In the center of the city,
There is a circle of tents,
Each one bigger and redder than the next.
In the main tent, where the crowd's gather round,
Preforming the high-wire act, a girl watches the ground.
The people watch with shock and fear,
As she does a ballet, such an amazing dear.
Walking on her tippy toes, she spins and twirls.
Then suddenly, she takes the trapeze and goes for a whirl!
But who is this girl who amazes soo soon?
Why, she is none other than Nightmare Moon!
In a circle of tents, placed oddly in the center of the city, a group of young children, training to be acrobats are running around. One little girl stops for a brief moment. She faces a poster posted on the stands. Her eyes gloss over in amazement as she stared at the picture of the teenage girl wearing a black costume. A few other children noticed and joined her. They all knew who the girl was and were all hoping to someday be just as great as her. "Oh-one day I'm going to be just as great as Nightmare Moon!" The little girl cheered.
"She's not that great." A gasp amongst the children rose in the air at the young boys comment. "What? It was only because of Todd Skully that she's soo famous."
"That's not true!" The little girl shouted.
"Is too!" The boy spat back.
"You lair!"
"Now, now, little children," A deep, enchanting voice boomed. "Why the quarrel? Do you not remember our circus moral?" An African woman, clearly deep in her roots, wearing a reddish, brown cape and had grayish hair with some of it sticking up resembling a zebra's mane.
"Zecora," Another little girl chimed. "Could you tell us the story of Nightmare Moon?" The woman was taken aback.
"I have never shared with you the story of her?" The woman asked. "Well, come and sit and you'll hear it word for word." Zecora led the group of children over to the center ring under the spot light. She sat on the red cylinder platform and the children sat just right in front of her ready to listen. "Some time ago, on a very dark night. A little girl wonder the streets, neither of her parents in sight~
It was a dark night, and there was a little girl. She was wondering up and down the streets cold, lonely, and pretty hungry. All she had with her was a small back pack with not much in it. She was very scared. This was the first time she had done anything like this. She was running away from home. Why? Well, she feels like she's not loved and that her older sister gets all the attention and is loved more. She was always being ignored and left alone. No one wanted to play with her. No one wanted to spend time with her. So, if no one cared that she was there, then they really wouldn't care if she wasn't. She packed some clothes and walked out the back door and just left.
Now she wondered the streets lost and scared. She'd go right back home if she knew the way. Giving up, she sat down on the curb and started to cry. A woman, mocha skinned, turquoise eyes, and gray hair with a basket in her arms and a reddish, brown cloak covering her arms stumbles upon her and stops. She notices the back pack on the child's back and sighs. "Running away, no solution is there." Her enchanting voice scared the girl at first. "So why do you sit weeping so young and fair?"
The little girl whipped her eyes. "I just don't want to be home anymore! Mommy and Daddy don't care about me. All they care about is big sister!" She cried with tears streaming down her face. The African woman sighed held out her hand to the little girl.
"Come dear child, I have a place you can stay." She said. "You can jump, swing, and dance all day." The little girl took the woman's hand and followed her to her new life. . .
~10 years later~
Ok, focus. A girl, age sixteen, thought to herself as she stood, one arm upwards, her other in a cradling position, with her leg extended outwards with her foot and toes pointed outwards onto the line in front of her. With a deep breath, the music began, and so did she. Fearlessly, she stepped out and twirled onto the line that was about twenty feet up. Her toes were perfectly pointed and her body perfectly balanced. Her ballet continued with twirls, jumps, and kicks. Then it was time for her most famous act-the trapeze!
Her partner, a teenage boy with emo cut black hair (short in the back, long in the front and covering the right half of his face), flew out onto the trapeze, standing on the bar while holding the wire, towards the girl and grabbed her while she jumped into the air. Together, they flew through the air. The boy took the girls hands and let her drop below the bar so she could be a swan flying through the air. Another member of the crew threw out a second bar, this one with a turning handle, so the girl could grab it. The boy pulled her up onto the shared bar so she could jump. She leaped into the air and grabbed the second bar and spun around magically in the air. The boy follows, swinging effortlessly through the air. With no twist and flip, the two soon land on the center podium in the middle of the ring with their finishing poses and are greeted with amazing applause. The two bow before the spotlight blacks out and then back on with a woman standing the pair's place.
Under the stage, the two were laughing while handed water bottles from the stagehands. "That was amazing, Luna. Really." The boy said.
"Not really." The girl named Luna sighed. "It could have been better."
"Damn right." The two turned around to face a girl with dark pink, orange, and yellow hair all flowing down her back. Her name was Sunny, but for the show, it was Sunny-Daze. She wore a white based costume with golden trims and a pink-cream skirt. Unlike Luna, whose costume had bird wings and a unicorn horn (to resemble her favorite animal the alicorn), Sunny just had a tiara dubbing herself a princess. Luna also has a tiara, but it was given to her by her mentor. "Your form was a little sloppy on that trapeze act. The only reason the crowd applauded was because they were clearly watching Skully." She smirked leaning against the teen boy. "You were amazing out there." She smiled to him and they shared a kiss.
