Did you spot the clues to hint at the Moles identity last time? No? Maybe you should read over again, just to check....or maybe you shouldn't...Just remember, The Mole is always watching.
~
"Welcome back to The Mole!" Derpy said loudly, Carrot Top faced the camera and smiled suspiciously.
"So our contestants have already been thrown in at the deep end in this one, with a parachute jump and two exemptions won!" The orange maned pony announced, Derpy nodding to every word she said.
"That's right Carrot Top! And we aren't done yet! There's still a lot more tricks up our collective sleeve!" She continued on from Carrot Top, who turned away from the Pegasus towards the camera.
"There are still more challenges to be had, and more bits to be won! And of course, a Mole to be found." She said, turning back to Derpy for her line, who nodded in understanding, now being her to face the camera.
"Let's see what happened next."
~
After the ponies had gone to their rooms and unpacked their belongings, they discovered notes had been placed at the bottom of their bags to meet up in the town plaza within 2 hours, however, no directions had been provided as where the plaza was.
"Well, we can just wander about. You know, we have a little time." Octavia said to her new found friend, who nodded slowly in return. The two of them sauntered out the door, discussing the fine comforts that the two of them had left behind for this show.
Rarity: This show doesn't even allow a short while to compose ones self before they hurl you into another challenge. It's thrilling, but I'm used to working at a pace I find comfortable.
"Alright Pinkie Pie, lets get going! We can be first there!" Rainbow told the party pony.
"Yeah, Dashie! Oh, maybe there's a prize if we get there first! But how do we know where it is? There aren't any directions..."
Rainbow sighed and flapped her wings, giving a 'seriously' look to Pinkie Pie, who opened her mouth and cocked her head to the side in puzzlement, before she realized, her head jolting upwards and eyes wide open.
"Oh yeah."
Meanwhile, Twilight and Trixie left room 18, Twilight, not having many things to unpack and Trixie, of course, having none at all, they could leave their room pretty soon. The two of them bumped into Rarity and Octavia, who were slower walkers, and the four of them all decided to make their way to the plaza slowly.
Applejack, Fluttershy, Lyra and Bon-Bon had done the same themselves, thinking that going there slowly wouldn't be a problem. After all, there were two hours to get there and it shouldn't take that long. After all, they had seen the petite town from outside their bedroom windows and had seen it wasn't extremely big anyway. It might take around an hour to walk from one end to the other.
"I hope none of the challenges are too physically tasking..." Fluttershy whimpered, Bon-Bon nodding in agreement. "You and me both! I'm more of a thinker than a do-er." She told the yellow pony, who straightened herself up a bit, glad that somepony agreed with her. Applejack, on the other hand, grinned awkwardly and adjusted her hat.
Applejack: I ain't stupid, I just hate all these mind game sort'a things. Just give me a challenge where we have ta' push somethin', or use strength and I can really earn our team some good money.
Rainbow and Pinkie ran into the plaza, both looking for any sign of a challenge or the instantly recognizable Derpy or Carrot. But suddenly, they slowed to a halt and noticed how amazing the plaza really was. It was one of the most beautiful little sights they had ever seen. taking in the sights. There was a grand fountain where all the waterways flowed out from, with a statue depicting an Alicorn, most likely Celestia, and a very small Unicorn striking dramatic poses. Benches surrounded the statue and an assortment of cute little privately owned shops lined the terracotta walls. Even for two energetic ponies like Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, this was nothing like the 'common' Ponyville or even the 'elite' Canterlot. They both relaxed and looked right in front of them, soaking up the sights.
They didn't even notice the stallion right behind them, creeping towards them, bag in one hoof, duct tape in the other...
~
Eight ponies in total walked into the plaza, all of them taking in the same sights a Cyan and Pink mare had until recently been enjoying.
"Funny. I thought Rainbow and Pinkie would want to be here first." Twilight stated right away, scanning the area for the Elements of Laughter and Loyalty. Trixie tapped Twilight on the shoulder.
