What if Twilight becomes a chef instead of Celestia's apprentice
Book 1, Filly Twilight Goes to a restaurant called "The Royal Star" with her parents and Cadence and Shining Armor. She fall in love with the food there and wants to meet the chef. When she meets the chef she too want to become one. This is the story of how Twilight grew up from just a apprentice to a cooking student.
Twilight was walking around the castle, anxiously because her brother Shining Armor is currently taking the test to get into military school. Her brother has been training for this for a few years. Still it scared her. She always was scared of tests and exams. Not that she goes to school but nevertheless it was something that ran in the family atleast mother's family, Twilight Velvet's family. Her father on the other hoof was always quite brave, he would gladly take tests if it means to test himself.
She wasn't the only worried pony in the hallway however, Her babysitter Cadence also paced in the hallway. Altho she seemed more worried about Twilight than Shining, "Twilight calm down, he will be fine" Cadence spoke.
"I know Cadence, I am just worried that he will fail or destroy a wall... again, or worse!" Twilight shrieked.
"Twilight he won't fail. listen why don't we go to the canteen to grab some food to calm your nerves?" Cadence calmly asked.
Twilight ponders the question, she looks at the door then back a cadence and signed "Okay, but only something sweet!" Cadence smiled and took the lead.
As soon as Twilight and Cadence are at the now packed public canteen, they take a peek inside, Twilight asks "Can we go somewhere else Cadence? It's too busy here and you know I don't like crowds"
Cadence looks around "Sure, let's go to the royal canteen then. It's too busy for me too."
Twilight was about to turn towards Cadence who started to trod towards the royal canteen when she smelled the food being served. She looks at Cadence, then back at the public canteen, then again towards Cadence, then back at the eating soldiers, she sighed and entered the public canteen, still packed with soldiers
Twilight immediately regretted entering the public canteen when a guard who didn't see her and tripped over her with food on his back, in the meantime one of the unicorn chefs who was behind the guard saw it happen and immediately levitated the food of the guards back before disaster happened. The guard then smashed his face into a table where his commander is seated next to, thus breaking the table with the commanders food still on it. the food fell to the ground a moment later while the commander blinked at the situation. The rest of the soldiers in the public canteen became silent after the display of clumsiness.
The commander then first looked at twilight and at the now unconscious soldier, then at his food and the broken table, he also noted the levitating food of the guard with the chef in the background, a moment later he also saw that the filly was injured thanks to the now broken table from which she started cry, he sighed and shouted "I need a medic right now!" then he pointed at a soldier and shouted "Wake this soldier up! Tell him to go to my office when he cleans himself off!" The soldier saluted, and quickly moved to carry the still unconscious soldier on his back towards the barrack.
A moment later the doctor entered the public canteen. he then proceeded to check Twilight for any injuries and saw 2 cuts on her left front leg. he proceeded to first put some alcohol on it, to disinfect the wounds and then he used some magic to heal the wounds right back up. The doctor then proceeded to write a report give the report to the commander and left towards the barracks.
Twilight was still crying just not in pain anymore. the commander looked at her and asked "Where is your parents, little one? This place is only suitable for adults not young fillies."
Twilight stopped crying when she heard that and proceeded to look at her now missing wounds "I came here with my babysitter to grab some food while my big brother is taking an exam, however we got split up when I decided to enter anyways, after I told her it was too busy." the commander looked confused at her, while she continued "I entered anyways because the foods smells so good and I am quite hungry." Twilight stated as her belly grumbled.
The commander looked at her and then proceeded to laugh. after he was done laughing he asked "What is your name little one?"
Twilight looked at the now smiling commander and stated "My name is Twilight sparkle, what is your name sir?"
The commander saluted and stated "My name Pride Keeper, I am the current Captain of the Royal guard." Twilight smiled "But you can just call me Keeper, little one." says Keeper, "But let's go grab some grub then, twilight!" He says as Twilight smiled and saluted.
Meanwhile after a silent slow trod, Cadence finally arrives at the royal canteen "We are here Twi." Cadence stated as she slowly looked behind her, then she was stunned to see that there is no one there, her eyes widened and immediately started to panic "Twilight?! Where are you?" She shouted when Celestia was about to exit the royal canteen.
The door opened up "Is something the matter Cadence?" Celestia asked with a worried look,
Cadence immediately turned around to see Celestia and stated "I lost Twilight on the way to the royal canteen!" Cadence practically shouted.
Celestia look at her calmly and asked "Is it possible that Twilight is still at the public canteen?" Cadence looked at her, then looked at the canteen, trying to see through it's windows and... she sees Twilight still at the public canteen, she sighed and teleported herself back to the canteen.
Celestia looks at Twilight, curiously after all she was still searching for a potential protegé and altho her niece spoke volumes about her, saying things like her magic is really strong and she has what it takes, she was still curious nonetheless. She proceeded to create a illusion over her and grab some guard outfits, after that she teleports into room with the little filly called 'Twilight', she listened in on some of the conversations regarding the little filly.
"So Keeper, what kind of food is the public canteen serving this time?" twilight asked,
Keeper looked at her and says "Today they are serving Poached eggs in hollandaisesaus together with some nicely salted green beans with feta on the side and as dessert chocolade pudding." Twilight mouth watered at hearing the chocolade pudding but she was also curious about the other parts of the dishes. Keeper noticed it and asked "Should i ask for some pudding?"
"No, I want the entire menu. It all sounds delicious." Twilight said, Keeper nodded and looked at the chef, the chef then proceeded to grab the better parts of the dishes and serve it as best as she could.
Twilight then proceeded to sit at an open up table together with Keeper, she grabbed her fork and knife and took a bite of the Poached egg after dipping it lightly in the saus, and then she moaned. For the first time she ate a dish she usually hated and it was amazing. She then looked at the green beans and picked her fork back up, she then proceeded grabbed a bean with a small piece of feta attached to it, and put it into her mouth. again she moaned. she had never experienced this bean before, it was different, the taste was sweeter despite the salt and softer while the feta created a balance for it was thicker and stronger of taste. she then ate the rest of her food in mere minutes. ignoring Cadence and the disguised Celestia, practically towering over her, she was so distracted that the world didn't matter, all that matter was the food in front of her.
The rest of the people of the canteen saw how she practically considering the food godlike which caused the guards to quickly grab some grub, even Celestia grabbed some even tho she had already eaten an entire breakfast. Cadence hesitated, but chose to grab some food too. one moment the canteen loud and about the second everyone was quiet, eating the food or leaving to go do their duty.
Cadence and Celestia (whose disguise wore off) sat next to each other eating the food, Cadence then asked "So... the head chef, will he get a promotion for this?"
Celestia looked at her and whispered "Only if he/she can also make cakes then, yes."
Twilight fell asleep the moment she finished her food, causing Cadence and Celestia to stand awkwardly in front of her. Celestia being first clear her throat "Well that was interesting, anyways Cadence I have to get going, duty calls" Cadence looked at Celestia then back at Twilight.
she was about talk when she was interrupted by Shining armor "Hey Caddy!" Shining shouted causing Twilight to wake up at his loud voice, Cadence noticed and released a disapproving growl and stare toward Shining.
Either Shining armor is dense or wasn't paying attention he stated "I have been accepted to the guard!" Shining he slowly trod towards Cadence smiling with glee. Twilight now fully awake tackled his brother "oof!" Shining shouted "Hey Twilight, How has your day been? boring?" he asks.
Twilight looks at him also smiling as she shook her head "No, I experienced some amazing food today! It was delicious!" Twilight said staring at the kitchen "Actually can I see the chef who made this? I would like to praise him/her personally."
Cadence shook her head "The chef is currently conversing with Celestia, sorry twi." Twilight looked a bit disappointed, she then remembered it!
"Will we still go to that restaurant? whatsitsname" Twilight asked
"Yep, I succeeded so we are going to "The Royal Star"" Shining stated
Cadence Eyes Widened "Isn't that the only Restaurant with 5 stars in Equestria?!" "Yup" Shining confirmed "And you are also invited!"
Cadence smiled but shook her head "I am sorry shining but if it's today then I can't come with you."
Shining's eyes widened "Why not?!" he asked disappointed.
Cadence smiled sadly "I have other plans, I am sorry."
Shining looked very disappointed "I understand, well Twi we should get going our reservation is in 3 hours and we need to prepare ourselves for it." Twilight nodded and quickly followed Shining towards the exit.
Twilight and Shining trod towards their home and spot carriage in front of it. Shining raised his eyebrow while Twilight looked at the moon and gasps "We are late BBBFF! We should hurry back home before they leave without us!" Twilight shouted. Shining looked at Twilight then proceeded to run towards home. Twilight barely being able to keep up
Night Light was about to enter the carriage when suddenly Shining crashed into him. Causing him to see stars, he shook his head then looked towards Shining disappointed "You are late you two!" he then sighed and asked "What was the hold up?"
Shining looked sheepish and said "Twilight fell asleep in the public canteen and we simply forgot the time" Shining looked to Twilight a moment then he remembered "Also I succeeded my entrance exam!" He smiled
Twilight Velvet exited the house and closed the front door locked, she then looked at shining and smiled "Congratulations on your entry into military school."
Night Light also smiled "I knew you could do it, Shining!"
Twilight looked at both of them and asked "Are we going to go yet?" she said impatiently as she entered the carriage while Shining followed her.
Night LIght and Velvet looked at them both then sighed as they too, entered the carriage closing the door behind them. The carriage then proceeded to move towards "The Royal Star"
The trip itself was uneventful, well besides Twilight being unnaturally quiet which caused some eyebrows to be raised Night Light asked "Twi, what's wrong dear?"
Twilight looked at her father "Nothing I am just excited what food the restaurant will be serving" Twilight said.
This caused Shining to raise his eyebrows even further "But, didn't you already eat a meal at the public canteen?" he asked.
This time Velvet looked at Shining confused then towards Twilight "You did what?" Velvet asked confused
Twilight this time looked sheepish and said "But I like food! Also that was different, this time we are eating at and actual restaurant. I can make some extra space for that!"
Night laughed at that, while Velvet shook her head "You like food that much do you?" Shining asked while his hoof was on his face. Twilight looked sheepish then stayed quiet until.
"Look there it is! "The Royal Star" Restaurant!" Twilight suddenly shouted, causing the rest in the carriage to flinch. which in turn caused another sheepish smile to appear on Twilight's face. They all stared at her then at their destination smiling and shaking their heads.
A moment later they were out of the carriage and inside the restaurant. an waitress came and asked "Is there something you would like to drink?"
Twilight looked up at the waitress and asked "May we have the menu first, please?" the waiter looked at her then nod and rushed to get the menu.
While the waitress was grabbing the menus in the background, she herself looked around the restaurant. She saw that the floor was made ebony planks, the walls made with silver and andesite, and the ceiling was made from a combination of porcelain and gold. She also saw a odd looking cutie mark on the ceiling, but thought nothing of it.
The tables however were standing out for they all are pre-filled with items such as plates, cutlery, wine glasses, a golden chandelier with pre-lit candles, coffee cups and plates, glasses and jug of water with it. It also some kind of cloth over it. Twilight feels the table and also noticed it's made from magic oak planks.
By the time she was done scanning the room, the waitress returned with the drinks menu and gave everyone one of such menu. Twilight looks into it and saw a bunch of drink she has never heard of, their was also no lists attached to it that suggests what's in them and while everyone chose their drinks she looked at the waitress and asked "Do you have a menu card that also states whats in them?"
The waiter looks at her for a second, then she nods and quickly grabbed an easier menu she still had in her magic.
Twilight looks at everything and sees: 'Irish coffee, an coffee made with hot milk and alcohol', 'Latte macchiato, an coffee made with lots of hot milk and cream'.
She proceeded to skip on coffee as she would not be able to enjoy food with it and looked at cold drinks section of the menu: 'Cola, made from Spices and citrus' 'Ginger ale, made from fresh ginger and spices' 'Ice tea, made from fresh fruits and mixed with ice cubes' 'Sinas, made from sparkling water and fresh oranges' 'Pony Up, made mostly from sparkling water and citrus/lemon flavoring' 'Cassis, made from sweet berries and sparkling water' 'Tonic, made from sparkling water and quinine' 'Bitter lemons, made freshly juiced lemons and sparkling water'
It took twilight 10 minutes to read and re-read the menu and settled on 'Ginger ale' the waiter nodded and moved on.
The choice caused a few raised eyebrows, as they weren't sure that it didn't contain alcohol but they let it go.
2 minutes later the drinks arrived, Night Light got some black coffee, Velvet got a Latte, Shining got a Cassis and Twilight got her Ginger ale. She then took a sip and was surprised at the weird yet refreshing taste. "Can i taste some of that too?" Shining asked, Twilight nodded, he then proceeded to take a sip then declared "Yup, there is no alcohol in here!" which caused Twilight and the waitress to giggle.
Shining and her parents blushed at the response. Velvet cleared her voice and asked "Can we also get the menu, madam." The waitress nodded and slowly went to grab a food menu, she also glanced at Twilight for a moment and remembered to grab another easy menu card.
Twilight didn't notice it, as she was busy scanning the room again for any decorations. She saw 3 paintings, one with Princess Celestia on it, another with Cadence on it, the last one however was a dark blue pony with the same cutie mark as the one on the ceiling, she had a horn and wings but she had never seen her before. which confused her a bit.
The waitress returned with the food menu, she gave everyone a normal card besides Twilight who got an easier one. Twilight looked at her and asked "Who is the dark blue pony on that painting?" she said while pointing towards the painting.
The waitress looked at the painting and said "I am not quite sure, but the head chef said that her name is Luna, Princess Luna. She went missing about a thousand years ago. They say that she used to control the moon." The waitress then bowed and went to help another gast.
Twilight, now even more confused, looked at the moon through a window behind her and mumbled "The mare on the moon..." Twilight then looked at her mother and asked "Do you know about this Luna?"
Velvet looked at Night and then at Twilight "Only a few things, like that she didn't go missing but rather she was banished by Princess Celestia to the moon." "Also, she was the one who also controlled the stars." Velvet explained.
Twilight nodded a few times, saddened, she would have loved to meet this pony.
Twilight proceeded to open the card but was surprised at the amount on it, she closed the menu. She called the same waitress. When the waitress arrived she asked "Can I have something that both you as well as the head chef recommend?" the waitress looked at her, Then nodded and levitated the menu away from her. She moved towards the kitchen after that.
The waitress arrived in the kitchen where it was atleast 2 to 3 times hotter than in the rest of the building, and started to walk towards the head chef while dodging lots of chefs in said kitchen.
When she arrived "Hey, Royal!" she shouted over the sound of food being made.
Royal looked up at her "What is it?! I am kinda busy here!" he shouted back.
"A filly at table 3 wants something we both recommend as her dinner!" The waitress shouted.
Royal raised his eyebrow, he expected something that he recommend but not something they both recommended. He looked at her and asked "What type of filly is she?!"
"She seems curious yet adventures, She took a cold drink not many ponies ask for, plus she has a great attention for detail!" the waitress shouted back.
While Royal stopped what he was doing, to think about what food to give her, The waitress was dodging more and more chefs while she waited. Royal looked at her and asked "What would you recommend her?"
The waitress suddenly stopped dodging which caused a few chefs to slam into her. "I would recommend that burger thingy!" She said now on the ground with food all over her.
Royal stared at her, he thought about it. He then nodded "Okay I will give her secret menu 5#!" "Now please clean yourself up so that you can server her this food."
The waitress stood back up, she nodded then ran towards the locker room.
Twilight was watching what other ponies were getting as food, from vega Caesar Salad, to fries. This restaurant had it all. Yet somehow all those foods seem so boring, they were presented lamely, they smelled normal, nothing about these foods seemed special at all.
Twilight saw the waitress come from a staff only room, she waved at her to get her attention, the waitress saw it at walked towards her.
Once the waitress arrived, Twilight asked "What is your name?"
The waitress surprised that someone asked her that answered "My name is Clear Music, What is yours?" she asked
"My name is Twilight Sparkle" Twilight stated smiling "I had a question."
"Ask away!" Music answered smiling
"Why does the food here look so bland and smell average?" Twilight asked, which caused Velvet, Shining and Night to do a spit take.
Music eyes widen at that out of nowhere criticism, she then looked at the food other guests had and smelled the food in the air. She too realized that the food looked and smelled bland, which worried her. She looked at Twilight then at her manager and said "Excuse me one moment" Twilight nodded
Music walked towards her manager who overheard the conversation. her manager stared at the food for a moment then nodded towards Music as she pointed towards the kitchen.
Music again walked towards the kitchen worriedly. When she arrived she ones again walked towards Royal. Royal noticed her nervous look and asked "What is the matter?"
"Well.... I got an complaint that the food is not 5 stars worthy and I looked at the food myself, and noticed the she wasn't wrong... The food looked as well as smelled bland" Music said nervously "Oh and the manager agrees with both the one who complaint as well as me"
Royal widen his eyebrows and immediately shouted "STOP! cooking everypony!"
Everyone in the kitchen immediately dropped what they were doing and looked at Royal. Royal then proceeded to look at the food everyone was making.
He was immediately disappointed at them and said "Everyone! throw your food in the thrash! Redo every food, and make sure the quality was up to snuff" Royal shouted, he also beaconed the manager towards the kitchen and said "Get me the pony in charge of quality control!" The manager nodded and ran towards the breakroom.
Royal then shouted "I will make the secret menu item, I will make absolutely sure that it won't be a 1 star dish!" one moment later the pony in charge of quality control walked into the kitchen and immediately went to work.
Music walked out of the kitchen and nodded towards the manager who proceeded to sent every waiter and waitress to every guest in the room. Music herself walked towards Twilight.
Twilight noticing a shift in the room, smiled at Music who was walking towards her "I take that it was a problem at quality control." Twilight stated, Music nodded her head
"That is correct, young lady" Music said with a bow, Which caused Twilight to giggle.
"I am just surprised that the other guests didn't noticed change in quality within their food" Twilight said
"I am just glad you pick up on it in time before our VIP arrives" Music said relieved
"VIP?" Velvet interrupted
"That is correct, Princess Celestia is coming to dine tonight in about 10 minutes from now" Music stated
Twilight eyes widen as she noticed another pony besides Celestia. It was Cadence. She looked at Shining who also noticed it. He looked disappointed.
"Well they are here already." Twilight stated which caused Music and her manager to freeze up. Twilight noticed it and said "It will be alright, they aren't going to be angry with 2 to 3 star food, just... disappointed I guess."
This didn't help as Music froze up entirely something which Twilight also noticed and just as Celestia entered Twilight hugged Music, which instantly unfroze at her sudden display of affection.
Something Twilight didn't notice was Celestia freezing up at what she saw in front of her, which caused Cadence to bump into her back. Cadence looked at Celestia and then she too saw what happened.
Music shaking herself awake, now noticed Twilight still hugging her. Twilight's parents staring at her and scarily her VIP's also staring at her. The manager scrambled towards the princesses with a mixture of fear and confusion.
Twilight released Music from her hug who only then, also realized that ponies were staring at her. She looked around shrugged and ignored the stares. Which caused Cadence and Celestia to stare even harder and even more confused.
It took 5 minutes for the stare to finally end as Celestia and Cadence both finally reach their table. Cadence gaze was still at Shining as Shining looked saddened back up at her. Music who finally regained her focus was called to the kitchen.
Royal looked at the now even more professional looking and happier Music "This is for the filly, Be sure to explain it as it would otherwise confuse her." Music said nothing and nodded. She grabbed all the food for table 3 in her magic, Something she usually didn't do and carried it towards table 3 like it weighs nothing. Royal and the rest of kitchen raised their eyebrow at her sudden display of good magic control. Even her manager was surprised at the display.
Music casually walked with the food like it was nothing towards table 3, which caused Celestia who came here very often to raise her eyebrow. Music ignored it and she finally arrived at the table.
Music calmly give Velvet a Ponyville Salade, Night a Flower garden special, Shining a Hayburger.
Music then placed a very meat like looking burger in front of Twilight, "This is a special burger, for it was made to look like real meat and smell like it, but in reality is made using only vegetables, the bun is made with the highest tier hay and milk, It's served with a piece of cheddar, some lettuce, homemade tomato sauce, a little bit of honey" she explained
"Besides the burger it's served with some hay, cheese, paprika fries, a prench salad with some yoghurt saus." "Bon appetit!" Music stated.
Twilight stared at her food mouth wateringly. "Thank you!" She said as belly grumbled
Shining and her parents looked at her dish uncertain. As they are about to ask if she could get something else, Twilight took a big bite of the burger. which caused Shining and Cadence to wince at.
It took Twilight a second to eat what she bit. and when she was done, she said nothing as she devoured the burger in a matter of minutes. then she ate the fries, again in absolute silence. when she was done she sighed. "That was delicious, the burger tasted indeed like how baked meat smells, the spice combination was amazing, the burger was sweet yet very savoury, the fries complement the burger and the salad was nice and refreshing!" Twilight hammered out.
"That dish is worth being called 5 stars however... I noticed that the cucumber in the salad was inedible and the sauce was too sweet for a prench salad." Twilight evaluated
Music who was still standing next to Twilight wrote it down and said "I will tell the kitchen about it"
"Thank you and thanks for the food." Twilight said before falling in a food coma.
It was spring morning when Twilight woke up without any idea how she got there. She looked around and noticed she was back in her room at her house. Bewildered she looked around her room. The walls were made of ebony planks. The floor made of oak and she also noticed lots of bookshelves and books and yet, it felt alien to her. For the first time in her life she wasn't eager to read any books but rather curious about last nights food.
The food was amazing. So amazing in fact that she wanted only one thing todo 'learn how to cook'. However she didn't want read any books about it. She Just wanted to experience the thrill to cook for the first time herself. so she went down stairs to the living room.
She then looked around the living room. The house was quiet. She then looked towards the clock on the wall to her left. And noticed that it was 6 o'clock in the morning. After that she moved quietly towards the kitchen and looked in the fridge. The fridge contained lots of vegetables, some milk and some eggs. In one of the many cupboards she saw flour, sugar and many other goodies for cooking, she also noticed the cookie jar in the background but ignored it. She then noticed a book next to the cookie jar. And moved the book in front of her using her magic. It says 'Cooking for Beginners'. She turned to page 1 and saw a recipe for pancakes and the ingredients as well as instructions and a picture: 1 1/2 cup flour, 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 1/4 cup milk, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons of unsalted, molten butter,
She thought to herself 'Okay this is easy enough. Just mix the non-liquids together. Make a well in the center then add the liquids to the well and mix well'. She proceeded to first grab all the non-liquids together, the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. after that she added the right amount of dry ingredients into a bowl and started mixing it using her magic. However it did go as planned as she mixed the bowl too fast causing most of the content to spill out. She looked at her mistake and decided to try again.
This time she levitated a spatula into the bowl and mixed slowly until it was all well mixed. Happy with the result.
she first melted the butter using her heat magic after that she added that with the milk into a separated bowl, now she just needed to add the egg. She failed to properly crack 2 boxes of eggs before she finally added 1 egg into the separated bowl.
She then moved the ingredients from the separated bowl into well that she made in the first bowl. And proceeded to mix it until the mixture was thick.
Now that the mixture was a thick liquid she looked at the second step 'pour a little bit of oil in a preheated skillet. Then add some of the mixture to the pan. Flip the pancake atleast 4 time and place it on a plate. Sounds easy enough.'
She grabbed a small skillet out of the cupboard directly next to the stove. she proceeded heated the pan on high. She grabbed the oil from a nearby cupboard. Then added the oil to the pan, after waiting for a few moment for the pan to be hot enough.
She then proceeded to forget that the heat was on high which caused her first heaping on mixture in the pan to burn after she put some in. Not to mention she was looking at her book when she poured it in. After that incident she moved to lower the heat to medium and watched the mixture closely this time.
Her second attempt failed because she got impatient at the pancake and flipped it to soon, which caused her mixture to splash the wall behind the stove. Looking sheepish at this failure. She quickly wrote down that she needed to make sure that the pancake was stiff on both sides before attempting to flip.
She tried again. And this time the pancake was stiff enough when she attempt to flip the pancake. she successfully flipped this pancake 4 times before putting the pancake on a plate using her magic. Internally she celebrated. But when she looked closer at the pancake now on her plate. She noticed it thicker than normal, thus realizing she needed to add less mixture.
The pancake was also to dark, which suggest that she either needed to lower the heat further or bake the pancake shorter. She quickly wrote this down.
after that Twilight noticed that she made quite a mess around her in the kitchen. Not wanting to get punished, she quickly wrote down to clean every time after baking something.
For the next hour or so she used up her batter and made a total of 25 small pancakes. She was exhausted but still felt she shouldn't leave until she cleaned the kitchen. So for the next 30 minutes Twilight cleaned the kitchen while her pancakes were cooling down near a window.
after it was cool enough, she added some fresh berries and fruits to the pancake. Then adding the maple syrup and powdered sugar to the pancakes. she placed it in the living room and proceeded to eat her first creation. It was delicious but she felt like something was lacking. She couldn't figure it out. It wasn't the pancakes but perhaps it's because she was eating it alone.
After she was done, she cleaned her plate up and proceeded to move towards her room.
Once Twilight arrives at her room she looks around her book shelves for find a good book, when she spots a scale below her bed. She then levitates the scale from under her bed and checks if it still works. noticing that it still works and that it's on zero. She proceed to stand above it and Gasps 'I gain 5 kg?!' she thought shocked.
Walking off the scale she looks in a mirror and does notice that she indeed looks a little pudgy. Realizing this, she thought that after eating all those pancakes she should exercise those pancakes out of her system. Unless she wishes to become fat.
After that Twilight scrambles to her desk and takes a scroll out of her drawer. she then grabs a feather and dips it in ink. writing: 'Mom, I am going to go outside for some exercise, I will be back before dinner, Twilight', She then closes her scroll.
Grabbing a stamp out of the same drawer and putting a stamp on the scroll. then moving the scroll to the living room and placing it on the table. After that she moves towards the front door, unlocking said door to then move outside.
Once outside Twilight decides to go to the castle for the longest possible walking trip. As its on the other side of the city and it would do her quite good. On the way there she sees Music clean the restaurant where she ate the previous night. She also notice guards patrolling the city and giving her weird looks for walking around so early.
She then moves toward a vintage point to look how far away the castle still is. Noticing a market in front of her she decided to go take a detour before going to the castle.
Twilight calmly trod towards the morning market in the commercial district. When she arrives she notices lots of fruits and vegetable to her right. And to her left she sees lots of fish and meats being sold. She sees a griffon ambassador looking at the meats and fish. But also notices that he is about to buy a low quality meat.
"Hey, good sir!" Twilight shouts at the ambassador who looks at her surprised.
"Can i help you?" the Griffon asks confused.
"You are trying to buy some good meat correct?" Twilight asks.
The griffon nods and ask "That's correct young filly, Why? Is there something wrong with this chunk of meat?" He asked pointing at the chunk.
Twilight nods and says "Yes, this meat looks indeed quite marbled but it's made with low quality meat and is being sold for a unnecessarily high price."
The griffon looks at her then at the meat and ask "How do you know?" the shopkeeper on the other side of the stall starts to sweat, which the griffon also noticed.
Twilight points at the location of the bone "If this was truly good meat, the bone would be over the entire meat, not just in one shall section like right here." "Also there is an obvious sign that someone inserted the bone into the meat, instead of it being natural." Twilight explained.
The griffon looks at the bone and nods "Good catch young one, it is indeed low quality meat." He says while looking angrily at the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper sighs defeated "Okay, good sir. Pick any meat I have and it will be your for free. Just please don't tell anyone." He begs
The griffon and Twilight looks victorious. The griffon asks "So what is your name? young one."
"My name is Twilight sparkle, What is yours? good sir." Twilight asks politely
"My name is Vermouth Roux. Well now that you defeated the shopkeeper, could you choose a good meat for me?" Vermouth asks
twilight nodded and looked at his booth for a minute. disappointedly she says "Unless he's hiding some meats his "High quality meat store" is a scam" she says exactly as a guard passed her.
The guard stopped patrolling to look at the shopkeeper with narrowed eyes, which caused the shopkeeper to finch.
the shopkeeper looked at the guard, then to the filly, then towards the griffon and last to his manager on the other side of the street.
He signed and says "Okay I am hiding my high quality meat, please one moment" he turns around and grabs the biggest chunk of meat Twilight has ever seen. Even Vermouth was surprised to see that particular piece of meat.
"Please take this sir." he gave the meat to Vermouth, Vermouth scrambled to grab it when the guard lifted it for him. Vermouth looked at guard approvingly and pointed to the castle. The guard then saluted and walk off with the meat.
Vermouth turned to Twilight and says "Take this badge, if you ever need me for something. Just use that badge."
Twilight then thanked Vermouth and moved on while waving at him.
After like 2 hours of walking she finally arrives. Just she was about to enter a guard stopped her and shouted "Hold! You are not allowed to pass!"
Twilight looks confused at the two guards and asks "Why not? I am here to see Princess Cadence."
The guard looks more closely at her. Afterwards he shook his head "I am sorry, Twilight, the princesses requested some privacy." the guard stated.
Twilight looking sad and was about to walk away when she bumped into a chef holding food for Cadence. Immediately after that the chef lost his concentration over his levitation, which caused the food to fall to the ground. The chef turns to see who he bumped into and angrily shouts "Oi! Watch where you are going! You made me drop food for Princess Cadence!"
Twilight makes herself small and says scared "I am sorry sir." the guard looks at Twilight then proceeds to stare at the chef, who immediately noticed the stare and hmpfed looking away from the guard.
Twilight looks at the food then at the chef. She then slowly stands up more comfortably and asks "Perhaps I could help you get some new food for her. Can I help you make something new for her? We would be faster together"
The chef looks at her and sighs "Thank you young child, but this is cooking for grown adults." he stated
"But I know what Cadence likes to eat!" Twilight shouted
The chef raised his eyebrow at the lack of princess in that sentence. He then looks at his food still on the ground "Fine! But you will do exactly as I say, understood?" Twilight nodded her small head up and down. "Good! Then come with me."
Twilight and the chef practically ran towards the kitchen and as she entered the chef immediately order Twilight to wash her hooves and face. Twilight doing as was told also put on a kitchen outfit in the process.
"First you need to grab some bread and cut it horizontally." "With this bread knife." The chef said showing her a knife with teeth, Twilight grabbed the knife in her magic and slowly cut a near perfect slice of bread and then another piece. The chef looks impressed at how fast Twilight acted on the request and the near perfect slice of bread. While he was working on a salad in the background.
"Then put some strawberry jam on the bottom, with a butterknife" "And add pieces brie on it." the chef stated as Twilight scrambled to grab the jam and a butterknife for the job. she then though that she made a mistake, for adding too much jam on to the slice bread. The chef altho noticing it, said nothing as Cadence liked lots of jam on her bread. Twilight then also put about 3 slices of 1 cm thick brie. The chef nodded in approval.
"Add some Rucola and some cherry tomatoes" the chef requested, Twilight added the Rucola then paused as she remember Cadence experience with cherry tomatoes.
"But Cadence does not like cherry tomatoes, I do know she like cucumber, should I substitute?" Twilight requested, the chef looked at her and thought about it...
"Okay, that is a good substitute for the tomatoes, but only and 5 slices of cucumber then." the chef stated approvingly.
Twilight then added the cucumber and then looked at the chef pointing to the second slice. The chef nodded. Twilight then placed the slice on top.
"Final task, cut the sandwich in two and putting in on this pre prepped plate." the chef said approvingly while he finished up his egg salad.
Twilight cut it in two and placed on a pre prepped plate, the chef then grabbed both the sandwich as well as the salad in his magic. beaconing Twilight to come join him in serving the dish to Princess Cadence.
Cadence meanwhile started to get impatient and ask the guard "Where is he? It's been 30 minutes!"
The guard looked at Cadence and spoke "He had a minor incident at the front gate. He should be here any minute."
Cadence eyes narrow on the guard and ask "What incident?" The guard nervously looked at Cadence. It reminded her of her previous mistake in the public canteen.
"The chef bumped into Twilight, causing him lose focus on levitating the food. Thus dropping the food to the ground." The guard stated anxiously.
Cadence eyes widen and asked "How did that happen?"
"It's because you asked for privacy, so the guards didn't let her in and as she was about to leave she bumped into the chef." the guard simply stated.
Cadence hmm-ed until there was a knock on the door, "Come in!" Cadence shouted
The chef AND Twilight entered the room with some food, Twilight still had a chef's outfit on as she entered, which caused Cadence to looked worried at Twilight. The chef casually placed the food in front of her. Then both the chef and Twilight bowed about to leave the room.
"Twilight wait! You stay here. I would like to chat with the chef at a later date. But you have to stay here and explain yourself." Cadence said
This caused Twilight to turn around with a sheepish smile. which caused the chef to raise an eyebrow. The chef then left while Twilight walked towards Cadence.
Cadence then told the guard to remove Twilight's outfit and asked for them to be left alone. The guard saluted and proceeded to remove Twilight's outfit and leave the room.
Cadence was about to speak when Twilight was faster "Cadence, first please eat your sandwich! You can't think straight when you are hungry." Twilight begged.
Cadence looked at her sandwich then at Twilight. She sighed at took a bite in her sandwich. She was surprised to taste a lot more jam than she usually does, and for a moment ignored Twilight to eat her sandwich.
When Cadence was done she asked "Did you make this?"
Twilight nodded smiling "All tho I think I added too much jam on it."
Cadence smiled when she saw Twilight say that "You silly filly! I like lots of jam on my sandwich always" Cadence said hugging Twilight.
Twilight looked surprised and said "I also choose to added cucumber instead of cherry tomatoes for you!"
Cadence face for a moment went grim when she heard cherry tomatoes, then she smiled and said "At this rate you would become my personal chef" she said jokingly
Twilight eyes lit up at the idea. She thought about it. 'So I love eating food, but I also like making it. Not to mention I get this warm feeling when I see people smile when they eat my food'
Cadence noticed that Twilight took that joke at lot more serious than intended. So she too thought about it and came to the conclusion that Twilight was a surprisingly good chef for her age. Not to mention she somehow knew food better than most. Even tho she always thought that Twilight was a bookworm. No that was not quite right, She has all the traits of a foodie and yet why did she think that she was a bookworm? Yes, she saw her read a lot of books, but she also ate as much books as she read.
Cadence shook her head then she asked Twilight "Want to learn how to cook?"
"Would you to learn how to cook?" Cadence question rang through Twilight's head as it froze Twilight. Cadence noticing Twilights lack of response, she asks "Is everything alright? Twilight?"
Twilight however still didn't responded as she was too busy thinking about it. She could become Cadence's student but that didn't make any sense as she knows that Cadence was not a good chef. Yet she still would love to learn it. so for a minute of silence later she fought about the idea.
"But I thought you said you couldn't cook?" Twilight asks confused.
Cadence looks at her then started to laugh loudly. She continued to laugh for atleast thirty more second, while Twilight looked even more confused at her. When she was done laughing she said "Of course I won't teach you! But I do have someone in mind for you to learn from."
Twilight looked at her and asked "Who?"
Cadence then called a guard, the guard entered the room and she asked "Bring Royal Chef in here." the guard saluted and moved to go beacon him towards Cadence.
After a few moments of waiting he entered "You called for me? Your Highness." Royal stated bowingly.
"You can stand Royal. I want you to meet Twilight. Twilight this is Royal. He is the current head chef that works in the public canteen." Cadence introduced.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Twilight! My name is Royal Chef." he says as he moves his hoof forward.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, Nice to meet you" Twilight says has shakes his hoof politely. "Wait a minute! You are the chef from yesterday that made the food in the public canteen?" Twilight asked shocked.
"That is correct, I am also the head chef that works in the restaurant "The Royal Star"." Royal explained.
This caused Twilight to be stunned into shock. Royal noticed this and looked at Cadence for assistance.
"She was both in the public canteen as well as the restaurant yesterday." Cadence explained which causes Royal to widen his eyes.
"She was the filly at table 3, that pick up on the lack of quality. And also the one who caused the public canteen reserve to be emptied, in one day." Royal said widening his eyes at the coincidence.
"Wait, is that why the canteen suddenly order a bunch of ingredients?" Cadence asked.
"That is correct. Tonight the griffon ambassador Vermouth Roux is holding feest. He also asked us to prep the largest high quality meat I have ever seen. Something he obtained at the morning market." Royal explained while Twilight suspiciously looked away at the mention of the meat.
"Anyways the reason I ask you to come. Is because I was wondered if you were interested at teaching Twilight here, how to cook?" Cadence asked.
Royal looked at Twilight who was still acting suspicious. Cadence and Royal raised their eyebrow at the display. then Royal asked "What's wrong twilight?"
Twilight immediately recollected herself and said "Nothing! I just was thinking about the me-" Twilight twitchingly cut herself off.
Cadence looked at Twilight with narrowed eyes "What did you do?" she asked.
Twilight signed "Well I may or may not have helped Vermouth obtain that meat at the morning market." Twilight said defeated.
Royal eyes widen for third time at Twilight "What happened?" Royal asked surprised.
"I noticed that he was about to buy a block of overpriced low quality meat, then I showed him why it was low quality after which I helped him obtain the high quality meat. After that encounter the shopkeeper gave us the meat. I also found out that that booth was ripping off their customers, which of course helped us obtain the meat also." Twilight explained.
Cadence smiled approvingly "Good job Twilight! I am proud of you." as she gave Twilight a hug.
"Well as I was saying, I was wondering if you are willing to teach Twilight how to cook?" Cadence asked.
"I would love to. But that will have to wait after tonight. As I am too busy for that today. Not to mention. It's been a long time since I worked with meat of such high quality and size." Royal stated approvingly.
"I understand. But I have some connections within the farmer market. I could get some good quality vegetables and fruit faster if you need me to?" Twilight asked.
Cadence was surprised to hear it. as Royal spoke "Yes, I would like that. I still only need some high quality carrots. If you could get me some that would help greatly"
Twilight nodded and immediately left to get those carrot she quickly turned around and asked "How many?"
"I need atleast 10 kg" Royal shouted.
Twilight then ran to the exit. And then to an old friend which she hoped was on the farmers market.
As she ran towards the market which turned into a farmers market, since it wasn't morning anymore. She saw that the market now expanded to sell items internationally. There were atleast hundredths of booths in circles around wells and lining the streets around the commercial district. She also noticed more and more vegetable selling booths.
Not to mention it was filled with a massive crowd of different types of people. From pony's to griffons and then some. However despite the busy nature of the area, Twilight moved around like she owns the place. As she have atleast fifty connections in the farmers market.
She searched the then many carrot shops for her connection person and then she saw one of her friends.
"Hey Carrot Top!" Twilight shouted over the crowd.
Carrot looked towards her and waved "Hey Twilight, How are you doing?"
"I am fine, I am actually here for some business." Twilight said.
Carrot looked at her and asked "Oh? Here for some carrots?"
Twilight nodded "But it's for a high quality client, so I need the best of the best carrots you have. The bill will be sent to the castle." Twilight explained.
Carrot widen her eyes then she poked her mother who was listening in "So, how many?"
"I need 10 kg of high quality carrots delivered asap. They need it tonight." Twilight explained.
Carrot's mother widen her eyes "How soon?"
"If possible right now." Twilight explained.
Carrot looked at their brought supply and saw that she bought 20 kg of normal carrots and only 1 kg of high quality ones. "I only have 1 kg of them but we do have 9 kg back home, how are we going to solve that?" she asked herself.
Twilight noticing her uncertainty, looked around for some guards. she saw one guard near a security booths close to one of the intersections and moved toward the guard.
"sir?" Twilight asked to get his attention.
The guard looked around, then down to see Twilight "Can I help you?"
"Yes, we need 9 kg of high quality carrots moved from Ponyville to Canterlot. And I need you guys assistance with it." Twilight said as she showed the medal the ambassador gave her. The guards eyes widen and nodded. Twilight then pointed towards Carrot top's mother.
The guard approaches her and asks where her farm is and a receipt of proof that is bought it. She gave the guard the receipt and the guard approaches her commander in the background who nodded at Twilight.
the commander and an army of guards moved towards Ponyville the obtain those carrots.
Twilight looks back at Carrot. "It's a pleasure doing business with you." Twilight said politely.
Carrot looks at Twilight "The pleasure is all mine" she says back.
Twilight then trod towards the guard with her medal to tell them where to send it. The guard nodded. Twilight then makes her way back to the castle.
Back at the castle, Twilight walks towards the kitchen and enters.
The kitchen was chaotic with chefs all over the place. She quickly looked around to find Royal and to look at the kitchen. The kitchen had porcelain tiles on the floor and walls, with some wall also containing metal sheets. She sniffed a soup pan on a stove and noticed it contained vegetable soup and she secretly add a tiny wisk of salt.
Twilight still searching for Royal notices atleast 6 stoves, 12 ovens and atleast a dozen stove tops. Knives were hanging from the wall as she saw atleast 6 fridges in the back, and also a weird looking metal door. After wandering for a bit she sees Royal in the back near a oven and some cupboard. She also notice him making some kind of sauce.
She walks towards Royal as other chefs dodge her while she moves around.
"Hey, Royal!" Twilight shouted over the kitchen.
Royal looks down to see Twilight approach him "Hey Twilight, How is that carrot delivery going?"
"The guard will deliver the carrots any minute now." Twilight said. as soon as she finish her sentence the guards entered the backdoor with atleast 4 earth ponies carrying the 10 kg of carrots.
"There they are! I sent the bill to the castle." Twilight stated smiling
Royal nodded and pointed the guards where to place the carrots. He then proceeded to look at every carrot for their quality. He picked on up and asked "Where did you get this? It's really good quality."
"That is a trade secret." Twilight said mysteriously smiling. Royal looked at her with a knowing smile.
"Anyways, thanks to you. We are able to complete every dish in time." he says looking at the clock in the kitchen. "Before you go home as it's quite late. Remember to report yourself to the pubic canteen kitchen. Tomorrow at 7 O'clock for your first lesson" Twilight nodded and wrote it down.
Twilight said her goodbyes to the people in the kitchen and walked towards the farmers market for the final time that day.
While moving towards home, she looked at the farmers market one more time. when she notice something catch her eye. It only cost 1 bit which she luckily have, thanks to searching her hair for one.
it was an ultra rare, ultra high quality bag of salt from the frozen north back when the crystal empire still existed. She didn't hesitate to buy that item immediately.
after that amazing encounter, she quickly headed home as the sun started to go down.
2 hours later nearly back at home, she was exhausted and very hungry as she entered her home to an angry father and a disappointed mother.
"Where have you been, Twilight sparkle?!" Night practically shouting.
Twilight flinched and said "At the castle with Cadence"
Velvet raised her eyebrow to also look closer at Twilight. to see if see was lying. Noticing nothing that suggest she was lying. She sighed.
"Next time just tell us okay?" Velvet begged.
Twilight nodded "I am sorry mom, I am sorry daddy." Twilight said hugging them both as they hugged her back.
"Anyways what are we eating today?" Twilight asked excited. Causing Night to shake his head, while velvet giggles at her question.
"Today we going to eat pasta Carbonara." Velvet stated. Twilight's eyes lit up at it.
"Something new?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, we got the idea after reading the book you left open on the counter top" Velvet said narrow her eyes at twilight.
"Yes, what did you do with the book, Twilight?" Night asked serious.
Twilight looked at them both and said "Nothing, just some reading on cooking" she answered nervously.
"Including the maple syrup, that was still on the page?" Velvet answered raising her eye.
Twilight signed defeat again "Okay, so I made some pancakes following the recipe" Twilight admitted.
"And?" Velvet asked.
"I did succeed at making my first batch of small pancakes" Twilight said a bit more excited.
Night smiled at Twilight and hugged her "That is my little girl, already making her first homemade pancakes" He stated.
"Very good Twilight! Come help me make that carbonara. It's on page 256" Velvet state looking at Twilight, while also moving towards the kitchen.
As Twilight and Velvet enters the kitchen, Twilight takes another good look around the kitchen. She sees that there are more cupboards then she previously though she saw and that they are all filled up with lots of cooking ingredients. On one of the counter tops she sees a knife block which is used to store their knives safely into it. Next to it she also sees a bowl with a selection of fruits in it.
Following Velvet eyes, she sees the ingredients laid out before them. Velvet then proceeds to grab the cookbook out of the cupboard with the cookie jar to put it on a book holder. She then moves the pages till they are on page 256.
"Okay Twilight. Why don't you start out by cooking the pasta in a pan with hot water." Velvet tasks Twilight.
Twilight first looks at the cookbook then she grabs a soup pan and fills it with hot water from the sink. Then she puts it on the stove and lights the stove with her magic. "Should I first let the water become boiling temperature before putting in the pasta?" Twilight asks Velvet.
Velvet nods "It doesn't say that in the cookbook but yes. In fact the basic of cooking tells that you should always take a cookbook with a grain of salt. The reason being that it sometimes doesn't tell you the right course of action." Velvet explains "Of course if you are in a kitchen however, you should to follow that recipe to a T. Or risk lowering the quality of the dish. Something that your gast and boss won't like."
Twilight nods as she proceeds to wait 10 minutes till the water is boiling. She then carefully places the pasta inside and adds a butt load of salt into.
Velvet raised her eyebrow at this "What are you doing?"
"I was told that when you add lots of salt, not only will you get better tasting pasta, but you also make it cook faster to a certain degree." Twilight answered.
"I see. Well anyways while that is cooking. Please mix some heavy cream and some grated parmesan cheese into a bowl." Velvet tasks while she is cutting some vegetables for a greek salad.
Twilight immediately put some of both into a bowl then she mixes it till it becomes a whole mixture. She also adds some parsley to the mixture along side some salt and pepper.
Velvet looks at the pasta. Seeing that it's done, she quickly grabbed a strain and proceeds to dump the pasta through the strain. She then puts it back into the pan after all the water left the pasta.
Twilight then proceeds to put the mixture with the pasta without being asked to. She also starts mixing it really well.
In the meantime Velvet finishes her salad up and moves it to the table. Night who was sitting right there, decks the table with plates and cutlery.
Twilight being done with mixing. moves the pan to the dinner table and proceeds to put some on her plate, together with some greek salad. her parents do the same.
Twilight then tastes the salad and notices that it's missing something. Thinking about it her face suddenly lights up and she ran into the kitchen. Her parents looked confused at her reaction and patiently wait for her to return. While also taking a small bite out of the salad.
Once she is in the kitchen, she grabs a new bowl. She grabs a honey bottle, and a pot of gardening spices from a cabinet. And she also grabbed some greek yogurt from the fridge.
She mixes the yogurt with the spices and the honey. Not forgetting to also add some salt and pepper to the mixture. With the greek yogurt sauce complete she moves it into a bottle. then proceeded to move the bottle back to the dinner table. Where her parents look at the bottled sauce she just made on a whim.
Twilight then puts some sauce into her salad. She mixes it then takes a new bit out of it.
Her parents meanwhile also do the same thing, Velvet tastes the salad now with sauce and is surprised by it heavy but refreshing taste along side of the vegetables. Night also looks surprised at the salad then at Twilight.
Night then asks "Twilight, perhaps you would like to learn how to cook? We certain would love to teach you."
Velvet approving of it "Indeed. We certainly could take the time out of our jobs to teach you." she says.
Twilight shakes her head "I already am going on a cooking lesson from a professional chef that works in the castle." Twilight taking another bite "Cadence set it up for me. I am to arrive at the public canteen kitchen at 7 in the morning"
Night and Velvet looks at each other then nodded "We approve of it Twilight. But who will teach you? This also means you have to go to bed after this. No more books for today or you will be late the next day." Velvet stated
Twilight nods afterwards proceeds to eat this new dish. She tastes that the carbonara is a thick yet fluffy cheesy pasta. The pepper and salt really shines in this dish she noticed. While the greek salad creates a conflict with the carbonara. As it's also thick, but it also has some refreshing taste to it. She grabs a scroll and notes down 'You should not serve carbonara with a greek salad for it's a too thick of a dish.' "A chef called Royal Chef. He currently works as a head chef for both the public canteen as well as "The Royal Star" restaurant"
Her parents looks shocked at her then nodded "I wish you good luck then. I hope is not too serious on you." Velvet stated.
Twilight nodded then quickly finishes up and proceeds to go to the bathroom upstairs. As she enters the bathroom which had marble tiles all over the room. She quickly notes that the bath is still dirty as well as the shower in the corner.
Going towards the sink she brushes her teeth and washes her face. Leaving the bathroom to go to her bedroom. Once inside her bedroom she moves towards her fluffy bed and she sets up her alarm clock at 6 O'clock in the morning which is besides her bed on a nightstand.
She then enters her bed laying her surprisingly heavy head on her bed and falls asleep instantly when her head touches the cushion.
"RINNNNNNNNNGGGGGG!!!" as her alarm clock rings. Twilight slowly wakes up and moves to stop her alarm clock. She then quickly washes up and grabs a light snack. Which is a slice of bread with some jam on it. She then quickly ran around town towards the castle.
