//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Hearts in the Spring Thaw // by CaffeinatedKit //------------------------------// Half an hour in, Rainbow had so far successfully avoided to cause herself enough physical harm to really count - a brief spattering of oil singed part of her mane when she overzealously slid a diced onion into a hot frying pan, but she played off the minor sting like it was nothing. Quite the aroma was starting to form and waft its way out from the kitchen, causing a hungry dragon's tummy to rumble loudly. "Sorry, Spike! As much as I want to crank up the heat and get this done in ten seconds flat, I'm trying not to burn Twi's house down, here," Chef Dash called from the kitchen. At least, that's how she thought of herself at the moment; 'Ms. Dash' wasn't quite good enough for what she was trying to accomplish. For his part, the dragon simply sighed and sat himself at the table, rapping his claws rhythmically on the edge. "I know, though Twilight's fire-proofed the place already," he mumbled, not quite loud enough for the pegasus to hear, "We learned to do that the hard way." Twilight shuddered visibly, "Maybe so, Spike, but even if she can't burn the library down," she started - she found it hard to think of this place as just her 'house' when it was so much more, "She can burn our food." Spike shrugged, half-lidded. "Okay, you don't care about that, but I do - besides, it's nice for somepony to be cooking for us, right, so you get to relax?" "Relaxing, yes, but also waiting." His stomach rumbled again, but he added, "Waiting patiently, of course," he smiled, that betrayingly false smile that Twilight knew all to well to signify his sarcasm, but she did her best to dismiss it. The loud sizzle of cooking vegetables abruptly died down in the kitchen, and was slowly replaced by an almost soothing bubbling, followed by the gentle clang of a lid atop the heavy pot Rainbow Dash had selected to perform the final part of her work with. She padded out slowly from the kitchen and stretched just inside the library proper. "Fifteen minutes," she stated, a hint of her own impatience on her voice, "It'll fix you right up, Twi' - I promise." She grinned, and walked over to take her seat at the table to wait. Sitting so close isn't going to fix anything... Twilight smiled back at Rainbow, a faint hint of a blush on her cheeks, but she played it off with a quiet, forced cough into a hoof. "You know you really didn't have to do this-" she started, but she was interrupted. "I know I don't, but... I want to, okay? We're friends and we take care of each other. I'm sure you'd do the same if one of us got sick. Or at least, maybe ask Spike to help you, by, uh, doing most of the work," she ribbed. "Hey! I'm perfectly capable of cooking for myself, and for others too!" Twilight replied indignantly. Spike, however, couldn't resist to friendlily gang up on the unicorn, "You have to turn the stove or the oven on to 'cook', Twilight... sandwiches don't count." Twilight glared daggers in response. You're on her side?! "I can make pasta! That involves cooking - boiling water, a bit of salt, and perfect timing!" she beamed. "Yeah, but you use canned sauce on it." "So? There's nothing wrong with canned sauce - it's not like I have the time to make the pasta from scratch either." "Okay, okay - what else can you cook? What do you eat when I'm gone on those errands you keep sending me on?" A bead of nervous sweat ran down her head, and a mild panic set in as Twilight searched her memory for those times when she remembered she had to eat. What was it she was shovelling in her face absentmindedly, keeping sure to hold it well away from whatever she was reading? Sandwiches. When was the last time she did actually make pasta? "You know I threw out two cans of expired pasta sauce yesterday, right?" Spike added, knowing he had her cornered. Rainbow was grinning the entire time, almost looking as if she enjoyed watching Twilight squirm. She's so cute when she's panicking. Okay, not when she's really panicking, at least. "Spike's got you, Twi'," she smirked, leaning forward a bit over the table. Gah! Not so close... The unicorn's eye twitched, and she started to get genuinely flustered, "Okay! I live on sandwiches when I'm alone, happy?" She exhaled raggedly and buried her head in her hooves on the table. The pair of instigators looked at each other knowingly - they were going too far. Rainbow reached forward to put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, "It's okay, Twi' - we know you're busy and stuff." "Yeah! I really don't mind cooking, you know - you do so much for everyone in other ways, and at least I have a place to stay, right?" The unicorn lifted her head slightly, eyes reddened with the start of tears, but nodded slowly, "I'm sorry... I've read a bunch of books about cooking, and ingredients, but I've never had the time to practice any of it." "That's okay. We really shouldn't be dishing out stuff when you're sick." Rainbow did her best to comfort her, scooting over and wrapping her arm around her shoulder. Even when she's upset, she's cute. Guh - I can't let myself enjoy making her sad! Spike coughed, as the sound of a pot overflowing emanated from the kitchen, "Speaking of dishing out..." "Gah! The stew!" In a prismatic flash, Rainbow dashed into the kitchen, quickly lifting the pot off the stove and onto a cork placemat on the counter, splashing her hoof with a bit of the boiling hot liquid in the process. "Ow! Bu-..rnedmyselfit'sokay!" she yelped, trying not to curse in front of Spike as she ran her hoof under cold water in the sink. Spike clasped his claws behind his head and leaned back in his chair, grinning smugly at Twilight. Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed, "Alright, you win," she said, reaching out with her telekinesis to grab a small, shiny ruby from a hiding place behind one of the books on the shelf, and float it over to Spike. "But you have to save it for dessert, okay?" She said, hovering it just out of the dragon's reach. "Hey, that wasn't part of the deal!" Spike whined, but he gave in, "Fine - it's for dessert." Rainbow walked in with the pot handle held firmly in her teeth, slowly making her way toward the table and struggling a bit with the weight of it. Twilight dropped the ruby into Spike's waiting claws and quickly grabbed the pot from Rainbow with her magic, setting it down for her on the table, "Rainbow, careful! You could have asked for my help you know." "Thanks - I know, but you're sick, right? And what's this deal you're talking about, and I didn't make dessert..." Rainbow glanced back and forth between the other two, "I thought sweet stuff was bad for sick ponies, anyway." The colour-coordinated pair glanced at each other nervously and grinned innocently, "Oh no, just something unimportant," Twilight offered. "Yeah, just a deal where I, uh... get to go help Rarity with something later!" Spike grinned. That fake grin again. The pegasus seemed to buy it and nodded slowly, "Ooo-kay then, well, dinner is served!" She popped the lid off the pot with a hoof, and deftly grabbed a ladle from under her mane to set into the liquid. A small cloud of steam rose from the pot, and Twilight inhaled deeply. "Rainbow, this looks amazing! I didn't know you knew how to cook like this. I'd never expect you to know how to cook like this," she corrected, and added hastily, "N-not that there's anything wrong with not knowing how to cook like this." Dash grinned wider, but didn't bring up the subject again, proceeding to ladle out portions of stew into bowls at the table, "See? Totally awesome stew, for a totally awesome pony-" Oh buck, did I just say that out loud? "Er, from a totally awesome pony. Not that you're not totally awesome, too, but, uh, yeahI'mstarvedlet'seat!" She quickly took her chair and shovelled a piping hot spoonful of stew in her mouth. That... wasn't the smartest idea, either. ...hot! Another flash, and she was back in the kitchen guzzling cold water straight from the faucet. Spike eagerly chowed down, the heat not bothering him in the least, of course, and just shrugged at Twilight as she looked on incredulously. What in the wide wide world of Equestria was that about? D-does she really think I'm 'totally awesome'? Twilight blushed heavier, trying to control her giddy smile as she lifted a spoonful of stew to her muzzle - stopping short of putting it into her mouth just yet, so she could smell and enjoy the aroma. "This smells amazing. Hot, but amazing." Rainbow meekly walked back in and re-took her place at the table, "I'm surprised you can smell anything at all, with how sick you were before - maybe you're starting to feel better already? How's it taste?" Despite the self-confidence she portrays, Rainbow still thrives on others' compliments, and tonight was no different. Well, maybe a little bit different. No! Can't let her think I'm healthy just yet... Twilight quickly dropped the spoon back into her bowl, making sure not to lose any in the process, and coughed loudly and almost violently into her hoof, turning her head away from the table, "Huh? Oh, I don't know..." she started, looking for a good excuse, "The, uh, steam! The steam must have cleared my nose a bit." Narrowing her eyes slightly, a now somewhat skeptical mare turned her head a touch and nodded, "Alright. It was pretty hot," she admitted, gingerly blowing on her sore and slightly reddened hoof before moving to take another spoonful - slower this time, and she blew gently on the spoon before putting it back into her thankfully un-blistered mouth. Twilight did the same, lifting the spoon with her magic, and casting a small spell to gently cool the liquid inside it before consuming it - to just the perfect temperature, no blowing required. If it were anypony else, she'd be accused of showing off, but for Twilight, it was just her. She sampled a well cooked piece of carrot first and closed her eyes, savouring it. I still can't believe she went to all this trouble just for me... She opened her eyes and warmly looked over at the cyan mare that just made her dinner, quickly averting her gaze before anyone caught her. What is she really up to? Spike greedily slurped the last of the stew out of his empty bowl and belched, tossing the ruby he won into the air and his waiting maw, his razor sharp teeth shattering it with a satisfying crunch. "Spiike! Manners, please." "Oh, sorry Twi'! Excuse me," he said sincerely, and leaned back to pat his belly, "I think I'm gonna take a nap... or, do you need me to clean up?" The pair of ponies glanced at each other, before Rainbow spoke up, "Uh - well, we're still eating, but no, don't worry about it; I got it, lil' dude." She watched him slowly make his way upstairs to his basket to pass out, before turning her attention back to the pony almost beside her, "So?" "Rainbow Dash, this is amazing. I haven't had anypony cook like this for me since I lived back in Canterlot." Remembering how Princess Celestia would send couriers over from the royal castle to hoof-deliver fresh food from her own court brought a smile to her face. Even then, the Princess knew she was too busy studying to really take care of herself in that regard - especially when Spike