"Look over there."
"Where?"
"There, by the fountain. Look. There's those presenters!" Trixie pointed over towards the fountain, and sure enough, the two presenting ponies were standing atop the fountain, each of them making the same pose their respective concrete pony was striking. The eight mares charged towards the two of them, who held their pose.
"So what do we do now?" Lyra asked, and Carrot Top opened her mouth to talk;
"Listen closely, my dear friends, for we will not repeat this message when it ends."
Derpy now opened her mouth.
"The Pink and Blue have both been taken, to seek them out you cannot be mistaken."
Carrot Top now was the one who spoke.
"Go to the places close to your heart, Go alphabetically with your names, that's a start."
Derpy continued the message.
"You'll know what to do when you get there, but we'll give you a hint because we're fair."
Carrot Top followed on,
"Solve the riddles and gain the key, which will allow you to set your friends free."
Derpy concluded nicely,
You'll earn 20,000 bits when the task is complete, but doing this should be no easy feat."
The two ponies hopped down from the statue and calmly walked away, not saying one more word. Looks of general confusion were plastered on everyponies face, save a certain purple unicorn who was furiously scribbling notes.
"There! Well, off to find the Apple store!" She said, trotting off. She was jerked back by the tail with a blue tint of magic, belonging to Rarity.
"Twilight! Would you please explain this to us before running off on your little escapades. Not all of us are as smart as you are." Rarity told her friend, other ponies showing signs of agreement to the fashion pony, all of whom were just downright confused at the events that had just occurred.
"Oh right! Well, as soon as they said they wouldn't repeat their message, I started writing down word for word what they said in case it was important. Here, take a listen. Twilight cleared her throat, ready to recite the strange poem to the group.
"Listen closely, my dear friends, for we will not repeat this message when it ends - simple enough. This means they won't repeat the message for us once they're done." Twilight read out from her book, to which everypony nodded and smiled, grateful somepony was smart enough to take up notes.
"The Pink and Blue have both been taken, to seek them out you cannot be mistaken - I think they're trying to say Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have been taken away from us, and we have to seek them out. That's the challenge. And the last part, that's saying we can't make a mistake or we won't get any prize money." The librarian continued, coughing and readying herself for the next statement.
"Go to the places close to your heart, Go alphabetically with your names, that's a start - I was stumped on this for a while, but I think i get it. We have to go to places, like, shops, that relate closely to what we hold close to our heart. I think it's to do with our cutie marks. The alphabetical part explains itself. That's why I wanted to go to the Apple store, because it's Applejack's cutie mark, and she's the first alphabetically."
Applejack grinned. "Yeah Twi, that does seem to make sense to me now. But what about the next bit? Somethin' about a key, right?"
"Solve the riddles and gain the key, which will allow you to set your friends free - Okay, this means when we get to the shops we'll be presented with riddles. I'm not great with them myself, but that's not important. Anyway, if we solve them all, I think we might get a key, which we can use to save Pinkie and Rainbow. They didn't tell us where, but maybe the riddles would hint as to where we find them." Twilight continued, her train of thought coming to a stop, causing a small gap in her explanation, which she quickly explained the last part to fill the void.
You'll earn 20,000 bits when the task is complete, but doing this should be no easy feat - This is just the prize money. Quite a lot, actually! But like they said, this will be a hard task. Any questions?"
The seven other ponies looked on at the smart pony in disbelief. How she had managed to decipher all of that from a few simple lines baffled many ponies, but everypony generally accepted she must be correct. She was a very bright mare, but such prowess was stunning to behold. It was apparent that a few ponies were skeptical of Twilight and her sensational skills.
Fluttershy: Um, I don't know about anypony else, but it seems suspicious to me that Twilight knew all of that so soon. After all, The Mole knows everything beforehand...she might be smart, but nopony could work that out so quickly...could they?
