Chapter 30

(Drakalian’s POV)

I was walking down the streets of the Crystal Empire, along with Rarity, the others were currently looking for some of the supplies that we were going to need, Rainbow and Fluttershy went to go get supplies for the ship, such as cloth, rope, and such, while AJ and Pinkie went to go and get supplies for us, such as food and water. While they went to get their tasks done, Twilight said something about seeing if Cadence and Shining were back from Canterlot yet to inform them of what has happened at the library, since we did forget to send a letter to Celestia and Luna (anger is a bitch when it clouds ones judgment). Daring went to the local library, (much to the disappointment to Twilight) to search up information on the Frozen Temple. Rarity wanted to go and see the crystal ponies again, and asked me to accompany her. While I tried to decline her offer, she was persistent, and it was even harder when Daring agreed with her, saying that I should go out and stretch my legs. So with a sigh, I decided to join her, and while I was bored out of my mind as we walked, I had to admit that seeing all of the crystals here was quiet fascinating, though Rarity was going over the top with the excitement of seeing all of the crystal.

“I mean, just look at all of these beautiful crystals, Drak! Don’t they look so dashing?” She swooned, currently looking at a crystal house, which was a nice shade of blue.

I took a glance before I brought my head back down, my hood up and covering my eyes, saying, “Yea…I guess it is…” As we walked, we, or more accurately, I was getting a lot of attention from the residence here, which to my surprise were ponies that seemed to be made out of crystal.

“You guess? Darling, do you have any idea how amazingly breathtaking it all is, why, if I could only make dresses for these ponies, well the possibilities are endless…” I started to zone out at that, deciding to look around and see if there was anything that might be at least a little interesting. After a few minutes of us wondering around, we came across a building that was slightly different from all of the others. It seemed to be made out of rubies, and it had a sign on the front with a picture depicting a crystal cup. I noticed that this seemed to be more of a public building, and curious, I was able to get Rarity pulled away from all of the crystals to follow me into the building.

As soon as we opened the door, we were bombarded by a smell of alcohol and strong drinks. When I saw the interior of the building, I was able to figure out that we were in some kind of tavern. Surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be a lot of ponies here to begin with, only a couple groups of stallions, a couple that seemed to be on some kind of date (Interesting place to go on a date, as well), and the bartender himself. Once we got our seats at the bar, the bartender came to us, a white pony with an orange mane, and said, “Hello, and welcome to the Crystal Cup Tavern. What would you like?”

“Well, what do you have?” I asked, curious as to what they might have.

“Well we got Equine Cider, Apple Family Cider, Dandelion Ale, the Sunflower Mug, Ginger Ale, Prench Wine, for the sophisticated ones, and-”

“I’ll take the Ginger Ale.” I said. For some reason, the name of it sounded familiar, so I decided to go with it. The bartender nodded, and then turned towards Rarity and said, “And what about your beautiful marefriend here, sir?”

This caused us to chuckle a little, confusing the crystal pony, and then once we calmed down, Rarity said, “While I appreciate the comment, dear, I’m not his marefriend, even though he would be quiet the catch. As for a drink, I think I will go with the Prench Wine.” The bartender nodded, and then went to get our drinks. Once he left, it became quiet for a while, the tension building between us, neither of us unsure as what to say to the other. I then turned to the white unicorn and asked, “So, you got any stories to pass the time”

This caused her to chuckle, and she said, “Well, I guess that is one way to start a conversation.”

I shrugged. “Well, I was never one for starting them, so…yea.”

We became quiet again, and then Rarity said, “Well, darling, how about I tell you when we first came to the Crystal Empire.” And with that, she began her story as to how a while ago, she, along with the other Elements of Harmony, came to the Crystal Empire to help it from the evil clutches from the dead king’s ghost, Sombra, and all of the adventures during it. It started with how it was a test for Twilight that she had to do on her own, and when they came here, the place was a lot drearier (according to Rarity) then it is now, with all of the crystal ponies seeming to have a dull glow to them, all of them sad and with a collective selective amnesia. Since they were unable to ask the residence here about how they kept themselves safe before hoof, they went to the local library, and with a while of intense searching, they finally found a book that explained about something called the Crystal Fair, The fair was apparently used to raise the happiness of the ponies, and with their happiness, they powered something called the Crystal Heart, which was able to protect the Empire from evils that may try to invade it, like the spirit of Sombra. The rest of the details that she gave me were quite vague, since she said that she, along with everypony else were busy keeping everypony entertained, while Twilight went to go and get the Crystal Heart.

