Sadness is Universal

by DubstepIsAmazing

First published 4th of November, 2018

No matter who you are, you're bound to get depressed at least once in your life.

No matter who you are, you're likely to get depressed at least once in your life, especially if you're a teenager. This is the story of how that feeling manifests itself, what it leads to, and if it's too late to stop it. This is the particular case of a certain dragon and a flightless filly.

Masked

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.

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading the first chapter. This is my first story on this website, as I had gotten into the series this year, so pardon me if some of the details are off. I'm open to constructive criticism. See you next time!

Ascension

Scootaloo's yawn followed her eyes fluttering open. She was still at the base of the tree that she fell from. A couple of feet away from her was a faceprint, reminding her of the previous night's efforts. Her lips began to quiver again...so it wasn't a nightmare.

"I still...can't...fly..." she whispered, burying her face into her hooves. Her watch read 9:30 AM; her birthday started nine and a half hours ago. She had missed the deadline for being able to fly by; she couldn't even get off the ground. Suddenly, she shot up, with a determined look on her face.

"I won't take failure for an answer...I WILL FLY," she tried assuring herself, but deep down, she knew the truth. She couldn't bear to face Rainbow again without having learned how to fly.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Scootaloo realized. She was supposed to meet RD in 30 minutes at Sugarcube Corner with the rest of the Crusaders for a Birthday Breakfast! Pinkie Pie made the daily special her favorite breakfast in her honor: a stack of Chocolate Chip Pancakes topped with whipped cream and three strawberries, all with a load of syrup running down each pancake. Standing up quickly, she came to the conclusion of what meeting RD met: she'd eventually have to tell her that she still couldn't fly.

"Oh yeah," she muttered as she started up her scooter, heading over to Fluttershy's place to freshen up.

Although Scootaloo slept in Everfree Forest, the massive amount of animals in Fluttershy's sanctuary made it near impossible for her presence to go unnoticed by any of the animals. Of course they didn't mind sharing, but when Fluttershy realized it, she was very worried for her safety. She offered Scootaloo her cottage anytime she needed it, but Scootaloo preferred not to use it. Why? She's a pegasus; she's tough. Desperate to keep Rainbow's admiration, she begged the yellow pegasus not to tell her about her situation. For safe measure, however, Scootaloo was given a key and unlimited use of the guest bedroom whenever she wanted a roof over her head.

Scootaloo pulled out her key and smiled. "This key'll finally be useful! Then I can get my sweet, sweet pancakes!" The thought of her stomach soon being filled with a chocolatey sensation lifted her spirits a little. As her scooter zoomed past the trees, her thought went from pancakes to her scooter. The only reason she had it was because...

She stopped at the edge of the grove and once again, put her head between her hooves. Her eyes snapped shut; the tears had approached again. She felt them against her eyelids, begging for them to be released. Whenever her eyes closed, she was taken back to the previous night. The faceprint in the ground symbolized her failure for that night. In fact, there were various spots in town that had her faceprint, some deep, some with matted grass. It depended on how high up she went.

"Nonononononono..." she said, shaking her head as she parked her scooter and entered the backyard of Fluttershy's sanctuary. "You're a teenager now! Buck up! You still have a future! It's not ruined if you...c--can't...fl...fly..." Tears rapidly approached her eyes as she trotted past all of the sleeping animals to Fluttershy's backdoor.

After getting inside, she instinctively made her way to the background to brush her teeth and wash her face. As she did so, a mental slideshow of the day's events played in her head. First breakfast at Sugarcube Corner, then Rainbow Dash would treat them all to a matinee of the new Daring Do movie (Rainbow had gotten her hooked on the series), a lunch at Twilight's castle where Spike was going to prepare a meal for her with Pinkie and Twilight, a spa session with Fluttershy, and to top it off, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo would go to Cloudsdale at dusk, and as soon as the sun disappeared, they were going to jump off and fly above Equestria side-by-side.

"Well...nothing's wrong with taking ONE item off my to-do list for the day..." she sighed.

"You're missing something, Scootaloo..." a snarky voice said from...inside her mouth?

"UGH!" Scootaloo took out her toothbrush to see a small face on the head of it. It had two horns, red eyes, a mouth with a sharp tooth protruding out of it, and a small beard.

"FINALLY! It was disgusting in there!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, hey, Discord."

"Hello to you too, my dear Scootaloo! Happy birthday!"

"Thanks." She put the toothbrush away and grabbed a washcloth, only for Discord's face to appear on there too.

"So, you ready for the big finale for the big one-three? Flying side-by-side, all across the skies of Equestria!" Scootaloo looked away.

"You can fly...right? Thirteenth birthday means you should be able to fly, right? It also means that if you can't you're stuck..."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT, DISCORD?" Scootaloo yelled, not needing to be reminded. She was sad enough as it was.

"If you can't fly..." he began, "Then tonight surely means certain death for you..."

Scootaloo froze, waiting for him to continue. He rolled his eyes. "Hello? NO FLYING, JUMPING OFF A CLOUD TOWARDS THE GROUND? Consider it the biggest and last faceplant of your life--"

"I get it," she muttered.

"You could always cancel..."

"NO!"

Discord smiled. She cleared her throat.

"No. I can't cancel. Do you know how much it means to me that this happens? Do you know how long I've been practicing for this moment?"

"And that resulted in...what exactly?"

Scootaloo left the bathroom and walked towards the door with Discord following her. "Well, you may want to think of something soon. Me, Fluttershy, and everyone else are going to be there for your 'big moment'." Scootaloo gasped, causing him to chuckle sinisterly. "Don't worry, I have no tricks up my sleeve. And I know that you can do this all by yourself...toodles, Scootles!" He said before vanishing.

Walking back to her scooter, she knew she had to think of something. And fast.

At Twilight's castle...

Spike woke up exhausted, as he did every night for the last week. He had been awakened by the voice of Twilight, telling him to get up so he can prepare Scootaloo's lunch. He gasped.

"SCOOTALOO'S LUNCH!" He raced to the kitchen to see Twilight and...Rarity?

"Finally, Spike! What took you so long?" Twilight asked. Spike frowned.

"What's Rarity doing here?"

"I'm here to oversee the aesthetics of this delicious feast you're preparing for Scootaloo, my dear. Now, let's get started, shall we?"

"Where's Pinkie Pie?"

"She's serving Scootaloo breakfast as we speak," Rarity stated, matter-of-factly.

"Well, then why start now? I haven't had breakfast yet," Spike said calmly while frowning at Rarity.

"I see. Get some breakfast then, darling. I'll be in the kitchen looking over your plans." Spike nodded and went past her to get some gems before heading upstairs. "Oh, and Spike?"

"Hm?"

