The Gems Of Creation: Part 1

Chapters

1-1: First Impressions
1-2: Timberwolves and Heartbreak
1-3: The Intentions of Coral
1-4: Journey to the Ruins
1-5: The Three Trials
1-6: The Heart of Nature
1-7: Echoes of the Past
1-8: The Storm Approaches
1-Finale: The Journey's Beginning

1-1: First Impressions

Chapter 1-1

The young stallion’s sighs were so heavy that they temporarily cut through the background noise of the bowling alley. He stared from beyond the lanes, near the reception.

"She'd never be interested in somepony like me. A beautiful mare like herself..." he thought.

He had been watching a tall bowling unicorn at the local bowling lanes. Cornfield had been daydreaming about this mare for weeks now. He always hoped, one day, she might notice him. Maybe he could catch her attention with his thick blonde mane, his natural green coat, or his blue eyes. Maybe she would even notice his cutie mark, a camera with a red and orange leaf under it, and strike up a conversation on his interests. Anything to get that mare to catch her attention and say "hi".

So far, no luck.

It was evening, and he just wanted to go home for the night. Alone. In his self contained hut.
Leaving the bowling alley, he headed towards his very humble abode alongside the Everfree Forest and outside the town of Ponyville. A figure stepped out of the shadows, out from the alleyways between the buildings on his way home. His head hung low, however, so he didn't notice until he bumped into it.

“OOF!” He fell over backwards, sitting back on the ground with his hoof on his head.

“Oww... Hey, wa-?!”

The figure let out a small feminine gasp before he could finish.

"Goodness. Sorry about that..." the figure said.

He was surprised to find somepony of the opposite sex talking to him, let alone walk right up to him. But, to make this encounter even more bizarre, the pony who bumped into him wasn’t a pony at all. The tall figure extended her pink bird-like talons openly to help him up. His eyes traced up the female’s foreleg and locked eyes with the hippogriff creature. He studied her face and noted her adorable curved pink beak, her dazzling sea-blue eyes, her feathery ears, her light purple fur that can be confused with feathery plumage to the untrained eye, and her mane consisting of four very large light red feathers.

"Here, let me help you up," she politely offered.

Cornfield can only babble on incoherently. Even though she wasn’t a pony, that didn’t stop him from thinking she was the most beautiful creature to grace Equestria at the moment. She took the time to brush her talons through her feathery hair, shake it around, and extend her claws once more.

"I'm new in town,” she explained. “And, well, I'm pretty lost. Ponyville is a much bigger town than I'm used to."

“Uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh…” Summoning the courage to break his dumbfounded silence, he made an earnest attempt to introduce himself. “I-I-I-I'm a corn field.”

He suddenly covered his mouth as the hippogriff cocked her head to the side like a bird.

“What?” she asked.

“Ah, I-I meant that my name is Cornfield,” he nervously explained. “I mean, I just thought maybe you wanted to know. But you don't have to say your name. Uh, just being nice?” He flashed her a nervous smile.

"Oh? Ohohoho,” she laughed. “There's no need to be nervous. I know I'm like a fish out of water. Almost literally, too. But, even a girl like me can take the time to appreciate good manners." She motioned her open talons towards him closer, still reaching out to take his hoof and help him up. It’s actually starting to cramp up from being held in mid-air for so long. "I'm Cobalt Coral. Coral, for short."

Cornfield stood up from the ground slowly. “Uh, my name is Cornfield…” he said again instinctively. “ACK! I-I mean… N-nice to meet you, Coral.”

He extended his hoof to her to properly greet her. She gently grasped his hoof in her claws and shook it. "A pleasure to meet you twice over," she said with a polite tone.

Cornfield blushed and looked away, laughing nervously again.

Smiling, the sultry hippogriff walked past by him, exaggerating her walk a bit to give herself a bit more of a swagger in the hindquarters. She let out sigh and said "It's always tough to visit new places."

Cornfield had to do a double take when he noticed the way she strutted her stuff. Although the first half of her was bird-like, the rest of her was all mare. He noted the curves on her haunches in all the right places and the way her hind legs were sculpted like marble. Her tail looked as feathery as her mane, looking like two feather plumes were growing from her dock. He even went so far as to desperately sneak a peek on what may be hiding underneath...

"I have to find an inn,” she said, “then pay an exorbitant amount of money for a few days, then be on my way to get lost once again. I've been wanting to travel ever since my people were freed from the captivity of the evil Storm King."

“Oh...Yeah...that's so... great…” Cornfield’s mind was in the gutter.

"But the trip has been very lonely…” She put her claws on her chest and looked at the ground pitifully. “I only wish I could make a friend to help me. But... I suppose I'll find my way eventually.” She turned her head to look at Cornfield, who wasn’t bothering to make eye contact at all. “Thank you for your time, Cornfield." She slowly walked away, hoping for him to object.

Cornfield, snapping himself out of it when he realized that the one friendly female contact he had since forever was slipping away, spoke up. “Wuh-wait!”

She turned around, eager for his response. "Yes?"

“Uh... Maybe you could... stay at my place? You know... for free until you... Uh, why are you here again? To get food, wasn't it?”

The seductive hybrid walked over to him, put her claw lightly on his nose, and giggled. "You have absolutely no tact, do you?” she asked. “You ask a girl you BARELY know to come back to your house for the night? What would ponies think?"

Cornfield blushed beet red, unable to come up with an answer to that question. “Uhhhhhh... ummmmmm…”

"Well, as long as you are offering, I have little in the way of bits, so I suppose I have no choice than to accept your hospitality, Cornfield."

His eyes widened and his mind raced at her unexpected answer. "Wha-WHAAAAAAAAT!” he thought to himself. “I can't believe that worked!" Excitedly and anxiously, he shouted out “Yes! Oh! I mean, thank you-er NO! Uh, you're, uh, welcome... to come with meeee...?” He motioned her to walk with him through town and back to his home. Coral smiled, rolled her eyes when he wasn’t looking, and walked along beside him.

Coral and Cornfield travelled just outside of Ponyville to a solitary shack on top of a hill near the Everfree Forest. The threat of being near the dangerous woods would be intimidating to most, but it doesn’t seem to faze the lovesick stallion. Coral looked around the small hut. There’s no doubt about it, there doesn’t seem to be anypony close by. "You seem to be out on your own from the rest of town,” she noticed. “Why?”

Cornfield hesitated to answer.

“I'm sorry. Was that rude of me?”

“Oh…” he said, collecting his thoughts. “Well... You see, I was never born or even raised in Ponyville. My parents raised me near Rambling Rock Ridge. Then, I moved out and, with not much bits left, I ended up out here.”

That name rung a bell for Coral. Rambling Rock Ridge? That's where all of those Diamond Dogs lived. She quickly recalled how she stole the priceless Puppy Peridot from them. A harrowing escape that was. She shook her head. "Er, well, I'm sure things are a lot better since you moved here, yes?"

“Ah, well, yeah! Of course it has!”

She giggled a bit, making Cornfield blush. "Well, as long as you say you're happy, then I believe you are. You have no idea how exhausted I am. Thank you for offering me your home."

Cornfield approached the door to open it and let Coral inside. “Ah, go ahead and make yourself at home.”

The hut was a lot smaller on the inside than it was outside. It was barely about the size of a bedroom with bunk beds, a stove and pantry across the end of the bed, many boxes filled with clutter and junk, and one peculiar green box with his cutie mark on it. It could barely fit one pony inside, but a pony and a full-sized hippogriff whose head is just a few inches from the ceiling?

"Oooooh, no. I got more than I bargained for..." she thought to herself.

“I know it's a little… ’cozy’, but it'll work!” Cornfield said, trying his best to reassure her. “Trust me...” He followed up with a nervous laugh.

"It's... something!” she replied. “Er... I hope, I can... squeeze in somehow..."

“It's ok! I have a bunk bed! I call bottom bunk!” Cornfield enthusiastically said while a grin creased under his nose.
"A bunk bed? What are you? A colt?" Coral asked herself. She stared at the top bunk and envisioned how uncomfortable it would be to sleep so close to the ceiling. "Ah... Cornfield? Sweetie? If it's all right with you, I would like the bottom bunk." she asked Cornfield before thinking "I don't think I can fit my whole body on the bed and I'll be damned before I fall off".

“Awwwww... But, I called it…” Cornfield sadly muttered before giving her a look with puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, HAY no... You can't out-pity me," she thought as she extended her claws out and softly scratched under his chin. "Cornfield, darling, the top bunk is so high up. You wouldn't want me to fall and get hurt, would you?" Coral asked as she fluttered her eyelashes.

“Uh…” Cornfield blushed from the contact of a beautiful female touching him. “I-I suppose not. That would make me feel bad...ok.”

She smiled after getting her way. “Thank you, Cornfield.” She turned around from him and opened the door outside. “I need to stretch my legs for a bit. I'll be right back."

“Ok!” Cornfield excitedly pictured in his head what he’s going to do with the half-mare portion of this hippogriff. "Ohboyohboyboyohboyboy-" he thought over and over again.

Coral sauntered out with the flick of her feathery tail and exited the hut. When she closed the door and confirmed she was out of sight, she let loose an exasperated sigh and walked behind his hut. There, all of her belongings are preemptively stashed away in a saddle bag in an empty barrel where it couldn’t be easily detected. She opened the bag and pulled out a faded map, a pencil, and a lantern. After lighting the lamp and placing it on the grass, she unfolded the map and grasped her pencil in her talons. "It's a good thing stallions like him are so easy to fold to a pretty face,” she whispered to herself. “Saves me the trouble of lugging all of this around..."

Inside, Cornfield cleaned around the hut to make sure it's extra comfortable inside and ensured that she wouldn't stumble onto his "fine collection of mares from Ponyville", photographs that he’d taken with his prized camera. Meanwhile, Coral was outside, unaware of his antics and sketching on the old and tattered parchment.

"Let's see,” she thought to herself, “If I start from this location... push my way through some heavy forest…”She drew a dotted line past the pictures of foliage. “Go through a large cave…” She drew a dotted line through the image of a cave and its tunnel network. “...and explore these ruins...." She etched a circle around the image of the ruins and tapped the middle with her pencil. "There I will be able to find ‘The Heart of Nature’, deep in the center of the Everfree Forest..." She looked around to see if there’s anypony around. Satisfied, she put her beak into her map once more. "I will need to rest up and wake up early enough before that slimy stallion does. I don't want him to think I'm TRULY gone until I'm done squatting in his poor excuse of a house..."

Happy with her ultimate game plan, she rolled up the map and extinguished the lantern before tucking them and her pencil away in her saddle bags. Standing up, she walked over to the door of the hut, about to twist the knob and head inside. However, she thought about the possibility of walking into somepony like Cornfield doing something unspeakable… She knocked it, just to be safe. Inside, Cornfield is startled scared by the knocking while hiding his secret, shameful stashes away, but he quickly shaped himself up to act cool and collected when he approached the door and opened it for the lovely lady on the other side. “Uh... Like, sup?” he asked, trying to playing coy.

Coral faked a chuckle. "Uh... Sup? Right?" She asked as she walked inside. "Well, I do not know about you but I am simply too tired to keep going today." She walked past Cornfield to the bunk bed, climbed in the bottom bunk, and tried to snuggle in and get comfortable. However, she was having difficulty. She struggled to fit her tall legs the small bed built for a pony and her bottom was sticking out from the end of the bed. The short blanket doesn't help cover her up either.

“Oh, ok,” said Cornfield, helping himself to an eyeful of her backside. “I'll be here if you need me…”

Coral noticed, and tried to cover her backside with her feathery tail. "Er... Ok, then,” she said nervously. “Thank you... EVER so much for the hospitality, and I hope you... have a good sleep, too!" She flashed a fake smile, then grunted and struggled to get comfy again.

Cornfield, in the meantime, decided to make a small dinner for himself. He opened the pantry above the old-fashioned stove that required coal to heat itself up and found very little in what to eat. He settled on a simple haycake as he took out the mix, lit a match to heat the oven, and stirred the haycake flour in a bowl with water.

Coral can smell the haycakes cooking on the stove. Cornfield didn’t bother to use a pan and, as a result, the surface was very dirty, but that didn’t stop her stomach from growling in protest when the scent of the food reached her beak. She wanted to go to bed now to wake up early, but she didn't know when she'd eat again in the morning. She lifted her head up to look behind her while she was still lying in bed. "So,” she asked. “Do you know how to cook well?"

Cornfield looked behind him, trying to make eye contact with her head on the other side of the bed. “Ah, well, since I live alone I had to learn how to do it on my own,” he explained. “I think it comes out OK, considering I don't get sick... Ah... Hah…”

"I see. Well, I don't want to be a bother... But, do you have enough for me? I can pay you back, I'm sure."

“O-Of course!” Cornfield was brimming with enthusiasm, though he didn’t have very much to offer in food or haycakes.

"Thank you. Please, take your time and make yours first..." She still struggled to find the perfect spot on the bed to accommodate for her larger size. "I still need to figure... Rrrgh... this out.” She tucked her legs in a position that fits in the bed, somewhat. Her rear is still sticking out, but one thing at a time. She makes a mental note of the position. "So... what do you do for fun around Ponyville?"

“OH! I-er…” There was a long pause. “...Like to go to the bowling alleys, and concerts for....that stuff, yeah!” Cornfield bit his hoof as he cooked the haycakes nervously, worried about the fact that what he REALLY does is daydream about certain mares all day everyday when he’s not taking pictures.

"Bowling? Can't say I've even tried it. Does it have to do with bowls?"

“Uh... No. It's a game you use a ball to knock down pins…”

"Do you know how to bowl?"

“Uh, yeah…” Cornfield said softly. “Of course.”

"Really? Do you own any balls? Think you might let me handle them?" Upon saying that, Coral made a silent gasp to herself and covered her mouth. "WHAT did you just say?!!” Coral thought. “Tone it down before you come off too strong!"

Cornfield’s ears and tail perked up as his eyes widened. "What...?!” Cornfield thought with beads of sweat going down his brow. “Could this be it? Could this be my moment of glory?!" Thinking he’s got her full attention, he attempted to act suave like some of the more successful stallions he passed by in Ponyville. “Uh... O-o-ok,” he stuttered. “If you really want to try 'my balls'..."

"Er, of course!” she shouted out, trying to diffuse the situation. “When we practice for bowling..." Her brow furrowed as she put her claws on her forehead. "Great. You raised his expectations and now thoroughly dashed them."

“Uh, WAIT! Just give me a chance!” He quickly moved to grab something and accidentally tipped the stove over, enough to make it launch a single hot lump of coal without tipping it over completely.

Coral can hear the stove crash back into its original place."What was that?" She tried to see what happened behind her from her bed, but the top bunk obstructs her view.

Cornfield barely saved his haycake, thanks to it sticking to the stove itself. “That was close…” he told himself before picking up the scent of smoke. “Is it already done? Wait…” He looked behind him towards the direction of the smell.

"Did you mess your haycakes up? What's that burning smell?” Coral questioned, concerned that the haycakes might be ruined. Cornfield saw the lump of coal on Coral's rump, going deeper into her exposed end. He panicked and quickly tried to stop it from burning her rear, but shouted as it burned his hoof. He tried again to roll it off of her, but Coral looked behind her to see him reaching for her buttocks like he’s trying to cop a feel.

"HEY?! What do you think you are DOING?!” Coral shouted in disgust. “HOOVES OFF!" She bucks him with one leg in the chest and the coal lump rolled to the floor, but not before a small spark ignited her fur where it landed.

Cornfield doubled over in pain from the quick and violent force of her hoof hitting him as he tumbled to the floor. He cried in pain before trying to correct the misunderstanding. “Wait!” he shouted out. “Coral, you don't understand! You're on fire!”

"Keep the euphemisms to yourself, buster. If I'm that hot, you shouldn't touch!" Suddenly, a sharp pain hit her as she winced. She can see smoke billowing from her rump as she stared in silence. "Oh… I'm ACTUALLY on fire..." Coral is silent for another few seconds until the realization came crashing down on her. "AaaaaaaaaAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Cornfield quickly got on his hooves after being knocked down. “OUTSIDE!” he shouted for her attention. “THERE'S A BUCKET OF WATER NEAR THE DOOR! HURRY!”

Coral screeched like an eagle while tumbling out of the bottom bunk bed. She scrambled to get off the floor, through the door, and outside! She busted through the door with violent force while Cornfield quickly smothered a small portion of the bunk that started to burn from Coral's rear fire. "OWW! OWW! OWW! HOT! HOT! HOT!" she screamed as she rushed towards the bucket of water. The flames are quickly building and giving her an intense burn on her rump. Wasting no time, she took the bucket and threw the water behind her. It splashed on the small inferno as the flames died down with a hiss... She breathed a long, relieved sigh from the cool water soothing the burn.

Cornfield came running out the hut. “CORAL!” he shouted before seeing her backside and tail soaking wet. “Oh. Uh, I see you...found it…” He thought to himself as he stared at the charred black, wet rump. "She's even cuter when she's all wet...and...uh oh!"

Coral turned her attention to him angrily. She was ready to snap and wring the neck of the stallion in front of him. She stomped her talons on the grass and emitted an angry growl before raising her foreleg like she was about to give him a taste of her sharp claws, but she restrained herself at the last minute. She tried to force a smile like nothing happened, speaking through the corner of her beak angrily. "Cornfield.... Darling.... Let's make a deal."

Cornfield cowered, but was strangely aroused by her anger. “Uhh, sure! What's up, babe?!” He covered his mouth, daring not to push his luck any further.

Coral placed her claws on his shoulder and squeezed hard. It hurt him, but not too badly. "I'll ignore this little incident the best I can,” she said, “And, in return, you are to NEVER do that again. Understand?"

He slightly flinched from the pressure on his shoulder. “Ah, uh, sure. Whatever you say.”

"Oh... And you can have the bottom bunk." She let go of him and went back inside his house. She didn't care about what happened anymore. She just wanted to go and sleep.

It was getting late. Luna raised the moon some hours ago or so. “I guess after I finish my haycake.” he thought. “I'm ready to sleep, too.” He followed behind her inside, where he promptly scraped the haycake off the oven, ate it in three bites, and climbed in the bottom bunk of his bed.

Despite the bed’s size, Coral woke up from a restful sleep. Carefully, she climbed down from the top bunk of the bed and looked at Cornfield as he was sleeping and snoring mildly. "Good,” she thought, “he's still asleep... He's a dunce, but at least he's cute when he's sleeping and not trying to be as awkward as possible..." She tip-hoofed to the door and walked out silently, but not before looking back and whispering "Thanks for the accommodations, tiger".

She closed the door behind her and walked to the back of the hut to get her belongings in the barrel. After attaching her saddlebags on her back, she dug out her map and a compass from inside as she bravely waded into and through the thick forest canopy of the Everfree Forest. She looked around as she marked each tree she crosses with her talons before she got lost.

After some more wandering, she found the cave she was looking for like the one on her map. A smile stretched across her face as she approached it, but her heart sank when she heard something growling inside the cave.

Cornfield, meanwhile, was still asleep soundly in his hut, possibly dreaming about all the stuff he was so close to having that last night.

Author's Note

This is the first chapter written by Me and my friend, TheFlamesOfSorrow!

1-2: Timberwolves and Heartbreak

Chapter 1-2

The collective snoring and heavy breathing of the creatures in the cave made Cobalt Coral extra cautious. As she peered inside, there were 7 visible Timberwolves along with their larger alpha. The noxious scent of their breath was intoxicating, and she almost passed out from the stench alone. "Blech..." she gagged, covering her beak and whispering quietly. "Of course... The Heart of Nature would be protected by its denizens... This will not be easy..."

Looking above her to gauge the color of the sky through the canopy of thick tree branches and leaves, she noticed the sun was slowly coming out and entering early morning. She swallowed as she weighed her options. It was plausible to wait until nightfall to see if they were gone, but she didn’t want to waste anymore time on the search for her gem. Ultimately, she decided to approach closer slowly. Once close enough to the pack, she held her breath and carefully planted her talons around the first wolf. She's moving ever slowly around them, stepping in spots between them...

"Easy... Eaaaasy...." she thought.

Her legs were precariously stepping around each wolf in the middle of the pack. However, when she put her talon by a wolf's snout, it picked up her scent and instinctively woke up. Emitting a low, blood-thirsty growl, it wrapped his wooden jaws around her right foreleg. "OUCH!" Coral shouted in pain as she kicked the wolf’s jaws off of her leg and tried to back away. Unfortunately, she stumbled over a couple wolves behind her, tripping and tumbling down. The wolves she landed on were shocked awake to find the large bird creature rolling off of them and landing back outside of the cave in front of the stirring pack.

Coral held her foreleg in her left talons, hissing in pain, but quickly realized that they were all awake now. Her pupils shrunk when she stared fearfully at the entire pack slowly approaching her, growling and drooling. "Uh.... Good dogs?" she praised them in a vain attempt to curb their ferocity. The alpha howled, signalling the rest of his pack to give chase! Cobalt quickly scrambled off the ground and ran screaming, trying to outrun them on her bitten leg.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Meanwhile, Cornfield was happily sleeping away knowing a cute chick lived with him now. He dreamt that the two of them were walking in a meadow, while he was watching Coral’s ass bob in front of him with each step. Boldly, he reached out to press both of his hooves on each cheek, hoping to play with her plump yet slightly muscular buttocks. He’d also hoped that she would return the gesture by presenting herself to do whatever he wanted to her. Instead, she acted how she would in the real world, stepping away quickly from his advances and giving Cornfield a back hoof to the face.

Cornfield woke up upon the impact from his dreams, crashing on the floor from the side of his bed. Rubbing his head and shaking it around to sort his head out, he looked at the top bunk. Only to see there was no chick in it at all! He quickly got on his hooves and ran outside! After a quick scan of the vicinity, he didn’t see hide, hair, nor feather of her. Instead of just giving up like the last few times where mares didn’t pay attention to him, he decided to circle around his hut and be on the lookout for his sexy new roommate.

Coral was struggling to run through the forest. Her injury made her considerably slower on the ground. Taking a risk, she fanned out her wings and, with a few flaps, took to the air. This proved to be just as challenging, if not more so, than running due to the density of the Everfree Forest. She had to dodge the trees and branches, scraping and brushing through many leafy limbs. Just as she could see the clearing out of the forest, as luck would have it, a net of hanging vines caught her wing. The vines painfully yanked her out of the sky and pulled her in, tangling her in its ropes and holding her above the ground. She struggled to escape before noticing that the wolves had circled her below.

"AHHH!” she screamed. “Ok! Ok! Don't panic. You can get out of this. You can-" SNAP! She screamed again as one of the vines tore apart and gave her a short drop, lowering her closer to the ground. The wolves below her were jumping at her and gnashing their teeth.

Cornfield's ears twitched at the sound of a familiar scream. “HEY!” he said aloud. “That sounds like it's coming from the forest!” Not wasting any time, he bravely galloped from his hut and into the woods.

"HEEELP!” Coral yelled. “HAAAAYYYYYLUP!" Another snap echoed. She screamed as she dropped even lower. "Well,” she thought as she looked below her, dripping beads of sweat. “I've had my close calls in life... but I think this is it... they are going to have me their wooden stomachs..." She looked around desperately as she tried to find something to hold on to or fly away. However, when she moved one of her wings, a stinging pain shot through it. The initial pull of the vine must have sprained it!

Suddenly, she looked down to see one of the Timberwolves thrown forward, shattering off the side of a tree and scattering into pieces. The rest of the pack turned to where the cause of this new threat might be and focused on the green young pony taunting them. “Come and get some!” Cornfield cockily stated.

Coral’s jaw hanged down as she witnessed the stallion she suckered to share the house with defending her at the nick of time. "No way..." she whispered in disbelief.

Cornfield turned tail and got a head start away from the pack. The wolves, losing interest in the winged creature above them, decided to give chase at fresher meat. They collectively hunted him down as Coral loses sight of the dogs. Another snap was heard. This one let Coral tumble down to the ground and land on her back with a heavy thud. Dazed from the fall, she rubbed her aching self before gasping and looking if there were any wolves around. There were none.

After assessing the situation, she realized that if she were to go back to the cave at this point, it would be completely empty by now. Seizing this opportunity was very tempting, but Cornfield crossed her mind. "That idiot,” she thought to herself. “He’s going to get himself killed..." She tried to follow after the pack chasing behind him, glancing occasionally below her to use claw prints in the dirt as a guide. However, after a moment of tracking and searching, she heard a voice unexpectedly call out to her.

“Hey! Are you there, Coral?”

That sounded like Cornfield. "Huh?! Cornfield?” she called back. “Where are you?!"

She turned to her right as she saw the stallion climb from a sizable hole underneath a wide tree. “Right here!” Cornfield said proudly. “Are you impressed?”

Coral stuttered. “Well… I… Uh…”

“I know lots of good hiding places around here,” Cornfield chuckled as he paced around her. “Good thing Timberwolves are so easy…haha…”

Coral curled her claw under her beak and smiled with a giggle. "Not bad for a -" Before she could finish her sentence, she stumbled a bit and hissed in pain again. “Ah!” Despite the adrenaline from the chase dulled the pain of her bitten leg, it came back with a vengeance once she applied pressure to it.

“Oh...are you OK?” Cornfield asked before going into hysterics over his prize. “Those Timberwolves didn’t hurt your precious body, did they?!” He dived into the ground to look closer at her injury, paying no mind to the dirt he sustained as a result.

"N-no,” Coral said while backing away a bit. “It's ok! Really. Traveling alone, I'm used to one or two scrapes... It's not bleeding.” She grunted in pain as she lifted her leg to get a better look at it. “But, it did leave a mark..."

“Wait...! I have bandages stashed somewhere!” Cornfield turned around from her and was about to run back home.

"H-HEY! Wait! Don't leave me alone, you klutz!" Cornfield stopped in his tracks and faced Coral as she limped her way towards him. "What if they come back again! I'm in no stage to fly or run in this situation..."

“Ack! You're right! I should protect you!”

"Good! Thank you! Nnnh..." The pain ached in both her wing and her leg. She stared at him as he smiled back at her. "Don't be too hard on the stallion…” she thought. “If it weren't for him, you'd be dog food. You owe him a favor..."

“Uh...mind me asking what the Tartarus you came out here for?” Cornfield asked, tilting his head to the side and edging closer in curiosity.

"Oh! Uh...." Coral thought in silence for a few seconds, quickly thinking of a lie. "I was looking for... food? Yes, food. T-To bring you... To cook."

“Really...? That's weird...I thought you knew I had food in my cupboard.” He recalled about what actually was in his cupboard from last night. “Well...that is if you don't mind a half eaten daisy and 2 slices of bread...haha…”

"Oh! Right, I checked. I suppose I wanted something a little more filling?" Satisfied with her answer, she waved her claws in a dismissing manner. "But, that doesn't matter. Let’s get out of here."

Cornfield stuck close and guided Coral out of the forest and back to the hut, eager to assist when she stumbled on her bad leg. Throughout the trip, Coral’s conscience was weighing heavily. She didn’t want Cornfield to help her, but he did so without a second thought when she need help the most. She just couldn’t bring herself to leave his life without paying him back in some way. "So. Um..." she hesitated.

“Yes!” Cornfield eagerly answered.

Although she felt obligated to pay him back, she didn’t know what a stallion of his character would exactly do. His eagerness to worship the ground she walked on also made her doubly nervous. She put her talons on her forehead and rubbed it. "Say it.” she thought. “Say it and clear your conscience..." Taking a deep breath, Coral stated her piece slowly and softly. "I... owe you... And I hope to repay it in full..."

Cornfield’s ears perked up. “Uh...what was that?” he asked, knowing exactly what she said. “Could you say it one more time?” He cupped his hoof around his right ear and leaned in closer to hear her better.

"I owe you and I hope to repay it. If you have anything you want from me, just... name it..." She quickly put one claw up. "Within reason!"

Cornfield’s face was beaming. "Ooooh!” he joyfully thought. “Those words alone bring me such...happiness. I MUST take advantage!" He rubbed the back of his head while they were approaching his humble abode. “So...Uh…”

Coral’s mind was racing and thinking of several ways this would go. “No perverted stuff. No perverted stuff. PLEEEEASE no.”

Cornfield stopped in his tracks and thought hard about how to take this gently. "I should act real nice about it.” He thought with a smirk. “Butter her up for tonight!" Coral turned around and waited for his answer. “Well,” said Cornfield. “Maybe, I take you to dinner tonight? You'll be my date. That’s reasonable, right?”

"A... date?” Coral cocked head to the side with an eyebrow lifted as high as it can go. “That's it?" She looked away with a single claw curled under her beak. “You mean to save my life, grant my favor, and then take me out to eat well out of your pocket?” she asked in her head. “Are you mentally unstable?" She’s shaking her head a bit, sorting out all of the risks in her mind. Cornfield was growing more and more uneasy, thinking she’ll reject him. “Something is up. There's always a catch. Play along anyway. You could use a decent meal.”

“Sure! I'll be a real gentlecolt you'll see!” said Cornfield with gusto before chuckling nervously. “Ah...Would it be OK if you could pay for your side, though?”

“AUGH!!! I knew it! Gentlecolt, my tailfeathers!” Coral thought as she momentarily clenched her beak and furrowed her brow. After taking a second to breathe deep and collect herself, she forced a smile and said "Let me just... a... count my bits and see what I can do. B-but yes. I'll grace you with my company."

Cornfield pumped his forelegs and smiled with his eyes closed. "YES! SCORE!” he shouted in his head. “And what a catch! I'm sure to remember this night forever! Once I get her all warmed up she'll be BEGGING me to give it to her!" He couldn’t help but fantasize what the date would be like.

“Oh, Cornfield,” Coral said in his dreams. “You are such a graceful stallion! I want you inside of me! Now! On the table in front of everypony!" He’s hiding a hard on as he walked inside the hut to prepare for his big night. Meanwhile, the real Coral trekked back behind his hut to take her saddle bags off and open them to check her equipment. She’s thankful that nothing during her chase with the wolves was damaged. She’s also grateful that Cornfield was too busy thinking with his lower half that he completely missed the fact she was wearing them the whole time. The less questions she faced, the better.

There were several gems in one of her bags that she could always use for emergencies, but that would only rile suspicion. She located her coin purse inside mixed in with the gems and opened it up to count the total inside.17 bits. It’s not a lot, but it's something. “You need to entertain him for a bit until your claw and wing heals up.” she thought to herself. “Just smile, nod, and be gorgeous." She took the coin purse, closed her bags, and put them back in the barrel before walking to the front door. Opening it, to her surprise, revealed Cornfield right behind the other side.

“Coming, my lady?” Cornfield said while putting on his best winning smile.

“Oh, my gosh, he was waiting for me to come in.” she thought. “Desperation, thy name is Cornfield.” Instantly, she improvised a smile and pretended to be flattered. "I'm ready when you are, champ." she said aloud. “But… just where are we going?”

“Well, I’d…” He put his hoof behind his head. “I’d like to walk around town with you first, after I patch you up. Is that ok?”

Coral thought about it. He only said “a date”, but she had nothing better to do to burn the daylight. “I suppose I can do with a stroll.”

The evening sun had set as the nightlife of Ponyville begun to stir. Ponies were staring at the tall unsure hippogriff walking with Cornfield as he proudly strutted with his future trophy wife. Coral, hanging her head low behind him, was embarrassed to be with him. "Er... So…” struggling to break the ice. “Uh, where are we eating again?"

“Hah!” laughed Cornfield. “We are going to the one and only diner that is a favorite of our own Princess Twilight!” He exaggerated the popularity of the location, but it did spark Coral’s interests.

"THE Princess Twilight? Now you have me intrigued."

They soon arrive at their destination. One was filled with feelings of satisfaction and aspirations. The other was wondering how long this will take before they’re through. Coral gazed up at the building and was sorely disappointed with what she saw. "Cornfield?" she asked.

