Starlight studied Hope Hollow Elementary's facade as she, Trixie and Sunburst trotted into its depths. For her, the sight was a startling surprise. Despite the years that passed, the school seemed near-immune to the ravages of time. Starlight’s glowing horn revealed slightly chipped blue walls holding crudely drawn sketches of the townsponies, but no further damage.
The three unicorn investigators slowly traveled the empty corridors, their hoofsteps like cannonfire in the silent halls. Sunburst peeled away as they passed the library, and began to root through the books. He ignored the books on the shelves, but his magic pulled book after book over to him from the ledge behind the desk.
Starlight looked behind her for Trixie, but the showpony was making a beeline for the doorway at the end of the corridor. Her gaze was affixed on the doorway's shiny sign: ‘AUDITORIUM’.
Starlight followed closely behind, curious on whether Trixie had a lead. But when she reached the auditorium herself, Starlight was dismayed to see the blue unicorn pacing ceaselessly around the stage at the far end of the barely-sunlit room.
On Trixie’s fifth pacing loop of the stage, Starlight stepped in front of her. “Is there... any way I can help?” Starlight asked.
Trixie, for once, only had two words for her friend. “Fake hatch.” Her steps continued, exaggerated yet precise as they struck against the wood. But only heavy thunks answered her odd steps, and Trixie’s frown grew on each.
Starlight had no response. Apparently Trixie had something in mind that she was looking for, despite the likely impossibility of Spectacle still being around. Watching as Trixie’s prancing took her closer to the purple-blue curtain to the rear of the stage, Starlight fought back the urge to ask Trixie for clarification.
Perhaps letting her do this might take her mind off her incognito mother.
Goodness, and the worst part is, I know what I did when I found out one of my parents was here one day, then gone-
Starlight stiffened as Trixie’s tail disappeared behind the curtain. Once again, her memory dredged up that Homeroom 22 photo. And Just as she was about to ask Trixie if this was her futile attempt to find Spectacle, Sunburst’s voice broke the silence.
“Starlight! Found something you’ll wanna see!”
Starlight teleported right to his side. “What is it, Sunburst?”
Sunburst showed another photograph. “Apparently, the librarian here had a lookout notice. Comes with photos too, and I found this as a bookmark in a ledger. Does he look familiar?”
Starlight’s forehead creased as she looked at the masked pony in the photo. A mask with spikes a the sides that resembled a spool of film, a shiny black hood with white gears covering the shoulders, and an impeccably sharp suit with a blood-red rose in the lapel.
“Besides it looking like a poor Nightmare Night costume?” Starlight whispered back to Sunburst. “Nope, doesn’t ring a bell.”
Sunburst’s dour expression was a surprise to Starlight. “I’m not surprised. Not many ponies like hearing about a literal foalnapper like Reeltime.”
Starlight’s mane stood on end. “You know of him?”
“No, but Mom did.” Sunburst grumbled. “Mom fills buildings in Sire’s Hollow; eventually she got a habit for keeping up on knowledge of who not to let in house and home.”
Squinting under Starlight's purple horn-glow, Sunburst’s face sank back into shadow as he looked at the picture. “Well, this pony’s infamous enough that Grey Film’s alerted the teachers to the possibility of his presence.”
Starlight blinked. “Really? D’you think Grey Film escaped Reeltime?” Her eyes flickered once more over Reeltime’s photo. “Maybe Reeltime got in here somehow, snatched away Homeroom 22, and Grey Film fled over the guilt?”
“I thought that too, at first.” Sunburst rummaged in his cloak and brought out some scraps of paper. “But if Grey Film’s got any motivators, guilt isn’t one of them.” He displayed a repair slip and two complaints notices. “The desk I got this ledger from is covered in hoof imprints, and Grey Film is mentioned in the librarian’s notes back there. Mostly complaints about him getting on their case. Apparently, they didn’t provide him with certain documents he wanted, or clear out certain locations for him.”
