The circus was becoming a rarer thing with each day that passed. In a world filled with all the entertainment you could ever want right at your fingertips, it was becoming less common to take your children out to see clowns or acrobats performing live. Clowns were almost a thing of the past, relegated to horror movies and the odd child’s birthday party rather then putting on a show for hundreds of people.
Josh had never been to see the circus. He wanted to see the circus though, or he was pretty sure that he wanted to visit the circus. Either way he was now on the path to visit the circus. The more he thought about it, the more he began to realize that he didn’t actually remember getting here.
And almost as important, here really didn’t look like the kind of place that a circus would be held. Tall black trees towered all around him, reaching up into the sky like angry claws, leafless branches twisted and gnarled as if they were in pain. Up above, there was half of the moon sticking out from behind a cloud, casting the ground below in a silver light that made it easy to see where he was going.
But where was he going? He glanced down at the bright pink ticket in his hand and attempted to gather all his memories of the last few hours into his mind, but for some reason they scattered and drifted away like they were trapped behind a thick wall of fog.
Before he think any more on it, there was a sudden stiff breeze that rattled through the trees and his skinny frame with ease, chilling him straight down to the bone.
Right. He was simply wearing a red, short-sleeved t-shirt and a set of tracksuit trousers. His feet were clad in simple trainers, but they were sturdy and with the sliver light of the moon he could see where he was going.
But, where WAS he going? He could see the path, winding in a serpentine fashion through the forest, devoid of leaves and made out of simple compacted dirt, but where did the path end? And why was he here?
Hugging his arms tighter to his chest, he hurried down the path and tried to piece everything together, but it was hopeless. He was here, and he felt a strong desire to keep moving down the path, and that was the end of it.
Honestly, he would have been scared normally, even terrified, but something about this place made him feel safe. If he just kept following the path, everything would be OK.
After taking a sharp turn, he found himself in a clearing, and in the centre of the clearing there was a huge circus tent dominating the horizon, with a small flag blowing gently in the wind right at the top, and an emblem of the moon carved into the flag pole. The scent of popcorn and other sweet scents filled the air. The tent was striped, pitch black and midnight blue, with faded pink bunting decorating around the edges of the roof, circling the entire tent and giving it a somewhat eerie feeling.
What was also giving him an eerie feeling was the fact that a light green glow seemed to be coming from inside of the tent, much lighter then the colour of his eyes and almost sickly, but it felt… Welcoming.
Stepping towards it, he seemed to cross some kind of invisible barrier. The sound of laughter filled the air, the joyous song of the circus flowing from out of the tent and making him feel compelled to approach the tent faster, to find out just what it was that they were finding so amusing.
Before he took another step forward however, Josh turned the faded pink ticket over in his hand and attempted to study the writing that it was stamped with. It was simple in design, stamped with letters all in the same script, besides some parts where capitals were used.
‘The GREATEST circus in town. Come and see! Ticket valid for 1 adult. Truly unforgettable show that will change your life,’ The ticket assured.
Scattered around the text, in the same font, were several phrases ‘such wow’, ‘laugh’, ‘joy’. It looked like it hadn’t been made professional, and he couldn’t remember where he had gotten it. But then he couldn’t remember getting here either.
Maybe this was all a dream? He stared down at the palm of his hand, then turned it over to gaze over his knuckles. No? He moved his other hand and pinched himself firmly, which hurt a lot as his skin was very cold from the bitter wind.
Muttering softly to himself, he rubbed the red mark that he had just left on his skin and then bought his focus back up to the tent. Right. This wasn’t a dream. He might have been tripping balls, but for now there seemed to be no other way to figure it out besides pushing forward into the tent.
He could do this.
Pushing forward, he drew closer to the tent and noticed the fliers that decorated the area around entrance. Most of them were advertisements for previous shows and highlighting specific feats. Hanging up fliers that advertised old shows was certainly a strange thing to do, but the sound of echoing laughter coming from within the tent drew his attention upwards.
