Combat, Development, and Cooking Assignments
“Is she done yet?” Discord half-wondered, half-whined to himself again as he tried to refrain from drumming his fingers on the table. His surprise at Twilight’s earlier reaction had quickly given way to boredom since she was still quietly crying her eyes out. He had nothing to work with; there was nothing worth making a moving image of or having a laugh at her expense when she was just sitting there sniffling and barely crying, especially with Fluttershy at her side. “Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike,” he reminded himself, remembering that the other two had also been trying to help calm the mare for the last several minutes when he looked again.
After another minute, Twilight took a shaky breath and opened her red-tinged eyes, which stopped running shortly afterwards. “Do you feel better now, Twily?” Shining asked after a moment.
Twilight gave one last sniffle before saying, “A little.”
Spike commented, “That was actually, uh, pretty self-contained, Twilight. Very… poised crying.” Twilight looked down at him while he was talking; she then glanced up at Discord with a raised eyebrow.
The draconequus looked around before innocently asking, “What are you looking at me for, Twilight? You see something you like all of a sudden?”
Shining buried his face in his hooves as he grumbled, “Please don’t ever say that again…”
Celestia turned back to Twilight and asked, “So your training began the following day, Twilight?”
The lavender pony replied, “That afternoon actually, Princess.”
Mr. Sparkle looked surprised. “You started that same day? That seems… well, it certainly seems fast to go from, uh, laying someone to rest to going back to work right away,” he said.
Twilight replied, “Well, Miller was all about expanding the business and Snake was determined to raise a strong army. There was a lot of work to do on and off Mother Base as a result, so there were times where it was pretty rare for there to be time for other things.”
Applejack asked, “So they kinda threw ya into their trainin’ routine and expected ya ta be able to keep up?”
Twilight said, “Well, I was already used to how things worked on Mother Base and the staff didn’t want to push me too hard at first, but yes, like everyone else, I was expected to look after myself and do what was expected of me. Watching the Combat Unit train was one thing, actually being a part of it was another. That first day was plenty packed; I learned about the basics of CQC, how to handle weapons, their fascination with cardboard…”
Luna interrupted with a raised eyebrow, “Cardboard?”
Twilight nodded, “Yes. Everyone who served under Snake learned to share his love for cardboard boxes. Even I got into it…”
Rarity spoke, “Forgive me, Twilight, but I fail to see how anyone could find a simple box to be intriguing or fascinating. How does one see it as such?”
Twilight smirked, “You’ve never seen someone go to bed with a box over them, Rarity. Or better yet, forget the bed entirely and just sleep in the box.”
Rainbow let out a laugh and asked, “Who does that?”
Twilight replied, “The same people who have an entire section devoted to researching, developing, and improving cardboard box technology.”
Spike looked up at her skeptically. “You’re kidding about all of this, right Twilight?” he asked. In response, Twilight looked down at her saddlebags and used her magic to open the main bag. For a minute, there was silence as she went through it, but she soon brought out almost a dozen photographs in her grip. Spike looked up at Twilight as she looked them over, though he did notice Fluttershy looking over the alicorn’s shoulder at the photos, her eyes widening slightly in surprise at whatever she saw. Twilight selected one after several seconds and brought it down to Spike before turning it towards him. The baby dragon took the picture in his claws and looked down at it, a stupefied look crossing his face after a second. “What the…?” he managed to say.
“That would be the most basic cardboard box they had on Mother Base,” Twilight said. The picture showed an MSF soldier running with a cardboard box over him, the lower half of his body sticking out from under the front of the box. “They made the boxes big enough for two people to use. …I guess that’s why they called them Love Boxes?” she shrugged. She looked back up at her pictures and selected another, bringing it down.
Spike took the picture and looked at it. A moment later, he tried to contain himself before he burst out laughing. “I-Is that a…?!” he breathed.
Twilight smirked, “Cardboard tank? You got it. And that’s not all.” As she selected from the rest of her pictures and they were passed around for everyone to get their jollies from, she thought back to her first session at the old MSF camp.
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The wood underneath Twilight creaked slightly as she sat in front of the old cabin near the beach, watching from a distance as the experienced members of MSF demonstrated their CQC techniques to the new recruits. Said demonstrations involved the recruits trying to attack, only to be stopped and subsequently have their attack turned back on them in quick succession, usually ending up on the ground from being thrown. Twilight was glad she was watching from far away; it looked rough and probably sounded pretty painful up close.
