FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC—PART TWO (Elements of Harmony)
Prologue
(Opening shot: fade in to a "Previously on My Little Pony" title card. Cut to a scene from Part One, Act One: Fictionary and Vincent consulting a book in her Canterlot library while Spines shelves others.)
Fictionary: (reading) "Elements of Harmony. See 'Mare on the Sun'"?
Spines: But that's just an old ponies' tale.
(Close-up of the page that shows Shimmering Flame's silhouette framed by hot sunspots, with a star in each of the four corners.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) "She will bring about daytime eternal." (Cut to her.) It's imperative that the Princess is told right away!
(Spines belches up Princess Luna's response to Fictionary's warning letter.)
Fictionary: I knew she would want to take immediate action.
(Overhead view of the trio's chariot journey to Ponyville at the start of Act Two.)
Spines: (reading) "My dear Fictionary: There is more to a young pony's life than studying." (Close-up of them; Fictionary not enjoying this.) "Make some friends."
(In Ponyville, the first meeting with Babs Seed, and the latter's gasp, are followed by Fictionary trying to get some rest in her new digs above the library's reading room while Spines and Vincent come up from the party going on down there.)
Fictionary: All the ponies in this town are CRAZY!
(She looks at the picture of Solar Flame and compares it against the darkened figure visible on the beaming sun, framed by four stars drifting toward it.)
Fictionary: I hope the Princess was right.
(Inside the town square pavilion, Act Three; Sweetie Belle has just opened the balcony curtains for the expected arrival of Twilight Sparkle, who is nowhere in sight.)
Sweetie Belle: She's gone! (Cut to Fictionary, Vincent and Spines, ground level.)
Fictionary: (softly) Oh, no.
(Close-up of Solar Flare in the horseflesh, then zoom out as the vapor of her mane and tail billow around her on the balcony and lightning flashes overhead. Her laughter echoes over the room.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) Solar Flare!
(Fade to black.)
OPENING THEME
Act One
(Opening shot: fade in to a close-up of Solar Flare as she laughs. Zoom out as at the end of the epilogue, then cut to the Mayor of Ponyville in the crowd.)
Mayor Gingersnap: Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!
(On the end of this, three pegasus guards matching the appearance of ones who pulled Luna's chariot—grey coats, gold shoes, saddles, and Roman-style helmets—fly up and close in on Solar Flare.)
Solar Flare: Stand back, you foals!
(Her eyes burn white, producing more lightning that hurls the trio backwards; more laughter, and she wraps her mane/tail around herself and vanishes. The orange-red mist makes a beeline for the open front door, snaking through the panicked crowd and the dazed guards. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom has kept her teeth locked on Scootaloo's tail ever since the end of Part One; the orange flyer finally snaps it loose and charges after Solar Flare. Cut to outside as she gives chase.)
Scootaloo: COME BACK HERE!
(The fugitive is too fast and has too great a head start, and Scootaloo can only hover and watch as she clears the edge of town.)
Scootaloo: Daytime…forever?
(Hoofbeats from ground level; she spots Fictionary galloping out, with Spines—still unmoving after he fainted—on her back, and Vincent close behind.)
Scootaloo: Where's she going?
(Wipe to a close-up of the little dragon asleep in a basket. He comes to with a start after a few seconds. Details of the floor indicate that he has been deposited in the library.)
Spines: (half-dazed) We gotta stop Shimmering…!
(Out he goes again; a blanket is draped over him and Fictionary eases close to look him over.)
Fictionary: (softly) You've been up all night, Spines. (turning away) You are a baby dragon, after all.
Vincent: Ok, so, he is still a baby. But, he acts more like a kid at times.
Fictionary: Very true. Now, I need to check for the elements of harmony.
Vincent: I'll look with you, sis.
Fictionary: Thanks, brother.
(The lights go out and he snores quietly—right through a commotion that shakes the entire room for a moment. Its source is the fully lit reading room, where books are scattered all over the floor and being flung into view. A ladder stands propped against the wall for use in reaching the topmost shelves, and a large table stands in the center of the room.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) Elements, Elements, Elements…
(Head-on view; she voices a loud, frustrated groan while levitating book after book and letting them fall.)
Fictionary: How can I stop Solar Flare without the Elements of Harmony?! (Scootaloo flies into her face, good and angry.)
Scootaloo: And just what are the Elements of Harmony? (slowly backing her up) And how did you know about Solar Flare, huh? Are you a spy? (She gets yanked back, hard.) Whoa!
(Apple Bloom is now on the scene and has again put her teeth to use in reining in Scootaloo, but quickly lets go and gets a dirty look for her trouble.)
Apple Bloom: Simmer down, Sally. (Babs Seed, Sweetie Belle, and Heartsong come in.) She ain't no spy. (All five move closer.) But she sure knows what's goin' on—don't you, Fictionary?
(The new pony in town turns this over for a second, then drops her gaze.)
Fictionary: I read all about the prediction of Solar Flare. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her. (looking out a window at the moon) But I don't know what they are, where to find them. I don't even know what they do!
