Discord was standing on the rickety old dock that was The Dock of Shame, gazing directly into the cameras that were displaying his face (and entire body for that matter) all across Equestria. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island," He narrated as the camera began to display clips from the previous twenty four hours. "There was a lot of accusations and suspicion being thrown around the campfire as a result of Rainbow Dash's secret alliance becoming not so secret."
The camera showed numerous ponies arguing over who to trust and whether Rainbow Dash was right to make such an agreement with Scootaloo despite the possibility it might not work out. Then it showed Twilight moving to break up the argument while Discord narrated. "Twilight Sparkle had to be a real party pooper though and break up the fighting, claiming that it was all part of some secret plan of mine. And hey, do I look like the kind of guy would deliberately undermine friendships for the sake of a show? Even I'm not that chaotic."
Then the camera began to show clips from the previous day's challenge while Discord explained. "I decided to let Nightmare Moon have fun with the eleven remaining contestants. Fun for her, that is," After a brief laugh, he continued to explain as the camera showed clips of ponies running to find a place to hide. "The task was to avoid being spotted by Nightmare Moon and make it back to the dock. But somehow, even that simple task was too difficult for most ponies. Only one managed to pull it off." The camera briefly flashed an image of Pinkie Pie pointing out how she'd managed to stay hidden long enough to win.
Another clip showed Rainbow Dash exposing Cheerilee to Nightmare Moon as other eliminated contestants looked on in shock and horror. And Discord just narrated. "Rainbow Dash wasn't about to let herself be on the chopping block again though, so she busted Cheerilee and was able to snag invincibility for herself, the only pony willingly to sell out another. But hey, Nightmare Moon offered it so why not take her up on it? Invincibility is invincibility after all."
The camera then cut back to nightfall as the contestants were gathered around a fire, and Discord was narrating, "Cheerilee was able to salvage enough of her credibility for one last stand, but sadly it was she who ended up getting voted off. And in a true twist of irony, it was the vote of her last surviving student that sealed her fate."
Clips began to play of Cheerilee walking down the Dock of Shame to the Boat of Losers while her former teammates were on hoof to say goodbye to her. And another clip depicted Scootaloo tearing up with regret for her vote as Discord continued. "Poor Scootaloo regretted her vote, but Rainbow Dash was able to convince her to stick with the alliance for another round."
Then the camera cut back to Discord standing on the dock in daylight as he declared. "Of the twenty contestants who arrived on this island, ten of them have already been sent home and one more is about to join them. Find out who it is here on Total Magic Pony Island!"
Scootaloo still couldn't bring herself to look away from the Dock of Shame and the waters surrounding it. Had she really made the right call voting out Cheerilee? She could've just cast her vote for Trixie who she knew Rainbow Dash had also been targeting. At least then a tiebreaker would've meant that whatever happened wouldn't be her fault.
Rainbow Dash seemed to be picking up on what her number one fan was feeling, and she knew she had to move fast to try to stamp out those doubts before they could grow. She needed every vote she could get to stay in the game, no matter what it took. "Come on, squirt," She told Scootaloo as she pulled the filly close with a wing. "That's how this game works. There can only be one winner, and that's whoever is willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Cheerilee had her chance, she sealed her fate when she lied to you and tried to knock you out."
Scootaloo whimpered and sniffled a bit. "You think so?"
Rainbow firmly nodded. "Whatever her beef with me was, and quite honestly I don't know where she even got the idea that I'm somehow disloyal, she didn't have any right to drag you into it. It's just like with Gilda, no one else has the right to tell you who you can and can't be with. We might have been separated by teams for the first couple of challenges, but now there's nothing left to get in our way."
The camera flickered, showing Rainbow Dash smiling as she sat in the confessional and beamed with pride. "Scootaloo will come around in time, and when she does I'll be there for her. I promised to take her to the final two and it's a promise I intend to keep. And with Cheerilee gone, I'm certain there's not a single pony left in the game who can oppose me," A huge grin started forming on her face as she added. "They've all seen it by now. Anyone who tries to get in my way gets crushed: Spike, Gilda and now Cheerilee! And if everything goes my way, that annoying bragger Trixie will be the next to go!"
Meanwhile, all of Cheerilee's former teammates were now left to reconcile with the off-duty teacher's departure and how the last two rounds with her had affected their perception of her.
"Did we really make the right call in voting off Cheerilee?" Twilight pondered aloud.
Rarity seemed to be struggling to maintain her composure as she retorted. "She was willing to lie to Scootaloo and betray her trust, Twilight. And then she has the gall to turn around and accuse Rainbow Dash of doing the same? How could we ever trust her after that? It's just like when Trixie got poor Apple Bloom eliminated just because we were going to vote her out instead. Too many nasty ponies have gotten ahead in this game by taking advantage of others. The line has to be drawn somewhere, darling."
Pinkie Pie spoke up. "I wasn't exactly thrilled with voting for Cheerilee either, but Scootaloo didn't do anything wrong. Rainbow Dash was the problem, but we couldn't vote for her because she had invincibility. If we'd all wasted our votes on her, Cheerilee would've just been eliminated anyway, right?"
Trixie scoffed. "Maybe Scootaloo deserved to be voted off if she can't see what a monster Rainbow Dash is becoming. The Great and Powerful Trixie saw how easily she could be led astray during the vote that got Apple Bloom eliminated."
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the magician. "Which you deliberately took advantage of, Trixie. You're not any better than you claim Rainbow Dash is. And whatever you claim to have happened to you in the past, it doesn't excuse what you did during the talent show."
"Trixie told you, it was a mistake. But you didn't wanna listen. Just as you don't wanna listen to Trixie now!" Trixie huffed. "But The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need any of you to hold her back! If none of you will listen, Trixie will just strike out for herself. She's already won invincibility once before and she will gladly do it again. Then you'll have no one but yourselves to blame when Rainbow Dash is eliminated."
As this little "argument" started to take hold, Princess Celestia and Vinyl Scratch watched with concern and exchanged worried glances. Princess Celestia even spoke out about it within the confines of the confessional. "It pains me to see my subjects fighting amongst themselves like this. Just because this show is about competition doesn't mean it has to be nasty."
