The Grand Galloping Gala was in chaos.

Princess Luna had disappeared right before their eyes and everypony was running around like it was the end of the world. Those who didn’t run out of the ballroom doors had physically thrown themselves through the window, ignorant to the broken bones and sharp glass caused as a result. They didn’t get far since the royal guards immediately put the palace under lockdown. Those who didn’t try to escape caused a lot of unnecessary violence in their panic including, but not limited to, bucking the string quartet, flinging apple pies, swinging from chandeliers, and the good old stranglehold.

Sunset was desperately trying to calm everyone down from her place on the raised stage, but nopony was listening.

“All right, everypony settle down!” Sunset shouted over the cacophony of screaming ponies. “There’s nothing to be afraid of! Everything is under control! Please make your – HEY!” She ducked a flying table. “Okay, there’s no need for throwing furniture! You’re all overreacting – “

“SILENCE!!!” Celestia roared, using her “Daybreaker” voice. It had the desired effect as everypony immediately froze in place, all staring at Celestia and Sunset. Celestia coughed in her hoof and said, “You had something to say Sunset?”

“Er, yeah,” Sunset awkwardly. She stepped up and addressed everypony in the ballroom. “Okay, everypony, listen up. I know you’re all scared that Princess Luna has gone missing, but rest assured that we will find her. The captain of the guard has already erected a barrier around the castle, so nopony is getting in or out. Until the situation is resolved, we ask that you remain calm and answer any questions the guards may have. And if you see anything that seems suspicious, please notify us immediately.”

“In the meantime, please enjoy some Super Sour Lemon Bars provided by Lemon Heart in the dining hall,” Celestia added cutely.

The ponies stared at the duo for a long moment…then noticeably relaxed as if a switch had been flipped. They all chatted amicably as they filed out of the ballroom, looking forward to Lemon Heart’s Super Sour Lemon Squares.

Sunset Shimmer exhaled a relieved sigh and jumped down from the stage as most of the ballroom cleared out. While Celestia talked to the captain of the guard, Sunset’ friends came over with varying looks of concern.

“Is everything all right, Sunset?” asked Twilight, worried.

“The ruler of Equestria just disappeared into thin air and you’re asking if I’m all right?” Sunset questioned.

“Yeah, that was a dumb thing to say,” Tempest pointed out.

“That pony in the mask,” Moon Dancer chimed in. “Who was he? And why did he kidnap Princess Luna? It sounded like they knew each other.”

“Well, the guards are saying there’s one suspect…,” Sunset hummed thoughtfully. “But it’s impossible. There’s no way that stallion could still be around.”

“Who?” asked Starlight curiously.

“Never mind,” said Sunset, shaking her head dismissively. “Listen, I’m sorry this night isn’t turning into what you mares were expecting, but we’ve got a crisis on our hooves. Until Princess Luna is found, I’m gonna have to ask you to stay inside the castle. The royal guards are posted at all corners of the castle and on the edges of the barrier, and the secret tunnels are being blocked off as well. It’s only a matter of time until we found the princess and the culprit.”

“We can help,” Twilight offered.

“Sorry, Twilight, but this is a matter of national security,” Sunset rejected, shaking her head. “You mares just hang around in the ballroom and don’t do anything crazy.”

Sunset trotted away to speak to the captain.

“…So…we’re totally going to do something crazy, aren’t we?” asked Trixie.

“Obviously,” Starlight remarked.

“It sounded like they already have a suspect,” Twilight hummed, touching her muzzle thoughtfully. “But from the way Sunset was acting, it sounds like they don’t fully believe it.”

“Who was that stallion?” questioned Moon Dancer.

“That was the Phantom,” said Octavia as she cantered up to the Mane 5.

“Hold the scroll!” Twilight shouted suddenly. “It’s….”

“Canterlot Philharmonic first chair, Octavia Melody!” the Mane 5 announced in unison.

“You…already know who I am,” said Octavia, leaning back awkwardly. “And why did you say that all…simultaneous-like?”

“…We’re not sure,” said Starlight cluelessly.

“Octavia, what did you mean by ‘the Phantom?’” asked Twilight.

“It was the Phantom of the Gala,” explained Octavia. “He’s returned to claim Princess Luna as his own, just as he swore a hundred moons ago.”

“Who’s the Phantom of the Gala?” questioned Moon Dancer. “And what does he want with Luna?”

“Oh, I forgot, this is your first time attending the Gala,” said Octavia thoughtfully. “The Phantom of the Gala is a bit of an old superstition around the Grand Galloping Gala. Nopony really believed in it until now.”

“Trixie is sensing exposition!” Trixie proclaimed.

“It all started a hundred moons ago, during the Grand Galloping Gala,” Octavia explained. “As with every Grand Galloping Gala, the most elite ponies of Equestria would attend for a night of etiquette and merriment. But there was one stallion who stood out above all the rest at the time: Mr. B. Guile.

“Who’s B. Guile?” asked Moon Dancer curiously.

“One of the best actors of the time,” Octavia answered patiently. “From what I heard, he was a charismatic and handsome stallion who had a gift for enthralling everypony on stage. His performances were so legendary that tickets for his shows always sold out within the first five minutes. He was desired by mares and stallions alike. But the only pony who caught his eye was Princess Luna.

“B. Guile tried to charm Princess Luna, seeking her hoof in courtship, but Princess Luna rejected him. But even so, he refused to give up and ruthlessly perused the princess throughout the night, cornering her in every part of the castle. After a string constant rejects, things finally took a violent turn; B. Guile most likely never heard ‘no’ before. Things got out of hoof and B. Guile was physically ejected from the Grand Galloping Gala, publicly humiliated in front of his peers. B. Guile vowed that he would return one day to claim Luna as his and disappeared into the night.”

