While Applejack was taken into the temple by the Grand Shaman, Twilight and the others were led by another smaller group of shamans away from the main cave and out into the island, where they were marched past the crowds into a hut large enough to house them all comfortably.

All of the shamans were elderly and wise-looking, glancing at the group of friends with friendly if slightly judgmental glances.

"Tell us," the eldest of them, an old stallion with a patchy, white coat spoke up as he stepped forward. "Why is it that you're here?"

Seeing her chance, Twilight cleared her throat. "I came here to learn and discuss the growth of Earth Pony magic through the thousands of years this island has existed and grown. Princess—" She stopped when the stallion raised a hoof and then pointed at Rainbow Dash.

"I came here to enjoy all the challenges that this place has!" The stallion nodded, then pointed at Rarity with a steely, emotionless gaze.

"I came to discover the beauty of this place, explore the markets, and talk to the ponies that make things happen," Rarity said with no small amount of excitement.

"I came here to party!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up and down in place.

"I, um… came here to meet all the animals that are unique to these jungles and to learn how to take care of them in case I, um… ever have one visit my home and… um…"

The shaman slowly nodded once and walked over to converse with the others.

"I can't believe this is happening," Twilight muttered, drawing looks from the other mares who turned to face her. "Everything was going as planned and somehow they confused Applejack with their goddess, and now I'm stuck here while she's with the Grand Shaman!"

The others shared a look before Rarity stepped forth. "Um, Twilight dear, I fear you are taking this too personally. If there has been a mistake, I'm sure the Grand Shaman will realize it soon enough. There is no need for anger."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "Chill out, Twilight. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Twilight closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Okay, okay, I think I got it." She nodded to herself before opening her eyes. "You're right, of course, once they realize Applejack doesn't know jack about magic, they'll sort this out."

"Um, that's a bit harsh," Fluttershy mumbled.

"I've been studying for this for the last week!" Twilight whispered back. "Every day, for hours with almost no sleep! I can't lose my chance to learn!"

"Geez, calm down, Twilight," Rainbow Dash muttered. "I know you're an egghead but you shouldn't drive yourself mad over this!"

"Yeah! You're pretty unhinged as it is when it comes to understanding things," Pinkie pointed out, popping out from under Twilight's wing. "Like, remember that time when I rearranged all of your books when you weren't looking because you were packing to leave on a trip and then you realized that they weren't in order and tried to figure out how that had happened for almost two days while on an airship until you forced your brain to ignore that and concentrate obsessively on the history of some islands only you wanted to visit for academic purposes?"

Twilight's eyebrow twitched.

Before she could say anything, however, the lead shaman approached again. "We have deliberated amongst ourselves and have decided what your roles here will be."

Each of the shamans took their place next to each mare, the leader remaining with Twilight.

"My name is Iluitonalli," the shaman next to Pinkie said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. She was an old unicorn mare with a deep green coat and a brown mane. She had a gentle smile as she motioned Pinkie to follow.

"I, Tlaesotia will teach you our arts!" A sturdy-looking pegasus said to Rainbow Dash, jerking his head towards the exit.

"My name is Ketsalkoskatl," the youngest-looking shaman—maybe just a few years their elder—said, smiling at Rarity. "I believe you and I will be good friends. We certainly seem to have things in common."

"Come with me, gentle one," the one standing next to Fluttershy said, "Yolkati will show you all the beautiful creatures that live in this island, and teach you much more about the arts of healing."

"My companions will lead you to your homes here in the island, Yolilistli, if you would follow me, I will lead you to your domain," the stallion said, motioning for Twilight to follow.

"Listen, Mr. Shaman," Twilight began as they started walking, "I'm afraid there has been some sort of mistake…"

The shaman gave her a look. "Are you not the Yolilistli?"

"Well…" Twilight hesitated. "Yes, I am bu—"

"Then worry not," the shaman interrupted, guiding her into the nearby jungle. "We all have our place here, Yolilistli, and yours has been waiting for you for a thousand years. Fear not, even though there was some confusion upon your arrival, your place was never in doubt."

Twilight sighed, relieved. "Well, that's very nice to know. I was worried for a while that I would be… what is this place?"

They had arrived at the edge of the island, where, past about half a mile of seawater, another massive island lay. However, that one was little more than black rock and dirt.

