Despite feeling sympathy for Thorax, Twilight was pretty giddy that her team was one point away from winning. While she had a lot of fun analyzing her friends’ words and actions, looking for any discrepancies, it was mentally exhausting. She wanted to finish this as quickly as possible, so she could go back to just trusting her friends again. At that meant winning the match in this round. Since her friends had been able to track Thorax down two rounds in a row, Twilight figured he was just desperate enough to try something remarkably stupid.
Maybe he’d pick Rainbow Dash again, choosing the same pony in back-to-back rounds. Maybe he’d pick Rarity, after that maudlin display of being unable to do her justice, nopony would suspect it. Maybe he’d actually pick Applejack, the last pony he had yet to impersonate, and he’d expect the rest of them to not suspect her. Whatever he decided, Twilight was determined to find out.
“Ready, set, Spot That Changeling!”
“All right, everypony,” Rainbow Dash quickly said. “No more messing around. We’re going to win this round, and we’re going to win this game. I need everypony to look me in the eyes and tell me that she is not the changeling.” She turned her attention to Twilight. “Starting with you.”
“I am not the changeling,” Twilight told Rainbow Dash.
“Once again, I’m not the changeling,” said Applejack.
“I am not the changeling,” said Rarity.
“Nuh-uh, not the changeling,” said Pinkie Pie.
“Rainbow Dash, I am not the changeling,” Fluttershy said, with a hint of force in her voice.
“And I just want everypony to know that I am not the changeling either,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Uh-huh,” Twilight deadpanned.
Rainbow Dash shot Twilight a look. “Are you insinuating that you don’t believe me?”
Twilight started to protest, but then remembered they were playing a game where mistrust was expected. “Yes, I was. And now, I’m stating it outright. I suspected Thorax might just choose the same pony in back-to-back rounds, and now, your win-at-all-costs attitude is coming across as a little over-the-top.”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow said, her wings flaring wide. “Well…you actually have a very good point. But I just want to win this game really badly. That’s no different from how I usually act, right?”
“I know you really want to win, Rainbow,” said Twilight. “I really want to win as well. But you can’t bite off somepony’s head just because the suspect you. You’re never going to convince them that you’re really who you claim to be when you’re yelling at them.”
“Wait a minute,” Rainbow said. “Why are you giving me friendship advice, after you just said you suspected me?”
“I’m trying to get you to calm down, you seemed agitated,” Twilight explained.
“Yes, but you’re giving strategy advice to somepony you just said you thought was the changeling. Why would you do that? You literally just said you wanted to win for your side!”
“What are you suggesting?” Twilight asked. “You think my kindness is just an act?”
“I’m just saying, Thorax was kind to Pinkie Pie in the round where he impersonated you, and he ended up fooling us. It’s only reasonable that he might try that again.”
Twilight inhaled and exhaled sharply. “You also make a very valid point, Rainbow. But I am not the changeling.”
Applejack cleared her throat. “I hate to intrude on your private conversation, Twilight, but there are four other ponies at this table who might like to weigh in?”
“Well,” Fluttershy said, “I believe Rainbow Dash is not the changeling. I’m not quite sure about Twilight, though.”
“I don’t think either Twilight or Rainbow are the changeling,” said Pinkie Pie. “I think they just overreacted to slight character missteps, which is not unusual for either of them.” Suddenly, Pinkie Pie started giggling to herself. “Can you imagine if Thorax didn’t replace anypony, and we all just took each other to task over nothing! That would be so funny!”
“That would be cheating,” Applejack countered. “Why would you even suggest such a thing? Are you trying to throw off our game?”
“Applejack, relax,” Rarity said. “Pinkie Pie didn’t mean anything by it. She’s just being Pinkie Pie. And for that reason, I do not believe she is the changeling. I am, however, suspicious of Rainbow Dash.”
“You’re right, Rarity,” Applejack said. “And I don’t think Twilight or Rainbow Dash is the changeling.” She paused briefly. “Fluttershy, are you the changeling?”
“Applejack!” Fluttershy said, scandalized. Then, she regained her composure and answered, “No, I’m not the changeling.”
“Do you think that I’m the changeling?”
“Right now, you are my strongest suspicion,” Fluttershy admitted. “Now, let me ask you, do you really think I’m the changeling, or are you just asking to gather evidence?”
“Well, I had dismissed Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Twilight, which left only you,” Applejack explained. “But hearing your answer right now, I’m back to square one. I don’t know who to suspect anymore.”
Fluttershy grimaced, and raised an eyebrow at Applejack. “Applejack, are you the changeling?”
“I am not,” Applejack said.
“Okay, don’t take this the wrong way,” said Fluttershy, “but I still suspect you more than anypony else.”
