//------------------------------//
// Tale II: I'm Always Right, Pt 1 
// Story: The Cirque Du Noir and Other Tales 
// by BlackRoseRaven 
//------------------------------//

Tale II: I'm Always Right, Part I
~BlackRoseRaven

Torque scowled as he crankily looked back and forth through the crowd of ponies surging past: he'd lost the ticket taker in the throng of colorful equines. He snorted in irritation, then whipped out his device, listening to the regular beep-beep-beep-
His eyes widened slightly: was the beeping getting closer together? No, that was impossible. He was the one looking for the anomaly, the anomaly couldn't be looking for-
“Hey!” Pickle shouted, and she tackled him to the ground, knocking him flat with a squawk as his detector flew high into the air. “There you are! Where's the pizza delivery pony?”
Torque glared at her, then winced as his device crashed down beside his head with an awful rattle, the beeping cutting off. He squawked and scrambled out from under Pickle to grab it in his front hooves, wincing as he held it up. “You broke it!”
“I didn't break it! Gravity broke it!” Pickle argued, and Torque glared at her before the mare asked curiously: “What was it, anyway?”
Torque groaned, then looked up as Charm approached, asking curiously: “What are you doing down there?”
The small unicorn glowered, then he straightened quickly before he snorted and tucked the device away, snapping back: “Where were you? I lost that idiot because-”
“Hey, he didn't seem like an idiot. Anyway, we just have to order a pizza to get him to come back, right?” Pickle pointed out, and Torque rubbed at his head as if pained.
“Wasn't he the ticket taker? So if he's going back to work, maybe that means he's back at the ticket booth. We just have to leave and come back.” Charm said thoughtfully, and Torque snorted at him even as he grudgingly nodded.
“But we can't leave leave. I'm not buying new tickets.” Torque argued.
“Okay, Torque.” Charm agreed, and Torque glared at him for a moment before he picked himself up and turned with a grumble.
Pickle and Charm fell into step behind him, Pickle bouncing a little and Charm humming to himself: it was maddening. Didn't they realize how serious this situation was?
“I don't think you two quite 'get' what we're doing here. This is important.” Torque said suddenly, raising his head and glaring back and forth between the two. “This place is dangerous. Ponies have vanished. It is a mystery and I am going to get to the bottom of it!”
“I don't know if I'd really call it a mystery.” Pickle said thoughtfully. “You seem pretty sure you already know the answer, after all, Torque.”
Torque rolled his eyes, snapping back: “Then you two could pay attention to what I'm saying for once instead of traipsing all over this place like it's some stupid carnival.”
“But it is a carnival. You said so yourself!” Charm pointed out, tilting his head in confusion.
Torque scowled as he stopped and glowered over his shoulder at the two, and Charm and Pickle stumbled to a halt to stare back at him before Torque growled: “It is much more than just 'a carnival,' you bunglers. The carnival is precisely how they attract ponies in! And once they lure them in, then they get them!”
“They get them? What do they get them?” Pickle asked, suddenly bursting wth excitement.
“I don't really understand either.” Charm admitted. “Are you sure you aren't overthinking this, Torque? It could always just be a coincidence.”
“There's no such thing as coincidence! Everything happens for a reason!” Torque snapped, glaring at Pickle and Charm. “If you two idiots would just listen to me for once, we wouldn't be having these problems!”
“What problems?” Pickle asked curiously, cocking her head.
“I don't think we have any problems.” Charm said, as genuine as ever. “Sure, we fight sometimes, but all families fight.”
“We're not family!” Torque burst out, shaking his head vehemently, and Pickle gave a long, loud inhale as Charm only cocked an eyebrow. “And we do have a problem. What if one of your friends came to this place and got trapped here? What if you end up never being able to leave?”
Charm and Pickle traded looks, and then Pickle grinned and hopped from hoof-to-hoof, saying cheerfully: “I always wanted to run away and join the circus! Imagine, getting to go to the circus every single day for the rest of your life!”
“Well, are you really going to the circus if it's your job, though? I think the most exciting part would be traveling all around the country, getting to explore all of Equestria and maybe beyond.” Charm said with a smile. “Just think of all the places you'll go, the people you'll meet!”
