//------------------------------//
// Episode 25: Party For Three 
// Story: Total Magic Pony Island: The Lost Episodes 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Discord had returned to where he always was at the beginning of these "episodes", the Dock of Shame. He stood there with a smile, and looking into the cameras he began to give the same opening spiel he'd given countless times before. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island."

Discord quickly explained himself as the clips showed Nightmare Moon taking over in his absence. "Yours truly had to tend to a last minute chaotic emergency, and was not in any way, shape or form dealing with a lawsuit from a certain someone about the use of marshmallows at a campfire ceremony. So because of that emergency, I had to put Nightmare Moon in charge. And that was definitely the right call to make, because it looks like she didn't skip a beat when it came to stirring up the drama."

The witty spirit continued as clips from the previous episode's challenge started rolling. And his voice carried like it always did over the narrations. "Anyway, Nightmare Moon split the contestants up and sent them into the woods to try to find their way back. She didn't actually mean for them to do so, she just wanted a day off. Kind of a shame she didn't salvage my buried treasure challenge, but it can't be helped."

More clips followed, showing how the four ponies had approached the challenge presented to them while the draconequus just kept on narrating. "Rainbow Dash opted to go it alone, which worked about as well as you'd expect. But Pinkie Pie wouldn't give up on her friend, and upon meeting her former fellow Magical Misfits insisted on tracking down Rainbow Dash. As a result, all four of them met up again right as Rainbow Dash had the misfortune of encountering a yeti," He paused briefly to add. "Great job on bringing it here by the way, Nightmare Moon."

From there, the challenge's conclusion was shown through clips accompanied by Discord's narration. "Ultimately, Pinkie Pie nearly won the challenge before she chose to throw it all away for cinnamon buns. And Nightmare Moon was furious that her plans had backfired. Bad for her, but good for me."

Then clips were shown of the campfire ceremony that night as Discord narrated. "Nightmare Moon decided to change things up for the campfire ceremony again. She reserved the right to decide who to spare and who to eliminate for herself. Imagine my surprise when she spared Pinkie Pie and eliminated Rainbow Dash. Not how I would've done it, but again I let her have control so I gotta roll with it," He could be heard chuckling as he added. "Still have to give her props for that impressive 'visit' from Mare-Do-Well though. Rainbow Dash won't be forgetting that anytime soon."

The clips ended as the witty spirit gazed into the cameras with a smile. "We've only got three contestants left, folks! Who's going to be advancing to the finals, and who's about to be cut loose? Find out right here, right now on Total Magic Pony Island!"





With just three contestants left in the game, all of whom had previously been on the same team, it was hard not to feel a sense of accomplishment. All of them had survived multiple challenges where one would've expected them to do poorly, and each of them had won invincibility at least twice.

However, Rainbow Dash's departure had made the three friends (at least, they still considered themselves friends despite some of the lingering tensions between them) a little bit less enthusiastic than they should be. And before they went to bed that night, they each gave their thoughts on the matter in the confessional.

Twilight was the first to do so, having won the last challenge by what was basically a stroke of luck. "It's unfortunate that Rainbow Dash got eliminated like that," She thought aloud while gazing into the cameras. "But it was probably inevitable anyway. Rarity and I at least were going to vote for her if she didn't win invincibility. I don't know what Pinkie Pie would've done or what a tie breaker might have been like under Discord," And she then said to herself. "Rainbow Dash going when she did was for the best, I think." But the uncertainty in her tone of voice conveyed other feelings.

Rarity gave her thoughts next, and she was noticeably less uncertain given the way she carried herself. "After everything Rainbow Dash has done since this game began, she more than deserved to be eliminated in such a fashion," She humphed. "I just can't believe Twilight and I were blind for so long. If only we'd listened to Spike or Cheerilee, we could've done the sensible thing sooner. Now we just have to hope Rainbow gets some sense knocked into her. And if she doesn't, maybe she'll change her mind after I drag her to my next spa session."

And Pinkie Pie was the last to speak her piece about Rainbow Dash's elimination. But she was way less confident in the decision compared to either of her friends. "I know Rainbow Dash did a lot of bad things, but I don't know if it was entirely fair for her to lose the way she did. If anything, she should've gone home when she was actively trying to lose," And she snorted. "And if Twilight and Rarity had seen it that way, they would've ignored Derpy's silly fears and sent Rainbow Dash packing," Then she looked into the cameras. "At this rate, I don't know if I'm gonna make it to the finale. I thought I was doing so good. But now... now I'm not sure of anything."

The camera then cut back to the three former Magical Misfits as they headed back to the cabins, ready to call it a night. Yet it was noticed by Twilight and Rarity when Pinkie Pie opted to sleep in the right sided cabin by herself instead of sleeping in the left sided cabin with them.

"Do you suppose she now blames us for what happened to Rainbow Dash, like how she insists on blaming us for respecting Derpy's wishes?" Rarity pondered to Twilight as the two unicorns prepared to put their tired bodies to rest.

Twilight gulped. "I really hope not. I was really hoping that with Rainbow Dash gone we could put all of this drama behind us, especially so close to the end. It's bad enough we have to worry about Rainbow straying from her element, we don't need to deal with Pinkie Pie potentially straying from hers on top of it."

The fashionista then suggested. "Perhaps we should keep our little alliance going until the next challenge is over, then? I don't mean to sound rude, but there are two of us compared to Pinkie. If we worked together, we could shut her out."

But the studious unicorn shook her head. "No! No more secret alliances! We don't need to give Pinkie a reason to hate us!" And she then declared. "We're just going to do our best to work through this problem as friends. If either of us found ourselves in Pinkie's horseshoes, we wouldn't want either of us working with her to try to eliminate us. We're better than that, we're not like Rainbow Dash!"

