//------------------------------// // Octaves for a podium // Story: The Chef's cafe // by vincent789 //------------------------------// It is openingsday at the new cafe, Cafe Omurice. Twilight woke up and refreshed, she quickly washed up and headed downstairs. Spike was already in the kitchen preparing various ingredients for the menu. Twilight greeted Spike then proceeded to clean up the bar. Placing down the soft drinks inside the coolers below the bar and doing some final dusting off of the table and podium inside the cafe itself. Then she opened the terrace doors and began placing down some table and chairs. On top of the tables she place the menus and a menu holder. Inside it she also place salt and pepper mills. And finally she placed a red tape that has to be cut in order to open up. Rushing back inside, she nearly forgot to start the coffee machine up. Filling the coffee grinders next to it with coffee beans and espresso beans. She then started the dish washing machine that sits below the bar and filled the sink designed for beer glasses with water and dropped a small penny sized soap into it. Finally she sorted the cup sizes neatly on the shelf. And done! She completed the start up of the bar and decided to go around the cafe with a broom to remove the small amounts of dust build up. With that also completed, she went to the electronic cash register and start up. Then she went up the stairs to the safe in her room and take out the cash drawer to put inside the cash register. And finally two hours until openings date arrives. She checks in with Spike. "Spike how far are you? We have two hours until we receive guests." Twilight asked Spike. "All the sauces are done and ready. The soup is in the pan on standby and all the ingredients have been prepared. Is there anything I am missing?" Spike asked in return. "Did you remove the sweets from the freezer? And did you put it in the sweets fridge in the front?" Twilight asked. "Darn. I knew I missed something. That will be done. Anything else?" Spike said annoyed. "All the electronic devices on standby?" Twilight asked. "Yup. The plates are in position and I already checked, there are coupons coming out. I think that we are ready beside the sweets. I will do that now." Spike said excited. "Very well. I will await you at the entrance so we can welcome our first guests. And a small row of guests are already forming at the front." Twilight said also excited. "Sure." Spike said as he quickly takes out some brownies. A apple pie and a carrot cake. He then placed it on a plate and into the sweets fridge. "Sweets are in the fridge but they have yet to entirely heat back to room temperature." Spike warned. "Understood. Welp here we go." Twilight said as she and Spike head to the entrance. While Twilight had been preparing for the opening. Two ponies have been waiting at the entrance from the moment Twilight brought out the red lint. These two ponies were Ditzy Doo and Amethyst Star. In fact they came together. "Did you know that they were setting up shop here?" Amethyst Star asked. The location of the cafe was actually ways away from the center of town. In fact it was rather well hidden. Despite this quite a lot of ponies seemed to know about the exact location. And those that figured out the location usually brought friends with them. "Well you know full well that I deliver the post. I had to deliver some letters to them a while back. At the time I wasn't yet aware that they were opening a cafe. But as soon as I heard that, I knew where to find them." Derpy said excited. "I see. Did you spread the news?" Amethyst asked with a smile on her face. "No. I realized that if they were hiding, it must mean that this is a hidden cafe. Which I will allow others to find instead." Derpy said also smiling. "Let me guess. You hope they have muffins?" Amethyst asked with a knowing smile only to gasp is shock when Derpy shook her head. "I already asked a few days ago. They do not have the traditional muffins. The closest thing to a muffin is a hearty muffin. Which isn't sweet at all. But that is fine. Ignoring the fact that they have no real sweet muffins. They ARE the first to actually sell proper coffee. The other location only sells tea or water." Ditzy replied knowingly in return. "I totally forgot that you used to drink coffee back in school." Amethyst admitted slightly shocked. "Yeah. Well. I kinda stopped doing that. I figured that it was bad for me. But if they have some more... fancy coffees then perhaps I will drink some." Derpy said while attempting scratch the back of her head. Only to fail due to her bad eye sight and scratch the back of Amethyst's head instead. This caused Amethyst to smile in amusement. "Wrong head." Amethyst