AUTHOR’S NOTE: While the graphics for this story were made with the help of my custom Stable Diffusion models for characters and sets, I wrote the story myself. This is an “unseen scene” from the Very Special pilot. If you want the rest of the story, check out our cast table read from last year while I finish the animation.
Zara Special sat on her bed staring at her bedroom ceiling, her mind buzzing with possibilities. The summer had flown by, and with just a week left before school started, she knew it was now or never. If she wanted to become a member of the Sparkles—the most popular group of mean girls at Everly Heights High School—she needed a plan. And it had to be flawless.
She grabbed her diary and opened it to a fresh page. At the top, she wrote: OPERATION: SPARKLE. She underlined it twice for emphasis, like it was the title of a short story.
Zara then stood in front of her mirror, examining her reflection. Yes, Zara with her big glasses, messy hair bun, clothes that screamed ‘academic overachiever,’ and a stack of tattered Babysitter’s Club books on her nightstand, was a Nerd with a capital ‘N’—a label that had kept her on the outskirts, more invisible than notable, except when the Sparkles decided to have some fun at her expense.
If she was being honest with herself, Zara wanted to be a Sparkle. The Sparkles were confident, charismatic, and, most importantly, popular. Zara practiced her best smile in the mirror and tried to mimic Rebecca’s casual way of tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Yeah, if you aren’t cool, it can,” she said, repeating Rebecca’s signature phrase with an awkward flick of her hair. But the attempt felt forced. She needed help—someone who understood magic, transformation, and, maybe, social dynamics.
Luckily for Zara, her neighbor was Nosloo the Great, a dark troll wizard from Dimension 86, known for his cunning and wit. Zara had stumbled upon him while retrieving a softball she’d sent flying over the fence separating their backyards. Zara appreciated having him next door for his sage advice, gleaned from decades of epic battles against his brother, the dark wizard Hibboticus. To nobody’s surprise, the social dynamics of Nosloo’s “Land of Fee-Nee” and Zara’s “Everly Heights High School” were more similar than not.
Zara took a deep breath, feeling a mix of fear and determination swelling inside her. This year would be different. She wasn’t going to be the target anymore; she was going to stand out for the right reasons. She scooped up her yearbook and bolted downstairs, through the kitchen, and into the backyard.
***
Zara paused by one of her mom’s paintings, still drying on the easel under the old oak tree, second-guessing her decision. What if Nosloo laughed at her? Or worse, what if he couldn’t help her? She shook the thought away. Nosloo always knows what to do.
Zara walked slowly toward the glowing door in the wooden fence, her steps careful and deliberate. She’d known about Nosloo, or “Nosloo the Great” as he preferred to be called, for months, but it still made the hair on the back of her neck stand up when she paid him a visit. She eased the door open and stepped into her neighbor’s backyard, a treasure trove of oddities under the bright afternoon sun.
To her left, an old Commodore 64 computer hummed on a makeshift wooden shelf, its screen flickering with the image of a burning castle. Nearby, a rusted bicycle leaned against a fence, its spokes entangled with overgrown ivy, and a vintage television set with rabbit ears sat atop a stack of VHS tapes, its dusty screen reflecting the sunlight. Various gadgets, from ancient computers to a busted electric guitar, lay scattered across the yard. The steady whirr of an old fan somewhere beneath a pile of discarded electronics added texture to the backyard’s symphony of beeping gadgets and whirring motors.
Near the garage, a Simon game hooked up to a VCR blinked in rapid succession, its primary-colored lights casting a playful glow on the clutter. Next to the weird device stood Nosloo, a dark troll wizard from another dimension dressed like an aging punk rocker with a gold star on his chest, who sang along to the noise emanating from his odd invention.
“We’re gonna have a party in my realm, as soon as I find a way home,” Nosloo sang into his Mr. Microphone, “You’ll come along, we’ll sing this song… WE’LL SET MY BRENDA FREE!”
“Hey, Nosloo,” Zara muttered. “I hope I’m not bothering you.”
Nosloo smiled at his neighbor, happy to have company. Being a secret troll wizard in a world full of humans could get pretty lonely sometimes, even with a hobby as fun as punk rock.
“Never, kiddo!” Nosloo shouted as he tossed down his microphone with a SQUEEEEEEEEE. “Just missing my Brenda, as per usual.”
Zara leaned over and scratched the green fur on Nosloo’s head, making his leg kick like a little puppy. “Aww, Nosloo. I’m sorry. Mr. Ward will find a way to get you home one day.”
“If he could get over the divorce, maybe,” Nosloo snarled in frustration. “That schmuck won’t leave the couch long enough to let me watch Ricki Lake.”
“Anyway…” Zara said as she awkwardly fiddled with a busted VCR. Zara hesitated, knowing Nosloo’s transformations usually involved some sort of strange chemicals or bizarre machine. But she was desperate, and this was her last hope before the school year began. “I need your help, Nosloo. You have so much cool stuff here in your backyard. Do you have anything that can help me become a different person?” she asked, eyeing a pile of tangled cables and blinking lights that Nosloo seemed to handle with both ease and disdain, as if technology was both his hobby and his nemesis.