Rarity slowly nodded. "Point most certainly taken, darling. I don't even know why I thought of it in the first place. Let us never speak of it again unless absolutely needed."

Twilight nodded back. "Agreed, Rarity. Now let's get some rest. Regardless of whether it's Nightmare Moon or Discord hosting tomorrow, I have a feeling we're going to be in for a real doozy of a challenge!"





When the three surviving mares woke up the next morning, they were quite relieved to have gone a night without being taken away to somewhere else after two nights in a row of it happening to them.

And as the three friends (more or less) exited the cabins they heard the familiar wacky and witty voice of Discord calling out to them over the loud speakers. "Good morning TMPI contestants! Welcome to the semi-finals! Did you miss me? Well don't worry, I'm back and I ain't going anywhere anytime soon!"

"Well, at least we know that will be normal." Rarity remarked as the loud speakers fell silent.

"About as normal as things can be under Discord anyway." Twilight declared while silently remembering the promise she made to Princess Celestia right before the alicorn's elimination.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was sniffing the air! "Oh goody! Somepony's making pancakes!" She excitedly announced while licking her lips! And then she bounced away to the mess hall with a spring in her step.

The two unicorns followed their pink party pony friend, both trying to judge her for any signs of how she might be feeling today about Rainbow Dash's elimination. But she didn't seem to be showing them, at least not outwardly. So the two unicorns hoped that was a sign that bygones could in fact be bygones. That they could put it behind them and move forward.

Entering the mess hall a short time later, the three mares found that there were indeed pancakes waiting for them. And a rather irritated and annoyed looking Nightmare Moon was there too. "You all have Discord to thank for this," She told them in no uncertain terms. "He said we should do something truly special today on account of him being gone yesterday. And he said he's got something extra special planned for today's challenge."

The studious unicorn looked the evil alicorn square in the eyes as she nervously replied. "I don't think I like the sound of that."

Nightmare Moon only rolled her eyes. "Trust me. Compared to what you've had to endure under me, what Discord's going to do will be a cake walk."

"Where is he anyway?" Rarity pondered while looking all around. "He always has a tendency to show up here when he's ready to announce his challenge, whatever it is. It's not like him to be late, not even fashionably late."

The wicked mare of darkness just shrugged her hooves. "I don't really know and I don't really care. He barely tells me anything," And she then swished her tail. "Now, you gonna enjoy your pancakes, or should I just take them all away and eat them myself?!"

Pinkie Pie immediately jumped up and protested! "Are you kidding?! No way are we letting you take all the pancakes away! Not in a million years!" She quickly rushed to grab a plate and started stacking it full of as many pancakes as she could possibly stack in one go! And then she carried her heavily stacked plate of pancakes away to the nearby table, balancing it with the greatest of ease.

Twilight and Rarity, not wanting to be left behind, took up plates as well and they too started stacking pancakes. They didn't stack as many as Pinkie Pie though, without magic they knew they wouldn't be able to balance such heavy plate loads. Once both were satisfied that they'd gotten a good amount without putting too much on their plates, they made their way over to the same table as Pinkie and sat down next to their fellow mare.

For a while, all that could be heard was the sound of pancake eating as Pinkie Pie was scarfing down her pancakes at speeds that should've been impossible for anypony. And Twilight and Rarity were at a loss as to how best to start a conversation about last night.





And before Twilight and Rarity could get a chance to plan out their approach, the door to the mess hall suddenly swung wide open in dramatic fashion! With the blowing of trumpets, a red carpet was unfurled that stretched all the way across the mess hall to the kitchen door. The trumpets continued to blare as several mini Discords appeared, tossing flower petals to either side as they walked down the carpet. And then, several slightly larger Discords could be seen carrying in the main draconequus himself. He was seated on a throne in all his chaotic glory, even down to him being dressed in a cape and wearing a huge golden crown.

Nightmare Moon saw the display and could only roll her eyes. "So overdramatic. He's gone for one day and suddenly he think's he's the greatest thing since sliced bread."

Discord rose slowly from his throne once it had been set down, clearly enjoying every moment of milking his dramatic entrance for all it was worth (and then some). Once he'd finally done it though and was looking at the contestants in all his glory, he quickly made the crown, the throne and everything else disappear. "Oh, I never get tired of doing that!" He happily declared, sounding not unlike a little kid in a candy store.

Pinkie Pie paused briefly in her eating to look at the spirit. "Heya Discord, kind of nice to have you back again. Nightmare Moon was a good host in your place though, I'm sure she's told you."

The chaos maker just replied. "Oh, there's no need. I was kept advised of every little thing that transpired while I was gone."

"Really? How'd you do that?!" Pinkie eagerly questioned.

Discord grinned. "I have my ways," Then he cleared his throat, looking at the three mares as they were all seated in the table together. "It's truly amazing to see you all together like this. And I'm definitely surprised that two of you made as far as you did. You especially, Twilight. You continue to baffle me with your persistence."

Twilight couldn't help but grin back at Discord. "Sorry, I guess I just never got the message that I was supposed to lose for your sake."

"I thought you said you didn't play favorites, Discord." Rarity questioned with a snort and a glare.

The witty spirit was quick with his answer. "Who said anything about favorites? I never said I wanted Twilight Sparkle to lose outright. If challenges just so happen to have aligned that were hard for her and increased the chances of her losing, that's just a coincidence and nothing more."

A flicker of the camera showed Twilight anything but satisfied with the answer as she sat in the confessional and glared into the camera. "Somehow, I don't buy that flimsy excuse even for ten seconds. Of course he'll never admit outright that he wanted me gone. I'm the one who managed to reverse the effects of his chaos," She blinked and blushed upon realizing her mistake. "With more than a little help from my friends, of course. Just a... slip of the tongue."