"Are you alright? I hope my letter didn't--"

"I'll be back soon, Rarity."

He shuffled up the stairs with his meal in hand and closed his door behind him, leaving a confused Rarity at the bottom. It wasn't like him to be so...well...dejected. Usually, he woke up, ready to take on whatever the world is challenging him with. This was different. This wasn't Spike.

Upstairs, Spike looked himself in the mirror. There were bags under his eyes, he had lost a shade of green in his pupils, and his frown populated his face.

"Alright, time to suit up," he muttered before splashing water on his face. His eyes became brighter and his frown was replaced with a smile. "It's Scootaloo's birthday and Rarity will be around you the whole day. What more could you possibly want?"

He scoffed. "To go back to sleep," he answered with a roll of his eyes before eating his gems and going downstairs.

"Hey Spike," Twilight said, "I just came up with a great idea! Since Scootaloo's going to be flying tonight, why don't you go with her? You two are kinda close, right?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure this is a moment for her and Rainbow Dash."

"Good point, good point. Never mind, then."

Sugarcube Corner

Parking her scooter at the steps of the store, she saw that the inside of the building was completely dark. She knew that Pinkie had planned a surprise party the second she stepped inside the store, so she took a deep breath, went up the steps, and opened the door. As if on cue, the lights flicked on, and confetti cannons shot out purple and orange confetti, purple and orange balloons populated the store, and in the center of the store was a banner that read "Happy birthday, Scootaloo!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCOOTALOO!"

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle emerged from their hiding spots with the biggest grins in the world. She made her best smile and gasped. Rainbow flew to her and immediately embraced her.

"Happy birthday, squirt! Ready to celebrate?"

"You...bet!" she said, feigning enthusiasm as her sister embraced her above the ground.

"Great," Sweetie Belle said, "You have cards from nearly everyone in town! Tender Taps, the Pie family, Gabby, Featherweight, even Diamond Tiara!" She held up a plain piece of paper that said, "Happy birthday." in cursive with Diamond Tiara's signature. Scootaloo's smile fell a bit.

"IS THAT THE BIRTHDAY GIRL???" Pinkie yelled before rushing over to her and giving her a bone-crushing hug. "HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!" She said. "IWASGONNAGOTOFLUTTERSHYSHOUSEATMIDNIGHTTOGIVETHISTOYOU! THAT'S HOW EXCITED I WAS!"

Oh yeah, she doesn't know either... Scootaloo thought.

"Ya ready for tonight? I can't wait ta see ya fly!" Apple Bloom said. Scootaloo froze.

"Ye--yeah! Duh! You better believe I am," she lied.

"Good, cause I can't wait to do it with you! Let's eat!" Rainbow Dash said before carrying a worried Scootaloo to her warm stack of pancakes.

Back at Twilight's Castle...

"Okay, Spike, here's what I'm thinking," Rarity said to Spike as he took out the supplies, "We make Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches with a figure of Scootaloo engraved on each sandwich. A gallon of grape juice will be the drink, all topped off with rainbow ice cream to signify her relationship with Rainbow Dash. What do you think?"

"Sounds good," Spike said, pulling out a loaf of bread, "Do you think we should have some chips with it? What's her favorite brand?"

"Easy! Crunchy Clops!"

The two spun around to see Pinkie Pie with a bag full of pots, pans, and ingredients. "What? I left Sugarcube Corner about two minutes ago! The castle is literally a one-minute walk!"

"But...never mind. What do you think of our plan?"

"Hmm...PB&J sandwiches, grape juice, and rainbow ice cream...seems like it's missing something...but what?"

Pinkie slammed her hoof on the table. "CANDY! Luckily, I got a ton in my bag!"

"Ooh, perfect! Spike, can you go to Cloudsdale and get the rainbow ice cream?"

Spike looked dumbfounded. "But I wanted to help you guys! By the time I get back, it'll be done! I made this menu from scratch, and--"

"For me?" Rarity fluttered her eyes knowing it was a clincher for him to do it. However, to her surprise, Spike simply rolled his eyes and left the castle.

"RARITY! FOCUS, WE NEED TO BE DONE BEFORE THE MOVIE ENDS!" Pinkie yelled, as she dumped out the contents of her bag and placed them on the table with amazing speed and without misplacing a single one.

Outside the castle, Spike was beginning the flight to Cloudsdale before he encountered none other than Discord.

"Hey-ho, Spike! How's your day coming along?"

"Fine, just going to get some ice cream."

"I see, I see. Hey, how's Rarity doing?" He asked with a smile. Spike almost fell to the ground. "You win her heart, yet?"

"Leave me alone, Discord."

"Why? Your poem didn't work? I would've thought that would seal the deal with you two!"

Spike looked to the left and saw that Discord that transformed into the letter 'F'. "What're you doing?"

"Just paying my respects to your dead attempts," he chuckled before Spike increased his speed.

Author's Notes:

Something that I remembered is that Discord doesn't care about anyone but Fluttershy, which explains why he's acting this way to Scootaloo and Spike.

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 Notes:

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

Failure

With eyes closed, Scootaloo simply let the wind hold her. She heard screaming from above and below; that's when she knew that her secret had been found out. She could almost hear Rainbow Dash coming at her as fast as she could. A mental slideshow of her life played out; half of which were with the Crusaders while the other half was with Rainbow Dash.

I can't thank you enough, Rainbow Dash...thanks for making me feel...like I can do everything...when I can't do anything... she thought to herself.

As a couple of tree branches met her back, she knew that she was mere feet from the ground. Cloudsdale was located above a grove of trees, after all. The pathway the led to town protruded from there. The tree branches slowed her down tremendously; she couldn't move. She didn't have to turn around to feel the scars that had appeared on her back. When she hit the ground, she heard nothing. Staring straight up, Rainbow Dash descended quickly and immediately embraced her. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle surrounded her. All three were sobbing loudly.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Scoots," Rainbow choked, "It's alright..."

Fluttershy landed alongside her, with her eyes glassy. "Rainbow..."

"Not now, Fluttershy! I have--have to save her! I know she'll live!"

Tears trickled down her face. "I...I don't know--"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Rainbow barked at her, teary eyed, "She's strong! She HAS to!" Placing the now-unconscious Scootaloo in her arms, she flew to the Emergency Room as quickly as she could. The remaining Crusaders looked at Fluttershy.

"Is...is she gonna live?" Sweetie Belle asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"It's unlikely," Fluttershy got out, "She was falling at such a high speed and broke those two branches up there! They're pretty sturdy."

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo almost fainted; as if on cue, Applejack immediately embraced them. Their friend was possibly going to die, and they couldn't dare return back to that clubhouse without her. Despite her not being able to fly, she was always so optimistic and so happy to help others learn their calling! She didn't deserve to have this happen to her. They weren't ready to see a piece of their childhood fade away so soon. Not yet.