Starlight shook her head. “Well, keep an eye out for more about that. I can’t believe Grey Film left such a bad impression that he made somepony paranoid enough to monitor him like that!”
Midway through Starlight’s griping, Sunburst stifled a giggle.
Starlight turned toward him. “What?”
“I just thought….Well, you, getting mad about somepony monitoring somepony else!” Sunburst couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “Probably in bad taste in the scary pitch-black school, but-”
“Oh.” Starlight’s ears drooped in shame. Goodness, that Our Town’s specter would never leave her, would it? Like Grey Film’s one, Reeltime, wouldn't leave him. “I’m sorry, Sunburst. I thought - I thought it was about-" Starlight shook her head. "Nevermind. I'm not that pony anymore.
Sunburst’s hooves went up quickly. “O-of course, Starlight! I didn’t mean anything by it - I was just ribbing you! Sheesh, I... “ His eyes went back to the paper, his horn’s glow flaring up to keep the flush on his cheeks from being visible. ”A-anyways, It wasn’t just the photographer acting suspiciously that day.“
“So there was another pony having issues with the librarians, huh?” Starlight asked.
“Well, not the librarians - just the administrators, it looks like. And that other problematic pony was… Mayor Mare.”
“What?!” A sharp cry came from behind them, and Starlight whirled in fright to see Trixie appear in the doorway to the library.
Sunburst leaped back in shock, his horn shooting haywire sparks out from the end as his magic sputtered out. “Jeez, Trixie!”
“Didn't think you were that concerned about the Mayor but - yeah, she made so many noise complaints to them that she was nearly kept out of the school photos. All the complaints were about Reeltime, too.” Sunburst shuddered as he looked back at the photo of Reeltime.
“What? Who cares about Mayor Mare?” Trixie waved a forehoof. “I came to get you because I know what trick Spectacle did! And what I can use to find where she vanished to!”
“Huh? But…” Sunburst’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Sorry, I think I’ve missed something.”
Starlight sighed. “Yeah… Trixie’s looking for a fake hatch. She thinks her Mom might have hidden under the stage.”
“Starlight!” Trixie snapped. “That was not the issue I was. And I know my Mom has to have escaped whatever foul fate befell her audience.”
“Wait, hold on!” Starlight pushed both unicorns away from each other. “Sunburst, explain your stuff first. Trixie, wait your turn.”
Trixie flushed with anger, but she remained still. Sunburst took over, giving Trixie an apologetic smile. “Well, the Mayor... she wanted to up the patrols and increase security with Reeltime around, despite the budget not being big enough for it. And considering how hostile she’s gotten towards Mayor Skies - do you think it’s possible she pretended to be Reeltime? To scare Hope Hollow straight?”
Trixie’s jaw dropped at this. “No! The Mayor may be a petty bureaucrat, and far too harsh to unfortunate ponies who accidentally lead Ursa Minors into town-”
Starlight’s hoof jabbed into Sunburst’s side as he rolled his eyes.
“-but that does not mean Mayor Mare can get the drop on my mother.” Trixie finished. ”It would take more than that to disappear the Great and Powerful Spectacle! And I have proof.”
Sunburst sighed and let his papers and photos drift back to the desk. “I can see I’m not going to get any peace to do any more research here until we go see Trixie’s proof. Lead the way.”
Trixie smiled smugly and trotted back down the corridor towards the auditorium, with Starlight and Sunburst following the self-satisfied swish of her tail.
The auditorium looked different to when Starlight had left it. The curtain on the stage had been dragged down and lay strewn about the stage, and Trixie’s many hoofprints had disturbed the thick layer of dust.
“Here!” Trixie gestured triumphantly.
Starlight glanced at Sunburst, her expression blank. “Trixie...what are we looking at?”
“Ugh!” Trixie stamped a hoof impatiently. “Must I explain everything? The curtain would conceal Spectacle just long enough for her to complete her trick. Which means she could likely make her disappearance by using a potion to give her wings! Or perhaps by using a Fade-in-Fabric potion to pass through the curtains and the wall behind…”
“Or maybe just use a dumbwaiter,” Starlight pointed out.
