Am I the Bad Guy?

[Rarity]

Oh no I betrayed my friend I'm a monster. But in reality I had both Chrysalis and Coco come up to me and say that Dash was skeeving them out. This makes sense because Dash has a schemer streak in her, and I basically would have to choose between her and Chrys/Coco. Or at least I would have if I decided to keep my vote.

I specifically chose to lose my vote because I knew that this was going to be between DJ/Soarin and Rainbow Dash and I was perfectly fine with either of them going. Hopefully I can articulate this to Dash so that she isn't too mad from the jury house, but there was no way that I was going to save her.

Between my extra vote and Coco's idol, I think I'm reasonably well positioned to survive through this round. F6 I plan on using Coco and Chrysalis plus my extra vote to force through something interesting. I'm still worried about DJ having the last idol, but there really isn't anything that I can do to play around that. Maybe I'll get lucky and the vote this round will split between them and Granny and they'll use it.

Anyway this is where Rarity's head is at. I traded Dash for a bonus vote and we'll see if this takes me to the end.

[Rarity]

1) Grand Pear won immunity again. Did he need it?

Actually genuinely yes. I think he's an easy vote because ponies are afraid he's going to be a goat for somepony that isn't them. Also, like, he might just make it to the end on challenge prowess and that's goofy.

2) Do you have a specific endgame in mind right now?

Boy howdy do I. I want to take Chrysalis and Coco and then argue that I made more moves than the both of them, but that I recognize I didn't do what was popular. I was neither as kind as Coco nor as loyal as Chrysalis, but that I figure they both epitomized other, equally valid strategies. Still I feel like I performed my strategy better than they performed theirs.

You can sub in DJ or Granny for this as needs be.

3) Why did Rainbow Dash go home last time? Who benefits most from that?

Not me!

4) How confident do you feel tonight?

Eh middling. I have a bonus vote that I can use if I have to, and I might be able to convince Coco to play her idol on me to blindside somepony else.

5) With an F3, this is the last time when the number of you who will be on the Jury outnumber the number of you who will be at FTC.  Do you know who is making a mistake tonight?

I literally don't know what this means.

6) Give me a gif that sums up your game right now.



7) Why are you voting the way you are tonight?

Because I think it optimizes my odds of making f3.

[Rarity]

DJ is transparently going after me. This is really annoying. ._ .

[Rarity]

I miss Chrysalis, and also fuck Coco and Pear for going after somepony I clearly liked. Now I have do something dumb like working with DJ and Soarin to eliminate Pear in the blindside, and then try to salvage things with Coco and Granny to take out Soarin. I want Granny to make it to f4 because she told me that she was likely to take me to f3 if she wins the challenge, and I believe her. I'm not good at challenges, so I think that's the only way I get in.

Coco will hate me, but maybe her hate will allow me to appeal to the angle that there's no way I beat her against this jury considering I betrayed everypony to get there. If she drags my carcass to the end, she only has to deal with one of DJ and Granny instead of both, both of whom have compelling angles without competing for the same narrative.

Still I think Pear is the least likely to take me to the end, and the most likely to win f4. This means he has to go, and I'm really working that angle right now.

[Rarity]

This is stupid. Fuck Soarin. I guess I'll kill DJ if that will stop him from losing his fucking mind and trying to randomly push Granny out.

[Rarity]

It's mostly just frustrating because Soarin is acting like he has all the cards and he has none of the cards. He's been like this ever since merge. He talks big talk about wanting to work with me, then he bulldozes anything I try to say. I don't like being strongarmed into this shit. He bullied the Dash vote and the Chrysalis vote and I'm kind of sick of having to deal with him. I wish he hadn't won immunity.

[Rarity]

1) This is the last chance you have the ability to 100% vote a player out of the game. How does that affect your strategy?

Kill Soarin

2) Coco Pommel won immunity tonight. Did she need it?

Not really. She has Pear and me on her side.

3) How are you balancing getting an F3 you can win vs making it to the F3 in the first place?

I was trying to bring Chrysalis along, but at this point I just need to hope both Granny and Coco are sincere in wanting to bring me to f2.

4) How confident are you that you can sell a jury on your game?

Fairly confident? I've avoided heat most of the game, made some big moves, and generally directed the game in a favorable way. I've also had a few triumphs that I can sell as me being flexible and surviving, and I even used an item to make another #bigmove.

5) How confident do you feel about not getting voted out tonight?

Reasonably so? Soarin would have to pull Pear and Granny, I think, and that feels like a really hard sell.

6) Why specifically are you casting the vote you are casting tonight?

Soarin has acted weird ever since merge and I don't think he ever got over me voting Fluttershy. He's been hard to talk to and I've never felt integral to any of his plans.

[Rarity]

Let's cut to the chase. I know Coco's gunning to take me out this TC, and on paper it sounds tantalizing, but whatever she or Granny is telling you about me being this massive threat, my game is being severally over-hyped. I mean sure my early merge was decent, and I had a big part in taking Rainbow out and to a lesser extent Pinkie, but just ask Pear what I've done or what I've talked with him about since the Rainbow boot and he'll say nothing. I did nothing late game but concede to whatever Granny or Coco wanted to do. The last two boots were solely theirs, and if Coco succeeds in taking me out then that makes three. And I truly believe you'll have a case to make against me in FTC. Rainbow's told me that a large part of why Derpy was voted out was b/c you put up a strong resistance to voting out Pear, so I know you have that against me, and I likely have the Rainbow boot over you. But other than that, we've been playing fairly identically the last three boots. The only locks I have in the jury right now are DJ and maybe Derpy, and you likely have Rainbow/Chrysalis under your belt. Pinkie's likely biased against voting for me for the way I dragged her name through the mud, and maybe Starlight as well. If Granny/Coco make the jury they admittedly might be biased towards voting me, but I know that while Coco has some complaints about your game she feels your game has been undervalued, so it's not a solid lock I'd say. I don't know if you would beat me, and it could potentially be close, but you definitely have a fighting chance.

