//------------------------------// // Set the Table! // Story: Canterlot Cooking Calamity! // by MythrilMoth //------------------------------// In Sunset Shimmer's opinion, the worst thing about Monday mornings was that she had Mr. Doodle for first period. Mr. Doodle was not a morning person and even less of a Monday person, so her first class of the school week was always an absolute delight. As the class settled down and faced front for the day's lesson to begin, the PA system crackled to life. "Good morning, students, and happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. "I have a major announcement this morning, so listen closely! We're proud to announce the Canterlot High Cooking Contest and Bake Sale, to be held next Saturday and Sunday! This event will raise money for the senior graduation trip as well as the juniors' summer trip to Camp Everfree. All students are encouraged to participate in either the Cooking Contest or the Bake Sale. And yes, you can take part in both! There will be prizes for the top contestants in the Cooking Contest, so come out and show off your best! Complete rules for the Cooking Contest and sign-up forms for both the Cooking Contest and the Bake Sale can be found on the school website." Excited whispers filled the classroom. The dour Mr. Doodle frowned, then harrumphed. "Alright, alright, settle down," he called over the noise. "You can all talk or text or tweet about it after class." "Hey, a cooking contest!" Lyra said to Sunset's left, reaching out and poking her in the arm. "Whaddya think? Are you and your friends gonna enter?" Sunset toyed idly with her stylus. "I'm sure some of them will," she said. "I don't know if I'll enter. I'm not much of a cook." "Sounds like a lot of fun though!" "True," Sunset said, pursing her lips. As Mr. Doodle droned on, Sunset called up the school website on her tablet, pretending to pay attention to the lecture while multitasking—a skill she had honed from her long tenure as the Bitch Queen of Canterlot High. CANTERLOT HIGH SCHOOL COOKING CONTEST AND BAKE SALE All students are encouraged to participate in EITHER or BOTH events. Proceeds will fund the SENIOR GRADUATION TRIP and the JUNIOR CAMP EVERFREE TRIP. BAKE SALE Students signing up for the Bake Sale must commit to providing a volume of fresh baked goods (breads, pastries, cakes, etc.) for sale to the public. Adult supervision for the production of your baked goods is strongly recommended. Please be mindful of common allergies and supply warning information for any products containing nuts, eggs, milk, and gluten. All baked goods must be delivered to the school on the day of the Bake Sale before 10AM. COOKING CONTEST The Cooking Contest will begin at 10AM Saturday, at which time all entrants who are registered must begin setup and preparation. You must provide your own recipes, ingredients, and any special cooking materials you need. Portable ovens, gas grills, coolers, microwaves, and common utensils will be provided by the home ec department. Please plan and prepare for up to four (4) entries. CHS will not be held liable for any unused portions, ingredients, etc. If your initial entry requires more than three hours of prep/cook time, notify the contest administrator beforehand and arrive early. Marinated foods must be prepared at home the night before, with video recording of all preparation to verify that you prepared the entry yourself. Only your initial entry may require extra cook/prep time. All other entries must require three hours or less to prepare and plate. First round judging will begin at noon and take place through approximately 2PM. Quarterfinalists will be chosen by the judges; the quarterfinals will begin immediately after the judging. Semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday beginning at 10AM. Signing up in teams is encouraged! All winning teams will receive equal shares of all prizes. The Prizes For The Winners Include: All participants will receive coupons from a selection of area restaurants for participating. Quarterfinalists who do not advance to the semifinals will receive a $50 gift card for Pizza Shack and a $20 gift card for Donut Joe's. All semifinalists INCLUDING students who advance to the finals will receive free pizza for a year from Pizza Shack, to be awarded as a gift card valued at the approximate cost of two (2) large specialty pizzas per week for 52 weeks. Second place finalists will receive a 32" HDTV with wireless internet features including streaming movies from all top services (service subscription required) and one (1) new smartphone (your choice of model, service plan not included). Winner(s) of the Cooking Contest will receive: - One (1) $500 gift card to Blue Box. - One (1) 6-month subscription to Streamflix. Sunset almost let out a low whistle, but caught herself. *Wow, those prizes are gonna eat up all the proceeds from the bake sale. What were they thinking?* Then she noticed the fine print at the bottom: All prizes have been donated by local area merchants to support the Educational Electives Initiative. *Of course,* Sunset thought, rolling her eyes. *The prizes are a write-off...* As the day wore on, excitement over the coming cook-off and bake sale grew. When lunch arrived, Sunset met up with her friends at their usual table in the cafeteria. "So," she said, "any of you taking part in this thing?" "We've been talkin' about it off and on all mornin' when we could," Applejack said. "Me, Pinkie, an' Fluttershy are teamin' up fer th' bake sale." "Yeah!" Pinkie said excitedly. "I'm good with cookies, cakes and cupcakes, Applejack's good with pies and apple pastries, and Fluttershy can help with both and has a van to carry all that stuff in!" She bounced in her seat. "We'll make the bake sale a no-fail!" "Besides, I'd rather take part in the bake sale than the contest," Fluttershy said. "Competitions are so...stressful." "Are you kidding?" Sunset asked. "You and Pinkie kicked Crystal Prep's butt in the Home Ec part of the academic decathlon!" "Well, yes," Fluttershy said, "but that was different. School pride was on the line. This is just..." She ducked her head. "I don't