A Dish Best Served... Cold.
Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch made their way down a hallway of the castle until they found the room with a small hoofprint sensor. Zipp put her hoof on it to unlock the door, and lead them inside.
Pipp had already set up several portable studio lights, and her phone on a tripod, to film the group of them as they tried one of her favorite dishes.
On a table in the middle of the room was a small can of the seaside delicacy. There were also a few trash cans, some counters, and a sink. The room looked like a small break room and kitchen for the castle’s serving staff.
“Hey Pipp!” Sunny smiled as she walked into the room. “We’re here. Zipp said you needed our help for a viral video and it sounded like it’d be fun to help out.”
“Yeah, I’ve never gone viral before, except for the time I got the horn flu.” Izzy explored the room, sizing up various bits of cooking ware and imagining the kinds of things she could make out of them. She ended her tour by a small light switch, flicking it up and down to turn the studio lighting on and off.
“Yeah, thanks girls,” Pipp said. “This Surströmming is my favorite dish. We have to import it from a small fishing village in the north.”
Hitch went over to the can, reading the label on the side. “I’ve done a bit of fishing myself, but I’ve never heard of this before. Why is the can so… round?” He poked it with a hoof, the metal tin seemed to resemble a balloon more than a can of tuna.
“It’s supposed to be like that, on account of the fermentation,” Zipp explained.
“Well we’re all here and I think we’re just about ready. Feel free to take a seat near the table. The painting tape on the ground will help mark out the edges of what the camera can see, so try to stay inside the lines and just react…” Pipp bit her lip to stifle a laugh. “Normally.”
Izzy was first to find a seat, climbing up and staring at the can with a gleam of wonder in her eye.
Sunny sat down next, followed by Hitch, while Zipp seemed to be moving a microphone and helping set up. She also closed the door to keep out any unwanted noise from the outside.
Zipp started to count down for her sister. “Three, two, one…”
“Hey Pipp squeaks! I’m coming to you live today with a very special viral video including my best friends, the ponies who returned magic to Equestria! They’re going to try Surströmming for the very first time!”
Sunny smiled as she watched Pipp speak into the camera, and turned her head noticing Zipp wearing something odd. “Hey, Zipp, what’s that mask for?”
Zipp pressed something on the canister attached to the rubber face mask, and looked over at Sunny. “Oh, uh… I’m allergic to fish.” She gestured back to Pipp.
“So let’s hear a Pipp Pipp Hooray for my best friends Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch!” Pipp stepped aside so that the three of them would be in the frame. “Go ahead and open it up to try some.”
Hitch took notice of the plates and utensils set out on the table in front of him. There was also a can opener, which he picked up and tried to figure out the best way to open the can. It had no pull tab or markings, he’d probably have to saw through the can the old fashioned way with the small hooked blade on the end of the can opener.
Before he could open the can, Izzy volunteered. “Don’t worry everypony, I’ve got this!”
Izzy hit the edge of the can with a hoof, causing it to bounce up into the air. She began poking into it with her horn, jumped out of her chair, and continued to juggle it in mid air. A spew of fermented liquids and air began spraying out of the can, coating Izzy’s mane quite thoroughly. The unicorn maintained her focus, until finally the can bounced back onto the table and the lid clattered to the floor.
She took a deep breath and shouted “Ta-D—” and immediately broke out into a violent fit of coughing as the smell of year old rotten eggs drenched in sulfur filled her lungs.
And it didn’t smell better on its way back out of her lungs.
Izzy’s eyes, nose, and mouth began to run at the same time as her stomach clenched. She dove to the nearby trash can with such urgency that her horn embedded into the side of the wooden counter. With as much determination and enthusiasm as she had used to restore friendship, Izzy emptied out her lunch, breakfast, and several other day’s worth of meals into the rubbish bin.
Sunny and Hitch could only look on as shock, until the odor of a can full of fish straight from the underworld reached them. It smelled like the lord of Tartarus had made an omelet out of garbage to eternally torment some poor soul for their misdeeds in life.
Sunny was able to keep her calm better than Izzy had, covering her nose and muttering several things that would need to be censored out of the final take of Pipp’s viral video. She looked up and saw Pipp, giggling madly behind the camera tripod holding her phone. The little light was flashing, and Sunny realized she’d be set up for a prank video.
She turned to Zipp next, seeing her standing near the door in her gas mask.
“The door!” Sunny shouted. She dove towards it and spun, kicking it with her back hooves. It didn’t open, and she looked back to notice the hoofprint lock. Only Zipp or Pipp could open it, and she doubted they’d be in a cooperative mood.
Sunny decided to make Zipp more helpful, smirking over at the white pegasus and bearing down on her. “Oh Zipp… why don’t you let me borrow that mask?”
Zipp flared her wings to take off and leap across the room, but Sunny had been ready to pounce. She tackled the pegasus into the floor and the two wrestled their way across the camera shot. Zipp fought valiantly to keep her hooves away from the straps of the gas mask, but Sunny was able to hook one under and tear it off.
She had expected Zipp to open the door to make her own escape. Instead, Zipp’s stomach began to rumble and it sounded like she was about to lose her lunch too. The pegasus took to the air, diving into a small window placed near the ceiling to serve as exhaust for the kitchen’s stove. With a loud bang and some squirming, she managed to force her way through the window and outside into the blessed fresh air.
Sunny grumbled to herself as she put the gas mask on and took a few deep breaths, resisting the urge to choke until it could filter out the stench.
Izzy was trying to pull her horn free and shouting for help. “It’s in my mane! It’s everywhere! The horror! The horror!” As soon as she managed to pull free, she dove for the sink and tried to wash the Surströmming out of her hair. Unfortunately, this just spread the oily substance and furthered the stench in the confined space.
Sunny looked back over to the table at an unexpected sight.
“It’s not bad,” Hitch said. “Could use some toast or something I think.”
“Yeah.” Pipp smiled, sitting across from him and also eating some of the fish delicacy. “It packs a punch the first time but it grows on you. I’m surprised you didn’t mind the smell.”
“Oh.” Hitch rubbed a hoof behind his head. “Actually, I’ve got a sinus infection so I can’t really smell anything at all. Judging by the others, I’m guessing it’s not good?”
Pipp laughed. “Oh it’s like dumping a dozen eggs into a gym bag full of dirty workout clothes, and leaving it out on a long, hot summer day, then shoving somepony into the bag to kidnap them.”
“Wow, that bad?” Hitch gestured over to Izzy. “You know her and Sunny are going to want to get even with a prank of their own.”
“Wait.” Pipp looked around the room. “Where’s Sunny?”
Against the wall below the window, several bits of furniture and a set of shelves had been stacked up. The window was open, and Sunny was nowhere in sight.
Zipp trotted into her room in the castle suites, chuckling to herself as she recalled the horrors of the Surströmming. She thought it might have been a bit cruel, but it was in good fun, and it was just fermented fish.
The door shut itself behind Zipp, causing her to spin around to see how that had happened. Dressed in a gas mask and holding several bright yellow and red cans, and a can opener, was Sunny.
“So you fancy yourself a prankster?” Sunny said. Her voice sounded low and ominous through the gas mask. “You’re not really allergic to fish, are you?”
Zipp gulped, and backed away. “Whoa, Sunny, calm down. I’m not allergic, I just didn’t want to give away the prank.”
“Good, then you won’t mind if I do this.”
She dropped the cans to the ground and raised the can opener up in her hoof.
“Sunny no! Not in my bedroom!” Zipp shouted in horror.
And Sunny began stabbing several of the cans open.