//------------------------------// // Final lessons with Royal part 1 // Story: The Chef's apprentice // by vincent789 //------------------------------// It was thursday. The day after Twilight's ill state. As Twilight slowly woke up with a stretch, she immediately feels weak. However her magic seems to have been replenished. So as she got up from her bed, she looks at her body. It doesn't appear to be weakened. But it is. Confused, she slowly walked to the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom, she looks at the bath. It was clean and she felt compelled to take a bath. So she started to fill it up with hot water and readied the towels around the bath. Quickly feeling the water, she nodded in confirmation that the water was at the right temperature. Meanwhile she quickly brushed her teeth in front of the mirror. She also looked at the calendar and saw that today was her 'second' lesson. She sighed 'I can't believe I got sick. I hope we can atleast finish this weeks lesson in time.' she hoped. She looked at her bath, it was almost full, and moved to the window to look outside. It was a bright sunny day. However the temperature seemed low despite the sun. She looked at the neighbour's thermometer and saw that it was a chilly 10 degrees celsius. She then opened the window slightly and moved to stop the faucet of the bath. Entering the bath caused her body to shake at the difference in temperature. From both her body as well as the room itself. As she laid there, she looked back on her 'Stupidity' and the fact that she should take breaks more often. As she splashed the water around a bit, she looked at the ceiling. She saw the steam coming from the bath as she laid in a rather hot bath. Looking through the window she slowly reflected on her actions. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Time passed by in a breeze, as Twilight laid in bath for 3 hours. Realizing a lot of time had passed. Twilight decided to quickly do her hair and body in soap and clean it off. After that she dried herself off and moved to open the window all the way. Afterwards she quickly left the bathroom and headed down the stairs into the living room. As she entered the living room she finds Royal already waiting for her. "Good morning. Twilight." Royal greeted. "Good morning." Twilight replied. Twilight then moved to the kitchen to grab a piece of bread with jam on it. after that moving to the dinner room to eat the bread. Once done with her breakfast, she grabbed her second notebook and a pencil. And joined Royal in the living room. "I see that you are ready." Royal said. Twilight simply nodded. "Let me explain these last two weeks." Royal began. "So you are getting two more lessons for these last two weeks." "First thing first. You are going to learn about the ins and outs of rice. After that you will get an introduction to meat and fish, however you are not ready to learn more then the basics about it." Royal continued "After these two lessons. You are going to take the entrance exam of the filly culinary school called: 'Lunarium'. This will be the week after our last lesson and it will be on friday." he explained. Twilight quickly grabbed her calendar and wrote the exam down on it. Royal looked at her work and nodded. "One more thing. After our last lesson. You are guaranteed to successfully do the exam." Royal stated. "I expect a high score from you." He said, building up pressure. Twilight simply gulped and looked towards Royal somewhat nervously. "Actually, I hope Trixie does well on her entrance exam." Twilight said nervously. Royal smiled. "Being humble, I see. Yes. I hope she does well, as well. Her exam will be slightly easier however." he said. "No. It won't. She has to attempt to become Celestia's personal protegé." Twilight said. Royal frowned "I see. Yeah. That won't be easy. However your exam takes priority." he said. Twilight smiled "With you as my teacher. How could I fail?" she asked. Royal smiled "Exactly. However let's start our lesson." he urges. Twilight nodded as she grabbed her notebook again and pencil waiting in her mouth. "Let's start the basics about rice. They are grown in water and usually on hilly environments. And although unlike potato. They use less water to grow." Royal started. "Potato and rice. These are titans of their food genre are the two most important food sources on the planet. They both grow easily and relatively fast. They also contain lots of resources when you are hard at work." he continued. "Potato is popular in Equestria and most of the west countries. Rice is popular in the east countries. However in Equestria's trend to eat rice is starting to become more and