The Secrets of Bitmore Theater

by Kegisak

Chapter 8: The Phantom of the Opera

Chapter 8: The Phantom of the Opera

Silver Spoon’s hooves were shaking.

She held in them a bundle of clothes topped by a small porcelain mask. At least, it was painted to look porcelain. Silver’s hooves were barely steady enough to hold the mask, but when she could she guessed it to be vinyl at best, or more likely plastic. It was cold to the touch—although perhaps it was Silver Spoon who was cold.

Rarity had delivered it earlier that day. It had been wrapped in plain brown paper and string, just as Rarity had been wrapped in a plain gray raincoat, as though to avoid being spotted. Silver had needed to open the package to be sure, however, and she had immediately regretted it. The mask of the Phantom of the Opera had stared up at her, and she had been staring back ever since.

It was not the fear that did it, per se, although the sight of the mask certainly made Silver sick to her stomach. Rather, it was a sort of nervousness, an anticipation of things to come. She had known for some time now that there was no going back for her, that she had to follow through, but the sight of the mask gave the thought a kind of finality. Today, she would execute her plan. Today, she would apologize to Sweetie Belle. Today, she would know whether or not Sweetie would forgive her.

Silver Spoon groaned and leaned back against Nova, who was dozing silently behind her, and pressed her hooves into his fur to still them. She wormed her way into his thick black fur, as though trying to hide from the mask, and rubbed her eyes. Once again she had barely slept, running through the plan over and over in her mind. Two nights in a row of terrible sleep had done little to help her mindset, and no small part of her wanted to fall asleep against Nova right then and there. She felt as though she could sleep for days—weeks, even—and forget about her troubles. Her eyes began to drift shut, still fixed on the mask. She couldn’t forget, she knew. She didn’t have time to sleep. As her vision began to blur and fade, however, she wondered if a small rest would hurt that much.

A heavy knock on the door shook her out of her doze. Nova grumbled as she jolted against him, but Silver ignored his complaining. “C-come in,” Silver said, adjusting her glasses.

The door creaked open and Kelson stepped inside. He looked little better than Silver felt. His expression was clouded by consternation, and even the perpetual brightness in his eyes had faded. “Wee miss?” he said softly. “Wee Misses Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo are here for you.” He frowned and rubbed his jaw. “How’re you holdin’ up? You’re lookin’ a mite…”

“Tired,” Silver Spoon said. She sighed and rubbed her eyes again. “I’m just tired, Kelson.”

Kelson frowned deeper, but he nodded. “Alright,” he said. “suppose I’d be too. Once this is all over, you can have yourself a nice happy nap, aye?”

A wave of anxiety washed over Silver, and she was suddenly happy she was braced against Nova. “Y-yeah,” she said. “I guess I’d, um… better go out and see them, then. Get this O-ov…” The word ‘over’ felt intolerable, somehow. “Out of the way.”

She rolled off of Nova slowly, careful not to upset her already uneasy stomach, and gathered her costume together. She began to wrap it back in its paper, but her hooves slowed as she worked. She was staring into the eyes of the mask, and her hooves were shaking more violently than ever. She could hardly hold the string like this. The longer she stared, the worse she felt, and the more a question arose in her mind. “Kelson?” she asked. “Am I… doing the right thing?”

Kelson paused for a moment, then forced out a smile. “Well,” he said, scratching his chin, “Iffin’ you ask me, I’da gone for a surgeon’s knot instead of a bow, myself.”

Silver could not bring herself to laugh, not even politely. For that matter, neither could Kelson. He sighed, and sat down beside Silver. “You know,” he said, shuffling his wings, “I was a Lieutenant aboard our ship when yer’ pap joined up with us as a crewman. We went up through ranks pretty much neck-and-neck, ‘till he took over the boat. He was captain of our boat, an’ I was his first mate. Fact of the matter was, I was never meant to be in charge. Personality-wise, y’see. Yer’ pap, he always had his clever ideas and was quick on his hooves. I was just good at givin’ advice. Too simple a fella to be in charge.”

He rubbed his chin and hummed deeply. “Point is,” he continued, “I can’t really tell you what yer’ plan should be. I can tell you it ain’t what I had in mind when I told you to apologize, and I can tell you it ain’t what I’da done, myself, though.”

Silver winced heavily, but Kelson continued. “But,” he said, “I don’t know this filly the same way you do. If you figure that doin’ all this is the right way to get through to her, then I figure it must be.” He smiled, a genuine smile this time, and gently boxed Silver’s chin. “Yer’ a clever filly. Always have been. I’m sure that, if you think this is the right thing to do, then it is.”

That hadn’t made Silver feel much better. It had helped a bit, however, and at this point she was willing to take that. She stared at the mask for a moment longer, then folded the paper over it. She adjusted her glasses and managed a smile. “You want to, uh, do that surgeon’s knot?” she asked Kelson.

Kelson laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “I’d stick with the bow, actually,” he said. “You’ll actually be able to untie that one when you need to open it up again.”

Silver looked to the skies as they left the house. Clouds hung low and dark in the sky, fat with the promise of rainfall. Compared to the heat of the day before it was wonderfully cool, and it was clear that the thunderstorm from Manehattan had finally been scheduled for Ponyville. That would make the gardeners of the town happy, at least. Silver was just glad that she would be inside while it was all happening. Hopefully Sweetie would make it indoors before the rain began as well.

Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were waiting at the end of the drive. Diamond stood apart from the other two, who looked politely terse. The tension between the three warned of a storm more intense than any thunder, and all three looked noticeably relieved when Silver arrived. For her part, Silver felt as though an icy claw was squeezing her heart. Every step she took was one more step towards her plan.

“Thank goodness,” Diamond Tiara said under her breath to Silver. “If I had to bite my tongue any longer I think I’d chew it off.”

“Were they doing anything?” Silver whispered back.

“No,” Diamond replied, glowering at nopony in particular. “They’re just being polite. Which is almost worse. It feels like gloating. This is hard.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Silver assured her. She paused and added, “probably.” She turned to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo before Diamond Tiara had a chance to respond, and nodded to them. “Thanks for doing this,” she said.

“We’re doing it for Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said, shrugging.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “...But we’re also happy to,” she said. She leaned in and added, “Don’t worry too much ‘bout Scoots. She’s just getting used to ya, I figure.”

Silver managed a smile and adjusted her glasses, peering over her shoulder at Diamond Tiara. “Well, that makes two of them,” she said. “We’ll… hopefully have plenty of time for all of us to get used to it.” She paused for a moment, and the four fillies were silent. “I mean...” she said, “I… I don’t know if everything is going to work out today, but if it.. d-doesn’t…” Silver swallowed down a wave of panic and forced her voice to remain steady. “I know you probably won’t want to be friends with me and Diamond. But I’m serious about this, so…”

Apple Bloom stopped her with a hoof on Silver’s shoulder. “It’s alright,” she said. “I get it. You keep on tryin’ to be good, and I’d be more than happy to be friendly with y’all. But honestly?” she winked. “I wouldn’t worry too much ‘bout today.”

Silver Spoon breathed a deep sigh. There was less relief in it than she would have liked, but it felt as though the claw around her heart had loosened its grip. Silver breathed deeply again, forcing her shoulders to relax. “Okay,” she said. “Okay, thank you.” She rolled her shoulders, trying to work out the last of the knot between them. “You know what you’re going to do?”

“Yup,” Apple Bloom said, grinning. “You don’t have to worry ‘bout a thing, we’ll get Sweetie over to you in a hurry.”

Silver nodded. She looked at the sky and adjusted her glasses. “Even if the rain starts?”

“Ain’t like it’s the first time we’ve been out in the rain,” Apple Bloom replied with a shrug. “We’ll just tell her somepony needs help, and it’s gotta be her. Ain’t like that’s a lie.” She beamed and patted Silver’s shoulder. “Didn’t I say not to worry about it? You just get on down to the schoolhouse, get yourself set up for when we get Sweetie there.”

Silver managed to smile as well. “Okay,” she said. “Well… no sense putting it off, I guess. Just give as a, uh… ten minute head start.”

“Got it,” Apple Bloom said. “See you soon.” She grinned wider and added, “Not that I don’t know it’s serious for you, but I hope you don’t mind me sayin’ I’m a bit excited. How bout you, Scoots?”

“I still think it’s silly,” Scootaloo replied. She shrugged and ruffled her wings. “But it’ll be nice to see Sweetie Belle happy again, if it works out.”

Apple Bloom’s smile faded and she gave Scootaloo a playful thump on the shoulder. “That’s as close to a ‘yes’ as yer’ gonna get from her, I think,” she said. “We’ll see you there.”

With goodbyes exchanged Silver Spoon slipped her package onto her back and turned back to Diamond Tiara. The air had grown heavier during the conversation, and Silver didn’t doubt the rain would be coming down before too long. “We’d better get going,” she said.

Diamond Tiara nodded, peering anxiously at the sky. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m in no mood to get caught out in the rain. You sure picked a day for this, you know.”

Silver frowned up at the sky as well. “Yeah, well,” she said. “I guess if I’m already being dramatic, the weather may as well join in.” She shook her head and began to walk in the direction of the Schoolhouse. It was always open in case a student needed it—Silver had always imagined that was just an excuse to not get better locks on the front door—but there was never anypony there over the weekend. With the desks pushed out of the way, it made the perfect stage. At least, the perfect stage for a filly too young to find somewhere better.

“I guess,” Diamond Tiara agreed, following after Silver. “It seems like it agrees with you. Maybe that’s a good omen.”

“Or a portent,” Silver Spoon remarked wryly, hunching up her shoulders at the thought. She shook her head to drive it away and adjusted her glasses, adding, “Or a coincidence with the weather pegasi’s schedule.”

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and snorted. “Well, I suppose you can’t be romantic all the time. Honestly, I’m surprised you could come up with a plan like this at all. I didn’t think you were the theater type.” She was quiet for a moment, shaking her head.

“I’m not the theatre type,” Silver said. “I was, before I met you, but I haven’t been since I was a little filly.”

“Because of The Phantom?” Diamond Tiara asked.

Silver was silent. “Yeah,” she said eventually. “Because of The Phantom.”

“You really thought I would make fun of you because of it?” Diamond asked. She wore an annoyed expression, but it was tinged with something that Silver wasn’t sure she’d ever seen on Diamond before. Guilt? Worry?

