Discord was standing on the Dock of Shame while the cameras were slowly but surely coming into focus around him. And he proudly began to narrate. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island."
The cameras began to show clips from the previous night, which had witnessed a rare night time challenge. And Discord was narrating the entire thing, beginning with what had happened in the cabins. "After Scootaloo's departure, everypony turned their scorn on Rainbow Dash and chewed her out for supposedly betraying her number one fan. A charge Rainbow Dash sought desperately to deny. And hey, player's gotta play. It's the name of the game."
Then the cameras showed clips of the challenge's set-up and how it had all unfolded. All the while Discord excitedly narrated. "Then, in a stroke of genius, I pulled some strings and got my old pal The Smooze to guest star for a challenge. All it asked for in return was being allowed to take the place of the worst performing contestant if it could hunt them all down. And I said yes."
From there, clips were shown of The Smooze pursuing unsuspecting ponies as Discord kept narrating. "The Smooze began picking them off one by one, beginning with a surprise double elimination from Pinkie Pie and Derpy right as they seemed to be getting to know each other."
After giggling a bit, Discord cleared his throat as he narrated over some more clips. "Of course, some ponies thought I was just trying to scare them and they were right. But both Trixie and Rainbow Dash found out the hard way that you can't stop The Smooze!" A clip after that was accompanied by more narration while the spirit spoke. "Yet to everyone's surprise, three ponies managed to defy the odds and make The Smooze go away, thwarting my plans."
After that, the camera showed a clip of the eight contestants at the fire pit where all elimination ceremonies took place. And Discord was narrating the whole time. "The triple victory between Twilight, Princess Celestia and Rarity was soon followed up by another surprise in that Fluttershy would have to leave the game. Not because she had the worst performance since that dishonor would've been Derpy's, but because she had an up close and personal encounter with The Smooze that left her kind of messed up. Fyi, I'm not responsible for that! She brought it on herself." He sought to make that point very clear.
The final clip depicted a disoriented Fluttershy be carried down The Dock of Shame to the Boat of Losers as the draconequus was explaining. "Fluttershy's elimination also meant that for the first time since Spike got the boot that a former Royal Ruffian instead of a former Magical Misfit got a free one way trip on the Boat of Losers, saving Derpy from making that trend continue for a fifth straight pony and ensuring the Royal Ruffians will have the longer streak."
Then the camera cut back to Discord standing on the Dock of Shame while he declared. "They're starting to drop like flies, folks. Just seven contestants are left, and after tonight it'll be down to six. Find out who the unlucky number seven will be right here, right now on Total Magic Pony Island!"
Despite the excitement of the night's events, there had now been two challenges in the span of less than twelve hours and there was a good chance a third challenge would come within the next twelve. So needless to say, the seven survivors were exhausted.
Yet before the seven surviving ponies called it a night (or an early morning might have been more appropriate), Pinkie Pie opted to do something when they got near the cabins. She bent down, picking up some flowers that she'd seen blooming during the day time. Although they had closed up a little during the night they were still quite beautiful.
Pinkie Pie scooped up the flowers and presented them to the pony she was now trying so hard to apologize to. "You know, these flowers compliment your mane pretty well, Derpy." She told the wall-eyed mare.
Derpy refused to acknowledge them, simply turning her head with a frown.
Pinkie let out a sigh. "Come on, Derpy. If this is about what happened with The Smooze, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, I just... panicked," And she pleaded. "I don't want you to stay mad at me. I want to enjoy what time we still have together on the island, and I can't do that when you're like this."
The pegasus mare could only sigh in reply as she continued to look away from the pink party pony and her gift of flowers. "I don't want to stay mad at you either, Pinkie. And I know that if I let you do this kind of stuff I'm going to forget what you did during the challenge. But I don't wanna be burned again."
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but rudely remark. "Well you never should've left my alliance in the first place, Derpy. We had a good thing going."
Derpy just coldly replied. "You only used me for my vote. I never should've joined you in the first place."
Pinkie continued to plead. "But I'm not like Rainbow Dash! I don't have a nasty bone in my body, I swear! Please, Derpy! I'm not even asking you to join an alliance with me, I don't care about making it to the finale with you or not. All I want is to have you back."
The wall-eyed mare just sighed again, still not looking at Pinkie Pie. "I'll... think about it, Pinkie. Okay? We both need time to think about thinks." And then she trotted up the steps of the cabin without another word.
The pink party pony was rendered speechless, she had no idea what to say. But her fellow contestants had seen everything.
Rainbow Dash was quick to discuss what she saw in the confessional. "It's really weird," She pondered while scratching her chin with a hoof. "Maybe it wasn't so strange when Spike fell for Silver Spoon, even though I think he was just doing that to get back at Rarity for treating him so badly. And Applejack and I... well, Applejack's the one who started it. I didn't get a chance to ask her what she meant by it before Spike sent her packing. But between what happened with Twilight and Vinyl Scratch, and now what's happening with Pinkie Pie and Derpy... is this show secretly turning into some mushy love show?"
A flicker of the camera showed Twilight in the confessional, commenting on the same thing. "Pinkie's always been hard to read. But over the past two challenges it seems like she and Derpy have been... well... growing closer as more than just friends," Then she stepped back, blinking in concern. "Fluttershy's the only one who hasn't yet gotten distracted by romance. Ergh, I have to stay focused! I can't let what happened with Vinyl interfere with how I play the game, I need to start thinking about myself."
