Braveheart: The Untold Stories

I was lying in my bed, thinking about the animatronics. Adagio, Sonata, Aria, Golden Adagio, and Springlock Sonata. I shuddered at the thought of Springlock Sonata. My phone suddenly rang, making me jump. I rushed over and picked up.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hello, Braveheart,” a voice said. “It’s Quick Thinker. I need to talk to you.”

“Sure,” I said. “What’s up?”

“I need you to do something for me,” Thinker requested.

“And what might that be?” I asked.

“I need you to go back into the pizzeria,” Thinker said. My eyes slightly widened.

“What?” I said.

“Hear me out,” Thinker reasoned. “There are four newspaper clippings on the walls that I need. They’re in the halls near the office. I need you to get them for me.” I sighed.

“All right,” I agreed. “I’ll do it.”

“Thanks,” Thinker said. “Talk to you later.” The phone hung up. I left my house and flew back to the pizzeria. The lights were off, and the reeking odor radiated from the building. I plugged my muzzle and stepped inside. The lights were flickering in the dining room, creating dim light. I cast a light spell to give me a little more visibility, then walked on. As I took a cautious step, the honking noise sounded, making me give a small scream and jump. I looked down, and saw Adagio’s animatronic head on the floor, rotting away. I knelt down and examined the broken suit. The wires and beams of the endoskeleton were smashed and cut, in an ugly fashion. Like somepony had hacked away at the suit. I stood up and looked through the dining room. Sonata was even more broken than Adagio, with no face and a busted jaw. She was missing her two front hooves, and wires poked out from the withered holes. I didn’t bother checking up with Aria, because she was in a poor condition anyway.

As I stepped down the hall toward the office, I spotted one of the newspaper clippings on the wall. The date of the article was unclear, but the year was 1984. I took it off the wall and read it over.

“Foals vanish at a local pizzeria – bodies not found.
Two local foals were reportedly lured into a back room during the late hours of operation at Adagio Dazzle’s pizza on the night of June 26. While video surveillance identified the stallion responsible and led to his capture the following morning, the foals themselves were never found and are presumed dead.
Police think that the suspect dressed as a mascot to earn the foals’ trust.”

I slipped the clipping into my saddlebag and moved on. I found another one literally right outside the office. I read it through.

“Four foals now reported missing. Suspect convicted.
Four foals are now linked to the incident at Adagio Dazzle’s Pizza, where a stallion dressed as a cartoon mascot lured them into a back room.
While the suspect has been charged, the bodies themselves were never found.
Adagio Dazzle’s Pizza has been fighting an uphill battle ever since to convince families to return to the pizzeria.
‘It’s a tragedy.’”

As I put the clipping into my saddlebag, I started to think about the story. From what I could conclude, four foals went missing a few decades ago, supposedly lured into a back room of an Adagio Dazzle’s Pizza. The suspect was indeed caught, but the bodies weren’t found. I stepped into the office, and took a look at the desk. The fan was off, and the taco was missing. I exited out the other door and immediately found another clipping.

“Local pizzeria threatened with shutdown over sanitation.
Local pizzeria, Adagio Dazzle’s Pizza has been threatened again with shutdown by the health department over reports of foul odor coming from the much-loved Siren mascots.
Police were contacted when parents reportedly noticed what appeared to be blood and mucus around the eyes and mouths of the mascots. One parent alikened them to ‘reanimated corpses.’”

I was growing more and more confused and frightened with each clipping. These clippings were from decades ago, implying to me that there was a previous location of Adagio Dazzle’s Pizza. I would have to look into this lore after my little errand. I found the last newspaper clipping near Pirate’s Cove. I carefully removed it from the wall, trying not to wake Aria. When the clipping came loose, I backed away from the cove and sat down in the dining room, next to the broken animatronics.

“Local pizzeria said to close by year’s end.
After a long struggle to stay in business after the tragedy that struck there many years ago, Adagio Dazzle’s Pizza has announced that it will close by year’s end.
Despite a year-long search for a buyer, companies seem unwilling to be associated with the company.
‘These characters will live on. In the hearts of foals, these characters will live on.’ – CEO.”

I slowly put the last newspaper clipping into my saddlebag. I was breathless at what these four clippings said. A stallion in a mascot costume lured four foals into a back room, supposedly killed them, and I guessed that he stuffed the bodies into the suits. Curious to check, I charged up a cutting spell and cut open the chest of the Adagio animatronic. What I found was a decaying corpse, about the size of a foal. The stallion convict did indeed stuff the bodies into the suits. I cut open the Sonata suit as well, and found another corpse. I ran over to Pirate’s Cove, took out Aria, and tore her open. Another corpse. I started to breathe heavily, trying not to pass out. I tried to take in this information as best as I could. These newspaper clippings weren’t exaggeration. They were legitimate. I quickly got out of the building, and collided with Quick Thinker.

“Whoa there, Braveheart,” he cried. “You all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I have,” I whispered. I could barely speak.

“Did you read the clippings?” Thinker asked. I nodded, and Thinker sighed. “I was sort of hoping you wouldn’t,” he said. “I wanted to spare you the horrific details of this place. But again, it’s not like it matters.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to do some research on the pizzeria,” I said.

“Go ahead,” Thinker said. “It won’t be opening up again.”

“I should probably tell you that the animatronics were destroyed,” I mentioned. “They looked like they were hacked up with something.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Thinker said. “As I said, nopony really cares about this place anymore.”

“I also found the bodies of the dead foals inside of the suits,” I added. Upon hearing this, Quick Thinker’s eyes shrunk.

“Wait, really?” he gasped. “You found the bodies of the missing foals from all those years ago?!” I slowly nodded.

“Now I know why they weren’t found when it happened,” I explained. “The killer stuffed the bodies into the suits.”

“This is a huge revelation,” Thinker said. “This explains so much now. If only we’d known.”

“Nothing to be done now,” I shrugged.

“Well, regardless, thank you for your help, Braveheart,” Thinker said. I nodded. We shook hooves, and went our separate ways. Quick Thinker may have been relieved, but I still had research to do. I had to know what the hell was up with the Adagio Dazzle franchise.