Chapter 15
With a powerful snort, Holly awoke. She had vague memories of Alfredo tickling her all over. No… not tickling… scrubbing. She remembered giggling in the tub. She also remembered Alfredo being a perfect gentlepony. Groggy, lightheaded, and thirsty, Holly looked around. She saw a bell beside her beside with small folded piece of paper that said the words “Ring me” in fine, ornate cursive print. There was also a glass of water.
There was a dull ache in Holly’s right rear leg. Lifting the blanket, she looked down into the darkness, trying to see her swollen leg. She hit a switch and the gas lamp beside her bed flared to life. She looked under the blanket again and did not like what she saw. Her hock had doubled in size. She lowered the blanket and cringed.
Reaching out her left foreleg, she grasped the glass of water in her folded fetlock and lifted it to her lips. The water was a little tepid, but it felt good going down her dry throat. It was gone all too soon and Holly set the empty glass down. All four of her hooves were throbbing, as if each of them had their own heart beating inside of them.
Smiling, Holly grabbed the bell and rang it.
“Madam?”
Alfredo stood just inside the door and Holly was happy to hear his voice. Her vision was still a little blurry at a distance and she had some trouble seeing him. The swollen hock didn’t seem so bad all of a sudden and the lingering feeling of fear in the back of Holly’s mind eased.
“Thanks, Alfredo,” Holly said. Her ears pivoted forwards. “I mean that. I remember everything. It’s good to know that I can trust you.”
“Madam, I am a transvestite, but I am also an utmost professional,” Alfredo replied.
Holly watched as the corners of Alfredo’s mouth turned up just a little. She wondered how she was going to make this up to him. She figured that she owed him some gesture of appreciation. But she had no idea what to do. As it was, she was stuck having to rely upon his good graces. “Alfredo, I’m really thirsty.”
“Yes, I would imagine so after all those drugs they gave you.” Alfredo’s brows crinkled with concern. “I would also imagine that you must be quite hungry after your heroics. You are in the evening paper. There are photos.”
“Oh really?” Holly, laying on her back, rolled over onto her side and raised her head.
“Yes, Madam. Including one photo of you in mid leap with the building exploding behind you. Quite dramatic. So far, I have had to turn away half a dozen reporters that have sought to interview you.” Alfredo lifted his head a little higher and one eyebrow rose. “If Madam will permit me, I shall carry Madam down the stairs to the dining room table. After seating Madam, I will serve Madam dinner. A hero’s repast is in order.”
“Oh, that sounds good.” Holly grinned. “Carry me away, Alfredo, carry me away from this awful place.” Holly stuck out her forelegs and gave them a wiggle.
Heaving a sigh, Alfredo’s sides expanded and contracted like bellows. Being the dutiful sort, he lifted Holly from the bed. Somehow, she was even more heavy than the last time he lifted her. Holding Holly before him, Alfredo turned around to head out the door. “Dinner has been ready for a while. I made a fine marinara filled with garden vegetables. All that is left to do is to cook the noodles, which will not take long.”
“Ooh, Alfredo, you’ll spoil me.” Holly tried to relax. Being suspended in magic felt weird, but she was dealing with it. She wasn’t even going to try to walk on her hooves, they hurt far too much. “Um, one thing Alfredo. Can we make a detour on our way downstairs? I need to use the bathroom.”
“Of course, Madam.”
There was a clunk inside of the wall. The dumbwaiter, as old as it was, was still fully operational. Holly, sitting at the now fully restored dining room table, felt a growing sense of anticipation. Something reeked of garlic, of onions, and the tangy scent of bell peppers.
She heard hooves on the stairs, the light reassuring tread that was unique to Alfredo. She lifted up a glass of ice water, took a drink, and looked at the table, which was already set. Turning her head, she saw Alfredo heading for the dumbwaiter. He moved with a delicate grace that most mares would kill for; Holly felt a pang of self consciousness as she watched him. She watched as he pulled open the dumbwaiter door.
