//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Cooking // Story: A Change In Fashion // by Kevinltk //------------------------------// The sweet scent of sugar saturated the apartment. Glamour was in the kitchen area, preparing the kitchenware, utensils, and the necessary ingredients for another attempt at a recipe she had been working on. It had been a few days since she agreed to stay with Coco, and with her bits not going into a new home, Glamour decided to use some of it to try and learn a recipe she really liked. Glamour placed a kettle into the sink, and as she filled it up with water, she sifted through several saucepans that were in the sink. One had white lumps stuck to its surface, while another was charred completely black. She found one that had survived her cooking, and she rinsed it as the water in the kettle reached the halfway point. The kettle was then placed on the stove, and the burner was turned on, slowly heating up the water. The recently-washed saucepan floated out of the sink in a green aura and settled on the burner next to the kettle as Glamour went to the refrigerator. She was glad that she had her magic, allowing her to multitask and be more precise, and after spending so much time in the kitchen, it was clear she needed every bit of help she could get. She opened the refrigerator door, reaching in to grab a milk carton. She shook the carton, hearing the liquid slosh inside and noting that it was more than half-empty. She glanced at the nearby trash can, letting out a sigh upon the sight of several empty milk cartons. She only had enough milk for one more try at the recipe. Glamour closed the refrigerator, trotted back to the saucepan, and carefully poured the milk into it. Despite her caution, the milk splashed into the pan, making her wince as a few drops flew out and onto the counter. Saving the mess for later, she used her magic to grab a nearby spoon and made it stir the liquid as she turned on the second burner under the saucepan. After a few stirs, she shifted her magic to a fresh bag of white chocolate chips on the counter. The bag floated over to her, and a small hole was ripped open on the top. She gingerly poured the chocolate into a measuring cup, bending down a bit and squinting her eyes as she watched the white chips rise. When the chocolate rose to a certain level, she put the bag back on the counter and then dumped the cup of chocolate into the heated milk. Glamour picked the spoon back in her mouth and began stirring the milk and chocolate, a small smile blossoming on her face as she took in the sweet scent of the mixture. Hopefully, this attempt would allow her to actually taste the finished product. After she was sure all the chocolate lumps had melted, she turned down the saucepan’s burner to a temperature that would not burn her hard work… again. After double checking the water and milk, she moved farther down the kitchen counter where a manual coffee grinder, a coffee press, and a bag of coffee beans sat. She scooped some coffee beans into the opening on top of the grinder and then began turning the crank with her magic, watching the coarse, brown powder collect in the container below. When she had enough, she dumped the ground coffee into the press, right as the kettle began whistling. Quickly using her magic, Glamour turned off the burner, brought the kettle over to her, and poured the hot water into the press, mixing the water and coffee grounds together into a brown slush. Once there was enough water, she set down the kettle and placed the lid on the press. Glamour wiped her brow with her hoof and let out a relieved sigh. The recipe was almost done, and all she had to do now was wait a few minutes for the coffee to steep. As she stood there, her eyes wandered around the kitchen counter until it stopped right on the bag of white chocolate chips. She stared at the sweets for a moment before her eyes shifted to the left and then the right, scanning the apartment. Nopony but her was around. Coco was not home at the moment, and Glamour was glad her friend was not here. She wanted to surprise Coco with the finished recipe upon her return, but it also meant there were no witnesses around to watch the heinous and downright despicable deed she was about to do. Glamour’s horn lit up, and the bag of chocolate floated towards her. After another glance around the room, she scooped up a hooffull of white chocolate chips and shoved them into her mouth, moaning in delight as the flavor hit her tongue. And then the front door opened. “Glamour, I’m…” Coco walked in and paused when she saw Glamour with her hoof still in her mouth. “What are you doing?” “Noofin,” came Glamour’s muffled reply. Her hoof slowly withdrew from her tightly-sealed mouth. Her cheeks were bulging a bit from