"Well, these apples on my flank ain't just regular apples! They represent my love for the Apple Family and all the hard work we do, and the fruits of our labour each year! We import Apples, so maybe we should be lookin' for someplace that stocks our goods." Applejack told the group, responding to Twilight's explanation of the cryptic message.
The other ponies all agreed with Applejack and started looking for something along the lines of a foreign food store in the plaza. After a 10 minute scan, none such kind of shop was found. Trixie hummed thoughtfully and removed her hat with her magic, fanning herself with it.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks this is a waste of our time. This search has been entirely fruitless. Maybe we should be a little less specific?" She told everypony.
"No, we can't do that! We have to get this right, or the money just slips away from us! And we might not find the others!" Lyra told her fellow Unicorn. Trixie huffed.
"We weren't so fussed about losing money back on the helicopter, were we, Lyra? Sabotaging on the first mission, tsk, tsk, tsk." She practically growled. Lyra's jaw dropped open, as well as several other ponies.
"Well, at least i'm not a phony! Not like you, The Weak and Powerless Trixie! Remember that ursa Major you banished? Neither do I? Because it DIDN'T EXIST!" Lyra shouted, giving Trixie a hefty shove. Applejack stood herself between the two feuding ponies.
"Both of ya, stop it! Y'all are actin' like two little silly fillies! To get this challenge done and Pinkie and Rainbow saved, we gotta work as a team!" The orange pony told the two unicorns, who calmed themselves down, turning away from each other, pouts on their faces.
"You're right Lyra, we can't get this wrong, but Trixie is right too. Perhaps looking for Apple family apples is a little too specific..." Rarity suggested, Fluttershy showing signs of agreement.
"Yes. My cutie mark shows my unrequited love for caring for animals and the bond I share with them. There isn't a shop like that, but there is a pet shop." The yellow Pegasus told everypony, who couldn't help but agree.
"Well, there's a grocer selling apples like the ones on your flank over there." Bon-Bon said, pointing first at Applejack, and then at a small grocery store that looked like it stocked an assortment of different fruit and vegetables.
The eight ponies trotted over to the grocers, Rarity opening the door with her magic and standing aside to allow the other seven ponies to tumble into the shop. They immediately started looking round for any kind of clues that might lead to a riddle. A cheer from somewhere within the shop made all other ponies run towards the source of the sound. It was Lyra, who had found three perfectly red apples resting on a table, along with a small strip of paper that had intricate writing on it.
"Go on then, read it out!" Bon-Bon said excitedly, other ponies peeping over her shoulder to try and get a look in at the riddle.
"Round as an apple, light as a pegasi feather, but all of Celestia's guards couldn't hold it together. What is it?" Lyra repeated from the card. Fluttershy jolted up, snatching the piece of paper from Lyra's grasp of magic.
"A Bubble! It's a bubble! It's really round, and really light, but if you try to hold it, it just pops!" Fluttershy squeaked, in a manner that was extremely unlike her. Afterwards, she realised how brash she had been and a few bangs of hair drifted slowly over her face. "I mean, I think that's right...?" She said, to which Applejack rubbed her head in a playful manner.
"Yeah, that's gotta be it! What do ya say folks?" Applejack reassured Fluttershy, and then asked the small group, to which they all agreed it must be correct. Twilight sighed and put a hoof to her chin, her back two legs stamping up and down.
"But what now?" She asked, to which there was an awkward silence. Octavia suddenly spoke up.
"Perhaps we should ask the shopkeeper. They would know if their shop is being used for something like this." Octavia suggested, but Trixie was already at the counter, asking about the riddle. After what seemed like a short conversation, Trixie returned.
"8." She told the group, who looked confused in return.
"And what in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack spoke for everypony else. Trixie flicked a loose strand of hair and pulled it underneath her magicians hat.