During the middle of our conversation, the bartender came back with our drinks, and we began to drink as I continued to listen to her story. While it was interesting, it seemed to me that for some reason, she seemed to be more interested in the crystal ponies then trying to save the Empire, which she did learn about and apologize for later.

“I mean it’s just so hard to ignore how beautiful these ponies are, just look at them! So dazzling.” At this, she seemed to smile and her eyes glazed over, a look of glee could be seen in her eyes. I just chuckled at her and nudged her a little to get her out of her trance.

She blinked a few times before she realized what she did. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry, Drakalian, that was such an unladylike thing to do, and I do apologize for my lack of behavior.“

I chuckled some more before I said, “It’s perfectly fine, Rarity. I’m just happy that you’re having a good time.” At this point, I noticed that the pony couple in the room seemed to be watching us for a good time. I was ignoring it for a while, believing that it was because they were curious about me. After a few minutes of Rarity and I talking to each other, they both got up and walked towards us.

I turned around and waited for the two crystal ponies to join us, and Rarity did the same once she noticed them approaching. Once they were in front of us, they hesitated for a second. I gave myself a mental sigh, expecting them to be asking questions about me, and before they could say anything, I said, “All right, before you guys say anything, I’m a human, yes the one from myth, the name’s Drakalian, or Drak for short, our species normally doesn’t use magic, but for some reason I can, and yes I have fingers instead of hooves, and no, you can’t examine them now.” While the first few questions were automatic, the last two were something that I was recently getting asked about, and overall, it was starting to get a little annoying.

The two ponies looked at me curiously, and I went to drink as I waited for their response. As I was drinking, the stallion said, “Um, that’s great and all, but that’s not why we came here”

My eyes went wide with surprise and I did a spit take, fortunately avoiding Rarity in the process (The last time I did that, she didn’t take to it particularly well, and I found it hard to sit down properly for a good couple of days.) I looked at them and said, “Wait, you two are not here to see me?”

They nodded, and then crystal mare said, “Most of Equestria knows about the unique alien creature that has been here for a few weeks now, especially since we heard that you have taken both Princesses as your herd mates.”

All I said was “oh” before I went silent, a small blush on my cheek for my embarrassment, finding the ceiling suddenly interesting to look at. After a few awkward seconds of silence, the stallion cleared his throat and said, “Well, the reason why we are here is because of you, Miss.” He said, looking at Rarity. This caused the white unicorn to look at them in surprise, before she said, “Why me? I mean, I know I am a very famous fashion designer and all, but-”

“Well, that’s exactly why we are here.” Said the mare. Rarity’s eyes went even wider, her mouth hanging open in surprise (and in a very unladylike manner). The mare took this chance to explain things further. “Well, my coltfriend here has just recently proposed to me (the stallion placed a fore hoof around her at this and gave her a small hug) and we were discussing plans for the upcoming wedding. One of them was clothing, but unfortunately, we were unable to find any suitable ones that fit our choice, and then he went on talking about how he wished that he could have talked to a certain mare that was a fashion designer that was here for a while, who was also with five of her friends at the time. Not only that, but she was one of the six Elements of Harmony that helped us get free from the clutches of Sombra’s ghost. As he was telling me this, we couldn’t have helped but overhear your own conversation, and we were surprised when we found out that not only were you one of the Elements of Harmony, but the one that we were hoping to find, since we weren’t sure where it is that you work. So, if you aren’t too busy…” she said, leaving the rest unspoken for.

Thankfully, Rarity was able to collect herself during the talk, and she quickly nodded, saying, “Oh, of course darlings, of course! In fact, we could start now if you-” I cleared my throat at this to get her attention, and when I got it, I said, “I’m not trying to be rude here, but we do have a mission to go on right now.”

This caused rarity to gain a somber expression, and with a small frown, she said, “Well, I guess it could wait. But listen you two, just come down to Ponyville in a few days, and hopefully, I will have some time to help both of you, how does that sound?” they both nodded, and with that, they both headed out of the tavern. It was at this point that some of the stallions in one of the groups noticed the conversation from earlier, and said, “So, you are one of the Elements of Harmony?”

“Yes, I am the Element of Generosity.” Stated Rarity as she gave herself a more ladylike poise.

“So, you and the others are the ones that saved us from Sombra?” asked another, causing another nod from the white unicorn.

“Well, on behalf on all of us here, we would like to say thank you so much for saving us from that horror which was Sombra.” Said another stallion, causing Rarity to blush. During all of this, I began to pull my hood lower onto my face, my anxiety starting to rise up to unhealthy levels.

“In fact, why don’t you let us buy your drinks for today? On the house!” said another stallion; this one seemed to be already a little tipsy.

