> A Discordant Reality > by The-Third > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Season 1 Episode 0 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discord checked his microphone to make sure it was on, tapping on it and hearing feedback. “Are you ready Pinkie Pie?” He looked over to the overactive pink pony, she was the only one who wanted to do this, although all of her friends decided to do the show except Fluttershy, because, well she was Fluttershy! She decid- His thoughts were interrupted by Pinkie “Sure Am! Are the contestants ready?” “I think” Discord looked over at the camera crew and nodded for them to start the show “And Action!” a pony in the back of the set called “Hello!” Discord Began “And Welcome To. .” “A Discordant Reality!” He and Pinkie said in sync, they had been practicing that for about three hours. “So Discord, you said we were meeting our contestants today, but I don’t see them” Pinkie said, he could already tell that she was a great actor, and her cheery attitude made her great for a TV show. "Well, We Are!" Discord Read from his script without making it seem that way, at least to the best of his abilities, most of the show was going to be unscripted, he decided to script this episode to help him and Pinkie get into the swing of things. He snapped his finger and teleported "Welcome to the Castle!" Discord began "An exact copy of Celestia's castle in Canterlot, where our players will be staying for the next few months, and the winner will win the house as well as 10,000 Bits!" He snapped his fingers and made an applause sound for the show, who needed special effects when you had chaos magic. "First up is the princess of friendship herself, Twilight Sparkle!" The camera turned over to a door as Twilight walked with a smug face, she was confident that she could easily win the competition, with her smarts and magical ability. "Hello, Discord, Pinkie" She sat down in her seat and took a sip of the tea provided for her during this interview. "Hey Twilight!" Pinkie was excited, like always, to see her friend. "Are you excited for the new Show?" "I am, I think the competition will come easy to me." Discord didn't understand why Twilight was acting so smug, it wasn't like her. At least what he had seen of her, witch wasn't much. He usually spent time with Fluttershy. The interview continued in a similar fashion, Pinkie asking questions, Twilight answering them, and Discord commenting on her answers. After a few minutes, Pinkie said she had no more questions, and Twilight left the TV Studio "But before we continue on, I'd like to simply list off our contestants" Discord snapped and a small piece of paper poofed in front of him. "Let's see, we have Twilight Sparkle, whom we just talked to, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike the dragon, Pinkie are you sure he's old enough to do this, he is considered a baby dragon" "Silly Discord, He's 11 years old, he can handle this" Discord was worried, Pinkie was getting more and more off script, but Pinkie had a big smile. She was confident that all of the contestants had a chance to win "Okay, anyways, we also have Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, The Great and Powerful Trixie, what a boastful name if I say so myself, and a mystery guest that we won't even be able to interview today! that's a surprise for you guys at home to try to figure out. If you want a clue, all I can say is that this character is completely off the record and quite random, so take your guesses!" "It's sounds so exciting Discord! Now let's go through the rest of these boring interviews so I can start planning the welcome party for our contestants." Pinkie almost jumped from excitement when she said party, she was the element of laughter, so Discord understood why she acted that way. "Alight Pinkie, Let's get Rarity on here and finish this up" The door into the studio opened to reveal Rarity, as classy and as beautiful as ever. Discord knew that he needed her for his show, drama sells, and Rarity has drama. "Good Morning Rarity, how are you today?" Pinkie asked "Why Pinkie, It has been great, this new castle that you and Discord showed us around looks absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to spend some time to relax in it and not have to worry about my boutiques." "Well, Rarity, Discord and I were wondering who you think will be the biggest challenge for you to live with for the next few months?" Pinkie was already pretty sure what the answer was, but the viewers may not, they don't know Rarity as much as she did. "Most Likely Applejack, she's so sloppy, and just bleh" Rarity said with