//------------------------------// // Eight: A Night at the Movies // Story: A Night at the Movies // by Mr Movie Magic //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle gathered their ghost hunting gear and silently slipped out the door so as not to disturb or to wake up Rarity and Applejack. The four of them went off to the haunted movie palace. In the daylight, it looked old and rundown, but in the dark, it looked scary and intimidating. Just what could be lurking inside? Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle stood outside the entrance, looking upon the dilapidated theater. Then, that weird frequency sounded from Apple Bloom’s radio again. She quickly drew it from her bag and turned up the volume to get a better hearing. “Listen, you guys!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Sumthin’s comin’ through the radio just like before.” It sounded like a voice. There was an awful lot of static. Too much, in fact, to tell what the voice was saying. Apple Bloom quickly turned the dial to try to clear all of the static. As she tuned the radio, the voice would clear and break up. Doc… No… Help… They were losing the signal. Perhaps there was some sort of interference? Further tuning the radio would be no use it would seem. Apple Bloom set the radio down. “Did ya hear that?” she asked. “I heard it,” answered Sweetie Belle. “Me, too,” replied Scootaloo. “Doc. No. Help,” Rainbow Dash repeated the words the mysterious voice spoke that they could make out. She tried to make sense of what it meant. “There’s gotta be more to the message, but there was too much static to hear it all.” Just then, the radio began to automatically scroll through the different stations. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash paused and looked down at it. The dial darted back and forth. Between the stations and through the static, the voice spoke, “Come… Come in… Theater… You… Harm… Your help…” After the voice delivered it cryptic message, there was white noise followed by dead air. The channel on which the dial had stopped came through the speaker. Chills went through everypony as they stood motionless, looking at the bewitched radio. “Whoa…” they said in unison. That was about all they could say. They were in disbelief. Did they all really hear that? It was strange, no doubt about it. It would certainly be one thing had only one of them had heard it, but all four of them did. They each took comfort in knowing that the others had heard that voice, too. Rightfully so did they each take comfort. Apple Bloom gazed upon the movie palace with a look of understanding and determination. “C’mon, y’all. We gotta go inside.” She picked up her little radio and stepped toward the front door. “Apple Bloom, wait up!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Rainbow Dash quickly trotted up to Apple Bloom, stopping between her and the door. “Look, you guys,” she began. “I know you wanna be super awesome ghost hunters and get your cutie marks, but I think you should let me go inside first. Just to make sure the coast is clear.” “Don’t forget the tennis racket,” said Scootaloo. “Thanks!” Having armed herself with her trusty ghost-hunting tennis racket, Rainbow Dash bucked the door in. She peeked into the dark doorway. As near as she could figure, the coast was clear. “No ghosts here,” she reported. “Let’s go, team!” She spoke in a low voice in case somepony, or something, was hiding in the darkness. The Cutie Mark Crusaders donned their trusty headlamps and prepared to enter into the dark theater. One by one by one, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle walked cautiously through the door and into the lobby. Into the unknown… It was a spooky, rundown theater. Cobwebs were formed around the chandelier in the lobby. The concessions counter was covered with a thick layer of dust. Uh… uh… achoo! Sweetie Belle sneezed. “Boy, the dust in here is going to make me start to sneeze.” The elaborate designs, the grand architecture, the ornate decorations. This must have been such a magnificent movie palace in its day. It was so regal, so sophisticated, one might assume – and rightfully so – that it was commissioned by Princess Celestia. Mind you, Princess Luna, or rather, Nightmare Moon, was still imprisoned in the moon when the movie palace was alive with ponies coming to see the latest motion picture. They carefully stepped around the lobby when they heard a sound behind them. The quickly turned to see who or what was there. Squeak, squeak, squeak! It was just a little mouse scurrying around. “It’s dark in here,” said Apple Bloom. “Can anypony help me find a light switch?” They looked the room over, the beams of light from their headlamps crossing back and forth as they searched. “I found one!” said Scootaloo. She flipped the light switch on. Darkness. It was still dark. She