//------------------------------// // Masked // Story: Sadness is Universal // by DubstepIsAmazing //------------------------------// As the moon shone over Ponyville, one could easily see why it was the most visited spot in Equestria. After Luna put it up, the sky shimmered as the stars danced over the dark background. The nightlife slowly began to emerge to begin their nightly activities as the townsfolk went into their homes for the night. For many, whether the day was good or bad, ponies saw the nighttime as something that foreshadowed new opportunities. The next day served as a new start, new opportunities to right the wrongs that occurred on the previous day, and held new relationships or ways to strengthen current ones. It also served as a way to forget any failures that had occurred before. Anything was possible...and it was just a sleep away. However, for one dragon...it was just another day for people to see the mask he wore. Spike trudged through the town in silence, his spiked feet creating footprints in the ground. The cold breeze that came with Autumn blew past him, causing him to shiver. "I knew I should've brought a scarf," he muttered to himself as he walked on. He passed by Sugarcube Corner; its interior lights shut off one by one until one lone light stayed on in the building's highest room: Pinkie Pie's room. He could hear her humming the Smile Song even though her window was closed. Looking above him, he could see Rainbow Dash fly south of Ponyville towards Cloudsdale. Everything and everypony was shutting down for the day; it was dead quiet, and Spike was the only person left walking in the town. As he got closer to Twilight's Castle which was located near the outskirts of town he scrunched up his face to hide his tears. In his hand held a crumpled piece of paper, which he disposed of at the next trash can. As soon as he let go of the paper, his eyes became glassy. "Now, now, Spike! Don't let Twilight see you cry...you don't want her to worry, do you?" he asked himself before continuing his walk. His heart hurt from the events of the day...from the events of the past. On the paper was something that he had been working on ever since he had arrived with Twilight. It took hours, days, weeks, months, YEARS of changes before he thought it was finally ready. He had changed it in accordance with all of the adventures he had with the Mane Six. When he wasn't on an adventure, a majority of his time was spent making small adjustments to it. What was this project? A confession, which he titled, "Ode to Rarity". About three pages long, you could almost feel the emotion and passion that the words projected as you read it. He was certain that this would help to get his feelings across to Rarity, after years of attempts and years of failure. It had to. He wouldn't accept anything less. Unfortunately...it didn't. Earlier that week... Spike approached Twilight's door with a skip in his step and his heart beating like a drum. This was it: everything he had been working for led up to this moment. In his hand, among other letters, was a purple letter scented with perfume addressed to him. Those two factors let anypony around know that this was a letter from none other than the fashionista of Ponyville, Rarity. He walked in and put the letters down on the table where Twilight was writing something. "Thank you, Spike! I'm sorry I haven't been paying much attention to you lately; this speech for the Canterlot Ball is at the top of my to-do list right now! It has to be PERFECT!" Spike didn't seem to hear her, as he simply ran upstairs with the letter in hand and closed his door. As he was running, Twilight saw what was in his hands and chuckled. That dragon...always obsessed with Rarity... she thought before continuing her speech. Upstairs, Spike looked at the letter before inhaling and exhaling. "Alright, Spike," he whispered, "This is it. You've worked so hard at this. You've spent a long time on this. Now, for your reward: Rarity's heart!" He held up the envelope to his nose and sniffed it; he recognized the scent instantly: Chanel de Poni, Rarity's favorite perfume. He got her a bottle for Hearth's Warming after she had run out a couple months prior; needless to say, she loved it. He exhaled once more before opening the letter. "And now...for the moment of truth!" He took out the papers inside of it and unfolded them. There were three pages in the envelope; the first page had a title that almost made him wonder if he was seeing double: "Ode to Rarity". Spike felt a twinge of pain in his heart. "No, it can't be. Maybe she had the same idea! Heh...maybe..." However, as he flipped to the second page, he saw that his poem continued. His eye twitched as he moved to the third page. His poem ended, but at the bottom was a note. Dear Spike, This is a lovely poem! I'm so happy to see that your writing skills have improved! However, I'm afraid I am going to have to restate this once again. I am flattered that you feel this way about me, but I do not and cannot see you as anything other than a friend, and one of my closest friends at that. The attempts that you have made in the past to win my heart were very charming, and I cannot express how much I appreciate the actions. Had age not separated us, there's a chance that we could be together...I'm so very sorry, Spike. Rarity. He read it once. Then twice. Then three times. Then five times. Then ten. Then twenty. He shook his head, trying to get himself to be alert. "No...no, no, no, no, no...this has to be a dream, right? A Nightmare Night prank played by Rainbow