slight disgust towards her friend. "If you don't win, who do you want to win" Pinkie asked next "Sweetie Belle, Most Likely. If she won, than I'm sure she would be willing to let me use this place with her" Rarity was excited at the idea to have a vacation home and as long as she could actually use it, she didn't care who actually owned it. "Well, thank you Rarity" Pinkie decided to end the interview there, and get the last ponies to interview. "Although we could not get ahold of Trixie, Applejack, Spike, Or Rainbow Dash, we did get ahold of the CMC for one last interview" Discord said as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo entered the room and sat in three different chairs "So A Question for all of you, you guys are considered a team, but are you guys gonna try to work together to try to win this?" Pinkie read from a little note card "I don't know yet, I don't have a plan" Sweetie Belle lied, she had an idea, but not a very detailed one. It involved singing, recording, and insomnia. "I do" Scootaloo Said "I will just use my scooter and beat everyone else!" "Scootaloo Fer' the last time, this ain't a race" Apple Bloom said, slightly annoyed "It's a TV show!" "Yeah, Yeah, your just saying that so you can win with me being confused" Scootaloo said frustrated "It is a TV show" Discord had been quiet this entire time, but was getting tired of the arguing "Pinkie, is there any more questions you want to ask?" Pinkie Shook her head, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders exited the room. "Well, This has been A Discordant Reality, Tune in next time to see the competition begin" Discord Motioned for The cameraman to stop recording and that's a wrap > Season 1 Episode 1 (The 'Race') > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, everypony!" Discord said gleefully. "Welcome to the best, and only, TV show in all of Equestria called-" he paused for Pinkie to get ready. "A Discordant Reality!" they announced in sync. "Today, we will get the competition started and, sadly, one of our contestants will have to go home." Discord stated. This was how reality TV worked: someone was booted out of the show at the end of each episode. "Aww, already? They just got here!" Pinkie complained. Discord couldn't tell if she was a really great actress or was serious about the whole thing. "Well Pinkie, before any of them leave, we need to meet them as well as our mystery guest." Discord snapped his fingers, making him and Pinkie appear in the copy of Canterlot castle. Surrounded by the number of stained glass windows put inside, the two creatures waited as all the contestants would be meeting. "Come on in, guys!" he called as ten different ponies, most of which Pinkie recognized, flooded into the building. "Alright, for anyone that doesn't know each other, as well as the viewers at home, we're going to quickly go over the cards that we gave all of you earlier that you filled out.” Discord said as he walked up his first contestant "First up is Twilight Sparkle. It says, under best memory, that you hatched Spike here who is another contestant. So, do we have a mother and son relationship here?" Discord asked. 'Oh no, Discord. I don't really think of him as my son; more of a brother, if anything." Twilight explained, slightly embarrassed. "Next up is Rarity. It says, under favorite pony, Sweetie Belle- how sweet." Discord paused to see if anyone would laugh at his pun,but Pinkie simply coughed. "Come on! That was witty." "Not really." Rarity flatly said as she rolled her eyes. "Yes, it was." Discord mumbled under his breath. "Continuing on we have Rainbow Dash. Under greatest accomplishment you put becoming a Wonderbolt and being the most awesomest- are you sure about that?" "Are you kidding me? Rainbow yelled, surprising everyone. "One hundred percent hooves down. Yes!" "Rainbow is followed by the last Element of Harmony here today: Applejack. So Applejack, you said your most prized possession was your farm." "Yessiree, mah' farm is the most important thing I can think of besides my family and friends." she said. "Following Applejack is Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Under greatest accomplishment you all put being part of the CMC, what is that exactly?" Discord didn’t care, but viewers might, so he tried his best to act interested. All three of the fillies got excited; hey had planned to all answer the question the same, so their little club could get better publicity. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" they exclaimed in sync. “You see, you can join the CMC and work with other members to get yer’ cutie marks. The CMC is full of fun and you can join fer-” Apple Bloom was interrupted by Scootaloo. “Free!” she chimed excitedly. At the same time, Sweetie Belle shot a party cannon, having grabbed Pinkie’s during the exposition. "Wow, did you practice that?" Pinkie asked with a big smile on her face, impressed by their planning as well as their extreme cuteness. "Sure did!!" Apple Bloom said with a large grin on her face, as she was very happy with herself as well as her other members. If only Babs was here, too. "While that was really cute, I want to get done with the introductions and start doing the challenges, so let's move on." Discord said, starting to get irritated by the three hyperactive fillies. "We have Spike here, as well: earlier, Twilight put her best moment in life as when she hatched you, and you put yours as when you first saw Rarity. Why?" Spike and Rarity both blushed when Discord mentioned Spike’s not so secret crush. "Well, she's a really good friend to me." Spike said nervously, his legs shaking in slight fear from the embarrassment. "Are you sure you are just friends?" Discord ashed, a slight smirk on his face. He liked playing around with the little dragons emotions: he knew it wasn't the kindest thing, but he needed drama if this show to be a success. Spike gulped and was starting to sweat as he struggled to answer "Y-y-yep-p!" He was starting to shake now, and it wouldn't have been such a big deal normally, but he was on live TV with thousands of ponies watching. "Alright, next up is Trixie. Under greatest accomplishment you put defeating an Ursa Major - did you actually do that?" Discord inquired. He already knew the answer, but he despised the ‘magic’ unicorn and wanted to expose her lies. Twilight rolled her eyes as she answered Discord’s question "Of course she di-" "The Great and Powerful Trixie can do anything, defeating an Ursa Major was a cinch!" Trixie quickly interrupted, not wanting Twilight to reveal the truth as she made a good earning in her tours and that was a story she told at every single one. "Let's say I believe you: how?" Discord asked, wondering how Trixie was going to get out of this one. 'Umm, well the Great and Powerful Trixie does not remember much of the details!" Trixie stated nervously. "You should, it is your greatest accomplishment." Twilight smugly teased. She was getting annoyed with the unicorn’s bragging. She still didn’tt understand how, after being beaten twice, Trixie could be so confident. In a weird way, Twilight admired it but was more annoyed than anything. "You be quiet, Twilight!" Trixie began. "That's Princess Twilight Sparkle, The Weak and Idiotic Trixie." Twilight retorted, she was still mad about at her, even though she hadn’t seen her in months and Twilight believed that Trixie had no way to redeem herself, nor would she ever. "You take that back!" Trixie cried, interrupting Twilight’s thoughts. "Well, while those two keep bickering like foals, it's time to meet our mystery contestant for season one of our little show here: Alex." "So, Alex, you are very interesting; I picked you up from another reality correct?" Discord asked, with the only reason being to give exposition to the viewer. "Yes, Discord why exactly do I have to do this?" The grey human turned alicorn asked. Although he didn’t know this Discord, the other one trapped him in stone for who knows how long and he hasn’t had the best experiences with him outside of it, in addition to the fact that this new one just ripped him straight from his reality all added up to make Alex very irritable. "So you can win this place." Discord stated. That, of course, wasn’t the reason: the true reason was because Celestia declined his offer at the last second and he promised the producers he would get two alicorns. "And why would I want that?" Alex replied. The fact that Discord was trying to reason with him angered him even more. "Aren't you getting married soon?" Discord asked, continuing to try and reason with the pony. "Yeah, so?" Alex retorted. "This could be your honeymoon spot!" Discord was beginning to become annoyed at Alex. "Fine, but once this is over, you're sending me straight back to my version of Equestria; I have a certain bed with a cyan colored pegasus in it with my name written all over it." "Please don't share your personal life on Live TV." Discord stated flatly. This was supposed to be PG, and what he had to ask him in a second was already enough innuendo for this episode. "I will do whatever I want Discord!" "I'm your only way home, remember? I disabled your chaos magic.” It was quite a difficult task actually, the pony’s chaos abilities were almost as strong as his, but he surprised