TOP REMODEL

Written by Leore Berris

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 long shot of the Canterlogic factory, seen from the base of the hill on which it stands during the day. Zoom in slowly, then cut to the upper reaches of the production floor and tilt down to frame Sunny Starscout and her friends entering. The heavy equipment and stores of materials have been removed, leaving scatters of boxes and detritus in the silent facility, and the only major light source is from the elevated windows. Hitch Trailblazer wears a saddle fitted with a pair of open-topped panniers, one of which is occupied by Sparky Sparkeroni. Of the six, Pipp Petals is the only one who seems completely at ease.)

Sunny: (laughing nervously) Hey, Pipp? Remind me why we are in here again?

Izzy Moonbow: Yeah, not that it isn’t totally cool to be in a freaky empty building, but it is kinda freaky… (small voice) …and empty.

(The camera jumps back in three steps, timed with the echoes of her last word, and stops on a long overhead shot of the group before cutting back to them.)

Izzy: (gasping) See? I didn’t even mean to do that!

Pipp: But that’s why I love it! It’s thrilling! (eerily, hovering briefly) Can’t you just feel the spo-o-oky energy in here?

Hitch: No, not at all.

(A sudden burst of static unnerves him enough to bring up a cry of panic, which is swiftly answered by Sunny/Izzy/Pipp. However, Zipp Storm just directs a smirk toward the floor.)

Zipp: Huh.

(She finds the source lying at her hooves—an old radio—and picks it up.)

Zipp: Huh.

(It is tossed aside, falling silent as it clatters across the floor; in close-up, Hitch directs a shaky chuckle in Sparky’s direction to bolster the little dragon’s spirits.)

Hitch: This is ridiculous. (He scoops Sparky into a foreleg, tightly enough to elicit squirms of discomfort.) I’ve been inside Canterlogic millions of times. There’s nothing to be afraid of. (Laugh from the o.s. Sunny; cut to her and Zipp.)

Sunny: I think Pipp disagrees.

(Pan quickly to the pink pop star, who has taken to rooting through a box and quickly turns up a poster depicting a pegasus as a menacing, glowing-eyed silhouette. She yelps in shock, but quickly shifts into a laugh and lifts off, having found one of the company’s old bits of anti-pegasus propaganda dating back to A New Generation. Cut to Sunny and Zipp on the following.)

Zipp: Well, Pipp has always had a love of spooky things. She once convinced our mom that an entire wing of the castle was being haunted by royal ghosts. Mom still trots the long way around it. (Sunny laughs; Pipp dangles her head into view from above.)

Pipp: (dramatically) Imagine what kind of terrors lurk in all these mysterious corners! (She hoists herself up and o.s.)

Sunny: I can’t believe we haven’t thought about this old factory since Sprout and his family closed it down.

(Which would explain the removal of the giant replica of Phyllis Cloverleaf’s eyeglasses from the roof, as first seen in “Growing Pains.” Pan quickly to Izzy, who extracts a cassette tape from a box with an excited gasp.)

Izzy: There’s so much space in this place! (fading out as if an echo; zoom in by steps to a close-up) Place…place…place… (grinning, normal volume) That time, it was me.

(Pan quickly back to all others except Pipp.)

Hitch: It’s like we all just forgot it existed. (The missing mare, now airborne, swoops into view with a huge gasp.)

Pipp: What if we forgot about it because the ghosts wanted us to? (Laugh.) I have shivers. (Off she goes.)

Zipp: Here we go again.

Hitch: (pacing) This is just an old building made of bricks and concrete. Besides, even if it weren’t, I’m not afraid of no ghosts!

(One rear hoof stomps the floor on this last word, scaring a rat out of its hiding place so that it scampers across behind him. The resulting clatter startles him into a gasp and two fearful yells, the latter of which leaves him cringing away from this new terror with tight-shut eyes.)

Hitch: What was that? (Izzy and a giggling Pipp cross to him as he risks a peek.)

Pipp: Not afraid, huh?

(Snap to black.)

OPENING THEME

Act One

(Cut from the title card directly to a close-up of Hitch’s nervous countenance and tilt down in time with his chuckle to frame Sparky fidgeting in his grip.)

Hitch: Uh… (Sunny/Pipp/Zipp continue to explore.)

Zipp: Hmmm…

Hitch: …how are you all so calm? (Pan slightly to frame Izzy standing alongside and wearing a strained grin.)

Izzy: Oh, I’m not. This is just my nervous smile. It looks a lot like my happy smile, and also my unhappy smile.

(She forces out a laugh and crosses to the other mares.)

Zipp: Hmmm…now that Canterlogic is gone, what’s gonna happen to this building? (Izzy brightens in a flash.)

Izzy: Wouldn’t it be super if it became something so fun-tastic that everypony wanted to hang out here?

Sunny: Izzy’s right!

Izzy: (serenely) I am. (Her brain skips a track.) Wait. I am?

Sunny: Yes! We should turn this old factory into something new for the whole community!

Izzy: This can be the biggest uni-cycling project I’ve ever done! (gesturing grandly) And you ponies can help! (Giddy squeal.)

Zipp: Yeah, it does have potential. (rising to a hover) Maybe we can turn this place into an indoor skate park.

Izzy: (gasping, hooves to temples) Whoa. (Pipp flies up past them.)

Pipp: Or a theater-slash-concert hall!

Izzy: Now we’re talking! (singing) Or singing.

(She hops in place, more tiny funny happy noises escaping her throat, as Hitch crosses to her with Sparky walking alongside.)

Hitch: Or a community center for official town hall meetings?

Izzy: (somewhat deflated) Oh. Or that.

(On the start of the next line, cut to Sunny and the royal sisters touching down next to her.)

