THE ISLE OF SCALY
Written by Jim Martin
Executive producers: Olivier Dumont, Randi Yaffa, Cort Lane
Story editing by Gillian Berrow
Supervising direction by Will Lau
Transcribed by Alan Back (ajback@yahoo.com)
Prologue
Opening bars of Pipp Petals’ song in Chapter One, Act Two
Energetic pop melody with synthesizer/drums and brass accents, fast 4 (D minor)
Shouted “Hey!” on the fourth beat of the first three bars
(Opening shot: snap to black after the “A Netflix Series” card, then to the Marestream in flight through a daytime sky. Its rainbow contrail stands out among the puffy clouds it is punching through, and Sunny Starscout and her friends are in the cockpit. Zipp Storm is at the controls, her favorite sunglasses socked firmly in place, and both Misty and Sparky Sparkeroni have accompanied the group.)
Shift to chorus after fourth bar (F major)
Shouted “Hey!” on fourth beat of second and sixth bars
(Close-up of the older pegasus, the younger one’s vocalizations drifting in from o.s. and getting on her nerves in a hurry. During the next line, zoom out to frame Pipp with cell phone in hoof.)
Zipp: (voice raised) Could you turn that down, Pipp? I can barely hear myself navigate!
Pipp: (ditto, gesturing at phone) What? I can’t hear you over this “Intense Music for Our Trip to the Dragon Lands” playlist I made!
(Sunny shuts off a dashboard-mounted speaker to restore silence.)
Zipp: (tipping shades) Thank you.
Pipp: (needled) Hey-ah! I was just trying to keep the mood light. It’s so tense in here. (Zoom out to frame Hitch Trailblazer and Sparky on the following.)
Hitch: That’s ’cause last time we visited the Isle of Scaly, there were no dragons. This time, who knows what we’ll find?
Misty: I just hope we get there before Opaline.
(Referring to the group’s visit to the Dragon Lands in Part Two of “Family Trees,” and to its proper name as revealed in “Nightmare on Mane Street.” The Marestream bears down on an uncomfortably small opening in a cliff face, bringing a round of gasps/yelps from the equine occupants; even Zipp is rattled enough to take her sunglasses off for a better look. Sparky, on the other hand, is loving every second of this. A determined smile creases Zipp’s cheeks, the camera cutting to a close-up of the steering yoke as she twists it left and her grunt floats down. The vehicle performs a lightning-fast barrel roll and zooms into the gap, wingtips barely clearing the side walls before it rockets into the darkness. Within a fraction of a second, though, the ponies are voicing awestruck reactions to the clusters of brightly gleaming gems that now line the tunnel along which they are traveling.)
Zipp: (suddenly puzzled) Uh?
(Close-up of the dashboard control panel, with a map laid out over it—the one that Sunny and Zipp found in “Mane Smelody,” and that Sparky restored with his fire in “Nightmare on Mane Street.” The image begins to flicker and fade during a slow zoom in.)
Zipp: (from o.s.) Spark alert! (Back to her.) We have a map situation again! (Izzy Moonbow hustles across and scoops up Sparky.)
Izzy: Step back, step back! Dragon magic incoming!
(She gets the little guy pointed forward in time for him to belch a spurt of fire onto the sheet, revitalizing it as he had previously done. The midair mad dash continues for a moment and brings the group to a fork in the path.)
Zipp: Whoops! It’s gonna be a hard left!
Sunny: Hold on to your cutie marks!
(Zipp twists the yoke and leans in that direction, the others copying her gesture and yelling in terror as the Marestream veers down that passage. Misty finds herself sandwiched forcefully between Sunny and a side wall, and screams ring out through the bejeweled bore as the Marestream takes another turn and is lost to sight. Snap to black.)
OPENING THEME
Act One
(Cut from the title card directly to the craft hurtling through the tunnel, all within shouting and being roughly bounced off their hooves/feet. A few more seconds bring a patch of vivid pink sky into view; Zipp hits the gas, and in short order they emerge into clear air. This end of the tunnel is cut into a mountainside studded with crystal formations. Zipp gasps in disbelief, then Izzy, who proceeds to mash her cheek against the windshield.)
Izzy: (muffled) We made it!
(Long shot of the Marestream cruising over the tropical foliage of the Isle of Scaly.)
Misty: (voice over) It was so much easier when we just trotted through a magic door last time.
(Cut to her and Izzy during this line, the latter giving a good-natured poke to the former, then to Pipp bringing up her phone on the next one. She does not immediately notice the device’s warning beeps or “low battery” graphic on the screen.)
Pipp: At least we can snap some great aerial shots!
(She voices a giddy squeal, only to shift to a dismayed gasp once she sees the status readout. Cut to her perspective of it on the next line.)
Pipp: (sighing) My battery is dead!
(Back to her; she smiles and plugs one end of a cable into it, quelling the tone, then sets it on the floor. One quick pan shows the other end of the line attached to a charger that is plugged into a crackling, overcrowded power strip, and a slower tilt up reveals this item to be connected to the Hope Lantern on the dashboard. The map has been taken down. The Lantern sputters fitfully under this new demand; an instant later, the Marestream’s exterior lights flicker and go dark. The craft coats along soundlessly for a tick, bringing uneasy mumbles from the crew before it drops from the sky like a foil-wrapped brick. Screams ring out all over the cockpit as the seven find themselves floating off the floor due to the effects of free fall. Mixed in with them is a laughing “Yahoo!” from Izzy; Hitch, meanwhile, finds himself fighting not to redecorate the area with his breakfast. Long shot of the Marestream, cutting to Sunny on the next words.)
Sunny: Everypony take their stations! This could be a crash landing!
Izzy: I have an idea! It might work, but it might not. (putting on safety goggles) But I like those odds!
(Moving almost too fast to follow, she slides open a window in the cabin and starts to blow up a balloon. Cut to the cockpit.)
Zipp: Everypony, hold on!
