Raisin Quest 4
Day 4

Last Time on Dried Grapes, Living Statue Quest:

>Check to see if the Boulder Snake Statue has budged; no perceivable displacement noted
>HUG HAYSEED, SAVE THE GAME (Save 2 = Day 1, Boulder Snake Statue, 6:30pm)
>xXx Still out and about; Applejack fetches Applebloom for dinner xXx
>Break the door into the Library, talk to Twilight; tell her that ‘LS’ isn’t a pony nor does he live in Ponyville
>** Confirm that ‘LS’ is not a pony with Twilight; use the comparison between the Thank You Letter and the Love Letter as evidence **
>-- Find out that the Boulder Snake must have come from the Whitetail River –
>**Make sure that Sweetie Belle goes back to the Boutique to check in with Rarity**
>Bump into Dad; go home with Scootaloo and invite her in for some dinner
>Give Scootaloo a hug after dinner; nearly crush her with Golem Strength
>--Write a letter addressed to the Mysterious Pony that sent you an unsigned letter, asking them to meet with you--
>Trade out your 85 Bits with a Pack of Bubblegum
>Exit house, place the letter under the doormat
>Head towards Sweet Apple Acres to collect Applebloom
>xXx Go knock on the front door to greet an angry Applejack; find out that Applebloom is grounded because Applejack found out she stole one of her Love Letters xXx
>xXx Walk around the side of the house, leaving a hoofprint trail xXx
>--A frisky Winona suddenly appears—
>** Use your Twisted Iron Rod to distract her **
>**Equip your Reinforced Boots to prevent creating a longer hoofprint trail**
>Rush behind the Toolshed with Scootaloo
>?? Turn around to sate a curiosity; see a small shiny silver object slide behind the Big Barn ??
>Search around for a ladder; there are none in sight. The Toolshed is locked
>--Big Mac starts moving a wagon in the distance; panic slightly--
>Decide to combine Twisted Iron Rod with your Spool of Rope to make a Grappling Hook
>Launch the Grappling Hook over a branch; Launch the Grappling Hook at Applebloom’s window (25% chance of successfully latching; succeeds)
>**Applebloom acquired**
>xXx Try to immediately recover the Grappling Hook (25% chance of successfully retrieving; fails). Rip off windowsill and cause a racket xXx
>xXx Alerted AJ storms outside, already aware of the culprits xXx
>xXx Try to outrun Applejack; Scootaloo and Applebloom split up and head for clubhouse xXx
>Applejack lassos Raisin; rides her down a trail
>** Mention that you were trying to free Applebloom so you could get her checked out for poisoning at Zecora’s. AJ is still irate**

After catapulting a small stone pony into a nearby hill by using her own momentum , her Grappling Hook, and a nearby apple tree, Applejack leads the defeated filly back to the farm. The farmer is extremely disappointed with Raisins underhoofed behavior, especially considering that she’s saved Equestria on multiple occasions. Raisin tries to reason with Applejack before the cowpony hat sporting pony gets her parents involved.

Things are looking a little rough on the first full day of Raisin’s adventure, but thankfully, she’s got some backup. That backup, of course, is you guys, the questers. Her guardian angels, so to speak. You can save her!

With the sun setting behind the mountains and a long, torn up orchard trail to backtrack, you follow Applejack as she marches you back to the farmhouse. You can hear her hooves hitting the dirt a little harder than a normal trot. She looks tensed up as she keeps her vision trained on the settling dust ahead.

“What were ya’ll even thinkin’, not mentionin’ that my lil’ sister might be poisoned by some flower ya’ll went pickin’ in the Everfree Forest!” Applejack doesn’t turn back to even make eye contact with you. “Shoot, at this point it sounds like yer makin’ it all up!”

“Well, I did mention i-“

Applejack’s furious emerald eyes whip around to meet your cold, stony pupils. “Not when ya’ll first came to the door!” She glares at you before turning her head back to the path.

You hang your head low as you following Applejack's heavy gait. "...I'm sorry, Applejack... I didn't mean to seem as though I'm deceiving you..." You pause, clearing a metaphorical lump out of your throat. It's more out of habit, but it still feels like swallowing has cleared something. "We were really worried about Applebloom and we didn't want to have all of our future adventures cancelled over one little... well... possibly really big mistake."

