Chapter 2

Twigs and branches cut across Filthy Rich’s (stallion #3) face as he galloped through the dense forest. The lack of sunlight and the thickness of the trees make it difficult to see where he was going. In fact, he was having a hard time seeing anything at all. It must have been late at night, or in the wee hours of the morning. He wasn't running from anypony, but he mind as well have been, because all hopes of survival lay on his swiftness. There wasn't a moment to lose. Upon his entry into the fray, there had been only four other ponies who had been released out into the unknown of the island. Filthy’s sense of time was warped at best, but it had been at least two minutes since his release, meaning Twilight Sparkle was now also somewhere on the island.

Sadly, Filthy Rich had little hopes for her survival, being more book-oriented. Her selection for this game was nothing but a waste of pure potential.

Filthy lost his footing as the ground beneath his hooves disappeared, only to reappear one foot below where it was before. He stumbled, and before he knew it, he was pole-vaulting on his face. He proceeded to flip-flopp head over heels until he came to a rest on his back, looking through a dense layer of branches and leaves, and up at the stars. After wreathing and wriggling on the forest floor for about a minute, he managed to get back up on his hooves. He picked some rocks and thorns out of his face, and resumed his frantic gallop.

Filthy wasn't going to die in this horrible place. But he also wasn't going to kill anypony. That only left one option: escape. Despite the death of two ponies already (both due to misbehavior), he had yet to see the collars in action. Even so, he needed to find a way to disable them. The simplest way to do that would be to find some way to block the blades. But how? He had no idea how powerful they really were. He had only a vague idea as to the possible mechanisms within the collar that would allow such a pernicious device.

His pace slowed to a trot as he approached an edge to the forest. And there it was! Right where the map said it would be. A small abandoned town lay before him. It wasn't any bigger than Ponyville; in fact it may have been a bit smaller. At the bottom of a small hill lay a market area, the streets lined with empty shops. As Filthy approached the town, he saw the expected: a shoe store, a boutique, a flower shop, and a bakery. He decided on searching the shoe store first. "The Cobbler's Shoes" read the sign above the front door. Filthy didn't know much about shoes, but he knew that the tools used to make the shoes would be useful. After slamming his way through the window, he surveyed his surroundings.

The walls of the shoe store were lined with well, shoes. It didn't take long for Filthy to figure out that this was a mare’s shoe store. In the center of the store, he saw glass display containers that contained expensive high-heels, and princess-style glass slippers. This was the kind of stuff Filthy Rich was in the business to buy, but didn't. At the back of the shop there was a door labeled “Cobbler’s Office”. Between the name of the store and the sign on the main office, it became evident to Filthy that the pony who owned this establishment wasn't in the least bit creative. Filthy quickly crossed the store and opened the door to the office. The room was completely dark. He flicked the light switch and got nothing. Then, he realized something. Apart from the map he found at the very top, he had not yet taken inventory of the contents of his pack. He slung the pack down from his back and unzipped it.

Inside he found two loafs of stale bread, a flash light, and two bottles of water. At the very bottom he found a heavy metal object. It was strangely shaped, but on one end it was shaped like a hoof, and was clearly made for holding. Beside the gun lay an instruction manual. Its title read “Desert Eagle .50”. Filthy withdrew the flash light and flicked it on.
As he scanned the room, he saw various hammers and pegs, along with several piles of leather and different fabrics. He was not off to a good start. When the beam of his flashlight reached the first corner of the small workshop, he saw somepony dart out of sight. Filthy quickly tracked the beam in the direction the figure had gone, and instantly came face to face with Carrot Cake (stallion #2). Of all the ponies Filthy knew, Mr. Cake had to be the most emotionally unstable one he'd ever met. Filthy couldn't imagine that he's taken the recent turn in events very well.

“Please don’t kill me,” Carrot Cake whimpered, as he backed up against the wall. In doing so he knocked down several unfinished shoes from the shelf behind him. They made loud cracking noises when the hit the floor, making Filthy cringe.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” said Filthy, carefully selecting his words. He couldn't afford to cause any more commotion. “It’s me, Filthy Rich.”

“D-don’t step any closer!” Carrot Cake screamed, pulling a large gun from his pack, and pointing it at Filthy. It was similar to the assault rifles the imperial guards were carrying, but it had wood along the end of it.

“Listen to me Carrot Cake,” said Filthy. He liked to think negotiation was one of his strong suits, a product of doing business long enough in his line of work. “I promise I don’t want to kill you. In fact I was thinking of a way to escape.”

“Escape?” Carrot Cake stammered.

