A visit from Applejack ends up bringing up some pretty tough questions for Spike, and unfortunately, he and Twilight disagree. Very strongly.

Spike must find a way to restore his faith in ponykind, and Twilight must find out the truth, and if possible, restore her faith in the solar sovereign of Equestria.

This is a sequel to Leading the Herds.

(This story is meant to have a positive undertone, despite the "Sad" tag. So I warn you now, any fighting or antagonistic comments, hate against a character, or other non-friendly comments will be deleted. Also, no political debates, be they real or fictitious, or anything like that. I don't want a bunch of debating here. That's what Youtube is for.)