Phantom of the Gala

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: Rehearsal
Chapter 2: The Show
Chapter 3: Through the Mirror
Chapter 4: When Awake
Chapter 5: Notes
Chapter 6: Il Mutto
Chapter 7: After the Disaster
Chapter 8: Six Months Later
Chapter 9: More Notes
Chapter 10: The War
Chapter 11:Before the Performance
Chapter 12: Don Juan Triumphant
Chapter 13: Final Lair
Epilogue
Introduction

Prologue

“Lot 664,” the auctioneer, Photo Finish, said, “a poster from this house's production of Commander Hurricane.” The white haired woman was in the old Canterlot Opera House with a couple of other ponies. Since the opera house had burned down years ago, they decided to auction of the little knickknacks they could find in the rubble. “Do I hear 10 bits?” Photo Finish asked. No body flinched to put up their number. She groaned and sighed. “Fine, five?”

“Five!” a sea green haired woman called out named Lyra.

“Five,” Photo Finish said. “Six? Seven? Maybe even eight?”

Lyra put her number down. “Eight!” someone shouted. Everybody looked and saw an elderly man in a wheelchair with green hair.

“Eight it is,” Photo Finish announced. “The Commander Hurricane poster goes to Spike de Dragonne.”

Photo Finish's assistant, Bon Bon, brought Spike the poster. Spike gave it to his assistant, Cheerilee, to hold.

“Lot 665, ladies and gentleman,” she started, “a gilded music box. On top of the box is a white bunny figure playing the cymbals. After all these years, it still works,” she told them. She then cranked the lever on the side and it started to play music. “Starting at 20 bits. No? Fifteen, fifteen bits.”

“Fifteen!” Spike called out.

Photo Finish looked at the dragon. “Again?” she asked.

Spike nodded and gave her the fifteen bits. They handed him the music box. Spike inspected the box. "Was this found in the sewers?" he asked.

"Yes, why?" Photo Finish replied.

Spike shook his head. "No reason," he said without taking his eyes off the box.

Photo Finish cleared her throat. “Lot 666, the famous chandelier... unfortunately in pieces,” she said. “You may or may not remember the," she paused to laugh, "Phantom of the Gala. As this was the very chandelier that he brought down years ago,” she told them. She then laughed again. “Who knows, we may even scare off the ghost of so many years ago with a little light, gentleman?”

She gave the signal and the chandelier turned on. It was as if it was still hanging on the ceiling. This made Spike remember the days when it actually was hanging on the ceiling...

Chapter 1: Rehearsal

Chapter 1

Fifty years prior to the auction, when the Canterlot Opera House was still standing, there were rehearsals for the production of Commander Hurricane. Rarity, a white unicorn who simply had to get all the leading rolls, was playing the Princess Platinum. While she was belting out... something... a group of girls were doing the ballet scene behind her. In the group of the girls was Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle.

Whilst they were practicing, Applejack, the current owner of the opera house, was giving a tour to Celestia and Luna, the new owners of the opera house. “If you look on stage, you'll be seein' the rehearsals for our upcomin' show of Commander Hurricane,” Applejack told them. She looked on stage and made a really loud clearing of her throat, on purpose. Everything on the stage froze. "Hey ya'll, some of you have probably seen these two walkin' 'round these parts,” she told everybody on stage.

She opened her mouth to continue when, “I'm sorry, Madame Applejack, but we are in rehearsals. Do you mind waiting a few minutes?” the conductor, Octavia a petite woman with black hair, asked.

“Uh, sure,” Applejack replied. “Sorry for interuptin'.”

“Thank you,” Octavia said. She then turned to the stage. “Go back where you left off,” she told Rarity.

Applejack walked onto the stage and motioned for Celestia and Luna to follow her. They were now all on stage and in the way of everything.

Then they all heard a foot stomp on the ground. “Ah-hem,” Twilight Sparkle said coming on the stage. Applejack, Celestia, and Luna looked at her. “I'm sorry madames, but you're kind of in the way of the dancers,” she told them.

“Sorry, Miss Twilight,” Applejack apologized. She then led Celestia and Luna back off the stage. “That is Madame Sparkle, she is the head of ballet and dancing,” she told them smiling. Applejack loved this opera house. She knew every last little detail of it. She was especially sad that she will be retiring.

Celestia saw this going on and asked, “Sorry, but exactly why are you leaving?”

Applejack's smile fell and she looked at Celestia. She ignored her question and said, “All of our dancers are very well trained thanks to Madame Sparkle.”

“Who is she?” Luna asked looking at one of the dancers. It was a snow white pale young girl named Sweetie Belle. She had just done an excellent arabesque.

“That is Sweetie Belle,” Applejack answered. “That is Madame Sparkle's daughter. She is one of our best dancers.”

In the dancers, something caught Fluttershy's eye and she stopped dancing. “Fluttershy! You're going to mess up the others!” Twilight yelled at her.

Fluttershy woke up to reality and got right back in line with the other dancers, this happened a lot. She always gets distracted.

“Fluttershy?” Celestia asked. “I think I knew a gentleman with a daughter named Fluttershy. He was a fantastic cellist. He played the cello as if there wasn't another care in the world.”

Applejack nodded. “Yes, her late father was cellist,” she said. “He was always so focused on his music, she always is a day dreamer, though.”

Then they all looked on stage as they were finishing up rehearsals. Right now Rarity was holding out a... “beautiful” high note. When she was done she took a bow. “Thank you, thank you, I know,” she said taking a bow at the front of the stage.

Applejack then stood up from the seats. “Attention ya'll!” she shouted. “As you know I'm reiteratin', so I have Madame Celestia and Madame Luna. They are the new Canterlot Opera House official owners!” she announced clapping her hands. Everybody else clapped. Applejack then presented Rarity. “And this is Madame Rarity.”

Rarity bowed. “She certainly has the potential of being lead vocalist. I've seen you in all your greatest roles,” Luna told her. Rarity smiled and bowed. “Oh, Madame Rarity, do you mind singing a little bit for us?” Luna asked. Everypony else in the room gave Luna mean glares. No one liked Rarity's singing voice.

“Why of course!” Rarity said. “Ah-hem, Octavia.” Octavia tapped her baton on her conductor's stand, signaling she was ready. Rarity cleared her throat and started to sing. “Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye. Remember me once in awhile, promise me you'll try. When you find that, once again, you long to take your heart...”

Before she could finish there was a sand bag that fell to the stage nearly crushing Rarity. “He's here! The Phantom of the Opera is here!” a scared Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“Derpy!” Applejack shouted up to the rafters. “Derpy! Why did you drop the sandbag? You almost splattered Rarity all over the floor!”

“Oops! My bad,” Derpy said back down. “I had to go and get a muffin.”

“A muffin? Then who was up there?” Applejack asked sounding angry.

“Uh, nobody,” Derpy answered. “Unless it was a ghosty ghost.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “He was up there! The Phantom was! I saw him!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

“Please stop shouting,” Luna told Sweetie Belle.

“These things happen, everypony,” Celestia said. “It's not the end of the world.

Rarity made herself prominent to Celestia and Luna. “These things happen a lot,” Rarity told them. “When you've fixed them you can come and get me. Until then, I don't want to be here where I could get killed,” Rarity said being a diva. She then walked off the stage and into her dressing room.

Luna and Celestia looked at each other. They had no idea what they had gotten into. “Well, good luck to the two of y’all,” Applejack told them. “If you need me I'll be on my family's farm in Ponyville.” Applejack then left the Opera House.

“Rarity will be back, right?” Luna asked Celestia. Celestia shrugged.

“I have a note from the Phantom,” Twilight said coming closer to Celestia and Luna. “It says that he would like to welcome you to his Opera House, and that you should always leave box number five open for him. He also says his 20,000 bits haven't been given to him this month.”

“You give him 20,000 bits?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, Applejack gave him that every single month,” Twilight said. “You might be able to pay more with the de Dragonne's being a money provider. Do you know if they'll be here for the show tonight?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, the eldest son will be,” she told her. “He will be sitting in our box.”

“Since, Rarity left,” Luna started, “who will be her understudy?”

Twilight blinked at her. “Understudy?” she asked. “Rarity never misses shows, so we never thought of giving her one.”

“How about Fluttershy!” Sweetie Belle suggested from behind her mother.

Twilight turned around. “Fluttershy?” she asked.

“Yes, she's been taking lessons and you can sometimes here her when she sings in the ensemble,” Sweetie Belle said. “She is really good.”