Applejack doesn't seem to be too talkative. Your hooves patter behind hers as she holds her peace. Suddenly, she lets out a sigh. "Ya'll know better than ta keep secrets like that. If she really is poisoned, she needs ta get on over to Zecora's pronto." She sounds a little less mad after your sincere apology, but her gait is still pretty heavy.

She takes in a deep breath. "We're gonna talk with yer parents first, then ah'll make sure Applebloom talks ta Zecora."

>9:00pm

You boldly move up ahead to get closer to Applejack. "Hey, I know I messed up, alright? Judging by the name of that suspicious flower... MIDNIGHT Widow... we might not have much time. We need to make sure she's alright first."

Applejack starts to look a little perturbed again. "Are ya'll just tryin' to get out of trouble with yer folks now? Ah never even heard of a flower like that."

"No, no... really, that's what it's called! It was really hard to find and... okay, Applebloom handled it and I think she might have gotten poisoned by it."

Applejack looks you over. "...and ya'll delivered them ta Zecora already, right?"

"Well yeah! We were there earli-"

"Did she mention that any of the flowers ya picked might be poisonous?" Applejack asks.

"...uh... well, no..."

"Then how do ya know if it's poisonous? She woulda said somethin' if they were dangerous."

"Uh... umm..."

"She seemed kind of scared when we told her we picked all of them. She also told us that she normally hired professionals to get them for her."

Applejack maintains her eye contact with you. You can feel her gaze as though it were searching through your eyes, making sure you're telling the truth. "Could she be scared because ya'll went really deep in the forest?"

"She probably was worried about that, but..."

"...I obviously can't get poisoned anymore... and we didn't tell Zecora that Applebloom carried the flowers for a little while."

Applejack's eyes continue to look around yours. Her expression goes from a hard, gritty concern to a pale worry. "...yer not lyin'..."

"No ma'am."

She stops in the middle of the darkening path. Her air of confidence seems to be diminished as she realizes that your concerns are perfectly genuine. "...alright, ya'll win. Ah don't want my lil' sis being poisoned by some forest petunias." The dusty mare stares you down.

"Alright, Raisin; where did she and Scoots get off to?" Applejack seems willing to listen. As the sun sets, you feel a wave of anxiety rush over you. You dread to think what will happen to your friend if your suspicious are correct.

APPLEJACK has joined your party... for now.

"We were all planning on meeting up at the clubhouse at around 8... they're probably there right now."

Applejack jumps over the fence lining the side of the orchard trail. "Then we ain't got no time to lose! Get a move on, filly!"

"Hold up! They'll get spooked if you get there first!"

"Then try an keep up!" She bolts up ahead, cutting through the orchard and heading to the clubhouse. Quickly, you try to climb through the fence, but end up busting through it. Not wanting to waste another moment, you charge after Applejack, your thunderous hooves smashing the grassy Earth as you sprint.

You see Applejack getting close to the treehouse, hanging back just a little ways as you get closer. When you trot up to her side, she calls out. "Applebloom! Applebloooom! Get down here, fast!"

There's no response from the clubhouse.

"Guys! C'mon! Everything is all right! Come on out!"

There still doesn't seem to be an immediate response from the clubhouse. As you look through the windows, you see a bouncy pink and purple mane through the panes. As Sweetie Belle looks down at you and AJ, she immediately ducks back down.

"No, really! We're cool! Applebloom, you need to get down here immediately! We've gotta get you over to Zecoras stat!"

After a small silence, you hear Applejack shout. "Now! Yer not in trouble... not yet! Stop foolin' around and get down here!"

A crimson mane peeks out of the doorway. "Why do Ah have ta go to Zecoras?"

Scootaloo pops out. "...yeah, what's going on?"

The trio look confused as they head out to the ramp, concerned now with the tone that Applejack has taken. "What's goin' on? This isn't a trick, is it?" Applebloom looks suspiciously your way.

Applejack suddenly casts you an evil eye. "...how come none of them seem to know what yer talkin' bout, Raisin?"

You swallow hard, slightly nervous with Applejack's menacing gaze. You're glad that you don't perspire anymore... you feel as though you'd be sweating bullets right now.

"U-h.." Your voice cracks. "Applebloom, remember those flowers we picked for Zecora?"

The little red mane nods. "Yeah?"

"One of them was called 'Midnight Widow', remember? I think it might have been poisonous!"

