Sadly Sings Destiny

Sadly Sings Destiny
Part 7: Guardian of the Blind
By: Jace Arveduin

Emerald woke up early the next day to repack for the next part of the journey. She double-checked to make sure she had everything she wanted, including the little things she had forgotten during their last trip. After that, and eating breakfast, she went out the door to collect the others. She'd first pick up Steel, then Jesse as he was on the way to Frostfire's house. Before long, she'd arrived at Steel's doorstep and was knocking on his door.

“Good morning Ms. Dawn,” Steel said as he opened the door.

“Good morning to you too. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, and I made sure to pack a bigger hammer this time,” He said, with a nod to the large sledge over his back.

“Is that really necessary?”

“I hope not,” He said with a shrug. “Who are we picking up next?”

“Jesse, so let’s get moving,” She replied as she started walking towards Jesse’s house.

They arrived at Jesse's house some time later. Emerald knocked on the door and waited, Jesse opening the door moments later. He had essentially the same gear as last time, but his assault rifle was replaced with a different rifle that was older and bigger than the last.

“Hello Jesse, ready to leave?” Emerald asked.

“Good morning Jesse, I see you brought a different... weapon this time,” Steel added.

“Morning you two. As for the new gun, it’s called an SKS and packs a bigger punch, even if it doesn’t shoot as fast. Right then, off to pick up Frostfire and then be on our way then?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Emerald replied as she started walking to Frostfire’s house.

In less than half an hour, they arrived at Frostfire's house, but once there Emerald and Jesse noticed that there was no way for any of them to reach her.

“Shall I get her attention?” Jesse asked.

“Exactly how are you going to do that?” Emerald asked suspiciously.

“Well, I can either yell, or make a bang. I prefer bangs, but that might upset the neighbors,” Jesse said in a matter-of-fact tone

“How would you wake up the neighbors? There isn’t a house for quite a ways,” Emerald replied.

“Something tells me it has to do with that ‘SKS’ he has over his shoulder,” Steel cut in.

“Good man, Steel. All I’d have to do is point at the ground and pull the trigger, then a big bang happens. It’s kind of hard to ignore when it goes off, though it's far from the loudest gun out there,” Jesse said in a light-hearted tone.

“Just yell,” Emerald said, with a rather unamused expression on her face. Jesse shrugged and complied.

“FROSTFIRE!” Jesse barked.

“What?” Came an irritated voice from above.

“Time to go!” Jesse replied, lowering the volume some.

“Fine.... I’ll be right there,” Frostfire replied. After a few minutes, she glided down to them.

“Good morning, Frostfire,” Emerald and Steel told her.

“Morning- ” Jesse started.

“Just shut up.” Frostfire muttered.

“Wow. It's been years since I've managed to piss off a female to the point where I can anger her with one word,” Jesse replied with a chuckle.

“Come on you two, stop flirting and let’s go,” Steel told them. Jesse’s response was laughter, Frostfire instead grumbling something unintelligible.

“Yeah ponies, let's go!” Emerald said as she started walking towards the next ruin.

The trip only took two days to complete, though it seemed much longer than that since most of it was through plains. During the second day, they reached a small forest of willows and maples. They’d been walking through the trees when they came across a large crypt with a pony outside of it, who was standing in front of an imposing iron gate. Well, they at least thought it was a pony. What little they could see of him was white, as he was wearing a silver robe that obscured most of his body and face. He spoke in a deep, gravelly voice when they approached.

“Halt. State your reasons for approaching the Monastery of Thorn.”

The group stopped at this, not sure what to make of the pony. Jesse decided to step forward.

“We’re just a group of friends looking for a way to get me back home.”

“What is it that you seek, and why should I allow you to pass?” The hooded figure replied.

Jesse looked over to Emerald. “You mind explaining?”

Emerald stepped forward to speak, “We are looking for the Time Twister. It’s an ancient artifact that’s rumored to be hidden in some of the old ruins in the area.”

“These are not ruins. This complex is home to many monks,” The hooded figured told her.

“Ponies live in there?” Frostfire asked in confusion.

“Yes. There have been monks in the monastery for centuries,” The hooded figure said, his voice remaining emotionless and monotonous. It was starting to unnerve the ponies.

“So may we enter in search of the artifact?” Emerald asked. The tension mounted as the pony stood there, not saying a word. After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke.

“You may enter. I will warn you that there are no lights below,” The hooded figure said. The collective group said their thanks and walked through the gate.

