Adagio took a moment to sigh in relief as she heard the cops split up to look for her in the rest of the alleyways, and then began to explore her surroundings in more detail. She looked up the staircase to the shabby wooden door at the top of it. Though she was hesitant to see what was up there, it wasn’t like she had much of a choice, with the mob of cops prowling everywhere their feet could touch outside. She preferred the idea of this Russian Roulette to the firing squad. Taking a deep breath, she stepped up to the door and opened it slowly.

Inside was not as shabby as the door, to Adagio’s relief. It seemed to be a small apartment, barely three rooms made up of a kitchenette, a bedroom, and a bathroom. Everything seemed relatively new and clean, maybe some wear and tear on the cooking appliances. The sheets on the bed were clean and made the bed up neatly, a stark contrast to what she had seen up to that point. The toilet, compared to the ones she and her sisters had to use, was pristine and well maintained, with a small bathtub and sink along with it. There were also some other miscellaneous things, such as an alarm clock and a fan, to make the whole place more…homely.

In her investigation, Adagio noticed one thing that was…peculiar about the apartment. Against the wall just next to the bed, there was a strange specialized desk with a monitor on top, made up of a cylindrical base where the cords to the monitor were being fed that was bolted to the wall behind it. From what Adagio could infer, it was bolted to the wall in order to protect the cords and plugs from any sort of tinkering or unplugging. There was a light on the top border of the screen next to a built-in webcam. With all that was strange about this setup, there was one thing she recognized: that stark white text on the pitch-black background. Now, there was only a pair of words flashing on the screen: “Please, sit.”

Nervous what the director was going to do this time, she sat down on the bed and took another deep breath. Just as she did so, she flinched as an image suddenly appeared on screen. There was now a live feed with what seemed to be a man’s dark blue t-shirt obscuring the lens of whatever camera was broadcasting. “Dammit. Never have this shit set up when I NEED it, do I?”, Red Room’s voice said, though now it was coming from the monitor. Adagio felt apprehensive when she realized what was happening. Was she…about to see the director’s face? She didn’t know what to expect, given his obvious line of work. After a few more swears, the t-shirt moved away from the lens to reveal this faceless director, and what Adagio saw on the screen was…rather different than what she expected.

Where she expected to sit an old bastard more wrinkled than worn leather, there sat a person who, given his look, could’ve been at Canterlot High with her and her sisters. His hair was a deep red, slicked back against his head, revealing his pale face. He was a bigger individual, implying a short lifetime of staring at a screen for multiple hours out of the day. He wore a pair of shooting range shades with orange lenses, his eyes darting between multiple different things as he tapped away on his keyboard.

After a moment of typing, the director turned his attention to his webcam. His eyes scrunched up into a squint before he tossed his shades aside, quickly replacing them with a pair of wide framed spectacles. After a few blinks, he looked at the webcam once again before smiling a…it wouldn’t be called the FRIENDLIEST smile. More of a “I’m trying my best to be a real person, but I don’t know how” kind of eerie grin. After a moment of silence, he said to her. “Well…good to finally see you live and in person…or, whatever the fuck a video chat could be classed as.” He gave a slightly awkward chuckle and rubbed the back of his head.

Adagio looked around, not entirely sure how to respond. Deciding that now, she was NOT in the mood for pleasantries, she crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, glaring daggers into the director. “Hate to tell you, Mr. Red Room, but I’d rather you clarify EXACTLY what me and my sisters are doing in this horror show.”

Red Room looked at her for a moment before sighing and rubbing his eyes, as if disappointed by her reaction. With a deep breath he said, “Ok. I’m just gonna try to answer as many questions as that one would infer.” He leaned back in his chair and said as he looked at her, “We talkin practically? Then you were the best candidates I could think of that weren’t old drunk hobos or smack addicts to lead in this thing. Also, a lotta people would pay admission based on your name alone being attached to a Valiant production.” He then leaned forward and said, “But if we’re talkin about from a director’s standpoint? It’s because…I wanna show the humanity you girls have.”

Adagio looked at him with a baffled expression. What was this fat bastard babbling on about? Their HUMANITY? This man had to be more mental than she took him for at first.

Red Room saw the expression on her face and smirked knowingly. “Well…whatever you are, I know for a fact you aren’t a monster.”, he said as he drummed his fingers on his desk. He continued with a serious tone in his voice as he said, “A monster wouldn’t bother taking care of their sisters after such a tragedy left them destitute, barely scraping by.”

Adagio looked at him with shock evident on her face. This was the same man that, not a few moments ago, was making morbid jokes and throwing her into danger. This man was an absolute enigma, to put it mildly. “So…so you know about all that, then?”, she said timidly, unsure of how to take his words…or the fact that he was watching her for a while.

Red Room nodded his head and said, “Yes, ma’am. I’ve paid attention to any mention of you after that Canterlot High incident. I thought to myself, ‘Red Room, how in the hell can something so big and terrible happen, and NO ONE follows up with the perpetrators?’ I wanted some answers to that burning question.” He then leaned forward and said, “And when I started digging around for those answers, what I saw surprised me.” Red Room began to swivel in his chair as he articulated his view. “I DIDN’T see three heartless harlots who were hell bent on world domination. No, what I saw…was a trio of sisters, deeply connected through misfortune, surviving in a world that would see them starve slowly to death.”