The camera quickly cut back to the mess hall with another flicker of static as Discord proceeded to clear his throat again. "Well, that little detail aside," He quickly snapped his talons and in a flash of blinding light he transformed! When the flash faded, he was dressed up entirely as a pirate: He had the hat with the skull and cross bones on it, an eyepatch over his left eye, his goat leg replaced by a wooden peg leg and one of his claws replaced by a sharp, metal hook. "Ye all better enjoy yer breakfast of pancakes! Because you landlubbers are going to need all the energy ye can get!" He declared in his best pirate voice.

"Pirates... why am I not surprised?" The fashionista remarked with narrowed eyes. "I suppose this is just so you can 'resurrect' that buried treasure challenge of yours from when we got washed out to sea."

"Argh! I be guilty as charged, Rarity!" Discord willingly confessed! "But the challenge be too good for me to lay it to rest. So feast away to yer hearts' content, me hardies! Once ye've finished, I shall be waiting for ye all outside!" Then, using his free paw, he snapped his talons and disappeared again in a flash.

Pinkie Pie quickly went back to eating pancakes afterward, specifically declaring to the others! "Hey, you heard him! Gotta eat to keep your strength up!" And she was soon scaring down pancakes again at an insanely fast rate! It was a miracle she hadn't made herself sick.





With today's challenge now known to all, there wasn't much of an opportunity for the three mares to discuss any events from before. Twilight and Rarity tried, but every time they began to strike up a conversation with their pink party pony friend she would always reply with. "I need to eat! We could be going all over the island to look for buried treasure, and in that case I'll need as much energy as possible!"

Rarity was groaning, putting a hoof to her forehead in the confessional as she felt sorely tempted to pinch herself (if that were possible). "That Pinkie Pie. Honestly, how did I survive being on a team with her?" And she sighed. "I know she can be smarter than she lets on, but she's insanely hard to read sometimes. I honestly can't believe she's made it this far, she's so lucky it's scary!"

Even Twilight was finding it hard to keep herself composed while in the confessional. "I guess maybe I haven't known my friends as much as I thought I did," She said to herself. "Was I so focused on Trixie, Vinyl and Rainbow Dash that I failed to realize how much Pinkie Pie can still drive me crazy?" Then she wondered. "But how do I tell her that without sounding mean? I don't want her to think I don't trust her."

A flicker of static and the camera cut back to the mess hall as the three former Magical Misfits finished their pancake breakfast one by one. Pinkie Pie was obviously the first, and she rushed out the door as soon as her plate was empty! In fact, she was in such a rush that she just barely remembered to lick her lips to get a few flakey crumbs off her cheeks.

Twilight was next, followed by Rarity shortly thereafter. "I guess we'll just have to wait until this challenge is over, or at least until we can be sure we'll be alone with Pinkie," Twilight told her fellow unicorn. "We need to address this."

Rarity nodded very reluctantly. "I do agree with you, darling. For the sake of our friendship, we must have that talk one way or another before this day is over. We can't wait until the finale."

And with that spoken agreement, the two unicorns followed Pinkie Pie as they found Discord waiting for them by the cabins. "So, ye are all set to search for me plunder, are ye?" He asked them, glaring at them through his one eye that wasn't covered by an eyepatch. Upon receiving confirming nods the spirit dressed as a pirate declared. "Well good. I hoped ye would be."

The three mares soon found full maps being dropped into their hooves in a flash of light. And Discord was explaining everything while continuing to talk like a pirate. "Now listen carefully, landlubbers. Ye've each received a map that'll led you to where I've gone and stashed me booty."

"So we just go to where the x is and dig until we find whatever you consider booty?" Twilight questioned. "If that's the case, why are we getting maps? Wouldn't it be more of a challenge if we had to actually search for it."

Discord waved his metal hook paw in front of Twilight as he snarled! "Ye better watch that tongue of yours, matey! I'd hate to make ye walk the plank off The Dock o Shame for a ride on the Boat of Losers," Then he resumed his explanation as if he hadn't been interrupted in the first place. "I be given ye all maps for a reason, but what that reason is I won't tell. Just follow the map, dig up the loot and bring back whatever ye find to claim yer reward. Oh, and by the way mateys, ye better be careful about what ye choose to dig up," Then he asked. "Are ye all ready?"

"I think we are, more or less." Rarity nodded while looking at Twilight and Pinkie who nodded back in response.

"Good," Discord declared with a smile, and then with a snap of his free paw he made a cannon appear. "Take heart, me hardies. When this cannon go boom, it be time for ye to start on yer way!" And before anypony could even think of protesting, the spirit pulled out a match, lit the fuse and then stood back! The cannon soon fired off a single cannonball, wizzing its way through the sky all the way across the island.

The search for the buried treasure (or buried treasures more likely) was on!





Each pony examined their map as best they could, finding to their surprise (and great relief in Pinkie Pie and Rarity's cases) that the maps were very easy to read. A far cry from Nightmare Moon's map the day before. It was just a straight line down to the beach, though each map referred to multiple xs and didn't specify which were which or where.

Pinkie Pie bounced along as usual, smiling and humming a tune to herself as she looked down at her map only occasionally to make sure she was going the right way.

In the confessional, the pink party pony was explaining. "I know Twilight and Rarity must be worried about last night, and I kind of am too. But it's in the past," She then cheerfully declared! "I can't stay mad at them! It's great that no matter what, we'll still be friends in the end. And if I'm being honest, both of them probably deserve to win more than me. I mean, not that I'm not gonna try to win, cause I still will."

The camera cut back to normal as Twilight and Rarity were making their own approaches towards the beach while also wondering how they might best carry out that conversation with Pinkie Pie that needed to happen.

Since neither mare was willing to take that plunge, the journey to the beach passed in silence for all three ponies (aside from Pinkie's humming and bouncing). And on the beach itself, just near the shoreline rested three big xs that had been drawn in the dirt. It was anypony's guess what was buried underneath each of them.

