ROOTS OF ALL EVIL—PART TWO
Written by Gillian Berrow, Tony Fleecs
Executive producers: Olivier Dumont, Randi Yaffa, Cort Lane
Story editing by Gillian Berrow
Supervising direction by Will Lau
Transcribed by Alan Back (ajback@yahoo.com)
Prologue
(Opening shot: a slow tilt up the height of the Crystal Brighthouse, seen in a long shot under a blanket of ominous dark clouds. The horizon is lost behind a thick fog bank. The gap in the structure’s Pris-Beam—triggered by Opaline Arcana’s theft of Hitch Trailblazer’s cutie mark at the end of Part One—stands out sharply against the remaining vibrant colors. Cut to a panicked Sunny Starscout and Misty in the lantern room, the Hope Lantern resting on the floor.)
Sunny: Hitch! No! (Misty gasps sharply, eyes widening.)
Misty: Opaline! She’s here!
Sunny: (picking up Lantern) We have to protect the Crystals. (The Unity Crystals, that is.)
Misty: (as both move toward the balcony) No! I think she’s here for our cutie marks!
(Three flying figures emerge from the clouds, resolving into Opaline and a hypnotized Jade and Lava; Sunny sets the Lantern down.)
Misty: Sunny, I don’t know if I can face her.
(The intruders land on the front walk with enough force to shake the entire hill, Opaline with horn blazing and wings aglow. As she laughs richly, the two dragons lift off again and are soon circling at balcony level. Opaline’s chest is marked by both the spot of light previously seen there and the gold necklace she created in Part One, the latter carrying Hitch’s mark.)
Sunny: Lava and Jade!
(They exhale streams of fire as one, only to see them stopped by an invisible force field whose presence is marked by a rainbow gleam playing across its surface.)
Sunny: If they get through Twilight’s protection spell—
Opaline: (rising into view) —there’s no place left to hide! Once I have you and your friends’ cutie mark magic, nopony in Equestria will be able to stop me.
(Cut briefly to/from a defiant Sunny and a scared-silly Misty on this line; she finishes with a lazy, cackling drift toward the Brighthouse, but is also brought up short. This time, the barrier manifests both the rainbow and a giant copy of Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark for a moment. Opaline snarls in frustration, her necklace falling off to clatter on the stones below. Cut to Misty peeking downward through the windows, her eyes widening, then back to Opaline on the start of the following.)
Opaline: That spell can’t protect you forever! Dragons, light it up!
(Her mad cackle splits the air as the flames surge toward the camera, Twilight’s mark again flaring on the shield to block them. Fade to white, then snap to black.)
OPENING THEME
Act One
(Cut from the title card directly to a long shot of the Brighthouse. The onslaught continues, the shield’s presence marked by rainbows and the familiar pink/white stars. Zoom in slowly.)
Opaline: More! MORE!
Sunny: The dragon fire is so strong, I don’t think the spell is gonna hold much longer! Misty, I need you to promise me, if I can’t stop her, you have to take the Unity Crystals and—
(She cuts herself off with a gasp upon realizing that the blue unicorn has cleared out. Opaline’s laugh echoes through the space.)
Sunny: M-Misty?
Opaline: (to Jade/Lava) Don’t stop until you break through!
(She has failed to notice the loss of her necklace, and a magical aura envelops it and slowly lifts it away from where it has fallen.)
Misty: (from o.s.) HEY! OPALINE! (Opaline glares downward; cut to Misty, now wearing the jewelry.) Is this necklace new? It’s pretty!
(Back to the big boss on this last; only now do the facts sink in, and she gasps in shock.)
Opaline: Misty?
(Ground level; Misty giggles and bolts down the hill.)
Opaline: (from o.s.) MISTY!! (Back to her; she addresses Jade/Lava.) AFTER HER!!
(All three dive for ground level, where Misty is now pelting through the community garden in a desperate search for any cover she can find. She darts out of sight an instant before Opaline lands in the middle of the plot.)
Opaline: You little thief! Give it back! (The dragons conduct aerial surveillance.)
Voice of Misty: Wasn’t it you who taught me how to steal, Opaline?
Opaline: (pacing) Quit hiding! Show yourself!
Voice of Misty: (as a bush shakes in time) Awww, but I thought you liked it when I was sneaky.
(Opaline zeroes in on the source and pounces toward it.)
Opaline: Gotcha!
(But she uncovers nothing more than a wayward rabbit.)
Voice of Misty: So… (It squeaks and scampers away; cut to her, behind some barrels and not wearing the necklace, as she continues.) …I guess now’s a good time to tell you that I’ve been sneaking around behind your back? (Back to Opaline.)
Opaline: (floored) You what?!? (She begins to move.)
Voice of Misty: I’m not on your side anymore, Opaline!
(By this point, the camera has shifted to the winged unicorn’s perspective, sweeping across the garden and locking in on a single shaking barrel.)
Opaline: Aha! (Zoom in quickly on this, then cut back to her; Jade/Lava close in at her gesture.)
Voice of Misty: I’ve got friends now! Real friends!
(Two blasts of fire torch the barrels, blowing them to scrap and scattering their contents all over the garden. The smoke slowly clears to reveal not Misty, but one of Zipp Storm’s drones—hovering in place with the necklace tied to it as a decoy. A supremely annoyed growl is heard from the o.s. Opaline before the camera cuts to Misty, hunkered down behind a different stack. She has been using a cell phone to steer the machine.)
Misty: And you can’t take that away!
(A snarl, a sizzling burst from the horn, and Opaline has cut the tow rope. The drone bounces uselessly across the dirt as she levitates the necklace back to its intended position at her throat. Misty risks a look, then gasps and ducks away in close-up, having put the phone away. The camera cuts between Opaline and her on the next line, Jade and Lava descending to hover on either side of their mistress.)
Opaline: Little traitor. I’ll show her. (hovering) Once I have the last of the cutie mark magic, I’ll come back here and show everypony!
(Once she and the dragons have lifted off to take flight, Misty abandons her refuge and barges out through the garden gates.)
