Chapter 26 - Cookies and Clashes (Part 1)
In the manor’s front hall, Barrier stood around in idle boredom while some of the younger ponies paced about nervously.
“I wish those two would hurry up,” Forge muttered as he tapped his hoof against the floor. “The sooner they get here, the sooner we can get the damn hen out of here.”
“Remember to be polite, Forge,” Swiftsword chided. “Regardless of how we feel, she is Verdant’s friend and our guest.”
“That includes helping if they ask for it.” Barrier turned to look out the front door, spotting a pair of shapes at the front gate. “They’re here. Everypony, wait in the kitchen while Daring and I go greet them.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” six voices called out before charging over to the kitchen. A disguised Daring came up to Barrier’s side, placing a hoof on his shoulder.
“You ready, Barrier?” she asked, giving her glasses a nudge.
“About as ready as I’ll likely ever be,” Barrier replied as his horn glowed and pulled the door open. Taking one more steadying breath, the duo left the manor and headed down the cobblestone trail.
The two walked down the pathway, side by side until they reached the conversing stallion and griffin at the halfway point. Spotting something from Erica’s side, Barrier craned his neck slightly and saw she was pulling a small wagon full of ingredients and baking pans with her tail.
“- calm and everything will be just fine,” The green pony said reassuringly and gently patted the griffin on her shoulders. With a quick glance, he spotted the approaching duo. “Ah, and here’s some of them now. You remember Barrier, and this is his girlfriend.”
“A.K. Yearling, at your service.” Daring smiled as she and Barrier reached the pair, extending a hoof to the hen. “Pleasure to meet you, Erica.”
“A.K. Yearling?” Erica tilted her head as she grasped the hoof and gently shook it. “As in the Daring Do author?”
“Ah, I assume you’re a fan of mine?” The golden pegasus beamed as she pulled her hoof back.
“Eh, well I used to read your books when I was younger.” Erica scratched the back of her neck, appearing somewhat flustered. “But I couldn’t really get into some of the later books as I got older. They just seemed a bit too outlandish to me, I’m sorry to say.”
“Oh well, to each their own.” Daring shrugged before coming to the griffin’s side. “Just don’t spread around that I live in town. I want to keep a fairly low profile.”
“Sure thing,” Erica replied with a nod. “I get where you’re coming from.”
“At any rate,” Barrier stepped forward, taking his place at Daring’s side. “I hope you’ll have a pleasant time here.”
“Well, talons crossed.” Erica held up her claw, showing two pairs of crossed digits. “Verdant made sure I knew about all the sorts of things you went through with griffins in your time.” She chuckled as she set her foreleg down. “Still hard to believe that, barring Ms. Yearling…”
“Professor Yearling, thank you very much,” Daring corrected as she pulled away and headed for the door. “I worked hard for that degree.”
“Sorry, Professor.” Erica lightly blushed as she and the pair of stallions all walked forward. “Just meant to say that besides you, everyone in there’s centuries old. If it weren’t for some of the things I’ve read in the newspaper about the Crystal Empire and Nightmare Moon, I wouldn’t believe it. Especially when I don’t recall Verdant saying or doing too much that seemed really old fashioned.”
Verdant chuckled and smirked as he faced Erica. “Would you prefer if I said something like, ‘Foul cur, thou hast insulted my honor. As recompense, I shall swiv with thy dam’?”
The hen’s chuckle joined Verdant’s while Barrier rolled his eyes. “Probably not.”
“At any rate,” Barrier’s voice rose as the quartet reached the door’s threshold. “We’re here.”
“Ready, Erica?” Verdant looked up to face her, seeing her nervously swallow.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she answered as Barrier and Daring headed in, the two of them following quickly after.
“Welcome to our home, Erica,” Barrier bid as they marched forth into the kitchen. He spotted the ponies within tense slightly as Erica fell into their line of sight.
“These are Fleetfeather,” Barrier pointed to the one-eyed pegasus, who sternly nodded. “Her daughter, Wind Whistler.” The filly briefly poked out from behind her mother’s hind legs before nervously ducking away.
