Next, it was Fluttershy’s turn and Sunny Flare looked back at her screen and read the question aloud. “What is the type of animal that is referred to as genus strigiformes?”
“Sounds like snakes to me.” Pinkie tapped at her nose with a finger. “Choose snakes!”
“It’s a tricky name, b-but… I know um, quite a lot about animals.” Fluttershy pressed a finger down on option D.
“And the answer is…” Sunny Flare looked disappointed. “Option D, owls. Lucky guess.”
“Yes!” Sunset said. “Good work, Fluttershy!”
“Looks like I’ll need to step up my game…” Sunny Flare tossed a bowl between her hands and then spun it down one arm. “Applejack is next.”
Sunny Flare cycled to the next question, but something made her pause. Then she smiled smugly. “Your friend Rainbow Dash is attempting to use her Stand to escape. Unfortunately, while constrained by the rules of Radioactive’s game, nothing can escape from the Gaol of Eternal Peril. All she can do is wait and watch as my Stand ticks closer to detonation.”
“We’ll get’chu yet. Ask me yer question, Shadowbolt, Ah ain’t afraid.” Applejack grabbed the sides of her podium firmly.
Sunny smirked and panned a hand to the question on the screen. “Which of these animals is not from the subphylum, chelicerata?”
Four animals appeared on the podium’s panel and they could all see the four choices. Sunset knew Fluttershy would know the answer to this, but they could not communicate it to Applejack. Sunset could only hope she knew the answer to this question.
“Uh…” Applejack stammered. “Uh, can ya repeat the question?”
“It’s right there on the screen. Not very bright, are you?” Sunny snickered and covered her mouth with a hand.
“Umm…” Applejack scratched her head and squinted her eyes at the screen, then back down at her four options. “Rabbit, spider, sloth, or snail…”
“You got this, Applejack!” Pinkie cheered and threw confetti out in her little confinement.
“Quiet,” Sunny ordered. “Time’s running out, Applejuice. Answer the question, or be cast into the Gaol of Eternal Peril with Rainbow Dash!”
“The name’s Applejack,” the disgruntled girl shot back. “And Ah know the right answer to yer question. It’s C, sloths.”
“And your answer is… incorrect.” Sunny’s mouth somehow still got wider. “To the gaol with you!”
“Wait, no, ya can’t do that, Ah’m right!” Applejack called forth her Stand, but they could both do nothing as they were launched into the air, right into a hole that opened close to Sunny’s podium, disappearing like Rainbow Dash once it closed behind her.
“Three to go.” Sunny motioned to the scoreboard, where another level of the meter had filled green. Radioactive began to puff steam in the middle, almost like it was a bull getting ready to charge. “You girls sure know how to make things easy. Trust me, I’ve had smarter opponents.”
“Come on, girls, we’ve got this! We’ll beat Sunny at her own game, save the others, and get out in time for cake!” Pinkie shook one fist. “Me next, me next!”
“Very well!” Sunny swept one arm to the side, sending her cape fluttering in the same direction. “It is time to get this game going! The questions will only get harder here!”
Sunset clenched her fists atop her podium, still unable to find a way to get the best of Sunny. There was nothing they could do but play her game, and there didn’t seem to be an end to her questions. There was no bar on her scoreboard to tell them how much more they had left other than a jumble of numbers, showing their current score, along with the green doomsday counter. She hadn’t come all this way just to get beaten by a gameshow. She had to find a way to turn the tables on Sunny somehow.
“Option B!” Pinkie depressed one of the buttons. “Mycosis!”
“Another one correct.” Sunny slid a finger across the air, then brought it back down in a Z gesture, followed by bending forward and placing both arms behind her back. “It’s only a matter of time now before Radioactive goes boom. Are you sure you want to keep getting them right?”
“Yep!” Pinkie grinned happily. “But you know what, this is kinda boring, to be honest. All you’re doing is asking us questions. And we have to stand here and wait. I was looking forward to more action, like the rest of your Shadowbolts!”
“I do prefer it if we di-didn’t have to fight…” Fluttershy folded her arms across her chest.
“Well said. And my game show isn’t boring!” Sunny hissed. “It’s fair play and it's got loads of interesting questions and you might even learn something new from time to time!”
“Oh really?” A lightbulb went off in Sunset’s head. There was nothing to lose by trying this, so why not? “I’ve got an idea how we can make this more interesting.”
“Oh?” Sunny rubbed her jaw. “How do you plan on that?”
“You keep asking us questions that you know, but do you indeed know everything?” Sunset continued.
Sunny narrowed her eyes, but waved a hand. “Keep talking, Sushi.”
“I’m sure I can ask you something you won’t have the answer to,” Sunset challenged. “And if you get it wrong, you go to the gaol and my friends and I get to leave.”
