Obviously Cloudy Night had no knowledge of Thunderstruck’s practically preposterous proposal of the turnout for ponies at the stadium. Yet it is safe to say that had she known of his estimation she would have said that his words were more prophecy than they were prediction.
By the time that she arrived at the stadium, though it was about the same time she and Cloud Charmer had arrived at the circus yesterday, she found the placed packed. There must have been just as many ponies as there were the other day at the race! The crowd was so loud that Cloudy wouldn’t have been surprised if Master Mirage could hear the noise from his tents.
Part of Cloudy was pleasantly surprised by the amazing turnout, and the other part was beginning to reel. Every time she got near to such a huge number of ponies in one place, she began to get dizzy. Crowds were disorienting, confusing, and for Cloudy, practically heart attack inducing to be around. Cloud Charmer had been attempting to work through this issue with her, but so far they had made little progress if any at all.
With her ears back, and her eyes sealed shut in terror, Cloudy Night began to back away down the wooded path from the stadium, attempting to remain hidden from the crowd.
Imagine her surprise when she heard somepony call her name.
“Cloudy!” came the shout, and when she opened her eyes she noticed Thunderstruck approaching her, along with another pony.
“It’s good to see you’re here. I thought you might not show up!” Thunderstruck had to raise his voice just to be heard among the buzz of the crowd.
Realizing there was no escape from her predicament, Cloudy resolved to remain where she was… though she would still retain what she considered to be a safe distance. Regardless, she answered Thunderstruck and his friend quickly.
“Hello.” Cloudy said, her voice shaking just a bit from nervousness.
“I’d like you to meet somepony, she’s a dear friend to me. This is Bright Light.” Thunderstruck said, gesturing to the pony standing with him.
The mare was a unicorn, a few hooves shorter than Thunderstruck, and about one hoof shorter than herself, though Cloudy guessed the mare was about Thunderstruck’s age. She had a very dark grey coat, and her hair was bordering on being midnight black, however her eyes were a bright, almost waxy yellow. Cloudy could see her cutie mark, which appeared to be a candle, though the flame coming out of it was purple. Bright Light seemed to be giving her a look of slight nervousness, which made Cloudy want to laugh.
A pony nervous to meet her!? That was something new!
Bright Light smiled at Cloudy, “Hello, I’m Bright Light, but you can call me Bright… or Light… it doesn’t really matter.” She said.
“I’m Cloudy Night, nice to meet you.” Cloudy responded, her voice sounding slightly less shaky than it had just moments ago.
“Bright Light here has been hanging out with me for years, so I thought that it would be appropriate for my newer friends to meet my older friends.” Thunderstruck explained.
“That certainly is… appropriate…” Cloudy said, glancing around her in an attempt to spot Cloud Charmer in the crowd. Where was she?
Bright Light noticed Cloudy’s apparent twitch, and drew slightly closer in order to comfort her. “Nervous around crowds, huh?” she asked.
Rather than speak aloud and give voice to her concerns, Cloudy Night merely nodded.
Thunderstruck gave Cloudy Night a quizzical look, seemingly oblivious to her predicament, while Bright Light gave her an understanding nod. “It’s disorienting isn’t it? I can’t tell you how long it took me to get used to so many ponies in one place.” Bright Light said with a smile.
Now it was Cloudy who gave a surprised look at Thunderstruck’s friend, who laughed aloud from seeing how she responded to her story.
“Ha! I’m sure you didn’t guess, but I used to be pretty reclusive.” Bright Light explained.
“Bright Light spends most of her time inside, reading about magic.” Thunderstruck added.
“Really?” Cloudy asked.
“Yes, I believe I’ve almost read every spell book in this town. Now I have to order in copies of books from the Printer’s guild.” Bright Light said.
Cloudy’s ears perked up, her nervousness fading fast. “What books do you order?”
