The Iron... Dragon?
By: StreakTheFox
"You have GOT to be kidding me..." Rainbow Dash said out loud to herself as she held up her monthly issue of "The Wonderbotz" and reading through the seventh page.
The contents of the page consisted of of the kind of diet that the Wonderbolts take on, and more specifically what kinds of foods are best suitable for them and their highly athletic lives. Such foods include some highly delectable salads, strong and powerful protein bars, and soups and pastas that seemed to be meant for royalty. What really caught her attention the most, however, was a certain passage in the paragraph she was originally skimming over saying, "Although famous, the Wonderbolts pride themselves in staying self-sufficient, meaning that all the food they eat is cooked and prepared all on their own!"
Rainbow Dash slumped back a bit after reading the same passage for the 3rd time. She always wanted to be a Wonderbolt, but why would the ever accept a pony like her when she can't even cook? Dash hated to admit it, but she knew very well that her cooking skills were about as good as Fluttershy's ability to cheer loudly. Thoughts of depression began to swarm her mind while she thought to herself that this could be the end, her life might now for sure be over, that she should just give up right now and - WAIT!
"That's it!" Rainbow Dash announced proudly as she suddenly jolted up into a low hover. "I learned all on my own how to be the best flier in all of Equestria! Learning something like how to cook is gonna be a breeze!"
Feeling a bit more confident, she began to think of where she could learn how to cook. Pinkie was the first that came to her mind, but all she knows how to cook is pastries, not the exquisite foods that the Wonderbolts eat. Well, Applejack maybe? She's always around food, and her cooking is great! But most of her recipes are based around apples, and the Wonderbolts use so much more than that. Rarity is into fashion and not cooking, and Fluttershy primarily knows how to prepare food for her little forest animals, so that would just leave....
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said aloud with a gasp. Before another though, the speedy weather pony was off, leaving a trail of Rainbows behind her. Surely, even if Twilight Sparkle didn't know the best ways to cook, she must surely have at lease some books on the subject! And with the sun still being high in the sky, there would be plenty of time for her to learn just about everything, right?
"All done Twi'!" Spike said, brushing off the dust from his hands. He had just finished putting the last book away on the shelves after another one of Twilight Sparkle's big reading marathons. It was just like Twilight to get into deep research after hearing about something new that she didn't fully understand, but going as far as agent Equegypt Algebra was a bit too extensive in Spike's opinion.
"Thanks you Spike," Twilight said with a cheerful smile. "I think I've gotten the hang of it now... what about you?"
"Uck, please!" Spike replied with a grossed-out face. "You know I'm no good at math, and you not being able to stay in this time period for it makes it even harder!"
"Oh don't worry, I was able to manage myself just fine," Twilight said happily, missing the fact that Spike was obviously talking about himself. "Besides, I feel ever more enlightened now and ready to take on another subject."
"can we please open up some windows first, Twi? This place is really musty."
"Alright, I guess this place could use a bit of airing out..."
Twilight's horn shimmered with a purple aura as she directed her magic towards one of the smaller windows near the base of the library, opening it fully with ease. Next, the middle window with a square shape that flung open nicely. Last, the side-ways oval window with such a wonderful view of the vibrant blue sky, a big colorful rainbow, and.... eyes?
"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight said as she opened up the window with her magic. Rainbow Dash quickly flew in and landed in front of her, a determined look on her face as she stared at Twilight with her usual smirk.
"Hey Twilight! I was wondering if I could like, get your help with a bit of something."
"Oh, sure Rainbow Dash! What exactly did you need?" Twilight said, pleased to be able to help her friends.
"I uh, well, I need to learn how to cook," Rainbow Dash replied with a blank stare on her face.
Twilight's eyebrow raised slightly... cooking? Why would Rainbow Dash need to learn how to cook? Of all her friends, Rainbow Dash was the last she would expect to need to know how to perform such a task.
"Uh, why would you need to learn cooking all of a sudden?"
"Well ya see, I was reading this magazine about the Wonderbolts - well, skimming over it mostly - when I came across this thing about how all the Wonderbolts know how to cook for themselves! And I know I can't really cook, and if I don't learn how, then they'll never accept a loser like me!"
There was a bit rising emotions coming out through Rainbow Dash's words as she finished her explanation, so this obviously seemed to be troubling her quite a bit. Twilight brought a hoof to her chin and though for a few seconds before re-establishing eye contact with her rather uppity Pegasus friend.
"Well Rainbow, I'm not really that good of a cook..."
"Ugh, darnet..." Rainbow sighed with a facehoof. "well, do you at least have some cook books I could read so I can at least start to learn how to do it?"
"Hmmm..." It's true, Twilight did have a rather nice section in her library all about Equestrian cuisine, the methods of cooking, and even a couple books on the best foods for an athletic pony such as her. But the last part of Rainbow Dash's words made Twilight shudder a bit... her, cooking? She was a great flier no doubt, and one of the best athletes in all of ponyville, but household things such as cooking was an area she knew all too well that Rainbow Dash would not be able to do all on her own. Then, it hit her... she would need an assistant if she wanted to be able to learn how to cook, and not just any assistant.
"Well actually I do have a nice selection of cook books for you Rainbow, but I think I got something even better for you..." Twilight said with a grin on her face.
"You do!?" Dash said, her eyes lighting up a bit as she leaned forwards towards Twilight Sparkle.
"Yes, in fact I most certainly do... Spiiiike~!"
"You have GOT to be kidding me..." Rainbow Dash said, staring at the giant golden trophy that had been previously stashed away in the closet. Sure enough, the plaque at the base of the trophy read "489th Annual Iron Pony Culinary Competition - First Place Prize, Spike Sparkle." Sure enough, peering up to the top of the top of the trophy, she could see a dragon of the exact same size and shape as spike with its arms crossed and holding a spoon and spatula in each hand mounted with a triumphant pose. She looked up and down the entire thing several times, awestruck not only by the large and glorious trophy before her, but also because Spike, the little dragon assistant of Twilight's, was apparently some incredible chef!
"Well, it is true I guess..." Spike said with a bit of a blush as he scratched the back of his head.
"Yup!" Twilight said, a sense of pride in her voice. "A few weeks before we moved here to Ponyville, Spike won first place in an Iron Pony Culinary Competition!"
"Well wait, it says Iron Pony, but Spike's a dragon! Why did they let him compete?"
"Well," responded Twilight, thinking back to the time. "Technically it's open for nearly all kinds of species able to cook, but it's mainly just ponies. In fact, the year before that a Zebra won first place, quite interesting isn't it?"
"Uhhh yeah, sure Twilight... So, you want me to learn how to cook with Spike?"
"Mhm! Spike is such a great chef, that's why he's usually the only one doing the cooking in here."
"Yeah, it's not that I have to do all the cooking, it's just that I really like to use my fire for more than just letters all the time," Spike Said.
"Alright, well, when do you think we can get started?" Rainbow asked, eager to get this task out of the way. "Cuz I really need to learn how to do all this cooking stuff ya know."
"Well it's almost lunch time anyways," Twilight said, getting an idea. "So perhaps you could start by first making all of us some lunch!"
"Alright, cool! Let's get started!" And without another thought, Rainbow Dash pushed herself up into the air again and sped straight into the kitchen with Spike trailing right behind. It's just some mid-day lunch, how hard could it be?
-LUNCH-
"Put it out! Quick, PUT IT OUT!"
"I'm trying I'm trying! Wait, what if I..." Rainbow Dash flapped her wings firmly several times, trying her best to douse the flames that were now consuming the simple sandwich before them. Unfortunately, the green fire only intensified from the sudden rush of oxygen, and its flames licked up at the cupboard attacked to the ceiling, the wood beginning to smolder.
"It's not working Dash! Try something else!"
"I don't, WAIT!" Rainbow Dash quickly clasped her teeth around a fosset connected to a hose and brought it out, turning both water knobs for hot and cold on all the way. Almost instantly a large rush of water burst out and doused not only the flames, but also drenching the little dragon who was originally holding the plate of burning food, making him fall backwards and slide halfway across the floor.
"Oops! I uh, Sorry...!"
"It's okay..." Spike said with an irritated sigh, getting up to his feet and flicking off some of the water. A few seconds later, Twilight Sparkle walked through the door and immediately stopped in mid step at the scene before her. She had expected to find the two just about finishing up something for lunch, but was instead confronted by a counter covered with all sorts of food items, a ceiling lightly shrouded by smoke, and a floor covered in water that was still streaming outwards from the focset that had not yet been turned off and laying against the side of a lower cabinet.
"Uhhh... Maybe lunch can wait a bit..."
-DINNER-
"So, I just put this in here and... like that?"
"Yes yes, you got it Dash! Now just mix it slowly..."
"Okay, right, slowly..." Dash repeated to herself, trying to stay focused on the lightly boiling soup in front of her. The soup was filled with multiple ingredients of spike's choosing, and the large soup-pan she was using was on top of several burning planks of wood on the stove, keeping hold of Spike's very own green flame. It seemed as though now Rainbow Dash had finally gotten the hang of mixing food together, now how about actually cooking it right?