Sunny: MISTY!! (Opaline and company flash along Mane Street.)
Opaline: To Zephyr Heights!
(All three hurtle through a portal she has opened at the base of the Together Tree standing near Canterlove Studios. Misty has made it to the area as well, narrowing her eyes, she voices a resolute little grunt and gallops in after them, the portal snapping shut afterward. Cut to a long shot of Zephyr Heights Palace under a foreboding sky of its own, zooming in slowly, then to the throne room or Grand Hall. A very nervous Thunder and Zoom are on duty before the dais, and a few equally jittery locals have gathered as well.)
Zipp: (from o.s.) Everypony! (She and Pipp Petals come in for a landing.) We know this is scary!
Pipp: But we’re going to be okay!
Zipp: No matter what happens, we’re Zephyr Heights. And Zephyr Heights never—
Opaline: (from o.s.) —never had a chance.
(Those four words throw a king-size monkey wrench into each sister’s brain; on their end, cut to Opaline, Jade, and Lava touching down on the gold/marble floor. There follows a screaming panic, with pegasi scrambling for whatever cover they can get.)
Opaline: Are you ready to surrender?
Zipp: (small voice) Uh-oh.
(Thunder and Zoom snap into position in front of her and Pipp, wings fully extended and ready to throw down. Pipp voices a quiet little shudder, green eyes flicking toward the crown and notes on her haunch—and then a calculating smile works its way onto the pink face.)
Pipp: I’ve got an idea! (She rises to a hover.) Hey, Opaline! You want our cutie marks? You can have them! (Zipp joins her, properly bewildered.) But if you want to capture the most potent cutie mark magic, you should let my sister and I sing you a song.
Zipp: What?!
Opaline: (incredulously) Oh, come on. A song?
Pipp: That’s when our sparkle shines the brightest!
(As she does a quick bit of vocalization, Opaline gasps upon seeing her mark flare in a burst of sparks.)
Opaline: So sing.
Pipp: (laughing) Not here! This room has terrible acoustics!
(She gets support for her assessment in the form of her words echoing back and forth through the immense space. Close-up of a rather irritated Opaline, whose mood is not helped by an airy giggle from the o.s. Pipp, then back to the sisters. Zipp’s is trying and failing to ease the tension with a grin of her own.)
Pipp: Awful, huh? Okay, follow me!
(She flies away past Opaline. Cut to the transit station or hangar that figured in A New Generation and “Father of the Bridlewood,” the camera angled up at the stained-glass windows set into the far end wall. To the sound of Pipp doing some vocal warm-ups, the camera tilts down to frame her, Zipp, and the three intruders. Pipp is the only airborne one of the five.)
Zipp: (to her, behind a wing) You do have a plan, right? Are you gonna let me in on it, or—
(Younger sister carries on, throwing the barest of nods to the perplexed elder.)
Opaline: (growling, spreading wings) Hurry up! It isn’t wise to test a fire alicorn’s patience!
(As she finishes, cut to Pipp now fiddling with her phone.)
Opaline: (from o.s.) Or we’ll just skip the song and dance and—
(A tap at its screen, and the view fades to white and in to her rising toward the uppermost portion of the windows. Opaline’s rant yields to a soft gasp.)
Quiet, echoing synthesizer line, fast 4 (D flat major)
Percussion in once Pipp begins to sing
Pipp: Hey, ponies, listen to me
You gotta hear what I’m saying
(Zipp starts to groove a bit as Pipp swoops down and pulls her into the air.)
You’ve got the sparkle deep inside
You’ve got a talent worth displayi-ing
Sometimes it feels a little hopeless
But things aren’t always what they seem
(Smiling, they twirl together upward and then separate to loop past a puzzled Opaline.)
Can you feel it, the energy?
Yeah, the power is growing
E flat major
Background lyrics in square brackets
(Pipp angles away from the windows and Zipp, coming briefly to rest near a curtain hung on a side wall. A flick of one wing toward this item causes Zipp to smile in response—she is slowly tuning in to whatever her sister has in mind.)
Pipp: Don’t look now, things are getting better
So hold my hoof, ’cause we’re growing together
(Pipp hovers by the windows, her mark blazing up…)
We’ve got the strength to take on whatever
’Cause we’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
(…while Zipp works on undoing one of the ropes holding the curtain up.)
[Don’t look now]
(Pipp descends to the floor as Zipp gets the mass of cloth free and hurls it, blacking out the screen for an instant. It settles over Opaline and the dragons, Pipp and Zipp getting clear just in time to avoid becoming entangled themselves.)
We’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
Song ends
(A moment later, they have grabbed up the rope and taken a couple of turns around the bulky, squirming bundle.)
Zipp: We did it! (They trade a double high five.) Let’s go and—
(Their celebration is abruptly curtailed by a mare’s snarl from floor level and an eruption of blue fire that burns away enough of the curtain for Opaline to emerge. Pipp and Zipp pivot to bail out, but each sister gets a magical binding clapped onto all four hooves; they hit the floor with all the artistry of two overstuffed sandbags.)
Opaline: (stepping toward them) I must admit, you two put on a pretty good show. But you forgot the first rule of performing. (They stare helplessly up at her.) Never turn your back on the audience.
Zipp: Please!
(Pale violet magic suffuses Opaline’s eyes and plucks the marks off the white and pink haunches.)
Pipp: No!
(The bubbled images float across to the purple thief and snap into the two openings that form the side barbs of the downward-arrow configuration on the necklace. Zipp’s mark appears in red to screen left, Pipp’s in pink to screen right. Cut to them, the bonds vanishing, then back to Opaline on the start of the next line; her eyes are back to normal.)
Opaline: Not so confident or courageous now, are we, Princesses?
(She lifts off. In the lantern room of the Brighthouse, Sunny boggles at the fading out of another portion in the Pris-Beam.)
Sunny: Oh, no! (The station; Pipp/Zipp stand up.)