“I can respect that,” said Applejack. “But I would like the opportunity to dissuade you. Rarity, are you the changeling?”
“I most certainly am not,” Rarity answered.
“Do you think that I’m the changeling?”
“I’m not certain, but I believe you could be.”
“Do you believe Fluttershy is the changeling?”
“She was somepony Thorax planned on impersonating when he wanted an easy win,” Rarity said. “But if I am to be honest, I think she’s just as likely to be the changeling as are you.”
“Okay,” said Applejack. “Now then, Pinkie Pie, are you the changeling?”
“I am not the changeling,” Pinkie answered.
“Do you suspect either myself or Fluttershy to be the changeling?”
“No, I don’t,” Pinkie admitted. “You two sounded very much like your real selves. And so did Rainbow and Twilight.” Pinkie gasped. “That only leaves one pony! Rarity, are you the changeling?”
“For the last time, no!” Rarity said, raising her voice slightly. “Rainbow Dash is the changeling, not me!” She pointed her hoof at Rainbow for good measure.
“No, Applejack is the changeling!” said Fluttershy, pointing her hoof.
“I’m not the changeling, Pinkie Pie is!” said Applejack, pointing her hoof.
“And I say it’s Rarity!” Rainbow Dash said, pointing her hoof.
“So much yelling, so much mistrust,” Pinkie Pie moaned. “Everypony suspects somepony else, but nopony sticks out as being extra suspicious!” She brought her forehooves to her head. “Oh, sweet Celestia, my headache is ba-ha-ack!”
Hearing this, Applejack’s hard expression softened a little bit. “Maybe I was a little too quick to jump to conclusions.” She put her hoof down.
“Maybe you were,” said Fluttershy. “Or, maybe you realized you weren’t going to get four votes on Pinkie Pie, so you’re switching to a different pony.”
At this point, Twilight was practically spent. She let her head drop unceremoniously onto the table. Everypony who had suspicions had very valid reasons for them, even though Twilight didn’t agree. Everypony also seemed to be acting just like themselves. She had no idea who the changeling could be.
“Twilight, dear, are you quite all right?” asked Rarity.
“I don’t know who to vote for!” Twilight moaned, her voice slightly muffled by the table.
“Didn’t you say you suspected Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked. “Why not vote her?”
Twilight lifted her head up to face Rarity. “Because I don’t suspect her now. She just wants to win, like she always does. It’s not unusual.”
“That may be,” Rarity said, “but I still think it’s an act. And it makes sense for Thorax to break his pattern and choose the same pony in back-to-back rounds.”
Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash, who kept her hoof pointed at Rarity. Rainbow merely shook her head no without breaking eye contact with Rarity. Seeing that gave Twilight an unusual feeling. It felt like an itch in the back of her mind. Even though Rarity’s explanation made perfect sense, Twilight couldn’t help but doubt it. Even though Rarity was acting like herself, the itch made her suspect that Rarity was hiding something. Every fiber of Twilight’s logical mind cried in protest at what she was thinking. But the itch, the itch bugged her, and the only way to scratch it was to doubt Rarity. Was this what it felt like to have a hunch? It must be. If this was a hunch, Twilight knew there was only one thing to do. She had to follow it.
“Rainbow Dash is not the changeling,” Twilight said, raising her hoof at Rarity. “You are!”
“I beg your pardon?” Rarity said. “Why do you think I’m the changeling?”
“I guess it’s just a hunch,” Twilight admitted.
“That’s good enough for me,” said Pinkie Pie. She pointed her hoof at Rarity.
“This is ridiculous!” Rarity protested. “You ponies don’t have any evidence. You have nothing to base your accusations upon!”
“How’s this for evidence?” said Applejack. “You remained adamant about Rainbow being the changeling, even after all of us decided she wasn’t. Plus, Thorax did make a big deal about not being able to do you justice. That could be a perfect excuse for choosing you again.” Applejack lifted her hoof, and pointed it at Rarity. “If I’m wrong, we can always make it up in the next round.”
Rarity dropped her hoof and groused.
“That’s four votes on Rarity,” Spike announced. “Time so see how you ponies did.” Spike opened the double doors to the throne room, and Rarity trotted in.
“The ponies chose correctly, and win the game five points to three!”
The throne room erupted with cheers and applause.
Thorax dropped his Rarity glamour, and sighed. “This was a fix!” he protested. “This one only voted for me because I accused her, this one admitted she had nothing but a hunch to go on, and this one blindly followed her princess again!” He turned to Applejack. “The only pony who had a good reason to suspect me was you, and you didn’t even have to convince anypony else that you were right!”
“Sorry about that, Thorax,” Applejack said. “But sometimes, that’s just the way the apple brown betty crumbles.”
