Memoir of a King’s Master Consort by Sir Spike

Chapters

2: Of Advice and Costumes
3: Trial Date
4: Reassurance
6: Of Winter Waltzes and an Act of Trust
7: Guy’s Night
8: The Summit Incident
9: Unexpected Rite of Passage
10: Throax’s Nightmare
11: Coming of Age Feast
12: Hangover
13: Independence
14: Spike’s Nightmare
15: Delivery
16: Lullaby of the Music Box
17: Camping Trip
18: Junior’s Fight
19: Sekto’s Trust
20: His Name is Ganymede
21: Full Disclosure
22: Before I Forget
23: To Write “Blood Poisoned”
24: Like Father, Like Son
1: A Royal Summoning
5: Games and Recreation

2: Of Advice and Costumes

Two weeks. That was how long I have been pondering over it. Two weeks went by since Thorax offered me the position of personal consort. No surprise really that apart of the favors that Twilight and Starlight had asked me to do and Nightmare Night was coming up, I had a lot on my mind. It’s one thing to know that your best Changeling friend is in love with you. But it’s another when he wants you to be in some organized open relationship with too. This alone raised so many ethical questions for me. Before, I made a rule to myself that I wouldn’t date anyone that was already married. I wasn’t interested in having a spouse cheat on whoever they were with because of the potential mess that would make.

But… what about when the wife, a queen no less, not only knows about it and gave her full approval, but she’s perfectly okay with having her husband be with me too? On the one claw, Thorax did clearly say that he’s not in love with her and he didn’t get to pick her to be his wife. He’s had a crush on me for a couple of years now, and he is my friend after all. The guy wants to date me in which I should have no problem with because of my attraction and I know how to talk to him.

On the other… There has to be some consequence to this, isn’t there? Sure, the Changelings most likely wouldn’t mind me, and neither would Ember. (Besides, she has a certain fetish of watching two male dragons go at it… (Don’t ask how I know that.)) Not only that, but I’m pretty sure that nopony in the Royal Family would mind all that much as Blueblood had gotten himself married to a guy. It’s not so much of how others would react, but rather, if I decided to go along with it, would it work at all?

So two weeks later, I hopped on a train towards Canterlot for the sake of advice. Towards the only male gay couple that I know – after all, if there’s anypony that would have more experience in this sort of field, it would be Blueblood and Fancy. At this point in my life, they have been married for four years, successfully too. Of course, I had to write to Celestia to let me know where they were, and she replied that I could find them at Mt. Avalon’s National Park. So one train and taxi ride later, I arrived at the gate of the world’s highest park.

“Thanks for the ride,” I paid the driver what was due before turning my attention towards the series of boardwalks that crisscross the mountain like a spider’s web. “Okay, let’s see if I can find you guys.” I began my search for the couple. Climbing up the steps and across the wooden path through the forest of spruce and ferns, I was listening for any sign of them. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long to hear their voices.

“You know… it’s a miracle that… at my age that… I haven’t faint from… lack of oxygen… from our walks.” This I recognized came from Fancy Pants as I was climbing a set of stairs, their voices becoming clearer.

“But you do know that it’s good for you,” his husband replied. “It’s best to keep up your shape with some form of exercise.”

I heard the other stallion wheeze as I got closer. “Celestia Blue… Can we at least rest for a bit?”

By the time I got up to their level, I found the couple I was looking for with the two of them sitting down on a bench and a few nearby solar guards flanking them at both sides of the seat. “There you guys are,” I called out to them. “I’ve been looking all over for ya.”

“Sir Spike?” Blueblood said. “Well, this certainly is a surprise.”

“Long time no see,” Fancy was hunched over and still out of breath as he said this. “What’s the occasion… old sport?”

“Well, besides my helping Twilight with the upcoming Nightmare Night,” I walked over until I was across from them, leaning up against the railing. “I have been keeping myself busy.”

“So what brings you to Canterlot?” Blueblood inquired. “Are you here to cart some pumpkins over to Ponyville or did Auntie Celestia need you for something?”

I admit, I was blushing at the thought of what I was going to say, “Well… neither of those actually. If anything, I was hoping if you guys could help me out here. With something that’s rather… personal.”

Both of them glanced at one another for a moment, “Whatever is the matter?” Fancy asked.

“First of all, have either of you heard that King Thorax had just got married?”

They nodded, “Quite unexpected if you ask me.” Fancy commented. “It’s rather strange that he would get married so soon and without warning.”

“Nor had the etiquette of inviting us to the wedding,” the Prince pointed it out. “I don’t know how prized weddings are to Changelings, but you would think that he would have said something beforehoof.”

“Uh yeah… about that…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “You see, I went over to the hive just the day after that happened. Turns out, his pack had chosen his bride for him in which they did it out of stability of the kingdom.”

“Oh dear…” Fancy said in a concerned look.

“But it’s good though. They’ve chosen a nice enough queen for him. However, as I’ve learned, he doesn’t see her as a lover as more of sort of a political partner or something like that.”

“Excuse me,” Blueblood raised a hoof. “Why are you bringing this up in the first place?”

I took in a deep breath. “As I was saying… I was over there a couple of weeks ago because he wanted to see me. It was there that I’d learned that he just got married. However, he didn’t just want to tell me that. You see… his queen had given him her consent to have a… personal consort by his side for him to be in love with.”

“Really?” this took the Prince by surprise. “Like what they used to do in Prance?”

I laughed uneasily at that, “Exactly…”

“Did he say who he wanted his consort to be?” Fancy asked and I nodded. “Who is it?”

In response, I lifted a claw and pointed at me, “You’re looking at him.”

“Oh wow,” they said in unison.

“Yeah… I know I brought it up when you guys got married that I’d had suspected that Thorax might had liked me in such a way. Now that I know beyond a doubt, I’m not exactly sure where I stand in all of this.”

“Does Princess Twilight know?” Blueblood questioned.

I shook my head, “I’m planning on telling her as soon as I get back to Ponyville after I get some advice from you guys. You see, in the past when it comes to dating, I had a rule that I would never go out with somepony that’s already married. Since I don’t want to get others into trouble for cheating and all that, only… this isn’t quite the case. Like I said, Thorax’s wife has approved of me being a sort of… of Master or court consort or whatever-you-call-it. Don’t get me wrong, Thorax and I have been good friends from the start. But the real thing is: I don’t exactly feel the same way back. Sure, he told me that he loves me, but I don’t exactly feel that way towards him.”

“Are you saying that you won’t give him a chance,” Fancy pointed out, “Just so that the two of you would remain as friends?”

At this point, I just slid down until I sat on the boardwalk. “I… I don’t really know at this point. This is Thorax we’re talking about here. He has saved my life and I did the same with his. He has taught me so much as I have with him. We changed how the world saw us Dragons and Changelings, that we’re more complex than just being monsters. It would be eternally unfair for the guy that has had a crush on me for all these years to get nothing in return. While it’s entirely possible for me to feel the way he does, I don’t at the moment and I’m still weirded out by the whole married thing.”

Fancy hummed in thought, “And have you considered how your friends and family might react to this?”

I nodded, “To a degree, I had thought about what if I did take of the offer. I know the Princesses would be thrilled about it. Twilight would no doubt not only accept us, but probably would do an intense case study on us too given what kind of Changeling Thorax is. Plus, her friends already know that I’m Bi so this shouldn’t come as any surprise. Admittedly though, I am concerned about what if it doesn’t go well and Ember finds out. After all, I’m part of the Dragon Clan, so if something really goes wrong, it might give her a reason to go into a full out war with the Changelings.”

Blueblood raised an eyebrow, “That sounds a little farfetched if you ask me. I thought that Ember and Thorax were on good terms with one another?”

“You never know.”

The prince rolled his eyes, “Sir Spike, speaking as one friend to another, I honestly think you are making this a much bigger problem for yourself then it needs to be.”

I blinked, “How so?”

“For one thing, his new Changeling queen is perfectly fine with this arrangement, which tells me that she and especially Thorax do place a lot of trust in you. You said so yourself that the queen isn’t there to be his lover, but as a partner to run their kingdom. Plus, maybe you should give him a chance to date you to see if he might be what you're looking for in a coltfriend. I say that with someone like him is a fantastic way to figure things out. Plus, even if it doesn’t work out, the worst you could expect is that things would get awkward between you two for a while.”

“So you’re saying that I should go ahead with it?”

Fancy mussed for a moment, “How about you give him a sort of test date to see if you really do want to have this sort of relationship? That way, you two could learn if you do want to be his handsome, young Master.” He said with a wink.

As much as I blocked out that last sentence, he did bring up a solution that I’d overlooked. A test date. Such a thing would give me an idea of what I’m getting myself into. Plus, it wouldn’t be official if I was just experimenting with the role. If it gets too awkward, we could call it off and nopony would be hurt as a result of it. Looking back at it now, I should have been kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner.

“You know what?” I said getting up, “That actually makes the most sense. Perhaps I should just suck it up and take a chance with it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Blueblood smiled. “Oh, and before you go, are you still planning to come to our Ogres & Oubliettes for Guys Night in November?”

“Is Shining and Sunburst coming over for guy's night?”

He nodded, “Unless another impending crisis comes, they’re committed in coming over. But what about Thorax? Are you going to convince him into joining us?”

“We’ll see,” I winked. “But for now, I think I have an idea what to do so I need to head back to Ponyville. It was nice seeing into you both, it’s been a while.”

“Of course,” Blueblood poked his husband, “that wouldn’t be the case if he would at least come to guys night.”

His spouse rolled his eyes, “Please, I’m too busy with being a patron as it is. I wouldn’t have enough time even if I wanted to.”

“It could be fun.” While the prince was teasing his husband, I saw this as my point to leave. After saying goodbye to them, I began to head down the mountain with the answer I was looking for.

If there was a single holiday out of the whole year that the Changelings look forward towards, it was Nightmare Night. It was no secret that ever since Chrysalis was overthrown, Thorax had introduced to his hive the ideas of the holiday to them. If anything, as the years went by, they’d put in some unique twists of their very own.

Fortunately, the Changelings are masters of disguises. So on that night, the more fantastic or creative the get up, the better. Thorax had told me through letters that they had gone from historical characters, to those in world fiction, myths, gods, spirits, monsters that don’t exist, or something new nopony has ever seen before. And so, on Nightmare Night, I decided to uphold that tradition myself as I arrived at the hive.

When I arrived as the sun was setting and the air was becoming chilly, the hive was dressed in lights. Stones of eerie greens, to sinister oranges and malicious violet lights casted shadows both in and outside of the place. Every so often, weird shadows glided about the hive while laughter and shrieks perfumed the air.

Before I could cross the threshold of the kingdom, I took one last look at the costume I was wearing. That year, I decided to go for something of a Coltgyptian theme: masquerading as the god Sobek, the River God and the divine body guard for the Pharaoh. Since he was depicted as a crocodile, all I needed was the bejeweled arm and ankle bands, bracelets, a surprisingly heavy neckpiece, traditional kilt and the crocodile mask (all thanks to the hard work from Rarity’s skill). So after putting the mask on, I silently went towards the hive. At the same time, I’d noticed that Pharynx hadn’t jumped out at me.

For a while in search of Thorax, I didn’t find the need to hide in the shadows as the Changelings were already in their fantastic disguises, so I just blended in with the crowd. While I was looking around, I couldn’t help but take notice of the creatively nightmarish creations that these guys put on that year. From shadowy giants that had the legs of spiders to the realistic looking rotting zomponies, these guys could walk into any costume contest in Equestrian and win.

After some looking around, I was able to finally find not only the king, but his brother too. They were in the, what one would call the “cafeteria” part of the hive where the brothers were by the punchbowl, talking. Silently, I made my way over to the point that I could hear them.

“Are you going to join with the festivities?” I heard Thorax asked as he poured a ladle full of… something green and glowing, into his cup. “You know you don’t have to chaperone me all night.”

Pharynx frowned, “I still don’t understand why you throw this every year, making yourself more vulnerable than any other day of the year.”

His younger brother let out a frustrating sigh, “Really? Are we seriously going to go through this again? I’m not in any danger and you know it. There are no monsters here except for our shape-shifting subjects that are doing this willingly. Besides, even if there is something that just waltzed in here, you think that I…” He trailed off and I froze in place as he was staring right at me. His brother followed his line of sight.

“Uh…” I spoke up with the voice of an idiot, “Trick or treat?”

“Spike?” Thorax asked. “Is that you?”

Seeing that my surprise was ruined, I forced myself to take off the mask. “Hey guys, Happy Nightmare Night.” No sooner had I completed this sentence was I tackled to the ground by the king that was obviously happy to see me.

“Spike! What a surprise! I didn’t know that you were coming.” You know, the guy sure has a real tight grip whenever he wants to show it unintentionally. I was waving my arms around for air. Mercifully he let go, “Oh,” he nervously chuckled, “Sorry about that.”

“Holy crap Thorax!” I exclaimed, “Did you always have super-strength and I just didn’t know about it?”

Pharynx laughed, “Never underestimate the strength of a Changeling King kid. Especially when he has a brother that’s on his flank to whip into shape. And besides, what are you doing here anyway? And dressed like one of those… Coltgyptian Gods?”

“It’s my costume,” I said dusting myself off and picking up the crocodile mask. “This year, I’m going as Sobek, the god of the Nile and divine bodyguard of the pharaohs. Like Thorax here,” I remembered winking at him. Here, Thorax’s green cheeks had darkened by several shades, as if realizing my true intent for coming here. “Besides,” I added, “Twilight doesn’t need me this year in Ponyville, so I thought that I might shake things up a bit by coming here. I’ve heard you’ve taken Nightmare Night in a unique way and I wanted to experience it up close.”

I’d noticed that Pharynx was looking at his younger brother the whole time as I was saying this, had an eyebrow raised up high. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked him.

“Huh?” this snapped his younger sibling’s attention. “Uh yeah, of course I am. Hey, why don’t you go down towards the haunted dungeons, I’m sure that you could provide a scare or two down there.”

“But what about-”

“I’ll be fine Pharynx,” he said as he wrapped his foreleg around my shoulders. “Spike here is a dragon, even if something were to go wrong, he should be able to take care of it.”

But his suspicious expression didn’t subside, even when he started to head his way out, then it was just the two of us and some changelings that went in and out. “So how’ve you been?” I asked him as I put the mask back on.

“You mean besides planning Nightmare Night? Well, nothing significant has happened…” He returned his focus towards the bowl of mystery punch. “I have been waiting to hear from you.”

“About that,” I began, taking ahold of the heavy neckpiece to rub an itch out. “That’s the main reason why I’m here.” This managed to snap his attention. “I know that it has taken me two weeks to think this over and even ask a few ponies about it. But I have been thinking about what you told me the last time we met.”

“Oh?” he replied before downing a glass of glowing liquid. “And what is your answer?”

For a moment, I hesitated, and I could tell that Thorax was on edge as he was desperately trying to read off of me. No doubt from the emotions I was showing. “Firstly, I want to say that I’m flattered. It isn’t really every day that not just a king, but a Changeling King has taken an interest in me. Second, I’m sorry to tell you this, but as of right now, I don’t have those same feelings that you have towards me.”

