The Chef's cafe

by vincent789

Starting a new cloud

It was a dark evening in Canterlot. Celestia and her sisters were making their way to the Equestrian Council. And as soon as they crossed the double doors. She found more than half of the council shouting at the White Knights. Mostly insults, but also some shouted something about an explanation on something.

The White Knights either ignored it, or were too ashamed to speak up. As they calmly stay seated and paid the shouting no mind. Though they did occasionally threw the rest of the council glances. Celestia could quickly detect hatred in those glances. Clearly something angered them quite a bit.

But as soon as Celestia was seated, everypony calmed down and awaited further instruction. Moon kept a particular close eye on the lesser nobles as she took a seat. While Luna had a serious interest in the White Knight for some reason.

"Alright. This council is now in session." Celestia said loudly. As she knocked the mallet down once.

"First things first. I recently got my hooves on some unsavory reports on your activities. White Knights. Care to explain what you are doing with the power I gave you?" Celestia requested.

"Of course your highness." The White knight representative spoke up.

"We have been maintaining our power within the confines of mostly Cloudsdale. Since we have a bunch of shops there." He explained. As he did so, it was clear that most of the lesser nobles were perturbed at the mention. Clearly that wasn't everything, but the representative said nothing else.

"We also got some stakes in the postal office around Equestria." The White Knight representative explained.

"Corruption! That is what it is!" The representative of the Blueblood family out of all stallions shouted that claim.

"Nonsense. You also hold some stakes in the postal office." The White Knight representative stated calmly.

This claim actually caused some eyebrows to be raised. "Hold on. That information is behind a safe inside the Postal office headquarters. Are you telling me, you got your hooves on confidential information?!" The representative of the Blueblood family shouted shocked.

"I am telling you! They are corrupted s-" The representative of the Cloud family shouted as she clamped her own mouth shut to avoid swearing.

"Actually. Yes do explain how you got your hooves on confidential information." Luna spoke up curious.

"We got information brokers. Enough said." The White Knight representative calmly stated.

"Is that so." An unusual family from his own country spoke up.

The White Knight representative gulped at the representative of that family. "Yes. I am certain." he stated as he dug is own grave even further.

"Well then. Care to explain this." The family from his own country asked. As she showed a document which contained an letter sent from the White Knight house to the postal office. On the letter it stated that they requested all the confidential information to be sent to their estate immediately. Or else the president of the current postal office in Cloudsdale would get beaten up.

This letter send gasps and wide eyes over the entire council. This included Celestia and Moon. Luna meanwhile already knew, Twilight gave that information to her. This was through Vermouth.

"That is fake! You can't prove it!" The leader of the White Knight shouted angrily.

"I didn't need to. I went with my people to the Cloudsdale postal office HQ. And asked the stallion himself. Listen for yourself." The family stated as they pull out a recording with voice recording orb out for the council to hear and see.

"Yes we will grant you and your family our protection. Don't worry. The White Knights no longer hold much power in our country." The family's head stated.

"Alright. My name is Postal Pete. I am currently the president of the postal office that is spread across Equestria." Postal Pete explained.

"So the white knights. What are they to you?" The family head asked calmly.

"Evil. Above all else, evil. They harmed my people. Good ponies might I add. Sending death threats, beating them up. Blackmailing them. I finally had enough. So I gave them the seat to the postal office in an attempt to stop them. They accepted. But not before beating the shit out of me. And warning that anytime I go out of line, they will do it again. And maybe even to my family." Postal Pete said, clearly shaken up by it.

"I heard rumors about an unbreakable contract. What is that about?" The family head asked.

"Ah yes. Poor Ditzy Doo. She sadly received the worst bunt. She did nothing wrong. We were fully prepared to pay for the damages. It is not the first time that tower fell over. However they used that incident as an excuse to put everyone in line. To stop them from resisting. And worse, it worked." Postal Pete said clearly depressed about it.

Then Postal Pete smiled, "We hid a hidden gem on that contract. Something only a trained eye could see." he suddenly admitted.

"Which was?" The head asked confused.

"A plea for help. We could do nothing as we watched the mayor fight for control. We could only watch in horror. It was then I decided to make the final stand. I made Ditzy's contract purposely unbelievable. So that perhaps one day, someone with more power than our enemies could take them down. Clearly this has worked otherwise you wouldn't be here." Postal Pete stated proudly.

"I see. Well done. You angered the right pony." The head admitted.

"Who was it anyways? Who is the one that made the change?" Postal Pete asked.

