EXTERIOR PONYVILLE - CENTER OF TOWN - DAY

Applejack is among the crowd of townsponies.  Rainbow Dash can be seen flying circles up above.  Rarity, ARNIE, and HEARTSTRINGS are among those sitting.  Spike rushes towards Rarity.  Twilight follows.

                                   TWILIGHT

          Rarity!  What's going on?

                                   RARITY

          I'm not sure.  Something about carrots.

                                   SPIKE

          You're getting all dusty!

                                   RARITY

          We all must make sacrifices sometimes.

                                   SPIKE

          For carrots?

                                   RARITY

          For carrots.

                                   PINKIE PIE

                   (popping up before Rarity)

          And babies!

                                   TWILIGHT

          Can't you see the townsponies are angry?  Whatever you're

          doing is only making it worse!

                                   RARITY

          My heart bleeds for them.

                                   PINKIE PIE

                   (popping up farther away)

          It's a sitting party!  We're going to sit still until we all

          get carrots and the Cakes bring the babies back and make

          cupcakes!

                   (pops up somewhere else)

          Oh, I'm no good at this at all!

Some TOWNSPONIES notice Twilight.

                                   TOWNSPONY #1

          There's that mare from Canterlot!  She must be behind this!

Twilight and Rarity both turn to see who's talking.

                                   TOWNSPONY #2

          Look out for her horn!

Twilight backs up, alarmed, as a cluster of ponies approach and then corner her.  Her eyes and horn begin to glow white.

                                   RARITY

          Twilight Sparkle!  Sit down!

Twilight sits down with a THUMP.  The glow fades.  The MAYOR enters the scene, and heads straight for Twilight, who is sitting prominently at the edge of the sitting ponies.

                                   MAYOR

          Miss Sparkle...  What is the meaning of this?

                                   TWILIGHT

                   (dazed)

          Carrots.

                                   RARITY

          Carrots.

                                   MAYOR

          Can anypony tell me what's going on here?

Hardly anyone can hear her above the noise of the crowd.

                                   APPLEJACK

                   (stepping forward)

          Lemme give you a hand, Mayor.  SOOOO-EEEEE!

The crowd hushes at Applejack's hog-call.  A few HOGS rush in and join the crowd at its edges.

                                   MAYOR

          Thank you.  Now... Everypony sit down.

Everyone except the mayor eventually sits.  Rainbow Dash sits on a roof.

                                   TOWNSPONY #2 (O.S.)

          It is kinda calming.

                                   MAYOR

          Somepony tell me what's going on!

                                   SOMEPONY #1

          Arnie was here when I got here.

                                   ARNIE

          I saw Heartstrings here,  sitting in front of some big angry

          ponies, What was I gonna do, trot by and admit she's got more

          guts than me?

                                   HEARTSTRINGS

          Someponies were making me feel unwelcome here.  And I wanted

          to go home and hide.  Big MacIntosh was just sitting there,

          not budging.  And I thought:  I can do that too.  Because

          Ponyville is my home.

Silence.

                                   HOG #1

          So... no slop?

                                   MAYOR

          Big MacIntosh?

                                   BIG MACINTOSH

          Yup?

                                   MAYOR

          Why did you sit down?

                                   BIG MACINTOSH

          I was angry.

                                   RAINBOW DASH

          That makes no sense at all!

                                   BIG MACINTOSH

          You can't kick when you're sitting.

Some of the townsponies edge back a little.

                                   MAYOR

          What were you so angry about?

                                   BIG MACINTOSH

          Nopony would sell Miss Fluttershy a carrot, because she's a

          pegasus.

                                   MAYOR

          That's absurd.

                                   HAY SEED

                   (stepping forward)

          Tain't neither.

                                   MAYOR

          What?

                                   HAY SEED

          I been farming nigh on forty years.  I ain't never flown nor

          done nothin' magical.  But I worked hard, and I won't stand

          to be looked down on because of it.

                   (glares at Rainbow Dash)

          I heard what some-a them pegasuses said.

                                   MAYOR

          Mister Seed, you must be mistaken.  I'm sure nopony in

          this town would cast aspersions on earth ponies.

                                   RAINBOW DASH

          Well... I said some things that, taken out of context, could

          be interpreted that way.  I mean, taken out of the context

          of my personal awesomeness.  But I don't look down on you!

          Except literally.

                                   TWILIGHT

          And I said...  I said that I didn't know how ponies could

          stand not having magic.

The crowd GASPS.

                                   TWILIGHT (CONT'D)

          But that's because it's part of who I am!  It's like if

          Rarity said she didn't understand how people could stand not

          having fashion sense.  Or if Pinkie Pie said she didn't

          understand how somepony could not eat cupcakes every day!

                                   PINKIE PIE

          That's true!  I don't!

                                   TWILIGHT

          I didn't mean to insult anypony.  Mister Seed, I respect

          your hard work.  There wouldn't even be a Ponyville if you

          didn't know how to make things grow.  I don't know how to do

          that.  I couldn't even keep my flowers alive without Spike.

                                   SPIKE

          Must be my purple thumb.