“What happened to him?” asked Starlight, grabbing a hoofful of popcorn that Trixie had magically pulled out of nowhere.

“Nopony knows,” said Octavia, shaking her head. “He was never seen again after that night. But story of the incident spread throughout the Grand Galloping Gala for the next hundred moons, becoming something of a legend. Only now the legend has come true.”

“You really think B. Guile came back for Luna after a hundred moons?” questioned Twilight. “No offense, but nopony other than an alicorn could live for that long.”

“Unless it really was a phantom?” said Moon Dancer, shivering.

“All I know is something took Princess Luna,” said Octavia.

“Well, mares, looks like we’ve got another mystery on our hooves,” said Twilight.

“You say that like we’ve had one before,” Tempest remarked.

“While Sunset and the royal guards are searching for our mysterious phantom,” said Twilight, “let’s start looking for clues. You wanna come with us, Octavia. Princess Luna is your friend, and we could use a sixth.”

Speaking of, where’s Grubber?” asked Starlight, suddenly realizing they were short one hedgehog.

“He heard ‘free food’ and that was the end of that,” said Tempest nonchalantly.

“Sorry, Twilight,” Octavia apologized. “I promised I would help Vinyl look for her mixing board. Apparently, somepony stole it during the Gala.”

“Then I guess we’re on our own,” said Twilight as Octavia walked away. “Let’s get to searching, mares.”

After dumping their very expensive dresses on the ballroom floor where anypony could take them, the Mane 5 headed towards the far side of the castle. They walked down the corridor…and they kept walking…and walking…and walking….

“Is it just me, or is this hallway longer than normal?” Starlight commented.

“And I think the background is repeating itself,” Moon Dancer added. “I swear, we’ve walked past that same guard six times already.”

“Hello again!” said guard waved at them friendly.

“You’re just imagining things,” said Twilight, stopping in front of a door. “Here we are.”

The Mane 5 walk through the door enter an office space with a large, claw footed mahogany desk, rows of bookshelves in the background, and a large portrait of Luna behind the desk (and a video game console tucked away in the corner.)

“What’re we doing in Princess Luna’s office?” asked Trixie as Twilight started skimming through the shelves.

“I figured there might be something that could explain more about this ‘Phantom’ character,” said Twilight, using her magic to pull down a book, shook her head, put it back, and grabbed another one. “At the very least, maybe she wrote something down about it that might help us find her.”

So the Mane 5 spread out across the office, searching for clues. Moon Dancer searched the drawers of Luna’s desk, not finding anything about the missing princess or the phantom, but she did find Luna’s secret stash of licorice hidden under a false bottom. Moon Dance looked over her shoulder conspiratorially and stuffed the pack of licorice inside her sweater, closed the drawer, and walked away, whistling innocently.

Tempest looked at Luna’s portrait thoughtfully, then decided to move it, thinking there was a secret safe behind it. There was a hole in the wall behind it, but instead of coins or jewels, there was a puzzle cube, a book made of flesh, a hockey mask, a bladed glove, a video tape, and a creepy doll all bound in chains inside a salt circle. Tempest put the portrait back slowly.

Starlight was skimming the other half the bookshelves when she heard a bunch of electronic noises coming from the corner. Trixie, as to be expected, was playing with Luna’s video game system. The lilac mare marched over to tell Trixie to get back to searching when she realized that the game Trixie was playing was Mares of War XIII. Starlight grabbed the other controller and spent the next half-hour making little foals cry.

Twilight, once again, seemed to be the only pony taking her job seriously. She had almost pulled down all the books in half the shelves, shaking her head when she didn’t find anything useful. She did discover some of Luna’s self-insert Daring-Do fanfiction (and made a mental note to read it later.) She eventually stumbles across a thick, leather-bound book and stared at the cover for a hard minute. After mulling it over, Twilight opened the book and flipped through the pages until –

“Mare, look at this!” Twilight suddenly shouted.

Everypony stopped what they were doing and joined Twilight, who walked over to Luna’s desk and slammed the book on top. The other ponies gathered around and looked. The book had no pictures or words – just lines of numbers and hoof-written names.

“Twilight, what is this?” asked Moon Dancer.

“It’s Princess Luna’s account book,” answered Twilight.

“Why are we looking at Princess Luna’s account book?” questioned Trixie curiously.

“And does it say what her PIN number is?” asked Tempest, which went ignored by the others.

“Take a look at this,” said Twilight, pointing to a line on the yellowing pages. “According to this book, Princess Luna spent made a withdraw of a million bits from the national treasury on the last day of the year, one hundred moons ago.”

“Didn’t she just spend that all on the fancy decorations, and food, and stuff for the Grand Galloping Gala?” Trixie pointed out.

“No, because look at the line above it,” said Twilight, gesturing to the line that read: ‘1 million bits – grand Galloping Gala decorations, and food, and stuff.’ “It looks like Princess Luna spent that money on something than the Gala that year.”

While the mares were fully immersed in the account book, they didn’t notice the wall behind them suddenly slide sideways. The Phantom of the Gala appeared through the secret passage, standing at his full imposing height behind the mares, his eyes glaring through the holes in his porcelain mask.

“What could Princess Luna have spent all that money on?” questioned Moon Dancer.

“I don’t know,” said Twilight, shaking her head. “It’s just says ‘future investment.’”

“Maybe she was doing stocks?” Tempest suggested.

