Post by Skyheart on Sept 29, 2013 19:25:19 GMT -5
Mr_Cake is sitting at the counter with a sheet of paper. It's sign up for the baking contest today. It wasn't going to start yet but all the participants were asked to register their team and their special ingredient. He waits patiently for the contestants and judges to arrive.
Red_Velvet soon strides through the door, looking simply fabulous in her judges uniform. She is wearing a very form fitting charcoal gray business suit and has her mane pulled back into a tight bun. She is also looking quite dour and unforgiving. Miss Velvet is going to be the not-very-nice judge on this panel. She trots over to the table and places her hoof on the sign-up sheet, "Have we had many entries Mr. Cake?"
Crash. The door to Sugarcube Corner flies open as one of the most infamous mares in Ponyville makes her appearance, clad in a ghastly - as Rarity would put it - pink apron, wearing saddlebags, and with a large whisk in her mouth slung over her back. "Is today the bakin' contest?" Sky Blue half-shouts across the bakery, her smile wide enough to swallow several moons.
Mr_Cake nods to Red Velvet as she comes in. "You're early actually. None of the contestants have arrived yet." He says. Then the crash happens and he winces. "Um... Y-Yes... Yes it is... Sign up is over here, miss... Oh dear." That's Sky Blue. At least she came in through the door. He takes a deep breath and hopes he can do this.
Well, the contest is already a disaster. Not because of stray bugs or any sort of invading dragon/griffon joint mariachi band-- Something infamous for ruining a good party. --but because Apple Bloom, the "littlest" Apple has just entered Sugarcube corner. Worse still, she is wearing a t-shirt that says "I'm What's Up." And sunglasses. "Calm down, Sweetie Belle."
Nightshade arrives, but not through the door. Rather, she emerges from the back, as if materializing in the hidden darkness which no pony can properly perceive. Her mane is combed back and held up by a translucent headband which almost certainly is made of gemstone, and for clothing she wears a poofy lavender gown, very reserved and sober, the kind a royal official is expected to wear in more casual occasions. A large medallion hangs from her neck, the signet of the Diarchy. Her expression, as always, is neutral and unreadable. Without much of a word, she slips into the room and plants herself right at the judges table.
Red_Velvet nods in a very stiff-necked business like manner at the owner of the bakery, "It is better to be early then late Mr. CarrotCake. And I shall be happy to wait as well for the less punctual ponies. Greetings Miss Skyblue, Miss AppleBloom, Miss Nightshade." Red Velvet nods curtly to each pony in question.
Sweetie_Belle is following in Apple Bloom, "But we don't have our cutie marks yet and we've /both/ tried baking," she exclaims. "And I know I'm only pretty good at baking!"
"Howdy, Red!" Sky bellows at the stiff-lipped mare as she canters past her, the other competition, and possibly through a few before coming to a halt, half an inch in front of Mr. Cake, a dangerously large smile upon her face. "Do ah need t'sign anythin'?" she asks, leaning a little closer to the poor baker, unblinking.
Mr_Cake nods his head gently and taps the paper with his hoof. He leans his head back worriedly. "Y-Yes... Right here." He cranes his neck to the side to see the other ponies gathering. "Alright then! Everypony sign up here! You all remembered to bring your secret ingredients, right?"
"Relax, Sweetie Belle. This ain't just *bakin'* but *competin'* and if there's one thing we Cutie Mark Crusaders are good at.." Apple BLoom points ahead upwards, as if to the future. "IT'S COMPETIN'"
Nightshade says nothing, but merely magially scribbles on her notepad as contestants continue to arrival. She looks at Sky Blue pointedly and....scribbles. Scribble scribble scribble.
Red_Velvet trots over to take her seat at the judges table, nodding to Sky Blue as she is greeted, "Hello Sky. I look forward to seeing what you can create." She lifts her head then and lets her eyes wander over the contestants with scathing looks, her voice cracks like ice as she adds, "I look forward to trying ever offering from every team. I trust, none of you will disappoint me." She then sits down and steeples her hooves in front of her, looking out over the registration line.
Sweetie_Belle mms "We are?" She scrunches her brows lightly, "I mean, we are! Let's compete! And, umm, what are we going to make?" she asks, voice lower now.
Maple, seeming to be a bit fashionably late, announced by a bit of bumping, thumping and clattering as he makes his way up the steps to the sugar cube corner, balanced on his back and using his wings to help is a sizable barrel. Nowhere near the size of the Apple's cider barrels, but a good couple gallons at least. "Phew, did I miss anything?" he asks, panting a bit as he steps inside, nudging the door closed with a hind hoof.
Sky Blue, meanwhile, has been struggling to write her name and chosen ingredient - mayonnaise - as neatly and correctly as possible. She's gone through most of the form, scratching out her various misspellings, before finally getting it right. The blue filly looks back up at Mr. Cake, asks "When're we startin'? Ah can't wait t'get mah hooves on yer spoons'n rollin' pins," then leans closer once more and performs another of her worrying smiles.
Mr_Cake watches as the contestants sign up. Then Maple comes in with a large barrel. "Wow... um... Is that your ingredient? Are you sure you need that much?" he asks.
Red_Velvet sits at the judges table, an imperious look on her features as she lightly taps her pen held in her magic on a notepad before her. *tap tap tap tap tap...taptaptaptap*
Maplewing pauses for a moment and glances back at the barrel on his back, chuckling lightly to Mr. Cake's question. "It's not /that/ much..." he says with a little sheepish smile. "Besides, better to have too much than too little." he says as he steps into the bake shop and steps up to the registration table. "Hello Miss Velvet, fancy seeing you here!" he greets.
Nightshade is quiet as a dark, it seems. Even her scribbling doesn't seem to generate the sounds it should be making. All she dones is watch, and stare, and write.
Leaaaaaaan. Sky Blue, having spared Mr Cake her attention, has shifted over to the judge's table, her neck craned towards Nightshade and trying to read the scribbles upon her clipboard upside-down. "What'cha writin'?" she asks, tilting her head a liiiittle more so. "Y'all don't look like y'all have any ingredients or whisks or stuff, sugarcube. Y'all sure y'all're prepared fer the bakin' contest?"
Red_Velvet blinks and glances over at Sky Blue before clearing her throat and speaking, "Sky? This is the judges table. Miss Nightshade is one of those judges, along with myself and Mr Cake. The princesses may be making an appearance as well. I am the snarky, nasty judge for the evening."
Maplewing ooc so, my last pose didn't get seen then?
Red_Velvet then turns to regard Maplewing, one eyebrow lifting and she nods, attempting to maintain a cold, calm demenor. "Good Evening Maplewing, I do hope you brought your A-game today?"
Mr_Cake watches as the contestants all start to get in line. "Alright then. I'm sure you're all ready to start? When you are, file into the kitchen and pick an oven. I'll give the instructions when everypony is ready."
