Total Magic Pony Island

by Tailslover13

Episode 14: Suited For Duress

Discord: Last time, on Total Magic Pony Island: the Royal Ruffians continued to fall apart at the seams while the Magical Misfits continued their strong bonding. Celestia got into deep trouble trying to be a nosy little pony, resulting in some brutal punishment. Rainbow Dash and Spike called each other out and were determined to oust the other as soon as possible. When it was time for the day’s challenge, the campers got a surprise when it was revealed none of them would be eliminated and that the challenge was for a reward only. The reward was a week-long cruise on an airship, touring the skies of Equestria away from Camp Paradox. The challenge became a good old fashioned battle of the sexes, which meant Spike versus all the females. The campers were forced to eat cupcakes, crafted to describe and showcase each camper in their own special way. Spike’s gemstone cupcakes gave Rainbow Dash a chipped tooth. Dash’s sky cupcakes made Pinkie Pie very happy. Trixie’s Trixie cupcakes grossed us all out, save for Twilight, who found the brand of cupcake delicious. Ultimately, the challenge ended in a tie, which led to an eat-off between Spike and Scootaloo. Aided by his bottomless stomach, Spike got the win. Instead of going on the airship cruise alone, he was told to pick four girls to go with him. He decided upon Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and most shocking of all, Trixie. Interestingly, all those girls were on the Misfits and not the Ruffians. Rainbow Dash, naturally, was none too pleased. With our favorite little dragon chilling with four pretty ponies on a fancy vessel somewhere in the skies and five ponies left behind on the island, things are about to get good! The game is about to change. In what ways? Stay tuned to find out, right here, on Total…Magic…Pony…Island!

*the opening theme song showing all 20 contestants plays a moment later before the episode*

The island was quiet. Discord and Nightmare Moon were nowhere to be seen, leaving the five remaining campers to fend for themselves. After a couple of days, the solitude was hard to fight. It wasn’t the same without the blabbering Twilight, the partying Pinkie, the bossy Rarity, the arrogant Trixie, and the rambunctious Spike. Nightmare Moon was only seen briefly at breakfast, lunch and dinner when she fixed up her usual horrible meals for the remaining campers. Discord was rarely seen at all, if ever. On a large island in the middle of nowhere, the silence was getting more and more difficult to withstand.

Celestia’s continued attempts to reveal what Discord might be plotting only resulted in more fails and random punishments. Fluttershy was usually left all alone, which made her spend most of her time in the forest and trying to socialize with the local wildlife. Scootaloo was kept busy trying to get Rainbow Dash’s attention, but was always ignored by the cyan Pegasus. Cheerilee was typically ignored, so she spent most of her time watching over Scootaloo and making sure she didn’t do anything stupid when it came to Rainbow Dash.

On the sixth day of Spike’s reward cruise, the five remaining campers began to go stir-crazy. Rainbow Dash was usually seen flying all around the island, performing random tricks in the sky and trying her hardest to keep herself entertained. Scootaloo still hadn’t given up hope on getting Dash’s attention, and began to keep a hidden diary on her feelings about the Pegasus. Cheerilee continued to keep a watchful eye over her student, along with Rainbow Dash herself, since the teacher didn’t trust her. Celestia was sulking irritably on the porch of the Royal Ruffians’ team cabin, her anger overtaking her from her numerous failed attempts at getting information about Discord and Nightmare Moon. Fluttershy was hardly seen at all, due to the fact that she was building a tree house in the forest.

“Man, this SUCKS!” Rainbow Dash grumbled, sitting atop the mess hall with her face resting on her hoof. Her face was locked into a heavy grown, her boredom sapping most of her energy. After two straight hours of nonstop flying and performing various tricks, she was exhausted and angry. “It’s so BORING around here! I hate to say it, but I’m really starting to miss Discord’s annoying little games.”

“You said it, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo’s excited voice agreed from somewhere below the cyan mare. “It’s so very boring indeed. There’s just NOTHING fun to do! So, um, would YOU like to do something fun with ME? Together?”

Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow, then sighed and shook her head. Scootaloo never left her alone. Peeking over the side of the mess hall’s awning, she spotted the little filly sitting on her haunches and staring up at her with full attention. The filly’s eyes were wide and anxious, her tail twitching a little bit behind her. When she saw Dash’s face peek down at her, she almost squealed in joy. The fact that Dash was finally paying attention to her and not completely ignoring her filled her little heart with happiness.

“Scoots, don’t you have something better to do than to continue trying to get my attention?” Dash gave a fake yawn, hoping to make Scootaloo take a hint.

“Nope, nothing better at all, Rainbow Dash! Can I give you a back massage? Maybe a hoof massage? Would you maybe like to use me as your seat? Ooh, I know, do you think maybe you could give me my first flying lesson? You kinda promised…five months ago…and then two months before that…but, obviously you were busy, so that’s cool. Maybe, if you wanted, we could go down to the beach and just go for a nice little walk, just the two of us. Possibly, if you don’t want to do any of that…”

Rainbow Dash: *moaning and pulling on her ears, nearly ripping them right off her skull* That kid is driving me CRAZY! Man, I KNOW I’m cool; there ain’t a pony alive who doesn’t know that. But, still, why is Scoots always trying to get me to notice her? Seriously, she’s really driving me up the… *she blinks, then an evil smirk suddenly creeps across her face* …hmm, actually, maybe this could work.

Her eyes containing a wicked sparkle, Rainbow Dash smirked and rubbed her hooves together. If Scootaloo wanted to help her so badly, she would get the chance. Completely ignoring the rest of Scootaloo’s speech of what they could potentially do together, Dash cleared her throat and loudly interrupted the filly. “Yeah, yeah, that’s all very nice, squirt. But, I’m not really digging any of that right now. However, if you REALLY want to help me…I think I have something in mind.”

Scootaloo gasped and eagerly bounced up and down, her little wings fluttering in delight. “Really?!?! Okay, Rainbow Dash, anything! What is it?”

Glancing around to make sure nopony was watching, Rainbow Dash leaped off the mess hall roof and landed with a thud right beside Scootaloo. She quickly wrapped a foreleg around the filly’s waist and pulled her close to her face. Dash stared right into the filly’s big, eager violet eyes and put on her best smile. When she spoke, the words came out in almost a whisper. “Kid, how would you like it if I took you to the final two with me?”

“W-w-what?!?! Rainbow Dash, y-you really mean that?!?!” Scootaloo squeaked, trembling in delight and instantly wrapping her tiny forelegs around the bigger Pegasus, “Oh, Rainbow Dash, I KNEW you cared for me! Thank you SO much! I promise that…”

“Hang on, hang on, there’s a catch.” Rainbow Dash quickly slapped a hoof over Scootaloo’s mouth, silencing her. Her happy expression turned into a frown as she glared at the filly. “For one, when both of us get there, I’M winning. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind coming in second to me, right?” When Scootaloo quickly shook her head, Dash continued on. “Good. For two, you can’t speak a WORD of this plan to ANY of the other ponies, including that irritating Spike! Is that understood?” When Scootaloo gave a quick nod, Dash finished off her conditions. “Finally, you will listen to whatever I tell you and do it without me having to repeat myself, alright?” Scootaloo gave one final nod of understanding. “Good girl.” Rainbow Dash let the little filly go.

Scootaloo: *her hooves pressed together, she sighs dreamily and looks ready to faint* Rainbow Dash made a…a…what’s it called? Oh, right, an alliance! She made an alliance…with me. I’m going to the final two with her. She’s going to kick my flank when that happens. *she closes her eyes and presses her hooves to her heart* Oh, Rainbow Dash, you’ve made me the happiest filly in all of Equestria!

After she got done bouncing and giggling in delight, a small realization came over Scootaloo. “Um, Rainbow Dash? What exactly does…going to the final two with you…well, mean? This seems kinda sneaky. Are we gonna be backstabbing our friends and stuff?”

“Huh? Scoots, what are you saying? Of course not!” Rainbow Dash instantly dismissed the filly’s worries, sliding a hoof under the girl’s chin and gently lifting it up so the two would stare into each other’s eyes again. “This is just…the two of us making an agreement, that’s all. It’s perfectly legal to do, and I wouldn’t be shocked if a lot of the other contestants here were doing the same. We won’t be backstabbing any of our friends, I promise.”

Even though she still had her doubts, when she saw Dash’s powerful eyes staring right into her own weaker ones, Scootaloo’s heart melted and all her worries vanished right out the window. “Okay, Rainbow Dash, whatever you say. I’m all yours.”

“Excellent. That’s all I wanted to hear.” Rainbow Dash sat down on the ground and pulled the filly into a tight embrace, wrapping both forelegs around the tiny Pegasus’ back and snuggling her face into her chest. Scootaloo let out a muffled squeak as her face lit up from the closeness she was experiencing with her favorite pony ever, but she soon melted into the hug and never wanted to let go. Thanks to her face being buried into the blue coat of Rainbow’s chest, she failed to see the evil little smirk that the Pegasus was wearing.

Rainbow Dash: *snickering a little bit* Aww, isn’t Scoots just the cutest thing? She thinks she’s going to the final two with me! When I was holding her, it felt like I was holding a pile of bits, which I WILL be holding after I win this game. *she rubbed her hooves together, her grin widening* The first phase is complete. Spike is as good as gone. Once I oust him, there’s nothing that will stand in my way.

Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, another pony had been spying on the two the entire time. From behind the mess hall, Cheerilee had observed everything that had went on between the two Pegasi. Due to their whispering, she couldn’t quite make out what they had shared between each other, but she knew it wasn’t anything good. When the teacher saw her student being held for the very first time by Rainbow Dash, she frowned in disapproval. The look on Dash’s face took the cake for her.

Cheerilee: I don’t know what Rainbow Dash told Scootaloo, but I KNOW it’s bad. That Pegasus cannot be trusted, at least not in this game. Being the element of loyalty is one thing, but if Discord has made us learn anything, it’s that this game makes us lose our minds when we least expect it. *she sighs* I fear for Scootaloo. She’s playing with fire, and what happens when you do that? You get burned.

“Yo, Fluttershy, are you here?” Rainbow Dash circled the tree house with mock admiration. “Come out here, would ya? I kinda want to talk to you about stuff.”

“Dash?” Fluttershy poked her head out from the one of the windows, wincing when the pane broke off and crashed to the ground. “Oh my…I guess I’m not so good at being a carpenter as I thought. Angel will be most displeased. It’s no wonder he didn’t like the way I built his little house.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, Fluttershy, we need to talk about the game. Mind if I come in?”

“Well, I…” Fluttershy squeaked as Rainbow Dash let herself in before she even got done talking. The yellow mare cringed as more splinters from the window tore off thanks to Rainbow’s wings brushing against them. “Um, okay…welcome to my tree house…Rainbow Dash.”

“Not a bad place. I could probably do better, but…not bad.” Dash shrugged and sat down on a makeshift chair made out of twigs and leaves, casually resting her fore-hooves behind her head as she observed her friend trying to clean up the mess she made. “Okay, so here’s the thing. I wanna know where we stand in this game. Fluttershy, how are you feeling about where you currently sit on this island?”

Fluttershy tilted her head at Dash, slightly confused as to what she meant. After finishing sweeping up the pile of splinters and other pieces of wood, she sat down and nervously fidgeted. “I…I don’t really know what you mean by that, Dash. Could you please explain it to me? Um, if that’s alright.”

“Ugh! Fluttershy, you…okay, fine.” Keeping her impatience in check, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and tried to speak in terms that her friend would understand. “You see, we’ve both made it past the halfway point in this game for the million bits. Things are really heating up between all the remaining campers. So, what I want to know is…do you feel safe right now?”

“Why wouldn’t I feel safe? I’ve got you looking out for me, right? And I think the princess cares about me as well…as far as I know.” Fluttershy’s nervous face grew a little smile as she thought about it. “And, even though we’ve been on opposite teams, I think Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity all have my back. We ARE all friends, right?”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed as she broke out another evil smirk. She heard exactly what she wanted to hear from Fluttershy, and that’s all that mattered. She quickly covered up her grin with her hooves when Fluttershy turned back to look at her, turning away and giving a fake yawn. “Okay, fair enough. You’re absolutely right, though; I’ll always have your back, just like I know you’ll always have MINE.”

“Um…okay, that’s great!” Giggling meekly, Fluttershy turned around and retrieved her dustpan, which she had gotten from her team’s cabin. “Dash, if it’s not asking too much trouble, could you possibly help me sweet up this pile of wood into this dustpan? I’m really trying to keep this place…clean?” After a whoosh of wings, the yellow mare whipped her head around. Her ears drooped when she saw that Rainbow Dash had already taken off. “Oh…never mind then.”

Rainbow Dash: Beautiful. Phase two of my plan is set in motion. Actually, it wasn’t really ever something that needed to be set in motion; I just needed to hear Fluttershy confirm what I was hoping. She, along with Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, are all my friends. They would NEVER vote for me. *she smirks and slowly runs her tongue over her moist lips* Heh…the pieces are falling into place nicely.

“Princess? Um…what happened to you THIS time?” Rainbow Dash blinked a little bit when she saw the small Equestrian ruler sitting on a large block of ice outside the mess hall a half hour later.

“…I simply sat down on a thumbtack, that’s all,” Princess Celestia said coolly, wincing as she wiggled her sore rump on the large, melting ice cube. She was still intent on not letting any of the campers know about her plans on trying to find out Discord’s intentions, no matter HOW painful her punishments were. Discord’s newest booby trap on his cabin resulted in Celestia getting the boot, literally, when a large cowboy boot rose out of the ground and delivered a painful blow right to her backside. Celestia was seriously wondering how a cowboy boot could be THAT pointed and sharp.

“Uh…okay, cool. Hope your butt heals quickly, Princess.” Dash gave a little grin, plopping her own rump down beside the annoyed princess and casually giving her a pat on the back. “How have you been holding up? I know it’s not much, but you DO look really cool being…well, one of us.”

Celestia sighed, her eyes closing as she hung her head. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. That is…sweet of you. I’m pretty much over the fact of losing my powers and my size. It’s been rather…interesting…living like one of you again. In fact, I almost enjoy being young again. It makes me feel…rejuvenated.” The hint of a weak smile played at the corners of her lips, but she struggled to retain the instinctual display of emotion. “But…well, other things have just been on my mind instead. I won’t bore you with the details, since it’s none of your concern, but…I do thank you for your considerate words.”

“Hey, no problem, Princess! You know that I’m always here for ya, right?” Rainbow Dash giggled and gently gave the princess alicorn and gentle nuzzle with her cheek. When the princess didn’t push her away or tell her otherwise, Dash took her opportunity and pushed forward. “Say, Princess? Can I ask you something about the game?”

“Sure, Rainbow Dash. I’m always open to whatever my subjects wish to talk to me about.”

“Sweet. Well…I know that you really don’t care about winning, since…well, you’re the princess and all. You don’t really NEED the money or the fame, right?” Dash spoke in a calm, casual voice, trying to sound considerate while at the same time slightly forceful. “Not to sound pushy or anything, but I was just curious on how you’ve been playing the game.”

Princess Celestia stared at Rainbow Dash, cocking an eyebrow as she pondered what the Pegasus was doing. She may be young, but the princess was still smart enough to recognize fakery. There was something about the way Dash was speaking and acting that seemed so fake to her. The way she nuzzled her, the way she was hugging her, the way she was FINALLY showing concern over her even though she hadn’t done so during the entire game…Princess Celestia was highly suspicious of her little cyan subject. But, on the other hand, maybe that was just her stressed mind getting to her. Yes, it had to be Discord just stressing her out. There was no way she should never trust one of her subjects.

A tired smile forming on her lips, the princess squirmed a little and shifted her position on her block of ice as she tried to formulate an answer that she considered worthy enough for the element of loyalty. “My dear Rainbow Dash, you are correct. The only reason I am still here is because…I worry about my subjects and I will never abandon them. I have no interest in this ‘game’ of Discord’s, nor do I have any business or desire of winning. I do not care for money and, as you stated, I am already the princess of Equestria. I’m pretty sure that qualifies as being famous enough, hmm?”

“Darn straight, Princess!” Dash tried her best to stay modest and playful, not wanting to annoy the ruler of Equestria. Her façade seemed to work, at least, since Celestia took Dash’s abrasive attitude and took it in stride as she kept talking.

“So, in regards to this…game…I must admit that I am just going along for the ride. I play my hardest in each challenge, I try my best to be a fair and worthy teammate, and I vote for whom I feel most deserves to go home.” She gave Dash a little return pat on the back, staring into Dash’s determined eyes with her powerful magenta pupils. “Of course, I would never think of voting for one of your friends or yourself, Rainbow Dash. You girls are…well…like my family. Or at least my best friends, if I can call you all that without it sounding weird, being a princess. Either way, even though every camper on this island is my subject, sometimes a princess must be stern and make hard decisions with who she votes for. Be that as it may, I would never vote for one of the Elements of Harmony. You girls deserve to be here.”

Another confirmation and another evil grin of delight from Rainbow Dash, brilliantly covered up when she played it off as a sneeze. “AAAAAHHHH-CHOOOO!” The Pegasus shivered and rubbed her nose, chuckling a little as the princess leaped back out of instinct. “Heh, sorry about that, Princess. My nose just had a little tickle.”

“That’s quite alright, Rainbow Dash.” Princess Celestia let out a low moan as her tush sank down into the middle of her block of ice, the heat from her butt making the middle of the ice melt faster than the outer edges. “Ooh, that feels good…ah…curse that Dis…er, I mean, that thumbtack! Once I get my hooves on that…thumbtack…it won’t know what hit it!” When she heard no response from her right, she glanced to the spot where Rainbow Dash had been and realized it was now vacant. “Oh.”

Rainbow Dash: Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! That’s what I’m talking about! *she almost does a happy little dance of joy inside the confessional* Now I’ve got Fluttershy, Scootaloo, AND the princess all on my side! Plus, I’ll go ahead and throw in my three other friends. That gives me seven votes, including my own, that are under MY power! Just one last pony to take care of, though, to make this a clean sweep.

Cheerilee sat on the Dock of Shame, watching Scootaloo play on the beach from afar. The teacher realized that most ponies might call her a stalker, but she was far from it. With her job being all she had, her students brought her so much joy and love. It was painful for her to see Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle all get picked off one by one. She knew that she couldn’t hold Scootaloo’s hoof forever, but this was HER life and she would play the game the way she saw fit. Even though she could use the money, she cared more about Scootaloo than she did herself. She still held a deep secret, too, that she had yet to share with the filly.

“Hey, Cheerilee! What’s up?” As soon as the magenta earth pony heard the voice, she felt chills run down her spine. She had nothing against Rainbow Dash outside of the game, but here on the island Cheerilee wanted nothing to do with her. Being a schoolteacher meant playing close attention to detail, which she was keen at doing. The pony had watched every move that Rainbow Dash had made thus far, and she didn’t like it. The fact that Scootaloo was so attracted and enamored with her didn’t help.

With her back to Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus didn’t see Cheerilee’s glare. Usually so happy-go-lucky and gleeful, Cheerilee did not enjoy Rainbow’s presence. However, not wanting to make waves, Cheerilee forced herself to give a fake smile as she craned her neck around to face her visitor. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, what a lovey surprise. How very nice to you.”

“Same here, Cheerilee.” Rainbow Dash whistled a little bit as she casually strolled up to the earth pony, her eyes randomly darting around the area, as though she was intentionally trying NOT to look at Cheerilee. The earth pony noticed Dash’s hesitant eyes, but said nothing. “So, what’s up? How have you been enjoying the game so far?”

“Oh, you know, it’s been…interesting,” Cheerilee said calmly, closing her eyes and giving a slight nod, “My team has been a real delight to be a part of, and this has been a wonderful learning experience for me. I really can’t wait to tell the rest of my class about such wild excursions when I get back to Ponyville. What say you, Rainbow Dash? How have you been enjoying the game thus far?”

Plopping her rump down onto the ground in front of Cheerilee, Dash idly nodded to the teacher’s assessment to the game without paying much heed to it. “Ha, your team really has been kicking my team’s behind! You guys are pretty good.”

“That usually happens when you have good camaraderie with your team and your teammates aren’t constantly bickering and fighting with one another.” Cheerilee found herself accidentally expressing her hidden displeasure with Rainbow Dash without even realizing it. “We also don’t have one teammate whose ego gets in the way of what we do. The game does not revolve around any one of us individually; it revolves around our united hearts.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, a slight frown on her face upon taking in the latter part of what Cheerilee had to say. “What is that supposed to mean, Cheerilee? Was that a shot?”

“I don’t know, Rainbow Dash. Was it?” Cheerilee inwardly giggled to herself, enjoying the angry expression formulating on Dash’s face, no hint of kindness remaining. She didn’t mean to, but she was glad at her glance to indirectly tell Rainbow Dash just how wrong she was playing the game.

“What about Trixie, huh? You CAN’T be enjoying her company! That mare’s head is so big, you could fit all of Cloudsdale on it!”

Cheerilee spoke in a somewhat cold, but commanding and confident voice. “Trixie is our friend, Rainbow Dash. She has come a long way from the selfish, spoiled mare that arrived here on the island. True, she continues to relapse back into her arrogant and bragging ways, but she knows when to put it aside for the sake of the team. Trixie can act how she wishes so long as she knows the difference between hurting somepony and just being playful. So, I’m sorry, but Trixie’s ego is no longer a concern for us.”

Rainbow Dash was struggling to keep her temper in check. She wasn’t the smartest book on the shelf, but she wasn’t stupid. Even if Cheerilee wasn’t coming right out and saying it, she knew that the earth pony was taking shots at her. The fact that Trixie was being praised made her blood boil. The confident and collective voice that Cheerilee spoke in. The way she didn’t show any sign of allowing Dash to bully her or manipulate her. It was enough to drive her crazy.

“Humph…well, I wouldn’t trust her! You saw what Trixie nearly did to our town, right?” Rainbow Dash shoved her face into Cheerilee’s, trying to push her back and regain control of the conversation. “You just can’t trust mares like that! All they care about is themselves! When push comes to shove, who will they be looking out for? Nopony but themselves!”

Holding her ground and refusing to back away, Cheerilee pushed her nose to within an inch of Rainbow Dash’s. Her eyes challenged the ones she was met with in the Pegasus’ skull. Her fierce, inner determination refused to be dampened. She slowly pointed a hoof out to Scootaloo on the beach. “Rainbow Dash, I will say this as nicely as possible. Stay away from Scootaloo, if you know what’s good for you. Do what you like to me, but you had best not harm Scootaloo in any way shape or form…or any of my other friends for that matter.”

Rainbow scoffed lightly and sneered at Cheerilee. “You dare question my ethics? You really think I’d ever hurt my friends or Scootaloo? Ha! Who do you think YOU are? You’re not even one of our friends! You’re just a peppy and annoying little schoolteacher and nothing more. Who gives you the right to say things like that to me, huh? Have you forgotten just who it is you’re talking to? I’m the element of loyalty, sweetheart. Better get used to it.”

Cheerilee’s ears slightly drooped, Rainbow’s words cutting straight to her heart. She knew that the Pegasus had a point. She really was just an average schoolteacher. She had no special talents, she had no business questioning a pony who helped save the world twice, she was out of line in questioning how she felt for her own friends, and she was possibly going too far in thinking Dash would hurt her own biggest fan. Cheerilee realized that she had no change in reasoning with Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus had her beat in every category, it seemed.

Giving a sigh of defeat and not wishing to fight anymore, Cheerilee just shook her head and gently pushed past Rainbow Dash. The earth pony kept her head to the ground, feeling a little sad at hearing Rainbow Dash say that she was just another pony and not close enough to consider a friend. Dash watched Cheerilee walk away, smirking to herself, even though she hadn’t exactly accomplished what she had set out to do involving the magenta mare. However, halfway during her trot, Cheerilee turned back around and gave Rainbow Dash a sad look.

“The element of loyalty? I’d say you’re the element of disloyalty, Rainbow Dash.” With that, Cheerilee pushed open the door to the Royal Ruffians’ cabin and marched inside, leaving a stunned and enraged Pegasus in her wake on the Dock of Shame.

Rainbow Dash: *completely stunned, her mouth wide open* Did you all HEAR what Cheerilee said to me? She insulted my element! First Spike has the gull to do that, and now Cheerilee? Who the heck do they think they are? *not giving any thought to WHY they said it, she snarls and smacks her hoofed fists together* I may not have her under my wing, but now she’s my target. Bad news for you, Cheerilee.

Fluttershy happily flew into the Royal Ruffians’ cabin a little while later, singing a peculiar song to herself as she shut the door behind her. “I can’t believe I got to meet a cute little bunny that looked just like Angel! It was so cute and cuddly and such a little sweetheart! Ooh, I hope Angel doesn’t get jealous or anything, though…he gets jealous rather easily.” She then noticed that Cheerilee was sitting in her team’s cabin, and instantly flushed and squeaked in embarrassment. “Oh m-my…Cheerilee!”

“Hi there, Fluttershy,” Cheerilee smiled, lifting her head up and rising from the chair that she had seated herself upon, “It’s very nice to see you. I hope you don’t mind me using your team’s cabin. Scootaloo usually doesn’t come in until nightfall, and the rest of my team was chosen by Spike to go on the airship cruise. It’s kinda lonely.” She trotted up to the Pegasus and gave her a warm and friendly hug.

“Oh, no, that’s perfectly alright.” Fluttershy returned the hug and giggled lightly as some of Cheerilee’s mane draped down into her face. “I, um, just felt really nervous about sharing my little forest adventures with other ponies…it’s so embarrassing.”

“Don’t feel that way, dear.” Cheerilee wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy’s back and nuzzled the side of her face, burying her nose into the shy mare’s pink mane. “There’s nothing embarrassing about sharing how happy you are. Even though we’re on different teams, you can always count on me to be there to talk to, alright?”

Fluttershy’s heart skipped a beat at Cheerilee’s kind words, this being one of the few times in the game where another camper had treated her so nicely. When she opened her mouth to say something, she thought about Rainbow Dash, and her heart skipped another beat. Her head suddenly had a sharp pain, as though something was bothering her. “Um…Cheerilee?”

“Yes, Fluttershy?”

“I…uh…do you think…um…” Fluttershy struggled to speak her mind, hesitantly pushing her fore-hooves together as she tightly clenched her eyes shut. “Do you…do you think that…Rainbow Dash…has been acting a little…different?”

Cheerilee’s smile dropped slightly when she heard the question. But, she knew from Fluttershy’s nervous reactions that she had spotted Dash’s changes as well. The magenta mare wasn’t really sure what to say in a situation like this. She had given advice to Apple Bloom on dealing with Diamond Tiara and her bullying, she had scolded Snips and Snails for talking in class, she had held a crying Silver Spoon in her hooves when she had been rejected by a colt for not being pretty enough, and she had calmly stood her ground when confronted by an angry mother who insisted her daughter was getting graded unfairly. But, dealing with a matter like this was new to the schoolteacher.

Giving a short, quick sigh, Cheerilee rested a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and used her other one to gently lift her chin. She gently forced Fluttershy to look her in the face when she spoke to her. If one couldn’t stare another in the eyes when they spoke, you couldn’t trust them, after all. “Fluttershy, I cannot judge your friends and how they act. You know Rainbow Dash more than I do. It would be wrong of me to give my opinion on her when I really do not know her that well.”

“Oh…yes, I suppose…you’re right…” Fluttershy’s cheeks turned a shade of red at the serious little discussion, but she stared Cheerilee back in the eyes and didn’t miss a beat.

“However…I will say this.” Cheerilee closed her eyes and thought long and hard on how to say her next words properly. Fluttershy curiously tilted her head, anxious to know what she was going to be told. When Cheerilee next opened her eyes, Fluttershy saw compassion staring back at her. “Listen to your heart and the answers will always be provided for you. As I always tell my students, if you ever feel conflicted and pained over something, let your heart lead you to your answer. Your brain might be good for math, but your heart is good for life.”

Little wisps of air puffed out of Fluttershy’s lips, her chest heaving in and out as she contemplated Cheerilee’s words. They seemed so cryptic, yet so very wise. She wasn’t sure if she understand or not, but when Cheerilee refused to say anything more, the Pegasus knew that she had been told enough. As a thank you, Fluttershy gave Cheerilee one last hug before heading over to her bed for a little nap.

Fluttershy: My brain is good for math…but my heart is good for life? Um…I’m not sure I quite understand what Cheerilee meant…but, um, I think I just have to…decide for myself, right? Yes, I think that’s what she meant…I must decide for myself what’s the best thing to do…and not listen to anypony else. *she whimpers and shakes her head* Ooh, but how can I actually decide for myself? That’s hard!

“Princess…do you sometimes wonder about the meaning of life?” Cheerilee asked, sitting next to Princess Celestia and staring up into the vast, cloudless sky. After an hour of writing in her journal, Cheerilee gave the sleeping Fluttershy a gentle stroke on the back before heading outside. Princess Celestia was still sulking and was now soaking her rump in a bucket of cold water to dull the pain. She had taken up residence next to the Magical Misfits’ cabin, since it was practically deserted in that area. Cheerilee went and joined her.

“That is a question many a mare has spoken during my rule, my dear subject.” Celestia whispered, her eyes casting a vacant stare up at the sky as her waterlogged tush continued to soak in the cold water, a very visible red mark forming near her right flank. “Living your life is like writing a storybook. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But, like so many books, the middle is the most interesting part. There are so many words that can be weaved. The prose of daily life flows from our very beings and creates hidden verses between all the lines. Hidden meanings are everywhere. Chapters form when we least expect them. Characters come and characters go. Good things happen, bad things happen. A book can sometimes never end.”

Cheerilee gave a deep sigh, the force of her breath sounding like a cross between agitated and sad. “That is so true, Princess…that is so very true. So, our time on this island…and our moment sitting together like this…is simply another chapter and another paragraph for our book, right?”

“Seems logical, does it not?”

A gentle silence followed the two mares’ conversation. Both Cheerilee and Princess Celestia were so very similar, and each of them knew it. Each pony was an important figure in everyday life. Each one was highly respected and special to many ponies. Celestia was in charge of raising the sun, of looking over her subjects, of ruling the world with a benevolent hoof, and a million other matters that nopony could ever begin to fathom. Cheerilee was in charge of teaching many young colts and fillies about the world around them that they would grow up into. She was in charge of sharing the marvelous wonders of how to get your cutie marks. She was in charge of spreading joy and love and making a difference in so many young lives. Each mare made Equestria better in their own way.

“Princess Celestia?”

“Yes, Cheerilee?”

There was another pause, then Cheerilee spoke in a softer voice. “Why are…some characters…put into a story when they have no business being there?” Her eyes narrowed a little bit when she saw the hint of a rainbow lining vanishing into the distance around the south side of the island.

“That creates conflict. In our lives, we deal with hardships and problems every single day. Stories work the same way. Without conflict, you may have a happy little work of fiction, but you fail to teach your readers or your characters anything. You cannot go through life without conflict, and you cannot go through a story without it, either.” Princess Celestia moaned a little as she shifted in her bucket. “It’s a little sad, but it’s the truth. We all must learn lessons; it doesn’t matter if you’re a storybook character or you’re an Equestrian. Life is about lessons and learning to overcome them.”

