Mt. Aris’s hospital doors swing open with Cornfield officially checked out from their care. He and Cobalt Coral moved swiftly to rendezvous with the queen on the plan of action. However, as they approached the castle gates, they noticed two guards working up a sweat with boxes full of hippogriff loot. Silver Night, like a pegasus on cloud nine, skipped along with her head held high.
Coral couldn’t help but glare at Silver. Though she wanted her fellow thief to be rewarded from someone as possessive as Novo, she was a tad annoyed that she made pack mules out of Aris’s finest. “Get your share of the reward, then?” she asked with a dry tone.
“Yeah!” Silver gleefully sang. “I’m having them put some of it on the boat and the other stuff in your cave. I hope that’s not a bother is it?”
“Coral, how is Silver looting the castle with nopony to stop her?” The stallion from the sidelines chimed, emphasizing how no guards took any action resisting her greedy deed.
“Mind your business!”
The purple hippogriff of the group wedged herself between Cornfield and Silver to prevent any more needless confrontations. “Enough!” Coral snapped before turning to the luckiest black unicorn in Equestria. “If Novo can do without it, then that’s fine. For all I care, you can keep everything. That cave of mine is dead at the moment, so just load them on the boat and sail somewhere safe, away from Mt. Aris.”
“Good! I plan to.” Silver trotted forward until Cornfield had blocked her passage.
“That’s a really familiar bag strapped around your barrel,” the green stallion interrogated with a furrowed brow. “Wouldn’t happen to be mine, would it?”
Silver stood and blanked for a minute before realizing she got carried away. “Oh. Yeah. Here.” Unstrapping it from her side, she precariously tossed it to the ground without any disregard of its contents.
“Hey! Careful! You could break my camera!” He opened his bag to find his belongings were unscathed, but noticed that the peridot and the map of the Gems were in his bag. “Hey, Coral, why is your stuff here? Aren’t these-”
“My bag is gone, Cornfield,” Coral interrupted with a sigh. “The Peridot and the Map are the only things I have left that I could call my own, and one of them is stolen property.”
Silver, not knowing what to say to that, shrugged and resumed her kingdom pilfering adventure. “Well, no shame in building back from the ground up,” she encouraged. “Who knows, maybe you’ll end up with a boatful of swag like me!” Her words of motivation shared, she strutted down the street until she was out of earshot.
“Cheeky little-”
“Cornfield! You’re OK!” The two intrepid adventurers were suddenly ambushed by a gleeful Skystar, running to greet them while her mother and Calm Breeze followed. It didn’t take long for the princess to wrap her forelegs around him and, despite being taken aback by the sudden affection, he returned it with a hug as well.
“Of course, I’m fine!” The photographer assured “As long as Coral’s with me, we can get through anything!” He glanced over to see a soft smile on his partner, reflecting how touched she was by his words.
Novo approached the Equestrian citizen and bowed to him, as her daughter sided with the queen. “Good to hear you are eager to save my citizens,” said the hippogriff monarch. “Although that cowardly Whirlwind may destroy our city, we will always rebuild. It’s much easier to replace buildings than innocent lives.”
Remembering the royal rule of hippogriffs, Cornfield bowed his head respectfully. “Thank you, Queen. As long as Whirlwind remains a threat at large, once this is dealt with, we should inform the Princesses of Equestria the danger he poses.”
“Agreed. We will not let the Storm Army tear apart the world once more.” A tinge of humility briefly overcame the monarch, though she initially hesitated to address it. “I’m sorry that I didn’t trust either of you from the beginning.”
Calm approached Cornfield gingerly. Since as far he knew, the pony might have thought he was on the side of the Storm Creatures. There was still much to prove who he still swears by. “T-That goes double for me,” he stammered. “I n-never thought you were-”
“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” the colt waved off any more unneeded explanations. “Coral filled me in. Any idea why you have a scar on your head, Calm? Did we figure that out while I was in the hospital?”
Unsure how to answer, the light-blue hippogriff fidgeted his claws against the ground until his sister stepped in. “Silver came up with an interesting theory. We think that it may be related to the migraines he gets when he has negative emotions about Whirlwind.” A growl escaped her beak as she stomped her hind-hoof. “Thinking about what that bastard may have done to my brother makes my blood boil!”