"This is where you, Yolilistli, will perform your duties." The Shaman waved his hoof at the island. "It will be my duty to teach you how to farm this land, and you, as the chosen Gardener of the Yolilistlitlatlakoli herself, will achieve greatness. Being a Yolilistli, I expect this will be something amazing to witness."

Twilight gazed at the shaman in an uncomprehending stupor for a few seconds. "Wait, did you say I'm the Gardener?!" she whispered harshly. "I can't be the Gardener! That's Applejack's job!"

"Who?" the shaman cocked his head to the side.

"Applejack! Blonde mane, grew up in a farm! Good at math, bad at literature! Earth pony, orange coat, cowpony hat!" Twilight listed.

The shaman gave her a look then started chuckling. "Ah, the Yolilistli has an excellent sense of humor, but I am afraid the Jester is none other than your pink friend, the Yolilistlitlatlakoli being the Gardener! Hah!." He became serious again. "I would warn you, Yolilistli that not all islanders have a sense of humor as developed as mine and might find the implication that the Yolilistlitlatlakoli isn't the most divine being of all grounds for war."

Twilight stared in horror at the shaman, who motioned towards the island. "Come, there is a rowboat down here… Now, as you must learn this sacred duty, I urge you to listen well…"

The shaman's name was Kuautemiktlan, which had something to do with dead eagles. Or eagles and death. Or something along those lines. As far as Twilight was concerned, the stallion's name should've been Eagle Eye or possibly Old Fossil. Either way, he had managed to convince her to go with him to the island, and for the next several hours, they combed the place, discussing its relatively recent creation due to underwater volcanic activity.

Despite herself, Twilight found her interest piqued by the history of the place, as it was unusual in both origin and behaviour.

According to KK (Twilight refused to embarrass herself further by attempting to say his name one more time), this island was just about as big as Iluikatliltik itself, and was sitting on the exact same spot that had given birth to its greener and more populated counterpart. As Twilight had read, through thousands of years and more than one tsunami, the island had been pushed by natural forces just far away enough for this new one to emerge without damaging Iluikatliltik itself.

"Again," Kuautemiktlan said, watching Twilight as she used her Earth Pony strength to smash rocks and soften the ground.

"W-We've been at this for hours!" Twilight gasped.

KK raised an eyebrow. "Earth Ponies work for hours more to make land arable."

"I can use a spell to smash all the rocks in the island and soften all the ground in a second!"

"I see," Kuautemiktlan said slowly, nodding in understanding. "That is indeed a possibility, Yolilistli, but if you did so, you wouldn't feel the land under your hooves speak to you."

"The only thing speaking to me from my hooves ARE my hooves." Twilight gave him an unamused, deadpan look. "And they are saying: ouch!"

"Yolilistli, if you need to rest, we shall do so," Kuautemiktlan said. "We can continue this tomorrow. Do you remember where your hut is?"

Not even waiting for him to finish talking, Twilight was gone in a flash, leaving him alone.

She materialized in her new, humble abode: a little single-room hut that might have seemed cozy enough for her before she got her own castle. Nevertheless, she had no energy to argue about things and simply climbed up to the hemp hammock that was to be her bed.

"I'm…” Twilight paused as a yawn forced itself from her lips. “I’m going to have to sort this out tomorrow..." she mumbled before sleep embraced her.

Twilight snarled awake, swinging wildly on her hammock when the very loud knocks started. Confused and panicking due to the unfamiliar feeling of hemp rope around her, she moved her forelegs around and spread her wings in a futile and violent attempt at standing up… which ended up with her face first on the soft earth below the hammock.

She struggled, groggily pushing herself back up to her hooves as the banging on the door continued, noticing through the window that Celestia was definitely not awake yet. Still feeling the warm wetness of her drool on her muzzle, she used the back of her foreleg to wipe it off, only managing to plaster black soil on the fur around her mouth.

"Who. The. Hay..." she growled, letting the threat hang in the air as she forced her aching head to painfully look up enough to use her magic to unlock the door.

Kuautemiktlan smiled pleasantly at her. "Good morning, Yolilistli, I hope you slept well."

"Can't say I woke up well," Twilight growled before slowly straightening out and taking a deep breath. Then another. Then she tried Cadance's calming breath technique before opening her eyes and regarding her guest with a slightly forced smile. "I'm sorry, KK, I just didn't expect to wake up quite so early. How can I help you?"

