The pain from the head of Captain Celaeno was uncomfortable and ill. Her head and her body were knocked out cold, dozing with her belly down. She can hear herself groaning in agony, breathing slowly and softly. She couldn’t move. She also felt wet on her body, like there was water on the shallow floor. Slowly but steadily, she opened up her eyes, waking up from her unconscious slumber. Her eyes scattered as she saw nothing but darkness. She held her head with her claw and noticed that her pirate hat was gone when she rubbed her feathered head. She then noticed that her hat was in front of her. She grabbed it and wore it on her head while it was damped. She then pushed her body up with her arms to stand up and got her legs up to support. As she stands, she felt something pulling her back when she moved her right foot. Again, the surrounding was quite dark, so it was somewhat difficult to see things. She shook her right foot, only to hear the sounds of shackles clanging. Immediately, she learned that she was being held captive. She then heard more groaning from both sides. With her vision being cleared, she can recognize the figures. One by one, they got up. She can tell that it was her crewmates, and Queen Novo, who was also slowly getting up from her left.
“Where in the world are we?” Novo doubted.
Mullet faced Boyle, who was beside him. “Boyle, do you remember anything before we were knocked out?” the first mate questioned.
Boyle rubbed his head, which felt pretty bruised. “Beats me,” he admitted. “One minute, we chasing the yetis, we turn a corner… and BAM! And we’re here.” Squabble and Lix had the same experience.
“Princess Skystar’s still at the castle, right?” Celaeno asked.
“Yes, I hope so,” Novo muttered. The Queen and the pirates could hear some running water. “Did I hear running water? Where’s that coming from?”
“How should I know?” Lix questioned. “I can barely see a damn thing.”
“I think I’m starting to get a look at something,” Celaeno said. “Let me observe.”
She squinted her eyes to get her vision clear, even though it was dark. As Captain Celaeno observed their surroundings, she paid her attention to the ceiling, where giant rocks are blocking the way. She can tell that they’re way down underground from the base of New Ornithia. She looked behind her to see shackles glued to one spot of the dirt wall anchoring them in place. The same goes for the others. Finally, Captain Celaeno turned her direction to where the running water was heard echoing. There it is, she spotted it, a stream of fresh water flowing down from the gap between the rocks like a waterfall in a rainforest.
Celaeno’s beak hung open as she knew what was going to happen. “S***!” she proclaimed. “We need to escape!” she proclaimed.
“What’s wrong?” Mullet asked.
“We’re in an enclosed space… and water’s slowly filling up the room. We be feedin’ the fishes!” This nearly sent the pirates into a panic. Boyle tried tugging on his chain to break them loose, while Squabble tried banging his beak on them to break them. As the pirates tried their best to break free, Queen Novo glimpsed towards her neck only to find out that her pearl shard necklace was gone.
“MY SHARD!” Queen Novo gasped. “WHERE’D MY SHARD GO!?”
“Seriously!?” Celaeno blurted. “Why the Tartarus are you so focused on a piece of jewelry!?”
“That’s no ordinary accessory. It’s the only way to help!” The queen searched around for the fallen necklace. She still can’t see it. Luckily, she saw it floating in shallow water, but it was a few inches away from her. It looks like someone attempted to snatch it from her, only to be dropped by accident. Feeling relieved, Novo was about to get it back, until she was been pulled back by the heavy shackles. “Oh my goodness… GIVE ME A BREAK!”
The water level is increasing. It has quickly reached their shin level and has fully submerged their feet. It was still rising! Judging by the rubble breaking free from the hole it came out of, the stream of water was flowing in rapidly. Queen Novo tried her hardest to reach for her pearl shard with her arm as the pirates kept attempting to break free from the chains.
“Tell me! How can a small piece of shard could help us from not drowning?”
“I’ll explain it… once… I…get it!” She grunted as she kept pushing her body to reach for the shard. “Help me get more length!”
“The best way to do that… would be for these chains to be busted,” Mullet shouted. He looked to the anchored part in the wall. “I think our only hope… is to break that anchor out of the wall.”
“I… I don’t see what else we can do,” Celaeno sighed. “Everyone! Grab a hold of the chain.” The crew listened, and they grasped the chains firmly with both claws, as did Novo, who knew this was their only option now. “On three! 1… 2… 3… PULL!” Everyone pulled their hardest on the chain with as much energy and force as they can create, but the anchor in the wall wouldn’t budge. “Come on, ye hearties, PULL!”
