//------------------------------//
// Episode 8: Think Before You Derp 
// Story: Total Magic Pony Island 
// by Tailslover13 
//------------------------------//

Discord: Last time, on Total Magic Pony Island: it was time for a good old fashioned campout…in a deep, dark forest during a freezing rainstorm and without any supplies. Piece of cake, right? 

Pinkie: *bouncing in out of nowhere* Ooh, how about a piece of cupcake instead?

Discord: Pinkie, if you interrupt me during my previous episode analysis again, I’m gonna feed you to one of those pony-eating sharks. Do you understand?

Pinkie: Aww, Discord, always the kidder! *she gives the annoyed draconequus a hug, then faces the camera herself* Ooh, let me help, let me help! See, we went into the woods, but it was totally cold and spooky, so that’s why I was singing one of my favorite songs in my head the entire time, but then it started to rain and I was cold and very sad, so I was all like “Oh no, this is horrible, we’re gonna freeze, just like ice candy!” and it was a really sad feeling! But then, Trixie let us share her shelter with her and I was all like “Ah, it’s so toasty in here!” and Pinkie was no longer cold! Oh, oh, and Diamond Tiara was totally being a big meanie to Silver Spoon, so Cheerilee totally told her off, and that’s what led to the little filly being voted off. It’s so sad to see others go, but you know we’ll see them again, so it’s all good! Now, we’re down to 15 campers, including your favorite little silly filly, Pinkie Pie! Are you all as excited as me to get to the next episode? Well, what are we waiting for? Here’s more Total…Magic…Pony Island! Hurray for dramatics! *she bounces up and down happily*

Discord: *looking like he wanted to strangle the little pink pony, but was resisting the urge to do so* …get me my Celestia voodoo doll! I need to vent! *he grumbles and floats off-screen, while Pinkie keeps giggling and bouncing in front of the fading cameras*

*the opening theme song showing all 20 contestants plays a moment later before the episode*

“OW! OW! OW!” Celestia yelped, leaping around and constantly looking at her rear-end as though something was poking it, “What in the WORLD is going ON with this? OW!”

“Sister, what’s wrong?” Luna inquired, trotting into her team’s cabin to find her sister bouncing around like Pinkie Pie after eating 100 cupcakes with twice the sugar, “I could hear you all the way from the mess hall. Were you too busy watching the sunrise again to care for breakfast?”

“Ugh…sister, something is SERIOUSLY wrong!” Celestia winced, slamming her butt down onto the floor and dragging it along like a dog would do, “It feels like SOMETHING keeps jabbing me in the RUMP and it seriously is BUGGING me!”

“Are you sure you’re not just experiencing growing pains?” Luna teased, watching her sister in amusement, “After all, you ARE a little mare right now; the same age as Twilight Sparkle, too. Maybe your big butt is just starting to undergo puberty.”

“Oh, ha-ha-ha, VERY funny, sister!” Celestia snapped, glaring at the ebony alicorn, “This is no joke! It feels like something poking my rump with a tiny needle or something…it’s so weird! Huh…but…I think it finally stopped.” She glanced back and patted her booty, sighing with relief when she didn’t feel anymore tiny prickets of pain. Luna just kept grinning the entire time.

Luna: My big sister is such an attention hog, don’t you think? Seriously…imaginary needles poking her in the butt? What WILL she think of next? *she giggles playfully* Sometimes, she can be a real hoot.

“Ugh…anyway, now that that’s over with…how’s the team?” Celestia asked, trotting out of her team’s cabin at her sister’s side, “I was indeed watching the sunrise again…don’t question me, please. Plus, I wasn’t exactly hungry and in the mood for some of Nightmare Moon’s cooking.”

“They’re mostly trying to make Silver Spoon feel better about her position on the team,” Luna explained, “After the emotional ceremony last night, the little filly was having a very bad night. I heard Zecora was taking care of her the most; that zebra seems to have a good handle on things.”

“Good, I’m pleased to hear it,” Celestia admitted, “Everypony deserves a second chance, and if there’s anypony more deserving of that chance, it’s young Silver Spoon. Plus, since Zecora is so wise, we should let her handle the filly. We need to focus on keeping the team morale high and making sure we ALL stay happy, do you not agree?” With a little nod, Luna gave her sister a little nuzzle as the two proceeded to head towards the mess hall together.

It was the next morning after Diamond Tiara was voted out due to losing the challenge for her team and for her constant bullying of Silver Spoon and the belittling of the rest of the camp. Silver Spoon herself, despite being consoled by Cheerilee and Scootaloo after her former best friend’s elimination, was still a nervous wreck and couldn’t sleep that night. Zecora had been the first one on her team to talk to her and try to lift her spirits with her words of wisdom, which seemed to work. It worked so well that, the next morning, Silver Spoon woke up with a smile on her face. 

As Luna led her sister into the mess hall, Celestia thought she saw Discord playing with what seemed to be a small white doll of some kind. However, when the host draconequus saw that he had been spotted, he quickly snapped his fingers and the doll vanished. Shaking her head in annoyance, Celestia ignored the strange spirit of disharmony and simply went to join her team at their breakfast table. Nightmare Moon had decided to serve scrambled eggs and toast with grape jelly…all colored black. Naturally, there was plenty left over for Celestia to partake in once she arrived.

“Ah, princess, great to see ya!” Rainbow Dash grinned, giving Princess Celestia a pat on the back, “We saved you PLENTY of food. By all means, eat up!” With a somewhat evil smile, Rainbow Dash piled a load of black eggs and toast on the nauseated Celestia’s plate, most of which was previous untouched on Dash’s plate. 

Rainbow Dash: Sure, I might be a growing mare, but the princess totally needs to keep her energy up. This game is way out of her element, so I’m just being a caring teammate and seeing to her needs. *she smirks and crosses her forelegs* Plus, I’m sure Nightmare Moon’s food won’t bother her as much.

“Er…thanks, Rainbow Dash…you really shouldn’t have…” Celestia gulped, timidly picking up a piece of the disgusting black toast and starting to nibble on it in a way that made it look like she thought it something that was poisoned. 

“You know me; always putting others first!” Rainbow Dash snickered, turning away from the princess and looking over at the rest of her team, “Hey, Silver Spoon, how’re you holding up?”

“I’m actually doing very fine,” Silver Spoon said, sitting next to Zecora, “I’m still kinda sad about how things went down last night, but…as Zecora told me, what’s done is done and I need to push forward and be strong. Isn’t that right, Zecora?”

“That is correct, my dear filly,” Zecora smiled, “To keep your heart in pain is just plain silly. A test of fortitude and strength is what you have endured, but you passed with flying colors, so your heart will be better for it, that much is ensured. From this moment on, always keep a smile on your face, for even if you do not last much longer in this game, you will not have finished in last place. This game is not about money, nor is it about fame; it is about what you learn and how you live up to your name.”

“Thank you, Zecora,” Silver Spoon blushed, adjusting her glasses as she shyly looked away, “I’ll always remember what you say to me…you and Miss Cheerilee are very influential to me…” A snoring noise made the rest of the team glance over to see that Rainbow Dash was sleeping in her seat. When she was nudged by Applejack, the rainbow Pegasus instantly fluttered her eyes opened and grinned.

“Sorry, I’m allergic to egghead talk; it puts me to sleep, you see,” she giggled, which instantly garnered her an angry glare from Zecora. 

Zecora: *pressing her hooves together and forcing herself to meditate* In any situation that leaves your mind feeling enraged, you must grab the book of life and be the first to turn the page. *her eyes narrow as she looks at the camera* But, all the same, that is not always the case; if Rainbow Dash continues to vex me, that mocking grin will soon be wiped clean off her azure face.

“This breakfast can hardly be seen as edible, and it’s obviously not very nutritious,” Twilight frowned, moving her plate of black food over to Pinkie, “I don’t know how, but since you seem to be able to down this food without any negative side effects, but all means take my breakfast, Pinkie.”

“Aww, Twilight, that’s SOOOO nice of you!” Pinkie giggled, giving her best friend a big hug before she gorged herself on the black eggs and toast without a care in the world. Her table manners were less than elegant, so much that it slightly unnerved the other Magical Misfits, but no one bothered to say anything; they WERE dealing with Pinkie Pie, of course.

“Ugh…so, putting the discourteous display of table manners aside, Trixie assumes that the rest of you are prepared for whatever challenge is thrown at us today?” Trixie sniffed.

“I was born ready!” Scootaloo grinned, pumping her tiny hooves, “I live for the moment, baby! You can count on me to be ready for whatever we do today!”

Scootaloo: *grinning excitedly* Not to mention be ready for showing off for Rainbow Dash. Now that my team has the momentum, I’m gonna make Rainbow see just how awesome I am. In no time at all, she’s easily gonna fall for me. *she blinks, then quickly slaps a hoof over her mouth, embarrassed*

“Winning does leave a good taste in my mouth,” Rarity admitted, smiling and idly puffing her mane, “You can count on me to do my level best for today’s challenge, darlings.”

“Same goes with me,” Cheerilee smiled, “If we keep ourselves in high spirits and try our best, there’s no doubt we can go on a winning streak and take over this game…not that that’s what’s important here. What’s important is winning as a team and bonding together as friends.”

“I had a dream about muffins last night,” Derpy commented, “See, I was sleeping on a hill, and when the princess lifted the sun into the air, she lifted up a giant muffin instead! It had an oozing slab of butter dribbling down its edges and its heavenly smelled wafted through my nostrils and made my eyes start to roll out of my head! And then it began raining muffins…and soon I was buried in muffins…and then I woke up and found out that I had eaten my pillow.”

“Don’t you just HATE IT when that happens?” Pinkie asked, finishing off her large plate of black food and licking some crumbs off her chin, “I go through so many pillows that way; Gummy is always scolding me to not have those kinds of dreams, but it’s SOOOOO hard! My head just won’t listen to what I tell it to do! Isn’t that just frustrating?” She then twitched for a moment before opening her mouth and belching so loud that it sounded like Discord blaring on a trumpet. The loud burp sounded out through the mess hall and instantly caught the attention of each and every camper. When it was done six seconds later, Pinkie blushed and held a hoof to her mouth. “Tee-hee…excuse me.”

Trixie: Such vileness! Such scandalous behavior! How DISGUSTING can one get? Trixie is pulling at her beautiful mane each and every moment of every day that she spends on this wretched island; she has never had to deal with such incompetent and outrageous ponies in her entire LIFE. *she growls*

“Pardon me, but did an earthquake just pass by here?” Discord asked, teleporting into the mess hall and glancing at the two teams, “If so, the contract that I wrote all by myself requires me to see if all of you are alright and then possibly evacuate the area should the need arise.”

