//------------------------------// // Two Clouds on a bridge // Story: A Circus At Cliffside // by Ardent Wing //------------------------------// The world turns… slowly. Days pass, nights pass, but all the while the world is the same. A leaf on a tree right now will still be that exact same leaf on that exact same tree days from now. This is not to say that things cannot change, sometimes things will be completely different a day apart from each other. Occasionally the universe will shift, and the constant pulse of the world quite suddenly becomes a million pulses coming from a million sources. When this happens the universe becomes exciting, with each different pulse calling for a different adventure. Perhaps one pulse beats out the journey to a faraway land. Perhaps another speaks of lost treasures, or the promise of seeing things yet unseen. Or maybe one pulse calls for actions that have never been performed, feats that no pony has ever dared attempt! During times like these the world proposes everything to the listener, but promises nothing. Nothing but possibility, and, if one dares to follow the beat, maybe the attainment of something amazing. Unfortunately, today was not one of those days. “I wish I could fly already” Cloud Charmer sighed . Over a month had passed since Cloud Charmer had moved to Cliffside, and over a month since she had met Cloudy Night on the cliffs above the town. A month since she had begun hearing the pulses of the universe. Since their rather tense meeting, the two ponies had been seeing each other just about every day to hang out. In all that time, nothing extremely interesting had happened. Sure, Cloud Charmer had met new friends, seen new sights, but she had yet to do anything very noteworthy around here at all. Still… she liked hanging out with Cloudy Night. Every day since the two friends first met each other they had gone to the bridge by the river outside of town to play. They occasionally went to sit at Cloudy’s cliff to look at the stars, and sometimes they went off to explore the woods, or hang out with friends. Yet through it all, Cloud Charmer had seen that it was hard for Cloudy. Not only did she have to get used to coming outside of her house during the day, but she had to get used to seeing a lot of ponies that she had never met before. To Cloud Charmer it seemed like the bustle of Cliffside actually seemed to physically hurt her friend, and that made her feel horrible. Even so, no matter how much Cloud offered to meet her at night, Cloudy insisted on coming to her, saying that she needed to get used to feeling the world zooming around her. So today, like any other day, the two ponies had met outside of Cliffside at the bridge, and that is where they had been since meeting. On this day the sky was speckled with grey and wispy clouds; lazily floating on the breeze as if they had all the time in the world to do so, which, technically, for them there was. That very same breeze was also blowing through the grass, creating a sea of motion among the short green stalks that covered the clearing which the bridge sat in. the wind could also be heard in the nearby woods, creating the quiet thunder that comes from the endless leaves crashing together atop their brown wooden towers. The sun, now past its noonday seat at the very top of the sky, was now making its slow descent towards the west horizon. Its light shone past the clouds and onto some of the crystal ornaments hanging from the support structure for the roof of the river bridge, causing rainbow lights to splash all over the interior of the river crossing. Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night were at this moment on this bridge, with Cloud leaning against the wall and looking at the sky while Cloudy sat across from her, reading. Upon hearing the sighing and wishful complaining coming from her friend, Cloudy lowered her book to look at Cloud Charmer, “it’s okay, I’m sure you will be able to fly soon.” “Soon isn’t soon enough! Most pegasi my age can already fly. So why can’t I?” Cloud’s voice sounded dull when she said that. She had asked herself the same question many times before. “What do you mean by that? We’re the same age as other pegasi, twelve years old, not many pegasi at that age can fly, so why should you be able to?” Cloud Charmer seemed to be trying to interject on this comment but Cloudy had not finished, “anyway, when you’re time comes you will fly, so there’s no point in complaining about it.” Even thinking that made Cloudy feel bad, she knew her friend couldn't stand being stuck on the ground, but she had been whining like this all day and it was starting to get on Cloudy Night’s nerves. The little grey Pegasus lowered her stormy grey eyes from the sky to look at Cloudy, her rough blue hair casting a shadow over one of her eyes. She appeared less hurt then Cloudy had expected, the look she gave her friend was more inquisitive than anything. “Are you alright Cloudy? You seem like you’re upset about something.” “No, I’m fine. I just feel a bit on edge. Like something big is about to happen, you know?” “Not really, I’m not getting that at all right now. Maybe if things weren't moving so slowly.” Cloud charmer sighed. She looked away from the deep blue unicorn across from her and lowered her head to the side wall again. She could feel the world pulsing around her; so slow, so boring. Cloudy was the only pony she knew who never moved in slow motion, she was right there with Cloud, feeling the world beat its tune around them. A question; one that was not uncommon