//------------------------------//
// Ghosts of the Past (Part 4) 
// Story: Kaiser 
// by MellowSoul 
//------------------------------//

Maple spent the rest of the week getting to know her accomplices. She learned about their lives and what led them to this point.

"Things started to go downhill about three years ago," Spike began, "Rarity had already gotten in a relationship a couple years before that, but after Nova was born, Flash and Twilight weren't able to come around as often. They didn't need me to babysit or anything, and the others were caught up in their own lives, so I was basically left to my own devices to figure things out. There wasn't anything to do in town either. On top of all that, I was getting increasingly frustrated with the direction the entertainment industry was going, so I was caught up in this mind-numbing loop of going back to things I liked as a kid. I felt stuck in this sort of negative feedback spiral, and it ultimately led to me feeling more and more miserable as time went on."

"Why didn't you look for a girlfriend or try to make friends at school?" Maple wondered.

"Because I knew the consequences of high school drama. I didn't want my life turn into a soap opera. That was something I could do without."

"I guess that's fair."

"I couldn't even talk about it online. Who wants to hear an emo teenager whine when there's bigger problems, ya know?"

"Your problems aren't as insignificant as you think. You're far from the only person who feels this way. It's happening all over the world every day, and from what I've seen, it's arguably getting worse."

"Worse?"

"The world's in a transitional period where technology's evolving at a rapidly increasing rate. The prevalence of direct contact is falling away in favor of impersonal interaction. In cyberspace, there aren't any ramifications for sickening behavior. Now we're seeing the worst come out in people because there's nothing we can do about it."

"Nothing except mind our own business and unplug when we can."

"You're consciously aware the changes taking place are more harmful than beneficial, but most don't know that yet, and it's hard to say when they'll realize it."

"Not soon enough."

"I agree."

Twilight, who had been sitting silently through the conversation, finally voiced her thoughts.

"I'm sorry things were so hard on you, Spike. I really am. If I'd known how bad things were, I would've tried harder to reach out. Can you ever forgive me?"

"It wasn't your fault," the dragon assured, "Like I told ma, they were my issues and I had to fix 'em."

"How could you when there weren't any tools at your disposal to help you cope?"

"Then that meant there were only two options."

"Endure or die trying..." Maple realized.

"How did you?" Twilight delved further.

"Sleep. Every chance I could, I relinquished conscious thought. When I was asleep, I felt nothing - no fear, no pain, no loss: just peace."

"You learned to find comfort in the dark."

"The exact problem I had as a child. I traded one issue for another."

Maple nuzzled the dragon's cheek.

"Maple, what are you...?"

"Hearing your story made me feel closer to you. In just days, you taught me what it would've been like to have a life-long friend. Even after learning who I was, your desire to gain strength never dwindled. If anything, it only grew. I want to make things right. I don't want you to hurt anymore..."

"I..."

Twilight took this as her cue.

"You guys go back to the room. I'll hang around town until you're ready to meet up."

Spike sighed, closing his eyes in relief.

"Thanks, Twilight..."