THE CUTIE MARK MIX-UP
Written by Jim Martin
Executive producers: Olivier Dumont, Randi Yaffa, Cort Lane
Story editing by Gillian Berrow
Supervising direction by Will Lau
Transcribed by Alan Back (ajback@yahoo.com)
Prologue
(Opening shot: the tower of the Crystal Brighthouse, standing tall and serene in a blue daytime sky marked by a few puffy white clouds. Birds flutter past as the camera tilts down to frame the community garden—newly created as of “Ali-Conned”—downhill from the front lawn. Sunny Starscout and Hitch Trailblazer stand to either side of its mosaic-decorated gates, across which a rainbow-striped ribbon has been stretched; she holds a giant pair of scissors, while he has donned a bright red cowboy hat accented by a five-pointed star badge. Curdle, the turtle he recruited in “Izzy Does It,” stands near him; Izzy Moonbow, Pipp Petals, and Zipp Storm are among the crowd that has gathered.)
Sunny: Thank you, everypony, for coming to the grand opening of Maretime Bay’s new Community Garden of Magic!
(Cheers and stomping applause from the onlookers, including Sparky Sparkeroni who is gnawing on a carrot. On the next line, cut from them to a few critters scampering among the plants.)
Izzy: Woo-woo-woo! Yeah! Community garden! Whoo! (Back to Sunny/Hitch.)
Sunny: This will be your place to grow fresh foods, foster friendships, and have fun in the fields! (passing scissors over) Take it away, Sheriff Hitch.
Hitch: Thanks, Sunny. I’m very excited to—
Izzy: (from o.s.) Oh, yeah! (Cut to her.) That’s our friend! Nopony interrupt him when he talks!
Hitch: (slightly taken aback) Oh. Uh, thanks, Izzy. (Clear throat.) Welcome, everypony, As Sunny said, this garden is the best place in town to learn how to harness your earth pony magic—
Sunny: Flora magic!
(Close-up: Zipp brings out her cell phone to record a memo.)
Zipp: (dictating) “Note to self—earth pony powers are officially called ‘flora magic.’ Hmm.” (Stow it.) I like it!
Pipp: Shhhhhhhhh!
(The camera pans and zooms out during this rebuke to show that Izzy is joining in as well.)
Izzy: DON’T INTERRUPT HIM! (to Sunny/Hitch, normal volume) Keep talking about what you were talking about.
Hitch: (sighing wearily) Thanks, Izzy. (brightly) So, yeah! That’s what we’ve been calling it—you know, because of the unicorn float magic a-and the pegasi flight magic. It’s kind of a natural thing to name it… (trailing off, to the sound of Curdle’s grumbling) …flora…hmm?
(A downward glance informs him that the shelled one is giving him an odd look.)
Hitch: You’re right, Curdle. I’m rambling. (to the crowd) As Sheriff of Maretime Bay, it is my duty and great honor to hereby dedicate this garden to—
Stallion voice: Do we each get our own spot?
(On this last, cut to a shot of the crowd that picks out the speaker, a bespectacled earth pony near the back. The next shot is a close-up of Sparky.)
Hitch: (from o.s.) Yes. (The dragon burps; cut to him and back on the following.) There are practice plots inside, ready for you to learn planting and growing—
(A second burp under these last few words turns Sparky’s carrot into a party popper; he pokes one end, causing a burst of confetti and noise to emanate from the other. Screams and gasps from the spectators, accompanied by Hitch’s instinctive upward throw of the scissors. He gets out one spooked yelp just before they come down, point first, and neatly cut the ribbon in two.)
Glasses: It’s open! I call best spot!
(He and all the other ponies except for Izzy/Pipp/Zipp hurl themselves into an enthusiastic stampede toward the gates.)
Hitch: Slow down!
(He and Sunny dive for cover; inside the wall, the various animals stop whatever they are doing and cock their heads in puzzlement at the approaching disturbance. Hitch scoops up Sparky and bugs out, and the critters do the same as the gates bang open and equines spread out into every available bit of space.)
Hitch: (calling in after them) There’s enough room for everypony!
(One pony leaps over Curdle, clipping his shell with a hoof and sending him flying over Sunny’s head with all the grace and artistry of a brick.)
Sunny: Whoa!
(He lands upside down on the counter of her smoothie stand set up nearby. She gasps, concerned for his well-being, but smiles and laughs when he tilts just a bit to take a pull from the straw of a waiting cup.)
Hitch: (from o.s.) Thank you, Curdle. (Cut to him, Sparky riding.) I am good at dedication speeches.
(Inside the gates, ground level; zoom out as he worriedly regards the bedlam on the grounds.)
Hitch: Maybe too good?
(A bunny-eared furball barrels toward the camera, blacking out the screen with the interior of its frantically squeaking mouth.)
OPENING THEME
Act One
(Cut from the title card directly to a pan through the busy garden, then to Glasses staking out a bit of land.)
Glasses: Dibs on this plot!
(He commences to scraping at it as Sunny and Hitch enter; the rapid approach of one bunny stops them short and prompts the Sheriff to hunch down and listen to its complaint.)
Hitch: What was that? (A bit more; now Sunny hunkers to it.) Don’t worry. I’ll fix this. (It hops away; both straighten up.)
Sunny: What’s going on?
Hitch: (nervously) My speech might have made the earth ponies too excited. (Glasses and two others are now stomping cheerfully away.) They’re kinda…trampling everything.
