Dilemma

by Locomotion

Chapter 4: The Heart Wants What It Wants

The days went by, and Rarity soon had most of the supplies she needed for the Carousel Boutique; but aside from the linen she was after, the one thing she was still lacking was the answer to her dilemma regarding Spike. Her talk with Hoity Toity had helped to soothe her nerves, but only by a minute amount, and she certainly couldn't see any of the other ponies understanding her feelings for the young dragon if she told them. She remembered the time she had come to collect some fabrics for a dress that she had planned as a birthday present for Twilight; two unicorns in particular, Jet-Set and Upper-Crust, had been far less than impressed to hear that she was from Ponyville, and when she had told them that her five best friends were the most important ponies she could ever know, they simply laughed and brushed them off.

Rarity rounded a corner to see Royal Ribbon's Fabric Emporium up ahead. It was from here that she always obtained the finer fabrics that went into her dresses, and she was therefore great friends with the proprietor. As she entered the shop, the cerise, blue-maned unicorn came forward to greet her; “Rarity, wonderful to see you again. What can I do for you?”

“I'd like a roll of deep emerald green satin and a further three of gold linen please,” Rarity requested.

“One roll of deep emerald green satin and three of gold linen coming up,” answered Royal Ribbon, heading into the storeroom. “How's the dressmaking business in Ponyville?”

“Very nicely, thank you, Royal Ribbon. I'd just finished a new fashion line for Hoity Toity last week, and I do of course have Twilight keeping me busy. Having Equestria's newest royalty as a regular customer is providing my boutique with a massive boost, and I must say, I feel oh so honoured!”

“Well, that's royalty for you!” chuckled Royal Ribbon as she came back out with the rolls of fabric. “Anything else been happening?”

“Oh, well I think I......” but Rarity quickly stopped herself when she realised what she was about to say. She could understand discussing her problem in a living room or spa, out of the public eye, but was it really a good idea to bring it up in a shop with several other ponies listening in? More to the point, would Royal Ribbon understand as well as Fluttershy, Sweetie-Belle or even Hoity Toity?

Royal Ribbon looked rather perplexed at Rarity's sudden change of attitude. “Is there something bothering you, darling?” she asked.

Rarity looked at her hooves, embarrassed. “I can't keep this a secret from anyone, can I?” she sighed, and reluctantly explained to Royal Ribbon about her new-found feelings for Spike, and the dilemma with which it had been facing her.

The cerise unicorn chuckled. “Well, I don't know about the age gap, but for a pony of your class to date or even marry a dragon...well......”

Rarity cringed. She was for it now!

“...there's nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned.”

The white unicorn gave Royal Ribbon an odd look. “Seriously?”

“My brother Crown Jewel is a perfect example of such an alliance,” explained Royal Ribbon sagely. “He's a well-respected socialite even today, but there was one time when he was abducted by some pretty desperate criminals. At that time, we had a dignitary visiting Canterlot from the Dragon Kingdom named Ember Heard, who had taken quite a shine to Jewel, as we called him; she managed to track them down and force them into releasing him with the threat of burning them if they resisted. After that, the two of them started going out together and eventually married.”

“So...no great age gap to worry about?”

“In dragon terms, no,” answered Royal Ribbon. “Ember was around a hundred and twelve years old when they married, which is more like twenty-five in pony years – just a year older than my brother. They both live in Vanhoofer now.”

“That's good to know,” said Rarity with a weak smile. That conversation she had been having with Royal Ribbon just now plainly hadn't helped to come to terms with the difference in age between herself and Spike, and neither did it make her feel any better about the fact that even though he would eventually reach a more appropriate physical age for her, it would take quite some time; but at least she had gained some reassurance that relationships between dragons and ponies were not exactly unheard of among the jet-set of Equestria.