Babs Seed: (from o.s.) The Elements of Harmony.
(Quick pan to her, inspecting a book on a shelf at the other side of the room, whose title she was just reading off.)
Babs Seed: A Reference Guide.
(In nothing flat, she gets plowed aside by Fictionary.)
Fictionay: How did you find that?!
Babs Seed: (Singsong) It was under "E"! (Fictionary shoots her a funny look.)
Fictionary: Oh.
Vincent: (Sighs) How did we miss that?
(Fictionary floats the book to the middle of the room and flips pages. The binding of this one is red, with gold bands on the spine and a matching unicorn head on the cover, surrounded by six diamonds.)
Fictionary: (reading) "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known." (Slow pan across the others; she continues o.s.) "Kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and loyalty."
(Overhead view of all six. As she continues, the camera slowly backs up through the library window, where Solar Flare's vapor form pauses as if listening in. The center table can now be seen to have a wooden horse-head bust standing on a pedestal.)
Fictionary: "The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters."
(It quickly zips away as she finishes; back to inside the reading room, the camera set just behind the six.)
Fictionary: "It is located in what is now…" (Shudder and shows the other mares the page.)
All: (fearfully)…the Everfree Forest?!
Vincent: If that's where the elements are, that's where we are going.
Fictionary: Oh no, not you young colt. It's too dangerous.
Vincent: But…
Fictionary: No 'buts'. You need to stay here with Spines. I'm not having you go and hurt yourself out there.
Vincent: (Sighs) Fine.
(Vincent heads upstairs to his room as the 6 mares make their way out.)
(The camera backs up a bit and the scenery around them dissolves to a road leading into a very large, very overgrown, and very foreboding wilderness. They regard it with silent trepidation for a long moment before Babs Seed speaks up.)
Babs Seed: Right! Let's go! (She bounces ahead.)
Fictionary: Not so fast! (Stop.) Look. I appreciate the offer. But I'd really rather do this on my own.
Apple Bloom: No can do, sugar cube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. (Fictionary flinches a bit on "friend"; Apple Bloom, Heartsong, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo trot ahead.) We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple.
Heartsong, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle: Mmm-hmm!
Babs Seed: Especially if there's candy apples involved! (The others give her puzzled looks.) What? Those things are good.
(The young crusader finds herself alone, all right—with the other five already on their way into the forest. She sighs resignedly and starts in after them, the camera tilting up to the stars.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) So… (Tilt down.) …none of you have been in here before?
(Stop on the six, making their way along with Fictionary now walking point.)
Sweetie Belle: (shuddering) Heavens, no! (Slow pan through the untamed wild; she continues o.s.) Just look at it. It's dreadful! (Cut to Apple Bloom.)
Apple Bloom: And it ain't natural.
(Tilt down past the edge of the cliff on which they are walking. Solar Flare's mist swirls into view and permeates the exposed rock face.)
Apple Bloom: (from o.s.) Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria.
Fictionary: (from o.s.) What's that supposed to mean?
Scootaloo: (ominously, emerging from shadow) Nopony knows. You know why?
Apple Bloom: Scoots, quit it!
Scootaloo: 'Cause everypony who's ever come in has never…come…out!
(By this point, she has advanced so far as to be face to face with Heartsong, Babs Seed, and Sweetie Belle, and she leaps up menacingly on the last word. The real scare, however, comes when the edge of the cliff crumbles away and takes all four non-winged ponies screaming with it. Heartsong and Scootaloo get airborne just in time.)
Scootaloo: Heartsong! Quick! (She dives in.)
Heartsong: (following) Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!
(As the others keep going down with the rockslide, Scootaloo hoists Babs clear and Heartsong swoops in and grabs Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom stops herself by biting down on an exposed root, leaving Fictionary alone to skid toward the edge of a very long drop. She winds up with her hind legs dangling over the precipice; Apple Bloom sizes up the situation, then lets go of her root to slide along.)
Apple Bloom: Hold on! I'm a-comin'! (Reaching the edge, she grabs Fictionary's forelegs in hers.)
Fictionary: Apple Bloom! What do I do?
(Long, tense pause as Apple Bloom squeezes one eye shut from the strain on her muscles; she aims her open one skyward for a moment before turning both of them toward the hanging unicorn.)
Apple Bloom: Let go.
Fictionary: Are you crazy?!
Apple Bloom: No, I ain't. I promise you'll be safe.
Fictionary: That's not true!
Apple Bloom: Now listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe.
(Fictionary's popping eyes betray the fight between her panicked brain and the instinct telling her to trust the pony who is holding her at the edge of oblivion. Instinct finally wins this round, and she releases her grip and plunges screaming over the side—only to stop dead in midair with no warning. A longer shot of the hopelessly bewildered Fictionary reveals that Heartsong and Scootaloo have caught her.)
Fictionary: Phew.
Heartsong: You alright?
Fictionary: I think so. I didn't know you 2 were going to catch me.