Next morning, the seven well rested contestants made their way to the mess hall as usual for breakfast. It was strange to think that just the day before there had been nine of them still remaining in the game, and now that number had shrunk to seven with the likelihood of it going down to six soon hanging overhead.
And even if they hadn't been thinking about that at first, Discord soon made sure it was all they could think about when he arrived in the mess hall to give a speech. "I gotta say, this has certainly been an interesting experience for yours truly. I'm amazed at how many of you have made it so far in the game. But make no mistake, we're nearing the end here folks. Only seven of you remain, and by tonight one of you will not be moving on to the spectacular six."
A brief flicker of the camera showed Rainbow Dash excitedly prancing around in the confessional! "I'm feeling pretty good about my chances at this point! If I can just get Trixie out of the way, the million bits are as good as mine!"
The camera then cut back to the mess hall as Discord went on to declare. "Now, I think it's about time to raise the stakes again. And not just because some of you prevented The Smooze from joining the cast," He briefly glared at Twilight, Rarity and Princess Celestia before continuing. "I'm going to offer the seven of you a choice between two challenges, and you can only pick one. If you can complete the challenge of your choosing, you win invincibility. If not... well, you don't need a reminder."
Trixie just rolled her eyes and shouted! "Just get on with it, Discord! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't have all day!"
The witty spirit grinned. "Patience, Trixie. I was just getting to the good part," And he explained to the seven ponies in the mess hall. "Your choices are simple: You can either face your greatest fears with Nightmare Moon, or you can hunt for a wild animal that will be chosen at random for each participant," He continued as he called out. "So, any takers for the fear facing challenge with Nightmare Moon? If so, please raise your hooves now!"
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash immediately and eagerly raised their hooves.
"Okay, so that's two for fear facing," Discord observed. "Now, although I probably don't need to ask, how many of you would rather try your luck with hunting?" Several more hooves shot up in response, but after counting them he noticed one hoof had not been raised for either challenge. "Hey, Derpy!" He impatiently grumbled. "You can't sit out a round, unless you wanna be automatically disqualified."
Derpy gulped. "I was afraid you'd say that," And then she declared. "I guess I'll do the whole facing my fears with Nightmare Moon."
The spirit nodded quite firmly. "Alright then. Everypony's down for the challenge they agreed to? Nopony wants to change their mind now? This is the last call, once the challenges start there's no take backs allowed!" But nopony bothered to issue a correction, all seemed to set on what they had chosen. "Okay, so I've got three ponies sticking with Nightmare Moon and four who are coming with me for the hunting challenge," And he instructed. "All hunting contestants, come see me near the woods to learn the details." Then he disappeared in a flash.
Nightmare Moon grinned. "And those of you who've chosen to try to face your fears... I don't know if you're really brave, really stupid or both. But I'm not going easy on any of you!"
"Do your worst, Nightmare Moon! I'm not scared of you!" Rainbow firmly and boldly declared.
The wicked mare of darkness just cackled. "Maybe not, but I'm confident I'll find out what does. I'm confident I'll break all three of you," And then she instructed. "So enjoy your last meal. When you're ready you can come see me down by the Dock of Shame and we can get this little fright fest underway!"
Derpy whimpered as the camera flickered to show her in the confessional, shivering with fright. "What did I just agree to? I'm nowhere near as brave as Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash," Then she slapped herself across the face! "No, I gotta toughen up and be brave! It's what the doctor would want."
The three contestants who had agreed to do Nightmare Moon's challenge found her waiting for them when they made their way down to the specified location. It was in fact right at the fire pit that they were so used to gathering around when it was time for one of their own to be eliminated (and two of them had been a stone's throw away from elimination since the merger at least once).
"Ah, you're all here. Good," The alicorn declared as she rubbed her hooves together. "I wouldn't blamed some of you for trying to chicken out. It's only fair to warn you that I have no intention of holding back."
Rainbow merely boasted while flicking her mane with a hoof. "Let's just get it over with already! I've got invincibility to win and a certain magician to eliminate."
Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was insisting. "I'm ready whenever you are, Nightmare Moon. It's a shame you've stopped trying to get into my dreams, I really miss the time we spend together," And she added. "You know, when you're not trying so hard to be scary you're actually not that bad."
Nightmare Moon reacted as if she'd been insulted! "That's enough out of you, Pinkie Pie!" She roared as her eyes briefly flashed a bright white! "I'll get to you soon enough. But I need to make sure I've still got it, that you're not getting kid gloves treatment."
Rainbow only grinned. "You don't have to flatter me, Nightmare Moon. If you want to get me out of the way just so we don't prolong the inevitable, that's fine. There's nothing you can show me that could possibly scare me. You're nothing compared to what Discord could do!"
But Nightmare Moon only trotted over to the rainbow maned pegasus, displaying that toothy grin of hers she was so often using these days. "I assure you, I can be quite terrifying in my own right as you will see!" She proceeded to use her magic to pull the brash speedster close while telling the other two contestants. "Watch closely, and you will see just how foolish you were to try your luck with me."
Pinkie said nothing, she just stood at attention as best she could. But Derpy was not so quietly saying to herself. "I gotta be brave! I gotta be brave! I gotta be brave!"