flipped the switch again. Nothing happened. Giving it one last try, she flipped the switch on and off repeatedly. The movie palace, or the lobby at least, did not illuminate. “No luck, you guys,” she informed. “The lights aren’t turning on.” “Let’s find the breaker room,” Apple Bloom suggested. “We can jumpstart the circuits.” The beams of their headlamps carefully covered every corner of the room like ever-watchful eyes. Sweetie Belle came upon a door that was slightly opened. She directed her light’s beam to the plaque on the door’s face. “Breaker Room,” the plaque read. “Hey, I found the breaker room!” Sweetie Belle called out. She extended a small hoof and slowly pushed the door open. She looked down the dark passageway. The beam of light emitting from Sweetie Belle’s headlamp cut through the dusty darkness. Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo met Sweetie Belle at the breaker room door. They peered down into the darkness. “Who’s going in first?” Scootaloo asked playfully. “One of you give me a headlamp,” said Rainbow Dash. “I’ll go in first and you three follow directly behind me. Scootaloo was a little nervous to be without her headlamp, so Apple Bloom gave hers to Rainbow Dash. The brave Pegasus mare stepped carefully down the stairs with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle following so close behind her that they were practically on top of her. At the bottom of the staircase, they found themselves in a room with circuit switches and a generator. “How do we get it started?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We just find the main switch and give ‘er a flip, then we should be good to go,” said Apple Bloom. “How do you know so much about electrical engineering?” “We helped Dr. Whooves as his assistants,” replied Sweetie Belle. “We wanted to see if we would get our cutie marks,” added Scootaloo. They looked around for the main power switch. “Is this it?” asked Rainbow Dash. “That’s it! You found it!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. Rainbow Dash flipped the switch. The generator slowly hummed to life. It took a second to warm up for, after all, it had been one hundred and twenty-three years since anypony had been here. After a moment, it was purring like a kitten. “What now?” Rainbow Dash inquired. “We can go back upstairs and try the light switch again,” replied Scootaloo. The four of them returned to the lobby. Back in the lobby, Sweetie Belle found the switch. Flipping the switch on, the lights of the chandelier flickered like strobes for a few quick seconds before the lights settled on staying illuminated. They were rather dim. A few bulbs burnt out when trying to shine. Though it wasn’t much light, it was enough to see clearly. “Maybe we should’ve just left the lights off,” Scootaloo quipped. “This place is filthy.” “It’s an old, abandoned theater,” said Sweetie Belle. “Nopony has worked here in over a hundred years. What do you expect it to look like?” They looked around the concessions bar. “Hey, look! There’s still popcorn in here,” said Apple Bloom. “I wouldn’t eat that if I were you,” said Rainbow Dash. “It’s all right, Rainbow Dash. Popcorn never goes bad.” She took a mouthful of popcorn. Her face froze in disgust. “Bleh! Ew, this popcorn tastes gross.” “Perhaps being one hundred and twenty-three years old has something to do with it?” suggested Scootaloo. “Okay, you guys,” began Rainbow Dash. “So the snacks are no good, but I bet there’ll be some awesome stuff in the auditorium. Let’s go check it out.” They walked through the hallway into the once-spectacular auditorium. As they walked through, they passed in front of a light. Four ponies ventured down the hall. Five shadows were reflected on the wall. In the auditorium were rows and rows of dust-covered, worn-down, and moth-eaten seats. “Whoa!” Apple Bloom stumbled, having caught her hoof on a snag in the carpet. “Are you okay?” a concerned Rainbow Dash asked. “Yeah, Ah’m fine,” Apple Bloom replied. They split up and looked around the house, walking up and down the aisles, in and out of the rows. At the front of the house, a red curtain partially covered the big silver screen. “Help me open the curtain,” said Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash found a rope off to the side, hidden from the view of the attendees who once sat in that very theater. Pulling down on the rope, the curtains parted to either side. In front of the screen was the orchestra pit. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo went in to inspect it. Some pages of sheet music and a baton snapped in half lay strewn across the floor. Scootaloo thought that the old sheet music might make a good souvenir and put some in her bag. “What are you doing?” asked Apple Bloom. “Ya can’t take those.” “Are you forgetting that this place is abandoned? Nopony’s missed these yet. Everything in here is pretty much up for grabs.” “Yeah, but what about the ghost? It may not like you taking stuff from here.” Scootaloo hadn’t thought about that. “You have a point, Apple Bloom. I’ll just put these back here.” Having uncovered the screen, Rainbow Dash cast her glance to a little window at the back of the house. “The projection booth! Now there’s gotta be some cool stuff in there.” They all walked back down the hall toward the lobby when they came to a door with a plaque reading “Projection Booth.” Trying to open the door, they found that it was locked. “Darn! It’s locked,” said Apple Bloom. “C’mon, let’s look for a key.” They searched high and low for a key, but to no avail. “This place is so big, it’ll take forever to find a key,” said Scootaloo. Key or no key, they were getting inside the projection booth, even if they had to break the door down. It worked for the front door, did it not? Sweetie Belle used her Unicorn magic to levitate the nearby waste receptacle and hammered it against the door. Bang! Bang! Bang! A few solid whacks and the door began to weaken. “Phew! This is one tough door,” said Sweetie Belle, pausing to take a breather. “Step aside, Sweetie Belle,” said Rainbow Dash. “Let me take a swing at it.” In a flashy fashion, Rainbow Dash jumped for the door and roundhouse kicked the door, breaking it open all the way. “All right!” Apple Bloom cheered. “Let’s go inside.” “Nice moves, Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo complimented. “Eh, it was nothing,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Once you get to this level of awesome, you can do it to.” They followed this dark stairway up to the projection booth. It was completely dark. The smell of the film lingered in the stuffy air. “Wow! I bet this is what it was like when they opened up King Trot’s tomb, huh?” said Rainbow Dash. They looked around the spooky old projection booth. Webs were formed in the corners and a few reached down from the ceiling. “Is there a light in here?” asked Rainbow Dash. Finding a light switch, Scootaloo flipped it up and the lights came on. The projection booth was not a very big room. At the center stood the film projector. Up against one of the walls were cardboard boxes. “Look at all this stuff,” said Sweetie Belle. “I wonder what’s in here.” She went up to one of the cardboard boxes. It was sealed with duct tape. They opened it up and eagerly, with curiosity, peeked inside. It was filled with round, flat, metal containers. A label on the tops of each one read the title of the film they contained. “Check it out!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle. “I know this movie. It’s a classic. This is the one where Little Tramp finds a diamond mine in the Frozen North. Rarity says that she would like to own a diamond mine.” They went through the whole box. They opened up another box, and inside, there were more reels of film. They were reels for a bat pony film, a Spring-Hoofed Jack film, and a film by D. W. Griffon. “Look, you guys.” Something caught Apple Bloom’s attention. She pointed to a name on one of the reels. “Look at the name. It says ‘Kino.’” Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash remembered the name from the movie they had seen in Ponyville. “Mr. Kino,” they all said in realization. “You don’t think…” began Sweetie Belle. “Could this be the Mr. Kino?” “This must be a film he made,” said Scootaloo. They all looked in wonder. At the bottom of the box, hidden underneath the other reels we a rectangular metal box. “Hey, what’s this?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “It looks like some kinda safe,” observed Apple Bloom. “What do you think is inside it?” asked Scootaloo. “Money probably,” Sweetie Belle responded. “Nah, it can’t be money. Why would somepony hide it in here?” “I don’t know. Maybe it was stolen?” “By who?” “By whoever was the last pony here before it became deserted.” “Wait. What if the thieves weren’t hiding the money here back then? What if they’re present-day thieves? What if they come back? What if they find us with their stolen money? I’m too young to go to jail.” “Nopony’s going to jail,” said Rainbow Dash. “Let’s just open it up and find out what’s really inside.” “Ah don’t know about that,” said Apple Bloom. “Look. It says right here, ‘Do not open. This box is to remain sealed at all times.’” Rainbow Dash assured, “Apple Bloom, whatever’s in here is over a hundred years old. Besides, whenever there’s creepy old stuff that says, ‘Do not open,’ it’s basically an open invitation telling you to open it. Can one of you hand me that wedge over there. I think I can pry this thing open.” Scootaloo gave Rainbow Dash the wedge-shaped door stop. “Stand back,” Rainbow Dash cautioned. Rainbow Dash busted the lock and opened up the mysterious metal box. “What’s inside?