Roots of All Evil Pt. 1, formatted onscreen as Roots of All Evil Pt.1 without the space after "Pt.", is the second episode in Chapter 6 of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark and the twenty-second episode overall. It is the first half of a two-part episode.
Synopsis[]
The ponies need to figure out how Opaline is stealing the Cutie Marks — and fast! Luckily, Opaline isn't the only pony with dragons on her side.
Plot[]
Opaline commences her plan to steal the cutie marks of every pony in Equestria. Using the Together Trees, she travels to Zephyr Heights, Bridlewood, and Maretime Bay one-by-one and corrupts the trees with her magic, causing them to grow vines of energy that stretch across their respective locations and steal ponies' cutie marks by the dozens. As a result, the population of each location collapses into complete and utter panic.
The Mane 6 and the dragons arrive to Maretime Bay, where Jazz and Rocky apprise them of the situation. Realizing Opaline has found a way around Twilight's protection spell, they fear she could return at any moment to steal the Mane 6's cutie marks as well as the Unity Crystals. Before the Earth ponies start panicking again, Misty, speaking from personal experience, assures them that, even without their cutie marks, Opaline cannot take away what makes them special.
The ponies decide to split up their efforts: Hitch assembles the Earth ponies around the Together Tree in case Opaline returns, the rest of the Mane 6 go to check on the Unity Crystals, and Spike, Sparky and the dragons head to Opaline's castle to reclaim the Dragonstone.
At the Crystal Brighthouse, Sunny and her friends find the Unity Crystals are still there, meaning the Brighthouse is still protected by Twilight's spell. However, Zipp has a realization; she remembers the picture she saw in the Zephyr Heights castle library depicting ponies standing beneath the roots of a large tree in The Manesquerade Ball and Elder Flower's story about the Together Trees in Father of the Bridlewood. She reasons that Opaline tapped into the connection between the trees in order to travel across them.
Misty reveals that Opaline accomplished this through the use of a fourth Together Tree inside her castle; unlike the other trees, Opaline's tree is dark and twisted because she never experienced friendship or unity with others. The ponies also deduce that Opaline is using this connection to steal ponies' cutie marks, leading them to a horrifying conclusion: with Hitch and the Earth ponies all gathered in around Maretime Bay's Together Tree, the tree's energy vines can pick off their cutie marks with ease.
Once Hitch and the Earth ponies are warned to keep their distance from the tree, the Mane 6 divide their forces further to help their friends across Equestria: Zipp and Pipp head to Zephyr Heights to help their mother Queen Haven and the Pegasi, Izzy heads to Bridlewood to help the unicorns, Hitch remains in Maretime Bay to protect the Earth ponies and Sunny and Misty keep watch over the Unity Crystals at the Brighthouse.
Spike and the other dragons sneak into Opaline's castle to retrieve the Dragonstone while Opaline is seemingly absent. They locate the Dragonstone but are led into a trap that causes all of them to be captured and put under Opaline's mind control like Lava and Jade. Sparky, hidden from Opaline's view, is also captured, but he is not mind-controlled like the others. Now on the verge of complete victory, Opaline creates a gold necklace with five slots for the Mane 5's cutie marks.
Opaline returns to Maretime Bay again, where Hitch attempts to halt her advance with his Earth pony plant magic. Sunny and Misty watch from the Brighthouse, with Sunny wanting to go and help him, but Misty is crippled with fear, unable to face her former tormentor. Despite Hitch's best efforts, Opaline incapacitates him and succeeds in stealing his cutie mark. His defeat is felt by his friends across Equestria, and Twilight's protection spell becomes weaker.
Characters[]
- Sunny Starscout
- Izzy Moonbow
- Hitch Trailblazer
- Pipp Petals
- Zipp Storm
- Misty Brightdawn
- Sparky Sparkeroni
- Opaline Arcana
- Blaize Skysong
- Spike
- Lava (no lines)
- Jade
- Luxxe
- Fountain
- Sprout
- Queen Haven (no lines)
- Thunder Flap
- Zoom Zephyrwing
- Cloudpuff
- Alphabittle Blossomforth (cameo)
- Onyx
- Dapple
- Elder Flower
- Dahlia
- Jazz Hooves
- Rocky Riff
- Toots
- Sweets (no lines)
- Diggy (no lines)
- Sander (no lines)
- Phyllis Cloverleaf (no lines)
- Sugar Moonlight
- Lily
- Upset Unicorn (cameo)
- Twilight Sparkle (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- This was originally supposed to be the seventh episode of the sixth chapter.
- It is revealed at the end of the episode that the five colors of the Prisbeam represent the Mane 5's Cutie Marks.
- This is the second and final part episode.