Phobia Factor
“Last time on Total Drama: Friendship is Tragic, our passengers were basically told to go into the dangerous Everfree Forest because we’re lazy with ideas. Pinkie Pie discovered Cheese Sandwich’s crush on her, and attempted to ask him out, but he rejected her, thinking she was using him to get ahead in the game thanks to Trixie. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got into a fight when they got lost, and it eventually caused both of them to go away from each other, splitting up when they were already lost. Eventually Rainbow Dash found Scootaloo, and Sweetie belle found the Elements. The Elements of Harmony became the winners after Sweetie Belle crossed the finish line after them, and it came down to her and Scootaloo for the final marshmallow. After the dramatic ceremony, it was Scootaloo who ended up becoming the first crusader to get on out of here. With four ponies down and twelve remaining, the competition is starting to heat up. Which team will win? Will Cheese and Pinkie be a thing by the end? And will Trixie get what’s coming to her? Prepare to have all of these questions and more answered on the next exciting episode of Total Drama: Friendship is Tragic!”
Dining Car
Most of the remaining contestants are gathered here eating their breakfast of oats and whatever fruit Chef had thrown out for the day, but something was unusual about it today.
“Hey, has anypony seen Chef around today?” Applejack asked. While it was usual for Chef to simply lay out their food and shoot an insult at them every once and awhile, he was usually still around the train car giving everypony who looked his way the stink eye. Today, however, he was nowhere to be seen.
“Not since dinner yesterday,” Twilight said, looking around. “He probably went to stab a tree or something.”
“You think he stabbed a tree?” Shining asked, sounding surprised.
His sister shrugged, “It sounds like something he would do.”
“(Shining Armor) Fair point.”
Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were sitting at the other end of the table alone, talking about their recently eliminated friend.
“Ah still don’t understand why y’all decided to send Scootaloo home,” Apple Bloom complained, “Ah mean, Ah know she was mean to you and all, but couldn’t you have tried to send somepony else home, like Spitfire?”
Sweetie Belle looked down and shook her head. “Spitfire is a good competitor, though, and it was pretty obvious that it was either me or her since we got lost together and ended up throwing away the chance of winning.”
“Ah know that, but you could have at least tried!”
“Look Apple Bloom, I’m sorry she’s gone, but we can’t do anything about that now, so let’s just focus on doing better.”
Apple Bloom shook off the rebuttal and stormed off without saying more.
“(Apple Bloom) Ah know that she didn’t mean for Scootaloo to be eliminated, but she was still eliminated, thanks mostly to Sweetie Belle’s mistake. All she can think about is what’s ahead, but she doesn’t see that we just lost a crusader, and in mah mind, no crusader gets left behind.”
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were talking about something when Rainbow Dash saw Twilight get up from the table and start to walk toward the sleeping car.
“Hey Twilight, where you going?”
“I’m going to check on Pinkie. She’s been in our cabin all night crying.”
“Oh my,” Fluttershy gasped, “what happened?”
“She said a bunch of stuff, but from what I gathered she asked Cheese out on a date and he said no.”
“Wait? What!?” a shocked and raspy voice yelled, making Fluttershy, Twilight, and a few ponies around them turning their heads to see that it had come from Rainbow Dash. “I thought that Cheese was the one who wanted to date her.”
Before anypony could stop her, she flew over to where a still saddened Cheese was eating his breakfast and got nose to nose with him. “Just what exactly are you trying to pull on my friend, party boy? Huh?”
“Rainbow!” Twilight scolded as she used some magic to drag the pegasus away from the now surprised Cheese Sandwich. She dragged her over a safe distance away from the shocked earth pony and looked at her disapprovingly. “Now Rainbow, just because he rejected her doesn’t mean there isn’t another side to this, so why don’t we just go check on Pinkie, and maybe she’ll tell us more.”
“Are you saying this doesn’t sound really fishy to you?” Rainbow asked.
“Maybe, but-”
“But nothing! Now let go of my tail!” Rainbow made an attempt to flap her wings and break out of the magic spell, but after a few tried, Fluttershy stepped forward.
“Please, Rainbow,” she pleaded, “let’s go check on Pinkie first. She’s sad right now and her feelings should be our top priority.”
Rainbow stared at Fluttershy for a few seconds before shrugging and nodding. “Fine, but if I hear that he did anything to her, I’ll chop his tail off!”
Despite the threat, Fluttershy smiled at the agreement, while Twilight stood looking at the two shocked.
“(Twilight Sparkle) I didn’t know Fluttershy had such an influence over Rainbow like that. I couldn’t stop her, but sweet little Fluttershy could? Wow, I’m impressed.”
Seeing her hot headed friend calmed, Twilight released her magical grip on her, and trotted with her friends down the hallway to their cabin.
Car 4
The three ponies opened the door to the place where Pinkie, Trixie, Twilight, and formerly Rarity had called home during the competition, and looked toward the pink mare’s bunk. On top of it they found a pink ball of coat and hair, curled up partially under her covers. Taking in the sight, the three of them went over to the bed, hearing small sniffling noises as they did.
As soon as they got next to Pinkie, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around the party pony and stroked her mane, who reacted immediately by pulling herself out of the ball formation and almost knocking the pegasus over with her own hug.
“Oh, Fluttershy,” she wailed through her tears, “w-what am I going to doooo? T-Twilight said that he...he liked me s-so I j-just w-went for it and he...he...he completely rejected me!” She broke into a series of sobs again after her brief explanation.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said sympathetically, “I really thought he liked you that way.”
