A Changeling's Love

Three hours later after Spike finished waking up and cleaning himself up, Thorax was speaking to Starlight as the latter continued to guide the former. While he was happy that he was receiving help from her, Thorax was feeling butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. He has no idea what will come next, but the only thing he can hope for is that he can strengthen his bond with Spike enough to tell him how he feels.

"Are you feeling okay?" Starlight asked.

"Yeah. Just feel a little funny right now." Thorax responded.

"It's just your nervous side talking. You're gonna do great."

"Hmm. Well, even if there's a chance that I won't be able to tell him, I'm glad to at least be near him."

"Great. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try. And if you don't get it, we can turn to Ember to help you with your assertiveness. It's not too late. Just be calm, be yourself, and you'll be fine."

"Yeah..."

After hearing Spike yawn as he got out of his room, Thorax's mood brightened up. Hearing his footsteps, Starlight patted Thorax's shoulders twice and said,

"Go get 'em, tiger!"

On that note, Starlight left the dinner room. When Spike entered the room, Thorax asked,

"So where do you wanna eat?"

"I dunno. Anywhere, I suppose. Unless you wanna cook something here." Spike said, scratching his scales.

"I don't mind! Just what can we cook?" Thorax asked with nervous laughter.

"Let's have a look at the book."

Heading into the kitchen, they looked around for the recipe book for about ten minutes. As they were looking, Spike asked,

"So how's Pharynx?"

"He's fine. He's now in charge of keeping the peace in the Changeling Kingdom, so he's basically my bodyguard now." Thorax said as he looked through the cabinets.

"He must be pretty tough if you made him your right-hand creature."

"He is. He's possibly even the toughest of all the Changelings I've ever known."

"I'd like to meet him one of these days. He seems cool."

"Yeah. He even fought the malworff once."

Spike was a little unsure upon hearing that, but he decided to take Thorax's word for it. After spending enough time talking to each other, they finally found the cookbook.

"So it was hidden in the pantry. Who knew?" Spike wondered.

"Now what?" Thorax asked.

"We get to cooking. Just have to choose whatever recipe feels tastiest, I suppose."

After looking through the entire book, Spike stumbled upon a yummy recipe.

"Hmm. That looks good." The dragon eagerly said.

"That? You really think it looks good enough?" the changeling asked in an unsure manner.

"We can do it. We just need the proper ingredients for it."

"Hmm. How about you find the proper tools for this while I find the ingredients?" Thorax suggested.

"Works for me. I'm starving." Spike said enthusiastically.

"Great. I'll be right back." Thorax said as he exited the castle.

After making his way to the grocery store, Thorax started shopping for the ingredients. He had no idea why, but he wasn't feeling nervous when he was around Spike. It could have been about either his little tall tale about Pharynx or the fact that he listened to Starlight's guidance, but he was nowhere near sweating bullets. He may not have confessed to Spike yet, but he feels pretty close to doing so thanks to his training with Starlight. When he was finished shopping, he went back to the castle where Spike found the tools required to cook.

"Looks like we got the entire recipe." Spike said.

"It's no big deal. Just had to find the proper essentials. I could say the same thing about the tools." Thorax said, looking at the counter.

"Yeah. Apparently so."

"So should we get to work?"

"Let's."

Upon hearing that, they both started getting to work on making their recipe. It took them many hours to cook as their looked through the entire book. Most of their mistakes ranged from misreading to even outright overlooking the minor details. But luckily, they were finished and ready to eat.

"Wow. I never knew you liked making spaghetti." Thorax said, surprisingly.

"I only do it when Twilight and her friends aren't around. They always hog the entire meal." Spike said.

"Oh. Anyway, wanna eat?"

"Thought you would never ask." Spike said as he grabbed himself a bowl.

Upon serving themselves, they sat down at the table and started eating. They chatted hours and hours without end. Quite content with the atmosphere surrounding them, they continued to stuff themselves until the entire pot ran out.

"Wow. I had no idea Twilight was so uptight!" Thorax exclaimed as he laughed mid-conversation.

"Yeah! She is so varied that she even sets up everything in an exact order with her quills! Plus, she is a major kiss-up to the Royal Sisters!" Spike shouted as he laughed.

"Same thing goes for most of her friends!"

After calming down from eating so much, the two started to make dessert in a more mellow mood. A lot was going through their minds as they cooked. Just then, Thorax said,

"Hey..."

"Yeah?" Spike replied.

"Have you ever fallen in love?" Thorax asked in a more awkward manner.

"Huh?" Spike asked in a more bewildered manner.

"W-Well, I mean-"

Spike chuckled as he looked at Thorax in a confused manner.

"What's so funny?" Thorax asked.

"Don't worry. I'm just joking. What exactly do you mean, Thorax?" Spike responded.

Feeling even more nervous but not wanting to back out, Thorax asked,

"If you were to ever fall in love with anybody that was your first friend, what would you do?"

Spike was bewildered by such a question. He had no idea what to say nor what to answer with. Especially having heard that coming from Thorax. The former said,

"I guess it would seem natural to fall in love at first sight. Just like with Rarity. I mean in this day and age, anybody can fall in love with other species or genders. It's just a matter of when and... where..."

Thorax was right next to Spike upon hearing him speak. They both looked at each other with their eyes looking deep into each other. Each of them couldn't explain why, but their heads started inching closer towards one another. The tension between them was so overwhelming that it may as well have been an avalanche of emotion. But before anything could happen, the timer went off.

"I guess the cake's finished..." Spike said as he blushed.

"It certainly appears so..." Thorax responded as he went towards the oven.

After pulling out the freshly finished cake, they both cut themselves a slice to eat. They both didn't dare speak a word as they ate their slices. When they were finished, they both went to the bathrooms brush and floss. They both couldn't stop thinking about what nearly happened back at the kitchen. Especially Thorax whom nearly came close to kissing Spike. But he knew he had to build up to it more if he wanted to be with Spike. Later when they were finished, Spike and Thorax went into their rooms. But Thorax left his room to go over to Spike's. Upon making his way to his friend's front door, he was getting ready to knock, but for some reason, he couldn't. He didn't know what to do now, but all he could do now was be patient. Heading back to his room, he went back to reading before going to bed. He was unsuccessful with confessing to Spike, but he nearly came close to kissing him, which was more than an improvement for Thorax. He fell fast asleep, satisfied and eager for another tomorrow.