> Total Magic Pony Island: The Lost Episodes
>  by SuperPinkBrony12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Episode 16: Sonic Stealthboom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord stood at the edge of the dock on Paradox Island, looking into the cameras that were broadcasting his image and his surroundings all over Equestria. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island," He began as clips from the last show began to play. "With Spike gone, Rainbow Dash set her sights on knocking out her former friend Gilda. And Gilda opted to pull Scootaloo aside for a little talk about idol worship. Too bad it all went in one ear and out the other."

It wasn't long before the camera's images began to change, depicting the contestants in their most recent challenge while Discord continued to narrate. "I took the liberty of hiding keys to treasure chests and since I was feeling generous I let the contestants keep whatever was inside. But if I'm being honest, most of them weren't worth the effort." Among the clips shown were Rarity trying to retrieve her key from a toilet and Princess Celestia being sat on by Nightmare Moon.

The camera then began to show how the contest had ended as Discord explained. "I did enjoy slamming the chest on Rainbow Dash. She doesn't think I'm gonna make it that easy for her to win invincibility, does she?" Then a clip of Trixie opening her chest to find a gift basket that contained an immunity card inside of it was shown. "Trixie winning invincibility gave Cheerilee hope that she could swing an alliance to get rid of Rainbow Dash."

Day turned to night in the blink of an eye as the camera depicted a campfire ceremony where all the contestants sat on tree stumps, while Discord and Nightmare Moon stood before them and everyone but Trixie waited with worry (and in some cases anticipation) to find out which of them would be voted off. And Discord's narration continued to play, showing the results. "Unfortunately, Cheerilee's hopes were dashed when the votes came up just short for Rainbow Dash, and Gilda was eliminated again instead."

From there, the camera was showing Gilda being led away to a rickety old boat at the end of the same dock Discord was standing on. Said boat taking the griffon away from the island before the scene changed back to the campfire and the eleven contestants that had survived. And Discord kept narrating. "Cheerilee was thus left with no allies to call her own and her future looking grim. But Scootaloo might have just committed an even bigger blunder by accidentally revealing her secret pact with Rainbow Dash."

The clips ended as Discord stood in front of the cameras and dramatically announced. "Which contestant will be the next to take a one way boat ride off Paradox Island and kiss their chance at a million bits goodbye? Find out now on Total Magic Pony Island!"





The boat carrying Gilda had hardly been out of sight, and yet all anypony could think about was the shocking revelation from Scootaloo that Rainbow Dash had apparently promised to take her all the way to the final two.

A brief flicker of the camera played a clip of Rainbow Dash groaning in the confessional about this slip up. "Really, Scoots?" She remarked while putting a hoof up to her face. "You just had to go and open your big mouth! Did I not mention it was supposed to be a secret?!"

Then, just as quickly, the camera cut back to what was happening in real time as several sets of eyes fell on the two pegasi. Scootaloo opting to nervously giggle and duck behind Rainbow for safety.

"Rainbow Dash, just what is up with you making such a promise?" Twilight berated her friend turned temporary opponent because of this game.

Rainbow did her best to feign ignorance. "Come on, Twilight. You're seriously gonna take the kid's word for it? You know how fillies her age are, they've got such active imaginations."

Scootaloo, however, spoke up in protest. "But Rainbow Dash, you said we were gonna..."

The brash speedster quickly moved to shush the tomboyish filly. "-Kid, you're making it worse for yourself."

Cheerilee couldn't help but growl and snarl upon seeing this. This was exactly the kind of behavior she'd become worried about and why she had been hoping so hard to get rid of Rainbow Dash in the last vote session. "Rainbow Dash, you're just using Scootaloo as a pawn to give you the win! You know she'll throw the game to you!"

Rarity then scoffed. "That's quite an accusation to be making after what you just tried to do, Cheerilee."

Even Princess Celestia could only remark. "I don't know that I can trust your word either, Cheerilee. Not anymore. Your secrecy is just as bad as Rainbow Dash's. For all I know, you only want Rainbow Dash gone because you view her as a threat."

It was quickly becoming apparent that tensions were starting to boil over among the contestants, something that troubled Twilight greatly. "H-hey now," She spoke up. "Let's not start fighting. This is exactly what Discord wants. Ever since he started this little 'show' of his he's been trying to pit us against each other. He wants to make it so that no matter who wins, we'll be too divided against ourselves to stop him."

The shrunken down sun princess blinked. Somehow that thought had never crossed her mind before. But a flicker of the camera showed her worrying greatly about this in the confessional. "Could it be true? Could this be why Discord started this whole thing?" She thought aloud. "I know Spike said he got rid of Applejack, but what if that was because of this island? Ever since we got here, every contestant's been acting strange."

The camera then cut back to the present as Twilight went on to say. "Whatever our disagreements might be about who tried to do what, we can't allow it to take control of us. In the end, this is just a game, right?" Everypony seemed to more or less agree on that statement given that they nodded their heads in agreement.

However, a clip from the confessional showed that not everypony was necessarily onboard with Twilight's unofficial truce. "Even if it's a game, it's a game I'm playing to win," Rainbow Dash declared to herself. "And if Twilight, Cheerilee or anypony else has a problem with that then that's on them! I'll do whatever it takes to win and deep down I'm sure everypony else feels the same way."

And a second clip showed Twilight letting out a deep breath as she started to nervously pace back and forth within the confessional's narrow walls. "Oh, it's time like this that make me wish Applejack hadn't been voted off. She's always the best at keeping a level head in these situations. She'd know how to make everypony listen."

Then the clip ended, and as the camera cut back to the present the eleven surviving contestants all went their separate ways more or less. The only exception was Scootaloo, who opted to stick close to Rainbow Dash. "We're still going to the final two together, right?" She asked her idol, hoping for confirmation.

Rainbow nodded. "Count on it, Scootaloo. As long as you stick by my side, nothing and nopony will stand in our way!"





Nothing more was said about the developments of last night the following morning. It seemed nopony wanted to reopen the wound and reignite debate. But it was clear from the way some contestants looked at each other that they were silently wondering who might be their biggest threat. It did not go unnoticed that Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo sat together in the mess hall, while only Trixie seemed willing to even be near Cheerilee.

A clip from the confessional showed Trixie appearing to smile. "First the Great and Powerful Trixie wins invincibility, and now Rainbow Dash foolishly announces her intention to go to the final two with Scootaloo. If Trixie can build an alliance with the right ponies and keep winning invincibility, Rainbow Dash will fall and the Great and Powerful Trixie will be the one to win it all!"

As for Cheerilee, she had her own confessional clip showing how worried she had become as a result of her failed ouster of Rainbow Dash. "Why did Gilda have to be eliminated instead? I could've really used her vote. If only I had convinced more ponies," She unhappily sighed to herself. "I guess now it's up to me to save myself. No matter what happens, I can't afford to lose the next challenge!"

When the clips ended, the ponies ate their breakfast in relative silence. But Celestia couldn't help but wonder. "Where's Nightmare Moon? It's not like her to just leave food out for us."

As if the universe itself had felt a need to respond, the loudspeakers in the mess hall crackled to life as the familiar voice of Discord made an announcement. "Attention, contestants. Please finish your breakfast and report to the dock ASAP for today's challenge! Tardiness will be grounds for disqualification. I'm not kidding!"

"Aw, bummer!" Pinkie lamented aloud, before she began to scarf down her food even faster than she might have normally. And soon, she was the first one out the door of the mess hall, bound for the dock! Yet it wasn't long before all ten of her fellow contestants were joining her in the mad dash!

When the contestants had gathered on the dock as they had been instructed to, they found Discord already waiting for them. And Nightmare Moon was by his side. "Ah, nice to see none of you have lost your competitive edge. That's good, for me that is!" He grinned while rubbing his paws together, before gesturing to his fellow baddie. "Now, since you all had so much fun the last time Nightmare Moon ran a challenge, I figured I'd be nice and let her run another one."

Nightmare Moon flashed a toothy smile. "Why Discord, how very noble of you. And how very fortunate for me."

Princess Celestia struggled to hold back a gulp. She'd been on the receiving end of this mare of darkness' powers too many times already. "Whatever she and Discord have planned it's not going to end well for any of us!" She thought and shuddered at the images already coming into her mind.

The shrunken sun princess was not the only one beginning to worry, poor Fluttershy was practically shivering with fright. "W-what are you g-gonna do w-with us?" She reluctantly asked Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon grinned. "I could tell you, but I don't wanna scare you all away before I've had my fun. So I'll let Discord explain it."

Rarity could only scoff. "It's hardly original, Discord. Letting Nightmare Moon run a challenge again? That's only slightly better than making us hunt for keys or just try to stay awake."

Discord immediately retorted. "Hey, I'll have you know I can be very creative under the right circumstances!" And he then explained. "Nightmare Moon's going to be doing something a little bit different this time. Think of it as my own little twist on hide and go seek. I'm sure all of you are familiar with it."

Vinyl Scratch just casually remarked. "Whatever. So who's supposed to be the seeker? Are we all taking turns trying to track down Nightmare Moon or something?"

"Actually, Nightmare Moon is the seeker," The witty spirit of chaos explained. "Let's just say that it came to my attention that there's a certain 'holiday' that's all about dressing up to hide from Nightmare Moon. And when she heard about it, she was more than a little bit angry."

Nightmare Moon's toothy grin seemed to grow wider by the second. "He's right, you know. I don't take such insults lightly. So now I'm going to get my revenge by hunting you all down one by one."

Discord went on to add. "You'll all get a minute's head start to run all over the island and find a place to hide. Then I'm letting Nightmare Moon roam free. If any of you can manage to stay out of sight, make it all the way back to the dock and touch this little post here," He gestured a paw to a small tower that had undoubtedly not been there a second ago. "You'll win invincibility. But if Nightmare Moon catches you before you can make it there, you can kiss invincibility goodbye."

The mare of darkness cackled. "Of course, there's always my way of doing things. If any of you help me bust one of your fellow contestants, I'll let you have invincibility for this round. But it's first come first served. And if you try to lie to me," She proceeded to make her horn spark with an ominous dark aura. "You might end up having to leave the show early due to an unfortunate accident. So if you know what's good for you, you won't try to pull a fast one on me."

Discord then held up a stopwatch. "Alright, I think that's enough chitchat. All of you had better go hide now, because you're now officially on the clock!"

Without any hesitation, the eleven contestants all bolted and ran as fast as they could, each beginning to try to make a plan for how they would avoid capture by Nightmare Moon!





It wasn't long before Rainbow Dash had drawn ahead of most of the competition with her natural speed, and it also wasn't long before some of the ponies who had previously voted with her against Spike and Gilda began to grow worried.

"Rainbow Dash, wait for me!" Derpy frantically called as she frantically trotted along. Her less than stellar vision made things like finding a suitable hiding place more of a challenge than usual.

But all Rainbow could think about was a certain pony that was part of her now not so secret alliance. And anything or anyone that prevented her from reaching that pony was an obstacle. "Derpy, I don't have time for this!" She did her best to hide how annoyed she was with the wall eyed mare. "I need to find Scootaloo and make sure she's okay."

Derpy continued to trot frantically as she pleaded. "But what about me? I need a good place to hide, I don't know where to start looking!"

The brash speedster just groaned, audibly shouting! "Derpy, please! Just find someplace suitable and leave me alone! I can't protect you and protect Scootaloo. And Scoots needs my help more because she's still a child. You're a grown mare, so act like it!"

"But!" Derpy tried to protest.

"But nothing, Derpy! Goodbye!" Rainbow shouted and was soon dashing out of sight, leaving her fellow pegasus mare far behind.

The camera flicked once more, showing Derpy in the confessional as she was shaking all over. "Please don't let her find me! Please don't let her find me!" She was saying over and over again.

The only pony more frantic in their pursuit of a hiding spot than Derpy was Princess Celestia. She knew that she would be a likely first target of Nightmare Moon. "I'm not gonna let you get the last laugh this time, Nightmare Moon!" She vowed aloud as she ran right back into the mess hall, straight into the massive walk-in freezer. It was incredibly cold, but she would manage.

But not everypony was in a rush to find a good hiding place. Pinkie Pie was just bouncing all over the island on her own pace, humming a little tune to herself. She already knew of a place to hide where nopony could find her. "They won't say a word." The pink party pony said with a grin.

A brief clip showed Pinkie trying to enter the confessional, only to find a panic stricken Derpy already inside it. "Oopsie!" She blushed as Derpy ran out, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Wait, Derpy, come back! I'm sorry!" She tried to apologize.

The camera in the confessional kept on rolling as Discord happened to pop in and remark straight to the camera. "It'll be a miracle if either of those two win invincibility," And he gave a knowing wink. "I'm expecting Nightmare Moon to find them all. I just hope she doesn't do it too quickly, gotta have time for those commercial breaks. A show like this isn't cheap."





The minute passed all too quickly as Nightmare Moon half playfully/half menacingly called out in a deep, booming voice that echoed everywhere! "Ready or not, here I come!"

Discord quickly snapped his talons, producing a lawn chair and a pair of sunglasses as well as a drink with a little umbrella sticking out of it. "Nothing left to do but sit back and watch the show. All you folks at home better be doing that as well."

Nightmare Moon thus began her search for the eleven contestants, looking over every nook and cranny of all of Paradox Island for any traces of any of them. Her first instinct told her to go check the mess hall as something in the back of her mind told her that some contestants might have tried to hide there.

A quick scan of the mess hall revealed that there was no one there. But there were a suspicious set of hoofprints leading to the back. "Aha! What have we here?" Nightmare Moon grinned as she followed the hoofprints all the way through the mess hall and into the kitchen, soon coming upon the huge walk-in freezer. And what should her wandering eyes discover shivering in the corner but the shrunken stature of Princess Celestia?

The shrunken down sun princess eeped and tried to run away, which only resulted in her slipping on the ice and sliding straight towards Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon could only sigh as she used her magic to pick up the princess. "Honestly, Celestia, were you even trying? It's almost like you enjoy spending time with me or something."

Princess Celestia just groaned as she was led away by the very pony she'd hoped to outsmart. "If this is your idea of trying to make me feel bad about Luna, it's not working. I already regret banishing her and we talked about it," She told the mare of darkness. "All is forgiven. So why do you keep targeting me? Is it really just because Discord tells you to?"

The dark coated mare only coldly hissed. "Shut up! I don't have to do anything! If Discord is kind enough to let me run a challenge, I don't ask stupid questions I just say yes. I don't like him anymore than I like you, as soon as this whole 'show' of his is over he can have Equestria for all I care," And then she stomped a hoof down. "Now don't try to confuse the subject. You wouldn't happen to know where the others are hiding, would you?"

Princess Celestia only replied by sticking out her tongue, taunting the mare. "Even if I did know, which I don't, I would never rat out my subjects to the likes of you! You'll have to find them yourself!"

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. "You're a fool, Celestia. You've already seen how quickly your subjects will turn on each other. It's only a matter of time before they do it to you. At least you could rat them out while it still benefits you."

The alicorn with a majestic, snow white coat only kept up the taunting. "Don't tell me the big bad Nightmare Moon is suddenly afraid she can't track down a bunch of magicless ponies on an abandoned island they've never been to before."

The wicked mare of darkness paused and spun around, blinking in surprise before grinning at her first unfortunate victim. "I know you're trying to get under my fur, and it's working. Looks like your mind is finally starting to catch up to that body of yours. Took long enough."

That comment caused the sun princess to gasp as she realized that she was indeed acting rather childish!

Nightmare Moon smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be permanent. Once you lose the game, Discord will let you go back to normal, for a price." And then she set off to resume her search for the remaining ten contestants.





By now, Rainbow Dash had managed to catch up to Scootaloo. And Scootaloo was in turn greatly relieved to see Rainbow Dash. "I guess it's not quite everypony for themselves now." The tomboyish filly declared as she and Rainbow opted to hide in some bushes in the middle of a forest.

Rainbow seemed to sincerely smile while whispering. "You just stick with me, kid. Do as I do and we'll make it through everything Discord can throw at us."

A flicker of the camera revealed Scootaloo breathing a much needed sigh of relief in the confessional. "I really don't see why Miss Cheerilee is getting on Rainbow Dash's case all of a sudden. If Rainbow wants to take me to the final two, what's wrong with that? Even if I win the million bits I'm obviously gonna share it with her, she wins no matter what at this point."

And another flicker showed Rainbow Dash in the confessional, talking to herself. "As long as I can keep Scootaloo by my side and keep winning, nothing can stop me! Of course, I have to make sure that I get invincibility. The more I keep winning the more ponies are going to start viewing me as a threat."

"So, what's the plan?" Scootaloo whispered to her idol as they continued to do their best to stay out of sight in the bushes.

Rainbow whispered back. "As soon as the coast is clear, we make a run for it back to the dock. We just gotta tag that post and nopony will be able to touch us." And in her mind she began thinking. "But who do I wanna eliminate next? Trixie's a threat, but Cheerilee's starting to bug me. And there's Twilight with her whole 'Let's be friends' attitude. Doesn't she realize this is a game? And that the only rule is to play to win?"

However, the two pegasi hadn't been hiding for very long when suddenly a rather powerful and awful stench began to reach their nostrils. It was a stench that they were certain could only be from one particular source. Turning around slowly, their worst fears were realized when they both found themselves face to face with a family of skunks.

"Oh my," Fluttershy sheepishly blushed as she called out from a nearby tree. "Looks like you may have unnerved my new skunk friends a little. But it should be okay as long as you don't-"

"-Run!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the top of her lungs and immediately grabbed Scootaloo by the hoof, dashing out of the bushes as fast as her legs would let her!

Scootaloo began to pant! "But Rainbow Dash, you didn't say the coast was clear yet!"

Rainbow groaned in annoyance. "Some things are worse than Nightmare Moon! Getting skunked is one of them! Oh, why does Fluttershy have to make friends with every animal she meets?"

A clip from the confessional showed Fluttershy looking down at the floor, hiding her face behind her bangs. "I didn't mean to spoil Rainbow Dash's plan. I just didn't want the skunks to spray me and give away my hiding spot. I was gonna join Rainbow when she and Scootaloo made a run for it. Even if I can only get to the final three, I'll do whatever I can to help them out."

When the clip ended, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were running straight towards the camera. But unfortunately, they hadn't gotten very far when who should up in their line of sight but Nightmare Moon?

Although both pegasi skidded to a halt and tried to run away again, it was of little use. Nightmare Moon only grinned, lighting up her horn. "This is gonna hurt you a lot more than it's gonna hurt me." She told them before firing off a blast.

Rainbow almost leapt into the air when the blast hit her square on the rump, and she let out a high pitched, girly scream that made her blush!

"Well, whaddya know? That didn't hurt me all," Nightmare Moon grinned again, right before she happened to sniff the air. "Ooh, and it looks like somepony else has just given them away. I don't know if it's fear I'm smelling but I know I smell something."

Scootaloo quickly insisted in an anxious tone of voice. "It's not me, I swear!"

Nightmare Moon nodded. "Of course it's not you. And it's not that other loser I just busted," She trotted towards the source of the smell, soon looking up and spotting Fluttershy hanging from a tree branch. "Well well, looks like I've found another little skunk that's been trying to hide."

Fluttershy whimpered as she was pulled down from the tree branch via Nightmare Moon's magic. "Oh, shoot!" She softly complained and kicked the ground. But her kick was so light it barely even brought up dust.

The mare of darkness then grinned. "Alright, that's four of you already. Just two more and I'll be halfway done. Honestly, are any of you ponies at all good at this game?"

Rainbow Dash then declared. "Well, I know another pony who isn't. I saw Cheerilee hiding out back by the cabins earlier."

Everyone gasped in shock at the announcement (except for Nightmare Moon and Scootaloo)! None of them would've imagined anypony would rat out another to Nightmare Moon just to gain invincibility.

Nightmare Moon eyed the rainbow maned pegasus with an eyebrow arched upward in skepticism. "Is she actually there? You'd better not be wasting my time. I have no patience that sort of behavior."

Rainbow firmly declared as her own eyes narrowed. "I know saw her! It couldn't have been anypony else! So what are you waiting for, Nightmare Moon?! Go bust her and give me the invincibility I deserve!"

"Patience, Rainbow Dash. I'll grant your wish once I know for sure Cheerilee is there and catch her," The wicked mare of darkness instructed before telling the four ponies gathered. "All of you stay with me and keep a sharp lookout. Remember, you only have to rat out one other pony to get invincibility for yourselves. Might wanna hurry, once I find Cheerilee there will only be five other ponies left."

Yet just then, who should come quite literally running into Nightmare Moon but Derpy herself? "Oops, my bad!" She blushed, not realizing at first who she'd struck. But once she did she screamed anew! "Oh no!" And she tried frantically to run away.

Nightmare Moon let out a sigh of annoyance. "Why do you ponies always have to run away? It doesn't make it any harder to catch you." And to demonstrate that fact she lit up her horn, soon pulling Derpy close to her and tagging her, taking her out of the game.

Derpy looked to Rainbow Dash and apologized. "Sorry, I let you down."

Fluttershy, for her part, opted to reach out a hoof to her fellow pegasus to console her. "You lasted longer than I did. That has to count for something."

Rainbow, for her part, said nothing. She was too busy focusing on other things to take any notice of Derpy's perceived failure (or how it was affecting her).

A flicker of the camera showed a worried Princess Celestia deep in thought within the confessional. "I can deny it no longer, something is definitely up with Rainbow Dash," And she let out an unhappy sigh. "Cheerilee must've been seeing it too. And I'll bet this is what led Spike to rig the votes against Applejack. This island has to be getting to all of my friends," Then a look of worry flashed across her face. "Twilight was right to warn us! I can only hope she finds a way to stop all of this before it's too late! Otherwise, there's not going to be any harmony left in Equestria!"

Then it was Nightmare Moon's turn to use the confessional. The mare of darkness didn't seem to be anywhere near as worried or concerned as the ponies that had been by her side. "Why are these ponies acting so shocked? Of course one of their would turn on them for the sake of the game. That's how you win. Besides, this is Total Drama not Total Friendship."





Nightmare Moon trotted all the way back across the island, ignoring the groans, moans and complaints from some of the ponies already out of contention about how far they were walking.

And Rainbow Dash was gleefully rubbing her hooves together at the prospect of winning invincibility after it had already been denied to her three times since the teams had merged. "I'll take whatever I can get if it keeps me in the game." She thought to herself.

At last, Nightmare Moon reached the cottages where the contestants had been staying since their arrival on the island. "Where did you say she was again?" She inquired of Rainbow Dash.

"Go around back first," Rainbow encouraged. "I know I saw her at least contemplate hiding there. And there's no way she could've run for it. She's not as smart as I am. I know Cheerilee enough to know she's too paranoid for her own good."

"I am not!" A familiar female voice cried out, and everypony knew to whom it belonged to!

A knowing smirk crept onto the brash speedster's face. "Ha, I knew you'd fall for that, Cheerilee! Oldest trick in the book."

Reluctantly, Cheerilee trotted out from where she had been hiding and let out an unhappy sigh. "You may have outsmarted me this time, Rainbow Dash. But now everypony knows what you've become, even Scootaloo."

Rainbow protested by gesturing a hoof. "I'm doing more for Scootaloo than you're doing, Cheerilee. You should've been protecting her. But she doesn't trust you anymore, not after that stunt you pulled last night to get rid of me. If you've got a problem with me, you can say it to my face! Don't drag the kid into this!"

Cheerilee only sighed and shook her head as she approached Nightmare Moon. "You just don't get it, do you? This isn't about you or I. And it's not about winning some silly contest either."

The rainbow maned pegasus only grinned in reply. "You tell yourself that while I enjoy my well deserved invincibility. If you wanna get your own, you just gotta be willingly to play the game."

The earth pony mare shook her head. "Never! I'll never stoop to your level, Rainbow Dash!"

Scootaloo briefly looked up. "Miss. Cheerilee..." But she couldn't bring herself to say anything more.

A brief flicker of the camera showed Scootaloo struggling to hold back tears in the confessional. "She's lying! She has to be!" She insisted even as her tone of voice betrayed her. "Rainbow Dash isn't being nasty by trying to win this game, right?"

Nightmare Moon just tapped Cheerilee on the shoulder and then used her magic to float a small pendant over to Rainbow Dash. "Here's your invincibility. Enjoy it for all it's worth."

"Sweet!" Rainbow cheered!

Nightmare Moon then cautioned. "But I'm not giving out any more to you. Although, if you wanna rat out more contestants for the fun of it, go right ahead. It'll make my job easier."

But the brash speedster waved a hoof. "Nah, I'm good. I got what I needed out of this. Can't wait to see the look on Trixie's face when I end up being the only one with invincibility tonight!"





With Cheerilee having been found and Rainbow Dash having obtained her invincibility, Nightmare Moon resumed her search for the other contestants. It quickly occurred to her that with the exception of a certain pink party pony who often got on her nerves, all the contestants that had yet to be found were unicorns.

Well that just meant it'd be even more amusing for Nightmare Moon to track them down and tag them out using her magic whereas none of them could do the same. Being one of only two creatures on the island who could still use magic had its benefits.

As she was close by the cottages, Nightmare Moon opted to check inside both sleeping rooms in case any contestants might be hiding in painfully obvious places. To her surprise, there was one. A certain unicorn with a pale blue coat gave herself away to Nightmare Moon via a series of noticeable shakes beneath some hastily staked up blankets.

The alicorn with a coat as black as a starless night quickly pulled back the covers to expose a very frightened and powerless Trixie. She yawned as she tagged the wannabe magician out with her magic. "I can't believe you lasted longer than over half of your fellow contestants despite such an obvious hiding place," And she shook her head from side to side. "I'm really not impressed. I thought you ponies were made of sterner stuff than this, but I guess I gave you too much credit. It's a miracle any of you have survived this long."

Trixie only whimpered. "T-The Great and Powerful Trixie will yet prevail!" But even she didn't sound so convinced of her statement.

Rainbow Dash couldn't resist sticking out her tongue. "Ha! In your dreams! I've got invincibility, and I didn't even need to tell Nightmare Moon about you to do it!"

Trixie groaned in annoyance. "The Great and Powerful Trixie would gladly join you if she knew where any of the others are. But nopony bothers to tell Trixie anything."

Nightmare Moon groaned, putting a hoof to her forehead. "Great. So you're of no use to me. I try to do a nice thing for you ponies by letting some of you have a chance to earn invincibility, and you just throw it back in my face like it's a joke. I really don't know what Discord sees in you all."

So Trixie joined the rest of the eliminated contestants as they were led away by Nightmare Moon, who then opted to check in the communal bathrooms. Imagine the surprise of her and of everyone when they found Rarity "hiding" in the shower stall.

Rarity screamed as Nightmare Moon barged right in and tapped her on the shoulder, officially designating her as "Out" too. "What do you have against a lady trying to shower?!" She complained!

"Nothing, really," The alicorn declared as she led Rarity out of the shower stall. "Aside from the fact that I expected better. It's almost as if you weren't taking this challenge seriously," And then she added. "Oh well, I've just gotta find three more ponies and then it's all over. Now, where are the others? Did you happen to see any of them by any chance?"

As if in response to that question, Nightmare Moon and everypony in the bathroom heard a high pitched scream! And then suddenly, Nightmare Moon was knocked to the floor by an unexpected blow to the backside. "Ha! You'll never take me alive, Nightmare Moon! I'm not scared of you!" The familiar voice of Vinyl Scratch taunted.

But Nightmare Moon quickly stood up, brushed off the dust and blasted Vinyl Scratch. "What a waste of effort," She rolled her eyes. "You would've been better off telling me where your fellow contestants were."

Vinyl Scratch just smirked. "Well, I haven't seen hide or hair of Pinkie Pie since this challenge began. She could be anywhere for all I know. And you're too late to stop Twilight! She's probably already won the challenge by now and..." Then she put her hooves to her mouth, realizing that she'd said more than she should've!

Something snapped inside of the mare of darkness upon hearing that! "You were just a diversion! Twilight Sparkle used you to distract me! Oh, I should've known!" And she took off as fast as she could! "She's not gonna get away with this! Nopony outsmarts Nightmare Moon! Nopony!"





Sure enough, as Nightmare Moon neared the dock she and everypony else could see Twilight making a desperate beeline for the tower Discord had designated as the safe spot!

Twilight seemed laser focused on that tower, so much so that she ignored the sound of Nightmare Moon's fast approaching hoofbeats! At last, she shut her eyes and made a daring leap, hoping beyond hope to make it!

Alas, to the horror of all but Nightmare Moon everypony saw Twilight misjudge her approach. She didn't reach the dock and instead dove straight into the waters below, landing with an audible splash! She swam up to the surface only to find Nightmare Moon waiting for her. "No... I... failed." The studious unicorn hung her head in shame.

Nightmare Moon just grinned. "Oh, don't feel too bad, Twilight. You were the only pony who put up an actual fight if I'm being honest. I barely even broke a sweat tracking down the others. Still, you weren't good enough to beat me. Nopony is!"

"Maybe, but you still have to find Pinkie Pie," Twilight pointed out. "And I'm not gonna tell you where she is."

The mare of darkness pressed her snout up to Twilight. "Really, is that because you're gonna try to be a hero like all your friends except Rainbow Dash? It's only fair to warn you, Rainbow Dash got invincibility by helping to rat out Cheerilee."

Twilight shook her head. "I'm not telling because I don't know where Pinkie Pie is. I haven't seen her anywhere, and I've been all over the island looking for the ideal hiding place," And she pointed out. "After all, the rules didn't say I had to stay in one place until I saw you. So I figured as long as I kept moving I could stay out of your sight, and run to the dock when the coast was clear. Vinyl Scratch proved to be a useful diversion in that regard."

"Well as you can see it just didn't work out," Nightmare Moon smirked. "So surely you must've seen Pinkie Pie somewhere."

Twilight answered with a straight face. "No I haven't. But you're supposed to be the seeker, so you should able to track down one pony."

The alicorn mare sighed, sensing that Twilight was a dead end for leads. "Fine, be that way. It's your only chance for invincibility. But I guess if you'd rather keep your honor, who I am to judge?"

Just then, however, Discord happened to pop up in front of Nightmare Moon and declared. "Alright! Today's challenge is over! We have a winner!"

"WHAT?!" Nightmare Moon blinked in disbelief. "But that can't be! I haven't found everypony yet! Pinkie Pie is still missing!"

Discord just gestured a claw down the dock. "Actually, she's been here for almost half an hour. She was the only one who reached the tower."

Pinkie Pie then came bouncing over. "Yesarooni, it was me! I thought for sure somepony would beat me to it, but nopony did. Oh well, a win is a win. And that was so much fun!" And to Nightmare Moon she said with a smile. "Hey, don't feel too bad. Next time, I bet you'll find me. Ooh, or maybe next time I'll be the seeker and you can hide."

Nightmare Moon growled, picking Pinkie up and holding her by the tail! "You! Where were you hiding?! Did you cheat?! You must've cheated!" And she stomped a hoof down while declaring to Discord! "I want her thrown off this island right now! I know she had to have cheated somehow! There's no way she could've hidden from me without me knowing it!"

Pinkie just innocently replied. "What are you talking about? I was right over there the whole time."

"What do you mean 'over there'?" Nightmare Moon questioned in confusion.

Pinkie grinned and giggled. "Duh, you know, over there." She gestured a hoof to what appeared to the far off distance from the dock.

Discord shrugged his shoulders. "There was no rule saying you had to hide on the island. She took advantage of that little loophole, just like I would've. Sorry, Nightmare Moon. But she won fair and square."

The wicked mare of darkness snarled and snorted, steam billowing out of her nostrils as she dropped Pinkie to the ground! "Oh! You really just like to annoy me, don't you?!" And she then ominously declared. "You'd better sleep with one eye open tonight, Pinkie Pie. Because I'm going to get my revenge."

The pink party pony licked her lips. "Good, because revenge is sweet!"

Nightmare Moon unhappily sighed and trotted off. "Why do I even bother with you?"





And so it was that the great hide and seek challenge came to an end. Now all that remained was for ponies to decide which one of the eleven contestants they were going to eliminate. Only Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were out of the question.

Unfortunately for Cheerilee, Rainbow Dash having invincibility now threw her plans into disarray. She was complaining about this in the confessional, all but pulling out her hair with her hooves in frustration. "What am I supposed to do now? Rainbow Dash's invincibility complicates everything!" She stopped only upon seeing how worked up she was getting, taking a deep breath. "Calm down, Cheerilee. Don't let Rainbow get to you," And she began to settle on an unfortunate realization. "If I can't get rid of Rainbow Dash this round, I'll have to get rid of one of her alliance partners."

Just as the clip ended, there came a knock on the confessional door and Cheerilee was surprised to be greeted by none other than Princess Celestia. "Cheerilee," She let out a long sigh. "I didn't want to admit it, but you were right. Rainbow Dash is a threat. I saw her behavior today, she's not the pony she was when she arrived on this island. Something has worked its way into her, twisting her and turning her into something that can't be worthy of the Element of Loyalty."

"But what are we going to do?" The off duty teacher asked the princess. "We can't vote for her, she's got invincibility."

Celestia then declared. "We have to send a shock to her system, something that'll trigger a wake-up call. And I think you know what that means."

A look of horror crossed Cheerilee's face! "No... you can't possibly mean!"

Celestia nodded slowly and reluctantly. "-I'm afraid it's the only way. She must realize she made a promise she couldn't keep."

Cheerilee's lips began to quiver. "But... but... we can't get rid of Scootaloo just because of Rainbow Dash. It's not fair! She's the only child left on this island, and you know how unfairly her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders were eliminated."

The sun princess nodded once again in reluctance. "I know. But I also know that Scootaloo will cling to Rainbow Dash, and if Rainbow's plan succeeds there'll be no hope to stop her."

"Can we... do it? Do we have the votes?" The earth pony mare questioned. "I only know for sure that you, Trixie and I will vote together. That's nowhere close to enough to stop Rainbow and her alliance."

Princess Celestia then put a hoof around Cheerilee while telling her. "Don't worry, I know of a few other ponies willing to join us." And as she finished speaking, Fluttershy and Vinyl Scratch came up alongside Trixie.

Fluttershy explained via a confessional clip her reason for defecting from Rainbow Dash's alliance. "What Rainbow's doing is wrong and selfish! I hate having to vote for Scootaloo though, but Rainbow Dash isn't going to snap out of it if I vote for myself or Derpy gets eliminated. She might be already targeting us because of today. Scootaloo is the only one who hasn't gotten on her bad side yet."

But while this was going on, Rainbow Dash was using her newfound invincibility as a bargaining chip to persuade other ponies while they were in the mess hall with her. "I'm telling you girls, Cheerilee is definitely up to something. She has it out for me and she must be stopped!"

"No, we should get rid of Trixie," Scootaloo protested. "Trixie stole your invincibility in the last challenge. If you don't stop her now, she'll do it again."

Rainbow patted Scootaloo gently on the forehead. "That's nice of you to remember, Scoots. But I'm the one in charge here. If we're going to make it to the final two, I have to be the one to make the decisions," And she went on telling the others. "Cheerilee has to go. Once she's gone, then we can worry about Little Miss 'Great and Powerful'."

Rarity let out an audible humph as she coldly declared. "After what Cheerilee did last night, I'd say Rainbow Dash is right. How can we ever trust her again?"

Pinkie Pie wasn't so convinced. "I don't know, maybe she had a reason?"

Twilight could only sigh and shake her head. "We've seen it before, Pinkie. Gilda lost control of her temper, Rarity got jealous of Silver Spoon and Spike sought to spite Rainbow Dash by rigging the votes. Cheerilee might just be the next pony who's been corrupted by this island. For her own good, we should vote her out before it's too late."

"Yeah... what Twilight just said!" Rainbow Dash firmly insisted. "Let's not forget, we don't have Applejack here and any one of us could be next. We've gotta do our part to keep the rest of the Elements of Harmony in the game for as long as we can, that way we can thwart whatever Discord has planned for when this show is over."

"I still don't know..." Pinkie Pie began, only to see Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo all looking at her. "Well, guess it was rude of her to try to knock out Rainbow Dash in such a secretive way. And she has been acting weird since the teams merged."

Convinced of her victory, Rainbow Dash openly bragged within the confessional! "Sorry, Cheerilee! You messed with the wrong pony, and now it's time to pay!"





Hours later, day had turned to night and all eleven contestants were gathered at the campfire for the elimination ceremony. Discord and Nightmare Moon were in attendance.

One by one, each contestant went up to cast their vote for the pony they wanted to eliminate. Cheerilee was up first, and the camera in the confessional (where the votes were cast and guarded) showed her holding out a stamp over the ballot for Scootaloo for the longest time possible. But at last, she stamped a red x on it and placed it in the box. "I'm sorry, Scootaloo. I hope one day you can forgive me." She said and willed herself to be strong as she left the confessional to take her seat by the fire.

Rainbow Dash went in next and without hesitation stamped Cheerilee's ballot. "School's out, teach! So it's time for you to hit the road! Scootaloo doesn't need you when she's got me!"

Princess Celestia entered the confessional next, stamping Scootaloo's ballot with a fair deal of hesitation. "I wish there was another way to do this, I really do. But it's the only thing I can think of that'll benefit Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo." She unhappily sighed.

The process repeated itself until everypony had cast their ballot, though the camera didn't focus on each of them (as most opted to keep their vote a secret). Scootaloo was the last to enter, and the camera showed her weighing her options with great uncertainty. She even briefly moved the stamp to Rainbow's ballot despite knowing it would be a futile gesture. But she ultimately brought the stamp down on Cheerilee's ballot instead. "I just don't trust you anymore, Miss. Cheerilee. If Rainbow Dash says she can take me to the final two, that's good enough for me."

When Scootaloo take her seat by the fire (sitting next to Rainbow Dash), it was time for the votes to be tallied. This was it, the heart pounding moment that would decide which of the eleven contestants would not be moving on to the next round.

Discord cleared his throat as he brought up the old wooden box in which all eleven votes were kept, even down to them having a heavy metal padlock to prevent tampering. "Alright, everypony! The votes are in! Let's see which of you is getting the boot. Hope none of you wasted your votes on Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash, because at this point I'd say a wasted vote could have huge consequences."

The box was soon opened and Discord started tallying up the votes one by one. "The first is for... Scootaloo," He held it up for a moment before moving on to the next one. "The next is for... Cheerilee," And he repeated the process for each vote that came up. "Two, three, four, five for Scootaloo!" He declared at last. "One more vote and she's out," Then he read off more votes. "Two, three, four, five for Cheerilee! We have a tie!" There was only one vote left. "And the last vote is for..."

A tense silence filled the air as Scootaloo and Cheerilee both nervously sat there, waiting to see which way the voting had gone.

At last, the final vote was flipped over and Discord declared for all to hear. "Cheerilee."

Cheerilee felt her heart sink. Her attempt at swinging the vote in her favor had failed once again, this time causing her to be eliminated. Meanwhile, Scootaloo was practically beside herself with relief and Rainbow Dash was smirking with triumph!

The witty spirit could only shake his head and make a tsking sound with his paws. "Oh Cheerilee, our poor unfortunate teacher. It would seem you've learned a little lesson in failure."

Reluctantly, the earth pony mare rose from her seat. "Well, I guess it was silly of me to expect to make it much further in the game. At least one of my students will out last me though," She briefly looked across to Scootaloo only to see that the tomboyish filly wouldn't look back at her. "I won't put up a fight. At least I'll give a good lesson in how to say goodbye. Maybe someponies," She briefly glared at Rainbow Dash. "Will learn a thing or two from it. But I doubt it."

"Just go already!" Rainbow impatiently called.

Cheerilee could only sigh. "One day you'll get it, Rainbow Dash. And I hope that day comes soon," She then began to trot down towards the dock. "Until then."

"Alright, Cheerilee, I think you've said more than enough," Discord remarked. "The Dock of Shame isn't waiting all night, and neither is the Boast of Losers."

Cheerilee trotted across the dock and onto the boat, sitting down in the seat as Nightmare Moon prepared to drive the boat off the island and take Cheerilee away.

Everypony from Cheerilee's own team were on hoof to say goodbye to her, Twilight especially. "Sorry, Cheerilee," She called out to the distance. "You were an amazing teammate."

But only Princess Celestia was there to represent the team that Cheerilee's team had so often defeated. "Your efforts won't be for nothing, I promise you." She told the off duty teacher.

The earth pony mare just smiled, waving back at the ten contestants still left even as the boat's engine revved up and the boat left the Dock of Shame. It wasn't long before she was out of sight, disappearing from view.

Scootaloo had watched the whole thing from afar, riddled with guilt as she couldn't stop the tears that were now flowing through her without end. It had been her vote that had sealed the deal for Cheerilee. "What have I done?" She pondered aloud.

Rainbow, for her part, did her best to console Scootaloo for the sake of the alliance. "You did the right thing, Scoots. She was a bad influence that would've only held you back."

And then a confessional clip showed Rainbow gloating about her victory! "YES! I'm three for three on this voting stuff! First Spike, then Gilda and now Cheerilee! I.AM.UNSTOPPABLE! The million bits are as good as mine!"

Another confessional clip displayed Princess Celestia lamenting the loss of a valuable ally. "If only I had seen this sooner, I could've prevented this. All this time, how did I fail to realize what Rainbow Dash was becoming? I don't even recognize the mare she's become now. Spike must've figured it out. How many more must fall before Rainbow learns her lesson?"





Discord, meanwhile, was standing before the cameras with a smile on his face. "How's that for drama?! Even I didn't see that vote tally coming," Then he cleared his throat. "So now it's down to ten, half of the contestants are gone. And the ones who've survived are going to be in for a rude awakening when the challenges get even harder. What kind of pain and torment could I possibly put them through next? Stick around to find out on Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 17: Dare Masters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord was standing on the rickety old dock that was The Dock of Shame, gazing directly into the cameras that were displaying his face (and entire body for that matter) all across Equestria. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island," He narrated as the camera began to display clips from the previous twenty four hours. "There was a lot of accusations and suspicion being thrown around the campfire as a result of Rainbow Dash's secret alliance becoming not so secret."

The camera showed numerous ponies arguing over who to trust and whether Rainbow Dash was right to make such an agreement with Scootaloo despite the possibility it might not work out. Then it showed Twilight moving to break up the argument while Discord narrated. "Twilight Sparkle had to be a real party pooper though and break up the fighting, claiming that it was all part of some secret plan of mine. And hey, do I look like the kind of guy would deliberately undermine friendships for the sake of a show? Even I'm not that chaotic."

Then the camera began to show clips from the previous day's challenge while Discord explained. "I decided to let Nightmare Moon have fun with the eleven remaining contestants. Fun for her, that is," After a brief laugh, he continued to explain as the camera showed clips of ponies running to find a place to hide. "The task was to avoid being spotted by Nightmare Moon and make it back to the dock. But somehow, even that simple task was too difficult for most ponies. Only one managed to pull it off." The camera briefly flashed an image of Pinkie Pie pointing out how she'd managed to stay hidden long enough to win.

Another clip showed Rainbow Dash exposing Cheerilee to Nightmare Moon as other eliminated contestants looked on in shock and horror. And Discord just narrated. "Rainbow Dash wasn't about to let herself be on the chopping block again though, so she busted Cheerilee and was able to snag invincibility for herself, the only pony willingly to sell out another. But hey, Nightmare Moon offered it so why not take her up on it? Invincibility is invincibility after all."

The camera then cut back to nightfall as the contestants were gathered around a fire, and Discord was narrating, "Cheerilee was able to salvage enough of her credibility for one last stand, but sadly it was she who ended up getting voted off. And in a true twist of irony, it was the vote of her last surviving student that sealed her fate."

Clips began to play of Cheerilee walking down the Dock of Shame to the Boat of Losers while her former teammates were on hoof to say goodbye to her. And another clip depicted Scootaloo tearing up with regret for her vote as Discord continued. "Poor Scootaloo regretted her vote, but Rainbow Dash was able to convince her to stick with the alliance for another round."

Then the camera cut back to Discord standing on the dock in daylight as he declared. "Of the twenty contestants who arrived on this island, ten of them have already been sent home and one more is about to join them. Find out who it is here on Total Magic Pony Island!"





Scootaloo still couldn't bring herself to look away from the Dock of Shame and the waters surrounding it. Had she really made the right call voting out Cheerilee? She could've just cast her vote for Trixie who she knew Rainbow Dash had also been targeting. At least then a tiebreaker would've meant that whatever happened wouldn't be her fault.

Rainbow Dash seemed to be picking up on what her number one fan was feeling, and she knew she had to move fast to try to stamp out those doubts before they could grow. She needed every vote she could get to stay in the game, no matter what it took. "Come on, squirt," She told Scootaloo as she pulled the filly close with a wing. "That's how this game works. There can only be one winner, and that's whoever is willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Cheerilee had her chance, she sealed her fate when she lied to you and tried to knock you out."

Scootaloo whimpered and sniffled a bit. "You think so?"

Rainbow firmly nodded. "Whatever her beef with me was, and quite honestly I don't know where she even got the idea that I'm somehow disloyal, she didn't have any right to drag you into it. It's just like with Gilda, no one else has the right to tell you who you can and can't be with. We might have been separated by teams for the first couple of challenges, but now there's nothing left to get in our way."

The camera flickered, showing Rainbow Dash smiling as she sat in the confessional and beamed with pride. "Scootaloo will come around in time, and when she does I'll be there for her. I promised to take her to the final two and it's a promise I intend to keep. And with Cheerilee gone, I'm certain there's not a single pony left in the game who can oppose me," A huge grin started forming on her face as she added. "They've all seen it by now. Anyone who tries to get in my way gets crushed: Spike, Gilda and now Cheerilee! And if everything goes my way, that annoying bragger Trixie will be the next to go!"

Meanwhile, all of Cheerilee's former teammates were now left to reconcile with the off-duty teacher's departure and how the last two rounds with her had affected their perception of her.

"Did we really make the right call in voting off Cheerilee?" Twilight pondered aloud.

Rarity seemed to be struggling to maintain her composure as she retorted. "She was willing to lie to Scootaloo and betray her trust, Twilight. And then she has the gall to turn around and accuse Rainbow Dash of doing the same? How could we ever trust her after that? It's just like when Trixie got poor Apple Bloom eliminated just because we were going to vote her out instead. Too many nasty ponies have gotten ahead in this game by taking advantage of others. The line has to be drawn somewhere, darling."

Pinkie Pie spoke up. "I wasn't exactly thrilled with voting for Cheerilee either, but Scootaloo didn't do anything wrong. Rainbow Dash was the problem, but we couldn't vote for her because she had invincibility. If we'd all wasted our votes on her, Cheerilee would've just been eliminated anyway, right?"

Trixie scoffed. "Maybe Scootaloo deserved to be voted off if she can't see what a monster Rainbow Dash is becoming. The Great and Powerful Trixie saw how easily she could be led astray during the vote that got Apple Bloom eliminated."

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the magician. "Which you deliberately took advantage of, Trixie. You're not any better than you claim Rainbow Dash is. And whatever you claim to have happened to you in the past, it doesn't excuse what you did during the talent show."

"Trixie told you, it was a mistake. But you didn't wanna listen. Just as you don't wanna listen to Trixie now!" Trixie huffed. "But The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need any of you to hold her back! If none of you will listen, Trixie will just strike out for herself. She's already won invincibility once before and she will gladly do it again. Then you'll have no one but yourselves to blame when Rainbow Dash is eliminated."

As this little "argument" started to take hold, Princess Celestia and Vinyl Scratch watched with concern and exchanged worried glances. Princess Celestia even spoke out about it within the confines of the confessional. "It pains me to see my subjects fighting amongst themselves like this. Just because this show is about competition doesn't mean it has to be nasty."

Vinyl Scratch, meanwhile, opted to try and break up the debate. "Hey dudes, chill out!" She protested as she trotted over. "Let's just agree to disagree. I mean, I don't much like the way Rainbow Dash is acting but I'm not exactly a fan of Trixie's behavior either. Besides, this is all just a game. Doesn't matter who wins or loses, it's how you play, right?"

Twilight and Trixie both blinked slowly as Pinkie Pie and Rarity just stood there, uncertain of what to do or say. It seemed almost as if something was up between the two unicorns that took so much pride in their abilities. But at last, the argument seemed to fade away as mysteriously as it had begun. "I suppose Vinyl Scratch is right," Twilight commented in an apparent realization. "This is exactly the same thing as what happened last night after Gilda's elimination."

Rarity arched an eyebrow upward in suspicion. "You think Discord is behind all of this again? It sure seems like it's up his alley."

Twilight shook her head. "Something's behind all this, but if it was Discord I think we would know by now. It's gotta be something about this island."

Derpy let out a yawn. "Well whatever it is, let's just hope it's not permanent. And I hope tomorrow's challenge won't be as grueling as the last few have been."

Pinkie, for her part, just bounced away. "Hey, the last few challenges have been super fun. Well, aside from that challenge to see who could stay awake but that's only because I was the first to fall asleep. Oh well, can't win 'em all." She cheerfully declared.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was beginning to scheme anew even as she too was starting to feel just the slightest bit tired. In the confessional, she appeared to be deep in thought as she said to the camera. "I've been winging my strategy up to this point, but I've come so close to having it all come undone. I need to start considering expanding my alliance, or at least my range of targets."

Fluttershy appeared in the confessional next, commenting to herself. "Rainbow Dash, I don't know if I can support you anymore. I hardly recognize the mare you used to be," And she let out a whimper. "Oh, what if what's happening to you is happening to all my friends?" She paused and scolded herself for thinking such a thing. "No, I gotta have faith! Somehow, I know the real you is still out there somewhere, Rainbow Dash."





The next morning, all the campers woke up with a renewed sense of urgency. It had not gone unnoticed by them that half of the twenty contestants that had originally been part of the "show" had been eliminated (though two of the survivors had been previously eliminated and had returned by the most extraordinary of circumstances).

Discord proudly mentioned this at breakfast in the mess hall. "Well, I must admit I'm quite surprised at the selection of contestants left now that half of the cast have been sent packing," He declared with a smile. "I'll be perfectly honest, aside from Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and maybe Twilight Sparkle I didn't expect any of you to make it this far. You should all give yourselves a pat on the back," Ominously, he then added. "While you still can."

Nightmare Moon grinned and flashed a toothy smile. "He's right, you know. It's only going to get tougher from here on out. If you thought some of the challenges from before were difficult, that's nothing compared to what Discord has in store for you all in the future."

The witty spirit then announced. "However, I think you all deserve a bit of a 'reward' for lasting for so long. After all, thanks to all the drama you've helped stir up, this show has become a mega hit! Your fellow Equestrians just can't get enough of it!"

Princess Celestia frowned as the camera flickered, showing her with a disapproving scowl in the confessional. "Exploiting our weaknesses and turning us against each other is apparently 'entertainment'? To all my fellow Equestrians, I'm deeply disappointed," And she then blushed. "And I'm sorry you've all had to see me act so... un princess like. Oh, Luna is never going to let me live this down."

"So go ahead, enjoy your breakfast," Discord encouraged to the ten contestants. "You're going to need a lot of energy for today's challenge. Trust me, it's going to be something extra special!" And then he disappeared with a snap of his talons, leaving everypony to dwell on his last words.

In the confessional, Fluttershy whimpered anew. "Oh, I have a bad feeling about today's challenge. I just know something horrible is going to happen!"

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was ecstatic as she cheerfully bounced up and down in the confessional while shouting at the top of her lungs! "Ooh! I just know whatever Discord has planned is going to be super duper fun! And I thought he couldn't possibly top the cupcake eating challenge!"

Nightmare Moon, for her part, just muttered to herself. "At least this time I'm not stuck playing babysitter. I'm not getting paid enough for what I have to deal with."

The contestants then ate their meals in relative silence, all wondering just what could possibly be in store for them today and some already considering who they might vote to eliminate at the campfire ceremony at night.





When breakfast was over, the contestants left the mess hall and were soon greeted by the presence of a huge wooden stand that had most definitely not been there yesterday. Heck, no one could recall such a massive stand being built this morning. Discord had undoubtedly poofed it in from somewhere.

And in front of the stand that consisted of two rows of seats (five each, also made from wood) was a massive stage that looked a lot like the one from the talent show. Except this time, situated above it was a huge electronic timer. And there was also a velvet curtain that obscured something of great worth.

"Oh goodie, you're all here!" Discord excitedly declared as he appeared before the ten ponies. "I know what you must be thinking: 'What's old Discord up to now?'"

Rainbow Dash scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Not really, no. The only reason we're doing this is for the money you know."

Discord just yawned and put a paw to his mouth. "Yes, yes, I heard you all the first time. And I've told you all before: It's my island, so you play by my rules. And if you don't like it you're welcome to leave and kiss the million bits goodbye."

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, couldn't stop bouncing up and down as she eagerly grinned! "Come on, out with it! You said we were gonna do something fun today! So what's the challenge?!"

The spirit smiled. "Oh Pinkie Pie, you complete me you know that?" Then he cleared his throat. "While I do intend for things to get harder, I also intend to make them more interesting. Just watching you all fight amongst yourselves for invincibility isn't as much fun. So I figured 'Why not up the ante?'"

Rarity arched an eyebrow upward. "I take it this has something to do with the stage and the curtain?"

"Patience, Rarity, all in good time. After all, I do have a time quota to fill," Discord explained while looking into the cameras, then looking back at the contestants. "You all know how much research I've been doing on you ponies as part of this game."

A flicker of the camera showed Princess Celestia grumbling in the confessional. "No doubt so he can figure out what weaknesses to exploit when he inevitably tries to take over. But he won't succeed. Not on my watch!"

The camera cut back to Discord continuing in his explanation. "So, since I heard you like to dares I decided to make today's challenge all about dares."

Derpy gulped and swallowed hard. "I don't do well with dares."

"Speak for yourself," Rainbow Dash ribbed her fellow pegasus. "I'm the most daring daredevil that ever dared to do daredevil deeds!"

At that, a most unusual grin crept across Discord's face as a faint flicker seemed to cross his eyes. "Well then, Rainbow Dash, think of this as a chance for you to put your money where your mouth is. You and all of your fellow ponies will partake in some of the most outlandish dares I could possibly come up with. Whoever ends up being the last pony standing wins the whole shebang and all the bragging rights with it!"

Rarity proceeded to throw up a hoof. "What about the prize?"

"Prize?" Discord blinked before realizing what Rarity was implying! "Oh, you mean what's behind the curtain! I was just getting to that," He walked over to the curtain, grasped the handle and pulled hard to make the curtains part. When he did so, a magnificent carriage stood on a small podium and sparkled in the sunlight!

Several ponies couldn't help but let out audible "Ooh!"s and "Aah!"s upon seeing the carriage.

The draconequus grinned and winked. "That's right! The winner also gets this finely decorated carriage that I totally didn't just steal from a museum or something."

Princess Celestia stomped a hoof and snorted! "Discord!"

"Hey, it's not like anypony was using it! And I made sure to leave behind a suitable replacement," Discord remarked as he feigned ignorance of his crime. "Regardless of whether you ultimately win or not, you get to keep this carriage for the rest of the game. I might even let the winner hold onto it after the show is all done, but don't quote me on that."

Rainbow Dash immediately rubbed her hooves together. "For me, Discord? You shouldn't have! Bring on the dares! I'll whoop everypony's sorry flank and that carriage will be as good as mine!"

Scootaloo nervously sought to correct her idol. "Uh, you meant ours, right?"

Rainbow sheepishly answered. "Uh... yes, yes. You know what I meant, Scoots." And she breathed a small sigh of relief.

But Scootaloo wasn't so convinced, she in fact began to ponder something in the confessional. "Rainbow Dash is still gonna take me to the final two, right? She's just making sure everypony knows that, right? Right?"

Discord then wagged a finger on his paw. "Now now, don't get ahead of yourself, Rainbow Dash. As much as I would love to see you smoke the competition I have to remain neutral. I can't exactly play favorites, the network wouldn't like that," And he then cleared his throat. "Anyway, you're all free to target anypony you want during this contest. If so, they must do whatever the next dare that comes up is. If they don't they're out. But if they manage to stick out, then whoever dared them is out instead. And there are no take backs."

The brash speedster groaned in annoyance. "I know, I know! We all know that, Discord! Everypony knows how dares work! Let's just get this show of yours on the road already, we don't have all day!"

"For once, Rainbow Dash, I actually agree with you," Discord declared. "So, without further ado, let this Extreme Daredevil Pony Contest officially begin!"

Rainbow Dash eagerly leapt up! "Sweet! First dare is all me! Give me the best you've got, Discord! I'll knock it out of the park in no time!"

But the spirit protested. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash. But in the interest of 'fairness' I'm going to let the worst performer from the previous challenge have first dibs," And a sadistic grin crept onto his fate. "That means you, old sunbutt. I hope you at least last beyond the first round."





Princess Celestia reluctantly trotted up to Discord while the other nine ponies raced for seats. The first row was quickly taken up by Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Derpy, Pinkie Pie and Vinyl Scratch from left to right. And from left to right on the second row, Fluttershy, Rarity, Trixie and finally Twilight filed in. The last seat on the right was left open for Princess Celestia.

"Good luck, Princess Celestia!" Twilight called from her seat! "I know you can do it!"

But Rainbow Dash shouted back! "Don't give her false hope, Twilight! She's going down and you know it!"

