Summer of Pony ~ Session IX ~ PYOA Part IV

[weesh]

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

Feel free to jump in, even if you haven't voted in the other parts. This may be the last chance...

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....

[colour=#FF3399]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![/colour]

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

Oh, thanks. My name is...

[colour=#FF8C00]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! [/colour]

[colour=#800080]Pinkie did you waylay another pony on their way through town? We go through this every week...[/colour]

[colour=#800080]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?[/colour]

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

[colour=#FF8C00]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![/colour]

[colour=#FF3399]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![/colour]

[colour=#800080]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. [/colour]

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:

Here is what happened in Part II:

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.

[colour=#800080]Ah, you'll have a blast! And here's that milkshake...[/colour]

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...

[colour=#FF0099]...And this is Rarity![/colour]

[colour=#3399FF]It's a pleasure to meet you! How long will you be in town?[/colour]

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

[colour=#3399FF]Well, the first thing I do while I get into town after traveling is visit our spa. It is simply luxurious after...[/colour]

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

[colour=#3399FF]Darling, I can do better than that, I could keep you company during our treatments![/colour]

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?

[colour=#3399FF]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. [/colour]

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?

[colour=#FF0099]Well, I was thinking about last years cooks competition, and all the tasty treats and I remembered the lemon pie that...[/colour]

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.

[colour=#FF0099]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![/colour]

There is a competition AND a party today?

[colour=#FF0099]No silly, but you aren't here for very long and a competition kinda counts![/colour]

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?

[colour=#FF0099]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![/colour]

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:

[colour=#DAA520]The rules are the same as last year:[/colour]

[colour=#DAA520]1) You have 4 hours to complete one entry.[/colour]

[colour=#DAA520]2) And your entry must be on theme.[/colour]

[colour=#DAA520]3) Entries are judged on taste, presentation and adhearance to the theme.[/colour]

[colour=#DAA520]And now the moment you are have all been waiting for: This years theme is...food that starts with the letter 'C'![/colour]

[colour=#DAA520]GO![/colour]

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

So, uh, what do you want to make?

[colour=#FF0099]We should make a calzone, a chimichanga, cannolis, a casserole, chuncky clam chowder with chives AND...[/colour]

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

[colour=#FF0099]Ok which one sounds tastiest?[/colour]

Well, I like the thought of the ___________.

And the results of the voting:

Here is what happened in Part III:

Well, I've had Cannolis before, and they are tasty, lets go with that!

[colour=#FF0099]GASP![/colour]

Pinkie bounds down the road at what appears to be a casual pace, but you struggle to keep up with her. Her voice is melodious as she exclaims:

[colour=#FF0099]Pumpkin, Pepermint, Peaches, Pistachio, Peanut Butter, so many types of Cannolis! We're going to have them coming out of our nosebags![/colour]

Before you know it, you are at the market, which answers the question of where you were going. There is a banner hung accross the road welcoming the competitors, and vendors are waiting with stocked stalls and signs promising great deals. You and Pinkie are the first there, though others are on their way as well. In a manner of seconds, pinkie has visited every stand and has reapeared in front of you.

Uh, how about we focus our efforts a bit, maybe on flavors that fit the theme. Like cranberries or cinnamon or cherries?

[colour=#FF0099]Or maybe cran-cini-cherry![/colour]

Um, well...that...might...be really good! Why not?

You pop your eyes open wide, careful not to blink, and this time as Pinkie races amung the vendors, you can track her progress, and are less surprised when she appears before you loaded up with berries. Or, you would be if she weren't balanced on a single hind leg.

We're off to a good start! What else goes into cannolis? I've never made them before.

[colour=#FF0099]I have no idea! I don't even know what a cannolis is.[/colour]

We're off to a...start...I guess. Shall we go find a recipe?

[colour=#FF0099]Do we need a recipe? How hard can it be?[/colour]

What is your response? Go down to the key, and then up to the poll to vote.

Answer 1: Let's wing it then!

Answer 2: Let's find a cookbook at the library!

Answer 3: Let's find a cookbook at Sugarcube Corner!

And the results of the voting:

The story continues:

Darn the recipes, full speed ahead!

Well, after we get some ricotta cheese...

[colour=#ff0099]I didn't see any ricotta, but I saw cheddar and mozzarella.[/colour]

Interesting. If somepony had told me a week ago that by today, I was going to get run out of two cities for crimes against the culinary arts; I’d have never believed them. These ponies are nice. I’m going to miss them.

Back to the kitchen! We’ll work something out.

On your way to Sugarcube Corner, something catches your eye.

