I am the Storm Scribe. Let my words thunder across all creation! Let my imagination rain down and bring life to new worlds and adventures. Above all else, may you enjoy what meager gifts I bring...
One-Shots18,903 stories ·2,369 members
The good prince338 stories ·543 members
Slice of Life8,149 stories ·1,460 members
Short Stories5,069 stories ·547 members
Protect Celestia1,762 stories ·1,946 members
The Group That Is Pretty Much Every Other Group Combined9,854 stories ·925 members
The Accusation Fic Collection2,015 stories ·1,045 members
It's been a week since Zesty Gourmand's hold over Restaurant Row was broken. Delicious food of dozens of different varieties is being prepared, and business has never been better.
But Zesty Gourmand isn't done yet. She's recruited Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Prince Blueblood and intends on having their royal palates challenge Restaurant Row, starting with the Tasty Treat. The chefs of Canterlot face their biggest challenge yet as they prepare for a Royal Review...
Page generated in 0.04 seconds
Total duration
1,032 users online
1,348,789 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ever since I saw the "Spice it Up" episode, I have been looking for stories based on it. Like some of the fans, I was disappointed that Zesty Gourmand did not take Rarity's suggestion to try Coriander's and Saffron's food. Even though she still was her stuck-up self, I could see Zesty making the maneuver to regain her authority as food critic by using the Princesses and (surprisingly) Prince Blueblood to sample the food.
I liked that while Rarity and Pinkie Pie had their moments in the story, you gave some of the restaurant owners, including Saffron and her father, more of the spotlight with incredibly tasty descriptions of their signature dishes. I already had finished dinner while reading this story and I found myself wanting to eat those yummy meals!
In some ways, Zesty reminds me of season 5 Starlight Glimmer, in that both ponies held such rigid and narrow beliefs on a topic of great interest to them (SG-cutie marks, ZG-food). And yet, these beliefs would have a hurtful impact on other ponies around them, as we saw with the Our Village and the Restaurant Row-everything was the same, no variety or real character was shown, and those that did were shunned. And like Starlight Glimmer, Zesty tried to get her revenge on the ponies who took away her control of Canterlot cuisine, but failed miserably. Based on her fate in both the episode and this story, Zesty only has 2 options: 1) she can remain unchanged and wind up losing any credibility she has left as a food critic or 2) she can maintain her own personal food preferences but be mindful of other ponies' tastes and focus on how well a restaurant caters to a variety of tastes, hers and others.
Anyways, I fave this story! Great follow-up to the episode! And I enjoyed your version of Prince Blueblood!
Overall, I rather enjoyed this. I like how you build and created tiny stories for the other chiefs along Restaurant Row.
The only nit-pick I have is that Blueblood seems a little too... (how should I put this?) open minded? I do however agree at what he had to say to Zesty at the end.
For what you got, this is good.
Awesome story Knight! You never disappoint me!
I also liked Blueblood's portrayal here and how Zesty got what she had coming! Shame the royal ponies didn't visit the Gordon Ramsay pony's restaurant...
Oh, and I'm just gonna leave this here:
Thanks for referencing this guy!
I like this Blueblood :)
7302040 My justification for Our Favorite Royal Snob being nice is that Blueblood was raised with Celestia as a mentor. And she's always been fairly accepting.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and am starting to develop the headcanon that Blueblood is actually a pretty decent guy. During the Gala, he simply mistook Rarity for a gold digger and played up the Prince Charmless routine to get rid of her. Later on, during... I think it was Sweet and Elite, Rarity is seen with Prince Blueblood at an airship christening. If Blueblood was still so insufferable, why would Rarity deign to associate with him?
Egolus Antonius...
Ignoring the fact that that's not how pony names work at all, this was a very pleasant read. Especially a fan of your Blueblood characterization.
7302175 Okay, fair enough. Although to answer your question about Sweet and Elite, I have two words for you: Fancy Pants. One who, as Rarity put it, "the most influential pony in all of Canterlot." So to make the devil's argument here, I think if you're trying to get notice, especially from the movers and shakers that could make or break dreams, that even if the devil himself was there, that if you really wanted to make your dream come true, wouldn't you bear it and grin it?
Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that I don't like this Blueblood. As I've said, it was only a nit-pick.
