Spike’s wings flap rapidly as he flies over the city. Moondancer and Lemon Hearts were reluctant to tell him where Minaudiere’s boutique is, but Twinkleshine was so bitter that she told him straight out. Thus, after they all had their meals and talked about how everyone else is doing as if nothing happened, Spike, Moondancer and Lemon Hearts said their goodbyes to Twinkleshine and Minuette before making their way back to the castle. Once they made it back, Moondancer and Lemon Hearts said their goodbyes and left while keeping watchful eyes on Spike. Afterward, Spike went up to his room and waited ten minutes until he was sure the two mares are not spying on him before he opened his wings and took flight.
In truth, Spike doesn’t know what he’s going to do when he makes it to Minaudiere’s boutique. All he really knows is his heart is broken for Rarity and he wants to let out his anger over what happened to the ponies responsible for her pain.
After several minutes of flying, he spots the place he is looking for: a fancy-looking building on the far east side of the city. A number of ponies are entering and exiting from the store as Spike swoops down and lands a few feet from the entrance. He comes inside to find the two-story building swarming with ponies looking through countless dresses, purses, hats, and other accessories. Everywhere mares are dragging their boyfriends or husbands over or coming together in groups to try on all sorts of outfits.
As he walks through, Spike glances at the front counter and sees an opening through the back curtain. He can see through it that there are a dozen mares working on various stations to make the same outfits again and again precisely. The workers there are looking tired and clearly don't care about the dresses they are making as long as they follow instructions and meet their quota. Spike frowns as it is clear that little to no heart is put into any of these clothes no matter how nice they look.
“Excuse me, can I help you?”
Spike truths around to see a mare wearing a dark blue dress and a nametag looking at him with a wooden, professional look on her face.
“Oh, yeah I'm just browsing around, thank you,” he says politely.
The mare looks at him suspiciously and says, “I’m sorry, but we don't have anything made for dragons, sir.”
“Oh, I'm not browsing for me, I'm browsing for a friend of mine from...Appleloosa,” Spike lies. “Her birthday is in a couple of weeks and she likes dresses from Canterlot.”
The mare keeps her suspicious look and asks, “Do you have her measurements? Perhaps I can help you find dresses that fit her size?”
“Oh, that's okay. I'm just browsing ideas for her right now,” Spike says with a fake smile. “I'll give you a holler if you need anything.”
The mare continues to glare before she calmly walks away. Spike sighs in relief and continues looking through the store. The more he looks through it, the more he becomes disgusted with how every fancy product in the store is cold and calculated with little no hint of artistry and yet so many ponies like it. He struggles to control himself until he hears a high-pitched scoff coming from behind him and he turns around to see a thin, green mare with a black mane and tail wearing an uptight dress.
“A dragon in my store? Disgusting,” she snarls in an over-the-top manner. “Get out of here before I call security on you!”
In any normal circumstances, Spike would be trying to calm the pony down in protest, hurt that they would say such a thing because of what he is. In this case, however, his face remains wooden as he stares at the pony after hearing her declare that this is her store.
“Minaudiere, I presume,” he says bluntly.
Minaudiere scoffs again.
“So you know who I am. So what? Everyone in the city does,” she says in a condescending tone. “I have nothing that would suit your species nor would I clothe you even if you offer all the most valuable jewels in Equestria.”
Spike takes a deep breath to control his temper and growls, “I have no interest in your gaudy clothes. I only came to say you have some nerve pulling that stunt with Rarity.”
Minaudiere acts surprised for a moment before she “humphs” in response.
“Oh please, do you think I really care about that cheating has-been,” she asks coldly.
At this point, Spike has lost it. He walks over to Minaudiere until their faces are inches apart.
“Rarity is not a cheating has-been!” he barks, causing ponies to turn to him and Minaudiere and stare in shock. “She’s the most beautiful, talented, artistic, hard-working, generous mare in all of Equestria and beyond and you took everything from her for your shallow, greedy desires!”