As Applejack hugged them, she faced Fluttershy. "My question is, if she knew she couldn't fly why'd she go through with this? I bet Rainbow Dash would've understood!"

Now it was Fluttershy's turn to break down. Wailing loudly, she laid flat on the ground, sobbing her eyes out. Discord appeared behind her and picked her up.

"I'll take her to Rainbow Dash," he told Applejack before flying in her direction.

"Wait, Discord!" Applejack said.

"Yes?"

"Did you know about this?"

"Yes. However, Scootaloo personally told me that she couldn't cancel when I suggested it and warned her of the consequences," Discord responded, before continuing his journey with Fluttershy. As Sweetie Belle's and Apple Bloom's cries died down to silent sobs, she heard a flapping of wings behind her.

"Is she safe?" Twilight asked. The Element of Honesty looked away sadly.

"We don't know. Rainbow Dash took her to the hospital as quickly as she could. It'd be nothin' short of a miracle if she were to live."

Rarity and Twilight sat down. Rarity knew how much Scootaloo meant to her sister; she wouldn't be able to sleep at night if she died. As for Twilight, despite being in possession of knowledge as expansive as Equestria itself, this was the one situation in which she didn't know what to do or say.

"Is Spike okay?" Applejack asked, to which Twilight went pale.

"I--I don't know," she stated in a defeated tone. "Discord was the one who informed us on what was going on."

"I hope he's back at the castle," Rarity muttered, "I do owe him a very sincere apology."

"Well, then come on. We can check in on him before meeting the other three at the hospital," Twilight said before flying off, to which her friends followed.

At the hospital...
Rainbow Dash was restless. She was happy to hear that had Scootaloo not arrived at the hospital when she did, it would be far too late. However, it was possible to bring her back. In the operating room, they performed surgery on her little sister while keeping her hooked up to a heartbeat monitor. It was slow, but the little beep that she heard every couple seconds kept her sane. More than anything, though, she was confused.

"If she couldn't fly...why didn't she cancel tonight?"

"She couldn't," Discord explained, appearing to her right with a crying Fluttershy in his arms, "She thought you would think differently of her or be disappointed if you found out she was still flightless."

Rainbow's jaw dropped. "ARE YOU KIDDING? I WOULD JUST CONTINUE TO PRACTICE WITH HER! I COULD NEVER BE DISAPPOINTED IN SOMETHING I CAN'T CONTROL!"

"That's only half the story, I'm afraid," Discord said, holding a storybook titled "Scootaloo".

"Well..well, what's the other half?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say that sadness has definitely taken its toll in her life."

"What do you mean?"

Putting Fluttershy down, he snapped his finger, teleporting the both of them to Everfree Forest. It was dark and cold with tall trees with crooked branches everywhere they looked. However, they appeared to be in a clearing. Looking up, Rainbow saw a clear view of the night sky. Looking around, she saw pictures, notebooks, and a toolbox. They seemed to be standing on a print of some kind.

"Where are we?" Rainbow shuddered. Discord looked down.

"Welcome to Scootaloo's home, Rainbow Dash."

At Twilight's Castle
"Spike?" Twilight called. Rarity and Applejack had gone to the hospital with their sisters to make sure their friend was alright, leaving Twilight to check on her number-one assistant.

"Spike?"

"He's not here, Twilight."

Looking into the meeting room, she was surprised to see Celestia and Luna sitting there, with somber looks on their faces.

"Oh. Well, where is he? I just wanted to make sure he's okay."

Tears approached Luna's eyes. "He is."

When Twilight saw tears in the princess' eyes, she was worried. "What's the matter, Princess? Did something happen?"

Placing a wing around Luna, Celestia tried not to look in her pupil's eyes. "Spike's asleep, Twilight."

When Twilight heard this, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Can you let me know when he wakes up, please?"

Celestia shook her head as tears fell freely down her and her sister's face.

"Why not?"

Luna slowly approached her and placed a wing around her.

"Because he's not waking up, Twilight Sparkle. He will never wake up again," she said. Twilight simply stared at them, trying to process what was just said.

"W...w--what?"

"In his final dream...he asked me to deliver one last message to you and your friends..."

Celestia held up a scroll and presented it to Twilight. It was tied with a red ribbon and a green gem. Untying it, Twilight read the letter as questions and disbelief raced around her head.

Dear Elements of Harmony,

This isn't what I wanted to happen. In fact, I hoped that this wouldn't happen until my time came. If you're wondering what happened, I accidentally ate that Poisinicus Berricus that was in Everfree Forest when I left. Stupid, I know. But...since it's too late, there are some things I want to clear up.
Rarity, I don't hate you. I never have. Although you'll never return my feelings, the least I can do is wish you nothing but happiness in the future. You're generosity ponified, and I hope you stay like that. I love you.
Pinkie Pie, your happiness was contagious. I absolutely dreaded seeing you sad. I hope each party you throw is bigger and better than the last.
Applejack, thanks for being honest with me. Even when I didn't want to admit I was wrong.
Rainbow Dash, just like you, you're fast to help a friend. I truly hope that Scootaloo is alive and well; if she is, I never doubted that you would be by her side. Ever.
Finally, Twilight Sparkle. I'm sorry for lying to you about where I was every day for the past month. I wasn't working out, which explains why I looked exactly the same when you saw me. Where was I? Crying. Those who say that dragons don't cry are liars. They do; they just have to be depressed to do it. Being your number-one assistant was the highest honor of my life. Thanks for teaching me that friendship really is magic. I love you.

I love you all.
Spike

The letter fell to the ground. Twilight felt her mentors embrace her, but she couldn't see clearly. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She felt something roll down her face, and felt her heart break. Her world was really falling apart in front of her eyes. She opened her mouth only for, again, nothing to come out.

"It's alright, Twilight," Celestia said, "I know it hurts..."

"BUT WHY? I COULD'VE DONE SOMETHING ABOUT IT! I JUST HAD TO FOLLOW HIM! EVEN IF IT WAS ACCIDENTAL, IT WAS STILL SUICIDE! I COULD'VE SAVED HIM!!"

"Shhhh...." Luna whispered in a quivering voice, "Go...we'll make sure Spike gets a homegoing ceremony to remember...we promise."

Backing away, Twilight held back her tears while trying not to fall on the spot on what she just heard. Teleporting away, she didn't know where she was going to end up, but she didn't care. No one but Spike was on her mind.

Author's Notes:

Although I've never lost someone close to me from suicide, depression played a big part of my life throughout high school. Whenever this happens, there's always a glimmer of hope that the person walks away with this with help and love, more so than they've ever had before. But there are some times when that glimmer of hope dies out.

