Title:           RAISIN QUEST 3 DAY 3
Author:          Anonymous
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/qn4AzSPN
First Edit:      Sunday 15th of January 2012 10:31:36 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Sunday 15th of January 2012 10:31:36 PM CDT

RAISIN QUEST 3 DAY 3
 
> denotes story posts, otherwise it's debate from questers.
 
DAY 3
http://arch.413chan.net/co32935981.html
RECAP
>xXx Stayed the night at Zecora’s xXx
>Zecora burned through all the potion, unable to create a cure
>Travel through safer daylight, Everfree Forest to Fluttershy’s cottage
>Recruited Fluttershy as a teammate
>Followed angry mob to Snakeoil Sally’s show
>Snuck around back of Snakeoil Sally’s stage/cart
>**Distracted Derpy using Sweetie Belle’s persuasive conversational techniques**
>Snuck into backstage, saw mysterious treasure hoard and a bunch of caged unicorn fillies
>Entered stage washroom, discovered a nasty looking bathtub filled with a noxious chemical
>Found by Sally; used bluffing to get info about her situation
>xXx Scootaloo attacked Sally, Sally knocks over a bunch of glass bottles above your head xXx
>HUG HAYSEED! PREVENT DEATH!
>Get Sleeping Powder from Zecora
>Take Upper Bog path
>Ignore Treasure Seeker Fanatic, bump into a loopy Rarity
 
>CURRENT INVENTORYS
Raisin: Boots, CMC Cape, Sleeping Powder, Rocks, Hayseed + Peppermint Candy Canes, Stompstarter
Scootaloo: CMC Cape, empty glass vial, 1 Snakeoil Sally Miracle Elixir
Sweetie Belle: CMC Cape, 2 Slingshots, Bag of Marshmallows
 
>Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Raisin, and a rather out of place Rarity all head down the Upper Bog path as they make their way back into Ponyville. Not far behind is a mysterious wall-eyed unicorn mare humming a rather alluring melody, whispering about some ‘castle in the sand’. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle keep their eyes forward and try to ignore the creepy unicorn as best as they can. Ahead, you can see the edge of town through a few more trees, but you’ll have to climb over a large dead tree branch to continue along the path. The unicorn behind you is still keeping pace.
 
>Raisin’s fate and, quite possibly, the fate of Equestria is now in your hands to determine. Be careful, adventurers, but don’t be cowards.
Tell Sweetie to stay with Rarity and keep trying to make small talk with her to get her mind off of whatever's infected it.
 
If the unicorn continues to approach as we're climbing across, head back and try to intercept her before she can get in earshot of Rarity. We don't want her falling further into trance
 OH SWEET CELESTIA ITS PEOPLE
 
THE MAGIC ELIXIR IS MADE OF PEOPLE
 
 
Also, hide in a bush
> You quickly ask Rarity if she can go ahead and lift the branch out of the path with her magic. She shakes her head quick. “Wh… oh… yeah, I could do that, darling…” With a quick pulse of blue magic, the tree branch goes flying off of the path and into a nearby tree. It explodes on impact. She seems to have launched it with an obtuse amount of force.
 
“Rarity… are you feeling okay?” Sweetie Belle asks as the troupe exits the Everfree Forest.
 
>“I’m a little… feely funny right now, Sweetie… I didn’t get that elixir this morning…” Rarity slurs her speech as she continues leading you toward the town. “Di- wait, Sweetie… didn’t you buy your sister some more this morning?” She looks back at Sweetie Belle. “I could really use the energy right about now…” Her eyes wander off, but snap back into place.
I think the elixir is made of unicorn horns
tell her about what the elixir is
"We tried, but it was all out. Let's just keep going, you need rest."
 
Keep encouraging Sweetie to talk to her sister and make her think about normal things.
So it also increases power...
 
I'd hate to see what Twilight's capable of now. Not good.
 
Assure Rarity that you have none, and get her back to town swiftly. Try to convince her that the stuff is bad mojo, and it's why she's feeling so terrible.
 
Were there one in cages with filed down horns?
 
Unless Sally just eats them when they aren't of any use. Griffins ate horses in mythology, but I don't think even Jr is THAT dark.
she admitted that King Tezel is using Unicorns to make himself a new army. That may be why she was keeping the Unicorn foals.
> You, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo explain that you bought some of the elixir, but noticed that anyone in town that drank it got sick. You think that it is poisonous, so you gave your stock to Zecora so that she could try and figure out what's in it. She's still cooking it up back at her hut, but she can't figure out what's in the stuff.
 
>"Oh... well, I guess it's... bad, then... but it didn't make me sick... I don't think it did, at least." She stumbles a little bit, catching herself as you approach the town square.
 
>"Sweetie Belle, is your sister going to be okay? She looks a bit... off." Scootaloo looks over at Rarity, who's humming a bit. She snaps out of it, looking off towards the west.
 
>"...she'll be fine." Sweetie says with little confidence.
 
>You are in the town square. What is your next course of action?
Boy it sure is a hot day out. Rasin must be thirsts after all that walking.
 
I'm sure some of that elixir would hit the spot right about now
Get her to the Library.
 
We need to get Spike and Celestia on this. A compromised Twilight is (again) the worst thing that could happen.
 
Though her being cursed with misfortune can be a boon for us right now, if she's unable to be super effective because of it.
Is the other unicorn still following us?
 
Tell Sweetie to escort her back to her house and stay with her until she feels better and to make sure she doesn't head back to Zecora's.
 
Then, we should head to the library and see if Twilight's there or if she's still out and about.
Get to the Library with Rarity. Princess Celestia needs to know what is going on here if she doesn't already.
My guess is Spike OD'd and his body is lying in the library bathroom.
> You remember that mysterious unicorn mare that was following you just a bit earlier. You turn to look over your shoulder, but the only thing in your wake is a dirt path and the Everfree Forest in the distance.
 
>A faint light lingers far off, hovering around the outside of the forest.
> You decide to take the slightly intoxicated mare with you. "Guys, we seriously need to see if Twilight or Spike can help us out here. Celestia has to know about what's going on in Ponyville immediately."
 
>Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nod their heads in agreement. Rarity looks about, still a bit confused. "Oh.. are we.. we're going to the... Library, right?"
 
>You make your way out to the Library. You see a single candlelight up in the second story window, glowing faintly.
Knock on the door politely
 
Nothing bad can possibly happen
Tell Sweetie to stay outside with her sister while we and Scoots knock on the door. We don't want Rarity talking crazy with Twilight and realizing that Tezel hates children.
Seconding keeping Rarity at a distance.
Yeah, knock. The unicorns seem woozy, but not hostile, yet.
 
Also we still have bomb powder at the Apples, right?
I'm hesitant to use that bomb powder on anyone or anything short of King Tezel.
> You ask Sweetie Belle to watch Rarity while you and Scoots see if Spike's inside the library. Somebody, either Twilight or Spike, had to have lit up that candle.
 
>"Alright... be careful, guys..." Sweetie grabs onto her wandering sister's hoof, making her stay in place.
 
>You give the Library door a generous kick with your forelegs. You hear a quick bumbling down the stairs inside. A muffled voice calls out, "Twilight?!"
 
>The door busts open, throwing you and Scootaloo back a few feet. Spike stands in the doorway, looking at the two fillies laying out in the street.
 
