//------------------------------// // Chapter 5- The Great CCC, Part 2 // Story: The Cozy Anthology // by Silvermyr //------------------------------// The jury was three earth ponies and by all logic they all should look pretty plain. One was beige, one bronze and the final pony was honey coloured. So why did their mere glances make Rumble's throat constrict and his knees buckle? He had to be the one to explain the background for this dish! He couldn't be this nervous now! "Ravioli," The beige jury member stated neutrally when he looked at their plate. "Please, explain to me how this signifies the perfect date for you." "Well, while you wouldn't believe it by just looking at me, it's been a while since I was on a date. Shocking, I know," Ramson said with a relaxed look. It might just be the first time Rumble heard him joke. Sadly he was still too stunned in fear to fully appreciate this rare occurrence. "So I asked my sous chef for advice." "That's a daring strategy," another jury member pointed out. At his sidelong glance, Rumble felt like he was close to fainting. "After all, you are the competitor. Your sous chef is just meant to help you." "And he did," Ramson said. "By finding something that perfectly signifies what the perfect date means." "Y-yeah!" Rumble squeaked. He heard how his voice was several octaves above normal, but just the fact that he had managed to force a sound over his lips was enough to remove the most immediate shyness. He cleared his throat. "Uh… so, my first date was actually pretty recently. With a filly who I really hated when I first met her… I thought she was evil. I had heard much about her, and she sounded really nasty, and the first thing she did when we met was lying to me. But I still became her friend. And then her special somepony. And the more I saw of her, the more I realized that there was so much more to her than what I first saw! I thought she was nasty, but she can be really kind. You just have to give her the benefit of the doubt, and dare to see what's inside her." "Just like with Ravioli," The bronze-colored judge said. "Plain on the outside, but with hidden tastes inside." "Right… because to me, a date, isn't about the food. It's about the company. And the perfect date would be one with my perfect special somepony," Rumble said. "And if there is one dish that represents her, then it's this one." "I see. Well, let's hope the two of you have done her justice." The three ponies each took a bite of the dish. Once again, their faces were utterly and completely impassive.  "Thank you," the jury leader said measuredly. The three of them retreated to another room to decide which two teams would advance to the final. "You convey your thoughts well," Ramson said tersely. "Well done." Rumble could hear he too was nervous this time around. This challenge must have been a surprise, even to a veteran like him.  Rumble just nodded. Now that they were done he had to be anxious about the result again. Only this time, if they failed, it'd be his idea that doomed them. He almost felt sick, just thinking about that. Another door opened. The low murmur of the spectators immediately died. Rumble flew up a little to see what was happening. Hopefully it wasn't something he cared about; any more emotional duress right now and he was going to have a breakdown right in the middle of the competition.  It was just Twilight, who looked about as uncertain as Rumble himself felt. The filly next to her, on the other hand, looked happy.  "Uh… hi, everypony," Twilight said with a blush. Clearly she had hoped to enter discreetly rather than have to address the whole room. "I… I was just wondering if… you would permit me and my student to try some of your dishes…" "Oui, très bien! It iz a great honneur to 'ave ze princesse herzelf pazz her verdict!" Gustave le Grande declared.  "It is not exactly the first time the Princess had some samples," Ramson agreed. "Though usually it's during the dessert competition, not the semi-finals." "Of course, princess! I'd be honored," Saffron Masala said with a slight bow.  Zesty gave Twilight a glare, which Rumble wanted to point out was rude. Eventually she just scoffed and turned away.  "Good riddance," Rumble mumbled with his own glare at her back. "Well said," Ramson said. "She does not belong here any more than pickles does in a cake. The best thing with her attendance is that I'd love to get a chance to send her packing herself. But it seems that lucky filly Saffron beat me to it." "Hi Rumble! How did it go?" He smoothened out his glare and turned to face Cozy. There was one pony who only made him happy. "Well, you can say for yourself," he said. "Ravioli." Rumble passed both Twilight and Cozy a fork each. Twilight would probably just use her magic, but not offering her a fork was probably a crime.  