INSTALLMENT ONE: 16th Place -

[to determine the botted pony, 16th place, I drew one name from the urn. The tribe belonging to this pony is the one that loses immunity, and that particular pony wins immunity within his/her tribe. I then kept drawing names, until the 8th and last pony from this tribe was dran. That pony gets the boot].

::Suddenly shoved out of a boarded up van, the 16 "Survivors" find themselves in swift need of shelter. Because I said so. Segregated into their respective tribes, the ponies are rushed into the fearful depths of...SPOOSH'S BACKYARD! I don't believe in collecting accessories, so the ponies are sent out with NOTHING! Just each other and the hopes of winning this game.

Both tribes are instructed to locate ground to build a permanent shelter. Having been previously schooled in survival techniques [which included tips on cooking Bushwoolies for food], the ponies knew that having a shelter built before sundown was essential. Afterall, the wild terrain that is Spoosh's Backyard holds much danger for little talking ponies: hunger, mosquitos, my cat... They will have to fight Mother Nature as well as themselves to stay in the game. Of course Mother Nature is easily foiled with pesticides and farming [her Achiles heal, if you will], but they have nothing. Meh..

So. ::folds hands:: There's more than that..

The Skélé Tribe immediately prooves themselves resourceful by setting up shop in a lilac bush, heavily surrounded by weeds and purple-flower-plants. Each member of the tribe puts in an equal ammount of work, thanks to Apple Delight's firm suggestion that ponies not pulling their own weight would be booted first. Sunspot, Star Hopper, Munchy, Curly Locks, and Up Up and Away frantically gather large fern-like leaves to be used for bedding and canopies, while Apple Delight, Sweet Celebrations, and Milky Way do all of the grunt work back at camp, bending bush limbs and sculpting dirt in attempts to give the shelter appropriate structure.

Apple Delight: [whispering to Sweet Celebrations]: "So, the most crucial decisions in this game will be made right away, you know?"

Sweet Celebrations: [stopping what he's doing and shifting his brow]: "What do you mean?"

Apple Delight [leaning in closer]: "I mean that... ::Milky Way, already too far way to hear, moves further, lost in her work:: ...we should hook up, y'know? We're the two guys on this team. They need our strength, so we'll be here for a while. If we stick together we could ...win."

Sweet Celebrations [in naive surprise]: "Oh! ::ducking his head:: Yeah, that would work great! You wanna ask Milky Way while we're alone? ::he takes a step in MW's direction with a front hoof::

Apple Delight [startled]: "No, man, not her! ::he shakes his head:: At least I don't think. We'd be battling her to the end, you know? She's too strong. Let's see who wins immunity in this first round. We'll go to her."

::Meantime, Curly Locks is scolding Sunspot for gathering unsatisfactory leaves::

Curly Locky [clearly frazzled]: "Sunspot, God! ::she yanks away the poor leaf:: I already showed you these styled leaves are not what we need. They won't hold up for the amount of time we'll want to use them!"

Sunspot [genuinely apologetic]: "I'm sorry. I didn't remember, Curly. This is really hard work."

Curly Locks [laughing]: "If you think this is hard, you ain't making it the whole time, girl. Maybe I should vote for you first chance I get. ::Curly Locks jaunts off at the siight of better leaves, leaving Sunspot unclear as to whether she was kidding or noit."

Sunspot: "...and you know this how?"

---
The Dura Tribe has made things easy for themselves. About a mile away from the other tribe, the 8 ponies have found a steardy, seemingly ready-made shelter out of aging briars and tall grass. In the middle of nothing, this shelter, while certainly conspicuous, is more than adequate. Inside it's a twisting maze of open spaces and pockets. Having gathered some large ferns, Braided Beauty and Dancing Butterflies, as the tribe's pegasi, place them over the large gaps at the shelter's top in order to catch rain when it comes. The other tribemembers have spent the better part of the day breaking off thorns from the briars and piling them for possible fire kindling. Pretty Vision and Ringlets, pooping out [read: giving up] before the others, slump off to the side and reinforce why they get along so well.

Ringlets [seeing Pretty Vision head in her direction]: "Haha! You letting the others do your work too? Same here. ::she sprawls out, her hair cascading over the ground to all sides of her::

Pretty Vision [plopping on the grass]: "Well, not really. I'm just damn tired. And bloody from the thorns. ::she waves a hoof to show off her scrapes:: Who thought this was a good idea?!"

