//------------------------------// // Los Pegasus // Story: The Chef's Life // by vincent789 //------------------------------// ------- Warning, Strong language is present in this chapter. You have been warned. ------- Twilight was once again on a train, this time around she was going toward Los Pegasus. It was going to be that far as this was the flying train express. They made the train drive on magical track while it is basically flying to its destination. Unlike the location that housed the festivals, which was mostly on the ground. The french restaurant that belonged to the Confit family was up in the clouds. Just above the event area that was on the ground. Twilight knew this, so she had prepared a cloud walking spell. The spell was already casted in the form of a curse on Twilight's body. That way she didn't need to maintain it. And it would be active for as long as it is necessary. Meanwhile she thought back on her conversation about the golden family in the dragon lands with Celestia. However she shook her head. 'Now isn't the time. Although I know my french quite well, I never thought that I would go to such a prestigious family restaurant. And a french one, no less.' Twilight thought. Twilight looked down in her suitcase to look for the two books about french she still got from Baste, her schoolmate. One was about the french culture, the other about french food. They were both in french. This didn't matter much to Twilight, but it did make it harder for Twilight to properly understand what was written. Instead Twilight looked back at her french cooking class she had at Lunarium. Most of the dishes that were made in french were either bread, patisserie or certain soups. Atleast they were the ones taught in class. Luckily for Twilight the pony next to her was a tour guide. "Uhm madam? Can I ask you some questions?" Twilight asked the tour guide. She looked towards Twilight and smiled, "Of course. How may I help you?" the tour guide asked. "I am trying to research more about french food. Do you know anything about their food culture?" Twilight asked. "Of course. Hold on let me get my book really quick." The tour guide said, she ducked down into her small backpack. After a few seconds she revealed a tourism book about french culture. "It's in french so let me give you a rundown instead." The tour guide said, Twilight simply nodded in responds. "French food is by definition elegant and expensive. But also large in their many specialties. From cheese and olives to wine and soups. Many cooking products are french by nature. Primarily their cheese and wine. And many historical recordings of food are from french nature. Put it simply, there is a lot of food products from french. And the only way to really experience it is by trying them out, yourself." The tour guide explained. "So trail and error." Twilight said. "Exactly." The tour guide agreed. "Thank you. That will be very helpful." Twilight said smiling. "Let me guess, you are going to that Confit restaurant." The tour guide deduced. "That is correct." Twilight said. "I see. Then let me give you a fair warning. They do not like dishonest ponies. If you don't know, then tell them or get thrown out." The tour guide warned. "Thank you. I will keep that in mind." Twilight said. And with that Twilight's ride to Los Pegasus was about to end. She said goodbye to the tour guide and even gave her a tip. Twilight then looked outside and saw lots of clouds and the fact that she was getting closer to the train station. "Bing Bong! We are nearing Los Pegasus outer station! Please, do not forget your bags when leaving the train. Thank you!" The intercom shouted. Twilight grabbed her bag and made her way towards the door. As the train screeched to an halt, the doors opened and Twilight left quickly. Looking around, Twilight sees a board with a map of the local area around the train station. Walking up to it, reveals that she exited at the wrong station. She was supposed to exit at the central station. Twilight didn't care however, she has never been in Los Pegasus, so she was curious about the surrounding area. The map revealed that just outside Los Pegasus a small movement of Greek restaurants had popped up. One had a familiar name. "Ouzo's Soutzoukakia* huh?" Twilight said out loud. "Ah a potential guest!" The owner shouts from inside the establishment. Twilight blinked as the the owner of the place, jumps over the counter and rushes to Twilight's location. "Can I interest you in our world famous meatballs?" The owner asked. "Actually-" Twilight tried but was cut off by the overly enthusiastic stallion. "Great! Come in! Come in!" The owner said as he drags Twilight into the restaurant. It took less than 10 seconds for Twilight to be standing and then sitting in front of a massive plate of meatballs dipped in some kind of tomato sauce. "Please do try!" The owner said, pushing Twilight into making a decision on the spot. "Sigh. Fine." Twilight simply gave up as she took a bite. "And?" The owner asked worried, his mood did the one-eighty as he became more serious. "The meatballs taste, interesting. Although it is a bit under-seasoned." Twilight said. "Sigh, I know. Ever since my boy started to work at the Baste Family to work out a debt. It hasn't been the same." The owner sighed. Twilight calmly looks at the owner, "What is your boy's name?" she asks with calm curiosity. "Pate. Named after these delicious meatball. Oh my boy... What did you do?" The owner wailed. "You know full well that this is your doing!" one of the three unknown individuals said with a mocking tone as they entered the restaurant out of nowhere. The owner flinched as dove low to the ground in fear, "I- I-" he trembled. "What did he do?" Twilight intercepted. One of the three looked at her seriously, "He stole my boss's wine recipe." he said. "Based