Sunny: These are all great ideas and I love them! (Gasp.) But how about we ask the townsponies too? That way, our new space will be exactly what everypony wants!

Pipp: Brill idea, Sunny! And while you two do that, Hitch, Zipp, and I will clear the building of all its ghosties and spirits, et cetera. Really cleanse the energies, you know?

Sunny: Perfect! (She and Izzy head off.)

Izzy: Let’s ask Toots! Oh, and Dahlia! Oh, oh, and Windy!

Hitch: (to Pipp/Zipp) Uh, I don’t know if I can help you right now. Sparky is really fussy.

(A quick pan to Sparky puts the lie to these words, as he is sitting off to one side and burbling placidly to himself.)

Pipp: (not buying it) Mmm-hmm.

Hitch: And I’ve got a lot of official Sheriff business to get back to. Paperwork, you know? But, uh, maybe Zipp—

Zipp: (as Sparky returns to Hitch’s side) Sorry, but I’m so close to cracking Twilight Sparkle’s message. I’ve gotta focus my attention on that. (teasingly, lifting off, circling around Hitch) Have fun. Don’t let the ghosties getcha.

(She peels out with a chuckle, leaving him to voice an apprehensive little moan that Sparky echoes.)

Pipp: You know, if I had to guess, I’d say that spooky scary ghosts haunting it up in here is totally against regulation. (Last word singsong; then a smirk.) Right?

Hitch: (confidence returning) You make a good point. As Sheriff, I can’t allow that! (He strides away.)

Pipp: Mmm-hmm!

(As she follows, the camera cuts to just behind a stack of boxes and rises slightly to frame them at a distance—perhaps presenting the perspective of an as-yet-unseen observer. Pipp’s cheerful humming serves as a counterpoint to Hitch’s mildly fed-up grumble, with Sparky riding in one of the latter’s panniers. After a few moments, the camera drops behind the boxes to black out the screen.)

(Snap to the front entrance of the Crystal Brighthouse, seen from a short distance down the walk. Tilt down slowly as Zipp arcs into view and lands on the doorstep, cell phone in hoof, then cut to her. The camera angle is such that the phone screen is not in view.)

Zipp: (sitting) Okay, Twilight. Let’s hear it again. (Screen tap.)

Voice of Twilight Sparkle: —but the spell is broken. You are exposed to the world once again. You must watch out— (Static.) —before she— (Again.)

(Only the middle portion of this fragment is accompanied by a view of her holographic image on the screen—this is a portion of the message that the Unity Crystals played back in “Growing Pains.” On the last few words, the camera cuts to frame Misty eavesdropping on the pegasus from behind a tree that stands off to one side of the doorstep. She gets herself out of the latter’s sight with an incredulous gasp.)

Misty: Is that her? Twilight Sparkle from Opaline’s stories?

(Peering out from around the opposite side of the broad trunk, she deploys her own phone to get some footage of Zipp’s ruminations.)

Voice of Twilight: —but the spell is broken. (Cut to her on Zipp’s screen.) You are exposed to the world once again. You must watch out for o— (Glitch.) —ine before she— (Again.)

Zipp: (impatiently) Before what? What were you trying to warn us about? (Groan; tuck phone under a wing.) I still can’t believe that’s all I was able to record.

(She enters the Brighthouse without noticing Misty, who stops recording with her phone and ducks behind the tree.)

Misty: Opaline has to know about this!

(She hustles away. Cut to a long shot of Opaline’s castle under its perpetually gloomy sky and zoom in slowly.)

Voice of Twilight: You must watch out— (Static.) —before she— (Again.)

(During this line, cut to the big boss in her throne room, glaring down at Misty’s phone.)

Opaline: So, that nasty little Twilight Sparkle enchanted those crystals with a secret message, did she?

(The second half of this line is marked by a ground-level close-up of her rear hooves, one of which stamps the floor as Misty observes timidly from a few steps back. The camera then cuts back to Opaline.)

Opaline: (tossing phone over shoulder) What else did she reveal?

Misty: (fumbling it away to the floor, then scooping it up) Uh, I don’t know. Zipp said that’s all she recorded, though, so maybe there was more?

Opaline: (rounding on her) Of course there was more!

(Now a front hoof strikes the floor, kindling a small ball of pale blue/violet fire.)

Opaline: Time is running out before that Zipp pony pieces things together!

(Close-up of the flames on the end of this; they wink out as she finishes. Now she utters a loud, frustrated groan and pivots away.)

Opaline: I need the rest of that dragon fire!

Misty: What if we didn’t steal Sparky?

Opaline: (dumbfounded) What did you just say?

Misty: (hastily) I-I-I just mean…i-it’s just that…well, what if—

Opaline: Spit it out!

Misty: Ugh! Twilight said that she put all of her magic into the Crystals. What if we just steal those instead? (Laugh.) Yeah! (under her breath) Crystals don’t run away or burp fire.

(The Unity Crystals, that is. Misty is recalling her botched attempt to swipe Sparky in “Have You Seen This Dragon?”)

Opaline: (mockingly) Oh, that’s a great idea!

Misty: Really?

Opaline: No, not really. We can’t just steal the Crystals— (Both turn toward the floor pool.) —now that I know what they truly are. Conduits.

Misty: Huh?

(On the end of this exchange, cut to them and their reflection at the edge.)

Opaline: Long ago, Twilight Sparkle channeled all the magic in Equestria into those crystals and enchanted them.

(During this line, the view dissolves to a dimly lit silhouette of this selfsame winged unicorn against a backdrop of blue/purple auroras and Opaline’s words shift to voice over. Zoom in on the figure, a heart of bright pink light kindling at the tip of the horn and expanding outward, then dissolve to the three Crystals describing a tight circle and then snapping together. A rainbow-hued shock wave radiates outward from the assembly. An identically colored beam shines upward from the Unicorn Crystal and fans out to fill the screen.)