(As is nearly every other pony within throwing distance.)
Sunny: (gasping softly) What do we do?
Hitch: (forcefully) Watch your hooves, everypony!
(The camera cuts here and there as the commotion comes to a dead stop, the aspiring farmers apprehensively checking their hooves and the spots they have been striking. Back to Sunny/Hitch/Sparky on the start of the following.)
Sunny: (encouragingly) But also, don’t worry. With a little bit of love, I’m sure we can fix it.
(Cut to Glasses, Posey, and another stallion as she finishes.)
Glasses: (laughing) Oh, yeah. I guess we can.
(The three each set a hoof to the earth, summoning their power to send magic vines across its surface; cut from one spot to another as flowers and king-sized vegetables sprout to full maturity in seconds.)
Various voices: Oh!…Awesome!…Neat!…Sweet!…Oh!…Ooh!…Very cool!
Sunny: Amazing!
(The critters’ relief is short-lived, as a snapping of stems is their cue to get out of the way before a rain of tomatoes pelts the earth. Close-up of Hitch.)
Hitch: (laughing) Whoa! Careful there. We don’t want another glimmerberry incident on our hooves— (suddenly rattled) —or on our manes.
(He shudders, recalling the mess that those particular fruits made of the town in “Growing Pains.” Pan to Sunny.)
Sunny: That’s exactly why a designated spot to practice is perfect! (She strolls to a couple of planter boxes.) And just look at these amazing fruits! (She points to a pear-shaped watermelon.) Like those! Uh…what are those? (Here comes Glasses, carrying one proudly.)
Glasses: Pear-nana-melons.
Hitch: Okay, that actually sounds really tasty. Go ahead and get creative, everypony! But let’s just be mindful of the…
(Cut to the growers on these last few words, staring dumbstruck as critters hastily clear the area, then back to him.)
Hitch: (sighing) …wildlife?
(Izzy, Pipp, and a hovering Zipp, meanwhile, have retreated up the front walk toward the Brighthouse and are watching the little fellows storm the lawn.)
Izzy: Whoa! I can’t even be-lizzle my eyes! (jumping in place) It’s like a parade—but not on purpose.
Zipp: (puzzled) “Be-lizzle”?
Izzy: I said what I said. Just look at these animals going wild! (Pipp gasps and picks up a bunny.)
Pipp: Great idea, Izz! Cute animals are great for the feed.
(She whips out her phone and snaps a photo of it, only to be immediately assaulted by a fusillade of panicked shrieks and drop it.)
Pipp: I can’t even. I don’t have words.
Izzy: Try “be-lizzle”! It works whenever you can or can’t be-lizzle things.
(A gold hoof taps the screen; cut to the phone camera-eye view of the walk and a knot of charging critters.)
Zipp: (from o.s.) Oh, no! (Zoom in on one.) They’re stampeding towards the Brighthouse! (Back to the three mares.) Get out of the way, yots!
(This last word is shorthand slang for “idiots.” She and Izzy peel out in opposite directions, but Pipp is too absorbed in her phone to notice until one of them bounds and connects solidly with her face. Down she goes in a tangle of limbs and wings, while Izzy stands her ground just short of the door and levitates herself to stay clear of the rush.)
Izzy: I got it!
(But only until their passing tails tickle her nose and touch off a violent sneeze, which sends her rocketing backwards to slam into Zipp. These two also hit the deck in an undignified heap, the camera zooming out slowly.)
Izzy: Huh. Maybe I didn’t got it. (Pipp flies over to them.)
Pipp: (sitting, letting the one that got her hop away) Well, I did.
(She plays them a clip on her phone, showing two repetitions of the sneeze and midair collision.)
Pipp: (tapping screen) Aaaand…posted.
Zipp: (sourly) Great.
Hitch: (crossing to them) Why are you all laying around? I need backup with these critters! (Sparky is no longer on his back.)
Zipp: (as she and Izzy stand up) Can’t you just ask them to chill out? You literally speak animal.
Hitch: That doesn’t mean they’ll listen. So can you help? (Pipp glances up from her phone.)
Pipp: Sorry, what? I wasn’t listening.
Hitch: See?!
Izzy: Of course we’ll be your deputies.
Hitch: Thanks. Because while you all handle that, I gotta get back to the garden. Sunny seems stressed.
(Cut to Sunny in the garden and zoom in slowly as she lunges madly back and forth to catch a few falling apples, then back to the Brighthouse lawn. Zoom in slowly on the three mares as Hitch strides calmly away.)
Izzy: (calling downhill) Don’t be stressed, Sunny! We’re deputies now! We’re going to help!
(The Sheriff, now at the smoothie stand, stops dead upon finding Cloudpuff on the counter.)
Hitch: Cloudpuff? What are you doing here? (Two barks.) Keeping an eye on Pipp and Zipp for Queen Haven, huh? Yeah, that does sound boring. (Bark.) Want to help me instead?
(The pooch barks and flies off after him as he departs. Cut to a long shot of Opaline’s castle, a lightning bolt flashing across the gloomy sky, and zoom in slowly. During the following line, cut to an extreme close of a flask in the throne room, being tipped to dispense a drop of liquid, then tilt up to her hovering above it.)
Opaline: What is lacked in magical might,
Conjure from my alicorn light!
