THE TRADITIONAL UNICORN SLEEP-OVER

Written by Julia Prescott

Executive producers: Olivier Dumont, Randi Yaffa, Cort Lane

Story editing by Gillian Berrow

Supervising direction by Will Lau

Directed by Randi Rodrigues

Transcribed by Alan Back (ajback@yahoo.com)

Prologue

(Opening shot: a close-up and zoom in on a flower in the community garden of Maretime Bay during the day. Sparky Sparkeroni leans down into view to bite it off the stem; on the start of the next line, cut to Izzy Moonbow hurrying in.)

Izzy: Oh, Sparky! Save your snacking for food, not flowers. (He whimpers and covers his belly.) Oh, it’s okay. (Her perspective, poking him gently there to cheer him up.) You didn’t know any better, and you’re just getting your sillies out.

(Both again on this last; she laughs and he bounds up and over the stone wall at the garden’s edge.)

Izzy: (hustling after him) Oh, no, no, no, I didn’t mean to silly out even more! (She chases him through the town proper.) Sparky, stop! (Dahlia, watching, gasps in surprise.) Sparky, slow…

(This last word is accompanied by a cut to Toots, about to enjoy a donut at a sidewalk table. His plans are derailed when the little guy jumps on his head, slamming his face into the wooden surface.)

Izzy: Oh…

(Toots comes up with the donut stuck over one eye; now the chase takes a loop around a passing Sprout Cloverleaf…)

Izzy: Sparky, wait!

(…close enough to topple him onto his haunches. Sparky heads up a side street.)

Izzy: Sparky! (His sudden stop brings her to a skidding halt, out of breath.) Okay, enough running for today.

(Close-up of him, cringing away from the camera.)

Izzy: (from o.s.) Huh? (Cut to her; slow pan.) What’s wrong? You’re acting like there’s some mysterious and scary presence lurking in the shadows directly behind me.

(The camera motion reveals the squint-eyed silhouette of Misty standing in an alley a few steps behind. Snap to black.)

OPENING THEME

Act One

(Cut from the title card directly to Izzy sitting in the street with Sparky and gasping as she takes in Misty’s presence. An instant later she is upright and all smiles.)

Izzy: Hi, friend! What’s your name? I’m Izzy Moonbow.

(The blue unicorn—wearing a fake butterfly cutie mark as in “Ali-Conned,” but blue now rather than white—offers a tentative smile of her own and steps forward, just a fraction.) 

Misty: Uh, Misty. I, um, just got into town, and now I’m gonna leave. Bye! (She whisks away; close-up of her badly shaken expression.)

Izzy: (from o.s.) Wait, wait! (She pulls up.) I remember when I was new in town. (galloping to keep pace; both reach a main road and stop) Where are you going? Do you want me to show you around? (Sparky catches up.)

Misty: Uh…I…uh…er…

(A ground-level shot on the end of this picks out Sparky behind Izzy’s hind legs, growling like a very small and very angry guard dog.)

Izzy: Awww, don’t mind him. He’s probably just excited to see another unicorn like me. (Gasp.) Wait a minute. (Hop around Misty.) Unicorns. You, me, us? We can be… (Another gasp; drag Misty off her hooves and into a crushing hug.) …unicorn friends!

(Izzy sets her down after a moment.)

Izzy: Oops, sorry. (Misty backs away.) I’ve been told my hugs can be pretty heavy-duty.

(A few more steps put her around the corner and in the clear; she glances over her shoulder to be sure.)

Misty: Uh…

(Relief gives way to a frightened gasp upon finding Izzy directly in her path. She smiles hesitantly and tries to get away during the next line, but Izzy’s circling cuts her off.)

Izzy: This is incredible. I can’t believe I made a new unicorn friend—poof!—just like that. I mean, I’ve known a lot of unicorns, but I don’t know. Something about you feels…different.

Misty: It does?

Izzy: Mmm-hmm. It must be… (beaming, rapid fire) …because you’re my first official unicorn friend here in Maretime Bay!

(A longer shot on the end of this line reveals that they have reached the town square; the last words echo in the tranquil air. There follows a long pause while Misty internally fumbles for words.)

Misty: Yes. That must be it.

Izzy: (galloping into gazebo, sitting) Yes! This is such perfect timing because I have been missing Bridlewood so much lately. (draping herself around a pillar) The trees, the teas, even the jinixies. (hopping back to Misty, foreleg across shoulders) I bet we could spend hours bonding over Bridlewood experiences, having both grown up as unicorns, right? (Sparky climbs onto her back.)

Misty: (badly flustered) Yeah, I can, I, uh, well…

(She gets no farther with this hash of semi-random syllables before Sparky resumes growling up a storm; she gasps up at him.)

Izzy: What’s gotten into you, little Spark-Spark? Misty’s our friend.

(He hops off and storms away; she pulls in a smiling gasp.)

Izzy: We’ll celebrate us meeting with a… (Overhead shot, zooming out.) …traditional unicorn sleepover! (Street level.)

Misty: What’s that?

Izzy: Uh, it’s the unicorn tradition for whenever you make a very special new best friend. (puzzled; Misty backs up) You’ve never heard of it?

Misty: (rapid fire) Oh, yes, of course. I thought you said “weep-over”— (wiping one eye) —which is when you, like, cry over not having any lunch, like me, which is why I got a bit just now. I’m really hungry. (Deep breath.)

