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1 Year before Luna's return
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Twilight and her father were on the way back from Canterlot. And although Twilight wrapped up her time with Trixie, Night wasn't so lucky. After winning the court case, he became swamped in paperwork. In fact he was carrying a small stack of paper with him on the train.
Twilight on the other hoof was feeling happy and relieved. All the promises she made as a small filly had been resolved. And as Twilight became less like a filly and more like a young adult. Her desire to become a good chef got stronger by the weeks.
However Twilight was still just on the train. She has yet to properly grow into a professional chef. So we will continue right there.
"Twilight?" Night asked seriously.
"What is it dad?" Twilight asked in return.
"After today, I won't have much time to be with you on your chef journey." Night said.
"I know. You are going to invest a lot of time into making a changes necessary for the meat industry, right?" Twilight said in an understanding tone.
"Which will have an impact on you, later in your life." Night said in responds.
"Exactly! So one day I will benefit from it. Until then, good luck!" Twilight said hugging Night.
After Night returned the hug. He started to write lots of autographs on the paperwork he brought with him. Meanwhile Twilight simply started to read a schoolbook she brought with her.
After the six hours have passed, Twilight and Night arrived back in Manehattan. Immediately after arriving Twilight calls for one of the taxi's and both Night and Twilight headed back home.
Once home, Night rushes with his paperwork into his office. Twilight meanwhile decided that she would make today's dinner.
Entering the kitchen she looks around. She looks at the ingredients inside the cupboards and cabinets to see if there is anything of use. She sees lots of flowers and potatoes inside the cabinets. She sees many types of flours, salt, sugars, and other mostly dry ingredients inside the cupboards.
After already having a pretty good idea of what to make, she looks inside the larder and the fridge. The fridge was mostly empty, save for some meats and such. The larder on the other hoof looked filled with literally everything that she could possible make.
After thinking about she decided to make "Couscous with Falafel and Tzatziki"
Twilight starts by preparing to make "Falafel" first. For that she grabs about 200 grams of dried chickpeas, some garlic, an white onion, some fresh parsley, some cumin, some coriander seeds, and some cayenne pepper.
She also immediately grabs a pan and fills it with a small amount of sunflower oil. And she immediately starts to cook the the chickpeas in a separate pan for about 3 minutes. She then removes the pan from the heat and lets it sit for about an hour.
Meanwhile she grabs a food processor and uses some cloth to remove any dust and dirt from it. After the hour passes she fully dries the chickpeas and fills the food processor with all the necessary ingredients. She then mixes it rugged. She moves the mixture into a bowl and places it in the fridge for about an hour.
After the hour, Twilight quickly washes her hooves and proceeds to remove the bowl from the fridge. Placing it on the counter top, she also grabs a plate. She then proceeds to use her hooves to make some balls of falafel and places them on the plate. After pressing them lightly down, she heats the fire and waits a few seconds for to properly heat up.
After the right temperature had been reached. She bakes the falafel one by one. Placing them back on the plate after they are golden brown. Afterwards she lowers the temperature and places a skillet on it. Placing the falafel on the skillet to keep it warm while Twilight works on the remainder of the food project.
She starts out by cooking the Couscous in hot water mixed with bouillon. And while that is ongoing, she proceeds to cut up and aubergine into fine cubes and uses the pan that she previously used to bake the falafel in, to bake the aubergine in. After a few seconds, Twilight removes the aubergine from the heat and puts it into a bowl.
After that she grabs some pomegranate seeds and puts it into the bowl as well. She then grabs two cucumbers and places on of them in front of her. She then peels it and slices it into somewhat thin slices of cucumber and also places it into the bowl. And finally she grabs a paprika, she removes the seeds and slices the flesh into cubes, she then places that too, into the bowl.
She then took a look at her couscous and removed it from the heat. After stirring it for a bit, she places it also into the large bowl. And as last she slices some feta and places that into the bowl. She mixes it a bit, before it's ready to eat.
She then comes back on the previous cucumber and peels it. She then proceeds to slice it in two and removes the seeds. She then slices them into long sticks and then cubes them. She places the end result into a different bowl. Grabbing some Greek yogurt from the larder and dumping into the bowl. She then finely slices the garlic into the the bowl alongside some salt and pepper. Adding some fresh parsley and dill into the yogurt with a tiny amount of oil. She mixes it to make some proper Tzatziki.
And done! "Homemade Falafel with couscous and self-made tzatziki"
"Dinner is ready!" Twilight shouts at Night.
"I am coming!" Night shouts back.
Twilight heard some shuffling in the background, before Night arrived before her.
"Ooh! That looks delicious!" He said as he uses his magic to pick up his utensils.