There was a brief second in which he was devastated at this piece of news. So I quickly added, “But before you say anything, what I just said isn’t by any means that I’m rejecting you.” Now he looked confused. “You see, I’m not exactly sure if this would work at all. However, I know you. You are a great friend that anyone could ask for. So it would be rude of me after all those years we’ve known one another not to repay you for your kindness. I have come out here to say that I won’t fully accept it, unless, we do a sort of test run.”

The king blinked, “Test run?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, “I’m not asking you to take me out on a date right this very second. But sometime in the near future, we should give it a try or two. If it all goes well in which I feel comfortable dating you, then yeah, I’ll take up the offer. If not, at least we cut it off before it could get any worst. Does that make any sense?”

“Perfectly!” Thorax smiled widely, hugging me again but taking care not to crush me. “I promise that you won’t regret it.”

“I hope so,” I muttered.

“Hey, what do you want to do?” He asked me as he downed whatever the glowing punch was. “There’s a lot of activities around the hive from the disguise contest, the haunted dungeon below, there’s bobbing for gorbs, pop and scare, ghost story telling competition, trick or treat, what are you in the mood for?”

“What’s that you’re drinking?” I pointed to the punch bowl.

“We call it Nightmare Nectar; it’s our own special brew. It may sound intimidating but it’s the sweetest thing you could ever taste. Want some?”

“Maybe later,” I said adjusting the mask. “One last thing before we go do something, can I ask you a personal question, Thorax?” He told me to go ahead. “Does your brother know about, well, that you want me to be your…

“Uh…” his ears folded back against his head. “Not exactly. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he already knows about my orientation from a long time ago. Heck, I used to dabble in things that a male Changeling wasn’t supposed to at the time. He knows that I prefer guys, but he doesn’t know exactly who. Only Lavender knows about us.”

“Speaking of which, how is she with this arrangement or whatever you call this? I know she gave her consent, but won’t this cause any problems between you?”

He shrugged, “Not really. She’s not jealous or anything because otherwise she wouldn’t have approved of you. But for now, let’s not worry about that, we have all night to have fun.”

“Fair enough, but what do you want to do? Just drink this stuff all night?”

“Nope,” he smirked as he got an idea. Then in a burst of green fire, there stood before me was the Coltgyptian God Anubis. “If anything, let me teach you how to play pop and scare.”

3: Trial Date

I don’t remember much of that night, for I have foggy memories of giving those Changelings a heart attack from popping out of nowhere. What I do remember, however, was after all of that where I was making my way back to Ponyville, that I would set a time a place in which we could have our trial date. I had it scheduled for a week after Guys Night, but I haven’t settled on the place. Nevertheless, it was Twilight that stepped in with the suggestion of having the whole trial date thing to be at the Friendship Castle in Ponyville.

Needless to say, that I’ve made sure that Twilight wouldn’t be interrupting us nor would she be spying like she did in the past. If anything, I’ve made sure that Celestia would be enough to get both her and Starlight out while I orchestrated the whole thing. After all, it isn’t every day that you’d get to date someone that is a king so I had to be sure that everything was perfect.

Now, before I go on to describe the date itself, I want to point out something here: when it comes to dating, I try to go for something a little bit original. Regardless of who they were, I didn’t just want to see a movie or have dinner in a fancy restaurant. I date someone in which regardless of how it ends, I do want to leave some kind of impression. So on that night in early November, that’s exactly what I did.

Thorax showed up on time at six on the dot. He had with him a few Changeling guards by his side as they few in on the chilly air. I rushed over to the front door as quickly as I could before he could knock, in which I was able to reach over there just in time.

“Hey Thorax,” I greeted him even though I was somewhat out of breath, “Right on time.”

“How’ve you been?” He smiled at me. “I was kinda worried that I wouldn’t be able to make it.”

“Nah, your timing was perfect.” I held the door wider. “Come on in, I’ve got a little surprise for you.”

“Oh! That reminds me,” the Changeling King turned to one of the guards in which they handed him a silk bag. “This is for you. I hope you don’t find it of me too forward to give this to ya.”

I was curious as to what he’d given me this time. Taking the silk bag into my claw, I untied the silver threads apart and peeked inside. “Are these candied diamonds?” He nodded, “This is perfect for dessert. You can come in now.”

He turned to his guards and told him that they can stand there to watch while he went inside. They saluted and took their place at the entrance. “So where’s Princess Twilight?”

“I had Celestia keep her and Starlight Glimmer occupied in Canterlot, we pretty much have the castle all to ourselves.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Oh? And how come?”

“Two reasons: First and foremost is that I don’t want to be spied on again.” I told him as I begun to show him the way to the dining room.

“Again? You mean that she did this before?”

I smirked, “Yeah, I’ve quickly learned that when it comes to me dating anypony, Twi tends to try to keep a close eye or ear on me. I know that she has been protective of me, but personally I’d rather be on a date one on one, you know what I mean?”

He nodded. “I guess so. Now you promise that there are no hidden cameras or microphones anywhere?”

“I’ve already checked – that’s why I told her that I would be dating you three days from now so she wouldn’t know about what’s going on now.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you had a sly side.”

“Which leads to my second reason: Considering what you are offering me, I thought that if there is a possibility that we might become more than just friends, then I needed to eliminate as many outside influences as possible.”

“You know, I am rather curious, what are we going to do anyway?”

I showed him to the door of the dining room. Behind it, as I flung the doors open to show him that among the lit candles, the china, silverware, plates of raw vegetables, pasta, spices, fresh fruit, eggs, milk, and chocolate, were knives, mixing bowls, whisks, measuring cups, spoons, a specially constructed stovetop and oven. “Uh… Spike?” Thorax asked me in bewilderment. “What’s all this for?”

“I have a question for you: do you know how to cook?”

This surprised him, “Wha- N-No, I don’t have a clue how.”

I smiled, “Good. For this trial date, I’m going to teach you how to cook.”

“But isn’t it hard?”

“Not really,” I drew him in by the shoulder. “Of course, there are a few rules that you’d need to follow. But trust me when I say that I have been doing this for quite a while now and I know what I’m doing. Of course, you’d gotta let me lead you in how to make our dinner.”

“You do know that what we eat is different than what you guys eat, right?”

I was ready for this, leading him over to the table; I picked up one of the jars from where the spices were kept. “That’s why I’ve asked your brother to send samples of your favorite flavors over here. As weird as some of this stuff is, I do think that with a little creativity, we might come up with something tasty for the both of us.”

He gave a low whistle, “You thought up of everything, haven’t you? So…” He looked around at the spread. “What exactly do we do?”

“I figured that I wanted to keep this as simple as possible. We’ll be having a two course meal: a pasta and dessert. Don’t worry, it's drop dead easy for both of them, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on you while we’re making this. I’ll show you how step by step. So you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he shrugged. I could tell that he was feeling uneasy about this.

So I got out two cast iron deep frying pans. “First thing’s first, we’re going to make ourselves a one pan pasta. It doesn’t need as much cleanup as the dessert, but I think that it’s pretty much fool proof.” After taking one of the pans he asked what he does with it. “We put them on the stove, but we don’t want to lit the fire just yet. Here, come with me.” I lead him towards the table where the vegetables and knives were. “So apart of the noodles themselves, we’d need to chop some vegetables to make the sauce itself.”

With that, I taught the king how to chop an onion and some cloves of garlic as thinly as possible. I noticed he was tearing up halfway of chopping one of the onions. “Wow this stuff is strong.” He commented as he took a moment to clear his eyes of his tears. “Is this really necessary?”

“Yeah, it’s to help the flavor. But that’s because you’re not chopping as fast as I am. But I wouldn’t recommend for someone that hasn’t had enough experience. So take your time.”

I watched him as he methodically sliced the onion before moving onto the garlic. While we were chopping, I asked him, “So is this really your first time cooking?”

He shook his head, “I’ve already told you that I never did. Since we mostly feed on love, we haven’t bothered learning about cooking techniques from ponies. Heck, I never had a taste of pony food until the Crystal Empire. You know, after you found me.”

“Oh yeah!” I snapped my claws. “I keep forgetting to ask you about that. What was the first thing you’ve eaten anyway besides love?”

“Do you know those… (What do you call them?) Purée’s, I think it was. At first, since no one had any idea what else I could eat, I was given several bowls of purified fruit, just to see what I could take. In the end, I managed to consume all of it. Then they moved on to vegetables, than soups, breads, roasted stuff, smoked, even desserts. They even encouraged me to experiment with food from across the globe from deep fried crickets to tea’s – all on the same day too.”

I grimaced, “Sheesh, I bet your stomach was really aching from eating all of that.”

“Are you kidding?” he chuckled. “I had my mind and taste buds blown at all the different flavors, textures and techniques outside of just feeding on pure love alone. What’s even more remarkable, is that the cooks who made all of it, had put their love and passion into it – literally. Even with the blandest of foods, there are tiny traces in there.”

“Well that’s cool.” I said as we moved on to chopping the cherry tomatoes. “So I guess there’s love being put into this meal, huh?” I paused at the realization of what came out of my mouth. “That was stupid question, wasn’t it?”

Thorax laughed, “Not at all! Yes, there is indeed love that is going into this meal.” The room became quiet, except for the chopping of vegetables and him trying to copy what I was doing. “Hey Spike?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you teaching me how to cook?”

I shrugged and told him the truth. “To be honest, if we are going to be on this date, why not make it memorable. You know… just in case…”

He raised an eyebrow, “Of what?”

“That… that maybe this time that I have found what I was looking for,” there was a very uncomfortable silence between us.

“Can I ask you a very personal question?” I told him that he could go ahead. “I know that you have been on dates before, so do you want to let me know of what is your ideal special some… body.”

“If you think of changing into the partner of my dreams then the date is over,” I smirked.

He blushed as deeply as the cherry tomatoes. “Oh no! I’m not planning on that I swear!”

I chuckled, “Relax, I’m just pulling your tail is all. But to answer your question,” I moved on to a clawful of chili peppers. “Being the kind of guy that swings both ways, I guess that I’m a little leaning towards personality than anything else. Like, the guy that I would live with, I can imagine to be someone that I can lose myself in conversation with for hours and not realize how long it’s been. I want to be with someone that has a good deal of knowledge and wisdom, but doesn’t talk down to me about it, but talk on the same level. I wanted to be with someone that I don’t fall in love overnight, but rather have it grow with time. I hope to be with someone that is mature, yet young at heart. One that can not only share the same interests, but show me a new perspective on the things they’re interested in.” I looked up from the cutting board. “I’m not boring you, am I?”

He shook his head, “Not at all. It’s kinda funny in a way.”

“What do ya mean?”

“Those are the same traits that I fell in love with.” He told me as he finished chopping the tomatoes.

I snorted, “Really? I’m all of those things?”

“Yeah! You’re always fun to talk to and you’re a really good listener. I’ve learned more about pony and dragon culture in a way that I can understand clearly. It took me years to realize that I was developing feelings for you. You’re mature for your age, but when you want to have some fun or show me something new, I’m able to walk away knowing something that I didn’t before.” He looked at the peppers near him. “Uh, do you mind if I skip these?”

“No problem, remember these jars?” I pulled out a few in front of him. “I think you might want to flavor you pasta up with one or two of these.”

He did choose one of the jars to which we proceeded to arrange our ingredients into the pans. But before I could ignite the heat, I went out to get the phonograph and a few records to fill the silence of the room. “I hope you don’t mind having some old lounge music in the background.” I asked him.

“I don’t mind,” he replied. “What do you got?”

“Only a couple of albums, one is Sinatra, Maretin-”

“Oh! Play him!” he cried. I shrugged and proceeded to place it on the turntable. After setting the needle on, the first thing to come out of the horn is the guy soothingly singing something in Istallion.

“This is a good one,” Thorax nodded in approval.

“Huh?” I said as I went over to the stove. After igniting the fire and dumping the water into the pans, I commented. “Ya know, I didn’t take you to be a Maretin fan.”

“What can I say? I like his singing. It’s smooth but full of life. Although, I didn’t know that you have his records.”

“We practically live in a library,” I pointed out as we started to stir our pans. “We don’t just have books and scrolls in here. We’ve got recordings of music too from ancient chants to recent pop songs and everything in between. I’ve tend to take a listen whenever Twilight isn’t around while I do chores.”

“Like cooking for her?” he smirked.

“Hey, I don’t do it all the time; she and Starlight do help out.”

The conversation kinda died as we brought the water to a boil but we still kept stirring. Finally, Thorax spoke up, “So… do you always treat your dates out by cooking alongside them?”

I shook my head. “Not really. I tend to do different things depending what’s going on. Like in the summer I once took a date rock-climbing, and in the winter, we sat in front of a fire drinking hot chocolate. But like I said, it just depends. Plus, Rarity told me that you can learn quite a bit from your date when you’re doing an activity together.”

“…. And… How am I so far?”

I told him that I wasn’t sure yet since our date just got started. So I decided to change the subject. “How’s your kingdom?”

“Great,” he replied. “Nightmare Night was a success, but in the meantime we’re getting ready for Hearth's Warming.”

“And your queen?”

“She’s helpful, all things considering. Currently we’re trying to have some official heirs to the throne. In which, we don’t know about the results as of yet.” At that moment, that feeling of unease returned, and the Changeling King sensed it. “Spike, you’re not driving us apart by any means.”

“Not even the kids you’re trying to have?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that I’m accidently going to get you pregnant.” He then gave sly smile, “Unless you really want me to.”

This caught me off guard, “Wait what!”

“Kidding,” he laughed. “I’m amazed that you fell for it.”

“Sorry it’s just you put me off for a sec.”

A few chuckles later, he became serious. “Anyway, Spike, when or if my queen has children, it won’t make any bit awkward if you were around. If anything, I would welcome you to be with them since I know you’re great with foals.”

“I don’t know about that,” I scratched the back of my neck. “I mean, I don’t think that I’m ready for kids myself.”

He scoffed in disbelief. “Oh nonsense! You’re great with young ones. From those Crusaders to foalsitting Flurry Heart, you’re amazing from what I’ve heard. And I would be more than honored for you to be with my children as well.”

I paused from stirring, “You’re not just dating me just to become a glorified foalsitter, are you?”

We carried this on until the pasta was just right. Before we could sit down, I sparked up the oven for it to warm up for dessert. After moving the pans off the stove and onto the crystal table, we proceeded to pig out directly from the pan. It may sound weird, but seeing Thorax throw out rules of dining edict to just stuff his face with noodles, veggies and the paste into his mouth was rather… strangely relaxing in a way. Even though he has ruled the hive for a couple of years at this point, he never fully embraced all the strict rules of the aristocracy.

“You know,” Thorax came up for some air, tomato sauce doused his muzzle. “If I knew that cooking was this easy, I think I would have done this a long time ago.”

“It’s easy once you know how,” I pointed out. “You just got to have the right stuff and enough time to make whatever you want.”

“Maybe I should be doing this alongside of my Changelings when they do this. Give me some lessons so I can show off at our potlucks.”

“Why Thorax, I’m shocked,” I waved a claw over my head overdramatically. “A King that wants to show off? What would the country say?”

“Hurray, more food!” he teased and we had a good laugh. After a while, he asked another question: “Just a random thought, have you ever considered of moving out?”