Immediately, Pinkie Pie ran over to the first x her blue eyes settled on and happily started digging at the ground with just her bare hooves. She didn't seem to have a care in the world.

The same couldn't be said for Twilight and Rarity though, because although they both approached an x of their own (Twilight got the one closest to the water and Rarity the furthest) they were unsure of how exactly they would or should dig up the loot marked on the spot. Rarity in particular was rather hesitant, pawing lightly at the dirty as the fashionista nervously commented. "I really don't wanna chip a hoof here. That's a set back I can't afford!"

The pink party pony soon took notice of this and stopped her digging entirely even though she was already a ways down into the sand. She quickly left the hole she'd made behind and bounced over, whistling to get her friends' attention. "Hey, what's the matter, slowpokes?" She called in a surprisingly friendly tone of voice. "Why haven't you started digging yet? You're never gonna get at the treasures by just standing there."

The studious unicorn answered with a nervous grin. "We'd love to, Pinkie, but there's no shovels or digging tools anywhere. And... well, we're not as physically gifted as you are with our hooves."

Rarity slowly nodded in agreement. "What Twilight said, darling. And we're being sincere."

"Oh, is that all? Well why didn't you just say so?!" Pinkie cheerfully declared in a tone of voice so loud it could be heard for miles around! "I've got plenty of shovels in case of shovel emergencies. In fact, I've got lots of things in case of any kind of emergency. Never hurts to be prepared. Twilight taught me that," She giggled, before reaching a pink colored hoof into her poofy mane. "Now let's see, where did I stash them?" And she proceeded to rummage through her mane, tossing aside various objects as she pulled them out.

Both unicorns could only blink at each other, making sure they weren't seeing things. It seemed that there was something about their earth pony's friend that defied all known laws of reality.

Twilight was amazed by this as she was exclaiming with eyes wide open in the confessional! "If it weren't for the fact that I already tried to study the 'Pinkie Sense' and came up empty hoofed, I'd gladly try to study Pinkie's mane!" And she pondered aloud. "Could the Sonic Rainboom have caused a reaction that gave her these crazy abilities? It seems like it could enhance magic in lots of other forms."

The camera soon cut back to the beach as Pinkie just kept digging around in her mane, objects of all shapes and sizes piling up behind her as she tossed them out. At last, she seemed to find what she was looking for as she exclaimed! "Aha, here we go! I knew I put them somewhere!" And seconds later, the earth pony was hauling out two large metal shovels that looked like they shouldn't have been able to fit into her mane at all. "There you are!" She told her friends.

But Twilight and Rarity just stood there in utter speechlessness, neither knew what to say. It seemed like a thousand thoughts were all swirling through their minds at once.

Pinkie Pie appeared to realize what at least some of those thoughts might be as she looked at the two unicorns with a sincere smile. "What? I don't need them. I'm more than happy to let you borrow them. It just wouldn't be fair if I was the only one digging."

"You really trust us, Pinkie Pie?" Rarity questioned with concern. "For all you know, we could be faking this just to take advantage of you. You didn't seem to really trust us last night or yesterday."

Pinkie only replied by shrugging her hooves. "So? That was then and this is now. It's all water under the bridge, girls."

"You mean, you're not mad at us?" Twilight reluctantly asked, worried that this might be a trap or a dream of some kind.

"A little bit," Pinkie answered as her expression didn't change in the least. "But I think I would've just voted for myself if we'd been allowed to vote last night. And I doubt Rainbow Dash would've wanted that. She was probably going to lose anyway. I just think she deserved more of a chance is all. It was kind of my fault she didn't win invincibility."

Twilight then pointed out. "Maybe so, but you were also the only one who wasn't ready to abandon her when Rarity and I wanted to go back to camp earlier in the day. So if not for your insistence on saving Rainbow Dash, she wouldn't have been in a position to win invincibility anyway. So in a way, you kind of helped her and kind of hurt her. And without knowing it."

Rarity was quick to add. "And we're sorry about Derpy. But it seemed like she was so convinced that her time to leave had come. She knew that if you found out, you'd try to stop it," Then she looked at the ground in shame. "But we should've tried harder to resist, at least until Rainbow Dash was gone."

Pinkie Pie nodded before insisting. "But that's all in the past. We can't change that. And I don't wanna let it come between us. I still wanna be friends with you guys, just like I wanna still be friends with Rainbow Dash even if she's gonna be so thickheaded. It never feels good to be without friends, especially in a place like this."

"I agree, Pinkie Pie," The studious unicorn declared. "However, it's also true that friends or not we still have to participate in this challenge. And only one of us can win it. And it would be wrong if I went easy on either of you because of our friendship."

Pinkie nodded again, and then bounced back over to her huge hole of sand to resume digging! "Exactly! You really are smart, Twilight! And you know, that's just what I like about you."

The fashionista simply replied. "Alright then, ladies. If there's nothing else that needs to be discussed, let's all focus on our treasures! And may the best mare win!" Then she and Twilight picked up the shovels Pinkie had given them, and they both started to dig on their respective xs.





For several minutes, the sound of the digging up of sand was all that could be heard on the beach. But at last, the digging stopped as all three ponies found their respective buried treasures. With massive grunting, each mare managed to raise up a huge wooden treasure chest from their respective sand pits.

A flicker of the camera showed Pinkie Pie in the confessional, wiping the sweat from her brows. "Phew!" Was all she had to said, and that one word spoke volumes about the effort she had expended.

The camera soon cut back to the beach to show Twilight and Rarity just as exhausted. "Okay, we got the buried treasure," Rarity heavily panted. "So, what now?"

"I... guess we have to bring it back to Discord, wherever he is," Twilight responded. "He didn't say where, though."