Truth (Part 1)

Rainbow stared at Discord as she tried to process what she just heard him say. It seemed like the unpleasant surprises would just keep on coming. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. Disbelief had silenced her.

"It's very unfortunate, actually," Discord responded while sitting at the base of a tree. It was littered with flight notes with red X's on them. "She looks up to you more than you'll ever know, Rainbow Dash."

Joining him on the ground, she picked up a picture of her with her hoofprint and signature. It read:

To Scootaloo,
The wind beneath my wings and the best little sister I could ever ask for!

She almost began to sob on the spot. Looking at Discord in confusion, she spoke.

"How long...how long has she been living like this?"

Discord put his hand to his chin. "Your guess is as good as mine. If I had to make a prediction however...I'd say about three to four years max. She arrived shortly before I was reformed."

Rainbow's heart hurt as he finished his sentence. Of course, it was a guess, but the pegasus wouldn't be able to live with herself if something happened to her and she didn't know where to find her. Even if her 'home' was barely past the edge of the forest, there were still plenty of things to worry about! The cold winters, the vicious predators lurking at dusk, the thornbushes that populated the area...and these were just things found on the surface.

"I need to process this," Rainbow said, "You're telling me that she's been living like this for almost half a decade? And she didn't tell me?!"

"There's more to this than meets the eye," Discord said, "You're ignoring all of the things that led to this."

Tears flowed down the cyan-colored pony's mane as she picked up the different notes that she kept. Diaries, flight techniques, letters from fake addresses and more.

"She has almost six thousand flight attempts?!"

She looked at the latest one. "...and she hasn't succeeded once..."

Discord snapped his fingers to teleport them back to the hospital. It was quiet now; Fluttershy slept calmly outside Scootaloo's room. The two of them appeared to be at her bedside. Rainbow Dash was relieved to hear the beep of the heart monitor; she was still alive! Discord looked at her grimly.

"Rainbow Dash, let me begin by asking you a question: out of the hundreds of thousands of times you've spent time with Scootaloo, have you ever taken a close look at her body?"

Rainbow Dash looked at him, shocked. "Whaddya mean? Nothing's wrong with her body."

"She can't fly, so there must be something wrong. More on that later. However, you've carried her to simulate flying before. You've also given her hugs and had your forearms around her and the like."

Rainbow crossed her arms. "So? There's nothing wrong with her!"

"From the naked eye, that's correct. The fur conceals a lot."

Rainbow didn't want to know where he was going with this but waited for him to continue.

"Take a look at Scootaloo's neck."

Rainbow moved closer to her sister and squinted to try to see anything that looked out of the ordinary. Like Discord said, the amount of fur she had made it difficult to see. But as her eyes glossed over one area on the left side of her neck, she saw a little something. Moving closer, she saw that little something wasn't so little. Although it was faint, she saw the beginning of a scar that started on the left side of her neck and, following its direction, it stopped a little under the middle of her neck. Despite it being about two inches long, Rainbow felt sick to her stomach.

"How'd she get that," she muttered as she sat down to keep from falling. The hits just kept coming. Her world was spinning. Discord didn't look at her.

"There's more," he said. Snapping his fingers, he activated zero gravity for Scootaloo. She was still hooked up to the various devices in the room, but she was floating. "Look at her back."

Wobbling to her feet, Rainbow looked at the floating filly's back and almost lost every shade of her mane. Her back was populated with various scars and bruises that weren't visible to the naked eye because of the fur. Although they've all healed, it didn't take much to figure out that the years before Scootaloo came to Ponyville were arguably the worst times of her life. Everything was getting blurry for Rainbow Dash as she tried not to lose consciousness from surprise, fear, and anger. Discord activated zero gravity for her to keep from hurting herself.

"Indeed the life before Ponyville was a grim one for dear Scootaloo...it's one of the reasons she doesn't answer questions about her parents."

Rainbow Dash tried to pay attention to Discord's story to keep from passing out; he gently set Scootaloo down as he turned to Rainbow Dash.

"It begins when she was five years old..."

With the snap of his fingers, they were both teleported to Canterlot. It was the wintertime and they could just barely make out a house in front of them. Walking to the window, they saw Scootaloo on a computer, reading an article. It read:

Rainbow Dash Wins Masters Circuit as the Youngest Pegasus to win in History!

Rainbow Dash smiled at Scootaloo's joy before going wide-eyed. In her celebration of the event, Scootaloo began to fly around the room in glee! She had never seen her sister so happy before.

"You were her idol when she was at such a young age, Rainbow Dash. Your advancement of being a female pegasus in a male world made her so happy and optimistic for the future. Of course, she could fly too. However..."

The front door opened with a loud BANG!

"...that didn't last very long."

She couldn't hear anything in the flashback, but she saw a pegasus with Scootaloo's color scheme enter the house, stumbling. He was clearly intoxicated, as he was holding a half-empty bottle of liquor. Scootaloo excitedly rushed to her father and told her the news. Rainbow's heart was thumping wildly; she was clearly worried.

"Her father was a drinker," she muttered in disbelief, "She looks so pure and so full of glee!"

Discord nodded. "A heavy drinker at that. It's been his go-to ever since her mother left him for another pegasus."

Rainbow gasped.

"Yes. He had no idea. No clue what he couldn't offer or what was wrong with him. All he knew was that one day, he received a letter in the mail that explained the whole ordeal."

Rainbow walked back, heartbroken.

"He didn't know why until..."

Scootaloo's father grabbed his daughter's neck and threw her to the floor.

"...he thought it was Scootaloo's fault."

Rainbow gasped and began to pound at the window at the sight of what he was about to do to her. Although it wasn't audible, she could hear her screams and cries for help.

"NO!!! SCOOTALOO! NONONONONONO!!!"

With tears of frustration streaming down her face, she looked to Discord. "DISCORD, DO SOMETHING!!"

"I'm afraid I cannot. This has already happened. I can see events from the past, not change them."

Gritting her teeth, she charged into the house as Scootaloo was being beaten with a now-broken glass bottle across her back.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER," she shrieked, lunging at the father...only to go right through him.

"You cannot do anything about this, Rainbow."

She turned to face him with gritted teeth and fury in her eyes but gasped when she saw what happened next. The final two blows landed on her wings. The jagged edge of the battle cut right through the middle of them, causing Scootaloo to scream as loud as she could with tears streaming down her face for what seemed like eternity. He put her down and, although Rainbow couldn't hear him, she knew what he said:

You took everything away from me...so I'll take everything away from you. I'll be darned if you're ever able to fly again...now get out of my sight.