"That's right, you got it! Now you keep doing that while I go get the spices." Spike hopped down from his stool and went to the other side of the kitchen as Rainbow Dash continued to stir the soup. 'Ugh, this is so sloooow' she thought to herself. 'Maybe if I just turn it faster, then it would finish sooner, right?'
At that though, Spike returned and flung in a bit of a red dust that smelled like cinnamon, and another that sparkled with a hint of what seemed like magic.
"Alright, all the ingredients are in, now just keep stirring till it's ready." Spike said in an informative kind of tone.
"Right... gotcha." Rainbow Dash sighed, this was going to take forever! Maybe she could just try to speed it up some like she was thinking...
Dash moved her hooves around faster, spinning the soup as it began to lightly cackle with the magical ingredient. 'Yes, I knew that would make it go faster!' She thought to herself, taking the light cackling of the soup as a sign of near completion. She swirled the concoction around faster and faster, almost up to her limit as she eagerly desired to finish the dish.
"W-w-wait Dash! You're going to fast! Slow down or it's gonna-" BOOM!
Suddenly the pan erupted with a sudden magical outburst as the soup splashed all throughout the kitchen. The force of the outburst sent them both flying back against the the cabinets behind them as the soup splattered across not only them, but the ceiling, the counters, and the floor that had recently finished drying. A few second later, Twilight once again entered the kitchen, expecting positive results once more. Yet, just as before, the kitchen looked to be the scene of a war. Rainbow Dash and Spike looked up at Twilight, both of them covered with in the same mess that was spread throughout the entire kitchen.
"Ummm... maybe we should go out to eat..." she suggested.
-Breakfast-
"Careful, careful....!"
"I think, maybe just... Aha! I got it!'
"You did it Dash! Those pancakes are perfect!"
Sure enough, the neatly stacked pancakes before her had made it all the way from the frying pan to the serving counter. After drizzling on some syrup and adding a spoonful of butter, the freshly prepared pancakes were ready to eat!
"I'm proud of you Dash, you were actually able to make my very own signature pancakes with minimal help from me!"
"Yeah, I guess I did do kind of a good job huh?" Dash said as she smiled and looked at the stack of Pancakes before them. She had finally prepared a full meal, and one of an award-winning chef's standards at that!
"Yeah... but you did sort of make a mess of the kitchen again..." Spike said as he pointed back at the chaos zone behind them with flower covering parts of the stove, sugar toppled over on another counter, an assortment of flavoring liquids splattered lightly on the walls and an abundance of oil puddled onto the floor.
"Well, we can worry about that later, now it's time to bring this out to Twilight!" Rainbow Dash picked up the plate of pancakes before her, but almost immediately began to find it difficult to balance the stack.
"Careful Dash, you're gonna tip it over if you don't take it slow!"
"Don't worry Spike, I can get this thing out to Twilight in ten seconds flaaaAAAHH!"
As if on cue, Twilight entered the kitchen again, her expectations once more high, only to be lowered again by the equally lowering tower of pancakes... right on top of her.
-24 hours after first attempt-
"Well, now that we all had a shower and the kitchen is all cleaned up... again... I think we should evaluate on your progress Rainbow Dash," Twilight said as her, Dash, and Spike were gathered around a table.
"You still got some work to do..." Spike said, crossing his arms at Dash. "And you certianly need to learn how to slow down a lot... but I'm really impressed at how fast you're learning as well. You've surprised me a lot Rainbow, I think you really have some potential as a good chef."
"Thanks Spike... but I'm just gonna stick to flying as my main thing, ya know? I mean, I guess even I can get pretty good at cooking, but I'm gonna need to be able to fly so much better if I wanna get into the Wonderbolts!"
"Don't worry Rainbow Dash, I'm sure you'll be done with these cooking lessons in no time! And as for the Wonderbolts, I think you might even be able to bring more than just your speedy flying to the table when you try out." Twilight chuckled softly as Rainbow Dash smiled at her and Spike. This was going to be difficult, but it would surely be something she could get past. Nothing would stop her from getting into the Wonderbolts!
"Ah yes, it is finally complete! The dish that I shall use to compete!"
Deep within the Everfree forest, Zecora applauds herself over a recently completed brew in her Cauldron. Taking a look behind her in a now opened closet, she sees the two statues that have been propped up inside, with one being a 1st place gold trophy and the second being a 2nd place, silver trophy. She thought back to almost a year ago, at how that little dragon who had seemed to still be only a baby had taken her 1st place trophy away from her. Well not this time... this year, her brew was going to take first prize for sure!
