Day 2 - Blue Tribe
As the Blue Tribe walked back from Tribal Council, a hushed silence fell over its members. Voting out a member of their own can do that to you. Even worse, they would be forced to do it many more times. Eventually, they arrived back at their campsite. They were all exhausted, so most of the tribe went to sleep. However, a few stayed awaked to discuss the events that had just transpired. Shining Armor, Breaburn, Cloudchaser, and Blueblood all walked off into the forrest and only stopped when they were sure they were alone.
“What happened?” Cloudchaser growled.
“What are you talking about?” Blueblood asked. “Shining’s here. Caramel’s out. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
“Oh really? I think it would have been more perfect if I didn’t have two votes against me!”
“Woah, Cloud!” Breaburn interrupted. “You’re more riled up than a rattlesnake on a hot day. I know for a fact that none of us voted against you.”
Cloudchaser looked around her alliance and saw Shining Armor and Blueblood nodding their heads in agreement.”
“Okay. Sorry for doubting you, guys. But if you didn’t vote for me than who did?”
“Beats me.” Breaburn replied. “It had to be Maud, Trixie, Flash, or Fluttershy. I think Caramel got Maud and Trixie to vote for Shining, so it must have been Flash and Flutters.”
“That makes sense,” Cloudchaser agreed. “But why would they do it. They knew they had no chance of getting me out?”
“Who knows?” Shining added. “Anyways, it’s been a long day, so we should get some sleep.” As the four ponies trotted back to their camp, Cloudchaser was roughly pulled aside.
“Hey!?”
“Shhhh, Cloud.” Flash whispered. “It’s only me.”
“Only you! You tried o vote me out tonight!”
“What do you mean!?”
“I know for a fact that you and Fluttershy voted to get me out of the game!”
“Do you? Because that’s not what happened at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Flutters was anxious about voting some pony off, so I helped her and convinced her to vote for Caramel.”
“Really?”
“Yep. And I know Caramel spent some time alone with Maud and Trixie, so he must of convinced them to vote for Shining. That means Breaburn and Blueblood voted for you.”
“B...but that’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
“Those backstabbers! We had an alliance going on, but no! Some ponies just have to break trust as soon as possible.”
“Tell you what, Cloud. Join me and Fluttershy, and they’re our main targets. Blueblood and Breaburn are out next guaranteed.”
“How can I say no to that? You’re on.”
“Good. I’ll go tell Fluttershy. In the meantime, don’t accuse your old alliance of anything. Let them think your still working with them.”
“But they think you and Flutters did it. Right now they’re after you two.”
“Then tell them I told you that we didn’t vote for you, but that is all. Say that Maud and Trixie were the ones that wanted you gone.”
“Hmmm. That could work. All right, let’s do this!”
Day 3 - Red Tribe
Morning fell upon the island and the Red Tribe was already at work. Gilda and Thunderlane went to collect water from a nearby stream. Octavia, Spitfire, and Noteworthy traveled into the forrest to collect coconuts. Zecora left to visit a small bush, which she observed had a few edible berries on it. That left Cheese, Trenderhoof, and Derpy to work on the shelter. At the stream, Gilda and Thunderlane were busy talking to each other.
“So, Thunderlane. Who do you think the Blue Tribe voted out yesterday?”
“I don’t know, but I hope it wasn’t Cloudchaser. She seemed pretty cute.” Gilda rolled her eyes and continued the conversation.
“I think it was that unicorn. The one with the blue mane.”
“Shining Armor?”
“Yep.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, at the end of the challenge, every pony kind of got mad at him for giving orders. I guess some ponies just can’t help making fools of themselves.”
“Speaking of which,” Thunderlane interrupted. “You haven’t done anything reckless have you?”
“Come on, Thunderlane. Three days is not enough time for me to do something stupid. Besides, I think the rest of the Tribe likes me better than you.”
“And why is that?”
“Well, I won us a reward challenge and what have you done? Nothing.”
“I see. In that case, I’ll just have to win tomorrow’s challenge for the tribe.”
