//------------------------------//
// Hero (278) 
// Story: AlwaysDressesInStyle's Ponyville CiderFest '23 Interactive App Stories 
// by AlwaysDressesInStyle 
//------------------------------//

ENDING A (HERO): 

Daring Do blasts Squirk with the Flashstone, forcing him to retreat.  The amulet is powerful – too powerful.  If something like this were to fall into Squirk’s tentacles again, he could drown Equestria.  There’s only one thing to do – the Flashstone must be destroyed, and Squirk has to witness the destruction to know it’s gone forever.

Daring Do finds a rock on the beach and smashes the amulet against it, shattering the gem.

Squirk screams in dismay, and comes towards Daring Do.  By destroying the Flashstone, she’s also destroyed the only weapon she had against the giant octopus and his lobster companion.

Just as all seems lost, a pirate ship rams into Squirk.  The elderly mare is captaining the boat, and she turns its cannons against the cephalopod. Squirk immediately retreats to the depths.

“What…”

“Allow me to properly introduce myself.  My name’s Blue Pearl.  Greatest treasure of the notorious pirate Seven Seas.  Maybe you’ve heard of me?”

Daring Do remains flabbergasted.  This has definitely not been a normal expedition.

“By destroying the amulet, I trust that you really are who you say you are.  The rest of my father’s treasure is in the cargo hold.  Take it.”