The Elements of Virtue

by Rakoon1

The Element of Hope, Part II - To Believe Without Doubt

In Dezer, Chaos was running on the burning sand, heading towards the location that has been given by Freonus to find Somnambula’s blindfold. While Dusk was behind the helm at the prow, Freonus was at the front, looking ahead. The young captain, using his communicator on the helm, contacted Steam, who was in the engine room.

“So, Steam, is Chaos doing okay?” Dusk asked.

“ Sì, he is” he replied. “Chaos is just running perfetto.”

“Good” Dusk said. “Just make sure to warm me if he is overheating.”

“Dusk, aspetta” Steam said. “Io… Io need to talk to you.”

“What is it?”

“Io have some concerns… about Freonus. Are you sure noi can trust him?”

“You don’t have to worry about that, Steam” Dusk said. “Freonus has already helped me and my crew. If it wasn’t for him, we would have never found Beru’s Waypoint.”

“Even so, io can’t trust him… especially with Opal…” Steam started.

“You don’t have to worry about Opal” Dusk said. “She’ll be fine. Believe me, she has already passed through worse. Everything will be fine.”

Despite what Dusk said, Steam couldn’t help but still feeling unsure.

“Young prince, we’re almost there” Freonus said to Dusk.

Looking ahead, he then saw something approaching. It was a big wall of metal surrounding what appeared to be some kind of maze. Dusk, Freonus and Steam were at the lower deck looking at it, and the former asked:

“So, the blindfold is there? I for one would like to say A-maze-ing, if the fate of world wouldn’t be in balance.”

“But that labirinto is gigantesco” Steam said. “And noi don’t have a map to help us through it.”

“Oh, you have something better than map” Freonus said. “You have me. So, shall we go?”

And he levitated down the Chaos and Dusk told to his ship:

“Chaos, you stay on watch duty, okay? Give us a warning fire if something happens.”

The living ship responded with a grunt, as Dusk also jumped down. Steam was a little uncertain on following them, but, for Opal’s sake, he decided to go as well.

As they passed through the entrance of the make, Freonus told:

“I created this maze to guard the blindfold so that it could only be found and retrieved only by those who prove themselves worthy of it.”

“And how can I prove myself worthy?” Dusk asked.

“All in due time, young prince” Freonus replied.

“Time is not exactly something noi have to waste” Steam told.

As they started to advance through the maze, they saw that they’ve not been the first one to try to pass through it, as the remains of many other explorers appeared occasionally, what didn’t help to raise Steam’s confidence.

After some time, they arrived to a sealed door that contained a tablet with something written on it.

“A room with no way in, and no way out, see it in the rain, but never in a drought” Dusk read. “Cool, a riddle! I love riddles! My mom was always give me some to solve during the times she came to visit me. Okay, if I focus enough, I can solve this in a flash.”

“Seriously, un enigma?!” Steam asked to Freonus. “What good will enigmas do for noi here?!”

“The riddles shall help you get pass this maze” Freonus replied. “And also… faith, as you must not only believe in what you see.”

“All right, guardare, io sono uno scienziato” Steam told. “Io believe in what io can see. Having faith that tutto will work out is not just something io do.”

At that moment, they all started to hear strange sounds and it was then that spiders started to appeared all around them.

“Ragni!” Steam shouted, fearful, as he and Freonus approached Dusk. “Io hate ragni”

“Something tells me these are not harmless spiders” Dusk said.

“They are not” Freonus replied.

After they went to a rock have a higher ground, Steam asked Freonus:

“Couldn’t you have warned us about them? Or tell us the answer?”

“The maze was built to create its own defenses” he replied. “A defense mechanism in case villains tried to use me to pass through. I know the way, but not the obstacles.”

“Oh, bene, so it’s like we’re walking blindly” Steam said. “For that, we didn’t need you.”

As they tried to keep the spiders away, Dusk finally had a break through on the riddle.

“Wait!” he exclaimed. “I got it! A room with no way in: a mushroom!”

“Good thinking” Freonus commended.

“And ce n’è uno” Steam said, pointing to the other side, where there was a mushroom over a pile of rocks.

