nervous. Why had she opened her big mouth and agreed to go to town? Even now, Cloudy could feel a vibration, likely the beat of the stadium itself, as it made its own tune from the ponies now filling the place. She never even considered the fact that the vibration was actually her shaking from the nervousness of going there.

“Oh! Why don’t we just forget about Thunderstruck and go into town ourselves?” Cloudy whined, still trying to avoid that stadium to the best of her ability.

The moment these words left Cloudy Night’s mouth Cloud Charmer slammed her trot to a halt, bumping herself into Cloudy as she whisked around to face her friend. Cloudy was now faced with a pair of stormy grey eyes that seemed to bore into Cloudy’s very soul.

“Cloudy Night! We both agreed that we would find Thunderstruck and now you want to leave him behind! We mustn’t be rude!” Cloud’s eyes looked enraged, yet her voice spoke only amusement, only playfulness.

Confused by this, Cloudy took the moment to ask her friend, “how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Make yourself seem like you’re furious when you’re not?”

“I’m not furious.”

“No, but you SEEM like you are.”

“To be honest, Cloudy, I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about.” Cloud Charmer said as she returned to trotting through several bushes lying completely off the path. Cloudy followed, though it seemed like Cloud Charmer was taking her along the most ridiculous path possible. She could not think of any way to beat Cloud Charmer, whose logic was sound. Still, she could and did resort to plain old whining.

“Cloud, why can’t we just not go to the stadium?”

Rather than respond as she did last time, Cloud Charmer answered cloud with a question. “Do you know what that sound is?”
Cloudy looked around, confused, she could hear a lot of noise, mostly the beats that were coming from everything around her. Sure it was louder here, but who was she to say it couldn’t be? “No. what is it?”

“It’s the sound of we’re already here!” Cloud Charmer responded, bounding through the bushes in front of the two ponies. Reluctantly, Cloudy Night followed, preparing herself for the bombardment of sound, both physical and otherwise, that she knew she would meet.

She wasn’t prepared for it…

Cloud Charmer burst through the last bushes that sat just above the top row of the stadium, which was now sitting below her. She knew she had made the right decision to come at the place from the top instead of the front.

The stadium itself was a concave dome shape. Carved right out of the one hill that sat inside of the forest itself. No pony actually knew where it came from, but many believed it had to have been made by magic. There had even been seats carved into the rock that made up the stadium itself. At the bottom of the dome was a flat patch of ground, dusty and worn by the hoofsteps of many ponies throughout the ages. This patch of ground led into a wide path, which went all the way through the forest and into town.

Despite the fact that the path leading to the stadium was hard to miss and easy to follow, the older ponies from town never seemed to come here. This, of course made it the perfect place for all of the fillies and colts of Cliffside. It was their gathering place, a semi-secret home to all the bored ponies who wished to hangout or play with others in their free time. Here they played, here they talked, and here they held races.

The races were the most popular event that the children of Cliffside had to look forward to. Usually on the laziest and most boring of days ponies held races from the stadium to the town square, with viewers lining up along their respective streets on the way to the square. Of course, this was not the only place that races were to start and end, but it was the most popular route.

Races were not simple to organize though. In fact, nothing that the fillies and foals of the town did together was easy to organize. They needed a leader, somepony who could bind them together, and keep them together. That pony, was Thunderstruck.

Thunderstruck was by far the fastest pony in the races. Some even called him the fastest earth pony in Equestria. He sported a dark coat, and a silver mane; just slightly tinged with the colour green. His cutie-mark was a runic symbol, all sharp lines and vertices, which represented the ancient word for lightning, at least by the claim of local historians.

Ponies often asked Thunderstruck how he came to be as fast as he was, and every time he would answer that he was the only member of his family born with ability given to his far ancestor, who had received similar speed after being struck by lightning while working the fields. His parents had apparently chosen his name because of this ancestor, not actually realizing that he possessed more than a shared appearance with his great great great great grandfather. This was his story, though most didn’t believe it. Though there was no proof of the allegations against him, Thunderstruck was rumoured to be a fantastic liar, and about five times as clever as the cleverest fox a pony could find. Regardless, he held the community together, and was often organizing meet ups at the stadium for all the youngsters of town.

It would seem to Cloud Charmer like today was one of those particular days.

There was no doubt, all the young ponies in town had gathered at the stadium today. It had been a boring week, so when Thunderstruck had sent out his invitation, everypony came. Cloud Charmer stood at the top of the stone stadium, whose seats were absolutely filled with talking ponies from every nook of town. There was even a small crowd that had gathered at the dusty flat space at the foot of the stadium. Not only was the noise buzzing through the place thunderous in nature, but Cloud could also feel a great beat drumming through the place as well. This was the beat of adventure! This was exactly what she was looking for.

Cloud Charmer took a deep breath and turned to Cloudy just as she came out of the bush beside her. She looked disoriented, understandable, as the noise and crowds would certainly make her nervous. Cloud Charmer knew this, yet she did not worry. This place would be quiet soon enough.

“Do you see Thunderstruck anywhere, Cloudy? ‘Cuz I can’t!” Cloud Charmer said.

Cloudy Night looked through the stadium, it was so much worse than she expected. Not only was there the crowd, but there was a pounding incoherent beat to go along with it! It was all very confusing to look at, but Cloudy still gave it a try. She was good at picking out details, after all. Sure enough, at the center of the crowd placed at the foot of the stadium was that unforgettable silver mane. “He’s in the center.” Cloudy answered, afterwards immediately turning to look at her friend instead of continuing to stare at that dizzying crowd. “I still don’t know how you seek to get his attention, though.”

It was the look that Cloud Charmer gave her that told Cloudy all that she needed to know. Her ears dipped back, and she covered them with her hooves just as Cloud sucked in a deep breath.

“HEY THUNDERSTRUCK!!”

The sound slammed around the stadium, rising from thunder to lightning in the sheer jolting quality of its noise. Within moments of the unleash of this sound the stadium stood silent, save for the beat, but that was inconsequential to anyone but Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night.

Everypony who could locate the source of the sound just stared at the two ponies at the top of the rise. Some were wondering who these strange ponies were, some already knew.

Sure enough, the crowd at the centre of the stadium parted, and out walked Thunderstruck, his mane shining in the now turning orange light like a beacon. He stared up at the two ponies who had so rudely interrupted his meet up... and he smiled.

“Well, if it isn’t my two best friends in the world.” Stated Thunderstruck; grinning like a fool at the little grey pony and her dark blue companion.

Cloud Charmer looked back at him, and snorted. “ I would think it was hard to keep count of how many best friends you have, Thunderstruck.”

“That’s cruel, Cloud, and you know it. You know you two are my friends, and that I value your words like a rose values the rays of the sun in spring.” Another thing about Thunderstruck, he was very poetic, and he loved to show it off.

“All right, I’ll skip the poetry today Thunderstruck…” Cloud Charmer paused to look at Cloudy, who nodded, “We wanted to know if you’d like to hangout in town with us. We've got a feeling something cool is going on there.”

This statement certainly gave Thunderstruck pause. He had only known the two ponies for about a month, and yet if he had learned anything from playing with them, it was that their intuitions were usually correct. However, he had already made plans, unless…

“That sounds delightful, but sadly I have already promised these ponies a race. Some of the challengers seem to think that they can beat me for sure. However, I have a counteroffer, one that will allow us both to meet our individual ends.”

Cloud Charmer was intrigued. “ What did you have in mind?”

“Race us.” Thunderstruck said.

“Race you!” Cloud Charmer echoed.

“RACE THEM!” the crowd cheered.

“Why me!” Cloudy Night whispered.

Then a Circus came to town

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Thunderstruck stood at the foot of the stadium, his hooves digging into the dusty ground, and waited for the answer from his two little friends. In fact, the entire stadium waited for an answer, some ponies leaning forward, poised as if to hear the words now being spoken between those new ponies at the top edge of the stadium.

To be honest, not a single pony could really stop hanging on the edge of Cloud and her friend’s decision. There was a sort of fog, not the kind that can be seen, hanging over the place. That little grey Pegasus and dark unicorn were entrancing, enthralling, and… taking a very long time to answer Thunderstruck’s proposal.

In an instant, that fog in Thunderstruck’s mind broke, and he became quite impatiently infuriated with the two ponies. Likely more so for making him hang on their words instead of the other way around. He was so used to being the leader of these ponies, and now he was falling under the same spell as everypony else. He had been taken by the romanticism of this whole day. Organizing a race, the lighting, his two friends showing up at just the perfect time to join, and now this… it was just like one of the stories he had been given by the Cliffside’s very own librarian. Still, he was running out of time and the crowd was beginning to lose interest. It even appeared that some ponies were getting up to leave! He had to get things going.

“Alright everypony, we’ll deal with any other issues here, you all head into town and take your viewing places for the race, and I’ll deal with the rest.”

Just as Thunderstruck had escaped the spell he had been under, so too did his words free all the other ponies in the stadium as well. Many ponies immediately began to leave the stadium for town, some lagging behind to wait for a friend or grab something they had left behind, but all would listen to him. He liked that about being a leader, everything was under his control, his jurisdiction, and everything would move according to plan. Or at least, it WOULD if he could get this race started already.

He turned to look at Cloudy Night and Cloud Charmer at the top of the stadium. It didn’t look like they were arguing, Cloudy was saying something to Cloud Charmer. She lacked the appearance of a nervous pony, but, then again, who could tell with that blue mane covering half of her face. Thunderstruck needed to get things rolling, and they were slowing everything down. He should give them another moment, though, after all, they were his friends. A thing that he couldn’t often say about ponies, in honesty.

In truth, Thunderstruck did not have many friends, and the few that he had were very close to him. Most ponies in the town looked to him as a leader, and few ever really took it upon themselves to hang out with him. It was not as if he was some elected official! He just gave directions, and often ponies listened to him. Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night had actually treated him as more than just a leader, they had treated him a friend. They often hung out with him, and they had a knack for finding entertainment everywhere in this town. It was good to have somepony to keep you grounded, to stop your head from inflating like a balloon.

Usually it worked for him to have these two be his close friends without stepping on his role in the young lives of the town. Yet there were days, like today, where their actions of not treating him like a commander could lead them to be a bit rude, and not just to him.

“If I may interrupt, we seem to be running out of time. Either make your decision now, or go wait for the racers at the square and we’ll talk then.” Thunderstruck spoke loudly to the two of them, so that his voice would carry across the stadium. He really didn’t know what was going on with those two. They seemed enthralled in a conversation of some sort.

Upon hearing these words, Cloud Charmer’s head shot up, and she looked around the stadium, seeming confused. Had she really not noticed everyone leave not five minutes ago?

“Where has everypony gone?” Cloud Charmer asked, answering Thunderstruck’s question.

“To town to wait at the finish line. Now, have you decided Cloud? I need an answer.” Thunderstruck answered as patiently as he could.

Cloud Charmer looked back at Cloudy, who gave a small nod. Turning back to Thunderstruck she answered, “We’re in!”

“Good, then get down here! Celestia waits for nopony.” Thunderstruck shouted back as he and the other racers took their positions at the starting line drawn at the edge of the dust in the stadium.

Without a moment’s hesitation Cloud and Cloudy ran down the stadiums steps, stopping in line right next to Thunderstruck. He turned to observe if everyone was behind the line. To his left, Cloud Charmer was hopping just a little bit behind the line, obviously excited to be in the race, she was almost a head shorter than him, which allowed him to see right to Cloudy, who he took to be the older of the two. She was tall, taller than her friend at least, and, despite the fact that he could not see her face behind that long light blue mane, she still looked relatively happy to be here. If that was the case though, then what had they been talking about at the top of the stadium? Regardless, they were both in their proper position. To his right stood Chud and his buddies. Chud was a huge pony, and just about as old as Thunderstruck, which made him about as insubordinate as Cloud Charmer, except for all of the wrong reasons. So Chud thought he could beat him, huh? Well, Thunderstruck fully intended to show him no mercy in this race, just to prove to him he couldn’t.

All the racers but Chud were standing in proper position. Chud was too close to Thunderstruck, if he started to run he would be tripping over Chud’s hooves. Thunderstruck pushed him to the side making sure he was in his proper place. Chud moved politely but his big face said he was disappointed, he had hoped Thunderstruck would not notice. There was a rule with Chud, keep your eyes on him or he'll be boubd to cause some trouble.

Finally, with everypony in position, the time had come for Thunderstruck to begin the race. For a moment, time stopped, waiting… waiting for that one inescapable moment. The moment where the world shifts from one state to another, in the blink of an eye. To Thunderstruck, this was the greatest part. Not the race, but the moment before the race. The moment between still and moving. This was the moment he lived for, even if it only lasted an instant. With his mind riding this moment, Thunderstruck began to speak the words of every race.

“Three. Two. One. GO!”

There it was… the shift… and before he could bask any more, Thunderstruck was gone.

“Wooo!” Thunderstruck shouted.

Before the other ponies had begun running, he was meters ahead; now, he might as well be miles. He was sprinting down the path at full speed, the other ponies far behind him.

Of course, Thunderstruck was not actually that fast. In fact, many pegasi could destroy his speed in flight. He was only fast on ground, and he was not the fastest thing ever. No pony can be fast as lightning, is what the older folks in town said about him, and he knew that. He understood that. He wasn’t as fast as lightning, but he could try…

Already Thunderstruck was reaching the forest’s edge. At this rate, he might be in town before the viewers have even gotten to the town square!

***

Cloud Charmer was hopping ever so slightly on her hooves. She loved this! Not the race, she knew she wouldn’t win. Nopony could run faster than Thunderstruck, despite how much he bragged that she had almost beat him in one race. She knew that was a lie, he probably let her get that close to him to make her feel better. What made her excited was the adventure of this whole moment. She had never had this much excitement while she was living at the estate! All she did was just sit still, and watch, and what possible adventure could be in that.

Then again, that night when she looked at the stars with Cloudy…

No. that night was a product of Cloudy more than anything else. She had made her first new friend, she had made it to a new town, it was just an exciting day! Until she started to feel the beats, that is. Now she could follow adventure wherever it hid. Now she could chase it.

Yet still, she hadn’t had a repeat of the feeling she got on that night, there was something about that moment. Something… intangible.

Cloudy Night stood to her left, she didn’t seem as excited as Cloud Charmer, but, then again, when did she ever. They displayed their emotions completely different from each other. What mattered was that Cloudy had also been happy to run the race, though she didn’t like competition, and was still reluctant about going to town, but that was just her acting. Cloud Charmer knew that deep down Cloudy was enjoying this. She just needed to remember that she enjoyed it, instead of worrying all the time. She needed to have a conver-

“Three. Two. One. GO!”

The moment the last word left his mouth Thunderstruck was gone, already ahead of the group! Cloud Charmer had not been ready; she had tripped trying to start when he began, and in that moment everyone, even Cloudy, had gained the lead on her. She recomposed, and sprinted forward, her hooves pounding into the ground. She couldn’t beat Thunderstruck, she could, however, beat everypony else in the race.

As fast as her small hooves could take her, Cloud Charmer followed behind the pack, slowly catching up to the other races. Her little wings were extended; a nervous tick, she often did it without noticing.

She was finally beginning to pass the other racers on the trail. Not a moment too soon, as the trail was reaching the edge of the woods and Cliffside would soon be in sight. Trying to put a little extra movement in her hooves, Cloud charmer picked up speed and began to pass that huge pony that had been giving her that contemptuous look when she and Cloudy had joined the race. A quick glance showed that he didn’t have that look now, he seemed very angry, possibly at her as much as anypony else. Cloud Charmer proceeded to pass him, pulling up front of him, but just as she passed; she felt a slight tug of resistance. This tug became an excruciating pain in her tail in less than an instant. In the next instant, her hooves slipped, and Cloud Charmer felt herself floating in the air for a moment. Then her face connected with the ground, and stayed connected for another second as she slid in the dusty trail.

The pounding noise of hooves receded into the distance, and for a moment Cloud just sat there, dazed, and in relative pain. She got up, and sat back down with her back hooves splayed out beside her. Her tail hurt a good bit, and it felt like her whole face was throbbing as one single big bruise. How dare that gigantic pony pull her tail like that! It had to be him, there had been no other pony as close to her as him! He had cheated!

As she continued her fuming, Cloud heard more hooves approach from behind her.

“Cloud Charmer? What are you doing so far behind everyone else?”

It was Cloudy Night, who had been running with the others, but had slowed down to wait for Cloud when she had rushed past after the other racers. Before Cloudy could say anything else, Cloud Charmer jumped up to her. She lifted the hair that covered Cloudy’s right eye with her hoof, along with shoving her face directly into Cloudy’s.

“Quick! Am I bleeding? What does my face look like? Tell me!”

“Hold on! Move back!” Cloudy said as she shoved away from her friend. Taking a moment to analyze her face, she found no injuries. “Nothing’s there. Why would there be an injury?”

Cloud Charmer sighed as she backed off of her friend. “Good, I like being fine. As to why I would be hurt, it’s because that big pony tripped me! He cheated!”

“I thought he might try something. I saw a big scowl on his face after Thunderstruck took of down the path ahead of everyone.”

“Well, a big scowl to match a big head, what makes him think that he can just cheat and get away with it? We’ll show him! Big scowl, big face, I’ll give him a big bruise to match them!” Cloud Charmer was fuming. Cloudy Night could fully believe that this time Cloud was angry, very angry. Even so, she would not allow Cloud to pick a fight with this one; there was always an alternative solution to any problem.

“Well, since he cheated, we’ll tell Thunderstruck. He’s bound to penalize him in some way for his actions.” Cloudy Night said this with some conviction. Surely Thunderstruck had some way to punish him, right? He was their leader wasn't he? She supposed she would find out in town.

“Think what you want Cloudy, but when I see that pony, I’ll-“

“You’ll do nothing!”

“But Cloudy!”

“I’m serious Cloud Charmer; I don’t want you to start a fight with that pony.” Cloudy said this in her most commanding tone.

“Fine! Let’s just go to town then!” Cloud Charmer puffed. She still looked furious, but at least she was standing up now, looking at the town from the edge of the woods. That was where they both stood now; the edge of the woods. The place between two worlds. From here, the two ponies could feel the beat coming from town, a beat that worried Cloudy Night to a great degree.

“Actually, I think we should go into town now Cloud. I don’t like the sound of that beat.”

Cloud Charmer gave her friend a confused look. “What’s wrong? I don’t notice anything different about that beat since we first felt it.”

Cloud Charmer found herself faced with a dark blue eye and a light blue mane. The eye was looking down at her, as Cloudy was taller than Cloud Charmer, and it was giving her the most infuriatingly sympathetic look she had ever received. It was of Cloudy’s thoughts that this little grey Pegasus was very naïve. Cloud Charmer seemed to think so little of the beat. It was okay, that was why Cloud Charmer had her, right?

“It’s because you don’t listen enough to the beats, Cloud.” Cloudy Night said as she turned away and started to trot at a quick pace towards the town. Cloud Charmer hung back for a moment. Her! Not listening enough? She heard every beat, and it was as it had been this not an hour ago, the beat of adventure! It was happy, it was free, it was something new. So why did Cloudy think that she did not listen at all? Honestly, sometimes trying to understand her friend could be more trouble than she expected. What was she- oh, she was already halfway down the path. Jumping to her hooves, Cloud Charmer chased after her friend.

***

The two ponies turned another corner as they walked towards the town square. The alleys were growing darker as twilight had begun to make its approach over the town. Cloudy Night would have suggested that they went directly to the source of the strange beat first, but surprisingly the beat seemed to also be coming from the town square. Cloud Charmer looked excited, as if she wanted to rush ahead, and yet she stayed behind with Cloudy. To be honest, Cloudy did not understand what had Cloud Charmer the most excited, finding the source of the beat, or confronting that big pony. She hoped that it wasn’t the latter, as that pony looked like he could throttle Cloud Charmer and then some. Still, she was glad to have somepony to walk into the square with her, regardless of the reason. She could hear the crowd as they had turned the corner, and the next corner revealed it just down the street, in the town square.

There were ponies absolutely everywhere! Truly, it was like they were walking into a wall of living bodies as they crammed around the large space between the buildings. Cloudy would usually have fainted by then, but in all actuality the crowd was almost silent, apart from loud chattering coming from most ponies here.

Where were the racers? Had they run into this and been distracted by what was going on? There was only one way to discover the truth; enter the crowd.

As she and Cloud Charmer crawled in between the legs of ponies to the front of the crowd, Cloudy noticed that all the ponies here seemed fixed on some object at the back of the square. It was this object that was emitting the beat, she could tell even though she couldn’t see it. It was not until they finally reached a place next to the younger ponies at the front of the crowd that they finally got to see what the focus of everyone’s attention was.

There, leaning against the wall of one of the tall buildings at the back of the square, was a cart. Its side was extended out to form a sort of small stage, and a red and white striped curtain was hanging just a little before the end of this stage. All of this was motionless, until, on some queue, a mechanical sounding tune played from somewhere in the cart. It sounded like a music box, except the tune it played was faster paced and more jovial sounding than any music box that Cloudy Night or Cloud Charmer had ever heard. As the music reached a looping point in the chorus, the curtains flung back, to reveal a very tall, very pale coated pony wearing strange shining black garb. The pony had a very tall hat on, and sported a jet black moustache at the end of his muzzle that curled into little swirls at the end. Next to him, almost concealed by the curtain was a small foal, much brighter in palette then the tall pony standing before the crowd on his stage. Cloud Charmer wondered about that pony, but before she could think anymore the tall one began to speak.

“Come one! Come all to the grand circus of wonders situated outside this wonderful town of Canterlot! Come, and see things a pony could only dream of in a single lifetime!” The pony’s voice seemed to roll over the crowd. It was like how Thunderstruck sometimes spoke, except for where Thunderstruck bade that you listen to him, this voice commanded the full attention of every single pony to the most minute detail. However, Cloud Charmer was still able to notice things about him, the way that he called Cliffside Canterlot, the way that the beats that she felt now rolled off of him at the same beat as the mechanical tune that played behind him. Or the fact that in all her life, Cloud Charmer had never ever seen a pony that tall, or that pale for that matter. Even his eyes looked pale! As he spoke to the crowd Cloud Charmer took her chance to observe the ponies around her.

“Come to a place of wonder! See the terrifying Manticore, from deep within the everfree forest!”

There was something wrong here…

“See the wonderfully eloquent speaker, Madame Zendra! A Zebra from the lands beyond even Equestria!”

The little ponies looked excited, sure, but none of the older ponies did…

“Try to outmatch the powerful Braun, our very own Muscle-pony!”

In fact, the older ponies were scowling. It was as though the pony’s words were making the townsponies angrier by the second.

“Speak with All Seeing Eye, a unicorn who can read the mind of any pony he encounters!”

This did not bode well, what could it mean that everyone looked so angry at the prospect of the circus. To her it seemed like the most fun she would ever have!

“Have your futures depicted by the wondrous mistress Fortuna, who can see where even Celestia cannot! Or even come to see me, Master Mirage, perform magical illusions sure to astound anypony who sees!” with that, Mirage put his hat on the floor, revealing to the crowd that he was no unicorn, as of lack of horn. He waved his hoof over the hat, and it began to hover in the air beneath his hoof. No sparkle, no glow. It just floated.

Putting his hat back on, Master Mirage gave one last look at his audience. “All this and more await you at Mirage’s Circus of Wonder, located outside of your fine town, and opening tomorrow. If you can’t find it, you must be blind.” Master Mirage began to chuckle, and he quickly backed to end of the cart, which with a loud bang retracted its stage and curtains, and seemed to transform back into a regular closed cart.

With the spectacle over, many ponies, old and young, left the square immediately. Some were excited, some were not. The remaining ponies talked among themselves. Though Cloud Charmer was unsure of what she had seen, she allowed herself to be overtaken by her excitement. She jumped from her seat on the ground to her hooves with a quick shout.

“Wooo! Did you see that Cloudy? A circus! Here! I knew that this town was going to be the most fun ever! So, are you excited? By the way, why did Master Mirage call Cliffside Canterlot? Oh this is going to be so much fun! I can’t believe it!”

Cloudy listened to the barrage of words from her friend, she did that sometimes, and chose to answer her question. “This town was called Canterlot before Discord’s takeover of Equestria. There were castles here once, but that was before we were born. Officially this place is still called Canterlot, but most ponies call it Cliffside, as the name is easier to remember.”

“Really? Wow, I know so little about this place. I really need to let you catch me up on history. Anyways, where is Thunderstruck? I’ll shout for him again. THUN-”

“Hold on! I’m here Cloud, no need to shout again” Thunderstruck said quickly as he joined his two friends. “I was wondering what you two thought of that performance. I certainly was imp-“

“Well, that looked interesting! Good job with that race, little lightning. Though, I personally think that I’ll destroy you in the next one!” a deep voice interrupted Thunderstruck. It was Chud, who dragged his two lackeys behind him to call out to the silver maned pony.

Thunderstruck turned to speak to Chud, but before he could say a word, Cloud Charmer leaped past him. She ran all the way up to Chud nearly knocking her muzzle into his as she stared straight into the eyes. To Cloudy, the sight was just as she had feared, a tiny, blue maned grey Pegasus locking angry stares with an earth pony five times her size. It looked like Chud was about to eat her for lunch.

Cloudy Night just stood frozen, not knowing how to react to the situation when Thunderstruck himself intervened, shoving his way between the two ponies.

“Hold on! What’s going on here? I demand an explanation!”

Cloud Charmer was the first to speak, “he cheated! He tripped me while I was passing him in the race!”

Thunderstruck looked to Chud, “Is this true?”

Chud snorted contemptuously, “No, I never tripped her. She’s just making up some story because she lost.”

Cloud Charmer nearly dodged around Thunderstruck to reach Chud. “That’s a lie! I am not making up stories! He cheated!”

Thunderstruck caught Cloud as she tried to dodge past. He looked into her eyes, and actually paused for a moment. Cloud Charmer looked absolutely furious! Turning back to Chud, Thunderstruck just stared at him for a long moment

Chud responded to this look in an angry tone himself. “You’re not really taking this little loser’s word over mine! We’ve known each other a lot longer than you’ve known her!”

“We have known each other longer, and that’s exactly WHY I’m taking her word over yours. I know your tricks Chud. If I catch you cheating again like you did today, you are not racing again as long as I’m around.”

“Fine! You wanna side with this lamo over me? Go ahead, I’m not hanging around here any longer!” Chud shouted as he turned and lead his boys out of the square.

Letting out a sigh, Thunderstruck turned back to Cloudy Night and Cloud Charmer, his face looking relieved. “I’m glad that didn’t escalate into a fight. While I am happy to see you stand up to that ruffian in such a way, I must say Cloud Charmer, the look that you were giving him was like looking into a volcano. What in the world could he have done to make you so furious?”

Cloud gave a sigh of her own, this one exasperated. “Yeah, I was angry, but I wasn’t THAT angry.”

“Really? Not that angry?”

“No! I was not THAT angry!” Cloud Charmer declared loudly.

Rather than answer her, Thunderstruck just looked to Cloudy for an answer.

“I think it’s just a thing she does.” Cloudy responded.

Cloud Charmer sighed again, “So, moving on. What did you think of that presentation?”

“It was interesting, though I fear its actual chances of succeeding. I don’t know if you noticed, but ponies around here are not super keen on meeting strangers. Even the refugee camp outside town keeps to themselves.”

“Well, isn’t that just a horrible attitude to have when meeting new ponies? Either way, will you still meet us by the circus tomorrow so that we can all go in together?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“I really don’t know about this whole thing working out, but okay. We’ll meet at the circus. Until tomorrow.” Thunderstruck dipped his head to the two fillies and took his leave, exiting the town square.

Cloudy night just stood there with her friend for a moment. The square was empty now, and the slightly cloud filled sky was turning the dark blues and light purples that came with twilight. She had noticed how the ponies were acting during the performance as well, it did not speak of good tidings. Her next thoughts, however, were interrupted by Cloud Charmer.

“So, you’ll meet at the fair too, right? I think it will be a lot of fun to go all together!”

“Sure Cloud, I’ll meet you. I’ll just have to get up really early, my house is far away from the side of town the circus would be parked on.”

“Wait! I have an even better idea than the one I just had. How about you come over to my house for a sleepover? It’ll be lots of fun!”

That was a surprise; Cloud Charmer had never invited her over before. Cloudy had not even met her parents yet. “I don’t know, my parents don’t know that I’m at you’re house.”

“Oh, come on Cloudy! Your parents let you stay out all night to look at the stars and you tell me that they wouldn’t feel the same way about a sleepover. I bet you wouldn’t even have to tell them and they’d be okay with it. Besides, not only will you get to eat dinner with my parents at my house, but you and I will get that chance to talk like I told you before.”

Well, she was right, Cloudy’s parents trusted her a lot despite her young age. She was sure they’d be fine, just like Cloud Charmer said, and she would get to ask her how she knew about Long Beak in the process. She just had to agree with her friend. “Okay, I’ll stay at your house tonight.”

“Cool, and then tomorrow we can see the circus together. It’ll be much faster than walking all the way from your house Cloudy. See, I told you there was nothing to worry about in that beat!”

Upon mentioning the beat, Cloudy Night became aware of the pulse again. It was in the distance now, but it had change, and the sudden change worried Cloudy. “ I don’t know Cloud. That beat has changed, and I don’t like how it sounds.”

Now it was finally Cloud’s turn to give a sympathetic look to Cloudy. “Oh, my friend. I listen too little and you listen too much. Now let’s get going!” Cloud Charmer started to walk out of the square towards the end of town.

Cloudy paused a moment. She listened too much? What in the hay did that mean? Sometimes she had no idea what her friend was saying to her. This would be a puzzle in her head now, and she needed to solve it. She began to follow her friend, then stopped her flat with a question.

“Cloud Charmer? Are you sure your parents will be okay with me staying at your house tonight?”

Cloud turned to Cloudy. “Are you kidding? They’ll love to have you! I’m sure of it!”

Cloud Charmer continued to hop down the street towards the end of town, towards home. She was followed by a quietly sighing Cloudy Night.

Meet the Parents!

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Oh, what a night for a sleepover! Even thunderstruck would have to admit, the scene was nothing short of picturesque. The sun had dipped below the mountainous horizon, leaving its light burning on the edge of the sky, turning it pink. What clouds remained in the sky were also silhouetted pink, or yellow, depending on how far away they were. There was a light summer breeze in the air; one of the last, for soon it would be fall in northern Equestria. This breeze pushed the leaves of the trees around, once again bringing the quiet thunder that nature so often loved to reveal to the listening pony. If only the world could be made of these few moments of beauty that live in the corners of the everyday! If only Cloudy Night actually cared to stop and see this beauty, but alas, she did not, for she was captivated by something of great beauty to herself.

Cloud Charmer’s tree house sat on a small hill, elevating it slightly above the rest of the surrounding trees that lay in the woods outside of Cliffside- or Canterlot, depending on one’s preference. Not that the tree needed elevation, it was simply gigantic. At least a dozen meters tall, the tree exceeded every other tree in the area by far in terms of height. Cloudy could not tell the exact width, but she would bet it was very spacious inside. The tree was also made from some wood which Cloudy did not recognize; it was very red, and it appeared smooth. Cloudy had only ever seen her friend’s house from a distance, and being up close was, well, a daunting sight to be the least.

It was such an odd tree; it could not possibly have grown naturally. That meant it was made through magic, which meant that it was expensive. Why did Cloud Charmer never explain that her family was wealthy? Why would she hide that from Cloudy? Was she hiding anything else?

Cloudy Night took another moment to observe the tree, despite having uncountable branches, none stirred in the evening breeze, which felt cool on the ponies coats. There was something else, something she was missing. Cloudy strained her ears, meaning her mental weird power ears, until she heard, or, felt it. The tree had its own beat, like a heartbeat. Despite the fact that this tree was a house, it was alive, and it had the pulse to prove it.

Cloud Charmer led Cloudy up the short pathway that lead to her house, tonight was beautiful, but she had bigger things to do. She had to convince her parents to let Cloudy stay over tonight, simple enough, but it may get tough. She hadn’t been on the best of terms with them as far as freedoms since her totally justified, yet unpopular, debut in this town. She was pretty sure she knew what to do; just act super overconfident and she was bound to succeed!

As Cloud reached up her hoof to push open the door, she was interrupted by Cloudy, who seemed to only ask questions since they left for Cloud’s house. Did she not know that they were having the important conversation later? Could she not save the unimportant stuff for the important moment?

“So, you actually live in a tree?” Cloudy asked.

Cloud Charmer turned to face her friend, “yeah, isn’t it cool.”

“Very, and why aren’t the branches blowing in the wind?”

“I think my dad said something about this place being magically protected. It keeps the weather from getting in through the branches, as well as keeping the heat and light and stuff inside. If you climb to the top, you can actually sit in the branches of the tree, and you won’t be bothered by rain or anything. I think that’s a bit boring, but magic is magic, and it does serve its purpose well.” Cloud Charmer answered, looking up at the tree while she did so. Living in this place was cool, maybe she and Cloudy should hang out here more often.

“And it’s magic, is that why it has a beat.”

“So you noticed. I didn’t quite bother with it at first, mostly because I was excited to be outside and playing with you. I actually couldn’t sleep at first, I kept hearing beats coming from everywhere at once, but now I’m used to it, if not quite comfortable with it. I hear these things everywhere… it can be hard to sleep sometimes.”

Cloudy Night could sympathize with her friend. At first it had been hard for her to do anything while hearing the beats. The last month had seen her become able to bear hearing noise at all times, yet sometimes they still got to her. Today with the circus was one instance of that. “I still don’t trust that circus; there was something off about that beat I heard.” She thought out loud.

“Are you still stuck on that? I’m telling you there was nothing strange about that beat, apart from it being something new. It was not scary, it was not dangerous, just trust me.”

“I don’t-“

“Cloudy Night?”

“What?”

“Trust me.”

Her friend was looking at her now, Cloudy stared into her eyes. She could actually see with both eyes, which her parents doubted with her mane and all. Nevertheless, the look that Cloud Charmer gave her was deep, and genuine. She truly wanted her to trust her about this circus. Perhaps she was right, perhaps Cloudy need not worry. That would never stop her from doing so, but she supposed that part of being friends was trusting each other’s opinions, even when you did not trust the thing itself. Cloud Charmer believed that the circus was safe, and maybe that was enough… for now.

“Alright, I trust you Cloud.” Cloudy answered after her long pause.

“Good. With that out of the way, we can focus on you coming to my house for the night.” Cloud responded.

“Your parents don’t even know that you want me to stay for the night. They are not in the slightest way prepared for my intrusion. I wonder how you’ll get them to let me stay.”

“Don’t you worry about that one bit. I will have all that taken care of when we actually go inside.” Cloud Charmer said as she turned back to her door, opening and pushing it forward with her hoof. The two ponies walked inside the tree house, which allowed Cloudy to see just what it looked like on the inside.

The first room was modest, It was a relatively large room; large enough to hold a full dining area and still hold room for some cabinets in front of the stairs. The entire room was circular, with a stairway to the upstairs wrapping around the circumference, though not for the entire circle, as the room was surprisingly short in terms of the ceiling; which only stood about a meter higher than the table top in the dining area. The whole room was coloured a paler red than the outside bark, almost pink in its color. Yet it still looked like they were standing inside a tree; with the occasional impressions on the walls made to look like leaves. What kind of magic had forged this place? The more Cloudy observed the room, the more she saw, and the greater this question became.

For instance, there was not one room inside the bottom floor, but three, and that was just based on the doorways that Cloudy saw connecting to this main room. This also meant that the tree would have a massive diameter. It was as though the more she learned about the tree, the bigger it became. Based on the height of this room compared to the height of the tree from what she saw outside, Cloudy also deduced that the tree likely had three to four floors, and that was disregarding a basement! The rooms might be of modest size, but this place was not a house, it was a mansion. It was at this point that Cloudy Night noticed the flames on the wall, which were held by small lanterns on the walls. There was no guard on any of the lanterns, which left an exposed flame, and yet the wood of this great oak did not burn; in fact, it wasn’t affected in the slightest. Because of these lanterns, the whole room was very well lit, allowing clear sight of just about anything in the room.

Cloudy both noticed and noted all of these details in the few seconds between her and Cloud Charmer entering the tree house, and Cloud announcing their presence.

“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Cloud Charmer called out, intending to alert her parents of her arrival home. Ever since she had started hanging out with Cloudy her parents had given her much more freedom in terms of curfew. Sometimes they even let her stay out all night! Though, that did not happen often, as Stormflight, Cloud Charmer’s father, had reinstated their morning wakeup call since coming to Cliffside, and he did not usually allow her to skip that aspect of the day. Still, she got some nights to play with Cloudy, and she had tonight… hopefully.

