Celestia yawned as she trotted away from the window, the morning sun now having risen to shine down on the citizens of Canterlot below. Light streamed in through the stain-glass windows along the hallway as Celestia began to make her way towards the castle’s kitchen. She passed by a few guards as she did, noticing one was attempting (rather poorly) to keep his eyelids from drooping down as he stood watch outside of the library. Everypony seemed especially tired today, as when Celestia arrived at the kitchen, she was met by Luna sitting at the table where she was drinking a small cup of tea and munching on a donut.
“Good morrow.” Luna mumbled through the donut before taking another sip. Celestia grinned softly as she retrieved her own cup of tea and sat beside her sister.
“Night went well?” She asked, sipping softly. Luna nodded, finishing off her pastry before looking out of the window at the morning sky.
“Must we have these savings of daylight? I don’t remember needing them before, and it is distinctly unenjoyable to lose an hour of sleep,” Luna asked. Celestia chuckled, shaking her head.
“Luna, I’ve said this before, you get to lose an hour of work. You did move the moon ahead, didn’t you?” Luna nodded, giving another yawn. “Besides, now you’ll have an extra hour of fun. After all, with spring coming around there will be plenty of festivals, time to spend in the park…”
“Is that one of them now?” Luna asked, her ear flicking. Celestia was about to tease her sister again, but a strange tune caught her ears as well. She looked out of the window down at Canterlot below, wondering where the song was coming from.
At first the only thing that was visible was the movement of crowds in one of the main streets of the great city – ponies stopping in their normal daily routines, turning to look or to canter out of the middle of the street.
A rising drumbeat came thudding along the avenues, swelling to a full musical beat as other instruments joined it – ones Celestia couldn't quite identify, with everything taking place still some way off – and then the procession came into view.
It was quite a sight.
There were a dozen juggling ponies, six earth ponies and six pegasi, leading the procession, each of them juggling three or four batons or balls at once. Behind them came eight marching instrumentalists, some playing the drums and others performing on what seemed to be the fife.
Behind that rather surprising sight came a flat-bedded cart with more performers on it, and then a procession of carts – some large, some small, some covered over with colourful canvas and others looking like market stalls – intermixed with ponies capering around, tiny with distance.
“I think it must be,” Celestia said, listening for the words of the song. It was all very jaunty, and she fancied she could make some of it out now.
“Hey! Clear the way in the old road-way-
-hey, you! Let us through! It's a bright new day! Now-
-come, be the first on the block to see the show!”
Luna trotted over to stand beside Celestia, looking down over the city. The parade continued, several more carts following as ponies gathered on either side of the street to see what the commotion was. As everypony watched, the performers on the flatbed began to perform several flips and cartwheels about as they waved flashy pom-poms around. “What an odd sight,” Luna said as she stared down at the procession.
“Make way, here it comes-
-Playing pipes and the drums-
-To cheer all and clear out woe!
It’s the big, bouncy, bombastic, bagpipe circus!
The best show, you’ll ever know,
Just come and see!”
The circus rounded a corner, several ponies following it down the street. Another cart came into view of the sisters, carrying what looked like large bundles of colorful cloth all tied up with several pieces of equipment resting atop it.
“My goodness, where in Canterlot are they going to find space to put up a tent that large?” Celestia wondered aloud.
“Now try your best to relax-
-So we can pump you up to the max!
You’ll find that there’s not a fair that can compaaare!”
Deciding the song was very silly indeed, Celestia shook her head with a smile. “Perhaps-”
“I wonder-” Luna began at the same time.
They both stopped, exchanging awkward looks.
“You first,” Celestia invited.
“Very well,” Luna agreed. “What I wished to say was – I wonder if they might be able to set up on the Royal Grounds.”
At that, Celestia laughed. “I was about to suggest the same thing.”
Luna smiled as well, then yawned. “Pardon me, Sister – I am afraid I may need to catch up on my sleep for an hour or two.”
“That's fine,” Celestia agreed. “Perhaps I should send an emissary down to inform them where to set up...”
Down below, the circus procession seemed to get larger with every minute – slowing down a little, but also expanding outwards so it took up more of the street. And always continuing with that bouncy, energetic song.
“The best show, you'll ever know, definitely!
We've got seventy-five types of skill game,
Circus act types, we've got fifty-eight!”
An oddly familiar voice spoke up, sounding as though it was right next to the Princesses.
“Have we got a show-
and won't you know-
it's a world-class-great-fun display!”
As the music returned to the normal distance, Celestia chuckled.
“Sister?” Luna asked.
“Oh, I just decided who to send down,” Celestia explained. “I'm sure it'll be good for him.”
Luna shook her head. Whatever it was the Celestia had planned, she was sure that she didn’t want to know. At least, not until she had her nap, that is.
“Must I, aunt?” Blueblood asked as Celestia sat upon her throne in the main hall.
“Yes, you must. You’ve been cooped up in the castle for far too long, and it would do you some good to have some fun for once.” Celestia teased.
“But a circus? I am not a foal, Celestia! Surely there’s an opera that we can attend, or a production of Shake Spear? This whole circus idea is childish!” The unicorn whined. Celestia simply shook her head, pointing towards the large doors. Blueblood’s ears drooped as his expression turned sour. “Fine, but I do not hope you expect me to enjoy this.” Blueblood turned about and trotted out of the hall, Celestia’s exasperated sigh echoing through the empty room.
Blueblood walked down the streets of Canterlot, mulling over the idea to skip the visit entirely. Surely he could convince Celestia that the circus was a horrible idea, perhaps he could make up a rat problem. He grumbled to himself as he followed the still playing, albeit softer, tune of the parade. No, Celestia would easily see through his lies. Still, he could always hope for the best the parade would leave soon.
A small crowd of ponies were still hanging about the circus as they played in the streets, several ponies juggling tossing rings about. One pony, one that Blueblood assumed had to be a clown by how ridiculous their outfit looked was entertaining a group of fillies beside the float. “This is going to be such a waste of time…” Blueblood muttered.
“Waste of time? Why, only if you’re gonna be a big mister grouchy-pants!” A voice came up behind Bloodblood. He turned about, surprised by the voice, only for the initial shock to increase as he saw just who it was that had startled him.
“Who – or what – on Equestria might you be?” Blueblood demanded, taking a step back as he stared at the creature before him.
It appeared to be some kind of dragon, he thought, though that was only apparent after a longer examination than he might have been prepared for otherwise. The creature appeared oddly rotund, though with the proper tail of a dragon, and stranger still was the colour on its scales – it seemed to be some kind of vulgar pattern picked out in pink and blue on top of a pinker base colour.
Blinking, trying not to hurt his eyes on the dangerously pastel colouring, Blueblood shook his head. “Anyway-”
“Silly!” the dragon-like creature said, with a giggle. “I'm the head clown, of course! What else would I be? Look!”
The creature beeped her nose, and Blueblood saw that she was indeed wearing a comically oversized red nose.
“Whatever,” he dismissed. “Anyway, I have a message to deliver to some figure of authority.”
He gave the apparent head clown a hopeful glance. “I don't suppose you qualify?”
“Who, me?” the clown-dragon asked. “Nope-eroonie! I'd forget my own head if it wasn't sewn on! No, you want the ringmaster!”
Blueblood sighed; it looked like he'd have to get involved for longer.
“Then could you take me to them?”
“Sure!” the clown-dragon agreed, and bounced off.
Blueblood blinked, not quite sure what he'd just seen, then decided it was probably a circus thing and therefore irrelevant. Huffing, he trotted after the pink creature.
The large beast hopped gleefully along, occasionally stopping to waggle her wide rump at some of the audience members, causing them to chuckle as they watched her silly antics. Blueblood bit his tongue, very tempted to urge the clown to hurry along. Considering her personality, though, that would clearly be a fruitless endeavor. As he followed the creature, he noticed several spines poking out of its back, but rather than the pointy, deadly spines one would expect from a dragon, they looked more akin to pipes, a few tied together with some string. Blueblood’s attention was quickly drawn away from this, however, as the clown began to bounce along on her rear, humming to itself. Thoroughly embarrassed by just being seen following the clown about, Blueblood tried to increase the distance between himself and the clown in hopes of avoiding association.
“What’re you slowing down for? You’re the one who wanted to see the ringmaster, silly!” The clown shouted back to him, her tail flicking about excitedly. Blueblood’s face turned a bright red as several ponies turned to see him following the creature. He rushed forward, pushing against her to hurry her up as he prayed nopony important was hanging around to see such a foalish display.
