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

Flicker Light looked out the banks window at the moon. It sat glowing in the night sky, illuminating the dimly lit street with an eerie glow and making all the stars in the sky seem to shine brighter. His eyes locked on the face of the Mare in the Moon, imprinted on the large celestial bodies surface by a collection of craters.

Flickers eyes shifted from the moon to his own reflection. He had tried his best to brush his mane and look presentable, but no matter what he did, his brown mane always seemed to look like a mangy mess. He quickly patted at it with his tan hooves, trying to get his mane to at least look somewhat styled, but his horn kept getting in the way.

A mare with a small frame walked out of the room beside him, her eyes reading over a list on her clipboard. “Flicker Light? You’re up,” She said in a bored, monotone voice, not bothering to look up from her clipboard. “They will see you know.”

trying one last time to smooth out his mane, Flicker pulled himself up off the bench and glanced nervously at the large red door that led to the banks office. Gulping, he took a few steps forwards and opened the door.

"You want how much?!"

Flicker light took a small step back under the intense glare of the two bank managers. “I just need twenty thousand bits, that’s it!” Flicker quickly spat out, trying to make the amount sound like less than it was. He sighed. “I know that’s a lot, but I really think this could be a good investment. Film is such a huge opportunity and…”

One of the pony behind the large desk that Flicker knew to be Golden Bits slammed his hoof down on the table, cutting Flicker off. “You can't be serious? How do you hope to make money off of something so expensive? Where do you expect ponies to even watch these so-called films? The circus?”

The pony beside Golden Bits gave him a small nudge to quiet him. Flicker Light glanced down at the nametag on his desk and identified the pony as Many Bits. They must have been siblings.

“Look, Flicker Light… I knew your father. He was a good pony and a good business pony, not to mention that this magic lantern invention of his truly is a marvel, but he never expanded this whole film thing into anything bigger than it is for a reason. It simply won't work.”

“B-but it can,” Flicker protested, pacing back and forth in front of them. “I know it can. I have a dream, one I think could really demonstrate what film can do! If ponies would just give it a chance, then I really do believe that…”

Once again, Golden Bits cut him off. “You never did answer my question. How do you hope to get ponies to see these films? Where are they going to watch it?”

Flicker gave a smug smile and pulled out a stack of papers from his saddlebags and plopped them down on their desks. “I was thinking of building a theatre designed specifically for showing films! Much like a theatre for stage productions, only with a screen instead of a stage and an upper area for the magical lamp projector.”

Golden Bits raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “You’ve been thinking of building a theatre? You mean to say that you don’t even have one yet?”

“You seem to have a lot of ambition,” Many Bits said fatly, not bothering to look at any of the papers. “But your plans seem to be very dependent on a lot of what ifs. How do you expect us to fund your project if your so-called theatre hasn’t even been built.”

“That’s why it's so costly,” Flicker began again, once more trying to explain the ins and outs of his plan. “I would probably only need half of the money if I already had a theatre or studio space, but once all of that is in order, I promise that this will all be worth your time and money.”

The Bit siblings cast each other a long glance and seemed to silently exchange a few words between them. Finally they both turned back to him with grim expressions.

“I’m afraid we simply cannot support your project, Flicker,” Many Bits cooed, pushing the stack of papers back towards Flicker Light. “It's too expensive and too risky. There is absolutely nothing we can do for you.”

Flicker slowly slid the pages back into his saddlebag and looked up at them pleadingly. “Please? I really need this!”

Golden Bits scoffed. “It’s not happening. Go home Flicker. Come back when you have more than just a dream. Dreams don’t make money, only fools out of the ponies that pursue them.”

Splash!

A taxi wagon tore down the street past Flicker Light, one of its wheels splashing into a large puddle on the side of the street and drenching Flicker in a mini tidal wave of water. Flicker grumbled and shook himself off, sending beads of water flying in every direction.

It had started raining while he was in the bank. At first it had only been a small drizzle, but as he slowly walked his way back to his apartment, the rain had begun to pick up in earnest. Before long, the heavy rain was pelting the ground hard enough that the small water droplets bounced off the ground.

Groaning, Flicker pulled his saddlebags up over his head in an attempt to keep his mane somewhat dry. His efforts were not very effective, the rain quickly leaving him and his bags soaked all the way through.

Grumbling as a second taxi wagon rushed past him, Flicker glanced down the street before quickly stepping out into the road with aching legs and darting towards the other side. His apartment wasn’t a very far trot from the bank, but with his mood lousy and the rain beating down on him like drumsticks on a drum set, the walk couldn’t have seemed longer.

