A Discordant Reality

by The-Third

Episode 3 Alliances form

Scootaloo awoke in her room. She could barely sleep after thinking about last night. If she loses in this game, she may never be able to fly again. A few weeks ago, she may of never thought that it was a insanely huge deal. She thought about this many times before, but know that she had actually experienced it. The fear jumped up in severity tenfold. I have to win she thought Then I will be able to fly. I could join the Wonderbolts! "I could fly with Rainbow Dash and we could-"

"Scootaloo, I know your having a self motivational monologue, but some of us are trying to get some sleep! It's 3 AM, go to sleep and talk to Luna about it or something" Rainbow whisper screamed from the other side of the room.

"Oh, sorry Rainbow!"

---

"With only eight contestants left in this competition, we need to figure out how the CMC can get on top" Sweetie Belle said "So, what's our plan girls"

It was the middle of the night and the three fillies all could not sleep, so instead they were doing what they did best making complex schemes that are doomed to fail from the start.

"I called this meeting because us crusaders need ta get on top, remember, when we signed up for this what was our goal" Apple Bloom began

"To beat our sisters and Rainbow Dash!" Sweetie Belle said

"Well Rarity's gone, but how are we going to beat AJ and Rainbow, there amazing at this type of stuff"

"Sabotage!" Scootaloo butted in

"Maybe, but I think we need an ally, somepony besides us three who we can trust during the competition"

Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded in agreement

"But who?" Sweetie questioned "Trixie and Twilight are to focused on their own rivalry and I'd rather not work with one of our targets just to stab them in the back"

"Well that leaves only one other pony"

---

Alex slept peacefully, while he missed the other versions of his friends back home, it wasn't so bad here, not that he had a choice though. If he could he would leave this castle at a moments notice. But that didn't matter, and he didn't mind his circumstances too much.

"ALEX!" Three fillies voices echoed over the slam of a wooden door

Sighing, Alex braced himself for the worst, he knew what was coming. Especially when three colors of fur all covered his vision

"Wake up Alex, we need your help!"

"I was already up just so you know" Alex groaned, muffled by the pile of tiny equines on his face

"Great" Apple Bloom began "We need yer' help. We're trying to beat my older sister and Rainbow Dash, so we want to make an alliance with you"

"You want me to align sides with the most adorable fillies of all time, and help them out in a wholesome competition between siblings?" Alex asked "I don't know, I'll have to ask your sisters first"

"No!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said "That's exactly what we don't want"

"I'm joking! I'll join you three's quest. So what's your plan?"

The four ponies began discussing and planned until breakfast

---

The eight ponies in the castle all gathered around the grand dining table to eat their breakfast. As what has now become normal, Twilight and Trixie were bickering over something petty that Trixie started but Twilight made a humongous deal over. No one really wanted to interact in that fight, so they just left them alone. It still boggled everyone that they sat next to each other during meals.

The CMC were planning some more, while Alex was sitting near Applejack.

"Did you know your little sister and her friends are the cutest things alive"

"Yep, sure are, they're cuter than a pile of kittens in a quilt"

"So, funny story, they barged into my room this morning, they wanted to ask about my past" Alex lied, honestly scared that Applejack would see through him, but it seemed she was oblivious to the fib. "So they come in without knocking and jump all over me, and all I can see is orange, white and yellow fur"

"That sounds like them alright, they get set on something and they will not stop till they either get it or one of them gets hurt or covered in sap. or both"

"Doesn't make them any less lovable, you know, I used to watch them now and again back in my world"

"What that like, being surrounded by people you see every day, but none of them recognize you"

"It's okay I guess" Alex replied, he felt comfortable here enough now that he felt like he could talk to ponies again. "I did feel really sad when Rainbow got so mad when Discord said me and her were in a relationship back home."

'Am I different there? Am I married to spike or something crazy like that?"

"No, nothing like that. You're very similar to you back home" Alex said

"So whatcha guys talking 'bout" Rainbow interrupted sliding down her chair to be closer to the Alex and Applejack

"We're talking about Alex's past, it's weird to say the least" Applejack said, scooting her chair away from Rainbow so they weren't uncomfortably close.

"Speaking of the past, I'm sorry Alex, for getting mad at you for being in a relationship with a differentf version of myself. I'm sure if I like you, you're pretty awesome."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you remind me of my Rainbow from two or so years ago" Alex said, thinking back to that time "She used to be just like you, so chill."