But I'm telling you right now, if you vote me out, you have no chance of winning this game, b/c you will 100% lose to either Granny or Coco. There's nothing you can pull out of your hat to differentiate your game from either of them. They've done everything you've done but better. There's no vote you've been apart of that they also haven't been apart of. You've almost always been tailgating behind them on the votes. Even now you're telling me about how you're worried about what they thought, how they were worried about DJ's advantage, not about what you wanted to do. With almost every time you've run to me apologizing for a vote, you've been saying how Granny or Coco talked to you and changed your mind, and since you didn't use your ring for shit last TC there's no way in hell you'd be able to change that perception. The only shot you have is if you beat one of them in fire, but that won't be enough to improve your case against the survivor between them. nopony in the jury other than your closest allies will buy that you had any amount of control over Granny/Coco, or at the very least not nearly as much as they had over you, and if you're sitting next to either of them you have no hope of winning this game. There'd be no convincing me, DJ, or likely anypony else that you've played a better game than them.

You can beat Pear. You've had more control over him, and his challenge streak is the only impressive item on his resume, which likely won't be valued much compared to control / social game. You can beat me. I don't know if it's clear cut, but there's definitely votes and moves you can pull out and say "I bested Soarin here". But you will never beat Granny or Coco unless they completely bomb FTC. There's no moves you can pull out over them, and if there are then I certainly wouldn't buy it, and neither would DJ. The absolute best chance you have at winning this game is if we vote out Granny this TC and knock out Coco in fire. That's the only way you could win this game.

Ok like first of all Soarin why don't you fuck right off with this. The tone of this message perfectly encapsulates everything that I have disliked about working with you. How dare you say that there is nothing to differentiate my game from Coco and Granny. Like, how fucking dare you. Who do you think originally suggested that push the vote to take out Fluttershy? Who was put in a 5-person tribe with two people he had just betrayed and managed to flip the script? Who directed heat off of Coco for a long-term investment at merge?

You act like I have been tailgating votes, but in what world would I ever tell you what I was thinking? I was comfortable when Flim Flam went out because putting the vote between him and Pinkie was fine for me. I wanted Pinkie out and I got her out. I wanted Starlight out and I got her out. I wanted Derpy out and I got her out. The only vote that didn't go my way was Chrysalis, and that was fucking your fault. Since merge the only ponies I really cared about were Coco and Chrysalis, and you have done literally nothing to convince me that I want to keep you around.

As for my ring, let's not forget that it literally let me choose whatever side I wanted to, so I would hardly call that wasted. In exchange for making you sad, I built trust with Granny, Pear, and Coco. Sure I didn't bring you to the end with me, but you have barely talked and just generally been unpleasant.

Again how fucking dare you say that nopony will buy that I have had any control over the game. From the bottom of my heart how fucking dare you.

[Rarity]

Holy shit I'm at f4. I never thought this would happen. I am beyond excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Princess Luna]

Congratulations for making it past the voting phase! As you head into the last part of the game I just have a few questions left for you cutieponies.

1: Who are you hoping wins the Final Immunity Challenge if it isn't you? I assume you're rooting for yourself first obviously.
2: Who do you think would pick you to come to the Final 3 with them if they won?
3: Who do you hope loses the Fire-Making Challenge?

[Rarity]

I'm hoping Granny wins since I think she has the highest odds of taking me to the end. Like, she's worried about Coco and it should be a really easy sell that I literally cannot beat Coco in a head to head.

If not Granny, then I like my odds of Coco taking me to the end. Same principles apply, but I can also say that Pear has better odds to beat Granny.

Genuinely I think all three of the other ponies would at least consider bringing me along. That's why I wanted to keep Pear here rather than Soarin. Soarin...I don't feel good about taking me.

I hope Pear loses. He's the only one I'm not convinced would actually take me.

[Princess Luna]

Oh ya I forgot to ask, if you win who would you take?

[Apple Dumpling]

If you already won who would you take?

[Rarity]

Holy shit I didn't expect to win this challenge. Literally at no point during this game did I think winning the final elimination challenge was something that I had the ability to do. As such I had given this no real thought and all of my plans have been to massage things to the point where any of the other finalists would be inclined to bring me along.

That said, I've been giving a lot of thought to everything  Specifically what Soarin was telling me as he went out the door. Apparently I'm going to have to fight a perception of being a tool that other ponies have used to advance their agenda. I have no doubt that if I take Coco or Granny, that will be the dominant narrative.

Conversely, of course, if I take Pear, I'm taking the 'goat' and will have to fight three narrative of getting a sneaky, scheming bitch with no loyalty to anypony but myself. While I would like to be annoyed because these two narratives seem to be in direct conflict with one another, being annoyed is not going to help me in my final speech.

Still right now I'm inclined to take Pear and make Granny and Coco fight it out. That's probably what I'll land on

[Rarity]

All three of them have given decidedly different pitches:

Granny Smith would like me not to pick her since she doesn't think she could beat Coco at final trial council. She's been practicing Onitama a lot and would like an opportunity to take Coco down outside of the vote.

Grand Pear feels like he would be good too being along since the jury has spent a lot of the game targeting him rather than Coco or Granny who are kind of universally well-loved.

Coco understands of I take Pear, but has put forth the argument that bringing her increases the odds of one of us winning, which is not untrue. However while I wouldn't be too upset if she beat me, ultimately I'm hoping to win.