Sadly Sings Destiny

Sadly Sings Destiny
Part Four: A Voice in the Dark
By: Jace Arveduin

Jesse awoke before the ponies, deciding to do something productive before the others got up, so he searched around for a few things he needed for an idea of his. An hour later, he walked back into the camp to see that ponies were up and eating breakfast. They looked up and called out various greetings.

“Morning group, get enough rest?”

“Could have been better, old bones don’t like the hard ground quite like they used to,” Steel replied with a grin.

“I’m starting to wonder why I didn’t bring a cloud or two down for myself...”

Jesse raises his eyebrow at that. “Unless you can make clouds, I think you might have a hard time finding one.”

Frostfire looked up, and realized she didn’t see any clouds. She flew up above the canopy to get a better look, just to realize he was right. “How did you know? And yes, I can make clouds thank you very much.”

“Magic, my dear friend, it makes life so easy.”

“You said you didn’t have magic.” She said as she glared at him.

“A wizard arrives precisely when he means to.”

“Wait! what?” She went from glaring to utter confusion.

“Well, you see, we do have a few innate abilities, and one of those abilities is that we can run straight up things like walls and tree trunks.”

“Really? That’s awesome! Come on, show me!” Frostfire begged.

“You never mentioned that! She’s right, show us!” Emerald joined in.

“That’s a pretty neat trick.” Steel added.

“No, I can’t be a show off, that’d be rude.”

“Please!” The two mares said in unison, while looking at him and pleading with their eyes. Jesse kept his face straight for a minute or so before he started laughing. They looked at him, confused, when he straightened up.

“Oh god, the look on your faces was priceless!”

“You.... You.... Jerk!” Frostfire stomped away.

“That was mean, Jesse,” Emerald said in a disapproving tone. Jesse shrugged. Steel just shook his head, as he hadn’t really believed him. He seemed to take pleasure in frustrating others -- not really doing something to anger them immensely in one shot, but the occasional prodding.

“Okay, maybe I played along a little too long. On the bright side, I’ve come up with a way to defend myself without causing harm to my attacker. Well, major harm anyway.”

“And exactly how are you going to do this?” Emerald replied curtly.

“Take a seat and watch, though I should probably go get Frostfire back first.” With that, he left off towards where the mare in question had stomped off. When he finally found her, she was pacing back and forth grumbling about something.

“Hey there Frostfire, you alright? I’m used to being around people with thicker skins.”

“You’re a jerk, you know that?”

“Eeyup, something like that. Come on back to camp, and I’ll let you hit me if it makes you feel better.” She answered by promptly punching him in the shoulder. “See? All better, come on, I’m about to make a new toy that won’t do as much damage. I can’t have you missing my pure awesomeness, now can I?” He finished with what could be called a very irritating smirk and headed back to camp. Frostfire hesitated for a few seconds, then decided to get it over with and followed.

“Well, now watch in wonder, as I make something out of a few sticks, a rock, and this magical thing called ‘duct tape.’”

He pulled out said magical item from his pack and also unsheathed his knife. The longest stick was about a yard and a half long, and he roughly measured out about eight inches from one end, and nicked the wood to mark it. He then took the knife and spliced off third from each side, from the marks to the nearest end of the stick. Satisfied that he’d got it about right, he took the shorter stick and put a rectangular hole in it about halfway through. He tried to fit the shorter stick’s hole through the narrow end of the bigger stick, but it was still too small, so he made the hole bigger and then slid it on. Next, he carefully placed the two shards back onto the thin end of the bigger stick, though upside down, and put strip of tape around the middle to hold it. A wide slant was cut from the overhanging ends of the two fragments he had put on, and a rock was taped in place, probably with more tape than was necessary. The final act was to cover all of the visible parts of the biggest stick with a double layer of duct tape.

“And there we have it, a wooden sword to beat up anything that tries to attack me. Is that an acceptable alternative to just shooting them?”

“Well... I’d prefer we not use violence, but if you must...” Emerald replied.

“I really hope you don’t think I like to kill, it’s more along the lines of apathy.”

Emerald didn’t reply, and Steel decided to change the subject.

“That’s rather clever, and I figured you were fairly smart when you got us to smash that lock, but now I’m sure.” As a craftspony, he could respect Jesse’s resourcefulness when it came to crafting, ven if his respect for his mindset wasn’t quite so certain.

“Anyway, time to try this next location. We shouldn’t take long to get there, since it’s not that far away.”

They had been walking for a few hours, with some small talk, though mainly in silence and enjoying the view. Jesse noticed Frostfire, at the back of the group, seemed subdued. He slowed down until she caught up.

“What’s got you down?”

“Nothing,” she replied tersely.