the unchewed chocolate. “What’s in your mouth?” Coco asked, her gaze drifting down a bit to the floating bag in front of Glamour. “Noofin,” Glamour repeated as the bag slowly orbited her body to hide behind her back. “Okay…” Coco’s eyes shifted her gaze to the left of Glamour and widened. “Uhh…” Glamour stepped between Coco’s gaze and the mess she made, but there was no way she would be able to hide all the white and brown puddles and stains littering the kitchen. “I—” A blob of white dropped off the ceiling and onto Glamour’s head. Coco chuckled, and she grabbed a towel to wipe the mess off Glamour. “Go ahead and finish the chocolate in your mouth so that you can actually talk.” Glamour grinned sheepishly before she put the bag of chocolate on the counter while quickly finishing off the chocolate in her. “I, uh, was going to clean the mess up,” she explained when her mouth was free. “Were you making something?” Coco asked as she took a sniff. “Coffee?” “Yeah, I am. It’s for the—” Glamour’s eyes bulged. “Ahh! The coffee!” She quickly turned back to the press and pushed down on the top, filtering the coffee. She popped open the lid, dipped the spoon into the coffee, and tasted it. “Not too bitter. Finally, got it right,” Glamour muttered. She poured the rest of the coffee into the saucepan, mixing it with the chocolate milk. As she stirred the light-brown liquid, her horn lit up again, opening a cabinet door and floating out two mugs to the counter beside her. After a few more good stirs, she turned off the stove and carefully poured the finished recipe into the two mugs. “Is this what I think it is?” Coco asked, walking over to Glamour to peer down at the drinks. Glamour responded by levitating one of the mugs to Coco. She silently watched as Coco glanced at her for a second before taking the offered cup in her hooves. Glamour ran through all of the cooking steps in her head, and she was almost sure that she did not miss anything this time. When Coco slowly brought the drink to her lips, Glamour held her breath and leaned forward, awaiting Coco’s judgement. Coco sipped the drink, and her eyes widened a bit. “Oh my, it’s good. Very good,” she praised before taking a longer drink. “Yes! I can make white chocolate mocha!” Glamour cried out, adding a few hoof pumps for good measure. Coco giggled. “Congratulations, Glamour, but should I be worried that you can make it now?” Glamour cocked her head. “Why would you be worried?” “Remember the first time you had white chocolate mocha?” “One time! It was one time! I bet there are other ponies who had the same thing happen to them… Maybe…” Coco laughed a bit more. “Regardless, you did a great job, Glamour.” She looked back to the kitchen area. “I can see that you worked hard on it.” Glamour chuckled sheepishly. “I just wanted to try my hoof at cooking, something a bit more advanced than toast or cereal. Since we both like white chocolate mocha, I decided to try making that. I went to Cappuccino for some advice. She recommended the grinder and press for good coffee, so I bought those from the coffee shop. The rest of of the stuff was bought from the grocery store. “It’s a good thing I bought extras of all the ingredients because as you can see…” Glamour waved her hoof at the kitchen cataclysm. “It took me a bunch of tries before I finally got the hang of it. I was hoping to clean everything up before you got home, but uh, you came back early.” “The theater only needed me to help with some costume repairs. They probably could have done it without me, but it was an emergency, and they needed it finished as soon as possible. Even though I’m still on vacation with them, I’m glad I could help. To top it all off, I got a pleasant surprise when I came home.” Coco smiled and took another sip of her mocha. Glamour could not help but puff out her chest a bit with pride over her success. She grabbed the other mug and took a drink of her creation, letting out a hum of delight as she savored the sweet flavor. It tasted just as good, if not better, than the coffee shop, probably because it was made by her own hooves. She could not wait to try making it again and adding other stuff to the mix. “Oh, do you have any plans now?” Coco asked. “Just cleaning up the kitchen, but I can do that later if you have something in mind.” “Well, I met Grace on the way back. She has today off, so we decided to have lunch together. I was going to go meet her at the cafe after I dropped off my things at home. Would you like to come?” Glamour nodded. “Sure, it will be great to see her again.” After they finished their drinks and Coco unpacked her things, the two of them left the apartment and headed to lunch. As they made their way through the streets of Manehattan, Glamour noticed some ponies stopping to stare at her. A