It’s the afternoon the day before your departure from Ponyville. Your time working under Princess Twilight Sparkle may have ended, but that certainly doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to give her one heck of a thank-you before your send-off.

You huff and try to catch your breath as you descend the main stairwell and into the kitchen. Twilight’s dinner tonight was going to be a complete surprise, and you wanted to make sure everything would be perfect. The thing is, you just weren’t sure if you could pull off the perfect evening.

Pressing forward through the double crystalline doors, you slide to a halt in front of the island in the castle’s kitchen, and look into a pair of reptilian eyes.

“Sup, bro?”

You let out a groan of pure anxiety and lower your head in frustration.

Spike, who is seated on the kitchen's island, merely takes a small sip from a dainty-looking teacup. He places it back on the small piece of china he’s holding and lets out a single gasp of refreshment. “Looks like you’re a little stressed. Got something important to be doing?”

Every pretense of civility has been booted from your mind under the immense strain of planning Twilight a perfect evening. “I need the kitchen,” you half-mumble, half-command, motioning back to the still-swinging double doors with a hoof.

“Oh, what for?” he asks, ignoring your implied orders and taking another sip so quickly that you don’t have time to formulate a response. “Cooking a special dinner for your princess crush?”

Your breath catches in your chest and you feel your face heat up. “H-how do you know that I’m cooking dinner for Twilight? Did you spy on me?”

“Of course not. Starlight told me.” Spike gently places his teacup down on the island next to him.

Your left eye twitches once. “And how does she know that I’m planning to cook dinner for Twilight?”

“I don’t know. She probably spied on you.”

“ARRGGGH!” you cry, disheveling your mane by running a hoof through it. “I can’t handle this!”

“Just relax,” Spike cooes, holding up his claws in a non-threatening gesture. “I’m here to help you.”

You frown and squint skeptically at the dragon. “Help me?”

“You bet. Just because you and I don’t spend a lot of time together doesn’t mean we’re not brothers-in-arms,” he reassures you, smacking a fisted claw against his chest in a gesture of solidarity.

You merely scowl at him.

Spike exhales. “Okay, look, I didn’t want to pull out the feelings, but I guess you’re making me do it. I know what it’s like to be completely and hopelessly in love with a pony who is way out of my league, alright? I’m just trying to put a point up on the scoreboard for our team so I’m reassured that it can be done.”

“Okay, first of all,” you object, raising a hoof, “I am not hopelessly in love with Twilight.”

Spike cocks an eyebrow. “You’re about to cook a full meal for this mare to thank her for doing something she wanted to do in the first place.”

You lower your hoof.

“That’s what I thought.” Spike hops down and pats your withers reassuringly. “The good news is, Twilight has got it bad for you too.”

Your ears perk up and you grin widely for a few seconds before the happy expression melts off of your face. “Wait a sec. This feels like some sort of elaborate trick. There’s no way that the Princess of Friendship like-likes me.”

“Are you kidding me?” Spike steps back and regards you with an expression of complete incredulity. “She’s so into you! You haven’t noticed her play with her mane around you? Or how happy she is coming down the stairs each morning to work with you in the greenhouse? Or how after you give her a hug or pat her on the back she always trots away singing?”

“Uhm…” you tap a hoof on your muzzle. “...No?”

Spike crosses his arms and rolls his eyes. “Alright look, I guess it doesn’t matter. The point is, she likes you, you like her, and I’m here to make sure you don’t screw it all up, okay?”

“And how exactly do you plan to do that? What do you know about her that I don’t?”

“I know every one of Twilight’s preferences because I’ve lived with her literally my entire life.”

Your scrunch your muzzle up. “Okay, fair point. But what about all those fights you have with her?”

Spike bites his lip. “Yeah, okay, you got me. She can really get on my nerves sometimes, and I can get on hers. But, I still love her and want to see her happy. And she’s happy with you. Plus...I don’t know, maybe if she’s got a stallion to smooch on she’ll forget to give me chores every once in a while and I can spend my afternoons in a hammock reading comics.”

You’ve already drifted off into a deep daydream about a heavy petting session with Twilight, and only Spike snapping in front of your face a few seconds later brings you back to reality.

“So?” he asks impatiently, tapping a clawed foot. “Are you gonna let me help you or not? We have to start cooking, it’s almost three-thirty.”

To allow Spike to help you prepare the perfect dinner for Twilight, proceed to Chapter 36.

To decline Spike’s help and cook yourself, proceed to Chapter 37.

Next Chapter: Chapter 28 Estimated time remaining: 59 Minutes