“Yes,” said Filthy, “and I promise to take you with me. All I need is for you to help me search for some supplies.”

Big Macintosh (stallion #1) had been walking for only ten minutes, yet it seemed as though several hours had passed. His hooves were already sore, and his back ached from the burden that lay strapped to his back. In all of those countless years of work, Big Mac had never felt so tired. The length of his journey may have seemed extensive enough to take years, and the pack on his shoulders may have been as heavy as lead, but the events in the classroom had lasted at least an eternity, and the burden of impending death could be felt pulling him down into the depths of insanity.

When he left the building, Big Mac chose to go around to the back of the building. He had seen on the map a small path leading to a clifftop vista from the back of the school. The vista was marked "Lover's Delight". Even in light of recent events, the name seemed perfect. Before he left the classroom, he had tried to communicate in some way to Cheerilee to meet him there. Whether or not she knew to do so, Big Mac intended to wait for her there for the rest of his life if he had to. Cheerilee was the light at the end of his tunnel. He would rather die than go more that a day than without her.

But Cheerilee was more than just his extra-special-somepony. She was the most graceful, kind, and caring pony he'd ever met. She treated everypony she met with respect. She gave without asking for anything in return, and loved without waiting for affection. Big Mac was the luckiest stallion in the world to be this close to her. And now he could loose her forever. No. He couldn't let that happen. He had to at least say goodbye one last time. He had to see her face one last time to wash away the still fresh images of the bodies that lay back in the classroom. He had to live once more before he could die.

At last, after a long final climb to the top, Big mac laid his eyes on a small park bench on the edge of a cliff. There was a sign next the bench that said "Lover's delight". As he approached the bench, he saw that the cliff must be at least two thousand feet tall. When he looked over the edge, he saw the ocean's waves crashing against the razor-sharp rocks at the bottom.

Big Mac didn't care much for the ocean. When he was younger, his family took trips out to a small coastal village, where some distant relatives lived. Most of his memories from before is parents died were a blur, but this one stuck out. He remembered playing with Applejack in the waves. He remembered what it felt like to be pulled under as the waves crashed. He remembered feeling an imaginary hand around his throat as he struggled for air. He remembered watching his mother, sitting in a lawn chair next to his aunt. His aunt had a curly mane. It was dark blue, a color that stood out among the rest of the Apple family. She was a green pony, and her cutie mark was a small sailboat.

"You don't need to be a afraid," she used to say, "The ocean just likes to play with you. Sometimes it can be a little rough, but it will always let you go."

He couldn't remember what his mother looked like.

Fluttershy (mare #1) was lost.

When she left the school, she went into the forest. Using her wings, she hovered effortlessly through the dense thicket. She wanted nothing more than to be with nature. She wanted to be alone with the forest creatures. And alone was where she was. But there were no creatures.

They must have been cleared out when the island was being evacuated. Fluttershy could only hope it was an accident, because the thought of imperial guards ripping the small forest creatures out of their homes made her very sad. Perhaps even sadder than what this game made her feel.

She had no idea what to do. Where would she go? Should she try to survive? She felt useless, and out of place. The thought of dying alone on an island frightened her, but the thought of killing her friends frightened her even more.

So there she was. Hovering through the forest. The moonlight cast a soft speckled guiding light through the leaves, and onto the forest floor.

"Why the long face, Fluttershy?"

She spun around, and did a full survey of the forest around her. One full 360 degrees. Tree, bush, more trees. There was nopony there. She was a good two full minutes ahead of the pony behind her, and nopony could glide through the forest as quickly and as gracefully as she did. She resumed her trek through the woods.

"Where are you going, Fluttershy?"

This time she jumped. There was definitely somepony there. She did another survey. Tree, bush, more trees - wait. One tree wasn't like the others. It was no more than six feet tall, and it swerved and wound its way up, ending with only two branches. As she continued to watch the abnormal tree, it began to move. it's two branches stretched upwards, like arms, and the trunk made a loud cracking sound. The whole thing then stepped forward, into the moonlight.

Fluttershy then saw a figure with a goat's face, a deer antler and a goat horn. One arm had a bear's paw while the other had an eagle's talons.

"Discord?" Fluttershy gasped.

"Why, yes. That's me," he said. Fluttershy had known Discord for long enough to know of his trickery. But she'd also known him long enough to consider him a friend.

"H-how did you get here?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh please, Fluttershy. I'm the god of chaos, it's not like I have to walk everywhere I go." He then vanished out of thin air, and reappeared seconds later looking over Fluttershy's shoulder. "You see? Now, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Oh, well, um.. you see, we were on the way to the Grand Galloping Gala, when we all fell asleep and woke up in a classroom, where an angry-looking pony told us we have to kill each other," stammered Fluttershy.

