"And The Winner Is..." Reprise
Thweet Geniuth
Chapter 19 “And The Winner Is…” Reprise
“Ok, everypony, we are about to begin the final hour of tonight’s Challenge,” said Smarty. “Do any of you wish to make any observations?”
“Doesn’t anypony want to talk about what happened to Merry?” whined Happy.
Their answer was resounding. “No!”
“I have to say, considering tabling, I find the Challenger’s proposed Showpiece frightening,” said Doc.
“The Grand Chef hurt her! It was assault!” Happy cried into their headsets.
“Doc, please explain ‘tabling’ for any audience members who don’t know,” said Smarty. “Scooter, you are the closest to Merry, could you explain it to her?”
“Tabling is the final test, Smarty,” said Doc. “A sugar sculpture must be structurally sound, and to test this we set up a table before each kitchen. A Chef must move their piece the ten feet from their kitchen to the table, and it must be able to survive the move.”
“Happy, the Grand Chef will say Merry fell,” said Scooter.
“When moving their Showpiece, a Chef must bear its’ weight and must be in control of guiding the piece to the table,” continued Doc. “As many as four ponies can move a piece, and we allow a Chef the aid of our stage stallions, but that’s problematic given Chef Twist’s height. Three burly stallions crouching way over to aide her won’t be much help.”
“Merry didn’t fall, she didn’t trip, she wasn’t even pushed!” insisted Happy. “The Grand Chef threw her at that rack!”
“Chef Twist has added a new top feature to her plan; this will make her Showpiece the Grand Chef’s Challenge's new record holder for tallest sugar sculpture. That is, if she can get it to the table.”
“Happy, we didn’t get it on camera, and it was in the back of the kitchen where none of the audience could see it clearly. Merry must have seen this day coming because she once told me ‘If it ever goes into the fan for me, I don’t want to fight it. I just want to slip quietly out a back door without a word.’ That’s what she did. Leave it.”
“So you are worried about Twist’s Sugar Showpiece collapsing?” asked Smarty.
“Merry was hurt; shouldn’t somepony go after her to make sure she’s alright?”
“Merry will take care of herself, she’s like that. Come on, Happy, I don’t want to start crying, so could you please just shut up?”
“I fear she will leave a lot of herself behind here,” said Almond. “We may still be cleaning debris from her Showpiece out of the carpet years from now.”
#
At the beginning of the last hour of this Challenge, the Grand Chef did not return directly to his kitchen. He first went to visit Twist in her’s.
This was a tradition in the Grand Chef’s Challenge. He always took time to inspect the Challenger’s work. This was played up as a courtesy call, though really it was a last effort to rattle the Challenger.
“You are assembling a mighty Showpiece,” said the Grand Chef.
“Thank you, Grand Chef,” said Twist.
“Your colors are very vibrant. They remind me of a child’s coloring book.”
“My colorths reflect reality. At least, as nearly as I can.”
“Don’t you fear the great heights to which you are building, Chef?”
“Of courthse I do,” answered Twist. “But I have no choice. Not if I want any points for an extreme element. I can’t make it move, not like your Thowpiece. And I won’t add pyrotechnicths. I don’t light fires in my kitchen on purpose.”
This got a dry chuckle from the Grand Chef.
“No, my extreme element will be my piethe’th height. And I have to include the new top pieth I’m making. It’th very important. But thethse will help.” Twist indicated the candy sticks she had already prepared.
“Candy canes?”
“I know, candy canes are for children and beginners. But it was candy canes that got me into candy making and they have always served me well. They bring me luck. They will frame and thupport my thowpiece tonight.”
“Doesn’t the weight concern you?”
“Thsure. That’th the trick, ithn’t it? Make it too thsturdy and it ith too heavy. Make it too light and it ith too fragile. You have to have balance.”
“You know that you cannot just pour sugar into molds and glue it together and hope to beat me.”
“No Grand Chef. But I’m jutht not thinking about that. I really jutht want to put it together and move it to the table. I can already thsee it in my head. I want to thsee it in real life, if only for a moment.”
“Oh, I hope the image lasts longer than that. In fact, I hope you remember this night for a very long time.”
“Thank you, Grand Chef, I think. Good luck to you altho.”