Opaline: (voice over) Stealing them now— (Her silhouette looms over the Crystals.) —before I’m strong enough, could destroy the Pris-beam— (They spark and sputter; jagged cracks spread over the screen.) —the very source of magic that I want to possess!

(Zoom in and fade to black to the sound of shattering glass, then fade in to the reflections of Opaline and Misty in the pool surface.)

Opaline: You were willing to risk that? (Cut to Misty on the end of this.)

Misty: No, o-of course not! (laughing nervously) It was a terrible idea. B-But, um, uh, what’s a conduit?

Opaline: An element.

(Getting no response beyond a couple of bemused blinks, she uncorks a contempt-soaked groan.)

Opaline: A crystal that’s protected by a very complex spell containing… (Shudder.) …unity magic. (pacing) The only thing that could possibly drain the Crystals permanently is an equal magical power. (Cut to Misty.)

Misty: Like an alicorn’s? (To Opaline on the next words.)

Opaline: (spreading wings; blue flame washes over them) A fire alicorn. And for that, there’s only one thing I need.

(Cut to Misty on the end of this; she swallows hard, clearly not relishing the next stop on this train of thought.)

Misty: A baby dragon?

Opaline: Don’t fail me again.

(She folds her wings and strides imperiously out of the room; cut to one very rattled underling and zoom in slowly.)

Act Two

(Cut to a stretch of Mane Street, where Izzy has parked her Izzy Does It scooter and is frantically rooting around in its cargo bay. Sunny sits nearby, taking notes on her phone, and Dahlia, Toots, and Windy watch as items are flung every which way. Zoom in slowly.)

Izzy: Oh, I know I’ve got that somewhere! (Gasp.) Is it under the macaroni?

(She straightens up, holding a small potted cactus and showing the “crafty sash” she fashioned in “Izzy Does It” slung across her chest.)

Izzy: Aha!

Toots: (to Sunny) There should definitely be balloons. (Izzy stows the plant and resumes her search.) I love balloons.

Izzy: Okay!

(A moment ducked out of sight, the sound of inflating rubber, and her magic sends a bunch of them floating overhead.)

Dahlia: Oh, and a glitter banner! We’ve got to have a glitter banner!

Windy: Yeah, that too!

Izzy: Okay! (She levitates two shaker cans.)

Toots: And an art gallery with a painting of everypony in Maretime Bay.

Izzy: (confusedly) Okay…

(She glances toward Sunny and receives an equally perplexed shrug in reply, then returns to digging through her gear. Varied art supplies are soon hoisted up in her aura as the three spectators take their leave.)

Sunny: (pacing, checking notes) Lots of color, no color. Extra space for dancing and a cool pony statue in every corner. Rainbow ribbons, no ribbons, and only blue ribbons. Balloons, a glitter banner, and a painting of everypony in Maretime Bay, and that’s just the décor category!

(The camera cuts back and forth between her and Izzy during this line—the latter moaning wearily at first and magically pulling out more supplies, then groaning with the effort and wearing splotches of paint and glitter all over her body. By the time Sunny stops for breath and turns to Izzy, the unicorn has plopped her haunches dazedly onto the roadbed.)

Sunny: Do we have all that? We do, right?

Izzy: I…think so? (Sunny packs her phone away.)

Sunny: (laughing shakily, nudging Izzy to get her upright) Wow, the townsponies sure want a lot of different things.

Izzy: Yeah, and they don’t always go together.

(She shakes herself clean, letting all the bits and bobs clatter down around her. During the next line, cut to a close-up of Sunny’s hooves and tilt up to her face.)

Izzy: Maybe there’s just too many ideas to—

Sunny: —make it work?

Izzy: (gasping happily, nodding) Uh-huh!

Sunny: But we’ve got to take everypony’s idea into consideration. (pacing) After all, we’re all part of the community. (picking up a spatula) Everypony should have an equal say and be able to enjoy the new space, right?

(The utensil is set down as two shaken green eyes turn back to Izzy.)

Sunny: Right?

Izzy: (nodding, with a strained grin and laugh) Right.

(Cut to the interior of the factory, the camera positioned at floor level and framing Hitch and Pipp in a long shot as they continue their survey. Sparky is still riding in one of Hitch’s panniers. Fluorescent light fixtures sputter fitfully in their half-broken wall mounts as the three duck under a tumbled scaffolding and pull up short before another one still upright. Hitch voices an unhappy moan, but Pipp gasps in excitement and flies to one of its upper platforms, finding a metal skullcap topped by an antenna—an Anti-Mindreading Hat from the product line debuted by Canterlogic in A New Generation.)

Pipp: (picking it up, landing by Hitch/Sparky) Ooh! Remember when you thought these would protect you from scary, brain-melting unicorn mind rays? (quietly ominous tone) Spo-o-oky. (full volume, lunging at them) BOO!

(The stallion voices a cry, while the youngster whimpers and huddles down as far into the pannier as he can.)

Hitch: Great. (Sparky clambers out for a cuddle.) Just what we need. More scary thoughts.

(He sits down as a metallic clatter is heard in the distance; a longer shot discloses the cause—a rat scurrying among the litter. The sight frightens Hitch into holding Sparky so tight that the scaly scamp begins sputtering for breath. Pipp has now put the Anti-Mindreading Hat aside.)

Pipp: Maybe you could loosen your grip on the baby dragon a bit.

(Once her words sink in fully, he does so with a gasp and Sparky is able to cycle air through his lungs at full capacity.)