Such wise words. Cheerilee smiled a little bit at Princess Celestia, and after watching Scootaloo skip off into the mess hall for a snack, she even gave a little chuckle. “Yes…truer words have never been spoken. Every day is a lesson.”

~~~

“I say, these hors d’oeuvres are simply too minuscule to properly whet my palate, darlings.”

“Oh, I must agree, Miss Rarity. The food they serve on this airship would starve a mouse, I swear!”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie must concur. Such little portions of food do not please her at all.”

“Now, my ladies, behave yourselves. It’s not about the quantity of food, it’s about the quality.”

The three unicorns and Spike all laughed amongst themselves, enjoying their acting while partaking in their daily dinner aboard their luxurious airship. Spike was having a ball being in the presence of three beautiful unicorns, all three of which he had different feelings for. Twilight, Rarity and Trixie, despite their differences, had enjoyed the weeklong airship cruise so much that they had momentarily forgotten they were part of a game. On that airship, the group forgot about anything stressful and only focused on that which made them happy.

“I gotta tell you, girls, it’s kinda fun acting like a rich and opinionated snob now and then,” Spike chuckled, exaggerating his point by sticking his snout in the air and casually poking at his bits of food with a fork without making any real effort to pick them up.

“Who says that we are acting, Spike?” Rarity scolded, giving Spike a little glare to make it look like she was being serious. However, after a momentary pause, she giggled and soon burst out laughing. “Oh, who am I kidding? This is not Canterlot. I am in the presence of my friends, and that is always the time when it’s most enjoyable to just be yourself and go with the flow, yes?”

“So true.” Twilight delicately levitated her fork with an aura of red magic, bringing a morsel of the hors d’oeuvres to her lips. “Besides, this is the only chance we get at using our magic again before we head back to the island, so we need to make the most of it.”

Trixie went noticeably silent whenever Twilight used her magic. About an hour into their airship cruise, Twilight had suggested that they attempted to use their magic, since they were no longer on the island. The three unicorns were stunned and thoroughly excited when their horns spurred into motion and showed that they were no longer handicapped. All throughout the cruise, the unicorns tried to use their magic for even the most pointless of things. Opening doors, levitating spoons, fluffing pillows, opening and closing bed sheets, pulling out and pushing in chairs, everything. No task was too easy or too simple for the unicorn trio to not over-exemplify.

For Trixie, however, her joy of reclaiming her magic for a week was mostly just an act. The azure mare watched Twilight’s magic every time she performed it, and her eyes would always narrow and her heart would always sink as soon as she saw that familiar red aura light up the room. Trixie scoffed at the thought that she was jealous of how much more talented Twilight was than herself, but she still couldn’t get that sinking feeling out of the pit of her stomach whenever she saw the talented unicorn’s magic. At one point, it almost thrust Trixie into a rage when she saw Twilight help out the airship’s kitchen staff by levitating a dozen tables into the dining room, each table already outfitted with all its trimmings.

Trixie: *the confessional located in one of the glamorous, clean, sparkling bathrooms built inside the airship* How can Twilight Sparkle live with herself? She is by far the most arrogant and egotistical showoff that Trixie has ever encountered! Does she enjoy strutting about with her…her…her… *tears form in her eyes* …perfect magic tricks that clearly outclasses that of the Great and Powerful Trixie?

“Say, has anypony seen our resident pink party pony?” Twilight asked, noticing that Pinkie Pie was nowhere in sight. Pinkie preferred to bounce around the large dining room and eat at random and different areas rather than sit down at a fancy table with her four fellow contestants.

“Take three guesses, Twilight, and the first two don’t count,” Spike mused, poking out his thumb and motioning behind his back. Rarity, Twilight and Trixie all followed Spike’s pointing, leading their eyes to the decorated stage in the back of the dining area, used for the ship’s entertainment.

Over the past week, the four ponies and one dragon had become accustomed to seeing spectacular forms of rowdy entertainment performed on the large wooden stage. Plays, concerts, puppet shows, dances, comedy routines, and many more interesting feats were performed during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Tonight, a string quartet was performing a beautiful classical piece, led by a very familiar earth pony with a cello. Pinkie Pie, however, had reverted back to her old tricks again and was currently found bouncing around the stage with a pouty look on her face.

“Aww, c’mon, if you won’t play the Pony Pokey, can you at least play the Piggy Dance?” Pinkie whined and circled the two annoyed violin mares before moving onto the viola girl. “This is a party, you silly ponies! Shake your booties and play some dance music! This classy stuff is SO putting me to sleep, and my bedtime isn’t for another few hours! You have to keep me awake!” At that moment, Pinkie felt a gentle tapping on her shoulder, and when she eagerly whipped her head around, she found a set of angry purple eyes glaring back at her. On her left shoulder rested a rather sharp cello bow.

“Pinkie Pie, if you would be so kind as to get off the stage before I am forced to show you some other techniques I know with my cello bow, I would greatly appreciate it. You see, you already ruined my stint with the Grand Galloping Gala once, not to mention made a mockery of another Canterlot dress party. If you continue to incite interruptions on my performances, I will have to show you why violence is sometimes necessary in today’s society. Do you understand?”

“Aww, Octy, you’re so funny!” Pinkie Pie happily bounced up and spread all four legs as she delivered a playful tackle to the annoyed cello player, letting her smack down onto the stage as her cello and bow flew out of her hooves. “Say, aren’t you supposed to be with Derpy or something?” When all Octavia would do is give a deep growl and bare her teeth at the pink earth pony resting on top of her, Pinkie attempted to put on one of her best and cutest smiles. It didn’t work.

“Oh dear.” Rarity winced and covered her ears as a loud smack echoed through the dining area, causing Twilight and Spike to both turn their heads away to avoid watching the harsh blow to the face that Octavia delivered to Pinkie’s face. Trixie just rolled her eyes and gave a meager sigh of exasperation was Pinkie Pie went flying across the room. She ended up crash-landing on top of Twilight’s plate of food, shattering the glass plate underneath her backside and causing the purple unicorn’s remaining food to go flying. Twilight’s eyes widened in horror as she stared down at her friend, hoping she was alright.

Letting out a little groan of pain, Pinkie rubbed her head where Octavia’s cello bow had made contact a moment earlier. When her eyes finally focused on just where she had landed, she blinked a little bit and slowly glanced up at the wide-eyed Twilight Sparkle staring down at her with concern. A shy grin broke out on Pinkie’s face as she reached for a piece of Twilight’s lettuce that had ricocheted out from under her tushy following the hard fall. Pinkie playfully placed the mangled piece of lettuce on her forehead before pressing her hooves together and giving Twilight an adoring look, complete with shimmering eyes and a wagging tail.

“Hey, Twilight, looks like I’m for dessert,” Pinkie giggled, her right eye closing in a cute wink as she wiggled her tush and scooted a tad bit closer to the edge of the table towards Twilight, “You get a nice big helping of Pinkie pie, topped off with a hint of lettuce.”

“I’m glad I didn’t order that,” Spike commented, making a face.

“I fear I’ve gone and lost my appetite, darlings,” Rarity sighed, pressing her hoof to her face.

“Trixie will pass on such dessert,” Trixie sniffed, shaking her head and muttering to herself.

“Uh…” Twilight couldn’t utter another word as she stared down at the giggling pony on her shattered plate. The more the unicorn stared into Pinkie’s caring eyes and saw the way she was wagging her tail and smiling at her, the more her face changed to a new shade of red. Twilight realized that she would skip dessert as well.

Rarity: Well, aside from Pinkie Pie being herself, this has been a rather interesting airship cruise. I simply cannot thank my little Spikey enough for taking me along. Speaking of which, we haven’t really talked much since coming aboard. We go back to the island tomorrow, so I think I’ll make this evening the perfect time to make things up with him. *her eyes seem to sparkle* I know my charm will work.

Trixie: Why can’t Discord install these wonderful bathrooms on that atrocious island? He surely has the power to do so if he chooses! Ladies such as Trixie should be subjected to horrible bathrooms on a daily basis, teased with luxurious restrooms like these for a week, and be forced to go right back to the disgusting décor of island life! It is just not fair and Trixie does not approve. *she huffs loudly*

Pinkie: Aww, Twilight didn’t want to eat her Pinkie pie! Maybe it was the lettuce? Perhaps I should’ve used a sprig of parsley instead? Ooh, or maybe some whipped cream and chocolate sauce? *she gasps loudly, then gives herself a face-hoof* Oh, of course, how silly of me! How could I have forgotten… *she pulls out a fresh cherry and sticks it on the tip of her nose* …the cherry on top!

Spike: What more could a dragon want? *he leans back on the shiny toilet seat while wearing black sunglasses and casually sipping on a colorful glass of soda* He wins a free cruise on an airship, he gets free food and entertainment, he gets to sleep in beds that aren’t tiny little baskets or horrible hard camp bunks, AND he has four pretty ponies with him. Ah, sometimes, life just throws me a gem, I swear.

Twilight: This airship cruise has been most enlightening and a rewarding experience. I cannot thank Spike enough for bringing me along. This just goes to prove that we will always share a bond that not even one of Discord’s games can break. *her eyes dart up towards the top of her head, where her horn glows and levitates a towel over to her* Now, if you will all excuse me, I am going to take a shower.

The night sky illuminated the surroundings of the humming airship an hour later. Shimmering stars sparkled in Luna’s black backdrop as a crescent moon sat lazily in the distance. The airship’s crew all turned in for the night, allowing the airship to steer itself back to Total Magic Pony Island. The airship ran on Discord’s magic, giving it an automated navigational system that allowed the pilot to take a break whenever he so desired. The five honorary guests, however, decided to linger and stay awake for their final night away from the draconequus and his crazy game. All five occupied a different area on the deck of the powerful flying machine.

Spike forced a yawn, covering his gaping jaws with a clawed hand as he propped himself up against the side railing of the eastern side of the airship’s deck. Next to him, Rarity stood on her hind legs, her front hooves curled up into a gentle crossing pattern as she watched the floating stars ease past the drifting airship as they made their way back to the island. For a long time, neither the dragon nor the unicorn said anything. Both of them still sported heavy hearts after the previous episodes and what they had gone through.

Deciding to break the ice first, Rarity coughed lightly and gently closed her eyes. “The moonlight casts a beautiful glow on the stars, does it not, Spike? It is like each one has their own unique little shadow.”

“Uh-huh.” Spike’s voice came out gruff and to-the-point, not wishing to stay more than was needed.

“Being so close to the heavens can really be…romantic, don’t you think? It is like something out of a storybook. A beautiful princess and a charming prince share a wonderful evening under a starry sky, inhabited and watched over by the carefully-placed orb of night itself, the moon.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I still do believe in fairytales, you know.” Rarity eased closer to Spike, a few particles of her mane softly reaching down and brushing against Spike’s left side. Her voice grew a little softer as she continued to speak to her serious dragon companion. “I still do dream of being swept off my hooves by my prince charming and given the love that I so desperately crave.”

“Right.” Spike made no motion to move away from Rarity, but continued to not look at her. His eyes were fixated on the passing night scene floating past the airship. The glow that glazed over his pupils was not the sign of anger, but rather the sign of sadness. His clawed hands were clenching more and more into fists the longer Rarity spoke.

Realizing she was beating around the bush, Rarity sighed and hung her head over the side of the railing. “Spike, I…”

“Why did you do it? Why did you almost kill yourself and Silver Spoon?” Spike finally let himself speak his mind, his head whipping around as he glared at the fashion pony. “Why couldn’t you just be happy for me? You never took me seriously anyway! What in the world was the matter with you?”

“Spikey…you don’t…you don’t understand…” Rarity cringed as Spike’s scornful words cut straight to her heart. He didn’t speak with malice; he spoke with sorrow and a desire to understand her mindset. But, Rarity still felt her heart break at just how stupid she had acted and just how badly she had hurt the one who probably loved her more than anyone else in Equestria. She didn’t know how to handle such a new situation in her usually-perfect lifestyle.

“What don’t I understand? I may be a little young, but I’m not stupid!” His right hand’s claws digging into the wood of the railing, Spike reached out and gently grasped Rarity’s shoulder with his left. He gently pulled her to the side and forced her to look him in the eyes. “You were jealous, Rarity. But, what I don’t understand is why you would go so far as to hurt somepony else just to have me back. That’s not the pony that I love. The pony I love who would never harm anyone else out of jealousy!”

“Spike, I was hurt!” Rarity screamed, her eyes swelling up with tears as her sapphire pupils began to get clouded. She stared right back into Spike’s eyes, placing her front hooves on both his shoulders as she spoke her heart to him. “I didn’t know the good thing I had until I lost it. You…you filled my heart with joy, Spike. Maybe you weren’t my tall, muscular, charming, powerful stallion that I had always dreamed of and envisioned of being with…”

“Gee, thanks, Rarity.” Spike rolled his eyes and frowned, his sarcasm widely apparent.

“Spike, please, let me finish.” Despite Spike’s harsh interruption, Rarity was determined to speak everything that had been on her mind since the moment she was first confined to her wheelchair. “As I was saying, you may not be the stallion I always envisioned, BUT…” A sad smile crept across her face as she lifted a hoof off Spike’s shoulder and softly touched his cheek. “…you’re better than any stallion I could’ve ever asked for. You’re sweet, caring, talented…and perfect.”

In the past, Spike’s heart would’ve soared at having Rarity’s delicate hooves touch him in such a manner. Such words would’ve swayed his heart to listen to every word she said and gush over how amazing she was. However, if there anything Total Magic Pony Island had done for Spike, it was to show him another aspect of the harsh reality of life. Unfazed by Rarity’s kind gestures and sweet words, Spike narrowed his eyes and gently swatted Rarity’s hoof off his cheek.

“Your words are sweet, Rarity, but the fact still remains that you almost killed Silver Spoon just for me.” Spike shook his head, stepping away from the shocked unicorn and letting her drop onto the chilled deck of the airship. “As important as that makes me feel…it doesn’t make me any less angry with you for doing such a despicable act out of jealousy. It’ll take me some time to get over this…but, if you ask me, you should be making this up with Silver Spoon the next time you meet her.” Spike scratched a spot on his forehead that didn’t itch, then turned away and began walking back towards the lower portion of the flying contraption.

“Spikey…” Rarity’s voice, no longer full of hope and vigor, came out strained and almost begging. Watching Spike walk away from her, giving her the cold shoulder, made her heart break.

“Goodnight, Rarity,” was all that Spike said, before the dragon’s tail vanished down the steps leading down into the lower level of the airship. Rarity was left alone on the deck, and the tears soon began to fall from those hurting sapphire eyes.

Rarity: *a waterfall of tears gushing out of both shut eye sockets, the unicorn sobs and cries loudly, a box of tissues clutched in her hooves* W-w-w-why d-d-d-did t-t-t-this h-h-h-have to happen to m-m-me? I…I…I just w-w-wanted…I…I…SPIKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKEY! *she buries her face right into the middle of the box of tissues, making her shrieks and cries muffled, but not stopping the river of tears*

Spike: *his arms crossed and his head continuing to shake back and forth, he shows no remorse for what he just did* As I think I heard Twilight read from one of her books: I must be mean to be nice. Rarity needs to learn that you can’t just expect forgiveness that easily for your actions, no matter HOW sweet your words are…or how beautiful your body is… *he clears his throat, trying to ignore his blush*

“Princess Luna does an amazing job painting the night sky with her brilliant display of style and her wonderful sense of aesthetics and artistry, don’t you agree, Trixie?”

“Indeed, Twilight Sparkle. Every night when Trixie looks upon the enchanting wonder that is the night, she cannot help but feel uplifted and amazed by such beauty.”

Resting upon the western side of the airship deck, Twilight and Trixie both sat upon large blue cushions given to them by the ship’s crew. The two unicorns, ever curious about the mysterious wonders of the universe surrounding them, decided to spend their final evening of freedom away from the island witnessing the majestic starry skies blanketing the heavens. Each of the cushions rested upon by the two unicorns contained a magical heating pad, warm enough to satisfy and heat even the coldest of ponies. Flying at such lofty heights made for chilling evenings, so the airship crew thought ahead with their provisions and supplies needed for each trip.

“Tomorrow we head back to Camp Paradox…back to Discord…back to the princess and our other friends still waiting on the island.” Twilight closed her eyes and expelled a deep sigh, but a smile eventually crept up her mouth and stayed on her face. “This cruise has been nice, but…I really do miss them all. I’ve almost gotten used to Discord and Nightmare Moon, too…almost.”

“Yes. It’s quite startling how a pony can get used to such buffoonery and nonsensical absurdity being strewn about in one’s face on a daily basis.” Trixie shook her head and sighed as well, then something came to her. “Wait…Twilight Sparkle, did you just say our other friends?”

“Of course, Trixie. Rainbow Dash, Princess Celestia, Fluttershy, Scootaloo and Cheerilee!” Twilight reached around and gave Trixie a gentle pat on the back. “They’re all our friends! Well, the princess is our ruler and our princess whom we must always honor and obey, but…she’s still what I consider a very close friend. Almost a second mother, really. Actually, Princess Celestia is so very amazing that I really must stop and ponder sometimes just how she…”

“Eh-hem, Twilight Sparkle, do shut up before you go into a long-winded and unwanted speech, would you please? Trixie does not wish for it to ruin the moment.”

“Oh…right. My bad. Sorry, Trix.”

“Do not mention it. Now then, as Trixie was saying…those are not her friends that you listed. Those are YOUR friends, Twilight Sparkle. What led you to believe that they thought of Trixie the same way they think of you? Did you hit your head?”

Twilight sighed, her head sagging a bit at Trixie’s usual display of defiance and unwillingness to accept what she wanted her to so badly believe in. “Trixie…okay, maybe Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy haven’t gotten to know you as well just yet, since they’ve been on the opposite team the entire game. But, the princess loves ALL her subjects; she is an amazing pony and I know she cares for you like she does all the other ponies in Equestria. As for Cheerilee and Scootaloo, both of them have accepted you and can now call you their friend. Hasn’t spending so much time in the past weeks with them led you to see that it’s okay to make friends and accept love from others?”

“Oh really?” Trixie sniffed, whipping her head to meet Twilight’s soft gaze, her mane softly fluttering over her shoulders as she glared at the purple unicorn. “Trixie does not buy that. She has many ponies in her lifetime, all of whom grew to know Trixie…before leaving her and not wanting to have anything to do with her. A few of them even left her horrible notes about how they wish she’d just leave and never come back to darken their doorsteps! Do you really expect Trixie to believe such nonsense about how a little game can allow one’s heart to change towards a pony? Do you not think that Cheerilee and Scootaloo still hold grudges over what Trixie did to Apple Bloom earlier in the game?”

“Trixie, that’s not…”

“Silence! Trixie is not done yet!” Trixie flared up and stood over her heated cushion, shoving her angry face into Twilight’s and making the timid mare back away out of reflex. “You are far too trusting and far too passionate, Twilight Sparkle! That is NOT what life is about! Life is about learning to fend for oneself, making a living, and getting by using the tricks of the trade and whatever little talents you were gifted with when you were born.” Trixie stomped forward, backing up Twilight even more. “Life is not about making friends that will callously cast you to the side and leave you for the dead when the chips rise. Life is not about hugging and saying petty little phrases that you think are sweet. Life is not about trying to do the right thing, because ‘doing the right thing’ only leads to pain and misery!”

“Trixie, you’re wrong! You don’t get it! That isn’t…”

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE, TWILIGHT SPARKLE?” Trixie screamed, backing Twilight right into the railing of the west railing of the airship. Trixie’s eyes were filled with anger and pain, and as she placed her hooves on Twilight’s shoulders to pin her down, Twilight could swear she saw suppressed tears hiding behind those violet pupils boring into her own. “You do not know ANYTHING about the Great and Powerful Trixie! You like to pretend that you do, just like all the others, but the fact is that you are all LIARS! Trixie does not have ANY friends whatsoever! Once this game is over, win or lose, Trixie will go back to traveling the world and all of this will be forgotten. A game is just that, Twilight Sparkle. It is a game, meant to entertain and tickle one’s fancy. It is not life, nor should it be taken seriously.”

“Trixie…” Twilight’s ears drooped and flattened against the side of her head. She wasn’t angry with Trixie for her harsh words, nor was she scared of her rage. Twilight was sad. She wanted to cry for Trixie. The show-mare put on a great show, as was her mantra, but Twilight could feel the pain hiding behind the invisible mask she bore on her face. Twilight could see the tears swelling inside Trixie’s eyes, begging for release, but never getting the chance. Twilight could feel the timid shaking of Trixie’s hooves pressed against her forelegs as she was kept pinned down. Trixie’s life had all been a game, and she was nothing more than a marionette on flimsy strings being manipulated for entertainment. Twilight wanted to cry.

Twilight: For once in my life, I was actually…at a loss for words. Every time I feel like I’ve brought down Trixie’s walls, I find that they’ve been refortified and are stronger than ever! Trixie acts tough, but I can tell she’s a scared pony who needs that special pony to unlock her heart and show her just how much she’s missed, thanks to her past. I…I want to be that pony. I KNOW I can be that pony.

Trixie: Dealing with Twilight Sparkle for too long can really grate Trixie’s nerves and make her go crazy. Everything that obnoxiously-arrogant unicorn speaks does not make a lick of sense to the Great and Powerful Trixie. She actually continues to relegate the ridiculous notion that Trixie has somehow made friends in this absurd game. What type of foal does Sparkle take her for? Humph, pathetic.

“Listen well, Twilight Sparkle, for Trixie will only say this once,” Trixie whispered, pushing her face to within inches of Twilight’s as the blue unicorn continued to pin down her counterpart, “Trixie is only continuing to play this game to win that million bit prize. Not only would it pay for an actual home for Trixie, but it would allow her to pay off her debts, pay off the towns that Trixie’s magic tricks has caused damage to, and make her life one step closer to becoming enjoyable once more. She is not here to make friends, nor is she here to receive your intolerable lectures. Do you understand Trixie?”

Their eyes spaced apart by mere millimeters of space, Twilight continued to see the deeper feelings that Trixie hid from her. The show-mare spoke harshly, but Twilight didn’t want to give in so easily. She had traversed through a lot of difficult obstacles during her time in Ponyville and learning about the power of friendship, and she didn’t want to let Trixie bully her into understanding something that she didn’t want to understand. At the moment, however, Trixie’s frown and her cold hooves pressing down into her shoulders made the words difficult to formulate.

“Trixie, I…”

“Pony-pile on the unicorns!”

A second later, Trixie found her face pressed even closer to Twilight’s when she felt a heavy body slammed on top of her backside. The two unicorns widened their eyes to the size of saucers as their mouths were pressed dangerously close to one another’s following Trixie being crushed down on top of Twilight’s smaller, pinned body. Trixie found herself forcibly kissing Twilight’s chin, the two unicorns’ eyes locked on one another in shock. They could feel their hearts pounding in sync with one another due to their bodies pressed firmly into a forced embrace. Blood rushed to their cheeks in a quick rate, making their forming blushes deepen with every passing millisecond. On top of Trixie’s back, a familiar pink ball of fluff was giggling and happily bouncing up and down.

“Gotcha! Twilight and Trixie are both down for the count! You both didn’t even see me coming; that led for an easy sneak attack.” Pinkie cheered, playfully pulling out her four legs and performing a gentle body slam down onto Trixie’s backside, further crushing both unicorns. She then took a deep breath as she excitedly began sharing her story as to why she was there and just how she had come to arrive at that location in the first place.

“See, Octy got mad when I tried visiting her room to see if I could borrow her cello, so she said something about using me as a cello instead for her bow. Now, at first, I was totally gonna let her, since one of my three billion and four dreams has been to be a musical instrument! But, Octy then said that I was an idiot and slammed the door in my face, and it hurt my nose. I then decided to come and find Twilight, since she could use her magic to make my nose feel better. I checked her room, and I checked the confessional, and I checked the kitchen and got distracted by some brownies. But after I ate some brownies, I was kicked out of the kitchen and hurt my tushy. At that point, I thought that maybe Twilight wanted to see the stars, so I came out on the deck and I gasped because I was totally right, and it was only on my fourth try, too! But, since I was so excited about being right on my fourth guess, I decided to pony-pile on both of you girls, since you were too busy playing ‘pin the unicorn down on the floor and hold her there’ to notice me. So, I sneakily made my way behind Trixie’s back before taking a flying leap! It was a perfect landing, if I do say so myself. So, now, here we are! Hi girls!”

Hearing Pinkie Pie finally exhale after her long speech, Twilight gave a little sigh herself as she tried to maneuver her head so the enraged Trixie could get her lips off her chin. “Pinkie…it’s nice to see you, but if you don’t mind, could you please remove yourself from Trixie and myself before Trixie does something that you could possibly regret?”

“You didn’t say the magic words, Twilight.”

“Pretty please?”

“There we go!” Pinkie smiled and leaped off Trixie’s back, watching as the blue unicorn almost instantly yanked her body off Twilight’s as though she was contaminated. She then began to loudly curse and spit droplets of saliva down onto the deck of the airship, reaching up to wipe her tongue with one of her hooves to try and get the taste of Twilight’s chin out of her mouth. Twilight eased herself up off the cold deck a moment later to join her two fellow campers.

“Ugh. Pinkie, you really shouldn’t sneak up on ponies like that when they’re in the middle of a very important conversation,” Twilight scolded, trotting over to Pinkie and waving a hoof in her face. Her cheeks still had tints of redness lingering and her heart was still beating heavily inside of her chest as she gave her friend a soft lecture. Trixie had had her lips on her chin. If Pinkie had only tackled her in a slightly different way to make Trixie’s mouth move up and not down, their lips would’ve met. The thought nearly made Twilight gulp and thank Celestia that that hadn’t happened.

“Aww, but Twilight, unicorns are very squishy and fun to pony-pile on!” Pinkie pouted and tilted her head as she listened to Twilight’s soft scolding, her tail idly twitching behind her while Trixie continued to curse and spit nearby. “Maybe you want me to pony-pile you without Trixie? I can do that!”

“Er…uh…Pinkie, you said Octavia hurt your nose…and you hurt your posterior as well from being kicked out of the kitchen. Would you like me to fix those small injuries up for you?”

“Huh? Oh, right!” Pinkie bounded forward and eased her face towards Twilight, her eyelids fluttering in delight as she grew closer to the purple mare. “See? I looked in the mirror in the confessional and I saw a small red bruise. It totally hurt when I tried to scratch it!”

“And…why did you decide to scratch it? Did it itch?”

“Nope! My hoof just wouldn’t leave me alone until I scratched it! Isn’t that funny?”

“Hilarious. Now, hold still and I’ll use a spell to heal that up in a jiffy. I’m not all-powerful, but my moderate healing spells should be strong enough to take care of minor injuries such as this.”

“SHE IS GOING TO NEED A MUCH STRONGER SPELL TO DEAL WITH THE PAIN THAT THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE IS ABOUT TO INFLICT UPON HER!”

Deciding that she had eradicated all of the taste of Twilight’s chin from her mouth, Trixie had taken the liberty of plotting a quick vengeance on Pinkie Pie for the three crimes of touching her without permission, forcing her to actually taste one of her biggest rivals, and for giving her a migraine via the long story she told on how she arrived on the deck of the airship. When Pinkie glanced to the side to give Trixie her attention, she came face-to-face with the bared teeth and the glaring eyes of the azure unicorn. The two were only separated by two feet.

“Aww, Trixie wants to play again! Twilight, it’s okay; my tushy and nose can go without healing at the moment.” Pinkie giggled and reached out towards Trixie, gently poking the mare on the nose with her left hoof. “Tag, you’re it!” She then took off running across the deck of the airship, throwing a little bounce in her steps every other second. The faint red mark on her tush could be seen as she galloped away from the two unicorns.

“GET BACK HERE, YOU IRRITATING FOAL!” Trixie roared, igniting her horn with magic energy for dramatic effect as she took off after Pinkie. Twilight could’ve sworn she saw Trixie’s tail and mane glowing when she streaked past her after the element of laughter.

Twilight: *her chest heaves up and down as she gives a few aggravated sighs* I try to have a serious conversation with Trixie…and it leads to Pinkie Pie showing up and ruining everything with her randomness. Sometimes, it feels like I’m in the presence of two little fillies. *she pauses for a moment, and a soft smile forms on her face* And…you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ten minutes, ten laps around the airship deck, one tired unicorn and one energized earth pony later and the two ponies, along with Twilight Sparkle, returned to their seats. Another heated cushion was teleported out by Twilight, and the three ponies managed to sit together to return to the stargazing. Despite the frequent glares Trixie cast over at Pinkie on the opposite side of Twilight, whom was sitting in the middle of the threesome, she was too tired to continue her attempts at vengeance. The blue show-mare was content at spending the rest of the night relaxing before they would return to the island in the morning.

“We shouldn’t stay awake too long, girls,” Twilight explained, her tail wagging slightly behind her as she continued to examine Luna’s nightly artwork, “Returning to the island tomorrow morning could very well lead us straight into a challenge. We have no idea what Discord is going to do to us once we return, so it’s best we stay prepared by staying well-rested, well-fed, and overall staying in great shape so we’ll be ready for the rotten spirit of chaos.”

“And Nightmare Moon,” Trixie pointed out.

“Yes, and Nightmare Moon.” Twilight’s mind served as a gateway to a lot of her feelings, and when Trixie reminded her of the dark lunar princess, Twilight immediately thought of Princess Celestia. What was she doing to keep herself occupied on the island? Was Discord and Nightmare Moon torturing her at all? Just how terrible was it to be stripped of all your powers and treated as a doormat to numerous horrible pranks and jokes? Nightmare Moon was so vastly different from Celestia, even though the former was born from the darkness in the latter’s younger sister’s heart.

Noticing the troubled look on Twilight’s face, Pinkie smiled and draped her left foreleg around her best friend’s shoulders. “Don’t look so worried, silly worrywart. We’re together, and when we’re together, that’s all that matters! A big meanie like Discord and a big scary-head like Nightmare Moon will never break us down or tear us apart. They already tried to do that once, remember? Let’s just play the game and have a lot of fun!”

“Pinkie…” Twilight stared at her friend, the sparkling of the starry night reflecting in the pink earth pony’s blue eyes. She looked so serene, so innocent, and so honest. Did Pinkie really didn’t see the severity of what the game entailed? Deep down, Twilight wished that she could be as carefree and as whimsical as Pinkie Pie.

“Together, we’re as hard as the strawberry taffy that’s been left inside the back of my cupboard back home for two years,” Pinkie continued, leaning her head down to peer over at Trixie on Twilight’s opposite side. “We’re as sturdy as a leaning tower of juicy cupcakes right after they came out of the oven, so soft and gooey. We’re as strong as the special coffee I enjoy making on Saturday afternoons when I go exploring in the Everfree Forest. We’re as…”

“We get the point, Pinkie Pie,” Trixie interrupted, gingerly running her right hoof over her throbbing forehead, attempting to soothe the pounding, Pinkie-inflicted migraine. The unicorn didn’t understand a word that Pinkie Pie ever said, but to save herself another hour of headaches and unwanted pain, she decided to humor the earth pony. “What is the point that you’re trying to make with this anyway?”

Performing a sudden backflip, Pinkie eagerly leaped over Twilight’s head and plopped down between both surprised unicorns. She squeezed both of them close to her with her forelegs and pressed their faces into her own squishy cheeks, showing off her surprising strength. “That’s easy, silly! The point I’m trying to make is that I want us to go to the final three together! Pinkie, Twilight and Trixie, the three best friends! One will win a million bits, but our hearts will always keep us united no matter what!”

“Pinkie, that’s kinda of…”

“Stupid! Completely and utterly stupid! Do you really think all three of us will make the final three?”

“Aww, c’mon, let’s make a pact!” Pinkie released both unicorns and held out her right hoof in front of the threesome. “Together, no matter what, the three of us WILL make the final three! BELIEVE IT!”

Twilight and Trixie stared at Pinkie’s outstretched hoof, then at the pony’s happy yet serious smile. Twilight, while wanting to prove that she was useful without her magic and that she could hold her own, didn’t really care about winning a million bits as much as others. Trixie desired nothing more than to win the game and get that prize money to steer her life back on track. Pinkie didn’t care about money, nor did she care about proving herself useful; all she wanted was to have fun and be with those closest to her. All three ponies were in the game for different reasons, and forming a pact among one another was not something they had anticipated when they first arrived on Calamity Island.

Slowly, Twilight extended her own right hoof and placed it atop Pinkie’s. The hoof of the earth pony was trembling slightly, probably with excitement, and Twilight could feel the warmth resonating all around it. Just touching Pinkie’s hoof made the unicorn happy and glad that she was close by. Even if she didn’t fully believe that she would reach the final three, given how strong several other players were over herself, she would do anything to make Pinkie Pie happy. When her friends were happy, she was happy.

“Final three.” Twilight nodded her head and returned Pinkie’s grin, then both ponies turned to look at Trixie to see if she would follow suit.

The expression Trixie was giving her two counterparts and their two hooves on top of one another easily screamed disbelief and annoyance. A part of her, or rather most of her, wanted nothing to do with the childish games that Twilight Sparkle and her friends continued to display on a constant basis. She was a sophisticated pony; a talented unicorn with a pedigree equal to no other, at least in her mind. She had no need to agree to a ridiculous consensus when she could make the final three, and win the game all by herself. But, as Trixie was about to point her muzzle into the sky and idly turn away, she found her hoof slowly moving on its own over the top of Twilight and Pinkie’s.

“Final three.” Trixie uttered the two words she couldn’t believe her mouth was unleashing. But, whether she wanted to or not, she found herself bonded to Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. With all three hoofs stacked on top of each other, the pony trio stared at one another and smiled. Twilight’s smile gave an impression of worry, Trixie’s smile gave an impression of fakery and confusion, and Pinkie’s smile gave an impression of being genuine and happy.

“HEY! Get to bed, ponies! We can’t have you wandering the ship during the night. Get your flanks into your sleeping quarters right now!” Octavia stood glaring at the three ponies, standing on her hind legs and tapping her hoof impatiently. Her right fore-hoof clutched her cello bow, just in case she needed to lay down the law again.

“Um…Octavia? Weren’t you on a mission with Derpy…or something like that?” Twilight questioned, glancing at the beautiful earth pony and finally asking a question she had been meaning to ask during her entire weeklong airship cruise.

Octavia scoffed and casually ran her free fore-hoof through her long, majestic mane. “Been there, done that. The Author learned his lesson about writing a foolish story about Hearth’s Warming Eve, and the Doctor decided to give us all a little vacation until The Author plotted his next terrible idea that will surely continue to wreck and deteriorate the discombobulated world of prose as we know it.”

“So…where is Derpy Hooves then?” Trixie asked.

In response, Octavia just smirked and twirled her bow. “That’s for me to know and you all to find out. Now then, please get your flanks moving; I am losing my patience.” She pointed the cello bow towards the staircase, and after narrowing her eyes and taking a small step forward to emphasize her point, the three heated cushions were soon empty and vacant once again.

Octavia: *chuckling* It’s good to have authority. *she picks up a hairbrush and starts to comb her lengthy hair* Whatever. I’m just glad this stupid cruise will be over tomorrow. Did you know that the contracts Discord gave the crew were only for ten bits a day? To run this contraption? Such a rip-off artist. *she grumbles to herself, her eyes narrowing* I should introduce his head to my bow sometime.

“I guess Rarity and Spike already went to bed,” Twilight mused, leading her group of three into the corridor of rooms and finding two of them already shut, “I guess they were tired and wanted to get some rest for our grand return to the island. Ugh, I can’t believe how badly I mismanaged the time. I guess sitting on an airship deck in the chilling hours of the night can make a pony lose track of time.”

“Pathetic, Sparkle,” Trixie sniffed, gently nudging Twilight aside as she pushed her way past the unicorn, “You make Trixie want to cry, and if she wasn’t so intent at not showing such a foolish emotion, she would do so. Now, goodnight.” Without another word or so much as a look back, Trixie trotted into her room and slammed the door shut a second later.

“She can be such a grumpy pony, can’t she?” Pinkie shrugged, shaking her head and casually fluffing her mane a bit more as she wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s neck, “Well, whatever, she can be grumpy all she wants; we know she doesn’t mean it. You have a good rest, okay, Twi?”

“Thank you, Pinkie. You have a good rest too, alright?” Twilight returned the hug, letting out a burst of air when Pinkie hugged her even tighter.

“Ooh, don’t worry, I always have a good sleep when you sleep close by,” Pinkie whispered, her lips close to Twilight’s ear as she kept holding the unicorn, “The gentle rocking of the airship relaxes my tummy, but you relax my heart just by being close, Twilight.”

“Uh…excuse me?”

“Night-night, Twilight!” Soft hums escaping her lips, Pinkie released Twilight and bounced away. The last thing Twilight Sparkle saw for the night was Pinkie’s puffy tail vanishing into her room, which was indeed right beside her own. When the door closed, Twilight was left sitting in confusion in the corridor. Her face was beginning to flush once more.

Twilight: I don’t GET that Pinkie Pie sometimes! Well, more like all the time, but still! She can act so random, so clueless, and so aggressive. But, then she’ll do and say things that are just…well…so not like her. What does she mean when she says weird things to me that she’s never said before? Ugh. I blame Discord for this. *her horn glows, and a nightcap appears on her head* I’m heading to bed.

Pinkie: *decked out mismatching striped and polka dot pajamas, complete with a pointy hat that was more like a party hat than a nightcap, she smiles sleepily at the camera* This was the cruise of a lifetime. I got to party, I got to eat, I got to play with Trixie, and I got to spend quality time with Twilight. She’s so awesome. Even without her magic, she’ll always be the most amazing pony I’ve ever known.

Standing at the bow of the airship, staring into the vast night sky with her mysterious purple eyes, Octavia sighed to herself. Next to her stood her pride and joy, her instrument of choice, the cello. The stringed instrument, always glistening and sleek with how much love and attention its owner gave it, stood at the ready for whenever it was needed to fill the air with its haunting, beautiful music. Carefully, Octavia adjusted two of the pegs on the top of her best friend, idly running a hoof over the strings as she plucked a few notes and let the chords resonate within the atmosphere.

“What purpose does life hold? Are we all but fabricated characters in an author’s storybook, being churned into a fictitious prose just for the sake of comedic purposes?” Octavia carefully pulled her cello over to the front of her long, slender body, letting out a soft sigh as the chilled wood pressed into her belly. “A game with promises of grandeur and fame. A parallel world thrust into chaos and tainted with darkness. How sad, and how pitiful.” The earth pony closed her eyes, laying the horsehair of her bow on the c string of her carved wooden gift, the enigma of a pony of lure crafted into the left side and almost glowing in the moonbeams of the orb being cradled within the stars above. “Where will this journey end? What will be found at the crossroads? Only time will tell, it seems.”

As the airship continued its course back to Total Magic Pony Island, Octavia began to play. The chilling notes were carried off into the night and through the corridors of the flying vessel itself. Each note was played with extreme delicate precision and care, and the music would carry over for the rest of the evening and into the waning hours of the early morning, it seemed. Octavia’s gift to the world could touch even the darkest and coldest of heartstrings.

