~*~

I'm sure you've made sacrifices to get where you are in life, my friend. A hard choice here, where you had to give up something you wanted, for the greater good. A friendship left by the wayside, because things are more important. An important event you missed, because you needed to be elsewhere. Yes, I'm sure you've made sacrifices, just as I have, and I'm sure you felt like you didn't have a choice, or that these decisions were even being made for you.

That's how it was with me.

My family, my friendships, my time, my youth... I gave them up in the name of research and furthering this one, every important goal. I gave up everything, even the pony I was, all to be certain that what happened to my brother wouldn't happen to anyone else. I had to do things to get the materials the books said I needed. Things that I didn't want to do. I had to ask so much of others, demand their sacrifices too, even though it wasn't fair. I had to, I know that, but it doesn't make me feel any less horrible to remember it. The hurt in their eyes. The sorrow. The betrayal. They screamed at me. Why were they screaming?

I found what I thought was the power behind everything, the fuel I needed. I thought I'd found the secret to making these words become so powerful that I could reach up and lasso the moon, cast it far away from us, or burn it like a blade of dry grass atop a match. I thought that these sacrifices were necessary, but that they'd pay off as soon as I did everything right, just as I'd studied.

But I was wrong.

I lost everything. My brother, my parents, my potential, my future... I gave it up. And I almost gave up on that day I failed. But I knew I had one other chance. I just had to turn to the most powerful magic user I could find, the one who was responsible. She would surely want to save her people, she would appreciate my efforts, support my cause, help me in what areas I had failed! After all, she'd let this happen. She owed it to us, owed it to me! She was always so understanding. She would understand.

I was wrong again.

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