Half a minute had passed since Queen Novo had left Grey inside her house. He was still sitting on the stone bench, waiting for her return with the magical object. He decided to get up and take a look over at a small bookshelf in the back, where only a handful of books were stacked together on the highest shelf. One particular book that caught his interest had the title 'Queen Novo's quest for the magic pearl' written on the side. Grey reached his claw out to the book. Before he could touch it, he heard footsteps coming from outside getting closer and closer. His head looked over at the open door, where he saw Queen Novo entering the house while carrying a small chest in her right arm.
''What were you doing?'' Queen novo asked him curiously.
''Just reading a bit. You took quite a while to get here.'' Grey explained.
''Yeah, sorry about that. We must keep our most priced possession in a very safe and secure place.'' Queen Novo explained as she walked closer to the cloaked figure.
''Understandable,'' Grey said before getting a good look at the chest, ''So, what's in there?''
Queen Novo presented him the chest, slowly opened it and revealed a small shining pearl inside. Grey watched the glowing pearl while showing a little smile on his beak.
''Do you think this will be enough to save my daughter?'' Queen Novo asked.
''Absolutely.'' Grey answered while still keeping his eyes on the pearl.
Grey raised his right leg and immediately kicked the hippogriff queen right in her stomach. Queen Novo let out a scream of pain. Grey then quickly snatched the pearl out of the chest, rubbed his claw over the glowing ball and used its magic to create a wave that pushed Queen Novo away from him. The hippogriff hit her back against the wall next to the open door and fell on the ground as she dropped the empty chest. Grey let out a sinister chuckle while holding the shiny pearl in his claw.
"I must say that I'm suprised at how easy it was to fool you, your majesty." Grey said, suddenly talking in a conniving manner.
Sky beak immediately entered the room and saw Queen Novo laying on the ground, looking weak and coughing lightly while having her claw on the wound she had received from Grey's kick.
''What did you do?!'' Sky beak asked in a threatening manner. He raised his spear and charged towards Grey.
''Stay out of this, you fool!'' Grey exclaimed threateningly while rubbing his claw over the pearl. A wave of magic emerged from it and pushed Sky Beak back out of the house through the open door.
"W-What is the meaning of this?" Queen Novo asked, struggling to stand up thanks to her wound.
Grey let out a sinister chuckle as his other claw reached for his hood, ''You will understand soon enough.....Queen Novo.'' He pulled it back, slowly revealing his face to the queen.
Queen Novo's eyes widened in shock and gasped when she finally saw the cloaked creature's face, ''You again?!''
''Princess Skystar.'' Pinkie Pie said, looking horrified at the sight she saw before her.
''No. No no no NO!!'' Twilight said in frustration before running over to the Princess Skystar statue.
The purple alicorn began casting a spell on Skystar, but it had no effect.
''Come on, COME ON!!'' Twilight said as she tried again over and over, casting more magic into the spell with every try. The look on her face became more desperate with each passing second.
''What are you trying to do, Twilight?'' Rainbow asked while looking concerned.
''I'm trying to save Skystar!'' Twilight shouted to her friends as she was still casting magic on the statue, ''WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M DOING?!''
They watched on as Twiligt's attempts were clearly draining her with each spell that she casted. Spike went over to the purple alicorn and stepped in front of her right before she was about to cast another spell. Twilight immediately stopped when she saw the purple dragon.
''Twilight, calm yourself down! Please.'' Spike said, sounding stern while also having a worried look on his face.
''Don't you all realize what this means?!'' Twilight asked urgently, ''This is exactly what I was afraid of! If Queen Novo finds out about this-''
Rainbow Dash gasped out loud, interrupting Twilight's sentence, ''Oh no!'' All of her friends immediately looked over to her.
The rainbow maned pegasus flew over to the other statues next to Skystar to get a better look and could not believe her eyes. The statue that Rainbow Dash was staring at looked like a familiar tall parrot. She had small round ear rings, wore a big pirate hat with a feather hanging on the side and had a seemingly wooden right leg. The statue was looking angry and held a sword in her claw, looking like she was ready to strike someone fiercely.
''That's Captain Celaeno!'' Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
''And there's Capper!'' Rarity said when she saw his statue standing next to Captain Celaeno's.
''And one of the storm guards!'' Fluttershy added, pointing to the confused looking statue of the storm guard.
''And look at that!'' Spike said to the other ponies as he pointed to the other side of the area.
Everypony expect for Twilight looked in surprise when they saw the gigantic stone door, located a few meters away behind the statues. Six symbols were carved in a circle on the door, with a small round object in the middle.
''Who would do all this?'' Fluttershy asked, trying to take in what she was seeing inside the round area.
''No idea.'' Spike replied. He looked around, seeing the same strange symbols carved underneath the statue.
''This is bad. This is the absolute, worst of the worst kind of bad!'' Twilight said with great panic in her voice as she was still focused on Princess Skystar.
