Failure, Eternally Retold, Part Two: Nature's Blessings

by Kiernan

Chapter the Eighteenth: Laid to Rest

With Kai and Fluttershy assisting, cleaning up the dead bodies was much easier and faster. Even though Kai was only on three legs, he used his magic for most things. While Fluttershy was a bit upset that he was still trying to help with a broken shoulder, she didn't try to stop him. In truth, she felt a bit guilty. Her landing on his arm was the final act that broke it, but he insisted on helping, regardless. At the very least, he wasn't carrying the bodies, just dressing them up in clean, respectable outfits.

Once they were all dressed up, Twilight took the mare up to a podium, where she spoke at length about each of her fallen sisters. The travelling quartet didn't know much about the mares, so they didn't have anything to really say, but they listened intently.

She talked for about an hour, and as she finished, Twilight moved the bodies out into the lake for an aquatic burial, complete with a ring of flowers gathered from the seafloor. While it would have been easier to just tell the mare she had sent them off with flowers, Twilight had more integrity than that.

Kai approached the mare. "Now, I know you're probably not in the best state because of what happened to your family, but we still need the blessings of Crysoosuna. You wouldn't happen to know of any ritual or challenge we have to meet to receive it, do you?"

The mare took a deep breath and tried to put her hoof on his shoulder, but ended up much closer to the break in his arm. As he grunted in pain, she realized what was wrong. "It feels like your arm is broken."

"It is," he seethed.

The mare steeled her expression. "Come with me, right away." Drawing water to her horn stump, she used the tentacles to more quickly feel her way down two separate hallways, stopping when she came to a small room. "Are you still behind me?"

"We all are," answered Fluttershy, who was helping Kai walk. "We want to know what you plan to do with him."

"I'm going to try to fix his broken leg," she answered. "We were mostly made up of healers. I may not be the best we had, but I can fix a broken bone much faster than time alone."

Kai hobbled into the room and sat down. "I'll be fine. In the meantime, why don't you all go rest in the main chamber?"

"Nonsense," interrupted the mare. "We have bedrooms. If they were still alive, I know my sisters would have wanted you to rest comfortably, to the point where they would offer you their beds for the night. Go to the residential dome and pick any room, except the one labeled 'Seafoam.' That one's mine, and I can't prepare it for you while I'm in here."

With a hesitant nod, the group, sans Kai, made their way to the bedrooms. They were spacious, lovely, and had a magnificent view of the seafloor. The beds were even large enough for Nik to sleep in. As he sat down on one, it jiggled beneath him, and a smile crept across his face. "It's a water bed."

Fluttershy and Twilight found their own rooms, which were equally grandiose. The biggest issue they had were with the personal belongings of the mares that used to sleep in those rooms. The mare who lived in Twilight's room had countless framed photographs on the walls and tables of herself, a stallion and three children. Twilight guessed that they were the mare's family, and after reading the back of one of the photographs, she made a mental note to find her husband and tell him of her demise. In Fluttershy's room, there were several trophies and medals, all for swimming competitions. She was particularly drawn to one of the photographs. One of the mares they'd sent off was standing with a large trophy and a banner behind her was lauding a well-known charity that raised money to pay for medical procedures for disabled children. All of this wasn't what drew her in, though. In the background, waving a flag and cheering, was a young Rainbow Dash.

While it was just after sunset, none of them could sleep. When Kai and Seafoam made their way up the hall after his treatment, they all jumped out of bed and rushed to the hallway. Kai was up on all four legs again. Fluttershy wanted to run up and hug him, but she didn't know if he'd healed enough for that, or if she could hug so tight that his arm would break all over again, so she stood in the doorframe and smiled sheepishly at him.

"Seafoam was just telling me about the communal baths," said Kai. "I think we could all do with a nice cleaning right about now, so why don't we take a dip? Nik and I will take one, you two can take the other."

"You won't be joining us?" asked Twilight, directing her question at Seafoam.

"The second half of Kai's healing needs to be in these baths," answered Seafoam. "I have to be with him for that."

They all made their way to the bath dome and prepared for their baths. Nik was the only one wearing clothes, but it was common courtesy to clean yourself in the shower before taking a communal bath.

Nik lowered his body into the water and let out a sigh of relief. If only he could shave off his itchy beard and stop the ponies hunting him, this would feel amazing. The water was just the right temperature, and he could feel the tension in his back just melting away. It even smelled nice.

The door opened, and Kai walked in. With a bit of help from Seafoam, he, too, slipped into the rippling water. As seafoam began to run her hooves along Kai's shoulder, Nik scooted away to add a bit of distance between himself and Kai.

"I had hoped you would have warmed up to me by now," sighed Kai. "I'm not going to hurt you at all. Just the opposite, in fact. Is there something about that you don't understand?"

"Different reason this time," said Nik, making sure to cross his legs. "Communal baths are really weird when there's someone else in there with you."

"That's the point of them being communal," Kai chuckled. "You bathe with others. It's not that bad, honestly. Unless, of course, there's something on your body that you want to hide."

"Isn't there something on your body that you don't want to advertise?" asked Nik. "There's a reason we all wear clothes all the time. We call it common decency."

Kai let out a laugh. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we ponies don't always wear clothes. I don't have any body parts that you haven't seen before."

"Not if I don't go looking for them."

"If it makes you feel any better, I can keep my eyes closed if you exit the tub before me. No size comparisons, no complaining about how much bigger you are than me, nothing."

Nik said nothing. Kai's proposal was quite agreeable, and he didn't have a snappy comeback. More importantly, though, he was content to hear that Kai was smaller than he was. He wasn't about to check, but he felt more comfortable thinking that he was the biggest in that tub. After a moment of silence, a smile crept across Kai's face as he leaned back. While his arm still hurt, he was feeling just great in the bubbling bath.