(Fictionary and the camera both focus on the cliff, where Apple Bloom is leaping down from one protruding ledge to another, so nimbly that she might be part mountain goat. Unnoticed by all, Solar Flare whisks away from the scene and pours herself into the silhouette of a hulking creature some distance away; it spreads bat wings and lashes out with a scorpion tail as a lion-like head roars. Snap to black.)
(Fade in to all but Scootaloo walking through the forest.)
Scootaloo: (from o.s., excitedly) And once Babs Seed and Sweetie Belle were safe… (flying to catch up) …whoosh! Me and Heartsong looped the loop around, and wham! Caught you right in the nick of time.
(She demonstrates the move while describing it and lands next to Fictionary on "wham!")
Fictionary: (irritated) Yes, Scootaloo, I was there. (smiling a bit) And I'm very grateful. But we gotta—
(She stops with a gasp when the beast silhouette drops into view in front of the group; cut to a fully illuminated shot of it. Lion body, bat wings and ears, scorpion tail.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) A manticore! (Roar; back to them.) We've gotta get past him!
(On the end of this, zoom in on the hovering, worried Heartsong. The creature leaps at Sweetie Belle for a swipe of its paw, but she ducks and counters with a buck to the face that knocks it back.)
Sweetie Belle: Take that, you ruffian!
(Its response is a full-volume roar directly into her face, leaving her mane a frizzed-out shambles due to the moisture in its breath.)
Sweetie Belle: My hair!
(A low growl touches off a little cry from her and sends her into a retreat past Heartsong, who stands watching.)
Heartsong: Wait!
(The manticore gives chase but stops suddenly due to Applejack having jumped onto its head.)
Apple Bloom: Yee-haa! (It starts trying to buck her off.) Get along, little doggie!
Heartsong: Wait!
(One last good heave sends the earth pony flying.)
Apple Bloom: Whooooaaa! (tumbling past hovering Scootaloo) All yours, partner.
Scootaloo: (saluting) I'm on it! (She zooms past Heartsong.)
Heartsong: Wait!
(In seconds, she has enveloped the foe in a striped twister similar to the Scootablow-Dry maneuver she used to dry Fictionary off in Part One. A lash of the scorpion tale knocks her out of it and sends her toward the trees with a yell.)
Fictionary: Scoots!
(Slide to a stop, face first; now Fictionary braces herself with a snort, the manticore sets up for round four, and five ponies start into a charge. Sweetie Belle's mane has sorted itself out. From the sidelines, Heartsong throws herself in their path.)
Heartsong: WAAAIIIT!
(As both sides stand down for the moment, she looks behind herself, then ahead, and walks toward the beast. It raises one meaty paw, ready to disembowel her on the spot; cut to the cringing other five.)
Heartsong: (from o.s., tenderly) Shhh, it's okay.
(They peek nervously forward and catch sight of Heartsong sniffing at the paw not lifted for a strike. The manticore uncertainly un-clenches it to reveal a large thorn stuck in the pad.)
Heartsong: Oh, you poor, poor little baby.
Scootaloo: Little?!
Heartsong: Now this might hurt for just a second.
(She eases her head toward the thorn; a sudden pluck, and the huge mouth lets go with a Force Ten roar at point-blank range.)
Others: (Fictionary, Apple Bloom in view, others o.s.) HEARTSONG!
(The yellow pegasus not only fails to get torn limb from limb, but is being cradled and licked by the suddenly pacified monster.)
Heartsong: (giggling) Aw, you're just a little old baby kitty, aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are.
(During this line, the other five shift from befuddled gapes to warm smiles, and move past the manticore without any trouble. Fictionary hangs back for a moment so Heartsong can catch up, her mane still swept up into a thick pink cowlick by its show of affection. Babs Seed trots near them.)
Fictionary: How did you know about the thorn?
Heartsong: (walking past and o.s.) I didn't. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness.
(The unicorn ponders this for a second, smiles to herself, and follows. Quick pan to the discarded thorn, which begins to spin in place and turns into Solar Flare's cloud. This zooms on down the path.)
(Wipe to the six ponies moving through yet another area of the forest. Heartsong's mane is back to normal. The squishing steps indicate that they have entered a boggy or swampy area.)
Sweetie Belle: (shuddering) My eyes need a rest from all this muck.
(Within moments, the trees have thickened to the point that no light gets through them, leaving the screen completely blacked out. Snap to a dim view of the group.)
Sweetie Belle: Well, I didn't mean that literally. (Ground level; Solar Flare snakes past the ponies.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces, and we wouldn't even know it!
(The wisp wraps itself into a twisted old tree as a scramble of pony mutterings and complaints is heard from farther back for some seconds.)
Apple Bloom: (from o.s.) Oh, wait. (Cut to her.) I think I stepped in somethin'.
(Heartsong screams, but Apple Bloom pays no mind and moves on, a bit exasperated.)
Apple Bloom: It's just mud.
(And a gruesome face on the tree trunk before her, with a gaping, toothy maw formed from an opening in the bark and two glaring knothole eyes. Apple Bloom bolts with a yell while others stare wide-eyed at the leering, snarling visages that have suddenly appeared on all the trees around them. Screams rip the air as the view snaps to black.)
