Movie Magic
Stage 9 on the Ponymount lot had become known as the Star Trot stage, due to the wide variety of Star Trot shows and movies that had been shot there over the past six decades. The movie being made now, The Moon Rises, was being shot on the same sets as the recently-concluded Star Trot: New Endeavours television series.
As the fourteenth film in a cinematic franchise that spanned 45 years, everyone hoped that it would not just do well, but spawn a new series of movies based on the adventures of the EDV crew.
Gem, Raven and their friends sat in directors chairs just off the main bridge set, alongside the director - a green-skinned man named Canter Zoom. Beside Canter Zoom was Crystal Levita, the creator, and primary writer, of New Endeavours. She watched the actors playing the Endeavour’s bridge crew get into position, beaming happily.
“Seven years I’ve been doing this, and it never gets old!” Crystal said happily to Gem.
Gem’s jaw dropped. “Ever since Where No Mare?!”
Crystal nodded. “Yup! I’ve always been a hands-on kind of girl, and I love watching the magic of film happen. Even here, when I can’t see the effects shots or hear the work of the sound department, it’s still exhilarating to witness. Words and scenes that I wrote, being performed live by a talented cast… it’s an honor and a privilege.”
The babble of chatter stopped as an assistant director shouted, “Okay, let’s move, people! Act 2 scene 1, take 4! Quiet on set!”
“And… ACTION!” shouted Canter Zoom.
At once, the actors on the bridge snapped into character and began delivering their lines. This cast had been working together for seven seasons now, and they functioned like a well-oiled machine, adding a layer of authenticity to their day jobs as Starfleet officers.
Seated in the center chair of the bridge set was a tall, grey-skinned woman with brown hair - this was Carrie Shadow, Gem’s identical twin cousin. Though she also worked as a scientist, she also had theatrical experience, which she parlayed into landing the role of Carina Tenebrae, captain of the USS Endeavour. She’d become quite well-known for this role, though she’d been careful not to let it get to her head.
The tactical officer, a yellow-skinned woman who portrayed the character of Allegro Dazzle, spoke up from her station - a wooden arch located just behind the three command chairs. She wore a black and yellow uniform and stood on a raised section of floor behind the central seats.
“Captain, we're receiving a distress signal from the USS Doherty," she reported. "The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue her crew.”
"Two Lunar Imperial vessels are locking weapons on us!” added a person at the operations console.
"Fire photon torpedoes," ordered Carrie, staring intently at the giant hole in the middle of the room, where the viewscreen was. Behind this hole was a blue screen, which the effects team would replace with relevant imagery during the editing process.
"Captain, three more Imperial vessels are de-cloaking and targeting our ship!" reported the helmswoman. "They're firing on us!"
"Alert sickbay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship!" shouted Carrie as the bridge set, mounted on gimbals, began to shake from the onslaught. Everyone lurched around, simulating weapons fire. "Continual fire, all phasers!”
"Shields at sixty percent!" yelled someone from the engineering station.
"Fire photon torpedoes, target all five ships!" barked Carrie. Then all the lights went out at once, and the bridge was plunged into darkness.
"CUT!" shouted the director, as the bright fluorescent studio lights clicked on. "Break for lunch everyone, we'll pick this up in an hour!" The actors portraying the bridge crew stood up and stretched, before stepping off the set.
"I knew our resemblance would come in handy," Gem giggled, smiling warmly at her cousin.
Carrie blushed. "They only picked me because Magnifico quit," she pointed out.” Her stomach grumbled. "Come on cousin, let's go get some grub." The two cousins walked off toward the cafeteria, chatting amicably amongst themselves, followed shortly by Crystal and the rest of the Rubies.
“I can't believe we're really here!” Twilight gushed, as the seven Rubies and assorted members of the cast and crew ate their lunch.
“Thank you so much for letting us come, Mr. Zoom,” Sunset said to the director, who sat at the table next to theirs. “We promise we won't get in the way.”