“Who are you taking lessons from?” Celestia asked.

Fluttershy shrugged. “I-I-I d-d-don't know,” she stuttered. She did this when she was caught off guard by things. She also trembled when they said she could be the... lead.

“Oh, what a pity,” Celestia said. She then turned to the whole cast. “Sorry, everypony, but it looks like we can't open the show tonight.”

Fluttershy watched as everypony's face dropped. They all have been working so hard on this production, and all for nothing. “No,” Fluttershy said. “Let me sing for you.”

Luna and Celestia looked at her. “Okay, then sing,” Luna said.

Fluttershy nodded. She sang the same bars of the song Rarity had sung.

“My goodness!” Celestia exclaimed. “You have the voice of an angel! You must play the lead in opening night.”

“Oh, uh,” Fluttershy said uneasily. She then remembered everypony else. “Alright.”

Chapter 2: The Show

That night, it was opening night. Fluttershy had to learn everything about her character. She barely paid attention to Rarity's parts, which made it even harder to remember her lines. She still pulled it all off. She pushed back her stage fright and when she sang she pretended it was just her and her teacher. Only she didn't exactly know what her teacher looked like.

“There will never be a day, when I don't think of you,” Fluttershy sang from the stage. The words simply just flutter out of her mouth. If she didn't love animals so much, her cutie mark would surely be a microphone or something with singing.

In one of the opera boxes, there was a dragon by the name of Spike de Dragonne. He was the son of a very wealthy family. When he was little he used to play with Fluttershy. As he was watching the performances he recognized her. Fluttershy?, he thought. Is that true? She might not remember me, but I remember her.

“Promise me, that sometimes you will think of me!” Fluttershy sang her last note. She sang out. Her beautiful angelic voice filled the whole Opera House with tears. She bowed and got off the stage.

“That was wonderful!” Twilight praised her.

“Thank you Madame Sparkle,” Fluttershy said. “I tried my best.”

“You surely did,” Twilight said.

Fluttershy smiled and started to walk back to the dressing room. Sweetie Belle saw her and ran up to her. “That was beautiful, Fluttershy,” Sweetie Belle told her.

“Thank you so much,” Fluttershy said.

“Who is your teacher?” she asked.

Fluttershy shrugged. “My father said that when he died that an angel will come and find me,” she told her. “When I sing I can feel the angel. I think he's here right now.”

“Um, okay,” Sweetie Belle said awkwardly. “I don't see any angel in here.”

“Angel of Music! You can guide me!” Fluttershy said in a sing-songy voice. She closed her eyes and smiled.

“Angel of... music?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“He is here,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“He is so close,” Fluttershy said to herself.

“You don't look so good.”

They were then stopped by Twilight Sparkle. “Sweetie Belle, do you want to be a professional dancer?” she asked.

“Yes, mother, it is my biggest dream,” Sweetie Belle told her mom.

“Then go and practice with the others,” Twilight ordered. Sweetie Belle nodded and quickly went over to the other dancers. Twilight watched Sweetie Belle go over. She then looked at Fluttershy and handed her a note. “It's for you.”

Fluttershy took it and went into her dressing room. She opened it. She read it, “Red scarf... the attic... picnic.” She then set the note down and changed out of her costume.

* * *

Meanwhile, Celestia, Luna, and Spike were talking about the show. “Wasn't that splendid?” Luna asked.

“Oh yes, and I haven't heard one complaint,” Celestia said. “It was a good idea to put Miss Fluttershy as the leading mare.”

“Certainly,” Luna agreed. They walked down the hallway to the dressing rooms. “Here you go Monsieur de Dragonne. You wanted to see Miss Fluttershy?”

“Yes, thank you,” Spike told them. “You can leave now.” Celestia and Luna then turned around and left. “Fluttershy? Your scarf?” he asked through the door.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“The scarf I rescued from the river?” Spike asked trying to regain her memory. “Don't tell me you lost it.”

Fluttershy opened the door and saw Spike standing there. She hugged him. “Spike! Oh I haven't seen you in awhile,” Fluttershy told him.

Spike hugged her back. “Remember all those picnics in the attic?” Spike asked.

“With my father playing the cello?” Fluttershy asked. They both smiled at each other and hugged again. “Remember how my father always talked about the Angel of Music?”

“Yes,” Spike answered.

“Well, I've been visited by him,” Fluttershy told him.

Spike smiled. “Come on, let's go get some dinner,” he said. “I know of the best place in all of Canterlot.”

“I can't,” she told him. “The Angel of Music has rules, you know.”

“It won't take long,” Spike tried to persuade her.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No,” she replied. Spike then turned and left. He walked down the hall. Fluttershy watched him for a few seconds. She then closed the doors to her dressing room. She closed the door and all the lights in the room went out. Fluttershy got scared and looked around.

“Ignorant fool, this slave of fashion, basking in your glory,” a deep soothing voice sang. Fluttershy looked around trying to see where the voice was coming from. “This brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph.”

Fluttershy then sees the silhouette of a strange looking goat dragon creature. She was scared at first, then she thought it was probably the Angel. “Angel I hear you speak, I listen. Stay by my side guide me,” Fluttershy sang back to it. “Angel, my soul is weak, forgive me. Enter at last, master.”

“Flattering child you shall know me,” he sang. “See why in shadows, I hide! Look at your face in the mirror, I am there inside!”

Fluttershy stepped closer to the mirror and saw he was not a silhouette anymore, he was now completely visible. He was strange looking. He had different animal parts all around his body, and he wore a white mask on the left side of his face.

“Angel of Music, hide no longer,” Fluttershy sang. “Come to me, strange angel.”

“I am your angel of music,” he sang drawing Fluttershy in. “Come to your Angel of Music.”

Spike could hear what was happening. He rushed to her dressing room door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. “Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Who is in there with you? Fluttershy!” he yelled from the other side of the door.

Fluttershy hadn't paid any attention to Spike. Instead she was staring into the eyes of this strange animal looking thing. The “Angel of Music” held out his hand for her. Fluttershy put her hoof into it and he pulled her through he mirror.

“Fluttershy!” Spike yelled from the outside, but it was too late. She couldn't hear him.

Chapter 3: Through the Mirror

As Fluttershy trotted down this hallway that was through the mirror, she couldn't help but admire this creature that was holding her hand. She felt chills run down her spine when she felt his hand. She gazed up at this creature as he pulled her down the long hallway.

“Will you sing with me?” the creature asked her.

Fluttershy was at a loss for words. She just stared at him.

“My power over you, grows stronger,” he told her.

She just wanted to stare at him forever. Although she loved to look at him, she had a feeling she should turn back. She looked behind her and saw all the way down the hall.

Then the creatures bird claw pulled her chin back to facing him. “You might turn from me, but I'm always here,” he told her.

Fluttershy then had the nerve to speak to him. She felt warm and comfortable with him. “People are scared of you,” she said to him. “They say you are a monster.”

The creature ignores this. A few feet away is an underground lake with mist swirling on top of it. The creature helps Fluttershy into the boat and paddles it through the lake. “With my spirit and her voice, we can be unstoppable,” he muttered to himself.

“I'm sorry, what?” Fluttershy asked.

He looks at her. “In all your fantasies, I know you've always known, that stallions and mystery...”

“Were both in you,” Fluttershy finished his sentence as she stared up at him.

The creature was taken aback by this. He then smiled in acceptance as they approached a gate. “Sing,” he instructed Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked at him. She then started doing pretty “aahs” that fluttered out of her mouth. The creature smiled and stopped the boat inside the gate. It was a cavern that was filled with candles. He then helped Fluttershy out of the boat and brought her onto the land.

“Do you know why you are here?” he asked her.

Fluttershy shook her head.

He smiled devilishly. “You are because ever since I heard you sing, I've needed you with me to serve me to sing for my music.”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. She couldn't think straight. She took a good look at the creature, he was unlike any other stallion she'd ever seen. He had a gray head, black mane, yellowish eyes, and all other animal parts all over him. She wasn't quite sure what he was.

He then walked up to her and soothingly sang to her, “Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world, leave all thoughts of the world you knew before,” he sang. She just looked at him in ah. “Let your soul take you where you long to be!”

The creature then put his bird claw and lion paw hands on her shoulders. “Only then, can you belong to me,” he sang.

Fluttershy looked at him as he took her hoof and led her to a red blanket. The red blanket was covering something. Fluttershy watched as the creature took the blanket off. Under the blanket was a wax figure of her. It was exactly like her, Fluttershy was almost looking in the mirror.