“Regardless,” Novo restructured the subject to get everyone moving into action. “Calm has received a letter from Whirlwind. He is coming back in his underwater capsule to take you both to the Mind of Water.” The queen glanced back at a few soldiers who stood by on her orders, shouldering opened chain shackles. She motioned them, and they obliged, the chains clanking loudly against the iron shackles. “Be careful, my soldiers. Treat them well, as their binds are only a ruse.”
“Yeah,” Cornfield said as he stuck his neck out to be latched up in the chains with Coral. “Save the tough guy for when it’s time.” With the iron chains binding himself to his partner, the trap was set. However, as the storm creatures’ arrival drew near, the princess of the hippogriffs bounced enthusiastically to the stallion’s side before they could get their act together.
“So! How did my gift turn out, Cornfield?” Skystar leaned in to whisper. “Was she happy?”
“More than ever, Skystar,” he responded with a smile to her.
For the royal descendent, the excitement levels had breached her limits. Squeals of delight sounded as she transitioned into an overjoyed celebration. “Eee! I’m so glad! Now I know you two will be there for each other, no matter what happens!” A beat of silence passed as she collected herself from the news. “So, will I be one of the flower mares for the wedding?”
“Skystar!” Novo squawked. “That’s hardly appropriate.” The purple bandit in chains couldn’t help but laugh at the naïve innocence behind Skystar’s words.
Then, as if all joy was chased out from the moment, more soldiers galloped up to their palace posts in a hurry. The captain of the squadron stopped to catch his breath and gasped “You’re majesty! He’s here!”
With their deadly opponents soon reaching the palace, everyone had to scramble into place. Quickly, Coral told Cornfield in a hushed tone, “Listen, time to be miserable for a little while, ok?”
He dimly nodded, responding with nothing more than “Yeah, got it”. The young stallion never took pleasure out of faking his suffering, even if to defy his greatest enemies. Something he would only do out of pure necessity.
Their heads drooped and as their bodies became cold with despair. Every creature put on the guise of deception with no time left to spare. The loyal elite squadron enlisted solely for protecting critical assets had already infiltrated the castle. Within their formation striding along was Whirlwind, looking to repossess once more what slipped through his grasp. Queen Novo displayed her disgust for Coral, who shot her a dirty look back. Hiding away in the backdrop was Skystar, wishing Sheldon and Shelly were here to comfort her in this terrifying scene.
Meanwhile, Calm approached to acknowledge his former boss’s presence. “My lord,” he welcomed with a bow. “It pleases me immensely to see you in good health, especially with what happened while we were in the depths of the sea!”
Whirlwind, growing further impatient by his lackey’s cordial greeting, subtly lifted off his glasses and wiped them slowly. “Naturally,” he answered with a dull tone, hiding away his annoyance. “We’re fortunate to have one more prototype.” With the formalities out of the way, he got down to royal business with Novo. “Did these two give you any trouble?”
Before the queen could respond, Coral held nothing back to shout, “Not as much trouble as I’m going to make for you, you wretched ape!” She leapt after him, coming to an inch of Whirlwind’s unflinching face when the steel chains yanked her back like a fifty pound red snapper. “BAWCK-ACK!” After the major recoil, she reached for her bruising neck, then side-eyed the guards playing along with the ruse and thought “I know it’s for show, but did you guys have to yank that hard?”
Bemused, the leader of the storm creatures felt it appropriate to get a feel for the foolish stallion that always shadowed the large vicious hippogriff. The fact that he kept staring at the sea-washed gravel on the floor beneath his hooves was an indicator of his attitude for these politics. No matter how much Whirlwind had investigated, researched, and experienced, after everything thus far he’s seen come about from this ‘kingdom of filthy birds’, this peculiar stallion was the biggest oddity of them all.
“This case study intrigues further investigation”, the mad scientist thought as he approached the little equine. Towering over, he proceeded to kneel paw-to-hoof with his eyes down at the captive and asked, “Who are you, little pony...?”
He remained silent, as if hiding something from everyone. Not Coral nor Novo comprehended what on Earth he could be planning, let alone Whirlwind, but it was awfully quiet in that moment. Then, as if a spotlight donned upon himself, Cornfield gracefully raised his head, eyes closed, and faced the ceiling, shooting a hoof to the sky.
