//------------------------------// // School Days part 5 // Story: The Chef's apprentice // by vincent789 //------------------------------// Twilight was done and so was her classmates at making the salad. Morning meanwhile was slowly moving from test kitchen to test kitchen and was testing each and every dish. However when Morning arrived at Twilight's dish, her eyebrow rose slightly. Morning looked at Twilight and then back at the dish. She took a bite and smiled, nodding her head. However her eyes turned serious when she looked closer at Twilight's eyes. They were dark, the bad kind of dark. It appeared as if Twilight was struggling with something. 'Those eyes, is she suffering from something?' Morning though carefully. She was now aware that Twilight's test results may not be what it seems. Morning has been Twilight's teacher for a while now. She always watched Twilight as she would sparkle when she made something. However something was off today. Morning ate some more of Twilight's dish and tasted a few particular flavors 'Sadness, Fear and... Something more.' She thought. "I have tasted everyone's dish. Now please cross taste it. I need to see someone really quick." Morning said, which caused everyone to nod. Following Morning into the hallway, Her face was serious. 'Twilight, what was the real result? There is only one way to find out.' she thought as she hurried towards the principal's office. Moving fast towards the principal's office, she took a deep breath as she knocks on the door. "Come in!" shouted the principal. "Ah, Morning! How may I help you?" he said as he was looking outside through the window behind his desk. "Can I please see Twilight's exam results? For Lunarium of course." Morning said serious. The principal's eyebrow rose at Morning's sharp voice. "Is something the matter?" he asks. "There is only one way to know." Morning replied. "I see." The principal turned to look at Morning, his eyes too, were looking uncertain. Worried even. He then proceeded to move a piece of paper that was on his desk in front of morning. "Right here." he said pointing at the exam results. "Before I read it. Is there something I should know?" Morning asks serious although worried. The principal took a seat in his chair and used his magic to move his cup of coffee from windowsill to his desk. "Yes. There is a lot to unpack. Most of it is good news, atleast on the surface." He said as he sips his coffee and point at Morning to take a seat. Morning took a seat and looked at the paper. It gave Twilight an overall 'A' as score. "What do you mean? Is this score not the results?" Morning asks slightly confused. The principal took a sip as he shook his head. "It is. If that was all there was to it, then I would of course be satisfied. However there is more than just that paper. I asked for a full report on her exam results. And you could say it wasn't pretty." He said saddened. Morning face changed from worry to fear. "How bad was it?" she asked. Her voice hinted at some fear. She expected the worst, but hoped for the best. The principal closed his eyes, as he moves parts of the report in front of him, while moving his coffee away. "Let's put it this way. She was lucky. And that's it." he said. "What do you mean?" Morning asks scared. "If everything is correct in the report. Then she should have failed. But she did not fail at the same time. Everything she did was mediocre at best. This includes her knife work and general knowledge." The principal said. "What!?" Morning was shocked at this. "She was good. But also not good. She has barely any potential. Let alone the ability to improvise." he said. "But," Morning started, "That's impossible! I have seen her knife work and her knowledge! She is the best I know! How is this possible?! Something must have caused her to be like this! I swear something!" She screamed. "I know. Which is why you need to give her a strong talk through. I need you to talk about yourself. The REAL self." The principal said as his eyes are determined. "You need to push her to become better! There is only one way. Give her a reason to become the best! And I assure you, she will be the brightest diamond in the kitchen!" He practically shouted. "I see. My past might help her advance." Morning said with sad smile. "I am sorry-" The principal started before getting cut off. "It's fine. I knew that one day, my past might advance others. But I will reveal that through the whole class. I feel they might gain some understanding and purpose too." Morning said smiling. "Yes. And that might help you get to terms with your past. Do you know why I hired you?" The principal suddenly asked. "Uh, because you took pity?" Morning guessed. "No! Because you have what most don't. The power to look bright even in the face of failure. Even back then. You gave ponies hope, while you were hitting bedrock. That's why there is still a lot of your legacy out there!" The principal smiled brightly, brighter than he has shown for years. "I even still got this. Something you unknowingly gave me." He then showed a medal of third place in the international champions league of the tier F chefs. Morning eyes widen as the memories flow into her. "That guy, that was one of my greatest fans..." Morning said as she got some tears of joy in her eyes. "Do you understand? You left an impact for those ponies. However small or big. That's why your past will help others. Because you know that the truth can hurt, but also can improve their skills." The principal then moved to place the medal into his personal safe. "I understand. Leave it to me." Morning said turning her face serious. "Then go! This will be the chance to change your past through the future!" The principal shouted as he sees Morning rush out of his office. 