HOOF DONE IT?
Written by Janae Hall
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: a long shot of the Crystal Brighthouse at night, seen from a short distance downhill. Pan/tilt down to one edge of the community garden, where Misty pops up into view behind the trees that line the path. After a furtive glance, she drops from sight and bounds up again a moment later with a sack clamped in her teeth. A close-up reveals a partial view of some brightly glowing object within, but the sack goes flying when she stumbles on a dropped shovel and goes flat on her face. It clanks to the ground a few feet away and the thing slides free—the magic lantern from the shared bedroom. Misty is wearing her fake blue butterfly cutie mark as in “The Traditional Unicorn Sleep-Over.”)
(Cut to Zipp Storm asleep in bed in her section of said room; she snaps bolt upright, a nearby digital alarm clock giving the time as 6:59 AM.)
Zipp: Huh?
(She is met by a mixed chorus of snores, the camera cutting first to Pipp Petals and then Sunny Starscout before panning to Izzy Moonbow’s bed, whose quilts are pulled up far enough to hide its occupant from view altogether. Zipp yawns and rubs an eye; cut to just outside her window as she opens it and looks off to one side.)
Zipp: Huh?
(Long shot of the Brighthouse and garden, a fuzzy-headed unicorn silhouette ducking out of sight in the foreground, then back to her.)
Zipp: (groaning, voice slightly raised) Is somepony down there?
(A brief cut to her perspective of the planted plot shows no activity.)
Zipp: I must be dreaming.
(She pulls the window shut; cut to a close-up of it inside as the room brightens into morning and birdsong asserts itself. Pan to her back in bed and properly waking up with a yawn and wing stretch; she flies down to her desk and lands. The visor that Izzy made for her during Tell Your Tale is resting on its mannequin head, and the elevated platform holding her mattress rises a bit to give more headroom for desk work.)
Zipp: Morning, investigation board. Morning, rad visor.
(She crosses the room, passing the stand in which the lantern normally sits—but it is noticeably absent.)
Zipp: Morning— (Stop short; pivot back to it.) —lantern?!?
(The results of a brief examination are enough to unsettle her mind in a trice.)
Zipp: It’s…i-i-it’s…gone!
(Snap to black.)
OPENING THEME
Act One
(Cut from the title card directly to a close-up of a stack of pancakes on a plate in the kitchen. Zoom out as Sunny poises a skillet over the lot, ready to slide a fresh one on, and a watching squirrel chitters in anticipation. She is wearing her saddlebag.)
Zipp: (panicked, flying into view) Hope is gone!
(She bangs into the skillet, losing her balance and crashing into the countertop so that the stacked flapjacks end up scattered everywhere. The newly made one describes a not-so-aerodynamic arc through the air and is caught by the furry rodent, which staggers away under the load.)
Sunny: What?!? (One more pancake lands on the counter; Zipp stands up.)
Zipp: (jittery, fidgeting) I mean, the Hope Lantern? It’s not in its case… (lifting off, darting about) …and it’s not here with you, which means it’s missing, which means I gotta find it! It could already be too late. Did you know that the first few hours after a crime are critical for clues?
Sunny: Zipp, wait! (calmly; Zipp hovers facing her) I’m sure I just left the Lantern somewhere in the Brighthouse. (These words reassure the pegasus considerably.)
Zipp: Oh. (Land on counter.) Cool. Cool, cool. But just to be sure…
(Extreme close-up of a length of fabric being pulled away by her; she gasps and picks up a fan made from Popsicle sticks and folded paper that bears her sister’s likeness. This is tossed aside with a fed-up groan, after which the camera cuts to frame her checking under the pillows of a couch near the fireplace at the back of the entrance hall. No luck, but more disgruntled sounds escape her lips as she moves on to the “Critter Corner” animal play area that was set up at the front near the end of “The Cutie Mark Mix-Up.” Nothing here either, but a glance to one side fires a spark in her mind.)
Zipp: Huh?
(A box is resting upside-down on a desk in the arts-and-crafts corner; she laughs and flies to this, but finds only a bobblehead figure of a dancing pony upon whisking it away. One frustrated groan later, Sunny is rooting around behind her bed in the shared bedroom and has picked up Zipp’s case of nerves.)
Sunny: You were right. It’s nowhere! (Moan.)
(The white mare is now up here, in the couch-lined common area.)
Sunny: (galloping past her, doubling back and sliding to a stop) How can my special lantern be nowhere? Oh, this is bad. This is really bad. Besides the Unity Crystals, that lantern is the most important thing in the Brighthouse! It contains magic Pris-Beam power! What are we gonna do?
(During this line, she grabs Zipp’s head and points it off to one side, the camera panning quickly to the empty stand before cutting back to the pair.)
Zipp: (smirking) Only one thing to do.
(She flies back to her section and begins to suit up. First is the gold/white/blue-green shoulder plate she wore during Chapter One, its previous speaker/microphone replaced by what appears to be a compass. The collapsible magnifying glass she used in “Portrait of a Princess” has been clipped on. Next is the foreleg pouch she used at the time; she sticks on the winged star/magnifier badge she was issued. The “compass” pops free of the plate to reveal itself as a small drone aircraft equipped with a scanning beam that sweeps the room. Finally, she pulls the visor off its mannequin head and settles it over her eyes, the slot lighting up between the upper and lower portions of its housing.)
Zipp: Detective Zipp, on the case!
[Animation goof: From time to time, the drone will be seen both in flight and docked on her shoulder plate at the same time.]
