He's supposed to go on. There's a foal to care for, employees constitute another level of responsibility... in theory, he has so many reasons just to get up on the morning after her death. And the next, and the next, until he meets the lost in the shadowlands once again. When his part of the contract comes due, and he can finally feel whole again.

But he can't seem to remember having gotten up. Going to work. There's snippets, but... just that. Because if he pays attention, he has to live, and living means he has to remember, and if he remembers...

Mr. Rich knows he's supposed to go on alone. He just doesn't know how.

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. (New members and trope edits welcome.) This story takes place years before the one linked, and no knowledge of the other is required for reading.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.