MY LITTLE PONY: EQUESTRIA GIRLS—HOLIDAYS UNWRAPPED

Written by Anna Christopher

Produced by Angela Belyea

Story editing by Nick Confalone

Directed by Ishi Rudell, Katrina Hadley

Transcribed by Alan Back (ajback@yahoo.com)

Note:                Each act in this special is a standalone short with no narrative connection

                to any of the others.

The Discovery Family airing used the Equestria Girls opening theme and

displayed a title card only for the entire special. However, the shorts were each

given their own title card and closing credits when they were individually released

on YouTube. This transcript combines the two practices.

OPENING THEME

“Blizzard or Bust”

(Opening shot: fade to black from the title card, then in to a close-up of a slice of pizza hanging halfway over the edge of the box in which it was delivered. The dangling point swings back and forth, blown by snores from the o.s. Pinkie Pie, and the camera zooms out to frame her lying in a gigantic beanbag chair and absolutely dead to the world, with a few magenta hairs sprung out of place. The framed pictures of Spike and his paw prints suggest that she has fetched up at Twilight Sparkle’s home, and a cut to the young genius’s bed in her room confirms this. She and Sunset Shimmer have crashed out on it amid a pile of books, the camera panning/tilting down slowly to pick out Rarity similarly disposed among a scatter of cushions on the floor. From here, cut to a slow tilt down from a countertop laden with plant specimens, a globe, and a computer; Applejack and Fluttershy are deep in dreamland at its base with an untidy welter of texts to keep them company. All six of these girls are fully dressed and snoring quietly, with the exception of Applejack’s hat being on the globe rather than her head, but the dark shadows under their eyes speak to a woefully inadequate night’s sleep.)

[Animation goof: The hat shifts to and from Applejack’s head during the following.]

(Close-up of a digital alarm clock on the nightstand, the display flicking ahead one minute to 8:00. The chipper beeping of its signal shocks the whole gang to consciousness with a round of yelps, Pinkie being the last to peel herself up.)

Pinkie: (rubbing eyes) I’m awake, I’m awake! What time is it? Did we sleep through the test?

(She conks out again just as quickly, and Rarity shuts off the alarm, horror slowly dawning on her face as she takes in its reading.)

Rarity: No, but school starts in thirty minutes!

Sunset: (groaning drowsily) How’s everybody feeling about our test? (Applejack retrieves and dons her hat.)

Fluttershy: Even after our all-night study session— (shutting the book she holds) —I still don’t know the difference between vaporization and sublimation!

Applejack: (sighing, sinking down) Reckon this test is gonna be an abomination.

Twilight: I can’t believe we all fell asleep halfway through our first all-nighter! (She buries her face resignedly in a set of pages.)

Rainbow Dash: (from o.s.) Not all of us!

(Pan quickly to her sitting at the window—also dressed and suffering the aftereffects of a rough sleep, but grinning cockily with the edges of the closed curtains in hand. Zoom out quickly to frame Twilight, Rarity, and Sunset exchanging looks of complete bewilderment, then cut back to the jock.)

Rainbow: While you chumps were studying all night, guess who was coming up with a plan.

(The draperies are thrown open to reveal an expanse of clear blue morning sky beyond the panes. As she holds up both hands with thumbs and forefingers extended to frame an imaginary picture, the camera cuts to an extreme close-up of these four digits—and a lone snowflake outside, drifting lazily downward through their field. Now Applejack and Fluttershy show each other their own confounded expressions during a long silence.)

Twilight: You call that a plan?

Rainbow: (groaning) Come on! Do I have to spell it out for you? (A few more flakes waft down from the sky.) It’s snowing!

(An intense glare and a gesture toward the window fail to get a rise out of her friends.)

Rainbow: (with growing enthusiasm) “Snow day” means “no school.” “No school” means “no test”! (Big grin and fist pump.)

Applejack: Uh…it’s hardly snowin’, Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow: (scowling) Come on, guys! You are seriously lacking vision!

Twilight: (adjusting glasses, closing her book) I’ve got twenty-twenty vision, and I can clearly see it’s not snowing enough for school to be canceled!

(Fluttershy sighs wearily and slides one into an overnight bag in close-up.)

Fluttershy: Too bad it’s not a snow day.

Rainbow: (from o.s.) It’s not a snow day… (Back to her, now standing up.) …yet. If we can save a sinking cruise ship and break the laws of time and space to see a concert, I’m pretty sure we can convince Principal Celestia to call a snow day.

(Referring to the events of “Spring Breakdown” and “Sunset’s Backstage Pass,” respectively—though to be exact, they only saved the passengers and crew of the Lux Deluxe; the ship went to the bottom of the ocean. Zoom in slowly.)

Rainbow: There’s a lot of innocent kids out there who probably didn’t study, and they’re depending on us! So what do you say? (raising a fist) Who’s with me?

Twilight: (uncertainly, drumming fingers on book) I don’t know…

(The other four fully awake teens begin to come around to the idea, giving small smiles and nods.)

Rainbow: (coaxingly) Huh? Huh?

Twilight: Mmm…I guess.

Rainbow: (pumping a fist) Yeah!

(The six file out of the room, leaving Pinkie to snooze away in her corner beanbag chair; she only jerks awake once they have gone.)

Pinkie: Oh! Can’t believe I almost slept through a montage!

(She peels out in a pink/magenta blur, but doubles back to snatch the pizza slice from its most precarious perch on the edge of the box and gobble it down. Feet hit high gear again once this less-than-nutritious breakfast has been dispatched. Cut to the front lawn of Canterlot High School, seen from one side; zoom in slowly, then cut to just outside the windows of Principal Celestia’s office. She paces past them within and out of view, after which the view shifts to this room and she sits at her desk and begins working at her computer. With her back to the windows, she does not notice a knit-capped Rainbow peeking in from the lawn; zoom in on the blue face and cut to just behind her outside, hair tied back in a ponytail. The discoloration below her eyes is gone; the same will be true of the other girls when seen next. Now Celestia picks up a mug of tea for a sip, but lowers it abruptly with a start of surprise upon finding it empty and stands up to cross the office. Rainbow hastily hunches down out of sight, the camera zooming out to frame more of the cold-weather gear she has donned. The other Rainbooms will be similarly outfitted when seen next.)

(Once Rainbow is sure that the coast is clear, she waves for Applejack and Sunset to bring in a large, blank rectangular canvas, which they set down so it faces the windows. Pan from them to Pinkie standing at a newly deployed folding table, her hair back in order; she dumps a sack of potatoes onto this, next to a mixing bowl. One mittened hand picks up a spud, while the other fishes a peeler from a pocket and begins to shave away at the surface. She has barely made one pass down its length when a raccoon smiles hopefully up at her from the grass; the two glance uncertainly at one another, then at the pile of potatoes, and one paw reaches ever so slowly toward the starchy bonanza. Snap to black, against which two horizontal panels slide in from opposite sides to fill the screen, each framing one face whose eyes narrow in steely determination. A low, threatening growl rises from one throat or the other—it is impossible to tell which—as the panels slide away to frame Pinkie and the raccoon in fullscreen. She is forced to abandon her peeling endeavor so she can snatch the sack out of the critter’s lunging grip, then grins in the face of its angered hiss and heaves the lot upward. The action shifts to slow motion as the tubers rise toward the apex of their flight path, and her mouth curves in a savage smile just before she launches herself after them. The raccoon can only stare slack-jawed, Pinkie reflected in one eye and the sack in the other, and she brings her peeler up to the ready.)

(Normal speed resumes with a snap to black, against which the white gleam of the utensil’s blade flashes back and forth almost faster than thought, then fade in to a close-up of Pinkie descending among the potatoes in slow motion. Every single one has had its peel neatly scored, and once she hits the turf in a three-point stance, these burst free as brown spirals. Normal speed resumes again with a cut to a close-up of the bowl, the spuds landing neatly within; the gobsmacked raccoon regains its wits with a snarl and leap, but Pinkie rushes over just in time to grab the edge of the bowl nearest her. There follows a brief, hotly contested tug-of-war, which Pinkie eventually wins by lifting the bowl off the table and shaking the scavenger loose. She blows a hearty raspberry down at her adversary, only for it to bring her and the table down in a flying tackle.)

(The camera cuts to a close-up of Fluttershy, stationed by the front steps and giving hand signals as if to guide someone or something in for a safe landing. She is briefly distracted by a spate of quacking from o.s. below, but hastily points off to one side. A longer shot picks out the two conflicting priorities—a family of ducks crossing the lawn, and Applejack trying not to trip over them while hefting a few thousand pounds of ice blocks with her magically boosted strength. Once the load is safely on the grass, Rainbow steps out to regard them with measurable satisfaction and the animal lover steps away to a new task. The red-violet eyes glance in a different direction, prompting their owner’s jaw to drop open in shock; cut to Twilight reading a textbook, which is swiftly plucked from her grasp by one set of blue fingers. The other thumb jerks back over Rainbow’s shoulder in a “get back to work” gesture, and Twilight resignedly picks up a shovel. She plods away past Rarity, who has perched herself in an ornately decorated director’s chair behind the giant canvas and is knitting a scarf. Rainbow’s dirty look is answered with an imperious little wave of dismissal, so she shrugs and goes on her way. Like Rainbow, Rarity’s hair is in a ponytail.)

(Meanwhile, Pinkie has regained her footing and is racing to keep herself and the bowl of peeled potatoes ahead of the vociferously angry raccoon. It gets the upper paw by latching onto one foot, causing her to trip and dump the lot around herself. She scrambles to refill the bowl, then quickly dispenses sprinkles over the spuds from a shaker and sets them off with her explosive magic. A burst of candy bits and deep pink smoke fills the screen and clears to give a close-up of one very confused raccoon who is now wearing globs of pulverized potato. A longer shot reveals that Pinkie has taken a few hits of her own; she gets upright to stare down the would-be thief, the camera zooming out slightly to put one last specimen in the foreground. The two combatants glance from each other to it and back, then dive as one for it. Fade to black as their momentum carries them toward the camera.)

(Snap to Sunset plying a paintbrush on the canvas, the camera positioned just behind one end of it so that the image cannot immediately be seen. She backs off after a few strokes and extends her free arm in front of herself, sticking her thumb upward as if to gauge the overall effect. Satisfied, she steps up again and resumes her task. Fluttershy whistles and gesticulates to a pair of woodpeckers perched atop the stacked ice; they soon get the message and descend to a hover so they can chip away at the frozen mass with their beaks. She giggles as the particles begin to fly. The raccoon scampers triumphantly past Rarity, that last potato held up like a trophy, but Pinkie executes a crouching slide to cut off its escape. Both of them are clean now, and the chase shifts in a new direction for the few steps it takes Pinkie to wrap one set of fingers around the purloined tuber. The pursuit degenerates into a rolling tussle that deposits them at the feet of Fluttershy, who directs an acid glare down at the both of them. Lying in her shadow, they can do nothing but offer a pair of embarrassed grins. Cut to the table they knocked over in their brawling, now set upright again; the potatoes have been thoroughly pulped and deposited here, and they are sullenly sculpting a  snowman with an ice cream cone nose and cookie eyes and buttons under Fluttershy’s watchful eye. As soon as the yellow girl turns away, the pink one filches a baked treat, takes a bite, and lets the raccoon chow down on the rest.)

