Trial and Error: Second Edition

Chapter the Twenty-Second: Damnation or Forgiveness

Five hours passed in silence. Fluttershy had not left her bed in that time. In fact, she had fallen asleep, and was only roused by the sound of a knock at her door. As she started to roll over, it creaked open.

"Fluttershy? Are you in here?" Kai slowly stepped inside. His head hung low as he slowly marched in. "Usu told me what happened. I wanted to apologize."

Fluttershy sat up in her bed as Kai sat down against the far wall.

"The first promise I ever made to you was that you would come to no harm under my care. I had never intended to harm you. And now I am the source of your harm. What's further, I made a more specific promise not to force myself on you. And that's exactly what I've done." He held his head in his hooves.

Fluttershy stared at Kai. She had already decided her course of action.

"I understand what you must think of me. I broke my word twice today. You're probably wondering if I can be trusted at all." His voice began to crack as he gripped the back of his neck. "I'm beginning to wonder that myself. I wouldn't trust me. Not after what I did."

Fluttershy stood and walked over to where Kai sat.

"In fact, I plan to break another one now." He grabbed Fluttershy by the collar and held her close to him. She panicked again and tried to pull free, but didn't manage to do so until Kai released her again. She took a few steps back toward the bed.

"I promised I would set you free when I could fly. That is no longer the case." He held out his hoof. In his grip, he held Fluttershy's collar, freed from her neck. "You're free to leave now. If you do, I'll be leaving tonight, and you'll never have to see me again."

Fluttershy ran out of the room. She ran past Usu, up the stairs, and into the courtyard. She didn't look back until she crossed the bridge. Her pace slowed, and her mind began to race. She stared down the path through the trees. She wasn't sure she could follow it back home, so she took flight. As she flew over the canopy, the excitement of going home began to overtake her fear of returning to the castle ruins.

She landed in her backyard and ran inside her house through the back door. She found Angel relaxing on the couch and picked him up, giving him a big hug. Several other small animals came out of their designated homes and leaped into her arms.

She sat down and began to weep. She had missed them all so very much. She was so glad that they had been taken care of in her absence. It occurred to her that they hadn't been cared for today, and she started in on doing so.

When she finished, she sat down. Kai had done a decent job of taking care of her friends, and she hadn't really thanked him for that. She wondered if he had left yet. Now that she had calmed down, she started to wonder if her leaving had been the best decision. She had planned to forgive him. Had he not grabbed at her collar, she might have told him as much. She had been frightened, but that was a poor excuse. Kai was leaving, and he would go with the thought that she hated him.

She definitely didn't hate him. She was actually quite fond of him. He wasn't cruel. A bit rough around the edges, certainly, but he had grown so very much in the past month. He was different now than he had been when they first met.

She stood and walked to the back door. As she looked up at the moon, she made her decision. She grabbed her travelling cloak and stepped back outside.

Kai loaded the last of his necessities into his saddlebags. The very same saddlebags he had planned to give to Fluttershy when she left, but that didn't matter anymore. She was gone, and she was never coming back. He had driven her off, and he would have to leave before a legion of guards swarmed the place.

"So, where to first?" asked Usu. "Where are we off to?"

"We?"

"Yes, we. I'm not going to leave you behind. I thought you were dead for over a decade."

"I can't ask you to go on the run with me." Kai picked up the saddlebags.

"I'm already on the run." Usu pulled the saddlebags from Kai's grasp and slung them over his own shoulders. "Besides, your back is crippled. You can't carry anything."

Kai shook his head. "You have your crew to return to. I've always managed to keep myself alive on my own. I've fought off countless monsters, and in some of those cases, I was hemorrhaging, or had a fractured leg, or any amount of other ailments."

"You don't have to anymore. I'm by your side, Kai. Whether you want me or not. So where are we going?"

Kai took a deep breath. "I'll not convince you otherwise, will I?"

Usu shook his head.

"In that case, we're headed to Canterlot. Hopefully, I can find the right books in the library. That way, I'll not have to resort to kidnapping a pegasus again. It's not as if I can lock one up, anyway."

"What happens if we arrive and the books aren't there?"

Kai shook his head. "Then we go somewhere else, to be decided then."

"Why not start in Whinnyapolis, then? It's closer, and there are fewer guards."

Kai shook his head. "No. Canterlot has to be first."

"Why?"

"Because I promised Fluttershy that I'd go to see our mother. I've broken every other promise I've made to her. I can't break this one."

"That's a lie." Kai and Usu looked up to the top of the wall, where a familiar pegasus stood. She took down her hood and dropped down next to them. "You kept another promise. All of my friends were well cared for. Pony and animal alike."

Kai was speechless. He couldn't look her in the eye, and his gaze stayed near her hooves.

"Besides, I made a promise of my own. I would be remiss if I were to leave without fulfilling it. I said I would help you until we were done, and we're not done yet."

"You'd really forgive me after all I've done?" Kai's eyes were welling up with tears.

Fluttershy placed her hoof under his chin and lifted his head until they were face to face. "First, I have a question. You said you were in love with me. How much of that was you, and how much was the drugs?"

Kai sniffled. "I really do feel that way, but I'd have never said so. I know you don't feel the same, so I wa--"

He was taken by surprise as Fluttershy's lips once more pressed against his own. This time, she had been the one to place them there. When she finally pulled away from him, he was frozen in place.

"I'm going to stay. However, I'm going to add a few more terms to our arrangement. Now, pay attention."