to Cloud Charmers thoughts, rose in her head. she wondered why she could hear and feel these strange pulses that passed through the universe around her? Cloudy had felt it too, though she had not found that out until at least a week after the two ponies had met. Perhaps somepony in town knew about it, though that still left little room to ask about the subject without sounding crazy, which at the moment Cloud was about forty six percent sure she and Cloudy were right now. It was all starting to get to Cloud, how the world beat at its even pace and- wait! Something new! She could feel it. A beat, different from the rest. It rustled through the clearing and the bridge she was sitting on. It seemed faint, off in the distance, towards town! “Do you feel that?” Cloud Charmer asked excitedly. She was already standing up now, her wings twitching with the ecstatic energy that was now coursing through her body. “Feel what? Wait, what is that?” Cloudy Night sensed it too. While the world seemed to beat a crazy clamorous tune around her this one seemed… different… slower. “It’s coming from town! Come on Cloudy, we should go see what it is!” Cloud was the one on edge now. “I don’t know, the town will be awfully crowded right now.” Crowds made her nervous, so erratic, so… undefinable. It made her dizzy. Cloud Charmer was jumping on her hooves now, obviously having a hard time containing her excitement. “Pleeeease? It’ll be fun! We can get Thunderstruck and his friends! I’m just tired of sitting here. Come on!” Cloud pleaded. “Well, I guess we could-“ Before Cloudy could even finish what she was saying Cloud grabbed her by the hoof and proceeded to drag her to her hooves as she moved off the bridge towards the path. Yet as Cloud grabbed her and pulled her from her seat, she saw her friend stumble. Did she do that? Was she stronger than she thought all this time? Was Cloudy okay? She honestly felt bad for moving so suddenly like that. All her life Cloud had been accustomed to jumping ahead, heedless of whatever got in her way. She had to remember that Cloudy was different. It wasn’t exactly that Cloudy Night was quiet, or shy, but that she lived her whole life without rushing. She thought everything through, carefully, and then made a decision. Cloud knew from personal experience that Cloudy was awesome! That she could move and play and have fun just like her when she wanted. But she did not move fast. How could she be so insensitive as to force her friend to rush like this? Cloud had stopped and was apologizing for her mistake when Cloudy regained her balance. She stopped a moment, turned to look at the book she had been reading, and closed her eyes. A focused expression came over her face and as Cloud Charmer watched Cloudy’s horn began to sparkle and glow. The book suddenly sprang to life and hovered in the air for a moment, then it took off! Zooming away into the trees. “Wow! You’re really getting good with your magic Cloudy! What spell was that?” Cloudy Night opened her eyes and looked at Cloud, “that was a come to life spell. I told the book to return to its shelf back at home.” “Where’d you learn it?” Cloud Charmer asked, interested. “My mother collects all kinds of books, a lot of them are full of spells that can do many things. One day I’m going to learn them all!” Cloudy was obviously proud of her ambitious dream. “I can’t wait to see you cast them all! But, if that’s all you had to do right now, then do you think we can go?” When Cloud said this Cloudy seemed to become unfocused again. She looked towards the path with unease. “Okay, sure.” “Wait! What’s going on, Cloudy? Are you alright?” Cloud Charmer was concerned for her friend. “It’s just that pulse coming from town. It feels… different.” Cloudy was staring at the direction of the pulse with a glazed look in her eyes. For the last month, since the day she had met Cloud, she had been hearing these... beats. It was as if there was someone out there beating a large drum. She couldn't physically hear the beats, but it was like a feeling, she could sense them. Cloudy been amazed when her friend confirmed that she could feel the pulses too. Up until that point she had been convinced that she was the only pony that could feel the beats that the world gave off. Cloud Charmer had put many questions to Cloudy when she learned that she could feel the pulses two, but so far all they could work out was that the beats came from... somewhere. Generally points of interest, like the more important something was, the more powerful the beat it gave off was. None of what she could do made any sense, and she felt like this strange power only isolated her more. Still, knowing and having proof that what she felt was real had made her quite happy. It had felt great! Now, though, the pulse seemed to bother Cloudy. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to go. “We could always stay here.” Cloud suggested. “No, I’m going to be fine.” Cloudy shook her head from side to side, clearing the fog from her mind. When she looked at her friend again her long, light blue hair was covering one of her deep blue eyes, yet there was a strange sparkle to be seen within them. Perhaps it was intent, perhaps it was interest. “Now, let’s go find Thunderstruck and go into town!” “Awesome! I know exactly where he’ll be! Come on Cloudy, let’s go see what’s happening in town!” Cloud shouted this as she charged down the path, quickly followed by Cloudy. It was with this that the two ponies began their journey on what they considered to be their biggest adventure yet!