Twilight and Cozy both took one piece each. Both of their expressions brightened. "It's really nice," Twilight said. "Sweet and peppery at the same time and… uh, sorry. I don't really know all the fancy words you'd use." She blushed. "But I really enjoyed it." "You've got to explain how I helped you come up with this later," Cozy said. "But it's really nice! I've never had this before. I didn't know you could fill pasta like that." "This is filled with a tomato cream and basil, but you could use a lot of different stuff," Rumble said. He loved it when he got to talk about something he actually felt like he understood with Cozy. "Like mushrooms or cheese, or vegetables." Twilight nodded and started edging over towards Gustave. He was clearly eager to have the Princess over by his table. Cozy shot him a slightly apologetic look. "Well, I've got to try the rest of the stuff now, but I'll be back in just a minute!" She leaned closer. "But just between the two of us, I already know who I'd vote for if I was on the jury." The best plans were those that gave you something nice even if they failed. This was one such plan. Gustave had offered something as exotic as Griffin cuisine, which was something Cozy had never ever expected to try. She had not even realized ponies could eat fish!  Truth be told, the at-once-soft-but-also-kind-of-firm texture had weirded her out, but the taste was actually amazing. Even if she couldn't see herself eating something alive very often, it had definitely been something worth trying. Saffron Masala's dish was strangely… bland. There were traces of good tastes and the texture was really nice, but somehow the tastes didn't fully get through. It was just an insipid gruel-like thingy that also had the gall to look really tasty. Weird… Cozy had visited her restaurant once and the food she had then was way better than this. Unless her opponent was a complete nimrod in the kitchen, then Cozy had a feeling Saffron was going to be eliminated this round.  But all that being said, now it was time to see if she could gain some insight into what was up with Zesty's clumsy apprentice. Zesty shot them both a glare when they came over to her table, but didn't object.  She had a grand total of six leaves on her plate, and a tiny dab of… some orange cream that Cozy didn't know what it was. Cozy looked this way and that for the rest of the dish. There was no chance this was it. She'd need… twenty meals like this to be full, and she was just a filly! "It looks… nice," Twilight said, clearly trying to be polite. "Uh… very minimalistic." "It is fennel with carrot foam," Zesty corrected pointedly. "And what you think is irrelevant, just as what your friend Rarity thinks is irrelevant." Twilight looked more surprised than anything. "I… just wanted to try your cooking. I could leave if you wanted," she said. It was a good thing Zesty was talking to Twilight, who clearly had better control over herself than Cozy. If anypony talked like that to her when she was a princess, they'd be lucky to escape the moon! But never mind. Before the old hag could complain anymore, Cozy snatched up one of the leaves and some of the orange stuff and tried it.  Zesty redirected her glare at Cozy, but she didn't care. Really, the most that could be said about this competition was that Gustave had been criminally unlucky. If he had been matched up against either of these two amateurs, he'd be in the finals easily. After the orange paste melted in her mouth, she raised her eyebrows in surprise. Really… even Cozy felt like she could cook better than this. She may not even have known that there was a thing like "carrot foam", but she did know that food with a taste was better than food without it. Really, if Cozy wanted to, she could just have eaten a leaf of fennel and gotten more or less the same experience.  