As she arrives she looks at the clock and sees the it's 6:45 in the morning. She was 15 minutes too early but nevertheless she ran towards the backdoor of the kitchen and enters.
When she got inside she saw that Royal was already standing there with his kitchen outfit on. Twilight proceeds to walk to the locker room to quickly put on a kitchen outfit. For some reason they already had a kitchen outfit of her size which caused Twilight to raise her eyebrow at it. Shaking her head she puts it on and re-enters the kitchen.
"You are on time Twilight" Royal said approvingly "Today's lesson contains making a vegetable soup." he says to wasting a moment.
"However I won't help you, I want to see what you are capable of." Royal tasks
Twilight simply nods her head. but Royal wasn't done "You see that small kitchen in the back? That is your workstation. It has everything you need to make any dish, from a stove to a small fridge. Just remember that the food is stored in those fridges and shelves over there and in the freezer behind the metal door." Royal states while pointing first at the workstation then at the fridges, shelves and freezer.
Twilight nodded again and asks "How fast would you like me to make it?"
"Both as fast as possible, with the best possible care you can give it. If it's good enough we will give it to the soldiers at breakfast." Royal stated as he walked away to do some administrative tasks.
Twilight saluted and rushed towards the fridges. She grabs mountain lettuce, tomatoes, green unions, a pumpkin, some potatoes, and a whole bunch of spices from the cupboards next to the fridges. From the fridges themselves she simply looks in them as she didn't need anything from them. At last she looks in the freezer but she also didn't need anything from it. However she did see that it only contained meat.
"Also Twilight, we weren't able to use all the meat from the party, all the meat in that giant freezer is all the leftover meat. If you have an idea of how to use some of it, I would love to hear it." Royal said before closing the door to his office as Twilight left the freezer.
"I will think about it after I am done with the soup." Twilight said back but he didn't hear it.
Twilight afterwards quickly moved to her workbench. She then grabs a wooden cutting board from a drawer. She also grabs a big cutting knife out of the knives block that's to her right. She also searches the cabinet to grab the biggest soup pan she could find and fill it with hot water. then places it on her stove. She puts the heat on medium while she adds her spices to the pan.
She adds: a tablespoon of salt and pepper, a teaspoon of cayenne, a teaspoon of parsley, two bay leaves, some fresh basil, a teaspoon of celery powder and as last a teaspoon of garlic powder, to her soup.
After taste testing her soup she closes the lid and proceeds to cut her vegetable into to pieces. She minces the lettuce. She also cuts the tomato in half cuts. The green unions she minces really fine and the pumpkin she cuts into small cubes. However she only used half the pumpkin, the other half she puts in plastic wrap and back onto the shelf next to the fridge.
The potatoes she put in a different deep pan and puts it on the stove. It cooks much faster because of the size of the pan. Then the soup that is in a much larger pan. It still wasn't cooking, despite being on it for like 10 minutes now. After it was done cooking for a much smaller period of time, she removes the water out of the pan. Then she puts the potatoes in an ice bath so that she can peel skin of the potatoes. She then cuts it into small cubes.
Realizing her workstation is a mess. She quickly add every vegetable and potato into a single large bowl. And proceeds to clear out her workstation by cleaning everything she isn't using. Placing her cleaned items back where they belong.
She quickly checks her soup to see that it's boiling and carefully adds her remaining ingredients into the soup pan. She then lowers the heat to a simmer as she cleans the remaining items from her workstation.
Being done and having to wait till the soup is ready. She decides to watches other chefs work in the kitchen. She then noticed something interesting. She sees that a selected amount of chefs only work at one side of the kitchen. They appear to be primarily baking items near some very hot stoves. On the other hoof she sees on the other side of the side of the kitchen to be primarily busy prepping the ingredients then levitating the required a ingredients to the chef who needs on the other side so that they can cook in sync without being disturbed.
While looking at this, she realized that they are a well oiled machine of ponies work who work on a single dish. She then quickly realizes that she is far from being a true chef. Not only that, but she also realizes that her task is not only to test her skill but also character. since she is noble and her co-workers are all not noble, they might not like nobles. Since they might mess with the kitchen while they are doing their best. One such pony would be Blueblood. He would give nobles in a kitchen setting a bad name.
However it probably wasn't only nobles messing with the kitchen. But also Cadence as she was known to be very critical of the food that is delivered to her.
On the other hoof however. There are also nobles that do give them a good name. Such names as Royal Chef and Fancy Pants are ponies on the other side of the spectrum. They are loved by chefs. And they are good ponies in return.
Sadly Twilight woke from her stupor when she sees Blueblood arrive at the kitchen. From a distance she saw that Blueblood was angry because someone added an ingredient that Blueblood hates in his favourite dish which was an avocado salad with oddly hayfries.
"Who made this?!" Blueblood shouts.
Twilight suddenly had a bad feeling about this as he looked towards one of the chefs. She looked for Royal but he was gone from the kitchen as he had some administrative tasks to do. Twilight realizing her impending doom she quickly grabbed all the ingredients for a avocado salad she thought it might have, including spices. She then quickly whipped up a new avocado salad in less than 3 minutes. If someone was paying attention, she would have broken a few academy records for how fast she successfully made it.
Her doom she saw coming was immediately realized when a chef shouted.
"She made it!" the chef points towards Twilight who flinches at the intensity of the shout.
Blueblood too angry to think straight approaches Twilight. "You better make me a new one, you ruffian!" he said enraged.
Twilight however didn't back down "I already did! After I saw you entering the kitchen." Twilight said as she presented it to Blueblood.
Blueblood realizing who he just accused, looks at her dish. He levitates it out of her grip and eats it right where he stood.
He stood there for a moment. Then he looked at Twilight approvingly and shouts "Now this is how you make a an avocado salad!"
"But in all seriousness, Who made that dish?" Blueblood said calmly after he finished his dish. He then proceeded to give Twilight his plate.
Twilight quickly clean his plate and looks at her soup which was finished. She quickly put it on low heat and watched as Blueblood complains to the actual chef who made the dish.
"What is your name?" Blueblood suddenly asks Twilight.
Twilight who quickly was brought out her stupor "Twilight sparkle, Your highness." Twilight said politely as she bowed.
"Very well Twilight Sparkle. You did well making that dish as I noticed you added a few ingredients from which was mostly spices. I also had the feeling you didn't know how to make it, so you grabbed a picture and made it based on said picture, correct?" Blueblood questioned.
"That is correct, your highness" Twilight answered.
Blueblood impressed by her ability "Perhaps next time I will ask you to make me a dish. In the meantime it was good meeting you." Blueblood stated as he walked out the kitchen.
When Blueblood was gone, the chefs looked at Twilight approvingly. One of them walked towards her. "So your name is Twilight, huh?" the chef that stood on the baking side of the kitchen asked.
"That is correct, once again." Twilight simply replied
"My name is Sundown Keeper. I am the sóus chef of the kitchen. I primarily oversee the hot side of the kitchen." Sundown explained "Thank you for defusing the situation. I saw you preparing that salad in the background and I must say I am impressed that under those circumstances you were able to whip up that dish in less than 5 minutes."
Twilight blushed "No problem, I knew the kitchen didn't trust me, so I acted quickly" Twilight said
"Well not anymore! The kitchen appreciates ponies that are willing to do things to improve our relationships with our clients." Sundown states "Welcome to the kitchen, Twilight sparkle!" He shouts
"Thank you. Say, where is Royal? I completed his task in making a vegetable soup." Twilight asks while looking at Sundown.
Sundown looks at her, then proceeds to grab a spoon and tastes her soup. "The soup tastes amazing, Twilight! Good job. We will serve this to the guards since we are about to have morning rush." He states.
"Don't worry about Royal! I will tell him. Why don't you sit back and watch us work. You aren't quite ready to help us with this." Sundown asks
"Okay. I will take a break." Twilight answered
Sundown nodded and shouted "Rush hour is about to start! Get ready everypony!"
The kitchen suddenly became a war zone. As chefs and other staff members shout over each other. Plates were flying all over the place. Prep chefs suddenly chopped their vegetables ten times faster. The hot side of the kitchen got 3 times hotter. She then heard ponies on the other side of the shutter.
Royal enters the kitchen a moment later. He sees Twilight taking a break. As he is about to talk to Twilight he is interrupted by Sundown. They chat for a bit then Royal looks approvingly towards Twilight. He then rushed forward to get her soup ready for serving by plating it up.
Then the shutter slowly open up. Once it was fully opened up, the war zone turned even more chaotic. As Sundown approached Twilight "Twilight. Could you please make a lot more soup? One of our prep chefs will watch you make it." he asked
"Okay." Twilight answered as proceeds to grab ever soup pan she could find. She proceeds to place 5 of them on the stove all filled with hot water, and one small deep pan also with hot water as she restarts her process.
This sequence of events continued till the end of the lunch break. Her soup was really popular. It was well spiced and quite filling which really suited many guards preferences. They were after all standing around doing the heavy lifting. Twilight who noticed this, wrote it down that most guards appreciates filling dishes and that the spices were an added bonus.
Royal, who finally was done for the day, approaches Twilight "Hey Twilight! Today went very well, didn't it?" He asked
Twilight who was exhausted said "Yep, I was a lot of fun! But I am exhausted."
Royal laughed "Of course. Kitchen work is very work intensive. However for your first time in a real kitchen, you did really well." Royal praised "Of course it would be around right now that you go home. However I want to give you some money. You did so well that if I didn't give some bits for today's work, the other chefs might start complaining." he said smilingly.
"Here, take 50 bits! Thanks to you for the second time in a week, we ran out of ingredients" Royal praised as he gave her the bits.
Twilight who looked too exhausted to fight over the bits, that she decided to just take them. "Can you help me get back home? I am too exhausted" She asked
"Actually Cadence will move you back home. She was here a second ago. Right now she should be preparing a carriage." Royal said.
Cadence walked in a moment or two later "Come Twilight. The carriage is waiting." Cadence stated.
Twilight calmly walked with Cadence to the carriage as soon as she sat down her eyes grew too heavy as she fell asleep with her head laying on Cadence. Cadence smiled when she noticed this. Cadence then simply brushed her hair in the process.
Twilight wakes up in her bed and immediately gets a sense of Deja-vu. However she wasn't bothered by instead she decides to go wash up in the bathroom. The events of yesterday still fresh in her mind. She once again entered the marble tile filled bathroom. She sees that the bath is clean, the same goes for the shower. She quickly smells herself but she was surprisingly clean. With no reason the bath or to take a shower she decides to go and brush her teeth and wash her face instead. She then brushes her hair into perfection while looking in the mirror above the sink. when she is done she goes downstairs to the living room.
Once she was downstairs, she looks around while she thinking more about yesterday. looking through the window she spots something through the window that normally isn't there before. It was raining today, tho that in itself is not all that interesting. However she sees a blue filly lay on the ground near her house. Wondering who that filly was, She looks closer to see the filly laying unconscious in the rain
Uncertain about her identity and spotting some rough ponies approach the filly, causes her to have panic fill her body as she ran upstairs to see if her brother is home. Opening his door he sees him sleeping peacefully.
"Shiny!" Twilight shouts in his ear.
Shining armor didn't even flinch nor even react to her shouting. Unsure of what to do. she thinks of a methode. Realizing that he is in the military, she puts up her best commander voice.
"Shining Armor! Why are you sleeping on duty?!" Twilight asked using a gruff imitated voice.
Shining woke up instantly causing Twilight to flinch at abrupt action. He then looks around his bedroom with panic when he spot Twilight standing in his bedroom.
Grumpily Shining asked "Twilight? Why did you wake me up? This better be good."
"There is a blue filly laying unconscious in the rain outside! But I see some bad ponies nearby that want to harm her. Can you please go help her?" Twilight plead ignoring his uncertain stare.
"Okay, okay. Where is she?" Shining asks more serious then before.
Twilight and Shining then walks down the stairs. Twilight then approaches the window and points outside towards the blue filly and the bad ponies.
Shining looks outside and also sees the filly. Shining checks her exact location one more time before opens the front door and run outside. Using his barrier, he blocks the rain from hitting him and the filly when he arrives. However he notices more bad ponies approach him and the filly. They are all heavily armed with spears and weapons.
Twilight sees the bad guys approach Shining. He then realized that if someone doesn't get him back-up, he would get a bad time.
Twilight who also realized Shining's panic. Runs outside to use an ability Shining taught her in her past. The ability is called Flare, it's used by the guards to beacon all the guards to his/her position. However in Twilight's panic she uses too much magic in the ability. This caused the flare to turn into a alert beacon instead. The beacon hits the sky and cause the entire guard to get alerted instead. Including Celestia who was nearby in the area.
Shining realised she used a beacon instead of a flare. turns to his adversaries. He sees a lot more hostile ponies arrive. Just as they were about to attack, Celestia turned the corner to see what was happening and quickly used levitation. one of the hostile ponies attempted to use smite on Celestia. However she diverted the attack into the clouds. Causing every cloud in the area to instantly blast away. Which also caused the rain to immediately stop.
The guard now fully aware something bad is happening. Decides to deploy the entire guard into that area.
Twilight seeing this was about to go to Shining when she was hit by a spell from behind. This caused her to scream in pain. The guard now fully aware of the situation didn't hesitate but to rain down hell on the adversaries. Celestia noticing the guards sudden aggressive attack, blinked. Shining too blinked as atleast one hundred guards descend on their position.
Twilight annoyed at the hostile attacker, who was busy fighting 6 guards, decided it was not worth it.
She shouts towards Shining "Get that filly into our house! She is in danger out here!" Shining blinked then acted on the request. Celestia threw the hostile ponies towards the guards and also ran inside.
Once inside Twilight feels something weird about the filly and scans her. Realising she has a curse that can be purified, She turns to Shining who was just standing there "Shining! Can you please use purify on her?" Twilight asked.
Shining nodded and used the spell on her. After a few moment later you heard a spell break. And the hostile ponies immediately stopped fighting.
Celestia noticed this and decided to order the guards to arrest every single pony involved with the assault.
Twilight scanner pick up a signal from Ponyville library. "Princess! The librarian in Ponyville is likely the culprit. My scanner pick her up when the spell broke." Twilight said.
Celestia nodded and sent a signal to the guard in Ponyville to go and arrest her.
A few moment later, confirmed that she was indeed behind it. Celestia and Shining signed relieved. Twilight meanwhile was still busy scanning the filly for injuries.
"Princess? Could you please bring her to Ponyville Hospital? I detect that is most likely lives where she lives. Altho my scanner picks no injuries up, it's possible that she is atleast mentally injured." Twilight asked.
Celestia blinked then nodded grabbing the filly in her magic and teleported away.
"However are you okay-" Shining was about ask, when out of nowhere a field doctor entered the house and checked her out.
The field doctor looks at Twilight and sees no injuries, decides that she's fine. He then writes a report. Giving it to Shining and leaving the house to then the injured guards.
Shining looks at the report. He then smiled and puts it in his work bag. He looks up and sees the beacon still active.
"Twilight? Could you turn off the beacon?" Shining asks.
Twilight nods and turned the beacon off.
"Twilight. Next time please try and cast that flare spell instead okay?" Shining asked.
Twilight nodded as they left the front door to go to the living room.
Now that the excitement is over. Twilight lazily lays on the couch and looks at Shining to ask "Hey Shining? Do you want me to make some breakfast?"
"Sure, Twi. But we don't have bread or cereal how are we going to eat breakfast without it?" Shining asks.
"I will enter the kitchen to think of something." Twilight answered causing to Shining nod.
Twilight entering the kitchen looks around for anything good to eat. When she looked toward the foodbowl she noticed that the fruit bowl was overflowing with fruit. Twilight thought about it. 'I could perhaps make a smoothie, unless we have yogurt. Then we will make a parfait'
she looks in the fridge and noticed lots of savory drinks including a unopened pack of yogurt.
Afterwards she looks in the cupboards and sees that they contain a pack granola among many other things. Twilight then decides to make a parfait with lots of fruit.
Twilight begins making the parfait by grabbing 4 large glass cups and places them in a row. She then grabs a apple, a banana, an orange from the bowl. She also grabs a pre-cut pieces of watermelon from the fridge.
Grabbing a cutting board and large knife she begins by peeling and cutting every fruit into small cubes. She puts them in a bowl and mixing them until a spoon holds a good selection of fruits when she grabs some. Satisfied, she grabs the granola and a honey bottle from the cupboard, and the yogurt from the fridge.
Putting the yogurt and honey in a mixing bowl. She mixes them till you can't see the honey, then she starts layering into the cup.
First some yogurt, then some granola and then the fruit. She does this till there are four layers in each cup.
when she is done her parents came downstairs to eat breakfast. Only to find Twilight in the kitchen and Shining in the dinner room.
Twilight then proceeded to carefully place every cup on the dinner table while Shining, Velvet and Night waited patiently.
"I made 4 cups of Yogurt Fruit Parfait." Twilight presented
She then proceeds in giving everyone a spoon with an assortment of fruit already on the spoon.
Shining and Twilight immediately started to eat the parfait while her parents looked at each other.
Velvet asked "What happened outside?"
Night also asked "We heard fighting?"
Shining looked up as Twilight is still eating the parfait. "Well, we got in a bit of a pickle when we were about to save somepony. It ended with Twilight setting off a beacon which caused about a hundred guards to descent on our position. We don't know everything that happened, but we saved a fillies life and got the suspect arrested." Shining answered.
Velvet raised her eyebrow at the short explanation but decided not to comment further on it. While Night blinked then started to eat the parfait.
Twilight finishing her parfait then asks "So, about yesterday. Is there any update from Royal?"
Shining looks at Twilight "Well, yes. He says that after yesterday, you have what it takes to learn from him." Shining explained "He also said that the learning won't happen in that kitchen however. Actually he asked that you should go to him in the public canteen. After you wake up of course."
Twilight looks Shining then nodded "Well I am done with breakfast, I will go to him. But first I need to go grab my wallet as I want to buy something from the commercial district" Twilight explained
"What are planning on buying? The farmers market is gone and it won't be back until next year." Velvet asked
"I am not sure. But I suddenly have a lot more money than normally. I will find something, I am sure about that." Twilight said optimistic.
Twilight then climbed out of her chair and moved to the front door. She opens it and waved at her parents before leaving closing the door behind her.
Once outside she looks around. There still are a lot of guards marching around. She then suddenly sees a familiar face. It was Pride Keeper. He was ordering some guards around as Twilight approaches him. Keeper hearing sound of someone walking towards him. He looks in Twilight direction and smiles.
"Hey Twilight! Is everything alright? We saw the beacon in the sky and came rushed to your aid." Keeper asks
"I am fine, now that everything calmed down. Say where is the pony who caused this? You know the librarian?" Twilight asks.
Keeper looks at Twilight "Well she is in one of the holding cells at the guard station. However she refuses to talk to us." Keeper signed
Twilight looks at him then the ground as a light bulb turns on behind her. "Say, do you think we can use food to bribe her into talking?" Twilight asks
Keeper raised his eyebrow and thought about it. signing he said "Sure why not. It's not like she is dangerous or anything. In fact she does look hungry." Thinking further on it. "Well I suggest getting Royal's aid in this, Twilight."
"By the way, the reason the guards were so aggressive were because they recognize you as the filly who made the delicious soup yesterday." Keeper smiled "Good job, you are getting quite the fanbase already!"
Twilight blushing, nodded timidly "Okay, I will go and get Royals assistance." Twilight answered as she ran towards the castle.
Keeper saluted and continued to order some guards around while Twilight left him alone.
On the way to the castle, she once again enters the commercial district. She was about to run past it when she sees something in an alleyway. Taking a closer look she sees a glowing door. She was about to ignore it, until her curiosity got the better of her. She quietly entered through the door to find a large marketplace.
As she entered she sees the board saying "Black market". Having no idea what a black market is, she entered. Looking around she spots Clear Music working in a different restaurant. Confused she approached the restaurant to take a closer look at Music.
Just as she entered, Music spots her and panics. "What are you doing here?!" Clear music shouted
The chef behind the counter also sees the filly enter. Causing her to raise her eyebrow as Music continue to panic "This is a adult only restaurant! You shouldn't even be able to enter this place!"
Twilight unsure what she was talking about ignored her "Uh, well I entered through that open door. Back there." Twilight answered by pointing at the door
Music and the chef look at where Twilight was pointing. The chef then looks back at Twilight and started to howl with laughter. While Music looked confused at the security who in the background also notice the open door. The security then starts to approach Twilight, who didn't notice them.
Twilight looked at Music "Did I do something bad?" Twilight asked looking unsure
Music signed "No. But normally you shouldn't enter the black market. It's not a place to just walk around in, as it's quite dangerous." she explained
"Okay," Twilight said gloomy. She then looked at Music "So what are you doing here then? Are you in your rebellious age?" Twilight asks innocently.
Now the guest and security roar with laughter. At the expense of Music who blushed at the question. The air in the restaurant turned quite jolly and Twilight giggled mischievously.
Clearing her throat "Anyways, What are you doing here?" Music asks Twilight who looks back up at her, altho still mischievously smiling.
"Well I wanted to go to the castle. But I got sidetracked and since I still need a bit more food then a simple parfait as breakfast. I will take a bite at this nice establishment." Twilight said politely.
The chef stopped laughing and says "Sure let me whip something up that filly friendly." as she started to prep a sweet sauce over what looks like some potatoes.
"The name is Black chef, by the way. Just call me becky." Becky said.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Twilight sparkle." Twilight said.
Becky raised an eyebrow "Twilight eh?" She said when she suddenly realized something. "You are Twilight sparkle huh? Soon to be protege to my brother Royal eh?" Becky asked.
Twilight sudden lights up "You are his sister?" she asks.
"That is correct. Say are you interested in learning something important about cooking?" Becky asks.
Twilight nodded, while Music left to help some guests.
"The most important thing about cooking is that the dish is for someone else. So always put your heart in it. No matter how evil or rude someone is. Make a dish you are proud of and make it with everything you have. That way you won't regret anything." Becky explained "Be confident about yourself as a chef and confident about the dish you make."
Twilight eyes widen as she quickly wrote everything down "Thank you Becky. For the advise. I will treasure it." Twilight said as she hugs becky.
"Here Twilight take some in Teriyaki sauce baked vegetables, it will be on the house" Becky said.
Twilight takes the dish from becky and takes a bite. She noticed that the sauce was very sweet and sticky and that the vegetables were baked to perfection. However she feels as tho its not meant for vegetables, but rather for meat.
"Is teriyaki sauce normally used on meat?" Twilight asks
Becky lights up surprised "That is correct, I am surprised you know that."
Twilight shakes her head and says "I didn't know. I just guessed."
"Well, good luck with learning how to cook." Becky said "Music! Please guide Twilight out of the black market." she ordered
Music nodded and proceeded to move Twilight out the door. Twilight looks back and sees that the door is gone. Confused she looks around and spots some runes on the wall, in the form of a door.
She then looks at a nearby clock while eating the remaining food. When she finished, she threw her food in a bin and continued to run towards the castle.
Once at the castle she enters the long hallway to the public canteen. She then casually enters the public canteen. Looking around she sees Royal sit at a table. While approaching she sees that to her left, Princess Celestia walks with Vermouth. They seem to be talking about something serious as Vermouth looks quite angry.
Twilight not sure what to do. Decides to ignore Royal for a moment and enter the kitchen. Sundown sees her and asks "Can we help you?"
"Yes, could you make something for a friend of mine?" Twilight asks
"Sure, what is it?" Sundown asks
"Could you make Teriyaki flavored bacon for me? It's for a griffon." Twilight asks "I will pay for it."
Sundown looks at her and nodded "Sure, how many? 3 Bacon slices will cost you 5 bits."
"Please make 15 pieces." Twilight says as she gives 25 bits to her.
Sundown nodded as she enters the hot side of the kitchen quickly make the bacon.
5 minutes later she gets the bacon. she quickly thanking Sundown. She ran through the hallway to a guard and asks on the whereabouts of Vermouth Roux. The guard points her to Celestia's office.
Twilight then ran to Celestia's office and politely knocks on the door.
"I am busy, Please come some other time" Celestia shouted on the other side.
Twilight gulped as she opened the doors anyways at disapproving look of Celestia.
"Did you not hear me? I am busy with the ambassador." Celestia said annoyed.
Twilight then proceeded to ignore Celestia and walked toward Vermouth. Celestia noticing this was about to interfere when Vermouth raised his claw.
"Can I help you Twilight?" he asks calmly with a smile. Celestia flinched at him knowing Twilight.
"I noticed you looked angry, so I got you some bacon." Twilight said "I hope you like them, I just want to see you smile."
Vermouth looked surprised when Twilight handed him the bacon. He takes a bite and smiles.
"Thank you Twilight. What I would have done without you." Vermouth said.
Twilight bowed as she quickly left, leaving the two alone. Once back in the hallway she runs back to the public canteen. Finally ready to talk to Royal, she approached him.
"Royal!" Twilight shouts
Royal looks at her and smiles. "Hey Twilight, how was your trip here?" he asks
"Eventful! I had a great fight, then a great adventure and then made someone smile" Twilight explains "It felt great to see him smile."
Royal smiled at the expressive look on Twilight's face "That's great, let's get to business then shall we?" He said seriously
Twilight nodded causing Royal continued "So your character test succeeded, not to mention the soup of course." "Now that tests are complete. I shall teach you at your home for the next 6 weeks. After that you are going to go on a summer sun celebration vacation. After that I shall teach you for 3 more weeks. Then at the end of the course you are going to take the entrance exam to a cooking school for fillies." Royal explained
Twilight wrote everything down on a notepad. Royal then gave her the schedule for the next 3 weeks of training and a character test certificate.
"Good luck, Twilight. From tomorrow to the next 6 weeks I shall visit you everyday at your home." Royal congratulate.
Twilight then did a yes dance in front of Royal for the first time. Twilight thanks Royal as she heads back home. But before she does, She as one last thing to say.
"By the way, I met with becky your sister. Please thank her for the food she gave me" Twilight said, which caused Royal to flinch
Twilight not noticing it left the public canteen, then the castle towards home.
Looking around, She decided to go a bit of a walk before going home. She slowly heads towards Canterlot forest. The forest was a lush forest, with lots of trees and plants spread across it. Looking a bit around a bit more. She spots some birds and a small river with a wooden bridge build over it. She looks in the river and sees a pair of koi swimming around.
Feeling her stress melt away she lays on a bench. As she sees a yellow pegasus walking around. She has a pair of butterflies on her flank. and that while Twilight is still a blank flank. watching her for a bit. She rests a bit longer until she suddenly remembered something important.
She suddenly remembered that she forgot to ask Royal for help to get information out of the librarian using food. Moving forward she sees a familiar face. Approaching her she sees it's Moondancer.
"Hey Moondancer!" Twilight shouts.
Moondancer looks at her and smiles "Hey, Twi. What are you doing here?"
"Just going on a walk" Twilight answered "Hey, What are you making?"
"These necklaces are for the librarian in Ponyville. She recently placed a large order of ruby necklaces." Moondancer explained
"Hmmm, did you know she is arrested on suspicion of assault?" Twilight asked
Moondancer stared at her shocked "What?! What did she do?"
"She cursed a filly, from which said filly got seriously injured." Twilight explained "The guard is unsuccessfully trying to get information out of her. They asked for my assistance in cooking something for her to eat, which is a bribe."
Moondancer looks at Twilight and then gives her a necklace "Thank you for the warning! I will warn my mom. Here take this, perhaps it can be used as evidence."
Twilight takes the necklace and thanks her. Moondancer ran out of sight and Twilight quickly ran towards home.
Arriving at the guards house, she enters the building only to meet Sundown. He is blocking the door and says "You can't enter, Celestia forbid you from interfering with the investigation. I am sorry Twilight."
Twilight looks disappointed at him
"I obtained a piece of information that the librarian was buying these necklaces, I hope it help." Twilight said by placing a ruby necklace on his desk.
"Thank you, Twilight. This will help." Sundown looks grateful.
Twilight then left to go home for a final time. After waving at Sundown.
Once home. She had dinner with her parents and went to sleep for today.
Twilight wakes up and immediately goes to the bathroom. She looks around and sees the bathroom is clean and untouched. She smells herself and decides to go bathing. She locks the door and starts to fill the bath with hot water. While she does that, she looks outside through a window next to the shower.
It looks like it's raining outside. She looks at the schedule next to the mirror and sees that the rain was predicted. The rain, Twilight always did enjoy the rain. It allowed her to stay inside without being disturbed, as she watches the rain from inside. She looks at her bath and sees that it's half full. She stops the faucet from filling the bath up any further.
She opens the window and then enters the bath. The sound of rain fills the bathroom as she lays silently in the bathtub. The water was warm, not hot, just warm. She looks at the window and thinks about the last few days. They were very eventful, she just hopes that for the next few days things would calm down.
Thinking on her incoming lesson for today, she looks at the schedule. Thinking about it, she hopes that Royal won't be too hard on her. As she calms down, she thought of the future. She envision herself as a head chef of her own restaurant. It made her think of Becky. Becky had quite a nice establishment, However Royal's restaurant was much more mainstream.
"The Royal Star" however was a bit too hard of a goal to reach. Thinking about the events in there. she thought about Clear Music. Being a waitress was important for a large restaurant. But it is also important for a small business like Becky's restaurant.
Then you had a sous chef like Sundown for a large kitchen who were just as important. They controlled different parts of the kitchen. Not to mention the guests like Pride Keeper and his clumsy guard, they were the reason the kitchen had work.
Or critics like Blueblood and Cadence. They would create challenges for a business. And VIP's like Celestia and Vermouth Roux would also be hard to please.
Splashing some more water over herself. Then you have the backbone of the kitchen. Suppliers like Carrot Top and Moondancer. They would produce and supply the kitchen with goodies to keep it running. Or the chefs that work long days to make the good food for everyone. like how she soon could be.
Sighing, she washed her head with some water. Then placing some soap in her hair. After that she splashed some more water over her, cleaning the soap out of it. Being done she cleans her body then leaves the bath to dry out. She then adds some hair conditioner, something of which she had never been done before.
She looks at her hair. It looks shiny and beautiful. She then combs her hair into place. Now looking a lot more professional than usually. She after that brushes her teeth in front of the mirror making it look just as shiny. When done, she walks out of the bathroom to go downstairs.
On the way to the stairs she bumps into her mother. Velvet looks at Twilight and noticed her shiny hair.
"Did you use conditioner on your hair?" Velvet asked confused.
"Yep. Today I am going to be taught by Royal. I want to look at my best" Twilight said excited.
Velvet looks closer at Twilight's handiwork and says "Well, it's not bad for a beginner. That is for certain. However I suggest putting less conditioner in your hair next time."
"Okay. Maybe you can teach me how to look at my best for important meetings or something." Twilight suggest
Velvet smiles at Twilight "That is something I can do. I will also teach you manners when you are ready to learn them from me." Velvet says.
Twilight nods before going downstairs to the living room. Once downstairs she looks at the kitchen uncertain. and shouts "Mom! I am going to make some breakfast. Is that okay?!"
"Sure!" Velvet shouts back.
Twilight then enters the kitchen and looks around. She looks at the bowl of fruit, as an idea came to mind. 'Let's make an fruit salad.' she thought.
She proceeded to grab every fruit in the bowl on both the counter top as well as the one on the dinner table placing them on the counter top. She then grabs an cutting board and a big chef's knife, chopping up every fruit into cubes.
Now with 4 bowls of chopped fruit, she grabs some lettuce, some tomatoes and some cucumber from the fridge. mincing the lettuce into small strips. the cucumber into thin slices and the tomatoes into thin halves. she then mixes the vegetables with the fruit. adding some salt and pepper to it.
She now had 4 bowls of fruit salad ready to serve. However she added one final ingredient. Which was a mistake. She added honey/mustard sauce over it. Tasting it caused her to nearly throw up.
"Uh, oops." Twilight said just as Velvet entered the kitchen.
Velvet looks at the fruit salad and also tasted it. Nearly throwing it up she said "Well, mistakes are backbone of success. Good try, Twilight."
Twilight looks at her saddened "I am sorry for wasting so many ingredients." Twilight said
Velvet smiles at her "Twilight. It's alright. Everyone makes mistakes. I too make mistakes, same can be said about Royal." Velvet explains. "I will just task Night to go to the bakery, to get us is something nice."
Twilight nodded and asked "Can he please get me a croissant?"
Velvet nods she then ran back upstairs to wake her husband up. While Twilight cleans her mess up. 'Perhaps I am not quite a chef yet' Twilight thought sheepishly.
As Night woke up and quickly left to go to the bakery. Twilight sat on lazily on the sofa when the bell rang. She quickly sat back up and moved to the front door, opening the front door. She sees Royal on the other side.
"Hey Royal, please come in. I hope the trip wasn't too wet." Twilight said beaconing him inside.
Royal looked Twilight "It was quite wet. However I can dry out inside." Royal said
"By the way have you had breakfast?" Royal asked.
"Not yet. My father is getting us something from the bakery. After I made some mistakes in the kitchen." Twilight explained saddened
"What happened?" Royal asked.
"I added honey/mustard sauce to a fruit salad" Twilight said. Royal flinched at the weird combination. Twilight noticed it and looked sheepish at Royal.
"Well. A good chef makes mistakes and learns from them. I hope you understand this, Twilight." Royal explained.
Twilight nodded just as Night returned with the bread while Shining and Velvet came downstairs around the same time.
"Royal, This is my mother Twilight Velvet and the one holding the bread is my father Night Light." Twilight introduced "Mom, dad, this is Royal. He will be my cooking teacher for the next few months."
Royal shook his hoof with Velvet and then with Night. "And I am Twilight's brother Shining Armor." Shining said afterwards.
Shining too, shook his hoof with Royal. "It's a pleasure meeting you all. I suggest we will start the lesson after you guys had breakfast." Royal suggest "In the meantime I am going take a look at your kitchen. I want to know how many tools you guys have."
Velvet nodded and allowed Royal into the kitchen. Twilight meanwhile ate her croissant.
After Royal inspected the kitchen he came back to see, that Twilight was done with her breakfast.
"Well Twilight, Today I will teach about every pan and their usage to you. So grab your notebook and pencil." Royal explained.
Twilight nodded and grabbed her notebook. She grabs a pencil and starts listening. - "Following first four pans are basic pans."
"This is a stock pot. It's designed for soups and for liquids. The reason being that it's very deep. Perfect for making large servings of soup. This is a skillet. It's design is small and mostly used for eggs and meat. The reason being that it cooks things very fast. This is a saúte pan. It's designed with a lid and used to saúte things in them. Perfect for meats that need to be cooked in liquids. Or for a basic form of frying things. This is a sauce pan. This pan is ideal for everything in between. from small servings of a soup to sauces. You name it. This thing can do it. It's an ultra versatile pan."
"These five other pans are more advanced then the previous once"
"This is a braiser pan. It's primarily designed to slow-cook foods. This pan can cook this well, when placed in an oven. instead of a stove. This is a griddle. Perfect for pancakes as the pan itself is totally flat. However you also have a version with a ridged surface. In which that version is perfect for grilling meats. This is a wok. It's perfect for stir frying and steaming foods. I recommend it when making a rice product. This is a pressure cooker. It's the best pan to use when you want to steam something. For it's pressure can be perfectly adjusted and the heat is perfectly controlled. I don't recommend usage of it until you have learned advanced cooking. This is a Roasting pan. It's perfect for oven/pan type dishes. Like whole Roast chicken and such."
Royal explained showing each pan off. - Twilight wrote everything down. Then proceeded to look at every pan.
Royal happy with Twilight's response "Well that was today's lesson. Tomorrow you will learn the other tools" Royal said
Twilight nodded and waved him goodbye as he left the house by himself.
As the next day rolls around Twilight woke up. she went to the bathroom and then ate breakfast as Royal once again entered the house.
"Today you are going to learn about knives." Royal said straight to the point. Twilight grabbed her notebook and listened to Royals explanation.
"Okay, so before I begin. Please don't touch the knives. They are sharp and dangerous." Royal said as Twilight nodded.
"First the basic knives."
"This is a chef's knife. It's used to chop and dice vegetables. Because it's thicker than some knives. It's very useful for chopping potatoes or unions." "This is a utility knife. It's used to chop smaller foods like shallots." "This is a paring knife. It's used for delicate jobs as it's smaller then the other two knives." "Then you have a bread knife. Like the name suggest it's for bread."
"Hmm. You guys don't have knives for meat or fish prep work. Or specialized knives for vegetables." Royal said
"I guess I will teach you about them when we come across them" Royal said, causing Twilight to nod.
"Next time I will teach about small kitchen appliances." Royal explained.
Twilight nods as Royal once leaves the house in a hurry.
In day three. Twilight's routine was the same and Royal arrives around the same time as last time.
"Okay let's start" Royal said as Twilight once again grabs her notebook.
"This is a blender. As the name suggest it blends this together. For example to make smoothie. This is a microwave. It's an smaller version to the oven and is designed to reheat things in a kitchen. This is a kettle. It's used to make thee. It heats whatever water you put in it. This is a coffee machine. As the name implies it makes coffee. Using coffee beans. This is a food processor. Unlike the blender, this application chops the ingredients fine. Or how ever fine you let it becomes. This is a mixer. It helps mix things together."
"This is a stove. It heats products in pans. This is an oven. It produces more heat and is bigger then the microwave. And as last this is a toaster oven. It's speeds up the process in making toast." Royal said finally
"Tomorrow we will learn about cooking utensils. Or some of them anyways." Royal said as Twilight nodded.
Royal once again left in a hurry. As Twilight finishes for the day.
Royal entered and said "Today will be the last talking day. Tomorrow we will go to the chef's market in Ponyville."
Twilight nodded as she grabbed her notebook and pencil.
"This is an egg slicer. It always the egg to be cut in perfect slices. This is an egg piercer. It creates an small hole in the egg allowing it to hard boil eggs to perfection."
"This is an cutting board. It allows for safe cutting. This is an bottle opener. It helps open bottles for you."
"There is many more utensils but those are the most important right now." Royal said "Sadly I don't have more time today Twilight. I recently got a massive order of salads in the restaurant."
"I understand. So tomorrow we go Ponyville then?" Twilight asks
"Correct. I have to go now tho. I see you tomorrow at 5 O'clock at the train station" Royal said before quickly leaving.
Day five, This morning however was very early. It was 4 O'clock as Twilight left her bed. Going to the bathroom is washed her face with some ice cold water and brushed her teeth. She looked outside to see the birds being fed by a yellow pegasus filly.
Twilight has been seeing her a lot for some reason. She then also spots a familiar blue filly. The blue filly had wings and flew nearby the yellow one. She too already had a cutie mark. It was a cutie mark with a rainbow on the side of a cloud in the the form of a lightning strike.
Twilight was quite jealous that they already had a cutie mark while Twilight didn't. But she said nothing as she walked towards the living room.
Once downstairs, she grabs a slice of bread and puts it into the toast oven. turning it on. She then grabbed the pot of jam from a cupboard. "Ting" said the toast oven. She grabs the toast from it and puts some jam on it.
As she takes a bite she looks at the clock. It's 4:30 on the clock. Realizing the distance from her house to the train station is 15 minutes, she rushes out the door towards the train station. she then passes the two fillies in her hurry.
Once at the train station, Twilight realized she was 15 minutes too early. Looking around she noticed those two fillies followed her. But decides to ignore it, when she sees Royal approach her.
"Good morning." Twilight said to Royal.
"Good morning to you too Twilight. Ready to go to the chef's market?" Royal asked.
"Yup. I hope Carrot Top is there." Twilight said.
"You know Carrot Top?" said the shy yellow filly behind her.
Twilight looked at her a bit closer before answering "Yup. She supplies me high quality carrots."
"I see, Do you know Applejack?" the yellow filly asked.
"I do, but I don't do business with her. I have someone else for that." Twilight answered.
"I see. By the way my name Fluttershy. What is yours?" Fluttershy asked.
"Twilight Sparkle, just call me Twilight. Nice to meet you." Twilight said holding her hoof carefully forwards.
Fluttershy took her hoof to shake on her. "So why are you going to Ponyville?" Fluttershy asks.
"For the chef's market. Most likely to experience it." Twilight said.
Fluttershy nodded as she was about to ask something else when the blue filly interrupted her. "Are you going to stay there?" the blue filly asks
Twilight looked annoyed at her and said "No, just for the market."
"My name is-" she was about to begin when Fluttershy put her hoof into her mouth.
"Thank you, fluttershy." Twilight said politely "I would love to know who you are. But the train has arrived we have to go in before it leaves."
The blue filly nods then enters the train carriage with Twilight, Fluttershy and Royal.
Once inside the train. Twilight looked at the interior of the train. The floor, walls and ceiling were made from oak planks. The seats were also from oak planks. the cushions were made from cloth filled with cotton, making it really fluffy. Above the chairs were some iron bars sticking out from the wall with the occasional bag in them.
Twilight looks at Royal and notice a big window next to him. Feeling the train starting to move Twilight looked back at fluttershy and the blue filly. Looking at the blue filly she sees that her mane is rainbow colored. The filly notice Twilight looking in her direction.
"By the way, The name is Rainbow Dash" Dash said.
"My name is Royal" Royal cut in.
Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at him. "I am Twilight's cooking teacher." Royal said without a beat.
"Ah. So you two are going for an excursion?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight and Royal nods in sync "Twilight needs to get more outside connections" Royal said, causing Twilight to raise her eyebrow at him.
Twilight ignoring Royal's comment asks "So what about you two?"
"Well I am going home from my trip to Canterlot. I live in my cottage near the everfree forest." Fluttershy explained.
"Well, I got recalled by the weather team in Ponyville. I was on vacation in Canterlot." Rainbow explained.
"Do you know why?" Royal asked.
"They say that someone let it rain twice on the wrong day in Ponyville. I have a feeling it's Ditzy." Rainbow groaned.
"No, that can't be right. Ditzy works at the post office. She hasn't been part of the weather team since a few years back." Twilight said.
Royal and Rainbow raised their eyebrow. "You know Ditzy?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight smiled waving her hoof around " I know a bunch of ponies. I just met Ditzy by chance a few years back." Twilight said.
"How many ponies do you know, that live in Ponyville?" Fluttershy asked, Royal nodding at the question.
Twilight smiled even bigger "Too many. I also may have given Ditzy her addiction to muffins. By accident of course." Twilight said.
Rainbow sitting in his chair suddenly jumped when she asked "Do you know the wonderbolts? In person?"
Twilight looked at Rainbow. "No, atleast I don't remember that much. I was practically a baby when I met Ditzy." Twilight said shaking her head.
Rainbow sank into his chair, while Fluttershy brushed her mane. Royal looked at Twilight and said "We are here." Twilight nods and looks outside.
As they left the train, Ditzy crashed into Twilight. Twilight brushing Ditzy of her smiled "Hey, Ditzy!" She said.
Ditzy looked up to see Twilight. She smiled and said "Muffin code?"
"Blueberry muffin with ginger, cacao and of course mini marshmallows." Twilight said without missing a beat.
Ditzy smiled wider and hugs Twilight "It's been so long! Why are you in Ponyville?" She asked.
"For that." Twilight said pointing at the chefs market.
"Of course! How could I forget, you always go to this market. So who's your friend?" Ditzy asked.
"This is Royal Keeper. He is my cooking teacher and is the head chef for "The Royal Star" and also the head chef for the public canteen." Twilight introduced.
"OH! So you have a big shot teacher. Very nice Twilight, you always did make friends with big shots somehow." Ditzy said.
Twilight blushed at the comment while Royal looked closer at Ditzy. "Nice to meet you." Royal said.
"Same, Thank you. The name is Ditzy doo, but you can call me derpy." Ditzy said.
"Well nice meeting you derpy. We have to get going to the market or we will be out of time." Royal said.
"Sure. Oh Twilight should I tell 'him' that you are here?" Ditzy asked.
Twilight nodded as Ditzy quickly entered the market.
"Him?" Royal asked.
"It's a secret. You will meet 'Him' soon." Twilight said mischievously.
Twilight and Royal entered the market. Twilight once inside looked around. The market stall are bigger than normally and nearly everyone of them had a chef of some kind in them. Above the road you these orange paper candles as there were suspended on ropes that go on for miles. Not only that, but also the road was decorated with lots of water colors.
Twilight approaches Ditzy's mother stall. "Could I get a blueberry muffin, secret menu 16?" Twilight asked.
This caused Ditzy's mother to look down at her "You know that one is awful, right?" she asked.
Twilight smiled "You must be confusing it with secret menu 16, as that one is indeed is awful." Twilight said.
The mother looked into her book and only showed her secret menu 16. Twilight then moved the pages forwards to show a another secret menu 16 with blueberry in front of it. The mother raised her eyebrow at it then read it. The mothers eyes widen and quickly went to work to make that one.
"Here you go. that would be 5 bits." The mother askes. Twilight giving the bits, grabbed the muffin with her magic as she ate them.
Twilight then rejoined Royal as he points towards the stall they are going to see. Twilight smiled when she knows what is going to happen.
Royal the shouts "Hey boss!"
High Chef looks at Royal. "Hey son, how are you holding up?"
"I am here to show my student around the market." Royal said pointing at Twilight.
High then laughed loudly "You showing her around the market? It should be her showing you around the market." High said.
"What do you mean?" Royal asked seriously.
"She is the reason this market even became a thing!" High said, "When Twilight was even younger then now. She gave the winning vote that allowed the chef's market to even become a thing."
Royal's eye widen then looked towards Twilight. Twilight looked sheepish at him and asked High "So how is the market? I hope you solved issues 5."
"Of course I did. All thanks to you of course. And Ditzy." he said in a after thought. "Anyways take these free tickets. They allow you to buy anything for free."
"Thank you High. I will use them when I could." Twilight said.
Royal looked at Twilight "Looks like I wasted my time then." he said disappointed.
"Of course not. This market changes every time. It seems the theme this time is "Twilight" which is surprisingly fitting." Twilight said.
"That is correct." High said still behind them "After all it's your birthday."
"Happy birthday!" Everyone behind the stalls on the market shouted.
Twilight teared up as High spoke "Today you are our valuable guest and VIP for today. We might get some more VIPs, but you are the most important one."
Suddenly music started playing everywhere. As the market suddenly became much more jolly and party-like. High together with Royal suddenly sang the happy birthday song, while everyone passing by joined them.
"Is there a wish for today market? Twilight?" High asked.
Twilight practically crying at this point said "10% off on everything. I don't want the only one to be happy today." between her sniffs.
High smiled as he nods his assistant. His assistant used the bellow suddenly behind her. As every booth grabbed their 10% off piece of paper. placing them in front of them.
The rest of the evening was filled with food contests and lots of food type activities. A disco was also placed out of nowhere as ponies danced on the beats made by DJ pon3. Twilight who was still sniffing from the sudden birthday present, sat on her VIP throne above High's booth.
She watched hundreds of ponies filling the market. She also saw Cadence and Celestia in the background.
"By the way, Twilight. We made this the biggest market in a thousand years. On your signal we shall open the rest of the market along side a fireworks display. So how about it?" High asked
"Are they all ready then? The shopkeepers? The security? The fireworks?" Twilight asked.
"They have been for a few hours." High said.
Twilight stood back up and shouted "Open the rest of the market!"
High nodded as Cadence noticed Twilight where she was.
High then shouted in a speech format "Since the beginnings, markets were always a staple. They create a place to shop at for past hundred years. Today however we chose to break Luna's record for the biggest market! Today, we make history! Today we open this market with a the size ten times bigger then her record! Today's market will be the size of Canterlot! Hurrey!"
"HURREY!" The market shouted as fireworks open in the background. The doors to the rest of the market open when thousands of ponies joined the market festivities. Music, activities, foods, shops, drinks, everywhere there was something to do. Twilight looked towards Cadence as she beaconed them to come closer.
Cadence approaching Twilight "Congratulations, Twilight. For your seventh birthday." Cadence nuzzled Twilight
"Thanks, altho this birthday gift the market gave me is a bit big." Twilight joked.
Cadence laughed and said "I will bring you back home after this."
It was the morning after the big market spectacle. Twilight was back home in Canterlot after being brought back by Cadence. While Twilight slept upstairs Royal and High were both sitting at the dining table drinking coffee and talking to each other. Twilight's parents were at already at work. They were called in early to put the spectacle in the history books. But also to do more research on the markets in the past. Since no-one was sure if this truly was the biggest market ever.
High sipped his coffee when he suddenly asked "So, what was the goal in bringing Twilight to the market?"
Royal calmly sipped "For her to gain connections. And to teach her about vegetables." Royal answered.
"I guess that has been pushed back, no?" High asked.
"Correct. I guess after this weekend, she will start by learning about vegetables instead what I had planned" Royal answered.
"So. What was planned?" High asked.
"Meat and Fish prep work and her first time making a dish with them." Royal simply said.
"I see." High said.
