Chapter 2

Applebloom's eyes undergo the pleasure of a bright and jovial splendor of lights that stretch across the pointed rooftops of the many red and white striped tents of varying sizes. Her ears are delighted to a slow but playful tune playing throughout the entire circus that only envelopes her the further she walks in. Ponies from town are gathered and exploring this stunning place and the many activities set up around the circus. Smaller tents have been set up for games with an excitable pony behind each one shouting and explaining the rules and rewards for their games. Some of them appeared to just be games where you throw an object at a stack of assorted items, and the reward would be one of the many stuffed toys hanging from the ceiling of the tent, while other games seemed a bit more convoluted. Randomly, ponies dressed in puffy striped clothing with their faces masked in make-up, and manes fashioned in goofy styles and ridiculous colors, riding unicycles and juggling balls or pins at the same time pass her by. Some wear odd hats with little jingling bells that hang off the pointed tips off the top.

Scattered around are big cages lined with metal bars that house all different kinds of animals like big cats and crocodiles. She then finds a pony walking by dressed in a black suit and top hat, however, he towers above her as his legs appear far too long. She watches a tall alighted Ferris wheel nearly touch the thick smoky clouds of the dark sky as it slowly spins around. Other rides with their own borders of lights spin about crazily as cheers fill the air, however, none reach as high as the wheel. But, in the midst of all the music, laughter and cheering, she can hear one particular voice overtake the others.

“Fillies and gentlecolts! Come and witness the biggest spectacle of the night!”

Applebloom follows the voice through the groups of ponies to a stallion dressed in dull yellow clothes with thin red stripes standing atop a platform decorated with painted red and yellow zigzags. He’s shouting into a loudhailer while waving his cane and pointing it at the gathered group of ponies. Applebloom watches him through the legs of the crowd as she cannot find a way through them.

“The Twirling Twins will reach impossible feats! The Fire Dancers will amaze you with their ‘fiery’ performance! The Tamer and all his animals will perform tricks you never thought possible! What else lies in wait you may ask? Well, join me and see for yourself!”

The stallion then hops off his platform and trots joyfully into the opening in the tent behind him. All the ponies around follow suit, and Applebloom finally can see just how enormous this particular tent is compared to the others. Brimming with excitement she follows the crowd inside. She believes that this should be enough to satisfy her curiosity, and decides that after this she will hurry on back home. She squeezes through to the front of the crowd to allow her eyes the leisure of witnessing every inch of the expected spectacle. The stallion gallops to the center of the large shadowed room as he waits for everyone to get settled in.

“Everypony prepare yourselves, for the show is about to begin!” He shouts. “Firstly! I present to you, the Twirling Twins!”

A spotlight shines on the upper right side of the tent, revealing two identical mares dressed in pink skin tight uniforms standing atop a wooden platform high above the ground. She can make out their long violet manes and their milky white coats as they wave to the audience. Hanging from the beams that hold up the roof of the tent are several ropes with rings attached to the ends. The two mares nod to each other, and one of them leaps off the platform. She grabs onto a pair of the rings and tosses herself back up into the air. She follows the sets of rings with a series of flips and whirls until she lands on the opposite platform on the other side. Oohs and awes fill the crowd, but it was just merely the beginning. This time, the both of them leap out and grab a set of rings, but it doesn’t appear that there’s enough space for them to pass each other safely. They follow the rings all the way to the other side with a similar set of flips like the previous, however, as soon as they cross each other they flip and twirl in such a way that they pass right by each other. They land on the opposite platforms, and the crowd, along with Applebloom, cheers.

“I see that you all are impressed, but let’s just see what these wonderful mares can really do!” The stallion announces.

A drum begins to pound rapidly as the two mares step back from the edges of the platforms readying themselves for a short sprint. One mare dashes and hops into the air, the highest the crowd has ever seen her go, and she dives straight down. At the speed she’s falling Applebloom begins to tense up. The other mare drops down and gets her hind hooves snug into the rings allowing the rest of her body to hang low. She swings herself to catch the falling mare, they swing back to gain more momentum, and she tosses her back up into the air. Applebloom’s heart calms, but is eagerly anticipating their next move. The still hanging mare readies herself by grabbing onto the ropes and removes her hind hooves from the rings and replacing them with her fore hooves. The other mare falls and grabs hold of her own pair of rings as the two swing back and forth. The two leave the rings and into the air, and just as Applebloom is expecting them to twirl around each other again, something different happens. The two mares bump each other slightly, breaking their entire rhythm. As Applebloom’s heart sinks down to the bottom of her chest they both fall while flaring their legs about showing they’ve lost complete control. The mares become entangled in the ropes, and are hung by their necks as the drum silences. Their motionless bodies are suspended in the air with a fearful gasp from Applebloom. The spotlight remains over their bodies as the crowd suddenly fills with cheers. Confused, she starts to believe that perhaps it is just part of the show, but she can’t ignore the bodies that the light is still holding on.