(Overhead shot of the plummeting craft, screams coming through loud and clear, then back to the cockpit where Izzy has rejoined the others. Hooves and feet thud to the floor much less roughly than might be expected after a fall from several hundred feet, and the bodies recoil upward just a fraction before coming to rest. An exterior shot and quick zoom out tell the rest of the story: the Marestream has landed atop four enormous balloons, one under each corner and nearly as wide across as the rig is tall. These pop in a shower of rubber scraps, leaving it to thump down to the hardpan.)
Izzy: (sighing with relief, holding up a fresh balloon) You never know when you’ll need a really, really big balloon.
(One good exhalation inflates it so she can tie it off.)
Izzy: (passing to Sparky) That’s why I have ’em at all times. Whoo!
Hitch: (out of breath) Great landing, everypony. Best yet.
(He collapses to his haunches with a woozy groan; Sparky gets there just in time to position the balloon as a cushion. It bursts under the Sheriff’s weight, prompting a snicker from his ward. Sunny is first to open the cabin door and step out, followed in due time by the others. Izzy has done away with her protective eyewear.)
Sunny: Well, we’re back! I can’t believe we did it! (Cut to Hitch on the next line.)
Hitch: Now let’s not pat ourselves on the back too much. These dragons have been asleep for ages. They still could be.
Izzy: Let’s wake ’em up!
Pipp: (hovering, singing) We’re he-e-e-ere!
(The sound of a quiet, hard-edged female voice jolts her back to the moment and brings her down to earth again, throwing a bit of a scare into the others for good measure.)
Female voice: But why are you here?
(Close-up of a broad, clawed, light yellow-orange foot slamming into the dirt, then zoom out quickly. It belongs to one of five dragons who have arrived on the scene and are regarding the group with expressions ranging from interest to suspicion to near-hostility. The females, of which there are three, have a shock of hair that falls down the left side of the head to stop near the ear; males are bald. All have horns streaked with colors different from those that shade from base to tip, and their wings display various colors shading from base to outer edge. Far left is Fountain: female, dark blue hide, light blue-green underbelly, blue-violet eyes, dark blue hair, blue/blue-green wings, dark blue horns. Second from left is Tumble: male, pink hide, light pink underbelly, blue-gray eyes, blue/blue-green wings in lighter hues than Fountain’s, light blue horns shading to darker blue. Center is Blaize: deep pink hide with light yellow-orange “sock” markings on each leg, underbelly matching the latter hue, blue-green eyes and hair, pink/orange/blue wings, deep pink horns shading to light yellow-orange. Second from right is Luxxe: female, yellow-orange hide with red socks, pale yellow underbelly, blue-violet eyes, red hair shading to orange and then yellow-orange from scalp to ends, purple/red/orange wings, orange horns shading to purple. Far right is Leaf: medium green hide with darker green around nose/mouth and matching socks, pink underbelly, light green eyes, green/red wings, deep pinkish-red horns fading toward the tip. The names of Blaize and Luxxe are pronounced to rhyme with “days” and “ducks,” respectively.)
(All are quadrupeds, and Blaize moves forward and lowers her head to stare down Sunny, who hurriedly back-pedals from the approach. The dragon stands fully erect on the next words, showing herself and the others to be at least double the height and length of the average pony.)
Blaize: You are trespassing on the Isle of Scaly. Who are you?
Sunny: (nervously) I’m Sunny. (gesturing to others) This is Hitch…
(Close-up of the stallion, who laughs weakly; pan quickly to each of the others in turn.)
Sunny: (from o.s.) …Izzy…
Izzy: (waving, laughing) Hi!
Sunny: (from o.s.) …Pipp…
Pipp: (waving timidly) Hi.
Sunny: (from o.s.) …Zipp…
Zipp: Hi!
Sunny: (from o.s.) …and Misty.
(Who can only manage a half-strangled squeak and avert her eyes.)
Blaize: Okay…why are you here?
Sunny: It’s…to help.
Blaize: (turning away) Pretty sure we don’t need your help.
(The others make to follow her, but Sunny steels herself and speaks up.)
Sunny: Actually…
(Ground-level view of the dragons, who pause as the mare’s forelegs plant themselves.)
Sunny: (from o.s.) …you do. (Back to her as she continues.) There is an evil alicorn that wants to steal your dragon magic. (Cut to Fountain/Tumble, panning to Blaize; she continues o.s.) We want to stop her.
(This last shot picks out a blue-green streak in Fountain’s hair, not previously visible due to the camera angle. The deep pink dragon wheels to face Sunny, adopting an imperious air.)
Blaize: Pony leader, I’m Blaize. Let’s speak in private. (Cut to frame Sunny, with one of Blaize’s legs in the fore.)
Sunny: Oh, uh, Blaize! (Nervous laugh.) I’m not the—
Blaize: (from o.s.) This way!
(The massive limbs stride away, leaving Sunny to toss another weak laugh to her friends and plod ahead. The other four dragons have gathered for a bit of talk among themselves, but find Izzy hopping merrily up to interrupt. The camera angle briefly frames a large, gleaming scale on Tumble’s right haunch; the same will be seen on the others later on.)
Izzy: (hopping in place) Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Izzy. We flew here on the Marestream, which might be broken.
(She stops and levitates four dragon-size bracelets into view, each accented by a horseshoe-shaped charm in a different theme. One is floated onto the foreleg of every dragon, the camera briefly cutting to a bemused Fountain and Tumble as she speaks.)
Izzy: I wanted to make a good impression, so I crafted these charms for you. They have our names on ’em, so you can remember who your new friends are.
(The last word is barely out of her mouth before she utters a huge gasp and darts away, circling to insert herself between Leaf and Luxxe.)
Izzy: What are your names?
Luxxe: (young, energetic) I’m Luxxe. You made this? I love it!
Izzy: (touching own chest, extending foreleg) Hoof to heart, Luxxe.
(Luxxe thumps a foreleg against the limb, inadvertently pushing Izzy back so that she bumps into an unimpressed Leaf.)
Izzy: Whoa!
(She topples to the ground as the green male sniffs and licks at his bracelet, the taste clearly disagreeing with him.)
Leaf: (petulant; shuddering, shaking foreleg) Yuck! (Cut to Izzy/Fountain/Tumble on the next line, Fountain shaking her bracelet. Izzy is upright again.)