(Launching herself off her bed and with the drone following close behind, she is soon downstairs and checking out a very dusty shelf. The visor resting on her forehead, she brings the magnifying glass to bear and scoops up a bit of the detritus for a better look. She makes a face at it and zips away, now using her visor to scan the nearby furniture; the drone does the same to a snoozing Cloudpuff, who wakes up and barks inquisitively at it. Cut briefly to the view of the canine’s face through its camera, which includes a smaller “inset” close-up. He sniffs at the thing, and the view returns to him as the drone flies off with a short buzz to indicate no results. Cloudpuff emits a sound of puzzlement.)
(Cut to the interior of a refrigerator as Zipp opens its door for a peek inside, the kitchen visible behind her. The visor is up, and the drone has returned to its docking port on her shoulder plate. Among the items is an apple with one bite gone.)
Zipp: (peering intently at it) Oh, yeah. There was definitely some kind of fiend in this house. (Izzy prances past in the background, singing to herself.) I mean, who does this?
(The door is slammed shut, only to be reopened almost immediately by the unicorn.)
Izzy: Oh! The rest of my apple! (She takes a bite; Zipp glares from across the kitchen.) So good.
(Remove the fruit and close the fridge again. Now Zipp flies through the shared bedroom with her visor down.)
Zipp: Hah!
(Her target is Sunny’s nightstand, whose surface is sullied by a dark ring. This is subjected to a scan; cut to her visor perspective, showing an inset that presents a question mark superimposed on the ring.)
Zipp: Just as I suspected. (Back to her; she lands on the following.) This outline is the exact diameter of the Lantern’s base! (Off comes the visor.) And what’s this?
(A bit of the material is scraped away and taste-tested.)
Zipp: Dirt! Hmmm… (Smack lips.) …the same kind of dirt that’s used in the community garden. Interesting. (realizing what she has done) Did I just taste dirt?
(Followed by a string of disgusted retching noises and a cut to her perspective, noting a trail of spots on the floor that leads to the exit.)
Zipp: Huh. (Back to her.) Hmmm…
(She takes wing in order to see where these might lead. In the entrance hall, Pipp is prancing and singing softly—the same melody as the song she performed during Chapter One. She has donned her tiara.)
Pipp: So put your hooves up high ’cause we’re feeling all right
Every day is awesome in the Mare—
(The end of this is marked by Zipp’s flight down one ramp, visor propped on forehead.)
Zipp: Wait! Don’t take another step!
Pipp: (hovering) What are you doing?
Zipp: This is an active crime scene! Can’t have you contaminating the evidence.
Pipp: (smiling) A real live mystery? (Gasp.) What’s the crime?
Zipp: Sunny’s lantern has gone missing. (Louder, longer gasp from Pipp.)
Pipp: I am shook! How can I help?
Zipp: (flying off) No help needed. I’ve got this investigation under control.
(Reaching the open front doors, she pulls out her cell phone and prepares it to take notes.)
Zipp: (dictating) “No sign of forced entry.” Huh. Hmmm…
(Pipp, who has hung back, pulls in a delighted gasp. Close-up of her sister’s haunch, zooming in; its crowned lightning bolt lit up and spitting sparks.)
Pipp: (from o.s.) Your cutie mark! (Back to her.) Wow! I guess you really do have this under control. (Giggling, she flies to the doors.) Well, I should just leave you to it, then. Detective. (singsong) Have fu-u-un!
(Out she goes, flapping lazily over the community garden and humming tunelessly to herself. At the end of one row is the shovel Misty tripped over in the prologue; near it, a half-buried sack protrudes from a hole that has been dug and filled in. The displaced earth is heaped to one side. Almost the moment Pipp puts hoof to ground, she has deployed her phone to snap a picture of herself with the blooming plants. She takes a step and trips over the shovel.)
Pipp: Ow! Ow! (Down she goes.) What in the hay?
(She glares back, spotting the offending tool and the sack, and gets upright.)
Pipp: Hmmm?
(The latter is pulled free and upended, spilling the missing Hope Lantern—as Zipp has named it—onto the hardpan; close-up of it, zooming in slowly.)
Pipp: (from o.s.) Lantern? (Back to her; she picks it up.) What are you doing out here? (Blow some dust off and hug it.) Aw, yay! Zipp’ll be so excited you weren’t missing after all!
(Flying back to the Brighthouse, she stops at the threshold and finds her sibling doing visor and drone scans of the entrance hall.)
Pipp: Awww…but she already looks so happy. (turning away, setting Lantern down) If I give it to her, her fun will be over. (smiling) I guess the Lantern doesn’t need to be found right now.
(A few beats of the fluffy white wings are enough to put it and her back in the garden, where she claps a hoof into the pile of loose dirt to leave an easily visible print. Next she lifts an ornate glass bottle bedecked with a winged copy of her cutie mark in gold.)
Pipp: And for a little extra mystery, some of my all-new Pipp Brand Wing Glitter!
(The stopper is yanked out, and a portion of the scintillating contents is dusted over the area.)
Pipp: (closing/stowing bottle) There! The perfect clue to have Zipp on the Lantern’s trail to me in no time! So fun! I am really good at this. (Gasp.) I should plan a mystery party!
(She zooms away just before Misty peeks out from around one corner of the Brighthouse; seeing that the coast is clear, the blue unicorn slinks to the gates and backs in. She registers great surprise upon finding the sack gone.)
Misty: What?!? It was right here! I buried it right here!
(Cut to her perspective of the now-empty hole, panning to Pipp’s print in the dirt in time with her groan, then back to her.)
Misty: Somepony found it! (A yell of combined frustration and despair.) Oh, why did I think burying it was enough to keep it hidden? (Moan.) Why do I always panic and do the wrong thing? (Again; cut to inside the hole, pointing up at her, on the next words.) Opaline’s gonna be so angry when she finds out. (Back to her, scraping at the dirt.) But…not if I can find it again first.
(In short order, she has refilled the hole and is tamping down the dirt as Zipp flies into the garden. Visor off; drone docked; magnifying glass up.)
