The Legend Of The Lonely Ladybug

Bad Binds

"New sewing needles, thread, golden fabric, silver fabric, peacock feathers, pearls, fabric dye, wool, jewellery, oh dear," Rarity nearly babbled to herself with a floating scroll placed partially in front of her face as the six mares crossed a decorated hall inside the palace of Canterlot, the regime of royal guards who had escorted them all the way to the castle during their travel still keeping them closely protected from both sides.

The general of the escort stared ahead, the look on his face making it clear that the pegasus had already become impatient to hand the subjects of his given task over to his superior. Twilight was walking beside him, already aware.

"Is there a problem, general?" the unicorn asked with slight concern. As an answer a sharp "hmph" left the pegasus' vocal chords from behind closed lips.

"Look, I'm truly sorry about what happened back at the town. I had to teach that stallion a lesson about his manners," the mare uttered quietly, thinking about how she should approach her point, "He assaulted me verbally."

"Miss Sparkle," the general finally opened his mouth, "I feel that I do have enough decency to understand why that kind of behavior from such a poorly disciplined citizen could affect your capable judgement but you also must realize that we are on a duty here. Celestia herself gave me strict orders to prevent you from being attacked not just by ponies but also by enemies that we still need to learn more about."

Stalling the group by raising his hoof, the general eyeballed passing palace personnel closely to confirm their identity.

"It is demeaning to our own rules and a needless risk to have you reverse that by violating given orders for such a momentary gain," he finished.

"I disagree about the gain of my choice being momentary but I respect what you are trying to say, general," Twilight replied while they continued moving, giggling from seeing the general's uptight stance, "Relax a little. You have done your job well."

"Equestria's balance might be at stake, miss Sparkle. For the record, I didn't come up with any of these orders," the pegasus growled, "You can speak more about that with Celestia."

Twilight exhaled tiredly and rolled her eyes without continuing the discussion.

"Glitter, buttons, silk, felt sheets," Rarity kept on reading her to-buy list until a smell caught her nostrils. Finally looking away from the list, her eyes popped open in their sockets when she spotted something and the scroll landed against the hall's long red carpet. The unicorn's mouth had not even fully dropped before a loud melodramatic shout exited it.

"Kidnappers!!" Rarity exclaimed with such loud decibels that it made everyone jump, even the unprepared royal guard, "The horrible, foul smelling kidnappers!!"

The others looked at where Rarity was screaming. In the large hall where they had stopped they saw another group of royal guards escorting two Diamond Dogs to the opposite direction from them. Hearing Rarity's loud accusations, the dogs and the guards alike all froze in a split second, now returning looks at the other group.

"Those brutal, jewel steali------," Rarity managed to exclaim before the hoof of the other unicorn covered it.

The dogs whimpered and shook, already in a badly upset mood which Rarity's temperamental fit hadn't been a welcome addition to. The other dog collapsed to his knees, weeping loudly.

"We get no respect," the Diamond Dog garbled, "No respect!"

The impatient guards lifted the dog up from the floor and dragged both of the howling creatures to where they had been taking them, leaving the other baffled group of ponies by themselves. Twilight finally released her hoof from covering Rarity's mouth.

"-------shouldn't be here...........?", Rarity completed the last part of her intended sentence half-heartedly, having seen the dog's reaction like the others, "Am I truly that terrible?"

Another "hmph" exited the general who proceeded with his own protocol, leading the mares towards where Celestia's throne room was located.

"What's gotten them so worked up?" Applejack said curiously in refer to the Diamond Dogs.

"Good question," Twilight replied.

Coming upon the entrance to the throne room, the general of the royal guard greeted two lance carrying soldiers who themselves were guarding the doors from both sides. Receiving nods, he walked up and pushed the doors open to enter.

The others followed to see the pegasus salute the princess before turning around to face Twilight. With a sharp nod of his own to the unicorn the general headed past her and exited the throne room without saying anything. Looking after the pegasus, Twilight didn't notice the ruler of the palace until she spoke out right next to her.

"Twilight," Celestia greeted the mare, "Thank you for coming."

"It's not like I had much of a choice over the matter," the unicorn replied upon looking at her teacher who had sneaked past her radar, "these escorts take their job way too seriously."

The other five mares gave a respective bow upon Celestia who gestured a front hoof with a look of anxiety.

