“Forty-seven missed shows. Thousands of bits, gone. And ponies say I’m the bad colt.” Adagio paced back and forth at the edge of a stage, giving a monologue to his brother who lay behind him. “You know, dear brother, at some level I envy you. It must be so easy having the talent. The natural ability to wow others. It makes us without it look oh-so-very drab by comparison.” He turned, and if Allegretto could see past the blinding stage lights, his brother’s vicious grin would have dominated his vision. “I grew so very tired of listening to mother and father praise you for that noise,” he hissed, enjoying Allegretto’s labored breathing more than he ever could a composition. “Day in and day out, that same little metal tube twittered like a bird, and day in and day out mother and father showered you with love, their little protégé. Nobody saw little Adagio, with his ideas and plans for success. No, while I was making my own path, you were being led down yours by the hooves, never even worried about falling down. I had business sense, but what good is that on a stage? How can you show that to thousands and get that praise?” He waited a moment for Allegretto to make some sort of remark, and the silence he got instead drove his hoof deep into his brother’s side.
The resulting moan and coughing made him purely ecstatic, actually hopping around for joy as his brother writhed in pain. “Oh, now this kind of music I could grow to love. This noise is what I long to hear!” He stopped above his brother again, an ear cocked to every wheeze and groan, still wearing a manic grin that made even his bodyguards squirm. “Now, I wonder what your little friends would think of this performance. Ahh, speaking of friends…” He glanced over in the audience, and the only seat occupied was right in the middle of the front row, and held a gray filly struggling against the rope that bound her. “It’s so good to see you again, Octavia, how has the year been treating you?”
She stopped struggling and spat at him, the courage Allegretto sung praises of back in full force. She missed, but the message was clear all the same as she shook the spittle from her lip and resumed struggling. She growled and tried to break out, then slumped back, spent for the moment.
“Ah, what a lovely captive audience…” Adagio sighed, then turned to his still floundering brother. “That joke was in bad taste, wasn’t it?” He thought for a minute, then smiled again, never a reassuring sight. He trotted back to his brother and propped his head up for Octavia to see, and reveled in her shocked expression. “Why is it that families are only brought together in the face of great tragedy?” he lamented, shaking Allegretto back and forth to intensify his pain.
Octavia struggled against her bonds and shot Adagio a malicious glare, rubbing her forelegs raw against the ropes. “You’re not part of my family!” she screamed, her throat already raw from crying. “You’re a monster, a curse! Leave my brother alone! You said if I came he’d be safe!”
Adagio feigned shock, dropping his brother’s head to the floor with a sound thud. “A monster? But, dear Octavia, what about all those days we spent together? The dinners, the recitals. Does that mean nothing to you?” He glanced down, and suddenly swung his hoof against Allegretto’s mouth, further increasing the damage there as Octavia screamed for him to stop. “Then again, ponies did enjoy my brother’s company over mine. Even mother and father.” His voice dropped at the end, the blood from Allegretto shining brightly under the hot lights. He grit his teeth and began kicking with reckless abandon, only caring that he made contact. “How dare you? Nopony makes me second best! I was the eldest, the first, the Alpha! And then you came along and dared to be greater than me! You made mother and father ignore me! I. DON’T. LIKE. BEING. IGNORED!”
He stopped kicking to catch his breath, heaving as blood seeped towards him, already splattering his tuxedo. He leaned down an inch from Allegretto’s battered face, listening to each shallow breath with an air of impatience. “If I couldn’t have the attention and praise, you couldn’t either. So I took it from you.” His voice dropped to a menacing whisper. “I burned down the house and locked mother and father inside,” he confessed, Octavia staring at him in unrestricted horror. He caught her gaze and grinned wickedly, slowly walking towards the edge of the stage. “And then Daddy August found us. Just maybe, dear Octavia, I am cursed, because by some miracle Allegretto got even more attention from you and August. And I was shoved backstage again!”
Octavia threw all her weight forward, ignoring the rope biting into her and the possible bleeding she may have caused. “What did you want us to do, Adagio?! You’re a planner, not an actor or a musician! You don’t have a home on the stage!”