Pipp: (stomping) You’ll never get away with this! (Opaline pulls the curtain off Jade and Lava.)
Opaline: I’ve heard that one before.
(All three wing their way out through the central opening in the stained-glass windows, missing the royal siblings’ heads by an uncomfortably close margin. Opaline turns to face them.)
Opaline: Maybe try a different tune next time.
(She and the dragons take their leave, her malevolent laugh hanging in the air as the camera slowly zooms out from the defeated, despondent Pipp and Zipp. In the palace garden, a portal opens at the base of its Together Tree and Opaline and the dragons come in for a landing. Head-on view as they touch down on the grass.)
Opaline: To Bridlewood!
Voice of Misty: (icily) Get away from my tree!
(The camera tracks around Opaline to pick out the former flunky standing a few yards behind.)
Opaline: (turning to her) Your tree?
Misty: I won’t let you do this to me, or my friends! (The two move to face each other point-blank.)
Opaline: Your friends?
Misty: They showed me what it means to care about somepony.
Opaline: (glancing past Misty) Huh?
(Close-up of the blue haunch and its vividly colored butterfly, zooming in quickly to a gasp from the o.s. Opaline, then back to her.)
Opaline: (snarling) There’s so much you’ve been hiding from me. (pacing around Misty) Your tree, your friends—and your cutie mark! (She flicks it with a contemptuous wing.) And all this time, I thought we were friends!
Misty: No! We weren’t! (more gently; zoom in slowly and cut between the two as she continues) It’s so sad. You’ve got all the power in Equestria, and you still haven’t ever felt true friendship. (Opaline pops up to a hover.)
Opaline: Ha! I have friends! (Jade and Lava growl softly at Misty.)
Misty: You have to force others to pretend to be your friends! (Cut briefly to a glowering Opaline on this last, then back.) Like me! That’s control!
Opaline: (dropping to face her) You ungrateful little pony!
Misty: You were by yourself for so many moons, all alone. I actually feel really sorry for you.
Opaline: (mockingly, rolling eyes) Wow, Misty, all grown up. (rising) So empathetic, so kind.
(The sap yields to an enraged snarl and a spell that leaves Misty’s hooves tied; she gasps in fright as it hoists her up to Opaline. The deep blue eyes go violet with magic and the butterfly lights up; close-up of this as it is pulled free and toward Opaline.)
Opaline: (from o.s.) I always told you. (Cut to frame both, her eyes normal again.) If you want your cutie mark, you have to do what I say. You used to be a good and loyal helper. (To/from Misty as she continues.) You can do that again, hmmm?
Misty: You didn’t give me my cutie mark, Opaline. (Cut to Opaline and back as she continues.) I earned it by helping my friends—and that’s something else you can’t take away from me!
Opaline: Is that so?
(The purloined image drifts down toward her necklace and attaches itself as a light blue copy, the point below Hitch’s mark forming a sixth circular indentation to hold it. In close-up, Misty voices a stunned gasp that turns into a squawk once Opaline frees her hooves and drops her unceremoniously to the turf. Back to the hovering mare on the next line.)
Opaline: I can take whatever I want! (waving) Ta-ta.
(She flies through the portal, Jade and Lava close behind, and it snaps shut; zoom out slowly from the heartbroken unicorn.)
Act Two
(In Bridlewood, the terrible trio arrives via portal in the trunk of the Wishing Tree, which closes behind them. Not another living creature is present in either the clearing or the forest beyond its edge.)
Opaline: (tauntingly) It’s almost as if nopony wants to see us. (They advance slowly across the hardpan.) Come on out, little ponies!
(The silence is broken by a single hyphenated word—“bing-bong”—softly and eerily repeated over and over, by multiple voices in both genders and a wide range of ages, pitches, and cadences. Opaline and the dragons continue their wary approach as mist begins to shroud the ground; she spots the dimly lit figure of Izzy Moonbow in the hazy distance, facing away from her and into the trees.)
Voice of Izzy: Bing…
(She trails off into a stutter before the camera cuts to a close-up, framing “her”—now seen to be a dummy—from behind. It cocks its head on the next word.)
Voice of Izzy: …bong!
Opaline: (unimpressed) Is this how you’re going to do this, unicorn? All creepy-like?
(She flaps toward the creation, approaching its hindquarters.)
Opaline: Is that what your sparkle comes from? Spookiness?
(A shove causes it to pivot on a hidden mount as the light comes up fully—Señor Butterscotch, given a color overhaul to match its builder.)
Opaline: Huh?
Voice of Izzy: Noooo… (Opaline growls.) …let’s jam!
(Something large and heavy is propelled out of the bushes in her aura; Opaline has only time for one popeyed gasp before it scores a direct hit and plows her away. Once the magic fades, the projectile is revealed as a bathtub full of red paint, which traps her underneath when it thumps upside-down onto the ground. She gets upright with a growl and hurls it aside, showing the vivid gunk splattered all over her body.)
Opaline: YUCK! (Various small art supplies are thrown her way, causing her to cry out.)
Izzy: (from o.s.) My sparkle…
(Now she can be seen standing on a boulder a few yards uphill, no longer wearing the starry orange crash helmet that she sported before wheeling out to Bridlewood in Part One.)
Izzy: …comes… (Zoom in quickly.) …from creativity! (producing/throwing a bucket of glitter) And glitter!
(One yell from the winged unicorn latter, the container has clanged down on target and is dangling from her horn, its contents spilling over her.)
Izzy: (pumping a hoof) Yes!
(Opaline snarls to herself as the half-crazed crafter makes a laughing, somersaulting escape into the undergrowth.)
Opaline: (to Jade/Lava, flipping bucket off head) CATCH THAT UNICORN!!
(The dragons have barely lifted off before they find themselves being pelted with all manner of fresh fruit, hurled by every unicorn who can find any way to get it into the air. A few winged critters even take part in a bombing run, and two unicorns gallop through the clearing with opposite ends of a stout rope in their mouths. The effect of this last maneuver is to sweep the legs of Jade and Lava out from under them and dump them flat.)
