"Come one, come all, to the Circus of Mallo! We have feats of acrobacy, we have the mirrors of confusion! We even have an equine cannon, but that's for the last spectacle. And while you wait, why not take a peek at our refreshments in both beverage and candy forms! We're here for the week, so if you don't come today, we're sure you'll come tomorrow."
A stallion ringmaster shouted on top of a box in front of the entrance to his enormous circus attractions. It was more like an amusement than anything. A ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, small roller coasters, and the circus actors were walking in the open, either preparing for their feats or greeting the coming ponies. The circus was completely filled to the brim with ponies. The small foals would get balloons bought by their parents, and the clowns filling them with helium would often play around when they would fill the balloons up. An example would be when one tried to blow in them without using the helium tank. The clown would quickly give out and get filled by the air in the balloon, only to swell up instantly. This caused quite a few rounded laughs in the colts and fillies baring witness to this.
However, if there was one thing the Circus of Mallo was known for, it was its cotton candy, aside from the acrobats performing strange feats even without magic. While the whole place could practically be seen from space due to the insane amount of lights that had lit up as a result of the sun setting, there was one place that didn't seem to light up quite like the rest. It was the stand of Mr. Cotton Candy. He was a grumpy and sad fellow, but he was the one making the cotton for everypony. His recipes were unknown to everyone in the circus, even the ringmaster. He would usually leave his trailer and go to the nearby towns to get these ingredients, but what he got, no pony ever knew, for those he would get these ingredients from would never speak a word as they knew quite well the importance of secret formulas and recipes.
Cotton Candy was a green stallion, albeit light green, with a very well maintained mane and tail of a red crimson. His mane had been combed back to look extremely smooth, but it was mainly so that he didn't get it tangled into his cotton candy machine.
"Here you go, little miss..." he said with lack of motivation and a frown.
He had given some cotton candy to a little blue pegasus who seemed delighted to see her treat. Strangely enough, the cotton candy was blue as well, but it had perfectly shaped yellow stars embedded in it. The strangest is that unicorn candy makers use their magic spells to adorn fun little decorations on their creations. However, this does not change their flavors. In fact, the candy keeps its original taste. Yet, somehow, the yellow stars tasted differently to this little filly who found it quite sour.
"Haha. Look at him. He's only making cotton candy," a colt of red and yellow from afar shouted.
"I bet that his best trick is to sit down and stuff himself with his own candy," a filly of blue and lime added.
"I guess he just isn't smart enough or talented enough to do anything impressive. The circus needs a janitor, don't they?" a slightly older colt added as well.
The stallion simply squinted when he saw the makers of those comments. He was used to this by now, but he couldn't help but feel anger whenever he heard the mockeries. Everywhere he went, there were mockeries, insults, and so forth. His thoughts and eyes turned to three fillies at the entrance of the circus who had yelled something about crusading and the circus, but he payed no real attention to them and returned to his menial task of creating and spinning cotton candy webs for the foals who would come by.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders had finally arrived at the circus, and they were ready to ask the ringmaster at becoming circus actors. They were certain he would accept and they would quickly get their cutie marks in whatever performance they would participate in. Looking through the crowd, Apple Bloom saw the ringmaster in front of the enormous red and yellow tent of the circus. He seemed bored and was leaning against an empty booth. This was their chance, so the three fillies hurried towards him.
"Hm? Hello you three. What things have you come to see?"
"Nothin', sir. We just wanted ta participate in yer circus."
"What?! Why?" the ringmaster was shocked.
"To get our cutie marks!" Scootaloo shouted in joy.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER CIRCUS PERFORMERS!" they shouted at the top of their lungs.
The ringmaster literally felt himself get blown to the side by the power of their voices. He had to readjust his top hat and coat before answering.
"But the circus isn't a place for..."
The ringmaster suddenly caught glimpse of one of their pachyderms walking about the circus, then a devious smile grew on his face. He put his forehooves together and said:
"Well, perhaps you can become circus performers."
The fillies' ears and smiles perked up.
"BUT. But, not every circus performer starts out like the ones you see here. They had to work their way up, and you'll be no different. Why not go ask the muscle pony around back. He must be in the process of bending some bars for the feats to be done later on."
Their ears immediately fell down.
"Hey, no need to be gloom, just be sure to work hard and you'll be rewarded."