>"...oh. Hey Raisin. Hey Scootaloo." Spike looks a bit down.
Ask Spike if he has heard anything about Twilight and if he has let Princess Celestia know what is going on in town. Ask him if we can all (Rarity included) come in.
If this juice does have magical boosting properties, keep in mind we may also have a temporary weapon with Sweetie or Rarity. Them drinking the stuff does give them a burst of power, and I'm willing to bet that potion won't affect the mind until a while later.
"Spike! Do you know about that drink stuff that's been around town?!"
 
Tell Spike that bad shit's going down and ask him if Twilight's home. If she isn't, tell him that the poison makes unicorns insane and Twilight paid an interesting visit to Zecora earlier.
 
Ask him if he also wants to join our party; if he's reluctant, show him how Rarity is and tell him that she'll only get worse if we don't get to the bottom of this.
> You get up off the street, shaking your head and fixing your mane. Scootaloo jumps up. "Hey, we JUST knocked on the door. Be more careful next time." She's a bit disgruntled.
 
"Sorry... it's just that Twilight left earlier this afternoon and she hasn't come back yet..." He looks up to the sky. "She never stays out this late... do you guys know where she went?"
 
>You ask if your party can come into the Library. He shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah, just don't go making a mess. I cleaned everything up for Twilight when she got back home..."
 
>When you're all inside, you ask, "Spike! Do you know about that drink stuff that's been around town?!"
 
>"You mean Snakeoil Sally's Miracle drink stuff?" He nods his head. "Yeah, Rainbow Dash came by and gave Twilight a couple of them. She said she wouldn't drink them, but she ended up downing them a bit later. After that, she was studying like mad!" He looks over to the table. "But... then she left. She looked really... off. She said she was going to Zecora's, but hasn't come back yet..."
 
>You ask Spike if he's informed the Princess about any of this.
 
>"Not yet. I didn't want to worry anybody... I'm just seeing if she'll be coming home tonight... should I send a letter? I don't even know right now..." He looks a bit stressed.
I don't think we should have him join the party just yet, but he would be useful to have when we break into Snakeoil's place.
Ask Spike if he knows anything about King Tezel or if he has any books on him.
Show him Rarity. That'll make him worry.
 
I'm against sending a letter right away. Inform him about what we've learned about Tezel so that he knows what to say, but only do so when all else has failed. I say bring him along, he can look for Twilight and we'd have a portable flamethrower on our side.
Tell Sweetie Belle to take Rarity to another room. When she is gone ask Spike if he can send one of those bottles to Princess Celestia along with a letter. The letter needs to tell her that a Gryphon calling herself Snakeoil Sally has been selling elixirs that drive Unicorns mad and make them start talking about King Tezel and castles in the sand.
Be sure to not let Rarity know that we have some of the elixir with us.
I would think that we would get samples from Sally's cart when she's asleep, return them to Zecora, and then use those to determine a counter-spell.
> You turn around and look at Sweetie Belle, motioning her to bring Rarity closer to Spike. She leads her derped out looking sister over next to Spike.
 
>"Wh... What's happened to her? Why are her eyes all messed up like that?" Spike recoils slightly.
 
>"I beg your pardon! My eyes are... they're just fine." Rarity shakes her head, letting her eyes readjust. "Spike, can you PLEASE turn off that infernal music? I knew I should've checked here first..." She looks about for a record player.
 
>"This is what happens to unicorns that drink that elixir. It's poisonous... or magical... or something. Zecora couldn't figure it out."
 
>"This is terrible! Where's Twilight then?! Is she going to be okay?!" He looks panicked.
 
>"Pfff... don't be... so silly, Raisin. I'm fine, darl-whooa..." Rarity falls to her side. "On second thought... I think I'm just fine right here."
> You ask Spike if he can take a letter. He shakes his head. "Now I'm worried. We need to tell the Princess immediately!" He picks up a quill and a piece of parchment, ready to take down whatever notes you wish to send.
Include the bottle of elixir in the letter
 
Evil threatens the world yet again, business as usual. I better get a statue made of solid gold through all this.
 
Just tell her there's a griffin selling a highly addictive potion around here and that she's done so before in another, nearby town. She's being paid by a King Tezel and has already rendered the elements of harmony into addicted drones. We'll try to fix it, and we'll send an update in the morning. If she doesn't hear from us, assume the worst.
Dear Princess Celestia:
The entire town of Ponyville is poisoned by mysterious potion.
Attempts to find a cure unsuccessful.
Elements of Harmony Compromised-Twilight and others in danger.
Send help ASAP.
Fuck, I forgot about that. The nearby town thing is significant, I'll bet. There are probably maps of the region in the library; check them to look for nearby villages. Manehattan's closest, but I doubt a whole city would fall under Sally's charms.
Dear Princess Celestia
 
Get off your lazy fat ass and do something for once
> Dear Princess Celestia:
 
>A griffin named Snakeoil Sally has been peddling a poisonous potion in Ponyville that causes ponies to pointlessly peregrinate. She has also sold this drink in a nearby town; we're not sure where, but the potion also causes Unicorns to lose their marbles and hear strange music.
 
>I heard someone talk about some 'King Tezel'; I'm not sure how he's related to all of this, but Sally knows him I bet. I've got a good feeling that Sally knows King Tezel in his 'Castle in the Sand'.
 
>Please, send help. They've got Twilight. We need any support you can spare.
 
>Concerned citizen,
>Raisin
 
>You tell Spike to send the message with a sample of the elixir. He looks at the small bottle. "Uh.. it's kinda big. Shipping costs a little extra."
Ask him what he means by that.
>"Uh.. it's kinda big. Shipping costs a little extra."
 
"You want five smacks in the head or is there a discount?"
Don't bother with the elixir IMO, and look for a book about King Tezel.
Decline. Celestia doesn't know a lot about the magic her foes use, if last quest is any indication. Send the letter without a sample and see what Twilight was looking at before she left. If it's not of any significance, head for Sally's cart with Spike in tow.
Hey, another thing. I wonder what the significance of Sally going by the name of Sammy. She's either a tranny or a shapeshifter.
> You respectfully decline on sending a sample of the elixir with the letter. After all, you don't have any Bits left to pay for... 'extra shipping'.
 
>He shrugs his shoulder. "Okay, okay. I'll send it over. By the way... not to be a critic, but a lot of the letter sounds a bit... farfetched."
 
>"Yeah! What's that 'Castle in the Sand' business you were going on about?" Scootaloo protests.
 
>You tell her that you heard that weird mare talking about it back on the trail. You just assumed it fit in with the Tezel story Zecora told you.
 
>"Well, I guess that makes sense." Sweetie Belle supports you. "Spike, please hurry. We gotta tell the Princess right away."
 
>Spike inhales and sends the letter up in a flash of bright green fire. It soars out of the Library window and into the sky.
> You ask Spike what Twilight was reading about before she left. "Almost everything. She had a stack of Ancient Unicorn History books she was burning through before she felt all woozy and left."
 
>You notice that the library is spotless. "I cleaned everything up so that she'd be happy once she got back. You know how Twilight is with her 'organization'."
Ask Spike if Twilight mentioned anything weird while researching.
Whelp, that lead's gone. Tell Spike that Twilight probably won't come back and that he should go out looking for her with us.
 
