Failure, Eternally Retold, Part One: The Human Element

by Kiernan

Chapter the Fourth: Correspondence

Fluttershy woke up and gave her limbs a comforting stretch. As she did, her hoof gently nudged the box on her nightstand. Inside it were all the letters Kai had sent over the last eighteen months. All of them were marked with both symbols she had come to associate him with: A silver eye with a capital Y instead of a pupil and a blue pentagram. The eye was his cutie mark, and Rarity had embroidered it onto a cloak for him.

She readjusted the box so that it was straight once again and climbed out of bed. After her morning wellness ritual, she exited through her front door and made her way down to the mailbox. She was hoping for another letter from Akaitora, as it had been almost a month since she had heard from him. Unfortunately, there was nothing there from him. Instead, the most notable letter was from Summer Bloom, proprietor of the Manehattan County Zoo.

To Miss Fluttershy of Ponyville:

I wish you well on this fine Tuesday afternoon. First and foremost, I wish to thank you once more for your assistance with our silver breasted sparrow exhibit. They're now eating the proper amount of food per day, and are healthier than they've ever been.

That said, we need your assistance once again. Early this morning, the city's animal control officers received a call about some unknown creature sleeping in an alleyway. They managed to secure it, though it seems very violent. As my enclosures are built stronger than most, I was charged with holding it here until we could find out what sort of creature it is and whether or not we can return it to its home. If we cannot, then I'm afraid it will have to stay in captivity. It injured two of the animal control officers, so we know it's too violent to keep around Manehattan.

We tried feeding it both meat and vegetables, and it hasn't touched either of them at the time of my writing this letter. We don't want it to starve, whatever it is. We were hoping you could come by at the earliest possibility.

Wishing you great health and haste,
Summer Bloom
Manehattan County Zoo
Proprietor

It was no longer Tuesday afternoon, but Wednesday morning. Fluttershy checked the post date, and confirmed that it had indeed been sent overnight. As interested as she was in going to Manehattan to see what aid she could lend, now wasn't the best time. Applejack's dog, Winona, had recently fallen ill, and Fluttershy had to ensure her health. She wouldn't be able to take Winona with her, nor could she leave the poor pooch on her own. As much as it pained her, she would have to refuse.

---

Summer Bloom had just finished tending to her herpetological house when a scroll wreathed in green flame popped into existence in front of her and landed at her hooves. She picked it up with her magic, unrolled it, and read it.

My dear friend, Summer Bloom.

I am glad to hear that your birds are doing well. I would like to come by and see them soon.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit tied up at the moment, metaphorically speaking. I'm currently tending to a sick dog who needs my regular attention. I can't bring her with me; she's too sick to travel. I also can't leave her here on her own, so I won't be able to come out for a few days, at least.

However, if you can find some way to bring your mystery creature to Ponyville, without causing it any harm, I'd be glad to look into it for you.

Looking forward to your swift reply,
Fluttershy

"Well, that settles it," smirked Summer Bloom. Signing off all of her duties to her assistant, Summer Bloom went to go see Nikolas. He hadn't done much since last night, being confined to a small cage with only some food and not much water. He looked very uncomfortable. "Rise and shine, human."

"I'm already awake, Miss Bloom," replied Nikolas, holding his gut.

"I have good news and bad news"

"Give me the good news first."

"No. The good news is only relevant once you've heard the bad news.

"Fine. Tell me the bad news, then."

"The expert we called in is unable to make it."

"That's not so bad," replied Nik, going down on one knee. "I probably already know more about humans than they do, if we're as rare as you say."

"The good news is-- Is something wrong with you?"

"I need a lavatory. As soon as possible."

"Just use the floor. We'll hose it down, don't worry. It's non-porous."

Nik scowled. "That's disgusting."

Summer shrugged. "It's what all the other animals do. Usually the opposite corner of where they keep their food."

"Will you just go on with the good news already? I could really use some right about now."

"Right. the good news is that you're being relocated temporarily to Ponyville. That's where our expert lives. She'll be able to solve all of your problems."

Nik rolled his eyes. "I doubt it."

"I'll be back in shortly with your crate." Summer turned and left the room, leaving Nik alone again. He relieved himself in the way she had indicated, trying to keep as much of it out of the cage as he could. True to her word, she soon came back with a smaller version of the cell he was in, though this one had wheels. After hooking it to the frame, she grabbed a long rod, poking him into the smaller enclosure, despite the fact that he was climbing in willingly.

The cage was designed to hold a lion, tiger, or other similarly-sized creature. While they could fit in here just fine, Nik was quite upset to be back on his hands and knees, crawling around like a child. Finding a corner in which to curl up, he resigned himself to his new life inside a cage. His depression was starting to set in again, and he wondered if he would ever feel contentment again, much less joy. Though he doubted this expert could help him, he secretly hoped she could. At the very least, he hoped she would listen to him.