“I’m pulling,” Boyle groaned. Despite their best efforts, the chains were too strong to break free, and the water level was up to their hips and, worse, rising faster than before. Squabble was going under panic mode at this point. He was then stopped by a smack on his face by Mullet.
“Get a hold of yourself!” Mullet cried. “This ain’t no time to panic!!!”
“He has the right to do that,” Lix exclaimed, “WE’RE F***ED!!!”
The water was coming in rapidly now as everyone was at a loss except for Celaeno. “Come on,” the captain groaned, “My people and Ocypete could be in danger right now! Princess Skystar could be too!”
The mention of Skystar made time stop for Queen Novo. She recalled something… tragic. She remembered losing one of the most important figures in her life, making her eyes water. Novo couldn’t let something like that happen to her daughter. Her eyes were filled with flames, and her teeth ground with fury. With all of her strength, she released her deafening scream of fury and melancholy, in which Captain Celaeno and her crew covered their ears. She immediately, with her now-buffed arms, yanked the anchor right out of the wall, making it splash into the water. Their jaws dropped after seeing it in action. Celaeno broke out of this state the moment she noticed they started floating towards the ceiling of the cavern.
“Um… Your Majesty, great job and everything but…. could you show us how that shard can save us now?” Celaeno cried. Novo didn’t waste any time and took a deep breath before diving underwater. The pirates did the same as they were all chained together.
While she was fairly inexperienced swimming as a hippogriff, Novo managed to grab her shard, which quickly gave off a pink glow. It engulfed her and Celaeno’s crew. Captain Celaeno blinked her eyes repeatedly since she wasn’t expecting a bright flash. When she glared at where Queen Novo was, she was shocked to see a Seapony in front of her. Novo was also providing some light thanks to her bang giving off a glow. The queen saw her and grinned.
“You don’t have to hold your breath,” Novo stated, “We’re good.”
Celaeno was confused until she opened her mouth and breathed in water normally like air. She didn’t feel like she was drowning in any way. That’s a weird feeling. She turned around and was shocked to see her crew had their bodies changed. They all lost their beaks, all of which had been replaced by muzzles similar to that of a seapony, just a little thinner than the average pony. Their claws were also unique compared to a seapony, as they still have the same functions as their talons, they appeared to be webbed, and the feathers on their heads looked to be more like fins. And the most obvious change would be their legs now being a tail with fins on the end matching the color of their original tails.
“Well, blow me down,” Celaeno gasped.
“Now I see why it’s important to you,” Lix commented.
“That’d explain that light Skystar flashed when she flew out of the water when we first met her,” Boyle commented.
Mullet took a peek at the chains that were still on them. Since they weren’t built for sea creatures, they slipped off easily. “Welp, that solves one problem,” he commented, “But how do we get out?”
Novo swam over to the rock barricade. There weren’t any leaks and all the stones were practically locked together. She felt something bump into her back. Looking back, she saw them trying to get used to their new bodies, with Squabble being the one to bump into her.
“I kinda wish there was a better time I could give you all swimming lessons,” the Queen muttered. She helped get those newbies into upright positions and had them group up to explain what she found. “Okay, so we barely broke those chains, and we have no idea how thick this rockslide is.”
“Ye don’t reckon you’d try that sudden strength ye used a moment ago?” Lix questioned.
“I ain’t planning on breaking my arm today.” Celaeno thought about their predicament until she peeked out of the hole the water was coming out of.
“Think we could escape through there?” Captain Celaeno asked. Queen Novo and the pirates swam up to the hole, which seemed to be big enough to fit them.
“Maybe we should go single file just in case,” Mullet suggested. “It could get thinner along the way.”
“It’s the only option we have. Who wants to go first?” The pirates all thought for a moment as Novo couldn’t wait.
“Your kind is in danger… and so is my daughter,” Novo declared.
“We know. It’s our only chance so…”
“So, you go first!”
“Alright… Might as well go for it.” Celaeno led the way with Novo following shortly behind then the rest of the crew went through the opening. As they swam along, Celaeno turned back at Novo, wanting to ask something. “So… what gave you that sudden boost in strength?” the avian asked.
Novo wasn’t wanting to answer this but…. They were in an uncertain position and she felt like she had to get this weight off her shoulders. “You have to understand that I worry about Skystar,” Novo explained. “I’ve felt like that since… I lost Waverider…, my one true love.”
Celaeno could tell this was going to be a tragic story. “W… What happened to him?”
Novo sighed as they looked through the tunnel. They had no idea where it went, but it was giving them plenty of space and the tunnel looked to go on for miles. “It’d help pass the time and…. To let a couple of things out.” The Queen thought back to the day when he attacked.