Zipp: Misty? (Who jumps, gasps, and nearly freaks out on the spot; Zipp puts the glass away.) What are you doing here?
Misty: Me? (Zipp lands.) Oh! I-I was, uh… (scraping at ground) …I-I was just filling in this hole left by, uh, gophers. (Nervous laugh.)
(Cut to Zipp, whose cocked eyebrow tells just how much trouble she is having with this story, then to an overhead view of both on the next line.)
Misty: Yep. Silly gophers. Leaving holes everywhere. (laughing nervously) Wouldn’t want somepony to trip.
(The investigator mulls this over for a second before cutting an airborne circle around Misty to inspect the former hole.)
Zipp: Huh. This hole is too wide for a gopher—but it is just wide enough to hide a lantern!
(The blue mare just blinks innocently; next Zipp hunches down over the spot, still hovering.)
Zipp: And I don’t think any gopher would be leaving a hoof print like that, do you? (She notices the…) Glitter? (…and scoops up a bit, flying slowly o.s.) Is it a magical remnant? Maybe this hoof print belongs to an earth pony who was trying to grow something here. (doubling back) Or maybe it belongs to…the Lantern thief!
(This statement puts the other mare on the verge of a nervous breakdown, starting with a small gasp.)
Misty: Lantern? What’s that? I’ve never even seen one of those. Bye!
(She is off like a shot, leaving a properly perplexed pegasus in her wake.)
Zipp: Well, she was acting totally weird. (Pause.) But that tracks. (Pull out the phone and dictate.) “Update—no solid leads yet.” (Look over the roses; tap the screen.) “But somepony out there in town must have some answers.”
(Her drone flies into view, having launched itself at some point, and “nods.”)
Act Two
(Cut to a very worried Sunny in the shared bedroom, pacing next to her bed as Cloudpuff sits on it, panting happily and chewing on a rubber bone.)
Sunny: I know Zipp is on the case. (Long moan.) But it’s agony, just sitting around here doing nothing! (Sigh.) There’s gotta be something I can do without stepping on her investigation. Right, Cloudpuff?
(During these last two sentences, cut to the dog in question and back to her. Receiving on answer except for a growl muffled by a mouthful of chew toy, she drops to her haunches with a deflated moan. A glance at the shimmering energy that fills the shaft for the central lift platform revives her in a blink.)
Sunny: Oh, that’s it!
(She bounds toward it and he follows, giving a puzzled whine as stubby wings beat the air. Cut to the lantern room of the Brighthouse as the two ascend into it on the platform.)
Sunny: The Crystals and the Pris-Beam rely on the unity magic of pony-kind to keep them powered. (pacing; zoom out slowly) If the little bit of Pris-Beam in my lantern is anything like this one, we could power up the Lantern no matter where it’s hidden, like a beacon leading us straight to it. (Cloudpuff barks.) All I need is enough ponies gathered and united together! (Scoop him up; both descend on the lift.) Thanks, Cloudpuff!
(Cut to the perspective through Zipp’s visor as she and her drone survey a portion of Mane Street in Maretime Bay proper. The inset, still showing a question mark and the ring of dirt on Sunny’s nightstand, is superimposed on her view of the normal daytime activities.)
Zipp: Hmmm…hmmm…
(She focuses on Dahlia and Posey, the inset changing briefly to the former’s surprised face as she follows the little machine and then back again. Her next target is a different passing mare.)
Zipp: Hmmm…
Mare: Hmmm? (The inset displays her face; cut to a frustrated Zipp on the move.)
Zipp: So many potential witnesses, so little time!
(Visor perspective again, the inset back as it started; as she continues, zoom in quickly on Glory, Peach Fizz, and Seashell near the gazebo in the town square. The little earth pony is using her phone to record a video of the other two trotting in place, and each of the three is wearing a flower in her mane.)
Zipp: Where to start?
(The focus quickly shifts to each bloom in turn, its image appearing in the inset as a set of red sights highlights it.)
Zipp: Huh. Flowers from the garden. (Back to her; she pulls off the visor.) Gotcha! (Ground-level view of the fillies.)
Seashell: (to her friends) Pipp’s gonna love our dance moves.
Zipp: (from o.s., landing in fore) Seashell! Glory!
(Her sudden arrival prompts all three to yell in fright and Seashell to pitch her phone; cut to her, having donned her visor so she can remove it again.)
Zipp: Peach Fizz. (She catches the phone as the drone docks on her shoulder plate.) Where were you at approximately four-twenty-two AM last night? (Cut to the trio.)
Seashell: What? Four twenty-two? We were, uh, definitely sleeping at home in our beds.
Peach: Yeah! We definitely weren’t up watching YouHoof videos!
(She claps a hoof to her mouth as the other two recoil at this denial.)
Zipp: (from o.s.) Hmmm… (Cut to her.) …that was very specific. Too specific. (Lean hard into Seashell’s face.) And not very convincing!
(In close-up, the youngster maintains a “who, me?” grin for as long as she can, but quickly gives it up.)
Seashell: (near tears) Fine! I admit it, okay? (Pan to Peach on the following.)
Peach: We were up late!
Zipp: Yes!
Seashell: (smiling) Watching Princess Pipp Glow-Up Tutorial! She just released a new line of wing glitter.
Peach: Please don’t tell on us! (All three bail out.)
Zipp: (really bewildered) Wing glitter? (Seashell returns, just long enough to snatch her phone back.) Huh?
(It takes her a moment to reboot her brain after this strange encounter.)
Zipp: No. A good detective doesn’t just fly to conclusions. Gonna need to do a deeper dive.