Also, who in their right mind cooked this on their perfect date? A fennel farmer? A fennel farmer who was dropped as a foal? Her dislike must have shown, for Zesty frowned deeply at her. "I do not want your opinion, filly. There is nothing your thoughts on food could teach me." "Golly, talking to me over the princess is in poor taste, you know." Cozy smirked, feeling a sinister grin cross her lips. "But then again, you seem to know all about poor taste." Zesty's eyes narrowed. "Leave, insolent filly," she hissed angrily. She turned to Twilight. "If this is your student, I would have expected you to have taught her basic manners. But I suppose a maniac like her is a lost cause." Cozy almost thought she misheard. It was not because of Zesty being rude, or even talking nasty things about Cozy - if there was any kind of pony she'd expect it from, it was ponies like Zesty. What she had never expected was hearing such a low blow being slapped straight in Twilight's face. Cozy didn't see Twilight's expression from where she stood, but she somehow could still feel the searing glare directed at Zesty. She had to give some credit in that Zesty did not even flinch. Or she would have, if she had not been furious herself at the comment. "Let's go, Cozy," Twilight said quietly.  Cozy was happy to. If it wasn't because she knew Zesty's comeuppance at her own coltfriend's hooves was imminent, she'd have a big problem keeping her anger in check. But this competition was important to her special somepony, and he would not want her to cause a scene. So she wrestled with her anger for just long enough that she was out of immediate striking distance. Finally, she got her anger under control, but only by promising herself to stay and watch to the very end just to be sure she saw Zesty's face when Rumble crushed her. Just thinking about it made her grin.  She still did not know what the deal was with Zesty's apprentice, but she knew that even with all their (lacklustre) skills combined, their cooking was worse than anything she had ever had, including the rainbows from Cloudsdale.  At least rainbows had a taste. She noticed that Twilight was very quiet since they left Zesty's table. She glanced up at her mentor and almost stopped. She knew that face. She had seen it once, on an evening she had long since left behind. Anger, and hurt, eyes narrow with rage, yet also with an undertone of sadness, like she would have cried if she had not been so furious.  She looked just like the time when she and her friends confronted Cozy when she had failed her scheme to remove the magic from the world.  Seeing Twilight in such a state made Cozy feel a strange, nagging feeling. A feeling that almost felt like concern. Almost. "Hey, are you okay?" Cozy asked, cocking her head to the side. Twilight first didn't look down at her student, but her eyelids dropped a bit, making her look tired. "It's just… It was just the nastiest thing I've heard in a long time, Cozy. Not about me, but about… you," Twilight looked down at the filly with a worried frown. "I hope you didn't take what she's said to your heart, Cozy. Rarity has told me about Zesty, and she is just an old, bitter nag. Why if I weren't a Princess, I'd take her and-" Twilight caught herself. She coughed. "Uh… I mean..." Cozy giggled. Hearing Twilight go on a tirade helped her mood significantly. "Golly, to think you'd be so flustered over 'an old bitter nag'." Twilight raised her eyebrows and looked down at Cozy, a look of realization on her face. "Huh… Now that I think of it, it's not like you to take an insult like that without throwing a tantrum. What's going on?" "Well, I guess I already have a noble knight who's going to take the old nag down a peg or two for me," Cozy said with a sing-song voice. "And besides, I've been called worse things by better ponies." "You have? By whom?" Twilight asked.  "I'm pretty sure Tirek promised me a slow and painful death at least twice when I helped motivate him with his workouts." Cozy chirped.  That got Twilight to smile. "And he's a 'better pony'?" "Well, at least he appreciated me as a great friend and partner in crime," Cozy said. "And I'm sure he could cook better than Zesty too." Twilight giggled. “Thank you, Cozy.” She gave her a big, warm smile and gently ruffled her curly mane with a wing.  Cozy grinned and made her way back to Rumble and Ramson, just as the jury returned. "We have come to a decision," the lead pony said. "Between Saffron and Zesty… the jury has decided that Zesty's dish was more impressive, though it was a narrow thing." The applause was lukewarm at best. Cozy wondered if she could get away with booing, but decided against it. "As for the second semi-final, Gustave le Grande versus Ramson and sous-chef Rumble, it was likewise a very narrow competition, and Gustave certainly impressed with something exotic and extravagant from his homeland, finely adopted into pony cuisine… However, considering also the reasoning behind Ramson's dish to transcend the cooking itself and let the dish represent all parts of the perfect date, rather than just the food, we have decided to award him the victory. Congratulations, both of you." "Trés bien," Gustave said with a bow. He stepped over to Ramson and held out a talon. "Tiz dizzapointing for me. But it waz ztill an honnour to compete againzt you, and your zouz-chef. You 'ave clearly taught him well." "It has not been easy… but it has clearly given result," Ramson said with a tightlipped smile.  