At that the Grand Chef left. Apple Bloom stepped up to Twist and said, “Well, was that creepy or what?”
“It didn’t scare me,” said Twist. “I’m not afraid. Don’t you dare thsay, ‘You will be.’”
“Ah wouldn’t dream of it, Chef.”
No pony noticed that on his way out the Grand Chef scuffed his hoof. And no pony noticed the bulge this raised in the carpet, right where Twist was likely to step.
#
In the Grand Chef’s kitchen his showpiece grew and grew. As each portion was assembled he tested the movement. Everything moved. The racers raced. The crowd waved, and rose to cheer. The orchestra played. Grounds keepers in the infield tended to stray clouds. Birds circled. Cotton candy clouds slowly drifted by.
Though it all the Grand Chef complained at the top of his lungs about the trouble he was having getting his sugar to set. He blamed his assistants. He blamed Oates (who never went near a kitchen during the final hour rush). He blamed the audience, whose movements were obviously disturbing the Coliseum’s air flow. He blamed his assistant’s mothers.
It never occurred to the Grand Chef to blame his kitchen’s exhaust fans.
#
Twist populated the base of her showpiece with models of the residents of Ponyville, looking adoringly up at the window. She included everyone from the Mayor to Fluttershy’s bunny friend Angel. Miss Cheerilee was there with all of Twist’s classmates, except for Diamond Tiara.
Twist crafted her figures out of every edible material she could think of. She molded them in marzipan and sculpted them with molding chocolate. She carved Rice-crispie treats and covered them with pastiage. She carved layer cake and covered it with fondant. All of Twist’s figures seemed ready to come to life.
Anchoring the piece were four Royal Guards. The two in the livery of the Sun Princess were generic grim faced warriors, the two wearing Princess Luna’s uniforms were more familiar.
One of Princess Luna’s charioteers nudged the other and pointed. “Look, Cruiser, it’s us!”
“I’m so proud!” gushed the other guard, sounding not at all like a grim faced warrior.
Unfortunately, while she executed all the things she was good at perfectly, every time Twist tried a new skill she failed completely.
Twist wanted to add the party balloons from Pinkie Pie’s cutie mark to the window’s border. But every time she tried to inflate her pulled sugar the sugar globe would crack. After shattering her third balloon in a row Twist realized she couldn’t waste any more time on it and gave up. She just cut the balloons out of a flat piece of sugar instead, even though she knew this would cost her points.
Twist’s every attempt to show more advanced skills ended much this way.
It was the shortest hour of Twist’s life.
As they assembled the panels of the Window Twist was soon spending more time on a step ladder than on the floor. Soon they needed a second ladder; Apple Bloom held sections steady while Twist fixed them into place, and Bon Bon handed materials up to the girls.
By the final minute both girls were standing on the top of their ladders, their rear hooves covering the warning “Do Not Use As A Step.”
“Last piece!” cried Apple Bloom. “Hand it up!”
Bon Bon had to climb halfway up to reach her, and she was terrified that she would knock Apple Bloom off. “There’s no time! Forget it, Twist, the showpiece is tall enough.”
“It goeths out with the topper on or it doethn’t go out,” said Twist, laying down a line of hot sugar to glue the top on. “It’th for Printheth Luna, it’th important.”
She settled the last piece in place. “Hold it right there, Apple Bloom. It’th thtraight and level, don’t let it move.”
“Ah got it, Chef!”
“Hand me the chiller, Bon Bon.”
Bon Bon had to reach from one ladder to the other, for a second she thought she was going to knock them all over, and take the showpiece down as well. “It won’t set, there isn’t time!”
“It will thet!” declared Twist. She sprayed the molten sugar with chilled compressed air to freeze it.
“It won’t set!”
“It will thet!”
“Time, Chefs!” called Smarty. “Step back from your work.”
Apple Bloom took her hooves off the top piece. It didn’t move. It had set.
#
Now that it was mounted, Princess Luna could see the top piece clearly for the first time. It was herself, newly released from the Nightmare, held tightly by Princess Celestia. This was the moment the sisters had been reunited for the first time in a thousand years.
“Princess, why are you sad?” asked Ray. “Please don’t cry.”