“Most recently I ordered a copy of, ‘modern Spell Casters’ as well as a newer book called, ‘An Anthology of Universal Thought’ by none other than Starswirl the bearded. Apparently this book is ‘yet another revolutionary exploration of magic by Starswirl’. At least that’s what the Cliffside Print-Master said. Have you ever read Starswirl, Cloudy?” Bright Light asked.
“No.” Cloudy Night answered. Sadly the library in Canterlot had a very limited selection of magical tomes and spell books. Most of what Cloudy read came from her mother’s private collection, and even that was tiny. Cloudy’s mother had told her that she would be sure to order more magical books after the next shipment of marks for funding arrived from the Royal Treasury, but so far the shipment was at least two weeks late. Perhaps she should save a few bits up and try to order a book from the Guild herself.
“That’s a shame, he really does provide an interesting read, disregarding whether he’s actually right of course!” Bright Light joked. “I was actually just checking on the copy at the Printer’s Guild when Thunderstruck and Rosefall invited me to come see the circus.”
“She’s putting it nicely. I’m sure she’s very grumpy that we interrupted her.” Thunderstruck said.
“I’m only grumpy when you know that you shouldn’t interrupt me. Since you were clueless I gave you a free pass. Besides, who wouldn’t want to come see the circus with some friends, both old and new?” Bright Light responded with a nod to Cloudy, to which Cloudy replied with a smile.
“I can’t think of anything better myself. Although I’m sure that the experience would be improved were our other friends here…” Thunderstruck paused in order to glance around the stadium, “Where is Cloud Charmer? Or even Rosefall? I have yet to see them.”
“I haven’t seen her either.” Cloudy said. This was unusual for her friend, especially after she just learned how early Cloud got up in the morning.
“I don’t suppose her parents are refusing to let her go?” Thunderstruck asked.
“No, she’s been allowed for the entire duration of the circus.” Cloudy Night reassured him.
“Then there is nothing to worry about, if she’s able to come then she will.” Bright Light said.
“But able does not mean willing, and I can’t just keep the whole crowd waiting for a few stragglers. We’re going to have to go… soon.” Thunderstruck stated, using a very commanding tone to reinforce his point.
“The crowd will do as it wills, Thunder.” Bright Light stated.
“I’m sure they would agree with me.”
“Nonsense! They’ll be fine for a few more minutes. Now tell me, did you read the book I lent you?” Bright Light was obviously trying to change the subject, while subtly buying more time for Thunderstruck’s so named ‘stragglers’ to arrive. Cloudy was grateful for the pony’s assistance.
Thunderstruck, surprisingly, fell for Bright Light’s distraction almost immediately, snorting with annoyance at his friend’s question. “Which book, Practical Potionmaking or The Prince and his Pride?”
“Don’t you mean Prince and his love?” Bright Light gave Thunderstruck a wry smile, to which he responded with another snort.
“No, I mean pride. Don’t bother lending me romance stories, they’re shallow and one minded, and the characters are about as deep as a puddle after the rain.”
“I have no idea what you mean; the prospect of love contains some of the scariest, most adventurous, and by far some of the deepest moments that ponies can experience in their lives.” Bright Light asserted.
“Ha! I’m afraid I won’t ever agree with you on that. Love is just one pony obsessing over another, there’s no depth to that at all.” He argued.
“Oh Thunderstruck, your doubt is only a result of your ignorance of the subject matter. Still, one day you’ll be on my side, and that’s a fact. Do you read romance novels, Cloudy?” Bright Light asked, her large and owl like eyes appearing to beg for an answer.
“Actually… I never read fiction…” Cloudy answered, her deep blue cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
“Well, I’ll soon change that!” Bright Light said with a large grin. Thunderstruck merely sighed, looking to Cloudy with that seemingly unbreakable look of boredom painted on his dark face.
“Don’t let her do that Cloudy. She says she reads everything but the truth is that Bright Light only knows two things, magic, and romance novels. She’d have you cooing over her stallion heartthrobs right alongside her if she had her way.”