“Yes, my darling?” he responded sweetly.

"Why is the only diner beloved by Princess Twilight a hayburger joint?" She couldn’t believe it. Either she was being played, or the fabled Princess of Friendship was just as cheap as Cornfield.

“I assure you, baby cakes,” said Cornfield. “This is the place ponies go when they don't want to cook.” Realizing what he said, he blushed as he looked away thinking “That sounded better in my head".

"Whatever. This is easier on my budget." Coral thought as she turned to Cornfield. “Let's get a table and order us some food,” she suggested.

Cornfield moved in to be a gentlecolt at every turn. He approached the door inside and opened it with a bow. “After you, my dear!”

"Thank you, sir." The warmth of the interior brushed her face as she walked inside of the diner and waited for Cornfield to follow along. "Maybe this won't be TOO bad..." she thought, but she noticed that the restaurant was a little too busy for her liking. Some ponies were glancing at her. She stuck out like the very sun itself in a small, confined room. Curiously, she turned her head to Cornfield walking by her side. "So, what do you recommend here? Do you get the classic hayburger or something else?"

“I like the Mighty Colts meal! NO! I mean...I like the Big Mac apple hayburger...Yeah…”

Coral sighed at his response. "A bunk bed and orders food meant for foals,” she recalled to herself. “I'm now fully convinced that I'm dating a minor..." They walked over to the back of the line to the cashier as she towered over everypony else. A colt tugged on her mother's tail and pointed at Coral.

"Look, mommy,” cried the colt. “A hippo-thingy!"

"Shhhh,” shushed his mother. “Don't be rude."

Coral waved off the mother who apologized to her, feigning a smile, but she’s uncomfortable deep down with the attention she’s getting. Cornfield, on the other hoof, was just too proud of himself to care. In fact, he relished in the staring as his face was beaming. After a sizable wait time, they finally made it to the cashier.

"Can I take your order?" the mare cashier asked cheerfully.

"Yes, I would just like a hayburger with cheese and apple juice,” answered Coral. “That's all.”

“And I'll have a mi-er Big Mac!” stumbled Cornfield. “Yes! With a side of hay fries please?”

The two paid for their separate orders, received their food after a short wait, and made their way to an empty table. Coral put her food on the table and sat in a booth across from Cornfield. She unwrapped the burger, grasped it in her claws, and took a large bite out of it. As she’s chewing it, she took note of the taste. It's a burger. Nothing fancy. She asked herself again why Twilight liked this place so much.

Meanwhile, Cornfield rolled his burger out of it’s wrapper right onto the bare table on his side. Just as he was about to lose more dignity about it, he remembered to act "gentlecolty" again. Instead, he momentarily left the table and procured a plastic knife and spork. He sat back down and meticulously used his utensils to eat the burger like it was a fancy meal at a 3-hooves Canterlot restaurant. “How is it, darling?” he asked as politely as possible.

“Meh... It's a burger…” replied Coral. Boredom started to set in as she put her elbow on the table and leaned her head against her foreleg. However, she sat up straight when an idea in her head popped up. "Say, Cornfield?"

Cornfield was holding the food on his spork on his left hoof, despite being naturally right-hoofed. “Yes, my dear?”

Coral’s face grimaced momentarily watching him eat. “For goodness sake,” she thought, “I'm using my bare talons. Why not use your hooves? Who are you trying to impress?” Realizing that she’s losing her friendly face, she regained her composure, and focused on the more pertinent questions. "Those Timberwolves were really mean…” she said in a pitiful voice. “Does Ponyville have any trouble with them? I'd think you'd know how to deal with them since you seem to have a handle on the Everfree Forest."

“Oh...uh…” Cornfield was hesitant about answering. "The only way I could handle a Timberwolf is sheer improvisation.” He maintained eye contact with Coral with a little bit of suspicion in his voice. “In fact, that group you were attacked by was an unusually dangerous one; worst I've ever seen! You would of had to been harassing them or something. But if you were minding your business...Then why?"

Coral almost choked on her burger a bit and coughed. She tried to hide her nervousness about the possibility of being caught with her true intentions. "Ah... No reason. it's just that, as I said before, I was exploring for food. So, I saw this cave and, well, curiosity got the better of me."
She smiled as wide as she could and attempted to wave off the topic with her claws. "But, nevermind the why. Are there any deterrents for them to stay away from you? They seem to really like hunting you down if you are in view."

“Oh, uh, yeah. I know one good deterrent you can use.” He pointed his plastic knife at his puffed out chest. “In fact, I help make sure they never come close to hurting others. You could call me a hero.” He struck a heroic pose while staying firmly on his seat. Ponies were staring while walking by.

"Yeah, you're a hero. Sure."

“No really! I am!” He’s flexing his skimpy muscles, trying desperately to impress her. “Yep! Just another days work for a hero. I think today was the fifth, no, SEVENTH time today I saved a poor damsel.”

"Ok, cool it down, wondercolt.” She put her talons in an open palm in his face, motioning him to stop. “I was with you the entire day prior to our date. I don't recall you saving princesses from another castle."

“Ah…”He seemed dejected at first, but resumed enjoying his meal like nothing happened.

"So much for The Heart of Nature..." she whispered quietly to herself before taking another bite of her burger and washing it down with apple juice. Her eyes darted around, thinking as Cornfield scarfed down his meal. "Does this town have a library?" she asked without warning.

“Well, it did…” he swallowed his food to avoid talking with his mouth full. “Until Tirek destroyed it. The Friendship Castle nearby has a library but...I'm not allowed there anymore…”

"WHAT?!” she screamed in her head. “Who's Tirek!? Ffffff... Ok. Ok. Calm down..." She breathed in deep in response to this new information. “All right.” she calmly said. “Why aren’t you allowed in there?”

Cornfield’s eyes widened as he began to sweat nervously. “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” There was a long pause. Coral raised an eyebrow, wondering what’s going on his head. “It was because I was too noisy.” he finally said.

Not buying his answer, she leaned in. "...You tried to woo the Princess of Friendship, didn't you?" She took another sip of her apple juice.

“Woo her? No, no, no, I was just taking upskirt pictures.”

Coral, gagging on her drink, spat it out on his face. He doesn’t care, as he realized he messed up big time. He stuttered, scared about the consequences he will face, while Coral was coughing up her juice. When she finally got it all out, she looked at him with furious look on her face.

"WHAAAAT?!" she screamed. The majority of the ponies in the diner turned their attention to her. This was making Cornfield sweat quite profusely, terrified that he would make this situation even worse.

“No! I meant, I was caught mastuba- NO! I MEANT-” He put his hooves over his mouth as Coral’s jaw hung wide open. She knew he had problems, but this was just too much for her to handle. Cornfield looked back at her, reeling back and smiling nervously. “Ahh...hehehehe.”

Coral shrugged and put her claws up. "I'm done,” she said as she got out of her seat. “I lost my appetite completely. Enjoy your burger.” She headed out of the door, trying not to heave.

Cornfield, desperate not to lose the one date he’s ever had, got up from his seat and ran after her. “WAIT!” He caught up to her outside of the diner, dodging the traffic of ponies going in and out of the building. He approached behind her. “WAIT, PLEASE! I can explain!”

She stood in momentary silence. "Explain?" The flustered hippogriff turned around with her brow furrowed and her beak clenched. "Explain WHAT?!” she shouted. “That you did something EXTREMELY perverted and told a lady in front of everypony?” She stomped one of her back hooves on the ground. “I'm absolutely MORTIFIED!" She turned her back on him and hugged her forelegs around herself. "And to THINK you almost groped me! I feel dirty knowing that I slept in the same hut as you!"

"Son-of-a...!” Cornfield cursed to himself. “I really messed up now! This is horrible! I must do something! Quick!” He laid on the ground, putting his hooves together in the air in a pleading manner. “Listen, please? Coral. If you would just give me a chance! I'M BEGGING YOU! FORGIVE ME!”

"Let me think about- No." Cornfield’s heart shattered as Coral took a few steps ahead. "No, I have much BIGGER plans in mind than to hear you grovel. I'm going to go to Twilight's library, get a bestiary, find how to get rid of those Timberwolves, get my gem, and leave you for GOOD!"

Cornfield was sobbing uncontrollably. “Please! Don't-don't you believe in-” Suddenly, what she told him hit him like an oncoming apple cart. “Wait...Gem?” He lifted his head, dried his tears, got off the ground, and raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” Coral froze as a chill ran down, realizing she just spilled everything. She turned and opened her beak to come up with a lie, but let out a defeated sigh as she looked away and stomped her back hoof in frustration once more. Cornfield’s heart sank even further. “So....you were there...looking for a gem this whole time?”

"Look…” muttered Coral as she refrained from eye contact. “I'm going to tell you the truth, simply because I pity you, and I feel I still owe you information for saving my life." She finally summoned the courage to look the stallion she bamboozled in the eye and state the truth. "Yes, I am a treasure hunter. I've travelled across Equestria looking for the rarest stones to bring back home to Mount Aris."

Cornfield was severely dismayed. “...So...you never meant to stay in Ponyville? To stay with...me?”

After a moment of silence, she let out a sigh, not wanting to answer that question. "Recently, while exploring some ancient ruins in the Forbidden Jungle, I came across an old map and ancient texts that tell of four sacred gems: The Heart of Nature, The Eye of Fire, The Mind of Water, and The Breath of Life." She leaned in a little closer to further emphasize the importance of her mission. "It's said that any creature that gathers these four together will become a deity and have all their desires made fulfilled." She turned her back on him once more, more than happy to end the charade. "There. Now you know who I am and why I'm here... It wasn't to be with you.” She gestured a wave of her talons to dismiss him. “You were a means to an end."

After processing how he had been used all this time, Cornfield stood up straight and tried his best to not break down in front of her. “Well, then.” He’s failing as tears started to stream from his eyes. “You’re just a greedy traitor! You use others because you only care about yourself!”

His pseudo date sighed, much deeper than before. "I may look greedy, but you aren't one to judge…” She turned to face him once more and leaned in close to Cornfield’s tearful face. "Look at yourself. The way you behave. Do you really think that you are the last bastion of truth and virtue, hero?"

He opened his mouth but paused, forehoof frozen in the air. Then, as tears flowed again, he shouted “Well, at least I know the Everfree Forest like my hoof and I have MY OWN place unlike YOU! So, enjoy getting lost in the woods on your own”. He turned and ran away crying, back in the direction of his house. A few ponies stare at the pathetic stallion before looking at the heartless stare that Coral was shooting in his direction.

"What a child..." she said as stared off in the distance until she couldn’t see Cornfield anymore. "He thinks I'm greedy? Selfish? Manipulative?" Her eyes fell upon her claws as she clenched them into a tight fist. "Fine. But, if you lived trapped underwater for as much as I did out of fear, only to have your queen banish you at a young age and left to fend for yourself... Walk a mile in my talons. Then, you'd see that I'm justified in my actions."

Author's Note

I hope that those of you who have read this so far are enjoying it. Please let me and my friend know what you think.

1-3: The Intentions of Coral

Chapter 1-3

Cobalt Coral stared at the ground, thoroughly disgusted with what was shared between her and her "date". When he confessed the maliciously depraved actions during their time together, she wanted so badly to do the world a favor and claw out his eyes so he could never stare at another mare’s backside again.

Yet there was a tiny voice in the back of her head. One that she hardly ever paid attention to before. She never really met a pony that acted so strangely before. Why does he act the way he did? Did he just not know any better? Was he raised right? He seemed to live alone, so maybe he doesn’t have all the social graces that she expected most stallions to have. In that case, she almost felt sorry for him to be so desperate for attention that he resorted to stalking others.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, focusing on the much bigger problem now. "Either way I slice it,” she thought, “My free lodgings are over, and I don't have enough money to rent an inn and supply myself with food much longer. I need to get The Heart of Nature now and go back home.”

After a short trek, she navigated her way to Twilight's Crystal Castle. The large, imposing doors towered upwards as she was in awe of its crystalized splendor. "Hopefully, the princess can give me a clue or two on what to do with those wolves..." She was about to knock on the right side of the doors, but she caught a glimpse of the note hanging on the left side in the corner of her eye. Approaching close enough to read it, somepony, most likely the princess, wrote "Went on Friendship Map business. Be right back soon”. Coral stared at the note, getting angrier as she read it again and again. No help was to be found here. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” she shouted as her clenched fists banged on the door, echoing the vibrations of her knock inside. Turning her back in frustration, she now had no choice. She had to get her things and find somewhere to sleep.

Meanwhile, Cornfield was curled in a dark corner of his unlit house, surrounded by all the clutter he collected over the years. His heart felt broken, yet he felt guilty for it. It was all his fault. He messed up when he leaked about his incident at the library. He trusted Coral in the first place, but had only himself is to blame for where he is now: back to square one, right where he would be before. In that moment, he realized how alone he truly was. Had he not of met her, there was no progress to be made in the first place. As if he found his cursed Purgatory. All because of a slip up. "If only I could control my urges,” he thought. “My social life...Why am I so awkward around everypony I meet?"

Outside of his hut, Coral snuck around the walls, trying to silently get her things and leave. As she was tip-hoofing her way to the barrel where she kept her supplies, the sound of Cornfield’s cries of despair seeped through the straw walls she was circling. Coral hesitated, but shook herself out of it. “No,” she thought. “No. No. No. Don't grow a conscience on him. He's a creep. A child. A pervert. A..."

She stood silent as she was reminded of her childhood. His situation of crying all alone to himself triggered memories of her childhood to flood her mind. Her heart hanged heavily as she remembered her tragic days as a young hippogriff, crying in a corner when the Storm King took over. Her eyes watered remembering the soldiers tearing down her neighbor's homes, looting and pillaging, taking all that they had. Then, they took all she had. Her things, her house…

Her family.

All her life, she felt so alone. She knew all too well the pains in one’s soul when there was absolutely nopony to pick you up and tell you things will be alright. Focused on what she had to do, she took her bag from the barrel, threw it over her back, and went to the front door to make amends and end her guilt. She knocked on it three times.

The knocks startled Cornfield out of his pathetic state. “Wha…” he thought “Who could that be at this hour?" Drying his eyes to save face, he humbly approached the door and opened to find the hippogriff that hurt him standing on the other side. “YOU!!!” he shouted in disbelief.

Forced to face the music, Coral meekly waved at him. "Cornfield... I'm sorry,” she apologized.

“You...came back? Why?”

She knew why. At first, it was just to get her stuff. But, plans change. "I feel like the both of us have gotten off on the wrong hoof with each other."

“You do...?” He wanted to believe her, but he instinctively backed off before falling back into her web of lies. “Wait! Is this a ploy again?”

“No tricks. No manipulation.” She lifted one arm to hold her palm out while placing her other talons on her chest. “No using my body to cloud your mind and your judgement. I'm genuinely sorry."

Cornfield stood in silence. She seemed sincere, but he was lied to before. Plus, after all the hurtful things she said to him tonight, he didn’t want to be abused again. “I...don't know...if I should believe you…”

Sighing, Coral ruffled through her bag. "Look. If it will make you feel better, here..." She took out a fine gem she picked up on one of her adventures and placed on the ground by Cornfield’s hooves. She never loved to let go of a gemstone as a treasure hunter, but she had to find some way to make her feelings more sincere. "Here is payment for the lodging and the medical care."

Cornfield stared at the gemstone, wondering what her angle of thinking was. "Perhaps,” he thought, “She wants to give me a second chance after all?" He slowly reached for it, took it in his hooves, and proceeded to inspect it briefly. Having no knowledge of the shiny stuff, it was impossible for him to tell if it was a fake or something. However, Coral’s hanged head and sad expression shown more sincerity than any bauble could. “Ok, I believe you,” said Cornfield. “But no more lies between the two of us” He extended his hoof out to her. “Deal?”

Coral looked at the hoof, then looked at him. Extending her foreleg slowly, she thought about what might happen if she agreed. "He could be after many things still,” she thought. “My body or, worse, the Heart of Nature. I should leave, not have anymore baggage.” Yet, she couldn’t find the will to leave, not when she’s already one gemstone deep in. Her focus on her mission required to make things right between the two of them. “Deal.” She firmly grasped it in his hoof and shook it. No more lies with Cornfield. It would be tough not to, but she made a promise she intended to keep.

“So…” Cornfield, content with the agreement, shyly put his hoof behind his head. “Are you...tired?”

Coral let out an authentic chuckle. "Exhausted."

“Come in.” Cornfield opened the door for her. “I promise it won't be weird this time.”

"Thank you. I promise I won't do anything to try and get my way." She walked inside his hut, quickly getting used to the small space.

Although he promised for it not to be weird, he can’t help but stare at her body as she let herself in. "Oh...she's so HOT!” he thought. “But I must contain myself...I don't want to give her a legitimate reason to leave forever."

"So..." Coral interrupted his train of thought as she sat down on an uncluttered piece of the floor. "I assume that you have a lot of questions to ask about me?"

The colt shook his head “Uh...actually, I do…” replied Cornfield as he sat across from her. “Why me, first of all?”

"Location,” Coral answered bluntly. “Your hut was the closest position from here to the cave where the Timberwolves are. Also…” Coral nervously brushed her claws through her feathery mane. “You aren't the only creature in this house that stalks... The morning I found your hut yesterday, I followed you around to see what you were like. I pegged you as a desperate, lonely stallion. I was correct..." She broke eye contact, realizing she might have hurt his feelings.

He also looked down, examining what she just said. “...It doesn’t feel good to know somepony was watching me without me being aware of it,” he thought.

"Although I have many gems,” she continued, “I don't have many bits. You'd be surprised how many ponies turn down a gem offer when bartering. Gold is the only standard for some." She lifted her head, wanting to make eye contact, but found him looking at the floor. "So, to save my budget, I played with your heart..."

Cornfield’s face was both of shock and rejection. He was still recovering from their fight from before, and now she’s putting his lifestyle back in the spotlight. "Desperate? Lonely?” he thought. “That's a bit harsh." Still, he needed to put on a braver face for the sake of impressing Coral. “I-I see…” he said, hesitantly. “I guess, for you to admit that, you are serious now. But…” Cornfield raised his head in one motion. “I'd hate to think I am a means to an end and nothing more to you…”

Coral stared at Cornfield, who stared back at her blaring with self-pity in his eyes. She thought that, perhaps, she was too harsh in her actions. "In my travels, I've met a lot of bad creatures. Selfish creatures. Creatures that made me think that it's going to be me or them that gets screwed, in many senses of the word…” Leaning in closer to emphasize her intentions, she lifted a single claw pointing to her chest. "I closed my heart to prevent myself from ever being hurt again! Everypony has an ulterior motive, whether you know it or not..."

“That's not true!” Cornfield objected. “Some ponies have good intentions and are full of charity!”

"Maybe on the surface,” said Coral, quick to refute him. “But there's a darker side in all of us, including you..." Coral sighed and rubbed her right foreleg with her claws. "Especially me." Her eyes drifted to the floor. "But, when I heard you crying…” She turned her head to the left to hide her sorrowful eyes. "No doubt about it. I looked in myself and saw that I hardened TOO much. I was no different than the tyrant that intimidated my kind into hiding."

Cornfield saw a single tear dripping down from her cheek. He never saw this side of her before, a sensitive side that she would hide behind her tougher persona like a shield. “I'm telling you, Coral!” he shouted, determined to cheer her up. “There's some good in everypony! I mean, I know some ponies can be real jerks out there. But, everypony has something compassionate to show!” He pointed to her. “Especially you! I believe that!” He hesitantly put his hoof down, questioning his own words. "Do I actually believe that?" he thought.

His words rushed into Coral’s mind as she thought to herself. Taking a moment to brush her claw through her mane again to try and save face, she let out a small feminine giggle before smiling and turning her attention to Cornfield, more relaxed than before. "You know... if you were to tell me that before all of this happened, I would have said that you were full of it..." She motioned her claw, pointing between him and herself in quick succession. "This here? What you are doing now?” She put her talons back on the floor. “This is how a stallion should be. No puffing of the chest or the wandering of the eyes..." She leaned in closer. "Talking to me, talking about my feelings... encouraging me to become a better creature… This is what makes a stallion."

Surprised to find that his pep-talk yielded positive results, Cornfield didn’t expect to be offered a very rare compliment to him in return. “Ruh-really? Gee, I never thought of it like that…” He rubbed the back of his head, not sure what to make of this new development. After thinking it through, he decided it would be best if he simply dropped the conversation now before he said something to ruin it. He faked a yawn, got up, and headed towards his bed. “Well I don't know about you, but after today…” He jumped into the bottom bunk of his bed. “I'm ready to hit the hay!”

Coral was surprised to see him change the subject so quickly, but she agreed that a good-night’s rest would clear her head. "Right, I should, too." She walked towards the bed and climbed onto the top bunk. She tried again to settle in before finding the sweet spot again. "Good night...Darling..." she whispered that last word.

“Goodnight...Coral.”

The next morning sun rose. Its sunlight gleamed through the only window in Cornfield’s hut. The light prompted Coral to slowly open her eyes and get out of bed without disturbing the resident below. She didn't sneak out, scam, cheat, or do anything to pull the wool over Cornfield's eyes. She was happy to have a place to sleep that wasn’t outside.

"Huh.” she thought. “This is the first time I've slept in…” Of when she slept in, she couldn’t recall. “Is Cornfield up?" Looking at the bottom bunk, she saw him sleeping like a foal, drooling a bit. At first, she thought the image was a little off-putting. However, in some twisted way, the childish yet peaceful nature of how he slept was a little charming. Feeling the pangs of hunger, Coral opened Cornfield’s cupboard to see what was available. "Hmmm. Nothing to eat here... No wonder we had to go to take-out..."

After thinking for a moment, she snapped her claws in realization. She dug in her bags and took out two granola bars. Carefully unwrapping one, she walked over to Cornfield, gently put the bar between Cornfield's teeth and closed his jaw, holding it in place. She snickered as she unwrapped the other for herself. While taking the first bite and holding her breakfast in one set of claws, her other set unraveled the old map from her bag. Then, she got out her trusty pencil to begin writing down notes on what might work against the Timberwolves in the cave.

"Let's see,” she whispered to herself. “The most obvious answer is fire, but... Let's try not to set the forest ablaze with me in it..."

Stirring himself awake, Cornfield opened his eyes, seeing Coral sitting on the floor with what looked like a large, old-looking piece of paper. Then, his tongue made contact with the taste of granola and realized there was something in his mouth. He sat up and spit the bar out onto his hoof. “Hey, what's the big idea?” he asked with a hint of annoyance.

She looked up from her map. "Morning, Cornfield. Thought you might want breakfast in bed."

“Haha…” he laughed disingenuously. “Very funny...So, I guess you also have a sense of humor.”

"Well, I'm not just a pretty face." She placed her focus back on the map. “Quick question. Do you think a chew toy would work against Timberwolves?”

“A chew toy? That’s pretty stupid, actually.” Cornfield begun munching on the bar.

"Yes, it is stupid. I'm trying to figure out how to get through them, but I have no luck just guessing like this.” She sighed and leaned back, trying to think harder. “I went to Twilight's Castle to get more information on them last night, but she's out on princess duty."

“Hmmmm...Dealing with timberwolves, eh?” He scratched his head, trying to think of a way to help her. He doesn’t know why he wanted to, other then there was a pretty girl in distress. “You know you could try fireworks!” he blurted out.

"Fire would only just set the whole forest ablaze. I want to avoid that.”

“Huh...I guess you're right…”

"But the noise…” Her eyes light up with hope. “The noise might scare them away. They are just dogs! They have sensitive ears! Even a dog whistle can do the trick!” She got up from the floor and raised her arms in celebration. “Cornfield, that's it!"

“Yaaaaay!” shouted back Cornfield, getting off of the bed. “Glad I came up with it!”

"You? Please. Don't take ALL the credit. It was brainstorm from the both of us."

She looked around the room. There are merely boxes of stuff in a corner that’s still unpacked. Cornfield isn’t bothered by the fact that she’s now looking in his boxes, but he’s annoyed that she didn’t ask first. "There's just so much crap here,” she rudely stated. “Do you have anything that can make a lot of noise?"

“Well, I'm sure YOU could get your girly screams to do the trick.”

Coral looked up at him surprised, pausing for a minute before chuckling. "So, you DO have a spine. You could have fooled me.” Sounds of clutter hitting each other resonate from her digging through the boxes. "But, no, we need something sharper. Ear piercing even. I’m thinking maybe we can bang pots and pans together, but..."

“Yeah, we’d look ridiculous.”

“And having all of that with us would be cumbersome if we do have to run.” Coral’s wind was knocked out of her sails pretty quickly. If Cornfield didn’t have anything compact that would drive off the Timberwolves, what then? She sighed and stopped looking in Cornfield’s stuff.

“Hmmm…” Cornfield hummed in thought. “Do you think Zecora would have something we could use?

"Zecora? Who is that? Does she specialize in creatures like them?"

“...I'm sure she knows a particular weakness...she's smart that way!” Despite the young colt’s assurance, he had only came across Zecora a few times when he was chillaxing and exploring the perilous forest. He even once attempted to snap a pic of the unsuspecting zebra, except, she was NOT so unsuspecting after all! In spite of that, she was always a good neighbor, and he wanted to appear more helpful to his new partner than somepony who just tagged along for the ride.

Coral sat on the floor, crossed her forelegs, and thought hard of the choices in front of her. Asking somepony else for help would mean more ponies that are onto her schemes. It meant more chances for ponies to grab The Heart of Nature before she did. She wasn’t willing to trust a total stranger. One other option, however, was to make a lot of noise with items that would burden her. If it worked, that means she’d have to carry that stuff with her everywhere to deter them, making the journey more strenuous. If it didn’t work, they would both be slow and easy prey.

After carefully weighing her options, Coral decided to make a safe bet. "Where does she live?" she asked Cornfield.

“Oh, right,” Cornfield recalled “She's in the Everfree Forest! That'll make it easy, right?”

"Oh? That's convenient enough…” With an inviting motion of a single claw and the fluttering of her eyelashes, she called him over. “Come here. See if you can't point at the map where she is." He obliged and walked over to the map to sit on the other end of it across from her.

He studied the map carefully, eyeing the familiar landmarks and routes on the old map. Although it looked different, the Everfree Forest’s landscape stayed roughly the same. Cornfield glided his hoof down an imaginary path as Coral studied the direction his hoof was going. “There!” he shouted as he tapped a spot.

Wasting no time while the path was fresh in her memory, Coral took her pencil and drew a detour on the map. Satisfied, she rolled up the map, opened her saddlebag, and carefully tucked it inside. "I hope you ate your bar, Cornfield. It's time for a little field trip."

“Yay! Let's go!” Cornfield shouted, feeling like a colt that took what Coral said literally. He rushed her out the door, virtually pushing her out!

"Whoa! Eager, are we?" Coral chuckled under her breath with a smirk. "Thankfully, so am I."

“I've never been on an adventure with anypony before, especially with a pretty mare!” Cornfield shouted out, hoping that there were other ponies around to hear his excitement.

Coral was quick to silence him, shushing him down. "Remember, Cornfield. This is hush-hush. We can't let other ponies know what we are doing.” Gently, she tapped his nose with her claw. "This is strictly a need-to-know basis.”

“Oh, right right! Like Bon Bon! Super secret spy classified black ops stuff! Yeah!” He's hopping like a certain pink resident of Ponyville that ate too many cupcakes.

Coral smiled, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "Yes, but the gem of a lifetime is at stake here." Walking in front of him, she pulled out her map and compass. "Follow me, Cornfield. If I spot danger, you should be the first to know and run."

He stopped hopping around, and turned to face her with a confused expression… “Wait, you don't think I'm just a pushover, do you?”

"Well, your ability to run and hide from danger is handy,” Coral said as she led the way. “You'll follow my lead when I'm scouting, and I'll follow yours when things go belly up.”

Thinking to himself, Cornfield was not happy to be cast on the wayside like some pet. “I'll show her.” he thought. “I may be young and small...but I'm still capable of protecting me and her! I'll show her. I'll go from underdog to knight in shining armor. Just wait…”

Brushing and navigating through the thick foliage, the unlikely duo waded through the Everfree Forest. Coral checked her map every so often to see where they were heading. If Cornfield was correct, they are getting closer to Zecora's hut. She put her map back in her knapsack and continued forward with her “guide” following behind her, enjoying the view in front of him. Finally finding a sizable clearing to walk in, they followed a dirt path with a bubbling green marsh beside them. Coral swatted a few mosquitoes away, trying not to get bit, but a much larger threat was lurking below in the depths of the bog, eyeing them carefully.

“Hey...Coral?” asked Cornfield, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"Yes, Cornfield?" she answered back.

After a short pause, Cornfield stopped to look around the woods. “Do you feel like something might be watching us?”

Coral stopped in her tracks to search with him. Meanwhile, a log was slowly approaching them in the marsh, undetected. "Do you feel that way, too? I thought the same… But, where?”

Suddenly, the rest of the log emerged from the water with a giant splash, startling the two in a fright. Splashes of water rain down as a ferocious Cragadile roared, bearing its hungry teeth against its new prey.

“AAAAAAAAAH!” screamed Cornfield! “A CRAGADILE!” Not knowing where to go, he jumped into the foliage nearby to hide away.

“WHAT?!" Coral shouted back. With a row of sharp teeth coming fast at her, she attempted to dodge out of the way. However, the monstrous rocky lizard clamped a hold of her tail in his jaws. Coral gasped loudly as she was pulled toward the Cragadile’s marsh by her rear end.

"NO!” she shouted. “No no no NO NO!”

Frozen in fear, Cornfield silently watched in the bushes. The Cragadile dragged her towards the water, hoping to submerge, overwhelm, and sink its teeth in her properly. "Oh no!” he thought, shaking. “What'll I do???" He popped his head out of the shrubs and shouted “Hold on, Coral! I’ll think of something”.

Coral had her stomach on the ground, dragging her claws in the dirt. She wanted to take her knife out of her bag and cut her tail hairs off. However, she also knew that if she lost her grip, she's done for. "Rrrrgh!” she grunted and strained. “RRRRGH! CORNFIEEEEELD!"

Looking down the path they were traveling down in a panic, Cornfield considered fleeing for help. “We're so close to Zecora!” he thought. “Should I get her?”

Coral could feel her hooves touch the murky water. "Please!” she pleaded in desperation. “Cornfield... Don't leave me..."

With nothing left to do, Cornfield took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and sprinted towards the Cragadile. Jumping across the water, his hidden Earth pony strength somehow stomped on the monster's head hard enough to get its attention.

"Cornfield?!" Coral shouted in disbelief. Irritated at this nuisance, the cragadile snapped its jaws to get a taste of him. In doing so, it released Coral’s tail as she crawled out of the water, and turned to gauge the situation. Cornfield was holding on to the top of its head, trying desperately not to let go and fall into the marsh.

“HAAYYUULLPP!” He shouted back.

In any other situation, with any other rude, selfish, gullible or obnoxious pony, she would have turned her tail and fled. She always lived by her rule to look out for herself and only herself. That changed today as she spread her wings and lifted off the ground. “Hold on, Cornfield!” She flew above the beast as it tumbled and swung its head around. When she got the chance to get close, she extended her claws out to him. "Take my talons!”

“CORAL!” Then Cornfield jumped off the beast’s head as he extended his hooves to her. Grabbing on to both forelegs and adjusting in the air to compensate for added weight, she pulled him up as the Cragadile lunged out of the water for him. Thankfully, it missed them both and falls in the mucky marsh in a terrific, roaring splash. While it was disoriented, Coral flew him to safety further down the path to Zecora’s hut.