Canter Zoom smiled genially. “Don’t worry about it. As a CHS alum, I was more than happy to afford the girls who helped save it the chance to visit the set of our little film. Besides, you did win that contest.”
Raven laughed. “Little? You kiddin’? This is Star Trot we're talking about! This movie is gonna be huge!”
Crystal blushed. “I certainly hope so, Raven. Ponymount’s been trying to get the movie side of the franchise back together since the last anniversary, and they haven’t managed it yet… until now. A lot is riding on this picture.”
A production assistant came in, looking nervous. “Uh, sir?” she said to Canter Zoom. “There’s a problem in wardrobe. They can't find Captain Tenebrae’s uniform!”
Canter Zoom sighed. “Crystal, I really wish you could conjure up a miracle… we could use one or two about now. If you'll excuse me…” He walked off away from the canteen and back to the set.
Twilight checked her schedule. “According to our visitor schedules, they won't start shooting the next scene for a while, which means we have time to check out all the sets, look at the props that Crystal designed specially for the movie… that sort of thing.”
Adagio blinked. “Where’d Gem go? Did anyone see her?”
“She went to go have lunch with Carrie in her trailer,” Aria reminded. “I wouldn’t worry, she’ll pop back up sooner or later.”
“In the meantime, if you girls are going exploring, how would you like a guided tour?” Crystal asked, smiling.
Twilight started bouncing up and down with excitement, “Could we please?! Yes yes yes yes yes yes!”
Crystal laughed and ruffled Twilight’s hair. “Absolutely! Let’s get moving, we can start with the Lunar Imperial props!”
And so, the little group headed off toward another part of the studio, where the props department was housed. A collection of objects from across the entire EDV series were gathered here, including examples of three specific items: A Lunar Imperial phaser, a dagger, and an agonizer in the shape of a communicator badge. The Rubies looked all these over, not daring to touch them.
“So these are things that the mirror crew have, right?” Adagio asked Crystal.
Crystal nodded. “That’s right. I wanted to move away from the Terran Empire from the old show and do something a little different, while still respecting what came before. When you’re working on something with as much depth as Star Trot, there’s a lot of balancing my own desires with what makes the fans happy. Kinda like what Captain Earl Grey said in ‘The Enemy’ about the moral obligations of command.”
“How about the Lunar Empire specifically?” Twilight asked. “How’d they come to be?”
“So, I’m a goddess worshipper,” Crystal said, as they left the props room to visit the main engineering set. “I believe that She created the universe, and that her symbol is the moon. I was sitting at my altar, thinking about this mirror universe story I wanted to write for season 1, and I thought, ‘…What religion do these beings have in this fascist alternate timeline?’ That led me to take my own beliefs and kind of… twist them a bit. Kind of like how fascists in our world will use their beliefs to justify their various hatreds. It’s not the beliefs that are bad, it’s the people doing the believing.”
“That sounds quite interesting,” Aria said, smiling.
Soon, Gem joined them, and the tour continued like this for a while, exploring various sets while Crystal talked about her writing process. At one stage, she even let them into the set for the ISS Endeavour, which looked quite different from the Starfleet version that they all knew so well. Cold blue lights in the ceiling cast the set into semi-darkness, only the lights embedded in the various screens of consoles and wall monitors added a bit more illumination.
A small set of steps behind the helm and ops consoles led to a large platform, where there were two more consoles, and the command area: a single chair for the commanding officer to sit in, and behind that, the tactical railing.
Sitting in that command chair was a young woman with soft yellow skin and blue-green hair. She smiled as Crystal and the Rubies approached the group. "Hey! You're from Canterlot High, right?”
At the octet’s nods of confirmation, she added: "I'm Juniper Montage, Canter Zoom’s and Crystal's niece. What do you think of the sets?”
Twilight nodded approvingly. "They look very realistic!"
