//------------------------------// // Chapter 53 // Story: Raindrops' Wrap Up // by Arkensaw Pinkerton //------------------------------// Alright. If there's one thing that can cut through this awkward situation, it's lying your flank off. That's not normally your strong suit, but you're feeling good about it today. Your lie is going to be consistent, tight and manageable. "Pinkie tried to look at the book," you say. Start with the truth and go from there. "I had to stop her because she had clearly turned evil." "She'd turned evil?" Spike asks, enthralled. Yes! Your lie is working! "Yep! Her cocoa was evil, I could tell. That's why I had to knock it on the floor." "Really." Twilight's voice is flat- she's clearly not buying this. That's okay, you can turn it up a notch. "Yes! I had to knock it to the floor and then, uh, use the combined powers of the Great Unicorns of Magical Theory to sanctify it!" Come on, Twilight, you've got to love that! "What happened then, Raindrops?" she's engaging with you! This is working! She nudges Spike to pull Pinkie away from the cocoa and doesn't break eye contact with you. You've got her in the frog of your hoof! "Well, then I had to use the Combined Unicorn Theory, but obviously I needed to concentrate it," you explain. It's amazing how easy lying is, you think to yourself. This stuff is pure gold. "Uh huh," Twilight says, and she almost looks a bit nervous. "I guess you had to pull some magic together like this, huh?" She charges up her horn and you decide to roll with it. She's filling in the details herself- isn't that the mark of a good lie? "Yeah, but I had to use the phantom horn of the mighty, er, Green Hoof, since I don't have a horn myself-" You stop halfway through your sentence, but it's certainly not because you intended to. Twilight's discharged her spell, you realise, and as you topple majestically to one side you think you understand what she was actually doing. Your body's locked absolutely solid- you can still breathe and blink but that's about it. Twilight checks in with Spike and Pinkie before lifting you upright and resting you against the bookcase. "Raindrops, I know you can hear me- I think your brain's been addled by contact with this book. You were scaring me there and you weren't making any sense. Now I know being Locked In is frustrating and sometimes a little disturbing, so until I can figure out what's going on and work out how to reverse the effects I'm going to knock you out. This could take a long time- months maybe- so I want you to be comfortable, okay?" What? No, that is definitely not- ------------- THE END You received a Bad Ending. Poor Raindrops is going to be stuck here for a very long time. To go back a step, Click here for Chapter 23.