(She strains to kindle her horn, but a cut to her perspective reveals that she has only managed to generate a few brief sparks of light above the pool. Misty and a table loaded with bottles and flasks are present; the unicorn had made the addition just seen. Opaline lands heavily, voicing a loud groan over her failure to get the mojo working. The fake butterfly cutie mark Misty used in “Ali-Conned” is gone from her haunch.)
Misty: So…do you need anything?
Opaline: (pacing) I was doing fine until you ruined my concentration. You know that my power is… (Clear throat.) …compromised.
Misty: (smiling tentatively) No, I didn’t.
Opaline: (crossing to throne) Good answer. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still not enough. (magically lifting/examining bottles) Magic is back, Misty. It’s back and those silly little ponies have it! By accident! (Cut to Misty.)
Misty: (pushing one toward table edge) Accident? We can try that too!
Opaline: (from o.s.) Stop!
(The vessel topples into space, but is caught by the blue mare just in time and shakily returned to its place. Cut to Opaline.)
Opaline: (levitating a bottle) That silly unity magic is just the spark. (She flies it and herself over to the pool.) Only I can possess the flame.
(Out comes the stopper, and into the pool go the contents. Thick mist boils up to hide the surface; as Misty cringes fearfully away, a large bubble floats up into view. Contained within is a translucent purple mouse with unusually protuberant eyes and an elongated snout; Opaline regards it coolly, while Misty is instantly smitten.)
Misty: Awww…
Opaline: Don’t get attached, Misty. It’s a sign of weakness.
Misty: (catching herself) Oh, I wasn’t! I was just impressed by your magic.
Opaline: Of course you were.
(An image of the Brighthouse shimmers into being above the now-tranquil pool.)
Opaline: Nothing is more important than magic— (Cut to Misty, smiling at the rodent; she continues o.s. as it floats toward the picture) —and when my magic mouse sneaks into their magic house… (It passes through and vanishes, the image rippling a bit.) … I will finally know the secret of how they’re harnessing the Pris-Beam power.
(Back to her and Misty on these last words, the latter sighing quietly and disappointedly to herself.)
Act Two
(Cut to the community garden entrance and pan to the smoothie stand; Sunny is on duty at the counter, about to serve a customer as Hitch gallops up with Sparky on his back.)
Hitch: Sunny! Are you okay?
Sunny: Yeah! Just serving up some smoothies. Are you okay?
Hitch: Yeah! Just taking care of the animals. (Dahlia collects her order and departs.)
Sunny: Good, so we’re both okay.
Hitch: (sighing) Too bad the dedication was a disaster. Did I ruin it?
Sunny: Not at all. (swiftly pouring/serving another one) But I actually think it gave everypony a chance to practice their magic while fixing the mess. Easy-sugar-snap-peasy.
Hitch: “Easy-sugar-snap-peasy”? (turning away) Easy for you to say. You’re not Sheriff.
Sunny: What does that mean?
Hitch: (sighing) It was supposed to be my moment. I had big scissors! (Windy approaches the stand.) I’m in charge! I shouldn’t be encouraging chaos and smoothies.
(A flash of white fills the screen and subsides to show the three seen through a camera viewfinder and caught very much off guard. An elderly stallion’s voice speaks next, the view shifting on this line to frame him—a unicorn photographer.)
Photographer: “Chaos and Smoothies”? Now there’s a headline! (He and Windy take their leave; the tone of the conversation becomes increasingly frosty.)
Sunny: (to Hitch) What’s wrong with smoothies? (She steps out through the end hatch.)
Hitch: Nothing. But I have the hardest job of anypony, and what pony notices it?
(Close-up of the open hatch, seen from floor level, A bubble forms and pops, releasing a swirl of purple mist that resolves into the mouse Opaline conjured up.)
Sunny: (stepping away) Well, have you noticed how hard I’ve been working?
(It scampers away; on the next line, cut to Sunny holding up a cup for Hitch’s consideration.)
Sunny: I’ve been making smoothies during this entire conversation!
Hitch: True…but come on. It’s not like being Sheriff. (Close-up of Sparky, sitting on the grass between them.)
Sunny: (from o.s.) Yes, it is. (The little guy starts to chase the mouse; longer shot, framing all three, on the following.)
Hitch: Well, it’s easier than maintaining order.
(Now Cloudpuff gets in on the pursuit, leaving his resting spot beneath the stand. Cut to an extreme close-up of Izzy’s straining face, then to a bunny’s placid one, then to both. They are facing each other several yards apart on the front walk, the unicorn having planted herself to guard the doors. As Pipp flies past, trying to catch a critter on the run, Izzy seizes her chance and leaps—only to crash down face first and get a whole lot of nothing as the bunny hops off. It doubles back to nest in her mane but gets scooped up by the hovering Pipp, and Izzy stands up with an embarrassed laugh. A few more are closing in fast.)
Izzy: Okay, so they’re coming right for us— (Gasp; Zipp wings after some fleeing birds.) —but I have a plan. I think we should stop them.
Pipp: (nodding) Smart, smart. What’s the plan?
Izzy: No, that’s it. That’s the plan.
Zipp: (swooping by) Heads up, ponies!
(Her sister lets off a yell of surprise at the near miss, and a couple of cute fuzzy troublemakers launch themselves from the ground to take down both Izzy and Pipp. Back at the stand, Sparky keeps after the mouse, Cloudpuff after Sparky, and Jazz Hooves and Rocky Riff have arrived. Jazz is not wearing her bandolier; she accepts a smoothie from Sunny, who smiles and waves goodbye alongside Hitch as the two stylists depart. The smiles fade once they are out of earshot and the previous dispute resumes.)
