NOTES: I'm really scared I'm going to write something that isn't well-researched enough, or has plot holes. Apparently I'm a major perfectionist, and I'm paralyzed by my fear that this won't be good enough. I get really bogged down with details and I don't know how to stop.

Hopper is also a perfectionist, and procrastinator. He is struggling to deal with abandonment issues. He subconsciously (or consciously) tries to control his relationships by pushing others away before they have a chance to betray him. He really doesn't want to get hurt.
If he doesn't start trusting others, and allowing himself to be friends with others who are trustworthy, then his tantabus will destroy Equestria. And yes... the pressure of facing his fears is getting to him, too. He has the mane six and his powerful sorcerer parents to look up to, and he feels really intimidated by the big horseshoes he's expected to fill. He thinks Princess Luna is crazy, and doesn't understand how they see so much greatness in him when he doesn't see it at all in himself. He would rather be drawing or doing standup comedy, something silly and lighthearted, than confronting dark magic and friend-making.

I'm stuck on the parts where he meets his new friends, I'm stuck with trying to nail those first impressions so we know who all these characters are and can get to know them and like them a little bit, and I'm stuck with feeling like this pilot episode is shitty and I'm shitty. Both Hopper and I are sensitive to rejection and are prone to cowardice and procrastination, apparently. I am working through this with my therapist, but I also know I need more help and reassurance! I feel like I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm going to miss something really important!

Here is a rewrite I did of the pilot while I was on the plane to VA:

Sideways Equestria
Episodes 1 and 2
"The Heir of Her Dreams"

STORYBOOK OPENING w. STYLIZED ILLUSTRATIONS
-A fancy purple book with a blue moon and white stars opens
-The clouds open up to reveal a map of Equestria
-Stained glass windows of Celestia, Luna, and Cadence surrounded by their associated symbols (the sun, the moon, crystal hearts, friends and books, etc.)
-Zoom out. From beneath Celestia, Twilight canters to her own window. Flurry Heart appears beneath Cadence, and Luster Dawn appears beneath Twilight
-Isolate Luna's window
-Luna emerges from her window, flying above the sea with the moon and stars in the sky. She flies over a field of sleeping ponies, cutting open a portal. She jumps inside and zaps a forest of spooky trees with her horn. The trees become docile and sleepy, blooming with pretty glowing flowers.
-A falling flower petal helps us transition into Celestia and Luna laying on a cloud. They are facing one another in regal poses. Celestia has a sun-like halo over her head. A crescent moon-shaped halo forms over Luna's head.


NARRATOR
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were several powerful princesses. Each one had a special student, who became their apprentice and heir. Each one, except Luna.
Princess Luna guarded the night and the realm of dreams. She used her fierce magic to banish nightmares and ne'er-do-wells and bring restful sleep to all of her subjects.
The time had come for Luna to find someone else to take on her important responsibilities. But who would she choose?

Four little ponies are playing in the snow at sunset on the outskirts of Ponyville. Two giggling fillies, one colt leading the way, and a little blue unicorn bringing up the rear.

HOPPER
Hey, wait for me!

They stop at a frozen lake, and the colt, named Beau Monde, suggests they play on the ice. The girls don't seem a hundred perfect in favour of this, but Beau Monde says they won't be long, and the ice is nice and slippery. Hopper, wanting to impress his friends, volunteers to go out first. Everything is fine and fun, until Hopper falls through. He struggles to get out, and is making a lot of noise. Beau Monde urges to the girls to split up and run away so they don't get in trouble, leaving Hopper to sink into the dark water. The moon is visible from the hole in the ice, and Princess Luna's muffled and distorted voice tries to call to him. Unfortunately, Hopper blacks out.

STARLIGHT GLIMMER
Hopper, wake up! The princesses are waiting in the royal garden! [or whatever place Twilight is growing beautiful golden apple trees... I remember she mentioned Celestia had one golden apple tree, and I was always pissed that we never got to see it! So I thought it would be amazing if she had a small garden/forest/grove/orchard of them!]

