//------------------------------// // Camping Concerns // Story: Toadal Magic Island // by Starlight Fan //------------------------------// “Last time on Toadal Magic Island Returns! The campers had to face off in an intense battle to capture the others’ flag. Applejack tried to form a temporary alliance with Tempest but that fell flat after the accusations Applejack threw in Tempest’s way. Cheese ended up costing the Killer Dragons the win, but thanks to his popularity and also costing the challenge in his own way, it was Spike who ended up taking the brand new Cannon Of Losers. Now that all boundaries have been broken, what will Twilight do without her main ally? Will Sweetie Belle join any alliance? And will Trixie stay in any alliance? Find out on Toadal! Magic! Island Returns!” (After theme song) In the Killer Dragons’ cabin, Twilight was freaking out over the events of the last elimination and Starlight was the unfortunate victims that had to deal with it. “I can’t believe we were blindsided like that. What the hay happened?! I thought everyone except Pinkie voted for Cheese!” Twilight asked incredulously. “It wasn’t my fault Twilight. Blame Trixie. She’s the one who switched her vote to Grubber. And I wish she didn’t because now me and her are screwed.” Starlight said in annoyance. “Okay, so if that’s what Trixie did, clearly Applebloom and Grubber voted off Spike because the three of us voted for Cheese. What we need to do is get Pinkie and Cheese on our side to vote with us.” Twilight strategized. “After I almost voted him out, how do you know Cheese and Pinkie will vote with us?” Starlight asked worriedly. “I think we can get past that. Just trust me Starlight.” Twilight said with pleading eyes which made Starlight feel assured somehow. “Okay. I’ll follow your lead Twilight.” Starlight smiled reassuringly. Confessional: Starlight “This is weird. Every instinct of mine was doubting if we can get Pinkie and Cheese on our side but Twilight has a weird calming effect on me.” Starlight admitted sheepishly. Confessional Ends We then cut back to Applebloom and Grubber in the cabin when they heard grumbling from the outside. “Was that Trixie out there?” Grubber asked curiously. “She’s probably just upset the vote didn’t go her way and the fact that Starlight’s probably mad at her.” Applebloom shrugged dismissively. “You think we’ll still be able to get rid of her?” Grubber raised an eyebrow. “I think so. The only one who really wants her around is Starlight and even then, they’re on rocky terms right now.” Applebloom smiled. “Cool.” Grubber beamed excitedly. Confessional: Grubber “After dealing with Trixie for so long, I’m so glad I’ll finally be able to vote her off. I feel bad for screwing over Starlight though, she seems pretty nice.” Grubber admitted. Confessional Ends "Attention everyone please report to the mess hall at once. It's CHALLENGE TIME!" Toad says on the loudspeaker. "I thought you said I could use it." Jimmy interrupts. "Go away, Jimmy." Toad said in annoyance. We pan over to both teams in the mess hall waiting for the challenge from Toad. “Welcome to today's challenge." The host announces gleefully. "We haven't had any breakfast yet." Fluttershy points out. “If you want breakfast, you’ll have to earn it.” Toad explained to the contestants. “Earn it?” Starlight asked incredulously, “Through what?” "Yes, you heard what I said. Anyway, today's challenge is an old TD favorite: camp-out. You guys will migrate to the dense part of the woods, and set up a camp there. In the morning, you'll have to find your way to me. The first team back wins invincibility and breakfast." Toad said happily. “Let’s just get this over with.” Sweetie Belle sighed miserably. We cut to the Killer Dragons walking in the forest together when Cheese decides to speak up, “Hey guys, I’m wondering how deep we should go into the forest.” “I think we should go to where shelter is first and then we can worry about getting food.” Trixie said haughtily, “So let’s go.” “Who died and made you the leader?” Grubber laughed mockingly. “Excuse me?” Trixie narrows her eyes. “I’m just saying that no one here probably wants to deal with your egotistical persona leading us to failure.” Grubber chuckled again. “Choose your next words carefully you pint sized hedgehog.” Trixie spoke angrily. Starlight just facehoofed at the interaction happening amongst them. Confessional: Starlight “We’re so screwed.” Starlight groaned. Confessional Ends “Okay guys, we’ll make a camp here.” Applejack said happily as she, Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle, Tempest, Lightning Dust, and Discord finally found a spacious area in the forest. “Um, where’s Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked curiously as she looked around the area. “She said she was going out to find some food.” Sweetie Belle explained