//------------------------------// // Then a Circus came to town // Story: A Circus At Cliffside // by Ardent Wing //------------------------------// 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.