“Don’t worry…it was just Pinkie burping,” Twilight muttered, trying to hide her face from the giggling and bouncing pink pony sitting next to her, “No need to evacuate anypony…at least not right now.”

“Ah…well, good to know, since that would seriously hurt the ratings for the show,” Discord sighed in relief, “Losing even half of one episode is enough to turn viewers away, and we simply cannot have that! Sure, the show would probably survive just fine with just me and my handsome face taking up all the time, but…”

“Discord…shouldn’t ya’ll be tellin’ us about today’s challenge or somethin’ like that?” Applejack asked, having the mind to interrupt the egotistic draconequus before he got too far in to his speech to look back. Despite the fact that Discord looked disappointed that he didn’t get to finish his speech about how important he was, he took the hint and went into talking about how the day would unfold.

“Since our resident cowpony is impatient, I’ll explain what’s gonna happen today,” Discord said, “After you all finish up breakfast, meet down at the beach for me in two hours to fully explain what the challenge will be. I’m not gonna explain anything until then! How’s that for an explanation?” Snapping his fingers, he makes a bucket of water appear above Applejack’s head, but when he vanishes, the bucket of water instead floats over and drenches Celestia instead.

“I AM GETTING TIRED OF THIS!” Celestia screamed, spluttering indignantly as she wiped the water from her soaked eyes, “I AM PRINCESS CELESTIA; RULER OF EQUESTRIA! I DON’T CARE WHAT MY SIZE OR AGE IS, THE FACT REMAINS THAT…” However, at that moment, the bucket that had still been levitating in the air dropped down onto the enraged princess’ head, silencing her and once again prompting Luna to laugh her head off.

Luna: It looks like Princess Bucket-Head just got “Discorded” again! *she giggles insanely, then nervously glances around* I really hope she forgives my actions…but how could you NOT laugh at that?

“I dunno what our challenge is today, but it’ll be a cinch,” Rainbow Dash yawned, getting up from her team’s table and idly scratching her flanks with her hooves, “I think I’m gonna take a fly around the island; stretch out my wings, ya know? AJ, take care of my team in my absence, ‘kay?” 

“Who died and made YOU leader?” Applejack frowned, but didn’t get a response as Rainbow Dash proudly held her head high as she marched towards the mess hall door. 

“MMMMPH!” Celestia was yelping, thrashing around and trying to yank the bucket off her head, but her hooves weren’t cooperating. 

“Oh…er, sorry ‘bout that, Princess,” Applejack gulped, quickly going over and assisting the mare in removing the bucket from her noggin. Meanwhile, as Rainbow Dash headed outside, Scootaloo grinned excitedly from the Magical Misfits’ table.

“Now’s my chance!” she whispered, “She’s all by herself, so nopony will get in my way! Okay, let’s do this!” She excused herself politely from her team’s table, then hurried out of the mess hall door after Rainbow Dash. Cheerilee, being the intelligent teacher she was, immediately realized what the little filly was trying to do and all she could do was sigh and shake her head.

Cheerilee: Poor Scootaloo…I guess she has to learn at a young age. Rainbow Dash is too old for her…I just know this is gonna end badly for her. Poor thing…you have to admire her dedication, though.

Just outside the mess hall’s doors, Rainbow Dash was flexing her wings, cracking her neck, stretching her front and back legs, and preparing for a nice flight around the skies of Camp Paradox. She failed to hear the door reopen and reclose behind her, not noticing the little filly admiring her from behind. Scootaloo’s tongue hung out her mouth as she observed Dash’s techniques to prepare for a flight. Rainbow Dash was so beautiful, so majestic, so amazing, and so very cool. Scootaloo loved her so very much; for her, Dash was the perfect mare, and she would do anything for the Pegasus.

“Um…Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo squeaked out, weakly easing herself towards the blue Pegasus.

“Eh? Who’s that?” Rainbow Dash blinked, craning her neck around and spying the Cutie Mark Crusader moving towards her, “Ah, it’s you. Hey, squirt, what’s up? Come to give me a sendoff? Thanks, but I won’t be gone for more than ten minutes; I don’t plan on leaving this island until I win the gold, so you don’t need to worry ‘bout that.”

“Heh…that’s cool…but, um, that’s not why I’m here,” Scootaloo said, nervously looking down at the ground as her muzzle began to get a red tint to it, “I, um, was just wondering if…well, I was thinking that perhaps we could…um, you see…”

“Well, what is it? Out with it, Scoots!” Rainbow Dash sighed, tapping her front hoof impatiently, “I don’t have all day…well, I kinda do, but I don’t really want to waste it just standing here and not letting my wings do their business. What do you want?”

“R-r-right, s-s-sorry!” Scootaloo stammered, gulping and pawing a little hole in the ground out of her high level of nervousness, “I…just wanted to ask you…if maybe you would…um…go for a fly with me?”

“Uh…what?” Rainbow Dash blinked, raising an eyebrow as she observed the nervous filly, “Scoots…you can’t fly, did you forget that? Your wings are still too underdeveloped to taste the open skies like yours truly. As much as I’d like that…it’s kinda impossible.”

Scootaloo: *slapping herself in the face so hard that red hoof marks were appearing* Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! Man, Scootaloo, you’re so STUPID! Do you even THINK before you talk?

“Oh…heh…right, I…kinda forgot about that…little detail,” Scootaloo laughed meekly, now digging a second hole with her other front hoof after the first one got too deep to continue, “But…um…how about…oh, I know! Rainbow Dash, would you…um…maybe want to go for a nice walk along the beach later tonight? We could…build a sandcastle together…and listen to the ocean’s waves gently crashing against our hooves…and maybe I could pack us a little late-night snack with the food my team won in that food-gathering challenge…which we could enjoy…together?”

“Uh…I repeat…what?” Rainbow Dash reiterated, still staring down at the little filly as though she had lost her mind, “Heh…Scoots…you’re acting kinda weird, you know? We’re on opposite teams, kiddo; if I’m seen with you, Applejack will really let me have it! Besides, a Pegasus of my caliber needs her beauty sleep to ensure maximum effort the next morning and day; I don’t have time to waste at nighttime down at the beach making sandcastles and listening to the water.”

“Oh…right…of course, how stupid of me to think such a thing…” Scootaloo smiled, somewhat sadly, “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash…forget I said anything. You can go ahead with your flight now…sorry for keeping you.” The filly looked up at her idol and crush, who chuckled and turned away.

“It’s fine, squirt, no harm done,” Rainbow Dash said, once more flexing her wings as she glanced up into the sky, “Anyway, see ya later! I’m looking forward to kicking your team’s flank during today’s challenge!” With a laugh, the blue Pegasus began flapping her wings and soon took to the skies. Scootaloo sat on her haunches and watched her leave, her eyes never faltering from Rainbow’s body, and she continued to watch even after the Pegasus vanished onto the other side of the island.

Scootaloo: *taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm her aching and sputtering heart* Heh…yeah, what WAS I thinking? Asking Rainbow Dash to do something like that …was simply stupid. I’m such a foal; seriously, what was I thinking? *she hangs her head* But…I’m not gonna give up…not by a long shot!

“Where did YOU go?” Trixie questioned, narrowing her eyes as Scootaloo eventually forced herself to trudge back inside the mess hall to her team’s table, “We were discussing team-related stuff and we need the ENTIRE team here to do that!”

“Sorry…” Scootaloo muttered, and that was all that she would say. By the look on her face, Cheerilee just sighed and gently stroked the filly’s back; she knew right away what that expression meant. She had seen it many, many times in her lifetime. She even wore that same expression a few times during her own years as a filly. 

“Trixie, we weren’t discussing ‘team-related stuff’ at all,” Twilight frowned, “We were talking about why YOU constantly keep annoying everypony and what we should do about it.”

“In that case, Trixie votes to have Twilight Sparkle traded to the other team,” Trixie smirked, “Trixie thinks that having that yellow Pegasus over here would do nicely instead. All in favor of this?” She put her hoof in the air, but no one else on her team joined her.

“First off, her name is Fluttershy,” Rarity said coolly, “Second, do not think we’re stupid. It’s obvious that you want to trade Twilight because you always butt heads with her and you believe that bringing over Fluttershy will stop some of the drama, since Fluttershy is…rather a quiet dear. I’m right, aren’t I?”

“No…Trixie is just tired of hearing Twilight Sparkle snore at night,” Trixie smirked. 

Twilight: *groaning theatrically and looking up at the ceiling* Ugh...that Trixie…WHAT am I gonna do with her? Two nights ago in the woods, she seemed to show her good side, but… *her face turns a slight shade of pink at the memory of when she woke up* …why did my mind go straight to THAT?

Trixie: It is SO obvious that Twilight Sparkle is jealous of Trixie and considers her a HUGE threat; why else would she always be trying to get on Trixie’s last nerves? *she taps her chin and thinks about to the camping challenge two nights ago, and her face turns dark red* …she WILL pay for doing that!

“Ahright, team, listen up please,” Applejack said, addressing her team as they exited the mess hall a few minutes later, “We have two hours to relax and get ready before we meet Discord down at the beach. Ah want all of ya’ll to take it easy and make sure yer prepared for the worst, got it? We have no idea what Discord might throw at us, but gettin’ worked up into a tizzy over it won’t help none. If ya need anythin’, don’t be scared to come and ask yer good friend Applejack, ‘kay?” She tipped her hat and gave a polite grin to her team, all of whom returned the grin.

“We get it already, bossy girl,” Spike complained, “Can we go now? I have to go and check on rare…um, my rare bird…it’s usually out at this time of the morning, and it really requires my utmost and undivided attention as soon as possible.”

“Um…dear Spike, what is this ‘rare bird’ that you speak of?” Luna asked, looking at Spike curiously.

“Oh, it’s a rare species of bird that only Spike is allowed to view!” Fluttershy spoke up, not noticing the flustered look on Spike’s face, “I tried to see it the other day, but he warned me that it would only let HIM view it. The poor thing must be very, very shy and must only like baby dragons…I’ve never heard of such a bird! Doesn’t it just sound intriguing?”

“Yes…it most certainly does…” Applejack smirked, narrowing her eyes down at Spike. The baby dragon and the cowpony exchanged knowing looks, and Spike could tell that Applejack was no dummy. At the moment, he was wishing he had kept his big mouth shut.

Spike: *biting his claws and looking around in a panic* This is bad…if Applejack sees me spying on Rarity, she’ll kill me! That or she’ll tell Rarity, and SHE’LL kill me. That or she’ll tell my team, who will laugh at me, and then FLUTTERSHY will kill me for lying to her about a new breed of rare bird. Aw, man, WHY does this always happen to me? It’s not fair! *he whines* Rarity needs my undivided attention!