After flying a bit further to guarantee their safety, she allowed her partner to settle on the ground as she huffed and landed across from him. Cornfield was a little shook up from the entire ordeal as he looked behind him. He can hear the splashes, but it doesn’t look like it’s coming after them. "I think,” Cornfield gasped, “I think we lost it..." His heart kept beating rapidly after he processed the fact he was almost the lunch of that big monster. “Th...that was TOO close!”

"That was…” Coral huffed, putting her claws on her chest. “I was almost a goner... and then you went and did a stupid thing.” Her volume increased as she goes into hysterics about what happened. “And then, YOU were in danger. But I saved you, but you saved me first and…” Coral paused on the last sentence she said as she removed her claws off her chest and back on the ground. "You saved me... first..."

Almost in a trance, she reached her forelegs out and placed her talons on Cornfield’s shoulders. He looked at her with bewilderment, muttering only a single “Huh”. Without warning, she pulled him closer to her as he faceplants into her chest. His cheek can feel her feathery soft fur as she hugged him tight.

"I'm sorry!” Coral shouted out, ready to cry while squeezing him. “I should have been more cautious! I've had my share of dangerous stunts, but the Everfree Forest is nothing compared to old ruins or caves!" She leaned her head closer to his. "I never meant to endanger you like this..."

“O-O-Oh!” Cornfield stuttered. “That's ok!” He smiled to himself, enjoying the warmth of her body on his face. “I'm in love all over again!” he thought so wistfully.

Off to the side, a mysterious stranger cleared her throat. “I'm glad to see a touching sight,” the voice said. “But, I must ask. Are you all right?”

Coral gasped as she released Cornfield from around her forelegs. Embarrassed and blushing red like a ripe peach, she brushed herself off as she stared at the zebra, acting like nothing had happened. "Are... you Zecora?" she finally asked after an awkward silence.

The zebra stood proudly with a distinctive striped mohawk, pleased that her reputation preceded her. "What you say is indeed true,” she said with a smile. “I am she, but who are you?"

Eager to greet a familiar face, Cornfield got up from the ground and ran up to her. “Zecora!” he cried out.

"Cornfield!” she exclaimed. “What a nice surprise. You’re certainly a sight for sore eyes."

“We were attacked by a giant pony-eating MONSTER!” he cried back, standing up with his forelegs outstretched, emphasizing the size of the beast.

Zecora patted her hoof on Cornfield’s shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Indeed, the forest has creatures that are deadly, but have you braved them to come see me?”

“We have.” Coral chimed in, getting a little impatient.

"Ah, a hippogriff? A rarity.” Zecora stated as she looked her up and down. “None of your kind have visited me."

“Yeah!” Cornfield excitedly said. “Her name's Coral’s Cobalt!” He paused for a moment, scratching his head. Something didn’t seem right to him.

"Actually, It's Cobalt Coral,” she corrected. “But, close enough. Ponies just call me Coral, so I know how that's confusing..."

Zecora walked over and extended her hoof to Coral. They shake on it to close the introduction. “Surely, this is not a nature walk,” she rhymed. “Both of you come to my hut, then we'll talk."

As the zebra led the way to her hut, Cornfield eagerly followed behind while Coral kept her distance behind them. They approached her hut as the treasure hunter noted the amount of knick-knacks hanging from the tree. Zecora opened the door as she and Cornfield walk inside. If the decorations outside were off-putting, the strange and otherworldly masks on the wall, alchemy equipment, and the cauldron in the middle of the room were enough to make her believe she was visiting another part of Equestria entirely.

"I've never seen such things outside Mount Aris,” Coral said to Zecora. “What are you? Some kind of alchemist?"

Closing the door with a slight grin, Zecora chanted "I've dabbled in many a brew... Are you here for me to whip up one or two?"

“Zecora has a lot of strange and mystical stuff!” Cornfield blurted. “Aaaaand she's an expert on the unknown. I've come to her on two occasions I had poison joke.”

"Poison joke?” Coral cocked her head to the side at the sound of that. “That sounds…” She shook her head. “Anyway, um, no... we're having problems with Timberwolf attacks. Are there any remedies or potions we can have to deter them?"

Zecora tapped her hoof on the tip of her chin a few times, sizing Coral up. “Hmmm. Pots and pans more than suffice, if the wolves aren't playing nice,” explained Zecora. “But to ask of something else to repel? Is there something you don't wish to tell?”

"Oh, no, I don't wish to provoke them on purpose.” Coral deflected. “I just want to walk in the woods with my friend without wolves coming to bite my hindquarters."

“Yeah, Zecora,” Cornfield agreed, “We just need a little discretion from timberwolves. Kinda like that one time I needed a potion to stand on clouds for a certain... photo shoot.” Cornfield scratched his head and blushed, thinking of all the pictures he took of the mares in the Wonderbolts and their skin-tight jumpsuits during their shows. One of them even had a nice subtle tear in the right spot.

Shrugging, Zecora turned and walked to her cabinet without saying a word. She pulled out a bottle, already brewed and labelled, and gave it to Cornfield, snapping him out of his daydreaming.

"Lately, the forest had been riled.” Zecora said with a less than welcoming tone as she turned and walked slowly to Coral. “The creatures inside it had gone wild. They seek an intruder and will not rest, until he…” The wise zebra glared at Coral as the hippogriff backed away slowly. “Or she... is gone from this forest." Out of fear of the threatening glare from the witch doctor, Coral avoided to make eye contact with her. "I will not pry. I will not judge. But, I'll give your morals a slight nudge. If there's something here that you came to do, then do it and let the consequences fall on you."

"I…” said Coral bowing her head to Zecora, knowing her jig was up. “I need to do this... It's the only way I can make sure that nothing like what happened with the Storm King will ever happen again."

Zecora nodded, content that her suspicions were correct. "... I knew it to be true... You have heard the legends, haven't you?"

Staring at Coral in disbelief as she let out a sigh, the unassuming green colt thought to himself about why Zecora was being so uncharacteristically harsh to some creature she just met. Come to think of it, he never asked what this gem really was, distracted by his OWN “prized possession” as he was. “Uh, hey,” interrupted Cornfield. “What are you talking about?”

Zecora’s anger towards Coral momentarily halted as she turned her head towards her little-too-friendly neighbor. "Listen to me, Cornfield. That gem is no ordinary stone. It holds the very power of nature alone." Pointing her hoof at his direction, she turned her attention back to the nervous hippogriff. "You wish to be happy? To prevent more strife? Would you go so far as to risking his life?"

“What do you mean the power of nature? Like, butterflies and flowers and stuff like that?” he asked.

“Flora, fauna, and all in between.” She turned and walked towards his position. “It can manipulate all, do you see what I mean?!"

Cornfield scratched his head. “I have no idea.”

Huffing in frustration, Zecora coldly turned her back on Coral. "Whatever tragedy you endured to give you your cause, that power is not meant for your greedy claws." Zecora eyed Cornfield, still holding the bottle in his hooves. After a short pause, she stated "Apply the formula on your fur and your hair. The scent of the potion will be too much to bear".

“Ugh.” gagged Cornfield. “It does wear off...Right?”

“It will wear off naturally in an hour or two. There's no need to use extra shampoo.” Zecora closed her eyes and stood silent in meditation. "Coral, tread whatever path you wish to be on. But I shall help you no further. Now, begone...

"Why are you so upset?!” Coral shouted back, fed up with being treated like the villain in this argument. “You have a gemstone that is able to change the world! If you have the power to save lives with it, then-"

Furiously, Zecora ran up to Coral, getting in her face with an angry grimace. "I will scream this and shout until dusk and until dawn! I will not discuss this further! Now, BEGONE!"

Coral reared back after taking a verbal thrashing from Zecora's harsh rhyming rhetoric. She glanced at her partner, who was looking back at her, before making a hasty retreat out of the hut to save face. “Wait!” Cornfield cried out, about to give chase.

"Cornfield, come here!” commanded Zecora. “I must borrow your ear..."

“Huh?” Cornfield stopped in his tracks to look back at Zecora. “What is it, Zecora?”

Zecora breathed another heavy sigh and slowly approached him. He’s almost worried that he would be next to recieve her anger, but her face looked more regretful than angry. "She's lost and confused. Unsure on what to do.” She placed her hoof gently on his shoulders. “I'm sorry, but her future actions fall on you. She needs someone like you to help her decide. Do not be strung along in her own selfish pride."

“Is something bad gonna happen, Zecora? What's up with the gem?”

"It maintains the balance of the Everfree.” said Zecora as she waved her hoof off his shoulder and around her. “It stimulates every plant, animal, and tree."

So, somepony could maybe use it...for bad?”

"Do you know how nature is uncontrolled here? Why the ponies who approach run in fear? It thrives on it's own. It needs nopony's aid. The Heart of Nature's light. But, what happens should it fade?" Cornfield thought on it for a bit. Seeing he’s still struggling to understand, she added "If its light should disappear, the forest stands still. The animals begin to lose their will. Nothing grows naturally. Life will fade. All without the Heart of Nature's aid". Backing off a bit from him, she rubbed her hoof on her forehead in frustration. "Do you see why I'm upset? Why I'm flustered and mad? Taking that gem is nothing but bad."

“I'm sure she has good intentions, Zecora.” He put his right hoof on his chest. “She showed me as much.”

"I cannot stop her, though. I must only observe. As a humble witch doctor, I live only to serve. It must fall on you on what to do with Coral's inner hate.” She put her hooves on Cornfield’s shoulders and put her face close to his, whispering "Be her guide and decide her fate".

Staring into Zecora’s troubled eyes, he thought about the idea of being Coral’s consciousness, guiding her and keeping her company as she pursue her goals. He liked it. He gave a hardy nod as he smiled back at her. She smiled back as she let go of him. "Go and be well,” she said softly. “Good luck to you. If you need further assistance, you know who to go to."

“I'll keep that in mind.” With the bottle in his possession, he headed out. Before leaving, he gave her a quick wave goodbye. “See you around, Zecora.”

Author's Note

Art by me. Editing made by TheFlamesOfSorrow. Thank you all for reading!

1-4: Journey to the Ruins

Chapter 1-4

Cobalt Coral sat outside of Zecora's hut, fidgeting in her claws a gem that she had kept in her bag. Zecora's rhymes of warning echoed in her mind. Shaking the feeling she might be making a big mistake, she sighed and held her head low. “Is it really that big of a deal...?” she told herself. “The animals are going crazy according to her, and now they are now after me. Did Cornfield almost get eaten because of me?” She breathed another heavy sigh. “I'm not sure what to do…”

Startled by the sound of Zecora’s hut door opening, Coral shot her head up and looked behind her to see Cornfield waving good-bye to Zecora before shutting the door. She quickly stashed away the jewel before he could see it and sat silently to herself. “So, are we ready to do this?” he asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah,” she answered back with not as much confidence. “Yeah, I'm ready..." Turning her head, she glared with a very serious look at Cornfield. "Question is, are you ready for this? After all, you almost got eaten. That Cragadile wasn't after you.” She looked away from him. “It was after me..."

“Well…” He walked to Coral’s side and sat down with her. “Perhaps, no more than you, at least.” Pumping his forelegs, he tried his best to psych her up. “I mean, we just need to stay focused, keep our senses peeled, and put our heads together!” A cold pause occured as he watched her. Even he felt a little dismayed for a second, thinking “I really thought I could get her excited with that. Guess I gotta work on my pep talk”. When he saw he wasn’t getting through to Coral, he put one of his hooves behind his head. “At least...I think we'll be OK if we just cover each other's back…”

“I don't get you.” She got up from the dirt, causing Cornfield to back off slightly from the subtle movement, as she attached her bags around her barrel and took a few steps forward. “I've been bad news for you ever since I walked into your life. I've cheated you, broke your heart, and now I'm endangering you.” Looking down from behind her, she couldn’t help but feel she’s dragging along some poor naive colt against his will on a wild goose chase. “And yet, here you are, trying to be some knight in shining armor. Somepony making the effort to keep me, the creature that hurt you, in high spirits.” She turned around and shook her head. "If something happens to me... I'm ok with that. I knew the dangers when I chose this life.” Deciding that he’s better off with Zecora, she started walking towards her next destination.. “You should go home. Forget about me."

"Knight in shining armor...?” His eyes widened at the thought of being compared to Celestia’s finest. “YES!" The newfound pride within himself drove him to run up to Coral and intercept her before she went any further. “Oh really?” he said, blocking her path. “And just what are you gonna do without me?”

"... Something that doesn't involve you getting killed..."

“What would you do if you were going up against that Cragadile alone? Throw rocks at it? Maybe give it a lil' scratch of the talons?” He placed his hoof on his chest. “What are your odds of surviving without me in a place you clearly have never been before? You don't even know what kind of monsters might lurk in the darkness.”

Coral stood there staring at him in silence, contemplating his words. “Damn it, he's right,” she admitted to herself. “If it weren't for him, you'd already be dog food yesterday…” She looked into his eyes, trying to read his inner thoughts. "Why? Why go through all the trouble. It can't JUST be for sex, can it? No stallion would go this far..."

“And here's another thing,” he said, ready to brag about his exploits. “I know this area. Very well, in fact. Not just the terrain, but all the secret hiding spots! I've even found the Tree of Harmony! But I couldn't get it to react for some reason…”

Surprised, Coral’s mouth was slightly agape with her eyebrows lifted. "The Legendary Tree of Harmony? He's gone THAT far?"

In the mind of Cornfield, he was impressed, even shocked to know that all the time he spent in the Everfree Forest is paying off this way. “If I wasn’t so alone at times with nothing to do,” he thought, “I probably would of ended up being discarded like tissue paper by her…ugh…best I don’t think about that bit…” He shook his head and continued. “It's also a safe sanctuary from the carnivorous creatures.” He chuckled at the memory of hiding around it’s protective field. “For some bizarre reason, I couldn't even bait one over.” All of his boasting pumped him up. “I may not be strong in a front-facing fight… but I've got some tricks I've picked up! Real ninja pony like! Yeah!” He laughed as he thought to himself “Also, being a bit of a stalker helps”.

“You impressed me until that line, you dork..” she replied. A slight smirk formed on her face, seeing the childish stallion look up to her in the hopes that he impressed her. "Ah, who am I kidding, he's STILL impressive,” she thought. "He's adaptable and sturdy. He's like a cockroach. Tenacious, hides well, and doesn't die." Shrugging, Coral put her claws up, surrendering to his upbeat outlook and superior navigating. "Fine, ok. You win. You are king of the forest. I'm lost and out of my element. I'm usually the girl that handles temples, clues, ancient texts, stuff like that. But, this is beyond me. You are one with nature." She tapped the tip of his nose with her claw. "Happy?"

“Very!” he said, smiling without a care in the world.

"Ok, good. Now, should you lead the way, or do you want me to go first so you can have something to look at again?"

“AH…” Cornfield reeled back from her. "HOW DID SHE KNOW?" he thought. Blushing furiously, he looked away, embarrassed. “H-H-H-Hey, I-I'm more focused in the adventure,” he replied. “But…ah... It's nice to have something to look at once in awhile…” He let out a nervous chuckle. “S-so… What was this place we're looking for? A cave?”

"All right.” she replied, putting up with his antics. “Consider it a reward for sticking with me this long. And yes, a cave full of Timberwolves. We go past them, we find our way into an ancient ruin where the gem is held." She walked around him, continuing down the path back to the cave. "So, shall we continue?"

“I'm ready!”

Determined to protect his personal princess from danger, Cornfield guided the purple hippogriff around the Cragadile’s swamp and went on to prevent any more attacks by other creatures. Every few minutes, Cornfield would point to an animal in the distance and direct her to hide away. Zecora was right all along, the forest is actively hunting them, and the creatures were determined to scare Coral away or worse. After sneaking around every dark corner of the woods, they finally found their way back to the cave where the Timberwolves were sleeping. The time had come to test their mettle.

"Do you still have that potion Zecora gave you?" she asked him quietly.

“Yeah,” he said blankly, but then realized something. “...Oh...wait, I snuck it in your saddlebag while we were walking. I didn’t bring mine.” He brought his hoof to his chin and thought “...Sure was a great view too…”

Sighing and rolling her eyes, she quickly dug through her bags. "Why didn't you tell me?" Grasping it in her claws, she handed it over to him.

“Because, it's your birthday,” he responded sarcastically.

"Huh.” Coral turned her head away from him and scoffed. “Well, with that attitude, maybe I should just rub this gunk on myself instead of giving you the opportunity to touch a lady for once in your life."

Cornfield popped the cork on the vial as a heavy stench flowed out. “Uhhh...I don't know about this stuff…” He took another whiff of it, but instinctively turned his head away. “Ack!...I mean, some potions are ok, but this...stinks…”

Leaning closer, Coral sniffed the air around the mixture. Her nostrils full of the odor, she gagged as she waved the smell away with her claws. "Oof! You are right, though... It reeks!” Coral plugged the nostril holes on her beak with her claws. “I hope that Zecora didn't give us liquified manure by mistake..."

“Ok… Here goes nothing!” With gusto, Cornfield planted his lips on the vial and swallowed some of it down like a shot of whiskey.

"HEY!” shouted Coral, glaring at him with disgust and confusion. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Cornfield coughed onto his hoof, trying to stomach the rancid taste.
"You IDIOT!” chastised Coral. “Zecora said to rub it on you, not DRINK it!"

“Wh-” He coughed. “What? I thought I was supposed to drink it?” Suddenly, his stomach turned and wretched, completely rejecting what went down. Cornfield placed his front hooves on his belly. “Uuhhh...I think...I'm gonna…”

"No no no!” Coral cried out, back away from him quickly. “Not on me! NOT ON ME!”

Gagging and hurling, he audibly and loudly expelled streams with the contents of his stomach through his mouth. He coughed and gasped as Coral leaned away from him, repulsed. “Oh, Novo… that was NASTY!”

"Ok,” Coral leaned closer to him with her brow furrowed. “Maybe I should be the one to apply it to both of us, because you have the attention span of a gnat to follow directions!" All of the yelling she had done managed to stir the wolf pack inside of the cave. Disturbed by the noises, the wooden dogs shuffled awake to track and end the source. She could hear them coming to their direction. “Oh…” She stumbled backwards a little. “Oh no..."

“I-I think half is left.” Cornfield said, queasily. His ears twitch at the sound of wooden claws slowly getting nearer. He glances at the cave in fear. “Oh, BUCK!” The sick pony was in no condition to outsmart all of the wooden manifestations at once. Their best bet was to use the very item they intended for this scenario.

Coral turned to Cornfield and pointed to herself. "Quick! Apply the rest to me and go hide!
You can fit in all the hiding spots from these dogs! I CAN’T!”

“Ah, OK!” Panicking, he throws the vial at her as its contents splashes on her side haphazardly.

"BLECH!” She gagged, reeling away from him. “After what happened to you, I don't want that anywhere near my mouth!" The wolves are walking out from under the darkness of the cave. Their drooling wooden teeth dripped at the sight of their prey. "Ok, quick!” She waved Cornfield away. “Hide!"

Not waiting around to be told twice, he ran behind a large group of rocks near a tree close by, watching what would happen. Coral was stunned silent as the wolves approached her, getting closer and closer. They were so committed to taking down the forest’s intruder that they were ready to rip her apart.“Novo, please let this work” prayed Coral in her head.Until, that is, they caught wind of her scent. One by one, each wolf sniffed her, winced and whine. A couple even dig their noses into the dirt and sneezed just to get the foul odor out of their noses. Even the larger alpha wolf couldn’t tolerate it.

The Timberwolves decided to run after the other pony that was with Coral and ignore her completely. She stopped holding her breath, gasping for air. "Ah!” she cried out. “I can feel my heart in my throat!"

Meanwhile, Cornfield was having troubles of his own as his stomach protested further. “Oh, Celestia,” he uttered “It's coming up for round 2!” He held his stomach, clenching to not go through all the vomiting again. “Gotta...keep it down!!!”

“NO!” Coral responded angrily. “I don't want you vomiting all over the place! You get it out of your system now! I especially don't want you spewing on The Heart of Nature!” The Alpha Timberwolf pinpointed Cornfield’s hiding spot from the sounds of his whining, while the other wolves had already split up to find him in other parts of the forest. A giant shadow of the creature graced the ground near in front of Cornfield, followed by the Earth shaking from the force of the creature landing in said spot. Tiny bits of wood broke loose from the monster as it plopped onto the ground with the sound of its bodily leaves rustling. It stalked him, licking its chops with its green, leafy tongue. Cornfield could also see the alpha coming, and realized he's in danger, but his indigestion paralyzed him momentarily.

Coral, a little late to see the beast poised to attack, gasped as the boss of the Timberwolves checked his scent to find him clean of any of that foul-smelling deterrent. Satisfied to sense there wasn’t any, it ran towards him!

“CORNFIELD!” she shouted.“Look out!”

Cornfield’s eyes widened. “BLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAACCCCCCCH!”

Abhorred by the sight of the alpha rather unfortunately receiving a face full of projectile vomit, Coral winced away. The force of Cornfield’s projectile even caused him to recoil just enough to make him airborne for a second. The beast, realizing what just happened, whined and howled as it rolled on the dirt, trying to get rid of the scent. Humiliatingly defeated, it ran off with its tail between its legs. She approached the sick colt carefully, as he coughed a bit more, wondering if he really did get it all out of his system. “That…” she said, still shaking off what just happened “That has got to be the grossest way to solve a problem I have ever seen." She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her beak with her talons, and shook her head. "Seriously, this situation is so stupid, you give dumb luck a whole new meaning.”

More uncomfortable than anything, he got up from the dirt and walked around her. “Excuse me,” he muttered. “I really need to wash my mouth out…”

She sighed as she ruffled through her trusty saddle bags once more, pulling out a canteen that had plenty of water sloshing inside it. "I have water if you need to rehydrate.” she informed, trying to catch his attention. “I don't want to drag you around if you don't have the energy."

Stopping, he turned around and walked up to her in the promise of water. “Oh...it's no problem. Here, let me have it.”

Before he could reach and take it out of her claws, she yanked it away. "Try not to put your dirty, vomit-covered mouth on it, ok? Try to hover it over your mouth.” Once she established her conditions, she gave the canteen to him.

“Ok…” he said weakly as he lifted the canteen over him and tilted it. As he drank, the water also spilled over his mouth, washing off the vomit.

Once again, Coral is repulsed. "Eeehh… I still don't know if I want it back..."

Wiping away his stained lips and cleansing the insides of his mouth, Cornfield sighed in relief from his acid washed away in his throat and glanced with a spit on the ground. “Ah, much better! Here you go!” He reached out to give her canteen back but hesitated at the last minute. “Wait, what was that you said?”

"Never mind, just... give it here..." She took it, whether he liked it or not, and put it back in her bag. Now that the wolves were gone, there was nothing stopping them from investigating inside the cave. Curiosity took over as they ventured closer and peered inside the entrance. "Looks to be empty now..." Prepared for any occasion, her saddle bags came to the rescue as she took out a lantern with plenty of oil inside. She twisted a knob and pressed a button, igniting a small flame inside it. "Keep up. I don't want to leave you behind!"

“I'm coming! Jeez!”

Meanwhile, outside of Zecora's hut, three ponies burst inside her domain uninvited. Startled by the door swinging open, the witch doctor ceased organizing her ingredients and turned her attention to the hooded figures.

"More visitors? How unexpected," said Zecora as one of the cronies reached in his cloak and aimed something at her. The zebra begun to shake in fear. "W-What's that crossbow doing pointed at my head?”

Animals passing by her hut could hear the sounds of the struggle. Glass breaking, pottery smashed, and hooves hitting the floor, until the forest echoed with Zecora’s cry.

"HEY! Ouch! Stop! Let go! I won't go with you! I say NOOOOOOO!"

The two unlikely partners found themselves a little deeper inside the cave. The floor was wet with the sounds of dripping water hitting the puddles below. With only the light of the lantern to follow, Coral led the way while treading slowly. "So, did you finally get it all out of your system?" she asked as her voice echoed down the cave.

Cornfield followed behind her, looking around the magically ordinary cave of mystical lack of wonder as they continued spelunking “Oh yeah,” he assured. “I'll never drink another potion again!”

"Unless it's specifically directed for you to do so, you ignoramus."

“Urrrhh...just the thought of it makes me a little nauseous…” His eyes wandered until he found himself hypnotized by the silhouette of Coral’s hindquarters swaying in the shadows, with the light of the lantern barely illuminating her supple rump. Cornfield couldn’t help but let out an awkward laugh. “Ah ha ha ha… But, I'm ok now.”

"Yeah, well, if it decides to go to the other end, please stay far, FAR away from me."

“Roger!”

They hiked further in the cave, trying to navigate around any small stalagmites that could potentially hurt if stepped on. However, as they went deeper in, they noticed that the way ahead lit up with fluorescent moss and fungi hanging on the cavern’s ceiling. The strange plant-life provided the two with dull, yet sufficient light to push through without the aid of a lantern. "Oooh, pretty.” Coral cooed. “That saves me a bit of oil..." She extinguished the flame and carefully place the lantern in her bag.

“So, how much further is it, anyway?” Cornfield muttered while Coral still had her claws in her bags. She responded with but a silent look at him and a single eyebrow raised. “N-Not complaining, just wondering.” He put a hoof on the back of his head, humbly.

Wondering how close her destination was as well, she pulled out her map and invited him to look at it beside her. He obliged, his hooves clicking on the rocky terrain. "It's not that long... We are approaching the halfway point.” Her claw traced a line down the path the caves led. “At this rate, we will reach the ruins that are surrounded by tall, impassable mountains.” She tapped the picture of the ruins twice to emphasize their position. “The mountains even have tall, winding trees on top, and it camouflages the ruins well. So well, in fact, neither pegasus…” Her wings fluttered. “...Nor hippogriff can see it from above. The only thing that is able to come down from those mountains is sunlight.”

“Huh…that’s convenient” Not completely understanding her plan, he scratched his head. “So, how are we supposed to get through? Unless, we pray for a flood!” He laughed as Coral rolled her eyes, rolled up the map, and put it away in her bag.

“We're going through it right now!” They continued walking as the light is getting a little bit brighter ahead. “This cave leads underground and through the mountain formation.
And once we get there, we can…” Glittery lights turn her attention away from her discussion as they walked deeper in. “We... can....”

Coral’s jaw dropped as she gazed at the many different colored gemstones that ordained the cavern's walls. The light from the fungi above reflect from the gems and sparkle in her eyes. “By Novo's dorsal fin…” she uttered in awe.

“...What? Who?” Unlike his treasure hunting compatriot, he was a little unfazed by the brilliance of the gems around him.

"It's…” A wide smile formed on Coral’s beak as her claws cupped the cheeks on her face. “BEAUTIFUL!” She hustled her pace, looking all around her with her eyes wide and pupils large with pure, unadulterated bliss.

“Well...I guess since you're a girl you're easily distracted by such things.” he said, chuckling to himself as he followed her casually.

"Oh, this isn't just a flight of fancy." Wasting no time, she rolled up the map, placed it in her bags, and pulled out a hammer and a sharp chisel. "This is a passion!” Cornfield looked on curiously. She tapped some of the gems she came across with her hammer, until one resonated with an audible indication of the best to harvest. After chiseling the stone out, it fell to the ground. She bent down to pick it up, unknowingly flashing Cornfield a view of her rump in the excitement.

“Well, gee, I hope you don’t plan on harvesting every-”. Catching more than an eyeful of her shapely rump, and every uncovered part of her more feminine features, the rest of his sentence trailed off as he started to drool. “...Siiiiiinnnnngle wwwwhhhaaa…” Fireworks were going off in his head, thinking of many things he would do to her butt if given the chance. “So round,” he thought. “So soft. So private and being exposed…”

"You're right, but I need to have something for my trouble, just in case this whole mission goes...awry..." Feeling that she’s being undressed with somepony’s eyes, even though she’s not wearing any clothes, she looked behind to see a hypnotized stallion. Then, she saw where his eyes were looking and put two and two together. “Are you seriously staring at a lady’s butt while she’s busy with the finer things in life?” She grasped the shining diamond in her claws as she made no effort to fight back from his peering eyes. In fact, she grinned at the idea of him appreciating her good looks. “No tact whatsoever. But, at least, we’re both looking at something beautiful.”

“Uhhh…” Snapping out of it, he shook his head and managed to make eye contact. “Hey, it's not my fault...I think…”

Chuckling, she turned to place the jewel safely in her bags. "Strange,” she thought. “On any other day, I would have rode my tail low and told him to knock it off... But, this is... kinda flattering.”

“Oh! B-b-but I think that one is even prettier!” he said as he pointed to a light from a gem hiding in the crack between the cave floor and the wall. “Go on!” He motioned her insistently to go. “You want it, right?”

Knowing exactly what he’s after, she poked him in the forehead with her claw. “Nice try, lover boy. It's time for you to come back down to Equestria.”

“Oh, fine! It's probably too hard for you to get it, anyway.” To his surprise, he found himself with her hammer and chisel in his face.

"Ok, then. You go get it." She laughed to herself with a snide grin. “Ha! Called you out on it. I wasn't born yesterday.”

“Wha...? Me???”

"Anypony else in this cave?"

He growled before snatching the tools out of her claws. “Fine!” He begrudgingly made his way over to the spot. “How hard can it be anyway?” Even though he can see the light reflecting out from the crack, he can barely see the gem. He placed the hammer and chisel down somewhere while he bent down and put his head right next to the crack in the wall. “Ok, how do I do this…?” he thought to himself. “Do I just chip away at the stone until it comes off? Yeah, that's what I'll do!” He’s so focused on where to begin that he didn’t notice Coral walking behind him until she put two claws in her beak and whistled a cat call.

"Yeeeeah! Shake that ass, baby!" she called out, wanting to give him a taste of how it’d feel to have someone like him be at the receiving end of those remarks. "Show them what your mama gave you!"

Startled, he turned his head. “What did you say?”

His response made her laugh almost uncontrollably. "AH ha! I'm sorry! I couldn't resist. That being said, back that ass up." She snorted and giggled to herself again.

“Huh???” He was baffled on why Coral was acting this way, but he simply chalked it up to her being female. He reached for her tools on the floor, but found he misplaced them. “H-Hey where'd that chisel go?”

Coral’s expression changed from light-hearted playfulness to being upset almost rapidly. “Wh-WHAT?! Don't tell me you lost it?”

“I could have sworn I put it…” He looked to his left and found her hammer, but her chisel must have rolled away somewhere. Regardless, he took in his hooves and held it in the air for her to see. “Ha! I found your hammer! I had you though, didn't I?”

Her expression softened a little bit. "Ok. Ok. We pushed each other's buttons. A shame that you had to make me flustered like that. I was planning on letting you keep that one. Oh well." She leaned in closer, looking around. “So, where’d the chisel go?”

Laughing nervously, he sat up from having his stomach on the cave floor to look for it, unaware that it rolled behind him. A sudden sharp pain hits his haunch once he was completely upright. “ffffHHHHHHNNNNNNN!” he held back a shout as his eyes widened and pupils shrunk. Surprising Coral, he burst out a scream and jumped in the air, holding his butt with both hooves. “YEEEAAAAAA!”

Seeing the chisel embedded in his rump, she shook her head as he danced around in pain. "Oh, you idiot...." she whispered before speaking up. "So, yeah. Chisels are sharp. We both learned something today."

When he bounced near Coral, he held his hooves around her forelegs and pleaded. “OW!...OW!...OOOOWWW! It hurts!”

"Is it in you still, or is it on the ground?"

“I-I think it's still in my...uh...Cheek...That's what's hurting right NOW! YEOUCH!” He stared up at her with pathetic puppy dog eyes. “C-can you pull it out?”

She sighed. "All right, hold still..." Softly pushing him off of her, she maneuvered around him to get the hammer he dropped, put it in her bag, then pulled out a first aid kit and sat down behind him. "You really are lucky I'm prepared for most occasions." Unzipping the first aid kit, a tent stake fell out as it rolled near Coral. She picked it up and handed it to him."Here, bite down on this."

