Queen of Shadows

The Ninja and the Ponies at the Everfree Forest

**Queen of Shadows** is the third pilot episode of *LEGO Ninjago & My Little Pony: Masters of Friendship*. It follows the Ninja in their continuing search for the remaining Golden Weapons as Twilight Sparkle and her new friends travel to the Castle of the Two Sisters to retrieve the Elements of Harmony in the hope of stopping Nightmare Moon from taking over Equestria, and Lord Garmadon's plot to claim them for his own.

## Plot

At the Golden Oak Library, Twilight Sparkle and her friends find a book about the Elements of Harmony. They learn that the elements of Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty are known, but the sixth is a mystery. The book also says that the Elements are stored in the royal sisters' ancient castle in the Everfree Forest. The ponies decide to look for the Elements but are unaware that Nightmare Moon has been listening to their conversation the whole time. Although they already retrieved the Scythe of Quakes, the Ninja and the Ponies enter the Everfree Forest. When they are walking on a mountainside, a cloud of purple smoke triggers a landslide. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash catch Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Twilight slides to the edge of a steep cliff. Applejack assures Twilight that she will be safe if she lets go of the cliff. Twilight lets go, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy catch her.

The Ninja and the Mane 6 went on a boat to find the other Elements and the remaining weapons. However, an angry manticore confronts the ponies. When the other ponies try to forcefully subdue it, Fluttershy tells them to stop. She kindly approaches the manticore. It shows her a thorn stuck in its paw. She removes the thorn and the grateful manticore licks her mane. The thorn dissolves into purple smoke, which zooms away. While on the boat, Sensei Wu tells the four about the Tornado of Creation and what it is capable of doing. When they reach the Frozen Wasteland, Zane attempts to grab the Shurikens, freezing him in a block of ice in the process. The Guardian of the weapon, the Ice Dragon, is awakened the other three Ninja and the Mane Six lift Zane up and ride atop him out of the Frozen Wastelands to the boat. They hit a pillar on the way out, breaking Zane out of the ice.

Their next stop is the Floating Ruins, where the Nunchucks of Lightning are being kept. When Jay grabs the Nunchucks, the Lightning Dragon appears in a flash. Using Jay's gliders, they escape to the Forest of Tranquility, which was then, a cloud of purple smoke makes monstrous faces appear on the trees around the ponies and the Ninja. All the ponies and the Ninja except for Pinkie are scared. Pinkie sings the Laughter Song and teaches her friends to laugh at their fears. The friends' laughter turns the trees back to normal.

The ponies and the Ninja come across a river blocked by a sea serpent. The sea serpent is upset that a "tacky little cloud of purple smoke" whisked by and tore off half his mustache. Rarity generously donates her own tail to repair the sea serpent's mustache. The sea serpent, extremely pleased and grateful, helps the ponies and the Ninja cross the river.

When the castle ruins come into view, Twilight races excitedly toward them but nearly falls into a gorge, prompting Rainbow Dash to save her by the tail. As the ponies and the Ninja discover, the bridge leading to the ruins is broken. When Rainbow Dash flies to the other side to fix the bridge, three Pegasi appear and invite her to be captain of the Shadowbolts, their group of elite fliers. When Rainbow Dash learns that she must abandon her friends to join the Shadowbolts, she turns down the Shadowbolts and ties the bridge so her friends can cross. The Shadowbolts turn into purple smoke, which slithers away.

That night at camp, the Ninja and the ponies celebrate getting three of the four Golden Weapons and getting five of the six Elements of Harmony. Sensei Wu tells them to get some sleep, but not before dancing in celebration with the Ninja.

Later on, while sleeping, Kai and Twilight Sparkle wake up to see Nya and Spike standing nearby and calling their names. She runs to the Fire Temple, Kai and Twilight running after her. When they arrives at the Temple, Kai finds the Sword of Fire, the last Golden Weapon needed. While he is going up to Nya and Spike, they revealed themselves to be the shadow of Lord Garmadon and Nightmare Moon. Then the real Nya and Spike are dropped down on a chain, dangling over the lava. To save them, Kai grabs the Golden Weapon, leaving Twilight as she watches him get the sword, and once Nya and Spike is on solid ground, Lord Garmadon summons Shadows of the Red Ninja and the Lavender Unicorn to claim the Sword of Fire. Unable to strike the rapidly-multiplying Shadows, Kai and Twilight are quickly defeated, but Wu and Celestia come to their rescue, using their own shadows to fight off the doppelgangers.