Sunny scoffed and let out one shrill laugh. “Are you joking, Sushi? Had too much Japanese food, have you? I, Sunny Flare, one of the best and most decorated Shadowbolts, know everything, second only to Sugarcoat in knowledge.”
Sunny got off her podium and walked around it. Steam hissed from Radioactive and a low groaning sound echoed around them. “I accept your challenge. If I guess your questions, then you will be seeing Applejack and Rainbow Dash in the Gaol of Eternal Peril!
“Aaaand, you know what? I’m so very confident you can’t best me, so tell you girls what, I’ll give each of you a chance to ask me a question, but if I get it right, straight to the gaol you go. And don’t you think of asking me questions like, ‘what do I have in my pocket?’. Radioactive is able to sense when a question is credible, and if it doesn’t like it, it won’t count. Do we have a deal?”
Sunset looked to her friends. Pinkie seemed very into the idea, but Fluttershy looked a little hesitant. She nodded her confidence to them. This was their only chance to turn the tide on Sunny. Do or die, this was how they were going to get out of here. She firmly gripped the sides of her podium. Even if Sunny killed her here now, she wouldn’t give up and she would keep going until Cinch’s plans for world domination were stopped.
“Let’s do it!” Pinkie jumped in her invisible box and gave both Sunset and Fluttershy thumb ups.
“Then who would like to go first?” Sunny smirked. “Radioactive is dying to go nuclear. Ohhh, I can already smell the chemicals…” She breathed in and moaned, which was a little disturbing for Sunset.
“Ooh, ooh, me first, me first!” Pinkie slammed a fist on her podium. “How aboutttt… Ooh, this one. Which eruption created the Yellowstone Caldera? Pick your answer!”
Pinkie leaned her body back and placed both arms forward like she was resting on a table, then tilted her neck forward. Golden Ticket appeared behind her, placing one arm over her left arm and the other around Pinkie’s waist.
“Yellowstone? Please, you could’ve thought of something overseas at least.” Sunny blew a raspberry and cackled. “That would be the Lava Creek eruption, which also created the Lava Creek Tuff. Too easy.”
“Well, I tried, you girls got thiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssssss!” Pinkie trailed off as her body was flung up into the air and then down into a new hole that appeared just in front of Radioactive.
The Stand hissed more steam and two of the canisters on its ‘head’ lifted and opened, revealing a tube inside them, dotted with holes that pulsed a toxic green as the scoreboard’s meter went up.
“Mmmm, it’s almost ready…” Sunny licked her lips and placed one hand on her chest and the other down on one thigh. “I told you, you can’t beat me.”
“Umm, I’ll g-go.” Fluttershy looked at Sunset and nodded.
Sunset knew what she was saying even without her having to use words. That nod signified more than just a simple nod of understanding. She was also saying that she had a question planned, but if Sunny were to guess the answer, then she knew Sunset would definitely have the question that would stump Sunny and end this. Sunset could see all that just from that single nod. While Fluttershy might’ve believed in her, she didn’t know if she could actually pull it off, but she knew she would give it her all.
“Many fish have the ability to sense objects around them using e-electrolocation…” Fluttershy started. “Um, b-but… there’s one mammal that can do it t-too. Which mammal is it?”
“Psshh, you think you’re the only one that knows about animals just because you love them?” Sunny placed the back of one hand against her chin and raised her head. “Radioactive’s gonna have a good time with you. The answer is the platypus.”
Fluttershy met eyes with Sunset and gulped, then with a shriek, she was thrown into the air, sailing high above both Sunset and Sunny as she flipped once, then began flailing about as a new hole in the ground swallowed her whole. The canisters on Radioactive’s wings opened up like the ones on its head, now spewing green smoke as the scoreboard’s meter filled up by one more bar.
“Sushi, Sushi, Sushi…” Sunny dusted her hands together and pulled at the collars of her cape. “You’re all that’s left now. Your plan has failed magnificently. Now it’s all going to end here with you.”
“Not yet.” Sunset raised one hand, then twisted her body slightly to the side as she stuffed one hand into her vest’s pocket. “I still have yet to ask you a question, and I know this will be a question you cannot answer.”
“Are you daft?” Sunny choked on a laugh. “Your friends have already tried to stump me. You can’t beat me. I know everything!”
“Not everything, I assure you.” Sunset raised a finger and pointed it at Sunny. “Are you ready to be proven wrong?”
“Are you ready to be proven wrong?” Sunny raised both her hands up to the air. “Soon, all this would be but a ball of nuclear devastation, and it would be the most beautiful sight in the world! Mmmm… I can already feel it…!”
“Then prepare yourself.” Sunset’s face hardened into resolve and she stared confidently into Sunny’s eyes.
