“Wow. It’s so sticky…”
“But it’s good, right?”
Twilight licked her lips around and looked up in thought. “Hm. A little too sweet, I think. Too much sugar isn’t good for you, you know.”
“Then I’ll eat it, if you don’t want it.”
“I never said that!”
Shining Armor chuckled to himself as his younger sister quickly grabbed the bag out of hooves and began to share its contents with Smarty Pants. Shining Armor took a deep breath and surveyed all he could see. Their place in the high middle of the bleachers gave them a rather good view of the whole area. Ponies to the left and right filled the seats surrounding the center circle to full. Two tall poles on either side of the circle had various strings and ropes, including a tightrope, tied to them, high above the crowd. It was just as he remembered.
Although it was tall colourful tent and bright streamers running everywhere that gave the place character, it was the ponies in the show -the shouts of ringmaster, the tricks of the magicians and yuking of clowns- that made the place come alive.
As a tradition, Shining Armor came every year. It was the circus, after all. Who wouldn’t want to go? Well, there was one little filly he knew of that was reluctant to go. So reluctant in fact, she was being forced to go, whether she wanted to or not. With a stomach full of glorified pink sugar, said little filly closed the bag and gave it back to her brother.
“Ready for the big show?” he asked.
Twilight shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Aw, c’mon, Twiley,” Shining Armor said, nudging her a bit. “It’s gonna be fun.”
Twilight sighed and looked back to the center of the arena. A pony with a tall black hat and thick curly mustache climbed up on top of the stage. He was well-dressed and looked very important. A green glow surrounded a large megaphone as he levitated it up to his mouth.
“GOOOOD AFTERNOON, FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS!” the pony’s voice boomed throughout the whole big top. “HAVE WE GOT A SHOW FOR YOU!”
Twilight hunched down in pain. She covered her ears and closed her eyes.
“TODAY, THE BIG TOP PEGACIRCUS PROUDLY PRESENTS: THE GREATEST SHOW IN EQUESTRIA!” His enthusiasm blasted across the audience. The crowd roared in applause. Twilight flinched as her big brother threw his hooves up and shouted along with them. The applause died down and Twilight removed her hooves from her ears.
“This is gonna be great!” Shining Armor said.
“I’d still rather have stayed at home…” Twilight mumbled to herself.
A peppy tune of trumpets and drums filled the air as the circus acts began. Twilight sat back in boredom as she watched clown-ponies cartwheel onto the stage. The clowns began their routine of slapstick gags and water spray jokes. And as everypony in the audience laughed, there was of course one little purple filly who did not. She yawned at the tumbling of the ponies in make-up, she scoffed at the banana peels slips, and she rolled her eyes at the bad jokes.
She was nearly asleep when she saw a tiny yellow wagon drive onto the scene. The wagon looked barely big enough to fit her. The door opened and a large buoyant clown popped out. Twilight widened her eyes and sat up. She watched in amazement as another clown popped out close behind, followed by another one and another one. Finally, one half dozen clown-ponies had squeezed out of the tiny wagon and had mingled in with the other clowns’ physical humor and rubber chicken fights.
If Twilight had been curious, she was now attentive. She looked back and forth between the wagon and the clowns, wondering how what she just saw was even possible. The clowns kept on performing and the crowd cheered. Nopony raised any suspicious notions. They all stayed blissfully entertained. Finally, the act wrapped up as the clowns packed up back into the tiny wagon and sped away. The ringmaster returned to the center stage and was already announcing the next act.
But Twilight had a difficult time focusing on what the ringmaster was saying. She was lost in thought, trying to rack her brain to figure out how the clowns did it. How did they all fit? She kept staring and thinking about what she just saw. How was that possible? It should not be physically possible without magic. What sort of spell could make it so that six ponies could fit inside that small of a wagon? And more importantly, could she learn and master a spell like that? She looked around. Nopony else was pondering what she had pondered. They watched in the next act in amusement. Had they not noticed? It was right there, somepony had to have seen-
A nudge from Shining Armor brought her back to reality. “That was pretty good, huh?”
Twilight was dazed for a second, having no clue what she was supposed to be looking at. She simply nodded and smiled. She had no idea what was going on or why they were applauding a pony next to a bear on a unicycle. She quietly clapped her hooves and sighed. She’d have to figure it out later. This was supposed to be a time for being with her BBBFF, after all, no matter how dull it was. Putting these thoughts on the back burner for now, she tried to focus on what was happening now. The ringmaster was back in the spotlight. He raised his megaphone and Twilight raised her hooves.
“AND NOW, IT IS WITH GREAT PLEASURE I PRESENT TO YOU THE ONE, THE ONLY: THE GREAT GALVINI!”
A second pony jumped onstage behind the ringmaster. He wore a lavish cape and had a wispy goatee. He bowed to the applauding crowd. Accompanying him were two gorgeous mare assistants. One mare held a candle in her mouth, while the other one pushed a large mysterious contraption, covered in a white sheet.
