Twilight put a hoof on him and teleported them to her favorite reading spot. She sat down in a chair, putting him on her lap.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Mayhem. In fact, quite the opposite. You did everything right.”

“So why did it turn out so different?”

“It turned out different because you’re looking at it the wrong way.”

He sniffed, wiping his eyes.

“The problem is that you’re trying to compare scenarios that can’t be compared in the way you want them to. Each pony, and each situation, is different, but let’s look through what you brought up.

“There are three key factors in play here. Factor one is severity, factor two is time, and factor three is the feeling of guilt. I’m going to talk about Spring’s situation last so you can see how those differences affect why she’s reacting differently than the rest of your friends, okay?”

He nodded, still letting out little whimpers and sniffs.

“Pound and Pumpkin have severity with the feeling of guilt. They did sit with those feelings for a few hours, and even left the house, but they ran into Fluttershy soon after. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how loving she can be.”

He shook his head, sniffing again.

“She took away most of their guilt, and then moved things into a situation where they could resolve things with their parents, Pinkie, and me.

“Peppermint was the same. Severe guilt, but running into someone caring soon after.

“Masky felt a little neglected over a few months, so he has time. However, he had nothing to feel guilty over. His feelings mainly stemmed from the pain of having to lose friends rather than directly at his parents. His parents choosing to remain in Ponyville for his sake soothed those feelings, so he quickly got over it.

“Flurry… she’s the one I felt was closest to Spring. I, too, was thinking about her and comparing their feelings. However, there’s still a big difference between them.”

“What’s that?” asked Mayhem.

“Flurry did have all three. Her feelings were severe and overwhelming. She had time to let those feelings build. And she did have guilt whenever she spent too much time enjoying herself rather than studying.

“The main area where they differ, though, is time.”

Mayhem gave her a curious look. “But you just said they both had time to build up their feelings.”

She nodded. “Yes, I did. However, I was referring to where their minds were. Flurry’s mind was rooted in the future. She constantly worried about being forced to ascend to the throne. She had to study as much as possible so that she could protect her people when they needed her. She knew she was just a child, and nowhere near as strong as her mother, so she had to work extra hard to try and catch up.

“When she was made aware this was never going to happen she saw she didn’t need to push herself so hard, and was able to let things go.

“Spring was different in that her mind was rooted in the past. Unlike Flurry, who feared a possible future in which she allowed others to come to harm by being too weak, Spring was living in a present in which she did allow someone to come to harm by being too weak.

“You can prepare for the future, but you can’t undo the past… or, rather, you shouldn’t mess with the past. Can’t forget Starlight and her time-traveling antics.”

“So… what does it all mean?” asked Mayhem.

“What it comes down to is that, even if Flurry had all three qualities, Spring’s was far worse. That’s why it’s not as easy for her to just let it go.

“The thing is, when you hear something often enough, you start to believe it. All Flurry had was just reminding herself to study to prevent harm. Spring, on the other hoof, kept telling herself that she was a monster… that she was trash unworthy of love.

“She kept those thoughts inside, not sharing them with her family. Thus, there was no one to argue against that assessment of herself. Eventually, it changed from just lashing out in a flurry of emotions to becoming the truth in her mind. And because that was ‘true,’ it meant she really was a monster who didn’t deserve affection and her family hated her.

“Everyone secretly hated her. Once her brother came back he would hate her too, but at least her parents and her brother would be happy with each other, even if they all didn’t want to be around her.

“Those kinds of prolonged thoughts, constantly attacking the self, are devastating to anyone, no matter how old you are. But they’re much worse to a child, because they’re still developing and just don’t have the same mental strength as someone older.

“That’s the biggest issue with violence against the self: there’s no one to dissuade that opinion. When you believe something horrible about yourself it tends to create shame and a desire to keep it hidden, then it just circulates endlessly inside.”

Mayhem let out a little groan.

“Now that we’ve talked about the differences between Spring and the rest of your friends I think we should get to your question. Did you save her? The answer is unquestionably yes.”

Mayhem bit his lip. “But if that’s true then why is she still so down on herself? I understand the differences between the situations but it still had the same result, didn’t it? She went through the tears and fought us the whole way until we finally got her to talk with her brother. They all hugged and told her they loved her and she talked about wanting to break free of the past… but she’s still dealing with the pain.”

“That’s the way you see it. I see it completely different.”