(The woodpeckers are hard at the task of reducing the ice blocks to very tiny bits. Rainbow uses the shovel Twilight picked up to shift one load of the newly manufactured “snow,” then passes it back to the egghead and steps off. Twilight’s attempt to move the stuff on her own comes to a sudden end when the weight shift causes her to slip and tumble with a yell. She winds up on her back, glasses askew and “snow” plastered across her face, hair, and clothing; after a moment’s silent grumble, she smiles slyly and pulls her pendant from under her sweater. Her glasses slide back into place as she stands up, the frigid flakes dropping away from her, and a quick bit of telekinesis heaves most of the pile away. Rainbow ducks just in time to avoid catching it with her face and finds Twilight smugly twirling a small wad in midair. The blue speedster returns the smirk, but the violet brainiac does not take another shot, instead exerting her powers to drop freights of “snow” on a clear stretch of lawn and a windowsill.)

(By this point, the woodpeckers have very nearly finished with the entire ice delivery. Fluttershy is delighted to find that they have used the last portion to create a sculpture of her, framed by butterflies and sprays of plants.)

Fluttershy: Oh! (Blush and giggle.)

(Sunset adds a little more paint to the canvas and steps back, the camera still positioned to leave only its back in view. She runs an eye over the project and allows herself a satisfied smile, which yields to a wondering stare at an actual snowflake that comes to rest on her exposed palm. She closes her fingers around it, closes her eyes, and opens them again so they can blaze pure white—her telepathy power manifesting itself. Fade to white, then in to a color-ringed flashback of a series of scenes, the view dissolving from one to the next. Rain falling from a sky filled with foreboding dark clouds…a thundering waterfall…a stretch of placid river…a dock jutting into a lake, the camera tilting up into the sky as thick gray clouds block the sun and begin to drop snowflakes…one flake drifting past the camera in extreme close-up. From this last image, the screen flares white and clears to frame Sunset, her power subsiding and her fingers opened to show the one she caught still on her palm.)

Sunset: (awed) It remembers!

(A puff of breath sends it away, and she resumes her painting as the scene recedes into the top left corner of the screen. The view is now split into two rows of three, each framing a different girl. Top center: Twilight levitating and slinging “snow.” Top right: Fluttershy watching the woodpeckers chisel away at the last of the ice. Bottom left: Pinkie touching up the mashed-potato snowman. Bottom center: Applejack dumping “snow” onto the grass from a wheelbarrow. Bottom right: Rainbow shoveling with gusto. A close-up of Rarity slides up from the bottom of the screen to replace all of them; she completes the last few stitches on her scarf and rises from her chair, draping it around the snowman’s neck once Pinkie has set it in place.)

(Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Twilight gather around Sunset at the canvas. The ground, bushes, and windowsills have all been liberally bedecked with the ersatz wintry precipitation.)

Rainbow: (gasping happily) We did it! We saved the world!

Twilight: I got to admit, we really did pull together as a team.

(Cut to just inside the open door of Celestia’s office. She strolls in, slurping from a fresh mug of tea and followed by Vice-Principal Luna with file folder in hand. Both stop short, the camera cutting to just behind their heads and giving at least a partial view of the canvas set up outside the window. Depicted are a snow-covered lawn and tree; the sisters gape at each other and hurry across for a closer look. Cut to outside as they press up to the glass, four confused eyes swinging from side to side as fresh flakes cascade down, then to their perspective of the entire front lawn of Canterlot High and the houses and mountains beyond. Nearly every square inch has been thickly blanketed in white, and the snowman stands in the fore.)

Luna: A blizzard!

(Back to her and Celestia, seen from outside.)

Luna: (muffled by window) Quite an unforeseen development, I’d say.

(Zoom out slightly; all seven Rainbooms are hunched down below the sill, and the edge of the canvas comes into view. Except for the snowman and the falling flakes, the entire snowscape just seen was only a painting created by Sunset.)

Celestia: (muffled) Indeed.

(Inside again; they turn away from the manufactured snowstorm.)

Luna: Shall we cancel school?

Celestia: Hmmm…

(She directs a fretful glance to the phone on her desk and bends toward it; zoom in quickly on the window as Rainbow peeks in, then cut to her outside as Celestia lifts the handset.)

Rainbow: (shuddering happily) She’s making the call!

(Just outside the office doorway; Cranky Doodle hustles up, interrupting Celestia in the process of dialing.)

Cranky: Don’t bother with the snow day. It’s phony baloney! (crossing arms) Hope those girls enjoy detention after their test.

(The big boss straightens up, glowering indignantly, and hangs up the phone. Outside, Rainbow is doing her best to keep an eye on the proceedings while the other six stay below the sill. The next three lines overlap and are delivered in hushed tones.)

Applejack: What are they doin’?

Rainbow: Quiet, you guys! I’m trying to see!

Rarity: What’s going on?

(Celestia brings the surveillance to a grinding halt by stepping out of the front doors and clearing her throat pointedly in the septet’s direction. It takes only a flinty glare and a cocked brow to bring a very scared gulp from each and every exam-dodger. From here, cut to a close-up of a very unamused Cranky sitting behind the front desk in his classroom, then to the girls at the desks. They have shucked out of their winter gear and are not having one single solitary bit of fun with the test papers laid before them. In close-up, a properly flummoxed Pinkie beats out a tattoo with her pen, chews on it, fidgets with it while hunching down in frustration, and finally thumps her face onto the desk with a pitiful whimper.)

Pinkie: (sitting up again) How are we supposed to know how snow fits into the water cycle?! (Pan to Twilight on the next line.)

Twilight: Pinkie, what have we been doing for the past two hours?  (To Rainbow on the next one.)

Rainbow: All part of the plan. What better way to study than a hands-on project?

Pinkie: (catching on, turning to nearest window) Ohhhh, I get it!

(As she continues, cut to her reflection in the panes and the aftermath of the “blizzard” created by the group.)

Pinkie: This test relates to our snow day! (turning away) Which means… (Back to her, writing feverishly.) …potatoes get mashed, then evaporate into potato moisture where they converge into potato clouds. And when those clouds can’t hold the weight, that’s where the potato flakes come from! Or is it potato chips? (Pause.) Am I missing something?

(The other six laugh over this bit of off-the-wall meteorological theory. “Iris out” to black, the aperture centered on Rainbow and pausing to frame her face as the dark circles of fatigue appear under her eyes.)

Rainbow: (whispering) I didn’t sleep.

(The aperture closes.)

“Saving Pinkie’s Pie”

(Opening shot: fade to black from the title card, then in to an extreme close-up of a soufflé baking on a rack inside an oven. The camera zooms out through the glass door as Sunset’s expectantly smiling reflection appears on its surface, then cuts to her and Pinkie in a kitchen. The yellow-orange girl squats to keep an eye on the cooking project, while the pink one is wearing an oven mitt on one hand and the white, pink-frilled, heart-decorated apron she sported in “The Craft of Cookies.” Pinkie stands with eyes closed and forearms extended to either side at waist level, thumbs and forefingers joined into circles with the other fingers splayed in a meditative pose. Daytime sky can be seen through the window, and Sunset’s next words mark the location as being within Pinkie’s house.)

Sunset: (standing up) Oh, your soufflé’s looking great, Pinkie Pie! (No response.) Pinkie Pie?

Pinkie: (softly, under previous line) Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac, Chestnut Magnifico, Chumbly Bonk-Bonk, DJ P0N-3, Flash Sentry, Fluttershy, Gloriosa Daisy, Juniper Montage, Lily Pad, Lyra Heartstrings, Maud Pie, Muffins, Octavia Melody, Photo Finish, Rainbow Dash…

(Over these last few names, Sunset turns her attention to a kitchen timer on the counter and finds it not running; a couple of taps at its dial, and she gasps in fright before continuing.)

Sunset: But you forgot to set the timer!

Pinkie: Shhh! (donning a second mitt, turning to oven) …Zecora, Zephyr Breeze, Zippoorwill… (full volume) …done! (Open it; Sunset has set the timer down.) I stopped using the timer after I realized the soufflé takes the same amount of time as saying all my friends’ names in ABC order. (She lifts the dish out.)

Sunset: You’re friends with someone named Chumbly Bonk-Bonk?

Pinkie: Eh, he’s more of a “walk by, what’s up” acquaintance, but I needed an extra half a second on the list.

(She kicks the door shut, and both take a moment to inhale deeply of the aroma.)

Pinkie, Sunset: Mmm-hmm!

Sunset: So what’s this for?

Pinkie: This is a holiday tradition I have with Rarity.

(A thought balloon appears overhead, the camera tilting up to it and putting them out of view. Here, Pinkie bows to Rarity and gets a curtsy in return, then brings out a serving tray and lifts its cover to reveal a fresh-baked soufflé. They are wearing the everyday outfits they used at the beginning of the Equestria Girls film series, and this entire sequence is presented as colored-pencil sketches.)

Pinkie: (from o.s.) Every year, I surprise her with a dessert that’s as elegant as she is.

(It pops and caves in, to their joint dismay.)

Pinkie: (from o.s., glumly) And every year she asks me why it’s all deflated.

(A speech balloon appears, showing Sunset in the throes of great confusion.)

Sunset: Whaaat?

(A wash of cool blue covers the screen, against which two houses pop up from a snowy tract of ground. Trios of pink balloons and blue gems tell whose is whose, and Pinkie emerges from hers with the dessert on a tray and hurries across as a clock ticks backward in the star-filled sky above.)

Pinkie: (from o.s.) Soufflés are only good for a little while— (Alarm; it caves in.) —and I never get it to her in time.

(The bubble evaporates, leaving the actual baker framed in a determined close-up.)

Pinkie: We have seven minutes to get to Rarity’s house before this soufflé crumples into a soggy yuck-bucket! (Pan to Sunset, eyeing the timer worriedly, on the next line.)

Sunset: Seven minutes? How many friends’ names is that?

Pinkie: Pfft! How would I know? (snatching it away) Gimme that timer, woman!

(An oven-mitted hand twists the dial and starts it ticking, after which Sunset finds herself being abruptly yanked out of the kitchen and into the house’s entrance hall. The two friends waste no time in donning their winter apparel, but Pinkie throws a calculating smile to Sunset as the latter is adjusting one jacket sleeve. The view contracts to a horizontal bar centered on the pink face, whose owner holds up a spare pair of mittens, then returns to fullscreen as these are extended toward Sunset. An unnerved cringe is not enough to stop Pinkie from ramming the mittens on over Sunset’s gloved hands—or adding another coat—or a second pair of boots—or earmuffs—or layer after layer in rapid succession.)

Sunset: Uh, Pinkie?

(A knit cap is jammed down over the red/gold hair, causing the multiple scarves to ride up and obstruct her mouth.)

Sunset: (muffled) Pinkie… (Yet another pair of boots is held up; she loses her cool.) …Pinkie! The time!

(Only now does Pinkie drop the extra footwear and whip out the timer for a check.)

Pinkie: (panicked) Half the time is gone! Why didn’t you say so?

(A hard yank at one scarf’s free end sets Sunset spinning in place like a tornado and strips off her extraneous gear piece by piece, assisted by a few well-timed grabs. Sunset is left badly dazed and back down to her original winter ensemble, and the timer ends up back in Pinkie’s pocket.)

Pinkie: (crossing to front door, soufflé in hand) Now this year I have it all planned out. The route. The speed. The exact angle I need to hunch over at to protect the soufflé from the wind. There will be no deflation this year!