~~~

Celestia’s sun peeked over the ridges surrounding Camp Paradox, signaling the start of the next day. The princess herself sighed again when she saw the tiny rockets floating in the air, somehow supporting the celestial orb of warmth and life in her place. As always, it took Fluttershy to gently nudge her away to get the princess moving out of the cabin. Rainbow Dash yawned and followed her two teammates out a second later. Cheerilee and Scootaloo exited the Magical Misfits’ cabin together.

“Today’s the day that Spike and the other girls get back, right?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head and glancing up at the sky as she tried to sum up the total number of days the five campers had been gone.

“Yes, that’s right, Scootaloo,” Cheerilee smiled and headed towards the dock with the filly at her side. She didn’t care about eating breakfast; she was too excited to see Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and even Trixie again. A small part of her didn’t even mind seeing Spike, too. “Discord made an announcement last night over the loudspeakers that the airship would be back first thing in the morning. Let’s go greet them, alright?”

“You got it, Cheerilee!” Scootaloo giggled and bounced alongside her teacher, not minding skipping breakfast as the twosome made their way to the Dock of Shame.

Cheerilee: So, Twilight and the gang will be returning to the island. I admit that I have missed them profusely. Pinkie’s randomness, Rarity’s amusing issues with every little thing, Trixie and her arrogance, and Twilight… *she pauses for a moment, tapping her chin in thought* Huh…you know, there’s not one trait that I can point out to differentiate Twilight from everypony else. Kinda weird.

“Won’t it be nice to see Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie back after being separated for a week?” Fluttershy asked, nimbly trotting alongside Rainbow Dash and Celestia, “Oh, um, and Trixie and Spike as well.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash snickered, an amused grin on her face as she turned to look at her friend, “No one here will be overjoyed to see Miss Ego herself back on the island, nor will we be happy with seeing that annoying dragon.”

“Rainbow Dash, mind your manners,” Celestia scolded, “There’s no reason to insult Trixie or Spike. We’re all friends here, remember? Don’t let Discord lead you astray from the important things.”

“Right, right, the important things.” The thoughts of swimming in the million bits flashed before Dash’s eyes, followed by lounging in the Wonderbolts’ private mansion, and then ending with all of Equestria bowing to her and chanting her name. Her smirk widened and stretched further and further across her cheeks all the while during her imagery. Celestia was right; Discord wasn’t going to drive her apart from the important things.

Rainbow Dash: Don’t insult Trixie and Spike? No disrespect, but the princess didn’t see what Trixie did to our town. Furthermore, Spike is poison. He’s the one who ruined our team and made us lose… *she blinks and scratches her head* Uh…how many have we lost in a row now? Five? Four? Ugh, I don’t even know anymore! I can’t STAND not winning! Spike, that virus, is going down once and for all!

The sounds of spiraling winds filled the air as the five campers gathered on the Dock of Shame to welcome back their fellow comrades. A small blip in the distance slowly grew into a massive dark shape that soon materialized into the airship containing the other five campers. Cheerilee and Celestia were forced to hold onto Scootaloo and Fluttershy to prevent the weaker ponies from being blown away via the vicious cycling of air the airship was kicking up. Rainbow Dash stood firm, rooted to her spot, her eyes narrowing as she locked her focus onto the airship. When the bulk of the flying contraption landed in the water and the catwalk lowered down onto the Dock of Shame, Dash’s eyes narrowed even more.

Loud and rowdy laughter began to fill the air almost immediately, Spike leading his four girls off the airship while expelling the loudest guffaws of all. He was toting a small plastic bag under his arm, filled with the glamorous and delicious food that Twilight had suggested they load up as much as they could before being forced to go back to Nightmare Moon’s dreadful culinary horrors. Just the aroma alone made Scootaloo whine and Fluttershy lick her lips. All it did for Rainbow Dash was make her see red.

“Hey, ladies, miss me?” Spike grinned, flexing his arm not carrying his doggie bag and striking a pose, “How did you all survive without old Spike around to make everything alright?”

“We were surviving just fine, but now that you’re back, I fear we’ll all perish soon,” Dash replied.

“WHAT?!?! Oh, that does it! I just get back, and I did NOT need that!” Throwing down his doggie bag filled with goodies, Spike marched right down the rest of the catwalk and stomped up into Dash’s face. “You have something you want to say to me, Rainbow?”

“Yeah. Your voice is irritating, you’re annoying, you’re puny and not at all muscular, and your breath stinks. It’s no wonder Rarity was so reluctant to ever confess her feelings to you!”

“RAINBOW DASH!” Rarity gasped, her face lighting up as she turned away to try and hide her blush.

“Spike, Rainbow Dash, stop this at once!” Celestia snapped, stepping over and trying to step in front of the two campers butting heads, “What is the matter with you both? This kind of attitude is uncalled for! Rainbow Dash, apologize to Spike!”

“WELCOME BACK, SPIKE, TWILIGHT, RARITY, PINKIE, AND TRIXIE!” Discord’s voice boomed out over the loudspeakers hanging over the camp flagpole, interrupting Spike and Dash’s potential fight. The devious draconequus was nowhere in sight, but his voice still welcomed his intimidating presence regardless. “I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED YOUR WEEK OFF ON A RELAXING CRUISE, BUT NOW YOU’VE RETURNED AND THE GAME IS BACK ON! I’M SURE YOU’RE ALL HAVING FUN REUNITING, BUT I HAVE A FEW BITS OF IMPORTANT NEWS TO SHARE WITH YOU FIRST.”

“Oh, joy, Trixie cannot WAIT for this,” Trixie muttered, sitting down and wiping a few beads of sweat off her forehead. “What do you all suppose our dear host has in store for the likes of us?”

“Perhaps he’ll decide to give us the million bits right now while turning over a new leaf?” Twilight guessed, her sarcastic grin showing that she wasn’t being totally serious.

“Maybe he’ll finally realize just who it is he’s been messing with and turn me back to normal?” Celestia pondered.

“I think he’ll change my title to ‘Rainbow Dash’s Life Partner’ or something else really cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Cheerilee coughed and gently rested a hoof on the filly’s right shoulder. “Scootaloo, my dear, to change your title, you first must have a title to begin with.”

“Or maybe he’ll make it ‘Rainbow Dash’s Loyal Guardian Filly’, now that I think about it.”

“Scootaloo? Are you listening to me?”

“Ooh, this is so exciting! Oh, oh, I got it! Discord is going to pair us up into teams of two, and I’m gonna get to be with Dash! This is awesome!”

Cheerilee: *sighing and banging her head against the side of the confessional* Sometimes, being a mediator isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Being ignored really irritates a girl. I mean, it’s not that I’m jealous of Rainbow Dash or anything. It’s just…I don’t like this, not one little bit. Scootaloo always thinks of Rainbow Dash, but Dash never thinks of HER. If I had Pinkie Sense, I would be tingling right now.

“THE FIRST BIT OF NEWS IS THAT THE TEAMS ARE OFFICIALLY DISSOLVED!” Discord’s announcement continued on a moment later. “AS OF THIS MOMENT, IT’S EVERY CAMPER FOR THEMSELVES! WE ARE NOW ONE BIG MERGED GROUP!”

“Wait a minute, our team is now dissolved? But…but…that can’t happen!” Twilight looked incredibly nervous at hearing this news. “Girls, what do you think about…this?” She blinked in shock as eight of the other nine campers all began to congregate in joy, seemingly happy to be free of their team and now combined into one. Only Cheerilee remained at Twilight’s side with a look of disapproval. “At least YOU’RE not thrilled about this either, Cheerilee.”

“As nice as it is to be able to see the princess more often now…I just have a bad feeling about this.” Cheerilee edged over to Twilight’s side and softly whispered into her ear to prevent the other excited ponies and dragon from hearing. “Twilight, I know she’s your friend, but…watch out for Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight did a double take. She wasn’t sure if she heard Cheerilee correctly. Did she just say to be weary of one of her own best friends? On an island where the spirit of disharmony himself was playing with them in his own sick and twisted game? The look of confusion and even annoyance didn’t take long to sprout on Twilight’s face. “Watch out for Rainbow? One of my best friends? Cheerilee, what are you…?”

“NOW, FOR THE NEXT BIT OF NEWS!” Discord finally went on after a little while. “EVERYONE, TURN AROUND AND SAY HELLO TO ONE OF YOUR FORMER FRIENDS!”

“Ooh, a former friend? Yay! I love seeing my friends!” Pinkie released her bear-hug on Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and whipped her head around. “Where are they? All I see is the ocean, and even though the ocean is nice, it hasn’t exactly accepted my friendship yet.”

“Hold on, does anypony hear the sound of a motor?” Celestia mused, lifting her left ear up into the air and raising an eyebrow. All the other campers joined in with the princess’ question, and soon they all could hear the faint sounds of a sputtering motor getting louder and louder as well. Something was heading towards Camp Paradox. Something familiar.

“Hey, look, it’s the Boat of Losers!” Spike pointed out to the open sea, the tiny boat starting to race onto the scene after appearing from around the side of the island. “Too bad it’s not coming here to take Rainbow Dash away.”

“Hey, Spike, why don’t you kiss my…huh?” Dash paused in her attempted insult as she took a step closer towards the edge of the Dock of Shame. She thought she could spot someone standing on the deck of the Boat of Losers. The Pegasus narrowed her eyes and took a few more steps, then her eyes instantly reverted from curious to horrified. The two magenta pupils shot up as the blue mare very nearly lost her head. A choking gasp lodged itself in her throat as she staggered backward, completely stunned and confused. “W-w-w-what?!?! No…it can’t be…not HER!”

“Huh? Dash, who are you talking…about?” As Twilight’s eyesight managed to lock in on who was on the Boat of Losers, her reactions mimicked the cyan mare’s. “No! This…this can’t be happening!” One by one, all eight other campers soon realized just who was on the boat and began to chime in with their own comments and opinions.

“Oh dear, this isn’t good.”

“This isn’t cool!”

“I fear we may be in trouble.”

“I’m…I’m scared…”

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Trixie does not approve of this, not one bit!”

“Not that big meanie-head again!”

“Ugh, you’ve gotta be kidding me! My ribs still have the scars on them from the dodgeball challenge!”

“THAT IS CORRECT, CAMPERS!” Discord’s insane laughter interrupted the horrified campers’ thoughts. “BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND…OR, IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH, SIMPLY BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT…SAY HELLO TO EVERYONE’S FAVORITE GRIFFON, GILDA!” His cackling continued to echo out of the loudspeakers as the realization began to set in. The girl riding on the Boat of Losers was indeed Gilda, and as the boat drew closer and closer to the Dock of Shame, the campers all began to slink away just as quickly.

“Hey, wait a minute, he can’t do this!” Rainbow Dash flew over to the flagpole and glared at the speaker box on the top. “Yo, Discord, that’s not fair! You can’t let Gilda back on the island!”

“I CAN’T?”

“No, you can’t!” Twilight added, joining Dash at the flagpole and giving an angry frown. “Don’t you remember what you’ve been saying at every single campfire ceremony? You say that once you’re voted out, you can NEVER return to the island. Once you’re gone, you can never, ever, EVER come back!”

“FOR-EVER!” Pinkie snarled, poking her head out the other side of the flagpole and scaring Twilight and Dash half to death.

There was a pause, then Discord spoke again. “OH. RIGHT. YEAH, ABOUT THAT…I LIED.”

“DISCORD, YOU CHEATER!” All at once, the 10 remaining campers all began shouting and yelling up at the speaker box on top of the flagpole, demanding that Discord not allow Gilda back on the island, among other things. After about five seconds of this, however, Discord’s bullhorn rang out and instantly silenced all the campers.

“NOW, NOW, IS THAT ANY WAY TO WELCOME BACK GILDA? WE DON’T WANT TO MAKE HER SAD, DO WE?” Discord made a tsk-tsk sound with his tongue, then snickered and moved on. “BESIDES, DON’T YOU PONIES…AND DRAGON…HAVE A MANTRA ABOUT MAKING FRIENDS AND ALL THAT PHOOEY?”

“Yeah…to a point!” Twilight argued. But, along with all the other campers, her whining would fall on deaf ears. All they were met with was more insane cackling as the Boat of Losers finally pulled up at the Dock of Shame. As the motor went off, Discord’s laughter soon vanished, leaving a dead silence in the air. Very slowly, the 10 campers weakly turned their heads to face their former fellow camper. Gilda had wasted no time getting off the Boat of Losers and was now standing and glaring at the edge of the dock.

“Er…hey, Dash?” Spike very slowly eased towards the rigid Pegasus, a fake grin stretched across his face. “You know, she’s your former friend. So, be a nice girl and go welcome her, okay?” Placing his hand on the back of Dash’s back, Spike quickly shoved her forward towards the Dock of Shame. Dash instantly slammed her butt down onto the ground and refused to move another inch.

“Nah. I’m sure she’s dying to see the one who beat her in dodgeball and ultimately caused her elimination instead.” Dash put on the same fake grin, possibly even more sinister than Spike’s. She reached back and grabbed Spike’s leg and yanked him forward instead, forcing the yelping dragon to hobble in front of the Pegasus instead.

“That’s nice of you, Dash, but you’re the element of loyalty, so go and be loyal already!” Spike reached back, grasped Dash’s left foreleg, and dragged her back in front of him. He had to use all of his strength to drag the stubborn Pegasus forward, due to her sitting on the ground.

“Thanks for thinking of me, Spike, but, really, I insist that you welcome her instead!” Dash’s tail dug under Spike’s body, like a broom, and tossed him over its owner’s head, once more making the two exchange places.

Little by little, Spike and Rainbow Dash continued to make up excuse after excuse as they desperately tried to force the other to go greet Gilda. When one would pull the other in front of them, the other would do the exact same a second later. Slowly, both the mare and the dragon began making headway without even realizing it. Each of them was drawing closer to the Dock of Shame and Gilda. However, since the two were too busy trying to save themselves from Gilda’s wrath, they failed to notice the griffon march right past them without even giving the two so much as a glance.

“Don’t let her hurt me!” Fluttershy whimpered and ran behind Celestia, curling up into a ball and cowering behind the white mare. “I didn’t mean to call her a loser, I swear! It…it was just in the heat of the moment! Oh, please, I have animals I need to care for back home! I can’t get eaten today!”

“Shush, Fluttershy, you’ll be alright,” Celestia whispered, using her tail to gently stroke the mare’s head as she kept her eyes on Gilda. “I won’t let this griffon harm you. The griffon race is a deadly lot, and it’s well-known that they do not care much for us pony folk. However, be aware that this is just a game, and I’m sure that Gilda will not…” She paused from her speech when she noticed that Gilda wasn’t stomping towards her or Fluttershy, but rather the six remaining Magical Misfits members instead.

While Twilight, Trixie, Scootaloo, Rarity, Pinkie and Cheerilee all gulped and tried to back away, they soon found their former teammate standing right in front of them. Still not having said a word yet, Gilda’s angry golden eyes volleyed from pony to pony as she surveyed each and every one of them. Her feathers were ruffled and her face was frozen in an angry sneer. The longer she stayed in front of her former team, the more her talons began to clench into fists. When the silence was too much to bear, however, Scootaloo finally broke the mold.

“It was all Trixie’s fault!” the filly shouted, pointing at the show-mare, “She was the one who forced us to vote for you, Gilda, I swear! We didn’t want to! We knew just how valuable you were, but all Trixie cared about was…uh…keeping us safe?” She slapped her forehead and groaned. “I can’t even lie right.”

“Impudent little foal,” Trixie snarled, slapping Scootaloo across the rump with her tail, “You are lucky that you could not finish that horrendous lie! Trixie is not about to become griffon food!”

“Um, hehe, girls?” Cheerilee bravely stepped forward towards Gilda, trying to find it in her heart to give a smile. “That’s not…very nice. Come now, let’s welcome Gilda back, shall we? It’s been quite a while.” When none of her former teammates would move, Cheerilee nervously made her way up to the large and angry griffon all by herself. Upon managing to stand in front of her, Cheerilee realized her knees were shaking. “Um…heh…hi there, Gilda. Long time, no see?”

Her head slowly sagging down until she managed to lock eyes with the scared Cheerilee, Gilda’s sneer grew into a smirk. “Yes. It’s been a long time since I got to play with my pony punching bags.”

“N-now, Gilda, t-that’s not very n-nice,” Cheerilee gulped, rooted in her place due to her fear started to spread throughout her body. “W-we are…thrilled…to have you b-back!”

“Oh, sure, I can just FEEL the joy.” Sarcasm was one of Gilda’s favorite weapons, it seemed. “Yeah, I totally felt the warm fuzzies from that WONDERFUL welcoming I received.”

“Heh…hehe…hehehe…Twilight, come here and help me welcome Gilda, okay?” Cheerilee giggled, her voice cracked, as she somehow reached back and managed to grab Twilight and yank her to her side. “We’re all VERY happy to have Gilda back, yes? Come on, say hi to our former teammate!”

Twilight Sparkle looked as though she wanted to strangle Cheerilee at that point, but the moment she locked eyes with Gilda, she found herself rooted to the ground as well. Her mind told her that it would be best to smile in this situation, even if the muscles in her face weren’t cooperating with that bit of clever knowledge. Eventually, a twitching smile formed across Twilight’s cheeks, and when she spoke, it was hard to tell if she was actually Twilight Sparkle or Fluttershy in disguise.

“Hi…Gilda…welcome…back?”

“Oh, I remember you. You’re that egghead that Dash was always mentioning to me! Yeah…you’re the leader of Magical Misfits! YOU were the one who orchestrated me being voted off!” Trixie was about to protest the part about Twilight being leader, but after watching Gilda start to crack her knuckles in front of Twilight’s paling face, she quickly changed her mind. “Twilight Sparkle, right? It’s been too long, but I never forget a face. Especially one as perfect for punching as yours.”

“Great! So, you two just get reacquainted, okay?” Cheerilee chuckled and let Twilight go, hurrying back to Scootaloo’s side and looking very relieved. “I’ll just be back here, if you need me.”

Twilight wanted to strangle Cheerilee even more now that she was left alone in front of the deadly griffon. The scared unicorn trembled in fear as she faced Gilda, the large cracking talons in her face very nearly causing her to faint. Her purple body was staring to turn white the longer she stared into Gilda’s hungry eyes. She read in one of her books about pony history that griffons used to enjoy eating ponies. It was said that the carnivorous nature of the griffons longing for pony flesh was long since forgotten, but the more time she spent in the presence of the angry Gilda, the faster her heart pounded.

After finishing cracking her talons for about the twentieth time, Gilda reached down and wrapped her right fist around Twilight’s neck. “Look here, dweeb. I’m not fooling around any longer. I’m back, and now that I’m back, it’s time to lay down a few rules that I should’ve laid down at the start.” Gilda tightened her first around Twilight’s neck and pulled the unicorn off her hooves. “Rule one: any pony that gets in my way becomes my punching bag. No questions asked.” The griffon yanked Twilight up higher, tightening her grip a bit more, as Twilight’s legs began to flail and her choking face began to turn blue. “Rule two: if I dare get voted out again just for playing my hardest, heads are gonna roll.” Gilda finally lifted Twilight’s gasping face to within an inch of her own, her grip tightening so hard around the unicorn’s neck that her fist managed to wrap all the way around the small pony’s esophagus. “Rule three: I demand the same respect that you ponies have for each other. As with that dragon boy who beat me in dodgeball, I want the same respect that you all give him. Is that clear?”

“Y…Y…Y…YES!” Twilight managed to croak, her eyes bulging and her hooves thrashing weakly as she tried to pull herself out of Gilda’s strong grasp. She thought she felt something pop in the back of her neck, and combined with being forced to face the deadly eyes of the griffon, Twilight was in two worlds of pain right now. She was beginning to see stars and little black dots dancing before her eyes, but thankfully she was released a second later.

“Good. Glad that we have an understanding.” Gilda casually scratched herself with one of her talons after uncurling her fist, proceeding to glance at her claw as she sat on her haunches. “So…good to be back. We’re all one team now, right? Cool.”

Rainbow Dash: *growling* First Spike, and now Gilda? Great, now I have TWO nuisances to take care of. That jerk…how dare she do that to Twilight! Sure, I understand wanting some respect, but…at least do that to Spike, not Twilight! That mare gets enough abuse as it is. *she groans and manages her eyebrows with her hooves* Oh, this game…it’s driving me crazy, I swear to Celestia it is.

Twilight: *still sputtering and choking, grasping her neck with both hooves and looking thankful just to be alive* That…griffon…is beyond…powerful. She could’ve…snapped my neck…if she had really wanted to! *instead of looking terrified, she looks slightly curious* Huh…that makes me wonder…why didn’t she snap my neck? Maybe…that was just her way…of making a point? But, still…ow!

Gilda: Hey, don’t peg me for a bully, alright? I ain’t no bully. I just demand respect, that’s all. You got that, Equestria? We griffons are a proud race, and after getting unfairly voted out just for playing a brutal game the only way I know how, I felt I needed to lay down the law with these ponies. *she leans back and crosses her arms* I was never much for team sports anyway; I do best at flying solo.

“BUT THAT’S NOT ALL, FOLKS!” Discord’s voice screamed out once more via the camp loudspeakers, “BACK FROM HER MISSION OR WHATEVER IT WAS, WELCOME BACK…DERPY HOOVES!”

“Oh no! Everypony, take cover!” Cheerilee shouted, quickly pulling Scootaloo down to the ground and covering up her own head with her hooves. All the other ponies, including Spike and Gilda, all joined in the intelligent decision to get to the ground just before the familiar laughs of joy filled the air.

“WHEEEEE! HI, EVERYPONY! MISS ME?” Derpy laughed, the walleyed Pegasus flying onto the scene from apparently out of thin air. Her erratic flying evident, the ditzy mare spiraled in the air as she soared back onto the campgrounds. Barely missing taking out the top of the mess hall, Derpy crashed headfirst into the camp flagpole. The collision resulted in total annihilation of said flagpole, not to mention destruction of Discord’s exclusion loudspeakers.

“Ooh, THAT had to hurt,” Spike muttered, observing Derpy as she pulled herself out of the wreckage of wood that was once a flagpole, “Can anyone say ‘concussion’? I think we need Nightmare Moon.”

“Nah, that’s okay, Spikey!” Derpy said cheerfully, her eyes spiraling like crazy inside of her sockets, casually getting to her hooves and brushing off a few woodchips without showing much pain at all. “See, I crash all the time, and my head is very unique. Hard crashes don’t do a thing to me! It’s the little ones that knock me out.” She gasped for a moment, then sat down and began to happily grope at the air in front of her dizzying eyeballs. “Ooh, stars are out early! Hey, Twilight, I can see Orion!”

Celestia: A medical mystery and a completely random and confusing pony basically sums up my dear subject, Derpy Hooves, to a tee. In a way, it makes me proud to know just how diverse my little ponies are. Some are magnificent magic users. Others are fantastic speed flyers. There are intelligent ponies, strong ponies, fast ponies, funny ponies. Then, there’s Derpy; a pony of her own kind.

“Er…so, Derpy…how was your…uh…mission?” Twilight asked, finally having recovered from Gilda’s stranglehold on her throat and proceeding to check on her former teammate.

Derpy blinked her eyes a few times, each blink resulting in her pupils appearing in a different area of her corneas, before she stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth and faced the purple mare. “Oh, it went just great! See, the Doctor and The Author got into a war of words with each other, with the Doctor ultimately winning when The Author had a light bulb go off over his head due to him getting a jolt of inspiration for a new story. He left his story about Hearth’s Warming Eve alone and the battle was over. The Doctor said that our work will never be over, so long as The Author continues to churn horrible works of fiction that are downright dreadful and not at all enjoyable, not to mention being a danger to all of pony-kind. But, he did say that I was free to return to the game, so ninety-three trees and eighteen buildings being destroyed later and here I am!”

“That make absolutely no sense whatsoever,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, having stretched out on the ground and was idly banging her head over and over again during Derpy’s uninteresting story.

“I know, right? That’s what makes it so cool!” Derpy bounced up and gave a weak cheer before she tackled Pinkie Pie and playfully sat on her belly. “Hi, Pinkie!”

“Hi, Derpy! Nice tackle!”

“Yeah, I’ve been practicing!”

“How DARE you destroy my flagpole!” Discord interrupted the love fest by teleporting onto the scene, the draconequus clenching his fists and grinding his teeth together so hard that white chips could be seen dribbling down from his lips. “Do you KNOW how hard it was to make that? And my precious loudspeakers! Oh, my beautiful, handsome, muscular voice will never be heard the same way again! Derpy Hooves, you shall suffer dearly for your transgressions!”

“Um…muffin?” Derpy pulled a bran muffin out of nowhere and offered it up to the enraged host.

Discord eyed the fresh pastry for a moment, thinking about it, before snatching it away from the gray pony and nibbling on it. “Humph. I am still going to haunt your dreams and make you itch something terrible when you least expect it.”

“I can live with that.”

Rarity: I can’t believe Discord sold out for a muffin! He is beyond a doubt the most insane, the most illogical, the craziest creature I have ever laid eyes upon! I would’ve held out for at least two muffins, if not three, since I am quite adept at haggling. Did I ever mention the time when... *her eyes began to water* …Spikey haggled a traveling merchant to perfection to get me a piece of jeweled linen?

Swallowing down the last of his bran muffin, Discord licked his lips and idly brushed a few crumbs off his large neck. “Tasty. Could’ve used some ketchup, but tasty nonetheless. Now then, since the teams have been merged and Gilda and Derpy have returned to the game, let’s get right into…”

“WAIT, DUDES, YA CAN’T START THE PARTY WITHOUT ME!”

The familiar voice blared out through the camp, instantly catching the attention of all the campers and irritating Discord to no end at once more getting interrupted. Twilight was the first to point with a hoof toward the Dock of Shame, where a pony with a wild mane was hurrying off the Boat of Losers. The purple mare immediately recognized the funky light and dark blue combination of the mane and tail. She recognized the white horn protruding from atop the latecomer pony’s head. She recognized the black and purple goggles attached to the pony’s eyes. She recognized the music note cutie mark on both of her flanks. Twilight’s mouth dropped to the ground, joined by half of the other campers, including Discord himself.

“It…it…it can’t be! SHE’S here, too?” Twilight felt her heart skip a beat. Ever since that very first elimination ceremony, a day didn’t go by where she didn’t feel a pang of guilt for elimination one of her own just because of her inability to use magic. The way the pony had gone, too, had broken Twilight’s heart. She wanted nothing more than to make it up to the latecomer, and now it seemed she might get that chance sooner rather than later.

As the happy unicorn bounded away from the Boat of Losers, hurrying towards the stunned group of campers and the confused draconequus, Rainbow Dash was the next to speak. “Who’s that girl again? Wasn’t she that DJ who performed at Rarity’s fashion gig when she made us our Gala outfits?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity responded, a bright smile on her face, “She was put on our team at the start of this silly game. She’s a fellow unicorn with a passion for music and one of the best DJs in the world! Ponyville is really lucky to have her. It’s none other than…”

“Vinyl Scratch!” Twilight finished off Rarity’s sentence, eagerly bounding forward to meet her fellow galloping unicorn halfway. “VINYL! IT’S YOU! YOU’RE BACK!”

