BACK FROM THE DEAD BABY!
NOW TO GET SOME FLANK!

BACK FROM ZE DEAD!!

@gorkspewdium  
As good a reason as any I guess.

@Scrounge  
With all the decaf that guy goes through, he’d need advice on which brand whitens best.

@gorkspewdium  
Great, now I need someone to ship Trenderhoof with Colgate.

@Scrounge  
True. Maybe she figured Trendergate(R) made her relationship aspirations clear enough not to need spelling-out.

@gorkspewdium  
True, but you’re missing the point. The point is that “Why didn’t you just tell me?” is a fair question in that case.

@Scrounge  
Because the Pie forgot he was commiserating with Squiggles over the Trenderhoof-creeping-on-AJ debacle, and as such had a pretty good idea anyway? Demented binding vows aside, Pinks tends to make a prodigious pest of herself whenever she thinks there’s a point to be made.

@gorkspewdium  
Honestly? I think the problem would be more “Why did I find out from Pinkie yesterday instead of from you a year ago?”
 
Fair enough on Steve though.

@Scrounge  
For what it’s worth, I think S3-4 Spike’s got enough going on besides assisting Twiley & Squiggles not to imply harmfully obsessive attachments. He certainly seems better-adjusted than, say, Dipper from Gravity Falls was over that crush on Wendy.
 
Discord, Scorpan & Tirek aside, not sure how many one-off sapient critters the poneverse might produce through ‘natural’ hybridization or Mad Alchemy(TM). I figure water serpents & other talking saurians are just uncommon in pone circles ’cause not many go in for A.K. Yearling-style exploration.

@gorkspewdium  
Yeah, I’m partial to the idea that if Rarity doesn’t feel the same way about Spike, she’s been biting her tongue because she’s trying not to hurt him. That might not be the best idea, but at least her heart’s in the right place.
 
And I’d be willing to bet Steve and others like him (if there are any) are a totally different thing.

@Scrounge  
Your mileage will vary, but put me down for numbers 2 & 3 on the Rarity-related list-mainly since I doubt the magic tree-bling of harmony would stand for an utterly feckless manipulator as one of its components. As for Spike’s feelings being superficial, that ep with the ‘inspirational’ spellbook showed he can at least work up the gumption to disagree with her. Eventually. Kinda doubt S5 is gonna expand on that much.
 
As for the species thing: dunno how much regular griffon/pone interaction you can extrapolate from the Gilda/Dash dynamic or that cake-baker, but I’d wager dragon/anything else is even more uncommon due to atavistic rampaging & what little culture we’ve seen encouraging said malfeasance. Where might sapient lake-serpents like Steve Magnet fit in: subset of mainstream dragonkind, or totally disconnected?

@gorkspewdium  
I’d imagine his relationship with Twilight has the potential to be particularly weird. Is he her butler? Her adopted kid brother? A rare and mysterious specimen she’s been slacking off on studying?
 
But this is about Spike and Rarity, and there’s a good bit of ambiguity there too. Is she stringing him along, is she afraid of hurting him, is she simply unsure if she feels the same way? Are Spike’s feelings just a crush, or do they go deeper than that? Is it weird to date another species?

@Scrounge  
I can buy that for any Mane 6 member who takes a moment to think. Easy enough for casual acquaintances & random townsfolk to wave ‘hi’ & think no more of it if the friendly magic reptile isn’t snatching their knicknacks or having a hulkout episode…not so much for close compatriots. Makes you wonder about the wisdom of sink-or-swim adoption when it comes to high-octane sapient beings with a little-researched penchant for psychosomatic rampaging.

@gorkspewdium  
I sometimes get the impression that Rarity herself doesn’t quite know how she feels about Spike, honestly.

@GekkanShounen  
Dunno how long her career & possession of a pulse would run with such an agenda & name. Unless, of course, she got a hold of the Crackle costume & a couple accomplices for fleecing the weedy punk-drakes.
 
…come to think of it, shutting down that racket might be Spike’s ‘in’ for a grateful dragon community’s granting him some vital life-pointers not (yet) circulated by pone publications.

@gorkspewdium  
You know, that sounds like a great name for an OC. A flirtatious, overly melodramatic pony who goes around seducing dragons in order to gain their riches. And her dastardly schemes finally fail flat when she meets Spike, who is both unfailingly smitten and thus immune to her charms as well as unquestionably destitute due to poor financial management.

@thps48  
Not yet, but I may have browsed their recent work. Thanks for the reminder.

@gorkspewdium  
@GekkanShounen  
Either y’all talk to kitsuneyoukai? :3

@GekkanShounen  
I’m just tickled pink to find another Spike fan who cares enough to go deeper re: Rarity’s characterization than “Drama McDrakeTease”.

@gorkspewdium  
Thanks for the acknowledgement, my good sir. It’s nice to know at least someone thinks I’m not completely full of shit. :)

@Robomorons  
Well she fufiled most of requirements.

Guess you were wrong, Twilight.

Wise fwom youw gwafe!