Vinyl Scratch then interrupted. "Yo, save the trash talk for later. She hasn't actually started her dare yet. Heck, we don't even know what it's gonna be."

Fluttershy whimpered. "Oh, I hope it's nothing too cruel. Princess Celestia has been through enough already since this whole thing began."

Meanwhile, Discord put his paws behind his back and then produced a series of five plain looking envelopes, each with a red number on them. From left to right they depicted the numbers one through five. "Go ahead, pick an envelope and decide your fate." He encouraged.

"Okay, I'll just read over them really quick and-" Celestia began as she trotted close and prepared to grab the envelopes.

But Discord yanked the envelopes away and held them up! "Ah ah ah! You don't get to read them ahead of time, that's not how this works! You don't get to know what awaits you. It's all up to lady luck. So you gotta ask yourself, princess: Do you feel lucky?"

The shrunken down sun princess groaned and grit her teeth! "Fine then! I pick number three!"

The spirit's eyes seemed to grow wide, almost as if he knew something that Princess Celestia didn't! "Ooh, are you sure you wanna pick that one?"

"I was elected to lead, so I pick three!" Princess Celestia protested and stomped a hoof. "So give it to me, whatever it is."

Discord obeyed. "Fine, but whatever happens next is on you," He opened up the envelope and presented the first dare of the contest. "You're going to listen to a little 'recording' of a previously eliminated contestant. If you can last for one minute without blowing your fuse or walking away, you win."

The shrunken down sun princess grinned. "That's it? That doesn't sound so difficult."

The witty spirit grinned and chuckled. "Let's see if you change your mind after you see who's on the recording. I'm sure you'll recognize her." And with a snap of his talons, a huge screen was brought up and a fuzzy image appeared on it amidst the sound of heavy static.

Celestia let out a gasp! "Wait, 'her'?!" And her eyes widened in horror! "No, you can't possibly mean..."

Yet when the image finally settled in, there was no mistaking the familiar face that appeared on the screen. The dark blue coat and flowing blue mane and tail left no doubt as to the mare's identity. It was none other than Princess Luna.

Discord snapped his talons, producing a bag of popcorn as he called out. "And... start the clock!" Then he began to munch away on his popcorn.

The recording of Princess Luna didn't seem to be aware of what was going on in front of her. Her exact location was unknown but it didn't look like anywhere in Equestria. It seemed far more... luxurious for lack of a better term. "Oh my, this place is so beautiful! And so relaxing!" She fondly sighed, leaning back in what looked like a beach chair. "I feel sorry for my sister, having to put up with the dreadful conditions back on Paradox Island, and in her 'fun sized' state too."

Princess Celestia began to growl, her eyes narrowing in anger! "Luna! I swear, if I ever find out where you are..."

The recording of Princess Luna just continued to play. Either Princess Luna was feigning ignorance about her sister's presence, or this recording of her was not live and had been done sometime in advance. "Well, sister, if you're watching this I hope you're doing well," A faint grin formed on her face. "I guess in a way you could consider this punishment for banishing me to the moon for a thousand years."

The sun princess growled further as the seconds slowly ticked by. "You and I both know how hard those thousand years were for me, thou ungrateful whelp!" Then she blinked and blushed. "Oh my, my Royal Canterlot voice is slipping out. Guess Luna had to get it from somewhere though."

The camera flickered, showing Twilight sitting in the confessional in utter shock. "How did I not come to that obvious conclusion?! Of course Princess Luna would've picked up her mannerisms and speaking from Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia had to have spoken like Princess Luna used to speak!" She said to herself! "Oh, of all the times for me to be without quills, ink and paper!"

Then the camera cut back to Celestia watching the recording of her younger sister just lounging about in some tropical location (or something of the like). It seemed as if she were ready to snap at the recording of Luna at any second.

Yet at last a buzzer sounded to indicate that time was up. The recording clicked off.





Discord stood up, making his popcorn vanish just as mysteriously as it had appeared. "Oh, what a party pooper," He let out a long, drawn out sigh as his face seemed to slump to the ground. "Regrettably, Princess Celestia, you've won the first dare. So that means you can dare somepony to take up the next one, if you want to."

Princess Celestia just stood up and immediately shook her head. "I'll pass, thank you very much. I'm quite content to let my fellow contestants take their turns of their own free will." And she trotted up to the stands to take her seat, leaving everypony in the audience speechless!

Rainbow Dash began to mutter under her breath. "This might be a problem."

Discord, for his part, just pulled out a list. "Well then, I guess it's up to me to keep things rolling," Then he loudly proclaimed. "Derpy Hooves, come on down! You get to pick one of the four remaining dares! Choose wisely."

Derpy felt her hooves tremble as she nervously left her seat and walked down to the stage. She shut her walled eyes tightly and reached out a hoof. "This one!" She declared, not wanting to know which number she had selected.

The spirit opened the envelope with the red number four on it. "Oh, this one is hardly original! Who came up with a lame dare like this?" He frowned before reading aloud what was written inside the envelope. "You have to spend a minute with a star spider, one of the rarest breeds of spiders in all of Equestria."

Immediately, Derpy screamed! "But, I hate spiders!"

"Well if you don't wanna do the dare, that's fine. You can just be eliminated," The spirit taunted the wall eyed pegasus. "But that means no invincibility and no free carriage."

Rainbow immediately began shouting at Derpy! "Come on, take the dare! You can do it! It's just a spider!"

Fluttershy raised her hoof up. "I'll do it for her!"

But Discord shook his head. "I'm sorry, that's not a valid option. Whoever is dared or picks a dare must do the dare. No exceptions. If I just let ponies weasel their way out of any dares they didn't like, there wouldn't be much of a contest now would there?"

The wall eyed pegasus mare just whimpered. "I'm... sorry, Rainbow Dash," She sincerely apologized to her fellow pegasus. "But I just can't do it."

The spirit unhappily sighed. "Well, at least you spared me from having to carry out an unoriginal dare. However, it's still a forfeit on your end, Derpy," And he slapped a tall, cone shaped hat on top of her head. "This is so I can keep track of who has been eliminated and who hasn't. And before any of you get any ideas, you can't bring a pony eliminated from the contest back in. Not even if you take yourself out. Once you're out, you're out for good. Got it?"

Pinkie Pie was frowning in the confessional and her blue eyes reflected a look of deep sadness. "That's so not fair. This little dare contest is hardly fun if ponies have to abide by all these rules," And she let out a sigh. "I feel so sorry for Derpy. She didn't deserve any of that, especially not from Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash then groaned when it was her turn in the confessional! "Seriously?! Why did Derpy have to go and do that?! She could've stuck it out and then dared Trixie! I guarantee you that Trixie will lose whatever dare she's made to do, even if I have to see to it myself!"





The next pony to go up for a dare was Pinkie Pie. The pink party pony was more than happy to select the first option she laid eyes on, which was fittingly enough the envelope with the number one on it. "So, what do I have to do, Discord? Come on, tell me!"

"Patience, Pinkie Pie. I need time to read it," Discord responded as he did just that. "Ooh! This should be interesting! You've got to endure a full minute worth of the worst nightmares and illusions Nightmare Moon can conjure up!"

The earth pony mare scoffed and waved a hoof. "Oh, that'll be easy peasy pudding in the freezy! I could do that for two minutes! Can we make it two minutes?!"

"No, Pinkie. Just one minute will be enough, thank you," The spirit responded and gave a whistle, motioning for Nightmare Moon to come over. "She's all yours."

Nightmare Moon grinned. "You may have survived my nightmares last night, Pinkie Pie. But you can't giggle at my ghosties forever. One way or another, I will make you feel fear!"

But Pinkie Pie just laughed. "Aw come on, Nightmare Moon. There's no need to take my victory yesterday personally. I'd have been more than happy to eliminate myself if that's what you'd wanted."

The dark coated alicorn only glared, ominously lighting up her horn as she approached Pinkie with narrowed eyes. "You really are a bothersome little pest."

The camera flicked as Twilight's eyes looked ready to pop right out! "Oh man! I don't think Pinkie's realized just how much she's gotten under Nightmare Moon's fur. I wish I could help her." And she shuddered with fright.

"Okay, are you both ready?" Discord asked Nightmare Moon and her soon to be victim. Both nodded without hesitation, prompting Discord to declare. "Go!" And the timer started ticking.

Yet to the surprise of everyone, Pinkie Pie survived the whole minute as if nothing had ever happened. She barely even blinked when it was all said and done, and was still giggling like crazy. "Boy, that was quite a challenge, Nightmare Moon! But that was super duper fun! We should do that again sometime!"

Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon looked to be out of breath and was panting heavily while blowing smoke from the tip of her horn. "How is it that you make Discord look tame by comparison?"

A clip from the confessional showed Rainbow Dash in a state of utter shock and disbelief! "I knew Pinkie Pie was crazy, but I didn't think she was that crazy! How is anypony supposed to compete with that?!" And she began to ponder. "Maybe I should be asking her to join my alliance?" Then she shook her head. "No way, I can't possibly trust anypony that crazy. It's too much of a risk."

The cameras quickly resumed focus on the stage as even Discord seemed to briefly blink in surprise at what he'd seen. "Whoa! You ponies sure know how to bring out the chaos! Don't be trying to steal my job now, you hear?!" And then he cleared his throat. "Anyway, Pinkie Pie. Do you wish to dare somepony who has not yet competed?"

"Actually, I do," Pinkie firmly nodded and pointed a pink coated hoof to a certain rainbow maned pegasus. "You've gotta answer for what you did to Derpy, Dashie! This next one's on you!"

Rainbow stood up and puffed out her chest! "You've dared to challenge me, Pinkie?! You've made a terrible mistake," She rushed down to the stage, immediately selecting an envelope without even looking at which of the remaining two it was. "I'll do whatever you need me to do, Discord!"

The envelope had the number five on it, and when Discord opened it and read what was inside he grinned anew. "Let's see if you can make like a lumberjack pony and roll on a log."

Rainbow Dash just lightly blew on her mane. "Heh, just stand back and watch me!" And sure enough, she was able to roll on a log for a whole minute with no problems. "Didn't even break a sweat."

Discord then declared. "Sorry, Pinkie Pie. But since Rainbow Dash survived your dare, you're out." And he then snapped his talons, making a cone shaped hat appear on her head.

"Shoot!" Pinkie grumbled! Her hope to avenge Derpy had backfired.





Fluttershy was the next pony to come up, and already she was filled with worry and dread. She'd seen how effortlessly Princess Celestia, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash all had survived their challenges. Who knew what would lie in store for her, especially since ones she would've preferred (being alone with a star spider and rolling on a log) had already been taken?

The pegasus mare with a buttery yellow coat didn't have long to find out, seeing as there was only one envelope left to pick.

But Discord audibly groaned when he saw what the challenge contained with envelope number five was. "Spend a minute alone in the woods! Well, congratulations on your victory, Fluttershy."

"You don't know for sure I'll survive. Something might come up that'll make me run away." Fluttershy tried to insist.

Discord was dismissive of the idea. "Nice try, but I know you too well. I know how this is gonna go down. Let's get this nonsense over with and move on." He quickly carried the pegasus mare off into the nearby forest. And just as he'd expected when the minute was up, Fluttershy had survived quite easily.

Rainbow Dash, not wanting to let this opportunity go to waste, encouragenly shouted at Fluttershy! "Go for Trixie, Fluttershy! Knock her out while you have the chance!"

And Fluttershy reluctantly obeyed. "I'd like to dare Trixie to do the next dare... um, if that's okay."

"Sure, sure," Discord happily nodded. "Just give me a moment to produce some more envelopes," He quickly put his paws behind his back again, and this time he brought out envelopes with numbers six through twenty. "That should be more than enough. But from now on, I'll just pick the challenges at random to prevent anymore 'easy victories'."

Trixie shook her head. "There's no need for dramatics. Trixie has already settled on number six. Give it to her!"

"If you say so," The spirit shrugged his shoulders as he opened said envelope. "Ooh! Finally, something that should provide me with some entertainment!"

The not so powerful magician could only roll her eyes. "Dare I ask what you intend to have Trixie do for the dare Fluttershy has made Trixie do?"

Discord's grin grew so wide you'd swear it was about to jump right off his face. "Oh, not much, really. I'm just going to tie you up nice and tight, and then I'm to give you one minute to untie yourself."

Trixie's eyebrows were lifted ever so slightly. "You do mean with ropes, right?"

The draconequus nodded as he snapped his talons, producing several well torn ropes. "Of course. What, did you think I meant something else? I mean, there are children in the audience." He said with a knowing wink.

A brief flicker of the camera revealed Rarity in the confessional, wondering aloud. "Why would anypony of any age possibly want to watch something like this?" And then she looked at the camera. "Sweetie Belle, darling. If you are watching this in... wherever you are, I'm going to tell Mother and Father about this. You know you're not supposed to be watching stuff like this."

The flicker faded as the camera cut back to a very tied up Trixie dangling above the stage for dramatic effect. The timer had already begun ticking down, and the unicorn was clearly struggling to try to break free.

Rainbow Dash started gleefully rubbing her hooves together, certain of victory. She was already starting to think about who to target the next time she got the opportunity.

However, Trixie managed to defy the odds and break free of the ropes using the tip of her horn, escaping with only five seconds left on the timer. "Ha! The Great and Powerful Trixie wins again!"

Rainbow could only stare in utter dismay as her jaw dropped open! She was unable to keep from looking away as Trixie strolled triumphantly back to her seat, and Fluttershy had a cone shaped hat placed atop her head.

The brash speedster began to break out into a cold sweat in the confines of the confessional as a result of this! "This isn't going as well as I'd hoped!" And then she slapped herself in the face with a hoof! "Come on, Rainbow Dash! You can't let Trixie rattle you! You can do this!" Though under her breath after making sure no one else but her was around she added. "I think."





Scootaloo was the next to go up, being given the challenge of having to survive a minute of being bombarded with recordings of Sweetie Belle's horrible singing. She tried her best to grin and bear it, but by the time it got to "Ninety Nine Buckets of Oats on the Wall" the poor filly had had enough! She ripped off the headphones and threw them down on the ground, just seconds before she would've been safe from disqualification.

Rainbow Dash saw this and did her best to hide her disappointment in Scootaloo. She couldn't afford to lose the filly's trust (and by extension her vote). However, it now occurred to the rainbow maned pegasus just how horribly outnumbered she was. Trixie at least was still around to target her, to say nothing of what Princess Celestia, Twilight or even Vinyl Scratch could do.

"Vinyl Scratch, you're up next!" Discord called as he noticed the off duty DJ looked ready to nod off at a moment's notice.

Vinyl seemed to stumble awake. "I'm coming! I'm coming! That music you were playing was so boring it was putting me to sleep. Remind me to give that poor kid some singing lessons," She remarked as she made her way down from the stand and headed to the stage. But as she got there she suddenly blinked, looking all around as though she'd forgotten something. "Hey, any of you dudes know where my shades are?"

Just seconds after the announcement was made, there was an audible crunching sound as Rainbow Dash suddenly leaped up! Then she looked down at her chair and noticed something underneath, something that had apparently fallen behind her earlier when Vinyl Scratch had nearly fallen asleep. "Uh... I think I found them..." She blushed.

Horrified, Vinyl rushed back up to the stands only to find her worst fears realized! Her glasses rested beneath Rainbow's seat but were now noticeably cracked right down the middle. The mare's red eyes widened to the size of dinner plates! "No...." She softly exclaimed as tears formed in her eyes. She used her magic to pull the glasses up and held them in her hooves.

Rainbow Dash and everypony in the audience, as well as Discord and Nightmare Moon all turned their attention to Vinyl Scratch. They didn't know what to expect even as Twilight tried to console the grieving DJ. "Vinyl, I am so sorry about your glasses. Maybe we can fix them."

But Vinyl only roared back! "No, you can't fix them! And there's no way I can get a replacement! These shades were one of a kind. Do you have any idea how much money from all my gigs I had to save up to buy these?"

"Vinyl, it was an accident," Rarity tried to insist. "Even I've sometimes broken things of great importance to me. There's no need to get all bent out of shape over it."

Vinyl just snapped with narrowed eyes! "That's easy for you to say, Rarity! You're practically swimming in bits from all those dresses you make! Not everypony's lucky enough to have that kind of money just lying around!" And she turned around and glared at Rainbow Dash. "You did that on purpose, I just know it! I've been hearing how everypony's been suspicious of you lately, but I didn't wanna believe them."

Twilight tried to protest. "Vinyl, Rainbow Dash didn't break your glasses on purpose. She's never even targeted you until now!"

But Vinyl Scratch didn't acknowledge Twilight's comment, she just continued to glare at the pony who had attracted her anger. "You think these shades are for show, man?! Well you're wrong! I actually need these things so all those strobe lights don't cause me to go blind! And you just broke them like they're no big deal!"

Rainbow gulped, swallowing hard. "I'm... sorry?"

Vinyl just shook her head and roared! "Not yet you aren't! But I'm gonna make you sorry! I'm gonna make you all sorry you ever took me lightly! Ever even dared to think I was useless, like the time you voted me off first!" She then stormed down to the stage and yelled at Discord! "Go on then, give me your stupid challenge! At least maybe I can pawn that carriage off for bits when I win so I can buy some newer, cooler shades!"

"A-alright, just give me a moment!" Discord nervously insisted. Even he had been intimidated by the DJ unicorn's sudden burst of fury.

Meanwhile, a clip in the confessional showed Rainbow Dash whimpering and shivering with fright. So much so that you could've mistaken her for Fluttershy. "I never thought I'd see a monster worse than Gilda during the dodgeball challenge."

And Scootaloo was just as frightened considering she was looking straight into the camera in the confessional while shouting at the top of her lungs! "I want my mommy!"





The challenge Vinyl faced was one that would've likely made even the bravest of souls tremble with fear. She was tasked with staring down a huge assortment of dangerous creatures from the Everfree Forest. Everything and anything that Discord had managed to corral: An ursa minor cub, a cragodile, a manticore and even a cockatrice.

But Vinyl Scratch just looked directly at the animals and without even blinking an eye she let out a fearsome roar! "I don't scare that easily, fools!" She bellow at the top of her lungs! And all the animals let out a whimper, running right back into the crate they'd been brought out of.

Even Discord wasn't sure how to react. "Well... that sure was... something."

The enraged DJ barely even bothered to nod before gesturing a hoof to Rainbow Dash! "What are you waiting for?! I'm daring her, and I wanna see her face down the toughest dare you've got! I don't care what you have to do, just make it happen!"

Although unnerved a bit, Discord obeyed. After all, who was he to ignore a request from a contestant? "As you wish."

Rainbow Dash did her best to put on a brave face. "I've really gotta learn not to boast so much all the time." She thought to herself as she made her way down to the stage.

Twilight, meanwhile, was trying to plead with a still furious Vinyl Scratch. "Vinyl, you've got to calm down. This isn't like you."

But Vinyl only swatted away a hoof from Twilight. "Shut up! You didn't stick your neck out for me when we were teammates! But you've happily let Rainbow Dash and Princess Celestia tell you how to vote!"

"Vinyl, that's not true and you know it!" Twilight firmly protested. "I'm sorry about your glasses but I saw the whole thing, it was an accident."

The unicorn mare only hissed and snorted in reply. "I know what you're trying to do, Twilight. You want me to go back to being cool coolie Vinyl Scratch, the strong, silent DJ who never says a word and lets nothing rattle her. That's what everypony wants, me to just shut up. They all wish I'd never come back, that somepony 'more worthy' came back instead."

Twilight blinked slowly in disbelief. "Vinyl..."

But before anything else could be said, a horrified Rainbow Dash came running out of a box that she had been enclosed in! She looked as though she'd seen a ghost given that her entire body was shaking all over and her eyes had widened so much they now appeared to take up her whole face.

Rainbow Dash began to whimper and shiver in the confessional. "It's not true! Mare-Do-Well isn't here because of me! It's all an illusion!"

When the clip ended, Discord was slapping a cone shaped hat onto Rainbow Dash. "My my, this dare contest isn't turning out at all like I thought it would. Over half the contestants have already been eliminated and we're not even done with round one yet."

Nightmare Moon, meanwhile, was grinning as she watched the whole thing with interest. And in the confessional she was commenting. "Maybe I spoke too soon on Discord. If this is what he has in store for the contestants from here on out, maybe this will actually be worth my time. At least it means I won't have to keep tormenting a certain princess and a pony who thinks my illusions are a laughing matter."

The camera cut back to the stage as Discord announced. "Rarity, you're up next."

Rarity, however, immediately shook her head. "I'm not about to humiliate myself just for some stolen carriage. I'm above petty dares, especially when they reduce ponies like Rainbow Dash and Vinyl Scratch to complete jerks."

The witty spirit only groaned as he snapped his talons, producing a cone shaped hat atop Rarity's head. "Oh, fine. Be that way for all I care. It's your loss."

Twilight then stood up and made her way down to the stage. "Guess that means it's my turn. Do your worst, Discord! You won't break me!"

The draconequus just grinned. "We'll see about that. I have an extra special dare I was saving just for you," He pulled out an envelope that had clearly not been with the others, opened it and read aloud what was inside. "Let's see you recite an entire lesson that Princess Celestia gave at her school when you attended. If you make any mistake at all, you're out."

Twilight only grinned as she sat on her haunches. "Please. I know all of Princess Celestia's lectures like the back of my hoof!"

"Really? Even ones on the forbidden subject of dark magic? The ones she made everypony promise never to tell a single soul about?" Discord's grin grew wider. "Because that's the lecture you're to recite, word for word."

If that condition for the dare unnerved Twilight, she didn't show it outwardly. "Okay then, you really want the lecture? The whole thing start to finish? No skipping any details?"

Discord nodded quite energetically! "Yes! Now go on, I'm all ears! I wanna hear every little detail!"

Princess Celestia, meanwhile, was frantically calling out. "Twilight, you can't do this! Don't give Discord what he wants!"

But Twilight flashed a knowing grin back at her shrunken down mentor. "Don't worry, Princess Celestia. I know what I'm doing," Then she took a deep breath, cleared her throat and began reciting the lecture from the very beginning. "Good morning, my faithful students," She spoke, doing her best to mimic Princess Celestia's voice. "I am Princess Celestia, your teacher. And today we're going to be discuss something extremely important. Something so dangerous and so forbidden that you can never tell anypony about what you've learned."





Twilight continued reciting the lecture exactly as she remembered it, making sure to pause and spell out every single word, phrase or important term exactly as Princess Celestia had pronounced it. "Okay, now that we've covered the basics of the different types of magic, now we can discuss how dark magic works. For you see, dark magic operates entirely differently from other magic."

But Discord interrupted by literally pulling out the hairs on his head! "Stop it! I can't take anymore! You win, Twilight!"

Twilight grinned. "Just as I anticipated. I knew the whole lecture would bore you. I offered you a chance to just hear the important parts, but you insisted on hearing everything."

The spirit groaned in annoyance. "I've heard enough. Just go take your seat, unless you wanna dare somepony else."

Twilight shook her head. "Nope, I'm good. But thank you for the offer, Discord." And she trotted back up to the stands, have momentarily forgotten Vinyl Scratch's troubling behavior.

But the DJ was far from ready to cool down! "My turn!" She declared without waiting for an announcement, strolling down to the stage! "Give me whatever dare you want, I don't care!"

The witty spirit blinked anew in surprise. "Well, it seems we have a real go getter. But fair enough," He held out the remaining envelopes. "Pick one, any one. Doesn't matter to me at this point."

And indeed it didn't! Vinyl Scratch cleared her dare so fast she might as well have just been given the victory. Then she turned around and dared Trixie.

Luck was not on Trixie's side this time, for she ended up buried alive in a pile of books and without use of her magic she had no way to get out before the timer was up.

Princess Celestia took her turn without fanfare and without fuss, but she could only watch in horror as Twilight lost her next challenge when it involved having the lecture she'd just given turned back on her.

Discord grinned. "No one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it," And he made the recording equipment vanish with a snap of his talons. "Vinyl Scratch, the last dare is all yours. If you can complete it, you win. Of course, if you don't then Princess Celestia wins," And he whispered to her. "You want any last minute advice? I'm kind of hoping old sunbutt doesn't win."

Vinyl Scratch rejected the suggestion with a firm shake of her head! "I don't need any help, especially not from you, Discord! If it weren't for your stupid show, my shades wouldn't have been broken in the first place!" And she glared at the spirit. "Just give me the stupid dare and I'll do it! I don't even care who I eliminate after that, they'll all fall before me!"

"Alright then, your choice," Discord declared as he brought Vinyl onto the stage and then snapped his talons. Soon, he had her standing on a platform high above and below her rested a huge tank of water. "The carriage is waiting for you on the other side. Just walk across this tightrope," He explained as said rope appeared. "And it's all yours. There's no time limit either. If you take too long we can just speed this up in post production or something."

The DJ unicorn grinned from ear to ear! "That carriage is as good as mine! Invincibility, here I come!" And as soon as she heard a whistle (courtesy of Discord) she began to move across the tightrope, it didn't take long for her to make it halfway across.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Vinyl continued to make her way across the tightrope with all eyes watching, unable to look away. None of her fellow contestants could believe it.

A flicker of the camera showed Rarity in the confessional. "Sweet Celestia! Who would've believed Vinyl Scratch would become a threat?!"

And another flicker showed Rainbow Dash remarking. "Help me, I've created a monster!"

Then the camera cut back to the final dare as Vinyl was starting to reach the end. It looked like her sudden burst of rage had served her well, and now everypony was wondering just how far it would take her.

But all of a sudden, as if by chance, Vinyl Scratch lost her balance! Amidst a series of gasps she tumbled backward, slipped off the rope and plunged into the tank as a loud buzzer sounded!

"Ooh! Bad luck, Vinyl!" Discord remarked as all saw the DJ pony swimming to the tank's surface. He then unhappily declared. "Unfortunately, that means Princess Celestia is the winner."

Princess Celestia was speechless! But in the confessional, once the shock had worn off, she couldn't resist gloating! "In your face, Luna!"

As the camera cut back to the stage and the tank and the tightrope disappeared, a waterlogged Vinyl plopped down onto the ground. She was unharmed and dazed, almost as if she didn't realize where she was. But the look in her eyes conveyed it all, all she could think about was her earlier behavior.

Princess Celestia, meanwhile, prepared to head over to claim her new chariot. But before she could reach out, a sudden blast of magic struck the carriage head on and reduced it to rubble!

Nightmare Moon growled and turned her back on the contestants as she trotted off. "I'm so disappointed in you all. What an anti-climatic ending."

"Well, you all can spend time thinking about your votes tonight," Discord told the contestants. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a talk with a certain somepony about being a poor sport." Then he snapped his talons and disappeared from the stage and the stands, the cone shaped hats disappearing from all the other contestants as well.

Once Discord was out of sight, Twilight immediately rushed up to Vinyl Scratch as the rest of the contestants all turned their attention to Princess Celestia. "Vinyl, are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked her fellow unicorn.

Vinyl lifted her hooves and moved them to her heart. "Just in here, Twilight. I can't believe I lost my temper like that. I don't even know what came over me. The shades weren't that important."

"It must be this island," Twilight concluded. "It's just like what happened to Gilda, Rarity and Cheerilee. And each time it seems like the effects are temporary."

Vinyl Scratch could only look down at the ground in shame. "Well, I know one thing for sure. This is my last performance on this island, Twilight. There's no point in going on anymore. Now everypony sees me as a threat."

A look of horror flashed in the studious unicorn's eyes! She knew what Vinyl was implying! "No! No, there has to be another way! You just got back not that long ago, Vinyl. It's not fair that you have to leave because of something like this."

But Vinyl just stood up, shaking her head from side to side. "Forget it, Twilight. Don't try to save me. I'm going away for good this time. Focus on yourself."

"Vinyl." Twilight unhappily sighed as she watched her fellow unicorn trot away.





Day quickly turned to night for the ten contestants that would soon be narrowed down to nine. And most had already made up their minds about who they were going to vote for.

Vinyl Scratch went up first, immediately stamping a huge red x over her own ballot. "Sorry to all my fans out there who saw me today. Definitely not cool. But DJ-PON-3 isn't sticking around any longer. She's done like dinner."

Trixie seemed to have the most unusual grin upon her face as she stamped Rainbow Dash's ballot and put in the padlocked box. "This time, Trixie is quite certain that Rainbow Dash will be going home. And if not, Trixie is going to have to start looking for some ponies to sway."

When it was Derpy's turn, she cast her vote not for Rainbow Dash or for Vinyl Scratch but for herself. "I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash," She apologized despite knowing her fellow pegasus wasn't around. "I let you down today, and yesterday, and the day before that. You're better off without me."

Rainbow Dash entered not long after Derpy had voted, and she needed no hesitation to vote for Trixie. "Vinyl Scratch is definitely a threat, but nowhere near as big a one as Trixie. Cheerilee may have distracted me temporarily, but no more! It's time to send the only pony that can stand in my way packing!" And placing her vote in the box she added. "Oh, I've got a good feeling about tonight's vote."

Several more ponies came and went with little fanfare, most voting for Vinyl Scratch. Yet when it was Twilight's turn, she couldn't bring herself to stamp the red x on Vinyl's ballot. "I can't do it, Vinyl! You don't deserve to go because of a mistake. It's just not fair. You deserve to show everypony your true potential." And so she voted for Rainbow Dash instead.

Once all the votes had been cast, the ponies took their seats around the campfire as Discord brought forth the padlocked box and carefully opened it. He began to read aloud as he pulled the ballots out one by one. "Okay, first vote is for Princess Celestia, oddly enough. Not sure who would do that, but unfortunately it's a wasted vote because of her invincibility."

Vinyl Scratch began to look down at the ground, mentally pleading to herself. "Please, I need this!"

Discord then called out the next several votes. "I've got a vote for Vinyl Scratch, a vote for Trixie and a vote for Rainbow Dash. Most interesting, let's see if anypony else is gonna get some votes," Then he read aloud the next vote. "The fifth vote is for Vinyl Scratch."

Twilight's eyes began to widen in horror! "No." She whispered to herself. Was it really going to happen?

A few more votes came and went as Discord summed up their tally. "I've got a second vote for Trixie, a second vote for Rainbow Dash and a third vote for Vinyl Scratch. One more vote for her and we'll be sending home our third straight former Magical Misfit," He soon pulled the ninth ballot out, slowly announcing. "And on the second to last ballot I have... a fourth vote for Vinyl Scratch. I'm afraid that's it, nopony can get more votes than her."

Vinyl Scratch stood up without saying a word.

Discord quickly approached the DJ pony. "You're not coming back again, you know. If I have to, I'll order Nightmare Moon to sink the boat with you on and leave you to swim all the way back home."

"Don't worry, I'm not coming back to this island ever again," Vinyl firmly insisted. "No amount of bits could ever be worth what I've had to go through," And she gave a quick wave to the nine ponies that would now outlast her. "Goodbye, everypony. It's been fun." She then began to trot down to the Dock of Shame to catch the Boat of Losers.

But just before Vinyl could clear the dock and step onto the boat, Twilight rushed out to her fellow unicorn. "Vinyl, wait!" And operating purely on instinct, she reached out to the DJ and gave her a huge hug. "I... I just wanted you to know that..."

Vinyl gave a knowing wink. "Oh, I know, baby. But we can talk about that more after this whole game is behind us." And she returned the hug before stepping onto the boat, soon disappearing from sight.

Discord made a pretend gagging motion as he glared directly into the camera as it cut back to the campfire. "Well, that was definitely a confession I didn't see coming. So sweet, and so mushy," Then he declared. "But if you think I can't top this, you're dead wrong! So stick around for the next pulse pounding elimination ceremony here on Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 18: The Alliance Buster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the sun shone down on the Dock of Shame, Discord was standing in front of the cameras. By this point it had become very much a routine for him, and he was never going to get tired of doing it. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island," He began to narrate as clips from yesterday challenge started to play. "With half the contestants left in the game I figured it was time to raise the stakes. After all, most of the ponies left are not the ones I expected to see make it this far."

Another clip showed Discord showing off a huge two level stand for the ten ponies, as well as a large stage and a curtain that once pulled back displayed a magnificent carriage. "Of course, I also decided it wouldn't hurt to offer up a prize for the contestant that won the challenge, though a certain somepony," A clip briefly showed Nightmare Moon destroying the carriage after the challenge was over. "Got a little too trigger happy because of who won. I mean, I wasn't happy about it either but as the host I can't show my favoritism outward."

Discord's narration continued to play as the challenge itself was displayed, showing ponies partaking in various dares. "Yours truly thought it would be fun to let the contestants do some dares, and even dare others to do dares. I'm honestly surprised how many took me up on that offer, even after it blew up in their faces." A clip showed Pinkie Pie eliminating herself when she tried to get Rainbow Dash to do a dare, and Rainbow won it.

The clips continued to role, soon focusing on a rather unusual development that had occurred as a result of an accident. And Discord was explaining the whole thing. "When Rainbow Dash started to get worried that her alliance might not be working out like she hoped, she made a mistake and destroyed Vinyl Scratch's one of a kind glasses. And oh boy was that a mistake!"

The next clip to roll depicted Vinyl Scratch flying off into an all consuming, blinding rage as a result of her glasses being destroyed. All the while Discord could be heard narrating. "Vinyl Scratch's newfound rage propelled her all the way to the final dare and almost to victory," But a flicker of the camera showed the DJ unicorn coming up just short and falling into a water tank. "So that meant old sunbutt... I mean Princess Celestia won invincibility for the round. And Vinyl believed she didn't deserve to be in the game anymore."

Day soon turned to night as the ten ponies were shown huddled around a familiar fire while Discord was narrating. "Ultimately, Vinyl got her wish when the votes came in and she was eliminated," Then one final clip showed Twilight rushing up to give her fellow unicorn a hug. "However, it would seem that a certain somepony wasn't willing to let Vinyl leave without making a confession of her own. And Vinyl took it all in stride."

The camera now cut back to the Dock of Shame as Discord stood front and center, commanding attention. "We're in the single digits now, just nine contestants left. And one of them will not be making it into the elite eight. Find who will be next to walk off the Dock of Shame on Total Magic Pony Island!"





Compared to the last couple of challenges, the surviving contestants didn't say anything to each other after the elimination ceremony. Not even after everypony else had seen Twilight Sparkle rush up and give Vinyl Scratch a hug.

The only one who had anything further to say on the matter was Rainbow Dash, and she was only talking about it in the confessional. "Well, at least that's another vote against me out of the way," She said to herself. "If I can just get rid of Trixie in the next challenge, there shouldn't be anything standing between me and the million bits."

However, Twilight was still reeling from the shock of everything that had just transpired. And in the confessional she was breathing heavily, trying to contemplate her personal feelings. "I don't even what compelled me to say that. I don't even know if I really like mares like that. But, I've never felt this way around anypony before," She looked down at herself. "Is this my first crush? It's nothing like what my romance books said," Then she proceeded to shake her head. "I've gotta stay focused! For all I know it's the island making me do this! I can't let it drive me crazy too!"

After those confessional clips, the contestants all left the area surrounding the Dock of Shame and returned to their cabins for a good night's sleep. However, even though they were in separate cabins Princess Celestia couldn't help but worry about Twilight. So much so that she stood waiting for her faithful student outside. "Twilight, you know you can trust me, right?" She immediately inquired.

"I... yes, why would you ever ask that of me?" Twilight blinked in uncertainty.

The shrunken down sun princess was quick to offer that maternal like warmth she had a tendency to project, especially towards Twilight. "If you wanna talk about anything at all, you can do that with me. I won't judge you for it."

Even somepony as slow on the uptake as Twilight could see where the conversation was heading, and the unicorn was quick to cut off any possible discussion of it. "It doesn't mean anything, Princess Celestia. Vinyl told me herself that we can talk about it after this whole show is over. For right now, it's best if we all take her advice and do that."

Celestia reluctantly decided not to press further. "Very well, Twilight. I'll respect your wishes. But sooner or later, you're going to have to at least come to terms with your feelings. Whatever you decide to do with them after that is on you."

Twilight didn't bother acknowledging that statement, instead pretending to yawn as she made her way over to her cabin. "Goodnight, Princess Celestia."

"Goodnight, Twilight," Princess Celestia replied while watching her student slip inside. She then shook her head and let out a sigh. "Twilight, why do you lie to yourself? Do you really not trust me?" But she knew that it was pointless to dwell any further on the subject. It seemed that no amount of gentle persuasion could get her student to open up.





When next morning dawned, Rainbow Dash waited until Princess Celestia had left the cabin that they shared together, and then went outside to inform Scootaloo and Derpy to stay behind with her and Fluttershy. The four pegasi ended up huddling together inside the empty right side cabin that had once been occupied by the Royal Ruffians.

Derpy was more than a little anxious, and even Fluttershy and Scootaloo were far from at ease as they saw Rainbow Dash making sure the door was locked behind them and all the windows were covered up so nopony else could see them. "Okay, we need to talk," She seriously declared. "We're getting close to the end now, ladies. So it's time to get serious!"

Scootaloo did her best to project confidence, not wanting to seem weak in front of her idol! "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash! You said it yourself, we're going to the final two together! And with Derpy and Fluttershy, we're all going to make it to the final four."

Rainbow nodded. "Nice to see you can do basic math, Scoots. However, in case you haven't noticed our alliance hasn't exactly been rock solid. I've been getting far more votes than I should be and not enough votes for my enemies."

Fluttershy fought back a gulp. "So, there's only four of us. We can only do so much. There's still five other ponies we have to worry about."

Derpy slowly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and I think they might be onto us. Or at least, onto you."

The brash speedster snarled as her eyes narrowed, lashing out at her fellow pegasi. "I know that, you idiots! Do you think I'm unaware of the situation?" She then began to grin. "It's too late now to think about expanding our ranks. And luckily, we don't need to. If we can just survive two more rounds and ensure that I get invincibility in every challenge, everything will fall into place."

Scootaloo questioned her idol. "Are you suggesting we start sabotaging other ponies?"

"If that's what it takes to be victorious!" Rainbow Dash firmly insisted! "I'm not taking anymore chances! If even one of us gets voted out or eliminated this whole plan falls apart. So it's time for all of you to start stepping up and doing your part. I wanna see that 'Know it all' know nothing Trixie walk off the Dock of Shame tonight no matter what!"

The wall eyed mare protested. "But if we start sabotaging, we'll be cheating. We could get disqualified."

Rainbow spun around, looking Derpy square in the eyes! "I'm sorry, I thought we were in an alliance, Derpy. Or you would rather strike out on your own and find yourself the next target of my wrath? Because I don't have to take you to the final four. And that goes double for you, Fluttershy."

The tomboyish filly whimpered. "But, you're still taking me to the final two no matter what, right?"

The brash speedster nodded, stroking Scootaloo's mane with a hoof. "Of course, kid. I'm not going back on that promise. But I can't do that if you don't trust me to look out for you."

Scootaloo blinked. "Uh, that's not what I meant, Rainbow Dash."

But Rainbow would hear nothing of such an argument. "This is my alliance, so I call the shots! I thought I'd be nice and let you all ride my coattails for as long as possible. If any of you would rather try your luck without me, that's fine. But if you do you'll get no help from me," And she was quick to warn. "You've seen it for yourselves, you can't trust anypony. You saw how easily they turned on Vinyl Scratch when she lost her temper. How do you know they won't start to view you as a threat too?"

Fluttershy nervously replied to her fellow pegasus. "Rainbow Dash, I don't like the way you're acting."

The rainbow maned pegasus only coldly replied. "I can't believe you'd all turn on me like this just when things were finally starting to go our way!" And she snorted. "By all means, all of you can just leave this alliance for all I care! You all know I'm going to win in the end. So if any of you have a problem with that, I suggest you leave now while you still can! And if so, you'd better watch out because as soon as Trixie is gone I'll come after you!"

Derpy protested! "Rainbow, we don't wanna be your enemies."

Rainbow let out a sigh in response. "Then do exactly what I say and stop asking questions," And as if her earlier behavior had never happened she continued. "We can win this! We just need to stick together. Do I make myself clear?"

All three pegasi reluctantly nodded in agreement. And with that the alliance meeting came to an end.

When the meeting was over, Scootaloo raced to the confessional to share her thoughts that she'd been keeping private. "Miss. Cheerilee, you were right about Rainbow Dash," She lamented. "Oh, why didn't I listen to you? But I can't abandon Rainbow Dash now! Even if Derpy and Fluttershy walk out of the alliance with me, we won't be enough. And nopony's going to trust us. What am I gonna do?!"

Unaware of Scootaloo's concerns (or the concerns of her other alliance partners for that matter), Rainbow Dash was smiling when she entered the confessional. "I handled that like a pro. I've got those ponies wrapped around my hoof. At long last, I'm finally going to see Trixie go down!" And she started rubbing her hooves together! "I should start thinking about who to eliminate next."





Aside from Rainbow Dash's not so secret alliance meeting (everypony more or less knew who was part of it by now), the morning passed without fanfare. Even breakfast was a quiet affair for once, no interruptions from Discord and no antics from Nightmare Moon (aside from her usual glares at the contestants).

Silently, some of the contestants wondered what sort of challenge Discord would have in store for them. He'd promised yesterday to start ramping up the difficulty of the challenges. But had that just been to try to give them more incentive to turn on each other?

Well, soon after breakfast had ended the nine remaining contestants found out what Discord was planning. An announcement soon blared over the loudspeakers in the familiar wacky voice of Discord. "All contestants report to the arts and crafts center for today's challenge. Repeat: All contestants report to the arts and crafts center."

A flicker of the camera showed Rarity with starry eyes in the confessional, a stark contrast to her usual behavior! "Ooh, arts and crafts! My favorite activity when I was a filly! If it's anything involving artwork, I'm sure to win!"

So the nine ponies trotted over to the arts and crafts center as quickly as they could, and upon arriving they found Discord waiting for them dressed up like a construction worker: He had on a bright yellow hard hat, an orange worker's jacket, and wore a belt containing all sorts of power tools. He also had a blueprint of some sort and a bright red steel lunchbox. "It's time for something a little different," He told the ponies. "Think of this as a chance to get in touch with your more 'creative' side."

Rainbow Dash immediately gagged. "Just great! Some fru fru competition about making pretty little trinkets! I got enough of that from all the stuff I made for my mom as a filly."

Discord only wagged a finger on his paw. "Who said anything about trinkets? This is no mere art project," And he explained as he unfolded his blueprint, which became rather huge and stretched all the way down across the ground. "You're all going to build your very own scooters. And for a bit of extra fun, you're going to pit them against each other in a race. First one across the finish line wins invincibility."

Scootaloo eagerly buzzed her tiny wings! "Great! I've already got my own scooter! This challenge is right up my ally."

But Discord protested. "Now now, Scootaloo. It wouldn't be very fair to the other contestants if I let you skip over the designing and building stage. You're gonna have to make a new scooter for yourself, completely from scratch."

"But... but..." The tomboyish filly stuttered in disbelief.

The spirit only made a tsking motion. "Ah ah ah, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Rules are rules. And if I just broke the rules here, there wouldn't be much of a show now would there?"

The camera flickered to show Scootaloo whining and complaining in the confessional! "Aw man, that stinks! My scooter could easily wipe the floor with anything anypony could build here. Now if Apple Bloom were still in the game, that might be a challenge."

The camera then flickered back to Discord standing in front of the ponies. "You all have one hour to put together your own scooters from the supplies provided here," He snapped his talons and a whole bunch of different scooter parts materialized in a huge pile beside him. "If any of you fail to assemble a functioning scooter in time, you'll be automatically disqualified and eligible for elimination. Best of luck." And then he disappeared with another snap of his talons.





Given such a tight deadline, it was natural that all nine ponies began to rush to the huge pile in front of them! Even those who didn't know much about building a scooter didn't want to risk disqualification because they moved too slow.

Of course, some ponies were faster than others and knew what they needed to get. Scootaloo in particular began snatching up parts as soon as she laid eyes on them, carefully setting them down as she could be heard saying to herself where a certain piece went.

Rainbow Dash quickly took notice of this and opted to call out to Scootaloo, pulling her close with a wing. "Hey, you're gonna share some of those parts with me, right? I can't protect you if I get eliminated."

Scootaloo fought back a nervous gulp. "Well, I was...  but I need to put my scooter together first. There's only so many parts to go around."

Rainbow nodded her head. "I know that. Which is why you need to get the best parts you can find and bring them to me," And she grinned. "I've seen how fast you're moving. And with my natural speed, we can easily get the best parts of the bunch. Our scooters will blow the competition out of the water thanks to your mechanical skills! Right?"

The tomboyish filly slowly nodded. "Well, yeah, but..."

The brash speedster interrupted, suspecting what Scootaloo was going to say next. "Don't worry about Fluttershy and Derpy. They can figure it out for themselves. We can't worry about them right now."

"But Rainbow-" Scootaloo tried to protest.

"-But nothing, Scoots!" Rainbow Dash firmly interrupted as she gestured to the pile! "We're already wasting enough time with this conversation! Come on, we gotta hurry!" And she dashed over, hastily grabbing parts left and right. "You just tell me what's good enough and what goes where, and leave the rest to me!"

Reluctantly, Scootaloo sighed and obeyed.

Unknown to either pegasus, Princess Celestia had overseen the entire thing and she could only frown. In the confessional, she grumbled. "Poor Scootaloo has no idea what she's involved with. Rainbow Dash is going to leave her behind the moment Scootaloo outlives her usefulness," And she unhappily sighed. "If only Cheerilee were still here, she might know how to prevent this."

Meanwhile, some of the other contestants were finding it rather difficult to put together a scooter, especially under such tight time constraints. Twilight Sparkle in particular faced a problem that only she seemed to be having. Her pile of scooter parts was easily identifiable from how organized it was. Every part and every piece was set aside according to its size, weight, color and overall texture. It seemed like the perfect starting place for the best scooter of the bunch.

But all Twilight could do was stare at the pieces, looking utterly dumbfounded and unsure of where to start. Beads of sweat were pouring down her face as she racked her brain. A flicker of the camera showed her nervous sweat while in the confessional. "It's like Winter Wrap Up all over again," She groaned. "I don't know what it is, but trying to put anything together even with a plan or blueprint, it just doesn't work. And I can't use my magic, not that I think it would help this time. I was actually the only filly in all of Canterlot to flunk hoof painting, the only time I ever failed at anything in school!"

Rarity, on the other hoof, was having no trouble at all as the camera cut to her humming a cheerful little tune to herself (and a very familiar one at that, the same tune she'd hummed in her head while working on dresses for her friends). Even without magic, she made putting together a scooter look like child's play.

The fashionista was grinning as she bragged about her skill in the confessional. "Building a scooter is just like making a dress. It's all in here," She pointed a hoof to her forehead. "As long as you've got inspiration on your side, anything's possible," And then she thought to herself. "It sure took long enough for a challenge that was right up my alley to come around. But hey, better late than never. I'm starting to think I might actually just win this whole thing!" And her eyes lit up like stars in the night sky!





Pinkie Pie didn't seem to have any trouble putting her scooter together, even though she didn't seem to be paying attention to what parts and pieces she was picking up. Ponies were amazed at how much progress she was making, progress rivaled only by Rarity.

Derpy, however, was struggling even more so than Twilight. No matter what she tried to connect to what, nothing would hold together. Every time she built anything it would just wobble and fall apart in a matter of seconds. The wall eyed mare groaned. "Oh, why is this so difficult?" She complained as she looked down at her hooves. "What am I doing wrong?"

To the surprise of the pegasus mare, Pinkie Pie bounced over to her and flashed a big smile. "Heya, Derpy. Having a little trouble with your scooter?"

"Pinkie!" Derpy blinked in surprise! "You're not supposed to be helping me! We're not in an alliance."

The pink party pony giggled. "Hey, it's okay. My scooter's already done," She gestured a hoof to a brightly pink colored scooter. "Just need to put some decorations on it, but I can do that at any point. So now I wanna help you, alliance or no alliance."

The wall eyed mare blinked anew, this time in confusion. "But, how did you get done so quickly?"

Pinkie grinned. "Yours truly once built a flying machine. And I'm more than used to making repairs on my party cannon. A party pony must always be prepared for any party planning emergencies," And she told Derpy. "And don't worry about paying me back. The only thing I want in return is to ask you something."

"What's that?" Derpy questioned.

"Well, if we had more time I would ask you what I really wanna ask you," Pinkie Pie declared as she seemed to faintly blush. She was quick to cough into a hoof. "But for now I'll settle for why you're still with Rainbow Dash when she's being a big old meanie pants."

The wall eyed pegasus found herself unable to come up with a satisfying answer. "I... I... I don't know. At first it was just because she was giving me free muffins. But now..."

The pink party pony proceeded to whisper. "If you can't think of a good reason then maybe you should leave the alliance. Rainbow Dash isn't going to need you for much longer. Besides, I miss when you and I were teammates. After you left, things just weren't the same. Seeing you come back when the teams merged was so enjoyable."

"Well, I didn't mean to be gone for so long," Derpy apologized to Pinkie. "But my friends needed me. Besides, I think the team was about to vote me off anyway."

Pinkie shook her head. "No they weren't. At least, I'm pretty sure they weren't," Though she then confessed. "I didn't get to look at the votes though, Discord made them disappear," And then she cleared her throat. "But that's enough about me. I got the answer I wanted. Now let me help you get your scooter built."

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was frowning as she had briefly seen Pinkie chatting it up with Derpy. "Trying to steal Derpy away from me, Pinkie?" She thought to herself even while she was focused on working with Scootaloo. "Do you wanna end on my bad side like Spike, Gilda and Cheerilee did?"





With all the little developments occurring, the hour Discord had given for the nine contestants passed quickly. Not a single piece or part from the pile was left by the time he returned, holding a foghorn in one paw as he blared it! "Time's up!" He declared, only barely being heard over the foghorn and the ringing many contestants had in their ears.

Celestia groaned. "Did you really have to do that, Discord?"

The witty spirit just grinned in reply. "Hey, your Royal Canterlot voice does the same thing to my ears, but you don't hear me complaining about it," Then he made the foghorn vanish. "Now then, let's see what you ponies have been able to construct. You don't wanna know what I'll have Nightmare Moon do with anypony who fails to qualify for the race."

Fluttershy briefly shuddered in the confessional upon hearing such words from Discord. "I hate it when he says stuff like that. I don't know what I'd do in an actual horror themed challenge. Just having to survive both of Nightmare Moon's challenges was bad enough."

The camera quickly cut back as Discord saw nine scooters all polished, though some looked better constructed than others. He was especially surprised to see Rarity's scooter, which had been decorated in light shades of purple and green and appeared to have spine shapes on the handles. "Well now, what's this?" The spirit blinked in surprise.

Rarity winked. "It's a tribute to a certain dragon whose feelings I took for granted for far too long," And she turned to the cameras. "Spikey Wikey, if you're watching this, I want to apologize again for the way I treated you. I'm even okay with you having Silver Spoon if she makes you happy, really."

A quick flicker of the camera showed Twilight shaking her head in disapproval in the confessional. "I thought Rarity was beyond these kinds of displays of affection. I guess not," And she shook her head. "I don't know if Spike is ever going to truly get over how he was treated on this show, and I can't same I blame him," She then let out an unhappy sigh. "If only he and I had been on the same team, maybe I could've prepared him better for this."

The flicker faded to show Discord inspecting the rest of the scooters in very thorough detail, even tapping on them to see if any of them would break or fall apart under pressure. None of them did even though some (such as Twilight's) looked as if they were just being held together by gravity itself.

Discord proceeded to put his paws together and clapped quite thoroughly. "Ah, splendid. I thought for sure at least half of you wouldn't make it past this part. I'll have to tell Nightmare Moon she can take the rest of the day off, I'll even take over her for on boat driving duty. I've got my license." He flashed a rather sketchy looking licensed that seemed like something a child might come up with, then he put it behind his back and made it disappear.

Trixie just humphed and folded her hooves across her chest. "So now it's onto the race, right? Just a simple race around the island for invincibility?"

Scootaloo grinned! "If that's the case, Rainbow Dash and I are gonna leave you all in the dust!"

Rainbow Dash eagerly chimed in. "Yeah, what Scoots said. The rest of you might as well drop out now to save face."

But Discord protested. "Oh please, it's as if you've forgotten whom you're dealing with. A plain old scooter race around the island won't keep the audience entertained. They want drama, and you ponies are contractually obligated to provide it," A snap of his talons produced a long piece of paper. "Lawyers make lots of copies, you know. And they know how to make contracts so iron clad it's impossible for you to weasel out of them," He then produced a magnifying glass. "And all the way down here at the bottom, it says: The host, Discord, reserves the right to make challenges harder at his discretion for the sake of the show."

"Okay, so what's the catch?" Princess Celestia questioned. "What could your sick and twisted mind have possibly cooked up to endanger us for your amusement, Discord?"

The draconequus flashed a toothy grin. "Flattery will get you nowhere, princess," Then he gestured a claw to a large stretch of land along the beach and the surrounding cliffs. "All of you will have to race three laps around this track layout I just produced. First one to cross the finish line wins invincibility."

The ponies quickly scanned the entire track layout, taking note of how much it twisted and how many sharp turns it seemed to contain. Heck, there were times where it seemed like it folded back in on itself and crossed over segments that had already been covered. How was anypony meant to have the endurance to complete three laps of such a track?

Discord went on explaining, his smile growing wider and wider by the second. "Okay, maybe three laps is a bit overkill. A track this long should be good enough for just one lap, especially with all the hidden 'surprises' I've set up. Some of which are obvious and others... not so much. But hey, we had a lot of explosives left over from the blindfolded minefield challenge. And you know me, I just hate to waste."

"Discord!" Princess Celestia glared at the spirit! "Somepony could get hurt, or worse. And if they do, so help me I'll..."

"-Oh relax, princess," Discord quickly interrupted. "Nightmare Moon's been feeding you all with stuff that makes it possible for you ponies to survive even explosions. Besides, I deliberately made them underpowered. The ones I've buried in the track couldn't even level a house that was made of sticks. As long as you all wear your helmets, you should be fine."

The shrunken down alicorn proceeded to further protest. "And what about our scooters? How are we meant to finish the race if they get blown to a million little pieces?"

Discord groaned in annoyance and rolled his eyes. "You have to suck the fun out of everything, don't you? I thought it would be more exciting to let you all figure that out for yourself," He sighed, making his entire chin drop to the ground. "But fine, I'll demonstrate." Snapping his talons, he made a scooter that was painted as black as a starless night sky appear before him.

The familiar voice of Nightmare Moon called out from the distance! "Hey, you said that was my 'reward'!"

Rather than acknowledge Nightmare Moon's complaint, however, Discord proceeded to drop the scooter on top of a huge bulge in the sand. An audible explosion rang out and a cloud of dust soon appeared, and the scooter was sent flying high! But then suddenly it reappeared in front of the contestants looking none the worse for wear. "So as you can see, if you're unfortunate enough to run over one of my mines, your scooter will reappear as if it nothing happened. All that'll really occur is that you might not be in the same position you were in before you ran over the mine. There, you happy now?"





More than a few ponies were still far from convinced of the "safety" of Discord's challenge, even after what they had seen.

Discord, however, didn't acknowledge the concerns. "Okay, you've seen enough. Time's a wasting! Get on your scooters and get to racing, already!" He demanded of them. "I'll see you all at the finish line!"

Reluctantly, the nine ponies obeyed as they all rushed to their scooters and donned their protective helmets. Then they moved their scooters down to the beach where the starting line was, lining up next to each other while they waited for the race to begin.

During this period, Scootaloo couldn't help but look down at her own scooter in uncertainty. To other ponies it looked just fine and in fact seemed better than some of the other scooters that had been built. But Scootaloo knew better. And while she wouldn't say these worries outright, in the confessional she was willing to state. "I've made a lot of repairs to my scooter back home, but I've never had to build one from scratch. I just hope it holds together."

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was rubbing her hooves together in delight. And in the confessional she happily bragged. "Thanks to Scootaloo's help, I know I've got nothing to worry about. If for some reason I have to sacrifice myself during the race to stop the competition, I know Scoots has what it takes to win and save me."

The camera then cut back to the starting line as Discord stood off to its side, waiting impatiently until Twilight was the last contestant to arrive with her scooter. He briefly looked into the cameras and whispered. "My money's on her to be the last one to cross," Then he produced a huge flag in his left claw as the spirit declared to the nine contestants. "Racers: On your marks, get set, go!"

The flag dropped and the nine ponies started frantically peddling across the sands of the beach! Naturally, it wasn't long before Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were pulling into the lead, Scootaloo taking care not to overtake Rainbow for the definitive lead.

Yet even while the tomboyish filly was keeping pace with her idol, she could already feel the subtle vibrations as her scooter rolled along. "Come on, just hold together!" She pleaded, but no one but her heard over the sounds of the race.

Twilight, meanwhile, was taking her time as she navigated her scooter across the sands. She was carefully documenting the location of every suspicious bulge she could see and planning her course in her head to steer around them. The time for speed would come later, when she was certain all the other contestants would wear themselves out.

And numerous other contestants were plotting out their own strategy, thinking of how to overtake the two pegasi that were leading the pack.

As for Discord, he just sat back and reclined in a plastic lounge chair. A snap of his talons produced a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and a drink in a coconut complete with a mini umbrella. There was nothing left for him to do but wait for the inevitable winner.





