After Twilight's work day had ended. She and Pudding entered Pudding's office.
"So about the contract. I heard you went to the Lunarium cook school in Manehattan. Which means you are more than a mere chef." Pudding said.
"No. I flopped. I obtained the rank of a head chef." Twilight lied. Twilight had fabricated a fake diploma with that on it. And showed it to Pudding.
Pudding took one look at the diploma, before laughing loudly. "This is the worst fake diploma I have ever seen. It doesn't help that after you joined just now that I looked into you past." Pudding said
Twilight looked away in shame. Pudding's reaction removed Twilight's only chance of entering a kitchen as a normal chef. And get a 'Normal' resume.
"Master Chef." Pudding said smiling. He noted that Twilight wasn't joking however. This made his face turn serious.
Twilight took one look at Pudding before looking away once more.
"Do you know why I am unhappy?" Pudding asked in a very serious tone.
"I fabricated my diploma?" Twilight offered. Her voice betrayed her anxiety.
"No. I am unhappy because you tried to make you pass off as a normal chef. But that is an insult to ordinary chefs. They are also doing their best to enter a business. You trying to lower your rank makes you a dishonest individual. And you also insult my daughter. She is an ordinary chef, if you took her place even though you could have taken the master chef job, that would make her jobless. You tried to remove their chance of entering this business." Pudding explained.
It was then that Twilight realized the error of her action. Not everyone is as capable as Twilight. So although Twilight could have taken an higher rank, those chefs can't. Taking a spot from them would prevent Twilight from getting another potentially good chef from entering the business.
"I am sorry." Twilight said with hints of self-spot in her voice.
Pudding then smiled, "You tried this at an early point of your career. You can make up for it. Can't you?" he asked.
Twilight nodded, "I can." she said.
"Good. So the master chef position. I have that position in my restaurant. This is that contract." Pudding said as he showed the contract.
Twilight looked at the contract and saw that it wasn't very good. "Tell you what. I will work for you with this contract until I pulled you out of the failing business. I will change the menu, improve the connection between the kitchen and the waiters and assist you in getting some new chefs. How about it?" Twilight offered.
"What is the condition?" Pudding asked.
"You will accept and permit female chefs to work in your kitchen. Beside me and Harissa." Twilight offered.
"Deal!" Pudding said with an satisfied smile.
"Now then. I am going to go home. I need to prepare and research Italian recipes for the new menu." Twilight said happily.
"Sure. Glad to have you on board. I can't wait what the future will be like with you on board." Pudding said dreamily.
"Don't dream too quickly. You first have to become successful before you start dreaming." Twilight said with an eyebrow raised at Pudding.
"I know, I know. I guess I am going to check if all the products in the fridges and freezers are still edible." Pudding said before walking out of the office.
Twilight meanwhile headed back to her lonely home. And once at home, she grabbed all the books on Italian dishes she could find. She moved them using her magic towards her bedroom and placed them next to the desk. She then took a seat and started to read all about the subject.
Meanwhile Celestia was just walking through one of the hallways in the castle, she was cautiously looking around. Something was wrong, she could feel it. Although she wasn't sure what exactly.
It was exactly then that she passed the royal kitchen. She overheard the conversation between Luna and the sous chef. It wasn't a very pleasant sounding one.
"So why are you telling me that I am terrible at my job? I am simply ensuring that my kitchen stays clean of filth." The sous chef grumbled.
"Filth? As in female chefs? Or female 'Intruders' in general?" Luna said with curiosity in mind.
"The latter." The sous chef said.
"Oh? Does that mean you are insulting the royal family?" Luna said as a creepy smile crossed her face. It was clear to Celestia that Luna has been waiting for that one.
The sous chef gulped as she realized what he just said. He looks at Luna, shook his head. "Of course not. I was just mentioning the female nobles that think they are way better than they actually are." he reasoned.
Luna's creepy smile slightly fades, "I guess that means your daughter isn't welcome here either." she said with a nod.
