Cafe Dazzling

by brzy

Chapter 1

It was a normal Monday at Canterlot High. The Dazzling’s were in a serious pickle. With their dreams of world domination crushed, they found themselves in a tight spot. They had blown all their resources on getting into CHS and the Battle of the Bands competition. They splurged on custom dresses and school outfits to replace their normal jeans and hoodies to make a good first impression. They now had no money, no life goals, and their rent was due in 2 weeks. Adagio was starting to panic, which is not something a leader was supposed to do. She sighed as she sat down on her stool behind the little kitchenette, which was identical to the 6 others in the classroom.

Anon watched the orange poofy haired girl sit down. This was his favorite class, partly because it was the only one he shared with her, and almost equally because it was home-ec, the class where you get to bake cakes and eat cookies. Anon loved cooking. You could say it was his special talent. Were there some kind of shady government program that magically branded your destiny somewhere on your body, his would have been a cooking related item.

Adagio got a bad rap after the whole band fiasco thing, which he found a little unfair. He had missed the whole event due to having to attend his great Uncle A. Nonimous’s funeral and will reading. He had been named after his rich old Uncle, and had always been his favorite. Frankly the stories had to be exaggerations. Probably a gas leak. Seriously, a giant sky horse? It was probably just bacon hair making trouble again.

“Ok class! Your regular teacher is out sick today, so I’ve been called in to cover for her! As I am not a bitter controlling spinster with no culinary skills to speak of, you are free to cook whatever you want!” said Cheerilee with a bright smile, the teacher’s aide extraordinaire.

She sat down in Miss Harshwinny’s chair, propped her feet up on the desk, and took out her cell phone to text her boyfriend. She absentmindedly twirled her hand in the air with a spinney flourish, indicating the clock had started.

Adagio looked down at the counter: pasta, apples, spices, butter, cream cheese, sugar. Picturing it in her mind’s eye, she got to work. She sliced up the apples into tiny chunks and reduced them in the skillet with the sugar.

Anon found himself staring at his ingredients. What the heck was he supposed to do with pasta sauce, frosted flakes, ground beef, a spice rack of the usual suspects, and a block of cheddar? He glanced over at the other tables. Yup, it looked like Cheerilee just dumped five or six things on each countertop with no regard to what they were. Well, he’d show her! A true chef could make anythii… He was suddenly mesmerized by the smell of caramelizing sugar and apples.

Dagi boiled the pasta and proceeded to lay the lasagna sheets flat in the bottom of a deep casserole dish. She took a bowl filled with cream cheese blended with sugar and made a thin layer. She put down another layer of the flat pasta and put the now syrupy apple cinnamon chunks all over it. She repeated a last cream cheese layer, covered it, and then slathered the whole thing in butter. A light sprinkling of cinnamon on top, then she stuck it in the oven for an hour at 375.

Anon was panicking. Adagio was totally showing him up. The sweet smell of apples and cream cheese filled the classroom. She looked at home as she finished cleaning up her station, like she was used to preparing meals. He glanced into the oven at his horrific creation. The tube shaped monstrosity glared back at him. Anon fought the urge to chase it to Antarctica to correct the wrong he had inflicted on the world. It would be ok. Probably.

“Ding, times up! Let’s see what everyone’s made!” Cheerilee leapt up from her seat and began to make her rounds.

Cheerilee tried to stay positive, but Anon saw her eye twitch as she went from station to station. It was like a visit to a /b cooking thread on 4chan. Bananas on stuffing with ketchup, a giant ball of bacon, a burning torch made of dry spaghetti, and a bell pepper and beef sandwich. There was no beef in it. It was straight up slices of raw bell pepper on sliced bread. She arrived at Anon’s counter.

“So, whaddya got Anon?”

Anon smiled as he unveiled his creation: the meat cinnamon roll! It wasn’t really cinnamon, but he drew a blank on what the heck else to call it. Tube steak? Meat log? Cheddar trouser beefy pounder? All awful. He had seasoned the beef and flattened it out. On top he layered the cheese and pasta sauce. He rolled this up to form a long tube, then rolled the tube on a bed of crushed frosted flakes, coating it. He baked it for an hour, then sliced it up into little bite sized patties. A swirly layer of cheese and sauce spiraled from the center.

Cheerilee took a small, suspicious bite. Then she took another. It was a small delicious meaty saucy cheesy snack that was probably at least 500 calories a piece. She popped the rest of it in her mouth and gave him a thumbs up. Finally she arrived at Adagio’s station.

