The Purloined Pony

by Chris

Page 59

Transporting several thick, heavy glass panes across rough terrain would be a formidable task for you alone. Luckily, Twilight is with you. Although the panes weigh a good 20 pounds each, she assures you as she picks several up with her magic that it will be no trouble at all for her to carry them for several hours, if need be.

With the glass in tow, the two of you walk towards the edge of the forest. You breath a sigh of relief when you see the boggie there, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Jeez, you ponies are stupid and slow AND ugly! C’mon, follow me!” He sprints off into the woods at once.

You and Twilight lose him constantly in the undergrowth, but true to his word, the little creature does not abandon you. Every time he disappears out of sight, you find him waiting impatiently for you a short way forward, ready to goad you on towards the boggie lair. In good time, the three of you arrive at a sandstone ridge pockmarked with small caves. From the concealment of the underbrush, the boggie points out several of the larger entrances. “Alright fatty, you’ve only got one shot at this. You need to block off all the holes right away, or else the Ceanntighern might escape. If he makes it out, then I can’t claim victory.”

Twilight nods and focuses (though you see her surreptitiously glance down at her waist first). Swiftly but carefully, she sets the panes of glass over the cave entrances, using her magic to hold them tightly in place.

Approaching the largest hole, you find yourself facing a mass of furious boggies trapped inside the cave by your glass. They scream and shout, but you note with satisfaction that they shy away from touching the glass itself.

The boggie whom you helped runs ahead of you and starts shouting back and forth with the trapped boggies in a strange, guttural language which you don’t understand. After quite a bit of jawing, he turns to Twilight and says, “Okay, blobbo. You can let them out now.”

Putting out a hoof to stop Twilight, you eye the boggie suspiciously. “And then you’ll turn over Applebloom and leave this place forever, right?”

“GAH! You ponies are so dumb. I swore, didn’t I?” You give Twilight a nod, and she moves the pane of glass away.

There is a brief ceremony wherein, you assume, the title of Ceanntighern is passed from the old chief to the new. It seems to consist mostly of the two dozen or so boggies who swarmed out of the cave once the glass was lifted ripping the clothing and symbols of office from a morbidly obese boggie and wrapping them around your ‘friend,’ all the while babbling to each other in their bizarre tongue. Once that is done, the new Ceanntighern approaches you, a look of triumph on his face. “Now, is there something you ponies wished to beg of me?”

You nearly shout with annoyance, but then remember what he said about needing to maintain face as a newly minted ruler. Doing your best to keep your tone civil, you say, “Oh great and powerful boggie king, could you let Applebloom go, please? And then leave forever, if it isn’t too much trouble?”

He makes a great show of pondering. Then, to your surprise, he says, “No.”

Smiling, he continues, “As I recall, I promised ‘if you help make me Ceanntighern, I’ll make sure your foal goes home safe and sound.’ Well, I plan to take her to her new home unharmed; she can’t be expected to do much work if she’s hurt!” He waves a hand at you negligently. “Now be gone, unless you have something valuable to offer in trade for the foal. Otherwise, I’ll have my new guards take you down, and we’ll have three new slaves to bring home instead of just one!” The boggies all laugh uproariously and grip their weapons, ready in case you try anything.

*****

1. If you swallow your pride and try to negotiate with the new Ceanntighern, go to page 84

2. If you decide it’s time to put this uppity boggie in his place, go to page 67

Comments

[Prismmirror]

Oh. I thought he'd just send AB home and then ambush Twilight and me, the end. I guess Carrot Top is just luckier in these situations than I am.