Ringlets [yawning]: "I don't know, but whoever it is, let's vote them out!" ::she makes a clicking noise with her mouth to symbolize the boot::

Pretty Vision: : "Ha! In that case, it was Dancing Butterflies."

Ringlets [snickering]: "GOD you are jealous of her."

Pretty Vision [giving Ringlets the evil eye]: "Not so! She's just... famous. And ...famous. Makes me nervous."

Ringlets[sarcastically]: "And I'd bet she's REAL jealous of you too, no?"

Pretty Vision [quickly standing up]: "Yeah, well I'm going to go lend another hoof. And I'll tell them you're plotting their demise, you cowbag."

::Ringlets unattractively grunts as the other tribe members toil in the shelter::

---
::Sunset passes, and darkness absorbs the Survivor's first day in SPOOSH'S BACKYARD! The exhausted ponies are given word by Bluttberry Baskets that both tribal immunity and the first boot will be the next day. Sleep is not in poor reserve this evening.::


::It was a rude awakening for the Survivors early on Day 2. No one slept well, partially because many of the ponies were up late getting to know one another, and partially because the day before's work was more than many of them had done in their whole lives. They are sore and tired.::

---
At Dura:

::Steamer is the first to make his way out of the shelter. He stumbles on a large piece of wood laying to the side of the campfire. He and Sky Rocket and Sky Rocket had spent the better part of yesturday building that fire, and now to his dismay, it has gone out completey. Not even an ember is sparking.::

Steamer [reading the wood]: "Get your tribe up and out! Retread your steps to find the playing ground." ::Steamer scrunches his mouth:: "Well, *this* can wait..." ::he flips the wood-announcement onto the heap of now extinguished briar thorns.::

Dancing Butterflies [peeking her head out of the shelter, speaking with a hoarse voice]: "What can wait, Steamer?"

Steamer [turning only his head around and grinning with idiocy]: "Immunity."

::Dancing Butterflies happily smirks and heads back into the shelter to wake everyone up."

---
At Skele:

::The Skele tribe has received the same announcment, however they are all already wide awake and trekking::

Apple Delight [leading the group to the Immunity game] : "C'mon all. If we hurry up, I bet we'll beat Dura to the game."

Curly Locks [sarcastically aside to Up Up and Away]: "...and *that* would ensure us the win."

Apple Delight [stopping in his tracks and spinning around to look Curly Locks in the face]: "Yeah, whatever. But you know I'm right."

Curly Locks [with faux surprise]: "Oh I *do*?"

Munchy [cutting through the two, becoming the front of the line]: "I think there's validity to AD's suggestions, actually."

::Star Hopper rolls her eyes::

Munchy: "If we can intimitade the other tribe by appearing superior, we should. Whatever helps advance us in the game."

---
At Immunity:

::Blueberry Baskets and the Skele tribe have waited around for a good hour before the Dura Tribe casually strolls in. Skele immediately goes about making themselves look superior by lifting their chins and flipping their heads. This is a stretch for most of them. Apple Delight seems to enjoy it more than the rest, though. The Dura tribe, oblivious, passes through.::

Steamer: "At ease, soldiers."

Blueberry Baskets [fluttering above the heads of the Survivors]: "All right all, we can finally begin. Attention here, please. ::she pauses and then with a back hoof taps Sugarberry's rump for her attention:: Ok. This first immunity will be very simple. The first tribe to perform the task at hand keeps all its members until the next immunity. The tribe that loses votes someone out at the Council tonight."

Curly Locks [rolling her eyes]: "Look, we are late enough as it is. We know the rules, so let's skip this."

Blueberry Baskets [bulging an eye]: "Shove it."

::everyone else laughs with surprise, not expecting a reaction like that out of their Host::

Blueberry Baskets [resuming a professional demeanor]: "So, yeah. Before I announce what immunity game you will be playing, I need each team to choose 2 teammates. Send them to the front here. ::she points with a hoof to the ground under her::

Munchy [with genuine curiosity]: "Two teamates for what purpose?"