Adagio stood proudly beside her creation: apple cream cheese lasagna. She cut out a slice and haughtily handed the plate to Cheerilee. It smelled amazing. Cinnamon and sweet cheese everywhere. Cheerilee nearly dropped the plate as she suddenly went stiff then shook a little. A silky gasp escaped her mouth as her face blushed bright pink.

“Aaaaahhh, mmmm.” She purred as her pale green eyes went out of focus. “Ok, nice job class! I need to go see Big Maaa, I mean the teacher’s lounge for something! Try each other’s dishes and hang out until the bell rings!”

The young teacher’s aide ran out of the room with the plate in one hand, texting someone frantically on her phone with the other. Anon guessed it was an important meeting.

“Wow, this is great Adagio!” Anon commented as he ate a slice. It almost made him uncomfortable how good it was. Like he was embarrassed to be eating it in front of other people. How the heck do you make something taste lewd? “You could be a professional!”

“It’s not that big of a deal, I cook for Sonata and Aria all the time. I’m the only one that I can trust not to burn the apartment down.”

She sighed. Great, she remembered the apartment thing again.

Anon saw a sad look cross the orange poofy haired girl’s face. It concerned him, but he didn’t want to pry… Before he could make a decision the bell rang. Crap, now he had to go and try to do something with the restaurant he inherited from his Uncle.

“Well, if you or any of your friends are looking for a job, come by my restaurant down around the corner!” With that Anon grabbed his bag and ran out of the classroom.

Adagio blinked. A lot of stuff just happened at once and it took her a second to process it. Her eyes went wide and she took off to grab Sonata and Aria.

Sonata was at the base of the steps outside spinning in circles. Seriously, just sort of spinning around humming a song. It sounded awful. It might have been “Shine like Rainbows” but who can tell? Aria came up behind her and smacked her on the back of the head.

“Stop that, you sound awful.”

Adagio leapt off the top of the steps, her dress poofing up majestically around her. She landed knees bent right between Sonata and Aria. Rising regally in a smooth motion, she grabbed them both by the shoulders and shook them.

“What is wrong with you two?! Stop fighting!”

Dagi quickly regained her composure.

“I think I’ve got a solution to our problems!”

“The clogged shower drain?” asked Sonata.

Anon busied himself by moving boxes. The place had been shut down for quite a while during his uncle’s long terminal hospital stay. He had no employees, no food, no menus, and no name. Luckily enough he had been left enough to keep the place afloat during its transition.

“Hey Anon!” shouted a bright, bubbly voice seemingly incapable of deceipt.

“Hey Sonata! Aria! Adagio! You guys here to help out?” He dropped the box of plates, shattering about half of them.

“Well, looks like you are gonna need all the help you can get,” shaking her head at the box of ceramic shards.

Comments

[Eyeswirl the Weirded]

Hm. Ordinarily, a set-up like this would make me think of one of those self-insert stories, you probably know the kind, but there's no romance tag or any attempt at a flowery, 'poetic' description. Just a quick summary and 'cuteness ensues.' That, and someone that wasn't in town and doesn't know all about what happened, even still thinking 'Bacon Hair' to be evil, even if someone winds up showing him otherwise later on, feels like a breath of fresh air.

Color me intrigued.

[MagusNeon]

A slow start that promises a lot of development, definately worth the watch button.

[MrAskAPirate]

He had seasoned the beef and flattened it out. On top he layered the cheese and pasta sauce. He rolled this up to form a long tube, then rolled the tube on a bed of crushed frosted flakes, coating it. He baked it for an hour, then sliced it up into little bite sized patties. A swirly layer of cheese and sauce spiraled from the center.

... ~scribbles in recipe book~

[StrikerFX]

a little rushed and out of ordinary, but never the less is pretty good for a story.

[TAPEt]

Adagio can cook? and it's great? Who could possibly imagine!
Nice intro.

[WorldWalker128]

What the heck was he supposed to do with pasta sauce, frosted flakes, ground beef, a spice rack of the usual suspects, and a block of cheddar?

Well, with the pasta sauce, ground beef and cheddar you can make cheeseburgers with spiced pasta sauce instead of ketchup. That tastes pretty darn good if you make the sauce right and don't burn the hamburgers.
Can't think of anything for the frosted flakes, though.

[TAPEt]

I decide to reread the story and comment every chapter.
Reading this story again after watching Friendship Games makes me concern about Dazzlings. While Sunset Shimmer and the other Twilight got another chance to move on, Dazzlings are just literally lost everything and abandoned miserably. I wonder if they come back to the show somehow. At least I don't hope they died on the street.