After clearing it with Miller and having her officially added to the Mother Base staff list under false documents that included a human photo that she helped them base on her appearance in the other human world (though she kept that piece of intel to herself) and the fake name of Jem Hollo, Snake had asked her to come out here, to the Barranquilla Coast of Colombia, for her first lessons in self-defense. He’d told her to watch the men practice and he would get her when their session was almost over, saying that the rest of the men would benefit from it as well.
Twilight wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she’d arrived, but she suddenly heard the cabin door open and close behind her. A bit startled, she looked back over her shoulder and saw Snake stepping out, wearing olive drab pants, no top, and a new gray bandanna. He looked over at her and said, “It’s about time. Let’s go down there.” He turned the rest of his body towards her and was about to go down the small steps when he noticed Twilight was gaping at him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Twilight quickly shut her mouth and uttered, “N-Nothing.” She’d never seen Snake lacking an article of clothing before and she was admittedly amazed at how he really looked. The fatigues he usually wore clearly did a good job of covering up his muscles while allowing him to move unhindered. She had to wonder if the lack of a top enabled him to move even faster. Still, her view was a bit marred by one thing. “I was just wondering… how did you get that scar?” she asked, pointing a hoof at the ‘S’-shaped line running from the upper part of his chest down to above his waist.
Snake looked down and pointed at the line as he replied, “Oh, this? It’s not real. I made it myself to hide a jigsaw where no one would be able to find it. Came in handy when I was captured.” Twilight was a bit creeped out by this. Didn’t that mean he had basically hidden a tool under his skin?
She shook her head to get the thought out and asked, “How come you’re not wearing a shirt, Snake?”
The man grunted, “It gets hot sometimes. And this is a way to show the new recruits, especially you, what you could be up against.” Without another word, he turned and walked down the steps, heading for the beach. Twilight stood up and hurried after him, slowing down as she fell into step behind him.
As they came down from the hill, one of the instructors noticed Snake and called, “Boss!” This caught the attention of everyone else on the beach and they all stopped what they were doing, some standing straight up at attention and saluting while others excitedly called for him. Twilight was amazed at the sway that Snake had over his men, how much they admired and respected him. It was quite a sight, one that made her feel very small and insignificant by comparison.
One of the other soldiers soon noticed Twilight and called, “Oh! Twilight!” Although she didn’t get nearly as strong a reaction, the other soldiers did notice her and even Snake turned to look at the pony sitting behind him, who awkwardly waved a hoof and smiled nervously.
Another soldier asked, “Boss, why is she here?”
Snake turned his head to look at him, “I invited her here.” He then addressed all of his men, “Starting today, Twilight is an official member of MSF. She’s going to be regularly reassigned to the different Units, including the Combat Unit. When she’s not helping with support at Mother Base, she is going to be learning the basics of CQC like the rest of you. Don’t treat her any differently because of what she is. Here, she is a soldier like the rest of you and is to be treated as such. I’d better not see anyone taking it easy on her just because she’s a pony; that’s not going to help her learn to defend herself better. Understood?” Everyone nodded in reply, prompting him to say, “Good. Now… who wants to be the first to show me what they’ve learned?”
One of the new recruits, a man codenamed Mosquito, was quick to say, “Ooh! Me, Boss! Pick me!” Snake nodded at him and he turned to the soldier next to him, grabbing him.
He was quickly stopped when Snake asked, “Hey! What are you doing?”
Mosquito looked back at him in confusion. “You said to show you what I’ve learned, Boss,” he said.
Snake replied, “By that, I meant I want to see it firsthand. Come at me.” Mosquito looked nervous at that, but he soon noticed that everyone else was looking at him as well and stepped forward. He nervously stood in front of Snake for a few seconds before running towards him slowly, holding his left arm out. Snake easily grabbed his arm with his right hand and caught his left arm as he was trying to bring it around, twisting the left arm back and causing Mosquito to cry out before Snake flipped him over, throwing him onto his back next to Twilight. Snake looked back at him and remarked, “You’ve got a long way to go, soldier.”
Twilight looked down at the groaning man for a few moments, looking up when Snake asked, “Can I get one of the instructors now?” She saw one of them step forward, seeming more eager than the recruit about facing Snake. He quickly stepped forward swinging, Snake holding up his arms to block him. The instructor managed to last a lot longer than the recruit, a couple of seconds by Twilight’s estimates, before he ended up being thrown onto his front behind Snake. As he picked himself up and Mosquito began to sit up, Snake looked back at them and ordered, “Egret, Mosquito, start working with her. Get her up to speed.” Without another word, he faced forward and gestured for someone else to face him.