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Lemme see! Lemme see!” exclaimed Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash tried to figure out what it was. “It’s a… It’s a…” “It’s just another reel of film,” Apple Bloom pointed out. Scootaloo wasn’t so sure about that. “Or is it?” “Look, there’s a note,” Scootaloo noticed. “What does it say?” Sweetie Belle levitated the note with her Unicorn magic. She brought it under the dim light so she could see its writing. A century of time had faded the message. She squinted her eyes to read it better. She read the note, “Under no circumstances is anypony allowed to play this reel. Exhibition of any kind of this motion picture will end in certain doom.” Rainbow Dash was willing to accept this challenge. “Certain doom, huh?” “What do you think is on it?” asked Scootaloo. “Ah don’t know,” replied Apple Bloom. “We probably shouldn’t play it,” said Sweetie Belle. “After all, it does say nopony should play it. It’s got to say it for a reason.” “I don’t think there’s anything wrong,” said Scootaloo. “It’s just a movie. Right?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked back down into the metal box. “Where’s the reel?” they questioned in a tizzy. They were in a panic. There was a clicking sound behind them. Hearing the sound, they quickly spun around, their hearts racing as if they had been caught committing a crime. “Rainbow Dash, what are you doin’?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “I just wanna see what’s on here,” she explained. “Are you crazy? Did you not hear what the note said?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Oh, come on. You really think that note means anything? It’s just a movie. How bad could playing it be? I mean, it’s not like we’re unleashing a monster from Tartarus or anything.” “Couldn’t you just hold the film up to the light?” “What’s the fun in that? This has sound on it. I wanna hear what it says.” “This isn’t a good idea. This so isn’t a good idea.” Scootaloo sat rocking back and forth with her fore hooves on her head, preparing for the worse to happen. Rainbow Dash loaded the film reel into the projector. Turning it on, the film began to roll. Rat, tat, tat, tat! Rat, tat, tat, tat! They peered through the window to the screen in the auditorium. It shown brightly as the cue mark counted down. Beep… Beep… Beep… A curious film began to play. There was a street, a lamp post, and a cozy little house. A peaceful, slice-of-life scene it was; however, there was something unsettling about it. Something didn’t feel quite right. There was a cold chill in the air as their blood began to run cold. Weird piano music played on the film’s soundtrack. It sounded lively and cheerful, but it too, was strange. The door of the little house opened. Out stepped a stallion with a skip. He wasn’t dressed like a clown, but he strolled around like one. He wore a creepy smile. No, it wasn’t painted on his face. It was his natural smile. “Natural” I say, but everything about this film – the setting, the music, the atmosphere, the pony, in short, the mise-en-scene – was unnatural. The ponies watched with curiosity as the stallion pranced around on the screen. They really didn’t know what to think. They didn’t think such a film was worth locking away in a metal box, buried beneath reels of film, and hidden away from the world. They certainly didn’t see any value to the film. Perhaps it was on account of its cheap production value that it was cast away? “Why would anypony take the time to keep this so secure?” Rainbow Dash wondered. “It can’t be because of its production value.” “Maybe they didn’t want anypony to watch it because it’s so bad,” Scootaloo suggested. “Works for me.” They continued to watch. Now, something interesting in the film began to happen. The stallion suddenly froze in his tracks as if he had been caught and turned to face the screen. He ran up to the screen and leapt for it. He jumped up, standing up on his hind legs. He leaned with his fore hooves on the screen. “Hey. Hey!” the stallion spoke. A moment in which a character on the screen speaks directly to the audience is called breaking the fourth wall. “Hey!” the stallion called again. He tapped his hoof on the screen. Clunk, clunk, clunk! “Did you hear something?” asked Apple Bloom. “You mean that weird stallion knocking on the screen?” asked Scootaloo. “No. It wasn’t in the film. Listen.” They sat quietly and motionless, waiting for the sound… Waiting… Nothing. They drew close their ghost hunting gear just in case there was something there. On the screen, the stallion did nothing. He just remained in the same position, casting his eyes around as if he were looking about the house. “He may be weird, but he is kind of funny,” said Sweetie Belle. The stallion called out, “Is anypony there?” He "tapped" on the screen again. Clunk, clunk, clunk! “Listen, there it is again!