“And now fillies and gentlecolts we will move on to the next act! The Tamer and his amazing animals!” The stallion shouts and points with his cane.

Suddenly the light shuts off masking the bodies in the dark as another clicks on and hovers over a rather skinny stallion in a red bow tie and forest green vest. Behind him are several cages filled with animals, and he pulls open the door to one holding three canines that quickly hop on their hind legs to lick his face as he scratches the back of their ears. Trying to put the previous image out of her head, and assuming it truly must’ve been just part of the show, she smiles at the adorable scene. The stallion grabs hold of a green hoop off the ground and holds it up into the air. One of the dogs runs about and leaps through the hoop, and as he grabs another off the ground with his teeth, the next dog leaps through it as the other continues to hop back and forth through the other. He then lifts up another off the ground with his hind leg, and now holding all three puts him in an awkward pose. All three dogs are leaping through the hoops, and as the stallion quickly and constantly changes his pose switching the position of the hoops, the canines adjust without missing a single loop.

The crowd and Applebloom cheer, and after a while the stallion ends the dogs’ cycle by setting down the hoops and returning to the cages for a new animal. He unlocks an extremely tall cage where a giraffe steps out. It follows him back to where he stood with the dogs, and he begins to gather back up his hoops. He positions himself a good distance away from the animal, and he tosses up one of the hoops like a disk toward it. The giraffe lowers its neck just enough to get its head through the ring and proceeds to spin it around its neck. He tosses the remaining two at the same time where the giraffe catches both and is now spinning all three around its neck. The stallion raises his hooves into the air, and the animal somehow manages to work the rings upward and toss them back to him. He catches them all, and the audience stomps their hooves crazily while Applebloom is stunned. The giraffe starts to walk back to its cage, but just before it passes the tamer he holds out his hoof where the animal bumps its hoof against his. Chuckles fill the crowd as the giraffe enters its cage, and the stallion adjusts his tie.

“Now everypony, I do believe he has a new friend to introduce!” The stallion shouts.

The tamer hurries over to another cage, and the animal he retrieves sends a shiver of fear up Applebloom’s spine. She watches him walk side by side with a lion that is nearly twice his size. Applebloom had never seen someone get so close to a lion before, nor has she ever been in the same room as one. The stallion and the lion stand face to face, and as soon as he raises his hoof the lion lifts itself up on its hind legs. The crowd gasps, Applebloom’s jaw drops, but the lion suddenly growls. In one quick motion the lion swipes its claw directly into the side of the tamer’s face sending him down to the ground. The stallion yells in pain, and Applebloom covers her eyes with her hooves. The entire crowd then bursts into a joyful laughter, and after the spotlight shuts off Applebloom removes her hooves from her eyes. While everyone laughs she is conflicted with what she should be feeling. She is still unsure if this really is part of the show, or if he really was hurt. Filling with discomfort, she looks into the dark as the stallion announces the next act.

“And now everyone! It’s time light up this show!” The stallion announces.

Six orange flames cut through dark slightly revealing the bodies of three ponies carrying torches and dressed in uniforms lined with reflective sequins. They each begin to juggle their own pair of torches, then they slowly transition to passing them over to each other and tossing them higher into the air. With their eyes focusing on the torches they start to mix up their order by walking in circles and swapping places with the pony next to them. The ponies in the audience cheer them on, but Applebloom watches the torches flip as the tension builds in her heart. She watches in horror as a single torch misses the grasp of one of the ponies and falls to the ground. The grass quickly catches fire, and it spreads at a fast rate consuming the darkness that once coated the room. The jugglers turn and gallop as fast as they can out the back exit of the tent. The growing flames reveal the still hanging bodies of the two mares, and the animal tamer whose body is lying sprawled across the ground with the lion sitting nearby, and the fur of its paw is tainted with red.

Frozen in fear, her eyes notice something in the center of the room. The stallion that announced every act is standing, without panic, and juggling three hats identical to the one he wore on his head. He tosses one hat high into the air, and with her eyes locked onto it she follows it up into the air and all the way back down where it is caught by a hand covered in gray fur. Her eyes follow the long arm to the shoulder of a tall figure standing on two long thin legs with its back to her. It bears the same design of clothing, and its tail is long and bare to show its pink skin tone. Suddenly the heads of the hanging mares lift up and turn to stare at Applebloom with big bright smiles. The tamer raises his head, and she can clearly see the deep claw marks that have been dug into the side of his face. The marks extend from his eye socket all the way to his mouth, but he smiles at her just like the mares. The strange figure rests the hat on top of its head holding the brim over its eyes, and turns with a smile just like the others lined with its jagged teeth. Its face is coated in gray fur, it bears a long muzzle with whiskers, and small round pink nose. It raises the brim of its hat to reveal its red irises staring intently at her.

“Did you enjoy the show my dear?” He asks with a delighted grin.