Pony Split
Chapter 31 - Spirit of Chaos
Twilight's POV
"Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh! We're trapped! We'll never see sunlight again! Oh the ponity(humanity)!" Rarity was freaking out.
"Rarity, we have been here for 5 minutes and there is an way out this way." I said, pointing to a convenient 'EXIT' sign.
"Oh, yes. Silly me." Rarity said, blushing.
"Well, what are we waiting for. Let's go kick some butt!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Um, if it's okay with you girls, I think I'll stay here." Fluttershy whispered.
"No. We can't split up, that is how Discord got us last time. Remember?"
"Twi's right. We all need to stick togetha."
"Yeah! Besides, if we are lucky, maybe we'll get cake at the end! Ooo, with chocolate frosting and lots of sprinkles!" Pinkie Pie started to bounce out of control. "Let's go before there isn't any cake left! I'm sure they've already cut it and everything!" She began to hop down the hall.
Rolling my eyes, I said, "Let's go girls."
After a couple of hours of walking and whining, (mostly from Rarity), Pinkie stopped. "Twitcha twitch!"
"What do ya mean? There is a ceiling 4 feet above us. What could possibly fall?" AJ inquired.
Just then a large rock fell and started coming after us. "RUN!"
We all started running as fast as we could down the halls and corridors, but it seemed to always stay right behind us.
Finally, after 20 minutes of running, I saw a light. "Girls, look! That must be the way out!" We ran full speed towards the light and made it passed the threshold just as the rock was about o crush us. It actually ended up stopping in the entrance just as we jumped through, effectively trapping us.
"That. Was. AWESOME! That was just like Daring Do and the Temple of the Carbon Heart." Rainbow said, loving the fact she did something like her storybook hero.
I shook my head at the silly notion, then looked at our surroundings.
We had run into what seemed to be a cavern which had a high ceiling. It was lit quite well, yet there was no discernible light source.
"Darn! I can't believe the boulder missed you! Well, since you survived round 1, we can begin round 2!" Discord's voice rang out from what seemed to be a booth made of his cotton candy clouds.
"Discord! Come down here and fight like a pony!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Um, I think he is actually a draconequus. But, you know, what ever you think is good." Fluttershy said.
"I thought he was a giraffe! I mean look at him, he has a long neck!" Pinkie Pie burst.
"Silence! Your next challenge will be a game of focus."
"Well, sounds like that un's for Twilight." Applejack suggested.
"Darn! I wanted to be the one to do it." Pinkie sighed.
"Pinkie Pie, we need somepony who can concentrate on things without getting distracted. Quite frankly, and pardon my language, but you have the attention span of a nat."
Everypony else agreed, strangely even Discord.
"What do you mean, I have a great... OH! Look at that bug!" Pinkie Pie began running around the room, trying to catch the bug.
I facehoofed and then looked up at the booth. "Okay Discord, I'm ready."
"Excellent!" He clapped his hands together and appeared in front of us with a table and 3 cups on it.
Pinkie Pie stopped chasing the insect and ran over to the table. "Oh, oh! Pick that one, pick that one!" She began pointing to the cup on the left.
"We haven't even started yet!" Discord bellowed.
"Well duh! I'm just telling Twilight to make sure and pick that one. Seriously sometimes I don't think you guys take me seriou... HOLY CRAP! A giant rock!" She ran over to the boulder that had recently almost crushed us.
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Discord, waiting for an explanation.
"Okay. Well as you can see, there are three identical cups on this table. I will place a ball under one and then shuffle them up. You are to keep track of the one with the ball. We will play 3 rounds. If you win all three, you and your friends walk out of here unharmed as well as getting the chance to fight me. However, if you lose even once, you all die."
I began to sweat, knowing that I held the fate of my friends in my hooves was a really big deal, but I nodded.
"Good. We'll start you on a slower speed. And no magic." He snapped his fingers and my horn disappeared. He then placed the ball under the center cup and began shuffling.
He did as promised and went slow for the first round. After shuffling the cups a couple of times, he took his hands away and waved the left one over them in a revealing manner. "Alright, where is the ball?"
"Come on Twilight, you got this."
"Yeah, use that egghead of yours."
Ignoring Rainbows comment, I pointed at the cup on the right.
"This one!" I said with a smile.
Discord picked it up and the ball slightly rolled out from the disturbance.
Everypony cheered at my triumph.
"Good job, Twilight Sparkle. Let's see how well you do on round 2." He smirked as he replaced the cup and began to shift the cups at a faster pace than before. This time it actually took some effort to keep my eyes on the right cup. I was flicking my eyes back and forth to keep up.
Finally he stopped and asked, "Where is it now?"
I decided carefully and point to the one on the right again. To my relief, the ball was there.
"Yeah, Twilight, that's how ya do it!"
"Yay..." Fluttershy whispered.
"Impressive Ms. Sparkle. Most impressive indeed. But do you can keep up on Ludicrous speed!" Discord slammed the cup down and began to shuffle the cups at speeds so fast I think I got whiplash.
While he was shuffling, he raised his tail and pointed at something. "Look at that! It's something really interesting!"
I quickly turned around, "What?"
"Hah, made you look! Now where is the ball?"
I facehoofed really hard." I can't believe I fell for that!"
"You cheated! You big meanie! Why I should... HOLY CRAP! Another giant rock!" Pinkie Pie ran back over to the same giant boulder from before.
"She is right, that was not fair at all." Rainbow Dash said.
"No, it is completely fair. I said it was a game of focus, obviously she just doesn't have any." He grinned irritably.
"Well, it still wasn't very nice." Fluttershy huffed.
"Too bad!" He stuck out his tongue. "Game over! You lose! Prepare to for everlasting despair."
"Now wait, I still haven't chosen a cup yet. I still have a chance."
"What is the point?" Discord said.
"My friends are the point." I said with determination. I looked at the cups, and used my logic to try and figure out which one it was. I then began to descend my hoof and made my decision.