Cozy saw Rumble's whole body tense up for a few moments, before he seemingly fainted from such unprecedented praise.  The finale was to begin tomorrow at midday, so after the two finalists were announced he and Ramson retreated back to the castle kitchen. Cozy invited herself to follow with them. "We… we did it," Rumble said with a silly grin. Only now did it start to sink in.  He. Rumble.  He was a finalist of the CCC! There were countless ponies out there who dreamed about it! But he had done it, before he even had his cutie mark! "We haven't done a thing yet," Ramson bit him off. "I don't know if the Princesses do have divine powers or not, but I'll still thank Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Cadance or whoever I need for this chance. Rumble." He did not call him tomtit. That alone made him snap to attention.  Ramson looked evenly at him. When he spoke, his voice was serious. Not the resigned, tired voice he usually used with Rumble. "Zesty cannot be allowed to win. If ponies think she is one worth listening to again, you know what she can do. Do your best tomorrow, and help me take her down." Rumble nodded, feeling like he had just sealed a solemn pact. "We'll… uh…" Ramson made profanities seem so easy. "Beat her so hard we could serve her up as whipped cream!" Yeah… that one was pretty decent for being his first try.  Ramson barked out a laugh. "You're learning. Slowly." "Golly, you don't have to worry about a thing!" said a giggling Cozy. She had fluttered up on a stool and looked at the both of them, grinning. "I tasted both hers and Saffron's food, and they were both trash. You've got this in the bag!" Ramson's eyes narrowed. "Saffron's food was trash, you say… how exactly?" It did sound a little off, Rumble had to admit. He had taken Cozy to her restaurant for their first date, and the food had been great. Had the stress of the competition gotten to her? "Eh…" Cozy shrugged. "It was like… almost tasteless." "Tasteless?" Rumble tilted his head. He almost wanted to ask if Cozy was getting sick or something, because if there was one thing that Saffron's food was known for, it was for the fanciful and peppery flavours. There was no chance she'd make something tasteless. "I smell a rat…" Ramson said.  "Huh?" Now it was Cozy's turn to tilt her head. "What do you mean?" "I mean we are dealing with a unicorn with a history of turning half the city into a tasteless, bland mess," Ramson said. "A unicorn who just snagged a place in the finale from a rival far more skilled than her. And I'm willing to bet good bits that Saffron has never cooked anything tasteless in her life." "You think… Zesty cheated?" Rumble said. Just speaking those words made them seem credible. He knew Zesty wasn't a chef at heart- certainly not one who could compete at this level. And she clearly had no qualms about ruining good food.  "Yes I do," Ramson said in a tone that promised retribution.  "So we'll report her to the jury?" Rumble said.  "No proof," Cozy pointed out. "They've tasted Saffron's cooking too and didn't say anything. And it's not like we have anything solid against her either. Really, we're just guessing too." Rumble grumbled. "So what do we do?" "First we figure out just what she did and how," Ramson said. "Fortunately, I think I already know what she did, even if I don't know how." "And what did she do?" Cozy asked.  "Well, it's a little known fact that there is some unicorn magic that can influence flavours," Ramson said. "They don't last long and they are difficult to use correctly with how precise they must be, but they exist. In fact, I used similar magic just earlier today." "Oh… but you think she used them in the opposite way!" Rumble said when the implication dawned on him. "Like, instead of empowering the flavours she subdued them on Saffron's dish?" Ramson nodded. "It wouldn't be very difficult… if she wants to mess up a dish then she doesn't have to be precise with the magic.” "But wouldn't anypony notice if she used her magic on Saffron's food?" Rumble asked. "Their magic looks really different from one another." "That's what I don't get," Ramson said slowly. "I can get Saffron missing