I raised an eyebrow, “Why are you bringing this up?” He said that he was curious since I was twenty and had ever thought of going out on my own. “Eh… I guess I could if I had a place to move to. To me, I don’t just want to move somewhere where I don’t feel like I’m not home, you know? I mean sure, I am an adult, but so far, I don’t have a plan to move anywhere, nor knew what exactly I must do to maintain what I like to do.”

“You know,” the Changeling King pawed at the table. “Once you do become my consort, I’ll be more than willing to give you a space at the hive, just for you.”

“But that’s my decision to make.”

Thorax fell silent for a moment, “I’m sorry, that was out of line for me to do so.”

“Hey I don’t blame ya, I’ve been trying to figure that out for a while but I haven’t settled on anything.”

“Understandable,” he nodded. “Just so you know… I meant what I said.”

“Well… thanks I guess…”

Once again, the conversation fell silent as we finished up our meals. From there, I taught him how to make a dessert soufflé in a way that he managed to understand it. He paid close attention of making the base and how to fold the egg whites. Once it was placed in the oven, we waited while it cooked.

“So… Thorax,” I decided to break the tension. “Can I ask you personal questions?”

He chuckled, “Well, I guess that’s what we’ve been doing on this date thing so, go ahead.”

I looked at him in the eye and asked, “Why exactly did you fall in love with me? I mean, I know what you said of how long it’s been around, and the fact that you’d admire me. But why?”

The Changeling King went quiet for several minutes, no doubt trying to figure out what to say next. “I don’t know if I can explain this just right. But I guess that out of everyone that I’ve known, you stood out in my mind. After all, you were the first to show me real kindness because you cared. More than that, but from my upbringing to survive in such a cruel world, it was as if… a light had lit up in the darkness. To show me that I wasn’t alone. I don’t know what exactly to tell you, but you’ve been patient and I was… admittedly, too eager in learning this new world outside of the hive. From you, I felt a connection because you’re more than the dragon I wanted, but needed. Yes… Even as a King, I need you. It’s why I wanted you to be a master to me in court. That you matter to me above titles of power – you are the reason of how I became to be. And I just want to return that same love you had given me.” He then frowned when I didn’t react. “It’s way too corny, isn’t it?”

“N-no, not at all dude. It’s rather touching of ya.”

“And I meant it too.” He said as he grabbed my claw. “Spike, if you do decide to become my court consort, anything you could ever want, I’ll give that and my heart too. If you wanted to move somewhere, I can arrange it. If you wanted to snack on rubies before lunch, it shall be done. Or…” here, his cheeks had turned pink. “If you wanted… relief, just ask and I’ll be willing to do so.”

My eyes went wide and I’m sure my cheeks were on fire. “Wow. That’s a little too soon for anything like that, don’t ya think?”

“I don’t mind waiting,” he replied. “The point being is that out of everything you’ve done for not just for Equestria, but for me and my Changelings, you deserve happiness. I’m willing to be your slave to have you obtain joy.”

Wow. Even now, that’s all I could say. None of my dates had talked to me like this and meant it. So with those words still fresh in my head, we got the molten hot soufflés out, dusted with powdered sugar. By the time we started to dig our forks in, I said. “Okay.”

Thorax looked up at me, blinking, “Pardon?”

“I have thought it over, and I accept it.” I smiled at him. “I’ll be willing to be your consort.” This followed by being tackled in a hug.

“Oh, thank you so much Spike!” he said to me before kissing me on both sides of my muzzle. “Thank you.”

I on the other claw was gasping for air, in which he took the hint.

4: Reassurance

“…. So by the time dessert came around I told him that I would be his official, royal coltfriend.” I told Twilight and Starlight. This meeting took place the day after the trial date in which we were gathered in the throne room. Of course, Twi was rather annoyed that I had gone behind her back in dating Thorax – but once I was able to tell her what had happened, her mood changed to that of amusement.

By the time I was able to finish the story, Starlight raised a hoof. “As great as that sounds Spike, what exactly does all of that entail? I mean, I don’t know any royal consorts personally, does that mean that you get to have certain privileges or something?”

“You know,” I folded my arms, leaned back against my little throne. “Thorax did tell me further of what exactly I get to do now that I’ve given my consent. From what he said, I’m basically his husband and coltfriend at the same time, which means that I pretty much stand on the same level of his queen as a sort of adviser. That I’m free to give him advice and able to tell him no outright if I see fit. Also that I’ll be given some level of protection in which if I get hurt or sick in any way, his Changelings would immediately come to my aid. Oh! That reminds me,” I snapped my claws. “I think I should warn you guys about something important.”

“And what’s that?” Twilight asks, taking a quill and notebook in her aura.

“That according to Thorax, that if there was any incident that someone hurts me on purpose, the hive would declare war on the one that harmed me in the first place.”

The room went dead quiet. “Care to clarify?” Twilight inquired with caution.

“Like say that if somepony were to gang me up in an alley to mug me, the hive would be obligated in hunting down that pony down until they either die or surrender. And this doesn’t just include physical. If someone hurts me physically, psychologically, emotionally or financially, it would give the hive enough reason to give said pony a very bad day.”

“Note to self,” Starlight muttered, “Do not make Spike angry.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?” Twilight questioned.

“That’s exactly what I asked Thorax. And he told me that I do have the power to pardon those who have hurt me if I so choose. Then again, this was the same guy that had turned into a bear when he thought Ember was attacking me.”

“I see,” Twilight’s student nodded. “Does anypony in the royal family know about this?”

“Beside Prince Blueblood and his husband, everypony doesn’t know yet. I thought that I wouldn’t tell until me and Thorax are, in fact a couple and I wanted you to be the first to know that it’s really happening.” Twilight thanked me and asked me if there were any other privileges that I was given. “Uh yeah! Since I’m technically his coltfriend, I can ask him to go on a date on a whim. Not only that, but I’d get to sit beside him during meals, dance with him whenever we feel like it, and uh…” My cheeks turned red when I trailed off.

“Yes?” Starlight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well… he also said that… since I’m his Royal Consort, that I have the… right to…” I was rubbing the back of my neck, my head on fire at what I was going to say out loud. I sighed, “Oh how do I put this elegantly…? That I can… sleep, with him. If I choose,” I quickly added the last sentence.

The two mares looked at me with wide eyes. “You mean have sex with him?” Starlight said.

“That’s putting it bluntly but… yeah. Pretty much.”

With my embarrassment evident, I decided to tell them the truth, “Which brings me to the… other thing I wanted to talk to you gals about. It’s another worry I have to be honest.”

“We’re all adults here Spike,” Twilight reassured me. “And I know how awkward it is talk on the subject. However, I think that we know and read plenty about it. So it’s okay to go ahead and ask whatever it is on your mind.”

I took in a deep breath. Here goes nothing… “Twilight, you know that December is coming up, right?” She nodded, “And do you know what happens to be around early December?”

“Oh!” her cheeks blushed. “That’s right, I’ve completely forgot!”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, “Is there something I’m missing?”

“You know how mares have heat cycles that they go through every now and then?” Twi asked her student and she nodded. “As it turns out, as soon as they hit puberty, for male dragons, they too go into a similar cycle in which they would call rut. Yeah, it’s exactly as it sounds.”

“I mean… I’m able to just take care of myself, when that time comes around.” I confessed. “However, I haven’t exactly had a… sexual partner as of yet. But while that may or may not change considering Thorax, I’m genuinely worried. Sure, the guy had said out loud that we can if I just asked. But what if in the heat of the moment that I might hurt him? From what Ember has told me, dragon mating can get rather aggressive and I don’t know if Thorax could handle it without getting burned.”

Starlight leaned back in her chair, “To be honest, I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s like any romp in bed, that as long both sides know what they’re getting into and if they’re fine with it, go for it. But if the other isn’t enjoying it, then they say something to do something else. Pretty much goes the same with any other kink.”

Twilight deadpanned and responded with, “You’ve learned this from Trixie, haven’t you?”

She only shrugged.

Twi returned to me and asked me when I was planning on seeing him next. “Probably in a few days, after all, I’ve got Celestia, Luna, and Cadance with Shining Armor to tell them the news. But after that, I’m going down to visit the Hive. Although, I do hope that those princesses don’t start betting on me like they did with Blueblood.”

Needless to say that the reactions from the royal family were similar to when I told Twilight and Starlight in several of degrees. For example, when I told Celestia and Luna that I had just become the coltfriend to the Changeling King, they were overly happy about it to the point where they were crushing me underneath their hugs. Quickly followed by asking if I made the first move (whatever that means). Princess Cadance was without a doubt glad about it, if not somewhat annoyed that she wasn’t there shipping me and Thorax to begin with. Shining Armor simply congratulated me, but didn’t let me go until he took me aside to give me a lecture for me to “use protection.”

But once the royal family and my friends were made aware of my new coltfriend, (especially towards those that I happened to be in power) I made my way southward towards the Hive. Even after having more awkward conversations in those few days, there were two more that I needed to have a chat with: Pharynx and Lavender.

Walking up to the Hive that afternoon, I remembered it being a cold day as the forest outside of it had nothing but sticks in the mid November air. The vegetation that grows on the towering Hive looked like it was dying where frost was evident.

Being so chilly, I distinctly remember that I was wearing a black, wool overcoat that Rarity custom made for me that it reached down just past my knees. I was blowing puffs of fire to keep my claws warm when, as expected, Pharynx appeared in a burst of purple green flame. “I was kinda hoping that I would run into you.” I told him.

“My brother tells me that’d got himself a Master,” said he, his fore legs crossed. “And I was told that it was you.”

I frowned, “So I take it that you don’t exactly approve of me?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Who said that I didn’t? Look, I already knew my brother leans towards males. I mean, I didn’t much care as that means more gals for me, you know what I’m saying?”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah I do. But do you have any problem that I am technically dating your brother?”

“Just one,” he said. “Did you know that this is the first time that he’d asked anyone to be his mate, right?”

This surprised me, “Not really…”

“Let me make this clear for ya,” he then began to circle around me. “I have gone out of my way to protect my baby brother. From bullies, Ponies, Gryphons, Zebras,” he narrowed his eyes at me, “Dragons even. While I’m grateful in how far he’s come to learn how to protect himself, the last thing I want is to have him get hurt. That includes you. You might have gotten Thorax to fall head over hooves over you, but just so you know, I’ll be watching.” He poked at my chest to make this point. “And if you do happen to break his heart, I’ll be sure to stomp on yours.”

Well this has escalated quickly. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied to him. “Look, I need to have a word with Queen Lavender too so could you point out where she is?”

“Throne room.”

I nodded and thanked him as I walked around him and made my way inside. Once I was inside, I noticed how surprisingly warm it was compared to the outside. Upon investigating where the heat was coming from, I swiftly found that in every room there was a small, iron cage in which had a red hot stone. It didn’t take too long to figure out what these were: Cinderstones. The only place in all of Equestria that has any was from the Dragon Lands. So it was clear that the Changelings were trading with them.

So after climbing up to the top, I found that even the open air throne room was just as warm as it was encompassed by those stones that were providing heat for the Changelings and a few diplomats surrounding the throne in which both Thorax and Lavender sat. Each of the diplomats was taking turns petitioning to them about this or that. It wasn’t until that the new Changeling Queen spotted me that he nudged the king into noticing me. I waved over to them.

“Hey Spike!” Thorax waved back, smiling. “Oh everyone, I have an announcement to make.” He stood up and took a few steps away from the throne. “I think it’s about time that I let you know some rather exciting news. Just to let you all know, I have officially taken up a royal consort in which I have been granted permission by both the Queen and the one I wanted to be with. And I’m happy to say, that Sir Spike, is my personal consort.”

There was a collective muttering and whispering all around. Changelings glanced over between me and Thorax, many of them looked as if they were taken aback at the news. However, despite feeling all eyes on me, I calmly walked over towards the throne. “Hey Thorax, you mind if I could visit you for a couple of days?”

“Not at all!” he grinned before nuzzling me. “It’s great to see you.”

“Thanks,” I turned my attention towards his wife, “Hey Thorax? Can I have a word with your Queen for a bit?”

“Why?”

“I just wanted to talk with her for a minute. After all, I’ve been spending a couple of days going around talking to my family about… well… us. I just talked to your brother you see, and the last one on my list here is Lavender so… would you mind?”

“Well I could use a break,” the new Changeling Queen said as she got up from her throne. “We’ll be in the meeting room downstairs, but I’ll be right back. Follow me, Sir Spike.” I obeyed as I walked behind her out of the Throne Room and towards a lower level where I was lead into a windowless room with a round stone table. The only light in the room was a glowing chandelier that had glowing blue crystals. “So what do you want to talk to me about, Sir Spike?” she inquired taking a seat near the table.

“You know, for these past couple of weeks, there has been something on my mind that while I’ve heard it from Thorax, I definitely need to hear it from you. And that is this,” I sat down on the edge of the table. “Are you sure that you’re okay with this? I mean, you are his wife after all.”

She tilted her head in confusion, “That’s obvious for sure. Although I don’t exactly see why this would be a problem.”

“But doesn’t the idea that a married Changeling like yourself would be even slightly jealous that your husband is with someone else? Yeah, I know that you’ve given your consent and all, but aren’t you afraid that you might be seen as second rate to him?”

She shook her head, “Thorax and I, we see each other as friends that just so happened to be married. Don’t misunderstand me, he’s nice, there’s no doubt about it. In truth, I see this duty of Queen like you would view a job. In that I was chosen to help give Thorax a conscious on how to realistically run the hive.”

“But he is trying to have… you know… babies with you.”

“I know,” she nodded in acknowledgement, putting a hoof over her stomach. “But once again, it’s more of a duty. Yet, that doesn’t mean that I won’t love them when they do come. To tell you the truth, I do want to be a mother, and Thorax is helping me out with that. Still, I guess he already told you that you’re welcomed into helping raising them?”

“He did,” I told her.

“Yet, I can sense that there’s something you’re not comfortable with.”

Here we go, “Would you feel jealous if I… chose to sleep with your husband? There are not that many wives out there that would like the idea of having their husband being with somepony that wasn’t them.”

This made her giggle. “You’d be right. For those who have a little bit of love for their spouse, it would make one angry if they were being dishonest with one another. With my situation, however, it’s the complete opposite. I’m not just letting you be my King’s Master, but I encourage it for the sake of his own happiness. Which I’m glad that you’ve decided to be his since, up until now, he hasn’t been given such a luxury. And from my examination, not only are you safe around him but, more importantly, you are healthy. So I wouldn’t have agreed to this if you weren’t otherwise.”

“Well, yeah. But what about you? Do you get to have a consort of your own?”

“When it comes to this sort of thing, it works both ways. Only that with me, if I decide to take up a male Changeling, then of course there would be necessary for him to have something to prevent an accidental pregnancy. But even then, I would be given just as much happiness as Thorax. So really, there’s no shame in this. If anything, it’s a huge honor among us to be his greatest source of happiness. For if he’s happy, so will the kingdom.”

This reasoning did made sense to me. “Well… since you put it that way. What’s Thorax doing tonight?”

She smiled, “After court (which ends in an hour), the King will have free time until dinner. Of course, you are welcome to join us.”

