//------------------------------// // A Sick Problem // Story: Gimme Some Grub // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// At the said restaurant, Gimme Moore was still meandering around her place, trying to get everything set up. “You guys got the oil buckets ready in case?” “They’re in the back,” a griffon responded. “And the ham?” “In the fridge.” “Perfect!” A younger-looking griffon flew over to the owner, looking a little concerned. “Um, boss… The fryer is leaking out oil,” she explained. “Whaaat!?” Gimme cried. She was taken over to the broken fryer, which was leaking hot cooking oil onto the floor. “You got to be kidding me! Drain the tank, get a mop, and patch that hole up.” The younger griffon nodded and flew away to get a bucket. Gimme was now annoyed and then heard some knocking on the front door. Looking out the windows, she saw three griffons waiting outside. “Excuse me, we’re not open yet! Come back soon!” “We were sent here by The Majesty Queen Gilda,” Greta said behind the glass. “Let us in on her behalf!” Knowing that the new queen had laid down a couple of new laws, Gimme walked over and unlocked the door to let the griffons inside. “I’ll leave you two to do whatever’s needed,” Glynn spoke. “I’ll be on my way.” He left as Gustave le Grand looked around the place. The interior of the dining room looked very dull. It just had brown wooden floors and beige-painted walls. “This isn’t all that impressive to look at,” the griffon chef commented. He didn’t sound very impressed.  “Beige was the cheapest color I can afford,” Gimme shrugged. “The rest were more than 5 bits.” “Well, I suppose that’ll work. If this place is more function over form, then I’ll be more impressed.” Gimme looked over to the kitchen and shared a bit of information. “Oh yeah, one of the deep fryers is out of order, so… that’s an issue I need to sort out for now.” “Pas bien parti.” Gimme didn’t understand what he said and just showed a menu of what her restaurant would have to offer. “Here’s the menu of what we’re going to serve,” she said, handing it to Gustave. The menu looked to have a lot of choices, perhaps too many choices.  “Are you going to be serving all of these?” “Of course. We’ve got to have a lot of choices.” “Yeah, but the quality of the products is going to slip if you have too many of them. Also, if you had fewer options, you wouldn’t have to make your prices high.” Gustave showed Greta how much the meals cost and she was appalled. “Who do you think would pay that much for a small meal like this?” the royal advisor asked. “Not to mention some of the only carnivores in town right now are the students from the School of Friendship.” “Yeah, so what?” Gimme asked. “More creatures are going to move here.” Gustave and Greta looked at each other, feeling that the female griffon in front of them was displaying some mental gymnastics. “Relax, we’ve dealt with creatures like her before,” Gustave whispered. He looked at the menu again to see what he could pick. “I’ll try the chicken tacos. Greta, would you like something?” “Hmm… I think I’ll take the Meat Lover’s Stew,” Greta commented. “Good choice. That dish got ham, bacon, and chicken in it,” Gimme explained. “Your meal will be ready in a while.” She was given the menu back as the two visiting griffons sat down at one of the nearby tables. “So, how good do you think the quality of the food is going to be?” Greta asked. “That depends on how long that meat has been cut,” Gustave responded. “Livestock meat doesn’t have a very long shelf life. Plus, she says one of the fryers isn’t working.” “Right. It’s not looking good.” The two sat and waited for their meal which took a while. After about half an hour, both griffons were still waiting for their meals. “I guess that fryer was more important than I thought.” Just as Gustave was about to get up and head into the kitchen, one of the waiters finally arrived and served the meals he and Greta had ordered. Both griffons looked at the tacos and meat stew. “Order up!” The waiter said as he placed the food on the table and left them alone for them to eat. “Well then, this looks appetizing. I better take a sip before it gets cold.” Greta grabbed her spoon and begin eating her stew.  As she ate, Gustave then noticed something wrong with his chicken tacos. There looked to be a puddle of grease oozing out from the tortilla. Picking one of the tacos up, he saw the grease starting to drip down into his plate. Concerned, the griffon chef took a bite of the taco and chew it longer than he would need to do. Feeling a gag reflex happen, he grabbed a napkin and spat out his food.  “Qu’est-ce qu’ils ont mis là-dedans?!” he cried. Greta thought he was overreacting, but then again, the stew did taste a little off. “How long does meat go before it turns rotten?” she asked. “A few weeks at best. Is something wrong with the stew?” “I don’t know how to describe it. It tasted… tangy?” She ate another spoonful before Gustave called for the waiter. When one came out, he looked concerned. “Yes sir,” he asked. “Anything?” “Can you tell Miss Gimme that there might be something wrong with her food?” Gustave asked. “Right away,” the waiter nodded and flew back to the kitchen to find his boss. Gimme was overseeing the repairs of the fryer when the waiter walked in. “What is it?” “The customer said that there is something wrong with the food they ate.” “Tell him that the chefs are getting the hang of these recipes,” Gimme responded rudely. The waiter nodded and walked back to Gustave and Greta. “Gimme said that they’re still getting used to the new recipes,” the waiter explained. “Yes, can we have your name?” Gustave asked. “It’s… it’s Gil, sir.” “Thank you, please tell her we’d like to know about her way of keeping her food stored.” Gil did so and flew back to the kitchen to explain what he was told. “Tell him that’s classified,” Gimme spoke. “Classified?” “He’s no guard, so tell him to mind his own damn business.” Gil didn’t feel very comfortable with this, but went back to explain what he was told to say. “She said the methods are classified, and you need to mind…” “I’m going to stop you right there, sir,” Greta interrupted. “If Chef Gimme has something to say to us, tell her to say it to our faces. YOU’RE NOT A MESSENGER!” “And ask her how can she run a restaurant if she can’t talk to her own customers,” Gustave asked, showing a cheeky smile. Gil shared in the laugh and walked back to the kitchen to tell Gimme what he was told. A few moments later, Gimme stormed out and sat down at the table with her customers. “What did you say about me and customers?” she angrily asked. “We’re saying if you have that since you have your waiters sending messages for you, then your business is in hot water,” Gustave stated. A loud growl was heard and Greta held her stomach. “Are you alright?” “I think there was something wrong with that stew,” Greta responded. She groaned as she held her stomach. “Please tell me you have a restroom.”  “Right there.” Gimme just pointed to two doors that each had a different gender symbol, one boy and one girl. Greta simply stood up and quickly ran into the women's restroom. “I’d like to see how the kitchen runs. Starting with your fridge.” The sound of vomiting was suddenly heard from the restroom, with the griffons starting to get concerned. “Uhh… Was she like that when she left Griffonstone?” Gimme asked. “No, she was fine until she ate your stew.” Gustave got up and walked over to the restroom and knocked on the door. “Are you okay in there?” “I…” Greta couldn’t speak as she could be heard throwing up again, motivating Gustave to walk inside and check on her. Greta was leaning against a wall while she held her stomach. Gustave ran over to her, concerned. “Glynn said he was a medic, right?” Griffonstone’s royal messenger only groaned giving a sad nod. “Then let’s see how he’s doing. I need his help.” He helped carry the sick griffon out of the restaurant, but not before scowling at Gimme and saying, “We’ll talk later.” With that, he and Greta left to see if they could find Glynn or any medical professional. Gimme didn’t seem to be phased by Greta being sick, instead, she was more annoyed with the food going to waste. She picked up the plate and bowl before dumping their meals into the trash. “Yo! We’ve got some dishes to clean,” she called to the workers in the kitchen. Greta was later lying down on a bed in Twilight’s old castle with Glynn checking over her like checking her body temperature. After a little while, he came to a conclusion. “I see.” “How was she, Doc?” Gustave asked. “Still ain’t fine. She’s experiencing food poisoning,” he proclaimed. “Infectious bacteria in contaminated food can cause vomiting like a while ago you’ve said. Not just that, it can also cause fever, nausea, and very watery and/or bloody diarrhea.” He then turned to Greta. “You’re saying that you felt like this because of that stew you’ve eaten?” “Yep…” Greta groaned. “...How does she think she’s going to succeed if the customers end up like me?” Just then, Gallus flew into the room, seeing the sick royal advisor. “What going on here?” he questioned. “Bad stew… Don’t eat at Gimme’s.” “Gallus, help me grab a bottle of