Cloudy was still looking around the room when she heard hoofsteps coming from the connecting room to the left of the table, away from the stairs. Cloudy Night heard a, slightly deep, feminine voice coming from the other room as the pony walked into the main living area.

“Cloud Charmer, you’ve finally come home. What kept you out so- Oh! I see you’ve brought company.” Oak Leaf, who was Cloud Charmers mother, said this as she walked into the main room of the tree house. She had paused the moment that she noticed Cloudy, which gave the little blue unicorn the perfect chance to analyze her.

Oak Leaf was one of the most beautiful looking ponies Cloudy Night had ever seen. She was tall, and only slightly thicker, though this only seemed to accent the graceful pose she stood in. She was an earth pony; her coat was a soft brown, like the bark of a well-worn piece of wood; very soft and unimposing in shade. Her mane and tail were also brown, though darker and deeper in shade, but it did not contrast with her coat in a noticeable way. Despite the fact that she had a very long mane, the back of it was tied together into a bun, with the occasional strand hanging down in front of her ears and continued until they were at least halfway down her body. The front of Oak Leaf’s mane did hang loose, falling beside her face, and halfway down her body height. Her tail was long enough that it dragged on the floor behind her. Cloudy Night met her eyes for a moment. They were a deep green, like the leaves on the trees were in the middle of summer. Overall, Oak Leaf looked delicate. She was large in stature, but appeared very feminine and, well… motherly. Even the look on her face as she stared at Cloudy for that stretched moment of analysis was motherly; like somepony who could only ever care.

The pause between her noticing Cloudy and moving deeper into the room towards the two children was miniscule. Less than a second. However, Cloudy was able to absorb all this information and more in that time; she was good at getting the details.

Oak Leaf walked up to Cloud Charmer and stopped for a moment. She lowered her head to greet her child before turning to address Cloudy. “I am glad to see you home safe, Cloud. You know your father and I don’t like it when you stay out late and don’t tell us. But here you are! And you have yet to introduce me to your friend here.”

Cloud Charmer looked up at her mother, who towered over her. This was the moment; she needed to convince her to let Cloudy stay. She needed to remember, confidence! “Hi mom! This is my friend Cloudy Night.”

Oak Leaf looked at Cloudy, “I see. So you are the one that Cloud Charmer talks about every moment that she can!” she said, warmly. The deepness of her voice was strange; it carried somewhat of an accent that Cloudy Night had never heard before.

Cloudy blushed a little, obviously surprised by hearing about Cloud Charmer’s praise of her. She looked up at Oak Leaf, “yes, I’m Cloud’s friend… uh, Cloudy Night. It is very nice to meet you Oak Leaf.”

“Cloud Charmer told you our names. Well, there’s no need to call me by my full name; you can call me Oak, or Leaf, or Mrs. Leaf, It matters not.” She continued to speak strangely, commenting on Cloudy knowing her name was a bit odd.

Regardless of how Cloud’s mother spoke, Cloudy Night responded as properly as she could. “Thank you for letting me over, Mrs. Leaf. Your house is lovely.”

“You mean strange. I have never lived in a tree before, but I must admit, over the last month, it has grown on me.” Oak Leaf said this in a very laughing manner.

Before her mother spoke more, Cloud Charmer nudged her to gain her attention. She looked up and said, very matter-of-factly, “I invited Cloudy Night to sleepover tonight. I thought that that would let us get out earlier in the morning.”

“I see, well that’s fine by me, but we’ll have to ask your father what he thinks.” Saying this, she turned to face the stairs. Giving Cloudy a view of her cutie mark. It was strange; some sort of pot with a small puff of smoke coming out. Not much to go on in terms of hints. Regardless, Cloud’s mother called up the stairs, “Stormflight! Cloud Charmer has returned, and she has brought her friend with her!”

A muffled male’s voice came back from up the stairs. “Which friend? That dark coloured one? What was his name… Storm Struck?”

“No. Come down and see for yourself.” Oak Leaf called back.

There were a few loud hoof-steps as somepony moved to the stairs from above the three ponies. Cloudy almost jumped when a head suddenly poked out from above the stairs. “Well, this is a bit of a surprise! By the look of you I’d have to say that you were Cloudy Night!”

“Y-you know who I am?”

“Of course! Cloud does love to talk about you, young one.” Stormflight said as he trotted down the rest of the stairs to stand beside his wife. Once again Cloudy took in the details of the pony before her.

Stormflight was a Pegasus, like Cloud Charmer. He was also very small; taller than Cloud, of course, but still smaller than the average stallion. His coat was a grey, but lighter, and with a tinge of blue in it. His Mane and tail were short, and slicked back, giving him a very professional look. His hair was blue, like Cloud Charmer’s, but rather than darker streaks in his hair he had small lines of silver running down the sides of his mane. His eyes were a very light shade of purple, odd, for a pony of this general colour palette. Despite the fact that his wife towered over him much like she did his daughter, he still seemed to dominate the room. He appeared tall, despite being short. Could it have been in the professional look he gave off? Some trick of the light, maybe? Or perhaps it was the look on his face; very wise, knowledgeable. He seemed like the pony who always knew what was going on, and who could always give you the answer to your problems. He was very… fatherly.

“Very Nice to meet you… uh?”

“Stormflight is fine, Cloudy. It’s my name, and I doubt anyone is going to wear it out anytime soon. I must say, it’s lovely to finally meet this legendary pony, at least by how Cloud described you.” Stormflight said laughingly in a very deep voice, which Cloudy had thought impossible for someone of his stature.

Once again Cloudy blushed. Did Cloud Charmer really speak so highly of her? It was embarrassing to hear… and kind of nice too.

Oak Leaf took the moment to speak to Stormflight, “Cloud Charmer has invited Cloudy Night to stay her the night. Will this be acceptable?”

Stormflight looked at Cloud Charmer, who was only sweating on the inside, honest! “Do you intend to use this as an excuse to avoid the schedule?” He asked.

Immediately after hearing this, Cloud Charmer stood straight and stiff like a statue. “Of course not, sir. I would never do that.” Cloud answered. It was strange, when she spoke to him about some sort of, schedule, she spoke in a way Cloudy had never heard before. Very straight, neutral. She did not sound loud or quiet. She sounded like… well… a guard, or a military pony. The change was instant, one moment she was acting like her normal self, and the next minute… this. What was this regiment they were discussing? And why did it change how Cloudy’s friend was acting? This was all weird, and it was making her nervous.

Stormflight stared a moment longer, but, after looking into his daughters eyes he obviously decided she was telling the truth. “Well then, I don’t see why not.”

“Really!?” both Cloud and Cloudy exclaimed at once. Just like that? Why were Cloud’s parents so easy going with this whole situation? Even with her own parents it would have taken Cloudy some convincing to get them to let her friend stay over. Why in the world were Cloud’s parents seemingly unfazed by what was happening? It was unhinging. Still, they agreed.

“Yes!” Cloud Charmer exclaimed. She knew that everything would work out, it always did! This was gonna be awesome! Cloudy was smiling beside her, happy to be allowed to stay, even if she was confused about it.

“I’m glad to see you two are happy. Now! Will you please close the door!” Stormflight said, pointing his hoof at the still open front door, which was letting a breeze into the tree house.

Cloudy Closed the door, just hearing Oak Leaf speak to everyone as she did. “Alright, with that settled, everyone sit down by the table. Dinner will be ready momentarily.”

Everypony took seats in front of the short table, with Cloud Charmer and her father sitting on large stools that allowed them to sit with all hooves on the top of them. Cloudy could smell the food that was presumably dinner. It would appear that dinner was going to be very tasty.

***

Dinner was tasty! So tasty that Cloudy Night did little else then chomp on the various types of plants that filled her bowl. By appearance dinner seemed to be nothing more than a collection of leaves; a salad, if you will. However, there must have been something in the spice that Oak Leaf added to the food, of perhaps it was one of the plants. Cloudy honestly couldn’t tell what made it so good; she just contented herself with eating. Never in her life had she had basic ingredients taste so good together in her food, Oak Leaf was a master cook!

Cloud Charmer was enjoying dinner as well. In fact, to Cloudy it looked as if she had buried her muzzle into the bowl and kept it there since the food was placed in front of her. Her father apparently agreed, as his mouth was overflowing with leaves, which fell back into the bowl below. Oak Leaf herself took sparing bites, and chewed slowly; either she didn’t enjoy her cooking, which was absolutely impossible, or she wanted to savour the food. Cloudy tried to follow her lead and chew slower, and it did improve the taste further, if that could be believed.

Needless to say, the dinner was a relatively quiet one for the majority of its duration. It wasn’t until everypony was just about done that Stormflight broke the silence.

“So, what did you do today?” Stormflight asked.

Cloud had been patting her satisfied belly when her father spoke, and she immediately jumped up to answer. “Today me and Cloudy hung out with Thunderstruck and his friends. We raced against him to town!”

“Certainly sounds exciting for what started as so boring for you. I seem to remember that you were almost irate at the lack of anything to do this morning.” Stormflight recalled.

“Well, that’s exactly why I FOUND something to do.” Cloud Charmer answered.

“Good, you must make the thing when you cannot find the thing. Is this race the reason you were late coming home today?” Oak Leaf asked, her pleasantly deep voice surprising Cloudy Night again. She never expected the voice, and it felt like it came out of nowhere.

Cloud would have blushed at her mother’s question, but the excitement of telling her parents about the circus superseded that judgement. “We were late because we stopped to see a presentation by some circus owner named Master Mirage. He said that his circus is parked outside town, and is gonna open tomorrow!”

“Oh! A visit from the Traveling ponies, that is a rare occurrence indeed!” Oak Leaf said, sounded excited herself.

“The Travelling ponies?” Cloudy Night asked. She had never heard a specific name tied to any one group before, yet Oak Leaf spoke of them as though she knew them by name.

“Yes, Little Night, the Travelling ponies. There are many places in this land which can be considered exotic, but few groups of travellers stay within the kingdom. There are far more interesting and mysterious places outside of Equestria, and it is outside that many groups collect the interesting ponies that you would see at a circus. It is usually rare to see a group from this land, touring the land.” Oak Leaf answered.

“But how do you know who they are? How do you know that they come from Equestria?” Cloudy Night asked, still failing to understand how Oak Leaf understood the group.

Stormflight broke in to answer that question, “My wife travelled with a few groups herself in her time.”

“Really?” Cloudy asked.

“Uh-huh. My mom was a circus-pony once!” Cloud Charmer said proudly.

“Not exactly, Cloud. I did travel with a circus for a time, but I started with others. Less, how would it be said, outwardly open travellers? In answer to your question, Cloudy, I know the Travelling ponies because they are one of the only groups who formed wholly in Equestria, and then travelled outward to show off their talent. It is odd for them to try out their shows here, where they were born, but I’m sure it will succeed. I’ve only met the group once before, when I was travelling myself. I wonder… you said Mirage was still running the show?” Oak leaf finished her statement with a question.

“Well, that’s what he called himself, yes.” Cloudy answered.

“Interesting, he must be ancient by now. Last I remember of him was his levitating pony trick. He looked so odd in that cloak and hat of his… so theatrical…” Oak Leaf trailed off, lost in a momentary memory.

Her statement had only confused Cloudy Night however. Ancient? He had almost looked like a youth when she saw him earlier today. How old was the pony? If he was old, then why did he look so young? These questions filled Cloudy with dread. Her memory of the beat returned, the foreboding sound of it speaking of terrible things to come. She was afraid, a little, of just what the meaning of that beat was.

Obviously, her concern was painted on her face, because Cloud Charmer sighed from the other side of the table. “Cloouudy! I told you not to worry!”

“Worry about what?” Stormflight asked.

“Cloudy is worried that the circus isn’t nice. She thinks that the be- I mean, the BEST circus ever could be super mean and scary underneath.” Cloud Charmer said to her parents, just narrowly avoiding mentioning the beats. The two fillies had agreed that it was probably not a good idea to tell their parents, as it could lead to many parental related disasters in the future. At least, disaster apart from their parents thinking they were both absolutely insane.

“That isn’t likely, ponies like that may be strange, but they aren’t crazy killers or anything.” Stormflight said.

“Exactly! That’s why me, Cloudy, and Thunderstruck are gonna go to the circus together in the morning. It’ll not only be fun, but prove that the circus is safe.”

“So you are, are you? And I suppose that you intend to get into the circus without spending any bits?” Stormflight teased.

“Um… about that… can I borrow some money?” Cloud Charmer asked, this time actually blushing.

“I don’t know… you were LATE home today…” Stormflight was teasing his daughter, as he seemed to love doing every chance he got.

“Please? I promise I’ll pay you back!” Cloud begged.

“How, you want for a job, my child.” Oak Leaf asked, also lightly teasing.

“I’ll find a way. PLEEAAASE? It’s so my friends and I can have fun at the circus! Don’t I deserve to have fun?!” Cloud pleaded, dramatically falling against the table as if she were about to collapse to the floor in her begging. Her blue mane spilled out all over the table when she leaned her head on it, turning to look at her father in her feigned desperation.

“Alas! I cannot argue with such woeful cries! I will relieve your agonies, and grant you your request, my child.” Stormflight answered, feigning the dramatics along with his daughter. Their act ended with everypony at the table, including themselves, bursting into a fit of childish giggling. All but one.

Of course, Cloudy did think it was quite an amusing interaction between father and daughter, she just… felt a little jealous. Why didn’t HER family talk to her like that? Then again, she wasn’t very playful at home to begin with. Perhaps she should attempt something of this sort when she returned to her own home…

Eventually the laughter died out, and Oak Leaf rose to collect the bowls to take back to the kitchen. Cloud Charmer actually became somewhat anxious, teetering on her seat like she was nervous about something. Cloudy could not help but wonder what could cause this sudden change in pace from her friend. What was she nervous about?

“Dad, can Cloudy Night and I go upstairs now?” she asked.

“Of course, I expect you will be giving her the tour of the place. Just don’t stay up too late, you’re getting up bright and early tomorrow.”

“Cool! C’mon Cloudy! Let’s me show you what I was talking about earlier!” Cloud Charmer said, nervously, yet excitedly, as she ran to and up the stairs that wound around the circular room. Cloudy still wondered what was bothering her, but she supposed that she was about to find out. She followed her friend up the stairs, pausing to thank Oak Leaf for dinner on the way.

Oak Leaf gathered the bowls and took them out of the room; Stormflight paused to think for a moment, and then followed his wife into the kitchen. He found her cleaning the bowls in a wash basin next to the counter. He trotted to the basin, and began washing one of the bowls himself.

“So, what do you think of Cloudy, my dear?” He asked.

“Just like Cloud described, that filly is very thoughtful. Did you see how she was observing the room? It was like she was trying to see the whole world at once. I do not think that Cloudy ever stops looking, or thinking about what she is looking at, for that matter.” Oak Leaf answered her husband, finishing cleaning one bowl and moving on to the next.

“That’s true; she was not want for questions, that one.” Stormflight said as he finished his own bowl. He was only slightly smaller than an average pony, so Oak Leaf did not tower over him, but she was taller; enough that he had to look up at her face. He took a moment of pause to look up at his wife, and then nudged against her side affectionately. “And now we hear about a circus in town, eh? Do you want to go? I’m sure that you’d love to see some old friends there.”

“My husband… so thoughtful. Cloud gets that from you. I don’t need to go to the circus; I barely met anyone other than Mirage the first time. Besides, weren’t we going out to that tavern tomorrow?” Oak Leaf said. She really didn’t know anypony at the circus, and she knew that she would have a much better time with Stormflight than she would anypony else. Let her daughter enjoy the circus, she would enjoy her husband.

“Oh! Of course, I just thought you might want to catch up. Either way, tomorrow will be special anywhere, as long as we spend the time together.” Stormflight said this rather romantically, and as he finished the dishes he and his wife left the kitchen into the living room. There was never a place he couldn’t enjoy himself, as long as that place was with Oak Leaf.

The Stars in an eggshell

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Cloudy Night followed her friend up the stairs to apparently receive a tour of the house. Yet for some strange reason she doubted that there would be a tour, mostly because Cloud Charmer only stopped on the second floor for a moment to tell her that her parent’s room was on this floor, and then immediately took off up the winding stairs to what Cloudy had believed to be the top floor. Perhaps Cloud Charmer now wished to have that conversation she had been aching for earlier. If that was the case, Cloudy would finally get to learn how Cloud Charmer knew these things that she had before assumed only she knew. That prospect in her mind did lead Cloudy to quickly follow her friend to the next, and what she assumed was the top, floor of the tree house.

As it turned out Cloudy had been wrong, for on this floor there were actually stairs to what would appear to be some sort of attic. She inferred this when she realized that the stairs at the end of the, very short, hallway were not only smaller, but that they must have been near the top of the tree, meaning any floor up from here had to be narrowed down to only one room. It was this room that Cloudy would call the attic, since it resembled the attic in her own home.

Cloudy only happened to notice the short hallway first by chance, and now her eyes did a quick scan of the room she was in. The hallway itself was formed by the close proximity of the curving tree-wood walls that formed two other rooms on the floor, apart from the main room which she and Cloud were standing in now. There was a very small balcony on one side of the room, separated from the rest of the house by two glass doors and some curtains; which were drawn back to reveal the last glimmer of light behind the immense curve of the mountain the house was sitting on. The view confirmed that the two ponies were indeed near the very top of the tree, a little high above what looked from her like the green ocean of the other trees in the woods. One of the oddest things about this tree was that despite its size a pony couldn’t really see it from the town, it was hidden by the crests of the hills; which themselves were covered with their own trees. This thought came to Cloudy as she continued to examine the contents of the room.

The room was well lit, with lanterns along the walls just as on the other two floors. There was some light coming from the attic, which was odd, but it was muted and dimmer. One of the rooms doors sat open, revealing that it two was lit, though Cloudy Could not actually see what was in the room from here. The other room’s door was closed, and there was no hint of light coming from underneath the crack in the door. All along the walls there were a few paintings, ranging in size, and most depicting the portraits of various ponies that Cloudy Night thought of as members of her friend’s family. There was also some relaxation furniture and some bookshelves placed near the stairway of the room the two ponies were just entering, but this was obviously of no interest to Cloud Charmer, who immediately led her friend towards the paintings on the wall. She did, however, cite what was on this floor to her friend.

“Okay, so this floor has some books on it… the open room has a mirror and wash basin for cleaning… upstairs is my room-“

“Upstairs?” Cloudy asked.

“Yes, I like being in the highest place in the house, plus you can even see the stars through the branches sometimes.”

“Seriously, why would there be a room that lets you see the branches of the actual tree from.”

“I don’t know WHY the room exists, but I know that it’s cool! And I already told you Cloudy: the house is magic, the temperature, or the weather could only come through an open window… or balcony of the house. I could sleep in the branches in a rainstorm and I wouldn’t even get wet.” Cloud Charmer explained… again.

“Okay, fine. If you don’t know WHY then I won’t bother to ask why. In that case, continue the tour.”

“Tour? Oh yeah! - So the closed room is storage, because my room is too small to be used for that… Um… that’s really it for the tour, but that’s not what I wanted to do anyway. The reason I brought you up here is to have that talk with you that I mentioned earlier.”

Great! Things were going in exactly the direction that Cloudy wanted them to go in. “Okay, what did you want to talk about?”

Cloud Charmer paused for a moment and looked at her friend, and smiled a bit shyly. What was with the sudden change of character? It was like she didn’t want to talk now that Cloudy had given her the chance to.

“Well… when we first met on that cloud you told me the story about how you could walk on clouds… and that was really cool! But after that we didn’t really talk again about our pasts, and that was, y’know… less cool. So I thought that since you asked me how I knew that quote from Long Beak that I would tell you my story today. The story about how I ended up here.” Cloud Charmer said, still a bit sheepishly, like she was embarrassed to talk about these things.

“Oh…” This was certainly new for Cloud Charmer, who never really talked about the past. However, it also made her certainly right, and perhaps they needed a talk like this. Plus it was a bit unfair, with Cloudy Night having told her story but Cloud Charmer unable to her. Cloudy owed her a good listening. “… Okay.”

Cloud Charmer looked up, surprised. Did she think Cloudy would say no? “Really?”

“Yes, of course! Tell me your story.”

“Cool. I will. But I think that before you know my story, you need to know my dad’s story.” Cloud Charmer pointed her hoof to an old painting of Stormflight. He looked much younger in the portrait; he lacked the silver strips in his hair that Cloudy had seen just minutes ago at the table.

“My dad was born and raised in an estate in the south, just like me-“ Cloud Charmer began.

“Wait! You’re from the south? How far?” Cloudy asked.

“Pretty far, when we started out move here we had to come through this desert place. There were endless fields of dusty ground as far as I could see. I hadn’t even seen mountains before I moved here.” Cloud Charmer responded.

“That is really far south. So… uh… why don’t you have an… accent?”

“Accent? Do ponies from the south have accents?”

“You mean you don’t know if ponies where you’re from have accents?”

“Well, I lived in the south but I didn’t exactly LIVE in the south. When I say I grew up on an estate I meant it. A large private estate, it wasn’t mountainous but there were hills all around the place and some forests, none of the dust like in that desert we passed through. I never left the estate; was surrounded by high walls and woods, and even when I could see over the wall to look at what was beyond I could see nothing but hills and the occasional tree.”

“Oh, that doesn’t seem like a very fun place to grow up.” Cloudy Said. In fact, it seemed like this story was rather tragic to her.

“Don’t get me wrong! It was a HUGE estate, large enough to have a woods inside of the walls.”

“Not possible! How rich is your family, Cloud Charmer?”

Cloud Charmer actually winced when she heard that, she hadn’t really known that her family was supremely rich for most of her life. She had thought that everypony lived like that! It was only near the end of her time at the estate that she realized her family did have a lot of money. “Well, my extended family, who owned the estate, runs the major operations for that new weather pony program that was organizing in the south. They started the business just after the defeat of Discord and it kinda blew up from there.”

“YOUR family is the one organizing the weather pony operations in the south. I had heard that they were creating an official program, and that they were discussing moving north with the princesses. But I had no idea…” Cloudy Trailed off, kind of daunted by the sudden status gain of her friend.

“Well then, you know more about that than me. I just hope to never see that place again.” Cloud answered a bit despondently.

“Why?”

Cloud Charmer looked into her friends eyes for a moment. Held her gaze for a moment, and then moved on, skipping Cloudy’s question. “So, my dad grew up on the estate as well, alongside his brother, Far Flung. Far Flung… my uncle was an adventurer; he always wanted to go out and see the world, and one day he did. Dad said he just… flew away. My dad wasn’t so lucky; he got out a different way.”

“My dad didn’t get to fly away like my uncle. He stayed there until he was a young stallion, just waiting for his chance.”

“Then how did he get out, Cloud?”

“How else? The war. When the griffons attacked the pegasi the second time, beginning the second griffon/pegasi civil war, many young ponies ran away to join the legions and fight. My dad was one of those. He snuck off of the estate, flew as fast as he could to the nearest legion recruiting station and signed up. He was gone for almost a year, the full term of the war. When the war ended, he retired from the military and came back to the estate. The family would have been overjoyed, but dad told me that they were appalled when he came home with my mom, who was already pregnant with me at the time.”

“Why would they be appalled?” Cloudy asked, just a little bit confused by the family’s reaction.

“Get this. Dad said that the family was mad because they only liked Pegasus in the family. He marrying my mom was like poisoning the ‘pure blood’ that my family had up to that point.”

“That’s absurd! Worse, it’s stupid! How could they think like that?”

“I don’t know. Dad said their reaction would have destroyed him if Far Flung hadn’t welcomed my mom so kindly to the family. He said that my uncle saved him that day, and every day since.”

Cloudy was glad to hear that. The bigotry of that family almost made her want to puke, but to hear of Cloud’s uncle saving her father gave her a little bit of hope. There was something else, though… Cloudy felt like she was missing something important in what Cloud Charmer had said so far. She needed to think a bit more about it, but she knew she would get it… she always did. “Go on.”

“Well, after that the rest of the family did start to come around, I’m told. My dad said that many of the young ponies in the family fell in love with my mom just like he did. It got better for them, and apparently it only increased when I was born. Dad said that my birth charmed the whole family, which is why they named me Cloud Charmer. Cheesy right?”

“Anyways, there I was! Cloud Charmer finally born into the world. I had no idea what anything was. But one of my earliest memories is meeting my tutor for the first time. First of many tutors, I should say. You see, the family always trained its children in all of the most advanced subjects. From the time I could write I was writing papers about history, magic, even music! They taught me everything! Though I think only half of the stuff actually stuck with me. I learned a lot about military history though, and a lot of the quotes of these old generals just kept rattling around in my head, so I used them. That’s why I knew about Long Beak before, I was taught him by a tutor. That’s also why I didn’t pick up an accent; because I was taught to speak ‘properly’.”

Wait… there it was! And pretty fast too! Cloudy Night had just realized what it was that her friend had said that she had missed at first.
“Cloud, you said that when your dad came home, just AFTER the war, that he brought Oak Leaf with him.”

“Yes, I did say that.”

“You also said that your mom was pregnant with you already…”

Cloud Charmer bowed her head a bit, and stomped one hoof on the wooden floor weakly. She looked back up at Cloudy, knowing full well that she had figured out her secret. “Yes.” She said weakly.

“The second griffon pegasi war was about FIFTEEN years ago, so that would make you-“

“Fourteen years old, Cloudy. I’m fourteen, not twelve.” Cloud Charmer said this in the most ashamed tone, completely destroyed by her own words.

Cloudy looked at her friend, her BEST friend. She had made it seem like she was younger than she really was… why? What did she gain from that?

It was with a start that Cloudy realized why her friend was so ashamed, and she immediately put her hooves around her in a hug when she figured it out.

“I’m so sorry… Fourteen years old… fourteen and you still can’t fly.”

Cloud Charmer hugged her back for a long moment before she spoke again. “I don’t get it. Everypony else in my family has been able to fly since they were seven or eight years old, and here I am. Fourteen and I can’t even get off the ground! It’s depressing. It’s enraging! It’s not fair!” Cloud Charmer said, not sobbing or crying, but half angry and half empty. How can you muster up much emotion when you ask the same questions… give the same answers as you have a million times before to yourself? There wasn’t much left in Cloud Charmer to remain extremely angry, or depressed at her seeming deformity.

“Maybe you’re just a late bloomer.” Cloudy night said as she came out of the hug. She needed to cheer her friend up from her predicament. Still… she had to wonder. How would SHE have felt if she could not use her magic, possibly never? Was there really anything she could say that could make the situation better? Did it matter?

Yes! Even if there was no way to fix her friend’s problem, she could still try.

“Sure… maybe…”Cloud Charmer said, still sounding empty. She stood there for a minute, not saying anything, and Cloudy became concerned. The only way to take her friends mind off of her wings was to make her continue her story.

“So, how was life on the estate?” Cloudy Night asked.

“Well, apart from the tutors and I suppose that it was normal. I sometimes got to play with the some of my cousins when they came to visit the old folks. I mean, they were cool and all, but they treated me weird; like I was different from them.”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

“I didn’t care; I just liked having the company. It was really lonely. Despite all the ponies living there it was, well… empty. I didn’t know how that was possible! Can you imagine living surrounded by other ponies, and none of them talk to you, or even acknowledge your existence. It was infuriating!” Cloud Charmer spoke angrily, her mood shifting wildly with her memories.

Cloudy Night stared at her friend for a long moment after that. How could this be? How could they have been so similar? Cloudy didn’t need to imagine being alone that way because a little over a month ago she was living like that. She was living like that…

Cloudy looked up, only to jump back in surprise seeing that Cloud Charmer was only a hoofstep away from her, looking concerned.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Um… no. Continue your story. Were you really all alone?”

“Not always, there was mom and dad, but they were mostly talking with other family members. They always had to leave the estate for some business, and I was never allowed to come with them. Most of the time they seemed angry anyways, though I don’t know what about. All I know is that they weren’t around me a lot, and when they were it always started some argument with the older family members. The only pony I could always hang out with was uncle Far Flung.” She pointed with her hoof to a portrait on the wall by the window. The painting depicted a pony who looked much like Cloud Charmer. He was thicker, his coat was cream coloured, and his mane was bright orange/brown, though done in a hairstyle much neater than Cloud Charmer’s. He also had a small beard growing at the end of his muzzle, the beginnings of what could be some truly memorable facial hair.The thing that made him and his niece so similar was the look in their eyes, a look of poise, like he was ready to pounce at any moment. That, and the gigantic grin on his face.

Cloudy Night looked back to Cloud Charmer to continue her story, and was able to catch her staring at it herself. She seemed lost in memory, and she had a look on her face of utter admiration. That pony on the wall was more than her friend… he was her idol. She could see the adoring look on her friends face. It was… contagious. Just seeing her friend so happy at just the memory of her uncle made Cloudy Night so happy that she wasn’t even jealous. Just a picture on a wall, and already the room seemed brighter. What was this pony like in person? Either way, Cloudy decided right there that she needed to know more about him.

“I take it you spent a lot of time with your uncle?”

“Try all the time! When my uncle was at the estate, I spent all of my time with him. Of course, I had to mix that in with dad’s training and my tutors, but I still used all of my free time for uncle Far Flung. He is amazing! He knows so much about Equestria, mostly because he’s flow to its every corner! And we’d always make challenges for each other to complete. I’d tell him when he left to go get something for me, and he’d give me riddles or puzzles to solve. You know, I once bet him he couldn’t get the feather of a griffon for me. And do you know what he said?” Cloud Charmer asked excitedly.

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Cloud Charmer, I swear that I will bring you back the feather of the king of all the griffons!’”

“And did he bring it back?” Cloudy Night asked, a bit unbelieving that Far Flung could have actually accomplished such a feat.

“Ahh… no. I didn’t see my uncle again for months! But when he returned he did have a griffon feather. He said that he had helped the king’s son find his sister’s favourite tiara for him. In return, the prince of all the griffons gave my uncle one of his feathers.”

“No way! That simply isn’t possible!” Cloudy Night was flabbergasted. How could anypony get near the prince of the griffons, let alone help him with personal matters? There was no feasible way Far Flung could have done it!

“It happened Cloudy. I don’t have the feather anymore, but I know it happened. I can feel it.” And she could. Deep in her bones Cloud Charmer knew that her uncle always told the truth to her. She loved the time she had spent with him, and knew that wherever he was, he was adventuring. He simply couldn’t do anything else! One day, Cloud Charmer knew she would be following in her uncle’s hoofsteps.

“So what happened next?” Cloudy asked.

Cloud Charmer started yet again from her friend’s questions. She was glad to have them though. Cloudy Night was keeping her on track, telling her story just right, and right now, that was what Cloud Charmer needed.

“Nothing really, for a while it was just that, playing, learning, and hanging out with my uncle. I didn’t really need anything else, I was happy then.”

“Why did you come here?”

There it was. Cloud Charmer had known that her friend would ask this question, she had just hoped she would have taken longer to do so. Painful memories rose to the surface as she told her friend what had led to her new home in Cliffside.

“We were sort of forced here.”

“How can that be?”

“Well… it was the inner members of the family; the ones who had been mad at my dad for marrying my mom. They started threatening us, told us to leave forever.”

“How can ponies be so cruel!?” Cloudy Night said furiously.

Cloud’s friend did not know the half of it. She wanted to tell her more, but the memories were painful. How could you tell your best friend about how the cousins you had so often played with suddenly treated you like a freak? How your older family members went out of the way to avoid you? It had suddenly felt like she was their enemy. Worse! That it had felt like she was inferior to them! The forests that had seemed so bright days before were suddenly dim and angry, and it was the only place she could hide. Cloud Charmer had never been happier than when she left that place, to seek her new home, and get away from those ponies who she was forced to call her family. “Don’t ask me, I didn’t see it coming at all.”

“So you left. What is all this than?” Cloudy Night said, motioning to the room around the two ponies. She meant the whole house, and that was exactly what Cloud Charmer knew she would ask about next.

“This was all Far Flung. My parents and I would have been destroyed if he hadn’t swooped in to save the day. He sent us a letter, telling us to come to Cliffside at once. He said that he had a home for us and that we would be safe and set here without trouble from the family.” For her it had been a dream come true. It was her escape, finally!

“He really did all of this?” Cloudy asked. The more that she heard about Cloud Charmer’s uncle, the more that she liked him. If there was ever a diamond amongst coal, Far Flung was that diamond.

“Yep. He sent us tons of letters explaining how everything would be alright once we got here. He even sent me my own letters, telling me about how cool this place was. He said that there was a cliff on the side of the mountain that you could see the castle of the two sisters from!”

“You came here for him…”

“We did, but…”

“But what?” Cloudy Night asked with some concern.

“We came. And I was hoping to get to see my uncle, to tell him about my trip here. He wasn’t here at first, but I didn’t care about that. That was the day that I met you, and after that we started hanging out, but my uncle never showed up. I wanted him to be here, and he was already gone somewhere! It felt like he had just disappeared off of the face of Equestria. I miss him…” Cloud Charmer trailed off. She really did wonder where her uncle was, and just why he had not been here to greet her. What had gone wrong?

Though her friend had trailed off, Cloudy didn’t try to continue the conversation. It was practically over anyway, and she had her own thoughts to consider. Far Flung was the light of Cloud’s life, her hero… and then he just disappeared. Cloud Charmer must feel awful about it, and if there was one thing Cloudy would not allow, it was that. She had to figure out a way to make this feel better for her friend; she only needed to figure out how to do that…

Before her thoughts could continue any further, Cloudy was interrupted by a sudden question from Cloud Charmer:

“Hey! Do you wanna see something my uncle gave me from one of his adventures?”

“Sure.”

“Come on then! It’s up in my room!” Cloud Charmer bolted down the curving indent towards the stairs to her room, full of excitement to show her friend her treasure. Cloudy Night followed behind, still thinking about how to make her friend feel better.

One short trot up the steps later, Cloudy found herself in Cloud Charmer’s dimly lit bedroom. It was small; it looked more like a closet than an actual room, but that was not nearly the most interesting thing about it. Cloud Charmer had told the truth, the room had no roof! Instead, the wall ended at a ferociously thick ceiling of branches and leaves, some of which dipped down into the actual room. It was really interesting, and it made the room look much more like the natural part of a tree than anything else.

Along the wall behind Cloudy was one small bookshelf, above which was mounted one of the three small lanterns that gave the room its soft lighting. The shelf was stocked to the brim with books, and there was even a mall tower of them leaning next to the shelf. Cloudy was certainly glad to see that, it was good to read, and there may be a few books here that even Cloudy’s mom had never read. The only other furnishings in the room were a small table on the side wall; which had a small bag sitting atop of it, another shelf full of various knick-knack looking objects, and Cloud Charmer’s bed. The only odd thing Cloudy noticed among her friend’s mostly chaotic room was the sheer lack of chaos. Sure, it looked messy, and yet everything also looked as though it was all in its proper place. Organized chaos as it was, even the bed was made perfectly, with not a wrinkle to be seen. Perhaps Cloudy’s friend was much more orderly than she had originally thought.

Cloud Charmer herself was rifling through one of the drawers of her table, searching for this object that her uncle had given her. Had most of the objects that Cloudy saw around the room come from him? It must be so; the objects were far too exotic to have come from Cloud’s estate. One in particular stood out: a bird, or the likeness of one, set upon a base of wood. The side panel of the base was missing, and there were various oddly shaped pieces of wood crowded the space inside. It looked broken, though there were small signs that somepony had been trying to fix it; little pegs that assumedly held the side panel onto the base sat next to the object, and they seemed to be placed there deliberately, like someone leaving the stuff there to return to the work later. Cloudy Night would have continued her observations from there, but she was interrupted by the sound of victory from Cloud Charmer, who was just pulling a small cloth bag hanging on a cord from the bottom of the cluttered drawer. She looked at Cloudy, the excitement of showing the object to her sparkling in her friend’s eyes.

“Do you know what this is?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“No. You haven’t shown it to me yet!”

“Well, yeah, but I wanted you to guess.”

“How can I guess at something I haven’t seen yet.”

“Fine! Just look.” Cloud Charmer opened the top of the sack, and tipped out its contents. Only one object fell out, a small black stone, which distorted the reflection of the lights along its oily looking surface. Cloud Charmer looked down at the stone with her friend, noticing the absolute smoothness of it. It was egg shaped, and though it was smooth it also possessed some strange markings around its surface; none large enough to be writing, but not small enough to be scratches. The whole thing was one big ‘strange’, and hopefully Cloud’s friend would help her solve its mystery tonight.

“What in the world…” Cloudy trailed off, absolutely enthralled by the oily stone.

“This was one of the last gifts that my uncle gave me. I have no idea what it does, but he said it was amazing.” Cloud Charmer said this with a small sigh, really wishing he had told her what it did.