“Me too,” Twilight spoke up, putting a comforting hoof, “It’s my fault. I should have made sure that it was really you he liked first, but I seriously thought it was you.”
“(Rainbow Dash) Twilight really shouldn’t be apologizing, I think everypony assumed that Pinkie was the one that Cheese liked. I did anyway, so it might just be as much my fault.”
“What exactly did he tell you?” Rainbow Dash asked, suspicious.
Pinkie sniffed, “Well-”
“ATTENTION ALL PONIES! PLEASE REPORT OUTSIDE OF THE TRAIN! IT’S CHALLENGE TIME!”
Twilight groaned at the loudspeaker’s interruption before looking back to Pinkie and sighed, “I guess we’ll talk about this later. Just promise that you’ll do your best today.”
Pinkie sat up, nodded, and walked out the door, head hung low, hair still straight and slightly dulled.
Ponyville
The twelve contestants stood next to their respective teammates. Some are exciting like Spitfire, Shining Armor, and Applejack. Some are anxious like Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy, as usual. Pinkie and Cheese were standing on opposite sides of their team, the former depressed and the latter just holding a stone cold expression. Meanwhile, Chris walks up and scans his beady eyes across all of the ponies, but it just seems to make him smile brighter.
“Well, it seems like the competition is finally starting to set in,” Chris observed, “and today all of that anxiety will hopefully be erased.” He paused for a second before laughing heartily. “Just kidding! Today’s challenge is a little something we like to call phobia factor, where you’ll be facing your worst fears!”
“(Rainbow Dash) What’s there to face? I have no fears!”
“(Fluttershy) Oh dear. This won’t end well…”
“(Trixie) The Great and Powerful Trixie fears nothing!”
“(Twilight Sparkle) Greatest fears? Uh oh!”
“So,” Chris continued, “here’s what we’ll be doing. We’re going to split you all up into three groups of four and give each of you a task to do that correlates to your deepest darkest fear. If you can face it, you’ll earn a point for your team. The team with the most points at the end wins, and the losing team will have to maybe possibly send somepony home.”
“Wait, Chris,” Shining Armor interrupted the host, “how are you supposed to know exactly what our fears are?”
“Because I can see them in your nightmares, Shining.”
The ponies all jumped and turned trying to find the source of the new voice. Standing right near the door of the Ponyville Express was a dark tall alicorn with a crescent moon on her flank and a neutral expression on her face.
“PRINCESS LUNA?!” everypony shouted, while Chris put his hand to the bridge of his nose, clearly frustrated.
“Yes,” he groaned, “Luna here agreed to give us the information necessary to do this challenge, so...yeah.”
“(Chris McLean) Okay, she’s a spy. After the whole Everfree Forest challenge, I got a letter of concern from Princess Celestia, telling me how dangerous it was and how I shouldn’t do it again, and yada yada yada she sent her sister.”
“(Princess Luna) I owed my sister a favor, so when she told me I had to go down to Ponyville to supervise, trust me when I say that I was against it.”
“Anyway,” Chris continued, a hint of annoyance in his tone still, but gradually disappearing as he continues, “the first group will go to the station in the eating car, run by me. The ponies that will be going there will be Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Big Macintosh, and Shining Armor. The second group will go to the newly built amphitheater,” Trixie winced for just a second, “which will be run by Chef Hatchet. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Trixie, and Pinkie Pie, if you could please make your way over there. Finally, station three will be in the Everfree Forest and run by Applejack.”
All the ponies looked confused, but none more so than the orange earth pony herself.
“Fluttershy, Spitfire, and Cheese Sandwich will go out there. Any questions?” Every single pony raised a hoof. “None? Great! Then get moving! We don’t have all day!” He reaches behind him and pulls out a red blow horn, and before anypony can react, he pushes the button on top, emitting an ear splitting tone.
As soon as the ringing was out of her ears, Spitfire gave Chris an unamused look. “Must you?”
“Yes, yes I must.”
Amphitheater
The four ponies all trotted their way to the location they were assigned. Apple Bloom was walking as far away from her friend, eyes lowered and a scowl upon her face, while Sweetie Belle’s look was more sad than angry, and Pinkie was still having a hard time getting over her rejection. Suddenly, she noticed a blue unicorn steadily getting closer to her before their legs almost started touching.
“(Trixie) Trixie surprises herself sometimes. Her plan went far better than expected, and because of this, Trixie has decided that she should continue and do this team a favor by cutting our weakest link. You ponies know who.”
“Greetings, Pinkie Pie, from the Great and Powerful Trixie!” she exclaimed with a content smile. “What seems to be troubling you on this fine day?”
Pinkie lifted her head and tried to smile a little bit. “It’s okay Trixie, I’m just going through something right now.”
“Care to elaborate?” Trixie asked, leaning in even closer to the saddened mare.
“Well,” she hesitated before starting to spill, “Twilight told me that Cheese liked me, so I tried to ask him out, but he turned me down and I don’t know why.”
Trixie smirked, “I think that I might know what’s going on then.”
Pinkie’s ears perked up and she lifted her head up for the first time all day, but her smile was still weak. “Really? Please tell me! Pleeeeeease?”