"Wouldn't Zecora had said someth-" Applebloom stops and looks over at Applejack. "O-Oh! Now that you mention it, Ah have been feelin' a tad weird... ooooOOooohh..." She nudges Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

"Oh, right! She's had some... uh... her stomach has been really bugging her. She's tweaking out!" Scootaloo adds.

Applejack seems too worried to care. "C'mon Applebloom, hop on. We've gotta get ya'll to Zecora before it's too late!"

"Hold on. The forest is going to be really dark right now..."

Applebloom pulls an empty Lamp out of her Saddlebags. "Waaaay ahead of you, Raisin... ooooOooohh... my stomach..."

Applejack meets her halfway up the ramp and puts her up on her back. "Ya'll little fillies stay right here. We'll be back in no time. Applebloom, fire up that Lamp."

While you have some time, you motion Sweetie down the ramp quick. "Hey, I'll trade you that Lamp Oil for some Bubblegum."

Sweetie gives you an affirmative nod. "Roger, Raisin!" She hands you a small flask as you pass your Satchel and Bubblegum her way. She stores it carefully in her Saddlebag. "By the way, great work thinking up an excuse. I thought you guys were gonna get super-grounded for sure!"

You look her square in the eyes. She's taken aback. "...oh... she might actually BE poisoned?"

You simply nod.

As Applejack prepares to storm off, you shout. "WAIT!"

Your volume makes her hesitate. "What is it? We'll be right back, Ah promise."

"I'm coming with you."

"Ya'll are in enough trouble already! Ya'll stay right put!" She glowers at you. "...them flowers better be real or Ah swear..." Her cold glance pierces your eyes.

"...not gonna get far without a lit Lamp in the pitch black Everfree Forest, are you?"

The mare stops. She looks around, realizing that Applebloom and her own inventories are completely full. Unable to trade out any inventory items, she kicks the ground. "Ah fine... since ya'll got the Lamp Oil. Fill it up and give it a light. We haven't a moment to lose!"

Quickly, you fill up the Lamp with a healthy supply of Lamp Oil. Your Lamp Oil flask is now empty.

"C'mon! Keep up, Raisin!" Applejack darts off towards the road.

"Alright, you guys just chill. Be right back."

"...yeah, we'll just wait here." Scootaloo kind of mumbles to herself.

As the sun begins to completely set and trade places with the moon, your hooves dig into ground. You start chasing after Applejack. With a brilliant shower of sparks, you see the Lamp fire up. Applebloom is still groaning on Applejack's back.

You follow the flickering flame as your small party runs down the road. You pass your house in a few minutes, then start booking it through town. Passing by the creepy Snake Statue, you find yourself keeping pretty good pace with the farmer and her sister.

A storm seems to be coming together. You're not sure, but you swear that you see Rainbow Dash arranging some dark clouds high up above town. It's typical to do them late at night when the Pegasi are all on schedule.

Following Applejack, you rush passed Fluttershy's house. You're not sure what it is, but you have an odd sensation that you're being followed. Very faintly, you hear the flapping of wings... you pray that it's not an owl...

You decide to take a look over your shoulder. To your horror, an extremely nasty looking Great Horned Owl is flying just above you. Two piercing yellow eyes glare down at you, filling your soul with perfect anxiety. A fear and panic overtake you as you trip over your stony hooves.

As you slide to a halt, you make sure to kick off toward a bush. It does little to slow you to a stop. You dig your hooves into the path, trying to get out of there as fast as possible. You look about, watching the owl perch near Fluttershy's house. You keep an eye on it as you right yourself quick.

Looking ahead, you see that Applejack is already a ways into the woods. The glow of the lamp is a little firefly in the distance. It's not much further to Zecora's now.

You make up for lost time, darting into the woods. As you continue, you hear a scream. Applebloom sounds terrified. Your thunderous stomping causes something to dash off into the bushes quick.

Making your approach, you notice that Applejack is gone. Applebloom is calling out for her; you're not but a few hundred feet from Zecora's Hut.

"Applejack! APPLEJACK!! Come back!!" Applebloom sounds terrified.

You hear the creature you scared going deeper into the woods. It sounds like a struggle.

You snap your head towards Applebloom. "Run! Get to Zecora's now!" Your air of authority reverberates off her shaking form. She shakes her head fast and bolts toward Zecora's, taking the Lamp with her.

Quickly, you lose no time in darting into the bushes. As you follow the sound of the struggle, you realize that it's becoming hard to see. You can hear Applejack in the distance.

