The Phantom Of The Opera - MLPA

The orange mare gently pushed open the wooden door, peering inside it cautiously. The keys she had used to unlock the door jingled lightly as she strode into the room, curious as to her friends disappearance. Once she was fully inside the dark room, she removed the keys from the lock and slowly closed the door behind her as silently as she could.

Applejack glanced around for a moment before saying in a hushed whisper, "Christine..!" When her call aroused no response, she began to inch forward farther into the room. Her grassy green eyes darted about the room as she looked around, analyzing every little thing she passed. She eventually came to a stop and looked down at a small table.

That's when she noticed it. A very faint light coming from somewhere across the room. She carefully set down the keys on the table and turned around to check if anypony was watching her. When she was sure that she was alone, she ever so slowly cantered over to the source of the light: a small shaft of dim light casting through a crack between a large mirror and the wall it was mounted into.

Upon further inspection, Applejack discovered that she could push the mirror to the side, making the gap between it and the wall grow enough to where she could step in with ease. Once behind the mirror, she turned around and a look of out astonishment was impacted onto her face. The mirror was made of one-way glass. She could see back out into the room.

The source of light that had directed her to this discovery was really nothing more than a candle mounted upon the wall. But this wall was not that of a small room. It was of a long tunnel, and Applejack was determined to see what lies within it.

She turned slowly and looked down the dark corridor wearily, little to no light inside of it at any point. This wouldn't stop her though, and as she slowly began to walk down the tunnel, she realized that there were small puddles of water strewn about the cobblestone floors. These were most likely caused by the continuous drips and drops of water falling from the ceiling, or what may be the floor for somewhere else.

As she looked around at the arched structuring of the passage, Applejack couldn't help but step in one of the small puddles littering the floor. When she looked down to see what she knew she stepped in, she let out a small squeak of horror. This passageway had very large, hairy rats scurrying about on its floor, and one of them had brushed against her hoof.

She sighed lightly at her own foolish reaction to the small mammals and continued along her path, now watching both the floor and the rest of the area. The moment she began to let her guard down though, a single green hoof was placed on her shoulder, causing her to shriek slightly and turn around to see the unknown pony.

To her surprise, Granny Smith had come into the tunnel to retrieve her. The old mares expression was that of annoyance with a very small hint of disappointment. As she took Applejack by one of her forelegs and began to lead her out, the orange filly glanced behind her to try and see the end of the tunnel. In short, it was no use, and she was led back out of the corridor.

(\CP/)

"Rahh!!" the brown colt with scruffy hair snarled at a few stage fillies, throwing his forehooves out to either side of himself for effect as they and all the others around him giggled madly between their playful screams of 'fright'. He grinned and turned slightly, doing the same to the fillies behind him now.

The colt stood hunched over slightly now as he spoke, telling what seemed to be an old story of folklore. "Like yellow parchment is his skin..!" He said, snarling slightly behind his grin as he turned and looked around. It was as he said this that Applejack walked into the room, trailing away and sitting herself in a corner near a small window. She listened as the colt continued his tale.

"A great black hole serves as the nose that.." he paused as he raised a hoof to his face, looking off towards another group of fillies as he finished his lined with a shake of his head, "Never grew.." He lost his smile and grew a more serious look now, glancing around the room before out stretching a single hoof and motioning to everypony. "You must always be on your guard." he warned. "Or he will catch you..! With his magical.." his sly smile returned slowly as he drew out a noose and held it up for the rest of the group to see. "Lasso!" he finished, looping around a closer filly mischievously and pulling her into him. "Rah!!" he growled again, teasingly gnashing his teeth as she threw her head back.

It was then that Granny Smith stormed into the room, her path aimed directly towards the brown colt. As she reached him, she tugged the yellow mare away from his grasp and snatched the lasso from the unplaced colt. "Those who speak of what they know," she chimed, speaking mostly to everypony, It was then that Granny Smith stormed into the room, her path aimed directly towards the brown colt. As she reached him, she tugged the yellow mare away from his grasp and snatched the lasso from the unplaced colt. "Those who speak of what they know," she chimed, speaking mostly to everypony, "find to late that prudent silence is wise."

She turned to face the colt now, and spoke directly to him with a stern tone, "Earthen Bouquet, hold your tongue!" Much to the surprise of everypony in the room, Granny Smith laid a well placed slap across the face of Earthen at the end of her statement, wrapping the noose backwards around his neck afterwards.

"And keep your hooves at the level of your eyes!" she commanded, a gasp filling the room as she insistently tightened the noose around his neck.

