The fire had a merry crackle, the flames stoked by the balmy breeze. The sun was little more than a dimming light on the horizon. The campsite was secluded in a little grove of trees and there was a hoof cranked water pump just for travelers. Cloudy Quartz, Limestone, and Pinkie Pie were preparing dinner. Meanwhile, Igneous had a quiet chat with Marble about her finds at the bookstore and the department store.
A setup that left Tarnish and Maud alone with one another, sitting a short distance away from the others. Maud stared into the fire while Tarnish stared at Maud, doing nothing to hide his wide eyed expression of adoration.
“So, uh, Maud… I know you don’t like sweets and stuff, but you have to like something… what is it that you like? What do you eat that makes you happy?” Tarnish asked in soft voice as he leaned in a little closer to Maud.
The stoic earth pony blinked once, then a second time, and with the third blink, she turned her head. “Nopony has ever bothered asking me that before.”
“Nopony?” Tarnish’s nostrils flared in surprise.
“Nopony.” Maud looked into Tarnished Teapot’s eyes. “Pinkie Pie and I make rock candy and she gives me some of the rock candy and I save them because they are special to me. But I never eat them. But I treasure them because they come from Pinkie.”
“So that makes you happy?” Tarnish asked.
“Very much so,” Maud replied.
“There has to be a food that you eat that makes you happy though.” Tarnish found that he was having a little trouble breathing. His barrel felt tight. Being this close to Maud was having a powerful effect upon him.
“I like minerals and different types of salts. I collect salts. Like black lava salt, pink sea salt, red rock salt, smoked salt, salt roasted in bamboo, truffle salts… I love salts. Not only do they taste good, but I like looking at them. Pink sea salt is pretty. And I like salt licks. More than just the common salt licks though, I like gourmet mineral salt licks when and if I can find them.”
It was hard to believe that Maud was being enthusiastic about this conversation when she sounded so very bored, but Tarnish was learning to live with the seeming contradiction.
“So Tarnish, you said you learned something from that book and you wanted to share it with me?” Maud asked.
“There was… but I can’t remember what it was,” Tarnish replied.
“You seem distracted. Are you in pain? Is your leg bothering you?” Maud reached out her hoof and with a gentle touch she placed it upon Tarnish’s cast.
Shaking his head, Tarnish took a deep breath. “That isn’t what has me distracted.” Maud’s eyelashes were distracting. So were her eyes. He leaned forwards a little more and his mouth became as dry as a desert. He could feel Maud’s warm breath on his muzzle. She was close now, mere inches away.
“Oh look at them! They’re adorable!” Pinkie Pie cried, pointing with her hoof at Tarnished Teapot and Maud. “Gazing into each others’ eyes with such longing!”
Startled, Tarnish jerked his head back and sucked in a deep breath. He choked, his throat closing up on him, and he began to cough. After coughing several times, he saw stars in his vision.
“Tarnish?” Maud peered at the colt beside her, worried, wondering if he was okay. She glanced over at her sister and then back at Tarnish. After a few moments, Tarnish’s coughing seemed to subside.
“Dinner is almost done… fire roasted corn, canned chili beans, and cornbread with little spicy pepper bits cooked in a cast iron camp oven… mmm, mmm, mmm!” Pinkie Pie announced.
Igneous raised an eyebrow. “Did somepony say chili beans?” The older stallion licked his lips and then turned his attention upon the fire where dinner was cooking. “Wait, what sort of chili did we buy, anyhow?”
“Monty Puma’s Revenge Chili,” Cloudy Quartz replied.
“The kind with the grinning big cat on the can?” Igneous grinned. “I like that kind. It’s spicy.” His grin became a frown. “Too bad it stays spicy though. Just as hot going out as it is going in—”
“Igneous!” Cloudy looked at her husband and her lips puckered into a grimace of disapproval. “I swear, Igneous, you and Pinkamena both…”
“We both like spicy foods?” Igneous looked at his wife with a blank expression. “Look, she takes after you in every other way, she has to get something from me. She’s beautiful like you, she’s smart like you, she’s a good cook like you—”
“Oh hush, you old flatterer.” Cloudy made a dismissive gesture with her hoof and turned her head away from her husband. She would never admit it, but her husband’s words had left her more than a little flustered and her heart was racing in her barrel. She glanced over at Maud and Cloudy began to hope that Maud would know this sort of happiness, something that all mothers hoped for their daughters. Even if Maud would have trouble showing it, Cloudy wanted her daughter to be happy.
“You know, I happen to be the luckiest stallion in all of Equestria. I have me a pretty wife, she has given me pretty daughters, I live on a farm that is paid off and profitable.” The old stallion narrowed his eyes and looked over in Tarnish and Maud’s direction. “I’d say it’s about time I had something to show for all my hard work.” He glanced over at his wife and saw that she was looking at Maud and Tarnish with a hopeful, happy look in her eye.
Pulling the cast iron lid off of the camp oven, Pinkie Pie leaned her head down and sniffed. She closed her eyes and let out low moan of pleasure. “Spicy cornbread… spicy!” She pulled out a spatula and used it to prod the cornbread. “It’s done!” She stabbed down with the edge of the metal spatula, cut the cornbread into wedges, and then flipped them into waiting bowls. A ladle was produced and Pinkie Pie began filling up the bowls with steaming hot chili beans in a rich, smoky red-brown sauce.
“Is that a tomato sauce?” Tarnish asked. He licked his lips and peered at the food being prepared. “Cause that don’t look like tomato sauce.”
“It isn’t,” Pinkie Pie replied. “It’s pure smoked chili pepper puree. That’s what makes it spicy.” Pinkie Pie ladled more chili into the bowls. “Welcome to a Pie family tradition, we’re glad to have you with us, Tarnished Teapot.”
“Mmm, spicy food,” Maud said in a disinterested monotone. “I think I’m in the mood for a little heat.”