As the father fainted from intoxication, Scootaloo ran upstairs to her room and jumped on her bed, letting another torrent of tears and cries flow. She tried to flap her wings, but every flap caused pain to shoot through her body. On top of this, she couldn't get off the bed; she was flightless. The wounds the two saw in the emergency room were now fresh as blood trickled down her body.

Rainbow put her hoof to her mouth as she trembled with remorse and anguish. Nothing was wrong with her personally, but seeing her number one fan put through this hurt all the same. Discord snapped his fingers, teleporting them back to Scootaloo's side in the present.

"This continued for four years until she mustered up the courage to run away from that house, from HIM. It did nothing for her aerially, but as you know, she soon became one of the fastest ponies on land, second only to Pinkie Pie."

Rainbow stayed silent, still thinking about the events she just witnessed.

He pointed at her scooter. "By then, she had saved enough money to purchase this scooter. She took it and rode it all the way here, taking as much as she could carry. Parking the scooter in Everfree forest, she trekked to the entrance of Ponyville and saw what there was to see. She enrolled in Cheerilee's school, where she met Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, who were fellow blank-flanks. They teamed up and became the Cutie Mark Crusaders after about a year of trying what they could to get their cutie marks. She met and became close friends with the rest of the Elements of Harmony and met the princesses themselves on some occasions."

He turned to Rainbow Dash. "She loved spending time with you the most. You had no idea how happy she was when you agreed to take her under your wing."

He sighed. "But she still wasn't able to fly. So, she went to Everfree Forest to practice. It hurt almost every time, but each time she used her wings, the pain lessened and lessened. You were her primary source for tips on flying. The multitude of papers you saw back there? Those were all from you."

Rainbow was both touched and shocked at the telling of her story.

"She couldn't afford to live anywhere else, so she called Everfree her home. She declined Fluttershy's offer to stay in her house but she kept a key just in case."

"Why? She could get out of the dangerous woods whenever she wanted!"

"Because she was trying to impress you. She wanted to show you how she started from nothing and worked her way up. Many a winter she spent outside," he said with a frown. "Your talk of how awesome she was made her determined to be incredible."

Another tear fell down Rainbow's cheek.

"And on today, her thirteenth birthday, her final hopes of flying were dashed. She realized her father was right about her never flying again. With that, she had no more dreams to chase. She was alone. So, what'd she do?"

Silence.

"In the finale of her birthday celebration, she changed a potentially successful moment into a concealed suicide. And that's how we ended up here. Her depression almost took her life."

Just then, Scootaloo's eyes fluttered open.

"SCOOTALOO!" Rainbow almost shouted, nuzzling her as tears fell down her face onto Scootaloo's. She looked at Discord.

"You told her everything...didn't you?"

Discord nodded.

"Rainbow Dash...I--I--"

"It's okay, now, Scootaloo. Everything will be okay," Rainbow responded as Scootaloo sobbed into her neck.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter will be about Spike's truth.

Truth (Part 2)

Back in Twilight's Castle, everyone was a sobbing wreck as they sat in Twilight's meeting room. Every seat was filled. All except one.

Twilight had barely made it to the hospital and back without fainting with every step she took. The usually cheery princess had been crying so much on the way there that there was a puddle formed within ten seconds whenever she stopped at all. At the hospital, Twilight's eyes were a light shade of red from crying so much. When she delivered the news, no one believed it. They refused to believe it. When she presented the scroll and barely finished reading it out loud, the world crashed around them as well. Pinkie's mane instantly deflated, Fluttershy just cried harder than before, Rarity fell and began to wail in agony, and Applejack tried to hold her tears back, but to no avail. The hallway at the hospital soon became filled with a symphony of tears for everyone there.

She explained that the princesses requested their presence at the castle to prepare a proper homegoing ceremony. Fluttershy couldn't go; she was watching over Scootaloo in Rainbow Dash's absence. Everypony else joined Twilight on the way back. Now, barely anyone could keep themselves together. Each of them had at least two boxes of tissues in front of them.

"Twilight...I know how painful this is...but you must be strong for Spike," Luna said in shaky voice as she tried to hold back tears as well. After blowing her nose, she gave a merciless glare to Rarity.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT," she screamed, "WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST ACKNOWLEDGE HIS FEELINGS FOR YOU? WHY COULDN'T YOU LET HIM LOVE YOU?"

Through tears, Rarity returned the glare. "YOU THOUGHT HIS FEELINGS WEREN'T EVEN GENUINE! YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A CHILDHOOD CRUSH!"

"LADIES, STOP!" Celestia yelled. "This is no one's fault. Twilight..."

She looked at her sniffling pupil. "...don't blame anyone for something you don't have control over, much less something you don't understand. And Rarity..."

Rarity looked at her with worry in her eyes. "...admit when you were wrong and move on. This won't be the last lesson you ever learn."

"But....HOW CAN WE MOVE ONE WITHOUT OUR DEAR SPIKE?!!!"

"Quite simply."

The room grew still. The voice that said that didn't come from any of the ponies in the room. Even the princesses were dumbfounded. No one said a word until Twilight spoke up.

"Sp...Spike?"

"Yeah?"

She got up and galloped around the room. "SPIKE?! SPIKE, WHERE ARE YOU?! PLEASE, SHOW YOURSELF!"

Running up the stairs into Spike's room, she held onto her newfound glimmer of hope for her assistant--no--her younger brother being alive. The room was empty. Spike's bed was neatly made. The door closed behind her; the second it did, she seemed to be in a different world. The windows disappeared and the ceiling was replaced with what seemed like the galaxy. She was standing on millions of stars; she felt weightless.

"Twilight? Twilight, are you okay?" Celestia called up the stairs.

"I'm...fine...did you do something to Spike's room?"

"No, what's wrong with it?"

She heard her mentor coming up the stairs. "WAIT, WAIT! DON'T COME IN YET! I think..."

She walked around the astral plane disguised as Spike's bedroom in awe. There were colors everywhere, even ones she's never even seen before! The shades just looked incredible in her eyes. However, there was no sign of Spike anywhere.

"How did he find the time to do all of this? How COULD he have done all of this?"

"Twilight?"

She spun around and saw her closest friend standing there, with tears in his eyes. He said nothing more; Twilight began to sob as she held her forearms outstretched to him. Running to her and filling her arms with his presence, she was able to sense the anguish that he's felt. It all became clear to her; there was more to her number-one assistant than meets the eye.

"Twilight, I..."

"I know, Spike...I know..."

He looked up at her with emerald eyes shining with emotion. "No, Twilight! You don't know!"

With a wave of his fingers, he created a group of stars under their feet and sat down; Twilight followed suit, looking into his eyes with curiosity evident. He sighed.

"You're arguably the smartest alicorn in Ponyville, Twilight. But there are some things that can't be found in a book or studied or can be retrieved through magic."

"What do you mean?"