“Alright, alright,” Trixie said with a chuckle before looking over her shoulder, “but you have to promise that you didn’t hear this from Trixie.” After Pinkie nodded in affirmation, she continued, “Trixie heard Twilight telling Applejack the other night about how she secretly had a crush on Big Mac, and she thought that you liked him too for some reason, so, uh, she decided to tell you that Cheese liked you to get your interest away from her crush.”
“(Trixie) Well, that may not have been Trixie’s most shining plan, but Pinkie Pie’s not the most bright pony either, so maybe…”
“That’s silly,” Pinkie declared, “Twilight wouldn’t do that to me, especially when it comes to colts.”
“Maybe, but remember, it is one of the strongest elements, according to Twilight herself anyways.”
Before Pinkie could respond, a low burly voice called out, “Get your flanks over here NOW!” All four ponies turned and quickened the pace to the stage.
“(Pinkie Pie) Twilight absolutely wouldn’t know that...right?”
“(Trixie) And the seed has been planted. Time to wait for it to grow.”
“Listen up,” Chef Hatchet yelled, eyeing the ponies up and down, “we’ve got some challenges set up for you suckers, so first up we have Pixie with her fear of...the ursa major? What in the world is that?”
Trixie’s confident gaze melted just as fast as it turned into one of fear, with shaking to go with it. “D-did you say you b-brought an ursa major here, like a r-really r-r-real one?”
“Uh, I wouldn’t say that,” Chef shrugged, motioning over his shoulder, where Bulk Biceps was standing painted blue with stars on his body and a bear mask that was also blue.
“YEAH, I’M AN URSA MAJOR! FEEL MY WRATH!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, getting up on his hindlegs to raise some fake claws in the air and swipe a few times. After a couple seconds his mask was magically pulled off his face and carried toward an unamused Trixie. “Aw, no fair! I totally would have had you fooled!”
Chef slapped a hand to his face and waved a hand toward Bulk, motioning him to exit stage left, which he did still slightly bummed. “Alright, whatever, Trixie wins the first point for the Dracone-whatevers! Or, wait no, Harmony whatevers!”
Trixie smirked and trotted back.
“Next we have Sweaty Ball with her fear, which is singing on stage.”
Dining Car
Back on the Ponyville express, Big Mac, Twilight, Shining, and Rainbow are all sitting at the same table they had just used to eat breakfast about fifteen minutes earlier, chatting with each other and waiting for their individual challenges to be announced when Chris walks in with his trademark cheesy smile and Princess Luna and Nurse Redheart trailing just behind him.
“Well, ponies, it seems that Trixie has already gotten the ball rolling. She faced her fear and put up a point for the Elements of Harmony.”
None of them seemed very happy with the news except Twilight, but even her excitement seemed very short lived.
“Alright, so all four of you are up to the plate. Big Mac if you would please step forward. Nurse Redheart will be giving you a shot today.”
Big Mac’s eyes simply widened, and before the nurse could even prep the needle, he was already out the door. Chris walked toward the door he left through and shrugged.
“Well, he still has a little time to come back if he wants to face it. Moving on, Twilight, it’s time for a meal.”
“A meal?” she asked slightly perplexed. Chris then stepped forward and presented the mare with a silver platter with a matching top, and when he opened it, Twilight looked as though she had seen a ghost, and Shining’s expression wasn’t any better.
“Chef Hatchet has mad for the lovely mare tonight a delectable Quesadilla! Bon Appetit.”
“(Shining Armor) Well, this can only go so well.”
“So eat up while I take your brother and Rainbow Dash into their respective cabins and give them their tasks.”
Shining cast a nervous look over his shoulder and Rainbow one trying not to laugh out loud as they were both ushered into the sleeping car. Twilight nervously looked back down to the dish in front of her, wincing as her eyes made contact with it.
“I don’t know if I can go through with this.”
Everfree Forest
Well, the edge of it anyway.
Applejack has led Fluttershy, Spitfire, and Cheese Sandwich all right next to the entrance to the dangerous Everfree Forest. Though not as dangerous during the day, a pony would have to be either really brave, stupid, or competing for a hundred thousand bits in order to want to go anywhere near there.
“Hey, look,” Spitfire pointed a hoof to a plain bag lying by a tree with a really wide trunk. Applejack galloped over and opened it, revealing several items with a note on top. The items were two pieces of rope, one short and one really long, a box of matches, some sparklers, and a jar.
“Applejack,” she read, “these are your instructions for the challenge. First, use the longer piece rope to tie both Fluttershy and Cheese Sandwich to this tree and the other to tie Spitfire’s wings down to her barrel.” Applejack picked up the pieces of rope and turned to the others. “Well, Ah guess you two should get your backs on this tree right here then,” she said to Cheese and Fluttershy, who both looked at each other only slightly scared and more out of confusion than anything else.
Amphitheater
“These fears are all lame! How come y’all can face these so easily?”
Chef was angrily grinding his teeth after witnessing both Sweetie Belle and Pinkie Pie successfully face their fears. Sweetie Belle only had a moment's hesitation before belting out the Equestria National Anthem, while Pinkie Pie emotionlessly survived destroying a party, which was set up backstage. Each pony earned a point for their respective team.
“Whatever, moving on. Babble Boom, you’re last. You have to, uh, be buried alive for fifteen minutes.”
“What!?” Apple Bloom screamed, “Please don’t do this to me! Ah’m claustrophobic and Ah won’t be able to breathe in there!”