The guardian wasn’t joking, as it was pitch-black--there weren’t even any vents included for illumination. The entrance was the only source of light, and even that was gone after a few seconds. Jesse grabbed his flashlight, glad he’d put it on the outside of the bag. After a few seconds of twisting and trying to find the switch, he finally managed to turn it on. The tunnel they were in was made with surgical precision and no decoration, and went down a gentle slope. They eventually entered an atrium that was as featureless as the tunnel, save for more tunnels branching off along the walls. They got to the middle when they heard a voice off to their left.

“Welcome, travellers, it has been long since we’ve had visitors.” Jesse spun around and pointed the light in the general direction of the voice, and found that its source was a pegasus mare. She was small, even smaller than Emerald, with a light brown coat and silvery mane. Her most astounding feature, however, was her pure white, pupilless eyes. The others had jumped at the sound of the voice, and turned to look.

“What happened to your eyes?” Frostfire asked. Emerald and Steel face-hoofed when they heard the question.

“Don’t you have any manners, Frostfire?” Emerald asked in an exasperated tone.

“It is fine. All of the monastery is blind,” The mare replied in her soothing voice.

“Oh, that’s... interesting. My name is Emerald Dawn, and it’s nice to meet you.”

“My name is Valkyrie, and it is a pleasure to meet you,” Valkyrie replied. “So who is the earth pony that has yet to speak, the female pegasus, and this other creature that is unknown to me, though I would think it is male?”

“My name’s Frostfire. How do you know what we are if you can’t see?” She asked.

“Just because I am blind does not mean I cannot perceive my environment. The earth ponies are heavier than others, and make the most noise when walking. That’s how I identified the silent member of your group as such. I know you are a pegasus, because I can hear the rustle of your feathers. I also know Emerald is a unicorn, because I can feel the magic that is idling throughout her body, centered on her horn. I do not, however, know what this last creature is. It does not sound like it has hooves, nor does it seem to walk on four legs. It doesn’t any magic about it either--even earth ponies have trace amounts of magic in them. It does, however, carry a maical object, though the magic in it is unknown to me.”

“Well, that’s certainly one of the more epic things I’ve seen so far. Oh, as for me, I’m what’s called a ‘human’ and was brought here by accident. The name’s Jesse by the way.”

“That is interesting indeed, Ms. Valkyrie. My name is Steel Crescent, and it’s a pleasure to meet you,” The earth pony said with a bow.

“A human. I would like to learn more about you before you leave,” Valkyrie told Jesse, then turned to Steel. “You flatter me, though the bowing was not necessary.”

“Well Valkyrie, we came in search of the Time Twister. Do you know if it’s within the monastery?” Emerald asked.

“Indeed it is, but we can leave that until a later time. Now I must welcome you to our halls and invite you to dinner. Will you accept?” Valkyrie asked the group.

“We would be honored,” Emerald replied. The others didn’t have any qualms with it, and there might be something good to eat.

The blind mare started walking down one of the many corridors that branched off of the atrium, with the group following. The tunnels were still precise and undetailed, but the mare seemed to know where she was going without any sort of indicators and never got close to touching the walls. They approached what appeared to be a natural cave, and there was even a stream passing through it, and stopped in front of a door set in the wall. They had seen several doors like this along the way, and probably had passed even more, but it was hard to tell the difference between them and the walls. Valkyrie stopped in front of it and opened the door.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” she said as she walked across the threshold. The home didn’t appear too different from the cave outside, but it obviously didn’t bother the mare, who had gone towards the kitchen.

“Nice place you got here, though some of the door frames are a bit low for my taste,” Jesse commented as he ducked under the door frame. When he stood up, he could feel his hair brushing against the roof. “Yeah, that’s a bit close though.”

“It is a quaint little place,” Emerald agreed, and then turned to Jesse with a laugh. “That’s what you get for being so tall!”

“Is this natural? If it isn’t, an excellent craftspony made this room,” Steel asked.

“It’s a bit small...” Frostfire said quietly as the group followed Valkyrie.

“It is indeed natural, Steel Crescent, and worry not, Frostfire, the entire complex is stable. Please, have a seat. The food will be finished momentarily,” Valkyrie told them. A few minutes later, she came to the table with a huge platter of steaming mushrooms. “Please help yourselves.”

The ponies didn’t need to be told twice, though Jesse hanged back.

“Well... I hope your not offended if I pass on the shrooms. They never liked me on my planet, and I doubt it’d be much different on this one,” Jesse told Valkyrie. The rest of the group looked at him with puzzled expressions.