“Darn straight, Twi! Vinyl Scratch is back in the house…or the island, whichever fits your groove more.” Vinyl’s famous grin stretched across her face when she saw Twilight being the first one to greet her, going all out of her way to meet her halfway. When the two unicorns screeched to a halt in front of one another, Vinyl quickly raised a hoof to her goggles and raised them up to her forehead. Her dazzling ruby eyes finally got to meet Twilight’s amethyst pupils once more. “Hey there, Twi. Ya miss me at all?”

She didn’t know why, but seeing those powerful red irises and the excited grin on Vinyl Scratch’s face filled Twilight’s heart with glee. “You know I did, Vinyl! Ever since our team voted you off, all I wanted to do was make it up to you once I got back home. But, you’re here…what a shocker! It’s so awesome to see you!” Twilight leaned her head forward and wrapped her neck around Vinyl’s, performing the usual pony hug as Vinyl instantly returned the kind gesture of affection.

One by one, each remaining camper trotted forward to say hello to Vinyl. Despite the unicorn’s unusual way of speaking and her crazy hairstyle, it was clear she was mostly liked among the contestants. Pinkie sang a little song to welcome Vinyl back before tackling her and giving her a hug as well. Scootaloo, Rarity and Cheerilee all gave verbal hellos to Vinyl and gave her neck-hugs as well. Derpy gave Vinyl a tasty strawberry muffin. Trixie was hesitant to show any display of affection, so she simply acted in the only way she knew how.

“Welcome back, lesser unicorn. Trixie is pleased that another inferior unicorn has returned to the island to make Trixie look even better than she already does on a daily basis.”

“Good to see you as well, Trix.” Vinyl grinned at Trixie, not showing any sign of annoyance at Trixie’s usual insulting comments.

“It is so good to see you, my dear,” Celestia said kindly, nodding to Vinyl, “Didn’t you DJ for Luna’s last birthday party? She wanted to ‘experience the times’ better and wanted the best DJ in Ponyville, since she was so thrilled with the reception she received there. You’re Ponyville’s only DJ, so…you were chosen to do the deed.”

“Princess, dude, that’s totally legit! I remember that night like it was just yesterday, yo! I was laying down such killer beats that I didn’t stop sweating until the next morning!” Vinyl laughed and playfully wrapped a foreleg around Celestia’s neck. “Did your little sis feel psyched from my groovy skills? Did she raise the roof? Did she drop it like it’s hot and pull off some smooth moves on the dance floor? I don’t really know, ‘cause I was too busy feeling my turntable and making it purr like a kitten, ya feel me?”

“Uh…actually…Luna passed out halfway through and had to be carried to bed. Apparently, those liquid rainbows didn’t agree with her stomach.”

“Oh…man, that blows. She missed my grand finale where I ignited my flamethrowers!”

“Do not worry, Miss Scratch, your ‘finale’ was heavily felt all through the castle, not to mention Canterlot. The damage your flamethrowers caused drained my pockets for quite a bit, not to mention having to deal with the paparazzi when the fire department was called to put out the flames.”

Vinyl Scratch laughed and pumped her hoof in the air. “That’s wild, Princess! If ya ever want me to blow your mind again, ya know who to call!”

“Is this pony for real?” Gilda sighed, rolling her eyes all the way up to the sky and slapping her forehead, “I don’t even think beating her up would be that fun; she’d be way too easy.”

Spike shook Vinyl’s hoof to welcome her back, and Fluttershy shyly gave her a pat on the back. Before Rainbow Dash could so much as get a word in edgewise, Discord finally snapped out of his shock and flew over to confront the DJ unicorn himself. Shoving Rainbow Dash aside, Discord crossed his arms and frowned down at the white mare. “Excuse me, but I did NOT say that you were allowed to come back. Only Gilda and Derpy were on my list of contestants to let come back, mainly to drive the campers crazy. Why should I let you back in the game?”

“Wait a minute, you didn’t invite her back?” Scootaloo asked.

“If he did, I never saw her on the Boat of Losers on my way over here,” Gilda said, “When I got the letter explaining that I was being given a second chance in the game, I got on the Boat of Losers with the driver and that was it. I never saw the little dork get on the boat.”

“I snuck on, peeps!” Vinyl sat down and cleared her throat, going into her little story. “Ya see, when I saw our scary griffon friend shaking her way over to the Boat of Losers, it got me all curious. I thought that maybe she was going to sneak her way back on the show to hurt my pony friends, and that’s so not cool! So, ya know what I decided to do? This here DJ pony snuck onboard with Gilda to make sure she wasn’t up to anything shady, ya feel me? Plus, if I got lucky, maybe I’d get to see Twilight Sparkle again! So, low and behold, everything worked out awesomely! How dope is that?”

Spike: *snickering to himself* DJ Pon3 is so cool. Plus, she always has a smile on her face. How can you not love that girl? Plus, she went out of her way to make sure Gilda didn’t hurt any of us. Do you find it odd that I consider Scratch to be more loyal than Rainbow Dash right now? I honestly think Vinyl should take over the Pegasus’ element, if you want my honest opinion. It’s so cool to have her back!

“Now, see here, my dear pony, I did not say that you were allowed back in the game,” Discord said, wagging a clawed finger in front of Vinyl’s face, “As sickeningly-sweet your sob story may be about wanting to see your friends, you do not strike me as a worthy player to allow back in the game.”

As Vinyl’s smile began to sink away, her ears drooping as well at the thought of having to leave when she had had her heart set on staying for a while longer, Twilight quickly stepped in to face Discord. “Discord, please, let her stay.”

“Oh? And just why should I do that, my dear Twilight? Give me one good reason why I should.”

Twilight, figuring out how Discord’s mind worked, forced herself to suck up to him so Vinyl could hopefully get her second chance in the game, too. “Well, you like drama and chaos, right? Vinyl here was very sneaky in her pursuit to get back into the game. She snuck on that boat and is daring to defy your orders. This unicorn is clearly worthy of being ‘bad’ enough to get another chance, don’t you think? Shouldn’t her dedication and passion to be here be enough to sway you?”

Discord gave Twilight a bored expression, idly glancing at his wrist and poking at the invisible watch that he pretended to be wearing. “Personally, Twilight, you bore me to death and I usually ignore most of your lectures. If you promise to shut up and not irritate me any longer, I will allow Vinyl to stay.”

“My lips are sealed.” The purple mare gave Vinyl a little wink out of the corner of her right eye as she made a zipping motion across her lips, pretending to silence herself just to please Discord.

“Very well. I hereby reinstate Vinyl Scratch into my luscious little game, alongside Gilda and Derpy.” Discord cracked his neck to iron out a few kinks, then returned to wearing his mischievous smirk. “Now that that’s all cleared up, shall we get to today’s challenge?”

Cheerilee: How delightful that Vinyl will be rejoining us! This is wonderful news, since all three returning players were formally on our own Magical Misfits! *she giggled a bit* We’re that much closer to getting Rainbow Dash out of here! *when she realized she sounded a bit devious, she gulped and gave the camera a little wink* Don’t think I was being mean; Dash simply must learn a lesson, that’s all.

Twilight: Yes! I knew that Discord would see things my way. I do have a way with words, after all. *she blinks for a moment, then frowns when she does a mental double take*Hey, wait a minute! Did Discord only side with me just because he didn’t want to listen to me talk? Ugh! That is NOT what I advocate! Does anyone even listen to me anymore? Rotten draconequus.

Vinyl: Oh yeah, baby, this rocks! *she pumps both hoofed fists into the air, dramatically shaking her head to further ruffle her frazzled mane* Vinyl Scratch is back in the game…with Twilight Sparkle! And it was thanks to that very same beautiful pony that I’m even here! Man, this couldn’t have gone any better. *she sighs and places a hoof over her heart* Gotta make sure I don’t screw it up this time.

“Okay, so from here on out, each of you will be playing for individual immunity instead of team immunity,” Discord explained, floating back and forth in front of the campers, “Today, for you lucky thirteen, we have a very simple challenge. Naturally, I could do something horribly brutal to our returnees and the five who just returned from the airship cruise, but that would just be mean, don’t you think? So, to start off, each of you must run three miles around the island. I could care less for math, so I’m not really sure just how many laps that would be. Let’s just make it…twenty laps, shall we?”

“Discord, that is WAY too many!” Twilight protested, “Do you know how tiring that’s going to be?”

“No, since I’m not going to run it!” Discord giggled, playfully patting the terrified purple mare on the head, “It’ll be easy! All you need to do is follow the shoreline around the island, since the entire isle is completely surrounded by water. Start at the Dock of Shame and run northward, circling the island, until you get to twenty laps. It’ll be easy!”

“Trixie is lucky she is used to running,” Trixie muttered as silently as she could, since she did not want any of the others bringing back up the memories of her running away from Ponyville a while back.

“Piece of cake,” Gilda smirked, cracking her knuckles and stretching her long limbs.

“Oh, but no flying.” Discord specifically pointed out Gilda and Rainbow Dash, both of whom rolled their eyes, but gave a little nod of understanding to get the spirit of disharmony off their case.

“I can’t believe I am going to have to get…sweaty!” Rarity wailed, hanging her head and visibly shivering, “My beautiful body simply was not meant for such physicality! Discord, you are truly a fiend! This is beyond evil!”

“Blah blah blah, drama queen.” Discord dismissed Rarity’s protests with a wave of his hand, snapping his fingers and making a pipe appear in his mouth. “You have all the time you need to complete your twenty laps, and you will have a big, delicious feast waiting for you once you’re finished. Take your time; there is no reward for the fastest time or coming in first. This is only part one of the challenge.”

“Maybe you should just quit now, Dash; you heard what Discord said,” Spike teased, poking at Rainbow’s right wing and smirking at her.

Angrily yanking her body aside, Rainbow Dash shoved a hoof into Spike’s forehead and shoved him away. “Watch your mouth, small fry. Don’t mess with somepony who is clearly better than you.”

Spike: Naturally, I want Rainbow Dash out. Gilda is intimidating, but as of right now, she’s not a threat. Rainbow Dash is a threat because she has all the other ponies fooled with her deception, since she’s the element of loyalty and everypony loves her. *he pointed into his open mouth and made a hacking sound* The point is, Dash is a bigger threat than Gilda, and she needs to go as soon as possible.

Scootaloo: Quality racing time with Rainbow Dash! Awesome! This is my time to shine! With the teams merged, I can spend all the time I want with Dash and prove that I’m worthy of…um…well, that I’m worthy of…her time? *she runs a shaking hoof through her mane* Well, in any case, I’m gonna race right alongside Dash and see how I stack up to her awesomeness! Wish me luck, everypony out there!

Scootaloo immediately regretted her words in her confessional. The twenty laps seemed to fly by without much conflict, at least physically. Even without the use of her wings, Rainbow Dash and her poignant athleticism allowed her to gallop at a breakneck pace without showing any signs of tiring. Scootaloo didn’t stand a chance at keeping up with her idol and secret crush. The only one even remotely close to keeping up with Rainbow Dash in a straight-out running challenge was Gilda. That said, both the griffon and the rainbow-maned Pegasus led the pack for most of the twenty laps around the island. Most of the other campers ran at a manageable pace for their laps, with Rarity and Celestia bringing up the rear.

“This…is…horrible!” Celestia moaned, dragging her hooves through the wet sand of the shoreline after finishing up only her fourth lap. The princess was already sweating profusely, her mane sagging over her shoulders and nearly falling over her eyes while her tongue hung out her mouth without her even realizing it. “I am…although very embarrassed to admit it…quite out of shape.”

“Old age can do that, darling,” Rarity said, trotting at her own leisure, taking special care to not step in anything that looked even remotely dirty, “Despite your young body, you still are old at heart, are you not, Princess? If that wasn’t so, your young body should be working wonders right now.”

Celestia cast Rarity a dark look, her eyes narrowing into a heavy glare as she watched the fashionista nonchalantly continuing her trot without fully realizing what she just said. “Thank you for your words of wisdom, Rarity. It always helps to have somepony lift your spirits when you’re feeling down.”

“Anytime, darling!”

Celestia: *referring to Rarity* The poor dear. What she doesn’t know is that the moon is rather barren and does not contain any fashion stores or clothing supplies; Luna told me as much. It would be such a tragedy if Twilight’s little friend somehow found herself on the moon for an extended period of time…let’s hope that such an event does not take place. *her eyes narrow a little bit as she says that*

“This is fun, don’t you think, Twilight?” Pinkie hummed a little bit, bouncing along and never seeming to get tired. She hopped past the purple unicorn for what seemed like the fourteenth time already, if Twilight had counted properly. Logic told Twilight that there was no way Pinkie had completely that many laps already, but since she was dealing with the notorious Pinkie Pie, she decided to not bother grilling the earth pony for answers.

“Sure, Pinkie, this is a THRILL!” Twilight responded, rolling her eyes while making sure to keep her pace. When the pink party pony naturally failed to pick up on her friend’s sarcasm, she hopped on ahead, leaving Vinyl Scratch as Twilight’s only partner at the moment.

“Yeah, Twi, that’s how we unicorns work it!” Vinyl cheered, mimicking Twilight’s pacing procedures to make sure she kept right in step with the purple mare. “Where did ya learn how to run so smoothly?”

“From the running of the leaves. I was never much of the athletic type, as is true for most of us unicorns, not to mention that I spent most of my life in a library. However, I did study several books on how to properly run a marathon while not wearing yourself out, so I used my knowledge to my advantage. I didn’t win the race, but a lot of my skills have admittedly come from books.”

Nodding her head a few times, Vinyl casually flicked a bang of her blue mane out of her face. “That’s cool. It’s radical just how hard ya work to better yourself, Twi. I know you’re an amazing mare; I’ve heard about your sizzling magic skills. But, that you actually learn from your books and put them to good use in your real life…man, girl, is there anything you can’t do?”

“Scratch, please, flattery will get you nowhere,” Twilight giggled, playfully nudging the white unicorn as the two continued their race. Trixie trailed the twosome from behind the entire race, despite the azure mare’s ability to easily surpass both of the unicorns. For some reason, she couldn’t stop watching Twilight and Vinyl bonding so easily and without any trouble whatsoever. It bothered her to no end.

Trixie: How is it that Twilight Sparkle can make anypony around her like her so much? It’s beyond a doubt inconceivable and beyond frustrating! No matter who Trixie talks to or eavesdrops upon, all she hears is positive gusto being outspoken about that purple unicorn! How is it that she can attract such attention and give an aura of complete likability without working her tail off to obtain such fanfare?

Scootaloo: *gasping and laying against the back of the toilet, her body dripping with sweat, her mane hanging mangled along her shoulders, and her two hooves clutching her heart as though her life depended on it* Rainbow…is…too…fast. I…can’t…keep…up. Really…hurts…to…move. *despite her case of severe exhaustion, she still manages a tired grin* She…runs…so…amazingly…cool. Rainbow…rules!

“Ah, Rainbow Dash and Gilda, welcome to the mess hall!” Discord crowed, clapping his clawed hands in a mock ovation as the two fliers were the first to finish their laps. “Please feel free to partake in the feast that has been laid out for you campers. There’s no need to wait for the others to finish.”

“Like I would anyway,” Gilda mused, nudging Dash aside and stomping up to the long serving table that had been set up in the middle of the mess hall. While Dash spewed a few curses at the griffon, Gilda made her way to the end of the table, where she had found many plates containing different varieties of raw meat. Even though Discord knew that all the ponies, and Spike, didn’t eat meat, his knowledge told him that griffons were mostly carnivores. To make this challenge work, he needed to be sure that all the campers ate their fill with their favorite foods.

“Gross. Gilda, have I ever told you just how disgusting you are?” Dash muttered, sheathing her wings and casually wiping off beads of sweat from her forehead as she ambled over to partake in some of the vegetarian dishes that had been served instead.

“Oh, shut it, Dash. You know perfectly well that we griffons usually eat meat.” Gilda tossed a thick piece of liver into the air and viciously snapped it up in her beak, gulping it down in one swift motion and smirking over at the sickened blue Pegasus a second later. “After all, you’ve known me ever since Flight School. You should know how I eat by now.”

Rainbow Dash just shook her head, sitting down in a cushioned chair and pulling a few daisy sandwiches over to her. “Whatever. I’m just going to pretend that you’re not here.”

Rainbow Dash: I don’t get what this challenge is supposed to mean. What is Discord trying to do by making us go for a super-long run, and then stuff our faces until we burst? Hmm…well, whatever. All I know is that I’m going to win, and after I kick Spike’s butt to the curb, Gilda is next. Once I get rid of the two biggest threats remaining, it’ll be smooth sailing to the finish line for me, baby. *she laughs loudly*

“Make way for the hungry Pinkie Pie!” The pink earth pony bounced her way through the mess hall doorway five minutes later, not looking tired in the least, but instead looking ravenous. Not far behind the party mare came Twilight, Vinyl and Trixie, all three of whom looked tired, but thanks to their clever pacing, they had survived the marathon.

“Welcome, ladies! You all must be famished after your little walk. Please dig in and eat as much as you can! All of the food is guaranteed to be Nightmare Moon-proof and without any negative side effects whatsoever!” Discord waved his hands at the large table of food where Rainbow Dash and Gilda were currently consuming their fill without a care in the world.

“Yay! Tasty, delicious, scrumptious, edible, joyous food!” Pinkie bent down, wiggling her tush in the air like a dog, before taking a flying leap and crashing down on top of the table. She began to dig her face into a large bowl of leafy greens and other vegetables, crazily shaking her head and causing food to be splattered in all directions.

“Trixie thinks…she will eat at the other end of the table,” Trixie sniffed, ducking low to avoid getting hit by Pinkie’s barrage of chewed and destroyed vegetables as she eased her way towards the opposite side of the table.

“Man, that Pinkie Pie is as funky as liquid rainbows, but I like her anyway,” Vinyl chuckled, following Trixie’s example as she and Twilight edged along after the azure show-mare.

“Everypony, stand back!” Cheerilee rushed into the mess hall a second later, carrying a limp and ragged Scootaloo on her back. “Scootaloo pushed herself too hard and dehydrated herself! Water, I need water, right now!” Discord idly jerked his thumb to a small table in the corner of the mess hall that contained a large number of different drinks, and Cheerilee immediately rushed over to begin forcing the exhausted filly to drink some liquid refreshment.

“The kid really needs to learn to not push yourself to the limit at such a young age,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “Save that for your later years when it’s time to REALLY bring it! Why did she run so hard anyway? There was no way she could’ve beaten me.” She turned her attention to Pinkie Pie’s massacre of the salad bowl, failing to see the dark look that Cheerilee shot in her direction following her little assessment of Scootaloo.

Cheerilee: *obviously trying to calm herself down, taking deep breaths and fighting hard to remove the scowl from her face* Love and tolerance, Cheerilee, love and tolerance. Don’t start an unnecessary fight with Rainbow Dash. Try to just focus on the fact that she’s helped save our town and our world several times. Don’t try to think about strangling her if she keeps mocking Scootaloo.

Bonking her head on the door, Derpy Hooves drifted into the mess hall after another five minutes to join the feasting. “Bonk! My head makes a bonking sound when it hits the mess hall door! Did you all know that it makes a lot of interesting noises, depending on what it hits?”

“Thrillsville. You might want to see a therapist for that.” Spike wheezed and staggered in almost immediately after the blonde Pegasus. “What’s to eat? Any gems?” The dragon and Pegasus both joined in the feast a moment later, even though Spike’s disapproval of there being no gems was apparent. Derpy began to squeal in delight when she found the muffin corner of the table; once more, Spike complained about how unfair this was, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

“I…I feel…I may faint…” Fluttershy became the third-to-last camper to finish her laps, but fainted moments before she fully entered the mess hall. Half of the Pegasus remained outside while the other half lay twitching on the hardwood floor of the food cabin. It took for Discord to summon a bucket of cold water and use it to drench Fluttershy to wake the mare up.

“That wasn’t nice, Discord,” Twilight commented, frowning and showing her disapproval as her yellow friend shivered from the unexpected shower and quickly hurried over to partake in the feast. “Don’t you have any conventional ways to make a point?”

Discord gave Twilight a look as though he couldn’t believe his ears. “Twilight, my dear? My name is Discord, the lord of chaos and disharmony. Have we met?”

“Point taken, smart aleck.”

After nearly half the table was cleared of food, mostly thanks to Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Celestia finally finished their laps. The princess looked to be in serious pain, her body giving unnatural shudders as her mane and tail hung limply over her shoulders and flanks. Rarity immediately began to whine about how she desperately needed a shower, which she received via another bucket of cold water from Discord. Deciding it was best to not ask any questions or attempt to garner anymore sympathy, the wet Rarity and the tired Celestia both joined in the large feast to replenish their empty bellies.

Rarity: *angrily combing her hair with a brush, shaking away her wet bangs from her eyes* That rude and obnoxious Discord! Does he never cease his joyous attempts to making foals of all of us? I have a good mind to go right upside his head for this! Look at what he’s done to my glorious body! Oh, this is truly horrible! My precious mane is mixed with sweat and mud; I will never get rid of these mental scars.

Celestia: Discord is truly evil. Is there any doubt out there as to my judgment on wanting the foul creature turned to stone? Can you all not see the horror he unleashes upon this world when he’s given his freedom? He is a true monster! *she sighs and shakes her head* I only hope that all this humiliation that I’ve suffered will only make me a stronger pony and ruler. That’s all I can hope for at this point.

Another hour passed, resulting in all the food that had been laid out being devoured by the ravenous campers. Shockingly, Pinkie didn’t end up destroying that much at all, resulting in all 13 campers getting their fill and becoming stuffed. Scootaloo had been forced to down three large glasses of water by Cheerilee, and then three more before leaving the mess hall. Thankfully, the filly was alright, and despite her annoyance at having to drink so much water, she thanked Cheerilee for caring about her anyway.

Discord led the stuffed and tired campers over to the clearing outside the forest, a devious smirk etched across his face at the final part of the challenge that he was going to present. All the campers looked hopeful that Discord would explain what the challenge was and save it for the morning, since they were all way too tired to function properly for an evening event. When the draconequus whipped around to face the campers and they all saw the insidious grin on his face, they knew that they were in trouble.

“The final part of the challenge…or rather the only part of the challenge…is about to begin!” the host explained. “You see, the whole idea between making you run twenty laps around the island and then gorging on delectable and filling culinary delights was to make you all very tired and exhausted and ready for a good night’s rest. Sadly, if you want individual immunity, you won’t be doing that.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Spike complained, casting a nervous look over at his fellow tired campers, “I’m nearly spent! What on all of Equestria could Discord want with a bunch of tired and exhausted campers? If he wants ratings, he surely won’t get them in such a way.”

“The challenge…is to stay awake for as long as you can without falling asleep. It is now eight o’clock in the evening. To win the challenge, you must outlast all the others in staying awake. The moment you fall asleep, or if you somehow faint or get knocked out, you are eliminated. The last camper standing will win the first individual immunity of the season!”

“You CAN’T be serious!” Rarity wailed, already falling to her knees and banging her hooves on the ground, “This is horrible! Discord, do you know what staying awake deep into the night will do to my physique? Oh, and my beautiful coiffure!” She reared up on her haunches, draping a foreleg over her eyes and reaching for the skies with her other foreleg, dragging out the apparent pain that the challenge was going to inflict upon her. “My beautiful body is sweaty and smelly, my mane is a mess, my hooves need to be polished and filed, my teeth are grimy, my stomach is full and requires rest to fully digest the food that I snacked upon…this is EVIL, Discord! Do you hear me? Truly and undeniably evil!”

“So sue me.” Discord growled, sticking two puffs of cotton into his ears so he didn’t have to hear any more of Rarity’s whining. “If individual immunity doesn’t mean anything to you, by all means quit right now and be the first one eliminated.”

“The sooner the better, too,” Gilda snapped, casting an equally-annoyed look over in Rarity’s direction. “Seriously, you lame-o ponies are enough to drive a griffon to hunt! Perhaps you’d like to partake?” She flashed her talons at the fashionista, and almost immediately Rarity paled and quickly ran behind Twilight and Spike for protection.

“You know what? I’ve gone this long, so perhaps a while longer won’t hurt.”

“Then this challenge is ON!” Discord leaned back against a tree, idly propping his arms behind his head and licking his lips. “Good luck, campers.”

Twilight: Okay, so first Discord decided to physically wear us out by making us compete in a backbreaking marathon around the island. After that, he added to the strain on our bodies by tricking us into feasting. As we all know, strenuous exercise and nonstop eating are both factors that lead to mental and physical exhaustion. Now, we have to stay awake without rest? Very evil, but very clever, I’ll admit.

Rainbow Dash: Ha, this is going to be a piece of cake. I barely even felt those twenty laps, and my stomach can fit plenty more. There’s no way I’m losing sight on the first individual immunity of the season. I’m not worried about Spike’s pathetic endeavors, but just to be on the safe side, it’s best if I’m safe going into the next bonfire ceremony. You can never be too careful, especially with Gilda and Trixie.

Minutes ticked by, the heat of the setting sun adding to the tiredness of all 13 campers. Celestia estimated that Luna would raise the moon in about a half hour, but wasn’t sure if the coolness of the evening would help or hurt her chances to win the challenge. All the campers lounged around the area outside the forest, either trotting restlessly in circles, flying and doing mini tricks in the air, or trying to make conversation with others. Each camper tried a different tactic to try and keep themselves awake for the long hull that was the night ahead.

“I’m used to spending arduous and unrelenting evenings studying and reading,” Twilight explained to her three fellow unicorns who surrounded her, “Forcing my mind to keep my body awake and alert shouldn’t be too difficult for me, despite the fact it’s unhealthy. What about for you girls?”

“Trixie usually travels through the evenings until she can find a proper place to rest,” Trixie sniffed, “She will have no problem excelling in such a foolish challenge.”

“I am usually in bed if all my work is done and my friends don’t need me, so this will be rather new for me,” Rarity admitted, “But, that isn’t to say that I haven’t braved the long evenings before while working on a fashionable outfit for Sapphire Shores or Hoity Toity or other Canterlot ponies who look up to me. I am sure I will be alright, darling.”

“Nature is my reprieve for the daily grind; it ignites my passion for music and fuels the fire in my heart!” Vinyl smiled toothily, giving Twilight her trademark grin. “Sometimes, I’ll stay awake outside my studio and close my eyes, listening to the dazzling sounds of Equestria fill my ears and let me know I’m alive. Other times, I’ll go to the Everfree Forest, find a safe patch of grass, and just stretch out on my back and stare up at the sky. The evening is a beautiful time; Princess Luna really knows how to deliver the goods! I love the evening; it gets me so stoked, yo!”

Twilight, Rarity and Trixie all stared at Vinyl Scratch with curious looks. The disc jockey was so carefree, and spoke in a laidback and easygoing attitude, yet all three mares could feel the meaning behind the words that she spoke. Trixie could relate to Vinyl’s love for nature and the outdoors, as it was where she had spent a good deal of her life. Rarity drew a lot of inspiration for her dresses from the outdoors, and could also correlate with Scratch’s impressions. For Twilight, however, her fascination for Scratch and her unusual lifestyle only grew with each and every unique and uncharacteristic word she spoke.

“Won’t this be easy-peasy lemon-squeezey, Twilight?” Pinkie bounced over to the group of unicorns, her usual Cheshire cat smile fixated on her chubby cheeks. “Stay awake for as long as you can with a full belly and after running twenty laps? I could do that in my sleep!” Then, with an unusual little twitch of her body, Pinkie’s eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed onto the ground.

“P-Pinkie?!?!” Twilight gasped, finding herself and her three unicorn counterparts all surrounding the downed earth pony. Fright soon turned to exasperation, however, when Pinkie Pie began to snore.

“First camper goes down!” Discord called out, “And…it’s Pinkie Pie? Wasn’t expecting that.”

Twilight: Pinkie Pie? As Rainbow Dash always says…you are so random.

Rainbow Dash, after observing Pinkie’s unusually-quick fall from grace, realized that she might need to work her magic on a few of the harder contestants. Her rosy eyes fell upon a few certain campers who looked to be in good shape for at least a few more hours, but Dash was about to fix that. As Luna’s moon began to rise into the sky, Rainbow Dash licked her lips and casually made her way over to her fellow Pegasus, Derpy Hooves.

“Yo, Derps, can I ask you something?” Dash casually landed from her little flight right next to the blonde Pegasus. Derpy was busy attempting to stand on her head while simultaneously sticking her tongue out and trying to touch her nose. However, when Dash startled her, she fell onto her backside with a soft squeak being pushed out of her mouth. Her eyes spiraled furious in their sockets, finally coming to a halt as they examined the cyan mare.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash! What’s up? Well, aside from the sky.” Derpy giggled and pulled herself up to her hooves, shaking slightly from her usual unbalanced stature.

Without beating around the bush, Rainbow Dash picked up a tiny pebble from the ground and began to toss it up and down in her right hoof. “Well, Derps, I was kinda curious about something you said earlier. Is it really true that you can knock yourself out by the tiniest of blows to the head, while the hardest shots don’t a thing to you?”

“Ooh, yeah, that’s totally true! My brain is really weird that way, you know? Why do you ask?” In response, Rainbow Dash tossed the pebble right at Derpy’s face. The tiny rock struck the mare right between the eyes, and almost as soon as it did, the Pegasus toppled over onto her backside.

“Oh, no reason.” When Derpy curled up and began to suck on her hoof, showing that she was in a deep slumber, Dash gave an excited, evil grin. That was one down.

“Two campers out!” Discord announced, and although he had witnessed Dash’s cheap trick, he decided to not bother mentioning it. What was the point?

Rainbow Dash: That was WAY too easy. Not trying to hate on my fellow Pegasi, but Derpy leaves much to be desired in the brains compartment…and many other compartments, for that matter.

Next, Rainbow Dash focused her attention on Gilda. From past experience in Flight School, Dash knew that Gilda loved to pull all-nighters to pull pranks, spray graffiti on walls, and perform other juvenile acts of vandalism. She would be a hard out, but maybe Dash could use the crazy griffon to her advantage. Her devious brain churning in deep thought, Dash’s eyes fell onto Spike, and just like that, her next plan was quickly formulated and ready to be put into motion.

“Hey, Gilda!” Rainbow Dash eased herself towards Spike while calling out to the griffon, who was busy preening her feathers and idly digging a small hole in the ground with another talon.

Upon hearing the familiar, irritating voice that would never leave her mind, Gilda immediately looked up and glared at the mare. “What do you want, Dash?”

“I just wanted to let you know that it doesn’t matter how much you pretty up your feathers; you’ll always be the ragged, unattractive, dumpy griffon that you always were.”

“WHAT?!?!” Gilda’s eyes seemed to flash upon hearing Dash’s insult. Almost immediately, the griffon snarled and began to stomp over towards the Pegasus. “Care to repeat that to my face, punk?” As Dash had hoped, Gilda continued to advance towards her, even after backing up more and more towards the unsuspecting Spike. The dragon was too busy counting the stars and trying to find his birth sign in the sky to really notice what was going on behind him.

“You heard me, jerk! You’re so ugly, if a mare wanted to find a new face to replace the one she had, she would take one look at you and immediately decide to go for a stallion’s face instead!”

“YOU’RE ASKING FOR IT, DASH!” Gilda stomped faster towards the Pegasus, her loud stomping and ranting alerting a few nearby campers. When Dash finally skidded to a halt right in front of Spike’s backside, she yelled out one last insult.

“Hey, Gilda! What do you get if you cross a pony with a griffon? You get a smart griffon!”

“THAT DOES IT! YOU’RE DEAD MEAT, DASH!” Gilda let out an echoing bird cry that could be heard for miles. Forming a tight fist with her right clawed hand, she stretched her wings and lunged towards Rainbow’s face. “ONCE I’M THROUGH WITH YOU, WE’LL SEE WHO THE UGLY AND DUMB ONE WILL BE!”

“Psyche!” With an excited laugh, Rainbow Dash dodged aside, leaving Spike in Gilda’s path.

“Hey, what’s going on back there? What’s with all the yelling?” Finally taking his eyes away from the sky, Spike turned around and put his hands on his hips. The first and last thing he saw was a fist nearly the size of his entire head rushing straight towards him like a freight train. He didn’t even know what hit him a split-second later. It may as well have been a boulder being launched straight at his face going over 100 miles per hour. Either way, as soon as Gilda’s fist accidentally made contact with Spike’s face, the dragon was out cold in an instant. Flying through the air and crashing into a tree was only an added bonus for the thrilled Rainbow Dash.