Suddenly, you tumble down a small hill. When you thump into the ground at the bottom, you see a pair of beaming yellow eyes fixated on a set of furrowed emeralds. You can hear Applejack kicking and punching something... it sounds like dried branches. She's grunting a bit as though she's being hurt.

All around you, Applejack, and her assailant, some more eyes begin to emerge from the darkness. It's nearly pitch black down here, but the eyes of everyone down here seem to ignore the absence of light. They nearly glow, including Applejack's. Yours probably do not, considering they're made of stone.

You aim straight for the yellow eyes near Applejack and lunge forward, stiff-hoofing the creature that's attacking her. You hear a hollow but fierce explosion of noise as though a tree just burst apart. Applejack looks around, unable to see anything.

"Raisin!? Raisin is that you!? Please be Raisin, please!" The young farmer pleads as she searches about blindly, feeling for your hooves.

"It's me! Stay close, there's more!"

Applejack winces and whines as she crawls toward the safety of the ledge by your side. You back up, keeping your six o'clock toward the slope. The yellow eyes seem to ignore you, staring straight at Applejack.

"We gotta get out of here... fast..." Applejack tries to maintain her voice, but it falters slightly. You can tell she's been hurt.

Another set lunge for Applejack. You deftly deny it, headbutting toward the eyes. You hear another loud crunch, but it's followed quickly by whimpers. The others seem to move in tighter, moving in unison.

You feel terrified... not for yourself, but for Applejack. She may have been really angry and impatient with you before, but you worry for her life. Keeping her close, you look at the hungry eyes circling you. There seems to be no way out. Applejack's breathing becomes shallow as she gulps hard.

"...looks like... this is it..." She quivers and shakes.

An overwhelming sense of urgency rushes through your stony body. With a loud yell, you rear back up and slam your forelegs into the ground. The menacing eyes suddenly jump 3 feet in the air, then scurry backwards. You slam again, hearing Applejack bounce off the ground. The eyes falter and look about, then disappear. In an instant, their yowling fills the forest as they make an escape. One whimpering monster lays not too far off... probably the one you headbutted.

"Raisin... Ah..." She pauses. "...Ah owe you my life..." Applejack's hoof rests up on your back.

The forest seems to have fallen relatively silent... all but for the distant 'hoo' of an owl. You're thankful that it's too dark to even think about looking for it in the trees above.

"We need to get to Zecora's Hut. You sound like you're hurt."

Applejack lays by your side. "Nah, Ah'm fine. It'll take more than a'couple a Timberwolves to keep this mare down..." She attempts to stand, but quickly falls over. She cries slightly in pain. "...jus' gimme a second ta catch my wind..."

As you prepare to carry her toward safety, you realize the step slope behind you is covered in mud. It's not letting you get any traction. "Darn... thought I could just tank charge up this thing..."

"Ah can't see a thing... Ah have no idea where we fell..." Applejack tries to stand again, hitting the ground once more. "Dangit! One of them nipped my back legs! Ah don't think Ah can rightly walk!"

You hear some rustling from up above on the ridge.

You notice the rustling of leaves. Feeling confident from your shutdown of that entire group of Timberwolves, you shout up above. "Who's there?!"

A pair of glowing green eyes pops up. "Ah ha! I found zem! Quickly! Zis vay!" An unfamiliar male calls out into the darkness. "My my... zou don't look anyzing like I ree-member..."

"I said 'who's there'?!"

The eyes jump. "Oh! Yes, right, of courz! I am called Harry. You remember ven I vas cuckoo earlier, yes? And zou gave me zose app-els?"

As a Lamp light nears the ledge, you see the mangy coat of the griffin you helped earlier fade into view.

"...you?!"

Zecora breathes a sigh of relief and asks if you and Applejack are alright. Harry buts in, saying that Applejack appears to be hurt.

"Do zou have a... uh... it is... twisted, long... can climb it..." Harry fumbles.

"A rope?"

"Yes! Do zou have von?" The griffin looks a bit crazy still, but Zecora seems to be okay with him near her.

You untie the Grappling Hook from around your waist and toss the hooked end to the left of Harry. He moves in the way to catch it, unaware of it's incredible weight.

"Careful! It's heavy!"

He sidesteps toward Zecora, letting the hook dig into the ground near the bush. It's weight helps the two loops at the hook end dig in deeply under the soil. "Zou vern't kidding..." Harry stomps on it a couple of times, making sure it's firmly planted. "It is gute! Come up!"