“So it does something? If he knew then why wouldn’t he tell you?” Cloudy asked, stepping closer to look at the rock. There was something about it that she was not noticing, partly from the fact that she was distracted by the invisible beat of the tree. She didn’t know what to think about it, but it sounded like the beat was louder in here than it had been anywhere else in the house, if that was actually possible. Cloudy knew too little about the noises that only she and her friend could hear to question how exactly the beats worked. Perhaps one day she would know, but not today.

“He never told me. It was another one of the little puzzles that he left for me to figure out. I never could figure out anything about it… until I started to hear the beats.” Cloud said.

“What do the beats have to do with this rock?”

“Listen.” Cloud Charmer encouraged her friend.

“I am.”

“No you aren’t, listen.”

Cloud Charmer already knew the sound she was looking for; she just hoped her friend could find it too. Should be no problem; Cloudy Night often heard felt the beats long before she did; there was no way she would miss this one. Sure enough, after a few seconds Cloudy looked back up at Cloud Charmer, a slightly stunned look on her face.

“It has a beat.” Cloudy said.

“I know, cool right?” The beat itself was almost impossible to hear, and feel, over the incessantly loud drumming that the tree itself gave off, but once you caught it you had it, and Cloud could always pick it out from the other beats around her.

“What could it be? How did your uncle get it?” Cloudy asked.

“He said that he was just given it by a stranger he met on the road. The pony said that it had served his use and he didn’t need it anymore, so he gave it away.” Cloud Charmer answered.

“What? Why would there be some wandering pony handing out shiny magic rocks, which is what it has to be, since it has a beat.”

“I have no idea.”

“Well, have you figured anything else out about the rock?”

“Yes, just one thing. I think it has to do something with light.” Cloud Charmer said.

“What gives you that idea?” Cloudy asked.

“Check this out.” Cloud Charmer picked up the smooth stone with her hoof. She then climbed atop her desk and held the stone close to the lamp. As the stone got close to the small flame the beat it gave off became louder and faster, as if the rock were getting excited.

“Have you tried putting it in the fire?” Cloudy Night asked.

“Yep, it does absolutely nothing. I think you have to do something with the rock itself.”

“Can I have a closer look at it?” Cloudy asked.

“Of course.” Cloud Charmer came down from her desk and hoofed Cloudy the stone. She watched as Cloudy closely observed the details of the stone. For a short time they sat there in silence, Cloud Charmer watching her friend work, and Cloudy Night desperately straining to notice something different about the rock. Cloud Charmer was actually about to give up hope when Cloudy gave a tiny yelp of victory.

“I got it!” She said.

“What?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“There’s another beat coming from the stone. Just a tiny one near the crest of the egg shape, Can you hear it?”

Cloud did try. She strained her senses, trying to find the pulse her friend was mentioning. She found nothing, however.

“I can’t hear anything!” Cloud Charmer huffed.

“Really, did you try listening really hard?” Cloudy asked.

“No, I tried listening not hard at all.”

“Really?”

“No, dummy! I just can’t hear it!” Cloud Charmer answered.

“Oh… I’m not very good at detecting sarcasm.” Cloudy replied.

“Oh, really? I never noticed.”

“That- that was more sarcasm, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good, got that one.” After she said that Cloudy just looked at the stone for a while, staring at the source of the apparent beat. After yet another short pause, she looked back up at Cloud Charmer. “Do you have a quill or something?”

“Yeah, one second.” Cloud Charmer returned to her desk and reached her hoof into the bag. After some shoving aside of useless junk, she arrived at her goal, and quickly pulled her quill and ink from the bag. She took the quill and hoofed it to Cloudy, still slightly confused about what her friend actually intended to use it for.

Cloudy continued to investigate the egg shaped stone, staring at it while holding the quill with her magic. After a moment she poked the end of the quill into the place where she had said the beat was coming from, and for the briefest of moments the rock looked like it flashed light from inside.

Cloud Charmer immediately jumped on her hooves when she saw this. “Woah! What was that?”

Cloudy looked back up at her friend, “I don’t know, but I think that we have to turn off the lights.”

“Why?”

“You said yourself that it has something to do with lights, and I think I might know what it is.”

“Really?” Cloud asked, slightly amazed by her friends reveal of her knowledge.

“Yes, put out the candles.”

“Okay!” Cloud Charmer leaped onto her desk and blew out the small flame giving the lantern its light. The room instantly dimmed, but there were still a few lanterns left. She immediately began moving to the other lamps, her wings fluttering just a bit from the excitement, when Cloudy Night held her hoof out, motioning Cloud to stop.

“What is it?”

“I’ll take care of the rest of the lights.” Cloudy said.

“And just how are you going to do that sitting th-“ Cloud Charmer immediately paused as she saw Cloudy close her eyes. ‘So that’s how she’d do it’ Cloud thought to herself.

Sure enough, a moment after Cloudy’s eyes closed her horn glowed. It felt as though a breeze suddenly entered the room, and in an instant all of the lights went out.

Cloud Charmer was almost giddy with excitement to see this, and through the now pitch black room she called to her friend.

“That was awesome! How’d you do it? Wasn’t it a bit hard?”

“No… uh, it wasn’t hard at all… actually.” Cloudy answered.

“But how can that be? Putting out lights HAS to be tougher than making a book just float around.” Cloud Charmer said.

“I don’t know… it just wasn’t. Before, when I used the come to life spell on the book, it felt awful. It felt like it took every fibre of my being, every ounce of my focus to pull it off. But this… I just imagined the lights going out, and they did.”

“Is that really how you did it?”

“Honestly, it was just like that. Magic is like… focus and control. Some spells you have to weave, some require a lot of focus. But something like this, for me, feels like just wishing the lights off, or the cloud to move. Things like that are easy.”

“Huh, well that’s strange. But at least it’s another spell to add to your list, right?” Cloud Charmer chimed.

“I guess. So… do you want to turn this thing on?”

“Did you even have to ask? Go, Cloudy, go!”

Once again Cloud Charmer saw Cloudy’s horn glow as she moved the quill just above the oily stone. For a moment nothing happened, and then there was a sudden flash of light, fitting to blind the two ponies. Cloud Charmer closed her eyes for a moment, and then reopened them… revealing one of the most beautifully unexpected scenes ever.

There were lights, little points of them everywhere! On every surface of the room glowed a million tiny points of light, all different sizes and arrangements. From Cloud’s view, the walls no longer existed; she was sitting in a vast abyss of black, filled with little stars.

She looked over at Cloudy, whom she could see clearly in the new light. Her friend was also staring around in wonder, her mane sliding back beside her face to reveal both her eyes.

“What is this?” Cloud Wondered aloud.

“It’s… it’s a star map. This is a magical stone designed to show a map of the celestial universe!” At that moment both ponies looked down at the oily stone, which floated a couple of inches above the floor. The stone was glowing, like a piece of shaded glass with a really bright fire inside. The lines that ran around the rock were also glowing brightly, giving the whole stone the appearance of a small egg with cracks breaking around its perimeter.

The universe… pouring out of a little broken egg.

“These, these things are rare. Rarer than the rarest thing you can think of! You said that your uncle was given this by a traveller on the side of the road!?” Cloudy Night exclaimed.

“Yeah, some old guy. Uncle said that he just trotted up to him, handed him the stone, and trotted along. I have no idea why anypony would give this away.”

“That… well that’s just…” Cloudy Night looked back up at the lights, and stared. Cloud Charmer followed her lead, and made her own great observation of the scene.

It was amazing! In an instant her room had turned into space itself. She was floating among the stars, just like she had felt that night…

In that instant she felt it again. That feeling that Cloud Charmer had gotten back on that cloud had returned. Before her sat… everything. An entire lake of stars, coming from a rock, and the world turned from, well, the world… into the stars.

And she was sitting still.

Why was it that Cloudy always brought Cloud Charmer this feeling? This was the second time it had happened! All her life Cloud Charmer had been seeking adventure, and yet the little blue unicorn had made these moments where nothing at all happened, and it was better! It was like, just being. It was moving from hearing the beats all around her, to synchronising with them, and for a moment, it was like being part of the universe.

The two ponies stared like that for a long time, just feeling, in absolute silence for a long time. Until Cloudy Saw her friend staring oddly at one of the walls.

“What’s wrong, Cloud?” Cloudy Night asked.

“It’s just, that one star doesn’t look like a star.”

“What does that mean? They all look like stars!”

“Just look.”

Cloudy did look, and she saw nothing, all of the lights looked the same. Of course, that one there was larger, and that one was too small… Wait! There definitely was something off about the sky before her. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but it was true. One of the stars in the projection didn’t look like a star.

“What is that?” Cloudy asked.

“I don’t… I don’t know, it just seems… odd. It’s like-“

“Cloud Charmer! I have the bedding for your friend here, it’s time for sleep.” Stormflight called this from the end of the room below, startling the friends. They jumped violently from his sudden intrusion, Cloud Charmer probably the most. When they looked back to see what it was that had been off in the map, they found the anomaly missing.

“Uh, could you turn this thing off Cloudy? When dad says it’s time for bed, he means it.”

“Of course, but what was-“

“Probably nothing. I’ll go get a candle and the bedding, and you figure out where you’re going to sleep.” Cloud Charmer said this as she scrambled down the short stairway to receive the bedding from her father.

Cloudy Turned off the stone, and looked around the room; thinking. Today had been, unexpected… but not unpleasant. Sure there were new and strange ponies in town, but they would find out just how sinister they were tomorrow. Maybe Cloud Charmer was right in saying there was nothing to worry about. Oak Leaf seemed to trust Mirage as well, and that had to count for something.

Cloud Charmer… never in her life had Cloudy thought she would actually get a friend, and she had never suspected just how amazing it would be. She didn’t like being dragged around everywhere, though, and she might have to do something about that in the future.

For now… she could live with it… if it meant having a friend

It was at this point that Cloud Charmer returned with the bedding and light, somehow managing to carry both despite the awkwardness of her size. They arranged the beddings and put out the light, both getting into place in their respective beds.

Cloudy could hear the heartbeat of the house pretty well in the silence, and though it was a bit distracting, it was also soothing. Just before she resolved to close her eyes, her friend spoke one more time.

“Good night, Cloudy Night.”

“Good night, Cloud Charmer… friend” she whispered just at the end.

Cloudy closed her eyes and lay there. Letting the heartbeat of the tree seep into her, she would have noticed yet another pulse enter the room; this one slower and quieter, had she not been so close to sleep already.

Darkness fell over her as she entered the realm of sleep, along with a quiet little beat, playing itself into her head.

Such is the making of strange dreams. And there is no greater receptor of strange, than Cloudy Night.

To see a falling star

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When Cloudy Night opened her eyes, she immediately knew she was no longer lying in her bedding.

She was lying on something soft, though for the moment she could not tell what it was. She could feel a breeze on her coat; cold and unfamiliar. It felt as though she had travelled worlds away from where she had fallen asleep.

She stood up, and as she did so the wind picked up, blowing her long blue mane away from its spot over her eye. Looking down, she noticed that she had been lying on a bed of fallen leaves; all of which were green and healthy as the mid-summer. She continued to stare into the darkness around her, waiting for her eyes to adjust. Finally sight came, only… not in the way she expected.

It was as if the world simply expanded beyond her leaf bed, with the visible world extending out in a perfect circle around her. The process increased in speed as it went, and before long the visible sphere of the universe burst out in all directions, travelling from her faster than a gale wind. Finally, Cloudy could clearly distinguish her surroundings.

First of all, she saw that it was a moonless night. Despite that fact, she could see the objects around her as clearly as if it were the middle of the day. She was in a forest, which seemed to go on forever, fading into the distance with a blur. There were no landmarks of any kind, as well as a lack of any mountains, hills, or any other sign that there was anything here but forest. There was also a distinct lack of shrubbery or any other kind of foliage. The forest itself was also clearly lit, but lacked colour; their forms appearing as grey as a pencil drawing.

The wind was picking up, and though it was cold it did not make Cloudy Night feel cold. Surprisingly, she also felt relatively unsurprised. It felt like she was not in control of her body, no… it was like she knew that there was no other choice to make than those she was making at that moment. It was calm… she was calm, and she knew that there was something in the woods that she needed to see.

Yet… she did not know where to go. Perhaps it did not matter, and the only important thing was that she went.

Cloudy took a breath, and trotted off of her leafy bed and into the forest. When she looked up from between the grey trees, she could see the stars; whose twinkle had often filled her with comfort on the lonely nights she had spent on her cliff. Tonight, in this place, they appeared cold and uninviting. These were not the stars that she remembered… then again, this whole place was nowhere she remembered.

When she looked in front of her, she could see a path stretching ahead. That had not been there before. Still, it was something to follow, perhaps it even lead to the thing that she sought.

Cloudy continued her trot, only now she followed the new path. As she trotted, she could feel a physical build-up, like pins and needles, all over her body. She also became more anxious the longer she walked down the path. There was something ahead, that much she could tell.
Whatever lay down the path before her, it was large. Too large… large enough that she should be able to see it by now, and yet it was still hidden from her view. With every step of her hooves the tension built, making her feel like each step was a crash. The pins and needles on her body grew more intense by the moment; now bordering on outright pain. Whatever it was in front of her, it was not right!

Cloudy could feel the beginning of panic setting in as she walked forward. She was not ready for what lay before her! It was so far beyond her. She must not take another step!

In the distance, a twig broke, and Cloudy jumped with a terror she had never known. Desperately, she turned to run down the path behind her, only to find that the path was gone. When she turned back around, the path before her was gone as well. She was lost in the woods.

The grey scale trees surrounding Cloudy seemed to lean in towards her. Though she was no longer on the path, the panic and pins had not subsided. Cloudy Night was still filling with the building terror she had felt not moments ago… And it was becoming unbearable.

Still inward the trees bent, their branches beginning to shift greater than the wind should be able to shift them. She looked around quickly, her gaze flying from place to place, but finding nothing but more trees. Cloudy even began to huddle close to the ground; her legs physically shaking from the sensation of extreme panic that she was feeling.

The branches reached from the leaning trees, gravitating towards the little blue unicorn. Cloudy did not know what to do, other than sit there and panic. Oh, why had she turned from the path?

Closer and closer the branches reached, their ends becoming grabbing claws, grasping desperately for Cloudy. She was absolutely, astoundingly terrified, and stood frozen in place; just watching the branches draw closer.

Completely panicked, and not knowing how to escape the ever reaching branches, Cloudy looked to the sky; hoping to find some way out through the opening in the treetops. She tried to analyze the star speckled skies in the moment she had to see between the branches, and found something startling… In that instant even the claws grasping at her paused. The wind dropped, and all became silent.

The stars… were moving.

As Cloudy Night gazed at the small patch of dark purple sky she could see the points of light scraping their way across the sky; leaving small trails behind them. One light in particular got brighter and brighter, and though it should be impossible to tell, Cloudy knew that this star was falling towards her.

In seconds the falling star went from a growing point of light in the distance to a blazing light the size of the sun, turning the sky and ground into almost graphic shades of white and black. Cloudy watched the light in silence, completely entranced by what she was witnessing.

If only the moment could have stretched a bit longer.

But alas! It could not, and the silence that the forest had fallen into quite suddenly became chaos as the world was shattered by a sound like a thousand bolts of lightning striking the ground simultaneously. Cloudy Night, as well as almost all of the trees surrounding her, were hurled backwards through the air from the shockwave of the star.

Cloudy was able to see the explosion as the star hit only for a moment. She also saw the various trees uproot and soar through the air with her. Her vision would have continued longer, but before she had even touched the rolling ground she saw the world collapsing into an abyss around her.

In an instant, her world was enveloped by darkness.

***

For a time Cloudy Night floated in the unknowable abyss that had claimed her from the falling star. It was like being underwater, but without the need to breathe.

She could still feel the physical shock of the world suddenly tumbling into absolute destruction around her. It had been terrifying, for the moment that it had lasted.

Now, however…. Now Cloudy Night could feel herself recovering from the shock of what she had witnessed. She also felt terribly aware of the feeling of being underwater, and despite the lack of a need to breathe she could feel her lungs recoiling. She decided to try to swim up through the seemingly endless abyss; no easy task, as telling what direction was up could be a trial beyond even her mind.

Regardless, Cloudy’s mind demanded that she swim upwards, and she would surely give it her best shot. She kicked her legs out in a pony’s awkward looking version of a stroke, and sure enough, felt herself propel forwards through the invisible water. Again, Cloudy kicked out with her legs, and again she moved. She repeated this pattern; her strokes becoming faster paced, as well as larger, the further she went.

At first, it seemed as though nothing changed as Cloudy swam her way through the abyss, however, after some time of moving she began to notice a change in the current. To her coat, it felt like only a tiny flow in the water, but she had nothing else to go on, and the promise of a current was certainly more appealing than endlessly wandering this bottomless pit. She began to move herself along the direction that the current seemed to be flowing in, hoping to find whatever lay at its destination.

As Cloudy went, she began to feel the current pick up speed and force. Within moments she was being pushed along by the flow of the water without the need to swim herself. Another minute or so, and the water sped up to a very fast pace, now dragging Cloudy along with it.

She wished that she could escape the water, but some part of Cloudy Night knew that the only way out of this place was through the current. She allowed herself to be dragged by the ever increasing might of the water towards… whatever it was that waited ahead.

Faster and faster the water flowed, until it felt to Cloudy like she was riding the force of a great tidal wave beneath the water. This only lasted a short time, however, and Cloudy quite suddenly found the current completely vanished from her. She also felt the water disappear from around her. There was a moment of pause, long enough for Cloudy to realize what was about to happen, and then she fell.

She screamed, but was abruptly cut off by the wind flying out of her lungs as she collided with something solid. As she hit the mass, the zone of her landing seemed to crumble inward, and Cloudy fell inside the thing she had crashed into.

For several seconds after landing all that Cloudy could do was cough. With every breath her lungs filled with dust coming from the collapsed roof; which was surprisingly well lit from above. In her small time of dust filled panic Cloudy was able to tell that apart from the lighting coming from the hole she had made, there were no other sources of light.

Eventually, the dust became bearable to breathe, allowing Cloudy to better analyze her situation. She was sitting in a large room; cold and damp, and likely underground. She could not see the other end of the room, nor could she tell where exactly the light from above her entrance hole was coming from. She was, undoubtedly, trapped between to scenes of imperceptible distance, and it was… well… not pleasing.

If there were the option to choose between paths, Cloudy Night would likely have tried climbing through the hole in the ceiling. As it was, the ceiling was too high for her to reach, and without any nearby objects she could use to climb, Cloudy was left with no choice but to investigate the other end of the dark room.

So Cloudy trotted forward, carefully observing the darkness for any sign of an object. She would have taken anything, be it a crate full of spiders or a pit full of snakes, to the completely empty basement she found. No scene can be as unsettling as finding nothing where you expect something. As finding dust where you expect spectres.

Nevertheless, Cloudy continued her slow trot all the way down the outrageously long room. It was only when she had almost reached the very end of the basement that she noticed a shadow darker than the rest, sitting directly in front of her.

Cloudy Night reached towards the unknown object with her hoof, completely expecting the shadow to leap towards her the moment she touched it. Instead, her hoof tapped against the shadow, making a light clinking noise when it did so.

Cloudy immediately recoiled her hoof, surprised at the sound she heard, and continuing to anticipate something awful happening. For once, her suspicions were confirmed, as the object slipped from its now apparent pedestal, and smashed on the floor with a loud crash. Cloudy had leaped out of her skin the moment that had happened, and she turned tail and ran when the sound actually seemed to repeat itself; the second crash even louder than the first.

In an instant the end of the room is bathed in a bright green light, and Cloudy can now clearly see that the object she had broken was an undecorated vase; which appeared to be made from some sort of clay. She could not see another vase anywhere else in the room.

The fear that Cloudy had felt back in the forest immediately returned, and she was struck frozen from the appearance of the light.

She tried to search for the source of the light, but could find nothing. Cloudy night looked down at her hooves; seeing her whole body looking a deep shade of evergreen in the light. Is that what the rest of her looked like? She didn’t have time to think further, as the whole room was suddenly filled with a thunderous voice; which also appeared to come from nowhere in particular.

“WHO ARE YOU!? WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?”

Cloudy could not speak, she was too terrified. The voice sounded demanding, loud, and more than a bit annoyed.

“SPEAK!”

“I- I”

“THERE YOU ARE. I COULD HARDLY NOTICE YOU! WHY ARE YOU HERE!?”

“I-“

“YOU TREAD UPON GROUND THAT NOPONY SHOULD WALK! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT T-!” The voice tried to continue what sounded like a… lecture… when it immediately moulded into a indecipherable yell of rage. Cloudy finally broke, and tried to run, but before she could get a step she collided with something standing right behind her.

Cloudy Night fell to the floor of the basement, suddenly enveloped in an overpowering sense of drowsiness. As the last sparks of her mind faded into a deep sleep, Cloudy was able to make out a pair of eyes looking down on her.

Green eyes; though oddly tinted. They seemed… absolutely friendly.

***

Cloudy opened her eyes, and found herself in familiar spaces. She was back in Cloud Charmer’s room; lying in the now tangled heap of the bedding she had been given by Stormflight. Had it all really been a dream?

That didn’t seem very fair. Why should dreams be more unpleasant than reality?

Cloud Charmer was snoring loudly in her bed behind Cloudy. Apparently her dream was great, because Cloudy could see a big grin on her grey face from the light being cast into the room from downstairs. Speaking of which, why was there a light coming from downstairs? Cloudy Night may have just woken up, but even she could tell that the night was still far from being over. Perhaps she would investigate… it would certainly take her mind off of the nightmare she had been having.

So, Cloudy Night struggled her way out of her blankets and proceeded to tiptoe her way down the stairs. This proved fruitless, as sneaking around with hooves is nigh impossible, and before she could get four full hoofsteps she heard a voice call her from the room below.

“Come on down, I can hear you.” It said.

Cloud Charmer didn’t hear anything at all, she continued to lie in her bed; submerged in sleep. Cloudy trotted down Cloud’s short stairs to the room below, only slightly disappointed that her sneaking had not worked.

Reaching the picture covered room, Cloudy Night immediately took note of Cloud’s father, who was sitting on a pillow by a n extremely bright lantern. Stormflight was mostly silhouetted as a shadow against the light, but Cloudy was able to note a rather large pair of spectacles placed on his muzzle. He turned to look at her, revealing a large smile on his face.

“Cloudy Night, I honestly hadn’t expected it to be you being awake at this time. What’s wrong?” Stormflight finished, likely noticing some hint of trouble in Cloudy’s face.

“Nothing… I just…”

“Can’t sleep.” Stormflight finished.

“Yeah.” Cloudy said.

He gave a little sigh, a sign of deep thought in most ponies. “Me neither. Bless the princess Luna, that she protects our dreams… I just wish I HAD one once in a while.”

Cloudy may have been amused by Stormflight’s comment, but she said nothing. She didn’t like to speak intensively when Cloud Charmer was not around.

That might have been awkward for anypony but Stormflight, who completely rolled with her silence. “So, your dreams have been troubling, I suppose.”

“Yes.”

“Well then, don’t just stand by the stairs, come here!” Stormflight said playfully. Cloudy obeyed, seating herself next to Cloud’s father. She was a bit surprised to find him reading a very large novel, likely almost a thousand pages in length, judging solely from the size of it.

Stormflight noticed her looking at his book, and he decided that it would be best to make it now the centerpoint of the conversation as well. “I doubt you’ve read it, it’s called ‘Reading the Fields’ it’s a book of philosophy.”

“I really haven’t heard of it before.” Cloudy Night said, once again surprised at not being able to recognize the old tome.

“It’s a collection of short poetry, as well as the major philosophical ideas of many prominent Earth ponies. I like to read them when I can’t sleep.”

“Why?”

“Well, there are no deeper thinkers in this whole world than the Earth ponies. But I’ll tell you, their literature is fit to make me sleepy whenever I can’t accomplish the task myself.” Stormflight joked, even accompanying his statement with a large and exaggerated yawn.

That joke actually did make Cloudy Night giggle. Stormflight joined in himself, losing to quiet laughter for a few moments before he continued.

“So, you can laugh. That’s good to hear, I had almost expected you to be stoic as a stone. So… by the sound of that thunderous rumbling I can assume that Cloud Charmer is still asleep?” He asked.

Cloudy Night merely nodded in response, watching as the light in Stormflight’s eyes suddenly changed when he mentioned his daughter. His eyes now looked deeper; far more reflective and thoughtful than Cloudy Night had expected to see.

“Ah, she really is something special, Cloudy. I’m glad she found you as a friend.”

“Why me?” Cloudy asked.

“Oh… that little girl’s life. She’s had it very hard in the last few years. I really think we’re lucky that she found someone as cheerful as you to save her spirits.” Stormflight said, his deep voice sinking deeper with every word.

Cloudy Night felt utterly confused. It was like Stormflight was seeing the role of his daughter and her friend swapped. SHE was the one who was lucky to have Cloud Charmer find her. It was Cloud Charmer’s chipper personality that had turned Cloudy’s regretful life from bitter to sweet. What in the wide realm of Equestria was going on in Stormflight’s head?

Cloud’s father glanced at Cloudy; immediately responding to the confusion that was obviously painted on her face. “Forgive me… I’m tired and I’m speaking strange. What I mean to say is that you’ve really brightened up life around the house. Cloud Charmer is constantly telling Oak Leaf and me about you. I think that you’ve helped her greatly with adjusting to the new home.”

“Th- thank you.” Cloudy said.

“The thanks is all mine. Cloud Charmer really did need a friend, someone who could always be around to spend time with her.”

“You mean, unlike Far Flung.” Cloudy asked hesitantly.

Stormflight was not surprised by her mentioning of his brother. “I knew she’d tell you about him. The pony was a downright legend in the family. I’m sure the family would’ve kicked him faster than he could ask what was wrong, had he not been one of the major contributors of the family’s money.”

“Far Flung is the source of the money!?”

“Heh… not all of it, just a big enough bit. He was always exploring. Galloping off without a moment’s hesitation, and it was he who forged many relations with ponies far from home. He provided…. The connections for the business.”

Despite her reluctance to speak, she decided that now was a good time to ask. “Did Far Flung really meet the griffon prince?”

“Yes… and he ruffled quite a few feathers just being there. Not many griffons have forgiven the Pegasi for the war between us. Too much spilt blood. But Far Flung has no borders… much to the lament of my family.”

Cloudy smiled, “That could be a good thing.” She said quietly; actually, it was practically a mumble.

“Yes, it could... Well, I must say that you are a pleasant conversationalist, even when you’re quiet. That said, I insist that you go back to sleep now; from what my daughter’s said it seems like you’ll have a busy day tomorrow.”

“What about you?”

“Oh, I’ll be fine. I was almost asleep by the time I heard you anyway…” Stormflight took a moment to wink after his comment “But the night is yet young, and so are you. A young filly needs her sleep, as much as an old stallion like me needs mine. Do you still feel bad from your dream?” He asked.

Cloudy Night thought about it for a moment. She… didn’t. Talking to Stormflight had comforted her, and while she still remembered the strange dream, she didn’t feel it anymore. “I’m fine now.” She responded.

“Good, I recommend you sleep. I don’t doubt your dreams will be more pleasant from here on.”

“Thank you. Good night, Stormflight.” Cloudy said, feeling a yawn coming on.

“Good night, Cloudy Night.” He replied with a fatherly smile.

Cloudy left him there, reading his book, and returned to her friend’s room. Of course, she immediately spent the next few minutes untangling her bedding, as well as re-making it into the perfect rectangular blanket it had started as. When that was finished, she lied herself under the comforter, feeling her sudden tiredness the moment her head collided with her pillow.

Just before true sleep came, a thought materialized in her mind.

Earlier… Stormflight had said that Princess Luna protects the dreams of ponies. Had it been her eyes that Cloudy had seen just before she woke up?

That was kind of nice; like being visited by a… well… a princess. It made her feel special… Important…

Cloudy Night closed her eyes, and entered into a deep and dreamless sleep.

This time she was not listening to the pulse of the tree, but the snore of her friend.

And that made her feel special too.

Stand up straight!

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Cloudy Night was still asleep… but she was also waking up. How she could exist in both states was a mystery to her, though it seemed to open her mind to reflection. She could clearly think, while still remaining in her close-eyed state… how strange.

Would that she could, Cloudy would remain in this state for much longer; allowing herself time to consider and analyze the many new puzzles that had entered her thoughts since the previous night. However, Cloudy was not destined for this, and the introduction of a new sensation to her physical body began Cloudy in the process of waking up.

She could feel… a pressure on the side of her face.

She also detected a slight wobble in her head, like the feeling of sitting on a cloud during a breezy night. Cloudy had initially gotten a unique form of dizziness from the swaying of her clouds, but she had eventually gotten used to it. She had even begun to learn how to hold the cloud steady with her magic, though the task was still far too tiring to perform for any great amount of time.

The wobble increased, along with the pressure, and Cloudy Night felt the pull of the waking world.

It began with sound from outside of her head returning, though there was relatively no sound to be heard at the moment. This moved to a greater sense of feeling, which allowed Cloudy to perceive the hoof shoving itself into the side of her face. It ended with sight, with Cloudy opening her eyes to see who else but Cloud Charmer wobbling her head with her hoof. She appeared to be staring down at Cloudy with a half worried, half annoyed look on her face.

Well, it had been a good sleep while it had lasted.

“Good, you’re awake. Do you ponies around here sleep in forever?” Cloud asked, revealing yet more of her annoyance in her voice.
Cloudy Night pushed her friend’s hoof from her face and rose from her covers with a mighty stretch and yawn. She must really have slept in if Cloud Charmer was waking her up; the pony slept like the dead! Yet when Cloudy looked around, she found that it was still very dark in the room.

In fact, peering through the small gaps in the branches that made up the ceiling showed a sky that was only just receiving light from the sun; all light blue with tinge of darker seemingly contained within. Why in the wide realm of Equestria would Cloud Charmer awaken her so early, not to mention why Cloud Charmer herself was up at this time?

“Wha!” Before Cloudy Night could go any further, Cloud Charmer silenced her by placing a hoof over her mouth. Her Blue mane looked almost purple in the extremely dim light, along with her coat seeming a far darker shade of grey than it truly was. It looked slightly odd… like Cloud Charmer was a different pony altogether from the Pegasus she had seen sleeping last night.

“Don’t make so much noise! My dad will be up in a few minutes, but my mom won’t. We need to be quiet until he comes up here.” Cloud whispered.

“So, I assume we can whisper.” She said.

“Of course we can, what would make you think differently? By the way, how does your mane stay so straight while you sleep? Mine gets so messy I have to spend forever brushing it when I wake up?”

Apart from the amusement that came from the image she got of Cloud Charmer brushing her unruly mane, Cloudy really had no answer for her friend. Her mane, tail, and coat always stayed relatively strait and unchanging. She brushed her hair anyways, but there never seemed to be a real need for it.

“It just does. Cloud Charmer, why are we waking up so early?”

“Ha! I absolutely just said that ponies around here sleep too late, and I was right! This is when I always wake up.” Cloud answered.

“Really?”

“Yep!”

“Why in the world would you do that?” Cloudy asked, not even attempting to hide the incredulity in her voice.

“So that I can make my bed, brush my mane, and clean my room. I even woke up extra early today to help you make your bed.” Cloud Charmer responded, suddenly seeming to take notice of the rumpled blankets surrounding Cloudy. She immediately pulled one off from under Cloudy’s hooves, almost tripping her, and began to spread it flat on the floor of her room.

“Really?” Cloudy asked again. She looked around her friend’s room, and did in fact notice that it looked cleaner. Not only was Cloud’s bed made to the same perfect flatness it had been the night before, but the oddly stacked books had been straightened, the various objects on the shelves had been rearranged, and the drawers of Cloud’s desk were re-closed. It looked as if Cloud Charmer had rearranged the room completely! Even now she was folding Cloudy’s blanket into a neat rectangle of bedding.

Cloud Charmer looked up from her folding to stare at her friend for a moment. “Are you always this repetitive in the morning?” She asked. It really was beginning to get on Cloud’s nerves.

Here she was, folding her friend’s blankets, her dad mere moments away from coming up the stairs to her room, and all Cloudy could do was ask the same question multiple times. There must be some way to get Cloudy’s mind stirring, she just had to figure out what!

“Could you please help fold your own blanket; my dad will be up here in a minute!” Cloud Charmer said, really trying to emphasize the need to fold the blankets.

“Of course… but, why is your dad coming up here?” Cloudy asked as she took some of the bedding in her hooves to spread and fold. She could have easily done it with her magic, but doing it with her hooves allowed her to extend the conversation a little bit.

“He’s coming for wake up call.” She said quickly, mostly focused on her task of folding. Her lack of explanation was actually annoying Cloudy a bit.

“And what is wakeup call?” Cloudy asked, not understanding the context of her friend’s current situation.

“My dad is training me. I wake up at this time. I’m sorry that I had to wake you up so early, but I must stick to schedule like I promised.” Cloud sounded clipped, and a teeny bit grumpy… but her apology looked sincere in her stormy eyes.

“Okay then, what happens next?” Cloudy was still a bit confused as to exactly what this ‘training’ was.

“When he comes up here, stand straight, and don’t say anything unless he talks to you first. It’ll only take a couple of minutes, so don’t worry about it.” Cloud was about to continue, when she heard a much muffled sound of a door closing downstairs. In an instant her demeanour changed from grumpy and annoyed to stiff and proper. She immediately stiffened where she stood, staring directly at the wall in front of her. Her little wings also stood up straight on her; unmoving and sound. She actually seemed taller in this position, standing frozen like a leaf in frozen water. She became completely removed from the situation, and the strange-ness of her behaviour actually put Cloudy Night on edge.

Not knowing what to do, Cloudy tried to imitate her friend’s pose as exactly as she could. She stared straight at the wall which surrounded the stairway into the room and waited for Cloud’s father to enter.

After several seconds of complete silence, Cloudy hear hoofsteps on the floor below. She tried to stand just a bit stiffer as she heard somepony reach the stairs the lead into Cloud’s room. It was honestly one of the strangest things that Cloudy had ever done, and part of her wanted to laugh at the hilarity of the two fillies staring mindlessly at the wall, completely in silence; as if they were trying to become some of the furniture in the room.

Finally, Stormflight trotted slowly into the room, staring straight faced and almost as statuesque as she and her friend. When he entered the room, Cloudy noticed that his eyes immediately scanned the entire room, though for what she couldn’t tell. His eyes only stopped when they rested on her, and even then the stare lasted only for a moment. His quick analysis of the room ended, and he stared straight once again; staring at nothing.

“Cloudy Night, while I appreciate the gesture that my daughter has implied for you to follow, rest assured that you do not need to follow the example of me or my daughter. You may stand at ease, or leave the room if you wish.” Stormflight said, though now his deep voice sounded flat and impassionate. Despite this, he seemed to command even more of her attention than when she first met him, sounding even more like everything he said mattered so much more than before.

“If it’s okay… I’d like to stay up here.” Cloudy Night said, she looked at her friend to see how she would feel about this, but Cloud Charmer only continued to stare directly at the wall, and did not acknowledge the existence of anypony other than herself.

“That is fine.” Stormflight said. And as Cloudy let her muscles relax, he turned to his daughter to speak, still staring above her head as he did so.

“Child, your room is clean?” he asked, the statement itself seemed so rhetorical.

“Yes sir.” Cloud answered in the same flat tone as her father.

“Your bedding is made?”

“Yes sir.”

“And your mane is brushed, hooves washed, and coat clean?”

“Yes sir.”

“Very well. As you know your mother and I are going out tonight, and we may be home late. You however are expected to return home before your curfew, as always. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir, I understand.”

“I am also reprieving you of your chores owed to me or your mother today, as I am allowing you to go to town with your friends. I will allow this for the next several days until the circus leaves.”

Cloud Charmer actually broke from her concentration when her father relieved her of her apparent chores. She looked up at him incredulously. “Really?” she said, sounding excited.

However, after a moment of her father staring blankly at the wall Cloud Charmer realized what she had done, and returned to her stiffened state. “I mean, Really sir?”

“Yes. I suggest you make good use of your time, as your chores will resume when the circus has gone. I trust you will be careful at the fair?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good, do you have any issues to report this morning?”

“No, sir.”

“Then you and Cloudy Night may come down for breakfast whenever you’re ready. At ease.” And with that, Cloud’s father spun around on his hooves, and silently marched out of the room.

Cloud Charmer immediately relaxed from her straight pose, and the look she gave to Cloudy night was ecstatic. She had honestly not expected the relief her father had given her.