The fillies shrugged and hurried on to reach behind the giant tent. On the way, they spotted Cotton Candy who paid no attention in return. Finally, the fillies found a rather enormous unicorn of olive green...although he seemed to have no mane or tail. The surface of both areas looked scorched. Perhaps he burnt them off? He was busy lifting some weights in front of his trailer, but there was some props to get through first before reaching him. This was nothing, and the fillies nearly gave him a concussion after suddenly barging in unannounced.
"Excuse me, mister," Sweetie Belle asked.
"Wh-gaah!"
The weight crashed on the ground.
"I...guhh...WHAT?!"
Sweetie apologized after flinching flinched. "S-Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's not getting scared that I'm angry about, it's that somepony could've been seriously hurt! And what are you even doing back here? No outsiders are allowed!"
"B-But, the ringmaster said we could become part of the circus if we follow what he said."
The musclepony's angry demeanor changed into a pensive one, then a sarcastic one that the fillies didn't pick up on.
"Did he now? Well, you most certainly know that you can't just become circusfolk on the fly. You'll have to work your way up."
"Yeah. We know. He said that." Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
"Well then, you'll have to start with the basic stuff, like helping us prepare our stunts. I want YOU to help me get these weights into the circus."
The stallion pointed towards a heap of dumbbells, weights, and what looked like a giant cube of metal.
"Get this done innnnnn...at least fifteen minutes. In the meantime, I'll have a little trot around the grounds."
The stallion turned around the fillies and hurried in front of the tent. Unbeknownst to the fllies, he had intentionally moved there to talk with the ring master. Both were having a riot tricking the three ponies. They weren't going to be hurt trying to lift those weights...hopefully. Five minutes in and three were exhausted, sweating, and panting on the ground.
"Ah can't feel mah legs,"Apple Bloom moaned.
"I can't feel my mouth," Sweetie Belle complained.
"I think I can't move," Scootaloo added.
The weights hadn't moved a nanometer.
"I guess we aren't made for this," Scootaloo said.
"Ah guess so. Well, what can we do, then? We ain't gon' stop here with these weights are we?"
"Apple Bloom, we aren't made for circus life. Plus, what would our parents say?"
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom's ears drooped down.
"Yer right. What, then?"
"Well..."
The three looked from their tired spot to see the cotton candy maker carrying some bags into his trailer with an angered face. He quickly came back out with different bags full of a wide variety of colored sugar powder and walked back towards his stand where impatient buyers wanted to eat his renown cotton delights.
"Hey, what if we investigate to see what he uses in his recipes? We could learn what's so special about them," Scootaloo whispered to her friends.
"What for? He's just a cotton candy maker. He probably just adds another kind of sugar, and it would be rude to just go in his home without asking him first," Sweetie Belle answered.
"Oh, pfff. Where's your sense of adventure? What do you think, Apple Bloom?"
"Well, ah've heard from granny that there're a wide variety of sugars, but she only told me of the ones made from apples. Sure. Maybe we could go'n check it out?"
"That's two against one."
"Oh, fine."
The three got up and walked towards the trailer. They were about to reach the steps when a mare interrupted them.
"Hey! What are you three doing here? Go! Get out of here. You're not allowed."
"But the ring leader--"
"I don't care. H was certainly joking. Now go."
The three were forced back to the main area of the circus grounds. Scootaloo pounded the ground with her tiny hoof in anger.
"Shoot! We were almost there!"
"Look, if you REALLY want to figure out what the ingredient is, maybe we can hide somewhere until night," Sweetie Belle suggested.
"What fer-Oooooh! I get it!" Apple Bloom suddenly realized.
"What?"
"The performances 're all gonna be at night, so they'll never be able tah notice us slipping into the cotton candy maker's trailer."
"But where do we hide?"
"In that pile of hay."
Sweetie Belle pointed towards a large pile of hay against the walls of the circus, but that wasn't the best place to hide.
"Sweetie Belle, haystacks 're itchy 'n uncomfortable," Apple Bloom complained.
"I know, but that's the only place closest to his trailer. So? Do you want to see what his secret ingredient is?"
"...Sure. All together now!"
"CU...Cutie Mark Crusaders," they quietly corrected themselves before getting any unwanted attention.
The three hurriedly scampered across the ground and hopped into the pile. There was lots of squirming and complaining about positioning as well as the itchiness being caused by the hay, but they soon settled as the three waited patiently. Time went on, and they eventually, somehow, fell asleep. That is, until the pony cannon went off.