Torque groaned at this, rubbing slowly at his temples before he growled: “That's not what I meant. This is exactly what I was talking about!”
“But if it was exactly what you were talking about, how can it not be what you meant?” Charm asked curiously, and Pickle nodded vehemently in agreement.
Torque grasped his head with his hooves, then slowly dragged them down his face, muttering: “I'm surrounded by idiots.”
“That's not very nice, Torque, I'm sure a lot of these ponies are plenty smart, just like you!” Pickle retorted disapprovingly.
The small unicorn glowered at her for a moment, and then he turned back forwards and stormed on through the crowd, Pickle and Charm trading looks before they both hurried after him.
Torque decided it would be better to ignore the idiots until they found the ticket taker again: to his surprise – and displeasure – he found that Charm was right, and the ticket taker had returned to his booth, where he was already back at work.
Torque scowled, eyeing the steady stream of ponies coming through the gate: a steady stream of victims, he thought, unaware that this carnival was going to cheat them out of their money and possibly their lives, all happiness and joy like the idiots he was traveling with. But he knew what was going on: he understood that this place was nothing but a trap, and he was here to put a stop to it.
“Um. He's on the other side of the gate.” Charm pointed out, and Torque scowled. “I mean, I just thought you said we weren't going to have to buy tickets again.”
“Hey! Hey you! I want to talk to you!” Torque shouted, which had utterly no effect whatsoever. The unicorn didn't even look at him. “Jerk.”
“Hey! That's rude!” Pickle scolded, and then she added: “Also Charm's right. I don't have any money. Maybe if we just explained it, he'd let us back in?”
“I doubt it.” Torque grumbled, then he looked warily up as Charm frowned in that thoughtful way of his.
“Well, if we can just leave, why don't we?” he asked reasonably. “I mean, if you're really so concerned about something bad happening here, we could easily just leave right now.”
“Aww, but I wanna play the rides and go on the games still!” Pickle complained.
“No, you don't ride the... no, nevermind.” grumbled Torque, before he snapped: “Look, I'm not leaving here until I get to the bottom of this! Just for a moment, pretend you believe me-”
“Oh, I do believe you, I do!” Charm said brightly, nodding enthusiastically.
“-then what do you want us to do? Leave and never look back or return and leave all these ponies here to just, what, vanish or die or whatever happens to them?” snapped Torque, glaring between the two ponies. “Look, I'm not here for fun or games or because I want to, but because I have to. No one else will believe me and no one else will try and fix this. Only me!”
Charm and Pickle shifted uncomfortably, trading awkward looks before the red unicorn asked: “But why don't you try telling someone if you're so worried, Torque?”
Torque scowled, then retorted: “As if I haven't tried! But no one will listen to me, and... I... I'll buy another ticket if I have to go talk to him! You two wait here and I'll do it myself!”
Pickle gasped at this proclamation, eyes going wide, and Charm bit his lip before he suddenly dropped his sidepack and scrounged through it before he smiled and pulled out a white piece of paper, saying brightly: “Here! I found this, maybe you can trade it for a ticket!”
Torque blinked as he took the piece of paper, looking down at it for a few moments before he scowled and said flatly: “This looks like a flier. Where did you get it?”
“I found it on the table. I think it's an invitation.” Charm said, and Pickle gave an 'ooh!' of interest, leaning her head forwards curiously as Torque returned his eyes to the slip of paper, scowling at it. “It says you just need to do something nice-”
“Yes, to hide their wickedness! I get it! I understand this scheme!” Torque scowled horribly, then he shoved the piece of paper away in his own sidepack before he extracted a bag of bits, opening it and grouchily poking through the coins inside before he muttered: “It's... nothing. Evidence, but circumstantial evidence. That's all.”
“How?” Pickle asked curiously.
Charm slowly opened his mouth, then winced when Torque snapped: “It just is!”
Charm cleared his throat and closed his mouth, then he said gently: “Maybe we should just go get a snack, Torque. Your blood sugar sounds maybe a little bit low?”