High sipped his coffee when he suddenly remembered something "Also when you let Twilight handle meat, make sure she doesn't try to eating it. It has happened before." High said.
Royal raised his eyebrow at this information "What happened?" Royal asked.
"Well, I am not quite sure. All I know was that she tried it and got a minor bellyache. Which is odd since she is a herbivore." High said thinking back.
"Meaning she consumed it without getting very sick?" Royal asked uncertain.
"Exactly." High said.
Royal raising his eyebrow, "Do you have proof?" he asked.
"I don't." High sipped his coffee "But Twilight's parents should know more." High said.
"Interesting. Very interesting." Royal said "I did come across the very rare mutation where a pony can eat meat but,"
"But?" High asked.
"It's almost impossible. Ignoring the princesses. As far as I am aware of. Only 2 other ponies have it in existence" Royal said "And they died two years ago." Royal finished.
High raised his eyebrow but said nothing as he drank the rest of the coffee. He then moved towards the front door and placed the coffee cup on a side table "Well if she does have that mutation. Tread carefully, I heard she's loved by a lot of ponies." High said ominously.
He then opened the front door and closed it behind himself. As High left the building. Royal staring at the front door confused. He then looked back at his coffee. He too finished his coffee and placed on the side table. And walked to the front door to leave Twilight's house.
Twilight woke up and noticed a big pile of presents on the other side of her bed. Suddenly remembering yesterday's events. She then jumped off her bed and walked towards the presents before carefully opening each, while also writing the names of everyone on a piece of parchment paper.
Twilight's presents mostly contained items for her own kitchen as well as some cookbooks. She looked through the pile of unopened present when she notices a black present on the bottom. She opens the odd present and sees a pile of beef jerky in it. Raising her eyebrow she grabs a secret compartment in the wall and puts them in it. For meat emergencies.
Twilight after that encounter chose to go to the bathroom. She recently went into bath so she just cleaned her face and hair. Brushing her teeth afterwards. Twilight then headed downstairs to the living room. Once downstairs she sees two dirty used coffee cups on a side table below a window, confused she grabs them and move them to the kitchen sink.
Once inside the kitchen she sees a salad made by Velvet. She looks at it. Then proceeds to grab it and eat it in the dining room. As she sits down to eat her salad she looks around. Shiny's gear is missing, as well as the work clothing of both Velvet and Night. Realizing she's alone she looks at the calendar. It's weekend.
Twilight feeling bored without any homework and being too lazy to go and cook something. She decided to start reading a bunch cookbooks to pass the time. three hours pass as she finishes up her last cookbook. Next to her is a mountain of notes from the cookbook. She then rereads the notes and rereads them once more.
Feeling complete, she puts the important information into her notepad. Closing the notepad she looks at the clock. Another hour had past but she was still alone and bored. She looks at the calendar once more. Then chose to go outside, as she moves towards to front door to leave the house.
Once outside she looks around. She looks at the commercial district but realizes that they weren't going to have a market in a few more months, atleast not the size of the farmer's market anyways. She looks to the right of the commercial district and sees the forest also known as the collection district. Shaking her head she looks behind her house to see the military district.
Twilight wanting to see that side of Canterlot, even tho she is not allowed to.
'Well Shiny should work there now right? It should be safe, right?' Twilight thought as she slowly walked that direction.
While Twilight slowly entered the military district she looks around. The city atmosphere changed slightly as she enters. She sees more guards and less food stores. But she does see a calming forest to her left.
One of the guards spots her and walks towards her "Hey! This area is off limits for fillies." said the guard.
Twilight raised her eyebrow and asked "Why?"
"It's unsafe. The slums is filled with ponies with bad intentions which is that directions. Unless you are trying to reach the Magic Barracks which is in that forest to your left." The guard points further down the street and then also points towards a forest on her left.
"I am trying to reach the Magic Barracks, sir." Twilight said.
The guard raised his eyebrow and asked "Shall I escort you then?"
"If you could. Please." Twilight said.
The guard nods and then together with Twilight trod towards the barracks. the guard then asked "What is your business with the Magic Barracks?"
Twilight trying her best to keep up said "To visit my brother who is training there."
The guard looked at Twilight "I see, who is it if I may ask?" He asked
"Shining Armor" Twilight answered.
The guard then thought about it. however while thinking about Shining Armor and walking closer to the magic barracks he paid no attention to where is was walking. Which caused him to smack face first into a tree.
"Are you alright?" Twilight asked worried.
The guard shakes off the pain and said "I am fine. Shining Armor is training at the Royal Barracks however. You won't find him here."
Twilight sighs "Well we are here anyways. I might as well just visit this Magic Barracks then." she said.
"I agree. I was going off duty anyways. I can give you a tour if you want." The guard suggested
Twilight looks at him then nods excited. Meanwhile the Commander of the magic guard looks at the carefree state of the guard and the small filly that approached the Magic Barracks. unsure of what to do, she beacons the filly towards her.
Twilight noticing her bashfully stayed near the guard, because she's unsure of who she is. The commander sighs and shouts "You!" To the guard.
The guard shook himself and looked to the commander in shock. "Yes, Madam! What can I do for you?" The guard shouted back.
Both their shouting caused Twilight to flinch. Twilight then stared daggers into the eyes of the female commander. Something which caused the commander to flinch but stand her ground.
The commander shouts "Why are you bringing a filly to unsafe ground?!"
The guard flinches "She wanted to see the Magic barracks for herself, Madam." the guard answered scared.
Twilight noticed the fear and chose to stand her ground annoyed at the interruption and inspected the commander. Twilight inspection revealed that commander looked remarkably like Pride Keeper, but female.
"Are you Pride keeper's sister?" Twilight asked interrupting the Commander.
The commander in turn looked at Twilight shocked "You know my brother?" she asked.
Twilight then sighed as she smiled, releasing the tension in the air "Yup. We are friends. I met him in the Public Canteen."
The commander looked at her, searching for a lie. Not finding any she finally smiled "I see. Nice to meet you. The name is Magic Keeper. I am the commander of the magic guard."
Twilight smiled even broader "My name is Twilight Sparkle, Nice to meet you too."
Magic happily released the guard as Twilight followed her to the training ground. Once there Twilight sees that the field is way bigger than the field near the Royal Barracks. She also sees these weird black orbs in the distance and guards shooting lasers at those orbs like target practice. She also noticed lots of guards distracted at her presence.
Twilight was surprised at the size of the field looked towards Magic. "What are those orbs?" she asked
Magic looked at Twilight "Those are magic targets. They allow magic guards to train their magic on. Perfect for laser beams."
Twilight looked at one of the orbs then ask "Can I try?"
Magic smiled at the enthusiasm and said "Sure. Let me prep a orb for you."
Magic then grabbed a bigger pink orb and give it to Twilight. "Try this one." she suggest.
Twilight shook her head. "I want shoot a black one." Twilight asked
Magic raised her eyebrow, "Those are too far away and are too strong for you." Magic said
Twilight than used Puppy eyes on her asking "Please?"
Magic laughed "That won't work, however since you really want to hit the black one sure. one moment." Magic said.
Twilight pouted as Magic beaconed on of the guards to move a black one closer to Twilight. She then looked at Twilight and points to the black orb.
"I will give you an example. Then you should try shooting." Magic said.
Twilight nods as she feels an unholy amount of magic coming from Magic as she shoots a powerful beam to one of the furthest away target. "BOOM!" did her magic go in the background, rocking the ground and windows around Twilight.
Twilight raised her eyebrow at the attempted discouragement from Magic. Magic flinched when Twilight saw through her attempt and looked away while pointing to Twilight's target.
The guards behind Magic chuckled at her misfortune, but flinched when Twilight stared daggers into them. Twilight then focused her on the target. Gathering the most amount of magic she had into her horn and looking at her target. She then whispered some magic text, causing her magic to gather at one point on her horn. As she looked confident at her target she released an orb of magic hitting the target. And a second later a powerful beam hit the orb as it pierces the orb and continued into the distance causing a massive mushroom cloud to appear behind the orb. A second passed when a powerful shock wave hit the barracks behind her, shattering the windows and blowing away doors with hinges and all.
A moment had passed after her laser beam, the orb fell to the ground shattered to bits and a crowd of shocked guards looked at the destruction. Trees where cut in half. some trees were uprooted and were laying all over the place. Pieces of cobble was everywhere. All windows of the barracks behind Twilight were shattered. Every door was where they weren't supposed to be. Several guard got smacked into the walls and Twilight. She was lying unconscious for using too much magic at once.
Magic blinked twice at the destruction and injured guards. She looked Twilight who was just lying there, unconscious. She blinked one more time when in the background a fire suddenly started, sighing she shouted "Medic! And anyone who can walk, clean this mess up while I go alert the Royal guard and-"
"No need. We are already here!" Pride Keeper shouted as he started to order the wonderbolts into stopping that fire. The pegasus rescue squad was already busy searching for survivors while the repair crew repaired the windows behind Magic.
Magic smiled at Keeper and shouted "Get this filly to the Royal hospital!" the medics nod at Magic as they moved Twilight out of the disaster zone.
"Filly?" Keeper asked.
"Yes. Twilight caused this disaster. Something which I didn't saw coming. That filly is powerful!" Magic said smiling in glee despite the disaster.
Keeper looked shocked at her then facepalmed "We have to report this to the princesses." Keeper said annoyed.
"Why? She is still young. Anyone could cause this disaster." Magic asked confused.
"Yes. Well, she is banned from the military district by Princess Cadence." Keeper said.
Magic looked shocked at Keeper then said "Well. By the order of the Magic Guard. Twilight is welcome anytime to return to the magic barracks. By my name she is unbanned. Anyone who stand against this, shall have to face me!"
Keeper looked beyond shocked at her and asked "Are you sure?"
"By my Noble title and by the name of the magic guard. Absolutely!" Magic shouted.
Keeper smiled "Well then. By the name of the Royal guard and the Noble title of mine. Twilight by this title be unbanned from the military district. Any who oppose this, shall face the Royal guard and Magic guard respectively. Whether they be Royal or Noble. Ye shall face us head on, when you oppose our ruling!" Keeper echoed with magic though Canterlot. Reaching the ears of a shocked Cadence and Celestia on the other side of Canterlot.
Even though Twilight was unconscious, she smiled hearing this. While lying on a hospital bed.
The next day, Twilight woke up with a painful headache and horn injury. Looking around she noticed that she isn't home. Rather her room looks like a hospital room. She then looked at the clock her headache increased slightly. She sees it's 5 O'clock in the morning as the windows behind her suggest. There was no sunlight.
She looks around the clock to see a white room without any splash in color. Attempting to get out of bed caused her to collapse as she thought back 'I used too much magic on that laser beam. And got unbanned, I think.' Shaking her head, she got to her hooves and walked around the room. On the wall was a single lonely painting, the painting of a tree with a library inside. It looked oddly familiar.
As she was about to leave the room. The door opened to show a doctor. The doctor raised his eyebrow at Twilight "Why are you out of bed? You should sleep more you drained all your magic." the doctor questioned.
Twilight looked sheepish and asked "Are there anyone else in this hospital from my accident?"
The doctor shook his head "Not anymore, they were released yesterday with minor injuries." he lit up. "Actually, that is what they wanted me to tell you but."
Twilight looked saddened by the news "How are those patients?" Twilight questioned.
The doctor looked sad "Not good actually. Not only is there a lot of them. Their condition isn't good either." the doctor looked saddened.
Twilight looking practically depressed "What happened? Is it my direct fault or?" Twilight asked.
The doctor nodded "Sadly it is. Your spell caused a massive fire to rock the slums. It has already costed some lives. I have never seen so badly wounded patients before. Usually we don't deal with the poor, but since Princess Cadence order the hospitals to let them get help at our hospitals they came here also." he said.
Twilight closed her eyes as internally she lost a bit of color. "How badly?" Twilight asked depressed.
"Are you sure you want to know Twilight? You are bit young for the details" the doctor questioned.
"Please." was Twilight's answer.
The doctor sighed. He remembered the screaming patients who came in with burn wounds "They came in with fourth degree burns. Atleast a thousand of them had it." the doctor answered "It felt like a terrorist attack or war zone hit the hospitals."
Twilight eye's went as small as possible. Fourth degree burns are usually life-threatening, with extremely deep burn wounds. she remembered. As Twilight felt her depression increase she asked the last nail in the coffin "Anything else?"
The doctor realizing Twilight's state, wanted to stop talking but couldn't as he felt that lying would worsen her state "Besides that. They have wounds from buildings collapsing on them and too much smoke inhale." he continued "Anything else is from guards and civilians getting smashed into things from the shock wave."
"We have had 35 poor pony deaths and 5 guards deaths. With atleast a thousand serious injuries and atleast a million minor injuries" the doctor continued.
At this point the doctor couldn't take it anymore, he started to cry. "Among the deaths was my wife."
Twilight jerked up at the doctor's last statement. Twilight unsure what to do also cried holding the doctor in a hug that felt like it lasted hours. The doctor returned the hug.
"I am sorry. I didn't mean it. I thought those black orbs were stronger than that. I didn't, I didn't-" Twilight couldn't continue as the situation dawned on her. She accidently killed some innocent ponies. All because she couldn't control her magic.
As her mind spiralled out of control. The doctor said the thing that changed everything "All that happened. Because you got a defected orb. The amount you showcased it could easily withstand if it worked as intended!" the doctor shouted at the end.
The doctor's frustration was showcased at the end. And Twilight jerked up again at that last statement.
Twilight feeling lost still bravely asked "Is there anything I can do for the patients. I can cook and stuff. Please allow me to do something. I don't want to feel hopeless." with a pleading after tone.
The doctor looked at Twilight in an understanding look "I know you can cook. I will allow you to make something for them in the kitchen. Just don't use your horn okay? You magic isn't ready yet." The doctor said
Twilight nodded and followed the doctor to the kitchen. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While Twilight walked there, she sees the carnage. Patients everywhere, most of them with some kind of burn wound. Doctors were everywhere, nurses were running around like a circus and medication were used from every direction. However Twilight realized something.
"Hold on. Do you doctors and nurses even have enough medicine?" Twilight asked.
The doctor looked at Twilight "No. No we don't. However entire Equestria is currently going to deliver thousands of tons of medicine to hospitals all over Canterlot." The doctor answered.
Twilight looked saddened at the situation and continued to the kitchen with the doctor. That hallways were even filled with patients and every hall and room including offices were filled with patients. The hospital truly was overflowing and there weren't enough nurses, doctors or medicine to go around. Let alone food, she didn't see a single tray of food on her way here. And there were a lot of patients.
Twilight quickly realized she had to play the ultimate card, 'The Emergency Food Connections'. Once inside the kitchen she said "Doctor. I know I shouldn't use magic, but I need to cast one single important spell. Don't worry it's not very magic powerful." Before the doctor could say anything "Please!" Twilight shouted.
"Fine, but only one spell." The doctor said sighing.
Twilight walked further into the kitchen and grabbed a card with food and a medical icon. She lit her magic onto the card and said "Please." softly into it.
As Twilight's magic ends the card shined as bright as a star, then suddenly disappeared. Seconds pass as Twilight preps the kitchen. "I am going to make porridge and vegetable soup." Twilight said to the doctor.
"But we have no stock. Nothing in storage. How are we going to make anything?" The doctor questioned.
Twilight points at the door. The doctor looks at her then the door. The door opened suddenly and rapidly as 15 different ponies enter. They place hundreds of kilos of vegetables and then some, on the table as they leave. Twilight shouts a quick thank you before quickly starting to make hundreds of liters of soup and porridge.
Twilight pours liters of water in every large soup pan she could find and add spices to it as it warms up, meanwhile she chops lots of bell peppers and paprikas into pieces. She cuts lots of tomatoes and cucumber into pieces. And the white radish into similar pieces. At this point the soup was hot and she puts the vegetables in.
She then cuts fresh herbs and put that also in. So the soup now just need boiling for 2 hours.
Meanwhile she started to make the porridge. she added the oatmeal and milk into a large pan and added some salt. She started to slow boil it while stirring lots. Once it became thick, she lowered the heat temperature to low and let it simmer for 7 minutes. Once the time is up she cools the porridge for a minute before adding some jam.
At this point both the soup and the porridge is complete and calls the doctor "Doctor! We need to spread the porridge and soup to the patients. I recommend them both in bowls and giving the nurses the task in distributing them among the patients." Twilight recommend.
As the doctor nods and the nurses starting to give each patient both the soup and the porridge. Twilight continued to make more until all the resources were used up. And the nurses kept the distribution up until everything has been used up.
Twilight then remembered "Hey doctor? Are there any griffons or predators among the injured?"
The doctor shook his head "No. Not even in the other hospitals."
"I see. That is good atleast." Twilight said before feeling wobbly "I should head to my bed. But first I am going to eat my portion of porridge and soup."
The doctor nods as Twilight quickly ate before returning to her bed. Falling asleep instantly.
The next morning everything happened very fast. Twilight woke up while her mother and father were busy trying to get her fired from the hospital. Shining was carrying a very sleepy Twilight on his back while already leaving the hospital without permission. Velvet was shouting for release and Night was busy with the paperwork As Twilight closed her eyes.
When Twilight opened her eyes again, she home already and laying on the couch. Her parents were sitting to her left and Shining to her right. On the other side of the coffee table sat Celestia and Cadence patiently drinking tea and listening to Velvet complaining.
Twilight sat upright to take a better look at Cadence. Cadence, noticing this, had a sad smile on her face. Celestia also noticed this and said "It would appear your complaining woke Twilight up."
Velvet jerked her head to Twilight. Looking sheepishly "Sorry Twi. There was just some important business to talk about."
Twilight calmly looked Velvet in the eye and said "Perhaps it has something to do with the incident in the slums."
"That is correct. I don't understand why they let a random guard do something like that. And then push the blame to you." Velvet said annoyed.
"Do what?" Twilight calmly asked.
"Blame you for shooting a laser beam that caused that event!" Velvet shouted at the end.
Twilight didn't flinch instead she stared daggers into Velvet eyes "I did do that. Why do you think I was in the hospital? I drained too much magic into that laser beam." Twilight said standing her ground.
Velvet, Night and Shining all flinched at her saying that. Celestia and Cadence raised their eyebrows at that information. And Twilight calmly went to grab some tea in the kitchen.
Returning from her trip to the kitchen. She also had grabbed a piece of bread with some jam on it, together with the milk tea. Twilight than looked at her parents and noticed them staring at her. "What?" Twilight asked confused.
"How can you be calm knowing you killed some ponies?" Shining asked.
"It was an accident. Apparently the magic target was defected. Normally it could easily withstand that much magic. But it didn't. Which meant the Magic Barracks gave me a faulty target." Twilight continued "Also my spell didn't cause the fire. It couldn't." Twilight calmly stated.
Cadence look at her in shock "What do you mean "It couldn't"?" She asked.
"After being stuck in the hospital I looked back on the events and I realized I used a water type laser beam. Not a fire or light type. Which for your information couldn't cause fires." Twilight explains.
Celestia looked at her for a lie. She didn't find any as she sighs "I see. Thank you Twilight that was most helpful."
Twilight however wasn't done "The only thing that in theory could cause a fire was the shock wave that followed soon after." she calmly said.
Cadence looked at her then smiled "I see so you aren't at fault right?" She asked.
"No. Even with that in mind I still killed 40 ponies even accidently. Although indirectly." Twilight calmly state.
Celestia nods "Well Twilight with your honesty. I have decided to pardon you for doing that. Since it wasn't your fault. We found signs of sabotage in both the orb and the fire." Celestia decides.
Twilight raised her eyebrow then lit up and ask "Wait don't tell me. It was her right?"
Celestia nods then proceeds to leave without saying anything. With Celestia gone. Cadence just sat there, confused.
Cadence was about to ask something when suddenly somepony knocked on the door. "Come in!" Twilight shouts.
The front door opened and showed Royal Chef "Hey Twilight! Ready for your lesson?" he asked.
Twilight shook her head "Not yet. We are still talking about something rather important."
"I see. Do you mind if I wait in your room?" Royal asks.
While Royal is in her room, the conversation continued. "So why are you so okay with the whole event?" Cadence asked.
"I am not." Twilight calmly said.
Cadence now looking even more confused, attempts to look into Twilight heart when she sees the psychological heart. It held a great deal of depression. Cadence looking shocked at Twilight said "You are going to my office tomorrow!"
Twilight looked shocked in turn "Why?" She asked.
"You are going to receive some therapy from me." Cadence said adamantly
Twilight was about to complain when she looked at her parents and then at Shiny, then back at Cadence. "Fine!" Twilight said annoyed.
Everyone smiled and left for work. Leaving Twilight and Cadence alone. "Seriously Twi. Don't worry. It's mostly some TLC and you can talk about everything to me. I will listen" Cadence said hugging Twilight.
Twilight eyes became visibly depressed and Cadence noticed "Thanks." Twilight simply said in a very depressed tone. Cadence looked shocked at Twi. Twilight's thanks felt so empty, yet so emotionful it shook Cadence to her core as she hugged Twilight tighter.
Releasing Twilight she walked to the front door, Cadence looked back on more time before leaving.
"We are done, Royal! You can come down now!" Twilight shouted without a breadcrumb of depression.
Royal walked downstairs and started the lesson without skipping a beat.
"Well, Twilight. Grab your notebook and pencil for this weeks we are going to talk about vegetables." Royal said
Twilight nods as she grabs her notebook and pencil and starts listening in quiet.
"Before we start. Vegetables is a very broad topic. Besides the obvious differences in name. Every country and community have the same vegetables but they are different every time." Royal explained. "Besides that, there is a whole process for vegetables to even reach you. But let me explain it simplified version." Royal continued "First it's a seed which is planted. Usually they use fertilizer which is a combination of coal and minerals before planting. Then they water the seed. The water being usually local, but they do rarely use a modified version that contain more lime and stuff" "Then while the vegetable grows it has to endure lots of things like pesticide and weather playing big roles, but also temperature differences and irregularities." Royal said showing a picture of each. "But let's say it survivals all these events and your end product is for example a potato, then what?" Royal asks himself "Well it gets send to a processing plant. There they make sure it doesn't contain anything bad before shipping it to a store or kitchen." Royal said showing a picture of such processing plant. "That is the process each and every vegetable." Royal explained.
Twilight raised her hoof since she had a question, royal nods. Twilight asked "But don't farmers sometimes sell them, without a processing plant?"
Royal smiled and nods while continuing the explanation "That is correct. Those vegetables go to fresh markets or biological shops. With the rare occasion being sold on the farm themself." "But then you are buying with risk and not every kitchen does that. So keep that in mind." Royal said while Twilight nods.
"Anyways that is the basic process of the shop obtaining the vegetable." Royal ends.
"Well that is it for today. Tomorrow we talk about the local Canterlot vegetables." Royal said as Twilight nods.
Royal then moved to the front door to leave while Twilight was still busy writing things down. When Twilight suddenly shouts "Wait!"
Royal stops to look at Twilight "What is it?" Royal asks
"Tomorrow I have to be with Cadence for some therapy" Twilight said.
Royal raised his eyebrow "Okay. Then we will merge two lessons into one, the day after tomorrow." Royal said while leaving.
The following morning Twilight woke up and went to the bathroom. She looked at the douche and the bath but she didn't want to go in them instead she looked in the mirror and sees her depressed eyes. Sighing she washes her hair and face before going downstairs.
Once downstairs she bumps into Shiny and accidentally shined her depressed eyes at him before quickly recovering. Shiny flashed worry in his face before also recovering. They both just stood there, staring at each other.
Twilight was the first to talk and asked "Could you please join me for the therapy? I don't want to go alone, I want some brotherly support."
Shiny Flashed extreme happiness hearing that, before quickly burying that look. "Sure, I am sure I can explain this to my boss later." Shining said.
Twilight nods before grabbing a quick salad from the fridge and eating it in the dining room. A moment later they both left for the castle.
Apparently Twilight was so depressed she ignored everything while on her way to the castle, besides Shiny who was standing next to her like a guard.
Entering the castle, Twilight bumps into Cadence in the hallway. Cadence looks down to see a visibly depressed Twilight looking at her and Shining Armor standing next to her. He wasn't in guards armor despite today being his workday.
Cadence was about to question it when Twilight interrupted her "I need some brotherly support." Twilight said emptily. Shiny flinched at the coldness before looking very worried at her.
Cadence nods as they moved to her pre-prepped office with Shiny in tow. As they enter Twilight notices a LOT of sweets and ice cream. And smartypants lying on the floor. however she ignored everything in favor for Cadence.
Cadence noticing this, grabbed her business glasses and Shining grabbed his gear. Putting it on just for the feeling of safety in favor of Twilight. Twilight smiled sadly to Shiny. Her smile is genuine and so was her sadness.
Shining almost instinctively wanted to hug Twilight but decided not to, after locking eyes with Cadence. Cadence looked extremely serious. Twilight has never seen Cadence look this serious, in fact even Shiny had never seen her like this.
Cadence cleared her voice and grabbed a notebook and pencil "Please go lay on this sofa Twilight." Cadence asked and Twilight did as asked.
"Why don't you start at the beginning of your mistake." Cadence asked
Twilight nods as she explained that she secretly entered the military district to see Shining Armor, but found out that Barracks there is the wrong kind of Barracks and that Shining worked at the Royal version.
She met a kind Commander there and saw ponies training on the black orbs. She then used her most powerfullest water laser beam to great the strongest laser beam so that she could impress the Barracks there. That she thought afterwards to be her biggest mistake.
She explained her time in hospital and her extreme feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. Feeling her sins crawling on her back and the pain of hearing ponies dying because of her mistake.
This rant continued for hours on end, until eventually Twilight felt the weight on her back lifted by telling somepony about this. Twilight although depressed was feeling a lot better, than before as she smiled genuine once again.
When Twilight was finally done. She noticed two ponies had entered during her explanation. Pride and Magic had entered the room. They both looked shocked and sad at Twilight. Shining at frozen stiff at Twilight's pains and felt like he hasn't been a very good brother. Cadence on the other hoof felt pain for not being there for her, when she needed her the most.
For like a solid hour the room was quiet. Twilight was slowly calming down, as she felt happiness grip her body. Quickly realizing a lot of ponies like her. And will gladly help her in need. Just as she helps them in need. She then calmly gives Shiny a warm hug, Cadence also a hug, Magic a awkward hug and Pride a warm hug.
Shiny looked happily at Twilight, realizing Twilight already recovered somewhat. Cadence looked in though at her explanation of the hospital situation. Magic and Pride looked warmly at her, although uncertain. And Twilight? She calmly looked around the room.
Cadence's office had a big desk with a window behind it. She also had four bookshelves filled with books. The floor was made from dark oak and the walls had a hearty wallpaper, The ceiling was painted white with a big chandelier in the center. Behind the desk was a red leather office chair. It also had four comfy sofas and 2 coffee tables. With a carpet in the center.
Being done with looking around the room. Twilight looked at pride and asked "So why are you here, Pride?"
Pride looked at Twilight, seeing Twilight's eyes being shiny he said "I am not sure. Magic and I were asked by Cadence to come."
Magic nods while she looks at Shining Armor "Is he your brother?"
"Yup! I asked him to come for emotional support." Twilight explained.
"I see. Then he is excused for not coming today." Pride said.
"Thank you, Sir!" Shining Armor said while saluting.
Pride nods proudly at Shiny's response. Magic looks at him and also nods.
"Well sorry for calling you both. I wasn't sure if we needed both of you. But in the end we didn't need you two." Cadence said apologetic.
"That is quite alright Cadence. Your request came so sudden that we scrambled. We thought we did something wrong." Magic said.
"Well besides unbanning me that is." Twilight said impish.
Cadence eyes widen when she remembered. Then she decided to stare daggers into them both. Causing them both to flinch and gulp. until Cadence smiled and waved it of dismissively.
"Perhaps besides that." Cadence said dismissively "We do need to give them a punishment for that, right Twi?"
Twilight's smile became creepy as she said "Yes." her voice dripping with mischief.
Cadence too became creepy as she asked "What should we give them?"
At this point Shiny already left the room. As Magic and Pride looked nervous at them both. And perhaps a bit scared.
"I suggest anti-cake punishment." Twilight suggest
Cadence looked beyond creepy. At this point she looked down right terrifying "Yes. That is a good punishment."
Twilight turning back to normal said "You are going to prevent Celestia from eating cake of 1 week. Good luck!"
Magic and Pride looked shocked and scared as Pride said "NOOOOO!" in darth pony accent.
Cadence giggled and rang her bell as Royal entered the room "How may be of service to you?" Royal asked
"These two commanders decided to prevent Celestia from eating cake. You may not serve any form of cake to Celestia until these two lifted the banishment." Royal's eyes widen looking at them both until nodding
"Very well." Royal said before quickly leaving.
Twilight spend the rest of the day talking about her adventures and eating sweets until suddenly the doors open with a bang. And a very angry Celestia enters. Twilight than quickly left while Cadence and Celestia argued. Twilight returning home as nothing happened in between.
Twilight woke up and went to the bathroom. The bath and douche were dirty. She quickly washed up and cleaned her teeth. She sees a happy Twilight in the mirror as she went downstairs.
Royal already was downstairs when Twilight enter the living room
"Good morning Twilight. Today will be an extra long lesson. But first eat your breakfast." Royal said. Twilight then entered the dining room to eat her salad.
Leaving she quickly grabs her notebook and pencil to join Royal in the living room.
"Okay, Today we are going to learn about Canterlot local vegetables and the Import and export of vegetables." Royal started "First thing first, Canterlot produces vegetables?" He asked himself, "The answer is sort of. We produce our vegetables in greenhouses near the edge of Canterlot on the other side of the hill that Canterlot is on. But what do we produce, well that is complicated." "Technically on paper we produce coffee beans and cacao beans. However truthfully we don't really produce rather we develop vegetables into better ones." Royal continued "As most of Equestria produces the developed products. That being said we do produce coffee beans and cacao beans just a lot less than other nations."
"I went to the market and got us some coffee beans to showcase. Since production is low but demand is high, the price of a bag of 500 grams is like 500 bits." Royal said causing Twilight to gasp. Royal nods at the shock "It's VERY expensive." he said.
"However I couldn't obtain the cacao beans equivalent as I couldn't buy them. a bag of 500 grams of cocoa being 50.000 bits" Royal said, however Twilight just smiled.
"Lucky for us then," Twilight said before reaching a secret compartment and grabbing a 50 kilo bag of Canterlot Cocoa out of it "I got some of it." Twilight finished
Royal's eyes were as big as dinner plates "How did you get this much?" he asked excited
Twilight simply smiled "Trade secret."
Royal looks at Twilight "Did you buy this at the black market?" he asked suspicious.
Twilight shook her head "I got it, through trading using information of how to develop something." She answered
Royal looked at her then nods "Well moving on, these products are special for they are one of a kind unlike certain products. Yes cacao are being sold anywhere, but no these are special developed ones." "Anyhow that is the Canterlot vegetable production." Royal ends this explanation.
"Now onto import and export." Royal starts the second lesson. "I won't go into detail but Export basically is the produce being sold to outside Canterlot." "Import basically is Canterlot buying produce from the outside. to put it simply." "These two can go hoof in hoof. Like Canterlot Imports a seed and exports the end product of the seed." "It's a tool designed for money and business. But it can be important for vegetables. For example the import from Manehattan for lettuce cost 10 bits, but the import from Ponyville cost 9 bits. You as consumer, would buy them in from the cheaper version. However if you are trying to get a good trade relationship going between the two you would go for Manehattan."
"If you were in Manehattan it would be called export, but if you are in Canterlot it is called Import. This information is important if you buy things from the market like the Farmer's market. Or from a supermarket." "Sometimes you find the same cheese twice in a supermarket. That is no mistake instead they are selling the same type but they come from outside Canterlot. The supermarket is importing a resource from a different state or country. And usually you will know if they use a third name on said product. Here have an example: Apple Dairy Pony. This product is an apple, the name of the company is Dairy, and it comes from Ponyville." "However lately it is on the address of the product instead of the name. And the product get the company icon. And the product you can identify without the name."
"Which is were we end this lesson." Royal said finishing up.
Twilight has been writing for the last few hours, as she closes her book. She then grabs a one kilo bag and fills it with the cacao. "Here take this, with you." Twilight before putting the rest in the compartment.
Royal lights up "Thank you so much Twilight!" He beams before leaving once more
The following day had the same actions as the last, The bathroom was dirty and she ate breakfast while Royal waited for her in the living room.
As she enters Twilight asked "Why are you here so early?"
"My Head chef shift has been moved to evening for the castle. While my head chef shift for the restaurant is night." Royal said.
Twilight thought then jumped "Don't tell me she is eating cake?" Twilight asked annoyed.
Royal looked nervous away "Most likely." He simply stated.
Twilight then smiled "Celestia you want to play this way? Fine you will be punished later." Twilight said impish.
Royal blinked then shook his head "Anyways tomorrow we go to the slums to give them food." He said.
Twilight blinked as Shiny smashed the front door in. "NO!" He said before leaving
Twilight and Royal looked at the now broken door. Twilight said "I don't know if that is a good idea."
"And help them rebuild the slums. That fire devastated half the slums." Royal finished.
Twilight thought about it. Sighing "Fine. We might want to make it fireproof." she said
"That's the spirit. Now today is the final talk day. Today we talk about the different types of vegetables." Royal said as Twilight grabbed her notebook and pencil.
"There are lot of them. There are even some that are technically fruits. We will only talk about four vegetables because I need time to prepare for our trip." Royal explained causing Twilight to nod.
"Okay, first vegetable is the tomato. A vegetable with lots of juice and technically a fruit. It's also a rich source of vitamin C. It's mostly used as garnish or on a salad. It's stem and leaves are poisonous." Royal explained. "The second vegetable is the potato. A vegetable with a lot of versatility. It can literally used for anything including making pasta instead of flour. Some versions of the potato are poisonous" "The third vegetable is a Rockmelon. A fruit with vegetable attributes. It contains the same amount of vitamins as most red or orange vegetables. It is quite a small melon type fruit however." "As the last vegetable, we are going to talk about Ube. A uncommon vegetable that is purple. Its a rather nutty and earthy type jam and can be used as an ingredient for a cake roll. Can also be classified as a potato."
"That's all Twilight. I hope tomorrow will be productive!" Royal excitedly said. Twilight however is very nervous and unsure. Royal noticing this asked "What is the matter?"
"That day I used for therapy had something to do with that fire. Which by the way costed 40 lives." Twilight explained.
Royal catching the hint, "Oh." he simply said.
"But I will be fine! I want to do my actions justice. I will get some people together." Twilight said confidently.
Once Royal was gone Twilight ran to the castle to see Vermouth Roux. On the way she saw Becky and ran towards her. "Hey Becky!" Twilight shouted
"Twilight! What is the hurry?" Becky asked.
"Tomorrow I am going to go to the slums to help rebuild, but I need some help. I want to upgrade the slums to make it fireproof." Twilight explained in rapid succession.
"I see. I can get you some ponies. I will be there!" Becky said.
"thanks!" Twilight said before running further only to bump into Pride and Magic. "Hey, Pride and Magic!"
Pride looked at Twilight "Hey, What is the matter?" Pride asked.
"I am going to rebuild the slums and upgrade it with fireproof wood but I need help." Twilight explained.
"We were at fault too. We shall help with the entire Magic guard." Magic said.
"I will get some people together." Pride said.
"Thanks!" Twilight said before continuing.
--------------
Once inside the castle. She wandered the castle until she found Vermouth sitting in the Royal Canteen. As Twilight enters she sees Celestia eating cake.
Twilight smiled creepily at Celestia "Hey Celestia! It would be same if the bananas suddenly got tax boosted." Twilight said ominously.
Celestia then flinch at Twilight causing her to cough from cake. Ignoring Celestia Twilight walked over to Vermouth.
"Good sir?" Twilight asked
Vermouth looks at Twilight "Twilight! It's been awhile. Do you need me for that tax boost?" he said smiling at Celestia.
Celestia blinked while Twilight continued "No sir, I want to improve the living conditions for the slums after an accident which was indirectly caused by me. But I need specialized wood. Something you export." Twilight asked.
Celestia and Vermouth raised their eyebrow at the word export, "Which wood product?" he asked.
"I need a LOT of fireproof wood. Atleast 5 tons" Twilight asked.
"I see. But only if you afterwards find me a good meat producer." Vermouth requests.
"Done! In fact I will do that right now and get an additional 5 tons." Twilight bargains
Vermouth laughs "Okay, Deal!" He then shook Twilight's hoof. "When do you need it?" He asked
"Tomorrow." Twilight said while calling the guards.
"Very well. But first your side of the deal." Vermouth said to a distracted Twilight.
Twilight waited, until a dragon ambassador entered the Royal Canteen. "Twilight. You called for me?" she asked.
Celestia stood up shocked and Vermouth raised his eyebrow at her reaction. "Yes. You are searching for clients regarding High Quality Meats right?" Twilight asked.
"That is correct. You found somepony?" Elly asked.
Twilight shook her head "Not somepony but some griffon." Twilight said impish.
Elly laughed "I see, and that griffon is Vermouth Roux?" Elly asked.
"Yes." Twilight said.
"I see." she turns to him "Nice to meet you. My name is Elly Dragoon, I am the ambassador of the southern Dragon tribe and the Third Princess."
"I see. Nice to meet you, Your Highness. My name is Vermouth Roux. I am the third ambassador of the Griffons empire." he said.
"You were in need of meat?" Elly asked.
"That is correct." Vermouth said.
"Very well. We will talk later." Elly said before leaving.
"Thank you, Twilight. I shall deliver not 10 tons but 50 tons." Vermouth said happily "None of our ambassadors ever got through to do Southern Dragons. This will be a big step!"
Twilight woke up extremely early in the morning. It's 4 O'clock in the morning. She went to the bathroom to find the bath clean. She started to fill the water up with warm water as she looked outside. The weather was clear and sunny. She enters the bath sinking in the past weeks events. Today she is going to do her best to redeem herself. Even though she will be permanently scarred for life and be stuck with depression as an attribute of her own actions. Not to mention being uncertain to use her magic for something. She washes her hair and body with soap and exited the bath and brushing her teeth in front of the mirror. She then went downstairs to go eat something.
Once downstairs, she grabs another pre-prepped salad from the fridge. These salads were the recovery her mother performed on the mistake she made with the fruit salad. Somehow they taste amazing.
As she sat in the dining room eating her salad, Velvet and Night entered the dining room to find Twilight. They raised their eyebrow and ask "Twilight. Why are you up so early?"
"I am going to 'Meet the music' in a few hours. I am going to try to restore the damages on the slums with some friends." Twilight explains.
"I see. So you wake up, extra early why?" Velvet asks.
"So I don't miss you two in the morning" Twilight answers
Night smiled "I see. You do know, you can always interrupt our work when you need us." Night says.
"Do you need anyone for the rebuild?" Velvet asks.
"The more, the merrier" Twilight says.
Night and Velvet smiles "We will get some people together." they said.
Twilight smiles warmly "I might also need you two for my depression. Something I obtained as a side effect if you will." She requests.
They both nods as they too eat the salad and then leave to go to work. After that Shining went downstairs "Hey, Twi!" Shiny said.
"Good morning." Twilight returned.
"Today I have been assigned as you guard by Commander Pride." Shiny said while eating the salad.
"I see. Shall we go face the music then?" Twilight asks when Shiny finishes his salad.
"We were supposed to meet them 6 O'clock, It's currently 5:30." Shining said while looking at the clock.
"Let's go then." Twilight pushes causing Shiny to nod.
He enters his gear and moved to Twilight as a guard.
They leave the house to enter the now building site. Once there she sees atleast a thousand guards, a thousand griffons, ten dragons and a LOT of builder ponies and repair ponies. overwhelmed by the sheer number of people, she regained her bearings. She sees the 50 Tons of fireproof wood to her left. atleast 1 km of glass panes. Some steel beams. And as last atleast 5000 tons of regular hard oak wood.
Then the crowd sees her and like a stampede move towards her. Causing Shiny to look steeled at them. Once closer Twilight spoke up "A few days ago. I made a massive blunder. This blunder costed the lives of 40 ponies. However today I and you shall try to ask for forgiveness by rebuilding and upgrading these poor ponies houses. They shall live in proper wooden houses and we might be able to build a school in there somewhere. So that we can achieve what a specific pony has been trying to do for years. In honor for those that died, we gather here today to rebuild what they have lost! Let's work hard TOGETHER!" Twilight shouts
"Huzzah!" The massive group of ponies shouted.
"I made a better blueprint of the rebuild locations and improved road work. I will leave the the heavy duties to the guards and griffons. Then metal works to the dragons. The builder ponies build the interior and help build a stable house with their training. The repair ponies will build the road and the well. I am not very strong, so I will do my best in communication." Twilight explained. Everyone nods in agreement and started to build according to the blueprint.
As everyone works, the other slum dwellers also want an upgrade. Twilight then proceeded to make an expanded blueprint, and got her hooves on even more materials. Meanwhile ponies who heard about Twilight's action came to help. As they came from all over Equestria.
In the end they all build a better and upgraded slum with a school, multiple wells, cobbled roads and then some. Twilight with the help of the guards also build a stone church with the 35 poor ponies deaths written on the stone graves besides the church.
With a now better slum and Twilight having success in finding teachers for the, by Canterlot funded, Slum school. Everything was back to normal and improved. Including a happy slum dwelling. Those injured by Twilight's accident were told what happened and how she has tried to redeem herself. Every pony who were injured by her actions were happy and forgiving. now that they have better homes and comfort.
Twilight then proceeded to invite everyone to a massive after-party in the castle. Which was hosted by Cadence herself. Even the poor were invited. With free drinks and food to go around. And a DJ at the helm, everything was picture perfect.
Yes, everything. Besides Twilight. Although she has redeemed herself. The pain of having killed somepony was still haunting her. Something that compounded the depression. Falling asleep in Cadence's quiet room. She was carried by Cadence back home. there she slept quietly but in pain. Something that Cadence was very aware of. But could do nothing about.
The following day, Twilight was saddened when she woke up. But after the washing herself and eating breakfast. She left home to go to the church and leave flowers and pray. She did this the whole of Saturday.
While asleep that evening, she dreamed of those haunted dreams until those spirits once again entered her dream realm. They haunted her as she sighs and asks "Why are you haunting me? I made a church. I made a grave. I made a school. I improved the slums. What else do you want of me?"
The spirits became deadly silent then one spoke "Did you truly do all that?"
"Yes!" Twilight shouted as she pulled her memory up to show it off.
The spirits watch her memory, They then looked at her and ask "Do you bid Forgiveness and Fear?"
"I bid you a safe afterlife, For you to enter heaven at a leisure pace and to have peace in the light." Twilight said.
"Truly?" They ask in a ghostly voice.
"Yes. To my name. My title as noble. My status as chef in training and happiness." Twilight vowed.
As the dream changed from darkness to light they smiled, the spirits.
They appear as clean and visible as possible. As they say to her "Then we wish your peace on your mind. Freedom as student. Happiness with friends. And among all of them. No fear of your magic." one explained.
"AMEN!" They shout together, before disappearing. Her head felt clearer and some of her depression were buried. As happiness gripped her mind, She whispered "Thank you."
Twilight was sleeping on her bed. Yesterday was very exhausting. So exhausting in fact, that it's 12 O'clock in the morning and she is still asleep. Perhaps it helped that her parents had opened the window while it was raining. The rain was known to make her sleepy or calm.
Meanwhile Royal was sitting on the couch in the living room. He was casually drinking some earl grey tea together with Velvet and Night. They were sitting on some reading chairs besides the couch. Night then suddenly stood up and walked to the opposite couch to Royal.
"So what did you have planned for her to learn this week?" Night asked Royal.
Royal looked at Night "Well. I wanted to teach her some cooking using meat and fish." Royal said.
"I don't think that is a good idea. She will try to eat the meat dish even as herbivore." Velvet said casually, while still not looking directly at Royal.
"So I have heard. But it is essential that she learns how to work with them." Royal urges.
Velvet looks at Royal sighing "I know. We believe what you just said is true. However I wish for you to very carefully plan, to prevent her from attempting to eat the meat." Velvet suggests.
Royal nods "Very well. It would push her learning to cook with meat to after the summer sun celebration." Royal says while taking another sip of his tea.
"That would make us less worried." Night said relieved.
"What will Twilight learn then?" Velvet asked
"The basics of patisserie. With homework for her to make cookies." Royal said.
Velvet and Night looks at him with glee "Great! I would be atleast quite happy if she learns that." Velvet said excited.
Night nods in agreement "I for one, would love to see her bake cookies." He said happily.
Royal raised his eyebrow at their reaction. Casually sipping his tea until it was empty. He then said "Well. Her lesson starts tomorrow. It's clear she is still exhausted from yesterday. Which I can't blame of course. She has done well." Royal said while walking to the front door.
"Well duty calls. I have to go to work. It was a lovely chat miss Twilight, Sir Light." Royal says with a bow before leaving.
Velvet and Night simply raise their eyebrow at his bow. Before going back to read their book.
It's 2 O'clock midday. Twilight finally woke up with a stretch. Before having a big yawn. She looks at the clock and sees she slept too long. However she slept so long that it took her 15 minutes, just to get out of her bed. As she calmly walked to the bathroom she looks down the stairs. She sees her parents reading some books in the living room.
Entering the bathroom she looks out the window. It's raining. She then looked at the bath and douche. However she didn't want to do more than refresh herself. So she stood before the mirror doing her teeth. She then washed her hair and added a little bit of conditioner.
Moving down the stairs, she greets her parent "Hey mom! Hey dad!" Twilight said.
Velvet looks at her smiling "Good morning Twi. How did you sleep?" she asked.
"Good. Atleast better than the days before. So when is Royal going to get here?" Twilight asked.
Night shook his head "There was a change of plans. Today there is no lesson. Tomorrow you will however." Night said.
Twilight looks saddened at her father "Why?" she asked.
"He had to improve and revise the lesson for after the summer sun celebration." Velvet said.
Twilight lights up suddenly "I forgot about the summer sun celebration." Twilight said excited, "When is it?"
"It's next week on monday. We have been invited to the after party." Velvet said.
"I will also go with you to the summer sun celebration." Night explained.
Twilight looks excited at dad and mom "Am I also invited?" Twilight asked.
"I mean you are. However it's an high society party, you might not want to come." Velvet explained.
Twilight deflates "Yeah. I am not ready for high society parties. Perhaps some other day." She said saddened.
"So what are you going to do today?" Velvet asked changing the subject.
Twilight lights up "I am going to visit Elly. Something tells me, she is not doing too well with Vermouth." She says.
Velvet and Night raises their eyebrow at those two names "Who?" they both asked together.
Twilight however was already outside and gone before they could get an answer.
Once outside Twilight casually walked through the forest to the castle. Along the way she spots an orange filly with an apple cutie mark. The filly was trying to move a cart with apples that were clearly too heavy for her. Twilight looks at the sun, than shrugs and walked towards the filly.
"Hey, do you need some help?" Twilight asked
The filly stops trying to push it to look at Twilight. The filly then inspects Twilight only to shake her head "Ah don't think you should try to help me. You are too weak looking and clearly an unicorn." She says in an country accent.
Twilight raises her eyebrow at the tribalistic remark. Then proceeds to ignore her and also push the cart against the other fillies wishes. At first it stopped moving, then it started to move forward as the filly quickly grabs the steering wheel. Twilight not noticing it, just keeps on pushing.
A few minutes later and the cart reached its destination. Twilight exhausted looks around, and sees her being at the market in the commercial district. The filly looks confused at Twilight.
"Why did ya help me? Ah thought unicorns were only good at magic." the filly asked still confused.
"Well I did it, because you looked like somepony in need of assistance. I like helping ponies." Twilight said shrugging off her exhaustion.
"Well thank ya very much. The name is Applejack. Nice to meet ya." AJ says.
"I see, so you are Applejack. I met a few ponies that mentioned your name before." Twilight said smiling.
AJ raises her eyebrow, but shrugs "Ah see. Well ah am where I am supposed to according to meh map." she says.
"There you are!" says the pony behind Twilight.
Twilight and AJ looks up at the pony and sees Apple Junior. A good friend and connection to Twilight. A cousin however to Applejack.
Junior then looks at Twilight smiling. "Thanks Twilight. I knew AJ couldn't have carried that alone. Here take this as a thank you." Junior said, then giving Twilight a basket of apples.
AJ looks at Twilight then at Junior and asked "You two know each other?"
Junior nods "She helped me a great deal in the past. But nevermind that. We need to set up our booth. See you next time Twilight." she said, shooing Twilight away.
Twilight nods then with the basket on her back. Continued on to the castle.
Once inside, Twilight walked to the dark blue side of the castle. She then sees a prayer bowl, with a picture of Luna above it. Twilight then places an apple in it, before moving on.
Her walk in the castle was slow but nice. Moving slowly to the kitchen. She spots Royal. Waving to Royal when he sees her.
"Here take these apples. I got them from a friend." Twilight said moving the basket of apples in her magic to Royal.