“Hey, how can I turn down free food?” we both chuckled at this.

“I am glad that he chose you,” Lavender said. “After all, I think it was about time that he started dating.”

“Well I am rusty on my part, but I’ll do my best.” With that, we returned to the Throne Room, and I waited until Thorax was free.

6: Of Winter Waltzes and an Act of Trust

As the air was becoming colder and the frost was claiming more of the land, the hive was buzzing with the fact that I was the King’s Master Consort. Dating Thorax had proved, day by day of how much he genuinely cared about me. During that visit, I would wake up to have a soothing bath in lava (yeah, to this day I still can’t figure out how they’ve pulled this off without burning the place down). After breakfast, I would sit with him and Lavender for court until the afternoon in which I would, from time to time, give him some advice about this or that. In the afternoons, it was the only time of day in which we’ve managed to get to know one another personally through a variety of activities. For example, once there was enough snow on the ground, we got ourselves some makeshift sleds in which we slid down a hill for hours. At other times we would take things slow by lying next to a burning hearth. From there at dinner I would sit right next to him, and by bedtime I would always find a basket of gems to snack on.

So where were my feelings on Thorax at this point? Well, I don’t think it would be fair to assume that I was already in love with him. Back then, I was examining not only how exactly I felt about him, but how do I see him. We would still do friendship stuff, for sure in some of our activities during that free time. Yet, at the same time the way we would open up on this or that and the absolute fact that we were practically flirting with one another did make me wonder every night if I was starting to fall in love with him.

This lead to that night underneath the falling snow of December. I still remember clearly the banquet in which the Changelings set up in the open air Throne Room. Above us, a blizzard descended from the sky, yet its bitter winds and wet snow was stopped in our dome of warmth. The place was illuminated by white and light blue crystals as the Changelings from arts and crafts had put their winter themes all over the hall from paper snowflakes to painted snow ponies on the walls. The table was in shape of a horseshoe where the King sat at the very middle with me next to him. The air was perfumed with the familiar smells of Hearths Warming of cinnamon, nutmeg and fresh baked cookies. My taste buds were swimming in the creamy, loaded baked potato soup that I was offered to eat, while my ears heard original music from a Changeling orchestra.

“You know Thorax,” I asked the King. “With a set up like this, it makes me curious to see what your guy’s Hearths Warming Eve is going to look like.”

“Well, why not stay and find out?” He said, “After all, you’re more than welcome to stay up until then.”

“But you guys know that I’m not planning on staying here for that long.” I pointed out with the spoon still in my claw. “Twilight is expecting me to spend the holidays with her and the family. It still means a lot to her that I’d be there.”

His ears drooped a little, “Oh… Well, are you sure that you want to go back home tomorrow? I mean, just look at the storm that’s going on out there and I don’t want you to get caught in this blizzard.”

“I’m sure it’ll calm down by tomorrow.” However, I wasn’t certain judging of all the heavy snow that was falling overhead.

“Spike,” the King said, “If you’re finished with that soup, would you mind if we’d dance for a bit?”

My eyebrow shot up, I leaned forward a bit to see how Lavender would react. She merely gave an encouraging smile and a nod. “I don’t know…” I replied timidly, “I’m a little rusty when it comes to dancing.”

“Don’t worry; I’m not planning on something complicated – just a slow dance between us. I mean, since this might be the last night until you have to head back to Ponyville so… humor me?”

I thought that he did have a point, and considering what was coming I figured that I should at least give him his dance before I had to go away. “Very well, Your Majesty.” After reaching out for his hoof, we both got up and round around the tables, thus getting every Changeling’s attention.

“Orchestra,” the King commanded, “could you play us a waltz please?”

No sooner had he said that, the orchestra did strike up the familiar rhythm of a waltz with a chilly melody. The King and I bowed to one another before Thorax stood on his hindlegs, quickly taking the lead as he placed a hoof at my side. At the start, I had to look down in order to get the movements right and without tripping. Thankfully, he took it at a reasonable pace.

“Are you really going to leave tomorrow?” he asked me.

“Well, I guess that might all depend on the weather. If it falls too thick and cold, then I’m forced to wait out until I can leave.”

He sighed, “You know, it seemed like yesterday since you got here. I can’t believe that it’s been a couple of days already.”

“Awe, don’t feel bad, at least from this vacation that I was able to have fun here.”

“Really?”

I nodded, “Yeah. I mean once the snow started to come down, I hadn’t had this much fun since I was a kid. Heck, I can’t even remember the last time I went sledding for the sake of it.”

“Don’t forget the ice skating and the improvised snow ball fights.”

“How can I? It’s almost like I feel like a hatchling again. And I get to do it all with someone just as fun.”

He snorted, “Oh come on, I’m boring.”

“No you’re not.”

“Am too.”

“But why would you say so? If this is as boring as you can be, then I guess that makes me easily amused.”

“Well…” he trailed off, “I don’t know. I just guess that I didn’t want you to think that I’m not good enough to be around.”

“Dude, having you bore me is like having Pinkie trying to make an orgy be dull – it’s just not possible.”

This gave Thorax pause, “She does that?”

“How would I know?” I shrugged, “You can’t really know what she is doing at any time of day, even if you tried.”

After that, the Changeling King went quiet for a while as we count time with the music and the rhythm of our swaying bodies. “Spike, can I ask you something personal?”

“Hm?”

“Be honest with me when I ask this, but… do you regret me being your technical coltfriend?”

This too gave me a moment to pause. “Well… Like I said, I did have fun here at the hive. And to be honest, I really do hope that maybe, just maybe, that this wouldn’t be last this time.”

“You do?”

“Yeah… I mean these past few days were great. And you are great at how you’ve been treating me. Still, at night I have been asking myself a question that I’m not exactly sure of the answer as of yet.”

“And that being?”

I blushed when I meekly told him, “Am I falling in love with you?” His eyes widen a little but didn’t respond. “But the thing is, I’m not exactly sure about it.”

“How come?”

“Well… how long does it take? I’ve grown to become skeptical at the whole love at first sight thing.”

“Didn’t you do so with Rarity at one point?”

“Hey! That was a crush. My point being is what do I feel about you is what I’m trying to figure out.”

“How would think you’ll be when you go back to Ponyville?”

Again, his question made me stop to think, “Well… I would miss this. I think that a few days were too short.”

“And what would you miss about me? Is it that you’re being treated like royalty here?”

I chuckled, “That. And I’d be missing your childlike excitement. Along with your lovable personality… and your sense of humor… and that you’ve been genuine to me.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Well of course I’ve been genuine. Why else wouldn’t I be?”

“Because, my past dates weren’t fully honest with me. That they’ve tried so hard to impress me to the point where I could tell that they were faking it, you however… are different. You didn’t pretend to impress me. Neither did you do so during the time I’ve stayed here. I… I guess that-”

Before I could finish that sentence, two things happened at once. The first was a sudden realization in that I felt my heartbeat pump warm blood. And the second was that the Changeling King gasped, pushing backward in shock as he suddenly covered his mouth.

“W-What?” I asked him, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh Celestia,” he whispered. “It’s happened.”

I hesitated as I felt exposed, “Uh… what do you mean?”

By now, I saw tears of joy swelling up in his eyes. “I felt it. The very thing that I have waited happened.” He was borderline squeeing at this point.

And I felt my cheeks caught fire, “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” However, I already knew that he had seen through my lie. He could already sense its beating heart. But at the same time, I also felt something else that was creeping up. “You know what, Your Highness,” I said turning around. “I think I need to head off to bed. Thanks for the meal and the dance!”

“But Spike-”

“Good night Thorax!” I quickly made my exit as I was practically running back to my room just in time to rush in to lock the doors. In a way, I was cursing my luck as I felt that yearly lust was creeping into me. But this time, my rut was starting to kick in at the most inconvenient time.

For the sake of decency, I won’t go too graphic in the exact nature of when I go into rut. But needless to say, it’s pretty frustrating when it’s just by yourself. When all I could think about is mating with something for days or up to a week, it’s surprising how fast my personality can flip when I’m left alone to take care of my… problem. Now before this, Twilight would make extra sure that I was left by myself with a couple of... certain type of literature, to get me through it.

However, the morning after that dance with Thorax, I just felt unsatisfied no matter how long I tried to… relieve myself. If anything, I didn’t take notice of what time it was until I heard that fateful knock on my door.

“Spike,” on the bed I froze with an icy dread. “Spike, it’s almost eleven in the afternoon and the blizzard is gone.”

“G-Go away!” I called out.

“Spike? What’s going on?”

“I uh… I don’t feel well. I don’t think I can go today.”

“Why? Are you sick?” I heard Thorax asked with great concern. “I’ll get you a doctor right away.”

“It’s okay,” I called out. “I just needed some sleep is all.”

There was a pause from the other side of the door. “But it’s been almost fifteen hours since you went to bed Spike,” he deadpanned. “You know what? I’m coming in.”

“Don’t!” I screamed. “Really dude, I’m fine.”

“No you’re not,” I heard a key being put into the lock. “I want to know what’s going on.”

“No! Wait!” There was only enough time to cover myself up with a pillow when he opened the door.

“Okay, what’s going on Spike?” he questioned. “You suddenly just ran off on me when I specifically felt…” To my horror, he sniffed the air. “W-Wait-a-minute,” he then looked at my burning cheeks, the stains on the bed and the obvious pillow of which was covering one particular body part. To make things worse, I was drowning in embarrassment that he quickly picked up on.

“Dude… I’m so sorry,” I said as I tried to hide my face.

“Uh… were you just-”

I interrupted him with a frustrated sigh, “Just close the door. Since you’ve caught me I might as well tell you what’s really going on.” He did so, and even locked it for good measure. “Okay, I know there are many things about dragons that I’ve told you about… but I’ve left out one thing that was just too… personal to talk about.”

“And that being?”

Sucking up the air, I just told him, “You know how mares go into heat cycles at certain times of the year?” he nodded. “Well… turns out that male dragons have the exact same thing in which is called rut. With me it comes and goes, but at least once a year I have it when it’s most intense. Today and probably the next several is it. I know it was bad for me to run off from you like that but…”

“I see now,” Thorax told me, as I heard his hoofsteps come closer to the bed. “Although, it does pain me to see you like this, is this really that bad?” My scarlet face answered his question. “Oh Spike, if you really need such help… you should have asked.”

At this, my eyes went wide open, “Woah there!” I cried, “I know that you love me, but… really? Right now?”

“You said so yourself, you need this, and I have told you in the past that I’m willing to help if nee-”

“Okay, stop right there!” I held out a claw. “Two things: first of all, I’ve never done this sort of thing before.”

This surprised the Changeling King, “Wait- really? You’ve never-”

“No! I never had a… sexual partner before so even if I did agree to what you’re saying right now, I don’t have a clue how to do it.”

“You do know that I’m not a virgin, right?” he deadpanned. “Besides, I have some experience with both sexes when it comes to this sort of thing. At least… if you want this to be your first, at least you actually wanted it.”

This stunned me, “Hold on, you mean that yours wasn’t?”

“Forced to,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “But point being, I know what I am doing.”

“Which brings to my second thing,” I said. “Even I did agree to this, there’s no way that I won’t be able to hurt you in some way. I mean, from what Ember told me, dragon sex, especially gay ones, can be really rough. I don’t know if I won’t unwillingly be able to crush you, burn you or break something.”

“And did I mention that I had experience outside of Changelings and Ponies?” he deadpanned. “Spike, I promise you that if you’d let me, you’ll be in good hooves. I mean, the way I see this, doing something so intimate is, to me, the ultimate sign of trust.” I remembered him lowering his eyes at me. “And I trust you Spike absolutely on this if you wanted me to. At present, I can see that you have one of two options: either we may do this on another day and just wait for your rut to pass over.” And before I could do anything, his muzzle was suddenly next to my ear. “Or,” he whispered, “I can uphold my royal duty in helping my Master Consort’s time of need.”

But just as quickly, he gave me some space. “Just so you know,” he added. “That either way, this won’t change what I already feel for you, and I hope I can say the same with you for me. This is, after all, your call. But all I need, is an absolute yes or no from you.”

My heartbeat was pounding at my chest like a lustful war drum. Thorax, someone that, at this point, I had known for years, isn’t forcing me to have sex with him, but here he was saying that he was willing to help. Of course, I had so many thoughts going through my head, and the mixture of feelings that were freezing me in place. And yet… Thorax’s eyes were trusting, understanding even as he waited on my answer. I have never seen anyone, not even from my past dates to partake in something so selfless.

“Um… Thorax,” I said meekly, “Would you… help me?”

He smiled warmly, and even blushed too, “Of course. I’ll let you take control where this goes from here.”

“In that case, a couple of things,” I told him as I had a claw on the pillow between my legs. “If it gets too weird, could we stop.” He nodded, “And the other…” I was blushing so much that it was amazing that my head hadn’t exploded in blood. “Could you… ya know… do me… down there.”

This made his eyes widen, “You want me to…? Spike, are you sure?”

“It’s not like I haven’t… well stuck something up there before so…”

He smirked, “Oh I see. Although we might need to do some sanitary preparations first, but don’t you worry Spike.” Thorax then came up to me, muzzle to muzzle only an inch apart. “I promise you that I will not hurt you. If anything, I’ll make sure to turn this from a primal act, into a ballet between us.”

“And… how are you going to do that?”

“Every dance begins with a single step.”

Right there, he and I shared our first kiss between us. Not a peck on the cheek or on the lips, but a deep, soul touching one. One in which that same realized feeling I had from that Waltz made it clear of one thing. For the first time in years, I had fallen in love – and needless to say too that on that day, I also was able to kiss my virginity goodbye.

7: Guy’s Night

A couple of days later I managed to return to Ponyville, this time refreshed. Of course, I did help Twilight with the preparations for Hearth's Warming as to order for presents, plan out the annual part, taste test new recipes and so on. Twilight and Starlight did ask me how things went between me and Thorax after my visit and I told them that things were looking promising. Thankfully neither of them inquired if we did anything that was… intimate, so at least the awkwardness levels were at a minimum.

Even with Hearths Warming that had come and gone, I admit that I was truly missing the Changeling King. On that day when friends and family celebrated, the plays about the holiday were performed, presents and the feasts were shared, it all felt empty to me that year. I was longing to have Thorax come popping in to maybe lighten up my mood a little. Yet, from that festival of light, it all seemed dull to me.

This was why that the very next day, I’ve decided to write to him an invite for him to come on New Year’s Day for Guys Night. I thought it would be fun for the guys to have an extra player and a good enough excuse seeing him again. Within days, he responded through a letter that he’d be more than happy to come.

If anything, New Year’s Day was perfect timing since the rest of the guys were through with their parties the night before. So before sundown, they came by train, hoof and inter-dimensional hoping to come to the Castle of Friendship. Big Mac, Discord, Sunburst, Shining Armor, Fancy and Blueblood had gathered, but I was still waiting on the balcony looking at the sunset.

“Where is he?” I muttered to myself, tapping my claws on the icy railing. Nervously I peered through the falling snow at the gray sky in hopes to get a glimpse of Thorax flying in. “You’d think he should be here by now.” I remember rubbing my claws, breathing fire into them as I stood there, waiting anxiously for any sign. Then unexpectedly, a pair of hooves covered my eyes.

