//------------------------------//
// Act IV: Miracle on Bridleway Street 
// Story: Hinny of the Shills 
// by Golden Age 
//------------------------------//

	The empty hallway outside of the auditions rooms found Silver Shill standing alone, having had just lost his one chance at making the cast of his play.

The stallion collapsed against the wall as he shakily removed his glasses and ran his hoof up and down his sweaty face. Awful memories surged through Silver's head. Once more, even when he needed it more than any other time, he had let his weakness overcome him and lead him to loose his chance at keeping a job. The audition was like watching his life play before him. 

But the fact that Silver's helplessness led him to loosing another job was the least of his worries. The main problem on Silver's mind was that his helplessness led him to loosing his chance at ever seeing Coco Pommel again.

"Whelp, that was it. What else can I say, that was it! I'm done for! ", he spoke, "I couldn't even try? Really? Even when I needed it the most, I let my weakness get in my way? Come on, Silver! Come on! How c-could I be so, b-be so…"

Silver Shill was finding it hard to concentrate as a single tear trickled from his eye. 

"H-how could I be such a… s-such a vulnerable pony?"

Silver Shill froze at his own thought as a chill went through his body. 

Having had enough of leaning alone in regret, Silver decided that it was about time to leave. With no idea of what to do now that he had blown his chances at turning his life around, he decided to simply take a walk. No destination, no company, just a lonely walk long enough for him to do some thinking. After standing back upright, Silver Shill stretched out, returned his large glasses to their rightful eyes, and ran his hooves through his face to try to hide his frustration. 

After taking a deep breath, the stallion turned to make his way back to the lobby without even glancing back at the door to the auditions room. Without thinking, Silver Shill trotted up to the doors, opened them, and let whatever was to happen to him play out. 

~

A cup and teapot were set on the table in the black box room. 

Play auditions had long been finished, and the evening found Mr. Quillhoof sitting alone in the dimmed room. The job of deciding who was to make it onto his play's cast was not one he had particularly looked forward to. The auditioning actors put in their all and were able to surprise the other judges with their talent, but Mr. Quillhoof was only impressed with less than a hooffull of them. His own choreographer was supporting the bad actors and giving them encouragement, and the last thing Mr. Quillhoof wanted to see was amateur actors performing in a play. His play, to be precise.

The director glanced down at the teacup on the table. A cup of tea was just what he needed after evaluating ponies since the morning. 

A gray magic aura from Mr. Quillhoof's horn levitated the teapot and filled half of his cup with steaming tea. This was followed with the cup being carefully brought up to Mr. Quillhoof's muzzle and with him taking a slow sip of it. He closed his eyes as he felt the warm liquid doing its work to soothe him so he could finally think straight.

His sip was cut short by the door to the black box slamming open, causing Mr. Quillhoof to loose concentration and drop his teacup. Before the cup could make contact with the ground, Mr. Quillhoof's used his magic to stop it without even moving an eye muscle. 

"Mr. Quillhoof, we need to-"

"I'm not letting those rubbish actors join my cast, Tidbit."

The director did not have to look at the doorway to figure out who was talking to him. His eyes were not even fixed in that direction.

Tidbit stuck a hoof out and took a breath about to speak, but Mr. Quillhoof had answered his question before he could even try to finish asking it. Tidbit would never get used to the director's quick wit. Dumbfounded and getting anxiously sweaty, the light blue stallion looked around awkwardly trying to think up a quick response.

"Umm, uh, y-yes you are!", was all he could come up with. "Oh c'mon, have a heart! Think about all these poor poor ponies leaving without a part."

"I'm thinking about them, alright." Mr. Quillhoof was probably the only pony in all of Equestria who could simultaneously sound sarcastic and stern so perfectly.

"Give them a chance! Why, when I didn't make my school's play in elementary school, I was heartbroken, just crushed! I even fell into a deep depression that lasted ten whole minutes! I don't want them to suffer the same that I have."

Tidbit sounded genuinely depressed while recalling his not-so traumatized past. 

"It's their misfortune that they aren't capable of performing, Tidbit."