Inside, there was a lot of food. There was a large serving bowl full of steaming noodles. The marinara was inside of a heavy cast iron pan. There was a tray of crusty garlic bread. Holly’s eyes widened as Alfredo set everything out on the table. He then began preparing a plate for her, creating a bed of long, buttery, steaming noodles, a hearty serving of marinara was placed in the middle of the bed of noodles, and several slices of garlic bread were tucked onto Holly’s plate.
When the plate was set down in front of Holly, she was drooling. Somehow, she managed to wait, staring at her food while Alfredo served himself. Closing her eyes, she inhaled, drawing in the fragrant steam rising from her plate.
“You do not have to wait for me,” Alfredo said in low voice.
“Okay, a few dinner rules… we eat together… and you don’t get to call me ‘Madam.’ No ‘Miss Heartwood’ either. Just Holly.” Holly leaned against the table, her eyes now open, and she gazed at Alfredo.
When the stallion sat down, Holly lifted a fork with her throbbing hoof. She attacked her pasta, twirling noodles and sauce together, and then took bite. Her mouth full of food, she let out a long, low moan, savouring the flavour of the sauce. It was chunky and the vegetables still had some texture to them. It was also spicy.
“Arrabiata sauce.” Alfredo’s eyes narrowed. “You’re tough, I think you can deal with the heat.”
“What does that mean?” Holly asked just before eating another bite.
“It means ‘angry.’ You are eating an angry sauce.” Alfredo took a bite and chewed with great enthusiasm. He used a slice of garlic bread to scoop up some sauce and some noodles. When he took a bite, there was a loud crunch from the crispy crust.
Holly ravaged her food. She hadn’t eaten since this morning. She shoveled food into her mouth with her fork, slurping and sucking up noodles with gusto, causing sauce to be splattered everywhere. Picking up a piece of buttery garlic bread, she gnawed on the crust and then let out a moan when she bit into the garlicky, buttery, well seasoned soft part in the middle. She didn’t know what the little green bits were, but they were delicious, savoury and sweet. As she chewed her garlic bread, more noodles and sauce were added to her plate.
Holly decided then and there that she wasn’t going to hide her appetite around Alfredo, not in the slightest. Sometimes, when eating around stallions or even other mares she found attractive, she held back, not wanting to look like a hungry glutton. But this food was too good and it was clear that Alfredo put too much work into it. Not eating it would be insulting.
Watching Alfredo eat was interesting, or at least Holly thought so. There was a lot of sucking and slurping. Alfredo had a fastidious nature, he was clean, neat, and orderly. But he was a hearty eater.
“My family, what little I know about them, came to Equestria from Roam.” Alfredo poured himself a glass of wine and then poured some for Holly. “My family lived in Roam, but we were not part of Roam. We were gypsies, shunned outcasts who rejected the idea of tribes. The gypsies lived together as one tribe long before Equestria was founded.”
Holly took a sip of wine and then set her glass down. It was red, it was strong, and the contrast of the wine with the spicy sauce made her lips tingle. “I don’t know much about gypsies.”
“They rejected the idea of tribalism… they lived as a single tribe of ponies. To be honest, I know very little. I know that they were outcasts, forced to move from place to place, unwelcomed, unwanted, and shunned. Hard to believe now, but there was a time when a unicorn and an earth pony having dinner together was an event that could incite violence.” Alfredo took another sip of his wine, shook his head, and sighed.
“They say that Manehatten is an earth pony city, but I see all kinds here,” Holly said.
“Yeah.” Alfredo nodded. “But a long time ago, this is where earth ponies came to have a place to call their own. There’s the Unicorn Range just west of Canterlot, Cloudsdale for the pegasi, and Manehatten was the place that earth ponies came.”
“I would imagine that it is difficult to have tribal diversity in Cloudsdale.” After speaking, Holly shoveled in more food, slurping in the noodles, and awaited a reply from Alfredo.