Meanwhile, the other four contestants were gathering near the entrance to the woods all the way on the other end of the island. And just like they'd been told they found Discord waiting for them, the witty spirit dressed entirely in a hunter's camouflage attire. "Alright, everypony. Be very very quiet while I explain the rules, because I'm not repeating myself today!"
Princess Celestia couldn't help but smirk. "Still sore over The Smooze not being able to make it into the game like you'd hoped? Perhaps that can serve as a warning to you that whatever other plans you have for this show, they'll all fail in the end."
Discord did his best not to acknowledge the teasing remark, even as he grit his teeth. "Well, you'll be happy to know that just like the last two challenges this one is all on you guys. Everypony will pick an animal at random to track and hunt down," He proceeded to snap his talons, producing a very familiar looking pinkish lavender colored hat with white stars stitched all over it. "In fact, you'll be pulling your animal of choice out of this hat."
Trixie stomped a hoof down and growled at Discord! "Hey! How dare you steal The Great and Powerful Trixie's hat!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't see your name written on it," Discord taunted. "But don't worry, you can have it back after everypony picks an animal. It could be something small like a bird or it could be a full grown predator. As long as it's on this island, it's fair game."
"Sounds simple enough, what's the catch?" Twilight questioned, suspecting that there was more to the challenge than just simply hunting.
The witty spirit grinned. "Funny you should say that, Twilight, because there will be catching involved!" He snapped his talons, producing a huge, metal cage that towered over everypony. "Once you manage to find the animal you picked, you have to find a way to lure it back here to this cage. Anypony who successfully gets their animal inside before I shut the cage back up wins invincibility. And before you ask, no, you won't have to worry about keeping the animal or cooking it. I know you ponies don't like to do that."
Rarity scoffed. "It's not that we aren't aware of the circle of life, Discord. We're friends with creatures that eat meat after all. We simply choose not to partake in meat consumption ourselves out of respect for the animals. Besides, how could you possibly expect us to do anything with bears?"
Trixie then noticeably shuddered. "Speaking of bears, there wouldn't happen to be any ursa minors and/or ursa majors lurking around Paradox Island by any chance, would there?"
Discord shook his head. "Nope, no such animals exist. And there are no cockatrices, hydras or manticores either," Then he put his paws together. "Now enough chit chat! You all know the rules! So get to picking. Whatever you get is what you're stuck with, no take backs or swaps."
And so the four mares took turns pulling pieces of paper out of Trixie's hat, each unfolding their piece one at a time to see what was written on it. Trixie was given "Racoon", Twilight got "Bear", Princess Celestia received "Duck" and Rarity obtained "Beaver".
"Okay, you all have your assignment. You've got until sundown to find your animal and bring it back to the cage," Discord instructed. "Happy hunting!"
Nightmare Moon was now all but standing snout to snout with Rainbow Dash, eyeing the brash speedster with sinister intent (or at least it seemed that way). "Hope you've said your prayers," She told the pegasus. "It's time for everyone to see what your fear the most."
"Not you, that's for sure!" Rainbow boasted, apparently unconcerned in the slightest at what was about to befall her.
The dark coated alicorn only replied by making her horn ominously spark to life as Derpy and Pinkie Pie looked on with concern, neither knowing what to expect.
Rainbow shut her eyes in anticipation of something horrible. Maybe some kind of repressed childhood monster she'd once feared now brought to life anew. Whatever it was she was certain she would be ready for it when she opened her moderate violet eyes.
Yet when the pegasus mare finally sought to open her eyes, she was surprised to see the very thing that had been popping up and plaguing her nonstop since this whole thing began: Mare-Do-Well. "You again!" Rainbow Dash gasped, but Mare-Do-Well didn't reply to her at all.
Nightmare Moon laughed. "Well, there it is, your greatest fear."
Rainbow stepped back in disbelief! "No way! There must be some mistake! I don't fear Mare-Do-Well at all! I just hate the fact that she keeps showing up for no good reason. I've learned my lesson."
Nightmare Moon's only response was to laugh further. "Oh, are you sure about that? I have a feeling some of your former teammates and alliance members would beg to differ."
"Are you talking about Scootaloo?! Don't you DARE talk about Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash snarled as she trotted forward! "If not for that stupid technicality she'd still be here. And if Spike hadn't tampered with the votes, Applejack would've been part of my alliance as well and Scootaloo would've had nothing to worry about."
"Well, I certainly can't control what your mind chooses to worry about," The wicked mare of darkness declared. "Mare-Do-Well is here now, and you have to find out how to make her go away if you want invincibility."
But Derpy and Pinkie Pie were blinking in confusion, looking all around. "I don't see anything," Derpy commented. "What even is this 'Mare-Do-Well' Rainbow Dash is talking about?"
And Pinkie Pie only commented in reply. "Mare-Do-Well was something my friends and I made up to teach Dashie a little lesson about what a real hero should do. I didn't know she took it that hard though."
The brash speedster blinked in surprise and shock. "You guys are just humoring me, right?! Mare-Do-Well's right there!" She gestured a hoof to the cloaked mare's location as she was staring down her target.
"Still not seeing it." Derpy responded.
"It must be a part of the challenge," Pinkie concluded while putting a hoof to her chin. "Your worst fear come to life, and only you can see it."