HOPPER
Mom, I'm barely awake...

His mother is clearly more excited than he is. A cap and gown are present somewhere in the room, along with a rolled-up diploma. Things in the room should give us hints that he's a guest in the castle, and he just graduated from the School of Friendship.

Hopper's very proud and overzealous family nudges him outside into a party among the golden apple trees. Hopper has saddlebags packed and already on him. Maybe there should be some saddlebags lying around the party, and we could potentially match them to the characters present. They're dancing and eating golden apples and having a swell time. Pan across, perhaps, to 3 familiar ponies... the ones from Hopper's nightmare, all grown up. Beau Monde is clearly the rich, snooty son of Jet Set and Upper Crust. His right-hoof pony, Skylimit, is the daughter of Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail. We aren't sure yet who this third pony is who is walking up to Hopper, with a cautious smile.

TIDEPOOL TREASURE
Heyyyyyyy, old pal. Wanna come hang out with us, for old time's sake? [idk if this is the right dialogue. It has to be a little awkward]

Treasure tries to convince Hopper to enjoy the party, but he refuses, and wants to sit with his egg (he carries with him an egg of unknown origin) and draw/read a book. She ends up snapping at him, "You know, Hopper, maybe you shouldn't have graduated from the school of friendship, because you certainly don't want any friends." Hopper doesn't argue with her, but you can tell he's angry/hurt and trying to keep it to himself.

Suddenly, fanfare rings out, and Princess Twilight Sparkle descends with grace and beauty into the crowd of partygoers. She announces once again that she is proud of all the graduating students, and that it is now time for the Ceremony of Direction [we need a better name for it.]

Princess Twilight leads the students into the throne room, which has been reconstructed/remodeled using pieces of the Castle of Friendship. Echoes of the Tree of Harmony are everywhere in its design, from the soothing green pillars shaped like branching trees to the silhouettes of the Elements used as a motif in railings, doors, and archways. Twinkling stars and slow-moving planets form a stunning celestial map on the throne room's central ceiling, which Twilight uses to watch the heavens. This vision of the sky melts into the canopy of the forest of supporting pillars. Each tree pillar had sprouted up from the pale blue marble floor. A long raspberry red carpet leads up to the princess's throne, which had been made to honour her cutie mark and crown. It sat atop a tiered fountain made from carved marble that matches the floor. A smaller, more rounded throne sits beside it for Ambassador Spike. Above her throne is the Golden Oak Library memory chandelier.

Princess Twilight Sparkle's horn glows as she takes hold of the sun and moon on the ceiling. She charts their course, and sets them in motion. Through the stained glass windows of the throne room, the real sun begins its descent. The princess further demonstrates her power by sitting on her throne and telling the graduates to wait on the bridge over the indoor stream. With great rumbling, quaking, and glowing magic, she summons the Cutie Map. [what with it getting darker outside, this will look even more cool and dramatic]

PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE
Let us begin.

The CutieMap seems to assess everyone in the room somehow, swirling with curious magic. It starts to show pairs and groups of CutieMarks, one set at a time, in various places. Twilight announces the names of the creatures in question, and where the map is sending them. As the names are called out, friends are giddy and celebrating. They immediately head off on their new adventure.
Over time, the crowd gets smaller and smaller.
The last one to be chosen by the map is Hopper. He approaches it curiously, and the map seems to be malfunctioning. Hopper's CutieMark appears everywhere, spreading out from where he is, and reaching the far corners of Equestria. But then the map is overtaken by visions of black clouds, and the eyes of a monster. Hopper is scared, and the map seems scared, too. Twilight uses her magic to soothe the map and dissipate the clouds.

Once the blackness is cleared away. Hopper's CutieMark appears over a tiny village called Fenlock. And in Canterlot... Princess Luna's mark appears.

PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE
I don't understand. What could this mean?

PRINCESS LUNA
A warning for what should not be.

