//------------------------------// // Not So Happy Campers Part 2 // Story: Total Drama Friendship is Tragic // by YourUncleFuncle //------------------------------// Luna’s Cliff - Canterlot All 16 campers are assembled at the top of the 1,000 foot tall cliff. They stare mouth agape at the sheer height of it, with realization slowly setting in on what they actually have to do. After about 20 seconds, Chris steps forward. “Welcome, contestants, to your first challenge atop the fabulous Luna’s Cliff!” “Maybe when you’re looking at it from the ground,” Rarity whispered, not taking her eyes off the lake. “Now a lot of you have probably got a good idea of what today’s challenge is. A 1,000 foot dive into the lake. If you look down you will see two rings of rope surrounded buoys. If you land in the smaller ring, you get two points. Land on the larger ring but not the smaller one, and you get one point. If you somehow land in the outer ring, zero points. After you jump, you can swim to the beach on the shoreline” All of the contestants looked at each other, until Scootaloo spoke up. “I’m not saying I would because I’m not a scaredy pony, but what if we decide not to jump?” Scootaloo was clearly shaking, but did her best to hide that she was scared. In response, Chris picked up a yellow chicken hat that looked almost like a real chicken. “Then you will not only be rendered a chicken, but you must wear this ridiculous hat all day and cost your team a point. Also, it’s a lot quicker to jump and swim to the beach then it is to walk or fly from the top of this mountain.” Twilight then stepped forward and asked, “Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?” Chris just gave her an evil grin. “Lady, you haven’t seen nothing yet! Now if you look down there, you will see a bunch of crates.” The contestants followed Chris’ pointed finger. On the shoreline just beside the jumping area were two groups of crates, eight in each group. “Inside of those are the supplies you’ll need to build a hot tub, which is the second part of the challenge. The team that gets the most points in this diving challenge will get a set of wagons they can use to drag the boxes into town, where they can build it. The team that loses will have to carry them all the way, with no wagons. So, which team wants to go first?” Complete silence enveloped everypony as they stared back at the host. It was clear that nopony wanted to go first, mostly because they wanted to see that . a pony could jump and actually survive. Chris then frowned and said, “If you must know, this was tested out before you guys did this.” Flashback to a few days ago from the top of Luna’s Cliff, where Chris is standing with a huge white pegasus with wings that are way too small for his massive body. “Alright, Bulk Biceps, we called you here to test out this cliff dive challenge to make sure it’s safe. Just try to land in the smaller of the two circles. Think you can handle that?” Bulk nodded just before jumping. “YEEEEEEEEAAAAAH-OOOOOWW!!!” Chris looked down and saw that Bulk had managed to land on one of the buoys surrounding the inner circle. He winced at the sight before smiling again taking out a clipboard and a pencil and taking some notes. “Well, that seems safe enough,” he said to himself before walking away whistling. The teams still looked unconvinced and no one was willing to volunteer. Chris got fed up with waiting and decided for them. “Elements of Harmony, you guys will go first.” The whole team went rigid, afraid that they would essentially be the test monkeys for the other team. “Wait just another minute,” Applejack finally said, “why do we have to go first?” “Because I said so, that’s why, now who’s first.” Applejack grumbled before stepping forward and walked to the edge of the cliff and staring down. “(Applejack) Ah was mighty terrified of jumping, but if Ah wanted to step up and be a leader, Ah knew I needed to show my team the strong and dependable pony that Ah am.” Applejack turned to look at her team. “Don’t you worry none. Ah’ll go first and show y’all how it’s done. Here I go!” As soon as she had said it she jumped off the cliff. Everypony went near the edge of the cliff to get a good view, and just before she hit the surface of the water, she went into a diving position and splashed in the inner circle. “Alright, the first jumper and she gets two points for the Elements,” Chris announced. “(Spike) How did she manage to keep her hat on the whole time?” Cheese Sandwich jumped up in excitement. “That looked amazing! I’m up next,” he exclaimed, quickly running back a few yards and then running forward and jumping off, preparing a cannonball. He landed in the outer circle, gaining another point for his team. Next, Pinkie stepped to the edge and laughed. “Hang on Cheese! I’m coming!” She then happily jumps off the cliff and lands