Sunny Flare tried reading her opponent, but Sunset gave nothing away. She seemed so confident, so sure that this was going to be a question she would not guess right. Possible questions began running through Sunny’s mind and she tried to pinpoint the kind of questions she would get.
From what I know about the knowledge of CHS students, Sushi wouldn’t know the most intellectual of questions, like how an atom can be split, or how fast sound waves travel. She cannot possibly know more than me, as I have already demonstrated with her friends. Sunny looked at the hulking mass of her Stand in the middle of the room. All Radioactive needed was one more win and their enemies would be obliterated in a flash and Principal Cinch would get what she wanted, along with total control of the world. But Sushi is confident. A little too confident. She has something up her sleeve, something which she thinks I might not know. There is no hint of doubt in her eyes, not at all. That’s not possible. She can’t know something I don’t know.
Sunset’s finger maintained its steely position and she breathed. “Alright, Sunny. I’ve got your question here. Who was the mentor figure of Princess Celestia of Equestria?”
Sunny Flare held up a finger, ready to answer. Then she got a confused look on her face. “Wait, what on earth are you talking about? You can’t ask me a fictional question! Radioactive, veto her question!”
“It isn’t fictional.”
Sunny began cackling madly. “We’ll see about that! Radioactive is the judge of this game and if your question doesn’t meet its requirements, then you’ve lost, Sushi. You can’t beat me! I’ve never lost to any CHS lackey and I’m not going to do so now!”
Sunny’s Stand began clicking and clacking like some sort of computer, though the only thing that moved was its glowing green eye, which swayed from side to side and occasionally up. Then came a beep, followed by the hissing of more steam, and Sunny’s surefire face morphed into one of doubt.
“What? A legit question?” She raised an arm up. “No way. That can’t be true, it’s not possible! Your question can’t possibly be legit!”
Sunset smiled and folded her arms, before placing her weight on her left leg and leaning to the side. “You see, Sunny. There’s something you should know about Stands. The emergence of Stands came from the opening of the portal from my world, Equestria, when I arrived here in your world months ago. You see, Equestria is a land of magic and ponies, and when I entered, I opened it long enough to allow some magic to pour into your world.
“I took a gamble on guessing that a question about my world would be allowed, because… magic came from Equestria, and therefore, Stands are of Equestria, and since that is the case, then a question related to Equestria would would be permitted, because Radioactive is of Equestria.”
“No, no! You can’t ask me this question!” Sunny backed up from her podium. “Th-This is madness!”
“Madness?” Sunset’s steely gaze never left Sunny. “This is the New Age, and you’ve lost at your own game show, Sunny.”
“This can’t be, I can’t lose to some ponce from CHS that has a name after Japanese food!” Sunny was quickly launched into the air, and a new hole appeared under her as she dropped right down into it with a shriek.
Sunset walked to the front of her podium and leaned against it as she heard Sunny’s surprised gasps from below. Her friends had been trapped down there for quite some time now and they were very likely frustrated after being unable to find a way out. All that frustration had to go somewhere.
Her thoughts were proved right when she began hearing Highwayman’s shrill cry, the one it made when it punched, followed by Rainbow’s and Pinkie’s war cries. The ground shook under her feet and then everything went silent. Soon, the red velvety room around her began to disappear, creeping away into the darkness as Radioactive’s body began to burst and combust. It gave one more groan of machinery, before the eye on its body fizzed out as greenery began to appear around Sunset.
Her friends were suddenly in front of her, standing around the motionless body of Sunny Flare as she spun around, taking in their surroundings.
“Never thought I would be so happy to be out in the woods again!” Rainbow took in a breath of fresh air and sighed contently. “Hey, you did it, Sushi! You beat her at her own game!”
“I figured it would take Equestrian questions into consideration.” Sunset gave them a wink and a thumbs up. “I didn’t know for sure, but it was a gamble I had to take.”
“And it’s a good thing you did, Sushi!” Pinkie jumped over and tackled her with a hug. “We’re back out, and there’s only one more Shadowbolt to go! That’s Sugarcoat, since you don’t know her. She’s super smart and blunt.”
“Blunt?” Applejack picked up her hat from the grass and dusted it. “Ya mean like that thing people smoke?”
“No, silly, blunt as in not sharp!” Pinkie folded a finger and tapped on the back of it.
Applejack scratched her cheek. “Ah don’t get it.”
Now that they were back in the forest, they could hear more booms, along with a new constant whirring sound that seemed to be coming from deeper within the forest.
“The cave, it’s this way.” Rainbow Dash pointed to the tree line ahead and dashed for it. “It sounds like someone breaking in.”
“To waarrrr!” Pinkie raised on fist, then charged on after her friend.
Sunset followed after, resolved to not let Cinch find the geode before they did.