reassuringly but that did little to reassure Applejack or Fluttershy. “What?! Why didn’t you tell us?!” Applejack asked incredulously. “She said she wanted to be alone.” Sweetie Belle replied sheepishly. “But she’s all alone in the woods. We have to go find her?” Fluttershy cried out worriedly. “But we just found the perfect spot. We can’t just wander around aimlessly to find Rainbow Dash all on our own or we’ll lose the challenge.” Lightning Dust groaned. “And if we don’t look for her at all, chances are we’ll still lose the challenge.” Applejack glared at the reckless pegasus. “Look, how about Applejack and Lightning Dust go look for Rainbow Dash while the rest of us build the campsite.” Discord said happily. “What?! Why me and not Fluttershy?!” Lightning Dust asked incredulously. “You’re a better flyer than she is.” Tempest explained neutrally, “Just go find her.” Lightning Dust grumbled under her breath before walking away from the scene with Applejack following the former Washout with a roll of her eyes. Confessional: Tempest “Was pairing Applejack and Lightning Dust together the best idea? Not really.” Tempest admitted with a shrug, “But it will leave me room to try and convince Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle to eliminate Rainbow Dash. Even with Rarity gone, the Elements Of Harmony can still outnumber us so I need to make sure the next elimination goes smoothly if we lose.” Confessional Ends Now that Applejack and Lightning Dust were gone, we see that the rest of the Screaming Parasprites were wondering how they could begin camping. “Um, guys? Do we have shelter?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously. “I can snap up a house for us to sleep in tonight. It’ll keep us safe from wild animals and let our other teammates know where we are.” Discord said happily. “Wow, that was actually a good idea.” Tempest admitted in shock. “I know. I thought of it.” Discord smirked with a roll of his eyes before snapping his fingers and soon a yellow house appeared before them. Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy, and Tempest went inside without a word while Discord gave a wink to the camera before getting inside himself. We then see the Killer Dragons in an open field in the forest when Trixie spoke up happily, “There it is. The perfect camping spot founded by the Great and Powerful Trixie!” “We know who you are, no need to tell us over and over.” Grubber rolled his eyes causing Trixie to growl at him again. “Why are we camping out here, we are so vulnerable here.” Applebloom asked incredulously, “It’s literally out in the open.” “Well child, in order to get back to camp, we have to sleep closer to the cabins.” Trixie declared dramatically. “I don’t think so.” Grubber said nervously, “All in favor of going deeper into the woods, say aye.” “Aye!” Applebloom, Pinkie Pie, and Cheese said happily. “What?!” Trixie cried out indignantly, “You’re really going to trust the word of this hedgehog?! If we go deeper into the woods, we’ll lose the challenge for sure.” “We’ll be fine. I’ve camped out before, I’m sure we can make it before the Screaming Parasprites.” Grubber smiled reassuringly while Trixie eyed the hedgehog with disdain. Confessional: Grubber “Not really. I just wanna make sure we’re not mauled by bears tonight. And besides, if we lose we easily have the numbers to send Trixie home.” Grubber said happily, “Man, I’m such a genius.” Confessional Ends “Fine. If you want to go with this obnoxious little twit than be my guest but Trixie will have you know that if we lose, it’s all his fault.” Trixie said angrily. “If you say so.” Applebloom rolled her eyes before walking across the forest with Grubber, Pinkie Pie, and Cheese following leaving only Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie by themselves. “I should probably keep an eye on them.” Twilight admits cautiously to Starlight, “Are you alright staying on your own?” “I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Starlight laughed nervously which didn’t seem to assure Twilight that much but she knew Starlight didn’t want to press the topic further so she walked off. We then see Applebloom, Grubber, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Cheese hiding near some bushes as the sky grew darker. “Okay, we should be safe here tonight.” Twilight said in relief. “Where’s Starlight?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously. “She decided to stay with Trixie.” Twilight explained to the party pony. “They’re all alone?” Applebloom asked curiously, “Those two can easily get eaten alive out there.” “I’m sure they will be fine. Starlight can handle herself just fine.” Twilight said happily. “Uh… I hate to be a downer but don’t those two usually end up in a pickle when they’re all alone?