Back before Seaquestria was founded, Mount Aris was ruled by me and my beloved husband, King Waverider. He took his role seriously but would let his true self shine when it came to our daughter Skystar.
He enjoyed exploring the seashore with us. I remember how optimistic Skystar looked when we collected seashells by the seashore. We enjoyed our flights up to the summit of Mount Aris. It was one of the best moments I could ever wish for.
However, everything changed when the Storm King attacked. We lost several of our soldiers during his invasion, while Waverider and I made sure the citizens were safe. We almost had them all to the future Sequestria when we were pinned to a corner. We had no way to get to safety until… Waverider grabbed a dropped spear and I remembered the last thing he said to me.
“Novo, take care of Skystar for us. Make her future bright.” Before I knew it, he charged at the yetis and held them off for us to escape. I made sure Skystar could get away before I went out to help him, but I have witnessed… his final destiny.
The Storm King had used an orb that turned him into obsidian. We only had a chance to look at each other one last time before he was fully turned into a statue, and… got shattered by him.
Novo halted when she got to that part of the story. She sank to the bottom and could feel herself crying. Captain Celaeno stopped beside her and glanced straight down the tunnel to see a glow coming from the end of it. She can tell that they were near the end of the tunnel. “Y’all go first,” the captain told her crew, “I’ll be lifting her spirits.”
“Aye aye,” the pirates proclaimed with a salute. They swam away as Celaeno sat down with the sad queen.
“I couldn’t imagine how horrifying that would’ve been…”
“You have no idea,” Novo sighed with her flippers covering her melancholic eyes. “I couldn’t bear something like this if that happened to my precious daughter as well. I promised Waverider to look after her, but… the feeling of pushing her away… I caused her to run away… from me… to Canterlot. If you weren’t with her… She would’ve just… He could have…”
Celaeno placed her webbed flippers on her right shoulder. “Now there. She’s going to be fine. We’re here to save her and my kind. Besides, I’ve got the same feeling as you about my mate, Ocypete.”
“I understand. She was your childhood friend.”
“Aye. However… I’ve had a feeling it’s been more than just that. I… I’ve only thought about her when we were on our adventures, but… I’ve had a softer spot right here in my heart growing for her.”
“Ohee…. You…. You haven’t told her yet, have you?”
“Well… uhhh… telling somebody that you start loving them while you’re making an effort to fight off some beasts that trapped them underground. I’m feeling uneasy if she’s okay.”
Both Captain Celaeno and Queen Novo were feeling their fear building up within their chests until Mullet swam back to them. “Cap’n, we’ve found the exit, right at the end,” he announced, “Although, we need a bit of help to get back onto dry land.”
They were confused until they followed the first mate. They resurfaced right beside the rest of Celaeno’s crew, who were looking up to where the islands of Ornithia were at. The environment was foggy, so they only noticed the silhouettes of the islands. While it was high tide at the moment, they weren’t high enough to climb onto the top safely.
“Don’t worry, I got this,” Novo proclaimed. She used her shard again and turned herself back into her original form. After that, she picked up Celaeno by the flippers and lifted her to the peak of the island. When they arrived, they landed, and once again, using her shard, she turned Celaeno back to her avian self. Both of them checked their surroundings to make sure the coast was clear. They also noticed that the sun was starting to rise. “Boy, how long were we down there?” Celaeno questioned.
“Too long, perhaps,” Novo guessed. “Those yetis are going to be attacking your kind underground at any moment. We need a plan before their lives will be claimed.”
Back in New Ornithia, Princess Skystar was fast asleep, almost snoring. Because of the boredom she felt, she was tired, and that was why she fell asleep. Although, her sleep was been disturbed when she felt her shoulder being rubbed by someone, waking her up in a second. “Huh? What?” the princess gasped while holding her head. She turned around and noticed Princess Ocypete standing beside her. “What is it?”
“I apologize for disturbing you,” she apologized, “but have you seen Celaeno and company?”
“They were out to check on the yetis last night.” Skystar yawned after that. “I think I fell asleep while I was waiting for them.”
“…Well, I can’t find them anywhere. That’s the problem.”
“So… they’re not back yet?”
“I’m afraid not. I’ve asked my father already if he had seen them before and he’s got the same story. Still no sign of them.” Skystar felt her heart sink. “Don’t worry, he said he’ll have our citizens go on a lookout for them.” The young hippogriff sighed as she couldn’t help but worry.