"Ah!" Scootaloo yelled.
The three fell out of the hay stack and tumbled onto the ground. They were expecting somepony to grab them by their manes and kick them out of the circus, but nothing happened. The fillies slowly opened their eyes to see that there was nothing around them except for the usual performance material and trailers.
"Huh. Ah guess we were lucky." Apple Bloom smiled.
"Yeah, but now we can barely see anything. It's too dark and the clouds are blocking out the moon."
Sweetie Belle looked upwards with a hoof above her eyes.
"Well, it's better 'n nothin'. Hey, Scootaloo. Could ya go 'n see if that cotton candy gah is still servin' the others?"
"Sure."
The little orange pegasus creeped along the ground and against the tent and slowly peeked around the corner to see that the stallion was still serving his treats, albeit against his will still.
"He's still there," the filly said while she scampered back to her friends.
"Then let's go on in," Sweetie Belle suggested.
The three went to the trailer and expected the door to be locked, so while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo went around the trailer looking for some way in, Sweetie Belle pulled the door open, much to the surprise of her friends.
"How did you..." Apple Bloom gasped.
"Never mind that. Let's just get in already before he comes back."
The three slowly opened the door to not create any noise. Upon entering the trailer, they were surprised to see...absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The place was...actually well organized and clean. The fillies went through the pantry, tossing seasoning and sugar everywhere. Food and dishes were overturned and the bed was uplifted.
After a few minutes of searching, the fillies just stopped.
"Ah give up. We'll never find it." Apple Bloom slumped onto the ground in defeat.
"We can't give up yet. It's got to be somewhere around here." Scootaloo started to spin around in panic.
Sweetie Belle just sighed and leaned against the lower pantry in fatigue...then she slid to the left and knocked off a cloth placed on the handle of the pantry door. It fell to the floor, then a compartment on the floor slid open. It somehow led to a deep place far below the trailer. such a thing seemed impossible.
"Nice job, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom praised. "Should we go down there anyways?"
"That's probably where the cotton candy pony is keeping his secret ingredient." Scootaloo said.
"Then let's go!" Sweetie Belle added enthusiastically.
While Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went down the wooden steps leading to the dark abyss down below, Scootaloo preferred the quicker method by tripping and tumbling down the stairs.
"Be quiet," Sweetie Belle scolded.
This place was rather bizarre. It was dimly lit through some unknown source, and it seemed to be made entirely out of gray bricks. There were weird machines of metal placed against the walls, and many boxes in the middle containing what looked like more of that special cotton candy. Looking around, the fillies noticed large abundances of different colored and sized feathers as well large clumps of mane scattered about. They were quite confused. Naturally, there were many sacks of sugar and other components necessary for the cotton candy that didn't know about, but something seemed strange.
"Where's the ingredient?" Apple Bloom wondered aloud.
"And what's with these weird machines?" Sweetie Belle added as she hit one of them.
Scootaloo was still sore from her fall, so she paid no real attention to her surroundings.
"Ah don't get it. Ah thought we'd at least find 'em in here."
"Then it's too bad you don't realize that they're already here," a low and depressed voice remarked.
The shining green pupils of the cotton candy maker were staring at the three fillies from the only exit to this area.
"Oh! Uhhh...we can explain..." Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly.
"No point. It's too late now. I got my ingredients. Wondering how this place exists in a trailer?"
"Well...Ah thought you just dug it through."
"Takes too long. It's an old spatial box that I took off some lout who stole my things several years back."
The stallion closed the door to the exit and locked it. He had the key around his neck, but it didn't look like he would be taking it off anytime soon.
"We're sorry for intruding in your home, but we were so curious as to what your secret ingredient was," Sweetie Belle said.
"Secret ingredient? You think I actually use all that stuff to make my cotton candy? It's all there for when I run out of my special candy."
"S...So? What is it?"
"What does it matter to two fillies who intruded into my property?"
"We're three," Scootaloo said next to the stallion.
"Not anymore you aren't."
Mr. Cotton Candy grabbed Scootaloo by her mane and threw her into the metal monstrosity which suddenly roared into life. Scootaloo had been tossed into an opening in a box-shaped portion of the machine which immediately closed afterwards. The orange lights being created by this monstrosity were more than enough to illuminate the entire room. After a few screeches and what looked like metal plates applying extreme pressure, an enormous mound of orange cotton candy with purple stripes flowing through them slid out of the machine in a wooden box. The grumpy stallion took a swipe and tasted his new flavor.
