Even though he was fairly exhausted from working on his painting almost non-stop, Canvas stayed wide-eyed on the edge of his seat as he watched the play. With the usage of dried ice for the fog effects, impressive lighting--which gave everything an eerie blue or dark-pink hue--and enough technical effects to require the work of a dozen different ponies backstage, everything looked absolutely fantastic as the performances went by on stage.

By the time Troy and Derpy's duet came up, the whole audience’s full attention was on the two as they flew down to the stage. Landing on the Viking-styled boat onstage, the music played in full swing from the orchestra pit below as Derpy stood at the front of the boat, while Troy pretended to push it slowly across the stage with his claw. As the strings underneath the fog pulled the two of them at a snail's pace, the Pegasus began to sing, her surprisingly fluent voice captivating the audience:

In sleep he saaang to meee…

In dreams he caaame…

That voice which calllls to meee…

And speaks my naaame…

While Derpy's amazing singing voice surprised everypony in the theater at the beginning (as well as Stage Presence when she first heard her in the auditions), her renditions of Think of Me and Angel of Music won them over by the time her duet with the Gryphon began.

Keeping themselves silent to not interrupt her singing, the ponies in the audience kept their attention on the cross-eyed mare as kept her pose on the boat and finished her verse.

And do I dreeeeaaam again?

For nooowwww, I fiiiiiiiinnnnddd…

The Phaaaaaaaaaaaannn… tom of the Op-e-ra is theeerrrrrrreeee…

Insiiiiiiide, my miiiiiind…

Even with the orchestra playing at full blast, the sounds of applause could be heard briefly before Troy's part came up. Keeping the side of his face hidden by the white mask (created by Rarity just for him) to the audience, Troy kept his gaze away from everypony as part of his character. With both his brooding figure and his operatic voice, Troy really managed to capture the essence of The Phantom as he began to sang.

Sing once, again with meeeeee…

A strange duuueeeeeet…

My power ooooooover yooouuu…

Grows stroooonger yeeeeeettt…

Above the audience from the balcony, Troy could hear a few of his coworkers cheering him on over the music, all of whom were rather excited to finally see him perform. Even though the news about his opera singing spread around a little after his birthday incident, not many ponies actually knew how good of a singer Troy was before this play began. Now with most of the town watching with enjoyment, the Gryphon felt absolutely ecstatic as he continued.

And though you tuuuurrrrrnnn from meeeee…

To glance, behiiiiiiiinnnd…

The Phaaaaaaaaaaaannn… tom of the Op-e-ra is theeeerrrrrreeee…

Insiiiiiiide, your miiiiiind…

As the music continued, the boat finally reached the other side of the stage before the two stepped off. Carefully avoiding the strings, Troy stepped near the back of the stage, keeping his gaze on Derpy. She sang out to the audience at the front of the stage, avoiding the Gryphon's stare as she sang her part again.

Those who have seen your faaace…

Draw back in feeeeaaaarrrr…

I am the mask you weeaarrr…

Moving his head in closer to her, Troy sang his part as one of his claws held onto his cape.

It's me, they heeeaaarrr…

Walking closer to her, Troy looked away from Derpy, both of them looking out to the audience as they sang in harmony.

My spirit aaaaaannndd my vooiiiiiiiceee…

In one, combiiiiiiiined…

Slowly, the two turned back to each other, keeping their harmonies as they sang out together on stage.

The Phaaaaaaaaaaaannn… tom of the Op-e-ra is theeeerrrrrreeee…

Insiiiiiiide, my (your) miiiiiind…

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Standing in the middle of stage with Derpy near the side, Troy felt the spotlights right on him, almost burning his retinas as the calm music began to play. Hearing the strings and harp playing in the orchestra pit below, the Gryphon kept his gaze onto the wooden floors of the stage, watching the artificial fog underneath him as he heard his part come up.

Watching from his seat, Canvas sat quietly as he kept his wide-eyed gaze on his love, feeling himself become lighter as soon as Troy began to sing.

Niiiiiiiight tiiiiiiimmme… shaarrrrrrpens…

Heightens each sensaaaation…

Daarrrrknesssss stiirrrrrssss, and wakes imaaaginaaaation…

Silently the seennnnses…

Abandon their defeeennnnses…

As the orchestra continued to play, Troy breathed in deeply before he continued, moving around the stage in a brooding manner as he sang gently towards Derpy.