“Guess who,” and I didn’t need to as I flung around to revealingly find Thorax there. He was the first to hug me, “I missed you.”

“There you are,” I replied hugging back. “I was getting worried that you won’t show up.”

“Shame on you for thinking such, I wouldn’t miss an invite from you for anything. So what’s this about a guy’s night?”

“Oh! Right,” I said as I directed him towards inside. “To tell ya the truth, I’m rather glad that you have the time for this. Because Guys Night is pretty much when we get our male friends to come and play the best game ever made, plus with a huge improvement from Discord.”

“Discord?”

“Uh-huh,” I nodded. “Yeah, I know playing any games with him does sound off putting at first, but trust me when he’s in the game, it becomes like a thousand times cooler.”

He tilted his head, “I don’t think I’ve caught on as to what exactly this game is.”

“You know what a role-playing game is, right?”

He stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Okay, before I jump to conclusions, define ‘role-playing.’”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at what he was getting at. “It’s not what you think,” I told him. “And it’s not that kind of party. Trust me, if that were even remotely the case, Pinkie would have delivered some phallic shaped cakes at our door by now. No, by role-playing I mean using our imaginations to have fun, like playing pretend in a way. Only with Discord around, we won’t have to bother with envisioning it. Trust me, you’re gonna love it.”

We then went into the throne room where the others were waiting. Discord was in a massage chair floating in the middle of the room with a black book in his tail. Big Macintosh and Prince Shining Armor were sitting in their sister’s thrones who sat in between Sunburst that was in Rarity’s. Fancy and Blueblood were talking about something as the Prince was on Pinkie’s throne while his husband was sitting in Fluttershy’s.

“Is it sunset already?” Discord asked, peeking over the book he was reading.

“Just about,” I told them. “Guys, you all know King Thorax? He’s here for our game tonight.”

“Thorax huh?” Blueblood got up from his seat to proceed to shake his hoof and giving a nod. “Long time no see, Your Majesty. How is the Changeling Kingdom coming along?”

“It’s been busy, how are things with you and Fancy? I haven’t seen either of you since the wedding.”

“Going splendidly,” Fancy shot over. “Still it’s refreshing to see a new face around here.”

“So what are you two doing here anyway?” the Changeling King asked.

“We’re here for our monthly guy’s night,” Blueblood replied. “Still, it’s refreshing to see a new face in tonight’s activities.”

I put a claw to my chin, “Ya know Thorax, now that I think of it, apart from Shining, Discord and Sunburst, there’s someone else that I don’t think I’ve introduced you to.” After walking him over to AJ’s throne I said, “King Thorax, this is Big Mac, the longest member of this game that I had the pleasure of playing with.”

The red stallion nodded, “Howdy there sir.”

After the two of them shook hooves, my coltfriend greeted him. “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you before, how do you know Spike?”

“Ah been a friend of his here in Ponyville. If anythin’, Ah know him through a friend of mah sister’s.”

Discord got up from his massage chair in which he had it turned to flies to have it buzzed out, he said. “Well I think that’s enough introductions, don’t you think? I think it’s about time for our game.”

“That’s the thing I wanted to ask,” my Changeling said as he looked around the table. “What game is it anyway? I mean, what’s it even called?”

“Ogres & Oubliettes!” the whole room replied.

“The greatest, longest and most influential fantasy adventure game ever conceived,” I explained. “That is, until Discord made it better.”

Thorax blinked, “Um… okay? How do you play it?”

“First thing’s first,” Discord slithered through the air over him. “You need to come up with a character,” he then opened up the back book. “And depending on what you become, it may change in how tonight’s game will end. Oh, and a little hint, don’t go as yourself, it just won’t work.”

“You could be pretty much anything you want,” Shining said. “Like for example, my character is Al Makhlab Alsulb, the last desert gryphon and ex-assassin that is a level twenty-seven warrior that is gifted with stealth and observation.”

“Mine is Count Orlock of the Shadow Hills,” Sunburst informed. “A vampire that at night has great endurance and speed that is a level thirty-one warrior. My strengths are illusion and stamina. Big Mac’s is Sir McBiggen, a level twenty-nine black knight unicorn. Discord is a level eighteen immortal archery elf, known around as Captain Waz. Blueblood is Sir Snowrose, the white pegasus knight at level twenty-five. And Fancy is a level twenty-four Shaolin monk known as Master Tí Shǎndiàn.”

“What about Spike?” Thorax turned to me, “What is your character?”

“In this game, I’m Garbuckle the Magician, a level thirty-seven enchanter. You can be any character you want, but no gods aloud though, because that would be cheating.”

Thorax thought for a good minute. “How about this?” he suddenly burst into green flames. And there was saw him transformed into something of a ghost that hovered above the floor. His orange moose-like antlers were morphed into ivory white thin deer ones, and his fur had turned phantom white. Around his neck were vines and he had a crown of leaves on his head. When he opened his eyes, they were a wintery blue. “Call me Erlkönig, spirit of the forest from the west.”

“A forest spirit, eh?” Discord inquired as he circled around him. “Not bad. If anything, it fits perfectly with the storyline from last week. Where us the heroes were fleeing into the forest after a devastating attempt to continue on our quest. So, King Thorax,” Discord rose above us in the throne room. “Are you ready to enter into the world, of Ogres & Oubliettes?”

And just like that in a flash of light, the crystal throne room had been transformed into a nocturnal forest of origami cards and dice boulders. All of us have been transformed into our respected characters, except for Thorax who stayed the same in his disguise that was sitting in a tree. I looked around to see that we were in the same battered state as we were the last time. Discord’s voice was heard all around.

“Our chapter begins in the Forest of Phantoms, where our heroes have fled for safety from the unexpected ambush of the New Moon Cult. Battered and bruised, they dared to seek shelter in the forbidden forest of the Erlkönig.”

Thorax in spirit form looked up to the sky, “Um… what do I do exactly?”

“Since you’re new, you’ll go first. Just remember, you’re the king of the forest, just play along. You see these battered guys show up to your forbidden kingdom, so what do you do?”

“I guess investigate,” Thorax shrugged. “See what they want.”

“Don’t say it, do it! And stay in character!”

“Okay, fine,” he rolled his eyes as he flew down from the trees. “Uh… H-Halt! Who is it that walks on these sacred grounds?”

With a limp, I walked forward, “Please, we do not mean to trespass spirit of this forest. We are seeking food and shelter.” I winced and hissed in pain, “Not to mention a place to heal. We have been caught off guard by the New Moon Cult and were ambushed. If you give us sanctuary, we’ll be out of these woods by morning.”

The ghostly Changeling raised an eyebrow, at first I couldn’t read his face as he drew closer to me. “I do not know who this New Moon Cult is, but there is something… familiar about you. Have we met before?”

“Uh… I don’t think so…?”

Thorax narrowed his eyes before replying. “I am Erlkönig, spirit of the forest and king of those who live within the borders of my realm. For tonight, I will allow you to rest underneath these branches – but at the same time, I warn all of you, if you lie about who you claim to be, there will be consequences.”

“Your kindness is much appreciated,” said Fancy, who by now had taken up the form of a balled Earth Pony in torn, silken robes. He bowed to the forest spirit and added, “For you have our word for us to honor by.”

From there, as Count Orlock (also known as Sunburst) perched on a tree to act as lookout, the rest of us tended to our wounds. Many potions and bandages were used, and all the while we kept our eyes peeled and ears perked for any sign of our attackers. Since it was a moonlight night, and we didn’t want to attract the wrong attention, we decided not to light a fire much to the spirit’s relief.

Erlkönig asked us how we came into such a predicament. So we explained to him of the key events of what was going on in the game. Of how after the fall of the Squidzard, there was peace in the land until a new dark order had risen up, the New Moon Cult – a secret society set to restore and go further than what the last villain had done. And that is to bring the land not only into eternal night, but to encase it forever in darkness. We explained to the phantom Changeling that we were on a quest to reach the rumored Solar Stone in which may defeat this cult once and for all.

“Ah, and this leads to the ambush?” the Erlkönig questioned.

“It was a humiliating defeat,” Snowrose (also known as Buleblood) nodded. “We’re lucky to escape with our very lives; although, I’m not so certain of how long our luck will last.”

“Oh crap,” our vampire overhead called, out. “They’re coming this way!”

“To arms!” Captain Waz quickly picked up his bow and arrows while the rest of us readied our weapons. From the shadows of the pale moonlight, dark hooded figures galloped through the woods with war cries on their lips. At this point in the game, we were weak and many of us haven’t fully recovered as we drew our weapon of choice and I readied myself with a spell.

They rushed towards us with swords and spears. Although made out of paper, the swung and stabbed at anyone one of us nearby. At first, I was worried that Thorax wasn’t going to come to help us until one of the villains had accidently missed me and swung his ax against a tree. “You dare!” an unholy shriek echoed in the forest as the Erlkönig galloped through the air, roots springing out from behind him like a sea monster from the ground. One of the roots swiftly reached out and choked the one responsible until the paper tore in two. “You demons dare to harm my friends and this forest!” Thorax’s character roared, his eyes turned from a spectral blue to a nightmarish red. “There is one penalty for harming my trees, and that is death!”

All around us, the guys stood back in both awe and terror as the origami trees swung its branches, uprooted its roots to grab hold of our attackers to crush and tore them into pieces. Once it was over, the Erlkönig hovered over to me, with that fire still in his eyes. “I will not let anyone hurt you.” He told me.

I put my staff away, “You are indeed a powerful being,” I said. “In all of our travels and adventures, never have we encountered one who can command the trees before.”

Thorax’s character was able to calm down as his eyes returned to that same blue color. “They are my responsibility. Since these fiends have attacked you, I believe in your story. What’s more, as innocents, I place you under protection as I cannot let those that are noble as you are to be harmed.”

“Ya know,” Sir Mcbiggen commented as he put away his sword. “With someone like ‘em, he’d be incredibly helpful with our quest.”

“I agree,” the dessert gryphon, Al Makhlab (or Prince Shining) approached him. “Tell us good sir, do your powers only exceed to that of this forest?”

The Erlkönig snorted, “I am nature itself. Wherever there is flora, there is my subject waiting for my command.”

“Garbuckle,” Captain Waz turned to me. “I think I speak on behalf of everyone here that this is the warrior that we are looking for. Why, with a magic like his, it may be just enough to turn the tide in our favor.”

Everypony there agreed, but I felt that I needed to further persuade him. “This world is in danger Erlkönig. If the cult is successful, everything, including this forest will wither away into an abyss. Your power is promising in achieving our goal. So will you join our quest?”

The spectral Changeling thought it over for a moment, “Very well. Rest now tonight, for on the morning, I shall join you.”

“That was surprisingly fun!” Thorax told me. We had concluded our game that night, and the guys had begun to either return to their homes or stay overnight at the castle. Thorax and I were snacking in the kitchen at this point with him digging out a tub of ice cream and I a bagful of gems. “It makes me wonder,” he said between spoonfuls of strawberry swirl. “How come you haven’t told me this before?”

I admit that I did feel sheepish at that moment, “Sorry dude, considering of what has happened to you, I thought that you might have been too busy with what happened at the Crystal Empire and the Hive.”

“But I could always set some time aside for this. I mean, all that pretending stuff was really fun when it’s not for hunting or resonances stuff.”

“Yeah, you were a natural,” I nodded in agreement with an emerald in my cheek. “Thanks for coming over, by-the-way.”

“I’d do anything for you Spike.” After setting his spoon aside, he added. “And I meant what I said back there.”

“Huh?”

“That I won’t let anything harm you.”

Now I set the bag on one of the counters. “Awe, c’mon dude, it was just a game.”

“I know. But I also meant it in a real sense. You know how much you mean to me that the last thing I want is for something bad to happen to you.” I reached over to rub the top of his head, to which he smiled at me. “Thanks.”

“Thorax, I get all of that. Trust me, this isn’t the first time that I had fallen in love with someone.”

“Yeah, with Rarity.”

I shook my head. “It’s not just her.”

“Huh?” he raised an eyebrow.

“To be honest, once Prince Blueblood unintentionally helped me put two-and-two together, I had realized that I had crushes on other ponies too. For instance, have I told you that my first guy crush was on Big Mac?”

“I don’t think so?” his eyebrow hadn’t come down. “So what’s the story behind that?”

Rubbing my neck, I told him. “Well, after that fiasco at the Grand Galloping Gala, and realizing that I wasn’t just attracted to females, I slowly realized that I had feelings with my first guy friends in Ponyville. Apart of… physical traits, I saw how similar we were at the time. He was a closeted nerd that is not only well read, but he’d had an interest in fantasy stuff too so it wasn’t hard for me to introduce him to the game as Shining did with me. Well, after some encouragement from Twilight, she helped me to go up to him and tell him how I felt. And before you start getting jealous, after I told him he said that although flattered, he already had his eye on somepony else. I mean, sure it was pretty awkward after a good month or so, but we still remained friends.”

“Oh, I see,” he nodded.

“Still, I can take care of myself. I am a dragon after all, so unless by accident, nopony stupid enough is going to hurt me, even if they tried.” From there, I grabbed hold of the ice cream and put it back in the freezer. “You know,” I said, letting my eyes drop halfway. “Since you’re staying the night here, how about I return that favor I owe you.”

He tilted his head. “Favor? What fa-” I picked him up before he could finish. “Oh… That favor. Spike you don’t have-”

I put a claw to his lips. “No. You helped me when I needed the most. And I cannot thank you enough for doing so. Besides, I want to… well, if you’d let me.”

The Changeling King kissed me, “Fair enough, my chevalier. I suppose I can stay for that kind of game.”

“It’s the least I can do,” I told him as I carried him off to my room.

8: The Summit Incident

I think that by now I should address the big, fat, ugly elephant in the room. Now I know that what I’m going to write about has been discussed, reported, debated, and studied to death. Of course, I’m referring to that fateful day in the spring in Canterlot, of events of the Garden Summit. Now, there is no doubt about it of what happened. If anything, it was rather a shock that it even happened at all. Of course, there were plenty of witnesses of what happened, but this here is to give you, the reader, my side of the story.

At this point in time, Thorax and I were roughly about half-a-year into our relationship, getting together when it was possible. Especially if it was for an excuse that certain events wanted us to be in the same place at the same time – in this case, the Summit. If anything, it was more of an unofficial get together of some of the world’s leaders to basically have the day off at the Royal Gardens. Aside from the stars of the show: the Equestrian Royal Family, I was there with Thorax, his Queen (who I think was beginning to show signs of her pregnancy) and his brother were there.

We arrived around the afternoon, just after lunch when we walked into the Royal Gardens where Celestia welcomed us from the gate. “Hello Spike, it’s so good to see you,” I remember her saying to me as she hugged me with her wing.

“Hey Princess, I’m sorry that we’re late, Pharynx had to make sure that the hive was secured before we left.”

Both Changeling Royals glanced at him, “What? How was I supposed to know that it took longer than I thought?”

“I think a rule to stick by,” Lavender told him. “Is that there is no such thing as ‘It’ll take twenty minutes tops.’”