7302199 I couldn't think of a good pony name for him... Glad you enjoyed the story despite that, though.
7302205 Fair enough. And I'm glad you like the story. But I'm still standing by my headcanon for Bluey.
I approve of this Blueblood. If I could, he'd get a three hoof rating.
Well done, Knight.
All throughout the tastings I kept get flashbacks to watching Iron Chef of a Saturday night and admiring what the chefs could do with just one hour.
I actually feel a little bad for Zesty.
Which is strange considering her fate is far from how bad it could've been, or how bad I'm sure other writers will make it.
With the overall tone, I think I would've loved to see some reconciliation. With Celestia right there... This could've been the moment.
7302205
She didn't look like she was doing it with gritted teeth. In fact, they both looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Besides, Rarity's generosity does extend to giving ponies a second chance. She's not one to hold on to long-term grudges. If she were, I doubt she would've forgiven her friends for torpedoing her fashion career after making her slave over their ugly dresses for day on end.
Very, very well done. I think you did a bang up job on all three of the royals. With Oz... I mean Blueblood, sorry I tend to refer to him by the name I gave him, you did exceptionally well with him, hell this would work perfectly in my headcanon and my Blueblood is about as far as you can get from the normal fandom interpretation of him.
Who would want SaffronBlood as a Ship?
It's nice to see Blueblood as something other than an uptight buttmonkey occasionally. All around nice work. I'm also looking forward to you updating Waking Nightmares
Nice story, good characters, for a moment when we had a Cake-lestia moment I got worried but it didn't go anywhere, and nice-guy Blueblood!
I give this story a three hoof rating!
7302287 ooh ooh! Me! I would want that! XD
Zetsy should meet Yukihera Souma...
Or even Toriko
7302444 Hm... She reminds me too much of Asami Nakamura/Nakiri, really... only I think even Asami would tear her a new one for her sub-par standards of food... Meanwhile, he's an abusive ass.
An excellent read, though that ending speech by Blueblood felt a little bit out of character, but just little. A good story.
Also, Warlord Vulcan? I am sure He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-For-He-Is-Supremely-Butthurt might not approve you taking the name of one of his character, but since he ran away from Fimfic, he will never know.
7302611 Oh, so that's why Darth Vulcan hasn't updated in ages. Reality Check checked out.
This story kind of makes me sick. You spent 5000 words ramming home the same point the episode made, twisting the knife and gloating over the corpse of the villain's ideology, while adding nothing original except for wildly out of character behavior and a decent Ponejabi dish. I spent the whole story looking for some sign that there would be a lesson learned, maybe some kind of redemption or understanding -- but no, it was just a full-on hateboner wank session. Zesty Gourmand is a jerk, sure. What lesson does My Little Pony teach us about jerks? Is it that they should be ostracized and publicly humiliated? Consider that the next time you find yourself writing Celestia smiling as she watches the life and livelihood of one of her little ponies being ground smarmily into the dirt, with no thought whatsoever to, oh, I don't know...friendship.
7302981
"Checking out" is putting it kindly. "Running Away Screaming and Shouting Insults" is far closer to the truth. Not to say I didn't enjoy his stories, but the guy himself was pretty obnoxious, and he couldn't take hearing any critizism no more. He still has his MLP stories up, and he even sometimes updates some of them, but they're on a site that you can't just join in, meaning he can stew in his own self-rightenousness all day and no-one can tell him differently.
If you want to check him still out though, I wrote down the link to that site. Here we go.
I approve of the message here.
-'Your creation is awful, and that's the objective truth.'
-'Why?'
-'Because I say so!'
That stuff always makes me so sad.
The episode reminded me of when I spent a whole day rigging up a stage for a party at a fancy hotel. The staff gave us free grub, which was nice, but it was a few leaves, a slice of radish and some bland bread. A chocolate bar would've been more filling and tasted better. Most people spend their days working, and when they've done that, they're hungry
Anyway, nice little story, and this stuck out to me:
Kind of... impertinent? To welcome a pair of benevolent dictators to a place in their own city. Especially one who was there when it was built and who've lived there before anyone else there was even born. Very in-character, though
7303035 Ah. He went full Brooke McEldowney. No wonder Ralphie is holed up in the AO3 gated community. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.
7302611 The name was picked randomly, with no connection to Reality Check.
This story was a light, breezy read. No real conflict ever quite came into focus, but in the end I didn't really mind. I took enjoyment out of the Princesses food tour.