Izzy: So it’s official. (gesturing to Crystal Brighthouse in the distance) You’re gonna sleep over at the Crystal Brighthouse toni-i-ight!

(The last word is delivered in a singsong manner, in time with a cut to one very nervous blue unicorn.)

Misty: Oh! Uh, tonight? But I can’t, really, and there’s something that I have to—

Izzy: (walking off) I’m gonna have snacks, and streamers, and tea lights for ambiance. And those hay pillows over there! Okay, gotta go get ready. See you later, Misty!

(The latter finds herself alone with Sparky, who growls his distrust of her and runs to catch up with his sitter as fast as stubby legs will allow.)

(Dissolve to a long shot of Opaline’s castle and zoom in slowly.)

Misty: (voice over, hopefully) So…I get to go to the party?

(On the end of this, cut to her in the throne room and tilt up to frame the face of the haughty winged unicorn standing nearby.)

Opaline: Oh, Misty, you’re going to party it up, all right. You’re going to party all night—

(She turns to a projection above the pool: the Pris-Beam-powered lantern in the shared bedroom of the Brighthouse, as seen in “The Cutie Mark Mix-Up.”)

Opaline: —until you steal Sunny’s precious magic lantern.

Misty: I’m not really sure that’s how parties work. I’ve never been to one. (She quails before Opaline’s glare.) But you’re the expert! (Weak laugh.)

Opaline: Get in that lighthouse and— (To Misty on the following.)

Misty: Brighthouse.

Opaline: Whatever! Get there and find that lantern!

(The flunky offers a firm nod. Cut to a long shot of the Brighthouse under a pink/orange late afternoon sky.)

Izzy: (voice over, excitedly) And she had a horn just like me—

(Inside, she is addressing Pipp Petals and Zipp Storm, seated on a couch near the fireplace at the back of the entrance hall.)

Izzy: —and hooves just like me—

(Cut to the two sisters, who trade indulgent smiles as the unicorn’s bubbly giggle floats across, then to Sunny Starscout drinking a smoothie in a seat of her own. She is not wearing her saddlebag. Izzy leaps onto a table to face her.)

Izzy: —and a face! (Sit.) Just like me.

Sunny: (laughing) She sounds like a unique unicorn. (Sparky bounces up/down behind the pegasi.)

Zipp: And you said Sparky was growling at her?

(A cut to behind their couch tells the story: Hitch Trailblazer is lying on the floor, on his back and using his hind legs to propel his ward into the air. He adds a bit of baby talk to complete the playtime feel.)

Zipp: I wonder why.

(An overly energetic heave sends Sparky over the couch, McSnips-a-Lot toy in his grip. He bounces off Pipp’s head, eliciting a gasp, and lands on the floor; Izzy is off the table.)

Izzy: (hunching down to him) Awww, you know, Sparky growls at everypony and every twig, bug, and critter.

(Close-up of him; a sparkly magic belch turns the toy into a carrot.)

Izzy: (from o.s.) He’s just a curious baby dragon. (Zoom out; she holds her cell phone over him.) It’s what he does. (Snap a picture; Hitch emerges.)

Hitch: (scooping Sparky up; close-up) Speaking of, it’s time to get this little guy back to the station and start his bedtime routine.

(Said little guy looks up from the vegetable he has been gnawing with a disappointed little burble. A sharp gasp from Izzy slashes the quiet; cut to her, eyeing the phone.)

Izzy: That’s the time? I’ve gotta get moving! (jumping onto table, facing Sunny) There’s so many great treats and traditions to get ready! This is gonna be the best sleepover anypony’s ever been to in all of Bridlewood. (Bound to the couch.) I mean, Maretime Bay. I mean, Equestria!

(She puts in gear toward the arts-and-crafts area. Hitch and Sparky have now left.)

Pipp: (to Zipp) Well, I thought my birthday party last year was pretty epic, but guess the bar is always rising.

(Cut to a mass of loose yarn on the floor and zoom out to the sound of Izzy imitating a trumpet flourish. The material is the dining room, as are several other balls—both in and out of baskets—and Sunny and Pipp regard it all with no small degree of confusion. Izzy jumps onto the table.)

Izzy: Roll out the yarn balls!

(Outside, she watches an airborne Zipp hang up strings of small light bulbs, each with its own shade, below the overhang of the roof’s edge.)

Izzy: (whooping) String up the tea lights!

(The athletic mare nearly gets the lot yanked from her grip due to the weight of a bird perching on it, but limits her reaction to a yelp and a dirty look. Inside, several pole lamps have been added near the fireplace, with kerchiefs in a variety of bright colors hanging from the lower edge of each shade. Sunny/Pipp/Zipp are on the job to add more as Izzy advances toward the camera.)

Izzy: Hang lots of colorful scarves for…

(A pivot, and now she is facing the camera and the fully decorated entrance hall. Lamps have been set up everywhere, and kerchiefs and tea lights have been strung along the ramp railings.)

Izzy: (whispering) …ambience. (Doorbell; she returns to normal volume with a cry.) Sweet sauce horseshoe toss! (Gasp.) She’s here!

(A breathy, giddy giggle escapes her throat as she sprints to the front doors and puts hoof to handle. Close-up of Misty waiting on the step and carrying a pillow, then cut to the other four mares on the following and in time with the doors opening.)

