Onyx galloped through the city streets as fast as his legs could carry him. When he couldn't keep up the pace any longer, he found a secluded corner to finish crying his eyes out. He thought he was stronger than this, but when he saw the look of sheer terror on that crystal pony's face, it had broken him.

Without realizing it, he had gotten himself lost. That was fine, he didn't want to see anyone else right now anyway. He was a mess from his run and by the time he started to calm down, rain had already been falling for a while. He was tired, he was angry with himself, and all he wanted to do was disappear. He reached out and grabbed the edges of his cloak, and with a tug, he pulled them around himself. Taking advantage of the enchantments that Master Clover had taught him to weave into his garments to keep himself warm and dry, Onyx soon fell asleep.

It was late evening by the time Onyx woke back up; and while he managed to stay warm despite the rain, he still had no idea where he was. A thick fog had rolled in over the city, making it impossible to see more than a couple dozen feet in any direction.

He wandered out into the streets, marveling that there were still ponies moving about despite how late it was. Lights filtered through the fog, giving everything a ghastly glow to it, and Onyx continued trying to get his bearings. He had been hoping he could've at least spotted the horsehead statue that crowned the hotel, but it was a lost cause. The young pony took a moment to look at the strange carts that filled the road. He had seen them when they first came into town, but he still couldn't think of why ponies would make carts to pull other ponies and then move slower than if they had just walked themselves. It might've made more sense if they were offering rides to the elderly, but ponies of all ages were waiting in lines to get on these unusual pony-pulled carriages.

Onyx pulled himself away from the enigma and picked a direction to just start walking. Any direction had to be better than just standing around. A few more hours of wandering around in the fog and he started to hear the sound of water breaking against the docks. He stood there, watching the water move as his mind continued to run over the scenario at the diner. Was there anything he could've done differently? Was this how it was always going to be whenever he ran into another crystal pony? "How am I supposed to live like this?" He asked the last question aloud, feeling like he would explode if he kept all his worries bottled up inside.

"The water has that effect on some ponies," came a voice to his right, breaking the silence.

Onyx almost jumped halfway out of his skin. He focused in on the source of the voice to find that he had been standing next to a light blue pegasus with a scraggly white mane and beard. The fishing pole he was holding bobbed along as he started to laugh.

"Sorry young 'un," he apologized as he got his mirth under control. "I didn't mean to scare ya like that. You musta been so lost in your own little world that you didn't see me sittin' here."

Onyx gave the old fisherpony a short bow once he caught his breath. "Sorry to bother you, sir. I'll be on my way."

"Now hold on," he said, clearly not wanting to see company depart so soon. "You look like somepony that's got something on your mind. An' I'd be a fool to let you wander off into the dark and the fog while carrying such a heavy burden." He beckoned the youth over and padded the spot next to him. "Have a seat. Take a load off."

Onyx hesitated for a moment before padding up next to him and sitting down. He sat there for a while in silence and watched the slowly moving water. Before long, his thoughts began to wander again. His eyes began to dart back and forth as the events that led him up to this point played out in his head and he grit his teeth as the regrets that piled up threatened to suffocate him.

"Now, why don't you tell me what's bothering you?" The fisher asked without taking his eyes off the water.

The young colt let out the breath that had been building up in his chest as he looked at the old-timer out of the corner of his eye. "Is it that obvious?" He asked.

"You don't get to be my age without seeing a fair share of life and its troubles," he said with a soft smile. "So what is it? Having a fight with your parents? Trouble at school?" He gave a sly smirk. "Maybe there's a cute little filly your own age, and you don't know how to get her attention?"

Onyx anxiously rubbed at his foreleg. The mere idea of a relationship was probably the furthest thing from his mind. "You wouldn't understand," he said. "My life... My life is a bit of a mess."

"Surely it can't be all that bad," the old pony talked into the mist.

"I don't know," said Onyx. "It's a bit of a crazy story. I doubt you'd believe me."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter if I believe you or not. Sometimes all we need is somepony who's willing to listen. You'll feel better if you do."

And so Onyx hesitantly began to tell his tale. He told him about how he had been born into the royal family of the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago. How Clover had wandered into the hidden city and offered to take him on as an apprentice. He told him about how he had seen Equestria for the first time back when it consisted of little more than a few small towns.

Onyx grit his teeth as he continued his tale, coming to the part that still brought him grief to this day. "I was so foolish," he said, the shell on his emotions beginning to crack. "My master had left me to my studies in order to search for a lost friend. While he was gone, I went through the books he said I wasn't ready for and I tried casting one of the more difficult spells, hoping to impress him when he returned and..."

He looked up to see how the fisher was reacting to his story. Far from looks of disbelief, he continued to calmly listen while smoking on a pipe he had retrieved at some point. So Onyx continued.

He went on to tell him about how he had accidentally pulled something sinister out of the void and how it had seized control of his body. The floodgates broke as tears once again began to stream down his face. "The things I saw, the things it made me do, my mother..."

He felt a comforting hoof rest across his back and he looked up to see the sympathetic look he was getting from his companion. "Just let it all out," he said.

"Once everything was over, I saw the way the crystal ponies looked at me." The tears continued to fall as the pain ached in his chest. "Even if everypony keeps telling me it wasn't my fault, I was still the avatar of everything they went through." He swallowed hard as he tried to get himself under control. "I saw the wise and compassionate rulers that had taken up the throne. They'll do right by the crystal ponies, and they don't need the constant reminder of what happened by me staying. So, I left."

The fisherpony took a long deep breath of his pipe as he processed everything he just heard. "You sound like you believe you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders," he said.

"Like I said. I understand if you don't believe me," Onyx said somberly.

He shook his head in response, "and like I told you, it's not a matter of whether or not I believe you. It looks like this has been weighing you down."

"There's more," said the youth, earning himself a raised eyebrow from the old-timer.

It only took a few more minutes for Onyx to recall what had happened at the diner, to which the pony said, "ah... So that's the real issue. You're not sure what you're supposed to do when you run into one of these crystal ponies?" He asked, to which Onyx nodded.

"Well then," the fisher said. "I need to ask you something. Have you forgiven yourself yet?"

"I don't see how I can," he said as he looked down at the water. "What I did can't really be forgiven."

"There's a big difference between forgive and forget," the old fisher said. "None of us ever really forget the wrongs done either to us or by us. But we can move on by putting our best hoof forward."

"You make it sound so easy," the youth said.

A chortle escaped his companion's throat. "Hardly," he said. "It can be one of the hardest things you ever do, but if you're sincere and be the best you can be, you'll eventually find your way."

Onyx looked up from his thoughts and saw the sun peeking up over the horizon. Without realizing it, they had been talking all night and the morning light was now starting to clear the fog. "I should get going," he said. "Somepony will be wondering where I've been."

The fisherpony nodded as Onyx turned away. "You and Clover are staying with the hive, right? If you see Ruby, let her know that ol' Water Strider says hello."

Onyx's eyes widened as he turned to look back at where the old pony had been sitting, only to now find himself alone on the docks.

Author's Note

You can thank PlzCelestiaStepOnMe for Water Strider.