“Heya, ringmaster! We’ve got somepony that wants to see you!” The clown stopped suddenly, Blueblood bouncing off her rear. Another beast, this one a mess of violets and purples stood holding a checklist in one claw, a vest stretched uncomfortably over its swollen middle, turned to greet the posh stallion.
“Nice to meet you,” the ringmaster said, and Blueblood frowned momentarily – sure he'd heard her voice before.
He shrugged it off. “Yes, well.”
Leaving the sentence at that for a second or so, so it sounded like he'd probably meant something nice without actually having to say it, Blueblood went on. “I have a message to deliver to some figure of authority.”
“Hee-ey, you said that already!” the pink beast giggled. “That's plagiarism!”
The ringmaster used her large rump to playfully smack the head clown in the rump, sending her bouncing off with a peal of laughter.
Blueblood observed the result with no little disdain, then shook his head. “Anyway. Ahem – the message is that you have been graciously granted the right to hold your circus event on the Royal Grounds.”
Thinking back over the message to be sure he'd said it all, Blueblood noticed a clause he'd forgotten to mention. “You will be permitted to use the grounds for one week, after which date you will have to petition for an extension or leave.”
“That's good to know,” the violet-purple beast said, noting something down on her checklist with a pencil. “That's the one just down the road here?”
“Yes, of course,” Blueblood countered. “Where else would it be?”
“There are also royal lands outside the city proper,” answered the ringmaster, matter-of-factly.
Blueblood tried not to grind his teeth in irritation at having been corrected. “Well,” he began. “Since I've delivered my message, I bid you good day.”
Without waiting for a reply, Blueblood turned on his heels and trotted away, leaving the purple beast and the pink nightmare to their duties. Grateful to finally be free of the group, Blueblood made his way quickly back to Canterlot castle to inform Celestia that he had finished his task. He made a mental note to be sure to add that he had absolutely no intention of inquiring for an extension and that they could do it themselves if they enjoyed this frivolous silliness so much. As he was trotting down the street, however, he heard a shout from behind him. “Pack it up, everypony! We’ve got an escort to our new grounds!” Blueblood’s pupils shrank as he heard the crowd of entertainers begin to pack up, a large precession already following behind him to the castle as they played their music.
“I’m going to kill Celestia.” Blueblood muttered as he walked towards the castle, mortified.
“Ah, it’s good to see that everypony made it to the grounds together,” Celestia said as she looked out the window at the mass of ponies setting up in the field. “I think you’ll like this, Luna. It’s been a while since you’ve been to a fair, hasn’t it?” Celestia turned to her sister sitting beside her. Not a moment later, the front doors slammed shut to reveal Blueblood fuming, streamers and confetti stuck in his mane and tail and a silly party hat placed upon his head, askew. “Ah, Blueblood, how was the circus?”
Blueblood simply stomped up to Celestia, a few pieces of party supplies falling off him as he made his way to her throne. He glared at her, his cheeks puffing out a bit as he stared her down. “I hope you’re happy.” He spun about and headed down the hall towards his room, a couple guards snickering as they saw him pass.
“Oh, very much, Bluey~” Celestia giggled to herself.
After her chuckles had died down, the two Sisters were busy with business for the next several minutes – routine matters, making sure that the logistical arrangements were in place for the next few days.
It was surprisingly complicated to move the Guard parade ground outside the city for a week or two.
“So, Sister,” Luna said, once the rush had ended. “How might we go about this?”
“Well...” Celestia began, musing to herself. “It seems only right to give them a few hours to set up properly, but from memory there is a big show at the Big Top starting around sundown – that is how the last circus I went to visit operated, anyway. So I believe it would be ideal for us to go and visit an hour or two before sundown, so as to let us enjoy the sights and sounds of the fair, and then go to the main show.”
Luna nodded, showing she was listening. “So the first portion, the fair, is much like the fairs which we enjoyed ere long ago, and the second portion is more akin to a joust?”
“I… don't really think a joust is a good comparison,” Celestia corrected. “Even if the joust is one of humour. No, the better comparison is… troubadors, I think.”
Luna brightened. “Ah, I see! Now I understand.”
She tapped a hoof on the floor. “Tell me, Sister, what do you think of the sound of this circus?”
“Well...” Celestia smirked for a moment. “I must admit, the way Prince Blueblood has reacted to it makes me think it must be good.”
“Truly, a sound conclusion,” Luna agreed. “And, perchance, the Prince should come along himself?”
Celestia chuckled. “But of course.”
The sisters’ day continued as normal, though they did receive a few more ponies than normal who were curious as to matters of the fair. Celestia waved their worries away, sure that it would be a fun time for everypony, and a good way to help welcome in the new season. The sounds of the circus echoed up from the grounds, the music only occasionally dying down as the band rehearsals were moved to make room for the stands and games. The large tent was constructed rather quickly, Luna pressing her face up against the window to get a better look at the colorful sights below. The sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky and, not being able to wait much longer, Celestia ordered the guards to retrieve her nephew.
“Oh, this is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait to see what they have planned.” Celestia grinned as she and Luna stood by the door, waiting for the third member of their party. They heard him coming much sooner than they saw him, Bluebloods complaints echoing through the marble halls.
“No, no, absolutely not! I refuse to be roped into more childish matters!” Blueblood was being dragged by his tail by one of the guards, pouting dramatically. The guard spat out Blueblood’s tail before trotting away, the stallion looking over to Celestia. “This is ridiculous! I did what you asked, why must you torment me further?”
“Because, Bluey, you need the fresh air. And it won’t hurt you to spend more time with the ‘common’ ponies either. There’s nothing wrong with a little fun, you know,” Celestia responded. Blueblood glared at her, crossing his forelegs. “Now, are you going to have some fun with your aunties, or are you going to keep acting like a child?” Blueblood looked down at the floor, still frowning as he thought the offer over. “If you go this once and don’t like it, I won’t ask you to do another thing even remotely circus related ever again!” Blueblood gave a sigh and stood up, Luna pushing open the doors as the trio trotted out into the evening air.
“And, Bluey,” Celestia added, more quietly. “I do expect you to participate in the whole experience.”
Blueblood pouted for a moment as his loophole was closed, then shook his head slightly and put on his official expression.
The amount of set up that had taken place over the course of the day was very impressive, with stalls and tents set up all over the grounds. The main tent was closed, a colourful sign informing everypony that set-up work and rehearsals were taking place, but the whole rest of the fair was ready for visitors.
Luna took the lead at first, trotting eagerly from stall to stall to see what the circus experience was like. There were all kinds of events and games to take part in, and a smile on the muzzle of every pony they met – and a jaunty tune playing from the band, giving the whole place a truly friendly, happy air to it.
“Come on, Bluey,” Celestia coaxed her nephew. “Don't you want to play one of the stall games?”
“They are beneath my dignity,” Blueblood replied, shaking his head. “I don't have to take part, and I don't want to.”
There was a crack of hoof on wood next to them, as Luna scored a hit on one of the coconuts in a coconut shy.
“I don't think it's below the dignity of a Prince or Princess,” Celestia chuckled, watching as Luna knocked down both of the other coconuts and claimed as her prize a twirled stick of cotton candy. “Perhaps the hall of mirrors, then?”
Blueblood considered that, and appeared to decide that simply looking at things was more dignified than actively participating.
“Wonderful!” Celestia cheered as she led the others towards a smaller tent where a pony stood, making sure everypony could hear about the wonderful attraction that lay inside.
“Enchanted mirrors, who knows what you’ll see? The future? The past? Or perhaps just some silly fun? Anypony’s welcome!” The crier said. Blueblood sniffed a little, staring at the pony’s outlandish outfit. While admittedly not quite as theatrical as the clowns, it still maintained a similar plaid color, and looked a bit puffier than it needed to be. Celestia led the way inside, pushing the flap of the tent open as she trotted into the tent. Luna followed quickly, the ponies finding themselves standing at the end of a hallway that seemed to stretch around the circumference of the tent. A mirror hung every few feet, Luna trotting up in front of one of them. She giggled as she saw herself, the mirror distorting her shape to appear pudgier than she ought to be.
“Oh my, I do believe this candy is more fattening than I thought!” She chuckled, taking another bite out of it as Celestia leaned over to see her sister’s reflection. She giggled as well, Blueblood trotting past them. As he passed by one of the mirrors, he noticed the polished surface reflecting a humorously skinny pony back at him, though the stallion gleaned no humor from the reflection. Trotting onwards, leaving Celestia and Luna behind, he stopped for a moment before in front of the next mirror. Rather than a distorted image, Blueblood saw himself clear as could be, but instead his reflection was that of a school-age colt, in the same fancy tuxedo that he currently wore. Blueblood shook his head, scoffing a bit, the reflection doing the same. He certainly didn’t need the circus to start patronizing him any more than it had to.