Alfredo nodded as he crunched on a slice of garlic bread. After swallowing, he took a sip of wine, closed his eyes as he gulped his wine down, and then, opening his eyes, he focused his gaze upon Holly. “Always kinda bothered me. We hear all this talk about tribal unity and friendship and the unification of the tribes… but then what do the pegasi do? They go right back to the clouds where they came from, a place unreachable and inaccessible by the other tribes.”
Holly nodded, but said nothing. She gobbled down more pasta, gulped down some wine, and then began chewing on a piece of garlic bread as Alfredo piled more noodles and sauce upon her plate. Being a hero was hungry work.
“It’s hard to gain acceptance, no matter who or what you are,” Alfredo said as he held his wine glass aloft in his magic. “I of course, speak from personal experience.”
“I would imagine.” Hunched over her food, Holly slowed down a bit to enjoy it more.
“The gypsies came to Equestria and something mysterious happened.” Alfredo took a sip of wine, grinned, and looked Holly in the eye.
“And what was that?” Holly, feeling intrigued, found that she could not look away from Alfredo. She lifted her fork to her lips and took a bite.
“They vanished.”
“They vanished?”
“Yes Holly, they vanished.” Alfredo nodded. “They came to Equestria to escape persecution and to try and find a place where they fit in. They were already models of tribal unity. And almost overnight, the gypsies vanished. They already had tribal unity… they had that for centuries before the founding of Equestria. They settled into cities, found work, bought homes, and they vanished.”
“Huh.” Holly thought about Alfredo’s words as she wiped her mouth with her foreleg.
“Every now and then, you read about a group of gypsies immigrating to Equestria from the old world… sometimes there are a few less than kind remarks by reporters. But they show up here in Equestria, get off the boat, and then they vanish. They’re no longer gypsies because they’re no longer being persecuted. They go off to Ponyville or some other place where the tribes are well mixed, and then, they are gone.” Alfredo gulped down his wine and then poured himself another glass. When Holly slid her glass forwards, he filled it without a word. Alfredo paused, a curious expression upon his face.
“Equestria has managed to do what no other country could do,” Alfredo said.
“What’s that?” Holly asked in reply.
Alfredo smiled. “Get rid of the gypsies.”
“Yeah, I suppose so. They’re just regular ponies now.”
“Holly, are you going to be up for some dessert? I made a cheesecake.”
“Oh, Alfredo… you know how to tempt a mare towards a dangerous end!”
“Well, there is a whole cheesecake and there is only two of us. It needs to be eaten.”
Giggling, Holly covered her mouth with her hoof. “I think I could do my part.”
“Good to hear.” Alfredo raised his glass in salute and then, placing it to his lips, tossed back the entire contents in one gulp.
It has been one hell of a day. I am so relieved that I got a chapter out. I hope it makes at least one person hungry. 
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*pauses in the middle of the chapter to google up a recipe for Arrabiata sauce*
I can understand holly's appetite issue, some people just don't think a "lady" should eat a lot.
6390150
I find that a jar of Mrs. Renfro's habanaro salsa makes mine have a pleasant warmth.
This was done way back in the day to prevent spoilage. The searing heat helped to make the sauce last a little longer before the days of refrigeration.
6390150 Next look up pasta alla puttanesca... or the translation I prefer: Pasta the way a whore would make it.
6390277
A sauce made out of wedlock.
6390267
I actually cook from scratch for the most part, because prepared things tend to have tons of salt in them.
Besides whatever hot sauces we have in the house (normally Cholula and Red Hot), my usual chili recipe uses 7-8 jalapenos and a habanero. (Also pinto beans, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, sometimes carrots, and meat. I'm aware some people consider putting meat in chili a Bad Thing. I don't care.)
6390296
For some people, (Texans) chili shouldn't have beans or anything else. Just meat.