(Determined nods from one to the other, and she is putting a hand to the knob and taking a deep breath. Cut to just outside as she opens the door, a cacophony of yelling voices instantly making itself heard and causing both pairs of eyes to go very, very wide. Pinkie grimaces and yanks the door shut just in time to stop herself and Sunset from taking a barrage of snowballs to the face; a wreath gets it instead and tumbles to the porch. They peek out again once the salvo is spent, and the camera zooms out quickly along the front walk to frame the source of their concern. On both sides of the snow-covered lawn, teams of Canterlot High students have set up fortifications and are in the middle of a full-tilt snowball war; even Granny Smith has decided to get in on the action. Photo Finish hustles up to peek out from the end of one wall and gestures ahead, addressing herself back and o.s.)

Photo: You go!

(This last proves to be directed at Snails, who darts out past the wall with an armload of ammo and lets one fly. Pan quickly across to the other side; a boy gets hit and falls, but promptly sits up to shake his head clear and pulls out his cell phone for a picture. Winona, the Apple family’s dog, leads two other boys out so they can loose their rounds; the second of these takes a hit to the arm almost as soon as he has thrown. Twilight moves up behind the wall on her side, a double armload of snowballs in tow, and steels herself for an attack. She barely gets out in the open before a well-placed throw sends her to the ground, though. Farther back, Bon Bon and Lyra Heartstrings have teamed up, the former shaping balls for the latter to pitch; still elsewhere, Bulk Biceps stands up from within a drift while lifting a jumbo-sized chunk overhead. He yelps in fright and drops back into the pile, letting the snow fall in above him as a shield for the volley that zeroes in on him.)

(Pinkie’s scared blue eyes shift from one side of the lawn to the other, then down to the soufflé she is cradling, and the brows lower grimly before she and Sunset make a break for it. Her sister Maud steps up to the still-open front door, showing an irritated grimace that does not shift one iota even after she takes a few hits, and pulls it closed with perhaps a bit more force than strictly necessary. Applejack hauls herself up and shades her eyes to peer across the way from a stretch of wall set with an apple-marked flag; cut to Pinkie and Sunset running along the walk. On the start of the next line, zoom out to frame the blonde pointing them out to the other combatants.)

Applejack: AMBUUUUUSH!!

(The two couriers go into a yelping shuck-and-jive to avoid the frozen ordnance coming their way and dive over a wall for cover. Pinkie winds up sliding across the snow on her belly, arms extended and empty; she gasps at the absence of her soufflé, only to see it land neatly and intact in her hands.)

Pinkie: Phew!

(A sigh from the o.s. Fluttershy catches their ear; zoom out to frame the timid teen sitting behind an adjacent stretch of wall and suffering from a bad case of battle fatigue.)

Fluttershy: We’ve been pinned down for hours, with no reinforcements and no hand warmers.

Trixie: (from o.s., shivering, reaching shakily up into view) I-I’m cold… (Cut to her, lying nearby on her back.) …s-so cold…

Fluttershy: (helping her sit up) Stay with me, Trixie!

(The hypothermic magician gets a little smile in exchange for her own smirk, leaving Pinkie and Sunset more than a bit perplexed at the overly dramatic exchange. Sunset stands up into full view, arms fully extended to either side with palms out.)

Sunset: Uh, hold up, everyone! Pinkie Pie and I aren’t in the game! (Granny peeks up from her family’s stronghold.)

Granny: What game? THIS HERE’S WAR!!

(She proceeds to rip the top corner off a juice box with her teeth and spit it away. The contents are poured over a snowball in her other hand; Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh follow suit, and all three tense for a throw.)

Granny: FIRE IN THE HOLE!!

(All three projectiles arc toward Sunset, who is saved from stopping them with her face only by a grab from Pinkie to drag her down behind their shelter. The near misses leave snow sprinkled across their heads and shoulders.)

Sunset: One hit and this thing’s finished!

(The baker retrieves checks her timer with great trepidation—not much time left before it hits zero.)

Pinkie: (moaning, smiling sadly) Oh, well. Maybe next year.

(She struggles to hold her tears in check as more globs of snow settle onto Sunset from another close call. The dimension-jumper hazards a look over the wall and finds Twilight laboring to drag herself away under the relentless onslaught. All sounds and spoken lines become partly muted at this point, as if Sunset were suffering from partial hearing loss. More snow patters onto the scarlet/yellow-streaked locks above constricted blue-green eyes and chattering teeth. Elsewhere, Bon Bon and Lyra huddle together under a tree, which provides but scant protection against the incoming rounds.)

Snails: (from o.s.) Uh, has anyone seen my other boot? I can’t find my boot!

(Cut to him on the end of this, having lost one boot and hopping along the walk so as to keep that foot out of the slush. A look here and there, and he fishes it out of a drift.)

Snails: Got it!

(But he is instantly caught in a crossfire and drops it again, toppling into the snow with a yell. Pan quickly to Photo, who crawls into a doghouse and shoves its surprised occupant out, then cut to Bloom somersaulting down the walk. She comes up to a standing position and lets one rip, but a brutal answering salvo very nearly drops her where she stands. A barking Winona rushes in and leaps to take one “bullet” for her, winding up in a furry brown/white heap on the walk. Bloom drops to her knees, letting sorrow turn into a feral scream, and her older sister balances herself on the wall in preparation to heave a snowball as big as she is. The muted effect ends at this point as Sunset realizes, to her horror, that this family plays for keeps.)

Applejack: Real life ain’t the same as them silly old video games you play. Ain’t that right, Sunset?

Sunset: (needled, standing up; she and Pinkie are now clean) Nobody calls Tickle Fruit Two silly!

(Her unsmiling visage contracts into the bottom half of the screen, Applejack’s sliding in to fill the top. Sunset’s image then whisks away and Applejack’s expands to fullscreen; the gargantuan missile is flung toward its target, who now has a ball in hand and stands her ground atop the wall in the face of its trajectory. The action and sound shift to slow motion as she leaps clear of the perch, pushing off from the snowball’s surface for an added boost and sending hers on its way. Sunset scores a direct hit to Applejack’s chest, wringing an agonized yell from her lungs and sending her into a graceless backward tumble. She is caught by Macintosh, and normal speed and sound resume once Sunset comes down from her jump.)

Sunset: Rarity is getting that soufflé— (Cut to Pinkie; Sunset continues o.s. and points at her.) —and you’re gonna get it to her!  

(A nod of grim understanding from the pink goofball; cut to frame both again.)

Sunset: Flash Sentry! To me! Double time!

(Her ex-boyfriend races up with all the snowballs he can carry as she jumps down to ground level.)

Flash Sentry: Reporting for duty! (excitedly, as Pinkie crawls away) And seriously, thank you, Sunset, ’cause, like, I’ve been wanting to come on one of your adventures for so long! ’Cause, I mean, you guys do so much cool stuff and I—

Sunset: (sternly) Flash? (Cut to him.)

Flash: I promise I won’t mess this opportunity up!

Sunset: (from o.s., putting a finger over his lips) Whatever! Stop talking! (Both again.) Are you ready?

Flash: (cockily) I was born are-you. (catching himself, deflating a bit) Ready.

(Nodding solemnly, Sunset gets a bit of snow on her index fingertips and smudges it under each eye, much as professional athletes use eye-black to reduce glare from the sun. The two dart onto the walk and away from the house, Flash laying down suppressive fire and Sunset scooping Pinkie up like a football. A low throw finds Flash’s ankle and sends him to the stones, but Sunset continues her rush with only the briefest of backward glances spared. He sits up with a grunt, snow plastered all over his head/chest/arms.)

Flash: Well, that was embarrassing. (calling after the girls) Go on without me! I’ll be fine!

(The lack of any acknowledgment for his heroic “sacrifice” takes the wind out of him so badly that he hardly flinches at a snowball to the side of the head. Several dozen yards ahead, Sunset drops to a crouch and lets go of Pinkie.)

Sunset: Pinkie! RUUUNNNN!!

(Pinkie does so, just barely getting clear of a barrage that takes her escort down.)

Sunset: Ow!

Pinkie: SUNSET!!

(She doubles back to the inert form and tentatively gets hold of one shoulder to roll it onto its back. Sunset’s dazed face is now exposed, its entire right half hidden under frigid white mush.)

Pinkie: SUNSET!!

Sunset: (coughing weakly, trying to sit up) Tell Rarity—ow!

Pinkie: You okay?

Sunset: (pulling a ring of keys from a hip pocket) Yeah, I fell on my keys. Go! Go!

Pinkie: Right. Bye! (She clears out.)

Sunset: (wiping snow off herself) All right! Who threw those cheap shots?!? (Stand up; point off to one side.) Was it you?!?

(Pan to follow her accusing finger over to Bulk, still hunkered down in his makeshift bunker; he stands up, snowball in hand.)

Bulk: I’m a conscientious objector!

(The great lummox proceeds to take a pelting from every conceivable direction. Cut to a stretch of winter sky and tilt down to frame Pinkie crawling toward the curb, her belly pressed to the frozen ground so she can stay as low as possible. The ringing of the kitchen timer stops her cold, and she pulls it out and shuts it off with a forlorn whimper.)

Pinkie: (sobbing, eyes tearing up) Oh, my sweet little soufflé! (Her perspective of it.) All I ever wanted was for you to be torn apart and digested by my friend Rarity— (Back to her.) —so she could feel the same kind of joy she brings to me. (She flops face-first into the snow.)

Rarity: (from o.s., gasping happily) Is that this year’s soufflé?

(The heartbroken kid lifts her eyes as the camera zooms out to frame the fashionista’s booted feet on the sidewalk. Pinkie brightens with a gasp of her own; cut to Rarity, dressed for the cold.)

Pinkie: (from o.s.) Rarity? (Cut to frame both.) Where did you—? How did you—? (She stands up…) Wait, tell me later. (…and presents a fork.) Eat!

(The utensil is taken, and the tines remove a morsel and deposit it for a careful chew and swallow.)

Rarity: (smiling broadly) It’s heavenly!

Pinkie: (pumping a fist) YES! I finally did it!

(A snowman behind them trembles briefly and the head and arms fly off, replaced by those of Rainbow who was hiding inside.)

Rainbow: Ha-ha! Sneak attack!

(Pinkie and Rarity back off a step to either side and turn to face her, now one bare blue hand can be seen gripping a snowball.)

Rainbow: (throwing it) Bet you weren’t expecting this!

(Back to her two targets, Rarity casually stopping both this attack and the several that follow it with a gem shield. Upon dispelling it, she and Pinkie are treated to the sight of one dumbfounded assailant.)

Rainbow: Aw, no fair! I spent two days as a snowman for that!

(A snowball to the gut sends her backward to the turf in a yelling, graceless heap, and Pinkie and Rarity laugh over the counter-offensive. “Iris out” to black, the aperture centered on the soufflé; it pauses long enough for Rarity to fork up another bite before closing.)

“The Cider Louse Fools”

(Opening shot: fade to black from the title card, then snap to a slow pan across the house and barn at Sweet Apple Acres, seen from the curb. It is daytime, and the barn doors stand open to give a view of the goings-on inside. Bloom is bringing in a basket of apples, followed by Winona, and Applejack is positioning a large tub set up on support legs as Twilight watches. Macintosh is out front, attaching an awning to a small wheeled cart full of fruit, and within seconds he is catching up to Bloom with a basket of his own. She sets her load down and wipes her forehead, but the sight of an apple floating free in Twilight’s aura brings them both to a puzzled stop. The bespectacled student effortlessly floats up the contents of Bloom’s basket; once Applejack places the tub just so, they drop neatly into it. Applejack dusts off her palms as Granny enters, carrying a large jar, funnel, and length of rubber hose. Setting these down, the lunch lady plugs the hose into a spigot set low on the side of the tub and opens the valve. Lanterns and strings of pennants hang from the rafters, and crates and hay bales have been set up to serve as tables. Tubs and bags of popcorn stand ready as snacks.)