Up ahead, Celestia observed herself in one mirror, which had a rather odder effect – turning her into a negative version of herself, with a black coat and a blue-sun cutie mark.
Amused by the way it made her look a little like Luna, Celestia posed for a moment. “Lulu, you should see this one – I imagine you'd look very amusing.”
Luna came over, and saw herself as a bit like Celestia. She chuckled, taking a bite from her candy. “Perhaps 'twould be better if it was a cake I was eating?”
Celestia gave Luna a glare, spoiled a little by her clear amusement, and then the alicorn of the sun moved on to the next one.
This one showed her in a very strange way – not distorted, nor discoloured, but instead with a puffy garment about her rear.
It took Celestia a moment to realize that it appeared to be some kind of foal's diaper.
“That's an odd one,” she mused. “Well, I suppose it's enchanted.”
Meanwhile, back behind them, Blueblood inspected himself in a mirror that was a little out-of-the-way. It still showed him as a colt, but this time in a Guard officer's uniform.
“Well, that looks better on me than I'd expected,” he said to himself, and trotted on to the next mirror. “Perhaps-”
He stopped, staring into it.
Staring back was a white-skinned creature – a dragon, just like the ones he'd seen earlier in the day – with that odd criss-crossed stripes pattern on it, this time picked out in blue and gold.
Blueblood yelped, and cantered for the exit to join his aunts.
“Mirrors a bit too much for you?” The pony at the entrance chuckled as Blueblood cantered out, panting a little. He shot the pony a glare, Celestia and Luna soon stepping back outside the tent along with Blueblood.
“Oh, come now, Blueblood, surely your dignity can stand a bit more than that!” Luna laughed, gobbling up the rest of her cotton candy. Blueblood’s face turned a bright red, but he elected not to disclose what it was that had startled him so much. The trio began to trot trough the circus once again, looking about at all the games offered. They passed by a stand where a unicorn was attempting to guide a conductor’s baton through a metal maze. The baton bumped against the edge of the maze, a quick paarp noise playing as the pony dropped the baton, looking disappointed.
They continued on, Luna picking up her pace as she spotted a large tower where a musclebound pegasus stood with a hammer in his mouth. He swung up, letting out a grunt of effort before slamming the hammer down onto the level in front of him. A small bar rose up the tower, only to stop about halfway before falling back to the ground. “Ah, tough luck, friend! But try again any time!” A mare standing between the tower and a rack of what looked like plush musical notes said.
“Ooh, go try that one, Bluey! I bet you can hit the bell!” Celestia teased, pushing Blueblood forward. He stumbled a bit, glancing back to Celestia before looking up at the tower. Several comical phrases were written at intervals along the tower, ‘limp bagpipes, wheezy floutist, No-true-scotsmare…’
“Care to take a swing? First one’s free!” The mare encouraged Blueblood, handing him the mallet. He took the mallet in his magic, carefully placing it above the lever before lifting up and smacking it down. The bell rose up to ‘Practically puffy’, before falling back down to earth.
“T-that hardly seems fair,” Blueblood protested, looking at where it had reached. “Surely I should have scored higher than that!”
“I'm afraid not,” the mare said, shaking her head. “It's a tricky challenge, and not every pony is up to it.”
She turned her attention to Celestia and Luna. “But what about you two? Perhaps you'll be willing to try?”
Luna blinked. “Well… if thou art sure. But will it not destroy the machine?”
The mare eyed Luna's wings and horn. “You might be surprised to discover just how high the quality is of all our machinery. I can assure you, friend, that the machine will endure any punishment you dish out upon it.”
Luna still looked a little wary.
“Don't worry, Lu,” Celestia told her. “If we do break something, I'll be happy to pay for it out of the discretionary funds.”
The Princess of the Night nodded, stepping past the mildly-sulking Blueblood, and took the hammer in her mouth.
Her magic took a hold of the hammer as well, and she combined her physical and magical strength to slam the hammer down with what really should have been a shattering crack. Instead there was a mild 'parp' sound, and the bar rose up the tower. Past the low scores, past the high scores, past even 'Hibernian Hammerklavier' all the way up to the top.
When it reached the very top, there was a snatch of skirling, parping music that sounded oddly pleasant.
“And we have a winner!” the mare announced. “Very impressive!”
“Thank you,” Luna said, a little absently – feeling oddly woozy for a moment, before shaking her head and dismissing the sensation as tiredness.
The mare handed over a plush eight note, Luna giving the toy a small squeeze. It paarped softly in the same way the bell had, and Luna couldn’t help but grin at the silly sound, giving it another squeeze. “Do fairs always give out prizes such as these?” Luna asked, beginning to walk down the row of games yet again.
“Well… plush toys aren’t unheard of at fairs. Though I’ll admit I haven’t seen one like that before,” Celestia responded. The group trotted along, watching as the crowd grew a bit bigger as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky. Celestia’s attention was drawn by a large tank where a pony sat atop a diving board. He waved his hooves at them, bouncing a bit on his rather thick swim trunks as he spat out his snorkel to speak.
“Hello, fine ponies! Care to take a toss? Nopony’s dunked me yet!” He bounced eagerly atop the board as Celestia stepped up to a line in the ground. She picked up a tennis ball from a bucket beside her, tossing it up and down in her hoof a few times to get a feel for it. Closing one eye, Celestia took aim and tossed the ball. The ball bounced off the back of the tank, missing the button by a few inches.
“Oh, fiddlesticks,” she said, stepping back from the line. Blueblood looked up at the colt, who was grinning smugly. Blueblood’s own face curled up into a smug smile as he picked up one of the balls. Taking careful aim, he rotated his hoof a few times before tossing the ball forward. It landed dead on, and the pony in the tank squeaked as he fell into the water below.
“The evening might be looking up a little,” Blueblood noted.
“Bluey,” Celestia sighed. “That's not really the right attitude to have.”
There was the sound of hissing air, and both of them looked around in confusion as the colt's swim trunks inflated to a larger size. The sudden expansion lifted him back up to water level, and he used the leverage to pull himself out of the water.
“That's… not what I was expecting,” Celestia admitted. “What was that?”
“Inflatable swim trunks, of course,” the pony replied, retaking his seat. “How else would you get out of the water?”
The question was so odd that Blueblood and Celestia exchanged a glance – coming to mutual agreement to just not bother trying to make sense of it all.
“Sister!” Luna called, drawing their attention. “Did you know they have a snake charmer here? I did not know such an art had survived!”
“It did indeed, Lu,” Celestia agreed, trotting over to join her fellow Princess. “It's getting a bit late, but I think we have enough time for another attraction or two before the main event.”
Blueblood's stomach grumbled, though in a genteel way – something that had taken him considerable practice.
“And getting some food, of course,” Celestia added with a chuckle.
The snake charmer was an Earth Pony, sat in a lotus position – an odd, uncomfortable looking way of sitting – on top of some kind of patterned cushion, and held a long wooden pipe to his lips.
When enough ponies were watching, he began to play. Much to the surprise of Celestia and Luna both, the notes that issued forth were not the simple sweet tones of a flute but much richer, more boisterous music – parps and skirls, emanating from the cushion as the snake-charmer bounced slowly on top of it.
As he did, the lid of the basket next to him slid aside. A snake emerged, weaving back and forth and flaring its hood – revealing a pattern of colours which involved crosshatched lines of different colours.
“I’ve never seen a snake like that before! Was it discovered recently?” Luna asked her sister as the snake twirled and twisted about.
“Very recently I would assume, considering that I’ve never seen it either. Perhaps Twilight’s friend would know of such an animal?” She suggested, making a note to herself to send a letter to Twilight later that night. They continued to watch the musician play, the snake bending its body into odd shapes as the pony rocked back and forth on the mattress. Celestia wondered if the mattress had been as thick as it was now when they first arrived, but pushed the thought of her head as she heard Blueblood’s stomach growl again. “Oh, very well, Blueblood, we’ll get some food. There’s no need to shout.” She grinned, poking Blueblood as he blushed a little and the group trotted away from the charmer.
They were looping back around to the front of the tent, several food stands sitting outside the entrance. Blueblood stepped up to one of them, eyeing all the offered desserts. Of course, there was nothing he was used to eating at high-class restaurants, but his empty stomach would have to take what it could get if he didn’t want to eat his own suit. A rather peculiar looking array of suckers stood in a stand, each one bearing the same pattern that had been on the snake. What was with this circus’s obsession with that pattern? Blueblood mused, pointing out the sucker and a bag of popcorn as Celestia decided what she would eat.