''Twi, look at me,'' Applejack said while looking the panicked alicorn into the eye, ''Remember what I said earlier on the Storm King's island? Panicking won't solve anything.''
''I know! But how are we going to reverse THIS?! None of my magic is working!'' Twilight said.
''I don't know yet,'' Applejack replied, ''But that's exactly what we're gonna figure out.''
''We must go back to Mount Aris and tell Queen Novo, maybe she knows how to-''
''WHAT?! Are you crazy?!'' Twilight shouted before Pinkie Pie could finish her sentence.
Everypony's attention turned to Twilight as her shout echoed further into the dark tunnel.
''We cannot let Queen Novo know about any of this!'' Twilight explained.
''But you promised her that we'd return to Mount Aris as soon as we found Skystar!'' Rainbow Dash said.
''Not as a hunk of rock!'' Twilight said back.
''But don't you want to save Skystar, Twilight?!'' Pinkie Pie said to Twilight while looking slightly desperate.
''Or Capper?! Or Celaeno?!'' Rainbow Dash added.
''Of course I do! But if she sees what's happened to her, then-!''
''Then maybe she'll just wanna help us in any way she can!'' Applejack said before Twilight could finish.
Twilight stared down at the ground while having a slightly frustrated look on her face.
Applejack sighed, ''Look, Twi. I know that telling the truth is hard. And it can really hurt sometimes. Believe me, I've been there myself. But I promise that you'll feel MUCH better after you just let it out. Do you understand?''
A half a minute passed before Twilight was able to take in everything Applejack had told her. She sighed deeply as the magic around her horn disappeared.
''You're right,'' Twilight said, looking more determined, ''Let's head back to the airship.''
Twilight walked past her friends and headed into the dark tunnel without looking back. Her friends watched on for a few seconds and looked slightly worried before going after her.
It only took them a few minutes before they found the way out of the cave. Their airship was still floating in the sky with the anchor stuck on the beach.
''Did you find Skystar?!'' Tempest asked, who had already noticed the ponies walking out of the cave
''She's been turned to stone!'' Applejack said loud enough so that Tempest could hear her, ''We gotta get back to Mount Aris and tell Queen Novo!''
Tempest looked slightly hesitant for a momemt when she heard Applejack say that name. She tied a rope ladder to a wooden balk of the ship and threw it down to the beach where her friends stood. Applejack, Spike, Rarity and Pinkie Pie climbed onto the airship via the rope ladder while the others flew up to the ship and landed on deck.
''Oh, almost forgot!'' Rainbow Dash said.
The rainbow maned pegasus flew back down to the beach, where the anchor was still laying in the sand. She lifted the piece of metal up with all her might, panting steadily while raising herself and the anchor up to the airship. Half a minute later, she finally got the heavy thing on board and gently layed it on the ground. Rainbow Dash then layed down on the deck while catching her breath.
''That thing's.....heavier than.....any type of Wonderbolt training I've ever had to do.'' Rainbow Dash said, still catching her breath.
''Wonderbolt training?'' Tempest said with a confused look.
''I'll tell you.....about it some other time,'' Rainbow Dash said, stil laying on the wooden floor.
''So, what happend in there?'' Tempest asked the others.
''We went into the cave and found Princess Skystar as a statue. It's just awful.'' Rarity explained somberly.
''Turned to stone?'' Tempest repeated, ''Did the statue have any spikes on them by any chance?''
''No. Why?'' Rarity asked curiously.
''I thought maybe it could have been the cause of one of those green orbs that the Storm King used to have, but I guess not.'' Tempest explained.
''Someone else must be doing this. But who?'' Fluttershy asked.
''I don't know,'' Pinkie Pie said, starting to sound slightly more sinister, ''But once I find out who really did it, I'll turn him or her into cotton candy, swallow it whole and then laugh as I taste the sweet, souring taste of VICTORY!!''
The pink pony started laughing maniacally while creepy piano music started playing over the sound of thunder.
Tempest stared at Pinkie with a disturbed look, ''Is she always that creepy?'' She asked Fluttershy.
''Only sometimes.'' Fluttershy replied.
''Trust me, darling. We've seen MUCH worse from her.'' Rarity added.
''Just make sure to never break a promise with her, and ya should be good,'' Applejack explained with a slightly nervous look, ''Trust me, I'm telling ya from experience.''
''Ooookay.'' Tempest said, not sure what to think about it.
''But we'll have to figure out who did it later,'' Applejack suggested as she was already heading to the ship's steering wheel, ''First we must go back to Queen Novo and tell her what we know.''
Tempest looked a bit uneasy after hearing Applejack say that name again. She turned her attention over to Twilight, who had already walked off to the hatch leading below deck. She used her magic to open it and heading down to start up the ship's engine.
''Is Twilight okay?'' Tempest asked Fluttershy.
''She was very devastated when we found Skystar inside the cave.'' Fluttershy explained with a worried look.
''And she's afraid about what Queen Novo will say once we tell her about what we found.'' Pinkie Pie added.
