Friendship is Magic, part 2

Friendship is Magic, part 2 is the second episode in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, Nightmare Moon is free from her imprisonment, and has begun to shroud the world in eternal night. Twilight and the ponies must find the Elements of Harmony to stop Nightmare Moon. The episode is referred to as Elements of Harmony on Hasbro's viewing guide.

Episode summary
The story continues where it left off at the end of part one, with Nightmare Moon creating a lightning storm around her. The mayor commands the royal guards to seize Nightmare Moon, suspecting her of kidnapping Princess Celestia. She repels them with lightning and turns herself into mist before whisking out into the night. Rainbow Dash breaks free of Applejack's hold and pursues the mist, but it's too quick for her and it disappears into the distance. Dash sees Twilight running outside, and wonders what she's up to.

At the library, Twilight puts Spike to bed and starts frantically looking through the bookshelves for information about the Elements of Harmony. Dash flies in and confronts Twilight face to face, accusing her of being a spy for knowing about Nightmare Moon. Dash is suddenly pulled back by Applejack, who then proceeds to warn her to simmer down, and asks Twilight what's going on. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy join Dash and Applejack, and they all listen to Twilight's explanation, who admits she doesn't know what they are, where to find them, or what they do. Pinkie promptly finds a book on the Elements of Harmony, sorted in its place alphabetically, much to Twilight's embarrassment. Twilight declaims from the book, naming five of the elements: kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and loyalty. Twilight reads on, finding that the sixth element is a mystery, and the elements' last known location is in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters in the Everfree Forest. They don't see Nightmare Moon, in the form of purple mist, overhearing the conversation and flying away.

The Cliff
Twilight asks the other ponies to let her go into the forest alone, but Applejack tells her they won't let "any friend of ours" go into the forest alone. Walking through the forest, Applejack mentions the forest "don't work the same as Equestria". While they're talking, the purple mist seeps into the cliffside underneath them. Dash tries spooking the other ponies by telling them no pony who's ever come into the forest has ever come out. As soon as she finishes the sentence, the cliff collapses, and the purple mist whisks off, apparently undetected.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flutter in the air and pick up Rarity and Pinkie Pie, but Applejack and Twilight continue sliding down towards another steep cliff. Applejack manages to grab onto an exposed root, but Twilight slides right to the edge. Applejack carefully slides to her and holds down her hooves, and after glancing at above her, tells her to let go. Twilight protests, but Applejack promises that she's telling the truth, and tells her if she lets go she'll be safe. Twilight acquiesces and plummets down the cliff but suddenly stops, now carried down to safety by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. As Applejack makes her way down the cliff like a mountain goat, the purple mist watches the ponies, then zooms off towards a monstrous silhouette, which roars.

The Manticore
Rainbow Dash repeats her exploits from a moment ago, when an angry manticore appears in front of the group. After Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash try to stop the manticore under the quiet protests of Fluttershy, the five other ponies start charging at the manticore, but Fluttershy finally raises her voice and stops them. She gently approaches the manticore, who shows her a thorn in its paw. She removes it and wins its affection, and the six ponies go about their journey. When Twilight asks Fluttershy how she knew about the thorn, the Pegasus admitted that she didn't.

"Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness."

- Fluttershy

The Forest
The extracted thorn turns into purple mist, and snakes between the ponies' hooves before seeping into some trees. The moon sets and darkness surrounds the ponies, who are now faced with monstrous-looking trees that seem to growl at them. They all scream except Pinkie Pie, much to her friends' surprise. Pinkie makes funny faces at the trees and starts to laugh.

"HA! HA! HA!"

- Pinkie Pie

She starts singing about conquering your fears through laughter. The other ponies are hesitant at first, but soon join in, laughing away the scary faces. They conclude the song rolling on the ground laughing.