"Hm. Very energetic and invigorating. It has a tropical tang to it."
"Wh...What did ya do to Scootaloo?!" Apple Bloom gasped.
"Hm? Oh. You want some?"
"WHAT?!"
"Stupid fillies. I overheard you mocking me. I've grown tired of ponies always mocking me. Telling me that I have a bad job. That I'm stupid. That I'm worth nothing. I've grown tired of hearing that all these years. So, I decided to use what was down here to make my cotton candy. When I tossed a stallion in there after getting absolutely furious at him, I expected him to be CRUSHED to bits. Yet...he was turned into cotton candy. A special cotton candy. I had never tasted something like that. So I went and brought those stupid colts and fillies down here and--"
"You've been sellin' em to everypony you've met here."
"That's right. And you know what the best part is? You'll never get out of here and tell anypony."
"Oh yes we will!" Apple Bloom shouted.
The tiny filly charged at the stallion head on, but was promptly intercepted and tossed into the machine as well, creating a vanilla yellow cotton candy with red ribbons embedded in the cottony texture. Sweetie Belle simply started to panic.
"You three were the fastest I've ever managed to catch. Others would have run away...or at least tried. I always get in such a tussle. with them."
"No...please...I don't want to be cotton candy."
"Too bad. Your bitter attitude towards hard working ponies has forced my hooves. Think of it this way: You'll become much sweeter. I've also grown tired of explaining what I do to those who never appreciate my hard work afterwards."
"No! Noooo! Rarity!"
Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash had arrived at the circus after hearing that the three fillies had gone there awhile back and hadn't returned yet. The sun had come out, but it still worried them that the fillies hadn't returned.
"Ah'm not so sure they're still still here, Rainbow Dash. What makes you so sure? Maybe they've gone in the plains fer campin' or somethin'," Applejack worried.
"No. I swear. They had come to this circus," Rainbow Dash said.
"I concur. I had given a few bits to Sweetie Belle for coming here. Perhaps they simply stayed late to help the circus in some way ot another? You know how they get," Rarity added.
The three looked around for awhile, then noticed the few ponies there. It was the wee hours of the morning, so it was normal that not many were here yet. However, what caught their eyes was the cotton candy maker and his trolley. He seemed to have placed three special sticks with the treats on display.
"Maybe we could ask that gentlecolt over there?" Rarity suggested.
"You mean that grumpy grouch?" Applejack noted.
"I dunno, Rarity. He doesn't look like the friendly type."
"He's the only pony currently here that we can talk with. We might as well talk to him."
"Fine."
Applejack was the first to ask the stallion a question.
" 'Scuse me, sir? We've been wonderin' if y'all had seen three fillies? One's yellah in color with a red bow in her mane. Another is an orange pegasus with a purple mane, and the last is a white unicorn like mah friend here, but with a curly purple mane with pink streaks in it."
"Not that I know of. Are you going to get something or not?"
"Hmph! He obviously doesn't want to help us find my sister."
"Sister? I'm terribly sorry. Here. Have these complimentary cotton candy sticks as an apology," the stallion offered with a frown.
"I don't know if I should..."
"Just eat it, Rarity. It's free, and it's cotton candy!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Oh. Fine."
Rarity got one with lovely pink stripes intertwining with purple in a sea of white whilst Applejack got the vanilla colored cotton candy with the red bows. Rainbow Dash, though, got the orange one with thick purple stripes. All three got different feelings, but they generally loved their treats.
"That was delicious! How'd ya make 'em?" Applejack asked.
"Come with me and I'll show you. There's still time."
Several days later, the circus had packed up and was back on the trail, with Mr. Cotton Candy on his bed, relaxing. It is something to note that, whenever that circus passed somewhere, some ponies and foals would disappear from the area without a trace. Of course, this was always purely coincidental. After all, nopony in the circus knew about what was going on nor why or how these horrid events would get related to their poor circus. There's one thought that would solve all of this, however, and it resided with Mr Cotton Candy's mind:
"Red is blue and green is yellow. The recipe shall remain known to only one fellow. None in the circus will know what I do, for they are busy entertaining you. I made my candy but without glee, much to the pleasure of many of thee. My recipe is secret and my actions as well, and nopony in this circus shall know what I do, and for me, that is good."