Juniper smiled. “Aunt Crystal is very hands-on when it comes to the sets and props for the movie, she wants everything to look as good as it can. She even thinks of stuff most people won’t even see!”
Crystal blushed. “Oh stop, Junebug. I just like diving into the details, you know? It makes me a better writer.”
“So what do you do here?” Sunset asked Juniper.
“Mostly, I bring my uncle coffee and help get everything ready for shooting,” Juniper replied. “I've been on the set for all the movies he's shot here. Pretty much know every inch of this place like the back of my hand.”
Juniper sighed, deflating somewhat. “I tried to convince him and Aunt Crystal to cast me as Colonel Tenebrae, but they really didn't go for that.”
“Because you don’t have the acting experience, Junebug,” Crystal said, walking up the steps to hug her niece. She checked her phone. “I gotta get back to the main bridge, but you girls can wander around some more if you want. Junebug here has keys that open just about every door in this place.” She waved. “Catch ya later!”
She stepped through a side door, and headed off.
Once Crystal was gone, Juniper turned back to the Rubies. “Hey! Have you guys seen the set for the USS Doherty? They usually lock the door to that set, but I've got keys. Come on. I'll show you!” She led them away to another part of the lot.
A couple hours later, the girls met back up on the main bridge set, where the film crew was preparing another take. “Quiet on set, please!” Canter Zoom was shouting. “We’re doing a retake of the opening bridge scene! And… ACTION!”
“Captain, we're receiving a distress signal from the USS Doherty," the tactical officer reported. "The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue her crew.”
"Two Lunar Imperial vessels are locking weapons on us!” added someone at the operations console.
"Fire photon torpedoes," ordered Carrie, staring intently at the giant hole in the middle of the room.
"Captain, three more Imperial vessels are de-cloaking and targeting our ship!" reported the helmswoman. "They're firing on us!"
"Alert sickbay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship!" shouted Carrie as the bridge set, mounted on gimbals, began to shake from the onslaught. Everyone lurched around, simulating weapons fire. "Continual fire, all phasers!”
"Shields at sixty percent!" yelled someone from the engineering station.
"Fire magi-torpedoes, target all five ships!" barked Carrie. Just then, the rear wall behind the security chief fell backwards with an enormous crash, starting a domino effect. In minutes, the entire bridge set fell apart.
Canter Zoom facepalmed. “Cut! Cut! Cut! What is going on around here? We just filmed on this bridge, and it was fine! This could set us back weeks!”
“They're gone! They're all gone!” exclaimed a P.A., looking panic-stricken as he ran into the room.
“What's gone?” Canter Zoom asked.
“The Imperial weapons!” the P.A. replied. “The uniforms for the alternate crew! If it’s a Lunar prop, they’re all missing!”
Canter started to panic himself. “This can't be happening! What are we gonna do?!”
“Couldn't you just get the prop and wardrobe departments to make new ones?” Sunset asked.
Canter shook his head. “The missing weapons were personally approved by Crystal! We could have new ones made, but we can't use them until she’s given them her official stamp of approval!”
He groaned. “Stolen weapons props, missing costumes, the collapse of the main bridge…” he glanced worriedly at Crystal. “I’m gonna have to call the execs and tell them we can’t go on.”
Twilight looked pained. “But-but you have to finish this movie! Think of all the Star Trot fans who'll be so disappointed if you don’t!”
Gem frowned, looking concerned. “Are you sure there's nothing you can do to-”
There was a crashing noise, and Canter Zoom ran off, looking visibly stressed. “I SWEAR THIS MOVIE IS CURSED!” he yelled, as a door slammed behind him.
Crystal watched him go and sank into her chair, looking worn down. “What he doesn’t know is, there is no curse. This is all on me, because I forgot to do something before filming started. Something I always do on any new TV or film project I work on.”
“What’s that?” Emerald asked.