Twilight: (to Applejack, touching her shoulder) Thank you so much for inviting me to your family’s holiday party! Would you say the Apple Family Annual Holiday Harvest and Cider-Making Fest is more of a mulling fest or a chilling fest? (The preparations continue; Bloom, barefoot, starts stomping the apples in the tub.)

Applejack: (draping a cloth over a crate) Don’t you fret. It’s always a blast— (sourly) —well, aside from when the Flim Flam Brothers make their appearance.

Twilight: Huh? (Slow pan.)

Applejack: They make it a tradition to swindle my family at the Harvest and Cider-Makin’ Party. One year, they took all our ladders in the middle of the party!

(Dissolve to the three siblings approaching a stand of laden apple trees at which ladders have been set up. Each is carrying a bucket, and Applejack is in the work clothes she used in “Five to Nine.” A gust of wind causes the ladders to waver and sway wildly, spooking them enough to stop dead and Applejack/Macintosh to drop their buckets, and Bloom follows suit as Granny joins them to run her own bemused eyes over the scene. Applejack shoves her way past the others, the view briefly fading to black in time with her move toward the camera; from here, snap to a close-up of one ladder joint, showing it to be constructed from tape and toilet paper. Applejack rips this down and lets her scowl tell just what she thinks of this prank, picking up an unused roll and hurling it toward the rest of the family to drive the point home. It strikes Macintosh in the chest, bounces up over his head, and unfurls itself on him to the tune of several feet. Applejack can only grin sheepishly at her outburst.)

Applejack: (voice over) We had to improvise.

(Now Granny directs Macintosh to walk toward one of the trees with frenetic hand signals. The camera is positioned so that the top of his head is cut off by the upper edge of the screen, and Applejack is seated on his shoulders with a bucket in each hand. He totters back and forth in a desperate attempt to keep his balance, and a tilt up puts Bloom at the top of the pile—kneeling on Applejack’s shoulders and reaching to pluck apples from the tree. Gravity gets the better of them, however, and Apples and buckets go crashing to the ground.)

Applejack: (voice over) Another year…

(Dissolve to Applejack picking fruit from one of the trees—and using an actual folding ladder this time—under Granny’s supervision.)

Applejack: …they de-bottomed our baskets!

(The fruit is tossed to the matriarch, who lifts a straw basket for a clean catch—but it instantly drops out through the bottom. She looks down into the vessel; cut to her perspective, the apple framed neatly through a hole cut in the woven reeds. Granny lifts it to peer at Applejack, who glowers at the sabotage.)

Applejack: (voice over) Last year…

(Dissolve to a close-up of a small gift box on a table inside; on the next line, the lid flips away and a small worm peeks out.)

Applejack: (voice over) …they gave Apple Bloom a pet worm.

(The young redhead instantly becomes smitten with the invertebrate, picking it up on a finger and cuddling it to her cheek despite visible consternation from her brother and sister. Applejack is in her regular outfit now. Bloom and the worm frolic in a meadow, then share an ice cream soda with two straws; the worm slithers up into its own, and Bloom gags in disgust at the thought of having accidentally swallowed it. Her fears are quickly allayed when it pops up from the cloud of whipped cream on top of the soda, lifting the cherry on its head. Next she pushes it on a tire swing hanging from a tree branch, the action shifting briefly to a slow-motion close-up of each shiny-eyed, ecstatic face in turn, and carries it laughing through the orchards. Applejack and Granny smile gently after her, but their good cheer dissipates in short order when the baskets of apples surrounding them begin to tremble under their own power. The vibrant red skins rupture under the emergence of one worm after another, and Macintosh joins the two in the orchards, shock registering on his face as Applejack claps a disgusted hand to her own.)

Applejack: (voice over) Colonel Wigglesworth and all his friends ate up every last apple we had.

(The end of this line is marked by a dissolve back to her in the here and now so she can finish the tale in person.)

Twilight: (gasping softly) That’s horrible. And to think bow ties used to be a symbol of integrity that only cool people wore!

Applejack: (smiling, patting her shoulder) Oh, honey, you’re thinkin’ of bolo ties. (socking fist into palm) Anyway, this year we’re settin’ traps for those no-good Flim Flam Brothers. If they try anythin’ slippery, then things are gonna get sticky.

Twilight: (patting Applejack’s shoulder, putting an arm across both) Applejack, I promise if you let me come up with a plan, we can out-bamboozle those bamboozlers!

Applejack: (laughing, socking fist into palm) I was hopin’ you’d say that!

Bloom: Yes!

(Granny and Macintosh add cocky smiles and nods of their own while shifting supplies around. All four Apples gather in the barnyard, sitting down with a pig and chicken, as Twilight wheels in a blackboard on a rolling frame. The side facing them is blank; they lean forward intently, and the young genius grabs the top edge and heaves downward to spin the board on its mounts, dislodging a chicken that had been roosting up there. When the whirling rotation ends, the flip side stands exposed to show off a dense conglomeration of graphs, sketches connected one to the next, and a drawing of the Flim Flam Brothers’ faces marked out with a circle-and-slash. Seeing general confusion on her audience’s faces, Twilight fumbles in her pockets but comes up short of anything to help explain her plan. A clucking noise from o.s. below catches her by surprise; cut to the evicted chicken, poking her leg for attention and carrying a stick in its beak. Twilight accepts the item and begins to use it as a pointer, indicating various portions of her scheme so the Apples can start to catch on.)

(A hail of apples tumbles past the camera, the view wiping behind them to Applejack and Bloom both on apple-stomping duty in the barn. Applejack has changed into her “Five to Nine” outfit, shed her boots, and rolled up her pant legs. The liquid product of their efforts is draining from the tub’s spigot and through the rubber hose into a smaller container, which Macintosh removes and places on a table for Twilight’s consideration. She samples a bit of cider on a fingertip, grins at the taste, and brings up a jug with a funnel already placed in its mouth. Macintosh answers her thumbs-up with one of his own and pours the load in, while she sticks a label on the side that depicts an apple with a droplet falling from it.)

(A wave of cider washes past the camera and drains away, changing the view to a close-up of an apple-marked box with an open, hinged lid and a crank protruding from one side like a jack-in-the-box. Bloom—now wearing her boots again—has this device out on the porch and is trying to stuff a net into it as Twilight carries a box across the yard. She gets it loaded and closes the lid, only to have it pop open and cover her with the net. For her second try, she wads it up and stomps on it to pack it down; however, the lid still refuses to remain shut and deposits the net on her. Attempt number three finds Bloom out in the yard and the box in a press; after a few turns of the handle to compress the net, she closes the lid and gingerly backs away. It remains inert…she beams in triumph…and then the box ejects the net onto her yet again. She struggles to get loose of it, frustration coming clear on her face, but one swift yank by Applejack—back in her usual outfit, boots and all—sets her whirling in place and removes it. Bloom barely has time to get over the resulting dizziness before her big sister has the net in a neatly folded bundle. A casual toss lands it in the box and causes the lid to fall shut; Bloom seethes quietly at having been shown up.)

(Cut to Twilight tying a blindfold across Macintosh’s eyes. Applejack arrives just in time to see him stumble off on a random path and be redirected by his guide. He is left standing in the middle of the yard as Twilight acquires a shovel, which she presses into his hands. Even though he cannot see, he plies the tool against dirt and sod as she watches with a smirk. Inside the barn, Granny begins filling the tub with water from a garden hose, then dispenses pepper from a grinder into the vessel. Here comes Twilight.)

Twilight: Hmm… (She takes a taste and grimaces.) …yecch!

(Giving Granny a thumbs-up, she hefts a jug whose sticker displays a pepper shaker and covers this with one for cider. The container is placed into a wooden chest, sitting on the ground with its lid open; cut to within it, the camera pointing up at five quietly satisfied faces, as Applejack closes the lid to black out the screen. Macintosh no longer has the blindfold or shovel.)

(Fade in to the exterior of the barn, its doors closed, then cut to Applejack and Bloom standing at them inside. The camera is placed at ground level a short distance away, framing the silhouettes of two other pairs of legs in the fore.)

Bloom: Nobody’s talkin’. They’re just standin’ around. (Close-up of the sisters.) I guess a cider party ain’t much fun without cider.

Applejack: (thoughtfully) Huh.

(She turns away from Bloom, the camera panning slightly to frame Twilight on her other side.)

Applejack: You sure this is the best way to fool the Flim Flam Brothers?

Twilight: It is in fact the only way. (adjusting glasses) I triple-checked my game theory matrix. Those no-good grifters are gonna offer a fake diamond for the party’s eponymous cider. (touching Applejack’s shoulder) We’ll play along, and by the time they figure out we sold them pepper-and-salt water— (crossing barn) —we’ll be celebrating our victory with the real cider—

(She stops near a pair of refreshment tables, the figures of Cheerilee and Scootaloo visible behind her. On the next line, the camera zooms out to frame more party attendees, including Sandalwood and Sweetie Belle, and she rests one foot on the chest. The new arrivals are oddly motionless.)

Twilight: —which is hidden in here.

Applejack: (uncertainly) I hope you’re right.

Twilight: Trust me.

(Comes now the creaking of the doors, accompanied by the shadows of two figures stretching toward the conspirators. Applejack turns toward the doors an instant before the camera cuts to them, framing the hucksters. They have traded their previous blue/white-striped vests for sweater vests done in broad panels of these two colors, with blue edging at the collar and their cutie-mark pins attached.)

Flim: Greetings!

Flam: Salutations!

Flim: No tricks this year.

Flam: Cross our hearts of gold.

Flim: Speaking of gold, how would you feel about selling us your cider? (Cut to an uneasy Twilight/Applejack and back as he continues.) For the generous sum of…

Flam: …let’s say…

Flim: …oh…

Flim, Flam: (gesturing dramatically) …this genuine, real-life diamond?

(They each wind up with one arm raised at an angle toward the other, the sizable jewel in question appearing in the niche where the two limbs cross. Twilight smirks at Applejack, both of them pleased at the accuracy of the former’s prediction so far. Wipe to Flim placing a jug in the open trunk of a car at the curb and closing the lid, then cut to Applejack waving from the barn doors.)

Applejack: Y’all come back next year, you hear?

(The brothers drive off, and she and Applejack shut the doors and exhale silently in relief. After a long, tense beat, the camera zooms out to frame the whole family on the following; the next three lines overlap.)

Applejack: Yee-haa!

Bloom: (hugging Macintosh) That was amazin’!

Granny: We did it!

Applejack: (chuckling) Twilight was one step ahead of ’em from start to finish. (as all stand over chest) let the real Apple Family Annual Holiday Harvest and Cider-Makin’ Fest begin!

(The camera is behind it and at ground level for this shot, so the interior is not immediately visible when she triumphantly raises the lid. However, the thunderstruck expressions that settle onto four of the five faces tell all too soon that something is not right. Only Twilight maintains her composure.)

Applejack: Whuh-oh.

(Close-up of the chest, zooming in by steps on the whole lot of nothing it contains, then cut back to the three younger Apples. Applejack rummages inside.)

Applejack: Where’s the real cider? (lifting chest, passing it to Macintosh) Did they take the real cider?

