MY LITTLE PONY: MAKE YOUR MARK—CHAPTER ONE

Written by Gillian Berrow

Executive producers: Olivier Dumont, Randi Yaffa, Cort Lane

Story editing by Gillian Berrow

Supervising direction by Will Lau

Associate direction by Blayne Burnside

Transcribed by Alan Back (ajback@yahoo.com)

Notes:                  The breaks between acts are somewhat arbitrary, and have been chosen so that

                            each act (or the prologue plus Act One) is approximately one-third of the total

                running time.

                            Background song lyrics are in square brackets; any marked with an exclamation

point are shouted rather than sung.

                This transcript assumes that the reader has no familiarity with the YouTube

                series Tell Your Tale. Characters and locations that first appear in that series

                will be described as they become relevant.

                The title card for this special designates it only as My Little Pony: Make Your

                Mark. It is intended as the premiere episode for the Netflix series of the same

                name; “Chapter One” was subsequently appended in order to distinguish it from

later blocks of episodes.

Prologue

(Opening shot: fade in to a slow pan through a stretch of serene blue daytime sky and banks of fluffy white clouds. A few birds wing lazily through the air, only to be flung into a cheeping, panicked spin as something blurs past them. One avian comes out upside down, but rights itself and stares confusedly after the interloper—who, in a longer shot, proves to be Zipp Storm with accessories added to left shoulder and right foreleg. The camera picks out each multicolored wing as it spreads to catch the air, then tail and upswept forelock, and finally zooms out to frame all of the airborne mare. The device on her shoulder is an armor plate whose gold/blue-green surface is bisected by a white lightning bolt, and the one on her leg is a small pouch; both are held on by straps.)

(She drops into a dive and vanishes into a tuft of cloud, just in time not to be noticed by a couple of passing pegasi whose attention is riveted to the cell phones they carry. Once they are gone, she pokes her head up, shakes it to dissipate the white puff stuck to it, and gets moving again. This shot is close enough to pick out a winged gold pin mounted on her shoulder plate. From here, dissolve to the Zephyr Heights skyline and zoom in slowly on the royal palace as Zipp cuts a wide arc approaching one of its tallest towers. Cut to a close-up of her hovering at the base of a window frame to peek in, her back to the camera, then zoom out quickly and rotate 180 degrees to show that she has actually perched upside down at the top of the panes. In close-up, she flips into an upright hover and bumps a shoulder twice against the window, trying and failing to nudge it open.)

Zipp: Hmmm…

(She leans a front hoof against the glass and lets off a cry of surprise when it suddenly swings inward, dumping her into an undignified slide on her belly across the marble floor inside. Extreme close-up of the pin, which incorporates a tiny speaker. Pipp Petals’ voice is heard through this, a burst of static preceding each of her next two lines.)

Voice of Pipp: So did you get it yet, Zipp? (Zoom out; Zipp has sat up.)

Zipp: Almost.

Voice of Pipp: Well, hurry up!

Zipp: On it. (She stands.) Maximum sneaky engaged.

(Any further words are cut off by the clatter of approaching armor; pan quickly to show guards Thunder and Zoom approaching in a corridor. By the time they reach the open window, Zipp is nowhere to be seen; they close it and turn away, the camera tilting up to bring the royal heir into view, hovering near its top and badly rattled at almost having been bowled out. However, it only takes her a moment to regain her cocky composure and land. A few steps, a quick flattening of herself against one wall, then a somersault across to the other one, and she has wound up next to a portrait of herself, Pipp, and Queen Haven that was painted when the sisters were fillies. This sequence picks out Zoom’s cutie mark as a blue castle tower with open drawbridge, not previously visible in A New Generation.)

Zipp: (addressing it mockingly) Hey, Mom.

(She eases up to a set of closed glass doors and taps a hoof to a nearby wall-mounted scanner; it beeps in recognition, and the lock is released to let her through. Cut to her perspective, panning slowly across the new space—vanity with a floor-to-ceiling mirror at one wall, satin-sheeted bed at the next, lighted mirror stood up in the corner between them, mirrored disco ball hanging from the ceiling. An object sits under a glass dome on the vanity counter.)

Zipp: Uhhh…

(Back to her, smiling with the faintest of chuckles and stepping in, then cut to a close-up of the object—a jeweled white microphone with gold wings protruding near its head. Zipp eases the dome up, whisks this away, and is on her way out even before the glass can clatter back into place. Cut to her galloping through the palace.)

Zipp: Mission accomplished!

Voice of Pipp: Good! Now fly fast!

Zipp: (chuckling) No problems with that.

Pop synthesizer/drum melody with brass accents, bright 4 (D major)

Capitalized words are both sung and shouted

(She launches herself out a window and hurtles down the tower wall for several dozen yards before pulling away into a glide.)

Pipp: (shouted in rhythm)        You gotta let it glow

                                You gotta let it shine

(A few deft moves allow her to wave in and out among the letters in “Netflix Presents,” formed from clouds, and on into open sky as the title card materializes.)

Pipp: (singing)        Oh, let’s make our mark together, just riding on forever

                        Just keeps on getting better, better, better

                        Everypony everyWHERE, you can feel it in the AIR

                        Find your spark and just glow and shine

(Now she closes in on Maretime Bay, whose lighthouse—destroyed by Sprout Cloverleaf in Act Four of A New Generation—has been replaced by a structure of similar form. Its tower is transparent, trimmed in gold and violet, and a vivid rainbow beam lances upward through it and into the sky; the living quarters are painted pale blue. The lantern room at the top is marked by a pair of gold wings and a large replica of the three crystals that Sunny and her friends sought to reassemble—here referred to as the Unity Crystals. The whole edifice is the Crystal Brighthouse. Zipp grazes the water surface on her way in and cruises above a busy street.)

Pipp:                        Make a mark that you can SHARE, hoof to heart, you know we CARE

Oh, ponies, come on, let’s all unite [let’s all unite]

Song ends

Act One

(Zipp’s contented musings come to a screeching halt when a filly’s voice rings out in a scream.)

Filly voice 1: Watch out!

(Two nearly identical young pegasi swoop erratically into view, collide head-on, and drop like an eight-legged rock. Zipp plunges in and scoops them up easily as a trolley rolls by.)

Zipp: Uh—uh ,heads up, everypony! (She lands and deposits them on the pavement; the one who shouted speaks up next.)

Pegasus filly 1: I’m so sorry. Thank you, Princess Zipp.

Zipp: Zipp. Just call me Zipp. And don’t worry about it. The magic from the Unity Crystals in the Brighthouse is new to all of us. It takes practice.

(During her next-to-last sentence, the camera cuts to a closer shot of the Brighthouse, zooming in and tilting up to its upper portion, and the view dissolves to the lantern room at the top. This shot reveals that the portion of the structure immediately below the tower is painted in vertical stripes, two shades of light violet. The zoom continues, focusing on the Crystals, joined and floating within the shaft of multicolored light, and ends with a dissolve to a close-up. They jitter in place for a moment before the view shifts to the perspective of a pony on the street, raising a phone to bring a nervously grinning Sunny Starscout into view on its camera. She is still wearing her mane in the style it adopted at the end of A New Generation, as a loosely twisted, rainbow-sreaked sheaf over one shoulder rather than its original braid.)

Sunny: Should I start now, or—

(A frustrated groan marks the holder as Pipp; cut to her, lowering the phone and flanked by Hitch Trailblazer and Izzy Moonbow. The unicorn’s mane is somewhat shorter than it was during A New Generation.)

Pipp: Where is she? I really wanted to use my— (Zipp lands and twirls the microphone she retrieved.)

Zipp: —lucky microphone?

Izzy: There she is.

Pipp: What took you so long? Don’t tell me you were sneaking around the palace again. (Cut to Zipp, who winks; pan to Pipp in time with her irritated sigh.) You know you can just enter through the main doors. It’s our house.

Zipp: But if Mom knew I was there, I’d get stuck doing one of her random princess lessons. (She passes the mic to Sunny.)

Pipp: Good point. Okay, Sunny, just remember—(Zipp backs off.) —pretend you’re talking to us and not, like, all of Equestria, and you’ll do great.

(Her perspective of the mare, who can only manage a stammer as a king-sized case of stage fright takes hold.)

Pipp: You’re live… (raising phone to frame her; it beeps to start recording) …now!

Sunny: Like, “now” now?

(To Pipp, who nods as another choked noise drifts in from Sunny’s direction. What follows will be accompanied by a stream of emoji icons to indicate viewers’ favorable opinion.)

Sunny: (from o.s.) Uh… (Phone-eye view of her, starting to relax.) …hey, everypony! I’m Sunny Starscout— (Pipp taps to shift to close-up.) —and I live here in Maretime Bay with my friends.

(Two more taps bring the phone camera around to the other four, Izzy giggling a bit, and then back to Sunny. As she continues, the view shifts to frame her and the others at a short distance.)

Sunny: A lot has changed around here in the past few months. Maretime Bay used to be the place just us earth ponies lived—

(At the appropriate moments, the view cuts to a couple of unicorns in Bridlewood, watching the broadcast on a phone, then to a pair of jumbo screens playing it on a Zephyr Heights street corner. She is only heard during the former, but seen and heard in the latter.)

Sunny: —just how unicorns always lived in Bridlewood and pegasi never left Zephyr Heights.

(As she continues, the video feed cuts from her to a close-up of the Crystals, shifting to voice over.)

Sunny: But when we found the three Unity Crystals and brought them back together, it brought us back together! (Phone-eye view of the bustling street in Maretime Bay; she continues o.s.) All pony kinds were reunited in friendship. (Pan to frame her.) Now, anypony can live…anywhere! And…

(The pan brings a unicorn into view, emerging from a shop with grocery bags held aloft in her telekinesis.)

Sunny: …we have magic again! (Giddy squeal and giggle.)

(A pegasus wings past, knocking the purchases to the ground and perturbing their buyer somewhat.)

Izzy: (from o.s, scat-singing a bit) Well…

(Her field snatches up four fallen apples; pan quickly to follow them back to her.)

Izzy: …the unicorns and pegasi do. (She sends them skyward with a laugh; one lands squarely on her horn and impales itself.) Ta-daaa! (Gasp.) Now you, Sunny. Show everypony what you can do. (Pan back to Sunny.)

Pipp: (from o.s.) Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Turn into an alicorn. (Squeal; wipe to her.) That’s an earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn all in one.

(Accompanied by a graphic of each pony type appearing as it is named, then all three merging. The phone camera shifts back to Sunny, the view blacking out and restoring itself in the manner of an eye blinking; now she is once again ill at ease.)

Sunny: Uh… (laughing weakly; zoom in) …you know it doesn’t really work like that, guys. I can’t just, uh… (composing herself; zoom out) …anyway, the point is…magic powers or not, I think everypony can agree that our lives are way more magical now that we’re together again. (Pipp leans into view.)

Pipp: (singsong) You know i-i-i-it. (speaking normally) Okay, Sunny. Do the thing.

(Now Sunny pops up by herself against a new background; as she continues, a noisemaker is heard and a cluster of notes, a party horn, and a horseshoe pop up around her.)

Sunny: Do you like super-fun times? Are you interested in learning more about earth pony traditions and tasting local treats? (leaning in close) Do you want to see ponies sing in a big concert? (Dissolve to Izzy, the apple gone from her horn.)

Izzy: Yes, you bet, and ye-e-es!

(A pair of headphones, an electric guitar, and a snare drum and pair of sticks appear around her on this line. She does a bit of scat singing before the phone camera view returns to Sunny on the street.)