Izzy: (from o.s.) Yeah!
(Having had quite enough of all this silliness, Opaline utters a loud groan and lets a wave of fire wash over herself to burn away all the mess on her. Now, though, she is promptly hit by a barrage of thrown yarn balls, and a tennis ball mixed in with them impales itself on her horn. On the next line, cut to Izzy, who has returned to her boulder and is slinging these objects with her magic.)
Izzy: We could be using all this yarn to knit cool stuff if you weren’t such a big mean jerk!
Opaline: (under previous line) Huh?
(After taking a few more hits, she flares her wings to full extension and projects a flaming wave to repel the bombardment.)
Opaline: ENOUGH!!
(Voicing a savage yell, she throws out a hex that ties Izzy’s hooves together in close-up and drags her off the hill.)
Opaline: (now o.s.) I don’t have time for arts and crafts!
(She steps into view on this last word.)
Opaline: Now give me what I came here for!
(As she finishes, her eyes flare violet and the camera cuts to an extreme close-up of Izzy’s mark—whose colors are a bit off and whose central button is missing. The magic encapsulates it and lifts it away in time with its owner’s whimpering.)
Izzy: NOOOOOO!!
(Opaline’s eyes return to normal as the surrounding bubble fades away to leave an actual physical cop of the mark floating above her hoof, button and all.)
Opaline: (flabbergasted) What—what is this?!?
(Extreme close-up of the item during this line, then cut to a smiling Izzy.)
Izzy: Felt, hot glue, and a really big button.
(She is whirled in midair to give Opaline a clear view of her haunch and the real mark still affixed to it; now exposed due to the ersatz one having been peeled off. Opaline vents her frustration as a loud growl while Izzy kicks her horn into gear; in response, the first five notes of the My Little Pony theme/jingle are heard being honked out on a horn. Opaline barely has time for one bewildered look around herself before the source comes flying out of the trees and straight at her head—the unicorn’s Izzy Does It scooter, gripped in her aura. Screaming in terror, Opaline dives aside at the last possible moment and lets her spell dissipate, freeing Izzy to land neatly in the driver’s seat and let her crash helmet drop onto her head.)
Izzy: There’s always time for arts and crafts!
(She hits the gas, but is forced to slam on the brakes with a scream when Jade and Lava land dead ahead. A madly cackling Opaline descends from above to cut off any retreat, and Izzy gets her hooves bound all over again the instant she tries to make a break for it.)
Opaline: If you insist!
(A burst of violet energy across the deep blue pupils is all it takes to relieve Izzy of her real mark; the latter voices a gasp and shaky moan, but can only watch as it is plugged into the topmost aperture on Opaline’s necklace. In the lantern room of the Brighthouse, Sunny gasps to see another portion of the Crystals’ power wink out, leaving only one band of the Pris-Beam still up and running.)
Sunny: (hefting Lantern; it too is nearly out) I’m the only one left.
(The Crystals float within the badly depleted spectrum. Cut to a closed set of doors within Zephyr Heights Palace, which are thrown open from behind to expose a freaked-out Pipp and Zipp.)
Pipp, Zipp: Misty!
(Zoom out quickly. They have arrived in the garden, where a dispirited Misty sits with head bowed.)
Misty: (standing) She took my cutie mark.
Pipp: She took everypony’s.
Misty: What are we gonna do without them? (The sisters smile gently.)
Zipp: Cutie marks aren’t the only thing that makes us special.
Pipp: And nopony can take away what makes us special on the inside.
Zipp: You said that.
(So she did—or words to that effect, in Part One, Act Two.)
Misty: But I just feel so helpless.
(Pipp puts a comforting hoof to her shoulder before the now-closed doors are thrown open again to mark the arrival of Dazzle Feather, Skye Silver, Thunder, and Zoom.)
Zipp: H-Hey! Get away from the tree! You’ll make Opaline stronger!
(Pipp, meanwhile, turns her attention to some of the glimmering blooms nestled among the diseased purple foliage of the Together Tree.)
Pipp: Zipp, are you sure about that?
Zipp: Of course I’m sure! (pulling out her FlyPad) We know that the trees are connected!
(Close-up of the screen as she finishes; it displays the skylight photo she showed to the group in Part One—tree, with Crystals tucked in among roots that are connected to six pony figures. Zoom in slowly.)
Zipp: (from o.s.) And then the roots— (To Pipp, thinking very carefully.) —they’re leaching the power from the ponies!
Pipp: (smiling) I think we might have it backwards.
(The screen again; she taps a spot to bring up an extreme close-up of one pony and shifts to others—each one smiling.)
Pipp: (from o.s.) Do those ponies look like they’re losing their powers? No! (Zoom in on the last one.) They look happy! (Both sisters again.)
Zipp: (catching on) Like their happiness is what gives the trees their power?
Misty: Their friendship!
(As she continues, tilt slowly up along the Together Tree’s height to put her o.s., then cut back to the group.)
Misty: This tree right here—it grew out of the true friendship you ponies showed me on the day of the Cutie Blossom Bash!
Pipp: And the tree in Maretime Bay! It grew when all of us worked together!
(The lower portion of the FlyPad screen, zooming in slowly and shifting to the golden light at the center of the trunk.)
Zipp: (from o.s.) The ponies’ unity powers the trees! (Back to her.) We have to tell Sunny before it’s too late!
Misty: There’s no way we can get there faster than Opaline! How are we gonna tell her? (Pause.)
Pipp: (pulling out her phone) We could just call.
Misty: (laughing, chagrined) Oh. Right.
(Close-up of Pipp’s face on the screen. A smaller viewing window pops up in the top right corner, showing Hitch.)
Hitch: Hello? Hello? (The “squad” joins him; Izzy appears at bottom right, her helmet gone.)
Izzy: Hey-y’ello! (Sunny appears below these two, all three windows shrinking to fill the right edge.)
Sunny: Pipp!
(Respective locations: his office, Bridlewood, the lantern room of the Brighthouse. Cut to the orange mare.)