You let Applejack get a hold of it first. You finally see her when the light pours down the ridge. There are a ton of long, jagged wooden splinters buried into the sides of her rearlegs. She's taken care not to remove or disturb them too much. She's bleeding a little bit... the sight of blood somehow still manages to make you a bit queasy. Carefully, she pulls herself up.

"Applejack!" Applebloom shouts as her sister gets firmly planted up on the ridge. "Applejack, you're hurt!"

"Yeah, but Ah'm alive.. thanks to Raisin." She tips her hat as she looks down the ridge over her shoulder.

"Alright, now zou!" Harry shakes the rope. "Come up!"

"Uh... I weigh like 400lbs... I think it'll break if I try."

Harry looks puzzled. "Zere is no vay zou are so heavy! Zou are so small!"

You test the rope. Effortlessly, you feel the hook slide up top with your yank. Surely, it's not going to hold your weight.

Looking about, you see that down the right side of the wall seems to be drier, more sturdy land.

"Hey, I'm going to try running up over there. Can you bring the light?"

Harry looks down at the Grappling Hook. "I shall bring ze Hook!" He reaches down to pick it up, straining immensely. "Ach! Iz so heavy... how did zou...?" He struggles with it as Zecora follows you alongside the slope.

As you move along, a nice patch of the slope doesn't look as muddy as the rest. You back up and prepare for a charge. "Stand back!"

Zecora walks off to the side, allowing you a clean full steam run at the veritable wall. You pick up speed and jump, kicking your hooves wildly as the wall approaches. You can feel the soil beneath your hooves fly as you run hard, each hoof digging into the side of the slope.

After about 30 seconds of this, you look down to see that you've dug out the bottom of the slope considerably.

"Huh..."

Harry drops the Grappling Hook near the edge of the ridge, gasping for breath.

"Alright, plan 2."

Harry dangles the rope down as he lays near Zecora to catch his breath. He's completely winded. Zecora rolls her eyes, sets down the Lamp, and gets the rope firmly in her hooves. After you tie it around yourself, you let her know you're going to start.

Straining and pulling while you kick, you see yourself slowly ascending the wall. "Yess!!"

The rope snaps under your weight and bouncy movement.

You come up with a brilliant spur of the moment plan. "Alright... uh... let's get a few loops of the rope around me and the hook. We should be able to get up there if it's reinforced like that."

Zecora compliments your thinking, asking if you have any more rope. You confirm, unveiling the rest of your Spool. Emptying the Spool of the rest of it's length. You step on the end of the rope, tossing the bundle up top. Zecora ties it around the Grappling Hook, then sends it back down. You tie it around yourself and send it back up.

Repeating the process 3 times, you now have quite a bit of rope supporting you. Feeling more confident, you give Zecora the go ahead to start pulling. Harry helps this time, grabbing onto a bunch of the rope and heaving. As you kick and the two above pull, you can hear the rope straining. Finally, the top of the ridge comes into view. You pull yourself up to meet a very winded zebra and griffin.

"Man, am I smart or what?"

Zecora catches her breath and asks you what you and the Apples were even doing in the forest at this time of night.

"Oh! Applebloom handled that Midnight Widow stuff! I think she might have been poisoned! She could die!"

Zecora glowers, telling you that she'd have warned you if the flowers were fatal. She does mention that Midnight Widow is slightly poisonous, however, and that she needs to check Applebloom for signs of the poisoning.

You breathe a sigh of relief out of habit. Gathering your Grappling Hook + Rope, you tie it around yourself. The Lamp makes the forest at least 10 times less creepy, especially with Zecora and the wierd Griffin guy around.

"Lead the way then..."

Zecora takes the lead, carrying the lantern in her mouth. She leads you and Harry back to the Hut. Inside the window, you can see Applebloom wrapping some bandages around Applejack's legs. She's working like a nurse, though Applejack looks like she keeps saying that she's 'fine'.

You, Zecora, and Harry enter the Hut.

"Raisin! Thank goodness... thank you so much for being there... without you, my sister would be..." Applebloom gets interrupted by her sister.

"Thank you, Raisin. Ah really owe ya one for helpin' me." She looks like she's still in pain, but there's a certain calm to her eyes.