"Thanks Twi. Sorry about the lesson. But I was asked to delay the lesson I had planned in favor for another lesson." Royal explained while looking at the apples.
"I see. That is quite alright. By the way where is Vermouth?" Twilight asked.
Royal raised his eyebrow and thought about it. "I think they are in Celestia's office. However I heard screaming in there." He said.
Twilight sighed "Thanks. It would appear they could use a friend." Twilight said annoyed.
Royal nods as Twilight moved on towards Celestia's office.
Once at the office she indeed heard screaming. She also felt the hallway being very hot as she approach the guards. They look at Twilight and then nodded at her as Twilight knocks on the door before entering without waiting for an answer.
Once inside she sees Elly practically breathing fire on Vermouth. While Cadence is trying to calm Elly down. Meanwhile Vermouth was attempting to intimidate Elly while Celestia look on in horror. Celestia then notices Twilight in the room with her horn lit up.
Twilight then proceeded to force Elly to both sit down and stop breathing fire. While also forcing Vermouth's wings closed and also sit down. She than also uses iceball to undo the extreme heat in the room.
Twilight proceeds to look very annoyed at both of them before shouting "Are you childrenen or something?!"
Elly and Vermouth both look down, embarrassed. Cadence and Celestia looks surprised at Twilight bold actions. Before Cadence could talk Twilight continued "Do I even need to explain why, what you are doing, is bad for more reasons than one?!"
As Twilight slowly descend into a lecture about their actions. Celestia looks at them both. They looked embarrassed and sad. Cadence then proceeds to stop Twilight from lecturing the ambassadors. Twilight although steaming hot with annoyance, shuts herself up.
Cadence than clears her voice to say "Well. Atleast we calmed down, somewhat."
Celestia nods "Thank you, Twilight. But this is a adult conversation and-" Celestia started before Twilight cuts her off
"Yes well. These two are going to punished later. However for now I will leave the room. If I find you guys shouting at each other again," Twilight's smile became creepy and dark "The punishment will be public." Twilight finished.
The two widen their eyes and nod like a child being punished by their parents. "We are sorry." they both said.
Twilight looking satisfied, left the room to go back home. While leaving she was stopped by Celestia.
"Hey Twilight. So in a few months from now. My magic school will allow new students to join the school. I was wondering if you are interested?" Celestia asked.
"No, Your highness. I am planning on becoming a chef. I was hoping to get an entrance exam at the filly culinary school in Canterlot." Twilight said politely.
"I see. You see Cadence has already vouched for you to join my school with the warrant of you becoming my protegé." Celestia explained.
"I see. But I am sorry. I am already training for chef work. Royal is training me for the entrance exam." Twilight explained.
Celestia nods "I understand. If you ever change your mind. I will always welcome you." she said.
"Thank you, your highness" Twilight said before a bow and heading home.
The following day after a good night sleep, It's 5 O'clock like usual as Twilight wakes up. Looking around her room reveals nothing special, besides the dirty hoofprints on the floor. Curious Twilight inspects the hoofprints. 'Hmm, Too big to be mine. Too big to be Shiny. Ah Cadence.' she thoughts.
As Twilight heads to the bathroom she looks outside through the window in the bathroom. The door to the bathroom was open, with signs that somepony recently used the doorknob. Once inside she washes her face and her hair. Twilight also nearly forgets to do her teeth.
Once done she hears that it started to rain just now. Which is odd, since no rain was predicted. Twilight looking at the calender and the outside the window confused. Shrugging she heads downstairs.
Once downstairs, Twilight immediately grabbed her notebook and pencil. Then grabbing a slice of bread with jam on it, before eating it in the dining room. After a few quiet moment, she heard a knock on the door. Moving to open the door reveals a very wet Cadence and Royal.
"Come in." Twilight said quickly before stepping aside for the two.
The two entered the living room while Twilight went to get some towels from the bathroom. Once she returned, Twilight places the towels on both their heads. The two also issued a quick "Thank you." while also drying themself up.
After a moment or two Twilight finally asked "So I get why Royal is here, but why are you here Cadence?"
Cadence looks at Royal then at Twilight before saying "Well. I am here to help you with today's lesson."
Royal nods "She has experience with what I am about to teach you." he explains
Twilight nods confused "Wait. I thought we are going to learn cooking." she asked
Royal laughs at the expense of Cadence. Cadence simply blushed. "Of course. But today and the next few days, you are going to learn a little bit of patisserie." He explained.
"Something I have atleast a hundred years of experience with." Cadence said still blushing.
Twilight nods "Well. Shall we start then?" Twilight asked.
Cadence then donned her working glasses, removing the blush from her face. She then also grabbed a chalkboard out of nowhere. While Royal nods, grabbing his workbook.
"Let's start." Royal said nodding.
"So first thing first. What is patisserie?" He asked Cadence.
"Patisserie is the art of making sweets and dishes that require action that the kitchen usually doesn't take. However the two are very similar." Cadence started. "You see. As pâtissière or pastry chef, your job is to make sugary dishes usually. However these dishes can also be bitter or hardy." "For example. Fruit yogurt with jam is a patisserie dish. But kitchen chefs also make them. But why would a kitchen chef do that?" Cadence asked to no-one in particular.
"Because the dish has ingredients similar to what a chef uses?" Twilight asked.
"Correct!" Royal responds "However in that sense it should be a pastry chef's task to make it right? Wrong!" Royal continues "No. A pastry chef tends to lean more to cupcakes and cakes. But in some sense a chef is a middle pony. You as chef is to make whatever to whomever. The road you take is unimportant. Whether as pastry chef or as kitchen chef, your job is to make the guest happy. Sometimes that means you as chef take a road unknown to many."
"However!" Cadence suddenly spoke up "In that sense, you as pastry chef should be able to cook right? Wrong!" Cadence continued "A pastry chef goal in a kitchen is to support the kitchen in ways they are unable. Like chocolate, you see. Chocolate is a hard task to multitask in a kitchen since it's very sensitive to your actions. But making sweet things are also a repertoire of a chef. Just not everything."
"To put it in simple terms. As long as you know the basic stuff like cookies and bread. You as chef are set for the future. While as pastry chef the basic control of spices are important for their future." Royal summed it up.
"I see. I can't wait to learn more. But I think your shift is about to start Royal." Twilight said looking at the clock. That explanation took perhaps only 3 hours. But Twilight took lots of writing moments so the total time for this one lesson was 8 hours without breaks.
Royal eyes widen, than he looked at the clock. Shocked. He quickly thanked Twilight before running out.
Cadence too thanked Twilight before walking back to the castle.
The following morning. It was still raining. Twilight morning schedule was the same as yesterday.
As she opened the front door, Towels ready on a side table. Reveals a dry Cadence and Royal. They had a anti-rain shield.
As Twilight welcomed them in. She quickly grabbed her second notebook and a pencil. The first one was filled up yesterday. Meanwhile Cadence grabbed her glasses and chalkboard. Royal his workbook.
"Today some more overviews." Cadence started "We are going to talk cake and cake. Confused? Well, they are both named the same but they are different. One is round, the other is a loaf shape."
Twilight looked totally confused "Besides look, what makes them stand apart?" she asked.
Royal smiled "One, chefs usually makes, the other is usually made by a pastry chef." Royal answered.
"Let's start round cakes. Usually made for parties and important moment. They always made from cake sponge and icing in one way or another." Cadence continued without missing a beat "There are hundreds of version however. The reason you can identify this a something made by a pastry chef is because it's usually made like art. If the chef made it however, they would focus on taste rather than looks. But a pastry chef usually makes amazing cakes that seem impossible. Something even Royal can't make."
Royal looks at Cadence annoyed "However this does have a flaw. Although looks can be sellable, eating it can be hard. A chef would usually take the tasty and easy to eat methode. A pastry chef goes for looks and sellability." Royal added.
"And they often don't like each other." Cadence finished.
"Loaf cakes on the other hoof is a very easy to make and fill type cake. For they can also be other things like meatloaf and such. They are also made without layers, making decorating it rather easy." Royal started.
"and also-" Royal began before getting cut off by Twilight.
"I would also love to learn more. But the time is up." Twilight said pointing at the clock.
"I see. Well tomorrow we will be talk about toppings for a cake and loaf cake." Royal said before quickly leaving. Cadence bows before Twilight before she too, leaves.
Twilight finishes writing before spending the rest of the day thinking about cakes.
The following morning Twilight woke up and finds out, it's still raining. As she started to get worried and the fact her parent haven't been home in three days didn't help. However there is nothing she could do about it. The rest went as scheduled.
One knock came as Twilight got ready for the lesson. She walked to the door to find Royal. Quickly allowing him to enter with a towel in hoof. She asked "Where is Cadence?"
Royal looks at Twilight worried "She is currently researching why it has been raining for last three days straight." Royal explained.
"I see. Have you seen my parents?" Twilight asked even more worried.
Royal shook his head "I haven't. However we should start the lesson. We can worry later." Royal suggests.
Twilight nods, already with tools in hoof.
"Okay, so toppings. They are in many shapes. liquids like icing. or sweets like chocolate, or bitter like black pepper." Royal started "They come in many shapes. From sweet to healthy. And then some."
"However you should be careful, some toppings could ruin your dish." Royal said.
"Like adding honey/mustard to a fruit salad?" Twilight suggest.
Royal smiled "Exactly!" he said. "Thus toppings in our context. As chefs we use toppings all the time. From sauce to decoration, besides the main dish. Everything that wasn't originally part of the dish is a topping."
"However, in some cases a topping isn't a topping. Like chocolate chip to a cookie. They are a part of the cookie, yet they are still called a topping. Otherwise you would have a vanilla cookie." Royal said, Twilight was writing that part down with capitals.
"So remember, in some formats chocolate chip is a topping. In others it isn't." Royal finishes.
"That's all Twilight. I believe you have come a long way." Royal said "I believe some homework is in due."
Twilight looks excited at him "Something to make I hope?" she asked.
Royal nods while he grabs a recipe from his hair. He them proceeded to show off a 'Chocolate chip cookie' recipe. "You will be making this. Alone!" He said.
Twilight takes the recipe in her magic and looks expectant at him.
"Go ahead. Study it and make it." Royal said "This recipe is for eight pieces, but I want you to make 16. Good luck."
Twilight nods and as she started to read, Royal left the house. Leaving behind a piece of paper saying 'Tomorrow no lesson, just do your homework.'
The recipe goes as following: 120 grams of unsalted butter and kept at room temperature, 75 grams of light brown sugar, 75 grams of fine crystal sugar, 1 medium size egg, 240 grams of wheat flour, 1 pinch of salt, A half teaspoon of baking soda, 100 grams of chocolate chips.
'I see. That is simple enough just got to multiply it by 2.' Twilight thought.
Twilight then entered the kitchen to see if she got everything. 'hmm. That is the butter in the fridge, and the eggs. Flour we always have, same goes for the crystal sugar. We have baking soda and salt obviously.' She thought as she goes over every cabinet in the kitchen.
'There is the light brown sugar!' She thought after searching the back of one of the cabinet. But after searching for a while she couldn't find any chocolate. 'Should I use my special chocolate?' Twilight thought.
'No. I will use it when I feel more confident in my skills.' Twilight thought shaking her head. However that left one path open for Twilight. To go buy chocolate tomorrow as the shops are closed.
Twilight looked at the clock. It is 7 O'clock in the evening. Twilight looked at calender and saw that today was nothing special. Twilight saddened, moved to go do something else.
The following morning she went downstairs and finds the piece of paper Royal left behind. Realizing today no class, but self-study. She quickly ate some breakfast before leaving the house. Just as her parents came from the first floor.
Once outside she moves to the commercial district. However she is very early so not many shops were open. The shop that Twilight needed however is open.
As she looks at the outside she sees that it's wooden exterior and home feel already attracted customers this early. There was a small crowd in front of the a counter on the outside. The counter had fresh bread and sweets with a brown pony behind it. In front of the counter were roughly fifteen ponies as well as six others who were sitting on the benches placed besides the wall.
Taking a small look at the shopping window, she sees that a cookbook made by Blueblood was selling like hotcakes. Twilight however wasn't very impressed, continuing her look at the shopping window. She some flour types also on display.
Twilight finally had enough of looking inside from outside, decided to enter the old school shop. Once inside she sees every wall, floor and ceiling was made from some kind of wood. That also includes the stands and displays. As she approaches the counter, she spots the chocolate chip on the other side of the counter. It was a pre-cut, ready for bake and quick to melt type chocolate chip. The bag also contained exactly what she needed '200 grams of chocolate.'
As she beacons the shopkeeper closer, she sees one of her friends and also shop owner filling some displays. Approaching the shop owner. "Hey!" Twilight shouts.
Startled, the shop owner throws the objects into the air. Twilight quickly grabbed it out of the air using her magic. The shop owner than turned annoyed to Twilight. "Hey, Twilight." she grumbled.
"Hey, Flour Dance." Twilight express.
"Can you not do that?" Flour said annoyed while grabbing the object out of Twilight's levitation.
"Sorry." Twilight said smiling sheepish.
"So, how can I help you Twi?" Flour asked.
"Just here to grab some chocolate for some cookies." Twilight explained.
"I see. Did you bring some money?" Flour asked.
"Yup. I want that pre-cut stuff." Twilight said.
Flour nods standing back up to go and grab a bag. "Since you are a loyal customer and friend. I give you a discount." She said
"That will be 5 bits instead of 20 bits" flour said.
Twilight raised her eyebrow before grabbing the chocolate and quickly placing 20 bits before running away.
Flour looks at the 20 bits, then at where Twilight stood. Shaking her head and grabbing the bits. smiling although with a tinge of annoyance. "Why won't she accept my generosity?" she asks herself.
"Perhaps because we are still just starting out?!" Shouted the brown pony.
"Shut up, you!" Flour said angrily, causing him to shut up.
------
Once Twilight was home she gathered everything on the countertop.
200 grams of unsalted butter that was getting to room temperature, 150 grams of light brown sugar, 150 grams of crystal sugar, 2 medium size eggs, 480 grams of wheat flour, 2 pinches of salt in a small bowl, 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a small bowl, and the bag of pre-cut chocolate.
Twilight then studied the recipe while the butter was getting to temperature. 'Okay. The first step would have been to cut the chocolate chip. Which is unnecessary. Then to mix the butter and sugar types together for roughly 30 seconds. Then add the eggs one by one for roughly 30 seconds. Sieve the flour to remove clumps together with the soda and salt. Add that to the mixture. And mix it together with a spatula. Then also add the chocolate and mix with a spatula. Knead the mixture a bit and then cling film it for an hour into the fridge.' She reads and starts calculating her actions.
As soon as the butter was at temperature, she added the butter with the sugar types to an automatic mixer. while that mixes she sieve the flour, salt and soda together. As soon as the mixture looks good, she adds the eggs one by one. Once that was done. She removed the mixing bowl from the mixer and add the dry ingredients to the mixture, slowly folding it with a spatula.
She then also added the chocolate at the end, also mixing it with a spatula. Once one whole mixture, she placed a cling film over it and let it rest for an hour.
Meanwhile Twilight read the second step. 'preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. add baking paper to the a oven plate. make 8 balls of cookies. place them on the baking paper and press them down. make sure there is enough space for the cookies with the rough diameter of 10 centimeter. And bake for 10 minutes.'
Twilight rereads it a few times while also preheating the oven to 180 degrees and also placing it on turbine mode. Not forgetting to get two oven plates and add baking paper to both of them. Realizing 1 hour has passed she removed the cookie dough from the fridge and quickly dividing it in 16 round balls. Placing them on the baking paper and gently pressing it down to 10 cm diameter sized cookies.
Looking at the oven, it was done preheating. Preparing a timer and setting it to 10 minutes. Twilight placed the oven plates in the oven and start the timer.
10 minutes later. She stopped the timer and removed the cookies to cool down. They looked golden brown and beautiful. Twilight feeling very prideful waited a few minutes before eagerly eating one.
It was weekend. The beginning of Twilight's vacation and the start of a new adventure. Twilight was sleeping in her bed while the sun outside slowly woke her up. It was 5 O'clock in the morning like usual. Stretching her body like a cat, she looks through the window besides her bed. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out and she saw ponies and griffons moving about.
As she slowly got out of bed, she took another look around her room. Her room had a few books missing and a few cobwebs. Happy that not much is out of place, she heads to the bathroom.
Once inside the bathroom she once again looks through the window. She spots Moondancer casually doing business. Looking at the douche and bath and sees that both were clean. Twilight decides to take a douche. Placing a few towels around her she opens the faucet and allows the water temperature to increase before heading in.
The temperature was warm but not hot. She thought back on her week. Lots of new things have been learned and lots of events also. Twilight then puts some soap on her hair and cleans said hair off with water. Putting some soap afterwards on her body and cleaning it off. Done with the douche, she stops the faucet and cleans herself off with the towels. And moves on to clean her teeth before moving on.
Now in the hallway she heads down the stairs and into the hallway that separate the front door and stairs with the living room and kitchen. Slowly moving to the living room. Twilight finds an exhausted Shiny on the couch, still in his uniform. Twilight looks at him before heading to the kitchen.
Once inside the kitchen, Twilight grabs some crushed coffee beans and some water. Adding them both to the coffee maker and plugging it in, starting the process. A few minutes pass before grabbing a coffee cup and added the freshly boiled coffee to the cup and levitating the cup with coffee in front of Shiny.
Shiny looks at the coffee, before eagerily drinking up. "Thanks Twi. I needed that." Shiny said.
"No worries. So how was work?" Twilight asked.
"Hard and tiring. Although my thirst has been lessened, I am still quite hungry." Shiny explained.
"Why don't we both go to donut joe then?" Twilight suggest.
Shiny lights up "Sure. Let's go." He said enthusiastic
--
Once outside, Twilight and Shining looks around. They see lots of houses hit hard by the overloaded amount of rainwater. Their neighbour's backyard was turned from a flower garden to a swamp. They notice lots of streets filled with rainwater and water damage everywhere. It's like a storm passed over them.
Twilight looks towards the commercial district, only to see a bridge collapsed and blocking boat traffic. There also seem like a lot of broken windows in that direction. Shiny looks to the slums and sees minimal damage, The strong construction and well-made blueprints saved the slums from a disaster.
Shining sighs in relief "It seems your blueprints for the slums, saved their lives." Shining said.
Twilight looks towards the slums happily "It would seem so. Thank Celestia." Twilight said.
"Let's hope Joe wasn't hit by the storm." Twilight hoped.
"It would be unlikely. His house is close to the castle, it might have been protected from the rain thanks to a forcefield." Shining said.
Breathing in relief, Twilight points to the forest and said "Well let's take a shortcut. It might be a bit swampy but it should be the safest route."
Shining nods "I agree. A little swamp won't stop me!" Shining practically shouts.
Shining and Twilight then calmly head towards the shortcut. In between arriving at Joe's and their current location, not much happened. Well besides the sheer awe of the damage done by the rain. The guard wall appear damaged, a part of the north wall had collapsed. Trees were uprooted and had fallen over. Some rather fragile buildings in the old side of the city had also collapsed, Twilight also noticed lots of rescue teams flying around.
Twilight looks at Shiny "Aren't you supposed to help them?" she asked worried.
Shiny shook his head "No. I am still in training, besides those rescue teams have royal army levels of training." he said.
"Royal army? Not royal guard?" Twilight asked confused.
"Correct. Royal army. That just goes to show the scale of the disaster. The royal guards are currently investigating the cause of such a disaster." Shining answered "Meanwhile the royal army is rescuing and helping civilians."
"I see. It's like a hot side of a kitchen and the cold side." Twilight said vaguely.
"What?" Shiny asked confused.
"Doing and prepping." she answered vaguely.
It took Shiny a second to understand its meaning. When he finally understood the meaning, he simply nodded. He then points to the forest as Twilight moved forward.
Twilight meanwhile was feeling conflicted. On one hoof she wishes to help the rescue teams, on the other hoof she realizes she might not be able to help. Twilight then looked back one last time before asking "Is there a way we can help in the background?"
Shiny stops in his tracks. He too realized that right now was his biggest call for duty, however he was asked not to interfere. He looks at Joe's donut cafe one last time before sighing. "But what can we do? They won't let us help." Shining asked desperately.
Twilight thought about it. 'Well. Rescue is out of the picture. However do they have enough food? water?' She looked at the injured and at Shiny "Actually we might be able to help. It would seem that the rescue teams lack morale. They also look thirsty and hungry." Twilight said smiling.
Shining looks closer at the injured after hearing that "And their medics are lacking magical powerful allies." He said, putting up a brave face.
The two look at each other. "Are you willing to sacrifice your job?" Twilight asked, "Are you willing to cook even in such situation?" He asked her in unison.
Smiling. "We are nobles, are we not?" they ask each other, confidence build up. They nod at each other before running off, to their jobs. -- Shining ran towards the hospital preparing his magic for a heaviest task in his life. As he enters he looks for a doctor. Once he found one, he decided to do something honorable and foolish. "My name is Shining Armor! Commander of the medic fleet! We need more medication at the emergency tents! We are also lacking doctors! We order more to be sent there!" He ordered using the royal badge he got from Cadence.
The closest doctor looks at the badge then salutes "Understood! But we are lacking doctors ourself. The most we can do is sent a signal to every hospital in Canterlot for assistance and give you a lot of equipment and medication." He spoke.
"Every little bit helps. There are lots of ponies badly injured by collapsing buildings. The cost of everything will be sent to the castle." Shining said.
In front of him, lots of equipment and medication was placed. He then proceeds to grab everything in his powerful magic and moved towards the rescue tents. The doctors in awe of his powerful magic, quickly sent an S.O.S. to every hospital for assistance to the rescue teams. -- Meanwhile Twilight races to the public canteen's kitchen, Taking the forest shortcut previously mentioned. However once she arrives there she is stopped by the guards.
"Halt! No access permitted to the castle while the investigations goes on." Says the guard to Twilight.
"But-" Twilight tries to talk on to be once again cut off by the guard.
"No exceptions, unless one is part of the guard or army!" The guard shouts.
Twilight looks annoyed at the guard before walking off. While walking off she bumps into a very tired looking Cadence. Cadence then looks down to give a sad smile, only to continue into the castle without a second word. Twilight looks very worried at Cadence and starts to think.
'If I can't enter, where else should I go?' she thought. Twilight taps her horn for some magic, but it seems too unstable to try to teleport. 'No Teleportation. Yet I still need to get access to a kitchen,' then she suddenly lights up.
As she ran towards her home she thought 'If I can get some resources from the commercial district and use my mother's kitchen. I might be able to make emergency rations.'
Twilight proceeds to run towards the commercial district. And once she arrives she sees one of the boat that transports vegetables is stuck in the canal that flows through the district. Twilight also spots her favorite cheese spot opened up.
Twilight took a second then decides to make vegetable soup and mac and cheese for the wounded. Approaching the boat reveals that on board Carrot Top and Clear Music is sit on it.
"Hey you two! Do you think I can buy some of that stuff?" Twilight shouts.
"Sure! How mu-" Clear started until she made eye contact with Twilight.
"Twilight! How are you?" Carrot asked.
"I am fine. I am currently planning on making emergency rations for the injured." Twilight said.
"I see. Take some of our vegetables then. We can miss them!" Carrot said pushing the vegetables onto Twilight.
Clear attempted to stop Carrot, but failing terribly. "We need that stuff for the restaurant! Stop!" Clear shouts to Carrot.
Carrot smiled mischievously towards Clear as she pushes her into the water. "Go Twilight. I will hold her off!" Carrot shouts.
"I will pay you back I promise!" Twilight shouts before running off.
Clear now in the water looks annoyed at Carrot "What have you done?! Royal will be so angry." She says.
"She is giving that stuff to the injured. I am sure Royal will understand." Carrot answered.
Clear hmpf-ed "I hope so." -- Twilight then approached the cheese shop, but before she can enter. A massive Gouda cheese roll was thrown at her. Twilight quickly stops it in her magic. She looks annoyed at shopkeeper. The shopkeeper instead simply smiled and shooed her out of the shop with cheese and all.
Twilight smiled and said "I will pay you back!"
"Don't! My mother is among the injured. Pay them back with the best food you can produce!" The shopkeeper shouted back.
Twilight looks shocked at her. She nods and ran back home. -------
Once home she sees her parents are reading some books in the living room. Twilight quickly ran into the kitchen and started to prepare a vegetable soup to the knowledge she had learned the past few weeks. Grabbing every single biggest soup pans she could find. And starting a mega portion of vegetable soup.
Velvet realizing Twilight is home and in the kitchen. She enters the kitchen and raised her eyebrow at the large quantity being prepared. She also spots a massive gouda cheese roll on the counter. Looking at Twilight to get her attention, makes her realized Twilight having lots of concentration.
Velvet still confused asks "What are you doing Twi?"
Twilight not looking at her mother says "I am making emergency rations of those injured people outside. The rain water caused a massive disaster and lots of ponies are injured."
Velvet looks shocked at her and slowly walked to the window. She looks in the distant and sees lots of emergency medical army tents. Realizing the scale of the disaster, she walks back towards Twilight.
"Twi. Let me make my special vegetable soup. You make the stuff from the cheese." Velvet says.
Twilight looks smiling at her mother "Okay. I will make the Mac and Cheese then." she said
Velvet smiled and got to work. Twilight meanwhile grabbed a massive bag of pasta from the pantry and proceeds to use the second stove. Also grabbing lots of pans filled with water and the pasta, starting to cook the mixture. Meanwhile grabbing lots of gouda cheese, a piece of cheddar and some mozzarella. Putting the cheese in a massive bowl and putting that on the pan of boiling water. Stirring the mixture into one big cheese sauce.
Once one big mixture, Twilight let it stay warm separately. Meanwhile the pasta was done. She removed the water and let stay warm on the stove. She then grabs parts of the cheese into the pan with the pasta and mixes every pasta pan individually. Once done she looks at Velvet.
Velvet was also done. She looks at Twilight and nod "I will move it there Twi. Good job." Night said from behind her.
Twilight turned around and nod. "Now I should go and pay Royal for the vegetables." She said.
Velvet nods "While you do that. We will move these there. Are they aware you are doing this?" she asked
"No. I kinda decide to do this in secret. And Shiny put his job on the line for this." Twilight said saddened.
Night shakes his head "Don't worry. He will be fine. I will make sure of it. You should go to Royal." he said.
"I can't enter the castle. I have to wait until the evening." Twilight said refusing to pay right now.
"No young lady. You will go pay right now. How you get to him is your guess." Velvet said in a scolding tone.
"Okay." Twilight disappointed said, before walking to the front door.
"I guess I will see you later." Twilight said closing the front door behind her. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twilight walked to the castle. Meanwhile a whole bunch of things were happening in the background.
Shining Armor arrived with additional medical equipment to the tents, something that caused the medical team's morale to skyrocket. At the same time Twilight's parents arrived with the additional rations for the army and patients.
Cadence finally figured out what happened and flew post haste towards cloudsdale with the report regarding the incident. Vermouth and Elly finally struck a strong deal regarding meat import and export which opened up the southern dragons to the griffons.
And once Twilight arrives at the castle the guards guarding the front gate were gone. Twilight calmly heads to the kitchen in the castle. Once inside the kitchen she sees Clear Music and Carrot Top in front of Royal and sees them being scolded.
"So could you explain what happened?" Royal asked very angry.
"I accidently threw some vegetables off board." Carrot lied.
"And I fell asleep on board while she was doing that." Clear also lied.
Royal was starting to grab his knife. Much to the horror to the two. "STOP LYING!" He shouts enraged.
Twilight smiles at their attempts and simply levitated Royal off the floor. Much to the shock of Royal.
"Twilight. Put me down." Royal said annoyed.
"No." Twilight said smiling. Meanwhile her magic removed the knife from his hooves and placed it on a knife rack in the background.
Royal looks at her "Guards!" He shouts.
The door was knocked open by the door guards. They look at the situation and spots a smiling Twilight levitate a angry Royal. Unsure what to do, They simply left.
"Oi!" Royal said looking annoyed at the guards. He looks at Twilight, and studies her smile. Twilight smiled in such a way that it felt innocent. He sighed.
"How can I help you Twi?" he calmly asks
Twilight realizing he calmed down, placed him back on the floor. "Oh nothing. I am here to pay you back." She said.
Royal now looking much calmer, raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Twilight placed a small bag of 100 bits on the counter and turned around "Thanks for the vegetables." she simply said to a shocked Royal. Before leaving in a very mysterious way.
Royal finally realizing what just happened. Quickly goes through the same door only to find Twilight gone. He then re-entered the kitchen sighing in the direction of Carrot Top and Clear Music.
"Fine. But next time don't lie. I won't get mad. I promise." Royal said calmly.
The following day. The food and medical equipment that was given by the Twilight family was used greatly. As hospitals and other restaurants also helped. In the end they found 3050 ponies injured, of which 50 badly injured. However thanks to the hospitals and the Twilight family, no one died that they found in time.
Sadly that doesn't work for those they were too late to help. 250 ponies weren't helped in time and they succumbed to their injuries and died. They were later found and their bodies send to the grieving families. Many chose to bury them at the church Twilight and the guards build. However that church didn't have a priest.
Celestia and Cadence that same day got a high priest and some nuns to take care of the church. Celestia was there when every single pony was buried. This all happened while Twilight was at home.
------
It's sunday. The day all those ponies got buried. Twilight woke up from the sunlight that shone through the window in her face. As she woke up, she notices the Royal guard outside their front door. Realizing there might be visitors, Twilight quickly heads to the bathroom to clean herself up.
Once inside the bathroom, Twilight cleans her teeth, face and hair. Putting a small amount of conditioner in her hair also. She looks through the window in the bathroom and sees that a lot of pegasuses were cleaning the sky of clouds. Looking at the calendar she also realized that tomorrow is the summer sun celebration.
Slowly heading down the stairs. She listened in, but she heard nothing. Nothing besides slurping. As she enters the living room she sees Velvet and Night sitting in chairs. Cadence and Celestia also in chairs. Shining and Pride in front of a unknown female pony.
Shiny realizing Twilight entered. Beacons her to sit next to him. As Twilight sat down Celestia begin to talk.
"So we are all here." Celestia started.
"So it would seem." Cadence added.
"Okay. I will start. What do you have to say for yourself Shiny?" Pride spoke.
"I did it to save lives. I regret nothing." Shiny said nervously.
"I understand. However you broke my order. You will be punished. Do you understand?" Pride said.
"Of course. However as my first offence and an action that brought no harm. I ask for a minor punishment." Shining replied.
"Of course." Pride answered.
"Okay. My turn." Said the female pony.
"My name is Arms Keeper. I am the general of the Royal Army." Arms said looking at Twilight.
Twilight gulped very nervous "N-Nice t-too m-meet y-you." Twilight said stuttering over her words.
Arms nod "Do you know why I am here?" she asks.
"I helped the army without their permission?" Twilight suggest.
"That too. Of course we are happy with your assistance, but no. Try again." Arms said smiling.
"I don't know." Twilight admits.
Arms sigh and looks Twilight in the eye "I am not here to punish you." she says.
Twilight raises her eyebrow, "What?" She asks confused.
Arms grabs a small box with a medal inside and gives it to Twilight "As thanks for your assistance. The army has decided to reward you with a Medal of Honor. As thank you for your assistance with the crisis." She says smiling.
Celestia does a spit take, so does Velvet. As they look shocked at Arms. Night and Shiny take a closer look at the medal and realize it's real.
"Why?" Twilight asked confused.
"You helped the effort in a way that we could never. Obtaining lots of food and medical equipment through your brother has helped us immensely. And building that church gave ponies hope. Even in times of crisis you did more than even your adults did. For this we thank you!" Arms said as she and Cadence bowed.
Twilight cried as she hugs Cadence and Arms. "Thank you so much." She cried out.
Arms and Cadence hugs back. As Twilight's parents simply smiled. Celestia and Shining looks at them nodding.
---------------------------------------
After that emotional moment Twilight walked towards the church and sees a nun cleaning the additional gravestones. As she enters. She sees lots of ponies praying before a statue that wasn't there before. The statue looked like Twilight and a scale with on one side a medical cross and the other some food.
The metal on the statue base reads 'For the one that helped in times of greatest need. The one who build this church and assisted in rebuilding the slums. With the power of food and health.'
Twilight who at this point was blushing ignored the statue to approach the priest.
"How can I help you young one?" The priest asked.
"I would like to donate to the church." Twilight said.
The priest shook his head "At this time we are not accepting donations. My apologies."
Twilight looks sad at the priest "Okay."
Twilight approached the bowl in the back in front of a picture of the fallen. And places 10 bits as offering in it. before leaving.
It's monday. Twilight was sleeping in a bit, It was atleast 7 O'clock when suddenly a sound outside woke her up out of nowhere. Twilight grumpily looked out the window to see lots of colored lights were being hang on the streets. And guards were patrolling on the street. The sound actually came from a familiar guard tripping over herself. Twilight then looked at the calendar on wall opposite to the bed and notices that today was the summer sun celebration.
Realizing the importance of such an event. Twilight then quickly decides to wash herself and to head downstairs to the kitchen for some breakfast. Grabbing a piece pre cut of bread from the cabinet and putting some strawberry jam on it. Twilight moved to the dining room and quickly eat her bread. Velvet entered the dining room just as Twilight finished her breakfast.
"Twilight your late. The carriage is about to depart." Velvet scolded.
"One moment. I need to grab my backpack." Twilight stalled.
Velvet rolled her eyes. "Okay. But hurry." She urges.
"I know!" Twilight shouted as she heads back upstairs. Once upstairs she heads to her room to grab her backpack. She filled the backpack with a book and some food. She also added a pot of homemade cookies before moving back down the stairs.
"Hurry up. Twilight!" Velvet urges.
The sudden shout caused her to run down the stairs something which caused her to lose balance. As she tumbled down the stairs, Twilight hits the door to the living room breaking the door hinges right off. She then shakes off the pain as she ran towards the carriage.
"What was that sound Twilight?" Night asked.
"Nothing! Just me falling down the stairs." Twilight answered once inside the carriage.
Velvet then nodded to the ponies carrying the carriage. Causing them to move forward. Shining and Velvet sat down in the carriage as it started to roll forwards. Twilight looked outside and noticed they were taking a detour.
"Where are we going?" Twilight asked.
"Today there are many things to-do. But first we are going to a food convention in manehattan." Night explained.
Twilight raised her eyebrow "A convention, why?" she asks.
"Because, after the Culinary school for filly in Canterlot. You are going to school in Manehattan." Shining explained.
"Oh? What is the name of the school?" Twilight asked interested all of a sudden.
"'Culimarie' is the name." Velvet said.
"Hmm, Why is it called that?" Twilight once again asks.
"I don't know. This is why we are going to the food convention. They are the ones that hold the convention." Velvet answered.
"I see. I can't wait!" Twilight said excited.
As the trip waned on. Twilight and her group moved from a carriage to the train. Only for the trip to take 6 more hours. Twilight meanwhile kept herself busy by rereading all that she has learned these past few day from her notebook. Of course she also looked out of the window once in a while. Her parents also were reading some books and Shining simply stared out the window for the full duration of the trip.
After those agonizingly long hours of waiting. they finally arrived, atleast Twilight thought so. For the music from the convention was starting to get louder and louder. Before the train got to the south station, it drove past the high school and the convention.
"Arriving at Manehattan South station. Don't forget your bags when leaving the train. Thank you, for choosing CanterTrain." said a monotone voice from the train cabin.
Twilight and her parents close their books and grab their bags. Putting the bags on their back. Shining simply grabbed his reserve armor and placed it in his hair. The ponies in the train started to stand up when the station started to came into view. Twilight notices a lot of guards and also lots tour guides waiting on the platform.
As the train started to slow down with the puffs of smoke which came from the brakes and also the iconic sound coming from them, the train conductor entered the cabin around the same time.
"Everypony I need to see your tickets before departure off the train." The conductor sternly spoke.
Twilight and her group got the tickets out of their baggage and showed it to the conductor. The conductor grabs the ticket and places it in front of a magic scanner. "Beep!" the scanner said for each of the tickets.
"Welcome to Manehattan. Your ticket suggest you have a carriage near the station. It should be near the east entrance." the conductor explained.
"Thank you." Velvet said politely.
Twilight entered the station only to stand stunned in awe of the shear size of the station as she looks around. The station was very modern with lots of windows and primarily made using steel. The floor was still however made from stone tiles. With shops on either side and a massive crowd of ponies moving about. It was bigger than the station near the villa district in Canterlot. However Canterlot main station was still a lot bigger.
"Twilight come. The carriage won't wait forever." Velvet urges as she grabs Twilight and placed her, on her back.
Twilight now on top of Velvet, sees that her group is moving to the east entrance. Once there they see lots of carriages. However Twilight immediately spots their carriage as the carriage had Shining's cutie mark.
"That one!" Twilight shouts pointing to the carriage.
Velvet nods as they approach it. "Are you Miss. Twilight?" the carriage carter asked
"Yes." Velvet said showing her ID.
"Okay. You guys are perfectly on time. Get in!" He said.
Twilight then climbs off of Velvet into the carriage with her group entering after her. Once inside and seated, they move towards the convention. Twilight meanwhile was staring outside at the convention.
"Mister Carter?" Twilight asks.
"Yes, young lady?" the carter said.
"Do you know anything important about the convention? Like rules or unspoken rules?" Twilight asks.
"Hmmm," The carter thought, which caused the carriage to move slightly slower. "Well there is a few rules." he said.
"Some of them make sense. Like no fighting and follow the instructions given by the staff."
"Those make sense. Anything obscure?" Twilight asks.
"Yes. Like when a chef from the convention asks you to eat something, you will eat it whether you like it or not." The carter suggests.
"Is that a rule so that the chef won't lose face?" Shiny suggest.
"Correct. However the rule can be exempt when you as guest believe that whatever the chef made is harmful." the carter explained.
"I see. Well I am a bit of a foodie. I can be harsh when I need to be." Twilight said with a devilish smile.
The carter looks at her a bit stunned. Before speeding up to the convention. Once in front of the convention, the carriage stops to go and show proof of their entry tickets. When ticket is properly inspected and given the approval. The carriage enters the food convention.
"Good luck, young lady. And don't forget. Have fun!" The carter said while Twilight and her group exit the carriage.
Once inside the convention. The carriage leaves the area. Twilight looks at the clock it's 12 O'clock and lots of ponies were getting something to eat. Twilight herself was also getting a bit peckish as she looks around. Twilight sniffed the air and smelled some cooked rice being baked somewhere.
"So now what?" Twilight ask Velvet.
"We go and enjoy ourself. Here Twilight some pocket money for inside the convention." Velvet said before giving Twilight 300 bits to spend.
"Okay. I guess I will go straight." Twilight said, Meanwhile her brother and parent went left.
Twilight was moving through the stalls. Seeing French food to her left and Spanish food to her right as she moved up. When Twilight entered an round area she noticed that suddenly a lot less amount of ponies were wandering about. Confused she approached the center stall.
"How can I help you? This is an Info stall." the pony behind the stall said.
"Why is there suddenly a lot less ponies around?" Twilight asks.
"This area is bit special, as the stalls around here are high tier and cost a lot. However why there is a lot less ponies is because you can't normally enter this area." She explained.
"What do you mean? I was able to enter this area like it was nothing." Twilight asks.
"This area is either accessible by fellow chefs or ones in training. Or you have to be a foodie which also means you can enter this area." She explained.
"Thank you," Twilight said "Any place you recommend?"
The pony behind the counter points to a stall with lots of gold leave on it. "That stall. Although the most expensive, it is the best stall in whole convention."
"I see, thank you" Twilight said before approaching it.
As Twilight enters the stall, she immediately got an overwhelming feel that this is the Royal Star. Yet she knew full well it wasn't. As she took a look at the menu she looked at the prices.
1000 bits for "le croissant avec de la confiture et un morceau de fromage" 500 bits for "rouleau de printemps avec sauce chili douce" 300 bits for "riz au four à l'ananas et aux carottes" 100 bits for "gâteau au chocolat aux noix et poivre noir"
Twilight was shocked that something as simple as a croissant cost that much. Then a very nice looking waiter approached her.
"Can I help you?" He asked 'What is a filly doing here?' he also thought
"How much do the drinks cost?" Twilight asks.
"With atleast one order of food you get an unlimited amount of drinks." He explained.
"I would like the baked rice with pineapples and carrots." Twilight said.
"Anything to drink?" He asks.
"Your recommendation." Twilight responds.
"Very well. Can I help you with anything else?" the waiter asked.
"Well I have a tiny question," Twilight started.
"Go on." he urges.
"Well. Why does this place feel like the Royal Star?" Twilight asks nervously.
The waiter raised his eyebrow and walked away without answering her question. Twilight blushes when she realized she might have offended this place. Twilight looked around meanwhile.
The stall was spacious with lots of chairs and tables. She notice it atleast one more guest and that's it. She also notices lots of Japanese style furniture and a whole bunch of fish tanks. She spots some Koi swimming in one of the tanks. When she spots the waiter return to her.
"One Ube flavored milkshake with cream." He said as he placed it on the table. Once he started to move away, Twilight stops him.
"I am sorry if that question offended you. I thought you might consider it a compliment." Twilight said.
"Why would we?" the waiter asks.
"Because that restaurant is the only 5 stars restaurant in Canterlot. It gave me a feel of nobility." Twilight explained.
"I see. I will tell the boss about it." he said before once again leaving.
Twilight was unsure if that did the trick, since the waiter didn't react at all. Shaking her uncertainty was the milkshake. It was delicious and strangely not very sweet at all. She tasted the nuttiness from it. however she did frown a bit.
"Hmm, bits of ube is still in it." Twilight accidently said out loud, exactly at the moment that the waiter that gave her that passed by.
The waiter froze when he heard that complained. To compound on his fear was that the other guest who also heard that and turned around at the waiter. Twilight still in trance of the milkshake didn't notice the stare off that the waiter and the other guest were having.
"Waiter." The other guest asked, something that got Twilight out of her trance.
"Yes, Madam?" The waiter said scared. Twilight notices his fear and looks confused at the guest.
"Give me also one of those milkshakes." she requested.
"Very well." he said immediately.
A few seconds later she got a milkshake. She took one sip before throwing it at the waiter. The waiter now with milkshake on him looks shocked at the guest. The waiter's suit was white from the milkshake, noticing it. He quickly decide to bow before changing his attire.
Once the waiter returned he asks "What's wrong madam?"
The guest looks at him with disgust. The guest then points at her milkshake and says "Make another one. Then taste it for me."
The waiter bows before rushing to the bar to get another milkshake. Once he got one he drinks it. After a few seconds he realized what was wrong before rushing into the back,
The guest then started to approach an unsure Twilight. "What is your name, little one?" The guest asks.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle. What is yours?" Twilight answered and asked.
"Twilight éh? I am sorry young one. For now, all you right now need to know, is that I own the company that runs this restaurant." She said.
"I see." Twilight simply said as the women gave Twilight her business card.
"As an apology for the actions of this restaurant. You will get the baked rice for free. If you ever need something, just give my company that card." The guest explained.
"Thank you." Twilight simply said as the rice arrives.
"Baked Rice with Pineapple and Carrots." the waiter said as he places the food on the table. Twilight nods at him as she picks the fork up in her levitation.
Grabbing some rice, pineapple and carrot onto her fork. She takes a bite. Twilight inspects the rice two or three times and realizes something is wrong with it, but she couldn't put her hoof on it.
The guest was looking at Twilight and notices her confusion and a bit of distress. She also grabs a fork and takes a bite off Twilight's dish. Twilight not minding it at all, looks at the guest.
The guest munches some of the dish and looks annoyed. "The rice is not al dente. On top of that the sauce tastes off." she says out loud. Twilight then pushes the dish away from herself.
The guest than pushes the dish in the face of the waiter. "Taste it!" she pushes.
The waiter then took a bite and he too realized something is not quite right. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention." He said professionally "Truth be told. Our primary head chef isn't here today and is causing some major problems in the kitchen. On top of that. The bar is running on half capacity and is lacking the correct bar waiters. My most biggest apology for the inconvenience."
Twilight looks at him and asks "Can I take a look in the kitchen?"
The guest looks at Twilight before smiling "Sure. It can't get worse anyways." she said and started to escort Twilight to the kitchen, leaving the waiter alone with his milkshake.
Once inside she wanted to look around when she spots an familiar face. "Hey Becky!" Twilight shouts over the chefs that were cooking some vegetables.
Becky looks at the source of the namecall and sees Twilight "Twilight! How are you?" she asked with a hint of surprise under her breath.
"I am fine. It seems you are not doing alright. Need help?" Twilight offers.
"Why? The baked rice was not good?" she asks concerned.
"Exactly. The guest next to me said something about it not being "Al dente" whatever that means." Twilight explained.
"I see. For your information. It means that its too soft, It has no bite to it." Becky explained worried. "How about this, now would be good time to teach you about rice a little bit. Grab that white cooker near the hot side of the kitchen."
Twilight grabs the cooker and places it in front of her and plugs the cooker in. Becky then points an a hole in it and at the faucet. Understanding the hint, Twilight fills it up with water. Becky then opens the cooker and points at the rice.
Twilight grabbing a small sack of rice, fills the cooker with them. Becky turns the knob and sets a timer at 10 minutes. Meanwhile Twilight inspects the machine with childish curiosity.
After 10 minutes at passed and the timer went off. Becky opens the cooker to show freshly cooked rice. She then places a little bit in a bowl and give it to Twilight.
Twilight grabbing a spoon in her levitation and take a bite. The rice was smooth, soft yet it also had a bite. Twilight then connected the dots. "Thanks Becky." Twilight said smiling.
Becky was about to say something when a event wide call went off "Ding Dong Dang Dong~, Ding Dong Dang Dong~." was the call sign. "Fillies and Gentlecolts. This is Info bar at the entrance speaking. The worried parents of a certain 'Twilight Sparkle' is currently waiting at the entrance. Will this certain filly please make her way to the entrance. Thank you." And the call ended with the same call sign.
Becky and Twilight look at each other. "It seems I have to go." Twilight said.
"Mhm. I will see you around right?" Becky asked.
"Of course." Twilight said before leaving the restaurant and walking towards the entrance.
As Twilight walked back, she noticed lots of ponies had moved on from that area. It mostly empty now. Twilight then started to approach the info bar. When they spotted a filly approach them, they point at her parents.
"Hey mom." Twilight said as she approached Velvet.
Velvet turns around to see Twilight approach her. Nodding she beacons Twilight to her side and points to the carriage. "We are going back. It's 3 O'clock and we are going to take a high speed train back to Canterlot. That way the trip will only take an hour." She explained.
"That way we won't miss the summer sun celebration." Night added.
Twilight nods as she enters the carriage. As the carriage moved fast, it approached the train station in mere minutes. Once at the station, they quickly board the train as it moves back towards Canterlot.
Inside the train, Twilight explains her adventure at the convention, something that took about an hour to explain. When Twilight was done explaining, they had arrived at Central Canterlot Station (Or CCS for short). CSS looked about the size of South Manehattan Station. However that was not true at all, The size was about 6 to 10 times bigger and also mostly made from brick and stained glass. It felt old school and traditional.
Twilight and her group then quickly moved to their family carriage and moved to Canterlot Castle for the main event, The Summer Sun Celebration.
Today was the big day. The day Canterlot has been waiting for. The summer sun celebration. Yet not everyone was happy, no not everyone. As a small blue unicorn filly scurries into an alleyway, holding her mother's pendant around her neck. While also crying in fear from the fireworks in the background.
It has been years since that filly saw her parents, as she roamed the streets feeling abandoned. However she had nowhere to go. So scared, yet brave enough to return to the castle, despite her fears for loud sounds. As she sees a gold and wooden carriage with a star emblem move past her. She too makes her way to the castle.
Meanwhile Twilight who was riding that carriage looked sleepily out of the window. She had traveled across Equestria, just to see the summer sun celebration. Yet before they arrive, Twilight the attentive filly she is, notices a scared blue filly walk out of an alleyway and move alongside their carriage.
As she took a better look. She was shocked to see her in the state she was in. She was wet, dirty and appeared hungry. However something suggest that she is or used to be a noble. From the way she walked and looked however said the opposite. Walking sluggish and looking around paranoid also suggest that she was abused and abandoned.
Twilight couldn't watch her any longer. Closed the curtain and looking through the other window. She stared in a daze. Although still tired, her mind went back to the filly as she appeared to be her age. Not to mention the feeling that the filly could use her help. Ever since the day she accidently killed ponies and helped build a church, she always felt an overwhelming feeling that she still hasn't paid for all her sins. Which caused an overwhelming feeling to make others smile and feel safe. Especially when she never truly felt safe around her magic ever since that day.
Frowning and sighing 'I guess. I will look for her at the festival. I may not be able to help her. But I can atleast attempt to.' Twilight thought.