---

Back at Ponyville, Apple Bloom lay on the grass at the top of the hill, deep in thought. Spike had been hanging around her quite a lot lately, and though she couldn't say she didn't enjoy it, she was starting to experience a few doubts. As with so many other ponies in Ponyville, she knew perfectly well about the crush Spike had always had on Rarity and how he always seemed to try and win her heart – and yet here he was trying the same with her. Why was he doing this? Had he just lost interest in the white unicorn mare or something?

The little yellow filly felt something touching her front hoof, and blushed slightly when she noticed that Spike, who was sitting next to her and watching the stars, had rested a gentle claw on it. By this time, she could no longer contain herself; she needed answers, and now would be a good time to get them. “Spike,” she asked cautiously, “was there a special reason y'all 'ave been askin' me out so often this week?”

Spike turned his head away, trying to hide his own blush as he fidgeted nervously. “Um...no,” he stammered. “I just thought...since we don't spend enough time together...” but he broke off, unable to finish.

“If Ah din' know better,” remarked Apple Bloom suspiciously, “Ah'd say y'all were tryin' ta date with me.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You an' Ah hadn't spent so much as a second outta each other's company. How could Ah possibly not know?”

Spike slapped a claw to his face. It seemed as though his game was up. “Okay, okay, I admit it, this was a date,” he groaned. “I know you're probably annoyed with me, but just hear me out first; Rarity has been acting very strangely lately, and won't even talk to me. I don't know why, but I imagine she's getting fed up of me overcrowding her, so I thought I'd date someone more my age, and......well, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were my first choice. I didn't have any success with Sweetie-Belle either, but since we had been getting on so well together, I decided I'd be better off with you.” He then buried his face in both claws, ashamed; “But how wrong I turned out to be.”

So it was something to do with Rarity, thought Apple Bloom. What she didn't understand, however, was why the pure-white unicorn would have turned Spike down when Sweetie-Belle had been confiding to her about Rarity having feelings for him only last Thursday. Rather wisely, she decided not to bring up the subject for fear of hurting Spike's feelings further.

“Oh, Spike,” she said in a more comforting tone, “Ah know Ah'd always taken a la'kin' to ya since Ah first met y'all an' Twi before Nightmare Moon returned, but as much as Ah'd la'k the idea of bein' with ya, Ah'm not so sure Rarity would want her li'l Spikey-Wikey leavin' her hangin'. Besides, Ah've got mah eye on another colt in mah class, so Ah'm afraid Ah...”

“Never mind, Apple Bloom,” answered Spike morosely. “I guess finding a new fillyfriend outright was too much to hope for. Maybe I ought to just go home; sorry I wasted so much of your time.”

“It's okay, Spike,” smiled Apple Bloom. “Ah hope y'all find what yo' lookin' fo'.” But what she didn't have the heart to tell Spike was that what she meant by “what yo' lookin' fo'” was in Canterlot at that very same moment.

Spike didn't even bother to reply as he made his way down the hill towards the library. Two fillies and one mare he had tried going out with so far, and none of them seemed to want to start dating him. Other dragons would definitely be out of the question, for while in Canterlot there were so many other baby dragons besides him, he was the only one who actually lived in Ponyville.

---

Rarity checked her luggage one more time to make sure she had everything she needed before heading off to Canterbury West Station. Having satisfied herself that everything was ready, she went over to the en-suite bathroom for one final wash and brush-up, but needless to say when she looked in the mirror, she felt a little disheartened by the tired look on her face. Her mane would only take a few seconds to sort out, but even after applying her make-up she couldn't help noticing the bags under her eyes that had resulted from lack of sleep over the last few nights.

“Pull yourself together, Rarity!” she told herself sharply. “You're just going to make yourself ill, you cowardly foal!”

“Need any help, ma'am?” she heard the porter calling from the hallway. Rarity flinched slightly when she realised that she had spoken it out loud.

“No, I'm alright, thank you,” she called back, quickly placing her hairbrush and eye-shadow back into her bag as she dashed out of the bathroom.

