The Life of Sunset was uprooted after her bullying ways were changed due to a mysterious dish. Now Sunset has found an ability inside her that opens the road to the best culinary school in the world. welcome to Shokugeki no Soma!
Sunset's life was very simple. Try to get back to Equestria with enough power to conquer it and make Celestia pay for throwing her away, but something went wrong. One day she met a mysterious man and with just one dish an ability inside Sunset woke up: 'The Devil's Palate'
Curious about this new ability and with her eyes opened to Harmony, she exchanged schools to one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the world. Totsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy, where she found out that not only there are many goofballs but a place where her dormant abilities are growing stronger.
Alongside her Polar Star Dorm friends, Sunset is ready to start her road in the culinary world. But what about the 'Devil's Palate' and the way her sclera turns black? Is there something inside of her?
She had to admit it. The school that was barely visible at the end of the road and at the top of the mountain was definitely not something you would see every day. But that wasn’t what amazed her, no, it was the way clouds and darkness engulfed the place from this far away that amazed her. Whoever was the one who build the school definitely knew how to add drama to the location.
The other thing that truly surprised Sunset was the amount of luxurious cars everywhere and the number of black suits accompanying young teenagers. Just the sight of them fired up alarm bells in her head due to the concentration of money in a small place. Sunset was told that this school was the best culinary school in the world. This was an elite school where only 10% of the students graduated.
When she had heard for the first time she had been confused, then amused at the way things could be handled there so of course she decided to listen to Principal Celestia and go for the challenge.
All the rich boys made her feel out of place for some reason. Maybe it was the way they strutted around as if the world was not worthy of them and in a way made her remember the way she used to be just a year ago. And apparently, the only guy who didn’t seem to be born in silk and gold had the same reaction. The way the boy manhandled one of the rich guys was hilarious, apparently because he wasn’t a millionaire or heir to an important company or restaurant chain he wasn’t worth their time. Knocking out the two bodyguards of the kid she took a step besides the boy, at the least it would be funny to see him interact with everyone.
The boy, named Soma, seemed to be burning with indignation of the way the rich boy talked about his family restaurant. Not that Sunset could understand since she had no idea how she would feel if someone badmouthed the place she worked, but came to the conclusion that she would have done something even worse.
It was also quite hilarious the way everyone was looking at her in fear, almost as if they already knew her and her temper. Sunset was sure she hadn’t hit those two guys hard enough to merit this welcome but at least nobody would mess with her in this school. Arriving at the welcoming center among the other teenagers she quickly found out why everyone was looking at her as if they already knew her. In a way they did, even though she was sure her hair was red instead of blonde to be confused with the girl in front of her wearing a school uniform.
“Greetings, transfer applicants, I am Nakiri Erina and I have been assigned to judge today’s transfer exam” the girl said with the aplomb of someone used to situations like this. But Sunset didn’t care very much about it because what was surprising was the way the girl and her looked alike. It was so disconcerting that several applicants were looking at the two of them with fear “that won’t do” Erina said to her companion about the way the application was supposed to be done “bring the kitchen work table here”
“So it seems this will be only practical” Sunset said to the only boy who wasn’t intimidated by her double’s appearance and mannerism.
“That will be just perfect” Maybe the reason she felt a bond with the boy was due to his deep red hair that seemed to be alight in flames like hers.
“The main ingredient will be the egg” she said holding up the white ingredient for everyone to see “Make one dish and I’ll allow those whose creation impress my palate to transfer into the academy” okay, it seemed harsh but fair, after all this was supposed to be an elite cooking school “furthermore, I’ll allow you all one minute to withdraw your applications to the academy” the girl said with a smirk she had seen many times in the mirror, it was just strange to see someone with blonde hair do it in her opinion.
The next second both Soma and herself were in the middle of what can only be called a human stampede as every applicant began to run away in fear. Soma quickly caught one of the screaming guys and Sunset had to be amused at the catch of the day since it was the same boy Soma had been strangling before all this.
Apparently the girl was someone they called ‘God’s Palate’ and she was really important in the food business. If your dishes were not to her liking then you had the worst of time and your career would go to the trash. It was very interesting -and also hilarious- how everyone seemed to be so scared of her, it made Sunset remember her days at Canterlot Junior High.
Already taking her decision she began to walk in the direction of the kitchens following the signs on the walls. Sunset turned around to talk directly with her blonde look-a-like before she was stopped by the sheer amount of flowers and glitter floating around Erina and her assistant. It seems that they thought everyone had run away and were on their own world.
“Hey, pair of lilies!” her words made the two of them separate and just looking at their eyes she knew they were also surprised at her looks “I’m going to the kitchen to prepare something in advance, and I’m also sure that guy will be very interested in doing your exam” Sunset said already enjoying Erina’s look of confusion and bewilderment at the idea of two people taking her exam.
Walking in the direction of the place she didn’t thought she would have an interest in a year ago, Sunset began to check her mental cooking book in search of something that could take Erina for a spin. Then it clicked and she remembered the time she read about the dish. It was not going to be conventional but if something could work it was definitely THAT dish.
Just watching the face of this so called Erina was worth all the tribulations Sunset had to go through in her travel from one continent to another. The photo she took from her blonde double would probably be making the rounds around Canterlot in several hours once the girls back in Canterlot woke up.
It was clear that the reaction from Erina came from seeing Sunset so nonchalantly walk up and say ‘I will take the exam’ was not something she was used to and it was perfect for Sunset who had the advantage so far.
Taking a look at the other guy Sunset knew that he was as relaxed as Sunset with the way he was practically ignoring Erina. The way he put his hand over her shoulder and acted as if they were childhood friends almost made her roll around the kitchen in laughter.
“She was at the top of her class in the junior high division and the youngest member of the Totsuki Elite Ten Council, the highest decision-making body in the academy’s history. She is Erina-sama!” the shoulder length girl said with clear signs of fangirl to the extreme.
“So that means that she is incapable of lying when it comes to judging right? I mean, there is no way she could give a bad judgment on a dish due to personal reason like, for example, her stung pride?” Sunset said looking directly at Erina with what she knew was the most terrorizing glare in her repertoire. If you asked any of the other three people in the room what they saw they would tell you that for a moment there was a dark aura around the redhead that even made Erina take a step back in shock.
Soma for his part was awed by the presence of the redheaded girl and the way she was pushing back Erina. He then threw the knife he was checking into the air and caught it back making Sunset be worried about that kind of recklessness.
“So we only have to make you say that it tastes good right? Then is no problem”
“If you want her to say that then you better start cooking already” Sunset almost slapped the boy on the back of the head so he would stop his displays. For her part, Erina checked both Soma and Sunset’s information; she scoffed at Soma’s data of working in a family restaurant but was clearly shocked at what Sunset’s info was.
It just made her even madder, to think that both teenagers, this two second rated chefs didn’t understand her noble pedigree; it was insulting. What she didn’t understand was that she had already fallen on Sunset’s trap, all the time she spend looking down at both she was simply walking on the palm of the redheaded girl.
Sunset observed how Soma began his work taking the eggs, rice and chicken. He then began to cook the chicken but it seemed that he was simply simmering it while he put attention to the rice and scrambled eggs, it was truly a mystery what he was doing but then, that was the great thing about cooking.
While he was preparing everything she made sure that what she had baking would be ready at the correct time and then put a pot in the stove before letting the water inside it heat up. She wanted the water at the correct temperature, just before it started to boil; she just needed the beginning of bubbling to know when it was ready.
For her part Erina kept watching both cooks not knowing what were they making which infuriated her. She was one of the most important people in the culinary world and she was being ignored.
“Yukihira Soma, what are you making?” Erina asked to the boy while this one simply had a teasing look on his face.
“You still can’t tell at this stage?” and just as he had said that Sunset’s hand of justice hit in the forehead shutting him up.
“Don’t antagonize the judge, it may be funny but your acceptance is in play you idiot” the redheaded double of Erina said making Soma rub his forehead who was by now completely red from the hit.
“I don’t care what kind of antics or tricks you two are doing; the only thing I care is if you are doing a dish that is suitable for my palate”
“On second thought, keep on doing it, she deserves it” Sunset said going back to her station, taking out a plastic wrap roll. The girl then took a bowl and putting plastic wrap on top of them began to crack the eggs and put it on the bowl after placing a few drops of oil.
“What I’m making is the eight item on Yukihira Diner’s Secret Menu” He boy said with aplomb and Sunset was sure that he was doing that on purpose just to get a reaction from Erina.
“Secret menu? And what kind of complicated dish would that be?”
“Furikake Gohan” he said in such a voice that made Erina practically deflate at his words.
“What’s Furikake?” a curious Sunset said before Erina could complain.
“It is a seasoning that is sprinkled in food. It is made from dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, seaweed, salt, sugar and others things but those depend upon the manufacturer” Soma told her quite happy to talk about with someone that was also interested in the kitchen. Meanwhile Erina simply turned around and began to walk away.
“I knew you were all a waste of time, all this time you were nothing but bottom-feeding cooks” Erina said completely enraged by the antics of those two, they were never going to be accepted into the Academy.
“So that means you are nothing more than a fraud and knows nothing about food?” the mocking voice of Sunset made the blonde stop on her tracks.
“What did you said?”
“I said that you are nothing more than a fraud, a liar, you know nothing about food or kitchens” Sunset said egging her blonde double with her teasing grin in place.
“How dare you say something like that about Erina-sama!?” Hisako all but screamed feeling completely enraged by the other girl’s accusations.
“Because I’m capable of knowing how worthless she is without even testing if it is true or not… isn’t that your logic Erina?” Sunset all but challenged the blonde girl making Erina feel even more enraged knowing that the other girl was all but taunting her. The sad part was that she was playing right into Sunset’s hands.
“I’m not sure what Sunset is talking about but, what I’m making is more than just Furikake Gohan, this is my Transforming Furikake Gohan!” Soma said not paying attention to the sparks flying between the two girls. This declaration made both girls return to their places with Sunset working on finishing her dish. Without any of them realizing it, there was someone else standing outside of the room.
While Soma continued to do his own rice Sunset took a tall container from her bag much to the surprise of Erina before the redhead sprinkled the condiment inside the flash on the eggs on the plastic wrap before tying them up and putting them on the hot water.
‘So she is poaching the eggs, but what was that condiment she put on them? Was it chilly? I was too far away to see or smell it’ Just as Soma put the bowl of white rice on the table the oven signaled that what Sunset was baking was finally done.
