The words permeated through the door of Carousel Boutique and hung alongside the few dust particles that glinted in the last rays of sunlight while Rarity could only stand and let her tears rain down her face.

She thought she had heard Spike knock with the same two quick raps he would always give before he entered the boutique, right as her hoof drew towards the doorknob she heard Spike speak.

'Rarity, I love you.'

She gasped and quickly drew her hoof to cover her mouth in fear that Spike had heard her and let the tears flow from her emerald eyes. Love, it was love, not some boyish crush. Spike didn't just like her mane, didn't just find her beautiful, he was in love with her.

Rarity turned on her hooves and walked quietly to a simple seat in the middle of her display room, keeping calm only from the aid of shock. She looked down as she drew her forelegs across her chest everything began to sink in, feeling a bit of warmth drop onto her hooves. "Oh", she whispered, noticing the tears that had started to soak into her fur, "I suppose I'm still crying." Rarity sighed in an attempt to clear the fog of emotions that stirred in her mind. "Of all the things that could happen, this is..." Rarity trailed off as her eyes grew to the size of saucers, her quiet voice fading into the surrounding dress-forms.

"Now that doesn't sound quite right", she said as she blinked a few stray tears from her eyes. In truth, it didn't. Rarity knew what she felt whenever she would cry out her 'drama declaration', as she had so aptly named it, but this just wasn't the same. She hopped off her chair and almost unconsciously trotted up to her vanity mirror, knowing far too well from experience with sad novels that crying would ruin a distinguished mare's makeup. Rarity hefted a sigh and closed her eyes, letting the memories of her day flow across her vision, "It isn't the worst possible thing, but it's not the best." Rarity opened her eyes to see trails of mascara running down from her eyes, "Goodness, I look like a mess." With that she closed her eyes and tilted her head up as her magic began to levitate various cleaning cloths and solutions from around the mirror. She was no Aloe, and was far from ever being a Lotus, but Rarity felt as if this ritual was more coordinated than any day spa would ever attempt to be. Each piece of makeup had their own process of removal, a total of five, each working in perfect tandem; her lipstick was washed away by a miniscule wand adorned with frills as two specialized brushes worked the smallest amounts of blush from her cheeks. Her eye shadow came off with a solution made from distilled pears, Rarity honestly had no idea how pears worked to clean eye shadow, but she appreciated it anyway.
Next came the false eyelashes, this brought a sensation that always made her want to sneeze. The glue pulled ever so slightly at the nerves of her eyelashes that refracted the sensation into her muzzle, her sneeze came the moment the false apparatuses of fashion let their grasp of her own eyelids drop. The moment her eyelids fluttered open after the resounding reflex a glow of magic surrounded two transparent discs above her irises.

Rarity let stared at her reflection with a modest smile as makeup, brushes, and contact lenses all descended into their appropriate drawers and boxes. Seeing herself without makeup brought a secret thrill to her that nopony else had ever experienced, aside from her lovely parents, none of her closest friends even knew she actually needed the crimson glasses she wore whenever the finest details were needed on dresses. "Well, Rarity", she chuckled as if she were engaging in a conversation with her reflection, "I suppose there's a few questions I need to answer. Spike is-" Rarity stopped and stared wide-eyed at the mirror, noticing a crimson heat rising across her face, "Spike is in love with me."

She brought her hooves up to her cheek and whispered through a smile she hadn't felt rise since she was barely her sisters' age, "Sweet Celestia, Spikey-Wikey is in love with me!" Rarity let out a girlish squeal, the same she would let out when her favorite romance novels ended with a passionate kiss, and giggled like a madmare. This was juicier than any of the Gabby Gums columns she had once fawned over, the kind of drama her heart of hearts absolutely lusted after, a young dragon falling hopelessly in love for a mare the age of his guardian.

'What am I thinking?'

Her revelry lasted for a few moments until her stare went back to the mirror, "Sweet Celestia, Spike is in love with me."Her reflection stared back as a thousand stunning truths entered her mind, "Everything he's ever said to me has been true; every compliment, and every little speech made to encourage me, all of it was true." Rarity's heart fluttered in her chest as she realized the implications from this. Was it illegal? She knew dragons aged differently from ponies, but Spike still held the appearance of an adolescent. "What do I do?" She asked herself, bringing her hooves back to her cheeks, "How am I supposed to react?"

'Well, the prince has just confessed to his love, how do you think?'

She brought her head down to gaze at the floor and felt her heart beat faster alongside her rising smile as started to giggle again, "All of it was true and all of his adorable little speeches came on the spot, such a little charmer." Rarity shuffled her hind legs against the floor, feeling a shy blush creep across her face, "I've had poets try to talk me into their beds with romantic flourish, but that handsome little dragon just puts them to shame. He truly is a prince." A contented sigh emanated from her mouth, causing her eyes to snap open and stare back to her mirror-bound doppelganger.

'That wasn't me, right? Right?'

"A prince?! Come now, Rarity, you're looking for a handsome young stallion to be your prince. A colt who could sweep you off your hooves and make all of your dreams come true!" Rarity's voice grew less and less audible as she continued, memories of a certain noble being the opposite of everything her dream colt had been rising, soon she could barely face her own reflection.

'And I was fool enough to think that would be the epitome of perfection.'

"Somepony who's charming and has a way with words, who would cast his coat down so you wouldn't have to walk in a puddle. A suitor who would always compliment you and give you gifts he couldn't bear to let anypony else have." Her breath hitched a bit in her throat as the white fur of an imaginary prince turned to amethyst scales, "A brave knight who would defend you against ruffians ten times his size."

'I was stupid enough to ignore him or shoo him away.'