tail first right next to Cheese. Both of them laugh and swim toward the beach. The five remaining teammates look at each other in anticipation for someone to step forward. Then Derpy shrinks away. “I don’t know if I can do this guys. I’m really scared.” Twilight smiled kindly to the grey pegasus, “Don’t worry Derpy. It’s not as scary as it looks. Just shut your eyes and dive down, and it will feel like soaring through the air until you splash into the water.” This seemed to give Derpy a little bit of confidence, as she slowly made her way to the end of the cliff and gulped before she dove down without jumping, acting as if she really was soaring through the air. The downside of not jumping was that she lost a lot of momentum, and she landed outside of both rings, not gaining a point. “Alright Elements,” Chris nodded to the remaining four, “with that you have four ponies that jumped and four points gained. Next!” Rarity gave a disgusted “Hummph,” before she turned around. “I am sorry, but I am not going to be seen with a ruined mane, especially on national television.” Twilight teleported in front of her and put a hoof up. “Are you really going to let your mane cost us a point. I mean, don’t you want to just jump and get it over with? You can fix your mane after you're done.” Twilight looked up to see that she was gone. “Where’d she go?” Chris smiled and pointed toward the path that led up and down the cliff, and the posh pony was seen walking down now wearing the chicken hat. “Took the hat and walked off. Now you guys only have three points and three jumpers to go.” “(Twilight Sparkle) I know she cares a lot about looks, but does she realize that she kind of gave herself a black mark by doing that? That just makes her chances of winning a little bit further.” “(Spitfire) In this game you have to be prepared to get your hooves dirty, so if she’s walking off like that, I seriously question her ability to win.” “(Rainbow Dash) Ha ha ha! Did you see that stupid chicken hat on her. I swear she almost turned around and jumped after seeing such a ‘fashion crime’ on her head!” “Fine! I’ll go!” Twilight looked down and did some quick calculations in her head that only Twilight could do, before she backed up, kicked the ground a few times, and sprinted toward the end of the cliff. However, in her calculations she seemed to fail to account for the crab that had just walked in front of the cliff, and retreated into its shell as soon as it saw Twilight coming. Twilight was going too fast to stop and tripped over the shell. Sending her falling head first into the water. She also landed outside of the rings, earning nothing for her team. Shining Armor looked over the edge to her sister below, who looked like a little purple dot making its way to shore. “Hey Twily! You ok?” He sighed at the affirmation he received from his little sister. Trixie then removed her hat and cape with her magic and ran towards the cliff, jumping off and somehow managing to get herself into the smaller ring. “(Trixie) Trixie has been through much worse while perfecting her magic. A simple dive into a lake is not much of a challenge for her.” Chris then looked at the yellow filly who was shivering in fear. “Alright, Apple Bloom, you're the last one. What’ll it be?” “C’mon Apple Bloom,” a shout came from the beach below from her big sister, “You can do it!” Apple Bloom recoiled for a second before a determined look came to her eyes as she started to run forward, “Ah’m coming, big sis!” She jumped off and landed in the outer ring for a final point to be added to the Elements’ score. “Draconequui of Discord, you guys are up. You need six to tie, seven to win.” “What happens if we tie,” Shining Armor asked. “Nobody wins and nobody gets the wagons, easy as that. So, who’s first up?” After a few seconds of silence, Spitfire stepped up and looked to Rainbow Dash. “This should be easy, Dash. We practiced diving at the Wonderbolt Academy, remember?” Rainbow Dash nodded before Spitfire took off her sunglasses, turned around and jumped off, going into a perfect air diving position and landing smack dab in the center of the inner circle. Rainbow Dash then ran forward and performed almost the exact same stunt, with the only difference being the fact that she spun around a few times while going down, and landing in the middle just like Spitfire had. Chris looked at their teammates in surprise. “You guys are off to a really fast start,” he exclaimed, “four points already!” “(Applejack) We’re dead.” “(Cheese Sandwich) Man, those two dove exactly the same! I wonder if they’re related.” “(Scootaloo) That’s going to be me one day! Promise!” “Um, I’m not really sure I c-can do this, guys,” Fluttershy squeaked, drawing the attention of her team. “It’s not so bad, Fluttershy,” Spike encouraged, “it’s not so hard! Maybe you just need to watch