Pony POV Series
A Day At the Circus
By Kendell2
Edited by Alexwarlorn
“Come on Rarity, it’ll be fun!” my sweet little sister asks me, a poster for a circus presently visiting Ponyville in her teeth. Ringwing Sisters, I believe, or that might have been the name of an acrobatic troupe that's a main act, I'm not sure how that works.
A circus…with all sorts of dirty…filthy animals…with dirt where the floor should be, possibly straw…And who can be sure the ponies wash their hooves before making all that carnival food?
I doubt there are many things further from being lady-like than a carnival. I prefer the theatre, things like this were always mother and father’s thing…and they’re still on vacation…
But that’s why I’m standing here, looking at the poster in my baby sister’s mouth, isn’t it? They are not here for her right now…I shall not think poorly of them, it is like Applejack said, they are hurt, like we all were…But regardless, Sweetie needs somepony to be there for her when they’re not. And if there’s one thing I have learned through this whole mess…through fighting…Cheerilee and…and Nightmare Whisper…to the Sisterhooves Social…to Sweetie coming down with some mysterious illness I still am unsure what it actually was…I have realized one thing; I love my little sister. And it is like Applejack said: being siblings is a give and take. An apple pie is not an apple pie without the crust and the filling.
And I think after that awful illness…we both need a little something to take our minds off of it…and she needs something to make her feel better.
“…Alright, Sweetie Belle, if you are feeling up to it, then we shall go to the circus!”
“Really?! Thank you Rarity! You’re the best!”
And that look on her face, the hug she gives me…makes any dirt I get on my coat today worth it.
“Please, sis? It’ll just be a couple of hours! Yah can take a break that long, can’t yah? And it‘s only, they‘ll be gone tomorrow!”
Ah hate it when stuff like this happens. Runnin’ a farm ain’t easy, never has been, never will be…we love workin’ it, but the problem is, some days it’s hard tah take time to smell the roses. Especially when the farm is in yer family. When yah risked losin’ it not too long ago. Ah’m pretty sure the townponies were a bit more supportive of us here than in the…what do Pinkie and the Princesses call it? The Heart World? Ah’m still tryin’ to sort out all the things Ah’ve got memories of happenin’ two different ways now. But Ah’m doin’ it. Point is, there’s upsides and downsides tah farmin’, and there not bein’ enough hours in the day is a downside.
“Ah don’t know, Applebloom, we’ve got a good bit of work today…”
Oh crud! There‘s the puppy dog eyes! Dang it, why in Celestia’s name does she know how tah do that?! Does she practice it?!
“But…sis…Ah…” Ah can tell this time she ain’t just tryin’ tah make me guilty…“Ah love workin’ on the farm with yah…Ah really do…but…sometimes…Never mind…it ain’t important.”
She starts tah walk off, looking sadder than Winona when she got skunked…
“…Apple Bloom, come here.”
She sits down next tah me. “Now tell meh, what is it?”
“…Sometimes, Ah just want us tah…tah do somethin’ together that ain’t just work…Ah love workin’ with you and Big Mac, and Ah love it when we go campin’, Ah love it when we’re in the Sisterhooves Social…Ah just…sometimes it feels good tah just do stuff that with yah that don’t got nothin’ tah do with work…”
Ah’ll admit, Ah hadn’t really thought about it. Ah love spendin’ time with mah friends, just hangin’ out with them…but when Ah do, work is the farthest thing from mah mind. Ah love puttin’ in a good day’s work, the feelin’ of accomplishin’ it all…but…sometimes havin’ that moment when it ain’t about the farm, ain’t about the bits…When it’s just mah friends and meh…mah sister and meh…those moments can feel just as good for a different reason. Ah think that’s part of the reason even when Ah was bein’ a silly pony workin’ mahself half tah death that one Apple Buck Season, Ah still took the time tah do what mah friends wanted tah do with meh. Yeah, part of it was just bein’ a stubborn pony tryin’ tah keep a check her legs couldn’t cash and not wantin’ tah let anypony down…but Ah guess Ah just didn’t want tah be away from mah friends for that long.
