"CUT!!"
Troy felt a small shudder go through his spine at hearing the director's shrill scream. At this point, he started to prefer his alarm clock. He knew rehearsals wouldn't be easy, but hearing her judgmental voice every two minutes was really starting to get on his nerves. Said director walked her way back onto the stage. Troy relaxed from his pose, groaning under his breath in preparation for the incoming rant.
"Troy, for the last time, you need to have intensity when you appear in front of Christine!"
"I understand, Stage Presence,” said Troy, keeping his temper in check. “And I've been trying to do so. I've even incorporated the cape more like you said."
"That's not what I'm talking about! You need to show more emotion in your performance. Remember who your character is supposed to be: a tortured soul who wants to keep his distance, but show his musical genius to the world. You're a lone creature who is trying to make a visible impact in the world, and the only way to do so is through the mare you love!"
Troy looked over at Derpy on the other side of the stage. She was wearing a plain white rehearsal dress… and staring at the lighting above her with a slack-jawed gaze. Troy sighed. This was supposed to be his love interest. Troy flinched when he turned back to see Stage Presence seeming on edge. Thankfully, she raised her hoof to smooth her frizzled white mane out, and turned to walk away.
"I need to recompose myself. Take five, and I expect to see some improvement when I come back!"
As soon as the doors closed behind her, Troy and everypony else in the theater sighed in relief. Troy immediately plopped down in the middle of the stage, careful not to sit on his black cape. Derpy walked up to him. Troy could see that she was looking a little worried.
"Sorry, Derpy. I'm trying as hard as I can, but I'm still not exactly used to this whole 'acting' thing."
"What are you talking about?" said Derpy. "You're doing a really good job!"
Troy thought she was full of it, and stared back at her skeptically. "Really? Then why has Stage Presence been down my throat since day one?"
"I can tell you why."
Troy and Derpy looked over to see the powder-blue, silver-maned unicorn known as Pokey Pierce walk over to them. He carried a look of slight disdain as he spoke. "I've been in several productions with her, so I can tell what she's thinking a lot of the time."
Troy found himself curious about this unicorn's input, so he paid close attention.
"Whenever she watches and listens to ponies during auditions, she never changes her tone or expression. She just keeps this blank stare and says 'Thank you,' after they're done, so nopony would get too overconfident about their performance. However…”
Pierce pointed a hoof right at Troy, his eyes narrowing on the gryphon more intensely.
"When you sang, that was the only time I ever, ever, saw her smile! It was only there for a couple seconds, but I saw it! And when she said 'thank you,’ it sounded genuine! With all the performances and auditions that she's witnessed, yours was the only one that made a positive first impression on her!"
Pierce eyed the gryphon with a hint of anger and annoyance before closing his eyes to calm himself down. Once he reopened them, he spoke more tranquilly.
"Troy, the reason she's being so hard on you isn’t because you're doing a poor job. You’re actually doing very well, especially for a first-timer. It’s because she sees potential in you. I think she really sees something in you, and she doesn’t want you to get too lazy or full of yourself. If you want my advice, you should take every word she says to you by heart. She wants you to be great, so try to be so."
With that, Pierce exited the stage. Troy was left in a state of confusion, blinking repeatedly with his beak slightly agape. Because of this, he wasn't aware of Derpy trying to catch his attention.
"Troy? Troy, are you alright?"
Troy nodded as he turned back to her. "I… I didn't think that at all."
"Well, it kinda makes sense. You were great at that audition, so maybe she just wants you to reach your potential."
"Maybe... I'm just surprised Pierce would say that to me. I mean, I thought the guy had it out for me since the first day of rehearsals."
"Well, he did say he's worked with her before.” Derpy shrugged with a roll of her crossed eyes. “I think he really wanted to get the role you have. Personally, I think he's better as Raoul for this, but maybe he just really wanted to be the Phantom, you know?"
Troy merely shrugged, figuring her guess was as good as anything he could think of.
"Also, I heard he lost a lot of money because he had Monday in that betting pool."
Troy groaned and put a claw over his face. Two weeks later, and Troy still encountered ponies who were upset that his relationship with Canvas started on a Sunday. Granted, ponies were also happy and supportive that they finally got together, but that didn’t stop Troy from feeling sore about the whole betting pool fiasco. Derpy felt embarrassed over causing such irritation, and tried to make up for it. "Just so you know, I had no idea about it until a week ago! And even if I did know about it before then, I wouldn't have participated in it."