His eyebrow went up. “Are you trying to say she’s not hurting anymore?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. I’m saying your journey is complete.”

“But how can it be over if she’s still in pain?”

“You said something very significant earlier that I want to bring up.”

“What’s that?”

“You said a lot, doing your best to get through to her and have her be responsive. However, somewhere along the way, you gave up.”

His head tilted. “What? When?”

“Easy there. This is a good thing, because it shows that you’re starting to understand our true purpose.”

“True… purpose?” His head tilted the other way. “What does that mean? And how did I give up?”

“I don’t mean that you gave up on her, but that you gave up on being the one to save her. That revelation is what I mean.

“You said that you wanted to be the hero of the day, to swoop in and save her and make everything right. But then you realized you couldn’t do that, because this wasn’t an issue between you and her.

“No matter how much you talked, no matter what you said, you alone couldn’t fix her problems, because the source of her guilt is with her brother and the accident she caused. From there you shifted your focus from talking to her to pushing her to talk with her brother.

“That was the correct course of action, because even if you did get through to her on your own her guilt would never go away until she talked to him.”

“Okay… but why is that so important?”

“Let me ask you in return: what does it mean to solve a friendship problem?”

“Um…” His face screwed up in thought. “When the upset ponies are happy again?”

“That’s one answer, and to an extent you’re not wrong, but that’s not the answer I have.”

“So what’s your answer?” asked Mayhem, curious.

“Spring Meadow was very correct. When we go off into Equestria to solve friendship problems, or even here in Ponyville, we are essentially intruders butting in on things that are not our business. We see a problem that someone has, and then we inject ourselves into the middle of it to try and fix it.”

“But you’re helping ponies! Who would get mad at you for that?”

“That’s beside the point. I feel our true role as spreaders of friendship is to create bridges.”

“Create… bridges?” He scratched his head. “What does that have to do with friendship problems?”

“You mentioned before about love being the thread that connects us, summoning a bunch of hearts as a demonstration.

“What causes friendship problems is gaps that form, breaking those connections. Our job is to then meld those connections.

“The bridge building is a metaphor to bring those broken halves back together, but there’s one other key reason I used this as a metaphor instead of something like ‘bringing light to their hearts.’ And that reason is that it’s a symbol of what we do that you can apply to a real life situation.

“Let’s say one town wants to be connected to another town, but there’s a big hole between them. Of course the pegasus ponies can just fly over the gap, but not everyone who wants to cross over is a pegaus.”

“Okay. So then… you build a bridge to connect the two towns?”

She nodded. “And that is where our part in things ends.”

“Hmm?”

“Even if we build that bridge we can’t spend the rest of our lives standing beside it ready to mend it if something happens. We have to go on our way, possibly to build that next bridge.

“When we do our friendship exercises we try to make it so that the solution doesn’t depend on our presence. We go in, build that bridge, and then move on. For all we know the very next day that bridge will break again, but as I said we only have so much time to devote to these things.

“In your situation, you realized this. You saw that your role wasn’t to help her directly, but to build a bridge between her and her brother, closing the gap keeping them apart. Of course there’s nothing stopping you from checking up on her from time to time, but for the most part what comes next is all up to them. It’s up to them to keep that bridge strong, since as her family they’re going to be the ones she sees on a daily basis.”

“I… think I get it… but…”

“But what?”

Mayhem squirmed a bit. “Well, it kinda sounds like you don’t really care. You go in, help, leave, and then after that it doesn’t matter to you anymore what becomes of the ponies you helped.”

“I understand if I came off that way, but that’s not what I meant. The problem, as it always does, comes down to time and energy.

“As Princess of Friendship I’ve been to many places across Equestria. I simply don’t have the time to go to every town every day just to see if things have gone wrong since our last visit for a pony I helped.

“When our cutie marks start flashing and give us a location it signifies we are there to help. When it goes off again it signifies that our role has ended. From there we just have to trust that what we’ve done for them will endure. We leave with their gratitude, wishing them the best and knowing that if we see them again we’ll greet each other as friends.”

She looked up towards the ceiling, a wistful look on her face. “One of the lessons Celestia taught me after I became a princess was to acknowledge my limitations. No matter how powerful, everyone has limits both physical and mental. No one pony can do it all, and trying to will only leave you a wreck.