“It’s called phobia factor for a reason,” Chef deadpanned, “so go over there,” he pointed to a glass case next to a hole, “and stay down there for ten minutes to get the points for your stupid team. I’m forced to give you a wakie so we can dig you up if you decide to chicken out.”
Apple Bloom looked back and forth between the glass case, the walkie in Chef’s hand, and the other ponies before sighing and stepping forward, prepared to do the challenge.
“(Apple Bloom) Ah don’t really know why, but tight spaces have always been like some kind of worst nightmare to me. It’s not like Ah had a bad experience or nothing, but it’s just something Ah’ve never been too comfortable with.”
Dining Car
Twilight is still staring at the dish on the platter in front of her trying to muster as much courage as possible to gobble it down, when she saw two ponies walking through the door, and when she saw them she almost broke down on the train floor crying.
There, trotting in front of her, was her brother with his mane dyed bright pink and expression sour, and her blue pegasus friend wearing a ton of makeup and a frilly dress. She did not look pleased.
“I hate everything,” she said with a scowl, sitting down at the table opposite Twilight.
“This is what you’re afraid of?” Twilight asked between giggles, “Dressing up?”
“Says the mare who can’t even eat a tortilla with cheese on it!”
That comment made Twilight stop her laughter and look back to the plate, worried again.
“Well at least you got to keep your mane the same,” Shining complained, pointing to his mane. “This will take ages to live down.”
“(Twilight Sparkle) Sometimes I completely forget we’re on television until I hear comments like that.”
Rainbow scoffed, “I dare you to put on a hundred pounds of makeup and dress like a showfilly from Las Pegasus.”
“Remember,” Chris announced to the two, “you have to remain like that for six hours. Afterwards if you make it, we’ll give you each a point.”
“What’s the score now?” Rainbow asked.
“Trixie and Pinkie each faced their fears and same with Sweetie Belle, so it’s two to one in favor of the Elements.”
“Wait, Big Mac never came back?” Shining asked.
“Nope, not yet.”
The unicorn stallion groaned, “I’ll go find him,” and turned toward the exit and galloped away in search of his friend.
Ampitheater
After ten minutes, Apple Bloom was completely buried in the ground and the timer was set. Since Chef didn’t care he gave the walkie talkie to anypony who wanted it, and Sweetie Belle volunteered.
“Now if she starts crying and says she can’t do it no more, come get me and I’ll dig her up,” Chef instructed.
“Wait, you’re not staying?” the filly asked.
“Nah, I’m going backstage to enjoy some of that smashed cake from the party.”
He walked off, leaving Sweetie Belle alone by the hole that her friend was buried in. It took her a few tries to figure out how to use it before she radioed Sweetie Belle.
“Sweetie Belle to Apple Bloom, come in Apple Bloom,” she called, giggling slightly at the clichéd line.
“Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom responded shakily, “Ah’m mighty scared down here.”
“Don’t be, AB. As soon as the fifteen minutes are up, Chef will get you out.”
“Good,” the buried filly sighed, “Ah really don’t want to be here a second longer.”
A few seconds passed in silence before Sweetie Belle’s walkie sounded again. “Can you tell me a story, please. Ah need a distraction.”
“Sure,” Sweetie Belle smiled, “have you ever heard the one about Pigeon Mare?”
“(Sweetie Belle) Apple Bloom’s been really cold to me ever since Scootaloo got eliminated, so I’m really happy she trusts me again and wants to talk to me. Maybe we’ll be fine again.”
Everfree Forest
Applejack is finishing up tying the rope around Spitfire, and after a minor complaint about how tight it was, Applejack felt ready for step two.
“Next,” she read, “put two sparklers in the rope holding Spitfire and light the tops of them.” She situated the sticks on the Wonderbolt and lit the tops as the instructions said.
“(Applejack) Ah was mighty confused as to why the instructions told me to do all this, and, come to think of it, why Ah had to do it in the first place.”
“Can somepony please explain what’s going on?” Spitfire asked out of frustration. “My fear isn’t fire and it’s clear that their fear isn’t being tied to a tree,” she gestured toward Cheese and Fluttershy.
“Ah ain’t sure, but there’s only one last step. Finally, take the cap off of the jar right behind Spitfire. If anypony wants to back out, untie them.” She picked up the jar, insignificant on the outside, but she was sure it contained something scary on the inside.
The earth pony shrugged and went behind Spitfire, and opened the lid.
Out of the canister flew dozens and dozens of butterflies of all different colors. To most ponies this would be a wonderful sight, especially to Fluttershy, whose expression of confusion about the situation immediately turned into joy.
“Look at the lovely darlings,” she cooed, “they’re all so lovely.”
“Darlings?” Spitfire repeated, turning around to look over her shoulder. As soon as she saw the insects, she yelled out in fear and tried to get away from them as quickly as possibly, running in and out of the trees.
“Get them away from me! Get them away from me! Get them away from me!”
“(Spitfire) Alright, so maybe I have a minor fear of butterflies, but I have a perfectly good reason for it...they’re creepy up close.”
Spitfire running around also startled both Cheese Sandwich and Fluttershy.
“Oh, watch where you step!” Fluttershy yelled as loud as she could, which wasn’t that loud, “the sweet little butterflies are landing on the ground in front of you!”
“Don’t light a tree on fire!” Cheese shouted, “I don’t want to get burned!”
Applejack appeared to be getting more and more nervous as she witnessed the others freaking out.