The fashionista just groaned. "Lugging that heavy chest around in this hot, baking sun? No thank you! I've done a lot of things for the million bits, but I won't do that!"

The studious unicorn nodded. "For once, I agree with you, Rarity. There's no way we can carry these chests all over the island to look for Discord. Not after everything we've already done today."

Fortunately, the pink party pony pointed a hoof as she identified an obvious solution. "Well, why don't we use those carts over there?"

Twilight and Rarity followed Pinkie's hoof and saw that she was pointing towards a set of three mine carts that they swore hadn't been there before. But that was fine, they weren't going to look this gift horse in the mouth. They just followed Pinkie Pie over to the carts, and with a great deal of exhaustive effort got the treasure chests into said carts.

"This is just like when we came back from the Diamond Dogs." Pinkie giddily proclaimed as she, Twilight and Rarity hitched themselves up to the carts' harnesses and began to pull them.

Twilight couldn't help but join in the laugh. "Yeah, except this time Rarity didn't get kidnapped."

Even Rarity found herself chuckling a bit. "'Kidnapped', darlings? As I seem to recall it, I had those dogs wrapped around my hoof the whole time. Though I will admit it was clever of me to convince them to part with their supply of gems."

As the three friends shared in the laughing and reminiscing together as they left the beach, it was hard not to feel a sense of optimism among each of them. It was as if they were becoming friends all over again, something they wouldn't have thought was possible.

The camera cut away from this cheerful scene with a flicker of static, showing Twilight in the confessional as she seemed to be sincerely smiling. "It's weird. Last night I thought as if my friendships were starting to fade, and now suddenly it's like they've never been stronger," She commented. "I guess maybe that's just the charm of Pinkie Pie or something. She truly is magical in her own unique way," But then she could be heard adding. "I'm not sure how I'd compete against that in the finale if I had to."

Rarity seemed to be having similar thoughts if the expression on her face when she was in the confessional was anything to go on. "You know, at this rate I'm starting to think Pinkie Pie might just win this whole thing. Nothing's truly rattled her, and she's survived longer than I would've ever expected her to," She declared. "And Twilight is awfully determined to win because of that promise she made to Princess Celestia," And the fashionista vowed! "I need to find my own sense of motivation if I don't wanna be cut loose right at the end! I've come too far to lose now!"

And Pinkie Pie was just happily smiling as she was barely able to sit still in the confessional. "Ooh! Friendship finale, here we come!" She joyfully declared! "I don't care if it's Twilight and I, Rarity and I or Twilight and Rarity! Whoever wins, we all still get to be friends!" But then she pondered. "Although, I haven't given much thought to what I'd do with the million bits if I did win it. I never thought I'd get this far. Hm, maybe I should start thinking now just in case." Then the camera cut back to the beach as the three former Magical Misfits left it behind.





Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie pulled their mine carts (with their treasures chests safely inside) up the beach and back along the length of Paradox Island in search of Discord (or even Nightmare Moon who could hopefully point them in his direction).

At last, just as the three thought that they might never see Discord and were about ready to give up the search entirely due to the heavy weight of the mine carts, they saw what appeared to be a finish line up ahead! With a renewed sense of hope and urgency, they began to trot at a frantic speed toward the line!

Twilight barely crossed the line first, followed by Pinkie Pie and then Rarity. At last, it seemed they could rest.

Sure enough, Discord was there to greet them. And he had shed his pirate outfit for some unexplained reason. "Oh my, what a nice surprise. You're all working together," He commented in a sickingly sweet tone of voice. "Makes me want to gag, honestly." The witty spirit even made a gag face to emphasize his point.

"Well, you can try but you can't break our friendships! It's like I told you last time, Discord," Twilight firmly responded. "Friendship is worth fighting for! It truly is magic."

The chaos maker just yawned and literally rolled his eyes, eyeballs and all. "Yes yes, I remember. But this is not Total Friendship." He corrected in a bored tone of voice.

Rarity simply gave a humph, plopping down onto her rump right on the spot. "Well, regardless, we did what you asked of us. We dug up our treasures. So, let's just get this challenge over with. I assume that at least one of these chests contains invincibility?"

But Discord stood up and smirked. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. You didn't really think I'd make things so easy for you three, did you?" And he then explained. "I very well couldn't have a vote with just three ponies left in the game. It would be anti-climatic. The votes are a thing of the past, Derpy's going to be the last one to have the honor of being voted off."

Twilight stuttered in confusion and disbelief! "But... but... you said that we had to dig up the buried treasure and bring it back here to 'get your reward'!"

"Exactly!" The witty spirit confirmed with a firm nod. "I said you would get a reward, I never said the reward would be invincibility. If it was, it would be no different than when I had you all looking for keys to open up chests."

"I still haven't forgiven you for what you made me do in that challenge!" Rarity glared at the spirit! "Do you have any idea how hard it was to wash the filth off?! It took me over an hour! Over an hour, Discord!"

Discord remarked in an unconcerned tone of voice. "I missed the part where that's my problem, Rarity. I'm not responsible for what you chose to do of your own free will," And he was quick to change the subject. "The buried treasure was but part one of a two part challenge. This second part is what will decide who stays and who goes."

Pinkie Pie immediately asked. "So, if the second part is what mattered, why did you make us dig up these heavy chests in part one?"

"Did you already forget about the 'reward' part?" The witty spirit frowned as he looked at Pinkie. "I thought you of all ponies would've figured it out," Then he snapped his talons, making the treasure chests float right out of the mine carts as if they weighed nothing at all. "Go ahead, open them up if you dare." He instructed.

So each pony did so, finding that the chests were surprisingly easy to open up as a result of their design. But what they found inside of each chest was surprising (and in Rarity's case disappointing): Plain old plastic bottles that had been slightly colored on on the outside.