Act Two
(Opening shot: fade in to an overhead view of five terrified ponies—all but Babs Seed. They scream for their lives, the camera cutting to ground level, but a peal of laughter from the o.s. pink pony stops them cold.)
Others: Huh?
(Before them, Babs Seed is giggling at one of the horrid faces and saying random words.)
Babs Seed: And then, I said 'Oatmeal?! Are you crazy?!' (Laughing, the tree turns normal. To a new tree.) And the joeys said 'No silly doctors jumping on the bed.' (Laughing, the tree turns normal.)
Fictionary: Babs Seed, what are you doing?! Run!
Light mandolin/bass/percussion melody, up-tempo 4 (D major)
Babs Seed: (laughing) Oh, girls, don't you see?
(Zoom in on her as the light level increases somewhat and she marks time with her hooves to sing.)
Babs Seed: (Singing) When I was a little filly and the sun was going down
Fictionary: Tell me she's not.
Babs Seed: (Singing) The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown
Sweetie Belle: She is.
Babs Seed: (bouncing up to them.) (Singing) I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw
But Granny Orange said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all
Scootaloo: Then what is?
Babs Seed: :music: She said, "Babs Seed, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears
(trotting to a tree)
You'll see that they can't hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear"
Music stops
Ha, ha, ha!
(And with that, the face vanishes to leave an otherwise-normal twisted old tree before her. The others gasp in surprise and begin to laugh at the menacing apparitions, which also wink out; Fictionary gets a little push from Babs Seed to help her find the spirit.)
Music resumes; drums/synthesizer in
Babs Seed: (Singing) So giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the grossly
Crack up at the creepy, whoop it up with the weepy
Chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky
Music gradually stops
(rapid fire) And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone
And if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another think coming
And the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna…
(One more bout of the giggles.)
Music resumes
(The remaining faces disappear as she holds out the last note.)
Laugh
Song ends
(She flops onto her back next to Fictionary for a good long one, the camera zooming out to frame the others doing likewise. Normal visibility has been fully restored. Dissolve to a patch of bushes; she hops cheerfully out and leads a crew of giggling equines to the bank of a raging river. Here they come to a very surprised stop, each pony skidding into the rump of the one in front of her. The other five poke their heads out from behind Babs Seed for a good look at the broad torrent.)
Babs Seed: How are we gonna cross this? (Distant moaning and wailing.) Huh?
(Taking cover in a clump of bushes, they see a long, purple, scaly tail thrashing about. Pan several dozen yards along the river, passing coil after coil of snakelike body, until the head comes into view—this thing is an immense serpent with skinny arms and long, dark blond hair, moustache, and eyebrows. The right half of the moustache has been raggedly cut or ripped off. It speaks in an effeminate male voice.)
Serpent: What a world! What a world!
Fictionary: Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?
Serpent: Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved moustache clean off!
(He leans in to show them the damage on the end of this line, the camera zooming in to accentuate it for good measure.)
Serpent: And now, I look simply horrid!
(He flops full length into the river, soaking all the ponies, and launches into a fresh hissy fit. Assorted groans.)
Scootaloo: Oh, gimme a break.
Apple Bloom: That's what all the fuss is about? (Sweetie Belle shoulders her way past them.)
Sweetie Belle: Why, of course it is! How can you be so insensitive? (baby talk) Oh, just look at him.
(As she continues in her normal tone, cut to the dumbstruck others—now dry again—then back to her stroking the serpent's snout. She too has dried out by this point.)
Sweetie Belle: Such lovely luminescent scales.
Serpent: (sniffling) I know! (Tilt up to the hair.)
Sweetie Belle: (from o.s.) And your expertly coiffed mane. (He stands up.)
Serpent: (patting it down) Oh, I know, I know! (Back to Sweetie Belle.)
Sweetie Belle: Your fabulous manicure.
Serpent: (gasping) It's so true!
Sweetie Belle: All ruined without your beautiful moustache.
Serpent: (sobbing) It's true, I'm hideous! (Cut to Sweetie Belle and zoom in on her narrowed eyes.)
Sweetie Belle: (resolutely) I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!
(In a longer shot, she whips her head forward, clamping her teeth around one of the creature's scales so she can yank it loose.)
Serpent: Ow! What did you do that for?
(She lifts the scale's razor-sharp point toward the sky. Cut to Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie.)
Fictionary: Sweetie Belle, what are you—
(All six eyes pop at the sound of a slash, and the serpent goes over in a dead faint. The next shot shows the target of Sweetie Belle's strike—her own tail, of which only a ragged nub remains. Zoom out as she tosses the scale aside and uses her horn to levitate the cut swath; the curly purple and pink hair attaches itself to the ruined half of the serpent's moustache. He comes to and straightens up with a jubilant laugh.)
Serpent: My mustache! How wonderful!
Sweetie Belle: You look amazing.
Fictionary: Oh, Sweetie Belle, your beautiful tail!
Sweetie Belle: (turning to face the others) Oh…it's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season. Besides, it'll grow back.