Hitch: I just, you know, don’t want anypony taking Sparky. The last time he went missing was even scarier than this creepy building.

(Sparky chooses this moment to burp up a mote of fire, which bursts apart into sparks before Hitch’s eyes.)

Hitch: (dryly) Let’s keep moving.

(They do so, taking no notice of a pony’s head that rises from behind a rampart of leftovers to stare intently after them. Zoom in on the shadowy, green-eyed figure, then cut to the exterior of the factory and tilt down to the front entrance in time with the next line. Sunny and Izzy have ridden up here on the latter’s scooter and parked, their crash helmets hanging off the fender.)

Sunny: All right. (jumping off) Are you ready for the biggest uni-cycling project ever?

Izzy: I sure am! (vacillating) I think? I hope so. (with new confidence) No, I am! I’ve decided.

Sunny: Sure, there are a ton of ideas, and sure, not all of them go together, and sure, this is a lot— (Very shaky laugh.) —but I know we can do it. (Cut to Izzy on the end of this.)

Izzy: (suddenly scared) I think I agree. (She hops off.)

Voice of Posey: Hey.

(The orange and pinkish-violet mares stop short as the yellow one steps into view from behind the scooter’s cargo hold.)

Posey: I heard you’re redesigning the old factory. Can I add my two bits real quick?

Sunny: Sure. What’s one more idea? (Izzy giggles, trying to calm herself.)

Posey: Perfect! (Rocky Riff swoops down and lands behind her.) So I was thinking flowers.

Rocky: (overlapping her last word) I have an amazing idea too!

(Izzy sputters and flinches away from these two, glances off to one side as if to judge whether she can safely bail out that way, but finds the path cut off by a pair of just-arrived stallions. Hyperventilation sets in as she turns in yet another direction.)

Glory: (suddenly hovering in her face) A dance studio!

Peach Fizz: (galloping up) Laser tag arena?

Izzy: Uh… (Laugh; Seashell shows up.)

Seashell: A science lab could be cool.  

(Cut to Sunny/Izzy’s perspective of the newcomers, shifting from one group of expectantly smiling faces to another.)

Izzy: Uhhhh… (Unsteady giggle from Sunny.)

(The next shot is that of the two aspiring designers backing slowly away, Sunny carrying her phone.)

Sunny: Um…

(Izzy giggles and swallows hard, perhaps fighting every instinct to turn and bolt. Cut to Hitch, Pipp, and Sparky in another junk-choked stretch of the factory; Hitch carries Sparky, while Pipp bounds and flaps her way through the space with gusto to check out anything and everything she can pick up.)

Pipp: (singsong) I am loving this! (normal tone, landing, circling Hitch/Sparky) It’s just like in the Spooky Stables series when Esmeralda Ghoulington searches for the old Whinny Mansion looking for her great-grandpony’s spirit! (over-enunciating) It is bone-chilling.

Hitch: (high-strung, clutching Sparky more tightly) I must have missed that one.

Pipp: Neigh way! You have to read it. Esmeralda thinks she found her great-grandpony’s ghost, and then BAM!

(Accompanied by a clap that causes him to drop the infant and yell out in fright.)

Pipp: It’s actually her great-great-grandpony’s ghost!

(She follows up this revelation with a gasp and spooky, foreleg-waving moan, which is met by a cheerful bit of gabbling from below her level. Cut to Sparky, now free of his guardian’s grip and blithely picking out a path among the detritus.)

Hitch: (racing after him, scooping him up) That’s okay, Sparky! I’ll keep you safe!

(He slings the dragon into a pannier and sets off around a corner with Pipp, the camera zooming out as a long shadow falls across the floor and extends toward them. From here, cut to the upper portion of the front entrance, where an assortment of tools and materials is floating in Izzy’s field. They begin to shift position as a clamor of voices asserts itself and the camera tilts down, framing an overhead shot of Sunny, Izzy, and the front edge of a crowd on the start of the following. The earth pony has her phone out to take notes as fast as she can tap the screen.)

Sunny: Oh! Uh…yes, no problem…sure. (Laugh.)

(Her perspective of one knot of ponies during this last, then cut to a slow zoom in on Izzy.)

Izzy: Uh…uh… (Strained giggle; Sunny’s perspective again.)

Sunny: Of course! Heh. No worries.

(Cut to her and zoom in slowly as her mental machinery starts to pop a rivet or two under the sudden load. She takes a moment to gather herself before speaking again.)

Sunny: Okay, got it, thank you! (The crowd clears out.)

Departing filly: Woo-hoo! (Cut to Sunny.)

Sunny: (wiping forehead) Phew!

(A loud thud and groan are heard from the o.s. Izzy; zoom out to frame the exhausted unicorn, sprawled on the concrete with her horn unlit. The items she was levitating have been shifted out of view.)

Izzy: I better hurry up and get to uni-cycling.

Sunny: (putting phone away) Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.

(Izzy stands up just before a pointed throat-clearing is heard. Sunny gets out a stunned gasp as the mares turn their attention toward the doors, the camera zooming in to pick out Mayflower and an elderly unicorn stallion standing here. Both are smiling, Mayflower adding a wave for good measure as if to say, “Our turn!”)

Sunny: (to Izzy) You go ahead. I’ll catch up.

(Cut to a close-up of a flickering wall light in the factory.)

Hitch: (from o.s.) Did it get darker in here? (Pan/tilt down to frame him, carrying Sparky, and Pipp.) I feel like it got darker in here. (He sets Sparky atop a crate.) Where’s a unicorn with a glowing horn when you need one?

Pipp: Maybe we need to try talking to them.

Hitch: Uh, not so sure that’s—

Pipp: (loudly, hamming it up, to the room at large) Come on out, you spooky spirits!

