A new chapter has arrived! Thanks so much for all the reviews/favorites/follows. You're all so amazing! Oh, and... *gives Hi a virtual waffle* Yes! You got it right!

On with the story...

---

The sun was high in the sky. Octavia had reached the top of the mountain, now fast approaching the dam. Said dam was huge, made of strong stone. On one side, the sweet-smelling, brown liquid gently flowed in the pumps, then out of the pipes on the other side, dropping down about seven stories into gushing, violent rapids that flowed through the land.

Octavia stuck a hoof into the gentle side of the dam. She then licked her hoof of the liquid, tasting the sweet, chocolatey taste of chocolate milk. Rainbow wasn't kidding. Octavia looked over the dam, noticing how stable and expertly built it was. If Discord had constructed this entire place by himself, did he build this land-marking construction single-handedly? This made Octavia feel uneasy. It took an entire community of ponies to build a dam like this, but Discord had built it just with his magic alone, making Octavia realize just how powerful he was.

The mare advanced cautiously in case the dam happened to be laid with traps. Looking over the walls, Octavia was hit with a sense of vertigo, seeing just how far the drop was to the rapids below. She gulped and took a few steps backwards before continuing on.

A secret entrance, Octavia thought to herself, What secret entrance? This place looks pretty solid through and through.

She looked around, trotting the length of the top of the dam. She checked every nook and cranny for some sort of hidden entrance, but to no avail.

Hey, it's me again, Rainbow's voice came in over Octavia's thoughts, Having some trouble?

Lots. Octavia replied.

That's because you're not looking in the right place, Rainbow explained, The entrance is on the dam, under the chocolate milk on the unfiltered side. That's the the side without the hundred-foot drop.

Figures. Octavia sighed.

It's in the very middle about twenty feet down, Rainbow continued, Careful though. If you get sucked up in those pumps, it'll shred you to pieces, and that's very literal.

How encouraging. Octavia replied sarcastically.

Look, you just have to find the door and you should be in the castle, Rainbow continued, Can you do it?

It's up to me to save Equestria. Of course I can do it.

Alright. Good luck. Over and out.

With that, Rainbow's voice faded away. Octavia took a moment to figure out what she was going to do. If she could hold her breath long enough, she could find the door and get in with ease. The problem was that she wasn't all that great in the water, and it would probably be twice as hard in chocolate milk.

Octavia stepped up and stood on the edge of the wall. She took a deep breath before jumping off and diving into the milk. She rocketed down at just the correct depth, but she was unable to see through the chocolatey liquid. Her nerves tensed, hearing the mechanical grinding of the pumps just near by. She swam back towards the wall, feeling herself being pulled by a strong current. She felt along the wall, her hooves coming across a door with a handle. With her lungs about to burst, Octavia pulled down on the handle and opened the door. She was sucked into the entrance, entering a narrow tunnel that pushed her foward at turbo-speed. Her lungs screamed for air as she was jerked left to right, up and down, and even upside-down, heading to who-knew-where.

At last, the narrow tunnel pushed her into the air, allowing her to gasp for breath. She started free falling, her legs flailing uselessly in the air. She crashed into something soft and squishy that gave a loud SQUEAK! upon her landing. Octavia sat up, coughing and sputtering out chocolate milk. She was soaked to the bone with the chocolatey liquid, for her fur was stuck to her skin, and her mane was drooping in front of her face. Moving her mane from her eyes, Octavia checked her surroundings.

Where she was now was a dark room that was just light enough to see. The walls were black, and the ceiling was too high to see exactly how far it extended into the darkness. A giant pile of rubber duckies had broke Octavia's fall. In fact, all that was in the room was rubber duckies.

Hey, whatever works. Octavia thought to herself.

As soon as she stood, lights lit up a long passageway in front of her. They flickered on one at a time, lighting up further down the hall. Octavia escaped from the duckies and approached the hall.

"Well... Here we go..." She sighed.

---

Rainbow's heart skipped a beat as she watched Octavia advance down the hall from Discord's "magic-orb-thingy". Discord himself had fallen asleep, apparently bored with Octavia's journey.

Good, Rainbow sighed a relived sigh, Maybe Octavia can get in and get us out quickly. So long as Dipcord stays asleep...

Her wish unfortunately did not come true. Discord snorted before his eyes fluttered open. His vision focused on the orb before widening with surprise.

"How did she?!" He sputtered. He paused before whispering to himself, "...Note to self... Don't put in secret entrances..."

"Whatcha' gonna do now, Dipcord?" Rainbow asked, "Octavia's coming for you. I doubt you can stop her now."

Discord scoffed, "Don't be so sure, Dashie. I've got many tricks up my sleeve, quite literally too." He pulled out a playing card from under his arm and turned it into a microphone, "Now if you'll excuse me... I have a pony to test..."

---

The hallway was ridiculously long. Octavia felt her nerves growing the further she went down the hall. Drawing her cello bow, she advanced with extreme caution, ready for anything that might jump out and attack.