Maplewing smiles to grins to Red Velvet and tips his head "Don't I always?" he chuckles to Red and shifts to set the small barrel down. "So, what's the low down?" he asks, looking up to Mr. Cake.
Apple Bloom trots her way into the kitchen. She is going to claim the biggest oven in the kitchen. It'll guarantee a win!
Nightshade merely stares at Sky Blue, stares deeply, as Velvet answers.
Before Sky Blue can say another word, Mr Cake makes his announcement. The cyan filly promptly disappears in a light blue blur, speeding off towards the kitchen with such enthusiasm that she misses the swing doors and enters via a wall. Within seconds, she has found an oven, and has started unloading several large jars of what is hopefully mayonnaise onto a nearby table, battle whisk at the ready.
Mr_Cake watches everypony get to the ovens. He smiles and motions to the tables opposite the ovens in the center. "Okay. Each of you has a set of ingredients including the one you brought with you- if you remembered. When I give the signal, you all start making your treats and we judge them. Okay? On my mark, go!" He blows a whistle that was in his pocket.
Apple Bloom rushes to the oven and preheats it to the highest setting possible, then hits it a few times. "Darn thing doesn't get hot enough!" The filly then rummages around in cupboards looking for five big bowls.
"Mayonnaise, check. Double mayonnaise, check. Double double mayonnaise, check." Once all thirteen jars of mayonnaise have been unloaded from her saddlebags, Sky Blue pulls over a nearby bowl and starts adding a variety of the non-mayonnaise ingredients, seemingly at random, along with two jars of mayonnaise. Then the battle whisk comes out, which she oh-so-delicately starts to use to mix her sickly white concotion, totally not splashing any flecks onto the surrounding environment or entailing an extensive cleanup for Mr Cake after the contest is over.
Apple Bloom has the five bowls. Now for the flour. She pours equal amounts of flour into each one. Then as much sugar into each one as the flower. Then twice the salt. Then the mayonnaise goes flying and the filly shouts in surprise and ducks under the table. Oh! There's where she put the milk!
Just as things start to warm up a bit, the front doors SLAM open and in rushes a pair of saddlebags attached to a breathless, panting Applejack! "Hh! Hay there! Hh. Oh lordy. Ain't missed nothin', have Ah? Aw, horsefeathers, they done started already? Dangit!"... and she rushes at top speed into the kitchen!
Maplewing has stopped, and is now staring acros the area at the other competitors, namely Sky Blue spewing mayo everywhere and Apple Bloom apparently trying ot burn the place down. Shaking his head, he snaps himself to again. Immediately he begins by adding flour to bowls, along with sugar, a bit of oil and such, the beginnings of a nice sweet dough. WHile mixing he edges over to Mr. Cake. "You do have insurance, right?" he asks, just as AJ bursts in, causing the stallion to jump and send a gob of dough arcing toward Mr. Cake's muzzle.
Something crashing? But... Sky's HERE! Who could it- "Howdy, Applejack!" the destructive filly calls out, smiling even wider than usual, before giving a particular vigorous whisking that sends out three large globules of mayonnaise. One splats across Mr Cake's cutie mark. Another splashes upon Red Velvet's fancy outfit. The third hits Princess Celestia's crown. And the last hits Nightshade square in the face. "What're y'all gonna make, sugarcube?" she asks, taking a break from her havoc-wreaking.
Nightshade immedietely blocks the oncoming condiment with a quick magical barrier. Her reaction is unreadable, besides the scribbling. Scribble scribble scribble.
Apple Bloom pops up over the table she is working on and dumps an entire gallon of milk into one of the bowls and begins to mix. The oven is getting very very hot.
Applejack barely pauses at the judges table on the way in to tip her hat to the Princess and write down in the registration book that "Aqljrk" has entered the contest with her secret ingredient, "spablbdy". Her writing leaves something to be desired even when she's NOT in a hurry! She is just barely missed by the incoming splatters as she flips on one of the unused ovens and starts grabbing ingredients out of the cupboards and from by the oven: flour, sugar, six eggs, baking powder, extracts of vanilla, lemon, and almond, and cornstarch! She greases up a cake pa- *flup*CLANG"Consarn it!" - greases up, rather more carefully, ANOTHER cake pan, and pauses a moment to wipe her face. A couple of superfluous freckles get wiped away; guess she wasn't so lucky about the launched mayonnaise after all.
Maplewing shuffles away from Mr. Cake after the spattering of dough and inches back toward his kitchen. He's got a good back of dough going and he covers it lightly before tucking it in a cozy warm place away from drafts. It doesn't need to rise much, but it does need a bit. As he works he kees his eyes on the other participants, half distracted by being aware of shrapnel.. or something. O.O
Sky Blue has shifted away from her sickly white bowl of mayonnaise to start examining her oven. Native savages of foreign countries examining highly-advanced pieces of modern technology look slightly less confused than Sky does at the oven. She tries one of the knobs. Fire leaps up. Okay, that's a bad knob. She turns it off, then tries another knob. More fire. "Uh... Applejack? How the hay does this thing work?" she asks, trying more of the knobs and sending more gouts of flame up from the hob. How she manages to get flames from an electric hob is anypony's guess.
The milk/salt/sugar/flour mixture starts turning into goop, and Apple Bloom pours the other four bowls of salt/sugar/flour into the goop and gets stirring. The oven, meanwhile, has crossed from its highest setting to "WOW BROILERS ARE REALLY JEALOUS OF THIS THING."
Applejack has put all of her ingredients in a bowl. Properly, of course! Arguably the best baker in Ponyville knows what she's doing! 1/2 teaspoon each of the extracts, flour and cornstarch sifted together, "Whoops, almost fergot!" AJ is getting a jug of cream out of the fridge when Sky Blue asks her a question - backed with showers of flame, as questions from Sky Blue often are. Applejack drops the cream! Catches it! Sets it down CAREFULLY, then runs to Sky Blue and shuts off the burners. Peering at the elements, AJ squints, sniffs them, then makes a face. "Allrighty... four things, sugar. One, this knob here controls th' temperature. Two, this knob HERE controls which elements ya wanna use. Bottom's fer bakin'. Three, don't use these at all, unless yer cookin' on th' stovetop. An' four, next time don't spread mayonnaise over all th' elements befoe turnin' 'em on. Or anythin' else! Let 'em be clean, okay?" She trots back to whisk some cream into her own bowl, hoping against hope that maybe some of those words made ... it all the way to Sky Blue's brain without being eaten by a grue... or incinerated by AB's overpowered oven...
Maplewing seems to somehow be managing to keep himself realatively unscathed despite the flying ingredients and the licking of flames coming form Ksy blue's side of the kitchens. He plops the dough out onto a board and begins to knead it with his hooves, adding a bit of maple syrup as he goes now and again, giving hte dough a nice sweet scent and a light amber colouring as he works.
