Pinkie had asked him to go find Rarity and Twilight. In retrospect, he wished he hadn't agreed.

“They’re soooo late!” she had said, leaning against her empty party cannon, face frowning. Spike had barely just finished breakfast when the pink pony practically pushed him out the front gates. “Can you go look for them, Spike? You lived here before so it’ll be super easy! Don’t take too long!”

He had agreed to go because of course he’d always agree to go. He was Twilight’s number one assistant, wasn’t he? Number one assistants were always helpful, through rain and shine, good times and bad times. Not to mention the fact that he’d get to see Rarity that much sooner.

Making his way through the streets and alleys, he wondered if he'd have the time later to give Rarity a special tour of the city, if Twilight hadn't already. He could just picture himself showing Rarity all sorts of amazing things, such as the botanical gardens, or the history museum, or the chocolate factory. Maybe they were giving free samples that day?

Indeed, his love of the white mare was eclipsed only by his love of food, and perhaps his love of staying up late. So when he spotted an ice cream stand as he walked through the city, his stomach was given priority over his quest. His first instinct was to turn around to Twilight and ask if he could have a scoop. Not having his caretaker there made him aware just how much he had grown, if not in length, then at least in maturity. He no longer really needed Twilight to go with him every time he wanted to go for a walk out on the town, not like she used to moan about having to. Today, he could simply reach into his left pocket and take out a few bits of his allowance, which he had saved up for just such an occasion.

Licking off a generous portion from his ice cream, the small dragon continued his quest to find Rarity and Twilight — an easy task considering he knew every street, every alleyway, every corner of the capital. Hay, with all the time Twilight used to spend studying with Celestia, a young dragon had to find something fun to do, and what better than secretly exploring the city, right? If Twilight knew how many times he had sneaked out of the castle to explore or meet with other ponies like Moondancer, for example, she’d probably throw a fit.

It seemed like everypony had decided to take advantage of the nice weather, and he had to be careful to avoid bumping into ponies or his delicious ice cream wouldn’t end up  in his stomach where it belonged. Having his ice cream splattered all over the pavement would most assuredly be a bad thing. Protecting his food, he looked at the shops as he passed then, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two mares. It wasn’t until several minutes later, after having unsuccessfully gone inside several shops, that he noticed a few ponies had gathered outside a clothes’ shop, all of them staring inside. Always the curious one, he made his way to the crowd and peered inside the window, finding the source of everypony’s interest.

Almost as if Discord himself had decided to pay a visit, the inside of the shop looked like a veritable disaster area. Bunches of clothes lay scattered all over the display tables, much to the consternation of a dismayed looking pony, who Spike assumed was the owner of the place. Upon hearing the word ‘princess’ being uttered by one of the excited mares next to him, he squinted and scanned the store again, his eyes landing right on target. Standing in the middle of the room was the Princess of Friendship herself, and Spike couldn’t hold back an amused smirk at Twilight’s flustered expression. Nevertheless, as amused as he was by Twilight's plight, he was far more interested in the whereabouts of her companion.

Just as he finished the thought, the single most beautiful pony emerged from behind one of the racks of clothes, like the ray of sunshine and hope appearing amidst the dark storm of chaos she herself had created. Rarity. Designer glasses on the bridge of her nose and dresses floating behind her, it was clear the unicorn was in the middle of a — what did she call them? Oh, yeah! — ‘fashion emergency’, and Spike wished he was the subject of the unicorn’s attention instead of the blushing alicorn.

Rarity, completely engrossed in her own world, matched dress after dress against Twilight, trying no doubt to find the perfect one. It was her relentless dedication and passion that Spike loved most about her. How cute she looked with her furrowed brow and scrunched up nose as she examined the dress. He could gaze at her forever, and he’d never get tired of the sight.

“Careful with that starin’, kid. You might burn holes into her,” a voice said, drawing Spike’s attention away from the unicorn and towards an older stallion standing next to him. He looked at the dragon with an amused expression before turning back to the window. “That white mare’s a looker, ain’t she?”

Sighing wistfully, Spike nodded, “Yeah, she is.” While one hand still tightly held his ice cream, he pressed the other against the window in a curiously longing motion, action which he’d be embarrassed about if he wasn’t too busy gawking at Rarity.