"Rise, my dears, that won't be necessary."

Shifting her focus back to her pupil, the alicorn princess spoke to Twilight, appearing visibly sad.

"We have a lot to discuss," she said, "Come this way."

Heading towards the throne with the mares, Celestia settled down as her face descended. For a moment no one in the room spoke.

"My majesty?" Twilight ended up asking her teacher worriedly.

"So much has happened in such a short time," Celestia eventually spoke again, "I myself am not certain why but the implications..........have me deeply concerned."

The six mares turned silent, subjectively listening to the ruler of Canterlot under nervous curiosity.

"Many ponies have been disappearing all around Equestria," Celestia proceeded with the subject, "No traces, nothing else aside sightings of a strange phenomenon. Each time someone goes missing other ponies say they have seen something aggressive appear from below the ground."

"Do you know what it could be?" Twilight said.

"The acquired information is far from consistent because it is built from different witness testimonies," Celestia told them silently, "We have written records that might help shed some light. Corporal, if you may please."

"Yes, my majesty," a member of the royal pegasi complied, stepping forward from aside the throne where he had been situated, holding a scroll in the other hoof. Opening it, he began to read loudly, the echo of his voice circling the glittering air.

"Based on different witness statements, the source of the abductions works from underground. Physical form obscure and hard to describe. According to some witnesses it consists of grayish green vines. Other reports claim the source of the attack to be a demonic creature with limbs made of soil and roots."

All six mares listened the description in a tense silence.

"Behavior hostile," the guard kept reading, "Either causes significant damage to individual property or abducts ponies underground. Fate of said individuals unknown. Presumed dead. A team of royal pegasus dispatched to conduct research on the matter. Current status, missing."

"Thank you," Celestia told the pegasus, "That would be everything."

The guard rolled up the scroll like a yo-yo and stepped back to his designated spot near the tiny fountain that flowed freely from the side of the throne platform as Celestia decided to step down. She moved in circles, seemingly attempting to calm the restless thoughts kept in a limbo within her mind, a behavior both puzzling and concerning to her lavender protege who was watching it from aside. Finally she came to a cease and faced towards the other mares.

"You have been summoned here to help with this incident like I said in the letter. Can you put an end to it?"

"If we are to do anything we have to learn where this "plant creature" comes from. That might prove difficult," Twilight stated in her own thoughts.

"My dear student," Celestia spoke like a mother discussing with a beloved daughter, "With everything that you have pulled off I have full trust to your skills."

The alicorn ruler turned her head, shifting through each mare in the team with the same loving smile until her gaze turned absent, pointed towards the large room's windows to the right from where the central throne sat. Even without movement in her body Celestia's semi-solid mane kept swaying lively in the infinite solar wind, contrasted by a less energetic expression when the smile faded, replaced by a conflicted and uncertain look.

"I was just paid a visit by two representatives of the Diamond Dogs," the alicorn princess told to her guests quietly.

"What did those pillaging brutes want?" Rainbow asked bluntly with clear despise towards the burrowing canines.

"We got a glimpse of them just as we arrived," Twilight said, contrasting her friend's attitude with openness, "They seemed a bit upset."

"That was probably my fault," Rarity stated in an apologizing manner, "The poor things obviously are brutes but------"

"Don't blame yourself for something that you have not played any part in, my dear Rarity," Celestia continued, "As for your question, Rainbow, they are seeking refuge."

"What for?" Applejack enquired surprisedly.

"The shadowy entity that is causing these problems has driven their kind out of it's home burrows," Celestia answered to the farm mare, "I was told that it easily overwhelmed even their strongest fighters. According to the dogs immense fear seems to spread before it's touch. Because they can not go back they came to me to beg for a place where they could stay at. The poor things are deeply afraid and confused by what they have seen. Despite their criminal deeds I feel bad for them."

Celestia approached the windows, her mind beyond the confines of the moment. Stalling, the alicorn ruler remained distant. While her flawless outer form appeared free from signs of aging what lied beneath was suggesting at a stressful internal struggle kept deep within the mind that had experienced many violent conflicts of good and evil in Equestria's past without loss of discipline, conflicts all forgotten by those in the present who weren't yet around to share them with her.

"Equestria is a home to countless beings," Celestia again began, "Many which are driven by what makes our world stable and hospitable to those who seek shelter in it. We all share that basic understanding. Me and Luna tasked ourselves in keeping it that way so we could maintain the peace. There are very few dark forces that we aren't aware of. Those forces have all been kept away within their own realms."