She transferred the tray inside the oven to the counter, but most of Sunset’s attention was placed upon what Soma had on his hand. Those were bits of scrambled eggs but there was something else inside, cubes of some kind. Watching him pour the content of the bowl into the rice she then understood what he was doing with the chicken.
Watching Erina pout and act like a spoiled brat after Soma made fun of her ‘just taking one bit’ phrase when it was clear she wanted to clean the bowl was enough to make her chuckle but she had things to finish.
“You used Aspic” Sunset simply said before Erina could finish her second bite surprising the other three teenagers in the room “that’s the reason why you were simmering chicken”
“That’s right! I simmered chicken wingtips with bonito stock, sake and light soy sauce. Then I finely chopped the aspic when it cooled off” Soma said with a certain degree of pride on his voice. Sunset knew that what he had done was a source of pride; it was a clever idea and indeed transformed the dish into something new. Just watching Erina try to contain her own desires to gush over the dish due to her pride was very entertaining, but they needed something to truly knock her out “Do you understand now? Our menu is basic to the extreme, but we use our own creativity to evolve the dish”
“And besides, this is not yet over” Sunset said placing her own dish on the table much to the surprise of the others. Right in front of them there was a plate with four buns carefully placed.
“Those are… Butter Rolls?” Erina commented still reeling from the flavor that Soma had presented her with, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to contain herself if it tasted as good as the Furikake Gohan.
“That’s right, but there is something special inside of them, so why don’t you all try it too?” she said pointing to Hisako and Soma who then took one of the four butter rolls. They were all surprised by how fluffy the buns were. They were firm but had so much bounciness that left them amazed. And then they each took a bite and a new world was opened.
Erina opened her eyes and instead of being in the room she was now looking at a beautiful Hindu temple, the sun shining brightly upon the world as she took in the peace and quiet of the place. An umbrella over her and the smell of spices was her whole world.
Then they all blinked looking around them and at the kitchen, none of them knowing if what they had seen was real or not but they all felt the flavor and the spices.
“You put a poached egg inside the butter roll” Hisako commented still feeling the smooth flavor of the roll alongside the poached egg and the way the yolk exploded on her mouth as soon as she bit upon the bun.
“Is not just that, there was so much flavor on that poached egg, it was a combination of spices that can only mean one thing. You used Garam Masala on the dish” Erina said trying not to shove the butter roll on her mouth just to go back to that peaceful place, she didn’t want to give Sunset the satisfaction.
“That’s right, I used Garam Masala on the poached eggs, that’s why I put them on plastic wrap, that way the spices could be absorbed by the egg as it was boiled”
“What is Garam Masala?” Soma may be a true cook when it came to Japanese food and its intricacies but spices like that were a little bit of a mystery for him yet.
“Just like Furikake is a Japanese condiment, Garam Masala is an Indian condiment” Sunset said presenting the container she had used before “it uses black and white peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, bay leaf and cumin. That’s the traditional Garam, but I also put star anise and chili pepper on the mix” Sunset said listing the amount of spices present much to the surprise of Soma who was clearly enjoying the opportunity to learn.
“If it has so many spices why then it doesn’t feel hot?” Hisako said still enjoying the way the spices made her body tingle.
“She used coconut milk on the butter rolls” Erina said still in shock from the combination of flavors and the way they made her mind and body go to heaven, both in the sky and in Earth.
“Exactly; coconut milk is used a lot in Indian food and it also took the edge from the spices leaving the flavor be concentrated in the yolk and go through your whole body”
“Was this your own recipe?” Soma said biting on the butter roll.
“Nope, the idea came from another recipe. A Mumbai Street Food called Disco Fry Egg; I call this Butter Disco Egg… by the way, you can get in here, I made an extra roll for you” Sunset said as a mountain of a man walked into the kitchen.
“Grandfather?” Erina said going from shock to shock.
“How did you know I was here?”
“I spend years eavesdropping on people, it wasn’t that hard” Sunset said as Senzaemon took a pair of chopsticks and took a taste from the Transforming Furikake Gohan. He then immediately took half of his yukata leaving Erina in shock.
“Grandfather… he... took off part of his yukata”
“Is that normal?” Soma asked a still smirking Sunset.
“For what I know that’s his way of judging, is a strange habit of the family” Sunset said not quite sure of why those habits appeared on the whole family. But then Senzaemon took the last remaining roll and popped it on his mouth taking off the top of his yukata with an enormous laughter.
“Well, this generation looks even brighter now. Congratulations Yukihira Soma, I accept you into my Academy” he said making Erina feel close to fainting at the news. But at least there were some good news.
“Well, I guess it is a shame for you Sunset” she said trying to mock the other girl but she only had the smirk on her face before it transformed into a full on grin.
“What are you talking about? I was already accepted into the school. I just took your little test because I was bored” she said before Erina looked at her grandfather as if questioning him.
“She is right Erina, she is a transfer student that I personally accepted a month ago” Senzaemon said still enjoying the food in front of him while both Erina and Hisako stood rooted in place in shock at those news.
“Now, let me re-introduce myself. I am Sunset Shimmer, I started to cook five months ago” she said shocking the three other teenagers in the room “but apparently your grandfather gave me another name, ‘The Devil’s Palate’”
Starting the phone call while looking at the streets down below from the hotel window was a new experience to the unicorn turned human. Besides a couple of trips to the beach of a camp, never before had Sunset traveled so far from her adopted home, not alone like now. The feelings of homesickness truly surprised her due to how hard it made her think about Canterlot and her friends.
The sound of the phone being picked up at the other side of the phone made Sunset stop her ruminations waiting for the voice to start the conversation.
“Good morning Sunset.” The redhead heard and had to contain her laughter at the words uttered by the shy girl on another continent.
“Is already night on here Fluttershy, how’s everything on Canterlot?” The once bully had truly changed if one of her usual targets could greet her through the phone with so much happiness.
“Well, everything is fine. Rainbow is really excited about getting into High School that she had problems yesterday getting to sleep” Sunset could already see the athlete completely wired up and basically bouncing on the walls “how is everything back there? Did you have any trouble with the people on that school?” the worry was evident on the shy girl.
“Now that you mention it, yeah, there was a problem. There was a girl who looked like me but with blonde hair that had some problems with me and another guys. She was ready to deny me access to the school just because of her pride, you should have seen her face when her grandfather –who is the director by the way- came in and accepted the guy I was doing the exam with and told her I was already on the school”
“Sunset, please tell me you didn’t laugh in her face”
“Well, just a little bit” Sunset said with a grin on her face while Fluttershy simply sighed if the sound of air being exhaled aloud was any indication.
Talking with Fluttershy really did help the way she felt right now and it eradicated the feelings of homesickness. Well, almost all of it, because Sunset would still miss Canterlot for a long time, but she also knew this was for the best if she wanted to use this bizarre ability of hers.
She could see it on her mind the day she knew there was something weird on the way she saw dishes and ingredients, and it was quite the surprise for her friends. It had all started a couple of months ago in rainbow’s birthday.
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If someone was from Canterlot, more like than not they had the best birthday parties ever, all courtesy of a young girl who seemed to have been born to create those kinds of parties. And it was now rainbow’s turn to receive one, even though the young football player knew that it was not possible for her.
Since she had met Pinkie Pie in elementary school she had a Pinkie Pie Birthday Bash, one every year except this one and she knew why. They weren’t friends anymore. Sure, the rumors had been squashed pretty fast by the one person who had apparently started them but the damage was already done. Sighing once again, Rainbow went back home after kicking the ball for a while in the park.
And in just a second, her gloomy cloud was dispersed once she saw how her backyard was decorated with fake palm trees, tiki statues and even a small pool filled with floaters in the form of lemon and orange slices.
The shocked young girl was pulled out of her stupor by her parents who grinned wildly just like the rest of her friends standing behind them with similar grins, several of them with cellphones out taking photos of her flabbergasted expression.
“But… how… I mean… what?” The way Rainbow was affected by the surprise made the other four girls smile before rushing in her direction and embracing their friend in the biggest hug they could. Their laughter made both Rainbow Blitz and his wife sigh in relief watching their daughter smile once again. With that out of the way they went back to the kitchen where their other guest put everything in order for the best part of the birthday party.
“What? You thought I wouldn’t give you your own Birthday Bash? Silly Dashie, there is no way in both heaven and hell that this Pie would miss such a humongous opportunity to show you how important you are in our lives” The pink menace said with the same kind of positive energy as they remembered her. The same kind of voice they had missed in some sort of way once they began their little quarrel.
“As our dear Pinkie Pie said, there was no way we would miss the opportunity to celebrate with you darling, after all, you don’t celebrate15 every day”
“You couldn’t have keep me out of this place even if ya called Granny telling her Ah haven’t done my chores back home”
“You were always there at every one of my birthdays Rainbow, it was only natural I would be here celebrating with you” at the words of her oldest friend Rainbow put her arms around them –even if the action of embracing all four was a little tiring to her arms- and did her best to not cry at their words.
It was the sound of the door that made her release them, not wanting her parents to see her being mushy, but instead of her parents the one that came outside of the door was the one girl Rainbow was not happy to see. A certain lying friendship-destroyer redhead. Before she could do something both Pinkie and Fluttershy took a hold of her arms to stop her from making anything rash.
“What is she doing here?” her words made Sunset wince slightly, it was clear that the young athlete was still mad at her, not that she didn’t have a reason for it.
“She was the one who prepared all this” Rainbow felt Rarity’s hand on her shoulder while she explained that which didn’t make sense to the birthday girl.
“But why? I mean… you-”
“I began all the problems… I know”
“Then why do all this? And don’t tell that is because you are sorry” Maybe Rainbow didn’t feel as angry as she felt almost a year ago when everything started, but that didn’t stop her from feeling animosity for the redhead.
“Partly… but also because, well… I know how important birthdays are for you girls so I wanted to do my part” Sunset simply said going back into the kitchen as Rainbow stood there not knowing how to take those words.
“Uh, can somebody explain what just happened?”
“Well, Sunset has been working at my uncle’s restaurant so she had the idea of making the food for Rainbow’s party” Fluttershy said and all her friends put their attention on her.
“She is been working with your uncle? As what? Dish washer?” Rainbow was obviously trying to make a joke; at least Fluttershy hoped it was a joke.
