Movie Magic: the EM2 cut

by The Blue EM2

Vanishing Act

Pinkie Pie sat in the chair, thoroughly annoyed. Her search for the mythical cupcake fountain had not succeeded, and she had gotten lost in the studio buffet. She sighed. "Three lunch buffets, six different kinds of fondue, two rooms with nothing but candy, and still NO CUPAKE FOUNTAIN!" She glanced to her right. "Oh, well. At least we found those peanut butter praline crunch bars! They weren't in my guidebook, but they sure were delicious!"

Spike, who was sat on her right, looked like he was thoroughly stuffed. He sighed loudly. "I'll say. You think they got any more? I really have no idea how the chocolate in the crunch bars hasn't affected me, but I think we can chalk that one up to Equestrian magic, as with most things here."

Suddenly, Canter Zoom entered, alongside a rather irate Chestnut Magnifico. He looked incredibly worried, and had the look of a man who had just experienced the full wrath of a complete drama queen. "Ahh!" he cried in frustration. "One more month, Chestnut! That's all we need!" He began frantically waving his arms about in his efforts to convince her to see his point of view. "I'm doing everything I can to keep us on schedule! But with all the setbacks we've had, I don't think we can do it! If you could just agree to stay on for one more month-!"

"UNNACEPTABLE!" Chestnut screamed suddenly. "JUST... UNNACAPTABLE!"

"But-!"

"Where are my imported peanut butter praline crunch bars?!" Chestnut demanded. "They keep going missing, and I demand to know who is stealing them from right under my nose!"

As she stomped off, and Canter followed frantically, trying desperately to salvage the situation, Spike looked at Pinki,e not entirely sure what he had just witnessed. "Now would probably be a good time to resume the search for that cupcake fountain," he whispered to Pinkie, and the pair beat a hasty retreat.

---

Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Juniper wandered the backlot with smiles on their faces. They (Twilight and Rainbow Dash at least) were getting an exclusive guided tour of movie history, with so many classic sets and probs on display before them.

"And this," Juniper told them, "is the golem from Daring Do and the Purple Rose of Cairo!" She pointed to a large rock figure. "That was the first of the Daring Do movies we shot here, and the prop was powered by a combination of electric motors, powered from an off screen generator, and puppetry."

"You were on set for that?" Twilight asked. "It must have been quite a sight to see."

"That was before I worked here," Juniper stated. "Canter is just one of several directors who works here. We also have Mr Wheedon, who's working on the Power Ponies reboot, and John Lassburger is currently working on Electro cycles. I have no idea if it'll ever catch on."

"I've only seen Canter's name on the most recent films in the series," Rainbow Dash noted. "But the franchise stretches back decades. Who else has directed them?"

"Michael Bay," said a fourth voice, which caused the three girls to jump and looked behind them. Standing there was a man in a white shirt, jeans, and black shoes. He had white, short hair in a military haircut, and pale eyes. He was very big and muscular, and was clearly quite a strong fellow.

As he stepped toward them, he continued speaking. "I have no idea who thought giving those films, let alone any film at all, to Bay was a good idea. Sure, the explosions were good, but the shaking camera meant you had no idea what was going on."

An awkward silence followed. A few seconds later, Juniper decided to break it, speaking up. "Uh, guys? This is Mr Anderson, the facility caretaker and all around handyman! He's also been here the longest of any of us, having worked at the studio since it opened!"

"Which was in 1975," Anderson informed her, looking over to the trio. "I appreciate that you are fans of these films, but please do remember that this is an active film studio and not a museum or convention. As a result, please take care and watch the fangirling- some people around here find it very annoying." He paused. "While you are at it, listen out for all bells and announcements." He took out a set of keys. "You wouldn't want to get locked in here, would you?" With that, he walked away and into the open sunlight.

Twilight looked at Juniper "What's up with him?"

"Oh, he's like that with everyone!" Juniper laughed. "But he's a nice guy really, and super dedicated to his job. Once I locked myself in one of the soundstages, and he drove all the way over to get me out!" Deciding to change the topic, she pointed over to two robot like objects on the wall. "Those look familiar?"

"Aren't those Amplified Mobility Platforms?" Twilight asked.

"What now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Avatar?" Twilight prompted.

"Those two weren't used in the movie, but were exibited at E3 in Los Angeles in 2009 and 2010 respectively," Juniper exclaimed. "They filmed some of the motion capture footage here, and in return 20th Century Fox let us store them. Canter's an extra in the film, and even got James Cameron's autograph. A shame Avatar 2 got delayed." Juniper led her two friends out of the soundstage, and the trio walked around a bend, where railway tracks were layed into the ground. "And now, the piece de resistance of the tour! The Intercity 125, from Intercity!"

The train consisted of 10 passenger carriages, and two power cars, all painted in a blue and grey livery. The front ends of the power cars were painted yellow, as warning to those who might get in the way, and had sharply angled front ends with windows that looked more like old fashioned TV sets than an express train.

"This," Juniper told them, "was built as an exact replica of the real life prototype High Speed Train in the UK. They've even got fully working Paxman Valenta engines, the last ones in the world!"

