The whips crack. The whimpers are deafening.

I can't do this.

I'm crying. My hooves stop moving. The others keep moving.

I can't do this.

They shove a gun to my head and order me to punish the crypto-avian.

I can't...

"Come on, sweetie. One hoof in front of the other."

I can do this. Running may be out of reach for now, but I can do this.

"Just one step at a time," says Sweet Cream. At least, I'm pretty sure that's the old mare's name. She told me once before, but I was distracted.

I move my foreleg forward. It's wobbling. I can't see where I'm going. I'm reminded of that silly game I would play with my friends long ago, where we dared each other to walk as far as we could with our eyes closed-

I have friends.

I focus intently on that memory. I'm with two fillies. We're playing outside in a backyard. One of them turns to look at me. I can see her smile, but not the rest of her. Everything else is a haze. The more I try to focus on the memory, the more blurry it gets.

I'm reminded of how dark everything is.

My hoof touches the ground. One step at a time.

My body screams at me not to move any further without seeing where I'm going first. But I have no choice.

I take a deep breath and force another hoof forward. It connects with the ground. I'm shaking. I don't know where anything is. "Do I have to do this?" I ask. I know the answer already.

"Yes Guide, you have to. Walking is an important part of life, like it or not."

I hesitate. Another step. And then another. I'm completely lost now. I put on a brave face to hide my fear. "I know how to walk..."

I hear the old mare walk over to me. Her voice conveys patience. "But if you ever want to go anywhere, you'll need to be able to walk like you used to. Do you want me to get the probing cane now?"

"No," I say adamantly. "I don't want to use it."

She smiles. Wait a minute... "You know," she begins, "my mother was just as stubborn as you when her age began to take her sight. She refused to accept help from anypony; she ended up spending her final days bumbling around her house because she couldn't see very well. Even then, she didn't want to admit that she needed help with her sight."

"I'm not old and I don't need help." One of those is the truth.

"Is that so? Well, I guess I'll just go home then!" She chuckles, "You'll be able to find your way back to your room, won't you?"

I remain silent. I keep putting one hoof in front of the other. It feels like I'm going to fall into the abyss with every step.

Eventually, my nerves get the better of me. "Okay, maybe I'll try out the cane thing, all right?"

But nobody answers me.

"Nurse Cream? Are you there?"

But nobody came.

My heart rate quickens. I begin to shake. I put another hoof forward, but I stumble. As I try to catch myself, I...

I'm in the desert. The purple zebra is with me. I look around and see a river to our right. We're walking alongside it. I hear one of us say, "What are you going to do after all of this is over?"

"I'm not entirely sure," the other answers, "I might pay a visit to the families of my late friends."

"You had friends? That's hard to swallow."

"I did. And though you may not believe it, I cared greatly for them."

"What happened to them?"

A silence. "I lost them."

"Do you think they'd be happy with all of the lives that you've ruined?"

Another silence. "Perhaps I will ask them that one day."

My head collides with the ground. The memory fades, and the darkness returns. I groan, then pull myself up.

"Guide! Are you all right?!" The nurse asks with concern in her voice. It sounds like she is far away.

"Yes, no thanks to you," I grumble as I finish righting myself, "Where did you go?"

"I stepped away to grab the probing cane; I didn't think you would fall." She helps me right myself. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Guide!"

"It's just 'Guide,' thanks." For some reason, saying that name fills me with apprehension. I'm not entirely certain that it is mine, but it feels so familiar.

Nurse Cream removes her hooves from me and reaches over to grab the probing cane. Hold on... That feeling again, it's unnatural. I stop and try to focus on it...

"Would you like to try the cane now?" the nurse asks tentatively. My concentration is broken, and the feeling passes. What was that strange feeling?

"...Fine." I reach out in her general direction and feel her place the cane in my hoof. I bring it up to my mouth and bite down on it. It tastes of humiliation and defeat.

"It's retractable and bendable, so you don't have to worry about it hitting something and poking you in the back of the mouth."

"Phankphs," I grumble through the probing cane. I experiment a little with it. It's not unwieldy, nor is it very heavy. I firmly tap the ground ahead of me with it.