Sunny: Then you should come to our annual Maretime Bay Day Festival, for a day of fun in the sunshine! (A shades-wearing sun, pair of rainbow-tinted glasses, and beach ball surround her briefly.) It’s going to be a blast—and I’m not just talking about the fireworks show. (Punctuated by an airburst; she giggles.) All pony kinds are welcome!

Hitch: (stepping into view, over end of previous) Oh, oh! I love Maretime Bay Day! (grabbing/adjusting camera) You gotta come check it out!

(Ground-level view of the quintet, Hitch now holding the phone, as his three-critter “squad”—two birds and a crab—gathers to watch the goings-on and the camera pans slowly. It shifts briefly to them on the following, then to a phone-eye view of him as he finishes.)

Hitch: The live Maretime music, the sand castle contest, the caramel pony-corn! Ah! (Kernels fill the screen.) It’s the best!

(Overhead view of him on this last; one bird licks its chops and arcs down to tug at the unit.)

Hitch: Hey! (It is snatched and carried off by beak.) Give that back! (Sunny has done away with the microphone now.)

Pipp: (gasping, horrified) Hitch! My phone!  

(All five friends get wings and legs working in a trice to pursue the fine feathered filcher down the block. They bob and weave through a knot of passersby, and Zipp finds herself in the lead as the bird angles down toward a moving trolley. It darts neatly in past the conductor at one end, but both she and Zipp let off yells of fright as the latter barrels through. Zipp emerges from the opposite end wearing the conductor’s cap; she pulls it off and throws it away, and the chase continues into the countryside. Having had quite enough of this nonsense, the bird spits the phone out; Izzy fires up her horn, but can manage only a sputtering aura that winks out to leave it in free fall. Gasping in shock, she throws herself into a headfirst slide that would have made Willie Mays proud and catches the phone an instant before her momentum carries her out of view. A thud and a flurry of flower petals mark the very sudden end of the race.)

Izzy: (from o.s.) Got it!

(The other four arrive at the crash site and share a hearty laugh at the sight of her, flat on her leaf-covered face in front of a house’s flowering hedges. Her horn is now behaving itself again, and she spits away some of the detritus and lowers the phone from above.)

Izzy: Oh, hey, look, it’s still on. (Giggling, she sends it back to Pipp, who catches/addresses it.)

Pipp: See you at the festival! (She cuts off the recording.)

Sunny: You okay, Izzy?

Izzy: (standing, floating the last bits off herself) Oh yeah, oh yeah. I mean, a little bit of ground glitter never hurt anypony. (Giggle.)

Sunny: Well, thank hoofness for magic. (Izzy jumps over to the others; Pipp has put her phone away.)

Izzy: Oh, yeah!

Pipp: Definitely.

Zipp: Fo’ sho’.

Mare voice 1: (annoyed) Well, I for one do not agree.

(The first portion of this line is somewhat muffled as if being spoken through the closed front door of the house, but the rest comes through loud and clear as the speaker opens it to glare at the five, the damaged greenery, and the mailbox that Izzy has knocked over. This is Posey: bright yellow earth pony mare, green eyes and brows, straight pink mane drawn tightly back, yellow bead necklace with a pendant of a green flower blossom.)

Sunny: Is this about your flowers, Posey? It was an accident, but we’ll fix them right away.

Posey: (stepping out) No. What I meant was that I wish magic had never come back. And I’m not the only pony around here who thinks so. (Light brown hooves can now be seen.)

Sunny: Uh, what do you mean?

Posey: Y-You pegasi are always flying too fast, o-or too low, or too high up!

Pipp: What’s wrong with flying high up?

Posey: (leaning into her face) Ugh! I just don’t like it, okay? (moving to Izzy) And every time I’m at the market, there’s some smug unicorn using their magic to shop.

(Her agitated motions during this exchange reveal that her mane/tail are of medium length and secured with green bows. Dissolve to her on a sidewalk, enjoying a soda that is promptly knocked out of her grip by a grocery bag in a passing unicorn’s magical hold; she glares after the offender. This flashback gives a clear view of her cutie mark, a ring of pink flowers.)

Posey: (voice over) I almost got hit in the head by a bag of floating apples yesterday!

(Dissolve back to her in the present.)

Posey: Magic is not very safe—at least not for the rest of us ponies who don’t have it. (pointedly) Right, Sheriff Hitch?

Hitch: (hesitantly) Uh, I don’t know if I would say that. (Posey snarls.)

Sunny: Everypony is just…still learning how to use it. That’s all. Magic takes practice.

Posey: (returning to house) Hmph. Then they should do it somewhere else other than my garden!

[Animation goof: The mailbox has been repaired in this shot. It will be down again a moment later.]

(She steps inside and kicks the door shut behind herself. A moment’s tense silence is broken when Izzy pops up brightly between Pipp and Zipp.)

Izzy: Okay, wow, she was really nice. Right, guys?

(The sisters take their leave with some unease, while she sings a bit and plies her power to get both the flowers and the mailbox standing tall again.)

Izzy: Oh! Come on, Sunny. Let’s go home.

(She trots off, leaving a very pensive Sunny alone on the lawn to take the full brunt of Posey’s disgusted gaze from one window. The homeowner jerks the curtains shut.)

Sunny: Don’t worry, Posey. (nudging a flower straight)  I’m gonna find a way to show you and everypony else just how awesome magic can be.

(She walks off, her spirits rising. Dissolve to the upper reaches of the Brighthouse and tilt down to the front entrance—pink double doors at the top of a broad ramp, framed by an expanse of stained-glass windows that highlight the Crystals and all three pony tribes and their homes. Flowerbeds have been planted on the lawn, and brightly colored trees and bushes ring the structure. Sunny and company approach, Zipp flying as the others walk; cut to just inside the doors as they swing open and the group enters. Zipp has done away with her shoulder plate and foreleg pouch.)

(They are in an entrance hall with soothing blue walls and a floor done as a mosaic in which shades of blue dominate, with a vibrantly multi-hued circular design at the threshold. Two ramps curve gently up to a balcony.)

Izzy: Pipp, Pipp, Pipp! I want to show you something.

(The pop star follows the artisan up one ramp and into a large room that has been roughly divided into sleeping quarters for the four mares, each in a different style. A circular shaft framed in glass and brass stretches up through the center, channeling the light from the Crystals up above. The sliding doors built into one side are open, allowing access to a translucent crystal platform that serves as a lift to reach the lantern room. A common area lined with couches stands directly opposite the entrance. Pipp hums a bit as they come to a stop near Izzy’s craft/forest-themed section, whose bed is configured something like a giant porch swing in that it hangs from the ceiling.)

Pipp: So, what did you want to show me?

Izzy: (flicking her mane) Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but I consider myself a bit of an artist.

Pipp: (jumping on bed) Of course I noticed! All of this beautiful stuff was made by you. You’re so creative, Izzy. (examining a pillow) And you’re a-maze at making new things out of old things. (Gasp.) What do you call it again? (Cut to Izzy.)

Izzy: (trotting a circle) Oh, yeah. Uni-cycling. (Back to Pipp on the start of the next line.)

Pipp: Uni-cycling! Yes! Yes, that’s it!

Izzy: (rummaging through a box, throwing items everywhere) So, the other day when I was searching for my box of googly eyes in the basement, I found this!

(“This” proves to be the battered, discolored remains of the lantern that Sunny’s father, Argyle Starshine, made for her when she was young—and which contained the third of the Crystals. Evidently it took quite a beating when Sprout wrecked the lighthouse. Cut to Pipp in time with her wondering gasp.)

Pipp: (jumping off bed) Is that Sunny’s old lantern?

(Close-up of it, zooming in slowly as a ghostly image of father and daughter manifests at the center.)

Izzy: (from o.s.) Well, her dad made it for her— (baby talk) —when she was a filly. (normal tone) So— (Both again.)  —I thought…

(Pipp claps front hooves to cheeks and pulls in a lung-bursting gasp.)

Pipp: …that you’d fix it up for her as a Maretime Bay Day present?

Izzy: Yep! But, shhh! (giddily) It has to be a surprise! (catching herself) Sorry.

Pipp: (squealing) I love surprises! Your secret is safe with me.

Izzy, Pipp: (each touching a front hoof to the other’s, then to her own chest) Hoof to heart.

(Dissolve to these two and Hitch making pizzas in the kitchen. Izzy is on sauce duty, Pipp adds cheese, and Hitch slides a pie across the counter island so Sunny can lock her teeth onto the handle of the paddle or “peel”it is occupying and carry it across to the oven. The camera follows her away from the trio and past a table where Zipp sits stewing and lets off a loud groan.)

Pipp: (from o.s.) Zipp? (singsong) Zi-i-i-ipp… (She leaps into view.) ZIPP! (Who snaps out of her funk.)

Zipp: Huh?

Pipp: I have been asking you if you want extra cheese on your pizza for, like, ten minutes. What’s up with you?

Zipp: Oh, sorry. Just thinking about something weird that happened earlier.

Pipp: The thing with Posey?

Zipp: (caught off guard, but playing it off) Oh! Uh…yeah! That.

Sunny: Same here. How could she not love magic?

Hitch: (from o.s.) Earth ponies have never had magic before. (Cut to him, rolling out dough for a fresh crust.) Maybe Posey’s jealous.

(The crab from his posse—named as McSnips-a-Lot in Tell Your Tale —jumps up behind him, clicking its claws briefly.)

Pipp: Jealous?

Hitch: I know I am. (More clicks from the crustacean.) Magic seems a little scary, but it would be pretty cool to be able to levitate things.

Izzy: Like this?

(She proceeds to exert her power over the sauce-covered crust lying before her.)

Izzy: Ooh!

(It rises nearly to ceiling level, spinning faster and faster as her laugh floats up and the others gape at it, and McSnips-a-Lot takes advantage of the distraction to tote a bowl of shredded cheese across the island. Izzy’s horn winks out with no warning.)

Izzy: Uh-oh…whoop…

(Gravity brings the whole thing down squarely on her head, but she smiles and licks a bit of sauce off her nose in time with the others’ laughter.)

Izzy: Mmm! (singsong) Worth i-i-t! (Now the jar of sauce is purloined.)

Pipp: Oh, you’re right, Hitch. (walking off) That is soooo much better than flying. (“Soooo” is sung. Next two lines in hushed tones.)

Zipp: (to Sunny) So, have you figured out the whole “magical wings and horn appearing at random times” thing yet?

Sunny: No, and it’s been getting worse.

(Dissolve to her at work behind the counter of her mobile smoothie stand, setting out a beverage for a customer. While accepting payment, she is more than a little startled to find a sparkly glow wreathing her entire form—followed by a blast of golden light that leaves her sporting the magic horn and wings she gained at the end of A New Generation and vanishes her saddlebag. She gasps softly as an accompanying shock wave blows everything on the counter across the street, but the mare whose order was just ruined backs up only a step or two and utters a joyous gasp at the spectacle. Yelling in surprise, Sunny tries to regain her balance but slips on a spilled smoothie and stumbles back against the far wall. The entire stand topples backward; cut to the now-shocked customer as the crash of its impact shakes the camera, then back to the overturned rig. Sunny climbs partway into view from within, voicing a dazed moan, as two birds perch to either side of her; the added appendages poof out of existence, her bag reappears, and three full smoothie cups land upside down on the three heads as a final insult.)

(Dissolve back to her in the here and now and zoom out to frame Zipp.)