Okay... dangerously deadly flames at bay, oven at a mostly decent temperature, and only a mild coating of mayonnaise in the interior. The mayo-splattered Sky Blue pours her well-mixed abomination into a cake tin, then starts throwing in... are those capers? Peppercorn? Celestia knows what. Or maybe not even her. Regardless, it looks nasty and smells of rotten mayonnaise.
Pumpkin_Pie trots in happily, carting about a small wagon full of baking goods ready to be made and sold! "Howdy Ya'll, I'm Pumpkin Pie, and I'mma here ta represen-" He pauses, looking into the crazed mad house of ponies, fire, and Sky Blue. Yes, Sky Blue. He turns, and pulls out the emergency protocols Pumpkin Patch made from him to follow in case of Sky Blue sightings. Get to church, pray she can't cross hollowed ground. Seems logical. And so, there ends Pumpkin Pie's foray into getting a baking cutie mark. Nopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenope! He slowly backs away from the bakery, letting the door creak shut in his wake.
Applejack carefully dips a spoon into her batter and tastes it, licking her lips contemplatively... and nods! She opens her saddlebag and takes out... uh... apparently "spablbdy" means a slightly ornate, tightly stoppered bottle full of... something strange. A liquid, not very viscous, but with the odd property that no matter how she moves the bottle, everypony can always see a full *striped* rainbow of colors in the liquid, red at the top through purple at the bottom! She opens her mouth to greet Pumpkin Pie, but then he... escapes. Or whatever that was. So she shrugs, unstoppers the strange bottle, and pours about 3/4 of a cup of the strongly-alcoholic-fruitysmelling stuff in. A few more whiskings, and she fills the greased pan with her now rainbowy-looking batter and slips it into the oven. She gives a satisfies nod, then winks to the judges. That is indeed how they do it down on the farm.
Soon Apple Bloom managed to combine the goop into one, huge, salty wad of dough twice her size. It's awfully thick for cake batter, actually. And she starts kneading it.
Maplewing takes much care into his pastery, and begins rolling little round 'logs' of dough and weaving them in an almost fan shape. The dough is fragrant and rich smelling, especially thanks to the rich molassasey scent it has. He prepares several, just enough for judging, with a few extra, on a tray and making sure each one is perfect before turning to put them in the oven as well, carrying the tray in his teeth and opening the door with his hooves to ever so gingerly tuck them inside. In the meantime he whips up what looks to almost be a pudding, adding far more maple along with rich creams, turning it into a nice thick filling that is a wonderful golden colour. When the dough dings after a short while, Maple carefully removes them, each one looking roughly shaped like pegasus wings. Once cooled, Maple takes the filling he prepared, now suitably chilled to thicken and fills a large syringe with it, the end of which shaped into a long spigot which he inserts into the end of each 'pinfeather' of pastery, sqeezing ...a long thick line of maple cream filling through each. Last but not least he puts a wonderful maple glaze over the entire thing that makes them glisten with sugary goodness.
An hour later, each judge is faced with part of Sky Blue's ghastly creation: a sloppy white cake slice that looks like it went bad several years ago. It smells very strongly of mayonnaise. It tastes like a mixture of mayonnaise, sweat, and rotten cheese, with the occasional whole peppercorn lying in wait. At least she decorated each slice with a crudely-applied smily face out of blue icing suger. The mare stands before the judges, smiling hopefully and fidgetting slightly.
While the cake is baking, Applejack prepares an icing glaze for it: icing sugar, milk, extra cornstarch, and more of the mysterious fluid. It thickens in the fridge for a little while, and when the cake is ready (after cooling a few more minutes), she glazes it carefully - a six-pointed starburst pattern (not entirely unlike Twilight's cutie mark), where the unnatural shimmer of the glaze paints each point a different color as it runs off the edge of the cake's surface. What color each is changes and shifts with the light. After everything has set up, Applejack slices it carefully and serves a multicolored slice to each judge with a dollop of freshly-whipped cream. "Fillies an' gentlecolt, on behalf o' Sweet-" She glances at AB. "On behalf o' th' SENIOR BAKERS o' Sweet Apple Acres, may Ah present: Zap-Apple Brandy Pound Cake! Don't be alarmed by th' funny little effects, they'll wear off in a couple minutes at most." By way of demonstration, she eats a small piece herself, then gives a loud HICCUP - an
- and a half-dozen shimmering bubbles float out of her ears! The cake is quite sweet and also quite tart, with the sharp, sparkling flavor of zap apples, a definite vapor of brandy, and every couple of bites causes a random, harmless little magical effect. Like the bubbles.
This is a salty white cake. All craftsponyship is of the highest quality. It is adorned with glitter. It menaces with spikes of glitter. It menaces with spikes of salt. On the cake is an image of ponies in glitter. The ponies are cringing. On the cake is an image of Celestia in salt and glitter. Celestia is surrounded by quails. The artwork relates to the ascension of Celestia as Princess of Equestria in 1. On the cake is an image of cockroaches in glitter. The cake menaces with spikes of glitter. The cake is studded with salt buttons. On the cake is an image of Applejack in glitter. Applejack is in the fetal position. The artwork relates to the founding of the Cutie Mark crusaders in [REDACTED.] The cake menaces with spikes of glitter. On the cake is an image of diamonds. On the cake is an image of two alicorns chasing one another. The artwork is the official emblem of Equestria. The cake menaces with spikes of salt.
Letting the glaze cool for a few minutes to make a hoof friendly confection tasting of rich maple sugar and cinnamon as well as a mix of true vanilla and maple cream filling in the shape of pegasus wings, a new recipe of Maples he likes to dub a 'Maple Wing' (much akin to like a beaver tail as it were IRL) he arranges one on a plate for each judge and tops it off with a light sprinkle of cinnamon before presenting each judge with one each. Each one is almost twice as large as a hoof easily. He tips his head to each judge with a smile but says nothing else other than showing his silent respect.
Well, this is certainly going to be a competition with quite a bit of... heterogeneity, that's for sure. Princess Celestia is up at the judge's table and has been patiently waiting for the competitors to complete their delicacies. Well, delicacies and... whatever the thing Sky Blue put up there. Did it just move? She's pretty sure it just moved. Celestia pokes it trepedatiously with a fork. Oh dear. At least Apple Bloom's is moving in a less... sentient manner? She scribbles down some notes before taking a tiny, delicate forkful of Maple's. She chews it slowly, then washes out her mouth with water. She then takes a... nibble... of Sky's. Chews it slowly, washes out her mouth. She repeats this for each one to get an idea of the spectrum before focusing on each individually at a time.