Nightmare Moon laughed and cackled! "Well, Pinkie Pie, it sure didn't take you long to figure it out," Then she turned to Rainbow Dash. "Well, are you ready to quit?"
But Rainbow grit her teeth and shook her head firmly from side to side. "Never! I don't know what you're trying to accomplish with this cheap scare tactic, but it won't work!" She trotted forward! "I should've known you were behind Mare-Do-Well's return. But the fun stops here and it stops now!" She proceeded to rip Mare-Do-Well's mask right off, convinced that would bring about an end to her challenge.
However, Rainbow Dash was shocked anew to see a familiar face behind the mask! In fact, it was insanely recognizable because it was a face she saw everyday: Her own! She stepped back again, blinking and rubbing her eyes. But it was still there, staring straight back at her. "H-how?! W-why?!"
The dark coated alicorn's grin grew deeper as she started to laugh again. "Even I didn't see this development coming. It would seem your fear of Mare-Do-Well runs deeper than I thought. Even you must be realizing that you are the monster now!"
The brash speedster whimpered and broke out into a cold sweat as she shivered with fear! It almost looked as if Fluttershy had inexplicably taken over the mare's body even though such a thing was obviously not possible. "This... this is impossible! There's no way...I'm not a monster! I'm not!" Yet one need only listen to her voice to realize how little even she was convinced of that argument.
And so it was that, with the brash speedster sweating, crying and shaking that Nightmare Moon lit up her horn. "Well then, that settles it. The challenge is over for you, Rainbow Dash. And you failed!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rainbow Dash cried at the top of her lungs (whether it was in horror of what she'd seen or because she would now be at risk of elimination depending on how things went no one knew).
Nightmare Moon only laughed and smirked. "One down, two to go," And then she stomped a hoof down in dramatic fashion. "Alright, Derpy. You're next! Let's see what frightens you the most!"
A brief flicker of the camera showed a still whimpering and crying Rainbow Dash in the confessional, loudly sobbing! "It's not true! It's not true! But why did it feel so real?! Am I really the one to blame for what happened to all the others?"
The camera then cut back to Derpy making her way over to Nightmare Moon, forcing back a gulp as she prepared herself for whatever sort of horrible thing the evil alicorn would surely subject her to.
The other four ponies (all of whom had horns, coincidentally enough) were too busy focusing on their hunting challenge to give any thought to what might be going on with the ponies who had sought to try their luck with Nightmare Moon.
Speaking of luck, Rarity was having very little of it as she not so stealthily stalked some beavers near a small dam they had built. Her attempt to grab one only resulted in her diving head first into murky waters, getting covered with sticks and mud that clung to her previously pristine white coat.
Dirty and grimy all over, the fashionista sulked about her condition in the confessional. "Just my luck this sort of challenge would take place now, with no valid alternatives. And on an island with no magic at all to boot!" She groaned. "Things like this make say the million bits are almost not worth, 'almost' being the key word here."
But Trixie was having far better luck, at least in locating her intended prey. She was already hot on the trail of some raccoons, and was already starting to think about how she might capture one.
A clip in the confessional showed the magician with a scheming smile, grinning from ear to ear. "Trixe's had experience with wild animals since being on the road. This will be no different. Invincibility will be Trixie's!"
Twilight, for her part, was trying not to shake like a leaf due to what she had been tasked with hunting. She was even complaining about the seeming impossibility in the confessional. "Oh of course, it just has to be me!" She groaned, staring into the camera with a glare that could've rivaled Fluttershy's patented stare. "Everypony gets something small and easy. But me, I get a bear. A freaking bear!"
Still, the studious unicorn knew it would be foolish of her to just forfeit the hunting challenge because of her task. There was a good chance that if she did she would be the only one not to gain invincibility from the hunting challenge and would be at risk of elimination as a result. And considering she didn't know what Discord's plan was, that was an outcome she wanted to avoid at any cost.
Twilight was thus deep in thought, trying to piece together a plan on how she would successfully snag a bear. And so she didn't initially notice a white colored hoof tap her on the shoulder. She nearly jumped in surprise as she spun around! Fortunately, she was very relieved to find that it was only Princess Celestia. "Sorry," She apologized to her shrunken down mentor. "I'm sure you didn't mean to scare me. I'm just a bit... nervous."
The shrunken down sun princess simply flashed a warm and comforting smile at her student, still finding it odd to be looking at her instead of the other way around. "It's okay, Twilight. This isn't some test. And we both know what happened the last time you let yourself get worked up over something."
A faint blush formed on the unicorn's cheeks as the memory of that incident flashed briefly in her mind. "Y-yeah," She gave a nervous chuckle. "But why are you talking to me? Shouldn't you be busy hunting your duck?"
Celestia waved a hoof. "I could easily get a duck at any point, Twilight. But even if I win invincibility there's no guarantee I can save you and it'd be silly of me to make a promise similar to what Rainbow Dash promised Scootaloo."
"But you're still proposing to team up with me, even just for this challenge," Twilight blinked in realization. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I can take care of myself, you know."
"Twilight, you're being tasked with finding and hunting a bear for crying out loud," Celestia protested with a shake of her head. "I think we can both agree that you need all the help you can get, and then some."