At last, the contestants made it around the long, winding track and neared the finish line. And so Discord reluctantly rose from his chair, stretching his entire body as he made his drink and sunglasses disappear. His eyes could clearly see a huge cloud of dust being stirred up by the scooters. "Looks like we're heading for a photo finish here, folks!" He declared as he snapped his talons. "Luckily, yours truly comes prepared for any emergency." And when he was done speaking, a large camera appeared in his paws.

The scooters rolled across the finish line one by one, the huge cloud of dust following in their wake! And Discord made sure to snap the picture at just the right moment.

Soon afterward came the sound of screeching tires as the weary contestants brought their scooters to a halt, removed their helmets and waited for the announcement of the victor.

"Like I said, a photo finish," Discord declared for all to hear. "The photo is being developed as we speak."

Rainbow Dash and Trixie eyed each other with anxiety and anticipation, both dreading the possibility that the other might have won the race (or worse neither of them had and both of them would be eligible for elimination as a result).

After about a minute or so that seemed to tick by slowly, the witty spirit held up the developed photo. A close look showed Rainbow Dash just nudging past Trixie, Princess Celestia and Pinkie Pie (who were all neck and neck). "By a literal hair, Rainbow Dash is the winner! Invincibility is hers!" Discord declared with dramatic fare!

Rainbow all but leapt into the air with joy upon hearing those words! "YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!" She shouted at the top of her lungs! "Just point me in the direction of that vote box, I'm ready to cast my ballot."

However, the spirit protested with a shake of his head. "Actually, there's no need for a vote. A certain somepony failed to make it across the finish line, which means they're automatically disqualified."

A chorus of gasps filled the air as several ponies asked all at once! "Who is it?!"

"It is none other than," Discord briefly paused for the sake of adding drama to the already dramatic announcement. "Scootaloo!"

"WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash remarked as her jaw dropped open in disbelief! "That... that can't be!"

The spirit simply snapped his talons, bringing an exhausted Scootaloo over to the other contestants but without her scooter. "I'm afraid it is. It seems her scooter just couldn't quite hold itself together. It came apart on the last turn." And a quick scan back across the course now that the dust cloud had faded revealed that several scooter pieces lay scattered on the track a ways back.

Twilight immediately sought to protest! "Hey, you can't do that, Discord! You never said there would be an automatic disqualification if anypony didn't complete the race."

"I didn't think I needed to spell that out for you ponies," Discord scoffed. "I thought you would all be motivated to make it to the end. Had I known this would be a problem I would've told you all before the race started. Alas, I'm not about to change the rules again. And nothing you say is going to change my mind."

Meanwhile, Rainbow was glaring at Scootaloo and angrily demanding of the filly! "What the hay, Scoots?! I thought you knew how to build a scooter!"

"Not completely from scratch," Scootaloo nervously confessed. "My scooter is a birthday gift from my parents. Sure, I've learned how to make repairs to it, but I've never had to completely rebuild it," Then she added. "Besides, you took some of the parts I was going to use to build your scooter."

But Rainbow shook her head. "Don't blame me because you didn't know what you were doing! Now you've got no one but yourself to blame for your elimination."

The tomboyish filly gulped and whimpered. "You mean, I have to go to the Dock of Shame? No vote at all?"

"Actually," Discord spoke up. "There is one way you might be saved, Scootaloo," And he gestured a paw. "All Rainbow Dash has to do is agree to give up her invincibility for you. If she does, then you're spared and we will have a vote to decide who to eliminate instead."

Scootaloo buzzed her tiny wings in hopeful anticipation! "You mean, I can stay?!"

The witty spirit slowly nodded. "As long as Rainbow Dash is willing to give up her invincibility. If not, I'm afraid it's the Dock of Shame for you. No campfire ceremony, no vote, and no one million bits."





All eyes turned toward Rainbow Dash as soon as the announcement was made, Scootaloo's especially! Her idol now literally held her fate in her hooves.

A long, tense and uncomfortable silence filled the air as minutes began to slowly tick by. But Rainbow Dash gave no answer one way or the other.

At last, Scootaloo opted to break the silence as she looked her idol square in the eyes and shot the best pleading face she could muster up. "Well?"

Rainbow's response took everypony else by shock. "'Well' what, Scoots?"

The tomboyish filly quickly insisted as she threw herself down at Rainbow's hooves. "You're going to give up your invincibility to save me, right? Right?"

But instead of affirming the obvious choice (at least in Scootaloo's mind) Rainbow shook her head and bluntly answered. "No, Scootaloo."

Everypony gasped, Scootaloo included! They could hardly believe their ears!

Scootaloo started to whimper. "You're... you're joking, right?"

"No, Scootaloo, I'm not joking! I'm dead serious!" Rainbow coldly insisted. "I can't give up my invincibility for you. I'm afraid you're on your own."

Scootaloo stumbled back in disbelief as though she'd just been stabbed in the heart! "But Rainbow Dash, we had a deal! You were going to take me to the final two! You promised!"

Ignoring all the harsh and judgemental glares she was receiving from the other contestants, Rainbow just continued to coldly reply. "I did, Scootaloo. But if I give up my invincibility for you, I'll be voted off instead. I've made too many enemies! And then I won't be able to protect you anymore. You'll be on your own. All I'd do is delay your elimination for one more day, neither of us would win the million bits. At least this way, I still have a shot at winning."

The tomboyish filly's eyes widened in disbelief! "You're... breaking your promise! And after everything I did for you!"

The brash speedster only shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Scootaloo. It's not my fault you didn't finish the race. You told me you were good at building scooters, and I trusted you to know what you were doing! I guess you just didn't want to win as badly as I did."

A flicker of the camera showed Scootaloo on the verge of tears in the confessional! "How can Rainbow Dash say such a thing to me?! This isn't fair!"

Then the camera cut back to the beach as Scootaloo continued to try not to cry. "Rainbow Dash, please! You're making a mistake! I... I can protect you! I swear!"

But Rainbow wasn't convinced for a second. "Sorry, Scoots. At this point, I'm afraid it's everypony for themselves. I'll still split the bits fifty fifty with you when I win, just like we promised."

As those words circled around her ears, something inside the tomboyish filly snapped! The tears that were on the verge of forming dried up. She stomped a hoof down, glaring at the very pony who had now cut her loose. "Miss. Cheerilee was right about you all along! And so were Gilda and Spike! You're not yourself anymore, Rainbow Dash! Winning is all you care about!"

The brash speedster simply snapped back! "Don't you DARE bring up those traitors in my presence! Especially Spike! After what he did to Applejack I will never forgive him, NEVER! The moment he decided to get rid of Applejack just to spite me, he officially destroyed our friendship! And the same holds true for Gilda and Cheerilee after they tried to get rid of me and take you away from me!"

Scootaloo grit her teeth, narrowing her eyes as she snarled. "All this time, they were just trying to warn me about you. But I didn't listen. I stood up for you because I thought I could trust you," Then she stomped a hoof down again. "But now I see you for what you really are! A two faced... back stabbing... lying..." And what came out of her mouth next shocked even the likes of Discord!

In fact, Discord was so shocked he quickly stepped in front of the camera while snapping his talons! "Whoa there!" He exclaimed! "There are children in the audience for pete's sake!" And he quickly instructed. "Make sure we're not carrying those words live!"





Scootaloo's tirade of naughty words continued for what felt like ages. But at last she seemed to stop, if only to catch her breath. "Wow, I almost don't feel bad about my situation now," She said to herself. "Almost."

"You done yet, kid?" Discord grumbled. "I have a feeling your parents aren't gonna be too happy about your," He coughed into a paw. "'sentence enhancers'."

In the confessional, Scootaloo blushed. "Mom, Dad, if you saw that... I totally didn't pick up those words from sneaking into movies I wasn't supposed to see."

Then the camera cut back to the beach as the witty spirit instructed. "Well, if you've nothing nice left to say it's Dock of Shame time," And he grumbled. "I'm not putting up with any lawsuits from your outburst back there. You're on your own on that."

The tomboyish filly reluctantly sighed. "Yeah, I know," And to the rest of the contestants she apologized. "Sorry, everypony. I don't know what came over me back there, but I just had to get that all off my chest."

Rarity frowned. "If it were up to me I'd make you wash that filthy tongue out with soap. You oughta be ashamed of yourself for such vulgar remarks."

But Fluttershy protested. "She didn't mean to lose her temper, Rarity. And it doesn't change the fact that what Rainbow Dash did to her wasn't right."

"You're darn right it wasn't!" Scootaloo declared even as she began to trot down to the Dock of Shame. "Rainbow Dash, I hope with all my might that karma comes back to bite you big time for this! I'm not gonna be rooting for you now."

If Rainbow was concerned by this she didn't show it outwardly, she just shrugged her shoulders. "That's what you say now, but I have a feeling you'll be back eventually. After all, nopony else is gonna share the million bits with you." And then she watched along with everypony else as Scootaloo stepped onto the boat of losers as the sun began to set.

And even while he was driving the boat off into the setting sun, Discord was looking into the cameras as he began his usual ending speel. "Well, that certainly is one way to get some drama going. Even I didn't see an ending like that coming. But if you think I can't top that you're dead wrong! Find out what's in store for our eight surviving contestants next time on Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 19: A B Movie Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In stark contrast to all previous appearances by him, Discord was now standing on the Dock of Shame at night as the glow from the full moon cast an eerie glow over all of Paradox Island. But what hadn't changed was his dedication to the opening narration while looking into the cameras. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island." And as he spoke the camera began to play clips from the previous challenge.

First up was a clip showing Rainbow Dash hosting a spur of the moment meeting with her fellow pegasi as Discord was narrating. "After clearing the halfway point, Rainbow Dash was determined to keep her fragile alliance from falling apart. But Derpy and Fluttershy were no longer willing to let Rainbow call all the shots. Fortunately for Rainbow, Scootaloo was willing to stick by her idol's side for another round."

The next clip showed all the contestants being tasked with constructing their own scooters as Discord explained. "Meeting aside, there wasn't too much going on while the contestants built their own scooters for a race around the island," Then the camera showed Rainbow Dash more or less "borrowing" parts from the pile that Scootaloo was picking out. "Though Rainbow Dash insisted on roping Scootaloo into helping her build her own scooter, even as the kid was working to get her scooter ready."

After that, a clip was shown of the contestants lining up their scooters at the starting line for the single lap. "Some of the scooters looked ready to fall apart to me, but even with all the traps .I set up none of them fell apart during the race," Discord kept on narrating. "Well, all except one. And oh boy was it a shocker!"

The camera now showed the clip of Scootaloo appearing without the scooter she had built, which had fallen apart and become a pile of pieces on the beach. And Discord narrated. "Scootaloo of all ponies was the only one who couldn't complete the race, because it was her scooter that wasn't up to par. Turns out building an entire scooter from scratch is a lot different from just making small repairs. Guess maybe the kid should've considered that."

Then a clip showed Scootaloo pleading with Rainbow Dash as the witty spirit explained. "Scootaloo begged and pleaded with Rainbow Dash to give up her invincibility, but Rainbow Dash was determined to hold onto it so as to stave off what she believed would be her elimination instead. And that set poor Scootaloo off on a tirade with words I dare not repeat on air."

Briefly, the camera showed Scootaloo snapping and cursing at Rainbow (though thankfully without also broadcasting what the filly had said aloud), then it showed her heading down to the Dock of Shame as the chaos maker kept narrating. "So it was that Scootaloo got the axe and took a one way trip to loser town on the Boat of Losers. And everyone else could only try to comprehend how one of their own could be so cruel."

The clips ended as Discord was standing on the Dock of Shame and the moonlight seemed to dim. "Now that only eight contestants are left in the games, I'm raising the stakes again. Your eyes don't deceive you, this challenge is going to take place at night. And no, Nightmare Moon will not be hosting it," He then grinned. "I've pulled a few strings and arranged for a rather spooky challenge to test these ponies' mettle. If there are any children in the audience, now might be a good time to put them to bed. Or not, I don't care."

After pausing for only a few seconds, Discord then declared. "Well, ready or not it's time to witness this spooktacular episode of Total Magic Pony Island!"





Rainbow Dash found a very cold reception waiting for her when she came back to the cabins that night. Needless to say, after the display they'd seen her fellow contestants had some "choice words" about it.

"How could you string Scootaloo along like that?" Rarity accusingly pointed a hoof at the brash speedster. "Have you no shame at all?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ugh, not this! It was nothing personal. It was her or I and I had to protect myself. That's how the game works. Besides, I didn't see any of you bothering to stick your neck out to help her."

"Have you forgotten that she wasn't on your team at the beginning?" Twilight snorted. "Even Trixie was never this cruel towards Scootaloo, and she tricked her and Apple Bloom just to stay in the game."

Rainbow Dash bitterly snapped. "Don't you even think of comparing me to Trixie! I can't believe you're all willing to stick up for a selfish bragger like her after all she's done. And I have no idea how she's managed to survive this long other than because of dumb luck!"

At that Trixie scoffed. "Ha, the Great and Powerful Trixie has has no need for luck! She's only had to win invincibility once to stay alive, which is more than she can say for you, Rainbow Dash. And even Trixie knows better than to promise a filly that she'll take her to the final two. You can never guarantee anything in a game like this."

"It wasn't my fault! How many times do I have to repeat that?!" Rainbow stomped a hoof down! "All she had to do was make it through one more turn and she would've been spared. Rules are rules."

But Princess Celestia only shake her head in disapproval. "You're not the same pony who proved herself worthy of the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash. Many of us have changed since we came to this island, but it's clear to me that you've changed for the worse. I just can't believe it's taken this long for that to become the case."

Trixie then flashed a taunting smirk. "Sounds to Trixie like you're on your last legs, Rainbow Dash! Too bad you lost the only pony who would still vote with you. Now nopony trusts you and nopony wants to help you. Oh, your defeat in the next challenge will be so satisfying to watch! But don't worry, Trixie will send you a postcard from the winner's circle."

At that Rainbow Dash stood up, growled, grit her teeth and lunged at Trixie! "I'm going to make you eat those words, Trixie! I swear by the maker herself, I'll outlast you and everypony else no matter what it takes! And when I do none of you are going to see a single bit!"

Undeterred and unconcerned by Rainbow's turn to violence, Trixie only cackled. "In your delusional dreams, maybe."

However, before any punches could be thrown, Fluttershy raised her voice! "That is ENOUGH!" And all eyes fell upon the usually soft spoken pegasus. "I can't stand watching you all act like this! Why can't we all just get along and let the contests speak for themselves?"

Twilight and the rest of the contestants were quick to jump in to pull Rainbow Dash and Trixie apart after Fluttershy's little speech. "Fluttershy has a point," Derpy pointed out. "We're better than this. I think."

"Besides," Twilight spoke up with concern. "I have a feeling Discord would punish any contestants who engaged in physical violence outside of normal competition."

Rarity looked down at the ground in shame and guilt. "He seemed pretty willing to look the other way when I attacked Silver Spoon in the paintball challenge."

Pinkie Pie quickly pointed out to Rarity. "That was different. The whole point of the challenge was to hit other ponies with paintballs. You just took advantage of that because you got jealous."

"Not helping, Pinkie!" Rarity grumbled under her breath.

Rainbow Dash just sighed anew. "Look, I'm in no mood to be lectured by all of you about what happened with Scoots. It's unfortunate, but like I told her if I had given up my invincibility I'd only be prolonging the inevitable for her. I'm pretty sure that without me by her side to protect her, she wouldn't have made it past the merger. If she had a problem with that, well that's on her," And she folded her hooves. "I rest my case. If any of you wanna make something out of it, all you gotta do is stop me from winning."

A brief flicker of the camera then showed Rainbow staring at herself in the confessional, blinking and even pondering aloud. "Was what I did really that harsh? Everypony's acting like I broke poor Scootaloo's heart and everyone who tried to stop her from sticking by me was a saint. Have they all forgotten what Spike, Gilda and Cheerilee all did? I never did anything close to that! And if the roles were reversed, I wouldn't have expected Scootaloo to save me at the expense of herself. Besides, if Derpy and Fluttershy hadn't gotten cold hooves, we could've swung enough votes to keep Scootaloo in the game."





To the surprise of all the contestants, Discord showed up at the cabins just moments after the arguing had ended. And if he had any knowledge about what had transpired, he didn't show it outwardly. "Just a quick heads up, everypony," He told the eight remaining contestants. "The next challenge will begin at midnight tonight. So you all better get some shut eye now."

Derpy blinked in confusion. "Didn't you already force us to stay awake for a challenge?"

The witty spirit nodded. "Indeed I did, I didn't say that's what your next challenge would be. I'm letting you all get some sleep now while you still can. Trust me, with what I have planned for you all you're going to need it." He delivered the last line in a rather spooky and ominous fashion, and then disappeared with a snap of his talons.

Fluttershy began to whimper. "I don't like the way he said that."

The shrunken down sun princess could only groan at what she was certain would be in store for them. "It's probably another challenge where he lets Nightmare Moon do whatever she wants with us. I can only imagine what she has in mind for her idea of fun this time."

Twilight couldn't help but comment to her mentor. "Is it just me, or does it seem like Nightmare Moon's had it for you especially, Princess Celestia?"

"I suppose it's a result of whatever it was that Discord used to give her a life independent of my sister," Celestia unhappily replied as she hung her head. "There were many times during the thousand years of Luna's banishment where I feared she would never forgive me. I suppose it was silly of me to think that the Elements of Harmony could completely purge her of such feelings."

"Hey, she attacked you not the other way around!" Rainbow Dash pointed out! "You did what you had to do to protect Equestria. It's not like you were trying to kill your sister or anything. In fact, I'd say she got off pretty lightly," And she quickly changed the subject as she let out a yawn. "You know, it's probably for the best Scootaloo lost when she did. I don't think she'd be able to handle a midnight challenge. Unlike my parents, I'll bet her parents are a lot less hoofs off about enforcing bed time." And before anypony could say anything more to her, the brash speedster scrambled up to one of the bunks and fell asleep.

Reluctantly, the other contestants decided to do the same. But Pinkie Pie grumbled about it in the confessional before heading to bed. "Sleep is so overrated. I can stay awake for hours with no problems! The only reason I didn't do so good in that staying awake challenge is because all of those cupcakes I ate."

Twilight also had something she felt she needed to get off her chest before going to bed. And she was glad the confessional afforded her the privacy to do so. "Ever since this whole thing started, I've begun seeing Princess Celestia in a new light. She's not just some all powerful ruler or my teacher, she's a pony just like me," Then she commented. "All this time, I've never even thought to ask her what it was like to live alone for hundreds of years. I wish I knew how to make it all up to her."

And then the seven remaining contestants that had not already fallen asleep all went to bed as well, some of them very reluctantly.





Hours later, the eight contestants rose from their slumber and stumbled out of the cabins under the bright light of Luna's moon.

Strangely enough, Discord was nowhere to be seen and neither was Nightmare Moon. There was only a note that looked like it had been hastily written. And it read as follows: "Go to the fire pit where elimination ceremonies are held. All will be explained there."

So the eight ponies made their way toward the pit near the Dock of Shame, and upon arriving they saw an old film projector had been set up alongside a blank canvas screen. The projector was already flickering to life, displaying the film contained within its strips on its reels. And there was still no sign of Discord or Nightmare Moon at all. It all contributed to a very unnerving sight to say the least.

However, Pinkie Pie eagerly bounced over to one of the stumps and sat down. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm always up for a good movie!" And she proceeded to pull a rather large bucket of popcorn out of her mane (or at least that's how it seemed to be to all who saw).

Rainbow Dash shrugged her hooves. "Oh, what the hay? I've got nothing better to do. An old movie under the stars sounds better than sleeping anyway." And she sat down on one of the unoccupied stumps.

Twilight couldn't help but put a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. "Something isn't right about all of this. It's not like Discord to announce a challenge and then just disappear, especially with Nightmare Moon also missing."

But Trixie only trotted past Twilight while swishing her tail. "You worry too much, Twilight. Even Trixie isn't afraid of the dark."

"I never said I was!" Twilight protested. "Don't tell me I'm the only one who's worried about what's going on! You all should be worried too! Nothing about this makes sense!"

And Rarity replied. "Since when has anything Discord's done truly made sense, darling? I'm sure he'll turn up eventually as part of some dramatic entrance."

Even Princess Celestia, despite putting a hoof around her student, told Twilight. "The others have a good point, Twilight. This could all be part of whatever challenge Discord has planned for us. For now, let's just enjoy the free entertainment."

Derpy, meanwhile, was questioning (while she sat down right next to Pinkie Pie despite how many unoccupied stumps there still were, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the other contestants). "What kind of movie are we going to see?"

Fluttershy shuddered ever so faintly. "I hope it's nothing too scary."





The film flickered across the screen, jumping from one scene to the other very quickly. Details were hard to come by but it seemed to involve some kind of blob shaped monster. The monster stalked unsuspecting ponies across a landscape that looked not unlike Paradox Island, revealing itself to some of them at various points throughout the movie!

Poor Fluttershy had to look away from the screen at several instances, unable to bring herself to watch the terrifying scenes that were playing out before her.

Even Twilight, Princess Celestia and Rarity seemed to be unusually uncomfortable and frightened by what they were seeing. Though in Rarity's case, she made it clear it was for vastly different reasons than it would be for most ponies. "That creature is so hideous and repulsive. I don't even know what it's made of," She remarked with dismay. "I sincerely hope such a creature doesn't actually exist."

Of course, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash weren't so easily scared or frightened. And they seemed to be the only ponies who enjoyed watching the movie as it continued, despite the poor quality of the film that made it difficult to see or hear what was going on.

Eventually, however, the projector seized up and the film strips came off the reels. Just like that, the old film came to an abrupt end before anypony could figure out what had happened to the monster's latest victim.

Pinkie tried to no avail to get the projector working again, clumsily fiddling about with the film strip in her hooves. "Why does it always have to cut out at the best moment?" She complained.

Meanwhile, Twilight was looking all around for any sign of Discord or Nightmare Moon. But neither of them had appeared anywhere. That was enough to convince Twilight that something was wrong. "Something has to be up! I just know it! There's no way Discord and Nightmare Moon would just abandon us on this island all alone!"

Then suddenly, Rarity's sparkling blue eyes caught notice of something in the distance. "Hey, the Boat of Losers is leaving!" And she pointed a hoof down to the edge of the Dock of Shame where, sure enough, the rusty old boat was already well on its way out into the open waters.

The eight ponies rushed down the dock as far as they could to try and catch even a glimpse of the boat, and could just make out the outlines of Discord and Nightmare Moon onboard. But it was impossible to call out to them because both were too far away to be seen or heard properly. All that was left behind by them was another note.

Twilight picked up the note and read aloud its brief and cryptic message: "Beware of The Smooze!"

Derpy's walled eyes went wide with shock! "The Smooze?! One of the doctor's companions mentioned something about during our trips. But I... I thought that was just an urban legend!"

Shaking all over, Fluttershy asked. "W-what's... T-The Smooze?"

"It's that blob shaped monster from the film, I think," Derpy explained as she scratched her head. "I don't remember much about it though, I just know it's bad news."

Rarity let out a shriek! "You mean to tell me that we're stuck on this island with no magic, and no Discord or Nightmare Moon to come and save us, and that... that... thing is after us?!"

Trixie was far from convinced as she loudly laughed! "Ha, the Great and Powerful Trixie sees this set-up a mile away! The Smooze doesn't actually exist, no matter what anypony claims. It's just a campfire story like the Olden Pony. Discord is making the whole thing up to scare us."

"But why would he do that? Haven't we been through enough already?!" The timid pegasus mare squeaked!

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but comment. "Hay if I know. But if The Smooze does exist it's no match for me! My black belt in karate isn't just for show you know."

But Twilight could only protest. "This is serious, everypony! Discord wouldn't leave us behind if this was just a prank or a challenge. We need to start thinking about how we're going to survive, and how we're going to make The Smooze go away."

However, Trixie just walked off in a huff as the magician remarked. "The rest of you can do whatever you please. The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't scare easily. If you need her, Trixie will be taking a shower."

Twilight could only blink and stare in disbelief at her fellow unicorn's complete lack of concern for her own safety. And in the confessional (which was thankfully still recording footage when contestants entered it) she grumbled. "That Trixie! I've been trying to understand her ever since she helped our team win the camping challenge, but every time I try to get close she keeps brushing me off. And then she goes and does stuff like this. What does she still have against me?"

Another flicker of the camera showed Fluttershy staring directly into the one in the confessional as she pleaded. "Somepony, please, if you're listening..." She took a deep breath and then shouted! "Send help, NOW!"

Then the camera cut back to the seven remaining ponies as they walked back from the Dock of Shame. By now, the only source of light that they had was the light from the moon.

"I wonder if Princess Luna would know what to do," Rarity pondered. "She must've regained her powers upon leaving this island, no?"

Princess Celestia could only reply in uncertainty. "I have no way to know what my sister knows. There's no way to communicate with anypony from anywhere else in Equestria."

"Then we really are on our own." The timid pegasus mare anxiously commented as she shuddered anew.

The studious unicorn firmly nodded. "It sure looks like it, I'm afraid," And she then declared. "Which means we need to come up with a plan. Fortunately, I'm just the pony to do so!"

Rainbow grinned and ribbed Twilight lightly in the side. "Of course you'd say something like that, egghead! You always have a plan for everything!"

"Well, I'll need some supplies first," Twilight replied while ignoring the teasing remark from the brash speedster. "Including markers and a piece of paper. It's not gonna be anything hi-tech but it should work, though I'll also need a bit more light."

"So what, we all just sit around here and wait for you to save us all?" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Twilight, we don't need you to babysit us. We're all grown mares, we can take care of ourselves."

The unicorn mare just groaned. "By all means, go ahead and do your own thing if you want, Rainbow Dash. In fact, I think it's best for all of us if we go our separate ways for now. Just meet me back at the fire pit in about half an hour. And if you see Trixie, let her know that it'd be in her best interest to meet me there too."

The tomboyish pegasus mare only shrugged her hooves in reply. "Yeah yeah, I got it. I might show up if you have something valuable to say. But I'm not worried, if Trixie isn't scared than neither I am. Unlike her, I don't cower in fear from an Ursa Minor."

A flicker of the camera showed Rainbow Dash eagerly rubbing her hooves together in the confessional, completely unconcerned about all that was going on around her. "I'm calling it now! The Smooze is gonna turn out to be Discord or Nightmare Moon in disguise, and they're just trying to scare us away so they can keep the million bits for themselves," Then she threw back her head and laughed. "Boy are they gonna be surprised when they find out I'm the only pony besides Trixie that they couldn't scare off. And it comes down to Trixie versus myself, I know I can beat her!"





And so it was that, while Twilight was busy with her own "plan" on how to survive against a creature that nopony knew much of anything about, the rest of the contestants went off to pass the time in their own. And none were aware that something was watching them from afar. It had been told by a reliable source that there were lots of ponies on this island, and it couldn't wait to meet them all.

With half an hour to more or less kill until they were supposed to meet up with Twilight again, Pinkie Pie and Derpy had decided to go off together to be safe. And without thinking for even a moment they wandered far away from the camp grounds, far away from any sources of light that might illuminate anything lurking in the shadows.

"So, Derpy," Pinkie began chattering with the wall eyed pegasus. "Who is this 'doctor' you mentioned earlier? What kind of patients does he treat if a pony working with him knows about 'The Smooze'?"

Derpy innocently replied with a giggle. "He's not that kind of doctor, Pinkie. He doesn't deal with medicine, he deals with time and all sorts of scientific stuff. His work is super top secret, even while I was part of his crew he wouldn't tell me everything about what he was doing."

The pink party pony was quick to inquire. "So, did he give you permission to come back and compete on this show again? I meant it when I said I missed having you around," She even blushed a bit. "Having you by my side again, I feel something with you that I don't feel with anypony else. Like you complete me. You know what I'm saying?"

Derpy nodded, blushing right back. "I've kind of felt the same way, Pinkie. The two of us, we're special in our own special ways," She then coughed into a hoof, eager to change the subject. "And tell you the truth about the doctor, I'm kind of not supposed to be here. He said a lot of the same things Twilight's been saying, about how this island causes pony to change and act weird. But I couldn't let you all face it alone."

Pinkie Pie happily exclaimed! "You came back to help us?! That's great! Then that means you must have some super inside knowledge or something."

"All I have is what I heard the doctor mention," Derpy glumly responded. "If he finds out I'm here and tracks me down, I'm not gonna be able to say no if he wants me back."

Pinkie immediately protested! "Hey! He can't make you leave if you don't want to! Why should you have to give up your chance at a million bits because of this 'doctor'?!"

"If you knew what I learned about him after meeting him, Pinkie," Derpy unhappily replied as she let out a sigh. "You would understand. But for now, I'm glad to know that there's at least somepony who would miss me. Even Rainbow Dash only cared about me for my vote."

The pink party pony then insisted. "Well that's all in the past, and this 'doctor' stuff is in the future. So why don't we just focus on the here and now, like stopping that no good Smooze?"

At that the wall eyed mare jumped and gasped in horror! "Oh my gosh, I completely forgot!" And she quickly looked all around. "Uh, where are we?"

Pinkie blinked in confusion. "I thought you knew," Then her ears heard a faint rustling sound! "Hey, do you hear that?!"

Derpy gulped. "No, but I sure feel it! We're not alone anymore, and I think I know what's in that bush!"





Meanwhile, the rest of the contestants (except for Trixie who was still off showering) had all gathered back at the fire pit per Twilight's suggestion.

Twilight, for her part, had set aside a large piece of paper and was currently using her hooves to try to (clumsily) get a fire going so as to provide better light. "Come on! Come on!" She groaned as she rubbed the sticks together over the pit, trying to make them spark. "Oh, this would be so much easier with magic!" But after a bit more struggling, there was a faint spark and soon a fire was crackling away.

Rainbow Dash yawned a little, more from boredom than any kind of lack of sleep. "This better be quick, Twilight. I'm going to hunt down that Smooze and prove to you all that it's just Discord and Nightmare Moon trying to scare us away."

The studious unicorn could only snarl ever so slightly in response to her "friend"'s behavior as she propped up her paper against a stand and unfolded it. "Alright, first thing's first, did nopony bother to tell Trixie about this meeting?" She questioned.

Rarity was quick to speak up. "Fluttershy and I tried, darling. But she refused to come out of the shower. Obviously, she's not interested."

Rainbow yawned again. "Because she sees this for what it is. I'm telling you, you're all wasting your time!"

Twilight just rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't kill you to listen to me, you know. I don't believe in coincidences. And as far as I'm concerned, all that's happened here tonight can't be a coincidence. So let me please explain what we're going to do to stay alive. If it makes any of you feel better, think of this as our own private challenge."

The brash speedster grinned. "Now you're starting to make some sense, Twilight!" And she rubbed her hooves together in delight. "Alright, lay it on us. What are the 'rules' for this 'challenge'?"

Twilight cleared her throat. "Well, there's eight of us and only one monster. Simple math would suggest that if we all stuck together, the monster would never be able to get to us. But Trixie has already decided to strike out for herself, so I'm forced to write her off," And she held up a chart showing crudely drawn images of herself and the seven other contestants. "I've read lots of horror stories, and I've concluded that there are a few mistakes that the heroes always make when confronting the monster."

Princess Celestia simply encouraged with a smile. "Go on, Twilight. Tell us more."

Twilight, happy to receive acknowledgment of her knowledge, just went on speaking. "Well, the first rule is obvious: Don't ever go off by yourself! Always use the buddy system no matter what the situation is. Going off by yourself is a death sentence."

Fluttershy let out a small gasp of horror! "So you're saying Trixie's already a goner?!"

Twilight reluctantly nodded in reply. "Maybe not yet, but as long as she continues to blow this off and remain that lone wolf she always likes to portray herself as, she might as well be offering herself up as a snack for the monster," She proceeded to use her hoof to pick up a marker and draw a squiggly line across Trixie's face. "So I'm afraid I'm going to rule Trixie out. That means the seven of us..." But then she looked around and noticed something that had previously slipped by her. "Hey, where are Pinkie Pie and Derpy?"

Fluttershy spoke up. "Um, I think I saw them trotting off towards the woods together, not that they seemed to be paying much attention to where they were going."

The studious unicorn groaned in annoyance! "Going into the woods?! That's another painfully obvious mistake the heroes always make in horror stories!" And she quickly brought up the marker again, drawing squiggly lines across Pinkie and Derpy's faces. "Great, so now that's three ponies already doomed. This is how it always goes, the monster starts by picking off the ones that stray away from the group to thin their numbers."





Meanwhile, miles and miles away, Pinkie Pie and Derpy were horrified to see a bright green colored blob like creature emerge from the bushes! There was no mistaking it, it was The Smooze!

"Uh, Derpy?" Pinkie nervously inquired as she and Derpy slowly backed away from the approaching Smooze. "Did your 'doctor''s friend mention anything about how to stop The Smooze?"

Derpy frowned. "Actually, no. I don't remember anything about that."

The pink party pony gulped. "I was afraid you'd say that."

The wall eyed mare then nervously responded. "So, what should we do now? I don't think The Smooze is here for a social call."

"The only thing we can do!" Pinkie Pie declared before screaming at the top of her lungs! "Run!" And without even thinking or noticing, she knocked her fellow mare down with her tail as she took off!

Derpy quickly rose to her hooves again and ran after Pinkie as best as she could! "Wait for me, Pinkie! Don't leave me behind!" She cried out!

Running quickly became the only thing the two mares could think about, both dashing through the forest as fast as their hooves and their lungs would allow them to! And yet, to their horror, they saw that The Smooze was only closing in on them no matter how fast or how far they ran!

"P-p-please, Mr. Smooze," Pinkie stammered as she flashed a nervous smile. "Don't hurt me!" And she was quick to shove Derpy in front of the creature. "Take Derpy instead!"

"What, Pinkie?!" Derpy gasped in disbelief!

However, another development soon replaced the one that had just transpired between the two mares. A faint aura of brilliant light blue with light violet sparks enveloped them both, pulling them away from The Smooze and into a rather large tent!

And who should be inside the tent but Discord and Nightmare Moon themselves? Discord in particular was laughing hysterically! "Oh man, you should've seen the looks on your faces back there! You looked like you were both about to die of fright!" Then he looked across to Nightmare Moon. "And you said bringing The Smooze here was a bad idea. Old Smoozinator's still got it!"

Pinkie Pie and Derpy exchanged glances of shock as their mouths dropped open in unison!

Nightmare Moon unhappily sighed as she looked at the two ponies she had "rescued". "Gosh, you ponies really are as dumb as a sack of bricks sometimes. Haven't you figured it out yet? This is your next challenge."

Discord nodded. "That's right! You and all of your fellow contestants are going to be stalked tonight by our special guest star, my old friend The Smooze," And he then clapped his paws together. "Oh Smooze, you can come in here and say hello properly now."

Sure enough, the big blob of ooze came sloshing into the tent and seemed to smile at the very same ponies it had been previously chased after so convincingly.

"You'll have to excuse it," Discord apologized to the ponies. "The Smooze is one of those strong, silent types. But as you ponies like to say: Actions speak louder than words," Then he patted The Smooze on the head not unlike the way one would pat the head of a pet. "Great job on your first victims, Smooze. Keep it up, the night is far from over and there's still six unsuspecting ponies left to find."

Derpy, meanwhile, finally found the words to speak up. "Uh, if this is a challenge then does that mean that Pinkie and I..."

The witty spirit only vaguely answered. "Maybe, maybe not. I mean, it's not exactly fair for either of you to be eliminated when you didn't know about the challenge. Besides, we don't have a plan in place for double eliminations... yet."

Both mares gulped.

Nightmare Moon then flashed that toothy smile of hers that she usually reserved for Princess Celestia. "But look on the bright side. Now you get to watch your fellow contestants be subjected to the scare of their lives! And if The Smooze can successfully hunt down all of you ponies, it gets to be on the show in place of one of you."

"Exactly!" The spirit of chaos nodded in agreement. "A deal's a deal after all. Let it be said that The Smooze can drive quite a hard bargain," And he then clapped his paws together again. "Speaking of which, Smoozie, you'd better get back out there. Time's a wasting!"

And without saying a word, The Smooze obeyed.

"Wow!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in what sounded like a giggle. "Now I really feel silly. But at least I'm not alone in feeling that way. Right, Derpy?"

But Derpy refused to answer, she just turned her head and pretended she hadn't heard the pink party pony at all. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the most likely reason was.





The Smooze was now on the prowl again, and six mares were still none the wiser about what was really going on with it. And of the six mares, only five were at the fire pit that provided the best source of light on the island.

Twilight was now reiterating some of the rules she had been explaining earlier to anypony who would listen. "Alright, I'm only repeating myself once!" She declared while growling ever so slightly. "Rule number one: No going off by yourself under ANY circumstances! Always use the buddy system no matter what you must do. Rule number two: Never go into the woods or anywhere that has no light of any sort, natural or otherwise. Rule number three: Never try to fight the monster, always run away!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Fighting back is a legitimate strategy! The only reason ponies in those horror stories don't do it is because if they did there wouldn't be a story."

The studious unicorn ignored Rainbow's rude mark as she just continued. "And last but not least, rule number four: If for any reason you break any of the rules above, scream as loud as you possibly can if you run into the monster so that other ponies will hear you. Then that way you might have a chance at survival."

As soon as the little lecture was finished, Fluttershy raised her hoof as though she were in class. "Um, Twilight?"

"What is it, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked while sighing.

Fluttershy sheepishly looked down at the ground. "I kind of have to... you know... use the little fillies room."

Rarity was quick to volunteer. "I'll go with you for protection, Fluttershy."

Twilight held back the urge to groan. "Fine, but make it quick. And if either of you see The Smooze, run away as fast as you can, understood?"

Rarity firmly nodded her head. "We will, Twilight. Don't worry about us," And she then looked across to the timid pegasus mare she would be escorting. "Let's go, Fluttershy. This actually works out since we can inform Trixie. I have a feeling she'll be done with her shower soon."

Rainbow rolled her eyes again. "I'll say. I didn't think anypony could take longer to shower than you, Rarity."

The fashionista scoffed and snorted. "Just because we're stuck in this forsaken place doesn't mean our hygiene customs need to suffer. Just like I told Spike before the gala: 'Some of us do have standards.'" And then she and Fluttershy trotted off together.

The two mares were hardly out of sight before Rainbow Dash was complaining in the confessional. "Seriously, I feel like everypony's just ignoring me or picking on me!" And she swished her tail. "At this point I'm starting to almost wish I'd let them vote me off after the scooter race. Key word being 'Almost'."





Fluttershy (with Rarity by her side) soon made it to the communal bathrooms, and although her need to answer nature's call was growing by the minute she still took time to instruct to Rarity. "No matter what, you can't leave me!" She told the fashionista unicorn. "I don't care if The Smooze offers you the million bits right on the spot somehow! Don't abandon me, please!"

Rarity waved a hoof. "Fluttershy, darling, you must relax. I'm not like Rainbow Dash. I'm not about to abandon you just because it's convenient or useful for me," And she then added. "If you should see Trixie, make sure to tell her about Twilight's rules."

"I'll try, Rarity. I really will." Fluttershy nodded in confirmation before heading into the communal bathrooms, leaving Rarity to stand guard outside.

But Rarity had hardly been standing at her post when suddenly her ears picked up a very loud and high pitched scream coming from inside! Fearing the worst, she dashed inside the communal bathroom only to find there was no trace of either Fluttershy or the Smooze anywhere.

Indeed, all the fashionista managed to find was a very grumpy Trixie who had just stepped out of the shower stall and had wrapped herself up in a towel the same shade of blue as her coat. "What do you want?"

"Didn't you just hear that scream?" Rarity inquired of her fellow unicorn. "I know I heard it!"

Trixie simply shrugged her hooves. "Maybe Trixie saw something briefly and maybe she didn't. It's hardly her concern what happens to anypony else. Besides, Trixie thinks you're all being too paranoid. Discord at least would never let anything truly bad happen to us."

Rarity just groaned and turned her head, trotting away. "Well, thanks for nothing. I guess you don't care about surviving this challenge."

Trixie only replied. "Trixie knows how to survive on her own. She doesn't need any of you to care about her, thank you very much," She then opted to continue drying herself off, either unaware or unconcerned that somepony else might have been in the building with her. Yet the unicorn hadn't been alone for long when she heard a knock at the door. "Rarity, if this is because you need Trixie to go with you to look for Fluttershy, so help me..." She grumbled as she went over to the door and opened it.

Instead of Rarity (or Fluttershy for that matter), however, a horrifying bright green colored blob like creature appeared on the other side! Trixie took one look at the horrific thing and screamed at the top of her lungs, retreating back into the shower stall! "D...don't come any closer!" She nervously insisted while clumsily brandishing the shower nozzle like a weapon. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has water and she's not afraid to use it!"

But when the monster advanced on the powerless magician, it didn't react at all to the steaming hot spray coming out of the shower nozzle that was aimed at it. The water didn't seem to stop it even for a second, it just kept on advancing until it had cornered Trixie alone in the stall.

Trixie screamed again as she did the only thing she could think of doing in this situation and started to run! But she hadn't gotten before she was suddenly teleported away, finding herself stumbling over some grass inside of a huge tent.

"That's three for The Smooze and zero for the ponies," The familiar goofy voice of Discord taunted, speaking and sounding more like he was an announcer for some kind of sports game. "And now there's two more ponies on the run all alone. Can The Smooze make it four or even five in a row?!"

Trixie slowly rose to her hooves, quickly finding herself gazing up at Discord and Nightmare Moon! "Aha!" She proudly boasted! "Trixie knew this was all a set up!"

Nightmare Moon just grinned and taunted. "Yeah, but you still didn't win the challenge. And with a performance like that, well... let's just say you'd better hope The Smooze doesn't find the rest of the ponies. Because otherwise, you might just be replaced by that blob."

"What?! Replace The Great and Powerful Trixie?!" Trixie scoffed in disbelief!

Pinkie Pie then spoke up. "Hey, join the club! At least you'll make for better company than Derpy," And she whispered while gesturing briefly to the wall eyed mare who had turned her back to the pink party pony. "She still won't talk to me. Nothing I've tried works. I'm running out of different ways to say sorry."





As The Smooze was leaving the communal bathrooms in order to search for the rest of its unsuspecting victims and Rarity was trying to look for any lead on Fluttershy's whereabouts, the loud screams had attracted a lot of attention even from all the way down at the fire pit near the Dock of Shame.

Rainbow Dash in particular didn't hesitate to leap to her hooves! "Ha! So The Smooze has finally decided to show itself! Took long enough," And she put her hooves together and made them crack. "This shouldn't take long. Invincibility, here I come!"

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Twilight tried to call out to the brash speedster, but alas her plea fell on deaf ears as she was powerless to prevent the pegasus from taking off at a breakneck pace! Groaning and kicking the dirt, she picked up the marker again and hastily made a squiggly mark across Rainbow Dash's face. "First we lost Trixie, then we lost Pinkie Pie and Derpy, and now even Rainbow Dash is going off by herself!" She complained aloud.

Princess Celestia, for her part, tried to reassure her student. "Don't blame yourself, Twilight. And don't assume the worst in your friends or in anypony else for that matter."

But all Twilight could do was snort and stomp! "Honestly, doesn't anypony care?! Am I the only one who's worried about some horrible monster roaming free on an island where nopony but Nightmare Moon can use magic?"

The shrunken down sun princess sympathetically replied. "I'm worried too, Twilight. I know we stand a much better chance if we're careful about what we do and where we go," Then she added. "But I've come to realize since this game began that there's only so much we can do to control the actions of others. In the end, everyone chooses for themselves what to do and what not to do."

"I just don't want to lose anypony for good!" Twilight complained with tears in her eyes. "Even Rainbow Dash despite the way she's been acting lately. If anything were to happen to anypony tonight, I... I don't know if I'd ever be able to live with myself. A part of me would always think there was more I could've done to prevent it."

To the surprise of the studious unicorn, Celestia rose from the stump she'd been sitting on and clumsily put a hoof around her student. She knew it didn't mean as much when she was even smaller than said student, but it was the thought that counted. "Have faith in your friends and in others, Twilight. They're made of stronger stuff than you may think."

Twilight sighed. "I guess so, I really hope so," And then she looked across to the alicorn that looked more like a younger sibling rather than a wise alicorn with over a century of wisdom. "You know what, maybe I should forget about the chart for a while," And she then asked. "Is there something you wanna do tonight, Princess Celestia?"

Celestia put a hoof to her chin. "Well now that you mention it, I am kind of in the mood for a late night snack. If Nightmare Moon were here I'd be terrified of her finding me out," And then she grinned. "But she's not here now, is she?"

A goofy grin broke out across Twilight's face as she couldn't keep herself from giggling. "I like the way you think, Princess Celestia. I'm kind of in the mood for a little something to eat myself." And with that, teacher and student left the fire pit. Just like that, all eight contestants had gone off somewhere to do something and had abandoned any idea of trying to stick together.





By now, Rainbow Dash had reached the communal bathrooms and had already prepared herself for combat against The Smooze! "Okay, Smooze! You've met your match!" She boldly declared as she swung open the door only to find all the stalls empty, even the shower stall. There was not a trace of anypony anywhere, let alone The Smooze.

The tomboyish pegasus groaned in annoyance upon seeing such a sight. "Oh come on! Really?!" And she called out to the vast emptiness! "Hey, Smooze! If you're out there, stop hiding and show yourself so we can end this!" But there was no reply.

With a sigh, Rainbow left the bathrooms and trotted back outside. She had no lead to follow, and there was no way she was going to go back to the fire pit after this. She was in no mood to be mocked and teased for coming up empty, not after all she'd been enduring already tonight.

Yet as the brash speedster was sitting there and feeling very sorry for herself, she happened to suddenly turn around upon getting the feeling that she was being watched. And what should her moderate violet eyes see staring straight back at her but the very monster she'd been trying to track down?!

Rainbow Dash jumped back in excitement! "Guess you must've heard my plea," She grinned while stretching a bit. "Well good! I have no patience for cowards who run and hide!"

The Smooze said nothing in reply, it just advanced on what it assumed would be its next victim.

"Oh, I see you don't have the ability to speak," Rainbow noticed. "Well good! That means no one's gonna hear the sound of me whopping your sorry behind!" And then she lunged forward, raising one of her back hooves in preparation to strike!

However, The Smooze just absorbed the blow as Rainbow Dash passed right through it like nothing had happened. "What the?!" Was all Rainbow could bring herself to say before she was suddenly whisked away in a flash!

When the brash speedster got her bearings, she suddenly found herself looking at the interior of a huge tent. "W-where am I?! What is this place?! Where's The Smooze?!" She asked as her eyes darted all about in confusion.

Discord quickly appeared in front of the confused brash speedster, eager to explain everything to her. "You mean, you don't remember what you've been saying all along? How this was just part of a plot to scare you and the other ponies?"

Rainbow Dash immediately jumped to her hooves upon hearing such a statement! "Ha, I knew it! Too bad for you I caught onto your little game! One way or another, you're gonna give me those million bits!"

But Discord only waved a finger on his left paw. "Ah ah ah, you're in no position to be making demands. I wasn't simply trying to scare you," He told her. "Twilight was more right than she knew when she suggested that this challenge was about survival."

Nightmare Moon then declared. "You're not the only pony who's turned in a poor performance tonight. Now you're going to have to watch and see if The Smooze can catch the rest of your fellow competitors before the sun comes up."

Rainbow Dash reacted with disbelief to this realization, even putting her hooves to her face when the camera briefly flickered to show her in the confessional! "No way! Fluttershy and Twilight of all ponies beat me at a horror challenge?! This... this can't be happening! This has to be a bad dream or something!" And she threw herself hard against the sides of the confessional, only receiving pain as a reward. "Nope, definitely not dreaming." She groaned.





It wasn't long before another pony joined the cast of the eliminated contestants. Fluttershy suddenly appeared, though to the surprise of everypony she was completely coated in the same colored ooze that The Smooze was made up of.

"What happened to you?!" Derpy exclaimed in shock, thus speaking up for the first time since she and Pinkie Pie had learned what was really going on tonight.

Fluttershy slowly stumbled and stood up. "The Smooze is such a fascinating creature," She commented even as her eyes were spinning all around. "It's really not a monster at all, it's just misunderstood," Then she let out a weird giggle that could've been mistake for Pinkie Pie. "Ooh, pretty colors!" And then she fell to the ground, still coated entirely in the ooze.

"Uh, is she gonna be okay?" Rainbow asked with concern.

Discord replied in a relatively unconcerned tone of voice. "She should be, eventually. But it looks as if she had an up close and personal encounter with The Smooze. Most ponies don't react the way she does if they come into contact with The Smooze, though."

Nightmare Moon, meanwhile, was just grinning. "Well, now there's only three ponies left to target. And aside from a certain know it all unicorn, I'd say they're all easy pickings," Her grin only grew wider as she added. "At least The Smooze won't complain about my cooking or laugh off my nightmares all the time. I never would've imagined there'd be a contestant I could actually root for in this game."

Pinkie Pie quickly protested! "You guys haven't won yet, you know!"

Discord only rubbed his paws together in response. "I know! Isn't the anticipation of it all just killing you?! It's really making me feel ready to fall apart! And I would do it too, if I didn't have this show to host."

A brief flicker of the camera showed Trixie staring directly into the confessional's camera as she declared. "I knew Discord was crazy, but I never imagined he was this crazy. If not for the million bits that Trixie sorely needs, she wouldn't bother with this show at all."

The camera then cut away from the secret observation tent Discord and Nightmare Moon had set up, showing two of the three surviving contestants in the well lit mess hall as they were enjoying the fruits of their labor. Their little fridge raid had been a success.

Princess Celestia was currently munching on some cupcakes, delighted to be enjoying ones that actually tasted like they should for a change instead of ones that tasted like books or were loaded up on sugar. She didn't even care about the crumbs she was leaving on the floor or the frosting that was smearing all over her face. She only paused between bites to call out to the kitchen. "Twilight, what's taking you so long? At this rate, I'm gonna eat everything before you."

Twilight called back from the kitchen. "Just hold on, I'm making myself a sandwich," And she was currently trying to put as many different things as she possibly could fit between two slices of bread, the process causing her mouth to water. "I'm so used to Spike's cooking I've forgotten what it's like to make your own food for a change."

Celestia nodded as she called back in reply. "Me too. I'm so used to having meals provided for me by castle staff or personal chefs," And then she fondly smiled while saying to herself. "Though that hasn't stopped me from sneaking a slice or two of cake every once in a while."

"What was that?" Twilight replied as she put the finishing touches on her dream sandwich.

Celestia fought back a blush. "Oh, nothing. Nothing." But she still giggled not unlike a school filly.





Suddenly, the peace in the mess hall and kitchen was abruptly disturbed by the sound of a well known dramatic shriek, followed by the sound of the door swinging open! And the familiar voice of Rarity cried out! "Twilight! Princess Celestia!"

Twilight groaned in annoyance for what felt like the tenth time that night! "What is it now, Rarity?!" She complained! "Please don't tell me you did something stupid and ran into The Smooze."

Rarity just panted heavily as she continued to run! "It's here! The Smooze is here! I saw it with my own two eyes! And it got Fluttershy!"

"Didn't I just say not to tell me that?" The studious unicorn complained as she sighed, setting her dream sandwich down on a plate before trotting out into the mess hall. "Are you absolutely sure you saw it?"

The fashionista unicorn nodded, continuing to pant quite heavily. Her mane and tail looked very disheveled, a clear sign that something was really bothering her. "I know what I saw! The Smooze is on its way! I was trying to find Fluttershy and then suddenly, it was on top of her and she was gone!"

The shrunken down sun princess got up, abruptly licking her lips to get rid of the frosting on her cheeks. "Rarity, when you say 'here' do you mean..."

But there was no need to ask for confirmation, for at that very moment who (or perhaps 'what' was the better term) should come oozing in through the open door of the mess hall but The Smooze in all its glory?!

Rarity shrieked and jumped back a bit, adopting a fighting stance! "You horrible monster! I'll never forgive you for what you did to Fluttershy! She didn't deserve... whatever it is you did to make her disappear!"

Princess Celestia, meanwhile, nervously commented. "Rarity, I don't think fighting this thing head on is going to work. If what you said about Fluttershy is true, this thing is completely impervious to physical attacks."

Rarity then commented in response. "And thanks to this island, we can't use magic. I sincerely hope you and Twilight have a plan."

"We're... working on one," Celestia nervously answered before shouting back to the kitchen! "Right, Twilight?!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah! Definitely working on it!" Twilight hastily answered! "Just give me a moment, I... need some brain food!"

"Twilight, this is serious!" Rarity groaned in annoyance. "This is hardly the time for you to be stuffing your face. And after all that lecturing you gave the others about goofing off."

However, Twilight hastily replied. "I know, I know. But I'm serious. I can't think on an empty stomach! Believe me, I've tried!" And the sounds of what could best be described as messy eating could be hear coming from the kitchen.

That gave Princess Celestia an idea. "Follow my lead, Rarity!" She encouraged as she ran towards the kitchen! "Maybe we can get The Smooze to walk into a trap."

Rarity obeyed, thinking that at the very least Celestia might know what to do even if Twilight didn't. Even though she wanted nothing more than to rest at this very moment, the fashionista unicorn knew that she couldn't do so against The Smooze if she wanted to survive.

The two white coated ponies made their way into the kitchen with The Smooze in hot pursuit! Twilight met them when they entered, still hastily scarfing down her sandwich as fast as she could! 

And when Twilight got a good look at The Smooze, she screamed and panicked! In doing so, she knocked down several pots and pans that had been hanging overhead. They clattered to the floor with a loud crash!

It seemed that the crash sound triggered a reaction from The Smooze considering it froze in its oozy tracks upon hearing it.

"That's it!" Twilight realized as a light bulb went off inside her head! "The Smooze reacts to vibrations! If we make enough of them, we can drive it away!"

Princess Celestia smiled. "Good thinking, Twilight. Rarity and I are right behind you." And together, the three ponies grabbed what pots, pans and other objects they could and started banging them together in unison!

The noise echoed everywhere, and the vibrations did the trick as The Smooze slowly backed away. But the vibrations didn't cease until it had been driven all the way out of the kitchen and out of the mess hall, at which point a mysterious portal opened it. The Smooze quickly oozed its way through the portal that then disappeared!

The familiar voice of Discord then called out. "Way to spoil all my fun, Twilight. Just when I was finally looking forward to having The Smooze on the show." And then he appeared before the three ponies who had repelled The Smooze, looking unusually grumpy.





A little later, Discord, Nightmare Moon and all of the contestants were back at the fire pit (Twilight happily tossing her crudely drawn sketch into the fire). And Discord was explaining everything to those already not in the know. "Rainbow Dash and Trixie were right when they said this whole challenge was devised as a way for me to scare you. But even they didn't know that I was rooting for The Smooze to win so that it could take the place of one of you."

"See, I told you all but you wouldn't listen to me!" Rainbow boasted.

Trixie, however, butted in. "For the record, Trixie caught onto the plan before you did."

And Rainbow Dash countered. "Yeah, but you also got captured before I did and screamed like a little filly when you did."

Rarity, meanwhile, just rolled her eyes. "You both lost though. Quite badly too. Honestly, Fluttershy of all ponies managing to somehow do better than you two is a miracle."

Derpy then asked. "So, what happens now?"

Discord reluctantly sighed. "Well, there's no way The Smooze can be on the show now. He'll never want to come back as long as Twilight, Princess Celestia and Rarity are here. So reluctantly, they're the winners of tonight's challenge."

A flicker of the camera showed Rainbow Dash and Trixie both putting their hooves to their faces in unison during their turns in the confessional, both saying the same thing. "Three contestants with immunity, and none of them are me?!"

The camera then cut back to the fire pit near The Dock of Shame where The Boat of Losers had returned, waiting to take a contestant away. Discord then continued. "But it doesn't matter, there's no need for a vote to decide who to eliminate. We have a loser."

Pinkie Pie and Derpy both broke out into a nervous sweat upon hearing such words, both fearing that one (or even both) of them was the "loser" Discord was referring to.

The witty spirit then dramatically declared. "And that loser is... Fluttershy!"

"WHAT?!" The seven other contestants all gasped at the same time!

Discord was quick to explain. "It's not because she did the worst out of all of you, though. If that was the case, Derpy would've gotten the boot," And he shook his head. "No, I'm afraid Fluttershy is going to have to leave the show because of what The Smooze did to her. She needs time to recover. And before you ask, no, The Smooze will not be taking her place!"

Fluttershy, with her eyes still spinning, spoke up. "Thank you, Discord. But I'm okay, really. Now stop waving your paws so I can count them." Then she fell off the stump she was sitting on.

The spirit of chaos could only sigh and shake his head. "See what I mean?" And he made his way over to the battered pegasus mare. "Come on, this episode's already running long enough as it is. No times for goodbyes." He promptly scooped her up, carried her across the Dock of Shame and dropped her onto the Boat of Losers.

Just like that, Fluttershy was gone from the game and only seven contestants were left. A majority of whom were breathing sighs of relief to know they had escaped a brush with elimination.

Discord then looked into the cameras as he declared. "Seven ponies soon to be six, stay tuned to find out which one will be eliminated next here on Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 20: Mean Isn't Your Style
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord was standing on the Dock of Shame while the cameras were slowly but surely coming into focus around him. And he proudly began to narrate. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island."