“Silver Spoon, would you do me the honors of joining me in a walk?” Zecora asked, smiling down at the filly when the Royal Ruffians eventually disbanded for the morning, “I would be very interested in having you at my side for a one-on-one talk.”

“Oh! Well, sure, I’m fine with that,” Silver Spoon squeaked, still new at others being so nice to her. With a little nod, Zecora turned around and started to nonchalantly trot along the campgrounds, heading towards the forest, Silver Spoon right at her side. 

“Tell me, young Silver Spoon, what is it you seek from this game?” Zecora asked, “Despite the anointed prize at the end, no two campers’ desires are surely the same. We all are here for one reason or another, this much is true; I am here to gain experience in something that is new. Discord has said that we can quit at any time, should we choose, but I’m learning more and more as I stay on this island, even when fate gives challenges that our team will lose.”

“What do I seek?” Silver Spoon repeated, glancing down at the ground in thought as she idly walked alongside the zebra, “Hmm…well, I suppose that I seek…um…well, I suppose that I want…uh…” She went silent, and for a long time, the two Royal Ruffians walked through the forest in silence. Zecora glanced down at the thoughtful Silver Spoon now and then, smiling and just keeping silent, while Silver Spoon herself pondered just what it was she wanted to get out of this game. 

Silver Spoon: I didn’t really know how to answer Zecora’s question. Now that I stop to think about it…I really don’t know. What IS my purpose in this game? I don’t really need that money…money won’t make me any happier than I am during my daily life. Um…maybe…to make friends? Could that be it?

“Zecora, I…I know that I’m probably not gonna win this,” Silver Spoon concluded, coming to a stop in the middle of the forest path as she glanced up at the zebra, “I mean, I’m dealing with the six elements of harmony, the two princesses of our world, and a lot of other great ponies…and you and Spike! So, the changes of a city girl like me possibly winning…like, it’s seriously not gonna happen.”

“You should not count yourself out before your cards are played,” Zecora advised, “Sometimes, one’s fate in the game of life can quite possibly be delayed.”

“Um…if that’s your way of saying that I shouldn’t quit…don’t worry, I’m not gonna do that,” Silver Spoon reassured Zecora, “I’m gonna go as far as I can and compete as hard as I can, don’t worry about that. I’m just saying that…well…I know I probably won’t win.”

“If that is indeed the case, then I wish the best for you, my dear Silver Spoon,” Zecora said, “Although I do wish that the day you leave this island does not come soon. There are…others…on our team, whose names I will keep hidden…that I would much prefer to leave over you; to them, I would say good riddance.” In her mind, she pictured the smug Rainbow Dash, who really riled her up.

“It’s just nice to know that you’ll be my…my friend…Zecora,” Silver Spoon sighed, shyly adjusting her glasses as she hugged the zebra. Due to the hug, Zecora’s angry image of Rainbow Dash was burned from her mind, and she smiled while returning the hug to the filly. The two girls hugged each other for a long time in the forest, so long that they began to lose track of the time. However, at that moment, all the two cared about was being in the other’s company.

Zecora: It is rather nice to be around that little Silver Spoon; she is honestly not much different than my friend Apple Bloom. *the hint of a blush plays at her muzzle as she thinks about the two fillies* Hmm…the future of Equestria…as it is…is quite bright. With these young ones…I know we will be alright.

Two hours later, the Magical Misfits and the Royal Ruffians met down at the beach. However, Zecora and Silver Spoon were both still missing; they had continued their walk in the forest, chatting about random things and learning more about one another, and thus had completely lost track of time. However, Discord didn’t really care, so he went on with his explanation without them, much to the chagrin of the rest of the Royal Ruffians.

“So, here’s today’s challenge,” the draconequus explained, pointing to eight nearby canoes, “Each team will partner up with one of their teammates and row a canoe over to Dusk Island, which is half a mile due north of his beach. Once there, both teams must tote their canoes and oars and carry them around Dusk Island for a full lap without leaving any pieces behind. After that, both teams will play the role of castaways and must build a rescue fire using whatever means they can find. Once your rescue fire reaches a height of 10 feet, you can proceed to the final part of the challenge. The final part is where you must get all four of your team’s canoes back to Camp Paradox before the other team does. During this return trip, at least ONE teammate must be riding in each canoe or you’ll have to go back and do it again. The first team back to Camp Paradox after doing all that will win immunity and be safe from the vote tonight. Are there any questions?”

“Yeah…what in the world does this challenge have to do with anything camp-related?” Spike asked. 

“It doesn’t…I just like seeing you all go crazy for no reason,” Discord smirked, putting his hands on his hips and winking down at the annoyed campers, “Oh, and I forgot to mention one thing. Whatever you do, do NOT take anything you find off Dusk Island. The island is known to be cursed…or something. So, if you take something off the island, you’ll be cursed forever!”

“FOR…EVER!” Pinkie snarled, standing on her hind legs and gritting her teeth like a monster. 

“…would you PLEASE stop doing that?” Discord grumbled, “You’re scaring my viewers!”

Pinkie: *pushing her face right into the camera so none of the confessional could be seen, save for Pinkie’s eyeballs and her nose* Am I scaring all of you? Aww, why so serious? Pinkie is not trying to scare you! Ooh, I know, how about I sing you all a song? *thankfully, the camera goes off a second later*

“Discord…we have one player less than the Ruffians…what do we do about the canoes?” Twilight asked, making it known that they had an uneven number of players.

“Hmm…oh, I don’t know, Twilight…what do YOU think?” Discord mocked, appearing behind the unicorn and giving her a creepy hug, “Maybe…one of your teammates will just have to ride alone? Yeah…that seems quite logical…don’t you agree?”

“…I fear that you don’t know the meaning of ‘personal space’, Discord,” Twilight gulped, squirming and trying to pull out of Discord’s chilling grasp. 

Discord: *wearing his fake reading glasses while reading a dictionary* Personal space is the region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Most people value their personal space and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is encroached. *he closes the book* See, Twilight? I totally know the meaning of “personal space”…I just don’t care for it. *he smirks*

“Okay…I’ll pair up with Scootaloo,” Cheerilee said, smiling down at the little filly, “Derpy, why don’t you and Pinkie team up? Twilight…maybe you should pair up with Rarity; that will give Trixie the solitude that I think she wishes to have.”

“Sounds good to me…you alright with that, Trixie?” Twilight asked, glancing over at the blue unicorn.

“Humph…Trixie agrees with what Cheerilee said,” Trixie sniffed, turning and trotting towards a canoe, “Try to keep up with Trixie; she knows how to row a canoe.” The rest of the team rolled their eyes at the unicorn’s usual display of arrogance and egotism, but didn’t bother to scold her for it; there simply was no point in doing so, since it made no difference.

“I’ll pair up with AJ, okay?” Rainbow Dash smiled, patting the cowpony on the back, “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna should obviously pair up, and so should Spike and Fluttershy…and that’ll leave Zecora and Silver Spoon to be a team as well, whenever they get back. You all cool with that?”

“Sure, just do as ah say and don’t try to do too much, Dash,” Applejack warned.

“This’ll be quite fun,” Luna smiled, “I’ve never had to row a canoe before…this should be rewarding!”

“Oh, yes, I’m fine with Spike…he’s a nice boy,” Fluttershy said, giving Spike a caring pat on the head. 

“Sweet! Okay, Royal Ruffians, let’s kick some flank!” Rainbow Dash grinned, pumping her hoof in the air, “LET’S DO THIS!” The brash Pegasus eagerly flew towards her canoe as fast as she could, while the rest of her team followed in step, although not exactly with the same amount of enthusiasm. Thankfully, Zecora and Silver Spoon both made it back just as both teams just began entering the water with their small boats.

“Discord! What did we miss?” Silver Spoon gasped, completely out of breath from having to run all the way back to camp. The draconequus glanced down at the twosome, then shrugged and just pointed towards the only remaining canoe. Figuring that they should just team up and row along with their team and the rest would probably be explained, Zecora and Silver Spoon raced over to the only canoe remaining and got in. 

“And the race is on!” Discord laughed, clapping his paws with glee as he watched all eight canoes head out across the ocean towards Dusk Island, “Have fun, campers! I’ll see you on the other side!” 

“HEY, DISCORD!” Nightmare Moon screamed, stomping up behind the host, “Why the heck do I get stuck cleaning out the latrines and the mess hall all the time? This is capital punishment and I’m not standing for this! We have campers for this stuff!” Discord turned to look at the ebony alicorn, seeing that she was wearing a cute maid’s outfit and carrying a basket of cleaning supplies on her back. 

“Yes…but none of them would look as attractive as you do in that outfit,” Discord smirked, playfully tickling the alicorn under the chin with one of his clawed fingers. 

“…you’d best sleep with one eye open…since the other one might just be gouged out,” Nightmare Moon snarled, swirling her horn dangerously in front of the draconequus as she teleported away. Discord just snickered and shook his head before teleporting away himself to Dusk Island to await the campers.

Twilight: Now, rowing a canoe is like…writing a letter to Princess Celestia! You have to move your arms very carefully and with the flow so that the canoe moves elegantly, yet forcefully enough to continue moving towards its destination. When I write a letter, I have to write each and every letter perfectly so that my message comes across as brilliantly as possible to Princess Celestia! *she squeals*

Rainbow Dash: Eh, rowing a canoe is boring and is too much work. I’m just gonna let Applejack do most of it; she doesn’t seem to mind anyway. I mean…aside from the constant dirty looks, the angry berating, the threats, and this lump on my head that she gave me after slamming her oar on it…she’s more than willing to do all the work for me. Boats are meant to be slept in. *she grins weakly*

“Ah, I must say, darling, this is beyond fabulous!” Rarity purred, laying back in her canoe as she closed her eyes, “We simply MUST do this again…it’s so very relaxing; listening to the rippling water gently striking the sides of this vessel, letting the sunrays wash over my DAZZLING body…”

“While I do all the work and you do absolutely nothing,” Twilight grumbled, working both sets of oars as she was already working up a huge sweat. As always, Rarity didn’t seem to hear Twilight; she was much too busy fantasizing about how beautiful she was and how relaxing it was in the canoe. 

“Um…Miss Cheerilee?” Scootaloo said, her voice meek and slightly nervous, “Can I…ask you something? Feel free to say no, but…”

“You may ask me whatever you desire, Scootaloo,” Cheerilee smiled, glancing down at her student as the two rowed their canoe in perfect harmony, “What is it that you want to say?”

“Er…well, say that there’s this…pony…who likes this other pony…but she’s kinda older…and WAY out of the second pony’s league,” Scootaloo gulped, “But, the first pony REALLY likes her…so, um, what could she do to try and make it known…um, you know, without making a complete foal of herself?” 

