Fair of Wonders

by Zubric

Flutterphant

Within the quaint little cottage of Fluttershy’s, the sweet yellow mare hummed as she enjoyed her morning oatmeal looking at the note Discord had left yesterday for her. She always liked Discord’s little surprises, so whatever it was should be fun and creative. “Hmmm, it says he’ll be getting a friend to help? Interesting.” Reading further, she got up and headed to her front door, following the short instructions as she walked out into the front yard. Right on cue, she suddenly witnessed a bright flash from one of the open fields. When the stars in her eyes cleared, she gasped, staring at the suddenly appearing fairgrounds.

“Oh? Is that the surprise?” Fluttershy asked, glancing down at Angel Bunny, who had hopped over. The faint sounds of the music did make the place look fun. Angel, in return, just shrugged and pointed. “Okay, Angel, you’re right. It can’t hurt to check it out.” Gathering up a few bits, Fluttershy headed along, head lightly bobbing to the music.

Approaching the entrance closest to her home, she stared up the banner with the words Fair of Wonders written in exciting bright letters. Other ponies moved around her, entering the grounds allured to the various attractions there seemed to be. The shy pegasus kept scanning her surroundings and pondered what she’d do first. “Hmm, I wonder where Discord is. Or am I supposed to go and find him?” She asked herself as she looked at the map and the listings of events for the day. Naturally, the ones involving animals drew her eye more than others. “Oh, a dog show? That sounds nice,” she chimed as she made her way down one of the rows of games.

She got halfway down one section of ring toss booths before the fairground master appeared in front of Fluttershy from beside a cotton candy stand. Top Hat tips his hat at her with a smile. “Why hello there, you must be Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy turned to look at the brown stallion glancing at the rainbow-themed hat. “Hello, are you Discord’s friend by any chance he told me about?”

“Indeed I am, Top Hat the name, and this fair is my game,” Top Hat said as he twirled his hoof around at the crowd. With a light flourish, he gave Fluttershy’s nose a boop. “I assume you’ll be heading towards one of the animal events, yes?”

Fluttershy’s face scrunched for a moment from the boop eyes crossing. She blinked a few times, taking a few seconds to remember what she’d been doing. She glanced towards the tents and nodded. “Yes, the dog show sounds good. I bet they will look so cute.”

“Oh, there is no doubt about that. Perhaps you’ll see something familiar.” Top Hat chuckled before walking away after his simple introduction.

Fluttershy tilted her head at the stallion’s words, wondering what he’d meant as she trotted along following the signs towards the dog show getting in line with the other ponies. While she waited to go inside, she turned her head towards another opening, thinking she’d heard one of her friends nearby. “Rarity?” She glanced from side to side to try and spot her but couldn’t see her. Figuring that she’d find out later, she headed inside and found a spot near the edge of one of the bleachers. It wasn’t long until the show started, the various dogs being fun to watch doing numerous tricks. About halfway through, A new set of dogs came out. Fluttershy’s eyes were quick to spot one with similar colours to her friend. “Rarity?”

The purple and white dog didn’t seem to see Fluttershy in the crowd as it did its best to prance and perform elegantly. During an obstacle course segment, the white dog came close enough for Fluttershy to notice the unmistakable three-diamond cutie mark upon the dog’s hind leg. While Rarity looked cute as she showed off her talent to the crowd, it left the nagging question about why Rarity was a poodle. Before she could question things further, she felt a soothing feeling wash over her, almost like her head was being petted gently. Her body slumped for a moment, hearing the sound of an elephant in the distance. The sound did remind her that the fair did have a circus tent and that she should go and check on the performing animals there next.

Fluttershy watched Rarity do her little dance and clapped when she even won the show. As the show ended, she exited the tent and went towards the back, wanting to check on her friend.

As Rarity came into sight, Fluttershy heard her muttering in annoyance. “This wasn’t part of the deal!” The collar jingled as Rarity tugged on it.

“Rarity, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, approaching swiftly. “Why were you a dog? Not that you didn’t look kind of cute.”

