Oblivion

Winter Falls - Year 1556

She saw him happily walking with Sweetie Belle with his big, goofy smile. Even though he was older than them by four years, she knew they looked all the same age in reality. They were all fifteen: Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, even Babs Seed, who had come to Ponyville to live with her cousin. However, Spike  would be the same age too, if it weren't for life, who decided to age him quicker. He looked happy, she thought, watching from afar as the five walked side by side, smiling wide. Yet deep down, suppressed near his fire was his unhappiness. She could see it in his face when he grimaced (slightly), his eyes darting to every face near him, hoping no one saw his slip up. She saw him do it every time; she must be invisible to him.

Rainbow Dash sighed. To her, she never will have a chance to sit there with him and talk without feeling all awkward and brash, which was, as she assumed, a bit too much for him. She knew who he liked: Rarity. She saw him look at her with all the money and gems in the world glimmering in his eyes. Yet, she...

"Rainbow Dash!" harked her target. "Are you alright?"

She panicked, her eyes moving away from his. "U-Uh... yeah!" Stutter. "I'm fine!"

He waved to his friends, and approached her. "It didn't sound like you were fine."

"I..." She looked down. "I am, Spike." She had to get her heart to stop beating so fast.

He looked at her (with his eyebrow raised too) from all angles. He eyed her like an exquisite piece of art that was hanging delicately on the wall, colors swirling in fine arts, while the more sculpted pieces came to life, feeling closer and rounded. She felt an unbearable heat rise to her face. She wondered what was going through his mind. Did he like how she looked? Did she fit his mold?

Why did she care? she thought, knowing that the age difference from her to him was too far still. The ponies viewed him as fifteen, yet he was nineteen. She was twenty-six.  So why did she care for a dragon? What was her motive? Did she even have a motive, an attraction, a liking for him that would steer clear from the judgmental world around her?

She sighed. He was a bright, smart, fire-breathing dragon who loved ponies like she loved ponies. Most of all, she thought he was cool. Yes, her mind did not deceive her, he was cool. Normally, she couldn't even get past admitting another pony, let alone a stallion was as downright cool--no, awesome as her, but now, she called him cool. An awesome cool dragon. Something was very wrong.

Just like her heart, which was beating faster and faster the more he took to eye her up and down.

Then it came to a close; the race was over. He smiled.

"I guess you are fine."

That made her heart come to a slow, natural pace. After all, slow and steady wins the race (said no one ever).

Rainbow Dash had to ask him some questions.

"Why haven't we talked?"

The dragon, now seated in his favorite chair, looked at her and replied, "I've been extremely busy mining with Rarity. She's... wanting a specific type of gem that is necessary to complete her piece. Something... blue?"

A blue gem?, she thought, leaning back in her chair. It wasn't unusual for the two friends to sit down and just chat. They've been friends since Twilight harked her name and when she and Spike laughed themselves to the ground. Old friends, she would describe them as, old friends that have been...

No, she won't think of them like that. They won't be distant. There's no reason to be distant. They're are best friends, Spike and her, right? Is she...

Is she losing him?

She sighed. "So she never let you have a break?"

He twiddled his claws. "I... wish I had asked for one."

Groaning, Rainbow Dash sat up and scooted her chair closer to Spike before popping a squat once again. She saw his face turn red for just a brief moment, which, in her eyes, meant something. She just didn't know what. Was it for Rarity or was it for her?

"Maybe you should stop working for Rarity," Rainbow Dash said. "She's working you to the ground and--"

The suggestion must've triggered something deep within Spike, as she saw him stand up and put his face near hers. He growled and said, "How could you even suggest something like that?"

"It's not like you're gaining anything from it!" Rainbow Dash replied ferociously, eyebrows promptly slanting down.

He sighed. "I am, Rainbow Dash."

"Then what are you gaining?"

"I," he began, his eyes darting from her to the door. "I'm getting garnets."

"Garnets?" Her anger began to vanish. "What do you mean?"

"She's paying me with any gem that I'd like, so, naturally I told her I wanted the garnets. They're the best you can have in Equestria."

Garnets? She had heard of those gems before. They, according to Spike, taste like a ruby, but aren't a ruby. They also keep you in a trance sometimes, giving him, as he had put it once, a cloud nine effect. It's not normal, she had told him while she stood there with the thoughts of death swirling around her brain. Despite her concern, she was pushed aside every time; his anger had won him over and he stomped out, carrying his garnets with him.

"Didn't I tell you this before, Rainbow Dash?" he growled with that same growl which pierced her eardrums. "You told me I may get sick from eating them!"

Her heart began to race again. "I... did. I'm just worried about you, Spike."

"Don't be," he replied while he got up from his seat. With a blank expression staring straight at her, he continued, "I'll be fine."

Just like that, the dragon left the library, leaving Rainbow Dash to her thoughts. Her heart had been beating fast as he looked at her. His eyes had looked empty, blank, and when he left, the cold, harsh slamming of the door had made her heart suddenly stop beating. Once he had left, her heart restarted again at a much slower pace. She sighed.

Another race down, another loss in the books.

She tried to smile, but the world around her felt like it was floating above water while she was sinking towards the dark depths below. She hadn't hit rock bottom yet, but the dark essence inside her told her she had forgotten where it ended, so she continued to swim up when she may have hit the bottom a long time ago. She shook her emotions away, hoping that for a brief second, while she traversed town square, that her facade would stay true, that she could smile and get past Pinkie without her asking what's wrong or why she was frowning. Pinkie Pie didn't like frowns, and if she saw one on Rainbow Dash's face, her goal would be to try and make that face genuinely happy again. Not the pony, just the face.

She might actually like that, Rainbow Dash thought, her face lighting up at the prospect. Happiness is earned, and she would earn it for that moment, before she...

The smile was wiped from her face.

...lost him again.

In front of the library was Spike carrying his new load of garnets.  She stopped her walk and watched as he opened the door and attempted to walk in. Some of the garnets almost fell from the large pile, but luckily Spike gathered himself, dipping the load low so it could cross the threshold.  Rainbow Dash never knew he had gotten that many garnets from Rarity's gem hunts, but she knew it now as the door slammed against its frame that he is drowning in those garnets.

Concern wiped her face clean from sadness as she raced towards the door. Garnets again. She must stop him from sniffing, eating, consuming, taking in the fumes--garnets weren't healthy for him. She knew it as each day she talked to him he would get worse and worse and worse. His anger would bind him to the ground while he yelled at everypony who stood in his way. Even Twilight, though she did not like to talk about, would be caught in the crossfire. His strong language would send Twilight haywire, and she would lose herself to a torrent of sadness--for a second. Twilight would be sad for that lone second before putting that mask on too.

If anypony knew how Rainbow Dash felt, it would be Twilight. There's no easy way to put this. If she was going to get to Spike, she'd have to talk to Twilight Sparkle before she lost him forever.

With a deep breath, Rainbow Dash knocked on the door.