Vinyl Scratch, meanwhile, opted to try and break up the debate. "Hey dudes, chill out!" She protested as she trotted over. "Let's just agree to disagree. I mean, I don't much like the way Rainbow Dash is acting but I'm not exactly a fan of Trixie's behavior either. Besides, this is all just a game. Doesn't matter who wins or loses, it's how you play, right?"
Twilight and Trixie both blinked slowly as Pinkie Pie and Rarity just stood there, uncertain of what to do or say. It seemed almost as if something was up between the two unicorns that took so much pride in their abilities. But at last, the argument seemed to fade away as mysteriously as it had begun. "I suppose Vinyl Scratch is right," Twilight commented in an apparent realization. "This is exactly the same thing as what happened last night after Gilda's elimination."
Rarity arched an eyebrow upward in suspicion. "You think Discord is behind all of this again? It sure seems like it's up his alley."
Twilight shook her head. "Something's behind all this, but if it was Discord I think we would know by now. It's gotta be something about this island."
Derpy let out a yawn. "Well whatever it is, let's just hope it's not permanent. And I hope tomorrow's challenge won't be as grueling as the last few have been."
Pinkie, for her part, just bounced away. "Hey, the last few challenges have been super fun. Well, aside from that challenge to see who could stay awake but that's only because I was the first to fall asleep. Oh well, can't win 'em all." She cheerfully declared.
Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was beginning to scheme anew even as she too was starting to feel just the slightest bit tired. In the confessional, she appeared to be deep in thought as she said to the camera. "I've been winging my strategy up to this point, but I've come so close to having it all come undone. I need to start considering expanding my alliance, or at least my range of targets."
Fluttershy appeared in the confessional next, commenting to herself. "Rainbow Dash, I don't know if I can support you anymore. I hardly recognize the mare you used to be," And she let out a whimper. "Oh, what if what's happening to you is happening to all my friends?" She paused and scolded herself for thinking such a thing. "No, I gotta have faith! Somehow, I know the real you is still out there somewhere, Rainbow Dash."
The next morning, all the campers woke up with a renewed sense of urgency. It had not gone unnoticed by them that half of the twenty contestants that had originally been part of the "show" had been eliminated (though two of the survivors had been previously eliminated and had returned by the most extraordinary of circumstances).
Discord proudly mentioned this at breakfast in the mess hall. "Well, I must admit I'm quite surprised at the selection of contestants left now that half of the cast have been sent packing," He declared with a smile. "I'll be perfectly honest, aside from Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and maybe Twilight Sparkle I didn't expect any of you to make it this far. You should all give yourselves a pat on the back," Ominously, he then added. "While you still can."
Nightmare Moon grinned and flashed a toothy smile. "He's right, you know. It's only going to get tougher from here on out. If you thought some of the challenges from before were difficult, that's nothing compared to what Discord has in store for you all in the future."
The witty spirit then announced. "However, I think you all deserve a bit of a 'reward' for lasting for so long. After all, thanks to all the drama you've helped stir up, this show has become a mega hit! Your fellow Equestrians just can't get enough of it!"
Princess Celestia frowned as the camera flickered, showing her with a disapproving scowl in the confessional. "Exploiting our weaknesses and turning us against each other is apparently 'entertainment'? To all my fellow Equestrians, I'm deeply disappointed," And she then blushed. "And I'm sorry you've all had to see me act so... un princess like. Oh, Luna is never going to let me live this down."
"So go ahead, enjoy your breakfast," Discord encouraged to the ten contestants. "You're going to need a lot of energy for today's challenge. Trust me, it's going to be something extra special!" And then he disappeared with a snap of his talons, leaving everypony to dwell on his last words.
In the confessional, Fluttershy whimpered anew. "Oh, I have a bad feeling about today's challenge. I just know something horrible is going to happen!"
Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was ecstatic as she cheerfully bounced up and down in the confessional while shouting at the top of her lungs! "Ooh! I just know whatever Discord has planned is going to be super duper fun! And I thought he couldn't possibly top the cupcake eating challenge!"
Nightmare Moon, for her part, just muttered to herself. "At least this time I'm not stuck playing babysitter. I'm not getting paid enough for what I have to deal with."
The contestants then ate their meals in relative silence, all wondering just what could possibly be in store for them today and some already considering who they might vote to eliminate at the campfire ceremony at night.
When breakfast was over, the contestants left the mess hall and were soon greeted by the presence of a huge wooden stand that had most definitely not been there yesterday. Heck, no one could recall such a massive stand being built this morning. Discord had undoubtedly poofed it in from somewhere.
And in front of the stand that consisted of two rows of seats (five each, also made from wood) was a massive stage that looked a lot like the one from the talent show. Except this time, situated above it was a huge electronic timer. And there was also a velvet curtain that obscured something of great worth.
"Oh goodie, you're all here!" Discord excitedly declared as he appeared before the ten ponies. "I know what you must be thinking: 'What's old Discord up to now?'"
Rainbow Dash scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Not really, no. The only reason we're doing this is for the money you know."
Discord just yawned and put a paw to his mouth. "Yes, yes, I heard you all the first time. And I've told you all before: It's my island, so you play by my rules. And if you don't like it you're welcome to leave and kiss the million bits goodbye."
Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, couldn't stop bouncing up and down as she eagerly grinned! "Come on, out with it! You said we were gonna do something fun today! So what's the challenge?!"
The spirit smiled. "Oh Pinkie Pie, you complete me you know that?" Then he cleared his throat. "While I do intend for things to get harder, I also intend to make them more interesting. Just watching you all fight amongst yourselves for invincibility isn't as much fun. So I figured 'Why not up the ante?'"
Rarity arched an eyebrow upward. "I take it this has something to do with the stage and the curtain?"
"Patience, Rarity, all in good time. After all, I do have a time quota to fill," Discord explained while looking into the cameras, then looking back at the contestants. "You all know how much research I've been doing on you ponies as part of this game."