“Oh no, that was only the first few days, now she is one of the chefs inside the restaurant” Fluttershy said with a big smile on her face at Sunset’s good luck in her new part time job.
“Wait, what? Fluttershy, how long has Sunset been working with your uncle?” Rarity asked still quite surprised about that news.
“I believe it has been two months” before anyone could comment on that short amount of time before becoming one of the chefs Sunset went out holding a large covered tray while Rainbow’s mom put several pitchers of some kind of red juice in the backyard table. It was obvious this was the food for the party and even though Rainbow was not too picky when it came to food, she was still wary of what Sunset had done. And with one flick of her hand Sunset removed the spherical cover letting all five girls see the steaming hot dogs in front of them. The smell of spices and meat filled their nostrils and without noticing, all seven –including Rainbow Blitz and his wife who were also intrigued about Sunset’s culinary work- started to salivate automatically.
“Why is smells so nice! I mean, those things have pineapple!” Rainbow would have screamed in fury at Sunset’s sin of destroying a simple hot dog by putting pineapple in them, but instead she could feel herself being pulled to them. As one the seven took one hot dog each and after a second they all took a bite of the simple looking food and as one they all reacted.
Rainbow’s mouth was filled with so many flavors that traveled through her whole body. It was sweet but also spicy, it was an experience like none other; she could feel a slight crunchiness inside it followed by the meaty delicacy of the sausage, alongside the savory sweet and spicy combination of pineapple and some combination of sauces.
The next moment Rainbow opened her eyes she wasn’t’ on the backyard of her house back in Canterlot. This time she was wearing her one piece swimsuit, under the warm sun and standing in front of the bluest sea she have ever seen. The sound of the waves and the sand under her feet filled her with so much peace and happiness. At the next blink she was back home but the image had been so vivid.
“Oh my sweet lord! I have never tasted something as good as this!” Even the always-ladylike Rarity was enjoying a huge bite of her hot dog with a huge smile on her face. Looking around Rainbow found even her parents in rapport at the creation of Sunset Shimmer.
“What did you put in them? That tasted like no hot dog I have ever eaten!” Rainbow asked still surprised by the amount of flavors that were packed in such a simple thing as a hot dog.
“It was something that came to mind when Pinkie said she wanted to use a Hawaiian style for your party and your mom was thinking about making hot dogs. So I put those two together and I created this, I call them the Tiki Hot Dogs!” Sunset said with pride that everyone present knew she deserved after doing them.
“So what’s in them? I felt the pineapple on them but besides that I don’t know how you created them” Rainbow’s Mother –ironically also named Rainbow Dash since basically the first woman of her family was named like that- asked Sunset still surprised at the culinary abilities of the young teenager.
“It is simple to see the ingredients but I’ll try to explain” Sunset said taking one of the hot dogs before taking a bite “first of all, the sausage is a special one made by me. It is a combination of both lamb and beef meat with a little bit of anise and garlic so it will be very savory once I grilled them”
“Where did ya have the idea to mix those two?”
“Is not that bizarre Applejack”
“Ya can call me AJ after letting me eat something like this” The blonde girl said with a huge smile before going back to devouring her hot dog.
“Thank you, so, would you believe me if I tell you this is something really normal? Well, unless you are from Finland, apparently they love hot dogs a lot over there. So, that’s the sausage, but I rolled a slice of bacon around them that I left marinating in a combination of pineapple and orange juice for a while” Just imagining the juice and the way the bacon would have absorbed the flavor was enough to make them keep eating.
“But what about the pineapple and this strange sauce on top of it?” Rainbow Blitz was simply in love with what he was eating and he was really thankful to have listened to both Pinkie and Fluttershy about letting the redhead cook for them.
“Well, what I did was put pineapple on a pan and I sprinkled some salt, allspice, nutmeg and powdered Chile Ancho; it is a Mexican chili that is not really spicy but gives great flavor. For the glazing sauce I put pineapple juice, rum, some ginger beer, finely chopped ginger and palm sugar and cooked it”
“Palm sugar?” asked Fluttershy completely enthralled with Sunset’s explanation about the food, it was like watching one of the cooking shows her mom liked to watch from time to time but even better.
“It is made from different types of palm and is usually used in sauces and confectionery. I used it because it has a much more creamier flavor than regular sugar so it went well with the glaze. Finally, I let it simmer and put a coat of the glaze on top of the pineapple on the bun”
“And what’s with this deep fried thingy? I mean, this is not corn or potato. Potato, that’s a funny word”
“It is Taro Root” Sunset said quickly before Pinkie started on her usual tirades “it is a root that is used a lot on Africa, Oceania and several islands, including Hawaii. I shredded it so it would be easier to deep fry it. I put it on top of the hot dog so it would give it a very nice crunchy feeling to it. And finally I put some Mexican crema on top so it would cut some of the spiciness and let all the flavors coalesce once you bite on it” Sunset finished making everyone want even more to eat these incredible hot dogs.
Rainbow herself was already on her second one before she took a look at the juice pitchers, for some reason they seemed familiar to her.
“And what’s with the juice?”
“Oh, those? Well, I talked with your mom while I was cooking them and she told me how much you liked Hawaiian Punch when you were a kid, but then stopped drinking it when you started to train and play football. I suppose it was obvious considering all the sugar and preservatives it has” Rainbow sighed remembering how much she loved the beverage and how she used to drink it with Fluttershy on one of their play dates when they were younger.
“Don’t tell me you bought Hawaiian Punch for Rainbow” Rarity was very surprised at the way Sunset prepared herself for Rainbow’s birthday.
“Of course now… I recreated it with real juice” The redhead said with a huge smile enjoying the look of surprise on the teenagers.
“Wait, what?” they all asked at the same time.
“Yeah, I mixed pineapple juice that I didn’t use, orange and apple juice alongside apricot and mango nectar. I also put some sugar and strawberry juice for flavor and to give it a deep red color, so what do you think?” she asked as Rainbow quickly filled a plastic cup to the brim and after the first sip she was once again capable of watching the beach from before, but this time accompanied by her family and friends.
Next thing Sunset knew she was being hugged by Rainbow as the redhead stood in complete surprise at their action. Just tasting the usual flavor of the punch was enough to send Rainbow into another world and she wanted to convey her emotions to Sunset. Then Sunset’s hand was grabbed by Rainbow Blitz who had a completely serious look on his face.
“Would you marry my daughter?” he said shocking everyone present on the backyard. Applejack then laughed knowing well that if her family had been present her granny would have been asking the same question to Sunset. That’s how Sunset’s culinary adventure began, and with nobody noticing in the elite of cooking, a firestorm was started and it would burn through the world.
Stifling one more yawn, Sunset continued her walk among the stands and beautiful products among the open market. The several fluffy clouds lazily traveled on the vast expanse of the blue sky as a slightly chilly wind carried on that early morning as the graduated student from Canterlot Junior High continued walking among the Japanese open market, still with no idea of what she was doing there.
After a long plane trip and an admission exam -that Sunset had masterfully trolled- the redhead was still feeling the devastating effects of the bane of travellers all over the world known as Jet-Lag. Her body still felt a little sluggish and her mind was clearly telling Sunset she needed more rest but in the other hand she still felt pumped enough to stay out of the really plush bed back at her hotel.
Sunset lazily walked enjoying the morning air and the different sights that Japan offered to as she moved on. Her decision to travel had seemed bizarre to some, but to the group of friends Sunset had made back home it was the clear step in search of something that was pushing and pulling inside the pony-turned-human girl.
The moment everything started was not something she could forget any day soon. The way that man with a goatee had appeared at Sunset’s old job back in Canterlot was one that she would not forget or forgive. It was due to him that she was right now in another country and in a path she still did not understand. It was something that seemed like a calling in the words of her old boss and in a way it had changed her way of living and how she saw life and her relationship with others.
Remembering what had happened almost half a year ago made Sunset wonder how her life could have changed so much in such a short time. It felt like such a drastic change that it had left her old bullying targets as lost as she herself felt. To change from a power-hungry teenager with no real path or plan beyond maintaining an iron fist on everyone in the school into a -supposedly- master in the kitchen was something coming out of her wildest dreams or nightmares. Seeing her past behavior now made Sunset feel small and pathetic, how lost and full of anger and pain she had been those days that it truly felt as if she had left that person behind.
At the end of all that what did it matter? Who she was rebelling against? Princess Celestia? She was in another world and had obviously replaced her with a filly that would be the perfect student and the perfect alicorn princess. That was a life better left behind unless she wanted to keep on wallowing on misery. At least the great Japanese morning was helping her in finding her way.
Being invited to transfer to another school to follow the path of the kitchen was something that she –alongside Principal Celestia- embraced fully, knowing that whatever abilities she had awoken back at Canterlot and the Dragon Sauce restaurant owned by Fluttershy’s uncle. It simply boggled her mind thinking about all the different things that could exist in the kitchen and the amount of work and dedication one needed to barely be able to work in a place as busy as that. It was an arduous few months but it truly paved the way to this decision.
Ingredients, tools and dishes called for her attention at every moment, at every corner where she found a restaurant or street vendor. She simply couldn’t stop her feet until she tasted whatever product they had and simply understood the way it was made, or what spices they used, or how long it took for it to be prepared. It had become so finely tuned that she could even see the mistakes done and little by little she could see paths forming. They all showed her what route to take to make them better, how long to boil something or what other spices and ingredients to use to make it as delicious as they could.
It was frightening in a way but Sunset welcomed the chance with open arms, all to stop thinking about Princess Celestia and Equestria in general. She knew that sooner or later Sunset had to cross over the mirror and face the consequences of her actions, but when the time would came Sunset would be ready to show Celestia the new Sunset and all that she had learned to become a top notch chef. Tartarus, she could even open a restaurant someday. With those thoughts Sunset walked into the open market.
Being close to the Totsuki Culinary Academy meant that a lot of places around the city revolved around food and what it meant to be a chef, so ingredients and tools were always at hand so to say. Sunset had learned so much just from accompanying her old boss on his walks around the market back in Canterlot and how important fresh ingredients and the relationship between restaurants and shopkeepers were. Now that she found herself in a new city -scratch that, whole new continent- she needed to get herself acquainted with new ingredients just like condiments and vegetables.
