Twilight soon left Simmons to his own devices, letting him scour through the encyclopedias laid out in front of him by himself. To save time, Simmons had opened up several of the books so he could reference each one at the same time. After half an hour of searching, a door upstairs opened and closed, and Simmons could hear something coming down the stairs. Paranoid at who it was, Simmons quickly turned around to see a small, purple dragon hoping down the steps with a freidnly smile on his face.
"Hey, Simmons," Spike said happily. "How's it going?"
"Oh good, it's you. Hey, Spike. Next to the fact that I'm scared for my life, pretty good," Simmons said flatly. "How about you?"
"Could be better, could be worse," the dragon chuckled, hopping on the chair next to the unicorn. "Whatcha looking at?"
"This flower. I'm trying to find out what it is," Simmons mumbled as he looked among the several open books. "You know, find out what it's called, what it represents, how old it is. All that interesting stuff."
"Uh, right. Interesting," Spike said slowly, looking at the fossilized flower. A sudden thought rushed through his mind, making him look to Simmons with a slightly jealous look. "Is that flower for Rarity?"
"Hm?" Simmons muttered, turning to Spike. He then remembered that Spike had a crush on Rarity, so he began to shake his head. "No, don't worry, it's not for her."
"Okay," Spike sighed deeply, glad that Simmons had no interest in her. Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head and coughed. "So, uh, who's it for then? Another mare?"
"No, this isn't for any girl," Simmons said. "This is just for someone who found it and is curious about it."
"That's cool, I guess," Spike said. "Need any help looking?"
"No, I'm good on my own," Simmons replied with a shrug. "I'm probably going to go back to Rarity's boutique now, actually. I'm supposed to look at the end result of her dresses and try to find faults with it."
"Can I come?" Spike asked hopefully.
"I don't see why not. I don't think Rarity would mind another pair of eyes looking at her work," Simmons chuckled slowly as he began putting a few feathers into the books, so he could find his place when he closed them. "I mean, that's why she does the whole fashion thing."
"Heh, that's true," Spike said, watching as Simmons carefully put the books into the bag, then placed the flower on top.
Simmons and and Spike made their way over to the boutique in a matter of minutes. When they arrived, Simmons gently pushed open the door and began walking towards the table.
"Is that you, Simmons?" Rarity asked from her room.
"Yeah, just came back from the library with Spike," Simmons called back, placing the bag on the table.
"The library? Sweetie told me you were at Sweet Apple Acres," she said curiously.
"I was, but I needed to stop by to pick up some books to help figure something out," Simmons said.
"I see. Well, I have the dresses mostly finished, so do you mind giving me your thoughts on them now?"
"Sure," Simmons said as he took everything out of the bag and placed it on the table.
Simmons and Spike made their way up the stairs and walked into Rarity's room. Several suits and dresses were presented on the marrequins in the center, where a mildly annoyed looking Rarity stood nearby.
"Hello, Spike," Rarity said, flashing the young dragon a quick, warm smile.
"Hey. Something wrong?" Spike asked, noticing that she was unimpressed with something.
"Something is wrong, but I can't figure out what it is," she said quietly. "I've done everything I could on the dresses, but they still don't seem right..."
"The dresses look perfect, Rarity," Spike said, giving the pieces a courtesy walk around. "I bet you could blend in perfectly back in those days with those."
"Do you really think so, dear?" she asked, trying to find faults in the design. Feeling something was off about one of the dresses, but was just not able to see it, she turned to her assistant. "You have a crucial eye for detail, Simmons. What do you think?"
"I agree with Spike," he said, looking at each fold. "From what you based these off of, these are perfect in almost every way."
"Almost?" she inquired quickly. "Oh, I knew something was off. What is it? Is it the color of the ensembles?"
"No, the colors look flawless," he mumbled, walking around one of the dresses. "It's just something about this one."
"The lead mare's dress?" she asked, stepping closer to it. "What did I do wrong?"
"I don't think it's what you did wrong, it's just what you didn't do," Simmons mumbled thoughtfully.
"And by that I suppose you mean that something should be added to it, correct?" she asked. "Now that you say it, it is missing a certain something..."
Spike watched passively as Rarity picked over the dress. In his eyes, they were good, but he also knew that Rarity needed everything to be perfect.
"You still have some time to find whatever is missing," Simmons said quietly.
"I suppose you're right," she sighed. "I don't suppose you boys could do me a quick favor?"
"Anything," Spike said instantly.
"I don't mean to bother you with unnecessary tasks, but do you think you two could return these books to Twilight while I try to think of what I can add?" Rarity asked, putting a pile of nearly two dozen books in front of them. "Tell her that I'm very grateful that she lent them to me for the time that I had them."
"No problem," Spike said instantly, grabbing as many as he could in one go. "If you ever need anything else, just say the word, and I'll be there."
"Oh, Spike. I know I can count on you and Simmons on just about anything," she said as she gave him a small, friendly hug, making him drop the books.
Simmons quickly picked up the books with his magic and piled them neatly in front of Spike, largest books on the bottom, smallest on the top.
"Thanks," Spike said as he grabbed the books. Turning around, he began to walk out the door, barely able to see past the objects he was carrying.
"We'll be back soon," Simmons said, putting the rest of the books on his back, balancing them carefully.
"Do hurry back," Rarity said, opening the front door for them using her own magic.
"We will!" Spike said as he began jogging back to the library.
With a smile, Rarity closed the door behind the pair and turned around, wondering what was missing. The dresses were, in her mind, flawless. There wasn't a hem out of place, the fabrics were genuine and matched the time they were supposed to resemble. But as Simmons had said, there was something else that needed to be added. A final touch of beauty to the lead mare's dress that would push it to the limit. Something on the table glistened a dull orange, catching her attention. Making her way over to the table, she saw the flower Simmons had brought back sitting on the table.
"My, this flower looks positively ancient," Rarity said as she examined it. An idea sparked in her mind, so she quickly began to smile, knowing she had just found what the dress was missing.