Hitch: I don’t think you understand how much pressure I’m under all the time.
Sunny: (rolling eyes) Of course I do! Do you even know how hard it is to be the alicorn in Maretime Bay? Everypony’s watching! I need to be a pony that others can count on!
Hitch: So do I! (Loud groan from Sunny.) The Sheriff is the backbone of a community, you know! (Zoom in slowly.)
Sunny, Hitch: You just don’t understand what it’s like to be me! (Split-screen close-up of both faces.) And you never will!
(The mouse evades Sparky’s grab for it, and the dust thrown up by his lunge causes him to sneeze out a wisp of green smoke. Mare and stallion find themselves both enveloped from one end to the other; within the miasma, each one’s cutie mark is replaced by the other’s. They shake their heads clear as the smoke dissipates, then make a point not to meet each other’s eyes.)
(Cut to an overhead shot of the front entrance to the Brighthouse, its doors open and animals scattered across the lawn. Zoom in slowly as Izzy and Pipp usher two more out.)
Izzy: There! (Close-up; she has one in her field and Pipp lets another hop free.) Now you’re back outside.
Pipp: (baby talk, cuddling the floating one) Who’s a cute bunny? (Gasp; transition to normal speech.) You are. Yes, you are!
(This one too is set down and allowed to roam as both mares coo and giggle—but they entirely ignore Opaline’s mouse skittering up the ramp, and Sparky and Cloudpuff trying to run it down. The flying canine’s overly enthusiastic charge leads to a collision with the back of the dragon’s head, and both harriers wind up tumbled at the threshold. Only now do the two mares take notice, Pipp lifting off into a hover.)
Pipp: Cloudpuff?! What are you doing here? (scoffing, landing by him) Mom sent you to check on me, didn’t she?
(She scoops him up as Izzy wraps her aura around Sparky, and all four leave the Brighthouse as critters pour in past them.)
Pipp: (baby talk) Awww…you’re so cute, yes you are.
(Overhead shot of the smoothie stand, at which a line of thirsty ponies is steadily growing. Sunny and Hitch are still out front, and Zipp is watching from midair; zoom out slowly.)
Hitch: (blissfully) Everypony be happy!
Zipp: Hmmm…
Hitch: Follow your feels. You do you.
Sunny: (irritated) Hitch! You’re not helping! I have a line and nopony’s asking for anything on the menu! We need order, and we need it now.
Hitch: Just do what you think is right, you know? Go with your glow.
(Glasses tosses down an empty cup, instantly riling up the orange mare.)
Sunny: Litter?!? (waving him back) Bup-bup-bup, better pick up that cup! (Chastised, he does so.)
Zipp: (to herself) They’re acting weird. Very, very weird.
(She gets phone in hoof, taps the screen, and drops to a low enough altitude to address the pair.)
Zipp: (fake casual tone) Hi, friends! What’s up?
Sunny: (passing a smoothie to a customer) Kinda busy, Zipp.
(Cut to the pegasus’ perspective as she shifts her grip to get a close-up of Hitch.)
Hitch: Hey, Zipp! Want to help me show ponies around the magical garden?
Zipp: Why are you talking like that? (She turns to Sunny, who is addressing Curdle and a bird.)
Sunny: I can understand that you want something, but… (Cut directly to her.) …I-I don’t know exactly…mmm…maybe pear-nana-melon?
(She passes the cup she is holding to the avian; after one sip, it goes into a paroxysm of retching and holds the drink at wing’s length to emphasize its extreme distaste.)
Zipp: (to herself) This doesn’t make any sense. (to Sunny, Hitch in turn) You two seem…how do I put this…off?
Sunny: Oh, yeah. (Zipp touches down.) Ever since Hitch started that argument, I’ve felt off.
Hitch: Whaaaat? No way! You started it!
(Zipp runs this exchange through her mind, then takes a good look at Sunny’s haunch and notices Hitch’s cutie mark on it.)
Zipp: Hmm!
(A look at Hitch’s hindquarters confirms that the switcheroo has worked both ways.)
Zipp: Huh. (Extreme close-up of the marks, panning quickly back and forth; she continues o.s.) Hmm…
(A gasp; back to her.)
Zipp: Sunny! Hitch! Stop! (calmly) Now don’t freak out, but… (excitedly) …your cutie marks are switched!
Sunny, Hitch: They are?
(Both glance toward their respective haunches; cut to a split-screen extreme close-up of the insignias.)
Sunny, Hitch: (gasping) They are! (All three again.)
Sunny: (circling in place) No, no, no! How did this happen?
Zipp: I don’t know— (pulling out phone) —but I’ll get to the bottom of it.
(She has to stifle a snicker upon realizing the bad joke she has made, then swiftly becomes all business.)
Zipp: You say you started feeling funny when, exactly?
Sunny: When I was explaining to Hitch how running a smoothie cart isn’t always smooth sailing.
Hitch: And then I told her, “I knew that! And it hardly compares to the pressures of being Sheriff.”
Zipp: (tapping screen) Mmm-hmm. Then what?
Sunny: Then Sparky burped, and—
Hitch: That was not a burp! It was a hiccup.