“Yeah,” Silver said. “But, well, it wasn’t just you. I sort of thought anypony would. I mean, it’s pretty dumb, after all.”

“Maybe,” Diamond Tiara said, “but like, all fears are kinda dumb. I mean, I hate spiders, and like, we live in Equestria! What kind of spiders are there here that could hurt me?”

There were quite a few, in fact, but Silver decided not to mention any of them. “That doesn’t really make it not stupid,” she said, looking away from Diamond.

Diamond was silent again. “I guess,” she said. “You shouldn’t feel bad about it, though. I wouldn’t make fun of you over it.”

“Wouldn’t you?” Silver asked, looking back to Diamond.

Diamond Taira’s expression changed many times in the next few moments, as though she were reading through a list. None of them looked particularly pleased. “Maybe a little,” she admitted with a grimace. “But not if I knew it was serious.” She sighed and rubbed her neck. “Look. I know I can be a jerk sometimes… I guess. But you’re my best friend. I… never knew you felt that way about me.”

Silver wasn’t certain how to respond to that. So she didn’t. She remained silent, digesting the words. It was difficult for her to decide how it made her feel, already bogged down with guilt and anxiety as she was.

The sky grew only darker as they walked, as though it was a mirror for Silver’s mood. It certainly made her no happier to see. The damp chill in the air and the dark shadow over the landscape amplified her sense of doom as they approached the schoolhouse. Although there was nopony trimming the trees, suggesting they would at least be spared a windstorm, there seemed to be no end of Pegasi ferrying more clouds into the sky. By the time Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara arrived the sky looked ready to burst open.

They ducked inside the schoolhouse, just barely dodging the first few drops of rain. Silver sighed weakly. “Looks like Sweetie Belle and the others are gonna get wet… that won’t make her any happier.” She adjusted her glasses and breathed deeply, trying to ease the grip on her heart just a bit further. “We’d… better get started,” she said. “Can you start pushing the left rows of desks against the wall?”

Diamond Tiara ran a hoof through her mane, checking it to see if any rain had managed to get on it. “Apple Bloom would have been better for heavy lifting,” she said sourly. She caught a look of Silver’s expression and ducked her head. “Er, but, yeah.”

They worked diligently and, like their walk, silently. Silver was feeling a new sort of anxiety now, a fear that they wouldn’t be ready in time. She worked as hard as she was able, speaking only to direct Diamond and ask for her help. Most of the desks were shoved aside, out of the way, but Silver and Diamond also stacked desks atop one another to form an impromptu curtain. Silver would change into her costume behind it, as well as hide behind it when Sweetie Belle first arrived.

Diamond Tiara grunted as she slid the last of the desks into place. She leaned against it, panting heavily. “You know,” she wheezed, “I think I’ve sweat more this weekend than in the past like, year put together.”

Silver mopped her brow. She had heard that working hard was supposed to lighten ones spirit. She seemed to be immune. “Sorry,” she said.

Diamond Tiara grunted, and shrugged. “It’s probably good for me,” she replied, her voice sour. “Everything that’s good for me sucks.”

“Yeah,” Silver said. She adjusted her glasses and dropped the package on one of the desks. “You can say that again.”

“Everything that’s good for me sucks,” Diamond repeated. She looked over at Silver. Silver stopped unwrapping the package and looked back. A silent, ‘why, then?’ hung in the air between them.

Silver sighed and shook her head. “You don’t have the help me if you don’t want to, Diamond,” she said. She finished unwrapping the package and began sorting out the costume. “You aren’t really obligated to just because… we’re friends.”

“Yeah, well,” Diamond said, shrugging. “I want to. I guess. I mean, I may as well learn to stop being lousy on somepony who it’s easy with, right?”

“I guess?” Silver said. She wasn’t certain she’d call this easy. In truth, she was doing her best to put off thinking about Diamond as much as possible until all this was finished. “Can you check outside, to see if anypony is coming?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Diamond said, pushing herself off the desk and away from the conversation. It was clear to Silver that the transition wasn’t easy on either of them.

Diamond trotted to the window and peered out into the storm. She squinted. “I can’t see anything out there,” she said. “The rain is coming down too hard, it’s too dark…”

Just as she spoke, lightning flashed. “Ow. Okay,” she added, blinking. “There’s definitely nopony out there.”

They both fell silent, counting the seconds in their heads. Thunder crashed ten seconds after the lightning. At least it had been far away. Silver spoon adjusted her glasses and turned back to the costume.

Although a youthful Rarity seemed to have had little restraint in regards to sequins, the costume was nevertheless simple and elegant. A white shirt, a black suit vest, and a black cloak with red on the interior was the extent of the clothing. That and the mask was all there was to see. Sweetie Belle would definitely recognize Silver without the mask, and probably with the mask as well. That was good.

“Keep an eye out for them, if you can,” Silver called to Diamond. “I’m gonna get dressed.” There was no sense in putting it off, after all.

The costume was tight—it had been almost a year since she had last been sized, and it was clear that Rarity was working off her last measurements—but it was easy enough to put on, and her reflection in the windows seemed to wear it well. The cloak was long, and Silver had to take care not to catch on it as she moved around. She walked a few steps this way and that to test the clothes and stretch the fit, and in no time at all the costume was perfectly comfortable. Then, all that was left was the mask.