From beside her Twilight was listening in an increasingly worried look to her own exterior, assessing the tone of the alicorn's voice as she recalled the entire timeline she had worked closely with Celestia, having expected her to be the more knowing of the two which had always been the case. Yet what long experience she had hadn't benefited the princess with what new challenge she now had to overcome.

Celestia briefly ruffled the folded wings on her back in search of comfort from the restless thoughts tormenting her mind, sounding nearly heartbroken as her chin descended in a graceful movement. "Hatred and grudge. That's what we have to endure. My sister knows it even better than I do. Every exile, every slain soul, every lost friendship."

Muted by silence, Celestia sighed a second time as a single glistening tear took form below her eyelid and rolled down the snow white cheek.

"It may not show from me often but every one of those continues to hurt me from within," the princess told to her student grievingly.

A new tear followed the last, noticed by the mare unicorn whose jaw had by now dropped.

"I can find momentary resolution from closing out such memories with thoughts of what friends and family I still am blessed to share my time with as well as concentrating at my responsibilities. But there is a downside to pristine memories,” the alicorn revealed sorrowfully, “They remind me of their existence when I least want them to.”

Celestia's closed eyes drew themselves back open to reveal a gaze dampened by the tears. The eyes of the princess met those of the lavender mare as if they sought for something that could add comfort to the unease. A new smile appeared.

"Every sentient being deserves affection of some kind. But to earn that they also deserve a choice," Celestia explained to Twilight, "A very long time ago I gave Discord such a choice."

Her voice nearly sank in it's increased depth when a new painful memory again distracted her mind to what was the alicorn's troubled and long past relationship with the draconequus semi-god of chaos who at one time ruled Equestria with an iron fist and had later given Twilight a literal run for her bits.

"He went down a path of his own," Celestia finished darkly.

Again the alicorn's smile faded, the gaze still lingering at Twilight as a new glistening droplet began to form at the corner of her eye.

"What ever it is that commits these atrocities is an alien being. The ponies that were taken," the alicorn half-whispered, " I can feel the fear of their relatives, the uncertainty that they are forced to bear. Yet I can't do what my heart longs me to do. I can not help them. A shadow has swallowed their loved ones. My attempts to pull the shroud aside..........."

Celestia's gaze wandered back beyond the moment. "I haven't felt this powerless since Chrysalis.............," the princess managed to utter until a silent sobbing cut off the rest of her speech. Finally giving in, her eyes teared up completely from the power of a long held back emotion. The sun goddess collapsed to a trembling heap on the floor, fresh droplets sent plopping against the shiny surface as she cried quietly.

Even though she was shocked from witnessing the unexpected breakdown Twilight inhesitantly came over and wrapped a front limb around her teacher in an impulsive gesture to try and comfort the alicorn princess, the other five mares and the royal pegasus already approaching fast.

"My majesty," Twilight soothed her whimpering guide. "We will do everything.......I will try everything within my capability to find those ponies and accordingly deal with what took them. I believe that we have a clue that can help us. He calls himself Faith."

"M-my dear student........," Celestia whispered like a withering autumn wind, too upset to keep going. A small clear puddle kept building on the floor beneath her chin.

"Celestia, please, don't do this to me," Twilight uttered, "You know that I can't be your psychiatrist. Everyone, help me lift her up."

With the aid of the other ponies she instantly took hold of the alicorn's gracile form and started to pull. Although shaky, their combined effort paid off when Celestia rose to again stand on the support of her own legs, still gently kept in balance by the six mares in case she would begin to stumble.

"My dear student," the sun goddess restarted after a moment's silence in the caring embrace of her assistants, "I dispatch you to your work. I know that you will succeed. Make me proud."

***

"Hey, watch where you're going, pal!" a stallion shouted loudly after a near collision with Faith who was absent in his thoughts during his travel through the town square.

"Uh.....sorry," the feminine pegasus mumbled, way too late to be heard by the other pony who had already moved on.

Made sharper in focus by the encounter, Faith kept his gaze more keenly pointed to the street and the other ponies going about their daily activity. Back in the apartment he had endured and foiled the first true assault of the renegade ghost emotion that he no longer treated as part of himself, a creature that the stallion only called by the name It. The attempt had been cunning and cruel but Faith had successfully protected himself without playing by it's rules.