I will say that I never quite buy the "Blueblood was a good guy all along" thing as it doesn't really mesh up with his canon appearance. (People often forget that he approached Rarity first. "Hey, that woman across the way seems attracted to me. How dare she! I should ruin her evening to teach her a lesson. And also insult her friend's food."). The tendency to want to redeem him is an interesting one though. I wonder if authors will do the same with Zesty someday.
7302991 Sometimes jerks need a slap in the face to realize that they're being a jerk. Admittedly, this is more of a kick to the grundle than a slap to the face, but the analogy stands. Plus, initially, all currently-good villains have gotten humiliated before reforming.
Gilda: pranks set up by Rainbow Dash that she accidentally triggered.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon: Outclassed and outdone by the CMC on many occasions.
Trixie: Ursa Major the first time, defeated by Twilight using her own schtick (stage magic) on her
Discord: Defeated after he thought he had won, and then put into a situation where sticking to his old ways would cost him something he'd come to value (Fluttershy's friendship), used as a tool by Tirek
Starlight Glimmer: Lost her village of brainwashed servants, plus being forced to realize that she would damn Equestria if she kept on her path
Sunset Shimmer: driven mad by power, took a rainbow to the face, nearly bullied to death until she saved the school
Human Twilight Sparkle: Not really a villain, but included because she was a Shadowbolt (+Midnight Sparkle). She learned exactly WHY you shouldn't mess with things you understand until you're ready.
Ground into the dirt? Hardly. Zesty still has her job and Rarity, who at this point is her social executioner, has chosen to sheath her metaphorical sword unless Zesty forces her hoof. If you'll recall, this arrangement that Blueblood created for Zesty is EXACTLY what the setup for Discord was initially. (Be good or the Elements will turn you into a lawn ornament.) And while the royalty doesn't support her, there are still enough social snobs out there who favor Zesty that could easily restart in another city if she felt like it.
Zesty has every opportunity now to change her ways. Review things FAIRLY.
Grinding the life and livelihood of ponies into the dirt? Like, oh, say, what Zesty was doing to Restaurant Row by forcing her unrealistic standards on every restaurant? By condemning Coriander Cumin and Saffron Masala to losing their livelihood because they didn't make food SHE liked? All I'm doing is revoking Zesty's karma houdini warranty, and even then I'm being much nicer to her than I could have been.
Celestia wasn't praising Blueblood for dissing Zesty. She was praising Blueblood for protecting the livelihood of the chefs of Restaurant Row.
However, you are entitled to your opinion. I'm sorry you didn't like the story. I hope you will better enjoy my other works. But if not, again, you are entitled to your opinion.
7303386 See my aforementioned theory of him playing up the Prince Charmless routine to get rid of her. "Hm? Oh geez, another vapid rich socialite coming to mooch off of me. I have better things to do than to play up to some gold digger. ...Heh. I wonder how she'd react if I threw her little 'prince' fantasy back in her face." And then later in the Gala, after she yelled at him. "...She actually stood up to me? Wow, that was hot..."
7302611
That name belonged to the Star Trek franchise first anyway.
I do find it interesting you made Blueblood more then just the butt-monkey (Which is fine in some stories) but I can perfectly imagine him holding great pride in where he lives and wanting to keep Canterlot's reputation intact anyway he can.
7302287 Got my vote!
7303476 But regarding Blueblood, isn't that far, far worse? Because again, Rarity did nothing to him. She didn't even initiate their encounter... He first came up to her. So if his subsequent behavior isn't due to him being oblivious, then he's really just a celebrity who picks women who he suspects might be into him out of a crowd and proceeds to treat them like crap for his own amusement.
Ah well... It ultimately doesn't matter to the enjoyment of this particular story. Thanks for sharing it!
7303627 Hence Bluey saying that 'romance is not a viable option' for them.
...I'm honestly inspired to create a story based on this concept that I'm coming up with.
This is byotiful. 10/10! I loved every moment of it. I LOVE food and this story hit me right in the feels. Masterfully done, Mysterio.
7302287 I ship it.
Internal Trollestia musings, "I can make that sound dirty..."
Tabloid headline: CELESTIA ADMITS TO EATING CALF AND LAMB BRAINS!! Cows and sheep across Equestria are both shocked and horrified! The griffon leaders, however, find that that this makes her less lame!
