//------------------------------// // Cookin' up a Storm // Story: The Impact of Humans on Ponies // by the koopanater //------------------------------// "So you woke up around this desert?" "Yep. And I owe the buffalo quite a bit for helping me." It took a while, but things in Ponyville finally settled and things were peaceful. The difference this time was that Xavier was... different. It wasn't a bad change however as he seemed a bit more open with the others and that him and Jasmine were closer than before. It was pretty heartwarming to see in the eyes of their friends, but right now three of them were on a trip, those being Cali, Huston, and Applejack as they rode the train to Appleloosa. "It will be nice to see how they're doin', I just hope they're gettin' along." Cali mused. "Me too." Applejack agreed. "It's quite the story everyone told me." Huston admitted, remembering the story that his friends told to anyone who wasn't there, getting sweat drops from the country girls. "Yeah, I may have acted a bit too rash..." "'A bit'? I'm pretty sure you left more than a mark on the ponies you snapped at." Applejack said with raised eyebrows. "And what about you? You practically did all the arguing when me and Xavier brought Little Strongheart over." Cali shot back. The two glared at each other for a bit before smiling and chuckling it off. "You two are quite close." Huston observed with a chuckle. "To think you two were once on different sides of a civil war." "Well that's love and war for ya." Cali waved off. As she was everyone saw that a town was coming close. "Look over there, Huston. That there's Appleloosa." "Quite a nice town." Huston admired. "I imagine there are plenty of places that would be wonderful vantage points." "You go ahead and look around. Me and Cali are goin' to meet up with the sheriff and Chief Thunderhoof." Applejack said as the train pulled to a stop. As everyone got off of the train, they were called to by a familiar voice. "Applejack!" Turning, everyone saw none other than Braeburn walking up to them. "It's been too long!" "It sure has cuz." Applejack replied. "And it's good to see that you're doin' well, Cali." "Same to you, bud." After the short reunion, Braeburn's attention turned to Huston. "Oh, sorry I didn't see you there." "No worries. I was just having fun listening to you and my friends have a reunion." Huston reassured. Though he didn't notice the glint in the local's eyes. "So you're friends with my cuz, ey?" Braeburn said as he took Huston's arm and began to drag him away. "In that case I should give you a grand tour of Appleloosa." "Whoa! That's a nice offer, but you don't have to drag me." With Braeburn taking Huston away, it only left the country girls to leave. "I guess they'll be busy?" Cali said, somewhat confused on what happened. "That happened when you weren't in Appleoosa last time." Applejack said as she led Cali out of the train station. "He took us around town before we had the chance to tell him that the buffalo dragon-napped Spike. Hopefully he doesn't push him around like he did with us." "And I'm guessin' that he told you their side of the conflict?" "Yep. But let's not dig up old grudges, alright? We're here to see how the town's doin' with the buffalo." The two walked for a while, looking around to see that there were plenty of buffalo mingling with the ponies. They all were having no trouble, but the duo did notice that the town seemed restlessly happy. "I wonder if somethin' is goin' on soon?" "Maybe a festival?" Cali mused. "You did say it was gettin' close to the time the town was founded." "Oh, that might be it." After a bit of walking around town, the duo made it to their destination of the sheriff's office, where the pony in question was talking to the chief of the buffalo. "Sheriff, Chief Thunderhoof! We're here." "Ah, perfect timin'!" Silverstar waved. "How have you two been?" "We've been doin' good, sheriff." Applejack said as she and Cali walked over. "And I hope the others are as well." Thunderhoof wondered. "Don't worry, they're doin' fine as well." Cali reassured. "But there have been some big changes since the last time we met." "What do you mean?" "Well-" "And this is the sheriff's office." Before Cali could start, Braeburn and Huston sped into sight, the latter in a bit of a daze. "Oh, hey cuz." "Braeburn." Applejack glared. "Didn't I tell ya to not drag ponies around town with little warning?" "Oh... Sorry cuz, I got a bit excited." Braeburn said embarrassed, earning a face-hoof from Applejack. "*Sigh* Sorry, Huston. Braeburn is quite eccentric, so he gets excited to show anypony around town." "It's no big deal." Huston waved off. "Besides, he did help me find some places that would be great settings, so it's all good." As Huston was talking, both the sheriff and the chief looked him over. "I'm guessin' this is the 'big change'?" Silverstar asked. "Yep. This is Huston." Cali said as she draped her arm around him. "He's an artist who we met a while after I left Appleoosa. There are more too." Tilting her head to Huston, she smirked. "Huston, these here are Sheriff Silverstar and Chief Thunderhooves." "It's a pleasure to meet you." Huston said, stepping out of Cali's grip and bowed. "Well if Cali thinks you're a good guy, I'll believe it too." Silverstar nodded. "The pleasure is all mine." "As with me." Thunderhooves agreed. With introductions out of the way, Applejack looked around town to observe everypony and buffalo working. "So what's goin' on 'round here? Some kind of festival." "You got that right." Braeburn declared. "In a few days we'll not only be celebrating the founding of Appleoosa, but our alliance with the buffalo." "Sounds like you've really integrated with the town, chief." Cali noted. "Yes. We've been working on working with Appleoosa more." "And they've been doin' a lot for us." Silverstar said as he pointed to the clock tower. "That clock tower was destroyed durin' the