Even if the pony decided to get rid of only some parasprites from his shelves, how would he decide which one would to throw out? There were groups of the same kinds of parasprites, but each one of them represented its own group. Each one of them had as much right to be in the collection as the rest of them.
He wanted to stop collecting new ones. He wanted to throw away his whole collection. It was a bad collection to begin with, but at that point it was already too late. He was already broken.
In dealing with magical parasprites, he acquired a magic of his own, despite being just an earth pony. His hooves became so used to dealing with parasprites that they became sticky, which allowed him to handle parasprites with more care.
It wasn’t a gift, though, it was a curse. Parasprites would stick to him outside and he could only take them off by adding them to his collection.
And there was another problem: He couldn’t throw out the big parasprites, they wouldn’t fit through the door. They had became bigger than they were at the time he collected them. It was another one of their magical properties. The more they were observed, the more there was to observe.
If he only got rid of smaller ones, there would still be some space for him left in his room. Even if he wouldn’t be able to recognise those parasprites he wouldn’t fall down after tripping on them. He should have enough balance for that. They were a mere annoyance and not of a big importance to anyone.
He had admitted that he has unsurpassable limitations as an earth pony and recognised that he will never be a parasprite master. This realization, however, came too late.
Getting rid of the smaller parasprites wasn’t a valid option any more. His collection gained a collective mind. When he would separate a parasprite, he would later find that it has returned on its own. There was no getting rid of them, and that wasn’t the only problem he had.
His hooves soon started to attract new parasprites from the outside world. It wasn’t even just parasprites on his doorstep. Parasprites from entire continents were attracted to his hooves. More and more would get stuck on him and they would hold on to him until he came into his room, where they would separate from him and join the collection.
He became a master at collecting parasprites, but he was not much better at knowing about them than any other earth pony.
The pony lost his smile. His blue mane became gray. His lime coat started to fall out in tufts.
He didn’t know what to do next. He still felt that what he was doing wasn’t bad in itself, he just wasn’t equipped to handle the task of this magnitude. He was just a mere earth pony.
The situation was out of control and he knew it. The nights became sleepless as the sound of parasprites falling of the shelves would not let him rest.
He had started with the goal of getting rid of parasprites in the world and achieved the opposite.
He tried to avoid the worst by distancing himself from the world. Some parasprites could indeed be avoided this way as they would pass him by without sticking to him, but not all of them were like that. The ocean of parasprites was still on the rise; the tide was coming and there was no stopping it.
Days passed and the pony found himself lying on his bed. His head drifted just above the surface of the fuzzy sea. His body bruised by falling parasprites, his mind drifted away. It was the beginning of the end.
In all the chaos, a distinct knock on the door sounded through the room that pony resided in.
The pony shoved his way through the parasprites and opened the door. A small dragon stood before him on the welcome mat.
The pony was losing his sanity, so he was to tired to think. He didn’t care who the dragon was or what he was doing at his doorstep, he just left the door open and returned to his bed to mope.
The dragon took that as invitation and let himself in. He shut the door behind him.
“Quite a collection you have here!” said the dragon.
“Yeah, wish I could get rid of it.” the pony said.
“You know, there is a way for you to organise your collection in a way that will take way less space.”
“There is?”
“Yes, that’s why I’m here. Your failed attempts at using magic called me.” The dragon said
“How did you find out about that?”
“I’ve been in your neighborhood for a while now. However, in your obsession, you failed to even notice me. I, however, have noticed you. Your fixation with little problems intrigued me... and others. So I came to offer my talents.”
“And those would be?”
“Organization, and I happen to be the best organizer around.”
“I would like things to get better, but... I’m so tired.” Pony sighed.
“Don’t you fret. I’ll handle everything for you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Let me give you an example. See this parasprite here.” He snached a parasprite from the collection with his claws.
“What about it.”
“It’s not even a parasprite, it’s only a parasprite-wanna-be.”
“It’s a solid parasprite! I know, because I remember tripping over it!”
“But you see, you couldn’t have prevented tripping over it. When your friend tripped on the parasprite at his doorstep, it produced an offspring. Those are called parasprite-wanna-be’s as they aren’t original in their lineage, and this is that kind of creature”
“How do you know all this?” The pony looked at the dragon.
He had the pony’s journal in one claw and the parasprite-wanna-be in the other.