“Oh shut up.” Torque huffed, then he shook his head before he glowered out the gates, looking at the short line of ponies outside. “I'm going to go talk to him. You wait here. I'll be right back, okay?”
“Okay! I'll be right back too!” Pickle said brightly, before she looked around and then pranced away, and Torque slapped his forehead with a grumble.
“She'll be right back, though.” Charm said, positive as ever, and Torque glared at him over his hoof before he grumbled and turned around, heading to the exit gate and shoving his way through.
Standing outside the carnival, he took a deep breath and shivered, risking a look back over his shoulder: but Charm was only looking at the sky, apparently humming to himself. Or at least Torque imagined he was: there was some kind of bizarre distance created by the gates that muffled sound, as if he was miles away instead of only meters.
He grimaced a bit, shifting away before he bit his lip as he looked quickly around, feeling a bit of nervousness bite at him despite himself. It was easier to be loud and obnoxious when he had Pickle and Charm around: they always gave him confidence, probably because they were always there to protect him when things went badly, and to take all the attention off him.
Torque took a slow breath, and then he forced himself to wheel around, storming over to join the line leading into the carnival. He grumbled and fidgeted as ponies filed forwards one after the other,  until it was finally his turn to face the ticket taker once more.
He glared at the stallion, and the green unicorn looked back at him, scowling and surly. He tapped a hoof slowly against the counter of the stall, and then he said dryly: “Foal tickets are four bits.”
“Foal!” Torque glared, before he gritted his teeth, then the little pony straightened up to his full height, snapping: “I know what you're up to here-”
“I know, I know. We went through that already.” the ticket-taker said dryly, rolling a hoof irritably to the side. “Keep the line moving, please.”
Torque looked back, and all he saw was a foal crying over a dropped ice cream in the distance with parents who were uselessly trying to console him. He huffed, then turned back towards the ticket taker, glaring up at him before he suddenly reached back and rummaged in his sidepack, ripping out the flier to thrust it at the stallion/ “I have evidence!”
The unicorn slowly cocked an eyebrow as he studied the flier, and then he said dryly: “That's one of our invitations, that's all. It's only evidence of bad grammar and worse marketing.”
“Look, you!” Torque leaned up into the ticket booth as far as he could, which wasn't very far at all, given his size and stature. “I know what's going on here! I have this! I have records! I know precisely what's going on here and I intend to bring the entire thing to light!”
The ticket taker sighed at this, rolling his eyes before he waved at the stallion irritably, complaining: “Why don't you just go back in there, then and find Veritas? You can harass him for a while. He's the current ringmaster, after all, you can find out everything you want to know about the Cirque du Noir.”
Torque huffed, then he retorted: “Well, maybe I will! Because it's clear you don't know anything at all, do you?”
“Not a thing. Please keep the line moving.” the ticket taker said drolly, and Torque huffed and looked back over his shoulder as he saw the little family with the now-sniffling foal was awkwardly hovering nearby.
“Fine! Here, for the ticket.” Torque grumbled, grabbing some bits from his bag and flinging them at the ticket taker.
“You already bought a ticket, you can just go back in.” the ticket taker said mildly, and Torque huffed as he stormed away, raising his head proudly with a sniff of disdain.
“Well, then you can give the kid a ticket for free!” Torque retorted as he stepped through the gates, and then he winced as he stumbled a little, his heart giving a double thump and his legs nearly buckling beneath him before he managed to catch himself.
“Torque! Torque, are you okay?” blurted Charm, as he rushed to his friend's side. But Torque only shook his head and shoved grouchily at him, Charm wincing as he stumbled backwards.
“I'm fine!” Torque snapped.
“Okay.” Charm said, and Torque stared blankly at him.
But after a moment, Torque shook himself out, then he straightened on his wobbly legs and grimaced. He stomped a few times to try and get the feeling back in his hooves, mumbling: “Yes, I'm... okay. Just... I must have tripped. That's all.”
“I'm sorry you tripped.” Charm said honestly.
Torque sighed, then he shook his head before he grumbled: “We need to find the ringmaster. And where's Pickle?”
“Okay, let's go find him!” Charm agreed, before he added: “I don't know. I think she ran off somewhere. Sorry, Torque.”