“I was, but a lad, before I arrived upon this dreadful prison of Earth surrounded by water. Everypony looked at me with aspiration, yet I hath doomed them all to anything but failure. On this day, my shoulders burden the past, the present, and our future. What was once a mere simple quest, had evolved into a journey lusting for the roots of which could testify the epiphany of destiny! Its weight will crush me now that I, once a boy, now a stallion in the name of virtue, lost everything to a dictator! A tyrant! A parasite! A vessel whose passengers are lust, destruction, and despair!”
Every creature in earshot of Cornfield’s speech stood there in silence, befuddled by what came out of his mouth as he held that pose. Even Coral stared at him, silently mouthing out the words “what the fuck”.
“Of all the techniques to withhold information, yours is the most… creative.” Whirlwind then cleared his throat and stepped around the weirdo to face Novo. “With your permission, for the safety of our countries, I will take these vagabonds to strengthen the Mind of Waters defenses. Once we’re done, I’ll return with them to discuss further on how to deal with these thieves properly.”
“You have my blessing,’' Novo agreed flatly. “On account that my soldiers will accommodate you.”
Though she said nothing, the queen noticed how visibly annoyed the lord looked, but he obliged all the same. “I see you don’t trust that I’ll get the job done after my first slip-up,” the young dictator uttered. “I assure you it won’t happen again.” He followed through with his back turned and nothing more to say as his guards accompanied their leader. Novo’s guards and the “prisoners” soon entailed.
At a sufficient distance from Whirlwind’s audible range, Cornfield inquired to Coral what they should do next.
“We play by ear,” she answered confidently. “Calm has the keys to our locks. He’ll free us when he thinks the time is right...”
Soon, after what seemed like an hour-long walk to the docks, they found themselves boarded back inside a new nautical capsule. Although this time, the prison containment section had been reinforced with some shiny dense alloy. “Isolate the colt in the prison cell,’' Whirlwind commanded. “The hippogriffs stay with me and my troops.”
“What?!” Coral protested loudly.
“Sir?!” Calm joined his sister in exclamation.
The elite guards sought to release Cornfield ever so briefly in chained captivity before shoving him inside the reinforced chamber like baggage into a locker. The poor colt regained his hoofing and circled back to the open door. “D-Don’t worry, guys...I’ll be fine... Rea-” The cell door slammed shut on him mid-sentence, reverberating the deafening sound that filled Coral with horror. Menacingly, Whirlwind slowly came to face Coral, eyeing the Gem on her chest with greed.
At the same time Coral realized it with a glance at the Heart of Nature and fired back scathing words. “You want it so bad? Take a picture, it will last longer...” Smirking, Whirlwind lumbered over to her while a distressed Cornfield desperately peeked through the barred window embedded in the prison door.
Frustrated, he shouted, “Damn!” and bashed his hoof against the door. “Once again I am helpless. If Novo hadn’t conceded to Whirlwind…” Taking a deep and contemplated breath, he loosely stepped over till he landed upon one of the cell walls. A barred porthole hung over him, shining a blueish beam of ocean sunlight, and the imprisoned drifted his eyes into the depths of the sea. “I guess all I can do now is wait until they drop their guard.”
Meanwhile, the south side of Coral’s beak felt Whirlwind’s cold, monkey paw wrapped around it in a vice grip. “I’ve seen what power you hold, Coral. You’re already well taught in its mysterious ways,” said Whirlwind in a sinister tone. “I just need you to be cooperative for a little while longer until I claim what’s rightfully mine.”
Coral strained to escape his grasp and tried to bite at his monkey fingers, but a jerk of his arm back denied such petty satisfaction. “It’s not yours to have, Whirlwind!” she rebelliously corrected. “I don’t have to do anything if I want to. What dare will you take if I don’t let you have your way?!”
Whirlwind then eyed the prison door where Cornfield laid.
“I have a couple ideas.”
The capsule’s propellers guided it through the vast, seemingly unending ocean, passing through Seaquestria and deep into a ravine where light cannot escape. Yet the cold calculating tyrant had prepared for this, deploying magically generated spotlights, which shined down via crystals installed beneath the head of the vessel. Through his tiny window, Cornfield witnessed how the environment shifted from deep ocean, to an undersea cavern. Rocky terrain surrounded the vehicle until he felt it slow its pace, followed by the motion of its ascension, breaking through the surface of the water.