Walking around the open stalls she could see some ingredients she had already seen back home like leeks or several lettuces, but there were some strange things that truly baffled her, just like a huge radish looking vegetable. Getting closer to the vegetable stand she began to peruse the things that seemed interesting or she hasn’t seen before. As someone who had no professional training or haven’t been years in the kitchen she still felt a little out of place in a gigantic place like Totsuki so she felt she needed to know more about all the food in Japan to even have a chance to survive.
The woman in charge of the stand took a look at Sunset and smiled at the attention the teenager was giving to her merchandise.
“Let me guess my dear, new student?” the jovial smile on the woman’s smile put Sunset at ease and she was grateful that being at a new school basically made her capable of starting anew with everyone.
“I suppose that a teenager being by herself at this hour while looking around at an open market is a good sign of that.” She said bowing at the woman “I’m Sunset and I was watching all these ingredients, they are truly interesting, I mean, I have never seen something like this before.”
“I think not since there are few stores outside of Japan that sell many vegetables from here. You seem to be very interested in the daikon.”
“Daikon?”
“Yes, they are the radish that is used in our cuisine, it is a very special ingredient that is used in many different ways and dishes.” The woman said while Sunset kept seeing the strange white elongated radish as she felt ideas float on her head, wondering about its properties and what it could be used for. But just as she bought a couple of them as well as other vegetables, she began walking in the direction of her hotel when a smell caught her by surprise.
For a second her sclera became completely black and she felt as if her heartbeats turned into earthquakes. Looking at her right she put her complete attention to what they were selling and she smiled. She had been talking about some basics of Japanese cuisine with the stall owner -which was good for Sunset who was thinking about fresh product- and she had remembered something.
Those were the special fish flakes known as katsuobushi and the tuna smell and flavor permeated the air, or at least for Sunset whose sense of smell and taste seemed to have remained untouched by the magic of the mirror. She could basically taste the strong flavor of the fish flakes being prepared in front of her.
Taking a look at the information that was given to her about her dorm -she couldn’t keep on living on a hotel after all- she then grinned, knowing very well what she would do to be accepted. The Polar Star Dorm wouldn’t know what hit it.
The quiet Japanese morning continued for Sunset once she went back to her new school. The fine breeze of spring was as revitalizing as Sunset continued her trek through the immense fields of Totsuki Cooking Academy.
Once more the redhead wondered how it was possible for a school to have the size of a small city on itself. Wherever she looked at she found more and more interesting buildings cropping everywhere. If what she had read correctly most of those buildings were either clubs or cooking buildings designed for something in specific. So it was one more show of power and money that was focused in the art of cooking so one day the students and alumni could make strides upon their fields and bring more amazing recipes, ingredients and techniques.
Whatever the case may be, Sunset knew that in less than a month her new life as a chef-in-training so to say, would start, but before she could do that she had to get into her assigned dorm and prepare everything. People back at the offices were certainly surprised at the name of her new dorm. She thought the name was nice at least.
Looking at the building now she had to admit that it was indeed an impressive building. It reminded her of old chateaus she had seen on photos of Europe with its great walls and climbing plants growing everywhere. The dorm had an almost spooky look that was quite endearing to her, or maybe her tastes were too crooked for a human/pony chef.
Whatever the case Sunset had to admit that she could see herself living in such a place for several years, it was after all far away from other dorms so only the people living there would take the street connecting to the building. Not only that, but the dorm seemed to have been built in a place that made her inner Equestrian to breathe and smile in peace looking at all the nature and trees around. She may have been a Canterlot pony but there was something about nature that just relaxed her and let her breathe in peace.
Taking her eyes away from the building she once again took the information given to her by the people at the offices. Apparently, there were some weird rules before she could even start living at the dorm. She had to show the dorm mother her cooking skills by preparing something and then she had to say it was good enough to be allowed to live in the dorm. It seemed a little extreme but maybe what she wanted was to get the best students –maybe the elite of the students- to be present at the dorms.
Having this information on her head, Sunset took her bags from the back of her motorcycle and began to walk to the door. One thing Sunset had been sure to get was a driver license to be able to drive her custom bike. The thing hadn’t been cheap but it was more than worthy after driving a couple of times.
Sunset didn’t even knocked on the wooden door, thinking that maybe whoever lived in the place would be either on their rooms or eating breakfast so it would be a little hard to hear someone knocking in the door. Instead Sunset simply turned the knob and pushed the old style double door to finally get into the Polar Star Dorm.
Inside she found a very beautiful foyer arranged in a European style. The big windows let enough light enter the foyer illuminating it making it look grand but at the same cozy in a way that made Sunset smile knowing full well that she would enjoy her stay at this place. She then followed the sound of voices and cutlery being used quickly realizing that she had arrived at the right time.
There were nine people sitting down around a table, all of them with chopsticks, plates and dishes and they seemed to have been enjoying breakfast, but the moment she got close to them they all simply stood gawking at Sunset, one of the girls even dropping her chopsticks in surprise.
Sunset blinked at that kind of reception before quickly arriving at the conclusion of why they all reacted in the same way. Besides her hair and eyes she had a twin in the school and her name was Erina. The cocky brat had been truly humiliated by Sunset’s antics and if what her secretary was right Erina was very important of the school. Seeing them all blinking owlishly in her direction made a certain part of Sunset want to mess around with them.
“Is this the kind of reception that I am worthy of in this dorm?” She said trying to mimic the voice and half-lidded look of Erina, which seemed to have worked with the way the other residents of the dorm jumped up in surprise and basically felt down on their knees at her presence. It was so comical that Sunset couldn’t contain her laughter and had to hold her stomach with how loud she was laughing at the way she had scared them. It was at those moments that Sunset let herself go and let her inner troublemaker free. The only ones that didn’t seem scared or confused were an older woman and a boy that seemed slightly older than the other students, maybe due to his rather enigmatic smile.
“Seems that we have a new student in this place, it was quite the surprise to see that face on this dorm, but you are not Erina, who are you?” the woman asked her while Sunset showed her bag full of groceries.
“I am Sunset Shimmer and I am going to be a Polar Star member right now” she said feeling her usual smirk be back in place.
Dish 06: The Bounty of Japan: Entrance to the Polar Star
Looking at the gawking teenagers around the table made Sunset even better about her introduction. If there was something that had been missing from her life after starting the road of the kitchen was those small moments when she was capable of leaving others completely awestruck or so utterly terrified that they could do nothing. For what she had been told of the school by a very supportive Principal Celestia, she would be able to do both of those things so many times that it would look like routine –and all without breaking the law which was a plus.
Leaving everyone behind, Sunset walked into the very modern looking kitchen of the dorm. For a place that seemed out of a Victorian Drama from the BBC the kitchen was almost out of place completely but she understood exactly the reason for that. All the people living here not only had a passion for cooking, it was their whole lives so it was only logical that they needed a place where they could show that passion.
The redhead heard movement behind her as she put her grocery bags in the counter. Turning around, Sunset observed the different members of the dorm still gawking at her as if she was an apparition, which wasn’t that far from the truth considering her doppelganger somewhere in the school. Sunset had to contain her giggles just remembering the shocked face of Erina; thankfully she had a photo of that in her cellphone.
In another building not too far away from there, the blonde girl known as the God’s Palate sneezed just as the moment she was about to taste another horrible attempt to impress her . The liquid from the soup went flying from the spoon due to the sneeze impacting against the face of the Soup RS member making him cry in pain. Erina didn’t even glance at the boy currently rolling on the floor due to pain; she only wondered who was talking and making fun of her at the moment.
Sunset -meanwhile- watched the teenagers in detail, noticing their hairstyles and how striking in appearance they were in comparison with most members of the school she had met, which seemed so bland and uninteresting for some reason. Sunset decided that it was just like in Canterlot High where her five friends back home seemed also extremely weird in comparison with others. Maybe it was a curse on Sunset, to meet people as bizarre as her.
“So you think that you will be part of this dorm? You won’t be the first one to feel confident enough to say something like that neither the last. Now you have to back that attitude.” The older woman told Sunset returning the same king of smirk the redhead had at the moment. It was a challenge written in that expression and Sunset was eager to accept it.
Turning around to her ingredients she began to put everything in order before thinking deeply about what she could do. Meanwhile, the rest of the Polar Star inhabitants peered closer at Sunset and her bags.
“Can someone please tell me that I’m not dreaming?” the young girl with her hair in two buns exclaimed still surprised at the entrance of the redheaded girl. It had come as a the worst kind of surprise to see someone looking so much like Erina that it shook her to the core. At her side, the taller girl put a hand on her shoulder.
“You were not the only one, she also scared me.”
“To think that there is another woman that looks like Erina-sama is not something that I thought I would see.” One of the buffed guys said to his friend who was equally buffed. If both of them didn’t have different hair color someone would have thought that they were part of the same family.
“Not only that, but she seems to be eager to take Fumio-san’s test.” The boy with hair covering his eyes peered closer at Sunset’s cooking station as she began to wash different products for her acceptance test into Polar Star. At his side, the boy wearing glasses also put all his attention to what the redhead was currently doing trying to see what she was preparing. Meanwhile, none of them watched the short blue haired cute girl stay on the back completely terrified due to the presence of Sunset and the attitude she was showing.
From all of them, the man who seemed to have perpetual closed eyes continued smiling at what was going on. He loved the idea of more people coming to live to Polar Star, the idea of all those students sharing the passion of youth together, and just like Fumio, he was interested in the assorted number of vegetables that the girl was using.
So far he couldn’t see even the hint of meat in whatever the girl was preparing. He saw onions, leek, daikon and eggs but so far no meat. Nothing beyond a bag of commercial Katsuobushi that seemed to be used for dashi but Satoshi knew that with that amount of confidence she would not prepare a simple dish like miso. Fumio had been the den mother of the dorm for decades and she had seen some of the greatest cooks on the world grow up and be nurtured in front of her. She had tasted great cooking so the redhead wouldn’t gain access to Polar Dorm with simple dishes.
Satoshi, alongside the other members of the dorm paid close attention to the way Sunset worked around the kitchen, how she seemed to move with amazing flow around the skillet and pots. Soon a great array of aromas permeated the kitchen letting everyone remember that their breakfast had been interrupted, but by the looks of it there would be enough food for all of them. Was that Sunset’s plan from the beginning? Then she turned around with the same smirk on her face.
“Do you guys have a torch?” She asked to Fumio making Satoshi finally open his eyes knowing why she was asking for that tool. The kitchen torch was the tool used by chefs for the well-known technique of Gratin. Delicately burning the surface of the dish it created a brown crust that added another layer of flavor and texture to many recipes. Gratin de Pommes de Terre among other dishes asked for that kind of finish.