"How is Trixie supposed to know? I told the guy we thought the answer was 'A Bubble', and he said that was right, then told me the number 8. So what does that mean?" Trixie asked the group, who all looked at Twilight for an answer of some kind. She had worked miracles on this task before.
"Why are you all looking at me?" She responded, "I don't know what that means."
"Trixie believes we should note the number down and save it just in case it turns out to be important." Trixie said to everypony, a faint glow of pink magic surrounding her notebook and quill, jotting down the number '8'. She made a few other notes in her book as well, before slamming the book shut.
Trixie: As much as I appreciate mine and Twilight Sparkles friendship, it seems awfully convenient she only 'gets' things at certain times, and is clueless at others.
"I guess it's me next." Bon-Bon announced. "My cutie mark is three throat lozenges, actually. Being a voice actress is tough work, and I have to take a lot of these." She continued, looking fondly at her cutie mark, reminiscing how she got it and discovered her own special talent.
"You're a Voice Actress? Can you do me?" Rarity asked politely, seemingly interested in Bon-Bon's talent. Bon-Bon nodded, and closed her eyes for a while, getting into the character. Suddenly, she opened them and assumed a shocked expression.
"Of all the worst things that could happen, this is...
THE
WORST
POSSIBLE
THING!" Bon-Bon said in a near-perfect imitation of Rarity. Everypony stifled their laughter, before becoming unable to do so anymore, and guffawing out loud. The White Unicorn blushed. She had been using that phrase a lot less after her friends had told her she was over exaggerating too much, however the phrase did slip out of her mouth every now and then. Although she was a little peeved, she had asked for the impression and was glad Bon-Bon didn't hold back.
"All that said and done, we should make our way to like, a medicine shop." Applejack told the group.
"A Pharmacist, darling." Bon-Bon continued, still mimicking Rarity, before covering her mouth. "Sorry. I really get into characters sometimes." She told the group in her normal voice, chuckling.
The eight ponies laughed with the slightly eccentric pony as they made their way to the pharmacist. As they walked in the small shop, they immediately saw a table proudly displaying three blue and yellow striped sweets. It was much easier, as the grocers was bigger than the relatively small pharmacy. Octavia waltzed over to the table, reaching it first. She coughed and picked up the piece of paper, studying it carefully, pulling a perplexed face.
"This one is a little harder. I'm green when you have me. I'm red when you eat me. I'm white when you've finished eating me. And I'm Black when you spit me out."
The eight ponies pondered this for a while, before Lyra spoke up.
"Well, it's a food, probably a fruit of some kind. 'Cuz you spit out the seeds." The turquoise unicorn informed everypony, who had to agree. They didn't have much else to go off. Applejack was now the one to speak.
"Well, what fruits have seeds or pips or whatever? Apples, oranges, Cherries, Peaches... None of them sound right." The orchard pony listed a few fruits in hopes of stumbling on the correct one. All the other ponies decided to do the same, however in their head. After a few minutes of the ponies standing around, Twilight's eyes began to shine.
"Watermelon! The 'skin' is green, the flesh is red, turning into white at the bottom which you don't eat. And you spit out the black pips." She said, everyone giving her odd looks. How she had managed to solve this one and not the last put her on everyponies books. Twilight saw this suspicion in everyponies elses eyes and gasped.
"You don't think I'm the...I'm not! I swear!" Twilight frantically informed everypony, who smiled awkwardly.
Rarity decided to stick up for her friend. "Honestly, I thought we were all respectable mares. It's a bit early to accuse anyone! We need to stop forming petty coos against ponies who haven't yet done anything wrong. What's important is that Twilight is right. Let's go see what the pharmacist mare has to say." She said, silencing, and in some cases, strengthening everyponies fears or doubts of Twilight Sparkle, at least, for now.
Twilight Sparkle: I'm so glad Rarity did that for me. I have a really bad habit of rubbing ponies up the wrong way. When I first came to Ponyville, everypony thought I was a spy."