Head for the cart, but check the time first. Don't want to walk in on Sally while she's still up counting money and taking inventory.
We did good alerting the proper authorities.
 
Lets celebrate with Spike. With the elixir!
We probably want to wait for the letter to get back first. Ask him if he would be willing to help us break into Sally's room behind the stage and provide us with some firepower if things get hairy.
> You ask if Spike would be willing to travel with you to Sally's stage. Having a 'little firepower' with you would be quite useful. As he starts to nearly decline, you mention that Twilight is more than likely not going to come back until you can make a cure to Sally's potion. The only way to make a cure would be to see how Sally makes the potions.
 
>Reluctantly, he nods. "We've gotta find out what's going on. I'll come with you guys."
 
>Rarity is up by the door, opening it. "Rarity! Wait! What are you doing?" Sweetie Belle runs after her.
Yell at Sweetie Belle to stay back. Tackle her if she won't stop moving towards Rarity.
Go up to Rarity and tell her to stop, but don't touch her. We don't want to be blasted into oblivion with her telekinesis. Tell Sweetie to try to appeal to her sister as much as she can, maybe crying to get the full effect.
Tell Spike to kiss Rarity. She's out of her mind, she won't remember it.
 
Fuck, this. Not for the shipping, but it would definitely snap her out of trance.
Or she would throw him into a wall. You saw what she did to that tree branch.
 
It might just work, though.
You know, this might be crazy enough to work. If it fails, all we have is an unconscious dragon, but I have a feeling letting Rarity open the door will be much worse.
> You look around the room as Sweetie runs up to her drugged out sister. You look over to Spike, getting a sudden idea from a story your mom read you once. You grab the little purple dragon, sling his slightly heavy body onto your back, and bolt towards Rarity.
 
>"Raisin!? What are you doing?" Scootaloo trails behind.
 
>"Look, I know this sounds crazy, but I have a feeling it's going to work. Spike, kiss Rarity."
 
>He doesn't say a word.
 
>"Do it. It just might break the spell!"
 
>Rarity turns around slowly. "W.. wait. What's going on now?" Her eyes correct themselves as her head stops.
 
>"Well... okay. Here it goes... I guess..." Spike walks up to Rarity and gives her a kiss on the cheek. Rarity shakes her head, slightly confused.
 
>"S..Spike? What are you doing?" Her cheeks flush red. Her eyes drift about for a moment, but she's not opening the door anymore.
 
>Sweetie Belle cocks her head at you. "I don't think it did anything... but it was a good idea, Raisin." She recalls the exact story you were referencing.
 
>"No it wasn't." Scootaloo shakes her head. "That was pointless! We need to get out there and stop wasting time in here!"
 
>Slightly embarrassed that your idea didn't work for some reason, you and the group head out of the library.
Head to Sally's cart. However, Sweetie should stay with Rarity and keep her someplace that far from the cart, but still within sight so she can come to our aid if necessary. I don't want Rarity drowning herself in the tub of elixir.
Ask Rarity why she was trying to leave.
> You and the group head out to Sally's stage in the town square.
 
>"I'm glad we have Rarity with us.. otherwise those guards would chase us off for being up after hours..." Sweetie Belle watches a town guard walk by the stage, nodding his head as he passes behind it.
 
>You see the stage all folded up. There doesn't appear to be an entrance from this side.
> You inquire as to why Rarity was attempting to leave the Library without telling anybody.
 
>"Oh... I was just feeling a bit groggy. I needed to go out for.. a walk... and to get away from that music." She looks around. "Is it just me or is it... getting... You can hear it, right? It's getting louder, isn't it?"
 
>You shrug your shoulders.
Tell Rarity it's all in her head and that she has to fight it. Tell her the elixir was poisoned and she needs to try to ignore it. Urge Sweetie to just try to make small talk with her.
 
As for us, peek around both sides to see if Derpy's still standing guard.
This sounds good.
>a town guard walk by the stage, nodding his head as he passes behind it.
 
I don't like this.
We need Spike and Scootaloo when we break in. Sweetie and rarity should probably wait outside.
> You tell Sweetie Belle to wait outside here with Rarity. You tell her to keep her in sight at all times and don't let her wander off by herself anywhere.
 
>"I'll stay put if you girls want me to... just... don't take too long..." Rarity shakes her head again, looking like she's about ready to fall asleep.
 
>"I'll watch her. You guys go sneak in there and get whatever you can." Sweetie nods.
 
>Spike suddenly belches a bright green flame. It folds up into a scroll and lands in his claws. “Hey! She responded back!” Quickly, you snatch the letter from Spike and unfurl it, desperate to see the contents.
 
>“Dear Spike and Raisin,
 
>The situation doesn’t sound good. I personally know this ‘Tezel’ pony that you mentioned. He’s and evil pony golem made entirely out of granite. Many years ago, he was an adversary of the kingdom.
>I’ve also heard reports of a con artist named ‘Snakeoil Sammy’, but this Sally may be the same griffin. If that is the case, she is wanted in Canterlot for selling fraudulent potion ingredients to many of our citizens.
 
>My royal guards will be by in the morning to assist you. I have already dispatched a small team to search for Twilight. I pray that she is alright.
 
>Let me know if you need any help.
 
>Signed,
Princess Celestia”
Go full Solid Snake and peek around both edges to look for entrances and Derpy. Take it slow and be quiet.
Still vote sneaking up to that door and listening into the place.
This. Keep an eye out for guards, though. I think that the one we saw went inside.
 
Make sure that we have the letter with us or Scootaloo.
> You silently motion for Scootaloo to follow you. She nods and sneaks behind you. Your boots muffle out noise as you stealthily approach the front of the stage. You keep your eyes out for Derpy and an entrance, knowing that she's probably standing guard somewhere out here.
 
>"The coast looks clear..." Scootaloo whispers in your ear.
 
>You peek around, but hold your position. You can hear the stage floor creaking ever so slightly.
 
>Right now, you're around the side of the stage, under a lamp hung to the side of the stage above your head.
> Looking to your left, you see a guard heading your way. He hasn't seemed to notice you yet.
 
>How do you proceed? Also, do you want Scootaloo to hold the letter that is currently in your mouth?
No, keep the letter. We need Scootaloo to keep watch, and having her hold the letter will only make it harder to get our attention.
Have Scootaloo hold the letter. We need to hide in the shadows until the guard passes by. While he passes by we need to try and tell what kind of pony he is and if he is under the influence of the elixirs. Once the guard is gone wave Spike over so he can come with us.
It will only help out if he hasn't been subverted.
>You back up and hide around the front of the stage, obscured in the shadows. Scootaloo follows closely behind.
 
>"Horsefeathers... how do we lose the guards?" She whispers.
 
>You whisper back that you're rather certain that they haven't seen you yet. Otherwise, they would have called out. She nods. "Hope you're right."
> You give the letter from the Princess over to Scoots and tell her to keep it safe. She gives you a salute. The town guard passes by the side of the stage.
 
>He's an Earth pony wearing some armor. He seems well meaning, keeping vigilant for suspicious activity around the town square at night. Down one of the allies, you see a guard escorting a unicorn filly with some overburdened saddlebags to the back of the stage.
 
>"You really shouldn't be out so late. I hope your show goes well tomorrow."
 
>"Do you know of the Castle in the Sand?"
 
