The Dazzling Opera

The ringing of bells signaled meal time for all the ponies of the circus. Butchers, stagehooves, performers, and more all made their way towards the Cook House. Grains and oats were all lined up on paper plates for easy access. Among the members of the circus, on a makeshift stage of boxes and chairs stood the ringmaster, Dazzle Clem, a unicorn, wearing a red tunic with yellow stripes across it.

“Ahem, attention everypony. We have a tight schedule to set up the tents and rides today! So chow hour is only thirty minutes for today,” Dazzle Clem announced to the crowd receiving groans and complaints as he walked out of the Cook House.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, that geezer expects us to get work done with thirty minutes break whilst we’ve been working since dawn. What an ass,” a disgruntled circus employee complained to their tablemates.

Exiting the Cook House, Dazzle Clem was heading back to his wagon so he could plot out what act would replace the manticore jumping through a hoop of fire, as the circus manticore was too injured from the beating it had received for trying to escape. It was regrettable that they had to injure the creature, it was another incident in a string of bad luck that had been happening. As he crossed the circus grounds it was empty and mostly quiet, with only the sound of the wind blowing against the half-finished tents.

As Dazzle Clem approached his wagon, he paused for a moment to scan his surroundings. The wind gently tossed his mane around. He noted that the setup for the circus was behind schedule, they would have to work twice as hard tomorrow to ensure the tents and rides were put together in time.

He continued his walk to his wagon. He had worries the circus wouldn’t perform well, they had been gaining less and less traction and his crew had been getting restless and upset at the lowering quality of food and quarters. If it kept up this trend, he’d have to close the circus and all the ponies working with him would lose their home, and more importantly, it would make it harder for him to keep on the run on the force he was fearful of. After a few more minutes of walking, he had arrived at his wagon.

Upon entering he collapsed on his bed from exhaustion. He had already dealt with a rogue manticore today and didn’t want anything else to go awry. He turned to the window looking out admiring the circus grounds. He was going to turn around their losses and save this circus, he was sure of it. He was just settling in, and he pulled out his notebook to find out what act he could pencil in as a replacement for the manticore, when a knocking came on his wagon's door. He reluctantly got up to open the door, wondering what the matter was, hoping that it wouldn't be another problem. He opened the door to two ponies who weren't part of his travelling show.

"Howdy there, are you the leader of this show?" the first pony, an orange Earth Pony wearing a cowboy hat with three apples for a cutie mark. The second pony, a yellow Pegasus with pink flowers for a cutie mark, stood behind her, not speaking.

"Yes, I am, who might you be?" Dazzle Clem answered their question, following up with his own.

"My names Applejack and this here is my friend Fluttershy. We have some concerns regarding your treatment of the critters in your show," the Earth Pony answered him.

"Well, what issues do you take with our treatment of the creatures we keep?" Dazzle Clem probed the duo.

"You beat them! I saw your manticore in the woods and you were so violent with it!" Fluttershy piped up from her silence, clearly invested in the welfare of the animals belonging to the show.

Drips of sweat formed and dripped off of Dazzle Clem's forehead when the Pegasus brought this up.
He shut the door on their faces. They began to knock once more as he looked around frantically trying to come up with something to sweep the incident under the rug. The knocking became louder as he stalled. He returned to the door and swung it open once more.

"Would you come inside please?" Dazzle Clem asked the critics of his show.

The two ponies entered the wagon, in awe at the various memorabilia strewn around the room along the walls and shelves from the locations the show had toured in the past.

"Pretty nifty home you've got 'ere," Applejack commented on the wagon's contents.

"I collect lots of things from all around, I try not to tour the same location twice," Dazzle Clem replied. "Now about your, concerns?"

"Why'd you do it?" Applejack assertively demanded an answer.

"You must understand, it's not standard protocol, but that manticore has always been trouble," he responded.

"Then why not release it into the wild!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"It wouldn't survive in the wild, it's had its wings clipped to make sure no one here falls under harm's way, and it's been raised since birth, it doesn't know how to survive out there!" Dazzle Clem explained as calmly as he could, but his voice was raising in defense of his show.

"Then why raise it at all if it's this bad for the creature!" Fluttershy interjected.

"Because ponies all over Equestria enjoy watching tricks and performances of dangerous creatures performing feats of strength!" Dazzle objected to her concerns.

He shoved the two out of his wagon and slammed the door behind them. He turned to his desk squeezed in the corner of the wagon and uncovered a brown, leather book without any markings on the cover or binding from beneath a stack of advertising posters for his show. After analyzing the book for a few seconds, he opened up a drawer on the desk tossing the book inside and slamming it shut, shaking the cabin.

"I just need more time, more time," Dazzle Clem repeated himself, pondering if taking this route in life was a good decision, not that it mattered since he couldn't change the past.

He looked back out his window, chow hour had ended, and his crew was working on setting up the attractions. This could very well be their last show, a tear formed in his eye which he wiped away. They would have nowhere to go if he had to shut down the show, and he himself would have a much harder time fleeing his fate.