As Sunset got her hands on the small torch she began to gratin the top of the dish and the moment the flame made contact with the surface of her dish they all were assaulted by a storm. The smell of cheese and vegetables hit them all at the same time making their stomachs grumble in hunger. If Sunset wanted to create the best scenario for her dish then it was the perfect strategy to use such a strong attack by focusing their sense of smell.
“Well, dig in.” Sunset said placing four different things in front of Fumio who was sitting already in a clear display of how impatient she was to begin the tasting. Satoshi himself was also impressed by the array in display. He knew that it seemed rather ordinary what Fumio-san was about to taste but by the different aromas coming from them he knew that there were lots of secrets in it.
In front of Fumio there were a plate, a bowl, a deep dish and a cup of tea all waiting for her judging and decision. One was the target of Sunset’s usage of a torch due to its crispy cheese surface. Next to it a combination of shredded vegetables like a salad accompanied by a bowl of miso soup and tea.
First she tested how crunchy was the surface of the gratin dish from Sunset but she found out that besides the satisfying crunch of the melted cheese Fumio found out how elastic the inside were. Taking a bit of the dish Fumio was shocked at the amount of flavor that was present. It was the right amount of chewy with a great combination of flavors, all being surrounded by the cheese. The ‘Madonna’ of the Polar Star dorm then took a sip of the miso soup and the salad well beyond its simple look in terms of flavor and complexity.
When Fumio opened her eyes after enjoying the flavors presented to her she found herself far away from the Polar Star dorm. She was standing on a hill, the green plains extended far beyond her eyes as the majestic presence of Mount Fuji reigned over all. At the next blink Fumio came back to the kitchen being completely stunned by the amount of flavor and complexity in the dishes.
“Is rather simple, you can call it Mochi au Gratin,” she said stunning everyone in the kitchen.
“You are telling me you used mochi in the main dish?!” Sunset wasn’t sure who have been the one that had asked her that question, but she was ready to explain the dishes she had prepared.
“I used mochi after slightly browning it, and then I grated daikon, put nori alongside eggs and cooked them with soy sauce, ponzu and sake. Finally I topped them with cheese and I used the torch to melt it.” The girl with the two buns then pointed at the bowl.
“What about the soup? Isn’t that just miso?”
“Well, it started as miso. I made stock based upon tuna, the one you call dashi in Japan,” Sunset said explaining the miso soup that Fumio-san was currently enjoying in silence while the rest of the students continued watching the scene “then in a skillet I grilled leeks, onions and shiitake mushrooms with some soy sauce. I then put them all alongside the juices with some miso in the mix and boiled an egg and daikon slices to finalize it. I suppose it has more in common with Udon than with Miso at that point.” Sunset said surprising everyone present more and more.
“What about the vegetables?”
“Oh, that’s daikon, jicama and carrots sliced with a vinaigrette made with tomato, soy sauce, ginger and some of the leftover juice from the grilled leeks, onion and shiitake mushrooms. Finally, is daikon tea with a dash of peppermint as a final touch. What can I say? Is just one more to the grill.”
Satoshi was more than amazed at the dishes the young redhead had made, but even more so with the theme she had created. From the daikon, mochi, leeks and the sauces, everything used by Sunset had been Japanese ingredients, as if showing her respect to the country and its cuisine. It was no surprise when Fumio laughed aloud and congratulated Sunset into being accepted into Polar Star. They all celebrated even harder when Sunset showed them that she had made more of everything, enough to feed the other residents in the dorm much to their joy.
The seventh seat of the Student Council knew that this was just the beginning and that there would even more chefs with incredible abilities in the school. There was something telling Satoshi that a revolution in Totsuki would soon start and Sunset would be at the center of it all.
Sunset once more adjusted the tie that came with her new uniform. She was still getting used to the idea of having to wear a daily uniform just to attend a cooking school, but if that was a requirement she would not fight that part… at least not for now. She could slightly reform, at least, compared to how she was before, but that didn’t mean that if she found something stupid she won’t react or destroy the source of said stupidity.
Looking at the beautiful green fields around the enormous campus and the slightly chilly weather they had that morning, Sunset felt strangely serene and at peace. It was not usual for the redhead to feel like that, not after the years she had spent on a worthless road of revenge and glory. Thinking back to the time she had wasted trying to gain power, Sunset found nothing but disappointment, not only because she had wasted so much time in gaining control of the school, but because the amount of power she had gained was pathetic.
Sighing once more Sunset vanished thoughts of the past and instead focused on the beautiful pink petals floating lazily on the wind, once more reminding her herself that the excitement of the present and the promises of a bright future were there, she just had to reach out and make it hers. Unlike the time she dreamed about becoming an alicorn princess. This time she thought of the road that Celestia would never walk on, nor the replacement of Sunset she found out.
No matter how powerful or wise Princess Celestia was, Sunset found through observation that for all the time she spend as ruler of the nation of Equestria, she had never put attention to food. Sunset knew for a fact that the only thing she was able to prepare by herself was cake and a rather mediocre one at that. She was not being critical of it; she knew how mediocre the cake was comparing it with the royal chefs. It probably wasn’t he fault since it was obvious that from a young age she had been attended too, but it was still a point of pride for her to be able to create culinary delight wherever she went. Now, here she was, once more going beyond her boundaries and in the most Japanese way of them all; underneath a shower of sakura flowers as she walked among other students to the opening ceremony of the school year.
She could hear them talking, she had become used to it after the time she spend at Canterlot High. Most students looked at her as if she was the devil incarnate. This time it was different, the other students were looking at her in awe and she understood why very quickly. Besides the color of her eyes and style of her hair -not to mention that she had red highlights on her hair-, she and Erina were spitting images of each other, strong enough to be confused.
Sunset simply shrugged, knowing that she probably won’t have to see Erina in a long while considering her attitude and ‘ranking’ among the other students. On her part, she had had her fun already with the haughty girl. She would love to take her down another peg if she would have that chance but it was obvious by now that their roads would not intersect. Those were her thoughts until the moment a mountain of a man stood in front of her.
-----
Erina was content with life, because she knew that it will only get better from here on out. From the hundreds of students on the school, only a handful will survive the training, classes and challenges inside the school. To whoever graduates there would be a life of stardom and luxuries. Sadly for everyone, they would have to fight for second place because it was a given that Nakiri Erina was the number one since birth. She was a class and bred beyond any student at Totsuki and absolutely no one will steal that prize from her.
Until she heard two particular voices. First it was Soma, with his usual ego and confidence, but it was worst, much worse than just one student that made the whole school angry at his comments. Because who came next was way worse than an insignificant restaurant owner.
“Geez Jiji, why do I have to give a speech?” Erina’s eyes immediately went open and due to how fast she stood up, the chair she had been sitting down flew backwards. Right there, on the scenario was the one she never wanted to meet again. The woman that not only humiliated her in front of her grandfather, but made her shiver in fear at how close and how similar the two were, as if she came from another world “so, all of you have spent years and years of practice. You have studied and left tears, blood and sweat behind you in your road,” Sunset said as her beautiful red and golden hair flew with the soft breeze as the students gawked at her appearance and demeanor, then they all recoiled in fear at the terrifying grin that appeared on her face.
“Sadly for all of you, most of you will be nothing more than stepping stones for the elite, those that will gladly step on you until there is nothing but dust under their heel. For those of you that are already thinking of doing that, well, let me tell you something. Before you can taste heaven, you will be dragged down into HELL!” Sunset’s left eye suddenly turned into a slit as her sclera became completely black “most of you feel already entitled as the best chefs around when you don’t even know how a restaurant work. If you believe I’m wrong then come to my face and become my first stepping stone,” From the way every student looked at her, it was clear that few if none, would take her on her challenge. Only a few, those that Sunset knew had more ego than brains or were talents beyond comparison will match her step by step and with those she was going to have so much fun with.
It was one thing to try to become a nice girl, but it was another thing to be asked by the director to help the competition among the students, to sharpen them to the max, to transform coal into diamonds. Sunset was going to have so much fun on this school.
The tension of those reunited after the heated speech by the newest member of the school could be cut down by a steak knife. Not that any of the reunited students would use a knife like that, is just an idiom. Anyway, the three students were directing glares at each other, or at least the two identical girls while the boy stood aside; the rage emanating from the two females could be seen like a dark aura and Soma, probably for the first time of his life, kept his own mouth shut.
At first sight, one could be forgiven for thinking that the two girls were twins; after all, the only thing in which they could be differentiated was due to the color and style of their hair. One had calm and straight golden tresses while the other one was a raging and waving sea of red and yellow.
The glare contest was stopped when the blonde tsked before crossing her arms underneath her bust. It was clear that Erina was not the biggest fan of the redhead girl in front of her at this point. The embarrassment that she had gone through due to the machinations of Sunset was big enough reason for the prodigy to hold a grudge against her physical double. She was an icon in the culinary world and to be manipulated by an unknown chef had left not only a bad taste on her mouth, but a spot on her immaculate history. Even more important, she had been humiliated in front of her own grandfather, the director of the school and that was not something she will forgive Sunset for.
“What was that speech you gave to the new students?”
“Just something that the old man asked me to do, apparently he is going to use me as some sort of benchmark for the new students, why, is something the matter sister?” Sunset’s eyes held the same edge of haughtiness that Erina had seen multiple times on the mirror and that just made her clench her teeth in rage.
“Do not call me that, I don’t know what you are or if you are human at all, but I won’t accept that humiliation in front of my grandfather, so prepare yourself Sunset because I will not accept you in this school,” The blond pointed at the redhead while the last one was simply smirking at the whole situation. Unlike them, the boy known as Soma was simply looking completely befuddled at what was going on and the way in which the two girls were ignoring him.
“Are you two sisters or something?” Looking at them side by side it was obvious the way in which the two girls got along. It was perplexing.
“Of course no!” “Something like that” And once more the glare contest was on.
“It doesn’t matter; amateur chefs like you will never be able to survive. Only the best students were able to finish the three years of middle school and you two have no chance to compete with them,” Erina said trying to regain some semblance of control over her own emotions. There was just something about those two that made her lose her cool.