“Uh, ok, but hurry! Ooooooooohhh!” Biting down on the stake, he steeled himself for the pain to come as he put his ass up and moved his tail to the side. She grabbed the handle and pulled the chisel out as fast as she could to get it out of the way! Tears form in Cornfield’s eyes as his entire body flops to the floor. “UURRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNHHHHHHHH!” he spat out the stake, taking short rapid breaths. “Oh, finally…” he gasped, before recovering from the shock.
“You don't have an ice pack in there, do you?”

"No.” she said bluntly while taking out a white bottle and rubbing cloth from the first aid kit. “But, I do have disinfectant. Be prepared, though…” She poured a bit of the disinfectant on the cloth. "This is PROBABLY going to sting like crazy."

“Err...On second thought...I'll be fine!” Cornfield is inching away from her until he felt her yanking his tail.

"Oh, no, you bucking don't. Stay still and take it like a stallion." Without warning, she rubbed the cloth on his wound.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” His cries echoed down the cave as he could hardly contain his tears. “Ooooooooh, you BITCH! Ah!” Realizing what he just said, he covered his mouth with both of his hooves.

After a moment of rather awkward silence, Coral asked "...What was that?”.

“Nothing! It just...really hurt was all! I swear!”

"Do you want this chisel to go back in?"

Instinctively, he put his rear down to the ground and covered it with his tail. “No! It was nothing! Really!”

"Put that back up, I'm not done! I need to apply the bandage." Unwrapping a sterile bandage, Coral cleanly covered up his sore rump. "Whew. That's over.”

“Aaaah…” Cornfield stood back up and stretched his legs. “Ok, that wasn't so bad… I'm ready to keep going!”

“I'm glad you like looking at my business end,” she said as she put the chisel and first aid kit back in her bags and put them over her. “I've seen about as much as I could take of yours..."

“...Ouch…”

"Sorry. I'm being harsh, aren’t I?" she sighed and she lightened up a bit more to him. "It's just that, what you suffered isn't the worst I've seen or even endured..."

“No,” he said as he turned to reassure her. “It's just the...disinfectant. There's a mild sting left. But, I'm ok now.” After careful reflection on how he was treated and how he treated her, he finally said “Thank you, Coral”.

"Hm. You're welcome..." With her left claw, she pointed to a spot on her right foreleg. "I should tell you the story how I got one of my scars. That's a doozy."

“Ugh. Mares.” he scoffed as he thought to himself. “They talk and they talk and won't shut the buck up!”
He sat down on his bandaged rump. “Ok.” he said to let her tell it him.

"No, no, walk with me." Coral walked around him. "Get that pressure off your hindquarters. We might as well make progress."

“Oh.” He quickly got up and walked alongside her. “So, tell me… What happened?”

“So, when I was exploring one of the ruins in the Badlands, where I found the old map that leads us to the four Gems of Creation, I came across another pony that was hunting the same thing..."

“Oh really...?” He leaned in a bit closer “Was she cute?”

“It was a stallion.” She slightly pushed him away. “Rugged. Matted mane. Seemed to know a thing or two about raiding ruins. His name is Dr. Caballeron…”

“Oh wait. I've heard of him…” He thought back to the Daring Do books he used to borrow before Twilight kicked him out of the library for good. “But I thought he was a fictitious character…” He pauses “...Is Daring Do real? Hmmmmmm...She must have an amazing ass!”

"He and I were in a hotel. Then, he noticed me and vice versa. I saw he was the usual explorer.” She brushed her claws through her feathery mane and shook it around. “And, I thought it would be fun to sweet talk him to getting the information I needed to get inside the temple."

As Coral was talking, focusing on him while they were trekking through the rest of the cave, Cornfield’s eyes drifted upwards towards the sunlight pouring from the exit. "We share some drinks to loosen his lips, and I try to prod him with a few questions,” she continued. "But…” She sighed and hung her head slightly low. “I got careless and asked one too many questions… Out of nowhere, his thugs come out to harass me. I took them down, no problem, but the bastard was able to dig a dagger into my right foreleg in the confusion."

No longer looking at Cornfield, she didn’t notice that he had stopped completely when he stepped out of the cave. Instead, she kept walking slowly with her mind drifting elsewhere. "I cried out, as the hotel staff were alerted of his actions,” she rambled. "He ran away like the coward he was, and he even managed to get ahead of me. I had such a hard time catching up to him on land..." She lifted her head and laughed. "But he forgot that I had wings, unlike earth ponies. So, needless to say, I’M the one with the map. Not him!” Before continuing her gloating, she noticed that she was alone and turned to face her companion. "Cornfield?"

He stood in awe, gazing at the ancient splendor ahead of him. “Coral...look.”

Circling around, she was surprised to have completely missed the fact that they had made it to the ruins. She backed up to join him as they gazed at the environment.

“Coral…” he said. “...It looks like nopony's been here...for...thousands of years!” As Coral had said, the mountain sides completely surrounded the area, with trees on the top of the cliffs letting out spots of sunlight. The temple ruins were caked in moss, fallen prey to the abuse of time. Its structure was held up by carved stone columns that were cracked and seemed like they were willing to give out at any moment. There were large, imposing statues of one ominous-looking stallion. An alicorn, but one with four wings instead of two on each side of the temple entrance.

"We're here..." she said while taking the environment in."The Heart of Nature is somewhere deep inside that temple..."

“You don't suppose…” He eyed the temple’s structure up and down, gauging its age. “This is where some ponies once lived before the EUP? ...Before...Equestria?”

Staring at the ruins, she considered the fact that these ruins were here well before the reign of Celestia and Luna. "Yes... It seems so… Before the three tribes ruled as one. Way before that, in fact." Coral walked closer towards one of the two statues places at each side of the door. "And... that stallion..."

“Oh...?”

The statue of the stallion alicorn with four wings had a beard of vines, a mane of fire, wings of water, and a horn of jagged, but smooth crystal. "That's an impressive piece... That might be their god..." speculated Coral.

“Hey, check that out!” Cornfield shouted out as he ran up to the wall of the temple. “Look at these markings! They don't look like wear and tear…” Delicately brushing his hoof on the wall, he found that there were many cuts and holes in the stone wall. “...I think there was once a fight here…”

"A fight? Let me see..." she replied as she walked over to observe the wall with him. While she was studying what weapons may have caused these marks, Cornfield looked around the columns and steps leading towards the door. There were a lot more battle scars to be found.

“A very BIG fight!” he exclaimed.

Coral stood in silent observation. This amount of damage wasn’t just a fight. "A war. Not surprising... This place must still hold some treasure left inside that were sought out..."

“But wait...something's amiss…” Cornfield carefully examined both statues of the alicorn.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

“The statues are fully intact…”

Wanting to double check, she approached the statue as well. She brushed her claws against it and checked for any residue. "Not only intact, but...Untouched by moss..."

“If there was some kind of war here, and it really seems like there was some sort of last stand...why in Equestria are the statues in the best shape possible?”

Coral quietly walked around the statue and looked into its white glaring eyes for a minute."Not gonna lie, I'm creeped out..."

“Yeah...this is really weird. I have this feeling like we're not supposed to be here at all, and I know what that's like!”

"And yet,” Clenching her fist and looking down at it, she gathered her determination. “I intend to press forward. The Heart of Nature, The Eyes of Fire, The Mind of Water, and the Breath of Life… Four gems, when gathered, make its collector a super being." She closed her eyes, keeping her goals focused in her mind. “When that happens, there won't be any wars. I'll make sure of it.”

“Well, let's make it quick ok! I don't know how much I can take of this place!” The colt stopped and slowly faced Coral, who was looking back at him. “Hold up...a ‘Super being’?”

"Yes. That's what it said in the ancient texts..."

“...But why would you want that?”

"I want to be that..." she placed her claws on her chest. "So no creature lives the way that I did."

Cornfield pondered to himself with concern as he walked towards the entrance. "I wonder if this place is starting to get to her?"

Surveying their surroundings, the duo proceeded together further inside the ruins. Coral noticed that the main hall was filled with broken down support beams. The only ones intact are barely holding the place together. "I feel like the slightest touch can make this structure crumble on top of our heads..." she thought aloud.

He gasped! “Really?!”

"Well, it feels like it..."

“I’m just hoping we can nab that Heart of Nature before something happens to us!”

"Also, I know this sounds strange but..." Coral looked above her to see vines tangling from the columns up to the ceiling. "The plants seem to be holding the place together."

“I can see daylight through the ceiling, Coral.” Instinctively, he covered his head with one of his hooves as they progressed. “If this place is losing bricks by the dozen, I don’t think it’s safe to be here.”

"Yeah, I know, but…” She noted how the vines created a weblike pattern across the ceiling.
"The vines up there are so thickly intertwined…”

Cornfield uttered a simple “Hmmmm” as Coral moved ahead. At the end of the main hall, straight across from the entrance to the temple, there's a stone door and a plaque with ancient writing along the adjacent wall.

"Oh,” shouted Coral “An inscription!" While Cornfield excitedly galloped to her side, she observed the writings. "Just as I thought... This is old, old, OLD, Ponish language..."

He leaned closer, trying to read it before giving up. “...I can't understand this. I may be a pony but-”

"Thankfully,” she interrupted while shuffling her claws in her bag. “I know what to do in a situation like this..."

“Oh, have you?”

She pulled out a small translation booklet, glancing sharply at Cornfield, who was looking at her bag curiously. "Before you think it, no. I don't have a magical bag of holding. This is the last thing I have that's stored away."

“Pfffft! Whatever!” he huffed, as Coral flipped through the pages of the booklet, trying to make sense of the writing on the plaque. “And? what’s it say?”

"Hold on.... Hold on..." She stated as she frantically flipped through more pages. "This is REALLY old dialect... I'm only getting bits and pieces..."

“Hopefully, something about where the Heart is right?

"Ok... This is my best translation...." She extended her claw to the plaque and read each word she could understand one-by-one. “Lose... Smell... Lose... Senses... Deceived...."

“Yes, yes?”

"Lose... your smell? Lose... your senses...." She scratched her head, wondering if she was correct. "And... deceived. That's my very best guess. That’s all I can get out of it." She put her translation book away.

“WHAT?” Cornfield yelled out, stomping his hoof. “THAT'S ALL WE HAVE TO GO BY? WHAT THE BUCK!”

She winced away from him as his echoing shouts rang in her ears. "Don't yell. I'm sure there's more, but that's the most I can translate..."

“Oh, great!” he sarcastically pouted, throwing his forelegs up into the dusty air. “Don't smell, don't sense, and deceived. What a find!”

"It's a clue!” she snapped back at him. “And any help we get out of it will help us!" Her eyes slowly panned to the imposing way inside. "Probably with what's going on behind that door..."

Author's Note

Thank you for reading so far!

1-5: The Three Trials

Chapter 1-5

Cobalt Coral and her stallion companion, Cornfield, stared dumbfounded at the inscription on the plaque beside the large, intimidating stone doors. The confused hippogriff read to herself again and again to try and better understand the cryptic message. "Lose smell. Lose senses. Deceived.” she repeated. “I can't seem to wrap my talon around what this means…”

Impatiently, Cornfield paced around behind her, growing more anxious every second. “Yeah, well, I'm starting to grow a beard here. How much longer?”

Coral glared behind her, increasingly sick of the whining since they arrived at the doors. "Huh. Well. All right. If you are so impatient..." Moving out of the way, she motioned her claws for him to either put up or shut up. "You go first."

With a heavy sigh, he approached the doors with whatever collected vigor he had. “Fine. Here I go!” Taking a deep breath and puffing his chest out, he placed both hooves on each door and pushed as hard as he could. He struggled to shove them open wide enough to walk through but, with a grunt, he slid them as far apart as he could muster. Without even remotely heeding the plaque’s warning, he fearlessly marched forward as Coral watched from behind to see what would happen as he continued onward.

The corridor ahead was filled with vines and budding pink flowers that shivered in Cornfield’s presence. Before he knew what hit him, they slowly opened their petals and blasted their sickly sweet smelling pollen in his face, causing him to choke and gag. “Aaah!” he yelled. “What the buck?!” He looked at the rest of his body as the pollen stuck to his fur. “What...is this?”

"Cornfield?!" Coral cried out, thinking the worst had happened to him. Perhaps the flowers had made it so they would have him propagate more of those pink flowers inside him. Maybe they poisoned him to slowly perish? However, the pollen didn’t have any damaging effects. All that happened to him, after being blasted, was he couldn’t smell anything but the sweet scent of flowers. At the end of the corridor, he saw a large room filled with a floral paradise, from the ground to the walls, of color and magnificence.

He hesitated from entering the room, as he didn’t want to yet disturb the natural beauty. “Ooooooooooooooo.” he marveled in awe before seeing a massive flower the size of a king-sized bed. It beckoned him to come closer with it’s soft looking petals and center. “Hey! Check that out!”

"Check what out?!" she called back. He didn’t respond and had begun to edge ever so closer. “Cornfield?” Not wanting to wait before anything irreversible happened, she dug through her saddle bag and pulled out the towel she used to treat Cornfield's chisel wound. She then wrapped it around her beak and tied it around her head securely.

Cornfield curiously walked toward the flower, uttering a single “...whooooa…” The hippogriff shadowing him successfully managed to pass by the pink flowers without smelling the pollen, thanks to the towel covering her nostrils. When she passed through into the room on the other side and unwrapped the towel, a heavy stench hit her hard!

"BLECH! This garden reeks... It smells like dead fish in here!" Indeed, the garden was full of plant-life, but nearly all of them were dead and rotting with flies buzzing around.

“Yeah, but... look at the flower!” he said in a hypnotic trance.

"What flower, there isn't any--" She screamed in horror when she saw the giant, spotted flower in the middle of the room. Its petals were decorated with razor-sharp teeth, awaiting somepony foolish to approach it. Somepony like a certain careless colt. "CORNFIELD! DON'T GO ON THAT FLOWER!"

“What? It's just... a pretty flower.” Cry as she might, Cornfield was blind to the danger ahead. He wandered close enough for the mighty carnivorous plant to chomp on its prey! By dumb luck, the unevenly spaced teeth missed him by a hair, but he was still trapped between the folded petals and couldn't get out no matter how much he struggled.

"NO!"

“HAYULP!” his shout muffled inside the flower. “GET ME OUT OF HERE! I DON'T WANT TO BE EATEN ALIVE!”

Without hesitation, she galloped over and grabbed his tail in her talons. She started to pull as hard as she could, but time was against her as the digestive acids forming inside the flower's bud were nearly rising to his level. "I'm sorry! But this is the only way to GET. YOU. OUT.”

He couldn’t quite hear her, but the tugs on his tail were a clear indication of her assistance. “HURRY!” In the nick of time, she managed to pull him out with an audible pop! He ended up landing right on Coral as they crashed into each other from the force of his escape.

"OOF!"

Dazed and confused with the pollen’s influence wearing off, Cornfield shook his head. “Ugh,” he groaned. “What happened…”

"Gff yrrr aff ovv muh fcce."

“Huh? What was that? Coral, are you hiding from me or something?” He laid back as he looked for the source of the sound, putting more weight in his seat.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!!!"

The angry bird-mare hybrid from underneath shoved him aside onto the dead grass and gasped in an attempt to breath again, only for the smell of the dead plants to choke her again. “BLECH!” she coughed. “I don't know what suffocates me more: the garden or your ass!"

“Uh...why were you…” It then donned on him what occurred. Blushing, he got up from the dead grass and looked around for an exit. “Nevermind. Let's hurry up and get the Heart… thing! I've just about had enough of here!”

"Right.” she agreed as she got up and brushed herself off. “Now do you see why I take my time with these things?" They both walk around the large carnivorous flower slowly. On the other side
of the garden, across from the corridor where they came from was another set of stone double doors.

“Hey, it's not my fault…” He paused as he looked at the next set of giant stone doors.
“But this time, you first… Ok?

"Fine!” She scoffed at him before digging in her bags and shoving her translation book forcefully in his hooves. “You want to read the inscription? There's another plaque, just like the one before." Turning her back on him, she sulkingly focused her attention on the door instead of looking at him. "Have fun!"

He opened the book and flipped through its pages randomly to get an idea of what to expect on how to translate the Ancient Ponish writings. “I should warn you I don't read these kinds of books.”

"Fine, whatever. I just want you to get an idea of how hard it is."

“Uhh...let's see what it says.” Identifying the first few symbols and committing it to short-term memory, he frantically turned each page until a few recognizable letters revealed themselves to him. “...T...T...Tea... Something about tea?”

"Tea?" Coral asked, cocking her head and looking bewildered. "Am I going to meet a rabbit and a stallion with a strange hat on the other side of that door?"

“Hold on...Lie...Lie...Mmmmmm…” He browsed the book some more, trying to make sense of the nonsense of letters and words that jumbled in his head. However, after putting enough of the pieces in place, something clicked in his brain. “Oh! Ok, ok… I think I got it. ‘Tea away’... something…’reveal light...in...?’ Or maybe it means to ‘tear’ something off...?” He looked back at Coral, who only just shrugged and motioned him to keep piecing it together. “Hmmmmm… ‘Tear... away something to reveal light in…?’"

After hearing enough to get a good idea on where to get started, she removed her saddle bag off her back and placed it gently on the ground. “I will leave this here. Watch close. If anything happens to me, I hope to have you right behind me using whatever I have brought.”

“Oh yeah! Gotcha!” He said with a smile before putting his nose back in the book. “Hmmmm... I wonder what's it supposed to mean?”

She planted her claws on the stone door and pushed. Although she was bigger than Cornfield, she wasn’t physically stronger, so it took more effort to get it open than before. He barely contained a chuckle looking at her from the corner of his eye. “Oh, and before you get any bright ideas, no, you don’t get my stuff if something happens to me,” She blurted. Without giving him a chance to protest, she walked down the corridor, into the subtle darkness.

Cornfield got a hunch about something, and he shouted out to Coral, who was already deep inside the hallway. “Coral? Do you have anything we can use as light?”

"There's a lantern in my knapsack." she shouted back. "I’m keeping it there until I call you to bring anything to me." Proceeding down the corridor, she found the hallway to be a narrow walk until she bumped into something soft deeper in the darkness. "Huh?!" stymied, she felt around with her claws. There, a small tapestry hanged on the wall. “Did I hit a dead end already? I was only walking a straight line… right?” Upon closer examination of the cloth, it appeared worn and faded. It clearly has seen better days.

“Are you alright in there, Coral?”

"Yeah! I just… Didn’t think that this room would be just a path leading to nothing!"

“I-I think you need to...press...something…” he chimed in, thinking back to all the adventure books he read before. “Do you see anything that might be a switch?”

“No, but…” She scratched her head as she thought about the clue given to her before. “Tear... away? Revealing light?” With bestial ferocity, she dug her claws in the tapestry and shredded it down into ribbons, revealing a small hole that looked like something could fit inside, large enough to insert a container of some sort. She tried her best to peer inside the cavity, despite the limited visibility. "Is this... a mechanism of some kind... " Looking around her proximity, she tried to find something to stick into the hole. Yet there was nothing, leading her to briefly put her foreleg in it. "Ugh, no, I'd be crazy if I stuck my claws in that. But there’s got to be something…”

“Found it yet?” Cornfield called down the hall, but Coral was too preoccupied with the puzzle in front of her. Worried, he thought to himself “Maybe I should check on her”. So he put on her saddlebags, and proceeded to accompany her. “ALRIGHT, CORAL! I'm coming!”
"Cornfield!” She shouted back. “Don't do anything stupid! Use the lantern!" Halting at her advice, he fished out the lantern from her bag, and lit it to guide his way down to Coral’s position. "Hmmm. Am I thinking TOO hard about this?” she thought.

“Heeeeey...what's this?” He said, discovering shredded fabric and the hole behind it.

"Did you bring my bag with you?"

“Yeah! Why did you leave it behind?”

"I didn't think it would be needing it! I left it with you just in case!"

“Anyway, I gotta say...” Cornfield held the lantern up to Coral’s face. The light from it brought her attention towards it. “This is a very nice lantern you have here!” Coral stared into the flickering flame inside the lantern as gears started turning in her head. “Did you ‘borrow’ it from somepony?” he asked, smiling with a discerning eye.

"May I see that lantern?" she requested, pointing at it.

“Oh, sure!”

“Thanks. And no, I didn't steal it.” Swiping it from his hoof, she gently placed the lantern into the hole. A subtle click resounded from inside as a rumbling noise echoed from above. Coral stepped back, afraid of what might happen next. "Ooooooh no, what did I do...?" Fortunately for them, the worse the rumbling led to was a circular plate descending in front of where the lantern was placed. It was segmented into three circular layers - inner, middle, and outer - and had various holes embedded in each layer. The two approached the discus carefully.

“Uh...Coral?” Cornfield tapped it with his hoof to make doubly sure it was safe. “What is this?”

Reflecting back on her previous heists, she realized that this particular puzzle was nothing new to her. "Ooooh, I've seen this before. I think I can rotate the layers on the plate. Maybe I can make some sort of image with the lantern’s light on the wall if I do it correctly..." She attempted to move the outer layer around to test her hypothesis. Sure enough, they can rotated.

“I don't see any rhyme or reason behind this, Coral.” He looked around the disc and examined the lamp behind it, trying to figure out how an idea that can help them further.

"It’s simple. I just gotta guess what exactly the image is supposed to be. Let’s see." She rotated each of the layers to try and align the holes and make some sort of image, but she's only guessing at this point. "Hmm, maybe if... No, but... maybe..."

“Is there some sort of secret we missed that can help us?” He walked back to Coral’s side to spectate her work.

"Not that I saw… This is pure trial and error and it’s frustrating me more than it should. I know there’s a pattern here.” She looked at her handiwork again, pushed her talon across her beak in irritation, and stepped away. "But an image of what, I have no clue..." She stared at the image intensely while Cornfield observed her. He wanted so badly to be the absolution of the puzzle but didn’t have a clue either. Yet, like finding the right puzzle piece to fit into place, she noticed a particular pattern. "I got it!" Excitedly, she toiled to finish what she started and put the layers of the disk into proper place. Once they all became aligned, there was a resounding click.

“Cornfield! Look at the wall behind us! Let's see what image the light is making to pierce that darkness!"

Intrigued, he looked at the dots of light along the walls, creating a familiar image. “Huh...a unicorn's horn. Go figure!”

"Hmm,” Coral pondered. “The first room was a large garden, an inherited talent of earth ponies. And now, we have a unicorn, and the idea of it casting light in the darkness... Could that mean-"

The wall where the lantern was inserted rumbled and slowly shifted upwards with the sounds of scrapping stone, revealing a grand room beyond with stairs leading up to another set of stone doors. The completed disc had also lifted itself up, giving the two unrestricted access forward.

“Oh! Finally...-wait…” Cornfield looked up the stairs and gazed at the doors in disbelief. “Aww, again?!”

"Ah, of course…” Coral added while massaging the sides of her head with her claw. “It's always a rule of three with these temples…” Suddenly, a harsh realization snapped in her brain as she slammed her claw back on the stone floor. "HEY, DID THE WALL JUST TAKE MY LANTERN WITH IT?!?!"

Cornfield couldn’t help but snicker at her misfortune. “I think it was actually meant for torches.”

Growling and stomping her right claws on the stone floor, Coral was almost dead set at tearing the temple brick by brick to get what she lost back. "SHOOT! That was favorite lantern!" Air blasted in and out of her nostrils, but she managed to cool herself off a little bit after thinking about what she came her for. “...I suppose The Heart of Nature is a good trade-off for this."

“...Uhhhhhhh, you gonna be ok, Coral?” Uttered the colt.

Once she fully got her mind together, although she was still muttering obscenities under her breath, they scaled the steps to the stone door. “So,” as if to challenge her. “What do you suppose is next, Coral?” He glanced slightly behind him to see her lagging behind. “Uh...Coral?”

Snapping out of it, she shook off her loss completely. “Yeah, I’m all here now. I know The Heart of Nature is worth it, but I just don't like being cheated out of what's mine. And no, the irony isn’t lost on me.” Suddenly, she stopped herself in the middle of the steps, lost in thought again. "Hey…” she said sheepishly. “I... want to ask you something."

“Oh?” Cornfield turned to face her. “What was that?”

“So…” She hesitated while brushing her claws through her feathery mane, a habit which he has caught on to. “I've shared with you my dream. Getting the four gems... But you know..." She stared into his eyes, showing genuine concern in her own. "I never got ask what your dreams really were. Surely, it's not to stick close to someone like me as she risks her life to raid temples, right?"

He didn’t expect that kind of question at a time like this. Rubbing one of his forelegs nervously, he turned his head away. “Uh...No, not quite like that. I'd say my dream is more like-” He stopped himself before he said any more. “Ah...Never mind.”

"Oh, come on. Don't give me that." She said as she approached casually to him. "You can't just lead with something like that and not finish your thought." Even so, he continued to look downward, embarrassed about what was on his mind. Coral sighed and shook her head. "Look, I know that we're both here for our own selfish purposes. But, if we're going to continue working together, I want to know more about my partner."

“Ahhh...Well…” He looked her in the eye and summoned the courage to just say it. “I just hope, maybe one day, females will start to notice me more.” Saying what he needed to say, he went back to staring at one of the steps and drawing circles on its surface with his hoof.

"Yeah?” Coral placed a single talon lightly on his head and pushed it back. “And what exactly am I to you? I don't know if you've been getting tunnel vision lately, but you got a female noticing you now." She climbed a couple more steps ahead and turned again to face him. "And besides, even if you get a bunch of mares to notice you, fight over you even, what then?"

Mentally forced into a corner, he stomped his hoof as he faced her. “Well then, maybe I wouldn't feel like a friggin' ghost SOMETIMES! Maybe I'd feel like there something to admire about me! Or maybe, just maybe, I CAN GET LAID!”

“ACK!”

Realizing what he just said, he covered his mouth with his hooves as Coral reeled back with one of her forelegs lifted defensively. At first, she's shocked, but realized who she's talking to. She relaxed herself and proceeded to offer her shoulder to cry on. "You feel alone, don't you?" He said nothing, leaving her to really question what was aching him. "If it makes you feel better, Cornfield, there is one thing I do admire about you." He looked up into her eyes. “Once you have your sights on something, nothing short of death will stop you from getting it. If you really wanted to, you could accomplish great things with the right mindset. Maybe you haven't seen the good that does because you spend all that energy on a more negative outlook... A selfish end goal..."

“You admire that I'm selfish?!” Cornfield shouted, completely missing the point.

Her brows heightened, shocked by his reaction. "NO! That's-!" She sighed, closed her eyes, and grunted a flustered noise from the side of her beak. "No. That's not it. I'm saying that you spend so much energy with your good traits towards a short-lived and foolish end goal." She lifted her claws to his face and counted down each talon for what he had. "Tenacity.... Persistence... Determination..." She put her claws down. "You have that quality in you that drives you to not quit."

“So, what you're saying is, you appreciate my foolishness? Real good complimenting, Coral!” He motioned his hoof anxiously toward the plaque. “Just hurry up and read it. I want to go home and take a nap.”

Her faced strained to contain her anger and, instead, it failed to do so. She latched her talons into the scruff of his chest and forcefully pulled him towards her, putting her beak to his snout. "LISTEN TO ME, YOU PETTY LITTLE COLT!" Her shout echoed down the halls and off the walls. "You do have good traits to you, but it’s clear to me that YOU don't have the maturity to realize them! So, when something goes wrong, what do you do?! You wallow in self-pity instead of learning to improve yourself!" She freed one of her claws and pointed right at his face while he stared back in horror. "Is that how you want to live the rest of your life? Because I swear to both Princess Celestia and Queen Novo that it will NOT go well for you!"

She was breathing heavy, glaring at him, but a single tear was rolling down her cheek, too. After letting go of him, he slightly cowered away from her. “Ok...ok...I'm sorry...I'll be better, ok?” He never thought he could have some creature like her cut to the bone with her words, and he didn’t want to make her resort to other measures. “Uhhhhh...So...” he asked meekly. “Can you please do something about this plaque?”

She breathed in deep, calming herself down and easing her mind. Once her eyes were dry again, she cleared her throat. "Yes.” she said, focused on what’s in front of her now. “Yes, I will... But..." She pointed in his direction as she climbed towards the door. "Don't think this is over. Once we are done here,I'll teach you what it means to be a stallion, even if it kills me." Once she was in reading distance of the plaque, she pulled out her trusty translation book again and flipped through its pages. "It's the least I can do before I set out for the next gem."

With a sudden gulp, Cornfield could only imagine what she might do. “...I just hope it doesn't kill me.” As he peeked around her shoulder curiously.

Piecing together each word she found one by one through the pages of her book, Coral read aloud what was on the plaque. "One... set... of wings.... stays... caged... trust... one another.... or... die..." Her pupils shrunk and her heart jumped to her throat when she read that last word.

“Oh.” Cornfield blurted out. “...Shit…”

"Ooooooh, well, um…I... guess that mean it's... good that I came with a partner?" She tried saying with no confidence in her voice. "I mean... somepony's life is now on the line, but..."

“Are they expecting us to fly? Because I can't fly!”

Coral stood silent, steeling herself on what might be behind the door. "That's not a problem for you, Cornfield. The plaque said that one set of wings stay caged..." She unfurled her large wings to further emphasize her point. "I'm the one with wings, so..." Folding them back down again, she struggled to push the door open. "No time like the present. I'm going all-in on this one..." Once the way was wide enough, she boldly continued forward.

‘W-wait for me!” He cried out, and followed her closely. The room they entered in consisted of a narrow stone bridge, stretching from where they came in to straight across a large chasm. In the middle of the bridge was a circular path that surrounded a large cage hanging off a rusty chain. To the north, south, east, and west side of the cage were levers on the path that could be pulled. “I'm starting to think this was ethier to filter out the ‘unworthy’ or some architect's bad idea of a joke…”

Looking under the bridge, Coral could see that the cage seemed to descend into a hollow well, leading through a sea of thorny vines thrashing and writhing underneath. The thorns were also furiously squirting what seemed to be deadly acid from the tips. Coral gulped a bit at the sight.

“Uhhh… Don't worry, Coral.” he said. “I won't get myself into danger this time…”

She walked over to the cage and stuck her head inside to get a better look. There were two open shackles hanging off the bars to her left and right. Carefully, she stepped inside to inspect them in better detail. She tried to close one of them with nothing inside it. It won’t stay shut. As the only option, she put one of her forelegs in a shackle. Same as before, it refused to stay shut. “According to what the plaque said,” she thought, “It’s asking for a set of wings to stay inside this cage. I wonder if they are magically enchanted to accept only wings...” She gulped again, looking down at the well underneath through the iron bars. "I don't think you have to worry about being in danger, Cornfield." She cautiously stepped out of the cage and joined him in walking around the circular road.

“Wow, this is a little too perplexing for me,” He said while passing by and examining the southernmost lever.

"Indeed... I don't know exactly what this expects us to do, but I think I know the first step."

“Can't we just walk past this bridge to the other side?”

This was a good question that didn’t cross her mind until Cornfield asked it. She looked across only to find that the the stone door leading forward had an iron gate blocking it. "Not with that in the way..." Turning around, her curiosity got the best of her as she pulled the lever. The cage dropped like a stone, startling them both.

“Whoa, what did you do, Coral!?”

"Testing what I'm going to be up against..." They waited until the cage slowly lifted itself up out of the well. The puddles of acid covering it dissolved and evaporated with a loud sizzling sound.

“Hmmmm…” Cornfield let out a sarcastic hum. “Well, that's not intimidating at all! I wonder what the end game is here?”

