"A Burning Surprise"
by HB_DS2013
"It's too bad he's not here." Spike let out a disappointed sigh as he trotted alongside his older sister.
"You miss him, don't you?" Twilight inquired.
The dragon sighed once more, confirming the librarian's question.
"Knowing him and his ability to sense auras, he can just teleport to where we are." She shrugged her shoulders. "He's smarter than he looks. I mean... it took him six months to compress twelve years of schooling. I'm pretty sure that he's looking to return a book back to the library."
As if on cue, Gilbert in a black apron opened up a book with his magic. Holed up in a makeshift igloo, the small table in front of him had a large stack of hay next to a bowl of mushrooms, chopped onions, and some garlic cloves, along with several bowls of red chili powder, coriander, cumin, tumeric and mustard seed. With a dark blue flare and several hoof movements, he poured some oil on the pan and plopped the spices there; another hoof mixed the the onions and garlic.
Spike's stomach growled and he drooled at the thought of his friend's meal. His mind flashed back to a couple months, before Running of the Leaves.
"This is pretty good." The drakeling said between bites. "How did you cook up this sort of stuff!?"
"You're not the only one who likes to eat gems." The stallion smirked. "I'm not limited to fish, rice and whatever ponies eat."
The drakeling lifted his head at the cerulean stallion, perplexed by his statement. "Well, what do you mean?" He inquired.
Gilbert sighed and crossed his forehooves. "Growing up, I never had a chance to eat whatever I liked. It also gave me a chance to stea- erm, take whatever is available." He shook his head and continued, "And... I personally think gems are good... if only on the crunchy side. Do you think 'Twi has any... cookbooks or something like that?"
"We have a couple. But it's not much." Spike replied and sighed. If only I had some other stallion to hang with..."
"Want to 'hang out' with a fellow man tomorrow?" Gilbert offered, putting up airquotes with his hooves. "We can skip stones, do some sparring, BURN THINGS or go gem hunting?"
What was that last part?" Spike asked.
"Gem hunting?" The cerulean stallion tilted his head in confusion. Spike shook his head and glared at his friend. If anyone found out about... I shudder to imagine the complications.
Returning to his meal then giving off a satisfied belch, Spike rubbed his stomach and asked, "What are you gonna do for Hearth's Warming?"
"Hmm..." The stallion tilted his head once more.
"I see. Thanks for the food. Spike grinned and fist/hoofbumped his friend.
Spike shook his head once more and sighed as he lifted his head at the snowfall in Ponyville. This year was colder than he thought it would be. At the same time, the stallion gave a relieved sigh and rubbed the sweat off his forehead after pouring the mushrooms onto the pot while mixing with his magic.
If I do this right, then it'll be pretty spicy, but still warm enough to eat. He thought to himself and sweatdropped at the now frozen glasses of water, then at the curry mix. I wonder... The flames dying down, he continued to mix the curry until turning into a bright red color.
As the two siblings walked home, a strangely spicy scent pervaded the air, beckoning them to come. The scent in question smelled strongly of mushrooms, garlic and chili. "I don't think this smells like explosives." Spike noted, then licked his lips and rubbed his claws. "Hmmm... I can smell it from here."
Is this... curry!? Twilight thought. I wonder...
The pair of purple followed the scent throughout town, and eventually found the source: a makeshift igloo at the edge of town large enough for one pony to crawl in. With the warm atmosphere warding off the winter cold (and somehow not melting the igloo), a familiar cerulean stallion turned around with a single plate and raised an eyebrow at the purple duo.
"Twilight? Spike? What brings you two here?" Gilbert inquired.
"You live here?" Spike asked.
"At least until Winter Wrap Up. I usually sleep in abandoned homes during the winter... where I used to live." He sighed and returned to the pot.
"Is that..." Twilight sniffed. "What are you cooking?"
"Oh, this? It's something I found in the library. It's called curry." The stallion nonchalantly replied while continuing to mix the contents of the pot.
"Curry?" Spike asked. "Of course. Although, it IS too spicy for my taste." The librarian frowned, only to hear rumbling sounds and for the stallion to stare at the two with a strange (not lewd) look. "Is that the sound of growling stomachs I hear?" He grinned widely.