The studious unicorn let out a sigh. "You're not taking 'no' for an answer, are you?"
Princess Celestia smiled anew. "Nope."
Reluctantly, Twilight relented. "Fine, I guess you can help. I mean, it was kind of fun getting to be with you during the last challenge," And then an idea struck her. "I know! If I win, I'll protect you from elimination. You can't deny you have a big target on your back."
Princess Celestia just replied. "Twilight, there's no need for that. Whatever happens happens. In fact," She unhappily stared at the ground. "I've really regretted that I've lasted so long. I should've gone before the likes of Silver Spoon, Spike, Cheerilee and Scootaloo. None of them deserved to be eliminated before me just because I'm a princess. Nobility didn't protect my sister, who was rightfully voted out before Silver Spoon."
"You can't control the way ponies behave or how they vote," Twilight persuaded her mentor. "Besides, all this time we spend talking on things like votes is time we could spend on the challenge."
The shrunken down sun princess blinked and nodded. "You're right, Twilight. We can discuss all that later. For now, we've got a bear to catch!"
"Well, at the least I think I can track one down. Just need to follow the tracks," Twilight explained to the alicorn. "With any luck, maybe it'll be sleeping out in the open," Then she looked up at her forehead. "Oh, if only I could use magic."
Princess Celestia simply replied to Twilight. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Twilight. Now lead the way!"
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Twilight located what were definitively bear tracks and carefully followed them through the forest. An occasional bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face as she silently pursued her unsuspecting prey. The only bear she'd ever had experience with was the one she'd seen Fluttershy "massage" once. Oh, what she'd give to have the animal loving pegasus still in the game, if only for this challenge.
At last, Twilight and Celestia found the tracks ending. But by a stroke of bad luck, they led right into a big, dark, cree[y cave.
Twilight groaned anew. "Should've figured. It couldn't just be sleeping outside."
Princess Celestia, for her part, just reassuringly put a hoof around Twilight. "It's okay, we can work with this. Discord didn't say there had to be a specific bear. He just said bring back a bear."
The studious unicorn nodded very reluctantly. "I know, but bringing it back is exactly what worries me," And she immediately declared. "No way am I going into the cave to find one! I'm not going to become a bear's next meal."
The shrunken down sun princess nodded in agreement. "Of course not, Twilight. You don't have to go to the bear or bears. They'll come to you. Then just get one to chase you back to the cage Discord has set up."
"Okay, and how do we do that?" Twilight questioned. "What's your plan, princess? Please don't say 'live bait'."
Princess Celestia chuckled. "What good would that do, Twilight? Besides, do you really think I'm the type of pony who would do such a thing to you?" Her tone of voice briefly became more serious as she insisted. "Don't answer that!" Then she quickly cleared her throat as if her sudden onset of anger had never occurred in the first place. "There will be bait, but it's not going to be live."
It took but a moment for Twilight Sparkle to realize what the alicorn was proposing. "Oh, I get it! Why didn't I think of that! Bears don't just eat meat, after all. There's tons of other stuff they like to eat."
"Exactly," Celestia nodded as she explained. "There's plenty of berries around here. Go fetch some while I build a fire. If I'm right, the smell of cooked berries will waft into the cave and wake up the bears."
"And then they'll chase after us because they won't be able to resist adding ponies to their menu!" Twilight concluded. "Very smart! I just hope we can outrun them."
Princess Celestia flashed a smile. "You'd be surprised at how easily you can find the right motivation. Many of my subjects who've barely managed a mile without exhausting themselves have been able to do marathons worth of running in life or death situations." And she then set to work on build a small pit and gathering sticks with which to make a fire.
Back by the Dock of Shame, poor Derpy had fared just as badly as Rainbow Dash in her challenge involving her worst fear. "'Don't blink!' 'Don't blink!'" She murmured over and over again while rocking back and forth, making it sound like advice somepony else had given her once.
Even Nightmare Moon seemed to be somewhat surprised if the expression on her face was anything to go by. "I really figured she'd last longer than that, but maybe I gave her too much credit," However, that toothy grin and that creepy smile returned before long. "Oh well, it doesn't really matter to me. What does matter is that I still got it! I haven't lost my touch!"
"So it's finally my turn, is it?" Pinkie Pie asked in what sounded like a surprisingly hopeful and optimistic tone given what she had witnessed. "Guess you wanted to save the best for last, huh Nightmare Moon?"
"Maybe, or maybe I wanted to make double sure I was at the top of my game before taking you on," Nightmare Moon declared. "If it takes everything I've got, I will bring you to your hooves!"
Pinkie only giggled as she trotted over, approaching the wicked mare of darkness with that signature skip in her step. "I'm sure you'll do your best, Nightmare Moon. But you're not like The Smooze, you can't make me panic."
Nightmare Moon arched an eyebrow upward. "How interesting. You're actually approaching me. Instead of trying to run you're coming straight towards me."
The pink party pony happily proclaimed. "Well the only way to win the challenge is for you to do whatever it is you wanna do to me."
The alicorn with a coat as black as a starless night sky laughed in response. "Very well then, come as close as you'd like if you dare! Just try not to be as big a crybaby as those other two." She then briefly gestured a hoof to Rainbow Dash and Derpy.
Pinkie shook her head. "They're not crybabies, Nightmare Moon. They're my friends. Just like you and Discord."