Silver’s heart clenched once again as she thought of it. The mask. The Phantom. As long as her thoughts had been on her plan, on Sweetie Belle, it had been easy enough to forget her fears. As she turned to stare at the mask, however, it all came flooding back. She shivered as she remembered being a little filly, desperately afraid of some unseen bogeyman. She could see him even now, a vague spectre behind the mask, as though he was perpetually hidden in shadow. No height, no age, no face, nothing but a cruel grin and eyes that were always watching. It wasn’t real. She knew that, now that she was older. There was nopony waiting to snatch her from the shadows. No obsessed lunatic out to catch her for their own.

Her hooves were shaking as she slipped off her glasses and picked up the mask. This was silly. She told herself, over and over, that The Phantom wasn’t real. She had nothing to be afraid of. She turned the mask over and lifted it towards her face. The Phantom wasn’t real. The Phantom wasn’t real. The only Phantom here was Silver. How could she be afraid of herself? She wasn’t obsessed, she wasn’t crazy, she wasn’t going to kidnap anypony. She just wanted to sing for Sweetie Belle.

Silver wondered if that was what The Phantom had thought about Christine.

“Silver?” Diamond asked.

Silver Spoon gasped and slapped the mask onto her face. “What?” she asked, cursing the lump in her throat.

“You okay?” Diamond asked. “You sound kind of, uh…”

Silver Spoon blinked. Suddenly, she became aware that she had been breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating. She groaned and patted her chest, forcing her breathing to steady and slow. Her heart was pounding so hard she felt sick. Her skin was crawling beneath the mask. “I’m fine,” she said.

Diamond Tiara frowned. “I have no idea how you were in theatre,” she said. “You’re a terrible liar.” Her expression softened. She looked back at the window once, then stepped away. “They’re still not out there,” she said. “And in this weather they aren’t going to be moving fast.” She paused, and added, “Or they’ll be bolting, and I won’t have time to warn you anyways.” she shrugged and trotted over to Silver Spoon. As the approached, her pace slowed. “You… really are afraid of The Phantom, huh?” she asked.

Silver wanted to deny it. She tucked down her head and waved her hooves vaguely. “It… I… Yeah,” she admitted. She hung her head. “I know it’s stupid,” she said.

Diamond shook her head. “Not really,” she said. “I mean, we knew it was scary, right? Otherwise we wouldn’t have used a Phantom to try and scare Sweetie Belle.” She had turned away from Silver, and therefore missed her unimpressed expression. Diamond continued, “It’s weird, sure, but I don’t think you’re the first filly to be scared of a play. Especially if it’s from before I met you. We were what, five?”

“Six,” Silver corrected. “I should be over it by now, though.”

“You never told anypony about it,” Diamond said. She turned back, and frowned. “Of course you’re still afraid, you kept it all bottled up inside and never dealt with it. If you’d told me about it I could have helped you know! I could have… I dunno, done something. Helped you laugh your way past it.” She ran a hoof through her mane.

Silver groaned. In truth, she had been expecting this. It seemed that putting off the issue wasn’t in the cards. “M-maybe,” she said.

“Even if you were still afraid of it, we could have done something different last weekend,” Diamond continued. She was pacing up and down the classroom, now. “We could have found some way to avoid Sweetie Belle finding out about it, and avoided all this.” She grimaced and stuck out her tongue. “We could have still been having fun.”

“I’m sorry,” Silver said. The last thing she needed now was more guilt. The claw around her heart squeezed until the pressure was unbearable. The knot between her shoulders had become a boulder.

Diamond Tiara returned to Silver’s side and sat down. She glowered into the distance for a while, but her sour expression slowly turned morose. “Don’t be,” she said. “I’m just frustrated… you know, ever since last weekend I feel like I never really knew you at all.”

For a long moment, the only sounds was the rain against the windowpanes. Silver sat with her mouth open. She almost forgot how anxious she was, for a moment.. “I…” she said softly. She swallowed. “That’s not true. I never lied to you. I mean, I didn’t like theatre by the time we met. And… I didn’t really have anything that I wanted to do. I was fine doing all that. You knew me.”

“I didn’t know how brave you were, though.” Diamond said.

“That’s probably because I wasn’t brave,” Silver replied, staring down at her hooves. She put her glasses back on and fidgeted with them.

“You stood up to me,” Diamond said. “Twice. You kicked my butt and dragged me by the ear into being nice along with you. You stood up to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and you’re about to open your heart to Sweetie Belle. Not to mention Rarity. You got them all in on this plan of yours, that takes guts. It’s a good plan, too.” Diamond Tiara grinned. “Heck, maybe you should be the one calling the shots from now on.”

Silver Spoon flushed and adjusted her glasses. They sat awkwardly over top of the mask, slipping and sliding away from any comfortable position. “N-no way!” she said. “I’d be happy with you just asking me what I want to do a bit more. I don’t want one of us to be in charge, or anything.”