Adagio sneered at her, then gave a nod to one of the guards at her side. The sight of his hoof connecting so solidly with her face cheered him significantly, and he tried to freshen up his appearance as she fought against unconsciousness. “There’s no applause backstage. Great ponies such as me need validation, don’t they?”
Octavia began to thrash, rubbing more and more of her skin raw. “You’re not great! You’re an egotistical devil!” she shrieked, her voice cracking on the last few syllables.
Adagio began to smile again, then turned and went backstage, stomping on his brother as he passed. “Ponies I’ve respected more than you have called me worse. Besides, who doesn’t love a good villain?”
Manehattan was quite the large city, with literally thousands of buildings that could house a psychopathic pony and his captives. Yet this was just a small deterrent for his assorted rescue team, who never tired in their search for the lost colt and his sister. Still, they had virtually no leads for finding where exactly they were hidden, and were forced to search every possible location. Twilight was trying to narrow down their search, but she hadn’t much to go on. “I wish I knew more of this city,” she sighed to Spike, who studied a map intently as the others trailed behind. It had been a long trip to get to the city, and they had traversed a good section of it already in the few days they’d been there. Old buildings, abandoned warehouses; all the places that it would be easy to hide a few prisoners. Twilight looked back at her friends in their ragged condition, and called for a few minute break while they got their bearings.
The Crusaders, who had tagged along for fear of being left alone, all collapsed in a heap as the others gathered around the map, deliberating where to head next. Sweetie Belle groaned and flipped onto her back, staring up at the imposing buildings all around them. “I’m tired…” she whined, a chant that her fellow Crusaders took up almost at once. Ponies all around them began to cast them disapproving glares and gave them a wide berth, whispering amongst themselves as the whining started to evolve into a tantrum, the trio begging to go back to their hotel for the day.
Before Applejack and Rarity had a chance to reprimand their siblings for their outburst, Fluttershy spun around and glared at them, a foreign emotion rolling off of her as the three instantly fell into silence. The others stared at her with a touch of fear as she fought the urge to scold them, and the whispers from around them increased. “Look at them,” they heard above the rest. “I can’t believe they allow those fillies to act so outrageously. I pray they aren’t going to the production, too.”
Fluttershy broke her Stare and spun to face the ponies they heard, two colts walking towards the theater district in distinguished attire. “Did you girls hear that?” she asked, taking a few steps after them. The others were silently coming to the conclusion that all the stress had finally broken her as she began to hyperventilate, turning to them and back, her mind racing. “A production…” she began, gaze flicking to each of her friends to see if the were following the same train of thought.
Applejack went to their emotionally cracked companion and put a hoof on her. “Fluttershy, Ah don’t think we’re followin’ ya. What do ya say we listen to the girls and give up fer the day?” She tried to steer her back to the group, but she wouldn’t budge, and Applejack was contemplating forcing her to take a break. “Sugar cube, Ah ain’t playin’. Yer mind’s run off, ya need a break.” She put a bit more force into her pushing, and almost stumbled onto her face when Fluttershy stepped away. “Fluttershy…” she growled, taking a menacing step forward.
Fluttershy backed away in fear and tried to hide behind her mane, then glance back down the road and gathered a minute amount of courage. “No, please listen…” she said, trying to plant herself firmly and failing. “Maybe it’s the Concerto…” She trialed off, hoping vehemently that they were coming to her point of view.
Rainbow Dash sighed and dropped her head in exasperation. “Fluttershy, that’s the fifth time you’ve thought that, and for the fifth time, it’s just going to be another regular play. Those tend to happen a lot in the theater district,” she said with emphasis, her exhaustion making her sour. Optimism was fine and all, but she was fed up with all the boring shows and false hope.
Twilight nodded reluctantly, placing herself slightly in front of Applejack to stop a potential scuffle. “Rainbow’s right, Fluttershy. I know you want to find him more than any of us, but we can’t keep chasing every little hunch. We need all the time we can get.” She knew that Fluttershy didn’t want to walk away from possibly finding him, and truth be told she didn’t either, but it had been a few days, and with a pony as sadistic and manic as Adagio there was no telling what could have happened.