He exhaled once more. "It's time I told you the truth, Twi..."

Listening intently, she put her arm around her brother as he began his tale.

"About a 5 years ago, Luna was here dragon-sitting me. It was the night of the Canterlot Ball; you and the Elements of Harmony were invited as special guests with you to deliver an inspiring speech on the impact of friendship."

Twilight nodded. "I remember that night!"

"You remember what YOU were doing that night. We were in two separate places, Twilight. While you were having fun with your friends in Canterlot, I was here hanging out with Luna. We had lots of fun all the way until it was time for bed; we were cooking, told stories, watched movies, played games, and more. We loved it. When I went to sleep and she began her nightly duties, I had...a dream..."

"What was your dream about?"

He looked up at her tearfully. "My...parents..."

"What? You know what they look like?"

"No. I don't know what they look like at all. My dream just had silhouettes as dragons. But all I know was that there was fire and ice everywhere...dragons were freezing everywhere. Whenever a dragon freezes, it's instant death."

Twilight gasped.

"When Luna saw my dream, she woke me up. I was confused as to what it meant and wanted to know more. It just added to the questions I had about who I was. She told me to stay put and flew back to the castle."

Spike took a deep breath.

"When she returned, she had a scroll with her. I asked what it was, and she said...she said..."

"What'd she say?"

"...it was a scroll from my parents...and that I had finally reached the age where I can learn what really happened. I could finally learn how Celestia had ended up with my egg."

She stayed silent.

"Luna said that although dragons and ponies were originally enemies, there was a couple of dragons that respected Celestia and she respected them back. Their names were Burn and Boil. They lived far away from any dragon; they were afraid the Dragon Kingdom's townspeople would have a bad influence on me. While Boil was pregnant with me, she took pictures of the two of them for when I moved out of their house...they wanted me to remember where I came from."

"That's so sweet," Twilight said, "What happened to them?"

"Tirek attacked. He was one of the dragons' mortal enemies dating way, way back. When his troops came in, he had one simple order: kill any and every dragon you could find."

Spike hid his face.

"As our army fought, townsdragons hid their eggs far away from the town, all hoping that the minions of Tirek wouldn't find them. Needless to say, it was a slaughter for the Dragon Kingdom; we had taken out many of Tirek's troops as well, but they were still coming in fast. By now, they had detected my parents on the outskirts of the town and were heading for them. Knowing they were coming, my father wrote a letter to Celestia explaining the dilemma. That was the letter she brought with her that night. It said:

Dearest Celestia,

We're in danger. We need you to take care of our son; if not you, then someone who will. Even though he's just an egg, he has potential to do great things when he hatches. I know he does. Those troops of Tirek's are too fast for us to fly away ourselves. Attached to this note is his egg. And for my dear Spike...Mommy and Daddy love you. We wish we could see you grow up into a big, strong, lovable dragon.

Sincerely,
Burn"

Twilight gasped again. "Spike, I'm--"

"Celestia had gotten there just after the troops had gotten my parents. She easily found the egg and the note attached with it before flying back with sorrow. Shortly thereafter, she and her troops had returned, taken down Tirek, and put all of the hidden eggs in a safe environment for when they hatch. She left careponies in charge of them as they grew. Eventually, every pony that worked there refused to go back; they had reached the stage in their lives when they get rid of every ounce of decency and replaced it with hate, cruelty, and anger. Meanwhile, Celestia was trying to figure out what to do with my egg. She didn't have time to raise it, run a school, AND the kingdom. So, what'd she do?"

Twilight smiled as her eyes shimmered. "She gave me your egg."

Spike nodded. "So, that's why I'm not exactly the spitting image of a dragon. Not fierce, not mean, and only recently learned to fly."

"But how does this tie into...you know..."

"Rarity's love was all I had left. I realized I wasn't a dragon at heart and it...saddened me. I didn't know if I was a pony in dragon skin or vice-versa. All I knew was that I was acting the opposite of who I was. I didn't tell you guys how sad I was because I didn't want you to worry..."

Twilight was dumbfounded. "That's ridiculous! We love you, Spike! We want nothing but the best for you!"

"I know. But when Rarity rejected my love a couple weeks ago, I felt like that was it. I had nothing to live for. I'll never be a real dragon or fit in enough here to be a part of the family," Spike sobbed, "So when I left today, I purposefully ate that berry to die. I wrote that it was an accident to make you guys think it was no one's fault. When in reality...it was mine..."

"SPIKE! THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Twilight yelled at him with tears pouring, "We're your family! We'd never do anything to hurt you! And even if you think no one loves you, you know that I love you! With all my heart! We were all brokenhearted at the news that you died!"

Spike stopped and looked at her." E--Even Rarity?"

"Even Rarity. You have so much to live for, Spike. You may not know your purpose in life right now, but you have your whole life to figure it out. And even if you don't act like a dragon, let me ask you this. Would you be willing to be mean, angry, and hateful your whole life in exchange for tarnishing friendships that you've made over the years? If that's what being a dragon means, would you be willing to be one?"

Spike shook his head.

"Exactly," Twilight continued, "Spike, you've created an entirely new definition of being a dragon that everypony in town loves. We love knowing that we know a dragon that's the sweetest one in Equestria and that we feel good about meeting. If you want to know how to defend yourself, and that's why you want to act more like a dragon, that's a different story. But if you would rather die than being able to worsen yourself to fit into a stereotype, then...that's not a dragon I want to know."

"Twilight...the point is...I need help...a lot of it..." he said, sobbing into her neck.

"I know, Spike...and we'd be willing to help. I'd be willing to help."

"Thanks, Twi...I'll see you tomorrow..."

"Wait, what?"

"Good night, Twilight..."

"Spike? WAIT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? SPIKE!"

"Twilight! Twilight! Wake up!" Pinkie yelled in her ear. With a jolt, Twilight sat upright, eyes red from crying. Pinkie's mane was still deflated. The table was full of papers with funeral ideas.

"Twilight, I think it's best you go to bed," Celestia advised.

With a frown, Twilight went upstairs as her friends planned Spike's funeral. It wasn't real. Spike was still gone, and her mind was playing tricks on her. Before she went to bed, however, she stopped in Spike's room. Her heart almost stopped when she saw him in his bed, sleeping soundly. Closing the door softly, she slowly approached him to make sure it wasn't an illusion. As she saw him inhale and exhale in a deep sleep, she began to cry tears of joy. Even his shade of purple was beginning to come back.

Picking up the Rarity doll on the floor and placing it next to him, Spike's eyes fluttered open.

"Spike..." Twilight muttered.

"I love you, Twilight...I'll stay...forever..." he mumbled, half-asleep.

