Who Wants To Be A Bit-lionaire?

Twilight stood motionless in the swivelling chair she sat on, her ears upright, striving to hear every audible syllable uttered by the host, to ensure that she did not miss any aspect of these critical questions. Her muscles were tensed, struck in stillness to rest on the sides of the chair, to brace herself for inevitable slew of questions coming her way.

The first question came.

"...which city is said to be the capital city of Equestria? Canterlot, Ponyville, Manehatten or Cloudsdale?”

Wait, what?

Did she hear that right?

Seriously, was this question supposed to be worth a hundred shiny, gold coins?

Surely, there must be some kind of trap?

Twilight paused, her mind firing on all cylinders to dissect the question thoroughly. There was an uneasiness lingering in the back of her brain as she tried to decompose the question into its component, minute aspects. A voice seemed to speak to her from within, yet she could not decipher what it was trying to tell her, as her thoughts were entirely focused on the task at hoof.

A whole minute passed, causing Many Questions to glance down on his timepiece attached to the side of the elegantly designed lectern. The ponies in the audience began to yawn and groan at the long, unnecessary wait as Twilight continued to stare into the grains of wood of the lectern blankly.

Finally, after what seemed to all as an eternity, Twilight summoned her courage to activate her vocal cords to break the unnerving silence that appeared to endure for an excruciatingly long time.

“Canterlot, final answer,” Twilight replied hesitantly, yet somehow, she was unexpectedly able to project a tone of confidence in her voice.

“Erm...I mean, yeah, err, that's correct!” Many Questions fumbled, as he forced his head up from the comfortable surface of the wooden lectern to face Twilight. "You have won one hundred bits!"

A cautious smile emerged from the corner of Twilight's face when she realised she was not the total embarrassment she thought she was during the qualifying round. What would the crowd think of her if she could not even make it past the first question?

As the audience cheered for the Princess of Friendship, the spotlights rotated away from the centre of the theatre, to focus their attention on Many Questions.

"Alright, for two hundred bits, what is the alphabet that comes first in the English language? Is it A, B, Y or Z?”

Twilight rolled her eyes as Many Questions rattled on with the options, as she could not believe how simple the questions in this gameshow were. She began to lean back onto the chair she sat on, allowing her back to be supported by the soft, red cushion behind, as she gained the crucial confidence she needed to breeze through this.

"A, final answer,” Twilight replied after the host ceased his monologue, portraying utmost confidence in her answer.

“Yes, you have won two hundred bits!” the host proclaimed to all with as much as excitement as he could muster in his voice, while the crowd rallied round to support Twilight. He relieved a sigh of relief, since he was more than happy to see his regal contestant cutting to the chase with her answering for such elementary questions.

Unfortunately, this experience gave Twilight other ideas. It was strange to her that the initial questions she faced so far were even easier than the qualifying question presented. More worryingly, it was even more strange to see that the second question asked was easier than the first, even though it was worth a greater number of bits. How was that even possible?

Hmm, was this show trying to play mind games with her?

Or was this show trying to give her a false sense of security?

The spotlights rotated in their fixed positions.

"For three hundred bits, how many legs do members in the arachnid class of animals have? Do these animals have two, four, six or eight legs?"

Alright, maybe the questions were getting more difficult after all.

"Eight, final answer," Twilight spoke after a short pause to reaffirm with her memory of animal classifications.

"Yes, correct!" Many Questions confirmed rapidly to the roaring crowd while repositioning his question cards into the appropriate order.

Twilight could feel her hooves shaking now. It was not due to fear or anxiety, however. It was the zeal inside of her, or rather the excitement whizzing through the blood in her veins. This feeling was unbearably sensational.

The host glanced up.

“Let's take a look at the following question, which is worth five hundred bits. The Mare Statue, also known as the Statue of Friendship, is located on which island? Is it located on Liberty, Friendship, Octave or the Gallopinghost Island?”

Twilight deflected her gaze away from the host, veering her vision slightly to his right, attempting to remember the travel guide book to Equestria she had read when she was just a young filly in her library in Canterlot.

Ah, those travel guide books she bought were not as useless as she had previously thought after all.

“Friendship Island in Manehatten, and that’s my final answer,” Twilight responded decisively, bringing her gaze back to Many Questions swiftly.

“Yes, correct!” Many Questions revealed, revealing his wide, characteristic smile that exposed his brilliantly white teeth to the audience, glinting vibrantly under the intensity of the light. As usual, the audience gave their customary support to the royal contestant in the centre.

“Moving forward, for a thousand bits, what is the sum of the first three digits of the constant that is the ratio between the circumstance of a geometric circle to its diameter? Is the answer three, seven, eight or eleven?”

“The first three digits of the constant pi is three, one and four,” Twilight thought aloud instantly, as she brought her forehoof up to her chin. “So, the answer is eight.”

The confidence displayed by Twilight in the execution of her answer was undeniable to all who were watching. She turned to face the host, meeting his eyes with hers.