As the Phantom leaned closer, Trixie could feel his hot breath on her mane and turned around. The stagemare stiffened, her jaw open in a silent scream, her entire body trembling at his terrifying presence.”

“Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-,” Trixie stuttered incoherently.

“What’s up with you, Trixie?” said Starlight, staring strangely at her best friend. Trixie wordlessly pointed at the Phantom, making Starlight turn around. Now it was her turn to stutter. Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-Ph-“

“Is this a new bit for your show?” Twilight questioned as they all stared at the duo.

“Ph-Ph-Ph…. PHANTOM!” Trixie and Starlight finally managed to scream out.

Twilight, Moon Dancer and Tempest spun around. The Phantom of the Gala rose on his hindlegs, making himself even bigger, and let out a roar so powerful it made their manes stand on end. The Mane 5 screamed in understandable fright, and Twilight instinctually catapulted the book in the Phantom’s face. The Phantom reeled back, momentarily stunned, and the mares quickly exited the office. The Phantom shook his head free of the daze, roared again, and chased after them.

The Mane 5 ran through the looping hallway (and the repeating guard) with the Phantom in hot pursuit.

“He’s gaining on us!” Moon Dancer screamed as the masked stallion gradually closed the distance with his longer legs.

“Quick, we can lose him in the Hallway of Wacky Teleporting Doors!” yelled Twilight.

They ran into a hallway with six doors – three on each side – and ran into the first door on the bottom left. The Phantom chased them inside and slammed the door behind them. The Mane 5 then magically exited the door in the top left, ran across the hall to the door on the top right, and the Phantom followed them again. Moon Dancer appeared out of the left middle door alone with the Phantom behind her and disappear through the top right, while Tempest and Starlight run out of the top left and enter the bottom right door. The Phantom appear alone from the middle right door, looking confused, then spots Tempest riding a pogo stick into the top left door and follows. Twilight rolls across the hall, somehow strapped to a stone wheel, and disappears into the bottom left. The Phantom comes out of the middle left door with Trixie, clad in a suit of armor, riding on his back and enters the top right door. Moon Dancer comes out of the middle right door paddling a canoe while Tempest “swims” after her in the top right. Two Trixies appears on opposite sides of the hall, run into each other, and creates a temporal paradox that shatters the fabric of reality and wipes them from existence. A third Trixie comes out of the top left door with the Mane 5 and the Phantom riding a tandem bike across the hall. Twilight comes out of the top right paragliding to the bottom left while Moon Dancer shoots across the hall riding a giant guinea pig.

The door chase sequence comes to an abrupt end when the Phantom comes out of the left middle door with Twilight directly behind him when he suddenly stops, causing Twilight to bump into his flank. The masked menace rounded on Twilight with a vicious snarl, and Twilight, in a moment of desperation, flashed her horn with a frightened squeak. The Phantom’s hooves flew to his eyes, momentarily blinded, and Twilight seized the opportunity to run down the hall.

She cantered through the looping corridor when somepony grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her into a closet. The Phantom galloped passed shortly after, unaware that he missed Twilight.

Twilight pressed her hoof to her chest, trying to steady her frantic heartbeat. The closet was pitch black, but she could somehow make out four different pairs of familiar eyes in the darkness.

“Are you all right, Twilight?” came Moon Dancer’s voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Twilight. “Thanks for the save.”

“You know, I have to wonder what the point of a Hallway of Wacky Teleporting Doors is,” said Starlight.

“It’s good for the bit,” said Trixie nonchalantly.

“Ugh, could somepony turn the light on?” Tempest complained. “I can’t see my hoof in front of my face.”

“Hold on, I think there’s a light switch…,” Starlight hummed. She found the switch and the cramped closest lit up from the solitary hanging lightbulb. “There, that’s – “

Everypony quickly clammed up when they realized that there was one extra body amongst them. The Mane 5 tilted their heads and saw, under the florescent glow of the flickering lightbulb, the masked face of the phantom!

The Mane 5 burst out of the closet, screaming. Trixie stumbled on her own hooves and landed on her back, gasping as the Phantom fell on top of her, pinning the stagemare down.

“AH! HELP! TRIXIE IS TOO PRETTY AND TALENTED TO DIE!” Trixie wailed, flailing her hooves wildly.

“Trixie, wait, it’s all right,” said Twilight, sounding surprisingly calm all of a sudden. “It’s not the real Phantom.”

The blue stagemare did a double take. Indeed, while it may look like the Phantom of the Gala, its body was noticeably hard and blocky. Trixie bopped her hoof again the “phantom’s” head and heard the telltale sound of knock on wood. It was a puppet!

Tempest pushed the dummy off of Trixie, who stood on her hooves and brushed her cloak, her face tinged red with embarrassment.

“Er, Trixie knew that,” Trixie mumbled.

“It’s a wooden puppet,” said Starlight, also knocking on the dummy. “Why is there puppet that looks like the Phantom?”

“I don’t know, but check this out,” said Moon Dancer, reaching for something underneath the puppet’s cloak. “Look, it’s Vinyl’s stolen mixing board.”

“We’re got a puppet dressed like the Phantom and missing mixing board stuffed in a closet,” said Twilight. “There’s something very suspicious about our so-called ‘Phantom of the Gala.’”

“Like he wasn’t already suspicious to begin with,” Tempest commented.

“I think it’s time we split up and look for clues,” Twilight declared. “That way, we can cover more ground, and we’ll be that much harder for the real Phantom to catch. Trixie, Starlight, you two search Princess Luna’s bedroom. Maybe she wrote something down, like a note or a diary.”