“3 years of middle school?” the sudden change on Soma’s voice made both Erina and Sunset turn around to look at the boy who has been more or less ignored with their banter “I first held a knife when I was 3 years old,” Sunset wanted to interrupt him and say that something like that was extremely dangerous, but as a 3 years old unicorn she had been even more dangerous back then “I’ve been practically living in the kitchen for the past 13 years.”
“I suppose living on a restaurant and cooking every single day can help more than anything baby’s school could teach you,” the redhead said once more igniting the temper of her human sister “but I guess you have some advantages to me since I’ve only been cooking for the last six months,” she said making the two humans stay shocked at her words “but then, what that must say about you guys? After all, I don’t have even half your experiences and I can go toe to toe with you, well, see ya around?” Just leaving the two behind after those words Sunset had to laugh a bit.
Of course, once the flame had gone down and she was capable of calming, Sunset had grown morose and depressed at what she have done and said. She blamed the old man for bringing that part of her to the front when it was needed, but she hated it. How easy she could lose control and revert back to the girl she was. Sure, the ‘Devil’ as she called it, had no desire to torment and bully others, but it relished the opportunity to play games with her prey.
Thankfully, as long as she didn’t see Soma around everything would be alright and she won’t go all ‘Kitchen Devil’ again. She bit her tongue once she saw her first class and who was part of it.
----- She could feel the weight of the glares and the atmosphere inside the classroom. It was thick and dark just like the ‘Kitchen Devil’ liked it, although Sunset could go for some peace and quiet at this time of the day. Either way, it seemed like Sunset’s new life inside the school will not be boring by the looks of it. At her side she had another girl, one that had long black hair and had some rather stylish glasses on her, although her eyes had that hawk-like trait to it, as if she was some kind of predator.
“Well, not sure if I should call this bad or good luck; I hope you are as good as you think you are Sunset-san, because I do not tolerate idiots in the kitchen,” the voice, calm and collected made Sunset think of her previous Vice-Principal. Miss Luna was always excellent to make her voice sound as cold as an iceberg, probably why she was in charge of detention.
“Well, I suppose this is the way to fame on this school; so you know my name, care to tell me yours?”
“I am Amari Samui and pray this is not the last time we introduce ourselves since this challenge will be quite annoying,” the cold woman said as a blonde older man entered the classroom. She had read about him, the infamous Rolland Chappelle strolled inside the kitchen and made most students start sweating. One of the most infamous members of the school, known by the way harsh evaluations that he did. Looking at the side and the only member of her dorm, Sunset had to stiff a chuckle at the unlikely team that had been put together. Soma and Megumi were so different that this would be fun to see.
But instead of that, Sunset knew that this would be the first step, to something she had been dreaming and thinking of. This was her first test and she will have fun with it.
“Well, apparently the weeding is starting already,” Sunset said more to herself, but her new partner had keen ears because she only pushed upwards her glasses with the two first fingers of her hand, the outside light making the glasses shine slightly.
“In this school, you can be found wanting at a moment’s notice. It may seem like a simple cooking school, but the whole place is nothing but a jungle, where only the best predators can go ahead, deeper into the wilderness until they find a bigger predator and they themselves fall,” The look of concentration and seriousness was enough for Sunset to release a long sigh as most of her energy was zapped by such a serious response.
“I’m pretty sure that sounded way more cooler in your head,” Sunset said making Samui go full red at that kind of response after her ‘cool speech’, not that Sunset found it cool, just, way over the top. Even if the girl wasn’t that good at cooking she was good at entertaining Sunset so everything was fine for now. The problem was the dish they were going to prepare “so, Boeuf Bourguignon is the dish,” the redhead was focused on the whiteboard and the instructions being written on it.
“So what is that thing then?” If this had been back home, Sunset knew there were several girls that could be responsible for that almost comical response for something this serious; either Pinkie or Muffin, but being on Totsuki the question could only come from one boy known as Soma. Looking at her left, she was sure Samui would have jumped over their working station and planted her fist on Soma’s face at that kind of words, but Sunset was feeling magnanimous and decided to save Soma some more than deserving pain.
“Boeuf Bourguignon, or also Beef Burgundy, is a French staple and one of many dishes that were considered ‘peasant food’ that were elevated to haute cuisine -it means high cooking for those that don’t know French-, which was created by using wine to tenderize the meat which in any other situation would have been impossible to prepare. Also, random pop culture fact, this is the favorite dish of the comic book character Clark Kent before he was ret-conned into a vegetarian,” Sunset Shimmer said in a very academic kind of voice making Soma, Megumi, Samui and other students around look at her perplexed and in wonder “what? I read comics, anyway, let’s get this thing ready because it is not an easy dish to make,” At her command everyone started to cook, not paying attention to others or what they were doing, only on their own work.
The atmosphere around had changed and Sunset could feel the stress that was gathering on the other students, their frustrations and their bodies ready to cry at any moment. It was wrong for Sunset to enjoy something like that, but it was still a very Sunset part on her. She might be called a Demon more often than not, but the idea of bullying them was not on the menu this time, pun completely intended on her part. She was here to learn how to hone her own abilities and to enjoy the world that had been opened to her, but not to enjoy too much and let the older Sunset free to roam and make everyone’s lives a living hell, no matter how tempting it was considering the old man’s orders to help prepare the other students for the problems they will have ahead.
She had taken her time and decided to keep the flame low to keep the juices in and let the beef marinate and soften. The recipe was in fact not that hard, at least to the standards that she saw back home at Canterlot, but it needed some attention, especially to the best moment to prepare the rest of the garnish, but something happened that took Sunset away from her happy place. It was the sound of Megumi and a gasp that took her from the almost Zen feeling of the kitchen to a surprise.
She haven’t had much time to meet Megumi, but she knew that the girl was too nice and mellow to get into the whole over-competitive world of Totsuki, she even wondered if her days were numbered, not that she wished something like to a girl that was the Japanese version of Fluttershy, but her lack of confidence and the permanent gloomy aura around her was not conductive for change.
At first she wasn’t sure what was going on, but soon both Samui and she understood what had happened.
“Cowards, the lot of them,” The bespectacled girl said making Sunset widen her eyes in surprise “I may not be the friendliest girl around, nor do I hold a candle to someone as egocentric and petulant like Soma, but to fall so low as to cheat,” the smug grins of a certain duo gave the two girls all the information they needed to understand the situation. Soma and Megumi had been the target of sabotage, probably by salting the meat until it was inedible. Sadly Sunset couldn’t give them a hand, but when Soma didn’t lose confidence and instead went to search for more ingredients she knew he was not giving up, then she had all the information she needed by looking at a small jar on his hand. She knew what his plan was and like hell he was going to upstage her this day.
Without looking at Samui she turned off the cooking station much to the surprise and shock of her partner, instead she also went to the cabinets and took out a couple of things that brought back happiness and nostalgia to the redhead.
“Are you trying to protest or something? Because if this is a joke I quit and I will ditch your body on the closest ravine.”
“What a warm reaction, just trust me, this is all part of the plan,” Sunset tried to give her partner a reassuring smile, but it only came as a strange combination of smug and cute that made Samui just snort “anyway, want some tea?” the redhead said as she put water to boil. A few minutes later and the whistle signaled the next stage of her plan.
Sunset poured the hot water into the teapot and rejoiced at the calming smell of the leaves; she was surprised to find a teapot of such quality even though it looked as plain as any other. Give it to the school; they knew how to get the right tools. Soon, the smells of the black tea were enough to make both Samui and Sunset almost forget about the time limit, but when the time was right, Sunset began to pour the now perfect batch of tea into the pot, mixing the seemingly strong tea with the unfinished recipe.
Samui was surprised at what was going on, but by smell alone she knew that whatever Sunset had done, it truly changed the recipe into something even better. It was true that she was more used to the sound of oil heating up and of meat grilling to perfection on top of the sizzling grill, but this was something to learn about.
Soon, just as Soma and Megumi were presenting their finished product, which looked great to the two girls, the finished Boeuf Bourguignon that Sunset had altered was in front of Professor Chappelle who was right now recovering from the honeyed beef of Soma, but now here was another version that will surprise him, hopefully in the right way.
“So, you two did something that no other student did, what was that about the tea pot?” the professor tried to use his glare but it was useless after trying to regain control of his face after such a big smile.
“Why don’t you taste it and see for yourself?” Sunset said inviting her partner and the previous team to go ahead and take a bite. Looking at each other, both Soma and Megumi took a fork and after a bite, they were no longer inside the classroom. Soma knew about this, he had seen it on the entrance exam. This time, they seemed to be in a grandiose dinner hall of an opulent mansion. All the floors were marble just like the columns, the white walls and the exquisite tables, chairs and many other decorations filled the place with such elegance that the four people sitting around the table could stay in shock and amazement.
Soft chamber music played as they enjoyed the delicacy in front of them, as if they were part of a great celebration or maybe just the lucky ones that went beyond normal flavor and went into another world. Next second they all returned to the normal world with smiles on their faces.
“Sunset Shimmer, you used tea to also help on the tenderization of the meat, right?”
“That’s right Professor, like Soma here I decided to use another product to help on the process, of course, it is very different from the honey that Soma used,” Sunset said already smirking at Soma and his face of amazement.
“The big difference between the two is that while the product the other team used, the black tea used to tenderize the beef is not an easy product to use,” the stoic voice of Samui said once more doing that thing with her glasses just so they would shine, really, how long did that girl practice that move? “making tea from leaves and have a flavor that will not overpower the beef or make it bitter is something that only someone that has used and prepared countless pots of the drink, isn’t it Sunset Shimmer?”
“Well, guilty as charged,” she could only say making Professor Chappelle once more explode in laughter.
“I see this class is going to be a joy to teach, you get an A, sadly I am not allowed to give either team a bigger grade,” at those words Megumi released her breath, finally allowing herself to calm down.
The two pairs separated and Sunset was about to talk with Samui a bit, but something made alarms go off in her brain. Quickly moving, she put a hand behind Soma’s head and the other took a hold of the hand that had that monstrosity ready to feed Megumi. With a quick move, the one that ended up eating that weird mixture of octopus and who knows what else was none other than its creator.
“Come on Megumi, let us girls unite, shall we?” any kind of response the timid girl could give her savior was lost at the outburst of Soma.
“What is going on here?” Sunset asked to the wind, seeing that no other dorm member was up at the moment and the only two up beside her were too entranced with their own duel to pay attention to her words. Well, to call it duel will be too much considering that Isshiki-san had basically goaded Soma into an impromptu cooking battle just as the welcoming party had started.