A flicker of the camera showed Princess Celestia grumbling in the confessional. "No doubt so he can figure out what weaknesses to exploit when he inevitably tries to take over. But he won't succeed. Not on my watch!"
The camera cut back to Discord continuing in his explanation. "So, since I heard you like to dares I decided to make today's challenge all about dares."
Derpy gulped and swallowed hard. "I don't do well with dares."
"Speak for yourself," Rainbow Dash ribbed her fellow pegasus. "I'm the most daring daredevil that ever dared to do daredevil deeds!"
At that, a most unusual grin crept across Discord's face as a faint flicker seemed to cross his eyes. "Well then, Rainbow Dash, think of this as a chance for you to put your money where your mouth is. You and all of your fellow ponies will partake in some of the most outlandish dares I could possibly come up with. Whoever ends up being the last pony standing wins the whole shebang and all the bragging rights with it!"
Rarity proceeded to throw up a hoof. "What about the prize?"
"Prize?" Discord blinked before realizing what Rarity was implying! "Oh, you mean what's behind the curtain! I was just getting to that," He walked over to the curtain, grasped the handle and pulled hard to make the curtains part. When he did so, a magnificent carriage stood on a small podium and sparkled in the sunlight!
Several ponies couldn't help but let out audible "Ooh!"s and "Aah!"s upon seeing the carriage.
The draconequus grinned and winked. "That's right! The winner also gets this finely decorated carriage that I totally didn't just steal from a museum or something."
Princess Celestia stomped a hoof and snorted! "Discord!"
"Hey, it's not like anypony was using it! And I made sure to leave behind a suitable replacement," Discord remarked as he feigned ignorance of his crime. "Regardless of whether you ultimately win or not, you get to keep this carriage for the rest of the game. I might even let the winner hold onto it after the show is all done, but don't quote me on that."
Rainbow Dash immediately rubbed her hooves together. "For me, Discord? You shouldn't have! Bring on the dares! I'll whoop everypony's sorry flank and that carriage will be as good as mine!"
Scootaloo nervously sought to correct her idol. "Uh, you meant ours, right?"
Rainbow sheepishly answered. "Uh... yes, yes. You know what I meant, Scoots." And she breathed a small sigh of relief.
But Scootaloo wasn't so convinced, she in fact began to ponder something in the confessional. "Rainbow Dash is still gonna take me to the final two, right? She's just making sure everypony knows that, right? Right?"
Discord then wagged a finger on his paw. "Now now, don't get ahead of yourself, Rainbow Dash. As much as I would love to see you smoke the competition I have to remain neutral. I can't exactly play favorites, the network wouldn't like that," And he then cleared his throat. "Anyway, you're all free to target anypony you want during this contest. If so, they must do whatever the next dare that comes up is. If they don't they're out. But if they manage to stick out, then whoever dared them is out instead. And there are no take backs."
The brash speedster groaned in annoyance. "I know, I know! We all know that, Discord! Everypony knows how dares work! Let's just get this show of yours on the road already, we don't have all day!"
"For once, Rainbow Dash, I actually agree with you," Discord declared. "So, without further ado, let this Extreme Daredevil Pony Contest officially begin!"
Rainbow Dash eagerly leapt up! "Sweet! First dare is all me! Give me the best you've got, Discord! I'll knock it out of the park in no time!"
But the spirit protested. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash. But in the interest of 'fairness' I'm going to let the worst performer from the previous challenge have first dibs," And a sadistic grin crept onto his fate. "That means you, old sunbutt. I hope you at least last beyond the first round."
Princess Celestia reluctantly trotted up to Discord while the other nine ponies raced for seats. The first row was quickly taken up by Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Derpy, Pinkie Pie and Vinyl Scratch from left to right. And from left to right on the second row, Fluttershy, Rarity, Trixie and finally Twilight filed in. The last seat on the right was left open for Princess Celestia.
"Good luck, Princess Celestia!" Twilight called from her seat! "I know you can do it!"
But Rainbow Dash shouted back! "Don't give her false hope, Twilight! She's going down and you know it!"
Vinyl Scratch then interrupted. "Yo, save the trash talk for later. She hasn't actually started her dare yet. Heck, we don't even know what it's gonna be."
Fluttershy whimpered. "Oh, I hope it's nothing too cruel. Princess Celestia has been through enough already since this whole thing began."
Meanwhile, Discord put his paws behind his back and then produced a series of five plain looking envelopes, each with a red number on them. From left to right they depicted the numbers one through five. "Go ahead, pick an envelope and decide your fate." He encouraged.
"Okay, I'll just read over them really quick and-" Celestia began as she trotted close and prepared to grab the envelopes.
But Discord yanked the envelopes away and held them up! "Ah ah ah! You don't get to read them ahead of time, that's not how this works! You don't get to know what awaits you. It's all up to lady luck. So you gotta ask yourself, princess: Do you feel lucky?"
The shrunken down sun princess groaned and grit her teeth! "Fine then! I pick number three!"
The spirit's eyes seemed to grow wide, almost as if he knew something that Princess Celestia didn't! "Ooh, are you sure you wanna pick that one?"
"I was elected to lead, so I pick three!" Princess Celestia protested and stomped a hoof. "So give it to me, whatever it is."
Discord obeyed. "Fine, but whatever happens next is on you," He opened up the envelope and presented the first dare of the contest. "You're going to listen to a little 'recording' of a previously eliminated contestant. If you can last for one minute without blowing your fuse or walking away, you win."
The shrunken down sun princess grinned. "That's it? That doesn't sound so difficult."
The witty spirit grinned and chuckled. "Let's see if you change your mind after you see who's on the recording. I'm sure you'll recognize her." And with a snap of his talons, a huge screen was brought up and a fuzzy image appeared on it amidst the sound of heavy static.
Celestia let out a gasp! "Wait, 'her'?!" And her eyes widened in horror! "No, you can't possibly mean..."
Yet when the image finally settled in, there was no mistaking the familiar face that appeared on the screen. The dark blue coat and flowing blue mane and tail left no doubt as to the mare's identity. It was none other than Princess Luna.
Discord snapped his talons, producing a bag of popcorn as he called out. "And... start the clock!" Then he began to munch away on his popcorn.
