"CUUUUTTTT!!"

Hearing the director's voice scream out once more in a shrill tone, Troy felt a small shudder go through his spine. He slowly started to prefer his alarm clock over her tone of voice. While he knew rehearsals wouldn't be an easy thing to complete, hearing the orange mare's judgmental voice every two minutes was really starting to get to the Gryphon. As she walked her way back onto the stage, Troy relaxed a little from his pose, groaning under his breath as he already knew what she was going to say.

"Troy, for the last time, you need to have intensity when you appear in front of Christine!"

Breathing in deeply so he wouldn’t be tempted to raise his voice--especially after seeing her reaction when Pierce did so--Troy kept himself calm as he addressed the director.

"I understand, Stage Presence, 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!" said Stage Presence in a more irritated tone. "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 still 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!"

The Gryphon looked over to Derpy on the other side of the stage, who was wearing a plain white dress for practice before wearing the real one for the dress rehearsals. Noting that this cross-eyed mare--who was currently staring at the lighting above her with a slack-jawed gaze--was supposed to be his love interest, Troy sighed before looking back to the director, who looked on edge as she groaned under her breath. Troy flinched a little as he saw Stage Presence raise her hoof before she used it to smooth her frizzled white mane out and look away from the stage.

"I need to recompose myself,” said the Director as she began to walk off the stage. "Take five, and I expect to see some improvement when I come back!"

As soon as the doors of the auditorium closed behind her, Troy and everypony in the theater sighed in relief. Glad to finally have the chance to sit still for a few minutes, Troy immediately plopped down on the middle of the stage, being careful not to sit on the black cape he was wearing as Derpy walked up to him. Seeing how worried the grey Pegasus was looking, Troy sighed before speaking to her.

"Sorry, Derpy. I'm trying as hard as I can, but I'm not exactly used to this whole 'acting' thing."

"What are you talking about?" said the mare as she kept a quizzical gaze on the Gryphon. "You're doing a really good job in my opinion."

Thinking she was full of it, Troy stared back at Derpy with a skeptical look on his face. "Really? Then why has Stage Presence been down my throat since day one?"

"I can tell you why."

Troy and Derpy looked over to the source of the voice off the stage, which belonged to the dark-blue unicorn known as Pierce. As the silver-maned stallion walked over to Troy, he carried a look of slight disdain as he continued, "I've been in several productions with her as the director, so I can tell what she's thinking a lot of the time."

Curious to this unicorn's input, Troy kept his attention on Pierce as he continued.

"Whenever she watches and listens to ponies during auditions, she never changes her tone or the look on her face. She just keeps a blank stare and says 'Thank you,' after they're done, so nopony would get too overconfident about their performance. However…”

Pierce then pointed a hoof to Troy before he kept going.

"When you sang 'Not While I'm Around' during auditions, that was the only time I ever, ever, saw her smile! It was only there for a couple seconds, but I saw it clear as day! And when she said 'Thank you,’ it legitimately sounded genuine! With all the performances and auditions that she's witnessed, yours was the only one that made a positive first impression to her!"

Keeping a slightly annoyed look on his face, Pierce eyed the Gryphon with a hint of anger before closing his eyes. Calming himself down a little, the unicorn reopened his eyes as he finished his statement in a more tranquil tone of voice.

"Troy, the reason she's being so hard on you isn’t because you're doing a poor job. You actually are doing very well, especially for a first-timer. But the reason she's acting like this is because she sees potential in you. I think she really sees something in you for this show, 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 walked away again, keeping his composure in check as he exited the stage. Not sure of what to say, Troy just kept his spot on the floor of the stage with a confused look on his face. As he thought about the unicorn's words, Troy wasn't aware of Derpy trying to catch his attention.

"Troy? Troy, are you alright?"

Troy nodded as he turned back to her, still looking confused as he stared at her for a few seconds. Trying to comprehend what Pierce was saying, Troy blinked a few times before he spoke to the mare. "I… I didn't think that at all."