ginger ale that was inside my bag,” Glynn asked his son. “It helps soothes her stomach.” “Uhh… Yeah, about that, dad,” Gallus spoke, “Some of the students are feeling sick too.” “...Oh dear,” Glynn commented. He and Gallus looked at the royal advisor, who was just as worried as they were. “Just get me the drink and I’ll be fine,” she proclaimed. “Those kids are likely sick because of Gimme’s place.” Glynn nodded as he flew to the school while Gallus went to get Greta something to drink. In the nurse’s office, Garry, Gale, and Gleaming Pearl were all lying down with their stomachs causing them pain. Sunshine was there with the school nurse as Glynn showed up. “What’s going on here?” he asked. “Food poisoning,” the nurse explained. “They said they started feeling that after they taste-tested the new place’s meals.” “I knew I thought the bacon tasted funny,” Garry groaned. Glynn looked at Sunshine, who looked fine. “Sunshine, did you eat anything at Gimme’s?” the older griffon asked. “No, I just helped report what went on there,” the hippogriff responded. “I think I might know what the issue’s story is.” “New restaurant causes food poisoning?” Gale asked. “Sounds pretty likely.” “Greta’s gotten sick too,” Glynn informed. “Then that restaurant can’t run if it happens again.” “That’s what Gustave is planning on stopping.” Glynn was right. After leaving Greta with the medic, Gustave went straight back to the restaurant to find the root of the problem, along with another creature. The griffon opened the door and led Mayor Mare to the kitchen. Gimme was there checking the last of the equipment was set up properly when Gustave made himself known. “Écoutez ici, propriétaire inutile!” he called. The second language confused Gimme until she noticed who said it. “Hey, you’re not supposed to be back here!” she proclaimed. “It’s for employees only!” “And you can’t serve hazardous food to customers!” Gustave retorted. “It’s not just Greta who’s gotten sick now. I’ve seen one of the students get taken to the nurse’s office, and I think you know what I’m talking about. You’re going to contaminate the whole town!” “Sir, settle down,” Mayor Mare begged. “Now, Gustave, I said I will have a professional take a close inspection at this place.” “That won’t be necessary. If a health inspector came in here, this place would be automatically shut down. It’s making creatures sick and I’m putting a stop to it.” He stared daggers into Gimme’s eyes and simply said, “Where do you keep your meat.” She pushed him back as she was trying ot stand her ground. “If you get your beak out of my face, then I’ll show you,” Gimme responded.  She took him to the back of the kitchen, where they had their walk in the fridge. Opening it up, Gustave looked at the stored meat, with the chicken being placed on the shelf above the bacon. The big red flag that Gustave saw was some liquid dripping down into the bacon tray. “What in Tartarus is this?” Gustave looked at the container of chicken and could see there was a small crack in the bottom, having chicken juice leaking out. “Inexcusable!” he cried. He grabbed the money-hungry female griffon and made her look at the crack in the tray. “You see this, yea?!” “Yeah, so what?” “So what!? Vous allez contaminer toute la ville! Do you think it’ll be healthy to have toilet water leaking into your lemonade?” “No, that’s…” “Then why do you think it’s good to infect bacon with Salmonella?! Who’s the chef that’s cooking this?!” “His name is Garret. He’s testing out the fryer right now.” “I’m going to talk to him. Throw out that contaminated chicken now.” Gustave walked away as Gimme just moved the bacon out of the way to stop catching chicken juice. Garret was busy pouring some cooking oil, spilling some of it on the floor. He just rolled his eyes as Mayor Mare wasn’t impressed. Neither was Gustave. “Is there a mop somewhere?” Mayor Mare asked. “Do I look like a janitor to you, ma’am?” Garret asked. He went to find some meat to test the fryer out as Gustave looked at the mess he made. He looked at the mare beside her opinion. “Judging by tone, I don’t think he cares.” “Most likely,” Gustave agreed. “What’s worse, they’ve got a leaking tray of chicken contaminating bacon. You see, there’s this bacterium known as Salmonella, which is found in raw chicken…” As Gustave explained what was going on, Garret came back with some raw chicken. He just picked up a few pieces and dunked them into a tray then placed that said tray into the fryer. Before he was about to fiddle around with the drink dispenser, Gustave stopped him by grabbing his arm tightly. “Hey, man, what