“I’m disrespecting your art?” Discord’s voice replied, “Well excuuuuuse me, little prince. Why don’t you show me if you can do any better!”
“I will. Gimme that paint can!” Ash called out in return.
I hurried into the room, fearing the worst for them both. Were bite-acudas gonna fly off the page? Were the paint cans gonna be turned into flying chocolate pigs?!
No actually.
Ash was busy painting by hand, using his claws to create beautiful strokes of art on the canvas in front of himself! By the time he was finished, he had hand-painted a beautiful horizon--wait, no. That was a volcano erupting and shooting gold out of itself. Pretty creative, I won’t lie.
And thankfully, it turns out that Discord wasn’t harassing him at all. I guess it was just his weird little way of being an eccentric teacher. Once Ash was finished with his piece, everyone in the class--including Discord--marveled at his creation.
“It’s beautiful…” the draconequus muttered as he shed a single tear…that turned into a full-size tissue that he used to blow his nose with. “This piece it’s--it’s bold! It’s brash! It deserves to be on display in every art museum from here to Canterlot!”
“...I don’t know about that,” Ash said shyly with a nervous smile, “It’s not anything I’m naturally gifted at or anything. I learned it all from an old friend of mine.”
Hm. An old friend? That could explain a lot of the repressed feelings and emotions that I can clearly see he’s burying down deeply. If there was a way to extract those emotions out of his head so that I could properly analyze who he was as a person, then I could begin to make progress.
After that, he didn’t speak too much more. Discord simply took control of the class once more and started making them paint in a black hole!
Nah, I’m kidding. He just started to have them paint more as normal. But as I said, I wondered if this old friend of Ash’s could lead me to unlocking more about him. The problem would be to get him to open up about it. What to do…
RIIIIING!
Soon enough, it was time for lunch. Everyone left their various classrooms and began heading off to the dining hall for the food that was being prepared by--huh. According to the itinerary I had, lunch was being prepared by--
“Saffron Masala?!?!??!” the entire class yelped in unison as soon as they walked into the lunchroom, and saw the mare who ran the Tasty Treat in Canterlot.
“Hello, children!” she called out and waved, “Come on, I have lots of delicious food for you to try! No pushing or shoving!”
And in a flash, all the kids lined up carefully and quietly. I don’t know what’s more unbelievable; the fact that Saffron was here serving her family’s dishes to the students, or that she managed to get them all to follow orders and stay quiet.
Regardless, I needed to get some of that good stuff too. It smelled delicious!
…
Of course, I waited until all the students got something to eat first. But I guess I didn’t realize that I was actually rather…famished, to put it lightly. I actually hadn’t had anything to eat today--knew I should’ve packed myself some of dad’s poutine before I left.
But it was all good. Why? Saffron’s dishes looked amazing. She had multiple trays of food that she had prepared just a few hours ago in this very kitchen! I didn’t know what to try first. The curries, the different types of bread she had to offer, the rice dishes…
“Ah, Cozy--how are you?” she called out to me, cutting off my train of thought.
I wiped a bit of drool from my lip and replied. “Oh, uh…I’m…doing just fine, thank you. I’m actually here working on a patient. Not much else I can say besides that.”
“That’s understandable. I hope you can take care of whoever it is,” Saffron replied with a concerned tone, then smiled, “But while you’re here, let me ask: How is your father doing?”
“Pale? Oh, he’s great--he’s actually been taking more time to himself lately,” I explained, knowing full well that he and mom were probably busy doing whatever silly things adult ponies do together. Like playing card games and watching kissing movies. Blech. “Saving the world takes a toll on your body and mind that he needs to relax off. Superheroes don’t usually get much of a break, ya know?”
Saffron giggled. “Oh yes…my father is more or less the same way. Always devoted to his craft, but to the point of detriment. He’s getting a bit…older now, and I don’t want him to hurt himself. But he insists on being in the kitchen with me.” She sighed and rolled her eyes with a faint smile on her face. “I suppose I can’t blame him for it though. It was always our passion to make food that could put a smile on any-creature’s face.”
Well, she was certainly right about that. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ash sipping one of the bowls of Saffron’s hottest brown-colored curry with a grin on his face. Though, he was all by himself…
That’s when I had an idea.
“Sounds wonderful, Saffy! I hope you and your dad will continue to have a good relationship with each other like me and my old man,” I smiled and looked over the various sets of food she had available before spotting the exact same, golden-brown curry. “Hey, can you get me a bowl of that?” I asked, pointing to the tray.
“Oh, of course!” Saffron used her magic to levitate a bowl, and a ladle to scoop me some of the curry before offering it to me on a lunch tray with some rolls, a juice box, and what appeared to be a bowl of fruits that I had never seen before. “This one’s a doozy of a recipe from my great-grandfather. I hope you enjoy it--oh, and tell your father I said hello!”
I took the tray in my hooves--my nose twitched from the sheer punch of spice from the curry that struck me dead on. This was a big risk, but it’s one that I had to take. “Oh I will. Thanks a bunch!” I waved and left the line…and would eventually find Ash’s table to take a seat directly across from him.
“Hm? Oh, hello,” he spoke to me with a surprisingly friendly tone, “I didn’t think anyone would come sit with me. Are you new here?”
Oh haybales. That’s right. My sunhat and shades were the perfect disguise since it kept my naturally curly--and beautiful--mane in place.
“Uh…y-yeah!” I answered nervously…
“Hm…” To which Ash raised a brow, glaring at me for a moment as I smiled with chattering teeth, hoping to Flurry Heart that I wouldn’t be found out.