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously, “Like the time Trixie teleported the map table and Starlight bottled up her anger?” “Yeah. Starlight’s cool on her own but when she’s paired up with Trixie, things tend to go wrong.” Applebloom said nervously, “And I think she’s kinda upset with Trixie right now so that’s a pretty bad combination.” “They also saved Equestria and the Changelings from Queen Chrysalis’ reign so we should also consider that they’ll be fine on their own.” Twilight said sternly. “I kinda agree with Pinkie and Applebloom.” Grubber admits sheepishly, “From what I hear, those two are a messy pair. If we lose the challenge, we should probably vote Trixie off.” Applebloom nodded in agreement while Pinkie and Cheese looked thoughtful, Twilight just looked nervous. We then see Trixie and Starlight were out alone in the forest with Trixie continuing to rant, “And they had the audacity to ignore me and follow that obnoxious menace who does nothing useful in challenges and only seems to want to anger Trixie more and more. Trixie is not sure how much more of this nonsense she can take.” Trixie ranted furiously. “Would you please shut UP?!” Starlight asked incredulously which caused Trixie to gulp nervously. “Your feelings against Grubber are valid, but if you keep this attitude up you’ll be the next one voted off and I won’t be able to save you since you cost us the voting numbers by voting off Grubber instead of Cheese.” Starlight said angrily. Confessional: Trixie “Wow… sometimes I forget that I can really infuriate Starlight.” Trixie admitted sheepishly. Confessional Ends “I-I’m sorry.” Trixie sighed miserably, “I just can’t stand dealing with that guy.” Starlight’s expression softens when she hears this and sighs, “I understand Trixie, but you need to get your head in the game so one of us can win this.” “Okay, I’ll try my best.” Trixie smiled confidently which caused Starlight to smile back. We then see that Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle, and Tempest were practically in awe at Discord’s interior decorating of the house he snapped up. “Wow Discord, you really outdid yourself.” Tempest smirked. “Why thank you.” Discord teleported next to the three ponies, “It’s all thanks to my skills in interior decorating.” “I could get used to this life.” Sweetie Belle smiled as she popped a cookie in her mouth. “You’re all welcome to stay in here to your heart’s content. At least until the morning at least.” Discord said happily. Confessional: Discord “Score one for Discord. No chance the team will vote me off now. Hahahaha!” Discord celebrated joyously. Confessional Ends We then cut to Applejack and Lightning Dust searching through the forest with the former doing much more to look for Rainbow Dash than the latter. “Rainbow! Rainbow!” Applejack hollered out. “Ugh, we’re never gonna find her. Let’s just head back to the campsite.” Lightning Dust grunted. “I’m not leaving my friend in the forest Lightning Dust, she might be lost!” Applejack cried out angrily. “And if we keep doing this, we’ll also get lost. You can go find her if you want, but I’m going where I’m safe.” Lightning Dust scoffed before flying off. “Guess it’s just up to me.” Applejack sighed miserably before continuing to trek the woods. We then see Twilight and Applebloom’s group next to a river where Applebloom smiles, “Alright, this is a neat camping spot. We have fresh water and we can sleep in the trees until morning.” “Good plan.” Twilight complimented before growing a look of worry, “But how are we going to meet up with Starlight and Trixie.” “We’re… not.” Grubber admitted sheepishly. “What?!” Twilight asked incredulously. “If they’re smart, they’ll likely head for the camp like the rest of us.” Grubber explained his reasoning. “And if they don’t?” Twilight raises an eyebrow. “Then we have to vote one of them off. Preferably Trixie since she’s been a massive pain lately. C’mon Princess, don’t tell me you aren’t sick of her antics?” Grubber said nervously with Pinkie Pie and Cheese giving each other a confused look. We then cut to Rainbow Dash finishing a makeshift tent with a basket of berries by her side. “There we go. Since I can’t find my team, I might as well camp out here for the night.” Rainbow Dash said in content before growing an annoyed look, “It’s not like I can trust any of them right now. My own friends voted off Rarity after all.” Rainbow Dash sighed sadly before a southern voice was heard, “Rainbow Dash!” The familiar voice said and the rainbow-maned pegasus recognized it instantly as Applejack who ran over to her camping site. “Applejack? What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. “I could ask you the same thing. Why in Celestia did you just leave like that?” Applejack asked incredulously. “I was just trying to get food and got lost.” Rainbow Dash grumbled before glaring at Applejack, “Besides, I can easily get back to the camp on my own. I know you’ll vote me off if I don’t.” “Dash, I’m sorry we voted off Rarity. You have a point, we should have consulted you about it first, but what’s done is done. Me and Fluttershy aren’t gonna make that same mistake again, so please, can we just go back to the way things were.” Applejack said remorsefully as she held a hoof out. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes before sighing and accepting the hoof, “Fine. I was kinda bored without you guys anyway.” Despite the bitter look Rainbow Dash had, Applejack smiled at this. The farm pony knew that Rainbow Dash was no longer mad at her even if she was trying to hold a grudge to look tough, but Applejack went along with it anyway. “Come on, the rest of the camp was worried sick about ya.” Applejack said happily as she and Rainbow Dash immediately began walking back, presumably to the campsite Discord had set. We then cut to the sunrise in the early morning where Toad and Jimmy were waiting outside the woods. “That’s why she’s pregnant Jimmy, it’s not that hard to understand.” Toad said, seemingly explaining something to his intern. “I never get these soap operas.” Jimmy raised an eyebrow in confusion. We then see Starlight and Trixie run out of the woods and where Toad and Jimmy were. “We’re back. Thank Celestia.” Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. “I’d hold off on the relief Trixie. Our team isn’t here yet.” Starlight said solemnly. “Yep. Your team does not win invincibility until all of its members arrive.” Toad nodded. “Where are they?!” Trixie cried out in worry as she tried looking through the trees to see if she could spot their teammates. Suddenly Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Lightning Dust sped out of the woods and began panting as they finally reached to their destination. “Phew. We made it.” Applejack sighed in relief, “I thought we overslept.” “Here come a few more.” Toad smirked as Tempest, Discord, Fluttershy, and Sweetie Belle exited the woods and made it back to the island. “And that seems to be all of the Screaming Parasprites which means they win the challenge.” Toad said happily. “Yes!” Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust cheered in unison before glaring at each other, while the rest of the team celebrated their victory. “We’re finally here.” Twilight panted as she went through the woods with the rest of the Killer Dragons but her eyes widened as they saw the Screaming Parasprites still celebrating and Starlight patting Trixie’s back to try in a feeble attempt to comfort the stage magician. “Oh no.” Twilight gulped. We then cut to the elimination ceremony for the Killer Dragons at the campfire. Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie all looked downtrodden, while Pinkie Pie and Cheese looked nervous, Grubber and Applebloom however, looked confident at their chances of survival. “Killer Dragons, disappointed to see you here.” Toad admitted. “So am I.” Trixie sighed shamefully. Confessional: Cheese “It was hard. In the end it really came down to Trixie and Grubber.” Cheese admitted solemnly, “I like Grubber and all, but if he’s willing to slack in challenges to eliminate one lousy teammate, I’m not so sure I can trust him.” Confessional: Pinkie Pie “Both of them are my friends, so it really stinks to have to send one of them home. This game is becoming a big party pooper.” Pinkie Pie admitted sadly. Confessionals End “Marshmallows go to…” Toad began, “Pinkie Pie, Cheese, Twilight, Applebloom, and… Starlight.” Starlight was the last to catch her marshmallow as she gave a sad glance towards Trixie. “Campers, this is the final marshmallow, and it goes to…” Toad began dramatically. … … … … … “Trixie.” “YES! Trixie is safe!” Trixie caught her marshmallow with a huge grin on her face before settling down, “Uh, I mean, Trixie knew she’d be safe.” She then popped the marshmallow in her mouth and Starlight just smiled. “Wait what?! I’m going home.” Grubber exclaimed in shock. Confessional: Twilight “I talked to Pinkie and Cheese about sending Grubber home. I don’t hate him or anything but he needed to learn how to handle dealing with an annoying teammate better, especially when it comes to putting effort in challenges.” Twilight explained. Confessional Ends We then cut to Grubber at the Cannon Of Losers when Applebloom came to see him off. “I’m sorry you have to go Grubber. It was fun being in an alliance with ya.” Applebloom said fondly. “Nah, it’s cool. I probably shouldn’t have been so confident on Trixie being eliminated.” Grubber admitted sheepishly, “When the merge comes, I hope you win-“ Suddenly the cannon went off and Grubber was sent flying into the ocean. “Well, with Grubber gone. What will happen next? It’s getting good. So stay tuned for Toadal! Magic! Island Returns!” Toad said happily.