'I remember it good. Despite getting third that day. Everypony cheered. They knew that her time as a chef was over. But cheered brighter than ever before. It was the first time that the arena shook for someone in third. And that while that didn't happen for those in first and second. The faces of jealousy of those in first and second were amazing. However I swore I could see sadness in their eyes also. Almost like they wished that they could compete some more with her.' The principal thought as the memories flew through the window. ---- Morning rushed back to the classroom to see everyone still tasting the dishes. "Did I miss anything?" she asked. Twilight was the first to respond. "Not really. Everyone is suddenly very interested in wanting to join Lunarium with me." she said. Morning nodded, she then sighed and used every form of motivation to express a determined face. While calming herself down internally. Moving back to Twilight's perspective she sees Morning enter as she asks if she missed anything. She responded with the usual. Twilight was about to clean up when something unexpected happened. Morning suddenly looked very determined. Something which she had never shown before. It caught everyone off guard. "Everyone before you clean up. There is a few things I need to talk about." Morning started as she pushed her desk chair in front of the whiteboard and took a seat on it. "First thing first, Today's winner of a salad in Lulu! Her beautiful plating and good choices regarding the way she added extra ingredients as if they were part of it all along catapulted it to the top. Congratulations!" Morning said as everyone clopped their hooves on the ground in the form as an applause. Which cause Lulu to blush. "And the loser of this salad contest is Twilight. She put too many negative emotions into it. And her plating was rather boring." She said as she looked worried in Twilight's direction. Twilight was shocked, but also very disappointed. 'I guess I fail even in school.' Twilight thought gloomy. Leaf has watching Twilight for years also. She immediately noticed Twilight negative atmosfeer. She looked worried in Morning's direction only to see her eyes being very scared. 'Something big was coming.' she thought. "Now. I wanted to do a goodbye party. But that will have to wait a bit more. I need to talk a bit about myself." Morning started as her voice was determined yet scared. "You see. I have been hiding my past for the past many years. But I have suddenly been required to tell everyone about it." she said as she made direct eye contact with Twilight, which caused her to twitch. "You see. I succeeded at entering Lunarium in first place, however this was, but a pipe dream. Yes, I got in through luck!" She shouted that last part, "However I did not let that deter me. I continued on. But was quickly shot down in the process by dozens of obstacles, some which nearly broke me. I succeeded, yes! But it came at a steep price. And eventually I lost myself in the process." she said. "As depression took hold and my fear for the future turned me grim. I decided to atleast shine as brightly as possible for those around me. No matter how much I fell, I stood back up like nothing happened. This caused me to break piece by piece." Morning showed some of her adventures through pictures she hang on the whiteboard. "Until the day I would break. Which happened in most painful way possible and at the worst timing. It happened right when I reached my prime. At the rank F International Champions league." Morning said as a tear of pain fell down her face. "I finally was at the end of my career at the age of 27. Why was that my end? Well my best and only knife I had broke at that event alongside my willpower to continue. Which caused me to improve and worsen my state to my demise. I ended at a solid third place. And three months later got a job as a teacher right here. It took years to regain everything I had lost. I still feel the effects to this day." she finished. The classroom was silent. Everyone was in shock. They could not believe what they just heard. Some ponies dreams to get into Lunarium were practically crushed or so they believed. Twilight however, realized that this story although was told to the entire class, was told to her in particular. "Why am I telling you this?" Morning asked herself, "Because I believe you ponies have what it takes to not do what I did. And instead avoid such a scenario. While doing your best, no matter how or when. Know that I will always be behind you to give you this push." Morning declared. "A push." Twilight repeated. "Exactly. To not worry about what could happen. But rather do what you can, when it happens." Morning explained. "No matter what happens Twilight, We will support you." Leaf said determined. "Yeah. I will still follow you to Lunarium. I will study my butt off, to get to you!" Lulu practically shouted. As the class got filled with shouts of "I will still follow!" and "I will not give up!", Twilight started to tear up. As her eyes were filled with a greater determination. A shine filled her hip and it shows a chef hat with diamond and a star in the diamond cutie mark. Twilight completely ignored the cutie mark however. As she was crying at this point. "I will do my best." She said between hiccups. 'I guess. This generation of chefs might be the golden one.' Morning thought. As Twilight crying died down. she asks "I would love to sit around. But should we not get started to this party?" "Let's call this party, 'A chef's party'! So that we will meet in the future." Lulu suggests. "Great idea!" Aspic and the others shouted. Everyone stood up and cleaned up their own test kitchen. However Twilight had one thing to ask the others. "Hey guys? Can you please teach me how to be more creative and adaptable with making a dish?" she asked hopeful. "Sure!" Lulu said before everyone else. As everyone else also agreed. They started to shift gears. "Teacher? How about half of the class will set up the party, while the other half will teach Twilight some tricks and tips?" Harissa asked. "That is fine by me. Should I asks a few teachers if they are willing to assists?" Morning responded. "Please." Twilight simply answered. Morning nodded as she and half the class left the room. Meanwhile Twilight cleaned her desk up and took a seat near Lulu as she started to grab some tools together. "Okay, I shall begin first. Let me explain Improvisation a bit first." Lulu started as the others nodded. "These things my mother told me so, let me begin. First is how you look at a recipe. She said that the recipe is a stepping stone. Don't let it control you. Use what you have learned to improvise it to your liking. In the case of the salad, I found that the pumpkin lacked some complexity, so I added some spices to complement it. I added Nutmeg and Ginger. As they cancel each other out." Lulu showcased it with some leftover roasted pumpkin and first made Twilight taste it without