Slooowwwly, geennnntly, night infers its spleennndor…

Graaassssp it, seennnse it, tremulous and tender…

Turn your face awaayyyy… from the garish light of daayyyy…

Turn your thoughts away, from cold, unfeeling liiiiiight…

And listen to… the music of the niiiiiight…

Moving closer towards the mare, who was keeping her gaze away from the Gryphon as she looked offstage per her role, Troy kept his emotional appearance in check through Stage Presence's advice. Giving a look of shameful desire toward her and the audience, Troy held his cape close to his body, using it to shield himself as he continued the song in a louder tone. Meanwhile, Canvas kept himself captivated with the Gryphon's voice, not noticing that he was starting to tear up at hearing him sing this well in front of other ponies.

Let your miiiiind, start a journey to a strange new world…

Leave all thoouuughts, of the world you knew befoorrrrreee…

Let your soul, take you where you long to… beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

After the long belt he gave at that last line--which earned him several more large cheers from the weather ponies above--Troy hung his head down, breathing in before he looked back to Derpy and sang gently.

Only theennnnnn… caaaaan you belooonnnng… tooooo meeeeee…

Floating, falling, sweet intoxicaaaation…

Touch me, trust me, savor each sensaaaation…

Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in…

To the power of the music thaaaaaat I wriiiiiiiiiite…

The power of the music of the niiiiiiiiiiiiight…

The orchestra continued to play while Troy heard the whole audience start cheering, forcing him to lift his cape over his face for a second to hide his smile. Using it as an excuse to lunge closer towards the mare and keep in character, Troy quickly recomposed himself before he lowered his cape and sang right next to Derpy.

You alone… can maaaaake my song take fliiiiiight…

Help me make… the music ooooof the…

Troy closed his eyes, letting his final line come out as gently and beautifully as he possibly could as he walked back from the mare, letting his voice end the song right.

Nnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…

Before the Gryphon could even finish the last note of his song, he heard the entire audience roar with applause, including some extremely loud whistles from Rainbow Dash from the balcony. As the spotlight dimmed and allowed Troy to stand on the stage in darkness, a huge smile broke out on his beak as he let the moment set in. While he never thought he would ever have the confidence to ever do something like this on front of others, let alone an entire town, Troy couldn’t be happier as he lifted his head and looked out to the audience. Looking right at Canvas, Troy could see the stallion looking at him with the largest smile on his face, tears streaming down his cheeks while he clapped vigorously with his hooves.

In that moment, Troy saw how important Canvas truly was to him; he felt a huge wave of warmth in his chest without anything even there. Even though both his forelegs were holding him to the ground and nothing was against his chest, Troy could feel that same amazing warmth inside of him just by looking at that stunning stallion in the audience.

Before he recomposed himself to carry out the rest of the scene, Troy took a mental note as he looked back to Derpy on the stage, knowing what he wanted to do the instant this production was done. With the thought of Canvas wrapped around his mind, Troy felt absolutely weightless as he continued with his role, his heart racing faster with each passing minute in anticipation for the end of the show.

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As soon as the cast and crew took their final bow in front of the cheering audience everypony on stage went back to clean themselves up. Troy was practically a blur of feathers as he quickly got out of his costume and makeup. Even though Stage Presence was insistent in talking with him about his performance (particularly some small improvements he should work on before his next show), the Gryphon zoomed past before she could say a single word to him.

Bursting out the back doors of the theater like it was on fire, Troy scanned the ponies leaving from the front before seeing Canvas. He shot through the crowd and practically tackled the stallion. Squeezing the pony tight enough to easily cut off circulation, Troy clenched his eyes shut with the biggest smile on his beak as he hugged Canvas.

Even with his oxygen slowly cutting off, Canvas couldn’t care less as he hugged his boyfriend back, feeling overjoyed that the Gryphon actually did something this amazing. Slowing loosening his grip as he realized how tightly he was crushing him, Troy still held onto Canvas, resting his chin on top of the stallion's head as he heard the praises of ponies around him for his performance.

Before he could respond to any of them, he felt himself get pushed back from the aqua pony as Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Weather Team gathered around him, holding him in a huge group hug as they cheered him on.

"Dude, that was awesome!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she violently rubbed the feathers on his head. "That was totally worth buying a ticket!"