“Your seriously going to volunteer to compete?”
“Yep.”
“Whatever, dweeb. Just make sure you don’t lose it for us.”
Far from camp, in the forrest, Octavia was conversing with Noteworthy and Spitfire.
“So....” she began. “What do you think of the rest of the tribe?”
“Amateurs.” Spitfire responded quickly. “They have absolutely no idea what they are doing out here.”
“I know what you mean.” Noteworthy added. “Cheese and Derpy are pretty much useless and Gilda and Thunderlane haven’t been doing anything. At least Zecora and Trenderhoof are somewhat helpful.”
“Which makes them threats.” Octavia hissed. “We should team up to get them out as quickly as possible.”
“As long as it keeps me safe, I’m in.” Spitfire answered.
“Same here.”
“All right, then.” Octavia commanded. “Who’s it going to be, Zecora or Trender?”
“Zecora is useful when it comes to potions and stuff like that.” Spitfire stated. “If one of us gets hurt, we would need her with us.”
“That’s true.” Noteworthy agreed. “Plus, Trenderhoof is just a strong competitor. He doesn’t really have a skill that could help us around camp. On the other hand, losing such a strong tribe member could prove disastrous to us in the long run.”
“So what do you suggest we do?”
“I say we keep them around a little longer, so we this tribe can grow enough to function without them. But when we don’t need them anymore, they’re gone.”
“That seems fair.” Octavia relented. “But who are we going to vote for if we go to Tribal Council?”
“If we do go to Tribal Council,” Spitfire started. “It would be in a couple of days. That’s plenty of time for one of our tribe members do something wrong. I say we just go with the flow.”
“Ok,” Octavia said. “In the meantime, we wait for something to happen. And if something does, we jump on it!” The other two ponies nodded their heads as they continued to collect coconuts off the trees.
Day 4 -
At the center of the island, a rather large lake holds a vast amount of crystal clear water. A large wooden platform floated in the middle of a lake, rocking back and forth with water’s movements. On that platform, stood the two tribes and their host, Tribal Flame.
“All right, ponies!” Tribal called. “It’s four days into the game and we’ve already had some big moves.” He then turned to face only the Red Tribe. “Red Tribe, what do you think of the Blue Tribe’s new look? Caramel was voted out at the last Tribal Council.”
“One less pony to keep from those bits!” Spitfire joked. The rest of her tribe chuckled, while the Blue Tribe only frowned.
“Anyway,” Tribal continued. “It’s time to get to today’s reward challenge. Below this platform are two long pieces of rope, one for blue and one for red. At the end of each rope there is a bag tied to it with triple knots. The survivor from each tribe will have to swim down, untie these knots, and come back up with the bag. Once they do that, they can open the bag, revealing multiple puzzle pieces. The pony who can finish their puzzle first wins reward for their team. Here’w what you are playing for.”
Tribal held up his hoof, revealing that he was holding onto a small flint. “The winner gets fire for their tribe. This is a necessity for staying alive in this game, making this another important challenge. So, who’s playing for each Tribe?” While the Blue Tribe huddled to discuss who would be competing, Thunderlane immediately stepped forward.
“Thunderlane stepping up without even discussing it with his tribe.” Tribal announced. Soon after, Cloudchaser trotted up to Tribal and Thunderlane. “And Cloudchaser will be competing for the Blue Tribe. Okay, let’s get started.” Both competitors got in position at the edge of the platform. “Survivors ready?....Go!” Both Thunderlane and Cloudchaser dived into the water. However, Cloud had been more tactical about it and tucked in her wings just as she hit the lake. As a result, she was able to go much further in her dive.
“Cloudchaser with a great first dive off the platform.” Tribal commented. “Thunderlane may be falling behind already.” Down below, both ponies frantically swam downward, trying to locate their ropes. Eventually, they succeeded and both made a mad dash to them. Cloudchaser arrived at her’s first and began to untie the knots. Thunderlane arrived soon after and began to do the same. This lasted only a few seconds, for Cloudchaser began tore realize she was out of breath. Leaving her rope, she swam up to the surface and took a huge gulp of air.