Fluttershy was fighting tears, and it broke their hearts to see her that way. Amidst her crying the day decided to catch up with her, and she dropped to the ground and whimpered, still glancing down the road. “Please…” she pleaded, losing the fight against weeping.
Rarity went to help her up, then glanced down towards the crowd gathering outside the theater hall. “Why don’t you all go and take your break? I’ll go with her. I absolutely love the arts, anyway.” She tried to keep the accusation out of her voice and for the most part succeeded, and Fluttershy gave her such an appreciative smile it made her forget some of her own tiredness. “Come on, Fluttershy. Lying on the ground isn’t something a pegasus should ever do, never mind a mare.”
The others were shamed into silence, watching the pair make their way to the growing crowd. Pinkie scratched at the ground with her hoof, uncharacteristically quiet. “We’re the silly fillies now, huh?” she finally said, dropping everyone further into guilt. She seemed to realize this and kept quiet again, instead joining the others in silently deliberating on whether or not to follow them. The decision was made when the Crusaders found new reserves of energy and began after them, living embodiments of the fickle minds of young ponies. With no reason not to, they all raced off to catch up to them, merging into the massive crowd around the entrance.
Adagio peeked from behind his curtain, ecstatic at the turn out of his greatest production. His cast milled about behind him as the final touches were added, and he shivered in his costume. For once, he was going to be center stage, and the mere thought sent him into another little spasm of glee. He was beaming as he turned to his “antagonists”, both bound on the floor behind him. “Oh, put on a smile, you two. After all, this is your return to the stage in a little over two years.” He giggled and pranced in place, ignoring the scathing glares from them both.
“Four minutes until curtain,” the floor director called, sending the two into quakes of fear. Adagio took great pleasure in this, a bit reluctant to leave them to prepare for his debut. Still, the job of an actor requires a great deal of self-sacrifice, so he took a mental snapshot of their terror and went off stage left. They, on the other hand, were dragged deep backstage for the final act, and sat in darkness as the narration began.
Octavia looked at her brother and cringed internally, almost moved to tears again. The damage done to his mouth was severe, and if he didn’t get help soon, probably permanent. His remaining teeth were wildly out of place, and his lips were so swollen it was a wonder he could bear to mumble back to her. Adagio had been thorough in his abuse, and it chilled her to wonder what he had in store for them. “Allegretto, how do you feel?” she asked, trying to calm them both down, or at the very least take their minds off of the play.
“No’ vurry gud,” he mumbled, trying his best to smile at her without reopening his wounds. “Ish shucks being de ba’ guy.” While Octavia feared for them both, he only worried for her safety, already prepared for whatever his brother had planned for him. It didn’t keep him from being terrified, but it did give him the conviction to not show it as much. “How do yu feel?” he asked in return.
Octavia didn’t answer, instead listening to the applause as the curtain opened and the play proper commenced. When she heard Adagio, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. “I don’t know how to feel. I guess I’m scared.” She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, then managed to smile when she felt Allegretto’s weight against her flank. “You’re scared too, huh?” She put an hoof around him, and together they listened to the play roll on, waiting for their grand finale.
“I can’t see anything from here!” Spike moaned as the play began, flitting from position to position along the balcony to gain a better vantage point. Finally, he gave up his endeavor and sat back in his seat, pouting as the play continued out of his sight. “Why’d we have to get such high seats, anyway?” he grumbled loudly.
Twilight shushed him and glanced at the stage, feeling an odd sense of recognition at the lead role as he hammed his lines so badly it could’ve passed for parody. He was too loud at some points and too quiet at others, and most times he was obviously ad-libbing. “How could anypony let him on the stage?” she murmured as the crowd whispered uncomfortably amongst itself. The premise of the play itself was fine: an ancient court was trying to decide the fate of two villains, with the lead convincing everyone that they were worthy of maximum punishment. But with this lead, the entire play fell apart as even the other actors tried not to cringe when he spoke.
