Gateway of the Eyes (First Draft)

Chapter 33

(Drakalian’s POV)

It has been a few minutes since the golem or I spoke, neither one of us was sure what we should say to the other.  Though, the golem was most likely ok with this, since it has been alone for most of the time, so was probably used to the quiet.  I could really care less at the moment, for I was still going over what has happened over the past few hours, my worry for Ditzy and the fillies increasing as time went on.

I suddenly felt a small nip on my ear, making me wince slightly, and turning around, I saw that it was Rasi, who was still on my shoulder.  I gave her an angry look, trying to get her to leave me alone, but she just ignored me, and instead, tried to nip my ear again.

I pulled my head away before she could bite it though.  “Rasi, leave me alone.  I’m not in any mood to play around right now.” She just looked at me and, with a shrug, jumps off of my shoulder and goes to rest somewhere else.  The golem was watching us the entire time, though out of curiosity or amusement, I couldn’t tell.

“The scaled one is just trying to cheer you up, brother of Argenteus.” It said.

“Well, not to sound rude, but I’m not in the mood to be told that I should be cheered up by a lizard.” I said, crossing my arms, a small amount of bitterness in my voice.

The golem was quiet for a moment, and then with a slow nod, it said, “That is disappointing, since they rarely help others unless it suits them.”

I raised an eyebrow at this.  “Well, makes sense, since she doesn’t even let me pet her.”

The golem was quiet at this, and I thought that I might have insulted it, but it just nodded before it went back to silence.  A minute passed, and I thought that it decided to not say anything else, when suddenly, it asked, “Are you mates with these ponies?”

I tensed up a bit, but then forced myself to relax, before I answered, “Well, for three of them, yes, I am, as you would call, mates with them.”

“How many others do you have in your tribe?”

“Tribe?”

“In my time, we would mate with lots of mares, to ensure that our legacy would go on, sometimes up to thirty at a time.  We usually stayed with at least fifteen to twenty mares along with us.  These bases would eventually form our tribe.  I was the offspring of the eighth mare of my father, before I decided to delve into the study of blood magic.  However, unlike the others in my tribe, I had no interest with the big spells, rather content with performing the smaller ones that only required a bit of my own blood for it to work.”

“Well, at least you seemed to have sensed that what they were doing was wrong.”

“Actually, I could have cared less at the time if they sacrifice somepony to try and wake Argenteus up, rather I tried to figure out if there was a specific type of blood that was needed.  The only one that would get even a small reaction from the crystal that contains Argenteus was the blood of…well…” At these, the golem seemed to be perplexed, its eyes staring off into space.  After a while, it shook its head and looking back at me, it said, “I can’t remember.  The last thing that I can remember was waking up as a stone statue, with a strong connection to the temple.”

“So, you can’t remember what happened in your life as well, huh?“ I asked, a bit curious to find at least somepony else that is in the same predicament that I was.

“No, I do remember my own life, and what I was before, the only thing that I can’t remember is the answer to the prophecy that I made all those centuries ago.”

I blinked in surprise at this.  “Wait, you were the one that made the prophecy, and yet you can’t remember your own answer?”

“That is correct.  Once I wrote the prophecy, I was made to lose my memory of it, to prevent me from telling others the answer, and placed in this new body.”

I paused for a moment.  “So, who were you before then?”

The golem became quiet again, seeming to think about it for a second.  After a while, it shook it’s head and said, “I wish to not say my name, for a name can give somepony power over them, though if you want to, I will tell you a bit more about my life before I became what I am now.”

This time I was the one who went quiet, thinking over its proposal.  Not really having anything else to do, I nodded and said, “Well, if you want me to, then sure.  Be a good way to pass the time, at least.”

The golem nodded, and then it began to tell me about its life from long ago.

(Twilight’s POV)

The three of us were walking down the long, dark corridor, Rarity and my own horn lighting the way.  Fluttershy was trembling the whole time she was walking with us, constantly bumping against us as we made our way down the hallway, and saying sorry every time she did.

“Um, a-a-are w-we almost t-there?” Asked the yellow pony, shivering slightly.

“I don’t know, darling, it looks like it goes on for almost forever.” Said Rarity, rearranging her mane for the fifth time since we started walking.

“Hey, are you sure you’re ok, Fluttershy?” I asked, concerned for my friend.

She quickly shook her head, before quietly saying, “N-no, I d-don’t like t-t-the dark, I mean, w-w-who k-knows w-what c-c-could be hiding h-here.”