Thorax grumbled lowly and looked away.
“For what it’s worth, darling,” Rarity said, “it sounded like you had them on the ropes. When you came under suspicion, you deflected it with my kind of style and flair. Not only that, but you managed to do what you thought you couldn’t. You convinced my friends that you were me, even if it was only for a little while.”
“I know you didn’t want to lose like this, Thorax,” Twilight said. “But it’s not like you didn’t have your own moments of victory along the way. In the end, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game that matters. And the way you played this game made this a real challenge for all of us. I think I speak for all of us when I say I appreciate the effort you put in today.”
A chorus of “um-hmms” followed.
Thorax huffed. “You’re right, princess. I knew this was going to be tough going into it. Like I said, the six of you know each other so well, it’s practically impossible to fool you. Honestly, I’m surprised I managed to do as well as I did this time. Maybe next time, I’ll do better.”
“We’ll see, Thorax,” said Twilight. “We’ll see.”
“You know,” Spike piped in, “we still have a little bit of time scheduled. We could play one more round if you guys want to.”
Twilight seethed. “Oh, I don’t know, Spike. I think the girls and I are all pretty tired of second-guessing each other.”
“What if you didn’t have to?” Thorax said. “What if, for the last round, we turn the tables on our dear moderator?”
“What do you mean?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I mean, all seven of us go in the hallway, but six of us come back, including me, and we make Spike guess who the changeling is.”
“You mean, this time, we’d be in on the secret?” Rarity asked. “Ooh, that sounds exciting!”
“That does sound like fun!” Fluttershy said.
“I don’t know,” Spike said.
“What’s the matter, Spike?” said Thorax. “You’ve seen all my tricks and tactics. Do you still think you can’t find me out?”
“Oh, all right,” Spike relented. “I’ll play your game.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Hold on, girls,” Twilight said. “First, we have to make sure Spike doesn’t peek.” She wrapped the baby dragon in her magical aura, and planted him in the tiny throne on her right.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Spike cried in alarm. Twilight’s horn glowed again, and she shot a beam of magenta light right between the dragon’s eyes. “Twilight, I think a blindfold would have been enough. You didn’t need to take my sight away with your magic.”
“Calm down, Spike,” Twilight said. “It’s a temporary blindness spell. It will wear off in twenty minutes, or when I say the secret password, whichever comes first. This way, we all know you’re not peeking.”
“Suit yourself,” Spike grumbled. “I wasn’t going to peek anyway.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” said Twilight. “But you know me, I don’t like to take any chances.”
With that, Thorax and the girls left the throne room, and shut the double doors behind them to talk about their strategy for fooling Spike.
To be honest I expected Thorax to win this time just to get a Round 9 chapter. Nice to see that while I'm wrong, you still made another round live.
honestly I have to say thorax's reasoning should DQ this round, if they where actualy trying to out a changeling, the three of them would look paranoid or crazy, lack of logic behind a vote should be a reason for it not counting.
Take your time with the next chapter, if you really need a break.
7585221 I think you replied to the wrong person there.
I swear, I had no clue who to pick, this was probably the best chapter yet.
maybe after this story, you could write more stories about ponies playing games. I have a really good idea for a monopoly story if you want to pm me
actually kinda surprised he never picked applejack
This entire time I was expecting a false pick. Mainly Him NOT picking anyone and having them try and sort out if they could figure out that NONE of them were changlings.
7585754
Real One: Well, it be one great of strategy to pick a background pony.
Hells Fire: You know that meme is already too old to work don't you.
Real One: But I never used it myself! -cries in desperation-
Hells Fire: Oh just shut up!
7585694 It wins the game, cause they know there is a changeling. But doesn't fit the purpose of the game, not knowing if there is a changeling or not.
This round should have had Spike as the Changeling, or none of them replaced to show that point, that sometimes they might have doubts and worries, but there is no 'danger'. No changeling impersonating their friends.
Why do I suddenly get the feeling that the ones who come back into the room will all be the real ones, and Thorax will be out in the hall?
Very well done so far... but, honestly, I can see this story going one step further...
This has been a fun story, and I look forward to the final chapter.
With all the silly suggestions for odd rounds in the comments (switching with the moderator, not switching with anypony, etc) that would break the game, I like how you did end up giving us an odd round that didn't defeat its purpose.
That being said, this would be a little unfair for Spike, since none of the ponies have nearly as much incentive to act themselves. Even if they don't intend to make it more difficult, all the real ponies are now on the same side as the false pony. They can't try too hard to convince Spike, since they are all keeping it secret. It limits them, which limits what he has to work with. There is also an edge of humor for all of them now that they are in the know, which would affect their behavior.