Yet with said success he had still suffered a minor but significant loss. Faith had been shown a scene of Twilight violating a stallion with her magic at the town square, a scene It had claimed to have witnessed shortly after the mares departed to Canterlot. The seemingly wise unicorn had committed a crime that could potentially reduce Faith's belief in her.

The pegasus wasn't gullible enough to trust a calculating monster like It. To his knowledge the ghost emotion would exploit implanted blind belief to reach it's ruthless goal. Even if what he had seen was true the bitterness would obscure crucial details from what it had shown just to make the happening appear more negative or less positive than it would actually be to fabricate overall bad evidence every time such an opportunity were to offer itself.

Because of their shared past Faith had slight understanding about how It's motivating desire worked. The stallion had stood out against the creature, looked it in the eyes and blocked it's attempts to corrupt him without believing it's claims. It knew what he knew. Yet it had still showed him the vision.

In all it's malice It was aware that it didn't need to deceive him about everything to succeed in spreading bad blood which Faith had come to understand from the peaks of cruel joy in it's unnatural voice which he had picked out earlier during it's description of what it was going to do to the imprisoned ponies and him, a motivational bind easily dreadful enough to produce chills to the stallion's spine.

For a rare occurrence the bitterness had been actually honest about what it had seen, as honest as a twisted spirit-like being with the singular motive of causing the end of the world could be. If the vision had been authentic it had exposed a troubling detail in the mare unicorn responsible for bringing Faith out from a deadly environment and pushing him down the road of redemption.

Spotting a restaurant some distance away, a grumbling sensation in his stomach made the pegasus remember that he hadn't eaten too well for some hours. A green hoof lifted to balance the bottom of the leather bag that contained the bits given to him by Applejack's family from what helpful labour he himself had pulled off at the acres, a fair gift of good will from the farmers.

Deciding that there would be enough currency left for a small evening snack, the feminine stallion's trots brought him closer to the restaurant's outdoor dining area that was already occupied by several customers. As he sat down to the closest empty table Faith's thoughts brought him back outside the moment.

Twilight couldn't be a two-face. She had been honest, kind in how she spoke to him, always ready to give a helping hoof when he needed it. She had willingly brought him to her library simply to try and find answers to his problem even when he was a stranger. She had changed the apartment to better fit his needs and had listened to him when he had been most upset. She cared about his well-being.

Faith had even recognized the stallion who was being strangled as the toothless bully who some days ago had verbally assaulted him with his two buddies by using his unique posterior as ammunition. There wasn't much to deduce about said stallion, there were always badly raised individuals who'd compensate a lack of discipline with a boost of ego with questionable ethics being their plaything. Faith had successfully denied access to his composure from all three without returning anything that they had given or expected. He knew that such ponies could be easily ignored with experience.

What Twilight had done to that stallion spoke against her own teachings and the better behavior that she had displayed. The unicorn's actions felt out of place. The hunk wasn't worth the physical assault. His verbal insults had no effect on a mind capable of distinguishing a meager rat from a dangerous wolf if said mind wasn't overly sensitive to loud barking. Faith had expected Twilight to be the more experienced individual in interacting with other ponies no matter how uncivilized somepony else was.

It also didn't help that the pegasus still recalled how she had behaved when chasing Rainbow, a scary encounter in an already peculiar chain of events. At the time he had treated it as a rare mood shift, something that each and everyone of us could go through as a natural spike in an onward progressing diagram. Outside that she had not appeared unreasonably sensitive and even seemed to have a good reason behind the outburst.

Faith's latest encounter with It's doppelganger hadn't succeeded to sway his admiration towards the mare. The vision of her needlessly committing true violence had been the actual droplet in a glass of water filled to it's brim to change that. It was bizarre irony that in this specific case It had no true need to fake a subject matter to manipulate his emotions. A seed of doubt had been planted not by the bitterness but by Twilight herself. And It knew it.

Faith felt a knot in his hungry stomach as he fought to keep the doubt from becoming dominating. It couldn't be true.

"Sir, would you like to order," a unicorn waiter with a moustache asked, having already stood near him for several seconds. Startled from his thoughts, Faith looked at the waiter.