“Stupid idiot. Can't trust her with anything.” complained Torque, and Charm nodded agreeably, which made Torque frown and cock an eyebrow at him. Usually Charm leapt to Pickle's defense in an instant... but no, he didn't have time to wonder what was going on with him. Or with Pickle, for that matter.
“Well...” Torque bit his lip, and then he shook his head quickly before saying finally: “Let's go get Pickle.”
“Okay.” Charm agreed, and Torque grunted before he looked back and forth, then looked pointedly at Charm.
Charm looked innocently back at him, until Torque sighed and asked tiredly: “Where did Pickle go?”
“Oh, this way, Torque!” Charm said brightly, gesturing quickly to the side, and then he turned and hurried off through the crowd, Torque grumbling as he followed quickly along behind the red stallion.
They found Pickle standing outside the port-a-potties, the mare looking over at them with a bright smile. “Hey guys! There you are!”
“Hi!” Charm said cheerfully.
Torque huffed and shook his head, rolling his eyes before he grumbled: “You're an idiot.”
“Sorry.” Pickle apologized. “But you know, well. I am an idiot!”
Torque groaned at this, and then he said tiredly: “Yes, I know you are. Look, we're going to go find the ringmaster of this stupid carnival and get some answers out of him.”
“Okay!” Pickle said brightly.
Torque frowned, looking awkwardly from Pickle to Charm as they both looked at him. They were as smiling and vapid as ever, and yet something just felt wrong about the whole thing. Not that he really cared about them or anything, of course, but if something happened to them, well... he supposed he'd feel a little bad. Friends or not.
“What happened?” Torque asked, which was about as close as he could get to showing any concern for these two.
“Nothing that I know of.” Charm answered.
Pickle shrugged, then rambled off: “Well I ran off to find a potty because I really had to go pee and you don't pee in public because that's bad and that meant I had to run off and find a potty to go pee and so I did and I found one and then I peed and I felt better but then I felt bad because I didn't listen so I came out to find you guys but you had already found me!”
Torque blinked slowly, then he shook his head in frustration before he turned back around, grumbling: “You never make any sense. Let's go.”
“Sorry!” Pickle apologized, and then she smiled and added happily: “I'll try harder now, though, because I know you're always right, Torque!”
“Yes. I am.” Torque grumbled, leading the way onward before he scowled as he looked back and forth through the crowd of the carnival: he couldn't make sense of the way the aisles were arranged, with games and confections set up in slapdash rows, every now and then some massive ride looming out here or there among the tent village of the carnival.
Where would the ringmaster be? There had to be some kind of offices around here, after all: or had the ticket taker been talking about a literal ringmaster?
“Well, let's look around for who's in charge here. He has to have his own tent or something.” Torque said, scowling a little. “Now, if I was in charge, I'd want to be in the center of all the action...”
“Okay Torque! You know what's best, after all.” Charm agreed with a smile.
Pickle only nodded agreeably, and Torque scowled back at them before he grumbled a little, turning his attention back ahead. He led them on through the crowd of ponies, keeping his head high and looking back and forth for anything suspicious.
He had an uneasy feeling in his gut that something was wrong, but he pushed it aside: of course he had a bad feeling! This whole place was a bad place, and they were here to get to the bottom of it!
Torque glowered at one of the confection booths as they passed it, but the pony inside looked like a dumb, lost colt: of course they probably hired a lot of help, too. That was probably how they covered their tracks and made ponies vanish! Then they could just say they 'ran away with the circus' and pretend they must have 'stayed behind' a few towns over! A perfect cover-up!
They made their way to the center of the carnival, and Torque found absolutely nothing of interest: the center was actually an open square, with an empty stage and a bunch of food booths. Pickle whined and stomped her hooves and slavered over the cotton candy, but Torque only grumbled: “No,” and proceeded to ignore her as he surveyed the rest of the area.
When he turned back towards Pickle and Charm, he fully expected the mare to be gone. But no, there she was, still looking longingly in the direction of the cotton candy, but she hadn't run off. Torque slowly tilted his head at this, and then he asked after a moment: “Why are you here?”
“Well, you said no. You know best, Torque! I'm going to be good, see?” Pickle declared, raising her head high.