Meanwhile, Cole, Jay, Zane, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity are all captured by the Skulkin, who steal the three Golden Weapons and the five Elements in their possession. The Ninja and the Mane Five soon escape, using a sword Jay stole from Nuckal, and engage the Skulkin in an attempt to reclaim their weapons, but the villains manage to escape to the Underworld.

Back at the Fire Temple, Garmadon and Nightmare Moon awaken the Fire Dragon to prevent the group from leaving. Sensei Wu and Princess Celestia can think of only one way to stop Lord Garmadon and Nightmare Moon: going into the Underworld to fight them directly. Taking the Sword of Fire and the Element of Magic with them, the old master and the Alicorn Princess sail down a river of lava, leaving Kai, Nya, Twilight Sparkle and Spike to face the Dragon alone.

## Cast

* Applejack - Ashleigh Ball
* Cole - Kirby Morrow
* Fluttershy - Andrea Libman
* Garmadon - Mark Oliver
* Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
* Kai - Vincent Tong
* Kruncha - Brian Drummond
* Nightmare Moon - Tabitha St. Germain
* Nuckal - Brian Drummond
* Nya - Kelly Metzger
* Pinkie Pie - Andrea Libman
* Princess Celestia - Nicole Oliver
* Rainbow Dash - Ashleigh Ball
* Rarity - Tabitha St. Germain
* Samukai - Michael Kopsa
* Spike - Cathy Weseluck
* Twilight Sparkle - Tara Strong
* Wu - Paul Dobson
* Zane - Brent Miller

## Trivia

* The episode title refers to Lord Garmadon or Nightmare Moon, who appear as a red-eyed shadow in the mortal realm and summon the shadow warriors to take the Sword of Fire from Kai or as a purple smoke when the Ninja and the Mane 6 are going for the quest.
* This episode is based on Ninjago pilot episode, King of Shadows and MLP:FiM episode, Friendship is Magic - Part 2.
* Parts of this episode appeared in "It's About Time!."
* Pinkie Pie's Laughter Song becomes the first song featured in the series and the only pilot episode to have a song.
* In the opening moments, with Nightmare Moon apparently victorious, the Mayor shouts, "Seize her!" and Nightmare Moon replies, "Stand back, you foals!". This is a near-verbatim quote ("fools" replaced with "foals") from a famous moment in the 1959 Disney film *Sleeping Beauty*, when the evil witch Maleficent disappears after cursing the newly born Princess Aurora.
* During the fight with Manny Roar, Applejack refers to the classic cowboy song *Git Along, Little Dogies*, also known as *Dogie's Lament*. In the language of the American West, a dogie is a motherless calf. There is another reference to this song in Applebuck Season.
* Fluttershy pulls a thorn from Manny's paw, much like the classic Greek tale of Androcles and the Lion.
* Steven Magnet's cry of "What a world! What a world!" is a reference to the 1939 fantasy film,*The Wizard of Oz*, starring Judy Garland.

## Errors

* When the Royal guards charge at Nightmare Moon, the central guard's body overlaps his armor.
* Before Nightmare Moon makes all the ponies by the door run away, Parasol is hovering off the ground despite her wings being folded.
* In the same scene, Lemon Hearts is missing her horn, and when she runs away she suddenly gains a skirt.
* Rainbow Dash's tail is missing when the ponies are entering the Everfree Forest. In the same scene Applejack is missing her freckles & has Twilight's eye model.
* When the Ninja and the Mane 6 arrive at the Frozen Wasteland, Jay is wearing his DX outfit.
* When the ponies meet the sea serpent, the ponies (from left to right, front view) are Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. But when the view turns, the ponies are in a different order: (from left to right, front view) Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Applejack. Their order keeps on changing throughout Rarity's trial.
* When the ponies are scared by the trees, Applejack's right hind leg is missing, and her tail isn't attached properly.
* When Pinkie Pie is first seen making faces at a tree, her jaw is displaced.
* When the ponies are soaked by the sea serpent, Rainbow's tail is missing its yellow and green colors.
	+ The same thing happens in The Mysterious Mare Do Well after Rainbow Dash falls into the river.
* During Rainbow's trial, both of the bridge's ropes on the far side are untied, and the bridge is hanging down the side of the cliff. Rainbow swoops down, grabs one of the ropes, and brings it up to the far side. When she gets there, the other rope is already tied.