are you doing?” Garret questioned. “Wash your claws,” Gustave ordered. “What?” “You heard me. You’ve got raw chicken all over your talons. You’re going to cross-contaminate the kitchen. Are you trying to make your customers sick!?” “Let me do my job, sir!” “You’re job is to cook, not infect creatures.” The bubbling from the fryer was getting concerning as the bottom started to drip oil. The dripping started to get faster as Gustave saw what was going to happen. “Descendre!” He yanked Mayor Mare’s back as the bottom of the fryer broke open and spray hot cooking oil all over the floor. Griffons flew and ran to cover, with one unlucky griff getting his leg splashed by the oil. He crash-landed a few feet away from the kitchen and held his leg in pain. Gil was one of the first to think fast and flew over to the sink to grab some cold water to help pour off the hot oil. Gustave, Mayor Mare, and Gimme Moore gazed at the scene of the disaster. “You know,” Mayor Mare spoke, “I was willing to give this place a chance. More creatures would enjoy having different meals to eat if they moved here, but not if it’s being run like this.” “I couldn’t agree more,” Gustave commented. “Get a health and safety inspector. This place cannot run in this state!” “It’s my business!” Gimme cried trying to defend herself. “You can’t just say that…” “Then you’re going to be responsible for sick customers, those griffons you’ve hired will lose their jobs, and legal consequences will occur. If you don’t want to make yourself at home in the Canterlot prisons, get your head out of your flank!” They looked over to Gil, who was looking frantic. “He needs to go to the hospital!” he cried, looking back to the burnt leg of an injured griffon. “His burns were almost severe!” “Stay here and put some ice on his burns. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Gustave flew away to get help, while Ponyville’s mayor went to get an inspector. Gil just gave a disappointed scowl at Gimme, who was starting to realize she might be in hot water. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was walking to her animal sanctuary. She got the supplies she needed but she was still feeling mixed about the meat restaurant. While she did want the students and other visiting creatures to have a proper diet, it was still upsetting knowing what animals had to be sacrificed to get the meat. Fluttershy just sighed as she made it to her sanctuary. Angel hopped over to and quickly noticed the Pegasus’s sad expression. “Sorry, Angel,” Fluttershy said sadly, “I’m not feeling too cheerful today.” The pegasus didn’t say anything else and just went to work checking on her animals and giving them their food. Discord soon appeared and was determined to cheer her friend up. “Say, Fluttershy,” he said, “How about I convince the boys to bring you to our next guys’ night?” Discord even completed this offer by putting on his Captain Wuzz outfit “That’s nice of you Discord,” Fluttershy sighed, “But I don’t think I’d be up for learning everything about Ogres & Oubliettes.” Fluttershy went to put a couple of her supplies away as Discord chucked his O&O persona outfit. “Okay, so you’re not up for a ten-hour board game. How about a trip to Las Pegasus?” “No, Discord. I don’t want to lose my bits. I know you’re trying to cheer me up, but… I don’t know how to feel about this.” The pegasus sighed as she closed the closet door before walking away to check on some of the animals. “Listen, I could ask Rarity if she could meet up for some ice cream. Would that help cheer you up?” Fluttershy just shook her head as she tried to do some of her work. “Then what would make you feel better?” “Discord, I would just like some alone. We can have fun later, I just need to take care of the animals for now.” The draconequus sighed before teleporting away, leaving his friend to her privacy. Fluttershy helped set out some food for her animal friends until she got to the wolf, who Fluttershy named her Sandra. Sandra had a bit of an issue when it came to what she could eat. There were a couple of times she had been caught trying to eat some animals like Angel, but Fluttershy always managed to catch her before she could get a bite. “Hello, Sandra,” the kind pegasus spoke. “I managed to find some of the kibble that Applejack recommended and…”. Fluttershy was interrupted by the wolf growling. “What’s that? You heard about that place too?” The wolf nodded and looked rather unhappy. “You… You want some food from there?” Once again, Sandra nodded. The wolf tried to walk away, much to Fluttershy’s confusion. “Where are you going?” the mare