Still, that didn’t change the fact there was still a lot we needed tah do today…
“…Applebloom, Ah’ll tell yah what,” Ah said, givin’ her a smile. “Yah help meh work until a little bit before the circus starts, and we’ll go. Alright?”
Her face lights up. “Really?!”
“Yep, but we gotta work hard tah see if we can get everythin’ done by then. Otherwise we’ll have tah do it after the circus, alright?…Applebloom! Wait for meh!”
Hehe, that’s mah little sister…
Getting hurt stinks. Even if it DID get me into Daring Do, being laid up in the hospital for a few days with a hurt wing (then about a week letting my wing heal up completely) was NOT something I ever want to experience again. Just…the feeling you’re grounded, and you can’t fly. Any Pegasus will tell you, that feeling, rather it’s a broken wing or having your wings tied, isn’t fun.
So when Scoots pulled a muscle in her wing during her lessons, I knew how it felt. Poor kid has it even worse considering she’s just starting to learn to fly at all (even if she still does some bucking dangerous stuff and has a long way to go) and already needs to rest her wing for a few days. Yeah, I’ve been a totally awesome flyer for a long time, but I still remember how it felt to get the wind under my wings for the first time, so I can imagine how much it stinks to be the squirt right now.
Well, after about a few days of keeping off her wing, Scoots had read every single comic I had in the house that interested her, we had already read the entirety of Daring Do already, and I was out of stories (yes, Rainbow Dash ran out of stories to tell about herself, I didn’t think it’d happen either), and she just basically stared out the window. Normally, she’d go hang with her friends, but she couldn’t exactly do any of their crusading with a bum wing and couldn‘t pull their wagon around either.
And it bucking hurt to watch.
I’ll admit it, I care for the kid. I’m her guardian, and like I said I’ve been laid up before, I know how boring it can get. If Twilight hadn’t left me that book to read, I think I literally would’ve died of boredom. So I decided to find something for us to do together…
“Hey, Scoots,” I called, walking into our living room. “I’ve got good news.”
She jumped up and ran over. “My wing’s all better?!”
“No, not that…”
Scoots deflated and lowered her head. “Oh…”
I gave her a smirk. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something fun together tonight.”
That cheered her up. “Really?! What is it?!”
“The circus is in town and I saw Sweetie and Rarity on their way over to get their tickets, so…” I pulled out two tickets and showed them to Scoots. “What do you say we catch the show tonight? You and me?”
I swear she smiled so wide I thought her head would fall off. “What do I say?! That’s awesome! Let’s go! When is it?!”
I know part of it was just the opportunity to get out and do something, when you’re that bored anything exciting seems fun. But I’ll say one thing; it feels bucking great to know the other part was just because I wanted to do something with her…I’ve had to accept the bad part of my Element, that sometimes you have to choose to be loyal to one thing and not another, but this is the part I knew all along, and never get tired of.
“The circus? Isn’t that…uncouth?”
I will admit it. My mother wanted me to be a lady…but after having a day of rolling down a hill in barrels with Twist and the others, after all the fun I‘ve had with them all…I just wanted more than anything to be a foal sometimes. Whenever a circus came to town before, I quietly let mom say that it was unlady-like and left it at that…But I was tired…tired of always trying to be the lady she wanted me to be and not the foal I WAS.
“I know it’s a little dirty…but I really want to go…I just want to see it, please?”
Mother still didn’t seem to know how to respond. I could tell she didn’t like the idea, but to be honest, I didn’t care. If they wouldn’t take me…I’d just use my allowance and go myself…but I didn’t want to do that.