“It’s hard for me sometimes. Far from not caring it sometimes keeps me up at night. I worry about those I left behind, hoping that I made a positive difference in their lives that will last.

“Or I think about the ponies still in need. Those just like Spring Meadow who I’ve never met but are in sore need of a friendship lesson. Her and her family are just one small group in all of Ponyville, and for all I know many of them could be going through a similar experience, if not as extreme.”

Twilight looked really sad now, and he felt uncomfortable. He had hurt her, just like he feared he would.

“The fact of the matter,” she continued, “is that no matter what I do I will never be able to help everyone. All I can do is just be there for the ponies I see suffering in front of me. It’s just… hard to accept that because of who I am.

“As someone with great power I’ve been entrusted with a great responsibility, and it hurts acknowledging that for every path I walk to help another I’m potentially leaving someone in need behind.”

A tear came down her eye.

Mayhem lifted his claw, wiping the tear away.

She jerked, looking down at him like she didn’t recognize him for a few moments. She noticed the expression on his face, and she took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I have an adult problem. It’s wrong to force that burden onto a child.”

Mayhem just continued staring at her sadly.

Twilight sighed. This was going in a direction she didn’t want it to go. “Listen, Mayhem. There are some uncomfortable truths in this world. I know I just got a little swept up in my feelings, but I promise you this isn’t something that’s constantly on my mind. But, sometimes, when I’m not paying enough attention, I begin to drift into that mindset even though I know it’s not helpful for my mental state.

“How about a hug? You got one of those for me?”

Mayhem nodded hard, quickly grabbing her and holding her close.

“That feels nice.”

He grinned and released her. “Can I tell you what I think?”

“Sure.”

“I think there are enough guilty feelings going around today, and you have nothing to feel guilty for. If you already know it’s impossible to know everyone’s personal problems then you can’t take responsibility for it.”

“Believe me, I understand that perfectly. Most of the time I accept that truth, but sometimes it sneaks up on me when I least expect it.”

“You said before that you consider yourself like the mother of Ponyville. You’re really kind and sweet to everyone you know, and most importantly you’re not selfish.

“Today… you left everything to me. You just stood back and watched, trusting in me.” He gave her a teary smile. “Do you know how much that means to me? I almost quit at the very start of today, but because of your belief in me it gave me the courage to continue, and I had a really fun time.

“If I had stopped then I wouldn’t have been able to help Spring Meadow. That’s why I think you’re responsible for a lot more good than you think you are. For every pony that you help it gives them a chance to then spread good to still more and more ponies.

“Even if I did most of the talking I couldn’t have done this without you, Twilight. And I’m sure a lot of other ponies would say the same. You helped Starlight, and Starlight has been there for Flurry, and Flurry has been there for me and her friends. It’s all just one big cycle of love and connections, and for every pony you help that helps someone else you can take some credit for their success.

“You’re not allowed to deny it. It’s just like Spring said. You can say whatever you like, but it won’t change the truth.”

She smiled at him. “That is a very healthy way of looking at things. Thank you.”

His grin faded. “Twilight, I know what you said, but I’m still feeling uncertain about Spring. What you said makes sense, but I still just don’t like that she’s still feeling alone and miserable.”

Twilight got up, sitting him on the chair. “Well, you helped me, so it’s only fair I help you in return. Let’s help you get a better understanding of what went on when we left the hospital.”

She poofed a lab coat and glasses onto herself. “It’s time for learning!

“Are you ready to learn?”

Mayhem nodded, making his own pair of glasses and coat.

She chuckled, thinking he actually looked good in glasses.

“If you’re still curious about your question, then I’ll just have to provide evidence that you can’t dispute. It all starts with the bridge you built.

“Let’s start with a question. When she began to grow sad would you say that your bridge was crumbling?”

He nodded. “I think so.”

“Well, I disagree. Quite the opposite, actually. Those moments of sadness came in a sequence that shows that, far from her bridge crumbling, it was getting stronger every time.”

Mayhem pushed his glasses up his nose. “Professor Twilight, I feel like this is a contradiction.”

“I see, my student.” She made a chalkboard divided into four sections. “In that case, I must present my evidence.

“I want to talk about four specific moments. For each one we’ll analyze it, and then at the end we’ll look at all the data and see the results.”

She lifted some chalk in her magic, writing, “Scenario one: restaurant.”

She put the chalk down. “Now tell me what happened at the restaurant. What happened when she got sad?”

