Hello again everyone, here is the second last chapter of this story, enjoy.
Trixie was the first to make it on the island, she got off the boat, and was about to head inside the statue entrance, only to stop and hide when somebody else was coming, it was Twilight, Shining Armor and Spike.
" Grr, I can't get away from them can I", she groaned, only to find another group arrived on the island, it was Pinkie Pie and her sister Maud Pie.
" Pinkie", Twilight said, surprised.
" Twilight", Pinkie Pie said.
" What's going on", said Shining Armor.
" She's also involved in the race, and I see you involved Maud as well", said Twilight.
" Yep, and I see you involved Shining", said Pinkie Pie.
" Yeah", said Twilight.
" Well, since we're here together, we can split the money five ways", said Shining Armor.
" What about the others", said Pinkie Pie.
" We're still deciding on trying to get through to them, but for now, we better hurry", said Twilight.
And so, she, Shining, Pinkie, Spike and Maud entered the statue, meanwhile, Trixie also got in, and barricaded the door, to ensure nopony else got in.
Meanwhile, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Big Mac, and the CMC's arrived on the island, and Rainbow Dash bolted to the door, trying to open it, but it won't budge.
" It's locked, damn it", said Rainbow Dash.
Applejack checked it.
" No it isn't, it's just barricaded, here, I'll try and break it open", said Applejack, turning around, ready to use her hind legs.
Just then, the other group arrived, Discord, Rarity and Fluttershy.
" I figured we would meet you guys here", said Discord.
" How did you get here before us, you took the wrong train, we were on our way to Manehatten, we should've gotten here first, we were the only ones who got the right train", said Rarity.
" We got sidetracked when the train stopped at Ponyville because of a detour", said Fluttershy.
" But still, we should've made it back quicker, Discord, you slowed us down on purpose didn't you", said Rarity.
" Sure, blame me for everything why don't you", said Discord.
" Rarity, Discord, that's enough, all that matters is we all made it together, and we can make our way to the top and split the money, as we originally planned", said Fluttershy.
" Wait, where's Twilight and Pinkie", said Applejack.
" Probably already in there, so we need to find a way in", said Rainbow Dash.
Already got you covered", said Discord, he then snapped his fingers and the door unlocked.
" That was easy", said Rainbow Dash, she then ran into the entrance, followed by Applejack, the CMC's, Big Mac, Rarity, and Fluttershy.
Discord stood there as he watched them go.
" Wow, quite a lot of chaotic behavior going on, and I have nothing to do with it, I envy those girls sometimes", said Discord, before making his way into the building.
Twilight's group continued climbing up the statue inside, once they were inside the head, they saw an empty room.
" It's not here, Gladmane lied to us", said Twilight.
Meanwhile, Trixie, who had stood behind them, well hidden, tried not to growl out loud, in frustration she came all this way, for nothing.
But then, she began to think.
" If by on top, did they mean, literally on top", Trixie thought to herself, deciding to go for it, she ran down the stairs, and made her way out of the statue, only to hear footsteps leading upward, she needed to hide, after hearing certain voices below.
" Alright ya'll, we're nearly there, just a few more steps and we'll be up top".
" Awesome".
Her eyes widened when the footsteps got closer, without thinking, she conjured up an invisibility spell and proofed out of sight.
" Hey it worked", Trixie thought to herself.
She then saw the two mares she ditch stop next to her, followed by three fillies, along with the other two mares, one stallion, and a draconequues.
" Twilight, Pinkie", Applejack said in surprise.
Trixie turned around to see Twilight and Pinkie Pie, and the others.
She gulped, knowing she has to sneak past, and quickly, because Twilight might have figured it out as well that the chest is on the statue roof.
" Girls", Twilight said.
" Hey, the gang is all back together, now we can all share the money", said Pinkie Pie.
" Why are you guys going down, isn't the money up there", said Rarity.
" I think it's literally up on the statue", said Twilight.
Trixie panicked, knowing the others have figured it out, she accidentally undid her spell and became visible again.
She gulped as she saw fourteen pairs of eyes looking at her.
" Oh no", she said, running down the stairs.
" Oh yeah, it's payback time", said Rainbow Dash, chasing after Trixie.
The others followed as they all got out of the statue.
Rainbow Dash then flew up towards the spikes, and then she saw the chest.
" I FOUND IT", shouted Rainbow Dash.
It was then the others, one by one teleported up top, courtesy of Discord.
" Finally, the 3 million bits is in here, and it's all ours", said Pinkie in excitement.
" Shh, before anyone else notices, let's split it between us, how many of us is there", said Shining.
" Let me count up", said Trixie, she started with herself, " One".
She then pointed at Twilight and Spike, " Two, three,...".
She then pointed at Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo, " Four, Five, Six...".
She then pointed at Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, " Seven, Eight, Nine...".
She then pointed at Fluttershy, Discord, and Maud, " Ten, Eleven, Twelve...".
She then pointed at Shining Armor, Big Mac and Pinkie Pie, " Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen...".
And she finally pointed at herself, " Sixteen, okay, so sixteen shares, and 3 million divided by sixteen is..", Trixie was cut off.
" You scheming little floozy", said Rainbow Dash, " You put yourself in twice".
" What", said Trixie.
" Don't play dumb, after what you pulled, I think we should cut you out of the bargain, and share it between the rest of us", said Applejack.
" No, I won't allow it, do you know how much I went through to get here, I even lost my wagon because of it, I didn't go through all that for nothing, and I refuse to let it happen", said Trixie.