The recording of Princess Luna didn't seem to be aware of what was going on in front of her. Her exact location was unknown but it didn't look like anywhere in Equestria. It seemed far more... luxurious for lack of a better term. "Oh my, this place is so beautiful! And so relaxing!" She fondly sighed, leaning back in what looked like a beach chair. "I feel sorry for my sister, having to put up with the dreadful conditions back on Paradox Island, and in her 'fun sized' state too."
Princess Celestia began to growl, her eyes narrowing in anger! "Luna! I swear, if I ever find out where you are..."
The recording of Princess Luna just continued to play. Either Princess Luna was feigning ignorance about her sister's presence, or this recording of her was not live and had been done sometime in advance. "Well, sister, if you're watching this I hope you're doing well," A faint grin formed on her face. "I guess in a way you could consider this punishment for banishing me to the moon for a thousand years."
The sun princess growled further as the seconds slowly ticked by. "You and I both know how hard those thousand years were for me, thou ungrateful whelp!" Then she blinked and blushed. "Oh my, my Royal Canterlot voice is slipping out. Guess Luna had to get it from somewhere though."
The camera flickered, showing Twilight sitting in the confessional in utter shock. "How did I not come to that obvious conclusion?! Of course Princess Luna would've picked up her mannerisms and speaking from Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia had to have spoken like Princess Luna used to speak!" She said to herself! "Oh, of all the times for me to be without quills, ink and paper!"
Then the camera cut back to Celestia watching the recording of her younger sister just lounging about in some tropical location (or something of the like). It seemed as if she were ready to snap at the recording of Luna at any second.
Yet at last a buzzer sounded to indicate that time was up. The recording clicked off.
Discord stood up, making his popcorn vanish just as mysteriously as it had appeared. "Oh, what a party pooper," He let out a long, drawn out sigh as his face seemed to slump to the ground. "Regrettably, Princess Celestia, you've won the first dare. So that means you can dare somepony to take up the next one, if you want to."
Princess Celestia just stood up and immediately shook her head. "I'll pass, thank you very much. I'm quite content to let my fellow contestants take their turns of their own free will." And she trotted up to the stands to take her seat, leaving everypony in the audience speechless!
Rainbow Dash began to mutter under her breath. "This might be a problem."
Discord, for his part, just pulled out a list. "Well then, I guess it's up to me to keep things rolling," Then he loudly proclaimed. "Derpy Hooves, come on down! You get to pick one of the four remaining dares! Choose wisely."
Derpy felt her hooves tremble as she nervously left her seat and walked down to the stage. She shut her walled eyes tightly and reached out a hoof. "This one!" She declared, not wanting to know which number she had selected.
The spirit opened the envelope with the red number four on it. "Oh, this one is hardly original! Who came up with a lame dare like this?" He frowned before reading aloud what was written inside the envelope. "You have to spend a minute with a star spider, one of the rarest breeds of spiders in all of Equestria."
Immediately, Derpy screamed! "But, I hate spiders!"
"Well if you don't wanna do the dare, that's fine. You can just be eliminated," The spirit taunted the wall eyed pegasus. "But that means no invincibility and no free carriage."
Rainbow immediately began shouting at Derpy! "Come on, take the dare! You can do it! It's just a spider!"
Fluttershy raised her hoof up. "I'll do it for her!"
But Discord shook his head. "I'm sorry, that's not a valid option. Whoever is dared or picks a dare must do the dare. No exceptions. If I just let ponies weasel their way out of any dares they didn't like, there wouldn't be much of a contest now would there?"
The wall eyed pegasus mare just whimpered. "I'm... sorry, Rainbow Dash," She sincerely apologized to her fellow pegasus. "But I just can't do it."
The spirit unhappily sighed. "Well, at least you spared me from having to carry out an unoriginal dare. However, it's still a forfeit on your end, Derpy," And he slapped a tall, cone shaped hat on top of her head. "This is so I can keep track of who has been eliminated and who hasn't. And before any of you get any ideas, you can't bring a pony eliminated from the contest back in. Not even if you take yourself out. Once you're out, you're out for good. Got it?"
Pinkie Pie was frowning in the confessional and her blue eyes reflected a look of deep sadness. "That's so not fair. This little dare contest is hardly fun if ponies have to abide by all these rules," And she let out a sigh. "I feel so sorry for Derpy. She didn't deserve any of that, especially not from Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash then groaned when it was her turn in the confessional! "Seriously?! Why did Derpy have to go and do that?! She could've stuck it out and then dared Trixie! I guarantee you that Trixie will lose whatever dare she's made to do, even if I have to see to it myself!"
The next pony to go up for a dare was Pinkie Pie. The pink party pony was more than happy to select the first option she laid eyes on, which was fittingly enough the envelope with the number one on it. "So, what do I have to do, Discord? Come on, tell me!"
"Patience, Pinkie Pie. I need time to read it," Discord responded as he did just that. "Ooh! This should be interesting! You've got to endure a full minute worth of the worst nightmares and illusions Nightmare Moon can conjure up!"
The earth pony mare scoffed and waved a hoof. "Oh, that'll be easy peasy pudding in the freezy! I could do that for two minutes! Can we make it two minutes?!"
"No, Pinkie. Just one minute will be enough, thank you," The spirit responded and gave a whistle, motioning for Nightmare Moon to come over. "She's all yours."
Nightmare Moon grinned. "You may have survived my nightmares last night, Pinkie Pie. But you can't giggle at my ghosties forever. One way or another, I will make you feel fear!"
But Pinkie Pie just laughed. "Aw come on, Nightmare Moon. There's no need to take my victory yesterday personally. I'd have been more than happy to eliminate myself if that's what you'd wanted."
The dark coated alicorn only glared, ominously lighting up her horn as she approached Pinkie with narrowed eyes. "You really are a bothersome little pest."
The camera flicked as Twilight's eyes looked ready to pop right out! "Oh man! I don't think Pinkie's realized just how much she's gotten under Nightmare Moon's fur. I wish I could help her." And she shuddered with fright.