Havey ou met Top Hat?” Rarity started. “It’s his weird magic that turned me into a dog. I had to perform in the show before I’d be returned to normal.” she huffed. “However, I did end up winning. Now, If only I could get this collar off.” the unicorn tugged on the collar again, but It refused to budge. She groaned in defeat. “Have you seen my sister, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy’s eyes were drawn towards the larger of the tents as she replied, “I think I saw her in the crowd during the show with Cheerilee. This fair is alright so far, I still need to find Discord. Maybe he's near the big tents.”

“Discord, you say?” Rarity asked as she tilted her head. However, the thought seemed to pass just as quickly as she shook her head. “Well, do have fun, Fluttershy. I”m sure we’ll meet up later.” With that, she began to trot along, scanning t ponies around.

Fluttershy waved her friend goodbye before moving towards the larger tents, the thoughts of the talented animals she’d see on her mind even more. As she got closer, she heard laughter and what sounded like clowns. A smile worked its way upon her face as she passed by Spike and Ember, giving a wave before heading toward the open tent flap, hearing Applejack for a moment as she did. Once inside the open back area, it revealed a series of cages filled with fresh hay and a few critters. The brown monkey near the front waved at her, wearing a little red hat. “Oh, hello there. What a cute hat.” Fluttershy greeted.

“Indeed it is. Skitter is quite the acrobatic monkey,” Top Hat said as he appeared from seemingly nowhere as he approached. Fluttershy jumped at the sudden voice but soon turned to look at him as he spoke again. “Enjoying my fair?”

“I did see the dog show, and that was nice,” Fluttershy started. “But why did you make Rarity into a dog?” Her wings flared out some.

“Why? So she’d have the most fun of course,” Top Hat replied, putting a hoof onto his chest. “Besides, I turned her back. She did win best-in-show. So it all worked out. The faint sounds of activity are heard from the main area as he gestures at the few animals. “The tricks my critters can do are quite impressive, but we might be missing one?”

“Missing one?” Fluttershy asked, looking around and spotting the large cage in one corner, along with a bag of peanuts. “I can help you find them if you need it.”

Top Hat swirled his hoof as he beamed wide. “Oh, but I think I just found her right here,” he declared before he pressed his hoof to Fluttershy’s nose, holding it for a second.

As he pulled back, Fluttershy’s nose began to itch and slowly swell. Her ears lengthened along with the rest of her body slowly growing. While the growth was painless, the pegasus still groaned as she felt the expansion. “W-what mmmm,” Her mane slowly receded, her nose pulling outwards like a swelling accordion. Gaining height as she grew, her coat shifted into a rough hide, keeping its yellow tone. Her tail thinned the pink tufts at the end remaining. The entire transformation lasted only a minute, leaving Fluttershy feeling quite dizzy for some time. When the confusion cleared, she blinked and glanced down at Top Hat, letting out a blast of air into his face with her new trunk.

“Now, now, Flutterpant, don’t you want to help me out and do some tricks?” Top hat asked, patting the snoot.

Flutterpant nodded as she felt a sudden wave of happiness at the idea. She even recalled a trick involving her balancing on a large ball. The routine was tricky, but she was confident she’d get it this time. As she thought about it, she recalled she was supposed to meet Discord too. Perhaps, he would be watching her performance. She pranced a bit on her hooves before following Top Hat towards the large flap, already hearing the happy horns and bells playing. She let out a short squeak as she saw the many ponies in the audience and how she would soon be the center of attention. Her gaze fell soon upon Discord, who was also in the crowd and gave a wave at the yellow elephant. “Wasn’t I supposed to meet with him?” she thought, lifting her trunk to wave back. Moving to the center ring, she spotted Applejack and Rainbow Dash doing clown things on either side of her. They looked rather silly too.

Top Hat paused to let the audience cheer before gesturing at the crowd as he spoke. “Mares and gentle colts, I present for your entertainment our main ring entertainment, Flutterpant the large and gentle.” The crowd clapped as the spotlight focused on the elephant. With an impressive backflip, the ringmaster flew into the air, landing on a small trampoline before launching up and landing on top of Fluttershy.

Flutterphant squeaked for a moment before blowing out a trumpet and stomping around the ring as Top Hat gestured about as Fluttershy’s two friends fired off water pistols at each other. Wanting to join in the fun, Flutterpant spotted a nearby barrel full of water and moved up to it. With a deep breath, she soaked up some water into her trunk before aiming it squarely into Rainbow’s face before firing off a blast. The rainbow clown flew back, doing a few rolls, which made the crowd laugh. As Rainbow got to her hooves, the elephant giggled as well, just as a cream pie smacked into her face. No doubt a retaliatory action from Rodeo Jack.