Izzy: Welcome to the Brighthouse, Misty! (losing steam, dropping to a whisper) Misty…uh, what’s your last name?

Misty: Uh…uh, uh… (Glance up at the tower.) …Brighthouse!

(A round of very funny looks from the four residents.)

Misty: (frantically, stammering) Uh,  Bright…um…

(Her perspective, flitting rapidly from one area of the stained-glass windows framing the doors to another.)

Misty: …Bright…dawn? Uh… (Back to her.) Brightdawn!

Izzy: (ushering her in) Welcome, Misty Brightdawn, to the best unicorn sleepover of your unicorn life!

(Cut to the guest entering the building on the end of this, awestruck from head to hoof.)

Sunny: So nice to finally meet you, Misty. Izzy’s told us—

Misty: (spooked) Told you? Told you what? (She gasps upon backing into Zipp.)

Zipp: When did you say you got into Maretime Bay?

Misty: Oh, I-I didn’t—

Zipp: In town just for a visit, or staying permanently?

Izzy: (popping up between them, leading Zipp aside) Zipp, Zipp, Zipp, Zipp, buddy, you’re hoofing it up the wrong hill here. You don’t need to “detective” her. Misty’s our friend. Ooh! We’re already way behind schedule. (gesturing) Come on, unicorns.

(She, Sunny, and Pipp, laugh and head deeper in, but Misty remains in place as if her hooves were rooted to the mosaic floor and swallows hard. She moves after a long moment, leaving Zipp to stare after her and bring up the rear.)

Zipp: Hmmm…

Act Two

(Cut to the kitchen, where the five are gathered around the counter island and using an assortment of craft supplies to fashion cardboard horns, one of which Pipp is already wearing. Laughter fills the air as bowls of brightly colored stones and shakers filled with glitter are put to work, and within seconds Izzy has stuck a few adornments to the more-head on her forehead. She gasps happily and bows to show it off, earning a round of ooh’s and ahh’s from the others. Pipp raises a shaker to add a bit more bling to her new horn, but its top comes loose and the contents spill down her face. She finds herself wearing a sparkling blue beard and mustache, prompting a round of laughs from the crowd.)

Pipp: Oh, my glitter.

(A pillow spins past the camera in close-up; behind its trailing edge, the view wipes to a stretch of floor as Izzy pushes two large square cushions into view, lying flat with one edge touching. She swiftly builds on this, adding levels of soft things in various shapes/sizes, and finishes by propping two throw pillows against each other in close-up. The stones are gone from her horn.)

Izzy: Ta-daaaa!

(Zoom out to the sound of appreciative murmurs from the other four, Pipp having cleaned her face and shed the fake horn. Izzy has built the large-scale equivalent of a house of cards and planted a small flag at its peak. Misty tucks the pillow she has brought into a corner at the base, but this small movement is enough to destabilize the entire structure. Down it comes, taking a screaming Izzy along for the ride, but she makes a safe face-first landing on one of the tumbled cushions. All laugh at the mishap.)

(A game board is slapped into place to cover the camera lens, then whisked away to frame the five mares gathered around it at the dining room table. Zoom in slowly.)

Sunny: So, how does this game work?

Izzy: The rules of Dare the Mare go… (Deep breath; rapid fire.) …if a player spins the wheel and lands on an odd number, then they dare the mare to do something fun. But if they land on an even number, they dare the mare to do something funny, and if their fun is too funky or funky too fun, they go back and do it all over again!

(During this torrent of verbiage, the camera cuts to an uncomprehending Sunny and Zipp, then to Misty nodding and smiling in an attempt to cover her nerves, and finally back to Izzy and Pipp, the latter just as lost as the first two. Izzy finishes with a laugh and hitch of breath. Long pause.)

Pipp: (abruptly smiling) That makes total sense.

(She starts in fright as Izzy gasps and knocks the board aside, and Sunny/Zipp gasp as well as it goes flying between them.)

Izzy: Whoops! Explaining the rules took too long. We’ve gotta move on, party ponies!

(She zips away. Now a large blue crystal tumbles past the camera in close-up, the view wiping behind it to an overhead shot of the group by the fireplace. More crystals have been placed on the floor, glowing a warm blue-green, and Sunny and Izzy sit facing each other on large cushions as the others look on. The unicorn is holding one of the earth pony’s front hooves and scrutinizing it closely.)

Izzy: The art of hoof reading has been in the Moonbow family for generations. It all started with Great-Great-Auntie Buttons.

(During this line, the focus shifts to Misty, who lifts a couch cushion for a quick peek beneath and then hunkers down to check the floor under the furniture. She comes up only to find Zipp giving her a very hairy eyeball and swallows hard before shifting gears.)

Misty: (with faked enthusiasm) Ooh! So interesting!

(A teapot spins past the camera, wiping the view to a close-up of the dining room table.)

Izzy: (from o.s., pushing a full cup into view) Teatime!

(Longer shot: she has given it to Zipp. More cups are dished up, and Misty eagerly grabs hers and slurps it down.)

Izzy: Uh, Misty? Those tea leaves were for reading, not for drinking. (Laugh; cut to Misty; she continues o.s.) Remember?

[Animation goof: The window behind Misty abruptly shifts between sunset and night.]

(So Misty spits the tea back into the cup and offers a chastened smile. A rain of popcorn past the camera lens changes the view to a pan along the island countertop, now laden with bowls of the stuff in assorted colors and flavors. All are gathered around.)