Hitch: (now sitting) Uh…

Pipp: We are only here to help! If you are here, give us a sign!

(Comes now a mighty rumpus from somewhere very close by; a stack of crates collapses as the red-coated figure of Sprout Cloverleaf hurls itself into view toward the trio. All three equines scream in terror as the stallion who would have been Emperor barrels into his former boss; cut to an extreme close-up of Hitch’s cringing face and zoom out to reveal that he is holding an equally freaked-out Sprout in his forelegs.)

Hitch: Sprout?!?

Pipp: Sprout?  (Sparky just laughs himself silly.)

Sprout: What was that?!

(Cut to Izzy nearby, lying amid a scatter of drum kit parts—evidently she caused the noise by knocking them over. She is now wearing both her sash and the crafting glasses she used in “Izzy Does It.”)

Izzy: Oopsies. (setting them upright with her magic, standing, lighting horn) Gotta remember to turn this thing on before I trot in the dark. Duh!

(Long pause.)

Pipp: Ghosts?

Hitch: (disgustedly) Sprout! (Who is unceremoniously dumped to the floor and stands up.) What are you doing here?

Sprout: I saw you ponies going to the factory, and I figured since it was my family business, I should make sure that you don’t mess anything up.

(So he was the one trailing them and watching from the shadows. Cut briefly to Hitch and Pipp on this line, the latter sighing wearily, then back as he finishes.)

Hitch: That we don’t mess anything up?

Pipp: Yeah, you’re the one who crashed a giant robot pony into Sunny’s lighthouse!

Sprout: (forcing a laugh) I thought we all agreed to move past that?

Pipp: (not buying it) Mmm-hmm.

Hitch: (picking Sparky up once he hops off the crate) Plus, I don’t think we could mess this place up more than it already is.

Sprout: Yeah! (Cut to him and Hitch, who puts Sparky back on the crate.) What happened in here?

Pipp: (from o.s.) It’s… (Cut to her; next word reverberates ominously.) …haunted!

(She throws in her best deranged cackle as lights flash fitfully across her countenance, then swiftly resumes her normal tone.)

Pipp: But don’t worry. Sunny and Izzy have big plans to make this place a-ma-zing. We just have to un-spook it first. (dejectedly) Awww, unless it was just you. (Moan.)

Hitch: (sighing) Okay, I’ll admit it. For a second there, I thought this place was haunted. But it was just you this whole…

(His brain seizes with undiluted terror in a split second, pupils constricting nearly to pinpoints as he aims a hoof down the way.)

Hitch: …TIIIIME!!

(Pipp whirls to see as both stallions pull in a shrieking gasp. Cut to a slow tilt up the height of a mechanical behemoth, seen only in silhouette and taking the vaguest shape of a humanoid. Rattles and clatters emanate from it as small winged shapes scurry along the limbs…Pipp cries out and shields her face with a hoof…and now the lights come up fully to expose it as nothing more than a mélange of scrounged junk being used as a jungle gym by the rats seen earlier. Cut to Izzy, who has found a circuit breaker panel and thrown a switch to brighten the place up. She has extinguished her horn.)

Izzy: (prancing in place) Oh, hey, the lights work!

(The others just gape at the airborne rodents as they shift pieces here and there.)

Hitch: Huh. (crossing to them) Uh…hmph! (They scatter.) Um… (Sparky voices his own puzzlement.)

Sprout: My factory’s been infested with rats?

Pipp: Awww, why couldn’t it have been ghosties?

(Cut to the exterior of the Brighthouse, zooming in slowly, then dissolve to Zipp at her desk in the group’s shared bedroom.)

Zipp: I remember that Twilight said that she put all the magic in the Crystals and the “blank.” So there’s something else with her magic in it! Right?

(Voicing an annoyed groan, she picks up a book from a chair and flips a few pages before retrieving her phone.)

Zipp: (dictating) “Case update. Been studying Crystals for days, but I’m still confused.”

(The book and phone are set down; now she flips open her laptop.)

Zipp: “And I can’t crack this protection spell thing either.”

(Close-up of the now-closed volume on her desk, panning slowly across the cover. It is the storybook that she borrowed from Hitch’s Grandma Figgy during Winter Wishday.)

Zipp: (from o.s., tapping keys) “If I could, maybe I could protect the Crystals—” (Back to her.) “—and us—from this evil force.”  (Clear throat; tap one temple.) Think, Zipp, think. (Close the laptop; pace the floor.) Okay. What I do know is that unicorns now have the ability to cast spells. So I…

(A brainstorm strikes under the upswept mane; she wheels back to her desk with a gasp and scoops up her phone.)

Zipp: (dictating) “Must find a unicorn who’d be willing to do some scientific experiments on spellcasting.”

(On the next line, cut to her perspective of the map/notes/sketches tacked up on the wall beneath her raised bed, then back to her; zoom in slowly during both shots.)

Zipp: (groaning softly) “I’m getting closer. I can feel it! Once I crack the case, nopony will be able to steal anything from us ever again.”

(This last sentence is punctuated by an extreme close-up of her cutie mark, which flares up in a burst of brilliant sparkles, followed by her exit. Cut to an extreme close-up of a tennis ball with a crystal horn and fabric/button snout attached; two googly eyes are quickly stuck on, and the camera zooms out slightly to frame this creation. The ball is balanced atop an upside-down, flower-decorated mug, with a scarf wrapped around the “neck”; two short brown pigtails protrude from its rear surface, and a wad of pinkish fluff is stuck on top. A cut to behind this dummy picks out Misty as its creator; she has been working on it in her bedroom within Opaline’s castle, and she addresses it.)