I wonder how you will handle the situation.
my idea was tossed around :D i was noticed
For parody purposes, how about a round where Thorax is blatantly sitting at the table as himself, alongside everypony else, and somehow no-one notices?
The rules of drama, of course, say that Thorax will catch up in this round for the sake of a suspenseful tie-breaking final.
Of course I could be wrong...
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/e/e9/Twilight_Sparkle_%22I_could_be_wrong%22_S6E1.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/640?cb=20160220204245
That one sounds incredibly tricky given that you've got five ponies deliberately trying to draw your suspicion and only one guy who watches for mistakes. An easier match might be to send just two ponies back... identical ones...
7585895
It would certainly be well within the rules.
Edit: Oh wait, Thorax said "including me". Never mind, it could've been a great idea though.
7586173 This should totally be a thing.
7585694
From my own experience of Werewolf, I can tell you that I've seen people lynched 'because your name comes first in the Alphabet' (It didn't) and 'because you've been the Werewolf three times in a row' (They had, and were for a fourth time, as it happened). Logic has nothing to do with it.
7586251
Hey - a guy can dream, right?
7586208
Oh, that'd be a really fun one. Turn off all the lights and have everyone walk around at random. Then when the lights turn on, there's two of somebody, and everyone else has to figure out which is the real one.
7586694
Turns out neither of the two Fluttershies is Thorax. Pinkie's just in her Fluttershy outfit again. Thorax is Pinkie.
7586796
Oh! That would be an even better one!
Thorax and Pinkie both impersonate Fluttershy, and it's up to everyone else to determine who the real Fluttershy is, when they have two chances of being wrong!
7586173
"Hey, Thorax, are you a disguised changeling?"
"I am certainly not a disguised changeling."
7586800
Will the real Fluttershy please stand up?
7586173
Alternatively, Twilight could cast a spell that makes them all look like Thorax, and the challenge is to figure out who is who and who's the real Changeling.
(In essence, each player has a sheet where they write down who they think is who based on place settings, and points are awarded based on who is correctly identified and who goes the longest without being correctly identified.)
Technically he isn't wrong.
This whole game was fixed from the beginning by the author.
That quote best sums up my main thoughts about this story, as well as what other readers must have been thinking. I personally give it 9/10.
Plus, I like how you're doing a bonus chapter.
Let's see how well Spike knows his friends...
kiss
smooch
peck
smoochie
kissy
peckie
? ? ? ! ?
Thorax get in here...
I was thinking that the entire time! Perhaps there's hope for a sequel? Or maybe Thorax could mimic Spike - they would never see it coming!
It's been interesting, but all the constant "I'm not him" over and over again throughout each chapter got really old, really fast, and didn't even seem like a particularly useful way of figuring out who he was. If he was replacing one of them, with or without their knowledge, any conversations he might be involved in would not revolve around who is or is not a changeling. They'd be normal, everyday conversations about things like Dash's stunts, AJ's farm, Rarity's business, Fluttershy's animals, their spa visits, various get-togethers, other residents of Ponyville, and so on. There was such a strong focus on meta-gaming in this game that it seemed counter to the spirit of the game.
I kinda want them all to disguise themselves as Rainbow Dash before they come back into the room.
7586667 That's true. I have noticed that they don't really suggest to randomly hang someone anymore.
Time for the guys to pull one on the girls double the points.
Nice fanfic, but I would have liked the game to vary a bit after the first few chapters, so it wouldn't have been just centered on "You're the Changeling - No I am not".
7587209
I tend to agree. This fic could have used some change of rules, like, for example, recollection of memories to find who's Thorax ; or Twilight using a spell to disguise each pony as another one, which could have led to fun reenacting (Rainbow seemed to be good at reenacting the other mares) and Thorax would be the one to try and find out who is who.
"At that meant winning" should be "And that meant winning", and "the suspect you" should be "they suspect you".
Twilight disrespecting Spike, part 21,462.
“That would be cheating,” Applejack countered. “Why would you even suggest such a thing? Are you trying to throw off our game?”
I suspect you!
(finishes chapter)
Oh dagnabit!
When they put the last hoof for rarity, Rarity put her own hoof down, instead of Aj's.
7586818 Well, it would be true. He wouldn't be a disguised changeling.
And that is when I started suspecting Rarity.
Awww.... I was hoping the last round would be a game where after they all voted Thorax would turn out to be behind the door.
It's... Rarity, I think.
Gotta be Rarity.
It's Rarity or a red herring.
Yay, I'm four-to-four.
Ooh, how fun.
ok before i read this thorax wins
10609511
now im sure its no one because of pinkie lol
im 99% sure its rarity the you ponies is really sus
now im just surprised
I think it meant "they"