fight, but with the buffalo's help it was rebuilt in no time." "Interesting." "But we're gettin' off topic." Braeburn said, redirecting the conversation. "It's going to be a big event. We'll have games, music, and food. And at the last day we'll be having a contest." "And what is it?" "A cooking contest." The sheriff answered. "The winner will have the chance to sell their food to the town as well." Hearing what the contest was going to be, the visitors had different thoughts. "Really..." Huston thought. "Why don't you join in, Cali?" "Yeah, this sounds like somethin' you'd do great in." "I-I don't know." Cali responded, hesitancy in her voice as she rubbed the back of her head. "I don't know if I can compete with everyone. I don't even know if I can join." "I'll allow it." Silverstar said. "You're an honorary member of the buffalo tribe, after all." "For that matter, why're you actin' like Xavier?" Applejack asked. "You're a great cook." "I have my reasons." Cali said crossing her arms. There was a pause , but she sighed. "But I guess I can join." "That's the spirit." Braeburn cheered. "I think I'm goin' to head out. My break's almost up." "You need any help, cuz?" Applejack asked. "We could use all the help we can get." Braeburn motioned, letting Applejack follow. "I think I'm going to look around town some more." Huston said with a wave. "I want to look around some more so I can find a good reference. See you later." As he walked away, Cali was left by herself. And as she was left in the hype of the festival, she began to think about the events leading her to stand there. A bit of time passed before Cali herself left the sheriff's office to take a look around town. As she was, she was lost in thought. So much so that she wasn't focused on the atmosphere, or what was in front of her as she bumped into somepony. "Oof. Oh, sorry about-" "Cali?" Looking up, Cali saw that she bumped into none other than Little Strongheart. "It is you! I didn't think you were coming to visit!" "Strongheart!" Cali smiled as she shook the small buffalo's hoof. "Sorry I didn't tell you. A few things came up recently." "Hmm... Well no matter. It's just great to know you're here." "Thanks." Cali took the moment to look around, seeing how much the town has come in multiple ways. Most notably the harmony between the two species and the festival. "You've really gotten comfy with the ponies here." "Yep." Strongheart agreed. "We wanted to make up for what we did before, and as we helped we started to just help out and mingle with the town. Now the buffalos and Appleoosa are practically inseparable." "Good for you guys." Cali nodded with a smile. When she did, Strongheart noticed this. "You're smiling a lot more than before." She mentioned, Cali looking at her interested. "I'm guessing you learned more about friendship." "You could say that." Cali shrugged. "The others really helped me open up. I've even made some new friends, one off them's even here." "That's great." Strongheart congratulated. When she did however, she noticed that Cali was spacing out. "You okay?" "Hmm? Oh, it's nothing..." Cali said crossing her arms. "Well... maybe I'm just thinking about things." "You want to talk about it?" "It's nothing you should concern yourself about." Cali waved off. "Besides, there are so many things that I can't pin down." "Hmm... Okay." Before any of them could continue, a group of ponies and buffalo waved to her, wanting her to come over. "Oh, looks like others need me. I'll see you later Cali." "See ya." As they waved each other off, Cali just couldn't shake the thoughts swirling in her head, all of them unsure of what to do. Later, Salt Block The local watering hole was quite active tonight, as the festive vibes managed to get every buffalo and pony inside into jovial states. The only one who wasn't was Cali, sitting to the side sipping a glass of apple juice with a blank expression. "I was wondering where you went." Cali perked up hearing Huston's voice as he walked over. "You've been quiet for a while. It's not like you." Huston sat down at the table. "Is anything wrong?" "Well, I wouldn't exactly say that there is anything 'wrong' per say." Cali said, an air of uncertainty around her. "...But, I'm kinda curious. Why did you decide to become an artist?" "Why do you want to know that-?" Huston was about to continue, but he looked closer at Cali's expression and body language and understood. "I see. If you want to know, I'll tell you. Now I told you about my... *ahem*... story, right?" "Yeah." "Well, one of those reasons was part of it. I wanted to continue to pursue art for her. It was a way to help me think about her. Another reason was to raise awareness." "For what?" "Nature." Huston said looking out the window. "Corporations are willing to do anything for money, even if it means that the land they use is destroyed to the point of no return. Many people who spend their lives in cities and towns may never even step foot into nature to see the rawest form of it before it's polluted and exploited to no end. I hoped my paintings would show the world what mother nature was giving us outside their windows before it was too late." "So you're doing it because you care." "Partially." Huston said, earning a raised eyebrow. "There is a third reason." "And that is...?" "I enjoy it." He said, smiling. "It may sound selfish to say that, but I really just enjoy the art of it, pun intended. I couldn't tell you which part I enjoy however. The traveling, the people I meet, the art itself, the fact I can express myself and my imagination in any way I want, or a combination of them all or none of them. Either way, I enjoy it." "Okay..." "The main point is, there can be any number of reasons to chose a path. It might be to honor someone, it may be something you do to spread a message, or you simply enjoy it. No matter what, it's up to you to chose." Cali starred at the artist for a while, but she smiled