Failure, Eternally Retold, Part One: The Human Element

by Kiernan

Chapter the Thirteenth: The Great Library of Gim

Leaving the cart at the entrance, the group weaved their way through the piles of books, glad to have Terra around to guide them. Had they been here on their own, they'd have lost their way for certain. This was especially apparent when they ran into a wall of books that Terra said hadn't been there when he left.

Twilight couldn't contain herself anymore. "Why isn't this information organized? How do you find anything in this mess of pages?"

"Locator spells," answered Terra, shifting a tall stack of loose pages aside. "Our spells recharge so ridiculously fast in here that we can just keep pinging for the books we need."

"That's a terrible way to run a library. What if somepony other than a unicorn was looking for a book?"

Terra turned back to face Twilight. "It's a private library. We don't often host visitors."

"That's no excuse. You need somepony to clean up this mess right away. They belong on their shelves."

Terra chuckled at that. "What shelves? There are no shelves. Your best approximation would be the lecterns and tables that dot the area, but they're not nearly large enough to shelf that many books."

With a final push, the wall of books that had impeded their path slid aside, revealing a unicorn mare on the other side. She had a pale lavender coat and a smooth black mane with dark blue streaks. As she turned to face them, her eyes shot open. The colour of her irises could have been described as red, were it not for two grey streaks running from her pupils to her limbi on the lower exterior side. They were comparable to the needles on a dial, indicating that her left eye was full, and her right empty.

The mare scowled. "Terra, why did you bring new ponies in here?" She pointed to Nik. "And what is that thing?"

Terra cleared his throat. "These are Kai's guests. They're the subjects in a project he's been working on for the last few days. Ladies, Nik, this is--"

"Golden Sky!" shouted Twilight, bursting forward and grabbing the mare's hoof to shake. "You wrote a treatise on the resonant frequencies pertaining to their effects on the ebb and flow of magical energy!"

Sky sneered. "Yes, I did. Thank you so much for reminding me why my peers cut my research budget. I had almost forgotten why I had to leave Canterlot in disgrace," she growled sarcastically.

Twilight pulled back, confused. "But, you were right. There is a link between oscillating frequencies and the resulting flow of magic. Right now, there are researchers developing tools to bombard unicorns with sound to change the power of their magical capabilities."

"I know I was right!" snapped Sky. "I've proven it time after time! I've even proven that it has nothing to do with the emotional tone of the music played."

"How did you do that?"

A small smirk formed at the corner of Sky's mouth for just a moment before disappearing again. While she wouldn't normally admit it, she was fond of being questioned by inquisitive minds. "I enlisted the help of a deaf unicorn. She couldn't detect the tone, so she was rather shocked by the effects of the experiment. Would you care to see my notes?"

Twilights eyes went wide, as did her smile. "I would absolutely love to see your research."

As the two began to walk away, Terra grabbed Twilight by the shoulder. "I'm under orders to bring these three to Kai right away. I can't let you take her, Sky."

Golden Sky chuckled. "Kai's asleep. Didn't even make it back to his study this time. He's not going to mind if I take one of his subjects for just an hour."

"Besides," interjected Twilight, "I was told that I was being brought on for Fluttershy and Nikolas's safety. If they're as safe here as you say they are, then there's no problem, right?"

Terra sighed. "Fine. Have it your way, but be it on your heads."

The two unicorn mares walked away, not waiting any longer than the first corner to begin discussing their subject matter. Turning the opposite direction, Terra brought Nik and Fluttershy further into the library.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Fluttershy.

"I'm also concerned," added Nik. "You said she was the most dangerous of the mages here. Is it really a good idea to just let Twilight go off with her?"

"She may be the most volatile of the ponies here, but I don't think she'll cause any harm. In fact, I think Sky likes Twilight. I'd almost swear to it. She should be fine."

They rounded the final corner. In the corridor they now found themselves in was a small pile of books, compared to the rest of the literary mountains. Of note for this pile of books was that it was snoring. Or rather, the pony beneath it was snoring. Terra shifted the top aside, shaking awake the pony beneath.

This was a new sight for Nik. He had seen unicorns before, and he had seen pegasi, but the groggy stallion before him had both wings and a horn. However, the wings were not natural. They were prosthetics, though they seemed to be directly bolted into his body, rather than strapped on. Nik supposed that this was to make sure his wings didn't fall off mid-flight, but he had to wonder about the long-term effects of having mechanical parts permanently secured to biological parts. In his world, too much heavy metal in the bloodstream would mean a slow, painful death. Maybe the ponies of this world didn't work the same way.

He was light blue in colouration, with an almost black and white mane and tail. His eyes were a deep blue, and on his hip was the same blue pentagram that had adorned the temple entrance.

As the stallion shook the sleep away, Fluttershy ran up and tackled him. "Kai!" Her hooves wrapped tightly around his shoulders. "I missed you so much!"

Kai stood up, gently brushing Fluttershy's shoulder with his hoof. "I missed you, too. I'm really glad you're not still mad at me."

"Why would she be mad at you?" asked Nik.

Kai's attention turned to Nik, and he separated himself from Fluttershy. "You must be Nikolas, the human from Kansas."

Nik furrowed his brow as he shook Kai's outstretched hoof. "That's correct." How had he known that? Nik hadn't even told Fluttershy where he had come from.

"You must have so many questions." Kai looked around. "Wasn't Twilight supposed to be with you?"

"She's with Golden Sky," replied Terra. "She'll be by later, I should think."

"Is that so?" Kai turned back to Fluttershy. "Well, in that case, I suggest we adjourn to my study. I doubt I can answer every question you have, but I'll certainly give it my best shot."

"What if you pass out again?" asked Terra. "You have a tendency to not sleep as much as you should. That's why you keep collapsing in the hallways."

"Kick me," answered Kai. "This is important."

"Can I ask the first question?" asked Fluttershy, filing in at Kai's left side. He nodded in response. "Why is your cutie mark different than how I remember it?"