Normally, the sound of laughter in the middle of the woods this late and night would have some kind of haunting quality to it, but to him it seemed strangely comforting. It sounded like the people in the tent were genuinely enjoying whatever was happening, like they were just having a good time, and that filled him with a strange feeling.
It was time. He was stopped just before the entrance to the tent now, before the rough fabric that made it up, able to see the fact that it was made out of some kind of heavy burlap, which was an odd choice of material. He was just putting it off, he had no idea what awaited him beyond the entrance but he knew that once he entered the tent, there would be no turning back.
How did he know that? He couldn’t be sure, but there was a strange sense of nervous excitement building within his chest, like a swarm of butterflies or balloons bouncing around in his tummy. Whatever was about to happen, it was going to be big.
A sigh, then he ducked down and entered the tent, the sickly green light from above almost blinding him for a brief moment as it was far brighter then the moonlight outside. Up above, attached to metal structural beams, there were huge green and blue flood lights painting everything in an odd glow like it was some kind of rave, and up on the stage was the creature that everyone was laughing about.
It was a pony. Or, something that he could vaguely identify as a pony, only it was neon pink with a hugely oversized and poofy mane in a lighter pink hue that reminded him of cotton candy. Their face was painted white like the classic Pierrot clowns, with bright yellow circles painted just below their eyes.
He was taken back for a few moments as mixed, confused emotions overtook him. This didn’t feel like a dream. Was he going mad? He turned to face towards the exit, but before he even completed a full turn, he was bought to a stop by something else. The crowd.
Filling the stands and seats were other brightly coloured technicolour equines, most not quite as bright as the one taking centre stage in the ring, but all of them laughing and smiling as they defied the laws of logic and reason.
His head was in a spin, and he was in a panic, but when he turned towards the exit, it had suddenly vanished from right behind him, and he was faced with thick, rough fabric that at the moment seemed like an impenetrable barrier.
Up on stage, the clown, the bright neon pink clown in a black Perrot outfit decorated with faded multicoloured spots, was busy pushing their mane into a fool’s cap, a cap ‘n bells, but in place of the bells, each of the three points ended in a brightly coloured pompom, in blue, yellow and pink.
He was breathing really heavy. His heart was beating like a drum, and things went from bad to worse when the clown in the centre of the ring stared directly at him. The sclera of their eyes was a light blue, with piercing blue irises and black pupils like pinpricks that seemed to be looking right through him. With the wide white frills from the neck of their costume, it almost looked like their head had been served on some kind of platter.
Things went from bad to completely fucked when a piercing yellow stage light suddenly flicked on overhead, illuminating him directly.
Then the laughter fell silent. The crowd, the clown, they were all staring at him in something taken straight from out of a nightmare, and the only thing he could do was stand there as his heart thudded desperately in his ears.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts! We have a very special guest here today, who’s come all the way from another world just to help me with my latest trick!”
The sound of stomping hooves sounded through the tent, a round of applause given by impossible creatures for an impossible situation.
The clown was staring directly at him and a few painful seconds ticked by before he managed to find his voice.
“I-Ia…” Or, maybe he hadn’t managed to find his voice after all. “I… This is impossible.”
The clown laughed, a smile spreading across its face like a wound becoming unstitched, showing off rows of serrated teeth that were far too sharp to be put on a herbivore.
“Do you hear that folks? ‘This is impossible’, well when the great Pinkiacci is in town, nothing is impossible!”
His voice had come out quite, but each time she spoke, it seemed to echoed all around the tent. One of his legs was starting to shake wildly, and it felt like his strength was slowly being drained out of him… What was this? His head was still in a spin, but the clown was still giving a bright grin.
The voice was undeniably feminine, and she hopped up onto a tiny ball that wobbled back and forth slightly as she stared at him again. He could only stare there in a shocked stupor, slowly finding himself getting lost in her eyes.