6390320
That's right it was beans that are the controversial issue, not meat.
My chili has beans in it. It would probably work without meat, though.
6390347
I went to school to be a chef. It is what I did in another life, long before I got sick and couldn't deal with the stress.
6390286 Your sauce is living in sin!
I like this chapter a great deal. The interaction grows and characters deepen in subtle ways.
6390343
There's somewhere where chili is somehow chili without meat?
Without meat chili is just sauce. With beans and no meat it's just beans.
I'm not so far gone that I think it absolutely must be ground beef, though.
So, how real-life inspired is this Gypsy lore?
6390493
Chili can be chili without meat, it's called vegetarian chili.
Technically, "chili" doesn't have meat, when you add meat it becomes "chili con carne".
Also, I've been using ground turkey and/or chicken (mostly turkey) in my chili for a few years now.
Yes, you did...and i'm quite sure you made this just to make me suffer..booth me and my wife LOVE garlic bread! Unfortunally not "angry" sauce for me...my ulcera does not like anything spicy. But you won me again over the cheese cake. Sweet lovely cheesecake!
6390500
Ponies aren't real. So this is lore unique to the verse I created.
6390629
I've heard of poultry chili referred to as "white chili" before.
It's pretty good, though... Now I want some. Even though it's late and just brushed my teeth.
What have you wrought?
6390320
I agree with that statement.
I don't want no mangy varmint food in this here chili!
Gimme a REAL man's meal!
I grew up in Texas for about 8 years.
When we moved I had ALMOST gotten a southern accent. (I was 8 at the time)
I don't have an accent now, never really did, but boy can I mimic one!
British? Jolly good!
Orient? With honor!
German? Yah, Das good!
Russian? Dah!
Boston? I gaht yah accent 'ight here eh!
New York? Fuggehdaboudit!
Texas? Darn 'tootin!
San Francisco? Like, TOTALLY!
Me? Yes.
And then there's my regular voice, no particular "region" associated with it.
Just straight up English language.
What does this have to do with anything?
...
I dunno, but it seemed interesting to me once I started thinking about it.
What kind of accents do Alfredo and Holly have?
6391550
I'm German and can't do a German accent when speaking English... And my English is all over the place. Mostly British though, I guess.
My German on the other hand is mostly Franconian dialect (in which hard consonants do not exist) with a little Swabian.
6391550
Alfredo would sound cultured, educated, a good voice for theatre. Except when he gets excited, You'd hear a strong Manehattenite/Beantown accent creeping into his voice.
As for Holly... I dunno... a strong midwestern clip.
6391883
Admittedly, my accents can come across as stereotypical, but I guess that's what people find funny about them.
And it's all fair game, I don't "favor" one over the other, since that's the whole point of stereotypes, is to make jokes about them.
6390947
I had two heart attacks by twenty five. The kitchen is a murderous place. 150 degree kitchens (with the air conditioning running at full tilt) full of steam, people screaming at each other, all the hustle and bustle, all so you can get a 100 dollar plate of food out the door just perfect. Less than perfection and that plate is coming is back. Your cook's whites are soaked clean through, your drenched, and you work for sixteen hours a day because if you don't, they'll hire the next guy who will.
It was brutal work, but good money. I had a job where I was making 25 bucks an hour, and getting time and a half overtime by about the third day usually. That kind of work does bad things to the body though.
Awesome chapter man, and yes... this did make me a tad bit hungry.
Nice job dude, once again!
6391550 Ooooo accents!
I have... a white boy accent :P High pitched but still retains a dude like quality, or so I'm told
I have a sudden need for cheesecake
#1 How DARE You tempt me with delicious food I can only read, but not taste!! What is this, the Food Channel, giving me Food Porn?! @.@
#2 When are we going to "see" Alfredo is something girly and tasty?! I hope I get to read about it soon!!
“Dinner has been ready for a while. I made a fine marina filled with garden vegetables.
marinara