“Cloudchaser comes up for air, but returns without the puzzle.” A split second later, every pony watched as Thunderlane breached the surface. “Both ponies now up for air, but neither have the puzzle!” Instantly, both ponies dived back down and towards their ropes. Without the head start from her first dive, Cloudchaser began to fall behind Thunderlane. As soon as the stallion reached the end of his rope, he continued to untie it from the bag. After a while, he succeeded and grabbed it with his teeth. Noticing this, Cloudchaser doubled her efforts and finally untied her bag as well.
“Thunderlane and Cloudchaser have freed their bags and are now racing to the platform.” Being stronger, Thunderlane reached the water’s surface first and flung his bag onto the platform. As Cloudchaser reached the top, she could see already see her opponent climbing out of the water. Wasting no time, she too threw her bag onto the platform and jumped up out of the water.
“Both ponies are neck and neck. Remember, the first one to finish their puzzle wins!” Tearing open the bag, Thunderlane spilled the puzzle pieces onto the platform. As Cloudchaser did the same, they started working on their puzzles. They put pieces in place, rearranged them, and flipped the pieces over and over. After a while, it looked like Thunderlane had made a lot more progress than Cloudchaser. But as he was getting to his final piece, he realized it was gone. Frantically looking around, the stallion realized that it was nowhere on the platform.
“Looks like Thunderlane can’t find his last piece. It must have fallen into the water as he ripped open his bag.” Before Thunderlane could dive back into the water, he heard the other tribe shouting worth glee. Looking over, he could see that Cloudchaser had finished her puzzle and was smirking proudly. “Cloudchaser wins reward for the Blue Tribe!” They continued to cheer as Tribal walked over and handed them their flint. “Blue Tribe, enjoy your fire. Red Tribe, I’ve got nothing for you. Both tribes, it’s time to head back to camp.”
As the members of both tribes leaped into the water to swim back to shore, Gilda tried heard to conceal the puzzle piece that she hid under her paw.
Day 4 - Blue Tribe
The Blue Tribe arrived at their campsite in good spirits, cheering and stomping their hooves. After losing two challenges in a row, it felt nice to shake things up. Breaburn and Flash heaved Cloudchaser onto their shoulders as the rest of the Tribe swarmed her. A series of congratulations and acceptances of said congratulations were traded throughout the group. Eventually, the tribe’s energy died down and they went back to their normal activities. However, while every pony began working, Flash told Cloudchaser to meet him on the beech in ten minutes.
Ten minutes later, this is exactly what she did. Once Cloudchaser arrived, she could see that Flash was alone.
“Flash.” she acknowledged as she approached them. “Any reason for this?”
“First of all,” Flash began. “Good job today with winning the reward challenge. It would have sucked to lose three in a row. Anyways, that’s not why I called you here. Flutters and I want to know who you want to go after if we end up at Tribal Council again.” After pondering this for a minute, Cloudchaser began to think out loud.
“Well.....If we’re still going after Blueblood or Breaburn, I would have to choose Breaburn. I just like him better than Blueblood. He’s less snobby and more fun to talk to. Plus, Blueblood lost the first challenge. We could just say that that is our reason for voting for him.”
“Hmmm.” Flash hummed. “If that’s what you want to do, then okay. I’ll tell Fluttershy to vote for Blueblood at the next Tribal Council.” Cloudchaser smiled as turned to leave the beach.
“Thanks, Flash. I knew I could trust you.”
Day 5 - Red Tribe
A whole day had passed since the reward challenge, yet Thunderlane was still not over what had happened. How could he have possibly been dumb enough to drop one of the puzzle pieces in the lake. The stallion continued to beat himself up over this
when he was approached by Spitfire. Looking at her, he could see her face bore an expression of pure annoyance.