Fluttershy was flattered but she was also very creeped out. She then got so overwhelmed by everything she just fainted. Before Fluttershy could hit the ground, the creature poofed into the air and poofed underneath her. He then carried her to a cotton candy cloud bed.

The creature watched as she was laying there. He never thought that she would actually be here. He was so happy she was here, he bent down and kissed her cheek.

* * *

“Fluttershy!” Sweetie Belle called as she entered Fluttershy's dressing room. “Fluttershy!” she called again, but no one answered.

Sweetie Belle then saw that there was a light coming from the mirror. She walked up to it and opened the mirror, which was actually a one sided mirror. Behind the mirror was a long dark hallway. Sweetie Belle started to walk down it.

It was really dark, dense, and old in there. Then she heard footsteps. She then quickly leaned up against he wall and tried to stay as quiet as she could. She saw a shadow coming closer to her.

The shadow then came really close. Then it got so close it wasn't a shadow anymore, it was an actual thing. It was... it was... it was her mother.

“Sweetie Belle!” Twilight yelled in anger. “What are you doing here?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “I just got curious,” she answered. “Sorry.”

Twilight sighed and brought Sweetie Belle out of there.

Chapter 4: When Awake

Fluttershy wakes up to the sound of a music box. She then looks around and sees that she is in her same white cover up from last night, and in the same strange cave. She looked around and saw that she was in the same cotton candy bed as last night, it wasn't sticky though.

She got up and looked around. She remembered everything, the lake, the mist, the boat... and the man. She looked at saw him doing things over at his desk. Fluttershy walked quietly over to him. She wandered what was under that white mask he was wearing. She then walked up behind him and quickly took off the mask.

The man then pushed her down to the ground. “Curse you!” he screamed at her. “How dare you!”

Fluttershy started to breathe heavily, which turned into panting, which turned into whimpering, which turned into crying.

“Is this what you wanted to see?!” he scream-asked as he showed her his face. She buried her head in her hands, scared of the face she just saw. It was horrible, she didn't know how to describe it.

“Now you cannot ever be free,” he told her.

Fluttershy then started to cry a lot more. The Phantomish man looked at her and saw that she was crying. He then went over to her and went down to the ground next to her. She quickly scooted away from him. “Stranger than you dreamt it, do you even dare to look?” he asked.

Fluttershy peered through her fingers and saw him looking at her. “Can you even think of me as this loathsome gargoyle? Who burns in Hell, but secretly yearns for Heaven, secretly.”

He then sighed and looked over at the girl with the swooped pastel pink hair. “Oh, Fluttershy,” he said.

He tried to come closer to her, but she kept on inching away. “Fear can turn to love, you'll learn to see the man behind the monster,” he told her referring to himself.

Fluttershy shook her head. “You will see behind this repulsive carcass who seems a beast,” he said. “But he might dream of beauty, secretly.”

Fluttershy shook her head again. He then sighed and looked down. Water began to build up in his eyes. “Oh, Fluttershy,” he sighed.

Fluttershy saw that he was upset. She then looked at the mask in her hands. She then slowly scooted closer to him. When she was right next to him she gave him the white mask. He slowly took it and slipped it onto his face.

He then stood up and held out his hand for her to grab. “Let's go,” he told her. “The two idiots who run my theater will be needing you.”

* * *

Sweetie Belle entered the ballet dormitory that night and saw that Derpy was in there. She made her way over to her bed and laid down. She tried to block out what Derpy was saying, but she was talking really loud.

“He has muffin shaded skin,” Derpy told the ballerinas. She was describing the Phantom of the Opera to them. “A great chocolate chip says is the nose that never grew.”

She was taking her whole explaining thing as a funny thing, but the ballerinas were getting scared.

“You have to always be on your watch, or he he'll get you with his magical muffin maker,” Derpy joked.

“A lasso,” Twilight corrected Derpy as she entered the room. “A lasso is what you mean, not a muffin maker.”

“Is it true?” Silver Spoon asked.

Twilight turned to her. “Is what true?” Twilight asked back.

“What Derpy says,” Silver Spoon said, “about the Phantom?”

Twilight looked at Derpy. “Those who speak of what they know, find too late that being quiet is right. Just remember, Derpy, keep your hands at the level of your eyes.”

“Alrighty!” Derpy exclaimed.

Twilight pointed to the door. “Now go, Derpy,” she ordered.

Derpy then clumsly walked out of the dormitory. “It's okay girls,” Twilight told the girls. “Derpy is just Derpy, don't believe anything she says. Understand?”

The girls all nodded and then went to sleep.

Chapter 5: Notes

The next morning, Celestia walked into the Canterlot Opera House one morning. She was holding a paper and laughing out loud as she read the paper. She walked in and quoted from the top, “'Mystery of the Gala Night',” she laughs. “Great title. 'Mystery of Soprano's Flight', the subtitle is even better. They are mystified and suspect foul play!” she chuckled.

She then walked up the stairs to go to Luna's office. “Too bad we lost Fluttershy a few nights ago after her disappearance,” she said to herself. “Oh, at least Lyrica Lilac has a... somewhat good voice.”

“This is terrible!” Luna yells as she runs into Celestia.

“What is?” Celestia asked.

“Everyone is going to refund when they find out that Fluttershy won't be preforming,” Luna told her sister.

Celestia sighed. “Luna, it's publicity,” she told her sister. “It will be fine.”

“Ugh, but we have no cast,” Luna said.

“But have you seen how many people have reserved a ticket?” Celestia asked.

Luna shook her head.

Celestia looked down and noticed a note in Luna's hand. “You got a note also?” Celestia asked.

Luna nodded and opened the envelope. She cleared her throat, “It says:

Dear Luna,

The was perfect, and Fluttershy was the cherry on top. No one even cared that Rarity wasn't there, we are all in prayers praying that Rarity will never come back. Anywho, everything else was good, except for the dancers... YUCK!

O.G.”

Celestia then pulled a note she had received herself from her pocket. She opened it. “Mine says,

Dear Celestia,

Just a small reminder, you have not paid me my 20,000 bits. Send it with care for me. And no one likes to be in debt, so I suggest that you pay promptly by tomorrow.

O.G.”

Celestia looked up from her note. Luna looked at Celestia and sighed. “Who would be so brave to send this?” she asked Celestia.

Celestia shrugged. “I don't know,” she answered. She then took a look at Luna's note and noticed the sender. “They're both signed O.G.,” Celestia told Luna.

“Who the hell is he?” Luna asked.

Luna and Celestia then looked at each other in sudden realization. “Opera Ghost!” they exclaimed together.

“He is not very nice if you ask me,” Luna told her sister.

Celestia nodded in agreement. “Indeed,” she said. “He's taking advantage of us.”

“He's actually quite insane,” Luna declared.

Then the doors opened and a tall green haired man walked through. It was Spike. “Where is she?” he asked.

“Who?” Luna asked. “Rarity?”

Spike shook his head. “No, I mean Fluttershy,” he told them.

“No, I'm sorry,” Celestia said.

Spike then pulled a note out of his coat. “I think that you sent me this note,” he told them giving them the envelope.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

“We never sent you a note,” Luna told Spike.

Spike looked at each of them. “You mean she's not with you?” he asked.

They both shook their heads. “So did you not send this?” he asked reminding them of the note in Luna's hand.

Luna looks at the note. “This note is from the same person,” she tells Celestia. She then looks back at Spike. “Okay, it says:

Dear de Dragonne,

Do not fret for Fluttershy. She is safe with the Angel of Music. Do not think that you will see her again, because you most likely won't.

O.G.”

“Where is he?!” Rarity yells as she bursts into the opera house followed by her husband, Fancy Pants.

“Welcome back,” Celestia and Luna greet her.

Rarity ignores them and walks up to Spike. She then pulls a note out of her little handbag. “I have your letter,” she tells him.

“My letter?” Spike asked. “I didn't...”

“No you sent it,” Rarity told him.

Spike shook his head. “No I didn't,” he said. He then took the note from Rarity and opened it. He didn't feel like reading it aloud, but it said:

Dear Rarity,

I hope you understand that you can not be apart of the Canterlot Opera House anymore. Fluttershy will be singing in your place tonight, if you attempt to take her place, something awful will happen.

O.G.

Spike looked up from the note. “You think I sent this?” he asked.

“Well, who else?” Rarity asked.

Spike shrugged. Celestia and Luna looked at each other and sighed. “Way too many notes for me,” Celestia told Luna.

“And most of them about Fluttershy,” Luna added.