"Uh........yeah, I'd like to see the menu for starters," the pegasus mumbled shyly which the other stallion reacted to by spreading the scroll he had been holding against the table. Reading through the list, Faith licked his lips.

"I'll go for the cheese potato dish," he told the waiter politely.

Nodding, the unicorn moved on towards other customers after writing down his order. Once again by himself, Faith sighed.

"Oh Twilight," he told himself silently, "How can we be true friends if I can't trust you? Where is the meaning behind what you have told me when you throw away your own credibility like that?"

Deeming the continuous cycling in the same thoughts to be useless, the stallion gazed at the surrounding town that teamed with life beneath the canvas of the cloudless blue sky, now more curious about what he was being part of.

If it were to be looked at hard enough the society that he had at first viewed reluctantly wasn't as complicated or harsh from beneath when enough was learned about it's full diversity. The occupants of Ponyville were following the same routine basics that would drive all living beings in the natural world only with way more sentient infrastructures. Everyone learned the same hard way. Yet not everyone was being rude or ignorant with their attitude, in fact the opposite.

In a modern city it all got turned up a notch by machinery and strange ways to complicate the procedures driving them as well as way colder interaction which left the minds of individuals like Faith out of the loop. To someone who had struggled in a dark forest for years the wealth and fame that made the business stallions and mares of Manehatten foam from the mouth no longer mattered. What he looked at wasn't overshadowing his true treasure anywhere near as far for being a smaller town near Canterlot.

In here most of the local ponies still saw shelter, food and good company for what they were without bringing them out of context.

Waiting for his order, Faith stared on, assessing all the ponies moving past him. A stallion towing a cart of heavy wooden boxes that contained furniture, two mares chatting, a unicorn floating a pile of books that Faith guessed were most likely rented from Twilight's library, several young colts and fillies running somewhere, a pegasus stallion sporting a caramel colored coat and a red mane hitting on a familiar looking mare of the same race.

Recognizing the mare's grey coat and blonde mane, Faith remembered Ditzie from their earlier awkward encounter. It hadn't been the best way to get to know other ponies but they had separated in good terms. Observing, he noticed how the stallion almost intrusively pushed himself right beside her and was smacking his lips to get a kiss from the mare. Ditzie didn't appear to be enjoying his antics, constantly lifting a hoof to push the stallion back to thwart the attempts.

Watching it quickly made Faith feel uneasy. Who ever the stallion was didn't seem to be respecting her personal space as well as a true gentlecolt would. On the other hoof Ditzie seemed to be handling the situation well and there appeared to be no signs of real violence from the stallion's part. For all things said and done, she didn't seem to need any help. Jumping in with assumptions based on an incoherent witnessing would only be an action not well considered.

Seeing Ditzie suddenly look at his direction, Faith realized that she had also spotted him. Waving a hoof politely, the feminine stallion saw the mare pegasus return a wave and smile. The other stallion also noticed and started to discuss something that Faith couldn't make out over the distance but understood as questions probably regarding him.

As his empty belly again reminded Faith about it's existence the waiter came back with a floating platter. As it set down before him a delicious odor of food filled his nostrils, instantly making the stallion's mouth water. On the plate was a ration of potatoes piled on a salad leaf with a crust of steamy melted cheese covering everything, some of the vegetables chipped, others in one piece.

"Thank you," he told the waiter, "I was already getting worried for my stomach."

"Bón appetit," the unicorn replied with a chuckle and left him alone again.

Only spending a second to observe the skillfully made lunch laid before him, Faith took the first potato to his teeth and started chewing, surprised to find it hollow and filled with more cheese. Fast to swallow, he instantly took another bite. The day had been slightly hindered by his encounter with It but good food brought a surprising boost to his morale.

He only got to the fifth bite before an unexpected situation drew him away from eating.

Without warning the ground began to rock violently. Holding on to the table, Faith glanced around nervously as the quake kept going. Like him everypony else had noticed what was going on, ceasing what ever discussions they had. A mare screamed when a fracture opened up to the ground where the tables stood. The earth elevated to form a natural wall of rock while the other side took a plummet, sending some of the tables tumbling to the bottom when they tipped over.

A distance away more similar fractures had formed and distorted the ground the same way in a circular pattern which effectively mangled the roads as well as the foundations of the houses. A few of the buildings became bucked out of shape, looking like they would snap and collapse at any moment.