“Er…oops.” Gilda blinked a few times with her outstretched fist frozen in the place Spike had been standing only seconds ago. Seeing the unconscious dragon now flattened into a tree a good ten yards away didn’t leave a good taste in her mouth. Plus, seeing the wide grin on Dash’s face nearby only got her angrier. “You made me do that on purpose, Dash.”

“Good luck proving that, Miss Attitude Problems.” Laughing in delight, Dash trotted off, leaving an angry and annoyed griffon in her wake.

“Three campers out!” Discord’s announcement came a little late, once again contemplating whether or not to eliminate Dash for her foul play. Deciding that Dash brought good ratings, the draconequus once again turned the other way.

Gilda: I’ll commend Dash on her dirty tactics…she learned them from me, after all. *she sighs a bit, her feathers ruffled* I’m gonna kick her butt, rest assured of that…but, still, I commend her for using my temper issues to her advantage. Still…if it had been a pony, I’d be thrilled. But, that little dragon dude? I have nothing against him. In fact, I respect dragons. Punching his lights out didn’t feel right to me.

“Yo, Scoots, come over for a sec, would ya?” Finding a good patch of tall grass growing around a tall tree, Rainbow Dash sat down and rested her back against the cool bark of the large plant. She beckoned for Scootaloo to come over to her, which the filly immediately obliged to. Just hearing her idol and crush ask her to be in her presence made Scootaloo’s heart soar. Even if she couldn’t fly, her heartstrings usually played with the idea of flight every time Rainbow Dash was near.

“Yes, Rainbow Dash? Something I can do for you?” Scootaloo happily bounded through the tall grass and up to the cyan mare’s side, the filly’s eyes shimmering with hopefulness. The night sky began to reflect in those young little purple pupils as she stared up into the powerful magenta eyes of Rainbow Dash. When the mare patted the bed of grass to her left, Scootaloo instantly found herself seating right beside the blue Pegasus.

“Nah, I’m good. I just wanted to sit and relax a bit, and what better way to do that than with your favorite little pony?” Scootaloo missed the mischievous smirk on her idol’s face; she was too busy squealing and blushing in complete and utter shock. Surely the great Rainbow Dash wasn’t referring to a little filly like her, right? A filly that couldn’t even fly? Scootaloo must’ve heard incorrectly.

“Um…um…um…Rainbow Dash…did you just say…?”

“My favorite little pony? Yup, sure did, and that’s YOU, kiddo.” Wrapping her left foreleg around Scootaloo’s shoulders, the filly soon found herself gently pulled in and pressed against Dash’s side. The mare’s wings pressed close to Scootaloo’s face, the feathers getting slightly ruffled at the quickening of Scootaloo’s heartbeat pounding at her chest due to being at such a close proximity to Rainbow.

“I…I…I…you…I…we’re…we’re…what are…who…I…I…Rainbow Dash…”

“You’re really special, Scoots. I thought that we could sit here together, to keep each other awake, you know? After all, we’re going to the final two, so we have to help each other.” The hoof of Dash that was wrapped around Scootaloo gently stroked the filly’s wings, forcing out soft and pleasured moans from the orange pony. “Plus, it’s such a wicked night for stargazing, you know? Spike proved that a little while ago, actually. Why not spend it with that very special somepony?”

“V-v-very…s-s-special…s-s-somepony?”

“That’s right, Scootaloo.” Dash’s voice came out in but a whisper now, that same hoof that was stroking the filly’s wings now reaching up and gently caressing the back of the filly’s neck and mane. “Let’s just relax in each other’s company…let our wings touch…and just stare up at the sky. That sound good to you, Scoots?” To close the deal, Dash stretched her left wing open and wrapped it around her biggest fan. The effect was imminent as soon as Scootaloo was gently encased in that powerful appendage.

A soft swoon that sounded more like an emotional squeak, Scootaloo melted into Rainbow Dash’s side and allowed her wing to encase her in what she hoped would be forever. The filly’s eyes closed as she cuddled into Dash’s side, her little heart continuing to pound and beg for release from her chest. When Rainbow Dash next glanced down at her snuggled filly, she discovered that she had indeed sealed the deal. Scootaloo’s young age, combined with the exhausting exercise, the heavy meal, and the pressure of being in such a position with the greatest flier in all of Equestria was just too much for her. The filly was deep in slumber before she knew it.

“Fourth camper eliminated!” Discord whispered, although his whisper sounded like a soft yell.

Rainbow Dash: Aren’t I wonderful? Yeah, I know what a big fan Scootaloo is of mine. She can be a bit annoying, but she is a sweet kid. Not only that, but she’s a key part of me winning the million bits! She’d do anything for me, so I’m sure she’ll understand my intentions of…unintentionally-intentionally eliminating her from the current challenge. After all, getting the first individual immunity is important.

Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash, Cheerilee had watched every move that the Pegasus had put on her little student. If Cheerilee thought she had been seeing red before when Dash had tried to manipulate her, what she was seeing now had to be classified as dark crimson. Seeing the respected Element of Harmony Pegasus take advantage of somepony younger than her drove the earth pony crazy. The fact that it was one of her own students only added to her inner fury. As Cheerilee observed Dash idly stroking and cuddling the snoozing Scootaloo close to her, she couldn’t help but feel her body tremble from the sheer amount of fakery she was watching. She wanted nothing more than to expose Dash for what she was doing, but she knew that if she did, she would open up a can of worms.

Cheerilee: *trembling, trying to keep her emotions in check* I cannot start a war. That is not why I’m here. I am here to have fun and try to learn from this experience. Scootaloo…must learn some things on her own. I’ve said that since day one, and…and…as much as it hurts to see her getting taken for a ride, what can I do? I…I can’t crush her dreams by telling her how Rainbow is treating her. It would break her.

An hour passed to 9:30 PM, Luna’s moon soon illuminating a good portion of the night sky overhanging Camp Paradox. The remaining nine campers all remained awake, half of them still in high spirits, while the other half were looking drowsy. Celestia was busy keeping her eye on Discord. Cheerilee was busy keeping her eye on Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy seemed to be wide awake with a terrified expression; the fact that she kept hearing imaginary noises from the nearby dark forest probably had something to do with it. Gilda was working out with a tree stump. Rainbow Dash had taken a break from her mischievous antics and was nonchalantly playing with Scootaloo’s mane. The four unicorns were playing a card game with a deck of playing cards that Discord had randomly tossed their way. Pinkie Pie was sleepwalking.

“Uh…wait a minute. Did you girls just see Pinkie walk by here?” Twilight set her current hand of cards down and glanced behind her back, watching as Pinkie Pie softly trotted along with her eyes closed. “Oh no, oh no, oh no! That is NOT good! Do you even realize what kind of danger you can get into when you sleepwalk, especially outdoors? I have to go and direct her back to the cabin! Excuse me, I fold.” Twilight began trotting after Pinkie Pie as fast as she could.

“Twilight does realize that Pinkie Pie usually sleepwalks every night, right?” Rarity asked, glancing at Vinyl and Trixie with an exasperated sigh.

“Knowing Twilight Sparkle, Trixie highly doubts it,” Trixie muttered, laying down her hoof a moment later to show her hand, “Read ‘em and weep, ladies. Trixie has a full house.”

“Aw, that’s so not cool!” Vinyl threw her cards down in disgust, pouting a bit as Trixie took all the pieces of popcorn that had been bet. “You are totally cheating, girl! We’re never going to get any popcorn at this rate.”

“Trixie simply has the perfect poker face, that’s all.” Trixie teasingly waved a few kernels of popcorn in Vinyl’s face before tossing them into her own mouth and munching loudly. “Mmm, they’re SO good!”

Stifling a yawn and a roll of the eyes, Rarity casually laid down her weak hand and rose to her feet. “I do not believe I need individual immunity. Ruining my beauty sleep is not worth wasting my time out here and trying to outlast eight others. I am going to turn in for the night, girls. Good luck to the both of you.” Turning around on her hooves, Rarity began her trot back to camp.

“Fifth camper eliminated!” Discord called out, following this up with a loud tease. “Let us all be respectful of Rarity’s choice; the poor dear simply must get some rest. Did you all see those bags under her eyes? Not very beautiful, in the least.”

Rarity: Kiss my flanks, Discord! *she glares at the camera* Well, don’t actually kiss them; your lips are most foul and I do not want them within one hundred feet of my body. Humph!

“Pinkie, please, get down from there! You’re going to get hurt!” Twilight looked up at the pink pony strolling dangerously close to the edge of the roof on top of the mess hall. Twilight ran alongside the building on the ground, having absolutely no idea how Pinkie got up there to begin with, but was ready to catch her if the pink pony should fall. When Pinkie seemingly vanished on the other side of the slanted rooftop, Twilight panicked and raced as fast as she could to the other side. What she was met with was a set of four hooves smashing down on top of her back and flattening her into the ground.

“Bouncy…bouncy…bouncy…” Pinkie giggled in her sleep, bouncing off the pancaked Twilight Sparkle and continuing her nightly stroll. Behind her, the mashed pile of pony that was formally a unicorn moaned from her crater. Pinkie Pie was stronger and heavier than she looked.

Twilight: *having inflated herself, she now sported a messy mane and a dirty body caked with dry mud* Ugh…what does Pinkie EAT? She seriously needs to go on a diet! All those sweets CAN’T be good for her…or any other pony who gets in her way, for that matter! *she winces a bit* Ow, my backside.

“Well, enough wasting time; let’s eliminate another camper.” Rainbow Dash casually opened her wing and let Scootaloo drop onto the soft, tall grass. Once the filly was free, Dash eyed the remaining campers and contemplated on which one she could eliminate next. She wouldn’t dare try anything on the princess. She had the strong suspicious that Cheerilee didn’t like her, so she was out, too. Trying to take out Fluttershy was just cold, since she was her friend. Gilda knew all of Dash’s tricks, and she had already participated in eliminating Spike, so she was out. Dash and Trixie hadn’t talked much, but if the Pegasus was going by their past interactions alone, the event in Ponyville was enough for her to draw the conclusion that Trixie did not like her. Twilight had gone off somewhere. This left Vinyl Scratch.

Rainbow Dash: Unicorns are tricky ponies to deal with. I hate to admit it, but most of them are quite intelligent eggheads. Vinyl, however, is a bit of a scatterbrained goofball. All I had to do to eliminate her was get her to fall for a little ‘light show’. *she grins and clops her hooves together* Prepare to be stupefied, fillies and gentle-colts! The Dash is about to blow your minds with her genius.

Remembering Fluttershy showing her a nest of fireflies in the woods, Rainbow Dash silently crept into the dark forest in search of the bugs. She didn’t have far to look. The blinding light of the fireflies was enough to make anypony dizzy if you stared at an entire nest of them long enough. Expanding her wings, Rainbow Dash flew up to the nest of fireflies and quickly began to fly fast circles around the entire nest. In only a few seconds, she had created a powerful vortex that was strong enough to manipulate all the bugs and move them wherever she desired. The speedy mare slowly forced herself to fly higher and higher, carrying the entire group of confused fireflies within the swirling winds of her mini tornado. If any firefly tried to escape, it would instantly be thrown back, since nothing could penetrate Dash’s powerful winds.

While continuing to move herself forward, Dash eventually overreached the treetops. She then began to make her way back to camp, continuing to make sure her vortex remained powerful enough to force the fireflies along. In no time at all, she was back over the campgrounds, and when she pinpointed Vinyl’s location, she slowed her wings and allowed her tornado to vanish and the fireflies to be free. As quick as a wink, Dash then flew down to the ground and landed right beside the unsuspecting unicorn. None of the campers had seen what Dash did.

“Hey, Vinyl, you like fireflies?” Dash quickly pointed a hoof towards the sky, right over Scratch’s head. “Quick, check this out! They’re really beautiful when you see them at night!”

“What’re you going on about, Dashie?” Vinyl lifted off her dark goggles and casually raised her head to where Dash was pointing. Immediately, she saw a massive herd of fireflies buzzing around furiously as fast as their wings would allow. They weren’t happy about being pulled away from their nest, and their flashing lights intensified with each passing second. Combine that with just how many there were, and it would be similar to staring at white noise.

“Pretty neat, eh?” Dash’s mouth curled into a smirk as she sat back and watched, knowing what was sure to happen.

“Whoa, dude…that’s so…there’s so…many of them!” Despite the painful swelling in her eyes from staring at the lights, Vinyl couldn’t rip her head away from the dazzling sight going on above her head. “They’re all buzzing and flying and sparkling and…and…dude, my head feels…numb…”

“You don’t say?”

“Feeling…faint…” Vinyl staggered backwards, her eyes starting to spiral, akin to what Derpy’s did on a regular basis. “Ugh…Twilight? Where…is…Twilight?” Raising a hoof to her head, Vinyl let out a sharp gasp before finally toppling over onto the ground. The exposure to such a dangerous display of lights, combined with the feast and marathon from earlier, and it was too much for the unicorn.

“Don’t you, like, deal with flashing lights all the time in the clubs when you perform?” Dash teased, staring down at the fainted white unicorn. When she saw the dark goggles, Rainbow understood. “Ah, so THAT’S what those are for. You don’t wear them just to look cool; you wear them to protect your eyes from the dangers of light! Clever…but, shame you took them off. Ha!”

“Sixth camper eliminated!” Discord’s voice rang out, wearing a pair of shades as he watched the fireflies himself. “Not a bad sight, too. It’s rather unusual to see so many in one cluster. I do so wonder how that happened…”

Rainbow Dash: Too easy. Simply too easy. Discord may have gotten everypony tired from running and fat from food, but who needs that when you can just knock them out manually? I’m so awesome!

“Pinkie, get out of there! There could be a wild animal in there!” Twilight had followed the bouncing Pinkie Pie deep into the woods, always attempting to wake her up with her shouting, but it never seemed to work. Pinkie was a very heavy sleeper. Now, the pink pony had hopped straight into the mouth of a large, dark cave jutted into the side of a mountain. Even though Twilight felt very weak and helpless without her magic, she did not want Pinkie to get hurt. When she ran inside the cave after Pinkie, all she was thinking about was keeping her friend safe.

“Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy now, was he?” Almost as soon as Twilight blindly ran straight into the cave, a dark pink blur strolled right past her, going the opposite direction and continuing to sleep-talk. Before Twilight could hurry and follow, however, a deep growl echoed out from somewhere in front of her. Two angry yellow eyes soon flashed in front of the pony as well. Finally, the large, dark outline of a hairy beast formed a second later. Twilight had just met the cave’s resident.

“Um…hehe…n-n-nice b-b-bear?” Twilight squeaked, her heart pounding into her throat as her body paled. She tried to give the huge animal a weak smile, but as the bear rose to its hind legs and let out a loud roar. Twilight’s frozen legs refused to budge, and given that the bear was both angry and sleepy, somepony was going to pay for disturbing its sleep. Easy to say, Twilight’s shrieks echoed all the way back to Camp Paradox.

Twilight: *now sporting a messy mane, a muddy body full of claw and bite marks, a neck brace, a cast on three of her four legs, an eye patch, and over two dozen bandages. When she speaks, she spits out some bear fur* Pinkie…once I get my hooves on you…I am going to…ow…hurt you bad…ouch…

“Hmm…you remaining campers look pretty tough. I think I’ll have to kick things up a notch.” Discord snapped his fingers, and an old-fashioned record player appeared at his side. He set the needle on the current record on the machine, and flipped the switch. “This should do the trick to make some of you concede to your slumber.”

The music that began to resonate within the area was a beautiful lullaby that played both softly and slowly. Celestia groaned and tried to hold her hooves over her ears, attempting to block out the noise and not let Discord eliminate her with a simple song. Cheerilee gently rocked her head back and forth, humming to the lullaby, but didn’t seem to be affected by it. Rainbow Dash and Trixie both hated the song, and it only made both mares that much more awake. For Fluttershy and Gilda, however, the song unlocked old memories that both girls shared.

“This…I know this lullaby,” Fluttershy said softly, smiling and swishing her mane back and forth while her body moved to the tempo of the music. “It’s one of my favorite songs to this very day. I do love to sing Hush Now, Quiet Now, but I love this song as well.”

“It’s called Little Firefly, right?” Gilda asked, walking up to Fluttershy and pumping her head back and forth, as though imagining the song with a more rock and roll tempo.

Gasping, Fluttershy looked up at the usually-intimidating griffon and tilted her head. “You…you know this song, Gilda?”

“Sure do. They taught it back in Flight School. I learned it when they made me take a choir class.”

“You…you took choir, too?”

Gilda gave Fluttershy a wicked grin, crossing her arms and winking down at her. “We griffons don’t have strong pipes for nothing, you know. Our voices are topnotch and all-awesome.”

“Oh…yes…I remember that…since I got to hear it firsthand…up close and personal.” Fluttershy’s mind took her back to Ponyville, when Gilda had paid a visit and had screamed at her for no reason. The loud and deafening cry of the griffon still made her shiver to this very day.

Sitting down in the grass, Gilda eyed the yellow mare next to her with a mixed look of distain and curiosity. “Yo. I bet you don’t remember me, do you? From Flight School? We went there together.”

“We…we did?” Fluttershy, despite being scared of Gilda, curiously sat down a few inches away from the griffon and stared up at her with eyes that burned with wonderment. “I…um…I can’t remember. I know that Rainbow Dash and I were there…I’m sorry, Gilda…I don’t think I remember you.”

“That figures. Dumb pony.” Gilda shook her head, ignoring the whimper she got out of Fluttershy. “But, I was there alright. I remember you and Dash. She was Rainbow Crash, and you were Flutterklutz.”

“W-w-w-what?!?! H-h-how…um…I-I-I thought nopony knew about that…nickname…” Fluttershy moaned and buried her face in her hooves, adding to the affect by covering herself up with her long mane, too.

“Duh. I’m not a pony. Besides, a griffon never forgets. Geez, you’re such a dweeb, you know that?” The griffon shook her head in disgust as she watched Fluttershy cower. “Didn’t you know that I protected you from bullies while we were there? You never saw it, but…I did. Well, I can’t say I actually fully protected you. But, when I saw a stupid pony picking on you, I made sure they felt double the pain they inflicted onto you! It was fun. I think I had over three hundred different pony punching bags by the time Flight School ended.”

Now more curious than ever, Fluttershy tried to overcome her fear, pushing her mouth out of her mane and hooves and nervously speaking to Gilda again. “Um…you…you really did? So…that would explain why ponies would arrive the next day…after hurting me…in body casts. You…you did that?”

“Sure did. I don’t regret it, either. May have made a lot of enemies, but you think I care? I do what I want, when I want, however I want to do it. That’s how I roll.”

“But…but why, Gilda? You…um…you really don’t like us ponies that much. Why…why did you do that just for little old me? Was it because…Rainbow Dash told you to?”

Gilda scoffed, reaching down and easily hefting Fluttershy up into the air with one clawed hand. “Dash? Heck no, dweeb! Dash was too busy showing off and acting like a filly-fooler to tell me what to do. I did it all on my own.”

“B-b-but…w-w-why?” Fluttershy trembled and curled up into a ball as Gilda’s claws gently dug into her.

“I dunno. Maybe because I wanted to? What’s it to ya?” Gilda pulled Fluttershy right up to her face, glaring at her and forcing her to look into her eyes. “You’re a pathetic little dweeb, and you downright humiliated me during the very first challenge. I should hate you with a passion. But…you know what? I can’t. You’re not like the other ponies. You’re…different. I can’t bring myself to hate you.”

“Gilda…” Fluttershy gave a timid smile, realizing that Gilda was actually attempting to be nice to her. In her own way, at least. “You…um…thank you. That’s…nice of you…I don’t hate you, either…”

“Cool. Nice to know there’s one pony who doesn’t hate me.” Gilda dropped Fluttershy onto the ground next to her, then closed her eyes and went back to listening to the lullaby playing. “Now, shush. I used to sing this song to help get to sleep after my rowdy nights in Flight School. Tell anyone that I told you that and you’re dead meat.”

“Y-yes, Gilda.” Fluttershy closed her eyes as well, sighing in delight while allowing the music to overtake her. “I…I used to sing it to help myself get to sleep, too. Nowadays…I sing it to my animals…but once in a while…I’ll lay in bed at night and sing it to myself, too.”

“Do you ever see a firefly buzz past your window?”

“Yes.”

“Cool. Me too.”

Fluttershy and Gilda sat side-by-side, their eyes clenched shut as the music played on. The beautiful, soft notes filled the night air, allowing both hearts to gently start to settle down. The lullaby was meant to soothe the soul and allow the body to drift off into a peaceful sleep, and it was true to its word. Very slowly, both Gilda and Fluttershy found their bodies pulling both of them to the ground. When both campers fell asleep, Fluttershy was curled up against the warm feathers on Gilda’s chest. Gilda chirped softly in her sleep, idly wrapping an arm around Fluttershy to hold the pony close to her.

“Seventh and eighth campers eliminated!” Discord whispered, snickering and making a mock kissing sound at the sight of Gilda and Fluttershy. “How precious. It seems our rough little griffon actually has a soft side, and it only took the nicest pony around to let it out. You just can’t write this stuff!”

Trixie: What absurdity! How in all of Equestria did Gilda go to sleep with Fluttershy? Trixie does not get it! Why did that ruffian griffon not punch Fluttershy into next week? Why didn’t Fluttershy fly away and hide in a bush, like she always does? Why does Trixie care so much? This does not make sense!

“Pinkie…stop…you’re heading for a cliff!” Twilight wheezed, wincing in pain as she limped to keep up with the bouncing earth pony. She didn’t have anything left in the tank. After the jog, the feast, being flattened by Pinkie, and being mauled by a bear, Twilight was running on fumes. She could barely move with her makeshift casts and bandages, not to mention being able to see only out of her left eye, Twilight had no idea how or even why she was still chasing after her bouncing, sleepwalking friend.

“I believe I can fly…I believe in cherry pie…I’m blue…if I was green…I would die.” Pinkie giggled and sang out random things while her blind bouncing led her closer and closer to a small cliff. It wasn’t as large as the cliff Rarity and Silver Spoon had fallen off, but a 50-foot drop was still no picnic. The earth pony drew closer and closer to the edge of the cliff, forcing Twilight to force her shattered legs to move as hard as she could to protect the pony from herself.

“Pinkie…no…WATCH OUT!” Twilight screamed and raced forward, trying to reach out and pull Pinkie back before she took a dive over the side of the cliff. However, just as she bounced to the edge of the cliff, Pinkie froze in her tracks and plopped her rump down onto the ground. Twilight sailed right over her head and over the side of the cliff instead. “…I hate my life.”

Twilight learned a few important lessons upon crashing down into the small valley below the cliff and shattering a good chunk of the rest of her body in the process. First, the purple mare learned that when you are already in deep, excruciating pain, adding to the hurt multiplies the levels of pain by triple. Second, she learned that dropping from a 50-foot drop resulted in her creating a five-foot crater for her tattered body; the rough terrain probably prevented the unicorn from making an even deeper crater. Third, she learned that she was out of the challenge when she blacked out almost instantly upon making contact with the ground. Fourth, she learned for the thousandth time that Pinkie Pie was one of the many mysteries of the world. Finally, she learned that trying to always help your friends might sometimes not always be the best idea if you want to prevent yourself from being horrifically massacred.

Atop the cliff, a still-sleeping Pinkie Pie slowly turned around three times in a circle, then finally curled up and laid down right where she was. While a certain purple mare was seeing stars and dealing with an intense amount of pain, Pinkie was having a wonderful dream about flying in the sky with Twilight. She would have to see if that was at all possible when she woke up.

~~~

“Ninth camper eliminated!” Discord yelled out, casting an ominous grin towards the forest and putting a stop to the record player’s lullaby. Even if he hadn’t been there, he always knew when something bad had befallen Twilight Sparkle. Even to say, it brought a tear to his eye to see Twilight get herself into so much chaos; she really did learn from the best, it seemed. “We are down to the final four! Two former Magical Misfits in Cheerilee and Trixie versus two former Royal Ruffians in Celestia and Rainbow Dash! Ooh, how is this one going to play out? I’m tingling with excitement!”

“You both are going down!” Dash sneered, pointing at Trixie and Cheerilee with a hoof, “There ain’t no way either of you can outlast the princess of the sun and the greatest flier in all of Equestria!”

“Watch your tongue, foal,” Trixie warned, crossing her forelegs and keeping her rear-end planted on the ground, “Trixie does not plan on going to sleep anytime soon. She is used to long nights, since she is always traveling.”

“And I am not going to roll over and lose this, either,” Cheerilee stated, glaring at Rainbow Dash. “I’m not as weak as I look, Rainbow. I think it’s time you learned that.”

“We’ll see, we’ll see.” Dash stretched her forelegs and sat down, staring down both of her rivals and content to letting this play out as it was. “You’ll see who the last mare standing is when all is said and done. Going to sit down with us, Princess?”

“I may as well, Rainbow Dash.” Princess Celestia took a seat in the chilly grass, shivering at how the coolness sent chills up her body after touching the sore spots on her posterior. “Like you said, being the princess of the sun means I am used to long nights before I perform my duty. I will not lose this easily.”

“And the game continues,” Discord smiled, snapping his fingers and making a lollipop appear. He began to lick it as the final four ponies all sat and glared down one another as the minutes ticked by.

Hours passed, and nothing had changed. Midnight had come and gone, and the moon was already starting its slow decline towards the mountains. The time was now 2:30 AM in the morning, but Celestia, Cheerilee, Rainbow Dash and Trixie were all still awake and in the same positions as they were four hours ago. All four mares had heavy bags under their eyes, their pupils bloodshot and their bodies limp and ragged. Each pony took moments to wobble back and forth, but none of them ever allowed their bodies to take them off to dreamland. They all wanted to win this very, very bad.

“You know what? I didn’t want to do this, but I don’t think I have a choice.” Discord slowly rose up into the air, hovering over the four remaining campers. “I said to myself, ‘Discord? Come now, you don’t want to do this, do you?’ But then I realized that you campers are tough, and what do you do with tough little ponies?” Throwing back his head and cackling loudly, he reached behind his back and pulled out a large book the size of two dictionaries put together. “You read them Twilight Sparkle’s favorite historical book: Equestrian History: The VERY Advanced Copy!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Rainbow Dash screamed, nearly pulling out her mane as her eyes bugged out of her skull, “Not that! Anything but that! Can’t you read Daring-Do & The Search For The Sapphire Stone or something?”

“Of course I can! I am quite talented and literate when it comes to the art of prose and reciting it to adoring audience members,” Discord smiled, leaning back and opening to the first page of the history book, “But, the question is if I would read it, and I won’t!”

“You’re despicable, Discord.” Celestia shivered in fear at the sight of her student’s favorite nonfiction book. Despite being the ruler of the world, even Celestia knew something droll and sleep-inducing when she saw it. She had spent enough time in the presence of Twilight and listening to her recite many lines from Equestrian History, and each time she was forced to make up an excuse to quickly leave so that she wasn’t forced to look rude by falling asleep on her hooves.

Cheerilee: *giving an innocent smile* It’s times like this that I’m glad I’m a schoolteacher that reads many, many books and is used to listening to little fillies and colts drone on and on about things that would most likely interest a brick wall more than a living, breathing Equestrian. *she blinks, then gulps and gives the camera a little wave* Um, no offense, my dear students who might be watching me.

“…and after ‘Manehattan’ was voted as the best name for the new city that would be constructed upon the new stint of land, the settlement was established and the traveling show-mares began to use their magic to start a new foundation for generations to come.” Discord’s voice droned on and on and on, purposely altering his voice to sound soft, mellow, and incredibly dull. He even donned his favorite mock reading glasses as he read each and every word on each and every page of the history book. No matter what the campers did, they couldn’t block out Discord’s voice.

“Make…it…stop!” Trixie moaned, falling to her knees and pulling at her messy mane, “Trixie…cannot take much more…”

“My head…it hurts…” Celestia felt herself slowly succumbing to nausea. She never did like Discord talking, but this just added insult to injury. When the draconequus began the next chapter about the agriculture in the land of the griffons, Celestia finally blacked out. Her eyes rolled back into her head and the princess’ body fell forward onto the grass with a soft thump.

“Looks like our dear little ruler is out of the challenge,” Discord sang out in a sing-song voice, “This leaves us with just three! Now, where was I? Oh, yes, I was just about to get to the part on how the founding mare of Fillydelphia was actually in a relationship with a filly!”

“Wait, what was that?” Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up at that part. Her eyes darted over to where Scootaloo lay, and a slight hint of red played at her cheeks.

“Oh yes, Rainbow Dash.” Discord idly flipped to another page, raising an eyebrow. “Hmm…apparently it was an unrequited love on the filly’s part, actually. The mare was a Pegasus, and the filly loved her so very much. As the Pegasus roamed the lands, searching for a place to call her own, the little filly followed her wherever she went.”

“Couldn’t the Pegasus fly and find a home in the skies instead? Like Cloudsdale?”

“She could, but she loved being on the ground. Traveling the world on hoof was much more meaningful to her than soaring through the skies. The Pegasus found a passion for her travels, and even though she had wings, she did not abuse them. She rather liked the thought of being an earth pony. It may not have given her any special abilities, but she didn’t care. She didn’t need to be different to make a difference.” Discord yawned out of boredom, nonchalantly flipping to yet another page. “Since when did you become so interested in history, Rainbow Dash?”

“Since never! I was just…curious.” Dash grumbled a bit, not noticing the stern look she was getting from Cheerilee. “Um…so, continue with the story, would ya? What happened to the filly and the Pegasus?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Discord read on, skipping over parts that he found irrelevant. He had gone from wanting to torture the three remaining campers to wanting to find out himself what happened. “Well, the little filly really admired the Pegasus and everything she did, so when the mare found the perfect land to build a new city, she asked the filly to be the cosigner with her. At this moment, the filly finally confessed her love to the mare, since up to that point, she had just been nothing more than a fan, at least in the mare’s eyes.” Discord’s eyes skimmed over the next part of the story, and he actually looked a bit uneasy with what he was silently reading.

“So? What happened next? C’mon, Discord, spill the beans!” Both of Rainbow’s ears were sticking straight up, her bloodshot eyes as wide as saucers. It was like she was sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear how the story concluded.

“Hmm…apparently, the little filly got her heart broken when the Pegasus didn’t reciprocate her feelings. The Pegasus tried to explain that it just wouldn’t be right, since they were both females and one was several years older than the other. She tried to offer to be the filly’s big sister instead, but the filly angrily refused. The little pony said that age or sex should not define love; what comes from the heart is what love should be about. The filly asked the Pegasus if she could ever find it in her heart to love her as she loved her…” Another pause followed, and Discord slowly removed his glasses.

“Did the Pegasus say yes?” Dash whispered.

With a somewhat-exaggerated sigh, Discord shook his head. “No. She said no. So, heartbroken, the filly ran away and was never found again. Because the Pegasus never learned the filly’s name, since all the filly would talk about is the Pegasus herself, she decided to name the new land ‘Fillydelphia’ in memory of that little filly. That is why the city is known as the ‘city of sisterly love’, or something like that.” Discord scanned the next few pages with a little frown. “They never say what the Pegasus’ name was. Not a very good history book.”

Rainbow Dash: Wow…what an interesting story. I’m not one to really care about history junk, but that story sounded so familiar. Eh, I’m probably thinking too much about it. It’s just nonsense history.

Cheerilee: They say that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I do wonder if Rainbow Dash paid any attention to that story. My guess is…no. *she shakes her head and sighs*
Loud snoring was heard as Discord flicked to yet another page. All three remaining pairs of eyes looked to where Trixie had been sitting when Discord had started the story of the history of Fillydelphia. The blue unicorn was curled up in a ball, deep asleep after growing bored with the story. Seeing that there were only two campers remaining, and noticing that the clock was nearing four in the morning, Discord decided that he needed a little break. Tossing his book behind his back, the draconequus began to float away from the twosome.

“Rainbow Dash and Cheerilee? You two battle it out; my camera crew will inform me who wins. I’m going for a snack. Ciao!” The host slunk into the mess hall a second later, leaving the former Magical Misfit and Royal Ruffian campers to duke it out for individual immunity. The bodies of nearly all their sleeping teammates surrounded the two, but at the moment, both the earth pony and the Pegasus were only focused on each other.

“You’re going down, Cheerilee,” Rainbow Dash sneered, licking her lips and running a hoof through her rainbow mane, “Do you know how long I stay awake at night going over my tricks? Perfecting my sky maneuvers? Striking poses in the mirror so I make sure I stay sharp for all my adoring fans? That ain’t easy, you know. There ain’t no way you’re outlasting me!”

“Impressive, Rainbow Dash. Sadly, I must inform you that I am no slouch when it comes to nighttime endeavors, too.” Cheerilee proudly sat on her haunches and stared down Rainbow Dash, never showing any signs of quit, despite the heavy bags under her eyes. “You see, sometimes I must stay up deep into the early hours of the morning while grading papers for my students. You really have no idea how hard that can be.”

“Oh yeah? Well…I sometimes lay in bed at night and reread all my Daring-Do books, and when I look up at the clock, it’s almost five o’clock! How ‘bout them apples?”

“Once more, I would be impressed that you love to read, but I do the same as well. We teachers must make lesson plans each and every day and night, not to mention read several books so that we might make pop quizzes and tests for our students. That sometimes takes up a good chunk of our nights, too.”

“Fall asleep already!” Rainbow Dash shoved her face into Cheerilee’s, glaring at her and trying to make her concede to the dream world.

“Not going to happen, Rainbow Dash!” Cheerilee once again held her ground, even forcing her cyan counterpart to retreat a bit when she pushed back.

Tension filled the air, both Cheerilee and Rainbow Dash sitting mere inches away from each other, each stubborn mare gritting her teeth and glaring with full intensity. Both hooves being clenched, both ponies tried their best to get the other to succumb, but it wouldn’t work. Cheerilee’s chest heaved in and out, the physical exhaustion beginning to get to her. She had paced herself during the feast, only eating what she felt she needed to, but the exercise had taken its toll on her. For Rainbow Dash, her full belly was her biggest liability instead. The Pegasus was used to strenuous exercise, but she had foolishly stuffed her face without thinking during the feast, leaving her in theoretically the same boat as Cheerilee.

Four o’clock passed, and soon another half-hour was rolling past with both mares still struggling to maintain their focus. Rainbow’s determined rosy eyes continued to bore into the emerald pupils of Cheerilee, but the teacher’s feisty irises fought the inner battle with a heated intensity that just refused to die. Another ten minutes passed, and their bodies began to hurt. At this point, they were just straining to stay on their hooves. They knew that the instant they allowed themselves to fall to the ground, they would lose. Their bodies were just begging for their owners to concede and allow for them to rest. Minute after minute of the silent mayhem bore on, however, with no end in sight.

“I…won’t…lose…” Dash moaned, her body starting to sag forward, her eyelids only a millimeter apart. It looked like she would collapse at any second.

“I’ll…show you…loyalty…” Cheerilee whispered, staggering a little bit and trying to reclaim her balance. Her vision was becoming blurry to the point where all she could see of Rainbow Dash was nothing but a multicolored blob. When her eyesight began to darken, Cheerilee’s body finally gave way and she fell forward. At precisely the exact same moment, Rainbow Dash let out one final gasp before toppling forward as well. Both mares struck the ground at the same time, their eyes closing immediately.