(Sweetbreads or ris are culinary names for the thymus or the pancreas especially of calf and lamb..)
Orrrrrrr, get paid lots of money by Disney to say all their movies are great and bash all the rest! (Conspiracies abound!)
This was a good story
7303818 Whups... Well, in the context of this story, and what ponies would think of the term, she's referring to breads that are sweet...
Eheheheh...
Heheh...
Heh...
*flees*
7303914 We already know the truth: alicorns eat ponies to maintain immortality.
Because it's grimdark, it MUST be true!
7303929 HE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
FEED HIM TO THE CHANGELINGS!
Good to seeing Zest get what's coming to her, like I always say 'some critics wouldn't know (a) good (insert topic) if it bit em in the ass'
Besides I've never liked bland food, even if it's just simply cooked on the grill or just a dash of salt n pepper ya still get good flavored food
You know, Luna would always have been the least likely to enjoy the crap food that they were originally serving because of her thousand year absence. She came from a time when conflict was more common so they didn't have time for the 'fake-nobility' style of eating and food would be much heartier. Look at things that would be common dishes now and a thousand years ago they would have been things on royalty had access to. Lasgna, turkey dinners with all the fixings, and others like that were not common fare.
7303476
But how will you ever be ready, how will you ever understand them if you don't mess with them? If we all took that kind of approach, nothing important would ever be learned or invented. It is precisely because you don't understand something that you should experiment boldly.
Boldly, mind you, not stupidly. What she really (should have) learned is proper safety precautions when experimenting with unknown forces of nature.
7303979 STAND BACK!! I have a giant DDT bugbomb I bought from China, which means it's EXTRA toxic, and I'm not afraid to use it!
Ah.. I feel very, very satisfied.
Food is like a story. If it's bland, it's a pain to consume, and you leave disgusted. And of course, the portions must be carefully balanced. Some things are suited for large portions, some are simply hors-d'oeuvres, appetizers. It's all a balance. But blandness is never the answer. Sure, some people can like blandness, and of course, it is out there. But rich, delicious stories are the best.
And this one? ^-^ A meal fit for a king.
Yours,
Spirit.
(PS: Also, thanks for giving Zesty a nice kick in the flank!)
7302287
It's great that Season 5 and 6 have had plenty of new ponies to ship.
Personally I favor
Moondancer x Sunburst
Saffron x 8-Bit (Shining Armor's school buddy)
Rara x Big Mac
Party Favor x Surprise
Princess Ember x Frolicsome Meadowlark (Luna's guard)
Plaid Stripes x Double Diamond
I haven't seen "Spice Up Your Life" yet, so I cannot fully appreciate this fic, but it is always satisfying to see some egotistical dunce get completely deflated. One of the most annoying things in the world is someone who believes that their standards are the standards for quality in anything from food to people. I, personally, have learned to admit that several of the things I dislike are not actually of poor quality, but are simply not compatible with my tastes. I think a lot of people could benefit from a serving of that particular brand of humble pie.
I haven't liked blueblood since series one... until now. Thank you for changing my oppinion of a character that has lasted 5 and a half seasons. X
You know, this is a really strange idea that seems to have gained a lot of traction online in the last few years, I first noticed it when people really started losing their minds over negative reviews for video games they were looking forward to, and its just something that has never made any sense to me, what even is a 'objective review'? how can you express your opinion on anything without your own personal bias? We all have different preferences and experiences that shape how we view the world.
Say I go into the Tasty Treat, and I don't like the food, or the decor, am I suddenly wrong or being unfair when in my review of the place I say that I found that the heat from the spices overpowered any flavor the food may have had or that I found the atmosphere of the restaurant terrible? Honestly at this point I am convinced that the demands for 'objective reviews' mean "I demand that critics agree with me and validate my opinion"
To be fair Bleublood was right about Zesty being a terrible critic just for the wrong reasons.
A story were Blueblood isn't a idiot. Bravo!
7304408 *looks closely* Uh, dude, that's a smoke grenade made out of duct tape and smoke bombs. you got seriously gypped.
7303560 Actually, I think it belonged to Roman mythology first, as Vulcan was (is?) the Roman counterpart to Hephaestus, the Greek god of volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge.