//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Spike's Mirror 
// by Saldana 
//------------------------------//

- "But Twilight, why did you want to talk to me about Spike?"

The question made Spike freeze, now hidden just under the slightly ajar window. He didn't see anything, but could clearly understand everything that was said inside the boutique. Yes, why did Twilight want to talk about him? Especially seeing as he had gone to visit Rarity precisely so that Twilight could stay at the library and keep studying. He pricked his ears, both worried and intensely curious.

- "Well, you spend a lot of time together. He often comes over to help you at the boutique or with your gem-collecting. Whenever he's got a bit of free time, he'll come over to your place sooner rather than later.”
- "It's true, if you put it like that, you're asking me a legitimate question..."
- "So... what do you think about Spike?"
- "That's what I would call a bit vague, would you not, dear?"
- "I'm asking you for your opinion, that’s not really all that vague, you know. You two have spent so much time together that you're bound to have some kind of idea about who he is."
- "A baby dragon", Rarity spouted.
- "Excuse me?"
- "You're asking me who Spike is, and I answer 'a baby dragon'."
- "Oh Rarity", said Twilight and put a hoof in front of her face. "Stop trying to weasel like that, please."
- "Darling, a Lady needs to know how to gently circumvent a delicate topic with grace and finesse."
- "Delicate?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow, and Rarity quickly put a hoof in front of her mouth. Oops! She shouldn't just have blurted out that word. All the while Spike was still listening from under the window; his heart was beating at a more frantic rhythm the longer the silence continued, twisting his fingers in impatience and frustration.
- "But why would it be delicate to talk about Spike, with a friend? Do you have something to hide?"
- "That's ... a little complicated."
- "How so?"
-  "You said it. He spends so much time helping me, as though he were my official assistant and no longer yours. It's almost as if I ... had taken him from you, so talking about him is a bit ..."
- "Uh huh. How about you answer frankly and stop beating around the bush."
- "But if it’s about his spending too much time with me, I can tell him to cut down some, he could come back to you and ..."
- "Rarity", Twilight sighed.
- "While I was waiting, I've finished repairing your dress, darling, it's wasn't that bad after all."
- "Oh, thank you for your quick work..."
- "It's always a pleasure to do a good friend a favour."
- "... but don't you think that'll make me forget our little talk."
- "But do tell, Twilight, how does my opinion of Spike concern you?"
- "He's my assistant, but also a real friend. I've known him for so long that he's almost like the little brother I never had. I love him very much, and I don't want anything bad to happen to him."
- "And how could whatever opinion I have of him bring about anything 'bad'?"

All the while, it was becoming more and more difficult for Spike to contain his impatience as the two ponies kept beating around the bush. Couldn't girls ever say what they really meant, did they always have to go around it in endless circles?

- "Rarity, Rarity, Rarity, do you really not understand? Or are you trying to hide something from me?"
- "And just what am I supposed to understand now?"
- "That's enough, this little game starts to get on my nerves. Spike spends all this time with you, he keeps doing you favours without ever asking anything in return, he indulges your every whim whenever you need a bit of help, he's researching pony fashion trends — wouldn't all of that remove the scales from your eyes?"
- "Well..."
- "He's doing all of that for you, just for you, I know what he's expecting in return, but you apparently don't see that, so I've come to ask you straight-out what you think about Spike."

The couturière lowered her head and scratched lightly behind her ears.

- "It's complicated..."
- "But what, what could be complicated about my question whatsoever?"
- "The fact that... he's a dragon."
...
- "Hmm?"
- "I'm not blind, my dear, of course I’ve noticed all of those things you just mentioned perfectly on my own."
- "Hmm?"
- "A Lady needs to know how to observe her entourage."
- "Ha?"
- "But of course. You ask me what I think of Spike? He's friendly, courteous, with a heart of gold. He knows how to be funny, but you can always count on him if there's any trouble, he's dependable and very ... subservient ... I mean ... cooperative."
- "If that's so, then what's the problem?"
- "Well... a lady needs to keep her feelings to herself when it comes to her admirers, especially if they are members of her circle of close friends."
- "Excuse me?", Twilight replied blankly.
- "Oh absolutely, I'm telling you, my dear, meeting me has removed the scales from Spike's eyes, me that I exercise with grace and distinction the marvellous profession of the couturière. All these things you just mentioned, they can be traced to his desire of learning and learning more about it, about fashion and haute couture, directly from the very best teacher in Ponyville, which is me. That is why he keeps seeking out my company, he has a thirst for knowledge and wants to understand the fashion world. He, too, desires to know the chic, the glamour of the high society, he wants to join me in my quest for this ideal! This idea has set his little dragon heart aflame, I am sure of it! And all of that thanks to me — not that I want to flatter myself.”