Tempest looked a bit doubtful for a second, ''I don't blame her.''
''Awww, don't be like that,'' Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile, ''I'm sure that Queen Novo will understand. Right?''
''Yeah.'' Tempest said hesitantly. She then walked off to the hatch leading below deck. She opened it and headed down to where Twilight was.
Twilight used her magic to press some buttons and pull a few levers to speed up the engine in ten seconds flat. She could already feel the airship moving faster and faster with each passing second.
''Hey, Twilight.'' Tempest said as she walked up to the purple alicorn.
Twilight turned around, ''Oh, hi Tempest.''
''Your friends told me about what happened in the cave,'' Tempest explained, ''And I just wanted to see how you were doing, now that we're going to Mount Aris and all.''
''Oh. That,'' Twilight replied while looking nervous for a moment, ''Don't worry, I'll be fine. I just hope Queen Novo will understand.''
''I'm not so sure about that.'' Tempest replied after glancing down at her flank for a second.
''What do you mean?'' Twilight asked while looking a bit surprised.
Tempest looked a bit hesitant and stayed silent for a moment as she thought back to an unfortunate past event. It was back when she helped the Storm King to attack Moutn Aris. Tempest started to remember when she saw how quickly Queen Novo turned on Callidus as soon as the hippogriff thought he had betrayed her.
''Is something wrong?'' Twilight asked after a few seconds of silence had passed.
''It's nothing,'' Tempest quickly said, ''But I just want to warn you. Queen Novo may not be as open minded as your friends think.''
''Why not?'' Twilight asked.
Tempest noticed that Twilight was starting to look both scared and confused after what she said.
''N-Nevermind. I guess I'm also just a bit nervous about going back to Mount Aris, that's all.'' Tempest said.
''Okay,'' Twilight said, still looking a bit uneasy, ''I better get back to running the engine.'' She turned around to the engine and was about to get back to work.
''Can I ask you one more thing?'' Tempest asked.
''Sure. What is it?'' Twilight asked after turning around again.
Tempest looked at Twilight's cutie mark, ''That thing on your.....um, backside. What is that exactly?''
''You don't know what a cutie mark is?'' Twilight asked while souding a bit surprised.
''No. Ever since I had left my hometown when I was a filly, I've never had anypony actually tell me what it's supposed to mean. I've been wondering it for a very long time now.'' Tempest said, glancing back at her flank which was covered by her cloak.
''Oh, that's quite simple,'' Twilight explained, ''A cutie mark is meant to represent your special talent.''
Tempest widened her eyes, ''Say what?''
''Your special talent. You know, like something you're really good at doing or just really love to do.'' Twilight explained again.
''Are you absolutely sure that's what it means?'' Tempest asked, sounding slightly concerned.
''Well, yes,'' Twilight replied, who starting to look a little confused, ''Why? Is there something wrong?''
''N-No. I was just curious, that's all.'' Tempest said in a bit of a nervous manner.
''Oh, I see,'' Twilight said as she began to look relieved, ''Hey. Now that you mention, what is your cutie mark? I've never actually seen it before.''
''Oh. Well, the thing about that is I......I don't have one.'' Tempest replied while stuttering a bit.
''Aww, that's too bad,'' Twilight replied, ''But I'm sure you'll get it someday. You just gotta be patient.''
''Y-Yeah, you're probably right.'' Tempest said with a nervous looking smile.
''Mountain in sight!'' Twilight and Tempest heard Pinkie Pie's voice coming from the upper deck.
Twilight let out a small sigh, ''Well, I guess it's time.''
''You go on ahead. I uh, gotta do something first.'' Tempest quickly explained.
''Okay. I'll see you later.'' Twilight said.
Tempest watched Twilight walk away from her and saw the purple alicorn walking up the stairs leading to the upper deck of the ship.
Once Twilight had closed the hatch, Tempest sighed in relief and started looking over at her flank once again, which was still covered by her long dark cloak. She placed her hoof down to her right, moved it to where the cloak was laying on the floor and pulled it up. Her flank eventually became bare and that's when she saw it again. Right there on the side of her flank was the Storm King's symbol as her cutie mark. Tempest looked at the symbol with distraught, now that she finally understood what a cutie mark is.
Tempest's heart started racing when she heard the hatch going open again. Her eyes widened in shock as she quickly covered up her flank again with her cloak. She looked up and saw Pinkie's neck stretching through the opening of the hatch.
''Didn't you hear me? I said mountain in sight! Come on, let's go!'' Pinkie Pie exclaimed before moving her head back to her body.
Tempest glanced back at the side of her flank once again while looking somber. After hearing what Twilight had to say about what a cutie mark is, she couldn't help but think about how Queen Novo would react if she found out, especially after she had seen what happened with Callidus many days ago. An unusual sense of fear and panic started going through her mind. She tried her best to pull herself together and hesitantly walked up the stairs, exiting through the hatch before closing it behind her.