Flutterpant kept smiling even as she wiped the cream off her face as best she could with her big hooves watching as Top Hat hopped off her back, soon returning to the ring with the big red ball with yellow stars. She took a breath as the spotlights fell upon her. Her knees only trembled a bit as she approached her ball, hearing somepony doing a drum roll as she slowly climbed up onto the huge toy. She smiled with pride as she wobbled at first but soon found her footing as she raised a front leg and hind leg to balance, sticking out her trunk and tail. As time passed, she felt proud of herself for doing such a good job, and the crowd agreed as the cheers grew over the time she spent perched. The clowns circled her on unicycles making quite the spectacle of it.

---

It was nearly an hour later of various tricks before Top Hat took center stage and bowed to the applauding ponies. “Thank you, mares and gentlecolts. You have been a wonderful audience. May your days be full of wonder and delight.” Raising his forelegs, the ringmaster clapped his hooves together, unleashing a bright flash of light.

Fluttershy ears rang as the light washed over her eyes. The temporary blindness faded as she looked around at the empty benches around the tent and blinked as she glanced down at herself, seeing she was back to normal. Rubbing her eyes, she sees she isn’t the only one back to normal. Twilight, Big Mac, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the rest stood around, looking around just as dazed and confused. “What happened?”

Twilight sighed in relief as she looked at the gang around her. “Well, that was interesting I suppose. Still, experiencing being a foal was strange.”

Big Mac snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yeah? Well, try being a plushie and being shared,” he said while his gaze locked onto Discord standing across the group wearing the outfit Top Hat had been wearing. “I had a feelin’ it was you.”

The others all turned to glance at the draconequus with varying expressions as Discord beamed. “Oh, come now, Big Plush, surely you must have had some fun just sitting around all day instead of those boring chores?.”

Big Mac glared again as Spike spoke up. “So it was you that made us act like dolls! That was embarrassing!”

“Yeah, you made us act like clowns!” Rainbow blurted, pointing to Applejack in the process.

Rarity saw the various glares towards Discord as she adjusted her mane. ”Well, I do suppose my experience was not all that bad. At least I’m free of that collar.”

Before Discord could retort, a sudden fluff of yellow fury came up to his face giving a very disappointed look at him. “Discord! What have I said about messing with my friends and me?” Fluttershy asked as she kept eye contact.

“Oh, come now, it was harmless fun,” Discord stammered, adjusting the red vest. “Surely you got some enjoyment from being one of your animals? Besides, I entertained the entire town in the process.”

Ember flicked her wings as she watched the scene. “Does Discord do this sort of thing often?” she asked, crossing her arms.

Pinkie bounced a bit as she replied. “Ooh, it depends on the story,” she chirped. “But I know I had fun. Hehe! That play was silly.”

Before the others could comment further, Fluttershy grabbed Discord by his ear and tugged him over to the group, the action mind-boggling to the dragon lord. Once close enough, Fluttershy coughs. “Now, what do we say, Discord?”

“Ooh ooh! But Fluttershy!” Discord whined, wincing at another tug. “Okay, I’m sorry…maybe.” He said reluctantly. He crossed his mismatched arms with a pout.

The frowns lessened a bit, but most still looked annoyed. Pinkie, however, skipped up and gave Discord a big hug. “It’s okay, Dissy. I forgive you, at least,” she said with her usual beaming smile.

Discord patted Pinkie’s head as the gang began to leave the central tent watching the remaining guests in the fairground going about to the various still open stalls. “Perhaps, this will help settle things?” With a flick of his wrist, he sent a flare of multi-coloured magic into the air. The magic soared higher before exploding in the setting sky in a flurry of fireworks. Ponies stared upwards, entranced by the display.

Fluttershy’s smile returned quickly enough as she patted Discord’s side. “Hehe, that will do, Discord. That will do.”

Author's Note:

There Finally finished this small story. Hope whoever remembers this thing enjoyed the ending. even if rushed.