more popular. So tomorrow we will make Onigiri. A simply 2 ingredients dish. It's simple, yet filling." Royal ended. "It's time." Twilight said as she still was writing down the mountain of information. "I know. I will see you tomorrow." Royal said. "One more thing. Ask your parents to buy you a bag of rice and some nori. You are still grounded." he said. "I know. I will ask them." Twilight replied. After 10 minutes of his departure. Her parents entered the living room from the garden. "Good morning Twilight." both her parents said. "Good morning. Could you two buy something for tomorrow's lessons?" Twilight asked. "Sure. What do you need?" Velvet replied "A bag of rice and some nori." Twilight said. "We have some rice." Night said as he was looking in the pantry. "I will go buy a lot of nori then. I might make a soup with it later." Velvet said. "Okay. Let me grab the rice cooker from Velvet's test kitchen." Night said as he moved back upstairs. "By the way. What are you going to make with him?" Velvet asks while grabbing her jacket. "Something called onigiri." Twilight replied. "That is a fun and simply dish. I like it." Velvet said as she moved outside and closed the front door behind her. "Dad!" Twilight shouted. "Yes Twi?" Night replied. "Can I turn on the heater? It's rather cold in the living room." Twilight requested. "Let me turn it on. I am near the heater anyways." Night said. As Twilight heard the sound of the heater turn on. She felt the heat coming from the heater. It was slowly increasing the temperature to a comfy 22 degrees celsius. Twilight sat on the couch and looked at the calendar. She saw that in three weeks, one week after the entrance exam, it was going to be Fall. Twilight looked at Night's wine cabinet. It was starting to get depleted. She also looked at Velvet's private pantry. That too was looking depleted. However the household pantry was filled to the brim and was practically overflowing. Twilight chose to make a vegetable soup on the spot after looking into both pantries. As she grabbed some vegetables and filled a soup pan with water. She placed the soup pan on the stove and started to cook the water. Meanwhile she filled the water with lots of spices and also with an assortment of fresh herbs. While that was cooking, Twilight started to cut the carrot in big pieces. The union in halve slices. And a whole bunch of random vegetables she could find. Cutting the other vegetables on cubes where it is possible. Twilight quickly lowered the heat so that the soup won't boil. As she added the vegetables and let the whole soup get to know each other. Before adding salt and black pepper to taste. Putting the lid on the pan and let it sit in hot water for roughly 3 hours. Meanwhile Velvet returned with the nori and an assortment of ingredients for her personal pantry. Just as she returned, it started to rain. Velvet looked out the still open front door at the rain. "That was close." Velvet said to herself. "You are back." Twilight said excited. "That I am. Did you do anything while I was gone?" Velvet asked. "I made some vegetable soup. Right now it is cooking into one whole mixture. It still needs to rest for 2 hours." Twilight explained while glancing at the clock. "I see. Can I take a look?" Velvet asks. "Sure. The lid is made from glass. You might be able to see through it. Don't open it though." Twilight explained while pointing at the soup pan. Velvet entered the kitchen to take a look. Meanwhile Night entered the living room with the rice cooker. "The rice cooker was well hidden. It took me an hour to find." Night said somewhat annoyed. The rice cooker appeared rather big and it colour was white. Twilight took the cooker out of Night's levitation and inspected the overall look. Twilight opened the lid and saw that roughly two kilo's, including water, of rice fit inside the cooker. Night quickly removed the cooker from Twilight's hooves and moved it to the kitchen. Twilight pouted for a moment and also entered the kitchen. Once inside, Twilight saw that Velvet was inspecting her soup. Night was cleaning the rice cooker as well as all the stuff Twilight used to make her soup. Velvet then looked at Twilight nodding. "It looks good. I can't wait to taste it." Velvet said. Twilight looked at the clock. thirty minutes remaining until it's finished. Twilight then smelled the kitchen. It smelled good and very herby. She looked at her soup through the glass lid and saw that it had a nice color. "I suggest that we will put three parts out of four into the freezer. The remaining amount we will eat right now." Twilight suggest. "I agree. That is a good idea." Velvet agreed. "I also agree. That