Deep breath. Here goes nothing...

A step. I feel the cane slide across the padded ground. There is nothing in front of me.

Another step. The cane slides.

And another. I feel miserable.

"Very good dear! You'll be back out in society in no time!"

I remove the cane from my mouth. "Hurrah," I say without cheer.

The nurse speaks again. "And don't you worry, dearie, there's a lot of jobs out there for disabled ponies. I'm sure we can find something for you!"

I open my mouth, then close it. A job...

She continues, "Oh, that reminds me! Do you remember what you did for work, Guide?"

My work...

I feel a headache coming on. I reach a hoof to my forehead. There's...

There's kirin everywhere. So many vibrant colors, and so many curious eyes looking at us. The purple zebra is next to me; she is conversing with one of the kirin. I look up and see a truly magnificent sight. A grand, beautifully crafted city the likes of which I thought only existed in stories. I'm in awe, but I know that I cannot stay here. The purple zebra thanks the kirin, then nods to me. We start walking through the vast crowd of the marketplace.

"Remind me, what exactly do you do?" I hear one of us say, "Like, what are you skilled at?"

I hear a chuckle. "I am an alchemist by trade, and a very good one at that. I thought you would have picked that up by now."

"You seem more like an assassin."

"I know the art of the blade as well, though that is not my primary forte."

There is a brief silence between us. "...What's it like to take a life?"

"It depends upon if the life belonged to an equine or not."

"Do you really value equine lives above avians that much, Guide?" There is no answer. "Hey Guide, you there?" Still nothing. "Guide, are you all right?"

I feel the nurse shaking me. "Guide?! Is everything okay? You froze again!"

"I'm fine," I gently brush her hooves off me, "I was an... alchemist. And also a..." I stop. Better not mention that other part. "...an adventurer."

Her worried face morphs into a smile. That feeling again... "Oh, what an interesting field of work! And it must have been so much fun, too! Though..." she pauses, humming, "I don't think I've heard of any pony alchemists before."

"I'm not most ponies," I say. That lingering feeling is still there, but I cannot grasp it. It feels almost as if there is a pulling sensation from inside my body and outside of it at the same time.

"Do you remember how to make any potions?" the nurse asks, "I've always fancied a-"

"Nurse Cream?" I interrupt.

"Yes?" Concern slips into her voice again.

The pulling feeling is slipping away again. "Could I try to walk around here alone for a minute? I promise I won't fall again."

"Of course, dear. I'll be in the other room, just yell if you need me." She departs.

I hear the door close. I stop and concentrate. Every time I try to focus on that odd feeling, it shuffles around. I try to pin it down, but it moves again.

Maybe if I... I stop trying to pinpoint the feeling and instead let the odd sensation roam freely inside and outside of me.

There.

There it is.

All at once the pulling stops feeling unnatural. I flow with it. There is... there is a chair over there. A table, a wall. I can't see them, but they are there. I turn my head. A window. It's not too far away. I need to go to it.

I walk towards the window. The panic my mind felt at not knowing where I was going is gone. I am about to hit the window. I stop, then gently reach out and touch the glass. My hoof begins to shake. Another memory fills my mind.

"I call it the Guidance."

The purple zebra is beside me as we walk the path toward the mountains ahead.

"...You sure you're not just on drugs?"

The offhooved comment is ignored. "Drugs could not do what the Guidance does for me."

"Okay, what is it really?"

"It is what makes me the Guide."

"That explains absolutely nothing. Just tell me what it does."

There is a quick exhale of frustration. "You test my patience, you know."

"Fine, sorry, whatever. Will you please explain to me what this all-powerful 'Guidance' does for you?"

"It shows me the way to what I need."

"Well, what do you need?"

There is a lengthy pause. "Sometimes I don't know until long after I've found it."

I take my hoof off of the glass. It's trembling.

I can't see them, but there are foals playing outside. There are four of them. A ball. They're kicking it around.

I discard the probing cane. The pulling feeling returns, and I know it will help me see through my blindness.

There were some doubts, but now I know for certain who I am.

I am the Guide, and I am the wielder of the Guidance.

Author's Note

The Guidance will show her the way.