Egret, the instructor, stood up and dusted the sand off. He then looked at Twilight and asked, “All right, Twilight, I take it you’ve seen the way CQC is performed?”
Twilight replied, “Yeah, I was watching earlier, and I’ve seen it performed before.”
Egret nodded, “Good. Then we can skip the demonstration.” He pointed at Mosquito, who had just finished standing up, and said, “He’s your target.”
The new guy looked surprised at this. “What?! Why me?!” he asked.
“Because the Boss said for us to work with Twilight. Besides, you haven’t been thrown around enough today,” Egret answered simply. He looked back at Twilight, “We’ll start by having you develop your technique. Uh, you can use your wings I suppose, but no magic. You have to put your, uh, forelegs and back into learning this before you can work out how to add that into the equation. Start by grabbing him and throwing him down.”
Twilight nodded unsurely, “Uh, okay.” She walked up to Mosquito and looked up at him, trying to figure out how she was going to do this. After a couple of seconds, she spread her wings and flapped them to get just off the ground before reaching forward and wrapping her forelegs around his waist. She then began to grunt as she tried to lift his feet off the ground.
She stopped a few seconds later when Egret said, “Stop!” When she looked at him, he asked, “What are you doing?”
She replied in a bit of an annoyed tone, “I’m trying to do what you told me.”
Egret replied, “Not like that. That’s not CQC.”
Twilight let go of Mosquito and asked, “How is it not? You guys were picking each other up earlier like this.”
Egret explained, “The way you’re doing it is the same as trying to lift a box off the ground. And what we were doing earlier involved taking advantage of what the other guy was doing, but you can apply it to someone who’s standing still as well. What you need to do is grab an opponent in such a way that you can restrict their movements and be able to get them in position for what you plan to do next. Most importantly, you need to be able to apply motion and force to your actions. You can’t treat it like it’s move-in day.” Mosquito let out a snicker at that and Twilight glared at him, suddenly pushing forward with her wings and pressing her hooves against his chest, pushing him onto his back with a grunt and standing on top of him. “All right, that’s better, but let’s keep working on it,” Egret said.
For the next several minutes, they continued to work on Twilight’s CQC fundamentals to the continuous background noise of soldiers hitting the ground and crying out. For all she had seen and learned, Twilight was having difficulty performing the required action without wanting to stop and focus on what she was doing. After a couple of more unsuccessful attempts, she finally flew at Mosquito, put her legs on both sides of his right shoulder, and swung up as hard as she could with both hooves. The man was lifted off his feet with a cry and ended up on his back with a pony on top of his chest once more. Egret said after a moment, “Yeah, that’s more like it. Good job!”
Twilight panted a bit due to her exertion before she asked, “Really? I did good?”
The feeling of joy that was beginning to rise up within her was dashed when she heard Snake say, “Not good enough.” She turned to see him standing a short distance away. Looking past him, she saw that, in the time it had taken for her to take down Mosquito, he had taken down all of the other recruits and instructors, all of them beginning to pick themselves up.
She looked back up at him and started, “S-Snake, I…” He looked away from her and walked over to Egret. He then grabbed him and pulled him to his chest before swinging him around and throwing him down.
He then looked back at her and said, “This training can make all the difference on the battlefield. You can’t be hesitating or overthinking it; when it’s life or death, you have to be able to act right away. You might have some skill, but you’ve got a long way to go.” He then looked at everyone else and called, “All right, session’s over. Start cooling down and we’ll head back to Mother Base afterwards.” With that, he turned and started making his way up to the cabin.
Twilight was suddenly pushed onto her back by Mosquito as he began to sit up. He then looked at the pony lying on her back and said, “Oh, sorry, Twilight! I didn’t mean to push you that hard. …Don’t take what the Boss said too hard. He’s tough because he cares. We’re both just starting out; I wouldn’t mind being your sparring partner for future sessions if you don’t mind being mine. We can get stronger together.”