I finally just turn and start to walk to my room and get my allowance…
“…You really want to do this, Silver Spoon?” daddy asked, he didn’t sound mad. He seemed like he actually wanted my answer…
I turn and look at him, blinking a few times behind my glasses. “Yes, daddy…I do…”
…Yes, I’d accepted my father back, I wasn’t afraid of him anymore…but we hadn’t done anything like a father and daughter in forever…I wanted to…Sweet Cadence I wanted to…
“Silver Tongue, you seriously can’t be considering going to such a…lowbrow event as a circus…”
Dad looked to mom, he looked so serious. “Silver Platter, haven’t we wanted Silver Spoon to do something with us since the Day of Chaos? She spent most of the Gaia Festival avoiding us…Now she wants to do something with us, what kind of parents would we be to turn her down?”
Mom looked a little ashamed of herself at that. Daddy looked to me and smiled. “…Sure, we can go, Silver Spoon.”
Yes, I hugged my father. And yes, we were BOTH happy about it.
“Please, Fluttercruel?”
“No mom, I‘m not some little foal!”
“But Angel really wanted to go…Please, I‘ll go to something you like next time.”
“…Fine…”
Fluttercruel and I…deciding what we’re going to do next isn’t always easy. We don’t like the same things a lot of the time. Just doing what we want without the other isn’t possible, we share a body. A lot of the time…it’s just we sit back while the other does something…But most of the time, we at least talk it over first…
A circus came to Ponyville…I’ll admit it, I’m not a big fan of the circus…I’m not afraid of clowns…anymore…Pinkie kind of…desensitized me to them…It’s just…so crowded…with lots of crowds…
But Angel wanted to go. I think part of it is trying to get me out a little more…and I will admit…the idea of all those animals I normally would never get the chance to see in Equestria is something that appeals to me.
And I will admit…I wanted Fluttercruel to go to the circus because…I guess I just once wanted to do something a mother did with their daughter…
“Come on Twilight!” I called, holding up the poster.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “The circus? Aren’t you a little old for that?”
“Are you a little too old for book forts?”
“…Touché…”
Yeah, I’ll admit it, I’m proud to mature for a baby dragon, but the fact of the matter is; I’m still a baby dragon. Sometimes, I like to do things a baby dragon does. Which includes eat a lot of cotton candy at the circus, laugh at clowns, and generally enjoy myself.
…Silver Spoon spent a day rolling down a hill in barrels, she’s actually starting to ACT like a foal and having the time of her life…why can’t I?
Oh, and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders seemed to be going if the line up at the ticket booth was any indication (I never thought I‘d see the day Silver Spoon‘s parents would line up for the circus), so somedragon needed to be there to make sure they didn’t try to be ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Circus Performers’ mid-show. Sure, Silver could be the voice of reason, but having an extra pair of eyes wouldn’t hurt.
“Come on Twi, you gotta get out of the library more,” I told her. “I know your studies are important to you, but so is just taking time to relax and enjoy yourself!”
She looked a bit conflicted. “…I don’t know…I was going to reshelve the library today…”
“And there’s only two shows, both today. Come on, I saw Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all lined up to get a ticket! Knowing Pinkie, she’ll be there. You loved going to see Ponyacci with her, didn't you? Isn’t spending time with them more important than doing the same thing we do every single month?”
Yes, I know how much Twilight’s books mean to her. She’s a bookworm, and I wouldn’t want her to be any different, but she needs to get out more. And…I’ll admit it, even with the CMC as my friends…I missed hanging out with Twilight and the others. They were still my friends. How does that expression go? ‘Make new friends, keep the old, one is silver the others gold?’ Point is, Twilight was still my friend, and even if I did have blast with the Crusaders, I wanted a chance to spend time with her and the others if I could get it.
That got her a bit, time for the big guns. Hope hanging out with Apple Bloom so much pays off. “Please?” I ask, giving the best puppy dog eyes I can. Ow…this is making my eyes hurt, how does Applebloom do this?!