Pipp: (singsong) Pony-corn statio-o-on!

Sunny: Yum! Oh, thanks, Izzy!

Zipp: Yeah!

(Misty cautiously selects a piece, places it in her mouth, and chews—and the taste causes her eyes to widen and a huge smile to nearly split her face in two.)

Misty: Mmm…this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life!

(Smiles from Sunny and Izzy, a stunned gape and chomp from Pipp, and a skeptical look from Zipp.)

Misty: (trying to play it off) —that I say every time I eat it, ’cause I eat it all the time—or did, when I lived in Bridlewood all my life.

(She shovels in a few more kernels and gets out a nervous chuckle through this mouthful as Zipp’s face continues to broadcast her suspicion all too clearly. Now a remote control sails past the camera, the view wiping behind it to the fireplace area. The lights have been dimmed, and Izzy hoists the device—for the television above the fireplace—and her phone as the other four get comfortable.)

Izzy: (giddily) Ooh, Trotting Hill! A unicorn sleepover classic… (Glance at phone.) …that we only have three minutes to move through. (Throw it aside.) Let’s go!

(A button is pressed; cut to the TV screen, which shows a conversation between a mare and stallion in fast-forward. Izzy’s humming is heard from o.s. for a few seconds before she speaks again.)

Izzy: (from o.s.) Aha! (Normal playback speed resumes.)

Izzy, Mare: (Izzy o.s.) Don’t you see, Salty? (Cut to frame her.) I’m just a unicorn, standing in front of another unicorn, asking him to share with her. (Quivery sigh; pause the movie.)

Izzy: So romantic.

Sunny: Say, Izzy, you think we can slow down a bit?

Pipp: (holding a nearly full bowl of popcorn) Yeah, I’ve barely made a dent in my chocolate pony-corn.

Misty: (eagerly) I’ll help you finish it!

Izzy: (gasping, knocking Misty aside) Slow down? If anything, we need to speed up! (pacing to fireplace; the TV is now off) If we don’t do everything, it’s jinxie!

Misty: What’s jinxie?

(This query prompts a boisterous laugh from Izzy, but it ends as if a switch had been thrown; she is instantly all business.)

Izzy: You are so funny. (She produces and unrolls a very long list; cut to Pipp/Zipp on the next line.)

Zipp: (hushed, to Pipp) Don’t you think it’s a little weird Misty’s just as lost as us? (Pipp smirks and slips away.) She claims to have grown up in Bridlewood, but it’s as if she’s never even been there, Pipp. (needled, noticing her absence) Pipp!

(The younger Princess has joined Sunny and Izzy in looking over the document.)

Sunny: What’s next, Izzy?

Pipp: (reading) “Ask an Amethyst.” What’s that?

Izzy: You mean having conversations with your crystals is just a unicorn thing? Whoa.

(The three find Misty gorging herself from Pipp’s abandoned popcorn bowl.)

Izzy: Pffft! Can you believe that, Misty?

Misty: (swallowing, scraping some off her face) Uh, totally! It’s, um— (Laugh.) —what you said. So, uh, hm…where’s that little dragon from earlier? Shouldn’t he be enjoying the party as well?

Pipp: Oh, Sparky? Hitch is limiting the overnight dragon-sitting until he gets the hang of his dragon fire.

Misty: Dragon fire? Is that magical, like your cu— (catching herself) —o-our cutie marks? (She sits.)

Sunny: It’s definitely something. We’re not sure what yet.

Pipp: It can transform all sorts of stuff, though—even cutie marks. Just ask Sunny about the Hitch-switch. (Giggle.)

Sunny: Oh!

(She laughs as well, but in a slightly chagrined way, remembering the mishaps that stemmed from that change in “The Cutie Mark Mix-Up.”)

Misty: (thoughtfully, stroking chin) Hmmm…

(A calculating smile plays across her face as the view dissolves to an extreme close-up of a glowing blue crystal, which is lowered out of frame by Izzy.)

Izzy: (clearing throat) And now…

(Overhead shot of the five, standing in a rough circle; each of the others has a crystal on the floor next to her. The furniture has been moved aside, and Izzy has put away her list.)

Izzy: …for my favorite part—well, next to my other favorite part, and my other other favorite… (Deep breath; she sings the next words bombastically and holds out the last one.)

…it’s the Sleepover Sing-Along

(Another lungful of air is blown through the crystal she holds, producing a low humming tone and brightening its radiance for a moment.)

Izzy: Oh, we sing this all the time back in Bridlewood. Even foals know it.

Zipp: (gesturing with one crystal) Well, then, why don’t you and Misty do it as a duet? Teach us together. (Izzy has set hers down.)

Izzy: (gasping, dragging Misty to center of floor) Brilliant idea! (to her) Oh! We’ll jump into the chorus together, then you take the verse. (Clear throat.)

Quiet lullaby with strings and muted glockenspiel, slow loose 4 (F major)

Misty tries feebly to harmonize, but gets only one or two off-key syllables each time

Izzy:                        Sing now, sleepover friends

                        Time to dream of crystals and gems        

                        When night has come and games are done

(She slowly levitates the crystals off the floor.)

                        Unicorns hold their crystals and—and sing

Music reaches a crescendo and pauses

(Sunny and Pipp are entranced by the glimmering midair minerals, but Zipp’s distrust is still coming through in every square inch of her face. Izzy gives a “take it” nod to Misty.)

