Summer of Pony ~ Session IX ~ PYOA Part II

[weesh]

Welcome to part two of my "Poll Your Own Adventure" story!

Here is what happened in Part I:

Ah, the warm summer sun feels great. But better still will be relaxing after walking for a while day. So this is Ponyville? It is as scenic and quaint as they say. Perhaps a few days here will push out the big city worries for a while. There are some cute looking shops, but they can wait. Time to find a place to sit down and eat...and there, just beyond that pink pony is....

Hi I'm Pinkie Pie and I've never seen you before and if I've never seen you before you must be new and if you're new that means you haven't met anypony yet and if you haven't met anypony yet then you must be lonely and if you are lonely you must want to meet friends and if you want to meet friends you should do it at Sugarcube Corner so here we are have a piece of cake!

Huh. How did I get inside? I must have blinked. But this cake looks tasty...

Oh, thanks. My name is...

Well howdy stranger! 'Though I s'pose you ain't really a stranger once you've met Pinkie Pie. I'm Applejack! Welcome to Ponyville!

Pinkie did you waylay another pony on their way through town? We go through this every week...

Hi there, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I can see that you have been traveling, take a seat and I'll have Mrs. Cake whip you up a milkshake. What brings you here?

I'm on vacation. Just looking for something to do and someponies to do it with.

Well you sure are in luck! Why, tomorrow is our annual Cook's Competition! There will be plenty of tasty vittles to eat, and...say, are you interested in entering are you? I'd be happy to share my kitchen with you!

Oh that's a great idea! You can team up with one of us, and if you don't have a place to stay we can lend you a bed, and we can stay up late swapping stories!

Or you know, get a good nights rest and be ready for tomorrow. I've read that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on performance on a wide range of competitions.

Hmmm, three invitations already! What a friendly town!

Who should I stay with?

Well, I appreciate all of your offers! I will stay with _______.

And the results of the voting:

The story continues: (with a TLDR at the bottom)

If there is anyone here who can get my mind off of home, it is Pinkie. Competing with her will be fun win or lose.

Well, I appreciate all of your offers! I'd be happy to stay with you Pinkie.

Ah, you'll have a blast! And here's that milkshake...

After several hours of shooting the breeze and introducing yourself to everypony who walks in (Pinkie won't let them past), you discover that Pinkie is shirking her duties in the bakery and that she will never run out of breath. You may not get much rest tonight, but maybe you can get away for a bit. You start looking for a way to escape...

...And this is Rarity!

It's a pleasure to meet you! How long will you be in town?

You admit that you don't know, for perhaps the 10th time all day

Well, the first thing I do while I get into town after traveling is visit our spa. It is simply luxurious after...

Sounds wonderful! I don't suppose you could point me in that direction? My aching muscles could use some pampering.

Darling, I can do better than that, I could keep you company during our treatments!

You discover that Rarity never runs out of breath either, but she makes it obvious when to say "is that so?" or "and then what happened?" and you are soon lost in a sea of pleasure

When you eventually walk out with Rarity, she is beaming and the sky is dark.

Thank you, that was wonderful! I don't suppose you could show me where Pinkie lives?

There is nothing simpler! She lives in the loft above the very bakery where we met! Have a good evening, you are a lovely conversationalist.

As you walk back you realize that you haven't had much to eat today, but any worrying you do is for naught after you find the lights still on and Pinkie baking up a storm in the bakery kitchen.

Hello again Pinkie, what is all this?

Well, I was thinking about last years cooks competition, and all the tasty treats and I remembered the lemon pie that...

And she's off again, but there is a full meal and desert waiting for you. Afterwards, you do the dishes to hurry things along, and head upstairs. She is STILL going a mile a minute, but colapses upon getting up to the loft and the silence is deafening. Looking around, you see both a bed and a couch with sheets and blankets. You pull a blanket form the bed, drape it over Pinkie, and lay down on top of the blankets on the couch...

...

DingalingaCLASHalingalingalingCLASHalingalingalingCLASHalingalingalingCLASH!

You bolt up to see what is going on, there is confetti everywhere, brightly flashing lights, horns blasting...and it is all coming from a strange contraption in the middle of the room with a clock on the front.

Do you like my party clock? It rings everytime there is a party, though sometimes I forget to set it but I never forget to set it when I have guests over because I don't want them to miss it! I usually forget my birthday because its right after gummy's but my friends don't forget so I get a surprise birthday every year!

There is a competition AND a party today?

No silly, but you aren't here for very long and a competition kinda counts!

You notice that there s only one arm on the clock, and just eight hour markers...

Pinkie, how do you set this? How do you know that we aren't already late?

That's not a problem! As soon as this bad boy goes off, everyone in town knows that whatever big event happening today starts in an hour! Everyone loves my party clock. Ponies keep sneaking in, taking pieces off and hiding them, and I love games so I search the town until I find them again so we can all be ready for the next party!

An hour or so later, and after a nice breakfast, the town is gathered at City Hall, and a gray-haired pony welcomes you, and invites the Mr. Cake up to explain the rules:

The rules are the same as last year:

1) You have 4 hours to complete one entry.

2) And your entry must be on theme.

3) Entries are judged on taste, presentation and adhearance to the theme.

And now the moment you are have all been waiting for: This years theme is...food that starts with the letter 'C'!