“This looks interesting,” the Sun Princess said, pointing at several little bins with note-shaped snacks in them. “What are they called?”
“It's nice of you to take an interest!” the pony running the stand replied. “These are Musical Munchies – they offer a whole symphony of flavour!”
He leaned forwards. “I recommend taking at least a couple of dozen – there's no point not having enough for a stanza.”
Celestia chuckled, and took his advice – picking an assemblage of the notes in a mostly-random order, which the pony placed into a bag for her to carry around with her.
Thanking him and paying, Celestia tried one, and her eyes widened as the first taste produced an odd musical sensation in her ears.
“Lu, try one of these,” she offered, and Luna duly took one of her minims to try.
Luna's bite also made her ears resonate with a parp sound, making her look around in confusion before realizing what was going on.
“Remarkable,” she pronounced. “Stallpony! I desire some of these musical snacks as well!”
As the trio started eating, a pony in a waistcoat accosted them. “Princesses? Prince?”
“That is, indeed, us,” Celestia confirmed.
“What might it be?” Luna asked. “Is there some problem?”
“Not a problem, no,” the waistcoated pony answered. “I just wanted to tell you that the performance is starting soon, and that you've been named as guests of honour!”
Celestia’s eyes widened, a grin spreading across her face. “Why, we’d be absolutely delighted to accept such an offer! You’re far too kind!” She munched down on another note sweet, a trill filling her ears. The pony in the waistcoat waved a hoof dismissively, grinning.
“Please, it’s no trouble at all, especially for your gracious act of providing us room to set up! We wouldn’t have been able to have such a wonderful time without your help! Now, if you’ll follow me, we have some seats reserved for you, and some special attire as well.”
Blueblood’s stomach clenched a bit as he bit down on the sucker upon hearing those words. A uniform? Designed by these outlandish ponies? He was about to step back, but Celestia gave him a look that froze him in place.
“Blueblood, it would be awfully rude of you to turn down the chance to be a guest of honor at such a lovely event. I don’t see why you’re complaining either, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of room away from the other ponies too if you must.”
Blueblood gulped, but followed Luna and Celestia into the big top. The tent was massive, easily as large as some of Canterlot’s biggest buildings and the stands looked like they could hold the whole city! The pony led the trio up the stands towards a small box near the top of the tent. Glancing over the side, Luna was in awe at the size of the rings in the center, the view couldn’t possibly be a better one!
“Ah, and before I forget, here’s your uniforms!” The pony said, hovering over three folded pieces of plaid fabric.
Blueblood gave the pony an utterly disgusted look, then rolled his eyes and took one of the 'uniforms' somewhat gingerly. “And why do we have these?”
“To wear, of course,” the pony told him. “It's a little gesture to our guests of honour. You're honorary circus ponies!”
“That's a lovely tradition,” Celestia smiled, touched. “Don't you think so?”
Blueblood's reaction was some incoherent grumbling, as he unfolded the uniform – then stared.
“This is...” he began, lost for words. “Auntie, do you really expect me to wear… this!?”
“What's wrong with it?” Celestia asked, inspecting it. “It seems to be your size.”
“It's… plaid, and… too thick! And silly!” Blueblood whined. “It'll make me look ridiculous!”
Luna examined her own uniform, noting the little cutouts for her wings – which had smooth anti-chafing sleeves with stretchy fabric around them, an innovation she was impressed with – and the way it would cover her down to the knees of all four limbs. “It seems a little long.”
“That's because it can get quite cold in the Big Top sometimes,” the pony explained earnestly. “They're made of breathable fabric, so they're comfortable at a wide range of temperatures.”
Celestia shook hers out with a rumpling of fabric, found the fastenings, and donned the uniform with the ease of a pony who'd worn almost everything fashion could come up with over the course of a millennium and more. “Well, it's certainly comfortable. Though I'm a bit confused about the extra padding on my rear.”
“That's for sitting down,” the mare told her matter-of-factly. “We couldn't do with an Equestrian Royal to get a sore pair of haunches – or a sore rump, of course.”
“That seems logical,” Luna agreed, having a little more trouble with her own uniform but putting it on after some careful thought.
Side by side, both the sisters showed off the uniforms quite well. Soft, puffy plaid material, with a thicker section around the rump which provided some padding, and with patterns picked out in purple, red and green. The head section came about halfway up Celestia's neck and a little further up Luna's, and it stretched and shifted smoothly with any of their movements.
“Bluey?” Celestia prompted.
Blueblood seemed to be stuck in some kind of mental loop.
“Do I have to!?” he demanded.
“Yes, yes you do,” Celestia responded simply.
Blueblood’s ears flopped down, but he complied. It took him several more minutes than the others, the suit seeming to get twisted about in ways that he would never have imagined, but after some struggling he managed to fit into the overly puffy suit. The bright blue uniform matched well with the blushing cheeks of Blueblood as he sat between his aunts, the show pony trotting back down the steps as more audience members poured in. Blueblood tugged a bit on the front of his uniform, finding it far stretchier than he would have liked, and though he would never bring it up, he was sure his had a thicker padded rear than Celestia and Luna’s.
He began to munch on his popcorn as more and more ponies took their seats in the stands below. Blueblood did have to admit that it was at least enjoyable knowing he had a much better seat than the others. He just hoped the show wouldn’t be too long. It wasn’t too long before the stands were nearly full, and the lights in the theater were dimmed. A hush came over the crowd as a pony trotted out into the center of the stage, her vest glittering in the spotlight. “Ladies and gentlecolts, I wish to give you all a warm welcome to our spectacular circus!” Her call was met by several cheers and applause, Celestia and Luna clapping their hooves politely. In the back of his mind, Blueblood wondered why something seemed off. Hadn’t he met the ringmaster before? He shook his head, clearing away the thought. Clearly they must have been a boring pony if he didn’t bother to remember them.
“Now sit back, relax, and prepare to be blown away by the big, bombastic, bouncy, bagpipe circus!” The pony ran out of the spotlight as it grew to encompass the three center rings, several more ponies rushing out to begin their performances.
It was at least a little confusing, as it seemed like they were so full of energy that more than one performance was going on at the exact same time. There was a group of ponies over one side who were walking around on giant stilts – which were made to look like wooden pipes, and in fact produced an occasional musical note as the pony walked.
Then there was an act involving a large ramp, at the end of which a unicorn hovered a hoop covered with plaid-patterned paper. The paper was stretched taut, and one of the circus performers galloped up the ramp towards it – then jumped, bursting through the paper with a crash and landing in the middle of a large patterned cushion.
“Does everything have to be plaid in this place?” Blueblood asked, noticing the way the cushion looked just the same as everything else in that respect.
“Sssh,” Celestia admonished.
Blueblood's ears went down momentarily at the rebuke, as the unicorn switched out that hoop for another one – with a fresh piece of crosshatched paper on it.
Another pony came through this one, and then another through a third – moving faster and faster, piling onto the cushion with more and more abandon. It became harder and harder for each of the jumpers to get off the cushion before the next one arrived, and then abruptly they stopped trying and every one of the performers doing that trick piled up together in a great big heap – accompanied by the music, which produced amusing parp noises every time one pony landed on top of the other.
A few other ponies were riding around on unicycles, playing sets of bagpipes as they rolled around, weaving their way in between the other actors with surprising skill. The tune they played wasn’t that of the band tucked near one of the stands, and yet the clashing notes and rhythms somehow seemed to flow together, producing an odd, yet pleasant, cacophony. One of the younger colts in the crowd below shouted out as one of the ponies on stilts walked by him. “Do a flip!”
The pony took a few steps backwards, bending their hind legs before jumping up and twisting in the air. Another pony on stilts behind him caught his hooves and flipped him upwards, balancing him upside-down on his own hooves as he wobbled around the stage. The crowd ‘ooooh’ed and clapped. The pony holding the first one up wobbled a bit before dropping the second, causing them to tilt forward and rebound off another plaid mat. Their bounce was accompanied by another paarp as the pony flipped about before landing back on their hooves once again. Luna’s gaze returned to the unicyclers, her eyes widening as she noticed that the set of bagpipes appeared to be a bit bigger than she had remembered. Their wheels wobbled a bit more as they played, being thrown more and more off balance as their bagpipes swelled up bigger along with the music.