a few of us go first. Uh, Big Mac?” The enormous stallion stepped forward, nodding his head. “Eeyup,” he said before running forward and jumping, landing in the outer ring with a huge splash, making the score six to five with five Draconequui still to go. “(Shining Armor) Big Mac is one of the strongest ponies I’ve ever seen. He’s going to be very valuable to this team.” “(Twilight Sparkle) They just had to get the strong one. This will not be easy.” “Oh! Oh! Me next!” The team turned to Scootaloo who was excitedly jumping up and down with a hoof raised. Shining Armor nodded his head in approval, and the orange fully backed up and ran forward. However, it seemed like she was encased with last minute jitters, as she lost balance just before she went off the cliff. Screaming as she went down, she landed just outside of the largest ring for no points. “(Scootaloo) I wasn’t scared! I was...distracted! Yeah! There was a really cool bug right in front of me! Yeah…” Fluttershy went over to Chris looking down at the ground. “I don’t think I can do it,” she whimpered, taking one of the hats before turning to her team, “I’m sorry.” Immediately after Sweetie Belle ran towards the hats, taking one as well, muttering an apology, and ran after Fluttershy. “(Sweetie Belle) I really haven’t been known as the brave crusader, just the one that comes up with all of the plans.” “Well you two,” Chris said, looking towards Shining Armor and Spike, “looks like you two are left, and your team suddenly only has three points left.” Shining Armor then looked to the ground in thought. Then his eyes lit up and he looked over to Spike, who was staring at him confused. “(Shining Armor) At that moment I had the craziest idea ever. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but if it did I would win a leadership position on our team.” “Spike,” he called out to the small purple dragon, “get on my back! We’re jumping together!” Spike just looked at Shining Armor like he was joking, until he crouched down and looked at him with a very serious expression on his face. Spike reluctantly walked over and got on the unicorn prince’s back. “You better know what you’re doing, Shining,” he warned in a tone that Shining couldn’t tell was threatening or fearful. “Don’t worry, Spike, I got this!” He turned around and faced the edge before galloping forward, Spike’s arms fastened around his neck and his eyes shut. Suddenly Spike stopped feeling the thumping on the ground, and realized that they had started falling. 1,000 feet. “(Apple Bloom) Spike looked real funny when they started falling. Ah almost didn’t realize that they might have cost us the challenge.” Shining Armor managed to make it into the water, with Spike still fastened around his neck to the very end. When they surfaced they could hear Chris shouting from the top of the cliff. “7 to 6! The Draconequui won the challenge!” The Draconequui cheered as soon as Spike and Shining got back to the beach, while the Elements looked anything but happy for the other team. “(Pinkie) Awww…and we were so close, too!” Canterlot Beach After about ten minutes Chris finally made it back from the top of the mountain to the beach. “Alright guys, you have two hours to get back to Canterlot and build the hot tubs. There’s a path that splits at a few points, so just make sure you follow the signs. Draconequui of Discord, since you guys won the challenge, those red wagons over there are all yours. Elements of Harmony...uh...good luck! After you get there they will be judged by me based on how well they were built based on the instructions inside one of those boxes. And...go!” The Elements immediately either placed them on their backs or pushed them from behind up the path. Meanwhile most of the Draconequui went to get the wagons, while Big Mac and Shining Armor stayed behind to load the crates. Although the Elements got a lead because they didn’t have to load, in about two minutes it was erased when the Draconequui past them wheeling all of their supplies. The Path to Canterlot 15 minutes later and the Draconequui had a decisive lead over the Elements. At this point they were literally walking at a leisurely pace and singing 99 bottles of milk. “99 bottles of milk on the wall! 99 bottles of milk! Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of milk on the wall!” “(Sweetie Belle) Who knew that doing this much work could be so much fun?” Meanwhile the Elements were walking slowly due to the weight of the boxes they were forced to move without any help. Applejack and Twilight seemed to be the only ones who weren’t struggling too much, with Applejack bucking her box up the path, and Twilight levitating hers. Trixie tried to do the same, but could only do it for about five seconds before dropping it everytime. “I have a question,” Apple Bloom spoke up, “how did we lose when more of us jumped then the other team? That’s not fair!” “Aw, it’s not so bad, Apple Bloom,” Pinkie said with her signature smile, “this just means we can spend time getting to know each other and bonding!” “Uh, begging your pardon, Pinkie,” said Applejack looking behind her, “but most of us already know each other.” “Well yeah! But that doesn’t mean we can’t still bond together!” Applejack rolled her eyes before looking behind at her team and realizing how far behind most of them are. “C’mon team! We’re never going to win at this here pace!” “(Trixie) Trixie does not use her magic for such menial tasks. Trixie needs to rest her magical abilities for when it matters.” “(Applejack) Rarity just kept taking breaks the entire time. She literally asked Cheese to carry her part of the way while she levitated her box.” Sure enough, Rarity was seen on Cheese’s back while complaining about the hot sun. “Why does it have to be so hot?” “Rarity, maybe if you walked by yourself it would help Cheese get there faster,” Twilight suggested. “Just look at him, he’s exhausted!” Rarity looks down and sees an extremely dehydrated Cheese Sandwich who is trying to put on a smile, “No, it’s ok, Twilight, I’m always fine.” Twilight clearly doesn’t believe him, but keeps walking. “Come on, everypony! We’re still way behind the other team,” Applejack yelled behind her, “and pick up the pace there Apple Bloom! You’re moving slower than a snail in molasses!” Apple Bloom is behind most of the other teammates. Being the smallest of the group and having to push the giant crate has clearly taken its toll on her, as she kept having to stop for breaks every few minutes. “Ah’m trying my hardest, sis,” she gasped, “just let me catch up real quick.” “(Twilight Sparkle) Well, at least she was actually trying.” “Uh, guys? Has anyone seen Derpy?” As soon as Pinkie had asked that question everypony started to look around with concern. She was right. Derpy was nowhere to be found. “(Pinkie Pie) So I came to the natural conclusion that she had teleported to the end and was just waiting for us there, but no one would listen to me. The rest of them just thought she got lost. As if!” “Alright everypony, let’s go looking for her,” Twilight ordered as she spread her wings to begin an aerial search, while the rest of the Elements began looking on the ground. Canterlot A half an hour after they began walking, the Draconequui had managed to make it to Canterlot to the area where they needed to begin building. They all seemed really impressed at the time they made. “All right, team,” shouted Spitfire, “we have a big lead over the Elements, and we should use it. So open these crates!” Suddenly Chris appeared, “You can’t use your hands!” Scootaloo did a double take toward the host. “Where in Equestria did you come from, Chris?” “(Rainbow Dash) How did he manage to get there before us? We pretty much had a direct path! They get all the privileges I tell you.” “Uh, Chris,” Fluttershy said, “I don’t think we have hands, just hooves.” “And claws,” Spike said. Realization immediately dawned on Chris, but before he could say anything else, Big Mac reared back and bucked his crate, which instantly fell apart, revealing a pump. “Well…I guess that works,” Chris said before facepalming. “(Fluttershy) I hope I didn’t make him mad. I just...really want to...win?” All of them opened up their crates and examined the objects they got. “Cool, I got wood planks,” Rainbow Dash announced, holding two or three oak planks. “I got some tools,” Spike said, holding a pony version of a hammer. “I got a rock,” Fluttershy said shyly, holding up a rock, much to the amusement of Chris. “I didn’t say all of the crates had supplies in them,” the host said, chuckling. “I got a tarp,” Scootaloo said, “and, oh yes! The instructions.” She excitedly held a big blue tarp in one hoof and a piece of paper in the other. Rainbow Dash flew over to her and extended a hoof “Can I see them, Scoots?” Scootaloo happily gave her the instructions, and Rainbow Dash looked them over. She looked up at all of the supplies to make sure they had everything they needed to start. “Ok, check, check, check, we have that, and check! Alright guys let’s get to work. I’ll read off the instructions!” The team gave a cheer and started building while Rainbow Dash flew around making sure that the tub was turning out like the diagrams. “(Spike) I thought we’d be at each other’s throats the whole time, but I guess that the win earlier and the easy trip back to Canterlot made us feel relaxed and grow as a team. “(Rainbow Dash) The question in the backs of everypony’s mind is who’s going to be the leader, but for now Spitfire and Shining Armor seem to be sharing the role. It will be interesting when those two disagree on something finally.” The Path to Canterlot It had been ten minutes and no sign of