"The one and only pony in existence that would make change. Her." The head said smiling.

"You mean the one in the shadow? The legendary chef?" Postal Pete asked shocked.

"Who else? It is a pony after all." The head said.

Postal Pete suddenly started to cry. "We are saved." he said before the orb stopped playing.

"That confession right there is the ultimate proof of your corruption." The family head shouted.

The White Knight's leader started to sweat. His entire group was sweating. While everypony else looked with wide eyes at the family.

"I think re-introductions are in order. Nice to meet you. I am Cornelius Amelia Scarlet. I am royalty to the Hilldus Crown, and this is my personal guard." Amelia introduced.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Cordana Alex Light. I am related to Night Light. I am a royal guard and Amelia's personal knight." Alex introduced.

"After Twilight used Vermouth to spread the information about corruption in my country. I did some research on the white knight and was able to confirm their corruption. Even within my own country. After that I requested my knights to intercept and collect evidence on the white knights I came up with a lot of evidence." Amelia explained.

"This was due in part of the protests that followed right after the publication of the information. Of course we were angered with the information we collected and headed to Cloudsdale immediately to investigate and grant the president of the postal office our personal protection." Alex explained.

"Then we saw the information being spread among the council. And immediately decided to interfere. But it seems that this was planned from the start. Isn't the right Luna?" Amelia asked.

"She called it project Hook, Line and Sinker. Her friends were the hook. Vermouth the line. And her old friend Pride Keeper the sinker. She made excellent work of her ability to collect and use information to her advantage. Using her connections as cards. But not forgetting about herself. She made a plan B in case things went the wrong way. And even a plan C I am happy she never used." Luna admitted.

"May I ask what the plan C was?" Amelia asked.

"She would accidentally go berserk in your backyard." Luna deadpanned.

Everyone in the council gulped at this. Moon even sweat dropped at this fact.

"Alright I think this is pretty decisive. Since you are part of the council. The council has to decide to determine the punishment." Celestia stated.

"One vote for banishment so that we can punish them in our own country." Amelia stated.

"One more vote from the Blueblood family." The representative of the Blueblood family stated.

After literally all members voted for banishment, there was only two more votes left to obtain. From Luna and Celestia.

"Luna what is your take on it?" Celestia asked.

"Although banishment is inevitable. I do want to have a final say on the punishment your country Amelia." Luna requested.

"That is acceptable." Amelia stated.

"Alright one more vote for banishment." Luna stated.

Celestia looked at the normally divided Council. Everyone agreed with one another on this decision. Which was rare in itself. However suggesting banishment even more so. "You have done terrible things. And yet I shall have to give you this punishment with a heavy heart. You shall be banished. And you will have to pay twelve million bits. The same amount you put on Ditzy Doo." Celestia said. Before slamming down the mallet.

The white knights merely drooped before Amelia's knights grab the leaders and escort them back home. Where the final decision gets made. While that was done in the council, the main house and all the smaller houses were arrested by the knights from their own kingdom.

This all happened while Twilight was asleep. And Ditzy was still busy working a night shift. However the council wasn't done.

"Good so that is issue number one dealt with. Now we need to talk about the victims. What do we do with the postal office? And their people?" Celestia asked the council.

"May I, your highness?" Sir Night Light spoke up.

"Go ahead. What is your suggestion?" Moon said before Celestia could.

"I suggest turning the postal office temporarily back into the Equestrian mail delivery services or EMDS for short. While they are under our control, I recommend placing rules in place against such an event from happening again. And placing a limit on how much power you could give away to nobility." Sir Light suggested.

"I see. If that is the case, then who would you want to take control temporarily?" Luna asked curiously.

"The Blueblood family. They have generations of experience working in the mail business. They would understand what rules works best under a postal office service scenario. Above all else, they have done so in the past. Meanwhile I think its best that Princess Celestia makes a physical or mental list of objective reasons why one should or shouldn't receive certain rights." Sir Light explained.

"And discuss those decisions with the other three alicorns on the throne." Moon suggested.

"Understood. I will make the paperwork happen. We will talk in private about this later, Luna, Moon and Cadence." Celestia stated.

"Alright. Anything else to add, Sir Light?" Luna asked.

"Yes. I recommend that they take control for the next two years before relinquishing control back to the official owner of the postal office. Postal Pete." Sir Light stated.

"Prince Blueblood. What is your take on this?" Celestia asked.

"I will make it happen. I think Sir Light's suggestion is most excellent." Blueblood said pleased.