"How'd you talk to me? How--"

Just then, a blue aura surrounded her and lifted her before placing her in bed with a now-asleep Spike. Looking in front of her, she saw Luna with tears of happiness.

"That's a secret...now let sleep claim you, Twilight Sparkle. Tomorrow's adventures await," Luna said. A smile grew on Twilight's face as she closed her eyes and hugged Spike to achieve some much-needed rest.

Author's Notes:

We're not done yet. Thanks for reading thus far!

Midnight

It was late; a little past midnight, to be more precise. Rainbow Dash's cloudy day had come to an end when Nurse Redheart said that Scootaloo would be free to go in the morning. At her request, Rainbow Dash was to stay with her all night. Discord had taken Fluttershy home and agreed to meet them at Twilight's Castle tomorrow. After grabbing a blanket and closing the door to Scootaloo's room, they sat in silence. Turning away from her older sister, Scootaloo quietly began to cry once more. Rainbow frowned.

"Sis..."

"It's my fault," Scootaloo whispered, "I wasn't good enough...I was never good enough...my father was right..."

Rainbow almost jumped out of the chair at the mention of her abusive guardian. "Scootaloo, don't ever say something like that. EVER."

"But it's true! He said I'll never be able to fly again, and he was right! It's hopeless," she said, sniffling.

"I've never heard a more false statement in my life," Rainbow countered, "You're MORE than good enough! And in terms of flying, you'll have plenty of opportunities to try again!"

Scootaloo's face told Rainbow that she doubted her statement.

"Look, Scootaloo," Rainbow said, "Ever since I found out that you couldn't fly and began giving you tips for how to get back in the air on your own, you've made tremendous progress! You went from not being able to get off the ground to get off for a couple of seconds at a time! Even if you're not soaring through the sky, that's amazing progress from when you started out!"

Scootaloo turned away shyly, beaming at the compliment before her frown returned. "But it's too late...I'll never be able to fly again, Rainbow."

Rainbow's eyes darted as she searched for words. "Then...then, I'll fly you!"

"What?"

She smiled. "You heard me. I'll fly you. You can get on my back whenever you need to so you can see how spectacular the view is above the ground. Just ask, and I'll be happy to help!"

Scootaloo smiled sadly. "Thanks, sis."

Rainbow put her arm around her.

"Hey. Even if you'll never be able to fly again, we can keep practicing to prove him wrong, 'kay?"

"Okay," she said, smiling. Rainbow's smile then faded into a serious frown.

"With that said, why didn't you tell me that you were living in Everfree Forest?! Do you know how dangerous that is at night, much less in the wintertime?" She asked in disbelief at what Discord showed her. Scootaloo sighed; she knew that question would come up eventually. Now, it was time for her to answer.

"Scootaloo?"

"Because I wanted to be...incredible..."

Rainbow's expression didn't change. "That's great, Scootaloo, but you don't have to risk death to be incredible."

"Compared to you, I do!" Scootaloo cried, "You're amazing, Rainbow Dash! You've done the impossible; I've looked up to you ever since I was really little! You keep telling me how awesome I am and how I'm destined for great things! Well, I wanna be more than awesome! I wanna do the seemingly impossible just like you!"

Rainbow's seriousness transformed into confusion. "I don't understand. You've been HOMELESS for the last four years, and you didn't tell me...because you wanted to do the impossible?"

Scootaloo nodded.

"Pegasi are usually born into well-off families, Rainbow. I was, but I left after...what happened...and you were my North Star. You influenced me to be the best I could be, no matter what others thought. You inspired me to attempt the impossible!"

Her sister stayed silent.

"That's why...I went to Everfree Forest to live there. I wanted to grow up and make a name for myself and then give you an idea of how I grew up. Pegasi everywhere say it's impossible for a homeless one to prosper. Well, I was gonna prove 'em wrong! I wanted to achieve the impossible and show it could be done...but I guess it couldn't be--"

"Scootaloo, STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!"

Scootaloo looked at her. "Like what? Telling the truth?"

"NO! Talking down over yourself! Stop it! Right now!"

She was silenced as the older pegasus spoke.

"Listen: you DID do the impossible. No one expects a pony your age to survive in the most dangerous forest in Equestria for four years! You did so battling the cold wind, freezing rain, snow, and different natural disasters! You went in determined and you went out victorious! Your passion for doing what's never been done and proving everyone wrong was your driving force! You didn't give up; you probably wanted to, but you didn't want to be defeated. You wanted to win. You challenged yourself and up until tonight, you did so magnificently. So, Scootaloo, you ARE incredible. Just because you can't fly doesn't mean you can't be great. I'm very proud of you, sis; it took guts to go through with that."

At Rainbow's words, her lips formed a broken smile as she embraced her tightly. Wiping tears from her eyes, she looked into Rainbow's red ones.

"Thanks, Rainbow."

"Just...make sure you tell someone when you're feeling down, alright?"

She looked away.

"You're too precious to lose, Scootaloo. I'd never live with myself if I found out you died suffering and there was nothing I could do to help you."

"You're the second person who's ever said that to me..." Scootaloo said with a smile."The first one was my mom."

"Well, she's right."

Scootaloo blushed.

"By the way, Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash said, "It's okay to cry. Tough ponies cry sometimes."

Scootaloo scoffed. "I'm fine, Rainbow."

Rainbow wrapped her into a tight embrace. "Are you really, Scootaloo? Are you really?"

As Rainbow's wings wrapped around her, she felt them brush the scars on her back. The mere touch brought back painful memories: years of not being loved by those who she believed would always be there for her, multitudes of teases from fellow fillies about not being able to fly, hundreds of cold nights she's slept without help from anyone, constantly risking her life every time she laid her head to sleep. Rainbow knew what was going through her head.

"Take a deep breath and let it all out, Scootaloo," she said, prepared for the oncoming torrent. Surely enough, the second she finished the sentence, Scootaloo's dam broke; she wrapped her arms around her and began to scream from the pain of the past. Her voice was muffled because she had her mouth in Dash's neck. The cyan pegasus smiled and rubbed her back, careful not to touch the scars; she felt her tears running down her body.

"I know it hurts, Scootaloo. I can't imagine what it feels like to have gone through all of it...I'm so sorry..."

"Why didn't she love me, Rainbow Dash?" she wailed with years of pain in her voice, "Why wasn't I good enough?"

"You were more than good enough," she assured the smaller pegasus, "And I'm sure she did love you. Otherwise, she wouldn't have told you what I just said."

Holding her tightly, she felt the surge of emotions going through her sister: pain, confusion, anger, sadness...all bottled up inside of her, not being able to be released under the guise of it showing signs of weakness.

"I love you, Scootaloo. Don't ever forget that," she said as Scootaloo continued to cry. "Whenever you want to talk, I'm here to listen. If you're feeling happy, sad, angry, whatever the case may be, I'm here."