Sunny: Are you all okay? (Pipp’s image fills her phone screen.)
Pipp: (giddily) I sang a song to distract Opaline and it almost worked! (Zipp muscles her way in and takes it.)
Zipp: We have a new plan. Instead of staying away from the trees, we need everypony in Equestria to join together at them.
(This last sentence is marked by a cut to her, Pipp, and Misty, then a slow tilt up the height of the Together Tree that puts them o.s. Back to the three once she finishes.)
Misty: (pulling the phone toward herself) We might not have cutie mark magic anymore, but Opaline can’t take our friendships. (Zipp pulls it back.)
Pipp: And that’s true pony magic.
(Cut to Sunny’s screen on this last; she smiles warmly in the main image, with windows for Hitch, Izzy, and these three down the right edge. The view then shifts to a head-on shot of her.)
Sunny: Zipp, I trust your instincts. (Close-up of the Lantern; she continues o.s. and grabs it.) Hitch…
(Cut to him at his desk, “squad” gathered into his forelegs and with phone propped against his stapler.)
Voice of Sunny: …gather the Maretime Bay ponies. (He salutes; back to her, trotting onto the lift platform.) Zipp, Pipp, and Misty, you round up Zephyr Heights.
(Cut to them on this last, trading confident smiles/nods, then back to her descending the lift.)
Sunny: Izzy… (The unicorn sits with phone propped against a jutting crystal.)
Izzy: (standing, hopping in place) Bridlewood ponies to the Wishing Tree. On it! (Sunny reaches the shared bedroom, the shaft doors sliding open.)
Sunny: I know you ponies can do it.
(A quick survey of the area discloses the ruby locket she was given in “Mane Smelody” lying on the nightstand by her bed.)
Sunny: (firmly) I’m going to Opaline— (Her phone screen.) —alone. (Great consternation from the others; next three lines overlap.)
Hitch: What?!?
Pipp: It’s too dangerous!
Misty: No! (Cut to Sunny, now smiling.)
Sunny: Nopony is alone who has friends. I’ll be okay— (raising a front hoof, touching it to her chest) —hoof to heart. (The screen again.)
Others: (copying gesture) Hoof to heart.
(The phone is lowered to frame the jewelry; a moment later the front doors fly open and she gallops out, locket around neck and one foreleg crooked around the Lantern. One nimble leap is all she needs to conjure up her magic horn and wings and take to the air, her saddlebag disappearing.)
(Cut to the upper reaches of the throne room in Opaline’s castle and tilt down slowly along the height of the Together Tree growing through it and the plethora of cutie-marked leaves on the branches.)
Opaline: (voice over) The time has come!
(Dissolve to an overhead shot of her, Jade, and Lava in the circular chamber where she bested the dragons in Part One. Spike sits immobile within the force field she cast around him. The tilt down continues in time with her next words; she stands before the Dragon Stone on its central pedestal.)
Opaline: I have nearly all of the magic in Equestria! (Close-up; she laughs wildly and paces around it.) And once I take down Sunny Starscout, I’ll have the last of the cutie mark magic and the Unity Crystals at once!
(Close-up of Spike’s expressionless face, her laughter heard from o.s., then of Sparky Sparkeroni huddled under one of his broad wings and cooing worriedly. Opaline glances off to one side, toward the sound of an opening door; pan quickly to a boiling-mad Sunny, who has just arrived and pulled into a hover. She is no longer carrying the Lantern.)
Sunny: Opaline!
Opaline: And here she is now, right on schedule.
(She uses the British pronunciation for this last word, with an “sh” sound in the first syllable rather than “sk” as an American would say it. Cut briefly to/from the glowering orange mare on this line, surprise registering on her face as she takes in Spike’s predicament, and zoom in briefly on the two captive dragons. Sunny’s soft gasp is met by a sly giggle from Sparky.)
Sunny: (to Opaline) You have to stop this!
Opaline: (laughing mockingly) Stop this?
(With a grunt of exertion, she fires off a spell to bind Sunny’s hooves and pull her to the floor. The latter throws back a snarl.)
Opaline: (crossing to her) It’s already over! (spreading wings) I have all the magic in Equestria— (circling to eye Sunny’s cutie mark) —except this little bit right here.
Sunny: You don’t have to do this. And you don’t have to be alone. We can all live in unity.
Opaline: (pacing) Oh, I’m not alone. You’re here. And you’re just like me. You want power too. It’s what all alicorns want.
Sunny: (scoffing) You don’t know anything about me.
Opaline: Oh, don’t I? You don’t study magic and collect powerful artifacts? You don’t keep the Unity Crystals in your lair, locked away behind a magic spell? I’ve watched you.
(Cut briefly to/from Sunny on this last; she gasps softly as the accuracy of these words strikes home.)
Opaline: You reawakened all the magic in Equestria— (raising Sunny’s chin) —and look at you! (rising to a hover) You got more of it than any of your friends!
Sunny: That’s not what I wanted! (Cut to a whimpering Sparky and back as she continues.) I just want to protect my friends and understand magic! (To Opaline on this last word.)
Opaline: (chuckling softly) You seek knowledge. I see. (She drops closer to Sunny’s level.) And tell me, little pony, what is knowledge? (Horn ignites.) It’s power!
(With a savage growl, Sunny gets her own magic in gear to burst the hogtie. Opaline responds with a sustained blast, but Sunny counters with a shield around herself. The stalemate continues for some moments before both mares let up, but Opaline almost immediately goes on the offensive with shot after shot. Her deranged laughter hangs in the air as Sunny dodges each one and goes airborne to put up a new barrier. The deadlock resumes.)
Sunny: I’m not like you!
(She and Opaline cut their magic and engage in a lively dogfight, the former dodging or blocking everything the latter throws at her. Down below, Sparky retreats fearfully into the shelter of Spike’s wing. After a string of misses, Opaline snags all of Sunny’s hooves in a new hex and reels her up with a derisive laugh. Cut to Sparky, who leaves his refuge and begins to clamber up one violet leg.)