Discord burst out laughing. "Quite the wrong time to take a nap if you ask me," he said in between fits of laughter,"even being the creator of catastrophe itself, I don't think I've ever seen things go so awry during my naps."

"It's not funny!" Fluttershy shouted, "we're all going to die now."

"Now now, my dear Fluttershy," Discord cooed, "I don't believe the battle is so lost and won quite yet." He snatched the pack from Fluttershy's back and began examining the insides until he found what he was looking for. "Ahah!" he squealed, holding a Sniper rifle above his head. "I remember these," he said with a nostalgic look on his face, "back when ponies would kill each other without my help. Back before the torturous rule of Celestia and her back-stabbing sister. How long has it been? A thousand years? Anyways, you're going to have to use this," he said, extending the rifle out to Fluttershy.

"Oh, no. I don't think that's necessary. I think I'll just sit tight right here-" Discord's left eyeball magnified and stared Fluttershy down, inquisitively.

"You want to live, don't you?" he said.

"Well, yes," said Fluttershy. She looked the gun.

"Then take the gun," Discord said, a look of anticipation written across his face.

"Oh, alright then. If you think it'll help," said Fluttershy, giving in.

"Now, it just so happens that we're at the top of a hill. And look! Down there is a road!" Discord said, with growing excitement. He positioned himself next to Fluttershy, showing her where to put her hooves, and how to look down the scope. "That's it! You're a natural. You'll have this game won in no time."

Just as he said that, a white mare with a purple mane came trotting around the bend. She looked rather dazed and shocked, still reeling from the events in the classroom.

"It's Rarity!" exclaimed Fluttershy.

"Shoot her," said Discord.

"Oh, no," said Fluttershy, remembering the gun demonstration back in the classroom, "I would never do something like that to my friend."

"Is she still your friend?" asked Discord. He was speaking very quietly, almost whispering into Fluttershy's ear. "Come now. It's kill or be killed in this game. You want to live don't you?"

Twilight was confronted by a wall of darkness as she stepped outside. Behind her was the front of a small school. Some windows to her right, near the edge of the building, were lit up. That must have been the room with all the remaining ponies. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a starry night above her. In front of her was a small road leading into a thick forest. There were bushwhacking marks on the edge of the path, leading into the forest. How many ponies had chosen to flee into the forest? Was anypony going to actually try to play this game?

If I were to be going somewhere, I would take the road, Twilight thought, but so might everypony else, which would make it a good idea to loose one's self in the woods. But what they didn't realize is that anypony in pursuit of them could easily see where they’d gone. Twilight took the road.

After walking no more than one hundred feet, the road began to switchback down a steep hill. Twilight was already glad about taking the road. Well, about as glad as anypony could be in such a situation. What Twilight really felt was something she had never felt before. It was all hopeless. No matter what she did, no matter where she went, she would meet a bloody end. All she could really hope for was to try and die the best death possible. What was the best death possible? Twilight didn't know. She had spent countless hours of her life contemplating aspects of the world that would never affect her, yet the final decision of her entire life was going to be a guess.

The road curved around and opened up along the top of another small hill. Down below, Twilight could see a small village under the moonlight. Beyond that, she could see the ocean. Twilight had never seen the ocean. No matter how many trips she had been on around Equestria, no matter how many assignments she faced that made her venture into the unknown; she had never managed to see the ocean. And now she was seeing it from a condemned island, on what might be that last night of her life.

It was beautiful. It stretched out forever, and stared back up at the moon with equal brilliance. A blue mirror, shattered by its own breathing. It moved her eons, and stopped the world. It rose and fell to the beat of her heart, and at the same time rose and fell to the beat of a thousand others.

Who else is looking at the same ocean? Certainly I alone do not deserve such a sight. A thousand poets in a thousand years could not encapsulate such a beauty with words. Twilight thought of Rarity. She was already somewhere on the island. If anypony where to ever deserve to look at something so beautiful, it would be her.

And then, at the end of all things, Twilight found a reason to go on. She wanted, if only once, to see the sunrise over the ocean. If she could only see the dawn in such a setting, there would be nothing left in Equestria for her to see.

I have fallen from this pedestal on which I thought I stood, and I shall pave this road with my own blood. But dare I live out Luna's night, to look once more upon Celestia's light, I shall cry for that beauteous sight.

Twilight surprised herself with her eloquence. She almost smiled.

14 ponies remaining.

Author's Note

Well, looks like nopony died in this chapter. Sorry to disappoint.