said amused. "Oops. My bad." Derpy said as she managed to realign her hoof to go to her head instead. "You mentioned something about fancy coffee. What do you mean?" Amethyst asked curious. "Well besides an espresso or a cup of Joe. You also have some more fancy coffees. These contain milk or steamed milk in some cases even foamed milk. In other words, a cappuccino contains espresso, steamed milk and foamed milk." Derpy explained. "How do you know all that?" Amethyst asked surprised. "Before my eye sight went all bad, I wanted to become a barista. I did all the courses. Then went to cloud academy, but before I could join their courses. I had to drop out of school due to my bad eye sight." Derpy said with sad smile. "But instead you ended up as a post deliverer instead. I get it." Amethyst said also slightly sad at the outcome. "Yup. Luckily I enjoy this as well. I just wish I could become a barista still one day." Derpy said hopeful. "Interesting." Twilight said softly as she overheard their conversation. During their conversation a lot more ponies had gathered and Twilight was now ready to open up. Twilight clears the throat causing everyone to look towards her instead of having small conversations among themselves. "Welcome everypony to the openings day of Cafe Omurice. I will be your host. Twilight Sparkle and alongside me is Spike. He is going to be the chef for today. Before I open up, let me explain a few special things about this cafe. First of all, try to share the location of my cafe only among those you trust. We are hiding for a reason after all. Secondly we change our menu once every season, So we have different menus in fall, spring, summer and winter. These menus will have nothing in common with the season, instead in these season we will showcase the dishes from different places all over Equestria and beyond." Twilight explained. "For the first season, we will have Golden Dragon City. As the theme. So all the food dishes are related to that. Besides this we always sell coffee, tea and soft drink during the day. However! During the night we switch gears. We no longer sell food and instead switches all our drinks to Special beers, wines. And finally cocktails. Also during the night we have music. This is either Octavia with classical or pop music, Pinkie with her comedy and finally DJ Pon-3 with his EDM. However, we also have one more DJ. This DJ will come very rarely. In fact, I do not have a schedule for this DJ. But this DJ plays Nightcore music." Twilight explained. "Welp that was all I needed to explain." Twilight said, "And Cafe Omurice is hereby opened!" She said as she cut the lint in two. Derpy and Amethyst take a seat closer indoor. To sit away from the wind. Twilight then approached the two. "Welcome to Cafe Omurice. Is there anything you would like to drink?" Twilight asked. "Uh. Do you have a Cappuccino?" Derpy asked. "We do. Would you like some Apple pie with that?" Twilight asked. "No thank you." Derpy said with a smile. "Uh. I want a cola. Which brand is it?" Amethyst asked. "We have both Popsi and Coka." Twilight said. "Ah! Do me the Coka." Amethyst said. "Very good. It will arrive in a moment." Twilight said smiling. As she headed back to the bar. At said bar, Twilight grabs a piston filter by the handle and placed it below the grinder and presses on one espresso on the electronic screen. Causing the grinder to grind enough for one cup of cappuccino. She then placed it into one of the piston into the filter at the coffee machine. She quickly grabs a cappuccino cup and placed it below it. And presses the one espresso on the machine. Meanwhile Twilight has to steam her own milk. Putting some milk inside a small metal jug and places it below the metal steam, making sure that it is properly placed into it. She turns the knob and allow steam to flow through it. Making the iconic sound "Ssh" as she hovers the nozzle of the steam near the top of the milk. Allowing it to steam and push oxygen into the milk forcing the milk to create steam and foam. As it it completed. She placed the cappuccino cup on the workbench and stirred it for a bit to allow the milk to easier penetrate the espresso. She then made a swirling motion and finally a shaking motion to create a small latte art on top of the cappuccino. Finally she placed it on a plate with a spoon and a small cookie. Also she added a small satchel of sugar to the plate. Finally she grabbed the cola from the cooler and opened it with a bottle cap opener. And placed a cola glass next to it. Placing some ice inside the glass and placed it onto a tray and slowly went to serve it to Derpy. Twilight then slowly moved the cappuccino off the tray and in front of Derpy. And placed the cola in front of