“Zebra’s are ponies too!”

Flicker heard the sounds of the ponies yelling long before he saw them. He paused at the corner of the road, knowing full well that a large crowd of protesters that had formed just outside of his apartment building. Just his damn luck.

Taking a deep breath, Flicker rounded the corner to face the crowd. Just as he had suspected, the protestors had chosen today of all days, and this street of all streets to make their protest. They were a large group of both ponies and zebras, though there were surprisingly more ponies than anything else. Many held large signs displaying messages against hatred, though a few just stood amongst them in support. Ponies walked past them with their muzzles held high, many refusing to even look at them, though Flicker did notice a few who had stopped to listen to what they had to say.

The protests had been going on for months, and with each passing day leading up to the upcoming election the number of protests and protestors had only risen. They had been demanding equality, fair rights and the ability to vote for zebras, and as the days continued to count down to the election, the uproar about the injustices had only doubled.

Not that Flicker Light usually minded. He couldn’t have agreed with their worldview more, he’d even attended a few rallies himself. But today was not a good day. Today, he just wanted to curl up in his bed with an apple cider and sleep. Was that so much to ask?

Apparently...

“Excuse me, do you mind if I squeeze through here? My apartment is on the other side…” Flicker said meekly, trying to wedge his way between a pony and a zebra that were waving a large sign above their heads that read, ‘Striped ponies are still ponies!’.

The two made way for him as he pushed himself forward towards the grimy looking apartment building. Before Flicker could make it much farther though, a silver pony with a pink mane stepped out in front of him and held up a clipboard with some sort of document on it.

“Excuse me, would you mind signing this? It's a petition for zebra’s to vote in the upcoming election.”

“Already signed it,” Flicker quickly replied, waving them off and continuing to move towards the building. It was true too, he had signed it only a few moons prior while attending one of the rallies himself.

He finally reached the entrance to the apartment and threw himself through the door. The moment he was inside, he began to realise just how soaked he really was. Within seconds a small puddle of water had formed below him from the rainwater slowly dripping from his drenched coat and he felt a sharp chill race through his whole body.

The elevator was broken, no surprise there. Flicker couldn’t remember a single day in his life when it had functioned properly. He slowly turned to the stairs and began walking up the long flight to the fifth floor, still shivering from the cold.

His legs had already been aching when he arrived at his apartment building, by the time he reached the top of the stairs, he felt like they were about to give out from under him. Flicker stumbled over to the door of his apartment and tiredly placed a hoof on the door handle, completely ignoring the notice of eviction note that his landlord had pinned to the front of the door. The notice had been there for nine moons now, he knew this was his last night sleeping under the roof of this apartment.

The door creaked open, letting the light from the hallway seep into the gritty room beyond. Flicker walked in and tossed his saddlebags down in the corner of the room. They made a rather unpleasing, wet squishing sound as they hit the floor, hopefully the water hadn’t seeped through them enough to damage all his papers.

Flickers apartment was practically empty. An empty room of stained concrete walls and a single window that overlooked the beautiful view of the brick wall of the conjoining building. To one side sat a lone refrigerator that produced a constant buzz and against the far wall by the window lay a beat up old plaid couch.

The only thing of interest was a small door that led into the far room. While most of the room was a desaturated looking industrial box, the door remained clean, a result of Flicker taking constant care of it. A sign had been taped to the door reading ‘Idea room’.

Walking to the fridge first, Flicker pulled it open and looked over the contents inside.

Nothing. The fridge held nothing but a single bottle of Sweet Apple Acres Apple Cider. Flicker took the bottle and slowly closed the fridge door, muffling the constant hum somewhat.

Sighing, he turned to face the door and slowly pushed it open. It was dark inside, a result of having no windows. Flicker ignited his horn and let the white aura of his magic spark the single lightbulb that hung from the ceiling.

The bulb flickered to life, illuminating the contents of the room with a dim glow. It was a small room, smaller still than the previous. Every inch of the room's walls were covered in sketches and storyboards, ideas for film projects he’d only ever dreamed of making. Images of flying clockwork machines and beautiful creatures from the deep filled up many of the pictures, with the largest drawing being an image of a cylindrical spaceship embedded in the eye of the Mare in the Moon. In one corner lay a stack of old film reels, most being shorts his father had made for the circus, though a couple being small, unfinished passion projects of Flickers and a magical lamp camera sat on an old, oak wood desk.

Flicker stared up at the large image of the Mare in the Moon, slowly taking another swig off the top of the apple cider. The image depicted his masterpiece, or at least, what he liked to call his masterpiece. The idea for the film had been his fathers, the gripping tale of a group of ponies that travel to the moon to meet the beautiful princess Luna.