Mr_Cake looks at the treats laid out before him and the rest of the judges. "Okay then, first up is..." He cringes at some of them. Trying all his might to stay as far away from the mayonaise monstrosity as possible before going for Maple's treat first. "Hm.... Very nicely put. The flavor is everywhere but not too overpowering. That's a tall order to top." He then moves to Apple Bloom's cake. He winces heavily. "Ugh... A bit too much salt there, little one. Not... bad, though." He then moves to Applejack's cake. After taking a bite he hiccups and a large portion of multi-colored bubbles start appearing out of his mouth. "Wow.... That's... different." He then VERY hesitantly takes a bite of the mayonaise cake. He forces it down his throat as he starts to convulse before fainting onto the ground.
Small pastel polka dots appear on the Princess's face and slowly move around at random.
Nightshade pauses and gazes at each of the concoctions in turn, judging their appearance, their texture. She looks down, scribbles some notes. Presently, she brings Sky Blue's recipe towards herself, towards her mouth, and has a bite. She chews, she swallows, the only hint of her experience being a brief, almost imperceptible twitch of her mouth. She has a swig of water before trying Apple Bloom's thing, the baked good making some uncfomrtoable-sounding crunching noises in her mouth. Another swig, then Maplewing's cake. She leaves Applejack's cake aside for now as she scribbles again. All the while her expression does not change. She is a scientist dispassionately assessing the results of the experiment.
Applejack starts in shock and runs over to check on the fallen pony! "Mr. Cake? Mr. Cake! Come on now, sugar! Wake up! Aw, horsefeathers! Ah better run get Dr. Stable! Hang on!"
Nightshade samples Applejack's cake last, letting it move around it her mouth for a while. She swallows, and for several moments nothing seems to happen. She's right about to scribble some more when suddenly the shadows seem to fade all around Nightshade as rainbow-coloured light sparks out of her body and illuminates the whole room for about three seconds. THen, as quickly as it had come, it is gone. "Fascinating," Nightshade states, scribbling in her notepad once more.
Nightshade then notes Mr. Cake convulsing on the ground. Quickly, she levitates Mr. Cake off the ground and hoists him hind legs first, shaking him about to dislodge the 'pastry'.
Mr_Cake groggily wakes up. Seeing he's hovering he freaks and flails a bit. "Woah! Put me down! Put me down!"
Celestia takes a bite of Maple's. She chews it slowly and steadily before setting down her fork. "A delightful convestion, Maplewing. Thank you. The cinnamon and maple sugar counterbalance the cream and complement the vanilla very well. It might just be a -touch- too sweet for my personal palate, but it is a truly fine dessert and you do you and your craft proud." She moves to Sky Blue's and takes another nibble. "... It is... very creamy and very rich. Almost panna cotta or custardlike in raw richness. I would say that it actually needs a bit more sugar to really make it like a dessert," the Princess says softly. "But truly, a valiant attempt, Miss Sky Blue. Thank you for taking part. I strongly recommend you carefully follow the recipe next time and perhaps utilize your vast mead resources to make something special." Then she moves to Apple Bloom's and she takes a bite. She chews it slowly. "It is... it has a great spike of flavor and is very visually appealing," she says with a little giggle at the sight of herself on the cake. And all the glitter. "It may be a bit over seasoned. Be very careful not t- oh dear," she turns to her fellow judge, who appears to he convulzing. She leans over and her horn glows bright gold. She touches it to Mr Cake's forehead and, suddenly, a wave of warm color appears to wash over him. She gently helps him to his feet. "... You may not want to taste that one again."
Nightshade immedietely sets Mr. Cake gently on the ground upon his recovery. "Now, where were we...yes..." She flips through her notes one last time before turning to each contestant one by one. "First, Miss Blue. While I found your...concoction most intriguing, I am afraid that salad dressing does not meet the requirements of this contest."
Nightshade says "And neither does naval rations, Miss Apple, I'm afraid."
Nightshade says "Turning towards entries which actually qualified, I can say that Mr. Maplewing's entry was indeed succulent and firm, though in reference to Her Majesty's critique there is room for greater degrees of hard substance as opposed to flavour."
Celestia returns her attention to the cakes. She finishes Apple Bloom's and considers. "It is indeed a bit on the salty side. Do be judicious in your seasoning in the future." She then turns to Applejack's. Well. She takes another, big, bite and chews thughtfully. "... Very good, Applejack. Very very good. It all goes together very well. I might suggest reducing the brandy next time in order to cook off some of the alcohol, perhaps with a little sugar and spice, in order t reduce some of the resulting edge." She considers and takes another bite. Her eyes suddenly grow bright red and they speak in tongues. Yes, her eyes are speaking in tongues. It ends after a 97 seconds, though. "Thank you, Applejack."
Nightshade says "And as for the elder Miss Apple...yes, I was very intrigued by your entry, very intrigued indeed. I must say that the combination of flavours is most unusual, yet the organic integration of each kind of stimulation works itself into a concert of, ah, post-prandial well-being. However, I woould suggest a greater degree of subtlety is required, in particular given the...aftereffects. There is much to be said about the solace of the ordinary."
Celestia's left eyeball says something to Nightshade that it would never say in front of its mother in a dead language.
Mr_Cake rights himself and nods to the other judges. "Alright then. I think we can all make our decisions soon." He says. "We'll each rate each treat. The one with the most high votes wins. Each of these (that we can properly recreate without health department issues) will be put in the catalog next month. Now, Princess, Lady Nightshade, which ones were your favorites?"
Celestia considers. "I vote for Applejack's," she decides.
Applejack takes off her hat and bows to Princess Celestia. "Thanks kindly, yer Highness!"
Nightshade contemplates. "It is a hard decision, yes, but...I must arrive at the Princess' conclusion, as well. Both top entrants have similar issues, but Miss Apple's striking expression deserves its due."
Apple Bloom jealously looks at her sister's cake, frowns, and saunters past her artifact cake and decides to get on with her life. Oh yeah, and she's grumbling,t oo.
Mr_Cake nods. "I'll have to say it's somewhat unanimous. That cake was... certainly interesting, Applejack."
Sky Blue is slumped down on the floor with overly-wide and teary filly eyes. NOT QUALIFIED. SALAD DRESSING. MR CAKE HAD A MINOR STROKE. She doesn't look like a very happy or confident baker. Even her chef's hat slowly deflates.
Celestia walks around the judge's table and wraps a wing around Sky Blue. "I thought you gave it an excellent attempt, little Sky Blue."
Another little filly sits in the corner. She's reading a comic book and looking unimpressed. When Sky comes over and flops down, she lifts her gaze to the blue pony. "Hey, dude. It's not all that bad," Scootaloo says. "Look at what my friends did. Now you know why I didn't enter, right?"
Applejack tips her hat to Nightshade and Mr. Cake, then crosses her legs proudly! "Thank y'all very kindly! On behalf o' Sweet Apple Acres, may Ah just say... YEEHAW! BLUE RIBBON AGAIN!"