"Okay, are you both ready?" Discord asked Nightmare Moon and her soon to be victim. Both nodded without hesitation, prompting Discord to declare. "Go!" And the timer started ticking.
Yet to the surprise of everyone, Pinkie Pie survived the whole minute as if nothing had ever happened. She barely even blinked when it was all said and done, and was still giggling like crazy. "Boy, that was quite a challenge, Nightmare Moon! But that was super duper fun! We should do that again sometime!"
Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon looked to be out of breath and was panting heavily while blowing smoke from the tip of her horn. "How is it that you make Discord look tame by comparison?"
A clip from the confessional showed Rainbow Dash in a state of utter shock and disbelief! "I knew Pinkie Pie was crazy, but I didn't think she was that crazy! How is anypony supposed to compete with that?!" And she began to ponder. "Maybe I should be asking her to join my alliance?" Then she shook her head. "No way, I can't possibly trust anypony that crazy. It's too much of a risk."
The cameras quickly resumed focus on the stage as even Discord seemed to briefly blink in surprise at what he'd seen. "Whoa! You ponies sure know how to bring out the chaos! Don't be trying to steal my job now, you hear?!" And then he cleared his throat. "Anyway, Pinkie Pie. Do you wish to dare somepony who has not yet competed?"
"Actually, I do," Pinkie firmly nodded and pointed a pink coated hoof to a certain rainbow maned pegasus. "You've gotta answer for what you did to Derpy, Dashie! This next one's on you!"
Rainbow stood up and puffed out her chest! "You've dared to challenge me, Pinkie?! You've made a terrible mistake," She rushed down to the stage, immediately selecting an envelope without even looking at which of the remaining two it was. "I'll do whatever you need me to do, Discord!"
The envelope had the number five on it, and when Discord opened it and read what was inside he grinned anew. "Let's see if you can make like a lumberjack pony and roll on a log."
Rainbow Dash just lightly blew on her mane. "Heh, just stand back and watch me!" And sure enough, she was able to roll on a log for a whole minute with no problems. "Didn't even break a sweat."
Discord then declared. "Sorry, Pinkie Pie. But since Rainbow Dash survived your dare, you're out." And he then snapped his talons, making a cone shaped hat appear on her head.
"Shoot!" Pinkie grumbled! Her hope to avenge Derpy had backfired.
Fluttershy was the next pony to come up, and already she was filled with worry and dread. She'd seen how effortlessly Princess Celestia, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash all had survived their challenges. Who knew what would lie in store for her, especially since ones she would've preferred (being alone with a star spider and rolling on a log) had already been taken?
The pegasus mare with a buttery yellow coat didn't have long to find out, seeing as there was only one envelope left to pick.
But Discord audibly groaned when he saw what the challenge contained with envelope number five was. "Spend a minute alone in the woods! Well, congratulations on your victory, Fluttershy."
"You don't know for sure I'll survive. Something might come up that'll make me run away." Fluttershy tried to insist.
Discord was dismissive of the idea. "Nice try, but I know you too well. I know how this is gonna go down. Let's get this nonsense over with and move on." He quickly carried the pegasus mare off into the nearby forest. And just as he'd expected when the minute was up, Fluttershy had survived quite easily.
Rainbow Dash, not wanting to let this opportunity go to waste, encouragenly shouted at Fluttershy! "Go for Trixie, Fluttershy! Knock her out while you have the chance!"
And Fluttershy reluctantly obeyed. "I'd like to dare Trixie to do the next dare... um, if that's okay."
"Sure, sure," Discord happily nodded. "Just give me a moment to produce some more envelopes," He quickly put his paws behind his back again, and this time he brought out envelopes with numbers six through twenty. "That should be more than enough. But from now on, I'll just pick the challenges at random to prevent anymore 'easy victories'."
Trixie shook her head. "There's no need for dramatics. Trixie has already settled on number six. Give it to her!"
"If you say so," The spirit shrugged his shoulders as he opened said envelope. "Ooh! Finally, something that should provide me with some entertainment!"
The not so powerful magician could only roll her eyes. "Dare I ask what you intend to have Trixie do for the dare Fluttershy has made Trixie do?"
Discord's grin grew so wide you'd swear it was about to jump right off his face. "Oh, not much, really. I'm just going to tie you up nice and tight, and then I'm to give you one minute to untie yourself."
Trixie's eyebrows were lifted ever so slightly. "You do mean with ropes, right?"
The draconequus nodded as he snapped his talons, producing several well torn ropes. "Of course. What, did you think I meant something else? I mean, there are children in the audience." He said with a knowing wink.
A brief flicker of the camera revealed Rarity in the confessional, wondering aloud. "Why would anypony of any age possibly want to watch something like this?" And then she looked at the camera. "Sweetie Belle, darling. If you are watching this in... wherever you are, I'm going to tell Mother and Father about this. You know you're not supposed to be watching stuff like this."
The flicker faded as the camera cut back to a very tied up Trixie dangling above the stage for dramatic effect. The timer had already begun ticking down, and the unicorn was clearly struggling to try to break free.
Rainbow Dash started gleefully rubbing her hooves together, certain of victory. She was already starting to think about who to target the next time she got the opportunity.
However, Trixie managed to defy the odds and break free of the ropes using the tip of her horn, escaping with only five seconds left on the timer. "Ha! The Great and Powerful Trixie wins again!"
Rainbow could only stare in utter dismay as her jaw dropped open! She was unable to keep from looking away as Trixie strolled triumphantly back to her seat, and Fluttershy had a cone shaped hat placed atop her head.
The brash speedster began to break out into a cold sweat in the confines of the confessional as a result of this! "This isn't going as well as I'd hoped!" And then she slapped herself in the face with a hoof! "Come on, Rainbow Dash! You can't let Trixie rattle you! You can do this!" Though under her breath after making sure no one else but her was around she added. "I think."
Scootaloo was the next to go up, being given the challenge of having to survive a minute of being bombarded with recordings of Sweetie Belle's horrible singing. She tried her best to grin and bear it, but by the time it got to "Ninety Nine Buckets of Oats on the Wall" the poor filly had had enough! She ripped off the headphones and threw them down on the ground, just seconds before she would've been safe from disqualification.