And then, the stallion spoke up again. “Seems like the princess thinks her friend’s good-lookin’ too,” he added with a chuckle, elbowing Spike.

It took Spike a moment to fully process what the stallion had said, but once it did, he almost spit out his ice cream laughing. “Yeah, right!” he snorted, turning to look at the stallion with skepticism. Twilight? Like Rarity? As in like like Rarity? That was the best joke he’d heard all day, and that was saying something considering he’d spent the entire morning hearing jokes from Pinkie Pie.

He focused his sight on Twilight, eager to disprove the stallion’s laughably ridiculous assumption. While Rarity focused on the dress, Twilight watched her with a completely neutral and platonic gaze, of course. There was a light blush on her cheeks, yes, but Twilight was obviously just embarrassed at how the unicorn had turned her into the center of attention with her overzealous ways. And then, Rarity just had to turn and smile at Twilight, didn’t she?

The problem hadn’t been Rarity looking up and grinning, because Spike — and everypony, surely — knew that there could never be anything even slightly problematic about a trademark dazzling Rarity smile. Even Twilight’s immediate reaction, which was to grin back, was perfectly normal considering how could somepony not grin back at such a smile. The problem had been Twilight’s reaction the moment the other mare looked away.

Everything about her changed. Her grin dissolved into a smile so smitten, Spike could almost hear the wistful sigh that followed it. It frightened him just how similar that expression looked to the ones he’d be surrounded with during Hearts and Hooves day, and it scared him even more just how similar it was to the lovestruck expression he’d use for Rarity. The worst part, however, came when Rarity looked back at Twilight, and the smitten expression vanished completely.

If Twilight hadn’t changed anything, Spike could have still argued with himself that she was just being very appreciative of Rarity. Except she did, and seeing as she’d never make a conscious effort to hide a friendly gaze, it meant that there was much more behind it. It meant she was embarrassed, and the only reason Twilight would be embarrassed was if she… The dragon’s mind blanked out, his two claws pressed against the window and not hearing — or perhaps, not caring about — the sound of his ice cream falling to the floor.

No.

No, she didn’t like Rarity. She couldn’t like Rarity knowing he loved her first, could she? Like a broken record, that small moment in which Twilight displayed her real feelings kept repeating itself over and over and over in his mind, unlocking an unpleasant boiling feeling inside him.

It wasn’t until the stallion asked him if he was alright, and he saw the claw marks he had left on the window and felt his clenched jaw loosen up that Spike realized he needed to calm down; calm down and fight the nearly irresistible urge to stomp inside the store and lash out at the alicorn. Stepping back and barely processing the sensation of stepping over his melted ice cream, he offered the stallion mumbled excuses and took off towards the other side of the street, entering the first alleyway he saw.

Throes of questions burned in his mind. For how long had Twilight felt that way? Why hadn’t he seen it before? All of a sudden, all of Twilight’s unusually frequent visits to Carousel Boutique started making sense. Had… Had he been denying it to himself? He groaned and buried his face in his claws. It didn’t make sense. Why and how had Twilight fallen for Rarity knowing he loved her? She should have been the first pony to know the unicorn was off-limits considering just how much he raved on and on about Rarity to her.

Wait…

His entire body went cold and he moved his claw away from his wide eyes. Whenever he wasn’t helping Twilight, he was rambling about Rarity: about how gorgeous she was, about her smile, her laugh, her eyes… Was… Was it his fault? Had he drilled it into Twilight’s mind that Rarity was perfection incarnate? He peeked his head out of the alley and looked at the shop. Could he blame her for falling in-love when he had practically paved the way?

“Come on, darling, stand up straight! If there isn’t a single decent dress to be found in this city then I shall simply have to make one for you, shan’t I?”

Rarity’s voice brought him back to reality, and he peeked his head out the alley, finding the two mares standing outside the shop. Most of the gawking ponies had already dispersed, including the stallion from a few moments before. The two mares were standing outside the shop talking, but he noticed just how irritatingly tiny the distance between them was.

He wondered if he ought to join them before Pinkie decided to come and get them herself, but he’d be lying if he said he could just walk up to them acting as if he hadn’t just been stabbed in the back with a dagger. Regardless, the decision was taken away from him when a baby unicorn trotting by with her mother saw him and announced to the entire street her exciting discovery.