(The move exposes a large hole cut in the bottom; now Bloom and Granny lean in closer, Bloom adding her stunned gasp to Applejack’s. A tunnel has been dug up through the earth, positioned to coincide with the unauthorized bit of carpentry as an underground route for swiping the goods.)

Bloom: Aw, man!

Applejack: That ain’t fair! They must’ve known about the switcheroo and double-reverse switcheroo’d us right back!

Twilight: (darting to hole, then to doors) Unless I knew they’d double back and take the real cider using a series of tunnels I dug, knowing they’d find them and use them, ensuring that when they emerged right outside the front door, they’d get…trapped in a net!

(This, then, would explain her earlier tactic of having Macintosh dig while blindfolded.)

Applejack: (standing up) Did you do that?

Twilight: (opening doors) You tell me.

(Now it is her turn to be gobsmacked, finding Flim and Flam standing out by their car and very much un-netted.)

Applejack: (dryly) Nope.

Twilight: Uhhhhh…

Flim: (as Flam holds up the still-loaded net-in-a-box) Looking for this?

(None of the five can muster up any response as the mustachioed sibling begins to turn the crank, the camera tilting up slowly from his and Flim’s feet in close-up.)

Flam: Nobody outsmarts the Flim Flam Brothers. Oh, thanks for the…cider!

(The lid pops, ejecting the net toward the camera and blacking out the screen. Snap immediately to the barn interior, Applejack ducking hastily to avoid being ensnared. It settles over the party guests, who still have not shifted even a fraction, and the camera is now close enough to reveal why: they are actually cutouts made from cardboard or plywood. Twilight and the family boggle at Flim and Flam, the latter having set the trap aside.)

Flim: Time to go!

Flam: See you next year!

Flim: (holding up cider jug) Oh, and one more thing.

(Close-up of it; he rips off the sticker to reveal the pepper-shaker one for the trick batch Granny prepared, then throws the jug contemptuously into the barn for Twilight to catch. Back to him and Flam.)

Flam: (bowing mockingly) Enjoy your pepper water! 

(Turning their backs to the suckers, they vocalize a short vaudeville-style musical stinger, click their heels, and are in their car and gone before anyone can react. Twilight finally voices a heavy sigh, letting her head droop just enough so that a stray reflection of sunlight on her glasses briefly whites out her eyes.)

Applejack: Guess this party’s over.

Twilight: (smiling) Actually, it never got started.

(A few steps later, she has put the jug aside and is pulling the net away. A push sends the Cheerilee standee toppling forward to crash flat on the ground. Cut to Bloom and Macintosh.)

Bloom: (smiling) No wonder Scootaloo was so quiet. (Pan to Applejack and Granny on the next line, the former holding her hat.)

Applejack: (donning it) But—who—h-how’d you—

(Back to Twilight, who gets the jug in one hand and a chicken-shaped clock in the other.)

Twilight: These clocks are all wrong. (setting clock down, crossing to pick up a mug) The real party doesn’t start for another twenty minutes.

(She cheerfully pours herself a drink and takes a long pull, the color giving it away as the real thing despite its label.)

Twilight: (setting jug on table) Mmm! Delicious!

Applejack: (smiling, catching on) You didn’t switch the cider, did you? (Bloom pokes at the Scootaloo standee.)

Twilight: (picking it up) Mmm-hmm.

(And off comes the label to expose one for cider.)

Granny: (laughing) Surprise me once, shame on you. Surprise me twice, shame on me! Surprise me three times, the fourth surprise gonna be on you! (Whooping, she runs out to address the street.) You’re the surprised ones! (A long spate of cackling follows.)

Applejack: (mind blown) Huh. Wow. I…I don’t know what to say. (Twilight crosses to her with two mugs.)

Twilight: How about “cheers”?

(She passes one over, and the two friends clink them together in a toast and laugh. Fade to black.)

“Winter Break-In”

(Opening shot: fade to black from the title card, then in to an extreme close-up of a paper cup being carried by Pinkie. She is in her winter togs; the same will be true of the other girls when seen next. Zoom out to frame her walking down a corridor whose walls are lined with roll-up doors—a self-storage facility. The camera motion brings Twilight partly into view.)

Pinkie: (with mounting giddiness) It’s winter break, I have hot cocoa, and we’re about to bring a giant wagon of toys to little kids!

(Gasp; long shot, framing all seven girls on the move, Fluttershy with an owl perched on one arm. Twilight and Pinkie stop.)

Pinkie: This is the best day ever!

(A sniff at the cup, a glance down into it, and her eyes widen.)

Pinkie: Is that…a marshmallow?

(A close-up of the contents picks one out, bobbing among a swirl of tiny sugar stars.)

Pinkie: (laughing, on verge of tears) Oh, today just got better!

(She voices an ecstatic squeal as Twilight shepherds her along the corridor. Cut to Applejack and Sunset farther ahead.)

Applejack: Mighty kind of you to let us keep all these toys in your storage locker, Sunset. I didn’t have the space after Granny Smith converted our barn into a hot-yoga studio.  (Both stop, Sunset thrown for a loop.)

Sunset: No biggie.

(The rest of the group gathers around them at one particular door.)

Sunset: (tapping it) Nice to finally use this darn thing. I’ve been paying monthly and I never use it.

Twilight: What is it, a gym membership?

(She voices a snorty laugh at this morsel of wit, but gets no takers from the rest of the gang and lets it drop.)

Twilight: Let’s just open the locker.

Sunset: (suddenly a bit uneasy) Yeah. Good idea, Twilight. You know, the Toys for Kids Festival’s gonna start soon, so…just open the lock with the key. (holding out one hand) Pinkie?

(Blue eyes blink confusedly for a long moment.)

Pinkie: Oh! I gave the key to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow: I gave it to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy: (indicating owl) And I entrusted it to Chad. Do you have it, Chad?

(The bird emits an inquisitive hoot and glances toward Rarity, phone in hand.)

Rarity: Oh, right, the key! (gesturing o.s.) I put it in a charming little bag and I gave it to you.

(A cut to Sunset puts her on the receiving end of these words.)

Sunset: Yeah… (softly/hastily, face falling) …and I left it in my locker.

Rainbow: Oh, no worries. We’ll just run down to the school, get the key, and we’re back in business. (All but Twilight head out.)

Twilight: Uh, school’s closed. Heh.

(Seeing that they are not to be thwarted by this minor technical hitch, she groans to herself and hustles to catch up. Fade to black, then snap to just inside a pair of closed glass doors. Sunset tries in vain to push and pull them open from the other side with a frustrated growl, the other six a pace or two back under a daytime sky. Finally she gives up, the camera cutting to an overhead shot of the septet on the front steps of Canterlot High. Rarity has put her phone away, Pinkie has disposed of her cocoa, and the lawn is covered with snow.)

Twilight: (dryly) Like I said, school’s closed for winter break.

Rarity: Well, this won’t do at all! Without the key, there’s no toys, and that means those adorable children at the Toys for Kids Festival are going to open empty boxes!

Rainbow: (shuddering) That’s worse than clothes!

Rarity: (sputtering indignantly) Excuse me?!

Sunset: Not on my watch. I have a plan. The school doors might be locked…

(Dissolve to an overhead shot of the building, panning slowly across; the girls are now gone. The image dims, turns to black and white, and recedes into the left half of the screen so a grim-faced Pinkie and Sunset in full color can advance across the roof. They have changed into dark gray bodysuits and have goggles with large green lenses propped on their foreheads. The left half tiles itself with three close-ups of the two, going to dim monochrome as all four pairs set their eyewear in place.)

Sunset: (voice over) …but the air vents aren’t.

(Horizontally split screen: seen from two different distances, they fix ropes with grappling hooks to their belts and Sunset opens a ventilation grate. The screen quickly re-tiles itself to show an elderly janitor walking the corridors on the left half and two grayed-out images of a wall-mounted control panel on the right.)

Sunset: (voice over) Fortunately [sic], the hallway has a motion sensor security system— (Full color; he stops and enters a code.) —which we’ll have to hack into and disable.

(Gray out and re-tile. Top half: Twilight in her bedroom at home, typing at a laptop.)

Sunset: (voice over) That’s where Twilight comes in.

(Bottom half: two different angles of the screen and keyboard. The three fields go gray, one by one, and a colored fourth image appears at top right: the janitor turning away from the panel. Another re-tile: Twilight’s laptop in color on the left, a green check mark appearing on the screen; Pinkie and Sunset at bottom right. There follows a flurry of new images, which shift from color to black and white and take up different sections of the screen. The janitor ambling away…Twilight shifting attention from her computer to her phone…Pinkie and Sunset dropping in through the opened grade and using their hooks/ropes to rappel into the corridor…Fluttershy receiving a text message from Twilight and dispatching Chad toward the front doors of Canterlot High.)

Sunset: (voice over) Once we’re in, we’ll need a distraction so the janitor doesn’t see us.

(The owl flutters and hoots just beyond the glass…the janitor moves in for a better look…Pinkie and Sunset risk a peek around a corner…having been let in, Chad harries the old man and sends him screaming for cover…Pinkie flips a thumbs-up to Sunset, who opens her locker, props goggles on forehead, and retrieves a small, ornately decorated paper bag…a key is extracted, strung on a loop of chain with a charm shaped as her cutie mark…the covert operatives slip away as the janitor keeps fleeing from Chad.)

Sunset: (voice over) I’ll grab the key, and we’re out.

(Outside, the girls stroll away from the building as if they own the place. Pinkie and Sunset are back in their cold-weather outfits, and all seven are wearing identical sunglasses. One final split-screen view dissolves to a fullscreen, fully colored close-up of the master planner as she dons a pair of these shades.)

Sunset: Any questions?

Twilight: (from o.s., raising a hand into view) A few.

(Cut to her, open notebook in hand and not at all convinced that this is a good idea.)

Twilight: You do know that you’re describing breaking and entering, right?

Sunset: Well, y—

Twilight: (checking pages) And Fluttershy is friends with animals, sure. And she’s not gonna use them to attack our janitor.

Sunset: (flustered) Not attack, exactly.

Twilight: And finally, climbing through a vent is dangerous, and if a young person saw us doing it, they might try to imitate it and get hurt.

Sunset: (sighing dejectedly, removing sunglasses) Then I guess it’s game over.

Pinkie: (pulling out and donning a pair) Except game not over, ’cause ch-ch-check out my awesome plan! (Zoom in on her.) Here’s what I’m thinking.

(Wipe to a close-up of her in the kitchen at her house, putting on the apron she used in “Saving Pinkie’s Pie” and collecting ingredients from a cabinet.)

Pinkie: (voice over) First, we bake a dozen pistachio cream cupcakes.

(Components are scooped and meticulously measured, after which the view shifts to the same re-tiling, color/monochrome collage style as Sunset’s plan. Pinkie mixes a bowl of batter…the cupcakes go into the oven…then are removed…and held up, fully frosted, on a platter…and set down before the front steps of Canterlot High.)

Pinkie: (voice over) Then, we leave them outside Principal Celestia’s office to lure her out.

(One image, a close-up of the corner of Celestia’s desk, expands to fill the screen and show her seated here and typing at her computer. As the aroma from the baked goods drifts in and she stands up to get a lungful, the tiling resumes. She leaves her desk…emerges into the anteroom of her office…and then outside to find the cupcakes at the bottom of the steps, leaving one door ajar.)

