//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12: Tell Me, Dear Brother... 
// Story: Trial and Error 
// by Kiernan 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 12: Tell Me, Dear Brother...




Akaitora began back home about an hour after midday. With Twilight going through the shock of being mugged, he had sent her home, telling her that she should get some rest, and that they could pick up where they left off tomorrow. Luckily, he had been able to hide his wounds beneath his cape, driving off any worry that may have manifested in her mind about his well-being. 

He walked back to the castle slowly. The crude wrappings he had used were only meant to hold back the blood flow for a short ime, and these had been held all day. He refrained from moving  more than he needed to, to keep the pain down. It had subsided quite a bit, but still  burned with every step. He cursed himself for not knowing any healing magic. He made a note to study it on his list of things to do.

He was greeted at the door by Fluttershy, who,after one look at him, grew a lok of horror across her face. "Oh no, what happened?" she yelled, taking down his cape  and tossing it aside to more clearly see the wrappings.

"I'm fine, they're just light wounds, and there are only three. It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal!? You're bleeding! We've got to get these wrapped better before they have a chance to get infected!"

"Fine." he said, reaching into one of the pockets on his cape. He pulled out of it a small roll of clothand handed it to Fluttershy. "You probably have more experience than I do."

Fluttershy blushed a bit. She did, in fact have quite a bit of experience in the subject, having helped her animal friends recover from injuries over the years. She had even helped Nurse Redheart from time to time when it was needed. But how could Akaitora know that?

"Just hold still. First, we have to get these old bandages off..."

After about ten minutes, Akaitora was patched up and ready to get back to work. Fluttershy was a fast worker, he had to give her that.

"Now don't go and strain yourself. The last thing we need is those reopening."

"Will do. Now where did you leave Usutora? I need to have a word with him before I get back to work."

"He should be in your workshop. He was looking over some of your notes on lock design."

"Figures..." He groaned. As he started down the steps, he noticed that Fluttershy was holing up his cape. He then saw a handful if tears in it, presumably from the fight he had been in.

"I can stitch this up for you, if you like." she said, pointing a hoof at the hole. "If you have a needle and thread, I can make it look like there never was a hole at all."

"Fine. All the necessary components are in the bedchamber I gave you last night. But you don't have to make it look like the hole was never there. I only need it to not have a hole. I'll meet you down there in a bit, I have to have a word with my brother, first." And with that, he strode off down the stairs, and toward his workshop.

"Interesting design you have here," Said Usutora, as the door swung open behind him. "I daresay there's only one flaw in it."

"And what would that be?"

"You need a three-pronged key to open it."

"That's the point. You'd need three lockpicks to break this lock, all moving perfectly in time with one another. Only the key will unlock the door."

"In that case, well done."

"Thank you, but now we must move on to more important things." 

"Like what?"

"Does the name Bloodstain ring any bells?"

Usutora set down the scroll he was reading. It quickly rolled itself back up as he released it, going back to being rolled up, as was its custom. Usutora turned to face his younger brother, a look of confusion crossing his face. "Yeah, but I cut all ties with him and his friends two years ago. Instead of doing big jobs and balancing out the economy, they had begun to do petty thievery. I wanted no part in it, so I left. Why do you ask?"

"I ran into him today. He was attacking a librarian, demanding that she hand over all her florins."

"A librarian gets paid in florins!? Screw this, I'm taking over that job!"

"No! She had no florins, she hadn't even seen one up close until a few days back."

"Then why did they suspect that she had florins?"

"They probably saw her giving a few to Rainbow Dash yesterday."

"I thought you said she didn't have any."

"She didn't. They were mine."

"I'd sooner believe Princess Celestia was really just a pegasus before I believe that you had any florins left."

Akaitora chuckled to himself. "Very well. If you'll follow me." He started toward the stairs. "There's something you might want to see."

Usutora's reaction was about the same as Twilight's at seeing the large chest packed to the brim with golden coins. Not wanting to have another huge problem on his hands, he floated Usutora up to his workshop again, setting him down on the cushion he had brought out for himself the previous night. "I'll be back in half an hour," he said, levitating a quill, inkwell, and small bundle of scrolls over to him and closing the door.

He decided that now was a good time to check up on Fluttershy's progress. It had been about fifteen minutes since he had given her the go ahead to repair his cape. He wondered how far she had gotten. He wagered about halfway to three-quarters.

"So how's it coming along Flutters--" was all he got out before he gasped. Not only had Fluttershy completely repaired the hole, and made it seamless, she had fixed the frayed hem at the bottom, repaired the small rip in the collar, and made the pockets on the inside hardly noticeable on the outside.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just going to repair the hole, but then I started thinking about your hospitality towards me, and about your injuries, and I wanted to help, and before I knew it, I was fixing little details here and there. I din't mean to change it so much. Please don't be mad." Fluttershy backed away slowly, and closed her eyes as she backed into the wall, making a feeble attempt to hide her face with her hair.

Akaitora floated it closer, and inspected it for a minute or two. He couldn't find a single flaw in the stitching. And she was right about the hole. there wasn't a single trace of it. What was most impressive, though, is that she hadn't even shifted the contents of the pockets. "Fluttershy, this..." he started, not knowing exactly what to say. "This is amazing!" he finally managed to say. It was true, too. Never before had he seen such fine work.

"Oh, it's nothing, really. Rarity's work is so much better." 

"Well, I'll have to meet this Rarity some day. Meanwhile, Now that everything's in order, let's get back to where we were two nights ago. Would you mind coming over here and extending your wing?"