Torque stared at her for a few moments, then he uneasily looked over the mare before he finally gave an awkward laugh and echoed: “Yes, I... I know best. Yes.”
“Yep!” Pickle and Charm both agreed.
Torque looked at them for a moment longer, then he shook his head quickly before he said finally: “I don't think we're going to find the ringmaster here. Where should we look next?”
“You know best, Torque!” Pickle non-answered brightly.
“We'll go where you tell us!” Charm agreed.
Torque scowled at the two, and then he nervously shifted on his hooves, biting his lip. He wasn't sure where to look next... maybe they should ask someone? No, no, he was sure he could find it on his own!
Okay, so where would a ringmaster be? If he didn't have his own tent here, maybe...
Torque leaned up as far as his little height could, looking back and forth before his eyes locked on what he thought had to be the top of a giant circus tent. There! Okay, maybe it didn't look all that big to him right now, but he bet if they went over there, they might find the ringmaster where he was supposed to be, in the circus tent!
“Let's go.” Torque said, and Pickle and Charm both nodded firmly, and somehow that made him feel far less sure of himself than if they had just argued or questioned or...
“Aren't you going to say anything?” he blurted out.
“Oh, sorry, Torque! Yep!” Charm said apologetically.
“Yeah! I can say lots of anythings! Anything!” Pickle declared.
Torque shook his head in frustration, then snapped: “I mean, be helpful!”
“Sure, Torque! How can we help?” Charm asked, and Pickle tilted her head almost sideways as her eyes went wide.
Torque stared at the two, then he shook his head before he growled: “Is this a prank? Are you two really choosing now of all times to try and teach me a lesson? I'm not an idiot, you know!”
“Sorry!” Charm apologized. “We just really want to help, Torque, we know you're the smartest one here and all.”
“Yeah! This would have been a super great time for a prank, you're even right about that! But us dumb-dumbs couldn't even think of that by ourselves!” Pickle added, knocking on the side of her head with a hoof.
“Foals.” muttered Torque, and then he shook his head before he almost stumbled on his hooves, hurrying around in a circle and grumbling: “It's just... it's this place. It's an evil place. We have to stop it.”
He led them onward, hurrying through the crowds of ponies and the maze of tents and attractions towards what he thought was a circus tent... but of course it wasn't actually a circus tent. There were no animals, no rings, no nothing inside or around it: it was just a large tent covering up a bizarre bazaar of bohemian baubles, all manner of pony and creature hawking goods under its top.
Not wanting to admit he was probably wrong, or that this clearly wasn't the right place, Torque led his friends inside, looking awkwardly back and forth at the displays. Some of the ponies here certainly looked weird enough to be traveling with the carnival... but he thought a lot of them were probably just eccentric artist types.
He hated artists.
Torque grumpily made his ways through the stalls, before squawking when an earth pony slid out of nowhere, grinning a cheerful grin as he tipped a wink to Torque and lightly tapped his nose with his cane. “Looking for something in particular, sir? I'm surprised, I thought you'd already found it!”
“Why would you think that?” snapped Torque, wincing back from the stranger as Charm and Pickle both stopped obediently behind them. He waited for their usual outbursts, then looked dumbly back at them when nothing happened.
There was an awkward silence as Torque hung like a limp sheet between the smiling ponies, and then he straightened and cleared his throat, looking up with a scowl at the stranger. “Well, uh... I'm looking for whoever's in charge of this carnival!”
“Well, sir, that would be the people, of course!” the earth pony said cheerfully, waving his cane wide, and Torque glared at him before he did a double take as he realized the cane wasn't actually being held by the stallion. His eyes immediately shot up to the jaunty top hat covering the pony's head, but as if on cue, the earth pony whipped it off to reveal no hidden horn there, bowing politely as his cane fluttered mockingly up behind his back. “But allow me to introduce myself, good sir! I am Veritas, and I have made it my sacred duty to see that all our special guests get precisely what they desire most!”
Torque scowled up at Veritas, studying him intently for a few moments before he asked: “Well, where do I find the ringmaster? I need to talk to the ringmaster.”