“Look, Thunderlane.” she growled. “The tribe’s not mad at you for losing the reward challenge.” At these words, Thunderlane’s ears perked up and he started to smile. “However,” Spitfire continued. “We are mad that you have been moping about it for a whole day instead of pulling your own weight!” Spitfire then left Thunderlane be as he once again sighed in disappointment.
After screaming at Thunderlane, Spitfire made her way into the Red Tribe’s shelter. Waiting for her there was Octavia and Noteworthy.
“What was that?” Octavia asked. “All we could here was you yelling at a member of the tribe.”
“I was just setting Thunderlane straight.” she replied with a smirk. “Anyway, it’s over now.”
“Is it?” Noteworthy questioned. “I think we could use this to our advantage.”
“How could Thunderlane being useless possibly help us?” Octavia asked.
“I think this was the something we have been waiting for. If we can throw the next challenge and make it seem like Thunderlane’s fault, the rest of the Tribe would have to vote for him at Tribal Council.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Spitfire. “Since it’s an immunity challenge, throwing it could only mean losing a player and if we do it right, that player would be Thunderlane.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, Note.” Octavia interrupted. “I’m impressed. Looks like we’ll be doing the first backstabbing of the game.”
“Fine with me.” Noteworthy replied.
Outside the Red Tribe’s shelter, Gilda had an ear pressed up against the wall. Listening in to the conversation, she deduced to things. One was that Octavia, Noteworthy, and Spitfire were working together. The other was that they were going to throw the next challenge and blame it on Thunderlane.
“Fine by me.” she thought. “I was already trying to get Thunderlane out at Tribal Council, but if you three want to do my dirty work for me, then so be it.”
Day 6 -
As two pairs of tribes walked into a large clearing, the sky above became dark and gloomy. A storm had rolled in not to long ago and the survivors were worried how this would affect their game. However, they did not have time to think about this for long, for soon Tribal Flame stepped up to address them.
“Good evening, survivors. We’ve got quite the storm headed our way, so we’re gonna make this quick. This is the week’s immunity challenge. As you know, the losing tribe goes to Tribal Council tomorrow. So, let’s get down to it. Here’s how the challenge works.”
Tribal gestured behind him, turning the competitors attention to a large rock.
“This rock is what we call Survivor Stone. Two of you, one pony from each tribe, will climb to the top of Survivor Stone. Whoever gets there first, will earn a point for your team. Whoever wins three points will be the winner. So, tribes, who’s climbing first?”
After huddling up and discussing it, the Blue Tribe agreed to send Breaburn out as the first climber. Doing the same, the Red Tribe went with Spitfire.
“Ok, Breaburn is climbing first for the Blue Tribe and Spitfire for the Red Tribe. Survivors, ready? Go!”
Hearing the okay to start, both ponies leaped onto Survivor Stone. Having the more powerful legs from years of apple bucking, Breaburn got noticeably higher.
“Breaburn with a great leap. He’s showing off those powerful legs.”
Tribal was correct, for Breaburn did have stronger than normal legs. This allowed him to climb the giant rock at almost twice the speed as Spitfire. In only a minute, Breaburn pulled himself to the top of Survivor Stone, while Spitfire was still only halfway there.
“Breaburn easily scores the first point! Tribes now have to pick their second climbers.”
As Breaburn and Spitfire climbed down from Survivor Stone, Maud and Octavia stepped forward for their tribes.
“Maud for Blue. Octavia for Red. Survivors ready? Go!”
Like her teammate, Maud made a giant first leap onto the boulder, easily reaching the halfway mark. Octavia, on the other hand, struggled to even get onto the rock.
“Maud with another great start for Blue! Octavia’s having some trouble getting up, though.”
In an even quicker time than Breaburn’s, Maud reached the top of Survivor Stone, before Octavia even got onto the rock. This time, Flash took his position for Blue, while the Red Tribe pressed Gilda to compete.
“Now it’s Flash against Gilda. Remember, the Blue Tribe only needs one more point to win. Survivors ready? Go!”