“Did you hear that Cloudy? I don’t have to do any chores until the circus is gone! Ha!” she said, to Cloudy it appeared as if her friend had instantly switched from the obedient and stoic pony that she had seen moments ago back to her friend. What exactly had just happened? Cloudy was still utterly confounded as to what she had seen transpire just moments ago, and the sudden change in her friend’s mood only added to that confusion.

“What… just… happened?” Cloudy asked.

“What do you mean? My dad just did wake up call, that’s all. He comes into the room to inspect that it’s clean, and then he asks if I have any troubles or incidents to report to him. He also usually tells me my chores for the morning, but not today!” She said with a hoofpump of victory.

Cloudy Night merely stared down at her little grey friend, still astonished at the change in events. “He does this every morning?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” Cloud answered.

“Then why do you do it?”

“He’s my dad, I have to listen to him. Plus it’s not like it does any harm, It gives me plenty of time to hang out with you even more.”

“And you have chores. How can that even be possible when we spend a lot of time out for most of the night? I hang out with you every morning! How do you find time to do chores?” It was perplexing to say the least. Cloudy’s own parents were at home most of the day, so they usually did the chores, but it seemed like Cloud’s family spent a lot of time out of the house. How could her friend follow a regimented schedule and also find time to play with her?

“Well, why do you think I get up so early? I have plenty of time to do the chores and hang out with you every day. My dad doesn’t force me to always be home, or to always do chores. He expects me to be up and ready for his morning routine, and he expects me to do my chores, nothing more.” She answered; it was so simple that she couldn’t understand why Cloudy was so confused with all of this.

“I… still don’t get it.” Cloudy said.

Cloud Charmer sighed. This was getting on her nerves, and she was getting restless. The circus awaited them! “I don’t see how I can explain it to you right now. Let’s just go eat breakfast, because we still have to meet Thunderstruck at the circus, remember?”

“Fine, but I still don’t get it.”

“Well, I hope you get food, because that’s what I’m going to get right now!” Cloud said. Seconds later she was galloping down the stairs to eat breakfast, leaving Cloudy trailing behind her.

“She sure is grumpy in the mornings…” Cloudy Night said. This night, and now this morning, had taught her a lot about her friend, though exactly what she had learned was as confusing as anything else she had seen that night.

One thing was for sure: Cloud Charmer’s family was really weird.

With a small sigh, Cloudy followed her friend downstairs, for breakfast.

***

Breakfast was, of course, delicious!

Once again Oak Leaf had managed to make the simplest ingredients, which took the form of some oats, taste amazing. It boggled Cloudy’s mind how Cloud’s mother did this; it had to be her special talent. Even her own mother couldn’t cook this good, though you’d never say that to her face unless you wanted a cuff on the head, as Cloudy Night’s father had learned on multiple occasions. Perhaps Cloudy should see if she had any talent with cooking, though she doubted it, she had never even considered food as a possible talent of hers.

Cloudy Night didn’t have the slightest idea what her cutie mark would be, and… unlike many other ponies… she was relatively unbothered by it. Even before she had met Cloud Charmer, most of her time had been consumed with trying to master the spells in her mother’s spell books. She loved doing magic, and the more magic she used, the easier it got to use it again. Cloudy was sure that with some time she could learn every spell in that book, though mastering them would be another matter entirely. She still felt worn from casting the come to life spell on that book yesterday.

Realizing that her mind was veering away from the present, Cloudy Night refocused her attention on the breakfast scene before her. It was surprisingly quiet, presenting a much different tone than the night before. None of the candles on the walls were lit, leaving the lighting to pour in from outside; though even that light was grim, grey, and dull. Today was not looking to be as fun as Cloud Charmer had believed it would be. Perhaps it would be better to remain home, even if it meant that Cloudy had to go another night with the suspicion of that circus looming over her head.

Oak Leaf herself was in the kitchen, and she was humming loudly, based solely on the fact that Cloudy could hear her humming. Her voice still held that deep, foreign tone that had filled Cloudy with a mysterious curiosity towards her origins. She probably wouldn’t ask about it, as many ponies could take that offensively, but that would not stop her from wanting to ask about it.

Cloudy Looked across the table to Stormflight; who was staring at the dreary sky through the open front window of the house. His head was leaning on his hoof, and he looked quite bored, which greatly contrasted with his daughter. Cloud Charmer was downright jovial as she ate, all signs of the morning’s grumpiness gone from her body. She kept looking up and smiling at Cloudy, but never actually said anything, which was kind of annoying. For minutes the silence of the room stood unbroken, and Cloudy started to feel overwhelmed by the awkwardness taking place before her.

This may have continued for some time, but Stormflight’s boredom was apparently too much to bear, and he decided to end the quiet.

“So, you two youngsters, what exactly are you going to do today?” He asked, the flat tone and commanding looks completely replaced by the pony Cloudy had spoken to the night before. How strange that ponies like Stormflight, and even Cloud Charmer, can seem to have multiple personalities. Maybe it was just something Cloudy had never learned about ponies, as she hadn’t really spent much time around them.

When her father addressed her, Cloud Charmer’s muzzle shot out of her bowl, nearly tipping it over, so that she could respond. “I don’t really know. Me and Cloudy were just going to go to the circus and see what happens, no real plan.”

“Well, surely there is somepony you want to see more than anyone else?” He said.

“I guess… I want to see The All Seeing Eye. He’s a unicorn that can read minds! I wanna see if I can trick him.” Cloud said excitedly.

“If he can read minds, then I doubt it will work.” Cloudy stated.

Cloud Shot a glance at her, “ But what if I trick him by making him think I’m trying to trick him. Then he’ll search for a trick where there is none, and be wrong.”

“But if he can read minds, then he’ll also know if you try to trick him by not tricking him. Regardless, what you said is still a trick, and doesn’t count as a ‘not trick.’”

“Now you’re just playing with meanings, the point is that I want to try to trick him.” Cloud retorted.

“Even if it won’t work?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Cloudy asked.

“Well I have to give it a try. Even if it doesn’t work I still have to see if I can make an attempt.” Cloud Charmer answered.

“Well then, I admire your tenacity, child. What act is it that you wanted to see, Cloudy?” Stormflight asked, putting an end to the argument before it began.

Cloudy Night paused to think about his question for a moment. What did she want to see the most? To be honest, she had spent more time worrying about why the circus was here to think about what she wanted to see there. The only pony she had seen before had been Master Mirage, and his weird magic tricks had certainly impressed, if not frightened, her. “I want to see Master Mirage’s magic show.” She answered.

“That sounds lovely! Even when I first met him, I could never understand how he performed his tricks.” Oak Leaf said, walking in from the kitchen.

“Really? You don’t know how they work?”

“No, none of the ponies in my group could understand his ability. Not even our own mage could decipher his tricks, saying that only real magic could do such a thing.”

“But that’s not possible. Only unicorns can use magic.” Cloudy stated in her matter-of-fact tone.

“Not true.” Oak Leaf said.

“What do you mean? earth ponies and pegasi can’t use magic.”

“There are many types of magic in this world, Cloudy. Not all of them need a horn to cast.”

“I… still don’t get it.” Cloudy responded.

That made Oak Leaf giggle a bit. ‘Then you will one day. I have seen much of what ponies can do, and I know only one thing for certain.”

“what’s that?” Cloud Charmer asked her mother, wide eyed and curious.

“That you can always expect a pony to surprise you. Ponies seem to have a talent for being so much greater than we think of when we see them.” Oak Leaf spoke, her deep voice sending soothing waves around the table.

“But some ponies must be ordinary?” Cloudy was still greatly confused by the conversation she was having.

“That depends on what you call ordinary. For me, ordinary is strange and unexpected, and it is ponies like you little ones, that are far more amazing than even you expect to be.” Finished Oak Leaf.

“Wow.” Cloud whispered, staring admiringly at her mother. Why did she never ask her mom more questions? She was full of awesome advice! Cloud resolved to talk more with her mom later.

Cloudy did not speak again, she was spending her time regarding what Oak Leaf had just said. She could take a really long time doing that, and Cloud Charmer knew that for a fact. Sometimes the pony just sat there and didn’t speak for almost an hour. It could get really boring, and Cloud was not about to let that happen right now, when they had a circus to get to!

“So! I’m full! Let’s get going to the circus now!” Cloud Charmer chimed as she slid backwards from the table, fully intending to try and make a break for the door.

But before she could take another hoofstep, she was halted by her father. “Cloud, it’s barely morning, you can’t leave here yet.”

“Circus’s open early.” Cloud stated, once again trying to make a move.

“Ah ah ah! Remember who set up this breakfast for you?” Stormflight asked.

“Yes… it was mom.” Cloud answered.

“Then before you go, why not show your mother a kindness by clearing the table for her?” He chided.

“But Dad!”

“No buts, clean the table, you can leave after that.”

“Ugh… fine! Thanks for breakfast mom!” Cloud Charmer said grumpily.

Her mother was smiling fondly at Cloud when she responded. “Of course, anything for my daughter and her friend.”

“I’ll help clear the table too!” Cloudy volunteered, actually surprising Cloud Charmer for a moment.

“Why, thank you dear.” Oak Leaf said, and her husband quickly followed suit. “That’s good, you’ll clear the table in one go.”

Cloud picked up a bowl in her mouth, taking her father’s in one hoof as she slowly walked into the kitchen. She saw Cloudy behind her, who was practically carrying the entire table with her magic! Sometimes Cloudy Night made Cloud Charmer jealous that she hadn’t been born a unicorn. She made magic look so easy!

Cloud placed the bowls on the counter by the wash basin, and ran ahead of her friend into the next room, where her dad was waiting to give them their bits to get into the circus.

“Don’t take anything you might lose, and remember that you need this money to get in, not for anything else.” Stormflight advised.

“Yes sir, I won’t forget.” Cloud answered, filling with excitement already.

“That being said, I put an extra two bits in, in case you two get hungry.”

“Thanks dad!”

Cloudy Night came up beside Cloud Charmer just as her dad placed a neck purse over her head. Inside the small cloth bag there were the several bits they would need for the fair.

“Okay, Bye mom and dad! Have fun going out! See you later!” Cloud Charmer said, taking a last glance at Cloudy before she galloped out the door of her tree house.

“Be safe.” Her parents said together.

Cloudy stayed back a moment to thank Cloud’s parents before she left, closing the open door behind her as she exited the gigantic tree.

Oak Leaf immediately elbowed her husband when they exited. He practically cackled at her after she did so. “What was that for?”

“You didn’t have to be like that in front of Cloudy. Even this morning, with your wake up call!” She chastised, only half angry.

“What?” He answered, trying to feign ignorance.

“Can’t you see it embarrasses the girl?”

“Which one?” Stormflight asked with a sly grin.

“Come now! Don’t be so immature! Or I’ll be grumpy with you all day.”

“No need for that. They’re fine; they’ll have great fun at the circus.” Stormflight drew close to his wife, brushing an insanely long lock of hair from in front of her eye. He gave her a little kiss on the cheek, no easy feat for his stature. “Honey, are you mad at me.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you aren’t.” Oak Leaf said, pouting.

He leaned in close and whispered something in her ear. She immediately broke into a fit of giggles, “Not in your dreams!” she said.

“Oh, but they’re so lovely, my dear.” He answered, making her smile more. She could never stay mad at him when he started being charming. “So, where are WE going then?”

“Well, I heard about this little tavern in town-“

“A tavern! I never thought that you would take your romances to such frivolous places, husband.” Oak Leaf said.

“Oh, it’ll be fun! Plus it’s a great place to meet new ponies.” Stormflight insisted.

Oak Leaf sighed, “Fine. But I hope that it doesn’t kill the mood.” She said. She really had to stop letting Stormflight drag her around to all of these places.

If only he didn’t always make it so much fun to be dragged.

***

Cloud Charmer took a deep breath of the cool morning air at the bottom of the path from her house. She could not see the town or the circus for the trees, but it was doubtful that she’d need to. She could already feel the adventurous pulse and beat giving off from what had to be the circus, and every moment more she felt its beat gave her more excitement.

“C’mon Cloudy! Are you ready?” Cloud said, jumping up and down on her hooves, which caused the bits in her neck purse to jangle their own tune with her motions.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” Cloudy said, sounding unsure.

Cloud smiled at her friend, trying to comfort her. “It’s going to be fine. I promise that there’s nothing at the circus to worry about.”

“I… I believe you.” Cloudy Night said after a long pause. She still seemed unsure.

“Well then, let’s go! I bet we can even beat Thunderstruck there!” She said, suddenly taking off down the path towards town.

“Probably, I doubt he’s even awake right now.” Cloudy mumbled, stifling a small yawn before trotting after her friend.

She could still feel the beat from the circus, and she still didn’t trust it.

But the only way to find out what it meant was to go, not hide.

So Cloudy went, saving her regrets in her mind…for later.

Getting close

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The closer that they Cloudy got to the circus, the more uneasy she felt. Every hoofstep seemed to increase the power of the pulse she felt booming through the world around her. Of course, it was not extremely powerful, or very overwhelming of a beat, but it was different, and it was coming from the circus. Why was it that Cloudy just could not trust that circus? It had to be more than just the beat it gave off… she honestly didn’t know. Perhaps the suddenness of this whole travelling show had made Cloudy nervous. It did catch pretty much everypony in town off guard; she had seen that during Master Mirage’s special introduction yesterday.

The circus was new, and weird, and to Cloudy Night, that gave it some cause for hesitation.

Cloud Charmer was just in front of Cloudy Night, practically hopping on her hooves. Her wings were also fluttering just the tiniest bit, as if they were trying to lift her up into the air. As far as Cloudy could tell, she felt no apprehension for the circus or the beat it gave off, and that annoyed Cloudy. Why was she so comfortable with this new change?

Well, Cloud’s mother did say that she met the ponies of this circus before… or, at least that she met Master Mirage. Perhaps for Cloud Charmer that was enough to reconcile her feelings about the circus.

Or… maybe nothing really bothered Cloud Charmer.

Cloudy Night looked up at the early morning sky, still lost in thought. Through the trees of the forest path she could see that the sky was nothing more than a gloomy ceiling of grey clouds. They looked so close to the ground, which was not uncommon here. Cliffside did sit on the side of a mountain, meaning that any low flying clouds will be far closer to the ground here than they would anywhere else. It was nice to have clouds so close, because it made actually getting on one a much easier feat for Cloudy Night.

Cloudy could walk on clouds. She had never understood why; it should be impossible for anyone other than a Pegasus. Of course, she could cast one of those cloud walking spells she had read of in one of her mother’s books, but she had never needed to. She could naturally walk on clouds, and had never thought to question it. Only now did something as strange as that seem like a question worth asking.

But these clouds… they did not feel like the nice fluffy pillows that had made her a comfortable be on many a night. Instead, they felt wild, unknown, and… well… uneasy. Looking at them only seemed to make this feeling worse, so Cloudy returned her attention to the path ahead of her.

To her surprise, Cloudy Night saw that Cloud Charmer had also been looking up at the sky. Even as they walked she continued to stare, and though Cloudy could not actually see her face, she suspected that they were analysing the sky.

Last night’s conversation had left Cloudy with something that she had not come close to achieving before then: A much greater understanding of her friend. In one night Cloud Charmer had become a little bit less of a mystery, and Cloudy knew why her friend stared longingly at the sky.

It did seem very unfair, for a Pegasus to be as old as Cloudy’s friend, and to still have to wait to take off into the sky. It was like having a limb that she couldn’t actually use. Cloudy Night felt horrible for the way she had acted towards her friend yesterday. She had called out her inability without any knowledge whatsoever of how Cloud actually felt on the matter.

For such a smart pony, she sure could be dense.

The pulse coming from the circus changed. Not by a lot, but it surprised Cloudy, and she tripped on her hooves, causing her to stumble. When she recovered she noticed that Cloud Charmer was staring at her. Her friend’s ears were turned slightly down the path ahead, obviously meaning that she had heard… or felt… the change as well.

“You’re not still bothered by that are you?” She asked.

“Well, it’s changed now.” Cloudy answered.

“So?”

“So! It’s different from what it was before. It’s weird, large, and I don’t like it!” Cloudy said. She was actually becoming annoyed that Cloud could not understand her feelings about the beat.

“Beats change all the time. What’s so special about this one?”

“It’s odd, that’s what makes it special. It doesn’t feel like it belongs! It isn’t normal!” Cloudy Night glared at her friend. It was so obviously different from everything that they’d ever felt before, why was there apparently no cause for suspicion here?

“Clouuuudy.”

“Cloud Charmer.”

“Listen, we’ve only been able to hear these beats for a month, right?” Cloud asked.

“Yes.”

“And we have no idea why, correct?”

“Also yes.” Cloudy answered.

“In that case, how can we determine what is normal for a pulse? We’ve never heard them before! Maybe they work in some strange way; maybe they change all the time. Hay! Maybe they don’t even exist!” Cloud responded.

Cloudy sighed. “Well, they do correspond to actual things in our world, so I do think we can say that the beats exist.”

“Okay, fine. But how can you say we know how they work?”

“I’m not. I honestly have no idea where the beats come from, nor do I know exactly how they work. What I do know is that if you listen closely, you can start to understand what they represent, and that circus feels weird.”

“Oh, I see, now you’re back to calling me a bad listener.” Cloud Charmer said.

“I never said you were a bad listener!”

“Whatever! You aren’t getting any candy at the circus!” Cloud shouted.

“Wha- what are you?” Cloudy then noticed that her friend was smiling. It was infuriating.

“Ugh! Could you please take this seriously, Cloud Charmer?”

“Today isn’t made to be serious. Let’s enjoy that while we can.” Cloud Charmer chimed, jingling her neck purse when she hopped over a stone in the path.

“But I seriously think we should talk about thi-“

“Cloudy Night, don’t you see? We’re going to be at the circus as guests. It’ll be the perfect chance to judge whether or not these ponies are friendly. Isn’t that what you want to find out?”

Cloudy looked at her friend for a moment before nodding her head. She needed to know if these ponies could be trusted.

“Well then, let’s do just that. I know these beats are something special… and weird, but we still don’t understand how they work. I’m not going to base everything I think about these ponies on just that beat, and neither should you.” Cloud lectured.

She was right. It would be best to reserve judgement until they had experience. Perhaps she was looking at this situation the wrong way. “Okay, you’re right. I should meet them first.”

“Thank you for listening… but you’re still not getting any candy.” Cloud Said, immediately proceeding to stick out her tongue at Cloudy.

Cloudy Night, of course, returned the favour, sticking her own tongue out at her friend. Despite the gloomy day, she did feel energetic, and Cloud Charmer’s playfulness was actually putting her into a good mood. She knew that Cloud was joking about the candy.

At least she better be. Nopony was gonna stop Cloudy night from trying some candy. It was such a rare food to have around here, and she had only had some once before.

As Cloudy Night reflected on the conversation she had just had with Cloud Charmer, she found something a bit funny. So far, since discovering the beat given off from the circus Cloudy and her friend had had the same argument every couple of hours. Including the fact that it usually ended with Cloud Charmer telling her not to worry, and Cloudy agreeing not to worry… except that she did, over and over again. No matter how many times Cloud consoled her, Cloudy simply could not change her opinion on the circus, at least until she saw it for herself. Still, the fact that they had been having the same arguments for the last day or so was strangely amusing to Cloudy. It was like when they had first met, and Cloud Charmer had forced the cloud they were on to rocket around, it felt just like that.

Like moving while staying in the same place.

As Cloudy watched the sky, there was a momentary parting in the grey clouds, and a long beam of shining golden light toughed the mountainside for just a moment before it was gone. Things might not be as bad as she thought, though she’d have to see the circus before she decided that.

“Cloudy, are you coming!?” Cloud Charmer shouted to her, as she was now far ahead on the forest path.

Cloudy didn’t answer, but she did gallop ahead to catch up with her friend.

She would find out everything she needed to when they got to the circus.

Hello Circus!

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“Where is he!?” Cloud Charmer whined.

“I don’t know.” Cloudy Night answered.

“Honestly, you ponies around here sleep in too late; he should be here by now.”

“Well, we could see him coming better if we got on the path.” Cloudy mentioned.

“No! I think we can do it, we just need to wait a bit longer.”

Cloudy Night sighed, pushing a green leafy branch out of her face so that she could see well. They were currently hiding in a bush not a hundred hoofsteps from the circus, since Cloud had become determined to surprise Thunderstruck from here.

Just across, Cloudy could see the monstrously large coloured tents, their blood red and earthy green canvases occasionally shifting with the light breeze. The grey sky in the background made them look larger and more imposing than they already were, though to Cloudy they had been suspicious the moment she saw them. She could feel the pulse moving through the air around them like the beats of a great drum, once again matching their beat to that of the tinny mechanical music coming from within the numerous rows of tents.

Even with the almost signature music of the circus echoing throughout the area, Cloudy had not seen a single pony moving about, which had increasingly put Cloudy on edge.

Cloud Charmer felt completely the opposite. Apart from the boredom she felt from the lack of one very specific pony who promised they would be here, she was rather enjoying herself. The music playing from the circus was odd, but also very friendly and inviting, and Cloud Charmer could not help but wonder what amazing sights lay within those gigantic coloured canopies.

Of course, it was strange that nopony seemed to be about, and just walking into the circus felt wrong, so sitting in this bush seemed to be the perfect solution. Just wait for somepony to come by, and then go in.

But her boredom would not be suppressed, and after a few more moments of staring down the main road, looking for Thunderstruck, Cloud Charmer pulled back into the bush with a loud sigh.

“Seriously, how could anypony spend all this time sleeping, it just wastes time you could already be using to have fun!” Cloud said.

When she looked at her dark blue friend, she noticed that Cloudy seemed to be on edge; staring through the leaves with an almost feverous look in her eyes… or at least, in the eye not covered by long blue mane. Better not to say anything about it, she was tired of having to tell Cloudy not to worry so much. Her friend kept saying that the beats coming from the circus were weird, but she still couldn’t feel it.

Sure, it was something new, unlike any of the other beats they had felt before, but did that make it bad? Since when was strange evil? The rest of the ponies in town appeared to think of the circus like that, which only continued to amaze Cloud Charmer. The whole world was full of awesome new experiences, and the ponies here just slept all the time! They should be here, where the fun was!

Come to think of it, there wasn’t a sign of anypony around the circus. It was like a ghost town, which was odd, since it actually was getting near late morning. Where was everyone?

She decided to voice her concern to Cloudy. “Hey, Cloudy. Where do you think everypony is? I mean, some of them had to have wanted to come here, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know Cloud; it’s not as if I had anything to do around Cliffside before now.” Town had seemed like a scary prospect back then. Funny how fast things changed.

“But that can’t mean the whole town decided not to come today, could it?”

“We can’t be sure if the town ever saw something like this before… I don’t know… maybe some kids are being kept at home by their parents. I don’t even know if WE should be here right now.” Cloudy said.

“Why should we NOT be here. It’s not as if we weren’t i-“

“Shhhhhh!” Cloudy suddenly whispered.

“wha-“

“Somepony’s coming!” She whispered.

Cloud Charmer immediately pushed her muzzle through the last branches of the bush to look at the circus. Was Thunderstruck finally here? Were they actually going to get the chance to scare him?

However, the pony she saw approaching was not Thunderstruck, but Master Mirage himself. He was dressed the same as she had seen him yesterday, wearing a tall black top hat and shiny black cape, lined with red inside, not to mention his exquisitely well made suit and vest. He looked absolutely spotless, with his pale coat seeming freshly brushed, and his cape and hat lacking the tiniest speck of dirt. His moustache looked perfectly trimmed at the end of his muzzle. Next to him walked another stallion, far older and rougher looking than himself... though he carried a youthfulness about him that completely contrasted with his appearance. He was hastily speaking to Master Mirage, who seemed to become more upset with every word. Cloud Charmer strained her ears, but she could not hear a word they were saying to each other.

“What are they saying?” Cloud Charmer whispered.

“I don’t know, wait till they get closer.”

And they were, Mirage and his companion were trotting directly towards the very bush the two fillies were hiding in. As the distance closed between the two groups, Cloud Charmer felt both her nervousness and excitement growing. This was just like the adventures her uncle told her about!

Finally Master Mirage came close to the other side of the road, not more than 20 or so paces from the bush they were in. As his words came into their hearing Cloud and Cloudy also noted that he appeared to be trying to hide what he was saying from anyone on the circus side of the road.

Not that there was anypony there, but still.

“You’re sure? Not a single pony?” Mirage’s voice still held that hypnotizing lilt, which twisted every word he spoke into something of great importance.

What could that tidbit mean? Cloud Charmer almost wanted to jump out of her hiding spot from the adrenaline in her veins.

Master Mirage’s nervous looking associate glanced down the road before speaking again. “No, not a single pony from town or the refugee camp has made their way here since we opened.”

Oh… they were just talking about that. Cloud drooped a little in her spot. She should have expected that, it seemed like nopony could talk about super-secret things around her.

“Hmph! For shame! Have you even seen activity in the town today?” Master mirage asked. For a moment the breeze rose up, blowing the cape away from his flank, and Both fillies almost gasped aloud.

He had no cutie mark! Master Mirage was a blank flank! Neither of the girls had ever seen an adult without a cutie mark, and Mirage’s distinct lack of the thing looked so out of place from their ordinary lives.

The bush shook a tiny bit in the breeze. A lucky thing, for in their surprise the girls had shifted around, and without that breeze they likely would have been noticed.

“It’s as dead as a funeral home out there, sir.” The companion answered.

“Well, it seems that it’s going to stay that way sometime… I don’t understand! This town was so trusting before. The last time I was here Canterlot was downright pleasant! What could possibly have happened?” Master Mirage asked the air. He took of his hat with on hoof and held it above his head, as though wearing it stopped him from thinking. His mane was, of course, a shiny black, slightly parted at the front.

“Discord happened.” His companion intoned. Cloud Charmer started, as she actually seemed to notice the pony for the first time. He was a unicorn of average height, wearing a rough looking shirt collar around his neck, and sported a pair of small spectacles, reminiscent of her own uncle’s glasses, on his muzzle. His coat was the colour of dried dirt, but his mane was golden and shining, despite being very messy. Around his face his coat seemed to be stained with strange symbols that she couldn’t recognize. Who was he? Her curiosity held no end for this pony.

“Ah, yes, Discord. This place was trusting before him.” Mirage said, placing his hat perfectly atop his head again.

“He certainly changed policy.”

“Policy! He changed the world! Ponies used to love each other, used to love the world! I could take this show anywhere in Equestria, and find excited viewers waiting for me. Now, we come back to our home, and for three months we haven’t gotten a single customer!” Mirage shouted, shaking his hoof at the rolling grey sky.

Yes! Now things were taking an upward turn. These two ponies were talking about Discord.

“Well, he brought chaos to the land. He showed ponies just how powerless they are. Can you really expect them to stay happy?” his companion intoned.

“I expected something more than this! Look at what he’s done; wars seem to spring from the ground like worms in the rain! The world is still in chaos! Now more than ever ponies should be interested in entertainment, if only as a distraction.”

“They just don’t have the spirit left.”

Master Mirage didn’t appear to be listening anymore; he turned to stare at Cliffside… or Canterlot… down the road. He paused for a long time, just staring, before he spoke again. “What a homecoming, eh. We should never have come back.”

“I think they do need us… they just need to remember that.” Mirage’s associate said.

“Sure… But they better remember quickly, or we’ll be starving.” Master Mirage sighed.

Overhearing their conversation had managed to make Cloud Charmer sad and angry at the same time. These ponies in town didn’t care about each other! Life outside the estate was nothing like she imagined it.

There must be some way to fix this problem; she just needed to figure out how.

Before Master Mirage or his companion could speak again they were interrupted by a shout from the circus. A large stallion ran out from the wall of flapping tents to meet the two on their side of the road.

“Master… Mirage!” He spoke, huffing and puffing from what seemed like a very short run.

“What is it, Number Crunch?” Mirage said.

“Well… Quick Fix told me to tell you… that somepony broke the wheels on several of the travelling carts last night!” He said, gasping for air while he had his moments pause.

“Who did it?” Master Mirage asked, beginning to sound very angry.

“He said it could only have been somepony from town.” Number Crunch answered.

“Probably telling us to get out of here.” Said the golden haired unicorn.

“Then they’re fools! If they want us to leave, why would they break our wagons!? No, this was the work of some children.” He paused for a moment to puff angrily, glancing at the sky for a moment, “Did Quick Fix say how long it will take to repair the wagons?”

“I believe he said… two days!” Number Crunch replied.

Master Mirage looked at his companion, “Well, it’s no longer than we were staying here anyways. But… perhaps we should close up shop until the time comes to go.”

The unicorn looked at Master Mirage for a moment, and then glanced behind the group. Cloud Charmer almost recoiled into the bush. It felt like he stared right at her! She felt her friend tense up beside her, and knew she was thinking the same thing.

“I don’t think we should close just yet. Who knows, things can change in the blink of an eye!” The unicorn said with a wink before he trotted off in the direction of the circus.

Master Mirage grumbled to himself for a moment, “One hour! That’s the longest I’ll wait!” He then turned to Number Crunch, now speaking in a very serious tone. “Tell Quick Fix to get to work on those wheels. If he needs any bits to find some parts, provided this ungracious town will provide any!” He shouted at the sky, “Then you may see fit to give him the necessary funds. Now, off with you!” Mirage ordered, watching Number Crunch take off on a gallop back into the circus. He seemed to grin a bit, seeing the stallion scramble to carry out his orders.

It lasted only a moment though, and he himself trotted almost all the way back to the circus before shouting “Boy!”

Like lightning, the foal that had been helping him with the wagon yesterday appeared from one of the tents. Cloud Charmer could no longer hear what he was saying to the boy, but she could guess that he was giving out some orders. Master Mirage then stopped to wait at the entrance of the circus grounds, obviously playing the greeter for the moment.

Cloud Charmer almost fell back from her viewpoint through the bush, sitting perfectly still for that long almost killed her! Oh, but the things she had heard! This really was an adventure.

“Cloudy, did you see? He had no cutie mark!” Cloud Charmer exclaimed.

“I did see… but I don’t know why.”

“Do you think he just, doesn’t know what his special talent is?”

“That doesn’t seem likely. If what your mom said about him is true, then he must be old enough to be our grandfather. How could he have gone all that time without learning what his special talent is?” Cloudy Night asked.

“That’s true, except that he doesn’t look old. It can’t be normal aging.”

“He could be wearing an illusion around himself, made to change his appearance.” Cloudy suggested, and it was a possibility.

“How would he do that?”

“It’s one of the methods in my mother’s books. A magic user would wrap the illusion spell around themselves, and then tie it off, like weaving a net. The spell would then sit there and feed off of its own energy while the user wears it like a cloak. It’s doable, but very hard.”

“Why is it so hard to accomplish?” Cloud asked.

“Because it’s very hard to focus on yourself when you’re casting a spell. Self-enchantments are a risky and very unreliable type of magic, it would require a unicorn of both great power and focus to pull it off.” Cloudy explained, remembering what she could from the book she had taken from her mother’s library.

“If it is an illusion spell, then how do we tell he’s wearing it?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“Easy, we just need to get close to him. If he’s using magic at the time, then I should be able to sense it on him, like we do with the beats.”

“Hmm… I wonder if ponies can give off pulses like the ones we hear.”

“Maybe an important one like Celestia or Luna, but not anyone the likes of us.” Cloudy Night answered, not as an insult or a put down, but with a brutal honesty. She and her friend were simply not as important as Celestia or Luna, who would stand as a much better source for a beat.

Cloudy looked to her friend, seeming less on edge than before, but by no means was she at ease. Her one dark blue pool of an eye stared back at Cloud Charmer, looking inquisitive.

“So… do we go in?” Cloudy asked.

“Of course we go in! But we need to wait a minute. We should come out looking like we just arrived.” She instructed.

“Obviously, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t like us spying on them… Not that we heard anything we didn’t know already.” Cloudy said to herself at the end of her statement.

“This is so exciting! Are you excited?” Cloud Charmer asked. To Cloudy Night her friend’s stormy grey eyes were beaming. It was hard not to feel the same from looking into those contagious eyes.

“Yes, I’m excited.” Worried as well, but she wouldn’t bother admitting that right now.

“Then, let’s get ready!” Cloud Charmer practically squealed.

They waited about five more minutes before marching out of their bush, Cloud Charmer hopping confidently ahead as Cloudy Night slowly followed behind. As they drew closer and closer to the red and green tents, Cloudy could not help but feel like they actually grew larger the closer they got. She supposed that on a sunny day the reds would blaze like lines of fire, and the greens would look like the grass at her hooves, but in this light they only appeared ominous. Even the one open tent that she could see seemed a gateway into pure darkness. Cloudy shuddered, just a little, as they crossed the road.

Cloud Charmer could see Master Mirage watch them cross the road. He had noticed them the moment they stepped out of the bush, yet he only decided to interact with the two fillies once they were drawing close.

As Cloud Charmer hopped near the tents on the circus side of the road, Master Mirage suddenly leaped from his place leaning on a pole to stand before them. The move actually surprised Cloud Charmer, and she took a step back, placing Cloudy a hoofstep in front of her.

Mirage flashed out his hoof, sending his cape into a large sweep behind him as he lowered himself to see the two small fillies. Cloudy could not help but notice just how tall he was; enough to rival somepony like Celestia herself!

“Well who stands before me but a little blue unicorn, and an even littler grey pegasus. What may Mirage do for you two young ladies?” He said, his eyes offering comfort, care, and welcome as he spoke. The air about him spoke for him, as though his only mission was to become their best friend.

Cloudy looked to Cloud Charmer, who stepped forward again to address Master Mirage. “We’ve come to see the circus!” she said, her previous excitement taking hold over her momentary surprise.

“Of that I have no doubt, for my circus is the greatest in all the land! We’ve been beyond borders that few even knew existed. We’ve seen creatures fit to give nightmares… even brought some of the fearsome ones with us here, to show the ponies of this land. Sights unseen await you in here, little ones… have you money?” Mirage asked.

“Well, we didn’t know how much you wanted for entry, so we brought two bits each.” Cloud Charmer answered.

“You’re in luck; entry fee is only one bit.” Mirage said, holding his hoof out to take Cloud’s money. As she removed the bits from her neck purse, Master Mirage stared despairingly at the road before him.

The road to an empty town.

“Wait! How about this. For two bits each I’ll give you the tour of this place myself.” Mirage offered.

“Why would you do that?” Cloudy asked, suspicious of the strange circus owner.

“Oh, so she does speak! I was beginning to fear you were dead child, I could hardly hear you breathe! As for ‘why’… well…”

He looked down the road again, staring a few moments longer before answering. “Well…” He said, leaning in close to the two fillies, “Nopony wants to stand out here all day, especially when my two finest customers are right here in front of me.” He whispered, making it seem as though he was sharing the world’s greatest secrets with her. That was what Master Mirage felt like; he made everything feel so much more important that it really was.

“So whadd’ya say, two bits for my personal tour?” Mirage asked, his eyebrow rising questioningly.

Cloud Charmer looked to her friend for her answer. She would of course pay the fee, but she was still unsure of what her friend would think. Cloudy Night seemed to ponder her decision for a few moments before nodding to Cloud Charmer. If there was any way she was going to get to know this circus, it would probably have to be through him anyways.

“Yes! We’ll pay for the tour.” Cloud Charmer practically shouted.

“Excellent! Hoof me those bits… thank you.” He said as Cloud Charmer gave him her bits. “Now, where should we begin? Ah! Your names?” Master Mirage sked.

“I’m Cloud Charmer, and this is my friend Cloudy Night.”

“And I am, of course, Master Mirage! But you may call me Mirage, if you wish.”

“And are you two natives of this most auspicious town?” He asked.

“Not really. I just moved here a month ago, and Cloudy doesn’t really hang around here.” Cloud Charmer answered the inquisitive circus owner.

“Ah! Now there is no doubt as to why you weren’t intimidated by this place.”

Cloudy frowned, that was a very open question regarding the avoidance that ponies around town made of this place. Why was he being so direct?

“What do you mean?” Cloud Charmer asked.

Mirage sighed for a moment, “It may not be something to mention out here, thinking about it. Come, we’ll talk while I trot you over to our muscle pony, Braun.”

“Wait!” Cloudy said, stopping Mirage before he could continue. “Cloud Charmer, what about Thunderstruck? We’re supposed to wait for him.”

“You have another coming to join you? Very good! I will, of course, have him brought straight to us when he arrives.” Mirage mentioned, obviously trying to move the group along.

“He decided to sleep in today! He’ll just have to catch up to us.” Cloud Charmer concluded.

“Ha! Fire in this one! With that said, may we depart?” Master Mirage asked.

Cloudy nodded again. It was actually kind of funny that Thunderstruck would have to catch up. She just worried that he’d be disappointed that they didn’t wait for him.