Twilight's pupils, which had widened as Rarity spoke and were now the size of saucers, suddenly returned to their normal size.

- "I'm not sure if I got you right there ..."
- "To sum it up, my dear, Spike has embarked on a marvellous crusade, the crusade of fashion and haute couture...."
- "And everything he's done for you..."
- "...was just an expression of his motivation and his desire to keep learning about it. The enthusiasm of youth and a lack of experience, if you want."
- "Uh huh..."

If Rarity's explanations had apparently left Twilight dumbstruck, they had literally struck down Spike. So all his efforts, all the energy he'd invested to get noticed, all these moments spent together, all that left him with a Rarity who was completely mistaken about his intentions? The little dragon was in a state of shock. He tried to once again follow the conversation between the two ponies, maybe he had just misheard and there was still hope...

- "...the fact that he's a dragon complicates things?"
- "But my dear, because they absolutely do not have the same ideas as we do when it comes to  fashion. As a pony, I can perfectly imagine myself in every single one of my creations in this boutique, but he would never be able to do that. And being unable to put yourself in the place of the client completely throws off the work of the couturier, however competent and motivated he may be. Even if he has a boundless imagination, his creativity would forcibly be spotty, or incomplete."
- "And you told Spike that?"
- "I refuse to break his heart and shatter his dreams just like that, Twilight, that would be truly cruel on my part."
- "More cruel than leaving him hoping for something that’ll never come to pass?"
- "I don't know, that’s what I find so complicated between us. With time, he will realise that, I hope. If he was just in love with my person, I would know what to say, I have already had my share of admirers, but we are talking about a vocation here..."
- "And it has never crossed your mind that maybe Spike simply was in love with you?"
- "Oh come on, my dear, I would have noticed if this little dragon had fallen under the charm of my magnificent person..."
- "But then again, everything he does..."
- "A dragon, in love with a unicorn? Maybe an appropriate sujet for a romantic novel, but we don't live in a book or a fairy tale, if that were so I would have been able to meet HIM for so long!"
- "Him? Oh. Him..."
- "The prince himself!", said Rarity, her eyes full with stars.
- "Uh huh."
- "But I know it, one day I will meet him, and then —"

Slowly, as though in a state of shock, Spike got up and started to walk away from the damn window. So Rarity thought there was no chance he'd be in love with her. He had given so much, had hoped so much, but all that had just been thrown overboard. He could never be anything more to Rarity than a friend, whether he was passionate about fashion or not. Why, oh why? Amongst his circle of close friends, only Rarity seemed to be blindfolded when it came to his crush on her. If he had been able to take a step back, he'd surely have realised how strange it was that, in this kind of stories, the person you were in love with was always the only one who didn't notice anything, while everyone else was perfectly aware.

Completely out of touch with a reality that now seemed so drab and hopeless, he aimlessly roamed the streets and surroundings of Ponyville for hours. What was he supposed to do now, faced with the futility of his efforts and a goal now definitely out of his reach? Spike tried to understand where things had started to get out of hand, what he had done wrong to bring about this desolate situation. But however diligently he mulled over his actions, no response occured to him. He didn't have any idea whatsoever.

As he kept brooding and brooding, he  found his head enclosed in a thick fog. He marched on aimlessly, listlessly, all energy drained from him, all motivation lost. Without knowing how he did it, however, his odyssey ended when he found himself in front of the library's door.

- "Oh, what‘s it good for”, he sighed as he walked over the threshold, "everything I could try wouldn't help. She's a unicorn, she's in love with another unicorn, what could be more normal than that? If it’s her dream to get closer to him, then what am I supposed to do, me, a poor little baby dragon? If only I were a unicorn, too, then maybe she would..."

To be continued...

Thank you to Schmarshall for his translation 
This is a translation from the French original “Le miroir de Spike” by Saldana. If you know French, check it out!