>"...for the last time, NO. Go to sleep, little one." The guard stomps off.
 
>"...Wait, what?" Scootaloo whispers.
Will it be possible to sneak around him and into the stage? Will it be possible for Spike to join us?
Stay hidden and watch the guards until we can work out a pattern of their movement. We need to get Spike over here so he can back us up if we get caught. Be sure to not wave Spike over until the cost is clear.
> You stealthily slink around the side of the stage and into another patch of shadows. You keep your eyes on the guards. As you watch for a break to call Spike on over, Scootaloo starts to slide around the side of the stage.
 
>One of the passing guards does a double take over to your position as Scoots slides in next to you. "Alright. Let's get that filly."
"Wait."
 
don't move until the alerted guard has moved on
Tell Scootaloo we may have just been spotted. Both of us need to pull back as far into the shadow as possible if there isn't another shadow we can get to without being seen.
> You put a hoof out and hug Scootaloo up next to the back of the stage.
 
>"Wait." You whisper to her.
 
>The guard squints on over to your position. As he looks over, you hear the door creak open to the stage. A horn honks twice. "Do you know of the Castle in the Sands?"
 
>The horn honks once again as the filly makes her way in. The guard looks at the display curiously, tilts his head and moves on. You hear trotting out of the door before it shuts.
 
>To you left, you watch Derpy walk on out. She seems pretty happy as she begins to follow the onlooking guard. She squeaks her horn at him as he continues on his patrol route. "Ugh.. not again...De-Bright Eyes, yes, it's a nice little horn you got there..." the guard groans.
 
>"Huh. Wasn't that the weird pegasus with the ditzy eyes?" Scootaloo ponders quietly.
 
>To your left is a small stairway leading to a door onstage. To your right is the corner of the stage and a lamp. Currently, there are no guards in sight.
If Spike can get over here without being seen then we need to wave him over and then the three of us need to get up the stairway and through the door. If he can't get over here then go up without him. Make sure that we don't get seen.
Is the lamp lit?
 
How big is it?
Oh hey, we'll need that lamp. Can Scootloo give us the letter and get the lamp?
If it is feasible, move to where Spike can see us and signal him to join us. If we can't do this without being seen then Scootaloo needs to stick the letter in her saddlebags and get the lamp for us.
> Cautiously, you bump Scootaloo and tell her to flag down Spike so that he can join the two of you. She pokes her hoof around the side of the stage and waves it about. Within a few seconds, you hear the sound of claws against the street.
 
>A guard starts to come your way. Scootaloo's hoof is still in the light. She has not tipped over or broke the lamp, though she's right next to it.
 
>You can hear sounds from the stage leaking through the walls. It sounds like metal contacting metal, like a door closing.
Shoot, can we throw/kick a rock to draw the guard away?
fling a rock as far away from your position as you can, preferably into some bushes for extra noise
Make sure not to throw it across the guard’s line of sight.
> You quickly reach into your saddlebags, withdrawing a small rock in your mouth. You drop it and kick it as it falls. It bounces in the alley way behind the guard. He flips around fast.
 
>"...hello? Who's there?" He starts to carefully investigate the source of the noise.
 
>Spike makes his way around the side of the stage. Scootaloo grabs him and yanks him out of the light. >"Spike! Be more stealthy! You almost got us caught!" She chastises him.
 
>"Sorry, my bad." He whispers.
 
>Down another alley, you see another guard start to come your way. Your small group is well out of sight. From behind, you can hear the sound of talons tap on by. Suddenly, they stop. You hear a plop, then silence.
 
>"Raisin, you lead the way." Spike looks about, waiting for you to move.
Get scoots to take the lantern.
 
Head towards the door the unicorn went in and listen into the place.
ask spike to take the lamp
> You look at Scoots and Spike and ask one of them to grab the little lantern behind you. Spike turns around and picks it up first. "Got it. Now what?"
 
>You quickly lead the troupe over to the darkened stairway next to the stage door. The two of them stay down the stairs and look up to you as you put an ear up to the door. You can hear a song being hummed softly on the other side. It sounds like the one the mare in the forest was singing.
 
cautiously open the door and peek inside
> You very carefully open the door and take a peek inside. The room is dark, but there is a soft, gentle glow pouring over the floor. Looking to the light source, you see a small sailboat shaped light on the floor. It illuminates the faces of several unicorn fillies inside of cages. They hum the pleasing melody with their eyes closed.
 
>"What do you see, Raisin? What's going on in there?" Scootaloo whispers up to you.
"Shh!"
Signal her to follow quietly.
we should dose the griffon with some sleeping powder once we're inside, just to make sure she doesn't wake up while we're poking around in her stuff
This room leads to the tub/sand room right?
> "Shh!"
 
>You motion the two to come up and follow you inside. As you open up the door, it creaks a little bit. The fillies seem to not notice your entrance.
 
>Spike and Scootaloo follow close behind. When they get into the room, Scootaloo and Spike draw a sharp breath upon seeing the fillies. "Whoa. Creeeeepy..." Spike relaxes a bit when he realizes that they must be sleeping. Scootaloo simply stares at them. "..are they singing in their sleep?" She whispers rhetorically.
 
>Looking about, you see a small hallway with fillies in cages on either side. In the middle of the hallway is a sailboat shaped night light. At the end is a pile of golden treasures. To the left of the treasures is a door handle. In front of you is a counter with tons of memorabilia and satchels upon it. To your right is an older looking door. It looks kind of broken, to be honest.
 
>"...Where's this evil griffin lady at?" Spike whispers to you.
Check what's in the satchels.
Judging by where we heard the squeak, can we tell what door the bedroom is behind?
I think the broken door to the right leads to the tub
so the griffon is probably behind the other one
> Getting up on your rear legs, you look over the table to see what's on it. Several pictures of Sally are placed around. She's in a variety of costumes, dancing on stages in towns you've never seen before. One picture has her dressed up as a guy.
 
>You poke one of the satchels. It jingles.
 
>"That's a LOT of money..." Scootaloo is suddenly by your side, pouring over the satchels of bits strewn all over the table.
 
>Behind the door that you entered, you hear something walk on by. It sounds like the guards patrolling the streets, but you have no way of knowing for certain.
Give Spike the satchel of sleeping powder and tell him to stand next to the door to left left of the treasure pile. If the Gryphpon walks through the door he needs to make sure she gets a nice big sniff of it. See if we can lock the door that we entered through. Tell Scootaloo to be careful what she touches, we don't the guards Celestia sends to think she had anything to do with this.
Hide, might be Derpy
open the broken door. remember to lift it so it doesn't scrape against the floor
 
if the footsteps start to go up the steps, hide in there
> You look over your shoulder to the source of the noise. "Guys... I think Derpy is coming back."
 
>Scootaloo snaps her head over to you. "What? Now?" She whispers, worried. Spike looks around for a hiding spot, walking under the table and draping a scarf over his head.
 
>You look to the broken door, remembering that it leads into the 'washroom'. Lifting up carefully, you stealthily open the door enough to squeeze inside. You tell Scootaloo to follow.
 
>The room is pitch black. Your rear boots steps on something smooshy. You're sure that this might be the algae from the tub.
 
>"I can't see anything, Raisin..." Scootaloo stays very close to you, putting a hoof around your back. She's breathing a bit faster.
 