“Suit yourself,” Diamond Tiara said, shrugging. She leaned back on her hooves. “Maybe you should give it a shot, though. You’re doing a better job of it than I ever did. Honestly? I wish I’d known this Silver Spoon sooner. She’s pretty great. Maybe we coulda turned out better, if she was in charge. Me, I don’t even know where to start. At least you have Sweetie Belle. That’s… something.” She waved a hoof. “I’ve got nothing.”

“You’ve got me?” Silver Spoon offered.

Diamond Tiara looked over at Silver. In spite of her bleak expression, she managed a smile. A smirk, at least. “I’m not sure The Phantom of the Opera is the best pony to take advice on being a good pony from,” she said.

In spite of everything, Silver Spoon chuckled. She slipped off the mask and rubbed her face, putting her glasses back on. “Okay,” she said. “How about Silver? I’m not much, but nopony ever said it would be easy.”

Diamond laughed. “Are you kidding?” she asked. “You make this crap look like the easiest thing in the world.”

Silver Spoon couldn’t help but laugh. “Seriously?” she asked. “I’m—I have no idea what I’m doing here!”

“Well, you must have some idea,” Diamond Tiara said, nudging her gently. “I mean, look at all you’ve done so far!”

“All I’ve done so far?” Silver asked. She looked at the mask in her hooves. “All I’ve done so far was hurt Sweetie, betray her trust, and… come up with some dumb plan that might not even work.” She turned the mask, over and over, looking at it from both inside and out. “What if it isn’t enough? What if she doesn’t like it? What if it just hurts her feelings more? What… what if I’m doing the wrong thing, here?”

“Are you nuts?” Diamond asked, sitting up straight. “Do you seriously not know how amazing all of this is? What kind of filly wouldn’t go crazy over it?”

“You really think so?” Silver asked.

“Duh,” Diamond said, flipping her mane, as though to hide her momentary bout of compassion. “Look, why’d you come up with this plan? I mean, why this, instead of like, I dunno, holding up a radio outside her window or something like that?”

“Uh,” Silver Spoon said. “B-because musicals always have these big, dramatic arias and stuff when somepony tells somepony else they love them. I think it’s like, theatre law or something.”

“Okay,” Diamond said, “but why do you care about musicals? You don’t even like them. And I mean, what makes you so sure that Sweetie would like a musical ending?”

“Well, because she…” Silver’s brow furrowed with concentration, and she adjusted her glasses. “Because she really loves musicals.”

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “And you know that because…” She prompted.

“Because I talked to her a lot?” Silver said, frowning. “Not like it was a huge mystery, though.”

Diamond rolled her hooves. Silver rolled her eyes. “I spent a lot of time with her because of a prank, Diamond. If that’s supposed to make me feel better—”

“Okay, first of all, we wouldn’t be here if that was the only reason,” Diamond said, in a tone that Silver knew to say, ‘you cannot be this dumb’. “But, why’d she spend time with you?”

Silver opened her mouth to speak, but found that she didn’t have an answer. Of course, Sweetie had started to spend time with Silver in order to stop The Phantom, but in truth that wouldn’t have taken very long at all, if that was all they were doing. “We… were having fun,” Silver said. Her brow furrowed deeper. “Because… Because I told her something I’d never told anypony else, and opened up to her. And she liked that, so she decided to give me a chance. And… because we spent time together, I had to be honest with her more and more, and… I… I guess she fell in love with me.” Silver Spoon blinked. “She made me see a pony who was smart, and brave and amazing, because that was the pony that she saw. She fell in love with me.”

“But I was a jerk,” Diamond said, “and ruined your shot at a relationship with her.”

Silver nodded slowly. Some small part of her noticed that Diamond Tiara did not have the common decency to sound even vaguely guilty about it, but it was drowned out by her churning thoughts. “And it killed me inside, but… I made a plan to apologize to her. And I got two ponies who… had every reason to hate me, who I’d been nothing but mean to for years, and stared down a national hero…” She paused, wincing faintly. “Well, got stared down by a hero. To make things right.”

“Because you love her,” Diamond said, nodding definitively.

Silver breathed out. “Yeah,” she said. “Because I love her. More than anything in the world.”

“There, you see?” Diamond asked, flipping her mane nonchalantly. “How could she look at somepony who’s done all that, and say it isn’t good enough?”

Silver looked away and rubbed her cheek. “I… I dunno,” she said. “I mean, when I put it like that I guess it sounds like a lot, but it’s not like I did it on my own. Sweetie pretty much had to drag me out of my shell, and you and Kelson were the ones who convinced me I could win her back in the first place.”

Diamond snorted. “That doesn’t mean you didn’t do all the real work. We just helped a bit.”

“Maybe,” Silver said. She found she was having trouble focusing, as though the thought, too enormous to even fully grapple, had shoved every other aside to make room. Still, she had to admit, she did feel better. At the very least her stomach had settled, even if her anxiety had not, and she no longer felt as though the mask was covered in a thousand tiny bugs. She ran her hoof over it. She’d had nightmares about that face for months when she was little, but now that she could see that it was just a mask she felt sillier than ever. She no longer felt embarrassed, though. “Thanks,” she said. “I’m still… nervous, but thanks.” She managed a smile. “You know, I don’t think you’ve ever complimented me this much. Or anypony else, for that matter. New Diamond is pretty cool too.”