"Well,” Derpy began as she looked up, thinking about it before she went on, "it kinda makes sense. You were great at that audition, so maybe she just wants you to reach your potential."

"Maybe.” Looking back to where Pierce exited the stage, Troy kept his confused look as he spoke. "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. I think he really wanted to get the role you have." Looking back to Derpy, Troy kept his attention with a curious look on his face as she continued, "I mean, I honestly think he's better as Raoul for this, but maybe he just really wanted to be the Phantom, you know?"

Knowing that Pierce was more experienced with theater than either of them were as first-timers, Troy shrugged and figured her guess was as good as anything he could think of.

"Also,” continued Derpy as a slightly embarrassed smile came to her face, "I heard that he lost a lot of money because he had Monday in that betting pool."

Troy immediately groaned and put a claw over his face, not wanting to be reminded of that stupid bet. Even after two weeks, Troy still encountered ponies who looked legitimately upset that his relationship with Canvas started on a Sunday. While almost all of the ponies who talked with him looked sullen about the bet--especially since Rainbow Dash was still bragging about it--they were also happy and supportive that he finally got together with the stallion. Even though Troy didn't like that his self-discovery and realization was the subject of a town-wide betting pool, he couldn’t help but feel a little better as he realized how much happier he was since he actually did it.

But even with the pleasure in knowing that he was in a happy and committed relationship, Troy still felt sore about the whole betting pool incident. Noticing how irritated the Gryphon got at the mention of it, Derpy started to feel more embarrassed and tried to make up for it. "Just so you know, I had no idea about that going on until a week ago! And even if I did know about it before that, I wouldn't have participated in it."

Troy looked back to the mare with a grateful look in his eyes, knowing that her tone of voice was genuine in her statement. "Yeah. Thanks, Derpy."

"Not a problem,” said Derpy with a relieved smile on her face, looking glad to see Troy feel a little better after such a hectic day. "How is Canvas, by the way? I haven't seen him in town much since the two of you came back."

"Well,” Troy said as he stretched out his back while on the floor, "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 with him much."

"Well that makes sense, don't you think?" Troy looked back at Derpy, who was keeping an understanding look on the Gryphon as she spoke. "I mean, it is a painting for the Princess of the Sun! Don't you think that's a pretty big thing to keep focus on?"

"Of course I do!" said Troy with an obvious tone of voice. "We even agreed to keep our relationship at a slower pace because of it! I mean, I've been staying at his place a lot since that, but he won't let me see his painting or the studio. It's just…”

Troy looked up to the same lighting fixtures Derpy was looking at, breathing in before he continued, "I just… I'm just glad I'm having this play to focus on. Otherwise, I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Aaaaawwwwww!" Derpy moved forward and gave the Gryphon a big hug, squeezing him surprisingly hard as she smiled. "You must really love that stallion, don’t you?"

"Yeah, I really do."

As soon as Derpy let go of him, Troy rested his forelegs behind him and leaned back, looking at the roof of the auditorium as he started to look more upset again, not liking to feel this alone without Canvas. "I really, really do."

"THERE! RIGHT THERE!"

Troy shrieked a little and fell to his back, not expecting to hear Stage Presence yell like that as she came running back into the stage. As she approached Troy, her eyes were wide open as she eyed the Gryphon with intensity.

"Right there! When you were staring at the ceiling like that! THAT'S what I want to see when you're playing the Phantom! Desire! Longing! A look of heartache! THAT is what I want to see when you interact with Christine!"

Blinking a few times as he lifted himself up and stared at the orange mare, Troy's eyes widened when he realized what she was trying to say. Even though he would've never thought to use something like that as a foundation for his character's emotional status, Troy could see where Stage Presence was getting at. While he couldn’t necessarily compare the struggles of the Phantom to his own desire to spend more time with his boyfriend (especially since he'd spent the night with him at his house several times this week alone), Troy knew he could use that feeling of longing to help him with this role.