::Blueberry Baskets grins and says nothing. It takes the Dura tribe only seconds to choose their two players, as Sky Rocket immediately leaps forward, while Star Dancer's pleads of "pick me, pick me, pick me" get her chosen as well. The Skele tribe, after much trepidation in making a decision, finally decides on Star Hopper and Curly Locks [on the basis that maybe a pesagus would be useful].::

Blueberry Baskets [with a nod]: "Ok, then. Sky Rocket, Star Hopper, Curly Locks, and Star Dancer. Sit down and be patient. The rest of you go back to your shelters, and wait for these 4 to return. One group will be coming with a surprise. One group will not. If your team comes back without anything, you've lost. "

::as soon as both teams are out of sight, off to their respective shelters [both about a mile away from the Immunity gamespace], Blueberry Baskets begins her explaination.::

Blueberry Baskets: "Here's the game: We've hidden a fairly large pinwheel within a half mile radius of where we currently stand. Stuck it upright in the ground. It's pretty big, so you might need both teammates to run it back to your tribe. The team that wins will run the pinwheel back to their shelter as quickly as possible. We are monitoring you as you go.. ::BB pauses as the 4 Survivors look around with both paranoia and curiosity::... so once the pinwheel is found, we will take the losing team to the side and play a short little immunity game to see which pony wins immunity within the losing tribe. So, go. The game has begun!"

Star Dancer [stammering]: "Wha- now? We go now?!"

Blueberry Baskets [with urgency]: "Oh my god! Yes! GO! For the good of the city!..."

::Star Dancer and Sky Rocket scamper off together like surprised rabbits driven out of their hole, not sure what direction to go. Star Hopper begins to take off in the opposite direction, before she's painfully yanked to the ground. She flips on her back to see Curly Locks biting down on her tail.::

Star Hopper: "What in Pony's name?!"

Curly Locks [dropping the tail]: "Look... ::she looms over Star Hopper:: ...we can decide to win this immunity or not.."

Star Hopper [standing up, annoyed]: "Choose?!"

Curly Locks: "Right. Now hear me out.. We are all pretty annoyed with Apple Delight, right?"

Star Hopper [snorting]: "Oh, come on. No matter how annoyed you are, we can live with him for the sake of the win."

::Curly Locks darts her eyes upwards and gives a playful grin.::

Star Hopper [violently shaking her head]: "No. NO! We're gonna find the pinwheel. Now get your feathered waddle body up in the sky and look for it! We have a huge advantage here, and we're going to use it!"

::Curly Locks casually, almost mockingly, flutters into the sky about 100 feet while Star Hopper leaps around on the ground::

Star Hopper [shouting upward]: "Do you see anything?!"

Curly Locks [shaking her head while grinning]: "Nope."

Star Hopper [pausing, and then angrily screaming]: "Are you even going to try?!"

Curly Locks [shaking her head, again grinning]: "Nope."

::red in the face, Star Hopper dashes over the hill to do the job herself.::

----
::Sky Rocket and Star Dancer have found their way into very tall grasses. They mostly can't see where they are going, and eventually lose each other. Calling out for the other, they dart back and forth looking now for both their teammate and the pinwheel::

Star Dancer [yelling]: "I think we made a mistake! They wouldn't put the pinwheel in a place like this! It's too hard to see!"

Sky Rocket [running in the direction of the voice]: "If it wasn't hard, there wouldn't be anything to survive! Stand still! I think I can find you!"

::Sky Rocket flips in place and instead runs in the opposite direction of the voice, to a higher portion of land, equally tall-grassy. Darting this way and that, fighting the grasses at the top, SR's able to clear a view long enough to see a swirl of sparkles in the grasses beaneath.::

Sky Rocket [shouting with effort]: "I see you, Star Dancer! Hold tight!"

::Sky Rocket, breathing hard, races toward her friend, but instead finds herself face to face with a giant pinwheel. The swirling sparkles she had seen were not Star Dancer's sparkle body, but the pinwheel they needed to win immunity. Sky Rocket gives out a surprised and delighted yelp.::

---
::Curly Locks is sitting on her rump, swinging her hair with content as Blueberry Baskets escorts Star Hopper back to the Immunity gamespace. Star Hopper is not pleased.::

Blueberry Baskets: "Skele has lost immunity, and you will have vote out a teammate...."

Star Hopper [pointedly]: "And *she* did nothing. Look at her there sitting on her big..."

Curly Locks [shrugging as much as a pony can]: "Hey, I have a good point. Apple Delight's gotta go, and the sooner the better."