Shining looked at Twilight's frowning face and looked to Night. Night looking back noticed that Shining spoke to him without sound. From what Night was able to decipher, Shining said something along the lines of "I guess, she still is hung up on that magic accident."
Night nodded, before looking through the now closed window and saw a blue injured filly. He too frowned at the sight, as he sighed out loud
"Twilight?" he asked.
"Yes dad?" Twilight replied.
"Are you going to help her?" Night asked.
"I am-" Twilight had a deep sigh "I am going to. I can't watch her like this."
"I see. You have my permission. And I am sure that mom won't mind either." Night said.
"Mind what exactly?" Velvet asked suddenly. Something which caused her husband to jump.
"Help a poor blue filly on the street. She appears injured and is about the same age as Twilight." Shining answered before Night could speak. So instead Night nod at the suggestion.
"I see. Go ahead. Just remember! Listen to her and her heart. If she is sad, then help her release that tension." Velvet said, she recently started yoga and got some nice lines from it.
"I know, mom." Twilight replied.
"Wait she is also injured?" Twilight said shocked.
The others in the carriage nodded. "She appears that way." Shining said.
"Okay, let's get to the event first. And then we can go and help her." Twilight said determined.
Shining however looked at Twilight 'She is still blaming herself over the incident. I hope that this will help her regain her former self-confidence.' he thought.
Twilight meanwhile was looking at herself in the window. Every so often she looked at her horn only for bad memories to resurface over and over again. Twilight then settled her mind to the blue filly and calculated a plan to help her. Something which included lots of plan B's and plan C's. As she saw the castle approach, she saw Celestia in her tower watching over the city. -----------------------------------------------------------------
Celestia meanwhile was looking over the city and saw that lots of places still had heavy rain damage. As she glanced over the street she noticed Twilight's carriage approach the castle.
Twilight. That name which spoke volumes to Celestia. She wanted her badly as protegé yet realized it probably wasn't going to happen. She sighed and looked at the slums.
The slums were in perfect condition. Despite the rain that hit Canterlot, the only place in Canterlot that wasn't damaged by the rain was the slums. Twilight amazing and efficient blueprints were incredibly strong against most natural disasters. She knew this, thanks to the laboratories in Canterlot castle. They reconstructed Twilight's blueprints to test their strengths. In the end, the only thing that the houses couldn't withstand was a bomb placed inside the house. Something which caused the whole thing to collapse.
The slum buildings were stronger than even the villas in the Noble district. Celestia and Cadence felt incredibly prideful of Twilight's achievement. As she single hoovingly made the safest and most comfortable housing in the entire city, well minus the castle.
Celestia looked at the clock and realized that it's almost time to raise the moon and lower the sun. "Luna. If you could see this. You too would be proud. You wanted the slums to have better housing, well you got it in the end." she said before heading down the stairs of her tower, towards the podium at the castle entrance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twilight and her group arrives at the castle. Which was about ten minutes before the lowering of the sun and rise of the moon was going to take place. Twilight quickly moves to the podium and started her search for the filly through the crowds.
The crowds near the podium were thick. However she heard something being beaten in the background. As Twilight listen closer she heard the yelps of a filly. As adrenaline kicked in, she ran towards the sound to see the guards punching and kicking the blue filly around.
If you want to make Twilight angry, it usually take quite a lot to do it. Punch her and she laughs it off. Insult her and she attempts to understand the ponies behavior. However there are some things in life that will anger her. This was one of them.
While Twilight looks stunned for a moment, she listens to the "conversation" the guards were having with the filly.
"You thought we forgot about you?" A female pegasus laughs evilly.
"I am sorry-" The blue filly attempted only to get hit in the belly. Which caused her cough badly.
"Shut up, you sick bastard!" A male earth pony shouts.
Twilight slowly got broken at the sight. But chose for the sake of the filly to wait just a little longer. She needed more information.
"I didn't mean to-" The filly attempted only for her to be stomped on her injured legs which caused her to start crying.
"You didn't mean to? My ass. We have noticed you in this area before and stealing scum like you should go to your parents to beg for forgiveness. Wait! You don't have any." He said with at the end having a big smile.
Twilight finally had enough. She gathered her magic in her horn. And just as Celestia and Cadence climbed on top of podium stairs, they suddenly feel Twilight's combat magic near the alleyway. Cadence eyes widen when she notices Twilight's calm yet terrifying face.
"Well, let's finish this." The male unicorn guard said, and just as he was about to fire his magic at the filly, he notice another filly build up dangerous amount of magic at him.
And before he could fire his shot at the blue filly. Twilight was quicker. "You should never have hurt her!" Twilight shouts as she sends a powerful beam at the unicorn's horn. The beam was so bright you could have seen it in Ponyville. And after a few seconds it passed and the sound of screaming filled the alleyway, The crowd behind Twilight looked panicked at the situation, just as Celestia summons her combat armor. Cadence however stood back. In shock with sudden turn of events.
Twilight disintegrated his guard's horn. And the guard laid on the ground in extreme pain. As the group including the filly was stunned. Twilight wasted no time to start a second beam only for it to get cancelled by Celestia. Celestia now in full combat gear entered the alleyway. She looked enraged at the guards when she noticed the blue filly injured on the ground.
"What is going on here?!" Celestia shouts as her mane had turned into a white color with what looks like flames covering it.
Twilight noticing Celestia, froze in place. Only for that to pass quickly when she remember that the filly needed medical attention. She moved quickly grabbing the blue filly in her magic and moving her to Canterlot hospital. Moving passed the still stunned companions of the now non-unicorn horned unicorn.
Celestia watched as Twilight moved the filly away from the crime scene. "Guards! These three are under arrest for child abuse and breaking a royal vow!" She shouts just as a whole battalion of guards arrived at the scene.
Celestia looked at the guards being arrested. Realizing the event. She summons her secretary. "Extend the event to tomorrow. Right now is not the right moment for the big second moment in the event."
The secretary nod and wrote down the order. Meanwhile Celestia ordered Commander Pride to investigate the incident. ----------------------------------------------------------------
Twilight finally arrived after running nonstop for an hour to the hospital and quickly moved to the first aid side of the hospital. She carries the blue filly into the hospital and approaches the counter. Her horn was red hot at this point and she herself was exhausted.
"Can I help you?" the cleric asked.
"My friend here is heavy injured after an encounter and need medical assistance." Twilight explained, pointing at the filly.
"We can't help her. She has an open debt of 300 bits with us. Only with that paid can we help her." the cleric explained.
Twilight grabs the 300 bits from the convention out of her hair and places it on the counter. "Can you help her now?"
"Yes. Please leave it to me." Said a doctor that walked in on Twilight's conversation with the cleric.
"It's exactly 300. Very good. Leave her to us." the cleric said.
The blue filly got removed from Twilight's magic and placed on an intensive care bed. After which she was moved to the emergency room behind closed doors. Twilight meanwhile sat down exhausted. Especially now that her adrenaline wore off. Twilight sitting in first aid waiting room fell asleep right there and then.
The following day arrived, Twilight realized she was still at the first aid waiting room. Slowly waking up she approached the counter. "How is my friend?" She asked the same cleric as last evening.
The cleric looks at her. Then smiles, "She is much better. She has recovered fully and is about to leave the hospital." the cleric replied.
"I see. Where is she?" Twilight asks relieved.
"She is right there." The cleric said pointing outside.
"Thank you. I have to go then." Twilight said waving at the cleric.
Once outside, Twilight approaches the blue filly. the filly noticed it and smiled although her smile was fake. "Thanks for saving me. I have to get going then."
"Wait! What is your name?" Twilight asks stopping the filly in her tracks.
"My name? Why would you like to know my name?" She asked confused.
Twilight raised her eyebrow "I would like to be friends?" Twilight offered.
"..." The blue filly stared uncertain at Twilight. Twilight could just feel her fear and uncertainty coming from her eyes. The blue filly kept staring, but Twilight held her ground.
"Fine, my name is Trixie." Trixie said giving in. "I don't like using my last name."
"My name is Twilight then." Twilight said, not giving her, her last name either.
"I see. Nice to meet you. Anyways I have to get going," Trixie said, trying to leave.
Twilight however wasn't having it. "Why don't you come with me. I have cookies." She said holding out the cookie jar she took from home.
Trixie looked at the offer hungrily. Although still distrustful, she couldn't refuse free food. "Okay, But I want one right now." Trixie said.
Twilight smiled and levitated a cookie out of the jar and into the hooves of Trixie. While Trixie seemed to smile just eating the cookie, Twilight got a headache from using magic as her horn had overheated yesterday and her magic supply was low.
Twilight looked at Trixie and smiled "You like the cookie?" she asked.
Trixie looks timid at Twilight "Very. Where did you get these?" She asked shyly.
"I made them myself. I am glad you like them." Twilight said smiling infectious.
Trixie smiled also at Twilight, thanks to her smile. "You are good chef. I wish my parent tasted it too." She said smiling despite the sadness.
"Are they?" Twilight hinted.
"No. I don't think so. I think I just got abandoned by them." Trixie answered.
"I see. Why don't we go back to the castle and try to get an audience with Princess Celestia?" Twilight suggest.
"Why?" Trixie asked.
"To see what type of punishment those guards are going to get." Twilight said. Something that caused Trixie to suddenly remember.
"Sure." Trixie answered as she stepped alongside Twilight to head to the castle.
Twilight and Trixie meanwhile talk about random things on the street, during their trip. It took the Twilight and Trixie roughly one hour to get to the castle.
Once at the castle, they notice that the Summer sun celebration was still in full swing. Twilight and Trixie felt confused at this, since the event is only once a year and only one day usually.
As if spoken to, the guard at the entrance explained "After yesterday's incident. Princess Celestia chose to extend the event."
Twilight made an 'O' with her mouth, and asked "Are those three getting a trail today?"
"Yes. It's an open trail. Just remember, be quiet." The guard replied.
"Thanks." Twilight said before dragging Trixie along her side. Trixie still happy, allowed her to drag her along.
As they arrive, Twilight and Trixie quietly entered the audience and listened in. -- "But they were punishing a thief. They are legally allowed to do that." the lawyer of the guards reasoned.
"Perhaps to an adult. But not to a filly." Said Pride. "According to law 15, page 115, Law of Child. It says when a child is caught stealing he or she shall be punished in a non physical or mental way for any reason. Their punishment will be given only by the Princesses."
"Who made that stupid rule?!" the lawyer exclaimed. "I have never heard of that law book."
"This law book is made by my sister Princess Luna. It's an ancient law book. But it is still in effect." Said Celestia.
"If you have a problem with this, then you will have to complain to my sister on the moon. Unless you don't want to go there of course." Celestia said using a passive-aggressive threat.
The lawyer gulped and immediately shook his head.
Celestia smiled and asked the criminals the following question "Do you plead guilty?"
The pegasus stood up and said "I do."
The earth pony also stood up "I do."
The unicorn however hesitated "Could I atleast get a higher called trail? Burning my horn off my head is a bit extreme don't you think?" he reasoned.
Celestia nodded "Yes, You deserve that atleast."
Celestia looked to her assistant judges and the commander. After nodding she spoke the following. "The pegasus guard is going to get 6 years for breaking her legs. The earth pony is going to get 12 years for causing internal bleeding and for the other offences."
Celestia looks at the unicorn. "The unicorn is going to be discussed at a later date." she says and knocks her hammer 3 times. "Trail out of session." -- Trixie was smiling, after years of abuse. Someone finally got punished. On top of that she isn't alone, she now has Twilight also.
"Thanks again for helping me. Twilight." Trixie said happily
"Don't worry about it." Twilight replied.
"There you are Twi. I see you got the filly, why don't we three grab lunch?" Shining said behind her.
Twilight turn around and smiled "Shining this is Trixie. Trixie this is my brother Shining Armor." Twilight introduced.
"Nice to meet you." Shining said as he held out his hoof.
"Nice to meet you too." Trixie said as she shook his hoof.
"Where are we going?" Twilight asks.
"Donut Joe. Last time we couldn't go." Shining said.
"Umm, I will sit this one out." trixie said.
Shining and Twilight raised their eyebrows. "Nah. Not today." Shining said as he started to drag Trixie along.
Trixie looks panicked at Twilight. "but I don't want to. They don't like me." Trixie explained.
"We will see when we get there." Shining said before Twilight could speak.
Twilight mouthed a 'sorry' at Trixie as she is being dragged along.
After what seemed like hours, Twilight and Shining arrived at Donut Joe. Trixie still was squirming in Shining's shield. And they entered the mostly empty cafe.
"Hey, How can I help you two-" Joe started before making eye contact with Trixie.
"I am not selling anything to her. Go away." he said.
"Oh? You want to lose you two best customers?" Twilight said annoyed.
Joe looked sad at Twilight, "Listen, she is banned from this place." he said.
"Why?" Shining asked confused.
"She's banned until she pays up for her whole tab." Joe explained.
"How much is it?" Shining asks again.
"It's," Joe grimaced "It's 50000 bits."
"WHAT?!" Twilight shouts. She shrieked so loud that one of the windows in the kitchen shattered.
"You see," Joe still in a grimace "She once accidently broke the kitchen and chose to steal roughly 20000 bits worth of donuts." he said.
"I see." Shining said and slowly turned his face around to see trixie, he looked annoyed however he was more disappointed.
Trixie was scared. That was a lot of money and she just made a new friend too. She immediately got scared that she was going to get abused and lose a friend again. Twilight noticed it, but simply smiled.
"Put that money on Cadence's tab instead. She still haven't paid for that one time, she broke our kitchen." Twilight said.
"Well not once, she broke our kitchen 50 times. And refused to pay us back for it." Shining added. "We know how much she loves your donuts."
Joe looked at them, before nodding. "Okay. Consider it done." He said. "Well Trixie. You are out of the debt. You are welcome once again."
Trixie looks up surprised and happy. "Thank you two. I might have regained my workplace as I haven't been fired yet." she said.
Joe jumped however "I forgot to fire you! Welp, I guess you can start tomorrow. These two worked hard to remove your debt." He exclaimed.
"Yes. Boss!" Trixie shouted happily.
"Well, why don't we order your celebrational 50 ponies special. Before we go back to the summer sun celebration." Shining said.
"Sure!" Twilight said. While Trixie and Joe grimaced at the 50 ponies special massive dish.
"Thank Celestia, that I am not working today!" Trixie exclaimed, while Twilight and Shining simply laughed
The 50 ponies donut special was a massive pyramid. And had some of the biggest and wackiest donuts. However it's not necessarily made for 50 ponies as their are 50 donuts for the dish. The name is there to scare customers off, since it's super hard to make. This didn't stop the family Sparkle and Cadence from ordering it repeatedly. And when Trixie was also working there, some of the donuts became even wackier.
After roughly one hour of waiting. The massive dish arrived at Twilight's group. As an exhausted Joe places the dish on their table and Twilight and Trixie immediately started to eat one. As the day waned on, the hours pass by quickly. Since they were done with the dish and they had further nothing to do. So they chose to spend the day at Joe's place as they ordered drinks and play games on the table. With the occasional donut being order here and there.
The time moved fast. As it quickly reached 5 O'clock. By that time, Trixie finally won a game for the first time. However by the time that happened, they needed to get going or be late for the major event.
"I finally won!" Trixie said after losing 150 times in a row.
"Good job. You outsmarted me." Shining said with a bit of pride.
"Yes, well it's time." Twilight said pointing at the clock.
"Okay. I will go and pay the bill. Meanwhile you two go on ahead. I have to go home after paying up." Shining urges.
"Okay. Let's go Trixie!" Twilight said excited.
Trixie nod and moved alongside Twilight to go towards the castle main garden. Trixie felt excited and happy for the first time in years.
Twilight looked at Trixie prideful 'I guess, I have done it. I just need to get her a house and some money to restart her life.' she thought. 'But first the summer sun celebration.'
As they move towards the crowds at the garden, they look towards the podium. It hadn't started yet. Twilight looked at the clock and spots Celestia arriving. It's time.
"Ladies and Gentlecolt. We have gathered here today to celebrate the rising of the sun and rising of the moon. However the rising of the moon is equally important! So we feast and sing tonight under luna's beautiful moon." Celestia shouted.
"May we celebrate the moon rise as well as the sun rise!" She finished before flying up low. Lighting up her horn as she pushes the sun down the horizon. And as it reached the horizon, the moon also appeared on the horizon. Slowly the sun passes the moon as they trade places in the sky. And after a few seconds the moon was in place. And the festivities roared up.
Then a massive array of fireworks light up and complements the sky. Trixie's eyes were shimmering. While she at the same time obtained her cutie mark. The cutie mark had a small moon with a smile in it. Something which represents her happiness that day, yet with a cloud of uncertainty behind it.
Twilight noticed Trixie's cutie mark and smiled. 'I guess she got it first. That is fine. May she live a happy life.' Twilight prayed.
"Trixie! You got your cutie mark. Congratulations!" Twilight exclaimed.
Trixie looks at her flank and sees it. She smiled softly at Twilight and ask "So now what?"
"Well after the festival. I should find you an affordable home and give you some money to get started. My family will also pay some of the starting rent. Something that should get you ready to live your life." Twilight explained.
"I see. Perhaps 'Trixie' could live in the rentable cart." She suggests partly in third person.
"Hmm. Perhaps when you got a better income and better living condition, you will be allowed to do that. But for now I recommend living in an house until further notice." Twilight requests.
"Okay, I will do that first then. And I still need to go to school." Trixie nodded and added.
"Right school! I almost forgot about that. Perhaps you could go to the school for gifted unicorns. We will pay entry fees and give enough for a few years of schooling." Twilight said.
Trixie nodded "But first the festival." She said smiling and looking around.
"Sure how about I go and do something really quick. While Shining shows you around." Twilight replied as she points to Shining who arrived just as she said that.
"Sure I will show her around." Her brother said before moving away from Twilight. Dragging Trixie along once again.
Twilight meanwhile took a good look around. The garden looked beautiful at night with lots of white lilies and night time flowers blooming. Besides the flowers she saw a statue of Luna and a statue of Celestia on opposite side. There were lots of tables with white cloth draped over it. And food placed on top of it.
She saw a bar with lots of drinks, wines and beers on them. And the air was filled with lanterns that shone the color 'light blue'. She saw that behind the bar Clear Music was making some drinks for the guests. She also spots Mage Keeper guarding the podium with Pride nearby. They seemed to be chatting about work.
She also saw Vermouth and Elly sharing some red wine near one of the bars on the right side of the plaza, while Twilight was looking on the left side. She looked through a window and saw Sundown and Royal hard at work in the temporary kitchen set up. Twilight also noticed Becky joining them. Arms Keeper was looking from his guard platform alongside Celestia and Cadence.
Shining and Trixie were checking out the Donut eating contest, against what appeared to be Rainbow dash and a pink earth pony. Carrot Top and Moon Dancer were on a hill in the background watching the stars, with Flour Dance nearby. She saw that Applejack and Apple Junior were attempting to sell apples on the festive grounds. And then some.
All her friends and connections were together in one place. Turning a corner into the more quiet part of the festival she saw Fluttershy communicating to some cute birds. As Twilight sat down on a bench, she looked at the moon, when suddenly she felt extremely tired. 'I guess all that stuff. Between the incident and Trixie took its toll. I hope that I won't get sick.' Twilight thought as she slowly fell asleep, just as her parents join her on the bench.
------------------------------------
Dreaming.
Twilight woke up on what appears to be the moon. She looks around confused.
"Were am I? What is this place?" She asked nopony in particular.
"You are on the moon, child." said the dark blue pony in an old accent.
"Luna?" Twilight asked looking at the pony.
"That is correct. I am Luna. But right now, I am just an echo. The real Luna is still on the moon." 'Luna' said.
"I see. That means that you casted an exhaustion spell on me. Right?" Twilight asked.
"That is correct. According to the original timeline you were supposed to save me from Nightmare Moon. However clearly something is different or alternative." 'Luna' spoke.
"I could still save you differently?" Twilight offered.
"I know Twilight. And It will happen. However remember this. Nightmare Moon is somepony else from Luna. Although they share the same body, they are still two separate entities." 'Luna' explained.
"I know. One is from the Discord era, the other has lived much longer." Twilight said smiling warmly.
'Luna' pulled back surprised, she looked in Twilight's heart and saw a sliver of darkness, but a heart of gold. Returning Twilight's smile she said the following.
"Tell, Celestia this. "Luna is happy that you remembered her birthday. Thank you." It's time for me to go. I will always be watching you, Twilight Sparkle and Trixie Lulamoon!" 'Luna' said before vanishing.
Twilight woke up and sees that her parents and Cadence were sitting on the bench also. She notices Celestia sniffing some of the flowers and she had a smiling mask on, but she looked sad within it.
Twilight smiled warmly at her parents before approaching Celestia.
"Celestia." Twilight said casually.
Celestia turned around to see a very happy Twilight approach her. smiling back she asked "How about now? Still not going to join my school?"
Twilight shook her head "I know a pony that could be your protegé. Someone I will vouch for." She said.
Celestia raised her eyebrow. "Who?" she asked.
"Trixie Lulamoon. She has a little less potential as me, but I have a feeling she would also be able to do great things." Twilight offered.
"I see. I will look into her." Celestia said.
Twilight smiled then turned around, but not before she did she looked Celestia in the eye for a few moments.
Celestia looked confused at her, before Twilight smiled warmly.
"She said Thank you." Twilight said.
"Who did?" Celestia asked confused. Cadence also looked confused.
Twilight was standing at the entrance and said under her breath "Luna did."
Cadence and Celestia got stunned on the spot. And just as Celestia was about to ask more. Twilight teleported out of the garden and back home.
Once home. twilight looked at the living room to find an exhausted Trixie on the sofa. Twilight smiled before placing a bed sheet over her. As she watched Trixie sleep on the sofa. Twilight decided to go to the kitchen once more to make something special.
As she grabbed some of her special pre-grounded hot chocolate milk powder. She warmed some milk up in the a pan and added chocolate powder and two spoons of sugar to the mix. Mixing it to a singular colour and placing it into 2 cups. Opening the fridge to grab some whipped cream and placing it on top.
She placed one in front of Trixie and watched her wake up automatically to drink some chocolate milk. As she herself was already drinking some.
"This taste nice. It remind me of mom." Trixie said saddened.
"What are their names?" Twilight asked.
"I don't remember. All I remember is that we lived in Trottingham. And that I have 2 sisters." Trixie explained.
"I see. Well let's drink the chocolate milk before going back to bed then." Twilight suggested.
"I agree." Trixie simply said before sipping it up.
After roughly one hour of sipping chocolate milk. Trixie places the chocolate milk cup on the coffee table before laying her head down as she falls asleep immediately. Although she was smiling now.
Twilight smiled. 'I guess, I got over my fear of my magic. I should still be careful but I feel a lot more confident suddenly.' She thought.
Her mind went back to Trixie's parents as she inspected Trixie's pendant. Her father had orange hair and blue hide color, he had a donut cutie mark. Her mother on the other hoof was white and had a black hair color, her cutie mark was that of restaurant.
Twilight immediately connected the dots. They have a donut shop in Trottingham. Her parents most likely own a restaurant or chain. And Trixie works in a donut restaurant. Coincidence? Perhaps. But Twilight did have some connections in Trottingham. Perhaps they would help.
This, however had to wait as Twilight herself is currently working hard on other projects and Trixie's health was more important. Twilight nodded to herself before heading back upstairs into her room before passing out on her bed.
The following day. It was monday according to the calendar and the end of Twilight's vacation. Her lessons would start today and Royal could come any minute. Twilight however was still asleep, with the toll of the past few day finally hitting her.
Twilight slowly woke up feeling very dizzy and hot. She quickly realized that she had a fever and when she attempted to stand up, she would simply collapse after leaving her bed. Climbing back on her bed, she would fall asleep once again.
Velvet meanwhile were sitting together with Trixie on the couch. When Royal knocked on the door. Night who was standing in the kitchen moved to open the front door.
"Hey Royal." Night said.
"Hey, mr. Light." Royal greeted, "Can I come in?"
"Sure. Twilight isn't awake right now though." Night said worried.
"I see. Are you going to wake her up?" Royal asks Night.
"I will do that." Velvet said. "If you have a moment."
Royal nodded as he sat on the couch and Velvet headed upstairs.
Once upstairs Velvet enters Twilight's room, only to find her in bed with an heavy fever. And after measuring her. Twilight was 10 degrees celsius too hot. As Velvet grabbed a wet towel from the bathroom and placed it on Twilight head. She took a better look at Twilight. She appeared healthy which caused her to realize that her fever came from somewhere else.
As she used the scan spell on Twilight she barely felt any magic from her. 'She has a magic deficiency fever.' she thought. 'That is not good. I have to go and get the doctor.'
As Velvet headed back down stairs, she hears Royal introduce himself to Trixie. She enters the room and moved to the magic phone on the wall. And calls the doctor.
Once done she turns to Royal. Royal meanwhile noticed Velvet worried face and frowned. "Twilight is sick. She can't have a lesson today. I already called the doctor." Velvet said worried.
"What caused the her sickness?" Trixie asked worried.
"Most likely she over used her magic." Velvet suggested.
"Well. She did disintegrate someone's horn using combat magic and proceeded to carry me in her magic for an hour to the hospital." Trixie explained saddened.
"She did what?" Night asked shocked.
"Well they were abusing and punch Trixie around. They kind of deserved it." Shining said as he walked in on the conversation.
"Hmm. How did she learn that?" Royal asks.
"I don't know." Velvet replied.
"I think she learned it from me." Shining suggests "She did read through my magic combat books after all."
"I see. That makes sense." Velvet and Night said together.
"It does?" Trixie and Royal asked.
"I was studying for a magic tournament at the time." Shining explained.
"I see. I guess today's lesson is cancelled. And as much as I would like to stay. I have to go back to work." Royal said before leaving the house.
"Trixie. this is the key to your new home. We paid rent for 3 years and the other payments for another 2 years. We also placed you in the school for gifted unicorns. And paid for 2 years worth of lessons." Shining explained.
"I have filled your fridge with goodies. Alongside some studying books." Night added.
"And here. Take 3000 bits of starter money. That should get you through a few months." Velvet also added before giving her the bits.
"Thank you. I will pay you back someday." Trixie said gratefully.
"I know you will." Velvet said, "Let me show you to your house."
Trixie and Velvet left the house. Meanwhile Shining and Night decided to wait for the doctor. And after waiting for a few minutes. The doctor arrived and Night quickly showed him, her daughter.
"She definitely has a magic deficiency fever. And it also appears that can't stand up, which is a side-effect." The doctor explained.
"How bad is it?" Night asked.
"She should easily restore her magic in a good night's sleep." the doctor said.
"I see. Thank you." Night said relieved.
The doctor and Night exit Twilight's bedroom. "How is she?" Shining asked worried.
"She is fine. Just one night sleep is enough." Night said, before giving the doctor the bits and causing the doctor to leave.
"Thank goodness. You had me worried there." Shining replied.
"One more thing." the doctor interrupted "Make sure she doesn't walk around much. Although her magic may have been restored, her body is a different story. She will need lots of rest periods and a minimal amount of bodily movement." he added.
"Understood." Shining answered.
The doctor nodded, before leaving through the front door. Leaving Night and Shining with their thoughts.
"Perhaps we pushed her too hard." Shining suggested.
"Yeah. Next time one event at the time." Night agreed.
Around that time the front door reopened. Showing Velvet had returned.
"So how is she?" Velvet asked as she entered the house, closing the front door behind her.
"She is fine. Just one night sleep is enough. Her body on the other hoof, is in bad shape and needs more than one night." Night explained.
"I see. Well I will make Twilight something to eat." Velvet said entering the kitchen.
"Let me help." Shining requested.
"Me too." Night added.
Velvet simply nodded, before making something special.
----
Meanwhile Twilight woke up once more. She felt her magic slowly returning, but it wasn't enough. Sighing she looked through her window besides her bed and sees Royal walk away from her house.
"I guess no lesson today." she said to herself.
She feels her body and notices that she felt unusually weak. She realized that two events in one way was too many. Her body couldn't handle that much stress. And the trip to both cities were also harsh on her.
She was sitting up and watching outside when her bedroom door was opened. Velvet entered her room with a worried look. Twilight turned to her with a sad smile on the other hoof.
"Good morning, mom." Twilight said in an exhausted voice.
"Good morning, Twilight." Velvet said with a hint of worry.
"I brought you some sweet oat soup. With some roasted veggies and a banana." she added.
"Thanks mom." Twilight answered still very exhausted.
"I will help you eat. Since you are probably too tired to hold a spoon." Velvet said, which caused Twilight to nod.
It tasted really good. However after eating ten spoons. She fell asleep once more. Velvet quickly realized this and chose to skip work. So that she could stay next to Twilight, for the rest of the evening and night.
It was thursday. The day after Twilight's ill state. As Twilight slowly woke up with a stretch, she immediately feels weak. However her magic seems to have been replenished. So as she got up from her bed, she looks at her body. It doesn't appear to be weakened. But it is. Confused, she slowly walked to the bathroom.
Once inside the bathroom, she looks at the bath. It was clean and she felt compelled to take a bath. So she started to fill it up with hot water and readied the towels around the bath. Quickly feeling the water, she nodded in confirmation that the water was at the right temperature.
Meanwhile she quickly brushed her teeth in front of the mirror. She also looked at the calendar and saw that today was her 'second' lesson. She sighed 'I can't believe I got sick. I hope we can atleast finish this weeks lesson in time.' she hoped. She looked at her bath, it was almost full, and moved to the window to look outside.
It was a bright sunny day. However the temperature seemed low despite the sun. She looked at the neighbour's thermometer and saw that it was a chilly 10 degrees celsius. She then opened the window slightly and moved to stop the faucet of the bath.
Entering the bath caused her body to shake at the difference in temperature. From both her body as well as the room itself. As she laid there, she looked back on her 'Stupidity' and the fact that she should take breaks more often. As she splashed the water around a bit, she looked at the ceiling. She saw the steam coming from the bath as she laid in a rather hot bath.
Looking through the window she slowly reflected on her actions.
Time passed by in a breeze, as Twilight laid in bath for 3 hours. Realizing a lot of time had passed. Twilight decided to quickly do her hair and body in soap and clean it off. After that she dried herself off and moved to open the window all the way.
Afterwards she quickly left the bathroom and headed down the stairs into the living room. As she entered the living room she finds Royal already waiting for her.
"Good morning. Twilight." Royal greeted.
"Good morning." Twilight replied.
Twilight then moved to the kitchen to grab a piece of bread with jam on it. after that moving to the dinner room to eat the bread. Once done with her breakfast, she grabbed her second notebook and a pencil. And joined Royal in the living room.
"I see that you are ready." Royal said. Twilight simply nodded.
"Let me explain these last two weeks." Royal began. "So you are getting two more lessons for these last two weeks."
"First thing first. You are going to learn about the ins and outs of rice. After that you will get an introduction to meat and fish, however you are not ready to learn more then the basics about it." Royal continued "After these two lessons. You are going to take the entrance exam of the filly culinary school called: 'Lunarium'. This will be the week after our last lesson and it will be on friday." he explained.
Twilight quickly grabbed her calendar and wrote the exam down on it. Royal looked at her work and nodded.
"One more thing. After our last lesson. You are guaranteed to successfully do the exam." Royal stated. "I expect a high score from you." He said, building up pressure.
Twilight simply gulped and looked towards Royal somewhat nervously.
"Actually, I hope Trixie does well on her entrance exam." Twilight said nervously.
Royal smiled. "Being humble, I see. Yes. I hope she does well, as well. Her exam will be slightly easier however." he said.
"No. It won't. She has to attempt to become Celestia's personal protegé." Twilight said.
Royal frowned "I see. Yeah. That won't be easy. However your exam takes priority." he said.
Twilight smiled "With you as my teacher. How could I fail?" she asked.
Royal smiled "Exactly. However let's start our lesson." he urges.
Twilight nodded as she grabbed her notebook again and pencil waiting in her mouth.
"Let's start the basics about rice. They are grown in water and usually on hilly environments. And although unlike potato. They use less water to grow." Royal started.
"Potato and rice. These are titans of their food genre are the two most important food sources on the planet. They both grow easily and relatively fast. They also contain lots of resources when you are hard at work." he continued.
"Potato is popular in Equestria and most of the west countries. Rice is popular in the east countries. However in Equestria's trend to eat rice is starting to become more and more popular. So tomorrow we will make Onigiri. A simply 2 ingredients dish. It's simple, yet filling." Royal ended.
"It's time." Twilight said as she still was writing down the mountain of information.
"I know. I will see you tomorrow." Royal said. "One more thing. Ask your parents to buy you a bag of rice and some nori. You are still grounded." he said.
"I know. I will ask them." Twilight replied.
After 10 minutes of his departure. Her parents entered the living room from the garden.
"Good morning Twilight." both her parents said.
"Good morning. Could you two buy something for tomorrow's lessons?" Twilight asked.
"Sure. What do you need?" Velvet replied
"A bag of rice and some nori." Twilight said.
"We have some rice." Night said as he was looking in the pantry.
"I will go buy a lot of nori then. I might make a soup with it later." Velvet said.
"Okay. Let me grab the rice cooker from Velvet's test kitchen." Night said as he moved back upstairs.
"By the way. What are you going to make with him?" Velvet asks while grabbing her jacket.
"Something called onigiri." Twilight replied.
"That is a fun and simply dish. I like it." Velvet said as she moved outside and closed the front door behind her.
"Dad!" Twilight shouted.
"Yes Twi?" Night replied.
"Can I turn on the heater? It's rather cold in the living room." Twilight requested.
"Let me turn it on. I am near the heater anyways." Night said.
As Twilight heard the sound of the heater turn on. She felt the heat coming from the heater. It was slowly increasing the temperature to a comfy 22 degrees celsius. Twilight sat on the couch and looked at the calendar. She saw that in three weeks, one week after the entrance exam, it was going to be Fall.
Twilight looked at Night's wine cabinet. It was starting to get depleted. She also looked at Velvet's private pantry. That too was looking depleted. However the household pantry was filled to the brim and was practically overflowing.
Twilight chose to make a vegetable soup on the spot after looking into both pantries. As she grabbed some vegetables and filled a soup pan with water. She placed the soup pan on the stove and started to cook the water.
Meanwhile she filled the water with lots of spices and also with an assortment of fresh herbs. While that was cooking, Twilight started to cut the carrot in big pieces. The union in halve slices. And a whole bunch of random vegetables she could find. Cutting the other vegetables on cubes where it is possible.
Twilight quickly lowered the heat so that the soup won't boil. As she added the vegetables and let the whole soup get to know each other. Before adding salt and black pepper to taste. Putting the lid on the pan and let it sit in hot water for roughly 3 hours.
Meanwhile Velvet returned with the nori and an assortment of ingredients for her personal pantry. Just as she returned, it started to rain. Velvet looked out the still open front door at the rain.
"That was close." Velvet said to herself.
"You are back." Twilight said excited.
"That I am. Did you do anything while I was gone?" Velvet asked.
"I made some vegetable soup. Right now it is cooking into one whole mixture. It still needs to rest for 2 hours." Twilight explained while glancing at the clock.
"I see. Can I take a look?" Velvet asks.
"Sure. The lid is made from glass. You might be able to see through it. Don't open it though." Twilight explained while pointing at the soup pan.
Velvet entered the kitchen to take a look. Meanwhile Night entered the living room with the rice cooker.
"The rice cooker was well hidden. It took me an hour to find." Night said somewhat annoyed.
The rice cooker appeared rather big and it colour was white. Twilight took the cooker out of Night's levitation and inspected the overall look. Twilight opened the lid and saw that roughly two kilo's, including water, of rice fit inside the cooker.
Night quickly removed the cooker from Twilight's hooves and moved it to the kitchen. Twilight pouted for a moment and also entered the kitchen.
Once inside, Twilight saw that Velvet was inspecting her soup. Night was cleaning the rice cooker as well as all the stuff Twilight used to make her soup. Velvet then looked at Twilight nodding.
"It looks good. I can't wait to taste it." Velvet said.
Twilight looked at the clock. thirty minutes remaining until it's finished. Twilight then smelled the kitchen. It smelled good and very herby. She looked at her soup through the glass lid and saw that it had a nice color.
"I suggest that we will put three parts out of four into the freezer. The remaining amount we will eat right now." Twilight suggest.
"I agree. That is a good idea." Velvet agreed.
"I also agree. That is a good plan." Night said.
Twilight and her parents proceeded to put the soup in the freezer and eat the remaining amount right now.
The following day. Twilight woke up, feeling a lot stronger than before. She looked outside and realized that she was still grounded. Saddened Twilight headed to the bathroom.
Once inside she cleaned herself in front of the mirror and brushed her teeth. And she was done in a flash. Something that caused her to head downstairs. Only to find Royal again waiting for her.
Twilight and Royal greeted each other. afterwards Twilight once again ate breakfast. She looked at the calendar and saw it's wednesday.
"Okay. Let me fill the cooker in water and rice. before turning it on." Royal said.
Royal then proceeded to grab the nori from the pantry and let the rice cook in the distance. Once the rice is done. He moved it into a bowl. He then moved it onto the dinner table alongside the nori.
"Let's sit in the dinner room." Royal said. They then moved to the dinner room.
Once inside the dinner room, they sat down perpendicular from each other.
"Let me show you what we are going to do for today." Royal said as he showed Twilight, how to make it into a triangle and what to do with the nori.
Twilight moved her hooves into the rice and started to make it into a triangle. Or atleast attempted to. Twilight failed a few times to make it into its proper shape. Her first attempt turned it into a circle. Her second into a cube. Her third attempt into a square. However her fourth attempt she successfully turn it into a triangle, but she made it too small. Her next attempt caused her to make it too big.
Attempt after attempt. She showed more and more promise as her ability to use her hooves, to shape things, improved. Royal calmly watched and waited for Twilight to make her first perfect triangle. He gave Twilight no hints as she continued to struggle at making a triangle.
However when Twilight made her first triangle, she also successfully made a proper nori housing around the rice. Making it look rather delicious. Twilight gained improved inside of how to shape and cut nori into the right size. Her overall ability in making simple yet hard to master dish was improving extremely fast.
Twilight natural ability and raw talent started to shine brighter and brighter. She was a real diamond in the rough. Royal slowly noticed this and was impressed. Besides her natural and raw talent. She had a powerful will to make a good dish. She continued to make more and more onigiri even long after Royal left.
Twilight began with only one successful onigiri. However as the hours pass, she continued making more and more. What started as one, skyrocketed into hundreds of thousands of onigiri. She didn't stop until she ran out of rice.
She had been making onigiri in a daze. And only realized how much she made, after the rice was depleted. Twilight had made one million onigiri balls. On the dot.
Twilight looked at her handywork. The living room and dinner room was filled with it. She entered the kitchen and saw even more. Feeling guilty. She looks at the clock.
Royal left 3 hours ago. Her parents left 2 hours ago. Her brother was in his room. And Twilight? She was stuck in the living room with the onigiri. And it took her one hour to get to Shining's room.
"Shiny! I need your help." Twilight shouts.
"What is the matter?" Shiny asked as he opens his door.
Twilight then proceeded to push him down the stairs into the living room.
"I made too much onigiri." Twilight said.
"I can see that." Shining said in shock. "Let me contact my boss. He might be able to use all of these onigiris."
In a few moments they heard the knocks on the door.
"You called?" Pride asked.
"I made too much food. Do you think I can give you all of these?" Twilight asked while pointing at the onigiri.
"Sure. Let me grab the boys." Pride said with a hint of amazement.
And after that one hundred guards entered and left as they took every onigiri with them. The castle secretary entered the estate and gave Twilight 5 million bits before leaving.
Twilight looked shocked at the mountain of money that now filled the living room and dinner room. Shining simply facepalmed.
It was tuesday. The mountain of money was deposited yesterday into the bank with the help of her parents. Twilight woke up feeling refreshed. It was 5 O'clock in the morning as Twilight entered the bathroom.
Twilight proceeded to wash her face and brush her teeth in front of the mirror. Afterwards she headed down the stairs into the living room.
Once downstairs, she finds her parents in the living room. They greeted each other before heading into the kitchen to grab some breakfast.
Grabbing the usual piece of bread with jam and moving to the dinner room to eat her bread. There was knocking on the front door. Velvet stood up and opened the front door. Royal greeted her and entered the living room.
Twilight quickly finished up her breakfast and grabbed her notebook and pencil. Only to join Royal into the living room.
"Good morning. Twilight." Royal said.
"Good morning. What are we going to learn today?" Twilight asked.
"Today. I was going to teach you more about rice. But decided that you know everything you needed to know." Royal said.
"Truth be told. I feel like you are ready to take the exam already. But for your sake. Today and tomorrow will be the day I teach you a tiny bit about fish." He explained. "Next week will be meat only."
Twilight nodded as she opened her notebook.
"So fish. It's a broad topic. To be honest, the only ones that eat fish, are the griffons and dragons." Royal started. "You have many types of fish. From sweetwater to saltwater. From river to sea. From white to pink."
"I am going only going to give an example of fish types that are popular today. Tomorrow you will see how I prep a white fish." he continued. "The most popular ones are. And I quote: "Salmon, tuna, kohada, hirame, yellowtail and as last seabass." These are the most common yet popular fish types that are well known." Royal explained.
"A few more. Rather well known shellfish types are "Lobster, shrimp, sardine, crab and squid."" He continued. "And as last. A few sea vegetables that are important to remember: "Wakame, kombu, dulse, arame, nori and as last seaweed""
"That is all. Atleast for right now. Tomorrow I will show you how to fillet a yellowtail." Royal finished.
"That was a lot of names." Twilight said still writing it down.
Royal left the house as Twilight warms up a homemade cup of soup. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following morning. It's friday. Twilight once again, woke up early. She washed herself in the bathroom and entered dinner room with the usual breakfast.
After breakfast, she grabs her notebook and pencil and opens the front door, before Royal had a chance to knock and let him in after their morning greetings.
Twilight noticed that Royal was holding a fish. The fish appeared yellow and thus deduced that this is a yellowtail. She also saw that Royal had a knife kit on him.
"Today I am going to fillet this yellowtail. Right here." Royal said as he showed his skill off.
He started to cut it open down the center and remove the ribs and bones of the fish. He then removed the tail, head and fins. And started to cut it in perfect pieces.*
Twilight looked at the fish piece as she wrote down the process. She then saw Royal grabbing three bowl. One contained flour, one contained beaten eggs and one contained crunchy bits. Royal then proceeded to dump each and every piece of fish, one by one, into each bowl and putting it onto a plate.
Royal then grabbed a wok and filled it with sunflower oil and turned the stove on very high. Once it was boiling he placed each and every fish in it and after a few moments removed it. It looked golden brown.
Twilight then, against her instinct and horror of Royal. Grabbed a piece and bit into it. After munching a bit. She grabbed another, as she didn't appear to get sick from it, Royal didn't stop her.
Royal looked on in both shock and jealousy. While Twilight consumed the full dish. And after her being done, she looked at an shocked looking Royal.
Twilight sheepishly smiled "Sorry." she said feeling guilty.
It took Royal a few minutes to assess what just happened. "Did you just eat fish?" he dumbly asked.
Twilight took a gulp. "It was delicious." She offered.
Royal then just stood there. "How do you feel? Not ill, I hope?" he asked concerned.
"Nope. I feel perfectly okay." Twilight said.
"That's good. I want you, to ask me next time, if you want some. Not just take some." Royal scolded.
"I am sorry. You are not just angry, because I ate something that only a predator normally eats?" Twilight asked.
"Not really. There have been rare cases of ponies being omnivore." Royal explained.
"Yeah. The doctor told me it's 1 in a billion." Twilight said.
"I guess. That just confirmed it. You are an omnivore." Royal said.
Twilight simply nodded. "I have known that for a while. But my parents don't believe me." Twilight said.
"I will convince them. Meanwhile your homework will consist of research about omnivores and fish in general." Royal explains. "I will also change your diet to fit your new need for fish and meat."
It was monday, and while Twilight was still sleeping. Her parents alongside Shining and Royal were sitting alongside the dinner table. Royal and Shining appear to be drinking some Irish coffee, while Velvet was drinking a latte macchiato and Night drinking a cappuccino.
Royal however was the first to speak up. "So." he slurped a bit "Do you know why I called you together?" he asked.
Velvet looks at Royal. "Is this about Twilight and meat?" she asked, with a hint of hostility.
Royal raised his eyebrow. "Yes. I fully believe that Twilight is an omnivore." he said.
"An omnivore?" Shining asked, unsure. As he had never heard of that word.
"It's a creature which needs require meat, grains and vegetables to survive." Night answered.
"Well besides water of course." Royal added, Night simply nodded.
"How could you accuse her of something like that?" Velvet shrieked.
"Actually honey. I believe that he is correct." Night said.
"Care to elaborate?" Velvet asked, shock in her voice very much present.
"Well. She always did enjoy salmon. And steak." Shining reasoned.
Velvet looks confused at them both. "How could my daughter be an omnivore? She came from an herbivore and an herbivore, I have never heard of something like this happening." she asked confused.
Shining was about to ask something, when Night was faster. "An herbivore is a creature that requires vegetables and the like to survive."
"Thanks." Shining answered.
Royal slurped some more, before answering her question. "It's an extremely rare mutation. As far as I am aware of, only two other ponies had it. Besides the princesses." he explained.
"I see. So now what? Should we go get an classification for her status? Or-" Velvet started only for Twilight's hoof to enter her mouth.
"How about keeping this between us. And only allowing me to eat meat at home or when alone?" Twilight reasoned.
Velvet nodded, as Twilight removed her hoof. "Good morning, sweet heart." Velvet said.
"Morning." Twilight said, as she looked at the ponies present. "Let's keep this from the princesses for now too."
"Morning and yes. I agree that that might be a good idea." Royal said.
"So now that has been dealt with. Shall we start our lesson?" Twilight asked.
Royal nodded as he grabs his bag and places some books on the table. Twilight meanwhile grabbed her notebook and pencil. Royal then opens his book and moved it to the final chapter: Meat, Meat prep and serve.
"Okay. I am ready." Twilight proclaims.
"Okay. Before we start. This lesson won't be on the exam as it's not meant for fillies and more for adults. However I won't feel like I completed my lessons with you, without talking about meat. Especially now with us slowly figuring out, how to change your diet." Royal started and Twilight wrote some stuff down.
"Let's begin, with some basic information. So meat types, there are many meat types. But I will teach you the required information to work with." Royal flipped a page. "Let's do these three important ones. Beef, Sheep, Pork. These three are the most common ones and in turn the most important ones."
"Beef, Primarily comes from the cow. These cows are usually bred in pastures across the west borders of Equestria. They are a common delectable and is most famous for their steaks." "Pork, Primarily made using pigs. These pigs comes from the crystal empire and usually grounded down into ground pork. Meatballs commonly use this type of meat." "Sheep, as the name implies these are sheep. There is only a few pastures in the world that breeds them for using in meat production. An example is Ponyville."
"That is all for today. Tomorrow you get more information about beef and I will show you how to prep and make a steak." Royal ended as he closes his book.
"Thanks. That will delicious and fun." Twilight said smiling. She said as he left. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following morning, Twilight woke up and quickly washed herself in the bathroom, before heading downstairs.
Once downstairs, she spots Royal sitting in the living room.
"Good morning." Twilight said.
"Morning Twi. I am extra early, because after our lesson I have to discuss with your parents about your diet." Royal explained.
"Of course. Well, let's start then." Twilight said, already having readied her notebook and pencil.
"All right." Royal said opening his workbook.
"So Beef." he started. "A very common meat type and beloved by princess Luna for the rich taste. Steak and the beacon are some strong examples as to why it's liked. Dried beef and baked beef is thus the most important example. However don't be mistaken. It's not the most important meat type. In that sense fish is more important for their versatility and the fact that more creatures eat it. From bears to Griffons, and from dragons to lizards."
"Meanwhile meat is more of an omnivore thing and lions of course. However meat is versatile in their own right. Now, on to the topic beef. Their are many types of cuts. Today we are going to focus on sirloin steak."
"Sirloin is a cut of beef that is situated on the top side of the cow, and near the round. Because of the small size of this general area. It's sometimes also called premium steak. These are hard to get, and usually VERY expensive."
Royal looks at his sirloin steak he brought with him. "Usually costing 80 bits per 100 grams. Luckily for us. You got that large piece of sirloin beef from the market. So we are going to use some of that to turn it into a proper sirloin steak."
"Follow me Twi." Royal said as he moved his bag to the kitchen.
Twilight followed Royal to the kitchen and saw him unpack this beautiful piece of sirloin steak, together with his pre chopped mushrooms and pre cooked. She also saw some freshly made BBQ sauce.
"I am going to bake this to medium rare. The first thing we do is let the pan get to 58 degrees celsius. Twilight please cast a check temperature spell on the pan, and make sure it gets to the temperature and stays at that temperature." Royal requested.
Twilight nods her head as she cast the spell and wait. 10 minutes later and it reached the desired temperature. "It's ready!" she shouts.