"What happened?"

"I think that story is for another day." Alex said

Then all eight ponies disappeared

---

"Good morning everypony, how are we?" Discord asked, looking at eight disgruntled ponies

"We would be good, if we could finish eating!" Rainbow almost screamed at the end, mad that she couldn't finish her waffles and cup of cider.

"But we're behind schedule, according to the other episode's run length we should already be doing the challenge, not eating and focusing even more on Alex's backstory!" Discord said, annoyed "I shouldn't of brought you here in the first place, your taking too much screen time just to get people to know who in tartarus you even are"

Alex over dramatically gasped "I'm offended! At a very high level too!"

"Yeah, well anyways welcome to the castle's pool, which has temporarily been transformed into a obstacle course as we have made a partnership with Wipeoat who sponsored us for 3 million bits, so we need to do this so I can get paid"

"Discord, can't you just make money?" Apple Bloom asked

"No silly filly" He said, as he snapped into existence a coin, as well as an air pump "Celestia banned me from creating bits out of thin air because of . ." he plugged the pump into the coin "Inflation" he grunted out as he blew up the coin and it popped.

"O . . .kay" Apple Bloom said "I don't know what that means, but I think that's a bad thing"

"Yep, now Pinkie is going to explain the course, so get ready!"

"Alrighty, guys!" Pinkie jumped up and got ready to hip hop around the course "First you go on the spinning platform of doom where if you fall you lose, than you go on the boxing glove tightrope and than the red bouncy balls and you boring your way to the Double Diving Board where both sides bend like a diving board, then you run down the slope, then you hit the big red button and stop the timer!"

"Now, there is no magic and no flying so, we're going to tie together your wings and put these rings on your horns, so this is a test of pure speed, strength, and coordination"

"First is Trixie! 3 . . 2 . . 1 . . GO!" Pinkie waved her flag as Trixie began her run. Only to instantly fall off of the first obstacle

A wet Trixie came out of the water to see a smug Twilight Sparkle "First obstacle huh? How sad."

Trixie replied by growling and whipping her mane into the lavender princess

"Next up is Twilight! 3 . . 2 . . 1 . . GO!" Twilight galloped down the hill, though slowing down at the first obstacle, unlike Trixie, she spent her time and got past the first obstacle and got halfway past the tightrope, only to get slammed in the flank by a boxing glove. Losing her balance and falling face first into some water.

Making her way back up the hill "At least I did better than you" she said to Trixie. Getting a scowl and more growls as a reply

"Third is Alex! 3 . . 2 . . 1 . . GO!" Being pretty experienced with competitions like this, he sprinted through the first two obstacles, and quickly bounced across the red balls. Moving to the Diving board, he almost instantly fell, as he lost his grip on the wet diving boards

"Nice Job Alex!" The CMC cheered for their teammate

"Now is Applejack 3 . . 2. . . 1. . GO!" Similar to Alex, Applejack easily past the first two obstacles, and bounced her way to the diving boards, though she kept her grip, continuing onto the final platform and pressing the red button, allowing confetti to spray everywhere around her.

"Nice job AJ" Rainbow hoofbumped the farmpony

"Good luck Rainbow, you'll do great"

"Rainbow your up 3 . . 2 . . 1 . . GO!" Once again, Rainbow, like the two before her, breezed through the first three obstacles, and followed in AJ's hoofsteps, finishing the course.

"and that's is how it is done!"

"Good job, I knew it"AJ patted her on the back

"Apple Bloom's Up in 3 . . 2 . . 1 . . GO!" Apple Bloom galloped down the hill and instantly struggled trying to find her balance on the platforms, though she almost made it, she did fail at the first obstacle

"Next Is Scootaloo in 3 . . 2 . . 1. . GO!" Scootaloo like Apple Bloom earlier struggled on the first obstacle, and tried to make a leap of faith to the next obstacle, but missed by literal inches.

"Nice try Scoots!" Sweetie said, trying to cheer up the filly who now looked very distraught.

"Finally Sweetie Belle in 3 . . 2 . . 1 . . GO!" Sweetie repeated the same thing as the two before her, not making it past the first obstacle by just a sliver.

