Magic Talents

by Zocarik

Ch Two: Barter

Dawn woke Twilight with its usual method: a beam of light shining through a gap in the curtains. Blearily, she dragged her unwilling body out of bed.

Why can’t I get the blasted curtains to block out all light? I need my sleep so my research goes properly. Now what was I doing last night? Just as she reached the library lobby, she smelled something cooking in the kitchen.

Spike must have gotten up early today. Wait. Spike never gets up before seven, even when I tell him to get up early. So who is doing the cooking?

Silently slipping into the kitchen, Twilight saw something that almost convinced her that Discord had locked her in a waking dream. At least it reminded her of the pony that came to the library last night.

Trixie, wearing an apron, stood in the kitchen, her horn gleaming with power. Several pots and pans flew around. Even as Twilight watched, a potato flew to the stove with a cheese grater and promptly grated itself down into a pile of hash browns in a pan. A spatula, attending to another pan, casually flipped a few pancakes.

Twilight, flabbergasted, spoke. “Trixie! What is going on here?”

Glancing over at Twilight, Trixie said, “Is that how you great anypony making breakfast for you?”

“Sorry. Good morning. Now, where did all this come from? I know that there were no potatoes in the pantry. And are those chocolate chips in the pancakes?” Twilight’s tone, initially shocked, started slipping into that of a pony holding herself back from devouring a slice of cake. The sight and smell of the kitchen made her hungry.

“Ah yes. I commandeered your flour, eggs, and butter, but the rest is from my trailer. While I am on the road, I usually don’t have the time or resources to make something warm to eat. So, it had become my habit to cook a hot meal whenever I am in a town. The extra bits I can make by selling my cooking help out when my show is not attracting attention.” Even as she spoke, Trixie never once stopped manipulating the cooking implements.

“That makes sense, I guess, but I never took you for a cook.” Twilight never took her eyes off the pancakes.

Trixie chuckled as she said, “Well, early on in my career as a performer, I made a few discoveries. One: when I provide ponies with a good meal before a show, they tend to be more generous with their bits after the show. Two: being a good cook helps get me into some villages when there is not a restaurant present anywhere in the place. Three: cooking helps relieve stress after a show.”

By this point, the smell had practically intoxicated Twilight. It took almost all of her self-control to not pounce on the pancakes. She started recounting some family history to attempt to distract herself.

“To tell the truth, I’m jealous. My mother, grandmother, and great grandmother were all great cooks, but if I so much as touch a spatula, the Royal Guard would set up a quarantine perimeter. And I’m still thinking about food. This isn’t working. I can’t distract myself.”

Trixie smiled as she said, “I see that my culinary artistry has once again captivated an audience…” Turning back to the food, she poked the pancakes with the spatula. “…but you will have to wait for the food. Even if you are allowing me to stay here, I cannot rush perfection.”

Sighing, Twilight sat down at the kitchen table.

“Well, that could be our deal. I do the research and provide the guest bed for you in exchange for your cooking.”

“Fair exchange. Here is the first batch,” Trixie said.

Even as she placed a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and hash browns with a bottle of maple syrup on the table, a thumping came from the bedroom. Moments later, Spike came into view, eyes closed and still clutching his blanket. Sitting down at the table, he carried on sleeping. Twilight stared at him for a few seconds before turning to Trixie.

“It’s official. You are one of the six best cooks I have ever met.”

Trixie was confused by the compliment. “Huh?”

Understanding the confusion, Twilight explained.

“Spike sleeps like the dead. The only thing that gets him to sleepwalk is extremely good food. So far, only my mother, grandmother, one chef in the royal kitchen, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack have ever gotten him to sleepwalk with their food. I almost want to see you, Pinkie, and Applejack have a cook-off. Regardless of the winner, the food will go down in legend. Now I have to know what you put in the food. Is there a secret ingredient?”