Rarity held up one of the colored bottles as she demanded of Discord! "And just what is the meaning of this, I might like to know?!"

The chaos maker grinned. "These are what I like to call 'Freebies'. They're part of a little game I created. A game within a game, you might say," And then he gave a whistle. "Nightmare Moon, that's your cue!"





The wicked mare of darkness subsequently emerged from what seemed like nowhere, pushing a set of huge wooden podiums out and hauling a large, wooden circle like object behind her. She appeared to be visibly straining herself as she set the podiums down and pushed the circle like object into place in front of them. "I better get payed double for this!" She told Discord once her work was done.

"Yeah yeah, we can discuss our pay later. You did a good job," Discord only barely bothered to acknowledge the evil alicorn's reply before he looked at the three contestants. "This is part two of today's challenge! Back by popular demand, it's the dare contest! But this time there's a little twist to it, a 'spin' you might say."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" The fashionista unicorn inquired of the chaos maker.

Discord smiled as he snapped a paw, making himself appear in a bright blue, finely tailored jacket. "Well, I heard about how you ponies sometimes like to play a little game called 'Spin The Bottle' where you dare each other to do outrageous things. So I figured 'Why not make a challenge based on that'? But I didn't wanna give up on my plans for a buried treasure challenge, so I decided to combine them here. I would've probably done it last episode if I hadn't been called away last minute."

Twilight then asked. "Does that anything to do with these 'freebies' you gave us?"

"Bingo!" The witty spirit explained with a bright smile! "At any point, if you don't want to do a dare that you've been dared to do, just use one of your 'freebies'. But be careful, there's only so many to go around. You can get more by winning dares. However, if you fail to complete a dare then you're out! Go directly to the Dock of Shame! Do not pass go and most certainly do not collect the million bits!"

"And is there a reason why I seem to have less 'freebies' than either of my friends?" Rarity questioned as she noticed that she had only one compared to three for Pinkie Pie and five for Twilight.

At that Discord only answered. "I did say to choose wisely during the buried treasure part of the challenge, did I not? Each chest had a different amount of 'freebies' inside. I could've told you that, but it would've ruined the surprise."

The camera cut to Rarity grumbling and folding her hooves across her chest in the confessional. "Well that's just great. Leave it to Discord to leave out some important details," Then after a long, drawn out sigh the fashionista could only bring herself to say. "No matter though, I shall just have to put up with it. I've overcome worse odds before and I shall gladly do so again!"

A brief flicker of static brought the camera back to the small clearing in the forest where this larger than life version of spin the bottle would take place. And Discord simply declared. "Now, if there are no more 'questions' let's get this game under way! Each of you take up a podium. Doesn't matter to me who goes where, order has already been decided: Loser goes first."

"Why Discord, I'm flattered," Rarity sarcastically remarked. "You shouldn't have."

Seemingly oblivious to the sarcasm, the witty spirit only replied. "It's my pleasure," And then he clapped his paws together. "Now, enough chit chat. I don't have all day, ponies."

"Come on, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie eagerly encouraged as she bounced over to the first podium on the left! "And you too, Twilight! 'Freebies' or no 'freebies' this should be fun."

Twilight nodded very slowly. "I hope so. But I have to wonder, who came up with the dares?"

"Perhaps the colors on that circle over there with the bottle are a clue?" Rarity commented as she gestured a hoof. "I swear, some of those colors look a lot like eliminated contestants. I can see black and white, rainbow, dark blue, the same white as me and so many other colors."

"If that's true, I wonder what kind of dares the eliminated contestants could've dreamt up?" Twilight thought, and then gulped. "What if some contestants wanna get revenge on somepony?!" But she decided not to say these worries aloud as she had little in the way of proof at the moment. Instead, she took up the podium that was first on the right. And that left Rarity to take up the one in the middle.

Discord smiled. "Wonderful, everything's in place," And he briefly looked across to Nightmare Moon. "Time to get our little game show within a show off the ground!"

Nightmare Moon smirked and flashed a toothy grin. "This is gonna be fun, for me that is."





"Welcome one and all to 'Spin That Bottle'!" Discord declared in an overly dramatic tone of voice, making sure to look into the cameras as if he weren't already looking into them all the time. "And today we have three fabulous friends for contestants. And they're going to be competing for the right to go on to the big finale of Total Magic Pony Island!"

Nightmare Moon quickly added in what sounded like a bored tone of voice. "Now now, no need to applaud. Yes, he's so talented."

"Oh chin up, Nightmare Moon," The draconequus replied before looking at the three former Magical Misfits. "Now, I'm sure our contestants need no introduction. You've seen them all on TMPI, you know what they're like. They've all been on the same team, and by some stroke of luck they've all made it even though at least one of them has escaped elimination twice."

Pinkie Pie didn't blink at all even as Discord was clearly referring to her. "Come on, Discord. Don't single me out. That's not fun."

Discord pretended he hadn't heard as he just went on speaking. "So, with no need for introductions, we can get right to down to business!" And he then instructed. "Rarity, please come on up and give that bottle a good spin. Wherever it stops will determine what your first dare will be."

The fashionista left her podium and approached the giant circle where a huge, empty soda bottle appeared to have been hastily taped to said circle. Even the colored tabs surrounding it looked like they'd just been painted on last minute, as if the whole thing just been thrown together overnight.

Reluctantly, Rarity spun the bottle as hard as she could and mentally prayed for it to give her a dare that wouldn't be too awful. Slowly but surely, the bottle slowed down and came to a rest next to a space the same beautiful shade of white as Rarity's. If Twilight's little hunch was correct, this would dare come courtesy of Sweetie Belle.

