Growing Pains is the second episode in Chapter 2 of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark and the second episode overall.
Synopsis[]
Magic's gone wild in Maretime Bay, and Sheriff Hitch is determined to rein it in — unaware that an evil pony is standing by to steal it all for herself.
Plot[]
ATTENTION
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While doing his morning patrol rounds around Maretime Bay, Hitch Trailblazer observes several Earth ponies using their plant-growing magic recklessly. Dahlia accidentally blocks the door to the sheriff station, Seashell and her friends get stuck in some plants, and Sprout - who has been doing community service since the events of My Little Pony: A New Generation - grows a giant berry plant that sends a huge berry rolling through the center of town and splattering Hitch.
Since Earth ponies acquired magic at the end of the Make Your Mark, Hitch has been wary of it and its unpredictability, only making use of his new ability to talk to animals. Sunny Starscout, however, believes magic can benefit the lives of Earth ponies and encourages Hitch to give it a chance. Hitch agrees but says ponies' safety is his highest priority.
When Hitch's parenting of Sparky Sparkeroni start to get in the way of his sheriff duties, Izzy Moonbow offers to be Sparky's babysitter. Meanwhile, Opaline and Misty continue to use Sunny's magic compact mirror to spy on her, and Opaline puts the next part of her plan into action.
Hitch announces to the ponies of Maretime Bay a complete restriction on Earth pony magic until he makes new guidelines regulating its use. This decision is met with mass disapproval, especially from Sunny, but Hitch insists it is for the sake of keeping everyone safe. After several magic practice sessions with Earth ponies end in failure, Hitch believes he is justified in his decision to ban Earth pony magic.
However, before long, the Earth ponies' magic grows out of control to the point that it starts to let itself out uncontrollably. Sunny and her friends believe magic is not supposed to be bottled up in the manner Hitch is enforcing, and Hitch determines the only way to stop this is by removing the Earth Pony Crystal from the other Unity Crystals.
Meanwhile, Izzy watches over a rambunctious and hyperactive Sparky and works through Hitch's overly detailed babysitting checklist. When the checklist proves too restrictive, Izzy permits and encourages Sparky to be as unruly as he pleases. By the time he tires himself out and settles down for a nap, Izzy sees her friends racing to the Crystal Brighthouse, and she joins them while leaving Sparky in the care of Hitch's animal deputies.
At the Brighthouse, Hitch is about to separate the Earth Pony Crystal from the Pegasus and Unicorn Crystals, ignoring pleas from his friends not to do so, when a burst of energy from the Crystals brings him to his senses. He admits that the unpredictability of magic conflicts with his obsession with rules and regulations and the fear of that uncertainty is causing him to make rash decisions. Hitch's friends assuage his fears and assure him they will figure magic out together.
The positive energy created by the Mane 5's harmony flows from their cutie marks into the Unity Crystals, activating a prerecorded message from Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Equestria long ago. In her message, Twilight explains that magic is now stronger than it has ever been and warns of an evil pony who once tried to seize all magic for herself before Twilight stopped her. Unfortunately, the message is corrupted and does not reveal the evil pony's name.
Opaline and Misty watch as Earth pony magic get more and more out of control, with Opaline wanting it to grow as powerful as it can before she takes it for herself.
The Mane 5 return to the center of town, and Hitch rescinds his earlier ban on Earth pony magic, allowing them to use it as much as they want while Sunny guides them on its proper use. This allows the Earth ponies to bring their pent-up magic back under control. However, in his attempt to do so, Sprout accidentally creates an even bigger berry plant than before and causes another giant berry to roll toward the center of town.
To stop the giant berry, Hitch joins hooves with his friends and channels his plant magic for the first time, creating a massive tree in the berry's path and protecting the rest of the town from getting splattered with berry juice. Sunny commends Hitch for this feat, and Zipp Storm takes notice of the flowers growing on the tree's branches. The ponies also discover that Sparky's fire breath has magic transformative properties, and when Sparky touches the tree that Hitch grew, his horns and the tree's roots give off a mysterious glow.
Characters[]
- Sunny Starscout
- Hitch Trailblazer
- Izzy Moonbow
- Pipp Petals
- Zipp Storm
- Opaline Arcana
- Glory
- Misty Brightdawn
- Peach Fizz
- Sparky Sparkeroni
- Seashell
- Dahlia
- Jazz Hooves
- Glitter Cupcake
- Mayflower (no lines)
- Posey Bloom (no lines)
- Sweets (no lines)
- Toots (no lines)
- Windy (no lines)
- Sprout (debut)
- Twilight Sparkle
Trivia[]
- This is the first time a Together Tree was created.
- Gillian Berrow has confirmed on Twitter (later X) that Tara Strong reprises her role as Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony: Make Your Mark.[1]
- However, she has been uncredited in the end credits of the episode.