Mr_Cake nods. "Well congratulations. And I really do thank everypony for participating and we hope to see you all next time. If it's requested enough we'll do another soon!" He says.
Red_Velvet soon strides through the door, looking simply fabulous in her judges uniform. She is wearing a very form fitting charcoal gray business suit and has her mane pulled back into a tight bun. She is also looking quite dour and unforgiving. Miss Velvet is going to be the not-very-nice judge on this panel. She trots over to the table and places her hoof on the sign-up sheet, "Have we had many entries Mr. Cake?"
Crash. The door to Sugarcube Corner flies open as one of the most infamous mares in Ponyville makes her appearance, clad in a ghastly - as Rarity would put it - pink apron, wearing saddlebags, and with a large whisk in her mouth slung over her back. "Is today the bakin' contest?" Sky Blue half-shouts across the bakery, her smile wide enough to swallow several moons.
Mr_Cake nods to Red Velvet as she comes in. "You're early actually. None of the contestants have arrived yet." He says. Then the crash happens and he winces. "Um... Y-Yes... Yes it is... Sign up is over here, miss... Oh dear." That's Sky Blue. At least she came in through the door. He takes a deep breath and hopes he can do this.
Well, the contest is already a disaster. Not because of stray bugs or any sort of invading dragon/griffon joint mariachi band-- Something infamous for ruining a good party. --but because Apple Bloom, the "littlest" Apple has just entered Sugarcube corner. Worse still, she is wearing a t-shirt that says "I'm What's Up." And sunglasses. "Calm down, Sweetie Belle."
Nightshade arrives, but not through the door. Rather, she emerges from the back, as if materializing in the hidden darkness which no pony can properly perceive. Her mane is combed back and held up by a translucent headband which almost certainly is made of gemstone, and for clothing she wears a poofy lavender gown, very reserved and sober, the kind a royal official is expected to wear in more casual occasions. A large medallion hangs from her neck, the signet of the Diarchy. Her expression, as always, is neutral and unreadable. Without much of a word, she slips into the room and plants herself right at the judges table.
Red_Velvet nods in a very stiff-necked business like manner at the owner of the bakery, "It is better to be early then late Mr. CarrotCake. And I shall be happy to wait as well for the less punctual ponies. Greetings Miss Skyblue, Miss AppleBloom, Miss Nightshade." Red Velvet nods curtly to each pony in question.
Sweetie_Belle is following in Apple Bloom, "But we don't have our cutie marks yet and we've /both/ tried baking," she exclaims. "And I know I'm only pretty good at baking!"
"Howdy, Red!" Sky bellows at the stiff-lipped mare as she canters past her, the other competition, and possibly through a few before coming to a halt, half an inch in front of Mr. Cake, a dangerously large smile upon her face. "Do ah need t'sign anythin'?" she asks, leaning a little closer to the poor baker, unblinking.
Mr_Cake nods his head gently and taps the paper with his hoof. He leans his head back worriedly. "Y-Yes... Right here." He cranes his neck to the side to see the other ponies gathering. "Alright then! Everypony sign up here! You all remembered to bring your secret ingredients, right?"
"Relax, Sweetie Belle. This ain't just *bakin'* but *competin'* and if there's one thing we Cutie Mark Crusaders are good at.." Apple BLoom points ahead upwards, as if to the future. "IT'S COMPETIN'"
Nightshade says nothing, but merely magially scribbles on her notepad as contestants continue to arrival. She looks at Sky Blue pointedly and....scribbles. Scribble scribble scribble.
Red_Velvet trots over to take her seat at the judges table, nodding to Sky Blue as she is greeted, "Hello Sky. I look forward to seeing what you can create." She lifts her head then and lets her eyes wander over the contestants with scathing looks, her voice cracks like ice as she adds, "I look forward to trying ever offering from every team. I trust, none of you will disappoint me." She then sits down and steeples her hooves in front of her, looking out over the registration line.
Sweetie_Belle mms "We are?" She scrunches her brows lightly, "I mean, we are! Let's compete! And, umm, what are we going to make?" she asks, voice lower now.
Maple, seeming to be a bit fashionably late, announced by a bit of bumping, thumping and clattering as he makes his way up the steps to the sugar cube corner, balanced on his back and using his wings to help is a sizable barrel. Nowhere near the size of the Apple's cider barrels, but a good couple gallons at least. "Phew, did I miss anything?" he asks, panting a bit as he steps inside, nudging the door closed with a hind hoof.
Sky Blue, meanwhile, has been struggling to write her name and chosen ingredient - mayonnaise - as neatly and correctly as possible. She's gone through most of the form, scratching out her various misspellings, before finally getting it right. The blue filly looks back up at Mr. Cake, asks "When're we startin'? Ah can't wait t'get mah hooves on yer spoons'n rollin' pins," then leans closer once more and performs another of her worrying smiles.
Mr_Cake watches as the contestants sign up. Then Maple comes in with a large barrel. "Wow... um... Is that your ingredient? Are you sure you need that much?" he asks.
Red_Velvet sits at the judges table, an imperious look on her features as she lightly taps her pen held in her magic on a notepad before her. *tap tap tap tap tap...taptaptaptap*
Maplewing pauses for a moment and glances back at the barrel on his back, chuckling lightly to Mr. Cake's question. "It's not /that/ much..." he says with a little sheepish smile. "Besides, better to have too much than too little." he says as he steps into the bake shop and steps up to the registration table. "Hello Miss Velvet, fancy seeing you here!" he greets.
Nightshade is quiet as a dark, it seems. Even her scribbling doesn't seem to generate the sounds it should be making. All she dones is watch, and stare, and write.
Leaaaaaaan. Sky Blue, having spared Mr Cake her attention, has shifted over to the judge's table, her neck craned towards Nightshade and trying to read the scribbles upon her clipboard upside-down. "What'cha writin'?" she asks, tilting her head a liiiittle more so. "Y'all don't look like y'all have any ingredients or whisks or stuff, sugarcube. Y'all sure y'all're prepared fer the bakin' contest?"
Red_Velvet blinks and glances over at Sky Blue before clearing her throat and speaking, "Sky? This is the judges table. Miss Nightshade is one of those judges, along with myself and Mr Cake. The princesses may be making an appearance as well. I am the snarky, nasty judge for the evening."
Maplewing ooc so, my last pose didn't get seen then?
Red_Velvet then turns to regard Maplewing, one eyebrow lifting and she nods, attempting to maintain a cold, calm demenor. "Good Evening Maplewing, I do hope you brought your A-game today?"
Mr_Cake watches as the contestants all start to get in line. "Alright then. I'm sure you're all ready to start? When you are, file into the kitchen and pick an oven. I'll give the instructions when everypony is ready."
Maplewing smiles to grins to Red Velvet and tips his head "Don't I always?" he chuckles to Red and shifts to set the small barrel down. "So, what's the low down?" he asks, looking up to Mr. Cake.