“Well, what if we talked about something to pass the time, would that help you?” I asked.

Fluttershy was quiet for a moment, before she slowly nodded, and said, “W-well, I g-guess t-t-that c-could work, if you w-want to, that is.”

“Great, cause there were a few things that I have been dying to ask you about.” I said excitedly.

“W-well, w-w-what is it, if y-you d-d-don’t mind me asking, t-that is?”

“Well, it has to do with Drakalian.  If it is alright, how does he behave during sexual intercourse?”

Both ponies froze at this, huge blushes showing on their faces.  After a good few seconds, Rarity said, “Twilight!  That is not something that you should be discussing to others in such a public manner, especially when the pony in question…or human, in this case…isn’t even with us.  Why, it is pretty much like talking behind somepony’s back.”

I blushed myself a little when I realized what I just asked.  “Sorry, but I just really want to know, so that when we do…it, I would be able to pleasure him well.”

“Oh, darling, I’m sure that he would be fine with you no matter what you do, I mean, as far as I can tell, he has been nothing but a gentlecolt to all of us, though he has been a bit single minded since we started this mission.”

I smiled a little at this, but still was a bit embarrassed with my question.  I turned to Fluttershy and said, “I’m sorry for asking you such a personal question, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, it’s all right, I know that you didn’t mean to be rude.“ She said, a small smile on her face.  “If you want, I could answer any other question regarding him, if that’s ok, that is?”

I became quiet for a second, and then, I remembered another question regarding my coltfriend that I needed to know for scientific purposes, and asked, “Well, I am writing a journal describing what humans are like, with the help of Lyra, since she is the human expert, and we’re currently working the physical description of them.  There is one thing that we are missing, though, and I hope that maybe one of you girls could help me with it?”

“Ok, I’ll try my best, Twilight.  What is it?”

“Well, could you describe what his lower body looks like?”

At this, Fluttershy began to blush again. “Y-you m-m-mean…” I nodded.  Rarity seemed to be blushing again as well, though she didn’t say anything this time, instead choosing to mutter to herself, something along the lines of me never learning proper decency, which confused me, since I’m always trying to learn new things, decency included.

Fluttershy was quiet for a moment, before she decided to speak.  “W-w-well, it’s, um…his…’thing’…uh…it’s…um, it’s as you m-might expect, I-I t-t-think.  It’s has a-a-a r-rounded t-tip, though, instead o-of f-f-flat, l-like a stallion, and it d-doesn’t h-h-have a m-medial r-r-ring either…”

“What about the size?”

“T-t-the s-s-s-size?” Stuttered the yellow mare.  I just nodded, eager to learn what the average size of a human might be.  Fluttershy was quiet again, and then she slowly unfurled her wings, spreading them apart by about six inches.

“Hmm, interesting.” I said, but before I could ask any more questions, Rarity quickly said, “I think we’re here, Twilight.”

I turned to face in front of us, and it indeed looked like we arrived at our destination.  In front of us was a large arc that led into a round room, pictures of the other human on the walls, along with Ancient Equestrian writing on top of the arc.

“So, any idea what it says, dear?” Asked the white unicorn.  I looked at the writing carefully for a few seconds before I was able to figure out what it said.

‘Hmm, Et non solum eos cognoscant.  I think it means…ah ha!  Got it.’ “It means ‘Only those who without my learn’.  But I don’t understand.  How can we learn if we don’t know the answer?”

We were quiet for a few seconds, but no pony came up with anything.  Finally, Rarity said, “Well, we might as well get this over with, then.”

I nodded in agreement, and with that, the three of us entered under the arc, and what we found inside was amazing.

Inside, there seemed to be hundreds of books all around us, all of them old and dusty.  I began to get excited by all of the new reading that I would be able to have it was just so exciting!

“Oh-my-gosh!  Look at all of these books!  There must be at least a few hundred of them in here, just imagine all of the knowledge that they contain, possibly some ancient spells that don’t even require blood magic.  If only I brought some paper with me, I would be able to document these books as-”

“Um, not to be rude, darling, but I think we should first get what we came here for and save the others before you go rummaging through some old papers.” Said Rarity.

I realized that I was rambling again, and that I forgot that we were here on a rescue mission, not an excavation, so with a small blush and a sheepish smile, I said, “Oh, r-right, sorry.  So, were do you think it could be?”