Celestia giggled, “Nevertheless, I’m rather glad that you’ve came Thorax and…” she trailed off when she spotted the bulge from the Queen. “Why Lavender, are you?”

She smiled and nodded, “Its happening. I’m expecting,” and nuzzled the King for a moment. “I mean it took a few tries but there’s no doubt about it.”

“That’s wonderful to hear. When are you expecting?”

“We think it’s sometime around September,” the Changeling King replied. “You should have seen the hive when they heard the news.”

Pharynx looked around, “Can we get in? I don’t think we should stay out in the open for long.”

“But of course,” Celestia waved her wing towards the gardens. In we went to see that among some of the kings, queens, emperors, princes, princesses, presidents and prime ministers, there were some familiar faces among the crowd.

And among them was the Dragon Lord, “Ember!” I waved over to her. “Hey Ember!”

This managed to get her attention as she took flight and flew over to us. “Spike,” she took my claw and we bumped our chests. “Long time no see, where have you been since the last time I’ve seen ya?”

“Oh, keeping myself busy,” I scratched the back of my neck. “In fact, you might say that something rather important has happened to me recently.”

“Really?” she tilted her head, “And that being?”

“I think that I may or may not have found someone who, in dragon terms, that I would call a Mate.”

Her eyes widened, “Is this true?”

“Six months now, give-or-take, if anything, he’s here right now?”

“Ooh,” with a raised eyebrow she smirked and a light blush, “kinky.”

Lavender busted out laughing, at first Ember was confused until she pointed at the brothers, “You mean one of them?” Thorax raised a hoof. “Oh, now this is getting interesting. I never took you to liking males Thorax.”

“Well, what can I say? Spike has earned being my consort.”

Ember took a quick glance at me, looking me up and down before back to the King, “Can’t say that I blame you.”

Needless to say, after that it fell into the usual small talk with not just Ember, but even the other leaders as well. There was the flowery language with most of them, saying hello and how’s your country doing – that sort of thing. If anything, it was kinda dull for a while.

Then… There was Prince of Yakyakistan. Okay before I go any further, I want to say that despite how the now deceased Prince Rutherford has been portrayed recently, the guy I knew was headstrong. There’s no doubt about it. However, he was also the kind of guy that once you really get to know him; he can show that he is passionate about preserving his culture of the Yaks.

It makes me wish that I had do so before it happened.

“Hey there Prince Rutherford,” I waved over to him. “Sorry that we were late.”

He brushed his overgrown mane out of the way for him to peek out an eye. “Dragon Spike, you have grown since last time Yaks seen you.”

“Yes, I have been undergoing a growth spurt since I was thirteen. But like I said, we’re sorry that we came in late.”

“Spike hadn’t missed much. Pony foods okay, but nothing like Yak vanilla cake, otherwise, summit dull.” He peeked over to the Changelings, “Who are they?”

“You mean that you’ve never met the Changelings?” he shook his head. “Well then, this here is King Thorax, his Queen, Lavender, and his brother Pharynx.”

“Really? These are Changelings?” the Yak Prince brushed aside his mane. “Yaks thought that all of them were black, yet these three are more colorful than ponies.”

I and the other three Changelings cringed, “Didn’t anyone told you that we’re reformed?” Lavender inquired.

“Yaks are from Yakyakistan. It is the last place in whole world to know what goes on.”

So we explained to him of the story of how a runaway Changeling became King after the overthrow of Chrysalis and showing that it was possible to give love rather than take it. After we told him all of this, Rutherford had a question: “That explains why Changelings are here, but why is Dragon Spike here? Yak thought that he was a knight.”

“Technically yes,” Thorax nodded. “However, I invited him here since I consider him one of the most important members in my court.”

“Is that so?” he asked, “What is Spike?”

“The Master Consort.”

“Who? To the Queen?”

“What?” Lavender raised an eyebrow. “No, Spike isn’t my consort, it’s my husband’s.”

There was an uncomfortable pause between us and Rutherford. “Yak doesn’t understand,” he replied. “Is Changeling King a male?” When told that he was, he then said, “Oh! Yak gets it! Spike is Throax’s comrade in his court.”

Without skipping a beat, Pharynx replied, “What are you a moron? He’s my brother’s mate.”

It was as if something within the Yak Prince had snapped as soon as he heard the “M” word. I still remember the frown on his face as he was turning away from us. “Yaks don’t wish to speak with such anymore.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Lavender flew up to him. “What does that supposed to mean?”

“Yaks don’t want to know of coltcuddlers.”

“Excuse me!” all four of us objected. Pharynx practically pushed the Queen aside until he and the Yak were muzzle to muzzle. “Did you want to repeat that again?”

“Us Yaks don’t want to associate those that are pathetically weak.”

“My brother isn’t weak!”

“All coltcuddlers are weak, that is a fact.”

“Why you oversized-” he was stopped by his brother’s hoof that pulled him away.

“I got this,” he said as he stepped right in. “Prince Rutherford, I know that this is the first time that we’ve meet. But it is rather unfair that you instantly judge me over this one little fact.”

The Yak prince snorted, “There is nothing more us Yaks need to know about you.”

I then saw something in him that I never saw him before. With eyes that held back an inferno of rage, he calmly stated, “I am a King of thirty-three years of age, and have been in office for nearly fifteen years. My Queen is currently pregnant with future heirs to the throne and I currently have almost ten thousand citizens. During my time, I have passed seven-hundred-and-forty-eight laws among them. I have helped overthrow Queen Chrysalis with the assistance of friends of Princess Twilight. I am responsible for not only the Hive in the badlands (in which I was able to turn it from a wasteland into a garden), but I run a staff a hundred servants, three hundred ambassadors, a thousand civil employees, and an army of four thousand, all for the sake of keeping each and every Changeling safe. I am easily jealous, naïve, boring, excitable, sensitive, a little too careful about my health and have too big of a heart. I am many things Prince Rutherford. But weak isn’t one of them.”

He grunted as he pushed the King aside, “Leave Yaks be you fago-”

Now he went too far as I pulled on his tail, “You take that back!”

“Get off!” he quickly turned around and bucked me over hard with his horns (nearly goring me, by-the-way) that made my fly a good distance. Then just like that, he charged at me was able to stomp on my chest, knocking the wind right out of me. “Don’t touch Yak again you stallion stuffer!” Before he could breathe another breath, three Changelings instantly transformed into larger, fiercer creatures; the Queen taking on the form of a Hydra, Pharynx a bugbear, and Thorax a dragon with their claws and teeth aimed at the Prince.

Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed as the other leaders (if they didn’t pay any attention before, they certainly were now). If anything, I was panicking as I quickly realized that there was going to be an all-out war. As I was trying to get air back into my lungs, I waved a claw. “Wait!” I cried out as soon as I can get a word out and get back on my feet. “Before any happens, let me have a say.” I went up to the Yak Prince, grabbed him by the back of the neck and told him: “You know, just for today, I’m going to pardon you for nearly causing a war. And before you say anything, there are three reasons why I’m doing this.”

I held up a claw, “First of all, Princess Twilight and Celestia, the ones that practically raised me are here. For while I may be a knight, I’m technically royalty too in which you have just insulted and harmed.” His angry expression morphed to realization. “I’m going to pardon you because not only is it rude to wage war in public, but if I let it happen, Twilight and Celestia will scold me.

Then I held up two claws, “Second, you do know that you’re at a peace summit, right? In which most of the world’s leaders are in one spot. Which means that not only are Twi and Celie are here, but so is Ember, the Dragon Lord in which I’m their friendship ambassador to since, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a dragon.” I said between my teeth. “As in one that can eat diamonds, slash steel with my claws and breathe fire.” I blew a little green flame to illustrate my point, giving him a good size fireball to get it across.

While any sign of arrogance had given way to fear, I held up a third claw: “And third, just because me and Thorax happen to be together in a relationship, does not mean that we are any less noble than you are. The very fact that I’m pardoning you on this should say something, not that I’m weak to start a war, but strong and mature enough to prevent one. I wonder what that says about you? And by-the-way, while I may forgive on your prejudice, but if you so much harm me or Thorax, then I will not be so forgiving.”

“Sir Spike?” I turned my attention to find Prince Blueblood there, “Is there something the matter?”

As I let go of the prince, the other three Changelings turned back to their original form. “Hopefully not,” I told him. “Blueblood, a word with you?” I practically dragged him out of earshot.

“What is going on?” the blond unicorn asked.

“Did you know that Prince Rutherford is homophobic?” I interrogated him.

His face drooped, “Oh Celestia, what happened?”

“Aside of nearly causing a war, he pretty much insulted both me and Thorax. Now that I think of it, how did managed to talk with them to begin with? Does he know that you’re gay?”

“Oh Spike, I am so sorry for all of this,” he facehoofed in frustration. “This is my fault, I’ve completely spaced it to warn both of you that the Yak culture doesn’t recognized homosexuality. And as a side note, I managed to do so because I’ve managed to leave that detail about myself out. Heck, as far as I know, no one in Yakyakistan knows that I have a husband. Spike I’m so sorry for all of this. Here, let me go talk to Rutherford and see what can be salvaged.”

I looked behind me, “Yes, now if you excuse me, I have a King to comfort.”

While I helped Thorax, his brother and his queen to walk away, Pharynx commented, “You know bro, I think I see why you like Spike now.”

The Changeling King raised an eyebrow, “How so?”

“Here you have a guy that has been nearly gored by a pair of arrogant Yak horns before getting stomped over, and what does he do? He gets up, takes him by the neck and show off how dangerous he is by showing off his claws, teeth and fire to put in back in his place. If I were remotely gay, I’ll have him rut me on the spot.”

Thorax, in response, wrapped a hoof around me and said, “Mine.” Then he turned to me, “Are you okay Spike?”

“I’m a lot more durable then you give me credit for,” I then looked behind me to see the Yak Prince speaking with Blueblood. “Not to say that last meeting left a bad taste in my mouth.”

9: Unexpected Rite of Passage

As much as I think that King Thorax needs me, especially after what happened at the Summit incident, there was a time in which I needed him in my time of need – especially during one of my most painful moments in my life. This occurred just before the first days of summer and I have invited him to Ponyville for a couple of days. If anything, it all began something so simple, as it was a hot day so I took him to the local pond for a swim. While there were a few Changeling guards nearby, we had our fun diving, splashing and floating over the water.

I remember that I was floating on my back, taking in the sun when I suddenly had this idea. “Hey Thorax! Is it possible for you to shape-shift while swimming?”

He smirked, “Is a Changeling’s favorite holiday Nightmare Night?” Just like that, there was green fire over the water and in his place was a seapony that dove right under. Flipping over while taking in a deep breath, I too went down to where, in the blurry pond water, I saw his form glide underneath me. While I might have been somewhat blind, I was able to swim and feel around until I touched a fin. From there I was dragged around like I was flying at such speed before going upwards for air.

“Whoa!” I said after we broke through the surface. “Dude, that was so cool!”

“I know, right?” Thorax, still in his seapony form smiled. “This was such a great idea to spend an afternoon. I just wish that we’ve-” I suddenly cut him off as I felt two, very sharp pinches on my back that caused me to hiss. “Spike?”

“Hey, can you see if there’s something on my back?” I asked as I swam to turn myself around, “Something is really stinging all of a sudden.”

There was no sound that came from him.

Curious, I craned my neck around, I saw his expression taken on a look of horror, “What?” I asked, “What’s wrong? Is something on me?”

“Spike,” the King said in alarm. “You’re bleeding!”

“What?” Glancing over my back, I saw two, small red lines on that were over my shoulder blades. At first I was puzzled as I don’t remember hitting anything down there. What made it even more bewildering is that I know that I’m practically immune to leech bites. “What the-”

“You need to get out of the water,” Thorax swam over to me, grabbing my torso with a fin and practically pulled me to shore.

“Dude, don’t worry about it,” I told him as soon as I felt the sand at my feet. “I’m sure it’s just a cu- OW!” I yelped out as soon as those wounds were exposed to the air. Tartarus! It was like getting stabbed in the back. I was reaching my claws behind me at the source of the sudden pain.

“Guys!” Thorax instantly transformed back to his original self as soon as we were on the sand, waving at the guards. “Guys get over here! Spike’s hurt!”

Two of them galloped at our direction and one of them asked what had happened, “I don’t know!” I told them, “We were just swimming when these appeared on my back.” I hissed, “Celestia it really stings!” I removed my claw away to find, to my shock that there was blood on it. “Guys, something’s seriously wrong.”

“Which way is to the nearest hospital?” Thorax questioned.

How do I describe what I was going through on the way to Ponyville’s hospital? As Thorax carried me on his back, mine felt like someone took a couple of hits with an ax blade. It didn’t help with the fact that I was bleeding all the way there, leaving a dripping, crimson trail. I remembered in that I was in so much pain as I felt something was trying to force its way through the muscles, the nerves, fat and scales like parasites that threaten to burst out at any moment. There were also the tears that I too have shed, as if my back was more than just on fire, but as if someone poured trails of acid on it.

“We’re almost there Spike,” I kept hearing Thorax saying to me. “Just hang on.”

All I could do was whipper, hiss and (from time to time) scream as I felt that something was cutting me from the inside. The Changeling King galloped as fast as he could towards Ponyville’s hospital, no doubt scared to death about the condition I was in. He must have been as soon as he burst through the front doors I heard him scream: “GET ME A DOCTOR! NOW!!”

From there, it was a blur, one moment I was hoist up to one of those bed with wheels. The next I was x-rayed, and before I knew it was I rushed into the emergency room where somepony put a mask on me, counting down backwards before I blacked out. However, I do remember when I woke up; I did so with the thought that I had to remind myself to breathe. From there, I was able to open my eyes to seeing the floor with a pair of hooves on each side, and the voice of nurses.

“…. So how much anesthesia they had to give him?”

“About seven times the average dose as far as I’m told. I mean I think it kinda makes sense considering that he is a- hold on.” One of the pair of legs had bend down to which a head peeked under, “Oh hey, he’s up.”

“Water,” I begged, as my throat felt like a desert. A moment later, she returned with a cup that had a straw in it to where I was able to suck up the liquid pretty quickly. “Where am I?”

“Apart of Ponyville hospital,” she replied. “You’re on the second floor in one of its waiting rooms. The doctors had to do surgery on you given what the x-rays showed.”

I blinked, “Surgery? What was wrong with me?”

“Remember that painful feeling you had on your back? Turns out, those were your wings that were trying to force their way out.”

For a good solid ten minutes, I let it sink in. “My what? I have- Ow!”

“Please, don’t move so much,” my nurse warned. “Here, let us get you a mirror so you can see.” After what must have been the longest minute of my life, one of them levitated a mirror up to me and tilted a little to the side. To my shock, there sticking out from my back and suspended on a series of wires and pulleys was a pair of bat-like wings that still corresponded to the color of my scales. Each wingspan was about half as I was tall. “At the moment, they’re very fragile,” the nurse informed me. “So until both of these are completely dry, it’s best advised that you don’t move for at least a week.”

Yet, among my stunned reaction of having wings on my back, another thought came to me, “Where’s King Thorax?”