“Spike?” Rarity called, tilting her head to the side.

A veil masking his real feelings, he finally joined them and twisted the dagger plunged in his back by acting as if nothing was wrong. As he walked towards them, he noticed how Twilight practically jumped away from Rarity the second she saw him. Even Rarity noticed it, giving Twilight a quick glance before turning to Spike and grinning.

For a brief moment, Spike almost considered feeling relieved and happy that Twilight was so obviously ashamed of betraying him, but he forcibly buried the thought away. It didn’t feel right. If.. If Twilight didn’t care about his feelings, she wouldn’t have moved away from Rarity so quickly, would she? Maybe she didn’t want anything to happen between her and Rarity...

“Hi, everypony!” he greeted as cheerfully as he could manage, even returning Twilight’s smile. He tried to bury away any more thoughts on his previous romantic crisis. He could deal with that later. “What’s going on?”

“Disaster is what. We need to find a dress at the last minute because it seems as though somepony”— she glanced at Twilight —“thought that wearing that dreadful old gala dress would be appropriate for her birthday party.”

Twilight didn’t agree with her, debating Rarity’s claims. “But I like that dress! Besides, what do you mean ‘dreadful’?” She pointed her hoof at Rarity. “You designed it!”  

Rarity let out a haughty laugh. “Well, of course I did, darling, and that’s why you like it!” she exclaimed, fluttering her eyelashes and prompting such an exasperated eye-roll from Twilight, Spike might have laughed if he wasn’t upset. “Nevertheless, you need a new gown. I’d have maybe considered it if it was from last season, but it’s from three seasons ago, and I simply won’t allow you to be seen waltzing around in it,” she continued, levitating her bags in the air, ready to go.

“Uh, wait!” he interrupted, the sight of shopping bags reminding him of his original purpose for coming into town. “Pinkie asked me to tell you guys to hurry back. She wants to get started on decorating everything,” he announced, a dark part inside him glad to have an excuse to stop Twilight and Rarity’s alone time.

“We should head back to the castle, then,” Twilight said, levitating the plastic bags filled with party supplies and trotting towards the castle. “I don’t want to keep Pinkie waiting, especially since she’s doing all the decorations.” After taking a few steps in the right direction, Rarity quickly got in the way, forcibly levitating the party supplies away from the alicorn.

“Spike, dear, would you mind terribly taking these back to Pinkie Pie? Twilight and I can’t return yet until I’ve put together an ensemble for her,” she announced over Twilight’s protests, smiling at him. “You understand, don’t you?”

Spike nodded. “Of course I do, Rarity!” he exclaimed in earnest, taking the bags in his claws. He knew how Rarity’s mind worked after all, and if she had gone to extreme lengths such as basically ransacking some pony’s shop, he knew she wouldn’t be going back to the castle unless it was with a new dress for Twilight. “I’ll take them back to Pinkie.”

Rarity clapped her hooves together. “Wonderful! Thank you so much, sweetheart,” she exclaimed, patting Spike on the head before taking off into the bustling street. “Let’s be off, Twilight!”

Twilight didn’t immediately follow her, instead lingering back with Spike a few moments. “Thanks for taking them, Spike,” she said, smiling at him. She turned to her saddlebag, burying her hoof inside in search of something. “We passed by the candy store earlier, and I bought you a surprise. I was going to give them to you later to have as dessert after lunch, but I’m not sure we’ll be back by then, so…”

He tried not to grin with excitement when Twilight pulled out a whole bag of chocolate nougats. He tried his very best not to immediately attack her with a hug, because she didn’t deserve a hug even if she hadn’t meant for him to find out her crush. Hearing her laugh as he dug in to take a clawful of candy, he privately wished he didn’t love her as much as he did.

“Don’t eat them all at once or you’ll get a stomach ache!” she warned, levitating one of the chocolates and eating it. “There’s going to be a lot of sweets at the party tomorr—”

“Twilight Sparkle! I advise you stop devising an escape plan with Spike because you will not succeed in getting out of this,” Rarity called from afar, tapping her hoof impatiently against the ground.