him. Alex stopped arguing but still appeared visually agitated and, in spite of this, Discord continued. “Alex, I found this very amusing: under greatest accomplishment you put, and I quote: 'banging a changeling'. Why the heck did you write that down?" Unlike the other questions he asked during this pilot, Disord was actually curious about his answer "Sorry, that may have been Dax." Alex blushed, slightly flustered. "He's my chaotic side, literally made from chaos magic." "Then what is your greatest accomplishment?" Discord asked. Alex thought for a moment, thinking back to his memory of that time. "Banging the queen of the changelings and the element of loyalty." Rainbow Dash turned from a cyan color to a bright red in a mix of embarrassment and enragement, while Discord rolled his eyes and motioned to address the entire group. "Alright, one last thing: you all are living in this castle, and I want the playing field to be as flat as possible. Having all of you be earth ponies would be boring, so. . ." Discord snapped his fingers as horns and wings appeared on everyone who found themselves lacking either.Spike however, had the biggest change: a large white light surrounded him filling up the entire room, and out stepped a small purple pony with spiky green hair and a small scroll as a cutie mark. Alex noticed that it looked similar to how Spike looked in his world. "Now that everyone is an alicorn, I think we have an even playing field." Discord smiled at his work. "So, one last thing before we start the next challenge: you will be put into pairs for roommates. We have Rarity and Applejack, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, Rainbow and Scootaloo, Alex and Spike, and Twilight and Trixie." he smirked at the last one, knowing it would cause trouble and earn him the ratings he oh-so-desired. “Now go unpack your stuff, everypony; we’ll meet up in thirty minutes!” As the ten contestants returned to the main foyer, most were happy with their pairings and got along quite well. Spike, for example, was surprised at how well he got along with Alex. Not everyone was happy, however, as Trixie and Twilight were once again having a ‘friendly discussion’ as Discord began to explain the competition. "Our first challenge is a flying challenge, a simple race." Discord said to the contestants. The fact of the matter was that it wasn't really just a race, it was more so a timed maze whose walls would come up about ten seconds after they went off, but why tell them now? "If everyone could line up at the start, we will begin in-" Pinkie began to count down "3. . . 2. . . 1. . . CUPCAKES!" Everyone dashed off to the goal in the distance, with Rainbow Dash already almost there while Twilight scurried behind her by a long shot, followed by Applejack, Rarity, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Alex, Trixie, and Sweetie Belle and Spike in last place. "You know you were supposed to say ‘go’ right?" Discord asked, annoyed, as they practiced multiple times and she still hadn’t gotten it right. "Yeah, but cupcakes is just way more exciting than go - go is so boring!" Pinkie continued to complain about the word ‘go’ to Discord as he silently counted down to himself. As his mental clock struck zero, a large rumble resonated as the large stone walls came up to be topped with a ceiling to make sure nopony flew over to cheat. "Whoopsie daisy, I forgot to uninstall my magic maze creator. It's triggered by the word ‘cupcake’." He spoke into a intercom so that the ponies in the maze could hear him. "I told her she should of just said ‘go’. Anyways, I guess that means this turned into a maze; get to the end by any means necessary." A collected groan came from the contestants as he teleported to the finish line. Both Discord and Pinkie appeared at the end of the maze in a flash, only to see Twilight and Alex already waiting for them. "How did you two get here so fast?" he asked, as he was sure that Rainbow Dash would come in first. "You said any means necessary, magic is a mean right? I just teleported here." Twilight informed, clearly happy with herself for thinking of such a maneuver. "What about you?" he asked Alex. "Same thing." he said. Discord raised his eyebrows. Is that cheating? He thought. Followed by Twilight and Alex was Applejack, who somehow broke the outside wall by bucking it as hard as she could. After Applejack was Rainbow Dash, who seemingly traversed it with her speed alone. Rarity came in fifth. Finally came the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who worked as a team after they found each other, with their reasoning being of course that they could