The view outside the porthole was breathtaking to the pony. The rocks turned into white and blueish bricks that served as the main masonry the hippogriffs of the past used in their architecture. Water reflections bounced around, with glorious illumination in the main entrance hall, as waves of light danced about upon the carved stone.
“All personnel,” the lord announced. “Prepare to disembark!”
These words urged Cornfield to the door, expecting to be released from his cell. One of the storm soldiers let a hippogriff guard inside for the purpose of reapplying restraints. Back to playing guard and prisoner, the former aggressively dragged him along, exhibiting realism in their act.
“HUUURRRK!” The hapless stallion gasped as he almost choked on the chain. Abandoning the lifeless and empty submersible, Coral reunited with Cornfield and together, they were in majestic awe at the sheer sight of the temple. Unlike the forest temple, the brickwork had been expertly built and laid out by many generations of hippogriffs. Water dripped onto the aqua-coloured tiles and drained into micro rivers that flowed through the gaps, leading backwards from whence they came. Feeding the pool of entry, it provided the means for a vessel such as Whirlwind’s to dock upon. The only source of illumination was thanks to a ceiling equipped with glowing coral.
Laid before the raiding party was a towering purple crystal door, tightly sealed, with two very familiar looking statues of a bearded alicorn of the elements seemingly guarding each side.
“Cornfield! Look!” Coral pointed to imposing figures of marble. “Isn’t that the alicorn that we saw at the forest temple?!”
Cornfield examined it from a distance, and felt the same sensation as she did. “...Yeah... But what does it mean?”
Something in the purple treasure hunter beckoned her to investigate. “I don’t know… those vines of his beard...” Then she found a pile of rubble, having fallen off of the beard itself. “It’s broken off, like back in the forest? Could The Heart of Nature have anything to do with- URK!”
Whirlwind snapped the chains back, casting the poor hippogriff across the floor. “Might I remind you that this isn’t a field trip?” The young storm creature calmly snarked before becoming visibly angry. “Shut your beak or I’ll shut it for you!”
After such a display of contempt for his friend, Cornfield angrily stared down at the cold water gathering around his hooves. Retorts and shouts at his enemy circulated inside his head until he gathered the courage to lash out. “Hey!” the bold stallion cried out. “Don’t make her suffer!”
A moment of silence passed as the Storm King’s heir gazed in Cornfield’s direction. Then, he took one step and imposed his stature right into the little pony’s muzzle. “Or what? You freak of a creature! Do you expect me to show mercy for you? Then you thought wrong!”
“Lord Whirlwind, please! They did nothing wrong!” said Calm, pleading with his “boss”.
Powerless, Cornfield chose his steps carefully as he backed away, to which Whirlwind opposed Calm with a finger pointed at him. “You and that thief over there may be kin, but if she doesn’t obey like the queen ordered, I’m permitted to punish her! Is that clear?” Although it sounded like he was being scolded by a teenager with a bit of angst behind his voice, Calm submitted to his authority. “Y-Yes, sir.”
When the slight scuffle had settled, they soon found themselves dealing with the matter of the door, for it contained a hole, centered plainly between the double door monument. Being stuck in direct administration by a power hungry mad scientist and his league of apes was starting to get Cornfield’s nerves going. “Oh damn, I hope this plan works...” He thought.
Giving up Coral’s metallic leash to her brother, Whirlwind brought their attention to a plaque next to the door, written in Old Ponish like the inscriptions found in the temple of Everfree. “This was as far as we got. My transcribers translated this primitive language ahead of time. It calls for the Heart of Nature to open the way.” It is then he leered right at Coral with daggers in his eyes. “I’ve seen the way you used the vines on my soldiers. Do as I command or Cornfield suffers.” Shocked by his eager use for the colt as a hostage, Coral furrowed her brow with a glare.
Cornfield, unsure of his present disposition, thought to himself, “Is it time now?”. Coral looked around, seeing her pony friend become increasingly nervous, along with the hippogriff soldiers. She holds a single claw up, sternly ordering them to wait, before going ahead to unlock the door.
“This will be no problem,” she said with brave words. She slid her claws through and gradually projected her vines outward. The plant extremities felt about the other side, hoping for a switch or anything relevant to their predicament. Then suddenly, Coral detected the sense of something thin and long. It was loose and easily graspable too. “I think I found something!”