“She got upset and was crying by herself until her dad spotted her.”

“Very good.” She moved on to the next quadrant. “Scenario two: after rock throwing. What happened here?”

“Well, we had just stopped throwing rocks and relaxing when she suddenly began crying and yelling about needing hugs.”

Twilight went to the third quadrant. “Scenario three: after snowball fight. What happened here?”

“After the snowball fight we were all sitting down and warming up, then she suddenly hopped up and started shaking her brother and asking for hugs again.”

She nodded, writing some more. “And finally scenario four: Spring goes home. What happened at the end?”

He got a somber look on his face. “She… she quit, saying she couldn’t handle playing today even though she wanted to work to make her brother happy.”

“Okay. We have all your answers. Are you ready to crunch the data and see the results?”

He nodded, paying close attention. “I trust you, Twilight, but at the same time I just don’t understand why you think I did as well as my friends when Spring acted so differently after she was ‘saved.’ Well, that’s why we’re doing this in the first place.”

“Just listen and watch the magic of learning. I think you’ll be surprised.

“Let’s talk about Spring’s darkness. I want to see how well you’ve been paying attention, so I’ll ask if you remember the three factors I brought up.”

“Um… it was… time, feelings of guilt, and… severity. Right?”

Twilight grinned. “Very good. Her feelings were rooted in guilt and shame, some of the most destructive emotions one can feel. Those feelings were severe because they led to a great tragedy. And, most importantly of all, is time. She had three months to brood on that accident.

“If you compare that to all your friends none of them have all three of those factors. Pound, Pumpkin, and Peppermint are all missing time. They only had to sit with those feelings for a short time. Masky had no guilt. And Flurry had nothing she was personally responsible for, even if she did seem to have all three factors.

“The reason Spring can’t let things go so easily even after her breakdown and reconnecting with her family is that it’s going to take some time to change ‘the truth’ back into the lie it is.”

“Hmm?”

“When you hear something often enough you’ll start to believe it, even if at first you know it’s a lie. It becomes even easier when you don’t have the mental state required to question such things. In her sad, guilty state, how could she possibly answer back to the inner voice telling her that she was a monster?”

He looked at the ground, familiar feelings emerging. He thought of what he had done to his friends. Over the past week he had felt like he really was a monster. He had tried to fight it, but he didn’t know what to say when his past was clearly there.

“Uh-oh,” said Twilight genially. “It seems like you understand too well what I mean. Come on back to me, Mayhem.”

Mayhem groaned, trying to get back his focus, but it was hard.

“Your past is not today. As you yourself said, the past is for learning from, not to be used to hurt yourself. A very wise statement.

“Well, why don’t we get to the explanation so I can prove how much of a difference you made in her life.”

Mayhem looked up at her. “O-okay.”

Twilight lifted her pointer, tapping it to the first section. “So what happened at the restaurant? Spring Meadow ate along with us, but at some point her feelings got the better of her. She was brought to tears by her bad feelings, and it only became apparent when someone else noticed. At that point they showed her love and got her back on track.”

She moved the pointer to sector two. “What happened after throwing rocks? She sat down and put her hooves in the water. A short while later she was sobbing and begging for hugs, grabbing everyone’s attention as her feelings took her a second time.”

She moved it to the next section. “What happened after the snowball fight? She was warming herself on the towel, and a short while later she was shaking her brother asking for hugs.”

She moved it to the final section. “And, finally, she said she wanted to go home. You said that was the point where she ‘gave up,’ but I see it very differently. There’s a lot we can learn here if we take these four situations as a group rather than just isolated incidents.”

“Like what?” asked Mayhem. “What changes?”

She set her pointer down. “Everything! If we take it as you see it, then, yes, you didn’t do much for her. She’s just as hounded by her bad inner thoughts as she was at the start, and in the end they became too much for her and she quit to leave.

“The problem there is that you’re focusing so much on the fact that she repeatedly got upset that you’ve completely missed what those moments mean.”

“And… what do they mean? Stop beating around the bush and just give me an answer.”

Twilight nodded. “It’s just like I told you earlier: with every time she got upset, far from her bridge crumbling, it only showed it was getting stronger. If we look at these four situations as a sequence you’ll begin to see this.”

She created a memory window, showing Spring at the restaurant, “Here we see Spring getting down on herself. She starts to cry, with no one noticing until her father took one of her hay fries.”

