A Trip to Luna's Moon, or the Equestrian Dream Factory

I sat back a little, looking up at the roof of the theatre above me. Beside me, Director Horsehooves sighed and pulled himself up from the bench. I waited for him to continue, but he seemed to have run out of things to say. “Well? Then what happened?” I finally pushed, realizing that Horsehooves seemingly wasn’t going to continue.

Horsehooves looked down at me, an eyebrow raised. “That’s it. The end of the story.”

I felt my mouth drop open. “So... What was the point? I may not have known a lot of that story, but I still know basic history. Hundreds of ponies would still protest against zebra rights that year. And they would continue every year after to this very day,” I felt my heart suddenly sink. “You’re telling me that all of what Flicker Light went through was for nothing?”

Horsehooves gave a small, yet sad laugh at that. “No, I’m not saying it was all for nothing. It’s true that Flicker failed to save everypony from hatred, but a lot of ponies' hearts were changed that night because of him. A lot of ponies are still changing because of him. And I’ll tell you something else as well,” he paused, giving me a smirk. “Zebras voted that year. And the year after. And the year after that. That doesn’t sound like a failure to me.”

Director Horsehooves turned, taking in the empty theatre around us. “Flicker Light would go on to make hundreds of movies over the next few years. Shadow would act in every single one of them too. His films progressively got better over the years, though A Trip to Luna’s Moon would forever be his most popular work,” His face fell a little. “But Flicker never managed to fully escape tragedy.”

I pulled myself up to my hooves and trotted over to him, my expression worried. “What do you mean by that?”

“You might have noticed that the theatre we are currently in is not the FlickerLight Theatre I mentioned so many times in the story,” Horsehooves explained, gesturing around us. “This is the FlickerSilhouette theatre. A recreation of the original... Although a lot of the Nightmare gang would be arrested in the days that followed the 1902 election, they never fully went away. As the mob boss told Flicker, so long as pony hate, the Nightmare gang will always exist. And the Nightmare gang doesn’t make threats, they make promises. Five years after A Trip to Luna’s Moon premiered, the real FlickerLight Theatre would be burned to the ground. All of Flicker Lights films would be lost in the fire.”

“All… as in, every last one? But- What happened to Flicker Light? And Shadow? and-”

“Disappeared. Most ponies thought they died in the fire. With their films gone and everypony thinking they were killed, Flicker Light and Shadow Silhouette would fade away from history, forgotten… time would eventually move on...” the smallest of smiles suddenly played across his muzzle. “That is of course, until I entered the story…”

“Many years later, Horsehooves here found an old copy of A Trip to Luna’s Moon,” An elderly voice spoke up from behind us. Horeshooves and I spun around, making out the shape of two ponies standing at the top of the steps, smiling down at us. One was an old looking unicorn stallion, with a tan hide and a messy brown mane. The other was an old blue pegasus mare with a dark blue coat and wavy blue mane that was only a little bit lighter.

Horsehooves grinned as he saw the two ponies. “Ah, perfect timing. Please, allow me to introduce you to Flicker Light and Shadow Silhouette!”

I felt my mouth drop open. I pointed up at them for a second before looking back at Horsehooves, trying to properly find the right words. Nothing came to mind.

“The world had forgotten about Flicker Light, but I had not,” Horsehooves beamed. “I did mention I watched my first movie here did I not? After I found that old film reel I spent the next year tracking Flicker Light down, and after a long while, I found him. Working out of an old candy and toy shop at a small train station. Same one I picked you up at I believe.”

Shadow smiled, flapping her wings and swooping down to meet us as Flicker began to slowly take the stairs down. “You never could go without bragging about that, could you?”

Horsehooves gave her a sheepish smile. “To err is pony, to forgive divine... I suppose,” Horsehooves turned back to me, blushing a little bit. “Even when the world forgot about Flicker, the messages he had put in motion never died. And slowly, nearly ten years after the election of 1902, the legacy of Flicker Light was revived.”

Flicker Light chuckled, finally joining us. “After our rediscovery, and over the next few years, over five hundred of my films would be recovered,” Flicker stated joyfully. He glanced over at Shadow and pulled her close, nuzzling her neck a little. “We owe a lot to Horsehooves here. We were honored that he wanted to premiere his film ‘A Princess Diary’ here.”

I felt a little bit of relief flood through me. Their story had not been as happy as I had hoped, and even by just looking at Flicker Light’s tired eyes, I could tell he was a pony that had seen true tragedy in his life, but it had, at least, been happy in the end.