"I hope so." Twilight said as she dug into the dish
"Hm! It is delicious! Well done, my little chef." Night said as Twilight blushes.
"Yeah. Although I should have added some more spice to it." Twilight said humbly.
"All of that is in due time. Right now, you are not a chef, yet! Right now you are someone that is just a slightly more invested in food." Night said in return.
"I see." Twilight said somewhat disappointed.
Night looks up, she sees the disappointment in Twilight's eyes. He sighs, "Listen, Twilight. You should add some things on your schedule." he said.
"Sure, what should I add?" Twilight asked curiously.
"You should find a sport to do, and you should start going out actively. Start eating dishes at other restaurants and visit markets. In fact, you might also want to add some excursions to some factories and farms. That way you will know where your food is coming from. The closer you understand food. The better and easier it should be to make good dishes." Night proposed.
"That does sound like fun. And also knowledgeable. I will make a new schedule, where I will add fitness to. I will also start visiting those restaurants and markets I have been wanting to visit anyways. But those excursions might be a bit difficult to do." Twilight said as she was furiously writing everything down.
"I will call your teacher that you want to proactively start visiting factories and farms to get a better understanding of the ingredients you use to make stuff with." Night said.
"Thanks dad!" Twilight said as she continues to write things down.
"But right now! Eat your dinner!" Night said loudly.
Twilight looks at Night with an sheepish smile, "Sorry dad. I will, I will." she said embarrassed.
Dad simply smiled, "Besides you have school tomorrow." he added.
Twilight and Night proceeded to eat dinner and go to bed early due to school the following day.
After that evening, the following week was a blur. Twilight went to school and ate lunch at nearly every lunch cafe available. And after school she always went to fitness to train away those additional kilo's of food she ate.
This became a repetition, only in the weekend she was not doing much, yet.
No, the weekend was still but a mystery. Night meanwhile was hard at work to get Twilight some excursions. But before any of those would happen, Night was actively talking with Minno.
"So that is why she wants those excursions. Do you think this is possible so early on?" Night asked Minno.
"Hmm. It is not unusual that someone want to invest their entire life into foods. However to go on excursions this early is a bit difficult." Minno confessed, "Not impossible, mind you. Just tough."
"Like what has to happen for her to even be able to go on some excursions?" Night asked curiously.
"Several things. For starters, the school has to recognize her as a genius, at this age anyways. Besides that, the farms must allow Twilight to visit to begin with. And finally it won't be cheap. Even for a noble like yourself." Minno explained.
"Is that so. What are the prices like?" Night asked.
"If any farm or factory even wants to allow her. It would be for a single pony, about 100 thousand bit every 5 excursions." Minno said.
"What makes it so expensive?" Night asked as he appeared slightly shocked at the high admission fee.
"Again, several factors. For one, we need to invest into Twilight. Every excursion has a test and exam, plus diploma. On top of that, she has to travel across Equestria on our behalf. And finally It is so high, because of the chance of injury. We have done this a lot in the past, and almost every time some pony or stallion got injured. So the wafer that states that we are not responsible for her injuries cost us a lot of administration costs." Minno explained.
"I understand. I will write you a check of 1 million bits. Please take her on atleast 50 excursions." Night said as he grabs a check, much to the surprise of Minno.
"Uh. Are you sure about that? She will be gone more, then she would be home." Minno warned.
"I have to deal with a law change that changes the future of the meat industry. I will be too busy to be there for Twilight." Night said seriously, as he slowly writes down the one million bits on the check.
"Ah! You are in charge of that. Now I understand. Very well. We will take good care of Twilight." Minno said as she grabs a wafer that should last for about 50 excursions.
Night writes down the check and signs the wafer. Giving both of them to Minno with an smile. "Please take good care of my daughter. I most likely won't be seeing her for a long time. I have to go back to Canterlot for the law change. That means she will always be alone at home." Night said somewhat saddened.
"Don't worry. I will make sure that me and her friends will make it so that she isn't lonely." Minno said smiling.
"Thank you." Night said. "Thank you."
"You just make sure that the law change goes according to plan." Minno said as she pushes Night out of the classroom.
"I will. Good luck with Twilight and don't forget to have fun. I have to go to Canterlot right now. She won't be seeing me past this point." Night said serious.
"I will ensure your child's safety and happiness. Mark my words." Minno said.
Night smiled as he walked outside into a royal carriage. And off he went to Canterlot.
Twilight meanwhile uses her bits to change houses. From an empty mansion to a small apartment with a single bedroom and a large kitchen. And a fitness room. And although the mansion will be kept as it is. Twilight feels that it would be too lonely in there.
She moves into a economy type double floored room. This is her new start of her life as chef.