Princess Ocypete led her to where the rest of her family would be hiding. King Thaumas was wearing his armor and checking on his family before leaving for battle. Queen Ozomeme soon noticed her daughter and Skystar walking in. “Ocypete, there you are. Have you found Celaeno yet?” Ozomeme asked.
“Sadly no,” the princess sighed. She was about to explain it to them when they saw Madame Harpy coming in. She looked rather beat up as she groaned in pain. The royal family was shocked.
“Madame Harpy, what’s the matter?” Thaumas asked.
“It was those damn yetis,” she groaned. She stumbled a bit before the king ran up and caught her by the arms “They got Cap’n Celaeno and company… including Queen Novo. I ain’t sure where they are right now, but I hope they’re alive.”
This was rather shocking to the royals and gut-wrenching to Ocypete and Skystar. Thaumas took a deep breath before he carried Harpy over to Ozomeme. “Honey, make sure she fully recovers,” the king ordered. “I feel we might need all of the aid we can get.”
“Yes, I will,” Ozomeme responded. She assisted Madame Harpy as the king takes a step outside of the castle gate.
He glanced over all of the avians that were willing to patriotically fight back for their country. “Citizens of Orinithia,” he declared, “I see that all of you have prepared yourselves for the worse to come. And I’m proud of all of you for standing up for the sake of our kingdom. For too long, we have been living under the fear of their occupation of our lands, and we cannot let them take over as long as they want. I cannot let my family suffer from this, and I cannot let YOUR families suffer too. This will be our sacrifice, for the sake of Ornithia. I fear that many of you might not make it, but if those monsters out there are being taken care of, no citizen will die in vain. And I promise, those who will sacrifice themselves, your names will be written in history, and they shall never be forgotten, and you’ll be praised by the future generation of avians for the bravery you’ve shown. My fellow citizens, it’s time to bring them down once and for all!” They cheered as they raised their weapons, shields, and flags in pride. “United we fight!” The cheers were getting louder after he shouted the phrase out.
As they cheered, Skystar sat down by the window thinking about her mother. “Don’t you worry, I’m sure your mother’s okay,” Ocypete said, trying to cheer her up. “We’re going to find her and yer buddies. We promise.”
“I hope so,” Skystar sighed. “I don’t know what’ll I do if she’s gone forever…”
Madame Harpy is trying to make herself comfortable as Queen Ozomeme wrapped her injured parts around with bandages. “Madame Harpy, is there anything useful you can tell about Queen Novo, Captain Celaeno, and her mateys’ last whereabouts?” Ozomeme questioned.
“It just… happened so far,” she groaned. “Last time I saw them, they were heading into the tunnels. I was knocked out, and I found that they were gone when I opened my eyes.”
“Oh, dear. What do you think they’re going to do to them?”
“I have no idea. But I hope things go according to plan.” Madame Harpy grinned as she helped tend to her injuries.
Prince Aello slammed his fist onto the table in rage. “We should be out there helping our dad,” he declared. “Who knows what other tricks they have? What’s next? A giant bomb that makes portals that sends you to the Storm King’s castle.”
“He has a castle?” Skystar gasped.
“I don’t know. I mean, they keep pulling new stuff out of nowhere. For real, do they have a spy around here or what?”
“That’s what my mother and Captain Celaeno have said,” Skystar cried. She faced Madame Harpy, still on the bed with her bandages on, who didn’t pay much attention to them. Skystar felt that she could trick them into a trap if she was the traitor.
“What’s up with that suspicious look you’re giving?” Prince Aello asked.
“…No reason.” Princess Ocypete looked back at the conversation at the table before she looked outside at her subjects heading off to battle.
Back above ground, Novo and the buccaneers had made it back to their ship. It was still intact, but sadly, the sails on the mast were ripped into shreds. Captain Celaeno wasn’t pleased with this. “Welp… there goes the idea of flying for help,” she sighed.
It means they have to use what they have because they don’t have to get more
“It’s doubtful we’d be able to get anybody else in time,” Queen Novo said. “Our current gear is what we have, and we don’t have to get more.”
“What gear?” Lix questioned. “They took all of the weapons and the booty we had.”
“Not quite,” Celaeno commented. “Mullet, did we get that secret compartment installed?”
“Aye. We did,” Mullet confirmed. “Right this way.” He led the crew down below deck and took them into the sleeping area, where they opened a small compartment on the floor. It contained a few items, such as a spare peg leg, two swords, and the chest that Novo brought from Mount Aris.
“So that’s where you put it,” Queen Novo commented.