“(Applejack) Ah really didn’t want to just stand there, but Ah had the feeling that Ah had to let them each face their fears. If they wanted to back out, they would just say so. Right?”
“Get this stupid thing off me!” Spitfire yelled as she slowed down and she tried to extend her wings to snap the rope. To most pegasi, this would have been nearly impossible, but since Spitfire’s wings were so strong it only took a few minutes of effort to succeed. She bursted off the ground and flew really high into the sky, accidentally lighting a leaf from a branch on fire in the process. It made all three of the other ponies freak out.
“No! This is all mah fault,” Applejack cried, falling to the ground and squeezing her eyes shut. “A-Ah need to get all of us out of here.”
She stood up and ran to the tree that her two friends were tied up and started to tug on the rope to loosen it.
“No, don’t!” Fluttershy shouted, “I want to face this.”
“Ah need to get you two out of here,” Applejack replied, still tugging at the long rope, “you two will burn.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Cheese yelled, struggling for a second before breaking free of the rope, falling to the ground, and booking it away from the forest.
“Come on, Fluttershy, you too,” Applejack said, pulling desperately on the rope to let her pegasus friend out, but she turned to see her shaking her head.
“No, I’ll be okay. Just go to that well we passed on the way and fill a bucket with water. I don’t want the fire to spread any farther!”
Before Applejack could reply, she took a look at the fire, which had spread down the branch and was now threatening a few more nearby. She nodded in understanding and turned to run down the path that they came.
Campfire Pit
Shining Armor had been looking around for the big red stallion for about a half an hour, and he finally found him sitting by the unlit pit, although it would be lit when the sun went down. He walked over slowly and tapped him on the back.
“Mac, are you alright?”
Big Mac turned around and opened his mouth to speak, but before any words tumbled out, his green eyes drifted upwards to the pink mane of his friend. A big smile split his face before he broke out into laughter.
Shining rolled his eyes and waited for the laughter to quiet down before responding. “Yeah, yeah, I know, but seriously are you ready to go back and get your shot?”
Big Mac’s entertained look dropped immediately. “Nnope.”
“Come on, man! I’m facing my fear right now, and a few of our other friends are too. Are you about to let down the team just because of a tiny needle?”
“Eeyup,” he said, turning away.
Shining Armor sighed, “You’re so stubborn, you know that?”
“Eeyup.”
“Can’t you at least come back to the train with me? I’m bored just sitting around and waiting for my challenge to be over.”
“Don’t you have your sister to talk to?”
“Yeah, but she’s going to be talking to Rainbow about girl stuff.”
Big Mac thought for a moment before nodding and standing up, and then he followed Shining Armor up the path back to the express.
“(Shining Armor) At least I got him to come back with me, so now maybe I can convince him.”
“So Big Mac, you want to race back to the train just for fun?” Shining offered when they went a little ways up the trail.
“Sure,” and he immediately quickened his pace and went into a full gallop, with Shining Armor right on his orange tail. They ran and ran, quickly approaching the area where the amphitheater and Apple Bloom’s “grave” sat.
Amphitheater
“Then she flew off into the sunset, surrounded by her bird friends, the only friends who ever really understood her.” Sweetie Belle concluded her story.
“Wow, that was a real dandy story, thanks for sharing it,” Apple Bloom said, still underground, but by the tone in her voice she sounded much calmer than before.
“No problem,” Sweetie Belle assured. After a few seconds Sweetie Belle sighed before hitting the call button on the walkie. “Listen, I’m really sorry that I didn’t try harder to keep Scootaloo here, but I was just as worried about me going home as I was about her. I know it’s not a very good excuse, but at the moment it’s the only one I have, and I’m sorry.” She waited a few seconds for a reply before she heard the radio buzz.
“Ah understand. Ah’m sorry Ah acted so harsh to you. It wasn’t fair, and Ah should’ve known.”
“Let’s just put this behind us and try to keep ourselves in the game from now on. We need to win this, not just for ourselves, but for Scootaloo and the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
“Yeah, that sounds right dandy to me.”
Sweetie Belle laughed, relieved that everything was forgiven. Suddenly, she felt the ground start to shake, and she turned around to see two stallions approaching at top speed, appearing to be neck and neck in some race judging by the determined smiles on their faces.
“W-w-what in t-tarntation is going on?” Sweetie Belle heard from the walkie. “Sweetie Belle, you have to get Chef! Ah can’t take this!”
“But Apple Bloom, it’s just-”
“GET ME OUT OF HERE!”
Sweetie Belle panicked internally and ran to the back of the stage to find Chef.
“(Sweetie Belle) I didn’t want to, but Chef told me to get him if she wanted to be freed. It’s too bad she was only four minutes away.”
Dining Car
“Ha! I won!” Shining cheered as both stallions skidded to a halt right outside of the door.
“Nnope, Ah won,” Big Mac protested.
“Dude, I totally edged you out, but whatever.”
They walked into the car to see, as expected, Rainbow and Twilight sitting at the table gossiping about stuff. They both turned when they heard the noise of hooves approaching.
“There you two are,” Twilight said, “where did you run off to?”
“I went to get this guy,” her brother answered before turning to his friend. “Ready to take the shot yet?”
Big Mac just shook his head and sat down at the table.
“(Shining Armor) He’s exactly like his sister. I remember when she was making the food for my wedding, and she refused to take a break. Stubborn as a mule that whole family is, I tell you.”