“When Canter and I were shooting the pilot seven years ago,” Crystal began, “I did a protection ritual right here on the bridge, to make sure filming was as smooth as possible. Episodic TV is a hard job, and I wanted to make sure we got through our first season alive.”
“Did it work?” Twilight asked.
Crystal nodded. “It sure did. Hell, I believe it was that ritual that got us the six seasons we made after that, and this movie. I renewed the spell every year, on the first day of filming for the next season, and I was going to do it for the movie… but then I forgot.”
She smiled thinly. “Writing a movie isn’t like writing a TV episode, girls. I had a lot of learning to do, and the heads at Ponymount kept sending me notes. The last night before filming, I turned in the final draft that we’ve been shooting with, and just collapsed in my apartment. Next day, I didn’t even think to re-cast my protection spell. And now, all this is happening.”
She looked up, determined. “But now I have a chance to make it right.” She turned to the Rubies. “Wanna help me solve a mystery?”
“We’d be honored,” said Twilight, shaking Crystal’s hand.
A few minutes later, Crystal and the Rubies reconvened on the set for the observation lounge. A backdrop of stars filled the fake windows that ran along one side of the set wall, giving the impression that they really were in space. The eight of them sat around the table, with Crystal at the head, and the Rubies on either side.
Crystal had even decided to have a little fun, and dressed up in her Starfleet admiral uniform from the contest winner announcement broadcast. Similarly, Twilight, Emerald, and their friends now wore Starfleet uniforms of their own, borrowed from the wardrobe department.
“Alright, crew!” Crystal said, getting the meeting started. “Let’s workshop this. What do we know so far?”
Gem hummed thoughtfully, touching the tip of her nose with one finger. “There was trouble with one of the costumes when we first arrived,” she began. “A set that was fine yesterday just collapsed. And now, the most important props in the movie have been stolen. I don't think these are just coincidences.”
Sunset nodded. “Me, neither. All the things that have gone wrong on set have put production on hold. It seems to me like someone is going to a lot of trouble to make sure this movie doesn't get made.”
“Who would want to do that?” Adagio asked.
“Obviously, someone with a grudge,” mused Crystal. “Not that that helps us very much.”
“No kidding,” Emerald agreed. “It's not like there's some mysterious cloaked figure we can chase after and say, "Hey, tell us where you're keeping the props!"
As Emerald spoke, Sonata pointed to a corner of the room and said, “You mean like that one?” Sure enough, a dark, hooded figure was skulking around, carrying a bundle in their hands.
“Hey! Stop right there!” Raven shouted, running out of the open doors to the observation lounge set.
Tapping her geode, her wings appeared and she flew off, hoping to intercept the mysterious figure, but unfortunately, the figure was too fast for her, and in no time at all, they’d vanished entirely from Raven’s field of view.
Landing, Raven sighed unhappily. “I can't believe I lost them! I guess being able to fly doesn't help when the person you're chasing knows their way around better than you do.” Looking around, she realized she was in a storage area, with extra costumes and various other movie-related supplies.
She spotted a small bundle of purple and black fabric, and held it up. “Hey! This is just like the outfit Colonel Tenebrae wears! What’s it doing in here? I’d better go tell the girls.” She went over to the doors and tried to open them, only to find them locked. “Oh great… Hello? Anyone out there?” There was no answer.
Raven snapped her fingers and began checking her pockets. “No problem! I'll just call my friends and let them know… Except I can't because security took all our phones when we got here!” She groaned, then cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled. “Help! I'm trapped in here!”
“Hello? Raven? Are you in there?” came Gem’s voice, after several minutes had passed.
“Yes! Help! I'm locked in!” Raven cried, her voice muffled.
“It's okay, sweetie! We're here!” Gem called out.
Raven could hear the sound of Gem using her magic, and then the lock clicked, freeing her. The door cracked open, and Raven stepped outside, throwing her arms around her girlfriend. “Boy, am I happy to see you! How did you find me? I gave up banging on the door five minutes ago!”