Rarity and the porter made it to Canterbury West Station in good time, but with three quarters of an hour to wait before the train had been prepared for the run up to the Crystal Empire via Ponyville, she was left with nothing to do except pace the platform until the coaches had been brought in. Usually she didn't mind the wait, but today she felt rather agitated. Perhaps it was because she just wanted to get she wanted to get back to her boutique and catch up on her orders – or perhaps it may have been because she was anxious to see Spike? She wandered aimlessly into the station café, almost at her wits' end.

“Why, Rarity,” called a familiar voice, “fancy meeting you here!”

Rarity suddenly perked up as she turned her head towards the one who had just spoken, for there, sitting at a table near the window was the one stallion in all of Canterlot who might be able to solve her problems once and for all.

“Hullo, Fancypants,” she said, trotting up to their table. “What brings you to Canterbury West?”

“Oh, Fleur de Lis and I were attending a show in Ponychester over the weekend and had just got back,” answered Fancypants. “How about you, Rarity dear? I presume this is to do with the Carousel Boutique?”

“Yes, actually,” affirmed Rarity. “I was just buying some more fabric and other materials – and dropping off some of my latest dresses for Hoity Toity's place.”

“Ah yes, that reminds me; Fleur and I wanted to ask a small favour of you,” Fancypants remembered.

“Yes, you see, Fancypants proposed to me a few weeks ago, and we wanted to ask if you would mind awfully making a wedding dress for us at some point,” added Fleur, raising a hoof to show the wedding bracelet she was wearing.

Rarity blinked in amazement. “You two are getting married?” she gasped. “Oh, Fancypants, that's wonderful news. Congratulations to both of you.”

“Thank you very much,” smiled Fancypants gratefully. “We're planning our wedding for next April, so we're in no rush right now. Would that be alright?”

“But of course it would. I'd be more than happy to provide a dress or twelve for your wedding.”

“Much appreciated.” Then Fancypants noticed a solemn look in Rarity's eyes. Though she was trying to hide it with a somewhat feeble attempt at a warm smile, she didn't appear to be doing a good job of it. “What seems to be the matter, Rarity?” he asked gently. “You seem a little bit off.”

Rarity sighed. “Yes, I am in a bit of a jar at the moment,” she replied. “I'm not entirely sure you would understand, really, but...”

“Nonsense,” objected Fancypants. “Of course I would understand; you don't need to hide your feelings from me any more than you needed to make that excuse about your Pegasus friend Rainbow Dash being the trainer of the Wonderbolts when in truth she was just an ordinary weather pony. Now then, what is it that seems to be bothering you?”

After a long pause, Rarity finally plucked up enough courage to explain. “I'm having a bit of a struggle with my own emotions regarding a dragon friend of mine.”

“Oh, as in that young Spike fellow I met at the Royal Wedding! Yes, I still remember him.”

“Well, the thing is, Fancypants, I think I might have fallen in love with him,” continued Rarity. “I know I once told you I'd been looking for my one true love for many, many years, but I had always thought that it would be a handsome stallion; the last thing I had expected to find out about him was that he was a dragon. And yet, after looking back over all that Spike has done for me, the thought of me being married to a stallion suddenly made so little sense it was untrue.”

She paused again, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself as much as she could, and explained why it was such a problem; “But when I think about my clientele, I realise that so many of them tend to be so shallow and self-important, and just thinking about them makes me scared of my own feelings; if they found out that I had feelings for a baby dragon, they'd never want to buy my dresses ever again. It's not just the difference in species though; Spike is eight years younger than me, and the fact that dragons age slower than us ponies makes him only a toddler compared to myself. Though my friend Fluttershy told me that dragons can age faster if they fall in love with someone older and have their feelings returned, she added that it takes time before they've grown to a similar age to their lover. I want to share my feelings with him, but I just......I feel like a dragon molester!” She suddenly broke down into tears at this point, her distress finally overwhelming her.

