The Purloined Pony

by Chris

Page 24

You and Twilight soon reach the outskirts of the woods. Pulling a map out of her saddlebag, Twilight points to your left and announces, “There’s a sandstone ridge over this way that’s full of small caves. It’s pretty close to your and Applejack’s farm, too. That seems like the most likely place for the boggies to have set up their camp.”

Guided by Twilight, you walk deeper into the forest. Soon, you are lost amid the dense undergrowth. Were it not for Twilight’s map, you’d have no idea where you were or which direction to go, but after a few minutes she leads you to a clearing. Peeking through the trees, you see a long yellow ridge of stone up ahead. Sure enough, it’s pockmarked with holes of various sizes.

Twilight gestures and says, “We need to keep an eye out for traps. Now, if they’ve got Applebloom here they must have picked a cave large enough to admit a pony, and one deep enough that they can all comfortably hide down it. That should narrow our choices down quite a bit, but I don’t see any way to figure out where they’re camped except to try our luck down a likely-looking hole and hope for the best. Let’s go, but be wary.” She begins to walk, and you fall in a pace behind her.

As soon as you enter the clearing, however, you hear a whooshing sound. Leaping backwards, you barely avoid being caught in a large net that swings up from the ground, trapping Twilight high above you. You hear voices laughing and jeering all around you.

“Quickly!” yells Twilight. “You have to get to the cave! Don’t worry about me!”

“There’s no way I’m leaving you behind!” you shout back. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe!”

“I’ll be fine! You need to find the Ceanntighern and foil him somehow. It’s the only way to save me and Applebloom!”

You hate to abandon your friend, but she’s right; if you can somehow trick the Ceanntighern, the boggies will disperse and everypony will be safe. That’s a big if, though, and if you fail then you, Applebloom, and Twilight will all be in big trouble. Without Twilight’s smarts, how are you supposed to succeed?

*****

1. If you abandon Twilight and try to find the boggie cave, go to page 39

2. If you stay and try to defend Twilight, go to page 50