>You can hear talking outside.
Whisper for her to not move an inch, this is probably where she brews the stuff and we don't want any empty vials getting knocked over.
Is Spike with us in the washroom?
put a hoof around her
"be brave, scoots. like rainbow dash"
>You whisper for her not to move a muscle. To reassure her, you put a hoof around her as well. Her breathing calms down a little.
 
>"You smell that?" You ask.
 
>"Yeah... what is it?" Scootaloo whispers back.
 
>"I think this is the brewing room... there's probably a lot of bottles laying around, so don't make any sudden moves."
 
>There's a dead silence in the air. You can still hear some muffled talking outside of the door. Scootaloo whispers again. "Where's Spike?" You watched him duck under the table in the other room. He's not blended in well with the surroundings, but he's kind of out of sight.
Whisper to Spike that you can see him, and that he needs to get over here quickly and quietly.
Tell spike to come with us and carefully close the door behind him.
> You whisper over to Spike that he's not hidden very well. He needs to get inside the washroom and shut the door.
 
>In the absolute silence, he slides over to you and Scootaloo. He gives the door a shove. It scrapes against the floor. He closes it partially, realizing how much noise it's making.
 
>Some of the unicorn fillies in the other room start humming again, filling the air with their melody.
 
>You cannot hear the outside with their humming. Currently, you cannot see anything. You feel slightly claustrophobic in the small, cramped, smelly room.
Take a deep breath and look closely at our surroundings.
Close the door by lifting it a bit first so it doesn't make as much noise.
Lift the door and position it so it doesn't look like it got moved.
> You draw in a deep breath in an attempt to stop smelling the sour, bitter air. Looking around, you see nothing in the pitch darkness.
 
>You feel Scootaloo under your foreleg and her foreleg across your back. Spike stands closeby with a scarf over his head still. It brushes against you.
> You carefully scoot by Spike. "You've gotta lift while moving the door, otherwise it scrapes against the floor." You whisper in the darkness. You move the door until it's completely closed.
 
>The room is silent again. Scootaloo searches the darkness for you, bopping you on the nose. "Raisin... why are we in here?" She inquires.
 
>"Did you hear something?" Spike asks.
 
>Behind two doors, you can't hear much. There seems to be no activity, currently. Being unable to see anything, you cannot collect any samples.
Bop her back.
Lift the door and open it just a crack so we can see out.
> You search around, giving Scootaloo a bop on the nose back. "H..hey! What was that for?" She whispers.
 
>"You bopped me. On the nose."
 
>Spike gets out of the tight huddle. "So... why are we in here ag-" He bumps into a glass bottle and freezes. You cannot see anything, but you hear the bottle rattling back and forth.
 
>"Careful. There's bottles everywhere in here."
If we light the lantern then Derpy will be able to see it through the door. Let's wait to hear any more noises, and then lift and open the door just a crack so we can see.
Stay quiet, keep listnening. Don't turn on the lantern yet.
Stand still, don't light the lantern. Eavesdrop.
> You stop and listen closely. Everyone in the room holds their breath and listens along. You hear some hooves shuffling into the stage. "Do you know of the Ca-" A filly gets cut off. The sounds in the other room stop for a moment.
 
>Suddenly, the room fills with inquiries. "Do you know of the Castle in the Sand?" It keeps being asked at random intervals. Another door opens up.
 
>"Pretty Eyes! C'mon, you know better than to get noisy around the kids!" You hear a sad honk on the horn. Talons drag across the floor. "Yes, yes, kids. I know about the Castle in the Sand. I've been there too. So have you."
 
>You hear a cage open. "Alright, in ya go, little one. That's quite a haul you brought back for your Aunt Sally... my goodness..." The door closes soon after. The question is repeatedly asked.
 
>"Alright. Pretty Eyes, just go outside for a few minutes. I'll get them settled down." The outside door opens and shuts once again. You can hear Sally in the other room, shuffling through her stuff.
Wait until Sally stops shuffling. Don't light the lantern. Ready the sleeping powder in case she goes into this room.
I'd vote against a direct assault right now. We're kind of in recon mode.
 
Even derpy will think about going to sleep soon. Wait for them to snooze off.
Wait and listen. Don't move, but tell Spike to be ready to use his fire breath.
> You stay perfectly still. Just in case Sally comes to the door, you equip your sleeping powder. "Stop moving around so much, Raisin..." Scootaloo whispers to you very quietly.
 
>You can hear a series of chimes in the other room. It sounds exactly like the melody that the fillies were humming when you came into the stage. The questions begin to calm down. "There we go. You little fillies are tired, aren'tcha?" They start to hum once again. Suddenly, you hear something shatter.
 
>"Oh, by Celestia's tail..." Sally tiptoes about. The fillies start to ask their question about the Castle in the Sand again. "C'mon, kids... just go to sleep. You've got so much treasure hunting to do at the Castle tomorrow... just go to sleep, already..." Her pleading is met with more questions.
 
>"Okay... I know I've got another bottle around here somewhere... oh come on... somewhere..."
 
>The door in front of you starts to scrape against the ground.
Shit, make sure the powder bag is untied and throw it when the door opens.
Throw throw the powder the moment you see her face. Once she's hit, tell Spike to be in a good position so we can threaten her with dragonfire if she doesn't fall asleep. I'm hoping it'll have some sort of narcotic effect, though.
Whisper for them to shut their eyes and hold their breaths. Make sure the the powder will come out of the satchel. As soon as the door open,s hold our breath and hit her in the face with the powder.
> The door scrapes open a little more. You can feel Scoots shaking under you. In your mouth, you hold the Sleeping Powder satchel, ready to throw it when you see the griffins face. You nudge Scootaloo, telling her to hold her breath. She breathes in quietly, prepared. You can't see Spike and dare not speak loud enough to alert him.
 
>The door opens up just a bit. You see a talon reaching around by the inside of the door. It grabs at nothing. The room has a little bit of light in in; to your left, you see Spike hugging a bottle, keeping it from hitting the floor. Apparently, he caught it earlier. He's frozen in an awkward position.
 
Grab the bottle from Spike and gently place on the ground near the door. She's tired, and we can play the waiting game.
Put a bottle near her hand.
Don't hand it to her or move it while she is grabbing it.
No, motion for him to do this, we have the bag in out mouth.
> You motion for Spike to set the bottle down by her grasping talon. Quickly, he gets the hint. He sets it down on it's side by the end of her reach. She taps the glass. Reaching in a bit further, she feels the end of the bottle. "Theeeere we goooo..." She struggles a moment, then withdraws the glass, leaving the door open behind her.
 
>Spike and Scootaloo let out a quiet sigh of relief. You hear her start tapping on the bottles once again. "Yes, I'm playing the song. You guys know this one, right?" The fillies start to hum along and go into a trance. "Sleep, kids... sleep..." When all of the fillies stop talking, she breathes a sigh of relief. Her talons drag back towards the opposite end of the backstage room. Faintly, you hear her speak.
 
>"What am I going to do?" The door opens and shuts once again.
 
>"I...is it safe?" Spike whispers.
Whisper that we will check, then lift the door and open it a crack.
 
"I think so"
take a peek. if it's safe, creep out into the main room
 
Count in your head for 100 seconds. If you don't hear any more movement, gently lift and pull the door open until there's enough light in the washroom to see.
Shit, my heart was racing a little.
>"I think so..."
 