Using his agility, Dusk passed through the spiders and reached the mushroom. Pulling it, the mushroom was revealed to be the top of a level that he pulled, causing the door to open. He, Steam and Freonus quickly passed through it, with it closing as soon they crossed and preventing the spiders from doing it as well.

“I told you faith would get us through” Freonus told Steam.

“What did that had to do with fede?!” he asked.

The trio continued their way, with Freonus on the lead. Eventually, they arrived to a fountain containing a statue of a beast on top. Making the pillar that sustained that beast was another tablet.

“If thou wish to skirt a deadly stress, donate a coin and earn safe egress… It sounds simple to me.”

Getting a bit from his saddles, he threw it to the water of the fountain.

“How unfortunate…” Freonus said. “I don’t have anything to give.”

“Of course he does not have soldi” Steam said cynically.

“It’s okay, Steam, it’s not a problem that cannot be solved” Dusk said, while taking another bit and giving it to Freonus who threw it to the fountain.

After that, the guardian turned to Steam and told him:

“We’re waiting…”

Steam rolled his eyes and took a bit, saying:

“And it’s my last coin… And io was planning to buy a special metal in the market…”

“Come on, Steam, easy come, easy go” Dusk told.

“Yeah, ma, Dusk, this is not my style” Steam replied. “You may be intuitive, but io…”

“You know, it’s okay using your head, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow” Dusk said. “Take a surfer’s word for it… A surfer that is also the great savior of the Triangle.”

Stream then sighed and said:

“Bene, I’ll throw the coin.”

As Dusk and Freonus continued their way, Steam threw the coin. But when he saw they were on a safe distance, he caught the coin before it could fell on the fountain and said:

“Io had enough of that tracotante guardian.”

After saying that, Steam just moved away from the fountain to catch up with Dusk and Freonus. As he did that, the eyes of the statue glow with red and gained life.

The trio’s next stop was another door with a table with another riddle on the side. Beneath the table was a hole.

“Remove a piece and I increase” Dusk read.

Finding that riddle clear enough, Dusk proceed to place a hoof on the hole. Feeling it was too easy, Steam tried to warn him:

“Dusk, aspetta…”

But before he could say anything else, the door just opened and Dusk proceeded to pass through the entrance. The simplicity of the riddle caused Steam to look at Freonus who just made a nod with his head before following Dusk, what really irritated the young inventor.

The next challenges were also easily uncovered by Dusk, with some having direct instructions that Steam couldn’t possibly find strange how easy they were. Even when he tried to find another way to pass the obstacles without tempting the luck they were having, Dusk and Freonus just kept doing better than him.

Finally, they arrived to the center of the maze, where there was a big pillar of crystal at the center of pit filled with lava. Connecting the pillar to the place where Dusk, Steam and Freonus were was a very fragile-looking crystal bridge. However, they could see that, inside of a glass chest, on the pillar, was Somnambula’s blindfold.

“Yes, now we’re so close!” Dusk exclaimed.

“Indeed we have” Freonus said. “And for this, there’s also another riddle.”

And he pointed to a sign with a key hanging at it, standing next to the bridge that Dusk read:

“Before thou claim thy glory, have Faith the crystal bridge shall lead to thy quarry. Use the key to unlock, after thy Faithful walk. Okay, not exactly the best piece of work… but clear enough”

“Dusk, you couldn’t possibly be thinking in crossing this cristallo bridge” Steam said. “It’s molto unstable.”

“So what do you suggest?” Dusk asked. “If I can’t do it, you much less.”

“You could use your magic to bring the cassa to us” Steam suggested.

“The magic of the maze prevents that from happening” Freonus replied.

“Then why can’t you go?” Steam asked Freonus. “You can levitate.”

“I am just a guide, remember?” he replied. “Young Prince Dusk Storm is the one to want the blindfold and the one to need to prove his worth.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Steam exclaimed. “It’s a blindfold! You just go there and…”

But before he could continue, he noticed that Dusk was already trying to cross the crystal bridge.

“Oh no, Dusk!” Steam called.

“If you don’t want your friend to fall, I think the best you can do is to let him” Freonus replied.

Despite everything, Steam had to admit that Freonus was right. He watched as Dusk calmly walked on the crystal bridge, arriving then to the pillar. Using the key, he unlocked the chest that he opened and then took the blindfold. But once he did that, the crystal bridge started to crack.