“Oh don’t give me. You’ve been sulking all morning, and it’s cute. I don’t like it when things are cute against my will.”

“Nobody asked you!”

“Now that’s not very nice.”

“You aren’t nice.”

“Oh really? So what’s not nice about me?”

“You’re constantly picking on me and making me feel dumb, now go away so I can hate you in peace.”

“See now, there was something wrong.”

“Jerk.”

Jesse took a breathe, probably to say something else to raise her ire even more, then stopped, sighed, and muttered to himself.

“Ugh, cute little ponies that seem to be able to awaken my guilt. I’m not sure how much I like this place, I’ve gone without guilt for ten years, then these I end up here and I’m feeling guilty over harmless pranks and self-defense.”

Frostfires ears perked up. “What did you say?”

“I said, ‘It should be illegal for these cute little ponies to lay guilt-trips on me, and succeed.’ I haven’t worried over guilt in years, and you ponies seem to be able to manipulate it.”

“So what you’re saying is...?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you took that much offense at them. I’m used to a world that’s much more harsh than that.”

“You’re sorry?” She eyed him suspiciously.

“Yes, and I even made the wooden sword because I don’t feel like overloading on cute, like when you were all sad over those rats. it’s... uncanny.”

“So, you’re telling me you will kill things without a second thought, but for some reason doing it in front of us made you feel guilty?”

“Something like that, not sure exactly what it is, but it should be illegal.”

Ahead of Jesse and Frostfire, Emerald and Steel started their own conversation.

“Well, what do you think of him so far?” Emerald asked Steel.

“I’m not quite sure... He seems like a good pony, but I was watching him when he killed the rats. He seemed to be running off instinct, and if his instincts is to cause harm first, it worries me.”

“Any idea why he fixed up that stick? He’s always seemed to me like a pony that has no trouble stepping on others’ hooves.”

“I don’t know. He’s a weird one, that’s for sure.”

“Can’t really argue with that.” They continued walking in silence, and Jesse and Frostfire caught up shortly afterwards.

They walked for another hour or so before finally arriving at the next location. This one appeared to be no more than a stone door on the side of a cliff.

“Well, it’s going to get late soon, might as well look around while we can.”

“I’ll take point, since I’ve got my flashlight.” He went up to the door, and braced himself against the resistance it would have when he tried to open it. The door swung open easily and he almost fell, he recovered his balance and looked back at the others, one of whom was chuckling. “Well, I’m no expert, but I’m going to say well-oiled hinges in a supposedly abandoned ruin does not bode well.”

“Yeah, we should be careful,” Steel said in agreement. The two mares nodded and followed him in. The large hall of stone was covered in moss and seemed to slant downward, though it was barely noticeable. Iron brackets hung with the burnt remains of torches still in them. Jesse stopped a few times, checking a surface or inspecting the ground. What looked like the remains of tripwires could be seen, but what they once had activated was a mystery. They finally reached a the end of the hall, and the only door they had seen since the entrance.

“Well, guess it’s time to see who’s frequenting this little lair,” Jesse said as he eased the door open. They really didn’t know what to expect, but a dark room somehow wasn’t it. Jesse was about to shine his light through when a voice came from nowhere.

“Why have you entered my home?” The voice sounded soft and feminine, despite how loud it was.

“Well, we’re looking for a shiny marble to take me home. Any chance we can get some light?” Jesse responded. Lights flared around the room, and in the middle was what appeared to be the statue of a sphinx, until it spoke again.

“I have no such treasures,and normally I would have killed you on sight, but I haven’t had company in some time and felt like playing with my food first.”

“Well that’s reassuring.”

“Um, Ms. Sphinx, we didn’t mean to disturb you, we’ll just be leaving.” Emerald said as she backed up, trying to exit. She bumped into a door which had been shut as soon as the sphinx had spoken.

“Your reasons do not matter, so you shall answer three riddles. If you get them right, I shall let you leave. If not, then I’ll get to find out what this strange creature tastes like.” Her smile revealed teeth like obsidian, which matched her claws and eyes.

Jesse looked at the others, who shrugged. “Well, seems we have little choice, what are the riddles?”

“Tall I am young, short I am old, night’s breath is my foe.”

Jesse turned to the others. “Any ideas?”

The other’s shook their heads and continued thinking. A minute later, Emerald spoke up. “Well, pencils get shorter the longer you have them, but that doesn’t fit the last part.”

“Ah, I get it now,” Steel said with a chuckle. “It’s a candle, tall when new, short when old, and the wind can blow it out.”

“Sounds better than anything I could think of,” Jesse said then turned back to the sphinx. “A candle is the answer you are waiting for.”

