It was a normal day in Ponyville, everypony doing their jobs; Ditzy Doo diligently delivering the mail, Pinkie Pie preparing plenty of pastries, Fluttershy caring for her animal friends.  Twilight Sparkle was studying in her library, Rarity was designing and stitching her dresses, Rainbow Dash was napping – completely normal.

Applejack was working hard on her farm, Sweet Apple Acres. She bucked one last apple tree, filling her apple cart, and began to drag the cart back to the barn for storage. She suddenly stopped, but not from exhaustion; the strong earth pony wasn’t even breaking a sweat. No, she heard something strange – it sounded like a parade and a stampede mixed together. The ground was rumbling and horns were blaring, drums were pounding, accordions were screeching. Apples tumbled off the cart.

On the road leading to Ponyville, a wagon came into view, followed by another, followed by a dozen more. They were massive and garishly painted. Lights and streamers hung from everywhere they could. Most of the wagons were like moving houses, but a few of them were occupied by cages. Strange creatures were inside and outside of the cages, walking alongside the cacophonous caravan. Massive creatures pulled the carts – gray, with legs the size of trees and ears the size of Applejack’s hat. They had long things coming out of their faces and massive curved tusks on each side of it. On their backs were colorful caparisons (large enough to cover five ponies), and what looked like tiny huts on top of those. Inside each carriage was a smiling pony in a similarly vibrant outfit playing an instrument. Some of the gray creatures wore sparkling hats on their heads, and some wore what looked like tiaras, made of gold, silver and gemstones. Applejack had never seen anything like them. On the leading wagon stood a very familiar unicorn with a starred cloak and hat, smirking as she guided her caravan.

By the time the last cart came into view, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith had come out of the farmhouse to join her in staring at the caravan, mouths agape. They looked at each other, and as the last wagon receded from view, they followed after it, abandoning the apple cart.

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The rumbling soon reached Ponyville proper. A few ponies panicked, thinking it was an earthquake (it almost had the effects of one) until they heard the music – or what could be loosely defined as music. Pinkie Pie looked up from her sweets and said to herself “Did I throw a party without knowing about it?” She shook her head and popped her head out of the window of Sugarcube Corner as her pie pan shook off the counter.

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Twilight Sparkle and Spike, her baby dragon assistant, were running around trying to catch falling books and statues when Twilight, trying to be heard over the racket, shouted “What is going on?!”

Suddenly, the music stopped and a voice filled the air of Ponyville.

“Gather around, my little ponies! Gather around and be amazed…”

Twilight and Spike stopped and groaned, “That voice…”

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“…by the most magnificent sight any of you will see in your entire lives…”

Rarity was in a similar predicament to Twilight Sparkle, her ponyquins and rolls of fabric falling over and draping all over her boutique.

She paused and groaned, “That voice…”

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“…helmed by the most beautiful and majestic unicorn in all of Equestria…”

Rainbow Dash, roused (and knocked out of the tree she had been napping in) by the rumbling, was rubbing her head, when she lifted it and groaned, “That voice…”

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“…the Great and Powerful Trixie! Yes…”

By this point, almost everypony in Ponyville was following the caravan when it stopped and formed a circle in a large clearing in the park.

“…the Great and Powerful Trixie has gathered the most spectacular wonders of the world for the ponies of Equestria to see in her Grandiose and Palatial Circus Extraordinaire!”

Finally finished with her speech, she stomped her front hooves, and poles shot out of each wagon in her caravan, angling up and meeting at the middle of the circle of wagons. Huge swathes of colorful canvas then raced up between each pole, followed by streamers and strings of lights, and pendants of every color in the rainbow grew out of the masts, lining them all the way down. A rainbow of fireworks shot out of each cart, twisting and spiraling high into the air before exploding and filling the sky with color and sound. The ponies of Ponyville stared, amazed by the spectacle.

In the distraction, all the creatures that had been surrounding and pulling the wagons had disappeared inside the massive tent, including Trixie. A sign shot out in front of the only entrance into the tent, saying:

“Welcome, Ponies Of Ponyville, To The Great And Powerful Trixie’s

Grandiose And Palatial Circus Extraordinaire! Come Inside, And

Wonder At The Bizarre And Exotic Sights From All Over

Equestria… And Beyond!”

Everypony was hesitant to enter. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike managed to push to the front of the crowd.

Twilight managed to speak up. “Well, I guess we should see what all the hubbub is about. It can’t be worse than last time she showed up, can it?”

They looked at each other apprehensively, and entered the pavilion.

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ADMISSIONS: 5 BITS FOR ADULTS

2 BITS FOR FOALS

Twilight Sparkle glanced at the booth, then at the smiling mare sitting behind it. “How much for baby dragons?” she asked, gesturing towards Spike.

“Two bits, miss!”

She fished out seven bits and laid them on the counter, then looked back at her friends. She noticed that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had appeared by their sisters. And Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked down at Scootaloo, who was smiling innocently at her. Rainbow rolled her eyes, and said, “Fine, I guess I’ll pay for you.” Scootaloo squealed with joy.

They all paid to enter, and walked into the arena proper. They all gasped. Somehow, it was even bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Stands ringed a huge dirt pit. It was lit by paper lanterns hanging all around the top of the tent. The whole place looked empty. Ponies began pouring in behind the ten friends. Everypony moved to sit in the stands. As soon as the stadium was filled, the lanterns dimmed.

The voice filled the air once again: “Prepare to be astounded, amazed, and all around flabbergasted! Enjoy the show, Ponyville!”

Suddenly, the ground in the middle of the pit began to move. It began to spin, and then it began to rise. A twisting spire of dirt grew into the air. It reached nearly to the top of the tent.  The sides began to release smoke, until the entire spire was obscured. A tremendous fanfare began. The smoke began rushing out of tent. When the spire was revealed again, the spire was lined with ponies with their front left hooves raised towards the air, and at the top, rearing on her hind legs, stood the Great and Powerful Trixie!

She stomped down, and the top of the tower disappeared in smoke once again. Blue fire began racing down the ledge of the spire, and before the fire reached them, the performers jumped off the edge, flipping and twisting before being snatched out of the air by pegasi trailing blue smoke. The crowd applauded wildly.

Smoke once again filled the arena, and once again it rushed out of the top of the pavilion. When it cleared, the pit was empty once again. The spire was gone.