“We had to scuttle a couple of items to make it fit,” Celaeno noted. “I be curious though, what’s in it?” Novo answered the question by opening the chest up to reveal a set of shiny high-quality colorful steel armor and a spear. “Dang, you came prepared.”
“I’ve felt that I was being overcautious. It’s one of those few times that I am glad I was wrong.” Queen Novo smirked as she carefully put on her armor. Captain Celaeno then took notice of the two swords lying down beside the queen’s chest and grabbed both weapons.
“Here, take this,” the captain said to her first mate, giving the second sword to him as she faced the rest of her crew. “Alrighty then, listen up. If we’re going to save Ornithia, we gotta play smart. If we go for it without planning, then it’s over for all. Those yetis over there ain’t dumb. Any ideas?”
“The only thing I reckon about, Cap’n,” Mullet suggested, “is a distraction. Once it’s made, they’ll be distracted and we’ll make our move.”
“I like the way yer thinkin’. But if we’re gonna do that, then how?” They slowly turned towards Squabble, who knew what they were thinking. He quickly grabbed his pair of bongos and squawked in reply. “You read me mind.”
“Now that’s one thing,” Novo commented, “But what about the attack.”
“We might not have enough power in physical strength,” Mullet replied, “but as what Cap’n has said: gotta play smart, brains over brains. If only there was a way… to burn their eyes or somethin’.”
Immediately, Captain Celaeno turned her lightbulb on with a snap and turned her attention to Lix Spittle. “Lix, do you still have those spices back in the kitchen?”
“Those that melt yer beak?” The captain nodded. “Aye! One spicy blinding blend, coming right up.” Lix Spittle rushed towards the kitchen to get started on making her ‘special’ blend.
“What about me?” Boyle asked.
“You… will be teaming with her,” Celaeno explained, pointing at Queen Novo. “Be sure to watch her back.” Boyle gave a salute.
“So, I guess we’re going on the front lines of the attack, aren’t we?” Mullet guessed.
“You bet, matey. We should be all set. Let’s see if we can get back to New Ornithia in time. Hopefully everyone there is still safe.”
They quickly set off to the underground kingdom as Queen Novo flew above to check if they were safe, which was far from the case. A couple of yetis, armed with swords and spears, were ready. Novo quickly flew back down before she was spotted. She landed in front of the crew to explain the situation.
“An army of yetis are fully equipped with spears and swords,” she reported. “And they’re ready to attack.”
“Alright, this is the part where we split up,” Celaeno noted. “Now go!” The crew did so, just as the avians back at New Ornithia meanwhile arrived at the surface. Almost all of them squinted as sunlight contacted their eyes. It felt like they haven’t seen sunlight in years or longer than that. King Thaumas groaned as his eyes took a minute to adjust before examining his surroundings.
“Stay sharp, men,” he warned, “They could be anywhere, and might make their ambush.”
He and the army kept their eyes out with their weapons drawn out to defend themselves. Around the corner far away from them, there came Captain Celaeno and Mullet, which they didn’t see them. The two saw them and were about to approach them stealthily when suddenly, they were being yanked away out by a yeti. They quickly recovered and a yeti was attempting to stab Captain Celaeno with its spear. She was able to roll away before getting impaled and immediately grabbed her sword from her baldric and held it in front.
“It ain’t easy,” she grumbled to herself. She and her first mate made their combat to a lone yeti, who was determined to keep them where they were.
Meanwhile, King Thaumas and his artillery could hear the ensuing battle from the clashing blades from there. They were about to investigate, not when more yetis sprung out in front of them from the bushes. Queen Novo was flying overhead, with Boyle riding on her back, seeing the circumstance.
“Do those things breed like rabbits?” Boyle inquired.
“The Storm King always seems to have the upper hand,” Novo commented. “Be careful if they have those orbs. They’ll turn you into obsidian.” The queen then noticed another avian far away from the group holding a pistol. Instead of aiming it at one of the yetis, he pointed it right towards King Thaumas. Novo was shocked as she knew what was going to happen. “Boyle, hold on tight.” She hurled her spear and instantly flew down straight toward the armed avian.
The spear landed right in front of him, almost at the tip of the beak, and fired his gun upward in fright. The bullet thankfully missed the targets, but the shot was heard by everyone.
“Hold on, since when did they have firearms?” King Thaumas inquired.
The shooter tried to reload his gun, but wouldn’t have time as Boyle jumped off Novo’s back and tackled him to the ground, dropping the gun onto the ground, with Queen Novi landing nearby to retrieve her spear. She stared at him with crossed brows as she approached him slowly. “I saw you from afar,” she spoke, “do you take pride in attempting to assassinate your king?” Novo questioned.