“If you found my way so detestable Thunderstruck, then you wouldn’t be bothering me to hang out almost every other day. But… speaking of romance novels…” Bright Light grinned and pointed her hoof behind Cloudy Night and Thunderstruck. Upon turning, Cloudy noticed Rosefall approaching from the crowd. Her mane was done up into a mass of curls, many of which were tighter and smaller then they had been when Cloudy had seen her the day before. She had a smile on her face and a slight skip in her trot as she came towards the small group.
“Greetings everypony! Fear not, for I have arrived!” She cried dramatically, giving a small bow when she reached the party she sought. She smiled at Cloudy, apparently quite pleased to see her among the group.
“Well, that accounts for one missing pony.” Thunderstruck mumbled. “You didn’t, by chance, see Cloud Charmer on your way here?”
“No, should I have?” Rosefall asked.
“You do know that Cloud Charmer lives outside of town, right Thunderstruck?” Cloudy asked quietly.
“Oh…” Thunderstruck blushed and quickly glanced at Rosefall. Cloudy had no idea what about his lack of knowledge was so embarrassing, but she probed no further. His business was his own, she supposed.
So instead of responding, Cloudy Night turned her gaze towards the sky. It was still morning, and though she could see some clouds it definitely didn’t look like it was going to get gloomy like the day before. The coming day was beginning to appear hopefully upbeat… if only the ponies would be so positive.
Then, as Cloudy was glancing at the sky, she felt something. It was one of the pulses, very much like the one from yesterday… no, wait… exactly like the pulse from yesterday. It was the beat put out by the circus, she had no doubt. With it came the apprehension that she simply could not avoid, no matter how much she trusted the circus.
Perhaps the circus had now opened for the day? In that case, it was also time that this group made its way to the circus, so as not to keep Mirage and his group waiting.
She glanced at the ponies around her. Cloudy legitimately could not understand why they couldn’t sense these beats. Was it something wrong with her, or them? Regardless, Cloudy felt that she should make her thoughts vocal to the group.
“Maybe… you guys should just go ahead to the circus, and I’ll stay to wait for Cloud Charmer. We’ll meet up with you afterwards.”
There was a slight pause as the other three ponies of the group considered her words. However, Rosefall was quick to dismiss her suggestion.
“No, no, she’s our friend, and we should wait for her. Besides that, this whole thing was her idea, and it just doesn’t seem right if she’s not a part of it throughout. We’ll just have to wait until she arrives.” she said.
“But thank you for the suggestion.” Bright Light added with a smile.
“I just don’t see what could be taking her so long!” Thunderstruck shouted. He quickly paced several steps away from the group, growling and grumbling as he reached the bushes at the edge of the stadium.
Almost the instant that he reached the bushes there was a sudden crash as something exploded outward through the leaves, loudly roaring with a sound akin to the manticore Cloudy had met at the circus. Thunderstruck gave off a terrified shout, along with most of the ponies at the stadium as the thing in the bush crashed directly into their silver maned friend.
However, Cloudy Night’s scream, as well as the screams of just about everypony there, were quickly silenced. For it was only a moment after the crashing shape came through the bush that the mysterious creature was revealed. For many ponies it was an almost infuriating sight.
It was none other than Cloud Charmer who had burst through the bush! She was still lying on top of Thunderstruck, laughing hysterically, but she immediately rolled off him and on to the dusty ground to continue her tirade of laughter.
“Ha! You should have seen the look on your face!” Cloud shouted.
Cloudy blinked slowly, feeling the hot rush of embarrassment she had felt when she found out that the manticore Merlin was not vicious. She hated it when ponies scared her like that… though she honestly wasn’t completely surprised that it was Cloud Charmer who had done it. When she glanced at the rest of the crowd, she could see that some ponies shared her sentiment, with a few of them sighing loudly.