Veritas chuckled at this as he flicked his top hat into the air: it landed precisely on his head, before his cane poked it jauntily askew again as the stallion winked at him. “He's not very far away at all. But now, why precisely do you need to-”
“Because something is wrong here!” Torque burst out, and then he winced when all eyes in the bazaar turned to stare at him, the little pony hurriedly stepping backwards to hide between Pickle and Charm. But they only stared at him too, and it just made Torque feel even more uncomfortable before he shoved them apart and stormed up to Veritas, saying in a harsh – but much-more controlled – voice: “Something is very wrong, and I am here to get to the bottom of it.”
“Oh? Well, I've worked here for many a year, sir, and let me tell you, while not every customer has been happy, every last one has been satisfied.” Veritas replied in a confidential whisper as he squashed himself down beside Torque, who grimaced and shifted a little, but bit his tongue and listened all the same as Veritas continued seriously: “Now, I'm not saying strange things, bad things, don't happen from time to time, but we are a carnival! That is to be expected, of course; but I must say, sir, we sate the souls that slither, slink, and strut inside, no matter how low to the earth or high to the heavens they may be!
“But it's not them we have trouble with, sir, the highs or lows, oh no no no. It's the ones who are in-between, the normal ponies who want normal things; it's the little changes that cause the greatest waves, my friend, and that promise most you can't go home again!” Veritas straightened with a smile, nodding firmly before his cane lightly scooped up under Torque's chin, making him squawk as he lifted him into the air. “But don't you worry and don't you fret! When a heart's desire changes, we can accommodate that, too! It might take another ticket, but I am a firm believer that no one and nothing here is beyond redemption, and with enough kindness, you could buy a ticket through Heaven's gates itself.”
Veritas laughed and grinned, posing for a moment as he leaned on his cane with both front hooves and a wink. “After all, even Heaven needs an economy, and what's karma but another form of currency?”
Torque scowled, then winced when Veritas suddenly sprung backwards, spinning his cane up above his head as he declared: “But I'm afraid there's nothing else I can do, sir, except tell you to make the most of your opportunity, and if your heart still longs for something more or something less, remember always that you have as much power to fix it as you always have! Good luck, sir, and good bye!”
And with that, Veritas sprung away, and Torque stared after him before he grumbled: “What a nutcase. He didn't know anything!”
“Nope, he sure didn't.” Charm agreed.
Pickle nodded, saying cheerfully: “Too bad! I guess he didn't know a thing after all!”
Torque glowered over his shoulder at the two, and then he shook his head before he muttered: “We should try and find the ringmaster.”
“I thought you said that he didn't know anything, though.” Charm said dubiously.
“Yeah, wasn't that the ringmaster?” Pickle pointed out, and Torque scowled.
“No, you idiots, that was... that was Veritas!” Torque retorted, ignoring the sneaking suspicion that they were right and he was wrong.
“Oh, I see.” Charm nodded, and Pickle gave a low 'ooh' of understanding.
“Yes.” was all that Torque could think to say. He looked uncertainly between the two, then he chewed nervously at his lip before he huffed and straightened, snapping out in a voice that quavered ever-so-slightly: “You... you just need to... think better for yourselves!”
“Okay Torque.” Charm smiled.
Pickle nodded vehemently. “That's why we're so lucky we have you to guide us!”
Torque couldn't help but shiver a bit at this before he looked awkwardly away, clearing his throat and mumbling: “I don't think that's... well, yes, I mean, I am right, of course I know what to do, but... you need to be able to make your own decisions too! I... I can't always be there to babysit you two!”
Charm and Pickle both nodded at this, then Charm smiled and said: “We know! But don't worry, we know that you're always right, too, so we won't argue with you, Torque. You just lead the way, and we'll follow!”
“Yep, that's right!” Pickle bounced on her hooves, nodding violently.
Torque stared at the two with something like horror before he gave a crooked smile, and then he turned around and mumbled: “We... we have to find the ringmaster. We have to find the ringmaster right now. Let's go find the ringmaster!”
Torque almost scrambled away, and Pickle and Charm followed behind him, obeying diligently, happy to run along in the wake of the pony who had always wanted them to listen.