“Very good dears, now try this one,” The sphinx purred. “A blue house is made of blue bricks. A yellow house is made of yellow bricks. A red house is made of red bricks. An orange house is made of orange bricks. What would a green house be made of?”

“That’s easy! it’s made of,” Frostfire didn’t get to finish her sentence, on account of Jesse grabbing her muzzle and forcing it shut.

“I’m rather sorry I had to do that, but if it’s a choice between being rude and being eaten, I’ll be rude. That sounded way too easy... So now we just have to figure out what she’s getting at.”

Once again they started trying to untangle the riddle, occasionally speaking up, but none of their guesses had any merit to them until Frostfire thought about it.

“Red house, blue house. Those don’t sound very familiar, none of them do except for green house, and who would want a green house anyway?”

Emerald’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that is clever. I think it means a greenhouse, the type you use to grow plants in.”

Jesse nodded. “That makes sense, and it’s devilishly tricky. Any objections to her reasoning?” All he got was shrugs from the other two, so he turned to the sphinx. “The green house is made of glass.”

“Again, you are correct. Hear this last riddle, and proceed with caution,” The sphinx replied. “This old one runs forever, but never moves at all. He has not lungs nor throat, but still a mighty roaring call.”

Jesse looked at the others. “Hope you can come up with something, cause I’ve got nothing. Riddles really aren’t my specialty.” They grouped up for the last time, really hoping they weren’t about to become food for the sphinx. They were just about to give up, the image of the sphinx behind them smiling the whole time really not helping matters, when Frostfire finally came up with the best answer they’d thought of so far.

“Hey, could it be a waterfall? they can be old and running, and they can also roar with out lungs.”

“That’s... A really good idea, Frostfire,” Emerald admitted. Steel just nodded his assent.

“Better than anything I’ve come up with so far.” He didn’t even bother turning around this time, just calling over his shoulder. “It’s a waterfall, now will you open the door?”

“You insolent... Be glad I’m not very hungry this day, now begone!”

The door opened and they all went out. Near the entrance, Jesse hesitated, but kept going. The others eyed him, wondering what was on his mind, but decided not to push it.

“Well, that was close,” Jesse said as they finally exited the tunnel.

“Yeah, let’s not do that again, please,” Emerald replied.

“Stupid cat, it’s not our fault she doesn’t put a sign up,” Frostfire added.

“You probably wouldn’t want to say that to her face, Frostfire,” Steel reminded her.

They walked straight for awhile, before Emerald changed their course towards the next ruin. They had walked for an hour or so in the new direction before deciding to stop and rest for the night, even if it wasn’t very late yet. Supper was just being finished when Steel spoke the thoughts on the three ponies’ minds.

“Jesse, why did you hesitate back there?”

Jesse finished his drinking from his canteen before answering. “I was wondering whether the effort of destroying the entrance would be worth the reward. I decided it wasn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t have any explosives or tools to do it with. Well, do it efficiently.”

“What I meant was why did you think about destroying the entrance?”

“Oh, that’s simple, I take extreme offense when something threatens to eat me.”

“But you eat other things!” Frostfire shot at him.

“Yeah, and if they try to attack me, it doesn’t really bother me, nor does it change the outcome.” He sighed. “I’m rather sorry my thought processes seem to offend you ponies, but I doubt it will change anytime soon.”

The two ponies stopped talking to him, so he walked out to find a clear spot, Frostfire following him after some hesitation. He noticed her, but didn’t acknowledge it and walked towards a small clearing nearby. When he arrived, he lay down on his back and started looking at the stars, fascinated at how many there were. Frostfire approached him, and when he didn’t respond, nudged him.

“What are you needing?” He asked in a dull tone, not out of any real emotion, but because his mind was far away.

“Just making sure you’re okay, you seem kind of up and down recently.”

“Like I said, you ponies seem to be able to just pile guilt on me without trying, and it’s rather annoying, so I decided to spend some time alone and wrestle it into submission.”

“So why are you staring at the stars?”

“In my world, the light of the stars are dimmed by all of the lights from our cities. They can get so bright that they can bee seen from the moon.”

“That’s... weird.”

“Yeah, never much liked those big cities, too many people for my taste.”

They stopped talking, and it looked like Jesse had fallen asleep, so Frostfire decided to use him as a pillow. As soon as she put her head down on his stomach, she realized she was wrong.

“You really are a curious one, aren’t you?”

“I... um... I...” She stuttered, trying to come up with something.

“Eh, no worries, I’m just not really a touchy-feely kind of guy. Tell ya what, I’ll let you use me as a pillow, so I'll get to brush your mane for days on end,” He said with a chuckle. Frostfire became more flustered and shot up and away, heading back to camp. All the while, Jesse lay there, laughing and watching the stars.