Author's Note

Quick note, the original story was written between seasons two and three. In that gap, Twilight was a regular unicorn. So that's what she is here.

Chapter the Seventh: A Fateful Meeting

Chapter the Seventh: A Fateful Meeting

As Kai finished feeding the chickens, his mind wandered back to the previous night. As he had examined the bone and muscle structure of the lowest joint on Fluttershy's wing, she had added a condition to their agreement. Though he had agreed to try, he was unsure of whether or not he would be capable of performing this new task she had laid before him. Still, she insisted that it would be in his best interest, and had even presented a logical argument.

Still, he was uncomfortable taking money from her house. It felt like he was adding insult to her injury, or pouring salt on her wounds. Compounding his shame was the fact that several of the items she had asked him to return with were things he had never heard of. With this new task added to his list of concessions, the cherry on top was that he had never purchased anything before in his life. He had no clue how to use her currency once he had it. Mayhaps Pinkie Pie would teach him when she arrived.

Speaking of the frenetic pink one, she had agreed yesterday to meet here half an hour ago. If she was as tenacious at holding to her word as Fluttershy had mentioned, she certainly wasn't showing it today. He was already almost done with his 'housesitting' duties, and hadn't the patience to stand around all day waiting for her.

"Good morning!"

He heard a voice call out from behind him, but it wasn't familiar to him. Guessing it was addressing Fluttershy's neighbor that had left out their equipment for him to trip over, he resumed his work without looking up.

"Hello?"

He wondered why the neighbor wasn't answering. They had left their equipment in the road, perhaps they were just plain rude. Nevertheless, it wasn't his job to comfort their guest.

"You, the scary looking unicorn in the dirty grey cloak!"

That description was definitely aimed at him. He turned his head to see a purple unicorn with a violet mane. Her bangs were broken up by two stripes, one magenta and the other purple. This was the exact description of Twilight Sparkle that Fluttershy had given him. Kai stopped what he was doing and approached, his hood dropping down to cover his eyes.

"Is there something you need of me, miss?" While the description matched, there was still a chance that she might be somepony else that just matched the description.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle."

So much for that glimmer of hope. "What can I do for you, Miss Sparkle?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you that same question. Yesterday, you had asked to see me, and the day before, you were looking for books on flight. Is that correct?"

"It is indeed."

"Well, I still don't have the books you were asking for at the library, but your request intrigues me. Might I ask why you're looking for a flight spell?"

"I'm not looking for a flight spell. I'm looking for anatomical structures and technical manuals."

"Well, that's even more intriguing. I'd still like to know why."

Kai took a deep breath. "Somepony that I care about very much is desperate to learn how to fly. I want to help, but being a unicorn, I've never flown. I made a solemn vow to find all of the information I could when it comes to flying, until I knew enough to make that dream a reality." Kai smiled. He was improving in the field of bending his words.

Twilight also smiled. "How very noble of you. You should be proud of yourself."

"I'll wait to be proud until I've made a difference. On that day, I will have something to be proud of."

"Can't you be proud that you put in the effort?"

Kai shook his head. "Not yet. I have to keep trying until I succeed. I'll take failure after failure, but I will not give up, shrug my shoulders and tell myself that 'I did my best.' That would mean that I gave up trying to help them."

Twilight was impressed with his resolve. It reminded her of a certain rainbow maned pegasus. "I'll see what I can do about having copies of those books sent to our local library for you. You've certainly earned the right to have a look at them."

"Those books require that I earn the right to look at them?"

"Well... no, not really. It was just a figure of speech."

There was a long, awkward pause as the two stood there, saying nothing. Finally, Twilight spoke up again.

"So, you're housesitting for Fluttershy?"

"I am."

"Pinkie said she had overseen your work in doing so yesterday."

"She did."

"Is that why you were looking for me yesterday? Because I was to oversee your actions while you were here?"

"It was."

"Well, it seems you did a fine job today, as well. It looks like you're almost done."

"I was."

"Well, I'll let you return to your duties, then." She turned to leave.

"Wait." Kai held out his hoof. "Have you seen miss Pinkie Pie today? She was supposed to meet me here this morning."

Twilight turned back. "She had an urgent call this morning, so she asked me to come see you instead, being that I was who you were looking for yesterday."

"So she's not coming?"

"I don't think so. If you had something to ask her, I'll gladly pass it along for you."

"No, that's alright." Kai took another deep breath. "Would it be alright if I asked a favor of you?"