Zecora immediately drills Applebloom, asking her if she's applied ointment to Applejack's wounds. She says she has. Oddly, the Zebra opens up Applebloom's mouth, pulling out her tongue. She inspects it, then let's it go. Immediately, she shoves a small twig into Applebloom's mouth, saying that she'll be fine.

"...so... she was poisoned, then?"

Zecora nods, saying that it's nothing to worry about. At most, she'd get a really bad stomach cramp tomorrow without medicine.

"At least we know she's safe..." Applejack nuzzles her sister as they rest near Zecora's cauldron.

Resting on the creaky wooden floor of the Hut, you feel glad that everyone is safe. Applebloom yawns peacefully, resting her head against Applejack. You turn to Harry. He's staring at the sisters with a dumb smile on his face.

"Hey bud. What were you doing out in the woods in the middle of the night?"

Harry looks your way. "I vas looking for zou! I vanted to help Zecora and zou for helping me so much!" He gives you the same dumb smile he was giving the Apples.

"...why were you in the woods in the first place?"

His smile becomes more nervous. He looks toward Zecora, then back to you. "Ach, I guess I have nothing to lose..."

Zecora interrupts, mentioning that he needed a couple doses of truth serum to even begin speaking.

"No no no, I told zou I vas feeling... vat's the verd, you know.. cannot think..."

"Foggy?"

"Yes!" He looks excited to have heard the correct word to use. "Foggy, I vill remember that verd..." He continues. "Okay, so... back in home city, I vould valk around the streets, right?"

"..right...?"

"And zen, I vould find rich griffins, ja? If zey looked good, I vould lead zem into trap in alley, beat zem up and take zere belongings!" Harry nods in approval.

"...you were a mugger?"

He shakes his head. "No no no, zat is bad verd to use. I vas trap maker! I make traps!" He seems insistent that you not call him a 'bandit' or a 'thief'.

"I'm guessing you got banished, then?"

He sighs. "Correct..."

"Do you happen to know anyone by the name of Sally? Or Sammy?"

He squints. "Sally... Sammy..." After a few moments, he shakes his head. "I do not. Sorry!"

"It's cool... just curious. Would have been weird if you did, I suppose."

"Hold on... so you got banished..."

"Correct..." He looks depressed about it.

"...so why were you in the forest again?"

He nods. "Ach, I vas banished to zis forest. I had no food, no vater, no money... I vas in ze vild, fending for myself." He ruffles his feathers a bit, trying to smooth them out. "...I tried to eat somezing... a red fruit, looks like apple almost but smaller, on bush..."

Zecora speaks up, saying 'Wrath Berry'.

Harry rolls his eyes. "Zey are not gute for eating. Made me very sick, could not sleep. Vas not thinking right, got very hungry and zirsty... so zirsty... zen zou came along. I had not eaten... and zor friends looked so..." He stops. "...but zat vas zen, zis is now." He sighs. "Danke for saving me, Raisin..."

"So... last question here... do you know anybody that goes by the initials 'LS'?"

Harry scratches his head. "...sorry... maybe I trapped him vons? I do not know."

You sigh. "Ugh... why are you even here? You're not related to anything we're looking for."

He looks saddened. "Oh... uh... sorry, I guess..." He scratches his chest, letting a few feathers drift down to the floor.

>11:30pm

"...just out of curiosity, what kind of traps can you make?"

Harry puffs up his chest. "Any and all, of courz! I am professional! If it can be caught, I can make trap to catch it!"

"What about a giant snake?"

He shrugs. "Very much yes, certainly... probably." The inquiry seems to confuse him a bit.

You stand up on all 4 hooves, creaking a little bit as shake your stony joints. "Alright, then. Nice talking with you, Harry. See you around."

The griffin scoops up one of your hooves, giving it a quick kiss. "I am in zor debt. Danke, danke..."

"...you're welcome, I guess..." You pull your hoof away, then wave to Applebloom and Applejack. "Are you two good to go?"

Zecora shakes her head, saying that Applejack needs to rest up. If she walks with all the Timberwolf bites she got, she's only going to injure herself further.

Applebloom is sound asleep against AJ's mane. She looks plum tuckered. Applejack whispers. "Ya'll should rest up for the night. It's gettin' too late to go back through the forest anyhow."

"Eh... Zecora, why is it called Midnight Widow anyways? That makes it sound like instant deathy."