few ponies even waved at her once she caught their gaze. The same thing happened earlier when she was buying the cooking supplies, but she recalled what happened at the restaurant and guessed that those ponies attended the fashion show as well. They eventually arrived at the cafe. It was the same one that Glamour had her first “date” with Coco. It seemed like there were no other ponies at the cafe, other than Grace. The secretary mare was sitting down in the outdoor area, reading a magazine that was lying flat on the table. “Hey, Coco, I see you brought the superstar with you,” Grace greeted with a smirk when they sat down at the table. “Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence, Miss Glamour.” Glamour rolled her eyes. “Hello to you too, Grace. I haven’t seen you since the show. Thanks for coming to that, by the way.” “No problem. I was kind of hoping for things to get more exciting, like explosions or something, but it was still pretty fun to watch you strut your stuff.” “What are you reading, Grace?” Coco asked. “Oh, just a little something I picked up at a newsstand today,” Grace replied as she held up the magazine. Glamour’s eyes widened, immediately recognizing the magazine since it was her image that was dominating the cover. “Photo Finish’s magazine is finally out?” “Looks like it,” Coco said. “Oh my, are you excited, Glamour? A lot more ponies are going to know who you are now.” “That would explain why more ponies were staring at me today.” A shrill shriek startled them, and they quickly turned their heads to see a pink unicorn in a waitress outfit rushing over to their table. Glamour vaguely remembered that she was the same waitress from their first visit. “Oh my goodness! It’s you! It’s really you!” the waitress squealed, bouncing up and down. “You’re Glamour the model!” Glamour slowly nodded. “Uh, yeah, I am.” “I can’t believe it’s you! C-could I maybe get an autograph?” “I guess if you have a pen and—” The waitress immediately pulled out a notepad, ripping off a sheet of paper and giving it to Glamour, along with a pen and a huge smile on her face. Glamour stared at the items for a few seconds before taking the pen in her magic. Sticking out her tongue slightly of the side of her mouth, she tried to write her name using big, exaggerated strokes to make it fancy-looking. The result was an illegible mess that barely looked like her name. In other words, it was similar to most of the signatures she had observed during her travels. “Oh my gosh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” the waitress cheered as Glamour passed back the pen and paper. She hugged the autograph to her chest and squealed. “I don’t know how to thank you for this!” “Uh, how about taking our orders?” Grace suggested with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, of course!” The waitress promptly stood at attention, her magic holding the pen right above the notepad. “What will it be?” After the three of them placed their orders, the happy waitress bowed several times to Glamour before literally bouncing back to the kitchen. “Dang, so that’s what it’s like to hang out with a famous pony,” Grace said. “Pretty soon, you’re going to need to carry around a stick just to beat back all the groupies. What’s it like to be famous, Glamour?” “Well, I don’t feel any different, but I guess it is kind of weird that a bunch of strangers know about me and come up to me, even going as far as giving me special treatment. For example, I got a private table at Le Fine—” Coco let out an amused sigh. “Le Foin, Glamour.” Glamour’s nose scrunched up. “I am never going to get that right.” “Whoa, whoa , whoa!” Grace cried out. “Le Foin? The fancy restaurant Le Foin? You actually ate there?” “Um, Glamour actually took me to dinner there,” Coco answered with a smile and a little red in her cheeks. “Wow, and you can afford that now, Glamour?” Glamour nodded. “I got my first paycheck from Photo Finish that day, and she paid me a very generous sum.” “So, what I’m hearing is that lunch is on Glamour.” Glamour chuckled. “Why am I not surprised?” “I’m not hearing a no.” “Grace, isn’t that a bit rude?” Coco chided. Glamour rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. “It’s alright, Coco. Yes, lunch is on me. After all, you’re also a friend, and you helped me out quite a few times as well.” “Sweet, free food! Man, I should’ve ordered more,” Grace said with a chuckle. “But in all seriousness, congrats to you, Glamour. I know you had a pretty rough life, and it’s great things are now looking up for you. So, what have you been two up to since the show? Is Photo Finish planning another crazy thing soon?” “She entered Coco in the Fall Fashion Fantasia for me to model in,” Glamour replied. “She said it would make for great publicity.” Grace