Thunderstruck was up from his position on the ground in a flash as he spun to face Cloud Charmer. He looked infuriated.
“What in the wide wide realm of Equestria was that for Cloud!?!”
“I… wanted to do that… yesterday…” She gasped as she recovered from her laughing fit. “It was beautiful!”
“I doubt that anything involving me screaming was in any way beautiful!” he yelled at her.
Cloud Charmer wiped her eyes with her hoof and got herself in a standing position. Her grey coat was covered in dust from the ground, but she hardly noticed. “Aww, c’mon Thunderstruck! You gotta admit, that was funny!”
“I thought it was a bit funny.” Bright Light said.
“Yes! Thank you… uh?” Cloud Charmer gave the pony a confused look.
“Cloud Charmer, this is Bright Light. Bright Light, Cloud Charmer.” Thunderstruck growled.
“Hiya Bright Light!”
“Hello, Cloud Charmer. I hope you don’t take offence if I say I am ‘charmed’ to meet you.” Bright Light said with a laugh.
“Why would I be offended?” Cloud asked, quickly scanning over the dark coated pony’s appearance. This Bright Light was almost as short as she was!
“If you have to ask then there truly is no reason.” Bright Light responded.
It was then that Rosefall trotted towards Thunderstruck, glancing at Cloud Charmer and smiling along the way. “Well, Thunderstruck, I suppose this means that we have our little troupe all together then. I recommend that we go on our way immediately.”
Thunderstruck nodded in agreement, but first he looked back to Cloud, his face grumpy and un-amused. “Cloud Charmer, how long were you sitting in that bush?”
“Only a minute or so, why?” she responded.
Rather than answer, Thunderstruck sighed and walked towards the center of the stadium. “Alright ponies, let’s get ourselves to that circus!” he shouted.
“Wait! I was going to suggest we take a different route.” Rosefall asserted.
“Why?” The entire crowd seemed to ask at the same time. Thunderstruck trotted close to hear what she had to say. Cloudy Night and the others came closer along with him.
“Well, we wanted to hide this whole group from Prickly Pines, right?” Rosefall asked.
“Yes.” Both he and Cloud answered at the same time.
“So we can’t go down the main road then, or he’ll see us from miles away.” She explained.
“Then we take the forest!” Cloud Charmer said.
“That would take us ages longer!” Thunderstruck replied.
“Actually…” Cloudy Night said; pausing for a moment as her small group turned towards her “Um… if we go down the path right at the top of the stadium, it basically goes directly to the circus. Even in a large group, that would take less time than having to follow the main road.”
“Good thinking Cloudy!” her grey friend complimented, quickly looking to Thunderstruck for approval.
“If it’s both faster and more concealed, then why not?” he concluded, turning back towards the crowd of fillies and colts behind them.
“Everypony follow us! We’re going to the circus!” Thunderstruck shouted.
The crowd gave a mighty cheer, fit to shake the ground around them. Slowly, the ponies trotted up the stadium steps and out into the woods, following behind Thunderstruck’s group as a single gigantic mass.
It wasn’t very fast going, with many ponies having to climb over branches and go through bushes just to follow their leaders, but it was progressing. They would still arrive at the circus sooner than taking the road, as Cloudy had predicted.
Cloudy Night was actually feeling pretty good at that moment. Not only did she feel comfortable in her small group, but the rest of the crowd was following behind them, which made Cloudy feel like the ponies weren’t even there.
Except for the volume the group made, Cloudy wasn’t even sure if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna together could stop that.
Cloudy attempted to move towards Cloud Charmer, but was interrupted by Bright Light, who began questioning her exact reading history. She answered her for a short time as they trotted, though she actually began to fall into the conversation after a few moments. For the first time, Cloudy had unknowingly become just another part of the buzzing crowd.
As for Cloud Charmer, she practically floated down the forest trail. Her wings were twitching anxiously, and she had a huge grin on her face. This was even better than she imagined… Mirage was going to be so surprised!