Diamond smirked and made a great show of casually inspecting her hooves. “Nah,” she said. “I was always this great. You helped bring it out, though.”

Lightning flashed once again. The silhouette of three fillies painted the wall across from the windows, and Silver’s heart leapt. Then it sank. Then, as if confused, it twisted itself into a tight knot. “Behind the desks!” she hisses, scrambling down from her seat. Diamond leapt down as well, and together they dodged behind the wall of desks just as the door swung open.

“Inside y’all, quick!” the first pony shouted. Apple Bloom. Scootaloo bolted in after her, barely waiting for Applebloom to be out of the way. After Scootaloo came a third filly, much slower despite the rain. Sweetie Belle.

Silver Spoon’s breath caught in her throat. She could hardly see Sweetie through the gloom of the schoolhouse, but even so she could tell Sweetie looked miserable. Between Sweetie’s slumped posture, slow movements and haggard, unkempt mane, it looked as though Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had physically dragged Sweetie Belle out of bed.

Sweetie Belle looked around the room. “I thought you said there was somepony here?” she asked. Her voice, at least, did not sound as disconsolate as she looked. It was far from happy, however, tinged with a pained croak that was all too familiar to Silver. Disappointment, and betrayal. Silver swallowed hard, and donned the mask once more.

“There’s supposed to be,” Scootaloo said, flicking her wings to shake the water off.

“Must be somepony here,” Apple Bloom replied. She shut the door behind them, closing out the sounds of the storm. The lightning had drifted closer, and the low rumble of thunder came more and more often. “Don’t think these desks got stacked up by themselves.”

Silver Spoon fumbled with her glasses. No matter how she set them, they still slid awkwardly over the mask. Her heart pounding in her chest didn’t help matters; she could barely hold her hooves steady.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had moved towards the center of the room, taking in the scene. Even Sweetie Belle was looking up at the wall of desks. “It’s like a curtain,” she said. “Are they hiding something?”

“I think that’s your cue,” Diamond Tiara hissed to Silver. “What are you waiting for?”

Silver Spoon cursed under her breath and set her glasses aside. Her legs felt like they were made from bubblegum. She could hardly stand up, much less walk. All she could do was stare at Sweetie.

Diamond Tiara, thankfully, had no such problems. She harrumphed and set her hooves against Silver’s rump, shoving the filly out from behind the curtain. Silver Spoon yelped and skittered to a stop in the center of the room.

For a minute, the world was still. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked up at Silver in recognition, although without her glasses Silver could not make out their expressions. Diamond Tiara gestured encouragingly to Silver. Sweetie Belle did nothing.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo backed away, giving Silver the stage with Sweetie Belle. Both fillies were still, and silent. Lighting flashed. Thunder rolled.

Silver’s mouth was terribly dry. She swallowed hard, and managed to stand up straight. As she did, Sweetie Belle’s posture shifted in kind. Was she excited? Curious? Silver had no idea, but she was here. They were both here. Although her heart pounding so hard Silver felt like she would topple over, and she was more frightened than she had thought possible, Silver knew what to do.

Her voice was soft at first, rough and croaking. She had not sung in years, now, so long she scarce remembered how. The lyrics, however, were burned into her mind, and the more she sang the more she remembered.

“S-sing once again with me, our strange duet,” She sang. Her voice grew stronger and richer with every word, and soon she was singing as though she had never stopped. “My power over you grows stronger yet,”

She began to walk towards Sweetie Belle. She moved slowly at first, as though testing a dark water before her. One step, then another. Sweetie Belle remained still.

“And though you turn from me, to glance behind… The Phantom of the Opera is there!”

Silver Spoon remembered. She remembered fear. She remembered haunted nights and wasted days. But she remembered Sweetie, whose smile was like a candle in a crypt, whose laughter was like the ringing bell of an angel, and whose eyes shone like the sunrise. Silver Spoon remembered The Phantom, not as a spectre, but as a colt, an actor. Silver remembered acting. She offered a hoof to Sweetie Belle. “Inside your mind,” she sang, her voice as strong as it had ever been.

Lightning struck and thunder crashed. A thousand bits of metal around the classroom lit up, glittering like a thousand candles on a stage. Their stage. Silver gestured again, beckoning Sweetie Belle to join her in song.

Sweetie Belle was silent.

Silver Spoon felt herself waver on her hooves. Her voice faltered, but she did not stop. Perhaps Sweetie Belle was simply waiting for her?

“My... S-spirit and your voice, in one combined,” Silver sang, still moving closer to Sweetie Belle, “The Phantom of the Opera is there! Inside your mind!” She gestured to Sweetie Belle again, but again Sweetie Belle was silent.

Silver stepped ever closer, and with every step Sweetie Belle grew more and more clear in Silver’s vision. “In all your fantasies, you always n-knew, that… that…”

Silver could see Sweetie Belle’s expression, now. Sweetie was not excited. She was not elated. She was not in love. She was heartbroken. Sad, hurt and desperately cold, as though looking upon the body of somepony she had once loved at their funeral. “That,” Silver Spoon croaked. “That this was stupid, didn’t I?”

Silver Spoon let her hoof drop, and looked down. Thunder crashed once again, directly overhead, so loud it rattled the windows. Yet although Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo jumped, Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle were still. When Silver looked up again her eyes met Sweetie Belle’s, and she took off her mask. “This was a terrible idea, wasn’t it?”

