Failure, Eternally Retold, Part Three: Morality

Nik rubbed his head. He wasn't sure what had happened after he left the orbs behind, he'd just woken up back on the brick platform. Judging by the ache in his head, he must have fallen. He looked to the basins that had held the keys. They were gone, empty and resurfaced. There had been bits of mold growing in them before, but with everything ripped out of them, the basins had markings that exactly resembled the stones, in exactly the order he'd put them in. If he'd known that ahead of time, they might have been done a day earlier, but hindsight was only useful after the fact.

He stood up and wobbled a bit, feeling very unsteady on his legs. He took a single step and very nearly fell over. He took another and actually did fall over. He thought about just crawling on his hands and knees, but considered how demeaning that was with all of these ponies about that had seen him walking on his own two legs before.

He looked around and saw that they were quite busy, many of them dealing with injuries, others dealing with dead bodies, and some doing work to make sure that those taking care of the bodies would be rewarded for their efforts with a hot meal. He would probably take that route, but first, he needed to recuperate. He would be no help in the mess area if he was a mess himself.

Luna had left the camp as soon as Celestia was up and about. She had full confidence that her sister could handle things. Even if she couldn't, she had faith that Twilight would keep things orderly. But she had something that needed to be checked up on.

A week before Celestia had arrived, Luna had already scouted out the nearby area, and had found two small towns within twenty-five kilometres. One had been just fine, but the other had been cut in half with a rift. She hadn't been there before the land was warped, but if there was a place nearby that could confirm whether or not the world was back to normal, this would be it.

She landed on the west end of town and braced herself. While she was hopeful that the place had returned to normal, she had to be prepared in case something had gone wrong with the ritual. With a deep breath, she puffed out her chest, held her head aloft, and marched herself down the street.

Her cautious optimism turned into genuine relief as she found herself at the other end of the road. A long, jagged scar ran through the buildings and roads, denoting the line where the town had separated, but with some work, it could be repaired. What was best about this situation, however, was that the ponies of the town were reunited with their loved ones. While it was rude to not bow when a princess came to visit, she would give them all a pardon for not greeting her. There were more important matters to which needed tending.

She lowered her head and chuckled. While she didn't much care for the ordeal she'd been put through, they'd managed to come out the other side. Equestria was once more at peace. As she turned and took off back toward the camp, somepony finally noticed her presence and thanked her as she retreated. She'd have loved to stay for the imminent celebration, but her work was not quite finished.

After watching the ponies below for a bit, Nik tried to stand up again. As he found his balance, he began to make his way down the hill. He was still a little wobbly, which he couldn't quite figure out. He'd rested until his head was clear, why was he still having trouble walking?

He changed his course. If he had injured his head coming back to Equestria, that would explain the headache and his inability to walk. What harm would it do to ask a physician at the infirmary?

As the tent flap was pushed aside, he found some familiar faces. Twilight was awake, though she seemed groggy. Fluttershy had just finished checking on everypony in intensive care, and, as everypony was stable, she'd sat down next to a sleeping Kai. Celestia was nowhere to be seen, nor were Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but Spike was sitting next to Twilight, writing something down on a scroll.

"It's been quite a night," said Nik, sitting down next to Twilight. "Are you okay after that?"

"I'll manage," nodded Twilight. "Did you make sure to tell them to report back?"

"I was just coming to that," answered Spike. "Do you want them to send the reports back to you directly, or have them filter through Canterlot first, to be compiled?"

"Probably best if we send it to Canterlot first. That way we only need to fill out one report."

Deciding that she sounded busy, Nik stood up again and left her to her business. Fluttershy was supposed to be his caretaker, anyway. He wobbled over to her, being stopped halfway along his course.

"Sir, is everything alright?" asked the doctor, holding out his legs to make sure Nik didn't fall. "Have you been treated yet?"

"No, I haven't. It's just a lack of balance, and my head feels funny."

"Probably poor circulation," said the doctor. "Why don't I take you to a place where you can sit, and I'll take some vitals? We have to know why you're up like this."

Nik nodded, and almost fell backward. Luckily, another doctor was there to push him back upright. Slowly, they made their way to an open bed, where Nik could sit again. Immediately, he was strapped with a blood pressure cuff, and a thermometer was placed under his tongue.

"Are you one of the soldiers that came with Princess Celestia?"

"No. Well, kind of, yes, but really, no."

The doctor grabbed him by the jaw and held him steady while inspecting his head for any sign of trauma. "Did you hit your head on something?" he asked.

"I think so, but I don't remember it happening."

"I see," nodded the doctor. He picked up a chart. "Can you read the first line at the top of this page?"

Nik took the chart and looked at the first line. "Mobile Army Surgical Hospital two thousand, six hundred and ninety seven."

"Very good. Do you know where you are?"

"An infirmary tent on a hill in Equestria."

The doctor nodded. "Okay. I'm going to have you moved to an actual hospital as soon as possible, because I'm pretty sure you have a concussion. For now, just stay in bed. We'll also schedule you for an x-ray to make sure there aren't any skull fractures."

Nik nodded and laid back as the pressure cuff came off his arm and the thermometer came out of his mouth.

"Temp's fine, but your BP is a little low. I'm going to attach a pulse oximeter, so we can monitor you without needing to be right on top of you. If you need anything, call somepony over, don't try to stand on your own until we know for sure, okay?"

Nik nodded and presented his left wrist. He would have spread his fingers, but he didn't have any. It was just a hoof. Suddenly, he was aware of why it was hard to walk on his own two feet. He didn't have feet anymore. It was no wonder Twilight hadn't really reacted to him; she didn't recognize him. As soon as the pulse oximeter was on, it started beeping. His blood pressure had increased dramatically.

"Calm down," urged the doctor. "Breathe deeply. In," he inhaled as an example, "then out. In, then out." He repeated this a few more times as Nik followed him, managing to calm himself a bit. "That's it, good. Now, you need to rest. I'll be back to check on you soon, okay big guy?"

Nik took another deep breath and nodded slowly. "Okay."