The memory changed to the river where Spring broke down asking for hugs. “This second time things are already different. Rather than someone having to notice she was getting upset, she managed to push herself to ask for help.”

It changed again to her on the towel and jumping up to shake her brother. “Here we see her asking for hugs again, but did you notice the tone of her voice? She is a little anxious in her plea, but she’s far more composed than the previous time she asked."

It changed again to Spring expressing her desire to leave. “And here we come to what I feel is the most important part of all. She acknowledges that she can’t keep going on like this. However, this isn’t giving up. It’s indicative of her desire to fight.

“She’s come to realize that after every lull in things, where she’s not talking or interacting with her loved ones, her thoughts began to overpower her.

“And what does she say here? ‘Right now I just can’t be alone. Even if you’re just a short distance away I start feeling those nasty thoughts, so I want to sit on your laps and just get lots of hugs.’

“This is a huge statement if we look through these events.”

She picked up her pointer, tapping it in sequence to each quadrant. “At first she let her feelings completely overwhelm her and needed someone to notice. Next she almost had a repeat of this and broke down as she asked for hugs. Next she noticed her feelings trying to conquer her, and was far calmer as she asked for help.

“And then, finally, she said that she felt her feelings would only continue to haunt her if she just tried to play. She wanted to go home, sit on their laps, and get lots of hugs.

“Looking at it one more time we have her powerless to fight, then just barely able to fight, then trying harder to fight, and finally her doing her best to stop those feelings from emerging in the first place by surrounding herself with love. And all this is coming from the same filly who said earlier that she wanted to hurt and feel terrible by endlessly punishing herself.”

Mayhem was quietly whimpering. “I… I see. It does look a lot different like that.”

“I’m glad you’re starting to understand, but let’s look into this in a little more detail. I really want you to understand just what the bridge you built stands for.

“Spring Meadow has kept herself locked away for a long time. With your actions you finally made a path for her that is allowing her to start to trust her family again.

“Remember how I said earlier about something you hear enough becoming the truth to you?”

He nodded. “Yes. I remember.”

“What she’s aiming for is creating a new truth. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say return to her original truth.” She dispensed with the chalkboard, coat, and glasses, going to sit with him again.

Mayhem did the same for his accessories. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t believe there was much trouble before her brother’s accident. Thus, her truth was love. My family loves me. I love me. I love life.

“Afterward, all that love turned to hate which she directed at herself. Now she’s struggling hard to turn it back to love.”

She gave him a hug. “I love you, Mayhem.”

It did make him feel warm inside, but it did seem a little out of the blue to just change topics like that.

Even so, he returned the gesture. “I love you too, Twilight.”

As they released each other Twilight asked, “How did that make you feel?”

“Good.”

“And that’s the point. Hugs are nice when done by someone you trust, but they can be hard to truly accept if you feel like you don’t deserve them. That’s why every time she got upset she told them to say the words. She needed to hear that ‘I love you.’ She’ll likely need to hear it over and over again over the next month until it sinks in.”

She spun him around so he was facing forward, creating an image of Spring on a circular platform, surrounded by a pure black lake.

“Her darkness has grown strong. Just look at how it’s right under her hooves.” Black, shadowy tentacles wrapped around her hooves, tugging at her. “That makes it easy for them to attack her. Alone, she has no chance to resist.” Spring began to sink into the shadows.

Mayhem tensed, taking in a short breath.

“However…”

I love you, Spring!

Forest’s voice echoed around them, and he appeared as a being of light. His hoof slapped away the shadows, then hugged her.

“Her past truth is a definite statement. ‘I am worthless. I am unworthy of love. I am a monster.’

“Every time she asks them to say those words again she’s making a stand against her previous thoughts. Her definite statement is now a question. ‘Am I worthless? Am I unworthy of love? Am I a monster?’

“Just the switching of those first two words is monumental, because it shows she’s finally willing to challenge her beliefs. She’s ready to try another answer, but she realizes she can’t rely on herself. She knows if she asks herself these questions right now she’ll only receive negative responses.

“And so she asks them to tell her that they love her rather than locking herself away and listening to that negative voice. With every repetition her resistance will gradually fade.”

The light coming from Forest gradually grew, the shadowy lake receding in response.

“Its power will slowly weaken. Then, when she’s received enough light and love from others, things will change again.”

Mayhem was fascinated. “Change how?”