“I’m coming!” Twilight called back, turning towards Rarity and glancing back at Spike. “See you later tonight, and don’t eat all the chocolate at once, okay?” She trotted off, leaving Spike to his thoughts and food.

Once Twilight and Rarity had disappeared behind the corner of the street, Spike made his way towards the castle, meditating all he’d seen.  Yes, he was hurt, but he still had a chance, didn’t he? Twilight didn’t seem to want to actually start something with Rarity, so that meant she was leaving the path clear for Spike, right? Right!

I don’t have to compete with Twilight, and I still have a chance as long as Rarity doesn’t like her back. She'll get over it eventually, right? Maybe she’ll meet somepony else at the party, he thought to himself, taking the bag of candy and completely emptying its contents inside his mouth.

In retrospect, maybe he should have listened to Twilight when she said not to eat the entire bag. Immediately after having delivered the party supplies to Pinkie Pie, he had marched right up to Twilight’s room so as to try and unsuccessfully sleep away the painful candy-induced stomach ache he had brought upon himself.

A mighty dragon that could digest diamonds defeated by a bunch of chocolates. He’d think it was almost poetic if he wasn’t so busy suffering the consequences. Uuuurgh. He buried his face in the pillow and groaned, wishing Twilight were there to give him some medicine. Well, actually, he took that back. He didn’t wish Twilight were there after what happened earlier in town, and then how she tried to bribe her way back into his heart with delicious treats — which she had succeeded in doing, but still!

Hearing noises outside, Spike turned right side-up, just in time to see the door of the room open and Twilight come inside, several shopping bags floating behind. Great.

“Oh, hi, Spike! I thought you were helping Pinkie,” she said, putting down her bags and taking a closer look at him. Her brow furrowed for a moment, and Spike braced himself for the oncoming scolding, but her face relaxed and she smiled sympathetically instead. “Stomach ache?” she asked, trotting over to the desk when she received a meek nod in reply. Opening one of the drawers, Twilight took out a box of painkillers and floated them over to Spike, then teleporting a glass of water from the kitchen.

“Aren’t you mad at me?” he asked, putting a pill inside his mouth and taking a large drink of water. She was usually upset at him whenever he stuffed himself this full of candy, but this time she was letting him off easy? He narrowed his eyes, watching her take out a dress from one of the bags. Something wasn’t right.

“Well, I’m a little disappointed that you couldn’t wait, but you can make your own decisions, Spike,” she replied, taking out the objects inside another one of the bags. She looked up at him and smiled teasingly.“Besides, I have to admit I didn’t think you were really going to wait.”

“Oh.” Well, she was right, wasn’t she? He was a big dragon now, and he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wan— “Uuurgh.” He rolled over and once more buried his face against the pillow, desperately wishing Twilight had never given him the chocolates in the first place. Every single thing she had done that day had caused him pain, and he wondered if it was really the best decision to stay in the room with her, or else she might somehow do something worse. “I think I’m gonna go take a walk,” he announced, forcing himself off the bed. Maybe if he asked, Princess Celestia could use her magic to cure him.

Twilight seemed to have other ideas regarding his decision, however. “Maybe you should keep resting, Spike. Walking around might make it worse,” she said, giving him a worried glance which he promptly brushed off, heading straight past her and towards the door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. See you later.” Spike walked out the door and closed it behind him. Nighttime was dawning, which meant that Princess Celestia would be heading towards the main balcony so she could lower the sun. She would always let him watch when he small — or rather, smaller — so there shouldn’t be a problem if he joined her and Princess Luna.

All the different hallways and paths of the castle were easy to get lost in, but not for him. There were times, of course, when he’d gotten lost as a hatchling, but Princess Celestia and Twilight had found him quickly enough… unless it was that one time the princess had to look all over the castle when Twilight had joined him in getting lost. It felt as if the pain in his stomach faded away with each memory he recalled, only being brought back to reality when he heard the sound of Rarity’s laughter coming from one of the rooms, practically beckoning him to her.

Even though he loved the princess greatly, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to spend time with the unicorn. If he told her about his stomach ache and did an especially pouty face, perhaps she’d give him a get-better hug. Approaching the room, he noticed a second laughter coming from the same room, it’s higher pitch pointing to it coming from Sweetie Belle. Maybe I shouldn’t interrupt?... Naaah.