He wanted to get out of here. He wanted to turn and run but there was nowhere to go and his limbs weren’t interested in following his orders right now. “It’s OK folks, my assistant just has a little bit of stage fright! Give us a second.” The crowd gave a soft laugh in response, but he now realized that his limbs were locked up.
His entire world had been swallowed up by those sky blue eyes, and he found his legs slowly moving on their own. He wanted to fight. He wanted to scream, he wanted to run as far away as he was able.
Calmness had set in over the panic, an unnatural calmness that left his thoughts placid, completely at the mercy of the impossible clown as he slowly approached the ring, finding himself surrounded by floodlights and the eyes of dozens of technicolour ponies watching him.
“Come on folks, let’s give another round of applause to our brave volunteer! What’s the name of our lucky special ticket holder?”
Josh’s mouth was so dry, it felt like his tongue was being baked in a desert. He swallowed, then croaked out
“Josh, my name is Josh…” His voice only shook a little bit, which was something that he was quite proud of, but the clown fell over backwards onto her ball, somehow balancing on it with her flank. The rest of the crowd soon joined in with the laughing, and he felt his heart sink. It felt as though they were laughing at him.
“No silly, your name is The GREAT Pinkiacci!”
Josh looked confused for a few moments, but the only thing that escaped his mouth was a soft croak as he attempted to argue with the clown.
The crowd had stopped laughing now, and there were dozens of eyes simply staring at him from the crowd as the clown took off her fool’s cap and suddenly plonked it down right on his head. It was heavy, far heavier then he had been expecting and smelled strongly of popcorn and cotton candy.
He stumbled away from the clown for a brief moment, then went down firmly on his rear. He had only just now noticed that the clown was a lot larger then the other ponies, and stood as tall as he did when standing up.
Now that he had gone down on his tail bone, she towered over him, and before he could attempt to tear the silly hat off, a sudden jolt ripped up his spine, and for a split second he worried that falling on his rear, he might have landed on his tail bone funny.
And then the sensation became incredibly pleasurable and he let out a started cry as he felt something begin to shift in his body. There weren’t enough curses in the English language for how much he was freaking out in that moment, but as he stared up at the clown, all that panic melted away and was replaced with a solid calm as he drew himself into her eyes.
Something was escaping from inside of him, and he turned his head slightly as a jolt of pain ripped through him, a growing pressure that felt like something was being crushed, and then there was a sudden ripping sound.
A large poofy tail, an exact match for that of the clown in front of him, had just burst through his trousers and was now hanging out behind him, as if it had always been there.
It was a joke. A magic trick. It had-
A hoof firmly gripped under his chin, guiding him back to stare into the eyes of the clown, and all that panic melted away from him. It was fine. He was fine, this was all normal. The crowd was watching, he couldn’t freak out in front of them.
His skin began to feel warm as he stared at the clown.
“Ah, the party is going to last forever, and we are going to have so much fun!” She declared.
It sounded good. It sounded right. He liked parties right? Of course he did, who didn’t like parties?
Something began to sprout through his skin, and his attention was drawn to a marking on the suit of the clown, a marking of three neon blue balloons.
A soft groan escaped his lips as he stared at them, and a bright red blush rushed to his cheeks as the great Pinkiacci gave a soft little titter.
“You like that mark right?” She asked rhetorically, “It’s our mark! Our talent is partying and performing, remember?”
He remembered. He loved to party. He loved to perform.
“The bigger the crowd, the better right? We love making ponies laugh, right?”
Yes. He loved when people and ponies laughed. He loved making people and ponies laugh.
There was bright neon pink fur sprouting from his body. It was OK. It felt good, it felt like his entire body was getting a gentle massage, and as the pink pony before him gave a soft giggle, he found himself giggling with her. This was fun. This felt right.
“Silly billy, we’ve got to get you ready for your big show, and you forgot your make-up!”