Adagio sighed when he said it like that, rubbing her arms with an expression of worry evident on her face as she said, “I do hope that their safe…for your sake.” She said that last segment with a bit of venom, silently warning the director that if so much as a hair on their head was out of place, he would be the next kill…and it WOULD make it in.

Red Room…clearly did not take kindly to the insinuation. His eyes darkened, his brow shadowing them as he angled his head downward, glaring up at her over his frames. With a deep breath, he said in a strained voice, “I’m…going to forgive the implication of that statement. These girls are your sisters, so I fully expect you to be worried about them. But…I can assure you Miss Dazzle, I will NOT allow your sisters to come to harm. I swear upon the grave of my father, you WILL see them again. After all that you’ve given them, I will not have it all ruined on account of some stab happy prick.” He then shook his head and said, “Sorry, it’s just…I don’t like it when people question my integrity as a director. I worked hard to get this

Adagio looked on at the director as he delivered his monologue. She had to admit, she was…awestruck, on a certain level. Anything that she did for herself or her sisters, she always just brushed off as a necessity, or at the very least a courtesy to her fallen sisters and comrades. The way that the director put it, it sounded so much more…weighty. Impactful. Like those actions were some of the most important that they ever took. After a moment of silence, she said in a thoughtful tone, “So…any good deed that I did for my sisters…you knew about?”

Red Room nodded his head and was about to continue before he looked down at the floor and gave a sigh as he said, “Dammit, I just admitted to knowing your life up to now.” He then pinched the bridge of his nose and growled, “Look, it was reported from my firm, mainly. How THEY got the info…I have no idea, I just pay ‘em. Probably best I DON’T know.”

Adagio, beginning to feel more comfortable as the conversation went on, gave a coy grin and said, “Oh? Back peddled rather quickly on that, didn’t you?” She crossed her legs and said, “Are you sure you weren’t just…admiring three ladies from afar?”

Red Room looked at her for a moment, the gears in his head clearly creaking along before he chuckled and said, “Oh, very funny, smartass. You are lucky you are one of my stars and you’re cute. Elsewise you’d be red paint.”

Adagio nodded her head and smirked smugly before swiveling around a bit in her chair in thought. She then said in a contemplative tone, “So…to summarize, you’re saying that you’re doing all of this in order to…prove something to the world? That seems…overly convoluted, if I’m to be blunt.”

Red Room waved a hand and said, “Nah, nah, I completely agree.” He then shrugged and said with an almost guilty smirk, “Honestly, this was the best way I could kill two birds with one stone. I mean, you need to have people discover your humanity, so you don’t have to live on the streets anymore, and I need to produce something before Papa’s old clientele get pissy and decide to skin me…”

Adagio did a double take when he finished his sentence. “W-wait…so you mean to tell me that that company your minion mentioned, Valient…it was--?”

“All a front for a MASSIVE snuff-slash-porno empire.”, he said with a genuine gleeful expression, almost like he was…proud of the legacy. “Gotta say, when I made the tweaks to the policy on who we picked up, damn thing was a lot less…I dunno, gross? Eh, only word I can think of.” After that aside, he looked at another screen and squinted at it for a bit as he said, “Unfortunately, we may have to continue this conversation tomorrow. It’s getting to be sunrise, and you should get some rest. I put you through hell of an audition.”

He leaned back and smiled a…strange smile, at least to Adagio. It wasn’t like that weird one he opened with, nor was it like any of his snarky smirks. It was…genuine. An honest to goodness genuine smile, like he CARED if she got a decent night’s sleep for the next night, truly. She gave him a small smirk and said, “Well, a snuff director who cares about his leads…that can’t be good for business.” She then chuckled and hopped over to the bed, stretching out across it before looking back at the cam and saying in mock accusation, “Are you just trying to film me sleeping for another ‘production’, Mr. Red Room?”

The director cackled at that and said, “C’mon, pretty miss. One project at a time, here.” He then shook his head and said, “Joking aside, goodnight Miss Dazzle. There’s a spare change of clothes under the bed when you wanna shower, and I’ll check on you bit by bit during the night to make sure you’re safe.”

After a chuckle at the man’s conscientiousness and planning, she said in a softer tone, “Understood. Goodnight, Mr. Director.” With another stretch, she slowly closed her eyes, the fatigue of the night finally catching up with her. Good sleep on a real bed…finally. A

Red Room smiled as he watched her drift off. He had to admit, he felt rather proud of himself. He was able to give this lady a sense of control, a thing she and her sisters hadn’t had in quite some time. Not only that, but he knew for a FACT that she and her sisters would bond stronger than ever over this, and that gave him a visceral sense of satisfaction. Of course, giving a well earned ten-thousand to each of his new stars wouldn’t be bad either. After yawning and setting his alarm for two hours from then, he instinctively smacked the back of his neck as he felt a…tingling sensation on his neck. He could swear that there was a bug or…SOMETHING. When he pulled his hand away, though, there wasn’t a carcass or wing to be seen on his palm. Damn…that tingling was still on his neck. He shrugged, figuring it was probably just some weird itch that’d go away in the morning. He quickly climbed into his bed to the right of his setup and yawned as the screens of his control center dimmed slowly, putting his first night in the business to an end…

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay! Dealing with school stuff. Also, kinda wanted to humanize my version of the director a bit. Lemme know your thoughts!