Royal nods as he places the sirloin in the pan. "Now we wait for a golden brown color." he said.
after waiting 15 minutes, the sirloin looked delicious. "Okay. Now we move it on a drying rack and marinade with my homemade BBQ sauce and let it rest for 5 minutes." Royal explained.
5 minutes pass, in what felt like 1 minutes. Twilight was patiently waiting in the dining room. "Add some mushrooms and garlic butter on to the plate besides the steak." Royal said from the kitchen to the dining table, placing the plate in front of Twilight. "And as last. Bon Appetit!" he finished.
Twilight quickly thanked Royal as she dug in. The steak had a perfect red color and the bbq sauce caused Twilight to look starved. As she took the first bite, she first smelled the bbq sauce and the garlic butter. Her first bite was filled with juice as the steak overwhelmed her senses. The bbq sauce was filled with spices she has never tasted before and those shrooms. Those shrooms were different, they weren't anything like you can get in Equestria. The steak itself was amazing but with those side ingredients also known as decor, it became godlike.
Meanwhile Royal cleaned the kitchen and went upstairs for a secret meeting with her parents.
It's wednesday morning. Twilight woke up and did the usually before heading down stairs to eat a piece of bread with fresh jam.
"Knock, knock, knock." sounded the door, Twilight quickly approaching. She opened the door and sees Royal with another bag standing on the front porch. Twilight proceeded to let him quickly in and grabbing her notebook and pencil.
"Today we are going to do sheep." Royal started right away "Also known as lamb. This meat type albit common, is uncommon to use at all. Equestria doesn't have any restaurants that produce dishes with lamb in them."
"You do see them often on the blackmarket in the form of meat on skewers. Which they coated in some form of hot sauce. Becky makes a lot of them. But besides that, we don't primarily make them. Until today. Today we are going to make indian lamb curry. Let's go to the kitchen, Twi." Royal explained. "Here read the recipe."
Twilight walks to the kitchen and takes the recipe. 'Step 1 Gather the ingredients. Step 2 Heat the cooking oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Step 3 When hot, add the unions. Sauté until the unions begin to turn pale golden brown, about 8 minutes. Step 4 In a food processor, pulse the unions into a smooth paste, adding a teaspoon of water if necessary to blend. Transfer to a separate container and reserve. Step 5 Blend the tomatoes, garlic and ginger pastes together in the food processor until you have a smooth paste. Transfer to a seperate container and reserve for later use. Step 6 Reheat the oil leftover from frying the onions over medium heat and add the reserved onion paste. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Step 7 Add the tomato mixture, coriander, garam masala, cumin, turmeric and red chili powder and mix well. Step 8 Sauté until the oil begins to separate. This can take up to 10 minutes. Step 9 Add the lamb pieces to the mixture, and stir to fully coat. Sauté until the lamb is browned well, about 8 minutes. Step 10 Add 1/2 cup of hot water to the pan and stir to mix well. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover the pan. Cook until the lamb is tender. You will need to keep checking on the lamb as it cooks and adding more water if all the water dries up. Stir often to prevent burning. The dish should have a fairly thick gravy when done. Season with salt to taste. This should take roughly 45 minutes. Step 11 When the lamb is cooked, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with naan or hot steamed rice.'
"Well done Twi. One more thing. For the sake of those reading this fanfiction. Please start with the ingredients list." Royal said, which caused Twilight to blush.
'4 tablespoons vegetable oil. 2 large onions (thinly sliced). 2 large tomatoes (diced). 2 tablespoons garlic paste. 1 tablespoon ginger paste. 2 teaspoons ground coriander. 2 teaspoons garam masala. 1 teaspoon ground cumin. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric. 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder. 1 kilogram boneless lamb shoulder (cut into 38 mm chunks). 1/2 cup hot water. salt. fresh chopped cilantro.'
"There! When do we start?" Twilight asked.
"I would love to make this with you. Sadly this dish takes 2 hours to make, so I had to make some before hoof." Royal explained.
"I understand. Perhaps next time." Twilight said disappointed.
"Here let me put some in a bowl for you to eat tonight." Royal said.
It's thursday, The last day of Royal's teachings before Twilight's exam. Twilight woke up and did the usual, wash herself in the bathroom, eat some bread with jam on it and watch as Royal arrives at her home.
This morning felt different not only was Royal very late, or more specifically had still not arrived. And also her parents were already at their work, something that was odd considering the time. 6 O'clock in the morning.
And Twilight's parents had work usually around 9 O'clock. That while Shining's gear was still here, even though he has work around 4 O'clock.
Confused. Twilight started pacing and looking out the windows for any sign of Royal. 'Where is he? He usually is on time, I hope this won't cut into our teaching time.' she prayed.
After an additional hour of wait time, Royal finally knocked on the door.
Twilight opens the door, and let Royal into the house quickly. Getting her usual stuff out, Twilight and Royal sit in the dining room.
"You're late!" Twilight whined.
"I know. I am sorry, Twi. I had a hard time searching for a good piece of pork. Sadly I only found this poorly made hamburger steak." Royal explained disappointed.
"Well we could make Salisbury steak with it. I read it in a cookbook somewhere." Twilight suggested.
"Salisbury steak?! I haven't made that since high school!" Royal exclaimed.
"Well before that, I suggest you give an in depth explanation about pork, before we make that steak and before we talk about the exam." Twilight urges.
"Your right. Okay. Let me grab my textbook and stuff before we start." Royal said, while he grabbed his book and quickly moves the pages to the chapter of choice.
"Let's begin." Royal started, "Pork is one of the oldest types of meat known to ponykind and is universally loved. Able to be turned into most well known foods, it's a very versatile and easy to eat meat type."
"An well known example of this meat type being used is for ham, bacon and sausages. Thus the most important and well known meat variation has been called out." Royal said, "That being said, it's all you should know about right now. You will learn more about meat in Manehattan."
"Okay!" Twilight said happily.
"Now, before we make that steak type. Let's talk exam. Or more specifically test." Royal started. "You see, the filly culinary school in Canterlot is not really a school. More like a place for nobles to start their learning at. That way they can advance faster into a culinary school of their choice. That being said, don't underestimate their test. It's really hard according to other teachers and students alike."
"The chance of success is really low. Only 10% can make it passed the first test, then only 5% at the second one and the last test, which you are also going to take by the way. And is designed for geniuses, which has an entry rate of only 0.00000001%." Royal finished, Twilight visibly shuddered at those low chances.
"But! If you succeed, you are guaranteed to become a master chef." Royal added.
"I see. Well ignoring my anxiety and fear for a moment. Will we finally make it?" Twilight said with her excitement renewed.
"Yes, let's go to the kitchen." Royal said dejected. --------------
"Okay I found the recipe!" Twilight shouted as she looked into her mother's cookbook.
"Well read the ingredients!" Royal ordered.
"800 grams of floury potatoes, 400 grams of grounded pork, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of mustard, 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs, 4 tablespoons of ketchup, 3 teaspoons of worcester sauce, some olive oil, 1 onion, 0,5 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, 500 grams of mushrooms, 250 milliliter of water." Twilight read.
"Very good. While you read that, I have prepped it on the countertop. We are ready to make it. So while I make it, you read it." Royal explained.
"Understood. Starting to read now." Twilight started. "Grab a pan and place some water and some salt to start cooking. Meanwhile peel and cut the potatoes into even pieces, then cook the potatoes roughly 15 minutes. Once done pour the hot water away and steam dry it, add some pepper to taste on the potatoes."
"Now for the salisbury steak itself" Twilight continued. "Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Mix the pork, egg, breadcrumbs, one fourth of the ketchup and two thirds of the worchester sauce. And add some salt and pepper to taste. Then form the burger patties into an oval shape. Put some of the olive oil into a pan and heat it up, after properly heated up, place the burgers into the pan and bake it golden brown. Place the burgers into an oiled oven dish."
"Cut the mushrooms into four pieces, peel and cut the onions into rough cubes. And place the mushroom and onions into the same pan we used for the salisbury steak, which we also have to bake golden brown. Don't forget to pluck and cut parsley into tiny pieces."
"And now add all remaining ingredients together and start cooking it. Make sure to add some salt and pepper to taste. After precooking it a bit, add it to the salisbury steak and put it into the oven for 8 minutes."
"Now that it's done, put some potatoes, Salisbury steak and some parsley nicely on a plate and bon appetit." Twilight finished just as Royal grabbed the steak out the oven.
"It looks good!" Royal exclaimed.
"But does it taste good?" Twilight hinted, which caused Royal to laugh.
"I get it. Let me give you some, then tell me how it taste." Royal said.
"Okay." Twilight simply said as she took a bite.
"The steak is tasty, but I have had better. The worcester sauce tastes really strong, same with the ketchup. The potatoes are well done and the mushrooms are tasty. However this is more a normal dinner dish, not really a special dish." Twilight analyzed.
"Of course it's a simple dish. It was also made with poor ingredients." Royal explained. "Now for homework you have to study for the test or exam, however you like to call it. I will see you monday, the day of the results of the exam. Tomorrow is the test. Good luck!"
Today was the day. Twilight adventure in school has started and boy, was she excited. Besides showing her 'Yes-dance' to Royal after the exam result, she also shed some tears. Because this meant that her time with Royal was at its end.
"Don't cry, Twi. We will meet again one day. I promise!" Royal said, although he was also secretly shedding some tears.
Twilight meanwhile was just hugging Royal, not bothering with talking to him. Her parents just looked on, as they held Twilight's exam result in their magic.
Her result was '100%'. Twilight somehow was able to perfect the exam and even improve some of the questions in a way the teachers hadn't thought of. She was also the only one with that score and got herself placed in the elite class. A class meant for geniuses or royalty.
Because of the rarity for somepony to enter this class. Twilight was the only non-royal entering the class, while everyone else were from different countries all together. However the only good point was that they are all Twilight's age.
After 15 minutes, Twilight finally released Royal. "Well. I guess this is it. The school is about to start and I don't want to be late to my introduction." Twilight said.
Royal looked at Twilight, "Yeah. Well do them proud." he said.
Twilight turned around and started walking to the school when Royal interrupted her one last time. "Wait! Here take this school bag that I have been preparing. It contains all the books and everything you need to get started." Royal said after giving Twilight the bag.
"Thanks-" Twilight started when the bell went off. Twilight looked at the clock and panicked, she ran with the school bag in tow towards the classroom.
Royal and her parents watch as she entered the school. They all have prideful smiles as they look to each other. Meanwhile in a bush behind them, a blue filly also smiled and left towards an magic shop.
Twilight ran till she arrived. Exhausted she got to her class 'S-1' and entered. She immediately saw a frowning teacher look at her.
"You must be Twilight. Your late by-" she looks at the clocktower though the window, "2 minutes. nevermind, that is reasonable. You probably had your parents hug you to death or something."
Twilight quickly nodded, while the teacher continued "Go take a seat on the front row, in the middle."
Twilight took the seat and watched as the teacher introduced herself. The teacher's name is Morning Roux, she is 25 years old and majors in basic cooking and mathematics. She called herself the homeroom teacher.
"Well enough about me. Let's start this introduction and let's start with Twilight." Morning said.
Twilight walked to the front of the classroom, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, I am a noble and finished the entrance exam with a perfect score. I enjoy all forms of cooking." Twilight said as the class clopped their hooves to the floor
"Thank you Twilight, Now onto the next pony," Morning said as she continued with the introductions, however Twilight wasn't paying much attention.
Until it got to an oddly familiar pony. She had pink hair with a white body. She looked so slender that all the boys in classroom were blushing much to the dismay of the other girls. "My name is Sunny Day." she said in such a smooth voice that even the girls were blushing at this point.
'Wait a minute, Sunny Day?! That is... But why is she here? She has to teach-.' Twilight thought as she stared annoyed at 'Sunny Day'. Sunny noticed it and simply smiled hoping to not get noticed. With little to no effect.
As the introductions waned on. The bell rang and recess started. This caused the whole class to crowd 'Sunny Day' and ask all about her. That is, besides Twilight. Who still stared annoyed at 'Sunny day'.
As the bell rang and everyone got back to their seats. A familiar face entered as the teacher for the next topic. It was the clumsy pegasus who was always in the background. "Hello everyone, my name is Feather doo and I will teach you the basics of knives and sharp items used in an kitchen." she looked around and saw Twilight. For a moment she stared at Twilight, and gulped before continuing much to the dismay of Twilight.
Her reaction got the attention of the girl name 'Leaf seed' who sat all the way in the back however. She looked impressed and curious at Twilight. 'Why did my guard just gulp and look scared at that young noble child?' she asked herself.
Twilight however felt that two ponies were staring at her. Nervously she stuck her hoof up high.
"Yes Twilight?" Feather asked.
"Why are you scared of me?" Twilight asked ignoring the shocked eyes of those around her and the amazement of 'Sunny' and Leaf.
Feather simply gulped and ignore Twilight's question. "Anyways this is a kitchen knife is used for..."
"Cutting everything that needs cutting, with the exception of products that need special knives like cheese knife and such." Twilight finished, "Please answer my question!" she urges.
Her class and feather stared at her. Meanwhile you could hear the soft sound of laughing between students in the background. "That is correct, Twilight." Feather simply said as she turned the page of her book.
Twilight started to get really annoyed at this behavior. And before rumours got started. Twilight shouted the last bit, "Why?! I need you to tell me! Or I will get some nasty rumours behind my BACK!!!" It was loud enough for the glass panes to be ringing.
Feather looked at her and sighed "Well, after that food incident in the canteen. Although publicly I got shamed for it. Behind closed doors I lost three ranks! Three!" She shouted that last part. "Do you now see why I am walking on eggshells when I look at you!" she finished.
Twilight and her class looked shocked at her, She went from lieutenant to sergeant because of one small mistake. Twilight looked practically hostile as she slowly turned around at 'Sunny Day'. 'Sunny' who noticed a very angry look from Twilight squeed with an 'I am sorry' smile.
"Anyways that is why." Feather said defeated.
The room suddenly got dark as chills got up to her and the students back. "Okay. Don't worry. I will fix this!" Twilight said with a very twitchy look. "Somehow!"
The classroom gulped and continued onto the topics at hoof. The day waned on and all the topics she got in front of her, she already learned.
In the first day alone it became apparent that the lesson material was inadequate for Twilight. As she sped through each and every topic. From knives to meat, from vegetable to spices. Twilight was practically done with the first year of basic cooking school in one single day.
Teachers and principal were stumped. They were unsure of what to do. when the vice-principal came with an idea. "Let's stall her lessons for atleast a week. If she is still this good. We should just advance her to the next year." he said.
"I suggest we keep her in the main class however. Or cause her to be isolated from her fellow classmates" Feather interjected.
"Yeah. Of course." Morning answered.
"By the way, how is our special student doing?" the principal asked.
"It would appear that Twilight immediately found out who she is." Feather said.
"Well, I expected as much." Pride said, as he sat next to Feather.
"Also, it would seem Twilight is going to try and recover my ranks." Feather said nervously to Pride.
Pride's eyes widen, "Oh dear. That is not good." he said nervously.
"Why?" Feather asks.
"Your demotion is temporary. I wanted you to teach these fillies. That's why I lowered your rank. Technically you are still lieutenant, just not publically." Pride said, "It was the orders of Celestia herself. Most likely to keep an eye on Twilight."
"I see. Well, you set an very angry Twilight on the loose. She temporarily seem crazy. She is also enraged at Celestia." Feather said worried.
"Shit!" Pride said before storming out to run after Twilight.
"I should probably go help." Feather said as she too left the room.
Morning and her staff looked at each other. "Well, I guess I will start preparing for Twilight's updated teaching material." Morning said.
"Please." the vice principal said. ----------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile a very angry Twilight was carrying 'Sunny Day' in her levitation outside. Plonking her down on a bench.
'Sunny' looked very nervous, "Can I help you?" she asked.
"How about first dropping your fake name, Celestia!" Twilight shouted.
Celestia gulped and nodded, "Okay. Well that was quick." she said.
"Now, about Feather. You are awful for lowering her rank. Even if it's temporary!" Twilight shouted.
"How did you know?" Celestia asked, shocked.
"I put a listening device on Feather." Twilight said casually.
"You did, WHAT?" Celestia said, accidently using the royal Canterlot voice at the end.
Twilight rubbed her ears, "Anyways, Care to explain why you are not teaching Trixie right now?" she asked annoyed.
"Uh, what? Trixie? How do you know her? No matter. She is currently learning about the outside world. I sent her to an magic shop to learn about artifacts." Celestia explained.
"Hmm, oh well. And you know, does she understand the dangers of them?" Twilight asked worried.
"No, Shi-." Celestia sweared as she teleported away.
Twilight looked at were Celestia stood. Before laughing. "Oh dear. Well glad I am not her student. She doesn't look very experienced. And surprisingly forgetful." Twilight said.
"Twilight!" Pride shouted, with Feather right behind him.
"Hey, you two. Don't worry. Celestia is already gone and stuff. Oh! Let me remove this." Twilight said, before removing a black device from Feather.
"What is that?" Feather asked.
"A listening device." Twilight casually said.
"..." Feather and Pride stared at Twilight.
"Do you want to get grounded again?" Pride asked with a smile.
"I got this device from Cadence. She gave me permission to use it." Twilight explained.
"She what?" Feather said surprised.
"Anyways I have to go back. The bell has rang and I am late for PE." Twilight said as ran back inside. Leaving a stumped Pride and Feather to collect their thoughts.
"Your late!" The PE teacher said.
"I was hold up by knife teacher Feather!" Twilight explained.
"Hm? Oh. Okay, well anyways. Today you are going to lift these boxes. The weight is displayed on the side. Choose which you feel comfortable with." the PE teacher said.
Most of her classmates went with 10 to 25 kg. Twilight however is born in a family of strong individuals, from magic to swords and shields. So to the surprise of her teacher. Twilight went to 150 kg and easily lifted it like it was nothing.
Her teacher blinked at her strength. "So you are good at theory and PE?" he asked.
"Yup! Although I could lift more but," Twilight said hesitating.
"But?" the teacher asks.
"I don't want to get grounded again." Twilight finished.
"Just lift the heaviest you can carry. I will take responsibility." The teacher said.
"Okay." Twilight said as she dropped her current weight on the ground. Then she walked towards the heaviest box in the room. It was a box of 500 kg and lifted it. Although barely.
"Heavier than this. I can't carry." Twilight said wheezing.
"I see. Well I guess you are done with PE. I can't teach you anything. Sorry, Twilight." the teacher said defeated.
"That is quite alright. It's a shame, but I understand." Twilight said disappointed.
As the week waned on. It became more and more clear that she knew too much about theory for her to learn anything. And at the end of the week it was revealed that she is going to skip her grade. But without leaving her current class.
When Friday arrived, and her final theory class came to an end. She was pick up early from school. As her parents were informed about her ability and the fact that there is nothing to teach her, when we talk about theory.
It's monday. The first day in school for the physical class, Twilight's teachers are preparing a special curriculum for their class. They were fully aware that Twilight would 'Join' this class to a degree. However even they were unsure about this. Noone has ever skipped theory class, as in the past it would have been considered blasphemy. Princess Luna would have scolded the teachers and the student in question would be kicked off school for faking their true abilities.
However that scenario was no longer possible. For if that occured, the school might obtain an infamous status. Not wanting to become even more disliked by their fellow schools. They chose to follow the path of the cooking school in Manehattan. Not only were they more famous, they were considered the richest and most beloved school in Equestria.
However that story is for another time. Anyways Twilight's teachers were sitting around the table, they were discussing Twilight's next step and what to teach her.
"I say we dive her straight into the hardest part of cooking!" says the vice principal, he was still furious from the school council's decision.
"We can't do that! She is still just a filly!" says one of the theory teachers.
"Besides it's not our decision. It's our outside teacher who decide it!" says an annoyed Morning.
"Who is it this time, anyways?" she continued.
"It's me." said a familiar chef that walked in.
"You? But I thought we wouldn't do you anymore after last time." says the vice principal.
"Yeah, well. I volunteered." the 'physical' teacher said.
"I see. So who are you again?" Morning asked.
Everyone in the room facepalmed, until they remembered that she was a victim of the accident and might have lost her memories about it and her.
"Who, me?" the 'physical' teacher asked, as she saw her nod, "My name is Black Chef. But you sweetheart can just call me Becky."
"That name sounds familiar. Oh well. Welcome to Lunainary, Becky!" Morning said with a hint of confusion and a slight headache.
"So who is the problem child?" Becky asked.
"Well not so much a problem child. More like a genius that was forced to skip theory class. Her name is Twilight Sparkle." Morning explained.
Becky raised her eyebrow for a second, before laughing very loudly. Her behavior caused everyone to look at her in confusion. Becky took one good look at everyone, before falling over in her laughter.
After a few minutes passed, Becky regained her composure. "Of course she would know everything!" she said, while wheezing.
"How so?" Morning asked.
"She learned everything from my younger brother. Named Royal Chef." Becky explained.
"The Chef of the Century?" The vice principal asked.
"Exactly. She was his pupil for like one year. But as you might know by now. She is a sponge that craves information. So theory is her strong suit." Becky explained once more.
"I see. That explains it." Morning said.
"So, she will be my student?" Becky asked.
"Your only student. The others in the class have somepony else." Morning explained.
"Wait! Why?" Becky asked very confused.
"Because we will not remove her from my class. We don't want alienated her from her fellow classmates." Morning said smiling.
Becky smiled, "I see. I guess I will teach her how to cook. And give her a permanent task." she said.
"Oh? What would that be?" The vice principal asked curious.
"For her to cook, lunches for her fellow classmates." Becky suggested.
"That is perfect! I love it. Let me handle the paperwork. You should get started to retrieve her new equipment!" Morning said happily. At this point she was smiling gleefully, for some student were perhaps noble, but they aren't very rich. Some can't afford the canteen. Making this solve a whole bunch of problems.
"Thank you, dear. Well I have to get going. Class will start in 15 minutes." Becky said as she left the room.
"This might be safest plan with her yet." Said one of the chefs to the vice principal.
"Don't be so sure of that." he replied, before making his way to his office.
By now every teacher dispersed to their class. While Morning speed wrote all the paperwork before rushing to class.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few hours earlier ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's still monday morning. Twilight woke up in her bed like usual and washed herself off like usual. As she headed for the kitchen, she spots a few bowls on the countertop. As she approached those bowl she sees a letter.
'Dear Twilight,
Mom and dad here. We have to go out of town for a few days. You take care of yourself and don't miss school. We made a few bowls of fruit yoghurt for you and your brother. There is some more of them in the fridge.
-Your parents.'
"Thanks mom." Twilight said to the letter before grabbing a bowl to start eating.
She looks at the clock, school starts in 3 hours. She looks in her bag using levitation and also while still eating her yoghurt. She nods to herself when she notices that she has everything including a 'Bento' box, her lucky charm which has a picture of Royal.
She cleans her bowl up and head for the door to walk to school. Once outside, Twilight immediately heads for school, not wanting to be late.
----------------------------------------------------------- The present. ----------------------------------------------------------- Twilight enters her classroom, when she sees her desk been turned into a mini test kitchen and a whole bunch of jealous friends stare at it.
"Well. There she is." Leaf said, something which caused everyone to crowd her and ask questions about the test kitchen.
"Is it true, that you skipped theory class?" Lulu Pepe asked. She is the youngest in the class and loves taste testing stuff.
"Yup." Twilight answered.
"That's awesome!" Nappe Ort said, "Finally I can taste your food!" he said happily. This young boy is Nappe, he loves marinating stuff and of course eating.
"Yea!" Pate Ouzo said, These two boys are best friends and also loves eating. He also specializes in Greece cooking.
Twilight meanwhile gulp. She doesn't like this attention as she believes that they are jealous.
"Don't worry Twi. We aren't jealous. We are simply impressed." Marie Bain said. This young filly is praised for her top of her class, slow cooking abilities. She is also the kindest of the class.
As the others were about to start talking the bell rang. They sighed and got to their seats. Twilight just sighed in relief.
"Okay, everyone get to your seats" Morning said as she walked in.
"Today I have a special announcement. As you probably know by now. Twilight Sparkle skipped Theory class. However after some debate, we decided to keep Twilight in this class despite it." she said.
"That being said. I am not the special teacher for her. Somepony else will do it. She will stay in class as an assistant and primarily teach Twilight. However! She is still a teacher and can always be asked any questions." She continued.
"Now then. Please come in." Morning said.
As the door was being opened, Lulu's eyes widen in fear. Twilight noticed it and gulped. As the chef walked in, Twilight immediately realized who it was.
"Hello everyone. My name is Black Chef, I specialize in physical cooking and will be Twilight's teacher. However you can just call me Becky." Becky said, she looked at Twilight who was trying to keep her composure.
Clearing her throat "Nice to meet you." Twilight said.
Becky nodded, "As you can see. Your desk has been turned into a Test kitchen. That is the place you will learn about cooking. However! You will have to cook lunches for your fellow classmates every single day." Becky instructed.
"For free." Morning added. Something which caused every classmates eyes to glister. As even Lulu to smiled despite Becky's presence.
Twilight nodded as she sees how her fellow classmates smiles. "I guess I will grab my supply of food products." Twilight started.
"You don't have to. I will pay and so will Royal." Becky said.
"Royal? Who is that?" Baste Confit asked. This young colt is specialized in french cooking and loves to hunt because of it.
"Wait. Isn't that, that genius of the century?" Aspic Gratin replied. And this young colt is specialized in frying things.
"Exactly!" Royal Chef said as he entered the class, causing everypony to gasp at his presence.
"No way." Dress Coulis said. This young filly is the decorating expert of the class and is a massive fan of Royal.
"Anyways. These two will assist Twilight. Becky will teach Twilight and Royal will secure the ingredients." Morning explained.
"Of course. Well if you excuse me." Royal said before leaving.
"Thank you." Becky said.
"Well. If you could Becky. I will start teaching the others in the class. Please go and start with Twilight." Morning instructed.
Becky nodded and moved to approach Twilight. She was being watched by everyone in the class, until she arrived at her destination.
"Hey, Twi. Long time no see." Becky said as she quietly approached Twilight.
Twilight looked around her, and then hugged Becky. "Good to see you too." she said softly.
Unbeknownst to Twilight, Leaf was watching her. Leaf simply smiled as she turned to pay attention to Morning.
"Anyways what will I learn to today?" Twilight asked.
"Nothing yet. I still have to go through the paperwork and such. Tomorrow will be the start however." Becky explained. "However you still have to make lunch for your fellow classmates."
Twilight nodded.
"Meanwhile I will watch how good you are. That way I won't learn you trick you already know." Becky explained once more.
"Understood. Well shall I start?" Twilight asked.
"Please do. Lunch break is at 12 O'clock which means, we have 3 hours. Good luck." Becky said. "Tell me what you need and I will go and get it."
"Okay. Get me some rice, sake, rice wine, soy sauce, some fake wagyu meat, some melon bread, 2 fresh corn, some forest unions and some fish paste." Twilight said in rapid succession.
"Understood." Becky said as went to the school pantry.
Meanwhile Twilight grabbed Wok pan and some olive oil. Turning the fire on medium and placing the wok with the oil in it, on top of the stove. She also grabbed the rice cooker from the closet. Filled it with water and then waited.
5 minutes later and Becky arrived with the ingredients. Twilight proceeded to quickly grab the rice and put it into the cooker and turning it on. She also set a timer for 15 minutes.
After that Twilight grabbed a mixing bowl and added sake, soy, rice wine to it and mixed it together. As she put the wok on low. She grabbed a second pan and filled it with water. She quickly heated it up to cooking temperature and added the corn freshly inside it. Placing a lid on top.
As the minutes pass, Twilight chops the forest unions and turns the bread into crumbs. Grabbing the fake meat and chop it into small cubes, she places it into the pan with the bread. baking it until golden brown. Then moving the bread and the fake meat on top of the plate with kitchen paper on it.
Then the timer went off. Twilight quickly moved the rice to the pan and starts baking it. Twilight then adds the mixture of the mixing bowl into the wok. She shook the wok like a professional chef and adding a little bit of oil to the flame to cause it to flare up.
After a bunch of shakes she adds the bread and the fake meat. And add the unions at the very end. She looks at the corn and removes it from the pan. Pouring the hot water into the sink. Then grabbing the biggest knife she could find and at cutting the maize off the corn.
Making sure the corn is individualized, she shuts off the heat and grabs the bowls from the counter top. Placing it into neat rows and first moving the rice into the bowls and topping it with some corn.
"Done!" Twilight shouted, just as the bell rang.
"And in the nick of time. Good job, Twilight." Becky said impressed.
"Thanks. Well please taste test it." Twilight said to becky.
Becky nodded and grabbed a bowl. She took a bite and then another, then another until the dish was empty.
"It's good. But I can tell there is still a lot to be taught." Becky said.
"Well everypony, free lunch is ready!" Twilight shouted. Causing everyone to grab a bowl and starts eating.
"This is not bad Twilight. But you should add a little bit more sauce." Flambe Degreuse said. This young boy is specialized in Japanese cooking.
"Okay." Twilight replied adding that to her notebook.
"The sauce is also a bit to watery. You should have added a bit of ketjap." Mince Mother said. This young girl specializes in making sauce, she should know how the sauce should be.
"Understood." Twilight said as she writes it down.
"Personally you could have added more spice. It feels a bit bland." Harissa said. This young girl is specialized in spicy cooking.
"I knew I forgot something. I forgot the red pepper." Twilight replied.
"I think it's fine. But perhaps something to balance the thickness of the sauce would improve it." Kipper Kirsch suggests. This young boy specializes in Pickling.
"I see. Yeah the corn isn't the best choice for that. Perhaps some pickled cucumber might improve it." Twilight said as she writes it down.
"You have some good friend, Twi." Becky said.
"Thanks. Let's do our best next time." Twilight replied.
It's tuesday. Twilight's adventure yesterday, caused quite a bit of stir. Noone has ever skipped theory class before. However under the request of the teachers, everypony that knew, kept their mouths shut. As it could lead to bad press.
Luckily for Twilight, the press were too busy with a different subject. Princess Celestia has chosen who would be her next student. It's Trixie Lulamoon. Her name was all over the news and everypony was talking about it.
Celestia herself expected Trixie to love this new attention. However much to her surprise, Trixie hated it. Trixie remembered how she got bad press over an incident in the past, and how much it harmed her. Fearing that the same thing would happen if she wasn't who she appeared to be. Trixie would often sneak out of the castle to go work at the donut shop. She did this because her best friend helped her to get back to work and making donuts relaxed her. It reminds her of her parents.
Meanwhile Twilight and her 12 classmates were busy learning about many subjects that they didn't know about. Twilight would then cook, lunches for her classmates everyday. Her having fun and obtaining new friends caused the days to whiz past.
As tuesday became wednesday, Wednesday became thursday, And so on and on.
Until the second week started, At this point Twilight would wake up, brush her teeth and trot to school, like she has done so everyday. However today was different.
"I wonder what I will learn today and- Oof" Twilight said as she bumped into Trixie. "Oh! Hey, Trixie!"
"Twilight, you gotta help me. Those bad people are on my back again." Trixie desperately said.
"Who? Those guards again?" Twilight asks, suddenly much more alert than before.
"No, it's-" Trixie said biting her lip. Then Trixie felt warm suddenly. She looked up and saw Twilight hugging her.
"Hey, It's alright. I am here for you." Twilight said giving Trixie some love.
Trixie sighed as she accepts the hug. "Okay. So you see. Although Trixie was abandoned by my parents. There is much more going on than meets the eye." Trixie explained, "Perhaps we should move somewhere safe first though. I can hear them in the distance."
Twilight nods, as she teleports Trixie and herself into her bedroom. Twilight bits her own lip for a moment when looking at the clock however, she has skipped school. However she gulped and steeled herself for what's about to come.
"We are safe here. This is my bedroom." Twilight explained however trixie was a bit distracted.
"How did you-? Nevermind. Okay so my parents were in trouble." Trixie started.
"My parent have a donut shop as you are aware. However is was during Luna's banishment that they got in quite a pickle. Their sales dropped as their main source of income had been banished to the moon. And as their debt increased. They were more and more in trouble." Trixie explained. "In order to combat this financial issue. They..."
Trixie gulped as Twilight saw black coloured ponies whiz passed their house. Twilight however started to connect the dots.
"They turned to the mafia. They- turned to crime. Not wanting me to fall in their hoofsteps. They left me abandoned in Canterlot. In front of their biggest competitor." Trixie said, "I only found out afterwards." Trixie finally finished.
At this point Twilight understood what was happening "And now they want you." Twilight simply said.
Trixie nodded as she hides below Twilight's bed. More and more ponies whiz passed outside Twilight's house, all of them armed to the teeth.
Twilight at this point forgot all about school. "Stay here. I will talk with my brother for a moment."
Twilight then proceeded to throw Trixie a doll of herself and leave the room. Once in the hallway she turns to Shining's bedroom. And opens the door. Shining was still asleep as he has graveyard duty. This meant him working at night.
Twilight then kicks Shining out of his bed onto the floor. "Oof!" Shining said.
"Shiny, I need your help." Twilight said.
"Good morning to you too. Wait! Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Shining asked suspicious.
"I do. However this is about Trixie and it's worse than we thought." Twilight said. She then proceeded to explain to Shining what is going on.
"I see. That is bad indeed." Shining said grimacing at Twilight's story. "But what do we do? I am just an recruit."
"I know. I need you to start collecting intel about this. Meanwhile I will go to school and attempt to get Becky's help" Twilight explains then gulped, "After my punishment that is."
"No!" Trixie exclaims as she opens the door. Her shout caused Twilight to jump. "I don't mind Shining Armor as he is in the guard. But it's too dangerous for you! Twilight!"
"Exactly. Let me inform some officials about this and let me handle it." Shining said.
"Fine! However I will still ask Becky for help." Twilight exclaims annoyed.
"That is fine. By the way sir Armor, Do you mind me staying here for a bit?" Trixie politely asks.
Shining nods. "I would not mind. Besides I think your house is compromised right now." he says.
"Compro-?" Trixie asks.
"That means, Found and dangerous." Twilight explains. "I guess I will teleport to school. With a bit of luck I will be on time to make lunch for my classmates."
"WAIT!" Shining shouted but it was too late. "Well, that sucks. She might get a magic explosion on the other side." ---------------------------------- In school ---------------------------------- "Where is Twilight? She is late!" Becky complains.
"Actually I haven't seen her yet either." Morning explains.
"That's odd. Twilight usually-" Becky starts only to get cut off by an explosion in her kitchen.
"What in' the-" Becky accidently says in her farmer's accent.
Becky walks into the now half destroyed kitchen. Twilight standing in the center of the crater.
"Ponyfeathers!" Twilight swears.
"Language, young lady!" Morning scolds
"I, uh I can fix this?" Twilight offers.
"We have repair crew for this. It's not the first time." Becky said. "That being said. You are late!"
"I am sorry. One of my best friends got into trouble with wrong ponies. She needed some help." Twilight explains disappointed.
"Excuses, You are getting 3 hours of detention for being so extremely late." Morning said annoyed.
"Well. Would you not help her, if your best friend was being chased by the F*ing Mafia." Twilight exclaimed frustrated.
"She is being WHAT?!" Becky shouts.
"Oops." Twilight said with a squall.
"Again, language!" Morning said.
"Sorry." Twilight said gloomy.
"That does explain those ponies covered in black clothing." Becky mumbled.
"Anyways, Go to detention NOW!!!" Morning said, getting real tired of this behavior.
"Okay." Twilight said with her head down, as she heads to the detention classroom.
Meanwhile Becky was mumbling to herself and Morning suddenly having quite an headache.
"I will go get the repair crew." Morning calmly said.
"Ah, right. Please do." Becky said. "In the meantime I am going to look into what Twilight said."
"That must be a joke, no?" Morning asks.
"No, Not necessarily. Those ponies with black clothing are a trademark of a mafia in Manehattan. If her friend is the cause then. Twilight too might be in danger." Becky explains.
"Okay. Please look into it then. I will tell the principal about it." Morning said.
"Thanks. Now if you excuse me. I have to call some Friends." Becky ominously said. ---------------------------- Meanwhile in the classroom, ---------------------------
"Did you hear? Twilight got detention for being too late." Dress said,
"Yea, I thought she was skipping." Lulu said surprised.
"It would be unlike her." Leaf commented.
"Yea, She loves learning and cooking." Marie exclaimed.
"With an explicit on LOVE!" Baste commented.
"Yea." They all agreed.
"Something is wrong here." Nappe said.
"Besides not getting her lunch today?" Pate asked.
"Yea, She is not the type to skip." Nape added.
"Perhaps I need to investigate it." Mince said, "I have strong connections. I might be able to find out how and what."
"We would be grateful" Harissa exclaimed.
Mince nods and start to call someone on the phone, in the middle of self-study. After her phone call she says "Apparently she was protecting someone from the mafia."
"She is WHAT?!" Flambe shouts.
"Let's not interfere with it any further then." Marie suggested.
"Yea, too dangerous. However I shall ask my father for assistance." Lulu said.
"If you would." Aspic said.
"I guess, the only thing we could do is. Pray." Kipper suggests.
Everypony nod at this good idea. As they pray, Somepony outside which heard their entire conversation wrote it down before leaving. ------------------------ Meanwhile in detention. ------------------------ Twilight was solving some cooking practical dilemmas, when suddenly a pony covered in black clothing opened the door.
Twilight turned to look at him. She gulped as he beacons her to get closer. Twilight unsure of what to do walks up to him. Then Twilight's world turns dark. ------------------------------------- In the hallway ------------------------------------ A few hours had passed and school has ended. Lulu and Morning were talking to the principal about Twilight's pickle.
"I thank you for Twilight's concern. But you shouldn't have found out." Morning said to Lulu.
"I know it's dangerous. But Twilight is a close friend. The whole classroom is worried." Lulu said.
"I think it's beautiful that a whole classroom and atleast two teachers are worried about her. But everything is fine. This school has high security and no ruffian would be able to get in." The principle explains.
"But still. Anyways she should be in here." Morning said.
"Okay, Let's stay calm and tell her what to do now," He explains. They open the door and find nobody. Twilight's bag is still on her desk. Her pencil is still touching the paper and her calculator still on, but no sign of Twilight.
Morning and Lulu stare shocked. The principal looks at their faces and connects the dots. "Shit!" he said.
"We were too late." Lulu said trembling. She was both scared about Twilight's wellbeing as well as her own.
"Oh no." Morning simple said.
"Guards!" Tako Pepe the principal called out.
"Sir?" One of guards asks.
"Call the princess. Twilight Sparkle has been kidnapped." Tako said.
The guards salute and rush towards the castle.
"Lulu, go to your class and keep them there. Morning you go to the entrance and lock it down. I will use the PE speakers to call our current state in." Tako said.
"Which is sir?" One of the guards asks.
"We are now in Lockdown!" Tako shouts. ----------------------------------- Meanwhile outside the school ------------------------------------ Shining armor and his general Arms Keeper have gathered around Twilight's home to protect it from the mafia. 6 battalion for guards are both inside as well as outside. They are heavily armed.
When suddenly a stationary guard rushed up to Arms ear.
"Sir. I got a report saying that Twilight got kidnapped by the mafia." the guards said.
"Shit!" Arms sweared.
"Shining Armor we got a problem." Arms started. ------------------------------------- In the school for gifted unicorns, a few minutes before Twilight's kidnapping ------------------------------------ Trixie was casually reading some books on teleportation. As she experimented with the spell. However Celestia was not nearby. No, at the time of the kidnapping. She was doing her duties in the throne room.
When one of the guards from the black market, blasts the door open with an urgent report about Trixie.
"Can't it wait? I am kinda busy here." Celestia asked with her eyebrow raised.
"Your Highness. It's an urgent report about Trixie."
"One moment." Celestia waves off the petitioner and closes her wings.
"Okay, Go on." Celestia says with cold eyes.
"We believe her abandonment was caused when your sister was banished. Her parents used to sell a lot of donuts to Princess Luna. But got into a financial crisis when cut of their primary source of income." The guards explains.
"I see. Anything else?" Celestia said as her eyes fill with empathy.
"There is a lot here. To put it this way. She is in grave danger. That is the most important news from the report." the guards said.
Celestia then turns to her guards "Where is she now?"
"She left to go to Twilight's place. Something about a sleep party." the guard explains.
"Get her some protection." Celestia asks.
"Twilight was there first. She already got 6 battalions guarding her home." the guard smiles.
Celestia shakes her head "I see. Thank you."
Celestia was about to call the petitioner back, when a wheezing guard from the culinary school enters the throne room.
"Your, wheeze, Highness, wheeze. I-" The guard started.
"First catch your breath." Celestia assisted.
"No- Time-." The guard quickly regained his momentum.
"It's from the culinary school! They have gone into lockdown!" The guard shouts.
"Why?" Celestia asked worried.
"It's Twilight! She, oh god, She has been kidnapped by the mafia!" the guard finished.
"Oh no." Celestia said as she grimaced.
-------------------------------------------- To be Continued..... --------------------------------------------
It's monday. Shining Armor's world is about to be shattered. It's been 30 minutes since Twilight's kidnapping. With the culinary school on lockdown and Canterlot security suddenly increased. Things did not look good.
"Shining Armor, we got a problem." General Arms Keeper suddenly said.
"Sir?" recruit Armor asks.
"Your sister has been kidnapped." Arms said sternly.
"..." Shining stayed quiet as his face contorted with emotion, from fear to sadness to anger. However he stayed calm.
"Now what do we then sir? Trixie still requires protection." Shining calmly asks.
"Listen closely. You and those 6 battalions will protect Trixie. That was Twilight's request. In the meantime, Me and the boys will do an search and rescue on Twilight. Do you understand?" Arms asks worried.
"I understand. That way my emotions won't get in the way right?" Shining said.
"Exactly. Besides Twilight is tough. She will be able to handle herself." Arms said, "Oh, one more thing. It appears that there was no struggle. Which means she behaved herself as the kidnapper entered."
"That is good to hear sir." Shining said prideful.
"Anyways, Protect Trixie with your life. That's all." Arms said as he teleports to the castle.
"Well you heard it boys. Let's protect her the best we can! Meanwhile I should break the news with Trixie." Shining shouted and the guards saluted.
As he enters his estate. He looks around. The living room was filled with cushions and snack for the sleepover. He notices Trixie sitting in a by Twilight made Bookfort. She appears to be hugging a Twilight doll.
"Hey, Trixie." Shining beacons.
"Hey, Shining. Is something the matter?" Trixie said. She notices Shining swollen eyes.
"It's Twilight. The mafia got her." He said with cold eyes.
Trixie's face fell. She started hyperventilate and shake uncontrollably. As she squashes her doll, she attempts to calm down.
"With got her, I meant kidnapped her." Shining quickly added.
"I know." Trixie said trembling. "Twilight is much stronger than me. Not just magic power, but also willpower and hope. She is much more determined than me."
"And kind and playful." Shining added as he couldn't stop his tears.
"And- and-" Trixie takes a big gasp of air, "And loyal. Generous." She was showing some tears also.
"But, also unstable. quick to get lonely, and also an incredible tunnel vision." Shining added as he could keep his composure, finally it became to much as openly cries in pain and fear.
Trixie shed some tears before hugging Shining. Around the corner was Arms. He watched as one of his biggest and most loyal guards broke down.
He realized that losing Twilight would be the biggest problem and greatest lose he would ever face. Shaking his head, he steel his eyes for the upcoming battle. Strengthen his resolve and face an uphill fight.
He instead teleport to the barrack were Twilight made a bunch of friends. As he approaches, every guard immediately formed a row and saluted. They knew what was about to occur.
"Everypony, As you are probably aware. Twilight has been kidnapped. However! It would appear that they don't know what that means. It means that they declare war on our knights. Declare war on her friends. Declare war on ME!" Arms shouted.
"Sir, Yes, Sir." they saluted.
"You would think that kidnapping the wrong pony would atleast make them aware. It did not. Which means we have the upper hoof." he shouted.
"Here is the plan. Until orders from the higher up, I would normally wait. But not this time. Commanders! Prepare your troops. ALL of them. Prepare for war with the Manehattan mafia!" He orders.
"Understood!" They shouted back and all of them ran towards their units. ---------------------------------- The throne room --------------------------------- As the situation outside the castle was starting to reach a worse and worse state. Celestia herself stood for a dangerous problem. 2 important to her ponies face an incredible danger. And one of the two being kidnapped.
Celestia stood in front of an dilemma. Prioritize protecting Trixie and letting the guard search for Twilight. Or Prioritize a search and rescue on Twilight and calling Trixie out second. She was unsure.
As advisers from the castle pour into the throne room. One thing was unanimously said, Prioritize Trixie. As she is her teacher. She was about to make that order when Mage Keeper entered the throne room.
"Your highness." Mage said.
"What is the matter?" Celestia asked.
"It's Arms. He jumped the gun. They are preparing for war against the mafia." Mage said.
"He is WHAT?!" Celestia exclaims. "Stop him!"
"I can't. Twilight has too many friends with the commanders of the general. I tried. Nothing happened." Mage said.
"Fuck!" Celestia said as she for the first time in centuries broke her chair on purpose. Something which instilled fear into her advisers.
"How bad?" Celestia asks.
"We are too late. Half of our ghost army has already departed for Manehattan. It appears they will either find her or burn the place to the ground." Mage said worried.
"That is really bad. Like beyond bad." Celestia said. "Wait, what about the other half?"
"They have gone out to destroy every secret hideout and safehouses that the mafia has. And gone to capture every spy they find or kill them." Mage said.
"Well. That is fine. Still I don't know what to do now." Celestia said as she sits on her broken throne.
"May I suggest something?" Mage asks.
"Go on." Celestia said.
"Go to Manehattan before they arrive. And explain the situation to the mayor." Mage suggested.
"That is not a good idea." Says a confused Trixie behind Mage.
"Trixie?! How did you get here?" Celestia asks shocked.
"I teleported, sort of. I am really dizzy." Trixie said.
Celestia smiles prideful and casts a spell to wear the confusion off.
"Thank you. That mayor is part of the mafia organization. Warning him would worsen the situation." Trixie explains.
"I see. Is there anything else we should know?" Celestia asks.
"Are you sure Twilight is powerless? I heard she knows hoof to hoof combat. And has already casted spells to would ruin their days no?" Trixie asks.
Mage smiles and nods, "I guess you're right. Twilight is the least of our worries. But Manehattan might get destroyed because of this attack."
"I heard the guard calling it the largest Search and Rescue mission known to the guard." Trixie explains.
"I see. That would make things better. That however doesn't mean the situation has improved." Celestia said smiling despite herself.
"But it hasn't worsen right?" Trixie asks. "All we can do is minimise collateral damage. no?"
Celestia and Mage smiled "Right!"
Mage spoke first, "I will get a medical and repair unit up and running. They will be moved to Manehattan in a day."
"You do that. In the meantime I will get the hospital up and running maximumly and write letters to every other mayor to enlighten them of the situation." Celestia said.
"I guess, the safest I can be is near you, Celestia. If Twilight starts talking, my position would be compromised. I am the safest in the castle." Trixie said.
"That is fine. I will also teach you some personal spells. Oh and we are doing to petitions until the end of attack." Celestia added.
All these decisions have already prevented worse case scenario and this all happened in matters of minutes. ------------------------------------------ Meanwhile at an undisclosed location ------------------------------------------ It's dark and cold. These were Twilight's first feelings. Her horn was blocked, magic was impossible and her hooves were roped. She couldn't see and move. However her brain was already working on solutions. Although she couldn't move or see, it didn't stop her calming herself down.
'Trixie is safe for now. Now how will I get out of this pickle' Twilight thought
"Hey! She is awake! remove the cloths covering her eyes." An unknown male pony said.
Twilight's eyes flicker as she looks around. She appears to be in a cell, the wall are made from concrete. The windows barred with iron bars and an iron door in front of her. She sees a single lamp from the ceiling. There is also 3 ponies in the room. 2 female, 1 male.
"You finally awake?" the male asks.
Twilight didn't respond.
"Good. Now. Where is she?" the male asks.
Twilight didn't respond.
"Talk!" He shouts.
But no response was given.
"Sigh, let me try." the younger female said, she then proceeded to slap the hell out of Twilight. But Twilight neither screamed nor made any sound besides breathing.
"Huh, Still nothing. She is tough!" The young one said.
"Hmm?" the older one said. The older one then proceeded to do every torture in the textbook. But again Twilight didn't even bat an eye.
"I guess. Somepony already shut her up." she said.
"Then I guess he is going to get it." the older one said as she pulls a machete on the older male on the wall.
Twilight then realized that he was Trixie's father. Unable to allow him to die.
"Fine!" Twilight said finally giving in.
"She should be in the castle. Under Celestia's direct protection." Twilight confessed.
"Not at your house?" He asks.
"I am sure Trixie already knows that the best place to be is near her mentor. Inside the castle. Not at some house that could be easily attacked." Twilight said smiling.
