Trial and Error: Second Edition

Chapter the Twenty-Fourth: Unbound

The following week was uneventful. With Kai all bandaged up, he couldn't attempt flight. He desperately hoped he had been right about this, or the surgery he had undergone would have been unnecessary. He spent much of his free time at the library, reading books.

The books he had been looking for originally had finally been returned, and he read through them. They seemed to agree with the notes he had taken from Fluttershy's examination, and confirmed that his theory for prosthetic wings was on the right track.

He also found at the library several tomes of general purpose magic. The newer variations of the spells, while optimized for their purposes, did not provide for all of the uses the older ones had, or so it seemed. They seemed weaker, though their energy consumption ratio rendered them far more usable over longer periods of time. He wondered if there would be some way to use his experience to combine the best aspects of both ages. Mayhaps a project for another day.

The spells he was most interested in were the healing spells found in an old manual for combat medicine. They focused on sealing wounds quickly, though there was no provision written into them about cleaning out the wound first. Newer books on the same subject did call out the need to clean the wounds, but they didn't seem to use spells to seal the wounds. He asked Twilight why that was.

"I'm not an expert on the subject, but I do seem to recall something about the soldier's wounds not healing correctly. It doesn't mention in the book that you need to make sure the muscles and skin are aligned, which lead to legs bending the wrong way, as well as other problems that I don't seem to remember. I can look into it, if you want."

"No, that's fine," Kai said, nodding. "I was just wondering why it fell out of use. The new treatises don't mention it at all."

"Well, these days, there're orders in place that, rather than try to treat wounds right there on the battlefield, encourage the soldiers to instead bring the wounded back to an infirmary. It keeps the doctors safer and the soldiers heal better. Also, anypony can help the wounded, not just unicorns. It's a win-win-win."

"But what if they'll never make it back to their infirmary, Twilight? What do they do if there's not enough time to bring the wounded back?"

"I suppose there's an argument to be made there. If there's no unicorn medic around, they're done for. You can't possibly account for every eventuality, though I'm glad you pointed that out. Perhaps a medical research team could look into a solution."

With the week having passed, Kai removed the bandages. While Kai was out cold, Usu had encouraged the doctor under duress to implant the keel as well as the wing joints, so there was no need for Kai to implant it himself. Though it caused him pain to do so, Kai moved his couplers in a way that he thought would flap his wings once attached. They seemed to work just fine. Excitedly, he tried to attach the first wing, but he couldn't keep it straight. He would need a bit of help.

Enlisting the aid of his host, he slid the first wing into place. With the tab slid into the slot, he secured it in place with steel pins and tightened the tension arms. Despite his best attempts, the wing was still quite weighty. He had to brace himself against a wall to keep from falling over as the second wing was attached much in the same manner.

With the wings finally attached, he looked at himself in the mirror. Never before had he been as proud as in this moment. They looked almost real, except that they were clearly made of some sort of metal. He tried a few movements, and found that they even moved correctly. If ever there was something that would grant him flight, this was probably it.

He made his way outside. Usu was already out there, and Fluttershy had followed him out. "It is time to fly," he said, spreading his wings to show his brother what he had helped to build. His wingspan was significantly wider than the average pegasus to account for the extra weight.

"You shouldn't be flying quite yet," cautioned Fluttershy. "Your scars are still very fresh. You should start by just becoming accustomed to the weight. Try flapping your wings slowly, first."

Kai nodded. She was the only one there who knew how to fly, so she was the expert. He thought back to the books he had read. More specifically, he remembered their recommendation on the best flapping technique. He raised his wings and flapped once according to their instruction. In doing so, he blew a decent gust of wind behind him, enough to kick up a few leaves. Encouraged, he gave another, harder flap. More leaves blew away. But even more importantly, he felt himself go off balance. His wingbeat had gathered enough air to lift his weight off of his front hooves, but not enough to leave the ground.

One more flap. This one lifted him off of his hooves and pushed him forward. As his hooves came back to the ground, he scrambled to realign himself. In his panic, he tripped and fell, face first, into a small puddle of mud. As Fluttershy had predicted, He had felt the strain on his shoulders. He would need to train his muscles, definitely.

Fluttershy ran over and picked him up. "Are you alright?"

Kai wiped his face. "I'm better than alright." He wore a big smile as he pulled her into a tight hug. "I took off. I was off the ground for almost two seconds! I'm so excited, I could..." He paused. "I could..." He had never before been this excited. He didn't know how he would celebrate this feeling. "Well, I'll figure that out later. For now, we rejoice! For we are nearing the end of this chapter of our lives."

Fluttershy dampened a rag and wiped any mud that had transferred to her, and offered it to Kai to allow him to wipe his own face. "We should celebrate. Let's all go out to dinner tonight."