Rarity went back over to group, having told the pharmacist 'Watermelon'. Smiling, she pronounced, "1."
Trixie re-opened her journal and wrote the number after the '8' she had written previously. "We just have to keep going like this. Fluttershy, you're next."
"I guess we have to go to a pet shop." Fluttershy told the group, fondly looking at her own cutie mark.
The eight ponies made their way over to the only pet shop they could find. After looking around for a while, Fluttershy managed to find a glass cage that had three pink butterflies flitting around inside, a small strip of paper attached to the side. Clearing her throat, the yellow Pegasus read;
"I have forests, but no trees,
I have lakes and rivers, but no water,
and I have roads, but no carts.
What Am I?"
Applejack gasped.
"Applebloom tricked me with this blighter just two weeks ago! It's a map, Ah'm sure of it. Like, there are pictures of all'a those things, but the stuff they're made of aren't actually there." She told the rest of the group. The way she was so certain in her answer convinced everypony else she had to be right. Being the one who had provided the answer, Applejack went up to the counter and told the answer to the mare behind the desk.
Walking back, Applejack was smiling. "Another number, sugarcubes. 4."
Trixie, yet again, jotted down the number next to the others. "8, 1, 4. Hmm. Trixie thinks this could possibly be a code of some sort." She informed the group of her opinions.
"That sounds about right." Octavia agreed to Trixie's suggestion. "Maybe it's a code for unlocking something that might release Pinkie and Rainbow." She added onto the magician ponies theory. Everypony agreed with this as well. The rate they were getting through these riddles, Pinkie and Rainbow would be free in no time - and the bits would be theirs!
"Okay, we have to go to a musical instrument shop." Lyra told the others, stopping their train of thought about what the numbers could possibly mean.
On their way, Fluttershy swished her tail side to side, noticeably so. Seeing her agitation, Applejack decided to see if anything was the matter.
"You okay, hon?" Applejack asked her roommate. Fluttershy sighed in response.
"Is there a time limit to this? We seem to be taking quite a while." She told her friend. Twilight, overhearing this, also turned to face the timid pony.
"They never mentioned a time limit...all we can do is keep doing what we're doing. Look, we're here." Twilight pointed a hoof towards the musical instrument shop that stood before the eight contestants. It was going to be a long time before they would manage to save their friends.
~
It was a long while later and the tropical Island Sun was beginning to set, only a few rays of orange, yellow and red light peeking through and reaching Equestria. After having visited many shops, and solving many riddles, they had gotten all of them correct so far, and had a seven-long number code: 8141920. It was now the turn of Twilight Sparkle, the last pony in alphabetical order and the smartest of the group. All leaned to her in anticipation. This was the moment. It was time for the 20,000 bits to be won, and for Rainbow and Pinkie to be saved!
"So where do we go now?" Bon-Bon asked.
"Even I'm not sure where we're meant to go." Twilight told the group, who turned to face her in shock.
"But your cutie mark is showcasing your magical prowess! Surely we just...go in a magic shop." Rarity told her friend, who shook her head dramatically side to side.
"But we did that for Trixie, remember? We went in that Magical spell shop and answered the riddle, gaining the number '0'." Twilight told her friend, who hummed thoughtfully.
"Well, it never said in the riddle it had to be a shop. It said places." Rarity told her friend, who stood up bolt upright in realization.
"Rarity, you're a genius!" Twilight thanked her friend, running off toward the statue in the center of the square. She glanced at it, laughing. "Look! Doesn't that look like Celestia to you? And that small Unicorn, she's kind of like me...except her mane is a bit messy...and her concrete nose has fallen off...anyway, that's not the point! This is pretty much a lookalike of the scene where I got my cutie mark." Twilight told the group.
Applejack patted her friend on the back. "Well done Twi! Now, where's that riddle?"
Silence took over the group. It was deafening and completely silent at the same time.
