“Why must the Wonderbolts use blue and yellow? It does nothing for your striking coloration!”

Thunderlane nervously chuckled as the impossibly lovely fashionista took every conceivable measurement, becoming quite close as she wrapped the tape measure around his frame using her hooves. “Not that I’m complaining, but I would think you would use your magic for that.”

“What, and miss the chance to get my hooves around such a fine stallion? Perish the thought!” Rarity chuckled as she batted her eyelashes at her flustered customer.

“Say, miss Rarity… would you happen to be free tomorrow evening?”

“As flattering as that is Thunderlane, I’m afraid I’m not available,” she replied with a small smile.

“Ah… um, sorry about that.”

“Ah, ah, ah, I said I was flattered and I meant it,” Rarity said as she put a hoof to his chin to raise his eyes to her own. “You are one of the most handsome stallions in Ponyville, and strong and courageous too. Any mare in this town would be lucky to have you. Myself included. I am simply not available.”

“Can I ask –”

“Now, now, my reasons are my own, and I ask that you respect that.”

“I can do that.” Oddly enough, Thunderlane was able to say this with a smile on his face. And even more surprisingly, he found that he didn’t need to fake it.

Conversation did die a bit after that exchange though, enough that Thunderlane became a little uncomfortable while the fashionista continued her work. But once she finished her measurements and he was allowed to step down from the podium, she again surprised him.

“I may not be available, but I happen to know another lovely mare who may be more than willing to give you a try.”

“I can’t thank you enough for setting me and Thunder up!” Roseluck gushed for the third time in the last fifteen minutes. “He’s so wonderful, so handsome! How can I ever repay you?”

“My dear, you are letting me make a dress for your big date! That’s repayment enough!” Rarity laughed with the blushing mare. She may have felt the tiniest trace of jealousy over how well and quickly those two had hit it off, but mostly she was just plain happy to see such a lovely couple falling in love.

“Alright now, to business. With the materials running 35 bits, and the tailoring fee of 30, and the fitting fee of 10 bits it’s going to cost 75 bits total.”

Rarity knew there would be a problem the moment Rose’s ears folded back and she looked back at the large sign with all the prices laid out on the back wall.

“Oh no, I think I misread your prices… I-I don’t think I can quite cover that… I’m sorry.” The dispirited mare’s head fell almost to her knees.

After some quick thinking, and quicker calculations in her head, Rarity spoke up. “Perhaps we can barter a little. Haven’t you told me you usually have some extra roses at the end of the day?”

Rose looked up and quickly nodded.

“Well, I happen to love your roses. In place of the tailoring fee, how about a couple of your extra roses a week for the next two weeks?”

“B-but, my roses are only two bits each. That doesn’t cover… Four roses. For four weeks.”

“Certainly not dear, no more than two roses per week. And don’t try to make it for longer, I’ll not have you paying for this dress forever!”

“Fine! Two roses per week for a month, but I insist on delivering them!”

The mares had gotten quite into their odd reverse-haggling, soon standing almost nose to nose trying to stare each other down. They could only keep each other's gaze for a few moments before both of them broke down into a fit of giggles

“All right Rose, you win. Let me add that to the receipt.”

Not five minutes after Rose left, the door chime rang again. Rarity looked up from her work as a familiar lavender unicorn entered the boutique.

“Twilight! Come in, come in! I’ll be with you in a minute.” As Rarity finished the finance paperwork that goes with any transaction; Twilight casually roamed the showroom, appreciating all the fine works of art adorning the space.

“Thank you for waiting darling. What brings you by this wonderful afternoon?”

“I hope you don’t mind, but there’s something I’d like to speak with you about.”

“Of course Twilight, you hardly need to ask. Would you like some tea?” Rarity said as she led the way into the private areas of her home-slash-business.

Minutes later tea was served, complete with dainty cookies on a silver dish. Twilight however, did not seem to know where to start. Several times the librarian looked up from her untouched cup and opened her mouth, only to look back down and stare intently into her tea as the silence dragged on.

Finally, she worked up her nerve. “It’s about Spike.”

“He has been quite helpful recently. Is everything alright?” Rarity asked as she calmly sipped her tea.

“Yesterday he came home dirty, tired, and practically floating on air he was so happy about helping you out with your gem hunting.”

A small smile graced the white mare’s lips. “He’s always so eager to help me. Honestly he sometimes tries to take on more than he should. He’s such a dear. But I don’t imagine you are here about him tiring himself out or getting dirty,” A tiny giggle escaped “That’s more my department.”

Twilight’s expressions didn’t lighten. “Rarity, I–”

“Twilight. I may not be as brilliant as you, but I can put two and two together. You’ve been wanting to talk to me about this for quite some time. The only thing I can imagine keeping you quiet this long is a promise.”

“Spike released me from it.” For the first time that evening, Rarity’s guest was smiling, although it was more of a smirk. “I told him I wanted to consult a friend. I just didn’t tell him which friend.”

“Normally I’d chastise you for deceiving poor Spike in such a manner, but I understand that you feel this talk is a bit overdue.”

“Rarity, I’m concerned. I know you like to flirt. An-and there’s nothing wrong with that! But I just don’t want Spike to get hurt.”

Rarity was silent for a long moment, idly stirring her tea. “Twilight, please wait here a moment,” she said as she stood and left for her room. Twilight was not kept waiting long. Moments later Rarity returned, carrying a pair of books littered with bookmarks in her translucent blue aura.

“What’s this? Growth of the Beast and Ancient Minds?” Seconds later Twilight had both tomes open and was skimming the contents. “Rarity! These are books on the physiological and emotional growth of dragons! Where did you find these?!”