Suddenly, Shining realized something after looking around for a few seconds.
“Does anypony know where Chris went?”
Everfree Forest
Applejack finally dragged the bucket of water she had collected back to the challenge sight. By this point a few branches were on fire, and even though the fire was spreading very slowly, it was still spreading nonetheless. Fluttershy was waiting for the fire to be put out, not exactly patiently, but not frantically either.
“(Applejack) Ah was surprised how strong and brave Fluttershy was. Just goes to show that that shy little filly can really be strong when the moment arises.”
“Fluttershy, Ah’m back,” Applejack shouted before swinging the bucket forward and releasing all of the water onto the flames. Because the fire wasn’t too big yet, she had just enough to douse it all and it went out with a hiss.
“Thank goodness,” Fluttershy sighed, “for a second I thought you weren’t going to make it.”
“Me too,” Applejack chuckled. Just then she turned as she heard the cracking of dirt from behind her, and she turned around to see an enthusiastic Chris and an extremely displeased Luna approaching on the trail.
“Well done, both of you,” Chris exclaimed, giving a small golf clap.
“What were you thinking Chris?” Luna asked, anger in her voice. “The whole forest could have been destroyed by your reckless fear challenges! If I had known you were going to use the information I gave to this extent I never-”
“Easy you majesty,” Chris interrupted, making Applejack and Fluttershy uneasy, “we had precautionary measures set up just in case.”
“And exactly what were these?”
“Uh, well,” Chris stammered before quickly turning to face away from the alicorn princess. “You two managed to pass your challenges. Fluttershy for fear of animal endangerment and Applejack for fear of letting everypony down.”
“(Applejack) ...even Ah didn’t see that one coming. Wow!”
“As for Cheese and Spitfire, who both got out of the rope tying them down, no point for them. It’s three to two, with Big Mac and Twilight still needing to face their fears and Rainbow, Shining, and Apple Bloom on the clock.”
Suddenly, Chris’ walkie buzzed from inside his pocket. “Chris,” Chef’s voice came through with some static, “I had to dig up the pony we buried before the time was over. Got too scared, I guess.”
“Oh, well then I guess it’s just Shining and Rainbow now,” Chris corrected himself. “Let’s go back to the train now that all of this is over with.”
“Dang it, Apple Bloom,” Applejack groaned, following the princess and the host back along with Fluttershy.
Amphitheater
Pinkie was walking around the surrounding area of the big stage, starting to feel a little bit better, when she heard somepony yelling behind her. At first she thought it was just the wind, but then when the sound seemed to get louder and closer she turned around just in time for an orange pony with a brown mane to collide right into her.
When she opened her eyes she saw Cheese, the pony who rejected her, sitting in front of her and trying to recover from the collision course. Pinkie gasped and ran over to help him up.
“(Pinkie Pie) Even though he broke my heart, he’s still a pony just the same, so I decided to give him a hoof. After all, it’s the right thing to do!”
Cheese barely acknowledged the pink hoof being offered to him and instead got up on his own terms.
“Are you okay, Cheesie?” Pinkie asked, slightly hurt at the rejection of her offer, again.
“Yeah,” he muttered softly, looking anywhere but at her, “yeah I’m cool, whatever.”
Pinkie frowned and trotted over to where he was averting his gaze, only to have him turn his head once he saw the pony.
“Cheese, can I ask you something?”
“Sure…”
“Why did you reject me?”
Cheese raised an eyebrow at the question, his view getting closer to the pink pony.
“(Pinkie Pie) I thought the answer would have been obvious to her!”
“Because you’re just going to use me to get yourself further in the game,” Cheese answered.
About fifteen seconds passed in silence before he turned to look at her, making eye contact with her for the first time since he turned down her date offer. He had expected some kind of stammered response or even a confession, but instead the earth pony’s face held one of confusion and slight surprise.
Finally, she responded, “Who told you that?”
“Trixie told me that you were telling Twilight that you knew I liked you and that you were going to use that to your advantage.”
“I never said that!” Pinkie exclaimed, “I really do like you, Cheese Sandwich! I think you’re a lot of fun! I was just so sad and shocked when you said you didn’t want to go out with me! I really do want to be your marefriend, so please believe me!”
Cheese stared across to Pinkie, and could only think of one thing to do after her declaration of love. He ran up to her and kissed her on the cheek, before backing up with a smile and a blush. “I’m really sorry, but I promise I’ll make it up to you. How about we get some grub tomorrow before the challenge starts?”
Pinkie shook her head after falling into a loving daze before nodding her head like a bobblehead.
Cheese smiled, “Thanks! I need to talk to somepony real quick. I’ll see you later, okay Pinks?”
“Yes!” she shouted, her mane coming abc to its original curly style and her coat turning fully pink again before realizing her outburst was slightly excessive. “I mean, yeah Cheesie, I’ll see you laters!”
She winked as Cheese gave her a hug and ran off in the direction of the train, while Pinkie sat there staring off at him.
“(Pinkie Pie) The pairing stone better choose us. Otherwise I might have to break quite a few rules. He He!”
Car 4
Cheese walked up to the door in the sleeping car that had a golden four on it and knocked a hoof against it, causing a russell to occur from the inside.
“Who dares disturb the Great and Powerful Trixie while she tries to take a nap?”