>In the main room, you see the night light on the floor and the unicorn fillies humming to the song that Sally played earlier. They look very peaceful. The room is pretty inactive beyond their humming. You wait for a moment, but there doesn't seem to be any other noises that you're currently able to hear.
We still have Derpy outside.
 
Suggest we wait in the room until she comes back.
Wait until we have the tune memorized, in case we need to hum it to not attract attention, then lift and open the door enough for us to stick the front half of our body out.
Close the door CAREFULLY, turn on the lantern and start investigating. The light can't go under two doors.
Yeah, maybe practice trying to derp our eyes and tell the others to pay attention too.
 
Have Spike light the lantern with his breath.
> You decide to wait inside the room for a bit. Knowing that Derpy is probably still outside, you camp for a moment. You let the gentle choir of voices fill your mind. You begin to feel calmed by their melodic humming.
 
>The room soon falls silent. Almost immediately after, you hear the signature creak of the front door. It opens slowly, then shuts nearly silently. Looking into the room, you see Derpy. She sets her horn on the table silently.
 
>"Oh Celestia... who is it..."
> Looking into the room, you watch Derpy walk on by. She collapses up on the pile of treasure, contorting herself oddly in order to stay on it. She shuts her eyes and relaxes. The fillies all seem untouched; you don't recognize any of them.
Light the lantern and look around the room we're in.
> Don't want to confuse you guys. Think about your next course of action carefully.  Do you guys need a hint at all?  I can give you an EXTREMELY generic one if you wish…beyond others that have already been provided in these last few posts
Let's take the hint.
 
No hint. We live or die by our own ability.
 
Stay hiding in the washroom, don't light the lantern.
>hint?
 
Jr, I can't believe you're going so soft on us. Part of what Raisin quest fun is the relentless nature of it. Light the lantern and explore the washroom
>Ugh.. you wouldn't believe how tired of waiting for responses I can get sometimes. You're right, though; no spoon feeding. Fuck you guys; I'm strapping my cock back on.
>You tell Spike to go ahead and light his lantern quick. He covers the lantern and breathes a flame into it. Instantly, the room fills with a soft candlelight. All around you are bottles; the sink, floor, and shelves all are loaded with bottles. Behind you, against the wall, is a algae and moss covered bathtub. It seems to be where the smell is coming from.
 
>On the floor near the tub, there is a big bag of glittery sand. It looks rather pretty.
 
>"...I think you were right, Raisin. This looks like the potion room." Scootaloo realizes that the lights are on now and removes her hoof from your back.
The door is closed, right?
How broken is it? Enough that it will be shining light all over the outer room?
ask spike to collect some samples of the algae, moss and whatever the hell is in the tub, while you slip out into the main room
 
apply some sleeping powder to Derpy so she doesn't suddenly wake up and send treasure flying everywhere
Check to see if the algae and moss looks like Moldrot.
 
Try to gather as much of it in an empty bottle as possible without touching it. Also fill a bottle with sand and maybe fill a bottle with the fermenting potion.
> The door is currently creaked open. Light is pouring into the other room quite freely.
> You have one empty bottle currently in Scootaloo's inventory. What do you wish to take with you?
Check to make sure that Sallys door is closed. Look at Derpy. How much light is actually in the other room? We don't want her to wake up.
Grab empty bottle from the shelves and fill them up so we have one bottle of everything. Then we can take inventory.
Take a moment to check on Hayseed, just to make sure we still have her. I'm also debating on whether or not we should save. We got very lucky with the infiltration and this seems like a good spot if we're about to reach a critical decision.
>Save inside a DANGER AREA
 
No.
> Using the resources around you, you snag two extra bottles from the floor. You hand one off to Scoots and tell her to get some of the sand.
 
>"...why? It's just sand. Should we really waste a vial o-" You stare at her. She sighs. "Okay, whatever. Let's get some sand." She scoops up some of the glittering sand and places it in the vial.
 
>Using your boots, you are able to safely collect a sample of the bathwater and the algae. You have one extra bottle, but there's really no way to scoop up the mold.
 
>As you collect some samples, you ask about Derpy. "Oh... Bright Eyes... yeah, she's kind of... well, she's not the most clever pony in Ponyville." You ask about her being on the treasure pile in back and how it looks terribly uncomfortable. "I don't know what's up with that... some of that stuff looked pretty 'old' though..."
 
>You hear the door behind you creak slightly.
 
Turn our heads, but don't do anything unless we see someone look in. Then it's a blast of powder to the face
Are we seriously going to die after all we've done? Is there any point in coming here, or is it just another dead end? We're so close to making a breakthrough.
be ready with that sleeping powder
You turn quickly, your bag of sleeping powder at the ready. Your friends haven't noticed yet, but Derpy is peeking her head into the room. She looks at you with a smile at first, but tilts her head slightly. She looks down at the lantern on the floor.
Start gently humming the tune. Be ready to toss the powder if she begins to look angry or opens her mouth to say something.
Smile back and her and greet her softly. Call her "Pretty eyes" or whatever it was that the griffon used.
Make your eyes derpy and ask, "Have you been to the castle in the sand?" But not too loud, don't want to wake Sally.
>Should have closed the door.
 
Well, we've lost. We don't put her asleep, she wakes Sally; we do put her to sleep, her body thumps on the floor which wakes Sally anyway.
 
Go with the humming idea. Derpy is just stupid, not blind. However, don't let her lead us into a cage if she buys our ruse.
Fool her. 5 bucks says we have to reload no matter what path we choose.
can we really pull off pretending to be a derped pony if we aren't a unicorn?
Greet her kindly. Worst case scenario we hold our breath, hope the others do the same, and stomp the bag of powder so it goes everywhere and hopefully affects her.
>You decide to go ahead and act like one of the fillies in the other room. Scootaloo looks up at you as you stare at Derpy. She's fixated on the lamp still. She blows at it fruitlessly.
 
>You force your eyes off center. "Have you been to the Castle in the Sand?"
 
>Scootaloo turns to see Derpy. She immediately freezes, mid shriek. "H-Have... Have you been to the Castle in the Sand?" Scootaloo follows your lead. Spike looks up at the pegasus and tries to derp his eyes out. He can't manage it. "I got nothin."
 
>Derpy immediately reaches a hoof into the room, covering your mouth. She looks panicked. Carefully, she opens the door up a bit. She backs up, tapping gently on the floor for you to follow her. You and Scootaloo walk out, bags filled with samples.
 
>"I can't believe she fell for it." Scootaloo whispers with her eyes still derped. Derpy opens up two empty cages, nodding at you.
What are the locks/latches on the cages like?
Something that we can open easily?
We do still have hayseed, right? We can't get irreversibly locked in anywhere so long as we have her.
drop the sleeping powder
try to indicate it to Spike as you make your way to the cages in feigned compliance
then have Spike dose her while she's focusing on shutting you in
Damn, I was afraid of this. Maybe if we try to show her the sleeping powder to make her curious about it, then tossing it in her face when she goes to remove it from our mouths.
 
Trying to run would just result in her blowing the horn, and I doubt we can outrun a pegasi, derped or not.
 