“Dusk, corri!” Steam shouted.

He did that and barely managed to reach the other side before the crystal bridge would break down completely. After that, Steam told Freonus:

“Okay, io think you should tell your labirinto that cristallo is a terrible material for bridges.”

“Never mind that, Steam” Dusk said, looking to the blindfold. “What matters is that I got the blindfold. Now we can get out of here, I can return home and Opal can trade places with Freonus again.”

That statement caused Steam to become more relieved and say:

“Si, you’re right. Let’s go.”

But when they were about to go through the path they have come before, the sound of heavy steps started to be heard and felt.

“But what is this?” Steam asked.

Freonus looked around and then said to Steam:

“Looks like someone didn’t make a sign of faith back in the fountain.”

“Steam, please tell me you didn’t…” Dusk started.

And so Steam showed them the coin he was supposed to have thrown into the fountain.

“You should have put it in the fountain” Freonus said.

“So what if io didn’t put it there?” Steam asked. “What’s the big deal?”

“That is the big deal” Freonus replied, pointing.

And the animated statue appeared, starting to go against them dangerously.

“Okay, io capito, now turn it down” Steam told Freonus, as they started running.

“I can’t, remember?” he replied. “The maze was the one to build the obstacles.”

“What was not molto smart!” Steam protested.

Dusk made him and Freonus get out of the way of the statue and then said to Steam:

“Why don’t you wait until we’re out of danger before making your point?”

They continued to run from the statue until they found one of the entrance they passed and went there, entering a chamber and with Dusk using his magic to close the door. However, the statue just started hit the chamber so hard that it made it shake.

“Okay, before we all gets squashed by anything, I need to tell something” Freonus said, turning to Dusk. “Now that you got the blindfold, you need to awake its power. It’s the only way for you to use it against the Pony of Shadows.”

“Okay, and how do I do that?” Dusk asked.

“You need to embody the element that it represents” Freonus said. “In this case, it’s hope.”

“But I already showed that I can have hope” Dusk said. “That’s basically what you’ve been testing me about during the time I was opening the Waypoints. I blindly followed your guidance through the maze, I trusted the easiness of the riddles, and even let you trade places with one of my friends so you could bring me to the blindfold.”

“Ah, but there’s a big difference between having hope and weaving it” Freonus said. “It’s only up to you to find the answer.”

Those words really puzzled Dusk. What else could it do in order to awake the blindfold’s power?

“Okay, this is molto interessante, but can you please answer me to a piccola domanda?” Steam asked, almost losing it. “HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE?!”

As he said that, the door started to crack, revealing the monster outside trying to get in. Seeing how desperate Steam was, Dusk couldn’t help but telling him, while securing him:

“Okay, Steam, listen to me. You have to calm down. How can we get out of this situation if you keep panicking like this.”

“How could io not be panicking?!” he replied. “We are doomed! And not only that, but Opal…”

“Listen!” Dusk exclaimed. “I managed to save you from Skullivar, remember? Not only that, but I actually defeated him permanently. I managed to save everyone in the Triangle and unseal it, so those who wanted to go home could do it. We’ve been in a much worse situation than this one, so I just ask you to have faith that we will get pass through this and get Opal out of that crystal in the lighthouse. Can you do that?”

Steam was still a little bit in a shocked state, not only by the fear and panic he was feeling, but also after hearing what Dusk had just said. His fear and despair were practically overwhelming him, but Dusk’s words were like a light that was tranquilizing him and gave him certainty everything would be okay.

“Io… Io… believe in you, Dusk” Steam said.

At that moment, the statue was able to break through the entrance and started to advance towards the trio. But before he could even do anything, an immense light came out of the blindfold and its intensity was able to vaporize it. When it was over, the blindfold was no more. Instead, it had been turned into a circle-shaped yellow jewel with the image of a blindfold engraved on it that was now placed on a circle of cloth on his shoulder and strapped around the torso.

“What just… happened?” Dusk asked, while looking to the jewel.

“You have awaken the power of the blindfold” Freonus said. “Now, it has become the Element of Hope.”

“The Element… of Hope?” Dusk asked, still surprised for what happened. “No way…”

“Magnifico…” Steam said. “Io haven’t seen anything like it.”