“Of course not, I would hate to do anything that may sicken you. Shall I see if I have anything that would suit you?” Valkyrie asked.

“No worries, I’ll just make myself a sandwich. I really do appreciate the effort though,” Jesse told her as he dug through his pack for a jar of peanut butter. They all ate in silence, and offered to help clean up after it was finished.

“Do not worry, an acolyte will come clean this up soon. Before you continue on your quest, I would like a private session with Jesse,” Valkyrie told them.

“Sounds agreeable to me, Ms. Valkyrie, lead the way,” Jesse replied. Emerald nodded their assent, not seeing anything wrong with the request. Frostfire was feeling anxious about it, however. Valkryie lead Jesse to a small room off to the side that appeared to be full of books and shut the door.

“So what’s the point of books if you can’t see? Or are they of a more unconventional nature?” Jesse asked the mare.

“They are written in a way developed by our ancestors, which is one of the few secrets we actively keep. Now then, I have some questions about your kind. What is a human's dietary habit?” Valkyrie asked him while she had one of the books opened.

“We’re omnivorous, though some eat things others won’t.”

"Okay then. How do you reproduce?" She asked, seeming to scribble something into the book.

“Sexually, male with a female. The female is pregnant for 9 months and they both look after the child for a varied amount of time. The time being determined by the mentality of the parents.”

“What is your culture like?”

“Now that’s a big can of worms. It’s probably more varied than you can imagine. We have tribes in some places and very large cities in others. We have tons of religions, which cause more than a few wars, and you could say greed is rampat. The problem with my world is that the powerful people are all corrupt. There is some corruption throughout the ranks, but the wealthiest, and therefore most powerful, have the highest rate of it.”

“Interesting...” She scribbled some more. “And what exactly do you mean by war?”

“Two groups decided that they either don’t like each other, or that one has something the other wants, so they give their citizens weapons, tell them those other guys want to eat their kids, and they proceed to slaughter each other until one wins, surrenders, or a truce is called.”

“Your kind seems to be very violent.”

“That it is, I’m not exactly against violence either, though.”

“The Guardian would have not let you through if he thought you posed a threat,” she told him.
“How advanced is your society?”

“We’ve created machines for everything, though most of it’s associated, whether directly or indirectly, with creating weapons or defenses. We’ve also put people on our moon and put a massive telescope into orbit.”

“You are an advanced society, albeit riddled with problems. Thank you for your cooperation, Jesse. Now, let us go back to the others,” she said as she shut the book and went back into the main room with Jesse in tow.

“I am going to bed. I only have one extra bed and the couch, so you will have to work out your sleeping arrangements among yourselves. Good night,” Valkyrie said as she left the room.

“Well I can’t be assed fighting over the comfortable options, so I’ll just take the floor,” Jesse told the others.

“I’ll let you girls decide where you’re sleeping, then we’ll see where I’ll end up,“ Steel said, deciding Jesse had the right approach.

“I’m taking the couch,” Frostfire announced while flying over to it.

“Well, Steel, you can have the other half of the bed... if you want to, that is,” Emerald said to Steel.

“Sounds fine to me,” Steel replied.

“Now don’t you two go getting ideas,” Jesse said with a cheeky smirk as Steel chuckled and Emerald blushed slightly. “Good night.”

They went and gathered the pillows and blankets and went off to their designated beds. Jesse decided to sleep with his back to the couch, figuring it would probably be just as comfortable as trying to lay down on the stone. After some time the only sounds were the faint sounds of sleep and Frostfire muttering in slumber. Jesse couldn’t hear most of it, but he caught a few words that were probably directed at him, none of which were really polite. He turned around and got to his knees so he could see over the back of the couch.

“Oi, ye, Frostfire. Are you going to keep muttering or what?” Jesse asked as the mare awoke with a jerk.

“What? Can’t you see I’m trying to sleep here?”

“Yeah, I just decided I’d tell you that you were muttering in your sleep. I’ve almost blushed at some of the things you said about me.”

“What!? You’re lying!”

“Shhh. We don’t need to wake the others, now do we? But yeah, calling me a charismatic stallion just may be over the top.” Frostfire started blushing, though it was impossible to see in the dark.

“I didn’t call you that!”

“Okay, fine, maybe you didn’t. So what’s keeping you from sleeping well?”

“Nothing... My brain is just a mess.”

“Can’t relax?”