" Well, if you still want to be in on the bargain, then shut your pie hole", said Applejack.
" Okay then, so, 15 of us, so I guess we each get 200,000 bits", said Twilight.
" Sounds like it", said Shining.
" Well, what are you waiting for, let's open the chest", said Pinkie Pie.
And so, Pinkie Pie made her way to the chest, and with her key, unlocked it.
She then pulled the lid open, and the group looked to see what was inside.
Nothing.
All that was there was an empty chest.
" Seriously, nothing, we came all this way, and all we get is an empty chest", moaned Rainbow Dash.
" This is an outrage, who's idea was this in the first place", said Trixie.
" Technically, it was Gladmane, he sent us on this race in the first place", said Twilight.
" So this was a joke all along, to force us to compete in a race, with no prize, I knew there was something shifty about him, I shouldn't have doubted it in the first place", said Applejack.
" I say we all march back to that hotel and make a complaint, Gladmane is going to pay", said Rarity.
" No need, I could just bring him to us right now", said Discord, he then snapped his fingers, and two seconds later, Gladmane appeared.
" What the..", Gladmane was cut off when he saw 15 pairs of eyes glaring at him.
" Where's the money", said Rainbow Dash.
" What do you mean", said Gladmane.
" Don't play stupid, you sent us on a race up here, for 3 million bits, now where is it", said Applejack.
" And you better tell us, either we get the money you owe us, or we'll ruin you", said Rarity.
" Wait, shouldn't it be in the chest", said Gladmane.
" Well it isn't, otherwise we wouldn't be discussing this right now", said Rainbow Dash.
" Well, how should I know where the cheque is, I trusted my two stallions to store it well and not lose it, and...", Gladmane was cut off.
" Wait, which two stallions", Applejack said, looking at Gladmane suspiciously.
" I believe they go by the names of Flim and Flam", said Gladmane.
" I knew something was up, those two stole the cheque", said Applejack.
" Impossible, I didn't even tell them what the prize was, they must have picked the lock to open the chest, take the money, and locked it before you guys came in", said Gladmane.
" I say we hunt them down and take back what's ours", said Rainbow Dash.
" Where are they now", said Applejack, looking at Gladmane.
" How would I know, for all I know, they would've left Manehatten hours ago", said Gladmane.
" Uh no, there they are", said Pinkie Pie.
Everyone looked downward, to see Flim and Flam making there way in the city.
" Oh, they must've found out recently that the prize was 3 million bits", said Gladmane.
" What are we standing around for, let's get them", said Rainbow Dash.
Discord then snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the fifteen creatures vanished from the statue, leaving Gladmane on top.
" How am I going to get down", he said.
In the city, the two certain brothers made their way, with the file in Flam's carpet bag.
" Well dear brother, what do you suppose we do with the money first", said Flam.
" I thought we start off with a nice penthouse, and then...", Flim was cut off when they heard heard shouting.
" GET BACK HERE YOU TWO", their eyes widened when they saw a gang of 15 creatures chase after them.
" Oh no, we've been caught", said Flam.
" Run", said Flim.
And so Flim and Flam began to run off, with the others chasing after them.
" We want our money", shouted Rainbow Dash.
" Quick, the balloons, we'll lose them there", said Flim.
And so, the Flim Flam brothers approached a festival of hot air balloons, climbed onto on of them, and cut the rope, the others watched as they took off.
" This is over yet", said Applejack.
And so, Applejack, Applebloom and Big Mac got onto one balloon, a red one, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Rarity and Fluttershy got onto another balloon, blue, Twilight, Spike, Shining Armor and Trixie got onto a third balloon, purple, while Pinkie and Maud got onto the fourth one, Pink, meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Discord got onto neither of the balloons, and flew up with their wings.
They made sure not to lose sight of the brothers, and were able to catch up with them.
Flim and Flam smiled nervously as they were surrounded, and the fifteen creatures circled around them, looking at them with an angry/disappointed look.
" We got you surrounded, the jig is up, hand it over", said Rainbow Dash.
" Hand what over, we don't know what you're talking about", said Flim.
" Don't play stupid, we know you have the 3 million bits cheque, either you hand it over or we'll force you", said Applejack.
Just then Flam took out one of the sand bags in the basket, threw it overboard, causing them to go up.
" Oh no you don't", said Rainbow Dash, as she flew up and tackle the brothers trying to grab the carpet bag, meanwhile, Applejack, Rarity, and Trixie got on after their balloons started to rise from removing the weights.
Before anyone else could intervene, they heard a strike, and the sound of lightning.
All six balloons then vaporized into black dust, and they all looked at each other.
" There wasn't supposed to be a storm planned until next week", said Rainbow Dash.
They all screamed as they all fell downward, towards a certain castle.
Meanwhile, standing on a dark grey cloud, a certain grey cross-eyed Pegasus mare with a blond mane and tail, looked down below her with guilt.
" I just don't know what went wrong", She said.
Meanwhile, Princess Celestia, and her Sister Princess Luna sat on their thrones, it was a quiet day in the throne room, and they were glad to have some peace, quiet, and tea.
" More tea Luna", said Celestia.
" Don't mind if I do", said Luna.
Suddenly, a loud crash came from the ceiling, startling the two sisters, and they watched as seventeen creatures plummeted from the ceiling to the ground with a loud thud.
" What just happened", said Celestia, both her and Luna looked at the creatures in front of her groaned in pain and fell unconscious.
And that's it for now, I hope you enjoyed it, the final chapter will be up soon, until then, that's all for now.