(She pulls in a deep gasp as the camera zooms out quickly to frame Mayflower, who is carrying a bin down the block by means of a handle gripped in her teeth. The upper portion of a lantern is visible, sunlight gleaming off the polished brass trim, and the purple paint job is a match for the one gone missing. Zipp launches herself into a wing-boosted jump that puts her into a hover just behind the older mare.)
Zipp: Mayflower! (A cry of fright; the bin is dropped and the lantern falls out, its handle popping loose.) What is that?
Mayflower: (irritably) It’s an old lamp that I just had fixed at Izzy Does It!
(Close-up of it on this last, zooming in slowly, then back to the pair.)
Zipp: (trying to play it off) Oh! Um, of course it is. (Chuckle.) So sorry. Let me help you with that—
Mayflower: (putting out a foreleg to stop her) I’m good.
(She scoops the lamp parts back into her bin, bites the handle, and is off as Zipp touches down with a heavy sigh.)
Zipp: Maybe I need to try a different strategy.
Izzy: (from o.s., in time with prolonged honking) ZIIIIIPP!!
(The camera follows a swivel of the detective’s head and frames the master crafter, coming this way on the motor scooter she refurbished in “Izzy Does It.” Izzy is wearing a bright yellow crash helmet.)
Izzy: (in time with two more honks) Zipp! Zipp!
Zipp: Oh! Hey, Izz. (Izzy stops, tosses the helmet aside, and hops off.) How are the Izzy Does It uni-cycling house calls going?
Izzy: Awesome! I can’t even be-lizzle how much stuff ponies have just sitting around their houses, begging to be beautified, requesting to be re-purposed, clamoring for a crafting!
(Actions as follows. “Sitting around their houses”: drop to haunches. “Begging to be beautified”: drop to hocks and put front hooves together in a supplicating posture. “Requesting to be re-purposed”: whip behind Zipp’s flank, on the side away from the camera, and peek cautiously up over her back. “Clamoring for a crafting”: stand up and strike a dramatic pose. She finishes by backing up to look Zipp straight on.)
Izzy: I just fixed Mayflower’s old lamp, actually.
Zipp: So I heard.
Izzy: You seem a little… (Strangled noises with bulging eyes and lolling tongue.) What’s up? (Zoom in slowly.)
Zipp: Sunny’s lantern is missing, and I haven’t been able to come up with a single real lead in the case. So far it’s just all dirt and glitter.
Izzy: (giggling) Honestly, what isn’t? (Zipp turns away.)
Zipp: But nopony’s seen anything.
Izzy: Really? I saw the Lantern last night. (Zipp whirls to face her with a gasp.)
Zipp: We need to talk.
(The unicorn finds herself being whisked away at ludicrous speed, leaving part of a surprised gasp hanging in the air. Cut to Sparky Sparkeroni jumping off a desk in Hitch Trailblazer’s office and running like mad while carrying the stallion’s badge.)
Hitch: (galloping into view after him) No, Sparky! Once again, my badge is not a toy! (grabbing it, putting it on his sash, then scooping up the dragon) And stop putting random things in your mouth, okay? It’s a choking hazard.
(Sparky burbles his agreement, bringing a relieved sigh from Hitch, and is given a pacifier in close-up.)
Hitch: (from o.s.) Here, try this instead. (Contented sucking; cut to both.) Awww…
(It is promptly spat out to score a direct hit on his forehead.)
Hitch: (sourly) Aaaand cute moment over. (tenderly, holding it out) Let’s give that another try, huh?
(But Sparky has other ideas, spitting a burst of fire onto the rubber item to turn it into a duplicate of Hitch’s badge and running off with it. An electronic chime sounds off to mark the arrival of a visitor, and the Sheriff stands up to find Sunny just arrived.)
Sunny: (crossing to him) Hitch! My lantern is missing, but I think I have a way to track it down. (Zoom out slowly from the pair, in time with crashing/clattering from o.s.)
Hitch: Ooh, is it Detective Zipp? ’Cause she’s great at solving mysteries.
Sunny: She’s on it. (Sparky circles Hitch, who shoos him away.) But I also need just a little teeny tiny bit of help from everypony’s favorite town sheriff.
Hitch: What kind of help?
Sunny: Oh, you know… (rapid fire; zoom in slowly) …gather up every single pony we can find to amplify their unity magic and blast it to the Lantern? (Sly grin; normal cadence.) Call it a…town meeting. (Now the scaly little fellow is swinging from a suspended overhead lamp.)
Hitch: Wait just a second. (Sparky lands on his desk.) Do you really think it’s a good idea letting everypony know the Lantern is missing?
Sunny: (agitated) Remember what Twilight Sparkle warned us about? An evil pony who wanted to steal magic? What if that pony finds it? (Assorted writing tools are flung across behind them.)
Hitch: Well, I hardly think that’s going to happen.
Sunny: It could!
(A bit of fishing around behind the desk, and Sparky comes up with a boxed jigsaw puzzle.)
Hitch: Sunny, let’s be rational here. (Sparky hops down; Hitch notices him and gasps in horror.) My puzzle!
(A brief chase follows, ending at the bars of the holding cell with the rascal holding it as far through them as one short green arm will allow.)
Hitch: Sparky! No more dragon fire.
(He strains to recover the puzzle as Sparky drops it on the cell floor and slips through the bars after it; meanwhile, a bullhorn lying on another desk has caught Sunny’s eye.)
Sunny: That’ll work. (She picks it up and departs.)
Hitch: (to Sparky) That puzzle is a limited edition!
(Cut to a close-up of Izzy, sitting in near-total darkness and scared out of her wits. A light is snapped on, eliciting a cry and a shading of the purple eyes, but she regains her composure in time with a quick zoom out. The area is black except for a cone of light cast from overhead, and she sits on a stool as Zipp paces before her.)
Izzy: Uh, where are we?