Discord appeared to pull a small card out of thin air that he then proceeded to hold up and read. "And here's your first dare, Rarity:" He examined the card carefully and cleared his throat. "'You must agree to a full mane re-styling.'"

"Oh, is that all? That doesn't sound so awful." Rarity replied as she breathed a small sigh of relief.

The witty spirit was quick to correct. "You didn't let me finish. The dare is 'A full mane re-styling, courtesy of Nightmare Moon'."

"What?!" Rarity gasped as she saw the wicked mare of darkness grinning, her eyes indicating obvious evil intent. "No way would my sister ever propose something like that as a dare!" She thought to herself. "Discord must've added his own twists to them somehow to make them more 'interesting'."

The chaos maker just told the fashionista. "Hey, that's the dare. You can either take it, or use your only 'freebie' to get out of it. It's your choice. Better be quick though, or I might just make up your mind for you."

To the surprise of everyone, Rarity responded with a look of fierce and fiery determination reflected in her eyes! "I'll do it!" And she even looked at Nightmare Moon and told the evil alicorn. "Do your worst, I'm not afraid!" Though after she had spoken this she couldn't help but gulp just a tiny bit.

Nightmare Moon only grinned as she waited for her soon to be victim to approach her. "We'll see if you're still saying that after I'm done with you."





Rarity was soon seated in a chair that Discord poofed up out of nowhere for her, and Nightmare Moon used her magic to bring up a variety of mane styling tools.

Twilight couldn't bring herself to watch and looked the other way as Nightmare Moon began her "make-over".

"Three, two, one... and we're done!" Discord declared at last. "Okay, Nightmare Moon, let's see how our 'client' turned out."

"Can... can I have a mirror, please?" The fashionista nervously asked, expecting the worst. All her earlier bravado had seemingly disappeared. But when she finally got a chance to see just what her "new mane" looked like, she was relieved to see that it actually wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. It had taken on the shape and style of an extremely curly and poofy mane, and had been done up in a series of really bright highlights, almost like a rainbow.

Pinkie Pie couldn't help but giggle. "You look like a circus clown, Rarity! All you need now is a big, red honkable nose."

"Let's not give Discord any ideas!" Rarity snorted as she then turned to the chaos maker and demanded of him. "I'd like my 'freebie' now if you wouldn't mind."

The witty spirit nodded, bringing over a bottle with a snap of his paws. "There you are, one 'freebie' for Rarity. Spend it wisely. Or don't, I don't care," Then he called out. "Pinkie Pie, you're next if you please! Give the bottle a good spin!"

Happily obliging, the pink party pony trotted over while she said aloud. "Ooh, I hope I get a good one!" She shut her eyes and spun the bottle as hard as she could, nearly sending it rocketing off the board as a result! The bottle spun around so fast it was hard to keep track of it! But at last it slowed down, finally coming to a rest next to a light greenish-yellow space.

Discord pulled out another card. "Pinkie Pie, your first dare is as follows:" Clearing his throat he explained. "'Eat dog food.'"

Pinkie quickly trotted over and brought up one of her three 'freebies' as she explained in reply. "Thanks, but I'm not that hungry. Besides, there are some things even I won't eat. I've even accidentally eaten cardboard once," When several eyes fell upon the mare she insisted. "What, I'm serious? I really did."

The chaos maker only replied in an unconcerned tone. "Whatever, that's one less 'freebie' for you. I hope it was a wise decision for you," And he proceeded to instruct. "Twilight!"

The studious unicorn didn't even bother to wait for a full reply as she got off of her pedestal. "Yeah yeah, I know. I'll spin that bottle." She trotted over to it, looked at the two spaces already marked down out of the eighteen colored spaces there were on the circle surrounding the bottle. Then she clumsily put her hooves up to it and spun it to the best of her ability. It seemed like the bottle just barely made it around once before stopping next to an orange and pink colored spot.

Another card appeared in Discord's paws and he read it aloud. "Twilight Sparkle, your first dare is: 'Listen to the most boring lecture in all of Equestria for one minute without falling asleep.'"

Twilight grinned. "No problem. There's not a single lecture I could possibly find boring."

"Then you won't object to Nightmare Moon giving a lecture on the history of sleep and of nightmares?" Discord explained as the wicked mare of darkness could be seen smiling in the distance, setting up a tiny lecture space for an audience of one.

Twilight firmly nodded. "It'll be good research at least." And with a smile on her face she trotted over.

Nightmare Moon smiled. "You're either the bravest pony I've ever met or the most foolish. Either way, you're going to regret this very soon."

But the unicorn mare known for her love of books and knowledge only happily replied. "We'll just see about that, won't we? Now go ahead, I'm listening."

"Alright, but don't blame me if you fall asleep. I'm going to do my best to bore you!" Nightmare Moon vowed and then cleared her throat, taking on the most boring tone she could think of as she began lecturing. "Sleep has had a very fascinating history. It has been with us since the beginning of time, ever since night existed."





The minute of lecture time seemed to last longer than it actually did, at least as far as everyone except Twilight was concerned. Heck, Discord just barely remembered to press the button on a stopwatch he'd produced to make it stop. "And that's all the time we have for today," He said while trying to yawn. "Seriously though, Nightmare Moon. You were supposed to bore Twilight, not me!"

The wicked mare of darkness only shrugged her hooves in reply. "I'm not a miracle worker, Discord!" And she then snorted. "Well, Twilight Sparkle, congrats on that 'freebie' of yours. I hope you choke on it!"

"Now now, there's no need for bad blood between the contestants and the show hosts," The draconequus replied as he quickly shifted focus back to Rarity. "Let's move right along to round two! Rarity, go ahead and spin that bottle! Win this next dare and you'll overtake Pinkie Pie on 'freebies'."

So Rarity gave the bottle a good spin, hoping beyond hope for something good to compensate for her mane styling that still felt uncomfortable. But alas, the spot it stopped on had a rainbow color to it.