Celestia rolled her eyes. “That is the name I've heard on end since I've arrived,” Celestia said.

Twilight and Sweetie Belle then came from behind the corner. “Fluttershy is back,” she announced.

Celestia, Luna, Spike, Rarity, and Fancy Pants looked at Twilight. “Where is she?” Spike asked coming closer to Twilight.

“I sent her up to her dormitory, I think she needs to be alone,” Twilight told them.

“She needed rest,” Sweetie Belle piped up.

Spike got even closer. “Can I see her?” he asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No, she needs to be alone, like I said,” she repeated. “She's been through a lot lately.”

“Will she sing?” Rarity and Fancy Pants asked.

Twilight looked up and handed them a note. “Here is a note,” she said giving it to Celestia.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Oh this is a long one,” she said. The note said:

Gentlemen,

I have sent you numerous notes on how to run my theater. So far, you have NOT followed my instructions, and I'll give you one last chance. Fluttershy has returned to you, and I think that she will become more and more well known for her voice.

In the new production of Il Mutto, you will be putting Rarity as the Pageboy, and Fluttershy as Countess. Fluttershy is casted because of her charm and appeal, Rarity is cast because her role is silent, your welcome.

I will watch the performances in Box 5, which will be kept empty for me. If any of these demands rejected, a fate beyond imagination shall occur. I remain your obedient servant,

O.G.

“What on Earth?” Celestia asked.

“WHAT?!” Rarity screamed. “I can NOT play a silent role! That is... it's just... UGH!!!”

Celestia and Luna try to come to her side to calm her down. But she pushes them away and walks into her dressing room to get packed up and leave.

“Please, Rarity,” Celestia tried to reason.

“Shush!” Rarity snapped at her.

Luna sighed. “Madame,” Luna tried to but...

“I said SHUSH!” Rarity demanded. As she packed up and left her dressing room. She handed all her stuff to Fancy Pants, who struggled to carry it.

Celestia caught up to Rarity. “Please,” she pleaded.

“You're public needs you,” Luna told her.

Rarity stopped at the door. “What was that?” she asked.

Celestia smiled at Luna and then looked at Rarity. “We need you too,” she told her.

Rarity turned back to them and smiled. “Alright, I;ll do it,” she told them. “On ONE condition.”

“What?” Celestia and Luna asked.

Rarity smiled. “I will play the lead,” she said.

Celestia nodded and sighed.

“Prima Donna,” Luna whispered to her sister.

Chapter 6: Il Mutto

A couple of nights later, Il Mutto is going to start the first show. Spike enters the opera house and sits in Box 5, he doesn't believe in any of the Phantom stuff.

The opera went on for a while. “They say that this youth has sent my lady's heart a flame,” Lyrica Lilac sang.

Spike laughed as he saw Fluttershy as the Pageboy and Rarity as Countess “kissing” behind a fan.

“Every seat is sold,” Luna whispered to Celestia.

Celestia laughed. “Like that's a fate beyond imagination,” he laughed again.

“Serifimo, your disguise is perfect,” Rarity sang referring to Fluttershy's character. Then there was a “knock” at the door. “Who can this be?”

Then Fancy Pants strolled in in his costume. “My love, I am called to England,” Fancy Pants sang to Rarity. “And I must leave you with your new maid,” he sang. He then looks at the audience and says, “Though I'd happily take the maid with me.”

The audience laughs. Rarity is outraged, this was not part of the script. Rarity then scowls at him. “The old fool is leaving,” she says.

Then Fancy Pants walks off stage.

Rarity then looks at Fluttershy and gets back into character. “Serifimo, away with this pretense,” she sings. Rarity then stands up and rips Fluttershy's skirt off, all part of the show, and reveals pants underneath. Rarity then took Fluttershy's hands. “You cannot speak, but kiss me in my husbands absence,” she sang bringing the fan up to them as they “kissed”.

Rarity then put the fan down. “Poor fool he makes me laugh, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!” she sang.

Rarity opened her mouth to sing, but somebody already beat her to it. “Did I not instruct that Box 5 was to be left empty?” a voice boomed throughout the theater.

“He's here!” Sweetie Belle screamed. “The Phantom of the Opera!”

Fluttershy looked around and smiled. “I know it's him,” she said aloud on accident.

Rarity squinted her eyes at Fluttershy in disgust. “Your part is silent little toad,” she told her.

Fluttershy looked down in shame. “A toad Madame?” the Phantom mutters to himself. “Perhaps it is you who are the toad.”

Rarity rolls her eyes and walks off stage. “Give me a squirt,” she demanded the people. They then sprayed some substance into her mouth.

Rarity smiled and walked back on stage. She then cleared her throat. “Where were we?” she asked herself. She then rolled her eyes again. “Oh well,” she said. “Serifimo, your disguise is perfect,” she sang repeating a part she already sang.

“You cannot speak, but kiss me in my HAAAA,” Rarity croaked. She looked around all embarrassed. She tried to sing more, but she kept on croaking. She then ran off the stage and started bawling backstage. The curtain then closed up.

Celestia and Luna then ran down onto the stage. “Sorry about that, everybody,” Celestia apologized. “Our performance will continue shortly. With the Countess being played by...” he looks behind the curtain and grabbed Fluttershy. He then pulled her out in front of everyone. “...Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy then ran backstage to go get ready. “Meanwhile, we present to you...” Luna stopped for a second. “The ballet from Act III from tonight's performance.”

“What?” Octavia asked Luna from the orchestra pit.

“The ballet from Act III,” Luna repeated herself to Octavia.

Luna and Celestia then ran back up to their box seats. The ballet music started and Sweetie Belle and the other dancers came onto the stage. They danced in the costumes they were previously wearing, and it was all jumbled. It was not very well put together.

Everyone was running into each other and people were rushing on and off to get props. And it looked like it was first day of rehearsal. All of a sudden there was a shadow from the rafters and then there was crack. Then Derpy came falling from the rafters, her head tied around a rope. She dangled there, dead as a muffin.

Chapter 7: After the Disaster

Spike ran back stage after the accident and saw Fluttershy run up some stairs. Spike followed her up to a rooftop. The rooftop of the Canterlot Opera House. “Don't take me back there,” Fluttershy said without turning around to see him.

“Why?” Spike asked. “You have to preform.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “He'll kill me,” she told him. “His eyes will find me here, those eyes that burn.”

“Fluttershy, don't say that,” Spike told her. “You know what? Don't even think it.”

“He will kill a thousand men,” Fluttershy told him.

Spike looked at her. “Who?” he asked.

Fluttershy finally turned around. “The Phantom of the Opera!” she yelled as she began to cry.

Fluttershy then fell to the floor and sat down on the roof top. “Spike, I've been there, to the world of unending night,” she told him.

“No you haven't,” Spike told her thinking she was going a little crazy.

“No, Spike!” she yelled. “I've seen him. Can I ever forget that sight? With that face so... unnatural it was hardly a face.”

Spike put her hand on her shoulder. “Fluttershy, just forget about it,” he told her.

Fluttershy then stood up and looked out onto the city of Canterlot from the rooftop. “His voice filled my spirits with a strange new sound,” she told him thinking of the Phantom. She looked at him now, instead of some monster, of an angelic person. “In that night, there was music in my mind. And through music my soul began to soar.”

She then looked back at Spike. “And I'd heard, as I've never heard before,” she said.

Spike shook his head. “What you heard was a dream,” he told her. “And nothing more.”

Fluttershy then stared off into space again. “Those eyes, both threaten and adore,” she said. She then closed her eyes to think of them and she smiled.

“Fluttershy, Fluttershy,” Spike said trying to bring her back to reality.

“Fluttershy, Fluttershy,” the Phantom echoed Spike.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked around. “Did you hear that?” she asked.

Fluttershy then looked into Spike's eyes. He smiled and told her that she needed to stop thinking about all this bad stuff. “I'm here, nothing can harm you,” he said to her. “I can guard you and guide you.”

Fluttershy smiled too. “Say you'll love me every single moment,” she told him. “Say you'll need me with you now and always. Promise me that all you say is true, just love me, that's all I ask of you.”

Spike held her hands. “You're safe, no one will find you,” he comforted her. “Can I lead you from your solitude?” he asked her.

Fluttershy turned her head sideways. “What do you mean?” she asked.

He then got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. “Fluttershy,” he started, “anywhere you go, let me go too. Fluttershy, love me, that's all I ask of you.”

Fluttershy smiled and bent down and kissed him. Spike kissed her back. He then picked her up and spun her around. He then sets her down and puts the ring on her finger.

“Spike, we have to go,” she said. “Wait for me, Spike.”

Spike smiled. “Fluttershy, I love you,” he told her.

Fluttershy smiled and grabbed his hand and led him back inside the Canterlot Opera House. “With you always beside me, you'll guard me and you'll guide me,” she said when they were inside.

The Phantom, a.k.a. Discord, comes out from behind the statue he was eavesdropping behind. He comes out and stands where they stood. He then stats to cry a little bit.

“I helped you, and this is how you repay me?” he mutters to himself. “You denied me and betrayed me.”

He then sucks up the tears. “Then let it be war upon you both,” he mutters again to himself. He then rushes down to his lair and prepares the greatest plan ever made.

Chapter 8: Six Months Later

Six months later, there have been no sign of the Phantom. No deaths, no notes, no nothing. So everyone was so happy that they decided to celebrate with a masquerade ball, hosted by Celestia and Luna.

They met each other at the entrance to the Canterlot Opera House and walked in with their heads held high. They walked in with their costumes on and saw everyone else in the opera house with their costumes on. They then joined in the festivities with the other people attending.

Fluttershy and Spike walked in hand in hand with big smiles spread across their faces. They couldn't believe it has been six months since they have seen the Phantom.

Spike turned to Fluttershy to dance, but his smile dropped. “Fluttershy,” he sighed. “Why are you wearing your ring around your neck?” he asked.

Fluttershy wore her wedding ring around her neck to hide it from everyone. “I want our engagement to be a secret,” she told him. She didn't want it to be a secret to everyone, just the Phantom.

“Why?” Spike asked. “It's not a crime.”

Fluttershy sighed. “I don't want to argue,” she said.

Spike then took her hands and danced around with her like Prince Philip and Princess Aurora do at the end of Sleeping Beauty. Fluttershy felt like a princess. She looked like a princess in her beautiful pink and purple gown and she was getting married to a prince, sort of.

Everyone was swept up in the moment with the dancing and the music. It was as if everyone didn't have a care in the world. That is, until the lights dimmed. Everyone looked around, no one had a clue of what is happening.

All of a sudden, at the top of the grand staircase, the Phantom showed up for the party. “You didn't invite me to your party,” he said.

“That's because this party is about not having to deal with you for six months,” Celestia explained.

He laughed. “You really think that I had left you?” he asked. He then laughed again. “You should see the look on your face. Priceless!”

Even though he was laughing, everyone else in that ballroom was frightened to death. Some people even went as white as snow in fear. He then wiped the smile of his face and it turned to a grimace. “I've written an opera I'd like the Canterlot Opera House to preform,” he told everyone. He then pulled a folder full of sheet music from his cape. “Here I bring the finished score,” he said flinging it at Celestia and Luna. “It's called Don Juan Triumphant. My instructions should be clear,” he stated.

Fluttershy didn't know why, but she walked closer to him. He had a terrifying mask on. It was a skeleton mask so life like, it looked like a real skull. She walked up the stairs up to the Phantom and stared at him in awe.

The Phantom stroked her cheek with his thumb. Then in a quick movement he tore the necklace, with her wedding ring on it, and took it. “You belong to me,” he told her. Then a puff of smoke appeared and he disappeared.

Fluttershy was taken aback by the whole thing and fell back. She was falling for the stairs, if it weren't for Spike who caught her, she could have really hurt herself.

She looked and smiled and him. “Thank you,” she told him.

Spike smiled and nodded. “Your welcome,” he replied. He then saw Twilight run out of the ballroom. Spike was curious. He looked back at Fluttershy. “Be right back,” he told her. He then ran after Twilight.

“Madame Sparkle!” he called down the hall.

As Twilight was running she replied back to him, “I know no more than you do!”

Spike had finally caught up to an out of breath Madame Sparkle. She was breathing heavily. “You're lying,” he said. “You know something else, don't you?”

“Fine,” Twilight said still panting. “Many years ago, there was a fair in town full of gypsies and human oddities. I went to go see it out of curiosity. Everything there was weird and strange, which you would expect from gypsies.”

“Yeah, just get to the point,” Spike hurried her.

Twilight shot him a look that said, “Well, you wanted to hear the story”. She then sighed and continued with her story, “I then went into the tent titled 'Deformed Changeling'. Changelings are already deformed, so I wanted to see what was so wrong with this creature. I walked in and saw a young boy in a cage. His face was... I can't describe it. It was just horrible.”

“So how did he get here?” Spike asked impatiently.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “When the crowd had left I snuck behind the cage and watched him build a music box with a monkey atop. It was amazing. He then twisted the gears and it played music that he had written,” Twilight explained. “I felt bad for him so I did the unthinkable, I found the keys, opened the cage, and brought him here to the Canterlot Opera House.”

“Why did you bring him here?” Spike asked.

“Because I was here training to be a ballerina,” Twilight answered. “Anyways, I brought him to live down in the sewers beneath here.

“How did he get his...” Spike paused and motioned to his face.

Twilight shrugged. “From birth I guess,” she answered.

“So the Phantom is this guy you brought here?” Spike asked. Twilight nodded. “Did you know he was going to be a killer of an innocent muffin loving girl?”

Twilight shook her head. “I had no clue,” she told him looking down. She then got up and started to walk away. “I've said too much. I have to go. There have been too many accidents.”

“Accidents?” Spike asked. But it was too late, Twilight was already out of sight. “How can they be accidents?”

Chapter 9: More Notes

The next morning, Luna is looking over the score for the Phantom's opera. She keeps on laughing at how poorly written it is. In the middle of her laughing storm, Celestia walks into the office.

“What is so funny?” she asked.

Luna keeps laughing as she answers, “This is the worst opera I've ever seen! Have you seen it?” she asks as she hands her sister the folder.

Celestia takes it and opens it. She reads some of the lines and sighs. “I know, but if we don't stage it then something terrible will happen,” she explained. She then pulls two notes from her white pant's pockets. “Got another shipment of notes this morning.” She then gave Luna one of the notes.

Luna opens hers first. It says:

Dear Luna,

A few adjustments for my opera if you please. First of, we need another first bassoon. And take away the third trombone, it will make everyone happy to see it leave. Replace it with someone who can play in better tune.

O.G.

Luna looked at her sister after reading the note. “What's a bassoon?” she asked. “We have one of those here?”

Celestia rolled her eyes at her sister's silly remark. She then opened her own note. It said:

Dear Celestia,

While Luna got the instructions on the orchestra, you get the ones for my opera. First off, we need to show some of the chorus girls the door, and then never show them in again. Find out which ones have pitch, and which ones don't. I have very minor roles to the ones who can't act.

O.G.

Then in through the door bursts Rarity and her husband, Fancy Pants. “This is an outrage!” Rarity exclaimed throwing her arms up in the air.

Celestia sighed. “What now?” she asked.

“What is so important?” Luna asked.

Rarity looked at her managers and let a small tear roll down her cheek. “Have you seen the size of my part?” she asked in a whiny voice. “It's the size of a pea. A pea I tell you! A pea!”

She then sobbed and cried like a little girl who didn't get the doll she wanted from the store. “Can you believe it?” Fancy Pants asked sounding outraged. “Rarity too good for a pea sized part.”

Then the doors to the office open yet again, this time with Fluttershy and Spike. Fluttershy looked like she had been crying for a while. “Here's the little 'star',” Rarity said sarcastically to Fluttershy. Rarity then rolled her eyes and sat down on the beige couch in the office.

“Oh, Miss Fluttershy,” Celestia cooed. “The lady of the hour.”

Luna then stood next to her sister facing Fluttershy. “You've received the largest role in Don Juan,” she told her.

Rarity rolled her eyes again. “Like she can sing it,” she muttered to herself. A light bulb then went off in her head. Rarity stood up and marched over to Fluttershy. She pointed her finger at her angrily. “You're the one behind this!” she yelled at her making Fluttershy tear up.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No it wasn't,” she muttered. “I promise it wasn't me. I'm sorry.”

“I'm not a fool!” Rarity yelled at her putting her hands on her hips.

“I promise you it's not me,” Fluttershy pleaded. “I don't want to even be in this opera.”

Spike then came over to her and comforted her. Rarity cocked her head to the side confused. She then looked at Fancy Pants and smiled. “She's backing out,” she whispered to him. “That means that I can play the lead.”