know." "Eh, it wouldn't be fair to everyone else if we took part anyway," Pinkie said. "I mean, we'd make it to the finals no sweat!" Sunset chuckled. "That's true." She looked at her other friends. "What about you girls?" "Well, I'd like to enter the cooking contest," Rarity said, "but I'm just not certain what I would enter. And frankly, I'd rather not enter it alone." "I'd enter with you, but I'm...not really very good at cooking," Twilight said. "I mean, I can barely microwave instant noodles." "But you're very adept at chemistry, yes?" Rarity challenged. "Cooking is essentially chemistry. Measure ingredients, prepare, cook according to instructions." She smiled. "I can guide you through it." "Well..." Twilight worried at her lip, then glanced at Sunset. "What're you gonna do?" "Me?" Sunset shrugged. "I'm..." She shook her head. "Honestly, I'm not much of a cook either. I mean, I do cook a little for myself at home, there's a couple things I'm not bad at making, but I don't know if I'm up for losing a cooking contest." "Hey, you're only a loser if you don't even try," Rainbow Dash said. "I say go for it!" "Hmm." Sunset rubbed her chin. "Well...Rarity? What do you think? You, me, Twilight?" Rarity smiled. "Absolutely, darling! I'd be thrilled to work alongside you." "I guess I'm in too then," Twilight said. "I mean, as long as we have fun and do it together as friends, that's all that matters, right?" "Totally!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "So you three are doing the cooking contest, me, Fluttershy, and Applejack are doing the bake sale, and..." She turned to Rainbow Dash, as did everyone else. Rainbow held up a hand and closed her eyes. "Pass," she said. With a chuckle, she added, "I eat pop tarts and canned ravioli raw, that's how bad I am at cooking." Rarity blanched. "Good heavens, you eat that canned stuff unheated?!" "It's not that bad," Rainbow said with a shrug. "Actually, those little spaghetti bits with meatballs and sauce? If the weather's cold, right out of the pantry they taste really good." Rarity shuddered. "Gah." Applejack chuckled. "Ah know what Rainbow's talkin' about," she said. "One winter our lights went out an' we couldn't git t' th' store cuz'a th' snow. We had us a buncha canned beans an' pasta, an' that was some good eatin' cold." "And you didn't get sick from that?" Sunset asked. "Well, those cans are sealed against bacteria and contaminants," Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. "As long as the cans are intact and not expired, there's no reason you can't eat any canned food cold." She frowned. "It may not taste as good, but it's edible." "An' that's th' whole point of canned food in th' first place," Applejack said. "Okay, so you're not taking part at all?" Sunset asked Rainbow. "Oh, I'll be around as a taste-tester," Rainbow said with a chuckle. "For, y'know, all the teams." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Of course..." She looked around the cafeteria. "I wonder who else is gonna be in this thing..." * * * * * "The cooking contest?" Silver Spoon asked. "But Di, we don't know how to cook!" Diamond Tiara smirked. "Just leave it to me. We're gonna win that contest and show everyone we're better than them. Oh, and we'll have all the best treats for the bake sale, too..." Her eyes narrowed. "Besides, I overheard those three loser girls say they're entering the cooking competition..." * * * * * "Ah still don't think this is a good idea, y'all," Apple Bloom said dubiously. "Relax," Sweetie Belle said with a smirk. "I've got this." "Well I don't," Scootaloo said. "I don't know the first thing about cooking!" "Hey, it can't hurt to at least try," Sweetie Belle said. "Besides, it'll be fun and we'll get free coupons out of it no matter what!" "Yeah, but..." Apple Bloom sighed. "Well...alright. Ah jes' hope this goes better than our singin' did." * * * * * "Dude," Beats said, staring at Flash Sentry. "Are you serious?!" Flash glanced over at the table where Twilight and her friends sat. "Absolutely," he said. "You're doing this to impress her, aren't you?" Skunk Rock said, his glasses flashing in the harsh cafeteria lights. "N-no, of course not!" Flash said. "I just thought it'd be cool, y'know, try to...y'know..." He sighed. "Okay, yeah, I'm doing it to impress her. And, well..." He grimaced. "Maybe...also to make up for totally sucking at the Friendship Games, you know? My pride took a big hit in the academic decathlon. I gotta bounce back from that." His bandmates shared a glance. "Well...I guess we can help you out," Beats said. "Only thing is, I don't know how to cook." "Me either dude," Skunk said. Flash snorted. "I've got a plan," he said. He looked around, then leaned in conspiratorially. "We're gonna grill." The other two boys blinked. "Grill?" Beats echoed. Skunk tilted his head. "You mean like, barbecue?" "Exactly," Flash said. "You don't gotta be able to cook to barbecue, and my grandpa has this super secret special sauce recipe that's never lost a cook-off yet." He grinned. "Trust me, we've got a chance." "Well...sounds easy enough," Beats said. "I like barbecue," Skunk opined. "Great! Then we'll need to make some preparations..." * * * * * "So we're doing the bake sale, right?" Lyra asked excitedly. "AND the cooking contest!" Bon Bon replied with a broad smile. They hugged each other and laughed happily. "Best friends cooking together for the WIN!" * * * * * Sandalwood leaned his head into his palm as he looked around the cafeteria. "Man...this sucks," he said. "I wanna take part in this whole thing, but..." Ditzy Doo sat down next to him. "I just wanna do the bake sale," she said. "I'm really good at muffins." Sandalwood frowned. "Well, I do have this one killer brownie recipe," he said. He glanced at Ditzy. "Wanna work together? Muffins and brownies for the bake sale? I don't really care about competing, I just wanna get involved." Ditzy smiled. "Yeah, let's work together and really bake up a storm!" * * * * * "Dude, we are SO winning the cooking contest!" "Huuuuh, yeah, eh...can't wait to get that sweet sweet new GameStation..." Snips and Snails looked at each other and snickered.