“I hope you’re not too excited yet folks,” The announcer’s voice echoed around, magically amplified, “because we’ve only just begun! Our main act is just about to appear, let’s give him a proper greeting!” Several ponies all hurried towards the center of the stage, carrying what looked like a big plaid balloon. They placed it down, each holding a set of pumps connected to the lump of cloth. Pumping in time with the music, the balloon began to grow, bigger, and bigger, and bigger!
“This seems an odd custom,” Luna said, leaning forwards a little in her seat and frowning. If the uniform had become perhaps slightly thicker than it was before, she hadn't noticed. “Please, Sister, enlighten me as to the meaning of it.”
“I'm no more sure what's going on than you, Lulu,” Celestia replied. “This isn't a circus act I've seen before.”
“Then perhaps it shall be a new experience for both of us,” Luna opined, still frowning.
As they watched, the balloon swelled up until it was at least fifteen feet tall. Then it began to distort in shape, with several smaller sausage-balloon shapes appearing to come off the main mass.
Within only a few more seconds, the expanding object had acquired a shape. Big, pudgy and plaid, it looked an awful lot like a foal's sketch of a dragon in balloon form.
“That shape...” Blueblood began, confused. “I think I've seen something like that-”
Suddenly, with a series of loud pipe notes which each nearly drowned out the music – yet synchronised with it at the same time – the balloon's true shape became apparent. Pipes popped out one by one along the ridge of the back, limbs gained definition, and within a few seconds an enormous, wingless – and very plump – mixture of bagpipe and dragon was standing in the middle of the stage.
“Ta~da!” he shouted, as the band showed their appreciation with a long crescendo. “I'd like to welcome you all to the most interesting show in Equestria! And the one with the catchiest theme tune~”
The crowd erupted in cheers, quite amazed at the entrance of the puffy beast. Blueblood’s eyes widened, the memory of the actual ringmaster and dragon clown popping back into his head. He was sure they had just been a suit, but this beast was far too large to simply be a pony in a costume. The dragon pressed down on his belly, letting out a flow of music as he grinned, dancing along with the music that tooted out his pipes.
Celestia was looking a little apprehensive, she certainly hadn’t been expecting anything such as this at the show. Luna looked equally confused, scratching her mane as she chomped down on another piece of note candy. As another wave of music flowed over the crowd, though, Luna leaned back into her seat, shifting atop her puffy rear. Well, she hadn’t been to a circus in a while, perhaps this was simply a new act? And, after all, the dragon looked to be anything but dangerous. His curvy belly and cartoonish shape made him look almost cuddly, in fact!
The dragon picked up a few of the performers, tossing them about in the air and playfully batting them about with his tail. “I hope you’re just as excited for tonight’s show as I am! We’ve got plenty of big performances tonight! And a few guest stars too~” He said, winking up at the box seats. Blueblood’s stomach clenched at the dragon’s comment. A guest star? He would do absolutely no such thing! He wasn’t going to embarrass himself like this! As he was about to get up, though, the dragon flopped onto his rear, another particularly loud blast of music filling the tent. Blueblood’s head spun a bit, filled with the tune. What was it he was so upset about? He wasn’t planning on leaving the show so early, was he? He shook his head, trying to clear it.
“Sit down, Blueblood, it’s only just started.” Celestia advised, pushing down on Blueblood’s suit, which felt a bit thicker than it should have. Blueblood lowered his rear back into the seat, staring down as the circus continued.
“For our first act,” the dragon began, shifting his rear around and making a series of notes echo from the fabric roof. “For our first act, we have that old mainstay of any circus – that's right, it's the jugglers!”
Blueblood frowned. He was sure that it wasn't really jugglers who were the focus of a circus. Wasn't that… clowns?
The thought seemed odd, and he pondered it for a moment longer before shrugging it off. This circus, it seemed, had jugglers.
Out they came, half a dozen of them, each carrying four plaid balls. They began in a fairly simple way, each pony juggling their own four balls in a one-two-three-four pattern that, when put together with all six ponies together, alternated the sound of two balls being knocked into the air with the sound of four going up at once. Like music – and in time with the music as well, accompanied by the dragon waving his tail up and down like a conductor.
As their juggling went on, however, it got more and more ornate, extra complexities being added one by one. First they started swapping balls back and forth, exchanging them in simple patterns and then involved ones.
The balls began to grow larger, becoming more uneven, and each impact was accompanied by a musical note – adding to the music and reinforcing it, making it so catchy that Blueblood suddenly realized he was nodding his head along with it.
He quickly stopped, though it felt oddly like a good idea to keep nodding along with the music.
For the part of Celestia, she noticed with interest that the balls now looked an awful lot like miniature bagpipes.
She chuckled faintly. That was a very impressive bit of theming this circus had going on. After a while, it did start to become amusing by itself...
The jugglers continued their performance, now starting to dance in time with the music, spinning around as they threw the bagpipes back and forth. The dragon waved his tail to elicit louder sounds from one group and to quiet down others. His rear swayed left and right in time with the tune, Luna’s gaze following its swings as the dragon followed in the dance as well. The music grew louder and louder, the jugglers starting to struggle a bit to keep the bagpipes in time as they grew to be almost as large as the ponies themselves!
“Tempo, boys!” The dragon teased, smacking one of the jugglers in the rear with his tail. The juggler stumbled, flopping onto a bagpipe before rolling over to toss it to another pony. He was now stuck on his back, bouncing bagpipes around as the others danced in a circle, looking like a fountain of plaid bubbles boinging back and forth. The music grew faster and louder, the jugglers tossing their bagpipes frantically as the music built up to a crescendo. Then, with a giant cymbal crash, the bagpipes all tumbled on top of the pony on the ground, ending the piece in a large climax. The dragon applauded his little ponies as the jugglers dug about in the pile to retrieve their fallen friend, who was looking rather dizzy from the impact of the plaid orbs. “Oh, absolutely wonderful! I hope our gymnasts can compare!” He said.
Suddenly a small parade of ponies began to rush out of a flap in the tent, all donned in plaid leotards. The ponies began to flip and leap about as another tune started, a few other ponies rolling out obstacles and equipment for the gymnasts to leap between.
“Gymnast...” Luna pondered, wondering about the word. “Is that not related to a sporting and educational school?”
“No, it's not,” Celestia replied, wiggling her tush a bit as she got properly comfy on her seat. “It's a kind of acrobatics.”
“These new words for things...” Luna grumbled good-naturedly.
Meanwhile, down in the arena, the plaid-leotarded ponies were pinwheeling about with abandon. They did cartwheels, turning into blurs of multicoloured plaid, then a moment later one used another as a literal vaulting-horse to leap ten feet into the air, do a somersault, and come down to a perfect landing.
The boards and obstacles were incorporated into the routine as soon as they were laid out, with a jumping board clattering as three ponies vaulted off it in quick succession. The first landed with a roll, the second landed with a skid, and the third landed with a parp and a bounce on his rump – a sight which made Blueblood blink, confused.
How had they done that?
“That's the spirit!” The dragon chuckled, blowing a few notes from his pipes. “Now, let's see your work on the trampoline!”
Blueblood looked for the trampoline, and saw nothing. Then the dragon lay on his back and smoothed out his belly, forming an expanse of springy plaid fabric, and the acrobatic ponies began to vault one by one onto it.
The ponies sunk down surprisingly deeply into the dragon’s belly, only to rebound a moment later. Each pony flipped and tumbled in the air, a few posing as they reached the peak of their leap, the dragon giggling with each bounce. Every time a pony landed upon him, his pipes let out an extra paaarp of sound, Blueblood chuckling a little at the sound, only to scrunch his muzzle from embarrassment a moment later. As the ponies bounced about, Celestia couldn’t help but notice the rear of their suits seemed to grow each time they jumped off the dragon, their suits growing slowly thicker and thicker.
Celestia laughed at the sight, rocking back on her own swollen suit’s rear, finding the show far too amusing and silly. The acrobats must be very well trained to move about in such thick suits, she thought. One of the gymnasts bounced up to balance on the dragon’s muzzle, wiggling her rump for the audience before falling back onto his belly, embracing it tightly before bouncing off once again. A couple of the ponies jumping next to each other leapt up into the air, bouncing their butts together only for the suits to swell and push them away, one flipping over and landing on her rear while the other was caught by the dragon’s tail and tossed back up into the sky.
Luna leaned forward and rested her hooves on the railing of the box seats, absolutely enthralled by the show. Circuses certainly seemed to be much more captivating now than she had remembered them. This dragon, whoever he was, certainly knew how to put on a good performance!
The bounces, which had at first seemed almost random, began to synchronise more – turning a continual parp-parp-paaarp from the pipes of the dragon into more of a descending or ascending scale once every few seconds. The ponies' landing times got closer and closer together as their suits swelled up, until there was a great loud PARP as they all landed at once.