Many Questions could see that glint in her eyes, the forward tilt of her body in her chair, even the stillness of her lips, angled slightly inward. Her face spoke of nothing but triumph, to await the favourable she knew would come.

“Correct! You have won a thousand bits – that’s guaranteed prize money!” Many Questions announced gleefully, as he leaned his neck forward slightly towards Twilight, to the audience’s thundering applause. "No matter what happens, you will trot out of here with at least one thousand bits. All your lifelines are intact and you have ten more questions to the million. Indeed, wouldn’t even a thousand bits help in your vast venture into literature?"

At this, the entire crowd suddenly silenced their cheers, plunging the theatre back into silence to eagerly await Twilight's response.

Twilight's pupils widened at the sudden change in the atmosphere of the room, her eyebrows rising to contact her mane.

“Well, yes…of course,” Twilight replied curiously, instinctively crossing her forehooves, as she was considering about what Many Questions was insinuating about her unhealthy love for books, and on whether she should call him out for his snarky act. She frowned slightly, glaring at him more menacingly than she would have pictured in her mind.

This must be some sort of distraction to throw her off, wasn't it?

“Right...erm, ah, let's proceed, shall we?" Many Questions could sense that Twilight was not particularly pleased at his remark and decided to divert the subject immediately, at least before things get out of hoof. "Worth two thousand bits, who is the current captain of the Wonderbolts? Is it Soarin, Wind Rider, Spitfire or High Winds?”

"Spitfire," Twilight uttered out reflexively.

"Are you sure?" Many Questions questioned, raising an eyebrow, hoping to influence Twilight's decision if he could.

"Final answer," Twilight stated flatly, nodding her head subtly.

A moment of fabricated, drawn-out silence enveloped the theatre, before the sound of inhaling air cut through the scene.

“You are right again for two thousand bits!” the host proclaimed, his voice ringing through to the crowd. As the audience rallied to support Twilight, he started frantically scrambling to rearrange the incredibly messy arrangement of flashcards of questions that developed on his lectern with his hooves.

Twilight could not help but smirk. At this rate, she would be flying through the questions with such ease never before witnessed by any avid follower of this programme. Even after paying her debts, she could imagine herself swimming in the unbelievably massive pile of bits in her magnificent castle. She could imagine running her hooves over each and every round of metal to experience their weight and heftiness. Her eyes would be so dazzled by the lustrous, reflective surfaces of her numismatic treasures she would probably need to invest in a pair of sunglasses. Such a sight would probably make Rarity jealous of the elegant display. Oh, the joy she would feel! The happiness! The-

“Princess Twilight, this question is worth four thousand bits," Many Questions continued, the tone in his voice beginning to tend towards a greater level of seriousness as he interrupted Twilight's wishful thinking. "In anatomy, where can the coffin bone be located? Is it found in the chest, neck, back or hoof?”

Argh, could Many Questions give her even some time to fantasise?

Twilight shook her head vigorously to bring her senses back to reality. After a while, Twilight then leaned towards the left of her chair, bringing her forehoof up to support her head as she mulled over the question.

Hmm, didn't she read about basic anatomy in her encyclopaedia?

Yes, that was it!

“The coffin bone is located at the hoof capsule, so the answer is hoof, and that is final,” Twilight, after a few seconds of deep thought, recited word for word from her worn-out encyclopaedia she essentially venerated as a fantastic resource of scientific knowledge when she was a filly.

Many Questions rubbed his forehead with his hooves while staring at Twilight, his face expressionless.

Time clicked by, slowly but surely, until a voice must shatter the gripping ambience.

“You have just won four thousand bits!” the host broadcasted, prompting the surrounding crowd to grow wild with cheers and jubilation, forcing Many Questions to strain his vocal cords to contend with the audience's ruckus.

Twilight beamed at the widespread hurrah emanating from the crowd. She could feel the surrounding enthusiasm and excitement racing into her as she knew that every question she got right was another step closer to the splendid reward she dearly desired. She tried to ease herself, to relax, to concentrate on the situation. However, her muscles were insensitive to her command, choosing instead to vibrate minutely with fervent exhilaration.

"This next question is worth eight thousand bits. Excluding the sun, how many stars are there on the Equestrian standard? Are there thirty-eight, forty, forty-one or forty-two stars?"

Twilight’s heart sank when she heard the question with absolute clarity, as she could feel her momentum being eliminated in an instant when she realised that she could not recall the answer right from her head. As the cheers died down, Twilight frowned in deliberation as she considered the possible answers to this question.

She exhaled deeply, breaking the tense silence that filled the room. She had seen the flag so many times in Canterlot, and even in Ponyville, yet she never bothered to count the many stars that were on that thing. Why did she not pay more attention to this detail prior to this?

“Princess Twilight, may I remind you that you still have all of your lifelines unused. Need I remind you, if you get this question wrong, you lose three thousand bits, and also the opportunity carry on to the million,” Many Questions stated pointedly, relishing the moment to emphasise the huge opportunity cost. “I mean, you can also chicken out...I mean trot away now with the four thousand bits you have at the moment.”