asked. The wolf suddenly ran around her and started heading into town, much to her concern. “HEY! Sandra, come back here!” Fluttershy flew after the wolf, who was heading straight into town. Meanwhile, Sunshine, Gus, and Emerald were heading back to Gimme Some Grub. They were a little concerned about how the food was making their friends sick. “You sure they’re going to let us in?” Emerald asked. “We got evidence about our friends being sick, and now Gilda’s royal advisor got food poisoning,” Gus stated. “We could have her arrested for doing this. You wouldn’t keep serving curdled milk, would you?” “Definitely not,” Sunshine commented. When they were approaching Ponyville’s new restaurant, they could hear some commotion going on inside. “This place is still under construction!” Gimme cried. “How can you expect us to be completely safe?” “That doesn’t excuse one of the reasons I’ve been called here,” said a stallion. The three student reporters looked inside the restaurant from the window and can see Gimme Moore having an argument with a pony, who had a clipboard. “Who’s that guy?” Sunshine asked. “I think he’s a health & safety inspector,” Emerald guessed. The trio listened to what they were saying inside. “He’s there to check this place out and improve it.” “Listen here, Ms. Moore” the unicorn inspector spoke, “I’ve been given orders by Mayor Mare to make sure this place is safe for the public. If I recall, you made some of your taste testers sick because of food poisoning in your sample dishes.” “Well…. I guess…” Gimme stuttered. “The way you’re talking like that sounds like you want to go out of business.” The inspector soon walked into the kitchen, where he found Gil mopping the cooking oil. “What happened here?” Gil was about to explain what truly happened until he saw his boss staring daggers at him. “We… overfilled one of the fryers,” he fibbed. “That’s all.” The inspector looked at the fryer and noticed the large crack in it. “If you overfilled your fryers unintentionally, how did that crack get there?” “I had to cut our budget somewhere,” Gimme explained, “So I brought these fryers from Griffonstone. I cleaned them out and put them to good use.” “This fryer shouldn’t be in service, Ms. Moore. In fact, it looks like you tried to plug that crack up.” “How else are we supposed to save money?” “If you spend more money you’d have better quality ingredients!” cried a voice. Out came Gustave, who was carrying a ham in his claws. “I found this along with your other products.” He showed how slimy the ham was much to his and Gil’s disgust. “Sir, I don’t have that much experience with meat,” the inspector admitted. “What’s the problem here?” “When ham like this starts going bad, it starts to get slimy. Look at this.” He showed a big gray spot of mold on the piece of meat. “See how much mold is on that?” “That… mold builds character for ham,” Gimme responded, sounding desperate. Gustave flew over to the restaurant owner and looked her dead in the eye. “Why do you have your head up your flank, Gimme? I’ve been trying to not only save your business but also keeping you out of jail!” “Mr. Gustave,” the inspector said, “It’ll be best for all of us if you console yourself.” The griffon took a minute to take a breath before he responded. “My apologies, sir. I can’t expect someone to defend this and serve it to customers.” “I comprehend. That’s a major reason why I’m here. Do you mind if you show me the fridge?” Gustave nodded and led the inspector to where the food was being kept. The pony could feel that it was a bit warmer than necessary. He checked the temperature gauge to see it was nearly above 30. “Mr. Gustave, what temperature is dangerous for meat to be at?” “40℉.” He then looked at the temperature gauge as well, seeing that it was almost above 30. “Is this fridge not working properly?” “I’m not sure. If that’s the case, we’ll have to add this to her violations.” He wrote this town as some growling and barks could be heard. “I’ll check it out,” Gustave proclaimed. He left the inspector to check on the food as he followed the noise towards the front of the building. Outside, he could see Emerald holding Sandra the wolf, while the animal was trying to break free. “What is this mutt’s deal?” Gus questioned. “Did any of you do anything that would make her mad?” “Not intentionally.” “I think it might be this place,” Emerald guessed. She and the wolf looked up at the restaurant’s sign. Sandra kept trying to break, failing to do so due to Emerald’s strength. Soon, Fluttershy came flying up, giving a quick angry look at the wolf that ran away. “Thank you for catching her, you three,” the Pegasus said to the students.  “You’re welcome, Professor Fluttershy.” Emerald handed Sandra to Fluttershy, while the wolf kept on struggling to get to the restaurant’s door. Gustave opened the door to see what was going on. “How long has that wolf been out here?” he asked. “She showed up instantly,” Emerald explained to him. “She tried scratching at the door to get inside until we tried holding her back.” “Yeah, and she put up a tough fight,” Gus added. He showed the scratches and even the bite mark on his arm from trying to keep the wolf back. “Can we have an update on this place? Because I’m going to be ticked if this is all I get here.” “We’re in the middle of an inspection,” Gustave explained. “Though I think we’re just about finished.” “We were concerned about this place after the food made some of our friends sick,” Sunshine explained. “I see. Well, that’s why I convinced the mayor to send an inspector here.” “Then… What’s the cause of the sickness?” “Salmonella and improper storage.” There was a mix of emotions from the three students showing concern about their friends’ health and annoyance that Gimme would allow this kind of quality food to be sold. “Don’t worry, I’m doing my best to set her straight and make this restaurant a success.” “That’s good to hear,” Sunshine commented. “You do what you have to,” Fluttershy said. “I’m taking Sandra back to the sanctuary.” With that, the Pegasus flew away, while telling Sandra what a bad wolf she was. Back inside, the inspector had finished examining the restaurant and was giving his report to Gimme Moore. “You’re lucky the mayor has told me to give you another chance,” the inspector said. “If she didn’t, your business would be shut down right away.” He handed the list of violations that the restaurant had, much to Gimme’s fear. “I hope you’ll learn from this, otherwise you and your employees will be in trouble.” “Good day to you sir,” Gustave said, “And thank you for your assistance.” “Anytime.” The inspector smiled and walked out of the restaurant, leaving the two griffons to talk with each other. Gimme kept looking at the list, showing concern when she looked at Gustave. “Now, do you see all of the problems now?” “Y… Yes,” Gimme sighed in defeat. “You see how much these are going to cost you?” Gimme didn’t respond, she just double-checked the price and felt defeated. “And not only that, getting your customers to fall ill counts as their own fine and could land you in prison.” Gimme once again said nothing. “Hear me out, I’m going to take the royal advisor back to Griffonstone. I’ll be back tomorrow… and hopefully, you’ve cleaned them up by then.” With that, Gustave walked out of the building, leaving the owner to clean up her mess. She looked at the three students standing outside with their equipment. Gimme frowned as she looked at them. “No comment!” she ordered. She went to find her employees to start a clean-up. “Boy, that was a waste of time,” Gus groaned. “Let’s go to the nurse’s office and see if I have rabies or not.” Gus flew away, with his friends following him. “I’m pretty sure Sandra wouldn’t have rabies,” Sunshine noted. “She’s not infected or anything.” “I’m still going to bite that li’l mutt back.” “Please don’t start a fight with a wolf,” Emerald pleaded. “No promises.” The students went back to the school while Gus complained about his injuries. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Sandra were just passing the town square on the way back to the sanctuary, when Roseluck and Carrot Top stopped her. “Excuse us, Fluttershy,” Roseluck said, “Sorry for stopping your tracks, but do you have any advice for catching a wild animal like that wolf you’re walking with?” “Is there a problem?” Fluttershy asked. “Nothing that requires your attention yet,” Carrot Top noted. “What advice would you give us if you find a lost wild animal?” Fluttershy thought for a moment. “If that happens, I’d approach it carefully and not make myself look like a threat. Some animals are more scared of you than you are of them.” “Uh-huh, sounds good. Would you recommend a net or something?” “Only if the animal is acting violently. Once everything settles, I set it free.” “Sounds good. Thank you for that advice! C’mon, Rose!” Carrot Top ran off with Roseluck following her, looking a little worried. Fluttershy and Sandra looked at each other in confusion. “I wish we could see what they were doing, but I’ve got to get you back to the sanctuary and do other stuff there.” With that, the pegasus walked away with the wolf, wondering what the townsponies were up to.