Zipp: Not important. (She rests a front hoof on Izzy’s chest.) You said you saw it last night. But what exactly did you see?
Izzy: (giggling) What do you mean, what did I see? (intensely) I saw the Lantern! (laughing, normal tone) You’re so silly.
Zipp: ’Cause what I saw was somepony in the garden sneaking around with it.
Izzy: (proudly) Well, of course! That was me!
Zipp: (caught off guard) It—it was?
Izzy: Yeah. I had insomnia last night. Happens all the time, really.
(On these last words, the view dissolves to a freeze frame of her yawning and leaving her bed. A second such transition on the next line shows her blowing on a cup of freshly made tea in the kitchen. All the lights are out to match the time frame she has indicated. She is still wearing her foreleg bracelet and the beaded strand in her mane.)
Izzy: (voice over) So I thought I’d brew up some Unicorn Sleepy-Time Oo-Oo— (Imitate static crackle.) —Long Tea.
(Dissolve back to her and Zipp in the present on the end of this line.)
Izzy: (tranquilly, posh accent, resting cheek on front hooves like a pillow) It is sure to lull even the most wide-eyed pony to the gentlest shores of the Snoozy Ocean.
Zipp: And that has to do with the Lantern how, exactly?
Izzy: (normal tone) Well…
(Dissolve to a freeze frame of her out in the community garden and carrying the Lantern as she runs an eye over the plants. Two more dissolves occur on the next line, each showing her looking in a slightly different direction.)
Izzy: (voice over) …I had to go search the garden to look for the tea leaves, ’cause I just ran out. And what better to light the way than a bright lantern?
(Dissolve back to her and Zipp in the here and now.)
Zipp: (dryly) Your glowing horn?
Izzy: Ohhhhh. (She ignites it briefly.) Yeah, that woulda worked too.
Zipp: (pacing) Huh…but wait. You were in bed at the time. I saw you.
Izzy: Oh, that?
(These two words come with a freeze frame of her tucking a large dummy into her bed. The visible portion suggests that it is in the rough shape of a pony and built from a mishmash of craft items, including an ice cream cone for a horn.)
Izzy: (voice over) You must have seen Señor Butterscotch. I put him under the covers anytime I have to get out of the bed in the middle of the night.
[Note: The creation of this dummy is addressed in an episode of Tell Your Tale.]
(Dissolve back to her and Zipp on the end of this.)
Izzy: It is jinxie to leave without saving your spot, you know. (To Zipp as she finishes.)
Zipp: So if it was you who took the Lantern out last night, why didn’t you put it back where you found it?
(Cut to a freeze frame on the next line: she has set it on Sunny’s nightstand while the latter slumbers.)
Izzy: I did— (voice over) —right back on Sunny’s nightstand. (whispering) She likes to sneak the Lantern out of the case and sleep with it next to her ’cause it reminds her of when she was a filly.
(Dissolve to her and Zipp as she finishes with a happy little coo. The dirt Zipp found can now be accounted for, carried in on the Lantern after it was set on the ground at some point.)
Izzy: Don’t you just love that?
Zipp: If you took the Lantern and returned it, then where the hay is it now?
(Getting an “I don’t know” grunt and shrug from her interview subject, she sighs wearily and turns to flip a light switch. This shot reveals that the illumination has come from her drone, hovering directly above Izzy’s head. The lights come up fully to reveal that the two are in the bathroom of the Brighthouse; Izzy has been sitting with her back to the tub.)
Zipp: Izzy, you’re free to go.
Izzy: (standing, trotting out) Oh! Okay.
(She sings to herself as the flummoxed gumshoe takes her place on the stool and pulls out her phone for a glance at its screen.)
Zipp: (leaning back slowly) Hmmm…I feel like I’m getting closer, like I’m on the edge of something.
(The something in question turns out to be her balance, as she tumbles backward and into the tub with a yell. A bottle of shampoo falls in from its shelf, bouncing off a faucet knob to start the water running, and is soon joined by the phone. She sits up amid a torrent of bubbles, some of which have clustered on her head, and groans quietly.)
Zipp: I fell right into that one.
(Cut to her, properly cleaned up and on the move through the community garden with her drone scanning here and there.)
Zipp: (to it) Well? Anything?
(Its beam flashes red twice—“no luck”—and she stops before the filled-in hole and dirt pile.)
Zipp: (to them) Then I guess you’re the only solid clue I’ve got so far.
(Cut briefly to her perspective, poking at the spot with a noncommittal grunt, then to a long shot of Misty under the shelter at the uphill end of the garden. She spots the pegasus and bolts for cover behind a pillar, but the clank of hooves on stone draws the latter’s attention.)
Zipp: Hmmm…that’s suspicious. (She gallops up; Misty breaks into the open.) Hey!
(A leap carries the blue mare over the side and onto the path leading into the town proper, but Zipp and the drone are close after her. By the time they reach Mane Street, Zipp is in the air and firing up her visor; cut to her perspective through it. The inset shows the dirt ring and question mark, while a set of red sights tracks Misty’s motion and locks onto her. Street level: the fugitive bobs and weaves through all the hoof traffic and barrels toward an oncoming trolley. The action shifts to slow motion as she hurls herself through the air toward its front end, the conductor ducking in a last-second bid to avoid becoming the victim of a flying tackle. Normal speed resumes once Misty lands on the floor of this car and jumps off its rear end to put the trolley between herself and Zipp. The rig comes to a screeching halt just in time to avoid turning the flyer into roadkill.)
Zipp: Sorry!
(She gains several yards of altitude and props the visor on her forehead for a look around, but is facing the wrong way to see Misty dart into Mane Melody.)