The cameras began to show clips from the previous night, which had witnessed a rare night time challenge. And Discord was narrating the entire thing, beginning with what had happened in the cabins. "After Scootaloo's departure, everypony turned their scorn on Rainbow Dash and chewed her out for supposedly betraying her number one fan. A charge Rainbow Dash sought desperately to deny. And hey, player's gotta play. It's the name of the game."

Then the cameras showed clips of the challenge's set-up and how it had all unfolded. All the while Discord excitedly narrated. "Then, in a stroke of genius, I pulled some strings and got my old pal The Smooze to guest star for a challenge. All it asked for in return was being allowed to take the place of the worst performing contestant if it could hunt them all down. And I said yes."

From there, clips were shown of The Smooze pursuing unsuspecting ponies as Discord kept narrating. "The Smooze began picking them off one by one, beginning with a surprise double elimination from Pinkie Pie and Derpy right as they seemed to be getting to know each other."

After giggling a bit, Discord cleared his throat as he narrated over some more clips. "Of course, some ponies thought I was just trying to scare them and they were right. But both Trixie and Rainbow Dash found out the hard way that you can't stop The Smooze!" A clip after that was accompanied by more narration while the spirit spoke. "Yet to everyone's surprise, three ponies managed to defy the odds and make The Smooze go away, thwarting my plans."

After that, the camera showed a clip of the eight contestants at the fire pit where all elimination ceremonies took place. And Discord was narrating the whole time. "The triple victory between Twilight, Princess Celestia and Rarity was soon followed up by another surprise in that Fluttershy would have to leave the game. Not because she had the worst performance since that dishonor would've been Derpy's, but because she had an up close and personal encounter with The Smooze that left her kind of messed up. Fyi, I'm not responsible for that! She brought it on herself." He sought to make that point very clear.

The final clip depicted a disoriented Fluttershy be carried down The Dock of Shame to the Boat of Losers as the draconequus was explaining. "Fluttershy's elimination also meant that for the first time since Spike got the boot that a former Royal Ruffian instead of a former Magical Misfit got a free one way trip on the Boat of Losers, saving Derpy from making that trend continue for a fifth straight pony and ensuring the Royal Ruffians will have the longer streak."

Then the camera cut back to Discord standing on the Dock of Shame while he declared. "They're starting to drop like flies, folks. Just seven contestants are left, and after tonight it'll be down to six. Find out who the unlucky number seven will be right here, right now on Total Magic Pony Island!"





Despite the excitement of the night's events, there had now been two challenges in the span of less than twelve hours and there was a good chance a third challenge would come within the next twelve. So needless to say, the seven survivors were exhausted.

Yet before the seven surviving ponies called it a night (or an early morning might have been more appropriate), Pinkie Pie opted to do something when they got near the cabins. She bent down, picking up some flowers that she'd seen blooming during the day time. Although they had closed up a little during the night they were still quite beautiful.

Pinkie Pie scooped up the flowers and presented them to the pony she was now trying so hard to apologize to. "You know, these flowers compliment your mane pretty well, Derpy." She told the wall-eyed mare.

Derpy refused to acknowledge them, simply turning her head with a frown.

Pinkie let out a sigh. "Come on, Derpy. If this is about what happened with The Smooze, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, I just... panicked," And she pleaded. "I don't want you to stay mad at me. I want to enjoy what time we still have together on the island, and I can't do that when you're like this."

The pegasus mare could only sigh in reply as she continued to look away from the pink party pony and her gift of flowers. "I don't want to stay mad at you either, Pinkie. And I know that if I let you do this kind of stuff I'm going to forget what you did during the challenge. But I don't wanna be burned again."

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but rudely remark. "Well you never should've left my alliance in the first place, Derpy. We had a good thing going."

Derpy just coldly replied. "You only used me for my vote. I never should've joined you in the first place."

Pinkie continued to plead. "But I'm not like Rainbow Dash! I don't have a nasty bone in my body, I swear! Please, Derpy! I'm not even asking you to join an alliance with me, I don't care about making it to the finale with you or not. All I want is to have you back."

The wall-eyed mare just sighed again, still not looking at Pinkie Pie. "I'll... think about it, Pinkie. Okay? We both need time to think about thinks." And then she trotted up the steps of the cabin without another word.

The pink party pony was rendered speechless, she had no idea what to say. But her fellow contestants had seen everything.

Rainbow Dash was quick to discuss what she saw in the confessional. "It's really weird," She pondered while scratching her chin with a hoof. "Maybe it wasn't so strange when Spike fell for Silver Spoon, even though I think he was just doing that to get back at Rarity for treating him so badly. And Applejack and I... well, Applejack's the one who started it. I didn't get a chance to ask her what she meant by it before Spike sent her packing. But between what happened with Twilight and Vinyl Scratch, and now what's happening with Pinkie Pie and Derpy... is this show secretly turning into some mushy love show?"

A flicker of the camera showed Twilight in the confessional, commenting on the same thing. "Pinkie's always been hard to read. But over the past two challenges it seems like she and Derpy have been... well... growing closer as more than just friends," Then she stepped back, blinking in concern. "Fluttershy's the only one who hasn't yet gotten distracted by romance. Ergh, I have to stay focused! I can't let what happened with Vinyl interfere with how I play the game, I need to start thinking about myself."





Next morning, the seven well rested contestants made their way to the mess hall as usual for breakfast. It was strange to think that just the day before there had been nine of them still remaining in the game, and now that number had shrunk to seven with the likelihood of it going down to six soon hanging overhead.

And even if they hadn't been thinking about that at first, Discord soon made sure it was all they could think about when he arrived in the mess hall to give a speech. "I gotta say, this has certainly been an interesting experience for yours truly. I'm amazed at how many of you have made it so far in the game. But make no mistake, we're nearing the end here folks. Only seven of you remain, and by tonight one of you will not be moving on to the spectacular six."

A brief flicker of the camera showed Rainbow Dash excitedly prancing around in the confessional! "I'm feeling pretty good about my chances at this point! If I can just get Trixie out of the way, the million bits are as good as mine!"

The camera then cut back to the mess hall as Discord went on to declare. "Now, I think it's about time to raise the stakes again. And not just because some of you prevented The Smooze from joining the cast," He briefly glared at Twilight, Rarity and Princess Celestia before continuing. "I'm going to offer the seven of you a choice between two challenges, and you can only pick one. If you can complete the challenge of your choosing, you win invincibility. If not... well, you don't need a reminder."

Trixie just rolled her eyes and shouted! "Just get on with it, Discord! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't have all day!"

The witty spirit grinned. "Patience, Trixie. I was just getting to the good part," And he explained to the seven ponies in the mess hall. "Your choices are simple: You can either face your greatest fears with Nightmare Moon, or you can hunt for a wild animal that will be chosen at random for each participant," He continued as he called out. "So, any takers for the fear facing challenge with Nightmare Moon? If so, please raise your hooves now!"

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash immediately and eagerly raised their hooves. 

"Okay, so that's two for fear facing," Discord observed. "Now, although I probably don't need to ask, how many of you would rather try your luck with hunting?" Several more hooves shot up in response, but after counting them he noticed one hoof had not been raised for either challenge. "Hey, Derpy!" He impatiently grumbled. "You can't sit out a round, unless you wanna be automatically disqualified."

Derpy gulped. "I was afraid you'd say that," And then she declared. "I guess I'll do the whole facing my fears with Nightmare Moon."

The spirit nodded quite firmly. "Alright then. Everypony's down for the challenge they agreed to? Nopony wants to change their mind now? This is the last call, once the challenges start there's no take backs allowed!" But nopony bothered to issue a correction, all seemed to set on what they had chosen. "Okay, so I've got three ponies sticking with Nightmare Moon and four who are coming with me for the hunting challenge," And he instructed. "All hunting contestants, come see me near the woods to learn the details." Then he disappeared in a flash.

Nightmare Moon grinned. "And those of you who've chosen to try to face your fears... I don't know if you're really brave, really stupid or both. But I'm not going easy on any of you!"

"Do your worst, Nightmare Moon! I'm not scared of you!" Rainbow firmly and boldly declared.

The wicked mare of darkness just cackled. "Maybe not, but I'm confident I'll find out what does. I'm confident I'll break all three of you," And then she instructed. "So enjoy your last meal. When you're ready you can come see me down by the Dock of Shame and we can get this little fright fest underway!"

Derpy whimpered as the camera flickered to show her in the confessional, shivering with fright. "What did I just agree to? I'm nowhere near as brave as Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash," Then she slapped herself across the face! "No, I gotta toughen up and be brave! It's what the doctor would want."





The three contestants who had agreed to do Nightmare Moon's challenge found her waiting for them when they made their way down to the specified location. It was in fact right at the fire pit that they were so used to gathering around when it was time for one of their own to be eliminated (and two of them had been a stone's throw away from elimination since the merger at least once).

"Ah, you're all here. Good," The alicorn declared as she rubbed her hooves together. "I wouldn't blamed some of you for trying to chicken out. It's only fair to warn you that I have no intention of holding back."

Rainbow merely boasted while flicking her mane with a hoof. "Let's just get it over with already! I've got invincibility to win and a certain magician to eliminate."

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was insisting. "I'm ready whenever you are, Nightmare Moon. It's a shame you've stopped trying to get into my dreams, I really miss the time we spend together," And she added. "You know, when you're not trying so hard to be scary you're actually not that bad."

Nightmare Moon reacted as if she'd been insulted! "That's enough out of you, Pinkie Pie!" She roared as her eyes briefly flashed a bright white! "I'll get to you soon enough. But I need to make sure I've still got it, that you're not getting kid gloves treatment."

Rainbow only grinned. "You don't have to flatter me, Nightmare Moon. If you want to get me out of the way just so we don't prolong the inevitable, that's fine. There's nothing you can show me that could possibly scare me. You're nothing compared to what Discord could do!"

But Nightmare Moon only trotted over to the rainbow maned pegasus, displaying that toothy grin of hers she was so often using these days. "I assure you, I can be quite terrifying in my own right as you will see!" She proceeded to use her magic to pull the brash speedster close while telling the other two contestants. "Watch closely, and you will see just how foolish you were to try your luck with me."

Pinkie said nothing, she just stood at attention as best she could. But Derpy was not so quietly saying to herself. "I gotta be brave! I gotta be brave! I gotta be brave!"

Meanwhile, the other four contestants were gathering near the entrance to the woods all the way on the other end of the island. And just like they'd been told they found Discord waiting for them, the witty spirit dressed entirely in a hunter's camouflage attire. "Alright, everypony. Be very very quiet while I explain the rules, because I'm not repeating myself today!"

Princess Celestia couldn't help but smirk. "Still sore over The Smooze not being able to make it into the game like you'd hoped? Perhaps that can serve as a warning to you that whatever other plans you have for this show, they'll all fail in the end."

Discord did his best not to acknowledge the teasing remark, even as he grit his teeth. "Well, you'll be happy to know that just like the last two challenges this one is all on you guys. Everypony will pick an animal at random to track and hunt down," He proceeded to snap his talons, producing a very familiar looking pinkish lavender colored hat with white stars stitched all over it. "In fact, you'll be pulling your animal of choice out of this hat."

Trixie stomped a hoof down and growled at Discord! "Hey! How dare you steal The Great and Powerful Trixie's hat!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't see your name written on it," Discord taunted. "But don't worry, you can have it back after everypony picks an animal. It could be something small like a bird or it could be a full grown predator. As long as it's on this island, it's fair game."

"Sounds simple enough, what's the catch?" Twilight questioned, suspecting that there was more to the challenge than just simply hunting.

The witty spirit grinned. "Funny you should say that, Twilight, because there will be catching involved!" He snapped his talons, producing a huge, metal cage that towered over everypony. "Once you manage to find the animal you picked, you have to find a way to lure it back here to this cage. Anypony who successfully gets their animal inside before I shut the cage back up wins invincibility. And before you ask, no, you won't have to worry about keeping the animal or cooking it. I know you ponies don't like to do that."

Rarity scoffed. "It's not that we aren't aware of the circle of life, Discord. We're friends with creatures that eat meat after all. We simply choose not to partake in meat consumption ourselves out of respect for the animals. Besides, how could you possibly expect us to do anything with bears?"

Trixie then noticeably shuddered. "Speaking of bears, there wouldn't happen to be any ursa minors and/or ursa majors lurking around Paradox Island by any chance, would there?"

Discord shook his head. "Nope, no such animals exist. And there are no cockatrices, hydras or manticores either," Then he put his paws together. "Now enough chit chat! You all know the rules! So get to picking. Whatever you get is what you're stuck with, no take backs or swaps."

And so the four mares took turns pulling pieces of paper out of Trixie's hat, each unfolding their piece one at a time to see what was written on it. Trixie was given "Racoon", Twilight got "Bear", Princess Celestia received "Duck" and Rarity obtained "Beaver".

"Okay, you all have your assignment. You've got until sundown to find your animal and bring it back to the cage," Discord instructed. "Happy hunting!"





Nightmare Moon was now all but standing snout to snout with Rainbow Dash, eyeing the brash speedster with sinister intent (or at least it seemed that way). "Hope you've said your prayers," She told the pegasus. "It's time for everyone to see what your fear the most."

"Not you, that's for sure!" Rainbow boasted, apparently unconcerned in the slightest at what was about to befall her.

The dark coated alicorn only replied by making her horn ominously spark to life as Derpy and Pinkie Pie looked on with concern, neither knowing what to expect.

Rainbow shut her eyes in anticipation of something horrible. Maybe some kind of repressed childhood monster she'd once feared now brought to life anew. Whatever it was she was certain she would be ready for it when she opened her moderate violet eyes.

Yet when the pegasus mare finally sought to open her eyes, she was surprised to see the very thing that had been popping up and plaguing her nonstop since this whole thing began: Mare-Do-Well. "You again!" Rainbow Dash gasped, but Mare-Do-Well didn't reply to her at all.

Nightmare Moon laughed. "Well, there it is, your greatest fear."

Rainbow stepped back in disbelief! "No way! There must be some mistake! I don't fear Mare-Do-Well at all! I just hate the fact that she keeps showing up for no good reason. I've learned my lesson."

Nightmare Moon's only response was to laugh further. "Oh, are you sure about that? I have a feeling some of your former teammates and alliance members would beg to differ."

"Are you talking about Scootaloo?! Don't you DARE talk about Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash snarled as she trotted forward! "If not for that stupid technicality she'd still be here. And if Spike hadn't tampered with the votes, Applejack would've been part of my alliance as well and Scootaloo would've had nothing to worry about."

"Well, I certainly can't control what your mind chooses to worry about," The wicked mare of darkness declared. "Mare-Do-Well is here now, and you have to find out how to make her go away if you want invincibility."

But Derpy and Pinkie Pie were blinking in confusion, looking all around. "I don't see anything," Derpy commented. "What even is this 'Mare-Do-Well' Rainbow Dash is talking about?"

And Pinkie Pie only commented in reply. "Mare-Do-Well was something my friends and I made up to teach Dashie a little lesson about what a real hero should do. I didn't know she took it that hard though."

The brash speedster blinked in surprise and shock. "You guys are just humoring me, right?! Mare-Do-Well's right there!" She gestured a hoof to the cloaked mare's location as she was staring down her target.

"Still not seeing it." Derpy responded.

"It must be a part of the challenge," Pinkie concluded while putting a hoof to her chin. "Your worst fear come to life, and only you can see it."

Nightmare Moon laughed and cackled! "Well, Pinkie Pie, it sure didn't take you long to figure it out," Then she turned to Rainbow Dash. "Well, are you ready to quit?"

But Rainbow grit her teeth and shook her head firmly from side to side. "Never! I don't know what you're trying to accomplish with this cheap scare tactic, but it won't work!" She trotted forward! "I should've known you were behind Mare-Do-Well's return. But the fun stops here and it stops now!" She proceeded to rip Mare-Do-Well's mask right off, convinced that would bring about an end to her challenge.

However, Rainbow Dash was shocked anew to see a familiar face behind the mask! In fact, it was insanely recognizable because it was a face she saw everyday: Her own! She stepped back again, blinking and rubbing her eyes. But it was still there, staring straight back at her. "H-how?! W-why?!"

The dark coated alicorn's grin grew deeper as she started to laugh again. "Even I didn't see this development coming. It would seem your fear of Mare-Do-Well runs deeper than I thought. Even you must be realizing that you are the monster now!"

The brash speedster whimpered and broke out into a cold sweat as she shivered with fear! It almost looked as if Fluttershy had inexplicably taken over the mare's body even though such a thing was obviously not possible. "This... this is impossible! There's no way...I'm not a monster! I'm not!" Yet one need only listen to her voice to realize how little even she was convinced of that argument.

And so it was that, with the brash speedster sweating, crying and shaking that Nightmare Moon lit up her horn. "Well then, that settles it. The challenge is over for you, Rainbow Dash. And you failed!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rainbow Dash cried at the top of her lungs (whether it was in horror of what she'd seen or because she would now be at risk of elimination depending on how things went no one knew).

Nightmare Moon only laughed and smirked. "One down, two to go," And then she stomped a hoof down in dramatic fashion. "Alright, Derpy. You're next! Let's see what frightens you the most!"

A brief flicker of the camera showed a still whimpering and crying Rainbow Dash in the confessional, loudly sobbing! "It's not true! It's not true! But why did it feel so real?! Am I really the one to blame for what happened to all the others?"

The camera then cut back to Derpy making her way over to Nightmare Moon, forcing back a gulp as she prepared herself for whatever sort of horrible thing the evil alicorn would surely subject her to.





The other four ponies (all of whom had horns, coincidentally enough) were too busy focusing on their hunting challenge to give any thought to what might be going on with the ponies who had sought to try their luck with Nightmare Moon.

Speaking of luck, Rarity was having very little of it as she not so stealthily stalked some beavers near a small dam they had built. Her attempt to grab one only resulted in her diving head first into murky waters, getting covered with sticks and mud that clung to her previously pristine white coat.

Dirty and grimy all over, the fashionista sulked about her condition in the confessional. "Just my luck this sort of challenge would take place now, with no valid alternatives. And on an island with no magic at all to boot!" She groaned. "Things like this make say the million bits are almost not worth, 'almost' being the key word here."

But Trixie was having far better luck, at least in locating her intended prey. She was already hot on the trail of some raccoons, and was already starting to think about how she might capture one.

A clip in the confessional showed the magician with a scheming smile, grinning from ear to ear. "Trixe's had experience with wild animals since being on the road. This will be no different. Invincibility will be Trixie's!"

Twilight, for her part, was trying not to shake like a leaf due to what she had been tasked with hunting. She was even complaining about the seeming impossibility in the confessional. "Oh of course, it just has to be me!" She groaned, staring into the camera with a glare that could've rivaled Fluttershy's patented stare. "Everypony gets something small and easy. But me, I get a bear. A freaking bear!"

Still, the studious unicorn knew it would be foolish of her to just forfeit the hunting challenge because of her task. There was a good chance that if she did she would be the only one not to gain invincibility from the hunting challenge and would be at risk of elimination as a result. And considering she didn't know what Discord's plan was, that was an outcome she wanted to avoid at any cost.

Twilight was thus deep in thought, trying to piece together a plan on how she would successfully snag a bear. And so she didn't initially notice a white colored hoof tap her on the shoulder. She nearly jumped in surprise as she spun around! Fortunately, she was very relieved to find that it was only Princess Celestia. "Sorry," She apologized to her shrunken down mentor. "I'm sure you didn't mean to scare me. I'm just a bit... nervous."

The shrunken down sun princess simply flashed a warm and comforting smile at her student, still finding it odd to be looking at her instead of the other way around. "It's okay, Twilight. This isn't some test. And we both know what happened the last time you let yourself get worked up over something."

A faint blush formed on the unicorn's cheeks as the memory of that incident flashed briefly in her mind. "Y-yeah," She gave a nervous chuckle. "But why are you talking to me? Shouldn't you be busy hunting your duck?"

Celestia waved a hoof. "I could easily get a duck at any point, Twilight. But even if I win invincibility there's no guarantee I can save you and it'd be silly of me to make a promise similar to what Rainbow Dash promised Scootaloo."

"But you're still proposing to team up with me, even just for this challenge," Twilight blinked in realization. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I can take care of myself, you know."

"Twilight, you're being tasked with finding and hunting a bear for crying out loud," Celestia protested with a shake of her head. "I think we can both agree that you need all the help you can get, and then some."

The studious unicorn let out a sigh. "You're not taking 'no' for an answer, are you?"

Princess Celestia smiled anew. "Nope."

Reluctantly, Twilight relented. "Fine, I guess you can help. I mean, it was kind of fun getting to be with you during the last challenge," And then an idea struck her. "I know! If I win, I'll protect you from elimination. You can't deny you have a big target on your back."

Princess Celestia just replied. "Twilight, there's no need for that. Whatever happens happens. In fact," She unhappily stared at the ground. "I've really regretted that I've lasted so long. I should've gone before the likes of Silver Spoon, Spike, Cheerilee and Scootaloo. None of them deserved to be eliminated before me just because I'm a princess. Nobility didn't protect my sister, who was rightfully voted out before Silver Spoon."

"You can't control the way ponies behave or how they vote," Twilight persuaded her mentor. "Besides, all this time we spend talking on things like votes is time we could spend on the challenge."

The shrunken down sun princess blinked and nodded. "You're right, Twilight. We can discuss all that later. For now, we've got a bear to catch!"

"Well, at the least I think I can track one down. Just need to follow the tracks," Twilight explained to the alicorn. "With any luck, maybe it'll be sleeping out in the open," Then she looked up at her forehead. "Oh, if only I could use magic."

Princess Celestia simply replied to Twilight. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Twilight. Now lead the way!"





Sure enough, it wasn't long before Twilight located what were definitively bear tracks and carefully followed them through the forest. An occasional bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face as she silently pursued her unsuspecting prey. The only bear she'd ever had experience with was the one she'd seen Fluttershy "massage" once. Oh, what she'd give to have the animal loving pegasus still in the game, if only for this challenge.

At last, Twilight and Celestia found the tracks ending. But by a stroke of bad luck, they led right into a big, dark, cree[y cave.

Twilight groaned anew. "Should've figured. It couldn't just be sleeping outside."

Princess Celestia, for her part, just reassuringly put a hoof around Twilight. "It's okay, we can work with this. Discord didn't say there had to be a specific bear. He just said bring back a bear."

The studious unicorn nodded very reluctantly. "I know, but bringing it back is exactly what worries me," And she immediately declared. "No way am I going into the cave to find one! I'm not going to become a bear's next meal."

The shrunken down sun princess nodded in agreement. "Of course not, Twilight. You don't have to go to the bear or bears. They'll come to you. Then just get one to chase you back to the cage Discord has set up."

"Okay, and how do we do that?" Twilight questioned. "What's your plan, princess? Please don't say 'live bait'."

Princess Celestia chuckled. "What good would that do, Twilight? Besides, do you really think I'm the type of pony who would do such a thing to you?" Her tone of voice briefly became more serious as she insisted. "Don't answer that!" Then she quickly cleared her throat as if her sudden onset of anger had never occurred in the first place. "There will be bait, but it's not going to be live."

It took but a moment for Twilight Sparkle to realize what the alicorn was proposing. "Oh, I get it! Why didn't I think of that! Bears don't just eat meat, after all. There's tons of other stuff they like to eat."

"Exactly," Celestia nodded as she explained. "There's plenty of berries around here. Go fetch some while I build a fire. If I'm right, the smell of cooked berries will waft into the cave and wake up the bears."

"And then they'll chase after us because they won't be able to resist adding ponies to their menu!" Twilight concluded. "Very smart! I just hope we can outrun them."

Princess Celestia flashed a smile. "You'd be surprised at how easily you can find the right motivation. Many of my subjects who've barely managed a mile without exhausting themselves have been able to do marathons worth of running in life or death situations." And she then set to work on build a small pit and gathering sticks with which to make a fire.





Back by the Dock of Shame, poor Derpy had fared just as badly as Rainbow Dash in her challenge involving her worst fear. "'Don't blink!' 'Don't blink!'" She murmured over and over again while rocking back and forth, making it sound like advice somepony else had given her once.

Even Nightmare Moon seemed to be somewhat surprised if the expression on her face was anything to go by. "I really figured she'd last longer than that, but maybe I gave her too much credit," However, that toothy grin and that creepy smile returned before long. "Oh well, it doesn't really matter to me. What does matter is that I still got it! I haven't lost my touch!"

"So it's finally my turn, is it?" Pinkie Pie asked in what sounded like a surprisingly hopeful and optimistic tone given what she had witnessed. "Guess you wanted to save the best for last, huh Nightmare Moon?"

"Maybe, or maybe I wanted to make double sure I was at the top of my game before taking you on," Nightmare Moon declared. "If it takes everything I've got, I will bring you to your hooves!"

Pinkie only giggled as she trotted over, approaching the wicked mare of darkness with that signature skip in her step. "I'm sure you'll do your best, Nightmare Moon. But you're not like The Smooze, you can't make me panic."

Nightmare Moon arched an eyebrow upward. "How interesting. You're actually approaching me. Instead of trying to run you're coming straight towards me."

The pink party pony happily proclaimed. "Well the only way to win the challenge is for you to do whatever it is you wanna do to me."

The alicorn with a coat as black as a starless night sky laughed in response. "Very well then, come as close as you'd like if you dare! Just try not to be as big a crybaby as those other two." She then briefly gestured a hoof to Rainbow Dash and Derpy.

Pinkie shook her head. "They're not crybabies, Nightmare Moon. They're my friends. Just like you and Discord."

Nightmare Moon blinked briefly in confusion. "Hey, wait a minute! I'm supposed to be the one doing the scaring, not the other way around. I don't need friendship."

"Really?" Pinkie Pie pondered as she paused in her pace. "I mean friendship is magic after all." And she winked in the general direction of the camera.

The wicked mare of darkness groaned. "This is Total Drama, not Total Friendship!" Then she lit up her horn, making it ominously crackle and surge with the signature glow of her magic. "Prepare to experience your worst nightmare!"

"PINKIE!" Derpy screamed in horror at the top of her lungs while her walled eyes went wider than ever!

But it was too late to prevent Nightmare Moon's magic from striking Pinkie head on! And even Pinkie was forced to shut her eyes from the intensity of the light!

Nightmare Moon's grin grew so wide it looked like it could jump right off her face! "YES! At long last, I will have my revenge! Even you, Pinkie, must succumb to your worst fears. The hidden terrors that you try to keep hidden so that they don't keep you up at night. But now they're here!"

However, upon opening her eyes Pinkie Pie was quickly unable to keep herself from laughing. "Boy, Nightmare Moon. You really don't know me at all if you think you can force me to be scared. I'm not scared of you, except when I want to be scared."

The evil alicorn stepped back and blinked in confusion. "This is not happening! You're supposed to be afraid! Even you must have fears!"

"Yeah," Pinkie continued to laugh. "I'm seeing one of them play out in front of me right now. A fear that somepony doesn't want to be my friend. But I know that if I try hard enough, I can make almost anypony my friend. If anything, it's you who's afraid. You're afraid to have a friend because then maybe you can stick around after this game is over, instead of having to go back to... wherever it is from Luna that Discord found you."

Nightmare Moon could only put a hoof to her forehead, groaning anew as if she were experiencing an abrupt headache. "Enough," She quietly said at first. But it wasn't long before she raised her voice and made it echo! "ENOUGH!" Sighing, the alicorn mare announced. "Just take the invincibility already and leave me alone!"

"What? That's it?! I won?!" Pinkie Pie blinked in surprise.

The mare of darkness firmly nodded. "Yes! I just don't understand, there must be something about you that keeps you safe from my powers. It can't just be because you're an Element of Harmony bearer, because Rainbow Dash couldn't resist me."

The pink party pony then asked. "Uh, speaking of... are she and Derpy gonna be okay?"

Nightmare Moon shrugged her hooves. "They should be fine eventually. And if not, that's not my problem. Now leave me alone!" And with that she lit up her horn and vanished, though not without adding. "Tell Discord I'll be waiting on the Boat of Losers for tonight's eliminated contestant."





Although Nightmare Moon's challenge was just wrapping up, the hunting challenge was still far from complete (as least as far as Twilight and Princess Celestia knew, but judging from the position of the sun it looked like they still had a few hours).

Twilight had managed to retrieve the berries, and Princess Celestia had built a small but well maintained fire that was crackling nicely. The two ponies were now placing the berries into a pan, which was dangling just above the flames while smoke billowed into the air.

"Is it working?" Twilight both nervously and hopefully inquired as minutes seemed to tick by with no development.

Princess Celestia could only offer up in reply. "It should be. If not, I don't know what else we can do besides a bear call and that's not my forte."

Fortunately (in a relative sense) the tense waiting was broken up by the sound of deep rumbling and roaring from within the cave. And then, just after Princess Celestia instinctively sought to snuff out the flames with a bucket of water, a lone grizzly bear emerged from the cave!

Twilight jumped back, shaking anew with fright! "H-hey there, Mr. Bear," She tried to greet the creature as best she could. "Sorry to wake you up but uh... I kind of need you for something."

The grizzly only replied by roaring more, soon turning its attention to Twilight when it caught whiff of the scent of berries from her.

The studious unicorn quickly screamed and took off running at the top of her lungs! "Yeah, that's what I expected!" She shouted at the bear as it chased after her! She was amazed that she was able to keep ahead of it. Not since The Running of the Leaves had she run so much, and even then she'd been pacing herself.

As for the shrunken down sun princess, she followed the pursuit from behind. "Just keep going, Twilight! You can do it!" She thought to herself as she was mentally encouraging her student! "I hate that I had to do this but I couldn't think of any other way. I hope one day you'll forgive me."

Twilight didn't have time to think of anything besides her reason for running! And she kept on running through the woods, trying to rack her brain to remember where the cage Discord had set up was. She also hoped that neither Rarity or Trixie had made it back with their animals yet, otherwise she might be putting them in danger.

At last, Twilight (and Celestia who was not too far behind but careful to stay upwind of the bear) saw light at the end of her proverbial tunnel! The clearing for the forest was just up ahead and so was the huge, metal cage Discord had set up. She was so close to victory!

But just then, Twilight felt herself stumble! Before she knew it she was tumbling head over hooves with no way to stop herself! All she could do was scream!

Princess Celestia watched in horror! "Twilight! No!" And without even thinking, she raced forward and dove in front of her student to try and protect her!

A series of horrified gasps and even a dramatic scream could be heard as teacher and student shut their eyes, preparing for the worst!

Yet suddenly, there came the familiar sound of a talon being snapped and then the fierce roar of the grizzly bear faded away out of the blue. And by a struck of luck, neither pony was injured at all. They were dirty but not hurt.

Twilight and Princess Celestia slowly stood up, looking up into the face of Discord who could only wave a paw in front of them while making a tsking motion. "What were you two thinking trying to take on a bear like that?"

A flicker of the camera showed Princess Celestia staring at the ground in the confessional in shame. "Why did I think that was a good idea?"

The camera cut back to the edge of the woods as Twilight groaned and glared at the witty spirit! "You set me up, Discord! You wanted me to fail!"

Discord only replied. "I did no such thing. It was purely bad luck you picked 'Bear' instead of the other options. After all, I thought almost everypony would do this challenge," And he brought up Trixie's hat, showing several other slips of paper still inside it. "I also had 'Rabbit', 'Fish' and even 'Deer'. Yes, 'Deer'. 'Bear' was just to make things more interesting, but I didn't expect it to actually be picked. I made sure to bury it way down inside the hat. The shuffling must've brought it up."

"Discord! This is feeling a lot like that scooter race!" Celestia stomped a hoof down in protest! "Do you not seem to care how many ponies are getting hurt physically and emotionally because of your game?! I can't for the life of me understand why my subjects seem so interested in watching this. When I get back on the throne after this, I'm going to see to it that all recordings of this show are destroyed!"

The spirit of chaos only laughed in reply. "Oh, you wouldn't dare do that, princess. Everyone's who competed is under contract. And my lawyers made sure to make lots of copies. Besides, you won't be able to erase the memories your subjects have of seeing the show," Then he added. "It's hardly my fault if a few accidents happen here and there. But I obviously draw the line at anything truly life threatening. If I didn't, I wouldn't have saved you and Twilight from that grizzly."

Trixie then boasted. "And it doesn't matter anyway because you already lost the challenge! Trixie won!" She gestured a hoof to the cage. "See the racoon now trapped inside courtesy of The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Rarity was quick to add. "For the record, I would have won had the beaver I was tracking not proven so slippery," And she grumbled about her state of appearance. "Oh, I'm going to need to shower for hours to get all this muck off of me!"

Discord happily declared. "You heard that right, Twilight and Princess Celestia. This challenge has come and gone, and both of you have come up empty hoofed. Trixie has won invincibility for this round," A smirk crept onto his face as he taunted. "Better luck next time."





And so, with both challenges that had been offered up having come to a close and two contestants having won invincibility (for the only second time since the merger), the question on everypony's mind quickly became once again "Who should be eliminated?"

Lots of ponies had their own thoughts, but one pony in particular was feeling very ashamed of herself for what she had done. Princess Celestia was still noticeably walking around without a smile. "There's only one thing I can do to redeem myself after such a pitiful performance today." She thought to herself, and began to scheme. This sort of thing might prove tricky to manage even with seven ponies, but she would find a way to make it work.

The first pony to convince was none other than Rarity, who happened to bump into the shrunken down sun princess outside the communal bathrooms. "Princess Celestia, what a surprise!" And she quickly whimpered. "Oh, I look so hideous. Sweetie Belle is definitely not going to let me live this challenge down today."

"You're not the only one who is ashamed of how they did in today's challenges," Princess Celestia replied. "I've seen this happen too many times already. Hardly anypony seems to be safe from whatever enchantment or curse there must be on this island. And therefore, there's only one thing I can think of to save Equestria."

Rarity blinked. "What are you suggesting, princess?"

Celestia let out an unhappy sigh. "You must vote for me tonight, Rarity. Luna and I need to get back on the throne as soon as possible to counter whatever it is Discord has planned."

Rarity nearly gasped in surprise! "Princess, are you sure?! You'd be giving up your chance at a million bits!"

"Some things are more important than money and winning, Rarity," The alicorn declared. "Please, at least consider voting for me. I don't ask anything from you in return if it fails."

The fashionista could only reply. "I'll think about it. But for now I really wanna just wash off and get cleaned up."

The shrunken down sun princess nodded her head. "Very well then," And she trotted away while saying to herself. "Two votes out of four needed."

Unbeknownst to the princess, however, Twilight Sparkle had seen the whole thing! Needless to say, she was horrified! And she frantically panted in the confessional when the camera cut to her! "I can't let you do this, Princess Celestia! I can't let you throw away the game!" She dramatically declared! "I need to find a way to stop you!"





Trixie blinked in surprise, even rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't imaging things. "You wish to have The Great and Powerful Trixie cast her vote for you instead of Rainbow Dash?" She inquired of Princess Celestia.

"Please!" Celestia pleaded in desperation to the magician. "You're the last vote I need. I've got Derpy in my corner and Rarity said she'll think about it. I know you really wanna get rid of Rainbow Dash, but you've seen what she's been like since losing her challenge today."

Trixie nodded. "Rainbow Dash has seemed different. Nightmare Moon must've scared her good," She put a hoof to her chin. "If you're sure you can convince Derpy and Rarity to vote for you, Trixie shall happily join the group. But if this is just a trick to get Trixie eliminated, the Great and Powerful Trixie will not forgive and forget!"

"I promise, you can hold it against me if you get eliminated instead," The shrunken down sun princess declared. "But that won't happen."

The unicorn mare narrowed her eyes. "It had better not, princess, for your sake."

Meanwhile, Twilight was trying unsuccessfully to persuade Rainbow Dash to join with her. "We need to all unite: You, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and I!" She told the brash speedster. "Together, we can vote out Trixie and stop Princess Celestia from making a terrible mistake."

But Rainbow could only shake her head. "Forget it, Twilight! Everypony thinks I'm a monster, and now I see that they were probably right. The only way to make it stop is for me to go away. Why don't you tell that to Derpy and Princess Celestia so we can all make it official?"

The studious unicorn groaned in annoyance, feeling ready to pull her hair from her head with her hooves! Today had not been a good day for her. "Fine, go ahead and vote for yourself! See if I care! When you're on the Boat of Losers, don't come crying to me!" And she turned and trotted away without saying another word.

A short time later, day turned to night and it was time for the voting ceremony to begin.

"Everypony remembers how to vote, right?" Discord questioned the seven contestants as they gathered by the fire pit. All nodded their heads in agreement. "Okay then. Losers get first dibs. Princess Celestia, you can go first."

The shrunken down sun princess nodded and stood up, trotting over to the confessional. The camera showed her quickly moving over to stamp her ballot. "Twilight, I hope you'll be able to understand this someday." She said while doing her best to hold back the tears.

Rainbow Dash went next, quickly stamping her ballot. "Scootaloo, Spike, I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you." Was all she could bring herself to say before leaving.

Rarity entered the confessional after Rainbow left, and she hesitated for a considerable length of time. "I'm sorely tempted to go for you, Rainbow Dash," She remarked as she eyed the pegasus mare's ballot. "But..." Ultimately, she moved the stamp over to Princess Celestia's ballot and pressed down hard on it. "Princess Celestia is right, it's time for her to leave. If Discord is planning something, we'll need her to be ready."

Derpy arrived to vote next, ultimately opting to stamp Princess Celestia's ballot. "I hope I'm making the right decision this time. I've already probably stayed longer than I should've." She declared.

And when Twilight entered the confessional, she chose to stamp Rainbow Dash's ballot with a frown. "If not for what Princess Celestia is doing, I'd be a lot happier about this, Rainbow Dash."





At last, after what seemed like a very long time, all seven ponies had cast their ballots and Discord brought the locked down wooden box with the ballots forward. He soon opened it up, reading the ballots aloud. "Okie dokie, let's see what the votes have to say. The first vote is for... Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash looked up, a flicker of hope flashing in her eyes. And Twilight was hoping the same as well, just three more votes would make it official.

Discord then continued. "The second vote is for... Princess Celestia. And the third is... also for Princess Celestia."

Now it was Princess Celestia's turn to look hopeful while Rainbow Dash and Twilight began to worry.

"Another vote for Princess Celestia, two more for Rainbow Dash," The witty spirit announced as he quickly scanned through the next three ballots. "This last vote will decide it! The final vote is for..." He paused briefly to build suspense before declaring. "Princess Celestia! That's four votes for her to Rainbow Dash's three! It's official, folks. Our only other princess is going... going... gone!"

Twilight leapt to her hooves in horror! "No! There's... there's a mistake! Princess Celestia didn't mean to vote for herself!" She desperately insisted! "You can't count her vote for her."

Discord only shook his head and coldly replied. "Sorry, Twilight, the vote is final!" And he quickly made the ballot box disappear. "No amount of pleading or protesting is going to change the outcome. The ponies have spoken, they want their princess to go home."

"But... but..." Twilight stammered in disbelief! It was Vinyl Scratch all over again, she had tried desperately to save a pony from voting themselves out over a mistake and had failed miserably.

Princess Celestia simply trotted over, reassuring her student. "Twilight, please don't worry about me. This was probably going to happen eventually anyway. There can only be one winner," Then with a smile she added. "Besides, I'm ready to get back to my normal body."

"Oh yeah, about that," Discord declared. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait until you're officially off the island before that can happen. Sorry, probably should've mentioned that a little sooner."

The shrunken down sun princess only sighed. "Figures, of course you'd want to drag out my humiliation for as long as possible, Discord. But the joke's on you, you didn't get rid of me through some silly challenge. I chose to willingly take myself out to protect my subjects!" And she beamed with pride. "This may be the end of my time on the island, but I believe it's soon to be the beginning of the end for your little scheme."

The witty spirt only replied by gesturing to a watch he'd made appear on his wrist. "Oh, that's very touching, really. But time's a wasting, I'm afraid. So are you gonna walk down the Dock of Shame now, or do I have to make Nightmare Moon make you?"

Celestia just smiled. "I can eliminate myself, thank you very much," And she began to trot down the length of the dock to the Boat of Losers, though not without waving to the six ponies that would outlast her. "Best of luck to you all, especially you, Twilight."

Twilight did her best not to cry as she vowed! "I'll... I'll win for you, Princess Celestia! I promise!"

"Promise me nothing, Twilight," Celestia called back as she got onto the Boat of Losers. "Just keep an eye on everypony, and on Discord for me. I'll see you all at the finale, hopefully." And then, like so many contestants before her she was gone as the Boat of Losers carried her away from Paradox Island.

The cameras then cut to Discord standing near the fire pit as he dramatically declared. "Now that was a twist for the ages! And if you thought that was crazy, the best is yet to come here on Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 21: Over The Edge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With practiced precision, Discord stood on the Dock of Shame and gazed firmly into the cameras as he declared with his usual dramatic flare. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island."

And with that the camera started to cut to clips from the previous challenge, or rather challenges as Discord was explaining. "The seven contestants left in the game got to choose which challenge they wanted to do: Face their fears with Nightmare Moon or hunt for an animal in the woods. And more ponies chose the latter, unsurprisingly."

A clip was then shown of the three ponies who had sought to do Nightmare Moon's challenge, starting with Rainbow Dash while Discord narrated. "Rainbow Dash expected an easy victory, hence her decision to face her fears. But oh boy was she wrong, because it turned out her worst fear was this 'thing' called Mare-Do-Well." A brief clip was shown of the encounter Rainbow had had with the masked mare.

The witty spirit continued to narrate as the clips changed to show the hunting challenge, starting with Discord's explanation of how it worked. "As for the hunting challenge, Trixie and Rarity decided to go it alone for their animals. But because Twilight Sparkle was unlucky and drew 'Bear', Princess Celestia decided to help her former student."

Discord then snickered as the next clip showed the two ponies working together, and the end result of their efforts. "Unfortunately, that idea of helping involved luring a bear out of a cave and letting it chase after Twilight. So Princess Celestia took a dive to protect her former student even though all she had to do to save herself was capture a duck."

Then the camera cut to a clip of Nightmare Moon's challenge and of Pinkie Pie facing down the mare of darkness. And Discord kept narrating. "Nightmare Moon hoped to do a clean sweep of the three contestants she was given, but Pinkie Pie thwarted her efforts by literally laughing in the face of danger. So Pinkie Pie won invincibility there."

After that, a clip was briefly shown of the hunting challenge's end result and the ensuing aftermath. And Discord's narrations seemed to take on a sinister tone as he remarked. "Trixie, meanwhile, won the hunting challenge. And Princess Celestia thus decided that because she did such a poor job, the only sensible thing to do was vote herself off. Of course, that meant roping a few other ponies into helping her do it. But hey, it's her choice."

The last few clips depicted the vote at the fire pit that night as the seven contestants were narrowed down to six while the witty spirit explained. "Ultimately, by a four to three vote Princess Celestia got her wish and was sent packing. Of course, she tried to frame it as a victory, but she didn't get her old body back on-screen so ha! Who's laughing now?!"

Discord then cleared his throat before the cameras cut back to him standing on the Dock of Shame. "We've got six not so ordinary ponies left in the game now. And one of them is about to be the next to receive a free trip on the Boat of Losers tonight on Total Magic Pony Island!"





Twilight could only stare out in the distance from the Dock of Shame in disbelief. In the back of her mind the possibility of Princess Celestia being eliminated had always lingered, it was always a faint possibility. But for it to have actually happened, especially in the way it had played out, the studious unicorn was shocked and dismayed.

A flicker of the camera showed Twilight sulking over this fact in the confessional, especially since she was realizing something about why it had happened. "Princess Celestia, you were protecting me. I'm sorry, I let you down," A small tear came into her eyes as a result. "Somehow, I've got to make it through to the end and stop Discord now. I can't rely on you to protect me anymore."

Trixie was seen in the confessional next, and she was smirking and rubbing her hooves together in delight. "That invincibility came at just the right moment for Trixie! Now Rainbow Dash has lost her desire to compete, so all Trixie has to do is win again and Rainbow Dash will be history! Then there won't be anypony left to stand in Trixie's way!"

And when the camera flicked once again, Rainbow Dash could be seen rocking back and forth in the confessional in a clear sign of how shaken up she still was over what had happened during the previous challenge (for her). "Have I always been the monster?" She pondered aloud. "Why didn't I listen to the others when they were trying to warn me? Why did I have to get rid of so many because I didn't want to admit the truth?"

Meanwhile, as the camera cut back to the cabins, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but notice a development with Derpy. Namely that the wall-eyed mare was still quite shaken up by what had happened with Nightmare Moon. "Hey, what was that about not blinking?" Pinkie questioned.

Derpy flinched as she slowly spun around. "It's just one of many things I pray you never have to deal with, Pinkie. The Doctor has seen so many things in his time, things that defy explanation and are terrifying in ways you couldn't begin to imagine."

"You mean, like The Smooze?" The pink party pony questioned.

Derpy shook her head. "No, Pinkie. The Smooze is nothing compared to what The Doctor has seen. It's why he's assembled so many companions."

Pinkie couldn't help but inquire. "Octavia was one of them, and she seems just fine."

The pegasus mare nodded. "She's made of far tougher stuff than I am, Pinkie. My meeting The Doctor was a stroke of pure chance if I've being honest," And she let out an unhappy sigh. "I probably shouldn't even be here still. Coming back early was a mistake. But I just couldn't shake the feeling that I had to."

The pink party pony smiled as she not so subtly scooted closer to her fellow mare and pulled her in for a hug. "Well, I'm glad you came back. Now that you're not working with Rainbow Dash, you've got a bright future ahead of you," Her smile grew wider as she added. "Who knows? Maybe you'll even win this whole thing."

"I would like that, Pinkie," Derpy replied while returning the hug. "But somehow I don't think that's going to happen. I've already come close to elimination once already."

Pinkie Pie shook her head. "So? That doesn't mean anything, Derpy! Princess Celestia won two challenges and yet she still eliminated herself when she lost the last one," And she firmly insisted. "I just know that if we stick together, we can go places! We're so close to the end!"

The wall eyed mare couldn't help but respond. "Yeah, and that's what worries me. Discord said the challenges would get harder. And they've definitely been getting harder, and scarier."

Pinkie waved a hoof. "Well, just don't let what he's doing get to you. Think about other things, like me for example. Ooh, and you can't forget Twilight, Rarity and even Trixie!" Then the pink party pony excitedly smiled as something came to her mind! "Come to think of it, if Rainbow Dash loses the next challenge then we're all kind of winners no matter what. Because if Rainbow goes that means the winner will be someone from our former team: The Magical Misfits."

Derpy nearly gasped in surprise! "Wow! I never even thought of that! Can't believe I didn't notice."

"I just kind of noticed it too to be honest." Pinkie confessed with a giggle.

Unbeknownst to the two eccentric mares, they were being watched from inside the cabin by none other than Rarity. And she couldn't help but smile sincerely.

A flicker of the camera showed Rarity with a starry look reflected in her blue eyes as she declared! "Oh, it's so adorable and so romantic! I just hope this couple has a happier ending than all the other ones so far," Then she sighed as her happy mood left her. "Spikey Wikey, darling, I really am sorry for the way I treated you."





With all the developments that were ongoing, sleep didn't come easy for the six surviving contestants that night. All of them were individually thinking about either who to eliminate next or what they would do with the million bits if they won it. The prize was now closer than it had ever seemed before!

Next morning, as the ponies filed into the mess hall and took their seats to enjoy breakfast (Pinkie Pie and Derpy sitting next to each other in a way that made what was happening between them obvious to everyone), they were soon greeted by a most dramatic entrance from Discord!

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD MORNING TMPI CONTESTANTS!" The witty spirit declared at the top of his lungs while dressed up to look like a reporter.

Twilight was the first pony to unplug her ears when the ringing had stopped. "Loud and... very loud, Discord." She unhappily remarked.

Even Nightmare Moon grumbled about it. "I'll say. Must you always do stuff like that?" And she scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I swear, you're such a little kid sometimes."

Discord ignored the rude remarks directed at him as he just snapped his talons, making his reporter's outfit disappear in a flash. "Hey, don't mind me, just trying to spice things up a little. After all, we've only got six contestants left in the game. And all but one of them have won at least one challenge since the teams were merged."

Derpy couldn't help but gulp a bit, knowing that she was the odd one out in the group. "Why did Discord have to go and paint a target on my back like that?" She thought to herself.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, yawned. If the rings around her eyes were any indication, last night had not been a good night for her and she had likely not slept good. "I'm sure we all know, Discord. Can we just enjoy breakfast in peace for once?"

Trixie was quick to chime in. "For once, The Great and Powerful Trixie agrees with Rainbow Dash."

But the spirit of chaos only waved a paw. "All in good time, my not so spectacular six. After all, so many have come before you:" And he began to rattle off the names of all the contestants that had previously been eliminated. "It started with Vinyl Scratch. Then it was Sweetie Belle. Then Gilda. Then Apple Bloom. Then Diamond Tiara. Then Derpy. Then Zecora. Then Princess Luna. Then Silver Spoon. Then Applejack. Then Spike. Then Gilda again. Then Cheerilee. Then Vinyl Scratch again. Then Scootaloo. Then Fluttershy. And finally Princess Celestia in that order."

Rarity blinked as she arched an eyebrow upward. "Why are you telling us all of this, Discord?"

"I could tell you, but I don't wanna spoil the surprise! Or rather, one of the surprises!" Discord declared with a grin. "Today, we're going to do something a little different. Since there's only six of you left, we'll be splitting you up into pairs. Three pairs for three challenges. And whichever pair wins the most challenges gets to share invincibility."

"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie excitedly declared! "Do we get a different partner for each challenge? Can we pick who we wanna pair up with?"

The draconequus simply answered with a shake of his head. "Nope. I'm pairing you all up as I see fit! And my choices will be final for all three challenges! So ready or not, it's time for you all to come together!" And with that, he snapped his paws once again!





A flash of light briefly blinded the six contestants. But when it had faded, they could see for themselves who had been paired up with whom.

Twilight and Rarity were one pair, Pinkie Pie and Derpy were another and Trixie and Rainbow Dash made up the third and final one.

"Are you kidding me?!" Rainbow Dash groaned in annoyance as she saw that each pair had one of their front hooves tied together, almost as if they were participating in a seven legged race (except they had hoofcuffs on instead of small rope bands). "Why'd I have to get stuck with an annoying know it all who knows nothing?!"

Trixie growled as she looked at her partner! "Trixie isn't very fond of you either, Rainbow Dash! She would rather see you fail so she can eliminate you!"

"Well too bad," Discord remarked as he stuck out his tongue. "You'll either both get invincibility, or you'll both get nothing."

Rainbow immediately questioned. "You mean we're stuck like this all day?"

The witty spirit grinned anew. "Well, not quite. There is one way you can be freed," He held up three sets of keys on a small chain. "I have here the keys to each set of hoofcuffs. At any point if you find you absolutely can't stand your partner, either of you is welcome to come over and take the key to your cuffs."

"Great, Trixie would gladly like to do that now if you don't mind!" The magician insisted as she began to trot over to Discord's location.

"Ah ah ah!" Discord corrected. "You might wanna hear me out before you do something you'll regret," And he cleared his throat. "Any of you can free yourself from the cuffs if you so choose. But if you do that, it'll be counted as a forfeit on both your parts. And should there be only one pair left standing at any point, that pair will automatically win invincibility," Then his grin returned. "So, unless winning isn't that important to any of you, I suggest you all at least try to get along."

At that, Trixie growled, groaned and kicked the floor with a hoof. "You made that rule up just so you could torment Trixie, didn't you?"

Discord feigned innocence. "Why do you ponies assume I make up these rules and challenges just to pick on some of you? I told you before, I'm not allowed to play favorites. I'm doing this because I've promised ponies drama and I intend to deliver," And he added. "Besides, if you really can't stand each other you have a way out. I just didn't think you'd want to give up before you've even started."

Rainbow Dash just yawned as she encouraged. "Just forget it, Trixie. I guess we're stuck together for the time being."

Reluctantly, Trixie agreed. "Trixie shall tolerate your presence, Rainbow Dash. But if you dare to get in The Great and Powerful Trixie's way of winning, she will make sure you pay the price!" She warned the brash speedster.

The rainbow maned pegasus mare just shrugged her free hoof. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with."





"Okay, all three pairs are set? No complaints?" Discord questioned as a silence fell over the mess hall. "None at all? If you do, as the saying goes 'Speak now or forever hold your peace.'"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "We're just being stuck together for today, Discord. It doesn't mean anything. Now cut the theatrics!"

The witty spirit seemed to feel ever so slightly hurt by the fashionista's remark given the expression in his eyes. But if he was upset he didn't show it outwardly. Instead, he just declared. "Oh, very well. Have it your way. Now then, if there are no further objections..." Nopony said a word. "We can proceed to the first challenge. Remember, it's best of three so whoever gets two wins first is the victor!"

Then there was the familiar snapping of talons, and the mess hall tables were filled to the brim with huge piles of food! The piles were so big they made Pinkie Pie's mouth water.

"Here's challenge number one," Discord declared to the three pairs. "This is an all-you-can-eat buffet of sorts. All of you must work with your chosen partner to eat as much food as you can. You'll each get to choose where to start from both tables, and can only move on to table two when everything on table one is gone."

"But how will we know who won?" Twilight questioned as she eyed the massive piles of food.

The spirit only grinned and replied. "I'll be keeping tabs. When the second table is empty, I'll announce the results. And whichever pair has the most eaten food will be the winner."

Nightmare Moon groaned. "And meanwhile, I'm going to be stuck with dish duty all day! Thanks for nothing, Discord."

Discord smiled in reply. "Oh, not to worry, Nightmare Moon. The dishes will clean themselves, I've enchanted them to. You just go ahead and get things ready for challenges two and three. I assume you know what to do?"

The wicked mare of darkness flashed her now notorious toothy smile as she began to light up her horn. "Oh yes, I remember now. You did give me some instructions, though I wasn't sure they were for until just now," And before departing she told the six ponies. "Enjoy this first challenge while you can, because you're gonna wish you had more like it when challenges two and three roll around."

A brief flicker of the camera showed Twilight and Rarity standing in the confessional together, with Twilight looking directly into the camera as she declared. "I don't like the sound of that. Whenever Nightmare Moon is like that it always means trouble."

Rarity, meanwhile, just commented. "And we don't have Princess Celestia to protect us anymore. We're on our own!"

Then the camera cut back to the mess hall with another flicker as Discord announced. "On your marks, get set, GO!" And the three pairs started their approach.

Or rather, two of them did and a third was still deciding how to even begin. Rainbow Dash and Trixie were already grumbling. "You're not hogging all the food! You'll fall asleep and cost us everything!" Trixie complained to Rainbow Dash!

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was dragging the hoofcuffs as she protested! "You don't get to call the shots, Trixie! I'm tired, but I wanna win at least one challenge today."

Trixie rolled her eyes. "Just one challenge? Are you insane? We need two to win it all!"

The brash speedster rolled her eyes right back. "Look, do you wanna win or not? The others are already way ahead of us!" And she gestured a hoof, showing the two other pairs already digging into the piles of food on the first table.

Pinkie Pie, for her part, was pulling food into her mouth with her free hooves as fast as she could! She'd always been a big eater and a challenge like this was right up her alley! She only occasionally glanced back to see Derpy taking bites at a considerably slower pace, even slower than Twilight and Rarity.

Rarity was being noticeably picky about what foods she would touch. She would often toss food aside if it was "Too Messy" or didn't have the right colors (among other things).

As for Twilight, she was trying to decide how best to carry out her approach. She couldn't help but wonder what challenges two and three would involve, and she was thinking in the back of her mind. "There must be something behind Discord naming all the contestants and their elimination order. What could he have in mind?"





When Trixie and Rainbow Dash finally settled on an approach, they slowly but surely began to catch up to Twilight and Rarity. Rainbow Dash was eating rather slowly, owing to her sleep deprivation. But Trixie was munching and chewing away like there was no tomorrow!

However, it seemed like there was no stopping the bottomless stomach that was Pinkie Pie! For every bite that Derpy and the other pairs were taking, the pink party pony took at least three. And it seemed like nothing could make her slow down. She just kept eating and eating, just like she'd done in the cupcake eating challenge before the merger.

The camera flickered to show Rainbow Dash in the confessional with Trixie, and the brash speedster was already complaining. "This is totally unfair! Why couldn't the first challenge be something where I could rest?! Of course Pinkie Pie is gonna do well in an eating challenge!" Then she yawned again. "I just want this whole thing to end so I can get some sleep. At this point, I don't even care if I lose if it means I get a good night's sleep for once."

Trixie, however, impatiently stomped a hoof and turned around to look at the confessional camera. "Trixie will not lose invincibility and risk elimination because her partner didn't feel like playing! Trixie wants to have the honor of crushing Rainbow Dash in a fair fight!"

"Feeling's mutual, Trixie," Rainbow replied with another yawn. "Let's just hope the next two challenges are more suitable to us. If we win the second challenge, we just have to stop Pinkie Pie and Derpy from winning the third and then it doesn't matter what happens."

The camera quickly cut back to the mess hall just as Pinkie Pie was stuffing the last bit of food from the first table into her mouth. "Come on, Derpy!" She declared as she quickly swallowed! "We're halfway to victory!"

Derpy panted. "Not so fast, Pinkie! I can't keep up with you like this!"

