Author's Note

This chapter contains latex, tentacles, and slime.

Clowning Around

The giant hallway the pair had stepped into began to shrink and narrow down around them as they walked. The tiles changed from pristine white to a patchwork of rainbow colors. Music, almost inaudible at first but slowly growing louder, began it play. It was a cheerful organ tune, the sort one might hear at a carnival. The lighting changed, from clear overhead lights to yellow bulbs set in rows and squares, marquee-style, flashing in patterns that cast shifting shadows. The atmosphere was almost aggressively cheerful, yet something about it was unnerving.

Something moved to one side of the sisters, but when Celestia spun to look at it, it was only her own distorted reflection in a funhouse mirror. There was another one on the opposite wall, and then a whole row, lining the dimly-lit corridor in reflections of the sisters that were stretched, squashed, and strangely twisted.

Ahead the square hallway led out into a circular area. The sisters exchanged glances, suspecting what that was, and indeed as soon as they set hoof on the curved floor, it began to slowly rotate. They went on, stumbling as the barrel-shaped passage turned around them.

Eventually they exited the rotating drum and found their feet once again on solid ground in what seemed to be a circus tent. Striped canvas met at a shadowed peak far overhead, while spotlights speared down onto a floor covered in sawdust, marked with the traditional three rings.

On a raised platform at the center of one ring stood Discord, dressed in a showy costume of red velvet with lots of gold braid and a tall top hat. He twirled a mustache he hadn't had a second ago and shouted "Cum one, cum all, and see the delightful, demented depravity! You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll be strangely aroused!"

Celestia and Luna exchanged another glance. Discord was suddenly standing between them, one arm over each of them. "I don't see you laughing."

"What exactly is there to laugh at?" asked Luna.

"Why you, for starters." He snapped his fingers, and with a little puff of smoke, Luna was suddenly standing in the center of one of the rings. She was dressed in a brightly colored clown costume, face paint, big red nose and all. She gave the red ball on the end of her muzzle a disgusted look and pulled it off.

"Tisk, tisk, tisk," said Discord, shaking his finger at her. "Naughty Luna. You're meant to entertain. You can't entertain without your costume!"

"Entertain you, I suppose?" said Luna.

Discord grinned hugely. "Not exactly."

"Who, then?"

"All in good time, Bobo. First we need to get our other star out here." Discord snapped his fingers again and Celestia appeared in the other ring, also dressed as a clown. She shifted a little bit. The costume was tight, almost uncomfortably so. In fact as she shifted it squeaked, and she realized that while the ruff around her neck seemed to be fabric, the main body of the suit was something shiny, like rubber. It covered every inch of her from neck to ankle, though her wings and tail stuck out of holes just big enough for them. Indeed the tail hole was actually a short sleeve that covered her dock, so that there were no openings to the suit at all. She had no idea how she was going to get it off, though Discord probably wasn't going to let her in any case. Hopefully he'd remove it when this particular "puzzle" was done.

Luna's suit was just the same, and Luna lifted a hoof and scratched at the ruffled collar around her neck, glaring at Discord as she did.

"Delightful! All wrapped up and ready to entertain our special guests."

"What guests?" asked Luna suspiciously.

"Well, what circus would be complete without creatures? I admit I don't have any elephants. But I have something even more fun! They're already here, just waiting for everything to be ready. And since I believe it is, let the show begin!"

He appeared back on his platform in the center of the third ring. Luna and Celestia both looked at him, then around the tent. It seemed to be empty. Where were the "guests" Discord had mentioned?

Then the ground under Luna's hooves heaved. A plume of sawdust flew into the air and a tentacle whipped up out of the ground. All around her more joined it, thick, ropey things with translucent greenish skin. Their bases were about as big around as one of Luna's hooves, and they narrowed to slender tips. They lashed and twisted, and Luna couldn't back away for they were all around her. Her wings were half spread, as if to take flight, but she stayed on the ground. She was sure that if she fled, Discord would only return her to the spot. And she had to stay and "solve" this puzzle if she were to rescue her friends. Still, she didn't exactly like the look of the things.