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. “It’s the stallion knocking on the screen,” Rainbow Dash clarified. “No, no. It’s comin’ from the auditorium.” Clunk, clunk, clunk! They listened carefully. Apple Bloom was right. It wasn’t coming from the film at all. It echoed throughout the theater. It did sound like it was coming from the auditorium. What could it be? If it knocked any harder, the screen might just fall from the wall. Apple Bloom ran out to investigate. Rainbow Dash called out after her, “Apple Bloom, wait up! Don’t go out there. You don’t know what it is.” Rainbow Dash hurried out the door after her with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo following close behind. They followed Apple Bloom to the auditorium. She walked up to the screen, looking up at the image of the stallion. As Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were hurrying down the aisle to catch up with her, they were all suddenly startled by a loud voice. “You there! Little filly!” the voice boomed. They stopped cold and looked up at the silver screen. The stallion appeared to be looking straight down at Apple Bloom. “Little filly, can you hear me?” the stallion asked, his grin now a look of concern. “Me?” Apple Bloom asked. “Yes. You!” “How can you hear me? How is it that you can see me?” “There’s no time to explain. I’m trapped in here. I need your help in getting me out. Could you help me?” “How do I do that?” Apple Bloom asked the stallion. “Go to the projector,” the stallion instructed. “Let the film run as fast as it will go. Then, turn the bulb as brightly as it will shine.” “Is that all?” Apple Bloom asked. “Yes, that is all. Now, please hurry.” “Okay, I’m on it!” Apple Bloom turned and started for the projection booth. Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle had hurried to Apple Bloom’s side. “Hold on a second,” said Rainbow Dash with a scowl. She wasn’t about to let some weird stallion in a film who could apparently hear and see them go any further without answering a few questions first. “Just who do you think you are?” “We haven’t much time,” the stallion replied. “I’m afraid we’ll have to put the formalities on hold.” Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes and pursed her lips. She didn’t trust this pony. Neither she nor Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle knew who he was, and he didn’t know them. However, he really could be a pony in need. She thought of what Twilight would do. She thought of what she and the rest of the Mane Six would do. They have fought their share of baddies in the past. Some were genuinely villainous like Lord Tirek and King Sombra. Others, like Discord, just needed the love of a friend. But what was this pony’s story? Rainbow Dash didn’t know. He wasn’t quick to introduce himself. If this was anything like her ghost theory, could he be Prof. Menlo? Could he be Mr. Kino? “And why should we help you?” Rainbow Dash asserted. “This was an accident,” the stallion answered. “I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not the enemy here.” “Then who is?” “Get me out from here and I’ll explain everything to you.” The stallion was stern in his speech. His tone suggested that he was in no mood to converse. He wanted out and he wanted out now. Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. Perhaps they should at least attempt to let him out. She decided that helping to release him from his celluloid prison would be the right thing to do. “All right,” she declared. “We’ll help get you outta there.” Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo returned to the projection booth. They manned the projector. “Hello?” the stallion called out in concern. “Are you still there?” “We’re in the projection booth,” Apple Bloom replied. “We’re gonna crank up the speed, so hold on.” The stallion stood firmly, his fore hooves holding tightly to the sides of the frame of the film. “We’re supposed to let the film run through the projector as fast as it will go and turn up the light as bright as it will go,” said Apple Bloom. They let the reel run at full speed. Suddenly, the light in the room began to brighten and dim, brighten and dim. “What’s going on with the lights?” asked Rainbow Dash. As the lights pulsed, static started to come through Apple Bloom’s radio. “My radio!” she exclaimed. She took it out from her bag. They gathered around to hear if the voice would speak again, and if it did so, what it would say. Apple Bloom turned up the volume. She was prepared to turn the dial to get a better signal, but she realized that it would not be necessary. “Meine kleinen Ponys,” the voice spoke through the radio. Everypony stopped cold and quickly held up their ghost hunting gear. They began to tremble. They were staring at the radio. They only took