get their cutie marks, which only left Spike and Trixie to tie for last.. "Spike, Trixie, you were the last two to get to the end of the maze, so you’re in the danger zone." Discord snapped his fingers and dramatic music played - who needed special effects when you had chaos magic? "Viewers at home, vote by leaving your character's name in the comments! Until next time, this has been Discord and Pinkie in “A Discordant Reality”! Tune in in about two weeks where we will see who is safe and who will be kissing this castle goodbye!” And that's a wrap. > Season 1 Episode 2 (Trixies & Oubliettes) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 (Season 1 Episode 2) Twilight yawned slowly, opening her eyes to realize she was in a room that she recognized from her childhood; remembering she was on Discord's reality show. She could hear the slight snoring of her roommate, Trixie, behind her. She got up and went over to the washroom to get ready for the rest of the day. Trixie was still asleep when Twilight returned from the shower. The sun had just peeked it's head above the horizon, and it seemed like nopony else was awake so, noticing a small bookshelf, she levitated the first book on the shelf and curled back up on her bed. After finishing the first book of the series Trixie had awoken from her slumber and was now practicing card tricks and muttering to herself about something she couldn't make out. She tried her best to ignore it and moved on to her second book. Later that morning, everyone was in the dining room, with the main topic being everyone's new appendages. "Never thought I'd say this, but Discord is awesome! I wasn't even going to play this game if it wasn't for Fluttershy talking me into it." Rainbow said to Applejack and Rarity as they ate their meals. Meanwhile, Trixie and Spike were staying quiet; hoping that they weren't the one who would be voted off. At the front of the table was Discord and Pinkie. Pinkie had made a breakfast of waffles with lots of syrup, and, if people wanted them for breakfast, cupcakes. On the opposite side was Alex, who was hoping almost as much as Spike that Trixie was voted off, as he didn't want to lose his roommate. After Rainbow had finished her discussion, she looked at one end of the table and slid down to Alex. “Can you please explain what happened yesterday?” Rainbow asked. “What are you talking about?” replied Alex, confused about what the cyan pegasus was referring to. “Banging the Element of Loyalty? Are you kidding me!?” Rainbow’s voice echoed through the dining room. “Oh, that. It’s weird to explain.” Alex thought of how exactly to explain it. “You know how Discord was talking about me being from another world? Well, in that world, there’s another you and I kinda-sorta date her.” Rainbow was about to retort with something like ‘why would I date you’ when Discord raised a glass and summoned a spoon, tapping the two together in order to get everyone's attention. "Good morning everypony, thank you for joining us all this morning. I'm sad to say that one of our contestants must go, today. As you know, it was between Trixie and Spike, and the people at home have voted and Trixie. . . " Spike had a slight smile on his face, as he thought he would be safe since Trixie was called. Trixie was trembling; her wings shaking. ". . . You are safe!" Trixie breathed a sigh of relief before Discord continued. "Sadly, this means that Spike will be leaving our show. Please go pack your things, and I will send you back to Ponyville when you are ready." Spike turned around and trotted back to his room. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Discord snapped his fingers, changing Spike back into a dragon. "You can return to what you were doing, I will be back after lunch to give you your challenge. I’d also like to point out to our viewers that it has definitely been only two days since the race, and that any other memories are most likely due to my accidental time warping a week and a half ago." Discord disappeared and the conversations continued where they left off True to his word Discord came back to the castle after lunch to begin explaining his challenge. "Many of you have probably heard of the game Ogres and Oubliettes, before you ask, yes we're sponsored, and some of you have walked into some of my 'guy's nights' with Big Mac and Spike. Today the goal of the challenge is simple, everyone will be split into pairs, the last team to pass the dungeon that will be created will be sent into the Danger Zone, However, You may have noticed that we have an odd number of contestants. Trixie, since you were in the Danger Zone last episode, so you