"Alright. I will send you the paperwork later. Now onto the next important details." Celestia said, "Ditzy Doo and all other victims." she added.

"Your highness, May I?" Fancy Pants spoke up.

"Go ahead." Celestia stated.

"Ignoring Ditzy Doo for a moment. I think we need to firstly listen to the things those White Knights did to them. And give them grants accordingly. I suggest letting them get an audience with all three princesses to make the final stance on the matter." Fancy Pants explained.

Celestia nodded, "Yes. I agree that, that might be our best bet. Thank you for your input. Now about Ditzy Doo. What do we do with her?" she asked.

The council stayed quiet. Nopony knew what to say on the matter. After a solid five minutes of awkward silence, Twilight Velvet spoke up.

"Why don't we let Twilight deal with her? She wanted to hire her, that is how all of this got started. I recommend breaking the contract placed upon her. And return all the money she gave us on that twelve million bits fine. I also recommend giving her an undisclosed amount of bits as compensation for the pain placed upon her. And granting a wish made by the youngest child of Ditzy Doo since she also signed the contract." She suggested.

"Everypony in agreement with that statement?" Celestia asked. Everyone seemed pleased with that suggestion.

"Alright. I will let Princess Luna deal with splitting up the white Knights assets to other nobles. Princess Moon will try to explain the situation to our neighbors. And I will go ahead a start the paperwork on moving temporary ownership, removing that contract, giving Ditzy some bits. And setting up some audiences. I hereby call this council dismissed." Celestia explained before dropping the mallet one last time.

This all happened in a matter of ten hours. So by the time Celestia lowered the mallet, it was morning in Ponyville and Twilight was already wide awake. But since it was Sunday, she wasn't opening the cafe. Instead she was searching for Ditzy.

And after several moments later, she found Ditzy standing in front of her mailbox, looking clearly surprised.

"Ditzy! What is the matter?" Twilight asked confused.

"Look... it seems something has already happened." Ditzy said surprised as she showed the letter to Twilight.

Twilight took one good look at the letter and smiled, "I told you I would do something. Wow, she worked fast." she said.

"My Celestia. All the money I gave them is returned and I am automatically removed from being a mail pony. They assigned me to you." Ditzy said as she showed the check with about five hundred thousand bits that was returned.

Twilight's eyes widen, "How in the world did you collect so much money?!" she asked shocked.

"I have a small coffee beans farm in my backyard. Which I sell on the auction sometimes. And although I expect to be unknown, it seems that some still haven't forgotten the brand I made when I was younger." Ditzy explained.

"What is the name of the brand?" Twilight asked curious.

"Bubbles Coffee Beans." Ditzy said. As soon as that exited her mouth, Twilight eyes widen.

"That brand isn't simply known. Its world-wide famous for being some of the greatest coffee beans in the world. And it being sold in such small quantities means that the black market thrives on selling them. Some of the largest deals have been closed with those beans. I once saw someone buying a small ten grams of beans for fifty million bits." Twilight explained shocked. Ditzy's eyes widen to dinner plates.

"What?! But... how? They are normal coffee beans. Grown on Equestrian soil." Ditzy asked confused.

Twilight smiled, "That is just it. Equestrian soil doesn't support coffee beans. The fact that you managed to do so anyways. Means that not only are you an amazing barista but also a great gardener." she explained.

This seemed to surprise Ditzy even more. However her face went red with a blush on it. "I... I see." she said embarrassed.

"What is the matter? You seem sad." Twilight asked worried.

"I... I deserve to give my family an apology. You see I ran away from home when I saw my eyes. I thought they might abandon me for them. Since I couldn't become what they wanted me to become. I fought with my mother just so I had a chance of becoming a barista. While she simply wanted me to become a gardener. And when I managed to succeed, I would show my mother my pride... All this time... I have been so busy on what I could be. Not on what I am.... That I forgot..." Ditzy said as she started to sob in her hooves.

Twilight gave Ditzy a sad smile, "Actually in those auctions, one group seemed the most fascinated in those coffee beans." Twilight stated, "They called themselves, 'The true gardeners'. In which they seemed to do more than just garden. They also specialize in cooking and all things drinks." she expressed.

This caused Ditzy to stop in her tracks, after which she only sobbed harder. "That... That is... mothe-... mommy's company." she managed to say in between sobs.

Twilight smiled, "Then what about this. Before going back to your old barista life. You get some of those beans and gift them to your mother as an apology for all those years ago." She suggested.