“Or she could use a-” Trixie nearly choked on her sudden outrage. “How dare you call Trixie dumb!” Then her eyes followed the direction that Starlight was pointing in, and her anger faded into a sheepish grin. “Or you could mean that tiny lift Trixie sees now.”
Indeed, the descended slice of curtain had revealed a crawlspace, with a lift tucked away in one corner. Something small twinkled in the interior of the dumbwaiter, drawing Trixie in, with Starlight close behind, wryly shaking her head at the showpony’s last outburst.
“Starlight, Trixie, hold on! That could be dangerous.” Yet Sunburst followed them regardless, right up to the edge of the dumbwaiter- despite its visibility from far away, the curtain’s shadows still kept the mystery item from view.
“It’s fine, Sunburst.” Starlight said, shooting Sunburst a knowing look as he watched Trixie clearing the dust choking the backstage. “And yes, I know how ironic it is that I’m saying that.”
Sunburst’s eyes were still trained on that sparkle. “But Starlight-”
“After how we beat Chrysalis, I’d argue that we’re the most dangerous things in this school now.” Starlight sighed. “Well, besides Reeltime, since you think he trailed Grey Film here.”
“Speaking of, I think I know how Grey Film escaped!! And if she knew of it, how my mother escaped as well!” Trixie pointed at the dumbwaiter, and the camera sitting face-down at the center of it. Despite the caked layers of brown and rust-red that age had set upon it, the clue’s potential was all too obvious. “They must have taken the dumbwaiter to the basement; it’s big enough to fit them both!”
“Leave it for now. We don’t know what state the lift’s in, and-” Sunburst jumped at the sound of the front door to the school banging open. Hushed whispers could just be made out, but the distance made those words unintelligible.
“Well, that’s your ticket out of riding the scary lift, Sunburst! Somepony else is here; let’s take the camera to them!” And Trixie’s pale pink magic gripped the camera, tugging hard.
Starlight’s eyes widened in horror as she finally spotted the source of the sparkle that had initially caught her eye. Leading to the camera was a thin, glittering thread, securing the camera to something out of sight. “Wait, Trixie, hold on!” cried Starlight, but it was too late - Trixie held the camera up to her eyes, the glittering thread pulled taut.
Suddenly a flood of green light, sickly and blinding, exploded from inside the dumbwaiter as it shot down into the yawning shaft. The silver string still attached to it, and Trixie to that string, as was almost dragged down with it. But Sunburst and Starlight scrambled after her and just managed to hook their forehooves around Trixie’s hind legs, keeping her dangling in the chasm.
Starlight gasped as she took Trixie’s weight.
“Trixie, let go of that camera, we’ve got you!” Sunburst yelled.
Trixie shook her head frantically. “Trixie is too scared to hold on and too scared to let go!”
Starlight grabbed Trixie’s tail in her mouth and braced her legs against the wall. It sounded like she’d need to be the tie-breaker now.
Hoofsteps sounded close by approaching their room. Starlight tried to turn her head to see who it was, but Trixie’s tail hair filled her muzzle and her vision, and she didn’t dare let go to get a better look.
The steps toward them got louder. The sickly green light grew stronger. And Trixie’s legs got slipperier - Starlight was sweating with nerves, disorientated from the blinding light, and her hooves slid helplessly along Trixie’s limbs as the blue mare slipped lower.
Sunburst’s horn ignited to add some more force to their pull, but then something happened Starlight could scarcely believe - Sunburst’s own magic turned against him, solidifying in a cone and gripping him tightly by the horn. Then it yanked him into the gaping dark mouth of the shaft.
“Sunburst!” Starlight couldn’t help it; she instinctively lit her own horn to try to catch him, but by then he was already tumbling down the shaft, and the two new light-cones that warped around her sent Starlight and Trixie following. In Starlight’s twitching ears - beyond her and Trixie’s screams - she could hear the auditorium door slam open.