"Maybe on the plinth?" Lyra suggested, gesturing towards the metal sign that lay beneath the statue. Silence being her only answer, Lyra decided to read it out anyway.
"Some words are faded out...This statue de--c-- the two pri--c--s, wiel--ng M-gic a-d the o--er ---- Elements of ---mony: L--alty, Kin-ness, Ho-e--y, Generosity and La--hter." She read as best as she could. "Well that didn't seem to make any sense anyway. It's not a riddle, that's for sure. There's also some padlock thing here, but that doesn't mean anything."
Clutching at straws, the group decided to search the statue.
"No! Did we get this one wrong...did we...lose?" Fluttershy asked, before Twilight's eyes yet again shone, jumping up on two legs.
"5! It's Five! That's the number!" The purple pony yelled out.
The group gave her yet another 'Elaborate, please,' look and she sheepishly retracted down back to her normal four-leg stance. "Sorry," Twilight said, "But I just figured it out. On the plinth, a number is missing. It says they used M-gic a-d the o--er ---- Elements. That blank right before 'Elements' must be a number! And, if we forget Magic, which has already been mentioned, how many are there left?"
"Five!" The group yelled out in triumph. Trixie made her final note in her journal.
"81419205. That's it! But, uh, what now? Wasn't there a mention of a key?" She reminded the group, and just as their hopes were up, they were instantly put down again by the blue mare.
"Wait a minute...wasn't there a padlock, right here, on the plinth?" Octavia asked the group, who all crowded round to take a look at the riddle that they had just solved.
"Fabulous! It is! And right next to it, look! There's a padlock, where you can input...one, two....EIGHT numbers! Quick, Trixie! Put the numbers in!" Rarity yelled in excitement. Trixie slowly but surely input the numbers they had gained from solving the last eight riddles, 8, 1, 4, 1, 9, 2, 0, and 5.
KER-Klunk
The padlock became undone. Hoof-bumps were exchanged all around. This had to be it! They had won! Slowly pushing down on the plinth, it swung open, revealing a small room, presumably maintenance for the fountain.
"Finally! Jeez, you guys sure took your time!" a familiar voice sounded.
"Rainbow Dash! I'm so glad you're safe!" Fluttershy told her long time friend, before looking around. "Where's Pinkie Pie?" She asked.
"Behind you, silly!" Came a response, and sure enough, right behind everypony, was the eccentric yet lovable Pinkie Pie. "Now cm'on! Group Hug time!" Pinkie shouted, and nopony could disagree to the notion! After all, they had recovered two good friends, and won a lot of money for the Team Pot. The hug disbanded and Bon-Bon realised the two kidnapped ponies didn't know about the prize money.
"Oh yeah, Rainbow, Pinkie, we win 20,000 bits for the Team Pot now you're rescued!" Bon-Bon told the two until recently abductees, who nodded in response.
"Yeah, we already knew that! So adding on from the last task, we have 20,600 bits!" Rainbow told the group, who unanimously decided this was cause for another group hug. Suddenly, a shadow cast over the group from above the small maintenance room, causing all ten ponies, reunited, to look up and see what was causing it.
"Congratulations, my little ponies! You won the challenge!" Derpy reinforced what they had figured out already.
TEAM POT
20,600 bits
"For now, you should go and catch up on your sleep. Goodnight!" Carrot Top told the contestants, who started to clamber out of the small room and make their way to The Green Grass Inn, plum tuckered after today's activities.
"Oh, and one more thing!" The yellow Earth Pony announced, causing all 10 contestants to turn around.
"You'll take a quiz tonight, before you go to bed. And the one who answers the least questions correctly will be leaving this competition."
~
The Mole is still at large...and the next eliminations are right around the corner. Who will go? Keep in mind, Bon-Bon and Lyra are safe, thanks to their exemptions...tune in next time to see who will be leaving us...
And remember, The Mole is always watching you.