Zipp: Maybe Posey has a point. Magic is unpredictable.

Sunny: (turning away) Hmmm…

(The ding of a kitchen timer is her cue to extract a fully cooked pizza from the oven on her peel and set it on the stovetop.)

Sunny: It may be unpredictable, but it’s not dangerous.

(She carries it back to the others and flips it upward as Izzy warms up a spell, her face/head now clean of pizza parts; cut to the cheesy goodness in midair as it is wrapped in her energy and split into six pieces. On the start of the next line, cut back to Sunny as one settles onto her hoof.)

Sunny: We just need to show the earth ponies that magic is nothing to be afraid of.

(To Pipp on the end of this, already chowing down on her share, then to Hitch and Izzy getting and enjoying slices of their own.)

Sunny: (from o.s.) It makes Equestria a-a better place, and… (Back to her.) …it’s fun! (She eats; next she and Hitch gather in with Izzy. All three have dispatched their food.)

Izzy: Wow! Are you ponies thinking what I’m thinking?

Sunny: I think I might be.

Izzy: (softly) All right, everypony. On the count of three. One…two…three. (full volume, rearing up) Floating parade! Right?

Sunny: Not exactly, but close!

(Now she paces around the other four; Pipp and Zipp have also finished eating.)

Sunny: We’re going to use Maretime Bay Day as our chance to show off all the amazing things magic can do! (Her perspective of the others, panning slowly.) Then everypony will remember just how special it is that we have friendship and magic in our lives again. Are you ponies in? (Back to her on the end of this.)

Izzy: Yeah!

Pipp: Definitely, definitely.
Hitch: I’m in!

(The ringing and vibration of a phone emanates from Zipp’s general vicinity before she can voice her assent. She fishes one out, glances at its screen, and lets off an exasperated groan; Sunny watches with visible concern as she excuses herself. Cut to a close-up of the Crystals and zoom out to frame her ascending into the lantern room on the lift platform. A resigned sigh escapes her lips as she unfolds the phone—it is a hinged model with a video screen that spans both inner surfaces when opened—and is greeted by an extreme close-up of her mother’s ear.)

Haven: Zephyrina? (Shift to the mouth.) Are you there? (To one eye.) Hello, hello, I can’t see you!

Zipp: (woodenly) Hi, Mom.

(Now the sovereign gets her entire face in frame, seated on her throne in the palace.)

Haven: Oh! There you are.

(The throne room itself, zooming in slowly; Thunder and Zoom are standing watch at the base of the royal dais, and Haven’s dog Cloudpuff bounces and yips on the cushions alongside. The winged green Pegasus Crystal is gone from her crown, having been stolen in A New Generation, but a vivid purple duplicate has been installed as a replacement.)

Haven: It’s been ages since I’ve seen my fillies. At least Pipp answers her phone when I call her. You never do. (She tosses a treat to the pet, who hovers to catch and eat it.) And you haven’t visited Zephyr Heights at all. (Back to Zipp on the end of this, the screen not in view.)

Zipp: (pacing) Nope. You’re right. I definitely have not been to Zephyr Heights. (Nervous laugh; the screen is visible again.)

Haven: (dryly) Well, it’s not like you can’t fly now, darling. (Cloudpuff leans into view on the screen and licks the camera; she brightens.) Oh! Cloudpuff wants to say hi. (Zipp again; screen not in view.) Who’s Mommy’s little baby?

(Throne room; she nuzzles the flying furball.)

Haven: You are! (Remembering herself, she addresses the phone again.) You were saying? (Back to Zipp; screen not in view.)

Zipp: Oh. It was just—

Voice of Haven: Listen, Zipp, dear. (Back to her end; Cloudpuff begins turning somersaults…) I called because I’m going to need you to move back home, okay? (…only to get dizzy and fall; cut to Zipp’s face on her phone.)

Zipp: What?! No! No way!

Haven: I know you’ve had fun with your new friends and all, but you’re a princess, darling. You’re going to be Queen one day. (Cut to Zipp as she finishes.)

Zipp: (wearily) I know. (Pause.) What about Pipp, though?

Haven: Well, your sister has her little salon project, and…while I do like the idea of you being there to keep an eye on her, let’s face it. She live-streams everything. So that’s not really necessary.

(In Tell Your Tale, the sisters left Zephyr Heights in order to move into the Brighthouse, and Pipp opened a combination salon and karaoke club called Mane Melody in Maretime Bay. Cut to a crestfallen Zipp and zoom in slowly; the screen is not visible.)

Voice of Haven: You’re the one I need here, studying my every move and representing the royal family. (The throne room.)

Zipp: But I’m not sure if I’m ready to leave just yet. (Cloudpuff is aloft once more.)

Haven: And why wouldn’t you be? (Zipp again.)

Zipp: Ummm… (Haven’s end.) …there’s a festival soon?

Haven: Hmmm…I do suppose festival planning does count as a useful skill for your future on the throne. As Queen, you’ll be responsible for arranging state dinners, teas, parties…

(To Zipp’s end on this last; the recitation has instilled fresh horror in her mind and momentarily frozen her tongue. Once she gets it working again, she begins to jiggle her phone and imitate bursts of static between her words. The camera cuts between mother and daughter during this.)

Zipp: Uh…oh! Oh! You’re…breaking…up!

(She adds one more hiss while tapping the screen to end the call, then lowers her phone with a groan that suggests she would rather be plucked clean than put up with any of this lot. A few steps bring her to the balcony of the lantern room, giving her a clear view of Maretime Bay proper, and she sighs as Sunny steps out after her. Zipp has stowed her phone.)

Sunny: Is everything okay?

Zipp: Yeah. It’s just that…I love it here in Maretime Bay so much. I don’t want to leave yet.

Sunny: Leave?

Zipp: Go back to Zephyr Heights.

Sunny: But you just got here!

Zipp: I know. I’m not ready to become a full-time, heir-to-the-throne princess yet— (turning away) —not the way my mom expects me to be, anyway. But…I’m not sure if I fit in here either.

Sunny: Of course you do!

Zipp: (flying off the balcony and back) Even if all I do is fly around and try out new moves?

Sunny: It’s what you love to do! As Izzy would say— (imitating the unicorn) —“it makes your sparkle shine really bright.”

(Cut to the downcast flyer on the end of this.)

Zipp: (pacing) I don’t know. Maybe my mom is right. Maybe I should just go back to Zephyr Heights and really try to be the kind of princess everypony is hoping for. (Groan.) I’m going to have to do it someday.

Sunny: At least stay until Maretime Bay Day. Then you can decide. (Cut to Zipp during this line.)

Zipp: (smiling) Okay, yeah. I guess I can’t miss that.

Sunny: Now come on! (walking back into lantern room) We have a festival to plan, and it needs your magic too.

(Higher up, two pegasi are flapping lazily along and paying more attention to their phones than the surroundings. It therefore comes as a great surprise when their wings sputter with light and they drop screaming toward the water, losing both their lift and their electronics.)

Zipp: (gasping) That’s not good.

(She is on the balcony railing in a blink, ready to dive to their aid—but just as quickly, they are again flying under their own power and have recovered their phones. The would-be rescuer is left in a very confused hover.)

Zipp: Weird.

(A resigned sigh as she sinks from view, the camera zooming in on the Crystals; the rainbow surrounding them suffers a momentary hiccup.)

Act Two

(Cut to Sunny inside the Brighthouse entrance hall and holding up a wreath made from gaily colored ribbons and bows wrapped/tied around a large plastic ring, studded with a few fake pearls. Zoom out slowly, showing an arts-and-crafts area in one rear corner of the space.)

Sunny: Ribbon wreaths are the traditional decoration of Maretime Bay Day. We hang them on our front doors, on Mane Street…

(Zoom out quickly to frame Izzy and Pipp here as well, all three standing over boxes filled with decorations. Wreaths have been hung all over the walls and the ramp railings.)

Sunny: …everywhere!

Pipp: (singsong, lifting/shaking one) Cu-u-u-ute! (Brief coughing fit; she continues hoarsely, returning to normal.) A little dusty, but cute.

Izzy: (gasping, levitating a spoon) I once made a wreath out of old teaspoons!

Pipp: (setting wreath down) Loving that idea, Izzy. (Gasp.) Maybe we can add some unicorn and pegasus flair to these ones, too.

(Cut to the unicorn on the end of this; she gasps excitedly and races toward the kitchen. Back to Sunny and Pipp, who crouch and take cover to avoid a hailstorm of utensils being flung their way, after which Izzy rejoins them with more spoons clamped in her teeth and floating overhead.)

Izzy: Now, where did I leave my suitcase full of glitter? (Off she goes in search of it.)

Sunny: Uh, anypony seen Zipp? (Sound of the front doors opening/closing.)

Zipp: (from o.s.) What’s with all the spoons?

(Cut to her, newly arrived and coming in for a landing near a scatter of discarded flatware, as she finishes. The next shot frames all four, Izzy having brought in a suitcase that lies open on the floor; she now carries spoons only in her magic.)

Sunny: Oh, we’re uni-cycling these old decorations. (Izzy scoops up glitter from the case with them.)

Izzy: Do you want to try?

Zipp: Uh, decorating things isn’t really my strong point. (She turns away.)

Sunny: (moving to cut her off) We could do something else. What about baking Bay Day treats?

Zipp: (dodging around Sunny) I’m not very good at baking either.

Sunny: (walking alongside her) Or write a song for the big concert!

Pipp: (flying across and landing on Zipp’s other side; all stop) Ooh, Zipp, you used to love writing song lyrics with me.

Zipp: (nervously, walking off) I don’t think so.

Sunny: Uh, wait! I’m sure we can find something that you’d like to do.

Zipp: Uh…maybe later! Bye!

(She gallops for the front entrance, butting one door open to make a hasty exit. It has barely slammed shut before Izzy proudly returns with her contribution—a mass of spoons fashioned into a rough wreath shape, accented by a bow and held up by horn-power. Sunny takes no notice, instead aiming two distraught green eyes after the departing pegasus.)

(Cut to an overhead shot of the front entrance to Hitch’s office; he walks up, followed by McSnips-a-Lot on the ground and the two birds in his “squad” from the air.)

Hitch: Good morning, station! (opening doors and entering; close-up) Sheriff Hitch here, reporting for duty!

(He drops blissfully into a swivel chair, letting momentum carry it and him across the floor until he coasts to a stop behind his desk. After a quick adjustment to its lamp, he finds the three critters waddling/scuttling in to stand before him; the two birds salute, while the crab clicks its claws.)

Hitch: At ease, deputies. So, what do you say?

(singing)                 Which Sheriff-y thing should we do today in Maretime Bay?

(spinning in chair)         Hey, hey, hey

(He is met by the combined sounds of an opening door and of mild disapproval from the o.s. Zipp; pan quickly to her walking in.)

Zipp: Are you trying to rhyme?

Hitch: Oh, hey, Zipp. Yeah. What did you think?

Zipp: Way too much.

Hitch: (with slightly forced casualness) Cool, cool. Just trying something out. Didn’t work. Good feedback.

(Tapping his chest and clearing his throat, he is instantly all business.)

Hitch: So, what can I do for you?

Zipp: I came by because…well…have you seen anything…strange lately? (Hitch pauses, pencil in hoof.)

Hitch: Strange?

(McSnips-a-Lot hustles across the desk with a notepad and flips it open at just the right height for him to start jotting.)

Hitch: What do you mean?