The pink party pony quickly apologized. "Sorry, Derpy. But that's why you gotta leave the eating to me. Now come on! We're already almost a third of the way to victory! After we win this challenge, we just gotta win one more and we're safe for another round!"

Twilight and Rarity, meanwhile, had already made their way over to the second table and were beginning to eat the food there. Rarity found most of what was offered there to be much more preferable to her, allowing her to increase her pace just a little (a lady had to have some manners no matter what the situation).

Rainbow Dash slowly and sleepily let herself be dragged over to the second table by Trixie. "Just let it go, Trixie," She insisted. "We're not gonna win this one. Let's save our energy for the next challenge."

Trixie would hear nothing of it! "If we stop Pinkie Pie and Derpy on this challenge, the odds are on our side for the next two! We can't let the competition get any kind of leg up!" She firmly insisted as she began to grab whatever she could fit into her mouth, stuffing her face as fast as lightning!

But no matter how hard the other pairs tried, they couldn't keep up with Pinkie Pie! Derpy's eating was about on par with the rest of the contestants, but Pinkie alone left them all in the dust. She wasn't slowing down for even a second despite the silent hopes of her fellow contestants.

At last, Discord made the announcement everyone had probably seen coming from a mile away! "And we have a winner! Pinkie Pie and Derpy take the win in the all-you-can-eat challenge!" He dramatically declared. "All you can stop eating now."

The other contestants let out sighs of relief, happy not to expend their energy trying to keep up with Pinkie.

The pink party pony, for her part, just let out a satisfied belch. "Oh, that was so much fun!" She happily proclaimed, before blushing upon noticing how much of a mess her face was. "Oh, goodness me."

Rarity did her best not to look too offended by Pinkie's appearance. "Honestly, Pinkie. I think your table manners could use a refresher course when this is all over," And she faintly groaned. "I'm glad I wasn't paired up with you. I would've been ashamed to be associated with such a performance."

The camera flickered, showing Pinkie Pie in the confessional as she was licking her lips in order to try to wash her face clean. "I can't help it when food is so good!" She firmly insisted while Derpy stood behind her. Then she giggled. "Boy, it's really weird to be doing all this stuff with another contestant."

Derpy nodded. "Same here."

"Got anything you wanna say? Anything at all?" The pink party pony asked her partner. "Even just a shout out or two to someone back home?"

The wall eyed mare shook her head. "Nope, I'm good."

"Okie dokie lokie then," Pinkie excitedly declared as she eyed the door to the confessional. "Let's get back to the competition! I hope the next two challenges are just as fun as the first one! And best of all, if we win either one we win the whole thing! Isn't that great?!"

The pegasus mare stammered and blushed a bit. "Uh, yeah, I think," And she silently whispered to the camera. "I wouldn't know what to do with a million bits." Fortunately, her partner didn't overhear.





Discord applauded Pinkie Pie and Derpy some more even after the first challenge had been won. "Bravo to the both of you," He declared. "Give yourselves a pat on the back, while you still can."

Rainbow Dash just yawned, stretched and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah yeah, we know. So what's our next challenge gonna be? Make it quick, I'm already tired."

"My my, aren't we the impatient one?" The witty spirit scolded.

Twilight couldn't help but glare. "It's because of your challenges, Discord. You knew Rainbow Dash wouldn't be able to resist going up against Nightmare Moon. And whatever she saw yesterday scared her."

Discord only shook his head. "It's her own fault for thinking she could handle it. I'm not responsible for anything Nightmare Moon did to her or showed to her."

Trixie only humphed, swishing her tail in impatience! "Just announce the next challenge, already! Trixie is ready to win it!"

Discord couldn't help but grin. "Oh, I bet you will be considering most of you will have no experience with the object of importance," He soon snapped his talons, producing a worn and creepy looking idol. "Only Rainbow Dash knows the horror behind this," He paused and snickered a bit. "'Artifact'."

The brash speedster very nearly jolted awake in surprise from seeing the idol! "No way! That's the thing that cursed my team with bad luck for the rest of the challenges until the merger, and even after we voted out Zecora for bringing it back from the other island too," She then inquired. "What the hay is it still doing here?! Zecora was supposed to get rid of it! Can't that zebra do anything right?!"

The chaos maker just replied. "Hey, don't be blaming your zebra friend. The curse only lasted until the idol was discovered. Any 'bad luck' after that was entirely on you."

Rainbow wasn't convinced. Her eyes narrowed in anger. "I don't buy it for a second! There's no other explanation for why my team lost three straight challenges on top of losing the cooking challenge."

"You mean, besides what Cheerilee suggested?" Rarity pointed out.

Rainbow stepped back and blinked as though in shock! "Don't you start bringing that up, Rarity! I'm not the monster! Nightmare Moon was just trying to play mind games with me."

Discord loudly cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I'm not finished talking yet," And only once he was certain all eyes were on him again did he resume speaking. "Now, if I could kindly explain without being interrupted..." He glanced around as though expecting it. But it seemed he had managed to intimidate any would be commenters into silence for the time being. "That's better. Anyway, as I was about to say: Zecora didn't have time to get rid of it before she was voted off."

Twilight questioned. "Then how why bring it up now?"

The witty spirit simply gestured a paw over to the Dock of Shame. "Because a certain somepony, not naming names, was supposed to take the idol back after dumping off Zecora. But she forgot to do so because she instead wanted to keep tormenting Princess Celestia. So she just buried it in the ground and thought I wouldn't find out. I did."

"So, what? We're to take turns bringing... whatever that hideous thing is..." Rarity frowned and even shuddered a bit from fright. "Back to the other island?"

The spirit corrected. "Dusk Island. And no, that would be stupid! The six of you can't possibly be trusted to split one idol," He promptly made said idol vanish. "I just brought it back up so you could all see what it looks like. After all, it wouldn't be fair when even Rainbow Dash doesn't remember it."

A flicker showed Rainbow Dash grumbling rather irritably in the confessional as her free hoof was folded across her chest in a pout. "Why would I want to remember something that brought my team bad luck? Before that idol came along, my team had only lost two players while Twilight's team had lost three. And then they lost a fourth before the idol's bad luck kicked in. If not for that, I'm sure we could've kept on winning until the merger."

Trixie grinned and laughed as she turned around to face the camera herself. "Ha! Unlike you, Rainbow Dash, The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need for luck!"

The brash speedster groaned in annoyance. "Ugh! I hate having to share this stupid confessional with you! I hate this whole stupid challenge! I just want it to be over with!"

The camera then cut back to the contestants standing in front of Discord as he was continuing to explain the second challenge of the day. "The idol will be waiting in front of a cave on Dusk Island. All of you are to work together to row a canoe out to the island. Then find the cave where the idol will be waiting. Simply toss into the cave and viola, you win the second challenge! If Pinkie Pie and Derpy win this one too, there'll be no need for the third challenge. But I doubt that'll happen," He then waved to the six ponies. "Best of luck!" And he disappeared in a flash.





With seemingly relentless energy (no doubt due to all the food she had consumed earlier) Pinkie Pie rushed down to the water's edge with Derpy in tow! Just like Discord had said, three canoes similar to the ones that had been used during the expedition to Dusk Island and back (coincidentally, the very challenge where Derpy had ultimately been "eliminated") were waiting.

"This'll be just like old times!" Pinkie excitedly declared to Derpy! "Come on, let's row, row, row! Victory is so close I can smell it!"

Derpy nodded. "I hope you're right, Pinkie," Though she couldn't help but whisper to herself. "I've got a very bad feeling about this."

As for Trixie, she ended up being the one to lead Rainbow Dash to one of the canoes. "You're going to help Trixie row whether you want to or not!" She told her temporary partner.

Rainbow yawned yet again. "If it means this whole thing can be over with faster, fine. Let's just make sure Pinkie Pie and Derpy don't win." And she took one set of oars as she sat down in a way where she wouldn't have to look at the magician.

Twilight and Rarity took the third and final unoccupied canoe, the two opting to sit down next to each other as Twilight declared. "I sure hope we don't have to stay on Dusk Island overnight or something. That place was creepy."

Rarity nodded. "And it was responsible for us losing a challenge, I'm sure of it. Nothing good ever comes from a place where bad luck idols can be found," And she was quick to add. "I feel sorry for Zecora though. I can't imagine the guilt she must've felt unintentionally cursing her own team."

"She's not the only one who's done something they regret." Twilight shamefully looked down at the ground as the three pairs began rowing away from Paradox Island and out to Dusk Island.

The fashionista unicorn couldn't help but notice the remark and the expression even as her mind remained focused on rowing in sync with Twilight. "Still thinking about Princess Celestia, Twilight?"

Twilight unhappily nodded. "She didn't have to sacrifice herself to protect me. And she didn't have to do it just because she felt like she was staying in the game longer than she should've. There was no reason for her to give up an easy win. If she was really worried about me, she could've easily used her clout to protect me. And I know you and Pinkie Pie at least wouldn't vote against me."

Rarity replied in between movements of the oars. "Twilight, take it from somepony who's still torn up about the way she acted: Blaming yourself is never a good option for long. Eventually, you need to move on and focus on playing the game."

The studious unicorn slowly responded. "I guess so. I have to move on and try to win, for Princess Celestia's sake if nothing else."

Rarity smiled. "Now that's more like it, Twilight!" Though she then couldn't help but ask. "So, about you and Trixie? And about you and Vinyl Scratch?"

Twilight felt her cheeks flush pink in embarrassment! "Rarity, it doesn't mean anything! I have no idea how to even read Trixie! And I don't know what came over me with Vinyl. I just felt sorry for her and then the next thing I knew..."

The fashionista couldn't help but grin. "It's okay to admit you're in love. There's been unexpected romances abound in this game. Don't tell me you haven't seen the way Pinkie Pie's been acting around Derpy lately."

"You really think something's blossoming between them?" The studious unicorn nervously inquired. "It seems like whenever love starts to bloom, disaster isn't too far behind."

Rarity nodded again. "Which is why I'm not gonna say anything about it to them, and you aren't either. It'll just be our little secret." And she gave a knowing wink.





The three pairs continued to row for what felt like ages, though Pinkie's seemingly endless energy kept her and Derpy just ahead of the others as Dusk Island slowly but surely came into view.

"Never thought I'd see this place again." Rainbow Dash remarked as she and Trixie rowed ashore just behind Pinkie Pie and Derpy.

Trixie nodded. "The Great and Powerful Trixie agrees with you again, Rainbow Dash. It is becoming an annoying habit," Then she snorted. "Let's just focus on finding the cave where that stupid idol is. Those two annoying idiots are already far ahead of us! We can't let them win!"

Rainbow just sighed and yawned. "Lead the way oh fearless leader." She sarcastically remarked while rolling her eyes.

Twilight and Rarity, meanwhile, rowed ashore and got out just as they saw Trixie and Rainbow Dash head off to the east.

"Any guesses on where we'll find the cave with the idol?" Rarity asked Twilight.

Twilight scratched her head with her free hoof. "I think I remember seeing caves or something similar on the other side of the island. Let's just cut straight through and keep a sharp lookout."

"Fine by me," Rarity agreed with her fellow unicorn. "I want this challenge to be over and done with so I don't have to spend a minute more on this island than I have to."

And as for Pinkie Pie, she was leading herself and Derpy on the west side of the island! "Come on, Derpy!" She enthusiastically said to her partner. "If we find the cave with the idol, we win invincibility! We're so close!"

Derpy, however, was less than enthusiastic. Being back on Dusk Island was bringing back all kinds of bad memories, memories she had been trying hard to forget. The thick fog on the island wasn't helping matters. To her, it sounded like voices were calling out to her.

The wall-eyed mare kept thinking to herself. "I must be brave! I must be brave!" But it was only of so much help as she was being led along by the pink coated mare with whom she was still trying to figure out her feelings (if any) for.

Thus, the three pairs combed over their sections of the island quite thoroughly, searching high and low for any signs of a cave (after all, Discord hadn't specified which cave he'd meant).

"You'd think it would be easier to find a cave with an idol lurking right outside it," Rainbow Dash complained to Trixie as the two continued to wander about aimlessly. "I sure hope this wasn't some trick by Discord to send us on a wild goose chase."

Just then, however, Discord's voice echoed across the whole island! "And we have our winners for the second challenge!" And all three pairs were brought to the same location in a flash!

Trixie and Rainbow Dash silently pleaded for the winners not to be Pinkie Pie and Derpy (for they knew it couldn't have been them).

The witty spirit smiled as he had the three pairs standing in front of a cave on the completely opposite end of the island from which they had arrived. "Congratulations to our winners of the second challenge: Twilight Sparkle and Rarity! The dynamic duo of truly Magical Misfits!"

"Shoot!" Pinkie groaned at the top of her lungs while looking at Derpy! "We were so close! Just another minute and we would've found the same cave."

Discord couldn't help but taunt. "Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Close only counts in horseshoes and hoof grenades."

Derpy was quick to put her free hoof around her partner. "It's okay, Pinkie. We still have the third challenge. We just have to win that to win invincibility."

"Speaking of the third challenge," Trixie remarked as she looked up at Discord. "What would happen if say Trixie and Rainbow Dash were to win it?"

The chaos maker declared in an unconcerned tone. "Well, we'd have to host a special tiebreaker to determine who wins. But somehow I don't think that'll be necessary."

"Why is that?" The magician inquired with an arched eyebrow. "What challenge awaits us back on Paradox Island?"





But to the surprise of all six contestants, Discord threw back his head and laughed loudly. "Whoever said you'd be going back to Paradox Island for the third challenge? Why do you wanna leave Dusk Island now?"

"But I thought..." Twilight began.

The witty spirit only grinned. "-I sent Nightmare Moon ahead of you all for two reasons: One of them was to place the idol she was supposed to have returned here long ago. The other..." He paused for dramatic effect while leading the contestants to a small clearing nearby. "Was to prepare work stations for your third and final challenge of the day."

All six ponies' eyes widened as they saw huge workbenches, and wooden carvings that loosely looked like the faces of the eliminated contestants!

"Remember earlier when I mentioned all the contestants who came before you?" Discord explained with a knowing smirk. "That was to help prepare you all for this challenge. You're to assemble a totem pole involving the correct order of eliminations: Starting on the bottom with the first loser and going all the way up to the most recently sent packing. Whoever does it first wins the challenge. And unless Trixie and Rainbow Dash do that, we'll have a winning pair."

Twilight smiled. "Sounds easy enough."

"Yes," Discord nodded. "But you only have until sundown to assemble your totem pole! And some contestants have lost more than once. So you'll have to be quick but careful. Hope your memories are good, because sundown's going to be upon us in about an hour or so." And he disappeared in another flash, laughing all the while.

As soon as Discord was gone, the camera flickered and showed Rarity pouting in the confessional set up on Dusk Island (pretty much the same as the one back on Paradox Island, just more creepily designed on the inside and outside). "Well, I suppose Twilight will come in handy for this challenge. I most certainly couldn't keep track of who went when or why. All I know is that my sister was wrongfully sent home far too early in the game."

Another flicker showed Rainbow Dash groaning in the confessional. "How am I supposed to remember who went when?! They all kind of blend together! And I most certainly didn't pay attention when Twilight's team was eliminating ponies, the only one I would've noticed was Scootaloo's and I know she made it to the merger," Then she blushed. "I'm never gonna forget those words she said before her elimination. Don't know where she picked them up though, 'cause she sure as hay didn't get 'em from me."

The camera then cut back to the three pairs heading over to the three workbenches, each claiming one for their own as they had to work with sixteen wooden heads that had been crudely carved out in a haste.

And a quick glance out to the horizon indicated how little time the three pairs would have to complete their task. The sun was already quite low in the sky, or at least that's how it seemed. Had the trek out to Dusk Island really taken that long, or was this just Discord manipulating the sun to mess with them because Princess Celestia hadn't regained her powers yet?

Well, there was no way to know and no one wanted to find if the spirit was bluffing. Besides, the prospect of invincibility (or forcing a tie in Trixie and Rainbow Dash's case) was far too good to pass up!





Each of the three pairs were able to start out the same: The first Vinyl Scratch head was placed on the bottom. But figuring out the remaining fourteen that would come before Princess Celestia (the last to be eliminated and thus the most recent in everyone's mind) was difficult.

It wasn't long before confusion started breaking out amongst the pairs, which also lead to arguments from some.

"I'm telling you, you're giving Scoot's friends way too little credit," Rainbow Dash complained to Trixie as she saw the magician opting to place the heads of Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom just above Zecora. "I don't think we got rid of Sweetie Belle first."

Trixie rolled her eyes. "Trixie quite clearly remembers Sweetie Belle costing your team their challenge, and tricking Apple Bloom and Scootaloo so Trixie could stay in the game," She then grumbled. "You should be able to remember most of this. Your team lost three members in a row and four in the span of five challenges."

The brash speedster only protested. "All I know is Spike was supposed to be eliminated after Silver Spoon, but he messed with the votes and got Applejack eliminated instead. And that was right before the teams were dissolved. Everything before that's a blur though."

Pinkie Pie was having her own problems, namely in trying to recall when Gilda and Derpy had been eliminated for the first time and when all those Royal Ruffians had been sent packing. "Oh, this is so hard! I could never keep track of it all!" She groaned aloud. "Come on, Derpy! Help me out here!"

But Derpy sheepishly blushed while stacking Sweetie Belle, Gilda and then Apple Bloom's head on top of each other. "I can't really remember the order after that. And I wasn't here for the Royal Ruffians' losing skid. The Doctor wouldn't let me watch the show."

The pink party pony complained. "Are you serious?! Who wouldn't wanna watch this show?! It's got everything! Action, drama, romance, twists, humor, great characters, I could go on and on."

"Well, I know Spike was the first one to go after I came back if that helps." The wall-eyed mare commented.

But all that did was make Pinkie scratch her head with her free hoof. "That still leaves a whole six eliminations to figure out, including your first one. Was that before or after the Royal Ruffians voted out Diamond Tiara and Zecora though?" And she looked at the three carved heads, trying to decide how she should stack them.

Rarity, meanwhile, was calling out to Twilight. "Are you absolutely sure the Royal Ruffians voted out their teammates that way? I know we were shocked to learn about Applejack's elimination, and hers was the last before the merger. But I could've sworn Silver Spoon came before Princess Luna because the paintball challenge was after the cooking challenge."

Twilight shook her head. "No, I specifically remember Princess Luna was not present for the paintball challenge when you got jealous of Silver Spoon," And she then declared. "Now, was Gilda eliminated before Cheerilee, or did that come after? I think it was before."

The fashionista rolled her eyes. "That griffon might have been right about Rainbow Dash, but her behavior in the dodgeball challenge was appalling. I would've gladly traded her return for Sweetie Belle's or even Silver Spoon's, and I never thought I'd want to see that filly again after what I did to her."

The studious unicorn grumbled. "This isn't the time to get sentimental, Rarity! We can't let Trixie and Rainbow Dash win, or who knows what we'll have to do for a tiebreaker?"

And while those disagreements were unfolding, Trixie couldn't help but scoff. "Wow, that useless DJ-PON-3 or Vinyl Scratch or whatever her name was somehow managed to make it back into the game," And with a huff she declared. "She almost certainly went after that loser Spike. If Vinyl were smart, she would've never come back to the game in the first place. We were right to vote her off first."

Rainbow Dash snarled. "I'd rather have her for a partner now than be stuck with you. I can't believe you've survived for this long," And then she threw down the wooden heads she had gathered! "That's it! I'm not helping you anymore! I could care less if I get voted off because of this!"

Trixie, however, just yanked harder on the hoofcuffs! "You're not leaving! Trixie has a use for you, so you will stay! Together, we will win this challenge and the tiebreaker so that Trixie may yet have the honor of crushing you!"

The rainbow maned pegasus roared! "Ha! You and what army?!"

"Um, girls?" Derpy called out as she nervously watched the two ego driven ponies start come to blows.

Even Pinkie Pie was commenting. "You know, maybe I can see why not everypony would watch this show. If Mr. and Mrs. Cake's baby were to see something like this, that might be a bad influence."

Fortunately, before any possible physical altercation could take place, Discord reappeared as he declared! "And we have a winner for our third challenge! Just in the nick of time too. Way to go Twilight and Rarity!"

With that, all eyes fell upon the completed totem pole that the two unicorns had managed to put together. It started with Vinyl Scratch's first head on the bottom, followed by Sweetie Belle, Gilda's first head and Apple Bloom. Diamond Tiara and Derpy were next, followed by the five in a row Royal Ruffians: Zecora, Princess Luna, Silver Spoon, Applejack and Spike. Then cane the quartet of Magical Misfits: Gilda's second head, Cheerilee, Vinyl Scratch's second head and Scootaloo. Fluttershy was next. And on the very top rested Princess Celestia.

Twilight wiped the sweat from her brows with her free hoof. "I can't believe we got them all," She declared in an exhausted tone as she looked across to Rarity. "Good thing you remembered Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's eliminations because I'd completely forgotten. Heck, I don't like remembering Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom or Silver Spoon's eliminations."

"Neither do I, Twilight," Rarity remarked in an equally exhausted tone. "But in this case I'd say it was well worth the effort."

The witty spirit simply applauded their efforts by putting his paws together. "Indeed it was. The two of you can enjoy the perks of invincibility tonight. As for the rest of you," He looked at the four contestants who had come up short. "Well, I don't think I need to say it do I? You all know what's coming."

"Can we please get out of the hoofcuffs now?!" Rainbow Dash impatiently demanded! "I want to get as far away from Trixie as possible, even if it's through the Dock of Shame!"

"Oh of course, I was just getting to that," Discord insisted as he snapped his talons and made the cuffs disappear as quickly as they had arrived. "Now come on, Nightmare Moon's going to take us back to Paradox Island. Isn't that nice of her to volunteer?"

A brief flicker of the camera showed Twilight in the Dusk Island confessional as she remarked. "Somehow, I don't think Nightmare Moon 'volunteered' to transport us all."





Sure enough, a very grouchy looking Nightmare Moon was waiting on The Boat of Losers to transport the six contestant back to Paradox Island. "I really don't see the point of this. One of you will be leaving the island soon anyway, why not hold the vote on Dusk Island and leave them there?" She proposed.

Discord just waved a paw. "That's not how we do things, Nightmare Moon. I can't change up the rules so close to the end just because you don't like them." And he promptly snapped his talons, producing the same sunglasses and umbrella drink he'd had when he'd let Nightmare Moon hunt down the contestants a few challenges ago.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was sleeping and snoring happily away. All that food from earlier had now made her very sleepy, especially since she was no longer burning it for adrenaline for challenges. She actually looked kind of peaceful doing so.

However, it was while the pink party pony was sleeping that Derpy was making up her mind about something. To that end, she made her way over to where the victorious duo of Twilight and Rarity were sitting, overhearing the two unicorns discuss who to eliminate.

"It's hard to say who deserves it more between Rainbow Dash and Trixie," Rarity commented. "Both of them have done some pretty terrible things. And after what happened today, one of them needs to be removed before either of them does something to the other that they can't take back."

Twilight firmly nodded. "I say we should consider Rainbow Dash. Trixie is hard to read: Sometimes she seems nice, but other times she's so cold."

The fashionista nodded back. "True, but she's been a target for such a long time. Without her to antagonize Rainbow Dash and bring out the worst in her, maybe we can yet sway our friend back to the side of good."

Derpy then cleared her throat, making her presence known. "Girls, by any chance would you consider voting for me instead?"

Twilight and Rarity spun around as Rarity pondered. "Whatever for, darling? You haven't done much wrong since coming back here. And Pinkie Pie is certainly pleased to have you around."

The wall-eyed mare confessed. "I haven't been doing very well. I just can't concentrate. I feel like I've been letting down all those ponies I had to leave behind to come back here. And because I was part of Rainbow Dash's alliance, Spike, Gilda and Cheerilee all got sent home when they shouldn't have."

Twilight nervously insisted. "Derpy, I don't like where this is going! This is sounding a lot like Princess Celestia and Vinyl Scratch. Whatever your reasons may be, you really should reconsider."

But Derpy pleaded with the two unicorns! "Please! I wish I knew how I could explain it, but I have a feeling that The Doctor needs my help," And she added. "Besides, I'm the only one of us left who hasn't won a challenge since the merge. Even if I could survive this round, how much longer would I really last? I don't even know how I'd spend the prize money if I got it."

"Not even on corrective eye surgery?" The fashionista suggested.

Derpy shook her head. "I tried for years to get my eyes fixed, but all the best doctors I went to couldn't stop it. I've learned to live with my walled eyes. And I've made a comfortable living for myself as a mail mare."

Sensing that the pegasus mare wasn't going to let the subject go, Twilight reluctantly remarked. "Well... we'll think about it. No promises though," And she added. "And if Pinkie Pie asks, we're going to tell her the truth."

Rarity nodded. "Indeed. The poor dear will be so broken up inside if you leave for any reason."





Not long after the six contestants returned, night time came and that meant it was time for another vote. "Twilight and Rarity are the only ones safe from elimination tonight," Discord reminded everypony. "We'll start with the losers: Trixie and Rainbow Dash. Trixie, since you were the leader, I'll let you do the honors of starting us off."

Trixie rose from her spot and trotted off to the confessional. "With pleasure," She quickly entered the confessional and angrily pressed down hard on Rainbow Dash's ballot with the stamp. "Trixie hopes she never again has to see your sorry face, Rainbow Dash!" She snorted and then trotted back out.

Rainbow Dash entered soon afterward, and she stamped Trixie's ballot with equal fury. "Thanks for nothing, Trixie," She grumbled. "Enjoy your loss."

Pinkie Pie was the next to enter, and she stamped Rainbow Dash's ballot after only a little bit of hesitation. "Sorry I have to do this, Rainbow Dash. But you've gotta answer for what you did to Scootaloo and Derpy." She declared even though no one else could hear her.

Derpy came into the confessional after Pinkie Pie, and she stamped her own ballot while looking into the camera. "I'll be coming back to you soon, Doctor. I promise."

When Rarity entered the confessional next, she hesitated for quite a while over her choices. "Oh, this is so difficult!" She complained and closed her eyes, ultimately stamping the ballot of Derpy when she opened them again. "Pinkie Pie, please forgive me for this."

Soon afterward, Twilight voted and then the wooden ballot box was brought out by Discord as he opened it up, reading the votes aloud. "I've got one vote for Rainbow Dash, one vote for Trixie and one vote for Derpy. Three out of six so far," He then continued on. "Another vote for Rainbow Dash and another vote for Derpy, that's two a piece for our pegasi. And the last vote is for:" He paused to build suspense before revealing. "Derpy! With three votes to Rainbow Dash's two, you're officially out of the game again. This time for good!"

"WHAT?!" Pinkie Pie gasped in shock and horror! "But... but that's impossible! I didn't vote for her!"

Discord simply waved a paw. "Hey, I'm washing my paws of this one. I have no control over the votes or who decides to vote for whom."

Derpy, meanwhile, trotted over to Pinkie and put a hoof around her fellow mare. "I'm sorry, Pinkie Pie. It had to be this way. I can't stay here any longer. I never should've come back."

"But Derpy, you can't! You can't leave!" Pinkie insisted! "You were doing so good."

The wall eyed mare only replied. "Maybe, but I have other friends. Friends who need me. Friends I never should've left in the first place," And she apologized. "I'm sorry for doing this. I knew you'd try to stop me. Which is why I had to see to it myself," But then she added. "Don't worry though, I'll come back someday. I promise!"

The witty spirit only remarked. "Well that's very touching, but we're running out of time here. Am I gonna have to drag you down the Dock of Shame myself?"

But there was no need for such a thing. Instead, the air was suddenly filled with a familiar whirring sound as all of a sudden a huge blue box of some kind materialized in mid-air! It quickly touched down in the sand, and from the box's door emerged the figure of Octavia Melody. "Derpy, there you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!" She declared in an impatient tone of voice. "The Doctor's been worrying himself sick!"

Derpy just trotted over to the box. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be gone for so long."

"Well, all is forgiven as long as you're willing to help us see our mission through to the end," Octavia remarked. "Now come on, we're late already!"

Waving goodbye, Derpy stepped into the box as Octavia shut the door behind the two. And then, just as mysteriously as it had appeared, the blue box was gone!

"Well... that was... weird, even for me," Discord commented as he blinked in surprise. "Still, that's one less contestant to worry about. So now it's five soon to be four here on Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 22: A Day With The Losers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun shone down on the Dock of Shame as Discord stood on it, looking into the cameras and smiling as he began his usual spiel recapping the events of the previous twenty four hours. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island."

Then, like as always, the camera began to flicker and cut to clips from that period. And all the while, Discord was explaining. "Princess Celestia's abrupt elimination left Twilight Sparkle wondering what her mentor was up to. And Rainbow Dash was trying to figure out just what was going on when Nightmare Moon had shown her her worst fear. All the while, Pinkie Pie continued to get close to Derpy even if she wasn't aware of it herself."

Soon the camera cut to the previous day, showing the six surviving ponies in the mess hall with Discord and Nightmare Moon. And the witty spirit continued his narrations. "I decided to change things up for the six contestants still left, placing them into pairs and tasking them with three challenges to win invincibility. And I must say, the pairings were a stroke of pure genius on my part!"

A clip showed what the three pairings were: Pinkie Pie and Derpy, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity and Trixie and Rainbow Dash. And Discord was simply narrating as the clips continued to roll. "Trixie and Rainbow Dash in particular did NOT get along well, like at all! And boy let me tell you, the audience just eats that sort of thing up!" He paused briefly to laugh before regaining his composure.

Another clip showed the three challenges briefly as Discord explained the events of each. "The challenges themselves were pretty straightforward, though by no means easy. First there was an all-you-can-eat buffet, then a canoe race to Dusk Island to bury a bad luck idol Zecora left behind, and finally a totem pole construction featuring carved heads of all the eliminated contestants."

The chaos maker kept up his narrations as the outcome of each of the three challenges was shown briefly. "Pinkie Pie propelled herself and Derpy to victory in the first challenge, hoping to secure invincibility and keep Derpy in the game. Then Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were able to return the idol safely and win the second challenge. And ultimately, they won the third challenge too in the nick of time, giving them both invincibility."

From there, the camera cut to show the contestants being brought back to Paradox Island via the Boat of Losers. And Discord was explaining everything. "Derpy, fearing that she had come back to the show when she wasn't supposed to, ultimately convinced Twilight and Rarity to vote her out. And Derpy cast a vote for herself as well to seal the deal," The results of the voting that night were shown as Discord continued. "However, Derpy got a bit of a different send-off than usual. But an elimination is still an elimination in my book so... whatever."

The clips ended as the five remaining contestants could be briefly seen behind Discord, though the spirit paid them no mind. "Now that only five contestants remain in the game, we're going to do something a little different. I've left Nightmare Moon to watch over our survivors and make sure they don't get into any trouble," He then grinned. "'Where are we going?' you might ask? Why, to here of course!"

A snap of his talons caused the spirit to appear in front of a huge tropical resort, the sun shining down on the dock leading up to the front entrance. And he was explaining. "This here is the place where all the eliminated contestants have come after losing. Yes, all of them. We checked, Derpy is here with them. I guess that 'Doctor' figured she needed some rest and relaxation," Then he declared. "So we're going to check in on the fifteen ponies that have been eliminated thus far. We'll get to see what they've been up to and even hear what they have to say about the survivors."

Discord then turned back to the cameras. "Excited, aren't we? Well good, you should be! So stick around for this very special episode of Total Magic Pony Island!"





The cameras were still rolling as Discord kept narrating. "Like what you see, don't you? Well don't tell any of the contestants still in the game, Rarity especially. Boy, if she knew what awaits the losers she'd flip her lid and quit the show in a heartbeat. Good for her but very bad for me."

Then the spirit turned his attention toward the resort proper. "We call this place 'The Palais De Perdantes', which is Prench for 'The Palace of Losers'," He said with a grin, speaking to his imaginary audience. "I know, I know, I have such a way with words. But hey, don't just take my word for it. Why don't we check in on our lovely bunch of ex Magical Misfits and Royal Ruffians and see how they're all doing?" He then snapped his talons and seemed to disappear as only his voice could be heard. "I'm not even here. Get the cameras inside!"

So the cameras were brought up a small staircase at the edge of the dock, quickly approaching the front doors of the resort as the witty spirit not so secretly turned the knobs and made the doors swing open.

The cameras quickly moved across the interior, showing off lavish, tiled floors and a tropical setting. Sunlight beamed down from a huge overhead glass ceiling. There were also several large pools (some complete with slides and diving boards), a hut tub, a sauna and of course several large pool chairs. There didn't seem to be any lifeguards on duty though, even despite the fact that in the middle of one of the pools was what could be described as a floating bar.

Suddenly, there was a gasp before the familiar form of Princess Celestia appeared. In stark contrast to how she had appeared on Paradox Island, she had her usual flowing mane and tail and was considerably taller. She had on a pair of sunglasses that she lifted up as she exclaimed! "Oh my me! They're filming an episode here?!" A faint blush could be seen forming on her cheeks as the alicorn giggled like a school filly. "Oh, I wish I'd have known. I'm... not prepared."

Another voice could be heard calling out from a distance. "Sister, who are you talking to? Please don't tell me you're talking to yourself."

Celestia giggled again as she whispered to the cameras. "Uh, would you excuse me for a moment?" She promptly turned her back and trotted away, soon explaining. "Luna, we have company. It would seem Discord wants to film an episode here for whatever reason. He sent cameras over."

"What?!" The voice from before called! "Why didn't you just say so?! They've been here before to see me. I guess they must really like me," And soon, who should come trotting up to the cameras but Princess Luna in all her glory?! "Greetings, citizens of Equestria! It is I, your favorite princess of the night! In fact, your only princess of the night. Did you miss me?!"

Princess Celestia trotted over, gazing into the cameras as she pulled her younger sister away. "Luna, don't get up so close," She lightly scolded and then blushed. "I'm sorry, my subjects. Luna is still adapting to these sort of things, and it seems she still has a bit of that desire for attention she always had."

The night princess chuckled and waved a hoof. "Sister, surely you're not suggesting I'm jealous, are you? I'm more than happy to share the spotlight with you."

The sun princess grinned. "Whatever you say, sister," Then she looked back at the cameras. "Uh, you can cut this out in editing, right? Please tell me you're not recording this live."

Luna could only reply with a smirk. "If I know Discord, I'm sure this is being broadcast live."

Celestia sighed. "Great. Even after my elimination he's still intent on humiliating and embarrassing me."

Princess Luna just turned to face the cameras. "Don't mind my buzzkill of a sister. Just focus on me. I'll be glad to give you all a tour of this lovely place." And she gestured a hoof.





Just then, however, who should come trotting up on the scene but Applejack? Her expression seemed to shift from one of slight anger to one of confusion. "Howdy, princesses. Uh, what are you starin' at?"

The elder alicorn explained to Applejack. "The cameras, Applejack. They're filming an episode here for some reason."

The farm mare blinked, the realization slowly settling in. "Oh, they are? Gosh, I can't help but feel a bit unprepared," She took off her hat, holding it in her hooves. "Uh, howdy everypony and uh any other creatures out there. I'm Applejack... but you probably already knew that," She nervously giggled. "Gosh, it feels so weird to be back on camera after all this time. I was just about to ask if anyone's seen Spike."

"Why? He's been avoiding you ever since you came back to this place with him over a week ago," Luna remarked as she seemed to frown. "And I don't blame him. From what he told me, you weren't exactly all that friendly with him."

At that, Applejack let out a long sigh. "Yeah, I ain't exactly thrilled admittin' I let my temper get the better of me back there. I'm sure he had his reasons, but if it was Rainbow Dash he was so mad with he didn't have to take it out on me," And she then explained. "I've been tryin' to look for him ever since, let him know I ain't so mad anymore. After all, from what I hear, Rainbow ain't exactly been actin' like the mare I know and fell in love with. Can't help but wonder if all of that was just an act or somethin'."

"I'm afraid that's something beyond either of our understanding," Princess Celestia explained to Applejack. "Though I have seen a lot of unusual relationships spring up since this little 'game' began."

The fare mare nodded. "So I've heard. I mean, I'd never have imagined Spike would get over his crush on Rarity and fall for Silver Spoon of all ponies. It just happened so fast," And she hung her head. "Makes me wish I hadn't been so dog gone blind! I kept votin' off ponies and other creatures who did nothin' wrong: Sweetie Belle, Zecora, Silver Spoon, and I would've sent Spike here ahead of me if he hadn't done what he did."

"Why do you think I was so thrilled when I was voted out when I was?" Princess Luna remarked, before adding. "But this isn't the time or place to be having such discussions."

Applejack nodded again in reply. "Right, 'cause of the cameras," And then she declared to no one in particular. "Well, I'm gonna get back to lookin' for Spike. He can't hide from me forever. Sooner or later, we're gonna have to talk." Then she trotted away to resume her search.

Princess Luna was quick to cough into a hoof. "Well, you've already seen Applejack. And I'm sure Spike will turn up eventually," She delivered the last line with a wink, as if she knew more than she was letting on. "But for now, let's go check in some of the other residents here. After all, I would assume that's why you folks behind the cameras are here."





With the night princess leading the cameras through the resort, it was possible to see several eliminated contestants in the background as they just enjoyed themselves: Whether it be splashing about in one of the many pools, sunning themselves on the pool chairs, swimming out to the floating bar for refreshments or just running around without a care in the world.

A series of giggles quickly established itself as belonging to a very familiar trio of blank flanked fillies, though they were being pursued by a very noticeable headgear wearing filly who seemed to have a most unusual smile upon her face.

It was only when Princess Luna gave a whistle that the four fillies skidded to an immediate halt, bumping into each other when the pegasus filly up front stopped abruptly and the others piled up behind her. Fortunately, none of them were hurt as they quickly brushed off the impact.

Scootaloo soon turned to see the familiar flicker of the cameras, buzzing her wings in excitement as she joyfully exclaimed! "Whoa! No way! The cameras are coming here?!" And she quickly rushed up to them! "Mom! Dad! You're seeing this, right?! You can stop worrying about me now, I'm fine. And I'm with my friends again!"

Apple Bloom soon came over, pulling Scootaloo back a ways. "Easy there, Scootaloo. You ain't the only one here ya know," She teased, before saying into the cameras. "That's right, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are officially back together again!"

Sweetie Belle slowly trotted over to join her friends. "We could barely sleep the night Scootaloo got here. We were rooting for her so badly to win, but having her here is the next best thing," Then she added. "But Apple Bloom and I made some new friends while we were waiting for Scootaloo," She was quick to wave a hoof. "It's okay, Diamond Tiara. You can come over here. You're our friend now, there's no need to hide it."

But the rich filly seemed to be unusually shy as she just stood there, forcing the cameras to pan over to her location. "Uh... hi..." Diamond Tiara sheepishly declared. "Mother... uh... for the record I..."

Scootaloo only glared into the cameras as she trotted over to them! "Mrs. Rich, if you're hearing this, go buck yourself! I mean it! Diamond Tiara doesn't need you telling her who she can and can't be friends with. Look where it got her, third to last place. And meanwhile, I outlasted her. That's right, a blank flank bested your daughter at something! Now just think, if she had made more friends, maybe she wouldn't have left the game so early."

Sweetie could only blush in response to her friend's bluntness. "Uh, she probably didn't mean to use such foul language," She seemed to apologize. "But she is right, Mrs. Rich, you're not a very nice pony from what your daughter's told us. And it's your fault she treated her best friend so badly and made said friend vote her out."

Apple Bloom nodded. "But it's okay. She's been workin' on apologizin' up and down to everypony she picked on since she got here. And thanks to us, not only does she have Silver Spoon back as a friend, but she's got the three of us and Spike as friends too!"

Diamond reluctantly added. "Uh... yeah... what they said," And she quickly sought to change the subject. "But I'm definitely surprised Silver Spoon hooked up with Spike. I can see why Silver likes him so much though, he treats her so well. Heck, she practically has him wrapped around her little hoof."

A somewhat snooty voice responded from afar. "I do not, Di!"

"It's just a joke, Silvy!" Tiara replied and then apologized in front of the cameras. "Sorry for that outburst. I'm still getting used to things like that. I'm just glad Silver Spoon and I are still friends at all. I thought for sure she'd never wanna be around me again."

At that moment, Cheerilee happened to come trotting by and declared. "Well, Diamond, think of this as an ongoing lesson in humility and redemption: You must be willing to humble yourself in order to better yourself," And she added. "I do hope this change in attitude isn't temporary. You were one of my most promising students back in Ponyville, whenever you weren't being a bully anyways."

Diamond Tiara looked down at the ground in shame. "I'm never going to live down how horrible I used to be, am I?"

Cheerilee smiled, wrapping a hoof around the headgear wearing filly. "I wouldn't say that. Haven't you been paying attention to those history lessons I gave? Time makes all things possible. If you keep dedicating yourself to being the best you can be, other ponies will slowly start coming around to the new you."

"A lesson that rings most true," Zecora added as she came upon the scene. "For it as real as the sky is blue. You had lost your way, and that was most tragic. But now you have come to understand that friendship can indeed be magic."

Tiara had to force herself to hold back tears. "S-stop it, all of you. I've told you all before, I don't need anyone's pity." But her tone of voice betrayed her intentions.

As if sensing what was going on, Zecora stepped forward and said to the cameras. "Everything is fine here, as you can clearly tell. But come with me, so we can see if my friend Silver Spoon is also doing well."





So it was that Zecora led the cameras to another part of the resort, this one far removed from most of the pools and far away from the floating bar.

Silver Spoon was in this location, eagerly waving a hoof when she saw Zecora and Princess Luna approaching. "Hi Zecora, hi Princess Luna!" She cheerfully greeted! "Hey, have either of you seen Spike? I haven't been able to find him all day."

Zecora blinked in confusion and concern. "Is he still hiding from Applejack? I was led to believe she had already paid him back."

Princess Luna just winked. "Oh, I have a feeling he'll turn up eventually. He's probably just in the sauna or something. Or he might be taking a nap," The alicorn proceeded to stretch her limbs. "I'm kind of tempted to take one myself with how nice it is here."

The silver coated filly only responded. "He's not napping. But it seems like every day now I rarely see him unless he sneaks out of his room to come and see me," She dreamily sighed. "It was nice of him to visit me when I was still stuck in that body cast. His claws are perfect for scratching itches."

"He really is such a prince charming," Fluttershy remarked as the cameras quickly swung over to look at her, the pegasus mare laying on a pool chair while gazing up at the roof as the rays of sun shone down. Once she saw the cameras were focusing on her though, she let out a tiny eep. "Oh my! I wasn't prepared," The mare blushed. "This place is just so relaxing, I often lose track of time," To prove her point she yawned. "I kind of wish I'd have known about this place sooner. I would've gladly volunteered for elimination ahead of so many others."

Gilda only laughed. "Yeah, but I was here first. I never imagined a scaredy cat like you would outlast me," And the griffon then asked. "Just what was up with you and that Smooze? What did it do to you?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just wanted to study its body more closely," Fluttershy explained with a blush. "I guess The Smooze just became a bit too friendly. But believe it or not, the ooze didn't hurt. It felt like being tickled," And she added. "I feel sorry that it didn't get to compete like Discord wanted it to. I would've actually been interested in seeing that."

Gilda made a gag face and stuck out her tongue. "No way! If I ever have to go up against that... that... whatever it is, I'm walking away! Some things aren't worth a million bits. A sentient pile of ooze is definitely one of 'em."

"Man, why did all the fun stuff have to happen after I left?" The familiar voice of Vinyl Scratch could be heard whining as she trotted over, shades similar to the ones that she had cherished when they'd been broken resting atop her forehead. Upon seeing the cameras, the unicorn happily flashed a smile and looked into them as she declared! "Yo, what's up dudes and dudettes?! DJ-PON-3 is in the house! Yeah, yeah, I know I totally flipped my lid and became all not cool. But it's all good, when Octavia stopped by to drop off Derpy, she also gave me an extra pair of shades."

Derpy blinked as she came trotting over. "Oh, they were yours? I was wondering why those funny looking glasses were resting in that box. I thought maybe The Doctor made them for when he was trying to avoid those creatures with the whole 'Don't blink' thing."

Vinyl simply shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know how Octavia knows that Doctor dude, but anypony who's friends with Octavia is a-ok in my book."

Gilda only shrugged her claws. "Eh, I don't care much about this talk about doctors or monsters or anything like that. All I know is, I got robbed. I could've totally wiped the floor with everypony if Dash hadn't seen me as a threat," And then she added. "Feel sorry for Scootalooo, though. Even I know you never promise a kid stuff like that. And boy, I tell ya, some of those words she used would make even the most foul mouthed griffons I've met blush. How a kid like her could have such a potty mouth, I have no idea."

Vinyl Scratch just rolled her eyes. "Hey, far better for her to let it all out than keep it all inside. Keeping all my feelings inside didn't do me a whole lot of good in the end," Then she blinked. "Still don't know what came over me back there though."

"Well, apparently everypony's been acting weird on that island," Silver Spoon pondered. "And even some non-ponies. Kind of wish Spike had done what he did when I was about to be eliminated. I don't know if I'll ever forgive Rainbow Dash for the way she treated me. Maybe I should've asked Discord if I could switch teams, I'm sure the Magical Misfits would've accepted me."

Fluttershy simply told the glasses wearing filly. "As soon as you made it to the merger you would've had a target on your back anyway. And poor Spike would've taken it so hard not having you around."

Silver sighed. "I just wish I knew where he was."

At that, Gilda sat up in her chair and groaned. "Oh for crying out loud! Princess Luna knows where he is, she just won't tell. But he's gotta stop hiding sooner or later, Applejack's gonna find him eventually."

Silver Spoon blinked in concern and nearly gasped! "But what if Applejack does something horrible to him?! She already beat him up pretty bad on the boat after his confession."

The griffon only replied. "You're giving the little guy far too little credit. He's made of tougher stuff than you might think. The way I see it, anyone who can defeat me in a dodgeball game when I'm going all out can take just about anything life throws at him," Then she added. "So just ask Princess Luna and make her talk. As for me, I'm just gonna work on my tan."





So it was that Princess Luna let out a sigh as Silver Spoon turned her attention to the night princess. "I was hoping not to have to reveal it. After all, I've been helping him hide and sneak his way out at night when Applejack is asleep," She confessed. "But if you really want to know where he is, young Silver Spoon, I can show you the way."

"Please, Princess Luna," Silver pleaded with the alicorn. "If something's wrong with him, I want to help. He was there for me, now it's my turn to be there for him."

Luna reluctantly nodded. "Very well, if you insist. Follow me." And she led the appropriately silver colored filly away, after quickly scanning about to make sure Applejack wasn't around.

Gilda just threw her claws behind her back, completely unbothered by the looks some of the other eliminated contestants had. "Somehow, even at Junior Speedsters, I knew Dash had a thing for girls," She declared with a smirk. "She'd always deny it and play it off, but I could see right through her. Never would've imagined her going for somepony like Applejack. But hey, whatever floats her boat."

"Speaking of..." Fluttershy declared as she got up from her chair. "I think I'm just gonna go over to the bar for a little bit. Just to... get some refreshment."

Derpy called out. "Well don't stay away for too long, Princess Celestia's having a cookout later and she wants everyone to be there!"

Meanwhile, with the cameras unknowingly following behind, Princess Luna led Silver Spoon all the way back to the rooms where the eliminated contestants slept. The two eventually stopped in front of one of them, and Luna lit up her horn (it was so good to be able to use magic again) and made the door to said room open.

"Ooh, this is gonna be juicy! Glad we came here!" Discord exclaimed in a whisper, unable to contain his excitement!

Silver Spoon blinked and looked back, but she couldn't see anything. "Did you hear something, princess?" She asked Luna.

The moon princess questioned in return. "Hear what, Silver Spoon? I didn't say anything, did I?"

"No, I think it was someone else," Silver explained as her moderate violet eyes again scanned her immediate surroundings. "But there's no one here besides us, I think."

Luna reached out and put a hoof around the troubled filly. "You are just as worried as Diamond Tiara is, though this is less over how you feel ponies will accept you versus how you feel they'll accept Spike," She explained and was quick to reassure her friend. "You must have faith, Silver Spoon. It's only fair to tell you that Applejack has reassured my sister and I that she harbors Spike no ill will anymore."

"And you believe her? Just out of the blue?" Silver questioned with concern.

"She isn't the Element of Honesty for nothing, Silver Spoon," Princess Luna explained. "And unlike Rainbow Dash or maybe Rarity, I can assure you that she hasn't strayed from her element. Now come on, Spike is hiding out within here. And it's time he too knew the truth."





The two ponies made their way into the room, Luna leading the search as she inspected hiding places like the bed (or rather underneath it), a potted plant and even the closet. Eventually, however, she looked up to the ceiling and said to a light fixture. "It's alright, you can come out now."

The familiar voice of Spike could be heard saying. "You sure you weren't followed by... you know who?"

The night princess nodded. "Positive. She doesn't know you're here. But somepony else does, somepony who wants to help you out."

Silver Spoon then called out. "Spike, please! Come out and talk to me! I rarely see you now. I know you're scared of Applejack, but you can't keep avoiding her forever," In a more gentle tone of voice the filly added. "You have me now, Spike. We're in this together. You were always there for me even when no one else was. So now I'm here to return the favor."

Princess Luna promptly lit up her horn, pulling Spike down from where he had been hiding behind a lamp that hung down from the ceiling and setting the little dragon upon the carpeted floor.

Silver Spoon immediately rushed up and gave Spike a big hug, which led right into a kiss as the two shared a quick embrace. "Now you know for sure that I'm here for you no matter what." She told him when the kiss had ended.

"I'm sorry," Spike apologized. "But until I know Applejack is cooled down over the whole 'Voting her off' thing, I'm staying where I know I'm safe. Thick scales or not, her kicks hurt like you wouldn't believe!"

The glasses wearing filly snorted while shaking her head. "And you think I'm gonna let something like that happen to you now? Besides, you were strong enough to make it to the merger, you were brave enough to let Rainbow Dash know just what you thought of her behavior."

Spike gulped and swallowed, a cold sweat making its way down his face and body. "Yeah... a-and I don't regret that. But..."

Luna frowned as she declared. "You're worrying about the wrong thing, Spike. And trying to run away from that worry will not make it go away. You must be willing to face what you're afraid of."

"And you don't have to do it alone," Silver added with a nod. "If Applejack does wanna do anything to you, she's gonna have to get through me first. I'll risk another body cast if it means sticking up for you. And I'm sure Princess Luna will vouch for you too."

The little dragon was still far from convinced. "You don't understand. She's mad as tartarus, and who can blame her? I tried to explain myself to her the whole boat ride here, but she just wouldn't listen. And if she wouldn't listen then when she had time to think about it, why would she wanna listen now?" He quickly eyed the closet as he explained. "I'm sorry. But I have to stay away from her until Rainbow Dash gets the boot, and then maybe she'll see for herself what the mare she loves has become. Barring that, I'll settle for Twilight getting eliminated so she can protect me."

In response, the princess of the night trotted forward and wrapped her wing around the frightened little dragon. "You must understand, Spike. Applejack has assured both my sister and I multiple times that she's not mad anymore," In a warm and comforting tone she then continued. "I've even visited her dreams. She still wants to be friends with you, that hasn't changed. She may have been mad, but I think she got it all out of her system that first night. And now she feels bad that she may have lost a friend forever."

"And what if it's all an act to lure me out into the open?" Spike snorted. "No one else is gonna protect me, and I bet a lot of the others are gonna say I deserve it."

Silver Spoon protested. "Spike, please. Not everypony is like Rainbow Dash. I've come to learn that a lot since my elimination. Just because our team's leader was a nasty pony doesn't mean everyone on the island is like her," She was quick to plead. "Please, do it for my sake if nothing else. Just this once. And if it doesn't work you don't have to do it ever again until this entire game is over, alright?"

There was a long silence, before at least Spike dispelled it by declaring. "I guess I can give it a try," And he looked up at the two ponies who had entered the room to find him. "You promise you'll both be there for me?" They both nodded, reassuring the little dragon a little.

Wiping the sweat from his brows, Spike then declared. "Well... alright, I guess," He slowly began to head out of the room while saying under his breath. "Oh, I hope I don't regret this."





It seemed like it took an eternity for Spike (with Silver Spoon and Princess Luna by his side) to make it out to where Applejack was. The farm mare, as it turned out, had just come back from the floating bar a short time ago. And the expression upon her face was difficult to read.

"H-hey, Applejack," Spike nervously declared with a smile and a wave of his claw. "Uh... you know... uh..." He stuttered and looked down at the ground. "Nice weather we're having today, right?"

It didn't take a mind reader to be able to figure out what the source of Spike's discomfort was. And without hesitation, Applejack just trotted up to him in full view of Luna and Silver Spoon. "Come on, Spike. Ain't no need to beat around the bush. We both know why we're here and what we came here to discuss."

The little dragon slowly looked up. "Y-yeah, I know. But uh... do we..." He gulped and swallowed hard. "R-really have to?"

Applejack sighed, looking deep into Spike's eyes. "Yes, Spike. We do. This can't go on. It ain't healthy or normal," And she cleared her throat. "I'm still mad at you for what you did. But you wanna know somethin', I forgive you."

"Oh, you do? Well that's just fine because I-" Spike began before the words slowly sank in for him! "Wait, you forgive me?!" He received a confirming nod in reply. "But how?! I mean why?! I mean..."

The farm mare just brushed her mane with a hoof, adjusting that signature stetson of hers. "Yup, you heard right, Spike. And before you ask, yes, this is the real me! This ain't a dream or anythin' like that."

Spike slowly blinked, trying to understand. "But... you know what I did."

Applejack nodded. "I most certainly do, Spike. But I'd be lyin' if I said I don't see your point on Rainbow Dash now, or that I can't see why you'd come after me. You were mad 'cause you couldn't save Silver Spoon, and me fallin' for Rainbow was the last straw. Right?"

"Yeah... something like that." Spike sheepishly confessed.

Applejack then let out another sigh, this time with a bit of a huff to it. "Listen, sugarcube. If you'd really wanted to make a point, you shouldn't have targeted me just 'cause of who I loved. I didn't pick on you just 'cause you fell in love with Silver Spoon. It was Rainbow you had a problem with, so if you were goin' to mess with the votes it was her you should've gone after."

The little dragon nodded and massaged the back of his neck with a claw. "Yeah, I kind of realized that after I got the boot. Probably could've saved us all the hassle, especially since the teams were dissolved right after you left. Getting rid of Rainbow Dash then probably would've made things easier. But I was just so mad, all I could think about was how to make her hurt like I'd been hurt."

"Which is why I'm still a might sore about the whole ordeal," The farm mare explained. "I reckon with time I'll eventually learn to live with it, but I don't know if the pain will ever go away fully. Still, I know enough to know there's no sense re-openin' old wounds. What's done is done and it can't be undone. I don't wanna lose your friendship or anyone else's by spendin' all my time comin' after you for somethin' even you regret."

Spike reluctantly offered a claw to Applejack as soon as she finished speaking. "So, is this a truce?"

"More like a ceasefire," Applejack explained. "But I reckon we'll still have to discuss a few things with Twilight and Rainbow Dash when they end up here."

The little dragon couldn't help but remark. "Unless they both make it to the finale."

Applejack chuckled. "Call me crazy, Spike, but I don't see that happenin'. Either Twilight or Rainbow Dash will go down before the finale. I just have a hunch," She then extended one of her hooves out and shook Spike's claw. "But that's a topic for another time and place. So, whaddya say? Still wanna be friends?"

Spike firmly nodded. "As long as you're not gonna chase after me or try to hurt me like you did on the boat, I think we'll be fine."

Applejack nodded back. "I'm good. Got it all out of my system."

Princess Luna smiled as she and Silver Spoon witnessed the display. "See? What did I tell you?" She declared to Spike. "You had nothing to worry about."

Silver Spoon, meanwhile, just strolled up to Spike and hugged him. "You were so brave just then. You stood your ground and everything."

Spike blushed. "Aw, it was nothing, really."

And Applejack just commented. "Be sure to thank Fluttershy. She was the one who told me we needed to talk and why you were avoidin' me, Spike. If not for her, I reckon I might have found you when I wasn't in a good mood."

"WHAT?!" Spike gasped in horror!

Applejack chuckled a bit. "Just kiddin' 'bout that last bit. Guess a bit of RD rubbed off on me. One of the good things about her anyway."





Just then, the familiar voice of Princess Celestia called out! "Come on, everyone! It's time for lunch!"

"Oh, just in time! I'm starving!" Spike exclaimed as he licked his lips! And he gestured a claw to Silver Spoon and Princess Luna. "Come on! No way I'm missing out on this!"

Satisfied that all was well and that the little dragon was back to normal, Luna and Silver Spoon happily followed him as the cameras followed after them in turn.

All the other eliminated contestants soon gathered near the front of the resort where Princess Celestia stood in front of a grill. She had on an apron and had tied her flowing mane back with a special band to keep it from hanging all the way down. The sizzling sounds of carrot dogs and hay burgers cooked to perfection were accompanied by delicious wafting smells that made mouths water.

The sun princess smiled, gesturing to several of the large pool chairs that she had brought over. "Go ahead and grab a seat. There's plenty of food for everyone."

"Wow! I had no idea you could cook, princess!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed with amazement as she sat down. "I always assumed you had your own personal chefs."