The resultant bounce was even higher than any had been before, and all the gymnast ponies – now suited in such thick bouncy costumes that it was hard to compare them to the leotards they'd begun with – landed around the dragon in a circle, each bouncing once or twice before they came to a halt.
At once, they ran together into six groups, and the dragon cleared his throat.
“Now, ladies and gentlecolts, please welcome my most skilful, useful – and air-ful – assistants!”
There was a drumroll, accompanied by a loud blast of music, and Celestia felt almost giddy as she waited to see who or what these mysterious assistants were.
Then she saw them – six dragons, like miniature versions of this one, each of them springing into the air and bouncing off one of the groups of gymnasts to reach the belly of the bigger dragon.
One of them had an oddly familiar colour scheme, still plaid like the head dragon but with light and dark purples making up the colour contrast.
And the second one she looked at seemed familiar as well, with white fabric and an amethyst purple cross-lining…
Celestia racked her brain for what it might be, trying to concentrate, and at first it was harder than she'd expected – as if she'd been feeling groggy, sleepy, though she wasn't sure why. Then she looked up at another burst of music, and saw the regular gymnast ponies – now back to their antics – forming a pyramid, with those half-dozen dragons at the top.
The dragons wobbled atop the pony pyramid, holding claws and tails twisted together to help keep them in balance as music flowed out of their pipes. A particularly pudgy pink one lay atop the ponies, its rear making the base of the dragon pyramid as a yellow and orange dragon leaned forward away from each other, their tails tied in a knot to keep them atop the pink dragon’s rump. Celestia noticed the yellow dragon appearing to blush, trying to hide behind its claws just a bit. Balanced between these characters was the white dragon, who squeezed its belly as the purple one balanced on its tail. At the very top of the pyramid stood a rainbow patterned dragon, displaying its bloated belly proudly as it swished its tail in time with the music. The first dragon clapped for the smaller ones, the audience joining in. “Oh, absolutely marvelous! You’ve really come a long way since Ponyville!”
Celestia’s brain sparked upon hearing those words. Ponyville. If they had come through there, surely Twilight would have written- Celestia gasped as she finally made the connection, seeing the purple dragon shifting in place, being especially careful to maintain its balance compared to the others.
“Twilight! What in Equestria has he done to you?!” Celestia jumped up out of her seat, her brain no longer groggy as she recognized the patterns of the other ponies, each one matching that of Twilight’s new friends. Twilight Spaarple looked up as she heard Celestia shout, only to give a wave before wobbling as the pyramid threatened to lose its balance.
“What is it?” Luna asked, rocking back and forth for a moment before getting up. “Is the performance not to thy liking?”
“That's – Luna, look!” Celestia demanded. “Those dragons at the top of the pyramid – look – they're not actually dragons! Those are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony!”
The moment she said that, there was a six-part paaaarp of music from the dragonified ponies, producing a literal musical harmony to accompany the words.
“We have to help them,” Celestia declared. “Luna, don't you agree?”
She paused. “Luna? Are you okay? Your uniform...”
“What?” Luna asked, blinking, then shook her head and seemed to recover somewhat. “It feels… oddly thick. Almost as thick as yours looks.”
Celestia did a double-take, looking back at her own outfit and comparing it to Luna's. Both alicorns were wearing puffy costumes, now, with their wings a little constricted by the soft plaid sleeves that also kept the base of their wings snug and warm, and the costumes were also a lot plusher than they'd been when they were put on. The rumps in particular were oddly overinflated.
“That doesn't matter,” Celestia said. “We need to rescue Twilight and her friends – come on!”
“Give the Princesses a round of applause, everypony!” the dragon called, right at that moment. “They're coming down to join in!”
Celestia’s wings began to beat as she flew up into the air. She wobbled about a little as she hovered in place, the suit throwing her off balance from the thickness hugging her rear. Shaking her head, she began to fly in, Luna jumping up to follow after her. Blueblood blinked as he watched his aunts fly up into the air, the crowd below cheering. He gave a soft gulp. Whatever was going on, if it had Celestia this upset, he wanted absolutely no part in it. Taking advantage of Celestia’s diverted attention, Blueblood quickly jumped out of his chair and began to hurrying down the steps of the bleachers towards the exit. With any luck, he’d managed to get back to the castle and warn the guards before something serious happened.
Celestia hovered in front of the pyramid, a look of concern across her face. “Twilight? Are you alright? Just stay calm, we’ll take care of everything!” She glared at the big red bagpipe dragon, her horn beginning to glow as she prepared a spell. She fired a bolt of magic at him only for the dragon to open his mouth and have it fly down his throat. He placed his hooves on his gut, when suddenly he ballooned outwards, growing almost twice his size in a second. He let out a long belch, laughing before winking to the other dragons.
“Alright dragons, just like we practiced!”
“Just like-” Celestia began, worried. “What do you mean?”
She looked around herself, backwinging a little to stay in the middle of the clear air, and tried to spot any possible ambush or attack.
A moment later, the pyramid of converted Elements of Harmony bounced up-and-down all at once, seeming to squish down to half the height it had had before and then explode outwards as all the plaid dragons making it up sprang back to full size.
Celestia had to react in an instant, and darted downwards to avoid what was probably Rainbow Dash. She reversed course at once, aiming to avoid being hit by I-think-that's-Rarity, but the extra bulk around her hips messed up her timing and she got body-checked by the converted form of her student.
Luna watched with astonishment as Celestia and the purple-plaid-dragon both went down the muzzle of a large cannon, one she was sure she should have noticed before now, and then returned her attention to what was going on around her. A pink plaid dandy dragon landed on her shield, not managing to break through it but squashing her towards the ground, and she only just managed to avoid being driven to land on a big plaid trampoline.
The Princess of the Night heaved upwards with her magic, sending the pink dragon flying away with a “Wheeee!” Luna watched as the Rain-blow Dash sung by on a trapeze, whapping Luna with her long tail. She spun about from the collision, though her suit protected her from much of the force of the blow, and wobbled in place before flopping onto her rear – only to find she was now balancing atop the piped tail of what used to be Applejack. The dragon grinned, taking a big huff before closing her mouth and letting out a loooong puff. Her cheeks swelled cutely as air rushed down and out her tail, blowing Luna up into the air. She flailed about in the rushing wind tunnel, flapping her wings desperately to try and stay balanced.
Meanwhile, Twilight’s rear was wiggling excitedly as it stuck out of the end of the cannon, her legs squeezing together to elicit several ‘paarps’ from her pipes. Another dragon, this one much smaller and looking more like regular dragon in a suit marched up to the base of the cannon. He took a deeeeep breath, his belly swelling outwards before he blew a spark of flame into the fuse of the cannon. It began to burn up quickly, Twilight squeezing Celestia into her belly as the flame burned up. With a bang!, the cannon shot Twilight up into the air, where she was bounced up and down on the largest dragon’s rump.
Blueblood tried to tear his eyes away from the show, hurrying towards the exit as the chaos continued. It wasn’t too long before he reached the flap in the tent and darted through it. Rather than finding himself standing outside in the fairgrounds, though, he found himself facing a large mirror, one that filled the halls of what looked to be an enormous maze.
“What on Equestria?” the pompous pony asked, startled. “Who gave permission for this to be put up! It's… well, it certainly doesn't fit the fire code!”
He shook his head, his plump uniform wobbling a little as he did. “Whatever! There must be a way out of here – the courtyard isn't that big!”
Picking a direction, Blueblood got moving.
As he cantered, he saw little flashes of what each mirror showed. The first few were just regular flat mirrors, showing him as he knew he was, but after that they began to look different – one making him look fatter, another showing him with the long legs of a pony like Fleur de Lis, and a third giving him a long neck.
Blueblood skidded to a halt, nearly running into a mirror that showed him as a little foal, and blinked at it. He wasn't sure how the mirrors did something like that, but he did his best to ignore it – looking first around one side of the mirror, then the other.
The path split, but neither of them took him in the direction he'd been going to start with. That seemed odd to him, because he'd thought he was taking a route with a long straight, but he shrugged it off and cantered down the left-hoof route.
Blueblood passed six mirrors in quick succession, each showing his uniform thicker and puffier and with a more poofy, crinkly rump. And, as he cantered past them, each became true – his rump expanding, becoming clumsier, though he was too focused to notice.
Back in the Big Top, Celestia flared her wings and tried to wrench herself away from the bouncing, trampolining pattern on the plaid-patterned dragon's rump. “Release my student and her friends at once!”