Zipp: Well, I was on the balcony earlier when… (hastily) …y-you know what? It was probably nothing. Forget it. (Scoffing at herself, she turns for the door.)

Hitch: Wait. (She stops.) I know what this is about.

Zipp: You do?

Hitch: (standing, circling to her) Yep. Mmm-hmm. You’re bored. But you don’t have to be shy. We’re pals. We can totally hang out. (An idea hits.) I know! (Cross to a file cabinet; open one drawer.) Let’s order fries from three different diners and then decide which ones are the best! (Gasp.) Or maybe a puzzle!

(Now he holds up a boxed jigsaw puzzle sitting on a counter by the wall, to which Zipp offers a cringing smile. The tension is broken by the ringing of Hitch’s desk phone.)

Hitch: A call?

(Back he goes, clearing his throat as he lifts the receiver and drops into full no-nonsense mode.)

Hitch: Sheriff’s station. (McSnips-a-Lot brings the notepad over so he can write.) Mmm-hmm…mmm-hmm…I see…Really? How strange…At the beach?…Well, I’ll be right there. (Hang up.) It appears we have a Code Eight-Eighteen at the beach. (eagerly) Want to come on a trot-along with me, Zipp?

(His only answer is a slammed door and a patch of empty air where Zipp had been. Cut to an overhead shot of him on the next line, zooming out slowly as he flops onto his haunches with the fire instantly gone out of him.)

Hitch: Aaaand I’m talking to nopony.

(McSnips-a-Lot clicks its claws as sympathetically as it can. Cut to two foals happily building a sand castle on the beach and pan to follow a beach ball as it sails by, pursued by a laughing pegasus. A natural ramp descends to the sand from the rocky bluffs a short distance back; Hitch makes his way down, followed by his “deputies,” and begins to scan the area.)

Hitch: Hmmm…looks normal to me.

Filly voice 2: What do you mean, “something strange happened”?

(Cut to the speaker, an irate earth pony with a blue mane/tail, on the end of this. She is glaring at a brown-maned unicorn filly across a half-collapsed sand castle with a folded beach umbrella embedded in it, point down. A few passersby have gathered to watch.)

Earth pony filly: You did it on purpose!

Unicorn filly: I did not!

Earth pony filly: I saw you use your magic to drop your umbrella onto my sand castle!

Unicorn filly: I’m telling you, it wasn’t me! I was carrying it, and then my magic just…went away!

Earth pony filly: I don’t believe you! (The umbrella settles a bit deeper, dislodging a few grains.)

Unicorn filly: But I’m telling the truth! (Hitch steps up and clears his throat.)

Hitch: Is everypony okay over here?

Unicorn filly: Sheriff Hitch, I promise I didn’t mean to ruin anything! My magic—

Earth pony filly: I worked on that castle all day!

(During these last two lines, the camera cuts to a long overhead shot of the face-off, zooming out to frame Zipp hunkered down at the top of the bluffs, then to a close-up of her. Her phone lies within easy reach as she carries out this bit of covert surveillance, but its sudden ring and vibration startle a cry out of her. She fumbles for the thing, nearly dropping it over the side, but finally gets a firm hold and glances at the screen—a call from Haven. Groaning loudly, she taps the red “hang up/ignore” icon, then settles back into a low profile and hits a different button before speaking into the phone.)

Zipp: Thursday. Noon. Beach. Second magical mishap. Levitation glitch. Unicorn dropped umbrella. Lots of upset ponies. Very strange. (sinking out of sight behind bluffs) Must investigate further.

(A voice recorder, no doubt. She stands up and lifts off, having stashed the phone, but gets no more than a few feet of altitude before her wings sputter with the same light that dropped the two pegasi from the sky earlier. The rainbow issuing from the Brighthouse suffers the same malfunction, but returns to normal as she thuds back onto the rocky surface.)

Zipp: Oh, no, no! Please, no!

(Her second attempt brings exactly the same result, wings, Brighthouse, and all; she glances worriedly toward the structure as the energies in it and her continue to sound off for a few seconds. With a terrified gasp, she tries one more time and succeeds in staying aloft as the Brighthouse settles down; a confident laugh, and she is rocketing toward the front entrance. Sunny steps out to greet her as she lands on the walk.)

Sunny: Zipp! There you are! (Pipp stands behind her; Izzy pokes her head out.)

Izzy: Oh, hey! Coming to town with us to gather more supplies for the new-and-improved Maretime Bay Day?

Zipp: (walking in) Oh! Wish I could, but—

Pipp: (testily) Why can’t you, exactly?

Zipp: (backing up toward ramp) Because…I’m working on my own surprise thing for Bay Day. (Her perspective of one skeptical sister.) Yeah! (Back to her.) Uh, have fun!

(She is gone up the incline like a shot. Dissolve to an extreme close-up of the Crystals, behind which her face moves into view for a scrutinizing glare. Her phone beeps; in a longer shot, she lifts it to record a new log entry.)

Zipp: Thursday. Twelve-fifteen. Crystals, normal. Pris-Beam energy, intact.

(The unit is tucked away under a wing, and she circles around the lantern room to stare out one window with a heavy sigh. Back to the beach, where the two ponies involved in the sand castle wreck are now shooting dirty sidewise looks at each other. On the start of the next line, zoom out slightly to frame Hitch.)

Hitch: Okay, tell me what happened. (His perspective; all mouths open and the two point angrily at one another.) One at a time.

Earth pony filly: She tried to sabotage my sand castle!

Unicorn filly: No, I didn’t! My magic was just gone! (Back to Hitch on the next line.)

Hitch: Okay, okay, everypony just— (To the earth pony on the following.)

Earth pony filly: Magic shouldn’t be allowed here on the beach!

Filly voice 3: Is magic allowed on the beach, Sheriff Hitch?

(Cut to the speaker on the start of this line—a pale green, sandy-maned pegasus filly who steps forward from the group.)

Hitch: (caught off guard) Oh! Um…it’s not not allowed.

(This response somehow fails to put the group’s minds at ease.)

Hitch: You know, actually, maybe I should— (rapid fire) —go back to the station and check the records to see what I can dig up. Yeah! You ponies just hang tight, and I’ll get back to you!

(He hurries away along the shore with his three animal buddies in tow, not letting them or the ponies see the profound worry that has settled onto his features. The sight of a large egg resting in a depression brings him up short; the shell is pink, mottled with spots in a darker shade.)

Hitch: (addressing it) Huh. You don’t belong here, do you? (to critters) I’ve never seen an egg like this. Have you? (One bird lets off an inquisitive tweet; he addresses the egg again.) What in Equestria are you?

(The tide surges in, flooding the depression and threatening to wash the egg out to sea.)

Hitch: No! (He snatches it up and cradles it.) I’ll take care of you, little one. (Pan to frame the argument, continuing in the distance, on the next line.)

Earth pony filly: You did it on purpose! (Hitch departs.)

Unicorn filly: I would never do that on purpose!

(Cut to the interior of Hitch’s office, where he has opened a storage cabinet in one corner and is tucking the egg inside. Zoom in slowly.)

Hitch: That’s better.

(Close-up of it, balanced upright on a cushion with a desk lamp aimed directly at it and being switched on. Back to him on the next line.)

Hitch: All roasty and toasty. (patting egg) I’ll just keep you safe here until we can find who you belong to, okay? (One bird perches on the shelf.)

Voice of Posey: Sheriff Hitch?

(Those words spook him into slamming the cabinet doors shut, whirling to grab up a small potted plant near the coffee maker, and pretend to water it with a sheepish laugh. Cut to the out-of-sorts yellow mare walking in on the start of the next line.)

Posey: Who were you just talking to?

Hitch: (trying to play it off) Nopony. Nopony at all. How can I help you, Posey?

Posey: (stepping in farther) I was just trotting down Mane Street when I noticed that my hooves were stuck to the sidewalk. (To Hitch, who grins stupidly, then back as she continues.) I tried and tried to move— (as she mimes being mired in place) —but I couldn’t for, like, a really long time. (crossing to him) I think somepony’s pranking me—probably one of those unicorns. I’d like to file a complaint.

Hitch: (pointing past her.) Okay. The complaint box is over there on the wall.

(As he finishes, pan quickly in the indicated direction and stop on a close-up of the box in question. It is so full that papers are sticking out of the slot through which they should be inserted, and one sheet falls loose as the camera zooms out to frame an overflowing garbage can directly beneath. Back to Hitch and Posey on the next line.)

Posey: Well, I’d prefer if you took it down yourself.

Hitch: I would, but I’m late for an important meeting at the Brighthouse. Duty calls!  

(He claps the plant onto his desk and turns to the cabinet; cut to within as he opens one door and addresses the bird that entered to watch him make a “nest” for the egg.)

Hitch: (whispering) Keep an eye on that egg for me, would you, deputy?

(The critter snaps off a cheep and salute as he shuts the door and exits the office with a breezy laugh that leaves a very perplexed Posey staring after him. Cut to a pan across the island countertop in the kitchen of the Brighthouse, cluttered with dirty bowls and other cooking implements. Sunny and Izzy are on the job, respectively using mouth-held tools and magic measure and stir. Sunny lets go of a whisk before speaking.)

Sunny: Maretime Bay Day is going to be great with these treats! (Pipp stands on the ramp.)

Pipp: How could it not? (flying down to base) We’ve literally thought of everything. (Transition to singing.) And I’ve been working on the all-new anthem for Maretime Bay Day! Whoo! (speaking) You want to hear it?

(Sunny and Izzy nod in close-up; back to Pipp on the start of the next line.)

Pipp: Too late, doing it anyway. (She clears her throat and counts off a fast beat.)

                A-five, six, seven, eight

Soul/gospel feel

                Maretime Bay, yeah, hey, hey

(spoken, crossing to kitchen) And then it’s like…

                Something about the sunshine and sea

(spoken) And then it’s like…

(arpeggio)        Something, something, something, something, something

Exaggerated soul/gospel

                Them something, something, something

(The “song” ends with her standing almost nose to nose with Izzy.)

Izzy: (dryly) Uh, yeah, I don’t like it. (animatedly) I love it! What?!?

(She halts her critique at the sound of the front doors opening and Hitch’s contented humming; cut to him walking in.)

Hitch: Catchy! (humming) Something, something… (spoken) Yep. Very catchy. She’s good.

(The three mares stare dumbfounded until the kitchen timer rings; close-up of the stovetop as a tray bearing six small pies or tarts is slid onto it, each one topped with a bright pink star. Zoom out as Sunny shuts the oven door and gets a lungful of the aroma.)

Sunny: Mmmm! Miniature glimmerberry tarts! (Hitch and Izzy approach, the latter toting several small blue candy wedges in her aura.i) Great idea, Izzy!

(In close-up, each tart gets a piece stuck in to stand up from the edge.)

Izzy: (from o.s., giggling) Aww! Ta-daaa! (Cut to her.) Ooh, now they’re a true work of “tart”!

(Hitch flips one off the tray, catches it in his mouth, and begins chewing with gusto.)

Hitch: (mouth full) Mmmm! But how do you make ’em taste like magic? 

Izzy: (whispering dramatically) The secret ingredient…magic!

Pipp: (showing a recipe card) We have to make cloud candy next. It’s Zipp’s favorite! Um…where is she, by the way?

(The other three can only offer puzzled “I don’t know” grunts and shrugs in reply, Izzy a beat behind Sunny and Hitch. Cut to a visibly weary Zipp watching the Crystals in the lantern room, seen from the opposite side of their scintillating energy—the Pris-Beam, as she termed it earlier. She has her phone in hoof to record an entry.)