The Sea Serpent
The ponies go on their way until they come to a turbulent river. The turbulence is caused by a purple flamboyant Sea Serpent, deeply upset by having his half of his mustache torn off by a "tacky little cloud of purple smoke". Applejack and Rainbow Dash are unsympathetic to the serpent's plight, but Rarity is impressed by his looks and cannot leave his mustache in its current state.

"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!"

- Rarity

She bites off one of his scales, cuts the hair of her own tail, and magically attaches it to the torn part of his mustache to restore it. The sea serpent then calms down and allows the ponies to cross the river over his coils.

The Shadowbolts
Twilight spots the ruins of the castle in the distance through thick fog. She runs towards the castle, but trips on the edge of a cliff and gets pulled back by Rainbow Dash.

There's a rope bridge hanging over one side of the gorge, and Rainbow Dash flies down to raise it and tie it to the other side. When she lands, a faint voice calls her name and the purple mist slithers underneath her. The voice says they've been expecting the best flier in Equestria, Rainbow Dash, and that they want her to join their group, The Shadowbolts, as captain. Dash accepts and asks to tie the bridge's rope for a moment before joining, but The Shadowbolts' leader poses an ultimatum: "it's them or us." Twilight warns Dash not to listen to them, but the fog thickens and muffles Twilight's voice. Dash politely declines and ties the rope. The Shadowbolts turn into purple mist and slither away. Dash's friends cross the bridge and continue towards the ruins.

"I'd never leave my friends hanging."

- Rainbow Dash

The Elements of Harmony
The ponies enter the castle ruins and come to stand in front of several stone orbs perched on a pedestal, which Twilight assumes are the Elements of Harmony. Dash and Fluttershy place them at Twilight's feet, and Pinkie notices there are only five of them. Twilight explains that when the five are present, a spark would cause the sixth to be revealed. The rest of the ponies leave as Twilight tries to use her magic on the orbs, but the purple mist appears and envelops them in a whirlwind. Twilight jumps in and disappears along with the purple mist. The other ponies, arriving too late to save Twilight, see glowing lights in another part of the ruins and head to it. Twilight and Nightmare Moon re-appear at opposite ends of a large hall, with the stone orbs around Nightmare Moon. Twilight stamps her hoof and charges at Nightmare Moon, leading her to do the same.

Right before they collide, Twilight disappears, then reappears next to the orbs. She tries to use her magic to create a spark, but Nightmare Moon turns into mist and rematerializes in front of her, and blasts her away from the orbs. For a moment the orbs sparkle and frighten Nightmare Moon, but they soon stop, allowing her to shatter them by stamping on the ground. Pleased with this, Nightmare Moon declares victory, swirling her purple mist around herself.

Twilight hears her friends calling for her with reassuring words, and something sparks inside her. She gives Nightmare Moon a confident speech about the Elements of Harmony, declaring the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are "right here", as the other five ponies arrive behind her. The broken stone orb pieces glow and float around each pony as Twilight explains which element each of them represents based on their actions during their journey. Nightmare Moon protests, saying they don't have the sixth element, but Twilight tells her a different kind of spark revealed the sixth element, the spark that ignited within her when she realized the five other ponies are her friends, and at this point gets emotional enough that she cries tears of joy.

When Twilight concludes the speech, the stone orbs turn into jewels, and the six ponies glow and float in the air as a rainbow emanates from them and envelops Nightmare Moon. Twilight opens her eyes, which flood room with white light.

Once the light fades, the ponies discover that Rarity's tail is restored, and that they all have jewelery that matches their cutie marks. Applejack admits she thought Twilight was "spoutin' a lot of hooey", but now she reckons they "really do represent the elements of friendship."