on what proof?" Twilight said as she slowly stood up from her seat. She felt somewhat peeved at what was happening in front of her. "None of your business!" One of the more hostile one of the three shouted loudly. Twilight could sense that he felt a bit intimidated at the way Twilight approached them. "Actually it is my business. Pate Ouzo is a friend. A good friend. If his family is in debt than that is a serious accusation that I won't drop." Twilight said calmly. She felt that the owner looked surprised at her, but she brushed it off. "Do you wish to be in trouble with the french mafia?!" The intimidated stallion shouted. "I haven't done anything yet. We simply talked, no need to jump to conclusions." Twilight said. "Calm the fuck down, Dave. Let me do the talking!" One of the more calmer stallions said to his buddy. "But Rob!" Dave complained. "Dave, Shut the fuck up." Rob growled. Dave backed out, but he seemed to be still on a bit of an edge. "As I was saying, our boss has a strong believe that he stole it." Rob explained. "Fine he stole it, How in Celestia's name could he make wine without a winery and the tools to distill grapes?" Twilight reasoned. "Hm." The muffled one of the trio said out loud. "Upstairs?" Rob offered. "Do you understand the sheer weight of these tools? A distillery is made of steel usually, and it requires a farm with grapes, and on top of that, the altitude at which these plants can be turned to wine is just above ocean level and far below cloud level. There is no way, anyone could even make wine on this height! Let alone that the grapes survived this high!" Twilight explained. "She makes a good point Rob." The muffled one said. "And how do you know that she isn't lying?" Dave offered. "Because I am a wine making specialist. I know what she is talking about. She isn't wrong in this case." The muffled one said. Dave hmpf-ed, but said nothing. "Fine. Do you know where the recipe is, atleast?" Rob asked the owner. "My boy returned it to the family when he went to go and pay out the debt." The owner admitted. "James?" Rob asked the muffled one. "I checked. It has indeed been returned." James said as his horn lit up for a moment. "You got lucky. However the debt still stands." Rob said. "How much is it?" Twilight asked. "Five hundred thousand bits. For stealing the recipe and for borrowing money, plus interest and tax." James admits. "Considered it paid. I will pay up on my behalf." Twilight said. She noticed as everyone in the room looked wide-eyed at her. "Are you of nobility?" Rob asked worried. "Yes. I am from Canterlot." Twilight said. "I am sorry. We can't accept money from such high ranking individuals." Rob said. "I don't care. Accept the money or remove the debt. Your choice!" Twilight shouted. "Which house?" James asked cautiously. "My full name is Twilight Sparkle. I am of the house Armor and house Sparkle. Third highest next to the crown and the princess personal mages." Twilight introduced. "Fuck." Dave said scared. "You are The Twilight Sparkle?!" Rob shouted in surprise. Twilight blinked, "Yes?" she offered. "The one that set half of Canterlot on fire with a single spell and has made great strives inside of the cooking industry?!" James questioned. "Yes." Twilight said, she felt attacked with the first part of the sentence. "We will remove the debt. Have a good day!" Rob shouted as he drags his two friends out of the restaurant. "Don't tell me that I am known for that?" Twilight hoped. "Only in the underworld. You are feared by criminals and famous among those in the light." The owner admitted. It took Twilight a few seconds to piece it together, "Celestia!?" Twilight shouted in almost royal Canterlot voice. "Ow." Twilight's voice has pushed the owner into the wall. "Oops. Are you alright?" Twilight asked as she helped the owner back up. "Don't go blame the princess. She did it to protect you from the underworld." The owner said as he stood back up with Twilight's help. "I know. Next time she and I are going to have a heart to heart talk about this." Twilight said with a small smile. "What are you going to do?" The owner said terrified. Her small smile made him do a double take. Twilight's smile only became bigger and bigger until it had reached down right nightmare territory. "Gulp." The owner said. "Oh nothing. I might put the world painfullest hot sauce in her favorite cake. That is all." Twilight said smugly. Somewhere in Canterlot, Celestia got some terrified shakes. Like some kind of super villain was about to do something down right terrible to her. "Anyways. Thanks for helping me. I didn't know that he befriended such a big shot." The owner smiled. "I wasn't such a big shot back then, anyways what was this about a recipe?" Twilight asked. "Sigh. It was an excuse to let Pate and Baste work together. They are very good friends and they want to work together, but the Confit family didn't agree. So I stole the recipe in other to let them work together." The owner sighed. "Which backfired." Twilight said. "Yeah. Pate didn't like my plan. So as soon as he was forced to work there, he gave the recipe back and formally apologized." The owner said. "Ah. So you miss your son?" Twilight asked. "Yeah." The owner admits. "How about I go fill his hole until he returns?" Twilight offered. "Really?" The owner said surprised. "Yup. I am not that familiar with Greek food however." Twilight admits. "Until?" The owner asked. "Until he returns. Then I am going to try and work at the Baste family. They still have some issues that I have to work out. I will gladly learn some Greek food before I go to the more hardcore restaurant." Twilight said. "Are you saying that mine isn't hardcore?" The owner said smugly. "No. But they serve to either high paying commoners or the nobility. One mistake could cost a lot of money." Twilight