Of course, his father had never actually made the film before he passed away, only the idea. He had spent too long making films for the circus he ran with, always leaving his real passions for another day. “I'll make it when I'm ready,” He had always said.

Flicker had taken it upon himself to finish the film, taking the idea his father had put into motion and turning it into a true tale. Not that all his work was doing him any good. No money and no actors meant no film.

Grumbling, Flicker light turned to the only other thing in the room that wasn’t a drawing; an old Zoetrope his father had given him of a running pony. He slowly moved over to it and gave it a quick spin, watching as the constantly spinning images made the pony look like it was galloping.

Flicker stared at the galloping horse for a bit as it slowly came to a halt before turning to look up at the large image of the Mare in the Moon. “I’ll make your vision come to life one day, dad. I promise I will,” He sighed and took another drink from his cider. “I know film has more to offer Equestria than just sideshow entertainment.”

Curling up around the Zoetrope, Flicker Light rested his head atop his hooves and let his eyes slowly slid shut. He allowed himself one more sip of the sweet cider before letting his magic wrap around the dangling lightbulb and flicking it off, once more casting the room into complete darkness.

Knock, knock, knock!

“Flicker Light!” A muffled voice called out through the door. “Flicker Light, it’s time!”

Knock, knock, knock!

Pulling himself towards the door, Flicker tugged it upon, wincing slightly as the blinding light of the hall outside his apartment flooded his vision and made his pupils constrict. His Landlord, Rosemary, stood on the other side of the door, her light blue mane dropping in front of her worried eyes.

“Hi, yes, sorry,” Flicker quickly apologized, magically levitating his saddlebags onto his back. They felt a lot heavier than the night before now that he was packing around all of his belongings. Not that he owned very much. “I was just packing up the last of my things.”

“I’m really sorry I have to do this,” his landlord said, her voice filled with genuine concern as she pried the eviction notice off the face of the door. “You do have a place to stay, right?”

Flicker glanced around him quickly before responding. “Oh… uh… yeah, I’ve got a place to stay. Don’t you worry about me,” He lied, putting on a fake smile that in no way reflected how he felt. “It’s not like you just kicked me out abruptly. I’ve had a few days to make arrangements.”

Rosemary gave him a sceptical look. “Are you sure? If you need, you can always stay at my place for a day or two. I wouldn’t mind if…”

“No no, I’m fine. Really I am,” Flicker falsely assured her, moving out of the doorway and into the hallway. He pulled the key to his… er… the key to the apartment out of his bag and floated it over to her. “I’ve got a great setup,” He quickly moved past her and started moving towards the stairs, trying his best to get out of the awkward situation as quickly as possible.

“Flicker, hold up just a sec,” Rosemary called out, making him pause. Flicker turned his head to look back at her. Rosemary gave him a somewhat sheepish smile. “I wish you the best of luck. Really. And if you ever make one of those films you’re always talking about, I’d love to see one of them.”

Flicker felt an actual smile reach his lips, probably the first true smile he'd had in the last few hours. “I’ll keep in touch and tell you if anything big happens. Thank you for being so nice, I know I haven’t been the greatest tenant.”

Rosemary gave him a sad smile as he turned and started the long descent down the flight of stairs. With each step, Flicker felt a strange sense of finality washing over him. It had been far from the greatest apartment in the world, but to know this was perhaps the last time he would ever walk up or down these steps, it felt like he was losing a part of his life he never even knew he had cared for. By the time he reached the last step, it took him genuine effort to step off and out into the street.

The rain had stopped, thank Celestia for that, though the sky was still obscured by a thick layer of clouds, casting the morning street into a dull, grey colour. A few ponies walked past him, but the area seemed emptier than usual.

He glanced down one way, then the next. The city was beginning to feel a lot bigger all of a sudden. Flicker sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll just… walk or something…”

A yelp of fear drew his attention to a tight alleyway beside him. Startled, and just a little curious, Flicker trotted over and poked his head into the alley, taking in the unfolding scene within. Two Stallions in dark blue coats had cornered a zebra mare into the alley wall and were slowly closing in on her. The zebra cowered in front of them as they grew closer, her striped hooves already pulling out her bits and offering them over to them.

“Hey!” The words left Flickers mouth before he had a chance to think them all through. The two stallions turned and looked at him, annoyed and angry expressions across their faces. Gulping and knowing there was no going back now, Flicker boldly stepped into the alley. “You leave her alone!”