Forest vanished, though some light still remained and the lake remained at the level it was. Shadows emerged like before, but they were slow and frail looking as they reached for her.

“Now… now she’ll be able to fight back.”

A tentacle grabbed her, and a cold voice said, “You’re a monster!”

Spring yanked her hoof out of its grip. “No, I’m not. My family loves me.”

Another shadow grabbed her from behind, the voice saying, “It’s your fault! You caused the accident.”

Spring again pulled away from it easily. “That may be true, but I’ve made up for it. I can’t change the past, so all I can do is keep fulfilling my brother’s wish to see me smile.”

There was a growl, and dozens of shadowy tentacles came out, all coming for her. There were overlapping negative voices.

She didn’t move, but just closed her eyes, a peaceful smile on her face. A heart rose above her, her loved ones coming out of it in light form.

The shadows hit them, and there was a wail. The shadows faded back down into the remains of the pool.

Twilight took Mayhem’s claw and put it over his heart. “With every expression of love, with every hug, her heart will slowly regain its strength. The monster inside her mind will lose its power and eventually become something insignificant.

“We can already see this starting to happen just from the four scenarios. Now that they all understand her pain they’ll be there for one another. By the time next week rolls around and we have your next wish granting session I think you’ll see an entirely new Spring Meadow. She likely won’t be one hundred percent better, but she’ll have begun the process of making walls to keep the darkness out.”

She picked him up as she rose, setting him back in the chair. “Well, now. That was a lot of information to take in. I gave you all the study material, so now it’s time for your test.

“Your test is just one question. And, to be honest, it’s not a pass or fail question. I can’t force you to change your views. This is no different than any other friendship lesson. All I can do is share what I know and hope you’re receptive.

“So here’s the test: I want you to answer your own question, the one that started all this. Do you still believe that you didn’t save her? Or do you think that your efforts have paid off?”

Mayhem felt his heart racing. “Do I have to answer right away?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. I want you to take as much time as you need to think it over and draw your own conclusions. After all, all I have done is share my opinions. Maybe I’ve gotten some things wrong.

“I don’t want you to give me the answer I expect to hear, nor do I want you to just abandon your current views simply because I’m an influential pony. If you want to maintain your original stance then I cannot force you to agree with me, but I do want you to at least think it over and give me your reasoning if you do.

“I’m not going to judge you for what you believe, so just be honest with me when you come to your conclusion.”

Mayhem closed his eyes, his face screwed up in concentration. He thought about everything Twilight had said, comparing it to his own assessment of the situation.

Twilight waited patiently for him to find his truth. She certainly didn’t want Mayhem to just dismiss what he had done just because it wasn’t solved immediately.

Minutes passed by, and eventually Mayhem opened his eyes. “I’ve reached my answer.”

“Great! So what is it?”

With a small puff of smoke he turned into a small cat. He jumped off the chair, nuzzling her leg and purring. “I’m feeling perfectly kitty-like right now.”

She gave him a warm look. “Is that so?” He hadn’t answered the question directly, but he didn’t need to.

“I’m still learning. I’m not as smart or experienced as you. I need someone like you to help me understand the things I don’t get. That’s why it means so much to me that you’re willing to take one day of every week and devote it to me.

“I mean, I know it isn’t just about me, but that doesn’t matter.” He floated up in the air, nuzzling her cheek. “You still trust me to act as a spreader of friendship every week.” A tear came down his eye. “Thank you for believing in me.”

He turned back to normal, hugging her neck. “I love you, Twilight. You’re my favorite princess ever!”

Twilight felt a little choked up as she returned his hug. “Thank you. I love you too.

“I see now why Fluttershy cares for you so much. You really are a little sweetheart.”

He flashed his teeth at her. “Yeah. She’s great.”

“You helped me today too. I have something new to fight my own darkness: the knowledge that the good I do for others is usually paid forward to someone else. I guess Flurry was correct in saying that small things can blossom into much bigger things, both good and bad.”

His smile grew wider, but then it faded. “Twilight, I need to go home now.”

“What’s wrong?”

Tears came down his eyes. “I want my mommy!”

For a moment she looked surprised. After all his maturity and accomplishments she had momentarily forgotten that he was still a small child at heart. He had had a big day full of all sorts of emotions, and it wasn’t surprising he wanted to settle down with the one he loved the most.

“Okay. Let’s take you home.”