“TODAY, FOR YOUR ENTERTAINTMENT, THE GREAT GALVINI WILL NOW PERFORM HIS SIGNATURE DEATH DEFYING ACT: THE GALVINI GUILLOTINE!”
The mare bit the sheet and pulled it off in one quick motion, revealing a large and very scary looking medieval guillotine. The large sharpened blade shined in the spotlights. The wooden frame creaked from the sheet pulling off of it.
The crowd gasped.
Shining Armor giggled like a little girl.
Twilight went white.
Guillotines. She had read about these. A much more effective and mechanical form of decapitation, as few ponies wielded the strength to cut off another pony’s head completely. However, this guillotine had been modified slightly, Instead of only one hole for the head; the bottom section had three holes -presumably for his hooves- in order to make the escape more difficult. But capital punishment had been outlawed decades ago. And yet they allowed it to be used here? Twilight gulped at the thought. Reaching over, she grabbed Smarty Pants and hugged her close.
The Great Galvini waved to his adoring public. Shining Armor wooed hard and waved his hooves. Then, Galvini bit his cape and flung it off, revealing a skin-tight and colourful body suit. He signaled for silence, and the audience instantly hushed. He walked over to the tall wooden death machine and willingly climbed in. His assistants strapped him in, locking a lock on either side of the head piece in place and making sure they were secure. Then the second mare with the candle walked over and placed the candle on a table beneath the rope holding the blade up.
The assistant confirmed he was locked in and the ringmaster took the scene again. “THE LOCKS ARE SECURELY IN PLACE. I ASK NOW THAT THE AUDIENCE REMAIN SILENT, AS THE GREAT GALVINI ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE CERTAIN DEATH!”
Twilight gulped as the mare with the candle lit the wick. She squeezed Smarty Pants tighter as an ominous drum rolled up from the distance. Tension was thick in the air, as Galvini struggled and shook against his wooden confinement. The fire burned, and the rope began to break. Galvini groaned and shook, but the locks did not move. He jiggled his hooves around, trying to slip though. Little by little, another section of rope was burned away. Twilight’s worry increased as did the strain on the rope. By now, the drum rolls had been accompanied by a quiet yet chilling orchestra. Twilight breathed heavily.
One hoof was free!
The Great Galvini continued to struggle to free his other hoof. Shining Armor looked on in awe; Twilight looked on in worry. Was he going to make it in time? There was very little rope left!
His second hoof was out!
Sweat rolled down Twilight’s face. She squeezed the life out Smarty Pants as the quiet orchestra built up, making her shake with nervousness. Galvini grunted as he strained to break his head free. But there was no way he could simply pull his head through that small a hole. Mere seconds and the rope would be burnt! Twilight breathed frantically. He was going to die!
The next few seconds played in slow motion,
Galvini struggled,
The last of the rope was burnt,
Twilight closed her eyes,
The blade fell,
A bright light.
The guillotine blade smashed to the bottom with a resounding slice.
With a sparkle and a snap, Galvini popped down onto the ground, magic sparkle fading around him. The music stopped. The crowd was silent. The ringmaster hung his jaw agape, bewildered by what he just saw. Even Shining Armor was perplexed by what happened. He blinked once.
Then, the crowd roared. They shouted and hollered and yelled. But they were not the usual words of cheer and applause.
“What cheap trick is this? How dumb do you think we are?”
“Teleportation? What a cop-out!”
“Any studied unicorn could do that!”
“Look, he’s not even a unicorn! He had help!”
Galvini was shocked to hear what they were saying. He had not planned this, and had no idea what was going on or what had just happened. He opened and closed his mouth, but nothing came out. The ringmaster, being the face of the show, quickly swooped in to calm the uproar.
“EVERYPONY, PLEASE CALM DOWN. WE HAVE PLENY MORE ACTS TO QUENCH YOUR THIRST FOR ENTERTINMENT.”
But they would not listen. The audience was in the zone of booing and throwing drinks at both the ringmaster and Galvini.
“You call yourself a circus?”
"Worst escape ever!"
“We want our money back!”
The ringmaster cringed at the thought. Dropping the megaphone and the booming confident voice, he pleaded, “Please, please. Calm down. This was not the Great Galvini’s doing. I don’t know what went wrong! Please!”
Shining Armor watched as the ringmaster begged for the audience to stay. Some ponies began to leave, apparently devastated by the poor performance. Shining Armor wondered whether if they should go too. He went to nudge his sister, but pushed against the air. He turned to see nothing but an empty seat and a bag.
“Twiley?”
Tears rolled down Twilight’s cheeks. She sniffled and wiped her nose with her arm. She really did it this time. Mom was wrong, she thought, I should never have come. She hung her head low. Smarty Pants lay in the grass next to where she sat hidden behind a ticket booth. But not even her doll could comfort her now. In the distance, amongst the chaos and confusion, she heard a voice call for her.