Despite his words, Twilight turned her head after he finished to look at Snake’s retreating form. What he’d said had stung; she almost felt as bad as if Celestia had chastised her. She knew what Snake was capable of and that this was no laughing matter, but she didn’t think she would have to contend with more than just physical difficulties when she agreed to become a part of Snake’s army. She knew at that point that she had another reason to improve herself: to prove to him that she could change and that he could count on her to take care of herself when the need arose.
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Twilight was brought out of her reminiscing when the laughter of the others died down and Shining asked, “Twilight? Is that… did you guys really use cardboard boxes to sneak around?”
As she levitated her photos back, Twilight replied, “Not all the time, but for some guys, it was a regular loadout item for assignments.”
Rainbow asked, “What, even if they had to go to a jungle or something?” At Twilight’s nod, she said, “I think a cardboard box would stick out anywhere that wasn’t with a bunch of other boxes, but a box sitting in the middle of the jungle? I’m pretty sure no one would fall for that.”
Twilight replied, “I thought so too, Rainbow, but then I actually tried it. Turns out most people don’t give a cardboard box a second look… unless it moves on its own or sprouts legs. But even then, they don’t always immediately get that someone’s hiding underneath. Strange as it may sound, a cardboard box really is the last word when it comes to espionage.”
Applejack asked, “So, uh… ya mentioned that y’all looked into improvin’ boxes, right? How do ya ‘improve’ a cardboard box?”
Twilight shrugged, “Well, they added things to certain boxes. Extra features. Like the cardboard tank? The original one wasn’t much different from a regular box, but the upgraded versions came with rounds that the ‘gunner’ could fire out of the turret.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow, “And even that people would look at and just walk past?” Twilight nodded in reply.
Pinkie asked, “So when was your first time working in the lab?”
Twilight answered, “Later that evening.”
Spike asked, “What?! You had your first training session AND your first time working in research in the same day? Sounds like a really busy day to me…”
Twilight said, “Well, Miller just invited me to come down with after dinner. I told you we sometimes worked in the lab together. He thought me working down there would be a better way for me to contribute than being part of the Combat Unit, so he wanted to get me acquainted with the lab and everyone working in it. Of course, they wanted to make sure that it was okay for me to work in there.”
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Miller was laughing as he and Twilight walked on the connecting bridge towards the center of Mother Base, the lavender alicorn having recounted what she did earlier that afternoon to him. “It’s not that funny, Miller,” Twilight groaned, her cheeks turning red.
The man stopped laughing and caught his breath before saying, “I’m sorry, Twilight, it’s just… This is exactly what I warned the Boss he might have to deal with when he put you on the Combat Unit. Teaching CQC, a fighting style that’s best done by someone with hands, to a creature with hooves? I can’t imagine how he expected that to go.”
Twilight argued, “Hey, I’m able to grab things with my hooves! You’ve seen me do it!”
Miller replied, “I know, and I have, but I doubt Snake has. He’s probably only seen you picking things up with your magic or not holding things the way you usually do with your hooves.”
Twilight conceded, “Well, I guess…”
Miller nodded, “And he started you out in the Combat Unit without even knowing that. Kind of makes me wonder what he might try to do with a regular horse.”
Twilight spoke, “Well, it doesn’t matter. He made it clear what he expects of me and I intend to live up to it! I’ll prove that I can be a soldier like my brother! I’ll do much better tomorrow to prove it! I can… no, I won’t be able to replace Wolf, but I’ll sure try to be the kind of soldier he was! That’s what he was and that’s…”
Miller suddenly came to a stop, put his right hand in front of her, and loudly said, “Hey, Twilight! Stop rambling and calm down!” Twilight’s muzzle ended up coming into contact with the palm of his hand and it caused her to stop and look up at him. “I know Wolf was in the Combat Unit and we all miss him, but you shouldn’t have to feel like that’s the only way to keep his memory alive. There’s more to being a soldier than just being able to fight, especially in this business. It helps to be ready and able to do more than what’s asked of you. That’s why I asked you to come with me to see our new R&D division; this might be a better fit for you than the Combat Unit,” he explained.
Twilight nodded unsurely, “Okay, but… I can still continue with that training, right?”
Miller replied, “Of course. As long as the Boss has the idea in his head, I’m sure he’ll change your assignment to the Combat Unit any time you want.” With that, the two started walking again, making their way to the struts housing the R&D section.
A small group of the R&D staff were standing around one of the work tables looking at a set of blueprints for a new missile launcher when Miller and Twilight walked into their lab. They picked their heads up when Miller announced, “Men! At attention!”
