//------------------------------// // Four: The Haunted Movie Palace // Story: A Night at the Movies // by Mr Movie Magic //------------------------------// The next morning, they got ready for an exciting day on the streets of the entertainment capital of Equestria. There were so many sights to see: the Trot of Fame, celebrity houses, the celebrities themselves! So many choices, what to do first? Their first choice was an easy one: to go have breakfast. Where? Why at the famous Derby Hat restaurant! Before leaving the hotel, they collected hoof-fuls of fliers and brochures from the lobby and picked up even more, and a few magazines, from a sidewalk kiosk. As they ate, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were busy looking through the brochures and pamphlets. After they finished eating their breakfast, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, and Rarity stopped by a souvenir shop along the way to the haunted movie palace. The shelves were full of fun nicknacks and Applewood T-shirts. A rotating rack near the register had an assortment of fun postcards depicting Applewood at night, during the day, its famous attractions, and the big Applewood sign on the mountainside. "Two rolls of film for the price of one!" exclaimed a pony named Globe Trotter. "Now I can take all kinds of pictures! What a great deal!" Sweetie Belle and Rarity were looking around at the shiny collectables. “Rarity would like this,” Sweeite Belle said aloud to herself, pointing out a snow globe. Inside was a little representation of Applewood. She called out, “Rarity, look at this pretty snow globe I found. I think you’ll like it!” She showed it to Rarity. "Oh, I do like it, Sweetie Belle," said Rarity. She gave the snow globe a shake to watch the snow fall. "It's really putting me in the mood to start decorating for Hearth's Warming Eve!" Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were busy trying on sunglasses. "If you're gonna get a pair of shades, they have to be awesome," Rainbow Dash explained. She pointed several out. "These are way too big. These are too bedazzled. And these? These are so twenty moons ago." Then she found a jet black pair. "Now these are what you call an awesome pair of shades." In another part of the shop, Applejack and Apple Bloom were looking at the accessories. "Ah bet Granny Smith'll like this bonnet," said Apple Bloom. "And Big Mac's sure tuh love these bandanas," said Applejack. After stocking up on fun baubles and curios, the six ponies continued their way to the theater, taking in all of the sights and sounds along the way. As they walked along the streets of Applewood, they collected fliers and brochures from every news stand and kiosk they passed by. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack followed their map to the famous haunted movie palace. The Cutie Mark Crusaders could not wait to get there. They talked along the way about what the theater could have in store for them. “Ah bet there’s gonna be ghosts,” said Apple Bloom. “And unexplained phenomena,” added Sweetie Belle. “And daddy long legs,” added Scootaloo. “Daddy long legs?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “Well whatever they’ve got in there, there’s no way it’ll scare you, Rainbow Dash. You’re the bravest!” “I can’t argue with that.” They continued on their way until they saw it. It was the Applewood-famous haunted movie palace itself! “Here we are!” exclaimed Applejack. They all stood silent, staring at the once majestic movie palace. “Are you sure this is the right place?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Reckon so. Says so right here on the map.” The theater was not as glamorous as they had imagined. It was so rundown. The paint was peeling, the doors were boarded up. Letters had fallen off of the big marquee. It was easy to see that it had been a long – I might say a long, long– time since anypony had come to do any sort of renovating. “Ew, it’s so neglected,” observed Rarity. “So dowdy and drab.” “Well, it is an old, abandoned theater,” said Applejack. “It ain’t exactly gonna look like the Ritz.” There was a pony pushing a broom around the sidewalk outside the main entrance. He was probably the only one who even bothered to take the time to make the theater, or even if it was just the front sidewalk, look a little bit tidy. Rainbow Dash approached the stallion. “Hey, uh, is this the haunted movie palace?” “Is there another?” the pony asked. “I don’t know. My friends and I came to see the theater where Prof. Menlo and Mr. Kino disappeared.” “This is that theater.” “Oh, well, we just thought that-” The old stallion gave a chuckle. “I know what you’re thinking. For being so famous, for being an apple in the public’s eye, why is it so decrepit? Well, to tell you the truth, there have been ponies who have come to restore this beautiful movie palace to its former glory. No sooner does the restoration begin, everypony is shutting it down.” “How come?” asked Applejack. The old stallion pushed his hat back and began to explain, “Everypony says that the theater is haunted. Some say by the ghost of Prof. Menlo. Other ponies think it’s Mr. Kino’s ghost.” “Do you think it’s true?” Apple Bloom asked. “Well, in all my years of livin’, I can’t say I ever once saw a ghost,” replied the stallion. “I’ve been sweeping the entrance here for years and never have I once encountered a spook. Of course,” he continued with a laugh, “everypony who says they’ve seen something strange have always gone inside, and I don’t go inside.” “Well, we certainly appreciate your time, sir,” Applejack said as she tipped her hat. “Any time,” replied the stallion. He tipped his threadbare fedora in return. The old stallion collected his broom and his lunch pail and went about his way. “Well?” asked an eager Apple Bloom. “Who’s goin’ in first?” “Last pony in is a rotten egg!