GO!

You turn to look at Pinkie and she is vibrating with excitement.

So, uh, what do you want to make?

We should make a calzone, a chimichanga, cannolis, a casserole, chuncky clam chowder with chives AND...

Whoa whoa whoa, do we have time for all that, can't we pick just one?

Ok which one sounds tastiest?

Well, I like the thought of the ___________.

Go up to the poll to vote!

TLDR:

Pick a food in the poll to make with Pinkie for the competition.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Calzone - Delicious but a little bit heavy, especially since ponies probably just finished eating breakfast, and its more of a lunch or dinner kind of thing anyway.

Chimichanga - If Calzones were heavy, a deep fat fried burrito with rice and beans is going to be right out. If this competition were being held just before dinner time, I might recommend this, but I'm afraid its out.

Casserole - This one is almost cheating, since there are so many different types of casseroles. Did you know that both Shepherd's pie and Lasagne are considered casseroles, along with a great many other dishes?

Chunky Clam Chowder with Chives - You're kidding... you're kidding right? Need I remind you that pony's diets are completely vegetarian?

Cannolis - This is the ticket. A (relatively) light, sweet desert, the perfect thing to go after a hearty breakfast. And if somepony hasn't eaten yet, all the better, they can come back for seconds.

[starswirlthebearded]

I'm sad... there is no chimicherrychanga! UGH! (Well I do suppose that would make the choice all too easy...)

I have to agree with Ginger on this one. The Cannolis works best in this situation.

[Rosewind]

Wait...they're not cherry? *changes her vote*

[starswirlthebearded]

Wait...they're not cherry? *changes her vote*

Oh come now Rosey... You know full well that is either A) a chimicherry, B) a cherrychanga or C) a chimicherrychanga!

Edit: Did Pinkie ever decide? I DEMAND THIS BE RESOLVED IN CANON!

[weesh]

Well, this is a season 1 thread, and I set it in season 1. I was not sure she had come up with her idea yet. Mabybe? We may never know!

Chunky Clam Chowder with Chives - You're kidding... you're kidding right? Need I remind you that pony's diets are completely vegetarian?

I'm not convinced that pinkie knows what three of those words mean. It sounded so fun in my head that I decided to go with it even though, and in fact because, it is ridiculous. "Clam" is a funny word. Rejected funny sounding foods include:

Calimari, Canadian Bacon, Cheeseburgers, Cheetos, Chorizo (yum!), Corndogs, Crab Cakes and Crawdads.

Calzone made the cut, because they are not necessarily meaty.

Delicious but a little bit heavy, especially since ponies probably just finished eating breakfast, and its more of a lunch or dinner kind of thing anyway.

Note, that in four hours time, it will be well past lunch. : )

[starswirlthebearded]

Well, this is a season 1 thread, and I set it in season 1. I was not sure she had come up with her idea yet. Mabybe? We may never know!

Note, that in four hours time, it will be well past lunch. : )

Makes sense.

Yes in 4h time it will be after lunch, so either way you wouldn't want to have something heavy as you likely already had something heavy for lunch.

[weesh]

in 4h time it will be after lunch, so either way you wouldn't want to have something heavy as you likely already had something heavy for lunch.

I'm doubting that the judges, and excited participants are going to eat a big lunch prior to a food competition.

[starswirlthebearded]

I'm doubting that the judges, and excited participants are going to eat a big lunch prior to a food competition.

You don't have to eat a lot to have something heavy for lunch.

[Rosewind]

You don't have to eat a lot to have something heavy for lunch.

Ever heard of meatloaf cupcakes? They have mashed potato "frosting." I don't suspect we'd find ponies eating something like meatloaf, but they do fall in the cute 'n heavy category!

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Maybe you're right, though I've never had anything take more than a couple hours to cook unless it was something like bread or a roast that needed to sit overnight.

Other foods that start with the letter C, Cake, cheesecake, custard, cookies, creampuffs, crullers, cobbler, coffeecake, cupcakes, corncakes, cornbread, chili, curry, chutney, coleslaw...

[weesh]

Chutney!

If I'd thought of that one, it would have made the cut without a seconds thought!

You don't have to eat a lot to have something heavy for lunch.

I'm misunderstanding perhaps. What is the difference between eating a lot, and eating something heavy?

---

Oh, and I would like to take this opportunity to ask you guys to comment on out-of-character lines. If I represent a pony, especially one of the mane 6 in a way that is contrary to their character, let me know. I want to improve my understanding of them...

[SirShadowdeath]

The PYOA was a good idea.

Kudos.

[weesh]

The PYOA was a good idea.

Kudos.

Thanks. I got it by coming up with about 20 ideas, most of which are rubbish.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

I think that the term heavy, in the context of food refers to foods that are greasy, fatty, oily, rich and/or thick. They're the kind of foods that you can feel sitting in the pit of your stomach for a long time after you've eaten them. Rich, creamy, cheesy casseroles, deep fried dishes with thick refried beans... those are foods that might be considered heavy, even if you only eat a little bit.

The opposite being foods that are light and crispy, flakey, fluffy, etc.

I suppose you could potentially make a calzone that was light, but all the calzones I've ever had were more akin to deep dish pizza, filled with cheese and meats and really greasy.

[weesh]

Ah yes, I can see that I guess.

Part III is up HERE.