Troy looked back at her with a gracious smile. "Yeah. Thanks, Derpy."
"Not a problem. How is Canvas, by the way? I haven't seen him in town much since the two of you came back."
"Well, he's been spending most of his time working on that painting for Celestia. He's barely left his studio since starting on it. Even I haven't been able to talk to him that much."
"Well that makes sense, don't you think? I mean, it is a painting for the Ruler of Equestria! Don't you think that's a pretty big deal?"
"Of course I do! We even agreed to keep our relationship going at a slower pace because of it! I mean, I've been staying at his place a lot since then, but he won't let me see his painting or the studio. It's just…”
Troy looked up at the ceiling. "…I'm glad I have this play to focus on. Otherwise, I don't know what I'd do without him."
"Aaaaawwww!" Derpy gave the gryphon a big hug, squeezing him surprisingly hard. "You must really love that stallion, don’t you?"
Troy blushed, his feathers ruffling out around his neck. "Yeah, I do..."
As soon as Derpy let go of him, Troy rested his forelegs behind him and leaned back, gazing upon the roof and looking upset. He didn’t like being alone without Canvas. "... I really do."
"THERE! RIGHT THERE!"
Troy shrieked and fell onto his back. Stage Presence came running back onto the stage, her eyes wide as she eyed Troy with intensity.
"Right there! When you were staring at the ceiling! THAT'S what I want to see when you're playing the Phantom! Desire! Longing! A look of heartache! That’s what I want to see when you interact with Christine!"
He lifted himself up and stared at the director. He never would've thought to use something like that as a foundation for his character's emotions, and he couldn’t quite compare the struggles of the Phantom to his own desire to spend more time with his boyfriend; however, Troy could see what Stage Presence was getting at, and he knew he could use that feeling of longing to help him with this role.
Troy nodded with confidence and stood up proper. Stage Presence trotted back to her spot in front of the stage.
"Okay, places, everypony! Let's try the beginning of Act Two once more!"
Outside the Ponyville Theater, amidst the setting sun, a large crowd of ponies waited anxiously, all of whom excited to see the show premiere. The front doors opened, and the sea of multicolor ponies poured into the auditorium. Troy poked his head out slightly from behind the curtain to see how many were coming in. The front rows were already filling quickly (save for several reserved seats in the very front).
Troy walked back behind the stage, perturbed at the revelation of how big of a night this was going to be. He pulled out a handkerchief from the pocket of his costume jacket, hoping to wipe off any excess sweat before it messed with his makeup.
"Ready for the big night, Troy?" Derpy asked cheerfully as she trotted over to him, her lace dress moving gracefully with her body.
"I… I hope so. I just don’t know what to think right now! I've never done this kind of thing before, especially in front of the whole town! I just--”
Pierce quickly trotted over from his spot, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "Troy, listen to me! I know this is scary. Everypony gets stage fright, but it's nothing to worry about. Just do it like you did during the dress rehearsals, alright?"
Troy nodded, keeping his eyes closed and taking a deep breath in an effort to compose himself. While doing so, Pierce trotted off to the wardrobe, and Troy felt another hoof on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Derpy wielding an optimistic grin.
"Wanna know a little trick to get rid of stage fright?"
"Umm… Okay, what is it?"
Derpy looked around before moving her head in, her grin turning cheeky as she whispered.
"Pretend everypony is naked!"
She giggled to herself, not noticing Troy’s befuddlement.
"Umm… isn't everypony already naked?"
"... Oh, yeah. I guess ponies usually are, aren't they?"
Troy immediately regretted bringing that up. He didn’t want to give his co-star stage fright too. Luckily, Derpy’s cheerful smile came back swiftly.
"Oh well! They're still naked out there, and that's good enough for me!"
Derpy gave Troy another hug and trotted. A small grin grew across Troy's beak, and a giggle escaped him.
"Hehehe… My boyfriend is naked out there."
Lyra and Bon-Bon made their way to the front, having received reserved tickets before anypony else due to Troy's connections. Once there, both mares were surprised to see that Canvas wasn't at his reserved seat. Instead, a small, grey unicorn filly was happily perched on her own, and she cheerfully waved at Lyra and Bon-Bon. Lyra took her seat, and Bon-Bon walked up to the filly with her own smile.
"Why hello, Dinky! Are you excited to watch the play?"
"Uh-huh!" said Dinky, nodding enthusiastically. "I can’t wait to see my Mommy sing!"