Apple Bloom trots her way into the kitchen. She is going to claim the biggest oven in the kitchen. It'll guarantee a win!
Nightshade merely stares at Sky Blue, stares deeply, as Velvet answers.
Before Sky Blue can say another word, Mr Cake makes his announcement. The cyan filly promptly disappears in a light blue blur, speeding off towards the kitchen with such enthusiasm that she misses the swing doors and enters via a wall. Within seconds, she has found an oven, and has started unloading several large jars of what is hopefully mayonnaise onto a nearby table, battle whisk at the ready.
Mr_Cake watches everypony get to the ovens. He smiles and motions to the tables opposite the ovens in the center. "Okay. Each of you has a set of ingredients including the one you brought with you- if you remembered. When I give the signal, you all start making your treats and we judge them. Okay? On my mark, go!" He blows a whistle that was in his pocket.
Apple Bloom rushes to the oven and preheats it to the highest setting possible, then hits it a few times. "Darn thing doesn't get hot enough!" The filly then rummages around in cupboards looking for five big bowls.
"Mayonnaise, check. Double mayonnaise, check. Double double mayonnaise, check." Once all thirteen jars of mayonnaise have been unloaded from her saddlebags, Sky Blue pulls over a nearby bowl and starts adding a variety of the non-mayonnaise ingredients, seemingly at random, along with two jars of mayonnaise. Then the battle whisk comes out, which she oh-so-delicately starts to use to mix her sickly white concotion, totally not splashing any flecks onto the surrounding environment or entailing an extensive cleanup for Mr Cake after the contest is over.
Apple Bloom has the five bowls. Now for the flour. She pours equal amounts of flour into each one. Then as much sugar into each one as the flower. Then twice the salt. Then the mayonnaise goes flying and the filly shouts in surprise and ducks under the table. Oh! There's where she put the milk!
Just as things start to warm up a bit, the front doors SLAM open and in rushes a pair of saddlebags attached to a breathless, panting Applejack! "Hh! Hay there! Hh. Oh lordy. Ain't missed nothin', have Ah? Aw, horsefeathers, they done started already? Dangit!"... and she rushes at top speed into the kitchen!
Maplewing has stopped, and is now staring acros the area at the other competitors, namely Sky Blue spewing mayo everywhere and Apple Bloom apparently trying ot burn the place down. Shaking his head, he snaps himself to again. Immediately he begins by adding flour to bowls, along with sugar, a bit of oil and such, the beginnings of a nice sweet dough. WHile mixing he edges over to Mr. Cake. "You do have insurance, right?" he asks, just as AJ bursts in, causing the stallion to jump and send a gob of dough arcing toward Mr. Cake's muzzle.
Something crashing? But... Sky's HERE! Who could it- "Howdy, Applejack!" the destructive filly calls out, smiling even wider than usual, before giving a particular vigorous whisking that sends out three large globules of mayonnaise. One splats across Mr Cake's cutie mark. Another splashes upon Red Velvet's fancy outfit. The third hits Princess Celestia's crown. And the last hits Nightshade square in the face. "What're y'all gonna make, sugarcube?" she asks, taking a break from her havoc-wreaking.
Nightshade immedietely blocks the oncoming condiment with a quick magical barrier. Her reaction is unreadable, besides the scribbling. Scribble scribble scribble.
Apple Bloom pops up over the table she is working on and dumps an entire gallon of milk into one of the bowls and begins to mix. The oven is getting very very hot.
Applejack barely pauses at the judges table on the way in to tip her hat to the Princess and write down in the registration book that "Aqljrk" has entered the contest with her secret ingredient, "spablbdy". Her writing leaves something to be desired even when she's NOT in a hurry! She is just barely missed by the incoming splatters as she flips on one of the unused ovens and starts grabbing ingredients out of the cupboards and from by the oven: flour, sugar, six eggs, baking powder, extracts of vanilla, lemon, and almond, and cornstarch! She greases up a cake pa- *flup*CLANG"Consarn it!" - greases up, rather more carefully, ANOTHER cake pan, and pauses a moment to wipe her face. A couple of superfluous freckles get wiped away; guess she wasn't so lucky about the launched mayonnaise after all.
Maplewing shuffles away from Mr. Cake after the spattering of dough and inches back toward his kitchen. He's got a good back of dough going and he covers it lightly before tucking it in a cozy warm place away from drafts. It doesn't need to rise much, but it does need a bit. As he works he kees his eyes on the other participants, half distracted by being aware of shrapnel.. or something. O.O
Sky Blue has shifted away from her sickly white bowl of mayonnaise to start examining her oven. Native savages of foreign countries examining highly-advanced pieces of modern technology look slightly less confused than Sky does at the oven. She tries one of the knobs. Fire leaps up. Okay, that's a bad knob. She turns it off, then tries another knob. More fire. "Uh... Applejack? How the hay does this thing work?" she asks, trying more of the knobs and sending more gouts of flame up from the hob. How she manages to get flames from an electric hob is anypony's guess.
The milk/salt/sugar/flour mixture starts turning into goop, and Apple Bloom pours the other four bowls of salt/sugar/flour into the goop and gets stirring. The oven, meanwhile, has crossed from its highest setting to "WOW BROILERS ARE REALLY JEALOUS OF THIS THING."
Applejack has put all of her ingredients in a bowl. Properly, of course! Arguably the best baker in Ponyville knows what she's doing! 1/2 teaspoon each of the extracts, flour and cornstarch sifted together, "Whoops, almost fergot!" AJ is getting a jug of cream out of the fridge when Sky Blue asks her a question - backed with showers of flame, as questions from Sky Blue often are. Applejack drops the cream! Catches it! Sets it down CAREFULLY, then runs to Sky Blue and shuts off the burners. Peering at the elements, AJ squints, sniffs them, then makes a face. "Allrighty... four things, sugar. One, this knob here controls th' temperature. Two, this knob HERE controls which elements ya wanna use. Bottom's fer bakin'. Three, don't use these at all, unless yer cookin' on th' stovetop. An' four, next time don't spread mayonnaise over all th' elements befoe turnin' 'em on. Or anythin' else! Let 'em be clean, okay?" She trots back to whisk some cream into her own bowl, hoping against hope that maybe some of those words made ... it all the way to Sky Blue's brain without being eaten by a grue... or incinerated by AB's overpowered oven...
Maplewing seems to somehow be managing to keep himself realatively unscathed despite the flying ingredients and the licking of flames coming form Ksy blue's side of the kitchens. He plops the dough out onto a board and begins to knead it with his hooves, adding a bit of maple syrup as he goes now and again, giving hte dough a nice sweet scent and a light amber colouring as he works.