Amethyst. While also making sure that the label is pointing towards the guests. "Thank you." Derpy said. Amethyst repeated the same phrase. "Alright if you need anything. Just raise your hoof. I will help you whenever you need help." Twilight said as she moved on to other guests. "So that is what a cappuccino looks like. Huh?" Amethyst said slightly impressed. "It does." Derpy said as she took a sip without using the sugar. Or the spoon. "How is it?" Amethyst asked curious. "It is nice. I haven't had a cappuccino in a hot minute. It tastes as I remembered it as." Derpy said happily. "In a good way I hope." Amethyst said cheekily. Derpy nodded, however her smile turns into a frown. "I miss being a barista..." she said saddened. "Perhaps Twilight needs help. She does look a bit overworked." Amethyst said as she watched Twilight. And she wasn't wrong. Twilight had greatly underestimated the sheer amount of work required to keep a bar running. Causing her to almost literally run a marathon. As she switched from bar work to service work. Over and over again. It hasn't been four hours, but Twilight is already feeling the effects of eight hours. Let alone twelve hours. 'This is a lot more intense then I thought. Perhaps I will take Derpy on her offer. I will have to figure something out. And fast.' Twilight thought already exhausted. However Twilight wasn't one to give up. She powered through the the first six hours of the day. Meanwhile Amethyst was long gone, but Derpy stuck around. Almost as if she was determined to see what a full day at Cafe Omurice is like. "Alright. To my current guests. The kitchen is now closed and the bar will reopen in a few minutes. Thank you for staying so long." Twilight said as she in particular looked at Derpy regarding this fact. This small break allows Twilight to finally take a break. And boy oh boy was she hungry. While Twilight is taking a break. Vinyl was at the entrance of the cafe preparing the DJ set at the podium. Derpy watched Vinyl open the podium causing Derpy to approach her. "So you are the DJ for this evening. Huh?" Derpy spoke up suddenly. "I am." Vinyl replied without missing a beat. She looked at the DJ set with an odd longing look. "Nostalgic huh?" Derpy knew why she was looking like that. "Yeah. Remind me of school. And despite what ponies say. This model is particular just happens to be the most durable of them all." Vinyl said with a smile. "Yeah. I mean it managed to fall from Cloudsdale to Ponyville while Cloudsdale was at maximum height. Without much of a scratch." Derpy said as she cringed a little at the reminder that she was the one to accidentally do that. Vinyl also cringed a little at that. But smiled nonetheless. "Yeah. It isn't the best. But it has advantages." she admitted. "So which DJ was Twilight referring to?" Derpy asked curious. "Your favorite DJ." Vinyl stated. "You mean DJ Parade?" Derpy asked slightly confused. Vinyl laughed loudly at the mention. "No. You dingus. I mean DJ Sparkling Gem." she said. Derpy's eyes widen at the mention. "You mean...?" she asked shocked. "Yes. She finally completed her album. It did take almost ten years but hey. Everyone has their own pace." Vinyl admitted. "The Fanclub will be ALIVE!" Derpy shouted loudly as she raised her hooves in the air dramatically. She was suddenly a lot more excited. Though she was mostly smirking as if she did that just to show her excitement but also to draw attention. "What Fanclub?" Twilight asked as she rounds the corner. "Derpy here is the president of the Sparkling gem Fanclub." Vinyl explained. "So this is the only place where she is going to go live. Right?" Derpy asked Twilight. "That is correct. In fact according to the secret schedule. She is supposed to play in two days. However..." Twilight said uncertain. "It might not become possible. Right?" Derpy asked as she sagged a bit. "I am afraid not. She is a bit bound to me. So if I am too busy for her, she won't play." Twilight admitted. "I see. Are you still searching for employees?" Derpy asked. "I am now. God. Today was so much harder then I thought." Twilight said as she sagged a little in exhaustion. "I see. I have term six, rank five degree in Barista. Though I do have an eye sight problem." Derpy admitted. "Term...? Rank...?" Vinyl asked confused. "Ah! Term is the rank given by a basic school of Barista. Rank is a rank given by a high school of Barista. And normally a diploma is a rank given by an academy of Barista." Derpy explained. "Which means?" Vinyl asked. "That in my local area. When I graduated from basic school. I was rank six in the world. When I graduated from high school I was both seeded and ranked five in the international league." Derpy admitted. "You are that skilled?!" Vinyl finally admitted shocked. Derpy smiled, "I told you, that despite my eyes. I got a really high degree." she said. "So you are a bachelor, right?" Twilight asked. "Yes. To put it simply anyways." Derpy said. "Alright. Do you want to be hired immediately? Or are you bound to a contract already?" Twilight asked. "Sadly I am bound to a contract." Derpy admitted slightly disappointed towards it. "With?" Twilight asked. "The Cloudsdale governing body and the postal office." Derpy stated. "I see. Can I take a look at those two contracts?" Twilight asked. "Sure thing!" Derpy said as she showed both contracts. 