"Go out there and shine Sunny." Skully smiled to her. "Break a leg." She smiled and waved to him, but glared at Luna. She stood on the platform that would rise her up to the high-wire. Skully was still smiling when he turned back to face Luna. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrow cocked up. "What?"
"Nothing." Luna said turning on her toes and started to head for the sitting room.
"Luna, if it's about Sunny-" He started but blue haired Luna cut her off.
"It's not about her!" She snapped. It was Skully's turn to cross his arms and eye her. "Ok, maybe it is-but I'm used to it." She said sitting down.
Skully sat down next to her. "Then what is it? You two were friends once, what changed all that?" Luna just looked at him. She couldn't really tell him why the turned enemies; it'd just ruin their friendship.
"It's nothing." She stood up and danced on over to one of the pillars holding up the tent. She leaned her shoulder against the wood and sighed. "Hey, once Zecora's ended and closed for the show for the night, want to play hooky?" Luna asked.
A devilish smile rose on Skully's face. "My favorite game."
In the next hour, Skully took his spotlight while wearing his skeleton-like costume and doing his fire acts. Sunny and Luna had to work together to control the horses to add a mystical feeling to the fire dancing around the stage. After that it was a group act of just about all the cast members. Then Ring Master Zecora preformed her act with the zebras, followed up with the lion tamer and his lions. The crowd was a little freaked about there being no fence for safety, but the lions were completely domesticated and tamed. They're just like guard dogs.
The show closed and as promised, Luna and Skully snuck out. The town they were visiting had a handful of little shops and things that the two really wanted to try out. They stopped at an ice cream parlor where the owner gave them each a free idem on the menu because he loved their show soo much. The two thanked him and gave him a nice tip just because they're good people. Together they walked the streets and surveyed the town. Tonight was the circus' last night here before they had to pack up and leave to go on break for the next year so they could come up with new routines and tricks. The two found a park and decided that a nice walk through a field of fireflies would be nice. After a few minutes, they found a big fountain. Luna sat on the edge facing outing of the park. Skully laid on his back looking up at the smoggy sky.
"Hey Luna."
"Yeah?" She asked turning towards the boy.
"So Zecora's going to place in a high school."
"Yup." She mumbled.
"And not just any high school; a high school in the city where she found the three of us." He smiled evilly.
"I know." She answered dully. "But I'm not worried. Anyone in my family probably moved away by now. I remember them always talking about getting a beach house. I never wanted to go."
"So you choose the life of a circus freak . . . over a life in a beach house . . . where you can just be lazy all day?" There was a long silence between the two of them. "Damn you're selfless. I would have gone with the beach house. . . Then again, I might not have you as an awesome friend." The boy grinned. Luna sighed and stood up brushing off her skirt.
"Come on, let's get back." She said as she started walking out of the park. "Zecora's probably noticed that we're gone." Skully waited a few moments before he too got up off the fountain and followed after Luna for a long week of packing, traveling, and unpacking. . .
Luna looked outside the window of the RV's back room and sighed. "Canterlot . . . Fun times." She mumbled as she got out of bed. She looked over at Skully. Sunny must have joined him in bed at some point in the night. Luna made a gagging like motion as she left the back of the RV to join the other early birds outside in the picnic area for some breakfast. "Morning Luna." That lion trainer greeted her.
"Morning." She yawned. "What's for breakfast?"
"Well, for you, your favorite: strawberry, blueberry, and banana pancakes with turkey bacon on the side!" He smiled handing her a plate.
"Thanks!" She smiled back joining the others at the table. Small chatter erupted around the table. Skully and Sunny joined a few minutes after Luna. Skully looked like he was dragged out of bed. The crew and cast ate their breakfast and got dressed in their working clothes afterwards. The tents weren't going to build themselves. Sunny threw a fit about working and did nothing but complain, which only made everyone make her do more stuff. Everyone spent all day putting together the tents and the equipment in the right place and catering to the animals. In two days' time, everything was built and ready for practice and training to begin. Luna took a deep whiff of the somewhat humid air.
There was no surprise about the crowd that had gathered around the place. It happened every time the circus came back to for a break. But one person in particular stood out, and she watched Luna carefully. Luna had a way of knowing when people were staring at her, and she knew that a lot of the people in the crowd were focused squarely on her, which made her a little more than nervous. See Luna, or what she's more famously known as, Nightmare Moon, had a pretty big fan base and probably a fair number of obsessed fans that could turn stalker. This chill on her spine through was different. She took a good look over the crowd. Nothing was really out of the ordinary until-
"Celestia. . ." Luna whispered staring at the woman staring back at her in otter shock and relief at the same time. The woman's long hair flowed flawlessly down her back in a string of four different colors: teal, sea foam green, sky blue, and pink. She was defiantly taller than Luna remembered, then again, Luna was six the last they saw of each other.
