A Circus At Cliffside

by Ardent Wing

Thunderstruck has an idea!

Cloud Charmer rolled into a bush that lay just past the forest trail from the stadium. Though she maintained the utmost composure of her stealth, she forced the bush to rattle loudly, as well as shaking some leaves off of their respective branches in the process. Her blundering movements really made the entire idea of stealth redundant.

Thunderstruck sighed as he watched his little grey friend crawl, still loudly, out of the bush, glance around quickly, and proceed to dash down the trail by at least twenty paces. He simply could not understand what drove the blue haired pegasus’ mind.

As Cloud Charmer disappeared into the trees further down the path, Thunderstruck turned to Cloudy Night, who was quietly trotting along next to him. He could only see her muzzle from his view, and her dark blue nose being obscured by her long face-covering mane gave him an image of one of those larger dogs he had seen walking with some of the farmers living near the bottom of the mountain. He laughed.

Cloudy did not seem to notice his laugh, so to gain her attention he sighed loudly and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, Cloudy?”

She turned towards him, her one visible eye a deep blue pool designed to hold so many intelligent and existential thoughts. Despite her odd mane, she carried a beauty within her, the beauty of a good book or a well written poem… the beauty of intellectuality.

“Yes?” She asked, looking up at him. Up ahead there was a loud snap and a quiet curse coming from ahead. That actually surprised Thunderstruck, even if all she said was ‘Stupid branch!’.

“Is this not just a bit ludicrous of her? So I mention that it would be better to enter Cliffside from a side path instead of the main road, and now she’s turned herself into a military scout for our faux convoy! Has she has always been like this?” He asked incredulously.

Cloudy’s head moved back to its forward position, her eye following the rustling bushes to mark the path of her friend through the trees. “To be honest, the whole military thing is pretty new to me as well. I thought I knew her so much better…” She whispered at the end, keeping Thunderstruck from hearing her comment.

He laughed, “Indeed! I seem to be learning a lot about Cloud Charmer today. Take for instance, the fact that she nearly broke down into a fit while we were talking to that All Seeing Eye character. Then, by the time we finish talking to Master Mirage she’s more fun and playful than ever, is there something happening behind the scenes that I should know about?”

Even if these two weren’t his friends, he would have asked that one way or another. He was the elected leader of these young ponies, despite the fact that his position was merely symbolic. They didn’t actually HAVE to listen to Thunderstruck, but his connection and held opinion among the group of the young gave him influence over some of them, which was why he was able to chastise bullies like Chud. If Thunderstruck wanted to he could turn the crowd against Chud, and make life for him that much more difficult. Having power like that bestowed upon Thunderstruck a sense of responsibility over these ponies, as if they were actually HIS ponies. He would look out for their well-being to the best that his influence would allow.

Cloudy paused for a moment before she answered him. “Well, no. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about Cloud Charmer, but she moves through her emotions pretty fast. She can be happy, sad, angry, and happy again in the span of only three minutes!”

“Truly? Three minutes?” Thunderstruck repeated incredulously.

“Yes, it happened last week… she thought she saw a bit in the mud, but it turned out to be just a cut up piece of some yellow fruit that they were selling at the market.”

Thunderstruck went completely straight faced as he spoke, a tiny strand of his short silver hair falling onto his muzzle with that puzzling itch that loose hair often leaves. “That… isn’t actually so surprising to me. And yes, I did note Cloud’s emotional nature, asking me if I didn’t is like asking me If I happened to notice that water was wet!” He said with a small half given laugh.

“Well… good.” Cloudy Night said, taking her attention away from him again.

Cloud Charmer quite suddenly burst out from behind a tree and sprinted back to her two friends, her eyes filled with her special brand of overenthusiastic excitement. “C’mon guys, the town is in sight!” She practically squealed before she ran down the path. Both Thunderstruck and Cloudy Night remained standing there for another few moments, smiling at her back as she ran.

Thunderstruck still had one more question for Cloudy, “My dear friend, I must ask, what about you?”

“What do you meant what about me?” Cloudy Night asked.