Random pizzicato strings and horn/percussion notes

No particular key or meter in either the music or Misty’s singing

Misty:                        Get on your hooves and play along

                        ’Cause it’s—it’s a party 

                        And that’s what happens when you have fun with friends

(spoken, weakly, in close-up) Ta-da?

Song ends

(On the start of the next line, cut to a deflated Izzy slowly lowering the crystals to the floor.)

Izzy: Oh, I guess we just learned different versions. That’s okay. (She plods away; Zipp ponders this musical mangling.)

Sunny: (crossing to Zipp) I’m sorry we don’t know a ton of unicorn stuff, Izzy. (smiling) But we’re happy to learn. (Cut to Pipp/Zipp on the next line.)

Pipp: And we’re happy to do all the other things you had planned.

Zipp: It may just take us a while.

Izzy: (brightening) Oh! Thanks, guys! Maybe we can continue our list and… (dejectedly) …I’ll just sing the song by myself later.

Pipp: (crossing to her with Zipp) No! No, no, no, no, no! Of course not! I’ll sing it with you. (Misty glances away…)

Sunny: Or maybe we can play another game together. (…and hurries up one ramp.)

Pipp: Oh! What about that unicorn tradition you mentioned where we all balanced yarn balls on our heads and count to the highest number we can think of?

(Their guest enters the dimly lit shared bedroom with a slightly irritated sigh and begins to scope out the place. Her first stop is Sunny’s bed.)

Misty: Where is that lantern?

(A quick check of blankets and pillows proves fruitless, so she moves on—ignoring the very object in its glass/marble stand on the other side of the bed. She does, however, find Sunny’s compact sitting on top of a trunk at the foot.)

Misty: Ooh! (Close-up of it; she continues o.s.) I can use this!

(It is picked up and opened with no delay, and she stares into the mirror.)

Misty: Opaline? (No response.) Opaline!

(The silvered surface presents only her perplexed reflection; after a moment, she has a spark of recognition.)

Misty: Oh, right. (Snap it shut.) This thing doesn’t work inside the Brighthouse.

(So she crosses to the stained-glass window in Zipp’s section and strains to push it open; cut to just outside it as she succeeds, nearly going over the sill in the bargain. Regaining enough of her balance to hold the compact out in the night air, she pops the lid.)

Misty: Opaline! (Whose face replaces hers in the mirror.) I’m in! But no lantern. What do I do next?

Opaline: (groaning exasperatedly) Think, Misty!

(Cut to frame Misty, the glass hidden by the lid. On the next line, the camera follows her upward glance toward the lantern room and the Pris-Beam shining into the heavens.)

Voice of Opaline: There’s got to be some way up to that glass room at the top! It’ll be there, with the Pris-Beam. (Back to her in the mirror.) Don’t come back without it! Then, their power is ours!

(She goes into a protracted mad laugh, which Misty strives to copy as she did in “Growing Pains.” This time, though, she makes a fairly decent showing of it and manages to impress the boss.)

Opaline: Oh! Better, Misty. But it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t be a show-off.

(Her visage winks out, leaving Misty’s face in the glass. Inside the room, she reels herself back in and shuts the window. Discarding the compact, she turns her attention to the glass/brass-enclosed lift at the center and the shimmering Pris-Beam energy that fills its shaft. Allowing herself a cocky smile, she circles to its doors, which hiss open at her approach. Upon entering, she finds a wall-mounted scanner and puts a hoof to it; the pad goes from green to red and emits a buzz—access denied—then returns to green once she pulls away.)

Misty: Why isn’t it working?

(Three more tries in quick succession get the same result, and the last also sets off an alarm that scares a yelp from the inexperienced burglar.)

Misty: (jabbing at scanner) No! Shh, shh, shh, shh shh! They’ll find out—

Zipp: (levelly, stepping into view outside lift) Find what out?

Misty: (smiling stupidly) That, uh, I can’t figure out this keypad to go up to the washroom. (Laugh.) So embarrassing.

Zipp: You were trying to find the washroom in the elevator? (Misty backs out; the alarm goes silent.)

Misty: No, but I thought…well, uh, I thought I’d go look at the view first. It’s a fun Bridlewood tradition, which is probably why you didn’t know about it.

(Her shaky laugh is followed by a very long pause, after which Zipp smiles.)

Zipp: First Bridlewood tradition I totally get! I love awesome views. Maybe I’ll take you up there to look some other time. (inclining her head toward room exit) But the washroom is down there.

Misty: (trying to laugh, walking out) Thanks, Zipp. Um, I’ll be sure to take you up on that.

Zipp: (to herself, following) Hmmm…

Act Three

(Down by the fireplace, the five are laying out sleeping bags; Pipp has borrowed a pillow from her bed, and Zipp is checking her phone .Izzy voices a listless sigh. The lights have dimmed, with the crystals placed to act as impromptu nightlights.)

Izzy: Well, that was fun, but I guess it’s over now. Good night, everypony. (She lies down, as does Pipp.)

Sunny: I’m not that sleepy. Are you, Pipp? (The pink head jerks up again.)

Pipp: Oh, uh, no! No! I’m… (yawning) …I’m really fired up for more fun, actually. (Happy gasp from Sunny.)

Sunny: Let’s tell stories!