Okay... dangerously deadly flames at bay, oven at a mostly decent temperature, and only a mild coating of mayonnaise in the interior. The mayo-splattered Sky Blue pours her well-mixed abomination into a cake tin, then starts throwing in... are those capers? Peppercorn? Celestia knows what. Or maybe not even her. Regardless, it looks nasty and smells of rotten mayonnaise.
Pumpkin_Pie trots in happily, carting about a small wagon full of baking goods ready to be made and sold! "Howdy Ya'll, I'm Pumpkin Pie, and I'mma here ta represen-" He pauses, looking into the crazed mad house of ponies, fire, and Sky Blue. Yes, Sky Blue. He turns, and pulls out the emergency protocols Pumpkin Patch made from him to follow in case of Sky Blue sightings. Get to church, pray she can't cross hollowed ground. Seems logical. And so, there ends Pumpkin Pie's foray into getting a baking cutie mark. Nopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenope! He slowly backs away from the bakery, letting the door creak shut in his wake.
Applejack carefully dips a spoon into her batter and tastes it, licking her lips contemplatively... and nods! She opens her saddlebag and takes out... uh... apparently "spablbdy" means a slightly ornate, tightly stoppered bottle full of... something strange. A liquid, not very viscous, but with the odd property that no matter how she moves the bottle, everypony can always see a full *striped* rainbow of colors in the liquid, red at the top through purple at the bottom! She opens her mouth to greet Pumpkin Pie, but then he... escapes. Or whatever that was. So she shrugs, unstoppers the strange bottle, and pours about 3/4 of a cup of the strongly-alcoholic-fruitysmelling stuff in. A few more whiskings, and she fills the greased pan with her now rainbowy-looking batter and slips it into the oven. She gives a satisfies nod, then winks to the judges. That is indeed how they do it down on the farm.
Soon Apple Bloom managed to combine the goop into one, huge, salty wad of dough twice her size. It's awfully thick for cake batter, actually. And she starts kneading it.
Maplewing takes much care into his pastery, and begins rolling little round 'logs' of dough and weaving them in an almost fan shape. The dough is fragrant and rich smelling, especially thanks to the rich molassasey scent it has. He prepares several, just enough for judging, with a few extra, on a tray and making sure each one is perfect before turning to put them in the oven as well, carrying the tray in his teeth and opening the door with his hooves to ever so gingerly tuck them inside. In the meantime he whips up what looks to almost be a pudding, adding far more maple along with rich creams, turning it into a nice thick filling that is a wonderful golden colour. When the dough dings after a short while, Maple carefully removes them, each one looking roughly shaped like pegasus wings. Once cooled, Maple takes the filling he prepared, now suitably chilled to thicken and fills a large syringe with it, the end of which shaped into a long spigot which he inserts into the end of each 'pinfeather' of pastery, sqeezing ...a long thick line of maple cream filling through each. Last but not least he puts a wonderful maple glaze over the entire thing that makes them glisten with sugary goodness.
An hour later, each judge is faced with part of Sky Blue's ghastly creation: a sloppy white cake slice that looks like it went bad several years ago. It smells very strongly of mayonnaise. It tastes like a mixture of mayonnaise, sweat, and rotten cheese, with the occasional whole peppercorn lying in wait. At least she decorated each slice with a crudely-applied smily face out of blue icing suger. The mare stands before the judges, smiling hopefully and fidgetting slightly.
While the cake is baking, Applejack prepares an icing glaze for it: icing sugar, milk, extra cornstarch, and more of the mysterious fluid. It thickens in the fridge for a little while, and when the cake is ready (after cooling a few more minutes), she glazes it carefully - a six-pointed starburst pattern (not entirely unlike Twilight's cutie mark), where the unnatural shimmer of the glaze paints each point a different color as it runs off the edge of the cake's surface. What color each is changes and shifts with the light. After everything has set up, Applejack slices it carefully and serves a multicolored slice to each judge with a dollop of freshly-whipped cream. "Fillies an' gentlecolt, on behalf o' Sweet-" She glances at AB. "On behalf o' th' SENIOR BAKERS o' Sweet Apple Acres, may Ah present: Zap-Apple Brandy Pound Cake! Don't be alarmed by th' funny little effects, they'll wear off in a couple minutes at most." By way of demonstration, she eats a small piece herself, then gives a loud HICCUP - an
- and a half-dozen shimmering bubbles float out of her ears! The cake is quite sweet and also quite tart, with the sharp, sparkling flavor of zap apples, a definite vapor of brandy, and every couple of bites causes a random, harmless little magical effect. Like the bubbles.
This is a salty white cake. All craftsponyship is of the highest quality. It is adorned with glitter. It menaces with spikes of glitter. It menaces with spikes of salt. On the cake is an image of ponies in glitter. The ponies are cringing. On the cake is an image of Celestia in salt and glitter. Celestia is surrounded by quails. The artwork relates to the ascension of Celestia as Princess of Equestria in 1. On the cake is an image of cockroaches in glitter. The cake menaces with spikes of glitter. The cake is studded with salt buttons. On the cake is an image of Applejack in glitter. Applejack is in the fetal position. The artwork relates to the founding of the Cutie Mark crusaders in [REDACTED.] The cake menaces with spikes of glitter. On the cake is an image of diamonds. On the cake is an image of two alicorns chasing one another. The artwork is the official emblem of Equestria. The cake menaces with spikes of salt.
Letting the glaze cool for a few minutes to make a hoof friendly confection tasting of rich maple sugar and cinnamon as well as a mix of true vanilla and maple cream filling in the shape of pegasus wings, a new recipe of Maples he likes to dub a 'Maple Wing' (much akin to like a beaver tail as it were IRL) he arranges one on a plate for each judge and tops it off with a light sprinkle of cinnamon before presenting each judge with one each. Each one is almost twice as large as a hoof easily. He tips his head to each judge with a smile but says nothing else other than showing his silent respect.
Well, this is certainly going to be a competition with quite a bit of... heterogeneity, that's for sure. Princess Celestia is up at the judge's table and has been patiently waiting for the competitors to complete their delicacies. Well, delicacies and... whatever the thing Sky Blue put up there. Did it just move? She's pretty sure it just moved. Celestia pokes it trepedatiously with a fork. Oh dear. At least Apple Bloom's is moving in a less... sentient manner? She scribbles down some notes before taking a tiny, delicate forkful of Maple's. She chews it slowly, then washes out her mouth with water. She then takes a... nibble... of Sky's. Chews it slowly, washes out her mouth. She repeats this for each one to get an idea of the spectrum before focusing on each individually at a time.