It had been a very interesting day, with her taking her time, visiting some of the stores around the city before returning to the dorm. She had been prepared this time with the acquisition of a small Vespa. It was not exactly the thing that many in Canterlot will picture when thinking about her, but just looking at the small orange and yellow little thing just woke up something inside Sunset. She had spent almost half an hour looking at the adorable machine and was thinking about giving her a name -yes, the bike was a girl- but so far she haven’t had an idea or the right name for her.
As she traveled upwards into the Victorian-like building, she thought she had seen Soma walking too. It wasn’t really that important since she decided she will spend the less time possible close to that boy. It was not because he was a bad influence or that she found him annoying -well, just a little bit- like half the people in the planet. It was more because he was half the reason for the outburst of the Devil Sunset coming to the front and literally taking control of the school.
After her days of bullying and terror of CH, Sunset had no desire to become someone like that again. It took a lot of effort on her part and the help of Fluttershy and her friends to make her stable enough; to concentrate on her new abilities and her desire to explore the world of food. She was not going to let them down by turning into a Devil.
Everything then went down on a fireball when she saw the man itself walk into the bathroom as she and Megumi were in the furo as if he owned the place.
Both Megumi and Sunset had become quick friends and alongside Samui, she decided that maybe her time in the rather complex and stressful school of hers will not be that bad. So after spending some time talking and trying to get the shy girl out of her shell, she decided to take some time off and enjoy the great invention that was the furo.
Neither girl thought that just as Sunset was leaving the hot water, Soma will walk inside the bathroom. Needless to say, Soma was capable of singing soprano for several hours after that. She was not shy of her body, after all, Sunset knew that she looked damn good, but she still didn’t understand the whole human modesty. She will enjoy teasing and tormenting Soma for the next several years.
What happened next was the now classic welcoming party, after of course Soma was capable of walking straight without having to hold his groin with both hands. She may be a human right now, but she knew how to kick like a master no matter the universe.
Once everyone was alright once again, the festivities started, with the strange ritual of their older schoolmate Isshiki disrobing himself of all his clothes, ending only with a strange cloth around his waist to cover himself. Sunset may not be that interested in human beings, but even she had to admit that Isshiki had one hell of a body. Maybe it was due to all the work he did in the Dorm’s garden.
Looking at the embarrassed and shocked face in Soma helped alleviate things. It also helped that food and drinks were quickly being distributed by cooking students. This was not the first time she had met this people, but her admission into Polaris had been quite a surprise and instead of each showing their special abilities in the kitchen, it ended up being a breakfast at the hands of Sunset.
Sunset didn’t understand how it was possible for Shun to see underneath that mass of hair he called bangs. They completely covered his eyes and gave him an unkempt and lazy air; it didn’t help that even his speech was slow and calm. Taking a bite out of his smoked party snacks had made Sunset recognize the deep flavor emanating from them and already gave her ideas about new recipes or twists on her catalogue of recipes.
In the end, each one had something special to cook, all except Isshiki. Sunset had her eyes closed; resting from the rambunctious party they have had, when Isshiki struck against Soma, showing his cabbage and Spanish mackerel recipe. She could smell it form here and she already could detect the drizzle and the perfection of the slightly cooked mackerel.
Opening her eyes -unlike Isshiki-san who always had his closed- Sunset used the dumbstruck face of Soma to steal the plate from his hands. Taking a bite of the delectable dish, Sunset was quickly buffeted by a storm of flowers and petals. It was amazing the amount of flavor that was found in the rather Spartan dish in front of her.
Japanese cuisine was not exactly known by overpowering flavors, or at least most of the basis of Japanese cuisine didn’t use a strong flavored base, but this one was unlike any other fish dish she had tasted while in Japan so far. So this was the power of a seat student in the school? It just made Sunset’s blood boil.
It was not that the dish had made something wake up inside of her; that had happened with another dish, but some time ago. No, it was the way in which Soma and Isshiki had simply started goading each other. It was like a duel between the two, leaving Sunset on the sidelines.
How dare they, she thought as the sclera on her left eye turned completely black. How dare they ignore her!
Around her, other members of the house were sleeping, clearly tired after the rambunctious party that they had as a welcome to both Sunset and Soma. Not only did they eat some really good food, so much that Sunset had gotten an idea of everyone’s style of cooking rom the small samples that they had. Shun, with his eyes perpetually hidden behind his bangs, knew more than the average person about smoking ingredients and how to salt them to bring out the flavor.
The last time Sunset had jerky this good; it had been prepared specially for the restaurant she used to work. It had a deep flavor that she wanted to replicate, but sadly she had never looked into smoking. While that was true, she had picked up more than enough knowledge about BBQ and bacon, probably more than anyone in Japan thanks in part to how addicted they were to those two things back in Canterlot High. It also was slightly ironic considering her natural hair color.
Among the other students, she hasn’t really tasted enough to get a clear picture about them, but if the ‘rice juice’ was anything to go by, then Ryoko truly knew her way around fermentation. If the numbers scribbled at the side of the bottle was any indication, then it was close to turning beyond simple juice and into a low quality Sake. True great Sake was hard to ferment and create and it could be quite the challenge Sunset to create, but why not? Maybe she could do something about it later on, at least when she could think with a clear head.
Right now, she was fuming, just an inch away from burning everything around her, or at least she would be able to do that if she were still living in Equestria. Still, her fingers were curled into a fist so tight that she printed half-moons on her palms.
How dare those two idiots ignore Sunset Shimmer? The two boys had gone into duel mode it seems, because they were so focused on each other that flames were physically manifesting around them. It had been hilarious if Sunset wasn’t ready to explode due to rage.
If there was one thing Sunset hated was to be ignored by others. That’s what pushed her to perfection when she was Celestia’s student. The Princess could never understand that and she was sure that not even today, the supposedly perfect ruler of Equestria understood why Sunset behaved like that. She wanted validation, pure and simple and when all her efforts were shown to be in vain, it was little to no surprise that Sunset would react that way. First, when that stupid little pink alicorn was adopted, then by reading about the Tree of Harmony and discovering that no matter how much she tried, she will never be able to stand at the level of Celestia.
Did Celestia truly think that Sunset will gladly step aside, so an unknown little filly could take her position? Well, screw them; because now she didn’t need any of them, she didn’t need magic or wings. What she had was more important and something neither Celestia nor Twilight will be able to replicate. She had the Devil’s Palate and it was right now raging due to the disrespect those two idiots were showing her! How dare they turn their backs to her? Did they not realize that they were now the prey to an even bigger predator?
Just as the smells of whatever Soma was cooking began to drift upwards, Sunset heard how the rest of the Polar Star residents, but Sunset could barely hear them with the ideas and rage rolling through her brain. She took a long breathe as the tide turned back and left the shore that was Sunset’s mind; she needed to keep a clear mind if she wanted to pay back that disrespect.
“Sunset, what are Soma and Isshiki-san doing? Are they having a duel?” Ryoko asked after brushing her hair with her fingers, but instead of an answer the only thing she got was a glare from Sunset. You have to understand, Sunset was looking at the door so none of them could see her complete face, but at the sound of Ryoko’s voice she turned around and they saw it for the first time.
When Sunset had given her speech at the entrance ceremony, they all thought that Sunset’s left eye had become completely black and decided that it was a trick. This time they were sure it was not a trick and poor Yuuki could do nothing but squeak in fright at the sight of the Devil’s Palate true face. The others stood rooted in their places as Sunset simply scoffed and walked out of the room, just as Soma and Isshiki were about to go in.
Sunset’s rage just went up a notch by looking at the four plates that Soma was transporting; enough for the other four students and one more for Isshiki. So the idiot boy simply forgot about Sunset? Was she not good enough to be remembered by him?
“Oh, Sunset, didn’t know you were awake,” his stupid grin just made her want to hit him repeatedly on the head; how could one person could be so fucking stupid!
“Tea over a mackerel rice ball, the secret is that you used poele, letting the mackerel cook in its own juices while you poured olive oil on it. I could smell every single ingredient that you used so I don’t even need to taste it,” the surprised face of Soma and Isshiki -who had opened his eyes even- were still not good enough for Sunset, she needed more “not only that, I could tell you four different things you need to change if you want to ever show that recipe to a judge, now move out of my way,” she all but growled at Soma who quickly stepped aside as the irate redhead prepared her counter attack.
“Poele? What’s that?” Isshiki would have explained that, but instead he was more interested in the way Sunset had acted. It was true that this had been a test for Soma, to see his own abilities and knowledge. If what he heard was true about Sunset and Erina being sisters, then Isshiki had done a foolish thing and he hoped Polar Star wouldn’t pay for his mistake.
Sunset didn’t care about Soma’s dish, she already told him what was important and she didn’t lie. Since she arrived to the human world she had quickly realized that her sense of smell and taste went beyond human limits. Maybe it was a remnant of her pony heritage, but who cared when she could use it now. It was true what she said though, she knew of several ways in which he could make the dish even better.
The rice and the vinegar of it, the time in which the mackerel must be cooked, the tea and the leaves that had to be changed and instead of a normal onigiri, she could think of several ingredients to put inside to make the flavor burst.
Now, Sunset was ready to show them all what she could do. First she took a look inside the refrigerator and found out the cans of beer that she needed. It was quite fortuitous that Japanese people liked beer so much and with such good quality too. She then prepared the batter and using the small package that she had bought last morning she prepared the last touches for her own dish.
Upstairs, once everyone recovered from what had happened they took a bite and sip of Soma’s dish and found out the quality of it, but knowing that something was going to happen and happen it did; warm had settled inside them due to the tea and flavor before Sunset entered the room with her own surprise for them.
There were four plates and she gave everyone their own, except for Soma. The boy looked so ready to taste Sunset’s dish before his face changed to confused and then to comprehension. The insult had been returned. Soma didn’t do it on purpose, but Sunset had taken it personal; both sisters were too alike.
In the plate, what they found out was a small round maize paste dish; it was a tortilla with a battered mackerel on it and coleslaw on top.
“Is this a-” Isshiki started before turning to look at Sunset’s grin as he got the answer from the devil itself.
“Yep, it is a taco fish; this is not a secret recipe, you can find it anywhere in Mexico, so dig in,” she said as the four turned to look at each other. All the residents of Polar Star had seen how deliberate it had been for Sunset not to give Soma a plate, so they were more than a little excited for this grudge match. If there was something they had understood quickly at this school, was that rivalries always brought great food with them.