(Fictionary smiles gently, having grasped the sacrifice Sweetie Belle made to keep this mission going.)
Scootaloo: (softly, to Fictionay) So would the moustache.
(Fictionary looks ahead and gasps happily; the river has completely calmed down now that the serpent has been pacified.)
Fictionary: (wading into it) We can cross now! Let's go!
(The water is barely up to her knees and hocks, but she yells and is nearly thrown off when a coil of the serpent's body suddenly rises beneath her. A longer shot reveals that he is using himself as a line of stepping stones.)
Serpent: (as all cross) Allow me!
(Dissolve to the group on dry land, Fictionary again leading the advance. She looks ahead.)
Fictionary: There it is!
(Cut to "it"—a tumbled ruin of a castle that stands in a small clearing just ahead—and zoom out. It is situated on the far side of a mist-choked abyss, with the posts of a collapsed bridge still embedded in the ground on both sides. This is the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, referred to by Fictionary during her research in Act One.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony. We made it!
(Back to the group; she is first to put her hooves in high gear.)
Apple Bloom: (as others follow) Fictionary! Wait for us!
Fictionary: We're almost there!
(Not watching the road, she loses her balance and slides halfway over the edge with a yelp, scrabbling at the broken bridge that hangs from these posts. Scootaloo drags her back by the tail.)
Scootaloo: What's with you and falling off cliffs today? (All eye the broad gap; Babs gasps.)
Babs Seed: Now what?
Scootaloo: Duh! (She gives her wings a twitch to drive the point home and lifts off.)
Babs Seed: Oh, yeah!
(The orange pegasus gets clear of the ground and dives into the mist, only to emerge a moment later with the snapped bridge ropes in her teeth. As she hauls them up onto the far end and gets one of them tied down, an echoing female voice causes her to stop short.)
Voice: Scoots… (She drops the other rope with a gasp; Shimmering Flame's cloud drifts up from below.)
Scootaloo: Who's there?
Voice: Scoots… (The mist starts to thicken around her.)
Scootaloo: (punching at air) I ain't scared of you! Show yourself!
Voice: We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in Equestria.
Scootaloo: Who?
Voice: Why, you, of course.
Scootaloo: (eagerly) Really? (catching herself) I mean…oh, yeah! Me! Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that, would you? 'Cause I've been trying to get into that group for, like, ever!
Voice: No, Scootaloo. We want you to join us.
(The silhouettes of three pegasi appear within the murk, galloping toward her with uncanny speed. They skid to a stop, resolving into two orange-maned stallions and a red-maned mare, all wearing full-body jumpsuits and yellow goggles similar to those used by the Wonderbolts. However, the bodies are yellow and the heads/hooves black, with blue lightning bolts marking the boundaries. Each outfit displays an emblem consisting of a winged pony skull where a cutie mark would normally appear. The mare speaks in the voice just heard, but without the echo. Her coat and wings are light yellow, while those of the stallions are a darker shade.)
Mare: The Lightingbolts! (Cut between her and the puzzled Rainbow as she continues.) We are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, and soon we will be the greatest in all Equestria. (leaning in close) But first…we need a captain.
(The young daredevil's eyes go wide, a big smile creasing her face, as the speaker flies slow circles around her.)
Mare: The most magnificent…
Scootaloo: Yep.
Mare: …swiftest…
Scootaloo: Yes.
Mare: …bravest flyer in all the land. (Close-up of Scootaloo.)
Scootaloo: Yes. (laughing) It's all true.
Mare: (from o.s.) We need… (leaning to whisper in her ear) …you.
Scootaloo: (leaping up) Woo-hoo! Sign me up! (moving to get the loose rope) Just let me tie this bridge real quick, and then we have a deal.
(The Lightingbolt mare zips across to stop her, with a far more menacing tone.)
Mare: NO! It's them or us! (Scootaloo recoils slightly.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) Scoots!
(Cut to the other five on their end.)
Fictionary: What's taking so long? (softly) Oh, no. (Her perspective of the four at the far end; she raises her voice.) Scootaloo!
(The mare's eyes blaze yellow behind her goggles, causing the visibility to drop to zero in a lot less than ten seconds flat.)
Fictionary: (muffled) Don't listen to them!
(The little grey cells under the striped mane work overtime as the camera cuts to a close-up of Scootaloo and zooms in slowly.)
Mare: (from o.s.) Well? (Long pause.)
Scootaloo: You. (The mare smiles broadly; Scootaloo leans toward her.) Thank you…for the offer, I mean.
(And with that, she whips back to the bridge and ties off the other rope, leaving three very surprised Lightningbolts to gape after her.)
Scootaloo: But I'm afraid I have to say no.
(One last malevolent glare, and the pegasi disappear in three puffs of blue-violet smoke that come together and slink away. At the other end, Scootaloo flies across the repaired bridge as the fog dissipates to the sound of the others' cheering; all six head across, with her flying to lead the way.)
Scootaloo: (to Fictionary) See? I'd never leave my friends hanging.