“Forgive me for any offence, but it seems that I’ve never heard you speak this much before in one day.” He said to her.

Cloudy actually blushed when he said that, some of her old nervousness beginning to sink in again. “I mean… we- we’ve only really talked once before.” She stammered.

“I understand, though I’m usually quite good at reading ponies. You never really struck me as the chatty type… is there something wrong?” Thunderstruck asked, noticing Cloudy’s ear twitching violently, she glanced at him quickly before she spoke again.

“No- nothing’s wrong! Who’s chatty?! Wait up!” She yelled after Cloud Charmer as she herself took on down the path at full gallop.

Thunderstruck stared after her for a long moment, pausing to look at the afternoon sky as he thought. The sun now shone brightly through the large holes in the clouds, shattered and ripped open by the strong breeze the in the air today. He could see the small town of Cliffside, or Canterlot, in all its sun illuminated glory from here.

Who’s chatty…? “Why, you are, Cloudy Night.” He said to himself with a small smile. He then found himself quoting a poem by the Grand unicorn poet, Soft Quill, written about fifty years ago:

“Tis as futile, to say,

That a rose is blue,

That the sky is yellow,

That the night is day,

That a friend is not a fellow…”

“Or that my love for you is untrue…” He finished, though that last line made him stick out his tongue upon its completion. It was a wonderful poem, written by a wonderful poet, but it was far too lovey-dovey for his taste. Despite the fact that Thunderstruck loved the great works of theatrical literature, but he wasn’t one for reading about obsession-filled lovers. In fact the only reason that he read the poem was because it was part of Soft Quill’s epic tale of the fall of the old tyrannical unicorn king, who was heroically defeated by the now king Bullion of the unicorns.

It was just too bad that Soft Quill could never appreciate the epic of the everyday life, he might have written more than two books.

Thunderstruck shook his over-reflective thoughts from his head, and galloped after his friends towards the town.

***

“Well, it seems less exciting than I had thought it would be.” Cloud Charmer sighed as she roughly sat down and leaned against the colossal wall that bordered the line between ground and air, all the way down to the base of the mountain.

Cloud Charmer noticed two things at this moment. For one thing, she noticed that she couldn’t feel the pulse from the circus from here, which definitely meant that whatever was happening with the beat was definitely sourced from the circus. She also noticed that when she turned her head upwards her own rough light and dark blue hair covered all of her face except for her muzzle… which made her nose ticklish.

Perhaps she should try brushing her hair more thoroughly in the future…

Cloudy Night did not sigh with her friend, outwardly, but she too practically fell against the wall in exhaustion. They had not only taken the whole path through the woods to the other side of town, but they had travelled down so many streets and alleys that her hooves were beginning to hurt. She wasn’t used to travelling through this place while it was so deserted… not that she minded terribly.

“Yes, it seems this endeavour was about as fruitless as I suspected. I did tell you that other than Prickly and his pals there would be no more than a dozen ponies on the streets.” Thunderstruck chastised, neatly sitting on the left side of Cloud Charmer, leaving her sitting in the middle of her group.

“Ugh! I had thought to find somepony around! Someone our age.” Cloud said.

“Shall I now inform thee of the proper means by which one should attempt to procure the forces thou seekest?” Thunderstruck responded.

“Who’s that from?” Cloudy asked in an almost bored tone.

“Myself. Might I also mention that ‘going to town and gathering as many ponies as we can’ isn’t really a plan, more of a goal at best.” He spoke to Cloud Charmer again, a bit insulted by her great plan to help the circus.

“Dissent among the ranks, and I’ve barely begun!” Cloud lamented.

“Who says that you’re the commander!?” Thunderstruck jumped up, surprised.

“Duh, I’m the one with the plan.”

“It’s a goal!”

“Still, she’s done more thinking about it than either of us.” Cloudy Night concluded. She had no trouble admitting that despite the lack of a plan, Cloud Charmer had contributed the most to solving this problem. That is, if it was a problem. Cloudy wasn’t quite sure about the circus yet, which was obviously not something that deterred Cloud Charmer whatsoever from her plan of action.