Shaken by what was happening, Faith was already off his seat, ignoring the unfinished meal. Around him the scene turned even more chaotic when ponies began to rush to many directions, some panicking, others attempting to help with possible property damage whereas some weren't doing anything, instead staring ahead at something, the feminine stallion being among said watchers.

At the open space of the town square something pushed the terrain out of the way like a huge mole digging underground. The earth collapsed within itself, forming a crater to the middle of the square which forced many ponies to gallop for their lives. A giant river of mud erupted from below the ground and quickly snaked itself up to the air from otherworldly influence.

Witnessing on, to his horror Faith saw an immense beast take shape from the fountain of loose muck and debris before his very eyes, a beefy creature that resembled a demon or a minotaur, vein-like roots forming an organic shell to it's frightening form. A mouth of sharp tusks opened up to bellow with such loudness that it sent vibrations through the ground. More ponies scattered in dread to escape the creature's close vicinity, some crying openly.

Ponyville was under attack.

After forming itself the demonic entity stretched the other one of it's two forelimbs to a ridiculous length with great speed to slam one of the houses like a battering ram, a flow of mud sent crashing through when the walls and windows gave away, filling the house with the loose soil. The couple living in the apartment saved themselves from drowning to the material by retreating through the backdoor in haste.

"What in Celestia's sake is that thing?!" Faith heard a stallion exclaim fearfully.

Another swipe from the earth monster's bulking arms tore a clean hole to the neighboring building with one swift swipe, sending bits of wood and glass flying everywhere. Simultaneously the creature snuck it's grasping appendage within the broken down house and pulled out what the pegasus recognized to be a flygel. Swinging it's arm in a wide arc, the monster flung the large instrument through the air.

Faith's eyes grew large. At the path of it's trajectory stood Ditzie and the pegasus stallion, both frozen in place. If they didn't move the flygel would land on top of them in a few seconds.

Without thinking Faith leapt off the ground and speeded towards the two ponies, moving fluently to try and catch up to them before the flying object would. Flapping as furiously as the strength of his wings allowed, the pegasus went in for a desperate forward dive.

"Get out of the way!" Faith shouted at the duo. Reaching them, he grabbed Ditzie and pushed her forward. Right at that moment a loud crash was heard from behind, accompanied by sounds of snapping piano strings and raining bits of stone.

With another roar the earth colossus straightened itself a distance away and plopped back into the hole that it had emerged from like a retreating seal, disappearing with a huge splash of mud. Again the ground began to rumble, slowly fading out to indicate that the monster was done with it's assault and had left the area.

Yet at it's wake a new kind of threat emerged from the crater.

Several grayish green vines slithered up with lightning speed and snatched the closest pony unfortunate enough to stand close to the hole to their barbed coils, a yellow filly with a white curly mane. Fighting and kicking, the screaming calf was yanked below by the menace before any of the adults got to her in time. A mare and a stallion wept powerlessly, the parents of the abducted child who was now gone.

Getting up from the pavement after landing, Faith began to hyperventilate. He had just witnessed a supernatural assault against the ponydom of Equestria first hand.

From what the stallion had seen the mud creature that appeared was easily powerful enough to ruin a handful of buildings in seconds. Worse than that, Faith had no idea how his former grudge was related to the existence of this new monster yet he already guessed that It was somehow behind the mess.

"Waffle!" Ditzie shouted in anxiety and rushed towards the landing spot of the now utterly demolished flygel, followed by Faith who saw her kneel beside it. The pegasus who had been in her company was sandwitched under the broken instrument.

"Oww...........oww..............oww," the red maned stallion winced repeatedly, stars and cuckoos circling his head.

"Oh no! Waffle, are you alright?" Ditzie gasped in concern and covered her mouth with a hoof.

"I can't feel my hind legs," Waffle mumbled with delirious eyes, "but my head aches. I suppose that means that the front half of my body still functions."

Tears fell down Ditzie's face. Weeping against the trapped stallion, she eventually took notice at Faith who was staring at them silently while looking pale.

"W-w-why didn't you save him too??" the mare pegasus whimpered.

"What?! There wasn't enough time," Faith replied loud, shocked by the mare's unexpected reaction, "Didn't you hear when I warned you?"

"You're lying!" Ditzie snapped at him with a sorrowful, shaky voice, "Liar!!"

