//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1-Welcome to the Show 
// Story: The Greatest Showmare 
// by Creativa-Artly01 
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It's a beautiful day outside as Philly sets up her circus tent on the outskirts of Ponyville. "I remember when we first started this," says Philly as she rubs Andromeda under the beak. The bird lets out a coo. Philly then goes into the setup tent and a smile slides across her face. "Let's get ready for the show." She then hands the flags up to Andromeda and she flies and hangs them up on top of the tent. Philly then begins to sing. "This world is the world of my dreams. Making ponies smile. Making everypony smile. This is my dream and it's come true. I'm living my dream with you. I'm living my dream with all of you. Life running the circus, it's never boring. All the colorful lights, all the laughs filling the air. All the smiles in the crowds. They love us out there. They love us out there. See the lights, see the colors, see the acts as they take to the floor. See it all, fly up the flags and open the door. Open the door. Open the door." Philly gladly swings open the door flaps of the tent. "This world. These ponies. This life. What more could I ever ask for? They are my friends and my family. Welcome to the show, where the fun goes on far into the night! Welcome to the show, we don't stop when the sun does, We always have the light. We always shine, steal the show, keep the eyes on the stage. Watch us as we embrace who we are. Who we are. We are proud of who we are. Welcome to the show." The performance ponies then join in with her. "Welcome to our world, welcome to our home. Watch us as we show you what we've got. We share our joy so you can have some too. Let us share our world with you. Let us share our world, this world, with you."

A few minutes later, the performers take to their places. The acrobats take their positions in the boxes of the high wire. The Mare of all the Colors of the Rainbow takes her place as does the stallion with the largest beard and the stallion with the longest neck. The pony the size of the palm of a hoof then takes his spot atop his tricycle. They then begin their acts for all the world to view. As they show off their talents, ponies stomp, clap, and cheer. 

A few hours later, the show comes to an end and the performers go and eat dinner in the lunch tent. "They love us," says Rainy, "us, the misfits, the outcasts." 

"Yeah, I know," responds the bearded pony, whose name is Anton. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" 

"Yeah, I guess so," responds Territ, the long-necked pony. "It's not what I thought I'd be doing with my life. I wanted to be an engineer, but look where I am, locked away in a tent to be shown off four days a week." 

"Well, it's not all bad," responds Tim Tom, the hoof palm-sized pony. He then takes a sip of his apple juice. 

"Well, I don't mind ponies seeing my sparkles and my glitter sparks," says Twinkle. "Ponies love seeing my talents." She then begins to sing. "We may be different from the others, but it's not always bad. We stand out, we're special, we're unique. We can be proud of who we are. Don't let them get to you. Show them who you are. Show them what you can do. Show them what you can do. Be proud of your abilities and of your appearances, they are what make you unique. Beauty is more than skin deep, it's what is inside of you that matters. It's what is inside of you that matters. Beauty is more than skin deep, don't let them tear you down. You're special as you are. We're special as we are. We stand out of the crowd, but that's not a bad thing. We can shine like the stars we are. We are stars. We are stars. Don't be scared of the spotlight. Be proud of who you are. We can be proud of who we are. We can be proud of who we are." 

"I guess you're right," responds Territ. "Thanks for the pep talk, Twinkle."

"Don't mention it," responds Twinkle with a smile and a blush. 

A few minutes later, Philly steps in and calls the performers out into the big ring. There, she gives each of them a gift, a small coin with their individual faces and names engraved on them. The performers then embrace Philly in a hug and thank her. They then go and get ready for the next show. They can't wait to show more ponies what they are capable of and what they can do. Making ponies smile is their favorite thing in the world and Philly can see that clear as day. As the performers get ready, Andromeda flies overhead and helps each one of them out if they need it. If they don't, she just goes to her perch and ruffles her wings. 

A few minutes later, the performers take to their places and begin to share their acts with the ponies once again. As they perform, ponies once again, laugh, smile, clap, and stomp.  All the while, Philly can't help but smile as she takes to the main ring in the center of the tent. "Fillies, mares, gentle colts, and stallions welcome to the most wonderful show in all Equestria. Please enjoy the show. These mares and stallions put a lot into all they do, so sit back, stomp and clap along, and please, most important of all, enjoy the show." Philly then begins to sing. "Welcome to my world, welcome to my show. See the colors as they shine. See the amazing feats as they go on all around you. We have ponies here of every shape and size, every style of life, here to show you what they can do. Welcome to the show, where the fun goes on far into the night. Welcome to the show, where the unusual and unique is the main spotlight. All the smiles on your faces, all the joy in your cheers, it shows them that it's worth it. Welcome to our show, our world of magic and fantasy. Welcome to the show, where the fun goes on far into the night, where the unusual and unique is the main spotlight. Welcome to the show, welcome to our world. Welcome to our world."  The performers join in with her. "Welcome to our world. See it the way we do. This is our only home. This is where we belong. Welcome to the show, where the fun goes on far into the night, where we are the main focus, where the unusual and unique is in the main spotlight. Welcome to the world we live in, welcome to our dreams coming true. Welcome into our lives. Enjoy the show you see. We do it all for you. We do this all for you. Welcome to our show, our world of magic and fantasy. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. Welcome into our home! Now enjoy the show!"

A few hours later, the show ends and the performers go to their bunks and fall fast asleep after changing out of their costumes. As the others sleep, Twinkle can't help but stay awake. As she sits there, she lights a spark and begins humming to herself and singing to herself a lullaby that her big sister used to sing to her a long time ago. "Don't be scared of who you are, you are special, you are unique, don't let them stare. Let them know you are proud of who you are," her voice begins to shake, "you are special, you are unique. Don't let them tell you that you're not. You mean the world to me. You mean the world to me, and I know, I mean the world to you too." Twinkle then begins to cry. She misses her big sister. How she wishes her big sister was still around. Alas, that is not the reality. Her sister was killed by ponies that didn't like the fact she had special abilities. Twinkle then opens the locket that's in the palm of her hooves and looks at the picture of her sister. To her, Nilette was the world, now she's gone. The only pony she loved is gone. That is not going to change anytime soon. A few minutes later, Twinkle cries herself to sleep with the locket still in her hoof. She knows her sister would be proud of her, but alas, it will take her awhile to shake the loss of her big sister while hiding that information from Philly at the same time, which is the most impossible task of all.