Derpy. Everyone was still looking, except for Rarity and Trixie, who were watching the boxes and talking. Twilight had taken to soaring across the sky, her eyes beamed into the trees on either side of the forest desperately searching for any sign of the full yellow mane her teammate owned. “(Twilight Sparkle) I was seriously starting to think that Derpy went to the finish line without us somehow. You really have no idea what that mare is thinking sometimes.” Suddenly she heard Applejack’s voice calling out from a little ways away. “Hey everypony! I found her!” Twilight started to dive towards the sound, where she saw a relieved looking Applejack and a confused looking Derpy. “Derpy,” Twilight started, “what happened?” Derpy gave her a puzzled expression. “I was just trying to catch up to you guys. I assumed that you were way ahead of me, so I tried to take a short cut.” “(Derpy Hooves) I fell behind and couldn’t see my team anymore, and I came up to an arrow. It was telling me to go left, but I thought it was like that one shortcut on Mario Kart Wii at Wario’s Gold Mine, so I decided to go right. The funny thing was that there weren’t any minecarts flying overhead.” “Chris said to follow the signs” Applejack explained to Twilight, “so she got lost for not following them!” Twilight let a groan slip past her lips as she tried to hold back her frustration as possible. “Alright girls, let’s go round up the rest of our team so we can get a move on. We already lost a lot of time.” Twilight then flies back to gather her teammates and meets them all back at the crates, although Derpy takes a little longer because she still has to push her own crate back. As soon as they all get back they finally begin to move forward again. Canterlot After a little more than an hour, the Elements finally manage to get to the building area, but they all gasp at what they find. The Elements are about halfway done with their hot tub, and at this point were going at a very leisurely pace. “(Shining Armor) After the first few steps it really wasn’t that hard. It went from ‘attach the pump to the edge with the tool set, to hammer in these nails.” “Alright Elements, we’re down but not out, so let’s build this hot tub!” Cheese’s cheer of encouragement seemed to reactivate the Elements, as they soon rushed forward with newfound determination to their boxes to break them open. Before they reached them, however, Chris shouted from his lawn chair he had set up by the area. “You can’t use your hooves!” The whole team came to a screeching halt before looking at Chris and started complaining, with Apple Bloom being the loudest. “Well then how are we supposed to get the supplies from the inside?” Twilight then cleared her throat to get the attention of her team. “Like this,” she said before using her magic to levitate the box closest to her, moving it higher and higher in the air until suddenly dropping it and letting it smash open on the ground. Everyone on her team except Trixie stomped their hooves in approval, while Chris facepalmed for the second time. “(Rainbow Dash) You know, Chris really has a lot to learn about Equestria and all of the ponies that live inside it.” Twilight, Rarity, and Trixie begin to use their magic to smash open the rest of the boxes, while the others collected the parts that they needed and began to look over the instructions they found in the box. Thirty minutes later The Draconequui were now finished with the hot tub, and Rainbow Dash, Big Mac, and Fluttershy had been going back and forth with buckets of water to fill it, while the rest of them were sitting and playing cards nearby. “Go maid,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, flipping her cards over with a big grin. Spitfire looked at her cards and groaned. “Ok Sweetie Belle,” she started, “first of all that’s Go Fish, second of all it’s also Old Maid, and third of all WE’RE PLAYING CRAZY EIGHTS!” “We are?” Spitfire then turned her attention to Scootaloo who was sitting next to Sweetie Belle. “I could have sworn we were playing Black Jack.” Spitfire shook her head while the three ponies who had gone to get water dumped another load into the hot tub. “It’s about halfway full,” Rainbow Dash announced joyfully, “we’ll be able to start the pump soon.” “Excellent job guys,” Shining Armor cheered, while the others nodded in agreement, “we totally have this in the bag!” Meanwhile Derpy heard Shining Armor and flew over to look at their tub when suddenly Rainbow Dash popped up in between her and the tub. “Spy! Get away before I have to chase you away!” Derpy put her hooves to her mouth in a surprised fashion. “Oh, sorry Rainbow Dash. I just wanted to take a look at what you ponies did.” “WELL, DON’T!” Rainbow’s yell startled Derpy who lost control in the air and flew right at Rainbow Dash, who didn’t have time to react as both pegasi