Taking the first bite and their world exploded in colors; they could feel spring and how warm, happy and full of life it was. Almost like an explosion of the fresh sea combined by the slightly acidic and flavorful coleslaw.
It was so different from Soma’s dish and yet, it showed the same two main ingredients, cabbage and mackerel, the ingredients of spring. How could these two ingredients could show how incredibly different two students could be?
“You said this is normal?!” Yuuki pointed at Sunset, incredulous at what the redhead had said before.
“Yeah, there are many places in Mexico were seafood is a normal thing. Not only are they know for their beef, but their seafood is something that it is exported to Japan all the time. You could say that Mexico has been Japan’s lifeline since World War 2,” Sunset said shocking every student with her words.
The American country was constantly exporting food to the island since the forties, being one of the main business partners for decades. The street food of Planet Earth, this was the true sight of Sunset’s cooking.
The night had changed several times already; it was as if every member of the Polar Star dormitory had been traveling across Japan in just mere minutes. It was the feeling of spring, but it came in different shapes and through different lenses. It was a mosaic of colors and feelings that none of them were quite sure what to say, they could just enjoy it.
Soma’s dish, it brought the image of spring that was barely beginning; it was the warmness that arrived as winter lost its grasp on the land and everything was beginning to grow and thrive. It was perfect rendition of those days that left the boys and girls happy and content, but the night wasn’t over yet.
Sunset’s dish took them by surprise, even more to Soma who had been struck slightly by Sunset’s words and demeanor. Back at the exam, Soma had seen the redhead manipulate her sister, but beyond that, she reminded him of, well, himself. She had experience on a restaurant; albeit the time she had spent there was just a fraction of Soma’s. Still, the girl had guts and showed amazing quick thinking and held techniques and knowledge that Soma did not know. Her dish was a testament of that.
Many people would have been surprised about what Sunset had done; it was true that it may not look impressive, but it was the way the flavor exploded in their mouths that truly captivated them. Unlike Soma’s onigiri, Sunset showed the other extreme of spring, to the days when spring was transcending into summer, to the hot days where promises of fun and freedom kept everyone active and hopeful. It was as if they had been thrown into the ocean and for the first time they were able to see the marvels of it.
Isshiki was surprised too, but for different reasons than the rest of the people present on the room. His plan was to see Soma’s determination and talents, to see how he reacted to pressure and challenges. Considering how the school worked, both Soma and the other first years would be mixed on the strange, but effective, rituals and challenges at the school. In his haste, he had forgotten the true wild card on the table and he was afraid of what could happen.
He had already read about Sunset and how the school board had been all but throwing the red carpet at the feet of the redhead since the first day. From the moment she had been found on the American continent, she had been causing a small ruckus on the right circles and now that Isshiki had seen her in action he could see why.
The ability that she had was intriguing; already he could see the parallels with Erina and he understood the director’s desire to bring her to the school. God’s Palate was a gift that very few people in the world had or could even awaken, but to have a similar trait from the beginning and to be able to use it without any kind of training? Well, you could only refer to Sunset as a genius.
It had been a mistake to left her outside of the equation; maybe it would have been better to do the informal duel on a day Sunset wasn’t present because he stirred a wasp’s nest. Sunset had taken what Soma and he had done very personally and he had been on the front and center of the Devil’s Palate and it was not pretty. It felt as if he had been in the presence of a bigger predator, ready to tear him apart if he moved a muscle. If this was how her opponents felt, then he would not want to be them, no matter the prize.
She was a true chef, a true Totsuki student, ready to jump at the challenge with everything she had and with enough aplomb and arrogance that could irk smaller opponents. She was a natural at the school and that was a problem. In a way, he had put two predators on the same arena and had woken them up. Maybe next time Isshiki would jump at the lion’s den at the Zoo, it would be less dangerous than this.
“This is a very simple recipe, isn’t that what you said was the idea behind your restaurant Soma? Simple to the extreme? Well, this takes a little bit of that,” Sunset said already missing her black eye, making Isshiki give thanks to whatever deity was looking after them. If any of the other dorm students saw her with that strange eye, he was sure they would have started screaming as if they were on a horror movie.
“Where did that entire flavor came from? It was like an explosion,” Shun asked with his usual almost monotone voice, thankfully helping Sunset relax after waking up the demon side of hers.
“I truly love your mayo, is so different from American ones, thankfully, since it is smoother and less pungent than the ones I’m used to, so with that creaminess and flavor it was easy to mix chipotle sauce in it.”
“Wait, what? What’s chipotle?” The girl with the buns, one Yuuki Yoshino asked, getting her answer from her schoolmate Shun.
“It is a dried and smoked jalapeño; it is widely used in Mexican cuisine."
“Well, that the smoke expert in the dormitory knew that is no surprise, but yes, chipotle is a Mexican type of chili you could say, thankfully I got some at a store a couple of days ago,” that was another important part of Sunset’s style of cooking. Everyone at Polar Dorm -with the exception of Megumi, who still was extremely nervous to try to use hers- had a special way to cook; an idea, an area and technique that separated them from the average student. While Soma used the everyday cooking of Japan and gave it a spin, thanks to his years cooking on his family eatery; Sunset used a broadened look at cooking, using street food apparently and with such confidence that did not fit someone that only had a couple of months cooking professionally.
“It is so fluffy and so flavorful! This is so good,” Ryoko and Yuuki were truly enjoying the fresh and creamy flavor of the taco. It was quite amazing that with such simple ingredients Sunset could bring the feeling of fresh water and the end of spring to their plates. Both Soma and Sunset will have an interesting time at Totsuki and Isshiki will not miss any of it.
So with the food ingested, beverages terminated and the feeling of satisfaction from a great party, the students quickly left the room and went in search of their own beds in search of some rest. Except for Sunset Shimmer who quietly cursed, being the only witness of that a passed out one Zenji Marui.
The redhead was angry, but it was at itself. For the third time since she arrived at the school she had felt the pull into the dark pit that was her repressed anger. It was a dangerous place that had been shown to her by that annoying guy. Back when she was still the terror of Canterlot High, she had been the witness of probably the greatest cook in the world. Or so it seemed at the time to Sunset.
Even to this day, Sunset wasn’t quite sure how he did it, but with his cooking he had shown Sunset what was incubating in her heart and that had terrified her to the core. Sure, it awoke the Devil’s palate as others called it, but it also showed how rotten she was at the core. No wonder Princess Celestia was so scared of her and didn’t want to tell her about the true function of the mirror. Now, after finally getting control over that side, here she was, once again exploding in anger at people that didn’t deserve it.
Sure, Soma was obnoxious and cocky, but so was she to a point, so what was it that brought that demon to the front? It was not something that will be answered by the night and the silence that’s for sure. So with no more words uttered, Sunset took care of the bottles and rest of the garbage that littered Marui’s room. Sure, it didn’t exactly make her feel better about her anger management problems, but it was a start in the right direction. Poor Marui didn’t deserve having his room trashed like that.
Everything will be better in the morning, she thought, not realizing how she jinxed herself. She blamed how tired she was the next morning once she saw Soma sitting down all ready for something.
“Okay, is too early for this kind of situations, can someone explain to me what are you planning?” Sunset asked as everyone else shuffled into the table, waiting for Fumio’s breakfast to be done. Sunset was also like them, until her brain finally processed Soma’s next words “wait, what? You want to challenge him?”
“That’s right, I will win that seventh seat,” it would have been a pretty heroic and bold declaration if it wasn’t so shocking to hear him say that.
“Ah, Soma? Just one question, did you read the school rulebook?”
“Well, yeah, the small pamphlet was rather short.”
“Soma, that pamphlet was only the school ground rules; I meant the Food Duel and Club Battles rulebook,” by the way he leaned his head to the side, Sunset knew he didn’t even know what she meant by it “do you want to explain it or should I?”
“No, I’ll like to hear your explanation, that will show how much you know about the topic,” Isshiki’s smile was back on its place as the rest of the dorm members took their seats.
“Alright, let me put it this way; Food Duels are basically the way to decide basically everything in the school. Do you have someone you don’t like? Challenge him to a duel. Does your club have been offended? Make a duel. Basically, instead of fighting, students show their worth in front of the school body and with unbiased judges, but there is one catch; students can also gamble their positions as seats or even their clubs, but they must gamble something in return, something of equal or higher value,” Sunset’s voice had a cadence and rhythm that entranced the others; it was a voice that had been designed for a teacher or a singer, it was that beautiful.
“Gamble something in return?”
“Yes, for you Soma to get a match against Isshiki for the seventh seat, not even your expulsion from the school would be good enough; now that I think about it, your restaurant will have to be a part of the duel,” watching Soma’s shocked look at what she had said made it clear for her that he understood the importance of the Food Duel.
“Wait, really?”
"Yes, the Elite Ten are that important in this school; they are after all the highest decision-making body in the school,” Fumio said with a cup of tea on her hand as they all enjoyed the cooking of the dorm mother.
“The only one higher than them is grandpa, so not even teachers or other academics can touch the Elite Ten.”
“Wait, you call Senzaemon-sama grandpa?” a shocked Yuuki asked as the rest of the Polar Dorm members looked at Sunset with eyes wide open; well, with the exception of Shun who had his bangs perpetually covering them.
“Well, yeah, I mean, he is my grandfather,” adopted grandfather, but it still counted, right? So with that out of the way and Fumio’s reminiscence of the old days when several Polar Star members were in the Elite Ten, the students got ready to attend another day.
Just as they were leaving, with classes to attend and more insanity in their curriculum, Soma was stopped at the door of Polar Star by Sunset. She seemed contrite and also embarrassed by something.
“Look, Soma, what happened last night… I lost my cool and let a part of myself that I’m not proud of take control of the situation, so, for that, well, I’m sorry,” she said, knowing that letting the demon out again will probably led to disaster if she wanted to make any friendship in the school. Sunset was then surprised by the sound of Soma laughing.
“Nah, is okay, I would have been that pissed off if I had been ignored, so I can understand you. Anyway, you said something last night about ways in which my onigiri can be done better?” Sunset just looked at Soma in complete shock before a smile appeared on her face.
“Yeah, it is quite simple really, you need to make the green tea better; you left it for too long and the flavor could not be maximized for the rice,” Sunset began to explain her ideas as Soma and the redhead joined Megumi on their trek to the school.
