Growing Pains

Growing Pains is the second episode of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark, the second episode of the series' Chapter 2, and the second episode overall.
In this episode, Earth pony magic goes wild in Maretime Bay, and Hitch Trailblazer is determined to rein it in.
==Summary==
===The unpredictability of magic===
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 special, 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.
===Earth pony magic is banned===
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.
===Message from the past===
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.
===Focus and guidance===
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.
==Quotes==
:Glory: Magic is pretty wild, huh?
:Hitch Trailblazer: Too wild if you ask me.
:Sunny Starscout: How are the Earth ponies gonna grow and learn – and learn to grow – with restrictions?
:Opaline: Why has she barely used it? If it was me, I'd have checked my pout every minute on the minute.
:Misty: And what a pout it is, Opaline! Equal parts chilling and charming!
:Opaline: Don't pander to me, Misty. Even though you are right.
:Hitch Trailblazer: After surveying the recent magical changes in Maretime Bay and the messy ways they've disrupted our daily lives, I have decided there will be... no use of Earth pony magic!
:Hitch Trailblazer: Don't let him eat before sleeping. Don't let him sleep before eating. Don't let him do this all unsupervised.
:Izzy Moonbow: Huh? Even if he asks me to?
:Hitch Trailblazer: ESPECIALLY if he asks you to!
:Dahlia: Is now the time I mention I'm allergic to gardenias?
:Izzy Moonbow: Sparky! Don't do that again...
:Sparky Sparkeroni: [whimpers]
:Izzy Moonbow: ...unless I'm around to film it!
:Izzy Moonbow: Abandon all order! Dazzle with destruction! Express yourself to the extreeeeeme!
:Hitch Trailblazer: I was wrong. I shouldn't have put a pause on Earth pony magic.
:Sunny Starscout: Oh, I'm so happy to hear you say that. I-I've been trying to tell you—
:Hitch Trailblazer: I should've gone straight to the Unity Crystals! When ponies united and the Unity Crystals were created, everypony got their magic! Maybe if we remove the Earth pony one...!
:Sunny Starscout: What?! No, that's not what I meant!
:Hitch Trailblazer: Magic doesn't operate by any rules. Rules are what I know. What if I can't be the sheriff everypony needs now?
:Sunny Starscout: You'll always be a strong sheriff, Hitch. Because you care.
:Twilight Sparkle: If you're seeing this, magic is now more powerful than it's ever been, and Earth pony magic has been activated for the first time in the history of Equestria. Magic is alive. Always changing. Growing stronger. There are evil forces out there who will want to exploit it. Once, a pony tried to steal all the magic in Equestria for herself... and almost succeeded.
:Opaline: [laughing evilly]
:Misty: [forced laughter]
:Opaline: [groans] If you're going to maniacal laugh with me, Misty, at least be in sync.
:Pipp Petals: Giant glimmerberry coming again! Six o'clock!
:Hitch Trailblazer: But it's only two-fifteen.
:Sunny Starscout: Hey, look! We're a friendship smoothie!
==Gallery==
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