Mirage flourished his cape as spun and trotted into the innumerable rows of coloured tents, though the look on his face said that some thought was troubling him. Cloudy followed after, followed by Cloud after she stopped grinning stupidly at nothing, obviously excited at the notion of meeting Braun. As she followed behind, Cloud glanced at the entrance of the circus, only to find that another pony had already taken the place of Mirage. She was tall, like Mirage, and wore no very standout clothing, only a short dress that ended at the base of her tail. She was pale, and sported rosy hair tied in a neat bun on top of her head. Presumably she had come from one of the tents right next to the entrance, but had managed to refrain from making any sound as she did so. Looking at her, Cloud Charmer actually felt dread for the first time since she heard about the circus.

The musical box songs continued to echo throughout the circus, still keeping time with the beat that pulsed all around the three ponies as they trotted. Cloud Charmer could not understand how these beats worked, they were currently surrounded by the beat coming from the circus, but they were not overwhelmed or overpowered by it. Sometimes she even stopped noticing that the beats were there! It made no sense at all.

They trotted a few steps farther, and Cloud Charmer also began to see other ponies from the circus darting about between the tents. This place only looked inactive, when under the surface it looked almost as though it was in constant operation.

Before they had trotted very far Mirage resumed the conversation they had been having earlier. “So… what did you say your names were again?”

Cloudy Night turned her head oddly as she looked at Mirage. What was going on with him? He seemed so much less sure of himself now that he was away from the entry to the circus. Nevertheless, Cloud was still a few steps behind, despite her uneasiness… Cloudy answered him.

“I’m Cloudy Night, and this is Cloud Charmer.” She said.

“Oh, yes, I know child. I merely ask because of your little grey friend. Her name seems familiar, like one I’ve heard before…” He said, trailing off.

“Well, you have met my mom before.” Cloud said as she hopped close.

“Mother… wait! Cloud Charmer? You’re… Oak Leaf’s daughter!” He practically screamed, turning on the two friends so fast that Cloudy fell backwards in surprise.

“Uh, yeah!” Cloud Charmer shouted back play fully.

Before she could say anything else, Master Mirage grabbed Cloud Charmer and almost tossed her in the air, instead just spinning her in a twirl with his hoof.

“Wooo! I knew you sounded familiar! I have not seen Oak Leaf since she was almost as short as you!” He said joyfully, apparently overtaken with emotion at having found a true friend so nearby.

“Was she really as short as me?” Cloud Charmer asked quickly as she helped her friend up from the ground. Cloudy had some dust in her coat, but otherwise she was fine.

“Oh yes! She-“ He noticed that Cloudy had fallen over, and immediately moved to assist her up. “Terribly sorry, child. Just the excitement at finding friends so close to myself… and I hadn’t even noticed!” He seemed to say to himself.

Cloudy was very confused as to what exactly was going on. First Mirage was welcoming, then worried, and now… just… ecstatic! This pony was absolutely out of his mind!

“So, I guess you and Oak Leaf were close then?” Cloudy asked.

Mirage cleared his throat as he stood up straight, turning to lead the ponies on past the next row of tents. “Yes, well… I knew her when she was a child. I did see her once more; when she was pregnant with this little grey one. She was dragging that dreamy looking stallion behind her, simply putty in her hooves he was! She helped my circus once, long ago… and any child of hers is a friend of mine! Including the friends of those children.” He added at the end.

“So, if you knew her when she was a filly, why aren’t you really old?” Cloudy Night asked, getting directly to the point.

Cloud Charmer turned on her friend, an angry look on her face, but before she could so much as open her mouth to speak, Mirage interrupted her.

"Who says I'm not?"

"You don't look old." Cloudy commented.

“You’d Never believe me if I told you.” He said, his voice suddenly becoming mysterious and inviting, subtly begging the two to ask that very question.

“I want to know.” Cloudy responded, more than willing to oblige to his silent question. She felt very daring for some reason, perhaps because she felt she was so close to an answer. This pony was strange; she knew that before she had even met anyone else from the circus.

“Very well, but on your own head be it…” He trailed, and to Cloudy’s surprise she noticed that ponies were gathering around the three, forming a tiny crowd. They were all circus folk, whose shapes sizes and colours varied as widely as the mind can imagine. Many of them sported stained symbols on their coats, similar to the one on the golden haired unicorn she saw earlier. She began to breathe a bit harder, already feeling tense by being surrounded by these ponies, but she had to stay, to get an answer to her question.

The only strange thing was that these ponies must have heard the story before, and yet in the beginning of what should be a busy day of work; here many came to hear Mirage speak, right in between two closely packed tents of brightly striped blue.

“Sit, everyone, and hear the tale of my… immortality…” Mirage said, raising his eyebrow at Cloudy Night, as if he were calling out her question in particular. He gestured for the fillies to sit among the others, and before you knew it, they were sitting with about a dozen circus ponies to listen to Mirage’s story. Cloudy was crowded next to a pair of mares in tight fitting jumpsuits, made from a bright pink, and very shiny material of some sort. ‘This story had better be worth this’ Cloudy thought, mainly trying to keep herself from panicking. Crowds were seriously not her thing yet.

“Once… long ago...” He said with a wide flourish of his cape. “I found myself exploring the great lands beyond the eastern coast… beyond even the kingdom of the griffons…” he said at a near whisper.

Cloudy looked to her friend nearby, Cloud’s eyes were wide open, looking larger than she had ever seen them. She was completely absorbed in the story, while all Cloudy could do was think of just how odd this whole scene was. Is this seriously what living in a circus was like? It seemed so… unstructured.

“I know it may be hard to believe… but there are lands far out there. Strange lands, filled with ponies who many say were odder than the griffons themselves… a hard thing to believe indeed.” Mirage joked, eliciting a quick giggle from a few of the ponies surrounding him.

“It was in this strange land that I encountered a being… much like the griffons, but larger by at least ten hooves!” He said, standing tall as he could and leaning over the crowd. It really had changed from a simple story to a theatrical presentation, and now he was pulling the crowd into his world. Even Cloudy started to lose herself in his words, despite how few there were.

“This story is short and simple… The being that I met was a sphinx! To my suprise I realized this as she turned her cackling muzzle to me. Oh, the horror! Imaging she stands before you now. Thirty hooves high and leaning in, her face that of a pony; smiling almost motherly towards you with her razor sharp teeth. Her body was that of a mighty golden lion, fierce and supple as she stalked around me. She sported a large set of wings, as long and encompassing as that of the great eagles of the northern mountains. She was a sight!”

Mirage paused for a moment, seeming to try to recollect his story. The small crowd waited in complete silence for him to continue.

“Closer and closer she drew to me, and I began to fear that my end was coming close, when… inches away from me, she whispered words to me. I only know now that this was common, but a sphinx will grant your greatest wish if you answer her riddle correctly. This was exactly what she offered; my heart’s desire if I answer her riddle.”

“There was no safe way out of that situation, for I knew she would end me if I even made one tiny movement to run. I only had a few moments to memorize the green encompassing jungle that had become my world then. I did not hold out hope that I would survive.” Mirage looked over the crowd, forcing them to feel as hopeless as he did then.

“So, I offered to attempt her riddle, and without hesitation she was in my ear; whispering those great words in one of the gentlest voices that I had ever heard come from a pony’s mouth…” He took a long pause.

Without hesitation, Cloud Charmer spoke up. “What happened?”

“I answered her riddle, and in a flash she was fifty steps away from me, sitting on a large rock as a perch. She stared at me for a long time, and then she told me to go straight on till I came to a path, and to follow it.”

“But… what was the riddle?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“I was sworn to secrecy. To the sphinx, an answered riddle is a sacred bond. I fear that if I told you the riddle or my answer to it that I’d likely find myself face to face with that old beast. I am not keen on dying yet, even if I am old.” Mirage answered with a wink.

“I followed the path, long and winding, and I knew that I was so far lost that I would never find my way out. The only thing that I could do was keep following the path that lay before me. Until, that is, that path ended… at none other than a natural pool directly in a clearing at the end of my path. It seemed like a regular pool, though completely untouched by ponies, strange, considering the paths that lead me there. Nevertheless, I was thirsty, and I drank from the pool. Oh, to describe it! It tasted clear, that’s all I can say about it. It felt like the purest liquid that I had ever felt run down my throat, essence of the gods. And it filled me with an energy I had never experienced before. I felt like I could run the longest race, climb the highest mountain!”

“In no time at all I was out of the jungle and well on my way back to Equestria, where I formed this original circus you see around you here. But… I never aged again; in fact, I’ll never die… ever. I am free from that pull for all of eternity. Ha!” He laughed to the sky, his shiny black moustache turning silver in the grey light.

Despite that fact that Master Mirage’s brief story was clearly over, the many ponies in the crowd, including Cloudy Night and Cloud Charmer, simply sat there, mystified. Mirage actually had to clear his throat to get their attention, which he used to promptly order them all back to their duties. Cloudy came out from her daze, and merely spent the moments staring at Mirage… considering.

Cloud Charmer, however, appeared ecstatic! She shot a flurry of questions at Mirage faster than he could answer. “Was it true? How old are you then? Do you only not die form age or can somepony kill you? How old was my mom when you met her? You really haven’t aged a day since then?” she asked.

He came out of the flurry looking like he had been in a windstorm. His hat was on an angle, his collar was ruffled, and even his moustache looked tweaked. Cloudy knew from personal experience that Cloud Charmer could quite literally talk a storm at you, and for a moment she felt Mirage’s pain.

“Well, of course it’s true. I’m immortal; your mother could have told you that.” He answered Cloud Charmer.

“I guess you told her that story too. Still it seems a little hard to believe.” Cloud Charmer said.

“A little, try a lot! It’s impossible to be immortal!” Cloudy Night threw in.

Once again Mirage raised his eyebrow at her incredulously, “How else would you explain my lack of age?”

Cloudy scowled a little at the circus owner. Now it was clear, he was just using that story to mess with her. He never explained why he didn’t look old, he just toyed with her! “Why would you be immortal?” she asked.

“Plenty of ponies are un-aging, just ask Celestia. Besides, it’s not like I know the motives behind a sphinx.” Mirage answered.

“But… sphinxes don’t exist!”

“Little blue unicorn, are you claiming to know more of the world than ME?”

“Well…” Cloudy Night trailed off from his intimidating stare.

“Whether my story was true or not matters little. If you want an explanation as to why I look young, you can take it or leave it, I have no other answer. But I will tell you now, there are more things roaming around this world than you would believe. I bet I know of things that even the kings and queens are clueless to. The difference is that I believe there is always something else to find, while they believe they’ve found everything. Permit me to give you some advice?” He asked, as in he actually asked Cloudy’s permission to give her advice.

Cloudy slowly nodded, still feeling a little intimidated despite the fact that Mirage seemed to have shifted back to a polite attitude… if still an angry one.

“Never believe you have the answer. If you do you’ll just stop looking, and your life will become a living hell.” He advised.

“That actually seems like some good advice.” Cloud Charmer commented.

“Well of course! All my advice is good… er…” He pulled at his shirt collar for a moment. “However… I apologize if I came across as rude a moment ago. Slip of the tongue, let’s put it past us. Come along then!” Mirage said, assuming his friendly attitude once more as he walked down the tent alley, leading them to Braun.

Cloudy took a step to follow, but was stopped when Cloud Charmer put her hoof out to stop her. “Cloudy, are you alright?”

Cloudy Night looked at her friend for a moment before she answered, Cloud Charmer looked very concerned. “I’m fine, I mean, just surprised. I saw him more than I thought I would.”

“And?”

“And… he’s friendly, a bit arrogant, but he’s not wrong about what he said.” Cloudy answered.

Cloud Charmer nodded and looked at one of the blue striped tents, a sudden breeze came in between them, sending her own messy blue hair blowing in the wind. Cloudy’s hair somehow managed to stay still even in the wind.

“Did you feel any magic around him?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“No, he’s not wearing an illusion. He must honestly not age, or else he’s hiding something else.”

“I don’t know… somehow I don’t feel like he’s hiding anything…”Cloud Charmer said.

Strangely, Cloudy Night wasn’t feeling that either. Sure, Mirage hadn’t been telling the truth in that story, but he hadn’t lied either. At Cloudy didn’t feel like he lied. He wouldn’t tell them why he looked so young, why? Was he truly immortal? It was hard to believe, but how else would you explain a pony that didn’t age. Why was he so open about it? So many questions, and what felt like no answers, and that almost enraged Cloudy. Still, the advice he had given her, which was… interesting… something to take to heart.

“That was a cool story, though! Do you really not believe in sphinxes?” Cloud asked.

“To be honest… I can’t really know, now can I?” she responded.

“I guess, but we can believe.”

“Who’d want to belie-“

“Ladies! Are you coming?” Master Mirage shouted from down the tent aisle. It appeared he had been waiting a few minutes for them.

“Sorry! Coming!” Cloud Charmer yelled, loudly. Down the row it looked like Mirage actually flinched from the volume of her voice.

“C’mon, I’ll race you down!” Cloud Charmer said, taking off down the narrow path. Cloudy quickly followed.

Cloud Charmer galloped as fast as she could, laughing while she did so. While Cloudy followed as quickly as she could, she couldn’t keep up with her friend. Cloud Charmer was apparently going so fast that Cloudy saw her stop and actually slide in the dust, past Master Mirage, and into the wide row of tents beyond. Cloudy Smiled to herself as she ran. Cloud Charmer was too energetic for her own good.

Cloud stood, facing the aisle her friend was galloping down, and smiled…

Right as gigantic roaring shape barrelled into her from one of the tents.

Cloudy Night’s smile turned to a shriek as she sprinted down the aisle to aid her friend, now obscured by an immense blur of orange motion. Master Mirage shouted as he too ran into the aisle turning to a small green mare emerging from one of the tents.

Cloudy reached the aisle, and tried to jump at the beast on top of her friend. But even as she leaped, her hind legs were grabbed by Mirage, who pulled her to the side. “Stop!” He yelled at her as she struggled in his grip.

“I need to help her!” Cloudy screamed. Even now she could hear her friend screaming underneath the furry beast, which had stopped moving now, and had effectively revealed its form to her.

To her horror, Cloudy Night realized that her friend was being attacked by a manticore! It loomed over her screaming friend, who was still out of view. With its back to her, it looked as though it were about to close its gigantic jaws right onto her. Cloudy screamed even louder for her friend.

“Stop panicking! There’s nothing to worry about!” Mirage yelled.

“Help her!”

“Little one… why do you scream so?” The green pony asked.

“Wha…?” Cloudy looked at her incredulously. Why were they not panicked? Time seemed to slow down for a moment, and Cloudy Night slowed herself to analyze the situation.

Mirage looked angry, still struggling to hold her, but the green mare didn’t seem worried at all. Why? As time resumed, Cloudy stopped struggling and looked at what was happening.

She could still hear Cloud Charmer yelling, but now it sounded… happy?! She was squealing in delight! Mirage let go of her, and she walked towards the manticore. She yelled when its scorpion tail suddenly lashed around her and quickly tossed her over its body. She landed a bit roughly on the other side, and found herself face to face with the beast. An orange furred lion head stared directly at her from this side, and she felt terror rising as it loomed over her. Cloud Charmer was lying next to her, looking… wet. Before Cloudy could react, the manticore opened its mouth, sharp teeth practically sparkling…

And gave her a gigantic lick! Its rough tongue ran over her entire body, lifting her mane over her head and leaving it sticking there. Cloudy Night merely sat, not thinking anything as she stared blankly ahead.

Well, now she felt embarrassed.

Cloud Charmer rose, laughing and hugging her friend, whose mane and coat were just as ruffled as her own. “You know, I like your hair done up. Let’s me see both your eyes!” She giggled.

Cloudy Night stared at her friend incredulously, refusing to speak. Without a word, her entire body surrounded itself in golden sparkles, and as Cloud Charmer watched her as friend’s mane and coat smoothed themselves out. Cloud Charmer started giggling.

The immense manticore pulled itself away from the two fillies, its purr sounding like distant thunder as it turned towards the green mare. Mirage came towards the two, laughing himself.

“Ha, I see you’ve met our friend Merlin, eh girls!” He giggled. “I tried to tell you there was no need to worry, Cloudy.”

Cloudy still didn’t say anything; her mouth might as well have been sewn shut. As Cloud Charmer quit hugging her and turned to face Mirage, she herself felt tingly as Cloudy’s golden magic surrounded her; smoothing out her hair and fur as well.

“Merlin is awesome! Where’s he from?” Cloud Charmer asked.

Mirage glanced at the green mare, as she approached, the manticore was now wearing leash tied to a pole for one of the tents, as if that could hold it. “Wild Call here has been training him all his life. She’s our animal caretaker around here.” He explained.

“Yes, I have been training him, though I used to travel with a different circus to help keep their animals under control. That job was tough! But Merlin here was a breeze, he’s as gentle as a kitten, as you two experienced firsthoof.” Wild Call said.

“Yes, we sure did experience that!” Cloud Charmer chimed happily.

“Come to think of it, why were you moving Merlin, Wild Call?” Mirage asked.

“The boy came to me saying that you were closing the circus for the day, so I was moving him from the show tent to his pen.” She answered.

“I did not tell him to tell you. Oh… when I get my hooves on him… BOY! Where is he!?” Mirage asked the sky angrily.

Wild Call seemed to think about it for a moment before answering. “Quick Fix has him running some chore in town. I think he has him buying some parts.”

“Fine, but when you see him next tell him I want to speak with him.” Mirage ordered.

“Of course, Master Mirage.” Wild Call responded, “now, children, would you like to pet Merlin before I go? Children?” She asked when she noticed that the two fillies were no longer standing next to her. She turned towards Merlin, only to find them already there.

“Come on Cloudy, his fur is really soft.” Cloud Charmer encouraged.

Reluctantly, Cloudy Night put her hoof on Merlin’s mane. It WAS soft, like a pillow. Wild Call must have put a lot of work into grooming such a giant creature.

“See, not so scary now, right?” Cloud Charmer asked.

Cloudy giggled quietly. “No, not so scary.”

Both Mirage and Wild Call smiled at the two fillies, but neither probably noticed the other doing so. These two were upbeat, and exactly what the ponies around here needed after three months of being ignored. Those two little ponies, they carried something with them…

Mirage thought that they carried an air of change, and could not help but think just how far it would go.

“All right little ones. Merlin needs to go now, but Braun is still waiting. Let’s go see him.” Master Mirage called out.

Both Cloudy Night and Cloud Charmer turned their heads to Mirage at the same time. Was it really time to move on? Now they both reluctantly said goodbye to Merlin as Wild Call took him away. Still, Cloud Charmer began to feel excitement at the prospect of meeting Braun, and seeing just how strong he was. She led Cloudy over to Mirage who was looking at the sky.

“Weather’s beginning to clear up, good.” He commented.

Cloud Charmer joined him in looking up at the sky. It was true, though it was still a blanket of grey, it looked much lighter in shade, and occasionally she could see sunlight stream through a here or there hole in the flowing misty sky. Today was really looking up, in their case literally. Cloud Charmer giggled at that thought.

“What’s so funny?” Cloudy asked.

“Nothing important.” Cloud Charmer said. “Now are we gonna see Braun or what?”

“Yes, let us proceed to-“

“Master Mirage!” yelled one of the circus ponies.

“Yes?”

“You said this one was to be brought to you when he arrived.” The pony said, and from behind him stepped the one and only Thunderstruck, whose silvery mane seemed rough and un-brushed.

“Hello Cloud and Cloudy, sorry I’m late.” Thunderstruck said with one of his sly grins.

“I assume that this is your friend, young ones?” Master Mirage asked.

“Yes, he is. Thanks for bringing him here!” Cloud Charmer called out to the circus pony as he trotted back to his duties.

“Welcome… um?” Mirage looked at Cloud Charmer.

“Thunderstruck.”

“Ah! Thunderstruck! What a brilliant name. Welcome, Thunderstruck, to the grand circus of my own deviation. I am Master Mirage, and I will be giving you my very own personal tour of this place” He declared theatrically.

Thunderstruck immediately responded with his own theatrics. “To receive such an audience from one so high as yourself truly is a gift, one I have no doubt talked my two friends into submission.”

“Thank you… I like this one.” Mirage whispered to the two fillies. “Come now, join us as we witness the great feats of strength performed by our muscle pony Braun.”

“Of course.” Thunderstruck joined his two friends by Mirage. Just looking at him, Cloudy could tell that he had been through some ordeal to get to the circus.

“What happened to you?” Cloud Charmer asked bluntly.

“Well… the ponies in town aren’t too keen on this fair. Seems that Prickly Pines, along with some of his friends have basically cordoned off the town. I had to pretend to be going to the stadium. As you know, there are only woods between here and there… it was a long walk.” Thunderstruck explained.

“Pray tell, who is this Prickly Pines?” Master Mirage asked.

“He’s the dad of this bully in town: Chud. He’s also the unofficial leader of the town.”

“Chud… what an uncreative name, odd coming from someone named Prickly Pines. I suppose that he’s the problem we’re having.” Mirage said.

“You mean, the reason why nopony’s here? Yes, he’s the one doing that.” Thunderstruck responded.

“But he can’t!” Cloud shouted.

Thunderstruck laughed, apparently he found it funny. “Even the actual mayor listens to him, Cloud Charmer. What he says is bad, is bad, and the town will follow him.”

“Why would they follow him? He must be a jerk.” Cloud stated.

“Sure he is. But he’s also brave, or stupid, hard to tell with Chud’s family. Either way, he inspires the townsponies, and he’s got more than enough friends in his own wicked party to support him.”

“Actually I did hear something about him.” Cloudy Night added in, drawing the attention of her small group.

“What would that be?” Thunderstruck asked.

“I heard from my mom that Prickly Pines was taking his whole group, including the mayor, to set some terms against the refugee camp outside of town. Apparently he’s going to try to stop them from building any long term habitations at their camp.” Cloudy explained.

“When is that happening?” Cloud asked.

“One or two days from now, he has a real problem with outsiders, according to my mom.”

“Children, this is all troubling news indeed and surely worthy of attention. But we are at my circus! And I’ll have no fretting right now. Let us depart to see Braun.” Mirage encouraged.

Prickly Pines… was wrong. In her mind Cloud Charmer knew that everything he was doing against the circus, or anypony else was absolutely wrong! How could he encourage mistrust between ponies!? Her father had told her that everyone was supposed to love and trust each other, no matter how strange a pony was. She had to stop this!

But… Did that mean that she already sided with the circus? So far she’d only actually met Mirage and Wild Call, and yet… she trusted them. Maybe that was just her personality, her affinity for trusting others, but she really wanted to help Mirage and the circus.

The group made their way down the rows towards where Mirage said Braun was, but something had changed. In Cloud Charmer’s mind the cogs were turning, and they would not stop until she had a plan. She needed to figure out a way to get this circus popularity; if she could get the town to trust the circus, then maybe they’d stop listening to Prickly Pines. He’d be proven wrong, and they’d start thinking he was always wrong. It was one of the basic military laws she had learned from her tutor; sew doubt against your enemies’ leader, and they’ll destroy him themselves.

Should she try? Who was she to fight against the unofficial mayor of the town?

Who was she? Cloud Charmer… and she was one of the only ponies outside of that stallion’s power.

But she needed a plan. For that, she had to understand the situation better. She’d keep her thoughts to the side for a while, but her mind would not stop planning, even as she enjoyed the circus.

She had to help these ponies, even if she didn’t really know them.

In less than a minute the group found themselves standing directly in front of a large green tent. From what Cloud Charmer could see of the sky, it was after noon. Strange that so little could happen over so much time, she supposed that time moved fast when you were doing things you don’t usually do.

Mirage, of course, stepped first right before the entryway of the tent, he accentuated his pose; swinging his arm in a welcoming gesture. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, may I introduce to you, the powerful pony with a penchant for physical activity. I present Braun!” He said loudly, angling his head like he was yelling into the tent itself.

With a large flourish he pulled open the canvas opening of the tent, and before their eyes could adjust to the lower light he rushed the children inside.

To be greeted with the largest pony they had ever seen! To Cloud Charmer he appeared to be a walking mountain of muscles, propped upon some small legs. This was Braun, the muscle pony, and one of the strongest ponies alive. He was light brown, like aged paper, though his mane and tail were shortened blazes of orange and red. He also sported a red beard around the entire bottom of his face, and he wore what looked like a patterned skirt. He was currently lifting a wrapped bundle of tent poles, tied together so that they were large as a tree trunk. With one hoof he held it in the air, while he raised and lowered his body with his other foreleg.

It was terrifying... and amazing.

“I am Braun.” He said loudly, and in a strange accent, rolling his R’s on his tongue. “I am the strongest.” He said simply, as if there were nothing else to say.

“Why, hello Braun! Allow me to introduce Cloud Charmer, Cloudy Night, and Thunderstruck. They are friends here to see some of your awesome feats of strength.” Mirage explained.

“It cannot be.” Braun said.

Master Mirage glanced at Cloudy and her friends for a moment, looking nervous. “What do you mean?”

“I have no equipment, I cannot perform.” Braun said.

“What? You have huge quantities of equipment. I bought it myself. How could you not have any?” Mirage asked incredulously.

“Speak with Number Crunch, he knows.”

“Who is Number Crunch?” Thunderstruck asked.

“My accountant and part-time assistant. I’ll get to the bottom of this.” Mirage looked at the entrance of the tent before turning back to Cloud Charmer and her friends. To Cloudy, he looked enraged. “Children, I need to speak to Number Crunch, if I’ve not returned when you’re finished here, go across the row to the yellow tent. All Seeing Eye lives there, and he should be at his station. I’ll be back soon.” Mirage said as he hurriedly left.

Cloudy quickly glanced at Cloud, seeing her little grey wings flapping nervously from her excitement. That was the act she wanted to see.

As soon as Mirage was out, Braun dropped the pole bundle, which shook the ground when it landed, and walked towards the group. Cloud Charmer stood in front, trying to look un-intimidated. Braun towered over the children, making Cloudy very nervous at his closeness. However, when he spoke he sounded very cheerful.

“So, you are the little ones been’ exploring the circus with Mirage?” Braun asked.

Cloud Charmer decided to answer before her friends could open their mouths. “Yeah, so you’re the strong one.”

“StrongEST one. I can lift any weight.” Braun boasted.

“Can you lift me and my friends?” Cloud spoke again, ignoring the sudden panicked looks she got from Thunderstruck and Cloudy Night both.

“Ha! Not even a problem, little girl.” He said.

“I dare you to do it.”

“Done.” Braun said, and before any of the ponies could react he swept them all off their hooves and tossed them in the air. Thunderstruck was yelling, Cloudy was shrieking, and Cloud Charmer was giggling. They soared up high in the air, though they did come back down quickly. Before they hit the ground all three found themselves landing on top of Braun’s gigantic back. They held there for a moment, and then Braun tossed them up again. He did this several more times over the course of the next few minutes.

In the beginning Cloudy and Thunderstruck were yelling, but by the time Braun put them down all three of the children were laughing and giggling uncontrollably. Braun let them all down, surprisingly gentle for his size.

“I have faced your challenge, and I leave with my honour intact.” Braun stated.

Still giggling, Thunderstruck answered. “Indeed you have, my good fellow. I must say that Mirage is making no boast when he states your strength, you have me thoroughly impressed.”

Braun guffawed at the three, almost looking offended by the statement. “That was nothing! If I had equipment, I would perform like you have never seen, little children. I can smash through solid stone with one hoof! I can wrestle a manticore into submission! If I had my equipment I’d show you.” He boasted.

“I’d like to see you wrestle the manticore!” Cloud Charmer said.

“When I have what I need to prepare, you shall see this. I will force the mighty manticore to submit with one hoof tied behind my back!”

“Deal!” Cloud yelled. Braun smiled at her as they hoof bumped, “Deal, little one.”

“While I do enjoy your company greatly, Mister Braun. I would like to see the All Seeing Eye. Would you mind terribly if I hurried us along.” Thunderstruck said, quite out of nowhere.

“Thunderstruck! How could you be so rude to Braun! After he treated us with such hospitality.” Cloud Charmer berated.

“I speak only the truth of how I feel, even if it is unpleasant to hear.” Thunderstruck answered, looking like he was trying his best to seem humble.

“Then I like you. I only accept honesty. Leave, but return tomorrow, so that I may show you that Braun fears no dare.” Braun said.

“Alright Braun, if you’re sure about that.” Cloud Charmer said as she turned to lead the others through the canvas barrier to the outside world.

The clouds were still blanketing the sky, but the light was bright. They were thinning.

Mirage had said that the All Seeing Eye was directly across the square, and that was where Cloud Charmer trotted. The tinny music was still echoing throughout the rows of tents, but try as she may Cloud could not locate the source of the sound. As she was searching, though, she did notice something rather odd.

The pony from before, with the rosy pink bun was standing some distance away, watching them trot towards the yellow striped tent. She was tall as Master Mirage, but where his eyes were warm and welcoming; hers were cold, and blank. Cloud couldn’t exactly see her clearly, but she was definitely staring at them.

“Cloudy, who’s that?” Cloud whispered to her as they trotted.

Cloudy didn’t even look, yet she knew what her friend was talking about. “I noticed her earlier; she was watching us during Mirage’s story.”

“So what do we do?”

“What can we do? Should we blame these ponies for being odd? I say we just avoid her.” Cloudy Night suggested.

“Sure, but will she avoid us?” Cloud Charmer whispered to herself. She had no more time to consider, as they arrived at All Seeing Eye’s tent. Cloud Charmer almost leaped inside, partly from the pale mare and partly from excitement.

However, Cloud Charmer accidentally slammed into somepony as she leaped into the tent, and in a moment she found herself lying flat on the ground inside the tent. She got up, facing Cloudy and Thunderstruck, and found her blue friend struck with horror. She turned… slowly to come face to face with All Seeing Eye.

And it was the unicorn they had spied on just a couple of hours ago! She shrunk back in terror, just as he grabbed all three of the ponies with his magic, shoving them into the tent. They all slid to a halt right before a table placed in the center of the small circular tent that served as the mind reader’s station, yet Cloudy and Cloud were frozen with fear.

“Why hello you three. Two of you I owe a slightly larger hi than one, no offence.” The golden haired unicorn said to Thunderstruck.

“None taken.” Thunderstruck responded, looking confusedly at his friends.

“No need to worry, Thunderstruck, they’re just scared because they spied on me earlier.”

“Wha…” all three ponies said at the same time.

“Did you not believe? I can see your names. You’re Thunderstruck, and the two beside you are Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night, in that order.”

“Woah.” Thunderstruck said.

As for Cloudy Night, she needed to speak up, but…

“I don’t need to use magic to hear your thoughts. And yes, I know you were spying on me, it’s painted all over your brains.”

Cloud Charmer opened her mouth, but All Seeing Eye spoke first. “Don’t worry, I see all, but tell none. I will not tattle nor prattle to Master Mirage.” He said.

“Before you speak Thunderstruck, let me say that it is my very good honour to meet all of you. You three carry something I haven’t seen in a while before… care.”

“As well, I will say that I will let you speak before I answer, as it makes it much easier to talk that way.” All Seeing Eye said with a smile.

“So…”

“You don’t need to call me All Seeing Eye, Cloud. Any daughter of Oak leaf can call me Blink… oh wait! I just did it, force of habit, sorry!” Blink said.

“That of course, goes for you two as well. Friends of Cloud Charmer are friends of mine.” He interrupted again.

Cloud Charmer actually blushed, becoming slightly offended. Blink raised his eyebrows at her as he stared. “Watch the fire in that one Cloudy! She may burn us all to a crisp with that much anger.”

“I’m not angry!” Cloud said angrily.

“And I can’t read minds.”

“How do you do that, by the way?” Asked Cloudy Night.

“Might as well ask a fish how they swim, or a dog how it barks. I just… do.” Blink said.

“So, Blink… we came to-“ Cloud began.

“To talk with me, to play games likely, but I can see you. You’d all like to talk. But none of you agrees on what to talk about.”

“How can we agree on concerns we haven’t voiced yet!?” Cloud asked.

“Very astute, however, what interests me are these negatives, floating around your minds. You and Thunderstruck are both thinking about Prickly Pines.” Blink stated.

Cloudy looked to her friends, they both looked embarrassed by this blonde pony. He was very blunt, quick, and-

“Clever?” He said.

“You sure are a fast talker aren’t you?” Cloudy asked.

“And you are very observational. Thoughts are quick, and so am I.” Blink said.

“Yet how much of what you say actually matters?” Cloudy asked, angry for her friends.

Blink stared at her for several moments, a big grin almost encompassing his brown face. “Ah! Now you show your intellect! I like you; you have a mind that can almost move fast enough to compete with mine.”

“Do you know your own mind?” Cloudy asked.

“As well as anypony else. I like the play on words, both directing the attention to myself while calling me crazy. We could go back and forth for hours like this.”

“We could but-“

“I’m sorry for embarrassing your friends. I often speak, but do not think, much to my own credit.” Blink said laughingly.

“Thank you.” Said Cloudy.

“For listening?”

“For apologizing.” She responded.

“Is there a difference? But I still want to know about Prickly Pines. From Thunderstruck I can tell he’s no good. In fact I’d say that he’s the enemy of this battle. Oh, yes! Cloud Charmer you sly devil! Always a plan in your head isn’t there? But you don’t have the facts yet, and I can’t give them to you. Good luck.”

“Are we to just stand here while you speak to us like this?” Cloud Charmer asked, still sounding angry.

“I’m sorry I caused you offence. Let’s move past that bridge at talk about Prickly. It bothers you that the pony encouraged distrust, doesn’t it?” Blink asked.

“Yes.” Cloud answered.

“You’re mad because your dad taught you to love and trust, and now you see mature adults acting like scared children.” He said, it was not a question.

“It is wrong. I-“

“Stop! If you say anymore I might just fall in love with you.” He grinned.

“That’d be strange.” Cloudy commented.

“Especially so. I love your entire generation. So different from the last.” Blink reflected.

“How so?” Thunderstruck asked.

“Completely so. Mirage likes to think he was the only pony who lived through Discord’s short rule, but apart from the princesses and Bullion, I’d like my name counted on that list.”

“Yes! Before you three ask, I did live during Discord’s time. I’d like to say it changed me for the better, but who really knows. What I do know is why ponies fear.”

“Okay, why do they fear?” Cloud Charmer asked.

Blink almost jumped forward, slamming his hooves on the table and badly frightening the three children. “Control! That’s what they fear, because they lost it. Before Discord ponies trusted each other, because they had control. Replace that with sheer chaos, even for a little while, and it breaks them. Even today, I would say that in this town you ponies barely control what you used to be masters of, especially hate.”

“Does it break your hearts? It does mine. These ponies have allowed hate to run rampant through their lives. Discord saw to that. It has been so many years since his defeat, and still the pain lingers. That’s one thing the Princess’ can’t fix, pain. Ponies lost control, and when they got it back they feared. They tried to repair and then they were attacked, again and again, and then there was the second griffon pegasi war, and now some fool thinks he can take the north for himself. Ponies here have learned from their parents, from themselves, that stranger means danger, and now they fear.”

Cloud looked down for a moment, “But-“

“How do you fix it? You can’t, but they can. Very easily too. You just need to get them on a good day, and before you know it they’ll be showing you just how good they can be.” Blink responded.

“How can you do that with ponies like Prickly around?” Cloudy Night asked.

“Simply remove Prickly from the equation. He is the lump that keeps them sick.”

“How do you remove what they grasp so tightly?” Thunderstruck asked.

“You kids, too smart for your own good.” Blink said, without answering the question.

“If you lived in Discord’s time, then you must be-“

“Old, very. And yet look how young I am. Don’t believe anything Mirage says about that. It’s far easier to stay looking young then one might think, though it wears terribly on the mind. By the way, none of you have sat down on the nice floor pillows. I’m almost offended, considering how welcoming I’ve been to you; you could at least indulge me.”

Indulge him they did, quickly sitting down before the table.

“I’m old enough to know your mother, Cloud Charmer. Few here can boast that. I’ll tell you now; she was an amazing filly, though you might have a brighter spark in you. She saved this circus from a terrible plague, and I’ll never forget that.”

“How?” They all asked.

“Her caravan was passing by; she knew the herbs that saved us. Simple. I wish she’d come over sometime.”

He spoke again before Cloud did, “But she never would. She left that part of her life behind, a feat that not even the Princesses could boast. She said her goodbyes long ago, and I knew that she was not going to look back.”

“Why?”

“The life of travel is a hard one; it’s also hard to give up. One look back and you can find yourself caught in the life again, as with any past. She won’t look back because she can’t; everyone here at the circus knows that.”

Cloudy Night looked to her grey friend, and noticed her eyes looked wet. Very wet. She nudged up close against her, leaning her body onto her own as a support.

“Strong even when you’re weak…” Blink said to her.