Nightmare Moon blinked briefly in confusion. "Hey, wait a minute! I'm supposed to be the one doing the scaring, not the other way around. I don't need friendship."
"Really?" Pinkie Pie pondered as she paused in her pace. "I mean friendship is magic after all." And she winked in the general direction of the camera.
The wicked mare of darkness groaned. "This is Total Drama, not Total Friendship!" Then she lit up her horn, making it ominously crackle and surge with the signature glow of her magic. "Prepare to experience your worst nightmare!"
"PINKIE!" Derpy screamed in horror at the top of her lungs while her walled eyes went wider than ever!
But it was too late to prevent Nightmare Moon's magic from striking Pinkie head on! And even Pinkie was forced to shut her eyes from the intensity of the light!
Nightmare Moon's grin grew so wide it looked like it could jump right off her face! "YES! At long last, I will have my revenge! Even you, Pinkie, must succumb to your worst fears. The hidden terrors that you try to keep hidden so that they don't keep you up at night. But now they're here!"
However, upon opening her eyes Pinkie Pie was quickly unable to keep herself from laughing. "Boy, Nightmare Moon. You really don't know me at all if you think you can force me to be scared. I'm not scared of you, except when I want to be scared."
The evil alicorn stepped back and blinked in confusion. "This is not happening! You're supposed to be afraid! Even you must have fears!"
"Yeah," Pinkie continued to laugh. "I'm seeing one of them play out in front of me right now. A fear that somepony doesn't want to be my friend. But I know that if I try hard enough, I can make almost anypony my friend. If anything, it's you who's afraid. You're afraid to have a friend because then maybe you can stick around after this game is over, instead of having to go back to... wherever it is from Luna that Discord found you."
Nightmare Moon could only put a hoof to her forehead, groaning anew as if she were experiencing an abrupt headache. "Enough," She quietly said at first. But it wasn't long before she raised her voice and made it echo! "ENOUGH!" Sighing, the alicorn mare announced. "Just take the invincibility already and leave me alone!"
"What? That's it?! I won?!" Pinkie Pie blinked in surprise.
The mare of darkness firmly nodded. "Yes! I just don't understand, there must be something about you that keeps you safe from my powers. It can't just be because you're an Element of Harmony bearer, because Rainbow Dash couldn't resist me."
The pink party pony then asked. "Uh, speaking of... are she and Derpy gonna be okay?"
Nightmare Moon shrugged her hooves. "They should be fine eventually. And if not, that's not my problem. Now leave me alone!" And with that she lit up her horn and vanished, though not without adding. "Tell Discord I'll be waiting on the Boat of Losers for tonight's eliminated contestant."
Although Nightmare Moon's challenge was just wrapping up, the hunting challenge was still far from complete (as least as far as Twilight and Princess Celestia knew, but judging from the position of the sun it looked like they still had a few hours).
Twilight had managed to retrieve the berries, and Princess Celestia had built a small but well maintained fire that was crackling nicely. The two ponies were now placing the berries into a pan, which was dangling just above the flames while smoke billowed into the air.
"Is it working?" Twilight both nervously and hopefully inquired as minutes seemed to tick by with no development.
Princess Celestia could only offer up in reply. "It should be. If not, I don't know what else we can do besides a bear call and that's not my forte."
Fortunately (in a relative sense) the tense waiting was broken up by the sound of deep rumbling and roaring from within the cave. And then, just after Princess Celestia instinctively sought to snuff out the flames with a bucket of water, a lone grizzly bear emerged from the cave!
Twilight jumped back, shaking anew with fright! "H-hey there, Mr. Bear," She tried to greet the creature as best she could. "Sorry to wake you up but uh... I kind of need you for something."
The grizzly only replied by roaring more, soon turning its attention to Twilight when it caught whiff of the scent of berries from her.
The studious unicorn quickly screamed and took off running at the top of her lungs! "Yeah, that's what I expected!" She shouted at the bear as it chased after her! She was amazed that she was able to keep ahead of it. Not since The Running of the Leaves had she run so much, and even then she'd been pacing herself.
As for the shrunken down sun princess, she followed the pursuit from behind. "Just keep going, Twilight! You can do it!" She thought to herself as she was mentally encouraging her student! "I hate that I had to do this but I couldn't think of any other way. I hope one day you'll forgive me."
Twilight didn't have time to think of anything besides her reason for running! And she kept on running through the woods, trying to rack her brain to remember where the cage Discord had set up was. She also hoped that neither Rarity or Trixie had made it back with their animals yet, otherwise she might be putting them in danger.
At last, Twilight (and Celestia who was not too far behind but careful to stay upwind of the bear) saw light at the end of her proverbial tunnel! The clearing for the forest was just up ahead and so was the huge, metal cage Discord had set up. She was so close to victory!
But just then, Twilight felt herself stumble! Before she knew it she was tumbling head over hooves with no way to stop herself! All she could do was scream!
Princess Celestia watched in horror! "Twilight! No!" And without even thinking, she raced forward and dove in front of her student to try and protect her!
A series of horrified gasps and even a dramatic scream could be heard as teacher and student shut their eyes, preparing for the worst!
Yet suddenly, there came the familiar sound of a talon being snapped and then the fierce roar of the grizzly bear faded away out of the blue. And by a struck of luck, neither pony was injured at all. They were dirty but not hurt.
