Slice of Velvet and Pear

by David Silver

31 - Cooking up Trouble

Zecora looked over her shoulder, facing her shelves. "That you came fills me with surprise. But that you'd think of me for spices is wise."

"Ah was hopin' that'd be the case." Applejack clapped her hooves with a big smile. "I was really... Ah thought maybe you could help me reach the next level, ya know?"

Zecora got two hooves on a jar, bringing it down to the ground. "Most spices, I find for cures. I doubt this is the goal of yours." She nudged the unmarked jar towards Applejack. "If I knew exactly what you plan, it would help me to scan."

"Oh, well, that's fair." Applejack twisted on herself and pulled out a letter she let drop from her mouth to the ground. "I've been learnin' some real fancy recipes. Got the cookin' down, mostly, but ah wanna make it even better. I'll keep practicin' the technique, don't get me wrong! Ain't no shortcut for that. Don't mean there ain't other ways to get better."

Zecora allowed a little smile. "It is good to hear you admit that. The urge to find a shortcut is difficult to combat." She reached for the dropped paper and brought it up, eyes scanning over it. "Hm... Hm..." She tapped at a part, turning the paper so Applejack could see what she was showing. "A fine ingredient, don't get me wrong, but with the right addition to go right along." She waggled her brows meaningfully.

It was exactly what Applejack was hoping for. "What goes with it? Zecora, you are a miracle worker! Show me! Is it this?" She reached out to put a hoof on the jar Zecora had brought down."

"Hm? No." Zecora casually snatched it away and bounced it back onto the shelf it began on. "I try to know things ahead of time, but without the recipe, I didn't know if you needed pepper or thyme."

"That... makes sense enough." Applejack peered at the denied jar. "So what was in that, if ya don't mind my askin'?"

"A branch and little more. A little snack I adore." She was already moving away from the shelf and its snack jar. "We must go and collect your prize. Beware, because it wears a disguise. Noxious alone, it works as a team. Combined with the rest, it will be like a dream." Zecora waited outside, looking to Applejack expectantly.

Applejack scurried out so the door could be closed. "May come as a surprise, but I've had to deal with ingredients like that already. The fancy stuff sometimes looks, feels, or smells real funny, but when you cook 'em up proper with the right other things, it's magic!"

The two walked off into the forest in search for that elusive ingredient to help bring Applejack's cooking to the next level.

---

"It's my turn." Twilight was outside, on a bench. The birds were calling and the sun was warm. "And I'm making up the parameters of our date entirely on my own."

Moon clopped gently. "You already have my full attention. My schedule is free for the remainder of the day. How do we begin?" She was seated on the ground, under Twilight and watching her with rapt attention.

Twilight set her hoof on Moon's available nose. "Reading, but better than that, group reading. I propose we absorb a book I'm sure we'll both enjoy, then discuss it, together. We'll analyze it for strengths, weaknesses, and tangents worth considering."

Moon's eyes slowly widened. "Brilliance!" To other ponies, that may have sounded quite dull, but neither Twilight nor Moon Dancer were average ponies. "That sounds intellectually stimulating, and I look forward to the exchange. What book did you have planned?"

Twilight's horn glowed as she drew out a fairly slender tome, just to flip it, revealing she had two in a stack. "I figured we should do a smaller book, so we can properly read it before the day's over." She floated one of them towards Moon. "The morality of magic: Should power come with responsibility?"

"Ooo." Moon wrapped her arms around the book, her own horn beginning to glow as she took arcane hold of the book. "What a delightful topic." She hopped up next to Twilight and thunked down. "Let us begin then. Are there other steps beyond reading?"

"There are, subtle ones." Twilight brought a basket out from behind the bench to in front of them. She flipped it open to reveal a variety of snacks and two glass bottles of a drink. "Refreshments! Please, enjoy yourself as you read. Shall we begin?"

"I remember when we were students... We would read together all the time." Moon sighed with thick nostalgia. "But they forbade snacks from the classroom. This is an advantage of adulthood." She snatched a cookie from the basket and popped it into her mouth, crunching softly. "Mmm... Did you make this?"

"Oh, no..." Twilight waved that thought away. "Got it from Sugarcube Corner. Either the Cakes or Pinkie made it, no credit claimed here."

"You picked it," countered Moon with a raised big brow. "That entitles you to some amount of credit." She willed the book open to its first page, which was blank. The second had the title, interesting, but she moved on fairly quickly to the actual content. "Here we are."

The two became quiet in the shared task of reading the book. Only the sound of the occasional munch of food, slurp of drink, or the gentle rustle of a turned page made it clear that they were alive instead of statues of reading ponies.

"I neglected to ask." Twilight had broken the silence. "You haven't already read this book, have you?" She colored faintly. "I really should have asked before we started."

"Your intuition has proven accurate." Moon looked up from her book. "I have not read this yet, though it was on my list." The list of books to read was a considerable thing for either of them. "An excellent choice. You also have not read this yet?"

"Actually..." Twilight wriggled a bit, "I did... but I love it so much, I'd love to read it again." Which was a thing she was doing. "I'd love a chance to discuss it with a friend, and somepony I know can keep up with the nuances being discussed."

Moon Dancer folded the book closed, a hoof holding the spot as it closed on her leg. "Are you certain you wouldn't prefer a new book?"