Star Hopper [eyes raging]: "You will not force me into strategy with you!"

Blueberry Baskets [interupting]: "Fine fine. That's all nice and good, but I don't care. Talk about it on the way back to camp. But for right now, each of you pick a number between 1 and 10..."

Star Hopper [blurting with contempt]: "5"

Curly Locks [dreamily, sarcastically looking upwards]: "Oh...how about 1."

Blueberry Baskets: "The number was 6. Star Hopper, you have immunity. ::BB hands Star Hopper a large stick. She accepts it with a little relief:: Star Hopper, this is the Immunity Stick. What a ceremonious name, eh? Head back to your team. You will trek to the Council this evening, which is a half mile in the opposite direction as the Immunity grounds. Now be gone."

::Blueberry Baskets flutters away, leaving the two Skele tribesmembers to an unpleasant, undoubtedly silent walk.::

---
At Dura:

::The tribe has been waiting with anticipation for several hours. Although they all want to, no one can calm their nerves enough to nap. Except Ringlets, who's wrapped her long hair around her head as a shield from the sunlight, and has made a bed of the ground to the right of the shelter doorway. Braided Beauty is the first to spot Star Dancer and Sky Rocket, ungracefully galoping over the horizon.::

http://www.50mbp.com/survivor/mine/0101.jpg

Sky Rocket and Star Dancer[yelling with excitement, but obviously out of breath]: "We got it! We won Immunity!"

Sky Rocket [adding]: "We ROCK!"

---
At Skele:

::Most of the tribe was disheartened to learn one of them would be leaving the game in only hours; while there has already been some tension, they had only begun to get acquainted. Apple Delight and Curly Locks had formulated schemes they both felt were fool-proof. These schmes, problematically, hinged on locating one more pony to go along.

Apple Delight, according to plan, confronted the winner of immunity, Star Hopper, in an attempt to strengthen his side. After stating his planned target was Curly Locks, Star Hopper eagerly joined, but not without a plan of her own.

Curly Locks confronted both Munchy and Up Up and Away [perceived weaker members of the tribe] to join up with her to vote out Apple Delight. She would have safety in numbers, and then easily beat them in immunity challenges when she would need to pick them off. Apple Delight confronted Sweet Celebrations previously. Milky Way and Sunspot, both seemingly unattatched, watched the scheming from afar. It wasn't hard to decipher out what was going on.::

Sunspot [jaunting up to Star Hopper, who was coming for Sunspot anyway]: "Star, when were you gonna ask me to team up with ya? ::Sunspot grins with hope::"

Star Hopper [sheepishly whispering]: "Uh... how about now?"

Sunspot [with a toothy smile and "crisis averted" tone]: "Sounds good to me!"

::Star Hopper leads Sunspot directly into Apple Delight and Sweet Celebrations, plotting under the cover of some tall grasses::

Sunspot [eyes wide]: "Well that was simple."

http://www.50mbp.com/survivor/mine/0201.jpg

Apple Delight: "Sunspot! Awesome.. That's 4-ponies strong."

Sweet Celebrations [jokingly]: "4 horse power." ::Apple Delight rolls his eyes while Sunspot giggles::

Apple Delight [attention directed more at Sunspot than the others]: "So, to recap : Curly Locks = freak. We boot her."

Sweet Celebrations [turning to Sunspot]: "But we really need a 5th person so we can have the majority for sure. "

Star Hopper [darkly]: "We can sluff her off later."

Sunpsot [nearly losing her breath with enthusiasm]: "My god! I am in an evil allience!"

---
::Meanwhile, Curly Locks is instructing her little group about how the evening should go, with opposition from Munchy::

Curly Locks [confident]: "I did make a large mistake eariler with immunity, but I can't take it back. And besides, I am *sure* that Apple Delight is out of here. The way he struts around, tells us what to do, tells us when to breathe... It's barbaric! I know the other other gals aren't having any of it, either. I am pretty sure Star Hopper will side with AD about voting for me, and the guys will stick together. But there's really just so little effort needed at this point, you know? It'll be a 5 to 3 vote, and AD will be out of here, if that!"

Munchy [shaking her head]: "Curly Locks, it seems like you are just going to lay down and die here. That's *not* how it's going to work. In fact, we could .."