She opened the door with a furrowed brow, but it lightened as she saw the pony standing in front of her. “Well, Cheese! How did you do on your challenge today?”
“Didn’t complete it,” Cheese shrugged, “anyway I need to talk to you.”
“But of course! What are friends for?”
“Well, Pinkie and I just got together.”
There was a slight pause before Trixie responded, ”Trixie sees.”
“She says she never planned to do any of that stuff, let alone told it to anypony, so I was just wondering if you just misheard her possibly?”
“Well,” Trixie put a hoof to her chin in thought, “Trixie doesn’t know for sure, but Twilight Sparkle was encouraging her and laughing along. Maybe she was the one who suggested it.”
Cheese gasped and considered the possibility.
“(Trixie) Trixie loves messing with heads, and she loves sending annoying precious princess ponies home. It’s a double win for the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“I guess I never thought of it like that,” Cheese thought, “are you sure that’s what you heard?”
“But of course, it was plain as day to Trixie.”
“Well, alright then,” Cheese hesitated, walking away with a thoughtful look, pondering what he just heard.
“(Cheese Sandwich) But why would Twilight set Pinkie up like that? Something’s fishy, and normally that means it’s time for a lake party, but this time it means it’s time to organize a search party!”
Observatory Car
“Twilight, Ah know you’re scared, but it’s just food!”
Twilight jumped at the frustration in Applejack’s voice. Ever since she had gotten back, she had been trying to console Twilight, while Fluttershy went over to talk with Rainbow. At first Applejack was patient, but it was starting to wear extremely thin. Sitting around the car was Chris, Luna, Nurse Redheart, Big Mac, and Shining.
“I’m sorry! I just don’t think I can do it!” she exclaimed.
Applejack groaned and slammed her head on the table in frustration.
“If she doesn’t eat it in the next two minutes she fails her challenge,” Chris announced while turning to Big Mac. “Same to you, big guy.”
Big Mac simply smiled and shook his head, while Shining Armor remained neutral next to him.
“(Shining Armor) We’re down three to two, but as long as me and Rainbow finish this out and Twilight doesn’t eat the quesadilla, which I’m almost certain she won’t, Big Mac doesn’t have to get the shot because we will have already won.”
“Only two more minutes before I can get out of this stuff,” Rainbow cheered, seeming to fight against the dress as she shifted slightly. On the other side of the table, Fluttershy clapped softly.
“Rainbow, I’m so happy for you. I know this must have been so tough for you.”
“Yeah, but when you’re as awesome as me, you can face anything.”
“I guess so,” Fluttershy giggled slightly, “you should consider dressing up more often, though.”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head slightly. “What gave you that idea?”
“Well, it’s just that I think you look really beautiful.”
Rainbow stopped and stared for a second at the pegasus’ soft smile as she thought about the comment.
“(Rainbow Dash) ...beautiful? She thinks I look beautiful?”
Before Rainbow could recover from the comment, Chris came over with his wrist watch out.
“Time’s up! Rainbow and Shining you each get a point for your team, and Twilight and Big Mac don’t. That makes it four to three in favor of the Draconequui! Congratulations!”
All of the team cheered except for Spitfire who seemed to be still embarrassed about her challenge, but smiled nonetheless.
“Elements, I’ll see your sorry flanks at the bonfire ceremony.”
“Gosh darn it!” Apple Bloom cried.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Chris smiled somewhat evilly, “you’re only allowed to vote for the ponies who failed their challenges, just to make it interesting.”
“Yes!” Trixie cheered.
“No!” Apple Bloom, Cheese, and Twilight shouted to the retreating host, with Luna following him.
“You can take that stuff off if you want to, Rainbow. Challenge is over,” Spitfire told the blue pegasus.
“Uh, actually Spitfire I might want to leave it on for just a little longer,” she said, staring toward Fluttershy.
“Wha- Dash! Wait, really?”
“Yep.”
Spitfire raised an eyebrow over her shades, shrugged, and walked away.
“(Spitfire) Rainbow Dash wants to dress up and leave the makeup on? Okay, now I’ve seen everything.”
“Wait, why won’t this stuff come off?”
All the ponies turned to see Shining trying to wash out the pink dye in his mane by a sink.
“Oh yeah,” Chris said, sticking his head back in the car, “apparently that stuff takes a while to wear off. We couldn’t find any pink dye that was non-permanent.”
“(Chris McLean) We probably could have, we just didn’t try to.”
“So how long as I stuck like this for?”
“Give or take a week.”
Shining groaned while Big Mac chuckled behind him at his frustration.
“Shut up, man!” Shining told him as he playfully pushed him, causing the red stallion to stumble back and put his arm on the table behind him, and his eyes widened.
He put his forearm up and saw the syringe that was supposed to be for his challenge sticking out of it.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
Campfire Pit
Celestia’s sun has set over Ponyville, and six ponies were sitting down next to each other at the pit, desperately hoping they wouldn’t be kicked off.
Applejack and Apple Bloom sat up front with Twilight, while Cheese and Pinkie sat next to each other holding hooves. Trixie sat behind them, content she couldn’t be sent home. Chris walked up with the silver platter with five marshmallows on top with Luna following closely behind.
“Well Elements, you know the drill. If you don’t get a marshmallow it may or may not be curtains for you. I have a little meeting with the Princess here after this so let’s make this snappy.
“Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Trixie!”