Tumble: (easygoing; reprovingly) Leaf, be nice to them. (holding his up) They brought presents! (Back to Leaf on the following.)
Leaf: I want a good one! Are they all the same, Tumble? (Luxxe launches herself off his head with a shout and swipes his bracelet.) Hey!
(Over by the Marestream, Pipp has risen to a hover and is glaring daggers at her phone. Fountain lands on one extended metal wing to peer over her shoulder.)
Fountain: (inquisitive) I’m Fountain. What are you doing?
Pipp: Hi, I’m Pipp. (moving phone around; it buzzes) I’m just trying to find a signal. (Frustrated groan.) My phone is really acting up! (Cut to Fountain on this last.)
Fountain: Um, signal? Uh, I don’t know if we have that here. (whispering) Also, what is a phone?
(A horrified gasp from the pop star’s direction; cut to her, squealing and sputtering out her disbelief at this admission of technological ignorance.)
Pipp: What did you just say to me?!?
(The beep of another phone cuts in; on the next words, cut to Zipp holding her FlyPad and ready to record.)
Zipp: Okay, so. Name—Tumble. Age—dragon age. Current questions—these.
(Longer shot. Leaf and Luxxe lounge off to one side, watching the detective address her subject. Leaf has recovered his bracelet.)
Zipp: When did you all wake up?
Tumble: (sighing) When the Evil One came!
Zipp: Evil One? (Her eyes pop and she sucks in a huge gasp.) Opaline! (Cut to Pipp/Fountain.)
Fountain: Her magic shook the Isles, and she captured Lava and Jade! (Back to Zipp on the following.)
Zipp: Opaline captured two of your friends? How?
Tumble: It takes us dragons weeks to awaken from a magical hibernation that deep. (Growl; Misty steps up.)
Misty: She attacked when you were half-asleep? That sounds like Opaline.
Leaf: (lowering head into view) Our shimmers haven’t been too bright since then. Look!
(A moment’s grunting strain sends a brief, weak pulse of light along the green scales from head to tail, similar to the effect Sparky has manifested at times. He huddles into himself with a defeated moan, while Izzy pops up behind him with an incredulous gasp.)
Izzy: That is very bad. (The scale on his haunch shows two leaves.)
Fountain: (glumly) Well said, pony. (She and Tumble sigh.)
Tumble: How strong is this Opaline?
Luxxe: Do you think Lava and Jade are okay?
Misty: (hesitantly) I hope so.
(Cut to a long shot of Opaline Arcana’s castle, zooming in slowly as lightning tears through the cloud-choked sky, then dissolve to the dimly lit upper reaches of a cavernous room. The camera rotates to point down toward the floor, revealing this area as a large circular chamber illuminated by violet-flaming torches and a few meager candles on ledges that run around the circumference. The floor is covered with a mosaic in yellows and browns, with a gray-tinted central section, and contorted lengths of trunk and branches snake along the walls from floor to ceiling—part of the Together Tree incorporated into the castle, as Opaline noted in “Nightmare on Mane Street.” She stands facing two fiercely struggling dragons who cannot break free of the horn-conjured collars around their necks or the tethers running from them to the floor. She is idly floating something around herself, and a close-up on the next line picks it out as the Dragon Stone she stole. One dragon is male, with deep red hide/wings, green horns, and dark green eyes; the other is female, with pale blue hide/wings and horns, pink hair, and light blue eyes. These two are Lava and Jade, respectively.)
Opaline: There’s my sleepy little scalies. (Lava throws out a foreleg to block her from reaching Jade…) How are we today, minions?
(…and, now in a proper rage, blows a jet of fire toward the pair’s captor. She just laughs contemptuously and creates a momentary shield to block it, then lets it fall and sashays slowly toward them. Cut back and forth between them and her on the next words.)
Quiet, minimal, foreboding guitar melody with bass synth and pizzicato strings
Slow 4 (G flat minor)
Opaline: Ohhh! Looks like somebody needs a lullaby. Well… (She brings the Dragon Stone up to Lava’s face; his pupils constrict.) …let me give you one.
Guitar/strings out; sparse percussion in
(Her next move is to bring out a compact identical to the ones Misty has used to communicate with her and help spy on Sunny, pop its lid, and regard her image in its mirror.)
Opaline: When I walk past a mirror, I scare myself
I’m the queen of mean
(Snap it shut; pull Lava’s leash down so she can look him straight on. Both he and Jade are in the thrall of the Dragon Stone.)
Don’t care about anypony other than me
(Fly across the chamber and land before Jade.)
Isn’t that lovely?
(She has to dodge a few flaming spits and throws back a wave of magic; Jade lifts a wing to shield herself.)
Don’t ask me to be nice, I don’t want to
I don’t play fair
I’m giving you the heat you can’t handle
Strings in; percussion out for next line only
(spoken in rhythm) And I don’t care
Spoken background lyrics in square brackets
Opaline: I’m a villain [Glamorous and mean]
(The Dragon Stone subdues Lava and she perches on his head.)
I’m a villain [Evil as can be]
(She launches herself across to balance on Jade’s noggin.)
Darling, I’m a villain [Make you shiver through your teeth]
(Hang upside down to stare at the female, then bound off to the floor.)
(spoken in rhythm) Don’t you cry now, it will all be fine, I’m a villain
Strings out; guitar in for two bars only, then out again
Opaline: I’m a villain
Vocal harmonies behind lyrics
(She flies back and forth across the screen, leaving a wake of fire that subsides to frame her and a pony-shaped mannequin against a blue background.)
Opaline: Hush, little pony, don’t say a word
(Flames kindle in her eyes, matched by spots that flare up on the fabric head and grow to fill the screen.)
Or you’ll get cursed
(Her wings ignite for a moment; next she conjures and dissipates a fireball.)
Can you feel the flames getting closer?
Ain’t that the worst?
(Dummies of Sunny’s friends disintegrate into wisps of flame, followed by one of the orange mare; the Unity Crystals float in its place.)
Don’t ask me to be nice, I don’t want to
I don’t play fair
(Her reflection plays across them before the three gems pull apart and she banishes them with an incendiary wing wave.)