“Well, when you could not find anything useful during the dragon migration, I knew that no library would have the knowledge we needed. Thankfully, I have some friends in Canterlot that could point me to several curio shops that cater to the more esoterically inclined. Oh, I see that look in your eyes. You needn’t worry. I will be donating both to the library once I am finished with them. Such knowledge is meant to be shared.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t wait to start studying these!” Twilight took a deep breath, forcing herself to put the books aside for the moment, “You brought these down for a reason, and I don't think it was to distract me with new literature.”

“Quite right, darling. There are two things I need to talk with you about.” Growth of the Beast opened to one of the many bookmarks littered throughout the tome, displaying a simple chart. “First, while I am not one hundred percent certain as to what type of dragon Spike is, the youngest a dragon can reach sexual maturity is fifty years of age.”

Despite the near clinical tone Rarity was using, her normally lavender friend quickly became cherry red. Tactfully ignoring Twilight’s discomfort, she continued on.

“And while most dragons can in fact have foals with ponies, I would be nearing the end of my childbearing years should we ever become a couple. Spike is a gentledrake of the highest caliber. He is courteous, giving, and brave. He showers me with compliments every day and he means every word. He is a true prince. But we could only truly be together just in time for him to watch me wither and die. This is not a fate he deserves.”

“So why haven’t you told him this yet? Why is he still following you around like a lovesick puppy? If you know you are going to turn him down in the end, then why are you still LEADING HIM ON?”

The slam of Twilight’s hoof on the table shocked them both into silence.

She abashedly sat back down, “I-I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have shouted.”

“No, Twilight. It’s perfectly understandable. But this does bring me to the second thing I need to tell you.” The first book quietly closed and was joined by the second before the librarian. “According to these books, while young drakes are impressively resilient physically, they are shockingly vulnerable emotionally. Prone to fits of greed, jealousy, and anger. As unpleasant as this is to admit, we have both seen that Spike goes dangerously overboard when he has cause to feel such negative emotions.” Rarity paused to give her friend a moment to reply.

“Well, that’s true I guess..., ” Twilight gave a hesitant nod as she spoke.

“Now, while these fiery emotions are quite destructive; they become obvious quickly, and are therefore easy to spot and address. The more subtle emotions on the other hoof, such as depression, can fester for decades before becoming apparent. Apparently the most common, and least destructive, pattern is for a young drake to hold these feelings inside. Over time they become more and more withdrawn. This usually leads to several decades of a hermit-like life style before recovering and reintegrating into society.”

“Hold on a minute,” Twilight interrupted, “Spike just eighteen years old. Isn’t it a bit extreme to be assuming behavior patterns will last several times his age?”

Ancient Minds opened under Rarity’s influence to a section near the back of the book. “Here are a dozen case studies documenting every known dragon that involved him or herself with pony society. Of these twelve individuals, three spoke of their experiences with various forms of depression. They all followed the same pattern. Every single one. They got hurt, held it inside for a few years, then went off to live alone.”

Silence filled the boutique as it's owner let that sink in.

“Twilight, I’ve had stallions chasing after me ever since I was Sweetie’s age. I don’t really understand why, but for some reason they are hurt the most if I turn them down before they approach me. Many of them start to somehow believe that they aren’t even good enough to ask me out, no matter how far from the truth this is.”

“So, what?” Twilight shook her head, “You’re just going to wait until he asks you out then turn him down gently?”

“That is the general idea.” Rarity’s calm demeanor seemed to frustrate her friend as much as her simple plan.

“But if you’re right, then that could take years!”

“That’s right.”

“But what if – What about…,” Twilight trailed off, eyes jumping back and forth as she put together tiny pieces of this new puzzle, then settling on Rarity for several long seconds. Finally she sat back, her face settling into a calm mask as she slowly took her first drink of the now cold tea. “Fluttershy came by the library yesterday.”

“Oh?” Rarity already suspected where this apparent non-sequitur was leading.

“Yes. Apparently she was rather hopeful that you would start dating Thunderlane, especially since you were so effusively praising him after he saved you at the academy. And she knew he was interested in you.

“But somehow he’s dating Roseluck now. It seems this started a lot of rumors because he never showed any interest in her before. The most common one is that you set them up.” The solid thunk of teacup meeting table was the only indication of the librarian’s frustration through her mask of calm.

“Why, yes. I may have had a hoof in getting that delightful romance off the ground, so to speak.”

“You haven’t accepted any advances recently..., have you?”

“And most stallions are quite understanding.”

Twilight stared into her teacup for a while, apparently trying to come to terms with all this new information.

“Rarity…,” she started unable to complete the thought.

“Twilight, I understand your concern, and I’m touched that you want to help. But what I choose to do with my personal life is my choice in the end.”

“But - this is just... I think I need to think on this for a bit. It’s a lot to take in all at once. Thank you for the tea, and the talk,” Twilight said as she rose to leave.

“You’re always welcome Twilight.” The two books at the root of the discussion once more acquired a pale blue glow as they made their way into a bag. “Here, take these with you. I believe I am done with them for now.”

“And one last thing,” Rarity called out just as Twilight was about to walk out.

“Yes?”

“Please don’t push Spike into anything. He will come to me when he’s ready.”

“Alright. Goodnight Rarity.”

Rarity watched her friend walk into the night before closing up the boutique and heading to bed herself. Her empty bed did not bother her too much anymore. But she allowed herself one small bit of selfishness as she opened her nightstand and took out her most treasured possession. It was a beautiful necklace, the centerpiece of which was a heart shaped ruby.

Instead of wearing it, she simply hugged it to herself as she drifted off.

“Goodnight Spike.”

Author's Notes:

Let me see if I can make a short little story speak for itself...

Special thanks to Luminary and MCMackers for taking the time to pre-read this for me!