Failure, Eternally Retold, Part Three: Morality

Fluttershy was a few kilometres out by the time she felt safe enough to slow down and look behind her, and realize that she was all alone. Kai was nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that he'd been right behind her a few minutes ago. She hadn't had him back for a full day before she'd lost him again. She contemplated going back and turning herself over in exchange for him, but her gut told her that wouldn't be possible. After all, they wanted both of them. If she went back now, she'd only manage to make the escape worthless.

She turned and flew back to Equestria, tears in her eyes. She hated this situation, and she wasn't prone to having that feeling inside of her. For the first time that she could remember, she despised somepony. At first, it was the stallion that had turned on them. That quickly spread to most of the ponies in the spire, and finally, it all drained into her.

She had been the one to mention the hidden haven. She had been so focused on escaping that Kai had to clear the way for her. She had flown off without him. She had also placed Nik's needs above the needs of all of Equestria, leading to this whole journey in the first place. Everything that had happened so far, every hiccup, every hurt, and every night sleeping in dirt with rocks and twigs poking into their backs; it was all on her hooves.

She landed near where they had camped. "Twilight?" she called, tucking the sun stone back under her wing. "Are you still here?"

To her left, she heard a click. She looked over, and a mare in a bloody black cloak was pointing a crossbow at her. "Where is the human?" she demanded.

Fluttershy raised her head. "Are you going to kill me?"

The mare raised the crossbow to her face. "That's right."

Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she puffed out her chest.

In the next instant, the cloaked mare was on the ground, pinned to a tree root by a flash of blue. "Don't you dare!" shouted Rainbow, holding the mare down.

"Fluttershy!" called Applejack, wrapping her arms around the stunned pegasus. "Ah'm so glad you're alright!"

"Applejack? Rainbow Dash? What are you doing all the way out here?"

"We came lookin' for you," explained Applejack. "Thank goodness we found you when we did. Come on, I'll take you to where we put Twilight."

As a squad of guards filed into the clearing, Applejack took Fluttershy to the Cornfield Tavern. The building was a veritable hotbed of activity this morning as the citizens of the town gawked at the guards. The only ponies allowed in currently were the guards, but an exception was made for Applejack and her guest.

The door to one of the rented bedrooms was opened, and Fluttershy walked in. "You see? There they are, safe and sound," smiled Twilight. "How'd it go?"

Fluttershy looked at Nik. There were three new bruises on him, one on his face, two on his chest. He was holding an ice pack up against his face. "What happened to you?" she asked, rushing forward.

"Your friend hit me," he groaned. "The blue one."

"He'll be alright, assured Twilight. "As long as he keeps using that ice pack, those should be gone in a few days. Where's Kai?"

Fluttershy lowered her head. "He didn't make it out."

The colour drained from Twilight's face. She put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "He's dead?"

"Dead, or captured and being tortured."

"How did that happen?"

Fluttershy relayed the whole story, from the moment they entered to when she left. She was in shambles by the time she finished, barely able to push out her words.

"Ah had no idea that he was such a stand-up character," lamented Applejack. "Ah only met 'im briefly, but Ah always thought he was kinda shady."

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Rainbow. "Let's go down there and bust him out!"

"Weren't you listnin' Rainbow? They prob'ly already done 'im in. We should go to this last place an' pick up the last whatchamajigger. Use his final action in life to our advantage."

"What if he is alive? We can't just let them torture him! He gave up everything for Equestria! We should return the favour!"

"We'd only become more entangled in the conflict! Didja forget that the whole reason we came out here was to put an end to it?"

"Both of you, calm yourselves."

Everyone looked up as Princess Celestia strode into the room with Spike on her back. This was immediately followed by a swift bow. "You may as well make yourselves comfortable," she said, closing the door. "We're staying here at least until nightfall."

"We've just been out to the hidden haven," explained Spike, sliding down to the floor. "We hoped that we could pick up the last piece for you and skip a day of walking out there and back. Unfortunately, the door was sealed. There were some runes carved into the door, so I spent part of the day translating them."

He pulled out a scroll, which Twilight immediately picked up. "Let's see that..."

"In laypony's terms, the door will only open at night, and only to those who carry with them dark deeds. I don't know what classifies as a dark deed, and I'm kind of afraid to try any of the obvious ones."

"I can open the door," volunteered Celestia. "I banished my own sister to the moon, and left my faithful student Twilight and her friends to clean up the mess. I've carried the guilt with me for a thousand years, and in that time, it's festered. I'd say that qualifies."

The room was silent for a moment, then Twilight spoke up. "I didn't trust my teacher when she told me how to stop Nightmare Moon."

"I accused Twilight of being partially responsible for Nightmare Moon's return," admitted Rainbow.

"Ah let mah family be swallowed up by a trashfire," added Applejack.

"My mere existence is destroying Equestria," stated Nik.

Fluttershy sniffled. "I let the stallion who's saved my life multiple times be captured, and possibly killed."

Spikes eyes darted around the room. "I, uh... forgot to brush my teeth?"

Regardless of how much guilt they all felt at that moment, they soon found themselves in a group hug. Each of them had done something horrible to somepony else for which they were sorrowful. It was a welcome catharsis to let it out.