//------------------------------// // Act III, Scene 4: Like a Silver Phoenix // Story: If You Give a Little Love... // by Quillamore //------------------------------// Seconds after she knocked, Coco could already hear a commotion. Hoofsteps trotted in her direction and a pink-and-green earth pony opened the door within seconds, flashing Coco a stage-perfected smile. Everything about it seemed genuine, and yet she couldn't help but read it as artificial, just something that the other pony had put on for play rehearsal and forgotten to take off. “Cocomo!” Limelight called in recognition. “Babsie! It’s been forever!” Babs raised a single eyebrow at the actress’s behavior. Remembering how the filly’s cousin Applejack had a habit of doing the same thing, Coco couldn’t help but stifle a tiny bit of laughter at the reaction. “Who the hay is she?” Babs whispered to Coco, still staring at the other mare with a strange look in her eye. “That’s Limelight, the main actress here. I don’t remember her being this friendly with me, though.” “Scene hasn’t started talking yet, so you should be home free this time,” Limelight continued, gesturing for Coco to sit next to her in one of the auditorium chairs. “He probably won’t even notice you were late, and it’s totally okay if you bring your foal here today. It is a teacher holiday today, after all.” As she internally thanked destiny for letting at least one of her coworkers be kind to her, she was about to let that last statement slide. However, a minute later, Coco finally realized something. “How did you even know the students were out today?” she asked. “I have a cousin who goes to the same school,” Limelight responded almost too casually. With a tiny shake of her head, Coco decided to make herself comfortable, shifting around in the chair to make sure her legs felt just right. Somehow, she had a feeling she would be there for a while. “Is it just me,” Babs whispered, “or do I always seem to run into weird ponies whenever I come here?” “Drama ponies can be like that,” Coco said with a chuckle. “That’s the big reason I like working with them, I guess.” So far, Scene was already up on the stage with an unfamiliar-looking stallion, whom Coco assumed to be the new producer. His fur was bright pink like Limelight’s, and his black mane spiked all over the place. “Are…you two related?” Coco wondered to the actress beside her. “Nope, but I know him,” replied Limelight. “Good guy. I think he’s a famous lyricist or something, too.” “Producers can do things for plays other than, uh…” Babs hesitated for a moment, trying to remember what Mosely actually did to begin with other than terrorizing everypony. “…whatever they normally do?” “It’s pretty common, actually,” Limelight explained. “Some are writers, composers, anything, really. Ours was just one of the odd cases where the producer supervised and didn’t do much else. It’s too late to come up with new songs for this play, of course, but it’d probably really take a load off Scene for later shows, since he wouldn’t have to hire as many ponies.” Looking back at the stage, Coco could see Scene fiddling around with a microphone, tapping it repeatedly and getting no feedback from it. When that didn’t work, he started moving it around with his magic, probably hoping that would end up doing something. In any case, the backstage ponies were already lifting another one up the small flight of stairs. Without even knowing anything about the current situation, Coco could tell that the malfunctioning microphone was probably the one Cameo had dropped opening night. She’d heard, after all, that dropping wasn’t very good on them, and could cause permanent damage. From the way Scene seemed to be more annoyed than angered about the situation, she almost wondered if he knew it too. “You know anything about how to work these things?” Scene asked the other stallion standing next to him. “I do know that dropping it again won’t work,” his coworker answered in a voice that was confident, but not quite overbearing. “I’ve seen ponies try that before, and it’ll just botch it even more.” “Who said I was going to drop it again?” the director said, almost accusatorily. “I never dropped it to begin with, and that’s a silly plan, anyways. You’re definitely right.” Any confidence that Scene seemed to have in the letter suddenly seemed to have disappeared, and by this point, most of the cast and crew had begun to notice. While he’d composed himself well enough to mail them all a formal explanation of what had happened, the pony whipping his head from side to side across the stage waiting for the new microphone to show up seemed to only be a shadow of the one who’d urged them all to create a better production. “I wonder what’s gotten into him,” one of the actors whispered from the auditorium seats. “Probably new partnership stuff,” another replied. “He didn’t exactly get to take his time with picking the new guy, let alone getting to