//------------------------------// // A Scarlet Harvester's Safe Passage // Story: Refuge in Sunset // by PactOfSkyranger //------------------------------// Twilight stewed, depleted, in her dank jail cell. It was over. She was going to die come the next few hours at nightfall. She sobbed away in her cell. Why had she lost control?, she asked herself. If she had held back her anger, she might have been in danger of dying again, but Cheerilee still had a slim chance of actually answering for her crimes. IF she hadn't levelled the theatre, Cheerilee might have paid then. Now the real culprit, unsuspecting as she was to be a serial killer, was dead, and thanks to a hastily written letter from Spike and her rash action burying the proof to the contrary, Twilight soon would be too. Of course, the guards didn't care. For all they knew, she was crying crocodile tears to escape the consequences of "her" actions. But there were no crocodile tears tonight. Every last droplet from her was genuine. But to people who may not have even known her, and even those she did, that she trusted in the wake of her recent pedicides and amicicides, and even the filicide of Spike, who had always been like a son to her. But there was nothing she could do. Her magic was gone, and the walls of the jail may have been enchanted to dispel just in case. She was exhausted after waking from a coma (thanks in no small part to Princess Celestia donating some of her own life force) only to find she was taking the fall for a murderer. Celestia. The name almost rung out in hope for her. If Celestia had been awake, she might have been able to vouch for Twilight. But Celestia was asleep, exhausted from the transfer. And beside that, a doubt festered in Twilight's mind that night. Would she even believe me? Tonight was a sleepless night for Twilight, regardless her exhaustion. After all, is it not a sleepless night when you find yourself about to be tied up and left as a package on Death's door? These thoughts all culminated in one. I'm sorry. Applebloom... Sweetie Belle... Scootaloo... Silver Spoon... Diamond Tiara... Snips... Snails... Twist... Fluttershy... Applejack... Rainbow Dash... Pinkie Pie... Rarity... Spike... I failed you. Her thoughts were cut off by a sudden flash of red eyes with yellow sclerae encompassing her vision, and the guards never noticed that Twilight had been removed from her cell, as her crying continued on. The jarring warp for Twilight woke her up almost immediately. In fact, she had all her energy back. The star that was the Element of Magic hung from her neck on a golden chain as well, and it seemed too good to be true, but she felt the grass and the wind, so it couldn't be a dream. The one thing that prevented her from teleporting right up to Celestia and trying to explain her story was the presence of an old-style telegram around her hoof. The words DON'T USE MAGIC were visible on the unfolded part of the letter before she even unfolded it with her hooves. DON'T USE MAGIC STOP LUNA WILL TRACE YOU STOP THEY INTEND THE GALLOWS FOR YOU IN 2 HOURS STOP THEY WILL DO MUCH WORSE IF THEY CATCH YOU OUT OF YOUR CELL STOP I EMPLOYED A SOUND ILLUSION TO DECEIVE THEM STOP DO NOT MAKE A SOUND STOP A FRIEND TELLS ME YOU WERE WRONGFULLY ACCUSED STOP I CAN RELATE BUT AT LEAST IT WAS MY CHOICE STOP GET OUT OF HERE STOP FIND MIRROR IN CASTLE LIBRARY STOP FRIEND WILL HOLD THE PORTAL STOP YOU MUST LEAVE THIS DIMENSION EMPANEL STOP YOU WILL BE SAFE AND CAN REBUILD YOUR LIFE BEYOND THE MIRROR STOP -LOOK BEHIND YOU Twilight chanced a gaze at what was behind her. Atop a plinth was a mismatched creature that looked like it was yodeling. A deer antler and blue goat horn adorned a long pony face with bushy eyebrows, a snaggletooth fang, a goat's beard, and a snake's tongue. The arm on its serpentine body was a lion's paw, while the one outstretched to the sky was the talon of an eagle, and its legs were that of a lizard and a goat. The creature was decidedly masculine, had the wings of a bat and a pegasus, and his tail was serpentine yet draconic with a tuft at the end and a close-cut mane that stretched down his whole head. This was the statue of Discord, though of course the thought that Twilight knew such was questionable. One thing Twilight did know was that somehow, this statue had most likely saved her. Whispering a hushed, "Thank you," to the stone statue, Twilight swiftly but silently made her way to and through the castle. She had been unable to stay longer due to a guard patrolling the statue garden, but had the guard or Twilight looked in that darkness at Discord's wide maw, they would have been able to make out a certain trick of the light that made him look like he was... winking. Now this... this would be where I'd put a stealth Flash game. IF I HAD ONE! It was improbable, convoluted, and just plain goofy at times, but Twilight had managed to maneuver through the halls of the castle exactly thirty seconds before her window to escape had passed, and now stood in front of an ornate mirror. The mirror itself was a simple oval that seemed to glisten with magic, but it was set within a horseshoe-shaped frame adorned with a small picture of a pony at the top. As Twilight laid a hoof on its surface and marveled as it began to go through, she heard a loud shout of "WHERE IS SHE?!" from Princess Luna that chilled her to the bone, and knew she had not the time to marvel at such a relic or say any farewells. Looking back for a fraction of a second as she heard hoofsteps approach, it felt like forever as she pushed into the mirror and swirled away in a tunnel of rainbow light... ...and as if it were waiting for her, the mirror went dim just as Luna burst in with a contingent of three bat pony Night Guards. Frustrated, Luna shouted, "WE KNOW THOU ART HERE, MURDERER! SURRENDER TO THY PUNISHMENT!," and galloped off with her guards in tow. Almost as a taunting gesture, the outline of a similar creature to Discord shimmered, curled around the top of the mirror, before vanishing. And unbeknownst to either party or the guard that now tripled his speed in patrolling so as to search for the escaped mare, the statue of Discord began to crack, a black glow and a deep cackle emanating from the fissure... (I would play something like the Dawn Of The Dead 1978 theme for extra spirit.) Stratus Skyranger, Pacted Hippogriff Of The Human World presents A Dramatic Follow-Up To Cheerilee's Garden and A Possible Alternate Future To Cheerilee's Garden 2: The Scarlet Harvest Cheerilee's Garden (Possibly) Gaiden 1: Refuge In Sunset (Record scratch) At this point, imagine Falak dressed as Joseph Joestar popping onscreen. "Nope. No 'possibly' about it. This is a Gaiden." He then scrubs away the "(Possibly)." (Now return to playing the music.) Cheerilee's Garden Gaiden 1: Refuge In Sunset Nodding at that, he throws up the bunny ears and says, "Happy Nightmare Night-slash-Naberus-slash-Samhain-slash-Halloween, everycreature!," and dips out. starring Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity and Luna Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy Ashleigh Ball as Applejack and Rainbow Dash Nicole Oliver as Celestia Kazumi Evans as Adagio Diana Kaarina as Aria and Maryke Hendrikse as Sonata