“Isn’t it inappropriate to look through somepony’s diary?” questioned Starlight.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Twilight reasoned. “Meanwhile, Tempest, Moon Dancer, and I will check the library and see if we can find anything on the Phantom’s true identity.”

“Hey, how come Moon Dancer gets to go with you and not Trixie?” Trixie complained.

“Because you and Starlight are best friends,” Twilight answered like it was obviously.

As Twilight and Tempest walked off in one direction, Moon Dancer sent a smug look to Trixie before following. Trixie remained rooted in place, glowering, so Starlight was forced to move her with levitation magic.

Under normal circumstances, the grand library would be considered a quiet haven for Twilight; there was even a sleeping bag and a tent in the corner with her name literally written on it. But tonight, the normally quiet shelves chattered with the din of a half-dozen guard ponies stomping around, pulling every book off the shelf expecting to open a secret passage. (And somehow none of them realized that the hidden lever was a book literally called “Secret Passageway.”)

“Whoa, this is more ponies I’ve seen in the library since…actually, I’ve never seen any other pony besides Twilight,” Moon Dancer remarked.

“Nerd,” Tempest snorted.

“Just ignore them,” said Twilight. “This library is chockful of books that date back centuries. There’s got to be at least one that can tell us a little about the Phantom.”

“What about the Phantom?”

Sunset came out from behind the nearest bookshelf and cantered over to the trio.

“Hold the scroll!” Twilight suddenly yelled. “It’s – “

“Princes Luna’s number one apprentice – Sunset Shimmer!” Twilight, Tempest, and Moon Dancer shouted together, making Sunset reel back.

“Uh…what was that all about?” asked Sunset uncomfortably.

“I don’t know, but it’s starting to scare me,” said Moon Dancer.

“How’re you doing, sweet thing?” said Tempest, winking flirtatiously.

“Sorry, Tempest, but I can’t be distracted by your hotness right now,” said Sunset determinedly. “I’m too busy looking for the princess. You know, the one that’s been kidnapped? For that matter, what’re you three doing here? I thought I told you to stay in the ballroom.”

“We want to help too, Sunset,” said Twilight earnestly. “We were hoping we might find something on Mr. B. Guile that could give us a clue about where the Phantom went.”

“So, you heard the old legend, huh?” said Sunset, shaking her head disapprovingly. “I thought you mares wouldn’t be so gullible. There’s no such thing as ‘the Phantom of the Gala.’ B. Guile lived over a hundred moons ago. There’s no way he would still be alive, let alone some back as some revenge-seeking ghost.”

“After everything we’ve seen and done over the past six months,” said Moon Dancer, “I think the idea of ghosts existing would be the most plausible.”

“Ooh, she’s gotcha there,” said Tempest.

“Just tell us where we can learn more about B. Guile, Sunset,” Twilight pleaded. “We worked together to save Princess Celestia. The least you can do is let us help Princess Luna. That’s what friends do, after all.”

Sunset bit her bottom lip, mulling it over for a moment, then exhaled an exaggerated sigh and said, “Follow me.”

She led the trio through the shelves to the furthest row in the back, into the autobiography section. Nopony had been back here in years. So much dust had accumulated that the dust bunnies had become sentient and were ridden by spiders, who had built an entire metropolis out of silk with skyscrapers, overpriced coffee shops, and a division of social classes that will eventually lead to an arachnid civil war.

Sunset used her horn to pull down a thick tome (and destroy some spider’s Cliffside mansion) and blew the dust off the cover. The titles was entirely faded and the cover was peeling off in many areas. She carried the book to the nearest reading desk and slammed it down.

“Here,” Sunset said to the trio. “B. Guile’s history is detailed in this book, but you won’t find anything of value, I promise.”

“Doesn’t hurt to looked,” Twilight remarked. “Thanks, Sunset.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Sunset waved her off. “Just go back to the ballroom when you’re done.”

Sunset cantered away and Twilight immediately threw the book open, kicking up a dust cloud that sent Moon Dancer and Tempest into a coughing fit. She used her horn to flip through the pages rapid, humming.

“B…B…B…B – ah, here we go!” Twilight declared happily, stopping on a page with a black-and-white phot of a handsome unicorn stallion. “Mr. Betsy Guile.”

“Betsy?” Moon Dancer repeated strangely.

“No wonder he shortened it,” Tempest snickered.

“Check this out,” said Twilight interestingly. “When Bridleway Theater first opened in Manehatten, B. Guile was one of the first actors to perform on stage. He performed the lead role in a number of successful plays including Rodrigo and Julia, Omelet, McBecky, and A Midwinter Sleepover.”

“Octavia did say he was one of the most famous actors of his generation,” Tempest reminded her.

“Hold on,” said Twilight suspiciously, squinting at a passage. “It says here that before the Grand Galloping Gala, B. Guile was already married with two foals.”

“What’s he doing hitting on Princess Luna if he’s already married?” questioned Moon Dancer.

“I can think of a few reasons,” said Tempest suggestively.

“What happened to him after the Gala?” asked Moon Dancer, choosing to ignore the taller mare.

“Let me check…,” Twilight hummed, turning the page. “It says here that shortly after the incident at the gala, B. Guile suddenly came into a huge windfall. He retired to Whinneapolis with his wife, where he spent the remainder of his years until he passed away peacefully in his sleep.”

“That’s the complete opposite of what the legend says happened,” Moon Dancer pointed out.

“I’m starting to think there’s more to this so-called ‘legend’ than meets the eye,” Twilight hummed suspiciously.

Suddenly, they heard a pair of high-pitched screams off in the distance.

“That was Starlight and Trixie!” Tempest yelled worriedly.