Her excited tone made Cornfield tense up as he tried bracing himself for what he could not predict. By lifting the object in an outwardly direction, the heavy crystal door became light enough for her vines to breach it open. As soon as she did, Coral was blindsided when Whirlwind greedily thrusted her aside, sending her down into a corner.
“Out of the damn way!” he proclaimed.
With an audible thunk and stunned from the sudden trauma, she faded into the shallow faint light. Calm rushed to her side, wanting to cry for her pain. “Sister!” While he did his sibling duty to help her off from the glistening wet bricks, she peered at what stood beyond Whirlwind. Behind the door was not the Mind of Water after all, but instead a large winding staircase, which coiled downward into a narrow veil of stairs.
“Those hippogriffs really are in love with their pitiful nation,” the leader of the storm creatures stated with animosity in his tone. “This is a giant wentletrap.” He clicked his tongue impatiently as he glanced back at the creatures of Mt. Aris, who were checking in on Coral’s condition. “Seems we still need the birds a little longer...” Exerting his status as Lord, his booming voice returned. “Hippogriffs, forward! Let’s see what this temple holds.”
Coral stumbled upward, leaning on her trusted partner for support. Despite regaining her balance, she saw that Calm and Cornfield were both lost on what they needed to do about the monkeys. Whispering, Coral laid out the rules. “Calm, you will need to distract him when he finds the Mind of Water. He must not touch it. Give the key to one of the guards.” He passed the key entrusted to him discreetly to the nearest guard bird. “When I say ‘now’, they spring us out and surprise the brat. Got it?”
Now with a new resolve, Cornfield gave her a solid salute alongside the soldiers. Them, along with the hippogriff guards joined the Storm Army marching downstairs, eventually thinning into a straight line that led somewhere deeper. Into the heart of the temple, they wandered around the inside of a very large dome, feeling more like a coliseum in size. On the other side of the dome was a massive cavern, but it was too dark to see anything inside. A second staircase dug into the center of the room, beckoning with a faint blue light. Yet before they could even scope it out, something brought about a tremor shaking the room. It was as if the entire temple had an awakening.
More and more were the awful vibrations piling up. Some of the guards, primate and avian, fell off balance as large rumbling sounds echoed from within the caverns. Something huge was coming their way, and coming their way quickly. The storm creatures gathered around their lord and raised their spears and shields, while everybody else tried not getting knocked off their feet.
The one pony in the dome panicked aloud. “What’s happening?! Is it a cave-in?!” Cornfield shuffled his legs and hooves about; wherever he could find pace.
“N-no! I think it’s something worse!” Coral squawked, as she blocked the loose sentiment from invading her eyes.
Slowly emerging from the bowels of its home, a gigantic sea tortoise lumbered its way forward; going for the intruders. Its giant bronze and glossy head was covered with many sword scratches and broken arrow tips after many unsung battles in generations of its existence. Its eyes were shining a sinister red, its unnaturally sharp teeth were bared, tainted brown with the blood of many foolish victims. Its massive flippers dragged its colossal moss-green shell out of the cavern and into plain sight. As soon as its head hung above the staircase, it rang out a giant roar that shook the temple for good measure.
Whirlwind cowered back with his troops, though they remained protective of him. “What inconceivable beast is this?!” he shouted with a hint of fear.
Cornfield was shocked to say the least, yelling “WHHAAAAAAAAT!?!?!”.
Coral’s eyes grew wide as she too reeled away from it, alongside the other hippogriffs. “Holy...” She mouthed to herself. “I-I had no idea that something like this lived under the sea...” After beholding the sight, she screamed in terror and grasped Cornfield as quickly as a whip. The behemoth of a tortoise snatched up an unfortunate Storm soldier that failed to keep his distance from the creature. Resulting in an inevitable casualty who roared an unrestrained death cry, it was shaken around by the lizard like a piece of meat until it devoured him whole, cutting the soldier’s yells short.
“SIR! What do we do?!” Calm begged his presiding leader for implementing a winnable situation.
“CORAL! WHAT SHOULD WE DO?” Cornfield shouted in mindless fright.
“I DON’T KNOW! IT’S HUGE!” Coral pulled him in closer like a stuffed animal as her irises shrunk.