"I picked it." Twilight wagged her book, held in her magic. "I want to read it. I love reading it. I don't understand all of it, but the thoughts are always interesting to mull over, and this time I want to do it with somepony that can hold a proper conversation on it."

Moon raised her book, floating in her magic as it reopened to the left page. "I apologize for doubting you... I just want this to be a success."

"Which it will be if you read and chat." Twilight leaned over to see Moon's book. "Ah, you've made it to the first part, if you're up to talking about it?" She flipped through her own book to the same point. "Consent and magic. The author claims it is difficult to ever truly attain, but that seems strange to me. If you ask a pony before you use a spell on them, don't you have consent?"

Moon turned her book, floating there, and flipped to an earlier page. "While this is true for basic consent, the fact that you have so much power over the target is difficult to entirely ignore, especially with any skill in mental magics. Are they agreeing, or are you making a deal that is too difficult to decline?"

Twilight flipped one ear back. "But I could just not use magic to change their mind. I rarely use those spells anyway."

"Except!" Moon Dancer flipped to a new page. "When a unicorn wizard becomes passionate about a topic, they may use subtle amounts of magic without realizing. While such subconscious magic is unlikely to rise to the level of outright mind control, it means that we are getting consent with an edge in our arguments." She snapped the book shut. "With that in mind, can a wizard ever have true consent?"

Twilight sat back with a slow blink. "Huh... But where you see a problem, I see solutions! If that is the problem, we just need a way to curtail that magic use, even if it isn't a formal spell." She reached up, tapping at her horn. "It is a process, like any other. We should do some controlled studies to see if a unicorn's convincing is any more or less effective than that of any other tribe. All ponies may have some amount of social magic that we don't often consider. If we all have it, then we either all have consenting powers, or none of us do and all of ponykind is regularly infringing on the rights of their peers without even realizing it."

Moon Dancer hummed softly, going quiet a moment. "Perhaps. That would require entirely new investigation." She tapped at the floating book. "Investigations not done at the time of the writing of this book. In time, they are likely to be proven false." A little smile emerged. "That is--"

"--the best part," agreed Twilight with a little giggle. "Wisdoms of yesterday do not always apply if we are always looking for better. Hm! Worth considering." She turned her book, eyes scanning over the page. "Please, do continue. I'm already enjoying our thoughts on it."

It was not the most thrilling date one had ever seen, but the two were happy, seated side by side. As romantic gestures went, their tails gently brushed one another in their slow wags and they sat right beside one another, enjoying the other's presence without the need to say as much. Both would label it as a successful date in the end.

---

"This will be the most thrilling date you have ever seen." Twilight Velvet slapped a calender where a date had been circled previously. "Are you ready?!"

Pear Butter laughed nervously. "And if I say no?"

"Then I'll gently drag you along to the fun!" Velvet hugged her friend tight. "This is gonna be a big family bash."

"I'll be there!" called out Night Light from the next room.

"He'll be there," echoed Velvet. "And so will you. Does Granny want to come along? The whole family!"

Pear Butter considered that. "Actually... I'll ask her, and the foals. Maybe Big Mac and... Hey, want me to ask Twilight for you?"

Velvet sighed dramatically. "They're busy. They're always busy. Both of them! They left the nest and barely looked back. I'm very proud, but I--"

Pear shook her head firmly. "You won't know without asking. The worst you get is where you started, with a no. I'll ask Twilight while I'm busy checkin' in with the others. Maybe this can be a real all family thing." The idea of it being a big family event seemed to bouy her spirits and bravery. "What about Shining Armor? It's been so long since I saw that colt! What's he even doin' lately?"

"Captain of the Guard." Velvet looked proud of the statement. "Representing the nation proudly... He and his girlfriend are getting along fabulously, Ooo, she's a looker."

Pear burst into merry laughter. "If your husband hears you talking like that, he'll ask questions."

"She is a looker." Night was wandering through towards the kitchen. "That's just a fact."

Velvet inclined her head at the passing Night. "See? Can't even argue with it. Cadance is her name, and she's a real treat. The way those two are talking, they'll be married soon."

Pear gave a gentle applause. "Congratulations! I get a new niece in law." She burst into giggles, her family growing before her eyes. "Does Twilight know about this? 'magine she's quite excited too. Oh! Invite her too!"

Author's Note:

What, a chapter that isn't following an episode around? This must be a typo...

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Comments

[badninja]

Well this can maybe change the wedding fiasco. Hopefully more ponies will believe Twilight when she makes her accusations.

[Moonlight_Mist]

I wonder how Pear Butter and Granny Smith will react to having one, and then another Princess as honorary family?

[David Silver]

11261233
One of them is unlikely to react much. You made me sad now...

[Moonlight_Mist]

11261267
Oh, right. I forgot he still died. I thought it'd just been a while since we checked in with him. My bad. I fixed my previous comment so I don't look like an insensitive idiot.

[Venerable Ro]

Applejack went to Zecora for advice on spices? Now that's a clever idea, and a wise one as well! I really am loving this development.

[Greenhorn]

Does Twilight know about this?

Shinning...

[MooseWhisker]

"Your intuition has proven accurate." Moon looked up from her book. "I have not read this yet, though it was on my list." The list of book to read was a considerable thing for either of them. "An excellent choice. You also have not read this yet?"

Oops, missed a plural there.

[David Silver]

11669694
Typos, in our books!? Unacceptable.