went plummeting to the ground. Fluttershy saw what happened and flew over and stared down at them concerned. “Are you two alright?” She put out a hoof for Derpy, who had landed on top of Rainbow Dash, and then did the same for the blue pegasus. “Yeah I’m all good. Thanks Flutters,” she said before turning to the guilty grey pegasus. “Watch where you're going!” Derpy looked at Rainbow Dash, mumbling an apology before going back to her own team. Rainbow just stood watching her shaking her head. “(Rainbow Dash) I know the pony is literally nicknamed Derpy, but she can really be clueless sometimes.” “(Derpy Hooves) I really need to find a way to make it up to Rainbow Dash. Hmmm…” Meanwhile the Elements were almost done with their hot tub, and it was looking very nice. All it needed was the water. “Alright team,” Applejack called out, “Ah’m going to fill a bucket. Who’s coming with?” “Ah’ll go, big sis,” Apple Bloom cried out, grabbing one of the buckets, with Pinkie following her close behind. “Water round up! Water round up! Let’s finish our hot tub here!” “Alright you two, let’s go!” The three of them quickly ran to fetch the water, while the other Elements stayed behind to put the finishing touches on their hot tub. Trixie and Twilight were tightening the bolts when Trixie looked over and saw that Twilight was done with her bolts, and that she herself had a few to go. Trixie thought to herself for a second before grinning evilly. “(Trixie) The only way that miserable princess could have possibly managed to tighten her bolts faster is if she had failed to tighten her bolts enough. Trixie knew she needed to rectify this mistake and be the hero of her team.” Trixie finished tightening all of her bolts and then moved to the back of the tub where all of Twilight’s bolts were, and started tightening as hard as possible. Thirty minutes later “Three, two, one, STOP!” The teams quickly assembled in front of their respective hot tub, and looked at Chris in anticipation. First up he walked over to the Draconequui hot tub and looked it over. He dipped a finger in the water, examined it, looked over the sides, and checked the pump. He then turned to the Draconequui. “Nice temperature, bubbling nicely and evenly, boards are all straight, pump is purring like a kitten. In my expert opinion, this is a really nice hot tub.” The Draconequui cheered and high hooved each other. “I do have one question, though,” he said with a joking expression. “Why didn’t you use the rock?” The whole team groaned and looked at him, not amused. Chris’ smile dropped and he turned around and started to walk toward the other hot tub. “No sense of humor these guys,” he muttered, before stopping at the pool and doing almost the same check up. “These planks are really well put together, pump is purring, that seems to be in order. Hmmm…” he stopped for a second before turning to the Elements and asking Cheese to come over. He did and Chris pointed in the hot tub. “Do you see anything wrong with this?” Cheese looked in, before he smiled and looked at Pinkie. “You jokester! What did you do with the water?” As he started laughing the rest of the Elements processed the information she gave and ran over to the tub, with the . Draconequui following behind as well in curiosity. Inside where water should have been, instead there was a few small puddles of water and no more. Twilight turned to Applejack, and yelled, “I thought you guys were going to fill the entire tub up with water, not just the very bottom!” Applejack stared back at her with rage in her green eyes. “It was full and fully functional. Ah seen it with my own two eyes. You musta messed up putting the boards together and there was a leak.” Pinkie then walked to the other side of the tub that was hidden from view. “Hey guys, I think I found where the water went! Start getting the buckets and scoop the water back in!” Everyone else went around to the back of the hot tub and found their hooves or claws on very wet grass. Then they looked at the boards on the pool, and they saw the problem instantly. “The bolts leaked,” Apple Bloom cried out, “look, there’s still marks where the water ran down.” Applejack’s frustration was now at an all time high. “So which one of y’all was in charge of tightening the bolts?” The whole team looked at Twilight and Trixie, and the blame clearly rested on their shoulders. Trixie for her part started thinking of a way to shift the blame away from her, and the solution was almost instantaneous. “Well Trixie did the bolts for the front side,” Trixie stated, “so it must have been Twilight!” Suddenly everyone’s attention was focused on the purple alicorn, and her eyes were indeed darting around in worry. “Dang it, Twi,” Applejack shouted, “these bolts are way too tight. There are cracks in this here wood. “I swear I didn’t tighten them that hard,” Twilight responded, “I made sure they were tight enough where they could hold, but I didn’t do it that hard!” “Well thanks to you we may have just lost our first challenge!” “Hey,” Chris interrupted, gaining everyone’s attention, “as the host I decide who the winner is.” The anticipation was high as he looked back and forth between the two teams before cracking a big smile. “Come on guys. No question the Draconequui of Discord win, for reasons including, but not limited to, having water in their hot tub.” The Draconequui started to cheer and celebrate. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire high hooved each other, Big Mac silently smiled, and Spike was jumping up in down like the little kid that he was. “Congratulations Draconequui,” Chris said happily, “to the winners go the spoils. Tonight you guys will be receiving a delicious dinner in the canteen, courtesy of Shining Armor’s best friend, Chef Hatchet.” Shining Armor laughed at the joke, followed by the rest of the high spirited team. “And as an added bonus, none of you go home tonight! So get back to the train while I deal with the others.” The Draconequui kept celebrating and jumping up and down while going back to the nearby train. “(Sweetie Belle) We won the first challenge! I can’t believe it! Though I really hope my sister doesn’t get sent home. “(Shining Armor) I won two things today. One the challenge and the respect of my team…” “(Spitfire) ...that will make me the leader of my team soon.” Chris then turned to the Elements, with a sympathetic look, “Just so you know, you guys may have actually won if it wasn’t for the leaks.” This caused the whole team to stare at Twilight, some with disgust, some with disappointment, and one with a big smile (guess who). “Well, sorry guys, but you lost. Normally I’ll just say to nominate a pony for elimination because we won’t be sending a pony home in every episode, but this time a pony will be going home. And can I just say something?” Applejack stared at him coldly. “What?” Chris leaned in and said in a very soft voice, “You ponies have a lot of good options.” He then followed the path back to the nearby Ponyville Express. “(Applejack) The worst part is he’s not wrong. I feel that we need to consider the worst player on our team. But who?” Dining Car With all systems go, the contestants were now being brought back to Ponyville, in time for the very first dramatic bonfire ceremony. The Draconequui were all chowing down on the delicious feast that had been set out by Chef. “Hey guys do me a favor,” Spike said through bites of his sandwich. How about we win every challenge so we can be treated like kings?” “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, “plus this cake here tastes awesome.” She then stuffed the rest of the cake into her mouth. Spitfire chuckled. “Eat like that, Dash, and you won’t be able to fit into your Wonderbolts uniform.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she dashed over to Spitfire so that they were almost nose to nose. “Really? A Wonderbolt?” Spitfire chuckled again, “Maybe one day, Dash.” “Good job team,” Shining Armor said, “I think we’re well on our way to dominating this game.” “Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed. The whole team continued the celebration until Rainbow turned and saw Derpy going into her room with a big bucket of something. Wondering what she was doing, she tapped Fluttershy and pointed toward the cabin. “Do you know what Derpy could be doing in our cabin?” Fluttershy just shrugged and got up to look, with Rainbow following close behind. When they got to the door they found that it was opened and that Derpy appeared to be working on something that they couldn’t see. Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy before going over to Derpy and tapping her on the shoulder. As soon as she did, though, she jumped up surprised and dropped the bucket that she was holding. The contents of which fell of both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, dousing them each in sparkly pink paint. It made Fluttershy shrink away nervously, but it made Rainbow Dash super angry, and then she exploded at Derpy. “WHAT THEY HAY, DERPY! WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT PAINT, AND WHY ARE YOU EVEN IN HERE?” Derpy had hung her head in shame before explaining, “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, I was trying to make you a card to apologize for earlier, and I wanted it to be a surprise.” This didn’t seem to calm Rainbow down at all, but before Fluttershy could stop her, she stormed in the room and to the bathroom to get the paint off. Derpy then walked up to Fluttershy. “Sorry,” she said “I didn’t mean for it to happen like this.” “It’s ok Derpy,” Fluttershy said, still covered in paint, “you didn’t mean for it to happen like this. I’m sure Rainbow