Having about equal leg strength, Gilda and Flash both jumped onto the Survivor Stone at similar heights. Both rapidly climbed to the top of the rock, scrambling to get leverage over the other. Eventually, Gilda pulled ahead and was about to reach the top. However, before she did, Gilda took a few seconds to punch a massive crack in the rock. This didn’t matter, for Gilda easily leaped onto to the top of the rock before Flash did.
“Gilda scores the first point for the Red Tribe. All right, I need to two more survivors.”
Cloudchaser and Thunderlane stepped forward and made their way towards Survivor Stone.
“The fourth match is Cloudchaser versus Thunderlane. Survivors ready? Go!”
Instead of jumping onto the boulder, both pegasi chose to start climbing from the very bottom, using their forelegs to pull their own weight. Cloudchaser instantly began to fall behind, not being able to keep up with Thunderlane’s quick pace. However, just as Thunderlane was about to reach the top, his hoof got caught in the massive crack that Gilda had made earlier. Unable to pull it free, he could only watch as Cloudchaser climbed to victory.
“That’s it! Cloudchaser wins immunity for the Blue Tribe!”
Cloudchaser cheered and flew down to her tribe, who lifted her onto their shoulders. They took her back to camp this way, leaving a saddened Red Tribe behind.
“Sorry, Red Tribe.” Tribal began. “You’re going to Tribal Council tomorrow. Se you then.”
Day 7 - Blue Tribe
After returning to camp from yet another challenge win, the Blue Tribe did not split into their smaller groups as usual. Instead, they decided to have another Tribe Meeting. Shining Armor stepped in front of the gathered tribe and addressed them all.
“Attention, every pony. I think we should all give some thanks to Cloudchaser, who has won us both the reward and immunity challenge this week.”
As per Shining’s request, a few “thank you”s and “good job”s were passed around the tribe.
“Also,” Shining added. “Let’s see how the Red Tribe likes losing a member!”
At this, the Blue Tribe gave off a loud cheer before breaking off to do their individual jobs. Like usual, Cloudchaser followed her teammates into the woods, but this time was unaware that Maud was following her. The earth pony mare silently crept behind Cloudchaser, making sure she wasn’t noticed. Eventually, Maud saw that Cloudchaser had finally stopped to talk with Blueblood, Breaburn, and Shining Armor. Quickly hiding behind a bush, Maud listened closely to their conversation. While unable to make out everything they said, she knew she heard the words “congrats, stone, vote, and alliance.”
After a while, Cloudchaser broke off from the rest of the group and headed back to camp. Maud continued to follow her without being noticed by any of the ponies. Arriving back at camp, Maud could see that Flash and Fluttershy had been waiting for her. Doing the same procedure as she had done in the woods, Maud listened in to their conversation from a nearby bush. This time, she was able to make out everything they said.
“Once again,” Flash started. “Cloudchaser, you have won us a challenge. Good job.”
“Thanks, Flash. But that mean we won’t be able to vote off any pony from my other alliance this week.”
“That doesn’t matter. They still don’t suspect anything, right? One more week’s not going to ruin our plan.”
“I guess you’re right. Oh well, next week I guess.”
“Exactly.”
As Flash and Fluttershy split up with Cloudchaser, Maud was still trying to process everything she had just discovered.
Day 7 - Red Tribe
After arriving back at camp from the challenge, members of he Red Tribe could not help but let a few annoyed glances slip Thunderlane’s way. Noticing this, Thunderlane spoke up to address his tribe.
“Okay, every pony. I know I lost the challenge, but come on! I wasn’t the only one, you know. Spitfire lost and so did Octavia! Why are you all looking at me?”
“Because, Thunderlane,” Trenderhoof answered. “You could have easily won us the point! But you had to get your hoof stuck in a hole like an idiot. And that’s not all! You lost us the reward challenge too, remember? You’ve been a massive pain in our flanks all week!”
While Trenderhoof stormed off, Thunderlane was approached by Zecora, and Cheese.
“Guys. Please listen to me. It’s not my fault that I lost the challenge.”
“Are you sure that this is true?” Zecora asked. “Because we have lost again, due to you.”