Rainbow Dash saw this and did her best to hide her disappointment in Scootaloo. She couldn't afford to lose the filly's trust (and by extension her vote). However, it now occurred to the rainbow maned pegasus just how horribly outnumbered she was. Trixie at least was still around to target her, to say nothing of what Princess Celestia, Twilight or even Vinyl Scratch could do.
"Vinyl Scratch, you're up next!" Discord called as he noticed the off duty DJ looked ready to nod off at a moment's notice.
Vinyl seemed to stumble awake. "I'm coming! I'm coming! That music you were playing was so boring it was putting me to sleep. Remind me to give that poor kid some singing lessons," She remarked as she made her way down from the stand and headed to the stage. But as she got there she suddenly blinked, looking all around as though she'd forgotten something. "Hey, any of you dudes know where my shades are?"
Just seconds after the announcement was made, there was an audible crunching sound as Rainbow Dash suddenly leaped up! Then she looked down at her chair and noticed something underneath, something that had apparently fallen behind her earlier when Vinyl Scratch had nearly fallen asleep. "Uh... I think I found them..." She blushed.
Horrified, Vinyl rushed back up to the stands only to find her worst fears realized! Her glasses rested beneath Rainbow's seat but were now noticeably cracked right down the middle. The mare's red eyes widened to the size of dinner plates! "No...." She softly exclaimed as tears formed in her eyes. She used her magic to pull the glasses up and held them in her hooves.
Rainbow Dash and everypony in the audience, as well as Discord and Nightmare Moon all turned their attention to Vinyl Scratch. They didn't know what to expect even as Twilight tried to console the grieving DJ. "Vinyl, I am so sorry about your glasses. Maybe we can fix them."
But Vinyl only roared back! "No, you can't fix them! And there's no way I can get a replacement! These shades were one of a kind. Do you have any idea how much money from all my gigs I had to save up to buy these?"
"Vinyl, it was an accident," Rarity tried to insist. "Even I've sometimes broken things of great importance to me. There's no need to get all bent out of shape over it."
Vinyl just snapped with narrowed eyes! "That's easy for you to say, Rarity! You're practically swimming in bits from all those dresses you make! Not everypony's lucky enough to have that kind of money just lying around!" And she turned around and glared at Rainbow Dash. "You did that on purpose, I just know it! I've been hearing how everypony's been suspicious of you lately, but I didn't wanna believe them."
Twilight tried to protest. "Vinyl, Rainbow Dash didn't break your glasses on purpose. She's never even targeted you until now!"
But Vinyl Scratch didn't acknowledge Twilight's comment, she just continued to glare at the pony who had attracted her anger. "You think these shades are for show, man?! Well you're wrong! I actually need these things so all those strobe lights don't cause me to go blind! And you just broke them like they're no big deal!"
Rainbow gulped, swallowing hard. "I'm... sorry?"
Vinyl just shook her head and roared! "Not yet you aren't! But I'm gonna make you sorry! I'm gonna make you all sorry you ever took me lightly! Ever even dared to think I was useless, like the time you voted me off first!" She then stormed down to the stage and yelled at Discord! "Go on then, give me your stupid challenge! At least maybe I can pawn that carriage off for bits when I win so I can buy some newer, cooler shades!"
"A-alright, just give me a moment!" Discord nervously insisted. Even he had been intimidated by the DJ unicorn's sudden burst of fury.
Meanwhile, a clip in the confessional showed Rainbow Dash whimpering and shivering with fright. So much so that you could've mistaken her for Fluttershy. "I never thought I'd see a monster worse than Gilda during the dodgeball challenge."
And Scootaloo was just as frightened considering she was looking straight into the camera in the confessional while shouting at the top of her lungs! "I want my mommy!"
The challenge Vinyl faced was one that would've likely made even the bravest of souls tremble with fear. She was tasked with staring down a huge assortment of dangerous creatures from the Everfree Forest. Everything and anything that Discord had managed to corral: An ursa minor cub, a cragodile, a manticore and even a cockatrice.
But Vinyl Scratch just looked directly at the animals and without even blinking an eye she let out a fearsome roar! "I don't scare that easily, fools!" She bellow at the top of her lungs! And all the animals let out a whimper, running right back into the crate they'd been brought out of.
Even Discord wasn't sure how to react. "Well... that sure was... something."
The enraged DJ barely even bothered to nod before gesturing a hoof to Rainbow Dash! "What are you waiting for?! I'm daring her, and I wanna see her face down the toughest dare you've got! I don't care what you have to do, just make it happen!"
Although unnerved a bit, Discord obeyed. After all, who was he to ignore a request from a contestant? "As you wish."
Rainbow Dash did her best to put on a brave face. "I've really gotta learn not to boast so much all the time." She thought to herself as she made her way down to the stage.
Twilight, meanwhile, was trying to plead with a still furious Vinyl Scratch. "Vinyl, you've got to calm down. This isn't like you."
But Vinyl only swatted away a hoof from Twilight. "Shut up! You didn't stick your neck out for me when we were teammates! But you've happily let Rainbow Dash and Princess Celestia tell you how to vote!"
"Vinyl, that's not true and you know it!" Twilight firmly protested. "I'm sorry about your glasses but I saw the whole thing, it was an accident."
The unicorn mare only hissed and snorted in reply. "I know what you're trying to do, Twilight. You want me to go back to being cool coolie Vinyl Scratch, the strong, silent DJ who never says a word and lets nothing rattle her. That's what everypony wants, me to just shut up. They all wish I'd never come back, that somepony 'more worthy' came back instead."
Twilight blinked slowly in disbelief. "Vinyl..."
But before anything else could be said, a horrified Rainbow Dash came running out of a box that she had been enclosed in! She looked as though she'd seen a ghost given that her entire body was shaking all over and her eyes had widened so much they now appeared to take up her whole face.
Rainbow Dash began to whimper and shiver in the confessional. "It's not true! Mare-Do-Well isn't here because of me! It's all an illusion!"