(After this fifth demonstration, the unicorn has a lot less trouble understanding the point. The group approaches the front entrance of the ruined castle; dissolve to an overhead view of them in the main hall just inside. Before them is an apparatus consisting of six round stone tablets mounted at the ends of radial shafts, with a larger orb at the center; the entire rig is heavily overgrown with moss and vines The three tablets facing the camera each have a gem-shaped carving that stands out in relief on the surface. Overall, this setup bears a resemblance to the framework that held the Elements of Harmony, as seen in the Part One prologue.)
Apple Bloom: Whoa…come on, Fictionary. (Close-up, panning across the group.) Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?
(Cut to a slow pan across the device, seen from the ponies' side. The tablets here also have gem reliefs.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) The Elements of Harmony. We've found them!
(Heartsong and Scootaloo fly up and take one tablet each, lowering them to the floor.)
Fictionary: Careful…careful…
Babs Seed: One, two, three, four…there's only five. (Heartsong brings down the last one.)
Scootaloo: Where's the sixth?
Fictionary: (kneeling, then sitting on her belly) The book said, "When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed."
Apple Bloom: What in the hay is that supposed to mean?
Fictionary: I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. (Zoom in as they do so.) I don't know what will happen.
(She squeezes her eyes shut and brings her horn's powers to bear.)
Apple Bloom: (leading the others away) Come on now, y'all. She needs to concentrate.
(Solar Flare slips into the chamber, unseen by all, and gradually envelops the five stone rounds before her. As the young mage steps up her efforts, the mist forms a whirlwind that lifts the tablets off the floor. When she opens her eyes, she cuts her powers off with a cry upon seeing the cyclone; cut to the others, who have left the castle and retreated to the bridge.)
Others: FICTIONARY!
(Inside, the tornado grows in size and power, reaching nearly to what remains of the ceiling.)
Fictionary: The Elements!
(She dives into the storm, which shrinks away to nothing and takes her with it just as the others return to the scene. Confused, fearful reactions all around. Zoom out slowly and snap to black.)
Act Three
(Opening shot: fade in to a close-up of Apple Bloom, standing pat as the others race to and fro around her.)
Apple Bloom: Fictionary! Where are you?
Sweetie Belle: (from o.s.) Look!
(Quick pan to her, gazing intently out a window at a tower in another part of the castle. White light pours from all the windows.)
Apple Bloom: Come on!
(Twelve hooves and four wings redline it out the door. In another part of the castle, a ball of brilliant light appears on the floor and explodes in a blast of smoke; when it clears, Fictionary is seen huddled and coughing in the middle of this chamber. This is the location Sweetie Belle spotted from the window. When Fictionary gets her head and lungs clear, she looks up and utters one wide-eyed gasp; across the room, Solar Flare armored form stands on a crumbling dais, chuckling nastily as the five Element tablets float in the grip of her mane and tail. Her hooves, obscured by the balcony railing in all earlier shots, can now be seen to be protected by orange shoes that reach up to cover most of the front lower portion of each leg.)
(Lightning cracks out, another gasp, and Fictionary lowers her head and paws the ground to work up steam for a charge. Shimmering Flame has now set the Elements down.)
Solar Flare: You're kidding. You're kidding, right?
(Apparently not; Fictionary barrels straight toward the dais, her horn firing up as she goes. Solar Flare starts into her own charge, but an instant before the two can collide, Fictionary disappears with a flash. Shimmering Flame skids to a stop and takes a puzzled look around, only to see Fictionary re-materialize on the dais. Evidently she has the ability to teleport, but her woozy moan indicates that it takes a lot out of her. She quickly comes to and dips her head toward the Elements.)
Fictionary: Just one spark. (Horn blazes.) Come on, come on…
(The five stones begin to glow as well, surprising Solar Flare no end; she becomes a tornado and whips herself onto the dais as well. The magic kicks back hard on Fictionary, throwing her across the floor.)
Solar Flare: No! No!
(Fictionary smiles, knowing she has the upper hand—and then the Elements' lights go out. She gasps in pure shock.)
Fictionary: But…where's the sixth Element?
(Cut to Solar Flare, now laughing full throttle, on the end of this. One mighty rear and stomp of the metal-shod forelegs causes the stones to shatter into gravel as Fictionary stares helplessly.)
Solar Flare: You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your Princess—or your moon! The day will last forever!
(Her mane and tail become a swirling mass above her head as she laughs again. The look of utter defeat in Fictionary's eyes changes to bewilderment when she hears the muffled voices of her five friends coming from the general direction of a stairway that leads up into this room. Their shadows appear on the walls in due time; zoom in on the stunned pupils and pink irises, which narrow almost to points and then widen to block out nearly all the whites. She voices a deep gasp, and a tiny flicker of light plays across the center of each gigantic black pupil—something has just hit her right where it counts.)
(Now, with all her old confidence restored, she turns to address Solar Flare over her shoulder.)
Fictionary: You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong—because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!
(On the last word, zoom out to frame the other five ranged around her. The stone shards at Solar Flare's hooves begin to glow and float free of the ground.)
Solar Flare: What?