Mr_Cake looks at the treats laid out before him and the rest of the judges. "Okay then, first up is..." He cringes at some of them. Trying all his might to stay as far away from the mayonaise monstrosity as possible before going for Maple's treat first. "Hm.... Very nicely put. The flavor is everywhere but not too overpowering. That's a tall order to top." He then moves to Apple Bloom's cake. He winces heavily. "Ugh... A bit too much salt there, little one. Not... bad, though." He then moves to Applejack's cake. After taking a bite he hiccups and a large portion of multi-colored bubbles start appearing out of his mouth. "Wow.... That's... different." He then VERY hesitantly takes a bite of the mayonaise cake. He forces it down his throat as he starts to convulse before fainting onto the ground.
Small pastel polka dots appear on the Princess's face and slowly move around at random.
Nightshade pauses and gazes at each of the concoctions in turn, judging their appearance, their texture. She looks down, scribbles some notes. Presently, she brings Sky Blue's recipe towards herself, towards her mouth, and has a bite. She chews, she swallows, the only hint of her experience being a brief, almost imperceptible twitch of her mouth. She has a swig of water before trying Apple Bloom's thing, the baked good making some uncfomrtoable-sounding crunching noises in her mouth. Another swig, then Maplewing's cake. She leaves Applejack's cake aside for now as she scribbles again. All the while her expression does not change. She is a scientist dispassionately assessing the results of the experiment.
Applejack starts in shock and runs over to check on the fallen pony! "Mr. Cake? Mr. Cake! Come on now, sugar! Wake up! Aw, horsefeathers! Ah better run get Dr. Stable! Hang on!"
Nightshade samples Applejack's cake last, letting it move around it her mouth for a while. She swallows, and for several moments nothing seems to happen. She's right about to scribble some more when suddenly the shadows seem to fade all around Nightshade as rainbow-coloured light sparks out of her body and illuminates the whole room for about three seconds. THen, as quickly as it had come, it is gone. "Fascinating," Nightshade states, scribbling in her notepad once more.
Nightshade then notes Mr. Cake convulsing on the ground. Quickly, she levitates Mr. Cake off the ground and hoists him hind legs first, shaking him about to dislodge the 'pastry'.
Mr_Cake groggily wakes up. Seeing he's hovering he freaks and flails a bit. "Woah! Put me down! Put me down!"
Celestia takes a bite of Maple's. She chews it slowly and steadily before setting down her fork. "A delightful convestion, Maplewing. Thank you. The cinnamon and maple sugar counterbalance the cream and complement the vanilla very well. It might just be a -touch- too sweet for my personal palate, but it is a truly fine dessert and you do you and your craft proud." She moves to Sky Blue's and takes another nibble. "... It is... very creamy and very rich. Almost panna cotta or custardlike in raw richness. I would say that it actually needs a bit more sugar to really make it like a dessert," the Princess says softly. "But truly, a valiant attempt, Miss Sky Blue. Thank you for taking part. I strongly recommend you carefully follow the recipe next time and perhaps utilize your vast mead resources to make something special." Then she moves to Apple Bloom's and she takes a bite. She chews it slowly. "It is... it has a great spike of flavor and is very visually appealing," she says with a little giggle at the sight of herself on the cake. And all the glitter. "It may be a bit over seasoned. Be very careful not t- oh dear," she turns to her fellow judge, who appears to he convulzing. She leans over and her horn glows bright gold. She touches it to Mr Cake's forehead and, suddenly, a wave of warm color appears to wash over him. She gently helps him to his feet. "... You may not want to taste that one again."
Nightshade immedietely sets Mr. Cake gently on the ground upon his recovery. "Now, where were we...yes..." She flips through her notes one last time before turning to each contestant one by one. "First, Miss Blue. While I found your...concoction most intriguing, I am afraid that salad dressing does not meet the requirements of this contest."
Nightshade says "And neither does naval rations, Miss Apple, I'm afraid."
Nightshade says "Turning towards entries which actually qualified, I can say that Mr. Maplewing's entry was indeed succulent and firm, though in reference to Her Majesty's critique there is room for greater degrees of hard substance as opposed to flavour."
Celestia returns her attention to the cakes. She finishes Apple Bloom's and considers. "It is indeed a bit on the salty side. Do be judicious in your seasoning in the future." She then turns to Applejack's. Well. She takes another, big, bite and chews thughtfully. "... Very good, Applejack. Very very good. It all goes together very well. I might suggest reducing the brandy next time in order to cook off some of the alcohol, perhaps with a little sugar and spice, in order t reduce some of the resulting edge." She considers and takes another bite. Her eyes suddenly grow bright red and they speak in tongues. Yes, her eyes are speaking in tongues. It ends after a 97 seconds, though. "Thank you, Applejack."
Nightshade says "And as for the elder Miss Apple...yes, I was very intrigued by your entry, very intrigued indeed. I must say that the combination of flavours is most unusual, yet the organic integration of each kind of stimulation works itself into a concert of, ah, post-prandial well-being. However, I woould suggest a greater degree of subtlety is required, in particular given the...aftereffects. There is much to be said about the solace of the ordinary."
Celestia's left eyeball says something to Nightshade that it would never say in front of its mother in a dead language.
Mr_Cake rights himself and nods to the other judges. "Alright then. I think we can all make our decisions soon." He says. "We'll each rate each treat. The one with the most high votes wins. Each of these (that we can properly recreate without health department issues) will be put in the catalog next month. Now, Princess, Lady Nightshade, which ones were your favorites?"
Celestia considers. "I vote for Applejack's," she decides.
Applejack takes off her hat and bows to Princess Celestia. "Thanks kindly, yer Highness!"
Nightshade contemplates. "It is a hard decision, yes, but...I must arrive at the Princess' conclusion, as well. Both top entrants have similar issues, but Miss Apple's striking expression deserves its due."
Apple Bloom jealously looks at her sister's cake, frowns, and saunters past her artifact cake and decides to get on with her life. Oh yeah, and she's grumbling,t oo.
Mr_Cake nods. "I'll have to say it's somewhat unanimous. That cake was... certainly interesting, Applejack."
Sky Blue is slumped down on the floor with overly-wide and teary filly eyes. NOT QUALIFIED. SALAD DRESSING. MR CAKE HAD A MINOR STROKE. She doesn't look like a very happy or confident baker. Even her chef's hat slowly deflates.
Celestia walks around the judge's table and wraps a wing around Sky Blue. "I thought you gave it an excellent attempt, little Sky Blue."
Another little filly sits in the corner. She's reading a comic book and looking unimpressed. When Sky comes over and flops down, she lifts her gaze to the blue pony. "Hey, dude. It's not all that bad," Scootaloo says. "Look at what my friends did. Now you know why I didn't enter, right?"
Applejack tips her hat to Nightshade and Mr. Cake, then crosses her legs proudly! "Thank y'all very kindly! On behalf o' Sweet Apple Acres, may Ah just say... YEEHAW! BLUE RIBBON AGAIN!"
Mr_Cake nods. "Well congratulations. And I really do thank everypony for participating and we hope to see you all next time. If it's requested enough we'll do another soon!" He says.