“Um, I think it might be that.” Said Fluttershy quietly, pointing her hoof at the center of the room.

I quickly looked around, and there I saw a light blue crystal, just glowing on a small, tall pedestal in the middle of the room, and it seemed to be producing a small glow.  Surrounding the top of the pedestal was a magic shield that was glowing light silver.  I went to pick it up with my magic, but like I expected, I was unable to do so.

“So, any ideas how we’re going to get it out, darling?” Asked Rarity, taking a look at the crystal.

“Maybe we can knock it off?”  I said, mostly to myself.  I lifted a nearby pebble and threw it at the crystal, hopping to knock it off of the shield, but it just evaporated once it made contact.

“Well, that’s not going to work.” I said, some concern in my voice.  “There must be some sort of hint around here.” We began to look around the place, searching for a clue.  Eventually, Fluttershy was the one to find it.

“I think this is it, Twilight.” I turned to see what she found.  She was standing behind the pedestal, looking at the base of it.  I looked to see what it was, and saw a tablet there, with more Ancient Equestrian writing there.

I took a look at it before I read it out loud.  “Hmm, Potior sit amet, Sed magis turbatio quam chaos, Pauper erat, Dives opus, Si comederitis, morte morieris.”

“Equestrian, dear.” Sighed Rarity.

“Oh, right.  Well, it says ‘It’s more powerful then magic, More confusing then chaos, The poor have it, The rich need it, If you eat it, you will die.’  It sounds like a riddle of some sort, but what could the answer be?” We were all quiet, pondering possible answers to the question.

“Is it bits? It’s more powerful then magic.” Asked Rarity.

I shook my head.  “No, the rich have bits, while the poor need it, which is the opposite of what it says in the riddle.”

“W-what about happiness?” Asked Fluttershy.

Again, I shook my head.  “No, cause it isn’t confusing at all.”

We became quiet for a bit more, and then a thought hit me.

“Wait, What about friendship?  Maybe it might have something to do with the Elements of Harmony?”

“Doubt it, dear.  I mean, how would they know about the Elements if Celestia and Luna weren’t even in power during the time?” Said Rarity.

“You’re right, that’s probable not right either.” I sighed.

We sat there, thinking about possible answers to the riddle, but it was hard, for I had no idea what the answer could be.  We tried different plants, ponies, animals, to things that seemed obvious, like air, to things that were less obvious, such as nature, but we still got nothing.  Eventually, after a good ten minutes of us brainstorming, I groaned in desperation and said, “ARG!  We tried just about everything, and so far, we haven’t come up with anything.  We’ll be lucky if we figure it out by the end of the day!”

“T-twilight, we will f-f-figure it out, I mean, we h-have to.  For D-Ditzy and the fillies.” Said Fluttershy in a calming tone.

I took a deep breath and sighed.  “You’re right, but it’s just so frustrating.”

“What if we check the books, Twilight?” asked Rarity, gesturing to all of the books around us.

“Of course, there must be some sort of hint in them!” I said.  I immediately began to pull out a couple of books at a time, the others following suit.  When I opened them, though, all I saw were blank pages.

“Huh, that’s weird, maybe they placed these ones here by mistake.” I said to myself.

“Um, not to so sound rude, darling, but aren’t books supposed to have words in them?” Asked the white unicorn.  I nodded, and then Rarity turned her book around to show me that she had the same problem that I had; an empty book as well.  We then turned to Fluttershy to see if she got anything different, but when she looked at us, she said, “Um, m-my book doesn’t have a-a-anything in it.”

“Strange.  Maybe they just didn’t finish or even start some of these books?” I said, though something inside me said otherwise.

We continued to take book after book off of the shelves searching through all of them for something, anything that might help us find the answer to the riddle, but we came up with the same thing: empty books as far as the eye could see (so to speak).

In anger, I tossed my book to the side along with all of the others, and placing my hooves on my head, I began to rub my temples, and with a sigh, I said, “Why are all the books empty?!  Why would they place books that didn’t even have anything written in them?!”  The other two just shrugged, and we all went silent, thinking about a possible answer to our predicament.  After another few minutes of silence, I finally began to lose it, and with a shout of frustration, I yelled, “This riddle is impossible, there is no answer to this one, I mean, how many times did we try to figure it out, only to come up with nothing at all.  And then there were the books that had no writing in them, which just frustrates me even more, and-”

“Twilight, darling, that’s it!” Exclaimed Rarity, suddenly jumping into the air, shocking both Fluttershy and I.