Immune from facing their fears, they all stepped forward. Trixie with full confidence, Pinkie with a wink to her new coltfriend, and Applejack slightly worried for her sister.
“There are only two marshmallows left, ponies,” Chris announced, “you three did not finish your challenges, so we’re leaving it to the votes. The next marshmallow goes to…”
“Apple Bloom!”
Apple Bloom sighed in relief and got up to stand next to her sister.
“Twilight, Cheese, this is it!”
Cheese shifted nervously while Twilight stared daggers at Trixie.
“Twilight, third time for you on the bottom. Think you’re out of luck?”
“Not yet,” she responded, “I’m still full of determination.”
“But do you honestly think that you should go on after your team wants you gone so badly?”
“I bet you they don’t, which is why I know I won’t be going home tonight,” Twilight flashed a smile at Trixie.
Chris’ eyebrows raised at the gutsy comment before looking between the two remaining ponies.
“Ah need to get you two out of here,” Applejack replied, still tugging at the long rope, “you two will burn.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Cheese yelled, struggling for a second before breaking free of the rope, falling to the ground, and booking it away from the forest.
Chris then took one last look at the now very confident Twilight.
“I’m sorry! I just don’t think I can do it!” she exclaimed.
Applejack groaned and slammed her head on the table in frustration.
Chris picked up the marshmallow, and held it up.
“Oh, what the heck?” he asked no one in particular before chucking it at the lavender unicorn.
Cheese stared in shock for a second before he got up and chuckled. “Well, looks like I’m done, huh? Goodnight everypony!”
He trotted over to Pinkie and smiled sadly. “Sorry about the date plans, but as soon as you win I promise I’ll still go out with you.”
Pinkie had tears forming in her eyes but she too smiled and hugged the orange pony. “Goodbye Cheesie! I love you.”
“Love you too,” he said before breaking the hug and giving her a quick kiss on the lips before beginning his trek back to Ponyville.
“Wait, Cheese,” Twilight yelled after him, quickly catching up, “how did you two get back together?”
“Well, it wasn’t easy, thanks to you,” he said with narrow eyes, “but we managed to figure a few things out so now we’re fine.”
“Because of me? But-”
“See you Twilight. Tell your brother and Big Mac I said so too.”
With that, Cheese went on, leaving a confused Twilight behind.
“(Cheese Sandwich) I guess I should have seen this coming, huh? Oh well, I really don’t regret coming on this thing. I got a marefriend, I met some pretty cool ponies, and I almost faced my fear of forest fire. How cool is that? Well now I’m going to show Canterlot what a real Cheese party looks like!”
Twilight trotted back to look at her four remaining teammates. Applejack smiled softly at her, relieved, and Pinkie did too, although there were still some tear marks on her face.
Suddenly, a blue unicorn trotted up to the side of her and whispered, “Better watch your step, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight turned to see a frustrated look on Trixie’s face, having seen her enemy avoid elimination again.
“You!” Twilight exclaimed, looking angrier than ever. “What did you do to Pinkie and Cheese?”
“That’s none of your concern, is it? Just know that it didn’t have the outcome Trixie hoped for.”
“You mean my elimination?”
“Precisely,” Trixie smiled. “It will only be a matter of time, Princess.”
She walked away in better spirits while Twilight grunted.
“(Twilight Sparkle) That’s it! I can’t take that lousy unicorn any longer! At this point I’m not sure I care about winning so long as she loses!”
Observatory Car
Luna sat down next to Chris with a serious look on her face.
“Chris McLean,” she started, “after observing the challenge today and seeing the many safety precautions I must say that I’m shocked my sister even approved of this show. Therefore I can only recommend one thing.”
“And what’s that?” Chris asked.
“That you step down as host for now as we review your records.”
Votes for Cheese Sandwich
“(Apple Bloom) Ah don’t want to go home, and same to Twi. Sorry partner.”
“(Applejack) You’re the only one that I’m not very close with. Ah really don’t want to see you go, but Ah especially don’t want the other ones to go either.
“(Twilight Sparkle) Yeah, sorry Cheese, but you failed miserably and broke Pinkie’s heart.”
Votes for Twilight Sparkle
“(Trixie) Trixie mapped it out perfectly. So long, Princess.”
“(Cheese Sandwich) The quesadilla is the least of your concerns. Messing with me and your own best friend? Not cool.”
Votes for Apple Bloom
“(Pinkie Pie) I don’t want to vote of Twilight or Cheesie, so sorry AB.”
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‘Looks at some of your prior stories’ I think I see where this is going. 😉
10462583
Maybe, maybe not...
I always liked the cliche "get over your fears" challenge, which is weird because I normally don't like cliches. But you did well here. Favorite and most relatable has to (surprisingly) be Spitfire's fear. That episode really gave me a good scare for insects. Also FlutterDash Yay! And oh the drama! tensions are very high and I can't wait to see what other references I probably will miss unless someone mentions them in the comments or by yourself!
10465439
.I actually wanted to make a reference to the moment in Spongebob where he was trying to show Patrick how to open a jar right before than when Applejack got behind Spitfire and opened it, but I felt it didn't work, so I found a better one! I'm glad I did the cliche well, because I felt that some of the "worst" fears weren't actually the worst, that and I had to make a few up (like Cheese's and Shining's). Thanks for leaving a comment! 
The only reference I added in this one, I believe, was Spitfire's fear, which I was scared of when I was younger. It was my first experience of jump scare