"Totally, Troy!" added Cloud Chaser as she looked up to him with a smile. "That whole play was really intense! Even Rainbow screamed when that Chandelier fell!"

"NO, I DID NOT!!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she turned to the pale-purple mare and her giggling twin. "I just flinched a little, that's all!"

"So, that was you?” Troy said as he looked at the cyan mare, keeping a mischievous smile on his beak while his eyes narrowed on her. "I thought I heard a girlish squeal from the roof when that happened!"

Rainbow's face started to turn red and rest of the Weather Crew started to laugh, which just made her angrier. She pointed a hoof at the Gryphon. "You better watch it, Feather-Butt! I still write your paychecks!"

"Yeah, yeah,” said Troy as he waved a talon in her direction, while he stretched out his wing to pull Canvas back next to him. Surprised that the Gryphon's wing was powerful enough to do something like that, Canvas stood still for a moment as he felt Troy's feathers against the side of his body. Loving the warmth Troy was giving off, Canvas nuzzled closer to the Gryphon's side as Lyra and Bon-Bon walked over to them with Dinky in tow.

"That was amazing, Troy!" Lyra exclaimed as she hugged the Gryphon. "I heard you had a great singing voice, but I wasn't expecting that at all!"

"Neither was I!" said Bon-Bon as she poked her head in behind her wife excitedly. "You were incredible as the Phantom! Seriously, that was one of the best performances I've ever seen!"

Blushing at the onslaught of compliments he was receiving, Troy noticed Dinky looking at him with a cheeky grin on her face. Giggling a little, the filly pointed at him with a hoof before she spoke.

"You kissed my Mommy!"

The others immediately started cracking up as Troy's blush grew even deeper, looking away from Dinky as Canvas wrapped a hoof around his back.

"Well, it sounds like your Mommy was very lucky!" said Canvas as he looked up to the embarrassed Gryphon with a smile. As Troy's blush began to go down while looking back at the stallion, Derpy's voice could be heard as she gleefully called out to her daughter.

"Dinky! There you are!"

Hearing the Pegasus's voice, Dinky immediately rushed to her mother and flew towards her, grabbing her midair before landing and hugging the filly tightly. With a huge smile on her face, tears of joy started to come from Derpy's eyes before she noticed the cheers around her. Still holding onto her daughter, Derpy looked up at the applauding crowd of ponies outside the theater before looking towards Troy with a grateful smile on her face.With her unicorn filly by her side, Derpy went up and hugged the Gryphon, both of them feeling incredible that they were able to experience something this big.

"You were great, Derpy,” whispered Troy as he held her with a smile.

"You too, Troy,” said the mare before she let go, letting her daughter hug her again as Bon-Bon stepped up with a smile on her face.

"Derpy, I'm gonna make sure you get something really good the next time you come to my sweet shop!"

"Awww… thanks, Bon-Bon!" Derpy gave a gleaming smile to the mare before lifting Dinky onto her back. "I'm just glad my little muffin here convinced me to do this. It feels so weird to know everypony just heard me sing like that. I'm a little embarrassed by this."

"You shouldn't be embarrassed at all!" said Lyra as she chimed in. "You have a great singing voice! Why haven't you done this sort of thing before?"

The grey Pegasus blushed and looked away from Lyra. "I guess I was just nervous. I…I wasn't sure how my voice sounded to other ponies when I sang."

"Derpy,” said Canvas as he poked his head out from Troy, sounding genuine, "your singing was absolutely amazing. I knew Troy was impressed by your voice, but hearing it for myself was way better than I ever imagined!"

"Well thank you, Canvas!" said Derpy with a cheerful smile. Seeing how close the pony was to his significant other, the mare blushed a little and her grin grew bigger. "And you're a very lucky pony to have someone as nice as Troy."

As Canvas nodded and looked back up to Troy with a smile, Derpy looked back at the theater to see Pierce coming out alone. "You know what?” She said as Dinky began to yawn on her back, "I'm gonna go chat with Pierce a little bit. He really helped me out with this role, so I should give him my thanks." With a smile, Derpy looked back to the others before trotting off. "See you guys later!"

As the other ponies waved Derpy and her daughter goodbye, Lyra and Bon-Bon turned their attention back to Troy as his wing held Canvas by his side.