The soldiers immediately turned towards the entrance and stood at attention saying, “Commander Miller!” One of the soldiers standing off to the side noticed Twilight after a moment and awkwardly added, “And… Twilight?”
Miller nodded, “That’s right, men. From now on, until she goes home, Twilight is not just going to be living alongside you; she’s going to be working with you too. We’re planning to move her around regularly so for the time being, she won’t permanently be working here in R&D, but you can expect her to be assigned to work with you from time to time.”
One of the soldiers, the apparent head of the group, stepped forward and asked, “She will? But Commander Miller, sir! As you know, we do hands-on work here. How can she help us out? She has hooves.”
Miller gave the man a stern look from behind his sunglasses, “Don’t start playing the race card, Donkey. You know we don’t allow that around here. And she doesn’t have to use her hooves to be able to develop like the rest of you. She has magic, remember?”
Donkey argued, “Yeah, but she uses that for like… magic stuff.”
Twilight stepped forward and said, “When you put it like that, you make it sound like I only do magic performances. That’s not the only thing magic is good for in Equestria. We use it for all sorts of things and we even develop improvements and new understandings of magic we already know about, and that’s especially true for the magic of friendship.”
Donkey asked, “All right, but when it comes to developing that requires lots of attention to detail and precise workmanship, how good are you at that? Can you do the work that’s expected of you or are you only good at organizing things for others?”
Twilight became a little unsure at his words, remembering her many failed attempts at helping during her first Winter Wrap-Up. “Well…”
Donkey spoke, “Hang on, I’ve got an idea.” He reached into the holster on his right leg and pulled out a handgun. He held it up in front of his chest for her to see. “The Mark 22 Mod 0, also known as the Hush Puppy. This is our standard tranquilizer gun.” He reached up and placed his left hand on top of the gun, draping his fingers over the side. After a moment, he let out a grunt and began to pull it apart, pulling the slide away from the top of the gun and causing everything, including the trigger, the clip, and the bullet in the chamber, to fall onto the floor. He then dropped the gun and the slide on the floor and gestured, “Go on, grab a table and put it back together. You’re free to use whatever it takes to accomplish that. Your magic, the blueprints we have, us, but you have to do the work yourself. And it has to work when you’re done.”
Twilight looked at the mess on the floor for a moment before looking up at Miller. The man nodded, “Go ahead, Twilight.” She faced forward again and walked over, bending down and using her magic to gather up everything while Donkey turned around and called for everyone to get back to work. Once she had everything, she stood up and carried it to a table that was several tables off to the side from where Donkey and the others were working. As she set everything down, Miller came over next to her and said, “Don’t be upset by the way Donkey’s acting, Twilight. He’s a… well, no, that’s not really accurate. He’s just one of our best R&D people and he tends to make sure everyone who comes here can look after themselves.”
Twilight nodded, “Right, I get that.” She then looked down at the pieces in front of her and looked confused a moment later. “So, um… Uh… Lots of little pieces here…” she muttered to herself.
Miller spoke up, “You might want to start by getting the blueprints for the Mark 22. That’s usually a good place to start. I’ll show you where we keep our blueprints.” He led her over to the wall past the table, where a row of filing cabinets sat. They stopped in front of them and he said, “All right, see what you can find. I’ll be here if you need any help, but I imagine you’ll take to this like a fish to water.” Twilight nodded and stepped forward, starting from the left.
After less than a minute of pulling open several of the cabinets and scanning the folders within, Twilight used her magic to pull one out and looked at it a little closer. “This is the one. Mark 22 Mod 0, the ‘Hush Puppy’,” she said. She flipped the folder open and looked at the documents inside. “There sure are a lot of little screws… I’d better make sure I have everything I need,” she murmured as she turned around and made her way back to her worktable, still looking at the papers. Miller followed her, an intrigued look on his face.
A couple of minutes later, the men were startled out of their work when they heard a gunshot. They all turned to look at Twilight’s table, where they saw the alicorn holding the repaired Mark 22 out in front of her in her hooves. Miller spoke up a second later, “All right. Load the next bullet and do it again just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.” Twilight complied, loading the bullet into the gun’s chamber and firing it at the wall across from her again. Miller nodded, “I’d say you’re done.”
Twilight pulled the gun back a bit and looked down at it. “It really is loud, isn’t it? Especially with a name like Hush Puppy,” she commented.
“Most guns are. That’s why some can have suppressors attached to them,” Miller replied.