know him.” Coco just sank deeper into her seat, hoping that maybe if nopony noticed her, nopony could blame her for the sudden change. “It’s probably fine,” Limelight spoke, gently stroking the cream-colored earth pony’s hoof. “Some of the best production teams had rough starts like this. And besides, it’s not your fault.” “That’s what everypony keeps telling me, at least,” Coco muttered to herself, half-expecting that the actress wouldn’t notice. “Well, that’s because we’re all nice ponies here, or we try to be. Anyway, let’s just see how things go here and if they don’t go well—“ Sudden feedback rippled through the auditorium, as loud as any Coco had ever heard. It was almost loud enough to drown out all the other various conversations going on, all of which seemed to be about what had taken place over the past week. Yet again, Coco dreaded what would happen at this meeting. Trying to calm herself down, she chose to focus her attention on Scene, probably one of the few bright spots to this whole scenario. While she knew that part of his job had always been to help out those ponies on set who needed it most, those times he’d understood more than anypony else still touched her. Coco tried not to think too much about her time in the hospital, seeing as the memories were still all too fresh for her, but thoughts of them came to her out of the blue. Somehow, she’d had two secret admirers, or at least, that was what she understood from all that drama. And somehow, they both just so happened to be the two highest-ranking ponies on the set. Every once in a while, the letter still entered her thoughts, and even though she knew she ought to be focusing on salvaging her career, Scene’s words still entered her mind. What she felt couldn’t even really be described as love, something that she’d had too many problems with recently. It was probably more of some weird hopeful feeling. But knowing that he’d never meant to leave her behind, that she hadn’t even done anything to wrong him, still lifted an incredible weight off her chest. Still, though, she couldn’t help but wonder: If one of my other friends had gotten back in contact with me, would I still feel so relieved? “Um, Coco?” She felt a hoof poking at her legs and blinked hard. Babs was just to the right of her, a mixed look of confusion and mischief on her face. “Scene’s about to start talkin’,” Babs muttered. “Do you normally space out at work like this?” “Uh, no. I was just thinking, um, daydreaming, no, dwelling on something weird. Yeah.” “Like what?” Babs asked, the characteristic Apple skeptical gaze crossing her face again. “I didn’t want to say this out loud, but the new guy kinda sorta has a rip on his suit jacket,” Coco stated suddenly. “It’s…really big. Right along the collar. I keep wanting to go up and help him with it, but I feel like that’d be rude.” The filly took a quick look across the newly polished stage and shrugged. “Doesn’t seem bad to me. I can’t even see one. And I never took you for somepony who dwells on that stuff.” Coco slumped in her seat and placed both front hooves straight into her face. What the hay was it with her and being a bad liar these days? She was half-convinced it was part of the whole Apple family thing, some unknown earth pony magic or something. “Hello, everypony,” Scene announced just as she was hiding her face, “and welcome to the new Stealer-Orange Productions. We won’t exactly be calling it that anymore, but that’s for another part of the presentation.” “His nerves sure went away quickly,” Limelight muttered. “What do you think, Coco?” Instead of a reply, the costume designer just put a hoof over her mouth and gave her an uncharacteristically harsh glare. She was only able to hold it for a few seconds before blushing, however. “Sorry about that,” Coco whispered. “We should probably listen to what he has to say, though. It could be important.” “So important you were almost too nervous to come in here…” Coco gave her another glance, and with that, the auditorium went silent. “A lot of you have probably heard about it from the papers, but there was a good reason why we had to delay production,” Scene began. “An interference during opening night’s intermission alerted us to some of our former producer’s more unsavory sides, and as a troupe that prides itself on morals, its leadership failed to stand for it." Just then, a small amount of his previous hesitation seemed to return almost without warning. “I was one of the ponies affected most by it,” he finally said. “And I knew details of what was going on even before the general public did. Those things that were revealed to you a week ago…I’ve known them for a month and a half now. But before I get too deep into why I didn’t do this earlier, before Spellshock started running…just know that I had my reasons. That if I could’ve done it all again, I would’ve saved everypony a lot of trouble and gotten rid of everything at its source.” A