Trial and Error: Second Edition

Chapter the Fifteenth: The Storm

When Kai returned to the castle, the sky had turned dark gray. It had not yet begun to rain, but there was moisture in the air. He had never had an aversion to the rain, being quite fond of the coolness and fragrance it brought with it. As his home was made from stone and surrounded by trees, he had never had much to fear from lightning, either. Because of this, he was looking forward to the following morning.

He found Fluttershy in the kitchen. As the sun was currently setting, it was a bit later than they usually had dinner. Mayhaps she had been waiting for him to arrive, and had reached the point where she wasn't quite sure if he would be back in time for his meal.

"I'm back." His words broke the silence and drew her attention. She jumped, but calmed down quickly.

"Welcome home. I wasn't expecting Applejack to keep you all day."

"She did. I wish you had told me that I should expect a fair amount of manual labor today."

"I wanted to tell you. Really, I did. But I needed to know what Applejack thought of you. And for that to be accurate, I couldn't let you make something up. Did she send anything back, like I asked?"

Kai pulled out the pouch of coins and tossed it on the table. "She was happy to have my help for the day, and gave me this as compensation. She said you'd understand what she meant."

Fluttershy counted out the coins. A good payment meant that he was trustworthy, and welcome to come back. A low payment was an indicator of Applejack's distrust, and would hopefully keep the offending party from returning. This amount was merely above average. Applejack was a good judge of character. If she thought Kai had some integrity, then it was safe to presume that she was right.

"So, does her message make any sense to you?"

Fluttershy nodded and placed the coins back into the bag. With a smile, she returned to her pot of boiling water. "I feel much better now. Thank you for doing this for me."

Kai sat at the table. "Was part of that because I said I used to want to be a farmer?"

"Just a little bit. How did it feel to you?"

"Not quite how I expected. I knew it was hard work, and I knew I'd be sweaty by the end of the day, but I wasn't expecting to be this sore. I also knew nothing of the techniques required. But I did enjoy it, at least."

"I'm glad to hear it. If you had made it to Ponyville when you were young, I'd like to think that we'd still be working on this project together, but I'd be doing so in a way that allows me to go home at the end of the day."

"Mayhaps, but I'd rather try to better our situation as it stands, rather than look at what may have been. Rarity told me recently that you can't change what you've done in the past. You can only hope to make the future brighter. Or something along those lines. I don't remember the exact words."

A low rumble reverberated throughout the castle. Fluttershy's ear perked up and her wings squeezed shut. "What was that?"

"Oh, just some advice. I've already acted on those words, actually. I suppose we'll see if it pays off."

"No, not that, I was..." She shook her head. "Nevermind."

"So, what are you making? I don't recognize this one." Not that he ever did...

"Nutball Marinara over linguine. I made the nutballs earlier, they just need to heat back up."

"What are nutballs?"

"Balls of crushed up nuts. You can make them stay together with eggs and bread crumbs. I also added some spices for flavor."

Another rumble rolled through the castle.

"There it is again. Is that thunder?"

"I would guess so. There's supposed to be a storm tonight."

Fluttershy shivered. "I hope it's over really quickly..."

"Do you not like storms?"

Fluttershy frantically shook her head. "I'm not fond of thunder or lightning. They're terrifying."

"Don't worry about them. You're perfectly safe down here. Stone doesn't conduct electricity very well. Even if lightning strikes nearby, it'll dissipate into the ground safely."

A loud crash was heard, and Fluttershy darted under the table.

"Like I said, we're safe down here." Kai offered his hoof and helped pull her out from under the table. "I'm of the opposite opinion. I like storms."

"That opinion may change soon."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're planning on making your wings from metal, right?"

"I am."

"Metal conducts electricity very well. If you fly with those through a lightning storm, you'll be struck for certain."

Kai hadn't considered that. He wondered if it would be possible to mitigate the shock. Either some non-conductive metal, or a rubberized coating. He wasn't even sure how to make the wings, yet, much less what he would make them from. It's possible that they may not be made from metal at all.

Another crash was heard, and Fluttershy was back under the table. It became clear that this would be a recurring event for as long as the storm raged outside. Kai stood and walked to the stove.

"So, what do I need to do to make this?"

"It's almost done. The nutballs are in the marinara already, you just need to drain the noodles when they're done."

"How do I know when they're done?" Kai knew nothing of noodles. He used to have an opinion on noodles, but having spent so long away from them, he couldn't remember anymore.

"You pull one out with a fork and bite down. If it's soft, it's done."

Kai used his magic to pluck a noodle from the boiling water and bit down. There was no flavor, but the noodle was sufficiently soft, at least by his interpretation. "I guess it's done..." He took the noodles off the fire and drained off the boiling water. Dinner was ready.

The meal passed slowly, with Fluttershy cringing in fear at every crash of thunder. With no hopes of doing any amount of work tonight, whether because of her fear or his weariness, Kai escorted her to bed after feeding the prisoner. It had been a long day, and they both needed rest.

An hour after he climbed into bed, he was awoken. The thunder had increased in frequency and volume. He took a quick stroll upstairs, to find that the courtyard had flooded. Large streams of water gushed off the roofs, all pouring into rivlets that threw themselves down the stairs into the hallway. Luckily, there was a grate in the floor that spat the rainwater into the gorge below via the ancient stone plumbing.

"At least the cistern will fill up," he thought aloud. He would have no reason to worry about running out of potable water

As he returned to his room, he heard whimpering coming from Fluttershy's room. He slowly opened the door to see her curled up on the bed. He was about to ask if she was alright when another crash was heard, and she bolted into his embrace.

"Please," she whispered. "Stay with me tonight?"

Kai nodded and brought her back to the bed. Wrapping his cloak around her, he began to hum in an attempt to calm her. He knew only one song, the only one that had stuck in his head for these many years. It was a melancholy tune from an opera. It had signified the death of the protagonist's best friend though he could no longer remember their names. He would have chosen something nicer, but it was the only tune he knew.

It seemed to work just fine, as she stopped shaking as much as he gently rubbed her shoulders. The two of them stayed in that position throughout the night, only moving when the next morning came and the storm was long finished.