//------------------------------// // The Chef's festival // Story: The Chef's cafe // by vincent789 //------------------------------// The Chef's festival Interlude to the next arc The silence before the storm. As Twilight rode the golden carriage down, she saw Princess Cadence flying besides the carriage. Just as her reaction forthtold, this was unplanned and made up on the spot. But what Twilight didn't know, was that Princess Cadence had been in charge of the Chef's festival down in Ponyville. So her flying down with Twilight wasn't as damning as it could have been. "Princess-" "No." Twilight sighed with a smile, "Cadence then, Are you alright with going down to Ponyville with me?" "Sure. I have a surprise for you after all. So while unplanned, definitely not unwanted." Cadence said with a goofy smile. Twilight looked ahead, she saw that the festival hadn't gone underway yet. So her attention turned back to Cadence. "Is the so?" "I... had promised something a long time ago, didn't I?" "We had? I don't remember that at all." Cadence giggled at Twilight's confused look, "You had already become my little chef before your actual declaration you know. You had asked me something, and I promised I would make it come true." "What was the promise?" "Well..." Cadence said as she looked up. Several years before the events of The Chef's Apprentice. Tiny Twilight was sitting at her special tea party for which she had invited Princess Cadence to. "Caddy!" "Yes, Twilight?" "Caddy!" Twilight merely repeated as she used her unstable magic to pour Cadence some tea. Surprisingly her control of her magic was really getting there. Since she only missed the cup for about a quarter of the cup of water. "Don't you ever get tired of tea, Twilight?" Cadence asked as she played along. "Fud!" Twilight replied even more excited. "You like that, don't you?" "Ye." Twilight said, but she seemed down. "What is the matter?" "Pecial Fud!" Twilight said as she points at the a magazine showing some food from a festival of sorts. "And your mom won't make it?" "Unique." Twilight said surprisingly well. Causing Cadence to rise her eyebrow at the mention. "Tell you what, how about I help you taste that?" "Ight now?" Twilight asked, causing Cadence to shake her head. "As birthday present." "Yay!" "You were really cute back then. But yeah, that right about sums it up." Cadence explained. "Huh. That magazine... I still have it. It was a magazine about the unique foods found in a festival, specifically a eastern food festival." Twilight mentioned. "I know. So I went to investigate it. It took much longer than I expected. But just in time for your honorable discharge of your title." Cadence explained, "I mentioned this festival to Celly, and she said yes to the plan." "But not only that, she turned it into a national festival day." Twilight added. "That is true. As a celebration for your help to Equestria. It was Celly's way of celebrating." Cadence mentioned as she looks over at the direction of the festival, sadly it was still obscured by hills. Twilight smiled, "Yeah. Princess Celestia can be weird sometimes. The good kind of course." "Mhm." "Actually Cadence I had a question... How far is the venture going to the north? Surely they have found you makeshift campsite by now." "Yep. They even found my old diary, which they promptly send over to me. I really missed that little thing." "Did they manage to go any further?" "They did, but now they are using my campsite as a spot to take a break at. Since I had apparently found a perfect spot for it. It is close enough to allow them to continue to venture further." "Then it won't take much longer." "Longer for what?" "To both discover the great kingdom and threat with it." "There is a threat?!" Cadence shouted shocked. Almost with enough force to knock herself out of the sky. "Ask Princess Celestia. She surely knows more. Oh! And don't forget to take the element holders with you. You will need their aid." Twilight warned Cadence. "Alright. I was going to do that anyways." Cadence eyes suddenly shone as they saw their destination from her current position. "Look!" she shouted at Twilight. "The festival!" As the carriage rounded the bend, Twilight saw that the entirety of Ponyville lit up with hundreds of thousands of lights. The streets were filled with hundreds of food and shop stalls and by Celestia's will, it was busy! The streets looked so full, almost as if it was bound to explode. It gave Twilight both incredible pain as that memory reared its ugly head and great hope that the future would look equally bright. "Driver. The landing spot is directly behind Trixie's library and treehouse. Park there!" Cadence ordered. "Yes, madam!" Both drivers shouted in harmony. "Twilight..." One of the drivers spoke up. "Before you depart, I wish to speak a little bit with you. This one is on behalf of the Royal guards." "Mh?" Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. She had not expected this one. "First of all, The ex-captain of the guard wishes you the best. He thanks you for improving the way the capital is run and for indirectly improving the food of the castle. He expects that this truly is the last time you will be seen in Canterlot. So, in a few days, you should see a special package arriving at you house in Ponyville. It contains several things that hold a great importance in Equestria. So treat them kindly." The driver explained. The other driver cleared his throat, "And second thing is a bit more personal to me specifically. I am sure you didn't know. But there is a cooking school in Canterlot that was doing poorly a few years back. It was a female only cooking school and with female chef's being abused in the kitchen as they were, your appearance was like an godsend to them. You indirectly saved my sister's school. And per definition the entire female chef community. And for this my sister wishes to thank you. You will find a small package from my sister to you, in a few days." The driver saw the landing spot, "So one more time, for us both." "Thank you, with the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for your service to Equestria and thank you for saving the female chefs from extinction. Truly thank you!" Both drivers screamed on the top of their longs to Twilight. But Twilight was unable to respond, as the moment they touched down, Twilight was kindly removed from the carriage by them and left without saying a word. Twilight was dumbfounded. She knew that she done that. But this was the first time someone said it to her face. It made her tear up, but she knew this wasn't the time and place for it. She will just cry about it later. She looked at Cadence, and noticed an equal amount of shock. Clearly this was the first time she heard about it as well. "Well then. That was something. Shall we get going?" Twilight said after an awkward minute of silence. Cadence shook herself out of her shock and nodded at Twilight. "Lets go!" What followed were several hours of eating lots of food and shop until they dropped. In a way, this was incredibly relaxing. Twilight didn't remember the last time that she could play without stopping. It must truly have been years. It was relaxing and it made her realize. She wouldn't be able to continue to cook forever. There will be a time when she would be forced to quit. But she hoped that won't be for a really long time. At the end of the festival, Twilight was now wandering alone. Cadence at some point began doing something alone. That something that deserved her attention another time. For now she was watching the satisfied faces of the stall owners. As they had earned plenty of income and will definitely come back for a new food festival. Even though she was no longer a princess, she could definitely stamp this event as truly successful. "Twilight." Twilight looks over at who said that name and it was Spike and Ditzy. "Hello you two. How has the cafe been in my absence?" She asked them. "Welcome back. Well rather it has been the same old. The same people frequent our place. So, nothing new." Ditzy replied. "I see. Well I am about to overhaul the menu once I get back truly. I first need to see to it that Princess Cadence will have a proper departure from Ponyville. Only then will I return." "We know." Spike said smiling, "Besides I approached you, because we too, joined the festival as stall owner. And we earned bank." "Well Ditzy, What was the sheer earnings? Without removing costs mind you." Twilight asked. "Sixty thousand bits. And if you remove the costs, fifty thousand bits. Entry alone plus tax was about ten thousand bits. The rest was all sheer profit." Ditzy said excited. Twilight's eyes bulged at the amount. "That is a lot!" She exclaimed. "Mhm." Spike merely agreed casually. "Truth be told, our funds have been in the green for a while now. And people have been complaining about the lack of improvement on the menu for a hot second now." "Good thing I returned then." "When you get back, there is something I want to show you by the way. A reason why this might be gone nearly instantly." Spike mentioned. "Alright. Well then, take your stall down and prepare for tomorrow." Twilight requested. "Okay. Ditzy, lets go!" Spike said as he turns around. "See you tomorrow Twilight!" Ditzy said as she left as well. Twilight then proceeded to walk over to a small hill overlooking Canterlot in the background and took a seat besides the tree that stood there. The previous received shock turned into happiness, as the situation truly fully sunk into her. Not only did she outperform her duties as Princess for the short time she had the title and outperform her duty as chef-in-training by reviving the art of cooking for the female population, but she also left a permanent mark on Canterlot, Equestria and potentially the entire world. It made her proud. "Twilight." Cadence approached Twilight from behind. Twilight herself didn't bother looking at Cadence. "Do you know why I became a chef?" She suddenly asked Cadence. "To spread the wonderful world of cooking with people?" Cadence offered. "That too. But I had a dream. A dream that would allow me to spread outside