“Not so fast,” Celestia said, overhearing Rarity's comment. “Fluttershy has a duty to preform. And that is to play the lead in the opera,” she told Rarity. It was mainly because Celestia didn't want to suffer a horrible fate like Derpy.

Fluttershy shook her head still crying. “I don't want to sing,” she cried. “I don't care if it's my duty, I don't want to.”

Spike hushed her to comfort her. “Fluttershy... Fluttershy... you don't have to if you don't want to,” he told her. He then glared at Celestia and Luna. “They can't make you.”

Rarity smiled at herself. Then, once again, the office door opens and Madame Sparkle and Sweetie Belle came in. Twilight smiled and held up an envelope. “Another note,” she announced. Everyone in the room sighed.

“Here is what it says,” Twilight said clearing her throat. The note said:

Greetings,

A few more instructions before the rehearsals for my opera start...

“How many instructions does he need?” Celestia asked sounding annoyed.

… The most important is that Rarity must be taught to act...

“WHAT!?!?” Rarity exclaimed. “I can too act. More so than I bet he can.”

… Our Don Juan must loose some weight. It's not healthy in a man of Fancy Pant's age...

Fancy Pants looked down at himself. “I guess I should drop a few pounds,” he said.

… And my managers must learn...

“Learn what?” Luna asked.

… that their place in an office, not the arts. As for our star, Miss Fluttershy...

Everyone looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy turned white and hid her face in her hands.

… No doubt she'll do her best. It's true, her voice is good, very good for that matter. But if she wants to get better, then she'll have to return to me, her teacher.

Your obedient friend and Angel

Twilight looked up from the note and looked around at all the scared looking faces in the room. Spike then lets go of Fluttershy and walks toward the center of everyone. “We've all been blind,” he tells them all.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

Spike smiled. “This could be our chance to catch the Phantom,” he told them

“Go on,” Luna insisted.

“We will preform his opera,” Spike explained. “If Fluttershy sings, he will most likely come to watch.”

Luna nodded. “I'll make sure the doors are barred,” she told him.

Celestia nodded too. “We'll be sure that we have police men everywhere.”

“They will be armed, and his reign shall end,” Spike told them smiling being glad that his plan is perfect.

Fluttershy just stood there, silent. Trying to soak up all of this. “Stop it!” Fluttershy yelled loudly.

Everyone looked at her. They had never heard Fluttershy talk so loudly before. Fluttershy looked at Spike with tears in her eyes. She then ran over to him and hugged him. “Don't make me do this,” she cried.

“I have too,” Spike told her.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, he'll take me forever and we'll never see each other again,” she told him. “I thought he was a good person, until he killed Derpy, then I had second thoughts. He used to sing to make me feel better, but when he takes me away, when he sings I'll be reminded how horrible it is to be without you.”

Rarity then realizes that maybe Fluttershy isn't the one behind this. “She's gone crazy,” she says quietly staring at Fluttershy.

The whole room went silent. Spike the pushed some hair out of Fluttershy's eyes. He smiled. “He's only a man,” he told her.

Fluttershy shook her head again. “What should I do?” she asked him feeling completely lost. “Should I risk my life to be with you? If I do, then I'd be betraying the man that helped me whenever I was sad. What what else am I supposed to do? He kills without a single thought.” She then looked at Spike with heartfelt eyes. “If I agree, what horrors wait for me? In the Phantom's opera?”

Spike smiled and wiped some tears from her eyes. “Fluttershy, don't think that I don't care, because I do,” he told her. “Not just me, everyone. Because every hope, and every prayer rests on you.”

“Me?” Fluttershy asked. Spike smiled and nodded. Fluttershy, being overwhelmed by having everyone's hopes of living on her, runs out of the office.

Spike tries to follow her, but it was useless. He then pulls out a piece of paper and writes:

Dear 'Phantom',

Let it be war upon us both. This time, it will be your funeral.

Spike de Dragonne

Spike the put the note in the envelope and set it on the stage of the Canterlot Opera House. He then fled to go and find his fiancee, Fluttershy.

Chapter 10: The War

The next morning, Spike had convinced Fluttershy to do it. Fluttershy had arrived to the opera house and joined everybody else in the rehearsals. She sat down next to Rarity and Sweetie Belle.

The chorus sang, then Fluttershy sang, then it was time for Fancy Pants to sing. “Those who tangle with Don Juan,” Fancy Pants sang off beat.

Octavia stopped everything. “No,” she said. “It goes like this, Those who tangle with Don Juan!. Now you try.”

Fancy Pants sang it again, still wrong. Octavia sighed. “Still no,” Octavia told him. “Accentuate the T in tangle, got it?”

Fancy Pants nodded and sang it wrong yet again. “Ugh, Fancy Pants,” Octavia sighed.

“What does it matter?” Rarity asked interrupting Octavia. “No one has ever heard of this opera before, so who is going to know it's wrong? At least his way sounds better than the original.”

Then a loud sound happened. It was the sound of Madame Sparkle's cane hitting the floor. “Would you say that to the composer?” she asked Rarity.

“The composer isn't here,” Rarity told her.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked.

Rarity, a little creeped out, looked around the room to see if she could see anything. Octavia cleared her throat. “Once again, Fancy Pants,” she instructed. Before she could play the notes on the piano to show him, the piano had already started playing the notes by themselves.

Everyone was startled and got up to see what was wrong. They all looked at each other frightened. “Sing!” a loud booming voice erupted from no where.

The chorus then looked at each other and began to sing their part. Fluttershy was scared, so she ran out of the opera house as quick as she could. Outside it was snowing a lot. She ran to find the only refuge, her father's grave. She entered the cemetery. “Why?” she asked to herself as she entered the cemetery. “Father promised he would send to Angel of Music. Not the Demon of Music.”

She looked around at all the gravestones. She then found one with her father's name on it. She knelt down and started sobbing. She loved her father more than anything in the world. She hated to see him go. She watched him, when she was only eight, she watched him drift off into his deep sleep. She actually watched it. It made a her cry to think about it.

“You were my only friend,” she told the tombstone. “You were all that mattered. I just wish I could hear you again.” She then brushed some of the snow off the headstone. “She then rested her head on the gravestone. She then hugged it. She probably looked crazy, but her father was her one and only friend when she was little.

As she sat their and mourned over her father there came a voice, “Wandering child, you seem lost and helpless,” it said with a sweet enticing voice. “I know you're pleading for my guidance.”

Fluttershy wiped some of the tears from her eyes and looked around. “Angel, father, friend, or Phantom, who is it?” she asked.

“Have you forgotten your angel?” it asked.

Fluttershy then stood up and saw her “angel” standing behind a mausoleum. She walked towards him. “Please speak, she said. I've been lost and can't find my way,” she pleaded for him.

The Phantom then held out his hand for her to grab so she can go with him. She smiled reaching her hand slowly towards his. “Why does my mind beat against you?” she asked him. “But my soul obeys.”

Her hand then was placed in his. “You turned against me, you turned from the true beauty,” he told her. “Don't shun me and come to me.”

Fluttershy nodded and walked as he slowly started to walked away. “Fluttershy!” Spike yells ruining the moment. Fluttershy turns and sees Spike running towards her. Fluttershy then drops the Phantom's hand and take Spike's. “This man is not your father.” He then looks at the Phantom. “Why are you doing this to her?” he asked.

The Phantom was stunned and watched as he took Fluttershy's hand and took her away. He couldn't believe he almost had her, but she left him. She left him standing here. “Fine, let it be war for you both,” he muttered.

Chapter 11:Before the Performance

With every passing week, we get closer to the opening night of Don Juan Triumphant. Finally, that night is here. Spike went to the guards that were protecting. “Are you all ready?” he asked them.

The chief police nodded. “Very ready,” he answered.

Spike looked around and then pointed to a few policemen. He then pointed to the orchestra pit. “Do you mind staying down there?” he asked him.

They shook their heads. “Not at all,” they replied.

Octavia was in the pit and shook her head. “No, they will interfere with my instruments!” she ranted.

“I'm sorry,” Spike apologized. “But would you rather have a life lost, or have one of your instruments broken?”

Octavia didn't answer and watched as three policemen got into her pit. She made an annoyed face, but just decided to let it go. Spike looked around the auditorium and smiled. “Let's get ready,” he said.

“I'm here,” a voice says near the back of the opera house. “I'm here,” the voice said on the other side.

Everyone looked around wandering where he really could be. Then a gun shot rang out. Spike looked at the policeman who fired it. “Why did you fire that?” he asked raising his voice. He then calmed himself down. “Only when the time comes.”