Dash, right? It has to be..." he chuckled nervously. That didn't distract him from the fact that his second greatest fear was coming to life before his very eyes in the form of pink handwriting. He grabbed his Rarity doll and held it up to his face. "This is a joke...heh...right? Surely you won't do this, right? RIGHT??" His eyes twitched faster. His eyes got glassy, but he wiped his tears away before they could fall. "No, Spike! NO! You always bounce back! You CAN bounce back from this..." He looked in doll Rarity's buttoned eyes. "...right?" He looked out the window and saw Rarity pass by Sugarcube Corner with a smile on her face, without a care in the world. He could tell she wasn't thinking about what her note just did to him. Spike smiled. "As long as she's happy..." he said in a shaky voice, "I'm happy..." After picking up his poem, he ran down the stairs and out the door and continued to run. He didn't know where he was going, but he just had to go. He couldn't live in this shattered world at the moment...he needed to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. End flashback Spike got to Twilight's house and sighed. He felt nothing but agony. Most ponies who knew him thought he was the happiest dragon they've ever met. On top of that, he told things the way they were, which put him in a favorable light with most of the townsponies. No one seemed to remember a time when Spike was, well, sad. Every evening, Spike went out after dinner under the guise of going to exercise to get a bit more fit. In reality, he took his letter and went to Everfree forest and sat under a tree, trying to convince himself that the letter wasn't real when he held the evidence that it was. He played a mental movie of all of the times he's sacrificed things for Rarity, the times he's gotten hurt for her, humiliated for her, heck, even lied for her! His heart hurt...it's hurt for the entire week. Yet, no one noticed the difference between happy Spike and sad Spike. As far as they're concerned, they're the same dragon. It's why Nightmare Night was his favorite holiday this year in particular. He could wear a mask of joy and no one could tell that it's not him. Every night was Nightmare Night. He feigned a grin before turning the doorknob to see Twilight organizing her bookshelf for the tenth time that day. She turned around and saw him smiling as he approached the stairs to his bedroom. "Hey, Spike! How was your run?" He looked at her. "Oh, it was AMAZING! I shortened my time by ten seconds!" Twilight gasped. "THAT'S INCREDIBLE! I'm so proud of you! Keep at it, Spike! I believe in you!" Spike chuckled. "Well, ya know...it's a work in progress. But I'm beat! I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay, Twi?" She nodded. "G'night, Spike!" With that, he went up the stairs and entered his room. He closed the door and a frown instinctively crossed his face. He could feel his eyes becoming glassy again, but he wiped it away again. Getting under the covers, he stared up at the colorful ceiling. I can't keep the lie up forever... he thought. He closed his eyes, making sure to avoid Luna, who was doing her nightly patrol of all of the townsponies' dreams. To circumvent an encounter, he did what he thought was best, although it cost him most of his sleep for the night: he dreamt of absolutely nothing. Maybe...tomorrow will be better... Across town... On the edge of Everfree Forest, an orange filly with purple mane stood on the top of a medium-sized tree. Despite it being late, she wanted to get a one more try in. "Okay, Scootaloo...remember what Rainbow Dash taught you...keep your wings tucked in until you near the ground then spread them and face up," she muttered. Simply put, Scootaloo was a pre-teen pegasus who couldn't fly. She had expected to get the ability to fly when she turned 8. Then 10. Then 11. Now 12, she still couldn't get off the ground. Despite it frustrating her, she refused to give up. She had been practicing all day every day for almost the entire year in hopes of being able to fulfill her biggest dream: flying side-by-side with her hero, her sister, Rainbow Dash. She jumped off the tree and, with her mentor's advice echoing in her head, she performed the actions needed to fly...only to meet the ground, face first. Her wings fell back to her side. She looked up dejectedly with tears in her eyes and lips quivering. No one was there to help her, no one was there to support her while she tried. She crawled to the base of the tree and laid her head along the roots. "No! No crying, Scootaloo! You're a pegasus! You're tough!" She wiped away her tears and closed her eyes, refusing to open her eyes to the nightmare that she was living. Most pegasi should be able to fly before they reach 13 years old; most never fly if they don't learn past that point. And her birthday started...ten seconds ago. As she heard the nearby town's clock chime twelve times, she began to whisper to herself. "Happy birthday, Scootaloo...I hope you enjoy your birthday present...a big heaping pile of failure..." She curled up into a ball and dreamt of flying. It was all she ever wanted...to fly side by side with Rainbow Dash. But it looked like that was never going to happen. Twilight said it can't happen by magical acts, so this was her only shot. As she fell deeper and deeper into her sleep, she felt her heart break. Before long, she was overcome with a wave of emotions. There was one emotion, however, that she felt more than all of the rest. Some might call it sadness. But in the case of Spike and Scootaloo, it was depression.