Zipp: Hour five. Still nothing. (All quiet.) Hour five and one minute. Still nothing.

[Animation goof: Her phone suddenly goes from folded to fully open.]

(She closes it up, tucks it away, and begins to pace the floor with a nearly inaudible sigh.)

Zipp: Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there’s no pattern to it, just a glitch.

(Tendrils of brightness start to make their way up from the floor, almost exactly in time with her frustrated groan. She turns to find them connecting with the Crystals.)

Zipp: What in the wing feathers? Huh…

(She stares uncomprehendingly at this new light show as the view tilts down slowly and dissolves to the kitchen. Sunny, Izzy, and Pipp have now turned out more batches of tarts, and they laugh as the unicorn floats them off the baking trays and the earth pony and pegasus catch them in open-topped carriers. Pipp even snags one in her mouth and chows down as Hitch did. Another dissolve shifts the scene back to the lantern room; Zipp continues to watch the new energy ribbons feeding into the Crystals until the intensity forces her to shield her eyes with a grunt of discomfort. The connections break and the round crystal glows green, which kindles to a blinding whiteness that consumes all three for an instant. Once it subsides, vine-like swirls in that same virescent shade trace themselves over every single window up here, to Zipp’s astonishment. The camera tracks slowly around the room.)

Zipp: Whoa…

(Cut briefly to a long shot of the room, seen from outside, then back to Zipp approaching one half-obscured window.)

Zipp: I don’t believe this!

(She gallops away; cut to the entrance hall as she flies down the ramp and lands.)

Zipp: Everypony, quick! (To the others in the kitchen; Izzy drops a bowl and whisk she is levitating. Zipp continues o.s.) Come upstairs! (A wad of dough splats onto the island.) You have got to see this!

Pipp: There you are!

Hitch: What happened? (Zipp leans across to them.)

Zipp: Just hurry!

(They follow her lead and are promptly hoisted to the lantern room via lift platform. The windows are entirely clear now.)

Izzy: (awestruck) Woooow… (composing herself) What are we looking at?

Zipp: There were all these vines growing on the wall! And they were glowing… (To Izzy and Pipp on the end of this.)

Pipp: Glowing vines?

Zipp: Okay. I have a confession. I’ve been monitoring the Crystals— (turning to them) —and I think something is wrong with them.

Sunny: (rolling eyes) What? No, there isn’t.

Zipp: None of you have noticed that magic seems kinda weird lately? Like, it keeps switching off or something. (She aims a hard stare at Izzy.)

Izzy: (hoof to chin, thinking hard) Hmmm…nope!

Pipp: (from o.s.) Me neither. (Zipp swivels to her.)

Zipp: Really? (Pipp’s phone blips; she pulls it out.)

Pipp: Sorry, sis.

(Thrown for a loop, the ace flyer turns her attention to the Sheriff. Cut to him and then back to her during the next line.)

Zipp: Hitch, I saw what happened at the beach the other day. Didn’t you take—

Hitch: (hastily) What? I didn’t take anything at the beach!

Zipp: —down a report?

Hitch: Oh! Right! A report. Actually, that reminds me—gotta go file that report! (He backs up onto the lift and sinks from sight.)

Izzy: (calling after him) Hey, you, wait a second! (dropping after him; Pipp follows) You were gonna teach us how to make life-sized gummy bunnies!

Zipp: (to Sunny) I know it sounds weird, but I know what I saw, and what I’ve been seeing. (jumping across room) Like the other day, when I was flying back from Zephyr Heights, these two pegasi crashed into each other and I think it—

Sunny: (crossing to her) I’m sorry, Zipp. I’ve been so caught up in all the festival planning. This is all my fault.

Zipp: (dryly) That magic is glitching?

Sunny: (scoffing) Magic is not glitching.

Zipp: But you said it yourself. Your alicorn magic keeps appearing randomly. You don’t find that strange? At all?

Sunny: (a bit rattled) No. I-I think that’s just because I’m still learning. We all are.

(The pegasus aims a concerned gaze toward the Crystals. Dissolve to two birds perched on the edge of a rooftop and tilt down to ground level as they flit away. The two-story building stands on the primary thoroughfare of Maretime Bay—previously identified as Mane Street by Sunny and Posey—and has pink/gold trim at windows and corners. Repeated on its white walls is a pair of pink capital M’s, interlocked so that the right leg of the first M overlaps the left leg of the second. The first M is jogged up a bit higher than the second, and the free ends of their legs end in music notes. This is Mane Melody. Zipp trudges into view, seeing only ponies going about their normal business, and deploys her phone with a fed-up groan to record an entry. During the following line, the camera shifts to frame a rainbow-streaked sign projecting from one corner of the building above the first story ;it carries the logo in white, as well as scattered notes and a pair of gold wings.)

Zipp: Report. Nothing new to report. Nor more signs of mysterious glowing vines or crystal glitches.

(Comes now the ringing and vibration of an incoming call; she bobbles the phone, nearly dropping it, and sees that Haven is trying to reach her. Another groan as she sits in front of Mane Melody; cut to her perspective as she flicks it open and an extreme close-up of her mother’s face fills the screen.)

Zipp: Hi, Mom.

Haven: Zipp! There you are! (She backs off a step.) Have you been ignoring my calls, young filly? (Cut to said “young filly” on the end of this; screen not visible.)

Zipp: No, no, just busy, Mom. I’m actually helping Sunny with decorations right now, so I gotta go. (Chuckle.)

Voice of Haven: Well, I can’t wait to see them.

(The hoof that Zipp has poised to end the call freezes in place at these words.)

Zipp: See what? (Shift to frame Have on screen again.)

Haven: The decorations! (leaning too close) Oh, didn’t Pipp tell you? I’ll be attending this Maretime Bay Day Festival.

(Head-on shot of one thunderstruck, gasping daughter on the end of this, leaving the screen out of view.)

Zipp: You will? (wings flaring) Why? (The screen; a yipping Cloudpuff pops up next to Haven.)

Haven: (playfully) Yes, it is treat time! I know, I know. (normal tone, to Zipp) See you there, darling.

(On this last line, the view cuts to Zipp and back, with the sovereign once again shoving her face too close to the camera lens. The screen then goes blank as the call ends.)

Zipp: (rolling eyes, closing/stowing phone) Come on! There’s gotta be something!

(She brings a pair of binoculars up to her eyes; cut to her perspective, panning quickly from one stretch of Mane Street to another and picking out nothing extraordinary.)

Zipp: Everything on Mane Street appears normal.

(Hitch’s office is visible at a distance; zoom in quickly on this to pick out two citizens emerging, then pan away from them and past a group of barrels stacked up next to the building. A pony can be seen moving behind these.)

Zipp: Huh?

(She backs up them, just in time to see Hitch peek out, duck away for a moment, and emerge walking backwards and dragging a sack across the grass in his teeth. He is moving toward the doors.)

Zipp: Hmmm… (In he goes.) …except… (Back to her, lowering the lenses.) …that. Huh.

(She starts toward the office. Cut to a head-on view of Hitch, seen from within the open cabinet as he does a bit of rearranging, a squeak or two floating up.)

Hitch: Here you go, little one. I brought you some sand to make you more comfortable. I thought maybe you’d like that.

(As he speaks, the camera cuts to the office itself; the sack is spilling sand across a desk, and both birds from his “posse” are looking on, one from the top shelf. The egg’s nest has now been filled with sand built up slightly, and he tucks a stuffed squeaky crab doll in next to it as McSnips-a-Lot scuttles out to poke the toy.)

Hitch: (from o.s.) Looking rosy…and… (Head-on shot of him.) …cozy. Now who wants to hear a story? (Zipp peeks into view from behind him.)

Zipp: I do.

(The egg-sitter lets off an alarmed cry and whirls to face her.)

Hitch: Zipp! (Slam the doors shut.) Wow! You are sneaky! What are you doing here?

Zipp: I had an instinct, so I followed it. (leaning across desk; Hitch cowers a bit) And I was right. (jumping onto cabinet) You have been hiding something. (She pulls the doors open…)

Hitch: Hey! (…and gets a good look at the egg.)

Zipp: Ooh! (Chuckle; Hitch glares at her.) So, uh…what is it?

Hitch: No clue. (pacing) I saw it on the beach, and I just knew it needed help. I just—

Zipp: (teasingly) —had an instinct and followed it?

Hitch: (smiling) Yeah. (She jumps down to him.) Hey, uh, would you mind keeping this between us for now?

Zipp: Sure. I can Zipp it. (She throws him a smirk.)

Hitch: What?

Zipp: So, you gonna read us that story now or what?

(McSnips-a-Lot and the bird on the top shelf both express their support of the idea, but Zipp’s phone chirps before he can spin up a good yarn. She whips it out and glares at the screen, but both ponies swiftly voice surprised gasps at the display—a string of text messages from Pipp. The first one is only a row of exclamation points; the second; of angry-face emojis; the third, of crying faces. Back to Zipp on the next two words.)

Zipp: (stunned) Oh, no.

(Long overhead shot of the front entrance of the Brighthouse as the two gallop toward it, then cut to within the entrance hall as they skid to a stop on the tiles. The rest of the gang is gathered here, Pipp facing the others.)

Hitch: We rushed right here! So what’s the emergency?

Pipp: Well, everypony seems really stressy lately. We clearly need a break—and luckily, I know just the place. (jittering excitedly in place) I planned a surprise for you! You’re welcome.

Izzy: Ooooooooh! (Close up of an apprehensive Zipp.)

Zipp: (quietly) Please don’t let it be makeovers, please don’t let it be makeovers…

(Cut to her in the same position, the dome of a mane dryer lowered around her head. Zoom out quickly to put her on her haunches in a well-padded chair. Sunny and Izzy are similarly disposed to either side of her, in considerably better frames of mind, and reading magazines to pass the time. All three are off to one side of a large room bisected along its length by a red carpet runner; in one corner behind them, Hitch lies on a comfortable bench and is getting a bit of touch-up work done on his hooves.)

Zipp: I knew it.

Izzy: But this is sooooo relaxing—and informative. Did you ponies know there are over a thousand different kinds of hermit crabs? (dramatically) ’Cause I did not.

Hitch: (giggling) Sorry, Jazz.

(His perspective of the mare attending to him, Jazz Hooves. Earth pony mare; pale blue-green coat; slightly darker eyes with much darker brows; red mane/tail, the former tied in a loose bunch that hangs over one shoulder and shades to magenta at its end. The far wall is decorated with a pair each of white wings and red/white/magenta lightning bolts overlaid on a rainbow, with a few stray runnels of paint suggesting a graffiti style.)

[Note: Her ears disappear from time to time during the remainder of this scene, and will be seen only very rarely in future appearances, if at all. This has been explained as the aftereffect of design changes that were made between the initial character concept development and final animation.]

Hitch: So sorry… (Longer shot of him and Jazz; now Pipp enters.) …so ticklish!

(This shot picks out the pink bandolier that Jazz wears, loaded with beauty implements, as well as her deep pink hooves decorated with tiny stars. Pipp breaks into a bubbly giggle at the sight and trots over to the rest of her friends.)

Pipp: Don’t you ponies love it here at Mane Melody? (Next two lines overlap.)

Sunny: (nodding) Mmm-hmm!

Izzy: Yeah-huh!