“Not really...”

“I bet I can fix that. All I need you to do is lay on your stomach.”

“I’m already on my stomach.”

“That’s nice. Now, you’ll feel my hand, but don’t worry.”

“And why shouldn’t I worry?”

“Because, this will relax you! I think...” He shrugged, not that anyone could see it. “It works on dogs.”

“Fine, just get it over with so I can sleep.” Jesse scooted around so he could reach her head. When he could, he crept his hand towards her ear and started scratching behind it.

“Ugh, stop that...” Is as far as she got when he started scratching. “Okay... Don’t stop...” She said lazily as he scratched. It really did feel divine... They eventually both went to sleep, and Jesse was leaned back against the arm of the couch, his hand still occasionally scratching behind her ears. The woke up the next morning to the sound of Steel’s chuckling, while Emerald was blushing slightly, her horn illuminating the room.

“And you told us not to try anything,” Steel said when Jesse stirred.

“What can I say? I’m just too dashingly handsome for my own good. I practically have to swat the ladies off with a club,” Jesse replied with a straight face.

“What?” Frostfire said as she came back to consciousness, then her brain registered what had been said and she started blushing.. “Never!”

“I see you have awoken, so do you care to join me for breakfast?” Valkyrie said as she entered the room, her appearance saving Frostfire from any further embarrassment.

The group readily agreed and followed her into the room. They found a veritable mountain of pancakes on the table this time.

“That looks great,” Jesse said as he resisted digging straight in.

“Well then help yourselves,” She told them. They didn’t waste any time digging into the food, which was even more delicious than they’d thought would be. The next half-hour was spent savoring their meal, everyone expressing their thanks for the delicious food they had been given.

“If you will follow me, I shall now take you to the artifact.” Valkyrie began walking back down the corridors.

The corridors were the same as all the others, smooth and undetailed. They walked for what felt like hours, and Jesse even had pulled his flashlight back out to let Emerald rest. They finally reached a steel door flanked by two more monks, and Valkyrie passed by them without acknowledgement and opened the gate, so the rest of the group followed suit. When they reached the inside, all of their jaws dropped--the room was full of artifacts of all kinds. Valkyrie walked by all of the trinkets until she reached a drawer and pulled out a small velvet bag. She picked it up with her mouth and brought it to Jesse.

“Here is the item you seek. Please keep it from falling into the hooves of those who would abuse it,” Valkyrie told him.

“Thank you. This gift means more to me then any I’ve gotten in a long time. Is there anything I can do to repay you?” Jesse asked her.

“No, we are fine, and your interview yesterday was a wealth of new information we would have never gotten otherwise,” Valkyrie replied.

“Thank you for helping us, Valkyrie, and for the food and bed,” Emerald told her.

“That was one of the best beds I’ve ever slept on, to be honest, so thanks for that,” Steel admitted.

“Yeah, we may have to come back sometime if you don’t care,” Frostfire told the monk.

“You are all welcome, I assume you wish to go home now. Follow me to the exit or back to my home,” Valkyrie said as she started to retrace her steps.

“Well ponies, I think it’s time to go home,” Emerald said to the group.

“Doesn’t bother me at all,” Jesse replied.

“Yeah... I’m starting to miss the sky,” Frostfire added.

With that, Valkyrie lead them back through the tunnels. They stopped after an hour to eat, and there was some chatter between them, but they mainly travelled in silence. It was late when they reached the atrium, and Valkyrie turned to them.

“I am sorry, but I must leave you. A matter of great importance has just come up and I’m needed,” Valkyrie told them.

“See you later. Tell me if you need any help,” Jesse told her.

“It was nice to meet you Valkyrie,” Emerald replied.

“You’re pretty awesome, you should come on over sometime,” Frostfire told her.

“If you ever need a smithy, come find me and I’ll be glad to be of service,” Steel added.

“Thank you,” Valkyrie replied as she walked down a seemingly random hall. The group made a quick camp, for it really was getting late, and decided to start again when they woke.

They ate a quick breakfast and headed towards the exit, wondering what time it was in the meantime. The doors opened with ease and they saw the guardian was still standing there, though he didn’t acknowledge them. They just shrugged and kept walking. After a relatively uneventful trip, they arrived back in town, and Jesse spoke of his plans.

“Well, I’m going to be leaving tomorrow, sometime after noon, so if you want to say goodbye, that will be the time,” He said as he started towards his house with a wave.

That night they all slept peacefully in their own beds... all except one, that is.