'Contract of obligation Hereby we declare that Ditzy Doo is bound to the legal obligation to work within the ministry of health and safety. To an honor of declaration we declare that in order for this bind to be broken. One needs to pay the set amount set by the obligatory party. And only said obligatory party can decide whether a one Ditzy Doo can move away from this contract. However the obligatory party has already predetermined the payment required for a release of binds to this contract. The obligatory party is named "The governing body of Cloudsdale" by the equally highly named individual of a one "Mayor Fox Trot" to be chosen to protect the one Ditzy Doo from ordinary obligations and only bound to this obligation. Ditzy Doo will exempt from the payment of taxes, water costs, gas costs, electricity cost. As long as the bind stands Ditzy Doo will also receive child support for a certain Dinky Doo as long as her continued contract stands within our right. And as long as she continued to stay in Cloudsdale. The separation fee is 12 million bits. With everything added up. As such, the tax and child support for a continued of twelve years. Signed by Ditzy Doo, Dinky Doo and Mayor Fox Trot.' Twilight then glanced over to the other contract. Making a mental note to see if she could reduce the separation fee with some communication with Cloudsdale. Contract of postal obligations Hereby we declare that Ditzy Doo is bound to the legal obligation to work within the ministry of health and safety. To an honor of declaration we declare that in order for this bind to be broken. One needs to pay the set amount set by the obligatory party. And only said obligatory party can decide whether a one Ditzy Doo can move away from this contract. However the obligatory part has already predetermined that a Ms. Ditzy Doo cannot be simply unbound by a payment fee. Instead she is forced to work for the Postal office for the duration of five years. In case that has passed then a fee could be giving if the obligatory party, In other words, Ditzy Doo. Allows the break of the contract. This contract can be extended when both parties agree to an extension. Signed by Ditzy Doo and the Cloudsdale head of personnel, Dick Moby. Twilight read both contracts and smiled, "I will pay the fine. No big deal. However the postal office is someone I will have to make contact to. In that sense. You will work for me to pay the fee back. Plus ordinary payments in regards to your salary. Since you also have a child to take care of." she explained. "Actually I have two children. One if already of age. But the younger one had to also sign the contract for some reason." Derpy admitted. "If I may. How many are you supporting?" Twilight asked surprised. "Dinky Doo and Amethyst Star." Derpy stated. "That is as simple as it may sound I suppose. I presume that Amethyst is adopted no?" Twilight asked. "She is." Derpy admitted. "Well Derpy. I will come back to you later on this. I need to prepare the evening. And then we can talk after today. We are closed on Sunday so that day can be used to figure something out. For now. This will be all." Twilight explained. "Alright. Then I am going to discuss the possibility to move away from Cloudsdale and into Ponyville. Since Ponyville is a lot cheaper then Cloudsdale." Derpy stated. "Alright. Are you going to stay until closing? Or are you going home now?" Twilight asked. "I need to put Dinky to bed. So I am going home." Derpy stated with a smile. "Well I wish you a fine evening then. Perhaps we will talk again on Sunday." Twilight said smiling. "Likewise." Derpy said also smiling before waving and flying off to Cloudsdale. "Welp. I am going to turn off the coffee machine and grab all the bottles for this evening. I wonder if we are going to get any guests." Twilight said as she looked around. It was quiet after all. Even though Twilight doesn't expect many to show up so soon. But she did expect a bit more then totally empty. 