“What do you think happened?” questioned Moon Dancer.

--Twenty Minutes Earlier--

“Curse the despicable Moon Dancer and dumb smug pony face,” Trixie complained as she and Starlight entered Princess Luna’s, unsurprisingly, moon themed bed room. “I bet she’s smoozing up to Twilight right now.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard you…every minute on the way here,” Starlight groaned.

“You do realize this is your fault, right?” Trixie pointed out. “If you weren’t Trixie’s best friend, Trixie could be the one smoozing up to Twilight Sparkle right now!”

“Let’s just hurry up and search the place,” said Starlight, rolling her eyes as she walked past. “This place gives me the creeps.”

Trixie huffed, but reluctantly followed her instruction and started searching the room. Starlight first investigated Princess Luna’s bed, which was ridiculously shaped like the crescent moon, searching through her sheets and pillows top come up empty. Trixie found Luna’s “granny phone” – you know, that big clunky box that old people listen to music with. She flipped through Luna’s admittedly impressive vinyl collection and found one that looked good, so she put it on the “granny phone,” but couldn’t figure out how to make it work without a button or a switch. Starlight searched the bookshelf. Twilight said Princess Luna might have a diary with some answers, so she started pulling them down one by one. Trixie, having given up on the “granny phone,” trotted over to a giant portrait of Princess Luna, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Just then, a low growling noise cried. At first, Starlight was afraid that Phantom had come back, until she realized that the growling noise was coming from Trixie. More specifically, her stomach.

“Oof, Trixie forgot,” said Trixie, rubbing her roaring tummy. “Trixie was so busy with her show and this mystery, Trixie hasn’t eaten all night.”

“Same,” Starlight nodded. “I spent half the night looking for Sunburst, and the other half getting away from the self-absorbed stallion.”

“Luckily, Trixie came prepared!” said Trixie brightly.

The stagemare levitated her hat off and reached her hoof inside up to her shoulder. Starlight could hear dozens of objects rattling around as she got close before Trixie made an “ah-ha!” noise. She pulled out a pair of sandwiches that were almost as tall as they were crammed full with an assortment of foods, some of which did not look like they belonged on a sandwich.

“How much space do you got it there?” asked Starlight, pointing at Trixie’s hat.

“Trixie sent a scouting party three weeks ago,” said Trixie, returning the hat to her head. “They still haven’t come back. But never mind that! Behold: the Trixie special! A multi-level super sandwich loaded with hay, oats, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, horseradish, cheese, onions, lettuce, sardines, apple slices, strawberry ice cream, marshmallow fudge, bubble gum, cotton candy, spaghetti, chocolate sauce, pickled jalapenos, vegemite, and topped with a pickle.”

“Trixie, that’s so disgusting!” Starlight gagged. “Why would you ruin a perfectly good sandwich with a pickle?” Unimpressed, Trixie tossed said pickle from Starlight’s sandwich. “That’s better.”

“Whelp, down the hatch!” said Trixie cheerfully.

Trixie somehow managed to unhinge her jaw to take the entire three-foot sandwich in her mouth and ate half in a single bite. The result was several condiments flying out and splattering on Luna’s portrait so hard, it cause the frame to tilt.

“Oh crud, Trixie!” Starlight yelped. “Look what you did!”

“Eh, we can just clean it up after,” said Trixie, shrugging her shoulders as she swallowed the rest of her sandwich whole. At that moment, she noticed something fluttered out from behind the portrait onto the ground. “What’s that?”

Starlight picked it up. It was a folded piece of paper. Judging by how yellowed and dusty it was, it must have been stuffed behind the painting for a long time. Starlight unfolded the paper carefully and looked it over, her eyes going wide as she read.

“Trixie, take a look at this!” Starlight gasped. “It’s – “

BOOM!

The wall suddenly exploded in front of them, sending Princess Luna’s portrait flying across the room in pieces. Trixie and Starlight shielded their faces from the flying debris, lowering their hooves when it was over. They let out petrified screams as the Phantom of the Gala stomped through the hole in the wall, roaring furiously in their faces.

“It’s the Phantom!” Starlight yelped.

“Hooves, don’t fail me now!” Trixie shrieked.

The mares ran in place for the first few seconds before talking off like rockets, the Phantom just barely missing them with his hooves. As they ran across the room and out the door, Trixie bumped into the “granny phone,” which caused the needle to fall onto the record and started playing “Seven Days A Week” (1970) that magically played throughout the castle in the background.

The Phantom raced out into the corridor shortly after Starlight and Trixie, but they mysteriously vanished into thin air. The masked marenapper screeched his hooves to a stop and looked around. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary…except for a painting on the wall he didn’t remember seeing before.

It was a crooked picture of lilac farmer with a pitchfork next to her blue wife. The Phantom leaned closer, scrutinizing the painting. It looked so life-like – she could even the sheen of sweat on their brows. The Phantom grabbed the edges of the frame…and straightened the picture. Nodding in satisfaction, the Phantom resumed his search for the missing mares.

Trixie exhaled a relieved sigh.

The Phantom heard and came back, snarling. Starlight stabbed his nose with her pitchfork, making the masked menace cry out in pain while the pair ditched the painting.

The mares sprinted down the corridor and around the corner when Starlight stopped them in front of a cloth-covered table. The lilac mare silently gestured to the furniture, which Trixie quietly nodded to, and they both crawled underneath. The Phantom came around the corner just in time to see Starlight’s tail disappear under the cloth. He grabbed the table and lifted it off the ground…then made a confused grunt when he found the space empty. He looked around cluelessly, not realizing that Trixie and Starlight were clinging to the underside of the table. The Phantom put the furniture down, scratched his head, and walked around.