Fictionary: Apple Bloom…
(Quick pan to a flashback: the pair at the cliff.)
Fictionary: (voice over) …who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of honesty!
(Flash to Apple Bloom in the chamber; several bits start to circle around her. Pan to Fictionary.)
Fictionary: Heartsong…
(Quick pan to a flashback: the manticore licks Heartsong after having the thorn pulled out.)
Fictionary: (voice over) …who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of kindness!
(Flash to Heartsong; shards start to orbit her as well.)
Fictionary: (from o.s.) Babs Seed… (Pan across her.) …who banished fear…
(Quick pan to flashback: Babs Seed making fun of the twisted tree faces.)
Fictionary: (voice over) …by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of laughter!
(Flash to Babs Seed, grinning as pieces gravitate to her, then tilt quickly up to Fictionary and into a flashback: Sweetie Belle giving her tail to the serpent.)
Fictionary: (voice over) Sweetie Belle, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of generosity!
(Flash to her, eyeing the fragments that now circle her. Fictionary crosses the screen, the view changing behind her to a flashback at the chasm: Scootaloo declining the Lightningbolts' offer and securing the bridge.)
Fictionary: And Scootaloo, who could not abandon her friends… (now o.s.; voice over) …for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of loyalty!
(Flash to Scootaloo, who has the last pieces spinning around her now, and zoom out to frame all six on the start of the next line.)
Fictionary: The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!
Solar Flare: You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!
Fictionary: But it did. A different kind of spark. (turning to the others; cut to them and pan as she continues) I felt it the very moment I realised how happy I was to hear you— (now o.s.) —to see you. How much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me… (Back to her, eyes tearing up.) …when I realized that you all… (turning to face Solar Flare) …are my friends!
(Shafts of intense white light pierce the gloom from above, coming from a sixth stone tablet that has materialized overhead. It bears its own gem relief and descends to stop above Fictionary's head; Solar Flare is the only one to shield her eyes. Back to it, tilting down to Fictionary.)
Fictionary: You see, Solar Flare, when those Elements are ignited by the…the spark that resides in the heart of us all…. (Cut to the suddenly scared Solar Flare; she continues o.s.) …it creates the sixth Element. (Back to the group.) The Element of magic!
(The light from the floating Element flares out to encompass all six, and the stone bits around all but Fictionary's form into gold necklaces, each set with a jewel in the shape of its wearer's cutie mark: pink heart with music note, blue seed, purple music note with 3 small hearts, orange apple with green flower, red flamed lightning bolt. As for the light blue unicorn, the unbroken Element becomes a gold tiara on her head, studded with small blue jewels and topped by a large one shaped like the book and pencil in her own mark, this was purple. Two rainbow-striped shafts of light, one red/orange/yellow and the other green/blue/violet, emerge from the group as a double helix and shoot toward the ceiling before joining into a single broad ribbon that swoops down on Shimmering Flame.)
Solar Flare: NOOOOO! (The light spirals around her.) NOOOOO!
(It concentrates into an impossibly small twister as she screams again. Fictionary's five companions float serenely in the white light, "standing" on their hind legs with their cutie-mark jewels glowing. She opens her eyes to reveal that they have also begun to glow white. One last flare from these fills the screen, then fades away to give a long overhead shot of the six lying sprawled on the floor. They start to come around gradually.)
Scootaloo: (groaning) My head! (Cut to Apple Bloom.)
Apple Bloom: Everypony okay?
Sweetie Belle: (from o.s.) Oh, thank goodness! (She and Heartsong are up; her tail has grown back.)
Heartsong: Why, Sweetie Belle, it's so lovely.
Sweetie Belle: (waving tail) I know! I'll never part with it again!
Heartsong: No, your necklace. (Close-up of it; she continues o.s.) It looks just like your cutie mark.
Sweetie Belle: Uh?...ooh… (She notices.) So does yours!
(Heartsong gasps happily at it, and the others begin to take notice of their new adornments.)
Babs Seed: (Bouncing over to Apple Bloom) Look at mine, look at mine!
Scootaloo: Aw, yeah!
(Pan to a close-up of Fictionary, who looks up at the tiara perched behind her horn.)
Apple Bloom: (from o.s.) Gee, Fictionary. (Cut to the others.) I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey. (Zoom out to frame Apple Bloom also.) But I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship.
(A new light washes across the left side of the screen, as a gentle female voice speaks up—the same voice that narrated the Shimmering Flame legend in the prologue of Part One.)
Narrator: Indeed you do.
(The moon begins to rise over the hills beyond the cracked window; from it, a flash of light separates and floats slowly through the glass. It settles to the floor in front of the group and disappears with one last flare. In its place stands a tall, Dark blue alicorn mare whose impossibly long, sparkly mane and tail are coloured Moderate sapphire blue with a grayish persian blue aura surrounding, they wave gently as if a breeze were blowing past. She wears a deep, dark blue tiara, necklace, and silver shoes; the necklace is set with a crescent moon on it. All but Fictionary kneel silently before her; the last stays upright with a happy gasp.)
Fictionary: Princess Luna!