“Swiftsword,” Barrier moved his focus to the unicorn who drew closer and extended a foreleg to the griffin.
“A pleasure to meet you, Erica.” Swiftsword smiled as the griffin slowly grasped her foreleg and shook it.
“Thank you,” the hen replied before she spotted the silver-maned unicorn glaring at her.
“That would be Forge.” Barrier placed a hoof on the cobalt unicorn’s back. “I’m sure he’ll be on his best behavior while you’re here. Right, Forge?” His tone became harsher and more authoritative with the final words.
“Yes, sir,” the glaring stallion answered, not taking his eyes off of Erica.
“Lastly, we’ve got Winter Gem and Hat Trick.” Barrier casually waved in the direction of the remaining ponies, who gave polite nods as their names were called. “So, shall we get started?”
“Yeah, and thanks for letting me do this.” Erica smiled before she and Verdant grabbed the contents of the wagon and placed them all upon the table. “Verdant, could you please set the oven to three-seventy-five?”
“No problem,” the green pony replied before dashing to the oven and turning the dial.
“Is there some way in which we could help you?” Swift came up to the table, glancing at the large assortment of ingredients laid before her.
“Well, could you please bring some large bowls, measuring cups and teaspoons over?” Erica asked while tallying the items. “I don’t want to go snooping through your cupboards.”
“Of course.” Swift nodded before turning her back to Erica, Forge stepping in to cover her while she searched.
“So, Erica…” Hat Trick drew a few steps closer before Winter Gem protectively placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Where are you from exactly?”
“I’m Vanhoover, born and raised,” Erica merrily answered as a pair of measuring cups and a bowl in a blue glow were placed before her.
“May I ask what you do for a career?” Winter Gem asked as pulled the purple pegasus closer to her side.
“I’m a swimming teacher at the community center,” the griffin answered the same as she poured some brown sugar into one measuring cup while Verdant poured cane sugar into another. “It’s a pretty fun job. You get of lot of exercise and some of those foals are just the cutest little guys and gals you’ve ever seen.”
“Um…” A small, nervous voice came from behind Fleetfeather’s head before a little filly poked her head above her mother’s. “Miss Erica?”
“Oh there’s no need to be so formal, Wind Whistler,” Erica gently informed as she and Verdant poured the sugar into the bowl. “What would you like to know?”
“Well…” The filly poked her head slightly further up, “could we have some of the cookies once they’re done?”
“Of course.” Erica beamed as she cracked a pair of eggs while Verdant measured butter. “We should have enough for six trays, so we’re all free to have a couple once we’re done. Do you have any other questions you’d like to ask?”
“Oh!” Wind Whistler hopped up, using her mother’s head as a hoof rest. “My father and Uncle Barrier told me that every griffin they ever gutted had rocks in them. Is that true? Do griffins really have rocks in them?” she cheerfully asked, not seeing that Erica was suddenly becoming pale while Barrier, Fleetfeather, Verdant and Swiftsword looked on in horror. Hat Trick snorted as he held back a laugh. Winter bit her lip and Forge smirked.
“Um.. yeah…” Erica nervously replied, the color slowly returning to her face as her eyes drifted back to the bowl before her. “Since we don’t have teeth, we have to swallow rough stones every once in awhile that go into a sort of second stomach called a gizzard to aid in digestion.”
“Wind Whistler,” Verdant said as he placed a bag of flour on the table. “Could you please not ask any more questions about griffin anatomy?”
“Okay!” Wind Whistler happily answered as she watched Erica add some vanilla to the bowl.
“Thanks, Verdant. I owe you one.” Barrier heard Erica mutter before she raised her voice up. “So Forge, Verdant told me earlier how you’re a smith that’s looking for a job, right?”
“Aye,” the blue stallion answered gruffly. “What of it?”
“Well, I happen to know someone who works at Silver Swirl’s Smithing Shop,” she answered while she grabbed a whisk from Verdant and started to strongly stir. “If you want, I can put in a good word for you.”
“Oh…” Forge was rendered speechless from her words as she continued beating the ingredients together. “I… is there some sort of catch?”