it, if Zesty just did it when she was out in the pantry or collecting a plate… but the whole room missing it? Either she had some trick I don't see, or she has nerves of steel." "Or she has an accomplice," Cozy suddenly said. Rumble looked at his special somepony, dumbfounded. She huffed in annoyance. "Golly, I'm really getting rusty with my scheming, to think I didn't get it before. The dropped plate in the quarter finals was a distraction! That's why she has her apprentice, to create the distraction she needs!" "Yeah, something happened in the semi-finals too, near the end," Rumble remembered. "That dunderhead sent a dozen pots of fresh herbs to the floor. Allegedly he had been running for them and slipped." But this made sense. With the tense atmosphere of having just a few minutes left to prepare your dish in the CCC semi-finals, a noise like that would make anypony jump out of their skin, Rumble included. A perfect distraction. "I think we've got her…" Ramson growled. "Now we just have to figure out two things: first, how to prove she is a cheating weasel who should not be let near a kitchen again, and second how to counteract her magic." "Can't we just report her tomorrow?" Cozy suggested. "I mean… she'll have to try and do the same to you, and if you just don't look at the distraction but on her and… shouts?" She shrugged. "Wouldn't that be enough?" "No," Ramson snapped. "Because I want to beat her at her own game. I'll prove to all of Equestria that even if she cheats- even if she sets my whole kitchen on fire, I will not let her win! I'll beat her like you do a veggie-schnitzel. Then we'll expose her, and then we'll redo the finale with Saffron as my opponent. And then at last, when we've shown her that she's still a filly playing in the kitchen compared to me, only then will I be satisfied." Rumble swallowed. He had never seen Ramson this passionate about anything. "I'll help!" He piped up. "I don't want a cheater in the CCC either!" "Golly, that's nice," Cozy said sarcastically. "But do either of you actually have any clue about how to beat her then? 'Cause even if you know her tricks, it won't help if you can't counteract it." Ramson cracked an insidious type of smile. "But I do know how to counteract it. And my sous-chef is going to help me. Listen, here's what we'll do…" Rumble listened with increasing anxiety and excitement. This… this was ways above and beyond what he had prepared for. But at the same time, it was likely a chance to make a mark in CCC history that had just fallen into his lap. Anxiety began to yield to resolve.  If he didn't do this… he was going to regret it his whole life! "I'll… cheer for you," Cozy said. "And I know you can do it! You are great at this!" She shot him her own brand sinister smile. "And also… I think I just figured out how we'll take down Zesty too, while we're at it. But only after you have beaten her, of course." Her tail was itchy. She flicked it this way and that over the floor, just like she had been doing for the better part of the hour. She'd have to shower and comb herself carefully before going to bed tonight, will all the dust she was probably sweeping up…  Cozy looked from one team to the other, trying to glean some insight in how things were going. She knew of the plan, but she couldn't notice it being in effect… which was both worrying and reassuring. Worrying because if Ramson or Rumble somehow mismanaged their time in preparing their trap, then this would fall apart. Reassuring because if she couldn't see any sign, then Zesty certainly couldn't either.  But she did not like being kept in the dark! And she certainly did not like entrusting a plan like this to other ponies while she was stuck on the sidelines. She should… do something! Anything. Fetch ingredients, chop up vegetables… just keep an eye on the cooking pots so they didn't boil over!  A pony she cared about was out there with a heavy burden on his back… and she was just here, sitting and watching and sweeping up dust with her tail. She wanted to help.  But she couldn't. She was stuck where she was. Her tail itched again and she flicked it over the floor where she sat, again. To think… Cozy Glow, the coldhearted manipulator, was antsy for her special somepony.  "Fillies and gentlecolts! We are in the homestretch now! The final fifteen minutes of this year's CCC begins now! Use this time to set the last details and perfect your dishes! One of you will be crowned the Champion of Chefs!" Cozy's throat was dry. Zesty had to make her move to cheat soon! If she didn't then they'd be in big trouble! At least it looked like Ramson was doing everything he could to goad Zesty into doing exactly that. His entire workbench was covered with ingredients. A massive tower of tomatoes was piled up so high it reached above the tip of his horn. No less than five bags of flour stood by his side along with as many bottles of olive oil. A small forest of basil plants grew on the side of his tomato-mountain, and finally, spilling on the floor he had some sort of pinecones. Rumble was fluttering about too, but most of the time Cozy could not even see him through the mess. Reluctantly, Cozy looked away from the explosion of madness and/or genius and her valiant special somepony over to Zesty's kitchen. Cozy had to keep an eye on her to try and catch her in the act.  Her sous-chef stood next to her, looking lost and stupid like he always did. Zesty, meanwhile, was cutting up some vegetables. Cozy couldn't see what it was, but it was probably something tasteless anyway. Compared to her opponents, Cozy had to stifle a laugh at how bland it looked.  Zesty mumbled something. Her sous-chef startled and lit up his horn. A pumpkin shot from the pantry in an arch towards Zesty's table. It flew high… very high in fact. Straight towards a chandelier.  Cozy snapped back at attention and stared at Zesty. She still held her knife in her magic, so her horn was already alight. Was this it? Or had she figured somepony was onto her?  The pumpkin hit the chandelier overhead with a thunderous racket. Cozy actively had to stop herself from looking away. Even Zesty looked away, and her apprentice looked as dumb as he always did. Honestly, Cozy was not sure if he even knew when and what distraction he'd cause, or if Zesty just waited for him to mess up on his own accord.  As Zesty turned back towards her work, Cozy saw, for just a split second, how her eyes darted over to Ramson's tower of ingredients. Her horn didn't change and it was only a glance, but somehow Cozy could sense it, just from her posture, that she had done it. She couldn't pinpoint it, she just… knew. Maybe because she knew how to spot a cheater and liar after having been one, and spent ample of time together with Chrysalis and Tirek?  Cozy's tail itched like mad. She brushed it over the floor again and shuffled nervously on her hooves.  "Five minutes! Set the final details now, finalists, they might be the thing that decides your victory!" The announcer said. A hush fell over the room. Everypony watched the two teams work.  Ramson was using his magic to carve tomatoes in the shape of tiny flowers, then he sat them down on his plate. It all looked more like a piece of art than food. Yellow, red, purple and green tomatoes, all of them cut in exact shapes and sizes to create an edible field of flowers. Cozy had no idea tomatoes could look like that! Behind him she could just barely make out Rumble, who was stirring his own little pot at the corner of the stove. Next to Ramson's flamboyant display of color and extravagance, her special somepony practically disappeared.  Zesty for her part had placed exactly two stalks of asparagus and a cube of pumpkin flesh on her plate.  Then, before Cozy's eyes, she brought up her knives and cut away half of each asparagus. Just… how could anypony even consider her worthy of being here? Even Cozy could cook something more impressive than that. She knew that despite not having tasted the dish.  Five… Four… Three… Two… And then, Ramson turned his plate upside down and sent his dish all over the counter.  One! "Time up! Both teams drop everything and take a step back!" Both competitors did so and turned to the three waiting judges. The bronze-colored pony held up a coin and looked at Ramson. "Do you call heads or tails, Master Chef?" "I call tails," Ramson said without acknowledging the confused stares from everywhere else in the room.  The pony tossed the coin and caught it on his hoof. "Heads. That means we start with the challenger." The trio made their way over to Zesty's miserly plate. "Please present your dish." "Raw pumpkin and two half-stalks of unseasoned asparagus," Cozy grumbled to herself.  "Tiges d'asperges croustillantes au vin blanc accompagnées d'un cube de citrouille frit," Zesty said.  The three jury members tried the dish, as well as they could anyway, with how little it was they all hardly even had the chance to try it at all. Maybe that was part of Zesty's plan, Cozy thought darkly. Since her food was so bad, the less they had to judge the better it was for her. As always, the jury remained completely impassive, but Cozy decided it was probably because they had nothing to say about the dish.  "Thank you," The bronze pony said.  At last they went over to the good guys. "Please present your dish," The jury said. Cozy held her breath. She could practically feel the stunned silence of the shot through the room when Rumble piped up to speak.  "Uh…well, it's tomato soup, with some garlic bread, roasted pine nuts, basil oil and… and I think that's it…" he said and pushed forward his small bowl with a slice of bread. Cozy could see how he was shaking. For the first time, Cozy could see an emotion on the jury's faces, namely confusion. They looked over at Ramson. "Don't mind me, gentlemen," Ramson said with a shrug. "It seems my magic slipped at the last moment and sent my dish off the plate, so it sadly can't be judged, according to the rules." He nodded towards his perfectly cut tomatoes. "But luckily for me, my sous-chef seems to have prepared something on his own… I suppose that will have to be my dish. So silly of me." "This… is an outrage!" Zesty suddenly sputtered. "You cannot let the competitor delegate his entire work to his sous-chef! Ramson is the competitor, not that… that blank-flank!" Cozy growled and flicked her ears straight backwards in anger. Only a warning glare from Ramson kept her from flying over and bash Zesty over the head with her own plate. "No personal attacks," One of the jury-ponies said sharply. Then he turned back to Ramson. "The sous-chef is intended as a helper, nothing more. But there are no rules for how much he is allowed to help. And it wouldn't really be in the spirit of the CCC to disqualify a finalist who has produced a perfectly viable dish, even if his sous-chef cooked it. But for your sake, Master Chef, I hope he is good. Because it seems he is the only one who can save your title now." "He is good," Ramson said. "Doesn't hurt that his opponent doesn't know the difference between rosemary and rose wine." "No personal attacks," the jury pony said again. "I judge the dish to be valid." The three ponies each took a spoon and tried the soup and the bread. "Thank you very much," the jury leader said. "Now, while it is customary for the jury to retreat and discuss, I for one am clear on who I deem the winner." The juror made a pause and the whole room fell completely silent. The tension was so high, even Zesty was looking anxiously at the jury.  "I say Ramson retains his title." "Me too," the second juror said.  "The same," said the last one.   Ramson nodded measuredly, Cozy saw in the corner of her eyes. But she was fixated on the seething Zesty Gourmand who looked just about ready to throttle everypony in the jury, alongside Ramson and Rumble.  But she hadn't seen the best part yet… Cozy grinned and rubbed her hooves.  Curtains rise for the last act.  Cozy trotted up to the jury, humming a small tune. They all turned to face her, unexpected as she was.  "Oh, just one second mr. Jury-pony. You know how I tried some of the food yesterday, right?" she asked with a sweet smile.  "Yes. Do you want to try the finalists dishes as well?" The lead pony said with an amiable look.  "Maybe later!" Cozy said, feeling her grin stretching wider. "I just figured you should know that I think Zesty cheated in this competition." The horrified stares of everypony around her… felt good, to some treasonous little part of her. She knew she should be reformed, but this… the way that everypony stared at her and hung on her next words, that she had missed. The intoxicating sensation of absolute control, of absolute power... She had missed the giddy feeling of being the one everypony listened to, the one everypony looked at in awe as well as in fear.  "That's a… serious accusation." The jury said with cold, stern glare aimed at the smiling filly. "It is nothing short of slander! I will not have my reputation slandered by a stupid little filly who couldn't cook to save her life!" Zesty shouted, red rising on her bony cheeks.  