The policeman nodded. Then an eerie laugh went all around the opera house. “Tonight, I hate to have to cut the fun short, gentlemen,” he voice said. “Let the audience in! Let my opera begin!”

Spike looked around and took his seat in Box 5. The curtain rose up and it was time for Don Juan Triumphant to start.

Chapter 12: Don Juan Triumphant

Two hours later, it was the ending scene for the opera. So far, no one liked this opera very much. A few people actually left before the second act. So here it was, the final scene. A long table with food set up on it and a long bench beside it.

Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and the rest of the chorus walked on stage. They all sang their chorus parts, “Serve the meal and serve the maid! Serve the master so that, when tables, plans and maids are laid, Don Juan triumphs again!” they sang out to the audience.

They then walk off stage and Fancy Pants, as Don Juan, and Jet Set, as Passarino, walk on stage. “Passarino, faithful friend,” Fancy Pants sang to Jet Set, “once again recite the plan.”

“Your young guest believe I'm you,” Jet Set then sang. “I'm the mast, you the man.”

Fancy Pants kept singing, “When you met you wore my cloak,

with my scarf you hid your face. She believes she dines with me, in her master's borrowed place!” Fancy Pants sang to Jet Set. “Furtively, we'll scoff and quaff, stealing what, in truth, is mine. When it's late and modesty starts to mellow, with the wine.”

Jet Set smiled like he had an idea, part of the acting, and sang, “You come home, I use your voice. Then slam the door like crack of doom,” he sang.

Fancy Pants nodded and pointed to himself. “I shall say, 'Come hide with me'. 'Where, oh, where?', or course my room!” he sang.

Jet Set shook his head and looked down. “Poor young thing hasn't got a chance,” he sang referring to Fluttershy's part in the opera.

Fancy Pants then took the big hat off his head and gave it to Jet Set. He then also gave him a cape, and a sword. “Here's my hat, my cloak, and sword. Conquest is assured, if I do not forget myself and laugh!” he sang as he took the cloak he gave to Jet Set and put it on himself. It covered his face and body. He then laughed as he walked behind a curtain leading to his “room”.

Fluttershy then walks on stage smiling while playing with a little scarf. “No thoughts within her head, but thoughts of joy,” she sang as she got to center stage. “No dreams within her heart, but dreams of love!”

Fluttershy then sits down on the long bench next to the table and pretends to eat an apple of the table. “Master?” Jet Set asked in song.

“Passarino,” replied a voice that sounded nothing like Fancy Pant's. “Go away, for the trap is set, and waits for it's prey.”

Jet Set then walked off the stage and Don Juan walked through the curtain and onto the stage. He walked closer to Fluttershy, who didn't notice Fancy Pant's voice change yet.

“You have come here, in pursuit of your deepest urge,” he sang to Fluttershy. “In pursuit of that wish to which now, has been silent. Silent.”

Fluttershy then got up and walked near the front of the stage, still with the apple. “I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge,” Don Juan continued to sing to her. “In your mind you've already succumbed to me, dropped all defenses, completely succumbed to me.”

Don Juan then picked up a goblet full of “wine”, there was nothing in the cup, and walked over to Fluttershy. “Now you are here with me, no second thoughts, you've decided. Decided,” he sang to her handing her the goblet.

Fluttershy threw the apple behind her and grasped the goblet with both of her hands. She then took a “sip” of the “wine”. “Past the point of no return,” he sang. Fluttershy then started to walk away, but Don Juan grabbed her arm and she turned and looked at him. “No backward glances. Our games of make believe are at an end.”

He then flipped some of her hair back behind her shoulder. “Past all thought of if or when,” he continued. He then grabbed her hand, but she took it away from his. He then grabbed it again and held on tight with his black glove. “No use resisting, abandon thought and let the dream descend!”

Fluttershy then slowly walked back over to the bench as he sang that. When she had sat down, Don Juan walked over to her. “What raging fire, shall flood the soul? Which rich desire unlocks it's door?” he sang as he came right behind her. “What sweet seduction lies before us?” he sang putting his hand on her upper leg.

His hand then went slowly up her waist. “Past the point of no return, the final threshold, what warm unspoken secrets will he learn?” he sang as his hand had stopped in her chest area. He then brought his other hand up and placed it there too. “Beyond the point of no return.”

Fluttershy was slightly enjoying this, when she realized that this was not part of the choreography she had rehearsed with Fancy Pants. She then realized that this wasn't Fancy Pant's voice. This wasn't Fancy Pants! This was the Phantom. She then pulled his hands off her and got up.

She went over to the other side of the stage. “You have brought me, to that moment when words run dry,” she sang to him. “To that moment when speech disappears into silence. Silence.”

Fluttershy then started to walk offstage, but then she realized that that might result in someone dieing. So she decided to stay on and let him have his fun until they arrest him later tonight. “I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why,” she continued singing getting closer to him. “In my mind I've already imagined our bodies entwining, defenseless and silent.”

He was sitting down on the bench, and she was right behind him. She then put her hands on his shoulders and moved down, probably the boldest move Fluttershy ever made. “Now I am here with you, no second thoughts, I've decided,” she sang. “Decided.”

She then put her hands on her hips and continued. “Past the point of no return,” she sang. “No going back now, out passion play has now at least begun!”

Fluttershy then set her knee down on the bench beside the Phantom. “Past all thought of right or wrong,” she sang. “One final question. How long should we two wait, before we're one?” she sang. When she sang “one” she had slid her hands down his arms and held his hands tightly.

She then sat down next to and took his hand on her cheek. “When will the blood begin to race?” she sang. “The sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames at last, consume us?” she sang as she put both her hands on one of his and put it to the middle of her chest.

Fluttershy then realized that she was being dumb and she had to get off the stage. So she quickly let go of him and tried to run off the stage, but he grabbed her before she could. “Past the point of no return,” they both sang as the Phantom tried to pull her towards him. “The final threshold, the bridge is crossed so stand, and watch it burn.”

Fluttershy then stopped struggling to fight him, and looked at the Phantom. “We've passed the point of no return,” they sang. Fluttershy then wanted to make sure it was the Phantom and she took the cloak off his face. Underneath the cloak was a man in a white mask that covered the right side of his face. It was him.

The Phantom then stepped back and looked at Fluttershy. “Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime,” he sang to her in a different tune from the song they just sang. “Say you'll want me with you here, beside you.”

Fluttershy was still looking at him. The Phantom then looked at his hand. He looked at the hand that didn't have a glove on it. On his gloveless hand there was a ring on his pinkie. He took the ring off and looked at Fluttershy. “Anywhere you go, let me go too,” he sang. He then was right in front of Fluttershy. He quickly shoved the ring on Fluttershy's finger and looked at her. “Fluttershy, that's all I ask of...”

Before he could finish his song, Fluttershy took his white mask off revealing his deformed face. It was red and scaly like a dragon's tale and had little cream colored spikes going down the back of it. Little did Fluttershy know, that he was also wearing a black wig that covered ugly gray hair. He also had a weird looking eye and a long tooth.

Fluttershy looked down and pulled the glove off his hand too. Underneath that was a bird claw it looked like. The Phantom looked at her and then looked up. He picked up Fluttershy and carried her up to the rafters of the stage. He then cut a rope that made the chandelier crash to the floor setting a huge fire to the auditorium.

The Phantom then disappeared with Fluttershy down to his lair. Spike had noticed this and ran down to find Madame Sparkle. “Where did he go?” he asked her.

Twilight took his hand. “Come with me,”she told him.

“I'll go too!” Sweetie Belle volunteered.

“No!” Twilight scolded her daughter. She then turned back to Spike. “Come with me,” she told him as she ran down to a secret entrance.

Rarity then walks on stage. “Where is Fancy Pants?” she asked looking around. “Where is... AHHH!!!!” she screams. For she found Fancy Pants. She found him hanging backstage. Rarity screams and runs out of the Canterlot Opera House, she was never heard from again.

Chapter 13: Final Lair

As the Phantom, aka Discord, dragged Fluttershy down to his lair, she struggled to pull away from him. “Please let me go,” she pleaded.

He ignored her and kept pulling. He pulls her down the long hallways and to his lair. In the distant you could hear people coming to catch them. “Track down the murderer!” people were calling and almost chanting to a rhythm.

“Why do people do this?” he asked to himself. He then stopped pulling her and looked at Fluttershy. “Because of my face? Tell me, why!”

Fluttershy let a tear roll down her cheek. “I don't know why,” she said.