Bon-Bon knew Derpy as a lot of things (particularly as the mare who kept breaking her merchandise every other time she showed up), but she never would've expected the grey pegasus to be a singer. She cocked an eyebrow. "So is your Mommy a good singer? I don't think I ever heard her."
"Yeah!" The filly jumped up on her seat, now sounding really excited. "Mommy's one of the best singers in the world! She only sang at home alone because she was really shy about it, but I really, really wanted other ponies to hear her, so I got her to audition for the play as my birthday present!"
Lyra and Bon-Bon both felt their hearts melt and went "Aaaawww!" in unison.
"That is so sweet!" said Bon-Bon as she hugged the filly. "And I bet your Mommy is going to be great in this play."
"From what Troy told me, she really will,” said Canvas, who walked over to them with a smile. Despite how freshly cleaned his mane and fur looked, it was obvious the pony was sleep-deprived, thanks to the dark bags under his eyes. Regardless, the stallion kept up an eager demeanor. "Troy has said nothing but great things about her singing, so I have no doubt this is going to be a great night."
"I was starting to get worried, Canvas!" said Lyra, getting out of her seat to hug him. "It's nice to see you didn’t forget your gryphon's big night!"
"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't have missed this for the world!" Canvas noticed Dinky and smiled at her. "Hey there, Dinky! You still making paintings too?"
"Yep! Congratulations on the big Celestia painting!"
"Well, thank you!" After Canvas shook the filly's hoof, he turned his attention back to Lyra and Bon-Bon as they all took their seats. "I almost got the whole thing finished. Hopefully I can get it done in time for this year's Grand Galloping Gala."
"Nice!" said Bon-Bon. "And I bet you'll be happy to spend more time with Troy after it's all done."
"Yeah, I certainly will." Canvas’ smile dropped somewhat when he thought about how the past month had gone. "Honestly, I just hope he's alright with how little time we've been spending together. I mean, he's been at my place more often than his own cloud, just so he can be around whenever I have free time."
"I'm sure he understands completely. You're making something for royalty! You two will have more than plenty of time when it’s done."
"True." Canvas glanced at the large stage curtain, an unsure look on his face. "I'm just happy Troy's been doing this while I've been painting. I even helped him rehearse his lines a few times."
"Well, that's nice of you!" A grin grew slowly, and Bon-Bon bent in closer toward him. "I'm guessing you two practiced the kissing scene a few times?"
Canvas giggled with a blush. "Sort of, but we kept getting distracted when that happened."
Lyra looked at Canvas curiously. "So, how do you feel about Troy kissing Derpy? Won't it be kinda weird to see your boyfriend kiss a mare?"
"I don't mind, actually. I've seen the play before, so I know it's going to happen; and I've talked with him about it, and we both agreed that it won’t be weird for him to do it for the role. Besides… I'm more worried about Derpy. Kissing a beak is kinda tricky if you don't know how to angle it right."
Lyra just shrugged, not wanting to ask about such an odd detail. None of them noticed a certain pegasus mare peeking out from behind the curtain.
"Oh, Troooy,” said Derpy excitedly, stepping back behind the stage. "They're all heeere…”
Troy felt his heart come up to his throat. He took a quick peek through the curtain. "Oh, no. Even the whole weather crew is here!"
Derpy looked out again, noticing that Rainbow Dash and the other pegasi were all on a balcony above the audience, perching themselves on the ledge. Troy stepped back, terrified.
"Hey,” said Derpy. "Just remember what Pierce said. Pretend it's the dress rehearsal, and you'll be fine."
Troy nodded as he breathed in and out. He then closed his eyes and tried to focus on anything except the impending crowds. Slowly, Troy reopened his eyes and peered out the curtain again, keeping himself hidden as he scanned the audience. It didn't take long for him to find Canvas, sitting in the first row and chatting happily with Lyra and Bon-Bon. Troy's fears came down upon seeing his happiness, and he pulled his head back, smiling.
Troy felt himself getting more calm already as he turned away from the curtain. His heart rate shot right back up, however, when he saw Stage Presence directly in front of him, silently glaring as she pointed a hoof to his starting place.
The theatre lights began to dim, and all the ponies quieted down. Standing at his spot in costume and mask, Troy felt his heart beat uncontrollably fast. This was really happening. All of the hours of rehearsing his lines, singing, and dancing had all come to this.
Once the stage lights shined on, all of his worries and tensions vanished, like those bright lights had burned them away in an instant. And as the music started, Troy felt nothing holding him back as he began his very first performance.