"Uh-" The sous chef tried to inject, only to get cut off by Luna.
"Well I am going to go and quickly ban her from the kitchen if you excuse me, sous chef." Luna smirked as she saw the sous chef scrambling in an attempt to stop Luna.
In the corner of Celestia's eye, she saw the sous chef's daughter approach her.
"Your highness. Can I ask you something?" The daughter asked.
"Of course, my little pony. What is it?" Celestia asked curiously.
"Uhm. Can please allow Twilight to enter the kitchen anyways?" The daughter asked.
Celestia's eyebrow rose slightly, she did not expect that one. "I could. But I am afraid that only your father has control over this decision." she said, Celestia saw how the daughter just drooped at that.
"I tried. He won't listen to me. Twilight is my idol, so he doesn't take her serious. He thinks that Twilight is simply blowing steam." The daughter said.
"What is your name, my little pony?" Celestia asked curiously. Although mentally she was surprised with Twilight popularity.
"Marie Bain. Your highness." Marie said.
"And how do you know Twilight?" Celestia asked.
"We went to Celestium together. I heard she managed to acquire master chef status at Lunarium. It makes me proud. I just wish I could find a chef job somewhere. I got a normal chef's diploma, but I can't get a job anywhere." Marie said.
Celestia smiled, she realized that Twilight had been making a name for herself even as filly. She inspired other ponies into becoming a chef and to stick with it.
"Twilight is currently working hard at fixing that problem. She is trying to make a difference by giving female chefs a better name in society." Celestia explained. As soon as she finished, she saw that Marie's eyes were filled with sparkles.
"Is that so?! She is injecting herself in world where we get removed from? All by herself?!" Marie asked as her voice was filled to the brim with excitement.
"She is. I just don't know if she will succeed." Celestia said somewhat uncertain.
"She, of course, won't succeed alone. I will call all my friends! I will get a job even if I have to fight for it!" Marie said with an incredible amount of determination.
And before Celestia could stop her. Marie forcibly enters the room where she saw her father begging at Luna. Celestia meanwhile looked on, not in horror, but in curiosity.
"DAD!" Marie shouted. Her shout had enough force to nearly blow her father away. Luna's eyes simple widen at the suddenness.
"Marie I am busy right now." The sous chef said as he tried stand back up.
"NO! I am going into the kitchen right now. You can't stop me." Marie said as she forcefully walked into the kitchen against her father's wishes.
"You will not. You will need more experience." Her father said.
"Do you want me to share all the bad things you have done to get your position with Luna?" Marie threatened.
The sous chef's eyes widen, as he sees Luna's eyes widen in intrigue. He looked at his daughter and growled. "Do that and I will ground you." he said.
"I don't care. You either allow me to enter the kitchen and cook or I share some stuff with Luna AND Celestia." Marie said as she points at Celestia in the background.
The sous chef looked shocked at her daughter as both the royal sisters look suspicious at the sous chef.
"I- I- Fine! Do whatever you want!" The sous chef said before storming out.
"What did he do?" Luna tried asking.
"Can't tell you that. Or my only form of blackmail will disappear." Marie said with a smirk at Luna.
"Uh-" Celestia attempted to inject, but was cut off by Marie.
"Don't worry. I was just bluffing anyways." Marie said smiling.
It was exactly then that Royal fell over, as the sisters and Marie could hear nearly the entire kitchen laughing in the background. Marie's smile widen even further. While Luna and Celestia simply look shocked at her.
"You are Marie Bain correct?" The royal head chef said. This man is responsible for hiring new chefs into the kitchen. He could easily overwrite the sous chef's decision.
"That I am." Marie said.
"You wanted to become a chef at my kitchen?" He asked.
"More than anything." Marie responded.
"All right. I will put you on a two week trail to see how capable you are. You can start immediately." The royal head chef said.
"Thank you so much!" Marie said as she dashes into the kitchen.
Meanwhile Celestia looked both shocked an impressed at what just happened. A random female chef just gained a potential job at the royal kitchen, thanks to her incredible desire in assisting Twilight.
