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// The End? 
// Story: Not Worth A Bit 
// by Dsarker 
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I never found out. All I knew was that the flowers stopped being left. He stopped coming. His heart had hardened. Maybe I was the only one he thought he could love. And now that it was lost, what other could fill the gap? Maybe I am egotistical, but do I not deserve at least a little leeway, at the end of my journey?

I saw him once more only before I was freed. The Gala. The fateful Gala. His heart had truly hardened. He saw me, and only a pale, grey arrogance, as if I was unworthy of his very notice, met my gaze. He left the hall, and I tried to shake off the feelings inside me, to concentrate once more on my music. It was hard, for I knew that soon he would reenter. Would he even look at me? If it wasn't for the princess having invited me to play personally, I would have tried to leave then, try to go another year not worth a bit.

But I kept playing. Eventually, the first of the two ponies who ended the night requested a song. We played, and played. She exhausted us, and we retired. We were once more coming on the stage when he entered. He had another pony by his side. A unicorn, a white unicorn like him. But even she was unworthy of him now. She rounded on him, and when she was just about to yell far more than she could have intended, the animals came in.

They knocked me down. The stage was only me and the once more broken cello. They trampled over me, but I was mostly unharmed. I tried to stand, and could not. My hindlegs refused to move. I lay there for what seemed like hours, but could only have been a couple of minutes. And then a face leaned over mine. It was him.

In his eyes were tears, and his face was sorrowful.

"I'm so sorry, 'Tavi." he said, his tone apologetic. "I was too blind to see. Too deaf to hear. And too foolish to understand. Please, forgive me."

I tried to speak, but couldn't. It all went black then.

I awoke in the hospital. I lifted my head. He was there, watching. His eyes were tired. But when they saw me rise, they lit up.

"I forgive you," I said.