“These are tears of Joy, little Ray,” answered the Princess. “I am reminded of how very happy I am to be here.”
#
The Grand Chef tabled first. His showpiece was so stable there was hardly any drama involved. He was worked up into a lather, but that had more to do with the heat of his kitchen than the effort of carrying the showpiece.
“Um, Grand Chef?” called Happy, trying not to laugh out loud. “Your cutie mark is running!”
The crossed whisk and spatula at the Grand Chef’s flank were revealed to have normal wooden handles. The lightning bolt handles the Grand Chef was famous for now dribbled down his legs.
“He painted his cutie mark?” exclaimed Scootaloo. “That’s disgusting!”
The Grand Chef ran back to his kitchen, to find a larger apron to hide his shame.
#
“For her tabling, the Challenger has made a special request,” announced Smarty. “Instead of recruiting assistance from our staff she has asked that some of her friends aide her in moving her showpiece. Out of deference to her short stature we have agreed.”
“Since they are all about the same height this might make it easier to balance the showpiece,” noted Doc. “But can four little fillies actually carry it?”
“Nothing is going to make balancing it possible,” declared Almond, shaking her head. “The showpiece is four times as tall as them.”
“I can’t look,” squealed Happy, covering her eyes with her hooves. “Tell me when it’s over!”
#
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle took the showpiece onto their backs, and Twist stood at the front with it resting on her collar bone. Twist would guide them, walking backwards on her rear legs. “Ok, girls, all together, on my call. Thstep. Thmaller thstepth, Scootaloo. Thstep…”
Watching from the stands, it was Quiz who saw the problem first. “There is a wrinkle in the carpet. Twist will trip on it!”
“I think not,” declared Luna. The spot on the carpet glowed, and became smooth just as Twist set her hoof down.
As slowly as they were moving it still only took a few seconds to reach the table. Twist slid the showpiece into place, and they all stepped back. The showpiece sat unmoving, as steady as if it had never been moved.
The crowd stood and cheered.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sugar Showpiece Movers! Yay!” They jumped and did a three way high hoof.
“Girls! Thtand back from my thowpiece when you do that!”
“Sorry, Twist.”
#
“I must protest!” cried the Grand Chef, charging to the judge’s table. “The Challenger had magical assistance!”
Princess Luna calmly flew to stand next to the Grand Chef. “Are you referring to my adjusting the carpet?”
“I am.”
“I see,” said Luna. She smiled sweetly at the Grand Chef. “We apologize for misunderstanding. It sounded as if the Grand Chef had just accused Us of cheating. Certainly that could not be the case, now could it?”
“What? Um, no, not at all. I meant no such thing.” The Grand Chef bowed, and backed away.
“At any rate, there are no grounds for protest,” said Smarty. “Magic was not used to guide or lift the showpiece, only to remove an obstacle. That is allowed.”
With a huff the Grand Chef stomped back to his kitchen. Luna flew back to her seat.
“Princess, the way you told him off… that was so cool!” exclaimed Ray. “You’re my hero!”
#
It was a very short deliberation. When the judges announced they were ready none of them looked pleased. Happy was actually crying.
“It has been an amazing Challenge,” said Smarty. “I have never seen a Sugar Showpiece contest the like of what we witnessed tonight. The Grand Chef built and assembled a sugar glockenspiel. Chef Twist set a new record for our tallest showpiece. Both chefs’ work was nearly perfect; with no spills, drips, or crooked lines, and not a thing out of place. I can say without fear of contradiction that both chefs put a lifetime of experience into their work tonight. However, for Chef Twist, that lifetime of experience is a small fraction of the Grand Chef’s. We award this round to…”
Smarty was interrupted by a loud ‘Sproing!’ from deep within the Grand Chef’s showpiece.
The sugar gears that made it work required perfect tempering, and perfect tempering requires exact temperature control. The temperature in the Grand Chef’s kitchen had been wildly out of control for over two hours. It was a testament to the Grand Chef’s skill that the thing started at all, let along that it had run for so long. But the sugar showpiece couldn’t last a moment longer. Some gears seized, others tried to keep spinning and shattered under the pressure. Then everything went at once, and half of the Grand Chef’s showpiece disintegrated, showering the judges with sugar shrapnel.