Once he was around the corner, the best friends poked their heads out from under the sheet and snickered. Unfortunately, the Phantom happened to peek around the corner again and howled in frustration. Trixie and Starlight took off again.

The duo soon found themselves in a closed off section of the castle that was currently undergoing renovation. Starlight visibly panicked as they could hear the Phantom’s gallops getting closer. Trixie looked around and spotted a bucket of black paint on a nearby bench when a metaphorical lightbulb went off in her head. Trixie levitated the paintbrush and splattered it all across the wall until it looked like the entrance to a tunnel. Trixie dropped the brush and she and Starlight somehow escaped into the painted tunnel.

The Phantom saw them going inside and sprinted full-force into the tunnel. The end result was the Phantom bouncing off the very solid wall, collapsed on the floor, and started seeing stars.

The Phantom caught up to them minutes later at the top of the grand staircase. Starlight and Trixie spotted him with startled cries and jumped on the railing, sliding to the bottom. The Phantom didn’t hesitate to follow them. But as he was halfway down the rail, he spotted Starlight with a hose, happily making a watery trail on the floor. After she was done, Starlight tossed the hose and Trixie pulled out one of her potion bottles from under her cape. She dumped the potion into the puddle, which instantly froze, making an icy trail across the chamber.

The Phantom had no way of stopping himself and hit the ice belly first, spinning around spread eagle across the room until he crashed into a wall, knocking over a suit of armor. Trixie and Starlight shook hooves proudly. The Phantom burst from the armor with a primal roar and the mares split the scene.

As the song came to a close, Starlight opened a door at the end of the hallway, letting Trixie in before shutting the door behind herself. The Phantom came to a stop in front of the door, fuming, and practically tore the knob off. He was taken aback by Starlight, who was wearing a tracksuit and a bushy mustache on her lip.

“There you are!” Starlight spoke in a gruff voice, pointing at the confused villain. “I’ve been looking all over for you?”

“Grr?” the Phantom made a confused grunt, pointing to himself.

“Yes, you!” Starlight chided him, grabbing his hoof. “We’re late! You’re up next!”

Starlight dragged the confused Phantom to another hallway, which had somehow been made to look like a running track in the span of a few seconds. A starting line was made in chalk with an overhead banner, seats were filled with cutout ponies and tape-recorded cheers, and Trixie was behind an announcers booth in a suit and glasses.

“We are here live at the Canterlot Track and Meet,” Trixie announced theatrically. “Up next, the fan favorite for the million meter dash – the Phantom of the Gala!”

“All right, Phantom, this is what we’ve been training for,” Starlight said, pushing the bewildered villain to the starting line. “All those months of excruciating training montages has come down to this. We either go home as champions, or we don’t go home at all!” She grabbed the Phantom’s face. “But you’ve worked hard for this, champ! I know you can do it! Now give me your ‘Grr!’ face!”

“Grr?”

“That was pathetic!” shouted Starlight. “You can do better than that! Say it like you mean it!”

“GRRRR!!”

“That’s the spirit!” Starlight cheered. “Now go get ‘em, champ!”

The Phantom eagerly got into a starting position as Trixie came up to the sideline wearing a referee’s shirt and equally bushy mustache.

“On your mark…,” said Trixie, raising the starting flag, “get set…RACE!”

The Phantom burst from the starting line, sprinting like a bullet leaving the chamber. The masked villain galloped at top speed through the looping hallway, his heart pounding in his chest with exhilaration…. Then his common sense caught up with him. He wasn’t a sprinter! He hadn’t even trained for this!

The Phantom slowly came to a stop, then looked back where he came from with a confused grunt. His jaw dropped when he spotted Starlight and Trixie’s discard clothes and mustaches on the ground. He reared up on his hind legs, hooves to the ceiling, and bellowed out a furious scream.

“I can’t believe that actually worked,” Starlight guffawed as she and Trixie sprinted down another hallway.

“Never underestimate the power of a good mustache!” said Trixie.

They were coming up to an intersection in the hallway when Twilight, Moon Dancer, and Tempest suddenly came from the right-hand passage. All five collided with a mighty crash! Most of the Mane 5 was knocked into a stunned stupor and Moon Dancer’s glasses had been tossed on the ground.

“My glasses!” Moon Dancer cried, blindly pawing around. “I can’t see without my glasses!”

Twilight shook her head free of the daze and spotted Moon Dancers glasses a few hooves away. She levitated them off the ground and put them back on Moon Dancer’s face.

“There you go, Moon Dancer,” said Twilight.

“Thanks, Twilight,” said Moon Dancer gratefully.

“What’s up with you two,” asked Tempest, noticing how shaken up Starlight and Trixie were. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“More like a Phantom,” said Trixie.

“You saw him again?” Moon Dancer gasped.

“Saw him? He chased us all over the place,” said Starlight. “He was seriously trying to nab us.”

“What’d you do?” asked Twilight.

“Besides make him the joke of several gags and caused him bodily harm?” quipped Trixie.

“We think he was after this note,” said Starlight, pulling out the folded slip of paper. “We found it behind a painting in Luna’s bedroom. Take a look at what’s inside?”

Twilight took the note and opened it with Tempest and Moon Dancer peering over her shoulders. As they read the message, their eyes went wide.

“…Ponies, I think we’ve just about solved this mystery,” Twilight declared.

“Now all that’s left to do is trap that Phantom,” said Tempest.

“How’re we gonna do that?” asked Starlight.