“Well, I don’t know…” Rarity said slowly, but they persisted, and eventually Rarity said, “Oh well, I might as well, besides, it would be rather unladylike of me to refuse such a generous offer.” With that, they all cheered, and began to pay their bits to the bartender, demanding that he gets some of his finest drink for their ‘Lady of the Hour.’

I sighed and turned to the bartender as well, saying, “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll have another one, but this time make it the Apple Family Cider.”

The bartender pony raised an eyebrow at me, and then asked, “Why the sudden change in drinks?”

“Because I don’t do well with crowds, and I believe that we are going to be here for quite a while.”

I was slowly walking up the gangplank that made the connection from the ground all the way to the deck of the Cloudstreak, carrying a pretty drunk white mare, who was singing a song out of tune (Strange, since I have heard her sing before, and it wasn’t nearly as bad, but I guess alcohol will do that to a pony). My prediction was accurate for once, and we didn’t leave the tavern until Luna’s moon was well over the horizon. As we approached the deck, I was able to hear voices from up top.

“Are you sure that they will be back soon? I mean, it has already been a couple of hours past the time we expected them to be back.” Said one of the voices, which I was able to recognize as Twilight.

“Ah’m positive. Besides, even Rarity wouldn’t want to stay down there looking at crystals or crystal ponies for all day.” Said another voice, this one was Applejack’s.

“AJ, this is Rarity we are talking about. Do you really think that she’ll be bored by just a few hours of looking at all the crystals there?” said a third voice, Dash’s.

There was a pause for a second, and then I heard AJ sigh and say, “Good point, maybe we should go and send a search party for them.”

“Yay! Search Parties are super!” I could tell automatically that the voice was Pinkie Pie. At this point, I made it at the top of the plank, and was able to see everypony siting in a circle on the deck, most likely waiting for Rarity and I to join them.

“No need to send a search party, guys, though we might need a bed for Rarity.” I said, getting them to turn around. They all smiled with relief upon seeing me, and then their smiles turned into ones of complete surprise when they saw the condition that Rarity was in.

“Why, hi friends!” Exclaimed Rarity in her drunken stupor. “Fancy meeting you here. Me and my friend Drakie here were just having a nice drink, along with some cry…hic… crystal friends. We were just singing, or more like I was singing to…hic…to them a little singy song, when Drakie here said that we had to go, and I was so miserable that we had to go so soon, with the fun was just starting…” She continued on like this for a while, mumbling about some random nonsense or another.

“Oh dear, is s-she going to be a-alright?” Asked Fluttershy, concern all over her face.

“Let’s just get her into her bunk for tomorrow, and somepony better place a bucket next to her as well. I don’t want her to be puking on my deck.” Said Daring. I nodded, and with Fluttershy’s help, we were able to bring Rarity to the bunk, the white unicorn continuing to mumble about somepony that she kept calling her ‘Prince Charming’. Once we got there, I gently placed her on the bed, Fluttershy placing a bucket that she found next to her, and then I asked, “Hey, Flutters? Could you keep an eye on her for a while? I need to check with Daring to see what she found in the library.” Fluttershy nodded, but before I could leave, she stopped me with a hoof and said, “Um, b-before you g-go, could I…um, h-h-have a k-kiss please?”

I gave a small smile and nodded, placing my lips on top of hers. I was going to make it a quick kiss, but the Pegasus quickly wrapped her fore legs around me, deepening the kiss. I decided to go with it for now, and began to kiss her a little more as well. Soon, I felt something wet running across my face, and when I parted the kiss and opened my eyes, I noticed that Fluttershy was crying.

I gave a worried look at her and began to stroke her cheek, and said, “Fluttershy, what’s wrong?”

“I’m j-just…I j-just…I don’t want to lose you, Drak!” she suddenly shouted, bringing me into a deep hug, burying her face deep into my chest. I hugged her back, a bit confused as to why she thought she was going to lose me.

“What do you mean, Flutters?” I asked her in a soft tone.

“W-we’re going into a possibly dangerous situation, and there is a chance that none of us might make it out alive, let alone you, and…and I can’t stand the thought of losing you.” She whispered, rubbing her hoof on my back in comfort.

I parted us a little so that I could look into her eyes, and said, “Fluttershy, I promise that for as long as I live, I’ll make sure that I’ll always come back to you girls.”

Even when I said this, she still found it hard to believe me. “Still, I’m just…s-so worried, and so is everypony else here.”

I stayed quiet after that, unable to respond to that, for I had no idea what I should say now. I just brought us closer until our foreheads were touching each other, and after a few moments of silence, I said, “I don’t know what else to say, honestly, all I just ask is that you trust me. I know that it isn’t much, but it is all I can offer right now.”