“I think we can wheel him into his room now, should we?” the other nurse asked, and just like that they began to move my bed. “The one that brought you to the hospital is waiting for you in your assigned room. Not only that, but you have some visitors too.”

“You mean Princess Twilight is here?”

“Uh-huh. Not only is she here, but so is Princess Celestia, the Dragon Lord Ember and even Princess Twilight is here too.”

I just let the conversation drop as I was being wheeled through the hospital, watching the tiles on the floor and hooves go by. My mind was racing with the thought that I had a pair of wings that were buried right beneath my scales this whole time! I was trying to figure out how was it that nopony had noticed this until now?

Soon I was rolled into my room in which, the first voice I heard was Thorax's, “Spike, are you okay?”

“Oh gee, I don’t know,” I deadpanned, my humor defense mechanism kicking in. “I just had a pair of wings that nearly ripped me in pieces, but other than that, I feel doing great.”

“Holy crap Spike,” Ember gave a low whistle. “Those are some really sweet wings you got.”

“Yeah, and getting them hurt.” I replied as I was rolled over to my place in the hospital room before the nurses proceeded to hoist me up through some mechanical pulley system. Now that was able to see anything but the floor, I was now facing my visitors.

“I feel for you Spike,” Ember said as she had her arms folded. “Getting your wings is an agonizing trial, but I must say that you’ve finally undergone a rite of passage for us dragons.”

“Huh?”

“Well among us dragons, getting one’s wings separates from being a hatching and someone that’s grown up. Although I’m rather surprised that it’s taken you this long for them to finally kick in. How’s your back anyway?”

“Numb, like everything else.”

I saw Twilight walk around to look behind me. “Still, I am surprised that the doctors were able to use any surgical tools on you at all. I thought scales were impossible to cut through.”

The Dragon Lord shook her head, “Not if there’s something that exposes what’s underneath the scales. Sure, they’re tough, but once you’re able to get under, the flesh is very soft so it’s no surprise that the doctors were able to do anything.”

“Does that mean that I have stitches?” I asked.

Twilight replied as she came round to face me. “Oh yeah, there are. I have to tell you Spike that if I had known that this was going to happen or had gotten you a check up-”

“But we didn’t know,” I pointed it out. “If anything, you might be thanking Thorax for getting me over here at all.”

“She already did,” the Changeling King replied. “And from there she rounded up everyone that could come on such short notice when they heard that you’re in the hospital.”

“I would have invited Luna,” Celestia told me, “But since this is in the middle of the day, I didn’t want to wake her up after the long night she had. Now I admit that I and no doubt Twilight panicked when we gotten word. If anything, I had to cancel Day Court to fly down here to see if you were alright.”

“Princess, you didn’t have to,” I began but she stopped me.

“Spike, me and Twilight practically raised you; having you hurt in any way is like hearing that our own child has been injured. It’s shocking to hear and naturally we’re concerned for your well-being.”

I looked over to Thorax, “Hey, I’m sorry that I’d scared you back there.”

He shook his head, “No, it’s fine. Yes, you did give me several heart attacks along the way, but what’s important is that you’re going to be fine.”

“Uh yeah…” I gave an apologetic look. “I’ve been told that I won’t be able to leave until my wings are dried and my scars recover in a week, I’m sorry to tell you that I have to cut your visit short.”

“I can extend my stay until you recover. Lavender can hold down the Kingdom until I get back.”

“Trust me,” Ember spoke up. “Since he can’t really move for awhile, he’s gonna need all the visits he could get, just to prevent him from going stir-crazy. I remembered that as soon as these wings popped out of me, I had to lay face down in a cave where I was pretty much board out of my mind. So if I were you Thorax,” she pointed a claw at me. “I’d try keep him occupied as long as possible until he’s able to move without flinching.”

“Lord Ember,” Celestia asked, “Since Spike now has wings, would he need to undergo learning how to fly as well?”

“Well of course, but it doesn’t have to be a dragon, just someone who has wings. In a way, it like…” she put a claw to her chin, “What’s that thing you ponies call? That thing that has two wheels and you rotate one of them through a chain?”

I raise an eyebrow, “You mean a bicycle?”

“Yeah! That’s it!” she snapped a claw. “It’s like that. Once you show him, it’ll be easier for him to grasp it. Still, looking at him now, nothing about his wings are torn, which is good. So I congratulate you Spike for becoming a full-fledged adult. I promise you that once you’re able to walk out of here, come to the Dragon Lands where we’ll throw you a coming of age feast.”

After I thanked her, I asked if I could speak with Thorax alone. To which this was granted, leaving me and the King alone. “Again,” I began, “I’m so sorry for all of this.”

“You know Spike, you really ought to stop apologizing for things that are out of your control. Yes, you did scare me – but right now, I’m relieved that you’ll recover, and that’s all it matters.”

“Not to say that it throws my plans out the window. After all, I was planning on taking you out to see a movie since I haven’t seen one myself for a while.”

He waved a hoof, “Plans, who needs them? All I care about is spending time with my Master Consort, regardless the situation. Plus, I have to agree with Ember, these are magnificent wings you got. If you want, I could teach you how to fly once they’re dry.”

“Really?” I blinked, “You’re willing to do that?”

“Mhmm,” he nodded. “After seeing you in so much pain, I figured that you need someone that’ll help you out with these new appendages. Learn how to take care of them and whatnot. Still, I think it’ll be fun to teach you and, once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to fly from here to the Hive in no time. You don’t have to ask Twilight or Starlight to teleport you or spend your bits on train tickets.”

“I admit, I’m still in shock that I have wings. But when you put it like that, I guess I have a little more freedom of movement now.”

He trotted up to me to nuzzle my face. “You’re going to love flying, just you wait. But for now, you do need to rest, my Knight. After all, you had quite the day and your back needs to heal. Still, I promise that if as long as this hospital lets me, I’ll come visit you as long and as often as I can.”

“Good. Because I don’t feel like going stir-crazy myself,” We both chuckled at this. After that he kissed me before I said, “Could you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“The next time you do visit me, bring the phonograph and some records along. If I’m going to like this for a good week, I might as well do it while listening to something to keep me entertained.”

“Like some Maretin?”

I smirked, “Oh now you’re just reading my mind.”

10: Throax’s Nightmare

Now there are a very few things that I could remember from dreams. To be honest with you, for the sake of this chapter, I had to ask Princess Luna about the details of what exactly happened on that night. However, I do remember enough to know what exactly had happened and what was said. It’s only now that King Thorax has permitted me in sharing with the world of something that was so personal between us.

That first night at the hospital, I remembered how that I couldn’t fall asleep at first so that the nurses gave me some sleeping pills to basically knock myself out. From there, I remember dreaming that I was in the desert by a pyramid as I was descending into a dark corridor with nothing but a torch in my claw. As I went further in, I noticed how the hieroglyphs on the walls and ceiling were becoming more elaborate with its imagines of past pharaohs, its Gods, life on the Nile, and the seemingly endless text in a phantom language.

However, I did have to pause as I noticed one engraving on the wall was completely out of place among the others. It was that of Princess Luna with a joystick in her fore hooves, looking at a screen.

“Huh? What the-” To my shock, the imagine was moving, as if she was playing a video game.

“I suppose you’ve read one too many Daring Do novels,” Luna asked me as she continued on with her game. “It’s not too often that I go into one’s dream where it’s Coltgyptian theme.”

“Princess Luna?” I asked, “What the hay are you doing here?”

“Excuse me one moment,” On the wall, she put the joystick down and lit up her horn. In a flash of light, she was standing next to me. “Much better, being in a two dimensional form was rather jarring. Anyway, I’m in need of your assistance tonight Sir Spike.”

I inquired what was going on, “Are we being attacked again? A new super villain just popped up?”

She shook her head, “Not quite. It has more to do with the dream realm that you are required. In particular, King Thorax is having a distressful nightmare that I believe you would help.”

“He’s having a nightmare?” I blinked, “Over what? Is it monsters because if so, I thought that was your specialty?”

“I don’t think it’s that kind of nightmare,” she said as she light up her horn to have a door appear in the walls. “If anything, I sense it might be similar to what both my nephew and his husband had experienced in the past.” After opening the door to a field of stars, she added: “I think he is in desperate need of comfort.”

Curious, I let the torch behind and followed the Dream Princess into a place that I have never seen before. All around it was like walking on an evening sky, only there was so much color around and the stars were solid to walk around. Not only that, but on this starry path on both sides like an open hallway were doors of every size, shape, color and style that with a stomp of her hoof, Luna moved the doors in both directions until she made everything stop as we now stood at a particular door.

I remembered that it was more of a door-frame with dark green curtain that had holes towards the bottom of the floor. Above the door, I noticed how that it and all the others in this open hallway had a star right over it that shown a different color. The one that we stood in front of was neon red.

“This is the gateway towards King Thorax’s nightmare,” Luna informed me. “Before we proceed, I must inform you that in you or Thorax are in sort of danger, rest assure that I shall be keeping an eye on potential dangers. But since you are about to walk into what is his worst nightmare, you need to be extremely careful as he is exposing not just his greatest fears, but his insecurities, worries, doubts and other truths. So do not be so swift to judge him, but do remember that you are here to comfort him in his time of need.”

“Understood Princess,” I nodded as I reached out and pulled away the curtain in which I and Luna entered.

The first thing we’ve noticed was the rain. A steady stream that came pouring down from grim clouds overhead, and there was no wind at all in which this was not an angry storm. Luna used her magic to imagine and produce an umbrella for us to stand under as we examined our surroundings. We were in a forest of some kind where the trees had black bark and dark green leaves that drooped over the amount of rain that was being poured down on.

What struck me was how quiet it all was. Apart from the constant rain, there was nothing to suggest fear of any kind. There was no ominous lightning or howling of wolves, the growl of monsters, nor the screams for help. I turned to Luna, puzzled. “I think we ought to start looking for the king.”

As we did just that, I began to notice that with each passing tree that we walked past, I saw how many of them were carved deeply into them. These weren’t the kind that lovers that would carved their initials in, nor any graffiti that was left behind. Rather, as we took a closer look, they spell out a name, dates, places along with short messages on them. We quickly realized that what we had walked into wasn’t just a forest – this was a cemetery.

Eventually, we spotted a Changeling walking between the trees so we’ve decided to follow him. As we got closer, we saw that it was Thorax’s brother who stopped by a particular tree and seemed to be speaking to someone behind it.

“Thorax, you can’t keep doing this,” he said. “It’s already been three months now. You should let this go.”

No response.

“You do know that there was nothing that could be done. We did everything we could.”

Silence.

Pharynx sighed, “Look, I miss him too. We all do. Lavender, the kids, the Equestrian Princesses, the Dragon Lord, everyone misses him. But you shouldn’t be doing this alo-”

“Why are you still here?” a voice, undeniably Thorax questioned him bitterly. “I… I don’t want to deal with this right now…”

“You know I’m here to talk-”

“Leave!”

His brother shook his head, “As you wish, Your Majesty.” He turned to walk away.

It didn’t take Sherlock Hooves to put it together what was going on. I learned that Thorax was more than just scared of losing me, more than just having me harmed, but that I would die. After taking the umbrella into my own claws, I told Luna to let me take care of this. She in return said that she’ll be watching me before disappearing behind the trees.

Now I turned my attention to where Thorax was as I silently walked up to the tree. As I got closer, I heard him sobbing, whispering the word “No,” over and over. Going around the tree, I saw what state he was in. There with his head bowed low and tears flowing with the rain, the Changeling King had his usual colorful exoskeleton return to black as the day I met him. I don’t think that I had ever seen him behave like this as he was practically hiccuped his grief. As I went behind him I saw, to my expectation, what was carved on the tree: “Sir Spike,” it read, “Born, May 17, 990. Canterlot. Here lie the hero of Equestria, the Crystal Empire and the Changeling Kingdom. Beloved Master Consort of King Thorax. Martyr of the Hive.”

I didn’t bother reading about the time and place of death, as much as it was unnerving of seeing my tombstone. So I quietly walked up from behind, umbrella in my claw as I shield him from the rain. “You know,” I said, “they say that you might catch a cold if you stay out in the rain for too long.”

He twisted his neck upward, blinded by tears he asked, “W-Who’s there?”

“Here,” I knelt down and taking his face into my free claw, I help brush the tears away for him to see. “So what are you crying about?”

The king’s jaw dropped, “S-Spike! Are you-how did you- why are you…” when his own words failed him, he wrapped me in his forehooves and cried.

“Hey, hey,” I cautiously began. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“I-I saw you d-die,” Thorax croaked. “I held you when… Oh Spike, I’m so sorry!” I remembered that I hugged him back. “I really tired everything. W-We gave you so much love, a-a-and I tried to get you to a-a doctor so you could live but… I couldn’t save you…”

“Shh, it’s going to be okay.” I whispered to him.

“No it’s not. I failed you, Spike. As a friend. As a lover. As a King… I watched your life slip away. There’s nothing I could do, but I really tried everything…”

“I’m certain you did,” I patted the back of his head. “This actually hurts me to see you beating yourself up.” After glancing at my carved name on the tree, I asked, “So is this what you’re most afraid of?”

“It already came true,” he whispered. “Please forgive me.”

“I already do, and you have nothing to feel sorry over.”

“But-”

I pulled him away so I could put a claw to his lips. “Ah! Hear me out. Look Thorax, you didn’t fail me at all. Never once were you ever at fault… if anything, if there’s anyone to blame for all the trouble we have gotten ourselves into, it’s me.”

Thorax’s eyes wide, “Spike-”

“Let me finish. I know it for a fact that at least ninety percent of all the crap we got ourselves into, I had caused it somehow. Like the time when we first met and I was trying to feed you or when I was afraid that you and Ember won’t get along – that was my fault. As much as you try to protect me, you must realize that I am taking on more responsibility, and that includes the choices I’ve made. Don’t think that you have to be responsible for me, that’s my job.”

Here the King sighed, “So do you regret becoming my consort?”

“Do you remember when we’ve first met in that icy cave near the Crystal Empire?” he nodded. “On that day, I chose to look past of what you are and try to see who you are. I decided for you to become my friend, and I have never regretted it. And I chose to be your consort, and do you know why? It’s because for the first time in years, I felt that you were the kind that I may live the rest of my life with. Sure, we might not be officially married, but you know what? I don’t care either way just so long as you are there in my life. If anything, agreeing to be your Master was the best decision I had ever made.”

After a sniff, he asked, “But we may lose each other, would we? Here you are dead over there, so would it make it any different if you didn’t want to be with me anymore?”

“Thorax,” I said sternly, “Look at me.” He did and I kissed him. “I can’t see what lies ahead. I don’t know how long officially this relationship we have will last. But the fact that to do anything like we have is amazing by any standard. Even if it lasts for a couple of weeks or all of eternity, I want to spend every moment of it because I can be easily happy with you. And even if when death comes, I do wish that I leave such a legacy for you to be passed on. I don’t want you to be miserable forever, since you showed me the meaning (and several definitions) of love. That’s what I’ll take away, and I hope you’ll do so too.”

“But what would I do without you?”

I smiled, “You’re cleverer then you think, My King. Never underestimate yourself Thorax, you are a wonderful Changeling that anybody would be lucky to have the privilege to get to know. Now dry those tears, you have a life to live, with or without me.”