~~~

“They said that both mares fell asleep at the exact same moment,” Nightmare Moon complained, sitting in the infirmary while adding the finishing touches to Twilight’s shattered body.

Discord had joined the ebony alicorn three hours later after taking a little snooze himself, and after forcing himself to go and retrieve Twilight’s immobile body. Upon asking his assistant on who had won, Nightmare Moon explained that the camera crew had informed her that both Cheerilee and Rainbow Dash had seemingly fallen asleep and collapsed at precisely the same moment. This result did not thrill Discord, however, since he did not want two ponies winning individual immunity.

“Out of the question! We’ll just use instant replay to see who hit the ground first, and that will determine our winner!” Discord pointed to the nearest camera pony. “You! You videotaped when both mares collapsed, right?”

“Um, yes sir.” The camera pony, a mare with a dark white body and a dark blue mane, nervously eased her way forward with her camera. “Would you like me to zoom in on when both ponies hit the ground?”

“Yes, that would be very helpful. What’s your name again?”

“Snappy Scoop, sir.”

“Very good; now I won’t have to bother asking ever again, since once is enough. Now, hurry up and use your fancy little camera to get to the part when both Cheerilee and Rainbow Dash hit the ground. My oatmeal is getting soggy!”

After fiddling with her camera for a moment, Snappy Scoop hit rewind and backtracked to when Cheerilee and Rainbow Dash both fainted. Then, she zoomed in as far as she could go, going so far as to nearly see each individual strand of hair on each pony’s body. As Discord and Nightmare Moon both peered at the close-up of the shot, they managed to see the tip of Rainbow Dash’s chin hit the ground only mere micrometers before Cheerilee’s did. It seemed like they had a winner.

~~~

“WHAT?!?! I LOST?!?!” Waking up 10 hours later, Rainbow Dash’s jaw hit the ground when the first thing she heard upon rising from her bed was Scootaloo informing her that Cheerilee had been given the first individual immunity. Scootaloo also tried to immediately comfort and console Rainbow Dash, but the filly’s words were drowned out by Rainbow Dash angrily raging around the cabin. “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! I HATE LOSING! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!?! I HAD IT!”

“Um, well, Discord said something about…uh…instant replay and using a close-up shot or something? I think he mentioned that your chin hit the ground first and…” Scootaloo squeaked as she got interrupted by Rainbow Dash tackling her down in her fit of rage. Normally, as Scootaloo’s cheeks filled with blood and darkened to crimson, the filly would love such close attention from Dash. However, at the moment, she knew that Dash was all business.

“Okay, change of plans, squirt. The elimination ceremony tonight is going to be a big one. How many campers do we need to make a majority?” Rainbow Dash sat down on Scootaloo’s chest, ignoring the filly’s squeaks of discomfort, as she tried to figure out what was half of 13.

“We…would need…seven campers…Rainbow Dash!”

“Ah, that’s right! Thanks, squirt.” Dash smirked down at Scootaloo and gave her a rewarding pat on the head, but then immediately scowled a second later while trying to think about who she had on her side. “Hmm…I know Fluttershy is with me, and I made sure to check with the princess on her intentions, too. I have you, squirt, and I think I may have Derpy as well. How many is that?”

“Um…let’s see…that’s me, you, Derpy, Princess Celestia, and Fluttershy…so, five.”

“Dang. I need two more to be absolutely safe going into the bonfire ceremony; REALLY needed that immunity.” Grinding down with her butt a little, inciting more squeaks of pain from Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash thought harder about who else she could recruit. “Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie are all my friends, but…for what I have planned, they might not go for it. Gilda…I’d rather not butter up to that jerk. Vinyl seems really close to the unicorns, so I doubt I’d get her. Ugh, darn it…”

“Rainbow? What about my teacher, Cheerilee?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head, giving Scootaloo a stern look. “Sorry, Scoots, but she and I don’t really see eye-to-eye. She can’t be a part of this.” Once more ignoring the hurt and somewhat-scared look on Scootaloo’s face, Rainbow Dash glanced up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. Expelling a deep breath of air, she pressed her hooves together. “I think I have my five, but that’s it. I really hope things go my way tonight. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Scootaloo: *rubbing her stomach where the heavier Rainbow Dash sat on her, whimpering a little bit* Ow…Rainbow Dash is really stressed. I hate to see her like that. But…it was her versus my teacher, Cheerilee. I…I can’t go against either of them! I love both of them…in different ways, of course. Why are they against each other? I…I don’t understand. *she gulped, looking scared* This game is…changing.

“So, you understand, right? Rainbow Dash has to go!” Spike said, pacing back and forth in front of Trixie and Vinyl, “That girl is crazy, and she’s here for all the wrong reasons! Well, I mean, I want to win, too…but she’s just crazy! Her attitude stinks, and she just doesn’t deserve to be here. Don’t you two agree with me?”

“Totally, dude! Ya got my vote, hooves down,” Vinyl grinned.

“Even though Trixie does not care for anypony on this island, she supposes that getting rid of that arrogant Pegasus will do wonders to improve Trixie’s chances for the million bits. Count Trixie in.” Trixie gave Spike a nod of approval as well.

“You also have my vote.” Cheerilee trotted over to the threesome, having just woken up a few minutes ago and immediately heading out to find out what happened. She was wearing a very unusual necklace around her neck, which had a stone medallion shaped like Discord’s head incrusted in the center. This was the immunity necklace that the teacher had been given by Discord upon learning that she had won. The earth pony had woken up with it already around her neck.

“Awesome! Thank you, Cheerilee!” Spike pumped his fist in the air, grinning at the three ponies surrounding him, “Rainbow Dash’s flank is as good as gone!”

Spike: *counting on his fingers* One, two, three, four? Yes, four votes! I’m sure that all the other votes will be for different ponies, so as long as Trixie, Vinyl, Cheerilee and myself stick together, Rainbow Dash is finally going home! Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Do you hear that, Silver Spoon? You, Sweetie Belle, and Zecora will all be avenged! Say goodbye to the element of dis-loyalty, because her flank is outta here!

“Who are you voting for, darling?” Rarity looked very happy at getting a good night’s rest, her mane and eyes both sparkling to match her clean flanks and body. The cold shower had worked wonders. When she trotted up to Twilight Sparkle, who was once again confined to a wheelchair for the second time in the game, she looked like she didn’t have a care in the world.

“Rarity…it’s hard to talk…since I think a few bones in my neck popped out of place…” Twilight whispered, only parts of her purple body visible behind all the white bandages she was forced to wear for the day. Nightmare Moon, as always, had informed her that she would be as good as new come tomorrow, but that didn’t make the day any less painful or annoying for the violet mare. “But…I’m voting…for Gilda.”

“Good choice. I will join you in doing the same. That griffon is bad news, and so long as she’s here, I will never feel comfortable.”

“HIYA!” Pinkie popped out from underneath Twilight’s wheelchair a second later, having just finished signing the cast on her left hind leg without Twilight having even noticed. “Twilight, I’m sooooo sorry this happened to you. I somehow feel that it’s my fault, but I can’t remember a thing about last night!”

“Trust me, Pinkie…you didn’t do anything wrong…I was a victim of my own stupidity…again.” Twilight hadn’t informed Pinkie of her little sleepwalking charades from last night. She felt that there was on need in hurting Pinkie’s feelings and making her feel bad about unintentionally making Twilight make a complete fool of herself in trying to protect her.

“Aww, Twilight, you’re not stupid! You want to vote for Gilda, and that’s super smart. I’ll vote for her as well, since she’s just a big meanie. I think I saw her talking with Fluttershy earlier, and Fluttershy wasn’t even cowering! Do you think Gilda has learned how to use ‘the stare’ against her? Wouldn’t that just be horrible? A griffon with a powerful stare is like a brick falling on your head when you run into a building and accidentally dislodge it from the top story!”

“Um…Pinkie, dear…exactly how is a griffon with a powerful stare like a brick falling on your head when you run into a building and accidentally dislodge it from the top story?” Rarity was quite confused, as always, when dealing with Pinkie’s realm of thinking.

“Well, DUH! They’re both painful, of course! One would hurt your eyes, and the other hurts your head!”

Rarity: Putting Pinkie’s interesting thought processes aside, it is pretty clear that Gilda should be going home tonight. She should not have been let back in the competition to begin with! Why not bring back my little sister, who did NOTHING to warrant being voted off so early? Humph. *she flicked her mane with authority at the camera* Well, regardless, Gilda will be sent packing once more after tonight.

Fluttershy nervously peeked around the back of the mess hall, finding Gilda using one of her sharp talons to carve a picture of a skull into the cheap wood of the building. As always, the griffon was by herself, and didn’t seem to care about that fact. So, when the timid yellow mare approached her, easy to say the griffon was very surprised. “What are you doing here, Flutterklutz? Come for a lesson on how to use claws for vandalism?”

“Um…no…I don’t have claws…I have hooves.”

“Whatever. So what do you want then, huh? You’re annoying me already.”

Squeaking and slinking back just a hair, Fluttershy’s legs buckled underneath her while her tail and mane both dipped lower to the ground. Staring up at the griffon’s angry eyes was never easy, but Fluttershy was determined to use her element to try and bring out the good that was locked somewhere inside Gilda’s cold heart. “Um…I just…um…well, you just…I didn’t know…um…”

“Look, if you’re wondering who I’m voting for tonight, what does it matter? Don’t worry, I ain’t voting for your butt, so you don’t have to try and bribe me or whatever.” Gilda rolled her eyes, turning back to her skull-carving and frowning at it, for some reason. “I could vote for any of these losers and be happy. I’ll probably just vote for that loudmouthed unicorn with the blue body or something. Why do you care? You starting to think seriously about the game? A little lame pony like yourself? Ha!”

“Um…I…”

“Well, whatever. If you win, you win. If you don’t, you don’t. I could crush all of these ponies with one hand tied behind my back anyway. If I don’t win the million bits, that’s fine with me. Money isn’t everything. Being respected and powerful and all-awesome is everything!”

“Uh…well, that’s just…um…”

“Do you think this skull could use some more features? Maybe some arrows sticking out the top of the cranium? A snake crawling out the mouth? Some blood smeared inside the eye sockets?”

Fluttershy never managed to say anything worthwhile during her little “chat” with Gilda.

Fluttershy: Um…I really hope Gilda doesn’t go home again tonight. She…um…she is very…uh…well, to put it nicely…very outspoken. Not to mention a bit…um…brash. Yes, brash is a good word to use for her…that’s polite. *she gives a very sheepish smile* Okay…she’s a very rude and mean griffon. But, all the same…I really want to help her. I think I might have a chance! Do you all think I have a chance?

After resting up after the torturous challenge the night before, the 13 campers found themselves all heading to their first combined bonfire ceremony. Cheerilee felt proud to be wearing the individual immunity necklace around her neck, but she would rather get Rainbow Dash out than have immunity. She was more proud of the chance that she had denied the Pegasus her chance at immunity rather than getting it herself. Cheerilee didn’t want to sound egotistic, but she didn’t feel like she was a target. If Cheerilee had to guess, she figured that Gilda would be going home for the second time tonight. She wished that it was Rainbow Dash, though.

“Welcome, my little ponies…and dragon and griffon…to the next bonfire ceremony!” Discord announced as all the campers marched in and took their seats in the wooden bleachers in front of the raging fire. “Tonight, I have a little twist to announce before we get to the voting. Being the sporty and fair host that I am, I have decided that it would just be completely unfair if Gilda, Vinyl, or Derpy went home after just getting back. Therefore, all three of them will be joining Cheerilee with individual immunity tonight!”

“WHAT?!?! DISCORD, THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Rainbow Dash screamed out, now even more nervous about her chances. Gilda was hopefully supposed to have a few votes casted her way. Now that she was being given an unprecedented immunity, along with Vinyl and Derpy, she was starting to get very scared.

“But it’s fair to vote out someone who just returned?” Discord shot back.

“YES! THAT’S THE GAME!”

“Well…it’s my game, and therefore my rules. So, guess what? I say that Gilda, Derpy and Vinyl all have immunity. If you don’t like it, you’re free to quit, Rainbow Dash.”

“I hate you SO much, Discord.”

“Good! Now, with that, let’s not give you ANY time to strategize and rethink what you all were planning on doing before coming here tonight.” Discord grinned at the shocked looks on the campers before continuing on with his usual speech. “You all know the rules by now. Simply vote for whoever you want to leave the island. If you want…and if you’re completely stupid…go ahead and vote for someone with immunity, but the votes will NOT count. You all understand that?”

“Sure do. So, vote for me, but I’m still safe anyway.” Gilda grinned and flexed her muscles, wagging her talons at the ponies sitting around her. When she finally took notice of Twilight in her wheelchair, being the first time she saw her like that, the griffon cocked an eyebrow. “What in the world happened to YOU? I don’t remember using you as a punching bag.”

“It’s…a long…story…” Twilight murmured, “One…I’d rather not…disgust.”

“Plus, we don’t have time for that tonight; we all know how much you love to talk, Twilight.” Discord licked his lips and rubbed his hands together. “Now, shall we get to the action? Princess, since we go in alphabetical order, you get to go first!” He pointed to Celestia, who gave Discord a dirty look before heading off to the confessional to become the first voter during the first combined bonfire ceremony.

Gilda: *showing the camera that she voted for Trixie* Eh, I just don’t like you. You’re annoying and you have a big mouth. Learn to shut it, would you? Stupid dweeb. *she puts the ballot into the box*

Rainbow Dash: *showing the camera that she voted for Spike* It’s time for you to say goodbye. I’ve had all I can stand of you! This is your last stand, Spike. Nice knowing ya. *she puts the ballot into the box*

Spike: *showing the camera that he voted for Rainbow Dash* C’mon, Gilda has immunity, so all the votes should go towards you…right? You NEED to leave, Dash! Right now! *he puts the ballot into the box*

Twilight: *is forced to have Snappy Scoop hold up the ballot, due to her immobility, which shows she voted for Scootaloo* Nothing…against you…Scootaloo. But…Gilda has immunity…and, you’re a little filly…you need to go…before something like this…happens to you. *Snappy puts the ballot into the box*

“All thirteen votes are tallied, and it’s time to reveal who next will be leaving on the Boat of Losers.” Discord snapped his fingers, teleporting the ballot box in front of him. “Once a majority is reached, the decision is FINAL, and the loser must walk down the Dock of Shame and leave, and they cannot ever come back. This time, I mean it! You CANNOT come back. Not ever!”

“For-EVER!”

“Pinkie, are you going to do that at EVERY bonfire ceremony?”

“Yup!”

“You drive a draconequus to drink, you know that?” Discord snapped his fingers and chugged down a bottle of apple cider in one gulp, then tossed the flask behind his back and belched loudly. “Ah, that’s more like it! Now, let’s read these votes, shall we?” He flipped open the top of the box, stared down at the thirteen folded ballots inside, and reached for the first one.

“First vote…Trixie.” Discord showed the ballot with Trixie’s name scrawled upon it with very poor penmanship. Griffon tried to hide the faint blush on her face. Trixie just frowned at seeing her name.

“Second vote…Scootaloo.” Discord showed the ballot with Scootaloo’s name written on it. The filly’s ears drooped at seeing that somepony voted for her, but Rainbow Dash just smiled at her.

“Third vote…Rainbow Dash.” Discord showed the ballot with Dash’s name etched over it. Rainbow Dash just scowled and crossed her forelegs over her chest, throwing a dirty look over in Spike’s direction.

“Fourth vote…Spike.” Discord showed the ballot with Spike’s name written neatly on it. The dragon squirmed uneasily in his seat; it was never a good feeling seeing that others were voting for you. “That’s one vote Trixie, one vote Scootaloo, one vote Rainbow Dash, and one vote Spike.”

“Fifth vote…Scootaloo. That’s two votes Scootaloo, one vote Trixie, one vote Rainbow Dash, and one vote Spike.”

“Sixth vote…Rainbow Dash. That’s two votes Scootaloo, two votes Rainbow Dash, one vote Trixie, and one vote Spike.”

“Seventh vote…Spike. That’s two votes Scootaloo, two votes Rainbow Dash, two votes Spike, and one vote Trixie.”

“Eighth vote…Scootaloo. That’s three votes Scootaloo, two votes Rainbow Dash, two votes Spike, and one vote Trixie.”

“Ninth vote…Rainbow Dash. That’s three votes Scootaloo, three votes Rainbow Dash, two votes Spike, and one vote Trixie.”

“Tenth vote…Spike. That’s three votes Scootaloo, three votes Rainbow Dash, three votes Spike, and one vote Trixie.”

“Eleventh vote…Rainbow Dash. That’s four votes Rainbow Dash, three votes Scootaloo, and three votes Spike.”

“Twelfth vote…Spike. That’s four votes Rainbow Dash, four votes Spike, and only one vote remaining.”

The tension was thick. All the campers were sitting on the edge of their seats, realizing that it now came down to either Spike or Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo was staring up at Dash with frightened eyes, but Dash wasn’t looking at her; she was too busy gritting her teeth and clenching her hooves tightly. Spike was shivering and clenching his fists, throwing a glare over in Dash’s direction now and then. All the other campers not involved with the vote were confused, horrified, amused, or simply shocked. As Discord reached for the last vote, all 13 campers held their breath. When Discord finally flipped open the final ballot and stared at the eliminated camper written on it, you could hear a pin drop over the cackling fire.

“Hmm…technically, this would be the eighth loser of Total Magic Pony Island, due to the fact that we brought back three campers, which theoretically means they were never eliminated at all.” Discord tapped his chin with the ballot, still not revealing the name, and purposely dragging out the tension even more. “So…if we wanted to stay numerically correct, we would be up to the eleventh loser of the show. But, because Gilda, Derpy and Vinyl are back…”

“DISCORD!” All 13 campers screamed at the draconequus in a very loud, combined voice.

“Oh, very well! Eighth loser of Total Magic Pony Island…” Discord finally flipped over the last ballot. “…Spike.”

The effect was felt immediately by all the campers. Celestia, Fluttershy, and Derpy Hooves all looked guilty, trying to not look in Spike’s direction. Cheerilee hung her head in both disappointment and a tad bit of sorrow. Gilda looked disgusted, but was already shrugging it off. Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie were all beyond horrified, their faces frozen in looks of dumbfounded confusion. Trixie looked angry, since she was beginning to appreciate the little dragon after he selflessly took her on his cruise. Vinyl looked disappointed and sad, just like Cheerilee. Scootaloo looked relieved, giving Rainbow Dash a big hug, while the Pegasus was trying to contain her excitement at finally ridding her rival.

Spike was completely crestfallen. His arms hung limp at his side, his face sagged into possibly the saddest face he had ever made. His heart had fallen into a pit of despair. He wasn’t hurt that he lost the chance at the million bits, nor that he had let Rainbow Dash win over him. He was hurt that he hadn’t managed to avenge Silver Spoon by getting rid of Rainbow Dash. He had failed, and the pain he felt inside was excruciating. He tried his hardest to stay tough, but the tears began to fall almost at once from his eyes. Mature on the outside, but always a softie at heart.

“Spike…” Twilight whispered, trying her hardest to hug him, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t use magic, nor could she move her body. She wouldn’t be able to properly say goodbye to her #1 assistant. The thought tore her up.

“Spikey…no…why?” Rarity sobbed, still caring for Spike, despite the dragon rejecting her apology on the airship. “Why…why did you all do this? He…he did not deserve…to go…”

“Hey, kid, chin up, alright?” To everyone’s shock, Discord had floated over and wrapped an arm around the little dragon. He used the thumb on his other hand to lift Spike’s chin so that he stared into the host’s eyes. “You were the only male on this island, save for yours truly, and you still made it quite far! You played an outstanding game, and even though you lost, that doesn’t make you a loser. Well, it does…it makes you a big loser…but, you get what I mean, right?”

Spike wiped his nose on his arm, giving Discord a weak smile. “Heh…thanks, Discord…you know what? Sometimes, you aren’t so bad…” His eyes shot over to where the smug Rainbow Dash was sitting. “Unlike others that I can name.”

“Yes, yes, that’s very touching. But, we only have so much film for each episode, so please hurry up and get moving now, okay?” Discord give a big push, sending Spike flying off the bleachers and very nearly halfway to the Dock of Shame already.

“OW! Geez, I’m going, I’m going! Can’t a dragon grieve for a moment without getting pushed?” Spike grumbled and got to his feet, brushing some dirt off his front, then beginning the hated walk towards the Dock of Shame, towards the oncoming Boat of Losers. Behind him, the remaining 12 contestants all slowly followed after him to send him off; Pinkie was pushing Twilight’s wheelchair.

Rainbow Dash: *cheering and bouncing up and down, pumping her hooved fists in the air* YES! I WON, I WON, I WON! SPIKE GOES DOWN! I DID IT! *she starts to hug herself and give herself pats on the back* Rainbow Dash, old girl, I KNEW you could do it! *she smirks and winks at the camera* You played good, kid…but, just not good enough. Better luck next time around, Spike. See you later now!

“You know, I kinda liked that kid,” Gilda sighed, watching Spike make his way down the Dock of Shame, nearing the edge of the dock. The Boat of Losers was chugging into sight, but wasn’t quite to the island just yet. “Anyone that can beat me in a game of dodgeball is alright in my books. The kid’s got game, and I respect that.”

“Trixie never got to properly thank him for taking her on that cruise…” Trixie sighed, brushing a little bit of her silvery mane out of her eyes, “But…what’s done is done. Nothing can be done about it now.”

“Hey, Spike! Make sure to say hello to Silver Spoon for me!” Dash called out, taking a few steps away from the other contestants, a mocking sneer plastered on her face as she shot out what she thought would be the final insult against Spike. “Have fun! Oh, and you might want to get back to cleaning up Twilight’s library; that IS your job, right?”

Reaching the edge of the dock, Spike felt his blood boiling. All he wanted to do was leave quietly. Dash had indeed beaten him, and while he wasn’t happy about it, he was dragon enough to accept his fate and move on. But, since Dash insisted on provoking him, he wasn’t going to let her get the last laugh. Clenching his fists and baring his fangs, the dragon’s eyes flashed as he thought about what he could say or do to make one final lasting impression on the smug Pegasus. Only one thing entered his mind, and even though he really didn’t want to say it, he knew it would be perfect. With an evil smirk, Spike turned back around.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash? Before I go, you wanna know something interesting?” Spike crossed his arms, his evil grin stretching out a bit wider with each passing second.

“Hmm? What are you going on about?” Dash frowned and raised an eyebrow, wondering what the dragon had up his sleeve.

“Well, you see…you know how Applejack got mysterious eliminated a week ago? The truth behind the matter is…” Spike paused for dramatic effect, then took a big step forward and pointed at himself. “I RIGGED THE VOTE TO HAVE HER ELIMINATED! IT WAS ALL ME! I ELIMINATED APPLEJACK!” He shouted it loud and he shouted it proud, and the effect was immediate.

“YOU…DID…WHAT?!?!” Rainbow Dash screamed, her jaw dropping all the way to the ground, numerous loud gasps being heard from both sides of her via most of the other campers. Twilight and Rarity looked the most stunned of all, while Gilda and Trixie both looked amused.

“Called it,” Cheerilee muttered under her breath, but nobody heard her.

“That’s right, everyone! I rigged the votes to eliminate Applejack, just so I could hurt YOU, Dash! You had it coming, and I have no regrets. So, who’s the REAL loser here, huh?” Spike cackled, slapping his knee and holding a hand over his eyes as he laughed his head off. His laughter, not to mention everything else had said, was heard all through Camp Paradox, including through the Boat of Losers, which had just arrived behind the dragon.

“You…little…CHEATER!” Rainbow Dash’s wings burst out a second later, her eyes flaming and foam nearly forming at her mouth. “I’LL DESTROY YOU FOR THAT!” The Pegasus charged straight towards Spike, both forelegs held out in front of her as she was going for a double-fisted face-smash. All she wanted to do was hurt Spike from now until the cows came home. Spike, however, was having none of that.

“I think not, Dash.” Quickly lifting up his right foot, Spike slammed it down onto one of the planks on the Dock of Shame, causing it to smash upwards and quickly make for a shield. Rainbow Dash ended up slamming headfirst into the plank of wood, immediately knocking her out cold from the harsh impact and causing her to crumble onto the dock. Casually, Spike dropped the propped-up plank onto the unconscious Pegasus, blew a kiss towards all the remaining ladies, then hopped onto the Boat of Losers. “Driver, take me away.”

“That kid is a cheater…and I love it!” Gilda laughed, watching as Rarity wheeled Twilight’s wheelchair forward, both unicorns hurrying towards the edge of the dock. “I can’t wait to see him again. A baby dragon or not, he’s got guts. Much better than any pony.”

Scootaloo: *holding the unconscious Rainbow Dash on her lap, grunting slightly from the weight* Oh, Rainbow Dash! Don’t worry; your little Scootaloo is here to make it feel all better. *she pulled out an icepack and put it on the mare’s head, then gently cradled her face into her tiny chest* Ooh, her breath is warm… *the filly ends up swooning from doing this to Dash, and soon she faints as well with Dash*

“SPIKE! WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A LONG CHAT ABOUT CHEATING WHEN I GET HOME!” Twilight screamed out to the Boat of Losers, ignoring the deep pain in her neck for once as her voice blared out.

“SPIKEY, I STILL LOVE YOU, BUT YOU ARE A VERY BAD BOY AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!” Rarity screamed out as well, shaking a hoofed fist in the boat’s direction, “YOU HAD NO REASON TO DO THAT TO APPLEJACK! SHE WILL PROBABLY GET YOU BACK FOR THAT, TOO!”

“Whatever.” Spike grumbled to himself as the Boat of Losers turned the corner of Camp Paradox, finally vanishing from sight and allowing Spike to no longer hear the nagging of the two unicorns. “Maybe this is a blessing in disguise? After all, a guy can only deal with girls for so long before he cracks.”