Sweetie Belle was quiet still, but there was a hint of something in her eyes. Something warm and hopeful, despite how terribly cold she must be. Silver realized that the smaller filly was shivering. She stepped forward again, sweeping off her cape and wrapping it around Sweetie Belle’s shoulders.

“Sweetie Belle,” Silver Spoon said. “I’m sorry. I’m the one who asked Scootaloo and Apple Bloom to bring you here. I didn’t want to scare you again, or get you sick. I know it doesn’t seem like it, and I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I was just being cruel, but… I just want to apologize to you.”

Silver Spoon looked down at the mask in her hooves, turning it over and over as she spoke. “What I did to you was so… so wrong of me. Not just this weekend, but for the whole time I’ve known you. I understand that now… no, I always understood it. But I was afraid. Afraid to let ponies get to know me. Afraid that if they did, they wouldn’t like me. That I wasn’t good enough. So I hid. I hid behind Diamond Tiara, and behind sarcasm and mean words and… behind a Phantom of myself. But you made me be honest… and Sweetie Belle, I was honest with you.”

She looked up, once again locking eyes with Sweetie Belle. “I lied to you about The Phantom of the Bitmore,” Silver Spoon said, “But that was it. Everything else I told you was true. About The Phantom of the Opera, about my friendship with Diamond, about dancing and music and… Everything. And for a while I… didn’t feel like I had to hide.

“But then you found out about our prank, and you hated me. And you were right to. I hated me too. That’s… why I did all this. I hid again. I thought you needed something special. Some… big show to show you how much you meant to me, and how sorry I was, like there always were in musicals because… nothing I said would be good enough.” Silver Spoon looked down once more at the mask in her hooves. One final time. Then she looked up, breathed deep, and dropped the mask.

“It wasn’t… me,” she said. “I’m finished hiding. I don’t… know if you’ll believe me. You don’t have to.” Silver took another step forward and pressed a hoof to her chest. “But this, right now, is me. Sweetie Belle, I want you to know that I’m so, so sorry for what I did, and… even though I don’t deserve it, I want to make things right between us. Because I… I-I love you.”

A slow smile broke across Sweetie Belle’s face. She leaned in and pressed her lips against Silver’s.

Lightning flashed, blinding white light through each window. Or perhaps it was merely the lights in Silver’s eyes and the electricity in her veins. The warmth of Sweetie Belle’s lips ran through Silver life a fire. Fear, anxiety, ache and doubt were all blasted away, scorched to ashes in a brilliant, beautiful instant. There was nothing left in Silver but bliss.

When the kiss ended Silver lurched forward, gasping for breath. Sweetie Belle caught her even as Silver caught Sweetie. They collapsed in each other’s forelegs, elated and exhausted. Slowly, dimly, Silver Spoon realized that Sweetie Belle was laughing. Like the bell of an angel.

“I believe you,” Sweetie Belle said. Her voice cracked and wheezed from disuse, but those words were the most beautiful sound that Silver had ever heard. “And I forgive you.”

“Oh thank Celestia,” Silver said. She laughed around a lump in her throat and sniffled back tears.

“Don’t cry!” Sweetie Belle laughed. “You’re gonna make me cry too!”

“I’m sorry,” Silver Spoon said. She sniffed again and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m just… so happy that you believe me, and that you don’t hate me.”

Sweetie Belle hugged Silver tight. “I never hated you, Silver,” she said. “I was mad at you, but I didn’t hate you. And I always believed you.”

“Y-you did?” Silver asked. She moved to adjust her glasses but paused, and rubbed her cheeks instead. “But after what happened last weekend, I thought…”

“That because you lied to me about one thing, I’d assume you lied about everything?” Sweetie Belle asked. She shifted away from Silver and smirked. It was a strange expression on her small, wilted face. “I know everypony thinks that I’m silly and naive, but I thought you knew better than that,” she said.

“I do!” Silver said, but she paused. “I… think?”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “I know when a pony is lying and when they aren’t,” she said. “I knew that you were honest about everything you told me. Even when I found out about your prank, I still believed everything. That’s why I was so upset about it.”

“Um…” Silver said, furrowing her brow. “Okay. I’m… glad, but now I’m definitely confused.”

“If I had thought that you were just leading me on all weekend, I would have still been upset,” Sweetie Belle explained, “but it would have passed. In a way I… sorta would have expected it.”

Silver winced, but she could not find herself disagreeing. “Well, that’s fair,” she grumbled.

Sweetie Belle smiled and hugged Silver again. “But I did believe you,” she said. “I knew what a wonderful pony you could be, if you had only given yourself a chance, and believed in yourself too. I was upset because of what you did to me, but I was more upset that you were afraid of me!” She looked bashful for a moment, rubbing an embarrassed flush out of her cheeks. “Maybe it’s kinda silly, but I sort of thought, after everything we’d gone through that weekend, you would have been brave for me, at least… but instead you chose Diamond.”