"Seems pretty simple to me.” She pointed to each of the levers as she continued talking. “These levers are here for a reason. I’m willing to bet my gem collection that it’s probably the order to which they are pulled the decides if we progress. Pull the right ones, we go through." The crests on her head drooped as she imagined the pain of all that acid splashed on some creature at once. "Pull the wrong one… Well, I hope you enjoyed my company..." She desperately surveyed around the cage, the bridge, the levers, anything for a clue.*

“So,” he scratched his head trying to figure this out. “How do we find the right order?”

"I'm not sure and there's no obvious answer... yet." Without a second thought, Coral circled around and climbed back inside the cage.

“Wait!” Cornfield cried out, rushing to the cage door. “What do you think you're doing?!”

The troubled hippogriff turned and stared back him with a sorrowful expression. "You know, Cornfield... When we apologized and reconciled back at your house, I told you that I trusted no one. It was me against the world." Lifting her claw, she pointed out towards his position. "But you? You told me that there's good in every pony, and maybe every creature… It's time to put your money where your mouth is. Show me that I should believe in you, despite everything we've said and done."

Panicking and confused, Cornfield frantically looked around, wondering what he missed to have her doing this. “Wha? What are you saying?” He reached his hoof out to her. “Dammit, Coral, DON’T DO THIS!”

"Listen close!” Coral shouted in a commanding tone. “I have a feeling that I'll need you to stay here to pull these lever while I'm in this death trap. The plaque says I should trust you, so that's what I'm going to do.

“B-But, I don't know the answer!”

She paused and sighed. Meekly, she whispered "Neither do I". Taking the shackles, she closed them around the base of her wings. As she surmised, they were enchanted as the magic surged through her each time they sealed shut. She grunted in pain as the cage very slowly descended into the darkness. "But... we don't win if we don't try..." As she watched herself slowly sinking down into the well, she thought to herself more about the situation she’s in. “Ok... Hopefully, that was enough of a morale-boosting speech... Hopefully, that will put his head in the game... for my sake... Oh gosh, I might die here..."

“No!” He still attempted to reach out for her as her head lowered to hoof level. “Don't do this! We can come up with an alternative!”

"Focus!" she snapped back at him. “We already started. We can’t turn back now!” She lost sight of Cornfield as she delved further down, with nothing but stone masonry all around her. But, just before she was convinced that she ran into this trap headfirst with no way out, she passed by some arrows etched into the bricks in front of her. Fate smiled on her. "AH HA!” she cried out. Ok, listen to me! I found the answer!"

“Huh? Really?! What is it?”

"Ok! Do you know which is north? That's in the direction of the iron-gated door!” She quickly double-checked the arrows before they disappeared from view. “Pull the north, then left lever! Hurry! But, try not to slip and fall off the bridge!"

“Ok!” He’s about to take a step before doubting her words. “Wait! Are you absolutely certain?”

"Yes! Trust me! North and west! Upper and left! HURRY!” Beads of sweat dripped down her face. “Don't second guess me!” She thought. “My life is on the line here!”

“Alright!” Cooperated Cornfield as he ran to pull the north lever, then the west one. Each lever made the cage rumble with recognition. She winced with each sound of the lever being pulled. Fortunately, nothing bad happened yet.

"Oh!” she said with great relief. “Ok! Ok! Next is..." Her heart sank as she inhaled a sharp gasp. For instead of arrows, there were ancient texts etched into the stone. Frantically, she pulled the translation booklet out of her saddlebags and began translating as fast as she could. “Oh, no. No…” she cursed under her breath. “Uh... Opposites... Reversed?” She lost her cool as the words left her view. “UHHH...!"

“What?! What's going on, Coral?” As he cried out, he noticed the cage was going deeper in, getting closer to the toxic vines! “No!” he cursed to himself. “Come on, Coral! PLEASE!”

Coral worked through the message in her head, trying desperately to find the answer. "Uh... Opposite.... North? West? South and East... Reversed?" A light bulb went off in her head the moment she pieced it together. "CORNFIELD!” she shouted. “EAST AND SOUTH LEVERS!"

“Uhh...East...Oh! Facing right!” Without hesitation, he practically jumped for the eastern-most lever, and then reached for the south.

All the clicks startled her, but nothing happened yet. She was looking to the last hint, but it's on the last set of stone bricks. Underneath, all she could see was vines below her, reaching out to ensnare the cage. Her heart was racing as panic set in. She was staring death right in the eyes with nowhere to run. The clue was in ancient text again, so she frantically translated as fast as she could. "UM! UH! I...UH...!" she stammered, trying to piece it all together… "IT SAYS.... PATH... OF...SUN...SALVATION?!"

Completely misunderstanding the meaning, Cornfield laid down, put his hooves together, and muttered "Oh Celestia, thy name I bear, for I ask thine power to save thee. Oh Celestia, hear my prayer, Forein".

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?!" A droplet of acid hit Coral’s hindleg, she let out a high-pitched screech as it burned her flesh. "CORNFIELD! THE PATH OF THE SUN! THINK!"

Startled by her screams, he got himself up and started racking his brain to save his fair maiden. “Uhh! Ummmm! Maybe...down? But how...?” The tips of the vines had reached the bottom of the cage. They worked their way upward, slowly entangling it.

"NO!” Coral shouted. “NOOO! GET AWAY! AAAAAAAH!" The vines were getting too close to her, spouting acid from their thorns. Then, as if the answer came to him in divine providence, Cornfield remembered which way the sun travelled in a day. He sprinted to hit the east and west levers as fast as possible. Coral put her talons over her eyes, anticipating the end. However, the cage stopped its descent suddenly, causing her to lose balance. Then, it began to ascend, slowly. "He..." she said with a pause, holding her chest with both claws. "...He did it..."

The vines lost their grip on the cage as it rose up the well into safety. Cornfield looked over the well’s edge, watching the cage come closer. “Coral! Are you alright?!” The cage reached its peak as the shackles broke their own grip on her wings. She stumbled out, disoriented and a bit dizzy from the intensity of her latest brush with death.

She approached Cornfield until she was close enough, then she tucked her legs in and lied down where she was eye to eye with him.

"Cornfield..." she whispered weakly.

“...Uhhhhhhhh...” he responded back, pathetically.

She didn't know what prompted her to do it. Maybe because she saw her life flash before her eyes. Maybe it was overwhelming gratitude and wanted to pay her partner back. Maybe it was the fact that she did it simply for his reaction and still riding on the thrill. It didn't change the fact that she kissed him, right then and there, as she leaned in, opened her beak and surrounded his lips with it.

Cornfield froze, processing the spur-of-the-moment kiss he received. After all, he too, just went through an intense moment of his life. He's not even sure how they're still alive after what they’ve been through to survive the three trials of the perilous dungeon.

Author's Note

Thank you so much for those following this story for reading so far.

1-6: The Heart of Nature

Chapter 1-6

“What are you doing? What are YOU doing?! With HIM?!" Thoughts raced through the mind of Cobalt Coral as her beak locked on the lips of Cornfield. Although her eyes were closed and fixated at the moment, she couldn’t help but mentally fight against why she commited to such an act. “Did the acid have some mind-altering effects? Is this why?!” She blanked out, before she begrudgingly accepted what she had done. “No... No, there's no other reason. You kissed him. You ACTUALLY kissed him. VOLUNTARILY!”

Meanwhile, Cornfield just sat there, dumbfounded over the fact that a lady had kissed him. Not on the cheek or on the hoof, but in the mouth. It was a new experience for the both of them. “Am I dreaming?” he thought to himself, “Oh, Luna, I hope I don't wake up to find out I had another wet dream..."

She broke off the kiss, forming a very thin strand of saliva tied between them before it arced downward, and stared into his eyes, almost in as much unbelief as he is. Blushing profusely, she cleared her throat and looked away. "And…” Her pride relied upon an excuse in the moment. “That's... what happens when... you show your... diligent and dependable side... to mares..." It was wishful thinking to hope he bought the moral lesson. However, he’s still looking up to her in shock. "OK! LESSON OVER! I hope you learned something! I certainly did!” She laughed nervously as she brushed her mane with her talons.

“Uhhh… Is this really happening? I-I mean between the death staring us in our muzzles and you...!!!” Stopping himself before he became too hysterical, his body slowly leaned back until he found his hind legs laying on the stone floor. “I...I must sit down for a moment…” He didn’t know how this happened, but it didn’t stop him from smiling with his eyes closed.

Coral sat herself up after recovering enough strength from her perilous brush with death. From a distance, the iron gates opened to unbar the next set of stone doors ahead, revealing the way forward. But, she's not focused on that now. "Well, uh…” She struggled to string two thoughts together. “See, the thing is... I was... the one in the cage, having acid thrown at me, and then there was you... with my life in your hooves..." Lifting her foreleg up, she stared at the palm of her open claws. "That whole thing..." She clenched her beak and furrowed her brow as she banged her clenched claws on the stone bridge. "They made me feel... helpless…”

Not knowing what to say about Coral being in this certain mood, he paused to think of something comforting. “...This has been quite an experience, Coral… It's making us go through some really intense situations.”

“I know… I'm just… Tired of being in situations like that... Being helpless... Trapped…” She hugged her forelegs around herself as her claws tightly clenched her shoulders. "Afraid."

Cornfield looked to the stone door ahead anxiously. He was so used to Coral being hot-headed and focused that he struggled when she opened up her softer side. Besides, he recognized that the temple ruins were hardly the place for a psychiatry session. “Ugh…” he groaned under his breath. “Do you think the heart is within reach now?”

Realizing that she still had a job to do, she dried her eyes and lifted herself off the floor slowly. “Y-yes... I believe so.” She walked towards the doors and looked back at Cornfield, who was still contemplating the previous events. "Coming?"

Snapping out of it, he leapt to his hooves and pranced his way towards her. “Right behind you!”
They both approached the doors, wondering if there’s yet another trial they must face. Thankfully, there was no plaque this time. Coral looked below her and detected a faint shimmering green light emanating from the crack under the door.

"This... Is this it?!” she shouted excitedly. Planting her claws firmly on the door, she pushed the door open with newfound vigor. The light trapped inside escaped through, blinding Coral with its brilliance. Meanwhile, Cornfield was still fawning over the new treasure he received, feeling his hoof on his mouth where he was kissed. He soaked up the feeling with him and was fully distracted from what was ahead.

Squinting until her eyes adjusted from the sight, she let out a slow and steady gasp, marveling what was inside. “Oh...” she uttered. “Oh my gosh...." A light from the ceiling casted down upon a large stone formation in the middle of the room, surrounded by and entangled with flowers and vines of many shapes and sizes. Firmly embedded in the middle of that stone was the fabled Heart of Nature, a large crystal as big as a pony's head and perfectly shaped like a heart to match its name. The sunlight reflected its brilliant green hue all around the room, Coral swore she saw sparkles twinkling around it.

The Heart’s radiant light and visage was enough to even snap Cornfield out of his daydreams, as he slowly approached inside the room alongside his partner. “Hooooly mother of Celestia!” he exclaimed. Coral gingerly walked towards the center. She can feel the green, soft grass between her talons as she stepped closer, gulping down a lump in her throat as she gazed at the reflection of her face on the gemstone.

"This is it… This is The Heart of Nature..." The corners of her beak slowly raise into a wide grin. She’d dreamt about seeing one of the four gems for a long time, and now she’s staring into its mystical glimmer. "We did it... It's so... beautiful..."

“Ha...aha...Hey! We finally got it!” exclaimed Cornfield as he could hardly believe they survived this long to make it as far as to see the gem themselves.

"We did..." A few tears of joy roll down Coral’s cheek as they hit the grass. "We are one step closer to..." She reached out to pull it from the stone, but she hesitated at the last minute. Her claws began to tremor as her mind races. “...What are you doing? Take it. You went through Tartarus and back to get it. Take it. Take it. TAKE IT! REACH OUT AND TAKE IT!” Despite her best efforts, she’s too afraid to move. "Cornfield..." she whispered.

“What's wrong? Is it cursed?”

"No…” Slowly, she put her talons down firmly back on the grass. “It's not cursed... I'm fine. I-I just... Am I doing the right thing?” Zecora's warnings echoed in her head, reminding her that the forest would surely and slowly wither without the Heart. "I want it. I REALLY want it... And yet…” She sharply turned her head to Cornfield, locked on to his face with scared and sorrowful eyes. Her beak hung slightly ajar, unable to say anything for a moment, before asking a very important question. "What do I do?" She leaned her head closer to his and asked again. "For Celestia's sake... What do I do?"

Cornfield stared back into Coral’s eyes. At first, he was getting sick of how Coral was stopping to brood on and on before, during, and after the third trial on things that didn’t matter to him. However, much like how Zecora’s words coursed through Coral’s mind, her request to guide the lost hippogriff in this unforgiving world rang loud in the back of his head. To see Coral plead to him to make the right call, to give her the right choice to make, welled up something deep inside. Right now, however, he was going to give her the push she needed to think for herself and establish her confidence again.

Faking a scoffing sound, he rolled his eyes and smirked at her. “Hey, if you want to go so far as come within inches of death just to turn back now…” he said as he looked her in the eyes. “Well, that's just STUPID! It’s literally WITHIN YOUR GRASP!”

Coral reeled back and stared at him, wondering what she said for him to sound so callous. However, she knew deep down that he was right as her head nodded in agreement. "I know... I should… This is for my country..." She turned back to the gem and lifted her talons once more. "For me."

“I would not touch the gem if I were you.” A familiar voice made Coral gasp as both she and Cornfield turned to face unwelcome company.

“Who said that?” asked Cornfield fearfully.

Her once surprised expression quickly turned into an aggressive one as Coral’s brows lowered to a furrow. “Caballeron,” she whispered.

Blocking their only exit was the infamous Dr. Caballeron, a rugged earth pony stallion with a golden skull cutie mark, a slick black mane and tail, a brown coat, and stubble on his chin. He looked back at Coral with a smug look on his face, while hooded hench-ponies approached from his left and his right, armed with crossbows strapped to the sides of their forelegs. The one on Caballeron’s left was aiming its crossbow squarely at Coral’s head. The other on his right was tugging on a rope, dragging the captured Zecora along with him. The poor zebra was forced against her will to follow with the rope bound around her neck and wrapped around the barrel of the thug to prevent her escape.

"Well, senorita,” said Caballeron “It's good to see you've cleared the way for me to get The Heart of Nature much easier than expected. I admit, you gave me a headache when you took the map before we could, but we managed to catch up just fine."

“Uh oh…” uttered Cornfield as he slowly backed away from Coral a bit.

"Ahh, who is this? Another stallion won over by your charms, eh?" Caballeron let out a hearty, condescending laugh. "Ah, you break many a heart, Cobalt Coral."

“HEY! I'm not just some stallion!” Cornfield puffed out his chest with Coral quietly assessing the situation they were in.

The so-called doctor shook his head with a chuckle and gazed back at Cornfield. "Oh, sure, all stallions think that. But what does SHE do when she's done with them?” He motioned his hoof like he was throwing something behind him. “Trash them. Into the garbage they go. Face it, kid. You are a means to an end and nothing more to her.”

“Oh really, Caballeron? Have you ever even been kissed by a girl?” Cornfield grinned smugly while Coral, surprised by his response, glared at him then groaned and covered her face with her claws.

"I had my share of sexy chicas. She and I are alike. We win with our charms and cunning. Your point?"

“Well…” Cornfield’s eyes darted around to come up with a good answer. “I'll bet she never trusted you either! Ergo, it wasn't REAL! HA!”

Scoffing, Cabelleron waved him off. "Believe what you want, it makes no difference to me. On to business," He turned to Coral, who focused her attentions on him with a growing heart beat "My demands are simple. Step away from The Heart of Nature, and we all go home alive and happy. Refuse, and the zebra fertilizes the plants with her body."

“What should we do, Coral?” said Cornfield, concerned for the zebra’s well-being.
Coral gulped with beads of sweat dripping down her face. She should have taken The Heart when she had the chance. Now, she's stuck with a difficult decision, one that brings more loss of life.

“We can't give up!” she thought to herself. “Not now! And he certainly must not possess such power! I know it's risky now, but giving up that stone would mean even greater risk!”

“What do you plan on doing with the stone, Caballeron?” Cornfield butted in once more.
Coral boldly took a step forward towards Dr. Caballeron. She's trying to show a sly smile, even though she's scared inside.

"Indeed…” she stated with false confidence. “The great Dr. Caballeron from Daring Do's tall tales never stooped to killing another creature before. What made you grow balls?" She sounded tough enough, but her head was repeatedly telling herself to stay strong. “Don't be scared. Don't show fear. Control the situation.”

"It's not for me, amigos,” the doctor clarified. “It's for a client of mine. And he specifically said that, no matter what I do, he'll cover my actions."

“Do something, Coral,” Cornfield whispered in desperation. She glanced around, trying to find anything she could use. Her eyes spotted a statue of the ancient god's top half hanging on the wall above the entryway, right above her antagonist and his thugs. Its wings were spread and forelegs were rearing in pride. Unlike the statues outside, however, it was crumbling and cracked.

Leaning in, she whispered to Cornfield. "Find something here, anything, to make that statue fall on them. I'll work the negotiations. We need to give Zecora a chance to get out of the way.”

“Ok,” he whispered back.

Coral turned her attention back to Cabelleron, who was growing rather impatient. "I want Zecora first,” Coral demanded. “If your intention is to kill, I would like to take her and move aside for you and your band of cutthroats to take the Heart."

"No!” shouted Zecora while being pulled back. “While I do not like this situation, I do fear that we are at an impasse here. Should the Heart fall to somepony's whim, I'd rather it be you than him!" Meanwhile, Cornfield was drifting away from Coral slowly, trying to escape every creature’s notice.

"Rrrgh!” The hooded thug keeping Zecora captive groaned. “All she does is bloody RHYME! Will she do that all the time?" He stood silent over what he just said before putting a crossbow to Zecora’s head. "I'll kill her! I'll kill this striped pain-in-my-ass, you hear me?!"

Coral was starting to fret, worried that the goon’s hair trigger might end Zecora. She needed to put his attention to something else while Cornfield was slinking away, going behind the stone where the heart was kept. "Ok!” Coral shouted back, desperate to be as non-threatening as possible. “Ok! Look, you can have it! I'm making this clear. Let's not get hasty, my dear."

Both thugs were now pointing their bows at Coral. "Don't push me!” the crook shouted back. Stop your rhyming!" Behind the stone, Cornfield saw a broken hammer laying on the grass around loose bricks of masonry. He thought he could remove its head and throw it at the frail statue. However, he decided to wait for the opportune moment when Zecora was safe.

"Hey, ease up! I mean no harm,” Coral snarked back. “I'm just a girl with good looks and charm."

"STOP!"

"Stop what? No need to yell or screech. Is there something wrong with my speech?" The thug was now itching to shoot Coral. Cornfield peeked around the stone, gauging the situation and hoping they don’t end up shooting everypony.

"C'mon, Coral.” Cornfield thought with his hooves trembling. “Get Zecora out of the way!"

"Aww, what's the matter? What did I do?” Coral said as she leaned in to further taunt the crook. “Go ahead and shoot, I dare you."

Unable to control himself, the criminal holding Zecora captive fired a warning shot at Coral. The bolt streaked by her and almost hit The Heart of Nature. "HEY! What are you doing?!" Caballeron shouted out. The henchpony, realizing he was temporarily defenseless, reloaded slowly. Taking her chances, Coral sprinted towards Zecora to pull her away from them, but not before the other henchpony fired a bolt in her direction. It hits its mark as the tip was buried in Coral’s thigh.

"AAUUUUGH!" the hippogriff screeched as she pulled Zecora away further from Cabelleron’s group. "Cornfield! Do it! NOW!"

Cornfield, with the head of the hammer in his hoof, chucked it at the statue with a good "Oooofmph"! Dr. Caballeron watched overhead as the hammerhead hit the statue. Pebbles falling from overhead warned him of incoming danger. He dived out of the way as the remains tumbled off the wall and onto his thugs, crushing them underneath the rubble with a crash.

Coral was relieved to find that both her and Zecora escaped the statue’s destruction, but cursed under her breath when she discovered that Caballeron got out as well. She mustered her strength to walk towards the Heart while he was flat on the grass, but struggled due to the arrow in her side.

"Hurry! Get to the jewel!” shouted Zecora as she pointed her hoof towards the Heart. “Don't be beaten by that fool!"

“I got you, Coral!” shouted the eager colt as he ran to her aid. “Are you alright? I can remove it if you need me to.” Caballeron shook his head and recovered from his dive from death. He glanced back at his knocked-out crew, but look ahead to the see the sacred jewel unguarded. Coral gasped as he's about to make a break for it.

"Don't worry about me!” Coral cried out. “Stop Caballeron!” She's limping slowly towards the Heart, entranced by its brilliant light calling to her.

Cornfield set his sights on Caballeron and galloped in full force to blindside him just before he reached for the jewel. Before the doctor knew it, he was shoved to grass and pinned to the ground by the intrepid young stallion. "Rrgh~!” the vagabond grunted. “You are playing a DANGEROUS game, amigo! You'd risk your life for some traitorous chica that would throw you away as soon as she's done with you?!”

In response, the brave but foolish colt shook his head with absolute refusal. “NO! She's my friend and she believes in what she's doing! And she's not a greedy dirtbag like YOU!”

"I know her better than YOU do, senior. She's strung you along in her many lies! Don't fool yourself!" Before Cornfield knew it, he endured a swift kick in the family jewels with Cabelleron’s left hindhoof. The blow made him stumble off of the doctor and lose his balance.

"OOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!” All he could think to himself while doubling over in pain was “This guy's a bucking asshole!” Before he could recover from this humiliating blow, the dastardly Caballeron forced him down to the ground, pinning Cornfield down between his hind legs as he pulled out a dagger from inside his coat.

"If you want to die for her, then do so!" Cabellaron’s victim screamed at the sight of the dagger about to be thrust into him, but their fight had interrupted when an explosion of light and a sudden yell from Coral startled the bad doctor from finishing the deed.

"KyyyaaaAAAAAAAAAH!" the poor hippogriff screamed.

“Ack!” cried out Cornfield, blinded by the light. “What's happening?”

The power of The Heart surged through Coral’s front legs as she held it in her claws. Currents of energy travel through her entire body as her heartbeat increased in speed. Another flash of green light blinds the room. The hippogriff's eyes adjust from the blinding light, only to find The Heart was gone from her grasp, leaving behind only the indention where it once laid in the rock.

In the confusion, Cornfield leaned forward to shove the bewildered Caballeron aside and run close to Coral. The villain landed on the grass with a thud as he tumbled and lost his grip on the knife. “ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” her companion shouted.

"Yes, I'm fine…” she responded, facing away from him. “But... The Heart is gone!” She slowly turned to her partner as a glittering light sparkled from her chest. "I touched it, and it's gone!"

“Whoooa…” Cornfield stood in amazement gazing at the shining object. The glare was so strong that he couldn’t make out what it was. “Coral... What's that?”

"It didn't disappear, Coral!” shouted Zecora, still bound in rope and tied to the unconscious body of her captor. “Your courage came through! The gem and its power is now in you!"

"What?” Coral shouted with a confused inflection. “What is she talking about, Cornfield?"

“How should I know?” he responded in a rush. “We need to get out of here NOW!” Before Cabellaron could respond to the events unfolding before him, Cornfield made haste to swipe his dagger off the floor and run to Zecora. Carefully, the colt cut the rope around her neck, liberating the zebra from her bonds. As he threw the rope aside, Coral slowly approached her friends, still wondering what exactly Zecora meant.

The twisted archeologist was none too pleased that the young stallion bested him and his arch-rival got away with The Heart before he did. “You fools!” he shouted angrily. “Get back here with my prize!" A single brick fell from above in front of Cabelleron, making him rear back in surprise. He, alongside of everypony else, glanced upward to find that the flowers and vines were starting to rot. The plants on the ceiling holding up the ancient structure were withering away, too. Soon, it would all come caving down over their heads. Another brick fell and landed by Cornfield to further emphasize this urgent message.

“Gah!” Coral shrieked. “What’s going on?!"

Zecora motioned her hoof towards where they came in. "The Heart was keeping this temple intact!” she rhymed hurriedly. “We must leave and that's a fact!"

As more bricks came down around them, Cornfield let out a sharp yelp and pulled onto Coral’s foreleg with his hooves, desperately getting her to move. “COME ON! RUN! GALLOP AS FAST AS YOU CAN!”

"Ah!” Coral gasped while she yanked her foreleg from him. “Ok! You've made your point, I'm coming with you!” The three climbed over the debris of the statue, still on top of Cabellaron's thugs, and got out of the room with dire speed. They galloped across the bridge over the thorny vines, which were also dying without the power of The Heart.

Breathing heavily and following behind Zecora and Coral, the panicking stallion called out to check up on his partner as they were running. “Coral, are you holding up ok?” he swiftly asked.

"Yes, I am!” she shouted behind her. “But I feel so-"

“No time for feelings! Let's get out of here before we're squished into haycakes!” All three of them shouted as a large chunk of the ceiling collapsed between them, taking out a large section of the bridge and making the way completely impassable on hooves. Cornfield was separated from the group and, to his horror, several bricks underneath him were falling out of the foundation and plummeting into the abyss below. Losing his balance and attempting to back up, he blurted out “Waah!? HELP ME!”

Coral immediately doubled back in distress after hearing her friend call for an S.O.S. "CORNFIELD!" she screamed.

More bricks underneath fell, he was running out of hoofing. In a split second, he decided that he would have to make a leap of faith now, or he would be too far away to make an attempt later. Steeling himself, he quickly braced his legs, held his breath, and ran to jump, leaping forward to reunite with them. His heart sank as he scrambled in the air, unable make it to the other side! “Coral, HAAAYULP!!!”

Coral extended her foreleg out from the edge of the bridge, reaching for him, yearning to catch him. Strangely, in an event that was as mysterious as it was fortunate, her claws changed color to forest green as her digits began to stretch out into vines. The vines extended and surrounded around Cornfield's barrel, somehow catching him and lifting him from certain death. "Wh-... WHAT?!"

"Don't let go and do not fear!” Zecora commanded Coral as she looked over the hippogriff’s shoulder. “The Heart is reacting to save the one you hold dear!”

His heart beating a mile a minute, Cornfield dangled his legs and gulped, gazing down into the darkness below. “Ahh... C-Careful now, Coral!” he pleaded. “Try not to sneeze or anything! Just get me to safety like...anytime soon... I hope…”

"I don't even KNOW how I did this in the first place!" defended Coral as she thought of a way to bring him to safety. “If it reacted to me grabbing him like this, then... Maybe if I think about pulling him my way...” Slowly and carefully, she pulled the poor helpless colt towards her, as her vines shrunk shorter and shorter, before having him above stable hoofing. He reached for the ground, but found that she was still flabbergasted on what exactly happened, and still binding him.

“Uh, you can let go now?”

"Oh! Right…” The vines untangle and drop him down gently before turning back into her usual claws. She stared at her own talons for a few seconds. "That… That was freakish..."

“Yeah, I've just about had enough of Freaksville for one day! Er...no offense or anything!” A violent rumbling surrounded them as more of the temple fell apart. “Gah! I just wanna GO HOME!”

"RIGHT!"

Wasting no more time, the three resumed their escape, making it safely and speedily through the next few rooms. The temple could barely hold itself up for much longer as more loud destruction erupted behind them. For what seemed like eternity, they finally made it to the front hall, where they could see the sunlight pouring from the opened entrance leading out.

“"There it is!” Coral shouted happily. “The exit!"

“Go! Go! Go!” Cornfield cheered on. “We’re almost out!”

Zecora, Coral, and Cornfield passed through the entrance in the nick of time, as the ceiling inside the temple caved in completely. The three fell to the ground exhausted, catching their breath. They turned to survey the wreckage from a distance from which the clouds of dust and dirt settled, baffled to find that, somehow, the temple walls were still standing. The vined beards fell off the statues of the temple's god during the deafening rumbling and shaking of the earth, symbolizing that the Heart's power had completely left its dwelling sanctuary.

"We... we did it,” Coral huffed and inhaled heavily. “We escaped..."

Cornfield rolled onto his back, even more short of breath. “Puff! Huff!... Ok!” he gasped, his voice severely raspy. “I've had about ENOUGH adventures for one week!” He stomped his hoof on the ground next to him. “I want to go home!”

"Yes... You really did pull your weight, though, Cor-!" Hissing, Coral could hardly finish her sentence without pain shooting to her thigh once more. "Ah! I forgot about the arrow in me... I think the adrenaline of escaping alive must have dulled the pain..." She strained to turn her body and face Zecora, who was also breathless from both travelling to the temple against her will and narrowly avoiding death. "Speaking of, where is the Heart, Zecora? You said it was in me," She pointed to herself. “Where in me?”

“Maybe...she means...it's...a part of...you?” Cornfield said between deep gasps of breaths.

Even though she was tired, Zecora couldn’t help but let a strained laugh escape from her lips. "In a sense, but that's not right. The heart is still in plain sight." The wise zebra pointed to Coral's chest. Getting the hint, the hybrid carefully sat on her haunches and looked down towards her body. She discovered she did have the gemstone with her, but it was much smaller than its previous size and grafted into Coral's flesh. Dumbfounded, she tapped the gemstone to see if it was real. Then, she picked at it with her claw to see if it can be pried off. It can't. It's stuck on her chest, where her heart and The Heart were in sync. She stared in disbelief for a moment.

"UuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Coral screamed in fright at the top of her lungs.

Cornfield lifted his head off the grass in reaction. “Wh- Hey! What's wrong?” he asked, startled and confused.

"GET IT OUT! GET IT OOOOOUT!" Coral began to hyperventilate as her breathing increased the beat of her heart. The Heart of Nature responded to her heart rate with a shining glow, making the grass around her grow longer quicker. "What happened to me?!"

The colt with no clue got up from the ground and couldn’t help but just witness in bewilderment as Coral melted down into a blubbering mess. “...Zecora, what's going on?” he said, still watching the grass continuing to grow around her.

"As I've said before, The Heart of Nature governs Everfree,” Zecora explained as she looked to him. “It grows every grass, flower, and tree. Now that power is under Coral's commands, tuning The Heart with her own to fulfill her demands." Shifting back to the hippogriff, she felt empathetic about the changes she would have to get used to. "Of course, she hasn’t learned how to control it fully yet. She'll need time to be used to its power, I bet."

Inching closer to Coral, Cornfield suggested “Maybe you should stay with Zecora for a little while, Coral? At least, until you become more...what was it...in tune”.

"I didn't want THIS, though!” she snapped back. “I thought I'd just have to carry it with me and get the rest of The Gems of Creation! I didn't want to be turned into some FREAK!"

"Slow your lungs, Coral,” Zecora warmly reassured. “Calm your nerves. Treat your new power with the respect it deserves."

“Oh, Celestia, I hope this won't make things awkward at home,” the stallion wished to himself. “So, are you going to help her, Zecora?”

The witch doctor held Coral’s talons on her hoof and rubbed her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "In helping her, I'll do my best,” she agreed. “You go on home and get some rest." Slowly coming to grips with her new reality, the gem hunter tested once more if those strange powers wasn't her imagination. Her free claws wrapped and writhed as vines as green as the trees in the Summer. Sometimes, beautiful flowers would bloom on it. Sometimes, it had razor sharp thorns.

“Alright. Uh, see you soon, Coral?” Here, Cornfield sheepishly backed away as he walked toward the cave leading out of the secluded grounds. Leaving her with “I'll always be there in spirit”.

Hearing that he was attempting to leave, Coral suddenly and completely snapped out of it and reached out for him. “WAIT! You aren't just going to leave me behind, are you?!"

“It’s ok, Coral. Zecora will take care of you, right, Zecora?”

