Failure, Eternally Retold, Part Three: Morality

The orbs had been arguing back and forth for what felt like hours, sometimes switching their votes depending on the conditions attached to the agreement. Yellow seemed to switch back and forth almost constantly, whereas green had opted to never change his mind. Likewise, Nik had been observing them silently, and had noticed that the different colours of orbs matched the personalities of ponies that had provided them, as far as he knew. He certainly hadn't met every one, but he had met six of the keepers. That was more than half, and that was a hefty enough sample size to be confident about his assumption.

The one filled with numbers was remaining silent, and the numbers were flashing by a bit slower. He could actually read some of them now, but he still didn't know what the Greek letters represented.

"We have to consider the fallout that would arise from such a decision," called out dark blue. "Think of the knowledge that would be lost if we set time back to the point before these events happened."

"I thought you would be happy with that," spat orange. "Considering that you lost all of that knowledge to the flames during this time. I bet that felt real nice."

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you!"

It was all just petty bickering at this point. They'd strayed away from the reason they were gathered here to take jabs at each other and squabble amongst themselves. Nik had been bored all along this journey, but even now, he was wishing for this to be over. It was just a whole lot of sitting around doing nothing. Sure, this was supposed to stop that, but it just felt like more of the same.

"I cannot see why you would change your mind so completely," winced light blue. "You were the first to suggest we do this."

"How can you sssee anything?" hissed grey. "You nefffer bother to open your eyesss."

"At least he has consistency," snapped medium blue. "When was the last time you looked inside yourself?"

"When my insssidesss became my outsssidesss. But you can't ssstomache sssuch a sssight."

Just as Nik was about ready to stand up and walk away, the clouds all retreated in an instant, and every voice fell silent. Next to the number light, a lack of light was forming, in what Nik would consider to be the final space. It had no voice, but Nik could hear its words.

"He belongs to me."

Nik could feel himself being drawn in, and fought against it as best he could. There was nothing to grab ahold of, and there wasn't a lot of space to begin with, but he pushed himself away as best he could.

"Time to decide," called number. "All in favour of Nikolas being consumed?" The white, orange, purple and yellow lights cast their vote. "All opposed?" The green, all three blues, the black and the yellow cast their vote. "All abstaining?" Grey and yellow cast their vote. "The motion carries."

Nik fell back as the negative force being applied to him suddenly stopped. He fell to what might have been the ground if they weren't suspended in the air.

"Now that that's out of the way, who wants the world to be brought back to the way it was?"

"Only if we keep the doors open," called dark blue. "I will not relent on this."

"They must be closed," argued green. "You will not taint my world further."

"All in favour of doors open?" Dark and light blue stepped forward. "In favour of closed?" Green and orange stepped forward. Grey and purple joined the open side, and white and light blue voted closed. Since yellow was useless in a vote, the tiebreaker came down to black. He thought for a moment, and then in a single word, sealed the decision.

"Closed."

Number let out a chuckle. "As this was close, the doors will be closed, but the memory will remain. Is that all? Can I return to my nap now?"

"What do we do with this human?" asked black. "We can send him back to his home, or we can put him somewhere in Equestria. I don't care which, I just need a destination."

Nik hadn't considered his position on going back home. He'd not known if this was even an option. "What happens if I stay?"

"Nothing happens if you stay," said number. "Nothing happens if you go. It doesn't matter. Why would it? In Equestria, you'd just be some guy. In Kansas, you'd just be some guy. Nothing matters."

"You would be a dark reminder in Equestria!" snapped white. "Go home, where you belong!"

"Home is where you feel at ease," added medium blue. "Where are you more comfortable?"

"That's not home," interjected black. "Home is wherever you want it to be."

"Home is a concept," hummed dark blue, "not a place."

"Pick the one that has cookies!" shouted yellow.

The rest of them talked for several minutes, but Nik had stopped listening. He needed to think for a bit. He needed a moment to consider where he belonged. In the end, he knew where he wanted to be, even though he knew it would be an ordeal. It wasn't because of the familiarity of the place, nor was it his friends, nor was there really any memory that stuck out to him. In the end, it was the act that had started his entire journey. It was the reason he was here in the first place. It had to be chosen, not for his comfort, but for his survival.

"I've made my decision," he called out. "Before you go deciding for me, at least hear me out."

The lights were still talking, drowning out his statement. He stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, drawing most of their attention.

"And I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you cra--' Oh." Yellow was to last to quiet.

"I've thought about where I want to go, and I don't think that matters. I've decided that I should go where I need to. It's not about desire, it's about my survival."

"So what is your choice?" asked Number. "We're all waiting."