                                   RAINBOW DASH

          I wasn't trying to put anybody else down.  I was trying to

          put me up.

                                   MAYOR

          You need to learn how to do one without the other, Rainbow Dash.

                                   RAINBOW DASH

          What am I supposed to do?  Stop being awesome?

                                   TWILIGHT

          No, Rainbow!  Just... appreciate other people's awesomeness

          sometimes.  Like the awesome cupcakes that Mr. and Mrs. Cake

          make.  Or the Apple family's awesome apple cider that you

          can't get enough of.

                                   RAINBOW DASH

                   (frowning at Pinkie)

          It's true.  I can't.  But... your apple cider is pretty

          awesome, Applejack.

                                   FLUTTERSHY

          And, Mister Seed, Angel loves your carrots better than

          anything else in the world.  I don't know what I'd do if I

          couldn't get them anymore.

                                   SPIKE

                   (to Hay Seed)

          Think of the bunnies!

Applejack shakes her head in alarm at Spike.  Hay Seed contemplates this, chewing his wisp of straw, staring at Fluttershy.  He stands up.

                                   HAY SEED

          I can't stand bunnies!

All the other townsponies stand up again.  All the ponies that were originally sitting stand up.

                                   HAY SEED (CONT'D)

          Them critters is always diggin' up my carrots!

The groups face off.  The CROWD NOISE resumes, louder than before.  Suddenly, a CRY stills the noise of the crowd.  Everyone looks around for the source.  A LITTLE EARTH FILLY, who had gone to the highest balcony of town hall to watch the crowd, is hanging on by two hooves beneath a broken railing.

                                   TOWNSPONY #3

          My filly!

Dramatic BALALAIKA MUSIC plays as the two groups merge into one as a group of earth ponies and unicorns together rushes to the town hall and begin building a pony pyramid under the dangling filly.  Several of the unicorns resemble the Russians in the original scene in The Russians are Coming!  When the pyramid is halfway there, Rainbow Dash zooms by above them and snatches the filly.  Her wake blows the pyramid over, and those ponies collapse on top of each other in a heap to the sounds of balalaika strings SNAPPING.  Rainbow Dash sets the filly down next to Townspony #3.

                                   MAYOR

          You see, everypony - you never know when you'll need somepony

          else.  We can only get by if we all cooperate!

                                   RAINBOW DASH

          Cooperate?

Twilight and the Mayor glare daggers at Rainbow.

                                   RAINBOW DASH (CONT'D)

          I mean, that pyramid thing you guys did - that was looking

          good.

                                   HAY SEED

          I mighta been a bit rash.  Yer not such a bad fella, in a

          pinch.  Remind me a little of myself, when I was a colt.

                                   RAINBOW DASH

          I'm not a...

                   (breaks off as the Mayor surreptitiously

                    kicks her)

                                   HAY SEED

          I might have some carrots left after all.  Maybe there's some

          filly you'd like to share some with, eh?

                                   RAINBOW DASH

          I'm not a...  Fine.  Thanks.  I would love some carrots.

The picketers drop their signs sheepishly.  Everypony CHEERS.

EXT. LIBRARY - DAY

Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Big MacIntosh, and the Crusaders are together outside the tree, Spike with scroll and quill in hand.

                                   TWILIGHT

          I think we all could write a letter to the Princess this

          time.

                                   APPLE BLOOM

          Can I write the letter?

                                   TWILIGHT

          Go ahead, Apple Bloom!

                                   APPLE BLOOM

          Dear Princess Celestia.  How're you?  I'm fine.  Do you like

          apples?  I like apples.  That's a good thing, what with all

          the apples we got.

Spike stops writing.

                                   APPLE BLOOM (CONT'D)

          And also cupcakes.  Mr. and Mrs. Cake make the best

          cupcakes...

                                   SPIKE

          Ahem.

                                   APPLE BLOOM

          Sorry.  This week I learned that if you think your friends

          don't like you, you should talk to them about it, instead of

          other people.

                                   PINKIE PIE

          I learned that too!

                                   APPLE BLOOM

          Also, you shouldn't get all worked up about whether things

          are fair when things are still pretty fine.

                                   PINKIE PIE

          No fair!  I didn't learn that!

                                   TWILIGHT

          I learned that I should think before I talk about other

          people.

                                   BIG MACINTOSH

          I learned that if you're angry, sometimes the best thing to

          do is nothing.

                                   FLUTTERSHY

          And I learned that sometimes, you should say no.  Even if

          it's scary.

                                   SPIKE

          Enough learning!  My wrists are tired.

                                   BIG MACINTOSH

          Miss Fluttershy, if you ever need help saying nope, I hope

          you'll call on me.

                                   FLUTTERSHY

          Oh!  How could I say no to that?

                                   APPLEJACK

                   (to Fluttershy)

          Sister, you and me are gonna have a little talk.

                   (walks offstage)

                                   FLUTTERSHY

                   (following AJ offstage)

          Okay.

Rainbow Dash and Derpy fly by overhead, suspending Hay Seed between them in a sling.

                                   HAY SEED

          Wahoo!  I'm flyin'!