"Can we hear them running?" Twilight asked. "I'd be interested to analyse the fuel consumption to volume ratio produced by such an engine."

"Not today," Juniper explained, "as we only run it on certain days. But the engine still works." She walked past the engine and towards a building nearby. "Fancy a stop at the Backlot Barbeque? Miss Eisley does an amazing strawberry smoothie. Just don't shoot first!" There was a pause. "You haven't seen my Bon Mott peanut butter praline crunch bars anywhere, have you? They've been going missing for some reason, and it's very annoying."

---

Later that day, the friends gathered at the volcano set for another shoot of Mojo's debut scene. Rainbow Dash seemed especially excited. "We got a free backlot tour from Juniper, but you guys should've seen the relics. Her voice suddenly switched to excted mode, with the volume to match. "They were amazing!"

Canter turned back, by now back in his director's chair, and with a visible look of annoyance on his face, now that his film shoot was being interrupted again. "Ugh!" He exclaimed. "Quiet on set, please!"

Rainbow's cheecks went red. "Sorry!" she whispered. "Maybe I'll just go take one more peek at them." And with that, she disappeared off faster than you could say 'Chestnut Magnifico'.

"And... action!"

Sure enough, filming resumed momentarily, but a huge crack developed in the set, which suddenly and very violently broke open, the volcano falling to pieces before everybody's eyes. Gable ran for his life, keen to avoid being hit by falling debris, whilst a collective gasp echoed from all standing offstage.

"Cut! Cut! Cut! Canter called. Looking at the absolute chaos before him, he sighed in disbelief. "What is going on around here? We just filmed on this volcoano, and it was fine! This could set us back weeks!"

"They're gone! They're all gone!" shouted the voice of Rainbow Dash, who was running onto the soundstage from the town set nearby. She looked utterly shocked, and came to a stop, her face pale. However, nobody was entirely sure whether this was from shock or running.

Canter, by contrast, stared at her blankly. "What's gone?" he asked, unsure what she was referring to.

"The relics!" added the voice of Juniper Montage, sounding as if sge was in a total panic. She skidded to a stop a few seconds after Rainbow Dash, and began breathing heavily, clearly completely out of breath and panting louder than a Westinghouse air brake fitted to an 02 at Ryde Pier.

Their was a horrified gasp from all. If the probs were gone, it meant only one thing.

Sabotage!

Author's Note:

The Purple Rose of Cairo is a comedy film directed by Woody Allen. Mr Wheedon is a reference to Joss Whedon, part of the MLP team, whilst Lassburger is a combination of the names of John Lasseter, creator of Toy Story, and John Ratzenburger, who voiced Hamm the Piggy Bank in the Toy Story franchise. And yes, that is a reference to the terrible Director's Cut of a New Hope.

Comments

[Wild Stallion]

As she stomped off, and Canter followed frantically, trying desperately to salvage the situation, Spike looked at Pinkie not entirely sure what he had just witnessed. "Now would probably be a good time to resume the search for that cupcake fountain," he whispered to Pinkie, and the pair beat a hasty retreat.

Their was a horrified gasp from all. If the props were gone, it meant only one thing.

[The Blue EM2]

10095318
Your point being?

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

As she stomped off, and Canter followed frantically, trying desperately to salvage the situation, Spike looked at Pinki,e not entirely sure what he had just witnessed. "Now would probably be a good time to resume the search for that cupcake fountain," he whispered to Pinkie, and the pair beat a hasty retreat.

Pinkie,*

"Those two weren't used in the movie, but were exibited at E3 in Los Angeles in 2009 and 2010 respectively," Juniper exclaimed. "They filmed some of the motion capture footage here, and in return 20th Century Fox let us store them. Canter's an extra in the film, and even got James Cameron's autograph. A shame Avatar 2 got delayed." Juniper led her two friends out of the soundstage, and the trio walked around a bend, where railway tracks were layed into the ground. "And now, the piece de resistance of the tour! The Intercity 125, from Intercity !"

Awesome!

"This," Juniper told them, "was built as an exact replica of the real life prototype High Speed Train in the UK. They've even got fully working Paxman Valenta engines, the last ones in the world!"

Fascinating.

"Not today," Juniper explained, "as we only run it on certain days. But the engine still works." She walked past the engine and towards a building nearby. "Fancy a stop at the Backlot Barbeque? Miss Eisley does an amazing strawberry smoothie. Just don't shoot first!" There was a pause. "You haven't seen my Bon Mott peanut butter praline crunch bars anywhere, have you? They've been going missing for some reason, and it's very annoying."

Well, this sure is a sign of the plot changing. Or juniper could be lying for all we know.

"Cut! Cut! Cut! Canter called. Looking at the absolute chaos before him, he sighed in disbelief. "What is going on around here? We just filmed on this volcoano, and it was fine! This could set us back weeks!"

"Cut! Cut! Cut!"*

"The relics!" added the voice of Juniper Montage, sounding as if sge was in a total panic. She skidded to a stop a few seconds after Rainbow Dash, and began breathing heavily, clearly completely out of breath and panting louder than a Westinghouse air brake fitted to an 02 at Ryde Pier.

she*

Sabotage!

Dun dun dun!