~~~

“WHAT an episode, don’t you all think?” Discord grinned at the cameras. “I am sure this episode will be getting ratings by the bushel! Ooh, I can’t wait! But, it’s time to sign off, so let me just say a few words. Gilda, Derpy and Vinyl are all back in the game. Spike is now gone, but has Rainbow Dash really won? Will Twilight ever stop getting herself nearly killed for the sake of her friends? Will the princess ever stop snooping around and trying to find out information about me?” A loud explosion was heard behind his back, followed by screams and curses from Celestia. “My guess is no on that last one. Anyway, make sure you all stayed turned in next time for yet another great episode of Total…Magic…Pony Island! Ta-ta for now, Equestria.” He waved goodbye, snapped his fingers, and vanished in a puff of smoke.

~~~

Spike lounged on his back, relaxing with his eyes closed as the Boat of Losers hummed and continued to carry him away. The windows to the driver’s room were dark, so he couldn’t see just who was driving him away, but he didn’t care. At the moment, he was just busy relaxing and looking forward to getting home. He didn’t notice how the boat suddenly came to an abrupt stop after getting a suspicious distance away from both Calamity Island and any other place. He didn’t notice the door to the driver’s room slowly slide open. He didn’t hear the soft hoof-steps slowly advancing towards him.

“Ah…Luna’s moonlight shines so nice on my eyelids…not too light, but not too dark…just right…” Spike mused, smiling to himself as the moon cast its rays down onto his face. A second later, though, a curious shadow loomed over him and blocked out the light, making him frown. “Hey! What the hay? What’s blocking my…” He opened his eyes, and Spike’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

Spike’s eyes landed on two sets of orange hooves. Traveling up the legs, Spike saw a very familiar cutie mark with three red markings on the flank. Moving to the head, Spike saw a long blonde mane tied into a ponytail. Spike saw enraged emerald pupils. Spike saw a lowered Stetson hat. Spike saw Applejack.

“Hello, Spike.” Applejack’s words were cold, deadly, and brimming with rage. Her teeth were bared, her hooves gently scraping along the flooring of the boat, just as they usually did before Applejack went on one of her temper tantrums. Her hat was lowered over her eyes so that a dark shadow was covering half of her face, allowing only her green pupils to be seen. She was standing right over the top of Spike, and it was very clear that she had heard every word he had said before he left Camp Paradox. It looked like neither Spike nor Rainbow Dash was going to get the last laugh after all. That much was apparent as a lump formed in Spike’s throat and his body paled and began to tremble.

“Oh…crud.”

Comments

[Tailslover13]

People, if it’s not too much to ask, could you please try to leave long(er) comments? Take a look at what ThePassenger says with his comments, for example. Then take a look at comments that give only one sentence or a bunch of annoying emoticons. Really? I really don’t want to sound greedy or anything, but when I put my heart and soul into typing something that is over 30,000+ words long, only to have people give crappy comments that don’t help in the least is rather disheartening. Can’t I get people to share their thoughts about the contestants? Maybe give predictions as to what they think might happen next or want to have happen? I mean, ANYTHING except for crummy little one-liners that read things like:

“Wow, that’s awesome! MOAR!” or “HAHAHAHAHA, SO COOL, MOAR!” or “[insert emoticons here]”

Look, I LOVE long comments, okay? Just like AbsoluteAnonymous says, text walls are awesome and I really enjoy reading them over tiny little things that basically are better left UNSAID. If you can read through over 30,000+ words, I think you can write decent comments that aren’t boring, unhelpful and even a bit disrespectful that take up less than an inch on the page. Come on, people. If I can write a comment like this in only a couple minutes, what can you all do in the time it took to read the latest chapter? Please, I love comments, and I highly enjoy reading them. Realize that long comments get a writer motivated to do more. Dinky little things with one or two sentences? Why even bother?

I’m not trying to sound greedy. All I ask is for a bit more effort in the comments. For those of you, like ThePassenger, who give very lengthy, meaningful, well-thought and detailed comments? I thank you wholeheartedly. I love you guys! For those of you who leave one-liners and spam with emoticons? Thanks for at least reading, but…look at the latest chapter and how long it is, and then look at your little comment. Tell me, is that really right? Just remember: Tailslover13 loves the text walls.

Now, as for this newest chapter, I know that it’s a lot to digest and there’s a TON here, but what did you expect? As a writer who actually cares about putting out professional and enjoyable pieces of literature, I wanted to make sure I put everything in that’s important. Plus, since this is the midway chapter, a lot of stuff happened. I thought about cutting the chapter in half and separating it into two parts, but that would’ve just looked terrible, and it just wouldn’t have worked, so I had to put it all in one chapter. I hope you all don’t mind. Just make sure you read carefully; there’s a lot of stuff here to take in. One more time: READ CAREFULLY!

I’m very sorry this episode took so very long to come out. I’ve been very busy and preoccupied, not to mention I was close to going to the hospital at one point. But, perfection cannot be rushed. I know this is far from perfect, but I wanted to put everything in that NEEDED to go in. I hope you all see the amount of work I put in for all of you readers and fans and followers and so on and so forth.

Thank you for reading!

[Largefish8]

I certainly hope you eventually have RD get her comeuppance...I;m really starting to hate her in this fic. I mean...thoughout the fic, she;s turned into a quite evil little s***.

Nice to see Derpy return. So far, Dash is really crossing the line, manipulating kids? Thats low....real low.

Sorry for the shortness, but I don;t really have that much else to say apart from good work and keep it up.

[ShadowBreeze]

I really hope everyone's friendship isn't destroyed after all this. I still thnk DIscord is slowly corrupting everyone which is why most ponies are acting out of character. I really do hope everyone's friends again at the end of this.

[Bashfluff]

Rainbow Dash...is still an evil little shit, and that's starting to bother me a little. It's obvious you're trying to paint Spike as some sort of hero and Dash as the villain. It's shaky as a concept already, and I don't really know if it would work, but it's only really annoying when you make her act really OOC to do it, and to a lesser extent, Spike. I know I said it didn't bother me THAT much that Rainbow Dash was so...completely fucked as far as character goes, but it gets tiresome when she's constantly in the forefront of the story and she acts like that. I GET a little exaggeration of her character because she's competitive. THAT'S fine; THAT makes sense. But what you're doing here is not exaggeration. I've seen shows like this, and there's always one totally heartless bitch character who acts just like you make Dash act. And Dash is not that character. You had that character in Gilda, so it doesn't make sense why you wouldn't use her if you needed a character to shake things up and be manipulative, heartless, and cruel.

Glad she's back, by the way.

I KNOW that something is going on with Discord doing something to Dash, but it's annoying when it doesn't seem like he's messing with anyone else and Dash is constantly acting like a cunt.

Now that that's over...

Spike is leaving, which I'm fine with. He was shaky character-wise as soon as SS left, and his conflict with RBD took up far too much time, for my tastes. It was going on for too long, and Spike hasn't been that interesting lately. Hopefully this means the other characters will be getting some more screentime soon.

On the S.S. Twinkie Pie, we have one clueless egghead and a very forward party pony in this chapter. It's slightly confusing that you make Twilight so clueless about everything, seeing as we've seen that she pretty much knows that Pinkie likes her, and Pinkie drops hints around her CONSTANTLY, but I dunno. Maybe you'll justify it.

Rarity...is actually better. I didn't mention this in my last review because I had to go back and make sure, but your Rarity has improved a lot of the course of the story as far as quality of writing goes. But I get the feeling that you don't really know what to DO with her now, though. I mean, she had the SS thing, and she was really smitten with Spike...

She already took somewhat of a backseat before, but now? I think the only thing I've seen her do that was somewhat important was that talk with Trixie, and I'm not sure how long ago that was. Speaking of, I was disappointed that we didn't have more love shenanigans going on up there. We had hints and things, but nothing BIG BIG other than that Rarity and Spike thing. Come on, you had the perfect set up!

Meh. I DID like the twist with Spike, but I don't know if you should have brought people back. The really important characters are mostly all that it's down to, and bringing these clowns back seems like just a method to draw things out because some characters need immunity to go through their arcs or do something or another. I'm sure a few major characters will be voted out, but I'm not expecting these jokers (well, perhaps Gilda--by far the one with the most potential) to stick around. And why you brought back Vinyl is so baffling to me I just cannot express it in the written word. How about Applejack? Sweetie Belle? I GET that she's going to be another potential love interest, but we haven't seen much of her throughout the story, so it almost doesn't make sense that we needed her. We already have TWO love interests for Twilight, although it's pretty obvious that she's not going to end up with Trixie,..

I'd like to see this stuff with Twi and Pinkies come to some sort of conclusion. It's been drug out and hinted at throughout more than a few recent chapters, and I think that the relationship would add an interesting aspect to the game.

Dash is irredeemable if Discord hasn't been doing anything to her. There's nothing else you can do for her in this story that could possibly make her portrayal here realistic, so I guess you don't have to worry about her too much...

Most characters still need more screen time than they're getting, and I hope now they get that without the Spike/Dash thing taking up so much space.

So...this chapter was good. But, forgive me for saying so, but this chapter felt like it should have been a stand back and wait for the awesome chapter. It had a lot of potential for some really interesting things, but...it was just okay for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad with (some of) the changes you made here, and I think the story will be stronger for them in times to come, but I just feel like there could have been more done with all of the elements in this chapter.

[MeowthRocket]

Heyas! I just finished reading the chapter! I gotta say I'm liking it more and more! You're putting so much detail into each chapter it's almost like I can hear them actually saying and doing these things! Plus the chapters are HUGE! That alone is a damn impressive feat I must say! Kudos to you, Josh the Meowth, major major kudos. This is turning into one of the best stories yet!!

I am starting to worry about Dashie. I really do want her to go far, yet I don't want her forgetting what she's all about.

Nice to see Derpy, Gilda, and Vinyl all return! They all have something special they bring to the crowd. Derpy an innocence and naivete, Gilda brute strength and guts, Vinyl slyness and fun-loving. All three of them I'm sure will make good ratings for Discord!

The story is really really looking good, but again I'm really hoping that Dashie mends her ways. I really do like her.

I can't say I feel bad for Spike though.... he's about to learn payback can be a GIGANTIC bitch!!! Applejack, kick his ass! WOO!!!!

I am hoping for that one gross-food challenge to come soon! If they thought saliva filled cupcakes were gross, wait until they try roach pizza or wormy spaghetti! Then we'll DEFINITELY be seeing some unique colors in the mess hall, hee hee. Hell, especially from Rainbow Dash, hee hee. I mean think about it... her mane is already colorful... let's see how much more colorful we can make it!

But Dash, take it from me.... EASE UP! I want you to go far and playing against everyone.... not exactly gonna help ya! If you want my advice, Dashie, try maybe apologizing to Cherilee, get her on your side... after all there ARE some bigger threats on the island. I'm just saying what I would personally do.

Anyways I look forward to seeing what happens next in Total.... Magic.... Pony.... Island!!!!

[Knicknack]

I love how you have brought derpy, gilda and scrach back.
your develepment of the charcters are fantastic I especially like what you done with fluttershy and gilda.

I so hope rd goes she is just a b**ch.

Spike's last words I pissed my self laghing go spike and ouch at the end

Twilight, Twilight when will you learn

[Wicksend]

My face when I saw this update

[RLYoshi]

You wanted a long comment? Well, let me see what I can do...

I enjoyed this chapter, though it did have a significant amount of spelling and grammatical errors (though given the sheer size of the chapter, I can kinda understand that). It was pretty good, though I'm really not a huge fan of Gilda returning. I mean, it's all well and good that Derpy and Vinyl are back, but Gilda? Really? She was my least-favourite character in this fic, and even the entire show so far. I am not amused.

As for Spike's elimination...ugh. I had been really hoping it would be Rainbow Dash! She's been getting on my nerves for so freaking long. At least Spike sort of got the last laugh by revealing it was him who cheated at the last second, though I guess Applejack's revenge means he didn't really get the last laugh after all. Ah well; at least he hurt Rainbow right before leaving.

That's the best I could do, sorry.

[Bronyhero92]

Good to see another chapter of this story put up, especially one as big as this. Good work to you Tails!

And some comments on story.
Gotta agree with some of the posts, Rainbow is stepping into some dark places. I mean she was somewhat over-competitive at the start but now it seems like she is obsessed with winning this game. Wonder if the thought that for her to win, she's gonna have to take her friends down as well? But time will tell.

Liked that moment you gave for Gilda and Fluttershy, nice to see that under that gruff attitude she does have a soft spot for our resident cute Pegasus. And gotta give Spike some props for admitting what he did with Applejack, hope that shot at Rainbow will be worth the pain he is going to go through.

Sorry if the post was short for your taste. But I hope the best for this story, the ones you are also working on, and any future projects you have in store for us!

[DevilsMessiah]

Was that a Naruto referance? And holy shit - 40K. You have been busy!

Ok, now I want to rant: Spike, why can't you catch a break little man!? Heartbroken - twice, if you count Rarity too! Beaten down in most challenges (in dodgeball you were a boss though!) Not acknowledged by those around you! Voted off! Beaten up by Applejack (I presume!) I was hoping he was going to win too. It's not pity or anything but he had an element of competition, FAIR competition, which the other people who are eager to win dont, (Rainbow Dash and Gilda), Trixie is an exception, she was a bitch at the beginning but is now changing for the better thanks mainly to Twilight. Spike did what he did at the expense of no one but Dash, it sounds hypocritical but hey, Dash is the opposite! She's even begun to manipulate fillies! Thats not cool on so many levels, I dont care how really, really, creepy the filly is, you dont fuck with them like that! It will potentially scar her for life, being dejected by a role model and then creepily perved upon by her! Thats dysfunctional, shunned and then overly loved! Fucks you up in later life ya'know! Besides, regardless of Scootaloo, she seems to put everyone down just to meet her own ends. I wonder if she's do the same to Applejack if she were still here... Does love transcend Dash's desire/ambition to win? I now have to pass my mantle of hatred from Spike to Cheerilee. Do me proud girl/mare! Beat Dash to the ground and avenge our heroic dragon friend! Now he has to face Silver Spoon too, that must be awkward. "Sorry babe, I lost."

Arrrgh!! Why is your writing so good that I RAGE like this!? I dunno if it's good or bad! I mean, the writings great - the emotions it brings out in me are bad. Just shows you're doing your job I suppose.

I suppose I have to be two sided, no bias right? I mean, clearly it's not cool to rig the votes and I do miss Applejack (she is my second favourite pony after Fluttershy), but I can't help but think this would have all gone smoother if Spike had just cheated Dash out instead of AJ. That way Dash would be pissed at Spike, not Applejack (having the element of honesty pissed at you for a dishonest act must really cane.) This is good as Dash is already annoyed with him so it doesn't really matter. And this leads to another thing... Somehow... AJ, why can't you see Dash is a manipulative, lying, selfcentred, selfserving, self absorbed, evil bitch!!! Screw love being blind! It blinds too much! Open your eyes girl! Dash you will get your comeuppance! It does make me wonder how all the characters would act if we saw them back in their normal routine after this whole experiance.

Ok, I feel better now. Phew, Lamb of God + This chapter = me ANGRY.

Anyhow - Trixie, if Cheerilee doesn't win, I hope you do. You have changed! ... For the better! No longer are you the selfish mare that was present at the beginning, now you have compassion... Sort of. Towards Twilight anyway. You put the team before yourself and seem to somewhat care about others and what they think of you, which in turn makes you strive to better yourself! Not even The Great and Powerful Trixie can resist the magic of friendship! Besides, you are funny as hell. You provide about 85% of my laughs with purely dialogue alone. For that, you have my thanks. Quiets my RAGE a little too...
...
...Not that others seem to be saying anything any different. As an author you have successfully made Dash an international hate icon! Well done, no seriously, well done.

And to those people who hate Dash bashing, (sounds dirty), I just wanna say that I like the normal Rainbow Dash, this fic just brings out the worst in her compettative behaviour. To be honest though, she is my least faourite of the mane six. Crucify me! I dare ya'!

Onto Twi, mother figure number one seeing as Zecora is gone (again I look to the heavens and scream why!), kudos for somewhat keeping it together. Trixie is a problem child, Spike needs looking after, the princess acts like a grumpy child (to be fair she kind of is I suppose...), and Pinkie is well, Pinke. Babysitting her turned out to be very problematic, but hey, you know someone's a great friend when they fight off a FRICKIN' bear to try and protect you, even if you need no protecting. Soo, uhhh: Good job.

Forward to Gilda! Girl, you a bitch. No doubt about it. Despite this, my morals kick me in the gentlemen vegetables as I say these words. I like you. I do. At least you're an 'in-ya-face' bitch opposed to a backstabbing one. And you are cool, about 20% cooler than Da- I can't do it. 120% cooler than Dash. There, fixed. You get what you see, and I like that, even if I dont approve of the things I see. Regardless, the touching diplay between you and Fluttershy was nice. No one can resist the cuteness. NO ONE. I see a budding friendship. Let the conversion begin!

I think I am done. Meh,if i think of anything I'll just comment on the next chapter. Sorry for just ranting for however long. You did ask for long comments though, and I want you to know that we all appreciate the time you put into this.

On one final note. I have not seen the show this is based off of. Is that bad? Just seems weird.

[RubyVesper]

AppleJack finally gets to beat up someone/pony else than Rainbow Dash, whoo!

[moonlight neo]

40k words omfg THANK YOU

[Soulsilver]

I doubt that Applejack would be too harsh on Spike, she's much more understanding than Dash.

[Aquilo]

How the hell did you do this? You made me love Trixie... and hate Dash... are you a wizard?! And i wonder whats with the Dash not being ooc so much.... I can see that you do that on purpouse... but whyy?! And poor Applejack :c But i would do the same if i were in spikes boots... Alot of Twilight shipping you got going in there... I like TwilightxTrixie most... but Twinyl is cool too :3 Im curious about hows that gonna turn out... Also Gilda and Fluttershy... Thats new... BUT I LIKE IT Im kinda dissapoint with spike leaving... And after what Dash did to scoots... well lets just say i understand cupcakes a lot better now. Anyway. I love this fic. Its my second fav im currently reading. My fav is Trip of a Lifetime. Conclusion: You sir are Fucking awesome. Id like to see your non-MLP work too...

[AbsoluteAnonymous]

Before I say anything else, I want you to know that this has to be my favorite chapter title yet. I love all the puns.

Next, I want to express how disappointed I am in Rainbow Dash. I understand that she's canonically a competitive jerk with a penchant for playing dirty, but...she's utterly despicable here. This makes me incredibly sad, since she's my favorite character; but it almost feels as though she's beyond redeption now. At this point, I suspect that Discord's somehow influencing her. That would make sense.

And don't even try and counter by talking about what a jerkass I made Dashie in my story, because at least mine was totally justified what with the stalking and all. Here, it feels shallow, like Rainbow Dash is getting more carried away then feels in-character for her. It seems exaggerated and forced.

I felt the same way about Spike, by the way. I'm glad he's gone. He deserves whatever Applejack's gonna to do him - although admittedly, it's hard to believe she'll be especially harsh with a little kid, even if he is a dragon and a massive tool.

Stalkerloo's worshipful adoration cracked me up like always, but I'm still a little sad about the way the romance element is shaping up in this fic. None of it is badly done, in my opinion, but none of the pairings found here are couples I'm especially fond of. Appledash, Twipie, Rarispike...I don't really enjoy any of them, and it makes me kind of depressed to read. But you already know what couples I do and don't like, so I won't harp on it. It figures you'd give Twilight the most potential love interests, by the way - even though the so-called smartest unicorn in Equestria has somehow managed to remain clueless the entire time.

It's interesting that some of the contestants have returned, but I think it might have been smarter to bring them back one at a time. Three at once feels like a little much. But Discord's "I LIED" made me laugh, so kudos for that; and Gilda's the funny kind of jerk, in my opinion, so I'm happy to see her again. And I loved the actual challenge. I think more reality shows should have staying-awake contests.

I'm not familiar with the original show that this is based on, so I think there are certain quirks to this story that would make more sense if I had a better idea of where it was going. For instance, the cast in TMPI are apparently meant to synch up with the cast of TDI; but that means nothing to me, since I don't actually know any of the characters from TDI.

Overall, I think this chapter was well done; it managed to be clever and funny like always, with a few interesting twists. The only real complaints I have were about Rainbow Dash's behavior and the occasional typo. (I won't list them here because I know how soul-destroying that can be, but it's all very minor stuff. Like, I think you accidentally wrote sweet instead of sweet at one point.)

It was definitely worth the wait, especially since you somehow managed to churn out over forty thousand words. I mean, holy hell, man. This chapter alone is, like, novella-length.

I envy you for your dedication; there's no way I'd ever be able to write something like this. The project you've undertaken is a massive one, and every chapter manages to uphold the quality that your readers have come to expect from you. You should be proud.

NOW GET TO WORK ON THE NEXT CHAPTER.

[AddAccountDeactivation]

Long comment, long comment, how am I going to do this...? Hm, give me a minute...ah-ha, here we go!

First of all, I would like to say that I really enjoyed this chapter. I did notice a couple of weird errors here and there (at some point you called Gilda "Griffon"), though I did open this chapter a few hours ago and just got around to finishing it, but overall it was very enjoyable. Except...Rainbow Dash. Yeah, bet you saw this coming. Maybe it's just because I write her character to be pretty much the EXACT OPPOSITE of the Rainbow Dash here, but I really hate her here. She's just such an unlikable b**** (and believe me, I don't just throw that word out there) that it's darn near INFURIATING.

Beyond Dash I like how this story's going. I like how the other ponies (and Gilda and Spike) are portrayed. Except Scoots. Still freaks me out, but I don't have as much of an issue with her as Dash. The love interest characters offer a bit of extra fun for me, since I'm constantly trying to guess who will end up with who. I'd also like to address our resident little draconic bad-flank, Spike. He was so awesome, and though I'm sad to see him go, I love how his last act was one of such complete, vengeful ownage. Dash deserved everything she got. But I've already ranted about how much I hate her.

Is there really all that much more to say...?

Oh, right. I liked Gilda. Yeah, you did what no author has done before. You made me like a character I've always hated. I want to see how her and Fluttershy interact. Also, I like that she liked Spike. Because Spike was cool.

...Oh, one last thing:

YAY VINYL SCRATCH! I'm glad you brought her back! I liked her in the beginning and I was sad to see her go, so it's awesome to see her show up again.

I think that's about as long a comment I can make without giving you the story of my life. So I'll leave you with all that. Please continue whenever you can.

~Zaiker42

[10000 B_C]

Holy CRAP that chapter was long.
And I can't thank you enough.
Since you like long comments, I've had some stuff brewing in my head and I'm going to write it all below. What I believe to be the character dynamics of each surviving contestant are as follows.
* I will not mention relationships to characters already voted out, such as Rainbow's relationship to AJ or Spike; they're gone, and while they may still affect the character they are of lesser importance*

PRINCESS CELESTIA:
May have a thing for Fluttershy, possibly just a one-time occurrence. SIded with Rainbow Dash in voting out Spike, but feels guilt. Has no interest in winning the game, and wishes to return to her duties and sister.
CHEERILEE:
Has a secret, possibly pertaining to Scootaloo. Sided against Gilda, although the bonus immunities forced her to vote for Rainbow instead of Gilda. Shares a strong bond with Scootaloo, and shares a strong group-ness with her former teammates. Would rather be voted out than see Scootaloo leave.
DERPY:
Close friends with Pinkie Pie, and apparently part of a group to stop the evil Author from writing bad stories. Originally voted out, but returned. Mostly gets along with everyone else, but some find her annoying and too much of a klutz to be useful. Unsure if there is any interest in winning, or if she even knows where she is.
FLUTTERSHY:
May have a possible interest in Princess Celestia and/or Spike, when he was still in-game; Additionally may have a connection with Gilda. One of the Mane 6, therefore good friends with Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity and probably wouldn't vote them out. Helps Celestia every morning to help her deal with homesickness. Has an interest in winning, but may give it up out of kindness.
GILDA:
While still brash, seems to show a nicer side around Fluttershy, who she may have interest in; rivalry with Rainbow, and another possible connection(couldn't stop hearing Rainbow's voice in her head may be a reference to rivalry or possible interest). Bad feelings from others, who she either used as shields or as balls in the dodge ball game she was voted out for. Strong interest in winning, but seems to think she may not win yet is okay with it. Brought back after being voted off early on.
PINKIE:
Definite love interest for Twilight; friendly to everypony, but still afraid of Gilda to an extent. Part of the Mane 6, and would probably not vote for one of her friends. Has no interest in winning, just wants to have a good time and be close to Twilight. Good friends with Derpy.
RAINBOW:
Changed by the island or Discord to be less like her element- main antagonist in the story, besides Discord and Nightmare Moon. Manipulating Scootaloo in a major way, and her friends in the Mane 6 to a lesser extent; also manipulated Celestia into not voting for her. Most of the remaining campers have something against her due to her uncharacteristic actions on the island, but they are divided by friendship and other players to vote out (i.e. Gilda). Wants to win more than anypony else, with the possible exception of Trixie or Gilda.
RARITY:
Possible relationship with Trixie; other interests already voted off. Resentment for Rainbow over Spike, but since she is part of the Mane 6, she is unlikely to vote for any of them. Has some interest in winning, but it's doubtful she will win(in my opinion).
SCOOTALOO:
Has a major crush and hero worship on Rainbow, though she is being manipulated by her idol. Student-teacher relationship with Cheerilee, and seems friendly to the other contestants besides Gilda. Will never vote against Rainbow, but her connection with her teacher may be thrown into doubt if Rainbow asks her to vote for Cheerilee. Last filly on the show, and only wants Rainbow to win.
TRIXIE:
Possible relationship with Twilight; smaller possible one with Rarity. Sided against Gilda, but was forced to vote for another(presumably Spike) because of the bonus immunities. Her character has changed in the time on the island, but she still acts like her old self about half the time. Usually furious with Pinkie Pie. Has one of the strongest and most sympathetic drives to win, to pay back her debts and stop having to live on the road.
TWILIGHT:
Possible interests are many, including Trixie, Pinkie, Vinyl, and an offhand quote about Octavia being beautiful from her point of view. Views the Princess very highly, and is also one of the Mane 6, and unlikely to vote her friends off. Sided against Gilda, but was forced to change her vote to Scootaloo due to the bonus immunities. Has an interest to win, but not as strong as some of the others.
VINYL:
Possible interest in Twilight. In general friendly with everypony, except Gilda. I for one am glad to see her back. Unclear whether she wants to win, but mainly wanted to be back to protect the ponies and Twilight in particular. Voted off earlier, but returned by sneaking onto the Boat of Losers.

I for one am very glad to see Vinyl back, I still believe she was cut off too early and I wanted to see this cool mare chill on the island for more time. I can see how the Island or Discord could be messing with Rainbow, but it either needs to be turned down or everyone else scaled up, or it seems like the island is conveniently targeting only her to make worse. It's possible whatever did it seemed to think Rainbow was the easiest target for changing, but she is definitely becoming a character I don't want to be around.
I am wondering what Cheerilee's secret is about Scootaloo, and I'm got some guesses myself but I'm just hoping it's not pedobear up in here.
>“Today, for you lucky thirteen, we have a very simple challenge.
Lucky Thirteen? I have trickadeckaphobia, please get that out of here.
>Griffon tried to hide the faint blush on her face. Trixie just frowned at seeing her name.
Gilda?
There were some other small errors in here with grammar, but I was too busy reading to pick up anything besides that Gilda one.
Also, where did Mare Do Well go? Did she turn into that suspiciously cute bunny Fluttershy found? Will Fluttershy be the one to turn suddenly against her element next? Who knows...
This may have been the longest comment I've ever written, but your amazingly long and detailed story and chapter were worth it.
Cheers.

[10000 B_C]

Crap. *Triskaidekaphobia, as the Wikipedia article calls it. I was working on memory alone, sue me.

[kinggod]

I have to say i really liked this episode. I was completely on Spike's side on the spikevsdash thing, but i still think this ended well. Were you planning on having all the voted off ponies/dragon to go to a luxurious hotel like in the show?

[Bubbler]

This parallels the show in a surprising good way, whilst still remaining true (more or less) to the characters as we know them. I can't even compare them to the original cast now. I honestly can't stand Dash now, and if I were to place a bet on it, I see it coming down to Gilda and Pinkie. All in all, you, my good sire, and doing the best job at this fic. You deserve a Grammy. Even if this isn't a song, you deserve one.

[ThePinkazoid]

Well this chapter was certainly long ... yet the first I decide finish in a day

[Fallen Prime]

Tailslover, you just encouraged me to be wordy. You are not, under ANY circumstances, supposed to do that. Brace yourself.

*inhaling deeply for dramatic/comedic effect*

First, general consensus for this chapter: loved it, as usual. I noticed some slips in spelling and grammar, and I guess the length of the chapter is what's prompting me to take notice, but I've never let it influence my opinion of the story unless it was completely godawful. Plus, it was all little things that would be easy to miss in a proofread. Again, I think the only things making me mention it are A. the length of the chapter making it feel like there are more, and B. your insistence that the comments you get should be long ones, which I still think will end badly. And you based it off of one of the episodes of TDI that I remember most clearly, and I can appreciate that.

Now picking at the finer details (classic Rarity): I was a little worried that you wouldn't be able to stretch the series out long enough to hit 26 episodes. I figured you'd stick to formula by disbanding the teams and bring a pair of past losers back (and having seen TDI, I KNEW it'd be Gilda and Derpy), and no surprise, you did. But hell yes for Vinyl Scratch stowing away on the Boat of Losers! I felt she needed a bit more time to be fleshed out as a character, which I was logically afraid wouldn't happen as the first to go, but at the same time I came to grips with it. Of course, I'm delighted she's back since it not only gives her a chance to shine (and develop the dynamic she has going with Twilight), but it also means this thing's booked through to 25, with 26 obviously being an epilogue. I hesitate to say a conclusion in case the sequel gears are turning in your head. I'd still be in for one, though I never could get into Action.

And, though I'm going to be brief for just this segment, I loved the time you devoted to the week's hiatus given via airship. It means more scheming to be done and more conflict resolutions to tease and deny. I knew from the start that Twilight and Trixie would be in it for a looooooooooooooooooooong time once they started to bond despite themselves, and they still have plenty of kinks to iron out.

It's a shame the Spike/Rarity subplot has to postpone that closure (which I hope to see in either her elimination(?), the last challenge, or the finale). It was kind of heartbreaking to see Spike leave, in spite of all he'd done. He'd lost somepony he came to care about, due in no small part to the efforts of a certain aerial egomaniac, and he was very clearly still hurting from that. It hurt to see him go for A. that reason, 2. the fact that he's leaving Rarity saddened and unforgiven, and #. the rivalry between him and Rainbow Dash being one of the most interesting parts of the story. And I have more to say about Dash, but more on that later. Gotta say, though, I won't fault Applejack if she intends to beat him to a bloody pulp.

I already spoke about Vinyl, so I'll move onto the two who legitimately returned. I'll start with Derpy, since I've got less on her. I'd been waiting to see her return, and I was excited when she did, because she was another entertaining character, if not one that falls into the same little hole as Vinyl. I just lost it at the pebble bit; I figured the trauma reversal would be pulled on her, but I never thought the knockout impact could be that tiny.

And Gilda... well, this story's doing another thing right, one I don't see too often. You're making her a violent bitch, as is her nature, but at the same time, you're turning her into a more sympathetic character. For one thing, there's her respect for Spike, stemming from his being a dragon and his ability to eliminate her in the dodgeball challenge. (Huh. Firefox's spell check doesn't recognize dodgeball. Weird.) What really sold me on her character, though, was her little moment of bonding with Fluttershy. A griffon has her pride, but it doesn't mean she can't care. If the poor mare can work up the nerve to have another meaningful conversation with her - one where she can get a word in edgewise - if would do wonders for her.

I got the character development ball rolling, so far be it from me to stop (but go me for holding a topic for so long!). It was a huge treat to see Cheerilee finally start to show signs of the game getting to her. Even the TV Tropes page is insisting that this whole time, she's the one who's most consistently kept a grip on sanity, last I checked. I love that she's giving a genuine fuck about Scootaloo as a teacher, a (former) teammate, and because of the reason. I'm bummed about Spike getting voted off, sure, but at least the role of Dash's rival can be filled, and by someone with a less vindictive reason for butting heads with her.

But now it's time to talk about Rainbow Dash, as promised. You see - holy hell, I've been typing this for an hour now. Longest. Wall of text. EVER.

Where was I... oh yeah, Dash! Anyway, so Twilight's getting pretty popular with the ladies right now. I'm not gonna lie, the words "Mary Sue" flashed through my head for half a second after Vinyl's ecstatic welcome, but I can't say that about the pony that, let's face it, is basically me if I had hooves, ovaries, and magic. Plus, Vinyl and Trixie had to work their way into her circle of people she cared about, and the latter was trying to avoid just that. And I do like Twilight's singing VA, so Vinyl's initial approach about an opportunity to work those vocal chords was justified. Pinkie's the only wild-card element in the little triangle forming around her, and Pinkie is nothing if not a living, breathing wild card for the universe.

Which, of course, brings me around to talking about her now. I noticed the ranking on your profile page, and I've read the TGWP comments from time to time (especially on those final chapters), so I'm no stranger to your general dislike for Pinkie Pie compared to much of the rest of the main cast. (She's actually my favorite since my best friend's just like her, but arguments over best pony are kinda stupid.) That said, I'd never have been able to tell if she was any lower in your favor than other characters with the way she's been written here. She's just as batshit crazy and energetic as ever, and usually at fault for any giggle fits the story wrenches out of me (I did not expect her to drop like a fly right at the start of this challenge). On top of that, her unrequited crush on Twilight is another subplot I like keeping closer tabs on, since it's the more interesting and less creepy of the two big ungodly obvious one-way romances. Seriously, Scootaloo, start accepting the damn help your (more-than?-)teacher's trying to give you and lay off the Dash.

...Fuck, this was supposed to be about Dash. Well... best for last, right? I gave it a passable segue, so NOW I'll get to her, and this is a long one.

I'm... for all intents and purposes, conflicted. Mostly about her current position as head antagonist of the remaining campers.