Sunny: It was not!
Zipp: (to herself) Cutie marks swapped, and personalities too. (to Sunny/Hitch) I think I might know what’s going on here. (She packs her phone away and turns to leave.) Catch you all on the flippity-flip!
Hitch: Wait! Are you not gonna help us figure out how to switch back?
Zipp: Not until I confirm my theory. (A mighty flap, and she is gone.)
Sunny: (to Hitch) So…uh, hm…we’re stuck like this. I guess I’ll do your job for now.
Hitch: Good! Then I will have it easy when I do yours.
(He utters a little yelp when the red cowboy hat is yanked off his head and settled onto hers.)
Sunny: Not as easy as me!
Hitch: As if!
(She retorts by snatching the badge off his sash and clipping it to the neck strap of her saddlebag.)
Hitch: All right! Who wants smoothies? (He enters the stand through its end hatch.)
Sunny: Okay, critters! Sheriff Sunny here. (waving them on) Let’s get you all back to your homes in the garden.
(The new proprietor does not even make it to the counter before tripping and dropping out of sight behind it amid a clatter of equipment. Coming up with a cup balanced on each front hoof, he finds himself immediately besieged by a mass of overeager customers and can manage only a startled yell.)
Hitch: Okay. (Unnerved laugh.)
(Across the way, the would-be wrangler finds most of her charges roundly ignoring her.)
Sunny: All right, critters! There’s a new sheriff in town! (To little effect.) You can understand me, right?
(She slips on a small pear-nana-melon and pitches to the earth, just in time for a few to give her funny looks.)
Sunny: (half-snarling) Then why aren’t you listening?!
(Cut to Izzy and Pipp entering the Brighthouse with Sparky and Cloudpuff still in tow. They stop short at a babel of animal noises, faces going slack with shock; zoom out to reveal that the menagerie has taken over the entire ground floor from end to end and top to bottom. Birds perch on the ramp railings, squirrels bounce on one of the couches by the fireplace, crabs are turning cartwheels in the kitchen—it is complete pandemonium. Back to Izzy and Pipp, who have set their charges on the floor.)
Izzy: This is not good.
(Here comes that magic mouse, which Sparky begins to chase all over again as Pipp swoops across to pick up one squirrel.)
Pipp: Gotcha! (laughing) Don’t worry, we’ve got this. (She carries it outside and sets it down.) Now stay!
(She returns to find Izzy giving Cloudpuff a lift on her head.)
Izzy: Look what I found! (She floats up a box of treats and reads the label.) “Snackerdoodles. Perfect for Cloudpuff, or any other critter who needs to be convinced to just go outside already.” (galloping toward doors) Hey, that’s perfect!
(Singing a bit, she puts her field to work laying down a trail of these goodies toward the doors. The critters begin to flock toward them and along the intended path, nibbling cheerfully away. Just short of the threshold, she voices a soft gasp.)
Izzy: It’s working!
(The mare gets upright; cut to just outside the doors as many, many more animals start to congregate here, then back to her. Triumph gives way to consternation as they rush right back in, whisking the box from her telekinetic grip and scaring Cloudpuff off her head. Izzy recoils at a few of them, eventually losing her balance and going spreadeagle on the floor.)
Izzy: The label didn’t say anything about that. (Pipp flies to her, phone in hoof to show a photo of the wipeout.)
Pipp: Look on the bright side, Izz. It looked adorable.
(That assessment lasts exactly as long as it takes a flying mouse with a bulbous red nose to land on her foreleg and sniff inquisitively up at her. She uncorks a terrified scream and frantically shakes the airborne rodent away.)
Pipp: Get ’em off, get ’em off, get it off!
(Now the unicorn extends her magic over the phone to commandeer it and commit the moment to digital photographic memory.)
Izzy: Adorable.
(Amid all the ruckus, Sparky catches sight of the magic mouse, tries and fails twice to catch it, and watches it head up one ramp. Cut to Opaline and Misty in the latter’s throne room, watching a video feed projected above the pool—the journey through the mouse’s eyes.)
Opaline: Now that we’re on the inside, it’s only a matter of time before I obtain what’s powering that Pris-Beam magic.
Misty: Then we can harness their powers and get your alicorn magic back. (Close-up of Opaline.)
Opaline: I’ll take my rightful place, reigning over all of Equestria the way alicorns were meant to. And I’ll make sure those little friendship ponies won’t get to use their magic ever again.
Misty: (from o.s.) Wait. (Cut to frame both.) Does that include me?
Opaline: Don’t be foolish, Misty. You’ll be allowed to keep your powers— (Soft, happy gasp from the smaller mare.) —once you get your cutie mark. (Silent foreleg pump.) If you prove to me that you’re worthy of one.
Misty: (resolutely) I will. I’ll do anything.
Act Three
(In the Brighthouse, the critters are now running wild in Pipp’s section of the shared bedroom; she is having no luck in catching any.)
Pipp: Why won’t they leave?!? (Izzy jumps onto the bed to run one off.)
Izzy: We’re never gonna have a regular place to live again! (To the floor.) That’s just how it is now.
(She races off as Sunny gallops into the room.)
Sunny: (skidding to a stop) Don’t worry, I’m here to talk to the animals!
Pipp: No offense, but isn’t this more of a Hitch thing?
Sunny: Not today!
(Cut to a close-up of her haunch, zooming in on the mark that should not be there. Izzy utters a prolonged scream while Pipp gasps at the sight.)