few ponies in the seats had skeptical glances, but most either already knew about Scene’s previous blackmail or were too curious about what had happened to stay mad at the director. “I won’t elaborate on this too much, seeing as we have a show to bring back. And there are things about what happened that are too personal for me to tell anypony yet. But to put it basically…I’d met up with Mosely’s daughter a while back, and some of the things she told me about him were enough to make me doubt his intentions. Our connections before then had been shaky at best, and I feel like even if I hadn’t started investigating him, Stealer-Orange probably still wouldn’t be around right now. “One day, though, I finally worked up the courage to ask him about these rumors I’d been hearing, just to make sure they were true. Even then, I wanted to have faith in him just like I do in every one of you. But when he found out that I knew everything—even about the foalnapping—he decided I was too dangerous. If I would’ve told everypony then, we wouldn’t just be without a producer. Doing such a thing would’ve ended both our careers at once, and that’s just the best-case scenario. For all I knew, he could’ve been able to get out of it, even with my sacrifice. And besides…” Scene looked down at the stage floor before staring straight into the microphone and the crowd that surrounded it. “…I’m no hero, or at least, I wasn’t then. I always told myself that if I was put in a situation like this, I would be. But it wasn’t just my job that was threatened; it was also, in a way, everypony’s jobs. Those who were blacklisted especially, I figured that if I couldn’t save anypony else, I could at least save them. But when my ways of saving ponies and helping the one who caused this fell through, it was already too late for me to do anything. So as soon as somepony else ended up saving this play, I decided it wasn’t too late to try again.” Everypony in the seats would assume he was addressing Cameo, seeing as he still hid the biggest detail about his contract with Mosely. And for all anypony knew, maybe he was. But somehow, in that moment, Coco couldn’t help but believe that she had been the one to save him. That maybe she still had a chance to be a hero, too. “This past week, well, it isn’t one that’s been easy on any of us,” he continued. “And to be honest, I could’ve let it end here. That’s what a lot of the newspapers thought we’d end up doing. But somehow, I wanted another way, because I wanted to make sure all of you got your chance to shine. Doing something like pulling the plug would’ve been way too selfish for the hero I wanted to be. So instead, I kept things running here as best as I could. I wasn’t able to keep them as glitzy as they were when Mosely was still here, but thankfully…” He gestured for the other stallion to come up closer to his side. “…we won’t have to anymore. Because everypony involved wanted to make sure we’d get back to producing as soon as possible. And thanks to all of you, it will.” He gave a slight pause to make sure everypony around was still with him and seemed to be met with only approving glances. With that signal in mind, he continued. “I’m sure most of you didn’t come here for some sob story,” Scene said with a chuckle, a bit of his old self already returning to him. “So now, I’ll get to the big announcement. For starters, we’ll be following the same routine as usual, and as of today, daily practices are back in session. Official shows will start again next Friday, so please make sure you have your parts re-memorized by then. As for what happens after that, not even I really know for sure. Maybe more ponies will come because of the controversy, maybe they’ll stop coming. But either way, I’m sure we’ll all do our best to show everypony in Manehattan that they haven’t gotten rid of us yet.” The pink-and-black earth pony next to him, who’d remained silent throughout most of the presentation, took the microphone just after the entire auditorium erupted in cheering. “My name is Wright Notes, and I came here from Aquafire Productions,” he began. “Scene and I have known each other for a while, and he actually wrote one of my reference letters to get into Bridleway producing. When I started hearing rumors that things weren’t going well over here, I figured that, as a secondary producer, it was my duty to come over here and help. I didn’t quite know what I was in for, that’s for sure.” While he’d stayed calm and cool throughout the meeting for the most part, it seemed that a bit of Scene’s nerves were spreading to Wright, or at least, from what most ponies could tell. “I know I’m a bit young for this job, and that you’re probably used to somepony with a lot more experience. But what I know I can do is get to know the ponies around me instead of just confining myself to some faraway office. I intend on being a lot more hooves-on with everypony and helping out when Scene can’t always be