"I am,” bluntly stated the zebra. “That much is true. But she'd be more comfortable with you.” Zecora playfully raised up Coral’s claws that were on her hoof. “You love this hippogriff, right? Would you rather be within her sight?"

Coral blushed as she yanked her claws away and reeled away from her. "H-hey! Don't get the wrong idea! We’re just partners. It's not like... THAT."

“Well…” Cornfield hesitated a little. He didn’t know if we wanted to be in the same hut with someone who was overly emotional. Considering the situation though, he also didn’t mean to abandon her and feel like a jerk afterwards. “If you don't mind, I can join you on the road. Perhaps, there is room in your humble abode?” He planted his hoof squarely on his face. “Oh jeez! Now, I'm doing it!”

"She has that effect on ponies, it seems," Coral rudely pointed out.

“There's plenty of pillows and blankets galore,” offered Zecora before she hesitated to say the next verse of her rhyme. "But only one bed. You'll both sleep on the floor..."

The chipper colt nodded his head. “Ok!” he agreed. “I can deal with sleeping on the floor.”

"R-Right. Sure... Whatever makes you feel better," she said half-heartedly before thinking to herself. “Thank Novo! I'm not going to be alone if this crazy Zebra quack tries anything with me."

“Gee,” Cornfield thought as well. “You could say thanks, Coral. Even one more kiss would be so awesome right now!” He let out a sigh before his head drifted upwards. The evening sun was about to set. Night was coming soon and he knew the dangers of being deep in the forest when it was dark. “Alright,” he said. “Let's go ‘home’.”

"Right. No need to sit around and-” Coral was amazed to find that the grass around her almost reached chest-height as she stood up slowly. “Wow, did I grow all of this grass around me, or what?" She waded through the circle of tall grass she was in to join Cornfield and Zecora, as they began their thankfully uneventful trek through the cave and back to the hut.

The kind zebra opened her front door to allow them both inside as Cornfield helped Coral make the last few steps on her wounded leg. Then, Zecora opened up a few of her cupboards and unraveled out a few blankets and pillows. “Oh, could I maybe trouble you for some hot cocoa, Zecora?” Mr. Colt politely asked.

"Oooooh,” the hippogriff cooed. “Actually, that sounds incredible. Just put some in that giant cauldron of yours and give me a big cup."

After she was done setting up a spot on the floor for her guests to comfortably sleep in, Zecora went to where she stored her medical supplies and took out a potion and a first aid kit. Bringing them both to Coral, she popped the cork off the flask and offered the potion to her. "Coral, drink this instead,” she insisted. “It will help you soothe your head."

Delicately and with hesitation, the suspicious treasure hunter collected the flask from Zecora’s hoof and squinted at its contents. "It's not going to make me projectile vomit like your last one did with Sir Listens-Not over there, right?" she crudely inquired. The witch doctor stared at Cornfield with a single eyebrow raised.

“Ha...hahaha…” he chuckled nervously with a shrug. “I don't know what she means by that, Zecora.” She silently observed him for a few seconds before bringing her attention back to Coral. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment during this time.

Licking off the edges of her beak, Coral prepared to gulp down the mystery concoction in one go. She swigged the flask back as a very bitter taste hits her tongue while the liquid splashed down her throat. Audibly gagging, she coughed with her tongue hanging out. "BLECH!” she wretched. “That's rancid! Can't you make these a TINY bit tastier?" Suddenly, everything in her body goes completely numb, "Whooooa, ok, what did you do to me?"

Cornfield cocked his head to the side, wondering what happened to her, before Zecora called him over. “Cornfield, do me a favor open my first aid,” she said. “We need to tend to the wound that the arrow had made." Zecora stepped towards the arrow and took the time to cautiously but firmly bite and yank it out of her thigh. The wound freshly leaked of her blood, but didn't feel anything other than the initial pull.

"Whoa, ok! That felt weird!"

“Eeeh… are you ok?” asked Cornfield, wincing from the sight of the blood.

"Yeah, it's just... I felt the arrow removed, but there's no pain..."

"Cornfield, when I'm done cleaning her, take the gauze and wrap it around her thigh,” Zecora instructed, pointing to her open kit. “We need to treat this before she's out of her numbing high."

“O...Ok.” he said nervously as he reached inside the kit, obtained the gauze, and approached Coral’s wound. She adjusted her hind legs and swayed her hips in front of him, unsure what to think of what's going on behind her. He began to wrap the gauze around her wound, circulating it thoroughly around her thigh, while also going over recent events in today's exploits. “...Coral?”

"Mmm. I bet you are on VACATION touching my thigh,” Coral teased. “What is it?"

“Normally this would of been a pleasant opportunity, but blood is just gross…” After stating that, his hoof began to tremble. “...We nearly didn't make it back there, did we?”

She stopped her flirtatious joking after she found that, for once, he's serious. She rubbed the back of her head with her talons. "Yeah... More than once. I'm... used to facing the danger all by myself... I never had to worry about who was also in danger around me."

“Yeah but... It was just... TOO CLOSE!” Using his teeth, Cornfield wedged a metal pin to hold the gauze in place and prevented it from coming loose. “I mean, between being chased by blood-thirsty criminals and carnivorous creatures, I almost lost you...because of...me…”

Coral scoffed and looked behind her with her eyebrows raised. "You don't think that, if something happened to YOU, I wouldn't feel guilty? The one pony I show my true face to and he just ups and dies. That would weigh VERY heavy on me..." Putting her head down, she looked away and stared at the floor. "So much so that, if something happened to you, I'd probably go home... Back to Mt. Aris. Never going on another treasure hunt again." After a few seconds passed, a spark of light crossed her mind, causing her head and feathery crests to perk up optimistically. "But, you know what?"

“What?”

"We... make a pretty good team." She turned to Cornfield and smiled a little. "For some backwater pervert, you actually pulled your fair share of weight."

“Hey! That's not me!...” He muttered under his breath “not usually”.

Coral chuckled to herself. “But you know…” She put her palm of her claws to her cheek and blushed a bit. "You did mature a bit since I first met you... Only a little, but you have improved..."

“After all that...only a little?!” Cornfield stared at her in disbelief. After risking life over limb for her, he only received a back-hoofed compliment? He sighed defeatedly.

Coral laughed again, louder than before. "You are fun to tease, you know that?" Suddenly all of her sensation came back to her, including the pain of the arrow being removed from her side. "Ahhn!" she cried out.

"Ah, your pain's returned in full force,” Zecora chimed in. “But, if you didn't take that potion, it would have felt worse.”

“Oh! Sorry!” apologized Cornfield. “I didn't mean to...!”

"You didn't do anything wrong, sir.” Waving it off with her hoof, Zecora attempted to reassure him. “The pain of the procedure caught up with her."

Lifting her hind leg, Coral moved it around to get used to the feeling. "Oooof, I'll need to ask for more potions like that,” she said. “It's better than biting onto a piece of wood..."

Letting out a big yawn, the sleepy stallion rubbed his eyes and shook his head a bit. “Well, I'm starting to feel tired after all that,” stated Cornfield, fighting back another yawn. “I think I'll just rest for the night. We can talk about what to do then, ok?”

"Sure, but... I'm not sharing a blanket with you.” She headed toward the laid out bedding, but stopped to look at him with flirtatious eyes. “You can sleep close to me, if you want, but not... TOO close."

Cornfield blushed, fighting back every male urge to run up and attempt to mount her instantly from her advances. “Uh! Fine by me!” He even sprang some drops of sweat.

Zecora giggled to herself. "I'm sure you two will be alright,” she said while showing them both a knowing smile. “Looks like love is in the air tonight."

Coral’s purple face turned a bright beet red. "D-DON'T JOKE!" she snapped back!

“Hey!” The small stallion blurted out as well, confused from both her and Zecora’s reactions. Eventually, the two adventurers pulled the blankets over them as Zecora put out the lights and tucked herself in her only bed. With a big yawn, Cornfield rolled over to face Coral, while she struggled to get comfortable on the floor. “Goodnight, Coral,” he said with a friendly smile.

Looking back at him, Coral smiled and said “goodnight” to him as well. As her eye slowly closed, her claws glided across her chest and rested on The Heart of Nature, which was glowing faintly underneath the covers. “... Partner." she whispered silently as her mind tuned off to sleep.

1-7: Echoes of the Past

CHAPTER 1-7

“Ouch!”

Woken up by a familiar voice, Cornfield eyes slowly opened with a yawn. Normally, he’s the type of pony to sleep in but, after all the excitement, he wanted to make sure his friend was ok. He glanced over to the bedding where his temple raiding partner, Cobalt Coral, slept beside him. It was crumpled up and found empty. Looking around inside the hut of Zecora, who was gracious enough to let them stay for the night, he found that the zebra was gone, too.

“Ouch!”

The colt’s ears perked up from noise coming from outside. Concerned, he unraveled the blankets off of him and walked outside. In the clearing in front of the hut, he could see Zecora meditating, upside-down, with her body balance on a bamboo pole. Coral, on the other hoof, was straining to balance small stones above her head with the tips of her green, vine-stretched claws. One of the rocks dangled out of balance and fell on her head. "OUCH!" she cried out.

“Uh, good morning, girls,” greeted Cornfield, unbeknownst to what was happening. His well-intended politeness broke the hippogriff’s concentration as she swiftly glanced over from the broken silence. Her derailed train of mind led to her vines restoring into claws and the rest of the rocks toppled over and hit her head, one by one.

"Ouch! Ow! Mmmmgh!" uttered the pained creature.

"Focus,” commanded Zecora, who found her center and kept her balance throughout. “If you cannot protect yourself from what's above, how can you protect the ones you love?"

“Oh!” The young stallion reeled back after seeing his friend bonked on the head repeatedly, as she rubbed the bumps on her head with her claws. “Sorry, Coral!” he apologized. Sore in more ways than one that he broke her concentration and deciding it would be fun to freak him out, her claws transformed back into vines, wrapped around his torso, and pulled him closer. His hooves dragged across the dirt in protest. “WAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” shouted Cornfield as he hoped to himself he was still dreaming.

When he's close enough, she untangles her vines from him as they turned back to normal. "Well, look who finally got up!" sneered Coral, condescendingly.

Cocking his head slightly, Cornfield rubbed the back of his neck with his hoof. “Huh? I thought I woke up early today. What time is it?”

"Oh, don't get me wrong, you did.” She inched a little closer to the confused colt. "But, I was up HOURS before you were.” Bending her head down, she put her beak next to his ear. "Zecora has me on this harsh training course where I have to practice with my new found abilities,” she whispered quietly. “She's nuts!"

"We still have more we need to do today,” interrupted Zecora from her bamboo pole. “And yes, I hear every word you say."

"Crap,” the flustered bird-horse begrudgingly uttered under her breath, loud enough for Cornfield to pick up.

“Oh,” he said. “Alright, then. Well, from the sound of things, it's not going so well.”

Zecora adjusted her body to fall off the pole and stuck the landing with all four hooves. She got in between the two as Coral backed up to allow the zebra some space to talk to Cornfield. "She's not learning, because change is something she's not willing to embrace.” She turned towards the hippogriff with a knowing smile. “Or, do we need to go and put The Heart of Nature in its rightful place?"

The haughty hippogriff scoffed with a flick of her talons. "And give it to that creep, Caballeron? No way."

“Ah, well, good luck to you, Coral!” Cornfield stated quickly before moving on to a more important topic. “But, where's my breakfast? I'm famished after yesterday!”

Tapping her hoof to her chin, an idea sparked in the witch doctor’s mind. "What fruit would you like immediately?" she asked. "Coral will grow us a healthy fruit tree."

Zecora’s helpless guinea pig raised an eyebrow as she turned to her mentor. "Wait, what?" she questioned hesitantly.

“Oooooh!” said the easily excitable colt, hopping up and down on the idea. “I'd love a peach! Do it Coral! Do it! Do it! Do it!”

"Wait, back up,” Her eyes rapidly shifted back and forth between Cornfield and Zecora in utter confusion. “What?!"

The zebra, completely serious on what she said, entered her hut. After a few minutes of digging around, she came back out with a peach pit between her teeth. Spitting back out to her hoof, she presented it Coral almost forcefully. "Plant the seed and attune your heart,” she commanded. “Then, food and you won't be far apart. Place your claws on the mound where it will grow, focus your thoughts, and let your blood flow."

Eagerly, Cornfield cantered to Zecora’s side and gave his ruin-raiding buddy the biggest grin. “Come on, Coral!” he cheered “You can do it!”

Coral backed away slowly, getting a little creeped out. "Y-you both must be insane,” she said. I can't do that!" Despite her efforts, the witch doctor inched closer.

"You can because you have the Heart in you, though,” chimed Zecora. “Remember. The more your heart beats, the faster it will grow. But don't overdo it, or you might suffer greatly.” She was practically shoving it into Coral’s face. “Now demonstrate its power to me.”

“I believe in you, Coral...to make breakfast!” Cornfield added with his hoof in the air.

Growling in annoyance, Coral swiped the pit off of Zecora's hoof and looked at it sitting on her palm. She turned to her irritating stallion sidekick with a huff. "You are lucky I'm hungry, too, or I'd tell you to forage the woods on your own." she grumbled.

Cornfield let out a small disingenuous chuckle. “Haha...Oh, Coral. You kidder, you...haha.”

Finding an empty patch of land near the hut, she dug up loose soil with her claws and planted the pit on the ground. Then, she placed both her claws on the mound where she buried it and tried to concentrate. “This is stupid,” her thoughts raced through her mind. “Tune my heart to make this blasted tree grow? ...Fine. I’ll play along. Let's see, now... What to think about to make my heart grow?” She fantasized herself surrounded by jewels and gems of all shapes and sizes. They were falling from the sky in a pile in her happy place while she laughed to herself. The Heart on her chest shimmered a bit.

“Ooooooo....” said Cornfield as he watched the light on her chest grow ever so slightly.

"Hmm, not bad, but what about...." She thought back to the time she was in iron cage at the temple. Her heart was beating a mile a minute in the thick of the action, but simply thinking about it only increased her heart rate a little bit. The Heart shined a little more, regardless.

“Hey, Zecora?” the concerned colt turned to Zecora. “Is she gonna be like this...forever?”

"Shhhh…” The zebra put her hoof to her mouth as she watched Coral closely. “She needs to find what will make her Heart pound. Let her focus on the mound...."

Huffing with his snout scrunched up, he mumbled “Don't shush me, you equine reject outcast.” under his breath.

"I heard that, too. Strange thing to say. Aren't you living outside of Ponyville alone, anyway?"

Stumbling from the response to the point where he almost fell on his face, he strained to sit back up with a lump in his throat. With an audible gulp, he thought “How the buck did she hear me!?”

Trying her best to ignore the comments from the peanut gallery, Coral tried to find something more exciting than she previously imagined before. “No!” she exclaimed in her head. “It's not enough. The excitement is there, but the only reason I was so elated was when I got out and-” In her recollection, she pictured Cornfield’s face as she ascended in the cage. Her brows furrowed in disgust. "No. What are you doing? Him? You're honestly thinking about him? The way he stared at you like a creep? The way he humiliated you in public? The way he walked into danger? The way he...” The harsh expression on her face gradually softened as her beak quivered. “...Saved you from danger?" The light on her chest was shining more brilliantly.

“Whoa, look at that thing glow!” the object of Coral’s affection pointed out. “I wonder what’s on her mind?”

"All right, that's enough!” Zecora shouted out to the hippogriff. “It should grow quick. What you were thinking did the trick."

Still lost within her thoughts, Coral didn't listen as her claws dug slightly into the mound, trying to hold back her emotions. "The way he bravely fought the cragadile?” she thought. “The way he distracted the timberwolves? The way he saved you from the cage..?"

“Uhhh… Coral?” Cornfield slowly snuck up behind her shoulder to see if she was feeling alright. He was close enough to see a couple tears roll down her cheek.

"The way you... kissed him..." she whispered to herself. The curious colt stood silently beside her as The Heart shone on very brightly. A slight tremble growled underneath earth. The vibrations snapped Coral out from her trip down memory lane before she peeked down to see a sprout pop out of the ground between her talons. Then, in a matter of seconds, the sprout violently grew into a full-sized peach tree. Resulting in the duo being thrown over from the mere force of its growth, they tumbled like ragdolls until they rolled to a complete stop around Zecora. The zebra stared in the sky in awe as the peach tree grew to an astronomical size. It's probably the largest in all of Equestria, let alone the largest in the Forest.

Peaches ripen and fall off, hitting the ground around them. Dazed, flat on his stomach, and not sure what just happened, this colt shakily lifted himself off the grass before a peach conked him on the noggin. He rubbed his head and asked “Uh, what? Did it work?”

The world couldn’t stop spinning for the poor hippogriff beside him as she shook her head to straighten out her sight. Her pupils shrunk as she gazed towards the treetops. "Uuuuh, too well, I think..."

Realizing what happened, he joined her in marveling at her handiwork. “Wha-WHAT! But how...! I've never seen a tree like this before! It's...SPECTACULAR!!!" His stomach growling at the sight of the peaches strewn about around him, he couldn’t help but lower his head to take a bite off of one on the ground. “Bucking delicious! YUM!”

Zecora, relieved but annoyed at Coral for not heeding her wishes, approached her with a stern expression. "Indeed, it is a spectacle.” she begun to rhyme. “But I told you to be more respectful. The more you abuse the Heart at such a length, the more you weaken your OWN heart's strength."

Choking upon hearing this important bit of news that really should have been explained earlier, Cornfield spat out a chunk of peach. “Ah, what!? You mean she could...!”

"All power comes at a cost. Abuse it too much, and your life is lost.” The zebra pointed towards the shining gem on her pupil’s chest. “That's why I'm training you so rough. I'm building your heart to know what's enough."

The nervous hippogriff gulped at the very thought of dying by using the gemstone she sought to possess. She knew that The Gems held great power from the rumors, but never considered there to be a heavy price to using them. "T-then, maybe I shouldn't use this power anymore.”

"In theory, you shouldn't. But, the time must come one day. You would not earn the remaining gems any other way."

"Are you saying that I have to learn all this if I need to succeed in finding the rest of The Gems of Creation?"

The wise teacher nodded her head until a certain overprotective stallion butted in on matters. “But why is that, Zecora?” he asked, running up to hopefully comfort his special some-creature by being at her side. “If these powers could kill her, why would we even train her in the first place to give her the temptation?”

"The Heart of Nature is needed to clear the Mind of Water's trial. That's why I want her here a while. Her temptation to misuse their powers may be great but, when the time comes to use it, she mustn't hesitate."

Cornfield looked to Coral, who glanced back at him. She only tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders before facing her current mentor, as if there was nothing more to add. “Alright,” her sidekick agreed. “Well, we could use a break, anyway. We'll come up with a plan on what to do next later. Besides, if what Zecora said is true, then Caballeron can't get it, too. Ah- Oh, buck.” He reactively planted a hoof square on his forehead.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" asked the hippogriff.

“I just… hate how the rhyming catches on so easily.”

Boggled, she recalled what he had previously said. A silly grin stretched across her face as she pieced it together. "HA!" she laughed. “I told you! She has that effect on ponies.”

“Haha... I wonder if it's on purpose?”

The zebra was unamused by their jeering, but she kept her retorts to herself when the towering hybrid approached her. “There's something about all this that's really bugging me about you, Zecora,” The tall hippogriff stated. "Let's be realistic for minute. Ever since I came here, you knew exactly what I was after and the consequences of what would happen if I had taken The Heart of Nature." Boldly, she even brought a single claw pointing at Zecora’s snout. "Now, here you are, training me and knowing EXACTLY what I would do with this power and where to go next." Proceeding to put her face up to Zecora’s snout, she went eye to eye with her teacher. "How? How do you know all of this? The gems, the powers, and everything in between?"

Sensing a little hostility coming from his friend, the earth pony backed up a bit to try and not get between her and Zecora. “Look, ladies, I'm just glad we're all on the same side now. Coral, she’s trying to help you. Sure, her methods are quirky, but she is always right in the end.”

"No. This isn't quirkiness,” Coral sneered at Cornfield. “Quirkiness is her constant rhyming. What she's doing is knowing a lot more than I do.” Focusing back on Zecora, she went beak-to-snout to further demand answers. “I'm not training with you, Zecora, unless you tell me why. Why do you know SO much about this?"

“...Uh, I'll just leave you girls to discuss these serious matters,” the sheepish colt uttered meekly before gathering 3 ripe juicy peaches and rushing inside Zecora’s hut, slamming the door behind him. His cowardice caused Coral’s head to turn away from the zebra’s in reaction.

"Wait, Cornfield!” She raised her claws out at the hut in vain. “Ugh... Never mind... He's always the first to escape when the going gets rough."

The witch doctor couldn’t help but chuckle at flustered hippogriff. While her student rolled her eyes and huffed, Zecora gently placed her hoof on Coral’s side to comfort her. “The reason I know is simple and true,” she explained. “My earliest ancestor went on the same journey as you."

Her eyes lit up as she stared back at the zebra in disbelief. "...What!?"

"Come with me, and you will see.” Coral followed her back to the hut as Zecora kindly held the door open for her. Inside, they both found Cornfield stuffing his face with peaches and laying on his bedding.

“Oh boy!” he said chipperly. “These peaches are bucking sweet! You really should try some yourself!” He offered the two of them his last untouched peaches, before slowly taking it back. “...Unless that means it's actually a part of you…” The more the young colt realized it, the more he suddenly realized how unnerving that concept could be. “Ah! Hey I'm not eating ‘her’?! Am I?!”

Kindly declining the offer, Zecora trotted to an old, dusty chest, while Coral approached her excitable friend with a chortle. "I think that's as close to ‘eating’ me as you are ever going to get, Corn," she grinned.

“I just hope I'm not eating what may have been a ventricular portion of your heart, Coral.” Slowly losing his appetite, he put the half-eaten fruit on the floor to dispose of it later. “That would be gross, irregardless.”

"My, look at you using big words,” said the hippogriff with a hint of foal-talking. "But, no. I think what you are eating is the magic from The Heart of Nature. My heart is the one that powers it."

With that patronizing tone, Cornfield proceeded to defy her objection. “Well! Aren't we condescending this morning? I'm not some foal, you know!” Getting off the covers and out of his literal comfort zone, he stood up to her in justified defiance. “And, after what we've been through, I'd hope you actually would have noticed it!”

Opening the chest, the kind zebra pulled out a bundle of important-looking scrolls. She turned only to find her guests had become heated and, with a huff, decided to wait on the sidelines until it blew over. Coral, upon hearing her partner getting provoked, shrugged and sighed. “It depends on the situation, really. Sometimes, you act like a real stallion and turn out to be reliable. Sometimes, you act like a little filly and your immaturity makes you pitiful. It's a hard read with you."

“Oh sure. Blame it on the situation. ‘It's not my fault. It's not your fault’,” he mocked with a whiny feminine voice. “What's the matter? Can't take ownership of your actions now? I mean, the situation didn't bring us here now, did it?”

Scoffing irritatedly, she pointed her claw right in his face. “You think I don't realize that it's my fault that I'm in this mess and I've dragged you along with me? I certainly know you just want to go home and do whatever it is you do on your spare time.” She shuddered at the thought of what that might be. Using another claw on the same appendage, Coral formed a gesture like she was pinching the air. “I'm just saying that you can stand to be a little more mature, instead of flip-flopping between the two.”

“I do not flip-flop! I'm just progressing! That's what mom told me!”

"There. Right there. You did it again."

“B-b-but it's true! I'm getting better!”

At this point, Coral felt this conversation was going nowhere. "Yeah? You think yourself as more mature?” She leaned in close and fluttered her eyelashes. “Prove it. Right now."

“O-Ok… well…” The colt gave it some thought until he asked himself why she was being so difficult. They both knew the answer to how he’s grown, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. Sticking his nose in the air, he turned his back on her. “How about I don't have to prove anything? Because a real stallion wouldn't give up on a lady and save her life in the process. He spun around. “And that's exactly what I did! Several times!” He pointed back at her with a smug grin on his face. “So HAH!”

It wasn’t a comforting thought that she had to be the damsel in distress during these past scenarios. The treasure hunter had plenty of adventures of her own without him and usually got out just fine. Yet, her expression lightened up as she smiled sweetly to his immature, but nonetheless correct response. She wouldn’t have survived without him, even though she saved his life a couple times, too. Through fate or dumb luck, they were compatible to take on anything that came their way together. As a result, her claws transformed into vines and the tips stroked his cheek gently. "Well played, Cornfield. Actions DO speak louder than words after all."

“Huh.” The vines felt smooth on Cornfield’s skin and smelled of grass. “...I don't know how I feel about you being half-hippo, half-pony,... and half-plant.”

"I'm half bird, you simpleton." said Coral, retracting the vines and turning her talons back to normal. Bringing them to her face, she stared into them with deep contemplation. "Still, you are right. This is a rather unsettling appearance, especially with these vines and the gem fused to my flesh.” Picking at the gem with a natural claw, she attempted to pry it off again. It wouldn’t budge. “I certainly hope that this isn't permanent."

Before he could say anything, his ears perked at the sound of Zecora stifling a laugh. “Hey! Did you just chuckle?” the stallion inquired.

"Ah, forgive me,” the zebra confessed. “I don't mean to pry. But you two are funny together, I won't lie." With one of her forelegs grasped around several scrolls, she approached Coral and dropped them in front of her. "Their text is a bit faded, and the paper is old, but it holds the abilities of the gems as foretold.” Guiding her on what to read first, the striped equine unraveled the first scroll on the floor for all to view. "Take your time to read them during the day. A little bit of knowledge goes a long way.”

The hippogriff skimmed the text before deciding it would be a good idea to jot down the more important bits of knowledge she might need in the future. “Corn, get me my saddle bags, please,” she requested.

“Gotcha.” Dragging the bags over, he thrust them to her side; she laid on the floor to comfortably peruse what’s on the scroll. “Anything ring a bell, mah lady?”

"Don't call me that,” Coral groaned, opening her bags and procuring a notebook and a pencil.

“Well, I just thought I'd practice being a ‘mature stallion’ as you wanted.”

“If you want to go full-blown Canterlot gentlecolt, you may call me ‘your majesty’. Otherwise, ‘Coral’ will suffice for now."

“Fine… Hmph!” The whims of females continued to baffle the poor pony of the opposite sex, as he sat across from the scroll with a pout.

The studious explorer resumed reading the texts of the scroll carefully, jotting down notes as she went along. She noted how Zecora had done a great job translating the ancient zebra texts to New Ponish. "Let's see. It’s said here that Zecora’s earliest grandfather witnessed how the Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns fought over each other, long before they were united under one banner. The old coot sought to take the gems and lead everypony himself after their needless arguing."

“Hmmm…” hummed Cornfield, getting interested in the story. “A zebra planning on leading the future of Equestria? I wonder what that would of been like…”

"He hated how they'd always yell and fight,” explained the witch doctor as she joined them in sitting around the pile of scrolls. “He thought by bringing all four gems together, he'd shed some light."

"I heard that if you got the 4 together, you'd become a creature of great power.” Coral added. “One to make your wildest dreams come true..."

“Well...she certainly has a portion of that power.” the young colt laughed, drawing attention to the jewel raider’s chest. “She should be able to reach anywhere her claws don't belong now! Haha!”

Coral sneered a knowing grin at him. "While it’d certainly make pickpocketing and picking locks a little easier, don't give me ideas, Cornfield.”

“I don't have to. You're the thief here!”

"...Right,” the intrigued hippogriff read on. “Your ancestor had The Heart of Nature, The Mind of Water, and The Eye of Fire. He was on his way to get the Breath of Life, but..." Something was off. The story ended abruptly with a conclusion she didn’t expect. Perplexed on where the gaping hole in the chain of events might be, she unraveled a few more scrolls for an explanation. A quick analysis only gave more insight on the gems he already collected, nothing else. Silence filled the room as Coral struggled to finish the scroll aloud. "He...put them all back…?" Her talons, once relaxed, curled slowly but sharply, scratching the wooden floor of the hut. "Why? Why did he just... have all that power in his hooves and just... give it up?"

“...Wait a minute…” Both mares turned their attention to the only stallion who spoke up amidst his partner’s musings. “He was able to remove the Heart? And all the other gems, too?”

Zecora nodded her head. "There are some ways to give up your ability.” she informed with a warming smile. “One such method is to give it up willingly. Take it to where you got it before. Place your claw on the indent and it will be placed once more." Her positive expression faded, facing Coral with her eyes half-open. "The other is... not something you should do. If you die, at any time, it will escape from you. Then, your killer will claim it from the attack. So, it's wise to keep your head down and watch your back."

Cornfield choked a bit at the possibilities of how her grandfather lost his gems. “...And your saying he had given these up at will or-”

"He wasn't killed,” the zebra quickly interrupted with her hoof, gesturing to relax. “The gems returned to their rightful place. Then, he returned with his kind: the zebra race."

He sighed a breath of relief. “Whew! Sooo... This is certainly a mystery!”

“Did he think he couldn't handle having that much power?” Coral asked quietly, mulling over the tale in her head. “I don't think there's a downside to being this super-strong demigod and changing the world with what you have."

“...Coral…” Although he didn’t really give time to question her motives until now, that statement made her tagger-on very suspicious. Just how power-hungry was this hippogriff?

"I mean, he had a WAR to stop, right? He wouldn’t be wrong to do it...” Hiding her eyes from the judging gazes of the company of the room, the suspicious bird-mare hybrid focused in the scroll. “At least, that's what I'd do."

“Yeah, but…” Cornfield raised an eyebrow, staring incredulously. “Don't you think a villain might of said what you just said? You know what kind of pony becomes a demigod? Either a really good one...or...”

“I do not know the reasons why,” Zecora interrupted once more, “but you must forgive me if I pry. Do you believe that he was wrong? Should he have taken it all along?"

Not really knowing the right answer, Coral’s head hung solemnly in silence. She didn’t know the circumstances of Zecora’s ancestor at the time. She only knew of her own on why she started her journey. Her talons drifted towards her saddlebag.

“Zecora… Is it possible we could gather the gems and give it to a museum or somewhere safe like the Elements of Harmony?” the naive colt asked. His ears received the sounds of his hippogriff friend rummaging through her bag and pulling out an item he never seen with her yet. “...Huh?”

"It's possible, but..." the Zecora stopped herself, joining in on Cornfield’s curiosity on what Coral was clutching onto. Walking up for a better look, they deduced that the object was a golden clamshell with a valuable diamond ordaining the top. Much like a real clam, she pried the shell open and then stared longingly inside it with her brows shuttered. She didn’t even notice the present company standing up to peak over her shoulders from both sides. They discovered that it was more than a clamshell, but a locket containing a photograph of four hippogriffs inside it.

Quickly piecing it all together, the empathetic zebra gasped. "Ohhhh, I see.... That’s why you are on this quest..." she said as she gingerly placed her hoof on Coral's shoulder. “To right a great loss... I should have guessed..."

“Huh?” Cornfield muttered as he scratched his ear. “Try that again?” Carefully, the dismayed damsel handed her precious heirloom to the stallion as Zecora comforted her. The picture has a mare and stallion hippogriff. The mare was a sea-blue beauty with a kelp green mane, while the stallion was a red soldier with a purple plumage. In the middle below the two of them were a colt and filly. The colt had his mother’s colors, but lighter. The daughter who sported her father’s colors were also lighter, but reversed as well. The filly looks like… “Huh...is this your family or some-” Before he could finish, something clicked in his mind. “OH!” His ears perked up before slowly drooping. “..Sorry…”

A moment of honorable silence passed for the respect of the hippogriff family and their last remaining member.