(Rocky Riff, a pegasus stallion, turns to Zipp. Off-white coat; deep red mane/tail, both shading to yellow-orange near their ends and the former showing a streak in this color; yellow-orange wings; deep red eyes and brows; white hooves. The right brow has a slight nick at its outer end, a beauty mark sits beneath the outer corner of that eye, and he wears a gold pendant shaped as an electric guitar on a thin chain around his neck. His movements during the following exchange reveal a cutie mark of a comb surrounded by gold sparkles, its handle ending in a music note.)

Rocky: (flipping the mane-dryer dome up off Zipp’s head) What’s wrong, Zipp? (He circles to her other side and whips out a mane brush.) Not a fan of Mane Melody?

Zipp: No, no. It’s awesome. Pipp has done a great job here. (Pipp gasps happily and whirls the chair to face her as Rocky steps away.)

Pipp: You really think so?

Zipp: Yeah, I do. And, hey. I’m sorry if I haven’t been helping out. My mind’s just on other things.

Pipp: Like the Crystals?

Zipp: Something weird is going on.

Pipp: Ugh! You worry too, too much. (Close-up of Zipp.)

Zipp: But if something happens to those crystals, we’ll lose magic again for good. Then it’ll be no more flying, and— (Both again on the next line.)

Pipp: (quickly) Sis-sis-sis-sis-sis-sis-sis. (normal cadence) You need to chill. Nothing is going to happen.

(She uncorks a shrill whistle and flies to the front end of the room. The wall is painted and styled in shades of yellow and purple to resemble a giant boom box, with a small stage projecting from the central portion where the cassette deck might be. A gold-plated microphone and stand are set up here, and Jazz and Rocky have taken up positions behind and to either side of it. The red carpet ends at the front edge of the stage, and stereo speakers are stacked up to flank the entire arrangement, which is topped by a copy of Pipp’s cutie mark sandwiched between a crown and a giant pair of eighth notes. Zoom in slowly.)

Pipp: (landing behind mic) We’ve got our friends back, we’ve got magic back, and we’ve got…

Pipp, Jazz, Rocky: (harmonizing) …mu-u-u-u-usic!

Pipp: At Mane Melody…

Jazz: (singing)…we sing…

Rocky: …while we style. (Hitch has now joined Sunny/Izzy/Zipp, all out of their chairs.)

Sunny, Hitch, Izzy: Pipp, Pipp, hooray!

Pipp: (into mic, amplified) This one goes out to my paranoid big sis Zipp.

(Cut to said big sis, visibly caught out by the jibe, on the end of this. Her face falls as the lights dim and an image of a curling music staff, notes, and treble clef sign is projected onto one wall. The yellow portions of the stage setup glow brightly, as does the backdrop directly behind the three singers, and a mirrored disco ball can be seen hanging from the ceiling.)

[Animation goof: The mane-dryer chairs are now positioned much closer to the stage than they were originally shown.]

Energetic pop melody with synth/drums and brass accents, fast 4 (D minor)

Jazz, Rocky:                Shoop, shoop, uh-huh [Hey!] Shoop, shoop

                        Shoop

Pipp:                        I know you’re feeling like there’s something wrong

                        But don’t you worry, I have just the song for you

(Notes are projected on the floor as well; all but Hitch start to enjoy the spectacle.)

Jazz:                        Mmm-hmm (Pipp giggles.) You-u-u

Pipp:                         So kick those hooves up in this comfy chair

(Loop above the stage; outside, passing ponies take note of the show.)

                        And you’ll forget about those cares in a minute or two, yeah

(She begins to leave a faint sparkly contrail behind herself.)

                        That’s what you’ll do-o-o

F major

Jazz:                        You’ve got a lot on your mane, and that’s kind of tragic

                        But with a little bit of caring and a touch of magic

Rocky:                You’ll feel brand-new

Instruments gradually drop out to a cappella

                        And you’ll forget what’s been troubling you

(Pipp rejoins them on the stage, then marches out from it.)

All instruments in

Pipp:                        So put your hooves up high ’cause we’re feeling all right [Hey!]

(The ponies outside are now bobbing their heads to the beat.)

                        Every day is awesome in the Maretime Bay

(Zipp finds herself surrounded by four friends dancing in rhythm.)

                        So put your hooves up, put your hooves up [Hey!]

(flying back to stage)

                        Everything

A cappella

                        Is gonna be okay

Song ends

(She tips a wink to an incredulous Zipp as the lights come up.)

Zipp: You don’t get it, do you? We can’t just sing a song and ignore everything! If we lose magic this time, we may never get it back again! (voice breaking) And it’ll be our fault. (Cut to Izzy on the next line.)

Izzy: What is she talking about? (To Sunny on the next.)

Sunny: Lose magic?

Hitch: Whose fault?

(The group’s downhearted ruminations are interrupted by a thud from outside that shakes the entire building. All five fly/gallop for the doors; cut to just outside as they emerge to find a tumble of half-dazed, groaning equines on the opposite side of the trolley tracks.)

Pipp: (gasping) Are you ponies okay?

(A pegasus mare, Windy, gets woozily to her hooves as Sunny crosses to her. From this angle: light pink coat shading to near-white just above light pinkish-violet hooves; short, pink-streaked red mane/tail; pink wings tipped with red feathers; light red eyes with brows to match her mane.)

Sunny: What happened, Windy?

Windy: I-I don’t know. I was just flying along, and the next thing I knew, I was down here on the ground.

(By this point, the other ponies in the pile—three, all stallions—have managed to get vertical. Two are blond earth ponies, one wearing sunglasses, while the third is a dark gray unicorn who speaks up next. During the following exchange, Windy’s cutie mark becomes visible as a stylized violet wing tipped with darker feathers.)

Unicorn stallion: Yeah, me too—because you fell on us!

Windy: (cringing) I’m so sorry, everypony! I’m normally such a good flyer.

Posey: (arriving on scene; zoom in slowly) Clearly she’s not! This is what I’ve been saying—what everypony’s been thinking. If pegasi and unicorns can’t be respectful, then they shouldn’t be allowed to use their magic in Maretime Bay.        

Shades: She’s right!

Unicorn stallion: I’m not sure… (The other earth pony speaks up in a “surfer dude” accent.)

Surfer: Yeah! No more magic! (Zoom in slowly on Posey.)

Posey: It isn’t fair! We earth ponies don’t get any magic, and then the ponies that do have it don’t even know how to use it! (bitterly) Or they use it to prank us.

Shades: Yeah, Posey’s right1

Surfer: I agree! (Cut to Sunny and company.)

Sunny: Everypony, wait! (To Posey on the next line.)

Posey: (scoffing) And now they want to ruin our special earth pony holiday too! (Sunny’s side.)

Sunny: That’s not true!

Izzy: We want it to be the best day ever! (To Posey’s side on the following; zoom out slowly.)

Shades: Well, then, Maretime Bay Day should be magic-free!

Surfer: Like it’s always been! (An onlooker, Dahlia, chips in.)

Dahlia: A no-fly zone!

Posey: Or we’re not coming.

(Dahlia, recall, was one of the two mares who greeted Hitch in Act One of A New Generation. Earth pony; light pink coat with white belly and socks over gray hooves; light violet eyes; pale green brows and straight mane/tail; deep pink scarf; cutie mark not immediately visible.)

(The sky begins to rumble with thunder and fill with foreboding dark clouds during these last four lines, but none of the ponies in her contingent take notice until a flash of lightning spooks a gasp from all five throats. They break for cover, leaving Sunny and company to stare confusedly up at this bizarre turn of weather, and Hitch’s “squad” huddles beneath him for shelter. Worry etches itself clearly onto Sunny’s face as the camera zooms in on her.)

Act Three

(Dissolve to the upper reaches of the Brighthouse, zooming in, then cut to the group in the lantern room on the start of the next line.)

Zipp: (pacing) I think I finally know what’s happening to magic—why it’s glitching.

Sunny: You do?

Zipp: It’s the Crystals! They might be…powered by ponies!

Hitch: Whaaaaat?

Zipp: Okay. Check this out. Pipp, when we were fillies, I used to steal Mom’s chocolate-dipped cherries and blame it on you.

Pipp: (indignantly, gasping deeply) I knew it! You got me grounded, like, twelve times!

Zipp: Yeah, yeah. And guess what? I don’t like karaoke. It’s the worst! Ugh! (Another gasp from Pipp.)

Izzy: Hey, you take that back! (on verge of tears) Karaoke is a fun activity for every age and skill level!

Sunny: Zipp’s allowed to like what she likes. Just because we enjoy something doesn’t mean she has to.

Hitch: (casually) Sunny, there is no need to get all huffy about it. Izzy was just trying to stand up for Pipp.

Sunny: Don’t call me huffy!

Hitch: (groaning) I didn’t call you huffy, I said you were being huffy. There’s a difference and—

(During this last line, the camera cuts to Zipp as she steps closer to the Crystals, putting her in an ideal position to see them fizzle and jitter. Back to him, then to them again, as he lets the explanation drop in favor of the next word.)

Hitch: (gobsmacked) Whoa…

(All five get a good hard look at the artifacts and the sputtering Pris-Beam.)

Sunny: (to Zipp) You…you were right!

Izzy: So when ponies aren’t treating each other with kindness…

Pipp: …when we aren’t vibing…

Zipp: …the Crystals get weaker, and the more unstable magic becomes in Equestria!

Sunny: Which causes pegasi to lose their flight and fall on other ponies!

Hitch: And unicorns to drop stuff onto sand castles!

Pipp: And weather changes! (Gasp.) Like a rando thunderstorm?

Zipp: Yep, everything is all outta whack. (The Crystals settle down.)

Sunny: I wonder if this had anything to do with why the Crystals were separated all those years ago. (Groan.) Or why I still can’t seem to figure out my alicorn magic.

Zipp: I don’t know. I want to find out. But if we want to keep magic in Equestria, first we need to get everypony back on the same page. (Zoom out slowly.)

Sunny: Zipp’s right. We can’t give up. We can still make Bay Day the celebration it’s supposed to be.

Izzy: A day of friendship!

Pipp: (hovering, singing) And harmony!

Hitch: Yeah!

Izzy: Yeah!

Zipp: Yeah!

Pipp: Let’s do it!

(Cut to a point at the center of the group’s rough circle, each extending a front hoof into view and piling them up.)

All five: (from o.s.) Hoof to heart!

(Dissolve to a close-up of one window in the Brighthouse, seen from inside, and zoom out to the sound of chirping birds beyond the stained glass. Izzy comes into view, sleeping the wrong way around in her bed; she blinks her way into wakefulness and jumps clear with an excited gasp.)

Izzy: It’s here!

(In no time flat, she is scat-singing her way across the shared bedroom, waking first Sunny and then Pipp. Neither of these two wears her usual accessory—saddlebag or tiara, respectively.)

Izzy: The big day is here!

(The pop star lets off an expansive yawn; now she moves to Zipp’s bed.)

Izzy: The big day is here!

(The athlete sits up with a yawn and stretch; cut to the lantern room as she approaches the Crystals and sighs deeply.)

Zipp: Don’t worry. I got you.

(The front entrance; she flies out, followed closely by Pipp on hoof and then Sunny. The latter two have now fully geared up.)

Izzy: (stepping to doors) Sunny! Sunny, wait!

(The earth pony arrests her momentum beneath an overcast morning sky and turns back to the unicorn, who floats out a wrapped present from behind her back.)

Izzy: Happy Maretime Bay Day! (To Sunny as she finishes.)

Sunny: We don’t usually exchange gifts. (Back to Izzy on the next line.)