Cheerilee: *shaking her head a bit, despite wearing a sad smile* Oh dear…I figured it would be this…poor little Scootaloo…but, I am her friend first and her teacher second, so…I had a duty to perform.

“Well…you see, Scootaloo...love is a very mysterious and unusual thing,” Cheerilee said, resting a hoof on the filly’s head as she spoke, staring right into her eyes so that each word would go right to the little filly’s heart, “It doesn’t matter who or what you are, or what age or gender you are. When your heart yearns for something…or somepony…it begins to burn and burn until it becomes an inferno of passion that just needs to be released. Hiding such feelings…will never work. Yes, it’s possible to be hurt in love, and more often than not you will be…but, that is the mystery of life itself. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but the thing is to never stop trying.”

“Miss Cheerilee…” Scootaloo whispered, smiling weakly up at her teacher as her little wings fluttered slightly in excitement.

“I cannot tell you…what to tell this other pony…since love is something that cannot be explained,” Cheerilee continued, “You cannot be told how to work it…you cannot read how to do it…and you cannot ask how it’s done. It’s something that you need to figure out for yourself, no matter what. The heart is the strongest part of a pony’s body, and it will lead its owner on the right path when the time is right. As long as you always listen to your heart, then love will always find its way in.”

“M-M-Miss Cheerilee…” Scootaloo sobbed, her wings fluttering even faster after her teacher finished her speech, “…thank you…um, that was very…insightful. Not that I wanted to know about love myself or anything…I mean, sheez, love is GROSS!” The filly made a hacking sound and quickly turned away to go back to her rowing, trying to hide her blush and trying hard to not look in Rainbow Dash’s direction. All the while, Cheerilee just gave a warm smile and didn’t say another word while she continued to row, too.

“So, Derpy…why do you like muffins so much?” Pinkie asked, her usual hyper personality easily being enough to row the boat with maximum fervor.

“I dunno…why do YOU like cupcakes so much?” Derpy asked back, using her oar upside down as she was hardly rowing her boat at all.

“I dunno…because they’re so super-duper good?” Pinkie guessed.

“Sounds good to me!” Derpy giggled, “Hurray for muffins and cupcakes!”

Pinkie: Derpy totally gets me; she’s such a wonderful friend! I don’t know why all the other ponies seem to look at her like she’s a vamp-pony or something…maybe it’s her mane? *she tilts her head*

Over in her own canoe, Trixie was using both of her oars to perfection, rowing beautifully in sync and shockingly leading all the other canoes on the trip to Dusk Island. She never seemed to tire and she never seemed to get distracted, despite the fact her eyes darted towards Twilight and Rarity now and then. The show-mare was determined to prove her worth and show her team just how valuable she was, whereas certain others were not.

Trixie: During a few of Trixie’s shows, she had to barrow a boat and row across a few lakes and rivers to get to the town on the other side. She didn’t appreciate doing all the work herself, but since she didn’t have the bits to hire a rower, she was forced to always do it herself. Eventually, she got used to doing things herself, and now the fruits of her labor are finally paying off. *she smirks in delight*

“I can’t help but think that I’m doing this all wrong…” Celestia muttered, rowing her canoe with a very awkward motion, “This…doesn’t even FEEL right…ugh, sister, please remind me to study more about the outdoors when we return home.”

“Of course, sister, as you wish,” Luna responded, who was doing no better at her own rowing duties, “I feel like I’m missing something here…but I cannot ponder what it could possibly be.” The two sisters shrugged and kept rowing, not knowing that they were technically both rowing in opposite directions and were hardly getting anywhere at all.

“Now, Spike, remember that using an oar is like stroking a bunny,” Fluttershy smiled, using a fluid motion with her oar as she dragged it along in the water, “You don’t need lots of powerful moves as long as you use soft and meaningful ones…um, are you listening to me?” She noticed that Spike wasn’t rowing at all; he was too busy staring at something through his binoculars again. When Fluttershy went to go look at what Spike was gawking at, the dragon quickly looked up and shook his head.

“I saw my rare bird again, Fluttershy…it’s vitally, crucially important that I observe it,” he said simply, “So, if you could, please continue the rowing duties while I observe this miracle of nature.”

“Oh, um, of course…please go right ahead then…I won’t look at all,” Fluttershy squeaked, keeping up her rowing and not looking in the direction that Spike was gazing. 

“Ooh yeah…that’s a good bird…” Spike whispered, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth as he zoomed in with his binoculars, “Yeah…you dangle that beautiful hoof in the water like you just don’t care…yeah, you bat that pretty mane in the air as the passing breeze blows it into a beautiful pattern…”

Fluttershy: I can’t put on my hoof on it, but…something about Spike’s rare bird watching strikes me as…um…suspicious? Oh, no, please don’t think that I’m a bad pony…I’m not, really! I trust Spike fully! But…um…it’s just…the way he always seems to be looking at this…bird…makes me kinda…um…uneasy?

“Using an oar is as simple as can be,” Zecora smiled, having kindly volunteered to be both rowers on hers and Silver Spoon’s canoe, “You become one with the boat, and one with the water, you see?”

“Um…yeah…if you say so, Zecora,” Silver Spoon, just sitting back and watching the zebra work.

Silver Spoon: One with the water? One with the boat? I don’t mean to question Zecora, but…what in all of Equestria is that girl talking about? *she removes her glasses and sighs, seemingly exasperated*

“Are we there yet?” Rainbow Dash asked, not looking up from her lazy position on her canoe, her forelegs behind her head and her hind legs propped up on one another as she kept her eyes closed, “You’ll let me know when we get there, right, AJ?”

“Oh, ah’ll let ya know when we’re there ahright, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack growled, her anger fueling her rowing power, “So, are ya’ll ready for another bashin’ over the head?”

“No…I still have the bump from the last time you hit me…I think I’ll pass,” Dash muttered, turning around and idly waving her hoof in Applejack’s direction, “Just keep it up; you’re doing perfect. Don’t think about hurting me, since that’ll deduct from you rowing us to shore.”

“Ya know, Dash…sometimes, yer just plain unbearable and ya make a pony want to do things she really shouldn’t even think about doin’…” Applejack warned, her voice dripping with venom. In response, Rainbow Dash let out a loud, fake snore and flicked her tail in the cowpony’s direction.

Applejack: *angrily throwing down her hat* That tears it! Rainbow Dash’s laziness has got to stop! Ah tried and tried to reason with her, but it just ain’t doin’ no good! *she grins evilly and cracks her hooves together* Some tough lovin’ is sure to do the trick…ah hate to do it, but she’s asked fer it.

Trixie ended up reaching Dusk Island first, even though she immediately wished she hadn’t. The island was shaped in the form of a pony’s skull, complete with a large, jagged mountain right in the middle of the island that seemed to stretch into the darkened clouds above and go off into outer space. The beach was dirty and littered with rotted pieces of driftwood and dead fish, the forest was dark and foreboding, and the entire place smelled of rotting pony flesh. Clearly, it was not a place for the weak of heart.

“This place…is not for Trixie…Trixie thinks she’ll be going now,” Trixie gulped, quickly turning around to get back into her canoe, but yelped as she immediately smacked her head right into Twilight’s. The purple unicorn had just rowed ashore a moment ago with Rarity and hadn’t bothered to call out to Trixie. Naturally, both mares ended up collapsing a moment later, much to Rarity’s chagrin.

“You both are more hard-headed than a brick wall,” the fashion pony sniffed, glancing down at the filthy beach and shuttering, “And…this…this island…this is NOT meant for ponies such as myself! I cannot go on like this! Somepony, please do something!”

When Pinkie, Derpy, Cheerilee and Scootaloo eventually arrived, Rarity begged the foursome to please carry her so that she wouldn’t get any of the island’s foulness on her. The four ponies looked at one another, then looked at their four canoes. Discord had said that they had to carry them around the entire island for one lap anyway, so they put a plan together on how to do just that while at the same time accommodating Rarity and her “needs”. 

After waking up Twilight and Trixie (both mares screamed at one another for a moment before turning back to the task at hand), Cheerilee explained their plan to them, and both unicorns agreed that it was a good idea. Without the use of magic, Derpy used her wings to pick each canoe up and set them on the backs of her teammates, who had all stood in a horizontal line to make their plan work. Derpy then stacked the other three canoes on top of the one that was now on their backs, making the total weight very heavy, but still manageable. When all four canoes were stacked, Rarity leaped up onto the top one and sat down, leaving Cheerilee, Pinkie, Trixie and Twilight to tote all the canoes plus the white unicorn. Scootaloo was too small to really help, while Derpy managed to squeeze herself in a moment later.

“This is MUCH better!” Rarity purred, relaxing on the top canoe, “You all are free to go on the lap now.” 

“Gee, THANKS Rarity; so glad we got your approval,” Twilight muttered, before nodding to her teammates and slowly beginning to march in a slow fashion to make sure that the canoes didn’t tip over. It forced the ponies to trot in step with each other, and it was no easy task with the ditzy Derpy and the bouncy Pinkie, but they seemed to be managing. 

Rarity: What? You COULDN’T have expected me to walk through that WRETCHED island with my perfect hooves and chance them getting nicked or dirty, did you? Don’t be absurd!

“WE’RE HERE!” Applejack yelled out, purposely running her canoe ashore with a lot of force. She smirked as Rainbow Dash was sent flying out of the boat and crashed headfirst into the sand. The force of the throw was so powerful that Rainbow Dash sank down a good foot or two, leaving her butt sticking up in the air and her hind legs kicking like crazy as she tried to pull herself out. Applejack just snickered as she ignored the Pegasus and waited for the rest of her team to arrive.

Spike and Fluttershy showed up next, followed by Zecora and Silver Spoon. Celestia and Luna were the last ones to arrive, due to them still not realizing that they had been rowing in completely the wrong way. Rainbow Dash had eventually realized that she still had her wings, so she used them to fly backwards out of her hole and land softly on the grimy beach a moment later. She had a dead fish lodged into her mouth, which she quickly spat out upon realizing just what it was.

“UGH! AJ, what gives?” Rainbow Dash complained, “Why didn’t you help me out?”

“Hey, ya’ll have wings…besides, yer so awesome and all, you can do whatever ya want without mah help,” Applejack sniffed, turning away from the Pegasus as she addressed her team, “Ahright, as fer the rest of ya’ll, we need to get movin’ before the other team gets too far ahead. Princesses, do ya’ll think ya each can carry one of the canoes while usin’ yer wings to fly?”

“I fear that…in this body…my strength is limited,” Celestia sighed, “Perhaps Fluttershy and I can carry one together, while my sister carries the second and Rainbow Dash carries the third?”