Zipp: Hmmm…
(Inside, a badly out-of-breath Misty cuts her eyes frantically in three or six or fifty random directions and then throws herself into one of the chairs. It spins wildly at her impact and has barely stopped before Zipp and the drone barge into the joint, Zipp having shed her visor. Misty seizes the nearest magazine and begins to read intently, trying to hide as much of her face as possible while her pursuer scouts the room. Zipp stops near the chair in which she is sitting, but it is turned to face the wall so that Zipp cannot see her.)
Zipp: (groaning) Where’d she go?
(She leaps across and spins a random chair to face her, finding it occupied by a customer who is definitely not Misty.)
Customer: Huh?
(Now Rocky Riff steps up to Misty’s chair.)
Rocky: Hi there. (She gasps; he holds up a bottle of shampoo.) Were you looking to get styled today? (Cut to her on this last.)
Misty: Yes, of course. Tell me all about your signature mane styles.
Rocky: (with gusto, setting bottle aside, producing/twirling a brush) Okay! So, we could do every look from the traditional to the cutting edge. Bobs, layers, beach waves, braids, just name it.
(By the time he finishes, Zipp has given up and headed for the doors, the camera cutting to her as she departs. The next shot is a close-up of Misty, smiling over her magazine at having thrown off the heat.)
Rocky: (from o.s.) So, what’ll it be?
Misty: (spinning chair, tossing magazine) Actually, I’ll take a rain check. (She jumps off and gallops for the exit.)
Rocky: We don’t have those…uh, but we do sell gift cards.
(One door creaks open, allowing Mistyto catch sight of Zipp speaking with a pony on the other side of the street. She ducks back in and pulls it shut, the noise drawing Zipp’s focus.)
Zipp: Huh.
(Inside, Misty opens another door only to find a very surprised Jazz Hooves on the other side.)
Jazz: Oh!
(Misty turns away, but is cut off by Zipp and her drone, whose beam flashes red.)
Act Three
Zipp: I know everything, Misty! (poking her in the chest) And I know that it was you who stole the Lantern!
(The drone ducks on her shoulder plate.)
Zipp: (leaning into Misty’s face) Ever since the unicorn sleepover, I had a weird feeling about you. Those probing questions about Sparky, not knowing anything about Bridlewood— (backing her slowly into a corner) —and then finding you trying to activate the elevator up to the Crystal Room? But I ignored my instincts and gave you the benefit of the doubt until now. All the galloping and shadiness today solidified it. (Misty gasps and drops to her haunches.) Now you better tell me where you’ve got Sunny’s lantern hidden!
(Brief close-up of the terrified blue face on the end of this.)
Misty: (under Zipp’s last words) I…I…I… (Pipp inserts herself between the two.)
Pipp: STOP!!
Zipp: Pipp, what are you doing? I’ve got the Lantern thief right here!
Pipp: It’s me! I’m the Lantern thief!
Zipp: What?
Pipp: Well, no, I mean, I’m not the Lantern thief, but…
(She flies into the area behind the performance stage and emerges to stand on it with the missing Lantern, held by its handle in her teeth. This is set down as Zipp boggles at the sight.)
Pipp: …I’ve had it all day!
Zipp: Huh? (shaking head clear) No! But…Misty is the Lantern thief!
Pipp: She’s not! (Sigh.) The truth is… (picking it up) …I found the Lantern outside the Brighthouse this morning. (setting it down) And I was going to show you right away, but your cutie mark was glowing and you were having so much fun investigating and I—
(Cut back and forth between the sisters several times on this last sentence, ending on Zipp as Pipp gestures toward her.)
Zipp: But the hoofprint! (Back to Pipp on the next line.)
Pipp: I put it there, to keep you going! (flying off stage with Lantern, landing on floor) And the wing glitter was a clue to lead you to me! I had no idea it’d send you on a trail after Misty.
(“Wing glitter” is delivered in a singsong tone. Both sisters glance toward the suspect, who is now trying to sneak out of her corner but freezes with a sheepish little giggle.)
Zipp: So my whole investigation was for nothing, then? Just me looking like a fool and accusing Misty of a bunch of terrible stuff she didn’t do?
Pipp: Yeah, that one is totally my bad and I definitely owe her a big apology— (pointing toward Zipp’s haunch) —but I’ve never seen your cutie mark glow like that!
(Misty takes advantage of the opportunity to slip away during this exchange; it ends with a close-up of Zipp’s brightly like mark as Pipp finishes.)
Pipp: You finally got to be a true detective! (Excited squeal.) That’s worth something, right?
(The elder sister regards the Lantern for a long, quiet moment before heaving a sigh as the younger throws her a smile.)
Zipp: I guess you’re right. (smiling) I did have fun, so… (pacing, nose upturned) …I guess I can forgive you for sending me on that wild goose chase all day. (smirking) Even if I did miss a few obvious clues. (Both laugh heartily.) How did I not connect the glitter thing? It was aquamarine!
Pipp: Like my sparkle! (She produces a hoof-load of glitter and tosses it.) And I can’t believe you thought it was Misty! She’s so sweet, she could never.
(A thought occurs to Zipp under this last and she lifts off. Cut to Misty making her way toward the doors as stealthily as she can.)
Zipp: (hovering into view and landing; Misty stops/sits with a gasp) Misty, I am so sorry. I never should have accused you of being a thief, or chased you around town, or cornered you in here. (Cut to Misty on this last, then back to her—now smiling—on the next words.) I guess I need some more practice with this whole detective thing, huh?
(She extends a hoof, which the unicorn ponders for a long moment before slapping on a smile.)
Misty: (gripping it, standing) It’s okay. I know how it is when you get really wrapped up in something.
Zipp: I just did have one last question, though. Why were you galloping away from me?
Misty: (thinking fast) Oh! Well, I-I, um…I have this thing where I just can’t get the words out when I’m nervous sometimes and I, um…
(Cut to Zipp on the end of this, Pipp landing alongside, then back to her.)