Ponies gasp in shock at the way that Spike is acting but he doesn't care. He just wants to let out all of his anger for all the misery that this heartless mare caused on the pony he deeply cares for. Minaudiere looks at him frightened as if she’s afraid he’s going to bite her head off.
“Charmy!” she squeals.
Spike looks at her in confusion until he finds himself surrounded by a yellow glow. He is suddenly lifted off the ground and turned around to see the angry eyes of a light yellow stallion in a black tux.
“Get away from my mare,” he barks.
But instead of looking intimidated, Spike glares at the stallion menacingly, knowing who he is. Before he can say anything, however, the stallion used his magic to throw him all the way to the other side of the store and out of the building, tumbling on the steps as he goes. Spike groans in pain before he gets up to see the stallion and Minaudiere walking over to the entrance with angry glares.
“Don't you ever touch Mindy again, you filthy lizard,” the stallion shouts.
“I didn't touch her and even then I’d be more worried about yourself than her, Golden Charm,” Spike growls.
The stallion named Golden Charm looks at the dragon confused before his eyes light up and he lets out a fancy laugh that leaves everyone confused.
“As I live and breathe, you must be Spike,” he says.
Minaudiere turns to Golden Charm confused.
“Charmy, you know this beast?” she asks.
“All too well, my emerald,” Golden Charm says as he walks over to Spike with a boastful grin.
Spike keeps glaring at the stallion menacingly as Golden Charm walks over to him until he’s only a couple feet away from the dragon.
“Rarity told me everything about you, Mr. The Dragon,” he says smugly. “How you are such a kind and sweet dragon who helped her many times back when she lived in Ponyville.”
“What of it?” Spike snarls.
“Oh, not much,” Golden Charm says. “Just enough for me to see how the pony you claim to be so generous is the most manipulative and greedy mare I have ever met.”
Spike's anger immediately rises and he gets up roaring, “What did you say?!”
Once again, Spike is lifted up in the air with Golden Charm’s magic. Spike struggles in vain to free himself while the stallion’s smile is as cocky as ever.
“You heard what I said,” Golden Charm says plainly. “Rarity might not have said it, but when she told me all the things you did to help her I could barely stop myself from laughing. That cow was using you to be her pin cushion because of your thick scales, manicure, shovel, even a model once you grew wings and rewarded you with a few bats of her eyelashes or mere shards of gems and you let her because you were a little boy desperately in love.”
Spike winces at the way Golden Charm mockingly brings up his feelings for Rarity in front of everypony. Minaudiere gasps and gags in disgust.
“Dear Celestia, do you mean to tell me this reptile is in love with a pony?!” she screeches. “That is absolutely gross! Bad enough that stallion is dating a hippogriff. And this beast has been chasing Rarity since he was a child? Repulsive!”
“Quite right, my dear,” Golden Charm says before lowering Spike down until the two of them are at eye length while the dragon is still under the unicorn stallion’s control. “Now, dear boy, I insist that you calm yourself. There's no need to be hostile against me and my mare. Why even if for the sake of argument we did anything to sabotage Ms. Rarity, you should admire what we did.”
“What?!” Spike barks. “Why in Celestia’s name would I ever want to do a thing like that?”
“Oh, come now, dear boy. It's quite obvious,” Golden Charm says. “Thanks to my Minaudiere, Rarity got what she deserves. After years of using a poor creature like you for her own manipulative means, she finally got everything she deserves. Now every pony who is worth knowing knows that she is nothing more than a liar and a crook who uses her so-claimed talents and flair to get what she wants no matter who she uses. Now you can let go of your feelings for that prissy good-for-nothing and start fawning over your own kind in your own land like a good dragon. In short, you should be thanking Minaudiere for what she did.”
At this point, Spike’s anger is at its peak. The way that Golden Charm talked down to him and dragons in general as well as talking that way about Rarity enrages him. Golden Charm merely keeps his smirk before using his magic to bring Spike right in front of Minaudiere who has a boastful look in her face, clearly agreeing with her boyfriend’s idea.