[colour=#ff0099]…so the filling could be marshmellow based, or maybe…[/colour]

Pinkie! Just out of curiosity, who are the judges of this competition?

[colour=#ff0099]This year it is our very own Mrs. Cake, Fieri Pony of Las Pegasus, and…[/colour]

Emerald Legacy from Manehatten?

[colour=#ff0099]Yeah! Or maybe vanilla ice cream based, or…[/colour]

Back at the kitchen, the two of you make a generic pastry dough, start up a deep fryer, and prepare the berries in a generic creamy filling. The filling, while it has no Ricotta, is thankfully free of other cheeses and marshmallows due to the fact that you took the initiative on it.

I feel like we are losing the essence of Cannolis here. Is there anything else we can do to keep them on theme?

[colour=#ff0099]We should bend the tubes into ‘C’ shapes...[/colour]

Ok, but then how will we fill them?

[colour=#ff0099]We could squirt the filling out of an icing tip, perhaps a flower, so that the ends look pretty. [/colour]

I’m really regretting mixing in the berries at this point

[colour=#ff0099]Just mash it up a little, it’ll be great![/colour]

As you start frying up batches of the tiny wads of shaped dough that have aspirations of being ‘C’s and foolishly high hopes for remaining tubes by the end of the process, it occurs to even Pinkie that this might not have been the best way to go.

While the hopes and aspirations of the dough are crushed, you get better at pre-forming them, and some of the product is useable. But the carnage has been terrible.

[colour=#ff0099]…I’m glad we made so much dough. [/colour]

We way overdid the filling production though…

As you fill the shells that have finished cooling, you learn they are pretty fragile. However, the broken ones prove to have an interesting taste. Are they good, or are they just exceeding expectations? You aren’t sure. With a little experimentation, you figure out the the right amount of cinnamon to add to the top.

The delicate nature of the task has brought you and Pinkie to silence. After about 5 minutes, you are ready.

Pinkie, what do you think about entering these on your own, without me?

[colour=#ff0099]Don’t be silly, these are so good! We’ll win the top prize for sure![/colour]

Well entering is bad enough, but if we win? Then I will definitely be face to face with Emerald. He uh, probably doesn’t like me much. With enough time perhaps he’ll forget me. He thinks I ruined his cooking demonstration a few days ago. I hired a well-meaning Pegasus to help me with some of the behind the scenes work for a show, and things went very badly. A lot of ponies were angry, and I decided to take the entire wrap for it so that they wouldn’t blame her. I had to flee.

[colour=#ff0099]I would be sad if you pulled out, we worked so hard on this together. But I understand. What should we do?[/colour]

Answer 1: Let Pinkie enter alone

Answer 2: Enter together, but stay inconspicuous or in disguise

Answer 3: Enter together, and proudly

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Hmm, this is a tough one, a real doozy of a decision to make. And I thought making the cannolis would be the hard part...

First off, making Pinkie Pie go it alone? Never! Option one is right out. Victory is best when shared with a friend, and the thought of Pinkie Pie not having anyone to lean on for a crushing defeat is just too much to bear. So that only leaves one choice, disguise or not disguise.

Clearly, the event organizers weren't very concerned about accuracy when they were setting up this competition. In a true competition, the judges shouldn't know who made what until after they've already made their decision. So on one hoof, its tempting to enter together and proudly, just so you can put Emerald's professionalism to the test.

On the other hoof, if we were worried about the competition, we wouldn't have voted for Pinkie Pie. (I suggested Applejack personally, but I'm not going to hold a grudge.) We're in the competition for fun, and I've been told that cosplay is super fun. You met Rarity the other night, perhaps you can get her help with a fabulous disguise? Or maybe you can just jump into a bale of hay. Either way, you're sure to surprise the audience.

[weesh]

Clearly, the event organizers weren't very concerned about accuracy when they were setting up this competition. In a true competition, the judges shouldn't know who made what until after they've already made their decision. So on one hoof, its tempting to enter together and proudly, just so you can put Emerald's professionalism to the test.

Yup. Accurate or not, I like the idea that there wouldn't be any cheating or favoritism in such a competition.

I considered making it a blind test, but in shows like Iron Chef, the creator is not only known, they get to describe the merits of each dish before anyone gets to taste it.

In the end, my other routes were feeling lame. There were not interesting choices for the participants to make. After a bunch of false starts, I came back to this idea, and it flowed well enough to follow through.

Also, as the cannolis started to deteriorate, I began to imagine a scene where somepony has to explain the creation to a judge, and it made me laugh.

[Rosewind]

TOGETHER!