explains. "Ah. You do have a point. So listen up, this is the schedule. At six O'clock in the morning we make a lot of Village bread and Pita. Until eleven. We then switch into a midday hot food restaurant." The owner explains. "Ah. Which is Tzatziki and fresh fish and meat correct?" Twilight offered. "Normally yes. But we do vegetarian only. So Tzatziki, Olives, Dolmades, Moussaka and baklava." The owner said. "Good. I can't wait. What will be my role. Prepare or serve?" Twilight asked. "Hm. Let's go with Prepare. Take the guest room upstairs. Place your stuff up there and come on down. Let me show you, your workstation." "Understood. I will be right back." Twilight said, she grabbed her stuff into her magic and walked up the stairs into the guest room. The guest room was everything you expect, a comfy bed, a closet, a mirror and a small bedside lamp. All made of wood. After Twilight placed her stuff down onto the bed, she walked back downstairs. As soon as Twilight re-entered the restaurant, suddenly a dozen or so guests had sat down and all had something to drink. On top of that a waitress was also walking around and a bartender. Ignoring the looks she received from the guests, Twilight walking into the kitchen. "It would seem that most of my regulars know you." The owner said. "Only because of my fame." Twilight replied. "Of course. But a lot of them look up to you. Not because you are powerful, but because you give them hope." The owner explained. "Hope?" Twilight asked confused. "Yes. Most of my guests are female. Before you did something, the girls were afraid of acting against their male bosses. However nowadays the girls have become more rebellious and more hardened. They aren't afraid to act against their boss and aren't afraid of losing their jobs. Because if they do, they rebel by telling the world the truth." The owner explained with a big smile. "Which is bad news for the company." Twilight said with a smile. "Exactly." The owner said. "Good. Anyways, seeing as their are guests. Please skip the tour for now and give me a quick rundown. Then please tell me of any preparations you need me doing." Twilight said confidently. "Very well. Normally I am with my boy and me. But I do not know how skilled you are. Above your workstation is a list of recipes. Make them to the T. Do not change without telling me." The owner requests. "Of course. Just give me a task and it will be done." Twilight said. "Most of the the more difficult task are already done. I require some cutting and chopping. Please chop that mountain of cucumbers for me. And peel about 20 whole garlic bulbs. Please put every cucumber into that massive metal bowl and the garlic into the white one." The owner explained. "You want the cucumber into Brunoise?" Twilight asked. "Yes." The owner said, "Please do it as fast as possible. Tzatziki goes through the window as fast as pony-like possible." "Understood. It will be done in ten minutes." Twilight bragged. The owner smiled as he went to work. Twilight grabbed a cucumber as an example, she cut in two. She removed the seeds with a spoon and proceeds to first cut it into Julienne and then cut it into Brunoise.** She then put it into the large metal bowl. After speeding up, Twilight successfully cut it all within 20 minutes. That included peeling the garlic. "Done!" Twilight shouts over the sound of the oven alarm and the owner baking some minced meat with some sauce. "Good! Remove the baklava from the oven and pour some special sweet sauce over the baklava while its still hot." The owner demanded in quick succession. Twilight responded by doing exactly that. She put oven mitts on her hoofs and balanced it onto a table. She then poured still hot, sweet sauce over it. "Good. The cucumber is the right size and the garlic is well peeled. I managed to make the tzatziki in record pace thanks to the well cut cucumber. And the baklava is finished. Good!" The owner shouted. "Seeing as you are making meaty and fishy things. Let me guess in the evenings you do work with those ingredients. Seeing as it is evening." Twilight shouted back. "That is correct. Do you know how to prepare fish in a griffon way?" The owner asked. "Remove the bone and remove the scales. But keep the fish whole. Roasted on a grill or barbecue. Serve on plate with a base made out of pandan leaves." Twilight repeated. "And make sure to keep the color." The owner and Twilight said at the same time. "Good. Please prepare some." The owner requested. "How many?" Twilight asked. "Look at these notes. These are orders from the guests. Count and make." The owner demanded. "Sixteen." Twilight said just as a beep went off. The owner grabs it from the device and takes a look at it. "Make it twenty. I will leave the spices to you." The owner said. "Understood." Twilight said as she grabs some fishes out of the freezer. She does the things she said she had to do, but she added a special spice blend to it. Pepper, pink salt, cumin, garlic powder and as twist, nutmeg powder. She added the blend after it was placed on the plate with the pandan leaves. It took 10 minutes making one. She was able to make ten at the same time with the space available. So she an additional twenty minutes make the remainder. It was served immediately after Twilight gave the plates to the owner. After a good five minutes, the waitress returned. "The guests loved the spice blend! You might have a bunch more inbound." The waitress said before going back to the workspace. "You heard it. Keep it up. I will leave the fish to you. I will the other tasks." The owner requested. "Understood." Twilight said. In the next few hours she went back to bed. Hours turn to days as she worked at her friends place. Quickly making an impact on the Greek kitchen as well, although unintentionally. After a week had passed, her friend was due to come home.