Sadness is Universal

by DubstepIsAmazing

Jump

"I got your stupid Rainbow Ice Cream," Spike muttered as he descended from Cloudsdale.

In the distance, he saw Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle exit the movie theater. Everyone seemed to have a genuine smile on their face except for Scootaloo. She looked like she was just faking it. How'd he know? He spent too much time with Applejack to not know when people weren't being honest about how they felt.

"Huh?" Spike said quizzically, "What's going on with Scootaloo? I thought Daring Do was her favorite series!"

"Oh, but it IS!"

Spike rolled his eyes as he heard Discord's voice behind him. He turned around and saw him dressed up in Daring Do gear, complete with a teddy pegasus and a hat. "Whaddya want now, Discord? I thought I told you to leave me alone!"

He snapped his fingers, reverting him back to normal. "You did. I just didn't listen."

"Of course you didn't."

He took out a magnifying glass and, after placing it in front of Spike's face, zoomed in on Scootaloo. "The current state of her mind is truly an enigma."

From the point of view of Discord and Spike, despite her smiling and laughing, Spike had this feeling inside of him that, with Scootaloo, everything was not okay. Her eyes seemed to be darting from pony to pony without stopping.

"Wha...what's wrong with her?"

Discord threw away the magnifying glass and smiled knowingly. "I don't know." Spike glared at him.

"Discord!"

"What?"

"What do you know?"

"Oh, I know a lot of things! How many scales are on your head, Twilight's worst fear, Fluttershy's tail extension length...I could go on."

"Wait, Fluttershy has tail exten--NO! THAT'S NOT THE POINT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH SCOOTALOO?"

"A lot of things. You'll see...tonight..." Discord winked before vanishing. Worried, Spike sped back to the castle. Halfway there, he caught the scent of Scootaloo's birthday lunch, but...it didn't smell ANYTHING like what was on the menu he made! It still smelled divine, yet, this didn't smell like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He turned the knob to the castle and slowly crept inside. The entire castle was filled with an amazing aroma! Some sweet, some tart, some with the perfect balance of both; it was amazing!

"Hey, Rarity, I got the Ice Cream you asked..." Spike said as he entered the kitchen, only to find Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy all dining already. On top of that, the food on the table had no part of Spike's menu whatsoever. Spike dropped the bag of ice cream to the floor.

"...for," Spike finished before opening his mouth in shock. Twilight noticed his presence and smiled. "Hey, Spike! Doesn't this look wonderful?" Everyone certainly looked happy while they were eating. Spike flew above the table to see what was on the menu: grilled cheese sandwiches, pretzels (Scootaloo's second favorite snack), two gallons of rainbow ice cream, a bowl of strawberries (courtesy of Strawberry Sunrise), oranges and grapes, a plate of purple and orange gems for Spike, and a side of freshly made apple juice. Spike shuddered.

"Something wrong, Spike?" Rarity asked after gulping down a cheese sandwich. Spike looked at her. "Where's the PB&J sandwiches made like Scootaloo? The grape juice? HER FAVORITE CHIPS? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MENU?"

"Wait," Applejack said, "Spike made the menu? I thought ya said you did, Rarity!"

All eyes were on Rarity now, as she wiped her mouth without a care in the world. "I never said I made it. I specifically stated, and I quote, 'Let's change the menu up a bit'." Spike was dumbfounded.

"By 'changing the menu', did you mean completely revamp it?! Because that's exactly what you did! You changed it all! And you didn't even tell me!"

Rainbow flew up to Spike. "Chill, Spike! Scootaloo's enjoying the menu either way."

"NO! I CAN'T CHILL! THIS IS THE LAST STRAW!" He yelled, as his pent up anger burst forth at Rarity.

"How could you?! It's bad enough that you broke my heart, but you not only changed what I came up with, but you tried to take credit for it, too!" He screamed as tears streamed down his face. The entire room was silent.

"Spikey--"

"Don't 'Spikey' me!! I *hic* I loved you, Rarity! With my heart and soul! I refused to believe someone like you could do me wrong, but thanks for proving me wrong! I POUR MY HEART TO YOU AND YOU THROW IT AWAY! I OFFER YOU AN IDEA, YOU TRY TO TAKE CREDIT FOR IT! I SHOW YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, AND YOU IGNORE IT!!"

"Spike, calm down--"

"NO! I'M NOT CALMING DOWN, TWILIGHT!" Spike's eyes were red, his cheeks pink, and his voice hoarse. "You keep saying this is a childhood crush, well it's not! Would someone with a childhood crush do anything as extravagant as I have?" He burped out three pieces of paper.

"WOULD A CHILDHOOD CRUSH SPEND YEARS OF HIS LIFE MAKING THE BIGGEST CONFESSION OF HIS LIFE TO THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE ONLY FOR HER TO RIP IT UP WITH A COUPLE OF WORDS? HUH? WOULD HE?!"

"Spike, please calm down!" Applejack pleaded as the group walked over to him. Spike backed away. "NO! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! ALL OF YOU, LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shrieked before flying out the castle doors, into the setting sun. No one said a word. Rarity stood openmouthed at his outburst. Scootaloo had been frowning through his entire rant.

"Come on, Scootaloo," Fluttershy said, "Our appointment begins shortly." she said, trotting through the door with a worried look on her face. Scootaloo followed her without a sound. Rainbow's eyes followed her sister as she left the castle. She looked at her friend.

"Twilight, you okay?"

"I'm gonna find Spike. Come on, Rarity. I'll see you guys at Cloudsdale."