the spices added, and then with the spices. Twilight noted that the nutmeg created some leeway for the salt and pepper to mingle with each other. While the ginger added some freshness with the somewhat dry pumpkin. "Okay now let me explain a bit." Nappe suggests, Lulu nodded as she got out the way. "I shall talk a bit about creativity. My specialty requires me to think outside the box. It being marinating and all. Every vegetable and meat product requires their own marinate. However you could throw that understanding under the bridge and marinate the vegetable in marinate for meat and the other way around. What happens is the complexity of the dish goes up. As a marinate requires a liquid base with spices over it. However this is subjectual. Let's say I would add honey with fresh red pepper and salt for a steak. But this can be changed however you like. So be Creative!" Nappe explained. Twilight nodded, this made sense. "Okay, I know some reason why you need to be both." Dress said as she took the chair Nappe was sitting on. "For a salad, Both is required. You need some vegetable or flowers or fruit for your dish, which in itself requires you to improvise. But to add the sauce require creativity as not everything would work with the combination that was chosen. And then a important addition to salads are their decoration. You could make it taste good, but if you fail to decorate it properly, it might look like garbage. Something that requires both creativity as well as improvisation." Dress explained. "I see. And decoration in what sense exactly?" Twilight asked. "Well, added salt or fruit that could make it look better. Than your plating is important. In this case, I find your black plate a good choice. As it made the salad pop or stand out in the best way possible. You know what to eat, when the salad is only color on the plate." Dress as her explanation finishes. Twilight nodded as she cataloged the information into her brain. "Hmm, I might have something also." Flambe spoke up. "In my line of cooking. Improvisation is key. As you are given a recipe with only the ingredients on it. But not the steps. You know the end result, but you don't know how to get there. For that reason, you should choose each ingredient with absolute care. While also doing your best to make it your own. Be creative in your choice of ingredient while staying as close as possible to what you know, and to fail as much as possible. That way you will learn what would work. And what won't. Until you get the result you want." He explains "Care in what way?" Lulu asks. "When you go and buy. Don't always go for the most expensive or the highest quantity. Go for the price and amount that you believe would get the best result. Nothing more, nothing less." Flambe finishes. "Okay. I think I can also add something to the conversation." Leaf said as she spoke up. "I like watching ponies as you all well know. So let me give an example where improvising on the dish would get the best result. So you have a restaurant and someone wants to buy a soup. However the soup contains rhubarb. And your guest tells you that she hates rhubarb. What would you do as chef?" Leaf asks Twilight. "I would change it so that she would like it?" Twilight suggests. "Exactly! You would improvise, so that the guest gets a good experience. That way they will return. But what if you can't remove the rhubarb?" Leaf once again asks. "Then I would try and nullify the taste of rhubarb in the soup?" Twilight suggests. "Yes! And that requires a large amount of both creativity as well as kitchen knowledge." Leaf finishes. "I see." Twilight said. "Which in turn requires a large understanding of spice and ingredients knowledge. Not to mention inspiration." Becky said as she enters the room. "Becky!" Twilight shouted. "Hey Twi. I heard that your scores weren't very good." Becky said. "Yeah. I got a pity third place." Twilight said in defeat. "Then how about you will show them your true potential! Your homework before going into that school is to gain the largest understanding of spices and ingredients known to ponykind!" Becky says with determination on her face. "Yeah!" Twilight said as her hope and curiosity was renewed. "But first let's get to a party. I got nothing to add!" Kipper said. "Yeah!" Everyone shouted as the left the classroom. As Twilight and her classmates move towards auditorium. They heard music from quite far away. Someone had set up a DJ set and was playing some good song. And once they entered the auditorium they saw the massive scale of the party. Thousands of students and hundred of dishes ranging from high to low quality all around. Every teacher was present and a dozen parents were also present. "One more thing, Twi." Becky started, "The principal wanted to see you. He is in his office. Please go see him first." she pushed. "Okay, I guess I will see you guys later." Twilight said to her classmates as she walked toward his office. And a few minutes of walking later, Twilight arrived in front of the principal's office. She gulped and knocked on the door. "Come in!" The principal shouted, Twilight then made her way inside and took a seat before his desk. "It's good to see you. I see that she successfully motivated you." The principal said. He appeared proud and a lot less imposing than Twilight thought. "Yes. And the class is equally motivated. More than ever before! I am so sorry to have worried you." Twilight said apologetic. He took a good look of Twilight, "It's quite alright. Now about your entry exam." he said. "Yes?" Twilight asks hopeful. "I wanted to ask you to redo it. That way you are going to be happier about the result. While they would get a better understanding of your ability." The principal suggested. "Understood. Well I agree. I wanted to redo it, but the exam as over..." Twilight said saddened. "Do you know who I am?" The principal asks. "Your the principal of this school." Twilight replied. "Yes. And my family run both Celestium and Lunarium. I will asks them to give you a second chance." The principal states. "Thank you." Twilight simply responds. "Yes, and good luck in Snow Drop. They are very strict to interns. They will grant you one chance and no mistakes. Be extremely careful." The principal hints. Twilight nods before leaving his office to join the party. Which once again will take her a few minutes to walk to.