To the stars and beyond

by punkrose

~Chapter 3~Hot Chocolate

Fluttershy left her hoof in suspens as the door opened itself for her.She was plung into the warm light of her cottage,greeted by a purple scaled companion and the scent of burnt chocolate;worry washing over her face as she glanced down at the drake:

"Spike,why aren't you in bed?"

The latter stepped aside to let her enter,depose her saddlebag on a nearby sofa,and sternly pierce her motherly gaze trough him:

"Huh,hello?"he gave her a flat look,"How about this gigantic meteorite in the sky.Oh!And the earth-quake,it woke me up...",the pegasus shivered at the memory,having seen it from that close sure left a mark.But she didn't want to worry Spike furthermore:

"Then I guess I couldn't bring myself to go back to sleep."

"Why so?"Fluttershy abondoned her investigation on the origin of the smell,hoping dearly it was just from the neighbors...as if they weren't living in the middle of a glade.

"Ooooh,you know.Nothing,just some odd dream,"Spike delayed as he dismissively threw the fluffy apron he was wearing.Where did that come from?

"Oh no,"Fluttershy rose a hoof to her lip,concerned,"are you having nightmares?"she closed the distance between them,wrapping a protective wing around him.

"No,not at all."He extracted himself from the tight embrace.Then the ceiling met his amused eyeroll,an air of nonchalnce,before correcting himself:

"Not exactly a nightmare per say."

To wich joined the pegasus into imitating his expression:

"Then,what about it?"

Much like the apron,a pair of oven gloves seemed to have manifested on the centre table.Catching Spike's number one priority as he began his recital:

"Well,in the dream,"he slipped one claw in the glove,"and believe me when I say I had no idea what I was doing here,I found myself in a library..."

"Scary..."Fluttershy murmured with feined fear.Spike caught on the sarcasm.A smile didn't leave his lips as he replied of his owns:

"I know!Not only that,I was supposed to be a princess's number one assistant,"he ponctuated by proudly raising both his gloved claws in the air,expression lighten up.The vision toroughly warmed the pegasus's heart:

"We were just busy filling in diplomacy papers,scrolls and stuff...,"he waved with the glove the size of his head,"but she was in a sort of franzy.Not stopping to mention 'needing to find the elements'..."he mentionned quotation marks with his gloved claws,going for a peculiar image.Moreso,a wave of steam drowned their surroundings as he opened te kitchen oven,delivering a steaming tray from it:

"...I was helping her the best way that I could.You know,making endless lists and getting her the books she needed as she paced around the room."

Fluttershy encouraged the following of his narration with a light hum.At the side,Spike took his needed time to gently depose the tray on the table.

"After what seemed quite a while,I stopped in wathever I was doing and asked her if we actually knew each other...and you know what she responded with?"

Flutttershy arched an eyebrow in anticipation:

"I don't know Spike,what?"

He briefly blew a steam of green fire on the tray before deadpanning:

"She straight up said "No"."The peagasus puffed up her cheeks as snort bubbled into her.

"The nerve that she has,her Highness!"she declared ,full of delight.Her steps took her next to the steaming tray,and tonight's mystery,apprehading the worst.What she found when she landed her eyes on the tray set on the table was melted rose frosting driping on hot burned chocolate brownies.

The decoration has tried to be caught up by mulicolored sprinkles spred all over the baked good.Now,the scent of grilled caramel filled the room.It was rather enhanced.

"So,"the pegasus ruffled her feathers behind her,giving a contented smile,"this is what you've been doing this whole time."

"Yep,"he sheepishly rubbed his claws against his neon spikes,"guess you caught me at the wrong time but..."

He handed her a piece of the batch,certainly expecting no less then a lack of constructive critisism:

"..you can have one!And then you'll see,"-he joined two claws in a round 'o',a gesture far from her comprehension-,"it'll be the culinary experience of a lifetime."

Faced with his assurence,Fluttershy took a temptive bite on the mellow cake and let the frosting melt on her tongue.Her eyes dissmissively darted around the room as she made her opinion in an affirmative hum,temptively ignoring the half-baked spots:

"Hmmm,it's...uhm...a solid start for a first batch,"she nodded as she chewed on rest of eggs.

"Good,"Spike exclaimed as he stood on the tip of his tail,"now that I know what you're onto I should try for myself!"

He picked the most sprinkled of the batch and with no hint of hesitation,and crunched it the with his fangs.Fluttershy stood in perfect silence,knowing fully that only one's self could make the best judge of their own work.

"Blegh,"Spike spat,slowly processing the flavour on his tongue,"how did you get away with this?"

His guardian gave in the idea of affectionnaly teasing her protege.Her hoof rose to her lip,half masking the most innocence she could muster in the form of a smile:

"I don't know Spike,didn't you name it as the culinary experience of a lifetime?"