"Well, it's your misfortune that you aren't giving these actors a chance! They're here to improve on their acting to become the 'best of the best'." Tidbit said his last part in a low tone, imitating that of Mr. Quillhoof's. 

"Do I have to spell it out for you? This is Bridleway, not daycare. If somepony cannot act, then they cannot act. No second chances.", the navy blue director snapped.

"What if I personally trained the worst of the worst from today? L-like a private tutor? I'm a theatre expert! My cutie mark is the comedy mask for cryin' out loud!"

Tidbit's cutie mark was indeed the smiling mask that represented comedy in theatre. Tidbit turned back to Mr. Quillhoof, who donned a cutie mark of the frowning tragedy mask.

"Do what you will, Tidbit, but I'm never letting any of today's actors participate in the professionalism of my play."

With that, the director lifted his teacup and pot and left the black box room, leaving Tidbit on his own.

~

What most ponies saw was a musky, overcrowded tourist trap of a town. What Silver Shill saw was a maze of streets to wander. Though the streets were significantly less crowded than during the rush hour, it was still packed enough to be considered a crowd. Silver didn't mind the extra company, however. In fact, what Silver thought to be aimlessly trotting around soon became curiously exploring the vast city. 

Something about being alone and walking through every corner of the city was comforting for the stallion. The art of going on a walk alone was nothing new to Silver. He would always find himself going for walks before any job he's had, after any job he's had, and on whatever breaks he'd find himself on. The idea of being alone had been comforting for him for as long as he could remember. 

The exciting city life and sights breathed life back into the distraught pony. The outdoor breeze opened his eyes to the streets that were now his to explore. Nearly everything seemed to intrigue Silver Shill, from the alleyways to the skyscrapers. 

"Hooves down, this place is amazing. Heck, I forget why I'm even wandering in the first place!"

It wasn't before long when Silver Shill found himself trotting past the apartment of Coco Pommel. 

"Oh, right, that's why I'm walking. I just lost my only chance at possibly ever being able to see the crush of my life again because I can't perform on stage and the only way to even try to get closer to her is through performing on stage which I physically can't do because I'm a nervous wreck and a weakling and a vulnerable pony susceptible to failure and I have no friends and-"

The stallion stopped in his thoughts as he realized that a nervous breakdown was coming on.

"Come on, I gotta stop thinking like that! If I like Coco so much, then, th-then I gotta go tell her everything. Everything! If she's the one who lifted me up enough to audition for a play, then she's gotta be the one for me! She'll understand. Boy do I sure hope she'll understand."

Without further ado, Silver Shill changed his direction to do the inevitable; return to the theatre.

The sun was just starting to set over the horizon as Silver returned onto Bridleway Street. He had absolutely no idea how the conversation with Coco was going to go, and his heart was pounding. Would it end well? Badly? Uglily? Even if he tried, he could not keep up a small grin on his face. 

"Well, here we are. Bridleway theatre. Do I dare go back inside?", the stallion thought to himself as he stared at the exterior of the majestic building. As the sun went down, the lights of the building went up, showing off the ad for the play for all to see. 

Silver Shill scoffed at the advertisement . "And who do you think you are, Hinny?", he spoke up, "Look at yourself, just spinning around and doing whatever in those hills as if there was nothing wrong with this world. Stop laughing like that! Don't you realize that you are the cause of my ultimate downfall? Oh, I hope you trip on that dress of yours and roll down your hills 'till you hit a rock or roll off a cliff at the bottom, are you listening to me?"

Silver would have continued if it weren't for the glances of stopping ponies standing around him, to which he blushed and cowardly gave a little wave to the briefly gathered crowd. A tourist even took a picture of his rant. "I swear, only in Manehattan.", were the words of one of the ponies turned to walk away. The others then followed suit, leaving Silver Shill on his own.

"Um, Silver Shill?"

The stallion froze at the voice, to which he recognized almost immediately. Turning around, Silver saw that Coco Pommel was standing right behind him.

"C-c-coco?!?!"

"Were, um, you just, well, yelling at the sign?"

"Well, um, look, you see, long story, I-"

Silver stopped speaking as a smile popped up on Coco's face.