“Why should I? They’re having an absolute blast~” He laughed, bouncing them up in the air before smacking Twilight’s rump with his tail. Twilight giggled, letting go of Celestia as she was sent flying towards a target on the floor. Celestia bounced a few times before she landed squarely in the center, rocking on her bloated rear as she shook her head. She heard the sound of rickety wood bouncing up and down, causing her to look about. Her gaze turned upwards, and she spotted Rarity bouncing on a diving board, waggling her rear happily. She suddenly grabbed her legs with her claws and began to plummet down towards the earth. Celestia had just enough time to realize she should move before Rarity’s rear came crashing down on her, a huge wave of song filling the room as she bounce on her rear.
Luna continued to float in the air as Applejack blew up at her, her mind filled with the music blasting all around. Her wings suddenly caught the upward draft and she was sent bouncing over to where the pink and yellow bagpipe dragon sat. The Fluttershy dragon grinned, licking her lips as she began to prowl around Luna, taking playful snaps at her as she threatened to gobble up the alicorn into her soft, cushy belly.
“Cease!” Luna called, spreading her wings and preparing to take flight. “Fluttershy, I do not wish to harm you!”
She flapped down, only to discover that the material of her uniform had coated the lower sections of her wings – thickly enough that her wings just bounced back up again, without actually biting the air properly.
Fluttershy-dragon licked her lips again, giving a very quiet growl, and as she did the pipes running down her spine tootled in unison – producing a dissonant note, one which made Luna blink and take a step back.
“W-what?” she asked, feeling a sudden surge of fear as she looked at the Fluttershy dragon. It faded quickly, and she shook her head, but then her foe growled cutely again and there was another frisson of music and fear.
Somehow, in Luna's music-addled mind, the plaid dragon circling her had become a fearsome beast – one she could not fight, not because of friendship but because of a conviction of sheer, overwhelming force. Her uniform plumped up a little more, subtly reinforcing that sensation by pressing in on her and making her feel more restricted.
Blueblood found himself facing a dead end, mirrors in front of him and to both left and right.
The unicorn in the mirror ahead of him was wearing an astonishingly crinkly, plush outfit – like a costume made to make the wearer at least three times as wide around the waist as they had been before.
The one to the left was almost the opposite, wearing nothing but a thick, plaid diaper – one so large his hind legs barely touched the ground.
The one to the right was barely recognizable as a unicorn at all – they were wearing a thick, plush-crinkle costume which almost obscured their identity completely, though Blueblood could still tell it was him underneath.
And the mirror behind him – behind him? - showed a Blueblood playing a pair of bagpipes by bouncing up and down on them, producing hypnotic notes which threatened to overwhelm his mind…
Blueblood placed his hooves over his ears as he tried to block out the song, but his reflection only seemed to blow and bounce harder, looking over to another one and grinning smugly. The reflection rolled onto its thick, plump, plaid diaper, pressing its hooves down into it to rub it gently. Blueblood’s face turned a bright red as he felt hooves rubbing and squeezing on the rear of his outfit, the rump swelling slowly outwards as another reflection began to pump its suit thicker, Blueblood’s doing the same.
Luna backed away from Fluttershy, who growled once again, the audience finding the sound wonderfully adorable even as Luna gulped as she stared up at the giant, puffy beast. Her suit’s rear grew thicker again, hugging her comfortably as she flopped down onto it. Suddenly Luna heard the soft hiss of air, and what seemed like fog was beginning to roll in from… somewhere. Clouds of smoke began to build around Luna, obscuring much of the circus as it swirled around her. She could still hear the playful tune of the dragons and the occasional teasing growl from Fluttershy, causing her to gulp with fright. “My, my, my, looks like one of our princesses is a bit of a scaredy-foal~” The dragon’s voice echoed around Luna, the hissing of air continuing as Luna got to her hooves, her suit hugging her snugly as she tried to find some way out of the fog.
Celestia pushed Rarity's bouncing bulk off her with a shout of effort, using her rarely-displayed Earth Pony strength to send the alabaster-and-purple plaid dragon flying into the distance. Fortunately for Celestia, the shove also landed her back on the floor of the Big Top, instead of on the hide of the Big Dragon.
Mostly ignoring the loud paa-oo-arp sound Rarity made as she landed, Celestia got back to her hooves and looked around for some kind of help. No sooner had she begun to look, however, when the Twilight dragon bounced up – using her tail as if it was a pogo stick, to leave her foreclaws free to help her write.
“And the next performance,” Twilight announced, as Celestia got an odd sinking feeling, “is the escapology act!”
“The what!?” Celestia asked, and then Pinkie-Dragon and her clowns swarmed in on Celestia in a rush. They tossed silk sheets and skipping-ropes to one another as if they were jugglers, every one patterned in plaid and some with musical notes festooning them, and then they began to tangle Celestia up in it.
In only a few seconds, Celestia was trussed up like a very trussed up thing – all four of her hooves tangled in a kind of solid-plush musical scale, her wings ensnared in silken wrappings, big cartoonish padlocks placed around her knees, and skipping ropes everywhere. But the most eye-catching thing was that, under it all – and through a means she could not understand – she was dressed in foal's clothing, double-diapered with a onesie fitted with snaps over the top, and the whole thing secured with cartoonish padlocks.
Her horn was tangled up in more solid-plush musical notes, and she was hoisted into the air by one of the skipping-ropes – held as if she was in a foal seat.
“Fillies and gentlecolts!” Twilight-dragon announced, tooting her pipes to get the attention of the audience. “The great Celestia will now attempt to escape her bonds!”
Celestia mumbled something, finding an odd object between her lips. It seemed a small thing, but whenever she pressed on it it let off a few quiet notes of music – in time with the beat that sounded through the whole big top.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Pinkie setting up a kind of timer mechanism – one which would release the rope once the time was up. And, below her, the gaping maw of the sinister-silly dragon.
Celestia struggled against her bonds, tugging her hooves left and right in an attempt to break free of them. Each pull caused her to swing a little in the air, her legs kicking about as well. Her horn began to glow as she tried to pull the bonds apart with magic. Instead, the notes around her horn began to pulse, massaging it in time with the music as it grew louder in her ears. She gave a muffled yelp, trying to stop the magic. Instead, it continued to flow for a moment, Celestia’s rear swelling up along with the massages, causing her to blush brightly. She kicked and squirmed as the time ticked slowly down, the dragon below her licking its lips in anticipation.
Blueblood was rocking back and forth on the rump of his suit, feeling it continue to grow as he was teased by his reflections, the music growing steadily louder and louder. He dared to open his eyes to look down at his suit, his hooves still pressing down on his ears tightly. His rump was huge! It was starting to press into each of the mirrors as a plaid pattern creeped up it, the reflections beginning to undergo the same transformation. One bounced on its rear, causing a few paaarps to fill the area as Blueblood whimpered, pressing down on the front of the suit. It crinkled softly, his hind legs starting to become wrapped up and resemble claws as he filled the room. He heard something above him, and glancing up, he was met by yet another mirror where a fat, puffy plaid dragon was squeezing his belly and bouncing on his rear, Blueblood feeling every poke and prod as he grew and grew and grew…
Luna looked around nervously, hearing that musically-accompanied growl seeming to come from all directions. She began to trot, then canter, then gallop – at a speed which should have gotten her across the Big Top in seconds even with the distinctive waddle imposed by her costume, which kept making her feel more and more like she was about to trip over without quite actually doing it.
There was foggy, smoky whiteness on all sides, and she tried to jump into the air to get clear of it – only to stumble, nearly falling, and keep going. Once she thought she saw one of the rings of the circus, but then the smoke closed back in again and nothing came of it.
Finally, after an amount of time Luna could not fathom, she tired – driven past endurance by the growl-parps and the sensation of something moving past the edge of the little area she could see.
Panting, she sat back on her rump, feeling the costume crinkle. She blushed at the reminder of what she was wearing – a very obvious diaper – and was about to stand up again when there was a PAAARP from all directions at once.
The fog swirled, eddying a bit, and she saw – all around her, six huge plaid-patterned dragons. They were so large compared to her, it made her feel like a foal again, and the outfit didn't help.
Then they pounced, all at once, squishing Luna from all sides with soft plushy plaid and creaky flapping fabric. Pinning her in place, preventing her from moving, and leaving only her head free to see what was going on.
“S-stop!” she protested, sounding more like a protesting filly than the Ruler of the Night.