“That must have made my mom so sad.” Cloud Charmer said. Only now did she notice that both Thunderstruck and Cloudy Night were leaning against her like supports.

“Life is sad, except for when it’s happy. One day you’ll find that the two often mix.”

“I fear I’ve drained you all. Energy is costly around here, I apologize for that. Thunderstruck, I will speak more to you tomorrow, as well as Madame Zendra, I suspect. But for now, you will probably be leaving.” Blink stood up, just as the tent opened, and Mirage leaned in.

“Girls, and boy, I need to speak with you outside. Thank you for entertaining them, All Seeing Eye.” Mirage said.

“I believe that they would probably call it torture more than entertainment. Yet they will be back here tomorrow, of that I have no doubt.”

“Well, thank you anyway, I’ll tell the missus you said hi.” Mirage said as Blink opened his mouth to speak.

“Sometimes I wonder who the real mind reader is.” He said.

“You, most of the time.” Master mirage grumbled, leading the ponies out of the tent. Thunderstruck exited first, but just before Cloud and Cloudy left, Cloudy turned.

“What does it feel like?” she asked.

He laughed quietly. “You know, I think that’s the first time anypony’s asked what I feel like. It’s like, seeing and hearing all of these noises and pictures at once, but from a distance. I can ignore them, but the buzz is always there. Do you know what that’s like?”

Cloudy Night did, and though he said nothing, she suspected that Blink knew as she led her friend out of the tent and into the fresh air.

The air was certainly fresh. The breeze had picked up and become a strong wind, sending tents flapping and trees thundering in the distance. Up above the clouds were breaking apart as they streaked by like they were racing to some distant finish line. The sun shone through the breaks in the sky, and she could clearly tell that the day was approaching mid-afternoon. Perhaps things can change faster than she thought.

Mirage cleared his throat, causing all of the ponies to turn and look at him. They waited patiently for him to speak.

He looked down for several moments before he spoke. “I’ll be honest with you, as you are the daughter of a dear friend, and I trust all three of you as friends. I have to send you away early.”

“What!? Why?” they asked simultaneously. What possible reason could he have to send them away? Was it Prickly Pines?

“We simply aren’t ready! It seems the same ponies who broke the wheels on some of our carts also managed to roll some off of a small cliff nearby. I have ponies clearing it up right now, but we’re going to need the rest of today just to set up all of the stations for tomorrow.”

“Oh…” Cloud Charmer said. Who did this to the circus? Did it matter? All of this trouble was stirred up by Prickly Pines. She almost growled to herself thinking of that pony. She’d only heard his name earlier that day, and already she thought of him as the enemy. Just like she’d been taught, she was trying to get a read on him, if she could figure out how he was operating, how he affected the town, then she could beat him.

She needed to start helping the circus right away! What could she…

Oh… now that was an idea. Not exactly a plan, but it was something she could use to start poking at Prickly.

“I am deeply sorry for this mistake.” Mirage said, taking his hat off and placing it back on, like a nervous tick. “We’ll refund you for what we can, and hope you return on the morrow.”

“No!”

“It’s really fine.” He insisted, but Cloud Charmer held out her little grey hoof to stop him.

“It’s fine, I paid willingly. I will come back tomorrow, when everything is ready.” She said, looking to her two friends. Would it work?

It’d be a good place to start.

“Besides I need some time to talk to my friends in town.” Cloud added, much to the surprise of her friends.

“Uh, it will be as you say, my little lady.” Mirage said.

“Good! We’ll leave now, but we are coming back tomorrow, and not alone.” Cloud Charmer assured. She would help, because she could.

“What does that mean?” Mirage asked.

“It means that we’re bringing friends tomorrow. I promise that you’ll be busy then.” She stated, a determined look in her stormy eyes. Cloudy knew that when Cloud Charmer got that look, she meant what she said.

“Of course.” Mirage said incredulously.

“We’re going now. See you tomorrow!” Cloud Charmer shouted at him, in an instant taking off down the rows of tents towards the exit, followed swiftly by her friends.

“Why are we going to town?” Cloudy asked, more curious than nervous.

“Because, I need to see exactly how it is in town.”

“You won’t likely find much. Most ponies are staying at their homes today.” Thunderstruck said.

“Still… that’s the place to be, right Cloudy?”

“It certainly seems like it.” Cloud's friend responded.

“So, I assume you have some plan to get these friend’s here?” Thunderstruck asked.

“Oh yeah! We’ll talk in town. For now, I could really use a good run!” Cloud shouted as the galloped.

Mirage watched them leave. The grey one promised to bring friends, on any other day he would have been in disbelief. In one day the little grey Pegasus had done more to befriend this place than anyone in too long. But even so, suddenly bringing business from a town like this seemed an almost impossible feat.

Cloud Charmer… Oak Leaf’s daughter! She had more than a spark of her mother’s fierceness in her. Even if she couldn’t do it, she would try to help.

Those two… blue and grey, out and in, big and small. They carried change on them like a gale carries the wind.

For the first time in a long time, Master Mirage believed.

He looked up at the sky, and laughed.

Thunderstruck has an idea!

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Cloud Charmer rolled into a bush that lay just past the forest trail from the stadium. Though she maintained the utmost composure of her stealth, she forced the bush to rattle loudly, as well as shaking some leaves off of their respective branches in the process. Her blundering movements really made the entire idea of stealth redundant.

Thunderstruck sighed as he watched his little grey friend crawl, still loudly, out of the bush, glance around quickly, and proceed to dash down the trail by at least twenty paces. He simply could not understand what drove the blue haired pegasus’ mind.

As Cloud Charmer disappeared into the trees further down the path, Thunderstruck turned to Cloudy Night, who was quietly trotting along next to him. He could only see her muzzle from his view, and her dark blue nose being obscured by her long face-covering mane gave him an image of one of those larger dogs he had seen walking with some of the farmers living near the bottom of the mountain. He laughed.

Cloudy did not seem to notice his laugh, so to gain her attention he sighed loudly and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, Cloudy?”

She turned towards him, her one visible eye a deep blue pool designed to hold so many intelligent and existential thoughts. Despite her odd mane, she carried a beauty within her, the beauty of a good book or a well written poem… the beauty of intellectuality.

“Yes?” She asked, looking up at him. Up ahead there was a loud snap and a quiet curse coming from ahead. That actually surprised Thunderstruck, even if all she said was ‘Stupid branch!’.

“Is this not just a bit ludicrous of her? So I mention that it would be better to enter Cliffside from a side path instead of the main road, and now she’s turned herself into a military scout for our faux convoy! Has she has always been like this?” He asked incredulously.

Cloudy’s head moved back to its forward position, her eye following the rustling bushes to mark the path of her friend through the trees. “To be honest, the whole military thing is pretty new to me as well. I thought I knew her so much better…” She whispered at the end, keeping Thunderstruck from hearing her comment.

He laughed, “Indeed! I seem to be learning a lot about Cloud Charmer today. Take for instance, the fact that she nearly broke down into a fit while we were talking to that All Seeing Eye character. Then, by the time we finish talking to Master Mirage she’s more fun and playful than ever, is there something happening behind the scenes that I should know about?”

Even if these two weren’t his friends, he would have asked that one way or another. He was the elected leader of these young ponies, despite the fact that his position was merely symbolic. They didn’t actually HAVE to listen to Thunderstruck, but his connection and held opinion among the group of the young gave him influence over some of them, which was why he was able to chastise bullies like Chud. If Thunderstruck wanted to he could turn the crowd against Chud, and make life for him that much more difficult. Having power like that bestowed upon Thunderstruck a sense of responsibility over these ponies, as if they were actually HIS ponies. He would look out for their well-being to the best that his influence would allow.

Cloudy paused for a moment before she answered him. “Well, no. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about Cloud Charmer, but she moves through her emotions pretty fast. She can be happy, sad, angry, and happy again in the span of only three minutes!”

“Truly? Three minutes?” Thunderstruck repeated incredulously.

“Yes, it happened last week… she thought she saw a bit in the mud, but it turned out to be just a cut up piece of some yellow fruit that they were selling at the market.”

Thunderstruck went completely straight faced as he spoke, a tiny strand of his short silver hair falling onto his muzzle with that puzzling itch that loose hair often leaves. “That… isn’t actually so surprising to me. And yes, I did note Cloud’s emotional nature, asking me if I didn’t is like asking me If I happened to notice that water was wet!” He said with a small half given laugh.

“Well… good.” Cloudy Night said, taking her attention away from him again.

Cloud Charmer quite suddenly burst out from behind a tree and sprinted back to her two friends, her eyes filled with her special brand of overenthusiastic excitement. “C’mon guys, the town is in sight!” She practically squealed before she ran down the path. Both Thunderstruck and Cloudy Night remained standing there for another few moments, smiling at her back as she ran.

Thunderstruck still had one more question for Cloudy, “My dear friend, I must ask, what about you?”

“What do you meant what about me?” Cloudy Night asked.

“Forgive me for any offence, but it seems that I’ve never heard you speak this much before in one day.” He said to her.

Cloudy actually blushed when he said that, some of her old nervousness beginning to sink in again. “I mean… we- we’ve only really talked once before.” She stammered.

“I understand, though I’m usually quite good at reading ponies. You never really struck me as the chatty type… is there something wrong?” Thunderstruck asked, noticing Cloudy’s ear twitching violently, she glanced at him quickly before she spoke again.

“No- nothing’s wrong! Who’s chatty?! Wait up!” She yelled after Cloud Charmer as she herself took on down the path at full gallop.

Thunderstruck stared after her for a long moment, pausing to look at the afternoon sky as he thought. The sun now shone brightly through the large holes in the clouds, shattered and ripped open by the strong breeze the in the air today. He could see the small town of Cliffside, or Canterlot, in all its sun illuminated glory from here.

Who’s chatty…? “Why, you are, Cloudy Night.” He said to himself with a small smile. He then found himself quoting a poem by the Grand unicorn poet, Soft Quill, written about fifty years ago:

“Tis as futile, to say,

That a rose is blue,

That the sky is yellow,

That the night is day,

That a friend is not a fellow…”

“Or that my love for you is untrue…” He finished, though that last line made him stick out his tongue upon its completion. It was a wonderful poem, written by a wonderful poet, but it was far too lovey-dovey for his taste. Despite the fact that Thunderstruck loved the great works of theatrical literature, but he wasn’t one for reading about obsession-filled lovers. In fact the only reason that he read the poem was because it was part of Soft Quill’s epic tale of the fall of the old tyrannical unicorn king, who was heroically defeated by the now king Bullion of the unicorns.

It was just too bad that Soft Quill could never appreciate the epic of the everyday life, he might have written more than two books.

Thunderstruck shook his over-reflective thoughts from his head, and galloped after his friends towards the town.

***

“Well, it seems less exciting than I had thought it would be.” Cloud Charmer sighed as she roughly sat down and leaned against the colossal wall that bordered the line between ground and air, all the way down to the base of the mountain.

Cloud Charmer noticed two things at this moment. For one thing, she noticed that she couldn’t feel the pulse from the circus from here, which definitely meant that whatever was happening with the beat was definitely sourced from the circus. She also noticed that when she turned her head upwards her own rough light and dark blue hair covered all of her face except for her muzzle… which made her nose ticklish.

Perhaps she should try brushing her hair more thoroughly in the future…

Cloudy Night did not sigh with her friend, outwardly, but she too practically fell against the wall in exhaustion. They had not only taken the whole path through the woods to the other side of town, but they had travelled down so many streets and alleys that her hooves were beginning to hurt. She wasn’t used to travelling through this place while it was so deserted… not that she minded terribly.

“Yes, it seems this endeavour was about as fruitless as I suspected. I did tell you that other than Prickly and his pals there would be no more than a dozen ponies on the streets.” Thunderstruck chastised, neatly sitting on the left side of Cloud Charmer, leaving her sitting in the middle of her group.

“Ugh! I had thought to find somepony around! Someone our age.” Cloud said.

“Shall I now inform thee of the proper means by which one should attempt to procure the forces thou seekest?” Thunderstruck responded.

“Who’s that from?” Cloudy asked in an almost bored tone.

“Myself. Might I also mention that ‘going to town and gathering as many ponies as we can’ isn’t really a plan, more of a goal at best.” He spoke to Cloud Charmer again, a bit insulted by her great plan to help the circus.

“Dissent among the ranks, and I’ve barely begun!” Cloud lamented.

“Who says that you’re the commander!?” Thunderstruck jumped up, surprised.

“Duh, I’m the one with the plan.”

“It’s a goal!”

“Still, she’s done more thinking about it than either of us.” Cloudy Night concluded. She had no trouble admitting that despite the lack of a plan, Cloud Charmer had contributed the most to solving this problem. That is, if it was a problem. Cloudy wasn’t quite sure about the circus yet, which was obviously not something that deterred Cloud Charmer whatsoever from her plan of action.

She thought she knew everything about her friend, why was so much changing in just one day? Why did things need to change between them?

Then again, who said this military thing changed anything between them? When she thought about it, Cloudy knew that nothing was going to deter her from her friend, especially not learning that her friend was interested in army stuff. Cloudy just wished that she had known. She didn’t like not knowing.

Cloudy Night only spotted it for a moment, but between the strands of her unkempt blue hair Cloudy saw her friend glance at both of them while she remained silent. Her eyes spoke of some great consideration going on in her mind.

Cloud then jumped up from her slumping seat and trotted a few paced away, her hoofsteps echoing on the cobbled street that ran beside the cliff wall. She turned to them to speak, a question echoing through her eyes as she stared up at her two taller friends.

“So, what did you guys think of the circus?” Cloud asked excitedly.

Thunderstruck seemed quite… struck… by this sudden question. He stared blankly at his little grey friend, the strain of dealing with her antic disposition already beginning to wear on his nerves. She really couldn’t stay still for more than a moment! “Well, I would say that despite having me thrown multiple times in the air by a lumbering giant, and then immediately harassed by a mind reading unicorn, I loved it!”

“Good!” Cloud retorted, rolling with Thunderstruck’s sarcasm without missing a beat before moving on. “And what did you two think of All Seeing Eye?”

Before Thunderstruck could fully formulate his response, Cloudy Night burst from her spot with an almost guttural growl. Even Thunderstruck looked a tiny bit terrified before she spoke, her voice carrying the tint of her anger. “I do not like him!”

“Why?” Cloud Charmer asked, looking a bit angry herself.

“Where do I start? He’s condescending, fast talking, and pretentious, not to mention he made you cry!” Cloudy raged.

“He did not make me cry! I made me cry.” Cloud Charmer said, her anger fading in an instant. She paused a moment and looked down at the ground, “I don’t know if you noticed, but I don’t handle emotions very well.” She said a bit somberly.

Cloudy Night rolled her eyes inside her head, but outside she merely stepped to her friend and said, “We noticed, but thank you.” She really meant it. She was glad that Cloud was willing to share, even if she didn’t need to.

Cloud Charmer hugged Cloudy for a moment before turning to speak to Thunderstruck. “What about you? What do you think of All Seeing Eye, or Blink, or whatever he wishes to be called?”

“Well…” Thunderstruck glanced at Cloudy quickly before he spoke, “He was certainly candid in his speech. But…” He looked away awkwardly.

Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night both leaned towards him, seeking their answer. “Well?” Cloud asked.

“Well…….. There was a sense of honesty about him. He is truthful, and genuine, and it seems like he wants to help, even if he is pretentious about it. I like him.” Thunderstruck admitted.

Cloud Charmer smiled at her friend’s response, “Good, I like him too! Guess you’re outnumbered Cloudy.”

“In what way does that actually change anything?”

“It means you have to admit that you’re wrong about him!” Cloud shouted playfully.

“It certainly does not!”

“Yes it does!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No, it does not.” Cloudy answered in as absolute a tone as she could muster.

“Cloudy?”

Cloudy Night didn’t respond.

“Clouuuuuuuuuuuudy?” Cloud Charmer asked, still practically giggling.

Cloudy remained silent.

Cloud Charmer sucked in a huge breath, taking a long and exaggerated moment to do so. Just as she was about to release her words, Cloudy covered Cloud’s mouth with her hoof.

“What?” Cloudy asked quietly.

“You have to admit it. Those are the rules of losing a debate.” Cloud explained.

“First of all, those are not the rules of a debate. Secondly, we were not having a debate. Thirdly, fine!” She sighed. “What Thunderstruck says is true. I still don’t like Blink, but I can’t deny that he’s honest, and he wants to help… even if he does make you sad.”

“I already said that I make me sad. But at least you agree… so…” She looked at both of her friends for a moment before she spoke again.

“Do you think we should help the circus?” Cloud finally asked.

“As in, because we don’t hate All Seeing Eye, should we now create some plan to fight the almost unnatural hatred in this town and befriend the townsponies with the circus?” Thunderstruck spoke incredulously.

“Yes.”

“O’ woe unto thee who would climb the cliff only to jump from the top.” Thunderstruck responded.

“Who said that?” Cloudy asked.

“Actually, General Seedfree of the earth pony army.”

“Nope.” Cloud Charmer stated.

“What do you mean?” Thunderstruck was becoming annoyed. He never misquoted.

“That wasn’t Seedfree, it was his fourth commander. During the second griffon pegasi war the earth pony commander Big Hoof, who was considered a very prolific stallion, said that when he heard the news about the retreat from Highrock. Seedfree later mentioned the quote during the peace summit, and he was quoted for it since.” Cloud Charmer explained in her most matter-of-fact tone.

“No!” Thunderstruck searched back through his mind for a long moment before he spoke again. “Well… I’ll be damned. You’re right!”

“No swearing!” Cloud ordered.

Cloudy cleared her throat, drawing both of her friend’s attention. Though she was always nervous about speaking to anypony other than Cloud Charmer, she found herself becoming more comfortable talking around Thunderstruck. Maybe she was chatty… though this whole situation was nowhere near as awkward as the last time she had spoken to the dark coated colt. “About the circus… I’m not sure about them.”

Cloud’s eyes got really big as she listened to her friend, who kept glancing at her.

Cloudy couldn’t help it. Cloud Charmer believed in the circus, and now she was staring at her like a child. Why must Cloud Charmer always act like this, she was older than Cloudy! But… On one hoof, the circus did seem genuine in its intentions of friendship.

On the other hoof… There was the beat to consider, she still didn’t understand exactly why there was one. That was weird enough.

But on the other hoof, just because it was weird didn’t make it bad. Perhaps Cloud was right about that place; the ponies there didn’t seem evil.

Yet on the other hoof, Mirage had deliberately lied to her about his age. She didn’t like that game he had played.

Cloudy looked into Cloud Charmer’s eyes. She trusted the circus; she’d help the circus no matter what.

Cloudy Night made her decision there, for if Cloud Charmer was bound to help the circus, then Cloudy was bound to help Cloud.

“I suppose that the circus isn’t evil. In fact I’d be much more willing to fight Prickly Pines, even if I’m not the biggest fan of all the characters at that circus.” She finished with a nervous smile, just before her friend practically tackled her to the ground in a jovial embrace.

“Yay! I knew you’d come around, Cloudy! What about you Thunderstruck?”

He sighed, “If you two really want to fight Prickly Pines. Then you have my support…. Even if it is a foolish pursuit.” He added on the end.

“Then it’s all settled! We help the circus. Only now we need the means.” Cloud said.

“Is gathering as many fillies and foals as we can really the plan?” Thunderstruck asked.

“Not really… more of the beginnings of a plan.” Cloud answered.

“It’s the best move we can make right now. Though I think that going door to door may be an impossible feat, considering how much time we have.”

All three children stood there, staring at nothing in particular as they tried to think. It was Thunderstruck who eventually came out of his daze; smacking himself on the head for not realizing it sooner.

Cloud Charmer and her friend looked up together. “Do you have something?” They asked in unison.

“Yes, and strike me thrice a fool for being so blind to it before.” He said.

“So, what’s the plan to talk to all of these ponies?” Cloudy asked.

“We don’t need to. They’ll get talking to each other.” Thunderstruck gave one of his foxlike grins.

“How’s that gonna happen?” Cloud asked.

“Come on girls. We’re going to Rosefall’s house!” Thunderstruck shouted, taking off on a slow gallop down the streets leading directly away from the wall.

Cloud Charmer gave her friend a smile and an over-exaggerated stick of her tongue, before taking off after him.

Cloudy Night hesitated for just a moment, allowing one last thought to drift through her head before she chased after her friends.

Maybe she could be as brash as Cloud Charmer… if she set her mind to it.

To meet a Rose

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Cloud Charmer once again sat leaning against the wall of the pastry shop that sat across the street from what Thunderstruck had said was Rosefall’s house. The brick was cool against her back; the remnants of the cold morning still lingering as the sun shone brightly through the few clouds that remained in the sky.

The wind had surprisingly dropped after it had blown the clouds across the sky and beyond the tip of the mountain that the town sat on, to soar over places unknown.

Cloud Charmer wished she could follow them there. It wasn’t that she was bored, completely, but she was tired of being unable to follow excitement to its source. Instead, she had to wait for it to come to her, and that was one of the most annoying things about this whole day.

Cloudy Night was sitting beside her grey friend… considering. She had never before seen Rosefall’s house, though she had seen Rosefall hanging around at the stadium once before. From what Thunderstruck had explained to them, Rosefall was the daughter of the town’s mayor, and a good friend of Thunderstruck. Regardless of that, her father was very rich, and she lived in the highest splendour that could be afforded in these times. Her house certainly confirmed this; it was almost as big as Cloud Charmer’s tree! Though, considering that Cloudy could only see the house from the front, it may well be far bigger than she thought.

The house certainly looked like it belonged to a rich pony. Its outer walls were plastered and pale; covering what should be stone bricks underneath. The windows of the house were gilded in brass, which meant that it had been brought up here from the south, as there was no means to acquire or create brass on this mountain. It looked like the walls of the mansion were covered in murals of flowers, done in a very light purple colour. If it had sat on any other street in the town, Cloudy Night would have called it gaudy. However, this was the richer district in Cliffside, and everything from a dirty old alleyway to the pastry shop she was leaning on looked as though it had been covered in the overdone tastes that only the rich could afford to have.

So this was Rosefall’s street? Cloudy could not help but wonder just how Thunderstruck expected to use Rosefall to assist them in gathering ponies to go to the circus tomorrow. Thunderstruck assured both fillies that Rosefall would be a big help to them, and that he had a plan, yet he had yet to elaborate on either of these statements. It wasn’t that Cloudy did not trust Thunderstruck, she just wanted the information.

She wondered why it was that today of all days was when everypony seemed to be obsessed with not explaining themselves. With each passing hour, Cloudy was presented with more puzzles and given less answers, and figuring out herself probably wouldn’t change the rate at which she devised more questions. She had to find some way to stem the flow.

Beside her, Cloud Charmer gave a loud sigh, and then seemed to swat at something in on her muzzle. She turned to Cloudy with a grumpy look in her eyes, giving Cloudy the entire hint she needed to tell that her friend was losing patience.

“He is taking forever! How is it that the fastest pony in Cliffside is moving so slow today?” Cloud whined.

“He only went into Rosefall’s house… about fifteen minutes ago. That isn’t supremely long.” Cloudy responded.

Cloud charmer glanced back at the house door, her ears pricking up as if she heard something, and then drooped again when she saw nothing coming from Rosefall’s house. She turned back to Cloudy Night, this time looking not grumpy but inquisitive.

“How is it that you always seem so content with what’s happening Cloudy?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… how is it that you’re always so relaxed? You’re never bored, in fact, today when you argued with Blink, I was really surprised at that outburst.”

“I don’t know, I like to think, and just hang around…. I’m not exactly sure what you’re saying.” Cloudy Night confessed to her friend.

Cloud Charmer sighed again before she spoke, “Never mind, I was just trailing off a bit. Though you have to admit that you’ve been talking a lot today, I’d say that this time hanging out with Thunderstruck wasn’t so awkward as last time, right?”

Cloudy nodded to her friend. It was true; this meeting with Thunderstruck had proven to be both more active and less uncomfortable than the last one. This time, Cloudy felt more… at ease, like she had known Thunderstruck for a very long time.

It was hard to believe that only a month ago Cloudy had been unaware that friendship was even within her grasp. A month ago all Cloudy did was ponder, read, and wallow. That is what she considered it, wallowing in her own grief. Cloudy was glad she was beyond that state of her life, even if it was just a month ago. Meeting Cloud Charmer had changed her life for the better, and she was by far happier than she was before. She had even found a friend in Thunderstruck, and it finally felt right. She was never going back to that dark place in her mind again, as she had decided the day she had made her first friend, she would now be Cloudy Night the friendly, not Cloudy Night the lonely.

Cloud Charmer poked Cloudy in the side with her hoof, bringing her back into the moment. Thunderstruck was trotting out from Rosefall’s mansion and towards the two friends. He looked relieved, which was odd, considering that Rosefall was not with him, which should mean that he was unable to get her to come outside.

Thunderstruck sat down in against the wall next to Cloudy, a small smile playing across his mouth. Cloud Charmer stood up and faced him, obviously as curious about the situation as Cloudy.

“My friends, it is a success! Rosefall will be joining us in just a few minutes to discuss how to gather the ponies for the circus.” Thunderstruck announced.

“Why didn’t she just follow you out right now?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“’Patience is the one virtue we all have, but never use.’ She’ll be out soon, that’s all that matters.” He said.

Cloud was not deterred, “Why do we need her? What is this plan of yours?” She sounded angry.

Thunderstruck rose to face his little blue haired friend. Cloudy also stood up, however she did not intend to intrude upon their conversation, but merely listen.

“We need Rosefall because she is the only pony with the ponypower to reach almost every filly in town with a message to come to the stadium.” Thunderstruck explained.

“How would she accomplish that?” Cloud asked.

“Is it not obvious? Rosefall is even better connected than me! She can tell her friends, servants, anyone she needs to get the message around. She’s done it dozens of times before. How do you think I gather everypony for one of our races at the stadium? Rosefall is excellent at spreading information.”

“By that you mean she’s a great gossip! I’m not exactly sure I like this plan.” Cloud Charmer stated.

“Like it or not, it’s the plan that’ll work.” Thunderstruck assured.

Cloudy Night stared at her friend, trying to analyze what she had just said about Rosefall. She had called her a gossip, which could be taken offensively. Did Cloud Charmer not like Rosefall? Cloudy wasn't sure that her friend had mentioned the pony before, but she had never gotten this feeling from Cloud regarding the pony. Either Cloud was really feeling impatient right now, or she had taken some issue with Rosefall. Cloudy Night honestly doubted the latter, the only pony that Cloud Charmer had ever expressed any negative emotion towards was Chud, and that just happened yesterday!

Cloud Charmer sighed, “Well, that’s probably right. I suppose that given the amount of time we have before sundown, she’s the only pony who can get the message out fast enough. But tell me why she’s making us wait for her out here?”

“My friend, the answer lies in her title as the mayor’s daughter.” Thunderstruck explained.

“What exactly does being the mayor’s daughter have to do with making us wait?”

“Prickly Pines.”

“Now you really are making no sense.” Cloud stated.

It was now Thunderstruck’s turn to sigh, which was an unwarranted action to Cloudy, as he was the one refusing to explain himself. “Don’t you ponies get it?! Mayor Fair Flower is makes all of the major decisions that affect this town…”

“Yes?”

“But Prickly Pines often weighs in on those decisions. He is all but the official advisor to the Mayor, and Fair Flower often listens to what Prickly has to say to him.”

“This is why the Mayor is going in the next couple of days to help Prickly place those restrictions on the refugee camp.” Cloudy intoned, she was beginning to see the picture.

“Exactly, Cloudy, the Mayor would appear to be acting on the sole advisement of Prickly Pines in this particular situation.” Thunderstruck confirmed.

“Why in the world would the ponies of this town actually listen to a pony like Prickly Pines? How could they embrace hatred like that?!” Cloud Charmer said, disgusted by the prospect of a pony like Prickly leading the town to such a dark place.

“Maybe… because Prickly is one of the only ponies who speaks out.” Thunderstruck offered.

When his two friends gave him a confused look, Thunderstruck elaborated on his point. “Look, around here, Prickly Pines is one of the only ponies who actually tries to change things, even if he changes them for the worse. He constantly reminds ponies about Discord and how we lost control of our world. He uses the guise of keeping the order and peace to act against ponies like the refugee and the circus, and the ponies of town listen to him because he takes charge and works to fulfill his goals. He has done things that have helped the town greatly in the past. He doesn’t hate everyone, just strange ponies, and the town listens to him because they believe that he really does want to help.”

Cloud Charmer considered his words before she responded. Could it be true that Prickly had really helped the town in the past? Perhaps he did hold the best interests… no. It just didn’t sound right. Prickly was blatantly offensive to outsiders, and to her it seemed he just played his hatred onto the other townsponies. He was wrong, and she would see to it that he failed in his attempts to harm outsiders. Still, this was useful information, and Cloud Charmer was beginning to work out how Prickly might think. If she could just figure out how he managed to influence the entire town, she could defeat him. Against odds, and age, and power, Cloud Charmer’s tactical mind truly could defeat him. It was what she had been trained from birth to be able to do. Plus, now she had an advantage, because she understood Rosefall’s reason for not coming out immediately.

Cloud Charmer smiled, both her excitement and happiness returning at once with the sudden realization that this was going to work.

“So, Rosefall is taking her time because she wants to help. But she doesn’t want her dad to know she’s helping because he might tell Prickly Pines. The enemy of my enemy is my friend; she probably jumped to help you as soon as you mentioned Prickly.” Cloud explained.

Thunderstruck seemed surprised, “Actually, that’s pretty much what happened. I said that I wanted to talk to her about the circus and Prickly, quietly mind you, and she immediately said that she’d be out in a minute.”

“Have you ever thought about becoming a royal Policepony Cloud?” Cloudy Night asked jokingly.

“No. Also, here she comes.” Cloud Charmer responded, watching her friends turn to notice Rosefall approaching.

Cloudy Night’s mind immediately began to analyze Rosefall as she trotted towards them. She was a young mare, probably a couple years older than Cloud Charmer, so, about sixteen or seventeen. Cloudy would also say that she was probably one of the oldest ponies who still hung out at the stadium with Thunderstruck, though Cloudy assumed that he was the oldest pony there. The next thing that Cloudy Night noticed about that pony was that she was a unicorn, with her horn actually appearing to sit in front of her hair, which fell around it in small symmetrical arches. Her coat was pink, though it was a very light shade of pink, almost bordering on white. Her mane and tail were a combination of large and round curls and longer, more winding curls that bounced when she trotted, seeming light as air despite the fact that her hair was very thick. Her mane and tail were both a very deep shade of red, which in the light of the sun actually looked much more brown than red, though Cloudy could tell their true colour. From this angle Cloudy could also see Rosefall’s cutie mark, which, to her surprise, was a quill writing on a piece of paper. Cloudy had honestly not expected to see that, even if she still didn’t understand exactly what that cutie mark meant. Her eyes were a bright purple, which seemed to shine excitedly as she bounced across the street from her house.

“Well, Thunderstruck, you liar! You never once mentioned that you would be gracing me not only with your presence, but those of two more friends as well.” She said playfully, her voice sounding very light hearted and cheery. Her voice wasn’t quite girlish, but it was very sunny, and didn’t seem like the kind of voice to say something serious… ever.

Cloud Charmer rolled her eyes, now she knew why Thunderstruck was friends with Rosefall, they practically talked like twins. Well, except that Thunderstruck broke his own character enough that she thought it safe to say that he was a worse actor than she was. Cloud Charmer just hoped that she wasn’t going to start hearing poetry quotes thrown at her twice as often.

“Hello Rosefall, thank you for coming to speak with us. May I introduce my friends Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night.” He said as he gestured to the both of them in turn.

“Hello to you both, Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night. I must say, though I haven’t exactly seen you both myself, I have heard stories about you from some of the ponies around here.” Rosefall mentioned.

“Really? What do the stories say?” Cloud Charmer asked, actually sounding excited.

“They say that you two ponies call Thunderstruck to you like a puppy, and that he’ll do whatever you asked.” She said laughingly, Cloud joined in when she saw how red Thunderstruck was getting. Cloudy didn’t laugh, but she did grin at the sight of the dark coated Thunderstruck actually managing to turn himself red from embarrassment.

“Well…” Thunderstruck said gruffly, “I’m sure that I would have no trouble estimating who said THAT about me. I must make a note to myself to talk to Bright Light later.”

“Oh, come now Thunderstruck, there’s no need to take that out on Bright Light. We girls like to joke, that’s all. Do you not make jokes about Sidewinder’s hair when he’s not around?” Rosefall chastised. Cloudy Night was surprised by this pony, and was definitely enjoying her company so far.

“I suppose that what you say is correct. It can never be said that Thunderstruck is not one to hear reason.” He responded.

“Please, I know you, and I know reason, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the two of you together.” Rosefall said.

“Ha! That was a quote from the book, ‘Life and Times of the Wiry Woodcutter’ if I’m not mistaken.” Thunderstruck, said, pleased with himself.

“Uh, no, it wasn’t from Wiry Woodcutter, it was from, ‘The 20 year frolick’ by Hayworth.” Rosefall replied, leaving Thunderstruck’s jaw agape and Cloudy’s grin even wider from her correction.

Cloud Charmer took her friend’s momentary pause to jump into the conversation. “Excuse me, I know we’re all having some great fun, but we’re kind of running out of time.” She reminded them.

“Uh, yes, of course! Rosefall, we need you to gather as many of the young ponies as you can at the stadium tomorrow, we wish to lead them to the circus tomorrow.” Thunderstruck explained.

“Ah, so that is why you said it was a short notice request. So, this is how you want to fight against Prickly Pines?” Rosefall asked.

“Yes! We need everypony to come to the stadium right in the morning; from there we’ll all go to the circus to show them that those ponies aren’t so bad as they think!” Cloud Charmer said loudly.

Rosefall smiled as she looked down at the little grey Pegasus. “I take it that it’s your plan to do this…” she glanced around her, seeming to deal with some stray thought in her head, “Alright. It may be extremely short notice, but I would do anything to hurt that jerk Prickly! I really don’t know what my father sees in that stallion, but it can't be anything good. I’ll talk to some of my girls, and we’ll have at least half the town covered in the next hour or two. Is there anything else you’ll need me to do?”

“Yes, we need you to tell everypony to bring at least one bit for entrance fee.” Cloud Charmer added.

Rosefall laughed at that, “You know, if every filly and colt brings at least one bit to this circus, then they’re going to make a very large profit tomorrow!”

“That’s actually kind of the point.” Cloud said.

“Then it’s a very big point at that, you’ll bring about a huge amount of funding for that place. I suppose I’ll bring a few as well, I have wanted to see if they have any games there, I do so miss playing that one with the throwing ball and the little stack of wooden blocks. Maybe I’ll find one there, and it would be wonderful fun to play with you three.” Rosefall said dreamily, as if she was lost in a very good memory.

“Yeah, I guess that we can do that!” Cloud Charmer shouted over whatever Thunderstruck had been about to say, a big grin immediately appearing on her face as she did so. “So, we’ll leave you to it.”

“Of course, time is running short. I’ll definitely be able to get some ponies to go, most of them are probably so bored right now that they’d accept the offer if they had to pay twenty bits a piece! Good day Cloud Charmer, Cloudy Night, Thunderstruck.” She said, nodding to each of them in turn before she turned to trot back across the street.

Before she could get more than a few steps, however, Thunderstruck dashed in front of her to stop her. He turned to Cloud and Cloudy, “Sorry guys, but this is where I’ll get off. I will assist Rosefall in convincing ponies to go to the stadium tomorrow, and I’ll meet you both there in the morning.” He said.

Cloud Charmer glanced at Cloudy, who gave one of her little nods, before she turned back to Thunderstruck, “Go on, we have to go home anyways!”

“Good! I shall see you both in the morning.” He said, immediately turning and trotting off with Rosefall to begin the harrowing task of gathering ponies for the fair.

Cloudy Night watched them go with a smile on her face. Today had been very interesting, somehow even more so than yesterday. It seemed like everything was becoming more and more exciting by the day, which Cloudy had no doubt pleased Cloud Charmer to the fullest degree.

Without a word, the two fillies began to trot themselves towards the edge of town, both of them reflecting on the events of the day.

***

It wasn’t until they were actually drawing near the end of the final streets of town that Cloud Charmer stopped Cloudy Night with her hoof, and asked her a question.

“So, Cloudy, do you really agree that we should help the circus, or were you just saying that?” She asked.

Cloudy Night looked at her friend, almost hurt. Why would Cloud Charmer think she was being disingenuous about her opinion of the circus?

