The Cirque Du Noir and Other Tales

by BlackRoseRaven

Tale I: The Carnival

Tale I: The Carnival

The squat unicorn – and everything about him, from his horn to his body to his little legs was squat – scowled around at the carnival and the other carnival-goers as he floated a device in front of himself, which beeped loudly. The device seemed to serve no other real purpose: it simply beep, beep, beeped away in a steady, unending rhythm, creating a high-pitched beat to the music of happy ponies chatting and yelling and laughing as they enjoyed the fairgrounds, the food, the sights and sounds of the carnival.
“Torque!” called a cheerful, tall unicorn stallion who bounded over, a bright autumn red to Torque's drab blue. Torque winced and nearly dropped his device as the stallion barged right into him, floating a pair of ice cream cones in his vibrant magic as he smiled brightly. “I got us some ice creme!”
“Cream.” Torque corrected pettishly, scowling at the aforementioned substance, and then he carefully used his own magic to push the cone away. “We're here on a research mission, Charm. You and Pickle... where's Pickle?”
Torque halted and looked back and forth, then squawked as a bright yellow mare leapt out of the crowd, nearly knocking several ponies over before she crashed into Torque and Charm. Or more acutely, she rammed Torque into Charm, firmly sandwiching the tiny unicorn between the two larger ponies as she threw a foreleg and a wing around the red stallion. “Hey guys! It's a carnival!”
The small unicorn wheezed loudly, flailing uselessly between the two larger ponies before he managed to shove them apart as he hugged his device to his chest. He glowered back forth at the two, then glared at the pegasus mare as she smiled brightly down at him, reaching up to firmly rustle his mane as she bounced in place. “Are you having lots of fun, Torque?”
“No, I am not having fun.” groused Torque, glaring between Pickle and Charm. “And neither should you two! This is serious! Don't you remember why we're here?”
“It's a carnival! We're here to have fun!” Pickle said happily, bouncing on the spot and making her long ponytails swing with the same exuberance.
“Yeah, a carnival. We're here to explore, right?” Charm answered, absently offering Pickle an ice cream cone, which she immediately gorged herself on in several large, messy bites, Torque leaning away in horror from the generous spray of drool and ice cream that accompanied this.
“No!” Torque finally snapped, glaring at the two, and Pickle and Charm both stared back at him with childish expressions of confusion. “This... this is the Cirque du Noir! I've told you guys dozens of times about this! Ponies show up here and vanish! The last time the Cirque visited Canterlot there were three disappearances and dozens of reports of bizarre visions and otherworldly experiences!”
“Sounds like magic.” Pickle said, before she grinned as she leaned in and waggled her eyebrows, bright blue eyes locking on Torque's grumpy grey. “Magic mushrooms! We should find some!”
Charm huffed at this, saying seriously: “Hey, I don't think that's such a good idea. You never know what could be in magical mushrooms if you don't get them from a licensed alchemist or regaent dealer. Your potions should contain only top quality ingredients.”
Pickle chortled, and Torque slowly dragged a hoof down his face before he looked suddenly up and hissed: “The ticket taker!”
Pickle and Charm both turned and looked with dumb curiosity as the ticket taker walked by ahead, ignoring everyone around him as he cut through the crowd. Torque glared after the gaunt green unicorn, then squawked when Pickle almost stepped on him as she turned to watch the ticket taker, asking: “Do you think he's selling the mushrooms?”
“I- no! It's not mushrooms!” snapped Torque as he wriggled his way out from under Pickle, and then he gestured sharply with his device through the crowd. “Let's go after him while we have the chance! He has to know something!”
“We should be polite, though.” Charm said seriously. “You get more bees with honey than vinegar.”
“And more hydras with meat than hay! So we should get him honeyed meat!” Pickle added with a grin and a thrust of a hoof into the air, and Torque's eye visibly twitched before he grumbled under his breath before he stalked off after the ticket taker.
Pickle and Charm traded looks and shrugs, then ran after him, and the trio found the ticket taker sitting alone at a table outside the food tents. He was slowly sipping at a cup of cola, glowering back at Torque, who was standing on the table and glaring down into his eyes. Well, glaring across into his eyes: Torque was very short, and the unicorn was very tall, or perhaps 'stretched' was a better word, with how emaciated his body was.
“Hi there!” Charm greeted, positive as ever.
“Do you got mushrooms?” asked Pickle excitedly, twisting her head upside down with a wide, comical, predatory grin.