I’m giving you the heat you can’t handle
Percussion out for next line only
And I don’t care
Percussion/harmonies out; strings in
Background lyrics are now sung, not spoken
(A wash of fire shifts the action back to the chamber.)
Opaline: I’m a villain [Glamorous and mean]
(A stomp shakes the whole place, and a violet glow settles onto both dragons’ eyes to match the power wreathing the Dragon Stone.)
I’m a villain [Evil as can be]
(They are yanked to the floor, Jade returning to her senses.)
I’m a villain [Make you shiver through your teeth]
(spoken in rhythm) Don’t you cry now, it will all be fine
Percussion in
(transition to singing) I’m a villain
Ooh, I’m a villain
(Now her own eyes take on that eerie violet aura.)
(spoken in rhythm) I’m a villain
(A malicious laugh rings out as the magic takes hold of Jade’s eyes again in extreme close-up. The Dragon Stone drifts past, the view wiping behind it to one of Opaline’s eyes and zooming out quickly to frame her from the chest up as the light fades from her pupils.)
Song ends abruptly
Opaline: (flaring wings) Oh, I’m so scary.
(The feathers are folded forward and rippled in a gesture of command. Cut to ground level, Jade and Lava having bowed so low that their chins nearly scrape the tiles, with one of Opaline’s hooves in the fore. The magical collars and tethers vanish.)
Opaline: (from o.s.) There we are. (Longer shot, framing her; the dragons stand up.) Now, let’s have some of that dragon fire.
(Two streams lance into the Dragon Stone she is now levitating above her head; cut to a close-up of it. A stream of pale blue light issues from the artifact, dividing into streaks and curlicues that spread throughout the surrounding air. Cut back and forth between her and the display during the net line.)
Opaline: My plan is growing. (Giggle) And nopony or dragon is going to stop me.
Act Two
(Cut to an overhead shot of the six ponies and five dragons gathered near the Marestream and zoom in slowly.)
Blaize: Okay, then, ponies. (Close-up.) You say that you aren’t with this evil dragon-napper pony. (Cut to Zipp on the following; she has put her FlyPad away.)
Zipp: May the record show that Opaline is an alicorn.
Sunny: (hastily) But not all alicorns are evil.
(She throws an amiable foreleg across the white shoulders to make her point.)
Leaf: (skeptically) Mmm-hmm.
(Comes now the muffled sound of Sparky’s cheerful babbling. Sunny and Zipp glance toward the Marestream; cut to just inside the cabin door, which slides open to frame all eleven. The ponies smile, Luxxe gasps sharply, and the other dragons follow suit as a drowsy Sparky hops down, leaving his McSnips-a-Lot doll in the cabin. He clambers up onto Hitch’s back; before Blaize can get even one word out, Luxxe lands on her shoulders and drives her flat.)
Luxxe: (excitedly) A hatchling?!? (Blaize throws her off, her old suspicions flaring up.)
Blaize: If you aren’t dragon-nappers, then why do you have a baby dragon?
(Cut to said dragon on the end of this, Izzy crossing to him and Hitch as she speaks.)
Izzy: That’s Sparky. Hitch found his egg back in Equestria and took care of him. (Hitch’s ears have pricked up in alarm by this point.) He’s sort of Sparky’s dad now.
(Hitch promptly gets the everloving daylights scared out of him twice over—first by Blaize’s foot slamming into the earth much too close for comfort, then by her irate countenance growling softly and snorting smoke into his rattled one. He swallows hard and forces a placating smile onto his lips.)
Hitch: His pony dad, but really he’s my best friend and little deputy— (Cut to Sparky on his back; he continues o.s. with a shaky chuckle.) —and so much more!
(A soft gasp from the o.s. Tumble; cut to him and Leaf, both instantly captivated.)
Tumble: Fry my tail, there hasn’t been a baby dragon around here in a volcano’s age! What?
Leaf: (shaking him) It’s like a miracle! A hatchling could restore shimmer to all of Scaly!
(Sparky laughs and delivers a kiss to the back of Hitch’s head; behind Blaize, the other adult dragons peek out to either side.)
All dragons except Blaize: Awww…
Luxxe: (to Blaize) I don’t think these ponies are our enemies.
Blaize: (sighing heavily) You’re too quick to trust, Luxxe. I still don’t understand why they came all the way out here. (Tilt down to frame Sunny standing between them on the next line.)
Sunny: Because we want to stop all of Equestria from falling into a darkness so dark that we may lose the light of friendship forever!
Pipp: (hovering by Fountain’s head, whispering to her) That would be bad, like, super-bad.
Sunny: So, please, dragon friends. Band together with us.
(Close-up of her cutie mark, which flares up in a burst of sparks.)
Sunny: (from o.s.) Help us stop Opaline— (To Fountain/Tumble and then Leaf/Luxxe, all starting to come around.) —restore the magic shimmer and kindness in all of Equestria— (To her, then Blaize on the next words.) —and rescue your fellow dragons that Opaline has taken.
(The grimacing pink face tells of its owner’s mental struggle, which quickly tips the wrong way when Izzy’s magic whaps her upside the head with a fifth charm bracelet.)
Izzy: (from o.s.) Ta-daaa!
(The unicorn is lifted giggling into view on the end of the tail, only to have it yanked brusquely away; she drops o.s. with a yell, the jewelry going with her. Blaize sighs resignedly as Izzy straightens up into view with another bubbly laugh.)
Blaize: We must first request approval from our leader, the Dragon Lord, to form a partnership with ponykind.
Zipp: Well, where can we find him? We don’t have all day!
Misty: Technically, we do, because the Marestream is, well, broken. So we are kinda stuck here.
Zipp: (deflated) Oh. Yeah.
Blaize: (disdainfully, turning toward forest) Follow us, little ponies. We will lead you to our ancient, much larger, much wiser, and much more secretive leader.
(As she finishes, cut first to Hitch/Pipp/Sparky and then Misty/Zipp, all of whom tentatively follow her lead. The camera then shifts to a short distance behind the departing dragons and zooms out just far enough to frame Izzy’s foreleg being raised into view.)