"I... I... I don't know. What if she doesn't want to see me? What if... she hates me?" Ditzy asked she was red eyed from all the crying.

"Ditzy. As a mother do you truly think you would hate your child?" Twilight asked.

"No. No I would not." Ditzy admitted.

"Then do you truly think your mother would or could hate you?" Twilight asked calmly. As she put her hoof below Ditzy's chin.

Like an embarrassed child, Ditzy looked away. She did so by weakly attempting to remove Twilight's hoof from under her chin. With not much success. Opting to merely shake her head, "No."

Twilight smiled, she nodded at Ditzy. "Alright. Then go make a small present with some beans and maybe with some seeds. Which we will give to her as a gift."

"Very well." Ditzy said as she finally pushed Twilight's hoof away to go and collect some beans and seeds to turn into a gift.

While Twilight waited for Ditzy to complete her present, she took the time to look in her surroundings. Although the street in first glance looked boring, it wasn't. As she looked closer, most houses had some kind of flower planter near their windows. And small little gardens filled the streets with benches all over the place. It seemed to be a very relaxing space.

"I am done! Sorry for the wait! I actually have quite a bit of beans. And I couldn't choose, so I just grabbed an entire bag of five kilograms instead." Ditzy said as she calmly flew while carrying a seemingly high amount of beans on her back, without even breaking into a sweat.

Twilight blinked before smiling. "Alright. I will follow you, since I have no idea of where we are going." she said.

Ditzy smiled, Before taking the lead towards her home. While walking, they took a train to Manehattan. And from the Manehattan central station. They took the international train towards the empire of Hilldus, capital city. Greenkeep. Which Twilight only knew about their great knowledge on agriculture as their export is primarily consisting of vegetables but also meat and fish. They are known as the great vegetable market within the cooking world. And Twilight was now taking a sudden train towards their kingdom.

"Ditzy. Not that I mind going out of the country. But where are we going?" Twilight asked curious.

"Twilight. Your family... is it imperial?" Ditzy asked as she answered her question with a question.

"No. Though in ancient times, yes. Right now we are actually considered of lower noble steed. Even if our main family is not. Our main family which is absolutely massive, is mostly imperial. But there are some capitalistic or even merchants within the family. My part of the family is not." Twilight explained.

"My family is imperial capitalistic. Which contradicts the norm within the noble world. But that is because the country they are in. Actually according to what my mother told me, our family even used to be royal to some degree. For that reason my family is always close to the royalty of Hilldus. Either they obtain nearly fifty percent of the total income to the crown or maintain control within the market to that degree." Ditzy explained.

"However?" Twilight asked as she felt that Ditzy wasn't entirely in agreement with that statement.

"Personally I don't like it. My original family is very competitive. Not to each other, but to other families. Making friends thus very difficult. It felt, no it is a prison in my eyes. So I ran away. To the lands of Equestria. I heard that, that kind of atmosphere is a lot harder to find here. Making it an easy choice to run off to." Ditzy explained.

"Now that I think about it. I think you family doesn't like the meat and fish law my family set up." Twilight admitted.

"I don't think they cared. And even if they did, Equestria is run by a council. Not really by a dictator like Hilldus. They have nothing to say about it. But yes, it is possible they didn't like it." Ditzy explained.

"Hm. Only one way to find out." Twilight admitted.

"Actually. Isn't that thing with the princesses the real issue here?" Ditzy asked. Twilight's eyes widen.

"Eh. I left a note." Twilight said slightly nervous.

Ditzy deadpanned at the mention, making her raise her eyebrow in response. "What?"

"I may or may haven't... moved all the paperwork about your job contract into Celestia's pile of paperwork..." Twilight said as she showed a mischievous glint in her eye and a smirk on her face.

Ditzy simply sighed, after which she bonked Twilight on the head with a toy hammer.

"Ow. No but in all seriousness. I will be fine. The princess of that country is probably already aware of me." Twilight admitted.

Derpy sighed again, but smiled. "True. She was very similar in the way she handled things. In fact, I would dare to say. That she was my only friend in Hilldus." she admitted.

"Hm..? Kinda like Cadence and me, I am guessing." Twilight said out loud.

"I suppose. The only difference is that she was more my sister, than my real sisters. But yeah, we were really close." Derpy admitted pleased.

"Were?" Twilight asked slightly worried.

Derpy sighed as she looked out the window, "Right before I left the country to go to Equestria. I had a fight with her. That is also where most of my guilt came from. She... stated some truths. Which angered me, and caused some... strive between the two of us. Before I left for good."