Twilight gave a small smile. “…I suppose I can reschedule it to one of the ‘Incase of Equestria Threatening Emergency’ makeup days…”
“Yes! Thanks Twi! I‘m sure you won‘t regret it!”
And before you ask, yes, Twilight DOES include ‘Incase of Equestria Threatening Emergency’ makeup days in in her schedules, after the fourth time it’s happened, you think someone like Twilight wouldn’t include that?
…Hehe, that’s Twilight for yah…
I may be a saner Pinkamina Diane Pie, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like to still have fun! And “Baby Cakes” still happened, Pumpkin and Pound are every bit as cute as they are in the Heart World!
Huh? Argue? Why would I have to argue with anyone? The Cakes were busy, so I offered to take the twins to the circus! Simple as that!
But what was a surprise was walking up to the line to get into the big top and finding all my friends already in line!
“Huh? You girls all came?”
“Yeah, a bit of a surprise for meh too,” said Applejack. “But apparently we all got the same idea.”
“No entirely impossible,” Twilight replied. “There’s only two shows while they’re here, so there’s a 50/50 chance of us seeing one show or the other.”
“Yeah, the earlier show was the only one we could make,” Applejack added, giving Apple Bloom a bit smile. “The other show was a tad late for our tastes.”
“The same here,” Rarity replied. “I didn’t want to risk Sweetie in the night air just yet.” Well, at least Rarity and Sweetie Belle didn’t suffer Aesop amnesia!
“I was afraid Scoots would go stir-crazy if she had to stay inside one more minute,” Dashie said, ruffling Scootaloo’s mane.
“Um…well…Fluttercruel insisted we see the early show,” Fluttershy said.
“So we could get it over with…” I heard Fluttercruel mutter. You think she’d learn to keep that in her thoughts where only the Shadows can see it!
I looked over and saw Silver Spoon and her parents were in line too. I guess her mom didn’t want anyone to see her, since she was hiding behind that parasol of hers.
“Well, we’re all here! That’s what matters!” I said, getting in line. Once we were inside, we did a group hug and took our seats.
Oh! There's Ponyacci! Maybe I should go say hi!...Oh, wait, he's with a class! He looks so happy teaching them about...whatever a clown needs to know about the tent! It'd be rude to interrupt, I'll catch up with him later!
Hey, isn’t this the part where you guys leave and we just sit down to enjoy the show? This isn’t going to be one of those transformation stories were we all get turned into circus animals or merry-go-round ponies, is it?
(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): No, Pinkie, we’re just here for the show).
Oh! Good. And just in time, here comes the ring master!
“Wow sis! How did he make that tiger tah do that?!” Ah may have gotten a Lion Tamer Cutie Mark When Ah had the Cutie Pox, but they didn’t listen tah me at all! That stallion’s making them dance and do tricks! Ah ain’t ever seen anything like it!
“Same way we get Winona to do tricks Ah guess, but it’s pretty cool, ain’t it?” Sis asks meh, givin’ me a big smile, and Ah gave one right back!
“What do yah think, Twist, you havin’ fun?!” Ah ask, Twist not that far away with her pa. Ah asked her if she’d like to come to. She’s mah friends the same as the others are.
“Yeah! I’m having a blasth!”
“Wow! That looks kind of dangerous!” Ok, we five may do some really crazy stuff, but some of the stunts the acrobats were doing were extreme, even for us!
“Yes, it certainly is. But their outfits are positively divine, aren’t they?” Rarity asks. I just chuckle. She’s having fun, with me…That’s all I wanted tonight, to have fun with my sister, and I’ve got it!
“Whoa…”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, stunts like that can’t be easy, squirt. Believe me, I know from experience how much work it takes to nail a stunt. I agree with yah, whoa!”
I’ll admit it…it stinks not to be able to fly. I’m learning, but…well, then I pulled this stupid muscle in my wing.