Fancypants gave her a small, sympathetic smile. “You don't need to feel that way, Rarity,” he soothed, placing a gentle hoof on her back. “Even the best of us can find ourselves in equally impossible dilemmas. Let me tell you a little story about myself and Fleur.”

Drying her tears as best as she could, Rarity sat up and listened intently as Fancypants began his tale.

“A few years ago, when I was in my final year grammar school, I became acquainted with a stunningly radiant young mare while at a social gathering here in Canterlot. I didn't know her name, her age or where she lived; all I knew is that I wanted to get to know her better. The two of us started to chat, and I found out that the mare's name was Fleur de Lis, that she had exquisite tastes in fashion and hoped to go into modelling someday. Eventually the two of us started to see a lot more of each other, and after I had graduated, we began dating each other – but that was where the trouble began.”

“I was of a lower class than Fancypants, and though my own parents were perfectly fine with me going out with him, his were most offended that their own son should fraternise so strongly with a middle-class mare such as myself,” continued Fleur gravely. “They castigated him to no end about our growing relationship and even threatened to cut his allowance if he didn't stop seeing me. Eventually though,” she went on, smiling at the fond memories of how her career had truly begun, “I caught the attention of the fashion photographer Photo-Finish; she was so impressed with my modelling that she offered to help me shine across Equestria. I was delighted to accept, and in a short time, I became one of the greatest supermodels who ever lived.”

“Upon hearing this, my parents mellowed towards her very quickly, but they still objected to our relationship on the grounds that the age gap between Fleur and myself was almost as great as yours – she was seventeen at the time she started under Photo-Finish and I was twenty-four. Nevertheless, being the reasonable stallion that I like to believe I am, I eventually managed to reason with them that it should be my choice as to whom I wanted to be with,” added Fancypants, “and if we wanted to be together, then it should really be up to us. Only then did they realise just how strong our feelings for each other were, and they finally consented to me and Fleur becoming an 'item', as it were.”

By the time Fancypants and Fleur had finished their story, Rarity had been reduced to tears once again, though not out of distress over her indecision about Spike. She was truly touched by the revelation that two of Canterlot's finest ponies, apart from Princesses Celestia and Luna, had gone through almost the same crisis as she was going through now and therefore understood exactly how it felt.

“The point we're trying to make, Rarity,” finished Fancypants wisely, “is that by the end of the day, it isn't the age, physique, species, social standing or even your own reputation that matters – it's how you feel about that someone. If you truly love Spike, you should follow your heart, not the opinions of all those other high-society ponies.”

And in that very instant, Rarity realised just how right Fancypants was. She no longer cared about what other ponies would think of her feelings for Spike, whether it was to do with him being younger or of a lower class, or even just because of him being a dragon. All she cared about was that she loved him with all her heart, and if anypony didn't like it, that was their problem and theirs alone.

“Thank you, Fancypants,” she said softly. “Yes, you're quite right. Other ponies may complain bitterly about who I choose to be with, but I can't let that cloud my judgement; as soon as I get home, I'm telling Spike exactly how I feel about him.”

Fancypants smiled broadly. “That's the spirit, dear,” he encouraged. But before he could say anything else, they heard the station announcement;

“The train now standing at Platform Four is the 15:30 Crystallion Limited calling at Trottingham, Ponyville Central, Ponychester Piccafilly and Crystal Palace Junction, Crystal Empire. Passengers for the 15:30 Crystallion Limited, please make your way to Platform Four.”

“I guess that's me,” remarked Rarity, getting up from her seat. “I'm sorry I can't stay and chat, Fancypants, but I do have a train to catch. Thank you for helping me with sorting my feelings out; I hope to see you again soon, and I'll gladly provide that wedding dress for Fleur when the time comes.”

“That's quite alright, Rarity. Have a nice journey home, and I hope everything goes well with Spike,” replied Fancypants. Rarity thanked him once again and cantered over to find her compartment on the Crystallion.

Author's Note:

Ponychester Piccafilly is a reference to Manchester Piccadilly, a station in...well, Manchester of course.