Princess Luna just replied as she sat down in another chair. "My sister always resents making the hired help do all the work all the time. She's been known to give them days off before and do their jobs. And cooking is no exception."

Spike giggled. "Sure wish Twilight would do that for me. I know she can cook for herself, but it seems like I'm always making the meals or catching her sneaking off to eat out."

Silver Spoon sat down next to Spike and with Diamond Tiara seated close to her on the other side. "My dad always insists on cooking whenever he comes home. This'll be just like those times, except less family drama."

Diamond quickly reached out a hoof to her friend, reassuring her. "Hey, it can't be any worse than what my mother's like. Besides, here we can get away from all that drama."

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement as she helped herself to a carrot dog with relish and mustard. "Yeah. This is practically a vacation for all of us! I mean, havin' a million bits would be nice but this is a nice consolation prize."

In between bites of a hay burger, Sweetie Belle then asked. "Speaking of prize, who do you think's gonna win it all? I mean, there's no shame in asking that, right?"

"Of course not, dudettes!" Vinyl Scratch smiled. "Nothing's wrong with a little bit of friendly wagering and speculating. No harm no foul," And she willingly shared her own belief. "If you ask me, I'd put my money on Twilight. She's got a good head, she's playing to win and she hasn't made a whole lot of enemies."

"Assuming you don't count Rainbow Dash and Trixie," Scootaloo interrupted. "I would've rooted for Rainbow Dash, but after what she did to me I'm sure as hay not giving her my support," And she folded her hooves across her chest. "I'd much rather Pinkie Pie won it all. Twilight's too uptight, Trixie lied to me and Rarity's just too much for my tastes."

Sweetie Belle protested. "Rarity's the best big sister ever! I hope she wins, she really deserves it."

Applejack couldn't help but laugh. "I'm honestly surprised Rarity's lasted as long as she has. Would've thought for sure she'd be sent packin' as soon as the teams were merged," And she smiled. "Guess she's just bene doin' good at not gettin' on ponies' bad sides," Then she added. "As for me, I'm rootin' for Twilight. Rainbow Dash doesn't deserve to win with the way she's actin'. I don't even know if I can love her if she's goin' keep on bein' so mean."

Gilda shrugged her claws while munching on a plain carrot dog. "Eh, I got a good feeling Dash will go all the way. I'm really the only one who could've stopped her, and you all got rid of me. I understand why, and I don't like the way Dash is acting. But the way I see it, sometimes it's those willing to do anything to get ahead that make it," And in a somewhat remorseful tone she added. "Trust me, I speak from experience."

Derpy looked at the ground in shame. "Oh, I hope Rainbow Dash doesn't win. If not for me, she wouldn't have survived for as long as she did," And she complained. "Why did I think voting myself off was a good idea? Rainbow Dash was about to be eliminated instead."

Fluttershy extended a hoof out to her fellow pegasus. "It's not entirely your fault, Derpy. I was part of that alliance with Rainbow Dash as well. And I didn't break with her even when she wanted to get rid of Cheerilee. If I had, Scootaloo would've been eliminated and Rainbow would've lost her alliance then and there."

Princess Celestia, turning away from the grill, unhappily sighed. "It's unfortunate to think that Rainbow Dash has gotten so far despite her behavior," Then she added with a sincere smile. "But, right before my elimination, I sensed that something in her was starting to change. Maybe, if Trixie can be eliminated next, Rainbow will be able to see the pony she's becoming and save herself. If not, though," She ominously declared. "I hope Twilight can stop her."

Princess Luna couldn't help but tease. "You really have a lot of faith in Twilight, sister. You're treating her almost as if she were your daughter, not just your student."

"I can't help it," The sun princess confessed. "Twilight isn't like my other students. There's just something about her that draws me to her like a mother searching for her child. I only wish I'd thought to tell her that while I still could. But I was distracted by... other things."

The moon princes giggled. "Yes. And I certainly didn't help matters. I guess I got a little too carried away," She was quick to reassure her sister. "But I can see why you think so highly of Twilight. She's leagues above your last student, which I hear didn't work all that well for you. And I'd be lying if I said I too was not rooting for Twilight to win. Though I must say, Pinkie Pie continues to astound me with how she can baffle even Nightmare Moon."

"Now now, I think that's enough talk out of all of us," Cheerilee spoke up as she cleared her throat. "The hay burgers and carrot dogs are going to get cold if we keep sitting around like this." And with that, the conversation of who wanted whom to win and why faded away.





However, just a short time later the conversation would be resurrected in a sense. Not long after the fifteen eliminated contestants had polished off every last carrot dog and hay burger (and had cleaned up the leftover crumbs), they were surprised by the sudden appearance of Discord!

"Surprise!" The witty spirit declared as he shed his self induced spell of invisibility. "Hello all you fine losers! And how are we today?"

"Wait a minute," Celestia realized! "You've been spying on us this whole time, haven't you? The cameras were here because you were directing them on where to go."

Discord snapped his talons, making him appear in an orange prison jump suit. "Guilty as charged, oh princess. But hey, none of you actually thought your time on the show came to an end with your eliminations, did you?"

Fluttershy nervously answered. "Um... well..."

Discord laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not here to mess with you. You've all already endured enough. Though I must say, even eliminated you all sure know how to bring the drama."

Luna then snorted and inquired. "Get to the point, Discord. What do you want from us? You had to have come here for a reason, and not just to annoy us."

The chaos maker firmly nodded his head. "Right again, Princess Luna," And he quickly explained. "I'm gonna give you all a chance to help shape the end of this special little episode we've had going. You get to create a quick little challenge that'll be put together for the five remaining contestants. Do make it good."

"Can it be anything we want?" Scootaloo questioned the spirit.

"If it's within reason. After all, I technically have to make it fair to everypony." Discord insisted.

"That's asking a lot considering how many of our eliminations were personal." Spike snorted.

Discord only replied. "Hey, don't blame me. I'm just doing what I do to keep the show interesting for folks back home. After all, if I were running things my way I wouldn't have three element bearers still left in the running," Then he made a wristwatch appear on his left paw as he insisted. "So, you all gonna come up with something? Time's a wasting."

Princess Celestia nodded. "Sure, Discord. But give us a little bit to discuss the matter," And glaring at the spirit she told him. "Alone if you don't mind!"

The spirit frowned in reply, but just insisted with a long sigh. "Fine, have it your way."

The sun princess smiled. "Thank you. We won't be long. And you won't regret this." She proceeded to get up from her chair and motion for all the other eliminated contestants to go with her to a spot where the cameras weren't able to see them.

Discord waited, and waited and waited some more. It seemed like time was ticking by oh so slowly, at least to him. He even went so far as to stomp one of his legs down in impatience.

At last, however, the fifteen eliminated contestants all returned as Princess Celestia informed the spirit. "We've decided on an obstacle course, Discord. You can make it as challenging as you want. But here's a little twist: Each contestant will get a head start based on their support from the losers."

The witty spirit grinned. "Now we're talking!" And then he turned to the cameras. "We can totally set something like that up in so short an amount of time, right?"





And indeed, later that same day (at night in fact) an obstacle course similar to the one the eliminated contestants had mentioned was set up.

In accordance with the wishes of the losers, Twilight got to have the biggest head start while Trixie (who had no one rooting for her) got no head start at all.

Discord and Nightmare Moon now stood waiting at the end of the obstacle course, which was right by the Dock of Shame. "This obstacle course challenge is coming right down to the wire!" Discord excitedly declared as he looked at the cameras! "It's amazing how someponies can make up for lack of a lead, or blow one."

Nightmare Moon only rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad I don't have to foalsit them anymore. I'd give anything to have Princess Celestia back in the game. Tormenting her never got old."

The cameras then cut back to the obstacle course's finish line as Rarity became the first of the five contestants to make over the final wall. "Sometimes I amaze even myself." She declared while panting.

Soon afterward, Twilight and Pinkie Pie made it over the final wall and managed to cross the finish line at the same time. They happily high hoofed each other, celebrating the fact that they were safe for another round.

Discord then declared. "And just like, it's all coming down to two unpopular contestants to determine who will be the next to leave this island forever!"

Trixie and Rainbow Dash were neck and neck as they reached the final wall, neither conceding an inch to the other as they shoved and shoved back! Eventually, it escalated to the point where they were stirring up a huge cloud of dust as they both clambered over the final wall and tumbled to the finish line.

"Ooh! I think we might have to frame by frame that," The spirit commented as he looked into the cameras. And he did just that, instructing to them. "Okay, clear up the dust so we can see," When that command was obeyed, Discord watched the last few seconds unfold in slow motion, looking for any detail to determine a winner (or loser in this case). At last, he found one. "By a hair, the loser is..."

Trixie and Rainbow Dash both glared at each other, as if daring the other to blink.

"Trixie!" Discord declared at last! "Rainbow Dash stays for another day. And you, Little Miss Great and Powerful are done. Done like dinner!"

Rainbow could hardly believe her eyes and ears! "No way! I... did it! I beat Trixie!"

As for Trixie, the magician only groaned and rolled her eyes. "Just great. But The Great and Powerful Trixie shall at least take some pride in managing to make it to fifth place."

The brash speedster only jeered. "Whatever, loser! Just go home already!"

But Twilight rushed over to the magician unicorn as she was heading to the Dock of Shame! "Trixie, wait! I... I wanted to say that..."

Trixie just shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Twilight. Trixie already knows how you feel with Vinyl Scratch. Besides, it would never work between us," And then she added. "Just make sure Rainbow Dash doesn't win it all, okay?"

"I'll.. do my best. No promises." Was all Twilight could bring herself to say.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, commented. "Hope we see you again at the finale, Trixie. You were a lot of fun to go up against."

The magician nodded. "I'm sure Trixie was. But the time has come for The Great and Powerful Trixie to bid you all farewell. And Trixie hopes she shall never have to come back to this island ever again." She then stepped onto the Boat of Losers and was soon whisked away from Paradox Island.

But to Trixie's surprise, the cameras were waiting for her when she arrived at The Palace of Losers. And Discord was there too as he declared with a knowing grin. "Now Trixie has joined our esteemed cast of former contestants, meaning we've only got four left in the game. Find out who will be joining Trixie next time on another exciting episode of Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 23: The Cast Away Chronicles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun did not shine, it was hidden behind thick, grey clouds that ensured no sunlight could seep through them. Rain was pouring down at a fairly steady rate, casting a damp and gloomy picture over the surrounding environment.

Yet despite the less than pleasant conditions, Discord was standing on the Dock of Shame dressed completely in a yellow rain poncho and holding up a pink umbrella as he looked into the cameras. It seemed he was intent to give his usual opening spiel in spite of the inclement weather. And that was just what he did. "Last time on a very special episode of Total Magic Pony Island."

The camera quickly cut away to clips of the previous day's events, depicting a different dock at a different location where the shining sun looked even brighter in comparison to the drabness of the rainy sky that had just been seen. And Discord was explaining everything. "We spent a day visiting the glamorous 'Palace of Losers' where our fifteen soon to be sixteen eliminated contestants ended up after leaving Paradox Island."

Discord kept narrating as the cameras showed off clips from inside the tropical resort. "Our first big surprise of the day came when we learned Princess Celestia was back to normal, all grown-up again. But that was far from the only thing shocking to occur that day."

Another flicker of the camera showed some very familiar looking excited fillies as the witty spirit narrated. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders were reunited, and they'd expanded their circle of friends to include former enemies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. And Diamond Tiara had turned over a new leaf just like her friend Silver Spoon had."

Then the camera showed off more clips while Discord explained. "But by far the biggest surprise came when Spike and Applejack had a little heart to heart about a certain elimination," Footage began to play of the two talking it out and patching things up while the witty spirt just narrated. "They apparently decided their friendship was more important and agreed to let bygones be bygones. Good for them, bad for me," He let out a sigh. "Oh well, can't win 'em all."

After that, the camera was showing a clip of the chaos maker appearing in front of the eliminated contestants. And he was explaining what had happened as a result of his arrival. "Eventually, I surprised the eliminated contestants by announcing that they'd get to help me set up a challenge for the survivors. They agreed on an obstacle course, and each contestant would get a head start based on their support."

Said challenge was then shown off as the spirit just kept on narrating. "Surprisingly enough, Rarity won the challenge and extended her win streak to two in a row. Twilight blew her popular lead to tie with Pinkie Pie for second. And by a hair, Rainbow Dash beat out Trixie to stay in the game. Kind of disappointed I'm stuck with two element bearers in the finale no matter what now. But eh, whatcha gonna do?"

The clips ended and the cameras cut back to the Dock of Shame as the rain kept pouring down. And Discord was just narrating. "Our fabulous four have certainly survived a lot up to this point. They've all proven to be quite tough and have all won invincibility for themselves at least once. But the challenges are only going to get even harder now," He then looked up. "Bet you wanna know what's up with the rain? Well, it's all part of my plans here on Total Magic Pony Island!"





It just kept on raining, nothing else seemed to really happen. The four surviving contestants had been expecting many things, but a day of seemingly endless and constant rain was not one of them.

Discord's voice could be heard blaring over loudspeakers all across the many buildings of Paradox Island. And they carried his statements even all the way to the cottages where the four remaining ponies (all of whom were element bearers) were more or less holed up. They could only really venture outside to visit the confessional or the mess hall, there wasn't much else to do.

Discord sounded surprisingly upbeat about the whole thing as his voice was explaining. "It pays to have friends in the right places, ponies. Now you're all getting a taste of the worst thing that can happen with any sort of camping trip or island vacation: A rainy day. A day where all your fabulous, fun filled plans have to be cancelled. Not to worry, though. Come rain or shine, there's going to be some true doozies of challenges waiting for you."

Even the hyper competitive Rainbow Dash found herself unable to do anything other than groan. "Discord is just rubbing it in our faces right now!" She complained! "I could totally bust those clouds if I could use my wings!"

"For once, that would actually be preferable," Rarity remarked as she gazed longingly out of the window. "Stranded on this island with nothing to do while it rains is so boring."

Pinkie Pie bounced over. "Hey, come on you guys! We've all made this far! No matter what, one of us is gonna win the million bits!" She excitedly declared! "Maybe this rain is hide to how Discord's feeling now that he can't split us all up any further. It's just too bad Applejack and Fluttershy couldn't make it as well."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Who cares? They would've just been eliminated anyway."

Rarity frowned. "You don't have to be so grumpy about it, darling. Spikey Wikey was right, you haven't been acting like yourself for a long time."

The brash speedster groaned anew in response. "Please, don't start with this again. I'm tired of hearing it. Especially because it keeps giving me nightmares about Mare-Do-Well."

The fashionista narrowed her eyes, glaring back at Rainbow as she couldn't help but reply. "Darling, with all do respect I'd say you deserve it. You still have yet to answer for what you did to Scootaloo, and how you treated Fluttershy and Derpy for the longest time."

Rainbow Dash stomped a hoof down. "I don't need a lecture from somepony who couldn't stand Spike falling in love with somepony else."

"And I've regretted it ever since," Rarity replied. "Which is more than I can say for the likes of you," She then looked over to see Twilight gazing longingly out of another window, and called out to her fellow unicorn. "Am I right, Twilight? You've seen it for yourself after all."

The studious unicorn turned slowly away from the window. It sounded like she let out a sigh before blinking. "Huh? Oh... I guess. I mean, you have begun to change your ways. But Spike hasn't been around for most of it."

The fashionista unicorn grumbled. "Thanks for that 'moral support', Twilight," And then she commented. "You know, you've been really distracted lately. First it was right after Vinyl Scratch was eliminated, and now it's the same thing with Trixie."

Twilight protested with a shake of her head. "You're just imagining things, Rarity. I just felt sorry for the way they were eliminated, that's all. There's nothing going on between us!"

The camera then flickered briefly, showing Twilight in the confessional as the sounds of rain could still be heard outside. She was staring directly into the camera while saying. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I stop thinking about Trixie and Vinyl Scratch? I don't even think I really like mares. I mean, I've never really interacted with a lot of stallions either... but I don't think that matters," She then groaned, running a hoof through her mane! "I've gotta stay focused! I'm so close to the end, and even one mistake could cost me!"

Twilight wasn't the only one to use the confessional though, because another flicker showed Rarity coming in next and she seemed to be pondering aloud. "Could Twilight have feelings for Vinyl Scratch and Trixie? Perhaps, much like friendship, she's just new to romance and is still sorting out her feelings?" The fashionista couldn't help but lament. "I've been unlucky enough to have a crush turn out to be nothing," After swishing her tail she then declared. "But oh well, there'll be plenty of time for romance after I win. I'm starting to feel really good about my chances! I've won three of the last four challenges after all."

Rainbow Dash came into the confessional too, and she was grumbling to herself. "Why does it seem like the more I try to lose, the more I keep winning? What kind of backwards logic is it that winning causes me to lose and vice versa?" Running her hooves through her mane she then added. "Urgh! I gotta stop doing this! I just gotta focus on the next two challenges. If I can make it to the finale, I know I can win! And when I do, hopefully everypony will stop getting on my case."

Even Pinkie Pie was eager to get into the confessional to give her thoughts about what was going on. But mostly, she just couldn't contain her excitement! "Oh, I can't believe I've made it all the way to the fabulous four, or the fantastic four, or whatever it is they're calling it!" She declared while prancing back and forth in front of the camera! "I don't even know what I'm gonna do with the prize money yet if I win," Then the pink party pony paused in her prancing "But I don't know if I can keep winning for much longer. It kind of seems like everypony's turning on each other even though we're all supposed to be friends."





With nothing to really do as the rains continued all day, the final four contestants all opted to call it an early night and went to bed. Whatever plans or challenges Discord (or possibly Nightmare Moon) might have in store for them were obviously going to have to wait for better weather, whenever that would come.

Yet as the four ponies slept they were unaware of a development that was occurring around them. The rains were having an unexpected effect on the surrounding landscape, particularly the cottages. Had anyone been watching, they would've most certainly seen what was unfolding! Somehow, the cottages' foundations collapsed and they began to move, carried a ways downstream by the currents!

All the while the four sound asleep ponies inside had no knowledge of anything that was occurring, not even as the cottages were moving far away from Paradox Island to the point where you would never have known cottages had once been there.

When the next day dawned, the rains had gone and the sun shone through the clouds again. Yet the four contestants were not where they should have been.

Discord and Nightmare Moon were not aware of this, they had not toured all of Paradox Island and nothing they'd seen had given them any reason to suspect that something about it was different now.

Still, Discord couldn't help but comment when he noticed the empty mess hall that morning. "Say, Nightmare Moon. You wouldn't happen to know where our remaining four contestants are by any chance, would you?"

Nightmare Moon shrugged her hooves. "Ain't see hide or hair of them. And to be honest, I don't really care. They can sleep in as much as they like, I'm not going to feed them if they miss breakfast," And she said to Discord. "What were you even trying to accomplish with the rains yesterday?"

The witty spirit answered. "Well, I would tell you if I could find the contestants," Then he shrugged his paws. "But I guess they just wanna play hooky or something. They'll turn up eventually," And he looked at Nightmare Moon. "You wanna get something to eat?"

Nightmare Moon blinked. "What? You mean you actually like the slop I cook up?"

Discord made a gag face and then chuckled! "Of course not, don't be absurd! I'm talking about some real food!" He soon used his talons to rip open a glowing blue portal. "Lucky for you, I know just the place. And while we're there, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

The wicked mare of darkness smiled. "See, now you're starting to see things my way," And she couldn't resist chuckling back. "Boy do I feel sorry for our contestants. The one day they decide not to show up is the one day you decide to stop holding back the good stuff." And soon, the host and co-host had also left Paradox Island, unaware of what had happened to the four ponies.





Pinkie Pie was the first to become aware of what had happened the night before. Though not the only former Magical Misfit left in the game, by a stroke of bad luck she had taken up a bed on the right sided cabin and was now stranded by herself!

Being confronted with this stark and unfortunate reality upon opening the cabin door, Pinkie immediately shut it and rubbed her eyes. "I must still be dreaming or something," She said to herself and firmly nodded. "Yeah, that's it. This is all just a dream and I'm gonna wake up at any minute." Giggling and quite content with that knowledge, she waited for a bit before opening the door again. But the same sight greeted her: That of a vast, empty stretch of land leading out to a lake. And there was no sign or map to tell her how far away she was from Paradox Island or any kind of civilization.

The pink party pony shuddered as she shut the door again! "This.. this isn't happening!" She firmly insisted even as the reality was slowly settling in for her. "Oh, where is everypony?! Come on, it's not my birthday! There's no need for a surprise party." Yet she received no reply at all. Her voice was carried on the wind, scattered and lost with no one around to acknowledge it.

Unbeknownst to Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash was several miles downstream and had also woken up to find herself stranded. But she had taken to seeing it in a different way, and without bothering to wait to see if there was anypony else around she had trotted off. She was explaining her logic in the confessional, which had (by some stroke of luck) washed ashore near her location. And the camera inside was still recording. "This must be the challenge! Survival of the fittest!" She declared! "Well I'm gonna survive alright! This time I don't have to worry about an entire team, just myself."

So the brash speedster had trotted away, intent on finding her way back to Paradox Island all on her own where invincibility would surely be hers! "I've got this in the bag!" She thought to herself as she wandered away from the cabins and deep into the surrounding wilderness.

As for Twilight and Rarity, they had the fortune of waking up together to find themselves alone in what had been the left cabin. A quick inspection of their surroundings revealed that neither Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie were with them, it was just the two unicorns by themselves.

"Really?" Rarity rolled her eyes, as if she expected there to be cameras everywhere. "A wilderness survival challenge again? Just because I've been doing good in some of the recent challenges doesn't mean you have to start rigging the game against me."

But Twilight nervously commented. "Uh, Rarity. I don't think this is part of the game."

The fashionista snorted. "Whyever not, Twilight? What in the name of Celestia could possibly make you believe that?"

The studious unicorn replied with a gulp. "You don't think it's weird that neither Discord or Nightmare Moon have made any sort of announcements? Or what about the fact that two of our friends seem to be missing, and the only other building besides our cabin that made the trip here is the confessional?" She gestured a hoof in dramatic fashion. "Open your eyes, Rarity. We're stranded here!"

The unicorn with a pristine white coat gasped in horror as she looked her fellow unicorn square in the eyes! "I was afraid you'd say that, Twilight," She blinked her eyes in rapid succession, eyelashes and all. "What are we going to do?!"

"I don't know," Twilight uncertainly answered. "But I do know what we're not gonna do. We're not gonna panic. We're gonna stay calm, and we're gonna do this together," Yet within seconds of her having finished saying that, she saw Rarity faint right in front of her. "Or not. You can totally panic." She sarcastically replied.

Relieved to know that the confessional camera was still operational (at least for the time being), Twilight took the opportunity to vent her frustrations! "You have got to be kidding me! If we make it through this, the million bits had better worth it for all the therapy we'll have to endure!"





Miles away and isolated from the rest of her friends, Pinkie Pie had taken to fending for herself as best she could. "Okay, recap," She remarked as her imagination started to run away from her again (and without the intent of coming back with cake). "No contact with the outside world: Check. No signs of ponies or other life forms anywhere: Check. No friends anywhere: Check. Oh wait, there is one friend!"

The pink party pony looked down, staring at a small rock that she had taken to drawing eyes and a smiley face on. "How could I forget about you, Boulder II? It's so nice to meet a friendly face out in the middle of nowhere, right?"

The rock gave no reply, but Pinkie believed it had answered. "Oh yeah, I totally agree. It's us against the rest of the world now. We have to find some way to survive and get back to wherever life is," She blinked, her eyes narrowing and retreating to the farthest corners as she did so. "What's that, you say? 'How are we gonna get off this island?' Well... I haven't figured that out yet. But I'm... sure we'll think of something, eventually. We just gotta stick together!"

Meanwhile, miles away, Rainbow Dash was making her way across the island with only the sound of her own voice for company. Her mane and tail were becoming quite frazzled as she became hot, dirty and sweaty. She was even starting to pant a little, and had to resort to knocking coconuts out of trees to get to the milk inside. "Urgh! This would be so much easier if I had a map or something!" She complained aloud.

Stopping for but a moment, Rainbow blinked in realization. "Hey, why am I talking to myself? There's nopony else here... or is there?!" She spun around, half expecting to see something or someone standing behind her. But there was nothing there. She was the only individual on the island as far as she knew.

The brash speedster groaned, slapping herself hard in the face with a hoof and causing a red bruise mark to appear across her left cheek! "Come on, Rainbow," She thought in her head, determined to keep herself from going insane. "This is all part of the game. They're trying to make you go crazy. But you're not gonna let them get to you! Right? Right?!"

Unable to give herself a satisfying answer, Rainbow Dash kept on trotting. She could see hoofprints, so that had to be a sign that she was on the right track.

Suddenly, however, the silence was broken up by the faint but distinctive sound of a horn being blared. And all the ponies who heard it wondered only one thing: What was making that sound?

The horn blaring was courtesy of Nightmare Moon, who was now bringing out several plates of food that would've made the very hungry ponies' mouths water had they known about it. "Here you are, Discord," The wicked mare of darkness declared with a rare sincere smile on her face. "Your brunchfast is served."

Discord was licking his lips as he was sitting on a large bench out in the sun, far away from anything on Paradox Island. And he was fondly proclaiming. "Ah, brunchfast. Is there anything else like it in the world? I think not."

Nightmare Moon smiled again. "Seems like you enjoy more about these ponies than you let on. It's almost as if you didn't truly wanna take over their world."

At that the spirit threw back his head and laughed. "Don't be absurd, Nightmare Moon! I'm the spirit of chaos and disharmony! Chaos is my life's blood. I literally can't exist without it," He quickly recovered from the laughing fit and added. "Being trapped in that stone prison was the worst thing that's ever happened to me! And once this show is over, I intend to make Equestria my eternal playground, my colony of chaos."

The dark coated alicorn simply nodded. "Whatever you say, Discord," She then turned to the cameras with a knowing wink and whispered. "He's going soft, I can tell."

"What was that, Nightmare Moon?" Discord questioned. "You know the cameras aren't really rolling here, right? This lot was abandoned long ago. I just used it to test the equipment before I set up my show on Paradox Island."

Nightmare Moon stepped back and struggled not to blush. "Oh, it was nothing. Nothing you need to worry about anyway," And she coughed into a hoof. "Just stating what I plan to do once this is over. 'Cause no way am I going back to having to share a body and a mind with Princess Luna. She keeps treating me like an imaginary friend she can't get rid of. She just hopes to keep me locked away until I go mad from boredom."

The witty spirit chuckled. "What, is she your mother or something? I always thought it was you calling the shots."

"I was, until those Elements of Harmony got involved. As soon as they came on the scene Luna got cold hooves," Nightmare Moon explained. "Can't believe we're stuck with two of their bearers no matter what now."

"I can't believe it either, but it's not gonna matter in the end," Discord firmly insisted. "They're gonna have to waste time hunting down the elements, giving me more than enough time to take over. And I'm not gonna make the same mistake as last time," And as his thoughts turned to the elements and the ponies who bore them, he started to wonder. "Say, you ever get the feeling like you're forgetting something?"

The wicked mare of darkness nodded her head in confirmation before answering. "Yeah, all the time, really. I find if I just ignore it it goes away like a bad habit."

The chaos maker, however, replied in between bites of his food (it would be a shame to let it all go to waste after all). "Don't you think it's weird we haven't heard a peep from our contestants all day? It's almost high noon, after all."

Nightmare Moon shook her head. "I'm sure they're just enjoying their time off, like they were the day before you made it rain. It's your own fault for making them so bored."

"I had a plan in mind, you know!" Discord stubbornly protested. "If they don't show up soon, I may just have to do something about it! I can't run a show without contestants, the network won't let me."





Unaware of what was going on with Discord (or Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash for that matter), Twilight was still in the separated left cabin and trying frantically to resurrect Rarity. "Come on, Rarity!" She declared as she kept waving her hooves in front of her fashion friend's face. "Wake up already! Please!"

It didn't seem like Rarity would wake up though. That is until suddenly her nose began to twitch, and then suddenly she fluttered her eyes open and stood up! She appeared none the worse for wear as a result of what had happened to her, instead declaring. "Twilight, do you smell that?"

"Smell what, Rarity?" Twilight questioned, before something began to waft past her nose as well and caused her to sniff the air too.

Rarity smiled. "It's food! Someone's cooking food! And they're not sharing it with us!" She furiously stomped a hoof down in protest, her eyes narrowing! "This will not stand! I don't know about you, but I'm starving! I can't remember the last time I had a truly good meal and not that barely edible stuff Nightmare Moon cooks."

The studious unicorn blinked slowly in response. "Well, I'm hungry too, Rarity. But that smell could be coming from anywhere."

The fashionista only shook her head. "I don't care where it's coming from, Twilight! I'm going to find the source! So you can either come with me, or you can just stay here and starve." And she stormed out of the cabin without waiting for a reply.

Twilight groaned and snorted, following her fellow unicorn out of the cabin. "The things I do for the sake of friendship," She thought aloud before calling out to her fashion friend (who was already a considerable distance away)! "Rarity, wait! Don't leave my sight, I don't wanna lose you too!"

And as the two unicorns were taking off in pursuit of the smell of food, Pinkie Pie was miles away and working on her own escape plan. But there was one thing she needed to do first. She was currently in the separated right cabin, talking aloud about a whole lot of things to what sounded like an audience of one: Herself. But it was actually meant for someone else in addition to her.

Her eyes completely narrowed now, Pinkie gave a giggle and a snort as she looked down at Boulder II (still sporting that scribbled on smiley face). "Ah, I feel so much better now that I've gotten all of that off of my chest," She declared to her new "friend". "Doesn't it feel good to confess to your crimes, Boulder II?" The rock didn't answer. "Yeah, it totally does! At least this way if it's truly the end, I'll go out a guilt free pony."

With that, Pinkie Pie exited the cabin with Boulder II tucked safely into her mane. The pink party pony with a very frazzled mane and tail then turned to a raft she'd hastily made out of sticks from nearby trees. It looked like it was just barely held together by vines. "Whelp, time to shove off!" She declared, before pushing the raft down the sand and to the water's edge. Once it was starting to drift away, she hastily clambered onto it and paddled with her hooves until the current caught hold.

Wherever she would end up now, the positively pink earth pony knew it was out of her hooves. It all depended on where the current carried her and her new friend.





While all these developments were unfolding, Rainbow Dash was finding herself getting to the point where she was losing what little patience she had. Although her moderate violet eyes couldn't be one hundred percent sure, it really felt to her like she was going around in circles. Had she just been chasing her own hoofprints this entire time? No, that couldn't have been it!

Yet the brash speedster had nothing to show for her efforts after what felt like hours of endless wandering and searching. And it was only made worse by the smell of delicious food that had begun wafting through the area, assaulting her nostril with those sweet scents.

"Come on already!" Rainbow loudly complained even though she knew she was just talking to herself at this point. "This is ridiculous! I wanna get off this stupid island! I'm tired and hungry!"

Suddenly, there came the rustling of bushes in the distance. And then the next thing Dash knew, she was being jumped by two ponies she had not been expecting to see!

"I got something, Twilight!" The familiar voice of Rarity was shouting at the top of her lungs! "Quick, help me pin it down before it gets away!"

Twilight immediately came rushing up to the scene, panting heavily from exhaustion as she did so! "I can't run as fast as you can, Rarity," She declared, before her eyes fell upon what (or rather who) her fellow unicorn had managed to "pin down". "Uh, Rarity. You do know that's Rainbow Dash, right?" She questioned.

Rainbow Dash groaned anew as she stood up and knocked Rarity down! "I should've known you two would try to stop me from winning!"

"Winning what?" Twilight blinked in confusion. "This doesn't appear to be any sort of challenge, Rainbow Dash. We've been stranded here, completely cut off from everyone and everything."

And Rarity whined. "And with nothing to eat or drink too! I doubt Discord would be this cruel on purpose."

The brash speedster blinked slowly while stepping back a bit. "But... but... but what about the tracks I've been following? Or what about the fact that the confessional cam's still working?"

The studious unicorn explained. "I have a feeling you've just been following your own tracks, because the only hoofprints Rarity and I saw all ran around in a circle. And as for the confessional, I have a feeling that wasn't intentional. It's just a stroke of luck it made the trip down here with us."

"Okay, and where exactly is 'here'? This is definitely not Paradox Island." Rainbow questioned as she looked all around, spotting no familiar landmarks anywhere.

Twilight could only answer. "I don't know. It's definitely no place I've ever seen before. But for right now, let's just regroup back at the cabin and discuss our next move."

"Make it quick, I'm absolutely starving!" Rarity insisted! "I wish I knew where that food was coming from."





So the three friends retreated back to the cabin they had been sharing. And imagine their surprise when they found Pinkie Pie and a small wooden raft already waiting for them.

"Oh, hey you girls!" Pinkie Pie cheerfully greeted despite her state of appearance. "Have you met Boulder II yet? He just loves to make new friends!"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Who's Boulder II?"

Pinkie held up a rock with a hastily drawn scribbly face and giggled. "He's right here, silly! He's not much of a talker, but he's terrific company."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Darling, you are aware that it's just a rock, right? It's not an actual sentient creature."

At that the pink party pony let out a gasp! "How dare you say that about Boulder II! Don't you know he's very sensitive?!" And she quickly whispered to the rock. "It's okay, Rarity didn't mean it like that. She's just not used to making friends with rocks is all."

Twilight was quick to opt to change the subject, even though she briefly gave her own thoughts on what she was seeing in the confessional. "Pinkie Pie making friends with a rock. Why doesn't that surprise me?" And she let out a long sigh. "If I ever see Discord, he's gonna have a lot of explaining to do! I'm half tempted to just quit at the next elimination ceremony. I can't take much more of this craziness." To emphasize her point she brought her hooves up to her forehead and rubbed said forehead with said hooves.

The four friends, now reunited, gathered together in the left cabin as it was now clear to see it was barely holding together. "So, you've been alone with Boulder II all this time, Pinkie?" Twilight questioned her friend, slowly trying to piece together what had happened since the unintended separation.

Pinkie Pie firmly nodded. "Yes indeedy. It's never a bad time to make new friends," And then she looked out to the others. "But it looks like all of you have been busy today too."

Rarity put a hoof up to her forehead as she dramatically declared! "Oh, like you wouldn't believe! What did I ever do to deserve such a terrible fate?!"

Rainbow only snorted. "Hey, at least I was actually trying to do something! The rest of you sat around and waited for help, or made friends with rocks!"

But Pinkie protested. "Hey, don't you all see?! If this is truly the end, if this is truly where our stories stop, then we need to come clean and confess."

"Beg your pardon? Why would we need to do that, darling?" Rarity questioned with an arched eyebrow.

Pinkie Pie explained. "Before I left on that raft with Boulder II, I made sure to spend time confessing to everything I did wrong. I felt so much better afterward, like a whole new pony."

Twilight quickly realized where the conversation was heading. "And you want us to do the same?"

The earth pony mare firmly insisted. "Of course! Trust me, you're all gonna feel a lot better after you do," And she added. "Besides, no one but the four of us will be around to hear it. It'll stay between the four of us."

"Fine," Twilight sighed before clearing her throat. "I'll go first."





But unknown to the four ponies, miles away on Paradox Island, Discord had lost what patience he had! "Alright, that does that!" He complained as he quite literally blew his top! "I need to have an episode and I need to have a challenge! Those contestants are gonna participate whether they want to or not!"

Nightmare Moon tried to console the very upset chaos maker. "N...now, there's no need to worry yourself. They'll turn up eventually, I'm sure."

Discord was not convinced for a second. "I can't wait that long! I'm going to look for them, and when I find them they're gonna be sorry they ever blew me off!" And he stormed away without another word.

The witty spirit traveled all over Paradox Island with a snap of his talons, inspecting every possible location for any trace of the missing contestants. But he couldn't find them anywhere at all, which only served to make him more frustrated and more concerned. Had something happened to them without him knowing it?

At last, an answer presented itself when Discord appeared in front of the cabins. Or rather, where they should've been. To his surprise, both the left and right cabins were gone! Not even their foundations remained. And it seemed the same thing had happened to the confessional. "Oh no!" He gasped in horror as his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates! "Oh, leave it to the last inhabitants to build a bunch of bad cabins."

Nightmare Moon was quite surprised to see Discord appear suddenly in front of her! "I take it you found the contestants?" She asked him.

The chaos maker only frantically replied! "Our contestants have been swept away by flood waters! Why didn't anyone tell them the cabins were not built on solid ground?!" And he then declared! "There's no time to waste! We've got to assemble a search party! If anything happens to them, it's gonna be my fault! I don't do well with lawsuits."

The wicked mare of darkness sighed, sensing that Discord was not going to calm down until the contestants were brought back to Paradox Island safe and sound. "The things I put up with because of him." She murmured to herself.

"Come on, help me out here!" Discord shouted to Nightmare Moon! And then he turned to the cameras. "We're going to edit this all out later. This episode didn't go as I'd planned."





"And that's the real reason why I dropped out of flight school," Rainbow Dash finished confessing to the others. "Not because I was lazy. But if I told anypony the truth, they wouldn't believe me."

Twilight reached a hoof out to her pegasus friend. "It's okay, Rainbow. We believe you. After all, friendship sometimes means sharing secrets."

Rarity nodded. "Yes, like how you came to learn about 'The Want It, Need It Spell'. You're lucky the second time you tried it, Princess Celestia was there to stop things from getting too out of control."

Pinkie Pie added. "Don't forget about what you did to be able to afford Carousel Boutique, Rarity."

Rainbow Dash only snorted. "That's quite a lot of talk coming from the pony who just told us the truth behind Mr. Turnip, Rocky, Sir Lintalot and Madame LeFlour."

"Well, at least we're all in agreement that what we've told each other doesn't leave this island!" Twilight firmly insisted as she looked into her friends eyes. "Even Applejack and Fluttershy can't know what we know, and neither can Spike for that matter." And the other three mares nodded in agreement.

Rainbow then declared as she looked around. "Okay. So, what are we supposed to do now? I for one am not sitting around, waiting for the end to come."

But before any of the four mares could propose anything, there suddenly came the sound of buzzing! Not the buzzing you'd associate with bees, the kind of buzzing you'd associate with propellers! And soon afterward, bright and blinding lights surrounded the cabin they were in!

Rushing outside, the four ponies were completely astonished to see huge airships circling above them! And aboard one of them was Discord, who could be heard shouting in triumph! "There they are! We've found them at last!"

"DISCORD?!" The four surviving contestants all collectively gasped, just as they saw the spirit jump out of the airship cockpit he was in and land in front of them, striking a pose as he did so!

"My apologies for the dramatics, contestants," Discord spoke up as he brushed off the dirt he'd stirred up. "But everything will be explained shortly. I'm just glad to see you're all still okay," Then he looked at Pinkie Pie's condition and added. "More or less."

Twilight found herself at a loss for words! "Discord?! How?! What?! But... I mean..."

The witty spirit only grinned. "My thoughts exactly, Twilight. But there will still be a ceremony tonight."





So it was that, the four rescued contestants were brought back to Paradox Island while the cabins were restored to their original glory and now bolted firmly to the ground courtesy of Discord. "There, now they won't be able to float away again!" He snorted and explained to the contestants. "I had planned to use the rain as a cover to bring in some long lost treasure. I was gonna have you all search for it after I re-buried it on the island. But you decided to play castaways instead."

"It wasn't our fault, Discord!" Rainbow Dash firmly protested as she pointed a hoof at the draconequus. "Maybe next time you should leave the weather alone!"

The witty spirit just snorted and waved his paw back and forth in reply. "Don't talk to me in that tone of voice, or I might just decide to take it personally."

"And the ceremony?" Twilight questioned with concern.

"Oh trust me, I've got something special planned for tonight! No votes required, just show up and everything will be explained," Discord laughed. "And someone, I'm not mentioning who, will be leaving this island forever!"

That announcement hung like a dark cloud over the rescued ponies, leaving them all to wonder who among them would be catching that dreaded ride on the Boat of Losers.

Eventually, it became time to find out as the mares made their way down to the fire pit near the Dock of Shame and took the first seats among the stumps that they could find. Discord and Nightmare Moon were already there, waiting for them. And all noticed that Pinkie had insisted on bringing along Boulder II, placing the rock on a stump next to her.

Discord then appeared before the ponies wearing a most unusual black shirt with a white collar. "Figured I should look the part. I just 'borrowed' this from someone, I'll make sure to return it before he even notices it's missing," He said with a grin, before he snapped his talons and produced a small plate. "Tonight's ceremony is going to be a little different. No votes, just marshmallows," As he spoke, he made a few marshmallows appear on the plate. "Contestants staying in the game will get a marshmallow. And the one that doesn't must immediately return to the Dock of Shame to catch the Boat of Losers."

Twilight quickly noticed a detail about the marshmallows, more specifically the number of them. "Wait a minute, there's four marshmallows on that plate. That means..."

The witty spirit didn't bother to let Twilight finish her sentence, he just quickly rattled off names while tossing marshmallows and saying: "The following players are safe for another round: Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie Pie gasped in horror! "Wait! But Boulder II didn't get a marshmallow!"

"And that means he's out of the game!" Nightmare Moon declared as she used her magic to pull the rock away from Pinkie before the party pony could protest.

Discord only shook his head. "Seriously, Pinkie. It's just a rock. You need to get a grip. As much fun as it might be to eliminate you instead, I'm not willing to stoop to that level of humor."

A series of slow blinks followed as a realization slowly settled in for the mare. "Oh... right," And she nervously giggled. "Wow, I feel so silly."

The spirit nodded. "Now you know how I feel," And then he added. "But believe it or not, there'll still be enough footage to make an episode. You know what they say: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!"

Nightmare Moon was quick to add. "Now all of you scram! You got lucky this time, but there's not gonna be anymore freebies!" And the four mares obeyed, ready to call it a night after the long day they'd had.

Discord only barely waited for the four ponies to leave before he was looking into the cameras and saying. "Well, things didn't go quite like I'd hoped. But as you can see, I'm prepared for any possible contingency. So just stick around, you won't want to miss the next exciting episode of Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 24: All's Awful That Ends Awful
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had come out again, shining down on the Dock of Shame as it always did. But instead of Discord being present, Nightmare Moon was standing there instead. And from the expression on her face she looked as if she would rather be anywhere else. Still, after letting out an unhappy sigh she declared as best she could. "Last time on an... 'unusual' episode of Total Magic Pony Island."

The clips from the previous episode began to roll, even while they were accompanied by Nightmare Moon's less than enthusiastic narration. "Discord thought it would be a good idea to summon rains and make the contestants wait a whole day for a buried treasure challenge. Yeah, I didn't think it was a good idea either but the boss is the boss."

Soon, the camera was depicting clips showing where it had all gone wrong. And Nightmare Moon was narrating the whole time. "Unfortunately, those good for nothing contestants of ours got swept away by flood waters because a certain someone didn't bother to check the foundations. But hey, it meant I finally got a day off so it's a win for me."

Nightmare Moon's explanations only slightly changed their tone as clips were shown of the four ponies fending for themselves in the cabins that had been separated. And the wicked mare of darkness only described. "The pink one made a new friend, who promptly destroyed what little sanity she had left. Too bad, so sad. And the rainbow one, well she was so competitive she thought it was a challenge and had to fend for herself. That left those two useless unicorns to try to work together, which went about as well as you'd expect."

The clips started to change, showing how the four castaway ponies had managed to meet up. And the dark coated alicorn was just explaining the whole time. "Eventually, by some stroke of luck, they all found a way to get back together. It seems like they're destined to be together or whatever. Is it any wonder why they drive me nuts?" Then she paused and coughed into a hoof. "Oh, sorry. Getting lost in my thoughts. Where was I? Oh yes!"

Nightmare Moon's narrations changed up a little, she was now clearly "trying" to sound enthusiastic about what was being shown on the cameras even after what she had said earlier. "Well, the pink one convinced them they all had to 'confess' about what they'd done in the past or something so they could all carry on with a clean conscience. What did they talk about? I don't know and I don't care."

After that, a clip was shown depicting a dramatic rescue of the four mares as Nightmare Moon's voice indicated how displeased she was with the development. "Discord just couldn't leave well enough alone though. He just had to mount a search party to rescue our contestants. And then he decided to spare them all at a marshmallow ceremony that he has instructed me to declare he 'Didn't steal from anyone!'," She promptly folded up the note card in her hooves as she remarked. "Seriously, who writes stuff like this?!"

The final clip depicted what had happened that night, with the dark coated alicorn explaining. "So it was that the pink's one new friend got voted off instead in order to snap her back to her senses. Sometimes I really don't get that Discord."

The clips ended soon afterward as Nightmare Moon glared at the cameras. "So yeah, there's your little 'recap'? You got a problem with that?! Well too bad, I don't really care! It's my recap, so I'll do it my way thank you very much!" She snorted, steam escaping from her nostrils as she added. "'Where's Discord?' you ask? Oh, he's off tending to some 'chaotic emergency' somewhere or something. And he left me in charge. Yeah, I'm not happy about it either. But at least that means I have free range to run the show my way!"

Nightmare Moon started to rub her hooves together! "I say Discord's gone soft on these contestants for long enough! And since he isn't here to stop me, I'm going to make these contestants truly suffer!" And she gazed into the cameras. "Excited, aren't we? Well it doesn't matter if you aren't. Sit down, shut up and watch this episode of Total Magic Pony Island!"





The four surviving ponies had no advanced warning about what would be in store for them. When they went to sleep the night before they knew Discord had still been in charge. But upon waking up they found themselves all separated once more.

"Not this again!" Twilight groaned in annoyance as she sat up in her bed, finding that it had been removed from the cabin and that there was no sign of any of her fellow contestants anywhere.

Rainbow Dash suffered a very rude awakening when she rolled out of her bed and fell to the hard ground outside, jolting herself wide awake in the process! "Gah!" She shouted and would've leapt into the air if she still had access to her pegasus magic.

Rarity had taken to throwing the sheets on her bed over her head, both to block out the sun's harsh glare and to try to pretend that she hadn't seen what she'd saw. "Why does this keep happening?!" She whined.

And Pinkie Pie snorted. "Hey, we didn't get to eat breakfast yet! You can't skip breakfast, it's the most important meal of the day!" Of course, no one but her was around to hear her complaints.

Suddenly, all four ponies saw a projection of Nightmare Moon appear in the sky! It was so big that it could be seen from just about anywhere on Paradox Island, or so it seemed. And the wicked mare of darkness was anything but pleased if the scowl on her face was anything to go by! "Silence, all of you!" She demanded!

Twilight forced herself to sigh, she had a pretty good idea of what was going on. "Don't tell me you're running things now, Nightmare Moon."

The dark coated alicorn grinned. "Indeed I am," Then she added in a noticeably less enthusiastic tone of voice. "And just so we're clear, I don't much like it either. But someone's got to take over in Discord's absence. The network and sponsors still want a show. So it's up to me to give 'em one!"

"Does that mean there's no elimination this episode since Discord's not around?" Rainbow Dash questioned as she yawned. "Because if so, I'm just gonna go back to sleep and wait."

Nightmare Moon shook her head. "No can do! We blew our safety net in the last episode thanks to you four utterly incompetent fools. So there's no more 'non-elimination' legs that could possibly exist, and no more previously eliminated contestants that can come back. Tonight, one of you four will be walking down that Dock of Shame even if I drag you down it myself!"

A brief flicker of the camera showed Pinkie Pie in the confessional with an unusually bright smile upon her face! "Ooh! Nightmare Moon's hosting a challenge again?! I had so much fun the last three times she did it! It's too bad no one else seemed to think that way."

Another flicker showed Rainbow Dash in the confessional, giving her own thoughts. "Ugh! I just can't catch a break, can I?! Ever since Scoots lost the scooter race, everything's been going wrong for me!" She complained with narrowed eyes! "I was so close to an automatic victory! But now I'm stuck with Nightmare Moon as a host and no allies to call my own," She stomped a hoof down. "Well, fine! A win is a win! I'll do whatever it takes to make to that finale all by myself!"

Then the camera cut back to the projection of Nightmare Moon as she continued to speak to the contestants. "Now, I'm only going to say this once. I'm not going to repeat myself!" And the wicked mare of darkness paused to clear her throat. "Each of you should've received a piece of a map, and a locator device that will lead you to one other contestant. Your goal is to make it back to camp and touch this totem pole that I've marked," The projection changed to show a rather ugly looking totem pole that had noticeable singe marks on it. "The first pony to touch the pole wins invincibility for the round."

"And if none of us make it back?" Twilight questioned.

Nightmare Moon just grinned. "Then nopony gets elimination, you'll all be losers!" And she was quick to warn. "You have until nightfall. I'll have to bring you all back by then since the island too dangerous, and if I let anything happen to you Discord will have my hide. If it comes to that, none of you will be safe. The only good news is, I can only eliminate one of you."

The fashionista rolled her eyes. "That doesn't inspire much confidence."

The dark coated alicorn only snapped back. "Would you rather I just eliminate you right now?" When she received no reply she declared. "I didn't think so," And then she went on explaining as though she hadn't been interrupted at all. "Now, pay attention, ponies. This is the most important part: You're all free to either work with each other or on your own. All that matters to me is who makes it back to camp and touches that totem pole. I'll be waiting for you there. The rest is up to you." And with that, the projection faded away.





Not long after Nightmare Moon's parting words, the four mares all noticed something on each of their beds that hadn't been there the night before as far as they could recall. Each rushed to grab the object, discovering it to be a large saddle bag (each bag's symbol matching the cutie mark of the pony that found it: A star for Twilight, gems for Rarity, a rainbow for Rainbow Dash and balloons for Pinkie Pie). Opening up the saddle bags revealed a piece of a map that had clearly been cut up into four different corners, as well as a little orb that flashed and showed a location.

Each pony thus set off, using their map piece and the flashing orb along with whatever memory they had of Paradox Island to begin their journey back to the camp grounds. They were all also quite relieved at the fact that the saddle bags given to them provided food and water (albeit in small snack sized portions for the food and tiny plastic bottles for the water).

By a stroke of luck, Pinkie Pie was the first to meet another pony. Owing to her faster than normal rate of travel, she found who her orb was leading her to: Rainbow Dash. "Hiya, Dashie!" The pink party pony cheerfully greeted as she tackled the brash speedster into a hug the second she lay eyes on the mare!

But Rainbow Dash only groaned, shoving Pinkie right off of her as she stood up. "Must you do that every single time you greet somepony?" She remarked in an annoyed tone.

"Hey, there's no need to be rude," Pinkie protested. "I found you. And that means we can put our map pieces together and find the others. Then we can all go back to camp together and share the invincibility. Won't that be nice?"

Rainbow just rolled her eyes. "Yeah right! Twilight and Rarity don't need our help, Pinkie! They'll just regard us as dead weight!" She bitterly complained. "They'll take our map pieces and leave us behind so they can claim invincibility for themselves."

The pink party pony blinked in disbelief. "That's not true, Rainbow Dash. They're our friends still, even after all the not so nice things you've been doing since we got here."

"Yeah, and they've at least once or twice tried to get rid of me!" The pegasus mare protested back! "Face it, Pinkie! You need to face the facts! There are no friends anymore, not at this point! It's everypony for themselves! After all, only one of us can win it all, right?"

"Well... yeah... but..." Pinkie Pie began.

Rainbow didn't bother to wait for a reply, she just took the flashing orb she'd found in her saddle bag and threw it as far toward the horizon as she could! "-But nothing, Pinkie Pie!" She snapped and swished her tail as she turned her back on her friend! "I'm not relying on anypony else from this point onward. If you wanna waste your time with our 'friends' then go right ahead! Don't come crying to me when they double cross you and leave you behind. You can keep my map piece, I'll find my own way back!"

Frantically, Pinkie tried to chase after her brash and head strong friend! "Rainbow, wait!" She desperately pleaded only to receive no reply. Eventually, she stumbled and by the time she had picked herself back up, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.

All Pinkie could do was stand in the clearing she was in, blinking in confusion as she looked right at the cameras and questioned. "What just happened?"





Meanwhile, Twilight had already made considerable progress on her end despite having only one fourth of a map to really help her. She didn't know to whom the flashing orb who lead her, so it wasn't very reliable. But she did remember a few vivid details from previous trips out into the wilderness.

Twilight even bragged about this in the confessional. "There's so many things on this island that you can't find anywhere else," She said with a smile. "And every wilderness survival guide I've ever read states that the key to surviving is to memorize your surroundings. Find a landmark that no one could possibly miss and use that as a starting point. Worse comes to worse, the guides say you're supposed to cling to that landmark until help arrives."

As the camera cut back to normal, the studious unicorn kept one eye on her map piece and another on her immediate surroundings. She had to be prepared in case anything might unexpectedly emerge to attack her. She couldn't afford to be chased, least she lose track of her surroundings and get lost.

Alone with only her thoughts for company, Twilight tried hard to keep her mind focused on the challenge at hoof. But she couldn't help but think back on so many things, so many regrets. In particular, wandering around in the wilderness reminded her a lot of Trixie. "I never did get to thank her properly for helping our team win the camp out challenge," She thought to herself. "And I never did get to understand just what makes her tick. She seems to have been the only pony who wasn't adversely affected by the island."

Twilight dwelled on these thoughts so much that she almost didn't notice when she bumped into the pony her flashing orb had been directing her to: In her case Rarity.

Rarity locked eyes with her fellow unicorn and smiled. "Oh, Twilight. Thank goodness you're the first pony I ran into out here. I don't know what I would've done had I encountered Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash," And she whispered. "Don't take this personally, but you're the only one I can truly trust in a situation like this. We both know what Rainbow Dash is like and Pinkie Pie can be... hard to read at times."

Twilight slowly nodded. "Yeah, that is true I guess. Rainbow Dash anyways," She put a hoof to her chin. "I thought she would get better after Trixie left, but she seems to be getting worse."

The fashionista firmly nodded in reply. "Indeed. But we can worry about that later," She promptly opened up her saddlebag and pulled out her map fragment. "Let's at least put our pieces of the map together before we do anything else. I'm not much of an outdoors type of pony."

Twilight reluctantly agreed even though she knew Rarity could potentially just be using her. Any extra knowledge that could be obtainable would be greatly appreciated in a situation like this.

But much to the two unicorns' dismay, they found that their fragments were for completely opposite corners of the whole island. Twilight carefully examined it, but after only a little bit of looking she groaned. "Well, that doesn't help us! It only really shows us where camp isn't."

"Oh, I was hoping to at least be more on the right path," Rarity groaned as well and then sighed. "But I guess it can't be helped. We'll just have to find our friends, or hope they find us."

"Well, I was trying to find you. My orb was directed to you after all," Twilight explained. "Don't tell me your orb was leading you to me."

Rarity shook her head. "On the contrary, darling. It's been leading me to Pinkie Pie. Bumping into you was just a very fortunate stroke of luck for me," And then she brought her flashing orb out, showing it to Twilight. "See? It's still flashing, but yours isn't anymore, is it?"

Twilight quickly found out that such was indeed the case. "Then I guess we track down Pinkie Pie, wherever she is," And she couldn't help but remark. "Kind of funny how even though the teams have merged, she's been on our side in almost every challenge compared to Rainbow Dash."

Rarity chimed in. "I had the same feeling as you, Twilight. And I think we can both agree that, if at all possible, we must vote out Rainbow Dash when this is all over. Pinkie Pie would be a far more worthy opponent compared to Rainbow Dash."

The camera then cut to show Rarity in the confessional as she was saying to herself. "Working with Twilight works just fine for me. Even if our alliance can only natural hold for two more challenges, it's quite preferable to the alternatives."

Twilight showed up in the confessional next, giving her own thoughts about the situation. "It's so weird knowing that no matter what I'm gonna have to vote out one of my friends when this is over," And she briefly contemplated. "I could just vote myself out... but then I wouldn't be able to figure out whatever it is Discord's planning. And I owe it to Princess Celestia to do so, even if I don't win the final challenge."





Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was trotting (or rather prancing and bouncing) all about as she continued to glance down at her map fragment from time to time. "This would be so much easier if I had my 'Pinkie Sense'." She thought to herself, but knew that such wishful thinking wouldn't bring it back.

Opting to keep her spirits up, the pink party pony was humming a little tune to herself in her head. "I don't think I like this challenge as much as the other Nightmare Moon ones," She said aloud even though no one could hear her. "It's just not as fun wandering around by yourself." But then she remembered why it was that she had been left to tackle the challenge on her own, why she was stuck with two map fragments that didn't match up at all.

Pinkie ceased her bouncing upon remembering this. "Oh, that's right," She said to herself. "Rainbow Dash wanted to go alone," And she shook her head. "How does she expect to find her way around without any kind of map? Even I'm not that crazy!"

A flicker of the camera had Pinkie Pie standing in the confessional, wondering aloud. "Huh, I never noticed how much I talked to myself," She slowly blinked in realization. "I should stop doing that. I just came back from crazy town with Boulder II after all. Boy, I haven't felt that silly since my surprise birthday party," The mare looked into the camera while blushing and declaring. "You had to be there. Trust me."

So it was that Pinkie opted to more or less fulfill that promise to herself about keeping quiet, though she still kept humming that little tune in her head. It was the only thing to take her mind off her worries, because something told her night fall was a long ways away.

All of a sudden though, the pink party pony heard the distant sound of hoofprints approaching her location! Could it be?!