“Why do I have to carry one of them?” Rainbow Dash whined.

“Sounds good to me!” Applejack grinned, ignoring Dash, “And ah’ll carry the last one all by mahself, since laziness gets ya’ll NOWHERE in this game. Fluttershy, Luna, can ah count on ya both to help Princess Celestia with those canoes?”

“Leave it to us, fair Applejack,” Luna smiled, stretching her wings and grunting as she managed to heft one of the canoes into her hooves, “Ugh…this is heavier than it looks…but, I can think I can carry it.” Then, with the combined effort of Fluttershy and Celestia, the two girls managed to lift one of the other three canoes, too. This left just two more, one of which Applejack immediately bucked onto her back and easily lifted it up. Everyone then stared at Rainbow Dash and waited for her to get the last one.

“Ugh…oh, fine, whatever,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, flapping down from the air and managing to scope up the last canoe with relative ease. With a satisfied grin, Applejack gave a little nod and turned back to the rest of the team.

“Silver Spoon, Spike and Zecora? Ya’ll just follow us along and help out when needed, okay?” she said. The filly, dragon and zebra all nodded, rather relieved that they didn’t have to carry the heavy canoes. Finally, the Royal Ruffians began following after the Magical Misfits on the lap around the island.

Celestia: Manual labor doesn’t really work with my hooves; I usually have my servants do things like this for me. I’m surprised they haven’t complained earlier; this stuff is hard! *she taps her chin* Oh, wait a second…I do seem to recall somepony complaining at one point…what did I do to him again?

The journey around the island was mostly perfect for the Magical Misfits. Despite Trixie’s constant complaining about how her back was killing her from carrying the four canoes and Rarity, Cheerilee and Pinkie’s earth pony strength were enough to keep the group going just fine; deep down, the small Twilight was also hurting, but unlike Trixie, she didn’t complain. Derpy didn’t seem to mind one way or the other; she was too busy watching BOTH sides of the path with her walleyed expression. Scootaloo was deep in thought and kept looking down at the ground as she walked.

With the Royal Ruffians, things weren’t going as smoothly. Not only were they playing from behind, due to Zecora and Silver Spoon’s early-game absence, Celestia and Luna’s poor rowing skills, and Rainbow Dash’s laziness, but they also were running into some problems along the messy island trail. Twice, Fluttershy got tangled up in some low-hanging vines, causing her to freak out and very nearly drop her portion of the canoe that she was sharing carrying duties with Celestia. Then, Rainbow Dash began to get bored and nearly fell asleep in the air, which made her droop her canoe and had it almost take Applejack’s head off. Finally, the group was forced to stop after hearing Silver Spoon’s loud shriek.

“Whoa! What is it?” Applejack yelped, stopping in her tracks and whipping her head around. At first, she groaned when she saw that Silver Spoon was seemingly just stuck in some mud. However, before the cowpony could scold the filly for being too prissy to worry about a little mud, she noticed the small girl beginning to be pulled down inside of the giant puddle of mud. She realized that it was quicksand.

“Dash! Quick, help her!” Luna gasped, “Our hooves are kinda full and we can’t drop our canoes; we’re already too far behind!”

“Hey, MY hooves are full, too!” Dash gulped, “Spike, YOU rescue her!” 

“On it!” Spike declared, racing to the edge of the quicksand and trying to stretch out his arm towards Silver Spoon, but upon discovering that Silver Spoon had been sucked a bit further in than his tiny arms would reach, he knew he had to do something else. Thinking quickly, Spike ran over to the nearest tree and used his claws to slice off one of the lengthy vines that had been growing on the trunk. The little dragon then used it as a lasso and swung it out towards Silver Spoon. The frantic filly managed to perfectly catch it in her mouth.

“Nice throw, Spike!” Applejack commented, grinning in delight. The entire relieved team watched as Spike tugged Silver Spoon to the edge of the quicksand with the vine before reaching in and pulling her out just before her head could start to sink down under the powerful muddy sand. As soon as she was out, she jumped into Spike’s arms and shuddered. 

“T-t-thank you…t-t-that was so scary…” she whimpered, “The feeling of it p-p-pulling me under…and the thought of n-n-never getting back out…it was horrifying.”

“Heh…well, no worries; as long as I’m here, no lady will ever be put in danger,” Spike smiled, cradling the shaking filly in his arms as he brushed some of the wet sand off her body. Zecora was silent as she watched nearby, but she couldn’t have looked happier, for some reason. 

Zecora: And the fates make another move in this game of life. A test of friendship and love always comes when one’s heart is full of strife. As she feels the caring actions of those around her, young Silver Spoon’s troubled past soon will become but a painful blur. *she closes her eyes and meditates*

Thanks to yet another detour by the Royal Ruffians, they lost even more time on their lap around the island. By the time they completed their cycle, they groaned when they saw the Magical Misfits already having gathered a large pile of dry driftwood and were trying to start a rescue fire. Knowing they had to work fast, the Ruffians dropped their canoes in the sand and began to gather wood to build their own fire. They all searched around the same beach as before, trying to use whatever they could find to build a sturdy fireplace that would accumulate into a large bonfire. It was at this time that Zecora found something that immediately interested her.

“Hello, what is this I spy?” Zecora whispered, having glanced behind a beached boulder and seeing a tiny wooden doll lying on the ground halfway underneath it, “A little doll that refused to die? Ah, how very nice, an artifact I have found! I will take this home where it will be safe and sound!” No one else noticed the zebra remove the little doll from under the boulder and insert it into her canoe for safekeeping. 

“Okay, good, I think we have enough wood,” Twilight commented, “Now, to start a fire. If I could use my magic, this would be easy, but…” She was cut off when a small stream of black smoke invaded the Misfits’ space. The team looked and was shocked to find that the Ruffians had somehow taken the lead, as they already started a fire and were now desperately trying to add more wood to it so that it would grow only larger.

“How on Equestria did they do that?” Trixie demanded, “We were so far ahead of them!” In response, Spike grinned and waved over to the team.

“Hey, Twi, did you forget that I’m a fire-breathing dragon?” the little dragon smirked, winking over at the Misfits, “I’m sure you get what I’m trying to say.”

“Yes, Spike, we do…” Twilight grumbled, now feeling kinda stupid, “Great, girls, now we’re behind…what are we gonna do?”

“We are gonna not give up, of course!” Trixie scoffed, holding up two black rocks and striking them together with her hooves, “Trixie just found some flint, so you just have to strike them together a few times, and soon enough you’ll…” She squeaked as a spark was eventually ignited and the Misfits’ fire blazed into action a moment later. Since Trixie had been sitting so close to the pile of wood, she very nearly caught on fire herself. The unicorn ended up leaping backwards in shock, which resulted in her crashing into Twilight. The two mares collapsed on top of each other a moment later. 

“…we seriously MUST stop meeting each other this way, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie growled, lying pressed down on the ground with Twilight on top of her, their faces all but pressed together, “No, really, we really need to stop this…Trixie is eventually gonna snap and do something you might regret.”

“We’ll see who does something regretful…” Twilight growled back. The purple unicorn stayed atop the blue unicorn for a few moments longer, just glaring down into her angry face while the azure pony returned the favor. Their faces remained only a few inches apart while their bodies were pressed against one another. Twilight’s hooves were on the side of Trixie’s face while Trixie’s were down at her sides, putting her into the typical trapped position. The longer the two mares stayed in that position, the faster their faces began to turn red.

Twilight: *her arms crossed as she sits there, her muzzle continuing to grow redder by the second* Why couldn’t I move off Trixie? It was like my legs turned into mush and my hooves were frozen in ice. The more I glared down into Trixie’s violet eyes…ugh, that mare…she drives me crazy!

Trixie: *growling and pacing back and forth in front of the camera, her muzzle a dark red* Why didn’t Twilight Sparkle get off Trixie sooner? Didn’t she know that Trixie would destroy her otherwise? The longer that…she pinned Trixie down…and pressed her body to hers…ugh, that mare! She WILL pay!

“…you can get off Trixie now,” Trixie eventually spoke, barely speaking above a whisper.

“Oh…right, of course,” Twilight mumbled, moving away just as quickly as she had fallen on top of the show-mare. Once the two unicorns were firmly off one another, they glared at one another for a second before quickly turning back to their team. Thankfully, none of them had seen the close encounter; they were all busy focusing on what Derpy had made.

“Look at this, look at this!” Derpy giggled, holding up what looked like a ball of tree sap, “While you all were busy putting all that wood in a big pile and then making big flames appear, I was making this!”

“Yes, we noticed that you weren’t helping us…what IS that?” Trixie asked, looking at the strange ball in Derpy’s hooves curiously. It was about as big as Derpy’s head, and looked to have twigs and rocks and other things sticking out of it. It was colored a dark yellow and looked very sticky. 

“It’s my derp ball!” Derpy squealed, bouncing it up and down with her head, “I just made it for no logical reason using a lot of tree sap I managed to get out of that dead tree over there, and combined it with a lot of dead twigs, some strange-looking yellow moss, some sand, and some tall grass growing alongside that quicksand we passed a little while back. Isn’t it totally awesome?”

“…I think I can see why it’s called…a ‘derp’ ball,” Rarity sniffed, still resting in the canoes this entire time and not having helped at all with the fire process. Derpy continued to laugh and bounce the strange ball up and down on her head, as though it was a volleyball, while Twilight grumbled and continued to work on building up her team’s fire. Unfortunately for Twilight, Derpy wasn’t very good at coordination, so when she lost control of her derp ball, it was probably quite stupid on the Magical Misfits’ part that they didn’t see it coming.

Derpy’s ball ended up bouncing off her forehead and ricocheting backwards off her tail and sailing straight into her team’s makeshift fireplace. As soon as the derp ball touched the weak flames, the fire exploded into a mini fiery mushroom cloud. Since Twilight had been attempting to throw in some more driftwood at that very moment, she had been incredibly close to the giant bonfire. When Derpy’s derp ball ignited the fire into an explosion, Twilight was caught in the crossfire and was sent sailing through the air, the front of her body already charred and smoking.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” Trixie gasped, noticing that Twilight was hurtling straight towards some jagged rocks near Dusk Island’s craggy shore. Immediately, Trixie took off running as hard as she could after the flying Twilight Sparkle, a look of fear in her eyes. Without magic, a unicorn was as good as a sitting duck if something dangerous should happen; Trixie could envision Twilight being impaled on one of those jagged rocks and the thought horrified her. 