"Oh, what am I saying? I bet you were just practicing on your acting. That was great! I almost thought you were actually angry for a second there."

At this, Silver's eyes widened behind his glasses and he tensed up.

"Um, wh- what ever are you speaking of, Coco?", he nervously spoke while trying to remain calm. Coco broke out into a giggle.

"Oh, Silver, why didn't you tell me you auditioned for cast?"

"What?!?!", he un expectantly exclaimed. As his eyes darted side to side, he started a sweat. "H-h-how-"

"When I saw the name 'Silver Shill' on the list of ponies who made it onto the cast, oh gosh, I nearly fainted. I knew it was you! You made it onto the cast!"

"…"

Silver Shill was speechless. He could barely even feel his jaw drop and his eyelids pop open. The shaking and sweating came to a halt.

"I- wha- huh- how- bu- I- was- so- bad- I- whaaaa?"

"The cast listings are in the lobby."

Upon hearing this, Silver snapped out of his shock and trotted inside the theatre with Coco. A large list on a bulletin board contained each cast member that had made it. And sure enough, the name "Silver Shill" was clearly visible on the "Backup, Secondary, Last-Resort, Bottom-of-the-Barrel, Reserve Actors directed by Tidbit" list. 

Silver was still in shock. 

"Why would they want me? My auction was the worst, and I mean the worst of the worst!"

Feeling the poke of a hoof on his side, Silver turned to his left to see Coco staring at him with a glow in her eyes.

"Happy?", she asked.

"Happy? Happy?! I just made it onto the cast that I had absolutely no chance of making and I'm gonna be able to see you on a daily basis! Heck yeah I'm happy!"

With that, Silver Shill threw his forehooves around Coco and hugged the filly as tightly as he could, to which she did the same. 

"So, anyways,", Coco started, "I was just outside 'cause I was on my way to grab a quick dinner, you know, so I could get back to the costumes ASAP. Would you like to join me?"

With a newfound happiness, Silver partially separated himself from the embrace to look down at Coco. "That'd be great.", he said with a grin. "That'd be great."

That said, the two ponies exited the building to eat together. As they were out on the sidewalk, Silver Shill turned back towards the advertisement with no more hard feelings towards the singing pony portrayed on it.

"I love you, Hinny!", he yelled out to the ad.

Coco looked up to him. "You're a natural Güntre!", she assured, comforting Silver furthermore. "First play practice is tomorrow at eight."

"Well, boy I can't wait to see you tomorrow. A-a-and practice! Yeah, um, I l-love theatre!"

~


The night found Silver Shill and his companion going for a dinner adventure. Silver's accomplishment was worthy of celebration, and a meal at a trendy Manehattan-style pizzeria with Coco was the perfect fit.

Silver had never been more relieved in his life. But, however, it seemed that Coco Pommel had never been so curious in her life. Everything she would say seemed to have to do with Silver Shill and acting.

"Oh goodness, Silver, I had no idea that you were an actor!", she gleefully spoke, eyes wide with curiosity.

On the other side of the table was the stallion,  doing his best to keep his cool. "Oh yeah, heh, me neither.", he shrugged with a grin.

"Working around a stage all day, I can only wonder what it's like to be up there, performing in front of thousands.", Coco continued, "I mean, I'd never be able to do something like that! What's the appeal?"

"The what?"

"The appeal. I mean, why would you, or, well, anypony want to do something crazy like that?"

"Yeah, the appeal, really, is just the thought that you are, well, entertaining others, I guess."

"Yeah, that's what I'd think. So, anyhow, how long have you been acting?"

Although Coco could not tell, the now sweating pony across her was now caught up in a dilemma.

"Hold it, Silver, you've got two choices here. You tell her the truth, or you come up with some kind of lie. Oh, telling the truth's always the right thing to do, I know that now. But if she finds out you're doing this just for her, she'll think you're following her around. And if she thinks you're following her around, she'll think you're some kinda weirdo, stalker guy. And if she thinks you're a weirdo stalker, she'll get creeped out and'll avoid you and never wanna talk to you again! Would she consider that weird? Oh, heck if I know. What do I know about girls? Nothing! Plus, it would seem better if you were doing the acting for your own well-being.", he thought to himself. 

