Skyheart went left. If she had a bit she would’ve flipped it, but with nothing to choose her fate for her, she took it upon herself. The cragadile sounds faded away completely as the mare clip-clopped along the stone floor, grateful that torches continued to light the way, concerned that she no longer had a weapon. “Well that cragadile can keep it for all I care,” she mumbled. Better it had her weapon than the fat mare herself!

Skyheart moaned as the path continued, unable to tell if it was curving or going straight. There were no more sharp turns as the hallway wound to and fro, torches actually glowing dimmer. “Really hope Nuuk went this way,” she gulped. 10 minutes had gone by with no sign from the zebra. “Hey! Nuuk!” she chanced after a while, having to squint and seeing some glimmering light at the far end of the hall. “Oh please be down there. I don’t want to double back!”

And then Skyheart’s chin got up close and personal with the stone floor. The fat mare had been tripped and just barely missed biting her tongue in half, snorting in anger. “Hey!” she yelled, rolling onto her back and bringing up her hooves to fight! She only relaxed when a familiar zebra towered over her, Nuuk betraying a look of surprise of his own for once.

“...Nuuk?” Skyheart rubbed her sore chin. The zebra offered a hoof to help the pony up. She took it. The zebra roughly brushed her off. Then, by way of apology, he yanked her head around and stared at her chin, inspecting it. “Good,” he concluded, Skyheart pulling her head back and rubbing it some more.

“You could’ve warned me you know,” Skyheart sulked, the two now side by side and headed towards the light. “What happened to you?” Nuuk walked in silence a moment, then trotted ahead. He walked in place a second, then fell to his stomach. The zebra then crawled along the floor and mimed doing so up the wall. He looked to Skyheart, who nodded along. “You fell. Damn place is loaded with traps no doubt.” She nodded and did the same motion, her flabby body sloshing a bit when it compressed to the stone floor and wall. “Understood.” She rubbed at her chin some more as the pony and zebra approached the brightly-lit room ahead.

The two had to squint as they entered the largest room of the temple yet. Torches that rivaled the size of the one that sat atop the pyramid roared in the corners of the gigantic area. Above was a massive circular glass ceiling outlined by stone to square it off, the glass stained and sparkling, coloring the room vibrantly. A suspiciously-similar pool of water flowed from one edge of the room right up into the center. Skyheart would’ve flinched at the sight of that, had her eyes not settled on what sat in the middle atop a stone pedestal, fire light glinting off its golden glow in all directions. “Whoa… There it is… It’s real!” Any lingering doubts the mare might’ve had about the treasure of Baleful Bay whisked away in an instant. Staring back at her was a solid slab of gold, eloquently carved into that of a perched, fierce dragon. Gems and jewelry of impressive worth detailed the sculpted metal, complete with two giant ruby eyes that stared daggers into whoever managed to look.

“Captain Skyheart’s set for life, baby!” she crowed, pumping a hoof triumphantly into the air. She gave Nuuk a grateful pound on the back. The zebra didn’t flinch, but showed the smallest of grins. “Oh don’t worry Nuuk, your reward’s coming as soon as we get this outta here. I’ll make that smile of yours stretch from one ear to the other!” Skyheart giggled like a filly and walked right up to the golden dragon statue. She pulled it off the pedestal in which it sat, panting as she dragged it along. She let it to the ground gently, the mare panting. The statue stood nearly as tall as she did. “Hell yeah, this thing ways a ton!”

Only then did Skyheart’s inflated enthusiasm start to dwindle. She originally had a whole crew and powerful airship to haul away whatever they found. She was certainly glad the treasure came all in one piece, but she didn’t have so much as a saddlebag to her name at this point. “Right right,” she said, turning to Nuuk. “If you would be so kind?” She gestured to the statue. Nuuk walked forward and looked between the mare and the dragon.

“Ah'qul?” he questioned.

“What? No, we’re leaving the temple. You lift this,” she pointed to the golden artifact. She tried heaving it up herself, only to give up. Nuuk figured it out and seemed to heft the thing up under a leg with only a little effort. “Right, let’s–”

Loud noises filtered through the hall from where Skyheart and Nuuk came from. The pony inched forward and perked and ear. There were faint voices – many of them – echoing along the stone walls. Her eyes widened. “Damn it! Captain Gullthunder’s headed this way!” She backed up to Nuuk, the pair in the center of the massive room with the mare looking around frantically. “And there’s no way out! Shit!”

Nuuk tapped Skyheart’s shoulder. Then pointed to the water. “Again with the water? For all we know there’s a cragadile in there!” Nuuk shook his head, and pointed again. Skyheart did see that the water flowed under the wall and beyond. “We were so close too!” Skyheart paced back and forth, flinching when a faint, booming laugh roared from the hallway. They were getting closer.

“Alright Nuuk...” Skyheart began. “We gotta get out of here. So it’s best if we...”