there. I know it’ll probably weird you all out for a little while, but please, do try to put up with me.” Most of the rest of the meeting consisted of tips to help the still-confused cast adjust to the new changes, which gave Coco time to think about everything Scene had just confessed. She still wasn’t entirely sure why she’d been able to help him out more than anypony else or why he’d even chosen her out of all the ponies on set, but listening to him admit to his past doings still lifted her up with hope just like he’d done before. Maybe if she’d have the courage to do the same, she thought to herself, things wouldn’t be so needlessly complicated. Everypony was about to disperse to work on their various projects, but just before the cast and crew were dismissed, Scene addressed them once more. “Out of everything I have to tell you today, this is my most important announcement. From now on, Stealer-Orange Productions will become Silver Phoenix Productions. I didn’t get much say in naming it before, and Mosely was never the most creative of ponies to begin with.” “We thought we’d go for a name that symbolized the way we want the two of us to run our new collab,” Wright chimed in. “Something similar to the original, but without its flaws. A place that cast its past ashes to the side to create something better.” Looking to each other one last time, Scene finished, “Silver and phoenixes can both refine from ashes. And so will we.” **** That phrase was still on Coco’s mind even days after the fact. Was that just something he’d come up with off the bat, or did he really believe it? Was there something about him that just stayed that hopeful naturally, or was it just a way for him to hide how much he was really hurting, just like Babs did? “Silver can’t actually be refined from ashes, you know,” Cameo remarked as she trotted to the train station for the Apple family reunion. “The sentiment was nice, though,” protested Coco, choosing not to argue about metals with a jewelry maker. “I like it.” She stared fondly at her new family, and even if Cameo didn’t live with them yet, Coco was already starting to consider her part of it. And to think, she’d only get to meet more family at the reunion, something she’d been counting down to even before the first Silver Phoenix meeting. Maybe this time, she’d have a better first impression on them than she’d originally had with Applejack. Then again, even that had turned out well enough. “You sure seem awful happy today,” Babs muttered, pulling a suitcase almost as big as she was. “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s my first family reunion as an Apple. Getting to know your family will make me closer to all of you.” “I think what she’s saying is that it’s nice,” Bambi clarified. “To see you like this, I mean. We haven’t seen you smile that much in ages, almost since I’ve met you.” “Well, if I have my way, you’ll see a lot more of it,” Coco answered. Her eyes slammed shut as she tried her best to mimic the confidence she’d seen on the stage. For good measure, she raised one of her front hooves and continued to walk as if no obstacles could possibly come her way. “If Scene and Babs can pull their way through all this, I don’t see any reason why I should be the last to recover. After all, I was able to get over Suri with enough time and distance to the point where I don’t even care about her working with me. All I’m saying is, why shouldn’t this be any—“ In that moment, she could feel something else colliding with her, and by the time she fell straight on her back, she was so dazed, she couldn’t even remember what she’d run into. Applejack could, though, as she’d witnessed the entire scene from her train car. She’d never regretted showing up early so much in her life. Now, with the conductor keeping her from going out and helping them, all she could do was watch. Explanations, unfortunately, would have to come later. And even at that, the only explanation that would even begin to cover it was, “I really did fail ya this time.” The first thing Coco saw when she opened her eyes was a single yellow hoof extended towards her. It could’ve been Cameo or Bambi for all she knew, and for a minute, she believed it. But neither wore the sort of device this pony was wearing, a high-tech looking metal bracelet lined with unicorn magic. And then all she needed to hear was the voice, and she knew. “Mind if I help you with your things over there?” he asked, pointing to her luggage with another hoof. Coco could see everypony around her shooting her glances, shaking their heads, sliding their front hooves across their necks. They all wanted to help, but were too shocked to do anything but stand there. And so was she. Reuniting with her fellow Apples, she realized, would mean coming face-to-face with the bad ones, too. With a wink, Mosely turned back towards the train and whispered, “Let’s get going, Coco. The two of us have a lot to catch up on…”