Pinkie: (voice over) Once she’s out, and while the door’s still open— (She twirls a lariat of red licorice, seen in triplicate.) —I’ll use my licorice-whip lasso to catch the door handle.

(Three images of the loop cinching around the handle of the open door and snapping taut present themselves, and one expands to fullscreen as the other six Rainbooms scramble in. Pinkie runs in after them, eating the lasso as she goes, and makes it inside just as Celestia stands up eating one cupcake and carrying the platter. She aims a puzzled glance this way and that, but finds nothing amiss and goes back to enjoying the unexpected dessert. Tiling resumes again, with Sunset opening her locker and plucking out the bag with the needed key, and yields to fullscreen again just as quickly. Pinkie throws a furtive glance around one corner as the other six celebrate at the locker.)

Pinkie: (voice over) Then, when we get the key…

(A tiling of her keeping watch…smiling slyly…pulling a box of candy from her hair…opening it…and chomping down a handful to leave smears across her mouth.)

Pinkie: (voice over) …that’s where these chocolate-covered crunch nuggets come in!

Pinkie: (on screen, mouth full) Mmm!

(Her mind’s-eye plot ends with a cut to a close-up of her and a zoom out. She is in fact eating the sweets, and Sunset has put her sunglasses back on.)

Sunset: (propping them on forehead) What are those for? (Close-up of Pinkie.)

Pinkie: To eat, silly! After all this heisting, we’re gonna be hungry. (lowering shades) Any questions?

Twilight: (from o.s.) Actually, yeah. (Cut to her, still with notebook at the ready.) So how are we supposed to bake two dozen cupcakes before the Toys for Kids Festival, hmmm?

Pinkie: Uh—

Twilight: And I don’t think a licorice lasso is a real thing.

Pinkie: Mmm—it could be.

Twilight: And once again, this is trespassing. Come on. Someone has to have a plan that’s not a crime.

Applejack: (groaning, clapping hand to temple) We got powers. I’m sick of not usin’ our powers! I want to use our powers!

(Wipe to an extreme close-up of a patch of Canterlot street as the front wheel of a motorcycle skids into view and stops. The chassis is red/orange/yellow, and the apple on the boot covering the foot that steps onto the pavement can only be Applejack’s. Zoom out and tilt up to frame all of her, sunglasses on and safety helmet resting on the seat behind her; she lowers the shades for a hard look at whatever is to her left, and the tiling/monochrome effects start anew. The smirking blonde strides across the lawn, framed from three different angles…in fullscreen, she stops before the pedestal on which Canterlot High’s Wondercolt statue had stood, tosses the stone from her magic pendant in slow motion, and catches it in a clenched fist. The entire screen burns yellow/white, subsiding to present a close-up of a fist in a glowing, yellow-orange glove with a greenish-white gem set in its back below the fingers. This is whisked away and replaced by a ponied-up Applejack, clad in a bodysuit of this same color and with her pendant changed to yellow, displaying a lozenge-shaped gem in yellow-orange.)

(The fists bang together, shattering the yellow-orange coloration on the arms in favor of the emerald-decorated brown gloves of the sleeveless superhero outfit she gained in Legend of Everfree. A few quick punches and a tensing of the upper body change its clothing, and a mighty leap and pavement-cracking touchdown complete the transformation for her legs. Last to come in are the jeweled green apple clips in her hair, followed by a cluster of neon-glowing red apples in the air behind her. The tiling resumes: she limbers up one arm…interlaces and flexes her fingers to crack every knuckle at once…then steps up to the building and seizes one corner of the masonry at ground level. Snap to black, against which a jagged fissure of light races across the screen and widens to frame the farmer lifting the upper portion with every bit of her super strength.)

Applejack: Apple…

(A long shot and quick zoom out confirm what this camera angle has suggested—that she is tearing the entire structure free of its foundations.)

Applejack: (echoing) …JAAAAAACK!!

(The other girls, now gathered on the lawn, cheer wildly before the view cuts back to Applejack in the present. Her eyes are now hidden behind a pair of shades over a savage grin.)

Twilight: (dryly) Yeah, no.

Sunset: (from o.s.) You know what? Fine. (Cut to her, sunglasses off.) Why don’t you plan the heist?

Twilight: Hmmm…

(She reels out a pair of earphones, slips them into place under her earmuffs, and goes to work as the tiling/monochrome collage starts up once again. The cord is swiftly plugged into her phone…fingers play over the screen…and a landline unit on the corner of a desk begins to ring. It turns out to be parked on the corner of Celestia’s office desk; the summons interrupts her typing and she exits, the slow deliberate advance of her feet down the corridor seen from three different angles. Celestia walks on…the other girls wait apprehensively for the next development, Pinkie with her face clean of chocolate and no one wearing sunglasses…and Twilight works her phone, her image expanding to fill the screen. The tension breaks when she looks up from the device with a grateful smile; behind her, the background dissolves to a corridor in which Sunset is fishing around in her locker. Twilight’s earphones fade away at the same time, and she pockets her phone.)

Twilight: Thanks again for letting us come and get Sunset’s key, Principal Celestia.

(The owner of said key finds the bag containing it and extracts/pockets it with a big smile. A longer shot puts the administrator in the corridor as well—Twilight’s “heist” was the simplest of all: just call in.)

Celestia: Of course, Twilight. (walking away) You know that all you had to do was knock.

Sunset: (whispering, to Twilight) Thank you.

(Dissolve to the upper reaches of the Canterlot Mall and zoom out/tilt down to frame a lively intersection of two corridors. A giant gold-colored horseshoe has been set up as an archway, and the girls are busy handing out gifts to young children—the Toys for Kids Festival is underway. The area has been decorated for the holiday season, including a bell and ribbon bow on the archway and a snowman set up at floor level. The recipients of this bounty offer a plethora of smiles and hugs to the ones providing it and waste no time in testing out their new finds. One boy receives a box from Pinkie and shakes it in hopes of divining the contents, but it slips from his hands and hits the floor with the distinct tinkle of something breaking. His spirits sink, but rise again just as quickly when she hauls a backup present out of her hair and passes it to him.)

Fluttershy: Phew!

Sunset: (sighing with relief, glancing into a large empty sack) Well, that’s the last gift. Now who wants to go cash in some gift cards?  

(The others cheer their agreement—all except Twilight, who is out of frame for the moment.)

Sunset: Twilight, where’s that bag I gave you? (The seventh Rainboom pops up in a panic.)

Twilight: I left it at school!

(An instant later, she is utterly calm and collected—and pulling a pair of sunglasses from her coat pocket.)

Twilight: (putting them on over her glasses) But I got an idea.

(Cut directly to the closing credits.)

“Dashing Through the Mall”

(Opening shot: fade to black from the title card, then snap to a slow pan across the upper reaches of the festively bedecked Canterlot Mall during the day. Cut/pan here and there among the bustling corridors. Gifts are purchased, carried about, and exchanged between friends; lines snake out the shop doors; and a few excited squeals and hugs pass between givers and receivers. The amiable hubbub ends abruptly in shocked gasps when the vivid contrail of Rainbow’s super speed flashes by to mark her passage and nearly wipes out the decorations to boot. Sneakered feet pound across the tiles and come to a stop at a table in the food court where the other Rainbooms have gathered with a round of drinks.)

Rainbow: (gasping for breath) Sorry I’m late, everybody. Hard to park at the mall at this time of year. (Applejack slurps at her ice cream soda.)

Fluttershy: That’s why we carpooled.

Rainbow: (groaning, pulling out her phone) Really gotta start checking my texts.

Sunset: Why didn’t you just run to the mall?

Rainbow: (laughing, chagrined; phone in pocket) Uh, I learned the hard way that high velocity and icy sidewalks don’t mix well.

Twilight: (with a slightly crazed grin) Now that we’re all here, who wants to go first?

Rainbow: For what? What are we doing?

Twilight: The Secret Present Switcheroo!

(She and the other five each whip out a present, leaving Rainbow positively floored.)

Rainbow: That’s today?

Fluttershy: Remember? We pulled names from Applejack’s boot when she forgot her hat?

Applejack: (cocking an eyebrow) You mean my lucky boot.

Rainbow: (scratching back of head) Ummmmm…

Sunset: Didn’t get that text either, huh?

Rainbow: (rattled) Oh, yeah, n-no! Yeah, uh, I did! Um, I just have to…go to the bathroom!

(She bugs out, very nearly blowing these six off their feet and chairs, and streaks past Bulk as he fumbles his way toward an eagerly waiting Derpy Hooves. The big guy can barely see or keep his balance due to the load of gifts he is hauling, and the speedster’s rush leaves both teens spinning madly in her wake.)

Rainbow: (from o.s.) Sorry!

(They wind up sprawled on the floor amid a chaos of bags, boxes, and now-loose ribbons.)

Rainbow: I forgot! I can’t believe I forgot to get Fluttershy a present! (Slide to a stop, hyperventilating.) How am I supposed to find a present in the next five minutes?

(It takes her brain a second to catch up and begin processing the information from her surroundings.)

Rainbow: (smiling, slapping forehead) Oh, yeah! I’m at the mall! This is where presents are born! I won’t let you down, Fluttershy!

(A burst of speed brings her to a pet shop and its customer queue, which extends out the door.)

Rainbow: (annoyed) A line?

(She races to a booth offering sunglasses and finds it also to be quite busy.)

Rainbow: (groaning) An even longer line? Really? Come on!

(Sprinting along another corridor, she finds the same circumstances at every storefront up and down the way and snarls in frustration. A trip up to the second floor gives her a bird’s-eye view of the heavy retail traffic, but a glance off to one side gives her pause. Now she sneaks past behind a line, jumping up after every few steps for a peek over the customers’ heads.)

Rainbow: (stopping in a clear spot) Please no line, please no line, please no line…

(Her mood shifts from hopefulness to incredulity as the camera pans slightly to frame an electronics store a short distance away. It is just as crowded as all the others.)

Rainbow: What is with the mall being so crowded on the holidays? (to the crowd at large) SOME OF US HAVE LAST-MINUTE SHOPPING TO DO!!

(No response except a whole lot of odd looks; she groans loudly and slumps on her feet, facing away from the camera. The figure of Fluttershy’s younger brother Zephyr Breeze steps into view to address her back; framed from the waist up, he wears a white golf shirt.)

Zephyr: Need to cut the line?

Rainbow: (turning toward him, eyes closed) Yes! I would do anything!

(Her face goes slack once she fully takes in his presence. A head-on shot reveals the name tag on his shirt and the shelves of gaudily colored items arrayed in the store behind him.)

Rainbow: (hastily) U-Undo! It’s been less than three seconds! Doesn’t count what I said.

(A still-longer shot shows the doorway as being star-shaped, and the dark gray pants and brown belt worn by Zephyr.)

Zephyr: (adjusting belt, winking, giving index-finger guns) Rainbow Dash! It’s all good, Miss Awesome.

(Zoom out as he continues. One side of the entrance is lined with stereo speakers, and his feet are encased in two-tone gray sneakers.)

Zephyr: Come on into Trend of the Line, your home for everything from wi-fi shoelaces to…uh, regular shoes, and… (puzzled) …smaller…shoes? Ugh, how’s it go again?

(The camera cuts to a slow pan across a display of each of the first two items as it is named—the “regular shoes” being flip-flops—and he leans into view for the third. He then turns back to Rainbow, resuming his boisterous demeanor.)

Zephyr: Come on into your home for everything from wi-fi shoelaces to, uh… (deflating again; Rainbow is not impressed) …just plain old regular…shoes and…ugh, how’s it go again?