Opaline: (from o.s.) Fine! (Back to her and Sunny.) If you really don’t care about power, then watch me take it all! (Her eyes flare violet.)
Sunny: No!
(Close-up of her mark as the spell tears it away to the tune of her anguished cry, then cut to frame both again.)
Sunny: Please! (grunting) No!
(Her horn/wings and Opaline’s binding disintegrate at the same time, sending her into a screaming plummet. She hits the floor in a hard belly flop, her locket jarred away and clinking to the tiles, and struggles to raise herself even a fraction. Her saddlebag is back on. Meanwhile, Sparky has made it all the way to the bridge of Spike’s nose and nuzzles it sadly, finding himself at a loss as to how to snap the Dragon Lord out of his stupor. Opaline’s triumphant cackle rains down from above.)
Opaline: Now I’ve got the full set!
(Close-up of her necklace on these words, the mark snapping into place to fill the one empty spot directly below Izzy’s, then cut to frame all of her again.)
Opaline: I win!
(A blinding white light kindles in the bauble for a moment and subsides; now each flap of the purple wings leaves tongues of multicolored pastel flame.)
Opaline: I am the fire alicorn! I AM POWER!!
(Cut briefly to/from Sparky and Spike on this last pronouncement, then back to them after she has finished. A fresh gale of mad laughter drifts down from her as Sparky’s horns begin to glow, answered by the green spines on Spike’s head, and in extreme close-up one violet-hazed eye blinks back to its natural green. Spike comes the rest of the way back in short order, the light fading from his spines and Sparky’s horns, and the camera zooms out on the next line to frame Sunny and Opaline.)
Opaline: And nothing can stop me from taking your precious Unity Crystals either!
(Close-up of a furiously snarling Sunny on these words, then of the two apprehensive dragons.)
Opaline: (laughing) I’ll shut down every protection spell in Equestria!
(A wave of power surges outward from her horn, forcing Sunny to shield her face behind a foreleg and obliterating the force field that has penned in Sparky and Spike. It spreads over the countryside in short order, knocking out the shield around the Brighthouse and shaking the entire structure. Up in the lantern room, the Crystals come apart into their three component pieces and clatter onto the lift platform as just so much inert mineral matter, the very last of the Pris-Beam having winked out. Cut to Opaline and zoom in slowly.)
Opaline: AND I’LL RULE OVER YOU LITTLE POWERLESS PONIES FOR ALL ETERNITY!!
Act Three
(Her laughter rebounds throughout the chamber and is heard as far as Maretime Bay, where ponies are slowly, cautiously gathering around the Together Tree outside Canterlove Studios as lightning cracks across the sky. Among them is Seashell, who aims an uncertain glance up toward the corrupted branches, smiles, and starts to tap out a slow beat against the concrete curb built up around the roots.)
Same melody/key as Pipp’s Act One song, but played on piano/strings only
Slower tempo, half-time feel
All previous singers continue as each new one joins in
Seashell: Hey, ponies, listen to me
You gotta hear what I’m saying
You’ve got the sparkle deep inside
You’ve got a talent worth displayi-ing
Hitch, Glory, Peach Fizz: We just need a little hope
(Izzy and other unicorns gather around the Wishing Tree in Bridlewood.)
Izzy: We just need a little unity
Unicorns: We just need to find the ma-agic
(In the Zephyr Heights Palace garden, Pipp, Zipp, Haven, and Misty smile at the Together Tree as Thunder and Zoom hang back.)
That’s inside of everypony
Vocal harmonies behind lyrics
These six: Sometimes it feels a little hopeless
But things aren’t always what they seem
(Wings are slowly unfurled and suffused with golden light, which streams into the trunk; Misty’s contribution is a pinkish rivulet from her horn.)
Can you feel it, the energy?
Yeah, the power is growing
Harmonies out
(In Opaline’s castle, Sunny heaves up from the tiles to face her.)
Sunny: You can take my cutie mark— (Zoom in slowly.) —but you can’t take what makes me…me.
Opaline: (bored) Uh-huh?
Sunny: (crossing to her) Hope. Hope for a better future, for all ponies to make their mark. (Cut to/from Opaline as she continues.) That’s why you and I are never going to be the same, Opaline. Because I have hope. And I have friendship.
Light percussion in
Ponies: (muted, distant) Don’t look now, things will get better
(Sunny gasps at the sound; in Bridlewood, Izzy takes Alphabittle Blossomforth’s hoof as pinkish magic pours from every raised horn and into the roots of the Wishing Tree. Its natural colors are swiftly restored.)
(heard clearly) So hold my hoof, ’cause we’re growing together
We’ve got the strength to take on whatever
(The same happens in Zephyr Heights; Haven and her daughters cut their streams and rise to watch the tree glow warmly, followed by Haven’s dog Cloudpuff.)
’Cause we’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
Percussion out; harmonies in
(Pipp describes a graceful midair somersault before the view shifts back to Maretime Bay, where energy is flowing into the Together Tree from the hooves of the gathered earth ponies and restoring its true colors. Unicorns and pegasi add their bit from horns and wings, respectively.)
Ponies: So everypony everywhere
Now is the time to raise your voices
You know it’s time to show your courage, yeah
And nopony’s gonna stop us, no
Percussion in
’Cause there is hope when we’re together
And it grows stronger when you sing
So raise our voices in unison
Raise our voices in harmony, yeah
Last two words sung a cappella
(The last line above is marked by a cut to a wondering Sunny and a thoroughly irritated Opaline. The earth pony casts an eye toward the floor and discovers that her dropped locket has come to life, a pastel-rainbow heart outline radiating from center to edge. She wheels to face Opaline, a new edge of unassailable determination in her voice.)
Harmonies out
Sunny: And what is friendship, Opaline?
(The locket trembles on the tiles and pops open to release a sparkling streamer of pastel rainbow light, which loops this way and that around her before lancing upward toward Opaline. The hovering mare can manage only a series of startled squawks and grunts as it wraps her up. Sparky and Spike boggle at the display, the former’s horns and the latter’s head spines no longer glowing.)