I'm half tempted to go in the cage just to see what kind of fate would befall us. Sally said that we'd be going to the Castle in the Sand tomorrow, and she might just let us out with the others when she takes them. We could make a break for it then. Extremely risky, but it's the only other idea I can come up with.
Remember that we still need to check on Sweetie Belle and Rarity. we can't afford to get locked up.
> The locks on the cages look rather sturdy. The bars are made of thick cast iron. The cages seem built to last an explosion.
 
>They look pretty easy to open if they remain unlocked, however. There's a latch on the door itself that just needs to be pulled up.
> As you walk to the cages, you drop your sleeping powder. With a swish of your tail, you point to it. Spike follows you out cautiously, picking up the satchel.
 
>Derpy looks concerned, wanting you and Scoots to get inside the cages. "I'm not going in there." Scootaloo says through her teeth quietly.
Motion for Spike to get it in Derpy's face. Exaggerate a yawn if he questions us.
wink at her and mouth the words "trust me"
enter your cage and hope Derpy's attention follows you and gravitates away from Spike
Wait point behind Derpy so Spike will have a chance to hit her with the powder.
Sleeping powder. Suddenly look to the door as if someone was coming to distract her.
> In a continuance of your ruse, you look toward Sally's bedroom door. With a bit of courage, you question Derpy. "Have you ever been to the Castle in the Sand?" She follows your line of sight slowly toward the door.
 
>"Now, Spike... do it now..." You whisper while making a throwing motion with your foreleg. He gives the small satchel a toss...
 
>...
 
...and it hits Derpy in the face. She turns her head around, facing your group once again. She blinks. Suddenly, she falls over, snoring midfall. Her head bangs into the cages, unnaffecting her sudden sleep. You hear several of the fillies jump up in the cages.
 
>"Uh oh..." Scootaloo looks around at the awake fillies.
 
>"Do you know of the Castle in the Sand?"
 
>The stage fills with the loud questioning of 10 fillies. Regardless of the noise, you hear a sudden stirring in the room beyond the treasure pile
Grab our shit and book it. Derpy is derpy, so hopefully if we aren't caught in the act she can assume its just her.
 
Just as I expected.
 
We have to run as fast as we can now. I'm not letting this night go to waste. If we're strong enough to carry Spike, then tell him to get on our back and run as far away as we can. If Sally's on our tail, then I suppose we have to choice but to reload.
This is our best course of action, but I think Sally will be tipped off when she notices narcotic powder all over the poor pegasus's face.
We didn't rescue the fillies, so we can't have Spike belch some fire in the direction of the bedroom door and let the whole place go up in flames.
 
Victory is not worth killing children.
> Immediately, you flip around and bolt to the door. You don't say a word as you sprint out, hoping to evade Sally's gaze. As you open up the stage exit, her bedroom door opens up.
 
>"Oh, come ON. Pretty Eyes... what ar--" Spike is the last one out of the door. He gives it a slam as your party head to the front of the stage. The morning sun is rising. As you sprint, you hear the stage door fly open.
 
>"She's onto us!" Scootaloo stops for a moment, letting Spike jump up on her back. She sprints back up to your side.
 
>Sweetie Belle and Rarity are not waiting out front. The streets seem rather empty this early in the morning. Where to you run to?
Run in different directions, meet at Rarity's.
She better not escape because we thought we could be action heroes and sneak into there.
Run around to the opposite side of the stage/cart/whatever structure we were in. Sally will probably assume that we're trying to run as far as we can and will probably go looking for us somewhere other than here.
 
Let's hope Han Solo's methods apply in the poniverse.
We need to find some way of keeping Sally occupied until the Royal Guards get here.
 
Fuck, this actually is a good tactic.
 
Change my vote to this.
> You bolt around the front of stage and slide to the opposite side. As you clear the corner. You hear her talons scrape against the stones outside.
 
>"WHERE ARE YOU!? WHAT DID YOU TAKE?!" Sally yells out in the town square like a maniac. You cannot see her, but you hear her talons shuffling against the ground. Immediately, you hear her wings start flapping.
 
>"Oh yeah. I forgot she could fly..." Spike shakes nervously.
I feel so fucking stupid
Fuck, get to the nearest alley or something then.
Have Spike ready to be our AA if she tries to divebomb us.
If worse comes to worse, stand our ground and fight. Spike is a living flamethrower, and I doubt feathers are fireproof.
have spike light the stage on fire, shrouding the griffon in smoke
 
escape in the ensuing confusion
Then the whole thing would burn, killing Derpy and the fillies inside.
 
I'd rather die a hero than live to see myself become the villain.
> While Sally starts taking to the skies, you tell everyone to follow you down one of the nearby alleyways. "Are you crazy?! She's gonna get us if we move!" Scootaloo whispers.
 
>You bolt to one of the street paths, hoping to evade the griffin's sight. As your group runs down the alley, you feel a chill run up your spine. An eagle screech comes from above... You guys are doing good. Strap on your balls and continue.
Make sure we are holding Hayseed and yell "DO ANYTHING AND SPIKE WILL SET YOU ON FIRE!"
have Spike start slinging fireballs
Get Hayseed in our mouth as we run. Tell Spike to blast as much fire as possible.
 
Look for small spaces. Our size is the greatest advantage we have right now. Whatever we do, stick together. If we split up, she'll pick us off one by one.
> Grabbing your peppermint flavored Hayseed from your saddlebags, you continue your sprint. With a rush of wind, you hear Sally divebomb the ground right behind you. The thunderous slam almost knocks your doll out of your teeth. The night gown, curler wearing Sally jumps back up into the air again. "Stop! Thieves!"
 
>You yell out of the corner of your mouth for Spike to start an anti-air attack. He flips over on Scootaloo and faces the shadow above. He begins throwing fiery bolts her way. Suddenly, the griffin pulls back in the air. She isn't halted for long.
 
>You see a lone cloud off in the distance. You are now in another small square. The library is in the distance; Rarity's boutique to the west.
 
>You feel Sally's shadow over you.
 
"RAINBOW DASH, HELP!"
Spike is sitting on Scoots, right? Have him turn around so he can fend her off while we try to lose her. Focus mainly on breaking line of sight so we can find a place to hide. Don't be afraid to try random doors when she can’t see us, it doesn't take much time.
We can't lose Spike right now. She'll kill him and Scootaloo if we abandon them. Besides, even if we do get away, would it be worth it knowing we sacrificed so much?
 
I'm still half tempted to reload. Sally knows what we look like now and will be after as at every turn.
Go for the boutique. We could probably see Dash's mane standing out against the white if it was there. At least we have a chance of meeting up with Rarity and she might defend her sister even if she's still under the spell.
Remember that bigass could house of hers? She doesn't sleep outside at night.
> You look out to the lone cloud and take a gamble. "RAINBOW DASH!!! HELP!!!"
 
>Scootaloo chimes in, screaming the same thing.
 
>At first, the house looking cloud doesn't do much of anything. Spike shoots another couple blasts of fire at Sally, though this time her shadow doesn't seem to lose you. In an instant, you feel yourself become airborn.
 
>"Gotcha!" The angry griffin picks you up in her talons.
 
>"RAISIN!!!" Scootaloo shouts out. Spike shoots at her, managing to clip her tail. She kicks up into the air, taking you with her.
 
