I couldn't make myself return, but nor could i stay away. I lingered at the borders of the Edge, near the wall that separated herd from wilderness, the misty woods from the clear forest. I wanted to go, to hide my shame at my failure, but yet i couldn't bring myself to step hoof over the crumbled gap in the wall and slip out of the lives of the few i had met.

Black ears pin back against pale mane as cloven hooves wear a furrow into the ground, my pacing a rare sign of inner agitation. I should return, apologize to Thor and beg forgiveness. My failure resulted in him taking punishment that should, by all rights, have been mine. The golden pegasus's words floated through a mind that couldn't comprehend them.

For probably the thousandth time i turned back towards the Edge, walking a few steps towards where the herd lay before i paused, then turned back and headed towards the gap. The cycle repeated as the war inside me raged on. I yearned to both flee this place and to stay, to prove i could live up to the expectations. The latter was something new, something i was unused to. Something that showed a spirit i believed crushed beyond recognition.

My gaze catches my reflection in the glass, and my pacing halts. I can almost see it, a stallion standing beside me, one that could pass for my twin. Where i hunch, head bowed and body curled up into itself in effort to appear smaller, the unfamiliar reflection stands proud, muscle rippling under snow-kissed ebony, head held with a pride and confidence supported by the humor and fire in eyes the color of ice.

With a blink the apparition vanishes, and i turn away from the wall. It is a tease, a taunt, created by my own mind, mocking me for being what i was. Emotion, scalding hot and boiling fills me, burns my chest and lungs and eyes. There's a ragged scream as my hind hooves leave the air, slamming into the glass wall behind me with what force i can muster. I let out another hoarse cry as pain lances up my feet and ankles, and i drop back down to all fours, curling up inside myself.

A voice floats to me on the breeze, and my head jerks up, eyes widening. Someone was coming. I was rooted to the spot, torn between fleeing and staying, albeit for different reasons now. Had word of my failure spread? Word that i was too cowardly to take on my opponent thus Thor had to step in for me?

"Speech"