Putting her hooves into overdrive, Trixie continued to race after Twilight as she finally began descending straight towards her impending doom below. However, just before Twilight was impaled, Trixie leaped into the air and tackled the unicorn out of the way, both of them landing roughly in the grimy sand below. This time, Trixie was the one on top with the twitching Twilight underneath. Save for the entire front of her body charred black and half of her mane and tail being burned to a crisp, Twilight was alive and well. As she coughed out some smog, her eyes managed to weakly focus on the azure mare.

“T-Trixie?” she choked out, a weak smile breaking out across her blackened face, “You…you saved me.”

“Humph…Trixie was…just returning the favor,” Trixie said calmly, “Twilight Sparkle saved Trixie from some jagged rocks back at camp during the food-gathering challenge…Trixie saved Twilight from some jagged rocks here at Dusk Island during our fire exploding. Trixie is no longer indebted to Twilight Sparkle, which was the only reason why she saved her.”

“Heh…whatever you say…Trixie…” Twilight moaned, slowly leaning her head to the side as she closed her eyes, “…thank you…Trixie.” Those were her final words before the purple unicorn fainted from the exhaustion and pain that her body was feeling. Trixie continued to stare down at the unicorn for a few moments longer as the rest of the team hurried over to check on the two.

“Trixie! Is Twilight alright?” Cheerilee gasped, “Please tell me that she’s okay!”

“Oh, this is HORRIBLE!” Rarity cried, “Derpy, what in the WORLD were you thinking?”

“Um…I don’t think I was!” Derpy smiled, “I rarely think at all!”

“Say, Rarity…I thought you didn’t want to walk on the sand,” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Um…well, desperate times call for desperate measures…and Twilight is more important than my beauty, so…let’s not mention that, shall we?” Rarity smiled, trying to hide her embarrassment. At that moment, however, Discord appeared above the heads of both teams on the beach as he admired the raging bonfire that Derpy had just created.

“That’s easily 10 feet!” he laughed, “Well done, Derpy! Now that you completed that task, your team is free to hurry back to camp before the others. Royal Ruffians, you must keep going until your fire reaches 10 feet, got it?”

“Discord, Twilight requires medical attention at once!” Rarity snapped, glaring up at the draconequus, “Just look at her mane and her tail! Oh, and her coat is in shambles! Plus, I think her burn marks might be quite severe, too.”

“Ugh…you ponies are a pain, you know that?” Discord grumbled, reaching down and scooping Twilight out from underneath Trixie, “Sorry, Trix, but I need you snuggle-toy. As bothersome as this is, I must concur that dear Twilight needs some medical attention…anything happening to her would result in a very deep drop in the ratings, since she’s a fan favorite.”

“W-W-W-WHAT?!?!” Trixie shrieked, her face turning crimson as she snarled up at Discord, “THAT UNTALENTED LITTLE UNICORN IS NOT TRIXIE’S SNUGGLE-TOY OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT! IF ANYTHING, SHE IS MORE OF TRIXIE’S PUNCHING BAG!”

“Uh-huh…and Pinkie doesn’t love breaking the fourth wall,” Discord countered.

“What’s the fourth wall?” Pinkie asked, looking right into the nearest camera and tilting her head. With a snicker, Discord just rolled his eyes before propping the limp body of Twilight over his shoulder and teleporting back to Camp Paradox. Trixie remained hot under the collar while the rest of the team quickly began getting their canoes out into the water to make their return trip back to the other island.

Derpy: I think I derped it up again…I hope Twilight isn’t too mad. But, she totally looked like a baked muffin! Do you think she would’ve tasted good like that? *she licks her lips excitedly*

“Aw, man, they’re ahead of us!” Rainbow Dash groaned, “Quick, we need to get this fire raging just as big as theirs! Somepony do something!” Desperately trying to not fall out of the race, the rest of the Royal Ruffians quickly began grabbing whatever they could find to try and get their fire juiced up. Spike ended up grabbing an armload of what he thought were large branches, but as he threw the entire load into the fire, he instantly realized he had done the wrong thing.

“SPIKE, YOU DUMMY!” Applejack yelled, slapping the dragon across the head, “YA’LL JUST THREW ALL OUR OARS INTO THE FIRE! NOW WHAT’RE WE GONNA USE TO ROW BACK TO CAMP PARADOX?”

“Um…hey, it wasn’t my fault you girls were keeping them that close to the fire!” Spike gulped, but as he saw all the glares he was getting, he figured it would be best to just shut up and not make it worse. On the bright side of things, thanks to Spike’s stupid mistake, it DID cause their fire to just reach the peak minimum that Discord had been asking for of 10 feet, which meant they were free to head back to camp. But, they now had four canoes without any paddles. 

“This is more unfortunate…what are we to do?” Luna sighed, “Use our hooves to row the canoes ourselves? I fear that I would get tired before long, not to mention it would take forever.” The Royal Ruffians watched in dismay as the Magical Misfits began rowing away from the island, leaving them all behind. However, seeing their dilemma, Derpy decided to help them out a bit.

“Hey, I know! Why doesn’t each of you with wings just float behind each of your canoes and use your wings to propel the boat forward?” Derpy suggested, tilting her head and grinning, “It would be like using a motorboat! Wouldn’t that be cool?” Almost at once after Derpy spoke these words, Trixie angrily reached over to her canoe and slapped the Pegasus in the face with her oar.

“You foal! Don’t give the other team ideas!” the unicorn snapped, “Are you sure your brain is broken? As Trixie recalls, one must first HAVE a brain before it can become broken.” 

“…I see stars!” Derpy giggled, now lying on her back in her canoe after Trixie’s assault, staring up into the sky as her dizziness got to her.

“Huh…hey, that just might work!” Applejack gasped, quickly turning back to her team, “Okay, here’s what we need to do. Zecora, Spike, Silver Spoon and mahself will each get in one of the four boats. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash will get behind each one and use their wings as a motor to propel us towards Camp Paradox. We’re not dead yet!”

Fluttershy: *whimpering and cowering a bit* Such a big task for such a frail little Pegasus like me…I was so scared of messing it up…I was scared that my wings would become frozen to my sides…ooh, I just wanted something to hold! I wish Angel was there to calm me down…he would know what to say.

Despite Fluttershy’s hesitance and Celestia’s uncertainty, the Royal Ruffians quickly got into position as they had been instructed. Rainbow Dash got behind Applejack’s canoe, Fluttershy got behind Spike’s, Celestia behind Silver Spoon’s and Luna behind Zecora’s. Each Pegasus and alicorn sank down into the murky water until they were up to their waists, just leaving the edges of their wings slightly under the water. They all could see that the Magical Misfits were now rowing furiously to get back to the other island and were almost there.

“This is it, gang!” Applejack barked out, pointing her hoof forward, “What’re ya’ll waitin’ fer? C’mon, get those wings movin’! LET’S GO!” 

“Roger, AJ!” Rainbow nodded, instantly flapping her wings while shoving the canoe forward. The effect was instant. Combined with Rainbow’s strong wing power and her moderate strength, she soon took off with Applejack and her canoe. 

“Um…okay…I’m going now…” Fluttershy gulped, nervously beginning to flap her own wings. When she found that it wasn’t that hard and that she was actually doing very well, the yellow Pegasus smiled softly and began to go faster and faster until she was nearing Rainbow Dash.

“Witness the power of my legendary wings!” Celestia laughed, possibly just for dramatic purposes as she followed suit with her other two teammates. She was so excited about getting to finally do something worthwhile that she started off a bit too heavy; Silver Spoon was nearly thrown from the canoe. 

“Aww, Tia is so cute when she gets excited,” Luna teased, licking her lips as she began flapping her own wings, “But, I always DID have the better wings, younger sister or not!” Laughing, the ebony princess quickly matched the flying power of her three fellow flyers and soon they were all zooming straight back towards Camp Paradox.

Celestia: *grinning in a very familiar and creepy way* That was so exhilarating! Streaking through the waters as fast as a Wonderbolt, knowing that the game was on the line, using my own majestic wings to try and aid our cause…is this what Twilight and her friends do all the time? It’s…it’s really fun!

Luna: It was rather interesting to see my big sister finally start having fun like a little filly again. No matter how old you get, you should always remain a filly at heart. *she giggles a bit* I know that I take that lesson to heart…Twilight Sparkle taught me as much during my dramatic return to Ponyville.

“This challenge is in the bag…Twilight will be very proud,” Rarity smiled, rowing her own canoe for once, since she was forced to do so when Twilight was removed from the challenge after her injury.

“Yeah, we’re gonna win, we’re gonna win!” Pinkie cheered from Derpy’s boat, rowing as fast as her hyper little forelegs would allow. Derpy was still dizzily staggering around the pink pony’s canoe, since Trixie had struck her pretty good with her oar.

“Um…does anypony hear something?” Scootaloo asked, her ear twitching a bit as she heard a humming noise coming from behind. The six remaining Magical Misfits all curiously glanced back to see what was happening, and instantly were blasted aside as all four Royal Ruffian canoes soared past them under Pegasus and alicorn power. 

“MY MANE!” Rarity shrieked as she was thrown out of her canoe from the sheer momentum of the passing canoes. 

“TRIXIE’S ENTIRE BODY!” Trixie screamed as the same thing happened to her.

“Rainbow Dash is so cool…” Scootaloo sighed, not even seeming to mind that she had been thrown out along with Cheerilee, “Did you all see her? She really knows what she’s doing with those wings…”

Scootaloo’s touching comments aside, the Magical Misfits could only watch in stunned fashion as the Royal Ruffians raced straight towards the beach on Camp Paradox and never looked back. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash, Celestia and Luna were having too much fun to really stop, and Fluttershy was just following what the others were doing. When they reached the shore, they ended up continuing straight over the sand and heading right for the Dock of Shame.

“WHOA, DASH, WHOA!” Applejack bellowed, “STOP, YA CRAZY PEGASUS! YER GONNA MAKE US…!” But, she was cut off as all four canoes soon met the Dock of Shame, making all eight Royal Ruffians scream as they were hurled out of their canoes and sent flying into the campgrounds, their canoes following suit. 

The crashes sounded out through the island, alerting Discord who had just handed Twilight Sparkle over to Nightmare Moon for medical attention. The draconequus reappeared out of the infirmary a moment later only to watch as all eight Royal Ruffians and their four canoes crashed down in a painful heap right in front of him, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both being on the bottom of the pile. Of course, Discord didn’t miss a beat.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA! BRILLIANT ENDING!” Discord bellowed, laughing his head off as he twirled around in the air and slapped his sides repeatedly, “OOH, THIS IS RICH! I LEAVE YOU FOR TWO MINUTES AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO! YOU ALL MAKE ME SO PROUD!”