Izzy: I know, but just open it.

(Her infectious smile is all the prompting Sunny needs to plunk the package on the ground and attack its covering vigorously. A few rips of paper, a bow pulled free in teeth and dropped, and her eyes widen in purest surprise.)

Sunny: It’s…it’s the lantern my dad made for me!

(Cut to her perspective of it, held in her hooves, as she finishes. It has been given a new coat of purple paint and a full polishing on all the exposed metal, and the wind-up key and the pony cutouts on the vertical frame bars have been removed. A glass housing has been added to join the upper and lower portions of the frame and protect a newly installed, warmly glowing light bulb, and a handle has been attached to the upper portion, which bears a carving of the assembled Crystals.)

Sunny: I-I-I thought it was beyond repair! (Back to her on the end of this, lifting it; Izzy crosses to her.) Thank you so much, Izzy!

Izzy: Sometimes when you add a little bit of magic, you can fix anything.

Sunny: You’re right. Now let’s go add some magic to today and fix this.

Izzy: (nodding) Mmm-hmm!

(Cut to a Maretime Bay side street that has been fully kitted out for the festival: balloons, booths, banners, lively music in the background, and so forth. The camera roves along the block toward the shore as ponies wander from one attraction to another. One earth pony receives a unicorn plush toy as a prize for winning a game, while another recoils from a line of three wreaths that includes one built of irregularly shaped rocks/crystals and another studded with spoons and flowers. There are plenty of unicorns and pegasi in attendance. Izzy shifts her attention from her friends and her levitated ice cream cone to point across the crowd.)

Izzy: Oh, look, look, look! Ponies showed up after all! (breathlessly) And there’s the Queen!

(Cut to Haven on the end of this, descending gracefully to the pavement and flanked by Thunder and Zoom. Cloudpuff weaves in and out through the trio as cheers and applause drift in their direction.)

Izzy: (waving, trotting to her) Hello, Your Majestic-ness! (Pipp looks up from her phone and gasps happily.)

Pipp: Mom!

(She follows Izzy’s lead. Zipp shares exactly none of her sister’s enthusiasm, instead cringing mightily and galloping off in search of a good hiding place. Dissolve to Sunny and Hitch, standing in front of a cluster of booths and food carts set up on the trolley tracks, and zoom in slowly as they wave to passersby.)

Sunny: Happy Maretime Bay Day, everypony! Welcome!

Hitch: (aside, to her) So far, so good.

Sunny: (aside, to him) Now we just gotta keep it up.

Dahlia: (from o.s., disdainfully) Spoons in the wreaths?

(They glance in the direction of her voice; cut to a spot just off to one side and pan to her, Posey, and Mayflower—the other earth pony mare who greeted Hitch in Act One of A New Generation. Seen from the neck up: older than the other two; pale tan coat; brown eyes; brows nearly the same shade as the coat; short, curly, gray-green mane. The pan picks out Dahlia’s cutie mark as a wrapped present.)

Dahlia: (scoffing) Yuck.

(Cut to just behind the three; they are studying the three wreaths seen a moment ago.)

Dahlia: I liked the old decorations better. (They trot away past Sunny/Hitch.)

Posey: I could not agree more.

(Their exit frames Mayflower’s short tail, the white socks over her brown hooves, and her beaded necklace. Sunny’s face falls at Posey’s pronouncement. Cut to an extreme close-up of the upper portion of a sand castle on the beach. Izzy’s horn rises slowly into view behind it, followed by the rest of her marveling expression.)

Izzy: Ohhhhhh!

(Longer shot; she is inspecting the creations of ponies old and young.)

Izzy: Ooh…oh! Ooooh! Wow!

(Zoom out quickly; this last one, built by Windy, is a replica of the Brighthouse that stands at least three times the height of any other. Having already stuck two leaves in the pinnacle to stand for the wings, she plants a seashell upright between them as a stand-in for the topmost statue of the Crystals. She touches down on the sand as an elderly unicorn stallion floats a statue into her grasp—this is a competition he has been judging, and she has taken first place. The statue consists of a plastic shovel on a base with blade up, accented by a gold seashell, and a pair of side handles. The crowd does not take the decision particularly well, judging from the swell of grumbling, and Dahlia, Mayflower, and Posey take notice and become suitably affronted. Cut to a patch of sand just in front of Windy as Dahlia and Posey plant their hooves in view, Dahlia clearing her throat.)

Mayflower: (from o.s.) Hey! (Head-on view of the trio.)

Posey: Pegasi have an unfair advantage!

(Windy whirls to face her, the trophy now balanced on her back, but the accusation is already ruining the mood up and down the beach. A lightning strike and thunderclap from the gloomy skies throw a scare into the crowd; cut to Pipp and Zipp, who have reached the site and are staring upward with clear consternation toward the darkening clouds.)

Zipp: Hmmm…

(Cut to a stretch of booths in Maretime Bay proper, panning down the block, then cut to an extreme close-up of a very green ice cream scoop being loaded into a cone which is then floated away in a cloud of unicorn magic. The recipient is Shades.)

Shades: Moss ice cream?

(One lick, and he lets his tongue loll out with a noise of disgust, passes the cone back to the vendor who supplied it, and trots imperiously away. Zoom out; three other ponies are taste-testing their treats while standing around a trash can. One is an earth pony stallion with a carrot hot dog; a second is an earth pony mare with a hat and moss ice cream, and the last is a pegasus mare with sunglasses and a glimmerberry tart. All three are quick to voice their revulsion and throw the food out, but the unicorn stallion who got flattened by Windy darts in to catch the tart.)

Unicorn stallion: Waste not, want not!

(He gleefully scarfs it down, then jams his whole face into the receptacle to gorge himself on the other discards as a strong wind kicks up. A short pan frames two earth ponies toting servings of cotton candy and clearly repulsed by this bit of secondhand gluttony. One of them is Sweets, the Canterlogic employee earth pony mare seen in A New Generation; she is no longer wearing her shirt collar and necktie. She voices a cry of disgust but quickly forgets it in light of the treat she is carrying; before she can take a bite, though, a sudden violent gust strips it away from both her and the stallion accompanying her.)

Sweets, Companion: Huh? (The two cones swirl away into the tumult overhead.)

Pipp: Oh, no!

(She tenses for a takeoff, leaps—and fails to clear even her own height before her wings crackle and short out, dropping her back to the roadbed. A few more flaps prove similarly useless.)

Pipp: My wings won’t work!

(Close-up of Hitch on the end of this, from the shoulders up. His heroic gallop gets him exactly nowhere, and a tilt down to ground level discloses the reason—all four hooves are stuck in pools of sparkly purple glop.)

Hitch: Neither will my hooves!

(Sunny spots three other earth ponies, straining to get their own hooves out of this muck. One is Shades, while another is a different hat-wearing mare.)

Mare voice 2: (in distance) HEEEEELP!!

Hat mare 1: Our hooves are stuck! (They snap loose as Zipp returns.) What’s going on?

Zipp: The glitches! They’re getting worse!

(Cut to a two-level stage flanked by banks of speakers styled as the vertical arms of an upright horseshoe. Two curving ramps lead from the lower level to the ground, and the whole is topped by a giant pink heart. Sunny puts her head out from the wings to scope out the crowd, then ducks out of sight; cut to the backstage area as she turns to Pipp. Izzy is here as well.)

Sunny: Are you sure you want to do this? Nothing has gone to plan today.

Pipp: (resolutely) I have to give it my best shot. We still need all the positivity we can get, right?

(Zipp slips in, holding the white/gold lucky microphone she flew home to get in the prologue.)

Zipp: Maybe this will help. (She drops it onto Pipp’s hoof.)

Pipp: (gasping ecstatically) My lucky mic! (The elder sister flips a smirk and walks off.) Okay. (singing) Ohhhh, yeahhhh… (Buzz the lips, then speak.) Yes, we’re ready! All right. (singing) Showtiiime! (She lifts off.)

Izzy: (waving) Break a hoof, Pipp! (Sunny walks toward the curtain.) But not really. (whispering) Actually, be really careful.

(The stage again; Sunny emerges amid the escalating winds.)

[Animation goof: The stage now has a third, straight ramp extending from its center to the ground. This will vanish later.]

Sunny: Everypony, please welcome pop star Princess Pipp Petals to sing the brand-new Maretime Bay Day song!

(Cut to the pegasus on the end of this, descending to land next to her. The audience’s general reaction is a mix of puzzlement and discontent, but they all fall silent when Haven pops up at the back, hovering and carrying Cloudpuff.)

Haven: That’s my daughter!

(The mare of the moment inflates her lungs, but the next words douse her fire in short order.)

Dahlia: (from o.s.) We want to hear the real Maretime Bay song—

(Cut to her, Mayflower, Posey, and a knot of others whose opinions of non-earth ponies have soured.)

Dahlia: —sung by an earth pony! (Fresh grumbles; the hatted mare who threw her food away is heard next.)

Hat mare 2: This isn’t right!

(She is soon lost amid a wave of slowly advancing quadrupeds, but they stop short upon noticing the black clouds that are rapidly blotting out the sky. A series of lightning strikes sets some of them to bugging out, and the next salvo traces its way down the Pris-Beam issuing from the Brighthouse. Cut to a close-up of the Crystals and zoom in as they take one hit…then another…and a third that opens an ugly fissure across the glittering surfaces. Hitch and Izzy gallop out onto the stage to join Sunny and Pipp, the stallion having freed his hooves from the magical mess anchoring them to the ground; Zipp flies out and touches down with them as Pipp sets her microphone down; zoom in slowly.)

Hitch: Hey, be nice! Sheriff’s orders!

Hat mare 1: Are you on their side?

Zipp: There are no sides! (More lightning shreds the sky.)

Sunny: We know that magic returning hasn’t been easy for everypony, that Equestria is really different, but…that’s a good thing! It’s so much better now that— (Lightning.) —whoa! (staring past crowd) No, no, no!

(Long shot of the Brighthouse and its jittering Pris-Beam under the meteorological onslaught.)

Sunny: (from o.s.) Th-The magic! It’s dying!

(Hitch’s attention is wrenched away by a bolt striking his office just above the front entrance.)

Hitch: (gasping in fright) Eggy!

(He bolts away just before another one lances into the ground at the center of the arc formed by the stage ramps. Instead of leaving a scorch mark, it creates a hole lined in glimmering, deep purple light that slowly begins to expand.)

Haven: (pointing) What is that thing?

Zipp: It’s some sort of void!

Sunny: Everypony, get back!

(Which they do in the form of a screaming, pell-mell retreat. One after another, though, the earth ponies find their hooves adhering to the ground.)

Hat mare 1: But we’re stuck!

Scarf mare: (to a unicorn mare) Let us go!

Unicorn mare: It’s not us!

(Lightning blasts a tree to pieces; now Posey tries and fails to pull loose and turns to Windy.)

Posey: Can’t you ponies with magic do something? (Windy tires in vain to get aloft.)

Windy: Our magic isn’t working!

(The magic sinkhole continues to expand, now taking up about the same area footprint as the stage. Hitch has retrieved the egg he has been tending from his office, but now has three hooves glued down as he carries it in a foreleg. He lets off a cry of fear.)

Hitch: I do not like this! (A newspaper smacks him in the face.) No! (Shake it loose.) I do not!

(The expanding perimeter takes the ground out from beneath Posey’s hooves as Windy attempts to free her, and both drop in with a scream.)

Sunny: Posey! Windy! No! (to herself) Come on, alicorn magic! Work!