He then kept on pulling her down. He had brought her to the heart of the sewers beneath the opera house. He took her to where he had taken her months before. Discord then looked at the wax figure of Fluttershy. He then took the wedding dress it had on and gave it to Fluttershy.

“Where it,” he instructed her.

Fluttershy didn't want to argue, so she took the dress and went somewhere where he couldn't see her to put the dress on. She came back and saw that he was at his organ. “Am I now your prisoner?” she asked him. “What are you going to do with me?”

He looked at her. He then walked up and put his hand on her cheek. “Since I've been down here, alone, for so many years,” he started, “has it's upsides. But the downsides include not being able to touch the female skin.”

Fluttershy backed away. She didn't want him touching her. “Do you see my face?” he asked her.

Fluttershy slowly turned her head to look at it. It was ugly, she couldn't ever get used to it. She then nodded. “This face is so repulsive that... that my own mother hated me for it. Do you believe it?” he asked. “My own mother.”

Fluttershy felt bad for him. She looked away though to look out at the water surrounding them. “My mask was actually my first ever decent piece of clothing,” he told her looking down. He then felt all the hatred of everyone build up inside him. He then got a little angry and took the wedding veil off the mannequin and shoved it onto Fluttershy's head without being gentle.

“But that is all behind us now, everything is,” he told her. Fluttershy didn't look at him still. He then turned her body towards him. “Turn around! I am now your whole future! Understand?”

Fluttershy looked at him in horror, she was so scared. She then sucked all her fear in, and nodded. “I understand now,” she replied. “I understand that your face isn't the problem, it's your heart that is.”

Discord was crushed by this. He didn't want her to think of him like that. He then heard the sound of someone walking in the water. Discord looked up and saw Spike walking towards the gate to the lair. He smiled slyly.

Fluttershy heard it too and looked to see what was making that sound. She gasped. “Spike!” she screamed. She then motioned for him to leave.

Discord smiled. “I'd hoped that you would come,” he told Spike. He then opened the gate. “Come in, make yourself at home.”

Spike looked at Fluttershy, who was shaking her head, and clenched his fist to look strong. He ignored Fluttershy's attempts to warn him. “I came to free her,” he told Discord.

Discord laughed. Spike went up to Fluttershy and hugged her. “Everything will be fine,” he told her. “I love you.”

Fluttershy hugged him back. “I love you t...”

Before she could finish her word, Spike was being pulled away from her. She watched in shock as Discord pulled Spike up to the gate. He put him up to the gate and tied a noose around his head. “Now no one can save you, except Fluttershy!” he told Spike. Discord then laughed. “And we all know that is NOT going to happen!”

Fluttershy stood there, still in shock, not knowing what to do. Discord then let go of the rope tied to Spike's neck and tied it around another part of the gate for safe keepings. He then walked up to Fluttershy and put his hands on the side of her arms. “Start a new life with me,” he said. “He can be let free if you stay here with me forever.”

“What if I don't want to?” she asked quietly.

Discord looked at her and hen at Spike. “Then he dies,” he answered her.

Fluttershy got even more scared than before. “This is the choice,” he told her. “This is it.”

Fluttershy then took a deep breath. “I might have felt sorry for you,” she told him. She then looked over at Spike who was almost about to die. “Now I don't!”

Spike looked at Fluttershy. “I'm sorry,” he apologized.

Fluttershy looked at him and smiled to comfort him. Fluttershy then looked at Discord. “I thought we might have had a good chance, but now those chances are ruined,” she said.

“Either way you choose you cannot win!” Discord yelled at her. “So what will it be? Are you going to end your days with me? Or will you send him to his grave?”

Discord then untied the rope from the gate and pulled it. “Why make her miserable to save me?” he asked him.

Fluttershy started to cry not knowing what to do. “Please stop!” she yelled.

“Just say no, Fluttershy!” Spike ordered her. “I'll be fine! Just say no!”

Fluttershy then looked down. “You deceived me,” she muttered to herself. “I just... gave my mind blindly not knowing what I was getting into.”

Discord then stopped pulling hard n the rope and looked at her. “Make your choice,” he told her.

Fluttershy looked at Discord with tears in her eyes. “What are you doing?” she asked him. “Who has taught you this is the way to act?”

Discord still looked at her. Fluttershy started to walk towards him. “You feel like you've been abandoned by everyone,” she said. “I'm sorry for that, but you have to understand, that you're not abandoned by everyone.”

“What do you mean?” Discord asked.

Fluttershy smiled. “You're not alone,” she answered him. She then closed her eyes and kissed him. Soft at first, then she began to kiss harder. She felt like she needed to do this to make him feel loved. She did love him, but her love has grown to die.

Their kiss was interrupted by the chants of the mob coming closer. Discord looked at Fluttershy and started to cry. Fluttershy smiled to show him everything was alright. Discord kept crying, then he went over to Spike and untied the ropes around him.

Discord then pushed Spike away. “Go,” he said. “Take her and leave me.”

Spike then ran over to Fluttershy and tried to take her, but she stayed still looking at Discord. “I said GO! Take the boat and never a tell a soul about me, the angel in Hell,” he told them.

Spike pulled Fluttershy into the boat. Discord then ran up to his bedroom and turned on the music box. It twinkled it's little music. He smiled and stroked it. “Hide your face so that world will never find you,” he sang in tune to the music.

Something caught his eye. It was Fluttershy. She was standing in front of him looking like she was about to release the Hoover Dam. Discord smiled. “Fluttershy,” he started. He smiled and cried a little. “I love you.”

Fluttershy released all her tears and looked at the ring he had given her on her finger. She then slowly slipped it off and gave it to him. She then mouthed, “I'm sorry”. She then started to walk away towards the boat. She then looked behind her and saw Discord sitting there.

“Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime,” she sang to Discord the same words he had sung to her.

“Say the word and I will follow you,” Spike chimed in taking Fluttershy's hand.

Fluttershy didn't mean for him to chime in, it was more for Discord. As Spike pulled her away, she looked at Discord. “Share each day with me, each night, each morning,” she sang looking at Discord.

Spike then put her in the boat and they sailed away. Discord looked at the ring that Fluttershy just gave him. He then slipped it on his left ring finger.

“You alone could make my song take flight,” he muttered to himself fighting back the tears. He then took a candle stock and held it tight. “It's over now, the music of the night!” he sang as he smashed all the mirrors in his lair.

He then walked to his bed and hid under the covers. Sweetie Belle and the rest of the mob came into the lair. She ran up to his bedroom and saw a lump in the bed. She picked up the blanket and nothing there, but a white mask.

Sweetie Belle picked it up and looked around for anything else that could be there. But there was nothing. She wondered where and the world could he be hiding.

Epilogue

We are back in present day, fifty years after the events that had just happened, and Spike has just arrived at the cemetery. He is being pushed in his wheelchair by his caregiver, Cheerilee.

All of a sudden, Cheerilee had stopped pushing. Spike got out of his wheelchair and stood up to place the monkey music box by a gravestone. He looked up at the tombstone and cried. It read:

Here Lies Fluttershy

A very beautiful young girl who was a rising star at the Canerlot Opera House.

1879 – 1905

Spike cried and looked down. Someone had all ready payed a visit to Fluttershy. There, next to the tombstone, was a red rose with a ring tied around it. Spike looked at it and wondered “How?”. But he had no idea. He then went home and lived a few more years.

Introduction

Introduction

It was in the great city of Canterlot that there once was an opera house. The opera house that was magnificently beautiful. It had beautiful gold statues of Greek Goddess Ponies and red velvet audience seats. It was beautiful. Anypony who was anypony wanted to preform there.

Unfortunately, Rarity always stole the spotlight off of anypony who was preforming. She also was a huge diva. She wanted everything to be perfect, and if she wasn't ready for the show, the show wouldn't start. She complained about everything.

Then there was a young mare named Fluttershy. She was only 17 when she started working as a dancer and chorus girl at the opera. She wanted to be the star of the show, but her stage fright held her dream back. It is extremely hard to be a famous opera singer and have stage fright. This was her only problem, other wise she was flawless.

Her best friend, she was another dancer, was named Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle was a gifted dancer. She had a really good voice also, but Fluttershy had an amazing one. Sweetie Belle's mother, Twilight Sparkle, has been keeping something from her. But what?

Spike is a rich young dragon who has an opera box in the opera house. Fluttershy and him had been friends when they were littler. Spike may have even liked Fluttershy as more than a friend.

This is just some things you'll need to know before you read the story.