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// Chapter 2: Appitizer Round 
// Story: Pinkie gets Chopped 
// by Chef Kyro 
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Chapter 2: Appetizer Round 



As the three judges sat at the table on the stage. They were discussing about tonights meal and the mysterious fourth chef that Ted Allen mention earlier. 

"I heard that the original fourth chef couldn't make it due to a major car accident" said the blond haired women. The man next to him with the light beard and slightly tanned completion replied, "I heard that the new chef that Ted brought up just came out of nowhere at the last second." "Lets hope that this new chef would bring his or her game." said the modest, skinny judge. 

Ted was having somewhat of a mini panic attack from over hearing the judges rumors. With a deep breath and a sigh, Ted came walking on the set where everyone is readying them selfs for tonights meal. "Ah Ted," said the bearded judge, "I guess everyone is ready in the back?" "Yes Scott, they are ready to go in back." said Ted faking his smile. "I can't wait to see the new chefs for tonight." said the blond haired women. "What are they like?" "Well Amanda..." Ted said with concern "one of the chefs is a very...'colorful' character."

After a few seconds of raised eyebrows and awkward silence later, Amanda turned to the skinny judge next to her and ask "What do you think Marcus?" "I think we need to see the chefs to determine what the chefs own motive is." said Marcus with an insightful tone. Little did they know, that what is laid ahead would be something most unexpected. 

The kitchen was set, the pantry was the full of any ingredient imaginable, and the camera crew was all set for the show as usual. The judges were readying themselves to showcase for the cameras. Ted was positioning himself on the corner off the judges as usual and prepared himself for the most unusual episode of his career.      

"Were rolling in 5...4...3" the director behind the camera. He then gave the que to signal to start the show and with Teds signiture voice, he said "four competitors think they have what it takes to become the chopped champion. Lets introduce them to the judges." Soon Tyrone, Kyro, and Bob came out in there usual chef strut, name-by-name, into the competitors kitchen. Then Ted introduced a chef he though he would never say, "and our surprise fourth competitor, Pinkie Pie of Ponyville." The Pink mare came out to the kitchen hopping with excitement as she takes the last spot. Amanda spat out her drink for a moment to see what she is seeing as well as the other judges. 

"Uh, whats going on here?" said Scott in a questioned matter. "Just trust me on this." muffled Ted behind his fake smile. Just then Pinkie realized that she was too short to be seen behind the island. With a confused but unmoved command  the director commanded "Intern, give the small pink chef a stool to stand on." Then a skinny man with some camera equipment on his tool belt, brought Pinkie Pie a stool to stand on right behind the island. Pinkie then hopped on the stool with ease and cheerfully said "Thank you, crew member man." The intern blushed at the complement and went back behind the camera. Then director said "Well?...continue on! We have a show to do!" With the three judges and Ted paused with disbelief that the director would be o.k with this, but the show must go on and just went on with the act. 

"Well then Chefs", as Ted continued with his routine announcement. "There are three courses or rounds through out the competition. Appetizer, Entree, and Dessert; and you must use everything inside the mystery basket." Suddenly, Pinkie realized that there was a basket in front of her and wondered what they were. "Chefs" as Ted brings out his hand, "you may open your baskets." As the three chefs open there baskets with their hands, Pinkie used her mouth to open the basket that made the judges a little uneasy of the Pink Chefs sanitation training. 

" and your ingredients are: eggplant, hearts of palm, walnuts, and edible flower mix." As the three chefs look down at the mystery items with serious consideration and slight aggravation, Pinkie was looking up and day dreaming of how she can impress her new friend's Ted and the three Judges. 

"you have access to a variety of ingredients in the pantry area and the fridge. You have twenty minutes to create your appetizer and time starts......NOW." With the sound of Teds go, the three Chefs rushed over to the pantry, while Pinkie was still somewhat thinking. Scott then whispered to Pinkie "Uh Pinkie...Ted said go." "I know" Pinkie replied casually. Then with a high pitched "ohh", Pinkie dashed off to create her hyper active muse. 

As the compitition went underway, Tyrone's plan was to go with a "go big or go home" approach for his first dish. Sticking to his roots in the steakhouse, he made the eggplants into "steaks" and grilled them. He then started to use the heart of palm, some canned diced tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette to create a new steak sauce on the side. Then he addd toasted walnuts as a topping. Its somewhat a risky move for him but the vision was already stuck to his head and he came at it charging in. 

Kyro took the eggplant and made a traditional tempura fried eggplant by using the dried bread crumbs from the pantry and the hot stainless steel pan with some peanut oil. His moves were flawless in technique. He made a sauce similar to Tyrone's but somewhat more thinner with vinegar and soy sauce for a salty element. He incorporated the walnuts into the sauce by roasting them and crushing them into a powder. He then purred the heart of palm and flowers to make a pallet cleansing puree.  

For Bob, he took the simpler approach and made a raw eggplant, walnut, edible flower salad and arugula for good measure. He also made a heart of palm and Parmesan cheese cream dressing to give it a little bit of a salty element. Bob's specialty was more into organ meats and unusual parts. Since he's not really skilled in vegetarian cuisine, he just deiced to play it safe and not risking losing the round. As he constructs the salad he always muttering to himself, "Just keep it simple Bob. Keep it simple." 