Oh. Oh no. He couldn’t perform without his make-up. His hands were really starting to tingle, and his shoulders felt funny. The pink pony had hopped down off her ball at this point and was now sat before him, holding a simple black make-up kit in one hoof and the brush in the other. He hadn’t even noticed her removing her hoof from his chin, but it didn’t matter, her eyes were the only thing that mattered in the world to him.
She pressed the brush gently to his face as he felt it shift and change, there was something horribly wrong with his face, but he couldn’t tell what it was, and as his snout slowly extended forward, he resisted the urge to smack one of his partly formed hooves into his forehead. He certainly was a silly-billy, he’d forgotten his make-up, that was why she was helping him apply it. How could he forget?
The white face paint was applied to his face, Pinkiacci slowly dragging the brush over the edges of his face in a caring fashion, each stroke practically feeling like heaven against his new neon pink fur.
On the edges of his vision, she could see her brand new mane slowly sprouting from her head and growing down one side of her face, and she hoped it wouldn’t get in the way of having her make-up applied. She needed to put on a show and she couldn’t let her fans down, she needed to make them laugh and give them an unforgettable show.
Thankfully, she was very skilled at applying make-up, and her doppelganger shared that trait, effortlessly brushing on the thick paint before using a make-up pad to wipe off any excess.
She was growing now, her body extending outwards with the popping of bones and joints that were adjusting, getting her ready for her next big show. Her groin was shifting and reshaping, and for a moment she felt as though she had just lost something important, but that thought was quickly brushed aside.
She knew now why it was she had been wandering out in the forest, and why she had forgotten the reason for coming here. This was HER surprise show, all of this had been put on for her, and as her body grew and expanded outwards, she was caught off guard by the strange sensation of her teeth shifting and changing within her maw, becoming sharper and more pointed, giving meaning to the phrase ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’
Pinkiacci was a gift horse, and the gift she bought was laughter. She was standing at her full height now, and her double was helping to apply the yellow circles to contrast with her white face paint. She was the greatest clown in all the land, standing at twice the height of a regular pony but able to mover her body in incredible feats of acrobatics and showponyship.
The crowd was watching in shocked awe as she stretched herself out, feeling how limber each of her joints were and just how powerful she felt. She had her huge poofy mane, and her huge poofy tail, and the all important cap ‘n bells, or cap ‘n pompoms in this case, but she still felt as though something important was missing, as if she was somehow naked.
Staring at her double, she took note of the fabric suit that they were wearing, something that she needed to look like a proper clown, but it was more important then that. Staring back at her neon pink flank, she couldn’t help but giggle.
“I almost forgot my cutie-” She cut herself off, her voice was still that of a human man, although with a lot less nerves behind it, booming out to the crowd in the tone of a proper performer. She cleared her throat firmly, “Ahem, sorry, human had my tongue! I almost forgot my cutie-mark, I can’t be much of a performer without any talent, can I?”
The crowd laughed, and it felt good to her. It made her feel like all was right in the world, and as she focused on her flank, there was a soft magical glow and then there it was, three blue neon balloons, a mark of her talent as a clown, a mark of The Great Pinkiacci!
Her double produced a brand-new hat from within her mane, and she smacked her hoof gently into her face, being careful not to smudge her face paint as she did so. If she wanted a new costume, she could just get one from her mane!
She plunged her hoof into the incredibly soft poofyness of her mane. It really was like cotton candy, only with more confetti in it and being a lot, lot softer.
From within her mane she pulled a brand new suit for herself, moving to deftly pull it on and slip it over her form. The little frills around her hooves made it easy to distinguish them from the rest of her body, and the frills around her neck kept the attention on her face.
She loved it. She loved the feel of her suit and her hat and just… Everything. And even more then that, she loved the feeling of putting on a show.
Speaking of shows, she turned to face the crowd, feeling hundreds of eyes watching her, waiting for her to perform for them. It was time to get to work, it was time to show why she was The Great Pinkiacci.
Author's Note
You should totally hire me.