will be our Dungeon Master. Now the rest of you will get some gold in the town I have created to buy armor potions and weapons. Each Team gets 1000 gold, speaking of teams, your roommate is your teammate besides Twilight, who will be matched up with Alex as he doesn't have a roommate" Apple Bloom was in a small room looking around, it seemed like some type of Bar or Tavern, next to her was Sweetie Belle, wearing an outfit that she didn't recognize, she had barely ever play O&O, so she knew very little about it besides what Big Mac had talked about. Sweetie played it much more than she did. "Sweetie, what exactly are you?" asked "I'm a Bard! They cast magic with music, your a druid right?" Sweetie asked her roommate. “Yes, I must be much better with potions if I'm an Alicorn now" Apple Bloom explained her choice of class to her sister as more ponies showed up in the Tavern. Rarity and Twilight was a Wizard, Applejack and Scootaloo were Paladins, Apple Bloom was a Druid, Alex was a Sorcerer and Rainbow Dash was a Rogue. Walking out of the Tavern, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found a few shops, a small potion shop, a weapon shop, and an Armor and Clothing Shop. Splitting their money, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle separated and went to shop. Meanwhile, Applejack and Rarity headed into the shops together with Applejack getting Spiked boots so she could 'buck some goblin scum' and Rarity Getting some potions and a small gem encrusted dagger "Just in case" Twilight got a staff, giving her magic a fire effect, Alex got a Staff as well, letting him teleport, as well as the strongest dagger he could find. Both him and Twilight realized that magic worked differently in this world. So they had to get staffs to actually cast spells besides levitation. He was playing as a sorcerer, but his playstyle was a rogue, he chose a sorcerer so he could use magic just in case. At the same time, Trixie was trying her best to make her dungeon as complicated as possible, even though there was no time limit, she wanted to intimidate the others. Unluckily for her, she had a limited amount of enemies and traps, ‘to keep it fair’ is what Discord said. How did it make it unfair? Everypony was going through the same dungeon, so it wouldn’t really be unfair. Levitating a quill to her sheet of paper, she put the finishing touches on her ‘masterpiece’ Meanwhile. . . “How long until we can go?” Rainbow whined for the fifth time as she sat with Scootaloo “WE DON’T KNOW!” replied everyone else, they were getting quite annoyed. “Alright everypony!” Pinkie yelled through a megaphone, as the ponies lined up next to the cave “Are you ready to enter the mystery dungeon of mystery-ness” “You mean mysteriousness?” Twilight corrected. “Nope, mystery-ness” Pinkie said “Trixie named it ‘The Dangerous and Super Cool Dungeon of Mystery-ness, doesn’t it have a nice ring to it?” “I guess?” Twilight said, what a weird name,though it does sound like a name Trixie would come up with she thought to herself “The dungeon is full of spooky monsters and cobwebs and boring parties and other terrifying things, are you guys ready?” Pinkie asked. “Yeah!” replied Rainbow and the CMC, while everyone else remained silent. “Then let’s get started!” she said as she pulled an airhorn from her mane “3. . 2. . 1. . Go!” at the sound of the horn, all eight of the ponies ran into the cave, the sound of galloping slowly fading into the distance. “See DIscord, I can get it right. I can say go instead of cupcake if I want!” The pink pony seemingly said to nopony. As both Rainbow and Scootaloo entered the first room of the cave, which had nothing more than a couple of low level orges, which were quickly vanquished by the two of them. They looked around for some way to go deeper into the dungeon. Finding a button, Scootaloo pressed it. Both ponies heard a deep rumbling, turning around, they saw as a stone door rose to make way for a hallway. Each room held a key that could unlock one of the six locks on the boss door.Opening the first door they began to peer inside Twilight and Alex were in the first room, surprised that the cave somehow housed a tropical forest, inside were more ogres, as well as some hot headed monkeys. Noticing a ruined temple, Twilight pointed out to her partner. “So, we have a few minutes of peace, why don’t you tell me about yourself, and I’ll tell you about me” Twilight asked, Alex was the only pony she didn’t know in this competition, so finding out more about him would do nothing but good. “Well what do you want to know?” Alex asked. “Well, where are you from?” Twilight asked him. “It’s weird