Izzy: (standing, instantly re-energized) Sunny! How did you know we do that at a unicorn sleepover?

Sunny: (lifting a flashlight, turning it on) That’s one tradition we do here too.

Izzy: Whoo! (All settle in to listen.)

Sunny: This is the true story of the Guardians of Harmony and the beginning of Equestria.

Pipp: (sighing drowsily) I love this story.

(A couple of soft claps shut off the lights entirely, leaving only the dim illumination from the crystals. Sunny angles the light to point up under her own chin, the camera tilting up to put her out of view as she narrates.)

Sunny: Once upon a time, there was a very special unicorn.

(Dissolve to a close-up of the assembled Unity Crystals, appearing as if cut out of cardboard or construction paper. Another dissolve on the next line shifts the view to a blue-maned, pink unicorn mare standing tall against a sunlit plain. The figure has no face; this will be true of other ponies rendered in the same style.)

Sunny: (voice over) A bright unicorn, as bright as the sun. (Bow; track around her as an opulent castle springs up from the horizon dead ahead.) One day, she was summoned by the Princess— (Gallop toward it.) —for an assignment, to learn about friendship.

(Hills and a starry sky fold into view around the tableau, and the unicorn is swiftly surrounded by a half-dozen ponies, two per tribe.)

Sunny: (voice over) She moved to Ponyville and met unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi who became her best friends. (A pink heart kindles at her horn and spreads outward.) Together, they taught the power of unity and how to live in harmony to everypony in Equestria.

(Back to her in the here and now.)

Sunny: But then, one day— (Cut to Pipp; she continues o.s.) —a magical accident happened.

(That gets the pop star awake in a hurry. Construction-paper view of the heart, which cracks from side to side.)

Sunny: (voice over) An earth pony got hurt by a unicorn. (The six fade into view around it and begin arguing as it recedes from the camera; faint discordant voices are heard.) Everypony started fighting with each other.

(The pink unicorn, now sporting a pair of wings, lifts off to hover above the dispute.)

Sunny: (voice over) The Princess, wanting to protect her kingdom and all of the ponies in it, decided to put all magic into three crystals before it got out of hoof.

(On this line, the ruler—who can only be Twilight Sparkle—casts a spell on the heart and turns it into the Crystals, which separate as the background darkens. Each floats away in turn, followed by the members of the tribe to which it corresponds.)

Sunny: (voice over) After that, earth ponies only felt safe with other earth ponies, unicorns with unicorns, and pegasi of a feather flocked together. (Dissolve to the pairs spreading out from a seashore.) The ponies galloped, trotted, and flew as far as they could with their crystals, settling in what would become Zephyr Heights, Bridlewood, and Maretime Bay.

(A high castle, mountain-backed forest, and lighthouse promontory fold up from the landscape in time with the place names.)

Sunny: (voice over) And that’s where they lived forever—

(Cut to her in the present and zoom out.)

Sunny: —until now.

Misty: (indignantly) Wait! But that is not the true story at all!

Sunny: Yes, it is. We pieced together the crystal part ourselves, literally.

Zipp: Why? What have you heard, Misty?

(Now Misty takes the light and aims it up under her chin; as she speaks, the camera tilts up and the Ponyville gathering fades into view while she vanishes from sight. However, the sky has gone to the blue of night.)

Misty: You were right about magic being in Equestria at the beginning—(voice over) —but most of it came from another pony— (Zoom out; the figure of Opaline looms over all, and the pink heart appears.) —who wasn’t a pony at all, but an alicorn queen. (Zoom in slowly.) Her magic was too powerful.  They were jealous of her ability and wanted it all for themselves.

(Twilight—still a unicorn at this point—leaps forward, vacuums the power into her horn, and emits as a new heart spreading outward.)

Misty: (voice over) So the Princess stole all the magic from the Queen and hid it away somehow.

 (Dissolve to the diaspora occurring at the seashore, also night-tinted, and zoom out slowly.)

Misty: (voice over) Then the Princess put an enchanted invisi-bubble around Equestria— (A large, translucent dome fades into view to enclose the ponies and the region.) —so the powerful alicorn Queen could never find the magic— (The three settlements fold up into view.) —or the kingdom of ponies again.

(Dissolve to a bare plain; Opaline moves into view.)

Misty: (voice over) The Queen was left alone, with only a shadow left of her strength and power—

(Back to her in the present.)

Misty: —all while the other ponies created towns built with her stolen magic! (Pipp’s weariness disappears in a flash.)

Pipp: What?! That’s the true version? (Zipp claps to bring the lights back up, bust dimmed again.)

Zipp: (to Misty) Who told you that?

Misty: (hastily) Ah! Uh, nopony! Uh, you know— (laughing shakily) —uh, I-I may have made some of it up. (Izzy sits up from her sleeping bag.)

Izzy: True, made up, what difference does it make? Each story was great! Especially that alicorn queen part, Misty? (Long gasp.) So creative. So epic! Got any more?

Sunny: Yeah!

Pipp: So, is this like an old Bridlewood ponies’ tale, or—

Izzy: I’ve never heard it, but maybe that’s just my own corner of the community. (to Misty) Where did you say you grew up, exactly, Misty?

Zipp: (pointedly) Yeah. Where did you grow up, Misty?

Misty: (badly shaken) Uh, nowhere, and nopony! And I probably gotta get going to get back right about now. Bye! (She bolts for the doors.)