is a good plan." Night said. Twilight and her parents proceeded to put the soup in the freezer and eat the remaining amount right now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following day. Twilight woke up, feeling a lot stronger than before. She looked outside and realized that she was still grounded. Saddened Twilight headed to the bathroom. Once inside she cleaned herself in front of the mirror and brushed her teeth. And she was done in a flash. Something that caused her to head downstairs. Only to find Royal again waiting for her. Twilight and Royal greeted each other. afterwards Twilight once again ate breakfast. She looked at the calendar and saw it's wednesday. "Okay. Let me fill the cooker in water and rice. before turning it on." Royal said. Royal then proceeded to grab the nori from the pantry and let the rice cook in the distance. Once the rice is done. He moved it into a bowl. He then moved it onto the dinner table alongside the nori. "Let's sit in the dinner room." Royal said. They then moved to the dinner room. Once inside the dinner room, they sat down perpendicular from each other. "Let me show you what we are going to do for today." Royal said as he showed Twilight, how to make it into a triangle and what to do with the nori. Twilight moved her hooves into the rice and started to make it into a triangle. Or atleast attempted to. Twilight failed a few times to make it into its proper shape. Her first attempt turned it into a circle. Her second into a cube. Her third attempt into a square. However her fourth attempt she successfully turn it into a triangle, but she made it too small. Her next attempt caused her to make it too big. Attempt after attempt. She showed more and more promise as her ability to use her hooves, to shape things, improved. Royal calmly watched and waited for Twilight to make her first perfect triangle. He gave Twilight no hints as she continued to struggle at making a triangle. However when Twilight made her first triangle, she also successfully made a proper nori housing around the rice. Making it look rather delicious. Twilight gained improved inside of how to shape and cut nori into the right size. Her overall ability in making simple yet hard to master dish was improving extremely fast. Twilight natural ability and raw talent started to shine brighter and brighter. She was a real diamond in the rough. Royal slowly noticed this and was impressed. Besides her natural and raw talent. She had a powerful will to make a good dish. She continued to make more and more onigiri even long after Royal left. Twilight began with only one successful onigiri. However as the hours pass, she continued making more and more. What started as one, skyrocketed into hundreds of thousands of onigiri. She didn't stop until she ran out of rice. She had been making onigiri in a daze. And only realized how much she made, after the rice was depleted. Twilight had made one million onigiri balls. On the dot. Twilight looked at her handywork. The living room and dinner room was filled with it. She entered the kitchen and saw even more. Feeling guilty. She looks at the clock. Royal left 3 hours ago. Her parents left 2 hours ago. Her brother was in his room. And Twilight? She was stuck in the living room with the onigiri. And it took her one hour to get to Shining's room. "Shiny! I need your help." Twilight shouts. "What is the matter?" Shiny asked as he opens his door. Twilight then proceeded to push him down the stairs into the living room. "I made too much onigiri." Twilight said. "I can see that." Shining said in shock. "Let me contact my boss. He might be able to use all of these onigiris." In a few moments they heard the knocks on the door. "You called?" Pride asked. "I made too much food. Do you think I can give you all of these?" Twilight asked while pointing at the onigiri. "Sure. Let me grab the boys." Pride said with a hint of amazement. And after that one hundred guards entered and left as they took every onigiri with them. The castle secretary entered the estate and gave Twilight 5 million bits before leaving. Twilight looked shocked at the mountain of money that now filled the living room and dinner room. Shining simply facepalmed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was tuesday. The mountain of money was deposited yesterday into the bank with the help of her parents. Twilight woke up feeling refreshed. It was 5 O'clock in the morning as Twilight entered the bathroom. Twilight proceeded to wash her face and brush her teeth in front of the mirror. Afterwards she headed down the stairs into the living room. Once downstairs, she finds her parents in the living