“Um, w-w-what’s it, if I may a-ask?” Asked the shy mare.

“Twilight, those books did have a hint to them, in fact, the writing on the arc was a hint as well.” Said Rarity, clearly excited by her discovery.

“Well, what is it?” I asked, desperately wanting to know the answer to this stubborn riddle.

“Darling, what did the arc say?” She said.

I paused for a second.  “Um, it said that ‘only those without may learn.’ But what does that have to-”

“Let me finish.  So, if we are without knowledge, what would we have?”

“Well…I guess we wouldn’t have anything, so…nothing.”

“And what did we find in the books?”

“They were empty, so…nothing again?”

“Do you see what I’m getting at now, darling.” She said, a small smirk on her face.

I began to think about what Rarity said, trying to see if she was right.  “Let’s see…Nothing is more powerful then magic, nothing is more confusing then chaos, The poor have nothing, The rich need nothing, and if you eat nothing, then you will die.” Suddenly, it all became clear in my head, and I grabbed Rarity in a death hug.  “By Celestia, you’re right!  The answer is nothing!  Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank-”

“Um, Twilight…you’re choking her.” Said Fluttershy softly.  I looked at her, and noticed that her face was turning blue due to a lack of oxygen.  I gave a small *eep* in surprise and released her from my hug.  As soon as she was free, she began to gasp for air, coughing and wheezing while trying to get oxygen back into her lungs.

“He, he…sorry.” I said sheepishly.  “I was just really excited and…well…”

“It’s alright…dear, though you do…have a…surprisingly strong…grip.” She said, taking deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart.  “So, now that we know the answer, how do we get the crystal out of the shield?”

“Hmm.” I looked back at the crystal and began to think it over in my head.  Somehow, the answer to the riddle that we just solved had to also help us get the crystal out of the shield, but how?

We all sat there again, thinking it over in our heads, and then, a sudden idea came into my head.

“Wait, so if the answer to the riddle was nothing, and that is our hint to getting the crystal.  So…maybe…” I turned to the pedestal and, with a bit of a shaking hoof, I reached out to touch it.

I was quickly stopped by Rarity pulling my hoof down with her magic.  “Twilight!  What in Celestia’s name are you doing?”

“Rarity, I think I know how to get the crystal out.” I said, getting my hoof free of her magic.

“So you’re just going to grab it with your hoof?  Darling, didn’t you see what it did to a single pebble?  Nothing is even left of it, and now you want to use your hoof?”

“But if I’m right then I should be able to grab the crystal as if there was no shield, in fact, I don’t think it is a real shield.”

“That’s not a real shield?  In case you didn’t notice, dear, we are unable to take the crystal out by magic, and the pebble just disintegrated on contact with it, what makes you think that you using your hoof will be any different?”

“Well, I have to try, otherwise we are going to lose much more then a single hoof today!” I shouted, beginning to loss my patients.

“ARGH!  Fine, Fluttershy, can you please talk some sense into her?” She asked the yellow Pegasus.  Fluttershy gave a small squeak when Rarity spoke to her, thinking that we forgotten about her during our little argument.  She remained quiet for a moment, and then, softly, she spoke.

“Um, I…I-I think t-t-that Twilight’s right, R-Rarity, I mean, I don’t like it either, but…” she became quiet afterwards, unable to finish her sentence, and just hid behind her mane again.

Rarity was quiet for a while, thinking it all over in her head.  Finally, with a long sigh, she turned to me and said, “Well, I guess there are bigger things at stake here.  Alright, Twilight, I guess we really don’t have a choice here.”

“Thanks, Rarity, for trusting me.” I said, giving her a small smile.  With that said, I turned back to the shield, and then, slowly, I raised my hoof and touched the flowing silver shield.

As soon as I made contact, I felt a small tingle go across my entire foreleg, and for a second I thought that I might have been wrong, and that I was going to lose my leg, but after a few seconds of nothing happening, I smiled and gave myself a small mental cry of success, glad to know that I was right.  I looked back at the others, and they were also surprised as well.  Once I was over the initial shock of it, I took the crystal in my hoof and knocked it out of the shield.  Once it left the shield, I quickly grabbed it in my magic, and with the crystal in hoof, I turned to the others and said, “Well, let’s go.  I think the others must be done right now, due to all the time that we spent just trying to figure out the darn riddle.”

They nodded, and with that said, we all left the room and began to head back to the main chamber.