Celestia too was swiftly surrounded by waving tentacles that thrust up from the ground around her.

"What in Equus' name are we supposed to do with these?" said Luna, her ears flat back.

"Pay better attention, Bobo. You're clowns. Clowns entertain. So entertain them."

"I'm afraid neither of us tells terribly good jokes," said Celestia, eying the tentacles warily.

"I've made this one very simple for you, don't worry. No jokes required. Though a few pratfalls wouldn't go amiss. My guests are quite capable of doing all the real work this time. You just have to... what's the phrase? Lie back and think of Equestria?"

"Discord..."

"It'll be fun! Trust me!"

"Trust you? I don't... uh..." Celestia was interrupted as one of the tentacles swooped down and wrapped around her. It was smooth but surprisingly muscular and strong. It slid over the latex suit with a faint squeaking, twisting and curving around her body in a way that was extremely distracting.

"Yeep!" Several tentacles coiled around Luna and their combined twisting lifted her off her hooves, prompting her undignified yelp. More tentacles slithered around Celestia too, and she tumbled off balance into their collective grip. They curled and coiled and twisted around her, sliding over the latex of her suit, caressing her hide where it showed, tangling in her mane and tail, wrapping around her horn, and investigating every inch of her.

Tentacle tips probed her body, pushing and prodding her. They ruffled her feathers, exploring and mussing the tidy grooming of her wings. They squeezed her, gripping her barrel tightly and wrapping around all four legs. Their investigations grew more and more personal. One prodded inside her ear, though thankfully didn't try to worm its way any deeper. One wrapped around her muzzle and investigated her nostrils. It dislodged the red foam nose she'd been wearing, letting it drop unheeded to the ground. It then pushed against her lips, trying to get into her mouth, but Celestia clenched her teeth against it.

Another got even more personal, pushing between her legs. The latex stopped it, so it couldn't penetrate her, but it seemed very interested in the area and kept prodding and rubbing there, making Celestia squirm. It got even worse when another tentacle curled its tip around the base of her tail and tried to push under it. The latex stopped that one too, but it was all Celestia could do to keep from moaning as she writhed and wiggled in the tentacles' grip.

"Foul creatures! Cease! Desist!" Luna was reacting much less calmly than Celestia. She was flailing and kicking, her wings thrashing, and as the tentacles tried to explore her head, she slashed at them with her horn, whipping her head back and forth violently. She scored a thin line across one of them and it let out a strange screeching sound and thrashed violently. The others wrapped more tightly around Luna, a writhing nest of snakes enveloping her, squeezing and twisting. She struggled harder, kicking and fighting, her latex suit squeaking as she moved. This seemed to excite the tentacles, who move faster and faster around her. They also began leaking a green goo, the slime smearing over the smooth latex that enclosed Luna.

She shouted, kicking out, her hoof impacting one tentacle with bruising force, but it only became more excited. Another whipped up to her muzzle as she yelled and pushed between her lips, gagging her. She made a muffled sound of surprise and her wings flared out widely, all her smaller feathers fluffed up around her shoulders.

The tentacle pushed deeper into her mouth, and her struggles grew more frantic. She bit down on it, but its hide was tough, she couldn't bite through. The others twisted faster, writhing and coiling around her, restlessly caressing her body, spreading the goo that continued to ooze from the tip of each one all over her. She could taste the goo as the tentacle pushed into her mouth. It was a bitter-sweet flavor, sugar and chlorophyll, as if the tentacles might be plants.

Celestia's eyes were wide as she saw her sister's predicament. Unfortunately that distraction was enough for her to forget to keep her teeth clenched, and a moment later the tip of a tentacle had pushed into her mouth too. She bit it, holding it in her teeth, keeping it from going deeper, but that as the best she could do, it was too strong for her to spit it out.

Luna fought harder, kicking and flailing in the tentacles' grasp. Her hooves sometimes connected, but the things didn't seem phased by impacts that would stun a grown stallion. She twisted her head and slashed her horn at them again, that had been the only thing that had worked so far, but this time a tentacle slipped under the tip of her horn and wrapped around the base, yanking her head down and preventing her from moving it. More slime oozed from the tentacle's tip, dribbling down across her face as it gripped her horn. She snorted, unable to shout the battle-cry she wanted to voice, and bit the tentacle in her mouth harder, while kicking out with all her strength. In response the tentacles wrapped around all four hooves, holding her completely immobile. The ones not pinning her writhed excitedly around her body, spreading even more goo all over her.