The room’s door was halfway closed, but when he peeked in, he was still able to see everything inside. Sweetie was jumping on the bed, looking at the bag that floated next to Rarity. Rarity was standing next to a desk several feet away from the bed, looking back at her sister with a thoroughly amused expression.

“Come oooon, Rarity! What is it? Tell me, tell me, tell me!” Sweetie insisted, her words emphasized with jumps on the bed.

Rarity laughed, levitating the bag a few feet towards Sweetie. “Now, now, Sweetie Belle, you’re more patient than this—”

“No, I’m not!”

“—so you’ll just have to wait like everypony else to see it,” Rarity said, giggling at her sister’s frustrated groan.

What was in that bag? Spike narrowed his eyes, curiosity overpowering the Twilight-esque voice in his head scolding him for eavesdropping on a private conversation. It was obviously something they had bought during their shopping trip, but they hadn’t mentioned buying anything exciting enough to warrant Sweetie’s reaction.

“You know what? I bet you didn’t find it!” Sweetie accused, plopping herself down on the bed and crossing her forelegs. “You’re lying.”

“I most certainly am not!” Rarity exclaimed, thwarting Spike’s attempts at reading the logo on the bag by floating it on top of her sister, who once more resumed her jumping in attempt at reaching it. “I found the single most perfect p— Sweetie, don’t bite it, for ponyssake!”

Thank to a strong jump, Sweetie had managed to reach the bag, biting and bringing it down with her. “Ha-ha!” She reached inside the bag and took out a blue book, placing it to her side before continuing her search. “Wait.” Frowning, she peered in the bag, practically stuffing her own face in it, and then turned it inside out. “Is that it?” she asked, tossing the bag aside and looking at the book.

“Indeed it is!” Rarity proclaimed, looking quite proud of herself.

Sweetie reached over and took the book, examining the cover for a minute, still frowning. “A book?” she said slowly, looking to her sister.

“It’s not just any book!” Rarity defended, smiling while she motioned to the object in question. “Take a closer look at it.”

Sweetie turned away from her sister and re-examined the cover of the book. “Oh, sorry. It’s… a french dictionary.” Judging by her expression, she obviously didn’t understand why that made it any more important — neither did Spike, frankly. Sweetie opened it and leafed through the pages “Wait, it’s a used french dictionary,” she clarified. “This is it? Really?”

Rarity snatched the book away from the filly and put it on the desk “Oh, don’t look at me like that! It’s a perfectly acceptable present, and besides, you had to be there to understand its significance!”

A present? Oh, for Twilight! That’s why she hadn’t said anything earlier: she didn’t want to spoil it! Having acquired that information, he finally decided he’d listen to the voice in his head and leave the two sisters to talk while he searched for Celestia. Or, that was his plan until Sweetie spoke up again.

“Well, if my special somepony gave me a used dictionary as a present, I’m wouldn’t feel all that special.”

Once more, the entire world seemed to stop around Spike. He looked back inside the room, his throat dry and heart hammering against his chest. No.

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said with exasperation, a clear blush on her cheeks. “I already told you we're not dati—”

“I know, I know.” She rolled her eyes and then collapsed on the bed. “Still, I can’t believe that’s the ‘super unique and special’ present, but you know best, I guess.”

The rest of the conversation went unheard by Spike, who stepped away and slunk against the wall. No. He collapsed against the wall, face buried in between his claws. His chest pounded painfully against his ribcage because no, no, no, no, no, no. Maybe it isn't for Twilight. He clutched on to that single thought, swallowing hard and getting up, nodding to himself because as long as no name had been mentioned, there was no reason to believe it was for Twilight.

Sweetie Belle was just teasing Rarity. She always did that, didn't she? Yes. Yes, she did. He was sure that she did. He was a hundred percent positive that she did.

Spike took a deep breath and marched off into the hallway, headed towards the main balcony. Celestia should still be there, and it would be nice to spend some time with her. Afterwards, he'd go to sleep and wake up to help organize Twilight's party — a party in which the alicorn would most certainly not receive any dictionaries from Rarity… Right?

Right.