What happened next was the critical piece that only Luna remembered as, according to her, Thorax and I were starting to wake up. Luna told me that she recalled how the forest seemed to quiver as if there was an earthquake. Then suddenly I was being pulled away as if somepony put a lasso around my torso and pulled really hard, sending my flying through the woods, out of the door and back to my dream to which I woke up.

Awake at the hospital, not too long after I had woken up and had breakfast, the nurse wheeled in a bouquet of gems in which every flower had a different gem that was carefully crafted. I remember the card in which it was tied to the vase that simply read:

Thank you for giving me peace of mind, my Knight. It was needed.

– Thorax.

11: Coming of Age Feast

Every day for a week, Thorax would come to the hospital to stay with me as long as possible. Since I couldn’t move all that much on my own, he was pretty much my only source of entertainment, gossip and news of what was going on outside of the hospital walls. Honestly, I just couldn’t wait to get out of that bed and be able to test out my wings, let alone move. Up until my liberation, I remember nothing more about that week besides his visits and painkillers being swallowed or injected into my back.

Once the wings were dry enough so that they were more durable and my back wasn’t sore, they released me from the hospital. I admit that my muscles were stiff just by walking around, and that I quickly began to emphasize Twilight when she first got her wings. It was rather weird at first to have new set of limbs be moving on their own at times. Especially when I fully understood what having a… wing boner was really like.

Anyway, true to his word, Thorax had begun to show me the ins and outs of flying. Though his (and admittingly Twilight’s) help, I was shown the basics of gliding, synchronizing my wings, and learning how to fly at long distances without getting too tired. Soon enough, I was able to get a grasp of what I was doing.

We sent a letter to Ember, telling her that I had fully recovered and had a pretty good idea how to fly so she should start preparations for that feast she promised. Thorax and I decided to fly down to the Dragon Lands with his guards in toe. To this day, it amazes me how fast these wings could carry me over vast distances in such a short amount of time. For in the space of a journey in which on my feet would have taken me several days, now I’m able to go from Ponyville to the Dragon Lands in the space of a single day.

“You know, I don’t mean to sound rude or anything,” Thorax told me as he was able to get a good look at the land. “But is it me or does this place seem rather… dead to you?”

He wasn’t referring to how deserted it all was, quite the opposite because there were indeed dragons that were going about. Rather, as the sun was setting, he was pointing out the lack of plant life. So I replied to him, “Yeah I know it’s not as colorful as the Hive, but you do have to remember that we breathe and bathe in fire so anything that isn’t made out of stone is bound to be turned into ash.”

“And where are we going to meet Ember again?”

“Oh! That reminds me, you guys better cover your ears for this part.” Once I’ve made sure that all of them stopped their ears with their hooves did I let out a roaring fireball into the sky. Thus getting the dragon’s below their attention that we have arrived.

In dragon culture, getting one’s wings is considered an important, yet painful milestone in one’s life. Because of agonizing process in which said dragon gets his wing, it is no surprise that there are some who don’t live through it or have died of infection within a week of having two appendages spontaneously rip your back. It is for this reason that if one did survive the ordeal the week after the wings spirited out that a feast is held in which the other drakes recognize them as strong, enduring adults.

So it goes without saying that out of all the meals that I ever had, this particular coming of age feast has always stood out in my memory. For one, it takes place in a hollowed out volcano, in a chamber that was huge enough to have a practical swimming pool of lava nearby. There were slabs that served as tables to uphold a series of goodies that some of which I have never seen before. Since there were no chairs, everyone ate standing up, picking at the food or downing the bowls of their drinks.

And the food itself? To the eyes of a pony, I can imagine that it would be the equivalent of eating a treasury. Because in that chamber was a cornucopia of crushed crystals, sugar coated diamonds, heated turquoise, hills of sweet rubes with sour sapphires, opal surprise, lava fried citrine, smoky quartz omelets, and pearl soup.

But the crown jewel of this feast was the beverage that was being served. It may come to a surprise for most ponies, but the Dragons have invented their own kind of alcoholic drink in which they only make it for special occasions. The exact details of the recipe are a closely guarded secret to those that brew it – yet for those like myself, this coveted drink is simply known as Liquid Fire. I recall them having tubs of this stuff that was glowing. I swear to Celestia that it was actually glowing in a golden color that they were drinking ladles from. Of course, I looked into these tubs to see that it really did look like melted gold and yet, it hot in the slightest.

“How’s the food?” I turned towards Ember’s voice; she was up against a table that she was chewing on an apple size chunk of crystal.

“I never knew that there were so many ways to cook gems before.”

“Well that’s what you get for living off of pony food,” she commented. “It tends to limit one's possibilities of making gems even more devious. Hey, have you tried that?” she pointed to one of the tubs of booze.

“What is that stuff made out of anyway? I’ve never seen drinks glow like that before.”

She shrugged, “Even I don’t fully know. What little I do know is that the stuff that they used to ferment with is from a type of fruit that is a secret to only those that make this. And it’s always different with every batch as I’m told.”

“Different how?”

“Well, mostly in the taste of it. Depending in what they put in it, the flavor of each batch is almost never the same twice.” She then looked around, “Hey, where’s Thorax?”

After a quick glance around, I spotted him being surrounded in a tight ring of his guards. His head was peeking out as he was exchanging jokes to a few dragons. “He’s over there, getting to know the rest of you guys.”

“I noticed that he or any of his guards had touched any of the food.”

“To be fair,” I shrugged as I picked up a clawful of quartz to nibble on. “Unless you’re Pinkie Pie’s family, eating rocks isn’t exactly the ideal meal. As long as there’s some trace of love around, Changelings don’t go hungry. If anything, they see eating as a… (what would you call it?) a pastime. I mean sure, they can eat pony food and drinks, but more of mere entertainment than a necessity. Does that make sense?”

She then eyed the tub of booze, “I think so. But what about this? I think it’s safe enough for even ponies to drink from without getting a stomach ache. Do you think they’ll be able to drink from it?”

“That’s…” I put a free claw to my chin. “You know, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him drink alcohol. Now that you’ve mentioned it… I don’t think I’ve ever seen him drink anything at all.” This was true, in all of the times that I’ve dined with him, never once have I ever saw him drink any liquid besides the broth of soups. Even during those times when I would cook for him and set up the table, I’ve never seen him touch his cup. Nor have I ever seen any of the Changelings drink anything whatsoever. “You know what; I should probably ask him about that.”

“So how’s his Queen?” Ember asked, “Is she still pregnant?”

I nodded, “We’re expecting her delivery to be around September, although it’s still unclear as to how many exactly.”

“Can I ask you a personal question Spike?” She rubbed the back of her neck.

“If you’re going to ask if you wanted to watch me and Thorax going at it then the answer is no. Lavender is a different story, but that’s beside the point.”

Her cheeks turned pink, her jaw hung there for a moment before she shook her head to clear her thoughts. “I’m not gonna ask,” she muttered. “No, that’s not it. Rather, what future plans do you have anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like… Well let me answer that question with another question: So now that you and King Thorax are in a relationship, what’s next?”

This was actually a good question. At the time I was so focused on the present that I didn’t even considered this. At the time, Thorax and I have tried to see each other as much as we could. In the couple of times since I went to the hive, I wanted to spend more time over there. Plus, considering that his children were on the way, it did make me wonder of how much time I’d be able to see them. So of course, the big question is do I want to move in with him?

I told Ember my thoughts of the possibility of moving out, “Well why don’t you?” she asked. “As in, what’s stopping you from doing it? Last I’ve checked, you’re an officially an adult, both in ponies and our eyes. You’re cartable of taking care of yourself. You get an allowance from the Equestrian Princesses and to top it all off, you have a mate that’s willing to do pretty much anything you want if you just ask him. Besides, you want to be near him right?”

“Well yeah, I see where you’re going with this…”

“But?”

I sighed, “What about Twilight?”

She rolled her eyes, “Spike, if I were her, I wouldn’t have you be my assistant for all of your days. I have seen you grown up into a capable adult, and as such, you ought to make your own decisions. Do remember that Princess Twilight has her student and friends to help her out. I’d say that if you feel at home with your mate, go for it. There’s no one stopping you.”

“Hey guys,” I snapped my attention to find Thorax walking up to us. “What were you talking about?”

“Just grown up stuff,” Ember shrugged. “Now since you’re here, mind answering something for us?” He responded that he would. “Do you ever drink anything, like at all?”

“Well, we technically can, but we don’t see it as a necessity like you guys.”

“Like anything alcoholic?”

He and his Changeling guards looked at one another, “Uh… can we?”

“I don’t really know,” one of his guards replied. “Far as I know, I don’t think anyling has ever a drop, have any of you guys?” they shook their heads.

Ember reached for one of the ladles from the tub. “I guess you guys should try it at least.”

“But isn’t it poisonous?” another of the guards inquired. “How would it affect us anyway?”

There was a grim pause as they glanced at one another until one walked forward. “I’ll do it.” He took the ladle in his aura before turning to the King, “I’m willing to sacrifice my life for your safety, Your Majesty.” And with that, he immediately brought the mysterious liquor to his lips before he suddenly coughed.

“Excelsis!” Thorax called out in alarm, “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” he said between coughs. “It just it has a real kick in the mouth is all. Wow that’s spicy!” One coughing fit later, he recovered, and his fellow guards leaned their necks forward.

“How are you feeling?” one of them asked as the one called Excelsis examined himself.

“Besides of the unexpected flavor,” he replied. “I don’t feel any different.”

“So it’s safe then?” After he nodded and fell back into formation, Thorax took one of the ladles into his own magic and gave it a sip.

“Huh, paprika,” another sip, “curry, gold leaf, dragon fruit maybe…?” another sip, “And maybe a hint of honey... It’s like drinking a spicy but sweet ice cream. Still you weren’t kidding,” he turned to the one who sampled it. “It really has a kick, probably would clear up anyone’s sinuses instantly.”

It was then that I got an idea, “Hey Thorax, how about we do something interesting?” I took up one of the ladles. “Have you ever played a drinking game before?”

“Well not really.”

“How about this,” Ember asked before I tasting the Liquid Fire that, while surprising at first for how spicy it was, there was also sweetness to it too. “Why not you two play an interesting version of ‘Never have I?’ The rules are simple, we’ll have us dragons ask you two a question of something that you have done in the past. If you have done whatever it is, you drink a full ladle.”

Needless to say, we both agreed to participate in it.

The following account you are about to read comes from Thorax who recalls what happened at that night. For the remainder of this chapter, the following is a transcript of what had happened from his point of view. Due to the amount of alcohol I had that night, he’s the only one to recall the exact details of what happened before I passed out.

That night when the Dragons threw Spike that coming of age party, we were challenged to a drinking game. Ember gathered about a dozen or so of them to ask us questions of things we have never done. The rules, as far as I understood it was straight forward, if you have done whatever they’ve said, you had to down their drink they’ve mixed up.

Of course, at the time, no one knew about how alcohol would affect a Changeling and my guards that were with me were concerned at first. For the most part, they were keeping an eye on the one who had taken a taste of it first and on me. Yet, being a game with Spike in it, I wasn’t the one to refuse.

“Alright boys,” Ember said with the dragons behind her. “Whoever doesn’t pass out is the winner.” Just hearing her say that suddenly made me regret playing this game. But we stood at the tub of Liquid Fire, taking hold of our ladles. “So who wants to go first?”

One of them, a red and yellow scaled dragon raised his arm. “How about this, just to start off the game.” he said with a wicked grin. “I have never… lost my virginity to a guy.”

Just as I quickly realized how sadistic this game was going to get did me and Spike drank our fill at the same time. There were chuckles from all around while Ember was glaring at the drake that spoke.

Another one said, “Oh yeah, never have I had a binding kink.”

Embarrassingly, I took a shot. Spike raised an eyebrow, “Wait, really?”

I nodded, “Well… yeah, I don’t do it all the time… only for special occasions…”

“Oh!” another dragon spoke up, “Never have I worn drag.”

After glancing at one another, we both gulped down another ladle full of the spicy liquid. “Wait a minute,” I said towards my consort. “You? Since when?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Changeling, remember?” I deadpanned. “I can change into more than one gender when I have to.”

“Oh… Well I didn’t do it intentionally, Rarity need a model so…”

“Huh, that makes sense.”

“How about,” another voice called out. “Never have I paid someone to get laid.”

With a frustrated sigh, I took a drink, much to Spike’s surprise. “What, you-”

“You can blame Chrysalis for that, besides I had to get love somewhere at the time. But I swear that it was only once.”

“Oh! I got one!” raised a dragon claw, “Never have I gotten laid with more than one person.”

With an embarrassed, blushing glance at one another and the recent memory of what happened about a month prior, we quietly took a shot.

This went on for some time, sometimes I would take a drink, sometimes Spike would, or we both would while at other times not at all. Yet, I recall that with every passing drink, my consort was slowly acting funny. Something that I’ve only rarely seen: he couldn’t stand up straight by himself without leaning up against something; his words became muddied and slurred; and he made even less sense the more he drank.

At one point of the game, he asked me, “V-vhy you… tipsy noooh?”

I remember looking at my reflection in the tub that we’ve been drinking out of and shrugged. “I don’t know. Is something supposed to happen?” In truth, I didn’t feel or acted any different than how I started the game. As if whatever was in it didn’t have any effect on me whatsoever, like I was completely immune to the drink.

“Never have I done it in a public place,” another dragon called out, and with a grunt I took a shot.

“I gotta say,” I heard one of them comment, “For a King, he surely gets around doesn’t he?”

“Oh yeah?” a voice said. “Never have I wrote porn and published it.”

Spike took a swig in which as soon as he reached his lips tumbled backwards but was still able to stand up.

“Uh… are you okay?” I asked him. “You don’t look too good.”

“Kousse Ah’mss-uh… G-Good,” he replied, nearly inaudible. “See… I cantstand…” And like a machine that had suddenly lost all its power, he fell over onto the floor.

“Spike!” I went over to him. “Spike? Can you hear me?” I felt for his vital signs to find that, thankfully, he was still alive but unconscious. Nothing I did seemed to have woken him.

“I believe that we have a winner,” Ember said as she went up to us. “I’m surprise that you drank all of that and you’re still fine. How high is your tolerance anyway?”

“Um…” Excelsis, one of the guards that were with us at the time finally spoke up. “Your Majesty, since it’s been over an hour since I took that drink, I can only conclude that while it’s not poisonous, I don’t think that alcohol has any control over us Changelings whatsoever.”

“Oh…” the Dragon Lord grimaced. “I wished I had known that before, otherwise I wouldn’t have suggested the game in the first place since it just put Spike at a huge disadvantage.”

“Will he be okay?” I asked her.

“Give him overnight, considering all that he drank, he’s gonna wake up with a head splitting hangover. So he’s gonna feel suicidal by the time he wakes up so you’d better be there for him when he does wake up.”

I nodded as we lifted Spike onto my back, and carried his unconscious body to the cave that we were given to sleep at. After I lay him down flat on the even rock, we tried to make sure that he was as comfortable as possible for him. That night while my guards took turns on lookout over the entrance of the cave, I stood by him, waiting for him to wake up.

12: Hangover