“Hey, a buccaneer’s got to make a good profit somehow,” the assassin groaned. Boyle slammed the shooter’s head against the ground in anger.
“Professionals have standards, ye scurvy dog!” Boyle started with fury. “Ye workin’ alone?”
“…I ain’t no snitch.” The queen wasn’t liking the attitude of this avian.
“Wise guy…” She hastily picked him up by his leg and carried him over to King Thaumus and his army, tossing the shooter on the ground, and landing in front of them.
King Thaumas gasped when he saw Queen Novo coming out from the bushes. “Your Excellency, you’re alive!” he said in amazement. “What…?”
“Celaeno and her crew?” the hippogriff finished, “Alive and well. They’re keeping those yetis at bay right now. And… this little boy here has made his attempt to shoot you in the head. I have a big feeling that this ain’t the only traitor that’s on their side.”
King Thaumas took a glimpse at the assassin as the artillery saw Captain Celaeno and Mullet in front, struggling to resist an army of multitudes. The yetis were taken by surprise when the avians assisted the pirates. The late Storm King’s troopers did their best, but Ornithia’s combatants overwhelmed them.
“There’s much more than just them, Your Majesty” Novo commented. “There’s no doubt that Madame Harpy is going to do something sinister.” King Thaumas was feeling worried. “Where’s she?”
“She’s in the castle with your daughter and my family!” he cried.
“Ah, nuts…” Novo took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Captain!” she called out to Captain Celaeno. “We need to go back down quick!”
“I heard ya,” the captain reacted. “Mullet, Boyle!” The two said crew mates joined up with her. Then a scream of pain was heard. They turned to catch a glimpse of another muscular avian holding his head in pain with powder. Squabble and Lix Spittle quickly joined in with their captain, with him playing with his bongos, while the other had a big bag of chili powder.
“I be glad ye made that plan,” Lix Spittle confirmed with a smile. “These spicy bombs work like a functionin’ cannon.”
“Way t’ go, matey!” Celaeno affirmatively exclaimed. “Now then, let’s go back down underground quick! Queen Novo needs us.”
“Aye aye!” They exclaimed with a salute.
“Good luck,” King Thaumas said, “We’ll be on guard for any more traitors.”
“Stay safe, Your Highness.” Celaeno then gave wide smile and a confident salute as Boyle gave her a pistol belonging to the assassin that have attempted to kill the king.
“Here. This’ll come in handy,” he said. Celaeno smiled as they headed back down to New Ornithia, hoping there was still some time left.
Back in the small castle, Princess Skystar was getting anxious, having butterflies in her stomach. “Maybe we should check on them.”
“No,” Queen Ozomeme shouted. “We’re not getting out of this palace until they return.”
“Mother, this is insane,” Prince Aello stated. “We’re here sitting down like ducks in the castle.”
“We have to do something,” Ocypete admitted, “I mean… Skystar’s right, we must check on them..”
“But what if we end up like them?” Princess Zephyra cried. Skystar didn’t like to think about her mother suffering any kind of fate… She was struggling to keep up hope, with her head down, covering it with her arms, while inhaling and exhaling deeply. Suddenly, she heard some noise coming from outside. Out of curiosity, the hippogriff poked her head out of the castle’s open window to see six familiar figures coming in, an armored queen and five pirates. Right away, she recognized them, with a surprised gasp.
“THEY’RE HERE!” she cheered. “COME AND LOOK! THEY’RE ALIVE!!!”
The royals were confused by what she meant and went to look out the window, only to see Queen Novo, Captain Celaeno, and her crew heading towards the castle. “Oh my goodness,” Ocypete gasped, “They’re here!”
“What!?” Madame Harpy gasped. She glanced at the said figures Skystar was talking about, and…became frustrated.
“Oh, thank the spirits! There’s still hope for us.” She then turned to Madam Harpy, who has a very angry face. “Madam Harpy, would it be so kind if you and Cellie could…”
In a split second, she pulled out a pistol, and pointed eighth in front of Ocypete’s beak and at the royals, making her pause her sentence and held their claws up in the air. More butterflies filled their stomachs as she steadily pointed her pistol at them. They could see her breathing in and out in anger.
“Madam Harpy, what is the meaning of this!?” Queen Ozomeme shouted.