"If I may ask, what truths?" Twilight asked slightly confused.

"My age. My perception and above all else, the fact that things may not be what they seemed." Derpy admitted.

Twilight said nothing, instead she nodded at Derpy to come clean. This caused Derpy to deeply sigh.

"Truth be told. She was right. I was very young when I ran away. When you destroyed half of Canterlot, was when I left. Around that age." Derpy said slightly embarrassed. Twilight felt like gasping, but chose not to.

"She also said that my perception was awfully negative. And that while my family was doing quite well. In fact the strives between me and my family... was fabricated. It was opposite actually, I was showered with love. But... yet something caused me to run. I am still not entirely sure why." Derpy admitted. Twilight nodded, before letting her continue.

"And finally, the likeliest reason I fled. There was a war, between my family and our people. The people demanded more money for their efforts, while the family disagreed. This caused a more serious war to break out. Those people, the ones I call close me, turned on me instantly. Basically backstabbing me. Is what I thought." Derpy stated, before taking another deep breath.

"But that is false. They cared for me. They pushed me away, so I didn't get caught in this fight as well. Amelia saw how they cried in the background after seeing my face of betrayal. How they betrayed themselves first. I know this, thanks to a letter she sent me, after I reached Ponyville. This also caused a different party to appear among the crowd." Derpy's sadness turns to pride.

"It was then, that the group I befriended decided that if the main family won't listen. Then we will create our own company. One that pays well, and does great work. The creation that was sped up by my mother and eventually owned by my mom." Derpy explained.

"The true gardeners. I see. Your presence has had a permanent positive impact on the people. And they seemed to be unknowingly helping you." Twilight said smiling.

"Unknowingly?" Derpy asked surprised.

Twilight nodded, "I send them a letter regarding their unusually high demand for Bubble coffee beans. And they simply stated, that they loved this coffee. They considered it a luxury only the best of the best should drink. However they have no idea who made these beans."

Derpy's eyes widen as large as dinner plates. "Did they really say that?"

Twilight nodded, "And that is not all. They explained that they tried very hard to figure out who made these with no luck. Apparently Amelia and her family wanted a bunch in stock ahead of time. And since they were unable to track down the ones that made these beans, they resorted to buying the beans whenever they were auctioned off. They were willing to spend trillions of bits just for a single bag of beans."

Derpy couldn't help but gasp at the mention. Twilight meanwhile smiled. "Oh my Celestia. I... I should have... Made contact with that organization before we headed there..."

Twilight smirked, "Too late."

Derpy pouted, "Anyways. I see Hilldus in the distance. Shall we?"

"Yes. Let us get going." Twilight said while giggling at Derpy's embarrassment.

After Derpy revealed everything to Twilight during their trip to Hilldus. They had finally arrived at Hilldus. While looking out the window, they noticed that a festival was going on. It was then that the intercom revealed why.

"Ding dong. Ponies and stallions. The next stop is the final stop of this train, Hilldus. When exiting the train do not forget your bags. And while you are in Hilldus, do not forget to take a peek at the current Coffee bean Festival. Which is being hosted by the True gardeners. And according to them, this is also the birthday of one of the owners of the true gardeners." The train attendant explained.

"I knew I forgot something." Derpy admitted.

"What?" Twilight asked.

Derpy sighed, deeply embarrassed "My birthday is different in Hilldus, than in Equestria."

"You mean..." Twilight said sweat-dropping

Derpy nodded with her hooves covering her face. Twilight merely facepalmed.

Author's Note:

That title is based on the premise "Starting a new leaf" which in turn means. New beginnings for someone.

I have been using a slightly different writing style. I hope it still readable.

Also sorry for the delay but working in 35 degrees Celsius (or 95 degrees Fahrenheit) is not reasonable.

By the way, the two sentences. One explained why she ran, the other isn't so sure. The first one is the fabricated lie. While the second one, is the truth. It might seem a bit contradictory. But Derpy is a complex character.

Comments

[Comickook]

Whoa mama. Great job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. REALLY loved the White Knights' reactions to the evidence that was gathered against them as well as how that evidence was gathered and the votes on the severe, but much deserved, punishment. Especially liked how Twilight made back-up plans that ultimately (and thankfully) weren't needed.

Definitely looking forward to more of this.

[MLPMekarm]

so in this world Derpy is a coffee bean growing legend??? ....... i'd drink that.