Princess Luna appears in the darkness, approaching the light of the map. She is taller and more intimidating than the Luna we remember from Friendship is Magic. This Luna has silver hoop earrings, bat wings, constellations forming and breaking in her flowing mane, and a crescent moon-shaped halo on the back of her head. She comes off as cold and austere. A spectre. She has a beautiful, spooky, and powerful presence.

Twilight and Luna greet one another, and Luna says that this is the sign she's been waiting for. Hopper is to become her new apprentice, effective immediately.
His first assignment is to go to Fenlock and gather three ingredients that will be used to cure his nightmares. If he doesn't (learn to manage his powers?), the world will be in grave danger.

A voice-over of Luna can be heard as we see him moving into his new home. She says she is sending with him a list of instructions (?) The ingredients he needs to gather are: 1 chili pepper, double midnight fudge, and a basket of creeping cavepetal. Hopper has a nice cottage, but it's very bare. He has a scant few things from his family, such as a kite from his mom, and a clearly Maud-inspired rock collection (and each of the rocks correspond to a friend he'll be making in the future!)

[I don't know if Hopper should take all of this seriously, or if he should take it TOO seriously. I know this is going to stress him out a LOT. I thought he could maybe launch straight into denial, thinking this is all some elaborate, embarrassing scenario his parents concocted so he would have to make friends. If that's the case, he could be mad and resentful, but still play along and humour them, if for nothing else than to prove a point. I don't know what stage of grief he should be at when all this is going on. I also don't know if it will give the reader/viewer whiplash to suddenly change the mood from scary serious drama to cartoon comedy. I just don't know. HELP.]

[Hopper goes to the market to try and buy the pepper and fudge without getting too chummy with other creatures. This is where he meets Shine Runner, who is dressed to the nines and doing the exact opposite of blending into the crowd. She tries to strike up conversation with Hopper, but he's too stunned and confused to respond very much. Shine Runner ends up talking too much, about herself, her shopping trip, whatever. Hopper tries to sneak away, and ends up BOOKING IT when Shine Runner asks aloud, "Hey, new friend, where'd you go?" Do you think this is a good enough intro?]

[Hopper is fed up with being in town, and is looking forward to exploring a cave all by himself. Even though the Everfree Forest is very creepy and dangerous (I'm looking at old concept art where there were eyeballs in the branches and whatnot, it's really cool!), he seems much more relaxed. Hopper reaches a deep, dark cave, and gulps. He lights up his horn and heads inside. Things get scary when he starts to hear sloshing noises, hoofsteps, and other strange sounds. "Who's there?" After some suspense, he meets Squeaky Clean, who is in a well-lit and friendly-looking room inside the cave. She is dunking some bats in a wooden tub of water and scrubbing their heads with a brush. The bats are having a wonderful time, splashing each other with bubbles and sending a nearby rubber duckie bobbing and dipping in the waves. Hopper is, understandably, confused as can be. Maybe even a little disturbed. He asks where he can find some creeping cavepetal. Squeaky says that's easy, as it's the source of light in her little bat bathing room. The luminous flowers grow in a spiral on stalactites and stalagmites, as well as the cave floor, kind of like fancy floral moss. Hopper picks enough to fill his basket, and as he's doing so, Squeaky thanks him for not freaking out. She says most ponies panic at the sight of bats, and it's refreshing to see someone be cool about them. She even goes so far as to say that Hopper and she could be friends some day, because anyone who's cool with bats is cool to talk to. Hopper runs off, leaving Squeaky a little confused and hurt.]

[Hopper says he's tired of running into ponies who want to be his friend. He passes by the local library, and decides to go in, because at least no one is supposed to talk in a library. No conversations, no nonsense, just calming shelves of books. Unfortunately, this library is a little noisy! There's a book club meeting, a biology study group (discussing fens vs. bogs), and someone is reading stories to children. He gets very frustrated and runs to the back of the library, right into the Restricted Section. Since no one is here, and there's only dim candlelight, he feels safely hidden. He might even say something about how no one is going to try and make friends with him here. He looks for a book to read, but all of the titles are sinister and unpleasant. (It'll be fun coming up with Restricted Section titles!) He finally settles on a book called The Adventures of Inker Blink. He uses the key on the binding to unlock it, and wouldn't you guess... someone... or someTHING... comes bursting out of its pages! At first, this is played to be another scary and suspenseful moment, but soon gives way into comedy as we meet the impossible, impractical, impishly mischievous Inker. And Hopper has HAD IT.]