They were pulsing now, ripples running down their green lengths, while Luna still tried to struggle, though she could hardly move within their grasp. On her wings were still mostly free, and they flapped and trashed frantically. The tentacles tugged and pulled at her so wildly that they'd torn the ruffled collar of her costume free, leaving only the rubbery suit itself. Their pulsing grew stronger as they writhed and twisted, and then suddenly a flood of green goo erupted from each tentacle, completely drenching Luna in buckets of thick slime.

Celestia hardly noticed, though, she was too distracted by the tentacles still wrapped around her. She wasn't fighting the way Luna had, but their grip was no less firm. They cradled her in a nest of waving green, each tip writhing and caressing her, spreading a thin trickle of slime behind as it moved. One persistent tentacle kept probing between her legs, as if still looking for a way in, despite the latex suit blocking its path. It was teasing her horribly, and she let out a muffled moan around the tentacle that was still twitching inside her mouth. The tentacles seemed to respond to the sound, moving faster, rubbing her more firmly. A faint pulsing began, running along the length of each muscular green strand.

Celestia moaned again. She was being rubbed and caressed everywhere, and the sensation was incredibly frustrating. She found herself wanting more. Her teeth relaxed, letting the tentacle push further into her mouth. She gave a little shudder, her wings twitching. The tentacles caressed them too, spreading and increasing amount of slime over the feathers, and rubbing at the sensitive spot right at the base.

One tentacle wrapped around her horn, rubbing up and down it. The one rubbing between her legs pushed harder. Celestia twisted, wanting to push back but unable to do so with all four hooves off the ground. She had completely forgotten about Luna, or about Discord, or about anything else but the sensations she felt.

Meanwhile, the tentacles that had held Luna had gone limp and retreated back beneath the ground, leaving her sprawled in a puddle of green goo. She picked herself up slowly and tried futilely to wipe some of the goo off. The sound of muffled moans drew her attention, and she blushed brightly under the coat of slime when she saw Celestia, held up in mid-air, with tentacles writhing all around her. Her sister was writhing too, and moaning shamelessly. The tentacles were pulsing rapidly, and only a moment later they too exploded in a shower of slime, completely coating Celestia's white coat, and sliming the latex suit she was wearing as well.

Celestia made a little sound of surprise, for the one in her mouth had shot out a stream of goo as well, and she was forced to swallow the bitter-sweet stuff. Then the tentacles began to relax, slowly collapsing and lowering Celestia to the ground. She lay in a heap for a long moment, panting hard. Her whole body was on fire with need from the teasing she'd gotten, but the tentacles had finished with her without giving her release.

Finally, with a soft groan, she picked herself up. She glanced over at Luna, who had been staring. Luna instantly looked away. Celestia blushed furiously.

"Bravo!" Discord, who was still standing in the third ring, began clapping. Both sisters blushed even more. They'd nearly forgotten he was there, but now they were suddenly reminded that he'd been watching the whole thing. "Good job! Highly entertaining! My friends are very satisfied indeed."

"How nice," said Luna sarcastically, trying to gather herself up and look at least slightly dignified. Dressed in a bright clown costume and covered in slime, this was totally impossible. Celestia possibly looked even worse, with the soaked remains of her ruffled collar half-torn from her neck and her white coat showing the green goo starkly. Both had their manes and tails hanging limp, to slick with slime to flow as they normally did. Their wings were limp too, the feathers a sticky mess. There would be no flying until they had a chance to get them clean.

"It was nice, yes," said Discord, grinning at the humiliatingly messy pair.

Celestia opened her mouth to say something, then just shook her head and turned away from Discord towards the door. There was no point in trying to match wits against the draconequus, he would only be more entertained. "Let's go," she said to Luna, who nodded and walked by her side to the exit leading towards their next challenge.