The two stallions glanced down at the shivering Zebra mare before waving her off with a hoof. The zebra gave Flicker a grateful look before scampering off down the street, leaving her bits in a small pile by the stallions.

“Who do you think you are?” The stallion on the left growled. He was a tall grey buck with a short cut white mane.

Flicker gulped again. “Um… no pony…” He took a step back, only for the two stallions to mimic his movements and take a step towards him.

“No pony is right,” The other buck snarled, this one being a dark red stallion with a thin scar on the clip of his eye. “And we’re ‘bout ta make sure you don’t forget that.”

Flicker suddenly had a really bad feeling in his gut. This was going to be a long day.

“Ow..” Flicker mumbled, touching the tip of his hoof to his muzzle. It came away bloody. He rolled onto his back and watched as the two stallions trotted away from him and ducked around the corner of the alley.

Getting beat up could have gone worse, he supposed. At least they didn’t steal his stuff.

He slowly pulled himself to his hooves and took a shaky step towards the edge of the alley. His aching hooves wobbled, then gave out from below him, sending him crashing back to the ground.

“Ow again…” He mumbled again, once more finding himself collapsed on his front.

A yellow hoof reached down in front of him, offering to help haul him back up. “That was perhaps the stupidest thing I have ever seen,” A smooth voice said from above him. Flicker tried to twist his neck to see who it was, but he wasn’t able to get a good angle. “It's not every day that a pony stands up to the Nightmare gang like you just did.”

Taking a hold of the hoof, Flicker pulled himself back up. He stood for a second, trying to balance himself as he hooves once more tried to drag him back down. Once he was able to stand without fearing another collapse, Flicker turned to look at the mysterious pony who had helped him.

He was a tall yellow buck, with a wispy white mane that kind of reminded Flicker of a mix between cotton candy and toothpaste. He had a red and white striped vest over his barrel that was topped with a red bowtie and his cutie mark appeared to be a collection of three bits.

Flicker blinked at him for a few seconds, trying to let his mind settle and make sense of the situation. “Wait… the- the Nightmare gang?”

The yellow buck gave a small chuckle. “You’re telling me that you haven’t heard of the Nightmare gang?” At the shake of Flickers head, the pony elaborated. “They’re the biggest crime family in Coltifornia. Probably all of Equestria actually. No pony really knows why they’re called a gang honestly, they’re more of a mafia. If you know what’s best for you, you’ll keep your distance and not get tangled up with them. You don’t want to know what they do to ponies that get in their way.”

Flicker gave him a grateful smile and trotted over to where his saddlebag had fallen to retrieve it. “Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind,” Flicker threw his bag over his back and turned back to face the pony. “My name’s Flicker Light, it's nice to meet you…”

“Swindle Gyp,” The yellow pony replied charismatically. He looked Flicker over before his eyes landed on his saddlebags. Swindle Gyp’s eyes seemed to light up for a second as an idea passed through him. “Say… your name is awfully familiar. You wouldn’t happen to be the son of Lohorse Light Lumière? One of the two Lumière brothers?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I am. How did you…”

“I went to every one of their shows!” Swindle exclaimed, thrusting one of his hooves up into the air dramatically. “Oh, their magic lantern productions were simply breathtaking! Revolutionary! Packed full of enough magic to inspire me to my very core!”

Flicker let one of his eyebrows raise suspiciously. “Really?”

Swindle bumped his fore hooves together awkwardly. “Well, maybe I only saw one of their shows. But it definitely left an impression.”

Flickers face fell. “Figured as much. Glad it spoke to you though. Film doesn’t seem to speak to any pony else. Can’t even get anypony to fund a single project.”

Swindle tapped his chin for a second with a hoof, clearly only pretending to contemplate something Flicker had no doubt the pony had already thought over thoroughly. “You know, I have been looking for my next big thing. The next revolutionary idea! How about the two of us make a deal?”

“You want to help fund my film ideas?” Flicker said, his voice reflecting the disbelief that he felt. “Are you sure?”

“Well… not fund persay…” Swindle slurred, rolling the words around in his mouth. “I was thinking something more along the lines of investing my time and effort into getting you off the ground so that you can get the proper funding.”

“You actually think you can do that?” Flicker asked, his hopes both higher than they had been in years while remaining simultaneously reserved. “No pony else has that kind of faith in it…”

Swindle Gyp rolled his eyes. “Of course... I have tons of connections,” He coughed into his hoof. “Though perhaps not all the most reputable ones... I’m sure I would be able to pull a few strings and get some sort of business going.”

Flicker scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not fully knowing how to respond. “Well, we’d need some kind of studio space. And a place to screen the films of course. I want to do more than just small circus sideshows.”