[Hopper runs home, and it's nighttime again. He locks his doors and bars his windows, and he grumpily settles down into bed. He tells his egg, who is sitting under a heat lamp by his bed, that he doesn't even want to talk about the day. He just wants some sleep. Hopper hits the pillow, and is down for the count.]

[Fade into first-person view, face to face with Hopper's Tantabus. Cut to Hopper approaching it, saying he's ready. The Tantabus nods and attacks him, encasing him in darkness and throwing him into his nightmare. He is once again a little colt, running to catch up to his friends. But this time, he can't run fast enough. The ice is already underneath him, cracking. He starts getting flashbacks to all the times he felt abandoned.
When he lost a tooth, and no one seemed to care, because Mud Pie, Little Mac, and Little Cheese all got their baby teeth on the same day. Pinkie threw them an elaborate Happy Teething party. Hopper asked Pinkie if he could have a party, too, but Pinkie was honest and told him she didn't have the energy to throw another party. Pinkie then had to leave suddenly to give Little Cheese a frozen teething snack, and Hopper was clearly too little to understand parenthood and that baby needs win out over kid needs.
When his parents couldn't come to the school talent show and watch him perform magic tricks (he'd been practicing with Aunt Trixie for weeks!), because Princess Twilight needed them at the castle to discuss advances in the study of interdimensional travel and alternate universes. And after that, they have to review test scores and attendance policies for the school. Trixie takes him to the talent show, but Hopper still looks sad, because he wishes his parents could be there.
When Beau Monde said they should all split up and leave Hopper behind.
When his parents couldn't understand why he went out on the ice, and he was scolded to never do that again, or he could get seriously hurt.
When Tidepool Treasure told him he shouldn't have graduated, since he doesn't want to have friends.
The ice cracks, and Hopper falls into the darkness, screaming.
"I JUST DON'T WANT TO GET HURT!"
He cries, tears falling upwards.
"Maybe I COULD use some friends, but I'm so scared! I can't forget what happened to me, but I wish I didn't have to face this nightmare alone!"
With those words, Hopper unknowingly summons Shine Runner, Squeaky Clean, and Inker Blink. And... he's happy to see them!
"Hey! I know I ran off on you, and I know we don't know each other very well, but I really need your help! I'm sorry to bother you like this, but I need to regain control of my nightmare." ]

[I don't know how it's going to go exactly, but Hopper and his newfound friends defeat the Tantabus together, and Hopper learns to trust them. They end up playing together in a pleasant dream, on a fluffy pink landscape with striped balls to kick around. Hopper says this is the first nice dream he's let himself have for a long time, and he cries a few tears of joy. Shine Runner says, "Wait, what do you mean, "Let yourself have?" The scene fades away.]

[Hopper wakes up early the next morning to the smell of cake. Princess Luna and his newfound friends greet him in his living room, which has been decorated with creeping cavepetal. A celebratory, "Congratulations!" cake has been made, and it's Princess Luna's favourite flavour (Double midnight chocolate fudge with chili pepper frosting!) Princess Luna explains that Hopper has become her apprentice because he has powerful dream magic. It takes a very special kind of pony to create a Tantabus, and a very special group of friends to help vanquish one. Luna is very proud of him for completing his first assignment, and is looking forward to giving him the next one. But for now... there is cake!]

SO UMMM... HELP! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE THIS INTO A PROPER SCRIPT WITH GOOD DIALOGUE, AND I FEEL LIKE I'M DOING THIS WRONG, MISSING KEY DETAILS, NOT PACING IT RIGHT, ETC.
HEEEEEELP!