She thought she knew everything about her friend, why was so much changing in just one day? Why did things need to change between them?

Then again, who said this military thing changed anything between them? When she thought about it, Cloudy knew that nothing was going to deter her from her friend, especially not learning that her friend was interested in army stuff. Cloudy just wished that she had known. She didn’t like not knowing.

Cloudy Night only spotted it for a moment, but between the strands of her unkempt blue hair Cloudy saw her friend glance at both of them while she remained silent. Her eyes spoke of some great consideration going on in her mind.

Cloud then jumped up from her slumping seat and trotted a few paced away, her hoofsteps echoing on the cobbled street that ran beside the cliff wall. She turned to them to speak, a question echoing through her eyes as she stared up at her two taller friends.

“So, what did you guys think of the circus?” Cloud asked excitedly.

Thunderstruck seemed quite… struck… by this sudden question. He stared blankly at his little grey friend, the strain of dealing with her antic disposition already beginning to wear on his nerves. She really couldn’t stay still for more than a moment! “Well, I would say that despite having me thrown multiple times in the air by a lumbering giant, and then immediately harassed by a mind reading unicorn, I loved it!”

“Good!” Cloud retorted, rolling with Thunderstruck’s sarcasm without missing a beat before moving on. “And what did you two think of All Seeing Eye?”

Before Thunderstruck could fully formulate his response, Cloudy Night burst from her spot with an almost guttural growl. Even Thunderstruck looked a tiny bit terrified before she spoke, her voice carrying the tint of her anger. “I do not like him!”

“Why?” Cloud Charmer asked, looking a bit angry herself.

“Where do I start? He’s condescending, fast talking, and pretentious, not to mention he made you cry!” Cloudy raged.

“He did not make me cry! I made me cry.” Cloud Charmer said, her anger fading in an instant. She paused a moment and looked down at the ground, “I don’t know if you noticed, but I don’t handle emotions very well.” She said a bit somberly.

Cloudy Night rolled her eyes inside her head, but outside she merely stepped to her friend and said, “We noticed, but thank you.” She really meant it. She was glad that Cloud was willing to share, even if she didn’t need to.

Cloud Charmer hugged Cloudy for a moment before turning to speak to Thunderstruck. “What about you? What do you think of All Seeing Eye, or Blink, or whatever he wishes to be called?”

“Well…” Thunderstruck glanced at Cloudy quickly before he spoke, “He was certainly candid in his speech. But…” He looked away awkwardly.

Cloud Charmer and Cloudy Night both leaned towards him, seeking their answer. “Well?” Cloud asked.

“Well…….. There was a sense of honesty about him. He is truthful, and genuine, and it seems like he wants to help, even if he is pretentious about it. I like him.” Thunderstruck admitted.

Cloud Charmer smiled at her friend’s response, “Good, I like him too! Guess you’re outnumbered Cloudy.”

“In what way does that actually change anything?”

“It means you have to admit that you’re wrong about him!” Cloud shouted playfully.

“It certainly does not!”

“Yes it does!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No, it does not.” Cloudy answered in as absolute a tone as she could muster.

“Cloudy?”

Cloudy Night didn’t respond.

“Clouuuuuuuuuuuudy?” Cloud Charmer asked, still practically giggling.

Cloudy remained silent.

Cloud Charmer sucked in a huge breath, taking a long and exaggerated moment to do so. Just as she was about to release her words, Cloudy covered Cloud’s mouth with her hoof.

“What?” Cloudy asked quietly.

“You have to admit it. Those are the rules of losing a debate.” Cloud explained.

“First of all, those are not the rules of a debate. Secondly, we were not having a debate. Thirdly, fine!” She sighed. “What Thunderstruck says is true. I still don’t like Blink, but I can’t deny that he’s honest, and he wants to help… even if he does make you sad.”

“I already said that I make me sad. But at least you agree… so…” She looked at both of her friends for a moment before she spoke again.

“Do you think we should help the circus?” Cloud finally asked.