"Shit. She is her personal student?" he asks.
"Yup." Twilight smiling evilly at this point. "You thought she was easy gain? I don't think so."
"What?" The younger asks.
"I did a complete background check on her. And found out that you may or may not want her. So I refused Celestia, Gone to culinary school so that she would get protection and I would go to my second favourite school. All because I knew this would happen." Twilight smiles "I planned it from the day I met her."
"So that you would not get your wish!" Twilight finished.
"Wow. She is impressive." the older one said.
"So you planned to be late, to get detention, to let yourself get found. That's why you didn't struggle." She said.
"And to fool your enemies, you should first fool your friends." Twilight said. "That being said you are boned. I have connections in the guard. They should be here any minute if I properly planned this."
"Oh no. Dump her outside quickly!" The younger said.
"You are too late!" Arms said as he jumps open the door.
"Shit." the trio said as they kept their hoofs in the air.
"I guess, they forgot to check my mane." Twilight said she pulls out a signaller, caused all three to facepalm.
"Am I late?" Arms asks.
"No. I just finished my good girl Monologue." Twilight said.
With the trio arrested and every hideout and safehouse destroyed. The ghost army arrested the mayor and rescued every civilian captured by the mafia.
Twilight returned home alongside nearly the entire ghost army. Once home Arms and Twilight had to report themself to Celestia.
As Twilight enters the throne room, the first thing that caught her attention was the throne. It was shattered.
"Twilight Sparkle! Do you know why I called you here?" Spoken in royal Canterlot voice and by a quite angry Celestia at that.
"Uh, Because I got myself kidnapped?" Twilight asks confused.
"No, because you worried me, Trixie, your brother, your friend and your family. Before I talk about the serious stuff, How are you?" Celestia asks worried.
"A bit beaten up. They used every single torture methods they could think off. Besides that. I am fine." Twilight explains.
Celestia eyebrow rises at her nonchalant figure of speech. "Good."
"Now on the serious side of things. How is her parents?" Celestia asks.
"They will make a full recovery, but their business is destroyed." Twilight explains.
"I see. That is a shame." Celestia said.
"However! I already gave some new start up money and a place in Canterlot to do new business at." Twilight explains.
"How?" Celestia asks surprised.
"Connections and planning." Twilight said.
"Ah. Wait, Planning?" Celestia asks.
"Oh this whole tirade? All planned from the day I met Trixie. together with Arms." Twilight explains.
Celestia's face went from happiness to shock to anger to surprise and then back to happiness.
"To fool your enemies, you first have to fool your friends." Twilight said.
"You little!" Celestia said as she disabled Twilight's gravity with an spell.
"Woah!" Twilight said as she floated.
Celestia was smiling, "Is that why you refused me?"
"Correct. But I won't change anymore. I got too many friends and already got a dream." Twilight said smiling.
"I understand. Well Trixie isn't bad. She is different and also has many fears. But one of them would be, losing you." Celestia said. "You should visit her, she is in my room."
It's monday once again. The week after the disaster. Twilight first official lesson from Becky was about to start. As the rest of the class finally caught on. And that meant learning something new.
"Good Morning class!" Morning said happily.
"Good morning!" The class responded with. Although not everyone was equally happy about it.
"Today is the day that everypony is going to learn physically. Which means as you are probably aware of, thanks to desk being a test kitchen, you will learn something together. Not a single pony being alienated." Morning explained.
"Each week will be about a product. This product you have to make, improve and make it yours." Morning said
Nappe put up his hoof, "Yes Nappe?" Morning asks.
"What do you mean with 'Make it yours'?" Nappe asks.
"Well Twilight? What does it mean?" Morning asks, moving the question to Twilight.
"It means, turning a product into something that you make with let's say different ingredients or a different technique. Something that only you can make." Twilight explains.
"Exactly. Did that answer your question, Nappe?" Morning asks and as Nappe nod, she continued.
"So today won't be a food, but a drink. Something that you or your parents have drunk atleast once." Morning continues "It's Pumpkin spice latte." "As you know well, Fall has arrived and Twilight's exam regarding physically cooking will be near the end of Fall. After that she will go on an small scale internship in Canterlot for the remaining winter then she has her final exam. While the rest of you will go on an internship at the end of winter till mid-spring."
"Anyways it's fall. Around this time Pumpkin spice lattes are sold everywhere. They are popular." Morning finished.
"This drink has 3 stages, you will learn at monday and tuesday about stage 1, wednesday and thursday stage 2, friday and saturday stage 3. The stages are these, Stage 1 is Coffee, Stage 2 is Pumpkin spice, Stage 3 is cream and on sunday I want you to brew my college's 1 cup of your pumpkin spice latte. That's all, so go and start learning about coffee." Morning finished everypony is confused besides Twilight who already started.
"Which means Trial and error. Good luck every pony!" Morning added before leaving.
Everyone faces when O, then they all started.
Meanwhile Twilight did what she had learned, 'Okay, Start with the basics. Cook some water and while that is cooking, grind down some coffee beans. Once the grinding is done, grab a glass coffee pot and put a coffee net on top of it. Add the coffee in it and pour the hot water through it. And finished.' She thought as she in less than 20 minutes prepare a cup of fresh coffee.
The rest of the class looks at her in awe, and then they start to mimic her actions. Almost all of them got the same result.
Twilight simply smiled and nodded. "Shall I get the teacher and tell her we already made the coffee?" she asks, something which received nods all around.
Twilight opens the classroom door and rush towards Morning. "Teach! We are already done!" Twilight shouts.
Morning raised her eyebrow and walked back into class, only to find 13 dozen of coffee pots filled with coffee. "Did you put your names on it?" she asks.
"On the bottom." Leaf answered. "You should first test them though."
"Can I say a trivia fact? Something I happen to know about coffee as the person close to the other?" Twilight asks.
"Go ahead." Morning responds.
"Despite drinking it everyday, Princess Celestia hates thee and preference coffee over it. If at all possible." Twilight explains.
Twilight trivia caused everyone in the class to be shocked, including the teacher. "Really?" Morning asks.
"Yes, however when asked about it. She will denies this claim to save face." Twilight added.
"I understand it. I have to do the same." Lulu exclaimed "I like soda's more, but they are according to people, poor pony drinks. I disagree."
"That being said. Can I give my latte to Celestia?" Twilight asks.
"Go ahead. Mind you, you will have to make another for a teacher to get a score." Morning said "Teachers from this school."
Twilight nodded as Morning started to drink a cup of each pot.
"After those drinks only 10 were good. The other 3 have to improve. These ponies being, Nappe, Pate and surprisingly Lulu." Morning reviewed.
"Also something tells me, you guys have been stealing techniques from Twilight. Is that true?" Morning asks suspicious.
everyone nods nervously.
"Very good. This is why Becky isn't here. You will steal from Twilight until you can do it yourself. Also starting today, you will make your own lunch. Good luck." Morning explained, "Oh and you can now start making pumpkin spice."
Morning once again left, and then the bell rang it was lunch and then solo study. ------------------------------
The next morning, Twilight starts making the spice at home. The school decided that for one day. Every student had to learn at home. That and they were improving their security for 20th time that month. Twilight and mafia made Canterlot aware of the lack of security in some parts of the city.
Thus one day every week, they would stay at home. As the army watches and get taught more and more new techniques and principles that day.
Despite this, Twilight decided to continue her experiments with using lots of spices to improve her ability to use it at her will. However when she found a spice recipe book, she decided to cut her time short and simply use the recipe inside the book. After searching, she found it on page 512 which contain the recipe for the pumpkin spice. According it, it needs: 1 Teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 Teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/4 Teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/8 Teaspoon of ground cloves.
And the steps just require mixing them.
Twilight doing exactly as book says got the result and it was perfect. She then looked at how to make whipped cream. She looks at Velvet's sudden massive collection of cookbook. Twilight took a surprised two steps back. A few days ago there only were a few books, but now there were atleast a thousand books.
She then found a book about creams. And after searching through the pages, she found a page about whipped cream. However it was for 16 servings. 'That is a bit many but, oh well! Let's see, a cup of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon sugar.' she thought.
She followed the recipe and got some beautiful whipped cream, she then put it in an container and into the fridge.
Now, I am going to need the recipe for a pumpkin spice latte Twilight thought.
Twilight turned back on the bookshelf and searched on alphabetical order. After going through the 'K' section for like ten minutes. She finally arrived at the 'L' section and found a book about 'Latte' almost immediately.
Putting the book on the ground, Twilight started her read on the topic,
Latte for beginners.
'Section twelve, Pumpkin spice latte. As you recall from section one. This drink contain like always an unholy amount of sugar. However if you are not scared away by this. Note: Most animals should not drink this unless you are an omnivore. '
'Why would they note this specifically?' Twilight though.
'Anyways, The reader should note, that this drink is usually made with artificial flavors and not the way this book suggests it. When you are certain about this, Let's begin! First thing first! You should make Pumpkin puree, as it's an important component to this drink. For the sake of simplicity I shall quickly gloss over it. First buy a sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin from a farmers market. Then to cut it apart, simply plunge a heavy knife at the top of the stem and cut it down. Then use magic or your hooves to break it into two pieces. Remove the innards and seeds, but keep the flesh. Put the flesh and shell into an oven and roast it whole. Then remove the flesh with a spoon and put it into an blender. Blend it and tada you have pumpkin puree'
"Okay, that sounds easy enough. Let me look into the pantry," Twilight said to herself. She then proceeded to look into the pantry and saw a pumpkin with a note.
'Don't touch this sugar pumpkin. Yes! That means you Twilight! -Shining Armor' Twilight read and immediately grumbled.
"Well, no one is watching..." Twilight said to herself.
Twilight then proceeded to snatch the pumpkin and follow the instruction, much to Shining's chragin. And after what felt like 10 boring minutes. She finally completed her first pumpkin puree.
"Everything looks good so far," Twilight said as she continued to read.
'Now that the puree is ready, let's start the actually recipe! You are going to need 2 cups of milk, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, 1/2 tablespoon of pumpkin spice and finally 1/2 cup strong black coffee. Oh! Let's not forget 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree. If you have everything set up, Let's begin! Add the milk, pumpkin puree and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat. Make sure that you make it hot but not boiling hot. Boiling is bad for the milk and could cause some nasty side effects. So DO NOT BOIL the milk! Anyways once hot, remove the pan from the heat and whisk the remaining ingredients into the saucepan. Now that you completed it, pour your mixture into two cups and there you go done. Additionally you could put some whipped cream and sprinkle some pumpkin spice over the top.'
"Huh! That is surprisingly simple." Twilight said as she got to work. Getting everything ready was the easy part, now came something she isn't the best at. And that is cooking but not boiling. Although in theory it's easy. Every stove is different, sometimes it's boiling in like one minute, other times it takes 30 minutes. And this is all on the same stove type, yet the heat distribution is different for every pan and stove.
Luckily for Twilight. She was used to her mother's stove. So she successfully made her latte in the matters of minutes. However when she tasted it, It was burned somehow. She looked at the saucepan and realized it was broken. The thickest part of the saucepan was too thin. Which messed up Twilight's heat distribution and caused it to burn.
She then proceeded to use each and every saucepan in the hopes to find a working one. ----------------------------- Three hours later... -----------------------------
"UGH!" Twilight screamed.
"What is wrong dear-" Velvet was about to ask, when she saw her kitchen in shambles.
"Well, I am trying to make a pumpkin spice latte. But every saucepan we have is broken. The heat doesn't distribute like it's supposed to, which caused each version to burn." Twilight explained in a very annoyed tone.
"Well, How about you improvise and use a cooking pan instead? Those are better designed and have improved heat distribution." Shining suggested as he walked into the kitchen.
"Are you saying that my saucepans are poorly designed, Young stallion?" Velvet asks suspiciously.
Shining gulped and quickly shook his head. "But for what she is trying to do, it's better, no?
"I guess." Velvet said unhappily.
"Uh, Yeah. I should have tried that." Twilight said gulping and looking shifty at Shining.
Shining raised his eyebrow. "What did you do?" he asks suspicious.
"Nothing." Twilight answered too fast.
"Hmm?" Shining replied, "Wait! How did you make the pumpkin puree?" He asks worryingly
"Uhh, I may have used your pumpkin." Twilight confessed.
His eyes went wide and screamed "NO!" As he looks in the pantry.
"I was going to make a pumpkin birthday cake for Cadence." Shiny said saddened.
"I could go and find a new one tomorrow at the farmers market." Twilight offered.
"It's no use. Sugar pumpkin season is over." Shining said disappointed.
"Well. Isn't any cake you make for Cadence going to be a success? I mean if you put your heart into it?" Twilight offered again.
Shining stopped looking at the ground and thought about it. "I guess you are right! But what should I make now?" He asks.
"I suggest an Opera. I heard she loves them." Night said as he too entered the, in shambles, kitchen.
"I luckily know how to make those." Shining said.
"She loves 'Parti Du shodar' Chocolate in particular." Twilight added.
"Aren't those super expensive?" Velvet asks.
"Yup, 1000G for 10 grams." Twilight said, "Luckily I have some, that you can have."
"How did you obtain those?" Night asks.
"Connections and knowledge." Twilight simply shrugs.
"Right. Anyways let me get a recipe and can i have like 500 grams of the chocolate stuff?" Shining asks.
"Sure let me grab some." Twilight said as she pushed her hoof into a secret button in the wall. Which revealed the 9 kg of that super expensive chocolate stuff.
Both Velvet and Night jumped at the massive amount of chocolate and the secret compartment that exists. Shining simply nods as Twilight hooves over the chocolate. As he immediately went to work.
"Uh Twilight? How many compartment like these are there?" Velvet asks.
Twilight simply put her hoof to her mouth and shook her head. "Who knows?"
"So, Shiny," Twilight started, "Why did you want 500 grams of my chocolate? I thought an Opera took a lot more chocolate."
"Why yes, It takes about 2 kg to make one. Atleast those made of 100% chocolate anyways." Shining responded.
"So, what are you planning then?" Twilight asks surprised.
"I am making my specialty Opera." Shining answered.
"You have a specialty?" Twilight and Night exclaimed in sync.
Velvet stood there, still looking at Twilight's secret compartment. She was taking at out her stupor however, when Night and Twilight shouted. When she realized what they were talking about she simply smiled, "Why yes. He has a specialty! Although it's been years since you tried making it." she said happily.
"Huh. You meant when he tried-. I see. Yes it's about that time." Night suddenly remembered.
"Uh, why am I the last to know about this?" Twilight asked, feeling a bit left out.
"Let's just say. It's a time I like to forget." Shining said blushing.
"Huh. Did you know she is a judge and a critic about sweets?" Twilight said out of left turn.
"She is a WHAT?!" Shining exclaimed.
"Now, now. You started! You finish it!" Velvet scolded.
"Yes, mom." Shining said feeling dejected already.
"Uh, I feel like I should have said that sooner. Oh well." Twilight said to herself as she left the kitchen to Shining.
'Hmm, With Shiny in the kitchen I can't continue my experiments. Perhaps I should read up on Heat Distribution.' Twilight thought.
Twilight now in the living room, quickly turned back to grab a book about heat distribution from Velvet's collection. She then moved the back in her magic to the living room and place the book on her favourite book cushion. She lit the fireplace and used the light from the fire to look at the pages, as she dims the lamp right above her.
Moving the pages. She saw a lot of french words, most of which did not interest her. Atleast until it landed on a page with english text. It appears to talk about heat distribution that even fillies could understand. Curious Twilight started her read on the topic.
The understanding of heat which even fillies could understand.
'As one could understand, It isn't just fire which generates heat. Every form of motion generates some too. However in cooking, there are two factors that are the most important to note. That is besides the fire and the pans. It's what fills your pans also. And most importantly room temperature. These two factors play the biggest roles in cooking. Let's say you are making your favourite cup of coffee, which is a Latte. Then you follow the recipe, but despite it. You get burned latte? Well, Let's counter these two possible problems. First the room temperature, The norm for such a temperature should be between 19 and 21 degree celsius. To lower your temperature, you should install fans. Cast a 'cool down' spell or open a window. To increase your temperature, use your house heaters. set your oven or stove to high, etc. Okay. So those are easy examples. But we know the filling is everything. Your room temperature may not necessarily change the outcome. What you do with the filling do. First thing first, Choose a pan with a thin bottom for easier distribution. Set your heat on medium always, when working with milk. That way it can never burn. And add sugars last. Remember to whisk well, when working with milk. especially if you added something heavy like pumpkin puree. The reason you add sugar last, is because they are usually the cause when you burned something. Oh and one more thing! This information might be outdated so watch out.*'
"Huh. Okay. That will be useful." Twilight said to herself.
"What are you reading dear?" Night asks Twilight.
"Oh. Just some understanding about why I kept failing. Now I know." Twilight replied.
"Burned latte, huh. Yes that can happen quite often. Just remember dear. When you keep failing, just look outside the box. Look at yourself in a different perspective. And understand your problems without getting frustrated about it." Night explained.
"Thanks dad. I will, I will." Twilight said hugging his dad.
"Yeah. Listen I wanted to talk about Shining's path and a bit about his past." Night began as Twilight got comfy besides him.
"It all began when Shining wanted to become a pâtissier. He had loved making cakes and cookies all his childhood and wanted something more. However Velvet didn't like it. She believed it to be a girl's job not a meant for stallions. Shining didn't give up however. He choose his path and secretly started to act like it. So he, in secret, went to a school for baking to learn about the basics. However, he tried and tried. And eventually gave up his dream. When Velvet found out. She forced Shining to learn more about baking. Mostly against his will. However he was a bit of a problem child. And eventually even Velvet gave up. After that we kept it a secret even from you." Shining explained.
"What was wrong with him?" Twilight asked worried.
"Well. He wasn't made for work that require finicky precision. He was to brutal and strong. Which caused most of his baking to fail." Night explained.
"Uh, well what about bakery work then? You don't need precision and just mostly strength." Twilight suggest.
"I was too late. By the time I suggested it. He was too depressed to go to that line of work. So I called an old friend and asked him to teach Shining about fighting instead." Night said disappointed.
"That is disappointed." Twilight simply expressed.
"Yeah. Anyways. He completed his masterpiece. Even Velvet is impressed. What to see it?" Night asked.
"Nah. I have homework and I need some time alone." Twilight said.
"I see. Yeah, that is a lot to take in." Night said as he stood back up and slowly walk to the kitchen.
Twilight meanwhile had her head filled with gears. 'What if I ask Arms, And sneak in bakery work.' Twilight thought as she smiled darkly while looking at the fireplace.
"Sis. Mom started to make breakfast. Could you set the table? I am still moving my cake into a container!" Shining shouted.
"Sure, I am coming!" Twilight said as she made her way to the dinner table.
------------------------------------------------------- after a nice dinner and some night sleep. The following day arrived. -------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday arrived. Twilight was excited to make a latte as she rushed downstairs to get a slice of bread with homemade fruit jam on it. Before she leaves however. She eats a piece of beacon to get the nutrients from it. And leaves with the bread in her mouth.
As she eats the bread, she was greeted by her many fellow classmates and a half asleep Lulu. Finishing her bread, she greets them back. And quickly enters her classroom.
Once inside, she greets Becky who sat in the corner and took a seat at her test kitchen. She then places her prepared pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice on the kitchen as she waits for class to start.
Becky notices Twilight's containers. And nodded at Twilight in understanding.
As the rest of Twilight's class enters the room and morning also enters right as the bell went of. Twilight notices something off about Morning.
"Good morning class!" Morning said chipper.
"Good morning!" The class responds.
"Okay. So. I hope everyone learned more about Latte because-" Morning was about to starts as Twilight hoof was stuck in the air. Which interrupted her.
"Okay. What is it Twilight?" Morning asks.
"Uh. Are you feeling alright? You look kinda weird this morning." Twilight asks worried.
"Do I look off?" Morning asks Becky. Becky simply nods her head.
"Uh. I don't know. Honestly I feel like this since yesterday. Maybe I am a bit under the weather. However class must go on!" Morning simply stated, something which caused Twilight raise her eyebrow at.
Morning notices Twilight lack of enthusiasm and the raised eyes she was getting from the class. "Uh. You do realise it's against health regulations to teach us about food when you are sick, right?" Leaf responds.
Morning sighs, "Yeah. I was up yesterday teaching another class about meat, when I was several times interrupted by Princess Cadence about the ethics of meat and why I shouldn't teach the fillies about it. She then also proceeded to show cruel and sickening examples, why." She says.
"Ugh! Yeah. Despite her being an omnivore. Cadence absolutely hates meat." Pepe explains. "Also she tends to overreact about the topic."
"Hmm. Well meat is part of our curriculum and stuff. Although I get it. Why do we need to be taught about it?" Dress asks.
"For the omnivores and predators?" Twilight offers.
"Fair enough." Dress responds.
"MEAT?!" Cadence shouts as she barges in, which scared Twilight causing her to accidently teleport Cadence away.
"Oops! My bad!" Twilight said as they hear a grumble above them.
"Remind me not to scare Twilight!" Cadence shouts from another floor up.
Cadence then proceeded to teleport back with a part of a kitchen stove stuck to her head. Something which caused Twilight's whole class, including Becky and Morning to laugh.
"Ugh. Twilight get this off me!" Cadence shouts, Twilight then teleports the stove without thinking. Which displaced it somewhere random.
"That's better. Now meat?! I talked about this with you!" Cadence angrily shouts.
"What me to teleport you at random again?!" Twilight responds annoyed.
"Ugh. No Twi. It's just sensitive." Cadence said.
"Enough! We are in a school for cooking. If you dislike meat, Then please kindly LEAVE!" Twilight said, shouting the last part.
"Okay! Okay! Nevermind. I will get going then." Cadence said unhappily.
"Not so fast. You are so going to get a full lecture about meat from me, for that!" Twilight warned.
Cadence simply gulped and walked away. Leaving a shocked principal and secretary behind. Although Morning and Becky were smirking.
As the principal turns to Morning and becky. They quickly shifts their faces more serious. "Punish Twilight for that." he says.
"Whatever you say, sir. That was unacceptable behavior." Morning said.
He nods then runs towards Cadence and using a bunch of apologies in the distance as they leave the class alone. A few moments later. The class started to giggle and then going into a full blown laugh. This continued for a few minutes.
"Thank you so much Twilight. I needed that." Morning said, smiling in glee.
"Same." Becky simply added.
Twilight simply nods "So what is my punishment?" she asks.
"Hmm. Use your own pocket money to buy some stuff from the farmers market for us to make something with. That's all." Morning said.
Twilight smiled "Good. I wanted to go there anyways. Tomorrow the largest farmers market, Farm Global, will be held. I was going to go anyways." Twilight said.
"Mhm. Good, now let's start class. How far is everyone with the pumpkin spice latte?" Morning asks happily.
As everyone spoke about their adventures. It was finally Twilight's turn.
"So where are now with the latte? Twilight?" Morning said. Becky now stared at Twilight.
"Uh, so I successfully made my own batch of Pumpkin puree and spice." Twilight said.
"So I see. What about the latte?" Becky asks.
"Uh... Well I made 360 batches... However-" Twilight started to sweat a little.
"However?" Morning asks.
"Well, I burned all of them. However I did do some reading on heat distribution and got some hints about how to try again." Twilight offered.
"How do burn a Latte?" Marie asks.
"Well, You don't properly whisk the milk and sugars into a solid mixture." Mince explains, "It's a common mistake. I do it all the time. Even though I am specialized in it."
"Ah." Marie responds.
"Exactly. When you are out of ideas Twilight. Come to me for help. You know where to find me." Becky said.
"I will, I will." Twilight responds.
"Good. Then my time is up. I have a restaurant to maintain. It simply can't wait any longer." Becky said.
"I see. Hopefully you can make time, next time." Morning said slightly disappointed.
"I hope so too." Becky responds, as she stood up she waves to Twilight and leaves the room.
"Okay, well. Let's make some pumpkin puree. I got some jack-O-lantern pumpkins here. We are going to turn them into puree." Morning said. Then Twilight put her hoof in the air again.
"Yes Twilight?" Morning asks.
"Uh, I read in a book that only sugar pumpkins and pie pumpkin are edible. Atleast usable for what we are trying to make." Twilight said.
"You did?! Hmm, Perhaps you are right. My mother used to tell me the same thing." Morning said uncertain.
"What did your mother tell you? If I may?" Harissa asks.
"Well, each pumpkin type is made for their own purpose. Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin's shouldn't be used for cooking. You could but the taste is terrible and isn't really designed for ponies." Morning explained.
"I see. So now what?" Twilight asks. "Actually how about we make the puree after the farmers market is done and dusted with?" she suggests.
"That is a good idea! Hmm, how about I teach you some information about latte and-" Morning was about to suggest when the bell at the sounded for next class.
"Aw. I guess next time. Well first break is here, then class. We had to shift the class around a bit. Cadence apparently destroyed the butchery classroom, just before she left." Morning said annoyed.
"Of course." The class said as they rolled their eyes.
"Well. I kinda understand why though." Twilight admitted.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Baste asked.
"Well. I was told that during the fall of the Crystal empire. The mother of Cadence gave birth to her. In order to survive, she choose to force feed, Cadence. That meant at birth she ate like a young wolf." Twilight explained.
"I hope she was an omnivore at that time right?" Lulu asked.
"Luckily. Yes! She was born with the rare mutation to be able to eat meat, even though she was born as a pony." Twilight finished, "I read this in a book about Cadence's mother dairy."
"Why not straight from the dairy? Knowing you, you should have enough connections to get to it right?" Leaf asked with a bit of confusion.
"I would love to, however. Besides the fact that the book was written in an ancient language. It's also locked tight by Celestia. I don't know why, but that is how it is." Twilight explained with a slight disappointment in her voice.
"Actually I might know why." Morning started which caused everyone to pay attention to her.
"But before I start. Are you sure you will listen to this tale, while you are missing your break?" Morning asked curious.
The class looked at each other and shrugged. They decided to could skip morning break for a nice story. The class nod their head.
"Okay. This might take awhile, since you know, I used to be a scholar to once." Morning added. The class ignored the comment and continued to stare at her.
Morning realized that they were waiting regardless. "Fine." she said defeated.
"Okay, so this started when I was in the school for gifted unicorns. I was studying about ancient language when I overheard the professors talking about something unusual. Even for them." Morning started.
Flashback '"Sir! I heard some archaeologists talking about a diary inside a unicorn-magic-made ice cave." The math professor said with desperation.
"Darn. They got to it first." The history professor said annoyed.
"What do we do? I heard that when they opened it, it froze everyone solid. It took the guards outside 24 hours of antifreeze magic to restore them." The math professor said, he sounded a bit in shock when I heard it.
"WHAT?! But how could this be. Ice magic of such a level requires atleast an alicorn! Unless..." The history professor said starting to mumble.
"It most likely is, professor." Princess Celestia said as she casually walked in the room.
"I see. Her mother huh. I wonder what happened to her. She didn't arrive with Cadence." The math professor points out.
"Most likely." The princess had a tear roll down her face. "Most likely she didn't make it. Perhaps the frostbite got to her."
"But that is most unlikely! She was the princess of ice! She was immune to ice!" The professor about archaeology point out as he angrily walking into the same room.
"Not exactly. Yes she was immune to ice. But not immune to the cold." The princess explains.
"I see. Perhaps we should lock that book in your secret library. Near the moon and all the books." The math professor cryptically suggests.
"Yeah. Let's." The princess stated before leaving the room all to Morning.
"Is what happened. Not sure what the math professor meant however." Morning finished.
"Wow, That's so cool!" Mince said, which caused the whole class to raise their eyebrow at her.
Mince grumbled "That was not intentional." she said annoyed.
"Hmm." Twilight simply responded.
'Perhaps, annoying Shining can wait. This will take priority. I will give Celestia the latte. Then I am going to the library. I swear, I know what that message meant.' Twilight though as the class, moved on to butchery.
"Hey everyone! It's so nice to meet you! My name is Jellie Roux. I am the older sister of Morning and I am a griffon." Jellie announces to the class for the first time.
"I am also new here, so please treat me kindly. Oh and introductions aren't needed we are going straight into class!" Jellie said straight forward.
The class nods and most classmates besides Lulu and Twilight, curiously look at her. They never have had a griffon so close to them.
"Okay. We are going to go straight into me, questioning you!" Jellie said with a predatory grin.
"Oh no. I am so scared." Aspic dramatically and sarcastically said.
"Fine! We start with you. Question one, How many part of a pig is edible to herbivores?" Jellie questioned Aspic.
"All of them. Unless they are obligatory herbivores." Aspic answers with ease.
"Very good! So you ponies really do know a lot. Okay. Next question for uhm, for Leaf!" Jellie continued without a beat.
"Yes?" Leaf said. Quickly awaiting the next question.
"How many parts of a snake is edible?" Jellie asks.
"Uh, Everything besides the head and the bones?" Leaf replied.
"Well, some heads are edible. Most are indeed not. And yes remove those bones." Jellie answers.
"Okay! Final Question is for you, uh Twilight!" Jellie says.
Twilight ears perk up and her eyes immediately look at Jellie.
"Can you eat this?" Jellie asks as she points to a pig.
"Under normal circumstances, no. Only when your body is totally deprived of any resources, could it perhaps be eaten. Since a ponies digestive system can only truly accept plants and flowers. They are under most circumstances obligatory herbivores. Although there are very small chances that a pony is born with a rare mutation that allows them to eat it anyways. This would make those ponies Omnivores. Or If you are a Alicorn, you gain the ability to eat meat." Twilight said like a professor.
"..." The class became silent as Jellie's face contorted in both awe and shock.
"That is correct. Luckily we are learning practically, not theoretically." Jellie said after she recovered.
"Okay so, Cut this duck up properly. Good luck." Jellie said as she took a seat behind the teacher's desk.
Jellie then proceeds to throw a dead duck to each test kitchen. The duck is fresh, the blood is still calmly pouring out of it. As the smell of dead animals fill the room. Leaf and Lulu finally faints and the rest besides Twilight runs away, screaming bloody murder.
"Uh. Too much?" Jellie asks.
Twilight looks calmly at the duck and her classmates "Yes." she replied. "They are beginner's and children remember that. They have never killed an animal or seen a dead one before. Let alone get in contact with meat for that matter."
Jellie grimaces "Oops. I am so going to get scolded for that. What about you Twilight?" she asks.
"I am ahead of them in terms of scholarship. Besides I am friends with both a griffon and a dragon. I see lots of meat." Twilight explains.
"I see. That makes sense." Jellie said surprised.
"Oh. Be careful around Princess mi amore Cadenza. She absolutely hates meat. She will give you a bad time." Twilight said.
"I understand. Thank you for the heads up." Jellie said as she notices Twilight hooves have stopped cutting.
"Are you done?" Jellie asks.
"I am. This duck also had a corkscrew penis. Which makes it a male duckling." Twilight said as she cleans her knives.
"Correct. Thank you. I will turn this over and allow you to skip this class if you want." Jellie recommends "It's more meant for starters when it comes about meat. Your knife work is so advanced that this class has nothing to offer you. Perhaps you should try artistic baking class. It's normally for advanced chefs, but I think you fit right on in."
"Thanks for the offer. Sadly my internship is around the corner. I might not learn much." Twilight said kinda disappointed.
"No worries. That class only lasts until early winter anyways. They will teach you about finicky work and just mostly decorating cake." Jellie suggests. "Also I am the teacher for that class. I would love to have you."
"Then, sure I will take you up on that offer." Twilight said as she shook hooves with Jellie.
"Good! Next class is Sunday. It's mostly in the style of a course. It's that sunday and the next one. I know it's short. But if you are bored this is also quite interesting." Jellie explains. "Let me stamp your finals card."
Twilight gives her the list of things she needs a stamp on. It already has a theory and practically stamp. It now has a stamp at important secondary class. It still needs a stamp for her internship.
"By the way. Where are you going for your internship?" Jellie asks curiously.
"A special seasonal restaurant. It's called Snow Drop." Twilight explains.
Then the bell went off. It's the end of today's school. Which caused Twilight to pack her bags and move towards home.
---------------------------------------------------- Half way on her way home. ---------------------------------------------------
Twilight was at the commercial district and saw the special farmers market getting set up. It's been nearly a full year since the last farmers market. She fondly remembers her birthday and those ponies.
Signing, Twilight trudges inside the market. She looks at the circle that was being formed around the well and sees that they were selling food near it. On the side with the buildings, they were placing trinkets stalls. Going further in near the small luna church, she sees rows of clothing stalls being placed in front of the church.
And as she approaches the river she fondly remember her first meeting with Vermouth. Sadly her friend was currently away he was visiting Elly's lands and such. She however was surprised to see the same meat stall being placed at the same place.
As Twilight slowly moves past the stalls she sees Carrot Top and her mother setting up shop near the entrance. Which is coincidentally very close to Twilight's house.
Moving past it and waving towards Carrot. Carrot responds the wave by waving back. Twilight makes her way back home.
Once inside, Twilight immediately rushed into her bedroom and snacks on her secret beef jerky from her secret compartment.
'That was tough! I wanted the meat so badly, it took a lot of my endurance just to ignore the smell.' Twilight though as she munches on the jerky.
Twilight casually munches on some more jerky as she looks back on her adventure in school. Although her days were somewhat fun, they were mostly the same again and again.
Twilight greatly enjoyed her 'Catering' to her fellow students. And her teacher Morning was quite cool. However all great things sadly must come to an end.
Her stay in Restaurant "Snow Drop" was coming soon. And Twilight had already passed her exam to Lunarium. Lunarium being the school in Manehattan.
Although Twilight was mildly excited for her internship. Nothing could compare to what would happen next.
Her studentship in Manehattan requires Twilight and her family to move there. That would mean leaving Shiny alone in Canterlot and also leaving Trixie to her stay with Celestia.
Nevertheless for Night and Velvet it wasn't a big deal. As jobs they have already required them to move between Canterlot and Manehattan a lot. They would see Shining Armor often and would be home as many times as usual.
Twilight on the other hoof would not see Shiny for the coming next 5 years as her studies would take precedence. Not to mention Twilight herself would be too busy moving from place to place as Lunarium has a much broader internship compared to her current school.
Twilight grabs her handout from 'Lunarium' and reads the lines that make and break this experience.
Lunarium
This school is designed for students that wish to advance the cooking education path. However this school is contains no dorms as it's more of an upgrade school. Let's say you advance past the cooking school in Canterlot, then you will get an official diploma in chef work. Once you get this diploma, you can use the school to advance further. The original reason for no dorms is because Princess Luna hates the thin walls that allow the other side to hear everything. With her saying and I quote "I do not wish my sister of mine to hear everything that happens in my private chambers. This would disturb my sleep as she wakes up at day and I at night." end quote. Which is not wrong. Some classes are at day while others at night. Your agenda will be given and pre-filled with everything you need to begin your stay at Lunarium. Signed Headmare of Lunarium.
After reading this small sample of the handout, she looks at the pictures. Loads of them just show classrooms and test kitchens. With the occasional pony and other creature smiling and showing their works off to the camera.
Sighing Twilight looks at the calendar. The following day Twilight has to wake up early, go to the Farmers market for the last time and buy something to use in class. She then has to go to school they will make something and proceed to say goodbye for a while as her internship will start the day after that. and-
Twilight was about to continue as her mother called her down for dinner. 'Maybe everything will be fine' she thought and hoped.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- After dinner Twilight had a nice night of sleep. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's thursday. Very early in the morning, roughly 6 O'clock. As Twilight was too busy to look at the clock. She washed herself in the bathroom then she proceeded to eat breakfast as soon as she got downstairs.
Twilight then grabbed some bits from a secret compartment before heading to the front door. But before she left...
"Twilight where are you going so early?!" Velvet shouts from upstairs. She sounds worried as it's been awhile for Twilight to wake up this early.
"I need to buy something for class at the farmers market! I promised Morning and if I want to be in class in time I need to go now!" Twilight shouts back. She opens the door but waited for a response nonetheless.
"Okay. Next time tell us this before hoof!" Velvet shouts back annoyed.
"Sorry Mom!" Twilight shouts before stepping outside and closing the front door behind her. Twilight then heard through the wall a disgruntled groan from Night and Shining.
Twilight giggled before leaving her way to the market.
Before Twilight arrives at the farmers market, she took a good look around her. It was early, the sun was still low on the horizon, yet the amount of ponies out and about were staggering. The Global Farmers market was yet to open as Twilight noticed.
She looks grabs a nearby pamphlet about the market and it says that it would open around 7 O'clock. It also mentioned about pumpkins being the official go-to product this time around.
'Of course it's the go-to product. It's fall after all.' Twilight thought although she was visibly facepalming.
As Twilight stood before the still closed entrance of the market, she decided to wait. She took a quick look around her in the meantime as she sits on a bench next to a pine tree. The pine tree already had christmas lights although they were turned off. Behind the pine tree was a restaurant called 'Noodle' which as the name suggests sold bowl of noodles.
Looking inside through the window, Twilight sees the chef and their assistant prepare some noodles. They were standing in a rather small kitchen with an open setting*1. The bar had a coffee machine, but no alcoholic drinks. And a rather small service area.
Twilight smiled at the thought that, she too, might learn about making noodles herself one day. Before looking at the streets once again.
She then approaches a security officer that most likely belongs to the market. "Sir, What time is it?" Twilight politely asks.
The officer looks down to see Twilight, he smiles and says "It will open in 3 minutes."
"Thank you." Twilight replies politely.
After a few minutes the entrance of the market did open up. Twilight calmly enters the market and looked around. She then decided to visit everything clockwise. Which caused her to look at some trinkets first.
Twilight slightly rushed the first few stalls as trinkets didn't interest her all that much until, she approached the final trinket stall at the end of the row. Looking at the trinkets she sees a odd object. The object was made of stone and was in the form of star, similar to Trixie's cutie mark.
"Does that trinket interest you lad?" The old colt behind the stall asked.
"Kind of. Where did you get this one?" Twilight asks curiously poking the trinket.
"Ah. In the old castle of the two sisters. Do you know what it is?" he asks.
"Yes. It's an ancient artifact that should belong to Princess Celestia." Twilight replied.
He raised his eyebrow, before thinking about Twilight just said. "How do you know about that?" he asks slightly nervous.
"Well. To begin with, it was on private terrain. Second it has this magical energy that I can feel. Plus the form it has is unnatural." Twilight replied while looking at the old colt who was looking very nervous.
"Fine. Take it. Just don't tell the guards okay?" The old colt states suspicious.
"Okay. But I will give you 25 bits for the trouble," Twilight then closed up on him "And to shut you up." she finished.
The old colt nodded rapidly and took the bits. Twilight meanwhile put it in her school bag.
Twilight then proceeded to walk to the next row of stalls, which was in front of Luna's church. Which Twilight decided to skip as they were for the common folk, as noble it's shameful to try to be near those stalls.
Moving on, she enters the circle around the well, which filled with hot and cold prepared food. Near the well was the hot food and on the outside was cold food. She once again skipped this as she was looking for material to use to cook herself.
Entering the street with a river next to. On the side of the river, she saw meat and fish, which was not what she was searching for.
On the side with the building were the fresh vegetables and fruit. Which was exactly what she was searching for. Causing her to approach the row.
The first stall was filled with products only harvested at fall, this included many forms of pumpkin and nuts. the second stall was filled with fresh leaves to use in salads. The third was filled with spring harvests, this included asparagus and broccoli and the like. The fourth was Carrot Tops stall, which has loads of different types of carrot and those that belong to that family. This trend followed with the other stalls.
After searching the many stalls. Twilight decided to buy something from Carrot Top. "Hey Carrot!" Twilight shouted.
Carrot jumped and looked towards Twilight, "Hey Twily! Good to see you. It's been awhile hasn't it?" she said.
"It has. I would love to talk but I need to hurry up and search something from your stall before heading to school," Twilight paused to look at the clock, "Which starts in 30 minutes." she finished.
"I see. hmm, Then let me recommend you this one. It's unusual in Equestria. It's from the south. It's called Black Carrot." Carrot recommends then shows it to her.
Twilight carefully inspects the carrot. She had never seen anything like it. With a dark purple in color and a green top. It was a big carrot.
Twilight nods, "I will take 10 carrots of these size." she says.
Carrot also nods, "That will be 100 bits." she replies.
Twilight hoofs over the bits and stuff the carrots in her school bag.
"Thanks for business, Twilight!" Carrot says smiling.
Twilight nods before running of to school.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 agonizing minutes of running later ----------------------------------------------------------------------
It's 10 minutes before class starting. Twilight was yet to approach the school. She was sitting about 3 km away from the school. As she is too exhausted to continue.
Her bench however was next to Celestia's castle. As Twilight remember the artifact that she 'bought', she realized that her going to school has to wait for a second.
Twilight then trudges towards the castle and enters it. As she enters it, she sees Celestia coming her direction.
"Good day Twilight. What brings you here?" Celestia asks Twilight.
"I am here to bring you an item that is yours. I found it at the market." Twilight says as she grabs the stone star from her bag.
"But that is!?" Celestia said shocked. She then nods as she takes it from Twilight's hooves. "Thank you very much. I will put it back at the castle." Celestia says pleased.
"It would appear you have some trespassers." Twilight commented.
"So it would seem. Don't worry, I will deal with it." Celestia said with closed eyes and nodding.
"So how is Trixie?" Twilight ask as she changes the subject.
"She is quite talented, as you said. I thank you for bringing her to my attention. I am still sad that I could not convince you however." Celestia said with a hint of disappointment.
Twilight smiles, "Well I won't stay much longer in Canterlot. My stay in Solarium will end soon." she says.
Celestia looks surprised, "Oh? Where are you going next?" she asks.
"Lunarium. I hope to one day start my own business in cooking." Twilight says proudly and hopeful.
Celestia smiles, "I see. I hope to one day eat at your place then." she comments.
Twilight nods. "I would love to stay and chat more. But I am missing class." Twilight said.
"Okay. As thank you let me teleport you." Celestia said as her horn lights up.
"Thank you." Twilight said before getting teleported.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Twilight's classroom, ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Twilight is late." Morning comments.
"Well you did send her to the farmers market for some products." Aspic stated.
Morning then remembered the conversation and nodded, "I guess we can wait a few more minutes-" she started when a teleport sound went off outside of class.
The door rapidly open and showed a worried Twilight. "Sorry, that I am late. After the market I bumped into the princess." she rapidly said.
"It's fine, get to your seat Twilight." Morning said calmly.
"Sorry, yes, okay." Twilight said as she quickly got seated.
"Today is a bit special. As you all well and know. Twilight has to go to and internship early winter. Sadly this was pushed up forward as they need Twilight right now." Morning started, "She will go on her internship tomorrow. Which means this is the last day Twilight will be here."
"Aww." the class moaned.
"I know. I don't know why either. Regardless, besides us cooking with what Twilight brought. We will also do a goodbye party. This will be the last day that you guys will see Twilight. After this she is immediately advancing to Lunarium as she already completed and succeeded at the exam." Morning finished.
"What was your score, Twi?" Lulu asks.
"I was in the top three." Twilight revealed.
"Wow!" The class shouted and blinked.
"I heard it was very hard to get into, how did you do it?" Leaf asked.
"Well, knowing each ingredient and having mastered your basic knife work goes a long way. After that you should make lots of different foods from different cultures should do the trick." Twilight explained.
"I see. I guess I will try to go there too then." Leaf and Lulu said at the same time. They look at each other and smiled.
"I can't wait." Twilight finished.
Morning nodded as she sees everyone motivation skyrocketing. "But first. What did you buy?" she asks.
"Black Carrots." Twilight replies as she shows them off.
"How curious." Morning and a few others replied.
"And this is the recipe we are going to make, A spinach salad with pumpkin and chickpeas. We will add our carrots to the recipe."
"Let me read what we need." Morning said
'500 grams pumpkin cubes, 100 grams chickpeas, 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds, 200 grams of fresh spinach, 2 tablespoons of grilled paprika and in cubes, 25 grams of feta, 2.5 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, peper, And added Black carrot.'
"Okay. And this is what we then do," Morning added, "We grill or roast the pumpkin, chickpeas and the paprika. We cut the feta into cubes. And add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl. And done!" Morning finished, Meanwhile Twilight was already heating her oven up.
"Well get to work then!" Morning stated which caused everyone besides Twilight to grab the ingredients.
Twilight meanwhile already added the ingredients in the oven to roast and the feta alongside all the other ingredients were already placed in a bowl. The carrot was also being roasted.
"Ting!" Twilight's timer went off. She then moved the roasted ingredients onto a plate to cool down. She then waited several seconds and moved the roasted ingredients into the mixing bowl and mixed the ingredients together.
Twilight then plated her salad onto a black plate and done. She looked at the others and saw that they were waiting on the oven to get to temperature. Everyone had chosen a different plate, and some had already decorated the plate itself while waiting.
Twilight inspected each plate and noticed that a few ponies stood out from the others. For example most choose a white plate with some balsamico and spices on it. However Kipper added some of his own pickled mini cucumbers. While Mince added some kind of special sauce blend around the plate. Leaf choose to go with a wooden bowl and added some corn to the center of it. Everyone had something original to the dish.
Twilight did not. 'That might make the future harder...' she thought. She was aware that one of the few flaws she has. Is keeping too close to the recipe. Also she lacked creativity when working with a dish.
It was exactly that lack of creativity that costed Twilight first and second place in the exam. Keeping too close to the book may not be a good thing. While deviating from the recipe can also cost you points. It's a difficult balance. It was exactly for that reason that the exams into Lunarium was so difficult.
Twilight however got in through pure luck. Something which she was aware off. Besides snatching third place, she was one of the few ponies during the exam that had some strong experience in the field and a good sense of book knowledge. Not to mention that some deviated from the recipes too much. Which again costed them a lot of points.
However the judges constantly commented on Twilight's lack of improvising. On top of that, she got low overall scores in creativity and kitchen knowledge. However it wasn't all a loss. She got remarkable high scores in knife knowledge and general knowledge. She had average scores in food science and making sauces.
But there was one thing that really sowed doubt in her ability to cook. The thing that every judge said atleast once. The fact that she lacked potential. They were worried in her ability to adapt and improve. They felt that giving Twilight third place was too much, yet none were able to shake her from that position.
Ignoring the memories of the exam, she looked at each dish once again. They were done, while Twilight fretted about her future. Twilight felt her future uncertain and she worried about her wellbeing.
She would need some help getting to terms with it. But that would come when the time comes for her. Not right now.
Twilight was done and so was her classmates at making the salad. Morning meanwhile was slowly moving from test kitchen to test kitchen and was testing each and every dish. However when Morning arrived at Twilight's dish, her eyebrow rose slightly.
Morning looked at Twilight and then back at the dish. She took a bite and smiled, nodding her head. However her eyes turned serious when she looked closer at Twilight's eyes. They were dark, the bad kind of dark. It appeared as if Twilight was struggling with something.
'Those eyes, is she suffering from something?' Morning though carefully. She was now aware that Twilight's test results may not be what it seems. Morning has been Twilight's teacher for a while now. She always watched Twilight as she would sparkle when she made something. However something was off today.
Morning ate some more of Twilight's dish and tasted a few particular flavors 'Sadness, Fear and... Something more.' She thought.
"I have tasted everyone's dish. Now please cross taste it. I need to see someone really quick." Morning said, which caused everyone to nod.
Following Morning into the hallway, Her face was serious. 'Twilight, what was the real result? There is only one way to find out.' she thought as she hurried towards the principal's office.
Moving fast towards the principal's office, she took a deep breath as she knocks on the door.
"Come in!" shouted the principal. "Ah, Morning! How may I help you?" he said as he was looking outside through the window behind his desk.
"Can I please see Twilight's exam results? For Lunarium of course." Morning said serious.
The principal's eyebrow rose at Morning's sharp voice. "Is something the matter?" he asks.
"There is only one way to know." Morning replied.
"I see." The principal turned to look at Morning, his eyes too, were looking uncertain. Worried even. He then proceeded to move a piece of paper that was on his desk in front of morning. "Right here." he said pointing at the exam results.
"Before I read it. Is there something I should know?" Morning asks serious although worried.
The principal took a seat in his chair and used his magic to move his cup of coffee from windowsill to his desk. "Yes. There is a lot to unpack. Most of it is good news, atleast on the surface." He said as he sips his coffee and point at Morning to take a seat.
Morning took a seat and looked at the paper. It gave Twilight an overall 'A' as score. "What do you mean? Is this score not the results?" Morning asks slightly confused.
The principal took a sip as he shook his head. "It is. If that was all there was to it, then I would of course be satisfied. However there is more than just that paper. I asked for a full report on her exam results. And you could say it wasn't pretty." He said saddened.
Morning face changed from worry to fear. "How bad was it?" she asked. Her voice hinted at some fear. She expected the worst, but hoped for the best.
The principal closed his eyes, as he moves parts of the report in front of him, while moving his coffee away. "Let's put it this way. She was lucky. And that's it." he said.
"What do you mean?" Morning asks scared.