Sunny: Listen up, animal friends. It’s time to skedaddle!
(They pay her no mind whatsoever as Izzy and Pipp ease over to her.)
Sunny: But— (Groan; hoof to face.) —but I know you understood me! (Zipp flies in, phone at the ready.)
Zipp: (dictating) “It appears that Sunny has been Hitch-switched, but still doesn’t have his full powers. Hmm.”
Pipp: (jittery) What are you doing? Taking notes? Don’t just stand there… (sobbing) …help me!
(Another one of those red-nosed mice jumps onto her foreleg, prompting her to scream in revulsion and pitch to the floor.)
Zipp: Can’t! I’m working! (extending a front hoof, touching her chest) Hoof to heart!
(She flies off, leaving her sister to groan in purest frustration as yet another mouse clamps itself onto her foreleg. This time, though, Pipp does little more than glare daggers at it. Cut to the smoothie stand, zooming in slowly past the sizable line of customers and toward Hitch behind the counter. Splotches of fruit pulp decorate the back wall, hinting at a bit of trouble in learning his way around all the equipment. Close-up: he fills an order and the recipient departs.)
Hitch: This isn’t so hard. (He drops an apple into a blender.) I don’t know what Sunny was talking about. (Consult a list.) You just gotta follow the rules—I mean, recipes. Gotta follow the recipes.
Dahlia: (from o.s., holding cup into view) Um, excuse me. (Cut to her as she continues.) My smoothie is too smooth. Can you chunk-ify it?
Hitch: What? But I followed the recipe.
Dahlia: There’s the problem. Sunny always makes them on the fly. Hmph. (Back to Hitch.)
Hitch: (with much less gusto, dropping another apple in the blender) Okay. I’ll make you another, chunkier one.
Toots: (from o.s.) Hey, hey, hey. (He is now at the head of the line.) I’ll take the usual.
Hitch: What’s the usual?
Toots: It’s the smoothie I usually get. Sunny knows what it is.
Mayflower: Sunny also chit-chats with us while she blends. You’ve been too quiet!
(Disgruntled murmurs begin to circulate among the patrons. Zoom in slowly on a gradually freaking-out Hitch.)
Hitch: No recipes? Usual orders? Chit-chat? (setting out a cup) I didn’t know Sunny had to do all this extra stuff! (throwing fruit in blender) I thought it was just blended fruit!
(Dahlia takes a pull from her replacement smoothie and retches in pure disgust as Zipp uses a wing-assisted bound to reach the front of the line.)
Zipp: Looks like this switch thing isn’t working for you, is it?
Hitch: (casually) What makes you say that?
(His attempt to put the lid on the blender dislodges one fruit, which sends others flying in all directions and knocks a pear-nana-melon loose to squash forlornly on the floor. After a long, silent contemplation of the ruin he has made of Sunny’s workplace, he cracks and slumps across the counter.)
Hitch: Okay, fine! I’ll admit it! I just can’t be Sunny! So how did I get her cutie mark?
Zipp: I think I might have an idea, but—take me through it one more time.
Hitch: Well, first Sunny and I were arguing about who has an easier job, and I said it was clearly her—oh, but Sparky wouldn’t stop hiccupping dragon-fire magic.
(Cut to Zipp on these last few words. She stares intently at her phone, seeing five images on its fold-out screen. Bottom left and right, respectively: the smiling faces of Hitch and Sunny. Top left and right: their cutie marks. Center: Sparky’s face. Zipp’s first tap causes the dragon to spit a burst of fire; her second stops it, moves the marks to opposite corners, and drains all the cheer out of her two friends’ visages.)
Zipp: (thoughtfully) Dragon-fire magic? (She rushes to the counter.) That’s it! That’s gotta be it!
Hitch: What is? (Zipp backs off a step.)
Zipp: Oh! Uh… (Gasp; sly smile.) Hmmm. (suddenly alarmed) Sunny’s in trouble at the Brighthouse! There are animals everywhere!
Hitch: (throwing cup aside) She is? There are? I have to save her! Also, you probably shoulda led with that, Detective!
[Animation goof: His badge briefly appears on his sash during this exchange.]
(He vaults over the counter but lands flat on his face, drawing a gasp from the customers, but quickly gets upright and is on the move.)
Zipp: Don’t worry, everypony! Sunny will be back soon! (She flies off.)
Toots: Phew! Great Sheriff, but Hitch cannot make smoothies to save his hide.
(Dahlia’s second pull at her new drink elicits the exact same reaction as the first. Up in the shared bedroom, Sunny can only boggle at the ongoing rampage of local wildlife. Izzy/Pipp and Sparky hurtle past her in opposite directions, the latter still chasing that phantasmal mouse.)
Izzy: (heaving for breath) To the left!
Pipp: I’m going up!
(She does so as they barely stay ahead of the stampede, and Sunny dives behind her bed to keep from being run over and straightens back up into view, a creature riding on her hat brim.)
Sunny: Stop it! (shaking it off) Every-critter! I know you know what I’m saying! (Zipp hovers into view before her, phone in hoof.)
Zipp: Sunny! Hitch is in trouble! He needs you!
Sunny: (with growing worry) He is? He does? (leaping over bed, galloping out) Hitch!
Zipp: (to herself) I hope this works.