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she leapt into the air, getting ready to fly inside. Applejack felt a cold sensation on the back of her neck. Something didn’t seem quite right about this whole thing. “Freeze!” Applejack barked. Rainbow Dash and Apple Bloom froze in place. “Now just what do you two think you’re doin’? Rainbow Dash replied, “Uh, hello? We’re gonna go check out the creepy, old theater.” “Yeah, Applejack,” said Apple Bloom. “We’ve got our ghost huntin’ gear and everything." “Ah know,” Applejack responded, “but Ah’ve kinda got a funny feelin’ about this place. Ah don’t want y’all goin’ in there. Besides, it’s all boarded up.” “It could be dangerous,” Rarity added. “But how are we supposed to get our cutie marks in huntin’ ghosts?” Apple Bloom questioned. Before Applejack could answer her little sister, there sounded a weird frequency, a sound much like a Theremin. Realizing what was making the sound, Apple Bloom quickly began to search through her bag. “Apple Bloom, what is that?” questioned Applejack. “It’s the radio,” answered Apple Bloom. The noise grew louder as Apple Bloom shuffled through her bag. As she pulled the radio out from the bag, it let out a high-pitched noise. Everypony stopped and covered their ears. “What is that?” asked Scootaloo above the noise. “Apple Bloom, turn that radio down, or off, or sumthin’,” Applejack demanded. Apple Bloom fumbled the radio in her hooves before she was able to focus and turned the little radio off. Everypony breathed a sigh of relief and welcomed the sound of silence. “Apple Bloom,” Applejack began, “ya gotta make sure the radio’s turned off.” “It wasn’t me, Applejack,” said Apple Bloom. “The radio was in my bag the whole time.” “Do you think it’s the ghost?” asked Scootaloo. Apple Bloom gasped, realizing that maybe it was a ghost. They could be trying to communicate with them via the radio. It made perfect sense. “Now, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom,” Rarity started. “Remember what we talked about? There are no such things as ghosts.” “But what about all the stories?” asked Sweetie Belle. “What about what the stallion said? Why doesn’t anypony know what happened to Prof. Menlo and Mr. Kino?” “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle. I can’t answer that. I haven’t a reasonable explanation for you.” There was a look of disappointment on the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ faces. They wanted so badly to try their hooves at a new talent that could earn them their cutie marks. “But what about our ghost hunting gear?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We brought all this for nothing,” said Scootaloo, heartbroken. “We know how determined y’all are to get your cutie marks,” began Applejack. “We just didn’t want to disappoint you. Plus, Ah wouldn’t want any of you tuh go wandering around a building that should be condemned.” “Yeah, Applejack is right,” Rainbow Dash said in agreement, although she herself would like to have explored the theater. “We didn’t want you to lose your sense of adventure.” Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom still were saddened. “Ah guess Ah see your point,” said Apple Bloom. “Ah just wanted for us to get our cutie marks. Everypony else in school has theirs.” “And you three will get yours, too,” Applejack reassured. “Y’all jus’ have tuh be patient and when the time is right, you’ll have cutie marks you can be proud of.” “So the theater wasn’t all that it was said to be,” began Rarity, “but we’re in Applewood. Surely there must be something else we can do that’s just as fun, if not even more fun. You’ve got all those brochures. Let’s see what we can find.” She looked through the pamphlets. “There’s the Trot of Fame, the Sunset Strip, the celebrity houses. What shall we do first?” “I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle replied, still a little disappointed. “Say, why don’t we hail ourselves a carriage and cruise down the Sunset Strip? We could go shopping on Rancho Rodeo and, ooh! there’s even the Trot of Style! Anypony who’s anypony in the fashion industry has their name along the Trot of Style, and someday, my name will be there, too.” “Well… I guess that sounds like fun.” Sweetie Belle cheered up a little bit. “That’s the spirit! Come on, girls! I hope you’ve brought extra film, because I have got a feeling that we will be taking lots of pictures.”