Evaluating the large beast scarfing down one of his own, Whirlwind searched for whatever clues or indications to this monstrosity’s flaws, but could only define the target’s superiority. “Do you see those scales! They have been hardened by centuries of ocean pressure! You can’t destroy it with any known weapons!”
Unusually, Cornfield determined the path to victory laid in the least obvious route. “But... There must be a weak point…” The puzzle solving side of him gave focus in the face of an imperative crisis. That was when he noticed numerous small holes in the ground. Their pattern suggested an ulterior intention. In the meantime, the lumbering colossus was stirring up chaos in the room. He knew to act now, lest they all perish. So the plucky colt darted as best he could with his bondage devices, to where death may follow.
The chains tugged Coral along, beckoning her to follow, “Cornfield! Wait for me!” she pleaded as she ran alongside him.
Whirlwind, who was more concerned of his self-preservation, saw the hostages flee towards the beast. Though he despised providing assistance to his nemesis, he already knew their immediate value as keys to the Mind of Water. “WHAT ARE YOU IMBECILES DOING?! IF THAT THING EATS THE PRISONERS, OUR WORK WILL BE FOR NAUGHT!!!” He bellowed.
Gaining speed, the stallion colt began swerving in order to dodge the front right leg of the temple’s guardian as it settled on the wet floor. Thrusting his body to squeeze underneath its hind-end inches from the ground, his eyes then suddenly sparked with resolve. Located deeper in the domain of the creature’s dwelling was an intricately grafted but decapitated switch installed on the floor with the handle not far from its home.
“CORAL!” the stallion called in hopes she would find a way to him.
However, invading the cavern caused the creature to deviate its focus, specifically on Cornfield! It was only a matter of time before it fully spun around and mashed his small frame. Coral spread her wings, flew up, and circled the monster, narrowly avoiding the jaws of the creature, just enough to catch up with her friend.
As she reunited with him, she noticed their new predicament; now cornered in the cave with the turtle monster. It makes a loud roar to the both of them, nearly deafening the two.
“LOOK!” Cornfield jutted his hoof to the ground. “A SWITCH!”
Panicked, the feathered rogue turned to her partner. “Well, what do you think that thing does!?”
“Try using your vines to affix the handle onto the switch! I think this is part of a trial to test anypony getting past the door!” Then, the colossus makes a horizontal swipe with its razor sharp fin; they both duck to avoid an unfortunate decapitation. “I’ll turn the handle! Just keep it secure!”
Comprehending with a breadth inch of understanding, she sensed the creature within their vicinity and nodded. Using only one talon, she secured the handle by tying her vines through the holes that would attach the mechanism. Her instinct to check over the shoulder made it clear death was lurching ever nearer to them. They were right in chomping range of the maw their worst nightmares possessed. The hippogriff had thrown her body all the way near a wall, thinly dodging the inevitable snap while straining to keep her vines stretched and tight. Her frightened scream reverberated the giant monster’s domain.
And then it was all over. Everything they had worked for this far vanished within the instance time would run out on them. Leaping with faith, Cornfield managed to flip the switch with all his might, despite barely maintaining its integrity. A resounding click, followed by the sounds of rumbling called upon a deluge as a section of water gushed out the ground through the small holes. Partially underneath the tortoise’s quarter-half was enough force to flip it slowly over and send it tumbling with a trembling crash. Seizing this opportunity, the duo embraced their luck to live another day and race away from imminent danger!
After the plucky colt escaped by the skin of his teeth, he called out his friend as the tortoise collapsed upon the center, belly up. “Are you ok!?”
The bird hybrid caught her breath for a moment, yet was shook by fright. “Y-Yes! But we need to do something about that monster! If it finds a way to get right-side up again, it will just try to kill us when we return!”
“WAIT! LOOK!” Cornfield pointed his hoof, hoping everyone else could connect the dots. The tortoise’s exposed underside revealed a soft furry point on its belly. Strangely, it glowed like some kind of vulnerable spot, or maybe that was a trait of it’s unknown digestive system. No matter the cause, it was ripe for an assault.
A roar thought to be the creature’s distress actually revealed itself as Whirlwind barking out excited orders, seeking dearly to end the monstrosity. The front-most guard engaged, aggressively charging in to leap above and deal the final blow. Before their legs could even get within jumping range, they were smacked fiercely by turtle fins, with one fatally sliced and faltering. Growling, Whirlwind called out his captives opposite of him.