Misty: I feel pretty silly talking to a unicorn made of junk, but I just have to have somepony to talk to about Opaline. (It offers no response; camera tracks slowly around it and her.) You see, she wants me to steal Sparky, and I really, really don’t want to. I tried that already, and it did not go well.

(It maintains its silence; now she sits down to face it at eye level.)

Misty: What do you think I should do?

(Still no answer; she heaves a deep sigh.)

Act Three

(Cut to the exterior of the factory, zooming in slowly, then to a very preoccupied Sunny pacing the floor inside and eyeing her phone.)

Izzy: (from o.s.) Oh! Ah…

(The earth pony stops short with a gasp; cut to the unicorn hard at work. Surrounding her is a wild profusion of furniture, artwork, diversions, and decorations with no discernible unifying theme, making the area look as if all of Maretime Bay had decided to hold a massive garage sale. Tools and supplies float every which way in her field.)

Izzy: …uh, and we need this…glitter…and lots of, uh…

(Back to Sunny on the end of this; she has just enough time to get out a startled yelp and dodge a very large pair of scissors coming her way.)

Izzy: …uh… (out of breath, gesturing weakly) …uh, ta-da? (Deflated chuckle.)

(Cut to a slow pan through the disorganized expanse as she finishes, a page falling loose from the pin-up calendar of Hitch that was tacked up on his office wall during A New Generation. Sunny can manage only a strained laugh and grimace at this degree of chaos that would have earned an approving nod from Discord.)

(Elsewhere, Hitch and Pipp are chasing the flying rats back and forth as Sparky watches from his ringside seat on a crate. He soon jumps down to get in on the action; now Sprout goes after a couple, but hits his head on a low scaffolding and goes to the floor. Another one scurries along a platform edge and takes flight.)

Pipp: (ducking it and another one) Remember when all the animals were in the Brighthouse?

Hitch: Yeah! (He dives for one but misses.)

Pipp: (catching one in a pot, slamming the lid on) And we couldn’t get them to leave?

Hitch: (grabbing at one) Yeah?

(Referring to the events of “The Cutie Mark Mix-Up.” He darts after it, while Pipp screams at being beset by others and accidentally kicks over the pot to free its occupant. Hitch throws himself into a slide across the floor, knocking boxes aside but failing to make any captures, and winds up face to face with her.)

Pipp: (lightly) Oh, I don’t have a solution. But this is exactly like that!

(Two rats use the Sheriff’s head as a jumping-off point, fraying his very last good nerve; he stands up.)

Hitch: Okay, that’s enough! No more Mr. Nice Sheriff! (advancing to face the rats) Listen up, little buddies. (sitting) You’re going to have to leave and go back home to Zephyr Heights! (beseechingly) Puh-leeeease?

(Two of them hold a squeaky little conversation; he stands and moves a bit closer, softening his tone considerably.)

Hitch: I know, I know. (sitting) It’s just that we’re trying to turn this into a cool new space for the community— (One flies past; Sparky chases another.) —and it’s hard to do that with all of you hanging out in here.

Sprout: Yeah! (Hitch moves aside to make space for him.) And you’ve really ratted the place up, too. How about you scram? (Disdainful squeaks.) Was that a yes?

Hitch: It was…not. (Moans from Pipp and Sprout; he stands and inches closer as the rats continue.) He says that they were bored in Zephyr Heights, but this place has got lots of cool things they can play with.

(Now he leans in very close and cocks an ear so as not to miss a syllable.)

Hitch: Uh-huh? (One does a loop-the-loop.) They…they need entertainment!

Sprout: (to rats) That’s it! This is my building, and you are all getting evicted!

(He charges after them, but they get their wings in gear to stay ahead. The pursuit disappears around a corner; he trots back into view after a moment and blows out a satisfied breath, only for four rats to flit up behind him.)

Sprout: Huh?

(They are swiftly gathered up and thrown back, but he has barely enough time to exhale before they return to continue the battle. Critters pelt themselves into and around the back of his head, one of them meeting his yell of revulsion with a hearty Bronx cheer, and he voices a growl of rising frustration as Pipp giggles and Hitch smirks.)

(Cut to a bunch of balloons anchored to an upper-level railing which has been hung with sparkly pink bunting. Shaker cans, held by Izzy’s aura, rise into view to dispense more glitter as her contented singing drifts up; zoom out to frame her standing on a statue’s pedestal, orchestrating an entire row of them as Sunny paces uneasily past, having tucked her phone away.)

Izzy: Too much glitter? (Scoff.) Who am I kidding? There can never be enough glitter.

Sunny: I don’t know what to do, Izzy. I’ve made so many promises to the community— (sitting) —but I can’t keep them all.

Izzy: Huh. (She jumps down and stops pouring.) Whenever I used to feel super-duper-overwhelmed, I used to go talk to the oldest pony in Bridlewood, Elderflower.

(Deep breath; close eyes and raise front hooves as if meditating; light the horn.)

Izzy: And now I will share with you her wise sagebrush advice.

(On this line, cut to a flower wreath on the floor as she floats it up, then to her as she settles it on her head and removes her glasses.)

Izzy: (old crone’s voice, half-squinching one eye shut) “You can’t please everypony, Izzy! Sometimes being a leader means making the tough decisions, Izzy! You, Izzy, must take everypony’s opinion under your hoof and then make the final call, Izzy!”

(Off with the wreath; on with the specs as she reverts to her normal tone.)

Izzy: Just change the “Izzy” part to a “Sunny” part.

Sunny: (smiling) Yeah, I figured. (Zoom in slowly.)

Izzy: You only got into this situation because you care so much. That means you’re gonna make the very best decision you can.

Sunny: (standing) You really think so?

Izzy: (extending a foreleg, touching hoof to her own chest) Hoof to heart.