Octavia finally reached the end of the hall. She discovered there was only a simple door at the end. She tried the doorknob, which was locked. Jiggling the knob and pushing on the door proved to be fruitless. She was pretty sure there was no other way to go other than this way.

"Welcome, Octavia." A monotonous male voice spoke over invisible speakers.

Octavia jumped, nearly attacking the wall with her cello bow. She backed against the door, the voice decided to become not-so-monotonous and break into hysterical laughter.

"Oh! That face!" The voice cackled, "You're certainly an alert one, I'll give you that! Oh but your face... Oh I'm dying!"

Octavia recognized the irritatingly jolly tone, "You're the one to talk, Discord."

A displeased snort echoed through the halls, "Touché..."

"I'm guessing you're not going to let me through, are you?" Octavia asked, her eyes darting around the hall, searching for anything that might prove to be hostile.

"Incorrect!" Discord quickly replied, still refusing to show himself, "I'll let you through, but don't expect the challenges behind that door to be a piece of cake."

"Don't worry," Octavia shot back, "I've already expected it to be a piece of cake."

Unfortunately, Discord wasn't angered easily, "Alright, smart-aleck. Let's see what you got. Step through that door. If you can get past the trials on each floor and to my throne room, perhaps we can negotiate a little something so you can get your alicorn princess and the bratty blank flanks back."

Octavia knew there would be a challenge of some sort. It had already been a challenge getting this far. How much harder could it get? Taking a deep breath, Octavia gripped the door handle and turned it. With a shaky hoof, she pushed the door open and stepped into the next room.

---

Octavia didn't know what to expect once she stepped through the door. She was ready for anything that Discord had to throw at her. With her cello bow drawn and her cello ready for attack, she entered the room, the door closing behind her on its on accord.

What Octavia noticed first were the walls. The walls were a spinning, dark vortex of stars, planets, and flashing lights. Vertigo smashed into her like a ton of bricks by watching the walls, making her feel sick and nauseated. She saw that the walkway thinned and became very unstable and small the further it went into the vortex tunnel. Around the thin walkway were bottomless, pitch-black voids of nothingness.

"You have three challenges in all," Began Discord's voice over the invisible speakers, "Your first one is a physical test; get through the vortex tunnel without losing your balance and falling into the bottomless pit. Pretty self-explanatory. Oh, but before you go, I'll be taking that accursed instrument away from you..."

In a flash, both Octavia's cello bow and her compacted cello disappeared. At first, she was startled into rearing up. She then bared her teeth and pawed at the ground angrily.

"How do you expect me to defend myself?!" Octavia roared.

"Hooves," Discord promptly answered, "Use them. You have them for a reason."

Octavia wasn't intimidated, despite losing her cello. She could indeed handle herself with just her hooves. Discord apparently didn't know she was an expert at using her hooves.

"Now go on," Insisted the multi-beast, "You aren't going to save the world by just standing there."

Slowly, Octavia advanced on. The walls were making her sick and off-balance. She wasn't sure how she was going to walk across the unstable walkway when her brain was spinning from the walls. The first few steps were relatively easy, being that this paticular part of the walkway was wider than the rest. However, as Octavia progressed on, the walkway became thinner and much more twisting. Her eyes felt as though they had become wall-eyed, much like Derpy. She stumbled over her hooves and lost her footing on more than one occasion.

SNAP!

Octavia stepped wrongly and placed her weight on a loose piece of the walkway. She slipped, but managed to grab on to the side of the walkway. The broken piece of concrete fell into the bottomless abyss as Octavia dangled precariously over that same abyss. Her heart was beating wildly, her breath heavy with the fear of falling. Luckily, she got her thoughts together and pulled herself back on top of the walkway. She laid there for a moment, breathing quickly and heavily.

"I got my hopes up too soon," Discord's voice came in, causing Octavia to growl, "Oh well. You've still got a long way to go. You're gonna fall eventually."

Don't underestimate me, Octavia wanted to shout, but she kept her anger to herself. Getting back on her hooves, Octavia rose, limbs shaking and her breathing slowing down to a calm rhythm.

What do you do when you're on a boat with sea sickness? A familiar, raspy female voice echoed through Octavia's mind.

Look at the horizon. The mare answered blankly.

Exactly, Rainbow said, Do just that with the tunnel. Look at the end where it's not spinning.

Applying that to her situation, Octavia looked to the end of the tunnel where the walls were stable. Taking a deep breath, the mare continued on, now able to keep her balance by looking at the stable area ahead of her. She could do it now with her gaze switching between the walkway and the steady area. She didn't even feel slightly dizzy when she reached the very end of the walkway and came to the stable end with no spinning walls.

"Impressive..." Discord began, "I was expecting a lot less from you but... Huh."

Octavia flipped her hair, clearly proud of herself for being so clever.

"In that case..." The chaos spirit continued, "Proceed to the next chamber..."

Thanks, Dash. Octavia thought as she stepped through the next door.

No prob.