Spike: (whispering) Now, Sparky!
(A carefully angled fire breath washes over his own nose and teleports the baby dragon onto the pedestal holding the Dragon Stone so he can grab it. Opaline makes an incredulous sound somewhere between a gasp and a squawk.)
Opaline: But…but…you’re under my spell!
Following five lines are sung under the previous dialogue/actions
Ponies: Don’t look now, things will get better
So hold my hoof, ’cause we’re growing together
We’ve got the strength to take on whatever
’Cause we’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
’Cause we’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
(Spike just stands up and throws her a king-size smirk.)
Sunny: (overjoyed) Spike!
(A cheerfully gurgling Sparky bathes the Dragon Stone in his own incendiary exhalation, causing it to fire a pale green beam directly into Opaline’s necklace.)
Opaline: What?!?
(She can only gasp as it disintegrates and releases the six ill-gotten cutie marks to rise away; at the same time, the power in her horn/wings/chest winks out.)
Opaline: NOOOO!
(Sunny’s sigil peels off from the other five, which pass through the chamber’s bark-covered wall and are lost to sight. It resumes its proper place on her haunch, triggering a gasp and giggle and allowing her to call up her horn/wings as her saddlebag disappears.)
Sunny: (jumping up into a hover) Yeah!
(Now Sparky hits the Dragon Stone with a higher-intensity flame, in response, it shoots beams that snap first Lava and then Jade free of Opaline’s control. Their now-former mistress gasps in shock and then snarls down at the infant, who laughs mockingly up at her and puts his fire to the artifact once more. This time, his target is the mess of snarled limbs; a bright green glow races along their length from the impact point, a few loose ends beginning to slither of their own accord, and quickly spreads to the throne room.)
Following four lines are sung under Sunny’s “Yeah!” and subsequent actions
Music builds slowly; harmonies in
Ponies: ’Cause there is hope when we’re together
And it grows stronger when you sing
So raise our voices in unison
Raise our voices in harmony, yeah
A cappella for last two words of previous line only, then full instrumentation returns
(E flat major)
(The marks come away from the leaves and drift down to vanish through a newly opened, intensely glowing rift in the trunk that closes behind them.)
Ponies: Don’t look now, things are getting better
So hold my hoof, ’cause we’re growing together
We’ve got the strength to take on whatever
(In Maretime Bay, a similar opening forms in the trunk of the Together Tree and marks come soaring out by the dozen. Hitch smiles as he recovers his.)
’Cause we’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic
Don’t look now, things are getting better
So hold my hoof, ’cause we’re growing together
(Tilt up to follow a cluster of others into the sky, then dissolve to a different street and tilt down to follow them reuniting with their jubilant rightful possessors.)
We’ve got the strength to take on whatever
’Cause we’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic
Take another look, things are getting better
(The Together Tree in the Zephyr Heights Palace garden disgorges a batch to the wonderment of those assembled here; Zoom regains her mark, then Thunder.)
We’re growing stronger, growing together
We’ll always have each other forever
’Cause we’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
(Misty reclaims hers, twirling exuberantly in place; the three hovering royal pegasi are next.)
Pipp: Don’t look now
Ponies: Yeah, we’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
(Izzy’s mark makes its way through Bridlewood and pastes itself back onto the grateful unicorn’s haunch.)
Pipp: Don’t look now
Ponies: We’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
(She and the other locals smile up at the rejuvenated Wishing Tree before the view dissolves to the fallen, separated Crystals on the lift platform in the lantern room of the Brighthouse. These jitter and rise to their former midair position, reassembling as the glimmering Pris-Beam wreathes them in all its splendor.)
Pipp: Don’t look now
Ponies: We’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
Pipp: Don’t look now
(Dissolve to a long shot of the Brighthouse and zoom out slowly; the gloomy clouds and fog both dissipate, leaving a bright blue daytime sky.)
Ponies: We’ve got the magic, we’ve got the magic in us
Song ends
(In Opaline’s castle, the effect of Sparky’s last blast has set the entire place shaking and dislodged chunks of stone to tumble from the ceiling. Spike gasps, then Opaline.)
Spike: We should go!
(He dips his head so Sparky can scramble onto his nose with the Dragon Stone, and all four adult dragons beat feet for the exit. Sunny makes to follow them, but doubles back to pick up the still-open locket, which is no longer emitting its rainbow. A fresh flare of light from within brings a gasp from her lips; the thing snaps shut on its own, the pastel heart flaring out from its center as before. When it clears, though, the locket has noticeably changed; the gold frame is more ornate, the facets shine more brightly, and a pale pink copy of her cutie mark can now be seen within the ruby. Smiling at this new development, she gallops after the dragons.)
(Opaline struggles against the spectral ribbon holding her in place, then gets dumped to the floor when it abruptly vanishes. She snarls toward Sunny and company, who have paused their retreat and are glaring at her with unmitigated scorn.)
Jade: And, Opaline, we are not friends. (Opaline stands and growls.) Just wanted to clear that up.
(Spike underscores her declaration with a mighty blast of fire that consumes him and the crew and teleports them all away. Opaline, now alone, screams out her frustration as the tendrils awakened by Sparky’s hotwiring job curl toward her from all sides and stop her from reaching the exit. She lets off a dumbfounded gasp when one of them relieves her of her own cutie mark and swiftly carries it away.)
Opaline: NOOOO!!
(She races after the bubble, which is being reeled toward a floor-level opening in the trunk.)
Opaline: My mark! My power! Come back!
(All too quickly, she finds herself jammed between the thickening growths and unable to move.)
Opaline: NOOOOOO!!
(Zoom out as they fully encircle her and knit together, hiding her from sight entirely and muffling the end of her shout. Debris and dust continue to rain down from the ceiling for a moment before the camera cuts to a long shot of the castle—most of which ceases to exist when the Together Tree bursts upward in a massive growth spurt and rends stone from stone. Bark, leaves, and blooms are now as lush and vibrant as those of the other three, and the green light suffusing it fades away as the sky above clears for the very first time.)