“Intuition,” Gem replied, hugging back. She spotted the outfit lying on Raven’s shoulder. “Hey, is that the costume that went missing when we first got here?”
Raven nodded. “Yeah. But I didn't see the person who locked me in, and there's still no sign of the props!”
Gem hummed thoughtfully. “I say we head back to the scene of the crime. Maybe there's something there that could lead us to the props.”
“Or... we could let the culprit lead us to them!” Twilight suggested.
“How?” Raven asked. “I just told you I didn't see who locked me in here.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s true, but I’ve got a pretty good idea who our thief is. We're gonna need Crystal's help to catch her.”
Gem smiled at Twilight. “I had a feeling you’d say that.”
Minutes later, the group met up with Crystal and Canter as a group of builders started lifting the various parts of the bridge set back in place. “You found this in a supply closet?” she asked, holding up the outfit.
Twilight nodded. “We didn't find the weapons. But we don't think the thief has had a chance to take them off the lot yet. We wanted your permission to search the mirror Endeavour’s bridge set from top to bottom. Maybe we'll find a clue that would lead us to where they're hidden.”
Crystal nodded her assent. “Of course. Good luck, you all!”
And the seven friends, plus Juniper, all ran off to go look.
Twilight, Emerald, and the rest of their friends stepped onto the alternate Endeavour’s bridge through the aft turbolift doors, which Twilight opened with her magic.
“Where do we even start to look?” Raven asked, peering around in the gloom. “This place is huge!”
Gem thought this over. “I think I would want to pick somewhere out of the way, where it’s unlikely anyone would notice anything during filming… given how dark this set is, it’s the perfect hiding spot.”
“Let’s fan out and see what we can find,” Twilight said, and the group did exactly that.
They weren’t at it for very long, however, when Juniper went to a small panel under one of the aft consoles and opened it, revealing an empty compartment. Inside were the various weapons props designed to be carried by Colonel Tenebrae and her crew.
Beaming, she lifted them out of the compartment and shut the door, announcing, “Look! I found the missing weapons!”
“Well, that didn’t take long,” Aria observed, frowning. “Almost as if you knew where they were the entire time!”
“But that’s ridiculous!” Juniper cried. “I haven’t been on this set in days!”
“We’ll see about that,” Emerald growled, dragging Juniper across the room. “Come on, girls. Let’s go track down Canter Zoom.”
A short while later, the gang had returned to the main Endeavour bridge set, where rehearsals for the next retake were under way. Canter and Crystal stood in an out-of-the-way corner, listening intently as the Rubies filled them in on what had happened.
“So let me get this straight,” Canter began. “Juniper’s the one who’s been committing the thefts?”
“She… She wouldn’t…” Crystal whispered, looking horrorstruck.
“She would, and she did,” added Twilight. “What she didn't expect was for Raven to come after her before she was able to sneak them off to a safer hiding place. So she was forced to hide them in the first place she could find… the bridge of the mirror Endeavour!”
“But she knew she couldn't leave them there,” continued Emerald. “So the first chance she got, she tried to sneak them away! Unfortunately for her, we spotted her! But Juniper knows "every inch of this place like the back of her hand,” so she was able to trap us and lose Raven!”
“For a while,” said Twilight. "But when Raven managed to figure out where she'd run off to, she locked her in a closet with a set of keys that gives her access to "just about every door in this place…”
“...which gave her the time she needed to hide the weapons on the other Endeavour’s bridge set!” finished Emerald.
“When did you figure out it was her?” Canter asked.
Twilight answered first. “I started to piece things together when Gem unlocked the door to get Raven out of the supply closet. But I knew Juniper would never admit she was the one who had taken the weapons.”
“But the truth is, she had a motive,” Emerald added. “She was bitter about Crystal’s decision not to cast her as Colonel Tenebrae, so she decided to sabotage the production instead!”
