Chapter 7: Kitchen Nightmare 2

I closed the book on Nautical History and placed it on the corner of the table I sat at, I started tapping my foot and leaned forward onto the table, resting my head in my arms in the process.

"Where is my food?"

--------------------------------

The Kitchen Staff weren't having a good time.

"Chef! Princess Celestia just ordered four meals of exactly what Blueblood asked!" One of the cooks ran in to inform the head chef, who couldn't help but sigh in despair as he looked at the ever-shrinking supply of Quail eggs.

"Why couldn't he just ask for normal Chicken eggs?" He asked himself as he thought back to the stallion that made this day the hardest workday of his life, Which is really saying something considering he had to cook for royal diplomats and Griffon guests.

He didn't know that some ponies ate meat at that time. Now he does.

"Get more Eggs!" He yelled to the cook in charge of stocking the kitchen before he threw a shiny golden card at him, "Go straight to a Quail farm if you must! Just get me those eggs!"

And with the cook running out of the kitchen on his sacred mission of acquiring more Quail eggs, the Head Chef turned back to the loud kitchen, grabbed a sharp knife, and started cutting the cabbages like a machine.

That Coleslaw wasn't going to make itself.

-----------------------------------------

Raven Inkwell was an interesting figure to see in the castle.

She was the royal secretary, making her Princess Celestia's right hoof pony and her number 1 assistant.

But other than working as the Solar Princess's right hoof mare, not much was known about Raven Inkwell among the rest of the staff of the castle, seeing as she barely talked with the rest of the staff unless it was to deliver an important message.

And that enigmatic existence that Raven Inkwell had in the castle, led to a not insignificant amount of rumors to start about her.

Some rumors said that she was a vampire who never left the castle, others said that she was actually a descendant of one of the Earth Pony founders of the nation.

One preposterous rumor said that she was the secret lover of Princess Celestia, which in return started a rumor that she was actually the secret lover of Prince Blueblood instead, which further devolved into far more outrageous and simply slanderous rumors.

Enough so that the sightings of Raven Inkwell around Canterlot Castle stopped almost entirely, making her elusive existence in the castle much more mysterious, and prompted Princess Celestia to punish those who spread those false and harmful rumors about the White Earth Pony.

But the truth of the matter is...

Raven Inkwell isn't good at social interactions.

That was it. Ponies rarely spoke with Raven because she wasn't good at speaking with strangers. There was no deeper meaning.

And where did she go after the hurtful rumors spread about her?

Did she leave the castle? Quit her job and moved elsewhere? Did she truly become a vampire or a ghost and trapped herself it the deepest darkest corners of the castle?

No, She simply started using the hidden passageways of the castle to move around quicker. 

Moving inside the walls of the castle was a much quicker way of travel, and she didn't need to speak to anyone as she did so.

So it was to her surprise, when she was walking in the passageway hidden above the dining room, that she spotted Prince Blueblood walking around the room, looking at the paintings on the wall.

"What is he doing?" She asked herself as she looked through the small, enchanted, one-way window of the hidden passageway, into the room.

She watched on as Blueblood walked towards one of the paintings on the wall, one which seemed to be slightly tilted, and straightened it out.

As Blueblood tilted the painting, however, a doorway appeared at the other side of the room, catching both Raven's and the Prince's attention.

Tilting the painting back to its previous position, the doorway disappeared.

Blueblood then let go of the painting and trotted slowly back to the dining table, where he sat and opened a book he left there previously.

Leaving the hidden voyeur confused as to how she didn't find that hidden passage beforehand.

-----------------------------------------

"Move Aside!" The cook with the golden card yelled as he carried on his back a large crate filled with rows upon rows of Quail Eggs.

"You're back, wonderful! Take my spot and keep cutting the cabbage!" The Chef yelled at him the moment he entered the kitchen before he ran and took the crate of eggs away from him.

"Hurry up everyone! We need to finish this meal now! Put your work into overdrive!" Chef yelled over the sounds of the kitchen as he picked a carton of eggs from the crate and ran to one of the unicorns in the kitchen to hurry up the Mayo-making process.

"Yes, Chef!"

--------------------------------------

Princess Luna was on her way to the dining room when she spotted her Sister walking in the same direction followed by a group of old and important-looking ponies.