Cozy turned to the fuming unicorn, grinning. "You see, I figured it was strange that Saffron's food was so bland yesterday, so I asked around and heard that one could actually destroy the taste of somepony's food with magic! And then I thought to myself 'Oh, golly, that wouldn't be very fair to other competitors, right?' So, just to be sure, I asked Princess Twilight, my mentor and teacher, to put an enchantment on Ramson's plate for this competition! It's an enchantment that saves any spell used near it, and the magical signature of the pony who used it. And since Twilight thinks I'm so cute and loveable and smart, she agreed!" Cozy finished with a playful wink to the surprised jury. All three ponies of the jury looked over to Ramson's kitchen, where he held up his still-clean plate in his hooves. After a moment of silence, one of them spoke up. "So then there is a certain way to test if this is true?" Zesty looked, for the first time, just a tiny bit afraid. "Preposterous. I can assure you that I would never cheat, nor would I need to. Or would you sooner believe the words of a complete outsider before mine? The words of somepony like Cozy Glow?" Much to Cozy's annoyance, there was a murmur of agreement around the room. But she knew how to make them see her point of view. After all, Cozy had friends in high places. These ponies just needed a little reminder.  "Golly," Cozy said with an innocent smile. "Twilight Sparkle clearly did believe me when I asked her to put the spell on the plate. The Princess of Friendship, my personal teacher and mentor, and the Ruler of Equestria trusted me. In fact, I'm sure I can get her to come down herself, right now, to explain the spell, and to see if it picked up anything during the competition." Cozy smiled cutely at the jury.  One of the jury ponies whispered to the leader. "It wouldn't hurt to check. If the princess herself expects it…" The head juror nodded. "Very well." That evening, Twilight was invited by Cozy to join her with Rumble and Ramson down in the kitchen. It might just be the first time Twilight had ever seen Ramson actually happy for longer than three seconds. Surely, the golden trophy that stood on the shelf in the kitchen might have something to do with it.  To be honest, Twilight hadn't really been sure what to make of it when Cozy zoomed into her bedroom last evening with a plate in her hooves, but now she had finally received an explanation. She wasn't sure what to feel about it though… Clearly Cozy was sly as ever to come up with this plan to catch Zesty red-hoofed. But the way she had used Twilight's name as a leverage didn't sit entirely right with her. Twilight had never agreed to be roped into a cheating accusation, even if she agreed that it was fortunate they caught on to Zesty…  Clearly, Cozy Glow was still Cozy Glow, and this proved that just her proximity to Twilight was a powerful weapon in her hooves… or rather, on her lips. Alicorns were, and always had been revered in Equestria. And Cozy knew how to use that fact to her advantage like no other pony would. But then again, watching her blush and half-heartedly bat away Rumble's affectionate nuzzles did put Twilight's worst fears to ease. When all was said and done, Cozy had used her abilities to outwit a cheater and ensure a fair competition. Cozy's methods may be a shade more villainous than what Twilight would have done or liked, but her heart had been in the right place. And she was learning to keep her heart in the right place by example. The moment Twilight had confirmed Zesty's magic on the plate, Ramson had immediately relinquished his title and demanded Saffron was brought in to compete again. By Cozy's look at him in that moment, she had learned a little bit about fair play and doing the right thing too from this whole affair. Maybe that was all Twilight could ask for? Bit by bit, whatever small embers of evil still smoldered inside her heart could be stamped out with good friends and patience.  "Now then, I think it's time to celebrate in a fitting manner," Ramson said happily and went down into a small cellar room that Twilight couldn't remember what it was for.  When he came back, he had a small keg in his magic. "Three seasons aged Sweet Apple Acres Cider," he said. "I've been saving it for a special occasion, and that Zesty is now banned for life from any kitchen definitely qualifies." He magicked down a quartet of glasses and poured a generous amount of amber liquid into them. "With my princesses permission, I'd like to propose a toast," Ramson said.  Twilight rolled her eyes, just a little at the endless formality. "Of course." "Well then. A toast to my sous-chef, the youngest pony in the history of the CCC to cook the dish in the finals and win, who overcame his anxiety and duked it out with the best of them, and did it all on his own merits. And to his clever special-somepony for doing the whole culinary world a favor, of course." Ramson lifted his glass to a heavily blushing Rumble and Cozy. She put a wing over his side with a proud smile on her freckled face. As the four of them kinked their glasses together, a spark of light erupted on Rumble's flank and bathed the whole kitchen.