Too late, she thought mournfully, her horn sparkling futilely to slow her endless fall. Too late!
The light surrounding her hit its highest intensity, forcing Starlight to shut her eyes. She tumbled over and over, the wind rushing against her fur. Then everything went black for a different reason - her head impacting against something much harder than itself.
This time, Trixie was the first to realize their change in surroundings. The sickly green light of the shaft was gone, replaced by a black-and-white painted showroom. First on her agenda was stirring her similarly downed - and still alive! - friends. Their prone forms were the only spots of color in the otherwise monochrome room.
After they were groaning and stirring, Trixie’s second action was fighting back cardiac arrest when a third pony’s hoof tapped on her shoulder.
“Agh! Don’t hurt Trixie she has a family!” Then her eyes widened at the mystery pony who’d startled here. Behind her Starlight and Sunburst were similarly gobsmacked.
Part of it was due to how much taller and prouder that mystery mare stood over them. Part of it was that fact that she, like them, was vibrantly colored - an almost Applejack-orange coat and flowing blond mane, but a curved horn and a sunflower-like mark on her flank. But it was the white-and black starred hat and cape upon her that quickly narrowed down her identity. One that her next words confirmed with all the subtlety of a lightning bolt.
“Well, my daughter, I’d hope you still have family. Nevertheless, I apologize for my… late debut.”
“Spectacle?!” Sunburst’s shriek broke the tense silence like a glass shattering.
Even if the magical mare herself hadn’t raced to clamp a hoof over Sunburst’s mouth, Starlight might have. Despite her shock right now, several things were self-evident --
-Oh my Faust! Spectacle here, and the shaft we fell down, she’s here that means the other fillies might be here and I have no idea how to get back and-
Sunburst was as stunned as Starlight. Trixie was a different case - she was sobbing and hugging her mother, Spectacle’s foreleg cured around her. It was a testament to Spectacle’s apparent skill at multitasking that she could console Trixie and converse with Sunburst at the same time.
Yet that’s just what she did.
“Charmed as I am to see a pony cheer for me again, I would rather you keep it down. It has been fifteen days since we were blinded and dropped in this world. Celestia must be notified of our dilemma - she will know a way to free us from this strange land.”
“Wait, where are w-we?” Trixie blubbered, lifting her head from Spectacle’s shoulder at last. Her eyes still shimmered with gratefulness over the discovery of her long-lost mother. “Please, at least tell me it’s still Hope Hollow!”
“Well… yes and no.” Spectacle, for some reason, held Trixie even closer to her. “And you’ve grown so much so fast, dear Trixie. But my fellow captives are in the other room, and if your friends know of a way out, that takes precedence over our reunion-”
“-did you say fifteen days?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Starlight finally asked, turning to Sunburst.
“Spectacle said she’s been here fifteen days, how could that be the case?” Sunburst demanded. “Do you mean fifteen years?”
“I’m… positive it’s fifteen sunrises on this end.” Spectacle pointed at the window. “Laborious as it’s been to find the sun in a sky like that.”
Starlight investigated first, and her eyes widened at the endless planes of black and white that yawned out to join her. It looked exactly like the town they’d just left, right down to the thatched buildings and the monochromatic rainbow arcing overhead. And if Starlight peered over to the left - to her horror - she could see the expanse of another city- in fact, a chain of cities, each an identical copy of the one before. They began where the hills of Hope Hollow started, an endless ring surrounding the town like a wall.
That wasn’t the only difference. There were creeping oily-black loops of plasma in this Hope Hollow. And the sight of those slick streams made their new watcher gag. It was so... wrong. Like so much of this colorless world had become since they landed in it.
Trixie was right. Now was time for some answers.
“Okay, Spectacle…” Starlight announced, her voice dangerously low. “Never mind how long it’s been for us in the outer world. Explain how long it’s been since that’s done… that.”