When the clip ended, Discord was slapping a cone shaped hat onto Rainbow Dash. "My my, this dare contest isn't turning out at all like I thought it would. Over half the contestants have already been eliminated and we're not even done with round one yet."
Nightmare Moon, meanwhile, was grinning as she watched the whole thing with interest. And in the confessional she was commenting. "Maybe I spoke too soon on Discord. If this is what he has in store for the contestants from here on out, maybe this will actually be worth my time. At least it means I won't have to keep tormenting a certain princess and a pony who thinks my illusions are a laughing matter."
The camera cut back to the stage as Discord announced. "Rarity, you're up next."
Rarity, however, immediately shook her head. "I'm not about to humiliate myself just for some stolen carriage. I'm above petty dares, especially when they reduce ponies like Rainbow Dash and Vinyl Scratch to complete jerks."
The witty spirit only groaned as he snapped his talons, producing a cone shaped hat atop Rarity's head. "Oh, fine. Be that way for all I care. It's your loss."
Twilight then stood up and made her way down to the stage. "Guess that means it's my turn. Do your worst, Discord! You won't break me!"
The draconequus just grinned. "We'll see about that. I have an extra special dare I was saving just for you," He pulled out an envelope that had clearly not been with the others, opened it and read aloud what was inside. "Let's see you recite an entire lesson that Princess Celestia gave at her school when you attended. If you make any mistake at all, you're out."
Twilight only grinned as she sat on her haunches. "Please. I know all of Princess Celestia's lectures like the back of my hoof!"
"Really? Even ones on the forbidden subject of dark magic? The ones she made everypony promise never to tell a single soul about?" Discord's grin grew wider. "Because that's the lecture you're to recite, word for word."
If that condition for the dare unnerved Twilight, she didn't show it outwardly. "Okay then, you really want the lecture? The whole thing start to finish? No skipping any details?"
Discord nodded quite energetically! "Yes! Now go on, I'm all ears! I wanna hear every little detail!"
Princess Celestia, meanwhile, was frantically calling out. "Twilight, you can't do this! Don't give Discord what he wants!"
But Twilight flashed a knowing grin back at her shrunken down mentor. "Don't worry, Princess Celestia. I know what I'm doing," Then she took a deep breath, cleared her throat and began reciting the lecture from the very beginning. "Good morning, my faithful students," She spoke, doing her best to mimic Princess Celestia's voice. "I am Princess Celestia, your teacher. And today we're going to be discuss something extremely important. Something so dangerous and so forbidden that you can never tell anypony about what you've learned."
Twilight continued reciting the lecture exactly as she remembered it, making sure to pause and spell out every single word, phrase or important term exactly as Princess Celestia had pronounced it. "Okay, now that we've covered the basics of the different types of magic, now we can discuss how dark magic works. For you see, dark magic operates entirely differently from other magic."
But Discord interrupted by literally pulling out the hairs on his head! "Stop it! I can't take anymore! You win, Twilight!"
Twilight grinned. "Just as I anticipated. I knew the whole lecture would bore you. I offered you a chance to just hear the important parts, but you insisted on hearing everything."
The spirit groaned in annoyance. "I've heard enough. Just go take your seat, unless you wanna dare somepony else."
Twilight shook her head. "Nope, I'm good. But thank you for the offer, Discord." And she trotted back up to the stands, have momentarily forgotten Vinyl Scratch's troubling behavior.
But the DJ was far from ready to cool down! "My turn!" She declared without waiting for an announcement, strolling down to the stage! "Give me whatever dare you want, I don't care!"
The witty spirit blinked anew in surprise. "Well, it seems we have a real go getter. But fair enough," He held out the remaining envelopes. "Pick one, any one. Doesn't matter to me at this point."
And indeed it didn't! Vinyl Scratch cleared her dare so fast she might as well have just been given the victory. Then she turned around and dared Trixie.
Luck was not on Trixie's side this time, for she ended up buried alive in a pile of books and without use of her magic she had no way to get out before the timer was up.
Princess Celestia took her turn without fanfare and without fuss, but she could only watch in horror as Twilight lost her next challenge when it involved having the lecture she'd just given turned back on her.
Discord grinned. "No one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it," And he made the recording equipment vanish with a snap of his talons. "Vinyl Scratch, the last dare is all yours. If you can complete it, you win. Of course, if you don't then Princess Celestia wins," And he whispered to her. "You want any last minute advice? I'm kind of hoping old sunbutt doesn't win."
Vinyl Scratch rejected the suggestion with a firm shake of her head! "I don't need any help, especially not from you, Discord! If it weren't for your stupid show, my shades wouldn't have been broken in the first place!" And she glared at the spirit. "Just give me the stupid dare and I'll do it! I don't even care who I eliminate after that, they'll all fall before me!"
"Alright then, your choice," Discord declared as he brought Vinyl onto the stage and then snapped his talons. Soon, he had her standing on a platform high above and below her rested a huge tank of water. "The carriage is waiting for you on the other side. Just walk across this tightrope," He explained as said rope appeared. "And it's all yours. There's no time limit either. If you take too long we can just speed this up in post production or something."
The DJ unicorn grinned from ear to ear! "That carriage is as good as mine! Invincibility, here I come!" And as soon as she heard a whistle (courtesy of Discord) she began to move across the tightrope, it didn't take long for her to make it halfway across.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as Vinyl continued to make her way across the tightrope with all eyes watching, unable to look away. None of her fellow contestants could believe it.
A flicker of the camera showed Rarity in the confessional. "Sweet Celestia! Who would've believed Vinyl Scratch would become a threat?!"
And another flicker showed Rainbow Dash remarking. "Help me, I've created a monster!"
Then the camera cut back to the final dare as Vinyl was starting to reach the end. It looked like her sudden burst of rage had served her well, and now everypony was wondering just how far it would take her.
But all of a sudden, as if by chance, Vinyl Scratch lost her balance! Amidst a series of gasps she tumbled backward, slipped off the rope and plunged into the tank as a loud buzzer sounded!
"Ooh! Bad luck, Vinyl!" Discord remarked as all saw the DJ pony swimming to the tank's surface. He then unhappily declared. "Unfortunately, that means Princess Celestia is the winner."