Izzy: (racing after her) Wait, Misty! You can’t leave! (losing steam, as Misty exits) This party is all just…for…you.

Zipp: (crossing to her) Hey, I didn’t mean anything by all my questions. I was just trying to get to the bottom of things and figure out the real truth.

Izzy: (laughing weakly) The truth? Do you want to know the truth, Zipp? My first real sleepover in Maretime Bay has been a complete and total jinx-a-thon!

(She turns back toward the fireplace, but pauses after a couple of steps to glance back at Zipp.)

Izzy: (icily) That means failure.

(Cut to the kitchen, where she is glumly packing up supplies with her back to the camera. Zoom out on the next line to frame Sunny/Pipp/Zipp walking in.)

Izzy: (sourly) Party is over, ponies.

Sunny: But we don’t have to start cleaning just yet, Izzy. I know this didn’t go as you planned, but the night is still young.

Pipp: Yeah! We can still have more fun.

Izzy: (sighing) That’s really sweet of you all to say, but it isn’t just Misty leaving. This isn’t a real celebratory sleepover without being in Bridlewood anyway. (She flops onto her haunches.) I just wish I could…lay on the ground and stare up at the big branches of Bridlewood trees rustling above me. (She pulls a cardboard unicorn horn from a box and cradles it.) It’s what I always did when I felt…un-sparkly.

(On the next line, cut briefly to the other three as they start to get it, then back to her.)

Izzy: I mean, I love living in the bay with all you ponies. But sometimes I miss my unicorn stuff so much.

(The horn goes back in the box, which she then pushes away as melancholy settles over her once more.)

Izzy: And I thought having Misty here would help.

Sunny: So, what exactly do you miss about Bridlewood? Be specific. (Izzy’s mood lifts considerably.)

Izzy: Do you really want to hear? (A tripartite nod of assent.) Are you sure? The list is longer than the lyrics to my Unicorn Sleepover Sing-Along Song.

Zipp: (playing along) Ohhhh…then I’m gonna have to get comfortable.

Sunny: (laughing, as she/Pipp/Zipp sit around the dining room table) Tell us everything, even if it takes all night and into the next day.

(By this point, the camera has shifted to frame these three, leaving Izzy out of view.)

Izzy: (from o.s.) Well…

(Cut to frame her, taking a deep breath, and zoom in slowly.)

Izzy: (rapid fire) …I miss the jinxie dances, horseshoe games, sparkle seasons with hot-chili-pepper-mint-honeysuckle iced teas, the critter contests, the bunny-corns, the wishy hooves, the bongo bee poetry, learning how to hold my breath for long stretches so we can excitedly explain long lists like this very one that I’m explaining now!

(Again the lungs inflate to pull in every molecule of oxygen they can get after this verbal onslaught. Cut to a long shot of the community garden, well lit through a combination of glowing water and plant life at the central fountain, the strings of lights down both sides, and a plethora of wandering fireflies. Misty is pacing here and making noises to suggest that she is one scare away from a full-on nervous breakdown.)

Misty: Oh…I have to go. I have to get out of here. I’ve already said too much. (Pause.) But I can’t just leave! Not without that lantern! But if I go back, they’ll ask me more questions and expose my lies! (An idea hits.) Unless I sneak past them and bypass the elevator with somepony else’s hoof! (hyperventilating) But whose? And how? (trying to laugh) Is it too late to tell those ponies I was just kidding?

(As she finally runs out of words, the camera tilts up to frame the front entrance of the Brighthouse, its doors closed after her abrupt bug-out.)

Izzy: (voice over) Ooh!

(In the dining room, she is still energetically reminiscing over life in Bridlewood as her friends listen.)

Izzy: Fuzzy poffs in the summer, funky horn fashions in the fall, lighting the glowpaz stones on each day of the Wishy Hoof holidays!

(“Poff” is a slang term for any animal with a great deal of fluffy fur or feathers, typically enough to hide its other features. Izzy continues reeling off her treasured memories under the following exchange.)

Sunny: (hushed) Psst! Zipp, can you distract Izzy while we redecorate a little?

Zipp: Sure, but I don’t think my help is gonna be necessary.

Sunny: (hushed, to Pipp) Come on. It’s time to bring a little bit of Bridlewood to the Brighthouse.

(These two slip quietly away from the table.)

Izzy: …staring at the sky crystals shooting across a shimmering, starry sky.

(Strings of crystals swing across the screen in time with a wipe to the shared bedroom. The four enter, Izzy walking backwards to address the other three, and Pipp/Zipp each have one wing extended to block her vision.)

Izzy: Crunchy unicorn corn cakes, sweet salty horn-shaped strudel, knitting scarves for armadillos in the winter. (The feathered appendages are withdrawn; all four stop.)

Sunny: Okay. Stop listing things, Izzy, because…one…two…surprise!

(This last word is punctuated by a “turn around” gesture. Izzy does so, her jaw falling open in undiluted shock, and the camera cuts to her perspective of her section. Floor and walls glow warmly with artfully placed blue/violet/red crystals and strings of lights; paper lanterns hang near the suspended bed, amid tree-shaped shadows cast on the walls; a lamp with star/moon cutouts in its shade stands on the floor; a few pieces of forest-themed artwork have been set here and there. The lantern has been moved from its usual stand by Sunny’s bed and placed within a new shade on a dresser, whose contours are responsible for the arboreal shadows. Pan slowly through the area.)