“And what about everypony else?” I questioned, slowly sitting back down on the bench. “Popcorn? Flim and Flam? The Bits siblings? D.W. Griffin? Did that nasty griffin at least get the what's for?”

“Popcorn worked with us for a long time,” Flicker said, his face filled with strange reminices. “We still see her from time to time, though she moved to Vanhoover a long time ago now.”

“Flicker and I looked after Flim and Flam for a few years,” Shadow added, smiling a little and laying a hoof across Flicker's withers. “But those two would eventually move on as well and travel across Equestria. Currently they are running a Casino in Las Pegasus, as I’m sure you are aware.”

Horsehooves gave an angry little snort. “Golden Bits and Many Bits would do as they said they would. They traveled to Canterlot and met up with a man named Thomhorse Edison. They would inevitably put a trademark on the magic lantern camera and make a lot of bits with their new business partners over at Edison Studios,” Flicker gave a small shake of his head at Horsehooves outburst, clearly not as upset over the ordeal as Horsehooves was. “It wouldn’t be for another few years until they stopped charging everypony that wanted to make a movie for the rights to use a camera.”

I felt my jaw clench a little. “And what about D.W. Griffin?”

All the gathered ponies exchanged sad looked before Ficker Light took a step towards me. “Griffin found great success in his film, ‘The Birth of an Empire’, but he would not find such success afterwards,” Flickers eyes and voice were far sadder than I had expected from him when talking about his rival. “Griffin would never let go of the hate that he had. He would even go so far as to make an apology film called ‘Intolerance’, though he never fully understood what he was apologizing for. Intolerance was a film far beyond its time, too far perhaps. He would lose a lot of bits on the film, and eventually, many years later, he would die broke and alone.”

I gave a smile that felt a little mean spirited. “Good. I say he got what he deserved.”

Flicker Light’s face was cast into even more sadness. “I don’t know if I can believe that myself. When I look at Griffin’s story, when I think about him… I see the story of an artist far beyond his time, that would make art with the power to revolutionize the world. I would see one of the world's most talented individuals, wasted on uneducated opinions,” His voice trailed away and he looked up at the ceiling, frowning. “Do not mistake my words as forgiveness for D.W. Griffin's actions. His actions hurt hundreds of ponies and zebras. He divided the whole world, and we’re still feeling those ripples today, but even still, I don’t see Griffin's fate as an evil pony getting his just rewards. I see it as the tragedy of a talented individual who failed to see a better way, failed to let go of hate, and in turn, would die alone. Perhaps poetically, Griffin’s undoing would be his own intolerance.”

We were all silent at that, the heavy subject having suddenly dampened the mood.

After a long moment, Horsehooves gave a thin smile. “I think it’s about time we head into the amphitheater, no? We’ll be letting ponies in for the premier of ‘A Princess Diary’ soon,” Flicker and Shadow nodded, slowly following Horsehooves as he trotted over to the large double door that led deeper into the theatre. Horsehooves stopped and looked back at me when he realized I hadn’t started to follow. “Are you coming?”

I nodded solemnly, looking away and at the theatre around me. “Yeah, yeah… just uh… give me a moment. I have a lot to think about.”

Horsehooves smiled at me, giving a small nod in return. “Alright. Come on in when you’re ready. Sorry the story took so long. I promise to give you that interview as soon as the premiere ends,” With that, he moved the rest of the way into the amphitheatre, Flicker and Shadow moving in behind him and out of sight.

I took a deep breath, soaking in the room around me. I had learned a lot today, but despite everything I had been told, this story was only just beginning. Equestria was a much nicer place than it was back before Luna returned from the moon, and maybe the streets of Coltifornia weren't run by Mobsters, Con artists and elitists anymore, but we all still had a long way to go until we could honestly say that everything was okay.

Perhaps hate would never fully go away for good. And perhaps there won't ever be a time where everything is perfect. But Flicker Light had fought for equality at the precipice of a new dawn, and in the end, despite the tragedy that would befall him, he had made the world just a little bit better because of it. The world will never be free of hate, but that isn't a reason not to fight against it.

And with Princess Twilight having taken the throne of Equestria, something told me we were once more standing on yet another precipice with a brand new dawn approaching. I didn’t know what this new dawn would hold, but I knew that it would definitely come with problems of its own. Some old, and some new. Now was not the time to look the other way. Now was the time to act. To do away with hatred and intolerance. To fight for a better would.

After all, isn’t that what all of us want, no matter what our beliefs and values? To make the world a better place? If not, then what else are dreams for?

A Trip to Luna's Moon, or The Equestrian Dream Factory

The End