Raisin Quest 3
Day 3

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
*Asterisks represent good actions, xXx represents bad actions

Current inventory:

• 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

"Uh... it's kinda big. Shipping costs a little extra."

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'."

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.

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.

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.

A town guard walk by the stage, nodding his head as he passes behind it.

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.

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.

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.

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." 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.

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.

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.

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.

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!"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Your hooves are bound up in her claws. Your mouth contains Hayseed.

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?"

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.

"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.

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

END OF DAY 3