to explain, I’m actually from a planet called earth.” Alex wondered if Twilight even knew what Humans were, and he didn’t want to explain “Earth? Do you know Sunset?” Twilight asked. “Once again, hard to explain” Alex saud as they entered the ruins. “How did you die?” Apple Bloom asked her pegasus friend/ “Rainbow and I split up.” Scootaloo replied “I got surrounded by monkeys, what about you?” “We made it to room 3, but Sweetie Belle used me as a shield” Apple Bloom was pretty annoyed at her teammate, just using her as defense. A large white light appeared, and out came Rarity and Alex, both of them dying in the fifth room. With half of the ponies gone, but all of the teams still in, the four dead ponies all hoped that their teammate won’t be the next to come. As Applejack turned the last key, the sixth and final lock fell to the ground, allowing her to push open the final door, revealing a dark room with seemingly nothing inside, hoping that she had some time, she sat down to relax, she grabbed a single potion from the items that Rarity was carrying, and since she had a few bruises, drank it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad, it had a mild vanilla taste, but the aftertaste, that was abysmal. Applejack gagged as the bruises and cuts on her body faded away, feeling relaxed, and seeing that the room was relatively safe, Applejack dozed off to sleep. A bright light shone through the room as another door opened, this time Twilight entered the room, using an illumination spell to light up the otherwise dark room. Another door opened, this one by Sweetie Belle, as she noticed the two ponies she ran over to meet up with them. Finally, there was Rainbow Dash, who entered as quietly as possible just in case there were any enemies inside. “Where are we supposed to go now?” Sweetie Belle asked confused on what was going on. “I honestly don’t know Sweetie Belle, there’s probably some type of puzzle we’re missing.” Twilight flew around, looking for some kind of clue that could help them progress. “Why are you two here?” Rainbow asked, surprising the other two ponies still awake in the room. “Rainbow!” Twilight jumped a bit in fright “Don’t scare me like that!” “Sorry, anyways, do you know whose flank we’re supposed to kick.” Rainbow asked, getting anxious to do something. Suddenly, a loud rumble was heard behind the four ponies, though not so loud that it woke Applejack from her ‘power nap’ A large circular platform began to rise, coming out was a large armored bipedal, almost five times as tall as the ponies, with a metal warhammer and a helmet with three spikes the middle one longer than the two on the side. “What is that!” Twilight asked As Twilight asked, Discord appeared in a reseat with a large tub of popcorn. “He’s the final boss, I got the idea from a world where robots try to take over the world. But monkeys, cowboys, pilots, and even an angel fight against them” Discord explained as he winked to seemingly nowhere. “Anyways, have fun, don’t die yadda yadda yadda, and FIGHT!” The large boss began walking towards them, readying his hammer to demolish them all in one fell swoop.However, all of the ponies dodged this, all except for Applejack. After Applejack disappeared from the battlefield, the three remaining ponies all tried to defeat the large boss, quickly realising it had some type of large blue shield, seemingly made out of magic, but with Twilight and Sweetie distracting him while Rainbow went in for the kill, they vanquished the creature rather quickly. In a bright flash of light, the three final ponies were returned to the castle, Applejack was still dozing off, and rest of the ponies socialized, waiting for either DIscord or Pinkie to return. When Discord and Pinkie appeared, they announced that, like everyone had guessed, Applejack and Rarity were up for elimination “Like always, viewers, comment down below who you want to stay in our competition, and with that this has been A Discordant Reality, good night everypony.” And that’s a wrap > Chapter 2.5 in the Gardens > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a calm morning in the castle gardens, and the majority of the contestants were having a nice picnic. It seemed as though Discord was not going to bother them today, and they could get some well needed rest. The main topic for everyone at the moment was who was going to go, Applejack or Rarity. As always, it was basically down to the luck of the draw, and Applejack seemed to be at Rarity's throat being overly competitive as ever. Everyone else seemed relaxed, though it was exciting to see who would be going. When they would find out was the only