Zipp: But the magic! I-It’s gone! (Close-up of Sunny.)

Sunny: Then I’ll have to try without it! (steeling herself) I’m going in!

Izzy: Not without us!

(Her horn sputters a bit, but she gets it to turn over and stay energized.)

Zipp: (from o.s.) That’s it! (Cut to her.) The magic will come back to us if we can work together! (to the crowd) Come on, unicorns! Come on, pegasi!

(Cut to one of each standing near a trapped stallion.)

Zipp: (from o.s.) Help the earth ponies!

(The first two rush to the third and put muscle power to work against the adhesive; elsewhere; Izzy pops another one free with her revived magic and Pipp/Zipp get Hitch’s hooves unstuck.)

Zipp: It’s working! (Hitch peels out.) You got this, Sunny!

Izzy: It’s too dark in there! (floating the repaired lantern toward Sunny) Take this!

(She gets it halfway across the gap before her horn fizzles out and gravity takes hold. The action shifts to slow motion as it drops into the hole and Sunny pivots for a desperate leap after it. Teeth click firmly onto the handle, and normal speed resumes with her headlong plunge through the windblown debris and the other three mares’ helpless stares into the abyss. Sunny keeps her jaws locked onto the metal as if holding on for dear life; her cutie mark flares white, and wisps of golden energy begin to float up from both her body and the lantern, whose brightness has grown considerably. Her ethereal horn and wings pop into existence, her saddlebag vanishes, and she shifts the lantern from mouth to foreleg and gets flapping. Posey and Windy drop screaming into the lightless depths; finding herself unable to close the gap by flying alone, Sunny gathers herself and sends out a large magical bubble to envelop and stop them.)

(Up on the surface, the earth ponies have regained their mobility thanks to the efforts of the other two tribes. All marvel at the sight of the bubble rising out of the sinkhole and depositing Posey and Windy on the pavement before it dissipates, but there is no immediate sign of…)

Izzy: Sunny?

(After a second or two that might be a week, a shaft of sparkling rainbow light slashes into the gloomy sky from down below and Sunny follows it up in a burst of golden motes, no longer carrying the lantern. The hole swiftly contracts and seals itself as the beam breaks, its remnants arcing through the clouds and pouring into the top of the Brighthouse. Cut to a pan through the shared bedroom, whose walls manifest the green vine-like patterns that Zipp saw on the lantern room windows in Act Two, then to a close-up and slow zoom in on the now-intact Crystals. The tendrils appear around them as well but quickly fade away, whereupon the artifacts emit an almighty blast of green sparks and the vines start to trace down the outside walls and across the lawn. The growths rapidly spread through the streets of Maretime Bay proper, kindling green glows on the newly freed hooves of every earth pony they reach under a quickly clearing sky. Hitch giggles as he gets a dose of the new magic.)

Hitch: That tickles!

(A cardboard box in the street is flipped away to reveal his “squad,” who have taken cover under it along with one of the rabbit-eared guinea pigs he first encountered on the road to Zephyr Heights in A New Generation. The four critters cross to the Sheriff, chirping and clicking happily.)

Hitch: I know, I know! I totally agree with everything you guys are saying. (His eyes pop as an idea occurs to him.) Did you just…talk? Did I just…understand you? (mind blown) Whaaaaaat?

(He has hunched down to their level by the time he finishes. The bird that habitually wears an empty tin can on its head chirps and gesticulates vigorously.)

Hitch: Wow, that’s a lot of information: (straightening up) Well, nice to meet you, Kenneth. I’m Hitch.

(Kenneth cheeps a reply. Elsewhere, Posey and Windy regard one of the former’s green-glowing hooves with amazement. Posey then touches it to the ground, causing the magical vines to briefly appear amid a cloud of green sparks and smoke, which clears to reveal a cluster of flowers in full bloom and growing out of the stone road. Both mares are overjoyed at the result.)

Posey: Flower power?!

(A similar effort by a few other earth ponies regenerates the lightning-struck tree, and Sunny/Pipp/Zipp gather in around Hitch.)

Sunny: Earth pony magic?

Izzy: (hopping to them) But that’s never happened before!

Zipp: When we work together, maybe we can invent new magic.

Sunny: You’re right, Zipp. Actually, you were right about everything. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I should’ve been a better friend and listened. (crossing to Zipp) I was just so focused on hoping magic was okay that I lost sight of everything else. Can you forgive me?

Zipp: (smirking) Obviously. (Sunny laughs and the two embrace.)

Haven: (from o.s.) Zephyrina! There you are!

(She approaches, accompanied by Cloudpuff and trailed by Thunder and Zoom.)

Haven: My hoofness! What an ordeal! Gather your things. We need to hit the sky if we’re going to make it back to the palace by sundown.

Zipp: Mom! I’m not going back with you.

Haven: We agreed that you were to resume your studies. (Zoom in slowly on Zipp.)

Zipp: My place is here in Maretime Bay with my friends. I just need more time to figure things out. To investigate magic. To explore who I am before I take on my royal duty. (Cut to frame both.) And…you know what? (Haven smiles.) I think who I am is somepony who likes figuring things out.

Haven: Yes, you certainly are. (lifting Zipp’s chin) My little princess investigator.

Zipp: Mom, would you do me a favor?

Haven: Anything, darling. (Close-up of Zipp.)

Zipp: (hesitantly) Mmm—would you mind just calling me Zipp for now? (Both again on the next line.)

Haven: Of course…Zipp.

(Cloudpuff hustles across to Hitch and barks; he leans toward the little guy, not quite getting the gist of what has been said.)

Hitch: I’m sorry, it’s a what?

(Further yips prelude a wash of sparks around the egg he carries; it rattles mightily in his grip, and the shell cracks and bursts apart to reveal the occupant as a cooing baby dragon. Green hide on the body; darker stubby horns; lighter green underbelly and around the mouth; purple eyes; pinkish-red hide on the wings. Hitch gasps in delight at its emergence; cut to an overjoyed Sunny/Izzy, then to a close-up of the hatchling.)

Hitch: (from o.s.) A dragon? (All five.)

Sunny: But dragons haven’t been seen in Equestria for generations! (It snuggles against Hitch’s flank; next two lines overlap.)

Izzy: He’s so cute!

Pipp: Adorbs!

(It clambers up onto the Sheriff’s back, assisted by a twitch of his flank muscles. Zoom out slightly as a contrite Posey steps up.)

Posey: Hey, everypony. I just wanted to say…I’m sorry for the way I acted. I think I just felt…

Zipp: Left out?

Posey: (smiling) Yeah, exactly.         

Sunny: We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again. Right, guys?

(A chorus of affirmative responses from the other four; now Posey crosses to Pipp.)

Posey: Pipp, would you mind singing your new Maretime Bay song?

Pipp: I will on one condition— (pulling out her lucky microphone, offering it to Posey) —if you’ll sing it with me.

Posey: (taking it) I’ll do the harmony!

(They head for the stage. Dissolve to a long overhead shot of the area, all five mares lined up the stage and Sunny having dispelled her horn and wings, and zoom out as an inquisitive crowd begins to congregate. The view dissolves to a long shot of the entire town, appearing as a two-dimensional image projected like a slide in midair within a dimly lit chamber, and zoom out slowly to the sound of a throaty female voice uttering a scornful chuckle. The motion brings the speaker into view, seen from behind—at this angle, a winged mare with a deep purple coat and a long, gently curling mane/tail streaked in palest green and silver, the former cascading over both shoulders. A coiled braid encircles the base of each ear. The voice continues in a haughty tone and with a trace of a British accent.)

Throaty voice: Those little ponies finally figured out how to stabilize the magic. Took them long enough.

(Head-on view of the speaker, standing on an imposing gold/purple throne in a dark blue room with gold accents; the base of her horn matches her coat, fading to a lighter hue at the tip. The eyes are deep blue and framed by nearly black brows and sparkly violet shadow, the area around the nose/mouth is a slightly lighter hue than the rest of the body, and a steel band set with a stylized bird’s head encircles each leg just above the hoof. She is attended by a medium blue unicorn mare over whom she towers, whose mane/tail are tumbles of tightly corkscrewed strands in blue and green. The eyes are deep green under dark blue brows, and the horn matches the coat at its base while taking on a pinkish tinge near the tip. Branch-like projections extend upward from the floor to either side of the throne, as if serving as unlit torches, and something resembling a massive purple tree root stretches across the room behind the lot. The room is illuminated by sunlight through a cluster of blue stained-glass windows, a diffuse patch falling on her face. Zoom in slowly.)

Winged unicorn: And now that they have, it’s time to take back what is mine!

(Extreme close-up of her face, zooming in on one eye as she laughs exultantly, then dissolve to a long shot of the Brighthouse, its Pris-Beam fully restored. Inside, Zipp sticks a band poster on a wall in her portion of the shared bedroom; she is once again wearing the shoulder plate and foreleg pouch from the prologue. The camera is at floor level, aimed toward her back, and the walls are now clear of vines. One arm of an L-shaped desk is tucked in beneath her elevated bunk; on the other is a mannequin head styled after her own and wearing a visor—the one that Izzy designed for her in Tell Your Tale that is capable of night, thermal, and X-ray vision, its temples styled as lightning bolts.)

Izzy: (from o.s., stepping into view) It looks brilliant!

Zipp: You think so?

(Head-on view of the other four, the dragon riding in one pannier of a pair slung across Hitch’s back. Sunny’s horn and wings have dispelled themselves, and she is wearing her saddlebag.)

Pipp: We’re so glad you’re staying in Maretime Bay, Detective Zipp.

Zipp: Me too. We have a lot to learn about magic and how it works.

(During this line, she holds up something on a front hoof and the camera cuts briefly to a close-up of it—a gold pin shaped as a winged star, a circle overlaid on the central portion and containing a magnifying glass. She finishes by clipping it onto her pouch.)

Zipp: I’m just glad I’ll be here to figure it out with my best friends.

(Her perspective during this line, panning across the others; Izzy is levitating the string of beads from her mane as a plaything for the dragon. Stop on Sunny.)

Sunny: Well, I definitely still have a lot of questions. Like, why does my alicorn magic disappear?

Hitch: (now o.s.) Yeah! (Cut to him.) Like, why do I now have the magical power to understand every animal except for this adorable baby dragon? (He nuzzles and gets his nose grabbed in return.) Ow. Ow, ow.

Zipp: (from o.s.) Or…  (Cut to her, pacing the room.) …where did magic come from? Who made the Crystals anyway? And how did they get separated? (Cut to a pensive Sunny; she continues o.s.) Why didn’t earth ponies have magic before?

Sunny: (smiling) Well, at least we already know one thing for sure.

Izzy: (gasping, leaning into view) What’s that? (The camera swivels to frame the whole group.)

Sunny: No matter what lies ahead, we’ll face it together.

(All cheer her confidence before the view dissolves to a close-up of the Crystals and then to a long shot of the Brighthouse and slow zoom out.)

(The Netflix production logo is displayed at their end, followed by lists of credits that name the staff and voice actors involved in dubbing the special into twenty-eight languages other than English. In order, these are: Arabic, Czech, Danish, German, Greek, Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Finnish, French, Hebrew, Hindi, Croatian, Hungarian, Malay (Indonesia), Italian, Japanese, Malay (Malaysia), Norwegian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese. Each list covers one screen except for Hindi, which spans two—the first in that language, the second in English. This practice will be followed for all subsequent episodes and specials within the Make Your Mark series.)