“Of course not.” She chuckled before she pulled back and poured flour into a measuring cup. “You’re Verdant’s friend and he’s my friend, so I figured I’d offer to help you out.”
“I… I don’t know what to say.” Forge sat down in stunned shock. “I… I appreciate the offer.”
“No problem.” Erica then dumped the cup of flour into the bowl before she measured out some more. “I’m glad to help out.”
“Is…” Forge looked up towards her. “Is there anything I could do to help out?” His question brought a small smile to Barrier’s face.
“Not really,” The happy hen replied as she dumped in some more flour and Verdant added a teaspoon of baking soda. “All that’s left to do is to stir this together and add the chocolate chips before tossing them in the oven, but thanks for asking.”
“Well,” Hatty stepped closer to the bowl, a grin stretching across his muzzle while Erica tore open a bag and poured chocolate chips into the mixture. “Now that this is nearly complete, what should we do to pass the time while they bake?”
“Want me to break out a board game?” Daring asked while adjusting her glasses before smirking. “I should warn you though, Erica. I’m the undisputed Candyland champion.”
“Mayhaps instead, I should go upstairs to fetch my axe and serenade us.” Swiftsword suggested, quickly turning Daring’s smirk into a frown.
“I can’t really decide which one’s worse,” Barrier muttered softly as his magic brought his flask up to his muzzle.
“Honestly,” Erica softly chuckled. “Even after living with ponies my whole life, I don’t get how ponies can just break into song at the drop of a hat.”
“I assure you,” Swiftsword drew closer, standing somewhat smugly. “We are trained soldiers. We don’t break into song.”
“Oh…” A wicked smirk stretched across Erica’s beak, making Forge take a defensive stance. “Is that so?” Erica chortled darkly before clearing her throat. “At the gala. At the gala…” Before he could light his horn, Erica’s singing broke a perplexed Forge from his stance right before Swiftsword leapt onto the table.
To Wind Whistler and Erica’s gratitude, Verdant grabbed the bowl before the light blue unicorn could knock it over or step in it during her song.
“At the gala,
I shall go forth,
to find a grand stallion,
who'll sire brave new Falchions at the gala!
I will find one,
One who’s worthy,
A brave, noble warrior,
Who will soon extend my bloodline,
Tonight at the gala!”
“That was pretty nice, Swiftsword.” Barrier rolled his eyes before taking a swig from his flask. “But could you now get your dirty hooves off my clean kitchen table?”
Swiftsword’s blue coat quickly became a bashful pink and she hopped off with a nervous grin. “My apologies. I’ve been looking so forward to it that I’ve been working on the lyrics for the past three days.”
“Right…I can’t believe that actually worked,” Erica muttered before pulling some baking trays from her wagon. “Anywho, all that’s left is the put the dough on these and pop ‘em in the oven.”
“Once we’ve put them all on the trays,” Verdant started to say through the spoon handle in his mouth, “who wants the have what’s left in the bowl?”
“Memememememe!” Hat Trick and Wind Whistler hopped in place as a ding came from the oven.
“Alright,” Erica merrily chirped, holding a spoon in her talons. “Let’s start getting these things ready and in the oven.” She and Verdant quickly set to scooping spoonfuls of the cookie dough onto the trays.
“While you’re doing that,” Swiftsword turned away from the table and headed for the stairs. “I shall fetch my axe so we may be serenaded by more modern musical pieces.”
“Yeah you do that.” Barrier sighed before taking another swig. “And while you’re enjoying that, I’ll be enjoying this.”
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A success and failure Erica got somepone but she only got one rather than the entire group
I really enjoyed reading this chapter. The best part I found delightful was Erica offering to help Forge getting employed at a vocation of his liking. I really like Forge's surprised response from, it's a real first step for him in overcoming his prejudice of griffins.
This was a nice chapter it's nice that Forge is willing to get over his prejudice against gryphons and the part about ponies bursting into song was funny too.
Medieval xbox hooligan lol
That cookie recipe is very similar to my own, only differences being that I use only 1 tablespoon of vanilla and 1 teaspoon of both baking powder and salt and 1/2 cup less flower. Sometimes I may add a cup of crushed walnuts for my dad.