The Getaway

by Spittyfire

Chapter Nine: Carnival Chow

Before he was the grand Ringleader, he was Humphrey. Humphrey, the blemished youngster who worked at the concession stand serving cotton candies, funnel cakes, Belly Buster Burpees and the infamous deep fried candy bars. Those were the worst, 700 calories and 44 grams of fat each. Not to forget, they were king sized. His job was nothing more than dipping each unhealthy food into the fryer, or spinning cotton candies. The concession stand was one of the first opening stands at the brand new carnival that everypony just absolutely had to go to. If you didn’t go, you were obviously missing out. They had these so-called roller coasters and spinning wheels that you could ride on. It was one of the most interesting topics on the entire summer. Everyone seemed to be happy, except Humphrey.

“One deep fried candy bar,” a young mare said in front of the concession stand. Humphrey nodded, and wrote the burly words on the ordering ticket. She looked about Humphrey’s age. What was she doing getting a deep fried candy bar? Instead of warning her that these were probably the unhealthiest foods on the planet, he nodded. Heading back to his station, he passed the ordering ticket to his stout dependable worker beside him. His name was Jim. Simply Jim and Jim was none other than simple. The two barely spoke to each other but when they did, it was to define orders.

“Hey uh, Jim can I ask you something?” Humphrey urged to start a conversation.

“Yeah sure, of course,” he replied, dipping the candy bar in the fryer. Following up was a sizzling sound that caused it to bubble. The few drips of… frying oil, spattered onto the ground. Humphrey grabbed a sort-of-clean-towel and cleaned it while clearing his throat.

“Do you think these ponies deserve better?” he stammered, and wiped the floor clean.

“Better? Like, not these innocent customers junk? Trust me, if we sold broccoli on a stick, I wouldn’t mind,” Jim didn’t hesitate to reply.

“No, no. I mean… what if, just what if we had… a leader. I mean, someone who could make this carnival a better place,
right?” he kind of smiled at the thought. But Jim sort of stayed quiet for a moment before responding.

“The manager didn’t tell you to ask me these questions, did he?” Jim shortly replied.

“No! I wouldn’t do that to you, you’re like my only friend Jim,” he answered honestly. Jim nodded and struggled to be honest. If he lied, it would affect their friendship. If he was honest, Humphrey could snitch to the manager.

“Okay, maybe I would like this place to have a better ‘leader’. It’s unfair to watch customers coming back every day, only to see them gain another chubby pound. But, it is their choice to buy this trash. Maybe this junk is making their brains mush so they lose their thoughts on considering whether to bite into this garbage or not. It’s unfair to watch, but it’s giving us bits to continue our lifestyles. What choice do we have?” Jim muttered. Humphrey’s eyes sort of brightened in awe. Simple Jim wasn’t so simple. Then Jim pulled out the deep fried candy bar with an oven mitt and jammed a stick into it. He passed it to Humphrey and frowned.

“It’s your turn to serve your customer.” Jim sighed and stared back down at the fryer. Humphrey slowly nodded and held the stick. It had to be wrong to be doing this, but what choice did he have? He sighed and stood towards the counter and looked directly at the young mare. She was so pretty, and perhaps doing this would change her. He couldn’t do this… ruin her. It’d be awful. He hesitated, but gave her the candy bar. She threw a few bits onto the counter, and thanked him. Her eyes were sparkling as she went to turn away. He was so fed up, that he slapped the candy bar out of her grasp. It landed directly on the top and dropped onto the dirty ground. Her expression changed into a furious one.

“Excuse me, sir? Why did you do that?!” she shouted in an upset tone.

“I… I…” he lost his thoughts and stuttered to explain. In the corner of his eye, he saw the smirking manager peer out from one of the games. He had to see everything, he was surely fired now. It was over, but for the stranger’s sake. “You can’t eat that. It’ll lead you to a wrong path, trust me!” he whisper-shouted by her ear. The manager’s ears rose as he was struggling to hear what was going on. He shook his head and headed towards their direction. “Now go, I don’t want to lose my job. I’m just happy I saved you from a life of fried foods-“ he was interrupted by the manager calling his name.

“Humphrey? What are you doing? This customer was just about to enjoy our famous deep fried candy bars!” he almost sang in delight. Yet Humphrey could pick up the sneaking zinger he was going to pull soon.

“Well, I-“ he was interrupted by the young mare.

“I know him, I’m allergic to some of the fried substances in the deep fried candy bars. Sorry, I don’t want to have an allergic reaction or anything,” she instantly remarked, doing her best to save his job. They didn’t even know each other, yet she wanted to save him from demotion. It was so strange. What could she possibly like about him, the weird awkward youngster Humphrey.

“Oh, really is that so? Well, it better be true. So who messed up the order then, was it you or the lousy worker back there?” the manager questioned, staring deeply at Humphrey.