"As the dawn approaches, the Yolilistli's work begins. I understand you were too tired to carry on last night, but if you wish to meld with the spirit of this island, you need to set to work now, Yolilistli."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Look, KK—"

"Kuautemiktlan."

"Quack-mic-lan," Twilight repeated. "I'm sure being a gardener is a very nice thing for earth ponies bu—"

"It is a title held in the highest esteem."

"Right. High esteem." She nodded. "I'm sure once we sort this out, Applejack, who happens to actually enjoy planting trees instead of reading them, would be absolutely delighted to—"

"The Yolilistlitlatlakoli is already hard at work and has been awake for several hours."

Twilight blinked. "Oh?"

"Indeed," Kuautemiktlan said, "by now, she will have been taken to Chikomostok, where our Secret Temple resides," he explained, ignoring Twilight grinding her teeth. "It has been described by Starswirl the Bearded himself as one of the great wonders of the ancient times, full of power and spirits of wisdom who will no doubt converse with her with great interest."

Twilight visibly cringed at the sheer loss of academic experience she was facing. "Listen, this is all a big m—"

"For now, give me your hoof."

Taken aback by the sudden demand, Twilight complied without thinking, allowing Kuautemiktlan to hold her hoof carefully.

"You see, Yolilistli, I find it very interesting that your hoof, dainty and well-kept as it is, craves to commune with the soil beneath it. It's not a working hoof. It's not used to crack rock, plant roots, and coax earth. It is not used to water and wind or raw life caressing it… and yet—though perhaps you don't recognize it—it yearns for these feelings."

Twilight carefully removed her hoof from his grasp, then lowered it back to the earth.

Did it feel alive under her? It just felt squishy.

"Now come, I have brought breakfast and after that, it will be time for us to continue our job from last night."

Still trying to see if anything was different under her hooves, Twilight followed in his wake.

The party was in full swing later that night by the time Twilight stumbled in. She glanced around the dancing and celebrating ponies, taking note of the head table far on the other side of the room where Applejack was engaged in a deep discussion with the shamans.

Twilight grumbled, feeling her hooves throb in pain at the whole day of work she had been forced to endure and made her way to the bar, where she took a seat and glared at Applejack. Twilight didn't even blink when Pinkie cartwheeled up to her and placed some sort of drink inside a hollowed-out pineapple in front of her.

"Look at her," Twilight grumbled, her magic picking up the tiny umbrella in her drink and tossing it into a trash bin as Applejack laughed at something the lead shaman had said. "All smug in her stupid hat. Taking all of the credit. Learning all of the magic. I'm stuck with kicking dirt, digging trenches and destroying rocks."

"Wow, you're really unhappy about this," Pinkie observed, pulling another drink out of her mane and slurping it loudly.

"Of course I am!" Twilight hissed. "I had lists of questions to ask, empty notebooks on fast teleport to take notes, three research papers that I prepared for comparison purposes, and the countless nights I spent discussing possibilities with Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer!"

Twilight covered her head with her hooves. "What if Princess Celestia tests me on this? Luna did it too, two thousand years ago! What if I disappoint them both!? What can I tell them? 'Oh, Applejack will take care of everything?' If I don't learn those secrets how will they be kept and used properly?"

Twilight slurped on her drink, humming in appreciation before looking at Pinkie. "I won't be the Princess of Friendship, I'll be the Princess of Failure!"

Pinkie blinked. "But… aren't you learning all of that stuff anyway?"

Twilight glared at her. "That's not the point! I should be up there learning the theory." She pointed with her hoof. "Not down here."

"Look Twilight, I don't tell you this nearly enough," Pinkie said, putting her hoof on her friend's shoulder and adopting a solemn look. "But you need to calm down."

"Calm down?" Twilight repeated slowly, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah! You're learning what you need right?" Pinkie pointed out. "Just like I'm learning how to up my party skills with new techniques! Even if we're not sitting at the main table we're getting what we want, right?"

Twilight stomped down before sliding back from the bar. "This. Is not what I want."

A flash later, she was once again standing on her barren island.

Feeling the firm ground under her, she started stomping around. "They want me to do this? To smash rocks and ground them to soft dust instead of learning?" She kept slamming her hooves down on all of the rocks within her sight, until only soft earth and small rocks remained, leaving her utterly exhausted.

Angry at the shamans, herself and her inability to escape her current fate, she collapsed onto the earth and flopped onto her stomach, breathing heavily and glaring at the distant lights and sounds of partying ponies.

"That should've been me..."