Extending her claws out, Coral gestured for the clamshell back. Humbly, her friend closed it and gave it back. "If you had lost... everything to the wages of war... you would make that decision to take that power, too." A few tears escaped as she hugged the clamshell to her chest, above The Heart of Nature, dimming in color from the agony plaguing her beating heart. “You don't need to worry about me doing anything like killing or enslaving..." Finding it difficult to let go of it, she struggled to place it in the security of her saddlebags. "I've seen enough death to know it does no creature any favors."

“I still don't know. This is probably going to get rougher…” Cornfield mulled over the idea of scouring through all of Equestria and beyond to find them. “Do we really need to find every single one?! The Heart of Nature was challenging enough…”

The treasure hunter said nothing in response; she only considered the circumstances if she progressed with her rash and foolhardy plans. Obviously, she needed to toughen up more for the road ahead. The Heart on her chest was going to be a literal target for Caballeron or whatever mercenaries hired from the mysterious benefactor he spoke of in the temple. But, if finding all the gems meant protecting her race from any more massacres, she would play to win.

Standing up with her head held high, Coral turned to Zecora with her claws on her chest.
"Zecora, I want you to train me,” she requested. “If what you said is true, he’ll probably try to rip this gem out of me by force to get to The Mind of Water. Your training will not only give me the opportunity to use this newfound power to defend myself, but show me the path to the next gem." She extended her claws out to her teacher to offer a hoof-to-claw shake. "So, I'll leave it to you to teach me."

Without missing a beat, Zecora put her hoof in the hippogriff’s grasp as she shook it gently. She made eye contact with her towering student with faithful confidence. “I believe the fates have orchestrated your events the way they should,” she chimed as she rhymed. “After hearing your tale, I trust that you’ll work towards the greater good.” Mutually, they let go of each other’s forelegs.

“And I'll do whatever I can to help!” offered Cornfield enthusiastically with his hoof in the air. Surprised by his response, Coral gave her attention to the colt. She thought he wanted nothing more than to go home. Now he wants to be part of her journey? Does he truly know what he’s getting into?

"Ok. But you gotta understand," his partner cautioned. "I'm a girl with nothing to lose and I'm in this for the long run. I'm not about to turn around because you got cold hooves. So, if you want to go home…” She whispered quietly “Maybe forget about me...” and, with the possibility of him leaving her life open, she said aloud “Now's your chance".

“I...well...umm…” The young stallion scratched his chin in thought. Home did sound appealing; his comfortable bed was waiting for him over at his humble cottage. But, what was he going to do if Coral left? Stalk the mares of Ponyville? Take pictures in secret? Live alone in his house with nopony to be with? He had survived multiple life-threatening situations in the span of one day, and he would happily do it all over again if it meant that he had a beautiful mare to be right beside him, even if she’s technically a half-mare, than to be alone for one more day. “...You know what? I'm in!”

The hippogriff squawked in disbelief. "You aren't leaving me!? No matter what? Like you said, it's gonna get tougher!"

“So that means I know what I signed up for!”

"Is there nopony better than him at the moment, or is he simply better than nopony?” she asked her herself in her mind while brushing her mane back with her claws. “He DID come through in the end, though, and he’s proven to be reliable enough." She inched closer and leaned her head down, almost going nose-to-beak with a smirk on her face. "All right. Just remember, though: You asked for it." she said sweetly.

“Don't worry! I told you! You need me!” he remarked back, almost desperate for her not to change her mind. “Remember how I saved you? So, I can't leave you alone on this dangerous quest. And I don't go down without a fight!”

"All right, all right,” Coral gestured him to simmer down. “Cool it. I do remember what you did to help.” Her cheeks gained a bit of redness as she longingly sighed. “I really do…” The Heart’s magnificent shine grew just a bit brighter.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading thus far. Let me know on the comments below what you think and how we may improve.

1-8: The Storm Approaches

Chapter 1-8

“What's the first step?”

Cornfield questioned this as his friend, Coral, joined his side and awaited further instructions from Zecora. The zebra sized the two of them up to gauge how they would handle the road ahead.

"We need to train Coral to control the Heart for the sake of her health,” Zecora proclaimed to her student before looking at her partner. “Cornfield, you could learn to better protect yourself."

“Hey! I can protect myself just fine, thank you very much!” said the rapscallion, puffing his chest. “It's Coral who needs better defensive abilities.”

The hippogriff’s eyes widened in shock. “You know, I held my own through cunning and charm before I met you, Cornfield,” she rebutted. “I’m not as hopeless as you think I am.”

“Yeah, but... I can't help notice you're always charging into a situation and getting yourself in danger! Sometimes even putting me in peril as a result!” Momentarily, he thought back to a similar scenario involving another pony. “Just like that time, I was watching Rainbow Dash playing buckball...” He thought with his mind in the gutter. “...and she tripped right at the beginning...Ah, I'm so glad I snapped that moment...The way her legs were spread revealing her tight little-"

"What about the time you got so impatient that you almost walked into that carnivorous plant?" Coral interrupted.

The daydreaming colt snapped out of it, stammering.“W-Wait, hold on… That's not my fault!” He scratched the back of his head, getting the story straight in memory. “I was...in some kind of trance or something... I couldn't help it! Besides, you dared me to go in ahead of you, so it was your fault!”

“Enough! We have wasted enough daylight!” shouted the zebra, increasingly intolerant of their bickering. “Cornfield, if you are confident, I won’t teach you to fight. You’ve proven yourself with Caballeron’s brawl and Coral shouldn’t be using you as her wall.”

The treasure hunter growled with her beak tightly shut. "Fine,” she blurted out. “FINE! I get it. You want me to prove myself to you both? Fine! I’ll show you that I didn’t and won’t need Wondercolt over here to get me out of the holes I dig for myself."

“Ah…” the so-called Wondercolt uttered snidely. “So, I was right this time?”

"YES! HOLY CRAP, you are! Drop it already!" The flustered, feathered one sat up and crossed her forelegs in a huff.

"Now, now,” calmed Zecora. “No need to pout. It's your best interests he's pointing out."

“Yeah,” the excited stally-colt exclaimed. “The interests of me being awesome!” He raised his hooves in celebration. “Yeah! Woohoo!”

Coral’s teacher planted a hoof on her face while she, herself, glared with daggers in her eyes at the annoying buffoon beside her. "Can we just get started already before I change my mind about him tagging along?!" she pleaded.

“First lesson: listen to Cornfield!”

Taken more than enough from his blustering, her claws shaped into vines and wrapped them around his muzzle. He tried to shout in protest, only to let out a loud grunt. The hippogriff leaned in close with a wicked smile. “A mature stallion doesn't boast.”

Cornfield stared into her eyes. Knowing what’s good for him, he simply let out an “Ok” from the end of his restrained lips.

Outside of Zecora’s hut, underneath the giant peach tree, the treasure hunter’s sidekick helped the kind zebra in her lessons by setting up three primitive-looking, shoddily-crafted wooden targets. She made sure he would make them purely for the act of practicing vine abilities for the first stage of her training. They were set side-by-side from each other with Coral facing them with a determined scowl.

“Thorns are deadly sharp and a show of force,” her teacher instructed. “Use them when there's no other recourse. The scent of the flowers paralyze and pacify. Use it when large predators catch your eye. Smooth vines, you will find, are good for grabbing or to bind."

“Alright!” Cornfield huffed while wiping the sweat off his brow. “I can't wait to see it in action!”

Her claws writhing about as vines, Coral lashed them about to get a better feel for the weight of their swing. "This will be easy,” she cockily stated. “I just need to think about it and it will happen, right?"

"Not quite,” her striped mentor corrected. “The vines will change how your heart reacts. That's how you will mix up your attacks. Angry emotions bring out thorns. So, be careful to control your scorns. Flowers are tuned to happiness, too, but it requires concentration with a beast coming to you. If your emotions happen to be none of those, smooth vines are used to wrangle objects, friends, or foes.”

A snicker escaped from Cornfield’s gritted teeth as he held back a heavier laugh. “It’s a good thing Coral isn’t pregnant,” he announced. “She’d be having a lot more mood swings!” Unable to contain himself, he busted out in hysterics, rolling in the grass wrapped in his forelegs. “Oh, Celestia! I'm too much sometimes! Hehe!”

The childish colt’s insensitivities was enough to spark a flame in her heart. Embracing the anger, Coral swayed out her claws, allowing the vines to stretch and fly towards her target like a lion-tamer thrashing a leather whip. Razor-sharp thorns shot out from the vines and mercilessly shredded the target to tiny bits like a green whirlwind, leaving nothing but splinters behind.

“Haha...ha…” Suddenly scared out of whatever wits he had left, the young earth pony got off the ground with his legs shaking. He swallowed a deep gulp from the lump in his throat.

"Yeah, not so funny NOW, is it?" taunted the hippogriff before shrinking her vines to get a better look at her thorns. "Anger is easy. I just think of what I would do to the Storm King if he was still around."

“Jeez, ok, ok!” Cornfield cowered. “I'll try not to anger you next time…” He looked away from her judging sight, but not before whispering “tight ass” underneath his breath.

"Trust me, Cornfield,” assured Coral. “You might annoy me, but you don't anger me as much as that pompous baboon does. Besides, as long as the vines aren't out, you're in the clear.”

Knowing she wasn’t willing to use the thorns on him yet gave him some comfort as he breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, that's good!”

"As you had said before,” Zecora said, continuing to educate them. “Anger is easy to do, but it’s hard to control. So, let's give controlling your happy thoughts a roll." Sitting up, the zebra focused on her center, motioning the calm breathing through her hooves. "Channel your happiness and when you've gathered enough, you can make your vines grow flowers, blossom, and puff. Its sweet scent calms and pacifies, but enough of the pollen can actually make your foe paralyze."

Thinking back on the events when he went temple raiding, the young colt pondered with a hoof on his chin. “Hmmmm…” he hummed. “I wonder if it's related to the flowers we saw in the ruins?”

“Ah, no, these flowers do not hypnotize. They only calm and, in an extreme case, paralyze."

“See, Coral? I told you I couldn't help it!”

“Cornfield,” his compatriot snapped back. “If the goal is for me to be happy, you are not helping with that argument. Knock it off already!” After a brief moment she tried to tune him and the rest of the world out. She calmed her breathing and dug through the memories of her mind. “Happy thoughts..." As per usual, she started with her gems and how she accumulated many priceless stones over the years. It's a couple happy memories, but not enough. Thinking back on how it worked before, she recalled meeting Cornfield and how they kissed. It made her heart race, but it had less happy moments than she realized.

“Come on, Coral!” she heard him shout from behind. “How hard is it to be happy anyway?” Grunting, she shook off his taunt and thought back, way back, to her family. With a foreleg outstretched, the vines slowly stretched towards another one of Cornfield’s makeshift targets. Tiny buds formed on the vines as she imagined her mom, her dad, and most beloved of all, her brother. She smiled as her mom made them kelp wraps for lunch, her dad would return from his knightly patrols to nuzzle her forehead with his beak, and her brother would play on the beach with her afterwards. The buds grew into small, white flowers, similar to small white posies. However, before they could bloom and release their aromatic payload, the petals started to wither and brown as the poor hippogriff’s face grimaced.

“Hmmm? Where's the pollen?” asked Cornfield, joining Zecora in their confusion.

The petals fell off, one by one, revealing their rotting core in the middle. Images of her family being happy were forcibly replaced with the polarizing memory of storm clouds blanketing the skies, followed by an armada of sinister attack blimps following suit. Flashes of her parents brutally slaughtered by the Storm King's foot soldiers flickered before her eyes, and the sounds of her brother dragged away screaming echoed in her mind. She opened her eyes with a gasp, before staring down at her vines laid bare...

“W-what?” asked the concerned colt as he stepped closer to her, but Zecora put her hoof on his shoulder, restraining him. He still proceeded to inquire “What happened?”

As Coral's vines turned back into claws, she covered her eyes with them and dragged them down her face like she's going to scratch her flesh off. Her hind legs hit the ground as the rest of her body slumped forward. “I can't do it, Zecora," she stated quietly before repeating it louder and slamming her talons into the dirt.

Her only other friend in all of Equestria looked to the zebra for an answer while she studied the hippogriff’s face. Thanks to her wisdom in locating pain in ailing ponies, it didn’t take long to find the source of Coral’s happiness and sorrow, especially with her locket in the back of Zecora’s mind. "Coral, why don't you let this lesson temporarily slide?” She walked around the earth pony, who had a confused look on where she might be going, before Zecora motioned him to her. “Cornfield. To my hut. Inside."

He checked his partner, who was still staring at the ground, then came back to Zecora, surprised. “Hey, why me?” he asked defensively. “I didn't mess up!”

"Don't be quick to think I blame you yet. I'm here to help you both, did you forget?"

“Alright, alright.” The two leave Coral to sort her emotional baggage out as they entered the hut and closed the door behind them. Almost immediately, Zecora quickly double-backed to face him, startling him. “AH!”

"Cornfield, I want you to hear my plea. Your opinion on Coral. Tell me honestly."

“Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is…” Visualling her in his mind, he couldn’t help to think back to her smooth, sensual face, down to her chest and back and, finally, her more supple feminine features. “She's smokin' HOT!” he exclaimed.

This reaction led to the striped horse doing her best not to roll her eyes. "Hmm, so you like her, do you not? That is, if you say that she is "smoking hot". She motioned her hooves in air quotes when she said that last part.

“Yes!” Cornfield sat up and held his hooves out, motioning to hold on. “B-But it’s not just that, really! I mean, yeah, she talks a lot, is nosy, and can be super emotional, but there’s a lot of good things about her! She’s beautiful, smart, caring, and, and-” He leaned towards Zecora, pointing to his mouth with a silly, lovestruck grin on his face. “She kissed me! No other female, pony or otherwise with the exception of my own mom, has kissed me! That sealed it for me. I don’t just like her! In fact… I LOVE HER!”

Zecora had her doubts about the unlikely pairing before. Indeed, his persisting immaturity didn’t help any fears she had. Yet, Zecora couldn’t help but smile at his response, hoping that his enthusiasm to stick with her, no matter what, would be enough to carry out her wishes. "Good,” she said. “Then it's time to help her recovery. She needs somepony to help her be happy." After walking to her bed, she reached underneath, pulled out a satchel, handed it over to the curious youth. "They say that money can't buy happiness. But, it certainly helps. However, I digress."

“Money?!” He weighed the bag in his hoof. It’s obviously full of cash. “What should I do with this? Go shopping?”

"No, Cornfield. Listen to me. Coral needs more than one bittersweet memory."

“Yeah? I'm listening, honest. In fact I’m just not gonna say anything to show how interested I am.”

"While you are travelling, take side journeys. Introduce her to more happy memories. LISTEN to her. Treat her right. Give her joyous days and never a lonely night. To let you in her heart, it will take a few tries. A lasting, happy relationship is about compromise."

Scratching his head, Cornfield chuckled nervously as he said “That sounds a little TOO mature even for a pony as old as me.”

The zebra raised a suspecting eyebrow. "Answer me this: are you too focused on the body parts that are more… round, or are you wondering what she's really like deep down?"

“NO!” Cornfield shouted, taken aback from her understandable, but incorrect assumption. “I love her…” Placing his hoof on his chest, he took a deep breath and before putting on his best serious face on for Zecora. “I’ll do my best. For Coral!”

Giggling at how he was looking so stern that he would pop a vein, the kind alchemist patted his shoulder gently. “I know that you will both grow closer in time. You'll set aside your differences and your lives will be more sublime.” Stepping back, she poised to the door. “I've rambled enough. Take that money with you. I just hope that you know now what you need to do."

“I do.” He walked with her to the door. “Let's check back on how your student is doing, huh?”

They proceeded outside only to find Coral missing from the training grounds. Zecora, in frustration, pulled her hoof up along her face. "Oh, come on now. Am I seeing this true? We were only gone for a minute or two!"

“She doesn’t like to sit still, does she?” Cornfield sighed. “I wonder where she is now?”

"She must still be around here. She wouldn't venture far with dangerous creatures so near. There are two safe paths that I know are around.” She pointed her hoof down a dirt road behind her hut. “One goes to a water spring…” Then, she pointed down a path by her front door. “And the other goes to town. I'll go down one path, you go the other, and we'll meet back soon. I'd like to finish her training before noon.”

“So, I'll head back to town then and look for her.”

"Very well, don't stray too far and be back shortly. I'll travel to the spring and see." She descended upon her path, leaving Cornfield to fend for himself.

“Hey, That didn't really rhyme that time.” Before he knew it, he was the only one standing out in front of the hut, alone in the dark forest. “Oh, I guess she didn't hear me… or is she just ignoring me.” Looking back briefly, he cautiously began his journey back to town.

Minutes passed, Zecora approached familiar surroundings leading to the natural spring she used as her personal bath. Some creature must have thought the same idea as she could hear splashing disrupting the otherwise tranquil waters. Carefully, the zebra peeked around the bend, hiding behind the foliage to avoid being seen. Her fears were unfounded, however, when she discovered Coral washing her body and feathers in the spring, chirping a short song to herself as she scrubbed. "Oops, so much for that mystery.” Zecora whispered to herself, blushing and looking away. “I'll leave and give her privacy."

Meanwhile, outside of the forest, Cornfield made it safely within the outskirts of Ponyville. Excited to find Coral and worried about where she might get into, he figured that the best bet was to first stop by his cottage and see if she’s crashing there. He opened the front door and found the inside to be vacant. Annoyed that it wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought, he closed the door and begrudgingly started walking around town in search of her. After about half-an-hour, he was getting tired trying to find her and thought about going back to his cottage for a nap. However, plans changed when he spotted a glimpse of the dastardly Dr. Caballeron making his way to the train station from among the usual townsfolk traffic.

“Huh?” he thought in disbelief. "What's he doing here?!" His first instinct was to make a dash towards him, but stopped himself when he remembered the time the crook put a hoof to his family jewels. Backing away, he decided that stalking him from afar to spy on what he was up to would be smarter. That idea led to another as a light bulb went off in his head. "Maybe I should run back home, grab my camera, and do a little RECONNAISSANCE!"

He did just that as he ran home as fast as his earth pony legs could and practically bursted through the door. Reaching under his bed, he pulled out his box that contained his pride and joy, his camera. He gingerly placed the valuable tool in a pair of saddle bags, along with the sack of money given to him by Zecora. “Secret Agent Cornfield reporting for duty!” he shouted out loud to himself. “Yeah! I like the sound of that!” Wasting no time, he latched the bags to his sides and ran back to the station, praying that he wasn’t too late.

Thankfully for the plucky colt, Caballeron’s aggressive hubris slowed his progress to a halt as he and the station teller butted heads. Furiously, the doctor shouted from the top of his lungs "No! YOU don't understand. I don't care if the tracks from here to Mount Aris is down. I have to be there soon! Otherwise, my boss is going to VERY upset, entender?”

"Sorry,” the teller responded, barely trying to keep his best customer service face without snapping., “But, we have to ensure the safety of our passenger. No trains are going to Mount Aris. Now please leave.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Cornfield steadied his camera and snapped a shot from a distance. The flash was a mere tinkle in the distance. “Mount Aris?” a thought popped up in the back of his mind. “Isn't that where Coral is from?”

"GAH!” Caballeron fumed. “Fine! You don't want to cooperate! Fine!" He stormed off from the counter in a huff and crept away from the station entirely.

Cornfield stealthy pursued him to a secluded location outside of town, where no pony can see him. “Never thought I'd end up stalking another stallion…” he thought. When the devious archeologist thought he was in the clear, Dr. Caballeron uncorked the potion he had in his satchel bag and poured it on the grass. The mixture bubbled before small lightning sparks shot up and an image was seen from the wavy blue mist emitting from the puddle of brew. A shadowy figure turned and directed his attention to who called him. The figure looked to be thin, lanky, and wearing some sort of jagged crown. His voice made him out to sound young, like a teenager. “Whoa… who's this dude?” Thinking quickly, the brave colt shimmied up a tree and sat on a sturdy branch, getting a good view of the conversation to take place.

"Did you secure the Heart, Caballeron?" the young figure inquired.

Despite the young voice, Cornfield was surprised to see Caballeron take a step back with his tail between his legs."W-Well... No... It was... already taken, sir,” the doctor stuttered. “B-But we can take the Mind of Water instead, right? I mean... It's location is so close to Mount Aris that it's practically outside your front door."

"IDIOT!” the figured boomed. “The Heart is NEEDED to unlock the Mind of Water. Who is the one who beat you to it?!"

"H-Her name is Cobalt Coral... She is the hippogriff that stole the map of the Gems' location from under my nose before and slowed my progress to beat her to the punch."

“She’s kinda like Daring Do, but a lot more moody.” thought Cornfield, chuckling at the comparison. "But, what did he mean by ‘outside his front door’?"

“Unbelievable…” said the figure, exasperated and placing his lengthy paws on his face. “The first race to fall under the Storm King's might, and one of their kind is now causing me trouble. The irony doesn't escape me. And when were you going to tell me about losing the map to her?”

"Ah ha ha,” Caballeron forced a laugh. “Well, I just figured that I'd tail her trail and get the Heart before she did at the last minute."

“Ha! Beat you to it, didn't we?” the cocky colt couldn’t help but whisper with a smirk.

"But, you didn't succeed,” the figure stated with an authoritative tone. “You failed. You failed to take the map. You failed to get the Heart. I put my faith in a mercenary, and I've lost time, money, and The Heart of Nature." A long finger of the creature's paw pointed menacingly towards the poor doctor. "Hide well, Caballeron. Should my army find you, they are ordered to kill you."

Caballeron doubled back in terror, weak in the knees and shaking profusely. "N-NO! Please! Lord Whirlwind! Give me another chance! I won't fail you! I'll find out where the Eye of Fire and Breath of Life is on my own! We don't need the map!"

"Lord Whirlwind?” pondered Cornfield. “I should take a picture now before he disappears or something." Aiming his camera downward, he shot a picture of the shadow in the mist with a resounding click, followed by a flash from the branches.

"What as that?!” the figure shouted. “Were you followed?!"

"Impossible, nopony would-"

Before the doctor could continue, Lord Whirlwind cut him off. "I thought it would be more sporting to let my troops hunt you down, but you’ve become too sloppy for my liking. This is your final failure, Caballeron." The mixture on the ground was starting to bubble and hiss VERY violently.

“Oops!” blurted the young photographer. “Should of turned off the flash.” He turned the camera towards himself, wondering where the switch to kill the lights were. With another click, he accidentally shot a picture of himself, blinding and surprising him with the flash. “WAAAH!” He dropped the camera, tumbled backward, and landed with his ass hitting the ground hard.
“Ow! Ah…” he rubbed his backside to try and relieve the pain. His camera was missing, however. “Oh, shit! Where did it go?” He scanned the area around him before suddenly noticing Caballeron.

Caballeron wasn't noticing HIM, however, as the shadowy image was long gone. He stumbled back as he tried to get away from the potion as fast as he could, but the mixture suddenly erupted a violent, blue explosion that rocks the area, engulfing Dr. Caballeron in the blast and blinding Cornfield. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" the villain let out a blood-curdling cry.

The colt yelped, covered his eyes with his foreleg as the force of the combustion knocked him back onto the grass. The smoke cleared as he slowly picked himself up and dusted himself off. He couldn’t help but think “What happened?!”

His misaligned sight focused on Caballeron's broken body lying on the grass. Clothing was burnt and shredded off. Third-degree burns covered his body as he fruitlessly and hopelessly tried to get up. He's grunting and crying in pain. "I-I think... my ribs... are shattered..." he gasped.

The sight of his mangled state made Cornfield pause, wondering what he should do. Realizing that he has a lot of sensitive information, he quickly thought "Better grab my camera and go!" He reached around some tall grass until his hoof ran into something boxy-shaped. Recognizing it as his camera, he grabbed it, shoved it into his bag, and went to run.

"Y-You! …” a weak voice called to him. “Please.... H-h-help me…” Caballeron could barely breathe, choking on his own fluids. "I can't... I can't...."

“Ah! What?” This strange request had Cornfield’s attention, as he slowly approached him. “Save you?! B-but... You tried to kill us!”

“I realize... that... but, amigo... If you... save me... I can help you... and your... chica girlfriend…”
He coughed up puddles of blood as they sunk into the soil and absorbed in the grass.

“Ah...umm…” Wracked with a rough decision, the colt cocked his head with a hoof on his chin. "Damn! What should I do!? What would Coral say...?" he argued to himself.

The mercenary was retching in pain. "Please! A doctor! A healer! Anypony!"

“Wait a minute... If the horseshoe was on the other hoof... What would you have done?”

"Why... are you... asking... these questions... I'm dying... Do you... want my death... to weigh on... your conscience?"

“If it was you...you'd probably say something like ‘This is what you get, burrito’ or ‘You chose this fate, jalapeno’,” Cornfield mocked with a fake accent. “I think we'll be better off without a greedy thug for hire in our lives.”

"Ah…” sighed the archaeologist solemnly “So... this is... how I go... mocked and... betrayed..." He's slowly closing his eyes, residing himself to his fate.

Cornfield was in a cold sweat, his eyes were darting around, hoping somepony could come and make this decision for him. Unfortunately, there’s no one or nothing to make this critical moment easier. "I can't just let somepony die, but…” he covered his face with his hoof and shook his head. “What if somepony comes after me?" At that moment, he stopped thinking about himself and started thinking about someone close to him: Coral. He remembered the tales of him and his underlings stabbing her. Then, he recalled the moment when a crossbow bolt punctured her thigh. Both moments where he could have potentially lost her, and the dying pony was behind her pain. “ARRRGH! I CAN'T DO THIS!” he cried out with his emotions reaching his limit, before turning tail and fleeing the scene.

The color fades in Caballeron’s eyes as he watched the young stallion give up on him and run off. He can feel his heart slow as the internal bleeding worsened.

"Ha... Fool,” He wheezed. “I could have... helped...you…” his last thoughts turned to the rival that indirectly bested him at every turn. “Coral... You trained him well... I hope... he... is... worth... it..."

His heart slowed to a crawl, giving up any hope of help. No one but Cornfield knew about this event. Whether or not he would have assisted them or not was left to speculation as he drew his last breath. The infamous villain starring in many novels around Equestria, Dr. Caballeron, was dead.

Cornfield ran through the town, as ponies witnessed him passing by them, wailing aloud. Caballeron was a crook and tried to kill both him and Coral. Yet, why were there tears in the young stallion’s eyes? He stopped at the base of the hill towards his house, breathing heavily. He may not have seen the bad doctor’s final moments himself, but the guilt of leaving behind a life in need of help would likely haunt him to his dying day.

Author's Note

If there are any mistakes, please let us know. Thank you!

1-Finale: The Journey's Beginning

Chapter 1-Finale:

Cobalt Coral, after her cooling and relaxing bath, continued her training with Zecora, who taught her as much as she could in the ways of The Heart of Nature. The zebra’s methods combined with a lack of time was grueling, but the hippogriff endured. Her control of the vines and growth of plants were not perfect, but she learned enough that she could hold her own without her guiding mentor. Inside her teacher’s hut, the gem thief was lying on the floor, going over the scrolls that provided to her about the gems and writing them down on a seperate notebook to take along.

"Hmm,” the treasure hunter thought to herself. “The powers of the Mind of Water are interesting, and the Eye of Fire has a lot of potential, too... Shame there isn't any information on the Breath of Life…” Her mind drifted. Though her focus was more towards her next move on her journey, she couldn’t help but think of her missing partner, Cornfield. "...Where even is that idiot...? I thought he knew the Everfree Forest like the back of his hoof. He can't be lost, can he?” Thinking back before her training, she wondered what would happen if the rowdy colt caught her bathing rather than Zecora. She couldn’t help but let out a giggle. “If he wanted a show... It'd be REALLY funny to tease him."

“Still… he has been gone for a while…” After jotting down the last sentences on her notes, she stood up and called out to the striped alchemist. "Sorry, Zecora. I'll be right back. Cornfield hasn't returned and I need to make sure he isn't eaten on his way over to town or something." Picturing Cornfield in a Serpent’s or Hydra’s mouth shouting “HAAAYULP!”, she couldn’t help but snicker. Still, she hoped deep down that he was ok. After Zecora wished her a safe return, she left the hut and walked down the dirt pathway out of the forest to Ponyville.

Meanwhile, the stallion in question wasn’t battling a creature, but rather inside his own cottage, battling his inner demons. It didn't matter that he was unable to locate Coral himself. He HAD to return home, where he could be alone and fully realize what transpired just recently. Cornfield slammed the door shut and sat down into a upright fetal position on the floor. The saddle bag he carried was also thrown in a random corner. Here he was again, alone and in pain. This time, however, it wasn't a terrible embarrassment or broken heart. It was the death of a pony he could of helped and the arrival of a new, more dangerous foe.

"I can't believe that guy KILLED him!” his mind cried out. “He left him for dead… No… I left him for dead! It was my fault!” He rocked back and forth as he tried to convince himself that he was in the right. “I... I'm responsible?! But... If I hadn't shown up...? No...I made the right move...but-” Tears flowed on his face, letting out a defeated sob. “But, why do I feel so terrible!? Will I really be blamed for this?”

On the edge of the Everfree Forest, Coral navigated through the maze of trees and explored outside the clearing. On her way through, she didn't find hide or hair of Cornfield. “Hmm.... well, if he followed the path I was in, nothing could have happened to him,” she convinced herself. Her eyelids lowered in annoyance. “He better not be at the bowling alley ogling mares again.” After a quick ponder on where to start looking in town, she spread her wings and took to the air, flying towards Cornfield's hut.

The poor colt sniffled back home. “I-I hope nopony finds out about this,” he hoped to himself.“But what will I tell Coral? I pray she's safe…” He shook his head and slapped his forehead with both of his hooves, trying to psyche himself up. “I gotta get over this and make sure Coral is not in any danger!” he growled out loud. Slowly standing up, he tried to shake off what was plaguing his mind, only to angrily stomp up and down. “Ugh...I STILL CAN’T GET THAT IMAGE OUT OF MY HEAD! Lord Whirlwind. I'll never forget this…”

A sudden knock on the door spooked the burdened earth pony as a voice called out from the other side. "Hey, anypony home? I got a delivery of embarrassing personal items here for a Mr. Cornfield and you need to sign for them!"

“UGH!” he cried out in shock. “THAT MUST BE MY ISSUE OF ‘NURSE REDHOT VOL. 32’… hey wait… C-C-Coral, is that you?”

"No, Cornfield, it's the mayor, here to give you the ceremonial key to Ponyville. Yes, it's Coral. Are you ok in there? What was that about a nurse?"

“CORAL!” Wasting no time, he swung open the door and jumped to Coral, bear hugging her. She could feel him squeezing the air out of her like a deflated balloon.

“ACK!” she squawked. “O-Ok… Could you step back…?” she strained to utter the last word “PLEASE!”

After reliving her of the pressure on her lungs, Coral coughed a bit before Cornfield questioned her. “Where in Equestria were you? Did Zecora find you?”

"Yeah, she did.” She pushed his forelegs off herself. “Not that I NEEDED to be found, but-" She stopped herself after a quick glance at his face, witnessing that his cheeks were soaked and his expression was unusually sullen. "Ok, change of topic. Where were YOU? You look like you just saw something... awful."

“I...uh…” His mouth gawked open as he scrambled in his mind what to say next. “Should I tell her?” he questioned himself. “Will she understand? Perhaps it's for the best if I..." There was a moment in which he held his foreleg and let out a loud groan, the kind from a hurt soul. “It's nothing. I, uh, went to find you and I...that Alpha Timberwolf found me and hurt me, but I got away. No big deal. He's gone now.”

Coral’s eyes widened with growing concern. She knew too well that those creatures were no joke. "Where exactly is the wound?”

“Uh. My left knee. But it's ok. Let's go back to Zecora.”