frowned and looked to Coco. “Are you okay with that, Coco? You do know who’s going to be in that contest as well, right?” Coco sighed and nodded. “I know, and I admit that I’m nervous to be going against Suri, but I guess it was going to happen someday. At least if I do this now, Glamour will be there to help me through it.” “Of course I will,” Glamour said as she patted Coco’s shoulder. “And don’t worry about Suri. If she tries anything on us, she’ll be sorry.” Coco shook her head. “Don’t do anything drastic, Glamour. She doesn’t deserve that.” “She doesn’t? Coco, she cheats, and I don’t like the way she treats you either.” “I know, but still, she did take me in, and she taught me a lot of things. I still owe her.” Glamour frowned. “Well, if you ask me, I don’t think you owe her anything, not for what she’s putting you through.” “Well, whatever happens, just be careful you two,” Grace warned. “That Suri is one sneaky mare, and the Fall Fashion Fantasia is pretty huge. Still, if you two pull it off, I bet Photo Finish will be happy and give you another big check. Guess it won’t be long until you move out of Coco’s apartment, get your own place, and why did you two just look at each other?” “Well, uh, Glamour and I talked about it, and we both agreed that we would like to continue living with each other for the time being,” Coco explained. Grace stared at Glamour and Coco for a few moments. She cleared her throat and said, “So let me get this straight, not only are you and Glamour are working together, you guys went to the fanciest restaurant in Manehattan, and now you two are actually living together by choice?” “Uh, yes?” Grace blinked a couple of times. “Wow, Coco. When you want something, you want it. You went from stalker to marefriend really quick.” “G-Grace!” Coco cried out, her face burning brightly with red. “It’s not like that, Grace,” Glamour said. “After living together for some time, we found that we really enjoyed each other’s company. Combine that with the fact that we’re working together, it would be easier and better for us to stay together. We’re just good friends.” “You sure? You two seem pretty chummy with each other, if you ask me.” Glamour nodded. “You’re actually not the first pony to think we’re marefriends. Our situation is just a bit um… unique.” Grace shrugged. “If you say so. It’s just that you two seem so close, and when you add living together, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you two did end up hooking up.” Glamour sensed a warm, tingly feeling. It was the same spark that she had felt the same day she decided to stay with Coco. Since then, that spark had occasionally poked at her senses, only to fade away before she could identify it. Only this time, the spark remained, and Glamour could sense lust starting to fill the air. She could not pinpoint the source, but with nopony else eating at the cafe, that left only two candidates. Glamour glanced at Grace, who had gone back to idly flipping through the magazine while letting out a yawn. She then turned her gaze to Coco and saw that the designer was staring down at the table, her cheeks still red. Could it be? “Hey, you’re that new model, aren’t you?” a voice asked from behind her. The three mares turned around to see that several stallions were standing right outside the garden wall that bordered the outdoor eating area. They were all staring at Glamour. “I guess you could say that,” Glamour replied slowly. The stallions chuckled and playfully nudged each other before one stallion said, “Do you have a map? Because I’m getting lost in your eyes.” The eyes of all three mares widened, and their jaws dropped before Grace let out a groan. “Seriously?” she grumbled. “This is actually happening?” Glamour continued to look at the stallions. It was obvious where the cloud of lust was coming from now, and she could tell that those stallions did not want just an autograph from her. “Glamour? Why are you staring at them?” Coco spoke up, getting Glamour to turn to her. “You’re not um, interested in any of them, are you?” Glamour shook her head. “No, of course not. I know exactly what they want, and I have no desire to go with any of them. I just want to stay here and have a nice lunch with my friends. Besides, I’m pretty sure Prim Hemline and Photo Finish would not appreciate it if I just went out with a random stallion off the streets either.” Coco breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh good.” Like the adoration she had been feeding off, lust was another pony emotion that changelings could harvest, but Glamour was not too keen on the methods of stirring up a pony’s lust, and she was grateful that she had her career as a model to sustain her. “Are you a magnet? Because I’m attracted to you.” Even if my career attracts