Things like this always seem to start on bright and sunny days. Spike woke up at a reasonable time, for all the years he had lived in Ponyville he had slowly worked his body into getting up at the crack of 7, early enough to get up, brush his teeth and get the dragon breath out, replacing it with crisp mint. Twilight appreciated the gesture, being woken up by smoke breath was not the best way to start a day.

Spike stretched himself out and looked in the mirror hung on the crystal wall. He wasn’t the same short kid that followed Twilight around anymore...not that he had grown all that much. He was taller at least, the shortest of the girls was Pinkie, she was 5 foot 10. Spike is 5’8”. He kind of cursed his dragon heritage but it had gotten him out of some sticky situations. He wasn’t skinny or as round as he was as a kid, he’d built up a bit of muscle from all the work and exercise he’d put in, from helping Twilight, earning some extra bit from AJ by working on the farm, going on jogs with Rainbow Dash and the many other things he’d been dealing with.

19 years old, with his 20th birthday coming up in a few months. He smiled and washed his face as he made sure his scales were nice and shiny, he liked to groom on date days. He was meeting up with his sweetheart of a year for a quick meet up, she said she wanted to talk. About what he wasn’t sure, but he was always happy to see her.

“...what?” Spike was, at the least, confused.

He had gotten his chores done, he made sure Twilight had a lunch ready in case he was out long and had even planned to be out for most of the day. He was excited to see her, his marefriend, a mare that didn’t mind that he was a little short, that didn’t mind the scales and the claws. He was so excited that he showed up early, sitting outside their favorite cafe and he even ordered for both of them.

But right this moment he wanted to be sure he was hearing her right. “You...you want to take a break?”

“Yes, Spike I want to take a break.” She was a light green, her eyes a bright blue, her dark teal mane was tied back in a braided ponytail and her tail was in a poofy braid. She was the type to go out in jeans and a tank top, he recognized the brand, it was some he bought her.

He shook his head a bit and pushed aside the drink he had ordered. “A break from what? From work? From Ponyville?”

“From ‘us’ Spike, I want a break from us.” She wasn’t even looking at him, something to the left must have been very interesting, couldn’t find what though.

Spike worked his mouth a bit. “Why?”

She scoffed. The fire in Spike’s pit was crackling.

“You wouldn’t know would you?” She finally looked at him. “That’s just like you.”

“What are you talking about?” Every word that came from her mouth didn’t make a lick of sense.

“That’s just it! Why don’t you even try to understand me!?” She shouted at him, catching the attention of the townsponies near them.

“Understand you? I’ve only ever done anything you asked of me!” Spike refused to be treated like a throw rug.

“That’s what I'm talking about! All you do is give and give, you’re so...so...passive! Why can’t you be more...more…” She was looking for the words like she didn’t already know what she was trying to say.

“Like a dragon right?” Spike glared at her and she looked like she had been caught stealing valuable jewels.

“T-that’s-” She stammered but Spike’s fire was lit.

“That’s what? That’s what you want to say right!? What are you even talking about!? I thought you were happy! I gave and gave because I thought it made you happy!” Spike and the mare before him began a yelling contest where all could hear.

“That’s not-! You’re just so ‘sweet’ and ‘kind’, you didn’t care about if I was happy. You just wanted to feed your ego.”

“Says the one wearing the clothes I bought her.”

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“You just said that was the problem! What is it really? Is it really about being ‘selfish’?”

“You never do anything! All you ever do is wait hand and hoof on me! I want more out of a relationship!”

Spike gave her the look he remembered seeing AJ make. “I’m sorry but...are you out of your bucking mind!?”

“Excuse me!?”

“Oh, I’m sorry I’ll try again. What the fuck is wrong with you!?!?” He shouted with enough force that Apple family could hear it from Apple Acres. “That might be the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life! I’ve given you everything you ask of me, and only when I’m NOT selfish do you have a problem!?”

She was taken aback but stood her ground. “Any self-respecting colt wouldn’t act like you! They’d take what they want!”

“So what? You want me to cheat on you? To beat you or something!?”

“No!”

“Then what do you want!?”

“A colt that’s more than just gifts and pretty words!”

“YOU’RE THE ONE THAT ASKED ME TO SPOIL YOU!!!!!”

“THERE’S A SUCH A THING AS BEING SUFFOCATING!!! BUT I GUESS YOU’VE GOTTEN USED TO IT WITH ALL THOSE WHORES!!!!!”

CRASH!!!

Spike’s fist was right through the table that separated them. Smoke was rising from the sides of his mouth and his eyes had a sinister glow to them that made everypony other than the girl before him back away.

“Leave. Them. Out. Of. This.”

“Or what!? You’ll spit fire at me? You’re more of a mouse than a dragon! You couldn’t hurt a wasp if you swatted it!” She folded her arms, just begging him to lash out.

He would if he could, but he was better than that. He had faced his inner dragon and won too many times for this to the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“You’re right. I won’t hit you, I can’t hit you. I won’t fall to that level.” He pulled his fist from the table and he looked at her. “But I refuse to sit here and let you insult the most important ponies in my life.”

“I wonder why that is.”

“Do you really think they’re more important than the time I spent with you!?”

“Are they!?”

Spike and who could on see as a spiteful mare glared at each other. “No break. We’re done.”

“You can’t do that! We’re not finished talking!”

“Yes, we are...everything was fine...if you wanted something like that you could have said something…just told me…” He just looked at her, he couldn’t see the things he once loved. Was this how she was? Had she always been this way? Had he just been ignoring it? Was she right? Had he done something wrong?

Was this his fault?

He put more bits on the table than necessary for a replacement table and looked at her one last time. He was fighting back every urge he had to run, to run away from this…

“For what it's worth...I’d never been so happy...I hope you find what you’re looking for.” He took a step when he heard an audible grunt.

“It’ll be more than you gave me.”

A deafening silence crossed the town. Throughout the fight a crowd had gathered, friends of both sides were, for a lack of a better word, flabbergasted. They were a picture-perfect couple. They were always so happy with each other and seemed like they needed one another to go on...but...it was over like that. A shouting match and a broken table.

Twilight was on the scene, called on by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, around the time Spike destroyed the table and was horrified, she’d never seen him on the edge like that...but that wasn’t what worried her. Spike was many things, durable, brave, kind and fragile. She and the other girls chased after Spike paying no heed to the crowd. He had walked away at first, but he made tracks the moment he was out of view of the café.

They searched all the places they thought he might be and feared he’d run away from home, but they did find him, in tears crouched behind Twilight’s chair at the circular table they received their missions from.

He didn’t say anything.

They couldn’t say anything.

What kind of thing could you say? What would ease the pain?

As Spike sobbed and did his best to not cry out for fear of breaking right there, he was surrounded by the warmth that had left his body. He grasped his head and finally spoke.

“Is it my fault?”

Author's Note

Small note: Scales and Carapaces is coming along. I finally have some time to write so I'm working on it. But while I do that I thought I'd do a little side project to stretch my fingers.