//------------------------------// // A rodeo clown and a groovy clown // Story: Twilight the clown // by TechnoPagan9 //------------------------------// Applejack woke from her bed to the smell of Granny Smith's special apple pie coming from the kitchen. Applejack checked on Applebloom who was still asleep to which Applejack decided to leave her alone and went to get her hat. She then went downstairs saw Granny cooking while whistling a country song that Applejack had never heard before. "Hey Granny, what is that song you are whistling" Applejack said curiously "A song I remember your Father singing to your Mother on their wedding day, warms my heart every time I hear it" said Granny with a smile Applejack felt a little sad at the mention of her parents but at least the song was from a happier time. She went to eat some pie and noticed that something red was missing from the house, she realized her brother Big Mac wasn't in the house stuffing his facing in. "Ah don't see Big Mac in the house, he would normal be eating away getting his energy up for today's work" she said expressing confusion. "Well he said he saw something running on the farm and went to look for it, it is probably one of those bats again" Granny said while looking through the window. Just then she and Applejack heard a deep voiced scream and heavy stomping and ran out the door to look at the orchard. Their reaction was one of shock and laughter because there in the orchard was Big Mac running all over trying to get away from a bear while repeatedly saying 'Nope' as he ran with desperation on his face. The bear was wearing a typical clown suit, a red nose and red Afro and had a happy grin on its face. Applebloom had been woken up by the stomping and had ran towards Applejack and laughed at Mac's situation. Mac ran towards them to which the other three ran into the house and locked the door. Mac was banging the door when the bear grabbed him, some apples and Applejack's hat and proceeded to juggle them all. "What in tarnation, what is wrong with this bear and why it juggling my brother and my hat" said Applejack in annoyance. "Sweetie told me a few ponies are acting weird, have you seen Rarity's shop, ah thought she wouldn't be into that stuff" said Applebloom with a giggle. "Well whether this bear wants to be a clown or not, he is being a little destructive on the farm" said Granny who pointed towards the orchard, showing that some trees had been knocked down and animals that were also in clown suits were eating the fallen apples. Applejack nodded and opened the door then jumped up to grab her hat and Big Mac which the bear didn't seem to mind. She said that she will see if Fluttershy can fix this mess and ran towards Ponyville. Big Mac on the other quickly ran into the house, saying he wasn't leaving until the bear was gone. It didn't take long for Applejack to reach the town's center and noticed that that strange creature from the circus was talking to the mare about something, what it was the mayor laughing a lot but Applejack decided to pay no heed. She was about to continue when she noticed the Funhouse. "Applebloom wasn't kidding, ah never thought ah would see something like this coming from Rarity of all ponies" said Applejack. She noticed Pinkie was riding on the carousel at the top, clear having a lot of fun. Suddenly Glimmer Joy and Twinkle Sprinkle walked out of the shop's door. They had dolls that resembled Princess Celestia and a version of Luna if she was a mime and they were giggling. They both noticed Applejack who was a little surprised by their appearance. "O look dearie its our farmer friend Applejack" Glimmer said with a smile towards Applejack "Hey did you like my performance at the circus, do you think I am a better clown than a princess" said Sprinkle Applejack was surprised by those words and replied "Wait you are Twilight, why did you join the circus" Sprinkle smiled and said "Being a princess is so boring, so much paper work so why do that when you can just make some ponies and have fun. You haven't answered my question you silly mare. Applejack was about to criticize the comment on work being boring but decided against it and said "Your performance was great but I am not sure if you are being honest with me but ah will deal with that later, ah off to Fluttershy's cottage". Applejack ran in the direction to the cottage. Sprinkle's horn glowed as she sent a telepathic message of AJ's arrival to Sweetie who with a smile alerted beckoned another clownfied pony who was not one of the Mane six nor one of the original members of the circus. Glimmer and Sprinkle went back in the Funhouse and after walking passed Lyra who was trying to stay in front of the human mirror while Bon Bon tries to drag her out of the Funhouse, they went into a curtained area of the shop labeled 'staff only'. Sprinkle summoned what looked like a large computer screen which was looking into