'It's running or standing still I suppose.' Twilight thought as she went back to work. While Twilight was setting up the bar on the side of the building sat Octavia. Which Vinyl found out as she was heading out to take a small breather before beginning. "Octavia?! Why are you here? Don't you have a gig?!" Vinyl shouted surprised. Twilight heard the shout but instead of going over there, she listened in while preparing her cocktail mixing equipment. "I got showed up. It was a lie." Octavia admitted, small tears already forming below her eyes. "What!?" Vinyl shouted again, this time his tone was angry. In fact Twilight also heard that and was cleaning her tools a little bit more aggressive then before. "Yeah. It was a joke gig. They were not at all interested in classical. Hell, I even offered to play pop music instead and all they said was... That this gig was merely to show me up." Octavia said saddened. "Those basterds." Vinyl said unhappy. "Welp. Time to remove them from my accepted gigs list." she added. "I am sorry." Octavia suddenly said. "Why are you sorry?" Vinyl asked, her tone went from angry to very soft almost Fluttershy level of soft. "I don't have a gig here at the moment. But I don't want to go home alone..." Octavia said as she sniffed of the sadness. It was then that Twilight suddenly spoke up, "Well if Vinyl is alright with it. You could share the gig. But I cannot pay more for it, due to the suddenness of it." Twilight stated. Vinyl smiled towards Twilight, then back to Octavia. "Well? How about we do our unique classical EDM?" she stated. "I am guessing that is a new album, yes?" Twilight asked. "It is." Octavia said as she removed her tears. "Very well. We don't have much of a crowd right now. But maybe one song could attract a crowd. How about it?" Twilight asked Vinyl. She simply nodded. "Alright. I luckily brought that music disk with me. Time to do this." Vinyl said as she took off her glasses. Octavia then began to play the cello while Vinyl put in some dupstep music through it. Giving the combination a really unique sound. Which did in fact pull ponies into the cafe during the evening. Allowing Twilight to sell plenty of cocktails in the process. Of course as the evening waned on, Octavia was starting to get tired and decided it was best to stop playing or else she would have a pounding headache the next day. And Vinyl had to go, she had another gig elsewhere that required her right now. So she too left at one point. Leaving Twilight to play Vinyl's new album in the background without a DJ. It was eleven O' clock. Most ponies had left at this point and Twilight turned off the music. Although she was still open, she was the only one remaining this late in the evening. That was until suddenly one of Trixie's friends showed up. Applejack took a seat at the bar, she looked upset. "What can I get you?" Twilight asked curious. "I suppose a beginners cocktail... Whatever that is. Something not as strong." Applejack stated. "Alright an Old fashioned cocktail will do." Twilight said. "Is that strong?" Applejack asked. "No. It is so simple. Even your younger sister could technically make it." Twilight explained. "Is that so? What does it contain?" Applejack asked. "An peel of an orange, some simple syrup, a few dashes of angostura bitters and some bourbon or rye whiskey." Twilight said. "I see. I want it to be sweet." Applejack said her voice betrayed her curiosity and it also showed something more... depressed. "Bourbon it is." Twilight said with a simple smile. Twilight started by grabbing a cocktail glass and putting in a single large ice cube. She then grabbed a bar spoon and dropped two spoonfuls of simple syrup into it. Then she added some dashes of bitters and finally two ounces of bourbon into the glass. She then stirred it with the bar spoon. And finally she cut a piece of peel off the orange and pressed on each side to release some juice off the peel before placing it into the glass. "Here you are one Old fashioned cocktail." Twilight said with a humble smile. "That was really easy... I see. Perhaps I could make it at home." Applejack said slightly impressed. "That is only if you like it. But seriously, anyone that likes bourbon will like this." Twilight said smiling. "Alright bottom up!" Applejack stated has she took it as a shot. "And?" Twilight asked hopeful. "It is nice." Applejack admitted. She was really staring at the glass itself. It was made with an incredible amount of workmanship. "So. Is there anything bothering you?" Twilight asked while she is simply cleaning some glasses. "So you noticed. Yes, I am afraid so. Today is the day my mum...." Applejack said without continuing. "I see. My condolences." Twilight said knowingly. "Nah. It happened a long time ago. It's just, my mum loved a very specific cocktail." Applejack admitted. "So you do know what a cocktail is, huh?" Twilight