Cloudy paused, all of her fears and worries about that place coming to head in her mind right at that moment. She still didn’t know or understand what that pulse coming from the circus was, nor did she fully understand the place. Master Mirage had played games with her, and Blink had been rude to her friends. Yet at the same time, they had both been very honest about their feelings, and Mirage had even called her a friend. Wild Call and Merlin seemed friendly, and helpful, and Braun was… well… Braun. The circus had been both genuine and a bit dismissive of her; did she really want to help it?

Then there was Cloud Charmer, who was obviously on the side of the circus. Cloudy knew that no matter what happened Cloud Charmer would attempt to assist Mirage and his ponies in any way that she could, and that meant that Cloudy would probably assist as well.

And what about that strange mare that had been watching them at the circus. Cloudy had absolutely no idea what her motives behind this whole situation were.

All of these thoughts at once made Cloudy Night’s head hurt, so she decided to focus on the main problem. The beat she and her friend kept hearing there. Cloudy did not like the feel of that pulse, though she still was clueless as to how the pulses worked in the first place. She knew that it could be bad or good, though Cloud already thought of it as good, which was why Cloudy had said that she didn’t listen closely enough.

The bottom line ended here: Cloud Charmer was going no matter what, and that meant that Cloudy Night would go as well. The only way to find out what the beat was to keep going to the circus, and, despite some exceptions, the circus had been kind and honest with them, and they deserved her help.

“Yes, I meant exactly what I said. I may not like everypony there, but I will help you help the circus.” Cloudy said, a large feeling of finality washing over her.

Cloud Charmer gave her a big smile, which she could only ever have returned. Cloud Charmer’s smiles were contagious. “Alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow Cloudy Night!” she said.

Cloud Charmer hugged her friend, and took off out of the town and towards her tree house. She was glad that Cloudy was going to help the circus, but she herself needed to think just a teeny bit more. She needed to ask herself how far she would go to help these ponies.

Thankfully, there were two ponies waiting for her at home to help her answer that very question.

Cloudy Night held back for a moment before trotting home. She had learned so much in the last two days, both about the circus and about her best friend. She had so much to think about… she knew that she probably wasn’t going to get any sleep that night.

She would start with Cloud Charmer, whose story the night before had left Cloudy Night with an idea in her head, something to ponder over.

Cloudy trotted home, the gears in her head already beginning to turn out answers to the several puzzles that the last couple days had left her with.

Thunderstruck is sad now

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Thunderstruck practically glided through the cobbled streets of Cliffside, now lit only by the fading evening sun, which hung precariously just over the far horizon. The shadows cast by the large stone and wood buildings of the slightly wealthier part of town left much of the street in shadow, yet here and there the light shone orange through any open space available.

Soon this all would disappear, leaving the world in the comforting light of Luna’s moon, and the stars would dance across the sky, finally embracing their lovers lights as they gave the world a show that it would never forget, but hidden in the silence he knew that no one would notice their movements…

That was actually the makings of one of his personal poems, a piece which he was by far not ready to reveal to the world. For now, it would remain under his personal scrutiny, and his own careful eye, until it was ready to be seen.

Rosefall trotted along beside him, composing lines of her own. It was no coincidence that both she and Thunderstruck greatly enjoyed poetry, for they both had the same teacher, and it was that stallion that had taught them both to love poetry, among the many other great things they learned to love.

Rosefall had been friends with Thunderstruck for a very long time. They had practically been raised together, which was a circumstance that should have been impossible, considering how different their origins were.

Cliffside had been far smaller then, so there had only been one tutor for the entire town, and only for a few years at that. Sadly there were never enough bits to keep a teacher around for long, not in such a new and developing Equestria.

But now the town had grown so large! And it continued to grow even to this day.

Today…

Thunderstruck’s mind returned to the present, leaving his amblings and remembrances for later. Today had been a very romantic day, all the way to how it was ending; the entire land being drenched in the deep and darkening orange at the end of the day. The pale night-time light only just beginning to overpower its eternal yellow foe, or was it friend?

That would be another good line for his poem…

Oh, Thunderstruck lived for these kinds of days! Only minutes ago, he and Rosefall had finished sowing the seeds for tomorrow’s meet up, and now there was nothing left but to bask in the glory of the ending day and stare at the sky, who was now showing its tiny lights to the world. Perhaps the stars were taking their time in waking up, stretching in what could be called their own morning routines as they prepared for their active night ahead. It was sigh-worthy, and that is just what Thunderstruck did, he sighed.

Rosefall glanced at her friend with a smile, “You’re right, it is quite a beautiful night we have ahead of us.”

Thunderstruck returned the smile; it was nice to have friends, especially one who knew him so well. Perhaps he had been wrong before, when he thought he stood alone as Cliffside’s leader of the fillies and foals. He and his friends would stand together to help the town, there was no need to think that he needed to command those around himself, because they would stand with him anyways.

Bah! Too often did he find himself thinking about the potential power he had, it was nothing to dwell on. Instead he should think about today, for as a very wise pony had once said, “Today is where the world is.”

“Do you think they’ll come?” Thunderstruck asked.

“Of course, when the great Thunderstruck invites ponies, they come!” Rosefall said with an exaggerated bow.

Thunderstruck sighed, “Why do you tease me so? Just like Bright Light.”

Rosefall laughed, “If we didn’t tease you, your head would get so big that you’d need a wagon to rest it on whenever you went out for a walk!”

“That may be true…”

“Why, Thunderstruck, it is true! I find it odd that ponies look up to you like they do, you were never like that when we were young.” Rosefall commented.

“Please, I was far too nervous back then to lead anypony. Now, they all listen to me… But you know that I never asked them to.” Thunderstruck ended with a sigh.

“I’m sure that your power is so important.” Rosefall teased sarcastically, though her face lost its teasing appearance after a moment. “Seriously, Thunderstruck, some of the townsponies are starting to get annoyed by the way you talk to them. You lord over them like some king, and every time you do that less and less ponies will listen to you.”

Thunderstruck gave her a confused look, though he did stop for a moment to admire how the shadows drew lines across her face. It was her hair that made the shadows so complicated… anyway. “I am the leader of these ponies.” He said.

“No, you aren’t Thunderstruck; remember what you called yourself at first?” Rosefall reminded him.

“Yes… I said, ‘I’m not the king or the ruler, I’m just…”

“The pony with the plan. You always said that you were just an events organizer at best. Before now you had never wanted to rule ponies, just, well, help them.”

“Is that not what I’m doing?” Thunderstruck said.

“Maybe, but you’ve got it all crossed. You’ve stopped bringing fun to the ponies around town, and instead you’re turning the whole stadium thing into some sort of private kingdom, it’s really starting to annoy some ponies.” Rosefall explained.

“Really?” Thunderstruck considered his friend’s words. Had he really started to become more interested in telling ponies what to do than actually having fun with them? The last few months had been crazy, and he felt like he needed to take more charge.

Then again, just yesterday he had been thinking about how much he had loved to tell ponies what to do, how much he loved being the center of attention. He really did think that he should command these ponies, and he loved to… well; almost show off that he was the leader. When Cloudy Night and Cloud Charmer first arrived in town, he became even more obsessed with his leadership, was it because of them? Earlier he had said to himself that those two were threats to his leadership role, but perhaps it was the opposite. Rosefall may have been very right in saying that he needed ponies to keep his head from expanding, he needed ponies like Cloud and her friend to make him remember that he wasn’t a leader, he was just a friend to all, and his only job was to help ponies stay friendly with each other.

It dawned on Thunderstruck that he was doing things wrong, and that he needed to make a change before he really did need a wagon just to carry around his bloated ego.

Another thought also came to Thunderstruck, though this particular thought made him laugh aloud. How was it that a few words could change a ponies thinking so suddenly that in moments one pony could become another.

A stranger made from an epiphany… that was another good line for him to use in his poem.

“I didn’t realize you found it all so annoying.” Thunderstruck responded.

“Well, we gave you a few weeks, but when it started to get worse, we decided to take action.”

“You and… Bright Light?” Thunderstruck asked.

“It was mostly Sidewinder’s idea. We just think you need to tone down the whole ‘I command thee!’ thing and try to be the friendly guy you were when we started the whole stadium meet up business.” Rosefall said, rather apologetically. She knew that Thunderstruck hated two things most of all, being wrong when he mistakes a reference, and feeling like he failed.

“Then how would you propose I change things.” He asked his friend, feeling a little more down on himself then he probably should.

“Did I write the book on how to be a friendly pony?! Just… do what you used to do. Hang out with other ponies, make new friends, and keep us all entertained. You only have to stop being some self-elected king, and start being just Thunderstruck.”

He smiled at that, it meant a lot to Thunderstruck that he still had friends that were willing to put him in his place, and keep him grounded in his purpose. Perhaps he had many more friends than he originally thought. Rosefall smiled back at him, her light pink coat seeming to blaze the colour of the orange sunset on the edge of the world. She suddenly became a glowing ember of the brilliant and powerful fire that was engulfing the mountains in its light.

He could only ever hope to shine as brightly as the ponies around him.

“Perchance the whole town will arrive tomorrow, to see the circus.” Thunderstruck suggested.

“Perchance it will, ‘Hope. Keep your faith in life, and life will keep her faith in you.’” Rosefall quoted.

“As if I wouldn’t recognize a quote from Midnight Whisper.” Thunderstruck said.

“No, actually it’s from…” Rosefall said, bursting into a fit of laughter when she saw Thunderstruck’s absolutely downcast face, “Alright, you got that one, it was Midnight who said it.”

Thunderstruck let out a big sigh, “Well, glad to hear that I am not erroneous in all of my life’s pursuits.”

“Indeed!” Rosefall said cheerfully, “Though it surprises me that at your age you still misquote almost every poet in existence.”

“I’m not that old.” Thunderstruck said.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot that I was older than you!” She responded, “Though it feels like many ponies around here look younger than they are. How old are the two friends you brought to me today?”

“I- I don’t know, actually.” He had never actually thought to ask how old Cloud and Cloudy were. In fact, thinking about it he didn’t actually know that much about the two of them.

Rosefall sighed, “It’s just like you to not bother asking a pony anything about themselves. How is it that you manage to make friends without actually being very friendly?”

“I don’t know.” He said, sounding resoundingly sad at his own personal failures as a friend. It made Rosefall feel all the more pity for him. Today just wasn’t his day was it?

Still, she knew what she was doing, and if she said something too forgiving then Thunderstruck wouldn’t even consider changing his ways whatsoever. Sidewinder had asked her to talk to Thunderstruck because he knew that she knew how to handle Thunderstruck, and she did.

“Well, I guess that you’ll have to spend more time with them then, as well as with everypony else. Don’t think that it doesn’t annoy me and the others that you don’t really hang around with anymore either.” Rosefall chided.

“Of… of course I will hang out with you guys. And with many others… I need to show the ponies around here that I want to be their friend, not their leader.” He said slowly, looking at Rosefall as though he were waiting for her approval.

“Good thinking, and I’m sure that if you stick to it then you’ll no doubt overcome the obstacles you face. ‘I say, you will win.’ Said the queen to her knight of favour, ‘And if you do not, somepony’s head shall roll!’” She finished with a laugh, which Thunderstruck joined her in.
Of course, it wasn’t a real queen who said that, it was a character from one of the novels in the town library. It was called, ‘The Royalty on High’ and it was written by an unnamed author in order to mock the nobility of Equestria. It actually became very popular among the nobles, and several thousand copies were ordered from the unicorn printer’s guild, and distributed throughout the land. The history of that very book had fascinated Rosefall, who had spent many hour pouring over its pages, and it always cheered her up to think about its jokes.

After they finished their short fit of laughing, Rosefall once again spoke. “As I was about to say before, I very much enjoyed the company of Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night. I was surprised not only to immediately be set out on a mission, but by the little grey one of all ponies! Where did you meet these two, and why didn’t you introduce them sooner?!”

“Well, I met them in town several weeks ago. They were acting really weird that day, so I thought that I’d see if they were okay. One awkward conversation later and by Cloud Charmer’s intervention we were scheduled to hang out a couple days afterwards. They showed up at the stadium a few times after that, and we hung out, but this is the first time I’ve ever spent more than an hour with them both. I have no doubt, however, that they are good friends to me, and they will be to you as well.” Thunderstruck said.

“Well, I think it’s time you stop hiding them away from the rest of us, and gave us a chance to befriend them. Even I only had them for a few moments today!”

“Well, it’s not as though I asked them to leave!” Thunderstruck guffawed.

“Of course.” Rosefall said, turning and trotting down one of the side streets that lead into the rich district of Cliffside. Thunderstruck followed behind, though in the fast fading light the only part of him that could be clearly seen in any patch of shadows were his bright green eyes, which always managed to remain visible even in the darkest places.

“I was wondering…” Thunderstruck said.

“Yes?”

“Tomorrow at the circus, I was wondering if you would care to visit the poet Zendra with me. She is, apparently, one of the most eloquent zebras in existence.”

Rosefall glanced at her friend, looking very confused, “What, pray tell, is a zebra?”

“I have absolutely no idea.” He answered.

“And she is a poet?”

“So they say.”

“Well then, perhaps I will partake in her company, alongside you. But first I think I’ll talk to your two friends a bit more. Who knows, maybe I’ll find out their ages before you do?” Rosefall teased.

“Likely so… but I will fix that…” Thunderstruck mumbled to himself, though not quite out of Rosefall’s range of hearing. She smiled; it was good to hear Thunderstruck turning back to his old self, even if he really had never changed.

“And with that I say Goodnight! This is my street.” Rosefall said, stopping and turning to say goodbye to her friend.

“I suppose it is goodnight… So… Goodnight.” He said, for one of the first times in his life failing to find something fancy to say. He held out his hoof for a hoofbump, and was returned the bump by his laughing friend, no doubt amused by his awkward goodbye.

Rosefall trotted back to her home, and Thunderstruck began his journey to his own place. Unlike earlier, he did not stop to admire the scenery, but thought and reflected on the day, and how his conversation with Rosefall had changed him.

This would have continued without interruption, yet Thunderstruck was shaken out of his thoughtful daze when he heard a yelp down the alley he was passing. Without hesitating, Thunderstruck turned his course down the alley, seeking the source of the noise he heard.

When a whimper once again sounded from deeper into the alley, Thunderstruck broke into a gallop. He turned a corner quickly, and was greeted with the scene he had been hearing moments before.

Lo and behold! It was none other than the hulking form of Chud that Thunderstruck saw near the end of the dirty, garbage ridden alley way. He was standing in the shadows just before a dusk lit street, and he seemed to be looming over another pony.

If it was Chud, that meant nothing good, so without falter Thunderstruck trotted towards the pair of ponies, loudly announcing his presence at the same time.

“Hello Chud! What’s this I see going on here?” Thunderstruck said.

Chud leaped into the air, spinning quickly to see the pony engaging him, he actually looked scared for a moment, which was an emotion that rarely ever showed on his face. Once he saw it was Thunderstruck approaching, his fear turned to contempt, and he took a step forward, revealing the pony cowering behind him.

Thunderstruck was surprised to see the foal that had been helping Master Mirage yesterday at his travelling booth. He was small, had a light brown coat and black mane and tail, and small, golden eyes; enlarged from the terror flowing in him.

“What do you want, Thunderstruck?” Chud said angrily, obviously annoyed at being interrupted in the middle of his little interrogation. Thunderstruck glanced back from the foal to Chud, his face impassive.

“I want you to leave that pony alone, Chud.”

“It’s not your business to be tellin’ me what to do!” Chud said.

“Chud, I’m asking nicely, leave the pony alone.” Thunderstruck forcefully stated, his anger beginning to rise. Leave it to Chud to always find ways to cause as much trouble for those around him as his father. The seed, indeed, did not fall far from the tree with Chud and his father.

“Just like you to go snooping around in another pony’s business. Leave me be, or I’ll-“

“You’ll what? Please explain to me Chud just exactly what you plan to do to me?” Thunderstruck pulled out his most sinister voice, which was more than enough to make Chud pause. The fool colt was no coward, but neither was Thunderstruck, whom Chud knew well enough to know that he would not back down.

“Just leave me alone! This punk thinks he can mess with me, kinda like you!” Chud yelled, becoming slightly unsure of how to handle the situation.

“Let me tell you one more time Chud. Leave that foal alone, or I’ll tag along with my mother to meet a good friend of the family down the mountain. I believe you know who I’m talking about.” Thunderstruck threatened.

Chud regained that look of fear on his face again, letting it bleed through his façade of toughness. “No! you wouldn’t!”

“And then I’ll tell her exactly what you’ve been up to the last few month’s around here, and I believe you know what she’ll do then.”

Chud actually looked like he had been struck when Thunderstruck said that. Reluctantly, and wordlessly, he turned and walked into the street, turning and trotting away from the alley. Thunderstruck let out an exasperated sigh before he trotted to the foal at the end of the alley, and helped him up off of the ground.

“Are you alright?” Thunderstruck asked.

“Y-yes… h-ow did you make him l-leave?” The foal asked. His voice was one of the tiniest, most high pitched voices that Thunderstruck had ever heard.

“Ha! It’s his aunt. She lives down near the base of the mountain with the farmers; her husband owns a plot of land there. If she heard that Chud was being naughty up here, she’d trot to Cliffside faster than you’d believe. By Celestia, you should’ve heard how Chud whimpered and apologized the last time she was in town, she’s absolutely his worst nightmare!”

“S-so his name’s Chud?”

“Well, technically. Chud is just a nickname he uses.”

“Why would a-nypony want to c-call themselves chud?” The child asked, his fear evaporating by the second.

“Your guess is as good as mine; even I don’t know what his real name is. Speaking of which, I’m Thunderstruck, what’s your name?”

“Everyp-pony calls me Squeaker.” He said.

“Well, I will try not to see the irony in that.” Thunderstruck stated sarcastically.

“W-what’s i-irony.” Squeaker, uh, squeaked.

“Never you mind what it means. You’re from the circus right, you work for Mirage?”

“Yes, I-I’m from the circ-cus.” He answered, suddenly looking up at the darkening dusk sky with some alarm. “I h-have to go!” He shouted, and before Thunderstruck said another word the child was gone down the alley, around the corner, and barrelling down the street, carrying a small brown cloth bag in his mouth.

Thunderstruck could not help but wonder if he should follow, as he was not sure that Squeaker knew his way around Cliffside just yet. There was, however, no way to find him in these labyrinth like streets. Besides, the pony was running in the right direction to get out of town, perhaps he would make it there fine.

At the very least he wouldn’t have to worry about Chud again, for tonight at least. Mentioning Chud’s aunt usually put the colt back in his place pretty quick.

Thunderstruck felt pretty good for himself. Sure, he needed a lot of work, but at least he still had the decency to fight off bullies when he needed to. Hopefully the boy would learn how to not fear bullies, which was exactly what he needed if he wanted to defeat one.

All that Thunderstruck needed to do now was figure out how to get on the good side of many of the ponies in town. Maybe he could give a speech? No, that would probably make ponies feel even less pleased by his company. What he needed to do was to stop commanding, and start asking and encouraging. Don’t be the pony that tells others what to do, but the pony that inspires others to do things with them.

Thunderstruck turned his eye towards the sky, his mind trying to figure out exactly how to rid himself of his overgrown ego. Though he supposed if he already thought of it as overgrown then it no longer was. Then again…

Thunderstruck trotted away from the alley, while the shadows in the alley darkened and shifted behind him.

Within moments, the illusion of shifting shadows was gone, not that anypony noticed them in the first place. It was just one of those silent anomalies that occurs right under the muzzles of everypony in the world.

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As with most nights, Cloud Charmer had not arrived at her home until it was well into dusk. Not that she was hurrying very much; in fact she had arrived later tonight than on many others, simply because she was not rushing home. She had much to think about, as well as much to ask her parents about. She worried that perhaps they would be unhappy that she had pledged her assistance to the circus… perhaps they would even punish her!

No, that made no sense. Cloud Charmer’s parents had always told her that she should help other ponies, why would that change now? Maybe…

Ahhhh! She was tired, and when Cloud Charmer gets tired, she always starts to overthink her problems. She looked to the sky, trying to look away from her worries, at least for a moment.

The sky was darkening, though the stars hadn’t exactly taken over yet. Up above a white half-moon hung in the dimming blue, looking lonely without its shining companions around to light the night with it. For some reason, Cloud Charmer felt like the moon was kind of… sad tonight. Though she couldn’t really tell what made her feel that way, it just looked... well...different than it did on other nights… though that didn't make much sense either.

Cloud Charmer became slightly distracted for a moment. She could feel the pulse coming from her own house, sitting on top of the steep hill that she still had to climb to get home.

She would have to return in just a few minutes, but that didn’t mean she could not enjoy the view beforehoof.

Her attention turned to the rest of the sky, towards the horizon, which the sun had passed already, leaving nothing but a pink aura in its wake, and even that was fading. Within the bright pink horizon, Cloud Charmer could make out the colossal dark forms of clouds hanging far away… above somepony else’s home, perhaps. To her, they looked like blue mountains, blending with the darkening land to seem as if the sky and the ground were not two things, but one, making the clouds the peaks of the earthly world that she lived in.

For a moment, Cloud Charmer wondered if perhaps the clouds she was seeing were the clouds that had been around this morning, on their way to… wherever it was that clouds went when they stopped hanging around Cliffside.

She didn’t know where it was that clouds called home, but she knew where THIS Cloud called home, and she also knew that she should probably be getting back before her parents thought she was skipping her curfew.

Cloud Charmer marched up her hill, occasionally turning just to watch the last bit of sunlight fade from the evening sky as she went…

And because the trek home had been tiring, she needed to take a brake once or twice along her arduous journey.

When she did finally arrive at the top of her hill, Cloud Charmer was faced with the same unfamiliar familiarity that she felt every time she came back to this place.

This was her new home; an immense tree that towered high above the others in the same woods. Despite its height, it still left her unable to see Cliffside, even from its topmost point. It had something to do with how the hills folded down the mountainside, as far as Cloud Charmer could remember.

Her house was strange, odd, and new. It was the source of an inexplicable beat that vibrated through the air around her even now. It was a colour of wood that she had never seen on a tree before. There was no doubt about it; Cloud Charmer’s new house was a very alien and even scary place.

But it was also Cloud Charmer’s home, and the more time she spent there, the more that sentiment grew within her.

The bright candles that were used to light the interior of the tree house were burning bright; shining through the open windows on the bottom floor of the tree. Cloud Charmer felt justified in assuming that her parents were now home from their trip into town, just as she had hoped they would be.

Cloud Charmer galloped to her front door, becoming more excited at the prospect of telling her parents about her day than actually talking about what she had done. She often let herself get swept up in her own excitement, though nopony said that was ever a bad thing.

She burst through the tree house door, shouting for her parents while not realizing that she was actually greatly surprising them with her rather terrifying entrance. When she spotted her parents, they were sitting at the table, looking at her with wide eyes. There wasn’t any food on the table, so Cloud also assumed that they had just been talking before she got there.

When Cloud realized how she had startled her parents, she blushed in embarrassment, tapping the floor lightly with her fore-hoof. “Sorry, I’m home.” She said quietly.

Her father greeted her first, “Cloud, you’re home earlier than we expected.” He said in his deep voice.

“Really?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“Yes, child. Your father and I had expected you to be out for another hour at least. Is something wrong?” Oak Leaf asked her daughter.

“No! I just wanted to come home to talk to you.”

“Then, by all means, talk! And close the door behind you!” Stormflight encouraged heartily. “How was the circus, what did you see?”

Cloud Charmer came to sit in front of the table with her parents. She was about to start recounting her tale of the day’s adventures when her mother interrupted her.

“Have you had anything to eat, child?” Oak Leaf asked.

“I bet she was enjoying some fine candy, perhaps some of that new candy floss stuff!” Her father asserted, sounding as excited as his daughter usually did.

“Actually, no, I didn’t have anything to eat. The circus had to close early because they weren’t fully set up.” Cloud explained.

“Oh, it is no good thing to go an entire day without any food. I’ll make something for you right now!” Oak Leaf said as she trotted into the small adjoining room that housed the kitchen for the house. Cloud Charmer could hear some wooden bowls knock against each other as her mother prepared a meal for her.

“That doesn’t quite seem right. It’s not exactly like that circus, the way I remember it at least, to slack on setup…” Cloud’s father thought out loud, giving her the opportunity to elaborate.

“They weren’t ready because somepony sabotaged some of their travelling carts last night. There was some damage, and I think that one of their wagons was pushed down a hill. Master Mirage said he still had pony’s cleaning it up, and that they would need the rest of the night to prepare the circus.” Cloud Charmer explained.

Stormflight looked legitimately angry from hearing her story. “That sort of uncontrolled vandalism is atrocious! What sort of hooligans would act so cruelly against these ponies?!” he growled.

“What is it, husband?” Cloud’s mother called from the kitchen.

“Cloud’s saying that somepony vandalized several of the circus’ wagons during the night. Apparently they’ve had to push back the entire opening of the place because of it.” Stormflight yelled to her.

“That is awful! I hope nopony was hurt.” Oak Leaf exclaimed from the other room.

Cloud’s father looked to her for a moment, his eyes seeming to ask that very question. Cloud shook her head to assure him that there were no injuries. “No, honey, everypony was fine.” He in turn assured his wife.

“That is a good thing to hear, I cannot imagine how angry the travelling ponies must be for their wagons.”

“Actually, Master Mirage seemed more sad than angry.” Cloud told her parents.

“Ah, so you saw Mirage! What did you think of him?” Oak Leaf called to her daughter.

“He was nice. I told him that you were my mom and he freaked out. But he was even friendlier after that.” She said.

“So he remembered us, I hope both of us.” Cloud’s father seemed to ask through his statement.

Cloud laughed, “Yeah, he remembered you too dad.”

“Good, it would certainly seem that the circus is just like I remember it.”

“I wonder if Mirage is still how I remember him.” Oak leaf said, carrying a bowl of tasty looking leaves out of the kitchen and to her daughter’s place at the table. Cloud immediately dug into the food, suddenly hungrier than she remembered being before. In between her mouthfuls she continued to talk to her parents.

“Yeah… I don’t know if he’s like what you remember… he’s tall… and he has a silly black outfit…” Cloud said.

“That sounds like him.” Stormflight confirmed.

“But how did he speak? What did he say?” Oak Leaf encouraged.

“He talked about lots of things… he has a weird voice… I don’t know. He said he was immortal.”

“Ha! Now that definitely sounds like him.” Cloud’s father once again confirmed.

“Yes, it does. That old stallion sure loved to tell us stories about his age.” Cloud’s mother said, a smile growing on her face. She absentmindedly brushed a thick lock of her absurdly long mane away from her eye while she listened to her daughter.

“Really? What kind of stories did he tell you?” Cloud asked curiously.

“All sorts of stories, child. I don’t think he’s ever told the same story twice!” Her mother laughed. Just a moment later she seemed to become more serious again, “I haven’t really spent time with him since I was your age, Cloud. If he’s as young now as he was then… I suppose he must have been telling the truth.” Oak Leaf reflected.

“He looked really young. But Blink said that it was a trick… or something like that.” Cloud recalled.

She gave a confused look when her parents smiled brightly at each other. “Blink, so he’s still around too.” Her father said warmly.

Cloud’s mother just smiled, though for some reason it made Cloud Charmer incredibly sad. It was then that she remembered that Blink had also said that her mother would never go back to the circus, and just as before, the thought of her mother’s sadness made her extremely sad as well.

“Hey, do you wanna hear about the rest of my day?” Cloud Charmer said quickly.

Her parents assured her that they did, and Cloud Charmer proceeded to tell the story of her first day visiting the circus with Cloudy. She told them about Mirage and his story, about meeting up with Thunderstruck, and Wild Call and Merlin, even talking about Braun and Blink. Of course, she omitted certain parts, like Blink’s story about her mother, or the fact that Cloudy and she had been listening in on Mirage at first, and, obviously, she left out anything related to the beats that she and her friend heard. Cloud even left out the creepy mare that had been watching them while they were at the circus. Some things a kid just doesn’t tell their parents, especially when it’s about an adventure.

When Cloud Charmer finally got to the part about Prickly Pines, she stopped and stared at her parents, partially worried, and partially excited.

“What is it?” Her parents asked in unison.

“So, uh- we worked out that the reason nopony had come to the circus was that this pony named Prickly Pines, who apparently holds a lot of sway in Cliffside. Uh, we figured out that he’s hates outsiders, and that he’s making the rest of the town hate them as well… We think that it’s him who’s causing all these problems around here…” Cloud Charmer drifted off, seeing that her parents were upset at hearing about this pony.

“That is troubling news, Cloud Charmer.” Her father said, more formally than usual.

“It is always troubling to hear about ponies harming one another.” Oak Leaf said.

“That’s what I was thinking… so, I, uh…” Her parents looked at her curiously. “I… I offered to help the circus befriend the town, and I already invited as many ponies as I could to come with me tomorrow.” She blurted out quickly, closing her eyes as she did so.

She was met with silence. When she opened one of her eyes to see what was going on though, she saw two very different responses.

In the simplest of ways, the difference was this: her father was grinning, and her mother was frowning. She couldn’t really define why she was receiving such a different response than she had expected, and it was really frustrating her. The awkward silence eventually dragged on long enough that she thought she should end it herself.

“Soooo, I offered to help the circus out, and I was wondering if I should go any further, and I wanted to ask you guys.” Cloud explained.

“And rightly so, what’s your plan Cloud? How’re you going to teach that fool Prickly Pines that he can’t stop ponies being kind!?” Her father asked excitedly, almost giggling while he spoke.

Before Cloud could say anything else her mother turned to her father to reprimand him, “Stormflight! Would you encourage our child to danger!?”

“What are you talking about, dear?”

“This is dangerous; she could make enemies of this Prickly!”

Cloud Charmer tried to interrupt her parents, but their argument seemed to extend over her whenever she attempted to speak. It was very annoying that she was being left out of an argument about her. Eventually she gave up and rested her head on the table, waiting for the yelling to die down.

The argument did continue for some time, but it was at the very peak of the conflict that Stormflight resolved to pull out his trump card.

“She’s too young for things like this!” Oak Leaf yelled.

“She is not, in fact, I remember that you were even younger when you were doing things like this.” Stormflight recalled.

Cloud Charmer’s ears pricked up at that, “Really mom?”

Her mother looked speechless. In just one moment the mood of the room shifted from tense to light-hearted, as quick as a heartbeat. Oak Leaf looked to her inquisitive daughter, and then to her smiling husband. She seemed to growl, low and grumpy, before turning back to her daughter.

“Well… yes, child. I did do things like that when I was your age.” She admitted.

Cloud Charmer smiled, nudging closer, waiting for her mother to tell the rest of her story.

Stormflight spoke to his daughter, “Your mother was quite the rebel in her day. She was always getting into trouble.”

“Awesome, what did you do?” Cloud asked excitedly, her big grey eyes widening with curiosity. Oak Leaf sighed; it was hard to resist her daughter when she gave her that look.

“You know I used to travel with an old caravan of wanderers, roaming across the land without real destination. I had been doing that since I was a child, and had made many friends along the way.”

“Some of those friends were travelers in my group. I remember this one foal, a friend, who liked to torture the woodland creatures that he found while we crossed the forests. He’d chase them and scare them, like little boys often do. I, however, detested his tendency to do those things, and I made myself vocal to him.”

“Did he stop?” Cloud asked.

“No, he tried to hide what he was doing, but I’d still see him terrifying the dogs or cats that traveled with us. Every time I saw him doing that, it made me angrier and angrier. My protests to his father, one of the wagon drivers, went unheeded. ‘Boys will be boys’ he said, and shooed me away…” Oak Leaf tried to imitate a stallion’s voice when she quoted the driver, and she had to pause for a moment to wait for her husband and daughter to finish laughing at her impression. Even she began to giggle.

“So, what’d you do, dear?” Her husband asked playfully.

“One day, I saw him driving one of the caged animals mad by poking it with a twig. We often locked the more aggressive creatures up when we stopped for the night. I got so angry at the boy; I remember grabbing a branch off of the ground in my teeth…”

“And?” Father and daughter said in unison.

“And I whacked him over the head as hard as I could! He dropped like a rock!” She yelled, laughing along with her family as she told what she did.

“He ran back to his father, yelling and crying louder than I had ever heard even babies cry. Oh, the wagon driver was furious with me!”

“So, what happened after that?” Cloud asked.

“Well, I apologized for hitting him, and we went back to playing together again. We even started to become better friends after that.”

“Woah…” Cloud said. Her mom was awesome!

Stormflight put his hoof around his wife, and looked to his daughter. “Cloud, do you think the circus is worth fighting for?”

“I- I think so. To be honest, when Thunderstruck was telling me about Prickly Pines, I couldn’t stop thinking about how you guys always said that ponies hating each other is wrong, and- what?” She asked, confused. Bother her parents were giving her gigantic smiles as she spoke.

“Never mind, Cloud. Now listen; your mother and I want you to know that we think you helping the circus is a wonderful idea…” Oak Leaf frowned at him for a moment, but sighed and turned her gaze back to her daughter. “… And we want you to know that no matter how far you want to go to help these ponies, I and your mother will always be here to support you and defend you. Do you understand?”

Cloud Charmer nodded, for the first time realizing just how amazing her parents were. Where they should be angry they were instead supportive. It was like, they understood her. Cloud Charmer smiled, both on the inside and the outside, and wished that she had known earlier just how cool her parents were.

“Let me take your bowl, child.” Oak Leaf said, gathering cloud’s food bowl and carrying it to the kitchen. Cloud was mostly just relieved that her parents were okay with her helping the circus, and her mind immediately moved to her next steps.

“Now I just need to find a way to bring everypony in both the town and the circus together, without them having any common ground whatsoever…” She absentmindedly said aloud.

“Now, I wouldn’t say that. You’ll find that plenty of ponies have more similarities than differences. You just have to bring those similarities out.” Her father said.

“How am I supposed to do that?” Cloud asked incredulously. She sighed when her father shrugged.

“Plenty of ponies like the same things, like music, or food, or stories. When I was a traveler, my caravan would play all kinds of songs when night came. I could dance with even those who hated me then, because it wasn’t each other that we loved, but the music.” Oak Leaf told her daughter as she came back from the kitchen.

“Sure, but that still doesn’t remove the problem with Prickly. I have no idea how to get past him.” Cloud explained.

Stormflight smiled, “Say, honey, whatever happened to the boy who tortured the animals. I mean, after you whacked him?” he asked his wife.

“I told you, husband, we became fri- oh…” Oak Leaf clued in. She looked straight into her child’s eyes, no easy feat, considering Oak Leaf’s height. “He never tortured another animal again, even when I wasn’t around anymore.”

“Oh…” She stood up from her spot at the table, walked to her mother, and hugged her forelegs, thanking her for the food. Then Cloud walked over to the round stairs that wound around the room, and turned back to her parents.

“I’m gonna go to bed, goodnight.”

“Wait! Why so early Cloud?” her father asked.

“I think… that I need to think.” She answered.

He paused for a moment, considering. “As you wish, but remember there’s still an early wakeup call tomorrow. You’re exempt from chores but not from schedule.” He told her.

Cloud saluted her father, “Yes sir!” She shouted, immediately galloping up the stairs afterwards. Stormflight sighed after she left, turning to his wife, who was standing in the exact center of the room.

“How fast they grow. It seemed like only yesterday- what?”

“Do not undermine me, husband!” Oak Leaf hissed. She didn’t sound furious, but neither did she sound pleased.

“Come on, Oak Leaf. I just thought she needed to learn that lesson, you know I didn’t mean to override you.” He assured her.

“And what if you teach our daughter to make enemies of other ponies?”

Stormflight trotted over to his wife and leaned against her. “That’s the opposite of the truth. I’m teaching her to make friends, not enemies. I know how you feel, but I also know that she has to learn to do this, or she’ll be gone before you know it, and we won’t have taught her everything we could have.” He said soothingly.

“As you say, husband.” Oak Leaf said neutrally.

“Honey?” He said.

“Yes?” she responded.

“Are you mad at me?”

Oak Leaf leaned against her husband, despite the fact that she towered over him it seemed as though he was the only thing holding her up. “I want our daughter to be safe.” She said to him.

“Then we have to teach her how, and you know as well as I that conviction is just a step away from strength.”

Oak Leaf said nothing, but to Stormflight it felt like she had given in. “Let’s go to bed too.” He said. It was a simple statement, but for both of them it spoke volumes.

The husband and wife blew out the wall lanterns, and the house went to sleep.

Though one little mind may have stayed awake just a short time more, working on what seemed at the time to be a great puzzle.

She just needed the rest of the pieces.

To the Circus... Again!!!

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Obviously Cloudy Night had no knowledge of Thunderstruck’s practically preposterous proposal of the turnout for ponies at the stadium. Yet it is safe to say that had she known of his estimation she would have said that his words were more prophecy than they were prediction.