Now that she understood the compliment, Trixie smiled. “A magician, whether on stage or in a kitchen, never reveals her secrets to anypony but her apprentice.”

Settling down to eat, Twilight turned her mind back to the research project Trixie presented.

It would be best to deal with anything that might be in her blood first. That stuff will stop being useful in a day or two. Speaking of time…

“Hey Trixie, what do you plan to do while I am conducting research?”

“I don’t know. I thought that I could help you with it, but you seemed to have everything under control last night. After the whole issue with the Alicorn Amulet, I do not think that the ponies here will want to attend one of my shows,” Trixie admitted.

“You would be surprised. Two of my friends are incapable of holding a grudge, and a positive word from the three of us would clear your name. Anyway, we explained to everypony that you were being corrupted by the Amulet. Everypony knows that your behavior last time was caused by magic far beyond anypony’s ability to control.”

“Really? You and your friends are that influential in this town?” Trixie asked, incredulous.

Twilight smiled ruefully. “Well, not so much Fluttershy and me, but Pinkie fits the bill. She is at least passing friends with everypony in Ponyville, and when she says something will be fun, everypony believes her. One recommendation from her is almost as good as a recommendation from Celestia in this town.”

Trixie picked her jaw up off the floor in order to ask, “Why would everypony believe her and value her opinion so much?”

“Her special talent is spreading happiness. She is really good at her talent, too. They trust her word on all things fun. Once she sang a song that resulted in making every pony in town smile continuously for an hour. I don’t think any of us were able to frown for a week.”

“Wow. That is an incredibly abstract talent.”

Twilight smirked. “Abstract does not even begin to describe her.”

While Trixie headed back to the stove, Spike mumbled and started to open his eyes.

“Something smells good.” Opening his eyes fully, he looked around. “How did I get down here?”

Trixie winked at Twilight. Before Twilight could speak, Trixie proclaimed, “I, the Masterful Chef Trixie, drew you down here with the scent of my culinary mastery!”

Startled by the outburst, Spike fell off his chair with a “GAAH!”

Twilight could not hold in a chuckle.

“Spike, Trixie needs my help to resolve an issue that has come up. She will be cooking for us in exchange for my help.”

“And she said that her cooking brought me down here.” Spike incredulously said. Though his tone sounded questioning.

“It did,” both mares replied.

“How long will she be staying here?” Spike’s mind already filled with food fantasies.

“Two weeks.”

Spike smiled at Twilight’s reply. Two weeks of Applejack quality cooking made his mouth water more than a rain cloud.

Ignoring the obvious rapture on the dragon’s face, Trixie continued cooking as she spoke with Twilight.

“If your friends will vouch for me, I would put on another performance tomorrow.”

“No problem. Now, I am going to go get Pinkie Pie.” Despite her statement, Twilight remained seated. She simply reached with her magic to the door to the pantry. As the door swung wide, Pinkie bounced out with a sign bearing today’s bakery prices on her head.

“Hi, Twilight. Hi Spike. Hi Trixie. What’s up?”

Trixie stared at the party pony.

“H-How d-did she get in there? I’ve been in and out of the pantry a half dozen times this morning!”

“Trixie, I will explain later. Close your mouth for now or you will attract flies.” Turning to Pinkie, Twilight said, “Pinkie, Trixie is here because she needs my help resolving a magical problem. While I am researching, she intends to put on another show. Could you drum up some anticipation for the performance tomorrow? She promises not to try upstaging anypony this time.”

With her typical “Okie-dokie-lokie,” Pinkie zipped back into the pantry and closed the door. Trixie quickly opened the door, but found the pantry devoid of any ponies, pink or otherwise.

Twilight started giggling as Trixie started hyperventilating. “Now I know what I look like when I have one of my freak-outs. That was Pinkie Pie. She has been able to violate the laws of physics as long as I’ve known her.”

“But-but she’s an earth pony. Earth ponies can’t do that!”

