Trial and Error: Second Edition

Chapter the Fourth: The Shrouded One

The following morning, Kai pulled himself from his bed. On Fluttershy's request, he had gone down to one of the bedrooms and slept there. She had said that she was uncomfortable having him sleep next to her, not knowing if he was watching her sleep or intently listening to her breathing.

He made his way downstairs to prepare breakfast. He had never had a guest before, and felt inadequate when it came to preparing food for somepony else. Still, as the resident, it was his duty to feed her. He started small, with a few mushrooms. Adding to that a few nuts, he chopped them into cubes and tossed them into a small pan, which was placed over one of the stove tops to saute.

Meanwhile, he cut some apples into chunks and poured a bit of honey over them. They were also thrown into a pan to saute. His technique was rather crude, and he had no herbs or spices. He only knew how to saute, boil and dry foods. He hoped that her palette was versatile enough to adapt to his cuisine.

When breakfast was done, he scooped the mixtures out of the pans and into some bowls. He wasn't accustomed to eating out of bowls, but then again, he didn't often cook his food. Many staples of his diet were safe to consume raw, and he often felt that cooking them wasn't worth the time investment. Still, he maintained his meager skills for when he did need them, such as when preparing fish.

He wasn't quite ready to feed her fish, though. Despite the fact that it was safe for ponies to consume, and held some amount of nutritional value, He assumed that not so much had changed that it was common for ponies to eat meat. In fact, it had been quite taboo last he checked, and was only acceptable if one was starving.

He walked into his workshop to find that Fluttershy was already awake, clutching her stomach in the corner of the cell.

"Is something the matter?"

She looked up at him. "There's no bathroom in here."

He placed the bowls on his table and grabbed the rope. Tying one end securely around her neck, he opened the cell door, the other end of the line grasped tightly in his hoof. "Right this way."

He ushered her across the hall to the barracks and indicated to her the latrine. She stepped inside and took a seat. She then waved for him to give her some privacy. Kai stepped behind the wall. It was still fairly obvious that he was there, and there was no door separating them. Just a wall.

"I can't go if you're standing right there."

"This rope isn't long enough for me to go anywhere else."

"I already promised to help you, and I can't leave, as per your demands. Can't I have some modicum of privacy?"

"Not yet. We've known each other for less than a day."

"Which is exactly why I don't want you listening to me while I'm in here."

"Pretend I'm not here, then."

"That's not so easy when there's a rope around my neck."

"Oh, alright. I'll be waiting in the hall."

He dropped the rope to the floor, and she heard his steps retreat. Finally, she could relieve herself. The room was fairly dark, being underground, but she could tell from the smell that the room was filthy. It only made sense that a stallion who used this bathroom willingly would be capable of kidnapping.

When she was finished, she stepped out into the hallway and offered Kai her rope. With a smile, he lead her back to her cell and untied her.

"Now then, It's time for breakfast." He passed one of the bowls through the bars for her to take. "Sorry it's not warm anymore."

"That's alright," she said, eyeing the strange food in front of her. "What is this again?"

"The brown stuff is a nut and mushroom mix, and the other stuff is apple chunks in honey."

"These are supposed to be apples?"

"I'm sure it's not what you're used to, but I don't have any formal training when it comes to cooking. I assure you, it's all safe to eat. See?" He took a bite of his own breakfast. "Nothing to worry about."

She picked up a chunk of apple and examined it. "I'm pretty sure apples aren't supposed to have purple skin and orange flesh. Where'd you pick these?"

"I grew them. I have a special room downstairs with a small tree growing there that produces these apples. It produces pretty quickly, too."

She tentatively took a bite. The honey was absolutely necessary for this, as the fruit itself was quite bitter. After choking it down, she decided to stick to the nuts and mushrooms.

"So, did you finish writing down the instructions for me to follow?"

"I did." She passed through the bars a folded sheet of paper, along with the quill and inkwell she had borrowed.

He took the paper and unfolded it. "That's quite a list of instructions."

"There's quite a lot to do. They're all small tasks, there's just a lot of them. It shouldn't take more than an hour."

"In that case, I should be going." Kai tilted back his bowl and finished his breakfast. He stood, wrapped his cloak around his shoulders, and started towards the door.

"Don't forget to have Twilight help you!" she called after him.

"We still don't have them." The dragon from the prior evening met Kai at the library door. "Like I said, I don't expect them back for a few days, at least."

"I'm not here for those at the moment. This time, I'm here to talk to a mare by the name of..." He pulled Fluttershy's note from one of his pockets and unfolded it. "Twilight Sparkle. I was told she lived at this address."

"She's not here right now. She left this morning for Canterlot."

"Will she be back within the next few hours?"

"Maybe. Hard to tell sometimes."

Kai sighed. "I'll be back soon, then."

"Mm-hmm."

Kai walked back through town. He was quite certain that he could handle all of the chores. He only needed Twilight to sign off on his work. Surely she was smart enough to know whether the work was done without having to watch him do it. Even so, if she would be gone for a few days, then there was nothing Kai could do.

"I guess She'll just have to trust me."

"Who's going to have to trust you?"

Kai turned and looked to the source of the voice. Bouncing along next to him was a very pink pony. She was quite animated, literally bounding instead of walking like everypony else.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"I'm quite sure I didn't ask."

"You didn't need to. I think it's the right thing to do when meeting somepony new to tell them your name first. And since I haven't seen you in town before, I figured that you're probably new."

"I suppose that's sound logic."

"Glad you think so!" She wore a large goofy grin. "So what's your name?"

"I'm in a bit of a bind, so unless you have a means of contacting miss Twilight Sparkle, I'd appreciate it if I could go about my business in peace."

"Well, Twilight left for Canterlot this morning. She said something about reporting in to Princess Celestia personally."

Kai's breakfast turned in his stomach. Twilight, to whom he was supposed to be reporting, was reporting directly to the princess who had sent him to prison all those years ago. He was unsure if she had been chosen for this reason, but he knew he would be demanding answers when he arrived home today.

"So what kind of business are you tending to here in Ponyville?"

Kai paused for a moment, trying to phrase his answer in the nicest way possible without directly lying, as he knew this mare would be able to tell. "I'm... housesitting. Last night, one of Ponyville's citizens left town for a business venture. I was tasked with informing her of her new duties, and she asked that I make sure that her property doesn't fall into disrepair while she's gone."

"Is she somepony I know?"

"How should I know who you know? I'm new, remember?"

"You are! Sooo... Who left?"

"Miss Fluttershy. Do you know her?"

"I know everypony in Ponyville. Of course I know Fluttershy."

"If you know everypony in Ponyville, why would you bother asking if you knew who had left? Obviously, you would know them."

"I know. I just like talking to ponies."

"I'm sure you do."

"So, what kind of business venture is Fluttershy involved in?"

Again, Kai carefully chose his words. "I'm not at liberty to say. The project designer doesn't want me to tell anypony. It's a secret project, you see."

"Got it." She made a motion as if to zip her mouth shut, then unzipped it again. "Need any help looking after Fluttershy's place?"

Kai stopped, causing Pinkie to turn around and bounce back to him. Mayhaps he didn't need Twilight in particular to supervise his work. If this Pinkie Pie knew everypony, surely her word would be good enough, right? If she would suffice, he'd rather keep a fair amount of distance from Celestia

"Just for today. We'll see how things turn out tomorrow."