“That’s not silly,” Silver said. She hesitated for a moment, then lifted Sweetie Belle’s face to look her in the eyes. “I… should have trusted you. But I mean, I didn’t ‘choose’ Diamond. I mean, we’re not like that—”

“But you did!” Sweetie Belle insisted, her momentary bashfulness forgotten. “Maybe not romantically, but you still chose to do things her way, and follow through with her plan instead of just talking to me, and trusting me. In spite of everything, all the ways I thought I showed you I cared about you, you were still too afraid.” She frowned deeply, and It was clear that in spite of her forgiveness, the wound was still fresh. “That… hurt,” Sweetie said. “A lot. I didn’t know if you didn’t believe me, or if you just didn’t care enough about me… I thought I showed you that I forgave you,” she insisted. “That you were good enough. You didn’t have to do something huge, or be perfect. All I wanted was you. But you still ran away.”

“I… never thought of it that way,” Silver said. “It wasn’t you. I was… after all I’d done to you, and then pulling a prank like that on you…” She hunched her shoulders. "I didn't think anypony would forgive me, after all that."

"I could," Sweetie said. "I did. I regretted getting mad at you, afterwards. I was still angry, but... when I saw you at school, all I could think of was how I'd lost you. It hurt that you were afraid to trust me, but it hurt worse that because of that, I wouldn't get to be with one of the most beautiful, special ponies I've ever met."

Silver frowned for a moment, but found herself smiling soon enough. She brushed a stray lock out of Sweetie Belle’s face and cradled Sweetie’s face in her hooves. “You were right,” she said. “I was just too afraid to be honest. But I don’t want to be any more. That’s what all this was supposed to show you…" She laughed, flushing meekly. "Even if I kinda got it completely backwards.”

Sweetie Belle smiled back at Silver and took her hoof. “I think you’ve proved it pretty well anyways.” she sighed happily and leaned into Silver’s arms. “What are we gonna do about everypony? Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara.”

Silver’s brow furrowed. “We can still be friends with them all,” she said. “I talked to Diamond, and she’s going to try to be better too…”

“No,” Sweetie Belle said. “I mean, what are you gonna do about them all watching us right now?”

Silver blinked. “Huh?” she asked. In truth, she had completely forgotten there was anypony else in the schoolhouse with them. She looked up and saw Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara both beaming happily at them. Even Scootaloo looked impressed, though she was trying not to show it.

Diamond Tiara was the first to break from her stupor, and she coughed loudly. “Okay!” she said, giving Apple Bloom and Scootaloo a shake. “That’s enough, let's let them have their moment, come on.”

“Arright, arright,” Apple Bloom said as Diamond herded them behind the curtain of desks. “Don’t get used to this kinda thing, Diamond.”

Sweetie Belle giggled at the sight of it all, and Silver found herself joining in before long. “I talked to Diamond,” Silver said. “She’s going to try to be better too.”

“You see?” Sweetie Belle said, smiling up at Silver. “You really are amazing.” Her smiled faded for a moment, and her face screwed up. She sneezed, and giggled.

“Are you still cold?” Silver asked. “That cape isn’t really great, I guess… here, maybe these…” she began to unbutton her vest. “It’s not much, but they’re dry at least.”

“Keep them on,” Sweetie Belle said. “They suit you.” She flushed faintly, and her horn lit up. “Just one last thing,” she said. Silver Spoon glasses levitated off of the desk, floating through the air and gently placing themselves on Silver’s nose. “There,” Sweetie Belle said. “Perfect.”

Silver blushed crimson, adjusting her glasses and rubbing her cheeks. “You’re gonna have to give me a while to get used to how much of a cornball you can be.”

Sweetie Belle stuck out her tongue. “You love my cornball!” she said.

“I do,” Silver admitted. She couldn’t help but smile. “But if you want me in all this, how are you supposed to get warmed up? There’s not really anything else around here. I guess we could try and get back to my house or yours, but…” She looked out the window. The storm had passed over their heads, but the rain showed no signs of stopping soon.

“There’s no way I’m going back out in that,” Sweetie Belle said, echoing Silver’s thoughts. “But… another pony under here would probably help a bit.” She opened the cloak, and her forelegs, and gave Silver a look that gave her own, well-practiced puppy-dog eyes a run for their money.

Silver smiled wider and happily slipped in between those forelegs. She cuddled close to Sweetie Belle, sharing their warmth as Sweetie wrapped the cloak around them both. They sat together, arm in arm, and watched as the rain came down. They didn’t need it to end just yet. Right there, and right then, they had each other. The sun would come out soon enough.

Comments

[Ghostee919]

Content with this ending. Best ship 2016 definatly. Can we expect a follow up story of pure fluff and mishaps? or perhaps some relationship struggles? Or are you going to build a new romance between some newly minted friends. *cough* diamond x applebloom *cough*

[Baree]

Awww, no epilogue?

Well, it's an ending. Definitely not a bad one. Sweetie's explanation was nice, that added a bit of spice to an otherwise somewhat bland chapter. Same for the last part of the conversation between Silver and Diamond. All in all, I enjoyed it enough, and it wraps up a story I've enjoyed quite a bit without any problems. Thanks for the ride, it has been fun.

[Drynwhyl]

Nice story. Very cute stuff.

[Eclipse Moonshine]

I LOVE this story!!

[Aldon]

This fic is amazing and sadly underrated

Great story