Luna looks at Celestia with a smile. "See I knew Twilight would succeed. She has a large fanbase and many loyal friends. She will spark the flame that will ignite a fire in every female chef that Twilight had gotten into contact with." Luna said wisely.
"You knew." Celestia said.
"I don't. A friend is watching over Twilight. She can see Twilight's potential and sees that she is going to rock Equestria to its core." Luna said.
"You mean-" Celestia started.
"Yes." Luna confirmed.
"I see. Yes, this is going to be very interesting." Celestia said smiling. "Well I am going to bed. Good night my dear sisters."
Luna nodded at Celestia as she saw her walk off. "Does she not hate me?" ??? Said.
"Nah. She knows that Twilight wants to free you. She has actually been looking in way for her to do it herself." Luna said.
"I see." ??? said with a kind smile.
Back at Twilight's home. Twilight finally finished reading all the books on Italian dishes that she could. And on a small piece of paper she had made a list of dishes to put on the menu. All of them were authentic Italian and all of them were easily made by chefs.
The list held the following things:
Pizza mozzarella, A pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on it. Price 9 bits.
Pizza prosciutto, A pizza with tomato sauce and cheese. Topped with some special smoked ham. Price 10 bits.
Pizza capricciosa, A pizza with tomato sauce, cheese, smoked ham, salami, paprika and salmon. Price 13 bits.
Pasta carbonara, A pasta with cream, cheese and garlic. Price 12 bits.
Pasta bolognese, A pasta with meat tomato sauce and pecorino cheese. Price 15 bits.
Pasta Marinara, A pasta with an assortment of fish, tomato sauce and garlic. Price 20 bits.
Twilight felt proud of this list. Beside these pizza's and pasta's were some snacks and desserts. But these things are already pretty good. She didn't feel the need to change them.
Twilight looked at the clock, it was almost dinner time. She headed downstairs to grab something to eat before heading to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a heavy day.
While Twilight was sleeping. Marie and her friends all sat together in their favorite pub.
"I just want some root beer." Kipper said to the waiter. He was the last to make an order. The waiter walked off towards the bar to get them the drinks.
"So how is everyone?" Harissa asked.
"How is everything going with your father's Italian restaurant?" Leaf seed asked.
"We recently hired a master chef. It is looking up, we made for the first time in a while money. We are out of the red." Harissa said happily. "What about you Marie?"
"I got a potential job in the royal kitchen." Marie said. This statement caused everyone in the group to gasp.
"Oh my Celestia! How lucky! I am still searching." Mince said disappointed.
"Do you guys not want to know who my master chef is?" Harissa asked.
"Well, who is it?" Lulu asked.
Harissa smile turned into a smirk, "It's master chef Twilight Sparkle." she said.
Everyone snapped their heads towards Harissa. Everypony in the pub looks shocked at her. This turned into deathly silence. Until, Lulu spoke up.
"Well then. That is surprising." Lulu simply said, "I though she didn't know about your place."
"She didn't. She got hired by chance." Harissa said.
"I heard from the princess that Twilight is currently trying to fix the discrimination towards female chefs. However she is doing it alone." Marie explained, "Why don't we assist her?"
Everyone smiled, "We will. We are a team of chefs!" They all replied at the same time.
"Twilight won't be alone in this fight. I will talk to all my female chef friends and tell them what we are trying to do." Lulu said, her voice was filled with determination.
"Let's take this fight to the people. I was going to do this anyways." Aspic said.
"What do you mean?" Baste asked.
"My parents have tasked me to teach young fillies in the slums on how to cook. I will now also teach them on how to get a job." Aspic said.
"In order for the demand of female chef spots to increase, right?" Dress asked.
"Yup!" Aspic admitted.
"Yeah! Let's do this. Together!" Everyone else said at the same time.
"Waiter. Scrap my order. I have to go." Kipper said. He saw the waiter nodding.
Everyone on the table walked outside and their separate ways. It is time to make a difference.