Izzy: (from o.s.) Excuse me, Blaize. Might I make a suggestion? (Cut to her, Sunny, and Zipp.) I was thinking maybe it would be-hoove us—
Misty: Clever!
Izzy: Uh, thank you.—to have some of us stay here to try and get the Marestream fixed in the meantime.
(Cut to Blaize/Fountain/Tumble on this last, a few knowing looks and cocked eyebrows passing from one scaly face to another, then back to Sunny and Izzy.)
Sunny: Great idea, Izzy!
Pipp: (flying across, touching down alongside) Yes, yes, yes! Izzy can craft a fix for the power source on the Marestream— (holding up Zipp’s FlyPad; it buzzes and shows a “no service” icon) —and I will find some residual pegasus wi-fi to make a call for help! (She cheerfully throws the gadget skyward.)
Misty: (with a touch of fear) Um…I’ll stay too.
(Blaize whispers briefly to Luxxe behind one set of claws.)
Luxxe: And Leaf and I will stay here with you ponies—not because we’re keeping an eye on you or anything—
(Blaize claps a foot to her forehead at her compatriot’s utter failure to keep a secret; pan to frame Leaf on Luxxe’s other side as he speaks.)
Leaf: —but because we love making jokes while others do work! (Laugh.)
Hitch: Great! Let’s get going! No reason for this to drag on.
(He laughs heartily at his own pun, but all others within earshot just roll their eyes and clear the area.)
Hitch: “Drag on…” (Sparky coos his own disapproval…) Seriously? Nothing? (…and hops off Hitch’s back.) Come on, that was a good one.
(Dissolve to an overhead shot of Sunny/Hitch/Zipp moving along a path through the jungle and accompanied by Blaize/Fountain/Tumble. Sparky is riding on Hitch’s back again, and Zipp has donned her foreleg pouch and shoulder plate. Close-up of Tumble, walking point, on the start of the next line.)
Tumble: Everything on the Isle of Scaly used to shimmer. But ever since we woke up, the magic keeps fading. (Pan back to the rear half of the group.)
Sunny: (to Blaize) I really appreciate this. I know it can be difficult to trust newcomers, but I want to assure you that we are on your team.
(The camera cuts back and forth between the two on her second sentence. Now the scale on Fountain’s haunch can be discerned as a water wave.)
Blaize: (chuckling; all stop) And we will see when we meet the leader if we are on yours.
Sunny: I hope you are, because I just know we’ll be better together. I can feel it!
Fountain: (hunching down to Sunny) So what are you? The leader of the ponies?
Sunny: No, um…I-I just like to plan what we do and support my friends and be an ally for anypony who needs it.
Blaize: Whatever. Here’s the thing. When we meet the leader of dragons, you’re the leader of ponies.
(Cut to Sunny on this last, face falling and ears drooping as the meaning sinks in, then back to Blaize.)
Blaize: Got it?
Sunny: (smiling) Uh-huh.
(Cut to the Marestream and zoom in slowly; Izzy, Pipp, and Misty are in the cockpit. In close-up, Izzy steps across to the Hope Lantern on the dashboard, her crafting glasses balanced on her nose, and flips the control panel up on a set of hinges.)
Izzy: Okay…
(Close-up of a tangle of now-exposed wiring, festooned with several unhooked connectors.)
Izzy: (from o.s., levitating two up) …so if I connect this wire— (Cut to her and Misty; she snaps them together.) —to this wire, and I turn this knob, it…
(She is rewarded with an angry electric crackle.)
Izzy: (magically closing panel) …well, that’s something, at least.
Misty: I don’t get it. No matter what we do, the Hope Lantern just gets dimmer and dimmer.
(Cut to/from said Lantern as she speaks, its miniature Pris-Beam rainbow guttering like a candle in a breeze.)
Pipp: It’s not just the Lantern! All my devices are drained, too—and I’ve had them plugged into the Marestream’s outlet all day!
(Misty’s glance toward the floor on one side and a cut to that area fill in all the details. Laptop, phone, boom box, speaker—all wired to the same stuffed power strip seen in the prologue. Both the laptop and phone are displaying “low battery” warnings.)
Pipp: (from o.s.) It’s so weird, right? (Cut to her and Misty.)
Misty: (holding up strip) Uh, maybe your stuff is draining the energy from the Lantern.
Pipp: Yeah, that’s not really how the Lantern works. Plus, if they were, don’t you think they’d at least be a little charged?
Izzy: (leaning into view, exerting field over strip) Let’s just unplug this— (Pop all the plugs out.) —just in case.
(Cut to the Lantern and zoom in; it continues to flicker, accompanied by a gasp from the o.s. amateur repair-pony. Back to her.)
Izzy: Even dimmer? What is this, Opposite Day? Oh, spark my horn, none of this makes sense!
Luxxe: (from o.s., muffled) Uh…
(A new camera angle picks her out, peeking over the lower edge of the windshield from outside. The next three lines are muffled by the glass.)
Luxxe: …we weren’t trying to eavesdrop. (Leaf leans smugly into view.)
Leaf: We were actively doing it.
Luxxe: (tapping windshield) But it sounds like the Marestream isn’t draining the Lantern.
Misty: Of course! The Lantern is the problem! (Cut to it and zoom in slowly; she continues o.s.) It’s losing power on its own! (Back to her.) But why?
(Gears begin to turn within the blue cranium. Cut to a slash of pink sky, seen from between the walls of a ravine, and tilt down to frame the group on the move along its floor. Sparky is on Hitch’s back.)
Hitch: (to Tumble) So all dragons have different kinds of magic? (They stop. Tumble’s haunch scale can now be seen—a wind gust.)
Tumble: That’s right! Watch this, dude.
(One deep breath later, he is breathing a jet of fire that strikes a patch of ground in close-up. The fragments of plant debris scattered here do not ignite, but are instead swept up into a small, glimmering mass of air that whirls wildly in place. A stunned gasp from the o.s. Hitch; back to him, Sparky, and Tumble. The ball of wind bounces away like a tumbleweed in a desert.)