Misty: Oh, would you look at the time? (easing toward doors) I should really get going before my cake… (starting to hyperventilate) …goes…stale?
(A strangled half-shriek escapes her throat before she clears off at a full gallop, bumping against one door.)
Zipp: Wonder what all that was about.
Pipp: I bet she’s still just shy around us. Some ponies are, you know.
Zipp: (smirking) Yeah. We can’t all be doing Cliptrot dances like you. (Both laugh.)
Pipp: Ooh! Speaking of, your little caper today fully inspired me to write this gem!
(Up with her phone, tapping the screen to play a video.)
Energetic rock with electric guitar and drums, fast 4 (A flat minor)
Fillies’ solo lines are shouted in rhythm rather than sung
(Spotlight beams play across a background of shifting geometric shapes and are swiftly decorated with trails of hoofprints.)
Fillies: Oh! Oh! Where’d it go?
Oh! Oh! Where’d it go?
Bass, synthesizer in
(Zipp’s magnifying glass swings up against a background of Lantern silhouettes and question marks. Pipp pops up into view, twirls the device as the real Lantern floats past, and flies after it while peering through the lens.)
Pipp, Fillies: Here we go, here we go
We’re not gonna stop ’til we find what we’re missing
(Dissolve to Seashell, shading her eyes and looking off into the distance. Glory abruptly appears behind her when she pivots, followed by Peach as the latter turns around. The young unicorn offers a confused shrug, and all three fan out.)
Where’d it go? Where’d it go?
(The Lantern falls into view and away from the camera, after which a new view drops in from the top edge: two copies of Pipp and the trio, moving in opposite directions.)
A perfect case for a private eye
(These slide away to left and right, leaving the screen black; snap to a photo of a laughing Seashell, shifting to others of Glory and a face-making Peach in turn. Various shots of Pipp with the trio drop in next, followed by her spinning into view to dance with them.)
Pipp, Fillies: I’m searching far and wide
So here we go
Fillies: Go!
Pipp, Fillies: Here we go
We’re not gonna stop ’til we find what we’re missing
Bass, synth out
(The fillies bail out and pop up in the foreground; Pipp pushes forward to get in on the action.)
Fillies: Oh! Oh! Where’d it go?
(Dissolve to a new background, against which images of them pop into view and float upward: Seashell peering into the distance, Glory using Zipp’s magnifier, Peach eating the last cookie from a jar and throwing a surprised glance to the camera.)
Oh! Oh! Where’d it go?
Song ends
(Pipp and Zipp smile over this creation, but the next voice snaps them back to the moment.)
Sunny: (from outside, amplified) Ponies, please!
Zipp: Huh?
(The pop star stows her phone and both rush toward the front; cut to the street, where Izzy is already waiting on the sidewalk as they burst out. Pipp stays on the ground while Zipp hovers. Sunny/’s next three lines are boosted by the bullhorn she took from Hitch’s office.)
Sunny: (stepping into view) Come join us in the plaza for a very important cause! (She gallops away.)
Hitch: (racing after her) Sunny, please stop! This is not the way to solve this!
(He is wearing a saddle fitted with a pair of open-topped panniers, one of which holds Sparky as he chews on the Sheriff’s badge. This falls free and clinks to the pavement, forcing Hitch to double back and retrieve it.)
Hitch: (to Sparky) And you! Stop squirming! (He gallops off.)
Zipp: What is going on?
Izzy: I don’t know, but it seems like we’re about to play a really complicated game of tag.
Sunny: Everypony! We need your help to find my lantern! (The Princesses join the chase; cut to Sunny.)
Zipp: (from o.s.) We found it, Sunny!
(The orange mare slams on the brakes, but Hitch fails to do likewise in time and slams into her, launching himself over her back and crashing to the roadbed in a most undignified manner. The badge again gets away from him.)
Sunny: You did?
(Accompanied by a feedback whine that triggers an almighty cringe from the sisters. She lowers the bullhorn with an embarrassed grin as Hitch sits up and voices a woozy, pained groan.)
Sunny: You did?
Pipp: Yeah, it was all just a case of a little innocent sister meddling. (Shaky giggle; she holds up the Lantern.) Probably should have let you in on my plan sooner, Sunny. (Deep breath.) So sorry about that.
(Another laugh is met by Sunny’s immensely relieved sigh.)
Sunny: (tossing bullhorn over shoulder, galloping to her; Hitch dives to catch it) What a relief!
(Pipp has now landed and set the Lantern down.)
Sunny: Thank you for returning it! (Windy and the fillies are watching from across the road.)
Windy: (disappointed) Oh, what happened to the game of tag?
(She plods away, head drooping, as the four disperse.)
Zipp: (landing by Sunny/Pipp; zoom in slowly) Yeah, it could have been a total disaster if the Lantern had actually been taken by somepony dangerous. (Izzy pops up next to her.)
Izzy: (eerily, pulling her and Pipp close) Like the mysterious evil pony Twilight warned us about? Ooh! That should be your next mystery to uncover, Zipp! (She darts away.)
Zipp: Yeah, yeah, I’m working on it.
(Overhead shot of the five ponies, sharing a laugh as the camera zooms in slowly. Hitch’s badge is back on his sash, and the bullhorn is tucked into the pannier not occupied by Sparky.)
Sunny: As long as we stick together— (pointedly, to Pipp) —and tell each other about our plans— (holding up Lantern) —I know we’ll be able to keep this lantern and pony magic safe. This thing is powerful. We have to be more careful with it.
(Cut to her perspective of it and the approaching Pipp and Zipp on the end of this.)
Zipp: No more midnight trots with it, then, Izzy? (To the unicorn as she finishes.)