>You're still within shouting distance of Scoots and Spike. Is there anything you can do?!
Move Hayseed from our mouth to our hooves so we can talk to her. Tell her that we know she is just trying to save herself from King Tezel and that we can help, but she has to not kill us.
Beg for mercy. Ask her if she's really willing to kill a child for stealing some treasure. Try to trick her into thinking we didn't go into the washroom.
 
I assume she's going to drop us to our death. Don't reload until we're falling and about to hit the ground.
Are we travelling towards the cloud that may or may not contain RBD?
 
And shouting distance seems like too far to want to fall. No kicking her in the overies or something.
>Your hooves are bound up in her claws. Your mouth contains Hayseed.
 
>The ultimate gamble. You can drop Hayseed to scream out something, but what could you possibly say to save your life?
 
"RAINBOW DAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!"
 
drop Hayseed
surrender fate to the will of the gods
 
As much as I hate to say it, but I'd rather risk permadeath than have another night of zero progress.
 
Drop Hayseed and tell Sally that we know everything and can help her. After she saves her skin, she can go on her way. We're both motivated in defeating King Tezel, and she can even have his treasure when he's defeated. We're just interested in saving our friends.
Oh man I don't know.
 
Rainbow Dash is the fastest flyer in Equestria. "RAINBOW DASH HELP THERE'S A GRYPHON TRYING TO KILL ME!"
All the Dashfags don't realize she's still weak from the potion. I doubt she's have the energy to save us even if she wanted to.
 
Negotiate.
> In a fit of absolute desperation, you quietly apologize to Hayseed before letting her fall from your mouth. She tumbles through the air, still diligently holding onto the Peppermint Candy Canes you entrusted her with. Her mane tumbles against the turbulence as she plummets to the street below.
 
>"RAINBOW DASSH!!!!! SAVE MEEE!!!"
 
>You shout as loudly as you possibly can. Looking out to the cloud house, you still see no activity. You look up under the griffin's powerful jaw. She has her sights set on going higher.
 
>"I'll show you, ya little brat!" After she climbs about level with the clouds, she winds you up and pitches you at the ground.
 
>As you fall through the air, you suddenly feel yourself picked back up. Cold talons clasp around your body. "WHAT DID YOU TAKE FROM ME?"
Tell her that we can save her from King Tezel and that we took some sand.
"KISS MY PLOT!"
 
you know, with all the noise we've been making, you'd think we'd have attracted a few onlookers by now
FUUUUUUUUUUCK
We could have stuck her to us. God damn.
We didn't get anything! We were going to take some of the gold, but Derpy woke up when we tried, and we had to put her to sleep and run!
Tell her the truth. We didn't take any of her treasure.
Tell the truth. We took some sand and algae. We hoped we could use it to cure our friend. Tell her that we know she's in a bind and can help. We just want to save our friends, and once Tezel is killed or banished, she can go about her way. In fact, we would testify for her in a court if it came to that.
The truth. No sense in lying now. Tell that we're sorry and if she wants to kill us, we understand. We were foolish and thought we could be heroes.
Be sure to tell her that we can help her with her Tezel problem, otherwise she might drop us once she has the info.
>You tell the griffin off. "We didn't take anything from you! Honest!" She grunts in anger and chucks you at the ground again. You hear Scootaloo call out to you.
 
>You get closer to the ground this time. She swoops you back up in her arms and banks back up into the air. "LIAR! You saw my gold, you saw my treasures! What DID YOU TAKE?!"
 
>You come out with the truth, telling her you took some of her sand and the weird water in her bathtub. She winds up once again, throwing you at the side of a building. She beats you to it, catching you and taking off in the air again. You start feeling horribly ill.
 
>Some ponies on the ground are gasping. You see one run off to the town square. "Don't you LIE TO ME! WHAT DID YOU STEAL FROM ME, THEIF?!" Sally doesn't believe you.
 
>"Please... I can help you. I know about King Tezel. I want to stop him as wel-" You feel her grip tighten up. You can barely breathe at the moment. "What. Did. YOU. TAKE?!" She lets her grip relax, letting you breathe again.
 
>Looking around, you've gathered a small crowd. This could be it. Is there anything else you can do, little Raisin?
Well let's see. So far we have:
>Called for help from Rainbow Dash
>Told her we didn't take anything
>Told her what we took
>Told her we could help her with King Tezel
 
What else is there to do guys?
Do you want to check my fucking bags
 
Hard to do up here, no?
 
"Well what do you WANT me to say?! You wanna give me a strip-search?! Full-cavity exam?! WHAT?!"
That's the truth. She can check you bags if she wants.
 
If she still doesn't believe us, tell her that you took away her only chance of saving herself. If she doesn't let you down on the ground, everyone will know her as a murderer. Then, she'll be forced to serve Tezel because everyone will be after her. Beg her to stop.
Please Jr, I don't know what else we can say
>"Go on. Take my bags. I swear everything I said is true. We didn't take ANY of your treasure! We just really liked the elixir and wanted to see what it was made of!"
 
>She pulls you in close. She just stares at you for a moment. "Is that really it? I nearly killed you 4 times just now. Is that..." She looks about, noticing that her antics have drawn a crowd. "Look, kid... There's some treasure that I took that cost me big. Are you SURE you didn't take anything shiny?"
 
>You nod desperately.
 
>She just looks at you again. "...alright, then." Slowly, she descends to the ground. The other ponies look at her in disgust.
 
>"We were just playing! No harm done! Right, little one?" She sets you down gently, giving you a pat on the head. "Just some early morning acrobatics, folks."
 
>Scootaloo rushes over with Spike to your side. They look at you, wondering if they should speak up on your behalf.
> Sticking with the truth was the right choice. Lying would have been death.
 
Cry uncontrollably.
Suffer emotional breakdown.
Fall to knees.
Once we let the crowd know that everything's fine and we were just playing around, we need to go find Hayseed.
So she's doing it to protect us. I honestly feel kind of retarded for not getting that. Usually I'm pretty good with catching character traits like that. Fucking 4 AM will do that to you though. I must be way more out of it than I thought.
 
Shakily go along with her, then see if Scoots has our doll. Go find it if she doesn't. Save.
Get Hayseed, make a save, and I say we stop for the night.
Careful with the saves, we don't know what happened to Rarity or Sweetie Belle yet.
man who even gives a shit about those two? we narrowly avoided being reduced to a red paste in front of half of Ponyville. there is NO way we're undoing all that
> Though terribly shaken from the near death experience, you play along with Sally. You give Spike a stern look before playing, letting him know not to blurt his mouth off.
 
>"Wow! Aunt Sally, that was incredible! You're amazing!" You manage to lose the trembling in your voice. The other ponies in the town square breathe a sigh of relief and gather around the early morning griffin as she walks on back to her stage. "C'mon by anytime...purple." She gives you a concerned look before dissolving into the crowd.
 
>Scootaloo hands you Hayseed. "I... I didn't know if you were going to survive that..." Suddenly, Scootaloo gives you a hug. At the same time, you feel Hayseed pressed up against your chest. Reunited with your doll, you feel a single warm tear roll down your cheek, knowing you just survived one of your greatest challenges yet.
 
>GAME SAVED
 
>We shall continue. Good job not dying, Questers. I was trying pretty hard to kill you, if you couldn't tell. You perseverance and honesty has saved you tonight. We shall meet later.
END OF DAY 3