“This was supposed to be a simple trick that’d get us rich right away for the rest of our lives, but no, your friends had to kill off the Storm King,” Madame Harpy retorted. “Now thanks to that, we have no fortune!” She sounded to have a mixture of sarcasm and frustration.
“What are you saying?”
“What do you think, motherf***er? I was planning on helping to break this place down until he comes back and makes another fortress. He’d give me and my crew riches beyond our dreams… and those dreams are gone, and it’s all thanks to your Celaeno… and you.” Madame Harpy ran in front of her and pointed her pistol at Skystar, touching the bridge of the beak, making Skystar shiver more. Her life was in grave danger, fearing that she’ll have a few seconds to die. Tears were already flowing out of her eyes. “You were the one who helped her kill him!”
“Please… please don’t shoot me,” the hippogriff begged with flowing tears. “I still have more to live with! I can’t die early!!!”
“Walk your a** outside, b****! Listen to what I say.” She then grabbed Skystar’s hair and yanked her towards the royals, and they went outside with their claws up while Madam Harpy kept her pistol pointing at them.
Queen Novo and Captain Celaeno had split up from the crew to check on the castle. The moment they saw Princess Skystar, Princess Ocypete, and the others walking outside with Madame Harpy holding a gun, they immediately jumped into action. They stood in front of her.
Princess Skystar and the rest felt relieved that they arrived in time. “…Madame Harpy, let’s have a proper conversation, shall we?” Novo said calmly.
“Okay, then listen up, a**hole,” Harpy said, pointing the gun at her forehead. “I’m expecting gold bars, gemstones, bits, and any other valuable items you can get your claws on. You know what, hold that for a moment, how the f*** are you still alive!? That cave-in was unbreakable in the amount of time you had I think it’s still up.”
“Our friend here had a little trick up her sleeve,” Celaeno remarked, giving her a pat on the queen’s back. “Now then, put that li’l pistol of yours down. Tell me, girl, what is your endgame?”
“I was supposed to retire anywhere I wanted. And you… Captain Celaeno… you just had to be #1 and slaughter the Storm King for good!”
“Actually, his commander grew a heart,” Skystar corrected, “So really…” She was silenced when Harpy fired her pistol into the air. The loud bang echoed around the underground kingdom. More panicked screams were heard as Madame Harpy’s crew were launching their attack.
Celaeno’s crew wouldn’t go down without a fight and did their best to help protect the civilians. Mullet was in the middle of a fight with one of Harpy’s crew mates. He blocked the enemy’s blade with his own as Celaeno instinctively ran over and helped her first mate.
The captain faced Novo, who was in a state of shock from what just happened. While she was like this, Harpy grabbed hold of Ocypete and kept her gun pointed at her.
“Novo, save them and Petey!” Celaeno cried.
Snapping back to reality, Novo turned back to Madam Harpy before taking off. Seeing the queen trying to pounce at her, Harpy aimed her pistol towards Novo and fired. However, instead of piercing her skin, Novo dodged the bullet and gave Harpy a good hard punch in the face.
This caused her to drop the gun and run to safety. Despite being down, she was refusing to go down without a fight, and the same could be said for her crew. Sword clashed, bullets fired, residents panicked, and all hell broke loose in New Ornithia. Celaeno and her crew were doing their best to fight them off as Queen Novo flew away with the royals.
“Is anyone alright?” the hippogriff queen asked. She checked to make sure they were at a safe point before she was suddenly hugged by Skystar. Novo embraced her daughter as both were relieved they were both okay.
“Listen, I’m happy that both of you are okay,” Queen Ozomeme admitted, “But how are we supposed to get out of here alive?”
Novo examined her surrounding area with Celaeno and Harpy’s crew seeming to hold equal ground. “Hmm, it doesn’t look like it’ll be easy.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Prince Aello questioned.
“Maybe we could make some sort of distraction?” Skystar suggested. Novo searched for a distraction when she saw Squabble jumping back from a big avian trying to punch him.
“Just… Stop… Moving!” the muscular avian growled. Squabble was laughing as he made his foe more frustrated to the point where he tried punching him into the ground. Squabble took this open and pecked him on the head and knocked him out.
“Psst, Squabble,” whispered a voice. He turned around and noticed Queen Novo waving at him, signaling him to come close. And so he did. When he arrived, he saw Queen Novo standing, feeling relieved that he arrived in time. Not just that, he also noticed Princess Skystar and the avian royal family were with her too. “Here,” she whispered, gesturing him to come close. “You have those bongos with you, right?” Squabble quietly squawked yes. “We need a distraction, so we can escape. Can you do it?”