She became quiet after this, and then slowly nodded, not removing her forehead from mine, and said, “I do trust you, I just…I just…I don’t know.” With that, she closed her eyes and sighed, trying to relax herself in my presence. I was about to do the same thing, but we were suddenly interrupted by Rarity.

*BBLLLAAAAAHHHH*

We turned to face the noise, and noticed that Rarity was already starting to throw up into the bucket. This caused me to chuckle a little, and turning to Fluttershy, I said, “Well, I believe there is a certain pony that needs your attention right now.” I was able to get a small giggle out of her, and she nodded, saying, “Just one last thing. Could you sleep with me tonight, please? It would make me feel a lot better if you do.”

I smiled and nodded, placing a kiss on her nose, saying, “It won’t be a problem. In fact, I’ll join you once I’m done talking with Daring, ok?” She nodded, and with one last farewell kiss, we parted and I went to go and see Daring to see what she found at the library.

I entered the room, and as I closed the door, I noticed that along with Daring, Twilight and Dash were also inside with her. They were quiet when they saw me come in, and once I sat down, I asked, “So, what did you find at the library, Daring?”

“What, no hi Twi, how have you been Twi, no were you successful with finding Shining and Cadence?” Said Twilight.

I raised an eyebrow at her, saying, “Sorry, I didn’t know it would bother you that much, Twi.”

“Don’t mind her, she’s just a little pissed that she didn’t get to go to the library again.” Said Dash, a smug look on her face.

“No I’m…well, maybe a little.” Said the purple unicorn, blushing a little. I chuckled at this, and then gave her a kiss on the cheek, saying, “Well, just don’t be too worried about it, ok?”

Twilight nodded, and with that all settled, Daring began explaining what she found at the library.

“Well, I looked up as much as I could on the Temple, and what I did find was quite…unpleasant. Thousands of years ago, before Celestia and Luna ruled over Equestria, the there were tribes of Earth ponies that found out an unusual way to preform magic.”

“Wait, Earth ponies learned how to us magic? Oh, now if only I could figure it out, it could revolutionize our history.” Said Twilight, the excitement of finding a new kind of magic making her shake with glee.

“Not this kind.” Said Daring, making Twi give a curious look at the adventurer. “The kind of magic they learned to us was called blood magic.”

Twilight seemed to pale at this, while I had a worried look on my face. While I was still a novice in the ways of magic, just the name of it didn’t sit well with me. Even Dash seemed worried, but not as worried as the others, by what I could tell.

“Um, what exactly is blood magic?” Asked Dash. Before Daring could answer, Twilight was already answering it for her.

“Blood magic is a type of magic that lets non unicorns use magic, but with the price of blood as a type of conduit, instead of a horn like a normal unicorn. I do admit, it is a bit useful at certain small tasks, but after a few years, ponies all around were already banning the use of big blood magic spells.”

“Why is that?” Asked Dash, for once seemingly interested in what Twilight was saying.

“Well, the bigger the spell, the more blood one needs to fuel the spell, so when they needed a large amount of blood, they would often…sacrifice a pony to get the blood that they need for the spell.”

At the mention of ‘sacrifice’, both Dash and I recoiled in horror, having a hard time believing that somepony would actually kill somepony, let alone sacrifice them.

I heard Dash give an audible gulp, and she said, “You mean…somepony would willingly kill just to get a spell to work?”

This time, Daring took over, and said, “Well, not always, most of the time they were able to store the blood that they needed in small frozen containers, not unlike the refrigerators and freezers that we have today. In the rare circumstances that they did perform a sacrifice, it would normally be on a criminal or an enemy tribal member. There were some places that did do sacrifices like that, but not all of them.” At this, I began to relax a bit more, though not much.

“So, what spells did they use when they needed a lot of…blood?” I asked, almost too scared to hear the answer.

At this, Daring became a little nervous and said, “Well, each temple was built for a different purpose, and they all were usually built around a certain tale, story, legend, and so on, and this one…well…” she became silent at this, which made me even more worried.

“Well, what is the purpose of this one?” I asked hesitantly.

The tan Pegasus was quiet for a little while, and then she finally said, “Well…it’s about…the story is…something about, um…waking up an unusual creature from its slumber”

“And?” Questioned Dash, starting to get a little impatient with Daring.

“Well, the creature in question is…a warrior of some type…”

“Do you know what the creature is Daring?” Asked Twilight, getting a little impatient herself.

Daring took a deep breath, and slowly released it, before she said the last part.

“The creature is said to be a…human warrior.”