A concerned look came across Coco's face. She needed an answer. 

"(Sigh) She's the one who gave you you're second chance. You can't screw this up, Silver." 

"Yeeaah, I've, um, been doing a little acting every now and then. I mean, nothing too big.", Silver replied. He couldn't help but feel guilty about it.

Coco's interest only increased. "Really? Well, working for Bridleway, I've kinda familiarized myself with plays from all around. I might know some that you've been in!"

"Well, I mean, they weren't big at all, they were actually so small that I bet barely anypony ever heard of them."

"I wanna see if I know them, though! What was the last one you were in?"

"Y-y-yes, um." Silver mumbled.

"I, um, just wanna know what's it's called."

"Think, Silver, think! She's got to stop asking you these questions! Well, you can't get her mind off of it, she's way too interested. Hmm… aha, I got it! Well, um, technically you got it. I am just your thoughts, after all. Wait, where were you? You don't know, you digress. Ah, yes! The food'll be out soon. Just stall her until it's chow time."

"Oh, um, you want to know what it is?", the stallion nervously asked.

Coco chuckled in reply. "I've kinda been asking you that for the last minute. What was it?"

"Oh, yes." Silver was not particularly experienced in the field of stalling. "The play. Ah yes, um, the last theatrical production that I took part in the cast of. Yeah, hmm, what a play that was."

"Seriously, why aren't you telling me?"

"I'm telling you about it, am I not?"

"Oh, stop it, you! Please oh please just tell me what play it was!"

Silver's heartbeat was showing no sign of slowing down. If anything, it was speeding up. Luckily, if it weren't for the waiter trotting right towards their table, he might have panicked.

"No.", Silver said with a blank, sweaty face.

"Please?", Coco pleaded, putting her forehooves together.

Luckily, for Silver the waiter was so close to the table that he could smell his pizza. Relieved, he turned out to face him…

…only to see the waiter trot right past his table and to the one next to theirs'. 

"Pleeaase?"

Nope, the conversation wasn't over yet. Silver could feel his eye twitching and his breathing becoming heavier. He turned to the mare at the table, to see her still pleading. 

Though Coco was waiting for a reply, all Silver did in response was smile and nod. What else could he do? He was out of ideas. And as if just the pressure of stalling her was enough, Coco Pommel's facial expression whilst pleading made him nearly loose all his attention altogether. 

"Hnnng, look at her! Sh-she's so adorable when she's curious! Oh, gosh, how could you refuse a face like that? That would be abuse, I say, udder abuse! "

Silver shook his head back into reality. "Okay, you got me there." Coco immediately grinned and leaned forward in anticipation. "Okay, sooo, the last play I was in, was called, um, well, it was called 'Miracle Curative Tonic'.", he nervously spoke.

Coco's eyes looked up as a forehoof was brought to her chin. "I, um, I'm sorry, but I can't say I've heard of that one."

Silver Shill smirked brought his forehooves out in front of him in a "What did I tell ya?" shrug.

"Okay, that's it. End of conversation. Phew, that was so much easier than I-"

"Did you play a lead?", Coco asked, her curiosity thriving once more.

"You have a habit of speaking too soon, ya know?"

"A l-lead?"

"A lead role? You have a pretty big part in 'Hinny of the Hills', so I'd guess you've played leads in the past."

"Uh, yeah. Well, all I did was be used for a short scene, do a can-can, and sing a line."

Coco's expression became one of confusion. "And, um, that was considered a lead role?"

"Th-there were only three ponies in the whole play!"

"Wait a minute, 'Miracle Curative Tonic'. Isn't that the knockoff cure-all that your last bosses made you sell? You told me about it last night." Coco was now sounding very skeptical. Silver was getting more panicked with each passing second, but was doing as best as he could to hide it.

"Well, um… yes. It is. The play was kind of a, well, advertisement fo- ooh, would you look at that, the pizza's here!"

