Sparkle's Seven

Twilight's Seven
Generation 4 | Season 9 | Episode 4
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Original Airdate	April 20, 2019
Writer(s)	Nicole Dubuc
Josh Haber
Director(s)	Denny Lu
Mike Myhre
<< Previous Episode	Next Episode >>
Uprooted	The Point of No Return

Sparkle's Seven is the fourth episode of season 9 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Synopsis

Twilight and Shining Armor pit their wits against each other to settle a long-standing sibling rivalry score - but they soon discover they're not the only competitors.

Plot

Twilight is talking to Starlight at the School. Spike informs Twilight Sparkle that she has received a letter from her brother, Shining Armor, challenging her to see who is the true Sibling Supreme, which she explains is the title given to the winner of a series of competitions from when she and Shining were foals. Spike says that he wishes he could have won, but he was never considered part of the competition. Twilight runs off with Spike, leaving Starlight in charge of the school. When Twilight arrives at Canterlot Castle, she sees Shining and Princesses Luna and Celestia waiting for her, Shining wearing the toy Sibling Supreme crown. Shining tells her that due to Sombra's re-awakening, Celestia thought it would be a good idea to reinforce castle security, to which Luna complains that she believes that they alone could have handled any issues. Shining Armor has been assigned the task of securing the castle, and he has implemented many safeguards against threats, such as fans to disturb flying patterns, Chrysalis's anti-magic throne scattered around the castle, bricked and guarded underground entry points, a trap door in front of the thrones, and geese in the throne room that will alert if needed. If Twilight can circumvent the security and obtain the crown, she will be Sibling Supreme forever. Twilight explains the situation to her friends at her castle, and begins to assign each of them a task that would make sense to their talents and skills, but Spike receives a letter that details the plan she just came up with and tells her to not do the obvious. Rarity suggests that someone else, herself, should come up with the plan as Shining knows Twilight well and will be able to counter any plan she comes up with. The new plan involves Rarity and Rainbow Dash interrogating local townsfolk, Pinkie Pie looking out from space, Fluttershy and Spike stealing the crown as spies, and Applejack distracting guards as a country singer. Twilight will simply do nothing. They begin the heist with Pinkie flying the balloon to drop off Fluttershy and Spike near the vents so they can get to the throne room, and then she floats up into the clouds. Applejack sets up a stage and begins playing a song for the guards. As Shining watches Twilight sniffing flowers around the castle and inquires as to her motives, Pinkie's balloon seems to have popped and she begins flying out of control. This distracts the guards, and Applejack takes the opportunity to swipe one of the gems on the helmets on the guards, which is needed to open the door to the throne room. Rarity and Rainbow Dash attempt to get into the juice bar to get information, but someone informs them that the bar is closed. They get the location of the underground entrances from the same pony, and they see Zephyr Breeze has been hired to guard the entrance. Much to Rainbow Dash's discomfort, she serves as a distraction so Rarity can take apart the bricks in front of the entrance while Zephyr is trying to swoon Rainbow. Fluttershy and Spike have found the throne room, and the geese honk to alert the guards as they fall down a trap door to under the throne room. Luna inspects the room as considers it to be a false alarm. As Twilight sees that the plan has fallen apart, she fears that she has truly lost. Spike reveals to a worrying Fluttershy that he feels forgotten from Shining and Twilight's sibling quarrels, and Fluttershy reassures him that she's sure they think of him as a little brother. Rainbow Dash stumbles upon the two by pulling a lever, and the four (including Rarity) reconvene outside the castle to think of a new plan. Spike convinces Twilight to go back to her original plan, and she agrees. Her original plan seems to go well. Pinkie distracts the guards with a surprise party, which allows Rarity to sneak into the castle with her guard uniform, using the jewel that Applejack stole from the previous plan. She switches out another guard for break as she waits for her friends to come through the window. As Zephyr is fired from his post, Applejack breaks the stone outside the castle with some help from Maud Pie. Rainbow Dash carries Fluttershy to the throne room, weaving about with the pattern of the fans, and Fluttershy calms the geese. Once they are all in the throne room, Twilight thinks she has won, but Shining comes out from behind the throne and begins gloating. Spike then reveals that he has the crown in his hand, and that he is the sibling supreme. He explains that he asked Luna to help him win, as he sensed there was another sibling rivalry that he could relate to. Luna helped by keeping Celestia out of the hallways and appointing Zephyr to guard, and she teleported the crown over to Spike while Shining was gloating. Celestia goes to talk with Luna while Shining and Twilight declare Spike the true Sibling Supreme.

Trivia

• The episode's story is from the voice actresses of the main cast. They were asked what they would like to see their characters do that they haven't done, and a story was picked from the conversation. [Source]