question left. It seemed that they wouldn't have to wait that long, as Discord and Pinkie both appeared in front of them, shooting down any thoughts of a calm day of rejuvenation. The two did the same spiel as always, welcoming the viewers to the show. "Today we are going to be sending one of the two ponies packing back to the farm, or back to their shop." Pinkie explained to the audience "It's always sad to see them go, but hay, that's how the cookie crumbles!" "Here I have the envelope that will reveal who will be heading home, will it be Applejack or Rarity, who will be hearing to no end how their little sister survived longer on this show than they did, who will be an embarrassment to their entire family lineage. Who will fall into the weeping depths of desp-" "Discord! Stop being so dramatic and get on with it!" Rainbow groaned. "Uh, yes, anyways the one heading home will be . . ." He ripped it open and out popped bubbles, surrounding the draconequus. "Oops, I grabbed the wrong one" he pulled out another one and continued "Now, this is the letter that will reveal who will be heading home, will it be Applejack or Rarity, This will reveal who will be hearing to no end how their little sister surviv-" "DISCORD!" Most of the contestants yelled at him. "Fine! Such killjoys, I'm telling you, anyways" he unenthusiastically opened the envelope "It's Rarity I guess" "Yee-haw!" Applejack exclaimed, Rarity seemed to take it well though, seemingly out of character, she simply exited the garden, and was never seen again on the set. "Now it is time for the challenge fo-" Discord was interrupted by Pinkie pulling his ear down to her and whispering something. "Alright ponies, change of plans, turns out the higher ups hate fun and want you to 'relax' this week so they can have ponies get to know you guys. I don't know why, everyone knows most of you" he pouts. "Anyways ta ta!" he disappears, leaving only a pile of confetti in his and Pinkie's place. "Why is he like that?" Trixie asked "I don't know, because he can" Twilight replied "Now if I can get back to my conversation without being interrupted by a god of chaos, or a sideshow cheapskate, I could learn how alternate realities might work" Twilight was talking of the conversation she had struck up with Alex, the odd one out of the group, so to say. He had come from a completely different world, in more ways than one. "What was it you wanted to ask me Twilight?" Alex asked, calling her out from her thoughts. "Oh, sorry, I was wondering what your world is like." "It's different, that's for sure. Not even getting into the details. Rainbow and I are in a relationship, Spike's a pony, and I was turned to stone for . . " He thought for a moment "I honestly don't remember, it was a while, Discord did it to me, so you can probably guess why I'm not the friendliest with him right now." "That does sound quite different, if you don't mind me asking, why?" "What do you mean?" "Well, how come all of this happened in your world but not ours, and where are you in our world if all of our friends are in yours." "You remember Canterlot High right?" he asked, seemingly going off the record of the conversation. "Yes, why?" "Well, maybe there are more than two worlds" he replied "That's way to vague" "Well it's all your getting" Alex smirked "What! No! Please, I need to know about this, I could pay you, what do you want, bits? Do you want me to help you cheat in thi-" Twilight was shushed by a hoof being placed on her mouth by Trixie. "Trixie does not like to hear people beg" "Well, Trixie, Twilight doesn't like ponies' hooves being shoved in her mouth" "Are you mocking the way Trixie talks?" "Maybe I am, why?" "Well as the Princess of Friendship, maybe you should know that that is quite rude and that mocking people is wrong" Alex thought this would be a good time to leave the situation Scootaloo was having the time of her life, she and the other crusaders were all flying around, with their new wings, and were playing Laser Tag, with actual horn lasers! Everyone else seemed to be in the gardens for one reason or another. "Gotcha!" Apple Bloom yelled as Scootaloo felt something hit her back. "Hey, I wasn't looking, fine, I'm it, but I will get revenge" The flying continued for hours, only stopping so Sweetie Belle could use the bathroom. All of the CMC loved it, but Scootaloo also found it kind of sad. One day,she would be going home, and she would lose these good wings, and the horn altogether, and just be regular, boring, Pegasus Scootaloo. She needed to make this last as long as possible. She needed to win this > 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