Turning his attention back to the Director, Troy nodded with confidence and lifted himself back onto his legs, feeling better about himself as 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!"

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Outside the Ponyville Theater, a large crowd of ponies waited anxiously as the sun began to set in the horizon, all of whom were excited to see the premiere of the show that night. As the front doors opened and the auditorium started to fill with thrilled ponies, Troy poked his head out slightly from behind the curtain to see how many were coming in.

As the front rows quickly began to get filled (except for the several reserved seats in the very front), the Gryphon walked back to the darkened area behind the stage, breathing heavily with worry when he realized how big of a night this was going to be. Trying to keep himself calm, Troy pulled out a handkerchief from the pocket of his costume jacket, hoping to wipe off any excess sweat from his face before it messed with his makeup or face prosthetics covered by his mask.

"Ready for the big night, Troy?" Derpy asked in a cheerful tone as she happily trotted over to him, her lace dress moving gracefully with her body. As the Pegasus mare looked excited for the opening night, Troy was starting to look even more worried as he turned his attention to her.

"I… I hope so. I just… 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--”

Seeing how flustered the Gryphon was getting, Pierce quickly trotted over from his spot to him, putting a hoof to his shoulder as he said in a serious tone of voice,"Troy, listen to me! I know this is a big thing to deal with. Everypony gets stage fright, but it's nothing to worry about. Just do it like you did during the Dress Rehearsals, alright?"

Taking a deep breath, Troy nodded as kept his eyes closed, hoping to compose himself while Pierce trotted back off to the wardrobe. While Troy kept his eyes shut, he felt another hoof on his shoulder, opening his eyes to see Derpy there with an optimistic grin.

"Wanna know a little trick to get rid of stage fright?"

"Umm…” Surprised that the mare would have advice for something like that--especially since she was a first-timer, just like him--her confident smile was enough to make Troy want to listen. "Okay, what is it?"

Derpy looked around a little before she peered her head in, keeping a cheeky grin as she spoke in a whisper to Troy.

"Pretend everypony is naked!"

Derpy then began to giggle to herself, not noticing the Gryphon giving a confused look to her before he made a reply.

"Umm… isn't everypony already naked?"

Derpy's giggling began to die down as she looked back to Troy, before she looked down to the ground in realization that he was right. "Oh, yeah. I guess ponies usually are, aren't they?"

Troy immediately began to regret bringing that up, not wanting to make Derpy get stage fright because of him messing up her trick. However, Troy noticed in surprise as Derpy looked back at him with the same cheerful smile as before.

"Oh well! They're still naked out there, and that's good enough for me!"

With that, Derpy trotted off after giving Troy another hug, hoping that would calm the Gryphon down as he stood backstage. Thinking about what the mare was saying, a small grin began to grow across Troy's beak, making him giggle a little before he started talking to himself.

"Hehehehe… My boyfriend is naked out there…"

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Meanwhile, Lyra and Bon-Bon made their way past the ponies as they walked to the front, having received reserved tickets before anypony else due to Troy's connections. As they reached the front row, both mares were slightly surprised to see that Canvas wasn't at his reserved seat; however, a small, grey unicorn filly was happily perched in hers and cheerfully waved to Lyra and Bon-Bon. While Lyra got to her seat, Bon-Bon walked up to the filly with her own smile on her face.

"Why hello, Dinky! Are you excited to watch the play?"

"Uh-huh!" said Dinky as she nodded enthusiastically. "I can’t wait to see my Mommy sing!"

While Bon-Bon knew Derpy as a lot of things--particularly as the mare who kept breaking her merchandise every other time she showed up--she never would've expected the grey Pegasus to be a singer. Keeping her smile on her muzzle, Bon-Bon kept talking with a cocked eyebrow as she spoke with the filly. "So is your Mommy a good singer? I don't think I ever heard her."