(Blaize, Fountain, and Luxxe fly onto the scene, now free of Opaline’s mind control as well; cut to the six adult dragons gathering on the remains of the walkway leading to the castle.)
Sunny: (from o.s.) Spike?
(She and Sparky walk up, the former wearing the locket and the latter toting the Dragon Stone.)
Sunny: I thought you were under her spell! How did you do that?
Spike: Come on, Sunny. You think this is my first run-in with an evil villain? (snickering) Just kidding. (hunching down to Sparky) It was Sparky here who broke the spell and saved me.
(The youngster hands over the magic rock, which is swiftly disintegrated or teleported away in a whiff of flame.)
Spike: (standing, gazing at Together Tree) Seems like he transformed her spell into one of his own.
Sunny: It’s just so beautiful! I just wish my friends were here to see it.
(The Dragon Lord says nothing, but blows a fiery jet onto the stones ahead of himself. Once the glare clears, the rest of the Maretime Bay crew find themselves sitting/sprawled on the walkway and very confused as to just how they got there. The following six lines overlap somewhat and are accompanied by the ponies slowly getting themselves upright.)
Zipp: Huh?
Misty: Hmmm.
Pipp: (gasping, hovering) Yay!
Izzy: (hopping in place) Oh, look! We’re here!
Hitch: Huh? We’re here! (Laugh.)
Zipp: Yeah!
(Sparky whoops as the new arrivals cross to him and Sunny.)
Hitch: And it worked!
(He and Sunny laugh; he scoops Sparky into a foreleg, and the next lines overlap.)
Pipp: Woo-hoo!
Zipp: Uh, yeah, it did!
Izzy: (laughing) Yeah! (Cut to the dragons.)
Misty: (from o.s.) Yay!
Izzy: (from o.s.) Woo-hoo! (Back to the ponies; all but Sunny/Pipp separate.)
Pipp: Sunny, I still cannot belie-e-eve you went and faced Opaline alone! (“Believe” is sung.)
Sunny: I wasn’t alone. You were all with me in my heart. (Her perspective of the other ponies and dragons.) And you never lost hope.
(Long shot behind them all, tilting up slowly along the height of the Together Tree.)
Sunny: We did it together.
(Ground level; Izzy crosses to Jade and Lava with two bracelets held in her field—counterparts of the ones she brought with her in “The Isle of Scaly.” Each holds up a leg to receive one on the next line.)
Jade: Again, we are so sorry we fell under the spell of an evil villain and terrorized you ponies like that. That’s our bad. (Embarrassed chuckle; cut to Sunny/Misty.)
Misty: Happens to the best of us.
(A soft sniffle from o.s.; cut to Hitch hunkering down by Sparky.)
Hitch: (nudging him) Hey, buddy, I heard you were very brave in there.
Spike: Not just brave… (Back to the pair; he continues o.s.) …a hero. (Hitch sits and lifts Sparky.)
Hitch: I know he’s supposed to grow up with the dragons, but I’ll miss you every day, Sparkeroni. (The two embrace.)
Spike: You know what, Hitch? Sparky knows better than us.
(These words give the Sheriff pause; he gets back to all four hooves, steps forward, and places his ward on the walkway between himself and Spike. Sparky burbles confusedly, purple eyes flicking from one to the other…stubby legs take a few tentative steps…and then he pulls out Hitch’s badge, given to him in Part One, and regards it for a long moment as a gleam of light plays along one edge of its central star. Hitch cringes in silent dread while Spike cocks a knowing eyebrow. Sparky smiles and gurgles to himself, having figured it all out; cut to Hitch from the chest up, shaken by a mild jolt from just below the bottom edge of the screen. A sound of contentment from Sparky tells the tale even before the camera tilts down to frame him blissfully hugging one sock-marked foreleg. He holds up the badge and speaks his first fully intelligible word.)
Sparky: H…home.
(Hitch gasps in delight and drops to his haunches, cuddling the little guy with a hum of profoundest contentment.)
Spike: (chuckling) See? I know that he’s in very good hooves with you, Hitch. We have always had a lot to learn from each other.
(On this line, he backs away and the camera cuts to/from Sunny/Hitch/Misty, Hitch now standing again.)
Sunny: I guess that means we’ll be seeing you soon?
(Back to Spike as she finishes; he tips her a wink, after which the adult dragons take to the sky. The ponies turn to the Together Tree, Zipp hovering and Hitch with his badge clipped onto his sash.)
Zipp: Who would’ve ever thought that Opaline’s creepy old lair could turn into something this beautiful?
Misty: With true unity magic, everything looks beautiful.
(All but Izzy turn to start for home; cut to them.)
Izzy: (from o.s.) Everypony, look!
(They stop and glance back toward the woody behemoth; cut to the unicorn, who is standing before an oval portal of swirling pale blue energy that had definitely not been there a few seconds ago. Large snowflakes drift out and past her.)
Izzy: It’s like glitter, but snow!
(An instant after one settles on her upraised front hoof, the screen fills with a pale blue flash and clears to frame the other five, Sparky riding on Hitch’s back.)
Other ponies: (awed) Wow/Whoa…
(Zoom out slightly to frame Izzy from behind. This camera angle picks out the glitter that now speckles her forelegs and mane, the former now shading to a slightly darker hue above her hooves.)
Izzy: What is it?
(Head-on shot, zooming out to frame all of her. The glitter job has affected all four legs, her eyelids, and both her mane and tail, each leg darkens above the hoof, and she is now sporting a necklace studded with crystals in shades of blue and violet—including a kite-shaped one front and center. The string of beads she normally wears threaded through her mane, visible only from behind, has been augmented with one of crystals that can be easily seen from any angle. Worked into it is a piece fitted around the base of her horn; a four-pointed star pendant is attached to this. Her horn and hooves are now formed of translucent blue crystal.)
Izzy: Do I have something in my teeth?