---

The next chamber was a simple, small cavern. In front of Octavia was a large console with three large buttons, one blue, one green, one red, each marked with a number measuring 1 through 3. She came closer to it, noticing that the machine seemed more magical than machine-like.

"Your next challenge is a mental test," Explained Discord, "You will be given a series of questions. Get them right, you'll advance to the next and final chamber. Get them wrong..." He chuckled, "Let's just say you'll be in for a nasty surprise..."

Octavia didn't like the way that sounded. She came closer to the console, placing her front hooves on it, preparing for the questions.

"First question... One knight, a king and a queen went riding in their boat. How many ponies were in the boat?"

The answers popped up on the screen. Her only selection was "Two", "Three", and "None".

"Easy." Octavia scoffed. Her hoof reached for the green button, which was for the "Two" answer.

Stop! Rainbow screamed in her head, freezing Octavia's hoof in place, It's a trick question. It's one knight. The K knight, not the time of day.

So three? Octavia asked.

You got it.

Octavia changed direction and went for the red button, which was for "Three". A single beep went off, signaling that Octavia had gotten it right.

"You are... Correct." Discord's voice sounded irritated, as if he was frustrated about Octavia getting the question right, "On to the next question... A teacher walks into her classroom, saying she's lost her glasses. Her class begins laughing hysterically, though the teacher is dead serious about finding her glasses. Where are these said glasses?"

No answers came up on the screen this time, so it obviously wasn't a multiple choice question. How was Octavia supposed to know where the teacher's glasses were? There wasn't much info that she could gather up from the question...

On her head, Rainbow came in to save the day, They were on her head. That's why she couldn't find them, and why her class was laughing at her.

Octavia wasted no time answering after hearing Rainbow, "On her head."

The successful beep sounded again. This made Discord growl angrily.

"You know, for just an average pony, you seem ridiculously smart!"

This comment caused Octavia to smirk to herself.

"Well, you've forced me to bring out the big guns! If you'll turn to the screen..."

Octavia turned to the screen, discovering an 8-bit illustration of a pony in camouflage, a fox, and a chicken all standing on one side of a pixelated river.

"You see it right?" Questioned Discord, "A hunter, a fox, and a chicken are stuck on one side of the river. They all have to get to the other side. However, here's the catch: The chicken can't be left alone with the fox, because the fox will eat it. The hunter can't be left alone with the fox, because he'll kill it."

There's no way to get them all on the same side without one dying, Rainbow explained, But if you flip the screen upside-down, they'll all be on the opposite side. It'll at least trick the game into thinking so.

Octavia obeyed and effortlessly flipped the screen upside-down. The game was tricked as the hunter, the fox, and the chicken started dancing happily. The screen cut out and Discord sounded like he was grinding his teeth together.

"Ohhh! You're a smart one..." He growled, "Fine. Go on to the next room, smarty-pants..."

A door opened in the wall, leading to the next room. Octavia happily advanced to the final room.

---

The final room seemed to be a long hallway that branched off in many different direction. The room was dark, but was just bright enough to see.

"Your final challenge is a combination of many different skills," Explained Discord, "Get through this maze in less than ten minutes and I'll allow you to advance to my throne room. Fail to do so, and you'll be stuck here forever! Isn't it lovely?"

Octavia wasn't nervous. She knew Rainbow Dash would help her out so she could get to Discord's throne room. It should be a piece of cake.

"Ready?"

Octavia crouched down, ready run into the maze.

"Go!"

Octavia took off, racing down the corridor of the maze. Immediately, Rainbow came in to give her instructions to get through the labyrinth.

Left! Cried Rainbow.

Octavia turned on the next passage that led to the left.

Right!

Octavia obeyed and turned on a passage leading to the right. And so on and so forth.

Straight! Left! Right! Straight! Straight! Right! Straight! Left!

Eventually, Octavia came to the end of the maze. Rainbow was cheering happily in her head, while Discord was growling angrily.

"You... How do you do this?!" He demanded, "You're... Ugh. No matter. I'll deal with you when we're face to face..."

With that, the door opened. Octavia stepped through, her cockiness currently through the roof. All she had to do now was take Discord down, free Rainbow and the Crusaders, then head back to Equestria. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

---

After Octavia had stepped through the door, her cello bow and cello returned to her side, just as Discord had promised. She found herself in the same hall that had been in one of her visions. Same twisty floors, color-shifting walls, exploding pictures, and physics-defying doors. At the very end of the hall was the same graffiti-scrawled door.

Octavia did not hesitate. She galloped hurriedly to the door, stopping when she got to it. With a deep breath, she prepared herself to face the biggest challenge yet; one that would make Nightmare Moon look pathetic. Already, it had been a challenge, and she knew Discord wasn't going to cut her slack.

Slowly, Octavia's hooves rose to the door handles. Unexpectedly, they opened on their own, revealing the creature who had made her adventure in this accursed island so difficult.

"Octavia!" Exclaimed Discord in an overly happy voice, "I have been expecting you!"