The Traditional Unicorn Sleep-Over

The Traditional Unicorn Sleep-Over is the sixth episode of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark, the sixth episode of the series' Chapter 2, and the sixth episode overall.
In this episode, Izzy Moonbow invites Misty to a sleepover at the Crystal Brighthouse, but Zipp Storm is suspicious of her.
==Development==
At the 2023 ACTRA Awards, Bahia Watson won the award for "Outstanding Performance – Gender Non-Conforming or Female Voice" for her performance as Misty in this episode.
==Summary==
===Enter Misty Brightdawn===
While chasing Sparky Sparkeroni through Maretime Bay, Izzy Moonbow encounters Misty, who has drawn a fake cutie mark on her flank to conceal the fact she does not have a real one. Izzy is thrilled to make a new friend, especially her first unicorn friend outside of Bridlewood, but a distrustful Sparky growls at her.
To celebrate their becoming friends, Izzy invites Misty to a "traditional unicorn sleepover" at the Crystal Brighthouse, and Misty awkwardly accepts. She informs Opaline of this development, and Opaline instructs her to use the sleepover as a pretext to steal Sunny Starscout's lantern. At the Brighthouse, Izzy tells the rest of the Mane 5 about the new friend she made, and Zipp Storm is curious as to why Sparky growled at her.
===Izzy Moonbow's unicorn sleepover===
At Izzy's instruction, the Mane 5 decorate the Brighthouse for a Bridlewood-style sleepover party, and when Misty arrives, she introduces herself to Izzy's friends as "Misty Brightdawn". Almost immediately, Misty acts nervous and fidgety around the Mane 5, drawing Zipp's suspicions.
The ponies partake in various unicorn-themed party activities, including horn bedazzling, complicated board games, fortune-telling, watching classic movies, and a sing-along. Throughout the evening, Misty's behavior suggests that she never grew up in Bridlewood and is unfamiliar with unicorn customs, making Zipp even more suspicious. When Misty asks about Sparky, she learns that his fire breath has magical properties.
When Misty gets a chance to go off by herself, she sneaks up to the Mane 5's bedroom to look for the lantern. She contacts Opaline using the compact mirror she gave Sunny, and Opaline advises her to find a way to the observatory at the top of the Brighthouse. She attempts to use the elevator but instead sets off a security alarm. Zipp catches her, and she claims she was trying to find the bathroom and wanted to see the view from the observatory. Zipp believes Misty's lie but remains wary of her.
===The "legend" of Equestria's origin===
During a storytelling activity, Sunny tells the story of Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn who learned about friendship, became the Princess of Friendship, and brought harmony to all of Equestria. One day, an Earth pony was harmed by a unicorn, causing conflict between the pony races. To fix this, Twilight created the Unity Crystals and placed all of Equestria's magic in them. After this, the pony races split up, feeling they were only safe among their own kind, and eventually settled in what would become Maretime Bay, Bridlewood, and Zephyr Heights.
This story, however, is vastly different from what Misty was taught. She tells the story of a powerful "Alicorn queen" from whom most of Equestria's magic originated. According to this story, the ponies were jealous of the Alicorn's power and wanted it for themselves, so Twilight stripped her of her magic and sealed it away. Afterward, she created a magic barrier around Equestria to keep the Alicorn queen from getting her magic back. The Alicorn was left with only a fraction of her former power while the magic stolen from her was used to advance Equestria's development.
The Mane 5 are skeptical of Misty's story, and when asked who told it to her, she gets nervous and claims she made up some of it. Pressed with more questions about where she truly grew up, Misty leaves the party in a panic.
===A touch of Bridlewood===
Izzy is heartbroken over losing her new friend and her sleepover being a disaster. She admits that, while she loves living in Maretime Bay, she misses certain aspects of her old life in Bridlewood and was partly using the sleepover as an opportunity to experience those aspects again. Izzy's friends ask her to describe exactly what she misses about Bridlewood, and she goes into a long-winded speech. Meanwhile, Misty is frantically pacing back and forth in the community garden outside the Brighthouse, torn between the choice of returning to Opaline without the lantern or going back for it and risking being exposed as a spy.
Using Izzy's long list as a guideline, Sunny, Zipp, and Pipp redecorate her bedroom area to be more Bridlewood-themed. Izzy is deeply touched by her friends' gesture, and she is even more delighted when Misty returns. As Misty takes in the new look of Izzy's bedroom, she notices the lantern. After some more games and the ponies have gone to sleep, Misty contacts Opaline to inform her of all she has learned. Zipp is roused from her sleep and overhears bits and pieces of their conversation, making her more suspicious of Misty than ever.
==Quotes==
:Sparky Sparkeroni: [whines]
:Izzy Moonbow: What's wrong? You're acting like there's some mysterious and scary presence lurking in the shadows directly behind me.
:Izzy Moonbow: [gasps] Hi, friend! What's your name? I'm Izzy Moonbow!
:Misty: Uh, Misty. I, um, just got into town. And now I'm gonna leave! Bye!
:Izzy Moonbow: [gasps] We'll celebrate us meeting with a... traditional unicorn sleepover!
:Opaline: Get in that lighthouse and—
:Misty: Brighthouse.
:Opaline: Whatever!
:Izzy Moonbow: Welcome to the Brighthouse, Misty... Misty, uh... [whispering] What's your last name?
:Misty: Ah, uh... Brighthouse!
:[beat]
:Misty: [nervous laugh] Bright, um... Bright... dawn? Uh, Brightdawn!
:Sunny Starscout: So nice to finally meet you, Misty. Izzy's told us—
:Misty: Told you?! Told you what?!
:Zipp Storm: When did you say you got into Maretime Bay?
:Misty: Oh, I didn't—
:Zipp Storm: In town just for a visit? Or staying permanently?
:Misty: This is the best thing I've ever eaten in my entire life!
:Pipp Petals: I've barely made a dent in my chocolate ponycorn.
:Misty: I'll help you finish it!
:Zipp Storm: Don't you think it's a little weird Misty's just as lost as us? She claims to have grown up in Bridlewood, but it's as if she's never even been there.
:Misty: [laughs evilly]
:Opaline: Oh. Better, Misty. But it's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't be a show-off.
:Izzy Moonbow: My first real sleepover in Maretime Bay has been a complete and total jinx-a-thon!
:[beat]
:Izzy Moonbow: That means "failure".
:Misty: I have to go! I have to get out of here! I've already said too much! But I can't just leave! Not without that lantern! But if I go back, they'll ask me more questions and expose my lies! Unless I sneak past them and bypass the elevator with somepony else's hoof! But whose? And how?! [panicked breathing] Is it too late to tell those ponies that I was just kidding?!
:Izzy Moonbow: Oh, this is some pretty impressive unicycling, too! Huh! Maybe you all have a bit of unicorn in you, after all.
:Opaline: "Horn decorating"? "Ponycorn"? And "hoof-reading"?! Did you have FUN with these puny ponies?!
:Misty: No, no, of course not. It was strategic hoof-reading for gathering intel. [gasps] But seriously, have you ever tried ponycorn before?! Because it's the best!
==Gallery==
Misty lurks in shadow behind Izzy C2E6.png
Izzy welcoming Misty to the party C2E6.png
==References==
Category:Featured articles