“With bait, of course,” said Twilight. “And I know just the pony for the job….”

Twilight, Starlight, Tempest, and Moon Dancer all looked at Trixie. Trixie looked behind her thinking they were looking at something else until she realized all eyes were on her.

“Me? Why Trixie?” Trixie complained.

“Because you’re the most annoying pony we know,” said Moon Dancer bluntly.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Moon Dancer!” Trixie retorted. “Trixie’s already been chased by that creep twice already. Trixie isn’t voluntarily doing it a third time!”

“Not even for a Trixie Snack?” Twilight offered.

“There’s no such things as – oh wow, there is,” said Trixie, surprised when Twilight pulled out a box with her face on it. “…Trixie doesn’t remember signing off on that.”

“C’mon, Trixie,” Twilight pleaded. “You’re the only one who can do it. Please.”

“…All right,” Trixie conceded reluctantly. “But only because Trixie is curious about these Trixie Snacks.” Twilight whipped out a Trixie-shaped cookie from the box and tossed it into the showmare’s open mouth. “Mmm, blurpleberry….”

Trixie frowned as she treaded through the corridors at a would-be leisurely pace, talking in a very loud voice.

“Well, that’s it; mystery solved!” Trixie announced loudly. “All Trixie has to do is deliver this note to Princess Celestia and the Grand Galloping Gala is back on! Sure hope the Phantom doesn’t try to stop me!”

It was terrible acting, Trixie would admit, but it seemed to do the job. Because as she came to an intersection, the Phantom suddenly sprang out, stretching to his full, imposing height with an angry growl.

“And that’s Trixie’s cue,” said Trixie, getting ready to run, “to skidoo!”

She sprinted out of there just before the Phantom took a swing at her, barely missing. The Phantom galloped after the blue showmare, snarling like a rabid animal, unaware that Trixie was leading him back to the ballroom.

Inside the ballroom, Twilight, Moon Dancer, Starlight, and Tempest were hiding behind the doors, peeking around the threshold. They were pulling a rope taut at ankle level.

“There’s Trixie!” Starlight pointed out as her best friend came around the corner.

“And there’s the Phantom!” cried Tempest as the masked menace appeared after.

“Trixie, jump over the rope!” Twilight warned.

“What?” Trixie shouted, too scared to hear anything.

Unfortunately, Trixie tripped over the rope as she entered the ballroom and was sent flying. She landed in the middle of a red “X” painted on the floor, which was covered by a rope net. The net closed around Trixie, pulling her up and dangling her from the crystal chandelier.

“Oh no, danger-prone Trixie did it again!” Moon Dancer groaned.

“So, what’re we gonna do about this guy?” asked Tempest, gesturing to the Phantom who was standing directly behind them with a monstrous roar.

“Run for it!” Twilight yelped.

Twilight, Moon Dancer, Starlight, and Tempest started running in circles around the ballroom, the Phantom nipping at their heals like a scene out of a seventies cartoon. Trixie watched the chase play out from her position above when she heard a sharp cracking noise from above. She tilted her head back and saw that the chandelier couldn’t support her weight and was steadily breaking out of the ceiling. Before Trixie could think to do anything, the chandelier finally gave way and she dropped to the floor with a high-pitched wail.

And, by ridiculous cartoon logic, the Phantom just happened to run underneath at exactly the right time –

CRASH!!

The Mane 4 flinched briefly and looked back. The chandelier had been completely mangled in a twisted heap of metal and crystal. A few seconds of tense silence passed before both Trixie and the Phantom’s head emerged from the wreckage in a daze. But while Trixie unsteadily pulled herself from the debris, the Phantom slumped forward with a defeated groan.

The other mares cheered and cluttered around Trixie in a celebratory hug.

“You did it, Trixie!” shouted Starlight joyfully.

“Did what…?” Trixie mumbled, her eyes still spinning.

“You caught the Phantom!” said Tempest.

It was at that moment that Sunset, Celestia, and the palace guards finally showed up.

“What the Tartarus is going on in here?” Sunset screamed.

“We caught the Phantom!” Moon Dancer announced.

“Whoa, seriously?” said Sunset, reeling back in surprise when she leaned over and spotted the masked marenapper slumped on the broke remains of the chandelier. “Wow, I guess you did. Looks like you mares had this covered after all. I’m impressed.”

The Phantom slowly raised his head, the daze finally leaving him as he shook his head. He looked around and leaned back in terror as Celestia stared down the Phantom with a literal fiery glare.

“What have you done with my sister, Phantom?” Celestia howled, ready to go into full Daybreaker mode. “Talk, or face the wrath of the sun!”

“They didn’t do anything, your majesty,” said Twilight, gently pushing Celestia back. “Because the Phantom of the Gala is really….”

She used her horn to pry off the mask and top hat to reveal –

“PRINCESS LUNA?!” Everyone gasped in unison.

“That’s right,” Twilight declared proudly, gesturing to the grumpy monarch that had been exposed. “Princess Luna faked her own marenapping and has been posing as the Phantom of the Gala this whole time.”

“Wait, what?” sputtered Sunset, dumbfounded. “I don’t…huh…?”

“I understand why you’re so confused,” said Twilight, going into lecture mode. “To fully understand what happened, we have to go back one hundred moons, to the day the alleged legend of the Phantom first began.”

“Everypony knows the story about how an aggressive suitor swore to come back for Princess Luna,” Moon Dancer continued. “But what nopony knows was that the whole thing was staged.”

“Princess Luna hired Mr. B. Guile, a famous actor, to play the role of the vengeful suitor for a sum total of one million bits,” said Starlight, pulling out the fold note from earlier and passing it off to Sunset. “It’s all written write here.”