Twilight and Princess Celestia slowly stood up, looking up into the face of Discord who could only wave a paw in front of them while making a tsking motion. "What were you two thinking trying to take on a bear like that?"
A flicker of the camera showed Princess Celestia staring at the ground in the confessional in shame. "Why did I think that was a good idea?"
The camera cut back to the edge of the woods as Twilight groaned and glared at the witty spirit! "You set me up, Discord! You wanted me to fail!"
Discord only replied. "I did no such thing. It was purely bad luck you picked 'Bear' instead of the other options. After all, I thought almost everypony would do this challenge," And he brought up Trixie's hat, showing several other slips of paper still inside it. "I also had 'Rabbit', 'Fish' and even 'Deer'. Yes, 'Deer'. 'Bear' was just to make things more interesting, but I didn't expect it to actually be picked. I made sure to bury it way down inside the hat. The shuffling must've brought it up."
"Discord! This is feeling a lot like that scooter race!" Celestia stomped a hoof down in protest! "Do you not seem to care how many ponies are getting hurt physically and emotionally because of your game?! I can't for the life of me understand why my subjects seem so interested in watching this. When I get back on the throne after this, I'm going to see to it that all recordings of this show are destroyed!"
The spirit of chaos only laughed in reply. "Oh, you wouldn't dare do that, princess. Everyone's who competed is under contract. And my lawyers made sure to make lots of copies. Besides, you won't be able to erase the memories your subjects have of seeing the show," Then he added. "It's hardly my fault if a few accidents happen here and there. But I obviously draw the line at anything truly life threatening. If I didn't, I wouldn't have saved you and Twilight from that grizzly."
Trixie then boasted. "And it doesn't matter anyway because you already lost the challenge! Trixie won!" She gestured a hoof to the cage. "See the racoon now trapped inside courtesy of The Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Rarity was quick to add. "For the record, I would have won had the beaver I was tracking not proven so slippery," And she grumbled about her state of appearance. "Oh, I'm going to need to shower for hours to get all this muck off of me!"
Discord happily declared. "You heard that right, Twilight and Princess Celestia. This challenge has come and gone, and both of you have come up empty hoofed. Trixie has won invincibility for this round," A smirk crept onto his face as he taunted. "Better luck next time."
And so, with both challenges that had been offered up having come to a close and two contestants having won invincibility (for the only second time since the merger), the question on everypony's mind quickly became once again "Who should be eliminated?"
Lots of ponies had their own thoughts, but one pony in particular was feeling very ashamed of herself for what she had done. Princess Celestia was still noticeably walking around without a smile. "There's only one thing I can do to redeem myself after such a pitiful performance today." She thought to herself, and began to scheme. This sort of thing might prove tricky to manage even with seven ponies, but she would find a way to make it work.
The first pony to convince was none other than Rarity, who happened to bump into the shrunken down sun princess outside the communal bathrooms. "Princess Celestia, what a surprise!" And she quickly whimpered. "Oh, I look so hideous. Sweetie Belle is definitely not going to let me live this challenge down today."
"You're not the only one who is ashamed of how they did in today's challenges," Princess Celestia replied. "I've seen this happen too many times already. Hardly anypony seems to be safe from whatever enchantment or curse there must be on this island. And therefore, there's only one thing I can think of to save Equestria."
Rarity blinked. "What are you suggesting, princess?"
Celestia let out an unhappy sigh. "You must vote for me tonight, Rarity. Luna and I need to get back on the throne as soon as possible to counter whatever it is Discord has planned."
Rarity nearly gasped in surprise! "Princess, are you sure?! You'd be giving up your chance at a million bits!"
"Some things are more important than money and winning, Rarity," The alicorn declared. "Please, at least consider voting for me. I don't ask anything from you in return if it fails."
The fashionista could only reply. "I'll think about it. But for now I really wanna just wash off and get cleaned up."
The shrunken down sun princess nodded her head. "Very well then," And she trotted away while saying to herself. "Two votes out of four needed."
Unbeknownst to the princess, however, Twilight Sparkle had seen the whole thing! Needless to say, she was horrified! And she frantically panted in the confessional when the camera cut to her! "I can't let you do this, Princess Celestia! I can't let you throw away the game!" She dramatically declared! "I need to find a way to stop you!"
Trixie blinked in surprise, even rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't imaging things. "You wish to have The Great and Powerful Trixie cast her vote for you instead of Rainbow Dash?" She inquired of Princess Celestia.
"Please!" Celestia pleaded in desperation to the magician. "You're the last vote I need. I've got Derpy in my corner and Rarity said she'll think about it. I know you really wanna get rid of Rainbow Dash, but you've seen what she's been like since losing her challenge today."
Trixie nodded. "Rainbow Dash has seemed different. Nightmare Moon must've scared her good," She put a hoof to her chin. "If you're sure you can convince Derpy and Rarity to vote for you, Trixie shall happily join the group. But if this is just a trick to get Trixie eliminated, the Great and Powerful Trixie will not forgive and forget!"
"I promise, you can hold it against me if you get eliminated instead," The shrunken down sun princess declared. "But that won't happen."
The unicorn mare narrowed her eyes. "It had better not, princess, for your sake."