The entire Coliseum looked on in stunned silence.
Then Smarty signaled to the camerapony that he wanted a close-up. He calmly brushed shards of candy off his shoulders and began. “Under the rules, a sugar showpiece must last, at the very least, until the judges have pronounced a winner. We had not yet finished pronouncing a winner. With only one surviving sugar showpiece, we must by default award this round, and therefore this episode of the Challenge, to Chef Twist.”
The crowd went wild.
#
“No!” roared the Grand Chef. He could be heard about the crowd. “No pony does this to me! I am the Grand Chef! You cannot get away with this!”
He grabbed what was left of his showpiece off the table and hurled it at the judges. This left him holding the heavy metal base the whole thing had been mounted on. He held it high over his head and screamed. “I will fix you all for this! I will fix you! And I will start with you!” The Grand Chef turned to Twist. “Say your prayers, you spitting little four eyed freak!”
The base piece glowed beige and disappeared with a soft ‘pop.’ It reappeared in the stands, where it fell with a huge ‘Clang!’
The Grand Chef screamed again, and advanced on Twist. He clearly meant to deal with her with his bare hooves.
Security ponies, stage workers, and good Samaritans from the crowd all ran to stop him, but it was clear that none of them would get to the Grand Chef before he got to Twist. But one pony was close enough, and the Grand Chef never noticed her step behind him. He didn’t feel it when she layed him flat with one blow. He would feel it later.
Bon Bon turned to the nearest camerapony, held up her frying pan, and smiled. “The secret is to turn it on edge. You don’t want to hit them with the flat; you want to chop like it’s a cleaver. Puts ‘em down every time.”
Poor Bon Bon didn’t get a close-up. The shot got wider and wider as the frightened camerpony backed away from her.
#
A midnight blue cloud hovered over the Grand Chef. It formed into a rod, and poked him repeatedly. He twitched, but did not rise.
“Get up, you big meanie!” demanded Princess Luna. “I have a spell with your name on it, get up! Darn it, Bon Bon was too quick for me!” The Princess began to pout.
“Princess Luna!” cried Dinky. “Quiz has been hurt!”
The two guard stallions lifted the base piece to reveal a stunned Quiz. Blood ran down her face.
“I… underestimated the weight…”gasped Quiz. “I believe that is a personal best. Does the record still count if I do not stick the landing? Owwww!”
“Hush, Quizzical,” said Luna, gently resting her horn against Quiz’s brow. “Be still and let your Princess heal your owie.”
#
Once it was clear that the Grand Chef was dealt with, the crowd resumed the celebration. It would last all night.
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I have new headcanon for Bon Bon now, semi-psycho confectionery chef.
1955613 Nah, she's just prickly, and she has a frying pan. I think that's fanon.
Revenge is sweet... literally!
And then, tomorrow, the Grand Chef is arrested, and Happy takes over the show?
5 bits says I'm right.
Holy hell man. Sore loser much?
At least now the have, on camera, evidence that he is an abusive butthole. Will likely make any attempt to cover up what he did to Merry fall flat too.
Well, Grand Chef hope you're happy. You're going to jail. Bye!
1955674
YES
Jeez... Like, that opening scene gave the entirety of the chapter this really weird, disgusting-under-the-surface feeling, even more so than before. It was awesome.
Edit: Might I ask what earned this the "Reprise" portion of its title?
"The sugar gears that made it work required perfect tempering, and perfect tempering requires exact temperature control."
Haaa! I knew the temperature thing would come back and play its role!
"The secret is to turn it on edge. You don’t want to hit them with the flat; you want to chop like it’s a cleaver."
*winces involuntarily* Ouch. That's GOTTA hurt.
Remarks:
> a Chef must bear its’ weight
No reason for that ’ behind "its".
> But theth will help
Shouldn't that be "thith" (this)?
1963502
Just the fact there's already a chapter called that, I assume
Gahhhahahahahhahhaa
Cmc syndrome
Oh yeah another pony has a favorite Princess.
Bon bon has been waiting for this from the start.
Penny Candy shop my Flank.
Ah the final moments was were great fun.
That is a good Star Wars reference.
GOOD.
... I mean, it makes sense, the same amount of force applied over a smaller area, the force is more concentrated.