With all eight contestants now finished with their runs, Discord teleported back to the beginning of the course. "We have a four way tie for last place, meaning we will need to do a tiebreaker, all four of you will go on the course at the same time, but we will need to prepare so please wait here

---

Scootaloo was tearing up now, she was almost certain to leave now, she fell and embarrassed herself, and now no one would vote for her when she got last again, and she would lose the ability to fly forever.

"Scoots, what's wrong?" Apple Bloom asked

"I'm gonna leave, I'm sure of it. Then I'll lose these normal sized wings, and I'll have to go back to my not-able-to-fly boring old ones, and not be able to fly again."

"I didn't realize you cared about this that much Scoots, I thought you were just doing it for fun."

"I was doing it so I could maybe be a normal Pegasus, I already don't have parents, I don't want to not be able to fly too."

"Well maybe me and Sweetie will think of something"

"Okay, Thanks I guess"

---

"Are the four contestants ready? On your marks, get set, GO!"

The three fillies and magician all began galloping downhill. It didn't matter how many times they fell, as long as they got through everything eventually it would count as a finish. Knowing how the first obstacle worked now, all four easily made it through onto the tightrope, which Apple Bloom slipped off of a couple times. Trixie was already getting a considerable lead, and by the time the CMC got to the balls, a loud horn came from the end of the course.

Arriving at the fourth obstacle, it seemed that the course was designed with full grown ponies in mind, as it was almost impossible for one of them to get up never mind all three.

"Well, I guess we all go home." Scootaloo sighed. Tears welling up in her eyes

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Apple Bloom said "Come on Sweetie, help me lift Scoots up"

"Alright, lets do this" Sweetie said.

The two fillies, lifting up Scoots, brought her to the top platform, meaning she could go press the button, and win the game.

"Thank you girls" Scoots said, crying tears of joy.

"go on, press the button" Apple Bloom said

Running down the hill Scootaloo reached the large button and pressed down, hearing a loud horn and confetti flooding her vision

"Well there we have it folks! What a heart tugging ending if I do say so myself. But just because they helped their friend doesn't mean they are excused from elimination, sorry girls but rules are rules, make sure to submit your vote, and we'll see who leaves in the next episode of A Discordant Reality

Author's Note:

There has been a retcon! Why? Plot convenience, that's why. I want to start giving ponies more motivation (to give you someone to root for, and so friends may get . . . argumentative )

What is the retcon? Well, originally the prize was the castle and bits. But to help Scootaloo's motives the winner will stay an Alicorn (Not a princess, just an Alicorn) Why? The answer is Discord

Also I wrote the "emotional" scene near the end before "The Last Crusade" aired and I don't want to rewrite it so for the sake of this story Scoot's parents are gone

Anyways, it is time to vote on which of our contestants will be WipedOut of the show Sweetie or Applebloom?

Comments

[Zapper Frost]

1. I vote applebloom to stay
2. I feel like you added all that stuff with scootaloo so we will feel less motivated to vote her out when ever she ends up on the chopping block

[The-Third]

9694570
I already have the final five planned out in my head, if everything goes like I've set it up (yes this is rigged) I want to make this less about who did worse at the challenge, and more about which character you root for. Giving motives is most likely the best way to do that

[Zapper Frost]

9694587
Imma guess who the five are
Alex, Scootaloo, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Trixie

The last one on that list im a little iffy on, but the rest im more confidant about

[The-Third]

9694651
four of those are correct, but that might happen as I'll have to put at least one of them up for elimination. I'm going to make sure at least three of em are set in stone. Scoots, Trixie, and Twilight the last two spots are up in the air and rely on who is voted off, but I do want Alex for personal reasons as I enjoy writing that character. But AJ, Rainbow, Applebloom, or if two peoople come out of nowhere and vote her, Sweetie, could all technically make it to the finals.

[Zapper Frost]

9694998
Ok

[Zapper Frost]

Aww, I really liked this fic too :(

[The-Third]

10054191
Sorry, I may rewrite it sometime, but for now its scrapped. I do wish I stayed on top of it. Also, if I ever rewrite it, canon characters only. The idea of OCs is cool, until you realize its really hard to have a character that people will know and you dont need to type half a chapter to describe their backstory that doesn't even matter in this context, especially when the generator that randomly chooses the bottom two characters for each round just wont pick him to save my life.