“Ugh…go kiss a diamond dog…you stupid spirit of disharmony…” Celestia moaned, no longer feeling as great as she had a few moments ago, “I think…one of my hind legs is broken…”

“But, with all pain comes victory!” Discord giggled, trying to control his fit of hysteria, “It seems that your team made it back first, so I hereby declare that the Royal Ruffians win the challenge!”

“Yay…” the Royal Ruffians all groaned, too much in pain to really move out of their squirming pile. Combined with four heavy canoes and having all landed rather roughly on the dirt ground that was Camp Paradox, not to mention having slammed into the Dock of Shame, it looked like Nightmare Moon was gonna get eight more patients in a little while.

Nightmare Moon: I do and do and do and what thanks do I get? A mare’s work is never appreciated around here! All Discord did was give me flowers…which exploded in my face and blinded me for a good two hours! *she growls in anger, her eyes flashing* I’m gonna strangle that jerk…

“Magical Misfits…how pitiful you all look…what happened?” Discord mocked, floating back over to the beach as the six remaining Misfits pulled their canoes and their soaked bodies to shore, “You had such a big lead...you had such high hopes…where did you all go wrong?”

“Shut it, Discord…I REALLY need to use the outhouse…excuse me!” Rarity whimpered, hurrying off to beautify herself back up, her dripping mane and coat making her shudder the more she felt it. As for the rest of the team, minus Twilight, Trixie was the first one to speak again. 

“YOU!” she snapped, stomping right up to Derpy and snarling at her, “YOU lost us the challenge, thanks to your big mouth telling the other team what to do…AND for injuring Twilight Sparkle. Let it be known that Trixie could care less about Twilight Sparkle…BUT ALL THE SAME, YOU LOST US THE CHALLENGE!”

“Ooh, the unicorn wants to fight?” Derpy giggled, standing up on her hind legs and sticking out her tongue while her walleyed pupils became cross-eyed as she glared at the azure unicorn, “You do not want to mess with Derpy Hooves…because she knows derp-fu, and it is wicked deadly!” The unicorn stared at the Pegasus for a moment, then she simply went and grabbed her canoe’s oar in her mouth. That was all it took for Derpy to squeak in fear and quickly start flying away, Trixie in hot pursuit behind her as she desired nothing more than to crush the ditzy pony.

“Oh dear…do you think we should stop her?” Cheerilee asked, shaking out her wet mane and tail as she looked at Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie. 

“...I hope Rainbow Dash is alright,” Scootaloo whimpered, ignoring Cheerilee and heading off to check on her idol and crush.

“My belly is rumbling…I’m hungry!” Pinkie smiled, humming joyfully as she bounced along, seemingly not minding that she was dripping wet at all. Cheerilee just sighed and hung her head before slowly following after her teammates, knowing that somepony was gonna be voted off tonight again.

Rarity: *muttering under her breath as she combed out her mane and tail* This is SO not fair…I don’t deserve this! My poor body having to suffer so…what did I do to deserve this treatment? 

An hour or two before the Magical Misfits’ fourth bonfire ceremony, Twilight Sparkle was released from the infirmary while Nightmare Moon tended to the Royal Ruffians’ injuries instead. She had earlier learned that her team had lost the challenge, which disappointed her greatly. She had heard snippets of information about just whose fault it was and who deserved to be voted off next from Rarity, Pinkie, and Cheerilee, but Twilight was still in pain so she didn’t want to think about such things at the moment. Instead, she decided to go for a walk down at the beach. The coolness of the splashing waves at night would help her burns and would relax her.

When Twilight began trotting along the beach, wincing now and then due to her hooves having had slightly been burned as well, she thought she saw somepony else sitting on the sand and staring off into the ocean. Curious, the purple unicorn drew closer and was surprised to see that it was Trixie. Whether or not she had caught and punished Derpy was unknown. At the moment, the blue show-mare was sitting contently and calmly on the sand while staring blankly out over the calm waters surrounding Camp Paradox. Twilight ventured closer, hesitating only briefly in fear that she would be yelled at.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said, her voice coming out coolly, but not in a direct or scornful way, “Trixie sees that you’ve been let out of the infirmary. Are you gonna be alright?”

“Yeah…Nightmare Moon applied some powerful salve to my burns…and had me drink a special kind of potion to regrow my mane and tail…she said that I should be as good as new in the morning…as always,” Twilight replied, daringly trotting up to Trixie’s side.

“Humph…well, that’s good to hear,” Trixie muttered, not pulling her head away to look at the other unicorn. Guessing that she either didn’t care or wasn’t really paying attention, Twilight weakly sat down beside the show-mare and began staring out over the ocean with her. 

The two unicorns sat in silence for a long time, watching small ripples appear now and then in the water, watching the remaining traces of the sun vanish over the horizon, watching a fish jump out of the water now and then, listening to the settling of Camp Paradox…just taking it all in. Twilight had to admit that Trixie had chosen a lovely spot to observe the scenery. Despite Camp Paradox being more like Discord’s playpen rather than a real camp, the beach was honestly well-kept and the surrounding waters were rather pleasant. The view from where the two unicorns sat was breathtaking alone.

“…you worried about the vote tonight?” Twilight asked, finally breaking the silence. She felt somewhat like a foal, bringing up such a touchy subject, but it would soon come to be that time and both unicorns knew that Trixie was still not well-liked.

“…Trixie isn’t even thinking about that right now,” Trixie responded, “Why? Does Trixie have a reason to be worried?”

“Well…I think Scootaloo still holds a grudge against you for what you did to Apple Bloom…” Twilight explained, “And I think Pinkie and Derpy are both kinda mad you didn’t give them the cupcakes and muffins you promised them…”

“Should Trixie try to do what she did last time then?” Trixie asked, glancing sideways at Twilight and raising an eyebrow, “Are you expecting another evil scheme hatched by this show-mare?”

“Er…no, that’s what not I was insinuating,” Twilight gulped, realizing she had put her hoof in her mouth, “I was just…well…okay, I’ll admit that I was kinda worried you would try something like that again…but, I really just wanted to thank you again.”

“Oh? Are you referring to what Trixie did back on Dusk Island?” Trixie said, “If so, do not mention it; Trixie said that she was just returning the favor, nothing more. As much as she REALLY hates to admit it, you DID save her during the food-gathering challenge, so she felt she owed you.”

“Well…either way…thank you,” Twilight smiled, glancing down at the sand in front of her hooves and trying to avoid Trixie’s stern looks. Trixie glanced at the unicorn next to her for a few more seconds before turning her gaze back to the ocean. The two once more sat in silence, side-by-side, not bothering to say another word, although both unicorns did glance at one another now and then.

Twilight: What was I doing, you ask? Well…yeah, I know Trixie has attitude issues, not to mention she unfairly got Apple Bloom kicked off…but, she DID save my life, and despite what she says, she didn’t HAVE to do that. I’m…I’m kinda curious…as to why she is the way she is. I want to know what’s in her heart… *her face flushes as she says that* Okay, I said that wrong! Um, you can erase that, right?

When it was time for the Magical Misfits’ fourth bonfire ceremony, both Twilight and Trixie showed up together. Rarity was back to looking as beautiful as ever, despite the fact she still seemed unsatisfied with something. Cheerilee and Scootaloo both showed up together, and Pinkie and Derpy both bounced and flew in as a couple, too. Judging from the bumps on Derpy’s head, it was clear that Trixie had indeed caught and punished her for what she had done earlier, although it didn’t seem that Derpy remembered such an incident, even though it happened only two hours ago.

“Ah, Magical Misfits, good evening to you all,” Discord smirked, idly roasting some marshmallows by the raging bonfire, “You really are making it a habit being here, you know that? I suppose you really like voting off your teammates, hmm?”

“Shut it, Discord,” Twilight growled, “I enjoy being here just as much as I enjoyed getting half of my body burned to a crisp!”

“Saucy as always, eh, Twilight?” Discord yawned, tossing his marshmallow behind his back when it didn’t meet his standards, “Next time, we should throw you into a tsunami instead; it really wasn’t a smart idea to ‘fire you up’ when you really needed to be ‘cooled down’ instead!”

“Can we PLEASE just get on with this?” Twilight moaned, “I’m tired and in pain and I want to go to bed.”

“Oh, very well, party pooper,” Discord pouted, floating up to his full length as he faced the team, “Well, welcome to another ceremony. You all know how this works by now. Each of you must vote for the pony you want voted out. The ballot box in the confessional, as always. Since Twilight is being crabby, we’ll just get right to it. Cheerilee, my dear, you’re up first.”

Pinkie: *holding up her ballot upside down to the camera, but it still said Trixie’s name* Trixie is a big meanie-head for not giving me cupcakes! She’s a liar-liar, pants on fire! *she puts it in the box*

Rarity: *showing the camera that she voted for Derpy* As much as I despise Trixie, YOU were the one that cost us the challenge, dear…next time, you should be more careful. *she puts it in the box*

Scootaloo: *showing the camera that she voted for Trixie* I haven’t forgotten what you did to my fellow crusader, Apple Bloom. She WILL have her vengeance, you mean mare! *she puts it in the box*

Trixie: *showing the camera that she voted for Derpy* You lose us the challenge? You go home! Say goodbye, Derpy Hooves! Ugh…where did you even GET that name? *she puts the ballot in the box*

“You have all made your votes,” Discord said, snapping his fingers as the ballot box appeared in front of him, “Once a majority is reached, the decision is final and the one with the most votes will be sent down the Dock of Shame and go on the Boat of Losers, where they will be taken far away and NEVER will be allowed to come back to camp…EVER!”

“FOR…EVER!” Pinkie snarled. Discord just looked at Pinkie for a long time before excusing himself and going to go bang his head on a nearby tree a good dozen times. When he came back, he snapped his fingers and put an icepack on his head while he flipped open the front of the ballot. He reached inside and pulled out the first ballot.

“First vote…Trixie,” Discord said, showing the first ballot to the Magical Misfits with Trixie’s name on it.

“Second vote…Derpy. That’s one vote Trixie and one vote Derpy.” 

“Third vote…Trixie. That’s two votes Trixie and one vote Derpy.”

“Fourth vote…Derpy. That’s two votes Trixie and two votes Derpy.”

“Fifth vote…Trixie. That’s three votes Trixie and two votes Derpy.”

“Sixth vote…Derpy. That’s three votes Trixie and three votes Derpy…and one vote left.” 

Trixie, for the first time, was nervously shaking in her seat as she awaited the final vote. Derpy seemed like she was just enjoying hearing her name be called over and over again. The entire team awaited the final result to know who would be voted off as Discord pulled out the deciding ballot which, like all the others, was folded in half so the name was not yet even known to the draconequus himself.