Curly Locks [agreived]: "Me?! Lay down and die?! Just because my plan at Immunity backfired doesn't mean I have given no effort here!"

Munchy [folding]: "All right, fine. You're right. Now it's only a matter of finding a 4th pony for our group."

-----
At Council:

::The Skele tribe, trekking for a good hour to reach the Council area, arrives exausted and anxious. Star Hopper is instructed to place her Immunity stick in the ground and stand behind it. The other ponies arrange themselves comfortably around her. A palpable tension is in the air, as neither side of the tribe knows which way the vote will go. Apple Delight's group is a little less jittery knowing that their worst case scenerio is a tie-breaker [because they consist of half the tribe]. Milky Way, the obvious swing vote for the evening, says nothing and looks at no one, having not once been approached. A smug little grin plastered to her face, she steps poised into the specified standing area.::

http://www.50mbp.com/survivor/mine/01council.jpg
Blueberry Baskets [emurging from darkness into view]: "Skele Tribe. Look where you are. The first voting Council of the game. What a shame. How very lame. You all came to extinguish a flame. And other things that rhyme... ::BB casually laughs at herself:: Before we procede to the voting, I do have a few questions to ask. ::she directs her attention at Curly Locks:: CURLY LOCKS! Please enlighten us. What could you *possibly* have been thinking when you threw the Immunity challenge?! I've been trying to wrap my head around it, and .....AK,JSFS.KDGNADS!! "

::some members of the tribe, surprised, gaze at Curly Locks::

Curly Locks [angered]: "Stategy is strategy. And isn't your job to host the game and not play it?"

::all heads whip around to BB, waiting for a catty response::

Blueberry Baskets [grinning and turning her attention to Apple Delight]: "Delight! Do you realize how much of a prick you are?"

Apple Delight [flabergasted]: "Wah.. I..uh.. ::shakes his head:: I.. "

Blueberry Baskets : "Hush! It's time to vote!"

::One by one, the members of the Skele tribe step forth to secretly cast their votes. The evening seems unstructured and unsettling to most of the tribe. A blanket of unfamiliarity covers their common sense, and they don't really know how to conduct themselves. After all 8 votes are cast, Blueberry Baskets calmly calls attention to the matter at hand. She clearly nejoys her job.::

Blueberry Baskets: "Skele Tribe!..."

::everyone's ears perk::

Blueberry Baskets: "Once I reveal tonight's loser, he or she ::AD ducks his head when BB says "he" and CL the same when hearing "she":: will immediately seperate from the tribe, will say nothing, and will be escorted out of the Yard.

...in a 7 to 1 vote, the first pony votes out of Survivor is Curly Locks."

::Curly Locks' mouth drops open. Her brow squeezes together, as her wings lift her off the ground and over to Blueberry Baskets, never once looking back at her former Tribe::

http://www.50mbp.com/survivor/mine/01curlylocks.jpg

Curly Locks: "Guess that's what I get for having a plan..."

Blueberry Baskets: "No, that's what you get for having a STUPID plan..."


An Interview with Curly Locks -

::Later in the evening, after Curly Locks was settled in to a hotel, she gave the obligatory interview with Blueberry Baskets::

Blueberry Baskets: "Curly Locks, I know I gave ya a hard time in the game..."

Curly Locks [agitated]: "Only a *little*?"

Blueberry Baskets: "Yeah well... anyway. ::grins:: Generally, you came off as, well, a bitch. What do you say to that?"

Curly Locks [taken aback]: "Bitch? I really don't see how anyone could think that."

Blueberry Baskets: "Possibly because you tried to force a teammate into a crucial decision, while at the same time causing detriment to your team, and then not owning up to the huge mistake you made."

Curly Locks [chuckling]: "That totally came back to bite me in the butt, didn't it. ::in realization:: Damn, I WAS a bitch."

Blueberry Baskets: "How do you feel about your team now?"

Curly Locks: "Honestly, I'd like to see them lose. ::laughs with a full boom:: They ALL voted for me, so they ALL should lose."

Blueberry Baskets: "Anyone in particular?"

Curly Locks: "Star Hopper, of course. Girl didn't know a good deal when she saw it."

Blueberry Baskets: "Now, if anyone from Skele does indeed win, who would you like it to be?"

Curly Locks: "Ug. Well, I suppose Apple Delight. If that's who they choose over me, he'd darn well better win."