Sunny: (circling in place) You’re right, and I think I know just the way to make this the perfect space for everypony!

(Elsewhere, Hitch, Pipp, and Sprout peek up from behind a row of crates. The rats still have their “stronghold” a few feet ahead, and Sparky is sitting on a box and playing with one.)

Pipp: (out of breath) We need to change our strategy.

Hitch: What do you got?

Pipp: (instantly perking up, jumping on a crate) Ooh, I know!

Minimal synthesizer/percussion line, fast 4 (G major)

To the tune of her song in “Izzy Does It”

Pipp:                        All you need is your beat, all you need is your beat

                        Whoa, whoa, oh, yeah

                        And all you need is your beat

(shouted in rhythm)        Come on, yeah, come on!

(sung)                        All you need is your—

Song ends abruptly in a snarl of radio static

(The rats pay very little mind to the impromptu performance, instead moving items around in their junk tower and gathering up stray nuts—the fastening type, that is. The static that cuts her off is coming from the old receiver that Zipp threw aside in the prologue, which one rat is trying to tune for any bit of decent reception. Sparky laughs and coos over the one that has gone to sleep nearly in his lap and a second that hovers for a little petting of its own.)

(On the start of the next line, cut to an indignant Pipp jumping over the crates to stare down the winged squatters while Hitch and Sprout take a more sedate route.)

Pipp: Okay, what gives? Everypony loves that song.

(Close-up of a couple of rats as she finishes, with Hitch hunkering down to catch everything that is said, then his perspective of them. Back to the group as he speaks.)

Hitch: He says they’ve heard that song a bajillion times before. (To Pipp on this last, ears popping up and face going slack with shock.)

Pipp: (over his words) What?!? (The group again as Hitch continues.)

Hitch: They play that all over the big screens in Zephyr Heights. And then she said— (high-pitched) “Right? Like, every single day!” (normal tone) And then he said—

Pipp: Okay, okay, I get it!

(She grumbles sullenly to herself. Cut to a close-up of Zipp, now up in the lantern room of the Brighthouse. Her image is tinged by the Crystals’ Pris-Beam; zoom out to frame them directly in front of her. She is not carrying her phone.)

Zipp: If the Crystals hold that much magic— (pacing) —then the pony that wants them must be able to handle a lot of magic themselves. That must mean this pony is really powerful, with unique powers.

(A sharp gasp as a connection snaps together in her mind.)

Zipp: Like Sunny! Like a-a-an alicorn! (Smile and scoff.) Alicorns. (Pull out phone to dictate.) “Alicorns must be the key!”

(Cut to a close-up of the Crystals on this last, zooming in slowly, then to Sunny checking her phone as she walks through the poorly redecorated factory. A nimble duck and hop allow her to avoid an oncoming pair of scissors and ball of yarn.)

Sunny: Huh. (pointing) Let’s remove that… (A statue on a pedestal; Izzy levitates it.)

Izzy: On it!  (It is flung into a corner.)

Sunny: (indicating a potted hedge shaped like Pipp’s head) …mmm-hmm, and definitely that.

Izzy: Poof! Begone! (She pushes it away.)

(Now Sunny turns her eye to a framed painting of Sprout and his mother Phyllis, leaning against a wall.)

Sunny: (laughing) And definitely, definitely that.

Izzy: (levitating it away) You got it!

(She hums to herself while hauling it off, and a satisfied smile comes across Sunny’s face. Back in the combat zone, Sprout has hunched down all the way to the floor, intently watching one particular rat. He hurls himself across the opening to snatch it up, but it skitters away before he can lay a hoof on it.)

Sprout: So, hear me out…

(Cut to several, enjoying their makeshift playground; zoom out to frame all three ponies as he continues and stands up.)

Sprout: …what if we just let the rats stay, huh? (Next two lines overlap.)

Hitch: That’s against code!

Pipp: What?! No way!

Sprout: Okay, then—idea number two. (cheerfully, trotting away) I leave! Good luck!

(The remaining two voice a unison groan of supreme frustration at having been left so completely in the lurch. Their respective pitches slowly drop off, landing in a decent two-part harmony that the rats quickly mimic in a higher register. Inspiration strikes.)

Pipp: Aha!

(She and Hitch repeat the performance and elicit the same response.)

Hitch: Are you thinking what I am?

Pipp: Oh, I sure hope so.

Light acoustic guitar/synth/percussion melody, moderate 4 (C major)

Pipp:                                Making a plan

Hitch:                                Lending a hand

(The rats begin to really pay attention.)

                                Helping a friend is nice

(Hitch joins in on the last word of the preceding line; next he tosses her up into a hover.)

Hitch:                                Work together

Pipp:                                Two manes are better

(Rodent heads bob to the beat; Hitch floats past, a bunch of balloons tied to his midsection, and Pipp hops up from the floor to hitch a ride.)

Hitch, Pipp:                        Finding new ways to fly

Background vocal harmonies in

(Sparky burps a cloud of sparkly smoke; next he and the ponies strut their stuff, Hitch having ditched his balloons.)

Pipp:                                With a little bit of confidence

Hitch: (spoken in rhythm)        And a little bit of kindness

A cappella

(Sparky whoops as they toss him upward, a couple of rats taking wing to describe an arc around him, before he lands on Hitch’s back and twirls on the saddle.)

Hitch, Pipp:                        We can make it fun to do

All instruments in, with added drums

(The rats flock from their hiding places as all three prance/fly along the unoccupied stretch of floor. A quick tap at one light fixture turns most of the bulbs blue and throws spots of light all over the walls.)

Hitch, Pipp:                        Work together

                                Make it better

                                Working smarter with each other

(Critters begin to gather up junk, one striking a bolt against a tin can for a drum, and are led out the front entrance. The day has advanced into late afternoon.)