The ticket taker scowled at them all, and then he grumbled: “If you have a problem with the carnival, take it up with Veritas. I'm not even supposed to be here.”
“I know what you're up to here.” Torque growled through grit teeth, leaning down aggressively, but the unicorn seemed unperturbed even as their noses almost pushed together. “I've followed your carnival all over Equestria, and I've heard all your false promises of making people happy and letting them have their fondest desire-”
“Not my promises. That's Veritas' problem. Take it up with him.” the scarred stallion grumbled, before he winced when Pickle shoved her face in to mash against theirs with a greedy grin.
“Ooh! Can I have my fondest desire? Where do I sign up for that?” she asked excitedly.
The stallion scowled as Torque furiously shoved against Pickle, before he squeaked when Charm leaned in on the other side, face squished between the two larger ponies' as the red unicorn asked curiously: “Can I meet Twilight Sparkle? I was hoping that since we're close to Ponyville, she might be here! I'd love to meet Twilight Sparkle!”
“You don't want to meet Twilight Sparkle.” the grizzled unicorn reached up and firmly shoved the three ponies backwards, knocking Torque off the table and sending the other two down on their rumps. “That's never how it works. You don't want to meet the real Twilight Sparkle. You want to meet your Twilight Sparkle, the ideal Twilight Sparkle you've cooked up in your head, altered by your perceptions, your desires, your 'oh we'd get along so well!'”
The unicorn posed with his hooves under his chin, fluttering his eyelashes before he scowled at the ponies, and Charm and Pickle traded looks before Charm asked awkwardly: “So can I meet her or not?”
The green unicorn sighed and dropped his face in his hooves, and then he winced and leaned back in surprise when Torque popped out from under the table, shoving his front hooves against his chest and glaring up at the larger stallion as he snapped: “Listen, dude. I know all about what you've been up to. What this place really is. And I am not leaving here until I get some answers.”
Torque and the ticket taker glared at each other, before Pickle reached quickly over and lifted Torque up, yanking him back across the table to plunk him down as she apologized: “Sorry. He gets cranky without his nap. What do you mean by that, though? Can you give us anything we want?”
The ticket taker grunted, looking away and cross his forelegs before he answered evasively: “I didn't say that. But if you showed up at the right time, with the right payment, and you had something you desired...”
The green unicorn reached up and tapped his nose with a wink, and Pickle continued to look at him expectantly before she asked slowly: “Yes?”
The green unicorn sighed tiredly, and then he answered grouchily: “If you're willing to pay, we may be able to provide.”
Pickle and Charm both leaned in before Torque exploded up between them, shoving them apart as he shouted: “Don't trust him! He's evil!”
“Probably, but I'm also lazy.” the stallion said sourly, snorting in distaste. “Again, we're not doing this for free. Sure, it's your altruism, but we use it, selfishly, to balance our sins.”
Both Pickle and Charm looked confused by this, while Torque snorted and stomped his hooves, squinting at the stallion before he hissed: “I knew it. I knew you were up to something wicked here. And it's not all pleasure and happiness, is it?”
“Some ponies don't want 'pleasure' and 'happiness.' Some ponies want to repent. Some ponies want to drown in a sea of sorrow. Some ponies clutch fear closer to their hearts than they do love or life or joy.” the unicorn snorted, then he shrugged. “They ask. We answer. They order, we deliver. That's the way it goes.”
“I'll have a pizza. We can get pizza?” Charm asked hopefully, and Pickle nodded with a grin.
Torque groaned in frustration, and the ticket taker rolled his eyes before he said shortly: “If that was your true desire. But that seems a lousy wish to make when you could have anything you want.”
“Then I'll have two pizzas!” Pickle said, before she rubbed her hooves together with a grin. “Two ice cream pizzas! How about that?”
Charm nodded  in approval as Torque rolled his eyes, and the ticket taker grumbled before he shoved himself away from the table. “Well, thank you for wasting my break. I have to go back to work.”
“Hey! I'm not done with you yet!” Torque snapped, bolting off after the stallion. Pickle whooped and hopped the table with a flap of her wings, following excitedly, and Charm began to follow before he cocked his head curiously as he noticed a white slip of paper on the table.
He picked this up and looked at it, reading it over:

Charm looked at this for a moment longer, then he shrugged before tucking it away in his saddlebag and taking off after Torque and Pickle. If nothing else, it would make a nice souvenir.
But he did still really wish he could meet Twilight Sparkle.