Rarity made a disgusted noise and let her forehooves hang over the railing, blowing her mane out of her face. “And to think we paid for these seats!” she muttered, trying her best to not get up and leave in a huff. “I have half a mind to go demand for our money back…” She looked down towards the exit and saw that several others were thinking to same, the rows slowly but surely emptying out. The lead continued on as if he didn’t notice, caught up in his own acting, and more and more the rows began to file out. “I have a feeling this play is going to drag on and on,” she whined, settling back in for a long few hours.
Octavia awoke with a start, her vision completely pitch black as she heard a voice calling out. She tried to get up and get some sense of direction, but when she realized she was bound and heard the faintly familiar noise of Allegretto snoring it all snapped back to her and she settled back against the wall. Adagio prattled on and on about how evil they were, and she had to laugh at how badly he acted, then stifled herself when Allegretto began to stir. She put a hoof on his head and stroked his mane, trying to lull him back asleep as the floor director kicked her flank. “Hope you’re ready for show time,” he said menacingly, motioning towards one of his crew to begin opening the curtains. He stepped back into shadows and the light blinded them, finally revealed to the remaining crowd and the final act of the play.
Allegretto stirred and opened his eyes groggily, glancing at the crowd assembled before them before turning to look at Octavia. “Ish thish de final ac’?” he slurred as two great colts in stage-armor pulled them center stage. They paid no mind to their injuries, and when they threw him on the ground the jolt mashed his teeth, eliciting a cry of pain that seemed to capture the audience. He tried to push himself up as blood began trickling out his mouth, but failed and let Octavia take him against her. “Ish hursh sho bad…” he whimpered, the edges of his vision darkening. He could vaguely hear Adagio screaming, something about their evil ways and how justice would always find a way, before he slipped into unconsciousness again.
“Oh dear Celestia!” Twilight cried as she recognized Allegretto past his horrid injuries, the entire crowd ablaze with interest for these convincingly done-up prisoners. They all leaned against the railing as far as gravity would permit, watching as Adagio called for their immediate execution. Her mind reeled, unable to process what was happening as the guards called for an executioner, the entire cast almost radiating glee. The hooded pony drug an ax behind him, heavy and rusted and flecked with Celestia knew what, and as he raised it above their heads the audience gasped and began to mutter in sympathy for the poor ragged villains. She scanned the crowd, and when she looked back to the stage Adagio was literally bristling with rage. She felt a tug on her tail, and had to tear her gaze away as Adagio stormed towards the front of the stage.
“How can you show sympathy for these bloody monsters?!” he screamed at the assembly, shocking them into silence. Even his own cast was stunned, and the executioner lowered his ax as his boss carried on in what could only be described as a tantrum. “You should despise them, and hate them! They are embodiments of pure sin, with no purpose other than to waste time! Why do they always get all the attention?!” He fumed and turned to order their immediate beheading when he came face to face with a very smug and angry looking Applejack. “What-” he began, before stars shot across his vision as he rocked back on his hooves. He stared at her incredulously as his cheek swelled, his rage redirected at the new show-stealers. “You’re not telling me fate is smiling on them again?!” he exclaimed, feeling his fury bubble over tenfold. He glared at Applejack with this unbridled chaos, his cheek still aflame with pain, and began to advance. “You little-” He was cut off again by another blow, this one so fast and unexpected he staggered to the left. When the starbursts faded and he looked up, Rainbow Dash had taken a position next to Applejack, both of them grinning at him menacingly as their friends tended to his captives. His entire cast was still frozen in shock, watching their leader with open wonder. “You idiots! Do I have to tell you to stop them?!” he roared, his rage ripping and snarling inside him.
Slowly, they shook themselves out of their paralysis at began to advance on the group, the executioner still dragging the ax behind him as the crowd watched on, still believing that the play continued on as the new heroines were surrounded. The cast was suddenly surrounded by a purple glow, being lifted up into the air by a straining and huffing Twilight. When they reached the scaffold, the curtain ropes were covered in a blue glow and began to snake their way around the cast, hanging them in a great mass as the curtains swung shut, leaving Adagio to meet his just fate out of the spotlight again.
Author's Note: Phew, I apologize for the wait! But I have a few more stories in the making, so hopefully I can make up for it in the near future. And I guess it goes without saying that the next chapter will probably be the last, so I'll be sure to end it as well as possible. Enjoy!