Izzy: Pssh! Why would I need a lantern? (She lights her horn.) I’ve got a glowing horn.
(As the five friends laugh over this jocular jibe, Sunny’s cutie mark blazes up and a wave of golden light erupts from the Lantern to spread in all directions. They instantly fall silent, marveling at the fact that the thing is glowing even more brightly than before and that all their marks have lit up. Sunny pulls in a joyful gasp.)
Sunny: I knew it!
Pipp: So beautiful!
Izzy: (hunching in front of it) So rainbow-y!
Hitch: Wow, Sunny! You were right! (Zipp pulls out her phone, unfolded.)
Zipp: (dictating) “Note.” (Camera-eye view of the Lantern, panning to Izzy’s mark; she continues o.s.) “Lantern’s energy linked to proximity to unity magic.” (Back to her.) “Or is it a separate power?”
(She tucks the phone away and steps a bit closer.)
Zipp: Hey, Sunny. Do you think I could keep my hooves on the Lantern a little bit longer? I want to do some more scientific analysis on it.
Sunny: As long as you don’t let it out of your sight, Detective.
(Zipp blasts skyward and loops back down to pluck it away.)
Zipp: Don’t worry. I won’t.
(Cut to a long shot of Opaline’s castle, zooming in slowly, then to the doors of her throne room. Misty eases one open as quietly as she can and puts her head in for a look around. Cut to her perspective, panning from one set of side doors to the empty chair, then back to her as she makes a break for it. The doors she has spotted are on the side opposite those seen in previous episodes. With inches left to go, though, the voice of the big boss brings her to a skidding halt.)
Opaline: (descending into view) So you’re finally back. And where is my powerful lantern?
Misty: Well, you see, I was on my way to get it, but then I got to thinking, “Maybe it’s not as powerful as—”
Opaline: (enraged) Another failure!
(Cut to floor level on this line, her hooves slamming into the stone hard enough to throw sparks. She calms down once the air clears.)
Opaline: There seems to be a pattern emerging. (pacing) It makes me wonder if it truly was a mistake—or if you’re just going soft on those ponies. (Cut to Misty on the end of this.)
Misty: (hurrying across) No, Opaline! It was all a mistake! I want to do whatever I can to help your plan succeed!
Opaline: Well, I hope you’re telling the truth. It would be terrible to abandon your only friend. (circling around Misty) Without me, you’d have nothing. No family, no home, no cutie mark.
(Close-up of the blue haunch on these last two words; she reaches into view and smudges the butterfly drawn on it as a stand-in.)
Opaline: You still want me to give you a cutie mark, don’t you?
Misty: More than anything! I promise I won’t let another mistake like this happen again. I’ll get the Lantern! (raising a foreleg) Hoof to—
(Before she can finish the gesture or words that are so dear to Sunny and company, Opaline turns disdainfully away from her and begins to pace again.)
Opaline: No. We’re wasting time with the pursuit of these silly enchanted relics.
Misty: (stammering badly) But how else are we gonna get the magic?
Opaline: (lifting off, hovering over pool) With something else that will instantly restore my ultimate power!
(The liquid glows as an image forms above its surface—a freeze frame of Sparky sitting on a stool near the fireplace in the Brighthouse and blowing a burst of flame over Hitch’s hoof.)
Opaline: Dragon fire!
(The young operative’s face rearranges itself into a look of genuine fear mixed with perhaps a trace of horror as the camera zooms in slowly on her.)
(Cut to a long shot of a side patio at the Brighthouse. A table stands under a glass awning, placed to that one end is flush with the wall. Sunny and Hitch sit on one side, facing Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp. Zoom in slowly.)
Hitch: (slightly disgusted) Of course!
(Close-up of a jigsaw puzzle on the table. Showing a basket full of cute little animals on the grass amid a scatter of flowers, it is fully assembled except for one missing piece.)
Hitch: (from o.s., gesturing to it) It’s always the last piece that goes missing.
(Close-up of him on the end of this, accompanied by a babble from the o.s. Sparky. The day has progressed into afternoon, based on the sky color.)
[Continuity error: The puzzle suddenly appears during this sequence despite the table being bare at the start of it.]
Hitch: (sternly, glancing down to one side) Sparky… (Zoom out; the little guy is gnawing on that very piece.) …no! Put it down.
(He tries to pull it away, only for Sparky to spit a tiny fireball onto it that explodes in a cloud of blue smoke. By the time this clears, Hitch finds that the puzzle piece has become a butterfly, which flits off his hoof; he heaves a dejected sigh. The five ponies watch its flight, Zipp having shed her shoulder plate and foreleg pouch.)
Hitch: So much for mint condition. (Izzy leans over to him, scissors and cardboard scraps stacked on a hoof.)
Izzy: (intensely) Don’t worry.
(Returning to her side of the table, she needs only a brief burst of activity to trim one piece into a perfect fit for the newly lost one. She passes it to Sparky, who chortles over it as Hitch nervously nibbles at a hoof; the dragon winds up for a sneeze, but gets it under control and jumps onto the table to fit the piece into its hole.)
Hitch: (proudly, near tears) Nothing prepares you for the moments like these. (The others laugh as the butterfly comes to rest on Zipp’s upturned hoof.)
Zipp: Sparky’s dragon-fire transformations are amazing! (Her perspective of it, flying off, and him.) And he’s just a baby! (Back to her and Pipp; she addresses him.) Seems like the sky’s the limit for your powers… (Cut to him; she continues o.s.) …right, little buddy?
(He replies with a burp and a tiny mote of flame, which bursts into sparks and brings a round of gentle laughter from all. Cut to a long overhead shot of the patio, tilting to frame the tower of the Brighthouse as the butterfly makes its way toward parts unknown.)