Swindles ears shot straight up. He suddenly began looking Flicker over with more vigor. “A place to screen your films you say? You mean, like a theatre?”

Flicker gave a quick nod. “Yeah, some place we can renovate to house a large projector screen.”

Swindle's grin was infectious. “I think I know just the place you’re looking for,” He held out his hoof for Flicker to shake. “Well? What do you say? Partners?”

Flicker glanced down at the extended hoof before him. Something about the whole thing seemed a little too good to be true, especially after all that had happened over the past couple of days. Not to mention he hardly even knew this strange Swindle Gyp character. And with a name like that, he might just be conning him into giving up what little he had left.

But this was the first offer he had ever gotten that was more than a ‘come back when you’re more prepared’... And where else was Flicker supposed to go? Certainly not home. That didn’t even exist at the moment. the homeless shelter was really the only other option for him at this point.

Hesitantly, Flicker raised his own hoof and gave Swindle a firm shake. “Alright. You’ve got a deal,” Flicker paused, thinking over everything Swindle Gyp had said. “So wait… where exactly is this place you were talking about?”

The smile that Flicker got in return made him suddenly regret everything.

“This is the place?!” Flicker gasped, his mouth dropping open as he looked over the theatre.

The theatre had seen better days, in fact, the whole building was abandoned. The large sign that had once adorned the front of the theatre had rusted over and fallen from the building and the windows had become so covered in dust and grime that they had become opaque. The only thing that seemed to be somewhat intact was the glass doors that were inset into the front of the structure, though even those were coated in filth.

“Oh, it’s not as bad as it looks,” Swindle said smugly, as he trotted past Flicker and pushed open the glass door. “A bit of fixing up and it'll be as good as new. Besides, the rent is free!”

“Owner probably paid us to take it off their hooves,” Flicker grumbled, trotting after Swindle into the theatre.

“Exactly!” Swindle chirped happily; Flicker facehoofed.

The inside of the theatre wasn’t much better, being just as ramshackle and dust covered as the exterior. It was a fairly large front room, with a curved set of stairs on one side that led to what Flicker could only assume was an upper balcony overlooking the stage, and a small concession stand to the other side. A single set of double doors on the far wall of the room led into the theatre itself.

“Well, what do you think?” Swindle asked, grandly sweeping his hooves around him to gesture to the surrounding area. “Is this place something or what?!”

“It’s definitely something,” Flicker agreed, running his hoof along the stairway railing and brushing off some of the dust. “Place looks like it's haunted.”

“Some ponies say that it is,” Swindle said casually, turning his back and looking over the concession stand. He tapped it with a hoof. “We could probably sell popcorn or peanuts here or something. Give the ponies something to eat while they watch the movies.”

Flicker quickly held up his hoof as if asking a question in a classroom. “Hold up a second. What do you mean, ponies say this place is haunted?”

Swindle shrugged. “Beats me. Something about some actress falling from the catwalks back when this theatre here was still open. I didn’t really pay attention.”

“Um… Isn’t that kind of important though?” Flicker pushed, walking up and standing next to Swindle by the concession stand. “Aren’t you worried about ponies not coming because this place is haunted? the last thing we need is this place having a bad reputation before we even get it up and running.”

“It’s not actually haunted. Everypony knows ghosts aren’t real,” Swindle said, bushing Flickers concerns off with a wave of his hoof. “Besides, that’ll only bring more ponies in! Imagine the headline! Haunted theatre reopens! Watch Ghostly images come to life on stage! It’s marketing gold!”

“If you say so…” Flicker said, not sounding or feeling overly convinced on the idea.

“I do say so,” Swindle insisted with an enthusiastic nod, finally pulling himself away from the broken down concession stand and moving towards the double doors on the far wall. He glanced back at Flicker quickly. “Now come along! We have a lot of work to do before this place is up and running!” Then he ducked behind the door and out of sight.

Flicker moved to follow after him, only for a chunk of the roofs tiling to fall from the ceiling above and land by his hooves, sending a large cloud of dust billowing up around him and pulling him up short. He coughed and dared to glance up at the ceiling, spotting the hole where the tiling had fallen from. Something seemed to scuttle just beyond the hole and out of sight, but it was too dark and too fast to get a good look at it.

“Probably just rats…” Flicker assured himself, his heart pounding faster in his chest than he was comfortable with. “Just- Just friendly little rats. Nothing to worry about.”

“Well, are you coming or what?” Swindle asked, poking his head back around the door. "This place won't clean itself you know!"

Flicker Light nodded solemnly. “Yeah- let’s get to work…”