Pinkie ecstatically started her dish with a twist on an equestrian classic, a flower sandwich with eggplant. She grabbed some whole grain bread, another box of bread crumbs and some butter from the fridge. In a pink flash, she cut the eggplant into thin slices, coat the eggplant in melted butter and bread crumbs, and place them on a sheet pan in the oven beside the walnuts on a sheet pan. The judges were really curious why she placed the walnuts right next to the eggplant baking in the oven. It was really unlikely to bake eggplant and nuts at the same time but regardless, Pinkie kept on working while the judges keep a close eye on the equestrian chef.                 

As the clock was ticking down to seven minutes  before the round was over, the chefs stared to plate up the remaining ingredients onto the various white plates of shapes and sizes. Tyrone used one of the classic oval plates the big slices of grilled eggplant just a little off center to make room for the sauce on the side. He then added the walnuts on top with a tiny drizzle of sauce on top to use as a flavoring and decoration. 

Kyro took a nice thin rectangular plate and started to plate the sauce on the blank slate. Although, he suddenly realized that the color of the sauce blended into the plate and make it almost invisible. With little time to spare, Kyro took some parsley, chopped them finely, and sprinkled it on the sauce to make it visible. He then placed the fried eggplant cube on top of a little sauce to use as an adhesive for the dish.

Bob took some small bowls and fluffed the salad in the bowls and dressed the salads very lightly with a spoon. His hand trembled at the thought of overdressing or running out of time to finish. 

Pinkie decided to try a bright red square plate instead of the boring white square plate. She ensembles the sandwiches with the whole wheat bread (cut into small squares) and slather the heart of palm mayonnaise on the bread and piled on some leaflets of arugula on one side and the walnut baked eggplant on the other side. Then she "sprinkled" the flower mix in the middle and gently close the sandwiches in a "Rarity-like" manner and stacked them in angles.

As the clock was counting down and the chefs were finishing their dishes, Ted was about to announce the end of the appetizer round. "Ten....nine.....eight" as the clock was ticking down, the chefs were hurrying up to finish there dishes. Yet, Pinkie was smiling very cheerfully as she placed the sandwich pieces on the bright red plates. "Five....four....three.....two....one Times up." Suddenly everyone placed there hands up as through they were being held at gun point. "Step away from the food."  The four contestants were very contempt with there creations. Although the tension was still high at the risk to miss out on the $10,000 prize.   

All the chefs, including Pinkie pie, walked up to the four judges to face their judgement. "I have to admit, you had a really tough basket to start off with," said Ted with content. "Let's see if you should up to the challenge. Chef Tyrone, you will go first." The first plate was sent out in front of Scott, Amanda, and Marcus for the first course of the evening. "What you have here," said Tyrone in a slightly tired and dry voice "is grilled eggplant with a heart of palm balsamic steak sauce and toasted walnuts as a topping. As the judges munch down on the walnut and eggplant dish, asked some questions about his history as a chef and wondered why he made such big steaks in the first place and complained slightly about how the sauce was not really appetizing. 

For Kyro, his judgement was satisfactory but his serious expression had not budged since the beginning of the competition. His eggplant was perfectly fried and his sauce did cleanse the palette to experience that crispy texture over and over again. 

Bob salad was pleasant and tangy but as Scott was enjoying the salad, he later said "I think this is really good but, I think you are playing too safe." Bob them felt a little disappointed for not being edgy enough. Although Amanda and Marcus do enjoy it continently. 

Then it was Pinkies turn. Although before her dish was out she shouted wait. She went back to her station and pushed the stool from earlier to the judges table very loudly. "Ok," said Pinkie as she hopped onto the stool, "now I'm ready." "O.K then Pinkie, what did you make today?" Asked Marcus very curiously. "Well I made a flower and eggplant sandwich." said Pinkie in a esthetic tone and huge smile. The judges looked down on the bright red plate contiplating why she made a sandwich for a competition that about fine food. "Could you tell us what's in the sandwich." said Amanda while taking her first bite. "We'll it has eggplant baked with walnuts, flowers and I made a heart of palm spread from some of the white creamy stuff in a jar." as Pinkie said pointing out her hoof to one of the judges. "You mean mayonnaise?" Asked Marcus in a curiosity. Ted was already sweating buckets at this point, that his career as host will be over. 

"Where exactly are you from Pinkie?" asked Scott. "I'm from Ponyville," answered Pinkie with a smile. Everyone kind of looked at each other and wondering where that is. "Well were ever you came from" Marcus said as he begins to happily munch on his sandwich, " this is the best vegetarian sandwich I ever tasted." Ted's jaw dropped at the though that this pony made something not just edible, but tasted better then what the other chefs hade made so far. "Pinkie you did an amazing job" as Amanda said while taking another bite, " this is great, but I do want to tell you that you are in a serious competition. If you want to impress us more, then you need to be more original than a sandwich." "Okey Dokey Lokey" Pinkie said while still feeling proud about her creation. 

After that ruling, Ted send the chefs off to the other room for the judges to make they're final verdict. 

As the chefs made there way to the waiting area to see who is going home, they gabbed there water bottles to reflect on how they did during the first round. "I couldn't belive that all three of us gotten outshine by a pink pony in a pink chef coat." said Tyronne in a disgruntled tone. "It's o.k, I think you did a great job!" Pinkie said to comfort Tyronne. "I never really saw anyone grill eggplant before. I should tell applejack that for her next grilling jamboree!" Everyone else was just really confused after that statement and continued to cool down after such an unbelievable round. 
They were later called back out to the judges table to face there judgment. Scott, Amanda, Marcus and Ted: stared down at the covered plate that reveals who is going home. With Ted gripping the handle, he said "who is on the chopping block?"