//------------------------------//
// The Pain of Failure 
// Story: Remnants of Glory 
// by TheMajorTechie 
//------------------------------//

	As Jewel and I traveled back towards the base camp, I glanced out the window, expecting to see the typical flurry of snow. A stray gust of wind tossed a large stone off the mountains above, and nearly threw me off the engine when it collided with the train.

"Rusty!" Jewel cried, reaching a hoof out to me.

I pulled myself back up. "I'm fine, really. Just not too sure about the train though..."

While Jewel and I were fine, I couldn't say the same about the train itself. The boulder had utterly demolished the boiler, and was now sitting just above the mangled remains of the axles.

Turning to continue walking the rest of the distance, I muttered under my breath, "Well, that happened."

Jewel trailed me as I trudged my way back to the camp, hauling the Princess behind me.





At last, home again.

Sometimes I wonder what life would've been like if none of this had happened, if we had just given Sombra the love he needed as a foal... I still remember, too...

Though I wasn't in the care of the foster home myself, I would occasionally stroll past it with my mother. Sombra... he always seemed to be the last to be picked for anything, and typically, he was either by himself, or with this one other filly. They seemed to always have so much fun with each other, but then one day, for some reason or another, Sombra decided to go all evil and everything, and the rest is pretty much history.

Jewel caught up to me, patting my back after noticing my obvious tension.

"C'mon," she said soothingly, "we tried."

I shook my head slowly. "I know we did, Jewel, but... try isn't as good as did."

Around us, ponies began to gather. They hadn't expected us to return so quickly, let alone by hoof.

A few of them began to ask us questions, too. Things about what happened, why we turned back, things like that.

I replied to those questions with answers such as, "The wind pushed a boulder over," "We couldn't go any further," and plenty other stuff.

For now though, I think I need a nice long period of slumber.





Failure.

It's the one thing that will be forever feared.

Though many may say that fear is the only thing to be truly feared, there will always be the fear of failure.

To let down your friends.

Your family.

It's the feeling that always follows you around, relentlessly bashing your soul.

Many succumb to the pain of failure every day.

That pain often comes with a sense of hopelessness.

Of being useless to the world.

It often feels like there's a voice inside your head, repeating the same phrases indefinitely;

You're a failure.

No-one loves you.

You're worthless.

Kill yourself. 

It often goes by a much more common name that many may know of:

Depression.

There are also many ways to interpret the pain.

Some may say it's a swirling pit of despair, others, well...

It could range from spikes through the heart, to even your body shriveling around you, trapping you within your own thoughts and emotions.

The truth is, feelings like those are universal, something any intelligent being may feel.

Failure, just like feelings, is also universal.