Hitch: (laughing) Whoa! Is that why they call you—
Tumble: —Tumble? (laughing) You got it! Luxxe can illuminate with her light magic, Fountain can bend and spray water with her fire. Ah! It’s so cool! (All move on.)
Sunny: This must be where the Dragon Lord lives?
(Cut to the end of the ravine and zoom in slowly as she finishes; they are approaching a stronghold carved out of the rock face. On either side of the path is a large, scaly-surfaced rock carving that thrusts upward from the earth, cut by curling, green-glowing curves—very similar to the ones Sunny and company found during their visit in Part Two of “Family Trees.” Two more grooved sculptures sit atop the elevated entrance as a pair of horns, and two basins filled with green flames flank the approach. A window is cut into each side wall, while an immense horn is aimed directly at the entrance.)
Blaize: (from o.s., softly) Where he hibernates.
(Cut to a suitably impressed Sunny/Hitch/Zipp on this last, Sparky burbling his opinion. All stop before the horn, where Blaize pulls in a colossal breath and lets it rip through the mouthpiece. The result is a bellowing, ground-shaking bass tone that ejects clouds of dust—and a few rudely awakened flying critters—from the bell and causes the grooves cut along its length to blaze up green. This sequence picks out Blaize’s haunch scale as a fireball. As the thundering blast dies away, the camera cuts to a close-up of the end of a violet tail, hanging over a ledge in a dimly lit space. It twitches slightly to the sound of a cavernous snore…the ponies watch, anxiety running high…the tail is lifted away and its male owner begins to stand up, showing green eyes, a pale yellow-green underbelly, green spines spotted/ringed with violet running from the crown of the head down its back, and violet wings shading to green…ponies and dragons stand awestruck…and the newly awakened dragon emerges into the light with a humdinger of a yawn and sniff, squinting against the brightness.)
(Cut to his perspective as he grunts softly and the adult dragons bow. Zipp follows suit, the camera shifting to the ponies’ level.)
Zipp: (to Sunny/Hitch) It’s probably a good time to bow. (So they do.)
Sunny: (to Hitch) Mmmm…he looks familiar. Right?
Blaize: (from o.s.) Ponies from Equestria… (Cut to frame her, now upright.) …behold our exalted leader of dragons…
(Tilt up to put her out of view and frame the violet male, standing at the entrance.)
Blaize: (from o.s.) …Dragon Lord Spike!
(The little dragon who had served as Twilight Sparkle’s number-one assistant in Ponyville, and who became one of her top diplomats once she assumed the throne of Equestria, is definitely no small fry anymore. He is more than a match for any of the other dragons in height and length. Another yawn; now Sunny has stood up out of her bow. The others will have done the same when seen next.)
Sunny: (completely floored) Spike?!?
Act Three
(He leaps nimbly down to the ground, yawning out a stream of his signature green fire, and shakes his head clear. He speaks in a slow deep voice with a slightly goofy tone.)
Spike: Whoa! (Laugh.) ’Scuse my breath. Just woke up.
Sunny: We are honored to meet such a legend as the Spike! I-Is it okay if I call you Spike?
Spike: It would be weird if you called me Fred or something— (laughing) —because that’s not my name.
(More laughs, accompanied by a poke at Blaize—who shoots him a dirty sidewise look and finds exactly no humor in the situation.)
Sunny: I-I just want you to know that I am a big fan. When I was a foal, my father told me stories of you, o-of the legends of Equestria’s past!
Spike: (smirking) Legend, huh? I don’t know about that. (The smirk drops.) Seriously, I don’t know about that. My memory’s a little foggy after all these centuries of magical hibernation. Uh, what moon is this?
Hitch: (laughing, not noticing that his badge is gone from his sash) I know how that is. I can’t remember anything when I wake up. It’s a miracle I can remember to put my badge on in the morning.
Blaize: (dryly) You’re not wearing a badge.
Hitch: (glancing at sash) Huh?
(And now Sparky clambers up on top of his head, laughing and holding the missing item. The infant drops it for Hitch to catch with a laugh, and it is quickly clipped back into place.)
Tumble: (from o.s.) Your Spike-ness… (Cut to him.) …they have a hatchling!
(The Dragon Lord lets a breath rumble softly through his nostrils as he leans down to put his nose in reach for Sparky to nuzzle contentedly.)
Spike: So this is why you came to find us.
Zipp: No, actually. We came because you’re in danger. Two dragons have already been captured by an evil alicorn. (Spike straightens in close-up.)
Spike: Evil alicorn?
Zipp: (from o.s.) Yes! (Cut to her.) Equestria is in danger as well. She’s trying to take over, and she’s gaining power! (To Hitch/Sparky on the next line.)
Hitch: She wants to steal all the magic for herself! (Back to Zipp on the next.)
Zipp: Which is why she’s also draining your dragon shimmer.
Sunny: We know that she’s been trying to take over Equestria since the days of—
Zipp: Twilight Sparkle! She protected our land somehow, keeping her out all this time!
(Cut to Spike, who utters a soft gasp as the name hits home.)
Spike: Twi? (Back to Sunny on the following.)
Sunny: But the spell has broken down, and now Opaline is back. We just want to stop her and keep our magic.
Spike: Come inside. I have a lot to tell you ponies.
Blaize: Are you sure, Your Spike-ness? We don’t know anything about ponies.
Spike: (authoritatively, turning to her) Well, I do, Blaize.
(He strides toward the cave, brooking no argument, and all others fall in behind him. Sparky has shifted from Hitch’s head to his back.)
Fountain: (mockingly) Blaize got burned! Ooooh!
(She trails off into a derisive little giggle, to which her target responds with a fed-up growl over her shoulder. Cut to the group walking through an interior stone passage.)
Sunny: Wow!
(Sparky gabbles out his wonderment as they move on through a stretch whose walls glisten with embedded gems.)
Spike: (sighing deeply) Meeting you takes me back. My best friends were ponies. (Cut to Sunny.)
Sunny: That’s what I’ve heard. (Back to Spike on the following.)