But you know…watching those pegasi do trapeze tricks, never once opening their wings? All I could think of how awesome they looked! I mean of course Rainbow Dash is a hundred times more awesome, but still! And next they're doing a trick called the 'Thunderdome'! I don't know what that is but it sounds so cool!
And the best part was…Rainbow was right there next to me, and we’re both having a blast!
So. Awesome.
“Whoa! That was some fireball!”
Ok, I’ll admit it…I was sitting at the circus with mom and Angel (don’t ask how we convinced them to give him a ticket, even I don’t know). And I’m actually having…fun.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t much care for the clowns (even if I do get a kick out of slapstick). But how could a stallion spitting a 20 foot fireball into the air not be cool?! And yeah…the tigers were awesome. Mom liked that too, if only because she realized the whips weren’t actually hitting the tigers and were just a signal for the tricks. But hey, tigers were kickflank! No two ways about it!
Hehe…I’ll admit it, it was kind of funny to see mom’s reaction to the ‘amazing Dragonpony’. I didn’t even know dragons and ponies could breed! Mom didn’t know what to think of him! I’m not sure if he’s a real hybrid or just a pony in makeup, but he still looked awesome!
“Um…yes, Fluttercruel…it was cool…oh! Here comes the Elephants!”
Aww, no more fire?…Oh well, elephants are still wicked; big and powerful. What’s not to like?
(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): And?)
…And I guess it won’t hurt to admit it…me and mom actually enjoying the same thing once in awhile was pretty rad too.
…
(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Twilight?)
What?! Oh, sorry…I’ve just never seen anything like that! How did that stunt not break her neck?! It doesn’t seem physically possible!
(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Aren’t you over that?)
Yeah, of course…this wasn’t me not wanting to believe it, it wasn’t that kind of disbelief, it was…
(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Like when Rainbow did the Sonic Rainboom?)
Yeah, exactly! It was…the kind of disbelief were your mind can’t believe what your eyes are showing you…but that’s why you enjoy it…Like when Rainbow did the Sonic Rainbow, just like that!
I look over to Spike, him watching the same stunts I am with that same disbelief, eyes full of wonder…It reminds me of me when Celestia told me to take care of Spike…That sense of amazement and ‘can this be real?’.
I got some of the same feeling from seeing Ponyacci's tricks with Pinkie, but I can't help being blown away by some of these tricks, it's so unreal...
I look around and see everypony else laughing and having fun. All my friends.
Spike was right, spending time with them was worth rescheduling reshelving day.
I just sit next to Spike and enjoy the show.
Silver Spoon is actually laughing. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her actually laugh…Silver Platter tries not to laugh, but I can tell she wants to.
Oh what the hay? Tonight isn’t about social standing or appearances…it’s about doing something with my daughter…and enjoying it.
“Having a good time, sweetie?”
She looks up at me and smiles. “Yes, daddy…are you?”
I give a smile. “I most certainly am.”
I finally let myself laugh with her as one of the clowns trips the other with the cable of a buzz saw they’re trying to construct a building with.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Some of you Shadows are probably wondering ‘why did we bother getting pony’s thoughts on this? There’s no crisis, no disaster, why did you bother?’ The answer is pretty simple.)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Sometimes the moments that are the most special aren’t the ones containing big, climatic fights or foiling evil plans, or even some great personal crisis…Sometimes they’re just ponies being ponies, sitting back and enjoying a show together as friends and as family. Those are moments we must never forget.)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): Hahaha! Silly pony! That’s not how you use a hammer!)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to enjoy the show along with all the others. Applebloom and Applejack, Sweetie Belle and Rarity, Scootaloo and Rainbow, Fluttercruel and Fluttershy, Spike and Twilight, and Silver Spoon and her parents. And there’s Pinkie and the Cake Twins too, and Sunny Daze, Shady Daze, and Peachy Pie too. Even Featherweight and his aunt. Tonight isn’t about saving the world…it’s about enjoying ourselves with the ones around us. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.)