"If everything is correct in the report. Then she should have failed. But she did not fail at the same time. Everything she did was mediocre at best. This includes her knife work and general knowledge." The principal said.
"What!?" Morning was shocked at this.
"She was good. But also not good. She has barely any potential. Let alone the ability to improvise." he said.
"But," Morning started, "That's impossible! I have seen her knife work and her knowledge! She is the best I know! How is this possible?! Something must have caused her to be like this! I swear something!" She screamed.
"I know. Which is why you need to give her a strong talk through. I need you to talk about yourself. The REAL self." The principal said as his eyes are determined. "You need to push her to become better! There is only one way. Give her a reason to become the best! And I assure you, she will be the brightest diamond in the kitchen!" He practically shouted.
"I see. My past might help her advance." Morning said with sad smile.
"I am sorry-" The principal started before getting cut off.
"It's fine. I knew that one day, my past might advance others. But I will reveal that through the whole class. I feel they might gain some understanding and purpose too." Morning said smiling.
"Yes. And that might help you get to terms with your past. Do you know why I hired you?" The principal suddenly asked.
"Uh, because you took pity?" Morning guessed.
"No! Because you have what most don't. The power to look bright even in the face of failure. Even back then. You gave ponies hope, while you were hitting bedrock. That's why there is still a lot of your legacy out there!" The principal smiled brightly, brighter than he has shown for years. "I even still got this. Something you unknowingly gave me." He then showed a medal of third place in the international champions league of the tier F chefs.
Morning eyes widen as the memories flow into her. "That guy, that was one of my greatest fans..." Morning said as she got some tears of joy in her eyes.
"Do you understand? You left an impact for those ponies. However small or big. That's why your past will help others. Because you know that the truth can hurt, but also can improve their skills." The principal then moved to place the medal into his personal safe.
"I understand. Leave it to me." Morning said turning her face serious.
"Then go! This will be the chance to change your past through the future!" The principal shouted as he sees Morning rush out of his office.
'I remember it good. Despite getting third that day. Everypony cheered. They knew that her time as a chef was over. But cheered brighter than ever before. It was the first time that the arena shook for someone in third. And that while that didn't happen for those in first and second. The faces of jealousy of those in first and second were amazing. However I swore I could see sadness in their eyes also. Almost like they wished that they could compete some more with her.' The principal thought as the memories flew through the window.
----
Morning rushed back to the classroom to see everyone still tasting the dishes. "Did I miss anything?" she asked.
Twilight was the first to respond. "Not really. Everyone is suddenly very interested in wanting to join Lunarium with me." she said.
Morning nodded, she then sighed and used every form of motivation to express a determined face. While calming herself down internally.
Moving back to Twilight's perspective she sees Morning enter as she asks if she missed anything. She responded with the usual.
Twilight was about to clean up when something unexpected happened. Morning suddenly looked very determined. Something which she had never shown before. It caught everyone off guard.
"Everyone before you clean up. There is a few things I need to talk about." Morning started as she pushed her desk chair in front of the whiteboard and took a seat on it.
"First thing first, Today's winner of a salad in Lulu! Her beautiful plating and good choices regarding the way she added extra ingredients as if they were part of it all along catapulted it to the top. Congratulations!" Morning said as everyone clopped their hooves on the ground in the form as an applause. Which cause Lulu to blush.
"And the loser of this salad contest is Twilight. She put too many negative emotions into it. And her plating was rather boring." She said as she looked worried in Twilight's direction.
Twilight was shocked, but also very disappointed. 'I guess I fail even in school.' Twilight thought gloomy.
Leaf has watching Twilight for years also. She immediately noticed Twilight negative atmosfeer. She looked worried in Morning's direction only to see her eyes being very scared. 'Something big was coming.' she thought.
"Now. I wanted to do a goodbye party. But that will have to wait a bit more. I need to talk a bit about myself." Morning started as her voice was determined yet scared. "You see. I have been hiding my past for the past many years. But I have suddenly been required to tell everyone about it." she said as she made direct eye contact with Twilight, which caused her to twitch.
"You see. I succeeded at entering Lunarium in first place, however this was, but a pipe dream. Yes, I got in through luck!" She shouted that last part, "However I did not let that deter me. I continued on. But was quickly shot down in the process by dozens of obstacles, some which nearly broke me. I succeeded, yes! But it came at a steep price. And eventually I lost myself in the process." she said.
"As depression took hold and my fear for the future turned me grim. I decided to atleast shine as brightly as possible for those around me. No matter how much I fell, I stood back up like nothing happened. This caused me to break piece by piece." Morning showed some of her adventures through pictures she hang on the whiteboard.
"Until the day I would break. Which happened in most painful way possible and at the worst timing. It happened right when I reached my prime. At the rank F International Champions league." Morning said as a tear of pain fell down her face.
"I finally was at the end of my career at the age of 27. Why was that my end? Well my best and only knife I had broke at that event alongside my willpower to continue. Which caused me to improve and worsen my state to my demise. I ended at a solid third place. And three months later got a job as a teacher right here. It took years to regain everything I had lost. I still feel the effects to this day." she finished.
The classroom was silent. Everyone was in shock. They could not believe what they just heard. Some ponies dreams to get into Lunarium were practically crushed or so they believed. Twilight however, realized that this story although was told to the entire class, was told to her in particular.
"Why am I telling you this?" Morning asked herself, "Because I believe you ponies have what it takes to not do what I did. And instead avoid such a scenario. While doing your best, no matter how or when. Know that I will always be behind you to give you this push." Morning declared.
"A push." Twilight repeated.
"Exactly. To not worry about what could happen. But rather do what you can, when it happens." Morning explained.
"No matter what happens Twilight, We will support you." Leaf said determined.
"Yeah. I will still follow you to Lunarium. I will study my butt off, to get to you!" Lulu practically shouted.
As the class got filled with shouts of "I will still follow!" and "I will not give up!", Twilight started to tear up. As her eyes were filled with a greater determination. A shine filled her hip and it shows a chef hat with diamond and a star in the diamond cutie mark.
Twilight completely ignored the cutie mark however. As she was crying at this point. "I will do my best." She said between hiccups.
'I guess. This generation of chefs might be the golden one.' Morning thought.
As Twilight crying died down. she asks "I would love to sit around. But should we not get started to this party?"
"Let's call this party, 'A chef's party'! So that we will meet in the future." Lulu suggests.
"Great idea!" Aspic and the others shouted.
Everyone stood up and cleaned up their own test kitchen. However Twilight had one thing to ask the others.
"Hey guys? Can you please teach me how to be more creative and adaptable with making a dish?" she asked hopeful.
"Sure!" Lulu said before everyone else. As everyone else also agreed. They started to shift gears.
"Teacher? How about half of the class will set up the party, while the other half will teach Twilight some tricks and tips?" Harissa asked.
"That is fine by me. Should I asks a few teachers if they are willing to assists?" Morning responded.
"Please." Twilight simply answered.
Morning nodded as she and half the class left the room. Meanwhile Twilight cleaned her desk up and took a seat near Lulu as she started to grab some tools together.
"Okay, I shall begin first. Let me explain Improvisation a bit first." Lulu started as the others nodded.
"These things my mother told me so, let me begin. First is how you look at a recipe. She said that the recipe is a stepping stone. Don't let it control you. Use what you have learned to improvise it to your liking. In the case of the salad, I found that the pumpkin lacked some complexity, so I added some spices to complement it. I added Nutmeg and Ginger. As they cancel each other out." Lulu showcased it with some leftover roasted pumpkin and first made Twilight taste it without the spices added, and then with the spices.
Twilight noted that the nutmeg created some leeway for the salt and pepper to mingle with each other. While the ginger added some freshness with the somewhat dry pumpkin.
"Okay now let me explain a bit." Nappe suggests, Lulu nodded as she got out the way.
"I shall talk a bit about creativity. My specialty requires me to think outside the box. It being marinating and all. Every vegetable and meat product requires their own marinate. However you could throw that understanding under the bridge and marinate the vegetable in marinate for meat and the other way around. What happens is the complexity of the dish goes up. As a marinate requires a liquid base with spices over it. However this is subjectual. Let's say I would add honey with fresh red pepper and salt for a steak. But this can be changed however you like. So be Creative!" Nappe explained.
Twilight nodded, this made sense.
"Okay, I know some reason why you need to be both." Dress said as she took the chair Nappe was sitting on.
"For a salad, Both is required. You need some vegetable or flowers or fruit for your dish, which in itself requires you to improvise. But to add the sauce require creativity as not everything would work with the combination that was chosen. And then a important addition to salads are their decoration. You could make it taste good, but if you fail to decorate it properly, it might look like garbage. Something that requires both creativity as well as improvisation." Dress explained.
"I see. And decoration in what sense exactly?" Twilight asked.
"Well, added salt or fruit that could make it look better. Than your plating is important. In this case, I find your black plate a good choice. As it made the salad pop or stand out in the best way possible. You know what to eat, when the salad is only color on the plate." Dress as her explanation finishes.
Twilight nodded as she cataloged the information into her brain.
"Hmm, I might have something also." Flambe spoke up.
"In my line of cooking. Improvisation is key. As you are given a recipe with only the ingredients on it. But not the steps. You know the end result, but you don't know how to get there. For that reason, you should choose each ingredient with absolute care. While also doing your best to make it your own. Be creative in your choice of ingredient while staying as close as possible to what you know, and to fail as much as possible. That way you will learn what would work. And what won't. Until you get the result you want." He explains
"Care in what way?" Lulu asks.
"When you go and buy. Don't always go for the most expensive or the highest quantity. Go for the price and amount that you believe would get the best result. Nothing more, nothing less." Flambe finishes.
"Okay. I think I can also add something to the conversation." Leaf said as she spoke up.
"I like watching ponies as you all well know. So let me give an example where improvising on the dish would get the best result. So you have a restaurant and someone wants to buy a soup. However the soup contains rhubarb. And your guest tells you that she hates rhubarb. What would you do as chef?" Leaf asks Twilight.
"I would change it so that she would like it?" Twilight suggests.
"Exactly! You would improvise, so that the guest gets a good experience. That way they will return. But what if you can't remove the rhubarb?" Leaf once again asks.
"Then I would try and nullify the taste of rhubarb in the soup?" Twilight suggests.
"Yes! And that requires a large amount of both creativity as well as kitchen knowledge." Leaf finishes.
"I see." Twilight said.
"Which in turn requires a large understanding of spice and ingredients knowledge. Not to mention inspiration." Becky said as she enters the room.
"Becky!" Twilight shouted.
"Hey Twi. I heard that your scores weren't very good." Becky said.
"Yeah. I got a pity third place." Twilight said in defeat.
"Then how about you will show them your true potential! Your homework before going into that school is to gain the largest understanding of spices and ingredients known to ponykind!" Becky says with determination on her face.
"Yeah!" Twilight said as her hope and curiosity was renewed.
"But first let's get to a party. I got nothing to add!" Kipper said.
"Yeah!" Everyone shouted as the left the classroom.
As Twilight and her classmates move towards auditorium. They heard music from quite far away. Someone had set up a DJ set and was playing some good song.
And once they entered the auditorium they saw the massive scale of the party. Thousands of students and hundred of dishes ranging from high to low quality all around. Every teacher was present and a dozen parents were also present.
"One more thing, Twi." Becky started, "The principal wanted to see you. He is in his office. Please go see him first." she pushed.
"Okay, I guess I will see you guys later." Twilight said to her classmates as she walked toward his office.
And a few minutes of walking later, Twilight arrived in front of the principal's office. She gulped and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" The principal shouted, Twilight then made her way inside and took a seat before his desk.
"It's good to see you. I see that she successfully motivated you." The principal said. He appeared proud and a lot less imposing than Twilight thought.
"Yes. And the class is equally motivated. More than ever before! I am so sorry to have worried you." Twilight said apologetic.
He took a good look of Twilight, "It's quite alright. Now about your entry exam." he said.
"Yes?" Twilight asks hopeful.
"I wanted to ask you to redo it. That way you are going to be happier about the result. While they would get a better understanding of your ability." The principal suggested.
"Understood. Well I agree. I wanted to redo it, but the exam as over..." Twilight said saddened.
"Do you know who I am?" The principal asks.
"Your the principal of this school." Twilight replied.
"Yes. And my family run both Celestium and Lunarium. I will asks them to give you a second chance." The principal states.
"Thank you." Twilight simply responds.
"Yes, and good luck in Snow Drop. They are very strict to interns. They will grant you one chance and no mistakes. Be extremely careful." The principal hints.
Twilight nods before leaving his office to join the party. Which once again will take her a few minutes to walk to.
Twilight arrives at the auditorium and takes a good look around. She sees that the Dj set had been moved to the side of the podium instead of on it. She also noticed that the tables and chairs had been moved to the wall and that on every table some kind of drink or snack was placed. Half of the student appear to be dancing while the others appear to be standing around talking with each other.
Twilight however sees that her entire class was standing around morning and asking her to cook what she made in the championship, with her constantly refusing. Twilight herself decided to go and sit somewhere, just to look at her friends and fellow classmates.
It was then that Morning was finally freed from her group and decided to approach Twilight.
"Hey. What do you think of this party?" Morning asks.
"Well, it's kinda big." Twilight responds.
"Yeah. When they heard that you will be leaving us early. They decided to want to be in on it." Morning explained. "Although we now have more food and drinks then we could ever finish."
Twilight laughs "Yeah. No kidding about that." she said smiling.
Morning sighs, "I will miss you, you know." she said disappointed.
"Perhaps I will meet you again, once I am professional." Twilight suggests.
"Perhaps. That being said. What is your end goal?" Morning asks.
"I would like to have a multicultural restaurant in Canterlot with me as master chef." Twilight explains.
"That is a nice goal. I can't wait." Morning said.
"Me too." Twilight responds.
"I guess, this is it." Morning said.
"Yeah." Twilight turns to face her. She then shook her hoof.
"To a good future!" Morning shouts loudly with a glass of strawberry juice.
"TO A GOOD FUTURE!!!" Everyone in the auditorium shouted back.
Twilight nods, "I would love to stay. But I am expected at 6 O'clock tomorrow." she said.
"I see." Morning said.
"I will see you guys in Lunarium!" Twilight shouted to her classmates, they nod in turn.
Twilight then proceeded to walk to the door and head home.
--------------------------------------------------------- Once home, Twilight ate dinner and went to bed early. The following very early in the morning, ----------------------------------------------------------
It's 4 O'clock in the morning. Twilight's clock went off and she herself woke up. She then proceeded to take a shower and head downstairs to eat breakfast.
Twilight then headed for the kitchen and grabbed her personal box that contains her knife set and equipment. Moving back to the living room she grabs a piece of paper containing the address before heading to the front door.
She quietly opened it, stepping through the door frame, and ending up outside. She then closed the door behind her before making her way to the commercial district.
As soon as she arrives at the commercial district, she looks at a local map. It says that the restaurant is near the castle and practically next to the magic station. She then moves her way to the location of interest.
After wandering a good 10 minutes searching for the restaurant, she atleast made it to the castle. Twilight then decided to approach the nearest guard for advise.
"Sir? Can ask you something?" Twilight asks the guard.
The guard looks down to see Twilight and smiles "Of course. How may I help you?" he asks.
"I am searching for restaurant Snow Drop. Do you know where it is?" Twilight asks.
"Of course. If you follow the street opposite to the castle heading east. Keep going until you see the magic station. it should be from the south from it." The guard explains.
"Thank you." Twilight replies as she walks that direction.
A few minutes of walking east later, and she sees the magic station. She immediately looks to her right and sees the surprisingly small restaurant in the corner.
Twilight then decided to approach it and sees a staff entrance. Entering the staff entrance she gets stopped by a guard.
"Why are you entering the staff entrance?" The intimidating guard asks.
"Um. I am the new intern. Twilight Sparkle is the name." Twilight responds.
He raised his eyebrow. "I see. You are quite early then. The boss isn't even in yet." he said.
"Well, I wanted to be early. Since this is my first day, I firstly needed to find the restaurant." Twilight explains.
He nods his head, "That makes sense. Okay Twilight, come with me. I will show you the dress rooms." He explains before moving alongside Twilight to go inside.
"Before we go in. Can I ask you something?" Twilight requests.
"Sure go ahead." the guard replies.
"Well is this it? I heard that the Snow Drop restaurant was bigger..." Twilight asks openly.
The guard sighs, "It used to. Back in Luna's golden days. Nowadays we are a small six star restaurant." he explains.
"I see. Sorry for the depressing question." Twilight said worried.
"It's fine. Back then it didn't look this beautiful. Now we have a beautiful garden that grows their own tomatoes and such." The guard proudly displays. He point at the vegetation growing on the side of the building. And the small vegetable garden.
"Small, but important, eh?" Twilight responds.
"Exactly. The outside attracts tourists. The inside attracts both royalty and nobility." The guard said. "Let me get you some nice clothing to stand in." He says pointing at the dress room.
"Okay." Twilight responds with.
"What is your location?" The guard asks.
"Kitchen." Twilight states.
"I see. Be careful! The kitchen doesn't tolerate mistakes. Unless they are honest ones." The guard warns.
"Honest ones?" Twilight asks.
"Yes. Where you always blame yourself and not others for the mistake." He explains.
Twilight nods as she put the clothing on. And proceeds into the kitchen to take a look around. Once inside, she was immediately taken aback.
The kitchen was nothing like you see in normal six star restaurants. Nothing was made out of stainless steel, rather most were just good old granite on wood. Some cabinets were entirely wooden. With the exception for the fridge and stove. They were made of stainless steel. The flooring was stone tiles and the walls of paint. The ceiling was also made of paint. The kitchen looks homely and cozy. There is even a fireplace.
"So how is the kitchen?" The guard asks.
"Different. Very different." Twilight states with disbelieve in her voice.
"Yeah. That it is. But this small room is indeed the kitchen." The guard confirms once again.
"How many are in the kitchen at all times?" Twilight asks.
"Well three. The head chef, The Sous chef, The prep chef. And sometimes 2 additional interns." He explains.
"Hmm. That is reasonable." Twilight sighs in relief.
"It is?" The guard asks surprised.
"Well if the original three are masters. Then yes. That is reasonable." Twilight confirms once again.
"I see." The head chef said. He simply walked in on their conversation.
Twilight almost jumped. She then attempted to regain her composure but simply taking a seat.
"You are Twilight?" He head chef asks.
"Yes." Twilight responds.
"Very good. How much field experience do you have?" The head chef asks.
"About 3 weeks. I helped in the castle catering, I assisted Royal Chef's restaurant for a week. I practically handle my classroom's lunch for about an half a year." Twilight explains.
"Oh. That is not bad." The sous chef said as she walks in on the conversation.
"Yeah. We have had worse." The prep chef says.
"How about some introductions?" Twilight asks.
"Sure. My name is Star Chef, I am Royal's younger brother." The head chef said.
"My name is Bella Lulamoon, Prep chef at your service." Bella said.
"I'm Anna Star, First place in the International Champions league for Rank F." The Sous chef said.
'Lulamoon?!' Twilight thought surprised, "Nice to meet you. I am Twilight Sparkle." Twilight introduced.
"Nice to meet you." the trio replied.
"What did you mean with you had worse?" Twilight asks.
"Ugh. Well you see, in the past I had to babysit Prince Blueblood for an intern. He wasn't bad, but..." Bella said groaning.
"Let's just say. He was terrible at cleaning up." Anna added.
Twilight giggled, "I see. He seems too blue to accept cleaning." Twilight play on worded.
"Yup!" Star said, trying his best to ignore Twilight's bad pun.
"Anyways, this time around we only have a single intern." Bella explains.
"So what is your specialty?" Star asked.
Twilight mood immediately went down at that question. "I don't have one yet." she replied gloomly.
"It will come. By the way my name is Gros Shy." The guard stated.
"Nice to meet you too." Twilight said.
"Okay, First Twilight please go clean your hooves and put this net over your hair. The others know what to do." Star said as he switched gears.
Twilight then proceeded to clean their hooves thoroughly and placed all her hair inside the net and on top of her head.
"Good. Let me explain how we work. The prep chef chops everything and prepares soups and sandwiches. The sous chef checks everything and is charge of preparing the hot ingredients. My job is to check and plate, including the occasional check up on the guests. Your job for your first day will be to make sweets. Some guest specifically asks for sweets, we let those be made by the interns. As we don't usually make sweets for that reason they don't need to be of high quality. But the better they are, the higher chance we get better tips. So do your best!" Star instructs.
"Okay. Is there anything specific you want me to make?" Twilight asks.
"Yes. Please make things that can be place on a single plate. So muffins and the like. Not entire cakes. Unless you can make very high quality, luxurious cakes. Like an Opera." Star instructs further.
"Understood." Twilight said.
"Now the challenge you are faced with. Is the lack of space. Use as little space as possible and if need be improvise. My guests like creative sweets. Good luck!" Star said as he got to work.
'Oh no. I am immediately pushed to be creative. Okay, maybe I should make some petit fours, but with chocolate cake instead.' Twilight thought.
Twilight begins by grabbing a mixing bowl and placing that on the break table. Adding and mixing when it's needed, she decided to make simple sponge flat cake. Pouring the mixture in a baking sheet and putting it in an oven. And setting a timer on 35 minutes. The oven was set on 180 degrees celsius*.
Meanwhile she grabbed Nutella and peanut butter, both are in pot form. And waited on the cake.
While she waited the first guests entered. It was royalty. It's Celestia and Trixie. They both order a salad and a sweet.
"Twilight, how long until you are done with the first sweet?" Star shouts.
Twilight looks at her tools and the clock. "Give me 10 minutes!" She returned.
Star was satisfied with that response. And moved on to the salad.
Twilight noticed who the guest was and saw at the corner of her eye, that star was adding mozzarella to her salad.
"I know those two. Don't add mozzarella to the salad for the blue pony! She is allergic." Twilight shouted which was met with a "Shit!" in return.
Twilight noticed him throwing the salad in the trash before carefully making one with cheddar instead.
"Ting!" Twilight's clock went off. Twilight then quick cooled it in the fridge. She waited 3 minutes before moving it out of the fridge and she cut it into tiny cubes. It was three times layered. two layers of chocolate and one with peanut. six layers of cake. She then put it on a black plate put some powder sugar over it.
"Done!" Twilight said as she complete two sets.
"What is it?" Star asked.
"A peanut and chocolate petit four. With powdered sugar. On a black square tiny plate." Twilight replied immediately.
"Looks good." Anna said.
"It also smells decent." Bella said.
"Very good. Please wait for their response. After that, please prepare some more. Before switching gears. Make something else after cleaning up." Star instructs.
"Ding!" Star presses the bell and explains to the waiters what the sweet is. The waiter nods and serves it.
A few moment later. Star listens to their responds.
"It's seems it's liked. Good job." Star was about to move on when the waiter came back once again.
Star listens to the waiter and smiles. "It was loved. We got a large tip. It seems the blue one was impressed with the presentation." Star corrected.
Twilight smiles at Star while continuing her work on the petit fours. 'Wow. See Twilight you can do it when you try.' Twilight thought to herself.
Star looked at Twilight's direction to see her beaming at the results. He raised his eyebrow, but said nothing.
After a few minutes of finishing up her work on the petit four. Twilight continued to primarily clean her stuff up. Before starting her next project.
Looking around she searched for idea's, or recipes even. Finding none, Twilight decides to ask for advice. "Star?" she asks.
"Yes?" Star replied, while working on what appears to be toast with melted brie.
"How should I go about making new things? Do you have any recipes and such?" Twilight asks.
"Hah!" Bella interrupted,
"I am sorry about that." Star said looking annoyed at Bella. "But, we work with a no recipe basis. That means, we can't make things that we don't just make on the spot." He explained.
"Oh." Twilight said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"But! We can give you a hint about how to get new ideas and such." Anna interrupted and offered.
Twilight nodded and Anna quickly finishes off what she was doing.
"There is a reason why this place is homely. Look around. Gather inspiration from around you. And make what comes to your mind." Anna hinted.
"I see, thank you." Twilight replied with a small smile. Anna nodded back and went back to work.
'Oh dear. This is harder than I thought. Perhaps the tranquility of the garden could create some inspiration.' Twilight thought as she moved into the garden.
Twilight took a good look around. The garden housed a bonsai tree and some bushes. It had a small pond with some fish in it. The vegetation on the side of the building was flowing from the ground. She also noted a bunch for random flowers on the side of the cobblestone path. Besides the staff entrance was a small bench made in a victorian style.
After sniffing a rose, Twilight got a sudden idea. 'Red velvet cookies with white chocolate and a nutmeg spice blend!' Twilight internally shouted.
Heading back inside, Twilight grabbed every single oven sheet with baking paper. She then grabbed a bowl and mixed unsalted butter, light brown sugar and white granulated sugar together. She decided to beat it together until it became creamy. She then added vanilla extract, some red food colouring and a egg together. After beating together into a whole once again. She added the last ingredients together, these being some flour, a hoofful of cocoa powder, a small bag of baking powder, a teaspoon of soda and finally some salt.
After the ingredients were mixed into what appears to be cookie dough. Twilight added the important white chocolate chips and distributed to the best of her ability. Finally to give it some flair and a personal touch, she mixed nutmeg, cinnamon and powdered sugar together. Adding it to the cookie dough.
Twilight then started to size and portion the cookie dough into balls and put it onto the baking paper. Quickly realizing that she made way too much. While she intended to make it for 10 baking sheets, she accidently was not even close to being finished with her cookie dough at the 9th sheet. In fact her mixing bowl was still practically filled with it.
'Oops I made too much. I guess I will fill as many sheets as I can then.' Twilight thought.
After a few minutes of making balls and pushing them into a cookie shape. Twilight successfully filled 26 baking sheets of unbaked cookies.
Meanwhile Star, Bella and Anna quickly realized that Twilight was using all of the baking sheets. As they turn to face her, they noticed the practical mountain of sheets filled with unbaked cookies.
Noticing that was being watched. Twilight quickly put the all of the sheets into the oven. Well, the ones that fitted anyways. She could only fit three at the time. Luckily it only took 12 minutes between them. It took her total of 1 hour and 44 minutes to complete her mountain of cookies. Putting an additional 2 hours to cool it off.
Twilight completed her task in roughly 3 hours and 44 minutes. She made a total of 208 cookies. Which was an enormous amount. Not to mention that these cookies were the size of an adult hoof. Making them quite heavy.
In the meantime everyone else in the kitchen were unable to use the oven. Forcing them to improvise. Bella even used the fireplace as a temporary oven.
"Well that was interesting." Star commented. The entire kitchen was in chaos while he just stood and watched Twilight clear her stuff up.
"You could say that again." Anna said mostly confused.
"To think that I would have to use the fireplace in summertime." Bella said smiling in disbelieve.
"Sorry." Twilight simply stated.
"It's alright. I have a feeling that you will be just fine right here." Star responded.
"Yeah. Although I can see it." Bella said as she looks at the carnage that she caused.
The kitchen was looking in a state of an earthquake. Pans and knives were in places there were not supposed to be. Half the kitchen was white from flour that Anna accidently dropped. It was absolute chaos. Twilight looks at the kitchen in a mixture of laughter and shock. And Star? He just stood there, dumbstruck.
Twilight looked at Star. She was unsure if she should say anything. Instead it would appear that Star regained his composure. He looked at Anna and barked some orders about the flour. Meanwhile he praised Bella for her ingenuity. Which ended with him looking at Twilight.
"Twilight, sigh." Star said, he was looking hopeful for an answer, "Why did you make this much?" he asked.
"About that, sometimes I lose a bit of control and proceed to make too much in the process. I am sorry. I still need to work on the measuring part of cooking." Twilight explained. Internally she was frustrated at her bad practice.
Star was looking at her cookies. He then took one and took a bite. And as if he could see her frustration he said, "Atleast these aren't bad cookies. We can use them. However this means that I need to create something new for you to do."
"Yeah." Twilight simply stated.
"Hey, looking at the bright side. Thanks to you, I now know that I can make this cheese dish on a fireplace, instead of a stove." Bella said happily.
Twilight smiled, "I guess so." she replied.
Star looked at the kitchen. He then turns to Twilight, "Tell you what. Since all these pans are on the wrong spot anyways. Let me show you the kitchen interior better." He said.
Twilight nod. Which in turn caused Star to move slowly and explain the exact locations of every pan, knife and accessory in the kitchen. He then explained that those chairs are for breaks and normally the fireplace is used in the winter.
Twilight cataloged each and every bit of information into her brain. Which looks like a kitchen map. Twilight also cataloged the location of every ingredient in the kitchen with the tour.
"And that is the loadout of the kitchen. Any questions?" Star asked.
"Yes. What are those for?" Twilight asks as she point to a pile of white pans. These pans were next to a bag of wax candles.
"Those?" Star looks at where Twilight was pointing. "Ah those! Those are for cheese fondues." He explained.
"Cheese fondue?" Twilight asks confused.
"Yes. You don't know what cheese fondue is?" Star asks surprised.
"Exactly. What is cheese fondue?" Twilight asks innocently.
Anna and Bella looks surprised at her. This was common knowledge yet she was oblivious.
"What are they teaching you at school?! This is common knowledge!" Bella practically shouted.
"As in commonwealth?" Twilight asks.
"Yes!" Anna replied quickly.
"But my school was for nobles. We don't learn everything. Mostly about Theory and basic knife work. With the occasional recipe here and there." Twilight replied.
Bella and Anna were about to speak when a single hoof raised by Star silenced them.
"Cheese fondue is melted cheese put in a fondue pan. They put a wax candle below it to keep the same temperature. The guests then proceed to eat it with a diverse set of fresh ingredients. Like bread and fruits. Griffons and dragons usually eat it with dried meats and fish." Star calmly explains.
"So that pan is a fondue pan?" Twilight asks.
"Yes." Star explained.
"I see. I am sorry about my lack of knowledge." Twilight said disappointed.
"It's fine. You are still an apprentice. If you don't know, then our job is to explain it to you. Unlike those two." Star said annoyed towards Anna and Bella. They simply hang their heads down in shame.
"We are sorry." Bella said for the two of them.
"Apology accepted! Now back to me search for a job for you-" He started when he looked at the clock. "Oh my. Your time is up. It's been 6 hours." Star said surprised.
Twilight jumped at the reveal and looked at the clock. It was indeed, the end of her workday. Twilight walked towards the dressing room when she was stopped by Star.
"One more thing. I had you planned tomorrow, but I can't teach you then. I mean you could come, but I might not be able to offer you much, regarding work and such." Star explained.
"What if I assisted Bella? She could always use an additional vegetable cutter, no?" Twilight offered.
"That would be great!" Bella responded in the distant.
"Are you sure? It is tedious work you know." Star asked.
"I will become better at using the knife that way." Twilight offered.
"Very well. I guess I will see you tomorrow." Star said.
"See you guys tomorrow! Bye!" Twilight shouted back as she enters the dressing room. She quickly changes her clothing and walks through the staff exit, outside.
When Twilight left the staff entrance she took another look around. Just as the guard told her, the area was filled with tourists. They were taking pictures of the building's exterior. Looking past the tourists, she also saw Trixie and an undercover Celestia walking around. They appear to be smiling and having fun.
Twilight smiled at the sight as she decided it would be best to walk a different direction. That way she wouldn't get in the way of them. Although it would be a long way around, she felt that would be best.
Then she remembered. She still wanted to check the magic station for information regarding Trixie's parents. Which caused her to inadvertently remember how she found Trixie. Shaking her head she walked determined towards the building.
The closer Twilight got the bigger it became. The magic station or how the locals called, the police headquarters, was truly massive. She saw atleast a hundred Pegasus cops flying about. Some earth ponies in riot gear were training with their shields. Although at closer inspection it looked more like playing than training. Some tourists were throwing hard balls at their shields, which was closely watched by a police lieutenant.
Ignoring the others. Twilight entered the building. And despite the busy exterior, inside it was silent. The only sound Twilight heard was the occasional typing on a keyboard and a phone going off which was coming from the reception.
Gulping, Twilight approached the desk. "Excuse me," she said.
The receptionist looked over the desk and saw Twilight, "How can I help you?" she asked, her face lit up at Twilight as children usually never approach her.
"I need some help. You see I am looking for my friend's parents. As they abandoned her a while back." Twilight calmly asks.
"Oh!" the receptionist was surprised at the serious nature of the request, "In what state was she abandoned." she asks while she grabbed a form from behind her desk.
"Well, she was abandoned as a filly. Both penniless and homeless. She appeared abused and starved when I found her. Of course I help her and stuff. She now has a job and a house. She also has a proper teacher." Twilight explained.
The receptionist wrote it all down. However her eyebrows rose a few times from Twilight's lack of childlike words.
"Luckily she is doing better now. But I promised that I would help her find her parents." Twilight explained.
"I see. How much do you know about the parents?" the receptionist asks.
"Well, actually quite a bit. First thing first, It appears as if the mafia is after them. I know this because their debt and unexplained source of money seemed fishy. They most likely live in Manehattan and they have chain business in donut shops. And their surname is Lulamoon." Twilight sums up.
"That is a lot of information." The police lieutenant said. He sneaking up on Twilight.
Twilight literally jumped at his sudden presence.
The receptionist looked up at the officer. She slowly nod as she moved the form to the officer. He looks at the paper, and nodded.
"How about we talk in my office." the police lieutenant suggests
"Okay." Twilight said as they move several floors up using an elevator. When they arrived at the 25th floor, Twilight and the officer entered office 03.
"Okay. So, she was abandoned by her parents." He began.
"That is correct." Twilight simply answered.
"Okay. And what is her full name?" he asks.
"Her full name is Trixie Lulamoon." she replied.
"Oh? The princesses little pet?" he asks as his eyes widen. Twilight responded towards the officer with him floating in the air.
"You were saying?" Twilight asks innocently.
"I meant student." He quickly said. As he was placed back in his chair.
Twilight nodded this time.
"I also heard the phrase Mafia. Correct?" he asks as if nothing happened.
Twilight nodded, although she felt that this was more of an interrogation, then a conversation.
"I see. If she knew this. Then how did she escape?" he asks.
"She doesn't. I found this on my own investigation." Twilight said.
He raised his eyebrow, "Is that so?" he asks.
Twilight said nothing, but she was suddenly aware that there were ponies watching their conversation from the hallway.
"That is troubling. Sadly I can't help you." he said.
Twilight gears moved. She suddenly realized who this man was. "Yes. And I am afraid that I will seek a different officer." Twilight said as she moved off the seat towards the door.
"Wait! What is wrong?" He asks confused.
"Oh! You don't happen to have a direct connection to this mafia organization, do you?" Twilight said as her horn shone in self-defense.
The officer stopped in his tracks. His face went from confusion to awe to annoyance. "How did you-" he attempted to asks as Twilight froze the officer in place using magic.
"How? Well this interrogation was a fun one, Old man. I am afraid that this conversation has come to an end with this." Twilight said determined.
Twilight opens the door. Their were six officer looking at her with disbelieve. "Good day." Twilight said as she grabs the elevator down.
'To think that the upper ranks are corrupted by mafia. Perhaps I should visit Celestia.' Twilight thought in the elevator.
Twilight waves the confused receptionist goodbye. Twilight dashed from the magic station to the castle. She sees Celestia wishing Trixie goodbye as she teleports her to the donut shop in Canterlot. Celestia was about to turn when Twilight accidentally ran into her.
"Oh! Hey Twilight. I loved your cookies and petit four." Celestia said surprised.
Twilight shook her head. "We need to talk. It's very important that the public doesn't find out about this information." she hastily said.
Celestia's face turns serious as she warps Twilight and herself into the green room. "What is the matter?" she asks.
"So secretly I have been looking into Trixie's parents." Celestia eyebrows rose at the sentence, "And decided that this information should go to the police. However, It would appear that the mafia as corrupted the upper ranks of the magic station." Twilight finishes.
Celestia's face turns grim. "How do you know?" she asks worried.
"I accidentally reported Trixie's case to an officer who is part of the mafia organization. He is of lieutenant rank." Twilight explains, fear only now sinking in.
Celestia's face was determined and angry. "Next time, you go to me, Twilight!" she practically shouted.
"Sorry." Twilight responds.
"Now, I will ensure some trusted guards will guard Trixie in secret. Meanwhile I will look into her parents. Not you." Celestia said softly.
"I am sorry." Twilight once again responds with.
"It's alright-" Celestia was about to continue when Twilight cut her off.
"No, I mean I might have gotten their attention as well. I kinda froze one of their people in place. With magic." Twilight said the ending extremely softly.
Celestia's face turned in fear. "Oh dear." she said as an guard entered with some news.
"Your highness. Their appears to be some kind of fight Trixie's donut shop." The guard said.
"Oh dear. I am coming. Twilight go home!" Celestia shouted as she ran off.
Twilight was about to leave the room, when she was stopped by the guard.
"I have message from my boss to you." the guard said suspiciously .
"Go on." Twilight said determined.
""You are interesting. I will leave you alone for now. This won't be the last time, we will meet." end quote. I don't know how you got his attention. But it seems to be positive for now. Keep it that way!" The guard said before letting Twilight leave.
Twilight was too scared to run. So she decided to teleport home into her room. Scared, she falls asleep on her bed at home, without eating dinner.
Twilight days flew by after the day she entered her internship and her first encounter with the mafia. Some days she would be taught by Star and she would create dishes she never thought she was capable of and other days, she was busy cutting vegetable with Bella.
These were peaceful days. However today was a less peaceful day. Today Twilight and her family were going to Manehattan for two things. One is succeeding the entrance exam and second is searching a nice home to live in.
But Twilight herself decided to head straight towards the school. Meanwhile her parents and Shining would tour the area.
Twilight was standing in front of the school, doing her best to stay as calm as possible. She walked through to front door into the reception. Twilight approached the reception and asked for the head of the school. She was pointed towards an elevator and the top floor.
As soon as she entered the floor she saw a test kitchen. six judges, and both the principle of Celestium and the principle of Lunarium. They were sitting across the kitchen.
"Twilight Sparkle, Please take a seat at the test kitchen." Judge one asks.
Twilight proceeds towards the test kitchen and took a seat.
"Okay. In front of us is a small table with a select amount of ingredients for all corners of Equestria. Make something with it." Judge two asks.
"We will judge, based on skill, creativity, originality, understanding, taste, smell and look. Make the best dish you can think off. There is no time limit but we expect a dish to be made under 3 hours. Good luck." The principle of Lunarium said.
Twilight nodded and looked at the table. She proceeds to grab some cheese, some lettuce, a selection of vegetables and a fake chicken.
Twilight proceeds to wash her hooves and put a net in her hair. She then cut the cheese into tiny cubes and the vegetables besides the lettuce into strips. Meanwhile she is baking the chicken in olive oil. Once the chicken has been baked, she moves it into a soup pan and pours some red wine and a selection of herbs into it.
While that is cooking, Twilight moves each vegetable into their own bowl and the cheese cubes also. After that she washes the lettuce and plucks big leaves of it. Once the leaves are off, she moves the lettuce remains into the pan also.
Meanwhile Twilight makes a quick cocktail sauce. And starts to grab her favorite black plate out of her bag. She cleans it and placed a bit of the sauce on it, together with some spices.
After a few minutes, Twilight removes the chicken and starts to cut it into strips. She then places some chicken strips and sauce onto the lettuce leaf and places cubes of cheese and vegetable in it. She then closes the lettuce into lettuce wraps and sliced it into two. She then placed it onto the plate, one below and one above. And done!
"I am finished." Twilight said.
Judge one blinks, "That took you 30 minutes. Very impressive." he said.
"We judge take a look, while the principle smell and taste it." Judge one explains, they then proceed to inspect it closely.
Judges appears impressed, and the principle of Celestium smiled at the smell. And the principle of Lunarium took a bite.
After a few minutes of talking they decided to talk to Twilight.
"I will explain skill. I am impressed, these cubes are exactly the same diameter in size and the strips are all of equal length. Very impressive." Judge one said. "I give you a 8."
"I will explain creativity. First the fact that you made such a large meal with the small amount of ingredients is impressive. It both looks good and smell good. For the amount prepared, good job. Also you used no recipe. Very good." Judge two said, "I give you a 9."
"I will explain originality. Just like judge two said, you used no recipe and only you wits. This is rare dish, I only see it outside Equestria. And you never travels outside Equestria. That makes your one-of-a-kind." Judge three explains, "I give you a 10."
"We explain understanding." Judge four, five and six said. "First me, your ingredient knowledge seems very high, you knew what to make based on what you had. Impressive" judge four explains,
"Your Knife knowledge has improved. You cut everything fast and effective. You knew which knife was best of meat and cheese. Good job." Judge five explains,
"Your kitchen knowledge was good too. You knew where the spices and pans were without much searching. I even made it extra hard by placing them hidden in your kitchen. Yet it didn't make a difference. Very impressive." Judge six explains.
They look at each other, "We give you a 9." they said.
"I will explain smell." The principle of Celestium said, "It smelled fresh. You chose the right ingredients. The spice combo was very impressive. You used spiced kit hair, correct?" he asks.
"That is correct." Twilight replied.
"Very impressive. Most don't even know it exists. For that I give you a 9." He said.
"And finally taste." The principle of Lunarium said, "It taste very good. The chicken you baked then boiled in wine, then marinated in vegetables. That is a very complex way of making good chicken. The spice combo tasted unique and the texture was surprisingly soft, despite the lettuce wrap. Very impressive. I give you a 9." he said.
"This means, you got an overall, 9." Judge one said. "You have succeeded. Your third place wasn't a fluke after all."
"Welcome to Lunarium." They all said together.
"Thank you." Twilight said happily.
"You first class start in three weeks. Good luck." The principle of Lunarium said, "Oh and I expect a lot of you." he added.
"I know." Twilight answers as she moves to the elevator and headed back down.
"Did you succeed?" Morning asks just outside the elevator.
"Yes. I got a 9. Third place is officially mine." Twilight said happily.
"Congratulations!" Morning and her class shouted. The rest of the class were standing outside of the building.
"Thank you. This means that this is officially the last day I meet you guys. Today we are searching for a home and tomorrow we will move here." Twilight some saddened.
"That is only if we fail our entrance exam. Which is in two days. We studied our butts off and decided to take an early exam." Leaf said.
"Oh but school will start in three weeks. It would mean skipping internship." Twilight said surprised.
"Don't be silly, we decided to also go on an early internship like you. While we are still learning about meat and stuff." Lulu said a tad bit exhausted.
"But promise me on one thing. Don't get a burn-out okay?" Twilight requests.
"Of course. Don't worry. We take more breaks than you probably." Marie said smirking.
"Touché." Twilight said. "I have to go though. My parent are waiting over there." Twilight said pointing towards their parents.
"Of course. We are going back to Canterlot. See you at Lunarium." They said as Twilight moved toward her parents.
Twilight waved at them and moved on. She and her parents moved to the real estate ownership for nobles and chose a penthouse. It was relatively close to both the school and the train station.
As Twilight and her parents entered the penthouse, they took a good look around. It was in excellent state. In fact the only signs of it every being used was a single room with a wallpaper. It was blue with moon symbols and a single ultra large bed. The size of an alicorn.
"About this room. This bed and wallpaper has been enchanted onto it. We can't remove it. It's the only down side." the marketer explained.
"Well it could be a good guest room." Twilight reasoned.
"That it could." Her parents repeat.
As they continued the tour, they saw a gym, a swimming pool, a build in casino and the largest kitchen Twilight has ever seen.
"We will buy it. On the condition that you remove that casino." Velvet said.
"Very good. Let's talk the details." the marketer said.
Twilight's parents left the penthouse as Shining was exploring potential personal bedrooms.
Twilight meanwhile walked into the enchanted room. "This room must belong to Luna. But how old is this penthouse if that is the case. She was banished eons ago. Does that mean that this room was enchanted here. Or is this some kind of..." She talked herself to sleep as she laid on Luna's bed.
In her dreams.
"Illusion?" Twilight finished.
"Exactly." Luna's spirit appeared.
"How is that exactly possible?" Twilight asks curiously.
"Well. This skyscraper is the closest point to my secret hideout. In a separate dimension." It explained.
"Ah. A point of crossover. A projected illusion." Twilight said nodding.
"Exactly. It's good to see you. Twilight Sparkle." It said.
"It is good to see you too. It's been a few years." Twilight replied.
"Yes. It seems your chef's career is going strong. I can't wait what this timeline will offer." It said excited.
"Am I walking in your past hoofsteps?" Twilight asks.
"In the cooking world. Yes. This time around, you won't be the element of harmony, but a chef. Yet I have the feeling that you will defeat Nightmare Moon with cooking instead." It said interested.
"Do you know what will become of Trixe's fate?" Twilight asks.
"Of course. But I won't spoil it. You will have to read it yourself." it said.
"Hey! No fourth wall breaking!" Twilight said annoyed albeit smiling.
"I know. But seriously, I won't tell you. It might change the timeline." it said.
"I understand. It was nice talking to you. It seems my brother is shaking me awake. I have to go." Twilight said.
"Have a good day!" Luna's spirit said before disappearing and ending the dream.
"Twilight WAKE UP!" Shining said shouting.
"Hi, Shiny!" Twilight said smiling.
"You were awake, weren't you?" Shiny asks,
Twilight smiles in responds,
"UGH." he said annoyed.
"Enough playing around Twi. We have to go back." Night said.
"I know, Let's go." Twilight said.
Twilight and her parents then moved back home and immediately started to pack their stuff.
"Hey guys. I probably should tell Trixie and Celestia that I am moving." Twilight said.
"That would be kind of you. Then go." Velvet said as she was moving her telescope into a wooden crate with pop plastic sheets.
Twilight then ran and made her way to the castle. Moving past the commercial district and going past the donut shop. She had arrived at the castle. On her way she noticed an increased security everywhere. It would appear that Twilight's encounter with the mafia had left a mark on the city.
Twilight walked up to the gate and was stopped by the guards. "Halt. No access permitted." they said.
"Why?" Twilight asks curious.
"Celestia's student is currently busy with an important magic spell. She must not be distracted." they said.
"But I need to bother them." Twilight replied.
"No." They said.
"Fine." Twilight said, Before breaking Celestia's shield spell and teleporting inside.
The guards were left dumbfounded. "We might have an intruder." the left one said.
"Nah. I don't get paid enough for it." The right one replied.
"Yeah. Let's ignore it." the left one replied.
Meanwhile Twilight has entered the library. She detected an annoyed Celestia heading her way. So she decided to make a book fort using all the books in the library as an distraction for Celestia.
After a few moment, Celestia and her guards storm inside the library, only to find a very large book fort in the center of it.
Celestia sighs and calls the guards away. "Twilight?" she asks.
No responds, confused, Celestia heads into the fort only to find a large hole in the ceiling. Celestia groans and follows the hole. She spots some hoof marks on the floor leading towards Trixie.
Meanwhile Twilight was heading deeper in and sees Trixie. She sees her large spell and realized that something was wrong. The spell was too unstable to succeed and will go out of control any minute now.
Hearing the clops of an alicorn behind her, she turns around. And sees Celestia.
"Hey." Twilight simply said. "Tell her that I am moving to Manehattan tomorrow." she said,
And before Celestia could reply, Twilight casts a Canterlot wide Nullification spell, Destroying Trixie's spell behind her. Only to teleport away before anyone could say anything.
Celestia blinks, only to groan again and also teleports to Twilight's location.
"Twilight, stop!" Celestia shouts.
Twilight blinks at Celestia's sudden presence in her bedroom. " Hey, Celestia." she said.
"Don't "hey!" me, Twilight! Although I thank you for stopping Trixie. Don't make me tell her that!" Celestia said, "She will get super depressed."
"I know. But it's at fact that can't be changed. We already bought the house and are moving our gear today." Twilight said in understanding.
"But-" Celestia started only to get cut off.
"Once I become a chef, I will return to Canterlot. I promise." Twilight quickly added.
"Okay. But I will have to send her to Ponyville once she gets older. So you will have to go there." Celestia explains.
"I know, to beat a certain someone right? Don't worry, I will be there." Twilight said.
"It seems you know what is going on here, no?" Celestia said calmly smiling.
"Yeah. I am fully aware." Twilight said, "I guess this is goodbye. I am sure that I will meet you again, once I am at my career's prime."
"Yeah. Until then." Celestia said hugging Twilight,
"Yeah," Twilight hugged back in return, Twilight could swear that she saw some tears.
"This is not goodbye. this is see you in the future." Twilight added.
"Yeah." Celestia's hair temporarily stopped being a rainbow, for what seemed like a few minutes.
"I am sorry, I don't-" Celestia started only for Twilight's hoof to stop her.
"I am not Luna. I will return. She too will return then." Twilight said smiling as bright as the sun itself.
"Yeah." She responded with. "I guess I should assist Trixie. I will tell her it carefully." Celestia said.
"Give her a lot of TLC from me, yeah?" Twilight said as a smiling Celestia teleports away.
"Well, That was something." Twilight said as she returned to packing stuff for the following day or two.