Rainbow: You work here?

Zephyr: (laughing, scratching back of head) Not for long if I can’t remember our slogan, but yeah. (walking in, beckoning to her) Since we’re buddies, I’ll let you jump the line.

Rainbow: (following) Uh…thanks, but I-I don’t know if “buddies” is exactly the word I’d use. (He keeps moving, she stops and speaks softly to herself.) No, you gotta be nice! But only because you love Fluttershy. (Zephyr turns back, surprised.)

Zephyr: Fluttershy? Follow me, my lady.

(He strikes a casual, spread-armed pose to match that of a dapper old pony mascot atop a display of fidget spinners. Instead of being charmed, though, Rainbow adopts a glare of exasperated disgust. Wipe to a close-up of a ball with a pair of attached ledges for the user to stand on and maintain balance. Rainbow plunks her feet on these and works at staying upright, while Zephyr pulls a boxed basketball backboard from the topmost shelf of a nearby rack.)

Zephyr: This is so Fluttershy. (Rainbow steps off to survey it.) A high-tech basketball hoop, ooh! It yells at you to get good when you miss a three-pointer, so you’re always motivated to reach your athletic performance goals.

Rainbow: Uh…I want that, but…no, I don’t think Fluttershy would.

Zephyr: Cool! I knew you’d love it!

Rainbow: No, no, no, I’m not here for me. I need a gift for Fluttershy.

Zephyr: (throwing her an index-finger gun) Got it.

(As he carries the backboard away, she considers a magic wand topped by a star-covered ball at one end, with a unicorn horn and a ring adorned by pony ears and pegasus wings. Almost as soon as she picks it up, the ball pops open to release a burst of confetti and let a squeaky rubber worm flop out; the horn and ring begin cycling through various colors as well. A tap on the shoulder from Zephyr brings her around to look him straight on—now wearing a virtual-reality headset.)

Zephyr: How ’bout these?

(The shopper drops the sprung wand with a yell of fright, but quickly shifts to admiration.)

Rainbow: Ooh! They look expensive.

Zephyr: They are. And when you wear them, it takes everything you see and turns it into an urban landscape.

(He presses a button on the goggles, bringing up an evening city skyline under attack by a flying saucer; the sight fails to put Rainbow at ease.)

Rainbow: Even forests with cute animals?

Zephyr: Absolutely nonexistent when you’re wearing these bad boys. (The screen fills with static and goes dead.)

Rainbow: Uh…nah. (Zephyr removes the rig.) I-I don’t think Fluttershy would like that.

Zephyr: Right, right, right. My bad, my bad. One sec.

(He carries the defective item away, leaving an irritated Rainbow to do a little more browsing on her own. She happens across a fluffy little plush dog in top hat and bow tie and picks it up with a smile; a little squeeze causes it to emit a happy squeak, but a harder one brings a raspberry sound effect and makes the eyes/tongue/tail bulge out to ridiculous proportions. Shaken, Rainbow returns it to the shelf.)

Zephyr: (from “o.s.,” singsong) Oh, yoo-hoo! Rainbow Da-aash!

(On the end of this, the camera pivots slightly to frame him standing behind her at the opposite wall. He has disposed of the broken headset.)

Zephyr: (chuckling, holding up a plastic hand on a telescoping pole) How about this?

Rainbow: What’s that?

Zephyr: It’s for high-fiving when you’re really far away—or when you’re really short. (between grunts, extending pole toward her) Like…or like…or like maybe…or come on…you know…

(Cut to the jock on the end of this, getting increasingly fed up as the fake hand approaches.)

Rainbow: What?! That’s not a gift! That’s not for anybody! (pushing it away) Who would want this?

Snips: (giggling, walking into view carrying one) Whoa, this thing rules! (running off) Snails is gonna love it!

Rainbow: (to Zephyr) These are your suggestions? Do you even know Fluttershy?

Zephyr: Whom?

Rainbow: (leaning hard into his face) Your sister?!?

Zephyr: (retracting high-five pole) I know, I know, I-I was joking. Sorry, look. I know a gift that will make Fluttershy super-happy. (walking off) I-I’ll grab it for you now.

(Now dangerously close to her last good nerve, Rainbow growls to herself and begins to look over a rack of hair bands with various silly accessories attached—flowers and animal ears. She selects one, tries it on, and manages to be visibly underwhelmed by the effect; it is barely back on its peg before the less-than-helpful employee has returned. The camera angle momentarily obscures the item he now carries in place of the high-five pole.)

Zephyr: Here it is!

(A head-on shot discloses a camera whose housing sports two heart-marked upward projections that somewhat resemble a rabbit’s ears.)

Zephyr: She’ll love it! Instant camera. Around this time last year, Fluttershy’s favorite instant camera broke.

(Cut to Rainbow, who eyes it with genuine interest.)

Zephyr: (from o.s.) She really wanted another one. (Back to him; zoom in slowly.) Get someone something they’d never get themselves. Trust me.

Rainbow: Huh. That’s actually…a great idea! (Laugh.) Thanks, Zephyr! You’re amazing!

(She is gone in a smear of color and speed, instantly stripping the camera from his hands and leaving a couple of bills to float down into them.)

Zephyr: (pointing an index-finger gun after her) Right on!

(Rainbow tears out of the store and past the shoppers; cut to the other Rainbooms at their table in the food court.)

Twilight: And who got Fluttershy? (The seventh member blurs to a stop, hands behind back.)

Rainbow: (out of breath) Standing here the whole time! (She brings out a lumpy, sloppily wrapped package.) Here you go, Fluttershy.

(Close-up of it being handed across on this last, then to Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity. The farmer and the fashionista train icy glares in Rainbow’s direction, but Fluttershy accepts the decrepit parcel with a gentle, gracious smile. The camera cuts back and forth between the fearfully cringing blue girl and the yellow one tranquilly unwrapping the mess of tape and paper. Just when Rainbow looks as if she might bite through her fingers from sheer nerves, a happy gasp floats across from Fluttershy’s direction; back to her, holding the camera.)

Fluttershy: An instant camera? I love it!

Rainbow: (smiling hesitantly) You do?

Fluttershy: It’s perfect for fun candid photos! Zephyr got one for me last year after my first one broke.
Rainbow: (flabbergasted) He did?! (Groan.) I shoulda known! I’m sorry!

Fluttershy: (pulling out a second one) Now that I have two, I can finally do two-angle instant-photo bear cub candids! (giggling, hugging Rainbow) Thank you, Rainbow Dash!

(Wipe to Pinkie opening a gift from Applejack—a miniature party cannon, which she cheerfully fires off over the table to shower it with confetti and streamers. Rarity presents Rainbow with a sleeveless red athletic jersey bearing a white 1 on front and back and gets a monster hug in return; a camera flash, and the two are captured standing side by side in a snapshot, Rainbow wearing it and flashing V-for-Victory while Rarity poses casually. Back at the table; Twilight opens her present from Sunset and is surprised to pull out a giant stuffed parakeet—either the one they won from the Flim Flam Brothers in “Rollercoaster of Friendship,” or an exact match for it. The giver stifles a laugh for some seconds, then lets it out as Twilight follows suit. Another picture is snapped, this one showing them both hugging the oversized toy.)

(Next Applejack opens the box containing Fluttershy’s gift; her face goes slack with shock upon glancing inside, but shifts to a big smile once she extracts a gold-plated hammer. Smiles break out among the observing Twilight, Rarity, and Sunset; another flash, and the view has shifted to a photo of a grinning Applejack alongside Fluttershy. They are framed from above, one yellow arm extending up and out of frame—Fluttershy holding her new camera to take the picture herself. Now Sunset carefully unwraps her present from Pinkie, who hunches worriedly over her to watch the process, and finds a computer game under the paper. She smiles broadly at first, but a further look at the label brings a noticeable degree of strain to her expression as Pinkie hugs her from behind. Fluttershy leans in to immortalize the moment and winds up with a snap of a grimacing Sunset and a cheerful Pinkie who fails to notice the tepid reception, as she has her back to the table.)

(Rarity digs into the box given to her by Twilight and is over the moon to find a hardback book within. She shows it off to Applejack, drawing laughter from both her and Twilight, and Fluttershy’s flash fires off once more to catch her blushing ever so slightly at having been caught reading. Twilight, meanwhile, just snickers over the silliness of it all. The view returns to the tables and the girls enjoying the gifts and each other’s company. Zoom out slowly and pan to Snips and Snails seated at a table of their own; each is holding a high-five pole.)

Snails: You got me the same thing that I got you?

Snips, Snails: (slapping plastic hands together, palm first) High five! (They laugh; Snails begins to sob.)

Snips: You…y-you crying, Snails?

Snails: (wiping eyes, composing himself somewhat) No! Friendship means never having to say “high five”!

(They repeat the gesture. “Iris out” to black, the aperture heart-shaped and centered on the hands; it closes with a final spark of white.)

“O’Come All Ye Squashful”

(Opening shot: fade to black from the title card, then snap to a long overhead shot of Canterlot High during the day. Zoom in slowly through the briskly falling snow and cut to the entrance hall; students are reading and exchanging holiday cards, and Applejack waves to DJ P0N-3 and Octavia on the stairs and climbs to the next floor, passing Bulk and Derpy as they start down. A short distance away are the rest of the girls, who pause in their conversation and locker-rummaging at her approach.)

Applejack: Hey, y’all! Who’s ready for a new holiday tradition? (Cut to Twilight.)

Twilight: Technically, it’s not a tradition if it’s new. Tradition implies something that’s been done before and everyone expects it and—

Applejack: How do y’all feel about startin’ a holiday tradition?

(Finger quotation marks for “startin’.” Cut to a slow pan across the others.)

Rainbow: Eh, sounds cool.

Sunset: I’m in.

Pinkie: Ooh!

Rarity: Fabulous.

Twilight: (petulantly, under her breath) Words matter, people.

Applejack: (pulling out her phone, facing screen to them) Every year for the Apple Harvest Festival, my family sends a theme photo to our friends.

(Tap the screen; close-up of it, presenting all four Apples in homesteader garb.)

Applejack: (from o.s.) This is when we were pioneers. (A swipe shows them in tree costumes.) This year, we were the forest. (Another brings up a lone tree in a meadow.) And last year, we all pretended to be ghosts. (Profile: Twilight leans in for a searching look.)

Twilight: Uh, there’s no one in this picture.

Applejack: Because you can’t see ghosts, Twilight. Sheesh.

Rarity: (crossing to her) Indeed. We’re all familiar with your yearly cards.

Applejack: I was thinkin’ we could all get gussied up and do a holiday photo to send out to the whole school.

(Pinkie grins at the suggestion, while the other five exhibit mild revulsion which they smother with varying degrees of success.)

Rarity: Oh! Good—goody.

Sunset: Oh, man, AJ, I would love to, but I have a—a thing…you know, right now, uh, with Hoops Dunkington. You know Hoops, from Crystal Prep. We’re gonna get…sandwiches. (Applejack stows her phone.)

Applejack: Heh. You’re so funny. Bring him along. He can take the picture.

(Sunset hurriedly checks her phone and adopts an air of fake dejection.)

Sunset: Oh, man! He just…cancelled.

Applejack: We just gotta figure out what we’re all wearin’.

Twilight: I could design it!

Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Sunset: NO!! (Sunset has put her phone away.)

Rainbow: Remember when you made us be the quadratic equation for Halloween?

Fluttershy: I didn’t mind that costume.