By the time that she arrived at the stadium, though it was about the same time she and Cloud Charmer had arrived at the circus yesterday, she found the placed packed. There must have been just as many ponies as there were the other day at the race! The crowd was so loud that Cloudy wouldn’t have been surprised if Master Mirage could hear the noise from his tents.

Part of Cloudy was pleasantly surprised by the amazing turnout, and the other part was beginning to reel. Every time she got near to such a huge number of ponies in one place, she began to get dizzy. Crowds were disorienting, confusing, and for Cloudy, practically heart attack inducing to be around. Cloud Charmer had been attempting to work through this issue with her, but so far they had made little progress if any at all.

With her ears back, and her eyes sealed shut in terror, Cloudy Night began to back away down the wooded path from the stadium, attempting to remain hidden from the crowd.

Imagine her surprise when she heard somepony call her name.

“Cloudy!” came the shout, and when she opened her eyes she noticed Thunderstruck approaching her, along with another pony.

“It’s good to see you’re here. I thought you might not show up!” Thunderstruck had to raise his voice just to be heard among the buzz of the crowd.

Realizing there was no escape from her predicament, Cloudy resolved to remain where she was… though she would still retain what she considered to be a safe distance. Regardless, she answered Thunderstruck and his friend quickly.

“Hello.” Cloudy said, her voice shaking just a bit from nervousness.

“I’d like you to meet somepony, she’s a dear friend to me. This is Bright Light.” Thunderstruck said, gesturing to the pony standing with him.

The mare was a unicorn, a few hooves shorter than Thunderstruck, and about one hoof shorter than herself, though Cloudy guessed the mare was about Thunderstruck’s age. She had a very dark grey coat, and her hair was bordering on being midnight black, however her eyes were a bright, almost waxy yellow. Cloudy could see her cutie mark, which appeared to be a candle, though the flame coming out of it was purple. Bright Light seemed to be giving her a look of slight nervousness, which made Cloudy want to laugh.

A pony nervous to meet her!? That was something new!

Bright Light smiled at Cloudy, “Hello, I’m Bright Light, but you can call me Bright… or Light… it doesn’t really matter.” She said.

“I’m Cloudy Night, nice to meet you.” Cloudy responded, her voice sounding slightly less shaky than it had just moments ago.

“Bright Light here has been hanging out with me for years, so I thought that it would be appropriate for my newer friends to meet my older friends.” Thunderstruck explained.

“That certainly is… appropriate…” Cloudy said, glancing around her in an attempt to spot Cloud Charmer in the crowd. Where was she?

Bright Light noticed Cloudy’s apparent twitch, and drew slightly closer in order to comfort her. “Nervous around crowds, huh?” she asked.

Rather than speak aloud and give voice to her concerns, Cloudy Night merely nodded.

Thunderstruck gave Cloudy Night a quizzical look, seemingly oblivious to her predicament, while Bright Light gave her an understanding nod. “It’s disorienting isn’t it? I can’t tell you how long it took me to get used to so many ponies in one place.” Bright Light said with a smile.

Now it was Cloudy who gave a surprised look at Thunderstruck’s friend, who laughed aloud from seeing how she responded to her story.

“Ha! I’m sure you didn’t guess, but I used to be pretty reclusive.” Bright Light explained.

“Bright Light spends most of her time inside, reading about magic.” Thunderstruck added.

“Really?” Cloudy asked.

“Yes, I believe I’ve almost read every spell book in this town. Now I have to order in copies of books from the Printer’s guild.” Bright Light said.

Cloudy’s ears perked up, her nervousness fading fast. “What books do you order?”

“Most recently I ordered a copy of, ‘modern Spell Casters’ as well as a newer book called, ‘An Anthology of Universal Thought’ by none other than Starswirl the bearded. Apparently this book is ‘yet another revolutionary exploration of magic by Starswirl’. At least that’s what the Cliffside Print-Master said. Have you ever read Starswirl, Cloudy?” Bright Light asked.

“No.” Cloudy Night answered. Sadly the library in Canterlot had a very limited selection of magical tomes and spell books. Most of what Cloudy read came from her mother’s private collection, and even that was tiny. Cloudy’s mother had told her that she would be sure to order more magical books after the next shipment of marks for funding arrived from the Royal Treasury, but so far the shipment was at least two weeks late. Perhaps she should save a few bits up and try to order a book from the Guild herself.

“That’s a shame, he really does provide an interesting read, disregarding whether he’s actually right of course!” Bright Light joked. “I was actually just checking on the copy at the Printer’s Guild when Thunderstruck and Rosefall invited me to come see the circus.”

“She’s putting it nicely. I’m sure she’s very grumpy that we interrupted her.” Thunderstruck said.

“I’m only grumpy when you know that you shouldn’t interrupt me. Since you were clueless I gave you a free pass. Besides, who wouldn’t want to come see the circus with some friends, both old and new?” Bright Light responded with a nod to Cloudy, to which Cloudy replied with a smile.

“I can’t think of anything better myself. Although I’m sure that the experience would be improved were our other friends here…” Thunderstruck paused in order to glance around the stadium, “Where is Cloud Charmer? Or even Rosefall? I have yet to see them.”

“I haven’t seen her either.” Cloudy said. This was unusual for her friend, especially after she just learned how early Cloud got up in the morning.

“I don’t suppose her parents are refusing to let her go?” Thunderstruck asked.

“No, she’s been allowed for the entire duration of the circus.” Cloudy Night reassured him.

“Then there is nothing to worry about, if she’s able to come then she will.” Bright Light said.

“But able does not mean willing, and I can’t just keep the whole crowd waiting for a few stragglers. We’re going to have to go… soon.” Thunderstruck stated, using a very commanding tone to reinforce his point.

“The crowd will do as it wills, Thunder.” Bright Light stated.

“I’m sure they would agree with me.”

“Nonsense! They’ll be fine for a few more minutes. Now tell me, did you read the book I lent you?” Bright Light was obviously trying to change the subject, while subtly buying more time for Thunderstruck’s so named ‘stragglers’ to arrive. Cloudy was grateful for the pony’s assistance.

Thunderstruck, surprisingly, fell for Bright Light’s distraction almost immediately, snorting with annoyance at his friend’s question. “Which book, Practical Potionmaking or The Prince and his Pride?”

“Don’t you mean Prince and his love?” Bright Light gave Thunderstruck a wry smile, to which he responded with another snort.

“No, I mean pride. Don’t bother lending me romance stories, they’re shallow and one minded, and the characters are about as deep as a puddle after the rain.”

“I have no idea what you mean; the prospect of love contains some of the scariest, most adventurous, and by far some of the deepest moments that ponies can experience in their lives.” Bright Light asserted.

“Ha! I’m afraid I won’t ever agree with you on that. Love is just one pony obsessing over another, there’s no depth to that at all.” He argued.

“Oh Thunderstruck, your doubt is only a result of your ignorance of the subject matter. Still, one day you’ll be on my side, and that’s a fact. Do you read romance novels, Cloudy?” Bright Light asked, her large and owl like eyes appearing to beg for an answer.

“Actually… I never read fiction…” Cloudy answered, her deep blue cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“Well, I’ll soon change that!” Bright Light said with a large grin. Thunderstruck merely sighed, looking to Cloudy with that seemingly unbreakable look of boredom painted on his dark face.

“Don’t let her do that Cloudy. She says she reads everything but the truth is that Bright Light only knows two things, magic, and romance novels. She’d have you cooing over her stallion heartthrobs right alongside her if she had her way.”

“If you found my way so detestable Thunderstruck, then you wouldn’t be bothering me to hang out almost every other day. But… speaking of romance novels…” Bright Light grinned and pointed her hoof behind Cloudy Night and Thunderstruck. Upon turning, Cloudy noticed Rosefall approaching from the crowd. Her mane was done up into a mass of curls, many of which were tighter and smaller then they had been when Cloudy had seen her the day before. She had a smile on her face and a slight skip in her trot as she came towards the small group.

“Greetings everypony! Fear not, for I have arrived!” She cried dramatically, giving a small bow when she reached the party she sought. She smiled at Cloudy, apparently quite pleased to see her among the group.

“Well, that accounts for one missing pony.” Thunderstruck mumbled. “You didn’t, by chance, see Cloud Charmer on your way here?”

“No, should I have?” Rosefall asked.

“You do know that Cloud Charmer lives outside of town, right Thunderstruck?” Cloudy asked quietly.

“Oh…” Thunderstruck blushed and quickly glanced at Rosefall. Cloudy had no idea what about his lack of knowledge was so embarrassing, but she probed no further. His business was his own, she supposed.

So instead of responding, Cloudy Night turned her gaze towards the sky. It was still morning, and though she could see some clouds it definitely didn’t look like it was going to get gloomy like the day before. The coming day was beginning to appear hopefully upbeat… if only the ponies would be so positive.

Then, as Cloudy was glancing at the sky, she felt something. It was one of the pulses, very much like the one from yesterday… no, wait… exactly like the pulse from yesterday. It was the beat put out by the circus, she had no doubt. With it came the apprehension that she simply could not avoid, no matter how much she trusted the circus.

Perhaps the circus had now opened for the day? In that case, it was also time that this group made its way to the circus, so as not to keep Mirage and his group waiting.

She glanced at the ponies around her. Cloudy legitimately could not understand why they couldn’t sense these beats. Was it something wrong with her, or them? Regardless, Cloudy felt that she should make her thoughts vocal to the group.

“Maybe… you guys should just go ahead to the circus, and I’ll stay to wait for Cloud Charmer. We’ll meet up with you afterwards.”

There was a slight pause as the other three ponies of the group considered her words. However, Rosefall was quick to dismiss her suggestion.

“No, no, she’s our friend, and we should wait for her. Besides that, this whole thing was her idea, and it just doesn’t seem right if she’s not a part of it throughout. We’ll just have to wait until she arrives.” she said.

“But thank you for the suggestion.” Bright Light added with a smile.

“I just don’t see what could be taking her so long!” Thunderstruck shouted. He quickly paced several steps away from the group, growling and grumbling as he reached the bushes at the edge of the stadium.

Almost the instant that he reached the bushes there was a sudden crash as something exploded outward through the leaves, loudly roaring with a sound akin to the manticore Cloudy had met at the circus. Thunderstruck gave off a terrified shout, along with most of the ponies at the stadium as the thing in the bush crashed directly into their silver maned friend.

However, Cloudy Night’s scream, as well as the screams of just about everypony there, were quickly silenced. For it was only a moment after the crashing shape came through the bush that the mysterious creature was revealed. For many ponies it was an almost infuriating sight.

It was none other than Cloud Charmer who had burst through the bush! She was still lying on top of Thunderstruck, laughing hysterically, but she immediately rolled off him and on to the dusty ground to continue her tirade of laughter.

“Ha! You should have seen the look on your face!” Cloud shouted.

Cloudy blinked slowly, feeling the hot rush of embarrassment she had felt when she found out that the manticore Merlin was not vicious. She hated it when ponies scared her like that… though she honestly wasn’t completely surprised that it was Cloud Charmer who had done it. When she glanced at the rest of the crowd, she could see that some ponies shared her sentiment, with a few of them sighing loudly.

Thunderstruck was up from his position on the ground in a flash as he spun to face Cloud Charmer. He looked infuriated.

“What in the wide wide realm of Equestria was that for Cloud!?!”

“I… wanted to do that… yesterday…” She gasped as she recovered from her laughing fit. “It was beautiful!”

“I doubt that anything involving me screaming was in any way beautiful!” he yelled at her.

Cloud Charmer wiped her eyes with her hoof and got herself in a standing position. Her grey coat was covered in dust from the ground, but she hardly noticed. “Aww, c’mon Thunderstruck! You gotta admit, that was funny!”

“I thought it was a bit funny.” Bright Light said.

“Yes! Thank you… uh?” Cloud Charmer gave the pony a confused look.

“Cloud Charmer, this is Bright Light. Bright Light, Cloud Charmer.” Thunderstruck growled.

“Hiya Bright Light!”

“Hello, Cloud Charmer. I hope you don’t take offence if I say I am ‘charmed’ to meet you.” Bright Light said with a laugh.

“Why would I be offended?” Cloud asked, quickly scanning over the dark coated pony’s appearance. This Bright Light was almost as short as she was!

“If you have to ask then there truly is no reason.” Bright Light responded.

It was then that Rosefall trotted towards Thunderstruck, glancing at Cloud Charmer and smiling along the way. “Well, Thunderstruck, I suppose this means that we have our little troupe all together then. I recommend that we go on our way immediately.”

Thunderstruck nodded in agreement, but first he looked back to Cloud, his face grumpy and un-amused. “Cloud Charmer, how long were you sitting in that bush?”

“Only a minute or so, why?” she responded.

Rather than answer, Thunderstruck sighed and walked towards the center of the stadium. “Alright ponies, let’s get ourselves to that circus!” he shouted.

“Wait! I was going to suggest we take a different route.” Rosefall asserted.

“Why?” The entire crowd seemed to ask at the same time. Thunderstruck trotted close to hear what she had to say. Cloudy Night and the others came closer along with him.

“Well, we wanted to hide this whole group from Prickly Pines, right?” Rosefall asked.

“Yes.” Both he and Cloud answered at the same time.

“So we can’t go down the main road then, or he’ll see us from miles away.” She explained.

“Then we take the forest!” Cloud Charmer said.

“That would take us ages longer!” Thunderstruck replied.

“Actually…” Cloudy Night said; pausing for a moment as her small group turned towards her “Um… if we go down the path right at the top of the stadium, it basically goes directly to the circus. Even in a large group, that would take less time than having to follow the main road.”

“Good thinking Cloudy!” her grey friend complimented, quickly looking to Thunderstruck for approval.

“If it’s both faster and more concealed, then why not?” he concluded, turning back towards the crowd of fillies and colts behind them.

“Everypony follow us! We’re going to the circus!” Thunderstruck shouted.

The crowd gave a mighty cheer, fit to shake the ground around them. Slowly, the ponies trotted up the stadium steps and out into the woods, following behind Thunderstruck’s group as a single gigantic mass.

It wasn’t very fast going, with many ponies having to climb over branches and go through bushes just to follow their leaders, but it was progressing. They would still arrive at the circus sooner than taking the road, as Cloudy had predicted.

Cloudy Night was actually feeling pretty good at that moment. Not only did she feel comfortable in her small group, but the rest of the crowd was following behind them, which made Cloudy feel like the ponies weren’t even there.

Except for the volume the group made, Cloudy wasn’t even sure if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna together could stop that.

Cloudy attempted to move towards Cloud Charmer, but was interrupted by Bright Light, who began questioning her exact reading history. She answered her for a short time as they trotted, though she actually began to fall into the conversation after a few moments. For the first time, Cloudy had unknowingly become just another part of the buzzing crowd.

As for Cloud Charmer, she practically floated down the forest trail. Her wings were twitching anxiously, and she had a huge grin on her face. This was even better than she imagined… Mirage was going to be so surprised!

Beside her trotted Rosefall, who also had a big smile on her face, although Cloud Charmer somehow suspected that it wasn’t for the same reasons as her. She kept glancing at Cloud Charmer, as is she was trying to find the right words to say. It made Cloud just a bit nervous to wonder what exactly the pony was going to say.

Did she know? No, she couldn’t.

Rather than wait for Rosefall to decide what to say, Cloud Charmer decided to begin the conversation herself.

“So… how are you Rosefall?” Cloud Charmer asked.

“Why splendid! Thank you for asking. How are you?” Rosefall looked relieved that Cloud had taken the lead, though she seemed to still be searching to say what she wanted to.

“I’m Awesome! This is so great; Master Mirage is going to be amazed when he sees how many ponies we brought with us!” Cloud exclaimed.

“Yes it truly is a victory we have here isn’t it?” Rosefall said.

Cloud Charmer jumped in the air, her little flapping wings letting her flutter in the air for a moment. “Of course it is!” she wooped, “plus I get to show everypony how much fun the circus is. You guys are gonna love it!”

Rosefall giggled, “I have no doubt that I will. You must feel especially good being the mastermind behind this very plan as well.” She said, much like she was asking a question.

Cloud Charmer stopped her hover, pausing to think for a moment. “Yeah, I guess it does feel pretty good.”

“And I also suppose that it must feel good to have done it at such a young age… come to think of it, how old are you Cloud?” Rosefall asked.

Cloud Charmer made a very choke like noise in her throat, startled by Rosefall’s question. “Well, th-that’s a weird thing to ask a pony.” She answered.

Rosefall gave her a confused look, one of her curls momentarily falling over her eye as she stared at Cloud. “I fail to see how it’s a weird question. Is it not natural for new friends to want to learn as much as they can about each other?”

“It’s still out of nowhere. I mean, I haven’t asked you how old you are.” Cloud Charmer sputtered awkwardly.

“Is there some reason that you don’t want to tell me?”

“N-no! That’s not it…” she drifted off, hanging her head out of embarrassment.

Rosefall patted Cloud’s back with her hoof. “Come on Cloud. I really mean it when I say that you’re among friends here. You should never have to fear saying anything to your friends.”

Cloud Charmer looked at her for a long moment, her stormy grey eyes lingering in a blank stare as she conflicted with herself about what to say. After several seconds, she gave a soft sigh, and very quietly said, “Fourteen…”

“Ha! You’re younger than I expected!” Rosefall laughed.

Cloud’s head snapped up, “Really? No way.”

“Why wouldn’t I think you were older than that?”

“Because… because I’m so small. There’s no way I look that old.” Cloud Charmer responded, her tone incredulous.

Rosefall once again laughed, “You certainly think highly of yourself! Listen, I know it seems strange, but you shouldn’t pretend that your size makes any difference. There was once a pony who said, ‘big things often come in small packages’.”

Cloud Charmer snorted, “That’s a lie in itself; big things can’t fit in small boxes! When was the last time you heard of a wagon fitting inside a travelling bag?”

Rosefall gave her a wry grin, “Don’t play stupid, Cloud Charmer. You know what I mean.”

Cloud Charmer sighed, “I do, though I still think it’s just a joke.”

“Oh, so you need some more convincing, I can oblige. Look at the ponies beside us.”

Cloud glanced to her side, Thunderstruck and the others were trotting and talking several paces away, though the sound of the crowd hid what they were saying from her.

“I fail to see you point.” Cloud Charmer said.

“You will, you see Thunderstruck there? He’s sixteen. I’m seventeen. Bright Light is nineteen.”

“What!? That can’t be true, she’s so…”

“Small?” Rosefall finished, “It seems ridiculous, but it is true. Bright Light is the smartest of us, she knows magic better than any of us, and she’s the shortest of us… but she’s also the oldest of us. Well, apart from her brother Sidewinder anyway.”

“Huh.” Cloud Charmer said, mostly to herself. It really did turn her perspective on its head knowing that the smallest pony in Rosefall’s group was also the oldest.

Or, maybe it made her feel less alone.

“Huh indeed, it certainly presents something to think about. I’m sure you’ll find something of use in it.”

“I might.” Cloud Charmer responded, a small smile growing on her face.

Rosefall paused for a moment, once again appearing to work out exactly how she was going to say what she said next. Cloud Charmer wouldn’t have to wait very long however, as the pink unicorn turned back to her, a devilish grin splitting over her face.

“You know what else is great for you to think about?” Rosefall asked.

“No, what?”

Rosefall leaned in close, “I remember what you did…” she said playfully.

Cloud Charmer’s hooves stumbled as she started in surprise, landing her face first on the ground for the second time in the last couple of days. Rosefall was giggling hysterically as she helped Cloud up from the ground, waving off Thunderstruck’s questioning gaze as she did so. Cloud Charmer rose, and spit out several of the leaves that had gotten into her mouth from the fall, a look of pure terror on her face, which of course made Rosefall laugh even harder.

“There’s no need to react like that, Cloud Charmer, I’m not angry or anything.” She said.

“B-but, if you recognized me then why didn’t you say anything!?” Cloud stammered.

“Let’s keep trotting, we’re falling behind.” She replied, and began to trot after Thunderstruck’s party. She waited until the little grey pegasus began following to speak again.

“I didn’t figure out why you seemed familiar to me until Thunderstruck mentioned meeting you a month ago. By then you and your friend had already left. Were you nervous that I would remember?” Rosefall asked.

Cloud Charmer’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. That had been true; she had felt nervous about meeting Rosefall yesterday, and she had hoped she wouldn’t remember what had happened…

“Yes.” Cloud responded quietly.

“I thought so; you’re the pony who tipped that barrel of water on me last month!” She said laughingly.

“It wasn’t my fault! I really didn’t see it while I was running!” Cloud Charmer insisted.

“How, pray tell, do you miss seeing a rain barrel of that size?”

“Well… it was… a really bad day for me…” Cloud said. That day had been awful; she was so confused from feeling all the pulses that she barely knew what she was doing. The only good part about that day was learning that Cloudy Night could feel them too. ‘Clouds and silver lining’ her father always said.

“I second that. Or I did, at least. I thought that day had been the worst day of my life, and the rain barrel had turned it into a nightmare. Looking back now though, it seems so silly, it makes me laugh.” Rosefall explained.

“That’s good then, it’s always the best to remember the funny days!” Cloud paused, “But, wait… if the rain barrel only made it worse, what had happened to you that day?” she asked the pink unicorn.

Rosefall hesitated to answer, stopping in mid-sentence like she had second guessed saying it. Instead, she looked several paces ahead, where the others were trotting.

“It’s not the best topic of discussion, Cloud Charmer. I hope that what I said took some stress of your back, I’d hate to learn that you were still bothered by that day.”

“Of course I’m not bothered, if you say it’s fine then it is!” Cloud chimed, giving a big grin to her friend. Rosefall smiled back, her grin growing just as large as Cloud’s.

“Alright then! Whaddya say we jump in on the others’ conversation then?” Rosefall asked.

“Sounds great!” Cloud Charmer yelled, galloping after the group until she was trotting right beside Cloudy Night. Rosefall took her place next to Thunderstruck, laughing as she informed him of yet another of his misquotes. Behind them, the crowd trotted along, with many ponies laughing and sharing their expectations for the coming events. To Cloud the air felt charged with energy, all of it just waiting to be released at the circus.

She had a really good feeling about today; she felt like she could scream.

Which of course she did a few seconds later, eliciting the same confused annoyance from her group as before. Still, the ponies continued their trot, ignoring Cloud’s overenthusiastic outburst. They had more adventurous things to think about…

It was time to go to the circus!

A Perfect Start

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Master Mirage started awake, his eyes wide and slightly bloodshot. Quickly he glanced around his rather large wagon, seeing nothing disturbed: at least apart from the open door to his dressing room, which was usually kept closed to protect the contents within from damage. He put his hoof on his head, feeling the pulsing headache he’d received from the night before.

Never again would he accept cider from the work crews that late at night… Never…

Sitting there, his wife lying in bed next to him, the pale pony could not help but remark upon the irregular regularity of his sudden wakeup. He was no stranger to jumping awake in the morning, but usually it was his wife that did the waking.

“Not today.” Master Mirage mumbled, a wide grin splitting his face.

Without any further hesitation, Mirage quietly got out of bed, and went into his dressing room to prepare for the day. With a quick scan he determined that nothing had been damaged overnight, though he would remember to lock the door next time. On his coat rack sat his midnight black suit coat, with his hat hanging on one of the hooks next to it. Both pieces were impeccable, and boasted not a single speck of dirt or fur on them. The curtains in the room were pulled open, with sunlight from outside striking the stained glass of the carriage window, bathing his room in scarlet light. Across from him sat his mirror and desk, with all of his materials sitting exactly where they belonged.

The room was ready, and soon he would be as well.

Master Mirage gave a contented sigh, and began to prepare himself. He put on his snowy white shirt; fashioning the buttons on his sleeves so that they tightly hugged his forelegs. He also fashioned his bowtie, also pure black, but with a blood red gem in the center to give it some colour. With that in place, he turned his focus to his face. First he brushed his hair, slicking it back in the special oil that would make it shine in the light. Then he prepared and coiffed his moustache with the same oil. Finally, Mirage finished by buttoning his suit jacket and placing his hat carefully upon his head.

With a final appraisal in the mirror, Mirage deemed himself ready for the day, and he exited his wagon looking refreshed and happy, although he still had a headache.

Before he trotted away from his travelling home, Mirage waited for the inevitable sound of morning from his wife. He heard the bed creak as she woke, then the clanking of her grabbing the metal pots she always left next to her when she slept, and finally, her confused grunt when she noticed he wasn’t snoring away next to her. He snickered to himself and trotted into the maze of tents and wagons that surrounded him.

Mirage trotted through the circus lanes without even looking where he was going, instead choosing to look at the sky. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning! The sun shone yellow in the sky, painting its colours in complex patterns on the clouds that floated above; in turn creating a deep blue contrast in the areas of cloud that light didn’t fall. It was masterful…

He continued to admire the heavenly atmosphere for his entire trot across the huge circus camp, slowly making his way towards the workers wagons, where he knew the boy was sleeping.

Arriving at his destination, Mirage glanced around to see if he could spot the boy among the makeshift beds the many work ponies had strewn across the ground to sleep on outside. Alas, he could not find the foal anywhere among them; not that it was easy to spot anything among the cluttered, overfilled wagons that carried the many tools and provisions that the entire circus used almost daily.

Becoming slightly frustrated, the circus master prepared to call for the child. Before he could do any such thing, however, his attention was taken by an exasperated shout for him from behind. He turned to see the accountant, Number Crunch, stumbling towards him. The pony looked just as dishevelled and out of breath as he had the day before, which both greatly annoyed and greatly amused Master Mirage.

Number Crunch couldn’t seem to go a single day without losing his head over something, although, that would suggest he had his head in the first place.

“I- I found you M- Master Mirage!” Number Crunch puffed.

“So you have.” Mirage replied.

He waited for a response from the tired pony, but none came. Number Crunch simply stared at the circus owner, seemingly falling into some sort of waking sleep where he stood. Mirage stomped his hoof hard on the dry gravel, and Number Crunch shot into the air with a fearful squeal.

“Was there something my prize accountant needed to tell me?” Mirage asked.

Number Crunch shook himself, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before he spoke, “Y-yes sir! I have an update from Quick Fix about the wagon situation.”

“Then report.” Master Mirage ordered.

“He says that none of the materials in the wagons were damaged from the roll down the hill, but that some of the wagon wheels. Couple that with the already damaged carriages and the cost will be about-“

Mirage held up his hoof, “Don’t tell me the cost… when can he have it done?”

“If we pay today he can be done by this evening.” Number Crunch recited the repair pony’s words.

“See to it then. Post haste! Then return to me immediately.” Mirage ordered the accountant.

“Yes sir!” Number Crunch shouted as he galloped back towards the alleyways of coloured and striped tents.

“And wake up as many of these lazy scoundrels as you can while you’re at it!” Master Mirage shouted after his fleeing accountant. With a slight scowl, he turned his disapproving look on the sleeping work ponies before him. It was about time they had to earn their keep.

“RISE AND SHINE, IT’S TIME TO GET THIS SHOW GOING!” He bellowed at the sleepers. Some of the work ponies shot out of their beds immediately, stumbling to begin their work for the day; while others groggily rose, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes with their hooves.

“No more rest for you ponies; I want you all at your stations in five minutes! MOVE! And somepony find the boy! OUT HERE NOW SQUEAKER!” Mirage ordered, spurring the ponies to work. After a few moments he saw the boy galloping through the cluttered wagons towards him.

“You c-c-called sir?” The little foal said in his usual quavering voice.

Master Mirage smiled down at the child, in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture.

“Boy, get the music started, and then awake every tent and station to their jobs. I want this place ready to entertain immediately. Return to me when you’re done. Now go!” Mirage barked at the end, sending the boy tumbling to do as he was ordered. He watched the child go before he began his own trot to the main entrance of his circus, to greet however many friends the child of Oak Leaf managed to bring with her today.

In truth, while Master Mirage found a strangely placed faith in the girl, he doubted she would bring more than three or four friends along today. Still, business was business, and even if the little grey pegasus brought no more than three friends, it would be more than Mirage had seen in all the time since his troupe had returned to Equestria.

In just a few short minutes, Master Mirage had arrived at the grand entrance to his grand circus. In reality, it was merely a large space in between two tents facing the road, with the only markers of an entryway being the stand which he addressed those who entered, and a large archway displaying the ornately painted sign reading “Circus” on the front. It was quaint in its design, but still as grand an entrance as anypony could ask for, even Mirage.

Quickly glancing down the road towards Cliffside, perhaps hoping to see any sort of traffic, Mirage found the road and even the town to be just as empty and uneventful as the day before. To him, Canterlot looked like a ghost town; always empty and uninviting, it seemed to warn travelers away rather than welcome them there.

Perhaps that was just his own bias, he couldn’t really judge the ponies of this town, he’d barely seen any as of yet. He was merely grumpy that his brilliant idea of returning to Equestria after all these years had turned out so sour. Only three towns visited so far, and the highest profit he had made was the few bits he had earned here. It didn’t speak well for the rest of his tour if this was all the money they could make in a month.

As if thinking about money had summoned the pony to his side, Number Crunch came galloping around the corner of a large green tent and ran straight to Mirage. Once again he had to stop to catch his breath before he could speak at all.

“M-Master Mirage, I’ve delivered the necessary funds to Quick Fix… He should have… everything he needs to repair the damaged wagons within the hour…” the accountant gasped.

“Very well, man the pay booth then.” Mirage directed, watching the smile spread on his accountants face. Of the many jobs Number Crunch had at the circus, the circus master knew the pony enjoyed nothing more than handling money.

At that moment, Master Mirage heard the almost trademark sound of the music box echoing through the circus. With it came the loud noise and common chatter of the workers and performers as they took up their positions in the various tents and booths that lined the alleyways of his circus. Looking back, Mirage could even see the still half hanging canvas of the big tent beginning to rise among the crowded tents, as if the circus itself were stretching itself awake.

It pleased Mirage to see things running even faster than his schedule had predicted, perhaps this day wouldn’t be so bad after all.

A short time later Squeaker returned, reporting that all the circus ponies were awake and arriving at their stations. Mirage sent him off again, this time to Move Wild Call and her pets to the big tent until further notice, as well as to inform Braun of his show schedule for the day. After the child left there was the short appearance of one tired and disheveled looking psychic, quickly prompted into preparing for his act in his own tent, and then there was nothing to do but wait for ponies to show up.

He did not have to wait long. After a short time Master Mirage heard a loud rattling in the bushes across the road. A familiar, blue haired Pegasus poked her head through a bush, smiling when she saw Mirage waiting at the circus entrance. Without further ado she burst out of the bush in an explosion of leaves, and hailed Mirage from across the dirt road.

“Hi Master Mirage! I came to see the circus like I said!” She shouted.

“Splendid my dear! Have you brought any friends with you today?!” the circus master shouted back.

“Oh yeah, I brought lots of friends today!” Cloud Charmer replied.

“Then come here, I very well can’t greet ponies from across the road can I?” Mirage yelled, still rather doubtful that she brought more than a few friends with her to enjoy the show.

“Okay.” She answered, at that moment turning to Cloudy Night, who was just emerging from the bush behind her friend. After saying something to the little blue unicorn, Oak Leaf’s daughter turned towards the bushes and shouted, “Come on everypony! It’s right here!”

The two friends began trotting towards Master Mirage, who flashed a bright smile at them as they approached. Though, his face quickly transformed into a look of utter terror and disbelief as the entire forest began to shake behind them. In seconds, whole crowds of young ponies began pouring out of the woods; eventually filling the whole road all the way to the woods and beyond. They made such a noise that Mirage simply could not believe he had not heard them approach initially.

When Cloud Charmer saw the look on both his own, as well as Number Crunch’s, face, she giggled loudly. “What’s wrong Master Mirage? Did I surprise you?” she asked playfully.

Mirage did several things then. First, he glanced at the small grey child of Oak Leaf with the same look of disbelief that had held for the last several seconds. Secondly, he threw a panicked gesture at Number Crunch, who jumped to life preparing tickets and holders at his station for the sudden influx of customers. Thirdly, and finally, he turned from the crowd and climbed atop his speaking stand. When he spun back to face Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night, he had regained his composure, and grinned like a particularly happy cat at the crowd of ponies before him.

“That you did, little one! But you’ll find that I work well with surprises!” he said, his voice carrying its usual lilt. He gave an exaggerated bow to the crowd, letting his hat topple off of his head. Rather than falling to the ground the hat seemed to float in the air, and Mirage gave it a theatrically grumpy look before grabbing it with his hoof, and replacing it on his head.

“WELCOME TO MASTER MIRAGE’S CIRCUS CARNIVAL EXTROARDINAIRE!” He shouted over the crowd, drawing it to an attentive silence before him.

“I know what you’re all here for… the wonder… the whimsy… the very tantalizing mysteries that pull at your little hearts and draw you to this place. Yes, I know why you’re here” he whispered, his voice somehow managing to carry to every filly and colt in the crowd. “And I know that the wonders that you will see in this place are beyond count.” He said, raising his voice.

“For I present to you treasures the likes of which you couldn’t imagine, all of which you will soon see here. I guarantee that you will find fantastical feats done here that could be seen nowhere else in all of Equestria! Ponies who can read minds, tell the future, breathe fire, and even walk on air without the use of wing or magic! The list goes on! I daresay that I myself could not name to you all of what waits inside my circus had I a whole day to tell you!” He paused, to stare at the mesmerized crowd of young ones.

“But I can tell that you are all excited to see what awaits you in this place, so I will merely tell you the two most important things that you need to know about the circus. First, I hope that all of you are aware that there is an entry fee of one bit to enter the circus?”

Taking the question as their cue, the children of Cliffside began to bring forth what money they had to pay for entry to the circus.

Cloudy Night pulled a bit out from behind her ear, where she usually sat quills or whatever else small objects she carried with her when she was taking notes or going outside. She felt really embarrassed by the action, but was quickly reassured when she saw many ponies around her taking money from similar places. Cloud Charmer pulled the change bag her parents gave her out from underneath one of her wings, Thunderstruck produced a bit from his back, where he had been apparently balancing it this whole time, and even Rosefall pulled a coin out from one of the curls in her mane. Within moments everypony had their bits out and ready to pay, becoming excited by the prospect of actually entering the circus.

Mirage gave a smile of great pleasure at this, and resumed his speaking to the crowd. “Well then, with all that in order I will only tell you that in a few hours’ time there will be a large show at the big tent, which is free to get into. There you will see a few of the more crowd sized acts, as well as the magic show performed by myself. Otherwise, enjoy this day children, for I assure you it will be a truly fantastic one. Without further ado, YOU MAY ENTER THE CIRCUS!” he finished with a shout. Immediately the crowd of children roared loudly, a sound which almost brought a tear to Mirage’s eye.

Cloud Charmer joined in the shout from the crowd, her voice easily overpowering many other around her. Her mother often said that she had a very loud voice, but at times like these, when she was filled to the brim with joy… it could be easy to forget.

The crowd surged towards the pay booth, forcing Number Crunch to squeal with fear as the children assaulted him with bits for entry. Within moments they were forcing themselves into the alleyways of tents, spreading out every which way to see the various attractions that the circus had to offer. Thunderstruck gestured to Rosefall, who called out to Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night before they trotted into the circus.

“I’ll see you two at the big show, save me and Thunderstruck a seat!” She called as she trotted away with the silver haired colt.

“We will!” Cloud shouted back excitedly, glancing to her side as Bright Light slid in between her and Cloudy.

“Well, I’m staying with you two for today; I think it’d be fun for us to go in together!” Bright Light said.

Cloud Charmer glanced at Cloudy Night for approval, who nodded enthusiastically back at her. “Of course.” She said, hugging the dark coated unicorn. Before they did anything else, however, Cloud glanced back to Master Mirage, who seemed giddy about the whole situation.

“I told you I’d bring lots of ponies Master Mirage!” She called to him.

He leaped into the air with excitement when she said that, “Oh yes you did, child of Oak Leaf! I don’t think I would believe it now were it not here before me! Ha!” he yelled, looking up at the sky as he did so.

“But what are you doing out here? You should be inside, enjoying all of the fruits of your labours!” He laughed, throwing his hoof in a sweeping gesture over the circus.

“You guys ready?” the grey Pegasus asked her two friends, who quickly affirmed their readiness back to her. “Then let’s go!” she screamed, almost dragging the others into the flowing crowd of children entering the grand circus.

Ah, there could never be a more perfect start to the day for anypony there.

A Circus At Cliffside

by Ardent Wing

Two Clouds on a bridge

Are you not entertained!

Then a Circus came to town

Meet the Parents!

The Stars in an eggshell

To see a falling star

Stand up straight!

Getting close

Hello Circus!

Thunderstruck has an idea!

To meet a Rose

Thunderstruck is sad now

Authorization Allowed

To the Circus... Again!!!

A Perfect Start