(These words are barely out of her mouth before she takes an airborne mouse to the jaw and goes crashing to the floor. Cut to Hitch galloping in through the front doors.)
Hitch: I have to help Sunny! (Who is charging along one ramp.)
Sunny: I have to help Hitch!
(The stallion ascends…she keeps going full tilt…and the result is a head-on collision on the balcony where the upper ends of both ramps converge. Down they go, the hat fluttering off Sunny’s head, and Hitch grunts in pain as both start to sit up. Zipp flies down to them, her shoulder occupied by the nibbler that knocked her silly.)
Zipp: (to herself) Ouch. I hope I didn’t make this worse. (The two regain their senses.)
Hitch: Sunny?
Sunny: Hitch? (Both stand up, resuming their normal manners of speaking.) I’m sorry. I thought you had it easier than me. You don’t.
Hitch: I’m sorry too. I don’t think you have it easy at all. (smiling) You’re a pillar of the community.
Sunny: (smiling) So are you!
Hitch: Maybe we both are good at what we do because of who we are.
Sunny: Well, nobody can be Hitch like you can.
Hitch: And nopony can be Sunny like you can.
Sunny: Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
Hitch: Oh, yeah. (Split-screen close-up of both faces.)
Sunny, Hitch: Secret hoof-shake time! (Fullscreen.)
Up high, down low, hitch it to a post.
Flip it sunny side up and on a piece of toast!
(Accompanied by the following gestures. “Up high, down low”: they each raise a foreleg and touch the hooves together twice at each of the stated heights. “Hitch it to a post”: extend a foreleg toward each other. “Flip it sunny side up”: turn those hooves upward and raise them toward the ceiling. “And on a piece of toast”: touch them together. Once they have finished the ritual, their cutie marks ignite and return to the haunches on which they started; Zipp rises into view facing them.)
Zipp: (cockily) Nice work, Detective Me. Maybe I’m starting to get a handle on this cutie mark magic stuff. (The mouse on her shoulder squeaks a comment. Cut to Sunny/Hitch and zoom in slowly.)
Sunny: (to Hitch) So, you think there’s still time to fix all the messes we made today?
Hitch: Only if we do what we each do best.
(He takes up his fallen hat and she reaches for her neck strap; by the time he has the headwear settled back in place, the badge has been unclipped and is being held out to him. He accepts and attaches it to his sash, relieved to be in full possession of all the trappings of his office, then sheepishly holds up a hoof on which a berry-shaped pincushion has been crushed flat.)
Hitch: Oops. It must have gotten squished when we crashed.
(It pops back into shape in a blink, and both laugh as he passes it over and she tucks it into her saddlebag. Side by side, they head for the ramps; cut to the critter-filled madhouse that is the shared bedroom. As Izzy and Pipp chase or are chased, Sparky leaps after the magic mouse and a fleeing squirrel nicks a potted cactus on a nightstand by Sunny’s bed. It topples over the edge but is saved thanks to a sliding catch by Izzy.)
Izzy: (near exhaustion) I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up!
(Across the way, several bunnies have dog-piled on Pipp to pin her to the floor; one more steals her phone and hops away. Hitch enters the room, the camera cutting to an extreme close-up of his blazing mark and zooming out to frame the entirety of his proud figure.)
Hitch: Sheriff Hitch is here, little buddies. Come on now.
(An immensely relieved smile steals across Izzy’s face as the animals calm down and gravitate toward him. Pipp’s captors do the same, and she sighs happily and gets upright, one bunny perching on her head.)
Pipp: It’s a miracle. (This one hops down.)
Hitch: (sternly) I hear you’ve all been acting out.
(There follows a collective sound of contrition and a slow plod toward the exit, during which the camera zooms in past them toward a gold-trimmed marble stand at the edge of Sunny’s section. It is topped by a small model of the Unity Crystals, and within its housing is the lantern that Izzy fashioned in Chapter One, using the remains of the one that Sunny’s father Argyle Starshine made for her in A New Generation. A sparkling column of rainbow light shines up through its housing, replacing the bulb Izzy had installed and forming a small-scale counterpart of the Pris-Beam that suffuses the Crystals. The mouse stares intently at the lantern; cut to an extreme close-up of its eyes, then to a slow zoom in on the item.)
(From here, cut to the smoothie stand and a considerable line of customers. Sunny is back on the job, and the interior has been fully cleaned and set back in order. Zoom in slowly and cut to the counter as she serves Dahlia.)
Sunny: Here’s your chunky smoothie… (Depart; up comes Toots.) …here’s the usual… (He takes a cup and leaves.) …ooh, is that a new book you’re reading, Seashell? (The filly steps up, carrying a volume.)
Seashell: Yeah! It’s about this tree that grows special crystals called Elements.
Sunny: Wow, cool! Tell me more!
(A reference to the Tree of Harmony in Friendship Is Magic. Long shot of the Brighthouse entrance, zooming in as critters exit the building; her four friends are at the open doors, Zipp hovering above the other three and without her phone or the mouse on her shoulder. A close-up frames the Sheriff from the neck down.)
Hitch: After you. Go ahead. (Tilt up to his cheerful face.) Thanks for visiting, friends. (Sunny comes up.) Well, well, well. It looks like we both did pretty good, once we started doing what we were good at.
Sunny: You said it. (glancing over her shoulder) Is that all of them?