"Oh, how nice is this?" Zecora said walking over towards the gate. "Your sister, your new principal is?"
"Principal?" Luna shouted a little too loud.
"Yes. The principal of your new school, it's true." Zecora replied pulling out the key to the get. "Spending time together will be good for the both of you." Celestia nodded in thanks as she stepped through the gate followed by a purple haired girl with cappuccino colored skin. "Welcome my dears, to the circus of fears. Please, make yourself welcome, for you did not have to come." The enchanting woman spoke as she led the way back to the group of circus members that now gathered around Luna in curiosity of this beautiful woman that Zecora had let in.
"I thank you for the invitation." Celestia bowed lightly holding onto the briefcase in her hands. "Also, I thank you greatly for taking care of Luna."
"Wait-!" Luna dropped the small logs she was carrying and pointed at Zecora. "You've been in contact with my family?"
"That is true, Luna my dear. For I once saw a man with tears." She patted the young girl's head. "Awhile back in a town just down the road, I saw a man posting pictures of a girl of six-years-old." The African woman chanted. "Luna, he said was her name, I told him of a girl I found who was called just the same. He asked for a picture and I show you with toy, and it seemed to fill him with quite a lot of joy. To take you home was his only wish, but I told him you wanted nothing more than this." She waved her arm to point out the ring of tents around them. "To be in the circus, to be an acrobat. He agreed but for thing and that, was to simply have words of you growing well. To see that you're in good hands made his heart swell." Celestia and the young girl with her just stared.
"I'm sorry, what do you mean?" Celestia asked a little embarrassed.
"She means," Skully interrupted coming out of nowhere. "That she met Luna's father back after she found her and made a deal with him that Luna could stay in the circus as long as Zecora shared photos and info on her with him." He turned to the confused blue haired girl looking at him. "He knew that you were happy here and as long as you were safe, he was happy." Luna's face saddened and she retreated back into the safety of one of the tents. Celestia made a move to go after her, but Zecora stopped her.
"Let her alone for now. She needs time to take this in somehow."
"Alright." The older sister sighed. "Twilight, be ready. I'm sure there's a big lesson to be learned here."
"Yes, ma'am!" The purple haired girl smiled in confidence.
It took a while for Luna to accept things as they were, but after Zecora explained things and that her mother and father had seen her show just a few years ago, Luna came to the grown up decision that she was going to give her family a second chance! She'd spend the week with her older sister, Celestia, and then train hard with the circus on weekends. Skully was highly against the idea, whereas Sunny was for it. When Luna's clothes were all packed, Zecora escorted her to an apartment complex where Celestia lived. The elevator ride was silent. Luna was really nervous and shaking with anxiety. Zecora put a motherly hand on her shoulder.
"Do not fret. You still have much to learn yet." She spoke. "Believe me when I say, I do believe it's best this way."
"Why?" Luna asked as the elevator chimed to the floor with Celestia's apartment
"When you were young attention you wished. This broken relationship, your sister wants to stitch. She's missed you very, she too is feeling weary." The older woman knelt down and placed her hand on Luna's chest where her heart would be. "Be brave my daughter, be very strong. Your stay here, will not be long. Anytime you wish to come home, just give Skully a call with the phone." Zecora smiled and walked Luna down the hall to find the apartment number 351, Celestia's apartment. When they found it, Zecora knocked on the door. It opened a few moments later to the purple haired girl Celestia had brought with her to the tent grounds.
"Oh-good morning Luna and Miss Zecora." She greeted. "Please, come in!" She smiled. Luna and Zecora stepped into the well-lit apartment. It was definitely different than what she was used to. "Celestia's in her office right now dealing with an important call. She'll be in in a moment the girl laughed.
"Thank you." Zecora smiled at her as Luna walked over an electric fireplace. On the mantel was a line of pictures. One was of her in her old costume of her first performance. Her face saddened. I guess I was wrong. She thought to herself. Luna jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She hadn't heard Celestia enter the room behind her. Luna looked up to her sister; Celestia was smiling down at her with a welcoming smile. Luna sighed and let Celestia lead her away to renew the old life she left behind and to get to know her sister better. She was ready for just about anything!
"So, Luna and her sister were reunited?" A little boy asked.
"Correct fair child, Luna and Celestia together again," Zecora smiled. "However, our story is only about to begin. You wish to know about Nightmare Moon, for a new chapter, hardship is soon."
"What happens, Zecora?" The little girl asked.
"Well, Skully you see was not very wise, for he only saw Sunny with narrow eyes." The woman chanted. "But Luna and her soon to be friends, could see Sunny's bitterness, with no end. Now begins the chapter of trust, to keep a relationship have this you must." The children sat in wonder as they listened to Zecora's tale. . .