The two looked over to see Donkey approaching them. He stopped next to the table and said, “Well, good work, Twilight. I’ll take that back from you now.” Twilight used her magic to float the handgun over to his outstretched hand and he knelt down to put it back in its holster. He then stood up and asked, “What would you say to something a little more… challenging?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “How challenging?”
The man replied, “We’ve got a couple M16 rifles in here that we took apart but ended up not putting back together due to the Boss ordering other development projects that would help him stop Peace Walker. Seems like you put the Mark 22 back together pretty good; now that you know where things are, think you could help us get caught up on our work?”
Twilight nodded, “Sure.”
Miller followed her while Donkey went back to work, saying, “I’m not gonna let you work alone on this, Twilight. Compared to an assault rifle, a handgun’s pretty easy to put together. I’ll help you put them back together to make sure you know how everything fits together.”
Twilight replied, “Okay, Miller.” She headed for the cabinets again while Miller went to retrieve the M4s.
A little while later, Donkey came over to their table and asked, “Commander Miller, Twilight, how are we doing?” While speaking, he looked down at the table and noticed they had all the M16s on it, most of them put back together.
“Just a minute, Donkey. I just have to put the finishing touches on this last one,” Miller said, still leaning over the table.
Donkey was surprised. “You’re nearly finished?” he asked, some of the other soldiers beginning to make their way over as well.
“Once she knows what she’s doing, Twilight’s a pretty good worker,” Miller replied.
Twilight looked up at Donkey and started, “I was actually wondering something while I worked…” She looked down at one of the M16s, “Do you think putting something on top might be a good idea?”
Donkey asked, “What kind of something?”
Twilight answered, “Well, I was thinking like something that would make aiming a little easier, like a scope or something. That might be useful to help new Combat Unit staff improve their aiming. And could something be added on the underside?”
The other soldiers started murmuring amongst themselves. It wasn’t because what Twilight was suggesting was anything revolutionary; they’d had ideas for scopes and other add-ons for the M16 by the time the Boss had sent her and Huey to Mother Base and were already making them, but it was clear to them she had an inventive mind. One of them said, “Twilight, I think you’ll fit right in here.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile happily at that.
A second later, Miller spoke, “There, all finished!” He stood up straight and looked at Twilight and the soldiers. “You’re all finished as well?” When they all nodded, he said, “Good. I think we’ve all earned a little break then. Let’s close up and head over to the Mess Hall for a little something.”
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“…So that kind of sums up my first day on the staff,” Twilight finished.
“Again, it sounds really busy to me,” Spike remarked.
“Sounds like ya really fit in with them researcher guys. Ya still got moved around though, Twilight?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah. I did get to spend the following day in R&D. The rotations started after that. They sent me to the Intel Unit first, where I was able to help some as well. I didn’t really work in the Sick Bay all that often, mainly because I was only allowed to fetch supplies and be an assistant. That was probably for the best. Of course, I also went back to the Combat Unit from time to time,” Twilight explained.
Pinkie piped up, “When did you work in the kitchen? You didn’t mention that!”
Twilight replied, “Uh, I didn’t really go through there at all at first, Pinkie. The first time I did anything in the Mess Hall happened because Amanda and Paz were going to show Cécile how to make gallo pinto and she wanted me to come along.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow, “Make what?”
Twilight repeated, “Gallo pinto. It’s a dish consisting of black frijoles mixed with arroz. …So, beans and rice mixed together.”
Luna asked, “Is that a popular dish out there?”
Twilight answered, “It’s apparently well-known throughout Central America, not just Costa Rica. That’s probably why Amanda knew how to make it.”
Rainbow leaned back with her hooves behind her head, “So how did that go?”
Twilight placed the crook of her right foreleg atop the table and leaned the side of her head against her hoof, “Well, as you can probably guess, I’m well aware of what kind of cook I am, so I was not excited about the idea at all.”
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“Come on, Cécile, I don’t want to do this!” Twilight cried, trying to get out of the bird lover’s grip. For some reason, she was able to keep the alicorn restrained, her hands wrapped around her folded-up wings, while walking behind Amanda and Paz. It was like all the training she had done had to make herself stronger had magically vanished as soon as Cécile grabbed her.
“Oh, please, Twilight! Cooking is very exciting! I’ve never made gallo pinto before, and I think you would enjoy learning how to make it too!” Cécile insisted.