Rainbow: ’Cause you got to be a plus or minus. I could barely function! (Gasp.) Wait. Was that a math pun? (Nod from Sunset; she groans disgustedly.) You’re ruining me!

Twilight: Ah, don’t be such a square.

(She accentuates the joke by briefly raising her hands with thumbs/forefingers joined to form a rectangle, as if framing a picture, and grins hopefully toward the others. Pinkie obliges by playing a drum sting on an imaginary kit with a very real pair of sticks, but gets only a squint-eyed sidelong glance from the intellectual.)

Applejack: I already decided on the theme. A cornucopia! You know, them goat-horn-shaped basket thingies overflowin’ with flowers, fruit, and corn? (Chuckle.) It’s the symbol of the Apple Harvest Festival! (Pinkie stashes her sticks.)

Rarity: I’ll take the lead on wardrobe. (Next three lines overlap.)

Twilight: (under her breath, snarky) Unexpected.

Fluttershy: Really?

Sunset: (shocked) Whaaaat?

Rarity: Simply tell us the location of the photo, and we will be there.

Applejack: (chuckling) Well, this is the best news ever! Thanks, y’all. I’ll get the auditorium ready for the shoot. See you guys this afternoon!

(Only after she has cleared out does Rarity fully express her true opinion of the project, in the form of a forlorn sigh and slump.)

Sunset: Rarity, are you okay? I think you just offered to do something that you don’t really want to do.

Rarity: (with growing resolve) No, Sunset. Unfortunately, I offered to do something I have to do. As a good, generous friend, I have to save Applejack’s photo shoot. (breezily) I also have the best taste of anyone involved.

Rainbow: (smugly) Yep. Knew there was another reason.

Rarity: (melodramatically) I know not what a goat-horn-shaped basket thing—

Rainbow: A cornucopia?

Rarity: (mumbling through the word) —is, but I can guarantee that I will make us the most fabulous version of that… (more calmly) …that thing that I can.

(Twilight swings in for the assist, showing a picture of a cornucopia on her phone; the very sight causes Rarity to moan and swoon, saved from hitting the floor only by Pinkie’s quick catch.)

Pinkie: Rarity! Are you okay! What do you need?

Rarity: (fiercely) Take me to the drama department’s costume room! Time is running out!

(So the pink dynamo slings the pale designer up over her shoulder like a sack of flour and sets off at a full run while the other four trade very confused looks. Twilight has returned her phone to a pocket by this point. Cut to one end of the room in question, equipped as a typical clothing design workshop with a range of materials and supplies. Twilight looks over a pile of fabrics on a countertop; Fluttershy has a dress in hand and is instructing a few birds perched on a headless mannequin torso; Pinkie is grooving to the rhythm emanating from the boom box she now carries in place of Rarity; Sunset is using her phone. Rainbow blazes across, selects a specimen from the pile laid before Twilight, and takes it to Rarity at the other end of the room. An enormous length of yellow-orange fabric is being put through a sewing machine, matching the newly brought piece, and Rainbow whips back to pick up another load as Rarity works intently with sweat trickling down her forehead.)

(The ace athlete is more than a little puzzled at the next piece she fishes out: a sparkly, bright orange dress with leafy green trim at shoulders and waist in a carrot motif. Shrugging, she whisks it over to Rarity; next Fluttershy carries a glittery purple one over to the mannequin. The birds quickly pitch in, draping it over the form, and the animal lover’s face falls once she sees that it is styled to resemble a bunch of grapes, with a gold belt marked by an emerald. Nevertheless, she soldiers on and leans close to make an adjustment.)

Rarity: I’m going to make this— (Rainbow runs across to her…)

Rainbow: Cornucopia! (…and back…)

Rarity: —so fashionable that people will learn what a— (…and to her again, now somewhat irked.)

Rainbow: Cornucopia!

Rarity: (matching her mood) —is.

Sunset: (talking on phone, gloomily) So no appointments this afternoon?

Twilight: What are you doing, Sunset? (Sunset hangs up and addresses her.)

Sunset: Trying to get any appointment I can for this afternoon. (tapping screen) But my dentist, doctor, dermatologist, podiatrist, and guitar teacher are all booked.

Twilight: You have a podiatrist?

Sunset: I can’t be in this picture, Twilight! We’re gonna look silly!

(Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Rarity cross the room to them, the pale girl carrying an armload of garments.)

Rarity: Yes, Sunset. Yes, we are. But we’re going to be the most fashionable kind of silly there is. (passing them out) As Applejack’s friends, it’s the least we can do.

(Cut to Twilight and Sunset, the latter having disposed of the phone and getting the carrot outfit tossed to her.)

Rarity: (from o.s.) For friendship.

Sunset: (sighing resignedly) For friendship.

(Even the prospect of certain embarrassment is not enough to stop gentle smiles from breaking out on all six faces. Pinkie has now discarded her boom box and is the first to begin suiting up, donning fluffy yellow earrings and a dress done up as an ear of corn, complete with side panels that spring out from the skirt as the partially peeled husk. Rarity pulls on a long green glove and adds flowers to her tied-back hair, and Fluttershy attaches an extra grape to the skirt of the dress she has received. She wears green gloves as well, but wrist-length and trimmed in lighter-hued lace, and a broad, vine/leaf-accented purple/green sun hat goes on over the pink hair. Rainbow slips a green vine bracelet onto one wrist, followed by a leaf-marked high-top sneaker onto a foot. This item is in two shades of red-orange, with a pale yellow toecap and sole that match her leggings; both are decorated with glitter. Sunset, now in the carrot dress, secures a dark gray belt studded with red-orange spikes around her waist; Twilight slides an arm into a loose, puffy, cream-colored sleeve and trades her usual glasses for a pair of round tinted ones.)

(Finally the camera cuts to all six girls and zooms out to frame their gaudy, produce-themed outfits in full. Those not seen earlier: purple eggplant for Twilight, yellow/orange autumn-leaf design for Rainbow; jewel-festooned yellow squash for Rarity. Sparkles figure liberally in every ensemble, and all six have had their hair re-styled in some way. Rarity displays a fixed, half-manic grin, while the others react with varying degrees of mingled surprise and horror at the sheer absurdity of it all.)

Twilight: I would just like to point out that the quadratic formula was better than this.

Pinkie: Yeah? Well, I’m feeling a little husky, so I don’t want to “ear” it. (chuckling, elbowing Twilight) Sorry if that joke was corny— (shrilly) —but it’s all I have right now! (She darts away.)

Fluttershy: Oh, I like my outfit. I’m a bunch of grapes.

Rarity: Let’s just get to the auditorium before anyone sees us!

(A tug at a hidden cord triggers her skirt to puff outward like a hoop skirt, and she steels herself and begins to march toward the camera. Cut to the six on the move through a corridor, some waddling a bit due to the bulk of their clothing and all grunting/mumbling with every careful step. The ringing of the school bell brings them up short, and within moments the area is filled with students leaving the classrooms. Ripples of conversation die out as they get a load of the walking produce aisle.)

Rainbow: RUUUUNNNN!!

(She peels out, her skirt-clad legs visible only as a windmilling blur of festive fall colors, but trips over Snips’ backpack lying on the floor. By the time she slides to an undignified stop on her belly, she has one arm and both feet tangled up in the straps, which stoutly resist her effort to pull free. There follows a spate of jeering, pointing, and phone picture-taking by the closet knot of onlookers.)

Rainbow: Help! I’m stuck!

(The others scatter except for Pinkie, who grins and strikes a pose to show off her corn dress. Twilight’s mincing, off-balance steps carry her into a collision with a couple of rockers, dumping her and them to the floor. Sunset fares no better, stumble-hopping her way past a few laughing spectators; now Fluttershy comes to Rainbow’s aid and starts trying to pull the backpack off.)

Fluttershy: I got you!

(A fleeing Twilight and a sobbing Rarity collide head-on, but end up bouncing away in opposite directions due to the puffiness of their overinflated skirts. Sunset keeps trying to make a hobbling getaway, while Pinkie keeps modeling for the crowd, either unaware of their mockery or unconcerned about it. The impromptu photo shoot comes to an end when Sunset pitches up against her and both topple to the floor.)

Sunset: (irritated) Okay, so now that we’re a laughingstock—

Pinkie: (grinning) Did someone say “stalk”?

Sunset: (snarling) —let’s just get to the picture! Nothing to lose!

(Wipe to a long overhead shot of the stage in the gym and zoom in slowly. Applejack is putting the finishing touches on a giant cornucopia stuffed to bursting with farm-fresh goodness, and a banner with a holiday message is strung overhead. Photo is out front, setting up a camera and tripod on the floor; a lamp has been placed off to one side to light the scene properly. Cut to floor level.)

Applejack: Oh, looks great, Photo Finish!

(The sound of an o.s. door being bashed open draws their eyes away; pan to the other Rainbooms shambling in, Rainbow now free of Snips’ backpack. Applejack is taken aback by the sight of them.)

Photo: What is this?

Rarity: (hesitantly) Well, we…told you we would do this photo shoot of dressing up and w-w-whatnot, Applejack.

Sunset: (dryly) And we put ourselves through quite the ordeal to get here, amidst laughter and judgment. (smiling) But it’s because we’re your friends, and we respect your family traditions. So if we have to look like corn and squash and—

Fluttershy: And grapes.

Rarity: —then we’re willing to do it. We love you, friend.

(Cut to Applejack on this last word and zoom in slowly, a tremulous smile stretching from one ear to the other and giving way at last to a peal of laughter.)

Applejack: What? Granny Smith is the one that made us dress up.

(Cut to a slow pan across the disastrously dressed six during this line, jaws dropping in sheer disbelief.)

Applejack: (from o.s.) I was just sayin’ we should take a picture with the cornucopia set behind us.

(Rarity wearily deflates her dress during this; back to Applejack as she finishes.)

Applejack: (chuckling) Shoulda known when you said “wardrobe.”

(A six-way sigh of combined relief and defeat, followed by a few words whispered into Rarity’s ear by Sunset that bring a calculating smile to the white face.)

Rarity: Ah…we could change… (holding up a garment that resembles a partially peeled apple) …but it would be a shame to waste the ensemble I made for you.

(The farmer gets a chance to cringe now, throwing in a sheepish chuckle and scratch at the back of her head for good measure.)

Applejack: Uh…

(Cut to Photo, who puts an eye to her viewfinder and tweaks the focus just so, then back to the stage. Applejack is now wearing the spare clothing—a sparkly red/green dress whose front resembles a pair of overalls, flaring out over a pair of bloomers the color of an apple’s exposed flesh. Her hair has been wound into two looped braids and set with red barrettes, and her hat is gone. Rainbow and Sunset stand to either side; the others are also on the stage when the view shifts to them, and all address the camera.)

Applejack: Wishin’ y’all a happy holiday, from our cornucopia to yours. Love, Applejack…

Sunset: Sunset Shimmer…

Rainbow: Rainbow Dash! (Cut to Fluttershy.)

Fluttershy: (sitting) Fluttershy… (To Rarity, her skirt re-inflated.)

Rarity: Rarity… (Tilt up to Twilight, adjusting her hair, and Pinkie.)

Pinkie: Pinkie Pie!

Twilight: …and Twilight Sparkle.

(Photo hits the shutter release, filling the screen with a camera flash that yields to a picture of the broadly smiling septet, Fluttershy and Rarity seated in front of the others. Zoom out slowly, the camera rotating slightly at the same time, and snap to black.)