Spike: I haven’t thought about it in so long—uh, mostly because I was sleeping. (To the rest of the group; he continues o.s.) But I do remember my adventures with them. (Sigh; back to him.) But my mind feels so fuzzy since I went into that magic hibernation.
Hitch: When was that?
Spike: Hard to say. The spell was so strong.
Sunny: (nudging Hitch) Hitch, can you believe this? This is the baby dragon from the stories my dad used to tell me! (Cut to a pensive Spike; she continues o.s.) Spike was there with Twilight when Opaline got banished! (They emerge into a broader area.)
Spike: It all feels so foggy, like a dream.
(This proves to be a cavern with an elevated stone seat at the far end for a throne, lit by the gems and glowing grooves in the walls as well as a scattering of small windows that let in the sunlight. In the center of the floor is a broad, low basin that fills itself with green flames at Spike’s approach; a smaller basin burns on either side of the throne.)
Spike: But Twilight knew she had to protect magic from her somehow. (He takes the seat of power; cut to Fountain and Tumble.)
Tumble: That’s why us dragons have been on the Isle of Scaly, magically hibernating for all this time. (sitting) It was part of the plan. (As Spike speaks, cut to him and zoom out slowly.)
Spike: Her plan saved us all. She helped us work together against darkness. See, there were these crystals.
Sunny: The Unity Crystals? (Cut to Spike.)
Spike: You know them?
Sunny: (from o.s.) Know them? (Back to her, Hitch/Sparky, and Zipp; she bounces in place.) We are the keepers of the Crystals!
(This gives the big guy pause; now Zipp whips out her FlyPad and activates its voice recorder.)
Zipp: Sorry to interrupt this, uh…moment, but what is the real story of the Crystals and Opaline? Who is she, really?
Spike: She’s dangerous. She’s the reason I had to part ways with my friends.
Zipp: Because she wanted the Unity Crystals? (Zoom in slowly on Spike.)
Spike: No. She wanted magic—all of it.
(Fire from the basin washes upward to fill the screen and clears to present a scene rendered somewhat like a cave painting: Twilight hovering with spread wings above a small crowd of ponies. Zoom out slowly to put a string of hills in the background, marked overhead by a setting sun and a crescent moon.)
Spike: (voice over) Twilight’s reign was peaceful for many moons— (Pan to frame Opaline charging in on the wing, from a city nestled among the clouds. Zoom in slowly.) —until Opaline Arcana appeared. She’d been banished from Skyros.
(Recall that Opaline had mentioned this location in “Sunny Side Up” as being her home during her youth. Cut to a gobsmacked Sunny in the present.)
Sunny: The alicorn land? (Zoom in slowly on Spike.)
Spike: She wanted to rule all ponies. She thought that alicorns were superior. But my friends were strong.
(On the start of this last sentence, the view shifts back to the cave-painting style, now showing a group of three dragons, and his words shift to a voice over. Zoom out slowly as a wave of violet magic washes over them; a laughing Opaline stands her ground and casts a spell to drain power from their mouths into her body.)
Spike: (voice over) Our friendship had created such powerful magic that Opaline had to resort to dark ways to overthrow Equestria. (Her laughter echoes over the scene as fire wreathes her.) She even attacked the dragons to transform into a fire alicorn!
(Back to the here and now.)
Sunny: That’s what she’s done again!
Blaize: That’s why she came for Jade and Lava!
Tumble: For their fire!
(Cave painting: a close-up of the separated Crystals, zooming out slowly to frame one pony of each tribe beneath, as well as a dragon and the Dragon Stone.)
Spike: (voice over) The Crystals were created to hide the magic of Equestria in them—all of pony magic, and all of dragon magic inside the Dragon Stone. (Pan away from the group to the fiery Opaline.) Twilight sent us here to protect us— (The flames flicker out; a shield forms around the assailant, set with Twilight’s cutie mark.) —and put a spell around Equestria to hide it from Opaline.
(The present: a slow zoom out from Sunny/Hitch/Zipp.)
Sunny: The spell was damaged when we brought magic back, when the three pony kinds reunited again after centuries.
Spike: You lost magic? All by yourselves? (moaning) I’m going back to sleep. (He turns to depart as Zipp puts her FlyPad away.)
Sunny: Wait! We still have a chance. (Spike halts.)
Blaize: (defeated tone) Do we?
Sunny: (galloping up to balance on one side of the basin) Yes, because the truth is, you’re strong! (stomping for emphasis) You are dragons! (She hops down to face Fountain and Tumble.) Yes, your shimmer may be fading and you may be tired and scared— (Her magic horn and wings begin to emerge.) —but that’s not who you are! (Cross to Blaize.) You can still turn this around! You can still help!
Blaize: It’s already over.
Sunny: No!
(As she continues, the phantom appendages take full shape and she lifts off into a hover, a flash of brilliant white light enveloping her for a split second and vanishing her saddlebag.)
Sunny: When you have hope, it’s never over! (Amazed smiles from Fountain/Tumble; she descends to land between Hitch and Zipp.) And I know you still have a shimmer of it.
(Extreme close-up of the scale on Tumble’s haunch. It comes alive with a bright golden glow in time with his gasp from o.s.; cut to frame all of him, circling in place for a better look at himself.)
Tumble: I see what you mean!
(Now a gasp is heard from the o.s. Fountain; pan quickly to her regarding the scale on her own haunch doing likewise.)
Fountain: The sunny pony is right!
Blaize: (sighing bitterly) You sound delusional.
Fountain: So are we to just give up instead, Blaize? Forget about our friends? Let evil win?
Blaize: (sputtering a bit) Maybe?
Spike: I am leader of the dragons. (jumping off throne, approaching Sunny/Hitch/Zipp) And I remember my pony friends. I never want to forget them.
(Sunny’s hopeful, grateful smile is accented by Sparky’s cheering jump down from Hitch’s back. He totters forward and spits fire onto a loose rock, turning it into a pile of marshmallows—one of which he proceeds to scarf down. Blaize gasps in disbelief alongside Spike’s astonished gape.)
Blaize: Transformation fire?!
Hitch: Sparky, now is not the time for snacks, buddy! (Sparky lets off a flaming belch.)