(\CP/)

A paper mâche music box played its gentle song in the background of the room. The figure of a monkey, in Persian robes, playing the cymbals was donned upon its top, and as the song played, it clapped its gently crafted cymbals together with a soft clang. This small noise stirred the sleeping Christine back into her awakened state.

With this awakening, Christine looked around curiously, not knowing where she had been lain. Then she noticed a pulley hanging from the ceiling beside her. When she tugged on it, the sleek black curtain around her began to lift, revealing the large cave she was inside the bowls of. She glanced over at the music box as it began to slow its playing, and eventually come to a stop.

With now no reason to stay in place, Christine rolled out of the large bed and onto her hooves once more. She glanced about slowly once more before taking a few steady steps forward, her voice sweet and soft as she began to chime her thoughts into reality. "I remember, there was mist.. Swirling mist upon a vast glassy lake.." as she sang her tune to herself, she continued to stride forward, the same look of confusion and amazement stuck on her face the entire time as she kept serenading anyone who could hear.

"There were candles all around," she said, now passing the exit to the section of the cave she was in and seeing all the many candles strewn about the place, "and on the lake there was a boat.." and so there was. Upon the still waters separated from her by many a candlestick, there rested a small boat. A gondola, to be exact. Now that Christine's attention was fully captured by the spectacle of all these things, she began to turn her head to the right.

"And in the boat, there was a stallion.." she stated, fully turning her head and noticing the figure in the sleek black cape sitting at the organ across the room. He turned for a brief moment from the instrument and the music he had been writing to look at the now awoken Christine and as he did so, Christine simply stared back at him until he turned back again.

Christine said nothing at first, but gracefully began cantering over to where the masked stallion was seated, composing his music. As she approached him, he took no mind to her, but as she began ascending the small staircase by the organ itself she also questioned things in the form of gentle song. "Who was that shape in the shadows..?" she asked, now quite near the Phantom compared to her previous location.

"Whose is the face in the mask..?" she finished, gently laying a front hoof upon his neck and caressing his brown cheek with her other. The phantom closed his eyes and leaned his head back slightly, not noticing the clear intentions of Christine. As she began to slide the mask off of his face, she gained a glance at what was before hidden and at this, the Phantom threw his hoof up and covered it back up defensively, standing quickly and pushing Christine to the ground.

"Damn you!!" he shouted, his voice loud and angry. "You little prying Pandora!!" he accused, glaring down at her and baring his teeth in rage. It was clear to Christine now that he did not want his face to be seen. "You little demon!!" he called her, storming over to a mirror covered in a large white cloth before tearing the cloth off and throwing it to the ground. "Is this what you wanted to see?!" he asked, throwing his hoof down to look at himself momentarily.

This was a short lived event though, as his hoof shot back up nearly instantly to cover the section again. "Curse you!!" he screamed, trotting back over to Christine who was still on the ground. "You little lying Delilah, you little viper!!" he called her, Christine's face wielding an expression of pure fear and confusion as she began to back away slowly. "Now you cannot ever be free..!" the Phantom explained, turning and walking away angrily as he shoved over a few candlesticks. "Damn you.." he said, "Curse you.."

It was now that Christine began sitting back up, perching herself up upon her haunches as she listened for the Phantom's song. "Stranger than you thought it.." he began, still facing away from the terrified and worrisome Christine. He sang once more, "Can you even bear to look, or bear to think of me:" he turned around and began walking back over to her. "This loathsome gargoyle who burns in hell but secretly," he was pacing about the room now as he sang, "yearns for heaven, secretly.." He paused in his place. "Secretly.." he said again. "Christine.." he said to himself, staring at the mannequin of Christine from earlier.

"Fear can turn to love - you'll learn to see," he said hopefully, beginning to calmly pace over to where Christine was seated, "to find the man behind the monster: this repulsive carcass, who seems a beast," he sang as he crouched down beside Christine, looking deeply into her eyes, "but secretly dreams of beauty, secretly.." He stopped for a moment now and looked away. Christine realized now the terrible inner pain the Phantom felt, and she began to pity him. "Se.. Cret.. Ly.." he sounded out each syllable as if the world depended on it.

"Oh, Christine.." he said sadly, looking down and away from the one he so longed for. Christine said nothing in response, but simply watched. She began to feel the gentle touch of tears staining her soft white cheeks. She looked at the miserable stallion in front of her and carefully nudged his mask back over to him in a caring manner. Without question, he took the mask and slowly placed it back upon his face, standing up as he did so.

Christine stared up at him innocently, her cheeks wet from the stream of tears she had endured. The Phantom regained his serious demeanor from earlier and looked down at Christine. "Come, we must go." he said, staying in place as he looked forward now while speaking. "Those two fools who run my theater will be missing you."