“And the sixth loser of Total Magic Pony Island is…” Discord began, just about ready to unfold the ballot and read the name that was on it. However, before he could do so, he glanced to the side and noticed that a small sphere of light had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was levitating in the middle of the area and seemed to be growing bigger and bigger as the seconds ticked away. Discord and the Magical Misfits were all confused by what they were seeing, and had no idea what to make of it. The ball of light then began to morph into a large door-shaped portal, which then revealed a large blue box that was pushing its way through the dimensional doorway itself. The words “Police Stable” were printed on the sides, and just left the current onlookers more and more confused with what they were seeing.

When the entire blue box was revealed, being about as big as two or three of the confessional booths put together, the door opened up. Inside, a futuristic room made of metal arranged around a single control station in the center could be seen, but it was the ponies who quickly leaped out a second later that caught everyone’s attention. 

One of the ponies was an earth pony stallion with an hourglass cutie mark on his flanks; he was also wearing a rather fashionable light brown overcoat. Joining him were three mares, all of whom were very familiar. The first mare was an earth pony with a pale cream coat, a navy-blue mane with a pink stripe running through it, and a cutie mark consisting of three wrapped candies. The second mare had a turquoise coat, a cyan mane, and a cutie mark of a gold lyre on her flanks. The third mare was amber-gray with a flowing dark gray mane and a cutie mark of a treble clef on her flanks. Almost immediately, the stallion stepped forward and pointed towards the Magical Misfits.

“Derpy! Thank heavens we found you in time!” the stallion declared, “There isn’t a moment to lose! You must come with us at once. The Author has returned, but this time he has gone too far! The fool has decided to write…a parody of Hearth’s Warming! Can you imagine anything more horrible than that?”

“Uh…excuse me, but…just who are you and WHY are you interrupting my show?” Discord asked, floating over to the four ponies and frowning.

“Silence, Discord!” the pony with the treble clef cutie mark growled, glaring up at the draconequus as she stood on her hind legs, “You are nothing more than part of another illogical, confusing, and downright disastrous story that makes no sense.”

“Indeed,” the stallion sniffed, stepping forward and keeping his eyes locked on Derpy, “Derpy, my dear, since you were forced into his alternate reality to be part of this asinine island story, you probably don’t remember who I am or what we do. Allow me to quickly jog your memory. I am the Doctor, and…”

“Uh…no…your name is Doctor Whooves, if I remember correctly,” Twilight spoke up, frowning a bit.

“…I prefer ‘the Doctor’, if you’d please, Twilight Sparkle,” the Doctor said.

“And…if I recall correctly…don’t we know the rest of you, too?” Twilight pondered, looking at the rest of the cast that had just shown up.

“Ooh, ooh, we sure do!” Pinkie giggled, “That’s Lyra Heartstrings, whose last name was just revealed not too long ago! That’s Bon-Bon, and that’s Octavia!”

“Since when has my last name been ‘Heartstrings’?” Lyra frowned.

“Don’t ask me,” Bon-Bon shrugged, “You’ll always be ‘Lyra’ to me, and that’s that.”

“Look…just tell me WHAT you want so I can get back to the elimination ceremony,” Discord complained. 

“Very well, you rude spirit of disharmony, I was just getting to that before I was interrupted,” the Doctor frowned, “I’m here for Derpy Hooves, my partner-in-crime, so to speak. You see, we fanons…”

“What the heck are fanons?” Scootaloo asked. 

“My dear filly, please do not interrupt me…I can never say anything that way!” the Doctor grumbled, “Fine, let me put this as simply as I can, since I’m wasting valuable time here. Derpy and myself, along with the cohorts at my sides, go around to different dimensions and stories and fix things that aren’t supposed to be trifled with. One of our greatest enemies, The Author, once wrote a complete bogus and horrendous story on how something known as the Legion of Gloom tried to take over Ponyville with their evil plans!”

“…that doesn’t sound like such a bad idea,” Trixie smirked. At the sound of her voice, Lyra, Bon-Bon and Octavia all gasped and immediately glared at the unicorn.

“Oh no, it’s the Great and Powerful Her Royal Highness Princess Mayor Supreme Ruler of the Moon Trixie!” Lyla squealed, “But, Doctor, how is this possible? Was she not turned to stone along with the rest of the Legion of Gloom?”

“…when did Trixie receive a title like THAT?” Trixie frowned, “That is…horrible! Trixie loves her title, but she would not humiliate herself by saying something like THAT! And what’s this about Trixie being turned to stone?”

“Lyra, Bon-Bon, Octavia, please refrain from doing or saying anything more,” the Doctor warned, “Remember, in this story, we are not supposed to be here…and everything that happened to Trixie and her gang never happened at all. Why do you think we don’t have DJ PON-3 with us?”

“Her NAME is Vinyl Scratch,” Twilight growled, now getting highly irritated with these uneducated ponies that just showed up out of nowhere, “She informed me that DJ PON-3 is just her STAGE NAME. Did you seriously call her that all the time?”

“…eh-hem…yes, well…anyway, moving on, we need you with us, Derpy,” the Doctor continued, pulling out a small metallic device from his overcoat and glancing down at it, “My sonic screwdriver is telling me that everyone on this island has their mind locked, so nothing we say will make any sense to them.”

“One, that’s just a stupid screwdriver,” Rarity sighed, “Two, my mind is NOT locked. Three, please leave because you are starting to make me very nervous.”

“…Derpy, my dear, please just come with us before I lose my patience,” the Doctor sighed, clearly not enjoying being in the presence of these other ponies, “Just get onboard the TARDIS with us and soon I will explain…”

“That stupid blue box is called the TARDIS?” Scootaloo grinned, slapping a hoof over her forehead as she doubled over with laughter, “Wow…where did you come up with THAT name?” The little filly continued to laugh her head off while Doctor Whooves, Lyra, Bon-Bon and Octavia all got more and more aggravated by the minute due to the lack of cooperation they were receiving.

“Enough is enough! Derpy, I’m sorry, but you’re coming with us and that’s final!” the Doctor snapped, finally losing his patience, “Lyra, Bon-Bon, please go and retrieve our Pegasus.”

“Roger, Doc!” the two mares smiled, quickly trotting forward to get the confused Derpy Hooves.

“…please don’t call me ‘Doc’…you KNOW I don’t like that,” the Doctor sighed. 

“Hey, wait, you can’t just take…” Twilight began, making to stop Lyra and Bon-Bon from taking Derpy, but was met by a grinning Octavia, who loomed over the smaller unicorn like a giant would a midget, “Um…hehe…hi there, Octavia…long time no see?”

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle, a real pleasure to see you again,” Octavia smiled, pulling out her deadly cello bow and casually pointing it down at the unicorn’s face, “Now, here’s the deal. We’re taking Derpy Hooves with us because she is vital to our mission to stop The Author at his own sick games again. You be a good little filly and just stay where you are and you won’t have to feel some pain. Is that clear?”

“Um…well, er…” Twilight gulped, but as Octavia playfully dragged her sharp cello bow underneath her chin, the unicorn just gave a quick and nervous nod and didn’t move another inch or say another word. The rest of the team also backed away from Octavia, keeping their eyes fixated on her weapon of choice. Lyra and Bon-Bon both soon captured Derpy and began dragging her back towards the TARDIS, all while Discord watched with his mouth agape.

“Forgive me for having to do this to you, Derpy, but you’ll understand why I had to soon enough,” the Doctor said, giving the blonde Pegasus a little hug before turning back around, “We got who we came for, girls. Don’t worry about DJ…uh…Vinyl; we can make do without her.”

“Aww, but Octy SOOO totally misses her!” Bon-Bon teased, winking over at the cello mare. 

“How many times do I have to tell you to STOP making those jokes?” Octavia growled, turning away from the cowering Magical Misfits and stomping back over to her team, “That does it, Bon-Bon; you asked for it!”

“Uh-oh, Octy’s mad!” Lyra giggled, quickly racing back into the blue box that was apparently known as the TARDIS, “Run, Bon-Bon, run!” 

“Coming, Lyra!” Bon-Bon laughed, joining her favorite mare in the entire world as Octavia angrily chased them inside. 

“Um…well, I guess I have to…go do something…or something,” Derpy said, tilting her head as she waved to her team, “Bye-bye for now!” She turned around and bonked her head on the TARDIS door, causing her eyes to spiral for a few minutes, before she ambled inside on her own free will.

“Yes…very good…now, things should be much easier,” the Doctor smiled, turning back and looking at Discord, “Please excuse me for interrupting your…eh-hem…show. As for the rest of you…all I can say is good luck…you’re gonna need it.” With that said, Doctor Whooves turned and headed back into the blue box. The sphere of light soon appeared again and turned into a vortex, and after a blinding flash of white, the TARDIS and its riders were gone.

Discord, Cheerilee, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Scootaloo, Trixie and Twilight Sparkle all just stared at the spot where the TARDIS had once stood, their mouths all wide open and their eyes as large as dinner plates. Each one had a slightly different expression, ranging from horror to confusion, but each face basically had the same open mouth and wide eyes. It took a good few minutes before Discord finally came to his senses and coughed loudly to break up the awkward moment.

“Well…that just about wraps up this elimination ceremony, doesn’t it?” he smiled, tossing the remaining ballot that he still had in his hand into the fire, “See you all later!” He gave a friendly wave to the Magical Misfits, then whistled nonchalantly and flew off towards the camp, leaving a stunned silence in his wake that wouldn’t go away for a long time, and neither would the Magical Misfits.

Lyra: *curiously poking at the camera, and then happily clopping her hooves together* You know what? This is actually kinda cool! I wouldn’t mind being part of this! EEK! *at that moment, the same portal opened up incredibly quickly and Bon-Bon reached out and grabbed Lyra’s hoof, forcibly yanking her back inside the TARDIS. The portal then closed and the confessional was once again empty*

With the Magical Misfits still sitting in the same place that Discord had left them ten minutes ago, the draconequus floated past the infirmary to the nearest camera so he could sign off on the episode properly. Inside, Zecora was seen napping on a bed, a few of her body parts wrapped in gauze. In her hooves, she had the same wooden doll snuggled close to her that she had found back on Dusk Island. No one had noticed that she still had it.

“Well, that wraps up another…interesting…episode,” Discord announced, pointing at the camera, “With the ditzy Derpy Hooves apparently gone, this leaves the Magical Misfits with only six teammates left. Will there be harmony? Will there be chaos? Will I ever figure out just what in the world happened at the elimination ceremony? Probably not, and since it hurts my head to think too much about things that don’t really affect me, I probably won’t even bother. So, Equestria, stay tuned for the next installment of the best show in the universe, Total…Magic…Pony…Island! Hasta la vista, ponies!” He cackled madly and snapped his fingers, vanishing in a puff of smoke as the cameras faded out.