Zecora explains that the plant can be made deadly. If the extract from the plants seeds are taken in the late fall and concentrated, you could make an extremely lethal poison with it. The flower itself can cause sickness and delirium if consumed; because it only blooms at night, it's ability to sicken...

...wayward travelers deep in the Everfree Forest has earned it a rather notorious nickname and history. When brave adventurers would be tempted by it's alluring colors and smell, they'd consume their fill and end up sick and lost in the woods during the night... hence the 'Widow' part.

You decide that Applebloom and Applejack should probably rest up. It's been a dangerous night for the two. You open up Applebloom's saddlebags delicately, grabbing your beautiful Stompstarter from one pouch, exchanging it with your Empty Oil Flask, and then you pick up your dangerous box of Quarter Sticks. Nothing is gonna mess with you if you've got Dynamite, you figure... not even a giant stone eating Boulder Snake.

"Sugarcube, are ya'll really gonna venture out on yer own at this time a night?" Applejack looks a bit concerned. "Ya'll should rest for the night."

"I don't sleep... I'm a golem, remember? Immortal, non-living stone pony?"

Applejack rolls her eyes. "Well, there's no way Ah'll stop ya..."

Applebloom mumbles. "Wait... Ah can come..." She doesn't as much as open her eyes.

You let her rest. "Stay here. I'll catch you in the morning, alright?"

You turn to Zecora. "Hey, do you have any extra lamp oil laying around?" The zebra shrugs, bringing out a slippery soap looking substance with a wick in it. She says that it's like a candle; should provide some light if you put it inside the Lamp casing.

As midnight falls, you prepare to leave. Harry nods. "Good luck. Safe journey." He smiles as you open the door.

You decide to head on outside into the forest... alone. It's a rare moment for you, but your numb, stone body gives you a certain confidence. You've never felt good about your stony exterior, but it has given you an unstoppable amount of confidence. No simple tricks can end your adventures anymore.

Under the moonlight, you make your way back towards Fluttershy's cottage. The owl that attacked you before seems to be gone... which you find unnerving. Where could it be... that's frightening to imagine. Looking up, you notice that it's raining in Ponyville. They Pegasi must have finally let loose the storm.

You make your way into town, making sure to stay wary of anything suspicious. The rain is coming down in sheets; it's probably pretty cold, you imagine. It's a little hard to see, but your Lamp helps a little.

As you approach the road back to the farm and your house, something big seems to be hanging out near the Snake Statue. It's monstrously huge; without its crimson markings, you wouldn't have seen it under the cover of the heavy rain.

You extinguish the Lamp, observing the giant, distant creature. You cannot determine what it is from this distance.

Slightly tense, you conceal your lamp and make a very stealthy approach, taking extreme caution to only trod through the mud. As you expected, the heavy rain and the soft mud make you virtually soundproof.

You approach very cautiously, watching as an extremely massive cobra comes into view. Upon closer inspection, you see that its body is covered in plates of beautiful gemstone. It looks like it has been plated in rubies... even in the low light, the ominous figure proves quite dazzling. You hide behind a couple garbage cans.

Suddenly, after a loud hiss, you hear some voices.

"Look how far he'sssss gotten... why would he wander ssso far off?" The voice doesn't sound like it's coming from the giant cobra. You squint into the rain, seeing that the cobra is accompanied by two giant, living Boulder Snakes.

You can hear the other one hissing to itself over the rain. It sounds like it's trying to hold back laughter. "Beatssss me..."

The cobra in the center speaks up. The voice is very strong, deep, and female. "Awaken, foolish one."

You see a bright light beam from the cobra's chest. A strange medallion levitates into the air. As it pulls forward, it lifts above the Boulder Snake statue's head. One of the other Boulder Snakes apologizes to the cobra, "Sorry, my queen..." He gives her side a yank, tearing out a ruby scale. The lackey gently sets it by the statue as the light intesifies.

"What the..." You whisper quietly.

The medallion glows like a bolt of lightning, bursting with an intense energy. As the wave washes over the ground and hits you, you suddenly feel... alive. For a brief moment, you feel the cold of the rain tingle up your back. You feel like your back is wet... you feel again. For a single moment, you almost felt like you had a pulse again.

The Boulder Snake Statue begins to crack. In a few moments, the relatively smaller snake bursts from his stony prison. "Wh... what happened?"

The cobra punches the young snake in the snout with her rough, sharp scaly skin. "You disobeyed me."