“Twiley!”
The white and blue unicorn slowed to a stop above her. “Twiley, there you are… What happened? Was this you? Did you… have another accident?”
Twilight said nothing, opting instead for closing her eyes and squeezing out more tears. Shining Armor sighed. Silence fell between the two as ponies passed by, still ranting about the worst show in Equestria. This did not help Twilight feel any better.
Shining Armor took a seat down next to his sister. His mind replayed what happened only a few minutes ago. Looking back on it, it was a pretty scary part of the show. A part he knew was fake, but the thrill was still genuine. Perhaps too genuine for the poor young Twilight. Too young, he thought. Or maybe, despite her intellect and magic prowess, just too naïve... Whatever the case, he messed up and had to make things right.
“Twiley-” he began.
“I’m sorry!” Twilight suddenly cried. Shining Armor jumped as she grabbed his chest. “I-I just… I’m sorry. It was so scary. It was so fast. He was gonna die! I-I didn’t mean to-” She trailed off.
“Sh…” Shining Armor shushed her. He smiled. “Twiley, it’s okay,” he said softly, “I’m not mad at you.” He gave her a moment to calm down and let him go before she ripped his chest hairs out.
"He wasn't going to die, Twilight. Everything was alright. He was going to escape, just like he always does."
"But, how?" she asked. "There was so little time and it was so close!"
"Well, we don't know how he's going to do it until he does. That's the magic of it... er, so to speak."
Shining Armor chuckled while Twilight just drooped down again. “It’s not your fault, Twiley. You were worried for his safety. It just shows you care.”
She sniffled. “But I didn’t even know him.” She said, “Why would I worry about him so much?”
Shining Armor didn't say anything for a bit, lost in thought, trying to think of the right words to say. Eventually, he just smirked. “Maybe you’ve got a bigger heart than you think.” He placed his hoof on top of her chest and gestured a heart shape.
Twiley blushed. Shining Armor smiled and they embraced each other in true BBBFF style. Letting go, they were both treated to genuine silence, as everypony else had now left. It was quiet, save for the weeping of a ringmaster inside the big top.
“So… show’s over, huh?” Twilight tried to joke, still slightly embarrassed.
Shining Armor looked around. “Yeah. I’d pretty much say so.”
More silence. They both cracked a smile.
“Hey. We could probably still get some more cotton candy if you want.” He offered.
Twilight was about to say yes, when a wave of weakness washed over her. Apparently, she was still too inexperienced to use that much magic. She just shook her head. “No thank you. I’m pretty tired now. Can we just go home?” She added a yawn to accentuate her point.
Shining Armor laughed. “Sure. Let’s go.” He stood up and helped her up as well. They were about to leave, when he felt a tug on his leg. Looking down, he saw Twilight with a blushed face.
“Um… can I?” she asked meekly.
He just smiled and nodded. Bending over, he got down low enough for her to hop on his back. Making sure they didn’t forget Smarty Pants, the two siblings headed home together.
As they walked, Twilight sighed again. “I ruined it for everypony, didn’t I?”
Shining Armor just shrugged. “Nah. They just overreacted. It was only one mistake.” He looked back at her, smiling. “I’m sure everything will be alright. Besides,” He chuckled. “It’s not like anypony got hurt.”
They both laughed. As she rode on her brother's shoulders, Twilight thought of this as a learning experience. Now she knew that sometimes, you just have to trust everything will turn out all right, even if it looks bad. Sometimes, the suspension of disbelief was what made things wonderful. She would definitely have to write that down. Their spirits restored, and now with a great story to tell someday, the two siblings both headed home.
A door closed.
“Daddy?”
Silence.
“Daddy? What happened?”
“I- It’s alright, pumpkin. I just-” He paused. “I don’t know what happened. Just a bad day.” He tried to smile, but he was not fooling anypony.
"What about the show?"
He let out a long breath. "Well, looks like the show's canceled for the rest of the day. Everypony left."
“But it was going to be my act next. My debut to the show world!” whined the little filly.
He sighed and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Maybe next time.”
Pouting, the little filly headed back to the table where she had been before her father entered. He looked at her and his heart broke. She really wanted to be like him. He headed for the staircase, when the little filly suddenly popped back over.
“Daddy, I just remembered. I learned a new trick yesterday!” she proudly exclaimed.
He weakly smiled. “That’s wonderful, hun. You’ll have to show me it later. …I need to be alone right now.” Tired and weak, he ascended the staircase, leaving his daughter alone.
Disappointed, the young filly sulked back into her room. She headed to the full mirror in the corner. Picking her head up, she stared into the mirror. Staring back at her was the protégé daughter of the Great Galvini, heir to the Galvini name.
“One day, I’ll make you proud, Daddy.” she swore. “One day, I’ll be just as great as you. So great…”
“…and powerful.”
The End