"Chicken out?" Twilight muttered under her breath, notably incensed by the host's snide remarks as her face grew visibly upset. Yet, despite his snarky jab, Twilight's logical mind felt that the advice given was sound, and she definitely needed someone's assistance to solve this problem.

Well, perhaps she needed not just someone, but everyone to give her a helping hoof.

“Alright, can I ask the audience, please?” Twilight inquired, giving into her temptation to use one of her lifelines which she really wanted to save for the final, difficult questions of the quiz show.

“Alright, audience, before you all are the interlinked crystals that have the answers magically etched onto them. Allow me to repeat the question: excluding the sun, how many stars are there on the Equestrian standard? Are there thirty-eight, forty, forty-one or forty-two stars? Lock in your answer via the crystals in the next five seconds, starting from now!”

Twilight glanced around the theatre, her head turning left and right to observe the crowd magically keying in their answers. She was praying that their collective answer aligned with her own, or else her theory would be forced to be thrown right out of the window.

“Well, Twilight, it appears that a slight majority of the audience believes that the answer is forty-one,” Many Questions spoke, after turning his head around to notice the theatre was mostly alit with an orange glow radiating from each individual crystal surrounding them.

“Then I guess I’ll go with forty-one, final answer,” Twilight answered, her eyes locked on the host’s face, eager to hear a favourable reply. She could feel her heart beating at an accelerating rate, as Many Questions dragged his hooves to answer, just to create that infamous suspense that lingered in the air. Her teeth gripped onto each other with anxiety, as Twilight brought herself forward on the chair, to brace for the answer that was to come.

Beads of cold sweat dripped down Twilight's face as slowly as time seemed to pass.

“Forty-one stars…is the right answer! You have won eight thousand bits!” Many Questions announced to the roaring crowd, allowing Twilight to instantly melt back into her chair with much-needed relief. "You have two lifelines remaining and you are only seven questions away to the million."

Twilight could feel the atmosphere of the set seeping into her as she gave out a huge sigh of relief in an attempt to allay her anxiety.

Many Questions could see the drastic change in her state of mind. Her unsteady breathing, the constant shaking of her hooves, and in fact everything about her body language were all tell-tale signs of uneasiness and perturbation.

He could not squander this opportunity.

He needed to deny her any chance to recover from this.

There was no time to lose.

"This next question is worth sixteen thousand bits," the host exclaimed, as he squinted down into the lectern, while the crowd quietened down swiftly. "Which of the following gemstones is the hardest? Is it sapphire, opal, topaz or emerald?"

In her anxiety, Twilight's thinking became blurry as her emotions rushed in and out of her mind sporadically. She was trying to recall the time when Rarity loaned her a book on gemology to skim through to grant her at least some awareness of gemstones. She merely needed to piece those memories together.

It was only that simple if her mind would decide to cooperate with her.

She closed her eyes shut. She concentrated her thoughts, trying to push aside those thoughts of fear that lingered in her mind. She tapped her forehead with her hoof, hoping to pressure it into resolve this.

Fortunately, after a few moments in solemn thought, all became clear.

"I think it's sapphire," Twilight spoke, furling her eyebrows in doing so.

"Positive?" Many Questions asked, trying to ascertain whether Twilight would want to lock in her answer permanently. "You lose seven thousand bits if you are wrong."

"Yes," Twilight agreed. Based on what she could remember, sapphire should be the hardest gemstone listed, except for diamond. Despite this, there remained a small shred of doubt in her when she confirmed her answer to the host before her. She took her eyes away from the view of the host, wishing not to hear the outcome as she attempted to calm her sensitive nerves while relaxing on her seat, to no avail.

Many Questions kept his lips closed for a considerable duration of time, allowing Twilight and the audience to take in the stillness of the scene, to keep them resolutely on tenterhooks.

"You have just won sixteen thousand bits!" the host proclaimed to all, reigniting the crowd's enthusiasm yet again. "You are just one question away from the potential, guaranteed sum of thirty-two thousand bits and you are only six away from the million! Tell me, how are you feeling?"

"Erm, slightly nervous?" Twilight admitted, as she deflated back into the seat, exhaling a lungful of air that was previously trapped within in anticipation. She tried to relieve herself by granting herself a momentary smirk, which materialised on her face in a relatively crooked manner, betraying the true emotions she actually felt in her.

"Oh, that's perfectly normal," Many Questions responded, more amicably than what Twilight would have envisioned in her mind. "But, are you ready to proceed to the question worth thirty-two thousand bits?"

Twilight gave out a large lungful of air before nodding her head slowly.

"Alright, here it comes, for thirty-two thousand bits," the host pulled one of the flashcards to the side in preparation, clearing his throat before carrying on. "Quesadillas are traditionally stuffed with cheese of what-"

Twilight choked on her own saliva sliding down into the back of her throat as she jerked herself back into the seat with distaste at the mere mention of quesadillas. She stuck out her tongue in obvious disgust while she was coughing, squirming at the thought of the excessively cheesy food that she abhorred more than anything else.

"Princess Twilight? Are you okay?"