Roots of All Evil Pt. 2

Roots of All Evil Pt. 2 is the twenty-third episode of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark, the third episode of the series' Chapter 6, and the twenty-third episode overall. It is the second part of the finale two-parter.
In this episode, Opaline continues her mission to capture all cutie mark magic, but Sunny Starscout intends to show her that true power comes from friendship, not force.
==Summary==
===Opaline Arcana's endgame===
Following Opaline's theft of Hitch Trailblazer's cutie mark in the previous episode, she and the mind-controlled dragons Lava and Jade go to the Crystal Brighthouse to take Sunny Starscout and Misty's cutie marks next, but Twilight Sparkle's protection spell still prevents Opaline's entry into the Brighthouse. When she is blown back by the Brighthouse's barrier, her gold necklace - with Hitch's cutie mark in it - falls off.
Misty picks up the necklace and lures Opaline, Lava, and Jade away from the Brighthouse, revealing in the process that she has been working with the Mane 5 against Opaline since the events of Missing the Mark. Opaline gets the necklace back, but Misty manages to elude her, so she and the dragons use Maretime Bay's Together Tree to travel to Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood instead.
===Falling like dominoes===
In Zephyr Heights, Pipp Petals and Zipp Storm attempt to outwit Opaline by distracting her with a song and then trapping her and the dragons in a large tarp. However, Opaline quickly breaks out, incapacitates Pipp and Zipp, and takes their cutie marks. Misty, having followed Opaline to Zephyr Heights, stands up to her and expresses pity that she has spent many years alone and never experienced true friendship. Opaline dismisses Misty's attempt at compassion and, noticing Misty obtained a cutie mark on her own, takes hers as well.
In Bridlewood, Izzy Moonbow and the unicorns attempt to fend off Opaline by pelting her with fruit and various objects. Opaline endures the assault with little effort, however, and although Izzy momentarily fools her with a fake cutie mark, Opaline quickly stops her from escaping and steals her real one. Back in Maretime Bay, Sunny observes the Unity Crystals and realizes she is the only pony left whose cutie mark has not been taken.
===Nopony is alone who has friends===
Pipp and Zipp find Misty in front of the Together Tree. When the Pegasi join them, Zipp warns them to keep away from the tree or else risk making Opaline stronger. However, Pipp notices the tree's flowers glowing and questions this; they look back at the picture from the castle library depicting ponies standing beneath tree roots. Zipp believes the picture shows the Together Trees taking power away from the ponies, but upon closer inspection, Pipp realizes it is the opposite: the ponies are giving power to the trees through their unity.
Pipp, Zipp, and Misty reach out to the rest of their friends by phone and share their new plan: to gather ponies around the Together Trees and give them power through their friendships. Sunny instructs her friends to do this at their respective locations while she takes the heart-shaped locket that the Breezies gave her in Mane Smelody and goes to fight Opaline by herself.
===Sunny vs. Opaline, part 2===
At her castle, Opaline revels in her imminent victory over both the ponies and the dragons. Sunny enters to oppose Opaline, offering to her one last chance to live alongside Equestria in peace and harmony. Opaline refuses Sunny's offer, preferring to rule with absolute power, and suggests that, as an Alicorn, Sunny secretly desires the same thing. Sunny denies Opaline's claims, declaring that they are not the same, and the two engage in battle.
Sparky Sparkeroni, having been sitting on the sidelines the entire time, crawls up to Spike's face and uses his inner dragon magic to break Opaline's mind control on him. Opaline incapacitates Sunny and takes her cutie mark, stripping her of her Alicorn powers. With all the magic in Equestria now in her possession, Opaline disables all of Twilight's magical protections around Equestria, and the Unity Crystals lose their power completely.
===We just need a little hope===
As all hope seems lost, the young Maretime Bay filly Seashell starts singing a song, and the other Earth ponies soon join in. Before long, the unicorns of Bridlewood and the Pegasi of Zephyr Heights are also singing. Energy from their unity flows into the Together Trees and undoes Opaline's evil corruption on them. Sunny tells Opaline that, even if she takes her cutie mark, she can never take away her hope for a better future.
Sunny's hope, coupled with the unity of everyone in Equestria, causes her heart-shaped locket to react. It bursts open, and a rainbow of light shoots out, wrapping around Opaline and constricting her movement. With Opaline immobilized, Spike uses his magic fire breath to teleport Sparky over to the Dragon Stone, which he uses to liberate the cutie marks that Opaline stole and free the other dragons from her mind control. With cutie mark magic restored, the Unity Crystals return to full power.