“What she said!” Juniper interrupted. “I mean, I’ve told you over and over again how badly I wanted to play Colonel Tenebrae, and you just ignored me!” She stomped her foot like a petulant child. “I thought if enough things went wrong, Carrie would maybe back out of the movie and then... you would give me a chance.” She looked down at her shoes.
Canter Zoom frowned deeply. “You thought wrong,” he said. “Not only did you jeopardize the production, endanger the safety of the actors and the film crew, but you also lied to me and took advantage of my trust!”
“You know what, Juniper?” Crystal asked, more than a little ice in her voice, “I was wrong about you. You would have been perfect to play Colonel Tenebrae. Do you know why?”
“Why?” Juniper asked, gulping nervously.
“Because this kind of trickery is exactly the kind of thing an officer of the Lunar Imperial Star Corps would do,” Crystal said. “And in case you haven’t noticed, they’re the bad guys. Putting the needs of the one, or the few, before the needs of the many is the antithesis of everything Starfleet represents, and it’s the antithesis of what I expect the people I work with to represent!”
“I know,” said Juniper, sniffling. “A-And I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone, and I was going to return all the props, just as soon as Carrie quit! I hope you can forgive me…”
Canter Zoom sighed heavily. “You’re my niece, Juniper, so, of course, I can forgive you. But I'm sorry to say you're no longer welcome on the set, and it'll be a long time before I consider allowing you back here! Keys!”
Juniper handed Canter her keys, then looked at Crystal. “Aunt Crystal… I’m sorry.”
“I hate to be hard on you, Junebug, but I can’t accept that apology yet,” Crystal said. “When you get home tonight, I’d suggest re-watching “The First Duty,” and really thinking about what you did.” She turned away. “Dismissed.”
Juniper was led away from the set by a couple of security guards, glaring at Emerald and Twilight as she did so. "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"
Raven smirked. "It's kinda our bag, Montage. Get used to it."
Canter smiled as he returned his attention to the girls. “I gotta say, you seven are amazing! First you save Camp Everfree, now our Star Trot movie. Y'all are certainly on a roll!”
Gem smiled and bowed her head. “It's what we do, Mr. Zoom. Think nothing of it.”
Raven raised a hand. “Uh, speaking of roles... Don't suppose you've got any extra parts my friends and I could play? You know, heh, as a reward for saving the day?”
Canter thought this over. “I think we could figure something out. The script Crystal wrote calls for the bridge crew to meet their dark mirror counterparts. We were going to film them in splitscreen, but since you girls look exactly like our leads… want to take a crack at it?”
Gem nodded. “I don’t see why not!”
On the Endeavour bridge set, Gem and Carrie faced each other off. Carrie was dressed in the usual red and black command tunic, while Gem wore the uniform of Colonel Tenebrae, the villainous counterpart to the captain.
“It seems we must always meet again,” said Gem, smirking darkly as she got into character.
“They do say opposites attract,” replied Carrie.
"Indeed... I was hoping to take over your Federation,” Gem continued. “Starting with your death!”
"Of course you were," Carrie says. "That's exactly the kind of thing I would expect me to do, if I were a murderous, egotistical maniac." She crosses the room. "Not that your plan would have worked, anyway. My crew are loyal to me, they would never have done what you told them! You may look, sound, and act like me, but you're not the captain they know, and even if you managed to play along for a while, the mask would slip eventually! You're a barbarian, it's practically impossible for you to behave like a civilized person for very long!"
"Don't paraphrase that weakling Vulcan at me," Gem spat. "He was a worthless old fool who tried to make the Empire into a peaceful place. It failed, as it was always going to. If I can't kill you here, I'll take you back to my place and do it there! And then, I'll come back here with a new crew, and this ship and your universe will be MINE!"
“This is so awesome!” Raven squealed, from where she stood with her friends. Then she saw Canter glaring at her and blushed. “Oops… sorry.”
Canter sighed. “Cut! Take two!”
And everyone laughed, as filming continued.