Seeing the delirious expression on her made Faith's retinas grow large when he understood the reason behind Ditzie's outburst. The stallion who was now pinned under the flygel actually meant something to her, probably being a coltfriend or even a relative which Faith couldn't guess.

"Oh my gosh," the green pegasus uttered as his lips began to wobble, "I had no idea."

"Go away!!" Ditzie screamed, her eyes now fully blinded by the tears, looking like she wouldn't be listening for reason anytime soon.

Gasping deep, Faith backed away, feeling guilt weigh down his innards. Already blaming himself for what had come to be, what he felt next were the tears running down his own cheeks. The feminine stallion's trembling jaw opened reluctantly to try and add a sensible defense but it already felt useless. He hadn't prevented Waffle's injury from happening.

"I'm sorry for trying to save you," Faith ended up uttering in a hurt state and ran to the opposite direction without looking back.

"Mom!" a tiny voice called.

A purple coated filly galloped over the destroyed road and came upon the two pegasus, swiftly embracing Ditzie who was crying bucketloads. Behind her a group of other fillies and colts looked at the tragic scene in an adult mare's company.

"Dinky!" Ditzie's broken voice whimpered. Her body shook as she hung to her daughter. "Dinky!" she repeated desperately.

"What's going on, mommy?" Dinky asked her mother nervously, also tearing up as she kept glancing at the crushed stallion, "Why is Waffle lying under that piano? We heard some very loud noises."

"We have to get him to the hospital," Ditzie told her daughter, "Waffle is badly hurt and needs medical care. We need help!"

Cheerilee, the teacher who was with the children approached to a closer distance with a shocked face, the rest of her class sticking behind.

"Sweet Celestia! Keep him company, miss Doo. I'll go get help," she instructed the pegasus. With that the magenta earth mare turned and rushed past her nervous looking students.

"Hang on, Waffle!" Dinky exclaimed, still clutching to her mother.

Aside them Waffle moved his free half slowly under the flygel, appearing to be managing better than it had at first seemed like.

"Uh, sorry, honey," the pegasus stallion uttered ashamedly, "but I think I over-estimated my state. There's slight tingling building up to my rear half. Must have been temporary numbness. I guess my spine isn't damaged after all."

Out of nowhere Pinkie Pie popped into view to speak to the thin air surrounding her.

"Remember, readers, this is only possible in a cartoon!"

As soon as she came Pinkie had gone to leave the two pegasus and filly utterly puzzled.

"W-w-where is Faith?" Ditzie ended up uttering brokenly.

"Faith?" her daughter asked confusedly, "I didn't see anypony else here aside you two."

"I may be stuck under a bucking piano but you weren't being very fair to that pegasus," Waffle garbled.

In an instant a silence overtook Ditzie. As she pulled herself up from the ground a thought occured to her which made the mare exhail loud as her eyes rotated wildly in their sockets without a hint of synchronization.

"What have I done?"

***

He ran as quickly as his limbs allowed.

No direction, no goal. The strong erge to gain distance between him and other ponies being his only motivation, everything that Faith sought was isolation.

The strength of his despair gave him the speed that allowed the pegasus to exit the town in minutes. A trail of floating dust lingered behind as he galloped down the dirt road leading away from Ponyville which led him to the neutral region surrounding it's borders.

Seeing an approaching cart driving earth pony ahead, he leapt to the support of his wings in order to gain altitude, escaping high above the trees surrounding the road as the cart's owner watched in confusion.

After several more minutes of frantic flying he finally began to descend and landed on a heavy branch of an individual tree, panting heavily because by now he had ran out of breath. Leaning against the bark, the stallion wept quietly in solitude for what to him felt like an eternity.

"I was just trying to help...........," Faith whimpered.

So many things had gone wrong in one day. First the bitterness trying to corrupt him with violent images and doppelgangers, the attack on the town and the result of his rescue attempt that had gone down the drain. What else could possibly happen? Faith fought the need to scream from the very bottom of his tangled soul.

Why had Ditzie and her stallion not reacted? Both pegasus had been close enough to audibly detect his shouting. Instead they had stood in place like cowering sheeps when the flygel came down. Instead of thanking him for saving her from sharing the fate of her friend the ungrateful ass of a mare had treated him like Faith himself had been the one behind the incident.

None of it felt sensible.