“This is a really bad idea,” Twilight whined.
Amanda looked back over her shoulder at her, “You’re making a very big fuss about receiving a cooking lesson, Twilight. I thought you liked to learn.”
Twilight said, “I do, but I don’t know how to cook! Even my friends know there’s a reason why Spike does all the cooking for the two of us, and they’ve never seen me try to cook anything!”
Paz glanced back, “You’re not a good cook, Twilight?”
Twilight hesitated, “Well… not really. I mean, my parents forbid me from trying to make anything after that one time when I was little, and as far as I know, they still don’t want me trying to make anything. I don’t think I burned orange juice like Rarity told me her sister did once, but from what I remember, it still went pretty badly.”
Amanda said, “All the more reason for you to start learning how to cook on your own. It’ll be something else that you can surprise them all with when you get home.” Twilight quieted down, but she was still very reluctant about going anywhere near the Mess Hall’s kitchen.
After a couple of minutes, the group of four stepped into the kitchen. Despite her nervousness, Twilight couldn’t help but look around the room in surprise. The kitchen was pretty big and had all the appliances and cookware that she suspected the kitchen in Canterlot Castle had. While she was taking it all in, Cécile let go of her and followed Paz and Amanda over to one of the counters against the wall, where a pot sat in one of the sinks. Twilight noticed this after a few seconds and walked over to them.
Amanda waited for Twilight to join them before saying, “As you all may know, gallo pinto is a well-known dish in this part of the world and a rather simple one to make, but it does require a bit of preparation beforehand. Fortunately, we had already planned on making it, so one of the big preparations has already been taken care of.” She gestured to the pot in the sink, “This pot has frijoles in it, one of the main components of the dish. We left the pot here in the sink so they could soak overnight.” She looked back at Twilight and Cécile, “Now we are going to cut up some garlic and herbs to add to the pot to cook the frijoles with.”
Paz spoke, “Just a minute. I’ll go get another cutting board and knife for Twilight.” While Amanda walked over to one of the counters in the center of the room with Cécile and Twilight, Paz walked over to another counter and retrieved the two items from the drawers it had before joining them. Twilight’s cutting was a little slower than the other girls due to her taking the time to think about her cuts, so Amanda gave her some advice after she was done with the garlic and herbs she was cutting. They then gathered up the minced ingredients and added them to the pot.
Amanda then pulled the pot up out of the sink and carried it over to the stovetop, placing it on one of the burners and turning it on. She then said, “While we’re waiting for this to cook, we’ll sauté some onions and arroz.” Paz went to retrieve a frying and the three of them added cut up onions and rice to it. Twilight was then given the job of moving the pan while Amanda supervised. She was a bit clumsy with her movements at first, but with some advice from Amanda and Cécile putting her hands on the handle, she soon managed to find an even rhythm and began to relax as she got into it. While they were working, she noticed Cécile seemed a bit glum, but didn’t comment on it. Soon afterwards, they added water to the pan and watched the rice begin to steam.
While they were waiting, Amanda began sharing memories of her mother with the girls. “You were separated from her because of Somoza? I had no idea!” Cécile remarked after Amanda finished recounting.
Amanda nodded, “Yes… I haven’t seen her since, but I still remember her cooking.”
Paz spoke up a moment later, “I believe the frijoles are ready!”
Amanda walked over next to her and peered into the pot, nodding a moment later. She then walked over to Twilight and took the pan from her, saying, “Here Twilight, I’ll take this. Why don’t you drain the water?” Twilight nodded and took the pot off the fire, taking it over to the sink and emptying the water while keeping the beans inside. They then began to stir-fry them with the rest of the vegetables. When the rice had finished cooking, Amanda and Paz showed Twilight and Cécile how to fold it into the beans, adding salsa and stirring the simmering mixture afterwards.
They had all kept talking while they were cooking, with Twilight sharing some of her memories of Equestria while they were waiting for the rice to finish cooking. Now Cécile had taken the reins of the conversation, steering it towards romance. While listening to her give Amanda all sorts of advice, Twilight thought to herself, “She’s a lot like Rarity in some ways. I bet the two of them would get along great.”
She was brought out of her thoughts when Cécile turned to her asked, “Twilight? You have a lot of fond memories of Equestria, yes?”
Twilight nodded unsurely, “Uh, yes, Cécile…”
The Parisian smiled, “Do you have any fond memories of anyone? Someone you like?”