Fountain: I thought it was just a myth!
Blaize: Me too.
Spike: (hunching down to Sparky) This little one is special. (A confident gurgle; Spike straightens up to address the ponies.) And so are you. You remind me a lot of somepony I once knew. (They trade smiles.) Twilight.
Sunny: So you’ll help us? You’ll join our team to defeat Opaline for good?
Spike: I’m in.
Blaize: (pointedly, but smiling) Don’t you mean “we’re in,” Your Spike-ness?
(The scale on her haunch flares up gold and the dragons all smile. From here, cut to the group exiting the stronghold, accompanied by Spike. The scales have quieted down, but Sunny’s horn/wings are still present. Zipp is flying, while Sparky toddles along between Fountain and Tumble.)
Sunny: We have to hurry!
Hitch: Come on, Sparky!
(He glances back over his shoulder, only to see that Fountain and Tumble are using the laughing baby dragon as the ball in a game of catch. Hitch smiles, knowing that neither adult will let him come to any harm, but the mirth rapidly drains from his face as a new thought takes hold.)
Hitch: Um, Your Spike-ness? (Spike leans down to his level.) Do you think Sparky might belong…here… (Cut to Sparky nuzzling Fountain and being held by Tumble; he continues o.s.) …with other dragons?
(Back to the Dragon Lord and the stallion on the start of the next line.)
Spike: Some of the best times of my life were with my pony family. If I could be there again, I would. (He straightens up.) You two are a team. You belong together for now.
Hitch: (brightening) We do? (Spike hunches down again.)
Spike: Like a peanut butter and crystal sandwich!
(He snickers at this bit of draconic culinary humor; now Sparky runs laughing back to Hitch and is promptly swept into a hug. Cut to a close-up of the erratic Lantern on the dashboard of the Marestream, which is shaking to the sound of laughter from the o.s. Leaf and Luxxe. A longer shot from outside shows the two dragons rocking the vehicle from side to side while Izzy, Pipp, and Misty sit dejectedly in front of it. Now Luxxe’s haunch scale is visible as a spiral.)
Misty: This is awful! We’re stuck, and they’re going to be back soon!
Izzy: (smiling) At least we had fun while we didn’t fix anything.
(She laughs along with the scaly pair but fails to raise the spirits of the other two mares.)
Izzy: (standing up) I love laughter.
Sunny: (from o.s.) Good news, everypony!
(Cut to frame her and the rest of the traveling contingent, approaching the Marestream, as she finishes. Sparky is on Hitch’s back.)
Sunny: Ponies and dragons are now working together!
(Varied sounds of triumph from Izzy/Pipp/Misty as they fly/gallop across, followed by Leaf and Luxxe. Cut to Sunny and Hitch.)
Hitch: Now let’s go get that Dragon Stone and stop Opaline!
Zipp: (from o.s.) Izzy… (Pan to her.) …fire up the Marestream! (Cut to Izzy/Pipp/Misty.)
Izzy: Um, when you say “fire it up,” like, should we burn it? Because it is toast! (Back to Sunny and company on the following.)
Sunny: We’re stranded?
(The next words are marked by a tilt up to the faces of Spike and Tumble.)
Spike: (knowingly) I wouldn’t say that.
(He spreads his wings, as do the other five adult dragons, and Pipp voices an ecstatic gasp as Misty beams.)
Izzy: Yeah!
Hitch: Woo-hoo!
Zipp: Wow!
(Sunny smiles; Sparky blabbers joyfully. Dissolve to the throne room of Opaline’s castle, the camera trained on the portion of the Together Tree growing up through the space. Where it had previously had a single leaf emblazoned with a white copy of a cutie mark stolen from a pony—Posey, to be precise—there are now dozens of them hanging from the gnarled limbs. Evidently she has put the fire of Jade and Lava to good use in stealing them as previously planned. Zoom out slowly, then cut to Opaline seated on her throne on the start of the next line.)
Opaline: The seeds of my reign are finally sprouting!
(A spot of blue/violet light kindles on her chest, and she hops off her seat and lifts off with horn/wings glowing as she continues.)
Opaline: Welcome to the Era of Opaline Arcana. (Blue fire washes out from her wings.) Without their cutie mark magic, they cannot shine. (Pluck a leaf.) Then their unity magic will wilt and die on the vine.
(A burst of venomous laughter yields to a sharp gasp and glower.)
Opaline: Those miserable do-gooder ponies will never be able to stop me now.
(Cut to an overhead shot of the room and zoom out as she cackles madly, then to a stretch of clouds in the sky over the Isle of Scaly. Four winged silhouettes rise from the misty masses and resolve into a diving Spike, Blaize, Fountain, and Luxxe; varied shouts/whoops/laughs mark the ponies’ presence on their backs even before they can be clearly seen. Sunny is riding on Blaize, Pipp and Zipp on Fountain, Hitch and Sparky on Spike, Izzy and Misty on Fountain. Sunny’s horn and wings have dispelled themselves, the Lantern is in her grip and glowing brightly, and her saddlebag is strapped on. Zipp has shed her foreleg pouch and shoulder plate. Spike is now wearing a bracelet in the style of those brought by Izzy, and Blaize has donned the one she was offered in Act Two.)
Sunny: (to Blaize) I don’t know how to thank you!
Blaize: Save it! We’re a team now. (She glances down at her bracelet.)
Fountain: (to Pipp/Zipp) You think we can do it? Save Equestria and the Isle of Scaly?
Zipp: Well, it’s not gonna be easy.
Sunny: But if we all work together, we can do anything! Who’s ready to take down Opaline?
Misty: I am!
(Sparky shouts his assent, drawing gentle laughter from the rest of the party that is cut short when an electronic blip is heard from Pipp’s general vicinity.)
Pipp: Hold on, hold on! (She whips out her phone.) My phone just turned on! (waving it) Can you say all that inspiring stuff again, pleeeease?
(Hearty laughs all around as the dragons continue to beat their wings into the distance through the tranquil sky.)
Izzy: (amid the noise) Whee!…Higher, higher! Woo-hoo!…Oh, you can really fly!