Without bothering to wait to find out who it was, Pinkie rushed towards the direction she could hear the hoofprints coming from! "Rainbow Dash! Oh, I just knew you'd come to your senses eventually!" She declared, only to stop right in her tracks upon realizing that it was not Rainbow that she had found.

Twilight immediately deduced what had probably happened before she and Rarity had arrived on the scene. "Rainbow Dash went off on her again, didn't she?" She needn't have asked given that she received a confirming nod mere seconds later. "That pony! I swear! It's just like the horror challenge with The Smooze!"

Rarity quickly reached out a hoof to console her fellow unicorn. "Now, now, Twilight. We can worry about Rainbow Dash later on. It's a pity, but someponies just have to learn their lesson the hard way."

The studious unicorn couldn't help but sigh despite the reassurance. "I know, Rarity. But I also know that she's going to get herself hurt or something at this right. Like really hurt. Worse than Silver Spoon."

"And if that does happen it'll be her fault for being so stubborn and reckless," The fashionista declared. "Now come on, let's not worry about her. At least, not before we find out what Pinkie Pie knows."

Pinkie Pie happily declared. "Oh, I guess that means you've been looking for me! Well that's great, because I haven't been able to look for either of you," And she happily reached into her saddle bag, pulling out the two pieces of the map that she had. "Dashie decided she didn't need her part of the map, so I figured I'd hold onto it for her."

Twilight's eyes lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree upon hearing that statement! "That's actually really good news for us, Pinkie! Rarity and I have two pieces of the map as well! If we put them together, we should have the complete picture."

Rarity smiled. "Excellent! And then the three of us can head back to camp, meaning Rainbow Dash will almost certainly lose by default."

However, the pink party pony protested. "No way, you guys! We can't leave Rainbow Dash behind! We've gotta go after her!" She then reached into her saddle bag again, showing off her glowing orb. "My orb led me straight to her, and it still is!"

The studious unicorn tried to explain to her friend the decision not to go after Rainbow. "We won't be leaving her behind forever, Pinkie. It'll only be for this challenge so that hopefully she can cool down."

The fashionista added with a humph and a swish of her tail. "Quite frankly, if she's going to be this much of an idiot then I say she's brought whatever fate awaits her on herself. She's been overdue for karma ever since she wouldn't give up her invincibility to save Scootaloo. Not to mention taking advantage of our friendship to make us vote off the likes of Gilda and Cheerilee who did nothing to deserve it."

Pinkie Pie wasn't convinced, she thoroughly shook her head and glared at her unicorn friends. "So, just because she's been a big old meanie pants doesn't mean we have to be the same. We got this far in the game because we're better than her. Because we didn't do what she did."

"We weren't saints either, Pinkie," Twilight protested. "This island's been getting to us all and made us all do things we regret."

Pinkie continued to insist. "So, that means we just gotta try even harder to break through to Rainbow Dash and make her see things our way," And she added. "If she doesn't, we can all band together and vote her off tonight."

Rarity nervously inquired. "And if she somehow manages to win invincibility because of this?"

The pink party pony only replied. "Then you can vote me off since apparently you think being nice isn't a good thing anymore," And she narrowed her eyes. "I'm still mad at you two for letting Derpy talk you into voting her off. You knew I had feelings for her!"

A flicker of the camera showed Twilight breaking out into a nervous sweat in the confessional. "Why did she have to bring that up?" She asked while shaking a little.

Just as quickly, the camera flickered back to the three friends "argument" about whether or not to find Rainbow Dash. But it came to an end rather quickly after Pinkie Pie brought up what had happened with Derpy. Twilight and Rarity didn't say a word as they looked at each other, but it was clear from the expressions on their faces that they now regarded Derpy as another eliminated contestant they'd regretted voting off (even if at the time they'd believed it to be the right decision).

So it was that Rarity reluctantly replied to the earth pony mare. "Very well, Pinkie Pie, darling. If you really think we should save Rainbow Dash, then Twilight and I will help."

"Great!" The pink party pony cheered, all but leaping into the air with delight! "Now come on! Boy is she gonna be surprised to see us. But we'll show her what true friendship is all about!"





Rainbow Dash had no way to know what her friends were thinking about her or what they had agreed to. Perhaps if she had she might not have been so determined to keep going it alone like she was doing. Especially since the brash speedster was now realizing just how foolish and short sighted of her it truly was to go off without even a piece of a map.

"Stupid nature!" The tomboyish mare grumbled and groaned aloud as her eyes scanned her surroundings. "Why does everything have to look the same? Can't something be different?!"

These complaints carried over to the confessional as Rainbow was all but pulling out the hairs on her mane in frustration. "I just can't win, can I?! When I try to build an alliance it all goes wrong! And when I try to go it alone for once, stuff like this happens!" And staring directly into the cameras she complained! "Does the universe have something against me?! If it's because of what happened to Scootaloo, I'm sorry already! Is that what you wanna hear?! Are you happy now?!" 

After a moment of sitting in the confessional though, Rainbow blinked as if realizing what she'd just said. And soon, she was putting her hooves on the camera! "Come on, give me the tape! How do you open this thing?!" But her efforts failed to yield any sort of outcome, and she was forced to abandon them before long.

Left with an unsatisfied feeling (and feeling rather hot, sweaty and just generally uncomfortable if she was being honest with herself), Rainbow trudged on, her pace slowing considerably from where and what it had been earlier. She was more than certain she was going around in circles, but she was too stubborn to admit that she was wrong. Plus, without her glowing orb she had no way to even begin to look for anypony else.

Minutes ticked by in slow agony. Rainbow Dash continued scanning her surroundings for anything that looked new and/or promising. Any lead at all she would happily follow at this point.

Suddenly, Rainbow's ears could hear leaves rustling and the ground began to shake rather ominously! She spun around fast, just in time to see a sight that would make even the bravest of hearts tremble and shake with fear! A huge, ferocious bi-pedal creature with white fur was now face to face and snout to snout with her! 

As a result of the encounter, Rainbow Dash did the only thing she could think of in her situation: She let out a girly scream and took off as fast as her hooves would let her! Unfortunately for her, the bi-pedal creature gave chase as it followed her with ease and continued to roar as it did so.

The brash speedster screamed at the top of her lungs as she was pursued by this unknown creature! She didn't know where she was going, where she was running to. All she knew for sure is that she had to get away from that... whatever it was!





By a stroke of luck, the screams from the tomboyish athlete ended up alerting her friends to her location. In fact, they saw her run right past them without blinking or even acknowledging their presence at all.

"What was that all about?" Rarity pondered. "She looks as if she'd seen a ghost or something."

But seconds after Rainbow had run past, the three other mares found why she'd been running and they too became stricken with dread!

Twilight was the one to recognize what it was. "A yeti! But... what is doing here?!" She gasped as her eyes widened!

"I don't know, but I don't think it's friendly!" Pinkie Pie ominously gulped! "Yetis eat ponies!"

Rarity screamed and jumped behind Twilight! "Twilight, do something! You know what it is, so you must know how to defeat it."

The studious unicorn nervously answered. "I don't know! I only remember reading about them once, I don't remember their weaknesses."

The pink party pony asked while slowly backing away. "Uh, is there a Plan B?"

Twilight nodded and then declared. "Run!" And she took off as fast as her hooves would let her, prompting Rarity and Pinkie Pie to follow her!

The three mares soon caught up to their friend as they were all being chased together by the yeti! "What are you girls doing here?!" Rainbow Dash growled even while she continued to run. "I had things under control until that yeti showed up."

Rarity humphed. "Is that any way to thank us for coming back to save your sorry behind?"

Pinkie Pie added. "Come on, Dashie, we're all in this together!"

Twilight insisted. "Pinkie's right, you know," And then she looked back and added. "Besides, I have a feeling that yeti is here for a reason. Somepony must've brought it here!"

Rainbow Dash snorted. "I don't care! Just make it go away so I can get out of here and get back to winning!"

But Pinkie Pie protested! "We gotta lose it! And we have to work together!" Then she spotted something up ahead. A fairly large cave. And seeing it gave her an idea! "Hey, let's hide in there until the yeti goes away!" She insisted to the others.

Rarity gulped. "Into that dark cave? You must be kidding!"

Twilight, however, just shook her and sought to dispel any arguments before they could take hold. This was not a time for such back and forth bickering. "It's better than just running and running and running!" She firmly insisted in reply. "Let's at least give it a try."

Rainbow took one look at the cave and shuddered. "This is not going to end well. I've got a very bad feeling about this."

The pink party pony ignored the remark from her rainbow maned friend, instead declaring! "Into the cave, quick! The yeti's right on our tail... er tails!"

So the four mares all hastily dashed into the entrance of the rather large cave that Pinkie Pie had spotted earlier! It was very dark inside, no natural light could shine through. All four ponies could only see each other's eyes, that's how thick the darkness was.

"Is everypony okay?" The studious unicorn called, hoping for quick responses.

Rarity's voice echoed back. "I think I'll live. But I want to get out of this cave as soon as possible! It's all damp, dark and smelly, it's messing with my allergies." She then sneezed to emphasize her point.

Rainbow Dash's voice rudely remarked! "Say it, don't spray it!" And then she added. "I'm fine too! I probably would've found this hiding place anyway," But her voice did take on a softer tone as the pegasus admitted. "But thanks for coming back all the same. I... kind of appreciate it."

Pinkie Pie's voice could be heard giggling. "See? And you thought you'd be better off on your own. We already have the map all put together, we just needed to find you before we read it."

Rainbow gasped! "No way! You mean you can figure out how to get us back to camp?!"

Twilight's voice answered. "Well, I'll need some time to analyze the map. But hopefully, yes. As soon as we get out of this cave and get away from that yeti, we can see what the map has to say."

Suddenly, however, the pink party pony's voice could be heard questioning. "Say, is anypony else seeing another pair of eyes besides ours?"

And just as soon as that had been said, there came a fierce roar as the four mares realized that somehow the yeti had ended up in the cave with them! All they ran out of the cave's entrance as a result, screaming at the top of their lungs!





The four mares kept on running, wondering how it was that the yeti had managed to end up in the cave with them even though they hadn't seen it enter!

"Does this yeti ever stop?!" Rainbow Dash demanded as even she was beginning to struggle to keep up her frantic pace!

"We just have to... keep going..." Twilight furiously panted. "That yeti can't chase us forever."

Pinkie Pie then blinked as she commented. "That's funny, because it looks like it's stopped chasing us already. Guess it must've found something more interesting."

"What?!" Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight all questioned at the same time! They had to stop and turn around just to be sure. And indeed, they saw with their own eyes that the yeti had inexplicably ceased to chase after them. As mysteriously as it had appeared it was gone.

Twilight was thinking about such a development in the confessional as the camera flickered, showing her with a hoof to her chin as she was now deep in thought. "There's no way that yeti keeps appearing and disappearing of its own free will," She declared and looked deep into the camera. "This has to be the work of Discord or Nightmare Moon somehow. I just know it."

An exhausted Rarity also appeared in the confessional, heavily panting while fanning a hoof across her face. "I'm willing to put up with getting dirty and sweaty if it's for a good cause, but this is just too much!" She dramatically declared! "I am so glad this challenge will be over soon thanks to Twilight."

Rainbow Dash was grumbling in the confessional about everything that had just happened. "Just when things were finally going my way, that stupid yeti had to show up!" She complained! "Now I have to depend on Twilight to get me through this challenge, and I've got a target on my back," The brash speedster then rubbed her hooves together. "I can't take any chances! I HAVE to get invincibility, otherwise I'll have to convince Pinkie Pie to vote with me and hope I can win a tiebreaker."

And even Pinkie Pie had her own two cents to give in the confessional! "All of my friends, together! This is perfect!" She happily declared while jumping up and down. "I don't even care if I win this challenge or if I get eliminated. At this rate, getting everypony back together after we got split up at the start of this whole game is a win for me."

The camera then cut back to the four mares as they skidded to a halt. Where they were exactly, they had no clue. But it was still as good a place as any as far as they were concerned (or at least Twilight was concerned) to stop and look at the map. Said map now having all four segments of it for the first time since this challenge had begun.

The map was laid out on the ground so that all four mares could see it. And Twilight scanned over it with her eyes, checking every detail possible.

Rainbow Dash, however, impatiently made her back hooves tap while she fidgeted with her front hooves. "Come on, Twilight! Hurry up and tell us where to go already!"

"Don't rush me, Rainbow Dash! I need time to make sense of everything," Twilight explained. "Now if I can get back to where I was before I was rudely interrupted..." And then she went back to scanning over the map.

An uncomfortable silence began to fill the air as the other three mares waited for Twilight to inform them of her findings.

At last, Twilight stood up and cleared her throat. "Okay, I think I've got the map figured out more or less," She gestured a hoof, pointing to a spot in the top left corner. "This is where we are now based on what I can see," Then she moved said hoof over to a large red circle towards the center but leaning towards the right. "And I would assume this is where camp is, if only because I can't think of anything else on the map would warrant such a label."

"Great! So we're a good ways away from camp!" Rainbow sarcastically remarked. "So now what? We just head to the center using the map?"

"More or less," Twilight nodded as she moved to pick said map up. "It's not an exact estimate, you understand. This is the best educated guess I can make. This map is really hard to make heads or tails of."

Rarity frowned. "That doesn't exactly inspire confidence in you, Twilight. I thought you of all ponies would good at this."

"I'm trying, Rarity! Honest!" Twilight protested with a snort. "A map like this isn't very detailed. It looks like it was just put together overnight. But it's the best lead we've got!"

However, at that very moment Pinkie Pie stood up and shouted! "Wait!" She brought her snout up towards the air and started to sniff. "Hey, you guys smell that?"

"Smell what, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash pondered.

"It's... hang on... I think I recognize that smell," The pink party pony realized as her mouth began to water! "Oh goodie! Somepony's making cinnamon buns! I'll bet it's Nightmare Moon." And having caught a whiff of this delicious aroma, Pinkie immediately took off as fast as she could!

"Pinkie, come back!" Rainbow shouted as she rushed to get ahead of the pink party pony. If Pinkie's nose was indeed correct, the smell of cinnamon buns could be the best lead back to camp (and by extension invincibility)!

Twilight and Rarity took off too, a task made rather difficult by the fact that neither of them were physically gifted or fast on their hooves.





Miles and miles away, back at the campsite, Nightmare Moon was relaxing in a beach chair. The wicked mare of darkness had a plate of cinnamon buns that had just been brought out of the oven, the perfect mid-day snack as far as she was concerned.

Nightmare Moon was kicking it back and taking it easy. Nothing for her to worry about, or so she thought. "This has to be the best idea I ever had," She thought to herself. "Just send those ponies into the wilderness and leave them there to fend for themselves all day."

However, the peace and quiet Nightmare Moon was enjoying was suddenly and abruptly broken as she heard the sound of hoofsteps in the distance! The dark coated alicorn looked up to see four very recognizable ponies approaching her location, with a certain infamous (at least to her) pink coated earth pony leading the pack. "Oh great," She grumbled as she stood up and sighed. "Well, might as well get this over with." And she teleported to the marked totem pole, prepared to offer invincibility to the first pony to touch it.

Rainbow Dash could see the totem pole in the distance! "This is it!" She thought to herself as she prepared to make her move! "It's all or nothing now!" And she frantically dove at Pinkie, grabbing hold of her fellow's mare tail.

"Hey, let go, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie complained as she shook her tail back and forth!

Rainbow only groaned in reply! "Never! I'm... not... letting... go!"

But Pinkie just shook even harder, ultimately managing to knock Rainbow loose! "Nopony's getting between me and what I want!" She declared as she rushed towards the totem pole!

However, to the surprise of everypony, Pinkie ran right past the pole and instead grabbed the plate of cinnamon buns out in the open! "It's not every day you get to have cinnamon buns!" She declared as she scarfed down the plate and headed back to the totem pole.

Alas, it was too late for Pinkie to make up for her mistake. Twilight had taken advantage of the chaos to trot past a disoriented Rainbow and touch the totem pole first. "I... did it..." She wearily panted.

Nightmare Moon just snarled! "Really?! You had all just had to spoil my day off, didn't you?!" And she glared at Pinkie Pie! "And you, stealing my cinnamon buns like that! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I'm sorry, they were so good," Pinkie sincerely apologized. "I just couldn't resist."

The wicked mare of darkness only sighed, putting a hoof to her forehead in response. "Why do I even bother?" Then she turned to Twilight. "Congratulations on winning invincibility, Twilight. Now you and the rest of your 'friends' better scram! Meet me back at the fire pit tonight."

"But what about the vote?" Rarity inquired. "Aren't we going to have a vote?"

Nightmare Moon just flashed a toothy smile at the four mares as she told them. "Oh, there will be. Just not in the way you're expecting. All will be explained tonight, assuming I'm able to get into a decent mood by then."





The uncertainty following Nightmare Moon's announcement hung like a dark cloud over the four contestants for the rest of the day. They knew one of them would be eliminated, but apparently it would be out of their control as to who that pony would be.

At last, night time came, and with Discord still nowhere to be seen the four mares reluctantly journeyed out to the fire pit to find out what Nightmare Moon had planned for a "vote".

"Ah, good, you're all here!" The dark coated alicorn declared, her tone of voice indicating a rare hint of enjoyment. "I was thinking some of you might chicken out."

Rarity scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Well as you can clearly see, we don't scare that easily," And she quickly demanded. "So, what are we doing tonight for the vote?"

Nightmare Moon shook her head from side to side. "There's no need for one, actually. It's my show, at least until Discord comes back. And that means I can do things my way," And the wicked mare of darkness explained. "I'll decide for myself which of you so and sos will be staying and which of you will be leaving."

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and even Rarity couldn't help but start to sweat a little as a result of the announcement. If it was up to Nightmare Moon, it was anypony's guess as to who she would choose for elimination. Heck, for all they knew she could revoke Twilight's invincibility or say it didn't matter.

The evil alicorn proceeded to look over the contestants one by one, apparently sizing them up and making mental notes since she spoke not a word the whole time. And none of the four mares seated on the stumps said a word either, all of them intimidated into silence.

At last, Nightmare Moon began making her announcement. "Alright, let's start with our big 'winner'," She delivered the last word with a noticeable hint of malice. "Twilight Sparkle, you were able to figure out a way to thwart all of my efforts to keep you and your friends away for an entire day."

"So the yeti was your doing all along!" Twilight realized! "And the map?"

Nightmare Moon nodded. "Yup. Designed it on purpose so that it'd be difficult to read for somepony who doesn't know the island inside and out," Then she let out a groan. "But of course, you just couldn't let me have one day to myself. No, you had to round up everypony and make it back to camp. Still, invincibility is invincibility. I know Discord's really hoped you would lose, but even he would be hard pressed to justify kicking you off after you won the challenge."

Twilight breathed a small sigh of relief, knowing that she at least was safe for another round. Now it was just a matter of which of her three friends would be unlucky enough to be eliminated.

Nightmare Moon approached Rarity next and told her. "Rarity, you're safe too. Of all the four contestants still left, you're the one pony who hasn't really done anything to get on my bad side at all."

The fashionista blinked. "Really?"

The wicked mare of darkness nodded and flashed a sincere smile. "Yes, really. Quite frankly, I wouldn't mind if you won the whole thing."

"Uh, thanks... I guess?" Rarity slowly blinked in reply, unsure of how to respond properly to such a comment. Still, if it meant she was safe she would gladly take this little "reward".

Now it was down to just Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, both of whom knew Nightmare Moon had plenty of reasons to want to eliminate as an act of "revenge".

Nightmare Moon looked at both mares, before clearing her throat and declaring. "Rainbow Dash, you're tonight's big loser!"

"WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in dismay as Pinkie happily rushed over to join Twilight and Rarity in celebration! "But... but... I was playing to win!" She accusingly pointed a hoof! "Pinkie Pie ate your cinnamon buns! She threw away victory! She deserves to go, not me!"

The wicked mare of darkness only replied. "I'm keeping her around specifically so I can pay her back for the whole cinnamon buns thing. You, on the other hoof, I've been meaning to get rid of for a long time. You have repeatedly mocked and insulted me at every turn, not to mention blowing off most of my challenges."

"Yeah, 'cause they suck! The only good one was the hide and seek one, and that's 'cause you had two ways to earn invincibility," Rainbow remarked, before sighing. "But you know what? At this rate, I don't even care anymore! I'm tired of all these stupid rules! I'm tired of having to compete against others to prove I'm better! And I'm tired of all these attempts at 'drama'!"

Nightmare Moon just grinned. "Then I take it you won't object to a ride on the Boat of Losers?"

The brash speedster sighed again. "Anything's better than putting up with stuff like this. Plus, maybe I'll be able to finally get away from that Mare-Do-Well that keeps haunting me."





Rainbow Dash was led down the Dock of Shame by Nightmare Moon, soon walking onto the Boat of Losers as its engine roared to life.

The tomboyish pegasus sat down on a seat at the back of the boat, watching as the view of Paradox Island slowly receded into the distance. "I could totally make a million bits anyway," She thought to herself. "I just hope I can forget this whole experience and all that I've had to put up with."

Yet as Rainbow was sitting there and moping in silence to herself, she suddenly saw something or rather someone appear out of the corner of her eye. And that someone was none other than Mare-Do-Well!

The masked mare didn't say anything as she gazed at Rainbow Dash, perhaps silently judging her.

"What do you want from me, Mare-Do-Well?!" Rainbow grumbled and snorted, gazing right back at the masked mare. "Come to twist the knife in some more?! Thanks to your constant haunting of me, I couldn't focus and I lost the game!"

Suddenly, Mare-Do-Well spoke up as she lifted her hood to reveal the familiar face of Applejack. "Sugarcube, you don't even recognize me? You really have become blinded to what you've become!" She sternly scolded. "I'm sorry, but I don't love ya anymore. You ain't the Rainbow Dash I know!"

Rainbow blinked in disbelief! "No, it can't be! You're NOT Applejack!" She firmly insisted!

"You're right, Rainbow Dash. I'm not," The familiar voice of Spike laughed as suddenly Mare-Do-Well's hoof yanked off an Applejack face mask to reveal the little dragon's face underneath. "I'm your worst nightmare! The one you tried to eliminate just because I stood up for Silver Spoon when you wouldn't! Some element of loyalty you turned out to be! Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"Stop it! You can't be Mare-Do-Well either, Spike!" Rainbow Dash insisted as she started to trot forward! "Stop messing with me!"

"Oh, like how you messed with Scootaloo's head?" The voice of Cheerilee declared in a stern, lecturing tone of voice as Mare-Do-Well's hoof ripped off a Spike face mask to reveal the teacher. "Your friends told me about why they created Mare-Do-Well in the first place. I didn't think it would work so well, but it seems I ultimately got what I wanted. If only I'd been able to stage this intervention sooner, Scootaloo might have been saved from a painful elimination that you caused for her!"

Rainbow put her hooves to her forehead, groaning in annoyance and exclaiming! "Stop with the insanity! I can't take it anymore!" And she demanded of "Mare-Do-Well"! "Who are you, really?! No more masks, no more games! Just tell me who you are!"

"You really want to know? Like really really want to know?" "Cheerilee" asked of the brash speedster as she looked her fellow pony in the eye. "You may not like what you see."

Suspecting nothing and desperate for any sort of mental relief, the brash speedster trotted forward again while firmly nodding. "Whoever you are, I can take it!"

"Cheerilee" seemed to grin in response as she ominously declared. "Very well, but consider yourself warned, Rainbow Dash." She then reached a hoof up to yank off her face mask, this time to reveal who she truly was underneath.

When Rainbow's moderate violet eyes caught a good glimpse of who the mare behind the mask was, she could hardly believe it! She even blinked and rubbed her eyes just to be sure she wasn't seeing things. Indeed she wasn't. Staring right back at her was none other than herself, almost like looking into the mirror and seeing one's own reflection not just looking back at them but also talking to them. "No, impossible!"

This other Rainbow Dash only firmly nodded in response. "Anything is possible," And she accusingly pointed a hoof at her "copy". "Face it, you're your own worst enemy. You've become that which you once vowed you'd never become! You've turned your back on so many friends for the sake of this game. And for what?! A million bits that you would blow threw in a heartbeat?!"

The "original" Rainbow Dash gasped! "No! No! It's not true! It can't be true! This... this is a nightmare!"

"Is it really? Or is that just what you tell yourself to help you sleep better at night?" The "other" Rainbow Dash scolded. "Deep down, you know this is the truth! You know you can't run away from this! You can't undo what you've become! But you can undo what you will become if you don't change your ways."

And while all of this was going on, Nightmare Moon was up front and piloting the boat. She didn't seem to be aware of what was going on behind her. Or if she did she took no notice. Instead, she just grinned while looking into the cameras. "Hope you all enjoyed this little change up from normal. Just stick around, because there's more to come here on Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 25: Party For Three
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord had returned to where he always was at the beginning of these "episodes", the Dock of Shame. He stood there with a smile, and looking into the cameras he began to give the same opening spiel he'd given countless times before. "Last time on Total Magic Pony Island."

Discord quickly explained himself as the clips showed Nightmare Moon taking over in his absence. "Yours truly had to tend to a last minute chaotic emergency, and was not in any way, shape or form dealing with a lawsuit from a certain someone about the use of marshmallows at a campfire ceremony. So because of that emergency, I had to put Nightmare Moon in charge. And that was definitely the right call to make, because it looks like she didn't skip a beat when it came to stirring up the drama."

The witty spirit continued as clips from the previous episode's challenge started rolling. And his voice carried like it always did over the narrations. "Anyway, Nightmare Moon split the contestants up and sent them into the woods to try to find their way back. She didn't actually mean for them to do so, she just wanted a day off. Kind of a shame she didn't salvage my buried treasure challenge, but it can't be helped."

More clips followed, showing how the four ponies had approached the challenge presented to them while the draconequus just kept on narrating. "Rainbow Dash opted to go it alone, which worked about as well as you'd expect. But Pinkie Pie wouldn't give up on her friend, and upon meeting her former fellow Magical Misfits insisted on tracking down Rainbow Dash. As a result, all four of them met up again right as Rainbow Dash had the misfortune of encountering a yeti," He paused briefly to add. "Great job on bringing it here by the way, Nightmare Moon."

From there, the challenge's conclusion was shown through clips accompanied by Discord's narration. "Ultimately, Pinkie Pie nearly won the challenge before she chose to throw it all away for cinnamon buns. And Nightmare Moon was furious that her plans had backfired. Bad for her, but good for me."

Then clips were shown of the campfire ceremony that night as Discord narrated. "Nightmare Moon decided to change things up for the campfire ceremony again. She reserved the right to decide who to spare and who to eliminate for herself. Imagine my surprise when she spared Pinkie Pie and eliminated Rainbow Dash. Not how I would've done it, but again I let her have control so I gotta roll with it," He could be heard chuckling as he added. "Still have to give her props for that impressive 'visit' from Mare-Do-Well though. Rainbow Dash won't be forgetting that anytime soon."

The clips ended as the witty spirit gazed into the cameras with a smile. "We've only got three contestants left, folks! Who's going to be advancing to the finals, and who's about to be cut loose? Find out right here, right now on Total Magic Pony Island!"





With just three contestants left in the game, all of whom had previously been on the same team, it was hard not to feel a sense of accomplishment. All of them had survived multiple challenges where one would've expected them to do poorly, and each of them had won invincibility at least twice.

However, Rainbow Dash's departure had made the three friends (at least, they still considered themselves friends despite some of the lingering tensions between them) a little bit less enthusiastic than they should be. And before they went to bed that night, they each gave their thoughts on the matter in the confessional.

Twilight was the first to do so, having won the last challenge by what was basically a stroke of luck. "It's unfortunate that Rainbow Dash got eliminated like that," She thought aloud while gazing into the cameras. "But it was probably inevitable anyway. Rarity and I at least were going to vote for her if she didn't win invincibility. I don't know what Pinkie Pie would've done or what a tie breaker might have been like under Discord," And she then said to herself. "Rainbow Dash going when she did was for the best, I think." But the uncertainty in her tone of voice conveyed other feelings.

Rarity gave her thoughts next, and she was noticeably less uncertain given the way she carried herself. "After everything Rainbow Dash has done since this game began, she more than deserved to be eliminated in such a fashion," She humphed. "I just can't believe Twilight and I were blind for so long. If only we'd listened to Spike or Cheerilee, we could've done the sensible thing sooner. Now we just have to hope Rainbow gets some sense knocked into her. And if she doesn't, maybe she'll change her mind after I drag her to my next spa session."

And Pinkie Pie was the last to speak her piece about Rainbow Dash's elimination. But she was way less confident in the decision compared to either of her friends. "I know Rainbow Dash did a lot of bad things, but I don't know if it was entirely fair for her to lose the way she did. If anything, she should've gone home when she was actively trying to lose," And she snorted. "And if Twilight and Rarity had seen it that way, they would've ignored Derpy's silly fears and sent Rainbow Dash packing," Then she looked into the cameras. "At this rate, I don't know if I'm gonna make it to the finale. I thought I was doing so good. But now... now I'm not sure of anything."

The camera then cut back to the three former Magical Misfits as they headed back to the cabins, ready to call it a night. Yet it was noticed by Twilight and Rarity when Pinkie Pie opted to sleep in the right sided cabin by herself instead of sleeping in the left sided cabin with them.

"Do you suppose she now blames us for what happened to Rainbow Dash, like how she insists on blaming us for respecting Derpy's wishes?" Rarity pondered to Twilight as the two unicorns prepared to put their tired bodies to rest.

Twilight gulped. "I really hope not. I was really hoping that with Rainbow Dash gone we could put all of this drama behind us, especially so close to the end. It's bad enough we have to worry about Rainbow straying from her element, we don't need to deal with Pinkie Pie potentially straying from hers on top of it."

The fashionista then suggested. "Perhaps we should keep our little alliance going until the next challenge is over, then? I don't mean to sound rude, but there are two of us compared to Pinkie. If we worked together, we could shut her out."

But the studious unicorn shook her head. "No! No more secret alliances! We don't need to give Pinkie a reason to hate us!" And she then declared. "We're just going to do our best to work through this problem as friends. If either of us found ourselves in Pinkie's horseshoes, we wouldn't want either of us working with her to try to eliminate us. We're better than that, we're not like Rainbow Dash!"

Rarity slowly nodded. "Point most certainly taken, darling. I don't even know why I thought of it in the first place. Let us never speak of it again unless absolutely needed."

Twilight nodded back. "Agreed, Rarity. Now let's get some rest. Regardless of whether it's Nightmare Moon or Discord hosting tomorrow, I have a feeling we're going to be in for a real doozy of a challenge!"





When the three surviving mares woke up the next morning, they were quite relieved to have gone a night without being taken away to somewhere else after two nights in a row of it happening to them.

And as the three friends (more or less) exited the cabins they heard the familiar wacky and witty voice of Discord calling out to them over the loud speakers. "Good morning TMPI contestants! Welcome to the semi-finals! Did you miss me? Well don't worry, I'm back and I ain't going anywhere anytime soon!"

"Well, at least we know that will be normal." Rarity remarked as the loud speakers fell silent.

"About as normal as things can be under Discord anyway." Twilight declared while silently remembering the promise she made to Princess Celestia right before the alicorn's elimination.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was sniffing the air! "Oh goody! Somepony's making pancakes!" She excitedly announced while licking her lips! And then she bounced away to the mess hall with a spring in her step.

The two unicorns followed their pink party pony friend, both trying to judge her for any signs of how she might be feeling today about Rainbow Dash's elimination. But she didn't seem to be showing them, at least not outwardly. So the two unicorns hoped that was a sign that bygones could in fact be bygones. That they could put it behind them and move forward.

Entering the mess hall a short time later, the three mares found that there were indeed pancakes waiting for them. And a rather irritated and annoyed looking Nightmare Moon was there too. "You all have Discord to thank for this," She told them in no uncertain terms. "He said we should do something truly special today on account of him being gone yesterday. And he said he's got something extra special planned for today's challenge."

The studious unicorn looked the evil alicorn square in the eyes as she nervously replied. "I don't think I like the sound of that."

Nightmare Moon only rolled her eyes. "Trust me. Compared to what you've had to endure under me, what Discord's going to do will be a cake walk."

"Where is he anyway?" Rarity pondered while looking all around. "He always has a tendency to show up here when he's ready to announce his challenge, whatever it is. It's not like him to be late, not even fashionably late."

The wicked mare of darkness just shrugged her hooves. "I don't really know and I don't really care. He barely tells me anything," And she then swished her tail. "Now, you gonna enjoy your pancakes, or should I just take them all away and eat them myself?!"

Pinkie Pie immediately jumped up and protested! "Are you kidding?! No way are we letting you take all the pancakes away! Not in a million years!" She quickly rushed to grab a plate and started stacking it full of as many pancakes as she could possibly stack in one go! And then she carried her heavily stacked plate of pancakes away to the nearby table, balancing it with the greatest of ease.

Twilight and Rarity, not wanting to be left behind, took up plates as well and they too started stacking pancakes. They didn't stack as many as Pinkie Pie though, without magic they knew they wouldn't be able to balance such heavy plate loads. Once both were satisfied that they'd gotten a good amount without putting too much on their plates, they made their way over to the same table as Pinkie and sat down next to their fellow mare.

For a while, all that could be heard was the sound of pancake eating as Pinkie Pie was scarfing down her pancakes at speeds that should've been impossible for anypony. And Twilight and Rarity were at a loss as to how best to start a conversation about last night.





And before Twilight and Rarity could get a chance to plan out their approach, the door to the mess hall suddenly swung wide open in dramatic fashion! With the blowing of trumpets, a red carpet was unfurled that stretched all the way across the mess hall to the kitchen door. The trumpets continued to blare as several mini Discords appeared, tossing flower petals to either side as they walked down the carpet. And then, several slightly larger Discords could be seen carrying in the main draconequus himself. He was seated on a throne in all his chaotic glory, even down to him being dressed in a cape and wearing a huge golden crown.

Nightmare Moon saw the display and could only roll her eyes. "So overdramatic. He's gone for one day and suddenly he think's he's the greatest thing since sliced bread."

Discord rose slowly from his throne once it had been set down, clearly enjoying every moment of milking his dramatic entrance for all it was worth (and then some). Once he'd finally done it though and was looking at the contestants in all his glory, he quickly made the crown, the throne and everything else disappear. "Oh, I never get tired of doing that!" He happily declared, sounding not unlike a little kid in a candy store.

Pinkie Pie paused briefly in her eating to look at the spirit. "Heya Discord, kind of nice to have you back again. Nightmare Moon was a good host in your place though, I'm sure she's told you."

The chaos maker just replied. "Oh, there's no need. I was kept advised of every little thing that transpired while I was gone."

"Really? How'd you do that?!" Pinkie eagerly questioned.

Discord grinned. "I have my ways," Then he cleared his throat, looking at the three mares as they were all seated in the table together. "It's truly amazing to see you all together like this. And I'm definitely surprised that two of you made as far as you did. You especially, Twilight. You continue to baffle me with your persistence."

Twilight couldn't help but grin back at Discord. "Sorry, I guess I just never got the message that I was supposed to lose for your sake."

"I thought you said you didn't play favorites, Discord." Rarity questioned with a snort and a glare.

The witty spirit was quick with his answer. "Who said anything about favorites? I never said I wanted Twilight Sparkle to lose outright. If challenges just so happen to have aligned that were hard for her and increased the chances of her losing, that's just a coincidence and nothing more."

A flicker of the camera showed Twilight anything but satisfied with the answer as she sat in the confessional and glared into the camera. "Somehow, I don't buy that flimsy excuse even for ten seconds. Of course he'll never admit outright that he wanted me gone. I'm the one who managed to reverse the effects of his chaos," She blinked and blushed upon realizing her mistake. "With more than a little help from my friends, of course. Just a... slip of the tongue."

The camera quickly cut back to the mess hall with another flicker of static as Discord proceeded to clear his throat again. "Well, that little detail aside," He quickly snapped his talons and in a flash of blinding light he transformed! When the flash faded, he was dressed up entirely as a pirate: He had the hat with the skull and cross bones on it, an eyepatch over his left eye, his goat leg replaced by a wooden peg leg and one of his claws replaced by a sharp, metal hook. "Ye all better enjoy yer breakfast of pancakes! Because you landlubbers are going to need all the energy ye can get!" He declared in his best pirate voice.

"Pirates... why am I not surprised?" The fashionista remarked with narrowed eyes. "I suppose this is just so you can 'resurrect' that buried treasure challenge of yours from when we got washed out to sea."

"Argh! I be guilty as charged, Rarity!" Discord willingly confessed! "But the challenge be too good for me to lay it to rest. So feast away to yer hearts' content, me hardies! Once ye've finished, I shall be waiting for ye all outside!" Then, using his free paw, he snapped his talons and disappeared again in a flash.

Pinkie Pie quickly went back to eating pancakes afterward, specifically declaring to the others! "Hey, you heard him! Gotta eat to keep your strength up!" And she was soon scaring down pancakes again at an insanely fast rate! It was a miracle she hadn't made herself sick.





With today's challenge now known to all, there wasn't much of an opportunity for the three mares to discuss any events from before. Twilight and Rarity tried, but every time they began to strike up a conversation with their pink party pony friend she would always reply with. "I need to eat! We could be going all over the island to look for buried treasure, and in that case I'll need as much energy as possible!"

Rarity was groaning, putting a hoof to her forehead in the confessional as she felt sorely tempted to pinch herself (if that were possible). "That Pinkie Pie. Honestly, how did I survive being on a team with her?" And she sighed. "I know she can be smarter than she lets on, but she's insanely hard to read sometimes. I honestly can't believe she's made it this far, she's so lucky it's scary!"

Even Twilight was finding it hard to keep herself composed while in the confessional. "I guess maybe I haven't known my friends as much as I thought I did," She said to herself. "Was I so focused on Trixie, Vinyl and Rainbow Dash that I failed to realize how much Pinkie Pie can still drive me crazy?" Then she wondered. "But how do I tell her that without sounding mean? I don't want her to think I don't trust her."

A flicker of static and the camera cut back to the mess hall as the three former Magical Misfits finished their pancake breakfast one by one. Pinkie Pie was obviously the first, and she rushed out the door as soon as her plate was empty! In fact, she was in such a rush that she just barely remembered to lick her lips to get a few flakey crumbs off her cheeks.

Twilight was next, followed by Rarity shortly thereafter. "I guess we'll just have to wait until this challenge is over, or at least until we can be sure we'll be alone with Pinkie," Twilight told her fellow unicorn. "We need to address this."

Rarity nodded very reluctantly. "I do agree with you, darling. For the sake of our friendship, we must have that talk one way or another before this day is over. We can't wait until the finale."

And with that spoken agreement, the two unicorns followed Pinkie Pie as they found Discord waiting for them by the cabins. "So, ye are all set to search for me plunder, are ye?" He asked them, glaring at them through his one eye that wasn't covered by an eyepatch. Upon receiving confirming nods the spirit dressed as a pirate declared. "Well good. I hoped ye would be."

The three mares soon found full maps being dropped into their hooves in a flash of light. And Discord was explaining everything while continuing to talk like a pirate. "Now listen carefully, landlubbers. Ye've each received a map that'll led you to where I've gone and stashed me booty."

"So we just go to where the x is and dig until we find whatever you consider booty?" Twilight questioned. "If that's the case, why are we getting maps? Wouldn't it be more of a challenge if we had to actually search for it."

Discord waved his metal hook paw in front of Twilight as he snarled! "Ye better watch that tongue of yours, matey! I'd hate to make ye walk the plank off The Dock o Shame for a ride on the Boat of Losers," Then he resumed his explanation as if he hadn't been interrupted in the first place. "I be given ye all maps for a reason, but what that reason is I won't tell. Just follow the map, dig up the loot and bring back whatever ye find to claim yer reward. Oh, and by the way mateys, ye better be careful about what ye choose to dig up," Then he asked. "Are ye all ready?"

"I think we are, more or less." Rarity nodded while looking at Twilight and Pinkie who nodded back in response.

"Good," Discord declared with a smile, and then with a snap of his free paw he made a cannon appear. "Take heart, me hardies. When this cannon go boom, it be time for ye to start on yer way!" And before anypony could even think of protesting, the spirit pulled out a match, lit the fuse and then stood back! The cannon soon fired off a single cannonball, wizzing its way through the sky all the way across the island.

The search for the buried treasure (or buried treasures more likely) was on!





Each pony examined their map as best they could, finding to their surprise (and great relief in Pinkie Pie and Rarity's cases) that the maps were very easy to read. A far cry from Nightmare Moon's map the day before. It was just a straight line down to the beach, though each map referred to multiple xs and didn't specify which were which or where.

Pinkie Pie bounced along as usual, smiling and humming a tune to herself as she looked down at her map only occasionally to make sure she was going the right way.

In the confessional, the pink party pony was explaining. "I know Twilight and Rarity must be worried about last night, and I kind of am too. But it's in the past," She then cheerfully declared! "I can't stay mad at them! It's great that no matter what, we'll still be friends in the end. And if I'm being honest, both of them probably deserve to win more than me. I mean, not that I'm not gonna try to win, cause I still will."

The camera cut back to normal as Twilight and Rarity were making their own approaches towards the beach while also wondering how they might best carry out that conversation with Pinkie Pie that needed to happen.

Since neither mare was willing to take that plunge, the journey to the beach passed in silence for all three ponies (aside from Pinkie's humming and bouncing). And on the beach itself, just near the shoreline rested three big xs that had been drawn in the dirt. It was anypony's guess what was buried underneath each of them.

Immediately, Pinkie Pie ran over to the first x her blue eyes settled on and happily started digging at the ground with just her bare hooves. She didn't seem to have a care in the world.

The same couldn't be said for Twilight and Rarity though, because although they both approached an x of their own (Twilight got the one closest to the water and Rarity the furthest) they were unsure of how exactly they would or should dig up the loot marked on the spot. Rarity in particular was rather hesitant, pawing lightly at the dirty as the fashionista nervously commented. "I really don't wanna chip a hoof here. That's a set back I can't afford!"

The pink party pony soon took notice of this and stopped her digging entirely even though she was already a ways down into the sand. She quickly left the hole she'd made behind and bounced over, whistling to get her friends' attention. "Hey, what's the matter, slowpokes?" She called in a surprisingly friendly tone of voice. "Why haven't you started digging yet? You're never gonna get at the treasures by just standing there."

The studious unicorn answered with a nervous grin. "We'd love to, Pinkie, but there's no shovels or digging tools anywhere. And... well, we're not as physically gifted as you are with our hooves."

Rarity slowly nodded in agreement. "What Twilight said, darling. And we're being sincere."

"Oh, is that all? Well why didn't you just say so?!" Pinkie cheerfully declared in a tone of voice so loud it could be heard for miles around! "I've got plenty of shovels in case of shovel emergencies. In fact, I've got lots of things in case of any kind of emergency. Never hurts to be prepared. Twilight taught me that," She giggled, before reaching a pink colored hoof into her poofy mane. "Now let's see, where did I stash them?" And she proceeded to rummage through her mane, tossing aside various objects as she pulled them out.

Both unicorns could only blink at each other, making sure they weren't seeing things. It seemed that there was something about their earth pony's friend that defied all known laws of reality.

Twilight was amazed by this as she was exclaiming with eyes wide open in the confessional! "If it weren't for the fact that I already tried to study the 'Pinkie Sense' and came up empty hoofed, I'd gladly try to study Pinkie's mane!" And she pondered aloud. "Could the Sonic Rainboom have caused a reaction that gave her these crazy abilities? It seems like it could enhance magic in lots of other forms."

The camera soon cut back to the beach as Pinkie just kept digging around in her mane, objects of all shapes and sizes piling up behind her as she tossed them out. At last, she seemed to find what she was looking for as she exclaimed! "Aha, here we go! I knew I put them somewhere!" And seconds later, the earth pony was hauling out two large metal shovels that looked like they shouldn't have been able to fit into her mane at all. "There you are!" She told her friends.

But Twilight and Rarity just stood there in utter speechlessness, neither knew what to say. It seemed like a thousand thoughts were all swirling through their minds at once.

Pinkie Pie appeared to realize what at least some of those thoughts might be as she looked at the two unicorns with a sincere smile. "What? I don't need them. I'm more than happy to let you borrow them. It just wouldn't be fair if I was the only one digging."

"You really trust us, Pinkie Pie?" Rarity questioned with concern. "For all you know, we could be faking this just to take advantage of you. You didn't seem to really trust us last night or yesterday."

Pinkie only replied by shrugging her hooves. "So? That was then and this is now. It's all water under the bridge, girls."

"You mean, you're not mad at us?" Twilight reluctantly asked, worried that this might be a trap or a dream of some kind.

"A little bit," Pinkie answered as her expression didn't change in the least. "But I think I would've just voted for myself if we'd been allowed to vote last night. And I doubt Rainbow Dash would've wanted that. She was probably going to lose anyway. I just think she deserved more of a chance is all. It was kind of my fault she didn't win invincibility."

Twilight then pointed out. "Maybe so, but you were also the only one who wasn't ready to abandon her when Rarity and I wanted to go back to camp earlier in the day. So if not for your insistence on saving Rainbow Dash, she wouldn't have been in a position to win invincibility anyway. So in a way, you kind of helped her and kind of hurt her. And without knowing it."

Rarity was quick to add. "And we're sorry about Derpy. But it seemed like she was so convinced that her time to leave had come. She knew that if you found out, you'd try to stop it," Then she looked at the ground in shame. "But we should've tried harder to resist, at least until Rainbow Dash was gone."

Pinkie Pie nodded before insisting. "But that's all in the past. We can't change that. And I don't wanna let it come between us. I still wanna be friends with you guys, just like I wanna still be friends with Rainbow Dash even if she's gonna be so thickheaded. It never feels good to be without friends, especially in a place like this."

"I agree, Pinkie Pie," The studious unicorn declared. "However, it's also true that friends or not we still have to participate in this challenge. And only one of us can win it. And it would be wrong if I went easy on either of you because of our friendship."

Pinkie nodded again, and then bounced back over to her huge hole of sand to resume digging! "Exactly! You really are smart, Twilight! And you know, that's just what I like about you."

The fashionista simply replied. "Alright then, ladies. If there's nothing else that needs to be discussed, let's all focus on our treasures! And may the best mare win!" Then she and Twilight picked up the shovels Pinkie had given them, and they both started to dig on their respective xs.





For several minutes, the sound of the digging up of sand was all that could be heard on the beach. But at last, the digging stopped as all three ponies found their respective buried treasures. With massive grunting, each mare managed to raise up a huge wooden treasure chest from their respective sand pits.

A flicker of the camera showed Pinkie Pie in the confessional, wiping the sweat from her brows. "Phew!" Was all she had to said, and that one word spoke volumes about the effort she had expended.

The camera soon cut back to the beach to show Twilight and Rarity just as exhausted. "Okay, we got the buried treasure," Rarity heavily panted. "So, what now?"

"I... guess we have to bring it back to Discord, wherever he is," Twilight responded. "He didn't say where, though."

The fashionista just groaned. "Lugging that heavy chest around in this hot, baking sun? No thank you! I've done a lot of things for the million bits, but I won't do that!"

The studious unicorn nodded. "For once, I agree with you, Rarity. There's no way we can carry these chests all over the island to look for Discord. Not after everything we've already done today."

Fortunately, the pink party pony pointed a hoof as she identified an obvious solution. "Well, why don't we use those carts over there?"

Twilight and Rarity followed Pinkie's hoof and saw that she was pointing towards a set of three mine carts that they swore hadn't been there before. But that was fine, they weren't going to look this gift horse in the mouth. They just followed Pinkie Pie over to the carts, and with a great deal of exhaustive effort got the treasure chests into said carts.

"This is just like when we came back from the Diamond Dogs." Pinkie giddily proclaimed as she, Twilight and Rarity hitched themselves up to the carts' harnesses and began to pull them.

Twilight couldn't help but join in the laugh. "Yeah, except this time Rarity didn't get kidnapped."

Even Rarity found herself chuckling a bit. "'Kidnapped', darlings? As I seem to recall it, I had those dogs wrapped around my hoof the whole time. Though I will admit it was clever of me to convince them to part with their supply of gems."

As the three friends shared in the laughing and reminiscing together as they left the beach, it was hard not to feel a sense of optimism among each of them. It was as if they were becoming friends all over again, something they wouldn't have thought was possible.

The camera cut away from this cheerful scene with a flicker of static, showing Twilight in the confessional as she seemed to be sincerely smiling. "It's weird. Last night I thought as if my friendships were starting to fade, and now suddenly it's like they've never been stronger," She commented. "I guess maybe that's just the charm of Pinkie Pie or something. She truly is magical in her own unique way," But then she could be heard adding. "I'm not sure how I'd compete against that in the finale if I had to."

Rarity seemed to be having similar thoughts if the expression on her face when she was in the confessional was anything to go on. "You know, at this rate I'm starting to think Pinkie Pie might just win this whole thing. Nothing's truly rattled her, and she's survived longer than I would've ever expected her to," She declared. "And Twilight is awfully determined to win because of that promise she made to Princess Celestia," And the fashionista vowed! "I need to find my own sense of motivation if I don't wanna be cut loose right at the end! I've come too far to lose now!"

And Pinkie Pie was just happily smiling as she was barely able to sit still in the confessional. "Ooh! Friendship finale, here we come!" She joyfully declared! "I don't care if it's Twilight and I, Rarity and I or Twilight and Rarity! Whoever wins, we all still get to be friends!" But then she pondered. "Although, I haven't given much thought to what I'd do with the million bits if I did win it. I never thought I'd get this far. Hm, maybe I should start thinking now just in case." Then the camera cut back to the beach as the three former Magical Misfits left it behind.





Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie pulled their mine carts (with their treasures chests safely inside) up the beach and back along the length of Paradox Island in search of Discord (or even Nightmare Moon who could hopefully point them in his direction).

At last, just as the three thought that they might never see Discord and were about ready to give up the search entirely due to the heavy weight of the mine carts, they saw what appeared to be a finish line up ahead! With a renewed sense of hope and urgency, they began to trot at a frantic speed toward the line!

Twilight barely crossed the line first, followed by Pinkie Pie and then Rarity. At last, it seemed they could rest.

Sure enough, Discord was there to greet them. And he had shed his pirate outfit for some unexplained reason. "Oh my, what a nice surprise. You're all working together," He commented in a sickingly sweet tone of voice. "Makes me want to gag, honestly." The witty spirit even made a gag face to emphasize his point.

"Well, you can try but you can't break our friendships! It's like I told you last time, Discord," Twilight firmly responded. "Friendship is worth fighting for! It truly is magic."

The chaos maker just yawned and literally rolled his eyes, eyeballs and all. "Yes yes, I remember. But this is not Total Friendship." He corrected in a bored tone of voice.

Rarity simply gave a humph, plopping down onto her rump right on the spot. "Well, regardless, we did what you asked of us. We dug up our treasures. So, let's just get this challenge over with. I assume that at least one of these chests contains invincibility?"

But Discord stood up and smirked. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. You didn't really think I'd make things so easy for you three, did you?" And he then explained. "I very well couldn't have a vote with just three ponies left in the game. It would be anti-climatic. The votes are a thing of the past, Derpy's going to be the last one to have the honor of being voted off."

Twilight stuttered in confusion and disbelief! "But... but... you said that we had to dig up the buried treasure and bring it back here to 'get your reward'!"

"Exactly!" The witty spirit confirmed with a firm nod. "I said you would get a reward, I never said the reward would be invincibility. If it was, it would be no different than when I had you all looking for keys to open up chests."

"I still haven't forgiven you for what you made me do in that challenge!" Rarity glared at the spirit! "Do you have any idea how hard it was to wash the filth off?! It took me over an hour! Over an hour, Discord!"

Discord remarked in an unconcerned tone of voice. "I missed the part where that's my problem, Rarity. I'm not responsible for what you chose to do of your own free will," And he was quick to change the subject. "The buried treasure was but part one of a two part challenge. This second part is what will decide who stays and who goes."

Pinkie Pie immediately asked. "So, if the second part is what mattered, why did you make us dig up these heavy chests in part one?"

"Did you already forget about the 'reward' part?" The witty spirit frowned as he looked at Pinkie. "I thought you of all ponies would've figured it out," Then he snapped his talons, making the treasure chests float right out of the mine carts as if they weighed nothing at all. "Go ahead, open them up if you dare." He instructed.

So each pony did so, finding that the chests were surprisingly easy to open up as a result of their design. But what they found inside of each chest was surprising (and in Rarity's case disappointing): Plain old plastic bottles that had been slightly colored on on the outside.

Rarity held up one of the colored bottles as she demanded of Discord! "And just what is the meaning of this, I might like to know?!"

The chaos maker grinned. "These are what I like to call 'Freebies'. They're part of a little game I created. A game within a game, you might say," And then he gave a whistle. "Nightmare Moon, that's your cue!"





The wicked mare of darkness subsequently emerged from what seemed like nowhere, pushing a set of huge wooden podiums out and hauling a large, wooden circle like object behind her. She appeared to be visibly straining herself as she set the podiums down and pushed the circle like object into place in front of them. "I better get payed double for this!" She told Discord once her work was done.

"Yeah yeah, we can discuss our pay later. You did a good job," Discord only barely bothered to acknowledge the evil alicorn's reply before he looked at the three contestants. "This is part two of today's challenge! Back by popular demand, it's the dare contest! But this time there's a little twist to it, a 'spin' you might say."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" The fashionista unicorn inquired of the chaos maker.

Discord smiled as he snapped a paw, making himself appear in a bright blue, finely tailored jacket. "Well, I heard about how you ponies sometimes like to play a little game called 'Spin The Bottle' where you dare each other to do outrageous things. So I figured 'Why not make a challenge based on that'? But I didn't wanna give up on my plans for a buried treasure challenge, so I decided to combine them here. I would've probably done it last episode if I hadn't been called away last minute."

Twilight then asked. "Does that anything to do with these 'freebies' you gave us?"

"Bingo!" The witty spirit explained with a bright smile! "At any point, if you don't want to do a dare that you've been dared to do, just use one of your 'freebies'. But be careful, there's only so many to go around. You can get more by winning dares. However, if you fail to complete a dare then you're out! Go directly to the Dock of Shame! Do not pass go and most certainly do not collect the million bits!"

"And is there a reason why I seem to have less 'freebies' than either of my friends?" Rarity questioned as she noticed that she had only one compared to three for Pinkie Pie and five for Twilight.

At that Discord only answered. "I did say to choose wisely during the buried treasure part of the challenge, did I not? Each chest had a different amount of 'freebies' inside. I could've told you that, but it would've ruined the surprise."

The camera cut to Rarity grumbling and folding her hooves across her chest in the confessional. "Well that's just great. Leave it to Discord to leave out some important details," Then after a long, drawn out sigh the fashionista could only bring herself to say. "No matter though, I shall just have to put up with it. I've overcome worse odds before and I shall gladly do so again!"

A brief flicker of static brought the camera back to the small clearing in the forest where this larger than life version of spin the bottle would take place. And Discord simply declared. "Now, if there are no more 'questions' let's get this game under way! Each of you take up a podium. Doesn't matter to me who goes where, order has already been decided: Loser goes first."

"Why Discord, I'm flattered," Rarity sarcastically remarked. "You shouldn't have."

Seemingly oblivious to the sarcasm, the witty spirit only replied. "It's my pleasure," And then he clapped his paws together. "Now, enough chit chat. I don't have all day, ponies."

"Come on, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie eagerly encouraged as she bounced over to the first podium on the left! "And you too, Twilight! 'Freebies' or no 'freebies' this should be fun."

Twilight nodded very slowly. "I hope so. But I have to wonder, who came up with the dares?"

"Perhaps the colors on that circle over there with the bottle are a clue?" Rarity commented as she gestured a hoof. "I swear, some of those colors look a lot like eliminated contestants. I can see black and white, rainbow, dark blue, the same white as me and so many other colors."

"If that's true, I wonder what kind of dares the eliminated contestants could've dreamt up?" Twilight thought, and then gulped. "What if some contestants wanna get revenge on somepony?!" But she decided not to say these worries aloud as she had little in the way of proof at the moment. Instead, she took up the podium that was first on the right. And that left Rarity to take up the one in the middle.

Discord smiled. "Wonderful, everything's in place," And he briefly looked across to Nightmare Moon. "Time to get our little game show within a show off the ground!"

Nightmare Moon smirked and flashed a toothy grin. "This is gonna be fun, for me that is."





"Welcome one and all to 'Spin That Bottle'!" Discord declared in an overly dramatic tone of voice, making sure to look into the cameras as if he weren't already looking into them all the time. "And today we have three fabulous friends for contestants. And they're going to be competing for the right to go on to the big finale of Total Magic Pony Island!"

Nightmare Moon quickly added in what sounded like a bored tone of voice. "Now now, no need to applaud. Yes, he's so talented."

"Oh chin up, Nightmare Moon," The draconequus replied before looking at the three former Magical Misfits. "Now, I'm sure our contestants need no introduction. You've seen them all on TMPI, you know what they're like. They've all been on the same team, and by some stroke of luck they've all made it even though at least one of them has escaped elimination twice."

Pinkie Pie didn't blink at all even as Discord was clearly referring to her. "Come on, Discord. Don't single me out. That's not fun."