was very young and hadn't learned to or started cooking for the two of them himself. She picked at the stew with her spoon, grabbing another piece of carrot and eating it. The pegasus swelled up with a bit of pride from the unicorn's comments, "See? I told you I'd help, and this is sure to help you feel better in no time." I wonder if this is as good as the food in Canterlot. Oh, duh - of course it is - we grow the veggies here, and I made it. "What about the rest of it? You know - not just the carrots?" She loves letting this go to her head, doesn't she? But she means well, and this really is good. "Hrm? Oh, I'll get to them, too." She fished around the bowl with her spoon, identifying the last piece of carrot and eating it, a mental checklist marked off as she moved on to the celery. "You'll... get to them?" Rainbow tilted her head, and watched closely at what Twilight was doing before it clicked, "Oh. Right. Whatever you say, Twi', that's cool." She's got it bad... but I guess we all knew that. She tried to keep a conversation going, "So, uh, what've you been studying the past few days?" Twilight focused on eating bits of celery and broth, her attention honed in on the bowl of stew in front of her. "Astronomy - I've been trying to track the motion of Barnard 33 to decipher a discrepancy between two of the star charts the library has on file. Not with much luck, I'm afraid, because my notes keep getting ruined." A stray piece of carrot she missed earlier floated past her view, and her eye twitched visibly a few times before she snatched it out of the broth unceremoniously with her magic and popped it into her mouth, biting down on it a bit more forcefully than needed. Doing her best to avoid snickering at the display (but failing miserably), Rainbow Dash feigned interest and nodded - not that Twilight was looking at her to begin with. "So... you have to watch the star move and see which one is right? How fast can it move, anyway?" "Oh! These stars are moving hundreds of thousands of kilometres a second relative to us, so they're going really fast, but they're also really far away, so it's hard for us to see that motion, especially when all the other stars around it are moving different directions, too, and our planet is spinning off-axis relative to its orbit, of course." Excited, her attention turned to Rainbow proper, "Isn't it great?" "That stray piece of carrot reeeeally bugged you, didn't it?" Her eye twitched again, "Y-you saw? Shut up. Yes." She pouted and turned back to picking all the celery out of her stew. Is it really that obvious? Taking a break from her food, Rainbow shuffled her chair over to Twilight's side and hugged her gently, "It's okay. We all know you're, uh.. ODC or whatever. And probably some other things." Like smokin' hot! Twilight pulled away at first, "OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and no, I'm not. I don't have it. I just... the carrots were good and I wanted to eat them first, and now I'm trying the celery, and next I'll try the onions. I want to taste all the things you put in, and if I just... smoosh them all together it's not the same!" "...I should have just run it through a blender and called it soup," she joked. "N-not funny!" The unicorn glared, but gave in and sighed, "Okay, maybe I have a little bit of OCD." Rainbow coughed. "More than a little bit." She coughed again, rolling her eyes. "Shut up." "You're cute when you're angry," Rainbow blurted out before realising that was supposed to stay inside her head, but faulted trying to think of a follow up. She blushed heavily and turned away, before scooting back to her stew and busying herself with eating, hoping she didn't quite catch on. What... no. What? Twilight blinked incredulously, "D-did you just call me cute?" Rainbow ate faster, "See, it tastes better when you get all the veggies at once!" Her blush deepened, "Uh, here, let me take the pot away from the table and clean it up - you keep going." She moved quickly into the kitchen with the pot in her teeth, and set about scrubbing it clean, leaving Twilight alone before she could answer or object. Stunned, the lavender mare tried to process what just happened. She was blushing. She called me cute and started blushing... this whole thing is a ruse. I'm faking being sick, and she's faking just 'wanting to take care of me', isn't she? She smirked mischievously. It's about time I got her back for all those pranks she played on me. Not really prank her, though... I need to plan this out. She worked her way through the rest of the stew, ingredient by ingredient, and carried her bowl out to the now strangely quiet kitchen. "Dash? You need some help in there?" She called as she entered. A hyperventilating Rainbow Dash jumped, almost hitting her head on the ceiling, "Twilight, you scared - er - surprised me! I'mfineI'mtotallyfine." She sprinted forward to grab Twilight's bowl from her, and scooted her back outside, "I've got it, you just go lay down for me. I mean, for you. For resting. Yourself. By yourself for now; I'll join you lat- whatever." Grinning, Twilight agreed, adding a subtle hint of salaciousness to her voice, "Okay, Dashie, I'll go lay down, and wait for you to... join me." I knew studying those trite romance novels would come in handy! This is going to be the best prank; she'll get a taste of her own medicine! Ooh... that's kind of trite, too. Chastising her own internal monologue, she grabbed a pair of soft cushions and lay them side by side, touching, on the floor, choosing one and relaxing atop it herself. Inside the kitchen, a faint *pomf* let Twilight know her plan was working.