the Canterlot Palace's dining hall which had a large cake. Celestia was trying to enter from all entrances to the dining hall, determined to get that cake however Luna (dressed as mime) kept moving and somehow putting up invisible walls which felt solid enough. "Damn it Luna, I want that cake" Celestia shouted with determination, Luna just shook her head being unable to utter a sound. Her body was being manipulated by Sprinkle using the doll and her magic had shut Luna's voice down. The 'invisible walls' were really the result of Glimmer hitting the Celestia doll with hammer. They both laughed at the struggle that Celestia put up just to get the cake they had sent. "Is this why you took up mime, Luna so you can bug me" Celestia said having become annoyed at the mime's interference. this went on for about 10 more minutes before Glimmer stopped hitting the doll and allowed Celestia through. Celestia stood triumphantly as she approached the cake. This triumph was short lived as Sprinkle pushed a button which caused a cake to open up at the top and a pie to splatter her face and a sign appeared saying 'The Cake Is A Lie'. Sprinkle let go of the Luna doll allowing Luna to speak. "I was being controlled, that is why I couldn't speak or move on my own account plus you deserved that" Luna said while laughing at her sister. Celestia grinned and said "Silent Night, Mimes don't talk" Luna just sighed. Meanwhile AJ was heading towards the cottage but on the way there, Skittle Giggle activated a rain cloud and made it stay directly above AJ even while she was moving. AJ cursed the technocoloured mare and managed to lead it into a tree which stopped the rainfall. AJ finally got to the cottage to find the animals acting like circus performers. Some were acrobats, some fire eaters, some clowns and some while just making sounds that resembled circus music, mainly birds. AJ went in the cottage to find animals running all over the place. "What the hay, Fluttershy isn't this messy" She said before noticing Discord who was searching sofa with an annoyed expression. "Hey Discord is this your doing" She said. Discord turned to look at her then turned back. He replied "No this is Fluttershy's doing. Well her name is not Fluttershy it is Sweetie Smiles now and I don't want to be rude but I am trying to find something important, two things important. Applejack grew curious as to why Fluttershy changed her name but grew more curious of the items Discord is looking for. "So what is it you are looking for?" AJ said Without turning, Discord said "Two voodoo dolls much like this one". He used a sewing needle to poke a doll of AJ causing her to yep in pain. "What in tarnation, that is why that keeps happening and anyway if they are dolls of Celestia and Luna, Rarity has them" AJ said while rubbing her flank. Discord shot up and went straight through the door towards Ponyvillie. AJ opened the back into the garden to found that it had changed to look more like the inside of a circus tent but if it had all been made of mainly plant life. The garden was divided into 3 circles, the outer circle had stands and chairs for the audience with the benches being made of vines and the stairs made of wood, the inner circle had darker patches of grass which marked trapdoors that acted as storage for equipment and sometimes for certain tricks as proven when AJ saw Angle posing as a magician, wrapped his cape around himself which fell to the ground and Angel seemed to be gone. In the center most circle was a stage which had a platform made completely out of green vines, the backdrop was made of timber wood and the image on the backdrop was made of flowers such as a sun made out of daffodils and the water being made of water lilys. AJ noticed Fluttershy was like the others dressed as a clown and noticed another pony with her. "Why has all mah friends suddenly become interested in the circus" Applejack said in confusion. The other pony who was juggling some squirrels approached her and said: "Hey now, don't be a bummer about it, Me and Sweetie are just have some fun and juggling's aura makes me feel so alive at the sound of laughter". The mysterious mare's mellow dilemma was somewhat familiar to AJ but she couldn't but her hoof on it. She had a green fur coat Her mane was curled in a swirly style consisting of various shades of orange yellow and red. She was wearing a sliver flower crown which had clown faces in the center of each flower and a forest green clown nose. Her dress was a mix of light blue, yellow and red with it being made entirely out vines, The cuffs were bright pink and the collar was light red with a rainbow bow which seemed to have a peace symbol in the center. AJ realized who this was due to the conflict that Discord had with this mare in the past. "Tree Hugger? is that you" AJ said with a strange urge to laugh "Yes it is me or was me, my aura is familiar yet different" Tree Hugger said