room. They greeted each other before heading into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Grabbing the usual piece of bread with jam and moving to the dinner room to eat her bread. There was knocking on the front door. Velvet stood up and opened the front door. Royal greeted her and entered the living room. Twilight quickly finished up her breakfast and grabbed her notebook and pencil. Only to join Royal into the living room. "Good morning. Twilight." Royal said. "Good morning. What are we going to learn today?" Twilight asked. "Today. I was going to teach you more about rice. But decided that you know everything you needed to know." Royal said. "Truth be told. I feel like you are ready to take the exam already. But for your sake. Today and tomorrow will be the day I teach you a tiny bit about fish." He explained. "Next week will be meat only." Twilight nodded as she opened her notebook. "So fish. It's a broad topic. To be honest, the only ones that eat fish, are the griffons and dragons." Royal started. "You have many types of fish. From sweetwater to saltwater. From river to sea. From white to pink." "I am going only going to give an example of fish types that are popular today. Tomorrow you will see how I prep a white fish." he continued. "The most popular ones are. And I quote: "Salmon, tuna, kohada, hirame, yellowtail and as last seabass." These are the most common yet popular fish types that are well known." Royal explained. "A few more. Rather well known shellfish types are "Lobster, shrimp, sardine, crab and squid."" He continued. "And as last. A few sea vegetables that are important to remember: "Wakame, kombu, dulse, arame, nori and as last seaweed"" "That is all. Atleast for right now. Tomorrow I will show you how to fillet a yellowtail." Royal finished. "That was a lot of names." Twilight said still writing it down. Royal left the house as Twilight warms up a homemade cup of soup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following morning. It's friday. Twilight once again, woke up early. She washed herself in the bathroom and entered dinner room with the usual breakfast. After breakfast, she grabs her notebook and pencil and opens the front door, before Royal had a chance to knock and let him in after their morning greetings. Twilight noticed that Royal was holding a fish. The fish appeared yellow and thus deduced that this is a yellowtail. She also saw that Royal had a knife kit on him. "Today I am going to fillet this yellowtail. Right here." Royal said as he showed his skill off. He started to cut it open down the center and remove the ribs and bones of the fish. He then removed the tail, head and fins. And started to cut it in perfect pieces.* Twilight looked at the fish piece as she wrote down the process. She then saw Royal grabbing three bowl. One contained flour, one contained beaten eggs and one contained crunchy bits. Royal then proceeded to dump each and every piece of fish, one by one, into each bowl and putting it onto a plate. Royal then grabbed a wok and filled it with sunflower oil and turned the stove on very high. Once it was boiling he placed each and every fish in it and after a few moments removed it. It looked golden brown. Twilight then, against her instinct and horror of Royal. Grabbed a piece and bit into it. After munching a bit. She grabbed another, as she didn't appear to get sick from it, Royal didn't stop her. Royal looked on in both shock and jealousy. While Twilight consumed the full dish. And after her being done, she looked at an shocked looking Royal. Twilight sheepishly smiled "Sorry." she said feeling guilty. It took Royal a few minutes to assess what just happened. "Did you just eat fish?" he dumbly asked. Twilight took a gulp. "It was delicious." She offered. Royal then just stood there. "How do you feel? Not ill, I hope?" he asked concerned. "Nope. I feel perfectly okay." Twilight said. "That's good. I want you, to ask me next time, if you want some. Not just take some." Royal scolded. "I am sorry. You are not just angry, because I ate something that only a predator normally eats?" Twilight asked. "Not really. There have been rare cases of ponies being omnivore." Royal explained. "Yeah. The doctor told me it's 1 in a billion." Twilight said. "I guess. That just confirmed it. You are an omnivore." Royal said. Twilight simply nodded. "I have known that for a while. But my parents don't believe me." Twilight said. "I will convince them. Meanwhile your homework will consist of research about omnivores and fish in general." Royal explains. "I will also change your diet to fit your new need for fish and meat." "Thank you." Twilight simply offered.