“Jim, I mean, neither of us did this on purpose. It was just one of those accidents,” Humphrey stammered. The manager’s ears flipped up and he sort of grinned.

“Good to know, thank you Humphrey for your honesty. I’ll have a talk with Jim about how we serve food and how it tastes,” the manager almost cackled. Humphrey was lost in his thoughts again, he didn’t know what to say, he wanted to plead no. This couldn’t be, anything but that to Jim. Jim was so innocent in all of this, but why did it have to be on him? All Humphrey could do was stay quiet and stay put.

“Hey Humphrey, for the rest of the day you’re going to have a day off. I’m going to have a meeting with Jim and I’ll see you tomorrow alright-y?” he grinned and patted him on his back. Humphrey gave one last look at the concession stand before turning and heading towards the exit of the carnival. It was all his fault, Jim would never be the same… all because of him.

……….

The next day Humphrey reported to work with fear in his eyes but a fake smile on his face. He was so scared on what had happened to Jim. Jim was his last friend, his partner. And maybe the mare from yesterday was the last person he would ever know. After passing the teacup ride and the ferris wheel, he headed into the concession stand and put on his apron. Jim was there, staring down at the fryer as if it was the most interesting thing in his life.

“Jim!” Humphrey exclaimed. “Jim are you alright? What happened? I was forced to go on a day off, I’m so sorry Jim. Please tell me if you’re alright,” Humphrey begged. But Jim just stared at the fryer. “Jim?” Humphrey asked a bit weaker now.

“Hello coworker Humphrey. I’ve had a meeting with our manager and he’s showed me how much of an honor it is to be working here. He opened my eyes. After I took a delicious bite of our deluxe deep fried candy bars, everything is clear.

"Crystal clear,” Jim replied with no tone to his voice. It was just a straight one, sort of like a programmed machine. Humphrey feared everything now. What had happened? Jim was alright before, and now he had a different personality.

“Jim! Please, say something normal!” Humphrey pleaded.

“Coworker Humphrey, opening time is soon, back to work.” Jim replied with no expression. Humphrey’s eyes welled up and he cried one last time.

“Jim, Jim please I’m begging you!” he cried. Yet Jim stared down at the fryer and continued to stare. Humphrey stood there for a few moments, before just about breaking down inside, and covering his eyes. He was lost now, more than ever in his life. Humphrey grabbed Jim’s ear and whisper-shouted. “Jim, I promise you with my last breath I will fix this place. And I will stop at nothing to get you back. Just for us Jim because this carnival needs a ruler. One who doesn’t let terrible things like this happen!” Humphrey cried, and tore off his apron. He tore off his apron and headed out the exit of the stand, and called.

“Manager!” he called in a highly loud tone. The manager appeared nearby and gave a warm-fake smile.

“Hello, worker Humphrey. How are you? Is there a problem?” he asked with a smirk. Humphrey’s cheeks flared red and so did his eyes.

“Yes. Yes there is a problem manager. You took away my best friend, I have nothing now! And when I come back, I will rule this place with an iron hoof. So you better watch out. When I come back things will change. Your brainwashing schemes will no longer continue. And I will stop at nothing to fix the messes you have made!!” he shouted, and threw the apron at the manager and turned towards the exit, stomping his hooves. While all the eyes stared at him. Wondering why he was going, and why a worker in the carnival wasn’t smiling. Questions whispered through the carnival, wondering… wondering why the manager was no longer happy.

……….

A year had passed, or just about. The name Humphrey had been forgotten, and so had the manager. Marching back into the carnival in his current apparel, he acted like a king. He had changed his voice into a manlier one by magic of course, and his heart had become different along with his beliefs. If he were to be asked to remember that one day he protested against the manager, and wanted the old Jim back. But that had all been in the past. He was now set on conquering the carnival and using ponies to stay there. It was a bit much for only a year’s time, but he had now become the stallion he fought against.

Over the year he had torn down the old concession stand and just replaced it with a bigger one. Meanwhile smaller stands were placed around the carnival. Foods were now bigger and even unhealthier, just like the customers along with them. But he didn't care. He didn't care for any of them unless they were paying for tickets. He was now a ruler as he had always wanted before… of a carnival. No one questioned him, and if they did he’d offer them a super deluxe deep fried chocolate covered candy bar. With extra… surprises according to the menu. Anypony that came in for a small trip would come back for larger trips every day.

And what about Jim? No pony knows, and the Ringleader had not cared anymore. Jim was a thing of the past, and if he wanted a Jim, he could just get one… but deep down he knew he couldn't. But why did that matter anyway? He had all the workers he needed, all the customers he wanted and a carnival all to himself. He could do whatever he wanted, but he knew it wasn't the same. And it never would be. Not without Jim.

Comments

[Spittyfire]

3236777

You're too cute

[Creepypasta Pinkamena]

it's sad when good stories like these become forgotten and never finished