“So say ‘thank you, Ms. Minaudiere,” Golden Charm says in a childish tone as if he was teaching a trick to a pet. “Say ‘Thank you so much for bringing down that heartless hag for poor little me.’”
“Never!” Spike screams angrily and he struggles in vain to break free from Golden Charm’s control.
“Very well,” Golden Charm says with an uncaring sigh as he uses his magic to throw Spike over to the other side of the street and crash into a wall. Ponies passing by gasp in shock while Spike slowly gets up groaning in pain. He growls menacingly while Golden Charm walks over to him, still smirking confidently.
“Shall we try again?” he asks mockingly.
“You’re the real liar and thief and your girlfriend is the real manipulative hag,” Spike snarls.
Minaudiere scoffs and glares angrily at Spike whereas Golden Charm merely shrugs uncaringly in response. He prepares to use his magic again when two voices shout, “HALT!” Everypony turns around and sees two guards marching toward Golden Charm, Minaudiere and Spike with serious looks on their faces. It takes a moment before Spike recognizes them as Blazing Star and Trailbreaker.
“What do you think you're doing?” Trailbreaker asks firmly to Golden Charm.
“I was teaching this reptile a lesson is all, guard,” Golden Charm says proudly. “He was trespassing in Ms. Minaudiere’s boutique.”
Blazing Star and Trailbreaker look at each other in confusion before the former asks, “Sir, is not this boutique open to the public?”
“Not to his kind!” Minaudiere barks.
“Ma’am, dragons have been allowed in Equestria for years,” Trailbreaker points out bluntly. “You have no authority to discriminate dragons or other sentient creatures.”
“I can if he was assaulting me,” Minaudiere screeches hysterically. “He grabbed me by my dress and verbally assaulted me before attacking my boyfriend.”
Spike becomes uneasy with her accusations as half of them are true and the crowd is looking at him in surprise or disgust. Even Blazing Star and Trailbreaker look at him with serious looks, clearly ready to take action if necessary even if they are friends.
“He didn’t attack anyone, gentlecolts.”
All eyes turn to Fancy Pants who steps outside from Manaudiere’s boutique with Fleur-de-lis. All the high-class ponies look at him in surprise as the important pony and his wife stand between Golden Charm and Minaudiere, and Spike.
“It's true that Mr. The Dragon yelled at the mademoiselle, but it was simply because of his species that she thought she was about to be attacked and thus Mr. Charm here made the decision to use his magic to pick up Mr. The Dragon and throw him out of the store and begin verbally abusing him while keeping him hostage with his magic,” he says. “The only one who was committing assault is the accusing party here.”
Golden Charm and Minaudiere become uneasy after being called out by one of the most important ponies in all of Canterlot. Blazing Star and Trailbreaker are secretly relieved that Spike is innocent before turning to some of the other ponies in the crowd.
“Is that how everypony else saw it?” Trailbreaker asks.
A bunch of ponies in the crowd either nod or mutter words of agreement that back up Fancy Pants. Blazing Star and Trailbreaker smile satisfied before turning to Spike.
“Do you wish to press charges, Mr. The Dragon?” Blazing Star asks in a professional manner.
Spike mentally grins mischievously as he considers the offer. It sounds like a perfect opportunity even if it is in a small way to get back at the two horrible ponies who publicly wronged Rarity. But then he realizes that because of Golden Charm’s status in Canterlot, it is highly unlikely that he would get any harsh treatment it would do nothing to help Rarity's case anyway. After giving it a little more thought, Spike lets out a reluctant sigh.
“No,” he says. “This guy is not worth it.”
Some of the ponies in the crowd gasp softly in surprise while others quietly sigh in relief. Blazing Star and Trailbreaker look at their friend surprised for a moment before they nod in understanding.