Sure enough, and much to Silver Shill's relief, a waiter had arrived to the table and was now serving a pizza for two in the middle of the table. As he trotted away, Coco licked her lips in delight at the huge, cheesy pie in between her and Silver.

"Oh, goodness, it looks so tasty! You know, sometimes, I work so long with the costumes that I often forget how hungry I get."

Silver couldn't help but smile. "Okay, good, she's distracted! Now, just keep it up!"

"Oh, is that so?", Silver replied to Coco.

"Oh, almost every day. And, um, just between you and me,", she lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Sh-she's telling me her secrets?!?! N-no girl's ever told me a seceret!"

"What is it?", Silver replied in a whisper.

Glancing around to be sure nopony could hear, she leaned in closer to Silver. Silver at this point had his heart pounding in excitement. 

"I was so hungry from work one time that I ate a whole pizza."

The stallion's eyelids rose a little in surprise, but he was nonetheless excited. "Really?", he asked whilst grinning all the way.

"Can you really blame me?", she embarrassingly replied. "I only had a coffee for breakfast and skipped lunch. I was just ravenous that day!"

"No, I can't blame you. Y'know, one time when I worked at a fast food restaurant outside Fillydelphia, I ate ten orders of hay fries.", Silver proudly spoke as his enthusiasm rose.

"Oh my goodness!"

"And how could I forget about the four oat burgers I had after that?"

"Okay, you win."

"Now, all this talk about grossly binge-eating is making me hungry. Let's eat!"

"Don't mind if I do!"

The two proceeded to eat their dinner together. Although, as fun as Silver was having for the remainder of the night, he could not get rid of the guilt he had for lying to her about being an actor.

~

"Welcome to my motel!"

The voice of the almost yelling desk pony welcomed Silver Shill back into his motel. 

The stallion would normally cringe at the loud unexpected voice, but he was in too good of a mood to react.

"Hello, Mr. Desk Pony.", Silver cheerfully greeted as he made his way to his room.

"Go… to room?", the desk pony crudely asked.

"Yep, I'm hitting the hay. Heh, I've got a heck of a day tomorrow.", Silver told the pony. However, just like in the morning, the pony didn't move a muscle and just kept smiling. He couldn't understand anything out of Silver Shill's mouth. "Y-es.", Silver annunciated. 

The desk pony smiled larger nodded. "I do a set of alarming clock?", he asked. 

"Y-es, se-ven o-clo-ck, please."

As soon as Silver got to his room (who's lock was very old and ineffective), he plopped himself on the so-called bed. But he could care less what the bed was made out of, he had just had another wonderful night with Coco! Going to a popular Manehattan-style pizza parlor and walking together found the two ponies enjoying each other's company more than ever. Sure, Coco stayed up later than she should have and she was now further behind schedule with costumes, she would not have traded that night for anything else. And those were her own words.

Silver laid on the mattress, put his glasses aside, and relished in his success from that day. The existence of the "Backup, Secondary, Last-Resort, Bottom-of-the-Barrel, Reserve Actors directed by Tidbit" cast was still a mystery to the stallion, but he was at least relieved and thankful that he even got in. He did it! He can see Coco every day! He has a job and gets to stay in Manehattan. 

That's when it donned on him. 

"Bridleway.", Silver whispered in more of an afraid tone. Flashbacks from the auditions earlier that day flooded his mind, and he cringed at each of the hard memories. 

"I can't act. Or sing, or stand on a stage without getting major stage fright or any of that jazz.", he told himself. "Well, think straight, Silver. Why are you in this cast again? Because of Coco. She's the one who gave me confidence, who appreciates me for who I am! Heck, she had the courage to kiss me the last night! I don't even think my own mother would have the courage to kiss me. Well, not in the way she did, but, well, I know what I mean."

He took a deep breath.

"Okay, Silver. You're doing this play for Coco. And only for Coco. I can tell right off the bat that it's gonna be torture tomorrow, what with all the acting and everything. Just, try to see Coco as much as possible, and you'll be fine. Got it, Silver?", he asked himself. "Yes sir, I got it, Silver.", he reassured himself. "Good!", he told himself once more. "Now get a good night's rest and tomorrow should be a breeze."