Conclusion
As the sun rises, Princess Celestia appears and explains that she knew Twilight had the magic to defeat Nightmare Moon, but she could only unleash it by letting true Friendship/magic into her heart. They soon see a smaller winged pegasus that was once Nightmare Moon, and the pieces of her armor around her. She is wearing a dark blue crown and a coat and mane in a lighter shade of violet and blue. Recognizing this strange pony, Celestia approaches her, naming her Princess Luna, and offers her the friendship they were meant to have all along. Luna emotionally accepts Celestia's offer, telling her she missed her dearly. Happy to see her sister again and forgiven for her misdeeds, she embraces Celestia in a joyously tearful reunion. The heartwarming scene is so beautiful Pinkie Pie bursts out crying, but she abruptly stops and returns to her accustomed self.

Twilight's new mission
Back in Ponyville, Pinkie throws a party to celebrate the reunion of the two Princesses - but Twilight looks crestfallen. When asked why, Twilight tells Celestia she's sad at the prospect of leaving her new friends and returning home, so Celestia issues her with a new mission: study the magic of friendship in Ponyville, and report her findings. Twilight is elated about being able to stay with her friends. She promised to study harder than ever before.

Major Events

 * Twilight Sparkle and her friends venture into the Everfree Forest for the first time, seeking the castle ruins
 * Twilight and her friends defeat Nightmare Moon, reverting her back to Princess Luna.
 * Princess Celestia allows Twilight to stay in Ponyville, asking her to submit friendship report about her studies of the magic of friendship.

Quotes
Twilight Sparkle: I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them... I don't even know what they do!

Pinkie Pie: *reading a book on a shelf* "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide".

Twilight Sparkle: How did you find that?

Pinkie Pie: It was under "E"!

Twilight Sparkle: Oh.

Applejack: We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple.

Pinkie Pie: Especially if there's candy apples in there. What? Those things are good!

Fluttershy *to the manticore*: Oh, you poor, poor little baby...

Rainbow Dash: Little?!

Rarity: Urghh... my eyes need a rest from all this icky muck.

* trees blot out the sun, making it darker*

Rarity: I didn't mean it literally.

Rarity: Such lovely luminescent scales.

Sea Serpent: *sniffs* I know.

Rarity: Your expertly coiffed mane.

Sea Serpent: Oh, I know, I know!

Rarity: Your fabulous manicure.

Sea Serpent: It's so true!

Rarity: All ruined without your beautiful mustache.

Sea Serpent: It's true, I'm hideous.

Twilight Sparkle: Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail!

Rarity: Oh, it's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season. Besides... it'll grow back.

Rainbow Dash: So would the mustache.

Rainbow Dash: What's with you and falling off cliffs today?

Gallery



 * Friendship is Magic, part 2 image gallery

Trivia

 * The episode title is based on the sub title of the animated series.
 * This is the second part of the only two-parter in season one.
 * Twilight Sparkle reads "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." When she names the elements, the camera shows the ponies that will come to represent each respective element.
 * This is the first episode to feature a musical number; the Face Your Fears Song (or Giggle at the Ghostly).
 * The plot of the booklet bundled in the Friendship is Magic Giftset is similar to these two episodes.
 * The scene where the ponies unleash a powerful rainbow blast directly at Nightmare Moon is reminiscent of the Rainbow of Light from the 1984 My Little Pony pilot episode Rescue at Midnight Castle, where Megan defeats Tirek in a similar fashion.
 * The plot for this episode is loosely based on The Quest of the Princess Ponies, which was the opening episode of My Little Pony, Series 2 in 1987. In that episode, Lavan, the lava demon attempts to bring about eternal darkness; and the bickering princess ponies learn that only by working together and combining their magic, can they defeat him.
 * After the mayor orders Celestia's guards to seize Nightmare Moon, she shouts "Stand back, you foals!" and stops them from reaching her, before vanishing in a cloud of smoke. This is very similar to a scene from Disney's Sleeping Beauty involving Maleficent.
 * When the group begins to enter the forest as Applejack says "We're sticking to you like caramel on a candy apple", Rainbow Dash is missing her tail.
 * The scene with Fluttershy taking the thorn out of the Manticore is loosely based on Androcles and the Lion, with Fluttershy being Androcles and the Manticore being the lion.