“Wow. I never thought that there would be somepony who freaks out as much as Twi over Pinkie’s ‘Pinkie-ness’,” Spike quipped.

Twilight could not suppress a grin. “If she continues these reactions, this will be an exceptionally amusing fortnight.”

---

Laying out plates for Spike and herself, Trixie plopped down at the kitchen table; her fork levitated on autopilot as her mind tried to understand Pinkie. In half an hour, the three finished their meal and set about to their respective tasks for the day. Twilight descended into the lab. Spike dusted the library. Trixie nervously walked out into town, though nopony could tell that she was nervous from her expression or stride, both of which seemed filled with confidence.

Deciding to go thank Pinkie (and start trying to understand the strange mare), Trixie directed her path to Sugarcube Corner.

Before her senses could register the movement, a pink blur moved to intercept Trixie as she approached the bakery.

“Hi Trixie!”

After jumping from the startling arrival of Pinkie, Trixie collected herself.

“Hello again Pinkie. I was just coming over to-” Before Trixie could finish the statement, Pinkie interrupted by shoving a cupcake into Trixie’s mouth.

“I came up with that cupcake recipe two days ago, and I needed somepony from outside Ponyville to give me an unbiased opinion of my new recipe.”

After chewing for a moment, Trixie answered. “Given the taste, I assume that there is applesauce and caramel in this?” Pinkie nodded. “It needs more applesauce to balance the caramel.”

“Yay!” Pinkie wrote the critique down on a pad she pulled out of her mane. “So, watcha doin’?”

“I came to thank you for agreeing to spread a few good words about my next performance.”

Pinkie’s smile widened towards both ears. “No problem! I’m happy to be of service. By the way, do not ask the question you were going to ask about me getting into Twilight’s pantry. My Pinkie Sense says that if you ask that, you will fall into the next eleven mud puddles you see.”

“What?” Trixie asked. How- What- Did- Can she read minds?

“Oh I forgot. I need to keep today’s batch of white chocolate macadamia cookies from burning. See ya.” With that, the confectioner vanished in a blitz of pink back into the bakery.

Trixie stood in the middle of the road for a minute trying to piece together the conversation with Pinkie. Finally deciding to deal with it later, Trixie turned to the town park. Upon arrival, she sought out a secluded area of the park and began practicing some of the basic spells in her performance. Nothing more than some levitation training and a few simple illusions, but they were a good warm-up. For three quarters of an hour, she continued her practice. It was at that point that she noticed a commotion approaching. Turning to the noise, she heard many ponies running away from something. Then the cause of the noise made itself apparent.

Eyes gleamed with rage and hunger, fangs poised to strike, and throat letting out an enraged growl, a super-sized timberwolf turned around a corner and charged strait at Trixie. With each massive bound, the wolf approached its target.

Most ponies would run. Trixie may not have been Twilight Sparkle, but she most certainly was not ‘most ponies’. Trixie stood her ground as the earth started shuddering at the beast’s approach.

Author's Note:

As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. Sorry for the food descriptions. I wrote this during Lent, and I was fasting.

Comments

[Zocarik]

Funny thing happened while I wrote this chapter. I developed an urge to eat the hash browns I mentioned Trixie making. Is that normal?

[sarkodine]

It woulda been weird if you'd had Pinkie making baked bads and wanting to eat those lol
Ahhh random pinkie...how we are confused by the.

[VagueDrake]

2375089 Now I have a strange urge to eat hash browns as well Is it contagious?

Edit: Now that I actually read the story, I got to tell you, it is pretty good, and you should definitely keep writing.

[Zocarik]

2375201 Even my own writing would not get me to eat baked bads. Though if they were just regular cupcakes with gummy worms in them...

2375219 Well, when I read this chapter to another person, she started craving chocolate chip pancakes. So, yes. I think that this story is the spreader of a pathogen that causes cravings for pancakes or hash browns. Even the author is not immune. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE BEFORE... before... I want waffles.