“Very well,” Blazing Star says before turning back to Golden Charm. “Consider this a warning, sir. Discrimination against other creatures will not be tolerated in any way. See to it that you never pull anything like this again or we will have to take action. Understand?”
“Perfectly, my good stallion,” Golden Charm says in a half-baked response before turning around and walking back inside the boutique with Minaudiere. The crowd begins to disperse as Spike turns around about to leave when he feels a hoof land on his shoulder and he turns around to see his two guard friends with concerned looks on their faces.
“Spike, what was that really all about?” Trailbreaker asks concerned.
Spike opens his mouth to answer, but before he speaks, Fancy Pants clears his throat catching the dragon and the two guards, attention as he and Fleur-de-lis walk over to them.
“Good show for not stooping to his level, old boy,” Fancy Pants says with an old friendly smile.
“Uh, thanks,” Spike says. “And thanks for speaking up for me.”
“Think nothing of it, old boy. Always glad to set the record straight,” Fancy Pants says before his smiles fades and he walks closer to Spike until they are inches apart. “All that to say, however, I must ask, was that brute right? Did Ms. Rarity really use you constantly in those ways back when you two lived in Ponyville?”
Spike winces and notices that Fleur-de-lis, Trailbreaker and Blazing Star are all looking at him, suddenly looking as curious about the question as Fancy Pants is.
“W-w-well, sort of, but he was totally taking it out of context,” Spike says desperately. “I mean I’m was always willing to help my friends in some way or another when I lived in Ponyville. I was Princess Twilight Sparkle’s assistant for goodness sake.”
“But was Ms. Rarity in particular really using your abilities as a dragon for her own means?” Fancy Pants asks seriously.
Spike opens his mouth to deny what Fancy Pants is saying until he hesitates. Unfortunately, his reaction is all Fancy Pants needs as the old stallion sighs.
“I see,” he says before giving Spike a concerned look. “Spike, be very careful with her. She may not be everything she appears to be.”
“You don't know that,” Spike hisses. “You know that she’s not a thief. She’s the Element of Generosity! Heck, the fact that Golden Charm and Minaudiere was so quick to falsely accuse me should give the implication that the ponies in Canterlot outcast the wrong fashionista.”
“Perhaps,” Fancy Pants says unfazed. “But it sounds clear to me that even if she’s innocent of what happened at the festival, the fact that she used a young dragon to do all those things for her own means still gives the implication that she’s not so innocent regardless. In fact, let me ask you this, dear boy: can you think of a time where she showed more gratitude than just specs of gems or some pretty look?”
“Of course, I can,” Spike says. “She gave me a kiss on the cheek when I rescued her in Ponyville from myself when I turn into a giant monster. Heck, the week before that she gave me a kiss because I…”
Spike’s voice dies in his throat. Fancy Pants raises his eyebrow while everypony else is looking at the young adult dragon eagerly.
“When you what?” Fancy Pants asks.
Spike sighs and says, “When I gave her the fire ruby that was meant to be my birthday dinner.”
“I see,” Fancy Pants says plainly while Trailbreaker, Blazing Star and Fleur-de-lis look at Spike surprised. Fancy Pants sighs again as he places his hoof on Spike’s shoulder and looks at him sympathetically. “Look, son, I know this hard for somecreature like you to take, but maybe it's best that you move on from whatever feelings you have for Rarity. It seems clear that she has been a bad influence for you and you can't go on defending someone who clearly used you. Maybe in that regard, Golden Charm is right and you should let go.”
Spike looks at Fancy Pants hurt by his words. The stallion sighs and says, “Think about it,” before he and Fleur-de-lis leave. Blazing Star and Trailbreaker look at each other confused before turning to their dragon friend.
“What is going on here, Spike?” Trailbreaker asks worriedly. “Is what they are saying about you and Rarity true?”
But Spike doesn’t say anything. He just stands still watching Fancy Pants and his wife walk away, crushed at everything he just said.