“As in, because we don’t hate All Seeing Eye, should we now create some plan to fight the almost unnatural hatred in this town and befriend the townsponies with the circus?” Thunderstruck spoke incredulously.

“Yes.”

“O’ woe unto thee who would climb the cliff only to jump from the top.” Thunderstruck responded.

“Who said that?” Cloudy asked.

“Actually, General Seedfree of the earth pony army.”

“Nope.” Cloud Charmer stated.

“What do you mean?” Thunderstruck was becoming annoyed. He never misquoted.

“That wasn’t Seedfree, it was his fourth commander. During the second griffon pegasi war the earth pony commander Big Hoof, who was considered a very prolific stallion, said that when he heard the news about the retreat from Highrock. Seedfree later mentioned the quote during the peace summit, and he was quoted for it since.” Cloud Charmer explained in her most matter-of-fact tone.

“No!” Thunderstruck searched back through his mind for a long moment before he spoke again. “Well… I’ll be damned. You’re right!”

“No swearing!” Cloud ordered.

Cloudy cleared her throat, drawing both of her friend’s attention. Though she was always nervous about speaking to anypony other than Cloud Charmer, she found herself becoming more comfortable talking around Thunderstruck. Maybe she was chatty… though this whole situation was nowhere near as awkward as the last time she had spoken to the dark coated colt. “About the circus… I’m not sure about them.”

Cloud’s eyes got really big as she listened to her friend, who kept glancing at her.

Cloudy couldn’t help it. Cloud Charmer believed in the circus, and now she was staring at her like a child. Why must Cloud Charmer always act like this, she was older than Cloudy! But… On one hoof, the circus did seem genuine in its intentions of friendship.

On the other hoof… There was the beat to consider, she still didn’t understand exactly why there was one. That was weird enough.

But on the other hoof, just because it was weird didn’t make it bad. Perhaps Cloud was right about that place; the ponies there didn’t seem evil.

Yet on the other hoof, Mirage had deliberately lied to her about his age. She didn’t like that game he had played.

Cloudy looked into Cloud Charmer’s eyes. She trusted the circus; she’d help the circus no matter what.

Cloudy Night made her decision there, for if Cloud Charmer was bound to help the circus, then Cloudy was bound to help Cloud.

“I suppose that the circus isn’t evil. In fact I’d be much more willing to fight Prickly Pines, even if I’m not the biggest fan of all the characters at that circus.” She finished with a nervous smile, just before her friend practically tackled her to the ground in a jovial embrace.

“Yay! I knew you’d come around, Cloudy! What about you Thunderstruck?”

He sighed, “If you two really want to fight Prickly Pines. Then you have my support…. Even if it is a foolish pursuit.” He added on the end.

“Then it’s all settled! We help the circus. Only now we need the means.” Cloud said.

“Is gathering as many fillies and foals as we can really the plan?” Thunderstruck asked.

“Not really… more of the beginnings of a plan.” Cloud answered.

“It’s the best move we can make right now. Though I think that going door to door may be an impossible feat, considering how much time we have.”

All three children stood there, staring at nothing in particular as they tried to think. It was Thunderstruck who eventually came out of his daze; smacking himself on the head for not realizing it sooner.

Cloud Charmer and her friend looked up together. “Do you have something?” They asked in unison.

“Yes, and strike me thrice a fool for being so blind to it before.” He said.

“So, what’s the plan to talk to all of these ponies?” Cloudy asked.

“We don’t need to. They’ll get talking to each other.” Thunderstruck gave one of his foxlike grins.

“How’s that gonna happen?” Cloud asked.

“Come on girls. We’re going to Rosefall’s house!” Thunderstruck shouted, taking off on a slow gallop down the streets leading directly away from the wall.

Cloud Charmer gave her friend a smile and an over-exaggerated stick of her tongue, before taking off after him.

Cloudy Night hesitated for just a moment, allowing one last thought to drift through her head before she chased after her friends.

Maybe she could be as brash as Cloud Charmer… if she set her mind to it.