I'll start on the negatives since I like to deal the blows first and soften them later. I have a lot of respect for Rainbow Dash, and I know you do too (ranking list again, I guess). I think that's what makes seeing her as the enemy uncomfortable to me. It's partly the drift of her motives from winning it all to winning it all and leaving the others in the dust. It's partly, if not mostly, the methods she's been using to further her goals, which as frequently lampshaded blatantly defy her Element of Loyalty. On top of that, these tactics are pretty underhanded, even for her. Seriously, the whole thing with manipulating others' votes... Trixie did the exact same thing, and at least she got plenty of shit for it. Spike did it too, though much more directly, and he's probably getting shit for it that he's gonna feel for weeks. I feel a bit cheated that the only comeuppance she's gotten for that so far was a chewing-out from Cheerilee when she tried to sway her too. And then - and then - there's the way she's screwing with Scootaloo. The poor filly's too blinded by her increasingly irrational devotion to see how evil this game's making the subject of her infatuation. Too much more will probably fling her into the Moral Event Horizon.

On a positive note, as much as I like Dashie and as much as I like seeing her as a sympathetic character, putting her in a more villainous (or at least morally ambiguous) role is a fun change of pace. Out of the Mane Six, she's probably the one that, under normal circumstances (gotta stress that due to these poor ponies' knack for snapping like twigs), I can most plausibly envision as a villain. Maybe not a hyper-competent one, but a damn good Bond villain at least. I can also let a little of what Dash has done slide since she'd just lost AJ in the previous elimination challenge, but I still say she's teetering on the edge of the MEH with Scoots getting played like that. And even on that note, she did clearly serious the fuck up when Discord went over Fillydelphia's origin story, even if she didn't know why it so grabbed her attention. I thought of AJ as the factor keeping Dash in check once she started getting extreme, and seeing that factor gone scares me a bit, but I hope she'll dwell on that story and notice the parallels the excerpt had to Scootaloo's plight. What it boils down to, I guess, is that the exterior's rotting, but the core's still fresh and able to be salvaged.

Oh my god. I've created an essay. See, I warned you. I can tangent with the best of them. This is easily my longest comment ever on this site. All for you, Tails.

[Vicron]

I'm starting to want RD gone more because I don't want to see what Cheerilee will do to her when she finally snaps. "Beware the wrath of a patient man."
But then another part of me wants to see Cheerilee kick some flank.
Poor Scoots, she's so oblivious.

[shadow0knight]

40,000 words?! It's 10:55 pm and I just finished reading it. (That's sad)

I wasn't surprised with Gilda and Derpy returning, but Vinyl really caught me off guard.

Tons of gameplans in a Survivor style which I love and respect. But I have a feeling who's going next.....Gilda. I can sense it.
I'll update the Edgic tomorrow.

[CharginChuck]

Holy crap, it feels like my eyes just ran a marathon. It took me more than three hours to get through this, and I have no complaints. Not to mention the comments, though I only skimmed the longer ones (sorry, but I just didn't have any endurance left).

So, thoughts....

I was fully expecting Gilda and Derpy to come back, but Scratch was certainly a pleasant surprise. I can't wait to see how her personality develops in the coming chapters.

As much as I hate Gilda as a character (and her early elimination was entirely justified), I'm actually glad to see her back. She definitely has potential to shake things up in this story. But I have to say, the part with her and Fluttershy just didn't quite sit right with me. It just seemed way OOC for Gilda, and the whole thing came out of nowhere. But you're clearly going somewhere with it, so I'll try to take a wait and see approach on this one.

As for Derpy, well who doesn't love Derpy? Even if her particular story doesn't go anywhere and she's just there for comic relief, I have no complaints (in fact, I think I may be rooting for her to win now).

I have to say, the elimination had me on the edge of my figurative seat. It's a bit sad to see Spike go, but he did kind of seal his fate when cheated. As much as I would have liked to see Dash get the boot, I do really want to see where the whole Mare Do Well storyline goes, so I guess she kind of has to stick around for a while.

Overall, this was another awesome entry into my favorite fic. Can't wait for the next (but to be honest, I do kind of hope it isn't quite so long).

Was that long enough? I don't usually write long comments (I tend to be more of a "2-3 lines + emoticons" kind of guy, so sorry about that), plus it's late and I'm tired, but I did my best.

[Tailslover13]

277783 277852 277992 278113 278119 278138 278516 278521 278845 278964 279653 279889 280738 280984

Thank you all SO very much for actually bothering to listen to me whining about longer comments. I was astounded that anyone actually LISTENED, and was close to tears when I saw and read all these wonderful comments. I truly am grateful and want to thank each and every one of you so very, very much! Oh, and to those I didn't hit "reply" to? I thank you as well, but I just didn't want to list every single person on this comment. Plus, all the people I replied to on here wrote freaking-long comments that I was shocked and pleasantly surprised by. You all deserve big hugs and pats on the back! Really, thank you! You know? Seeing my Trope page get updated after every update, plus seeing all these great comments, is what makes me very, very excited and makes me want to press on with the next episode. So, all of you are my driving force. I love you all!

I suppose I SHOULD address a few issues that I've seen. Naturally, I read each and every one of your comments. Only jerk writers wouldn't read their readers' comments, after all. Plus, I love feedback. Anyway, I guess I should address a few things:

1. I have grown tired of constantly reiterating my reasons for making Dash the way she is, so I'll just say this: please don't stop reading just because of Dash's attitude. All will be explained later on. Just please don't stop reading. You can voice your displeasure all you want, and you can complain that it's out of character, but I have my reasons, so since I don't want to ruin anything, I'm not saying anything else on the matter.

2. Gilda wasn't really out of character. Yes, she was the same jerk as always, but don't you think she would've LEARNED, at least a little bit, after being voted out from before? Her scene with Fluttershy wasn't "forced". The lullaby that Discord played drew them both together. Music is a VERY powerful thing, you must understand. It can soothe even the greatest of beasts. Fluttershy and Gilda's back-story about the song played key as to why the two got along for the moment, and Fluttershy has her reasons for visiting Gilda later on. Just trust me on this. Once again, I have my reasons.

3. All the relationships pertaining to Twilight Sparkle are meant to symbolize just how fragile, unique, and different each brand of romance really is. It's kinda hard to explain. I know AbsoluteAnonymous will disagree with me, but I feel that Twilight is the perfect character for shipping purposes. One way that she's perfect is because you can play with the fact that she can be totally oblivious, due to her reclusive past and her bookish attitude. Another way is that she can explore, experiment, and try to learn more about a subject that she honestly has no knowledge upon. I know that AA doesn't like the pairings that I do, and that's fine; personally, I don't care for HIS pairings, so there! The reason Twilight is so focused upon is because, when dealing with Twilight, you get many different aspects of romance and friendship. Take her three main "suitors" for example. Pinkie's crush and her constant showing of it leads to Twilight being confused. Vinyl's style of being close to Twilight, bragging her up, and just talking with her is more natural to Twilight, and she can relate to the white unicorn a lot easier, thus she can "feel" things a bit easier in this form. Trixie and Twilight are both clueless about each other, which is a third different way to try and form some kind of relationship. So, do you get what I'm trying to say?

As for everything else, don't worry; things will get better and start to become clearer. Or not, at least not until towards the end. *smirks* Anyway, thank you all SO much! I hope your long comments continue on for future updates, too...so long as you don't mind, that is.

Oh, and P.S. to all of you interested. Believe it or not, I despise Pinkie Pie and I LOVE Rainbow Dash. You wouldn't think that while reading my stories, right? Mostly because I usually write Pinkie as being a sweetheart and a crazy little ditz that we all love, while I write Dash as being a jerk-ass who enjoys mocking and picking on others. Well, believe it or not, I don't let my personal feelings get involved with my writing. Plus, this might seem odd, but when I write about a character being evil or constantly being a jerk, not to mention always getting hurt or getting humiliated, it's my way of showing them love. In MY eyes, I would rather my favorite characters be on center stage, rather than in the background and not doing anything. So, do NOT think I hate Rainbow Dash; I LOVE her, okay? I love her to death; she'd probably be my ideal best friend! I just have my reasons for why I write things, alright?

[Drake2010]

Okay... long descriptive text... let's see... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

First, I've been waiting for this to update for nearly a month, and now it updates. 40 K words? Huge twists? Coneuppance? Dude, you may have outdone yourself with this chapter!

When tis fic was going on, I thought it would follow the same basic formula of the actual TDI show, with elements of MLP interwoven, and a few personal twists courtesy of you. I was not disappointed, and this chapter, long and detailed, still delivered.
I'll say, I kinda expected Gilda and Derpy to come back, as per the TV show. But I was pleasantly surprised to see Vinyl Scratch return.

VS: I was saddened to see her leave at the first elimination, because you would have had a chance to develop her character. Which is why I'm glad she's back. I don't think she'll be staying long... but if her character's anything like the party dude, I'm thinking she'll go far. But you will surprise me, like you always do.
Gilda: I'm not surprised to find her returning, since they did that in the show. I was, however, surprised to find that she is still there. I like how you've given her an arc to work through. I worry that, once the arc ends, Gilda has no place left in the competition.
Derpy: ... Yeah. I have nothing to say about her return. I'm calling comic relief.

Now, onto the others:

Pinkie Pie, Celestia and Fluttershy all have no real place in the competition other than their interactions with the major characters who have their own arcs.
Trixie: I still do not know how to look at her at this stage in the competition. Sure, she's changing and the Twixie bits have a chance to play through. I haven't forgotten the Rarity arc she's involved in. I know you're going to pull out Trixie's story later, but for now, I'm staying oblivious.
Cherrilee: She had nothing going for her in the past, except being a role model for the chicken, but now the competition with Dash has eearned her a place in the competition. I do worry that, due to Cherri's status as the least important character, she'll be gone within a few chapters. Same for the orange chicken. Other than her infautation with RD, she has no real place in this competition. However, I'm kind of looking forward to the bit where she realises Dash's true intentions, she'll badmouth her off (Like Lindsay did Heather in the show). Otherwise, the history you gave in the challenge has no real place.
Dash... Dash Dash... I have no doubt she'll go far in here, and I like the massive character development you've given her. However, with the other contestants (save for the dodo) becoming increasingly aware of her attitude change, I doubt she'll last long.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the arc with Sparity, but after Spike rigged the votes, I knew he was gone next. I do understand his intentions, but to cheat like that? And vote one of his close friends out? He practically signed his elimination letters that night. But on to the point I really want to talk about; the Sparity. This was the only reason Rarity would still be in the game (apart from the bit with Trixie) and now that this is gone, I think she'll be leaving soon.

I do like the interactions between the characters, and I hope that you touch on the Sparity further. As much as the SpikexSilver Spoon thing is adorable, I still don't like it. I find it ironic that Spike was brainwashed by love to sabotagee his own teammate, and I hope that he sees the error of his ways. Because, I really want the two to make up. Leaving it at that doesn't feel right.

*looks up*... CLOSE ENOUGH. Anyhoo, keep up the good work!

[RLYoshi]

281031 I'm not gonna stop reading because of Rainbow, don't worry. This happens quite a bit when I read fics; I find myself loving the fic, but hating one character's attitude or actions. I still keep reading the fic though.
And...well, as long as Gilda doesn't go axe crazy like she did in the dodgeball challenge...

[Nazkan]

Open currently tracked stories.
New Magic Pony Island
Forty thousand words
How the hell am I suppose to read forty thousand words? It's ridiculous! I could build a dog house in the time it takes me to read all that.
Other than that, AWWWWWWWW YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH, Vinyl's back. No chance of winning, but still back.
This chapter was pretty good. I was surprised when Gilda came back, and I expected Derpy.
I got confused at the end though and thought Discord was eliminating RD, Spike, and Scootaloo. To me, that would of seemed like a brilliant move, but from a story standpoint I understand why you didn't do it.
Really don't like what you did with Rainbow, since she's a pretty cool character, but every story needs an antagonist, and this story would be terrible without her the way she is. Looking forward to some more Gilda, like the way you handled that so keep it up.
That seems all there is to say, other than the fact that Spike getting voted out was kinda obvious.
Keep up the good work.
Nazkan
P.S. What happened to Mare-do-well? Is she still a major plot point or has that been pushed to the side for now?

[burgersteakcurry]

Well since you hate short comments, here's a medium sized one lacking emoticons. I'll just write some of my thoughts on this chapter.
I'm surprised you got rid of Spike since he was the only male contestant.
I love how you brought Gilda back since she was voted off before getting to change.
As for Vinyl and Derpy, I don't see how they will contribute much to the story besides a friendly face and comic relief, but I still enjoy their presence.
Applejack at the end was really random and I feel sorry for Spike since he was basically the good guy.
I love how you made Rainbow Dash kind of the antagonist in this.
I would love to see Trixie, Rarity or Gilda win.
Good chapter. I love long chapters.

[ThePassenger]

*groan* Just because I saw it coming doesn't make it easier to read...

On the up side, good to see a new chapter up. You were NOT kidding when you said the dynamics were going to be shaken up. Also pleased to see you had a change of heart with the awake-a-thon challenge, I always loved the character developments and dynamics of that challenge.

QUICK HIGHLIGHT REEL OF QUOTES AND OTHER MOMENTS

My first highlight comes from one of Rainbow Dash's confessionals, namely the one after her argument with Cheerilee-

*not giving any thought to WHY they said it, she snarls and smacks her hoofed fists together*

*chuckle* okay, not technically a quote, but it's nice to see the writing finally acknowledge Dash's self-destructive 'shoot first and ask questions later' gameplay (which I am convinced will be the death of her btw).

Next up is the formation of what I consider to be the best alliance this game has-

Pinkie Pie: "That's easy, silly! The point I'm trying to make is that I want us to go to the final 3 together! Pinkie, Twilight and Trixie, the three best friends! One will win a million bits, but our hearts will always keep us united no matter what!"

*blinks twice* *goes back and reads the comment I posted on chapter 13*...Okay, the Dash thing was a clue, but after putting the three mares I predicted as the final 3 in an alliance, I KNOW you're reading my comment closely (and if you are, please keep doing so). In all seriousness, I know that this is going to be an impactful minor storyline, unlike that Mare Do-Well one that you probably scrapped due to...Source material.

The returning campers section, with my live reactions-

Me: Oh, so he IS bringing contestants back after all! It's good to see Gilda again, but I already figured he was being going her back if he did this. Cue Derpy in three...two...one...right on schedule, and hilariously so. So it's on to the cha-Wait, is that who I think it is? Nah, I'm imagining things, no way he wou-HOLY CRAP VINYL SCRATCH! I KNEW YOU DEVELOPED HER LIKE MARY SATARIN (ask shadow0knight...again) FOR A REASON! aSDsDkjkjgFvgjfKJghjtdJKuVkuuIghjfHk!

...Yeah, I was pleased.

The challenge itself, for reasons stated above.

The elimination ceremony. Yeah, Spike going home bummed me out, but the whole reveal of him being AJ's saboteur was very cool to read. Cheerilee's "Called it" quote was a nice little continuity nod, and Spike knocking out Dash without touching her was awesome, and it made me think of a little foreshadowing for Dash's own elimination.

As stated above, Dash's style of gameplay is shoot first and ask questions later, which showed here-She rushed at Spike in a blind rage. Since she did get hit by that board, it is quite obvious she didn't see the board. Now, if her attack represents her gameplay and she didn't see the board, perhaps the board represents unforeseen consequences of actions? I don't know, I'm probably reading to deep into this, but I'm hung up on it and I'll be watching the proceeding chapters VERY closely.

So now, after that huge comment, I suppose your expecting me to post my thoughts on the remaining contestants tomorrow, right? WRONG!

You see, tomorrow I am going to a place with no Internet connection and abysmal 3G service (even if it was good, I am NOT typing one of my regular comments on an iPhone.)so I'm just gonna go ahead and knock out all my thoughts in one go.

First of all, the returnees. It's obvious none of them are winning, so I'm only dedicating one paragraph to them. Gilda will hopefully last longer than Eva did when she came back, develope her relationship with Fluttershy a bit, go out around the final 9, and get that CMoH/CMoA everypony ( and dragon and zebra) got except her when they got the axe. Derpy will go out in the same fashion and placement as Izzy, and it will be hilarious. Vinyl will last longer than both of them, get together with Twilight (I hope), go out at the final 6 or 5 a fully developed and laugh worthy character. And it will be sad to see her go.

(commentor's note: before anyone replies to this comment and protests that Vinyl should be with Octavia or something in that regard, allow me to explain. Firest of all, I love that pairing to DEATH, and don't ever think otherwise. Second, it's not that I hate TwiPie or Twixie, quite the opposite, but Twixie has been done to death and while TwiPie isn't as common, I can think of better pairings for both of these ponies, especially Pinkie * coughfluttershycough* sorry, seasonal allergies. Anyhow, on with the show.)

Do I even need to write anything for Twilight at this point? She's been developed better than anypony left, she got the notoriety on the show, she got not one, not two, but THREE mares perfectly willing to the 'horizontal tango' (if you catch my drift) with her...Yeah, I'd say she's got a shot.

However, if their's one pony that can prove me wrong at this point, it's Pinkamena Diane Pie. She's been developed just as well ( if not a bit more subtle mind you), is also a main character on the show, is one of these three mares interested in Twilight, and I think she's just getting started.

Call me crazy, but I think Cheerilee has become the embodiment of us commentors-she's having to deal with Rainbow Dash's brashness( which has been cranked up to eleven I might add), and I'm sure that up until this point she had a deep respect for all the elements of harmony. She doesn't like the way Dash is, and worst of all she never saw it coming. I don't know how long she'll last, but I know that me and Cheerilee are gonna get along juuust fine.

Scootaloo, Scootaloo, Scootaloo, how far you've come. I remember that in my first comment on this story I predicted that she was gone in three episodes and would go out on a whimper basically. While I don't think she's top 5 material at all, I know for a fact that her elimination is going to have a HUGE impact on how Dash's character progresses here. More on that later.

Rarity has pretty much run her course in this fic. Now that Spike is gone, she has no one left to interact with on a deeper level, and that is a tell tale sign for elimination at this point. I expect her gone in one or two episodes.

...So does anyone wanna tell me where the heck Fluttershy came from? I mean it, before this chapter she had no semblance of story whatsoever and was a safe bet to eliminate from the competition. Then Gilda comes in and actually gives her someone to bounce off of and develope with. She definately isn't going anywhere near the million bits, but their might be more episodes left in her than I thought.

Celestial, simply put, is going no further than 7th. She's doing the same old shtick she was doing at the start of the story, hasn't really gone through any major character changes that weren't glossed over, and is still Discod's chew toy. Yeah, not winning.

Rainbow Dash is an interesting case- I HATE the way she is now, but I'm oh so interested in where she's going. She was even more tolerable than usual in this chapter, showing legit comcern and astonishment when Discord told her about the origins of Phillydelphia and showing she actually has a few strategic bones in her body. I still think she has no chance in hell of winning, but I am anxious to see where this goes.

So NOW must be the end, right? WRONG! AGAIN!

I'd actually like to theorize and contemplate a bit here. Some wild mass guessing, if you will. *clears throught*

SCOOTALOO'S ELIMINATION WILL BE IN THE SAME VEIN AS LINDSAY'S.

Think about it. This fic has already taken a healthy dose of plot elements from the actual show, so why not use one of the most prominent. It'll come in the biker challenge of course, and Scootaloo will be the second pony to finish. However, since everypony else's bike is totaled, and she and Rainbow Dash's bikes were the only one to finish, she is out.

Now, Dash will have won immunity for finishing first, and Scootaloo will plead with her to give up so she can stay in the game. However, Dash will still have her mind on winning, and refuse this ( drawing the ire of her fellow contestants)

As a last ditch effort, Scootallo will confess her not so secret feelings for Dash. Dash, of course, will respond with the age difference and same gender argument (maybe not the latter, for obvious reasons). From here, Scootaloo will go on a similar triade the filly in Twilight's history book did (with Discord lampshading the situation with quotes like "I feel like we've been here before, have we been here before?" and " Oh my god, this IS happening again!")

Dash will respond to this with her bringing up the fact she's in love with AppleJack, and simply stating "accept it" or something to that regard. Scootaloo, unlike the filly in the story, will simply whisper "okay" and walk towards the dock with tears in her eyes. Feeling a bit guilty, Dash will turn around...Right into the icy stare of Cheerilee.

Cheerilee will then proceed to open up the can of worms, and absolutely TEAR INTO Dash on the whole. From here, the decision for 'redemption' and 'all hope lost' will differ...

In redemption, Dash will be speechless after this speech, and only stand still I. Shock as Cheerilee dashes past her ( pun intended) to comfort Scootaloo before she goes. After a moment or two of holding this pose, Dash will go in the same direction as Cheerilee with the same intention.

Once she arrives at the dock, she will be relieved to find Scootaloo still waiting for the boat. She won't be quite as pleased to see Cheerilee their beside her. After a brief confrontation(in which Dash will remain silent) Scootaloo will tell her teacher to let Dash speak.

Here, Dash will practically beg Scootaloo for forgiveness. She'll realize her method was wrong, but pleads with her to understand her motive (no Patton reference here, nosiree) and ask if they can merely be friends. Scootaloo will respond...With tears do joy in her eyes, stating that the fact that she came to see her off like this was enough for her. After a massive hug, Scootaloo will depart, waving to both Cheerilee and Dash as she is ferried off to playa de loser.

In all hope lost, Dash will fire back with the same argument she used in this chapter, only going so far as to insult her work for example. She will go on to say that she was an element of harmony and she had no right to talk to her in such a manner. The severity of her voice and threatening stature will cause Cheerilee to back down...

Enters Twilight Sparkle. Twilight will take all of the points Cheerilee made (which should have some merit), use some her own observations, as she is closer to Dash than Cheerilee is, and basically crank the volume up to THIRTEEN.

We will then dissolve to the dock of shame, in which Scootaloo is saying goodbye to the fellow contestants. Dash will be at the end of the line, and when Scoots gets their, Dash will simply state "Just...go." After this, Dash will go on an immunity streak that'll carry her to the top 4, all the while staying the same way she is now, and get voted out at aforementioned point. (I really hope it's not this one)

WHEW, finally done. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go please my inner 'They Might Be Giants' fan and go listen to 'Doctor Worm' and 'Birdhouse In Your Soul' for the twenty seventh time today (no product placement here, nosiree bobtail cat) TTFN, ta ta for now!

[Rubiks_Err0R]

I know you want longer comments, but I only have one thought, and padding it would be wrong to me, so I'll just say it:

I really hope Rainbow Dash gets voted out soon. She is becoming unbearable to me and I don't think I can take much of her anymore. I'm sorry, but that's how I feel.

[blaa6]

To author: You magnificent bastard.
To Spike: Fuck you, asshole. (Terminator for the win)
To Applejack: Shit on his grave for me, will ya?
To Me from Applejack: I'll shit in his mouth, too, sugarcube.
To Rainbow Dash: I'm here. I'll comfort you. *She hugs me and cries in my mane(OC's mane)*

[RTStephens]

Ugh. You posted this during the busiest time of the week for me and I had to stop and go on this chapter several times. Freakin' huge!

Now then, if it was your intent for the readers to hate Rainbow Dash, you're doing a splendid job. I know she's got to stay around at least until the Mare-Do-Well side-plot is finished but dear Celestia is she getting nasty. And creepy.

I see that Trixie is bouncing back and forth with her emotions. Interesting way for her to stay interesting as bitchy Trixie is best Trixie.

Heh, I actually voted for Vinyl to come back as I felt she hadn't gotten enough development. I honestly couldn't care less for the other returnees as Derpy never appealed to me and Gilda, while showing some chemistry with Fluttershy, isn't going to be sticking around very long me thinks.

I'm glad to see Spike leave and not because I don't like the little guy. It's just that the confrontation with Rainbow Dash was getting repetitive and a little uncomfortable. His story is over now that he's had some measure of revenge. At least he got a week long cruise out of all this. Seems he prefers unicorns...

Though Cheerilee appears to be picking up his case. She's going to be a wild card in all this from the looks of it. It's always the unassuming ones...

It's a wonder that Twilight can even function at all with all the bodily harm done to her. Her bones must be liquified at this point. She really needs to stop trying so hard.

Well, not much more to comment other than it was a wild read and I'm looking for more. You're going to hit over 500,000 words at this point!

See ya!

[wolfgirl66]

I wasn't planning on leaving a long comment, but if you really want to know...

I think Rainbow Dash is becoming more and more like Heather as time goes on. Scootaloo of course being her Linsey. Cheerilee is awesome, I hope she makes it longer than Dash. I would like to know the following : What are Fluttershy's nightmares about? Who is Mare-Do-Well? What happened to that pony who is supposed to be roaming the island? WHY DID YOU TAKE SUCH A FAN FAVORITE LIKE SPIKE?!?!?!?!? What is Cheerilee's secret about Scootaloo.
I'm starting to like Gilda, just like with Silver Spoon. Scootaloo is starting to get kinda creepy, and I fell so bad for her that Rainbow Dash is so horrible to her, and is gonna break her heart. Vinyl was one of my favorite, I'm glad you brought her back. I'm also starting to like Trix. This has nothing to do with your story, but I find it weird that Trix has more emoticons than Cheerilee. Back to your story, I think Gilda and Fluttershy are gonna be great friends. My original final three thoughts : In the order I assumed them to be eliminated. My new thoughts (again in order of elimination) : :cheerileesmile: Or switch Pinkie with Cheerilee. Thanks for this amazing fic.

P.S. Your Comment: TL;DR

[Tailslover13]

281105 281160 281630 282276 282390 282434 282644

Once more, thank you all very much for your long and interesting and very exuberant comments! Very enjoyable to read, and I love the way you guys think. Passenger-Dude? Your thoughts are VERY intriguing. I'm not going to say if you might be a little right or if you're so far off you could be near Mars. But, I'll just say that I love that you continue to think and ponder. As for the rest of you? Thank for sharing your insight and your thoughts, and I hope to see them from here on out with the next episodes. Be prepared for more shocks and twists and interesting stuff!

[insightguy]

Best fic evar!!!!!

I kinda feel for spike........ I would do the same actualy

[Gaianex]

As much as it is funny to see her act the way she is now, I just want RD gone now, she is really annoying and I know she wants to win, but I'm sure someone in her life her that winning isn't everything. Right?

[MagerBlutooth]

I was a big fan of the original Total Drama Island, so I naturally notice all the similarities, but that also means I really notice the differences as well. Personally, I don't mind all the similarities due to how much I loved the first season of TDI, but I do like all the subtle differences that gives the story its own "identity." If you don't mind some constructive criticism, I'd suggest watching the OOC levels of the characters. Given the stress and pressure this situation would cause, there's definitely some leeway in that field, but sometimes the emotions, mainly in some of the rivalries can seem a bit over-the-top. Just my two cents, but nevertheless, love your work. Look forward to the next chapter!

[MaxVive]

I'm fairly certain that was the single longest chapter I've read on this site and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Occasionally I'll pause and catch myself thinking, "why couldn't the original total drama island have been this good?" Then I remember it didn't have ponies and affirm my enlightenment. I've skimmed some of the other comments, but I try to reserve my judgements, so if I repeat that's why. But now to the thoughts and praise which keep an author's ego machine going.
Its great that Gilda has been brought back. Her somewhat twisted code of honor definitely makes for interesting situations. Fluttershy choosing Gilda to be a project of her's in the future definitely breathes new life into her character. Here's hoping for continued shenanigans between the two of them.
Twilight. There's something about Twilight. Not surprising since she is best pony, but what is, is the number of potential love interests to be found. It was a little odd that she didn't glue herself to Celestia after the teams were disbanded, but that's just me. I'm neutral about the return of Scratch, but I figure its because she was voted off so soon that readers couldn't develop an attachment. I look forward to the three way revelation of their feelings being announced as the cliff hanger to the following chapter.
The Rainbow Dash you've put together makes for a great antagonist, her competitiveness taking over. I can easily see her getting her just desserts and learning her lesson after returning to Ponyville. I know poor Scoots is going to get her heart broken but its for the best. A good story needs its highs and lows to balance itself out. Cheerilee is by far the most grounded of the remaining campers, I see her being the baseline to measure the zaniness of the others by.
Random Thoughts:
*What's Nightmare going to get out of this? At this point I wouldn't be surprised if was a pet Twilight.
*How's Luna and the rest of Equestria doing? They're watching on magic TV's but we don't know how they've taken to watching their heroes behave like this.
*Mare-Do-Well, alive or dead?
*When will Celestia take her revenge on Discord and how awesome will it be? (I ask when because it has to happen.)
You don't have to apologize for the time it took to write this, I can only imagine the effort it took with the difficulties you've had in real life. I always appreciate quality work such as this over fics which post more frequently but lack your level of refinement.

[AbsoluteAnonymous]

286688

Hey, yeah! What happened to Mare Do Well?

...it would suck if it turned out that she was actually one of the contestants who's since been voted off, meaning no more cameos from her at all and absolutely no explanation regarding her true identity.

[MIssingPony]

Vinyl Scratch return was a surprise, since that's one contestant more than in Total Drama Island.

Wasn't surprised by Gilda and Derpy, though... hah it makes sense. Eva and Izzy. Btw TDI, the 4th season just premiered in my country. I remember some of the challenges...
And Derpy returned...But...Hasbro...Well, R.I.P. canon Derpy. 10.10.2010=24.02.2012 (1 year, 4 months and 14 days)
Would like to see a reference to something outside the show... like I Wanna Be The Guy, or Harry Potter, or anything else that isn't MLP:FiM. If there is already such reference, then I didn't saw it. :D
I feel sorry for Scootaloo. And Spike.
I see that the troll hidden deep within Celestia is slowly appearing... because why she would talk about clothes on The Moon in that way? That line can't have any other meaning. It's just too obvious.

[Warning, this part is pretty much derailed]
And for pure fun, I imagined a Pokémon helping Discord. Of course, in the evil way. Get Focus Blast, and shoot them like bowling pins, lol. Shall you ask what Pokémon? Mew. And Metronome as move. Since I love both.

Now what would happen in a epic battle between Pinkie and Mew? Well, it would be an unexplained mystery.

[JustAnotherBadSonicOC]

284386 Hey Dude, Dash's Ego and determination livens it up. And that is kinda mean to call her annoying, she kinda reminds me of myself sometimes. Brash, Loyal, and somewhat of a bragger.
But Damn! We Both Get Pissed Very easily!!!!!!!!!1

[JustAnotherBadSonicOC]

Dude nice job! I Loved the part where Rainbow Got Fucking Pissed at Spike and Wanted to Literatley Kill Him So badly! Then she got pwned! Oh ya Cherrlie! Shit goin down! I see a new rivalry between Rainbow Dash & Cheerlie and probably a relationship between Rainbow & Scootaloo!
Let's just hope that if rd and scoots to get together it lasts more than one episode unlike with rd and aj!
P.S. Rainbow Fucking Lost her mind in this one!
Rainbow you are cute and loveable but also brash and brave but damn you are a psycho bitch on the inside! Just like the devils son from ghost rider, I LIKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Master Lyra]

Tailslover, Tailslover, how do you do it?
You can keep characters in character while the're OC. It doesn't make any sense yet it blows my mind…twice!
Personally, I was a little sad when I saw Spike leave. And also a little sorry for him when he's going to get his butt handed to him on a silver platter by AJ. Yet somehow it just… fits. Because I know you too well, Tailslover, I think Rainbow will get her fair share of karma in the end. So I'll wait patiently till she learns a lesson.
My favorite character so far has to be Cheerlie. Having the guts to stand up to RD twice definitely takes courage and a lot of self control. With the way she's acting, I might not have been able to resist a punch to the face or other verbal or non verbal violence. While I have my own thoughts about her secret, she's a very likable and valuable character.
Gilda is… interesting. No one is pure evil, so I see how she could have a "sweet side" if you could call it that.
I also like Twilight, Pinkie, and Trixe as a bunch. Perhaps it is very unlikely they would group together in normal circumstances. Twilight and Trixe have had large amounts of character development, while Pinkie has not changed. While this is most likely due to her… interesting personality, it still irks me a little. She has been quite static it seems, the only thing developing her is the increasing amount of flirting with Twilight.
Rarity is a little on my dislike side. She did something very inexcusable, but she seems very sorry about this. She has tried making it up to Spike, but the way she goes about it makes me miffed as well.
Spike, as a character, is under developed. Jumping from using his own body as a seat for Rarity to absolutely ignoring her seems a little… off. I think his undying love for Rarity in the beginning was too pronounced to be changed so drastically. Though I am probably nitpicking at this point.
As for the future, this story has been great and I have no doubt it will continue to be. This story is just plain awesome and exciting, but this is coming from a person who never has seen the real show. Continue to improve, Tails! (Couldn't resist one emoticon!)

[EverSoNitro]

Team Twixie Pie is best team.
I'm glad Spike's gone. Even though Dash was acting like a huge jerk, Spike was arguably worse in his vengeance (rigging the vote to eliminate AJ, a bystander, seemed petty and immature).
Of course, now that he's gone, Rainbow Dash can go jump in a lake.
And finally, Fluttershy and Gilda curled up asleep together left an adorable image in my head.

[JustAnotherBadSonicOC]

96261 Oh No You Didn't Just Say what i think u Just Said! Trixie may be your fav character, But Dash Wil have more Loyalty and Bitchyness than Trixie will ever have! Proof? Right here! ( If pic don't work, i will give link)
fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/259/1/e/super_rainbow_dash__request_by_thex_plotion-d49zrje.png
( If it does show, i Say, U Just Got Pwned My Dear Trixie Fan!!!!!)

[Liquid Squid]

Sometimes I want to re-reaf this from the very beginning while waiting for the next chapter, but then I look at the word count, and say "I doubt I could read the first 4 chapters in a day". I've gotta re-read it a
Soon though.
TMPI is best story.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Hey there Tailslover13 I like what you've done with the series so far and I love the idea of Vinyl Scrath coming back by sneeking onto the boat of losers. Makes me wish they'd done something like that for Ezikel in Total Drama Island. Although I suppose Vinyl Scrath could also be Trent, cosndering Applejack was both Leshawana for being fan favorite and Courtney for how she was elimanted which also means that Spike was Harold, since Harold elimanted Corutney in Total Drama Island by tampering with the votes to get revenge on Duncan and Spike did the same thing to spite Rainbow Dash, and like Harold he was the next person to be eliminated although Harold was eliminated just before the merger.

And I guess Scootloo is the new Lindsy and Rainbow Dash is the new Heather.

When the next's episode coming? Not trying to be rude but I'm dying to see it.

P.S. I say Gilda or Vinyl Scrath will be the next to go.

[LooneyToon1990]

Are you still working on this story? It's been awhile since the last update. I'M DYYYYYYINNNNG HERE!!!! Okay, not really. I just can't wait for the next update! When can we expect it?