She went silent as her eyes closed for a few moments until she was able to continue, "A perfect dragon who couldn't bear to actually confess his feelings if he thought it would upset his love."

The tears started flowing with the end of her soliloquy, soaking warm lines into the fur across her muzzle. Rarity once again looked upwards toward the mirror, once she could see clearly through the tears she had shed, all that she saw was herself smiling. Here she was, a grown mare crying about love as her emotions got caught up in a tempest. Usually stallions were the one's feeling their pride dwindle whenever they couldn't court her rather than a distinguished pony like herself weeping about a baby dragon who had no idea the object of his adoration had even heard.

The memory brought a lighthearted chuckle to her, "Oh, Spike", she sighed as if in a dream, "you're so perfect and you don't even know it." Once she had spoken she felt a familiar surge of shock coarse through her entire body, hey eyes, big as saucers, stared at her reflection once again. The wave carried goosebumps in it's wake that tingled all beneath her fur, but her expression softened. Soon a warm smile that brought back a vivid memory of a sunset washed away her frightened daze. She stared into her own eyes this time, rather than those of her conflicted reflection, questioning where that memory had arisen from.

A familiar voice washed out from her memories brought a bit of clarification to her. 'You were staring.'

Rarity sighed through her grin, "I was staring, wasn't I? I suppose a lady can't help when she's faced with such a beauty, those scales could really accentuate a top of the line dress." Her eyes shot open, more memories of her day rushing out to meet her, "Dresses? Oh my, he's still coming over tomorrow, isn't he?" her voice dropped to an excited whisper, "Spikey-Wikey is coming over tomorrow to be my darling assistant! What if he confesses directly this time?"

The answer to that question could was spelled out entirely by the giddy smile presented on her alabaster face. "I wonder", Rarity said from behind closed eyes, "how would Spike react if he were to see me like this?"

Simplicity, a welcome blessing for those with complex lives. Some desire it, some cherish it when they have it, and others tend to lose it without knowledge of their loss. However, some things just can't abide by the rules of simplicity; love being a prime example. For most who get swept into loves embrace, simplicity is a blessing they could not even pray to receive.

Normally the citizens of Ponyville would go about their business as the sun reached it's peak in the sky, especially those burdened with the occupation of public service, however one lavender librarian and her amethyst assistant lay sleeping on a couch during the prime business hours of their literary outpost. Twilight lay in the same position, her forelegs wrapped lovingly around Spike's chubby body, while Spike's clawed arms had wrapped themselves around her velveteen neck. If anypony were to see they two, they would have been discerned as lovers.

Twilight regrettably pulled herself out a dream in which she had gone stargazing with her number one assistant to glance at the clock.

Noon.

It was twelve in the afternoon, the literal middle of the day, and she hadn't opened the library. Twilight's voice was barely an audible whisper, "Oh dear sweet Celestia, what have I done?"

In reality, she hadn't done anything at all as very few ponies tended to rent books on Tuesdays. Why Tuesday, she would never know, it was just one of those strange statistics that life seemed to hold.

However, this statistic didn't stop twilight from engaging in a mental tirade of scheduling and rescheduling. Her eyes had begun to dilate slowly when a light snore from below her sought to prevent her oncoming descent into unorganized hysteria. Twilight looked down and felt her cares melt away at the sight of the dragon sleeping against her body, the way the purple of their bodies complimented one another just seemed to look right to the unicorn. Seeing him curled up like this was just too cute for her to bear, she had to take the opportunity that lay before her. With a smile, Twilight Sparkle leaned down to her assistant and planted a gentle kiss on his scaly cheek.

Twilight let her lips linger millimeters way from Spike's cheeks, a blush rising to her cheeks and seemingly crazy ideas climbing into her mind. She brought her lips down again, kissing just a centimeter closer to the dragon's snout. She placed her hooves on either side of his head and leaned further towards the center of his face, Twilight could feel the breath from his nostrils on her lips moments before she stopped.

Her eyes shot open, filling her gaze with the sight of her sleeping assistant. 'What in Equestria am I doing?' Twilight leaned upwards, trying to look as far away from Spike as possible. Was she doing something wrong, was it bad to have feelings for her assistant? 'Wait! Feelings, who said anything about those?!'

She looked back down to face the dragon and gave up her mental resistance the moment she felt her heart increase its pace. Twilight kept staring once her conflicting thoughts seemed to pass further an further into a distanced haze. A memory of the night before rose up to greet her, strengthening her advance. 'I love you.' She had said it to him once already after comforting him, and she did, what was so different about her doing it now?

She had closed half of the distance when her neck jerked into a halt. One thought rose above the rest, one massive wall in her psyche, Spike had a crush on Rarity.

She shut her eyes and gritted her teeth together, feeling the flames of jealousy for the first time in her life. 'Why Rarity? She never did anything for Spike aside from a few snack gems!' Twilight furrowed her brow as she gazed down at Spike and started making promises to her sleeping dragon, "Anything you need, Spike, I'll get it." Twilight started to close the distance between her and Spike, "I'll make sure nothing can hurt you." She started to let her eyelids fall as she drew ever closer to his scaled muzzle, "Anything you need", she trailed off the moment she was close enough to feel his gentle breathing once more. Her voice dropped to nothing more than a mumble, "I'll be everything you need, everything you deserve."

"I love you, Spike."

Twilight brushed her lips against those of her sleeping dragon, reveling in how smooth they felt. She repeated this act like a filly practicing how to kiss on a pillow a few times before she pressed her lips down a bit harder, more intent on kissing her assistant.

As she continued, Twilight became too content with her actions to notice the stirring beneath her.