                                Work together

                                Make it better

A cappella

(The horseshoe/shield and crown/note cutie marks flare brightly in turn.)

Hitch, Pipp:                        We are stronger with each other

Original instrumentation in; harmonies out

(As Hitch and Pipp lead the procession down the hill and along Mane Street, they and some onlookers add “this way” gestures.)

Hitch, Pipp: (spoken in rhythm)                Work, work, let’s unite

                                                Everypony shining bright

                                                Work, work, work it out

                                                Everypony shout it loud

Song ends

(At a final ushering wave from Pipp, the rats swarm past the outskirts and along a path marked with a sign pointing the way to Zephyr Heights.)

Hitch, Pipp: We did it!

(Close-up of two, who have hung back to deliver some parting words; cut to Hitch/Pipp/Sparky on the next line.)

Hitch: He says, “Thank you for that exciting new song.” It really invigorated them, and now they’re excited to find fun things to do at home in Zephyr Heights. (The rats fly up to his eye level and speak a bit more.) She said they’re sorry if they insulted your song; they love it. They just needed something new. (They flit away.)

Pipp: (cooing happily) Awww, I knew they loved it. Everypony does.

(Cut to a long shot of the factory, at whose front entrance Sunny and her friends have gathered. Night has fallen, and a new ornament has been added to the rooftop—a sign styled as the Crystals superimposed on a rainbow, the center circular portion enclosing a right-pointing “play” arrow as seen on media playback equipment. Zoom in slowly, then cut to just inside the entrance and continue the zoom. A smaller copy of the graphic, split down the middle, forms the handles for the new transparent glass front doors; Sunny and Izzy are just inside, while the others, Sprout, and Sparky are waiting beyond the portal. Sparky rides on the back of Hitch, who has shucked his saddle/pannier rig. The two working mares let out a tired but wholly satisfied sigh, trade a high five, and slide the doors open to let the others in—Sprout wearing a considerably more dour expression than the rest of the group. Sunny and Zipp are no longer carrying their phones, and Izzy has shed her glasses and sash.)

(First to greet the eye is an area set up as a small television/film soundstage, followed by a slow pan through a lounge area. Off in one corner are a couple of lighted makeup mirror vanities. The overall color scheme is one of soothing blues and purples; normal lighting has been restored, and the junk has been fully cleared away. Sparky burbles his amazement as a laughing Sunny and Izzy gallop over to him, Hitch, and Sprout; cut to a slow pan across all six ponies and one dragon.)

Zipp: Yes!

Pipp: Whoa…

Hitch: Wow… (Sparky gabbles, awestruck.)

Sunny: (twirling in place; her magic horn/wings appear and her saddlebag vanishes) Welcome to Canterlove Studios!

Izzy: A place where everypony can come hang out and create cool stuff! (Toss a pinch of glitter into the air.) Yay! (Cut back and forth between Pipp and Sunny.)

Pipp: Ooh, we could put on a play!

Sunny: You could!

Pipp: (hovering, clapping) Or shoot a music video!

Sunny: Why not?

Hitch: (from o.s.) Or… (Cut to him.) …have a really big community meeting where we discuss new rules and guidelines!

(Pipp lands again as this idea swiftly evaporates every last bit of both sisters’ good cheer, but Sunny and Izzy keep theirs.)

Sunny: (leaping toward them) Sky’s the limit!

Sprout: (crossing to them) I gotta admit, I like what you did with the place. It’s pretty impressive. And, technically… (smugly, leaning into Sunny’s/Izzy’s faces) …it is still mine! Boo-yah!

(He prances a circle around them and then departs, cackling wildly with every step and leaving two thoroughly flummoxed mares in his wake.)

Izzy: Is that true?

Sunny: (shaking head, gesturing around herself) No way. It belongs to all of us now.

(Laughing, she and Izzy find Zipp fooling around with a dolly-mounted movie camera, Sparky running about, and Pipp hovering alongside Hitch to reprise their earlier song.)

Hitch, Pipp: (Hitch singing falsetto)                 Work together

                                                Make it better

                                                Working smarter with each other

(The next two lines are spoken over them.)

Sunny: We really did make this place shine, didn’t we?

Izzy: We sure did. (tossing glitter) Boo-yah!

(Zipp rolls the camera over to them as the camera zooms out slowly.)

(Cut to a worked-up Misty in her bedroom, pacing and addressing the unicorn dummy she built in Act Two.)

Misty: And that is why Opaline can’t stand strawberry smoothies, even though they’re absolutely the most delicious smoothies in the world!

(She flops to the ground next to her bed, heaves a sigh from the bottom of her lungs, and pulls herself up to face the inanimate conversation partner. Her next words are delivered in a rather calmer tone.)

Misty: So, Madame Taffytail, what do you say now?

(Close up of it.)

Misty: (from o.s., turning it to face forward, old woman’s voice with British accent) Oh, I say you better try again! (To her again.) Go get that dragon and finally make Opaline proud of you!

(Back to it on this last, then cut to frame both.)

Misty: (own voice) Really? (To it; she continues o.s. in the old voice.) You need that cutie mark. (Her again; own voice.) Even if it means upsetting Sunny and the others?

(Madame Taffytail has no immediate “response,” but one eye starts to come loose in close-up. Back to Misty as she continues.)

Misty: You’re right. (setting eye back in place) They already have each other— (Stand; turn to window) —and their cutie marks. (resolutely) I’m going to get me that dragon. No games this time.

(The slightest bit of uncertainty steals across her face as she reaches back to her bed and shifts its pillow aside, exposing a crude picture of Sparky. Zoom in slowly and fade to black.)