with sudden excitement that would match Pinkie Pie if she was into auras before she continued with "By the way, I am digging my new name Tree Juggler" in her mellow tone. AJ was taken aback by this and went to Sweetie. "Flutter...ah mean Sweetie what is going on, why are you all like this" said Applejack while trying to hold back laughter With a smile. Sweetie said "Because it is so much fun and Tree Juggler was eager to have a go, she is so talented at making others laugh it is like her aura makes anyone in her presence laugh". AJ wondered if this was where this sudden urge to laugh was coming from. "Come, Smiles are we go to make this mare dig the clown act or what" Juggler said having switched to her excitement again. Applejack lifted one eyebrow which Sweetie took notice of. Sweetie pulled out a shiny red clown nose and show AJ it. "You will make a sweet rodeo clown, we need more of those" said Sweetie as she placed the nose on AJ. "Ah ain't no rodeo clown" Applejack said in an annoyed tone "It doesn't matter, you don't have a choice" Sweetie said while grinning evilly. Applejack noticed that who environment had switched from a garden to the rodeo show in Appleloosa where she could see her family in the crowd who were cheering her on. "Go on Rodeo Jumper you can do it sis" said Applebloom. A rainbow bow formed on her neck and she was confused by why she was being called that name. She looked to see some other clowns climbing on each other with the one on top holding a hoop up. Before she could react. the seesaw she was on was set off by the weight of Trouble Shoes which catapulted her through the hoop. In mid air, some cowgirl shoes formed on her hooves which were white, pink, yellow, orange and brown in colour and had smiling clown faces. "What the...when did ah wear these" She said having noticed the bow and boots. She didn't have long to think as she was forced to perform on a ball while avoiding Trouble Shoes. The stomping from his feet caused small quakes , causing the ball to occasionally bounce. "Hey this is...surprisingly fun" AJ shook her head and said "wait ah didn't mean to say that". A skirt formed on her as she evaded Trouble Shoes. It had a brown frill with the skirt being light green with bright blue trims. The padded areas had some markings which were three diamonds, apples and love hearts. Applejacks mind continued to change. "Who is messing with mah head" she said while her nose turned blue "Is this that aura thing that Tree talked about" she asked no one. She had the strange compulsion to check her skirt to find some juggling balls. She willingly juggled them and didn't know why. Suddenly Big Mac threw Applebloom at AJ and as if by instinct she caught her and juggled her along with the rest of the balls. "This is so much fun" said Applebloom "Darn too-ten it is" AJ said before saying weakly "no that isn't what ah wanted to say" as if her thoughts were being suppressed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo who were in the crowd seem to be begging Big Mac to throw them too. He did so and threw them one by one to AJ. As with Bloom, she managed to catch and juggle them all while balancing on the ball. While this happened, blue and pinkish purple streaks formed on her mane and tail. Upon passing through the bobble that tied her tail, it turned into a blue bow with dark blue, red, green, yellow and orange pokodots on them. An announcer spoke to the crowd. "Okay, ponies our clown of honor Rodeo Jumper will jump through the hoop up there" the announcer said while pointing at the hoop held by Trouble Shoes who was on a pyramid consisting of 24 other clowns. AJ put the three fillies down. With her mouth forming into an forced smile by some unknown force AJ said in a weak tone: "Please don....mak...me..do it" Two pink hearts formed on her cheeks and her eyelashes curled. She bounced on the ball a couple of times before making a large bounce causing her to be thrown in the air. She was too high and thought she had failed but Trouble Shoes made a leap and was able to hold the hoop high enough for her to get through. She got through it, closed her eyes and landed safely. Trouble Shoes on the other hand landed on the other 24 clowns causing the pyramid to collapse which led to mass laughter from the crowd. AJ, now Rodeo Jumper opened her eyes which were now pink and she laughed at the other clowns misfortune. She walked over and got Trouble Shoes back on his hooves and they both turned to crowds. "Please give a big cheer to the clown duo, Trouble Shoes and Rodeo Jumper" said the announcer as the two clowns took a bow. The world returned to the nature circus where Jumper found Sweetie and Juggler waiting for her. "I see you have your groove on, shall we entertain the animals". said Juggler. Jumper nodded and the three clown ponies began performing. Meanwhile in the distance a certain pony was observing the performance and smiled.