said with a small smile. "I do. Though it has been a very long time ago since the last time I drank one." Applejack admitted. "So, this cocktail..." Twilight asked hinting at her curiosity. Applejack smiled, "Yeah it was unique. She called it one of a kind. But I doubt that is the case. This cocktail was the inspiration of our current apple cider. That we sell once a season." she explained. "Does it have a name?" Twilight asked. "I don't entirely remember. But I do know that the word rancher was in its name. And it contained some kind of apple." Applejack stated. "Ah. I know which cocktail you are referring to." Twilight said smiling. "Really?! Can you make it?" Applejack asked shocked. "Let me see. I require some apple vodka, some peach schnapps and some cranberry juice. And of course an orange and some ice..." Twilight stated as she looked around the bar and in the kitchen for the ingredients. "I think I can make it. Of course it is possible that your mum made her own apple vodka, so it isn't one to one. But I can make a close version of it." Twilight admitted. "Please do!" Applejack asked excited. "Sure thing." Twilight said with a smiled. First Twilight grabbed a rather tall glass, also known as a Highball glass. And filled it with crushed ice. She then put one ounce of apple vodka into it and one ounce of peach schnapps into it. She then poured four ounces of cranberry juice over it and stirred it with a bar spoon. And finally she once again cut some peel off the orange and crushed it to allow the juices to come out of the peel and over the glass. Finally she grabbed an apple, and cut it finely into an apple wedge and placed it on top of the glass beside that she added a large black straw to it. And as last she placed it in front of Applejack. "One Jolly rancher for Applejack." Twilight stated, she looked proud of her work. Applejack inspects the drink. Thanks to the cranberry juice, it was rather red-ish pink. The ice in combination with the drink itself gave a rather intimidating drink. The highball glass made it large, and the contents of the drink rather heavy. Yet Applejack could tell that this was a sweet drink. Causing her to take a sip and instantly she gets overflown with nostalgia. "Eeyup! This is the drink my mum was referring to." Applejack said as she allowed herself to cry a little at the mention. Twilight's smile turn more humble. "This particular version of the drink was originally from outside Equestria. But was also created by an apple farmer. Like your mother." she explained. "Ah. So that is what she meant with, one of a kind. It is the drink made by and for apple farmers. Huh?" Applejack smiled in joy. Twilight said nothing. Instead she simply smiled at Applejack 'Not really. You can find this drink at a lot of parties. But she doesn't need to know that right now.' Twilight thought. As she allowed Applejack her peace. "Man that was delicious. How many bits is that anyways? I need to go back, I have some stuff to explain to my ma. She doesn't like it if I drink." Applejack asked satisfied. "Old fashioned is a classical drink, but bourbon isn't cheap sadly. That will be 35 bits for the Old fashioned and the less well known Jolly rancher is only 25 bits due to the cheap ingredients. So 60 bits in total." Twilight explained. "Here is 65 bits. Keep the rest. Thanks for the drinks. It was well worth my time." Applejack said happily. "Thank you very much. I hope the rest of your evening is pleasant." Twilight stated with a smile. "Of course!" Applejack gave Twilight a toothy smile before walking off towards her farm. "Well that was pleasant." Twilight said out loud only for her to grab all the table and chairs in her magic and placing them back inside. She then closed the doors and locked them. She checked the kitchen to make sure everything that is supposed to be off is off. And she goes to the bar to shut down the coffee machine, drain the beer sink and turn off the lights. She then quickly cleaned all the tables and the floor. She checked the toilets if they need any cleaning. And finally she checked the cash register. 'It seems as we have already made quite a bit of profit. And that is minus the costs to run gas, water, electricity. And the payment towards our musicians. And of course the costs of the ingredients. We are five hundred bits in the plus.' Twilight said smiling at herself for it. Despite underestimating the sheer amount of work, she was more than happy with today. Twilight ended the day by putting the cash case back into the safe and turning off the cash register. She then went to the kitchen and ate a small snack and something to drink before heading to bed. Satisfied with the progress of her cafe she and nothing major to dream about.