“Me neither… but it’s a good thing this happened” Dusk said. “It only gives me more certainty that we can defeat the Pony of Shadows.”

The trio returned to the Chaos and, after that, they started to head towards the nearest vexus that could get them back to Beru. While they were advancing, Dusk, while on the helm, looked to Steam, who was not very far, and couldn’t help but noticing something in him. It was heavy and suffocating feeling that seemed to be very bothersome. Dusk wondered how could he feel something like that, as he knew that was not coming from him, but from Steam.

Realizing that started after he got the Element of Hope, Dusk realized he must have gotten some power from it: the ability to notice one’s despairs. As if feeling compelling to do it, Dusk used the power of the element to perceive the source of his despair. At that moment, he could finally understand why Steam was acting out that way in the maze. It was much more than just fear of something happening to Opal…

Approaching him, Dusk told Steam, while placing his hoof on his shoulder:

“Listen to me, you need to stop letting your fear prevent you from expressing what you really feel.”

“What…” Steam started.

“You’re afraid of losing Opal without telling her what you feel about her, but you let your fear prevent you from doing it” Dusk continued. “You need to let the fear go and have faith everything will work out.”

The Element of Hope released a slight glow, with the same happening to Dusk’s hoof. After that happened, Steam could feel like a huge weight had been taken from him, while the doubts he was having were just been cleared.

“Io…” Steam started. “Io’ll go to the engine room. Chaos may need some care…”

Having said that, he moved away and went into the engine room. After that, Freonus approached Dusk and said:

“Already using the power of the element… Good, a little practice is what you need.”

With those words said, he moved away to the other side of the Chaos, with Dusk passing his hoof over the element, amazed by what he just did for Steam.

Once they arrived to Marituga, Dusk, Steam and Freonus headed towards the top of the lighthouse. There, Freonus proceeded to trade places with Opal. When that was made and Opal landed on the floor, Dusk asked:

“So, was it much trouble?”

“It was… intense” she replied. “I could see all the seas in the Triangle. It was like I had composed eyes… and I have to admit it was not the best of feelings.”

Turning to Freonus, she asked:

“How can you do this?”

“I’ve been the keeper of this lighthouse for a very long time” he replied. “That’s the reason why I’ve been created. But I hope your experience on my place has been… illuminating.”

“I think you can say that…” Opal said, turning then to Dusk. “You won’t imagine what I found out…”

Before she could continue, Steam placed himself in front of Opal.

“Steam, what are you…”

But Steam prevented her from finishing what she was saying by kissing her on the lips. That caught her and Dusk by surprise, with the latter saying, looking to the Element of Hope:

“Wow, this some powerful stuff…”

After Steam finished the kiss, he said to Opal:

“Opal, scusa, but io couldn’t contain this. Io had this great of losing you without telling miei sentimenti for you. Dusk helped me realize that, so io will tell you in questo momento: Opal, ti voglio bene… I love you.”

There was a pause, where Dusk observed Opal to know what would she say. It was then she smiled and passed her hoof by Steam’s face, asked:

“What took you so long?”

Steam’s face was filled with happiness by hearing that.

Later, Dusk was now preparing to get on board of Chaos and return to the Pony World. But before he could do that, he went to say goodbye to Opal revealed something to him.

“Really? You may have a clue about where Somnambula may be?” Dusk asked.

“Maybe” she replied. “While I was covering for Freonus, I was able to see places where Somnambula has been and that could tell where she is. I will talk with Calabrass about it and maybe, in that way, we will get to know where she is or at least what happened to her.”

“Well, I do hope you find something soon” Dusk said. “Unfortunately, I can’t stick around.”

“You don’t have to worry, we have this” Opal said, while Steam nodded in agreement. “It will be like the adventures we used to have. I know I missed them.”

“Well, then good luck…” Dusk replied. “And see you next time. I’ll make sure next time I come I bring Star.”

“Yes, you do that.”

Dusk got on board of Chaos and, while preparing the helm, he waved to Opal and Steam who waved him back.

“Okay, Chaos, let’s go home.”

After Dusk pulled the level of the engine, Chaos started to move away from Marituga. After a while, Dusk took the magic watch and used it to create a portal that Chaos crossed by.