Everything went silent, and the only thing that could be heard was the creaking of the ship. Everypony in the room was staring at me, but I was too stunned by this news to even notice the stares.

After a good thirty seconds of silence, I was able to pull myself together, and slowly said, “Did you say…human?” Daring gave a slow nod, and at that moment, I began to feel really weak, not sure as to what I should think. So many questions were brought up in my head, but the one that was the loudest was: was I part of some sacrifice to awaken me? Did they kill a pony just to bring me to life? The thoughts were so earth shattering that I slumped into my seat, placing my head in my hands, taking deep breathes as I tried to collect my thoughts. Everypony in the room was scared for me, unsure as to what they should do. After a few minutes of nothing but silence, I felt a hoof being placed on my back, and when I looked up, I noticed that it was Twilight trying to comfort me. A few seconds later, we were joined by both Daring and Dash, both of them also placing their hooves on me. I began to calm myself more, and after a while, I felt the need to say something.

“So…I was…I was just a…just some warrior that was awakened by the blood of an innocent?” I said, desperately trying to hold myself together.

“No, don’t believe that, Drak, and hey, even if you were, it wouldn’t have been an innocent. Daring said that they were usually criminals.” Said Twilight in a soothing voice.

“Well, you forget, they also used other tribes to sacrifice, as well as some used regular sacrifices, so…” said Daring, before she was silenced by a glare from the purple unicorn.

We stayed quiet for a good while again, and then with a sigh, I stood up and said, “I think I’m going to turn in early. You can tell me the rest later, ok Daring?” Daring nodded, a somber look on her face, and with that I left the room and headed on towards Fluttershy’s bunk.

As soon as I got in, I saw that Fluttershy was sitting in her bed, apparently lost in thought. When she saw the door open, she looked up and smiled, but the smile quickly vanished when she saw my face.

“W-what happened, Drak? W-w-why are y-you s-so upset?”

“I would rather not talk about it right now, Shy, can we just go to bed for now?” I asked, and before she could even respond, I began to take my clothing off until I was just in my boxers, and went to lie down on the bed. Fluttershy was quiet for a moment, and then she also lowered herself onto the bed, placing her head gently on my chest. We were laying there for a good ten minutes, and then we heard a knock on the door. Fluttershy went up to get it, and when she opened to door, waiting outside was Twilight, a worried look in her eyes.

“Is Drak in here? I checked his room but he wasn’t in there.” Asked Twilight.

“Yes he is, though he seems to be really upset, could you tell me what happened, if that’s all right, that is?” Asked Fluttershy, blushing a little.

Twilight nodded and began to explain what happened in the Adventurer’s Room. Fluttershy gave a small gasp upon hearing what blood magic is, and I noticed that she paled a little when she heard about the sacrifices. When the librarian got to the point that the temple that we were going to was dedicated to the waking of a human warrior, she was silent, and once Twilight finished, she quickly turned around and hugged me. I stayed quiet, too tired to hug her back this time. After a few minutes of her hugging me, I felt another pair of hooves go around me, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out whom it was.

“Drak, listen to me. Daring said that each of the temples were unique, and even though there were some replicas found, they were very rare, and I doubt that somepony in our age would do something as a blood sacrifice to wake you up and then place you in the middle of nowhere.” I stayed silent, and after a while, both Fluttershy and Twilight got into bed with me, never releasing their hold on me, Fluttershy getting next to me, while Twilight got on top of me, placing her head on my chest.

We were quiet again after a few minutes, and then with a sigh, I said, “I just wish that I know where I came from, or how I got here.”

“Well, whatever it was, I’m still glad that you came into our lives.” Whispered Fluttershy.

“And I am too, Drak. No matter what happens to you, we will always be here to make you feel better.” Said Twilight, rubbing herself against me slightly to try and relax me.

I sighed at this and said, “Well, good luck with that, for it can take me a while to make me feel better.”

“Well, I can already feel you getting better now, Drak.” Said Twilight in a slightly seductive tone. I couldn’t help but chuckle at this, for she was indeed getting my body aroused with her constant rubbing, my manhood was now rubbing against her lower stomach from the inside of my boxer.

With a sigh, I wrapped my arms around both of my marefriends and said, “That’s cheating, Twi.”

“It still worked.” ‘Giggled Twilight’, which caused Fluttershy to giggle as well.

I chuckled again, and then Fluttershy said, “Well, how about we get some sleep right now. If what Daring said was true before you and Rarity got here, she said that we should reach the temple by noon tomorrow.” I nodded, and with that, we all closed our eyes and began to fall asleep, letting our minds wander into the dreamscape.