Beside her trotted Rosefall, who also had a big smile on her face, although Cloud Charmer somehow suspected that it wasn’t for the same reasons as her. She kept glancing at Cloud Charmer, as is she was trying to find the right words to say. It made Cloud just a bit nervous to wonder what exactly the pony was going to say.
Did she know? No, she couldn’t.
Rather than wait for Rosefall to decide what to say, Cloud Charmer decided to begin the conversation herself.
“So… how are you Rosefall?” Cloud Charmer asked.
“Why splendid! Thank you for asking. How are you?” Rosefall looked relieved that Cloud had taken the lead, though she seemed to still be searching to say what she wanted to.
“I’m Awesome! This is so great; Master Mirage is going to be amazed when he sees how many ponies we brought with us!” Cloud exclaimed.
“Yes it truly is a victory we have here isn’t it?” Rosefall said.
Cloud Charmer jumped in the air, her little flapping wings letting her flutter in the air for a moment. “Of course it is!” she wooped, “plus I get to show everypony how much fun the circus is. You guys are gonna love it!”
Rosefall giggled, “I have no doubt that I will. You must feel especially good being the mastermind behind this very plan as well.” She said, much like she was asking a question.
Cloud Charmer stopped her hover, pausing to think for a moment. “Yeah, I guess it does feel pretty good.”
“And I also suppose that it must feel good to have done it at such a young age… come to think of it, how old are you Cloud?” Rosefall asked.
Cloud Charmer made a very choke like noise in her throat, startled by Rosefall’s question. “Well, th-that’s a weird thing to ask a pony.” She answered.
Rosefall gave her a confused look, one of her curls momentarily falling over her eye as she stared at Cloud. “I fail to see how it’s a weird question. Is it not natural for new friends to want to learn as much as they can about each other?”
“It’s still out of nowhere. I mean, I haven’t asked you how old you are.” Cloud Charmer sputtered awkwardly.
“Is there some reason that you don’t want to tell me?”
“N-no! That’s not it…” she drifted off, hanging her head out of embarrassment.
Rosefall patted Cloud’s back with her hoof. “Come on Cloud. I really mean it when I say that you’re among friends here. You should never have to fear saying anything to your friends.”
Cloud Charmer looked at her for a long moment, her stormy grey eyes lingering in a blank stare as she conflicted with herself about what to say. After several seconds, she gave a soft sigh, and very quietly said, “Fourteen…”
“Ha! You’re younger than I expected!” Rosefall laughed.
Cloud’s head snapped up, “Really? No way.”
“Why wouldn’t I think you were older than that?”
“Because… because I’m so small. There’s no way I look that old.” Cloud Charmer responded, her tone incredulous.
Rosefall once again laughed, “You certainly think highly of yourself! Listen, I know it seems strange, but you shouldn’t pretend that your size makes any difference. There was once a pony who said, ‘big things often come in small packages’.”
Cloud Charmer snorted, “That’s a lie in itself; big things can’t fit in small boxes! When was the last time you heard of a wagon fitting inside a travelling bag?”
Rosefall gave her a wry grin, “Don’t play stupid, Cloud Charmer. You know what I mean.”
Cloud Charmer sighed, “I do, though I still think it’s just a joke.”
“Oh, so you need some more convincing, I can oblige. Look at the ponies beside us.”
Cloud glanced to her side, Thunderstruck and the others were trotting and talking several paces away, though the sound of the crowd hid what they were saying from her.
“I fail to see you point.” Cloud Charmer said.
“You will, you see Thunderstruck there? He’s sixteen. I’m seventeen. Bright Light is nineteen.”
“What!? That can’t be true, she’s so…”
“Small?” Rosefall finished, “It seems ridiculous, but it is true. Bright Light is the smartest of us, she knows magic better than any of us, and she’s the shortest of us… but she’s also the oldest of us. Well, apart from her brother Sidewinder anyway.”
