Something Wicked This Way Moves

by Mr. Grimm

Cooger and Dark

Twilight leafed through the pile of papers on her desk, searching for a list of calculations she’d made regarding the Nightmare Night festival. Despite her unusual start to the morning, things had pretty much gone the way they would have any other day. She had breakfast with Spike, tidied up her desk from last night’s work, and had started where she left off. But there was something different. Every now and then the unicorn would glance up from her work and look at the window. With each peek she felt more and more like a child confined to a classroom during recess. Twilight had never felt this way before, even when she had been in school. She would have rather stayed inside and read anyway.

Twilight looked down at the list she had finally found. The various costs of the festival looked back at her. The mare gave the document an unhappy frown. For the first time since she could remember, the sight of unfinished math problems didn’t bring her motivation. Twilight normally couldn’t stand to see math problems half done. The unicorn gave a loud sigh. She knew why she couldn’t concentrate. Again she glanced at the window. Even from her desk in the corner of her room she could hear voices in the street below. Laughter and banter came from around the corner and passed in front of her house, then disappeared again as it traveled further down the street. Twilight knew where it was headed, and badly wanted to join in. But responsibility always came first for the unicorn. Never before had she been able to rest knowing that there was some task yet to be fulfilled, right until this very moment.

It was at this moment that someone knocked on the door, liberating Twilight from her desk. She rushed a little too quickly down the stairwell to answer, nearly tripping over the last step. The unicorn came to a stop right before the door, and pulled it open. She was greeted by six twinkling eyes looking up at her. They belonged to none other than the Cutie-Mark Crusaders, who all wore hopeful smiles on their faces. Behind them stood Rarity, wearing an equally hopeful look.

“Good morning, Twilight,” the unicorn said.

“Hi Twilight!” the crusaders added in unison. Twilight gave the three fillies a warm smile.

“Good morning,” she said before directing her attention to Rarity, “Hello Rarity. What’s up?”

“Well,” came the sheepish reply, “I’m very sorry to bother you, but Sweetie Belle and her little friends want to go to the carnival. I was wondering…well… I’m very busy at the moment with finishing the banners for the festival.” As Rarity spoke, Twilight felt her heart flutter with joy. She knew what was coming next.

“You want me to take them to the carnival?” Twilight asked, trying to hide the excitement in her voice.

“Well yes,” admitted Rarity, “I would really appreciate it. But only if you’re all done with your work.”

“I finished it this morning.”

“Really? Well then, that’s splendid.” Rarity looked down at her sister and her friends. “I would like all of you to behave for Twilight today. Please don’t cause a ruckus.” Sweetie Belle sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Okay, okay. We’re not foals, you know.” Rarity turned back to Twilight.

“Thank you, Twilight. You’re a darling. I’ll see if I can come by later to take them off your hooves. Tata.” The white mare trotted off down the street, leaving Twilight with a giddy grin on her face. But her joy was tempered by the inescapable knowledge that she had blatantly lied. She was not done with her work as she had said. Even now she was beginning to feel a twinge of regret. But at the moment it had been so easy; the temptation too overwhelming. The mare looked down at the three fillies, and her inner turmoil was suppressed. They bore smiles wrought from the anticipation found only in children. It was a sin to disappoint such eager faces.

“Well then,” she said with a smile of her own, “Let’s get going.”

“Ain’t Spike coming with us?” asked Applebloom.

“He’s already there,” replied Twilight as she closed the door behind her, “I gave him the day off.”

“Well why didn’t you give yourself the day off?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Because I was finishing my work for the festival.” Again, Twilight felt the knife of guilt twist itself in her back. She glanced back nervously at her home. Doubt and uncertainy clouded her mind. Why had she lied? Twilight looked over at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were quietly giggling amongst themselves about what they would do at the carnival. Twilight reassured herself that she had lied for their sake. She had been asked by a good friend to take her little sister and her friends to the carnival for her. It was only coincidence that she had also wanted to go. That had to be the reason. If Rarity hadn’t of asked her, she would never had abandoned her work.