(She dashes over to the window, where the two nuzzle each other affectionately. This shot is close enough to show that Luna's eyes are a Moderate cyan colour. She stands roughly twice as tall as a typical pony, and her overall body proportions are closer to those of a typical horse than to the other ponies. Her mane has shifted to cover one eye, an appearance that will be maintained in future episodes except for occasional head-on views.)
Luna: Fictionary Van Filly, my faithful student. I knew you could do it.
Fictionary: But…you told me it was all an old pony tale.
Luna: I told you that you needed to make some friends—nothing more.
(Cut to a slow pan across the other five as they stand up again.)
Luna: (from o.s.) I saw the signs of Solar Flame's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. (To Fictionary, who starts to understand it all.) But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. (She shares a look with the other five.) Now if only another will as well.
(All look worriedly across the room; cut to the far end, strewn with the smoking remains of Solar Flame's orange armor. A short pan reveals a second alicorn mare lying insensate amid the debris. This one is considerably smaller than Luna, with a white coat with a slightest ting of pink and a Pale heliotrope mane and tail, and has the same sun cutie mark as Celestia. Yellow shoes cover her hooves.)
Luna: (from o.s.) Princess Celestia.
(This one wakes up with a gasp, revealing eyes the same shade of lightish grey magenta as Solar Flare, but without the catlike pupil shape. She lifts her head as Luna crosses to her; now a small tiara the same colour as her shoes is visible behind her horn. Luna's cutie mark can now be seen— a crescent moon on a dark blue background—when she sits on her belly to face Princess Luna during the following line.)
Luna: It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.
Fictionary, Scootaloo: Sister?
(At the very least, Fictionary has made the connection—Luna and Celestia were the two sisters in the legend, before the younger went bad.)
Luna: (standing) Will you accept my friendship?
(Celestia turns her face away as the suspense starts to get the better of Fictionary and company; they lean in expectantly, Babs Seed going a little too far.)
Babs Seed: (toppling to floor) Whoa!
(Celestia makes her move, standing upright and nuzzling against Twilight Sparkle's chest as tears run from both sisters' eyes. She is slightly more than half as tall as Luna, and her scared, quavering voice sounds closer to those of the six ponies who have just undone her Solar Flare transformation. The armored chest plate has been replaced by a sun necklace in the same colour as her crown. Her proportions resemble those of a scaled-down horse.)
Celestia: I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister.
Luna: I've missed you too.
(A nose is heard being blown o.s.; quick pan to the source—Babs Seed, who has produced a handkerchief and is sobbing profusely into it. Suddenly, she remembers and perks up.)
Babs Seed: Hey! You know what this calls for?
(Quick pan to a stretch of Ponyville meadowland, fully decked out for a shindig. She pops up in the foreground, no longer wearing her necklace.)
Babs Seed: A party!
(Confetti and streamers rain down as she and many other cheering locals race through the meadow. A team of pegasus guards pulls a chariot bearing Luna and Celestia—on the ground, rather than in the air. The wheels have a sunburst design worked into the spokes and a crescent moon on the axle hub.)
(Spines and Vincent bull their way through the crowd to give Fictionary the biggest hug they can manage, given how small they are in comparison, and all make obeisance to the sisters once they leave the chariot. The six core members have removed their jewellery. Luna smiles gently, while Celestia seems a bit uneasy before the crowd and two pegasus fillies fly up to place a wreath of red and white roses around her neck. She directs an uncertain, slightly teary-eyed little smile at Luna, not entirely understanding how these complete strangers could forgive her but accepting it all the same.)
(Pan from them to Fictionary, now standing at a short distance and looking very downcast.)
Luna: (from o.s.) Why so glum, my faithful student? (Longer shot, framing both.) Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?
Fictionary: That's just it. (Slow pan across the saddened others and Spines and Vincent; she continues o.s.) Just when I learn how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them. (Back to the pair.)
Vincent: Yeah. Truth be told, I don't wanna leave either.
Luna: Spines, take a note, please.
(Cut to the little guy, standing between Apple Bloom and Heartsong with quill and scroll in hand. The two ponies have begun to smile again, and he starts to write.)
Luna: (from o.s., dictating) "I, Princess Luna…" (Back to her and Fictionary; zoom out slowly.) "…hereby decree that the unicorn Fictionary Van Filly shall take on a new mission for Equestria."
(The others brighten considerably when the camera shifts back to them and pans across the line.)
Luna: (from o.s.) "She must continue to study the magic of friendship." (Cut to Fictionary.) "She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."
(The uncomprehending look on said unicorn's face gives way to a grateful smile as the other five and Vincent mob her, shouting congratulations; the young colt hugging Fictionary.)
Fictionary: Oh, thank you, Princess Luna! I'll study harder than ever before!
Vincent: Alright! This should be a fun experience for us all!
(Cheers all around as confetti and streamers rain down. Dissolve to a long shot of Ponyville and zoom out.)
Babs Seed: Isn't this exciting? Are you excited cause I'm excited I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I went 'EEP!' but I mean really-
(Cut to black.)