(A mighty clattering issues from farther up, sparking a charge toward the ramps. Cut to the entrance to the shared bedroom as the five rush into view; a few random items are flung across the floor just before the magic mouse sprints across the area with an incensed Sparky hot on its tail. The little pest reaches the stand holding Sunny’s lantern and begins to climb the base.)
Hitch: Sparky, leave that mouse alone!
(As he advances, it reaches the lantern and fixes a wide-eyed stare on the item for a long moment, then vanishes in a burst of purple smoke just as Sparky makes a jumping grab for it. He mumbles confusedly as the five gather around him.)
Pipp: Did you see that?
Izzy: It just went poof!
Hitch: Was that a mouse— (dramatically) —or a ghost? (Izzy gasps in fright; Zipp breaks out her phone in close-up.)
Zipp: (dictating) “Daily mystery total—three. Cutie mark switch, disappearing mouse, and… “ (holding up a cup in her other front hoof) “…this smoothie.” (Drink.) Mmm…it still doesn’t taste right.
(It is promptly plucked away by Sunny, who sniffs at the straw and breaks into a big smile.)
Sunny: I know just the thing!
(Setting it down, she pops the lid open, drops in a sprig of some herb, and closes it up again. Zipp whisks the cup away, now sitting, and takes a long pull.)
Zipp: (smiling) Huh…that was it! (dictating, to phone) “Case closed.” (Hitch returns with Sparky on his back.)
Hitch: Today was pretty wild, huh?
Izzy: Yeah! I couldn’t even be-lizzle it! (Cut to Sunny.)
Sunny: But at least everything is back in order again. (To Izzy/Pipp on the following.)
Pipp: Now that sounds like something Hitch would say.
Zipp: (suddenly panicked) Oh, no! Not again!
(She is halfway through deploying her phone to gather more evidence when the two affected ponies get a good look at their own haunches and find the marks still where they should be. Relieved, Zipp sighs and crumples into a much more relaxed position. All five get a good laugh out of the false alarm as the camera cuts to a close-up of the lantern and zooms in slowly.)
(Dissolve to a magically projected image of it in Opaline’s throne room, with her visible through it on the far side, and zoom out slowly.)
Opaline: Aha! Finally, it’s all becoming clear. (voice raised) Misty!
(The blue mare is at her side in less time than it takes to say “snap to, grunt!”)
Misty: Yes, Opaline?
Opaline: I need you to sneak into the Crystal Brighthouse and steal me that lantern. It holds power.
(Cut to its projection on the end of this line, zooming in slowly, then back to her.)
Opaline: Pris-Beam power. (Misty finds herself entirely captivated by the magic mouse, now on the table.)
Misty: Awww, can I keep him? As a little friend? (A gesture from Opaline disintegrates it into purple smoke.)
Opaline: No! No need for friends when you have a job to do. Now stay focused!
Misty: (levelly) Yes, Opaline. I’m ready.
(She steels herself and stares toward the image with Opaline, the camera zooming in on it between them. Dissolve to the upper portion of the Brighthouse and tilt down to an overhead shot of the front lawn; Sunny and Hitch are both pulling delivery carts up the walk, Hitch having disposed of his cowboy hat. Sunny stops in close-up.)
Sunny: (slipping out of her harness) Thanks for the help. (Hitch stops with a grunt and steps away from his.)
Hitch: I’m glad to help make sure things are running smooth-ly, just as long as it’s not smooth-ies. (Chuckle.)
Sunny: I’m just happy that the community garden is officially open… (Cut to it on the end of this, then back to the pair.) …even if the animals do still seem hesitant to go back inside.
(A scramble of chittering and squeaking prompts a double gasp of shock.)
Hitch: Oh, no.
(They gallop up the walk; cut to just inside the doors as they are rammed open. The two slide to a stop and find Izzy/Pipp/Zipp waiting for them in the entrance hall.)
Izzy: Sunny! Hitch! Come look!
Sunny: What happened?
Pipp: (giddily) See for yourself!
(The three step aside to give a clear view of one front corner—which now holds a newly constructed animal play area. Toys, ramps, a mirror and sink for washing up, comfortable spots to crash out at all heights from floor to the top of a small artificial tree. Sparky is batting a beach ball back and forth with a bunny, and Hitch voices a soft, incredulous sigh as other critters take their leisure in their own ways.)
Hitch: What is all this?
Izzy: It’s your Critter Corner! (She and Pipp gesture grandly toward it; zoom out slowly.) Now the animals have a place to chill if the garden gets to be magically way too much.
Zipp: (nudging Hitch) Or if they want a solid lead on hanging with their best buddy Hitch.
Hitch: Awesome!
(He gallops to the periphery in order to better take it all in and finds a couple of birds cheeping happily up at him, accompanied by Curdle.)
Hitch: (laughing) A birdseed smoothie? Sure. I’ll ask Sunny to add it to the menu for you. Why not? (The turtle speaks up.) You were saying, Curdle? (Again.) Yes, lettuce is also nice.
(Izzy and Pipp laugh and move in as Zipp turns to Sunny.)
Zipp: So it looks like you two worked things out, huh?
Sunny: I think we just needed a little trot in each other’s horseshoes, even if we didn’t want to admit it.
(On the second half of this line, the camera zooms out quickly in time with Hitch’s laughter and frames him tumbling onto his back, with Sparky on his belly. Cut to an overhead shot of the laughing ponies amid the tableau of lively fauna and zoom out slowly.)