At last they came to the meadow. As she laid eyes upon the carnival, Twilight’s inner conflict seemed to extinguish itself. Even from a distance she felt drawn to the red and yellow tents that lay beneath the clear autumn sky. The unmistakable sound of laughter and cheering came from the crowds that clustered around the various attractions. The smell of cotton candy was almost intoxicating now. Twilight was so enthralled by the sight that she barely even remembered the upcoming festival. As they came closer, the unicorn saw everything in finer detail. With each step her grin became larger; her eyes shone brighter. It was as though her memories had once again become reality. She drank in the air with her nostrils, reveling in its sweet flavors. The calliope music drifted in the air above, its waltzing notes carried on the breeze so it was heard throughout the carnival grounds. Folks were gathered around watching performers eat fire and swallow swords, while others were in lines waiting for admission into one of the many tents, or a turn on the Ferris wheel or some other ride. Balloons were tied to the wrists of young ponies, and the brightly colored orbs hovered in the air above their owners like watchful guardians.

“I wanna go on the tilt-a-whirl!” Scootaloo’s voice suddenly broke Twilight from her thoughts. She looked over at the Pegasus, who was craning her neck and scanning the carnival for the ride.

“Hold up,” Applebloom interjected, “I though we were gonna go get our fortunes told.”

“No, we were gonna go see the Montegolfier!” interrupted Sweetie Belle. Before they could even start a proper argument, Twilight jumped in.

“Hold on girls. Rarity left you in my charge, So I’ll decide what we’ll be doing.” This statement drew a disappointed groan from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The unicorn gave them a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to see everything. We’ll just have to pace ourselves.” The fillies’s faces brightened a little. “Okay then, I’ll pick first. Let’s go…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she looked around the grounds. There was so much to choose from. The carnival seemed to have everything imaginable. But Twilight drew from her own memories and experiences, and finally made her decision.

“Let’s go take a ride on the carousel,” she said.

“But I…” Twilight turned around to see Scootaloo quickly closing her mouth.

“We’ll get to the tilt-a-whirl. We have all day.” Scootaloo gave her a sullen look, but seemed compliant. Twilight smiled as she turned back to lead them through the crowds. She scanned the carnival and took note of where everything was as she looked for the carousel. She couldn’t help but notice the age of the place. The tents were motheaten and patched, and were badly faded, looking like the weathered hides of a herd of enormous creatures. The ropes that supported the tent were frayed and mildewed, and the wooden booths were made of sun beaten wood. But it was only noticeable to the analytic eyes of Twilight. She knew that some carnivals were generations old, kept alive by the descendents of the original owners.

“There it is!” Twilight looked back to see Applebloom point a hoof at a colorful merry-go-round that lay amid a cluster of tents. Twilight felt euphoric as she laid eyes on it. Her smile turned into a grin again as she started for the carousel. She could see the wooden saddles affixed to the brass poles, each one carved and painted in a different style. As they came closer she could see the whole ride was brightly colored and ornately decorated with a multitude of gold-trimmed grooves. Never before had Twilight seen anything like it. It was old, but it was beautiful. As the unicorn drew nearer, she immediately knew which saddle would be hers. It was painted a bright sun yellow, and trimmed with evenly spaced blue gems. They had to be glass of course, but they shone just as magnificently as real sapphires. Twilight could hardly wait as she and the three fillies climbed onboard the platform. At that moment, a huge form rose from within the center of the machine.

“Get off!” snarled a massive stallion. Twilight felt herself lock up as she looked at the huge pony, with his fiery blue eyes and rust red mane. Beneath a thick mustache he sneered at the four ponies with strong, yellowed teeth that looked powerful enough to bite through steel. It was as though she had been thrown into water; the spell of the carousel was broken. For a spit second, Twilight forgot who she was and why she was there. She opened her mouth to apologize, but could find no words.