Twilight’s eyes widened a bit. “You mean like…” At Cécile’s nod, she blushed and looked off to the side, placing her left hoof in front of her right hoof. “Well… there was… this one guy I met recently…”
Cécile was excited by this and even Amanda and Paz looked a little interested. “Ooh! Tell us more about him! Please?” Cécile urged.
Twilight talked slowly, “Well, I… ran into him at school. And I mean that kind of literally; we actually bumped into each other a lot. He’s a nice guy. He plays guitar and helped me out when I was in trouble. And… we did have a dance together at the Fall Formal.”
Amanda asked, “So he’s your boyfriend?”
Twilight moved her hooves together across the floor as she replied slowly, “Uh… maybe? I actually haven’t seen him since the dance. We’re kind of worlds apart without any way to contact each other, and I don’t know about…” She trailed off, not exactly sure how to explain it without it initially coming off as weird.
Cécile looked disappointed. “Oh…” she groaned. She soon perked up and turned to Paz, asking, “Paz, what about you? Is there anyone that you like?” Paz looked surprised for a moment before she turned back to the stovetop, looking everything over. Despite this, Cécile continued to pester her. “Come on, Paz, tell me! Is there?” she asked.
“Not right now,” Paz insisted.
Cécile let out a gasp suddenly and, when Paz turned to looked up at her, asked, “It’s Snake, isn’t it?”
Twilight noticed that, as she bowed her head slightly, Paz had her teeth clenched together as she coyly replied, “Maybe.”
Cécile nodded, “He’s pretty sexy, isn’t he?” She then giggled.
Twilight rolled her eyes as she thought, “I might have to take that earlier thought about her and Rarity back…”
Soon afterwards, the gallo pinto was ready and a rich aroma filled the room. As they began to put the food on plates for themselves, they all heard a purring sound coming from below them and looked down to see a black cat rubbing up against Paz’s boot. At this, Cécile cooed, “Aw, Nuke! Looks like our cooking has a fan already!”
Twilight asked, “Do you think he wants to try some?”
Amanda smiled, “Mm, I don’t think this is the kind of food he’d like, Twilight.”
Paz knelt down and placed her hands on the sides of Nuke’s head, cradling it. “Oh Nuke, you’re such a sweet kitty,” she cooed, making little kissy noises as well.
The aroma of the gallo pinto ended up attracting some soldiers to the kitchen as well, all of them wanting to sample a little bit as well. The girls obliged and let them take some of the extra gallo pinto before they all headed off to the Mess Hall to eat. Despite the dish attracting more of the men and being praised for her part in making it, the end result didn’t really give Twilight a newfound confidence in her cooking abilities.
________________________________________
“It sounds like you did very well for your first time in the Mess Hall kitchen, Twilight” Celestia said.
“Yes, with a lot of help. I definitely would not have done very well on my own,” Twilight sighed.
Pinkie popped up next to her and wrapped a foreleg around her. “Hey, all us greats have to start somewhere, Miss Nervous Nervous-Pants! And friends are great for helping you get a better start!” she chimed. Twilight stayed quiet as she glanced at her friend.
She looked at Cadance when the pink alicorn asked, “After that, though, you started being rotated through the Mess Hall regularly, right Twilight?”
Twilight answered, “Yeah. I might’ve gone back that night for another lesson from Paz, but that didn’t happen.”
Mrs. Sparkle asked, “Why not?”
Twilight answered, “Well, the gallo pinto ended up being very popular with everyone on Mother Base. Even Snake showed up for some and said that he liked it. But while we were all eating, Zadornov escaped. Again.”
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HEY MOSQUITO! Love that Reference!
Cardboard OP pls nerf.
Is it seriously that rediculous in the games? I haven’t played them.
8884085
yup xarbord box is a meme invented by metal gear solid
8884085
It's a staple of the series...
"Twilight sharing some memories of her memories of Equestria"
Take away one "memories".
It being MGS we of course need to talk about the boxes.
Was pretty enjoyable to see Twilight take part in CCC and her trying her hoof in cooking.
Third to last sentence, insert "was" in between "man" and "lifted".
8884155
Our enemies hide in cardboard BAWKSES the cowards the FEWLS!.... We should take away their cardboard bawkses.
The writing gets better every chapter. I didn't realize this story had been out so long. I would not have made my earlier comments if I had realized.
Thanks for the cool story so far!