cultures using food as my medium. To be honest the cafe was just the first step. And if it was only me and the cafe, I would probably never have reached that dream." Twilight explained. "But now?" "But now, the chance has been created. In a few months time, I will finally be able to make food that doesn't exist in Equestria, but only in the east. Just as I dreamed I would." "A chance?" Cadence asked confused. "My dad had received a duty oh so long ago. Probably before you were turned into a alicorn." Twilight simply answered. "A duty I expect him to complete in atleast a month or two from now." Cadence looks over Twilight's shoulder towards Canterlot in the background, "How are you so certain?" "Because I laid the groundwork. Everyone is in place, the cards have been placed, the resources made available. Now all that is left to do, is to put it back together. Just the way, my dad wants it." "Any plans after the dream?" "Yup. But that will revealed in due time. For now, let's focus on the immediate future." "Which is?" Cadence asked, but when she received no answer, she looked over at a smiling Twilight who simply raised her eyebrow in a mysterious kind of way. She sighed, "Well I am ready to go home." "Good. Well this spot is the perfect takeoff position." Twilight said. "I know. And Twilight come here." Cadence said as Twilight approached Cadence. Cadence then hugged Twilight with a big smile, "Let me reiterate, Thank you for your service to Equestria. Have fun and I will see you again another time." Twilight returned the hug as she nodded. The two let go off their hug as Cadence immediately took off to fly the long distance back home. Twilight waved a bit as she fully departed, before looking at Canterlot, one last time. "Thank you Canterlot. It was a great honor to be your princess for the short time it really has been," She said to no one in particular. Twilight then finally turned around, her back facing Canterlot as she headed to her home here in Ponyville. After a short hike, Twilight made her way to her closed Cafe. Since it has been a while, Twilight entered through the cafe's main entrance and into the bar. She feels around the bottles, checking if they are still there. Satisfied that all the bottles are still there, she turns on the orange bar light. Which is a light used to indicate that the bar is operative once more. And exactly as Twilight turns the light on, Fluttershy just happened to walk past. And yes, she could use a drink. Since the festival wasn't just exhausting for those participating. The loud sounds were very disruptive to the local wild life. Which meant, that Fluttershy had to be going around and soothing the animals from the sounds. "Is the bar open?" Fluttershy's quiet voice rang out to the bar. "Ah, welcome Fluttershy. Yes, it will be open for a short time. Before I head to bed myself. How may I help you?" Twilight said happily. By Celestia, has she missed this. "Uhm... I could use something... milky..." "How about a Pina Colada?" Twilight offered, "It has condensed milk, coconut rum, pineapple and coconut milk." "Sure..." "Okay. Give me a moment." Twilight said as she grabs her shaker. She then pours about 30ml of rum into the shaker, 30ml of coconut milk, 30ml of pineapple juice and finally a spoonful of condensed milk. She closed the shaker and began shaking it for a short time. She then grabs a low ball glass and puts a single large cube of ice inside it and poured the content out of her shaker into the glass. She then gave it a small umbrella and put a single pineapple piece on the side of the glass. "Here you go, a Pina Colada." Twilight said as she puts the complete cocktail in front of Fluttershy. Fluttershy then grabbed the glass, gave it small sniff and took a sip. "It is wonderful Twilight. Thank you." Fluttershy said pleased. "Good. It has been a while since the last time I was behind this bar." Twilight said smiling. "I heard you did great work over at Canterlot." She said while sipping her Pina Colada. "Mhm. Well my story in Canterlot is now over. It is finally time to fully focus on Ponyville." Fluttershy took another sip, "Things have actually been pretty quiet here in Ponyville." After another sip she continued, "So what are your plans for this cafe?" "Different food offerings and more evening bar times." "That would be nice. Rarity is getting stressed over the lack of drinks she has gotten as of late. Your cocktails made her unable to drink wine the same way ever again." Twilight giggled at that, "I see. Tomorrow something is going to happen, that will result in me being needed more in the kitchen." "Mh?" Fluttershy said confused. "But whatever that is... You will soon find out. Oh and Fluttershy, just this once, that drink is on the house. I may not be Rarity, but even I can be generous at times." Twilight said. "Now then, I need to close up." "Okay. Thank you Twilight." Fluttershy said as she finished her drink. She placed it carefully back on the bar and walked out the door. Twilight turned the light off behind her. As she closed up shop for tomorrows big day.