"Yeah!" shouted the filly as she jumped up on her seat, now sounding really excited as she kept a huge grin on her face. "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!"

Hearing this, Lyra and Bon-Bon both felt their hearts melt and went "Aaaawwww!" 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 as he walked over to them. The three looked over as they noticed the stallion come toward them, keeping a smile on his face as he walked over to his seat.

Despite how freshly cleaned his mane and fur looked, it was obvious the pony was still sleep-deprived from the dark bags under his eyes. Even though he obviously looked tired, the stallion still had a eager and cheerful tone as he spoke to them. "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 as she got out of her seat and hugged the stallion. "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!" As Canvas let go of the unicorn, he noticed Dinky and smiled at her. "Hey there, Dinky! You still making paintings too?"

"Yep!" said the filly as she cheerfully nodded. "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 done. 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." As Canvas got more comfortable in his seat, his smile dropped a little when 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,” said Bon-Bon in a reassuring tone of voice. "You're making something for royalty! You two will have more than plenty of time when you get this done."

"True." Canvas glanced to the large curtain covering the view of the stage, an unsure look on his face before he turned back to Bon-Bon. "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!" said Bon-Bon as she slowly grew a grin and bent in closer to the stallion. "I'm guessing you two practiced the kissing scene a few times?"

Canvas giggled a little and began to blush. "Sort of, but we kept getting distracted when that happened."

As the two giggled in their seats, Lyra pulled her head in and 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?"

"Honestly, I don't mind,” said Canvas in a surprised tone. "I've seen the play before, so I know it's going to happen. I've talked with him about it, and we both agreed that it won’t be weird for him to do this for the role. Besides…" Canvas looked back to the curtain ahead of them before continuing, "I'm more worried about Derpy. I mean, kissing a beak is kinda tricky if you don't know how to angle it right."

Lyra shrugged as she sat back in her seat, none of them noticing a certain Pegasus mare peeking out from behind the curtain before going back behind the stage.

"Oh, Troooyyyy,” said Derpy excitedly, "they're all heeeerrreee…”

Troy felt his heart come up to his throat before he gulped. He took a quick peek through a space from the curtain. "Oh no,” said the Gryphon, "even the whole weather crew is here!"

Derpy looked out again, noticing that Rainbow Dash and the other Pegasus ponies were all on a balcony above the audience, perching themselves on the ledge while Troy stepped back, terrified.

"Hey,” said Derpy as she went back to the Gryphon, trying to keep him calm, "just remember what Pierce said. Pretend it's the dress rehearsal, and you'll be fine."

Keeping his attention on the mare to calm his nerves, Troy nodded as he breathed in and out. He then closed his eyes and tried to focus on anything except how big this night was supposed to be for him. 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 notice Canvas, who was sitting in the first row with the others as he happily chatted with Lyra and Bon-Bon. Seeing how happy the stallion looked, Troy's heart rate began to slow back down as he pulled his head back, smiling as he went back into the darkness backstage.

Breathing in deeply, the Gryphon felt himself getting more calm already and began to turn away from the curtain. However, his heart- ate shot right back up as soon as he saw Stage Presence directly in front of him, silently glaring as she pointed a hoof to his starting place.

As the lights around the audience began to dim, all the ponies quieted down, waiting anxiously as the cast got ready. Standing at his spot in his costume and mask, Troy began to feel his heart beat uncontrollably fast as he realized this was really happening. All of the hours of rehearsing his lines, singing, and choreography had all come to this night. Taking a deep breath, Troy closed his eyes and tried to ease his troubled mind, letting the brief silence sink in as he anticipated his moment.

As soon as the stage lights shined on, all of the Gryphon's worries and tensions immediately vanished--as if the bright lights burned them away in an instant, like a timberwolf through a wall of fire. And as the music started, Troy felt nothing holding him back as he began his very first performance.

Next Chapter: Chapter Forty: Angel of Music Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 19 Minutes