some weirdos, Glamour thought to herself as she facehoofed. “If I had to rate you from one to ten, I would rate you a nine because I’m the one you’re missing.” Glamour stood up and turned to the stallions. “Okay, I’m flattered that all of you are um, fans, and I know you all are trying to ask me out on a date, but I am sorry to say that I am not interested. If you would kindly just move on and leave us to our meal, my friends and I would really appreciate it.” “Come on, why not just ask one of us out?” one of the stallions asked with a smirk. “I think she would rather ask all of you to get out,” Grace retorted. “She’s not going out with any of you. Take a hint.” To their dismay, the stallions were unfazed, and the pick up lines kept coming. “I’m not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together.” Grace sighed and turned back to face Glamour and Coco. “Just ignore them. Eventually, those jerks will get the message and leave us alone.” Glamour and Coco nodded, and they all sat in silence, doing their best not to look back at the stallions. “Do you have some gloves? Because you’re hot.” “Somepony call the police because she just stole my heart.” As they continued to weather the cheesy pickup lines, Glamour noticed Coco’s hooves were trembling. “Coco, are you alright?” “I’m fine, Glamour. It’s just kind of hard to have to see this happen to you.” Glamour sighed. “I’m sorry, you two. I guess it’s sort of my fault that lunch is ruined.” “Hey, it’s not your fault,” Grace assured. “You worked hard to get where you are. Don’t let some ponies, like those jerks over there, ruin that for you.” “Can I follow you home?” A stallion cried out. “My parents always told me to follow my dreams.” “I lost my teddy bear. Would you sleep with me instead?” A loud crash echoed through the air as two hooves slammed down on their table. To Glamour’s surprise, Coco was the one who did it as she got up and glared at the stallions. “Alright, listen up! Glamour here is a pony like you and me and deserves to be treated with respect! Yes, she’s beautiful, but she’s also sweet, and caring, and fun, and a fantastic pony all around. She’s not some object to be gawked at and passed around like a trophy, and she’s certainly not interested in any of you ruffians! She has worked too hard to suffer through your pointless babbling, so I suggest you all get out of here and leave us alone before I report all of you to the local authorities for harassment!” Everypony was silent, staring at Coco after her outburst. Eventually, the stallions were the first to move. They grumbled to each other and shot them a few angry glares as they slowly walked away. Coco continued to watch the stallions until they were out of sight. She then let out a loud sigh as she slumped back down into her seat. “Oh… Oh my, I-I don’t know what came over me. I can’t believe I just did that.” “Are you kidding me? That was amazing, Coco!” Grace cheered with a big grin. “You really told those dolts off. It’s about time you showed you got some fight in you.” She leaned over and nudged Coco. “See? Even Glamour is so impressed with you, she’s speechless.” “Glamour?” Coco glanced at her roommate and saw that Glamour was indeed staring at her with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. “Um, sorry for jumping in all of a sudden and screaming. I just had enough of them treating you like that.” Glamour blinked a couple of times as her mouth slowly closed. She shook her head and smiled. “No, that’s alright. I’ve been encouraging you to stand up for yourself, and you did just that… Well, sort of, since you were sticking up for me instead.” She scooted over to Coco and hugged her. “Thanks for all of that.” Coco smiled as she returned the hug. “You’re welcome, Glamour.” “D’aww,” Grace uttered as she watched them. “That’s pretty sweet. Now, kiss!” Glamour and Coco quickly ended the hug and turned away from each other, red creeping up on both of their faces as Grace laughed. As Grace and Coco started talking to each other again, Glamour sighed softly. It was the first time she had seen Coco ever get angry, even when she went up against Suri. She had been encouraging Coco to be more confident and stand up for herself, but Glamour did not expect that it would happen in her defense. And yet that was still not what surprised Glamour the most. Right as Coco started her rant, Glamour felt that spark again, and this time, the spark lingered and ignited. She was able to quickly recognize it as the most potent energy source for changelings, and it was coming off Coco. Now, as she stared at Coco, it felt like there was a constant wellspring of energy emanating from her friend. There was no mistake what was happening, and a small frown sneaked onto Glamour’s face. Coco was falling in love with her.