The pirate nodded, accepting her request, took his bongos off his back, and came out from the hiding spot while drumming a beat. This grabbed the attention of Madam Harpy’s crew, who slowly followed Squabble’s music.
The royals took this chance to escape and quickly headed off to the surface. Celaeno’s crew still had a few pirates to deal with, some of which could see the royals escaping. During the chaos, they were nearly pounced on by some crew members.
It got to the point where Madam Harpy had lost her patience and had her crewmates start breaking apart some of the bases of the buildings, causing them to tip over. This forced the royals to run in different directions as the buildings collapsed to the ground. Dust filled up the caves, it was so thick that it blocked the view of anyone nearby. After a big cloud was formed, things quieted down. It took a moment for it to clear before everyone could see again. Queen Novo and Princess Skystar both used their wings to help fan the dust away so they can see the damage. A whole square had been smashed to the ground.
“Skystar, are you okay?” Novo asked.
“I’m okay, mom,” Skystar responded.
As they were recovering, Captain Celaeno ran over to them while panting.
“I apologize that you had to fend for yerselves,” the captain apologized. “Everything was happening at once and I was doing me best and…”
“Nobody blames you, Celaeno” Queen Ozomeme interrupted. “We should’ve heeded your warning about Madame Harpy.” The Queen quickly started checking on her children as King Thaumas came running in.
“What’s going on here?” he gasped.
“It’s Madam Harpy, she tried to crush us with those buildings,” Novo explained. “Though she’s gone quiet as of now, which is suspicious.” This was worrying to the king, who quickly ran over to his wife, who was helping their children to recover. Prince Aello was alright, and so does Princess Zephyra, and Princess Ocypete… was not here. Nowhere.
“Where is Ocypete?” King Thaumas doubted.
“I don’t know,” Ozomeme responded. The royal quickly started digging through the rubble as panic was starting to settle in. “She’s… She’s nowhere in the rubble.”
“Then where could she be?”
Captain Celaeno was just as worried about this as the royals. “Your Highness, did you see anybody like her crew passing by you on the way down here?” the captain questioned.
“Of course, not. I would’ve seen somebody.”
Mullet approached the worried Celaeno. “Maybe they found another tunnel, cap’n,” Mullet suggested. “They must’ve made them before us.”
“...Yeah, you could be right,” Celaeno commented. “She has got plenty of tricks up her sleeve. Your Majesty, what’s the situation above ground?”
“We seemed to have taken all of the yetis out,” Thaumas explained. “It seems that some traitors had just vanished.”
“What do you think they’re planning?” Novo questioned.
“I have no idea,” Celaeno noted. She then heard something very faint. A muffled scream came from afar.
“What was that?” Princess Zephyra doubted. “I heard that.”
“Yeah, I heard that too,” Pince Aello added.
“That sounds like Petey! We should follow that voice.” She, together with Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, and the royal family, wandered around, keeping an ear out to see if she could hear it again. The noise was getting louder and louder, indicating that they were close, only to be headed towards the tunnel, where she could swear she heard muffled screaming. “I think she’s in here! Princess Ocypete could be there. Mateys!” Mullet and the rest of the crew quickly up to join in with the search as King Thaumas took a deep breath. “We’re going deep down.”
“We’re coming with you,” he proclaimed.
“Are you sure about that, Your Highness?”
“The entire reason I kept them away from the conflict. Now that she’s in danger, I’m going to do everything to get her back to safety.”
“Thaumas, you’re not going alone,” Ozomeme stated.
“What?”
“The more the merrier I say,” Celaeno said.
“Honey, I’m not allowing this,” Thaumas stated. “You might be killed down there!”
“I understand that you want us to be safe, but our daughter is in danger. Either we lose her by doing nothing, or I will sacrifice myself for the sake of her.”
“That’s what I said,” Prince Aello stated. He stepped forward to join his mother as he looked back at Princess Zephyra. She stepped forward as she was also wanting her sister’s safety.
“We’re not going to do most of the combat, are we?” Zephyra asked.
“Just leave that to us,” Celaeno said. “Now, hurry! We’re burning daylight!” The pirate quickly ran into the caves with the royal family following shortly behind. Skystar faced her mother, who knew what her daughter was thinking by the look on her face.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Queen Novo said, “and…”
“Do we want to leave those crooks alone to get away from their crimes?” Skystar asked. The queen had a feeling she wasn’t going to be able to talk her daughter out of it.
“We’ll see how we can help. Stay close to me.” Skystar held her claw, and followed after the avians, hoping that they would need help.