their eyes off of it to look around the projection booth. The lights in the projection booth, as well as the lights in the whole movie palace began to grow brighter and brighter with a surge. “What is this?” the stallion on the screen grumbled. “What’s going on here?” Suddenly, the movie palace was shrouded in darkness. All of the lights had gone out cold. Neither the voice nor static nor a frequency of any sort came through the radio either. The projector had gone out, too. Just a few moments later, the lights came back on, growing steadily brighter to the dim state they were just moments before. The static and frequency hums came back through the speaker of Apple Bloom’s little radio. “He-hello?” Apple Bloom wondered who was there. “Can you hear me?” “Ja. I can hear you,” the voice answered. “Are you a ghost?” “I am like a ghost.” “Are you only a voice?” asked Scootaloo. “I had a body once. Look to the wall, Fraulein.” Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Rainbow Dash turned to the wall. There was the shadow of an Earth pony stallion. “If you’re not a ghost, what exactly are you?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I was a pony just like you, but after mein dear friend betrayed me, this is what I have become.” “Your friend did this to you?” Apple Bloom said in disbelief. “He invented a camera, but it was not like any other camera. It was a camera made not just with science, but with magic. It was a camera that could imprison anypony who stood in front of it. One day, he tried to use it against me. When I realized what was happening to me, I tried to escape, but it was already too late. I reached mein hoof out to him. I pulled him into the light of the camera. He had gone mad und I couldn’t let him wreak havoc on everypony in Applewood. I didn’t want to do it, but he left me no choice. I knew I couldn’t escape. The camera had turned off before I was fully absorbed into the film. Thus, I have become this ghost, this shadow. I am the film und the film is me. Moving pictures are a series of photographs. They are made by light und can only be seen by light. Like a shadow. But I am still here. In the molecules around you. That is how I you can see me in the light, und that is how you can hear me through the radio. Since the scene the camera had captured was this theater, I am confined to this theater. Mein body at least, although I have found that mein voice can carry just outside the movie palace.” Rainbow Dash began to put the pieces together. He was a pony who was betrayed by his friend. His friend was a menace to the citizens of Applewood. They were both absorbed into the film. Trapped. Never to be seen again, perhaps? “Who are you?” she inquired. The stallion replied, “Mein name is Herr Kino. The ponies in Applewood once knew me as Mr. Nicky.” Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo all gasped in disbelief. It was really Mr. Kino! “If you’re Mr. Kino…” Apple Bloom began. “Then your friend must be Prof. Menlo.” “I wish I could say that he is still mein friend,” Mr. Kino said sadly. “So, you two are trapped in the film?” Rainbow Dash asked to confirm. “Ja,” Mr. Kino replied. “That’s why nopony has seen either of you in a hundred and twenty-three years,” said Sweetie Belle. “A hundred und twenty-three years?!” Mr. Kino was almost speechless. “Has that much time really gone by?” “So, then the pony we saw up on the screen must be Prof. Menlo,” said Sweetie Belle. “Exactly,” replied Mr. Kino. “Which is why I had to shut off the projector. I couldn’t let him escape.” “Not to offend you or anything,” began Rainbow Dash, “but we just spoke with Prof. Menlo and he says that you’re the one who betrayed him. He says he should be free and you should remain trapped.” “I am not surprised. When greed and power consumed him, he saw many of us as obstacles in the way of his monopolistic corporation.” “Well, speaking with you is a lot more pleasant,” said Sweetie Belle. “Prof. Menlo was a bit of a grump.” “There’s gotta be some way we can get you out,” said Apple Bloom. “There is a way, Fraulein. But you must set up Prof. Menlo’s camera first.” “Okay, Mr. Kino,” Scootaloo said proudly. “Just tell us what to do, and we’ll get you out lickety-split!” Mr. Kino was uncertain. “I am afraid that turning on the projector will also bring Prof. Menlo back.” “What’s so wrong with that?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Sure, maybe he wasn’t a good friend, but he’s had a century to unwind. Maybe you two can talk and put all your differences aside?” “I don’t think it will be that easy. Prof. Menlo was not one to compromise. He sees things his way.” “But maybe after all this time he’s changed,” said Sweetie Belle. Mr. Kino was quiet. His shadow of his body language suggested that he was giving the idea some thought. “I don’t think so,” he finally replied.