The dragons all growled in unison, their song echoing all around as they played. Their tails twisted together, squeezing their rumps tighter into each other as Luna wiggled, feeling every rumble and vibration. And then the dragons began to inflate…
“Halfway there, and our princess hasn’t even gotten her hooves free!” Twilight claimed, watching as Celestia continued to struggle. She tugged and twisted in her bonds, biting her lip as another instinctive use of magic only made her situation worse. She bounced in place, the jump ropes squeezing in on her diaper as she did, growing tighter and tighter. Celestia looked down, her swollen rear almost completely obscuring the still waiting dragon below, mouth open wide. Suddenly, an idea sparked in her mind. It was going to be rather embarrassing, but she was willing to try anything to keep herself from falling prey to the monster below. Her horn began to glow brightly as Celestia intensified her magic. Her diaper practically exploded outwards, swelling up and up and up, her suit growing thicker and thicker as it squeeeeeezed in on her. Celestia shut her eyes, her face a bright red as she felt everything squeeze in on her so snugly. Despite this, the bonds began to crreeaaaaak as she swelled and puffed up, causing her to pant from the sensations of the squeezes and rubbings as she blew up and up. Her rear was enormous, much bigger than the dragon’s awaiting jaws, and the bonds threatened to snap, Celestia continuing to grow.
There was a pompous paarp from up above, and Celestia’s gave swung upwards to see the source. From the top of the tent, there spiraled a slide that had certainly not been there before. And something fat, puffy, and plaid was sliding down, laughing energetically as it blew out a tune to match the other dragons.
“And it looks like there's a new performer on the stage!” Twilight announced, as the dragon slid down the slide – becoming more visible as it got closer and entered the full lighting of the Big Top, showing a white-skinned cloth hide with plaid cross-patterns picked out in blue and gold.
The dragon emerged from the slide with a final creeeak, then landed on his rump and let out an almighty OOM-PA as he squished down and then sprang back to normal size.
“That's right!” the dragon announced, in an upper-class accent which bubbled with mirth. “It's Bluebutt here!”
Blue- Celestia stared. Blueblood?
“But I've only been here a few seconds and already there's a pony whose butt is bigger than mine!” 'Bluebutt' went on.
Celestia mumbled, feeling awfully embarrassed all of a sudden, and the music seemed to get louder in her ears – making her vision swim a little.
The rope above her creaked, drawing her attention, and she held her breath.
At first the only thing Luna felt was an increase in pressure, dragon-rumps squeezing tighter around her. Instincts long-dormant sprang to the forefront of her mind, telling her she was surrounded by predators and being squashed by them, trapped and engulfed and squeezed.
The pressure grew and grew, never getting more than slightly uncomfortable, but Luna's struggles did less and less as the wriggles she could manage fought against more and more contained pressure. Worse, each struggle produced more and more parping, thumping music, and she had no way of blocking it out – not with her hooves stuck between plump plaid-patterned plush-dragon padding.
After a while, though, she noticed that on each beat the pressure was getting a little less. As if something was making her feel more comfortable whenever there was that paaaarp and rump-rub-squash at the end of each bar of the music, even though it should just squish her tighter too.
Luna wiggled as best as she could between the dragon’s rears, feeling them squish and squeeze her about as they blew up. She pressed her claws into one of their rumps… claws? Luna looked down, noticing her body was now a deep blue plaid, crisscrossed with lighter blue, a few stars twinkling here and there on her belly. The music blew again, and Luna felt a bit less squashed. Why, of course she had claws! Any good dragon would have them. Along with a big, bouncy butt that she could see ballooning out between the behinds of the bagpipers surrounding her. She couldn’t help but grin, squeezing on her belly with her claws, feeling as she grew bigger and bigger, the squeezings of the other dragons feeling more like especially cozy hugs than anything dangerous. And the tune was so grand, she just had to shake her rear along with it~ She laughed, taking in a few gulps of air as she inflated, fog slowly drifting away to reveal her trapped between Fluttershy and Rarity’s rumps, growing fatter and fatter as they teased her.
Celestia whimpered, now spotting Luna bouncing along to the tune as well, swelling up and up and up! The ropes continued to creak, along with her swollen diaper. Bluebutt bounced his own rear into hers, causing her to swing back and forth as he took a few gulps to try and outdo Celestia’s swollen rump. “10!” The great red bagpipe dragon shouted as the counter ticked down.
“9!” Said Spike
“8! 7! 6!” Rarity, Fluttershy, and Luna added in.
Celestia pushed more magic into her horn, desperate to free herself before time ran out.
“5! 4! 3!” Bluebutt, Dash, and Applejack continued.
The creaks grew louder, her diaper weighing her down as she dipped dangerously close to the dragon’s open maw.
“2!” Pinkie cheered, bouncing on her plaid butt.
“1!” Twilight announced, licking her lips as her mentor dangled above her.
And then, the ropes snapped!
Celestia fell, squirming in a futile attempt to get free of her hugely inflated, restrictive costume.
As she did, she saw the maw of the dragon below, and took a little comfort in how it was clearly too small to actually swallow her down – right up until it opened its mouth far larger, swelling until it seemed to take up all the space in the Big Top. It was as if everything else shrank to a thin ring around the outside edge of the world, and the world was the red-purple-white-and-yellow dragon below her as his great black maw yawned open.
Plaid rose up around her, then became the backdrop for everything. Celestia dropped for an unknown amount of time, then bounced off something – making the plaid all around her wobble, and another sequence of musical notes start to play.
At the same time, one of the ropes tying her in place started to loosen! It was only a little bit, but Celestia was heartened – she just needed to work out what was causing it.
She bounced again, with another musical accompaniment, and the ropes slackened off a little more.
So she had to bounce! That was the key, Celestia realized – the more she bounced, the more she was free of the restrictions holding her in, and then she and Twilight would be safe together again.
Something about that seemed odd, but she bounced off the plaid three times in quick succession and the music made her somehow forget to be worried.
Bounce! Boing! Bwoomp! Celestia continued to bounce in place, the plaid pattern all around wobbling and shifting as she did. Soon she was bouncing in time to the melody, each beat punctuated by her butt landing softly against whatever it was she was bouncing upon. The restrictions grew steadily looser, and it wasn’t long before Celestia’s forehooves were free. She grabbed at her hind ones, not to attempt to free them, but to pull them up and allow herself to more easily bounce upon her butt. She laughed, humming along with the song that swirled around her, telling her she was safe and sound, big and round.
Was she round? She looked at herself. With all the magic she had pumped into her suit, she was practically one of the dragons herself! Her diaper was bloated and puffy, and even looked a bit plaid now that she was paying attention. That only made her giggle, imagining how silly she would look with a rear as big as Twilight’s, with the same cute plaid pattern. The red and purple around her shifted, wobbling and… swelling? Celestia wasn’t sure how to describe the way the pattern bent and wobbled, but it was certainly swelling! And swelling in towards her! She bounced again and again, now completely free from her bonds, though that didn’t stop her. It was just too much fun, bouncing and boinging and parading herself around as she grew. Her tail flipped back and forth, the pipe at the end wailing along with the song as the pattern all around began to press into her. She blushed, the puffy material hindering her bouncing a bit. All that did was make her bounce harder, dreaming of being safe with her dear student Twilight and her sister Luna again~
The great big boss dragon, Bagpiperix, blew happy paaarp notes on all his pipes in succession.
Everyone was having such a good time with his circus! Why, not only were all the performers having fun, bouncing and crinkling and blowing and singing, but the audience was in rapture!
And even the most stubborn of spectators was coming around to enjoy the music as well. Why, even now…
He took a great big breath, puffing his belly out, then stuck his thumb in his mouth and pushed. A little bubble of white material began to form at the tip of his tail-tube, with pastel pink and blue and yellow forming nearly-invisible glowing plaid patterns across it.
He took another big breath, then blew again – this time with his draconic assistants bouncing up and down on his belly, from little Spike to the newly-inducted Luna-Dragon, all of them jumping or springing up and down on his air-filled belly to force the air out along his tail.
The bubble of material grew, and grew, forming a great big plump sphere. Then it developed arms, legs, a head, a tail – a big, plaid dragon body, but with a twist.
As Celestia-Dragon formed, it wasn't just her draconic hide that was on display in all its plaid glory. There was a thick red-plaid diaper as well, giving her an extra-cute extra-plump butt, as well as serving as a reminder of who was really in charge.
Celestia fell onto her padded rear with a paaarp, giggling happily as she rocked back and forth, her music joining in with the others. The dragons all bowed, the audience applauding wildly at their performance, completely oblivious to their princesses now being fat, plaid, puffy bagpipe dragons. Bagpiperix grinned, looking out amongst the crowd. There were lots of ponies he couldn’t wait to have join his band~!