"So Troy,” said Lyra in a chipper tone, "you wanna go somewhere with us to celebrate your successful night?"

"Well…” Troy looked back down to the stallion beside him, smiling before he responded to the unicorn. "You know what? Right now I really want to talk with Canvas about something…"

Curious about Troy's statement, Canvas looked up to him in amusement before the Gryphon spoke.

"But first,” said Troy he started to smirk at the pony, "seeing what Derpy was doing gave me an idea…"

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"WOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOO!!"

As the winds from the cool summer night flowed through his mane, Canvas didn't dare let go of Troy and wrapped his hooves tightly around the Gryphon's neck. While this wasn't the first time he'd flown with him, Canvas never experienced this kind of thing while lying on top of Troy's back.

Resting between the Gryphon's massive tan and grey wings, the aqua pony held onto his love tightly as they soared through the evening skies above Equestria. Feeling Troy's warm back against his fur, Canvas grinned like a schoolcolt as he realized he was doing something he never thought he would experience in his life: riding a Gryphon as he flew through the sky.

"This is so awesome!" shouted the pony with glee as he clutched Troy tighter. "You are the best boyfriend, EVER!!"

Seeing how giddy Canvas was getting, Troy couldn’t hold back his amusement as he laughed mid-flight, looking back to him with a smile on his beak. Knowing there was nothing but clear sky ahead of them, Troy moved his head back further towards the pony, closing his eyes for a moment as Canvas kissed him warmly above the fields outside Ponyville.

By the time they reached Canvas's home, Troy didn’t try to get Canvas off him as he walked in the door. Still riding the Gryphon's back like a little kid, Canvas kept a smile on his face as he looked forward at the cheerful Troy.

"Troy,” said Canvas in a faint tone of voice as he nuzzled the Gryphon's neck, "you were absolutely wonderful tonight."

"I know,” said Troy as he looked back to him with a grateful smile, "and you're the reason I even tried in the first place."

Not wanting this great feeling to end, Troy nuzzled him back before the pony slowly got off, stumbling a little as he got used to walking on his hooves again. As he watched Canvas stand back on his own legs, Troy smiled and pulled him to his chest, hugging him before speaking in a gentle tone. "Canvas… I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay…” The stallion slowly pulled his head back from the feathered chest in front of him and glanced up at Troy, noticing how nervous the Gryphon looked. "What is it?"

"Well…" Troy rubbed the feathers on the back of his neck as he looked at Canvas, feeling his heart racing as he tried to think of a good way to start the question. "Canvas, I love you. I really love being with you, and… and I was thinking…"

Worried about what the question was supposed to be, Canvas kept silent as he listened to his boyfriend continue.

"Since I've been sleeping over so often, and… and since I've really gotten sick of sleeping alone on that cloud…"

Breathing in deeply, Troy gulped before he opened his beak again.

"I was wondering if I… if I can… move in."

Canvas's eyes widened in surprise, worrying Troy for a second before he saw a smile grow on the pony's muzzle. As the stallion lunged forward and hugged him, Troy felt his heart racing with glee as he hugged him back. Staying in that position, Canvas could barely contain himself as he said, overjoyed, “Re… really?”

"Well, why not?" asked the Gryphon in an optimistic tone of voice. "I mean, I've practically been living here recently, and the only time I go back to my place is to make sure my cloud hasn’t dissolved too much. Besides…"

Troy pulled his head back and peered his golden orbs straight into Canvas's shining, blue eyes. Holding his face closer to Canvas's, Troy kept his eyes half closed as he spoke gently to him. "Nothing would make me happier than to be with you. When I was on that stage… and I saw you looking at me… all I could think was how amazing it would be to wake up with you every morning."

Feeling his heart melt in his chest from Troy's golden gaze, Canvas pulled the Gryphon's head in and kissed him deeply. Letting his answer speak through his actions, Canvas kept his lips on Troy's beak as he felt him kiss back.

Knowing that this was actually going to happen, Troy felt a huge wave of happiness flow through him as he kept his coltfriend in his embrace, waiting until he felt the stallion pull back before he opened his eyes. Looking at the blushing pony in front of him, Troy felt a smile grow on his beak as Canvas finally spoke in an enthusiastic tone.

"So… when can you move in?"

Next Chapter: Chapter Forty-One: Making A Masterpiece Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 9 Minutes