Princess Celestia was speechless! But in the confessional, once the shock had worn off, she couldn't resist gloating! "In your face, Luna!"
As the camera cut back to the stage and the tank and the tightrope disappeared, a waterlogged Vinyl plopped down onto the ground. She was unharmed and dazed, almost as if she didn't realize where she was. But the look in her eyes conveyed it all, all she could think about was her earlier behavior.
Princess Celestia, meanwhile, prepared to head over to claim her new chariot. But before she could reach out, a sudden blast of magic struck the carriage head on and reduced it to rubble!
Nightmare Moon growled and turned her back on the contestants as she trotted off. "I'm so disappointed in you all. What an anti-climatic ending."
"Well, you all can spend time thinking about your votes tonight," Discord told the contestants. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a talk with a certain somepony about being a poor sport." Then he snapped his talons and disappeared from the stage and the stands, the cone shaped hats disappearing from all the other contestants as well.
Once Discord was out of sight, Twilight immediately rushed up to Vinyl Scratch as the rest of the contestants all turned their attention to Princess Celestia. "Vinyl, are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked her fellow unicorn.
Vinyl lifted her hooves and moved them to her heart. "Just in here, Twilight. I can't believe I lost my temper like that. I don't even know what came over me. The shades weren't that important."
"It must be this island," Twilight concluded. "It's just like what happened to Gilda, Rarity and Cheerilee. And each time it seems like the effects are temporary."
Vinyl Scratch could only look down at the ground in shame. "Well, I know one thing for sure. This is my last performance on this island, Twilight. There's no point in going on anymore. Now everypony sees me as a threat."
A look of horror flashed in the studious unicorn's eyes! She knew what Vinyl was implying! "No! No, there has to be another way! You just got back not that long ago, Vinyl. It's not fair that you have to leave because of something like this."
But Vinyl just stood up, shaking her head from side to side. "Forget it, Twilight. Don't try to save me. I'm going away for good this time. Focus on yourself."
"Vinyl." Twilight unhappily sighed as she watched her fellow unicorn trot away.
Day quickly turned to night for the ten contestants that would soon be narrowed down to nine. And most had already made up their minds about who they were going to vote for.
Vinyl Scratch went up first, immediately stamping a huge red x over her own ballot. "Sorry to all my fans out there who saw me today. Definitely not cool. But DJ-PON-3 isn't sticking around any longer. She's done like dinner."
Trixie seemed to have the most unusual grin upon her face as she stamped Rainbow Dash's ballot and put in the padlocked box. "This time, Trixie is quite certain that Rainbow Dash will be going home. And if not, Trixie is going to have to start looking for some ponies to sway."
When it was Derpy's turn, she cast her vote not for Rainbow Dash or for Vinyl Scratch but for herself. "I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash," She apologized despite knowing her fellow pegasus wasn't around. "I let you down today, and yesterday, and the day before that. You're better off without me."
Rainbow Dash entered not long after Derpy had voted, and she needed no hesitation to vote for Trixie. "Vinyl Scratch is definitely a threat, but nowhere near as big a one as Trixie. Cheerilee may have distracted me temporarily, but no more! It's time to send the only pony that can stand in my way packing!" And placing her vote in the box she added. "Oh, I've got a good feeling about tonight's vote."
Several more ponies came and went with little fanfare, most voting for Vinyl Scratch. Yet when it was Twilight's turn, she couldn't bring herself to stamp the red x on Vinyl's ballot. "I can't do it, Vinyl! You don't deserve to go because of a mistake. It's just not fair. You deserve to show everypony your true potential." And so she voted for Rainbow Dash instead.
Once all the votes had been cast, the ponies took their seats around the campfire as Discord brought forth the padlocked box and carefully opened it. He began to read aloud as he pulled the ballots out one by one. "Okay, first vote is for Princess Celestia, oddly enough. Not sure who would do that, but unfortunately it's a wasted vote because of her invincibility."
Vinyl Scratch began to look down at the ground, mentally pleading to herself. "Please, I need this!"
Discord then called out the next several votes. "I've got a vote for Vinyl Scratch, a vote for Trixie and a vote for Rainbow Dash. Most interesting, let's see if anypony else is gonna get some votes," Then he read aloud the next vote. "The fifth vote is for Vinyl Scratch."
Twilight's eyes began to widen in horror! "No." She whispered to herself. Was it really going to happen?
A few more votes came and went as Discord summed up their tally. "I've got a second vote for Trixie, a second vote for Rainbow Dash and a third vote for Vinyl Scratch. One more vote for her and we'll be sending home our third straight former Magical Misfit," He soon pulled the ninth ballot out, slowly announcing. "And on the second to last ballot I have... a fourth vote for Vinyl Scratch. I'm afraid that's it, nopony can get more votes than her."
Vinyl Scratch stood up without saying a word.
Discord quickly approached the DJ pony. "You're not coming back again, you know. If I have to, I'll order Nightmare Moon to sink the boat with you on and leave you to swim all the way back home."
"Don't worry, I'm not coming back to this island ever again," Vinyl firmly insisted. "No amount of bits could ever be worth what I've had to go through," And she gave a quick wave to the nine ponies that would now outlast her. "Goodbye, everypony. It's been fun." She then began to trot down to the Dock of Shame to catch the Boat of Losers.
But just before Vinyl could clear the dock and step onto the boat, Twilight rushed out to her fellow unicorn. "Vinyl, wait!" And operating purely on instinct, she reached out to the DJ and gave her a huge hug. "I... I just wanted you to know that..."
Vinyl gave a knowing wink. "Oh, I know, baby. But we can talk about that more after this whole game is behind us." And she returned the hug before stepping onto the boat, soon disappearing from sight.
Discord made a pretend gagging motion as he glared directly into the camera as it cut back to the campfire. "Well, that was definitely a confession I didn't see coming. So sweet, and so mushy," Then he declared. "But if you think I can't top this, you're dead wrong! So stick around for the next pulse pounding elimination ceremony here on Total Magic Pony Island!"