Nosloo’s grin widened, his pointed ears twitching with excitement. “Ah, transformation! A truly righteous challenge. Want to breathe fire like a dragon? Or maybe become a shadow that can slip through walls? There are endless possibilities in my realm. But alas, here, we gotta work with what we got, which ain’t much. No offense.”
Zara shook her head. “Nosloo, I don’t want some fancy spell. I just want to be… popular. Well, I want the popular girls at school to like me, which will make me popular. If not, well, things will be just like they were last year.” In Zara’s heart and mind, befriending the Sparkles was crucial. It wasn’t just about being liked; it was about proving to herself—and to them—that she wasn’t just the nerdburger they’d tormented all through middle school.
A single tear fell down her cheek as she recalled all the ways the Sparkles had made her life hell last year… the Football Game Walk of Shame, the Meatloaf Incident, and a thousand other embarrassing middle school moments she hoped to leave behind as she entered high school.
Nosloo tilted his head, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Popular, huh? You humans and your wacky quests. But hey, if that’s what you want, who am I to judge? Nosloo wiped the tear from her eye. “I’ll help you, Kiddo. Just remember, appearances aren’t everything. It’s what’s inside that counts. Except, of course, when it doesn’t,” he added with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.
“When it doesn’t?” Zara asked.
“Well, on the battlefield, once the insides are on the outside, they don’t fight back,” Nosloo replied.
“Nosloo!” Zara shouted. “Don’t be gross. So, can you help me?”
Nosloo walked around Zara, taking in her outfit. “First, let’s deal with the outer image. You look like a total nerd with those glasses,” Nosloo teased. He snatched the glasses off Zara’s face and tossed them in a trash pile.
“But I need those to read,” Zara said.
“You’ll have plenty of time to read when you’re dead, but while you’re alive, make a statement!”
“You can’t read if your dead,” Zara replied, retrieving the glasses and putting them in her pocket.
“We can in my realm,” Nosloo said with a chuckle. “Now, I have the perfect thing for you, here in the dresser. I dug it out of the dumpster out behind the mall last night.” Nosloo dug through an antique dresser pushed up against the garage and pulled out an outfit straight from The Gap: a turtleneck sweater with a plaid skirt and leggings, all neatly folded with the price tags still attached.
“Oh, I love it!” Zara exclaimed as she snatched the clothes from Nosloo’s hands.
“What can I say?” Nosloo asked with a smirk, “I’m a damn fashionista, even if my taste is a few centuries behind—or ahead, depending on your perspective.”
Zara threw her arms around the short troll’s neck, scratching behind his ears like the ancient creature was a friendly puppy. “You’re the best, Nosloo. When the Sparkles see me in this, they are gonna flip!”
“Hey! Watch the fur,” Nosloo said with a smile as he hugged her back. “Do you know how hard it is to get this cleaned? But this ain’t gonna be easy. One outfit might not be enough to get you in with these popular girls. “When I first met my Brenda, the ladies of the court all hated her,” Nosloo began, his voice soft with nostalgia. “They were all about status and pedigree, but Brenda, that lady is built different—a commoner with a heart of gold. And cute too! But she had to prove herself to get ahead, just like you’re trying to do.”
“She made herself mean so they’d accept her? That doesn’t make any sense. She always sounds so nice when you talk about her.”
Nosloo gazed off into the distance, remembering his lost love. “She is, but my royal court, and my friggin’ brother, hated that I fell for a ‘peasant.’ What can I say? I hate high muckety-mucks who think they’re better than everybody else.”
“What did the muckety mucks do to her?” Zara asked.
“It’s not what they did. It’s what my Brenda did. She tore through the royal libraries like a mad dog, reading everything she could about how to be a proper lady of the court. “
Zara bunched up her nose. She didn’t like that. “Nobody should have to change who they are for people to accept them.”
Nosloo nodded. “Nobody should, but that ain’t the world either of us lives in, ya’ get me? You just gotta do what Brenda did. Study ‘em, learn their moves, then mimic their style…” Nosloo continued.
Zara could already imagine herself, perched at the neighborhood pool, taking notes on their every move, like a scientist observing a rare species.
“Then, when they accept you as one of them, you show them that special spark of yours you hid while they let you get close to ‘em,” Nosloo said.
“That makes a lot of sense, Nosloo,” Zara said. “Thanks for the outfit!”
“Just don’t get any gunk on it,” Nosloo said with a smile.
Zara nodded, her mind already racing with strategies. She’d watch the Sparkles at the pool, noting everything from their inside jokes to the effortless flick of their hair. If this makeover was going to work, she needed to be as meticulous in studying them as she was in Journalism class. She’d hunt down their ex-boyfriends to find out what shows they watched. Maybe she’d even dig through their trash? No. Too far.
Zara waved goodbye to Nosloo, then returned to her backyard through the glowing door, ready to make the first day of high school her day. This year was going to be different, all thanks to Nosloo the Great, her friendly neighborhood punk rock troll wizard.
What happens next? You’ll have to wait for the pilot episode to find out! Or you can watch the full cast table read below.