The Together Tree in Opaline's castle starts to grow and expand, and the castle itself starts to crumble. As Spike teleports himself and his friends out, Opaline brushes her flank against the tree's growing roots, causing it to rip her cutie mark away. In her attempt to retrieve it, she gets engulfed in the tree's roots. The Together Tree fully blooms, with Opaline trapped inside and her castle reduced to ruins.
===Epilogue===
With Opaline finally defeated, the dragons' magic is fully restored, and Sparky gives the Dragon Stone to Spike. Spike uses his fire breath to teleport Sunny's friends to their location, and they commend her bravery for facing Opaline alone. Now that Sparky has fulfilled his role of saving the dragons, Hitch wonders if it is time for him to leave Maretime Bay; Spike lets Sparky decide for himself, and he decides to stay with Hitch, saying his first word "home".
Spike and the dragons bid farewell to the Mane 6, promising that they will see each other again soon, and return to the Isle of Scaly. As the Mane 6 behold the beauty of the true form of Opaline's Together Tree, a portal suddenly opens in front of it and glittery snowflakes come flying out. When Izzy touches one, she becomes magically covered in glitter and crystal jewelry, leading into the special My Little Pony: Secrets of Starlight.
==Quotes==
:Opaline: There's no place left to hide. Once I have you and your friends' cutie mark magic, nopony in Equestria will be able to stop me.
:Misty: Hey, Opaline! Is this necklace new? It's pretty!
:Opaline: You little thief! Give it back!
:Misty: Wasn't it you who taught me how to steal, Opaline?
:Opaline: Quit hiding! Show yourself!
:Misty: Awww, but I thought you liked it when I was sneaky!
:Pipp Petals: This room has terrible acoustics!
:[echoing]
:Pipp Petals: [laughs nervously] Awful, huh?
:Opaline: I must admit, you two put on a pretty good show. But you forgot the first rule of performing. Never turn your back on the audience!
:Misty: It's so sad. You've got all the power in Equestria, and you still haven't ever felt true friendship.
:Opaline: Ha! I have friends!
:Misty: You have to force others to pretend to be your friends! Like me! That's control!
:Opaline: Is this how you're going to do this, unicorn? All creepy-like? Is that what your sparkle comes from? Spookiness?
:Izzy Moonbow: My sparkle comes... from creativity! And glitter!
:Zipp Storm: We have to tell Sunny before it's too late!
:Misty: There's no way we can get there faster than Opaline! How are we gonna tell her?!
:[beat]
:Pipp Petals: We could... just call.
:Misty: Oh. [chuckles] Right.
:Sunny Starscout: You don't have to do this. And you don't have to be alone. We can all live in unity.
:Opaline: Oh, I'm not alone. You're here. And you're just like me. You want power, too. It's what all Alicorns want.
:Sunny Starscout: I just wanna protect my friends and understand magic!
:Opaline: [chuckles] You seek knowledge. I see. And tell me, little pony – what is knowledge? It's power!
:Opaline: Now I've got the full set! I win! I am the Fire Alicorn! I... AM... POWER!
:Sunny Starscout: You can take my cutie mark, but you can't take what makes me... me. [...] Hope. Hope for a better future. For all ponies to make their mark. That's why you and I are never going to be the same, Opaline. Because I have hope. And I have friendship!
:Jade: And Opaline? We are NOT friends! Just wanted to clear that up.
:Spike: Come on, Sunny. You think this is my first run-in with an evil villain?
:Sparky Sparkeroni: H... Home!
==Gallery==
Opaline, Lava, and Jade in Zephyr Heights throne room C6E3.png
Opaline "you ungrateful little pony!" C6E3.png
Sunny smiling at her friends in group video call C6E3.png
Opaline "all the magic in Equestria!" C6E3.png
Mane 6's cutie mark in Opaline's necklace C6E3.png
Opaline with wings of rainbow fire C6E3.png
Earth ponies fully restore the Together Tree C6E3.png
Heart locket pulsing with rainbow energy C6E3.png
Rainbow of Light shoots out of the locket C6E3.png
Sunny looking at the Rainbow of Light C6E3.png
Rainbow of Light with Sunny's cutie mark C6E3.png
Opaline's Together Tree bathed in sunlight C6E3.png
Sunny at dragons look at Opaline's Together Tree C6E3.png
Mane 6 and Sparky in a group nuzzle C6E3.png
Izzy looking at a mysterious portal C6E3.png
Izzy decked out in glitter and jewelry C6E3.png
Category:Featured articles