"Uhhh... I don't know about this." Twilight sweatdropped.
"C'mon, 'Twi. You and Spike just happened to waltz into dinner." Gilbert chuckled as he prepared the plates, much to her chagrin. "A little variety won't kill you." She then glared at her draconic younger brother after a stiffle.
"He's right. I mean... we haven't eaten since we came back from Canterlot." The dragon replied, only to hear a growling sound and rubbed his stomach in response. "Now that I think about it... the food in Canterlot...wasn't that satisfying. And I'm still hungry!" He sighed and watched as the stallion plopped a ladle onto the pot and poured some of the curry onto the plate and turned to Twilight, who leered at the red mixture.
Spike then proceeded to take a spoonful of the curry and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. Instead, he felt the heat of the chili powder and garlic followed by the earthy taste of mushrooms. The drakeling opened his eyes to find himself in a marketplace, surrounded by various bipedal figures conversing in a strange language. Coughing from the dusty streets, he continued to look around and gasp at the plethora of earthen bowls of various spices while covering his eyes from the hot sun. When he opened his eyes, he said, "That IS potent. I thought I was in an exotic land with humans in there."
"Alright, now let me try." Twilight took a tentative bite of curry from her plate, and all she had was a burning sensation followed by a stream of flames that threatened to melt the igloo if not for Spike's scales and Gilbert's relative fire immunity while screaming.
When the screaming finally died down, she glared at her host and asked angrily, "What were you thinking!?"
"I was thinking of dinner, and this happened to be the first thing that came into my mind." Gilbert shrugged. "How was I supposed to know that you didn't like spicy food?"
"I don't like it." The librarian glared at the stallion.
"Hmm... why not?"
"I can never understand why ponies enjoy burning their mouths like that." She answered, then sighed after seeing the suspiscious expression on the stallion's face. "I guess this is tame compared to that one bottle of hot sauce..."
Spike and Gilbert grinned at her statement, the latter with a grin so wide it seemed evil. Twilight paled at their expressions and gulped.
Many plates of curry later, the trio sat on the snow with warm and satiated stomachs.
"Wow... that... wasn't too bad." Twilight groaned.
"I'll say. You and Pinkie should have a cooking duel." Spike chuckled, then let out a burp, much to his older sister's dismay.
"If I did, then Ponyville would have more than enough to eat many times over. And I still don't have a job." Gilbert reasoned.
"How about that restaurant a ways off from Sweet Apple Acres?" Twilight suggested. "I heard that they have openings for a chef."
"Yeah. They make good sandwiches and soups, and hay fries too. Not to mention how... they are..." Spike yawned and finally fell asleep.
The two unicorns shared a chuckle, watching the baby dragon snore peacefully.
"Something tells me he hangs out with women too much." Gilbert deadpanned and sighed "He's a dragon in a world of ponies. I'm a pyromaniac who loves to cook. Even I can see that he's out of place."
"Back when the both of us lived in Canterlot, the nobles would give him suspiscious stares and comment on his appearance. Many ponies have thought that he was a pet. The nobles think of Spike as a freak of nature. He's been made fun of simply because of him being a dragon." She sighed and continued, "And it really does not help that we don't know much about dragons."
"I was a pony living in Griffonia and not everybeaky's friendly to ponies. In Manehatten and Las Pegasus, ponies give me looks just because of my griffon name and my eating habits. " Gilbert huffed and turned to Twilight.
"So what if you're not from Equestria; you're more equine than any of those ponies and griffons you described." Twilight grinned at the stallion. "You're one of the most amicable stallions I've met. Also, I personally think that your flames can be used to help other ponies."
"With what?" Gilbert tilted his head in confusion.
"Your flames... they can be creative." She replied. "Just like you, a culinary artist."
She truly was a scholar of friendship, he noted, and watched as she stood and picked up the baby dragon with her magic and set him on her back.
"Thanks for dinner, Gilbert It was friendship-letter worthy to say the least." She smiled at the stallion once more and disappeared in a purple flash.
Gilbert chuckled once more before cleaning up the igloo and fell asleep, a smile curled up on his face.
Author's Note
I intented this to be out before Christmas, but plans were derailed and I was forced to have it done after.