With bloodshot eyes, Scootaloo looked at her. "Thanks, Rainbow Dash..."

As she fell asleep in her arms, Rainbow Dash grabbed a pen and paper and began to write a note to Twilight and her friends about the next day's activities. When she finished, Nurse Redheart knocked on the door.

"Rainbow Dash?"

"What's up, Nurse?"

"We have something that you may wanna see."

Handing her a clipboard with a bunch of notes on Scootaloo's condition, Rainbow gasped and looked at the Nurse with hope in her eyes.

"We think it's possible," Nurse Redheart said with a smile, "It just requires a quick hour of surgery."

Rainbow nodded.

"I'll be right outside, Scootaloo...sleep tight..."

Laying her down and walking out of the room, Rainbow watched with a smile as the Nurse prepared to perform an operation that would change Scootaloo's life. Meanwhile, she wrote one more note to another place which would make her number-one fan jump with joy.

Author's Notes:

You can probably see where this is going. Next chapter is the finale.

Sunrise

"Spike! Spike, wake up," Twilight whispered to the now-awake dragon.

Fluttering his eyes opened, he saw both princesses and the Elements of Harmony all at his bedside. The latter group were staring at him in disbelief.

"How...when...wha...?" Applejack stuttered. Pinkie's mane had reinflated and she wore the same look of confusion as Applejack did.

"We thought you were...you know!" Pinkie explained, running up to him. "Are you a ghost, Spike?" she asked, poking his forehead. Spike chuckled.

"No, I'm not a ghost, Pinkie."

"But that still doesn't explain how in the world you died and came back to life, darling," Rarity replied with a look of bewilderment. Spike looked at Luna.

"That's a secret," he said, to which she smiled.

"Either way, I'm glad you're back Spike," Twilight said, "We need to meet Rainbow at Cloudsdale. She said it's for something important."

Rarity trotted to Spike's bedside and gave him a peck on the cheek, causing his purple face to turn bright red.

"I'm glad too, Spike," she whispered.

At the hospital...

"Morning, Scootaloo," Rainbow said with a smile. Scootaloo stretched and smiled back.

"Morning!"

"Hey, we're gonna go back up to Cloudsdale for flying practice, okay? The nurse said you're good to go."

"Thanks!"

"Just hop on my back and we'll be on our way. Everyone's gonna be there; Twilight and Fluttershy are gonna catch you if you get too close to the ground."

Scootaloo smiled. Even though she couldn't fly, Rainbow was the best sister she could ever hope to have. "Thanks, Rainbow!"

With that, they exited the hospital and made their way to Cloudsdale. As they flew, Scootaloo looked down; Rainbow Dash was right. The view up there was definitely worth it. The cool breeze tickling her fur, the calming blue skies, the soft clouds...it was perfect. However, since Cloudsdale wasn't too far from the hospital, they didn't have that feeling for too long. On the very edge of the town, the princesses and Elements of Harmony were gathered, waiting for the two of them.

"Hey guys," Scootaloo greeted when they landed.

"Good morning to you, Scootaloo," Celestia said.

"Why is it so early? The sun's not even up yet."

"Don't worry about that, Scootaloo. We need to get started before the weatherponies get to work," Rainbow said. Weatherponies had days off on Mondays, but luckily, Scootaloo didn't know that. She looked from Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy with all the other ponies (and Spike) in between, smiling at her.

"Where's Discord?"

Fluttershy frowned. "I have no idea! He woke up and told me he was going to Everfree Forest for a while and that he'd meet me back at the house later."

Rainbow Dash saw her sister shudder at the mention of her 'home'.

"Let's get started," she said, to which Scootaloo walked to the edge of the cloud with Twilight jumping down from her left and Fluttershy jumping down from her right.

"Remember, they're gonna catch you if you get too close to the ground."

Scootaloo nodded.

"Jump whenever you're ready, Scootaloo. I'll be right behind you. I promise," Rainbow said confidently. With a twinge of fear, Scootaloo turned from her, closed her eyes before taking a deep breath...and jumped off. The air was now rushing at her faster than she ever could've imagined. Her heart pumped quickly as she spread her wings and utilized the techniques Rainbow Dash taught her. The second she did so, she stopped moving. Opening her eyes, she was about halfway to the ground; she didn't see Twilight and Fluttershy anywhere. She was going up, so she assumed one of them had her.

"Failed again," she muttered. Just then, Rainbow Dash descended with a big smile on her face. Scootaloo almost burst into tears again.

"Well? How does it feel?"

"Like FAILURE!" She wailed as the tears flowed once again. Instinctively hugging her, Rainbow looked at her in shock.

"Woah, woah, woah! What's wrong?"

"I STILL CAN'T FLY, NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY," she moaned, to which her sister's smile returned. She let go of Scootaloo as she wiped her tears away.

"Scootaloo, look at your wings."

She did; they were still fluttering at a fast pace. "Yeah? What about 'em?"

"Now, look up."

She did; no one was carrying her. She paused and began to cry once more...this time, tears of joy.

"I can...fly? But how?"

"As you were sleeping, the nurse performed surgery on your wings. It turns out that the injury your father caused could be easily fixed medical-wise."

Saying Scootaloo was happy was an understatement. She was so excited, Rainbow almost saw the joy pouring out of her. Technically it was, if you count tears of joy.

"I love you so much, Rainbow Dash!" she said as she embraced her in a hug. She smiled.

"We're not done yet. Come on."

Flying back up to the cloud they jumped from, they found no one there. Scootaloo's smile faded.

"Where is everybody?"

"I wanted this moment to be between me and you."

Rainbow Dash soon revealed an opened letter from the Center of Filly Adoption Services. She took out the letter and gave it to Scootaloo. She only needed to read the first sentence before her heart stopped.

It read:

Ms. Dash,
After a thorough examination of the application you sent and your qualifications, we have deemed you well-qualified to take care of Scootaloo under your name. She will now be known as your official sister unless stated otherwise.

"You...you..."

"We'll get your stuff from Everfree later, 'kay?"

Scootaloo tackled Rainbow with a tight hug and tears flowing down her face from happiness.

"Happy birthday, Scootaloo," she whispered as the sun slowly rose over the horizon.

Everfree Forest

Discord looked at a picture with the princesses, the Elements of Harmony, and Spike all gathered together wearing huge smiles. He chuckled.

"I'm pretty lucky, aren't I?" he muttered before thinking something that made him shudder in fear.

"I wonder..."

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading.

Here's the question he was about to ask, and this is the primary question for my next story.

"What would happen if Discord showed the Elements of Harmony his true power? What would happen if Discord showed them why he was the God of Chaos?"

But for now, I'm done. See you guys soon!