Izzy: Ahhhhh! (Cut to two items in turn, then back to the group.) What is all this stuff? (She eases forward.)

Sunny: It’s all the stuff you said you missed from Bridlewood, give or take a couple horn-shaped strudels. (Giggle.)

Pipp: Now you can lay down and look up at the branches, just like home.

(Cut to a slow pan through the upper reaches of the redesigned space on this line, then back to the group after she finishes.)

Izzy: I…I can’t believe it! (Gasp; she turns to the others.) You guys did all of this just as I was talking?

Zipp: Well, to be fair, you had a lot to say. (Izzy inspects the lantern shade.)

Izzy: Aw, this is some pretty impressive uni-cycling too. Huh. (slyly) Maybe you all have a bit of unicorn in you after all.

(A cheerful gasp; cut to her perspective of Misty hesitantly entering the room and zoom in slowly.)

Izzy: Hey, Misty! You’re back!

Misty: Uh, yeah! I-I was hungry, so I thought, “Maybe I’ll go out to the garden and harvest glimmerberries.” That I ate all myself, which is why I don’t have any right now. (Laugh.)

Izzy: (crossing to her, touching her chest) Oh, I’m just so glad you’re back. I hope you know how welcome you are here. (bounding about) Look! Doesn’t it remind you so much of our sweet little hometown?

Misty: Uh…yes. (Laugh.) It’s like I’m transported back in time! It’s actually… (distracted, noticing lantern) …pretty incredible.

(Sleeping bags are unrolled and pillows deployed, and a giggling Izzy jumps onto her own bed and imitates a trumpet flourish while holding one of the crystals from downstairs. A longer shot on the next line reveals that the rest have been brought up and put on the floor.)

Izzy: Hear, hear! I, Izzy Moonbow of the Bridlewood Moonbows, hereby start the unicorn sleepover ceremonies again!

Sunny: Should we start with another unicorn song?

Pipp: I’ll count us in. (counting off a beat) A-five, six, seven, eight!

Izzy: (setting her crystal down) Oh, we don’t have to.

Sunny: We insist!

Izzy: Really? (Gasp.) Do you know the words to this one?

Zipp: I mean, we don’t—

Pipp: —but we can definitely try.

Izzy: Okay.

(Taking a deep breath, she jumps down off her bed.)

Quiet melody of muted glockenspiel and pizzicato strings, similar to “Itsy Bitsy Spider”

Slow loose 4 (D flat major)

Izzy sings with little regard for pitch or rhythm

Izzy:                 Glow your horns and glitter your hooves, the unicorn song

                Hug your pony friends and have them sing along

E flat major

Others fumble for words, missing pitch and rhythm as well

Others:        Grow some corn and fritter your puffs, the unicorn song

                Bug your pony friends and make them smash a gong

Song ends with a gong strike

(The five dissolve into gales of laughter over the hash they have made of it.)

Izzy: “Smash a gong”!

(Cut to the exterior of the Brighthouse as she gets herself under control.)

Izzy: (voice over) I actually love that lyric. (More laughter from all.)

(Close-up of her fast asleep in bed and snoring like a buzzsaw, then zoom out and pan to frame the others more quietly conked out in their sleeping bags. The lantern in its new shade now stands on the floor between Sunny and Pipp. Misty cautiously eases herself upright and away; cut to just outside Zipp’s window as she pushes it open and leans out holding Sunny’s compact. The lid is flipped open, Opaline’s impatient face replacing Misty’s in the mirror.)

Opaline: What took you so long? Did you find it?

Misty: I tried, Opaline, but this plan has been, well, more difficult than we originally anticipated. (Her perspective of the mirror on the end of this, then back to her.) But don’t worry! Though I haven’t picked up the lantern per se, I have gathered plenty of info about their new magic. (The mirror again on this last, then back to her.) Well, they believe a completely different story about the origin of Equestria. (Gasp.) Oh, and they told me all about dragon fire and how is [sic] changes cutie marks. Also, we did a hoof reading and ate pony-corn and did horn decorating and—

(Cut to the mirror for a third time on these last words.)

Opaline: (with mounting disbelief) Hold on. Misty. Horn decorating? Pony-corn? And hoof reading?!?

(Cut to the underling, who cringes at the force of Opaline’s words; the mirror is blocked from sight by the camera angle.)

Voice of Opaline: Did you have fun with these puny ponies?

Misty: No, no, of course not. It was strategic hoof reading, for gathering intel. (Deep breath.) But seriously, have you ever tried pony-corn before? (Her perspective of Opaline’s unamused expression.) Because it’s the best! (Back to her; she composes herself.) I mean, the best way to trick the ponies into thinking I’m one of their friends. (Laugh.)

(This last sentence is marked by a cut to Zipp’s section of the bedroom, the camera now aimed at Misty’s back. The next shot frames a close-up of that sleeper at ground level, the unicorn just visible beyond the built-up frame of her bunk bed.)

Misty: I’m telling you, they were gabbing, I was grubbing… (Zipp yawns and stirs.) …we were getting the top-secret info that will take us to the next level, Opaline. Promise.

(By this point, the pegasus has rubbed her eyes and perked up both ears to take in this bit of communication. The suspicions she has been nursing all evening are only whetted by what she hears, as clearly seen in a close-up as Misty finishes.)

Zipp: Hmmm…