For a small fraction of time a burning flame ignited within the feminine stallion's head, a flame that he had not felt since denying himself from feeling anger towards others years ago.

"I will never speak to that lousy, cowardly donkey of a ------," his mind uttered until a voice of reason exclaimed, "No!"

Realizing what his mind was again nurturing, Faith closed out the thoughts feeding it's birth and replaced them with optimism. Inside him the hateful flame was successfully snuffed out.

"There must be a logical reason for why she behaved the way she did," Faith began to speak to himself to calm his own nerves, "That stallion who she called Waffle was likely in good relations with her. I think the whole thing just made her lose her mind momentarily and I was unlucky enough to get in the way at that moment."

The pegasus got up on his hind legs to stand over the support of the thick branch and was watching the forest. He noted the sunlight and a warm summer wind that felt comfortable against his coat as it drifted against him. In the vast distance behind the tree line spanned the blue horizon.

"So much suffering from nothing but assumption," he kept coaching himself, "You have taken your eyes off the ball too easily, Faith."

His wings straightened themselves and began flapping. Lifting himself off the branch, Faith descended towards the ground and touched down in a few seconds. Around him the air glittered from the sunlight.

"Why is big pony sad?" a butterfly asked him as it flew past with words that Faith's ears understood.

"I'm continuing to grow and learn more about myself," the pegasus told the insect grievingly, "Maybe one day I will become less sad and more happy."

"Big pony is wise and sweet," the butterfly said before moving on in search of flowers.

A smile grew on the femine stallion's face as he wiped the tears from his cheeks and sniffed. What had happened in the town made Faith nervous about the future. It's influence was beginning to widen which the stallion felt powerless against. Yet his true chances lied at overcoming the effects of mindless fear and the confusion that it spawned, an acknowledgment that lightened his burden.

A small start would be better than nothing. Despite all the shortcomings Faith was still functional and willing to keep going. All that he had to do was to get a new hold of himself.

After walking alone through the woods for a while the pegasus came upon a pond located in the heart of the forest and watched it, deciding that the spot was isolated and calm enough to allow his thoughts to flow freely. Relaxing in the natural calmness of the setting and inspired by the voices of the insects, Faith suddenly started singing.

Who am I?
Do I stand for nothing?
Who am I?
Can't I strive for something?

All I did was trying to steer away
From myself,
What I could stand for.

Who am I?
Why does it seem lack meaning?
Who am I?
Can't I just stop grieving?

I hide away from what my true binds could be
to the world
that can give much more.

Looking below him and to the vibrating water surface, Faith stared to the eyes of a green mare-like pony who flashed a smile from between the floating lily pads, water fleas skimming over the reflection.

I get what I give and should aim for that,
To believe to myself.
Life rewards you if you seek the good half.
I sing to remember.

I sing to remember.

Again Twilight crossed Faith's mind. Despite the troubling deed that he had been shown the stallion felt that her teachings mattered. Everyone learned that same hard way. Faith wasn't going to take It's claims literally.

Who am I?
I'm shy about the strangers.
Who am I?
I find myself stranger.

Fast to judge those who had still cared about
my well-being
and how it's maintained.

While he sang beside the pond Faith noticed that his voice was drawing attention. Butterflies, wasps, beetles and other tiny insects landed around him to listen, slowly hinging their wings. They weren't alone, other small forest animals ranging from birds and squirrels came to witness the momentary spectacle.

Who am I?
My life is not in vain.
Who am I?
I must endure this pain.

I can't run from what could be my true bind
to the life
that has much to give.

I get what I give and should aim for that,
To believe to myself.
Life rewards me if I seek the good half.
I sing to remember.

I sing to remember.

"I sing to remember," Faith whispered to himself.

He closed his eyes and remained in deep silence. The insects, birds and rodents eventually began departing once they deemed the performance over. Finding himself alone once more, in his solitude the pegasus turned to look over at the horizon and the sun visible through the free space between the rows of trees. It was a beautiful solitary moment which the pegasus enjoyed as long as time would permit.

Faith would return to Ponyville. He'd find Ditzie and attempt to untie the established locks, maybe even find a way to assist his coltfriend if he had managed to survive the accident. He'd talk to Twilight and the others once they were to return from Canterlot and help put a stop to It's plan of destroying Equestria.

Faith was done wallowing in negative thoughts and self-esteem. It would be now or never. The time to work for his future had come.

***