The young snake coils up in a small pile before her. "N..no, my queen! They... they sssssaid that the... the eruption..."

The cobra strikes him again. He stops talking and cowers. "I said I'd give the orders when that time comes. You've compromised us." You watch her medallion lose it's glow and become invisible through the rain again.

You watch on, trying to remain as still and silent as possible. In the distance, you see a silvery helmet hiding behind one of the buildings near the cobra and her lackeys.

Watching as the massive cobra chastises its subordinate, you carefully pull away from the garbage cans so as to not make a single sound. Trodding backwards through the mud, you carefully get back to where you're out of their range. You think you can hear them talking a bit more, but you're not sure. The crimson hood of the beautiful giant cobra is still visible.

"Man.. what is going on?"

Deciding to chance the storm again, you carefully move around the town square and get onto the side that the silvery helmet was. Again, you make sure to stay on the grass and let your hooves sink in before continuing. The helmet doesn't seem to notice you.

Squinting hard, you notice that it's a small Pegasus. You can vaguely see that the Pegasus has a blue coat and is wearing a Guard Helmet.

"The punishment for your insubordination shall be excruciating. You will live, my son, but you will know pain." The cobra hisses menacingly as she catches your attention.

You see her rise up in the air, appearing to look through the storm. It seems like her group is preparing to move through the town... an odd choice.

When you look back down, you see the Pegasus under the guard helmet suddenly panic. As your eyes meet, they look completely mortified. Clamoring to right itself, the little pony buzzes out of sight as fast as it's wings will carry it. Oddly, it makes absolutely no sound as it moves...

"..."

You aren't sure what to think. The giant snakes are keeping you pretty tense, however...

The snakes start to carefully move through the town square, heading off toward the school. You notice that they are moving oddly; their bellies seem to ripple instead of slither. They don't leave a distinguishable trail on the rainy cobble.

After they get a little ways away, you start to follow. They are moving far too fast to keep up with at a walking pace, however. At this rate, they will disappear into the storm.

The back of the cobra's hood is even more beautiful than the front; it looks like it has a red sun made completely of ruby on the back of it's hood. It's surrounded by a ring of what appears to be spires pointing toward it. The symbol is mesmerizing.

Immediately, you pull your eyes away from the alluring hood. The creature, being a cobra, could very easily have some sort of hypnotic power.

Deciding it best to remain stealthy, you figure that they are simply going to be heading out towards the school. If that's where they're going, then there's no need to keep pace. As the snakes head into the storm, you see several windows opening up along the street. A few ponies peek out into the rain, looking around. They quickly return to their dwellings.

"Oh come on... I better not be the only one seeing all this..."

You continue to walk on even though the snakes are long gone. Several ponies are out of their homes, looking around in the rain. It's coming down very hard, however, so they go back inside. It's quite late, so sticking around outside seems to be a bad idea.

To increase your stealth bonus, you ensure that you're practicing the secret filly stealth walk. You feel a bit more catlike doing this; surely, you've taken on the stealth of a ninja.

As you get further along the path, you see the school. It looks very eerie right now, partially sunken into the ground and all. The construction crew seems to have set up some... boulders... all around the school... There is also a lot of sharp gemstones attached to pikes sticking out of the ground. You're absolutely baffled.

Most bizarre, you see a patch of magma sitting on the path to the school house. It's sizzling in the rain.

You wander a bit closer to the schoolhouse, trying to get a better look at the gemstone pikes. As you move, you can hear the distinct creaking of wood beneath you. Just earlier today, you were falling through the ground at this point...

The pikes appear to be hastily made; it is literally a long stick with a gemstone smashed into the end. They're aligned in barricades around the school.

"...doesn't seem very constructive to me..."

You look around at the boulder barricade around the school. They seem to have been specifically placed to protect the sunken building from invaders.

As you move around the schoolgrounds, you can't help but feel watched. You shudder.

Feeling rather peculiar, you decide it best to leave the schoolgrounds as soon as possible. You can feel a pair of eyes watching you from above. Looking about to get as much information as you can in this torrential storm, you cast a glance back to the belltower of the school.

Something is up there.

The shadowy figure looks like it's straining to see in the night rain. You can just barely see some eyes hidden up there. Whatever it is, it seems to be pointing something your way. You continue walking back toward the road.

It doesn't speak, but as you steal a glance back, it looks slightly confused, like it only imagined your existence.