“You wrote everything down in your life’s journal. Every memory you have, I can access it at will; it’s just another of my... special talents.” The purple dragon smirked as he looked around the shelves.” By analysing the parasprites in a logical way, I can separate the parasprites from the parasprite-wanna-bes.”
“That sounds... complicated.”
“It is, but I can handle it.” the dragon smiled as he put down the journal and picked up the parasprite the pony had collected from his neighbour’s doorstep. He pressed both creatures in his claws and rubbed them on their special spots with his claws.
The parasprite-wanna-be merged into it’s forebear.
Pony gasped as he had never seen such a thing before. An item of his collection, even if it was just a parasprite-wanna-be, disappearing into another. It was something he had wished for, but could never find a way to accomplish.
The dragon put the original parasprite back on its shelf
Closing his gaping mouth as he sighed, the pony shook his head and waved his hoof in dragon’s direction. “Even if you could distinguish parasprites from parasprites-wanna-bes, I’m sure there are still a lot of parasprites that are the real deal.”
“That is true, but I have a solution to that as well. If you let me analyse them. I can reconcile each and every one of these parasprites. I can also encase you in a thick protective armor that will prevent any parasprite from getting to you. You will never trip over a parasprite again in your life.
“How is that even possible?”
The dragon put his claws around his back,“It’s about the way you walk on this world. If we fix that, then no parasprites will be able to harm you.”
“How can I walk differently? I didn’t know there were different kinds of walking. I just walk when I want to walk.”
“Your way of walking is filled with hopes and aspirations. When you walk you look up to the sky:That is what your problem is.”
“But those hopes and aspirations make me who I am.”
“And how has that worked out for you so far?”
The pony bowed his head. “Not that well.”
“They are the reason why you are miserable. I can free you of that misery, but you will have to give in and trust me all the way.” The dragon adjusted a clover symbol with the number ‘7’ on his scales
“Give in?”
“Even without all the parasprites, there wouldn’t be enough room for me to operate. Not with you that is.”
“But where would I go?”
“I’ve set up a place just for you.” The dragon walked around the room, his slitted eyes scanning the area
“What is it?”
“You don’t like yourself and you don’t like the harsh world outside. Does it really matter what this new place is?”
“I don’t know. Will it make me happy?”The pony asked with a smile
“Again with the hopes and aspirations! I will keep you away from things that make you miserable, and I will grant you moments of pleasure in times of my choosing.”
“I don’t know. This all feels wrong somehow.” The pony shivered
“Suit yourself.” The dragon grabbed the door handle.
“Wait! don’t leave me alone with my parasprites. I can’t take it anymore.” The pony cried,” Are you sure you can make them go away?”
“I can protect you from them, but only if you let me do it my way.” The dragon turned his head and frowned.
”Fine! If you can make it all stop than that’s good enough for me. I just don’t want to deal with it anymore!” The pony shouted,” I will take your offer.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with all this, Diptera? If you struck a deal with me, there won’t be any turning back. I’ll be rearranging everything.” The dragon waved his claw around.
“I don’t know, but I also don’t care! I don’t care about anything anymore. I’m just so tired. I-I can’t go on like this! You say, you’ll take care of everything?”
“Yes, I’ll take care of everything. You included.” The dragon said with a chuckle.
“Okay, show me to my new place.”
The dragon led the pony out of the house to the backyard. There was a rectangle hole in the middle of it. A pile of dirt laid beside it. There was a narrow metal shaft leading from the side of the hole.
“How come I hadn’t noticed this hole before?” Asked the pony.
“You haven’t been noticing much of anything lately. You’ve been... broken.” The dragon looked to his side.
The pony stepped closer and saw an empty opened casket at the bottom of the hole.
He turned to the dragon. “You want to take over my entire life? You want to destroy me?”
“Oh, no!” The dragon grinned,”That’s not part of the plan.” he pushed the pony down the hole.
The casket closed shut behind him.
The dragon started throwing dirt on top of it.
Diptera banged his hooves on on the casket, but his attempts were useless and pathetic,”Get me out of here, you-”
The dragon filled the hole with earth and started to pound on it with his feet. “I’m sorry. little pony, but this has to happen. If I am to save your life, they have to be buried in your suit of armor, deep under the surface. Sadly, everything that you were, everything that you are, has to be buried with them.”
“This is not the armor I’ve envisioned! It’s a casket!” Yelled the pony.
The tall serpent threw seeds of grass on top of the flatten earth. “No, it’s our solution, Diptera.”