Her worries began to fade as she studied him closely. "He's applying pressure to it,” she informed herself. “He's walking fine. If it was a small injury, he wouldn't be crying. He's handled worse." Standing firm, she looked down on him with a piercing scowl. "You'd make a pretty crappy salespony, Cornfield. Because I’m not buying your story.”

“What?! Look, I just want to go back to Zecora's first, OK!” Coral couldn’t help but stumble back a bit from his reaction. "Better we talk about it as a group,” he thought. “And even then I hope she'll just let it slip from her memory."

Coral couldn’t help but stare suspiciously before putting her beak in the air, scoffing at him. "Fine, if we must go back, then that's up to you."

“I get you don't believe me, but please, it's for the best you trust me.” Instinctively, Cornfield put his hoof in his mane and frazzled it in frustration. "Like Caballeron trusted me?” he chastised himself. “AAAGH!"

“Right. Just remember something.”

“What, Coral?!”

"When we made up and I came clean, we made a promise to not lie or hide secrets from each other. I'm many things. A deceiver, aliar, a thief, I am all that and more." Slowly, she reached for The Heart gleaming on her chest and then covered it with her claws, closing her eyes. "But, when I made that promise to you, I swore I would keep it. I hope that you will do the same." With the flick of the tail, she turned around and walked away slowly.

“Ah...” The young colt reminded himself this promise. It was more towards her and her tricks, but he did remember the same secrets he had to hide as well. This hidden information was no different. “Oh, Coral ...I'm sorry but, when we get to Zecora's, I'll explain, ok?”

Coral stopped dead in her tracks, assured to finally get a clear answer from him. "Fine. I trust you!” she shouted back. “Just know that I didn't mean to pry, because I wanted to make what wasn't my business mine by force. I'm not trying to coerce you to doing something you didn't want to do. I just..." She hesitated as The Heart begun to shine. She whispered the end of the sentence, "You know, I... care... about you..."

Although he wasn’t close enough to hear her true intentions, it didn’t stop Cornfield from noticing the respect that his friend gave to him the time he needed. He nodded his head once and forced a smile. “I understand. Let's go back to Zecora’s. She needs to hear this, too.” His ears perked up with him shouting “Oh” as he double backed inside his house. Not wanting to keep Coral waiting, he rushed in, grabbed his saddle bag, and ran out, nearly forgetting to close the door, he galloped to join her by her side. “I have some pictures...” he stated simply and bluntly.

The treasure hunter let out a flirtatious chuckle. “If they are of the mares you like, I don't want to see them,” she teased.

“Coral…” An eyebrow raised slightly on the hippogriff’s face. She expected him to act embarrassed, not stern. “This is serious,” he said, focusing on the path ahead to the forest. “No more jokes until after we talk to Zecora, ok?”

"Goodness, you actually do sound serious… All right, I'll stop."

“Good, then keep up.”

Had it been anypony else commanding her, her pride would have her protest. However, when she stared at his face, though it was soaked with tears, she witnessed a newfound determination brewing inside of him. She couldn't help but question if this was the same stallion she met before. Her heartbeat increased, growing the grass around where she stepped. His serious side was turning out to be a turn on for her. She blushed as she looked away.

It was as if nary a moment passed when they reached Zecora’s hut, traveling as a pack. The kind zebra greeted them as soon as they opened the door, while she's cooking a sweet-smelling potion in her pot. "Oh, there you are!” she laughed, secretly relieved that she wouldn’t be permanently down two guests. “See? I didn't know what you were worried for. Finally, you two are together once more."

“Yeah…” the emotionally-drained pony hesitantly agreed. “Are we going to start training again?”

"Well, Coral will have to really try to perfect her flower blooming. Why?”

"Yeah, well, I don't know if I'm in the mood to train with a clouded conscience,” the student in question objected and pointed at her parallel partner. “Perhaps good ol' Cornfield can elaborate?"

“Ugh…” he muttered, not expecting to be put on the spot so soon. “Zecora, can you make us some tea first?”

"I think I can make us all a pot today,” agreed the good alchemist as she walked to her cupboard of various herbal mixes. “Black, green, or earl grey?

"Oh, I don't care which,” said Coral as she looked at the colt for his response. “Cornfield?"

“Anything that'll help me relax, please,” he requested.

Zecora put a kettle of water on an iron stove and turned the heat on. She threw her own special brew of tea leaves in before going back to stirring her cauldron. "Your path will be dangerous, so I'm mixing both of you a vial of my best healing brew,” she rhymed. “It might be my last mix, after all, since The Heart of Nature is in Coral."

“That's appreciated.”

"Yeeeeah, about that…” Coral said as she brushed her claws through her mane nervously. “Ummm.... How long do you have until the Everfree Forest withers?"

"A season, give or take a few days,” the zebra said bluntly. “Unless, the Heart is back where it lays."

“Huh... What'll happen after that?” Cornfield asked curiously.

"The animals will migrate and find a new place to stay. I suppose with no herbs for medicine, I'll also be on my way.” Zecora’s voice started to tremble a bit mid-rhyme, sad that she had to possibly leave her home and friends behind. “The trees will be dry, and land will be clear. There won't be a single flower, plant, or creature around here."

What a heart-rending answer. Quite literally, considering the fact that Coral forced The Heart of Nature away from the forest. She felt a tinge of guilt, as she never intended to take this zebra's livelihood away from her as well. “But, does that mean the animals might overrun Ponyville?” her partner questioned, worried about the other ponies in town.

"Oh, the possibility is certainly there. They might turn to Ponyville when they can't go anywhere.” Aware that the two of her guests exchanged worried glances at each other, Zecora waved her hoof to try and ease their fears. “I'll talk to Twilight. Tell her about the land. Tell her about your circumstances. I'm sure she'll understand. It's better with Coral in the long run. Better than that scoundrel, Caballeron."

“Agh!” Cornfield shouted with his ears perked up as high as they could go, before slumping his head down with a pained groan. His cry startled Coral, as she flinched from the outburst. However, seeing the poor stallion in pain, she carefully approached closer and placed her talons gingerly on his shoulder.

"Cornfield...?" she whispered to him with a comforting tone. Feeling him tense up, the house hung in silence for what seemed like the entire day. There were no further complaints from the treasure hunter, however. She knew the signs of inner turmoil well enough to know something was eating him up inside.

“Caballeron…” he finally uttered with his voice shaking. “...He's dead.”

Jerking her claws away, the hippogriff stumbled back in shock. “W-What?!?” Zecora’s head turned toward him with her jaw hanging, almost dropping the tea cups. “D-do you mean back at the ruins when it collapsed? ...I know him. He probably escaped. I know his type. They tend to die hard."

“NO!” Cornfield shouted to shake her out of her ruminations. “He's dead… he’s dead... because, I... REFUSED to help him! Breathing heavily, he hung his head to the floor. “So… it's my fault…” he whispered.

"Ok, Cornfield. It's time to talk." Coral stepped to put herself in front of him and, with his chin in her grip, gently lifted his head to encourage contact with her sparkling sea-blue eyes. "What happened when you were in Ponyville?"

“Well…You see....I...Er-” He struggled to put two words together in regards of the grim details. He pulled away from his partner’s grasp and turned to Zecora. “Do you know anypony by the name of… um... Lord Whirlwind?” he asked.

"No,” the striped host answered. “That name escapes me. Care to share who he might be?"

“... Lord Whirlwind?” Coral whispered, staring at the floor in contemplation. The name was new to her as well, but it also sounded familiar in a sense.

“All I have are photos,” stated Cornfield as he reached into his saddle bag and carefully held his camera out for all to see.

"Are the photos in your camera developed?"

“Oh well, it's an instant camera. We just open this compartment and-” Fiddling with the bottom of the camera, the lid flied open and erupted a bunch of photos in the air before descending onto the floor. “Oops!” In the mix, unsurprisingly, were plenty of pictures of mares. The focus was on their buttocks, tails high in the air and docks underneath, with the shooter struggling to zoom in on their more intimate folds. Interestingly, there was also a up-close photo of an angry grey pony. Her eyes blaring green with the shimmer of limes.

Seeing more than enough of the photos, Coral jerked her field of view away with her face turning red in both embarrassment and anger. It took every inch of willpower to not slam his debaucherous face to the ground. "Oh, Cornfield, you pervert! I was kidding when I said you had photos of other girls! What is wrong with you?!"

“OH BUCK! I meant to put those away!” He scrambled to grab the photos from the floor, using his body to censor them from prying eyes. “DON'T LOOK!” Clutching his pictures in his forelegs, he aligned and shuffled them neatly. Trying to keep them turned over as to hide their contents. Coral and Zecora snuck to his side as he approached the zebra’s table to find the card he’s looking for. “Ok, hold on.” He began to flip through each one carefully, rejecting each picture meant for his personal album. “No...No...No...No...No...No…”

“If I find that I'm one of the mares in your pictures, you'll feel the sting of my thorns," the hippogriff seethed, still disgusted from his private interests. And yet, part of her thought about what it meant if she was. “Of course, if it was JUST pictures of me, it wouldn't be as big an issue. Heh. Actually, it’d be a littler flattering. But, nope, I'd be just flavor-of-the-day mixed in with the rest of those whores. And to think I shown pity to him!”

“Heeeey... I would never-” The stallion cut his excuse short when he finally found the photo he was looking for in the stack. “Oh! This is it.” He pulled out a picture of Caballeron and the mysterious figure, formed from the liquid on the grass, and put it on the table for all to see. Stealthily, he shoved the rest of his pictures back into his camera and the camera in his bag, whispering holding the final straggler. “Ah, she’s definitely a keeper.”

Coral peered closely at the picture, squinting at the shadow in the potion's haze. Then, her eyes widened as her pupils shrunk. Terrible memories flooded her mind as her whole body quivered uncontrollably. "A.... A-ah... N-... N-no..." Her tongue was failing her. She tried in desperation to get all her thoughts and words together, but it all came out in fragments. "N-n.... no... it... cannot... it..." Swiping the photo off the table, her eyes could not look away from the unmistakable jaggedness of the Storm King’s crown. She stumbled back, falling on her haunches with the photo firmly grasp in her claws. Her breathing became sporadic as the gem on her chest dimmed.

“What is it, Coral?!” The young colt panicked, not knowing what to do. Thankfully, Zecora was able to come to her aid after she let out a worried gasp.

The good witch doctor did nothing yet but observe and ready a diagnosis. “Short, panicked breathing, fear in her eyes, her mind is no doubt replaying how her family dies. I had my doubts before, but I know what's deep inside her. She's suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder!"

Cornfield braced himself from this bit of news. He knew that she had her share of troubles, but he didn’t think a creature as snarky and cocky would allow her worst memories to pull her down to this level. “And I thought Caballeron's death was traumatic!”

"Th- that's... but he's....He's supposed to be DEAD!!!" Throughout her life, this particular hippogriff learned that the Storm King was a buffoon. He had no business being in power, considering how childish he could be when seemingly no one was watching. However, that didn’t mean his army was toothless. Their brutality, which he and his commanders fully utilized, conquered lands and slaughtered untold numbers. His crown and lightning bolt symbol was a stabbing reminder of that power. A shriek similar to an eagle’s cry forced itself out of her beak as she wailed in agony.

“Shh…” Zecora quietly whispered as she stroked the suffering hippogriff’s neck. “Shhhh... It's ok. We want to know what this is all about. Coral, breath in deep. In and out... In... and out..."

Trying her best to follow along Zecora's instructions, the nerve-wrecked avian took long deep breaths in between her whimpering. After several long exhales, her heart rate decreased enough to communicate clearly, though she couldn’t stop herself from crying. Cornfield inched closer to try and comfort her, but also respected her space.

"T-That figure…” she said as she gasped for air. “That's the Storm King! B-but how? He was... shattered when he turned into a statue. He's dead!"

“What!?” exclaimed Cornfield. “That's crazy! The Storm King was huge! But, this guy sounded… small. I’d guess he’s not even as old as me.”

"He... He’s not? H-he's got his crown... but..." Finally realizing that she had crumbled the photo in her fit of anguish, she slowly picked herself up and unravelled the photo in her trembling talons. She peered once more to make out the shape of the shadow, trying to pay no mind to the crown on its head. After double and triple checking that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, she confirmed the young photographer’s claims as she handed it back to him. “It's not him... He's very similar looking... but it's not him..."

“Storm King and Lord Whirlwind... Do you think they may be related?”

"He might, or he might be one of his commanders who overtook the empty throne… Lord Whirlwind, is it? And he’s working with Caballeron?"

Cornfield hung his head despairingly. “Was… Actually, it was Lord Whirlwind that murdered him.”

Replacing the dark clouds of her own life, Coral feared the future of Equestria. "When you kill one of your subordinates for not living up to your expectations, I’m sure that automatically makes you a tyrant. Not that we needed another murderous monkey willing to fill in the Storm King's pawsteps…”

Both her and her earth pony friend turned their heads towards the direction of Zecora forcefully clearing her throat. "I don't mean to pry, but how did he die?"

Hesitating to respond but desperate to get it off his chest, he sat down on the floor to prepare his story. “W-well......it goes like this…” The afternoon sun was making its descent downwards, as Cornfield explained how he saw Caballeron at the station, followed him to his meeting with Lord Whirlwind, overheard him saying why he failed and the hippogriff that foiled him, and the moment the liquid blew up on Caballeron. “Then, he was just lying there...on his side.” He paused as he replayed his dying moments in his head. “...Pleading for me to help him… as he bled to death...ugh...”

All Coral could simply add to this new development was a simple hum of understanding. Zecora, however, was more proactive in pressing further. "And even after he would beg and plead, you simply turned tail and let him bleed?" she questioned with a judgemental tone in her voice. “You should have brought him straight to me. I would have made his survival a guarantee.”

It was Cornfield’s turn to cry as tears pooled around his eyes and dripped to the floor. His head hung low defeatedly, as he tried his best to compose himself and explain his reasons. “I...I…” he muttered, unable to talk. The room fell silent as his chest spasmed a bit from trying to hold back.

"Hey, Zecora."

Zecora turned her attention to Coral, who was looking rather crossed while she watched Cornfield crying. "How's the view from the self-righteous soapbox you're on?" the haughty hippogriff asked sarcastically.

The crying colt lifted his head expectantly after his friend announced she had his back. She gave a small, knowing smile back at him. “...I-I couldn't trust him!” he continued with more confidence. “What if he went after us!?”

“Even if he did,” Zecora interrupted with a disciplinary attitude, “The right thing to do would be-”

The smile on Coral’s beak immediately became a scowl directed towards her teacher. "Yeah, ok, with all due respect, Zecora, shut UP."

Almost not believing what her student just said, Zecora was shocked silent after being reality checked and mate. Meanwhile, Cornfield had a twinkle in his eye as he inched closer to his object of affection. “Coral, you understand, don't you?” He wished deep inside that she would.

"Apparently, more than Zecora." She sauntered her way over to his side, and planted her talons on his back. Then, she faced the zebra, not willing to give her an inch on the argument. "Zecora, let's stop pretending this is a moral choice issue and look at the facts. One, he threatened to kill Cornfield. Two, he threatened to kill me. Oh, and before I forget, three, he threatened to kill YOU.” She lightly scratched her friend’s back, trying to loosen him up. For all it’s worth, it felt soothing. “I know his type perfectly. He tried to play his cards so he came out on top and use everypony else as a stepping stone. Instead, he died a rogue's death, with not a friend to help him because he backstabbed them all."

Her talons could feel the muscles loosen up as he felt more relaxed after hearing a second opinion. “Thank you, Coral. I feel better about it now.” He looked over his shoulder to her eyes as they exchanged smiles. “To tell you the truth, I asked myself what you would of done in that situation...”

Zecora huffed a bit, but also found their friendship budding to be endearing. “It's a good thing you changed your ways before he was gone. One could easily see you dying in the same position he was on," she said to Coral. Angry that the zebra wouldn’t learn to drop it already, the hippogriff shot daggers from her eyes at her direction. "But I concede. You are right. He was a crook who would stab us in the night. Perhaps Cornfield's choice was, indeed, wise, if he didn't mean ill in your eyes.”

Cornfield contemplated what happened today. “You know, between his death, you crying, me crying… This has been quite a day in itself…” At that point, he remembered that he needed something relaxing. “Hey! Where's the tea?!”

As if on cue, the teapot’s spout began to whistle and the top rattled about. "Oh! Of course, how silly of me! Let me go and get your tea!" Zecora went to the stove, poured piping hot tea for her guests, and placed the wooden tea cups on the table.

Thanking her, they both took a cup and sat by the fire bubbling the cauldron in the middle of the room. The young colt was the first to take a sip, only for him to recoil and spit out what little scalding liquid was on his tongue. “GAH!” he yelled. “IT'S HOT!”

Chuckling, Coral nudged him playfully, almost causing him to spill more hot tea on his lap and burning more delicate areas. "Hehehehe, you idiot," she teased. “How are you feeling? Better about your decision?"

“Yeah…” Before taking another sip, he blew on the tea until the surface was cool enough. “But it still weighs heavy on me. I didn't see him die, but I could tell he did.”

She solemnly gave a piercing look at him drinking his tea for a few seconds before trying to get him to brush it off. "Heh. Don't let it get to you. You were being smart and not giving him the chance to double-cross you." She followed Cornfield’s example to cool her beverage before taking a sip herself. "By the way... I need to know. What was it that really made Lord Whirlwind flip his lid like that?"

“He didn't tell Whirlwind you stole the map from before and, learning this, he got REALLY angry with Caballeron.” He took another sip. “It sounds like he's got his own gang, too. That low-down crook was intimidated by the threat they posed.”

"... A gang?” She put her tea down before showing Cornfield a dead-serious expression. He saw it through the corner of his eye and obliged with his face to hers. "Cornfield. He doesn’t have a gang. If that guy is serious… He might have an army of the Storm King's soldiers to back him up..."

“Aw. NOT AGAIN! How many times does some evil being wants to either destroy, enslave, or conquer us?!” He complained.”

“Beats me. Equestria sure is a magnet for megalomaniacs. My homeland got invaded only once. Your country, on the other hoof? It’s got aspiring tyrants constantly coming out of the woodwork.”

Suddenly, the mentioning of her home caused another bit of Caballeron’s conversation to strike his mind. “OH YEAH! I found out where the Time of Water is!”

"Err, what? The…” She cocked her head to the side. “Time of Water?” Her crests perked up as she mentally deciphered what he was trying to say. “Oh! You mean the Mind of Water, right? Yeah, I know where that is, too. It's near my country, Mount Aris. The map points towards it."

“Oh, you knew?”

“Yes. All of the hippogriffs that live in Seaquestria know about it. It’s what introduced me to The Gems of Creation in the first place.” Clutching the warm homemade brew in her claws again, she was about to take a sip, but hesitated. “How… did you come to know that it was in Mount Aris? I don’t think I shown you the old map in full detail. Just where The Heart of Nature lied.” Satisfied with her question, she took another long sip of tea.

“Oh, Caballeron said it was so close to Mt. Aris, but Lord Whirlwind said that he needed The Heart of Nature to get it.”

A terrifying thought shocked Coral as she spat out her tea and dropped her cup, its steaming contents spilled on the floor. Scooching himself away from the mess, he cowered away from the angry hybrid as she shot him the meanest glare he’s ever seen in his life! “CORNFIELD!” she squawked!

“...S-Something wrong?!” he muttered quiveringly.

She placed her claws on both of his shoulders and shook him to and fro mercilessly. “Why didn't you say anything SOONER?!"

“W-w-w-what's-s-s-s-s y-y-y-y-your p-p-p-p-problem!?” his words reverberated from being rattled like a foal and his new toy. Then, she pulled him close where he was practically nose-to-beak with her. The helpless colt flashbacked to when he’d get caught taking “lucrative photos” and getting a back-hoof to the face.

"He knows I'm a hippogriff, Cornfield! If Lord Whirlwind is from the Storm Kingdom, he's going to take whatever army that's left and tear Mount Aris apart looking for me and The Heart of Nature!”

Zecora, understanding what the reckless bird was planning to do next, gathered some bottles to contain her healing mixture. “And,” Coral continued, “I want you to follow along on this one, the reason my homeland was taken over so fast was because the Storm Kingdom is to Mount Aris's immediate LEFT. It's practically a stone's throw away!"

She let the poor, dizzy stallion go as she scrambled onto her claws and rushed to her bags to pack as quickly as she could. Cornfield struggled getting back up, saying “Ahh… If this is what a relationship’s about, I don’t think I’m ready for commitment in this lifetime.” Dusting himself off, he got on his hooves. “Why would he proceed to attack Mount Aris?” he questioned. “Does he even know that you’re there?”

"Catch up, Cornfield!” she snapped back from across the hut. “Ponies live in Equestria, griffons live in Griffinstone, and hippogriffs live in Mount Aris. Even if I’m not there, it will be the first place he’ll look and I don't know what he plans to do there."

“Then why even go to Mount Aris if they're going to attack it?” he yelled to try and snap her out of a rash decision. She responded by stretching her vines, wrapping them around his barrel, and pulling him forcefully along the ground towards her. Fear built up in him as he was dragged literally through the dirt to her murderous grimace.

"If it comes down to it, Cornfield,” she rasped in a deathly low tone, “I would rather DIE than let that upstart lord bring upon another tragedy like the Storm King's first invasion."

The vines squeezing this stomach tight, all her poor sidekick could squeak out was a simple “ok”. He inhaled sharply after she unraveled her vines and continued packing.

"I'm sorry, Zecora, but I have no time for more training,” Coral called out to her mentor.
“I will have to learn how to make blossoms as I go on my trip."

“I understand your urgency, but don't do anything too hasty,” warned the zebra while she was in the middle of filling, corking, and labelling a couple flasks. “Remember that The Heart unlocks the Mind's way through. Without the Heart, there's not much Whirlwind can do."

"While I wish we can share your patience, Zecora, if Whirlwind is so eager to kill Caballeron for failing to get the heart, that just tells me he's willing to kill as many hippogriffs as it takes before he finds me." After filling and strapping her bags to herself, she gazed down at her talons as they turn green and jut out sharp thorns. “I'll just need to make sure that I'm the first hippogriff he sees. And when I wrap my vines around his neck and puncture the arteries in his throat with my thorns, I will be the last."

Coral’s digits return to normal as Zecora approached her and Cornfield with 4 potions, 2 for each. Both of the intrepid adventurers added the doctor’s boon to their respective inventories. "Take caution to your anger, Coral,” she warned the ferocious creature. “Do not let the Heart's wrath unwind. An eye for an eye will make Equestria go blind."

“Better heed her advice, Coral,” her plucky partner chimed in. “We can't abuse the power or it could consume you. That's the whole point, remember?”

"I’m flattered that you would worry about me,” the hippogriff said. “But, if I have to use it to fight for my home, I will." After a few glances around the room to make sure she wasn’t missing anything, she looked at her friend who was raring to go. Not just because he was young, he wanted the opportunity to prove his worth. “Ready to roll, then?”

“Ok!” Being a gentlecolt, he ran to the door and opened it for her, gesturing to go through. “After you!”

"Thank you, kind sir!” Carefully navigating through the room and out the door, they turned towards the path towards Ponyville and sped to a gallop together. Cornfield was following right behind her with Zecora coming out to wish them the best.

"Farewell, dear friends!” the witch doctor shouted as she waved behind them. “Be safe out there! Coral, remember! Your anger, beware!”

Her visitors now gone, the zebra returned inside her hut, with something bothering her in the back of her mind. “If danger is bringing its ugly head near, it may be for Equestria’s leaders to hear.” Within deeper contemplation, she figured that it was too premature to call it in. After all, the laws that govern the safety of the land’s inhabitants may not tolerate a sexual deviant and a vigilante thief. “Alas, help may not come as quickly as I desire. I’ll meditate on what I should do to avoid unneeded ire.”

Zecora’s words echoed in Coral’s ears as she left. She wondered if her emotional instincts would hinder more than help her on her journey. This slowed her to the point for the trailing pony to catch up.

“Hey! Aren't you in a hurry?” he yelled slowing his pace beside her. “Come on!”

"I am! I am!" she reassured as she kept his pace.

“But how should we get to Mount Aris so quickly? The train?”

"The train seems like the best option. It will take us to Kludgetown where we can take a ferry to cross the sea. I’m not carrying you while I'm flying the entire way!"

Coral followed the resident of Ponyville as he guided her out of the forest and across town, finally having reached the train station. Incidentally, this was where Caballeron had tried to buy a ticket from before. “Hey, this is-” but Cornfield was cut mid sentence as she wasted no time to make her way to the teller’s window.

"Excuse me!” she addressed the teller on the other side, trying to catch her breath. “We need to tickets to Mount Aris and I'm willing to pay any price for it!"

The teller looked at her, curious as to why she was in a hurry, but continued his work. "Sorry, Miss,” he answered back. “There are no trains going to Mount Aris. The tracks are busted from Appleloosa to Kludgetown."

"What?! NO!” Unable to control her temper, she slammed a clenched fist on the wall next to the window, startling the poor stallion on the other side. It stung upon impact, but the pain was completely overshadowed by rage. “Novo and Skystar, WHY NOW?"

“Oh, yeah, that's right!” Cornfield remembered. “Caballeron was here demanding the… same… thing.” Even though she wasn’t looking directly at him, he could still feel the red-hot fury emanating from her. He swallowed before letting out a nervous chuckle and tried looking away as she confronted him, sweating bullets.

"Once again! YOU withhold the most crucial bit of information until the very last minute!" The voice of her wise mentor chimed in, seeing herself yelling at her cowering friend. She took a deep breath to cool herself off before opening her saddle bags and pulling out her map and her trusty pencil. "You're just lucky I have a knack of finding a way out of jam."

“That was scary!” the colt thought as he place a hoof on his chest and sighed. “For a second there, I thought she was gonna bite my head off.” He watched as she placed the map on the floor, then traced a line eastward from Ponyville on the aptly-named “Friendship Express” to Baltimare, and finally traced a dotted line through the sea, along the coast of the continent, southward towards Mount Aris. “We’re swimming through the sea?” he naively asked.

“Get a clue, genius! We're taking a boat.” Coral rolled up the map, placed it and her pencil in her bags, and turned to the teller. “Two tickets to Baltimare.”

"That'll be 16 bits for the both of you," the teller informed.

“16 bits?!” exclaimed Cornfield as he gently pushed his date to let him be beside her. “Just to go to Baltimare?”

"We've increased the price because there's a farmer's market festival going on in Baltimare. There's increased traffic and we need to cover the cost of maintenance.”

“Hey, buddy!” pestered the rowdy colt. “It's not our fault they hold a festival and your trains are ill-equipped for it. How about 10 bits?”

Without warning, Coral placed a shining gem on the counter. "How about I give you a diamond if we can speed this along?” she offered the teller, who was clearly taken back at how a rare stone was shoved in reach of his hooves.

“Yeah! Come on buddy,” taunted the young photographer. “What are you gonna say to the nice sexy lady?”

Without thinking twice, the teller scooped up the diamond, hid it away, and gave them their tickets. "Train arrives in 15 minutes,” he blurted out quickly, grinning ear-to-ear. “Have a nice day! And thank you for riding the ‘Friendship Express. Your transport to other fun-loving Equines something-something-yadda-yadda’.” The two travellers obtained their individual tickets. Happy to get her way, the alluring hippogriff trotted towards a nearby bench to take a seat, purposefully leaving space for her tag-along as she casually motioned him to sit next to her.

He obliged as he sat close to her. “So,” he said still wary of her temper. “What should we do once we get to the city?”

"Certainly not any pleasantries,” she answered bluntly. “I'm going straight to the docks and getting a boat to Mount Aris."

“I knew that!” he was quick to state back with an insincere chuckle. “What do you think I am? Some kind of idiot?”

"Heh. Not as dumb as the teller. I hope he enjoys his chunk of cubic zirconia."

“Hah! Yeah, I knew that was no diamond!”

Coral sharply jabbed the blabbermouth in his side with her elbow. “Not so loud, dumbass.”

“Ow!” Cornfield exclaimed, rubbing where she might have bruised a rib. “Oh, sorry...” An awkward silence hangs over for a few seconds. “Ummm... What is cubic sir-corn-uh?”

"Zir-con-i-a,” she spelled out slowly. “It's a synthetic made through apprenticeship spells. It looks like a diamond, but it's practically worthless."

“Oh…” Another awkward silence passes over as Cornfield started fidgeting. “So… are we gonna rent a boat?”

"If everything goes according to my plan. If not, I'll use REAL gems instead.” As she gave more thought about what exactly those monkeys might do, especially when they get to her homeland, she grew more concerned for the poor fool she was dragging along. “Cornfield, I want to ask you something..." shifting her focus on said individual.

“Oh...?”

"Well, I’m actually giving you more of a choice.” She leaned her head closer as she looked into the colt’s eyes with a worried expression pouring over her. “I'm not going to lie to you… Um, intentionally, I mean... If this is as bad as I think it's going to get, you are going to be in serious danger. I know you said you wanted to tag along, but-"

“I've almost seen one pony die,” he interrupted. “Not to mention survived those trials in that ruin containing The Heart of Nature. After going through those, I think I have the confidence to take on anything.” Putting on his best winning smile, he uttered a phrase that would be famous last words for a lot of creatures. “What could possibly go wrong?”

She paused, taking what he said as seriously as she could. "... I don't know, and it's the fear of the unknown that scares me the most."

“If we keep our wits and your emotions in check, we should do fine!” Wanting to make a rebuke but thought better of it, Coral leaned back on the bench and closed her eyes, waiting for the train to come soon. “It hasn't been too long since you were in heat, has it?”

Her eyes shot open bloodshot as she wretched her body away from him. "W-WHAT?! What kinda question is that?!”

Panicking, Cornfield scrambled off of the bench and stood up on his hind legs trying to explain her as he’s sweating profusely. “I-I just meant that...if we're out there and your.. you know... Feminine nature starts… I just want to be sure-”

“Y-You!” she stammered, red as a beet. “Here I am, worried of you and your well-being, and your mind is focused on when the right moment would be to stick your dick in me?!"

“SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! No! No!” He reeled back, waving his hooves at her frantically and trying to defuse the scene. “Nothing like that I swear!” He leaned in closed with an anxious grin to whisper to her. “It's just...I've heard about mares getting really irritable when they don't get ‘some’ during their cycle. And… was kinda wondering how it is with birds- I mean, hybirds- I MEAN, HIPPOGRIFFS! ...uh...Th-that's all!”

She sat there, unable to believe what she just heard. Her jaw hanged before she pinched her beak in utter annoyance with a exasperated sigh. "... You're lucky you're dependable in a pinch, or I'd be tying you to the tracks right now.”

The thought of becoming a damsel-in-distress by a damsel who BRINGS distress was a disturbing image. He hesitated to answer before thinking it was a joke. “...Oh. Hahaha! You're so funny, Coral! I really thought you meant it for a second...”

She sighed again and quickly emptied her mind with a deep breath. "Because of your resolve to come with me no matter what, I choose to tolerate your perverted gutter mind for the duration of this trip. I just hope you are ready to leave Ponyville behind.”

Inching a little closer, he whispered again, “So, does that mean it was... recent? The last time...?”

She said nothing. Instead, Cornfield was faced with an expressionless femme fatale, sitting completely still, as vines sprouted from her claws. When the thorns thrusted out from the embedding plant flesh, they made a sharp, piercing sound. The fool slowly realized he pressed his luck too far as he slowly and carefully went back to his seat. “Aaaanyway….”

"Yeah. That's right. Drop the subject," Coral commanded as her claws reverted back. “And I wasn’t kidding about tying you to the tracks.” Looking down, her talons reached to feel The Heart of Nature grafted onto her chest. After glancing at Cornfield, then back to her gem, she thought to herself "This is going to be a looooong journey..."

Author's Note

Thank you for reading this entire first part, if you've read from start to finish. Make sure to catch Part 2 soon!