“Zecora’s right, Thunderlane.” Cheese added. “You’re a cool guy, but right now, you’re not doing so much good for the tribe.”
“But guys! Please don’t vote me!”
“Sorry, dude. It looks like the rest of the tribe wants you gone, so we’ll do anything if it means we’re not going home.”
This time, as Zecora and Cheese walked away, Thunderlane saw Gilda approaching him.
“Hey, Gilda.”
“Hey, Thunderlane. Why so glum?”
“Cause the tribe is voting me out tomorrow.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Have you seen what’s been going on around here.”
“Yes, I have. So what if Trenderhoof, Zecora, and Cheese are against you. That’s only three votes.”
“I think you’re forgetting about the rest of the tribe.”
“Am I? You and me make two votes and I’m pretty sure we could convince Derpy to vote for some pony else. That only leaves Octavia, Spitfire, and Noteworthy. I heard them talking and they said they were going after Trenderhoof.”
“Really?”
“Yep. As far as I’m concerned, if we vote for Trender hoof tomorrow night, you’re safe.”
“Wow. Thanks, Gilda. So, you’ll convince Derpy to vote for Trender?
“Yep,” she agreed while walking away. “Don’t worry, Thunderlane. You’re safe as long as I’m around.” As Thunderlane left in the opposite direction, Gilda could not help but mutter under her breath. “It’s too bad that everything I said was just a big lie.”
Tribal Council #2 - Red Tribe (9 survivors)
On the eighth night of the competition. the Red Tribe somberly made their way to Tribal Council. The rest of the tribe still had noticeably angry feelings toward Thunderlane, but Gilda’s reassuring speech had seeming made him oblivious to it. As they finally sat down in front of Tribal, they realized that one of them was actually going home.
“Red Tribe,” Tribal began. “It’s been a tough week for you all. Losing both reward and immunity never feels good. The troubling thing is you won both challenges last week. What happened?”
“Well, Tribal,” Trenderhoof responded, “Last week we didn’t have Thunderlane messing is up.”
“So you’re blaming this week’s failure directly on Thunderlane?”
“Exactly.”
“And Thunderlane,” Tribal said, addressing the black pegasi. “Do you feel like this is true. Are you the reason why your tribe is at Tribal Council, right now?”
“Not at all. I admit I lost the reward challenge, but what happened yesterday wasn’t my fault. We lost as a tribe, simple as that.”
“Ok.” Tribal continued. “Anyways, it’s time to cast your votes. Zecora, you’re first.”
Zecora quickly got up and made her way to the voting table. She immediately wrote down a name and placed it in the nearby jar. After she sat back down, Derpy got up and did the same. One by one, the Red Team casted their votes, until Thunderlane, the last voter, sat back down.
“I’ll go tally the votes.”
Tribal walked over to collect the jar holding the votes and traveled back to the Red Tribe. Once he was back in position, he opened the jar’s lid and pulled out the first slip of paper.
“First vote,” Tribal announced, reading the paper. “is for Thunderlane.”
Tribal immediately pulled out another vote from the jar.
“Second vote...is also against Thunderlane.” Pulling the third vote from the jar, Tribal said “Now it’s three votes against Thunderlane.”
Thunderlane had begun to get a little nervous, but reassured himself that Tribal had just picked Zecora’s, Cheese’s, and Trenderhoof’s votes.
“Next vote should be against Trenderhoof,” he thought.
“Fourth vote is for Thunderlane.”
Hearing this, Thunderlane’s ears drooped.
“How’s that possible?” he wondered. “Okay, Thunderlane. Calm down. Derpy probably just voted for you instead. That’s only four votes. The next five will all be against Trenderhoof and you’ll be safe for another week.”
“Second pony voted out of Survivor: Equestria. Thunderlane.”
The pegasus stallion couldn’t even comprehend what had just happened. The first five votes had all been against them. He was sure that he would bee safe, but it looked like someone changed their vote at the last second. As Thunderlane brought his torch up to Tribal for it to be put out, Gilda could not help smiling to herself.