Discord grinned as he pulled out another card and read it aloud. "Ooh, this is interesting: 'Let Nightmare Moon cut and shave your mane.'"

"No, not that! Anything but that!" Rarity protested as she quickly rushed over to grab a 'freebie' and offered it up to Discord! "Here, take this and leave my mane alone! It's been through enough already!"

The witty spirit nodded, taking up the object even as he told the fashionista. "Oh well, your loss. That takes you back down to two 'freebies'."

"Oh goody, my turn!" Pinkie Pie excitedly declared as she didn't even need to wait for Discord to call out to her before going up to spin the bottle.

The rest of round two soon afterward came and went without fanfare. Pinkie Pie managing to win a dare from a space colored like Vinyl Scratch that involved navigating a maze with disorienting goggles. And Twilight using one of her 'freebies' in order to get out of a dare space colored like Gilda as it would've involved jumping into a literal bucket of ice.

Another round came and went with little fanfare as each of the three mares managed to complete their dares and get a 'freebie'. But with half of the dares complete, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were starting to take notice of the fact that their fashion friend was struggling and was currently in last place.

"Rarity, you can borrow some of my 'freebies' if you want." Twilight offered as the third round came to an end.

"Or some of mine, even just one," Pinkie Pie added. "It's not exactly fair that you're behind like this."

But the fashionista could only shake her head and insist. "Darlings, I'll hear nothing of such talk. It's nice that you're worried about me. But I don't need either of you helping me. I didn't need your help to make this far, did I?"

The studious unicorn slowly blinked. "Not really, but..."

Rarity protested. "But nothing, darlings. Win or lose, it'll be of my own accord," And she added with a wink. "Besides, I've got a good feeling about my chances. Half of the dares are gone already."

Pinkie nervously commented. "Yeah, but who knows what the rest of the dares are like?"

The fashionista unicorn smiled. "Well, that's what my 'freebies' are for. I only need to win one more to have enough to make it through the last two rounds if I have to. And if it comes to that, the chips will fall where they may."

Discord cleared his throat a second later, catching all three mares' attention. "Hey, I'm still hosting this show! Time is money! And if you're wasting time talking, then you're wasting money!" He impatiently stomped a hoof down and declared! "Come on, Rarity! It's your turn! Spin that bottle, unless you want to forfeit!"

"Not on your life, Discord!" Rarity roared as she got down from her pedestal and headed up to spin the bottle! It spun around and around several times before eventually stopping on a light blue space.

The dare was soon explained by Discord as he produced yet another small card. "'Use two sticks to produce a spark that could simulate magic from a unicorn horn,'" He explained, before noticing an added detail. "And the one who submitted this dare wishes to add they're 'Totally not upset about a challenge.'"

A flicker of the camera showed Twilight gasping in horror as she realized something! "This must be a dare from Trixie! She must've intended it for me!"

The camera then cut back to the clearing as Twilight frantically called out to Rarity! "Don't do it! Use one of your 'freebies'!"

But Rarity, perhaps feeling emboldened by recent successes, declared to Discord. "I'll do it! It seems simple enough."

"Can do you it under in a minute, though?" The witty spirit replied as he quickly pulled out his stopwatch!

"What?! Under a minute?! I couldn't possibly do it that quickly!" The fashionista protested in horror, her eyes widening as she realized the mistake she'd made! "Can I use one of my 'freebies'?"

Discord shook his head. "Sorry, I'm afraid it's too late for that. Either you attempt the dare, or you leave the game. It's your choice."





After a bit of silence (and great hesitance from Rarity if the look on her face was anything to go on), Rarity turned away from the sticks that had been presented to her and said to Discord. "You can't expect me to perform such a feat in under a minute. You're asking the impossible," And she sighed, resigning herself to her inevitable fate. "So it looks like it's the Dock of Shame for me."

Discord nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so. Quite a shame, actually. I had hoped you would make it, if only so Twilight Sparkle would be denied," He then sighed a bit. "Oh well, it's not like I was a betting draconequus anyway," And he clapped his paws. "Nightmare Moon, you know the drill. Please escort Rarity to the Boat of Losers."

"With pleasure!" Nightmare Moon firmly nodded and smiled, before looking at the latest victim she would be ferrying off of Paradox Island. "Don't feel too bad, you won't go away completely empty hoofed. You'll have the experience of participating as a consolation prize."

The fashionista only responded. "Well, a million bits would've been much nicer. But I guess we can't win them all."

Discord, meanwhile, made the bottle, the circle and the podiums (along with his jacket) disappear with a snap of his talons. And soon, he was transporting Twilight and Pinkie Pie down to the Dock of Shame to watch Rarity be paraded past on her way to the Boat of Losers.

"Sorry you didn't make it, Rarity." Twilight sincerely apologized.

Pinkie Pie was quick to offer. "We could still split the million with you. Neither of us need it as much as you do."

But Rarity only shook her head. "Out of the question, darlings. You're under no obligation to support me now that I lost. There can only be one winner and one prize money. Whoever wins, you should be free to spend it however you see fit," And she smiled. "I'm glad I made it this far. That's an accomplishment all by itself. And I'm certain I'll have racked up quite a bit of free publicity from doing this."

Nightmare Moon then ushered the unicorn with a majestic white coat down the Dock of Shame and onto the Boat of Losers. Soon, the boat's motor hummed to life and carried its final passenger off of Paradox Island.

As the Boat of Losers disappeared over the horizon, Discord was standing on the Dock of Shame with Twilight and Pinkie Pie as he was excitedly declaring! "Well folks, our finalists are set: Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie! And one of them will soon be walking away with a million bits! So stay tuned for the most exciting finale of all time here on Total Magic Pony Island!"