will understand once she calms down.” Derpy smiled shyly and nodded, walking out of the room. “(Fluttershy) If this game doesn’t destroy Derpy first, I’m afraid that Rainbow will instead. Pinkie Pie was hopping along down the hallway prepared to go use the confessional when she suddenly heard a voice. “Hey, Pinkie, can I talk to you for a sec?” “Okie dokie lokie,” she exclaimed before walking toward the source of the voice and starting a conversation. “(Pinkie Pie) The pony made me pinkie promise I wouldn’t tell anyone what she said, so I won’t.” A voice came over the trains loudspeaker suddenly, “Attention Elements, we are about five minutes ourside of Ponyville, so please cast your votes and wait in the Observatory Car so we can walk to the Campfire Pit as soon as we’re there.” Campfire Pit It’s nighttime in Ponyville, the campfire is lit, and there’s a bunch of marshmallows on a silver platter which can only mean one thing. It’s time for a Campfire Ceremony. The Elements of Harmony all sat down next to one another with worried expressions, before Chris stepped forward and picked up the silver platter. “Elements of Harmony,” he started, at camp, marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp, marshmallows represent life.” He paused for a second to let the message sink in before continuing. “You've all cast your votes and made your decision. There are only seven marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name come up and claim your marshmallow. Everypony will receive a marshmallow except one, and if that happens to be you, that means you're out of the contest, and you can't come back... Ever.” The team looked back and forth at each other, some worried, some confident, but they looked back to Chris as he read of the first name. “Applejack.” Applejack stepped forward with a smile and got her marshmallow from the plate, eating it immediately. “Cheese Sandwich, Pinkie Pie.” Both of them stood up and cheered before getting their marshmallows and standing with Applejack. “Apple Bloom.” Apple Bloom turned around and smiled at the other four still remaining before frowning when she saw how stressed they all looked, except Trixie. She walked up and claimed her marshmallow, and stood next to her sister. Chris then looked at his notecard before staring up in disbelief. “Surprisingly Trixie.” Trixie knowingly stood up and got her marshmallow, one of three that were still there. “Rarity.” Rarity wiped a bead of sweat off her head before she got hers. Chris then held up the platter with only one marshmallow remaining. “Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the evening.” Twilight Sparkle and Derpy Hooves both stood eying the marshmallow, anticipation building. Twilight had her hooves on her cheeks and Derpy was shaking uncontrollably. Finally Chris held up a finger and pointed it at Twilight, then Derpy, then brought it back to his thought, and then… “Twilight.” Twilight almost fell over in excitement as she ran over to pick up the last marshmallow. The whole team then turned to Derpy, who was wearing a devastated look on her face. Chris then cleared his throat. “Sorry Derpy,” he said pointing over his shoulder “exit stage left is that way.” Derpy got up, waved goodbye with a sad smile, and walked away without a word. “(Derpy Hooves) I guess it’s for the best. I slowed our team down in the challenge which caused Twilight to get stressed and to rush the bolts. Besides, I don’t want Rainbow Dash to be even more mad then she already is.” “Everyone else,” Chris said, “enjoy your marshmallows, you’re safe...for now,” he said while walking back to the train. “(Rainbow Dash) I may or may not have pulled a few strings there. I had a bad feeling that she was going to mess with my reputation more, so…” “(Twilight Sparkle) I’ll make them sorry they put me up there last night. They don’t know this, but I can be a bit competitive at times, and I can feel that spirit coming on, so they better watch their step, because I’ll do anything to win this competition, and no one will stop me!” Votes Derpy “(Pinkie Pie) I’m still not saying what we talked about, but I vote for Derpy.” “(Cheese Sandwich) I didn’t really want to vote for anyone, but Pinkie told me to vote for Derpy, so sorry.” “(Rarity) I trust Pinkie knows what she’s doing, so I vote Derpy.” Twilight “(Trixie) Now that I set her up, everyone thinks that Twilight cost us the challenge. She’s totally going home. I vote for the miserable princess.” “(Derpy Hooves) Twilight kinda lost us the challenge today. Sorry.” Rarity “(Applejack) Ah can’t have a girl who won’t even step on the ground if it’s dirty on the team. Sorry Rarity, but you’re dead weight.” “(Apple Bloom) Rarity can be a little annoying and whiny. Sorry darling!” Trixie “(Twilight) That girl is nothing but trouble, always showing off. Bye bye, Trixie!”