“I don’t know what you fools did,” the impatient lord shouted, “but my troops COULD finish this miserable creature. We just can’t get close! NOW DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!”
“Damn! We still need some way to bring this to an end!” Coral’s mind raced in frustration. Yet there were feelings overwhelming her about the stakes that took place. Not of fear or danger, despite the circumstances, but of gratefulness over the risks Cornfield went through in saving her from the beast. Indeed, it was that moment where she felt happy to know Cornfield to begin with. That happiness fueled some much needed inspiration.
“Cornfield, hop on!” She stated. He obliged, hopping on her back and allowing her to take to the air without choking her friend on the chain. Coral spread her wings, flying high and hovering above the teetering lizard as it attempted to wriggle itself back up. She came face to face with the beast and, with all her might, while it made attempted lunges at her, channeled all the happy moments she shared with her adventure. Seeing her brother again, the proposal of the blue hibiscus flowers, everything.
Witnessing this pinnacle climax out of eager anticipation was Cornfield. As her vines stretched out to the beast’s head and wrapped them around its mouth, she held it shut as tight as possible, enough that her vines couldn’t get eaten themselves. Then, her powers developed into budding flowers that bursted into a cloud of pollen. The lizard writhed as it inhaled the concentrated powder, making it sleepy and eventually pacified.
As it went limp, Whirlwind sufficiently ordered all remaining soldiers into full eradication of the beast. The hippogriff guards assisted by carrying them airborne to the top of the beast with their talons, while in turn the soldiers plant their paws down and gut the soft belly like some sickening sport. Blood gushed from the opening, as they lacerated the innards, drenching the white fur of the storm creatures, who would happily scream in the blood-soaked execution.
The onslaught of so many stabbings made the tortoise wrangle about, struggling to surpass its demise as the soldiers stabbed and skewered some more. Finally, a death cry echoed throughout the cavern after receiving one last mortal blow. Coral and Cornfield saw its limbs fall meekly and conform on the ground, with a twitch as the beast drew its final breath. The soldiers let out a victory cry, and raised their spears in pride.
With the brutal death of the living fossil behind them, Coral did her best to silently land outside of Whirlwind’s view, and let her partner touch solid ground once more. “What’s the plan, Coral?” Cornfield questioned as he dismounted. “Shall we take them?”
She had a wide grin on her face and hugged the exhausted colt quickly before whispering in his ear. “Let’s get the hippogriff guard’s attention. Then, we spring out of these chains!”
“Ok! And hey, this time I saved OUR butts!” He smiled with glee.
Coral could only chuckle and shake her head. “We ALL did our part, you goof. I just needed a minute to compose myself!” Humility took over as she blushed and brushed her feathered mane back. “...But I would be turtle food if it weren’t for you.”
“Heh... I could have done better if this was the forest and not... An underwater exhibit.”
With a quick peck on his cheek, she brought him over where the other hippogriff guards anxiously await their orders, accompanied by Calm, settling in their own place away from Whirlwind’s brutes. One soldier cautiously asked her, “Is it time?”
“Yeah, now!” Coral chimed.
The guard shuffled a key out of his pocket. However, unexpectedly, the sound of a glittering magical beam rang out, echoing a gnarly sizzling splash. The poor member of Queen Novo’s army gave a fainting grunt while his cranium disintegrated, revealing a broken, brainless skull, and body fluids overflowing the top. Slack-jawed with all his motor functions gone, he took the fall like a marionette with no strings. The grotesque sight made Coral scream in horror as the next unwary guard took a similar acidic blast in his head before he even realized they were under fire.
Calm, who became powerless and fell to his knees by his lord’s actions after a failed attempt to stall, stared awestruck at his lord. “Lord Whirlwind... WHY?!”
The sight was overly traumatizing for Cornfield as well. He let out a disheveled shriek as Coral could not shield her friend’s eyes from any more ghastly deaths. Before they knew it, the third elite guard who didn’t join the fight snuck up and pulled back on their chains, reigning them both to him. Whirlwind stood holding a contraption in his paws, a pistol with a refined crystal humming energy at the end of it and his digit on the trigger. With a sickening, cold-hearted smirk, he aimed this foreign device right at Coral’s head.