“’Dear, Mr. Guile,” Sunset read aloud. “Thank you for your service at the Gala. Your performance was spectacular; everypony at the Gala believed it. I cannot thank you enough. As promised, the one millions bits have been sent to the previously determined drop point. One of my most loyal guards will be waiting to deliever your payment. Don’t worry, he won’t tell a soul. I wish you and your wife a happy retirement. Signed…Princess Luna.”

“That’s right, the whole thing was just a ruse,” said Twilight. “After that, Princess Luna would cycle the rumors of the Phantom for the next hundred moons, turning the incident into a full-blown legend. She waited a hundred moons before she would begin the next phase of her plan: the Phantom spooky return.”

“But why did she wait a hundred moons to make her next move?” questioned Celestia.

“Because by that time, nopony would be around who remembers the truth about what happened that night,” Tempest explained. “Nopony except an immortal alicorn, that is.”

“But we say Princess Luna be marenapped on stage,” Sunset pointed out.

“Trixie can answer this one!” Trixie announced brightly. Her horn lit up and she teleported the Phantom puppet and mixing board from earlier. “Princess Luna had this puppet set up in advanced. Once she was on stage, she would use her magic to teleport this dool into the ballroom. Then she would use a pre-recorded message on this mixing board she stole from Vinyl, altering her voice to make it sound like a stallion.”

“That explains why she hasn’t said a word the entire time she was chasing us,” Tempest pointed out. “If she talked, it would expose her as the Phantom.”

“But what I don’t understand is why she would go through with this convoluted plot,” said Celestia.

“I think I know,” said Sunset, shaking her head. “Like me, Princess Luna hates the Grand Galloping Gala. It’s long, bored, and she has to greet ponies the entire night. Honestly,. I can’t blame her.”

“Princess Luna’s plan was the fake her own marenapping during the Gala,” Twilight explained. “She would ‘miraculously’ escape the next day and use her marenapping as a justifiable reason to cancel the Grand Galloping Gala forever.”

“And I would’ve gotten away with it, too!” Luna snapped. “If it wasn’t for you meddling ponies! And your dumb dragon!”

Spike, who had been enjoying a plate of donuts at Pony Joe’s looked up, insulted, and said, “Hey, I wasn’t even in this episode!”

“Guards, please make sure my little sister is escorted to her room,” Celestia commanded. “She is grounded until the next season.”

The guards saluted, pulled their pouting monarch out of the wreckage, and then guided her out of the ballroom.

“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle and friends,” said Celestia gratefully. “What Luna did was irresponsible, but you ponies came through and solved the mystery in the end. And while the evening may not have gone as you planned, I'm sure you'll agree that in the end it didn't turn out so bad for this group of friends.”

“Yeah, I guess it was pretty exciting, wasn’t it?” said Twilight, smiling. “We got to solve a mystery –“

“Hang out with our friends,” Moon Dancer added.

“Had a wacky chase sequence,” Starlight giggled.

“Caused lots of property damage,” Tempest snickered.

“This night started out horrible,” said Twilight. “But working together like this has made it all better. In fact, it’s made it – “

“THE BEST NIGHT EVER!” The Mane 6 cheered.

“Trixie-Dooby-Doo!” Trixie howled.

The Celestia and the Mane 6 laughed together as they closed another chapter on their story….

Completely unaware that they were being watched through the window.

Sunshine Starhunter lowered herself from the windowsill, hiding within the bushes, then pulled out her strange device and held it to her ear.

“Zip, it’s me,” Sunshine whispered conspiratorially. “I doesn’t look like the trigger event has happened yet.”

“It’s been almost six months, Sunny –

“I thought you said you calculated when the trigger event took place,” said Zip impatiently into her headset.

“I said I was making an ‘estimated guess,’” Sunny retorted. “There are almost no surviving records of old Equestrian history. All we have are the few notes my dad managed to scrounge up.”

Zip blew out of her muzzle in irritation, but she didn’t say anything. She started making her way out of the cave that served as their base of operations, hobbling slowly so that she didn’t fall over. That’s what happens when you have only three hooves and no wings.

“We can’t screw this up, Sunny,” said Zip, wincing as the scars that covered half her face started flaring up again. “We sacrificed so much for this one chance – “

“DON’T talk to me about what we sacrificed, Zip!” Sunny snapped. “I was THERE, remember? I was the one who lead our friends into that Tartarus hole. I…I watched what they did to them. What they did to…to Hitch…Izzy…Sprout…even poor Sparky….”

“I’m…I’m sorry…,” Zip apologized remorsefully. “I know. I…I shouldn’t have brought it up….”

“…We’re going to change things, Zip,” said Sunny resolutely. “We’re going to set things right and get all our friends back.”

“…I hope to heaven that you’re right,” Zip mumbled.

Zip exited the cave, wincing at the sudden brightness of the sun. She hobbled over to the edge of the cliff and stared out at her homeland: a complete barren wasteland absolutely devoid of all life. In every direction you looked, you would see nothing but white sand with a few smatterings of rocks here and there.

The only sign of anything that remotely resembled civilization was the jagged black towers barely visible in the distance.

If you listened close enough, you could hear the buzzing a thousands of giant insect wings….

To be continued in....

Author's Note

Well, it only took about *checks date* wow, four years. But it's finallyy done! The first book of ASF is finally finished.

I hope I left some juicy tidbits that will keep you interested in coming back. The original Mane 6 return with some interesting new backstories and Sunny's plot will carry through out most of the series, so stay tuned for more!