“Huh.” Cloud Charmer said, mostly to herself. It really did turn her perspective on its head knowing that the smallest pony in Rosefall’s group was also the oldest.
Or, maybe it made her feel less alone.
“Huh indeed, it certainly presents something to think about. I’m sure you’ll find something of use in it.”
“I might.” Cloud Charmer responded, a small smile growing on her face.
Rosefall paused for a moment, once again appearing to work out exactly how she was going to say what she said next. Cloud Charmer wouldn’t have to wait very long however, as the pink unicorn turned back to her, a devilish grin splitting over her face.
“You know what else is great for you to think about?” Rosefall asked.
“No, what?”
Rosefall leaned in close, “I remember what you did…” she said playfully.
Cloud Charmer’s hooves stumbled as she started in surprise, landing her face first on the ground for the second time in the last couple of days. Rosefall was giggling hysterically as she helped Cloud up from the ground, waving off Thunderstruck’s questioning gaze as she did so. Cloud Charmer rose, and spit out several of the leaves that had gotten into her mouth from the fall, a look of pure terror on her face, which of course made Rosefall laugh even harder.
“There’s no need to react like that, Cloud Charmer, I’m not angry or anything.” She said.
“B-but, if you recognized me then why didn’t you say anything!?” Cloud stammered.
“Let’s keep trotting, we’re falling behind.” She replied, and began to trot after Thunderstruck’s party. She waited until the little grey pegasus began following to speak again.
“I didn’t figure out why you seemed familiar to me until Thunderstruck mentioned meeting you a month ago. By then you and your friend had already left. Were you nervous that I would remember?” Rosefall asked.
Cloud Charmer’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. That had been true; she had felt nervous about meeting Rosefall yesterday, and she had hoped she wouldn’t remember what had happened…
“Yes.” Cloud responded quietly.
“I thought so; you’re the pony who tipped that barrel of water on me last month!” She said laughingly.
“It wasn’t my fault! I really didn’t see it while I was running!” Cloud Charmer insisted.
“How, pray tell, do you miss seeing a rain barrel of that size?”
“Well… it was… a really bad day for me…” Cloud said. That day had been awful; she was so confused from feeling all the pulses that she barely knew what she was doing. The only good part about that day was learning that Cloudy Night could feel them too. ‘Clouds and silver lining’ her father always said.
“I second that. Or I did, at least. I thought that day had been the worst day of my life, and the rain barrel had turned it into a nightmare. Looking back now though, it seems so silly, it makes me laugh.” Rosefall explained.
“That’s good then, it’s always the best to remember the funny days!” Cloud paused, “But, wait… if the rain barrel only made it worse, what had happened to you that day?” she asked the pink unicorn.
Rosefall hesitated to answer, stopping in mid-sentence like she had second guessed saying it. Instead, she looked several paces ahead, where the others were trotting.
“It’s not the best topic of discussion, Cloud Charmer. I hope that what I said took some stress of your back, I’d hate to learn that you were still bothered by that day.”
“Of course I’m not bothered, if you say it’s fine then it is!” Cloud chimed, giving a big grin to her friend. Rosefall smiled back, her grin growing just as large as Cloud’s.
“Alright then! Whaddya say we jump in on the others’ conversation then?” Rosefall asked.
“Sounds great!” Cloud Charmer yelled, galloping after the group until she was trotting right beside Cloudy Night. Rosefall took her place next to Thunderstruck, laughing as she informed him of yet another of his misquotes. Behind them, the crowd trotted along, with many ponies laughing and sharing their expectations for the coming events. To Cloud the air felt charged with energy, all of it just waiting to be released at the circus.
She had a really good feeling about today; she felt like she could scream.
Which of course she did a few seconds later, eliciting the same confused annoyance from her group as before. Still, the ponies continued their trot, ignoring Cloud’s overenthusiastic outburst. They had more adventurous things to think about…
It was time to go to the circus!