Rainbow nodded as Applejack approached her with the two fillies coming close behind her. "I'm gonna take these two to Sugarcube Corner for a snack to watch y'all fly with."

Rainbow nodded; before she knew it, she was left alone.

Everfree Forest

Spike sat on the stump of a tree, sobbing quietly. It hurt too much to look at anything now. He got up and went deeper into the forest; he knew Twilight was going to look for him when he didn't want to be found. Luckily, she still had to check all over Ponyville before coming to Everfree Forest, which would be one of the last places she'd check. Just then, his stomach started growling.

"Ugh...I should've taken some of those gems before I came out here..."

It was cold, dark, and he heard some type of animal in the distance. "Come on, there's gotta be something around here!"

He looked around, frantically, for anything that looked edible. Until, his eyes stumbled across a light red berry. "Jackpot," he whispered happily. He plucked the berry, popped it in his mouth and began chewing it. His face scrunched up as he chewed.

"Thith ith kinda bitter...but ith's better than nothing," he said as he sat down in front of another tree. However, when he sat down, he went a bit deeper than he thought. "Ow! What happened here?"

"Hello, Spike."

"DISCORD!" Spike jumped before putting his hand to his chest, "Don't scare me like that." Discord looked eerily serious. He almost looked dead. "What're you doing here?"

"Giving you my goodbye..."

"You're leaving?"

Discord shook his head. "No. You are..." Spike chuckled. "What? I'm fine, see?" Discord shook his head again.

"That berry you just ate was poisonous, Spike."

Spike chuckled again. "That's a good one, Discord." Discord's face was stone-cold serious. Spike's chuckled slowed to a halt and his face went pale. "Wh--what do you mean that was poisonous?"

"You're going pale, which is just one of the starting symptoms."

"I WAS HUNGRY! HOW WAS THIS POISONOUS?"

Discord rolled his eyes. "With all the time you spend around books, you don't know the name of this berry? It's LITERALLY called Poisonicus Berricus."

Spike grabbed his throat; he noticed that his skin was becoming lighter. "Am..I..gonna--"

"Yes," Discord said in a somber tone.

"How long do I have?"

"About an hour or two. That's enough time for you and Scootaloo to say your goodbyes to each other..."

His eyes widened. "SCOOTALOO! I FORGOT ABOUT HER! WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER??"

"Look where you're sitting."

Spike looked down; he was standing on a small faceprint. Discord pointed to the tree behind him. At its roots were a bunch of notes. He picked them up and read the titles out loud. "'Attempt 5672: failure. Attempt 5673: Failure. Final Attempt: Failure. Flying is hopeless'." Every note was crossed out with red ink. He looked further at his surroundings. He saw a blanket, some water, a picture of Rainbow Dash with her signature and hoofprint, and a toolbox, labeled 'Scooter Supplies'.

"Where...am I?"

"You're at Scootaloo's house, Spike."

Spike was at a loss for words; how could she live like this? He gasped again. Those notes...'Flying is hopeless'...he remembered a pegasus had to learn how to fly before they turned thirteen or...

"SCOOTALOO CAN'T FLY!"

Spike gathered his strength and flew to Cloudsdale.
Cloudsdale
Rainbow Dash stretched her wings out as she stood next to a frowning Scootaloo. Noticing her frown, she nudged her. "Hey, everything alright, Scoots?"

Scootaloo looked at her and smiled. "Mhm!"

"It's okay to be nervous. I was too when I had to fly in front of other people for the first time."

Under the city, Pinkie Pie, the other Crusaders, Applejack, and a worried Rarity stood at the base. Scootaloo's heart beat out of her chest and tears began to flow.

This is the end... she thought.

"Alright, squirt! Jump and I'll be right behind you!" Rainbow said with a smile. Scootaloo walked to the edge and spread her wings.

"Rainbow Dash...?"

"Yeah?"

Her true emotions were beginning to show as she turned to face Rainbow Dash. "I love you, sis...I always have..." she muttered before jumping. A confused Rainbow Dash ran to the edge and looked over at her sister heading towards the ground. She jumped off, too with a smile. Just then, Twilight flew up to Fluttershy in a panic.

"FLUTTERSHY! WE NEED YOUR HELP!"

"Now? Oh, but you're just missing the show!"

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM!"

Spike flew past Scootaloo, who had her eyes closed; his scales were a deathly white. "R...Rainbow Dash..."

"Spike?! What happened to you?!" Rainbow Dash stopped and held Spike in midair; his pupils were dilating rapidly, and he was beginning to foam at the mouth. "HOLD ON, I'LL GET TWILIGHT--"

"Scootaloo..."

RD faced Spike with worry.

"She...can't...fly..."

Now it was RD's turn to turn pale. "Wha...what did you just say?" she squeaked. Just then, it all made sense. Her silence, her tears, her feigned joy throughout the entire day.

"Save her...tell Rarity...I..." he mumbled before his eyes rolled back. She looked down and saw Fluttershy and Twilight flying towards Scootaloo's landing spot as fast as they could with the others close behind. Scootaloo's wings had stopped fluttering; she began to accept her fate. Holding Spike tightly, she began what would be the fastest descent of her life.

Tears stung her eyes as she raced towards Scootaloo and as Scootaloo rapidly approached the ground.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the lack of detail in some parts of this chapter; I'm just tired.

Comments

[Lovecraftia]

...

What a climax.

Spike is dying.. Scootaloo is about to as well.. this is going downhill very fast, lets hope RD can save her..

Good chapter, light on details, but a simple re-write can fix that. hoping for more.

and if that was not enough emphasis, this should be.

MOAR!!!!!^{MOAR MOAR MOAR!!!}