“Pardon me, madam,” came a voice as cool and clear as an autumn night. Twilight looked to see a tall unicorn appear from behind the center of the carousel. Looking upon him threw Twilight into a stupor. Covering his ebon hide was an impossible number of monsters; dragons, chimeras, and all manner of fantastic creatures, intermingled with mundane but eerie animals. The stallion began to weave in-between the saddles toward Twilight. As his sinewy muscles flexed, so did the numerous beasts crowding his skin. Snakes and eels writhed, bats flapped membranous wings, and dragons snapped their toothy jaws as the unicorn loped up to her. He was a living, breathing tapestry, and it was only when he stopped in front of her that Twilight looked up at his face, the only part of his body that wasn’t adorned with inked images. It was a long, hollow face, and his muzzle bore a small pointed beard and a well-kept mustache. His mane was as black as midnight, and seemed to pour out of his neck. Atop his head was a tall silk hat, and protruding from his brow was a long horn that shone as though it were made of jet. His eyes flashed a pale amber yellow the moment Twilight looked into them, but a second later they were a pale green.

“G…Hello,” mumbled the befuddled mare as she tried to hide her blushing cheeks. The newcomer smiled, which somehow made her feel even worse. He turned to the angry stallion, who had a deathstare locked onto the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They looked back at the redheaded brute with the terrified eyes of a mouse.

“It’s alright, Mr. Cooger,” the unicorn said in his fluid voice, “I’ll handle this.” The fire-haired stallion grunted and disappeared back into the machine. The tattooed unicorn looked back at Twilight. “I’m sorry, madam, but I’m afraid our carousel is closed for repairs.” The moment the words left his mouth, Twilight felt extraordinarily dull. Already the episode was playing over in her mind. She should have known when there was no line; she should have known when she saw the carousel devoid of riders. But despite seeing all the mistakes she had made, Twilight couldn’t remember why she hadn’t noticed them before. It was as though she was in a dream. Now that she thought about it, the whole day had seemed like a dream. She hadn’t been acting at all like herself today, and it was beginning to frighten her.

“I’m…so sorry,” she began, “I didn’t know that…” Her voice trailed off for a moment as she searched for the right words. Before she could find them she heard the Cutie Mark Crusaders speak from behind her.

“Wow!” exclaimed Scootaloo as she looked at the illustrious unicorn, “It’s the tattooed stallion!”

“No it’s not,” said Sweetie Belle, “It’s the Illustrated stallion. There’s a difference.” The colorful unicorn gave them a fatherly smile.

“Very clever,” he said, “Now then, I suppose you three wanted a ride on the carousel?”

“Well, Twilight was the one who picked it,” Applebloom said as she looked over at the purple mare. Again, Twilight felt her face burn with embarrassment as she slid off of the saddle. All she could manage to give the unicorn was a sheepish grin. The illustrated unicorn did not seem at all concerned with her predicament.

“The name is Dark.”

“Like, as in Cooger and Dark?” asked Scootaloo as her eyes went wide, “You own the carnival?”

“Half of it,” came the reply, “The other half belongs to Mr. Cooger, here. Please forgive him if he frightened you, he’s rather protective of the carousel.” Dark’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Speaking of which, I believe I have something for you.” He suddenly produced four little cards, and offered them to the ponies. “Four free tickets to Dark’s Sideshow Display of Discovery. Think of it as consolation.” Twilight took a ticket from the unicorn and turned it over in her hoof.

“Well, uh, Thank you,” she said at last, “I’m sure it’ll be fun.” Dark gave her an ivory-toothed grin.

“Don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do.”

Comments

[SpeedyAstro]

“Well yes,” admitted Rarity, “I would really appreiciate it. But only if you’re all done with your work.” It's appreciate instead of appreiciate. I skipped a lot of the story to tell you, because I always feel like I need to correct wrong spelling/grammar in stories. Anyway, I like the story.