He had felt bad about using Fluttershy's money to buy groceries for her, but he felt even worse when Twilight had insisted that he purchase a set of leather saddlebags. Even worse, he had done so. While it made carrying the groceries she had asked for significantly easier, this purchase was for his benefit alone. His only solace for this was that he could gift them to her when he set her free.

Riddled with shame, he shuffled along, wanting to forget this afternoon, but knowing he would remember it. Mayhaps that would be for the best, in case he needed to come back and buy more groceries. He might even remember the correct pronunciation of the word 'celery.' He stayed close to the alleyways, wanting to avoid any more attention.

"Release me at once, you ruffian!"

He recognized that voice. He couldn't place a name to it, but it was the white unicorn from a few days prior. He knew she had said her name, but he hadn't internalized it. He peered around a corner, finding her there in the alleyway, being accosted by three stallions.

A red pegasus, seemingly the ringleader, held her against the wall. "We'll gladly release you, little lady. Just as soon as we're done with you." He pulled out a large knife and held it to her chest. "Let's start with all of your cash, hm?"

Kai knew at his core that he had no good reason to involve himself. He didn't even remember her name. He had, in fact, never intended to visit her shop, much less purchase an outfit from her. He was a kidnapper, too, so he had no moral leg to stand on. Yet, seeing this mare at the end of a blade turned his stomach. He couldn't stand the thought of just walking away. He stepped into the alleyway, raising his head and squaring his shoulders.

"I don't know what it is she's done to wrong you, sirs, but I must insist that you put away your blade."

The red pegasus turned to face Kai, smirked, then looked back at the mare. "Your boyfriend's real funny, missy." He turned to the second stallion, a unicorn. "Tundra, dispose of the comedian."

Tundra stepped in front of Kai. Kai was a rather large pony, but even he was dwarfed by the stature of Tundra. He stood over Kai, staring down into his eyes. Kai had noticed the short sword at Tundra's belt. Kai had only his knife, and it was fairly dull. Just as Kai was starting to think he had made a huge mistake in standing up to them, Tundra took a step back. He lowered his head to the level of the third stallion, a short earth pony. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

"You're kidding." The earth pony wore a bewildered expression. He propped himself up against a trash bin and stared at Kai. After a few moments, his faced turned to shock. "It is him!"

"What are you two blathering on about? Just kill him already!" The red pegasus was scowling now.

Tundra took another step back and placed a hoof on the leader's shoulder, ushering him to leave.

"Ugh, I'll do it myself, you useless oaf..." Tossing the mare aside into a cluster of rubbish bins, he ran at Kai with his knife swinging.

Kai quickly pulled out his own blade and moved to block the strikes. Having fought off timber wolves, Kai was fairly adept at reading his opponent's moves. He was less well-versed with a knife than he was with a spear, which he used when fighting off the monstrous creatures of the Everfree. Having only one blade to block was significantly easier than multiple claws and mouths full of teeth.

As Kai through blow after blow aside, he came to the realization that this pegasus would not give up easily. After blocking a particularly heavy blow, Kai threw the pegasus off balance, stepped in close, rolled his shoulder back and threw a single punch. The blow landed squarely on the pegasus' nose, knocking him to his back. Kai stood over him, knife at the ready, eyes burning with fury.

As the pegasus looked up at Kai, realization crossed his face. As he picked his knife off the ground and slid it back into the scabbard, he smirked again, blood running down his face from his bludgeoned nose. "I see. You'll have your way. We'll be on our way. But rest assured, you haven't seen the last of us..."

Waving his hoof in the air, the pegasus left the alley, followed by the other two stallions. The short earth pony was the only one to look back.

As soon as they had disappeared from view, Kai sheathed his blade and helped the mare to stand up. "Are you alright, miss?"

The mare picked herself out of the trash. She was covered head to tail in whatever muck had been thrown out. "Not really, but I thank you for your concern. I-- Hey, you're that stallion I ran into the day before yesterday!" She reached out, grabbed his hoof and gave it a firm shake. "I really should find some way to thank you. Do you still have that business card I gave you?"

Kai fished around in his pockets, eventually finding the card.

"Come by my shop tomorrow. I'll give you a discount in return for your chivalry."

"Really, you don't have to--"

"No, I must! You drove off those hoodlums, I must do something for you."

"Even so, a discount won't be very useful to me. I don't really have a lot of money."

"A gift, then. Really, I insist. Come by tomorrow, and I'll have something for you."

Kai sighed. She was persistent. He was about to turn her down again when he heard guards approaching. As they rounded the corner, he panicked. "Fine. Tomorrow. See you then."

With those parting words, he bolted, putting as much distance between himself and the guards as he could.