Discord pretended he hadn't heard as he just went on speaking. "So, with no need for introductions, we can get right to down to business!" And he then instructed. "Rarity, please come on up and give that bottle a good spin. Wherever it stops will determine what your first dare will be."

The fashionista left her podium and approached the giant circle where a huge, empty soda bottle appeared to have been hastily taped to said circle. Even the colored tabs surrounding it looked like they'd just been painted on last minute, as if the whole thing just been thrown together overnight.

Reluctantly, Rarity spun the bottle as hard as she could and mentally prayed for it to give her a dare that wouldn't be too awful. Slowly but surely, the bottle slowed down and came to a rest next to a space the same beautiful shade of white as Rarity's. If Twilight's little hunch was correct, this would dare come courtesy of Sweetie Belle.

Discord appeared to pull a small card out of thin air that he then proceeded to hold up and read. "And here's your first dare, Rarity:" He examined the card carefully and cleared his throat. "'You must agree to a full mane re-styling.'"

"Oh, is that all? That doesn't sound so awful." Rarity replied as she breathed a small sigh of relief.

The witty spirit was quick to correct. "You didn't let me finish. The dare is 'A full mane re-styling, courtesy of Nightmare Moon'."

"What?!" Rarity gasped as she saw the wicked mare of darkness grinning, her eyes indicating obvious evil intent. "No way would my sister ever propose something like that as a dare!" She thought to herself. "Discord must've added his own twists to them somehow to make them more 'interesting'."

The chaos maker just told the fashionista. "Hey, that's the dare. You can either take it, or use your only 'freebie' to get out of it. It's your choice. Better be quick though, or I might just make up your mind for you."

To the surprise of everyone, Rarity responded with a look of fierce and fiery determination reflected in her eyes! "I'll do it!" And she even looked at Nightmare Moon and told the evil alicorn. "Do your worst, I'm not afraid!" Though after she had spoken this she couldn't help but gulp just a tiny bit.

Nightmare Moon only grinned as she waited for her soon to be victim to approach her. "We'll see if you're still saying that after I'm done with you."





Rarity was soon seated in a chair that Discord poofed up out of nowhere for her, and Nightmare Moon used her magic to bring up a variety of mane styling tools.

Twilight couldn't bring herself to watch and looked the other way as Nightmare Moon began her "make-over".

"Three, two, one... and we're done!" Discord declared at last. "Okay, Nightmare Moon, let's see how our 'client' turned out."

"Can... can I have a mirror, please?" The fashionista nervously asked, expecting the worst. All her earlier bravado had seemingly disappeared. But when she finally got a chance to see just what her "new mane" looked like, she was relieved to see that it actually wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. It had taken on the shape and style of an extremely curly and poofy mane, and had been done up in a series of really bright highlights, almost like a rainbow.

Pinkie Pie couldn't help but giggle. "You look like a circus clown, Rarity! All you need now is a big, red honkable nose."

"Let's not give Discord any ideas!" Rarity snorted as she then turned to the chaos maker and demanded of him. "I'd like my 'freebie' now if you wouldn't mind."

The witty spirit nodded, bringing over a bottle with a snap of his paws. "There you are, one 'freebie' for Rarity. Spend it wisely. Or don't, I don't care," Then he called out. "Pinkie Pie, you're next if you please! Give the bottle a good spin!"

Happily obliging, the pink party pony trotted over while she said aloud. "Ooh, I hope I get a good one!" She shut her eyes and spun the bottle as hard as she could, nearly sending it rocketing off the board as a result! The bottle spun around so fast it was hard to keep track of it! But at last it slowed down, finally coming to a rest next to a light greenish-yellow space.

Discord pulled out another card. "Pinkie Pie, your first dare is as follows:" Clearing his throat he explained. "'Eat dog food.'"

Pinkie quickly trotted over and brought up one of her three 'freebies' as she explained in reply. "Thanks, but I'm not that hungry. Besides, there are some things even I won't eat. I've even accidentally eaten cardboard once," When several eyes fell upon the mare she insisted. "What, I'm serious? I really did."

The chaos maker only replied in an unconcerned tone. "Whatever, that's one less 'freebie' for you. I hope it was a wise decision for you," And he proceeded to instruct. "Twilight!"

The studious unicorn didn't even bother to wait for a full reply as she got off of her pedestal. "Yeah yeah, I know. I'll spin that bottle." She trotted over to it, looked at the two spaces already marked down out of the eighteen colored spaces there were on the circle surrounding the bottle. Then she clumsily put her hooves up to it and spun it to the best of her ability. It seemed like the bottle just barely made it around once before stopping next to an orange and pink colored spot.

Another card appeared in Discord's paws and he read it aloud. "Twilight Sparkle, your first dare is: 'Listen to the most boring lecture in all of Equestria for one minute without falling asleep.'"

Twilight grinned. "No problem. There's not a single lecture I could possibly find boring."

"Then you won't object to Nightmare Moon giving a lecture on the history of sleep and of nightmares?" Discord explained as the wicked mare of darkness could be seen smiling in the distance, setting up a tiny lecture space for an audience of one.

Twilight firmly nodded. "It'll be good research at least." And with a smile on her face she trotted over.

Nightmare Moon smiled. "You're either the bravest pony I've ever met or the most foolish. Either way, you're going to regret this very soon."

But the unicorn mare known for her love of books and knowledge only happily replied. "We'll just see about that, won't we? Now go ahead, I'm listening."

"Alright, but don't blame me if you fall asleep. I'm going to do my best to bore you!" Nightmare Moon vowed and then cleared her throat, taking on the most boring tone she could think of as she began lecturing. "Sleep has had a very fascinating history. It has been with us since the beginning of time, ever since night existed."





The minute of lecture time seemed to last longer than it actually did, at least as far as everyone except Twilight was concerned. Heck, Discord just barely remembered to press the button on a stopwatch he'd produced to make it stop. "And that's all the time we have for today," He said while trying to yawn. "Seriously though, Nightmare Moon. You were supposed to bore Twilight, not me!"

The wicked mare of darkness only shrugged her hooves in reply. "I'm not a miracle worker, Discord!" And she then snorted. "Well, Twilight Sparkle, congrats on that 'freebie' of yours. I hope you choke on it!"

"Now now, there's no need for bad blood between the contestants and the show hosts," The draconequus replied as he quickly shifted focus back to Rarity. "Let's move right along to round two! Rarity, go ahead and spin that bottle! Win this next dare and you'll overtake Pinkie Pie on 'freebies'."

So Rarity gave the bottle a good spin, hoping beyond hope for something good to compensate for her mane styling that still felt uncomfortable. But alas, the spot it stopped on had a rainbow color to it.

Discord grinned as he pulled out another card and read it aloud. "Ooh, this is interesting: 'Let Nightmare Moon cut and shave your mane.'"

"No, not that! Anything but that!" Rarity protested as she quickly rushed over to grab a 'freebie' and offered it up to Discord! "Here, take this and leave my mane alone! It's been through enough already!"

The witty spirit nodded, taking up the object even as he told the fashionista. "Oh well, your loss. That takes you back down to two 'freebies'."

"Oh goody, my turn!" Pinkie Pie excitedly declared as she didn't even need to wait for Discord to call out to her before going up to spin the bottle.

The rest of round two soon afterward came and went without fanfare. Pinkie Pie managing to win a dare from a space colored like Vinyl Scratch that involved navigating a maze with disorienting goggles. And Twilight using one of her 'freebies' in order to get out of a dare space colored like Gilda as it would've involved jumping into a literal bucket of ice.

Another round came and went with little fanfare as each of the three mares managed to complete their dares and get a 'freebie'. But with half of the dares complete, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were starting to take notice of the fact that their fashion friend was struggling and was currently in last place.

"Rarity, you can borrow some of my 'freebies' if you want." Twilight offered as the third round came to an end.

"Or some of mine, even just one," Pinkie Pie added. "It's not exactly fair that you're behind like this."

But the fashionista could only shake her head and insist. "Darlings, I'll hear nothing of such talk. It's nice that you're worried about me. But I don't need either of you helping me. I didn't need your help to make this far, did I?"

The studious unicorn slowly blinked. "Not really, but..."

Rarity protested. "But nothing, darlings. Win or lose, it'll be of my own accord," And she added with a wink. "Besides, I've got a good feeling about my chances. Half of the dares are gone already."

Pinkie nervously commented. "Yeah, but who knows what the rest of the dares are like?"

The fashionista unicorn smiled. "Well, that's what my 'freebies' are for. I only need to win one more to have enough to make it through the last two rounds if I have to. And if it comes to that, the chips will fall where they may."

Discord cleared his throat a second later, catching all three mares' attention. "Hey, I'm still hosting this show! Time is money! And if you're wasting time talking, then you're wasting money!" He impatiently stomped a hoof down and declared! "Come on, Rarity! It's your turn! Spin that bottle, unless you want to forfeit!"

"Not on your life, Discord!" Rarity roared as she got down from her pedestal and headed up to spin the bottle! It spun around and around several times before eventually stopping on a light blue space.

The dare was soon explained by Discord as he produced yet another small card. "'Use two sticks to produce a spark that could simulate magic from a unicorn horn,'" He explained, before noticing an added detail. "And the one who submitted this dare wishes to add they're 'Totally not upset about a challenge.'"

A flicker of the camera showed Twilight gasping in horror as she realized something! "This must be a dare from Trixie! She must've intended it for me!"

The camera then cut back to the clearing as Twilight frantically called out to Rarity! "Don't do it! Use one of your 'freebies'!"

But Rarity, perhaps feeling emboldened by recent successes, declared to Discord. "I'll do it! It seems simple enough."

"Can do you it under in a minute, though?" The witty spirit replied as he quickly pulled out his stopwatch!

"What?! Under a minute?! I couldn't possibly do it that quickly!" The fashionista protested in horror, her eyes widening as she realized the mistake she'd made! "Can I use one of my 'freebies'?"

Discord shook his head. "Sorry, I'm afraid it's too late for that. Either you attempt the dare, or you leave the game. It's your choice."





After a bit of silence (and great hesitance from Rarity if the look on her face was anything to go on), Rarity turned away from the sticks that had been presented to her and said to Discord. "You can't expect me to perform such a feat in under a minute. You're asking the impossible," And she sighed, resigning herself to her inevitable fate. "So it looks like it's the Dock of Shame for me."

Discord nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so. Quite a shame, actually. I had hoped you would make it, if only so Twilight Sparkle would be denied," He then sighed a bit. "Oh well, it's not like I was a betting draconequus anyway," And he clapped his paws. "Nightmare Moon, you know the drill. Please escort Rarity to the Boat of Losers."

"With pleasure!" Nightmare Moon firmly nodded and smiled, before looking at the latest victim she would be ferrying off of Paradox Island. "Don't feel too bad, you won't go away completely empty hoofed. You'll have the experience of participating as a consolation prize."

The fashionista only responded. "Well, a million bits would've been much nicer. But I guess we can't win them all."

Discord, meanwhile, made the bottle, the circle and the podiums (along with his jacket) disappear with a snap of his talons. And soon, he was transporting Twilight and Pinkie Pie down to the Dock of Shame to watch Rarity be paraded past on her way to the Boat of Losers.

"Sorry you didn't make it, Rarity." Twilight sincerely apologized.

Pinkie Pie was quick to offer. "We could still split the million with you. Neither of us need it as much as you do."

But Rarity only shook her head. "Out of the question, darlings. You're under no obligation to support me now that I lost. There can only be one winner and one prize money. Whoever wins, you should be free to spend it however you see fit," And she smiled. "I'm glad I made it this far. That's an accomplishment all by itself. And I'm certain I'll have racked up quite a bit of free publicity from doing this."

Nightmare Moon then ushered the unicorn with a majestic white coat down the Dock of Shame and onto the Boat of Losers. Soon, the boat's motor hummed to life and carried its final passenger off of Paradox Island.

As the Boat of Losers disappeared over the horizon, Discord was standing on the Dock of Shame with Twilight and Pinkie Pie as he was excitedly declaring! "Well folks, our finalists are set: Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie! And one of them will soon be walking away with a million bits! So stay tuned for the most exciting finale of all time here on Total Magic Pony Island!"
> Episode 26A: The Best Finale Ever (Ending 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord stood on the Dock of Shame, gazing into the cameras as he could barely contain his excitement! In fact, he opted to do something a little bit different for his narrations here. "This season on Total Magic Pony Island!"

Clips began to play, but they were not of the previous episode. Instead, they were of the show's very origins and the first episode as Discord began enthusiastically narrating. "Yours truly, Discord, was granted a brand new lease on life. And I decided to make the most of it. To that end, I was able to set up a camp on Paradox Island and invited twenty contestants from across Equestria and beyond, the best of the best!"

More clips started playing as Discord kept on narrating. "The contestants were split into two teams: The Magical Misfits and the Royal Ruffians! And then eventually, yours truly merged the teams and left everyone left in the game to fend for themselves."

Clip after clip flew by, showing a variety of different themes: Whether it be romance, drama, comedy or anything in between. And as it was all unfolding, the witty spirit was just happily narrating. "Relationships developed and broke down. Alliances were made and subsequently broken. Some ponies surprised everyone with their development, and others learned the hard way about who you can really trust in this game."

Then clips showed Discord and Nightmare Moon as the spirit was explaining. "Of course, they had a good host in the form of yours truly. And whenever I wasn't around, Nightmare Moon did a good job of standing in. She sure knows how to run a challenge and give those contestants a run for the money. A million bits to be exact, because that's the prize money everyone's been competing for since day one of the show."

From there, clips were briefly shown of contestants being eliminated until only two remained. And Discord's voice carried across them all. "Ultimately, of course, all but two of our twenty contestants got a one way trip on the Boat of Losers. And that bring us to now, the finale, with two former Magical Misfits going head to head: Brainy Twilight Sparkle versus Loco in the Coco Pinkie Pie! And only one can walk away a millionaire!"

The clips came to an end and the cameras started focusing back on the Dock of Shame as the witty spirit was speaking directly to the audience. An audience he was sure were seeing the images being beamed by the cameras to places all over Equestria and even beyond. "So here we are, folks. Finale time!" He instructed to them. "Go ahead: Grab a snack, maybe take a quick bathroom break if you absolutely need to. Otherwise, sit your butt down and get ready to watch the best finale ever here on Total Magic Pony Island!"





Sleep did not come easy that night for either of the two finalists. Now they faced the very real possibility that one of them would be leaving Paradox Island tomorrow with a million bits to their name. The prospect of it and what they would do with the prize money hung in their minds. To say nothing of what the challenge or challenges would be to walk away with that prize money.

And so it was that both contestants paid a visit to the confessional to air their thoughts. Twilight Sparkle was the first to do so, gazing deep into the camera as she let out a long sigh. "I can't believe I actually made it this far. So many times I could've been eliminated if not for somepony else taking the fall for me," Her thoughts began to turn to Princess Celestia in particular. "I still remember that promise I made to you, Princess Celestia. You sacrificed yourself for me, and I won't let it be in vain! Somehow, someway, I have to win the million bits!"

Pinkie Pie was far more excited as she was all but bouncing up and down in the confessional, happily shouting! "Oh! I'm in the finale! I'm in the finale! This is the best thing ever!" It took a while for her to calm down enough to say. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I promise the prize money's going to a good cause if I win. The baby pony is going to be all taken care of."

With that, the camera cut back to the cabin where the two friends and former Magical Misfits would soon become arch rivals for the sake of the game. Of course, that was tomorrow and this was tonight. So all they could do was try to sleep as best they could, a task easier said than done. A million bits didn't just drop into one's lap every day after all.

Still, sleep the two mares did, dreaming of all the ways they might win (or lose) the million bits tomorrow.

When the rays of sunlight began streaming into the cabin the next morning, both Pinkie and Twilight were wide awake! Today was the big day, and it was either of them's guess as to what Discord would have them do for the final challenge.

"Good morning to you, our lucky finalists!" Discord cheerfully, triumphantly and dramatically declared as he soon appeared before both mares in all his chaotic glory! "I must say, I'm definitely impressed you both made it this far: You especially, Twilight."

The studious unicorn couldn't help but bat an eye at the statement. "And just what is that supposed to mean, Discord?"

The witty spirit was quick to feign innocence and ignorance. "Why do you always assume I have it out for you, Twilight? I expected you to make it far, I just didn't expect you to make it all the way to the end is all. Heck, I wasn't even sure if Pinkie Pie was a safe bet for the finale because she's as unpredictable as me."

Pinkie nodded. "And just as fun too, but in a good way! It's too bad this all has to end today. I've actually kind of enjoyed some of the stuff that's gone on on this island."

Discord only replied by saying. "Yes yes, just don't go getting any ideas about turning me back to stone. I'm not going back!"

"I have a feeling you won't have a choice." Twilight firmly declared.

"I can't be turned back to stone!" Discord protested! "If I did, who would host a second season in my place? At this point, I'm all but contractually obligated to another run if the show gets picked up."

Pinkie Pie grinned. "Hey, I'm sure there's plenty of creatures out there who could serve as a host just as good as you've been. And I wouldn't mind a second season if there was one."

Twilight, however, simply shook her head. "Let's just focus on the finale of the first season, Pinkie," And she narrowed her eyes at Discord. "Tell it to us straight, what's our challenge going to be? What do we have to do get the million bits you've been promising since this all started?"

The chaos maker proceeded to snap his talons, making a big old dunce cap appear on Twilight's head alongside a party blower as he taunted. "What a party pooper, Twilight. I'm trying my best to build the stakes," Then he willingly confessed. "Besides, I'm still putting the finishing touches on the challenge. Trust me, it's gonna be something truly spectacular in more ways than one!"

"So, what are we supposed to do in the mean time?" Pinkie Pie questioned. "Is Nightmare Moon still around?"

"Indeed she is, Pinkie. I was just getting to that," Discord firmly insisted while smiling and grinning from ear to ear in a way that Twilight found rather unnerving. "As a reward for making it to the finale, you both can enjoy an all-you-can-eat breakfast of your favorite foods. Nightmare Moon had to stay up late to make them, so you'd better enjoy every bite!"

The studious unicorn questioned. "What's the catch, Discord? That's not like you."

The witty spirit only grinned further. "If it keeps you off my back while I get the final preparations made, I don't really care," And he then snapped his talons as he declared. "We will speak again soon. See you around, finalists."





As soon as Discord had left, Twilight immediately looked across to the only thing standing between her and the million bits. It was so hard to think of Pinkie as an enemy or a threat, even at this point when there was no one else around. Yet now she had to deal with her friend's crazy and unpredictable ways.

Pinkie Pie didn't seem to be thinking the same way, she was just licking her lips in anticipating as she made her way to the cabin door. "No way am I missing out on another amazing breakfast!" She happily proclaimed as she was about to reach out a pink colored hoof to touch the cabin door and depart.

"Pinkie, wait!" Twilight called out, stopping her friend right in her tracks. "Before we do anything else we need to talk about the competition."

But the pink party pony only replied. "We both agreed already that there'd be no hard feelings, right? Whoever wins, wins."

"Well... that's true... but still..." Twilight trailed off, struggling to find the words she wanted to say.

Pinkie just giggled. "Twilight, don't be such a silly filly. That's my job!" And she patted her fellow equine on the forehead as she turned away from the door. "Let's just do our best no matter what the challenge. And regardless of whether you win or I win, I'm throwing a party for everyone when we get back to Ponyville!"

The unicorn mare couldn't help but grin and sincerely smile upon hearing that declaration. "Why does that not surprise me, Pinkie?"

The earth pony mare smiled back. "Come on, would you expect any less? A million bits is nice, but we both know friendship is worth more than that, right?"

Twilight firmly nodded. "Indeed we do, Pinkie. But don't expect me to go easy on you because of that."

Pinkie nodded back. "I'm not going easy on you either, Twilight. We're friends, but even friends have to compete against each other sometimes. This is one of them. It'll be just like when Applejack and Rainbow Dash competed against each other in the Running of the Leaves."

Then it was Twilight's turn to giggle. "Yeah, except less horsing around."

Pinkie Pie smiled anew. "Exactly! Glad we could understand each other!" And she then trotted back over to the cabin door, eagerly proclaiming! "Now come on, breakfast will get cold if we just sit around here." Soon, she was bouncing out the door as Twilight followed after her.

A brief flicker of static showed the unicorn mare in the confessional, looking considerably more cheerful than she had been at the start of the day. "I can always count on Pinkie Pie to not make me feel bad," She said with a smile, before that smile faded. "But I have to stay focused! What matters most is being on the lookout for whatever Discord might have planned after this little 'show' of his is over."





Breakfast was an uneventful fair for both mares, assuming you didn't count the many glares Nightmare Moon was shooting that would most certainly kill if looks were capable of doing such a thing.

In the confessional, Nightmare Moon was heard saying to herself while looking at the cameras. "I can't believe I've survived this long cooking for all these contestants," And with a huff she declared. "If there's ever more of this, I'm not gonna be part of it unless I get to be host or something. No way am I cooking."

But the camera cut back to show the mare of darkness saying nothing in the mess hall while Pinkie Pie was stuffing her face full of food, and Twilight was carefully cutting up her meal and eating small portions.

So it was that the two former Magical Misfits just enjoyed their final breakfast on Paradox Island. Whatever Discord had in store for them before the prize money was awarded, at least they would have lots of energy stored up for it.

Upon finishing breakfast, the contestants left the mess hall to find Discord already waiting for them. And he seemed rather impatient. "I needed a little time for the final preparations, not half an hour!" He grumbled as he gestured to a non-existent watch on his front left paw! "Now come on, you're going make us even more late if you don't hurry!"

"Late for what? It's just us two and you." Twilight pointed out.

Discord only replied by snapping his talons, causing blindfolds to appear over both mares as he led them away from the mess hall and across the island. "When did I ever say that?"

"But you said contestants already eliminated don't get to come back, no more exceptions." Pinkie reminded the spirit even as she was being led along while blindfolded.

"They're not coming back into the game, not now," The witty spirit explained. "That would be stupid and pointless even for me. However, there is a loophole I found that proved useful for what I decided to do for our finale," And soon, he had brought both blindfolded mares to his intended destination. "Ah, here we are! Twilight Sparkle! Pinkie Pie!" He announced as he took off their blindfolds! "Meet today's special guest stars: The losers!"

To the surprise of both mares, they saw all eighteen previously eliminated contestants as they stood before the finalists on a set of two bleachers! Most looked happy to be back, although some (such as Rainbow Dash) seemed rather silent and unhappy, as though they would rather not have been brought back again.

"Hey, everypony and non-pony, what's up?!" Vinyl Scratch cheerfully proclaimed at the top of her lungs! "Did you miss us?! Well we're back, baby! Here to cheer on the finalists!"

Spike grinned as he stood next to Silver Spoon, holding her hoof with his claw. "You got that right. Discord rounded us all up and said we'd get to come back to Paradox Island to watch the finale live," And he was quick to add. "It beats having to catch up on reruns."

"Reruns?" Twilight blinked in anxiety, swallowing a bit.

Discord only waved a claw. "Hey, I can't control what the networks decide to do with the show if it's popular," Then he grinned. "And guess who else is back by popular demand? Here's a hint, your first two guesses don't count."

As if on cue, a very familiar looking majestic white coated alicorn that looked no bigger than a filly stomped a hoof down and whined! "Discord, this isn't fair or funny! I didn't want to be stuck in this body again! I deserved my old one."

Luna couldn't help but smirk. "Oh come now, sister. You didn't hear me complaining when I was stuck in such a body after getting back from the moon." She snickered and put a hoof to her face in a failed attempt to suppress the giggles.

Immediately, Twilight ran over to the shrunken down sun princess and gave her a hug! "Princess Celestia! I didn't expect to see you again!"

"Yeah, especially in your 'fun size'," Pinkie commented and immediately added. "Uh, no offense."

Celestia just sighed, doing her best not to blush or look too annoyed. "It can't be helped, Twilight. It would seem Discord is intent on humiliating me a little bit more while he still can. But I assure you, his plans will not succeed, whatever they are!"

"You mean, you don't know?" The studious unicorn inquired of her mentor, hoping beyond hope it was just a joke or something.

The shrunken down sun princess shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't. My time at The Palais De Perdantes has been mostly spent on... other things." She turned away in shame.

"Hey, don't feel bad. You deserve a vacation after all you've had to put up with," Cheerilee reassured the alicorn. "Besides, you're here now and so are all the element bearers. Discord would have to be crazy to try anything."

Discord couldn't help but smirk as he spoke up. "Don't be giving me any ideas, I can hear you you know," Then he coughed into a paw. "Now, that's enough chit chat. I didn't bring back all these losers back just so you could socialize and catch up on old times. Oh no, no no no. I brought them back here so they could witness the biggest, baddest, brutalist challenge I could possibly dream up that the networks would allow! Something that will make Nightmare Moon's challenges pail in comparison."

Upon hearing that, both Pinkie Pie and Twilight froze. Considering their experiences with Nightmare Moon as of lately, they knew her challenges had been quite difficult. So what could Discord possibly do to top it?

The draconequus promptly snapped his talons, making several versions of him appear as one dressed in a conductor's outfit and holding a conductor's baton instructed. "Drum roll, please!"

Several of the Discords promptly began to pound on the drums as hard as they could, generating a deafening chorus! 

And the original Discord just declared in the most dramatic tone of voice possible. "This is it, mares and gentlestallions. The moment you've all been waiting for!" Even amidst the thundering of the drums he just kept speaking up. "For the final challenge of Total Magic Pony Island, I present to you..." Pausing to build up the tension, the spirit at last announced. "The Quadathon of Doom!"





Moments passed, but nothing seemed to happen as all eyes fell upon Discord with a pregnant pause.

Quickly realizing the awkwardness of the situation, Discord coughed into a hoof and looked over the horizon as he remarked again. "I said... The Quadathon of Doom!" But still, nothing happened. The spirit promptly groaned, pulling out the antlers on his head as he looked out to the distance and shouted! "Nightmare Moon, that's supposed to be your cue!"

And then and only then did something begin to happen. In the distance, the wicked mare of darkness could be seen running up by the bleachers with a torch held firmly in the glow of her horn. It was clear that she was out of breath, and the ridiculous outfit she wore depicting an oversized chicken head didn't help matters. "Sorry..." She panted as she looked up at Discord. "Took a little longer than I thought. Told you we should've rehearsed this."

The chaos maker only replied with a literal roll of his eyes, snatching the torch away and holding it up as he made a base for a bigger torch appear out of nowhere. "Yes, folks, The Quadathon of Doom. A four part gauntlet of challenges based on sports that were rejected for the most recent Equestria Games: Rope climbing, barrel rolling, plank walking, and if you make it through all of that a mad dash to the finish."

Fluttershy shuddered and so did many others. They knew why those events had been rejected and could only imagine what Discord would do to make them more challenging.

A brief flicker of the camera showed Fluttershy shivering with fright in the confessional. "Why would Discord do such a thing?! I'm glad I'm not in the finale, I'd never make it."

Even Rainbow Dash seemed to think it was too much given what little she had to say in the confessional. "Oh man!" And her eyes widened ever so slightly.

The camera soon cut back to the stands and the lit torch above them as Discord was explaining everything. "Allow me to show you how it works:" He brought up an orb, showing off the four part obstacle course in all its dangerous and frightening glory. "First up is a trick rope climbing wall. Some ropes will take you up, some will bring you down. Which ones they are though, I can't say."

Next, the orb showed barrels that looked absolutely massive, as if you could stuff a full grown pony inside. "Next is the barrel roll from the inside: Climb into your barrel and roll down the hill, avoiding bumps as much as you can," The orb then changed to show huge wooden planks next to what looked like a long fall down into the waters below. "From there, you have to make your way across a narrow plank without falling off. And once you're on the other side, race back along the marked path to the finish line. First one to do that wins the million bits and all the bragging rights that will forever come with it!"

Twilight gulped, and even Pinkie Pie looked as if she were considerably unnerved.

But Discord just took the expressions from the finalists as if they were smiles. "I know, I know. So amazed you're speechless. But wait, it gets even better!" He gleefully explained the next part. "You see, I brought back these eliminated contestants so that they can not only cheer you on but also participate with you. One of them anyway. And as it just so happens, I've already taken the liberty of choosing your partners for you."

Princess Celestia couldn't help but blush now as she approached Twilight. "I volunteered to help you as soon as I was offered the chance, Twilight. No way was I gonna let you get through whatever Discord had planned for you," Then she looked down at herself. "I just didn't anticipate him shrinking me down to size or I would've probably opted out."

The studious unicorn only smiled. "It'll be an honor to have you by my side again, Princess Celestia. And if I win the million bits, I promise to split it with you however you want."

The shrunken down sun princess protested. "No, Twilight. I can't ask you to do that for me. The prize money would be legally yours. You wouldn't be obligated to give me a single bit."

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, inquired. "So who's my partner? Please tell me it's somepony good!"

In response to that question, Derpy came trotting over as the wall eyed mare nuzzled Pinkie in the side and radiated warmth. "Hi, Pinkie," She slowly greeted. "I hope you can forgive me for voting myself out when I did, but I had to go away."

The pink party pony just hugged her fellow mare tightly, fondly proclaiming! "Oh, I can't even stay mad at you, Derpy! And you know what?! If there's any money left over after I help the Cakes, I'll buy you all the muffins you want. How's that sound?"

Derpy licked her lips. "That would be nice, Pinkie. But you don't have to do that. I can buy muffins for myself whenever I want."

Soon afterward, the chaos maker declared. "Now, as for the rest of you losers, you all can line up on the benches according to who you wanna root for: Twilight Sparkle supporters go on the left under the Magical Misfits logo, and Pinkie Pie supporters go on the right under the Royal Ruffians logo," Then he warned. "Oh, and exny on changing sides. Once you've picked your champion, you've gotta stick with them to the end. So choose wisely. Or don't, it doesn't matter to me."

The two finalists and their partners then watched as the remaining sixteen former contestants began taking up sides. Some were fairly obvious: Spike (alongside Silver Spoon) supported Twilight, Vinyl Scratch rooted for Pinkie Pie, Cheerilee backed Twilight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders all stuck together for Pinkie Pie. But it was surprising to see Trixie go to Twilight's corner, and even more surprising to see Princess Luna in Pinkie Pie's corner.

The night princess simply explained to those wondering. "Laughter was one of the elements I once wielded. I feel it's only natural to root for the pony who inherited my element. Plus, anypony who can stand up to my dark side is clearly made of sterner stuff than she looks."

Perhaps the biggest surprise though, was when Rainbow Dash did not join Applejack in rooting for Twilight and without saying a word she flew over to Pinkie Pie's corner and sat down at the far edge of the bench.

Applejack whispered to Twilight. "RD and I had a little talk about the way she was actin' on the island. She ain't too proud of herself anymore, but she'll come round in time." And she gave a knowing wink.

So it was that the two mares had their support almost evenly matched.

Discord then declared in a gasp! "Oopise doopsie! I almost forgot one important detail!" He snapped his talons, promptly making a huge cow head appear over Pinkie Pie's head and a huge pig head appear over Twilight's head. "You'll both have to wear those hats the whole time. Take them off and it's an automatic forfeit on your part."

Derpy nervously raised a hoof as she asked. "Uh, do we have to wear those... hats the whole time too?"

The witty spirit replied. "Nope. Only the finalists get to wear them for our amusement, and mostly mine if I'm being honest," Then he told Derpy and Princess Celestia. "You both have free range to help your assigned partner however you see fit. However, if you try in any way to interfere with your partner's opponent, I won't hesitate to throw you off the island right on the spot. Do I make myself clear?! I want this to be kept clean. The networks won't tolerate foul play."

Princess Celestia simply bowed to the chaos maker despite her smaller stature. "You have my word, Discord. Derpy and I will play by the rules."

"Splendid!" Discord smiled as he ushered Twilight and Princess Celestia and Pinkie Pie and Derpy to the starting line and held up a flag. "Okay, racers. On your marks, get set, GO GO GO!" He brought the flag down and just like that the race was on!





Try as she might, Twilight Sparkle was unable to really keep pace with Pinkie Pie once the pink party pony got into a rhythm. It wasn't long before she found herself trailing, working herself into a frantic sprint just to avoid being left in the dust.

But this was too much for Princess Celestia to handle, especially since she was readjusting to her smaller and younger body. "Twilight, slow down, please!" She panted while stopping to catch her breath.

Twilight reluctantly did so with a blush. "Sorry, I forgot that you're gonna be by my side," She apologized. "I still can't believe you're doing this for me."

Celestia flashed a warm smile as she looked up at her student while on the approach. "Of all my students, Twilight, you have truly been the best. I've felt a connection with you that runs deeper than any others."

"Are you saying that..." The studious unicorn blinked in nervousness.

The shrunken down sun princess, realizing what her student was implying, quickly blinked and shook her head. "Oh no no no, Twilight! Nothing like that!" And she was quick to clarify. "I do love you, but as a daughter. I can't really explain what it is, but there's just something about you that draws me to you and makes me want to look out for you."

"I... didn't know you felt this way," Twilight slowly commented in uncertainty. "Is that why you've sacrificed so much for me since this whole competition began? Why you've endured so much humiliation?"

The alicorn firmly nodded. "Yes, Twilight. That is part of it."

The studious unicorn proceeded to comment. "Princess Celestia... I don't know what to say."

Before a response could be given, the voice of Discord could be heard impatiently declaring over the loudspeaker. "Hey, slowpokes! Save the chit chat for later and get back in the race! Or do you intend to forfeit right here and now?!"

Twilight immediately shouted back! "Never!" And then she turned to her mentor still stuck in the body of a filly. "Sorry, guess we got carried away. Discord is right though, we need to focus on the game," With fiery determination reflected in her eyes the unicorn mare added. "I didn't come all this way just to lose now, not even to Pinkie Pie!"

Celestia smiled as she encouraged her student. "That's the spirit, Twilight! Go ahead, I'll... do my best to catch up. I don't wanna be the reason why you lose."

"I'm not leaving you behind, Princess Celestia!" Twilight vowed even as she began to slowly resume her trotting, desperate to make up for the time she'd already lost.





Sure enough, by the time Twilight had made it to the end of the first leg of the challenge and was ready to climb up the ropes, Pinkie Pie was already a ways up her wall (though not quite halfway).

Pinkie Pie paused briefly in her climbing to look down, waving to Twilight. "Hey, Twilight! I was beginning to think I'd lost you!"

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Pinkie!" Twilight taunted to her fellow mare in reply. "Just gotta give my partner a moment to catch up, and then I'll be right on your flank!"

Derpy, meanwhile, was tugging on the rope she was using to hold her partner to the wall and keep her from falling. "Pinkie, move! I can't hold you much longer, I need a new rope to tie!"

Pinkie shouted back. "Hold on, I think I've found a good one!" She reached out with one of her hooves to grab the rope her blue eyes had spotted, but when she did it slipped right through her hooves and vanished in a puff of smoke. "Oopsie, that was a dud!" And she frantically searched for another one, eventually tossing what looked like a suitable one down to Derpy as she climbed a little bit higher.

Soon afterward, Princess Celestia reached the rather intimidating (at least to her given her smaller size) rope wall that Twilight was to scale (and then presumably the sun princess herself). But she willed herself to be strong as she swallowed a gulp. "Let's go, Twilight! I'm ready when you are!" She eagerly declared with narrowed eyes and gritted teeth.

Twilight smiled and nodded, immediately throwing herself onto the wall with all her might as her hooves firmly grasped some ropes. So far so good! And it wasn't long before she felt Princess Celestia tying another rope around her to ensure that Twilight wouldn't fall far if she lost her hoofing.

Just as Twilight started her climb up, she heard what sounded like a snap and then saw Pinkie swinging wildly from side to side on her wall! "This is fun!" The pink party pony said with a shriek!

Derpy, meanwhile, was quickly searching for new ropes! "Just hold on, Pinkie! I'll get you tied up again!"

"Hey, you can take your time," Pinkie eagerly declared with a sincere smile. "I'm having the time of my life up here!"

"Perfect, now's my chance!" Twilight Sparkle thought, seizing the opportunity to began her rapid ascent up the rope wall! She checked twice with her hooves to determine if each rope she wanted to use was secure, and if it was she grasped it and pulled herself up to its spot. Slowly but surely, the mare started to close the gap between her and her fellow finalist.

Yet Pinkie was eventually retied by Derpy, and after a brief playful whine she resumed her climbing as well. "You're not getting past me that easily, Twilight!" She told her fellow mare as she looked across to the one she was competing against. "I don't plan to lose if I can help it!"





Twilight ultimately managed to make it to the top of her rope wall just a split second or so before Pinkie could reach the top of hers. The studious unicorn wiping the sweat from her brows even though she knew she was far from done.

Pinkie, for her part, just smiled as she climbed up to the top of her rope wall and stared across at the barrel she would have to ride down a steep slope in. It gave her something to do while she waited for her partner to climb up to her (and she knew the same would be true for Twilight with her partner).

Surprisingly, Derpy and Princess Celestia were up at the top in the blink of an eye, courtesy of elevators that had almost certainly not been there before.

Now it was time for both former Magical Misfits to climb into their barrels and roll their way down the slope to the next leg of their little race. A simple but oh so unnerving task, at least for Twilight. Beads of fresh sweat worked their way down her body as she approached her barrel (marked with her cutie mark, she noticed).

Pinkie Pie only grinned as she climbed into her barrel and lay on her side. "It's too bad this isn't a pickle barrel," She giddily proclaimed, looking up at Derpy. "Pickle barrel is such a funny word. Don't you agree?"

The wall eyed mare nervously blinked. "I... guess so, Pinkie."

A brief flicker of static showed the wall-eyed mare in the confessional, slowly blinking in uncertainty and confusion. "I really don't know what goes on inside that pony's mind sometimes," Then she seemed to faintly smile. "But that's kind of what I like about her. I just wish I knew how much of a like it was really was."

Meanwhile, as the camera cut back from the confessional to the barrels, Twilight's anxiety was easily noticed by the shrunken down sun princess that was her partner. "Just relax, Twilight," The alicorn tried to reassure Twilight. "Have faith in me. I'll be right by your side if anything happens."

Twilight did her best to control her breathing as she felt her barrel begin to be rolled courtesy of Celestia's hooves. She could already see the edge to the downward slope approaching, and thus she shut her eyes. "Please let this be over with soon!" She thought to herself, before screaming at the top of her lungs and proclaiming! "I'm gonna be sick!"

Even Pinkie found herself getting dizzy as Derpy rolled her barrel over the edge and down the slope, letting gravity do the rest. "Whoa! Everything's spinning, even my head!" The pink party pony found herself giggling. "How am I supposed to steer this thing?"

"I don't know and I don't wanna know!" Twilight shouted! "Please make it stop! I wanna get off this crazy ride!"

Princess Celestia and Derpy ran alongside their respective partners' barrels, trying their best to guide them even though the slope was quite steep and seemed to stretch on and on for miles. But they could only do so much to guide the barrels along, especially in the former's case as her small stature again made it hard for her to run very fast. "Curse my love of cake!" The filly sized alicorn lamented aloud in between pants and pauses to catch her breath. It would seem her sweet tooth had come back to haunt her now.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her wall-eyes, Derpy spotted something that made her heart tremble with fear! A sizeable bump right in the middle of the path Pinkie's three balloon marked barrel was rolling down! She tried to rush out in front of it to redirect the barrel, but was just a sliver too late to do so! "Pinkie!" She cried in horror as her wall-eyes went wide!

"Whhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Pinkie could be heard cheering as her barrel rocketed upward for a considerable distance, before it started to come back down at an alarming rate!

Frantically, Derpy began flapping her wings as hard as she could! She knew she couldn't achieve flight, but she hoped that she might still be able to generate a breeze to slow her partner's rapid descent down to a more manageable level. "Come on! Come on!" The pegasus mare declared aloud while trying to get a good breeze going!

After a great deal of straining, Derpy's efforts were rewarded as she could see a noticeable gust taking form in front of her. It was difficult to aim it upward, but somehow she managed and just in the nick of time as her partner's barrel was about to come crashing down!

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the barrel spun faster and faster, headed for the ground below! But just before it could, the gust caught it and began to roll down at a gentle angle, gradually reducing its speed. This had the added bonus of causing the barrel to get far ahead of Twilight's, and soon Pinkie was rolling her way across the line at the bottom of the slope.

Slowly, Pinkie stumbled out as she found it a real struggle to keep from falling over. "Mommy, I think my toy train ended up in the piano," She muttered right before she fell to the ground. "I think I'm just gonna lie down really quick." The mare declared and did just that, allowing Derpy to breath a much needed sigh of relief.





Pinkie ultimately woke up from her nap just as Twilight's barrel rolled to a stop at the bottom of the slope.

"You can open your eyes now, Twilight," Princess Celestia told her student in that gentle, reassuring tone of hers. "You're safe now, I promise."

So Twilight carefully exited her barrel as her eyes opened, happier than she had ever been before to be touching solid ground with her hooves! She was even proclaiming this in the confessional! "I'll never take land for granted again!" She proclaimed.

Pinkie Pie had her own thoughts to give on the display when she entered the confessional. "I can't believe Twilight would do that whole barrel thing with her eyes closed. That's crazy, even for me! And I just took a barrel ride up into the sky!" It was that subject which caused her to then turn to something else that was occupying her attention. "Speaking of crazy, I can't believe Derpy did that for me," She dreamily sighed. "She really would do anything for me, wouldn't she?"

The camera cut away from the confessional and back to the race itself with a flicker of static, showing Twilight turning her attention to the third and final segment before the race to the finish line: The plank crossing. Calling the wooden plank narrow would be an understatement though. It seemed as if it were just barely a plank at all, like you could blink and it would cease to exist from where you were looking.

"That Discord, leave it to him to make the last part of the last challenge as difficult as possible!" Celestia said with a groan and stomping a hoof down.

Derpy, meanwhile, was staring down at the abyss below the planks. "Is he really sure this is safe? I don't know if I trust him on this."

Pinkie trotted up and proclaimed. "He wouldn't let anything happen to us now, I'm sure of it! He's been there to save us from all other bad things."

Twilight could only blink. "I'm not sure if I trust him this time, Pinkie," And then she took a deep breath. "But I'll be fine as long as I go slow and don't look down." She then proceeded to nervously plant a hoof on the beam, relieved when the beam itself didn't immediately give way from the pressure.

Pinkie Pie, for her part, just bounced along the plank like everything was perfectly fine. It took her almost no time at all to cross it, and she waited patiently on the other side while she called to Derpy. "Come on, Derpy. We're so close to those muffins I promised you!"

Derpy licked her lips ever so slightly. "That would be nice," She declared to her fellow mare. "But you don't need to promise me anything. We already talked about this."

The pink party pony just smiled. "Hey, anything that motivates you to win! Besides, I gotta reward you somehow after what you did for me."

The wall-eyed pegasus mare began to trot up onto the beam, slowly and clumsily waddling her way across it. "I'm your partner, that's kind of what I'm supposed to do." She nodded in reply, trying to stay focused on the matter at hoof.

"Yeah, but it's not just because of that is it?" Pinkie questioned the pegasus in a pondering tone. "It's something else, isn't it? Like you know, you like me. Like really like me."

At that Derpy froze, uncertain of the response to give. "Pinkie... I... I don't know if..."

"Well, maybe I don't either but isn't that kind of the fun of it all?" Pinkie Pie answered. "We can find out together, you and I. How does that sound?"

After thinking over her response for a moment, Derpy declared. "Well... let's see where things are after the game. We need to focus on that for right now." And then she resumed her slow waddle across the very narrow plank, trying her best not to fall off and paying little attention to the progress Twilight and Princess Celestia were making on their end.





At last, all four mares had made it across their narrow planks. By some stroke of luck, Derpy and Princess Celestia had reached the end at roughly the same time.

But now it was down to just Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle in a race to the finish! "Sorry, Pinkie, but the million bits are mine!" Twilight firmly declared as she took off as fast as her hooves would carry her!

"Oh no you don't! Not on my watch! And I don't even have a watch!" Pinkie protested as she took off in an even faster pace, or so it seemed!

Before long, the two finalists were nearing the finish line while their partners followed behind as best they could! "Well folks, this looks like it could be a finish for the history books!" Discord excitedly declared as he stood near the finish line, announcing every detail with the most dramatic tone of voice he could see. "We may have a photo finish on our hooves here! And I mean a literal one, not that fashion whatever she is."

From a glance it looked impossible to tell who was truly ahead and who was truly behind. It looked as if both former Magical Misfits were neck and neck.

However, from the safety of the stands Vinyl Scratch and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were looking through some binoculars and what they saw gave them cause for concern. "Pinkie's slowing down!" Vinyl gasped in horror, the shades atop her head lifting up briefly from the shock! "I'll bet she went and stuffed her face full at breakfast, so now she's getting tired out."

"Come on, Twilight!" Spike encouraged as he gave a whistle! "You're almost there! You can do it!"

Scootaloo, observing the whole thing through her set of binoculars, began to gulp. "This isn't good! Pinkie's going to lose!"

"But she's gotta win! She's been playin' so hard!" Apple Bloom protested!

It was then that Vinyl Scratch decided to do something! "Don't worry, everypony! I got this!" She hopped down from the stands and ran back behind them, making a lot of noise while she stirred up quite a commotion in search of something! "Come on! Come on!" The dj unicorn could be heard saying to herself as the commotion grew louder. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Twilight were drawing nearer and nearer to the finish line. And now it was starting to become easier to notice that Twilight was taking the lead. But at last, Vinyl emerged with a fan in tow and a plate of brownies. "Everypony stand back!" She declared at the top of her lungs!

"Hey, what do you think you're doin'?!" Applejack shouted and leapt down from the other stands to confront Vinyl! "Don't be tryin' to cheat now! Pinkie wouldn't want that!"

But there was no need for Vinyl or Applejack to do anything. For at that moment the wind shifted ever so slightly, in a way that might have been unnoticeable to all but the most trained of eyes and ears.

Rainbow Dash flashed a smile as she became aware of something else that was happening with the shifting wind. "You've got this, Pinkie." She said to herself.

Seconds later, Pinkie's nose caught whiff of a strong scent due to the shifting wind. She could smell something delicious, even more delicious than those plate of brownies Vinyl Scratch had brought out. And that tasty treat was waiting for her just beyond the finish line, teasing her with that savory, mouth watering aroma! It gave her a sense of urgency that she had rarely known up to this point! It was dead in her sight! "Scones! I'm coming for you!"

Poor Twilight barely had time to react as Pinkie Pie plowed right past her without stopping, consumed entirely by thoughts of those scones. The studious unicorn groaned as she was knocked down and pushed aside. "Pinkie..." Was all she could bring herself to say.

Consumed by this drive for scones, Pinkie roared right through the finish line and broke the rope! And she didn't stop until she had tackled Gilda, who happened to have a plate of scones in her possession. 

"Hey, back off, dweeb!" Gilda protested as she held up the plate and tried to swat Pinkie away! "These scones aren't for you!"

Discord quickly moved to break up a potential fight as he appeared before Pinkie and told her. "Forget the scones, Pinkie. You won! You are the winner of Total Magic Pony Island!"

The realization slowly dawned for the pink party pony. "No kidding! I did?!" As the reality slowly settled in she excitedly declared! "I did it! I did it! I did it! Oh, I amaze even myself!"

As for Twilight, she could only smile. It was impossible to be mad with Pinkie. "Very well played, Pinkie Pie. Very well played." Was all she chose to say.

Princess Celestia put a hoof around her student. "Sorry you didn't win, Twilight."

The studious unicorn sighed very briefly while looking at her shrunken down mentor. "It's okay. It can't be helped," And her mood was quick to improve as she added. "At least I know the prize money will go to a good cause. Now we just need to find out what Discord has planned for after the show."





Twilight, Princess Celestia and everyone else didn't have to wait long to find out. That night, long after Twilight and Pinkie had shed their silly hats, everyone gathered around the fire pit where so many previous elimination ceremonies had taken place, where so many former contestants had left Paradox Island in disgrace via the Boat of Losers.

Before the gathered crowd, Discord presented Pinkie Pie with a very heavy briefcase as he told her! "Pinkie Pie, as promised here is the prize money of a million bits!" Then he brought up a medallion as he added. "And, to commemorate your victory over all the others, I give you this: The Symbol of Survival! Cherish it for the rest of your days. Or don't, I don't care."

"Wowie! Two prizes in one day?! I must be dreaming!" The pink party pony excitedly declared, before leaping and looking into the cameras! "Mr. and Mrs. Cake, if you're seeing this at home, I'm a winner! Your baby pony's gonna have the bestest nursery ever!"

Gilda could only groan and roll her eyes. "Can't believe you won because of stupid scones. You got insanely lucky."

"Hey, a win's a win!" Sweetie Belle protested. "She played hard to make it to the finale. I'd say she deserved her victory."

Derpy, meanwhile, trotted over to the pink party pony and gave her a tight hug. "So I guess now I'll have to get to know you as a millionaire," She teased. "At least until you've gone and spent all that money."

Pinkie giggled and grinned. "Heh heh. Yeah, I guess so. And I'll be happy to have you by my side through it all, Derpy. Even if it doesn't work out, it'll have been fun to try it."

Rarity couldn't help but comment as she observed the scene. "Don't look now, but I think we've got one last relationship developing among us here. Who would've ever guessed it'd be those two?"

Meanwhile, Princess Celestia confronted Discord directly with the help of her sister as she locked eyes with the chaos maker and demanded of him. "Alright, Discord. The party's over! Whatever your real plans are or I should say were for after this little show of yours, they end here and they end now!" She proceeded to dramatically declare. "And while you're at it, you're going to give me back my normal body!"

But to the surprise of the shrunken down sun princess and many others, Discord just responded. "Who says I had any plans at all? This show was my plan all along!" And he explained. "Originally, this was just supposed to be a fun little distraction while I plotted my revenge. I was gonna wait until the very end and then take over Equestria as a finale gift, and the winner would get to serve at my side for all eternity. But you know what? I actually grew to like being a host. This was a pretty fun little experience. In fact, I say we should do it all again sometime!"

"Not with me!" Nightmare Moon firmly protested with a huff! "You can do whatever you want, Discord, but I'm not gonna be part of it. I intend to find a place to make into my own kingdom of eternal night." And the wicked mare of darkness trotted off, soon vanishing in a puff of dark blue smoke.

Discord, taken by surprise by the statement, looked at the eliminated contestants and said. "Well... that was unexpected," But he nervously replied. "But that aside... we all had fun during this, right? Right?"

Yet before the chaos maker knew it, he was being surrounded by many of the eliminated contestants who looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Uh-oh," The witty spirit gulped and quickly looked into the cameras. "Well folks, that's all for this season of Total Magic Pony Island! But we might see you again some day, I hope!"
> Episode 26B: The Best Finale Ever (Ending 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You already know the ending of Total Magic Pony Island, how it was that Pinkie Pie managed to win it all in the end thanks to scones. And how because of that Pinkie Pie was the one who received the million bits as promised by Discord.

But what if things were a little bit different? What if Pinkie had come up short for any reason? Well, that is what happened in this alternative ending from this parallel universe.

And so, for your viewing pleasure, TMPI fans, witness the victory of Twilight Sparkle. It's one that must be seen to be believed!

The events of the final challenge proceeded as normal for most of the race. Everything that you saw in Pinkie Pie's ending played out the same here. No details changed, and so we will not waste time by repeating those details to you here and now.

Instead, we have taken the liberty of skipping to the point where things changed specifically so that you might get right into the important details. Enjoy!

Applejack had just jumped down in order to prevent Vinyl Scratch from turning on a fan that would blow the scent of brownies towards Pinkie Pie. "Don't be cheatin' now, ya hear?!" She lectured the DJ as she tried to get close and lasso the fan (and the plate of brownies for good measure) away.

Vinyl Scratch did her best to play it off. "Hey, there's no rule against what I'm doin' now is there?" She replied as she prepared to turn on the fan, knowing that if she didn't do it soon it would be too late and Pinkie wouldn't be able to catch up to Twilight in time.

However, there was no need for Vinyl to turn on the fan or Applejack to lasso it away. For at that moment a particular aroma began to waft through the area all on its own.

Said aroma soon reached the nostrils of Pinkie Pie. And upon inhaling the savory scent her mouth began to water. "I know that smell!" She declared while licking her lips, her eyes lighting up like stars lighting up the night sky! "Scones! I must have them!" That was the thought that consumed the pink party pony's mind, causing her to regain her sense of urgency that had just been about to leave her.

"Pinkie, wait!" Derpy frantically called as she saw her partner start to take off! But her plea was in vain.

Twilight suddenly became aware of a particular pink pony preparing to plow past her, and had only a split second to react as she ducked out of the way!

Princess Celestia, for her part, breathed a much needed sigh of relief. "That was too close." She thought to herself. Although she didn't think Pinkie would've done much, she was still glad Twilight had escaped unharmed.

Meanwhile, Derpy was now running as fast as she could to try to get ahead of her partner and potential romantic interest! "Pinkie, you gotta stop!" She pleaded once again. "Listen to me!"

But the earth pony mare was in such a state that she just couldn't listen! "Scones!" Was all she could bring herself to say, and that's all she could think about. She let her nose guide her mind, straight to the source of the smell.

Suddenly, Gilda became aware of a very annoying pink pony that was all but on her lap, trying to leap up and snatch her plate of freshly baked scones. "Hey, these are my scones, ya dweeb!" She angrily berated the party pony with a screech! "Get your own!"

As for Derpy, she could only put a hoof to her forehead, groaning upon seeing that Pinkie had somehow completely missed the finish line in her pursuit of her scones. "Pinkie, you gotta come back!" She again shouted, trying to get her fellow mare's attention.

Alas, it was too late. Twilight had long since regained her bearings and with one last big effort she dashed across the finish line in triumphant fashion! And as soon as she did, everyone on her side of the stands cheered!

"Whoa, now that is a finish for the history books!" Discord declared as his tone of voice indicated that even he seemed to be a bit shocked by what had just transpired. "Kudos to our big winner: Twilight Sparkle!"

It was only upon hearing this announcement that Pinkie finally snapped out of her food induced trance. "What, it's already over?" She turned to see Twilight at the finish line and the reality of the situation slowly settled in for the now runner up. "Oh," She blushed. "Woopsie!"

Derpy then trotted over as Pinkie made her way down from the stands. "I tried to warn you, Pinkie."

Still blushing, the party pony slowly nodded her head. "You did, I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself," And she licked her lips again. "But in my defense the scones did smell delicious."

The wall eyed mare couldn't help but giggle. "Oh Pinkie, never change. You know, that's just what I like about you. Like really like."

"You really mean it?!" Pinkie asked with her heart all aglow!

The pegasus mare firmly nodded. "I think I do, Pinkie. I really think I do. But I guess we can figure it out together now that this competition is over."

"Couldn't agree with you more." Pinkie Pie smiled as she pulled Derpy in for a tight hug.

Meanwhile, Twilight was basking in the glow of her victory! "I can't believe it! I actually won!" She enthusiastically declared!

Princess Celestia smiled not unlike the way a mother would look at her child, and declared in a warm tone of voice. "Indeed you did, Twilight. I'm very proud of you. Once again, you've exceeded my greatest expectations."





From there, things proceeded largely the same at the camp fire ceremony. But it was Twilight who received the reward as Princess Celestia (still in her shrunken down state) stood by her side, and everyone else gathered around to witness history in the making. Twilight was so excited she could hardly bring herself to sit still.

Discord approached the studious unicorn with a huge briefcase as he declared. "Well, a deal's a deal and I'm a draconequus of my word," He tossed the briefcase to Twilight with the greatest of ease. "Go ahead, open it up. The million bits are all yours, Twilight. I promise: No surprises, no tricks, nothing of the sort. Just a million bits for you to spend as you please. After all, I don't really care."

Twilight slowly opened the briefcase, seeing that it did indeed contain the million bits like Discord had said. And she smiled. "Thank you, Discord," Then she declared. "And you know what, I think you were actually a pretty good host. This gameshow of yours was actually kind of fun. I mean, I could've done without the whole 'romance' and 'secret alliance' drama, but there was a lot that I learned about everypony: Including myself."

The witty spirit just yawned. "Whatever, save the cheesy victory speech for later."

The unicorn mare only blinked as she replied. "Come on, Discord. Don't be like that. I was giving you a compliment. I thought that's what you wanted more than anything, for someone to appreciate you. That's why you've really been hosting this show, right?"

Discord only huffed. "Don't try to play psychoanalyst with me, Twilight! I'm Discord! I don't need a reason to do what I do!" And he snorted, blowing steam out of his nostrils. "You were a good underdog candidate, I'll give you that. I kept hoping beyond hope you would fail, but you never did. I guess I can see now why I had such a hard time defeating you and your friends before all of this. Obviously, I won't try to make that mistake again."

At that Princess Celestia slowly blinked, eyeing the spirit as she approached him with her sister. "Wait, you mean you're not going to take over Equestria now?"

"Originally, that was my plan," Discord willingly confessed. "But now I've come to realize that this is way more fun. Far less of a hassle than trying to take over and make everyone bow down before me. And I'm already thinking of how I'm going to top all of this for a second season."

And it was from there that things progressed the same as they did when Pinkie Pie had won. It all ended with Discord declaring the season over and the cameras cutting to black.

That was the end of Total Magic Pony Island, the first season anyway. As for the second season and even beyond, I cannot speculate.