Meanwhile, Twilight was trying unsuccessfully to persuade Rainbow Dash to join with her. "We need to all unite: You, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and I!" She told the brash speedster. "Together, we can vote out Trixie and stop Princess Celestia from making a terrible mistake."
But Rainbow could only shake her head. "Forget it, Twilight! Everypony thinks I'm a monster, and now I see that they were probably right. The only way to make it stop is for me to go away. Why don't you tell that to Derpy and Princess Celestia so we can all make it official?"
The studious unicorn groaned in annoyance, feeling ready to pull her hair from her head with her hooves! Today had not been a good day for her. "Fine, go ahead and vote for yourself! See if I care! When you're on the Boat of Losers, don't come crying to me!" And she turned and trotted away without saying another word.
A short time later, day turned to night and it was time for the voting ceremony to begin.
"Everypony remembers how to vote, right?" Discord questioned the seven contestants as they gathered by the fire pit. All nodded their heads in agreement. "Okay then. Losers get first dibs. Princess Celestia, you can go first."
The shrunken down sun princess nodded and stood up, trotting over to the confessional. The camera showed her quickly moving over to stamp her ballot. "Twilight, I hope you'll be able to understand this someday." She said while doing her best to hold back the tears.
Rainbow Dash went next, quickly stamping her ballot. "Scootaloo, Spike, I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you." Was all she could bring herself to say before leaving.
Rarity entered the confessional after Rainbow left, and she hesitated for a considerable length of time. "I'm sorely tempted to go for you, Rainbow Dash," She remarked as she eyed the pegasus mare's ballot. "But..." Ultimately, she moved the stamp over to Princess Celestia's ballot and pressed down hard on it. "Princess Celestia is right, it's time for her to leave. If Discord is planning something, we'll need her to be ready."
Derpy arrived to vote next, ultimately opting to stamp Princess Celestia's ballot. "I hope I'm making the right decision this time. I've already probably stayed longer than I should've." She declared.
And when Twilight entered the confessional, she chose to stamp Rainbow Dash's ballot with a frown. "If not for what Princess Celestia is doing, I'd be a lot happier about this, Rainbow Dash."
At last, after what seemed like a very long time, all seven ponies had cast their ballots and Discord brought the locked down wooden box with the ballots forward. He soon opened it up, reading the ballots aloud. "Okie dokie, let's see what the votes have to say. The first vote is for... Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash looked up, a flicker of hope flashing in her eyes. And Twilight was hoping the same as well, just three more votes would make it official.
Discord then continued. "The second vote is for... Princess Celestia. And the third is... also for Princess Celestia."
Now it was Princess Celestia's turn to look hopeful while Rainbow Dash and Twilight began to worry.
"Another vote for Princess Celestia, two more for Rainbow Dash," The witty spirit announced as he quickly scanned through the next three ballots. "This last vote will decide it! The final vote is for..." He paused briefly to build suspense before declaring. "Princess Celestia! That's four votes for her to Rainbow Dash's three! It's official, folks. Our only other princess is going... going... gone!"
Twilight leapt to her hooves in horror! "No! There's... there's a mistake! Princess Celestia didn't mean to vote for herself!" She desperately insisted! "You can't count her vote for her."
Discord only shook his head and coldly replied. "Sorry, Twilight, the vote is final!" And he quickly made the ballot box disappear. "No amount of pleading or protesting is going to change the outcome. The ponies have spoken, they want their princess to go home."
"But... but..." Twilight stammered in disbelief! It was Vinyl Scratch all over again, she had tried desperately to save a pony from voting themselves out over a mistake and had failed miserably.
Princess Celestia simply trotted over, reassuring her student. "Twilight, please don't worry about me. This was probably going to happen eventually anyway. There can only be one winner," Then with a smile she added. "Besides, I'm ready to get back to my normal body."
"Oh yeah, about that," Discord declared. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait until you're officially off the island before that can happen. Sorry, probably should've mentioned that a little sooner."
The shrunken down sun princess only sighed. "Figures, of course you'd want to drag out my humiliation for as long as possible, Discord. But the joke's on you, you didn't get rid of me through some silly challenge. I chose to willingly take myself out to protect my subjects!" And she beamed with pride. "This may be the end of my time on the island, but I believe it's soon to be the beginning of the end for your little scheme."
The witty spirt only replied by gesturing to a watch he'd made appear on his wrist. "Oh, that's very touching, really. But time's a wasting, I'm afraid. So are you gonna walk down the Dock of Shame now, or do I have to make Nightmare Moon make you?"
Celestia just smiled. "I can eliminate myself, thank you very much," And she began to trot down the length of the dock to the Boat of Losers, though not without waving to the six ponies that would outlast her. "Best of luck to you all, especially you, Twilight."
Twilight did her best not to cry as she vowed! "I'll... I'll win for you, Princess Celestia! I promise!"
"Promise me nothing, Twilight," Celestia called back as she got onto the Boat of Losers. "Just keep an eye on everypony, and on Discord for me. I'll see you all at the finale, hopefully." And then, like so many contestants before her she was gone as the Boat of Losers carried her away from Paradox Island.
The cameras then cut to Discord standing near the fire pit as he dramatically declared. "Now that was a twist for the ages! And if you thought that was crazy, the best is yet to come here on Total Magic Pony Island!"