at him. "Thanks, that's just what I needed to hear." "So what are you going to do?" "I'll decide after the contest." Cali said as she stood up and put some bits onto the table. "I need to confirm somethin' first." A Few Days Later The day of the festival arrived and everyone was excited. Like Braeburn said, there was games, food, and music all across town. Everyone was focused on the center however, as there was the highlight of the event, the cooking contest. "Hello everypony!" Braeburn said into a microphone. "I hope you're all having a great time! We've got a special event for our first foundin' festival! Behind me are four contestants ready to cook up some delicious grub in a cooking contest." True to his word, there were four behind him. Two ponies, a buffalo, and Cali, all of which were looking quite confident. "The idea is simple, use whatever you can to make a dish that really makes the three judges howler in joy." To the side were said judges, who were the chief, sheriff and Strongheart. "You only have an hour, so make it count. On yer marks..." All four contestants readied themselves for the competition. "Get set..." Among them, Cali had a spark in her eye, ready to make it count. "GOOOOOO!!!!" The four sprinted towards the ingredients, searching for different things. Cali's eyes however locked onto certain ingredients, and she smiled. "Oh yeah, I got this." One Hour Later Watching the contestants go was a spectacle. Each one quickly got to work on frying, boiling, and roasting their ingredients to perfection to please the judges. Their time however grew shorter, but none of them slowed down. Most however looked a bit nervous, all except Cali who kept going with confidence. All up to the final bell. "Time's up everypony!" Braeburn called, the four contestants backing away from their stations. "Hope everything went well, 'cause now's the time to present your dishes!" As the four contestants put their food onto plates, the crowd looked at their dishes in curiosity. The first, the buffalo, brought out veggie dumplings. The second brought out a pasta salad, and the third brought out a pizza. Finally, it was Cali's turn. "So, what do you got for us?" Silverstar asked. "Know that we won't go easy on you because you're our friend." Strongheart said. "I would hope so." Cali said as she brought her dish out. "It's a contest after all." Putting her dish onto the table, the three looked it over. It was strange to them however, as it looked like apples drenched in a strange brown sauce with some chopped vegetables mixed in and rive on the side. "This is a dish that's quite popular where I come from. It's called apple curry. Try to eat both the rice and the curry in one spoonful." The three judges did just that, taking their spoons and eating them. Once they did, their eyes lit up in wonder. "Wow." Thunderhooves gasped as he took another bite. As the three ate, Cali watched their faces, most notably their smiles as she gave one herself. Once the three judges finished, they all went to a private area to discuss their thoughts. As they were, the contestants all took seats nearby to wait for the final result. Most of them were nervous, but Cali managed to keep her calm expression throughout. "You okay, Cali?" The countrygirl looked next to her to see Applejack and Huston walking over. "You haven't said much." "I'm just fine." Cali said. "I'm just waiting for the results." "So you said that you-" "Not now, the judges are coming up." True to her word, the three walked up onto the stage ready to give their judgment. "Thank ya for waiting." Sheriff Silverstar began. "We are happy to announce that the winner of the first annual cooking contest is..." Everyone held their breath in anticipation. "Cali!" A round of applause rose up as the human stood up with a calm face and walked up to the stage to take hold of the ribbon. "Congratulations Cali. Does the winner have anything to say?" "Well, I guess all I can say is that I'm honored to even join in." Cali admitted. "I still remember the day I found myself here in Equestria. And I still remember that I believed that actions were always stronger than words as I lived with the buffalo for a while. But as I lived in Ponyville with my friends, I started to realize that wasn't the case." Cali looked into the desert for a brief moment before continuing. "I still have a lot to learn though. But for now, I think you've all waited long enough to try some good grub." Cali hopped off the stage and began to walk over to the stoves that were used for the contest. "Who want's some food?" Later To say that Cali's curry was popular would be an understatement. Practically everyone in town loved it. So much so that Cali asked both the other contestants and her friends to help her out, all of which agreeing to help. Now as things slowed down a bit, Cali took a moment to let the most recent batch simmer and look out to watch the town, all of them wearing bright smiles as they ate. "So what is it you wanted to confirm?" Cali's attention turned to Huston who was walking up to her. Cali smiled and looked out again. "See for yourself." Cali said, Huston doing just that. "I wanted to see if my cooking could put smiles onto their faces." "Looks like it." "Well now that I confirmed that, I've decided." Cali said as she lifted the lid on the curry, letting the smell permeate the air as she took a ladle of it and poured it onto a plate with some rice. "I want to keep cooking and get better at it. Maybe some day I'll open a restaurant for everypony to have a taste. For now though..." Cali handed the plate to Huston. "I'll just start small with you guys." Looking between the plate and Cali, Huston smiled at her before taking the plate. "Well I hope everything goes well." "I'll make sure of that." Cali's determined face was something that could be seen within the crowd of happy faces. Even as the day came to an end, no pony went to bed without a smile.