"Sister, Should you not be handling day court? What are you doing here?" She asked as she joined her sister in her walk.

"Hello to you too, Luna," Celestia said cheekily, pointing out that her sister didn't greet her before she continued, "I am taking a small break from my duties, I grew rather peckish and decided that a nice lunch would be good to have. It wasn't until I was near the kitchens that I learned that Blueblood made a unique custom order from the chefs, and I decided that I would also like to try some of it."

"Blueblood's meal? What a delightful coincidence. We just asked for the same meal from the chefs, would You like to join us in our meal?" She said, and Celestia nodded, leading the group of important ponies to the Dining room.

---------------------------------------

"Chef! Everything is ready!" One of the cooks shouted as he finished loading a cart with several plates and bowels of salads and soups.

"The Croutons?" The chef asked, receiving an affirmative response.

"The Leek and Onion soup?" He received the same affirmative response.

"And most importantly, is the Quail Egg Coleslaw ready?"

"Yes, Chef!"

For the first time in an hour, a smile spread on the chef's face, "Then get that food to their Royal Majesties!"

-----------------------------------------

As the food finally arrived, I couldn't help but feel relieved.

"I have been waiting for nearly an hour, what took you so long?" I ask the chef as he entered with the cart of food.

"I apologize, your highness, We had some technical difficulties, but I assure you, The food we made here for you is just as good, if not better, than anything else we make here for you," He said as he placed the plates of food in front of me.

"Very well, you may leave," I shooed him away and started eating my lunch.

Just as he exited the dining room, the doors on the other end opened and Princess Celestia walked in with Princess Luna shortly behind her, followed by a small crowd of old ponies who I could recognize from the Prince's memories as several important ministers and advisors of Celestia's Day Court.

"Auntie, should you not be managing your day court right now? You barely worked yesterday and two days ago you didn't work at all, you must be very busy," I told her as she walked closer to my seat and took a chair in front of me.

"Nice to see you too, Blueblood," Celestia said and I heard Luna try to stifle a giggle, "But I am just taking a break for lunch, no need to worry too much," It was then she spotted the book I was reading.

"Nautical history?" She asked as she read the title, and I smiled as I started to explain to her my plan on getting a shipping license so I could manage a boat.

I didn't particularly like boats when I was younger back on Earth, but like any normal human, I wanted to be rich.

To do that, I needed to go to a university of higher education, something that was very expensive where I was from.

So in order to not need to pay for my education, I joined the Navy.

That was where I fell in love with the sea.

I was on my way to getting a master's in Nautical Sciences before I found myself as the Prince, I was going to be a ship captain.

Now with the Prince's pockets, I could easily finish my nautical science education here and get my diploma.

But, I can't really tell all of that to Celestia, can I? So instead I explained that I want to start my own business and get money that way.

Imports and Exports are a lucrative business, after all.

"Nautical Science you say? If you wish I could oversee your test personally, get it done quickly so as to not waste your time," One of the important ponies that joined Celestia says, and I recognize him as Chancellor Neighsay, the head of the Equestrian Board of Education.

"That would be delightful, Thank you, Chancellor, I will send a letter when I feel I am ready," I tell him and return to my food.

Soon the rest of the food arrives for all the ponies in the dining room, and I am humored to see several copies of the exact same meal that I ordered.

The rest of the day passes on without any major incidents.

But I couldn't help but think back to the secret door I found in the dining room, something to investigate later.

--------------------------------------

Sitting on the floor of the kitchen, their bodies covered in oil and egg yolk, The cooks and Chef of the royal family couldn't help but release a sigh of contentment as the horrible day that would later be known as "The Quail Egg Incident of 1001," was officially over.

"We did it..." One of the cooks whispered.

"We made all the Quail Mayo we needed..." Another said.

"I don't ever want to see a Quail Egg again..." A third cook joined.

"...We still need to clean the kitchens..." The Chef said before he picked himself up from the floor of the kitchen with a mighty groan, his back releasing popping sounds as he does.

A collective sigh passes through the kitchen staff as they each start to clean up the mess that was made in the kitchen.

At least nothing bad could happen.

"Chef! Captain Shining Armor just asked for the same exact meal as everypony else!" One of the cooks ran into the kitchen and was promptly thrown out when an empty crate that previously held Quail eggs was thrown at him.