Food Festival - Eating Contest (Sign-Up)

[Gamepad]

Sign-Up Thread: http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=14895.0


Ponies, bakers, chefs, connoisseurs among others have all flocked to Equestria's capital of Cantermore, all for the tri-annual Food Festival.
All keen to share their wears, prove themselves better than others in their areas. Food, Drink and other weird edible creations all avaliable for passers-by to try or devour in some cases.


Game was waddling through Cantermore's alleys, his pudgy frame jiggling as he quickly followed his sense of small to the festival. The chubby wolf eager to get his padded paws on everything it has to offer.

Eventually turning down the right alley, Game appeared at the beginning of the festival. Now panting somewhat heavily from the quick waddle from before. Took particular notice of one stall nearby, which seemed to be selling some sort of drink.

[HowTea]

"Once again, I'm here..." said the blue pony, which was setting up the stall. A cart full of leaves could be seen next to the stall.
"After all those years... Oh gosh, how I hate this city. There's just too many ponies everywhere."

The blue pony was drawing something on a sign.

HowTeas' tea
Best quality, true taste of nature
1 cup / 1 bit

When he finished the sign, he went into the stall and waited for customers. As he looked around, he noticed something. He saw a big navy wolf. Even HowTea recognized who was it. He raised a hoof and waved at the wolf.

[Gamepad]

Game, seeing the blue pony wave at him, waddled his way over to the stall and tried to hop up to see what was on it, only succeeding in shifting his weight, causing him to fall over.

[HowTea]

"Oh, Game."
Howtea petted the navy wolf.
"Don't know, if wolves can drink this, but hey. You'll know what's best for you." said the blue pony and poured some cold tea into a bowl.

He put the bowl down in front of Game. He also put a treat next to it, just in case.

"Hope you'll have fun, I'm just gonna stay here, hoping somepony will notice my stall." he whispered to himself.

He found hope again.

"If you noticed this stall, everypony will notice it!" he shouted. He was really happy.

[Gamepad]

Game purred lightly at the petting, before taking notice of the bowl. Laying down he sniffed the bowl lightly, thinking it smelled good enough he decided to try and drink it.

Thinking it tasted okay for an instantce, before making a face and spitting it out back into the bowl, quickly downing the nearby treat to get the taste out of his maw.

[FakeSmile]

A mare with dark shades and a scarf wrapped around her head was slowly making her way through the Festival. Her face was resting in a frown as she pulled a cart behind her. Behind her shades, her eyes scanned the area for her spot. On her journey to her spot she past by a little tea stall. The mare glanced at the ginger pony and what she assumed was a cat. The mare let out an exhausted sigh, it was extremely hot in the scarf and only tea could help her continue on this dumb journey. She couldn't really turn with her cart so she decided to unlatch herself. Slowly, she let go of the cart and made her way toward the tea stall. Her small frown was still plaster on her face but she forced her self to be decent. In a nice-ish tone she said,
So dis is da tea stall? Interestin'...
What type of tea do ya' got?

[HowTea]

HowTea looked up at the mare with a scarf, feeling  a little breeze on his back.

"Y-ye-yes, we- I mean I've got plenty of tea. Main ingredient is the green tea leaf, but I can give you an extra ingredient, if you want. Like apples, pears, herbs, just tell me what you like and if I got it, I'll give it there. I can also make you a cold tea. But, let me tell something."

He calmed down a little. HowTea was really bad talking to any females.

He took a deep breath a continued:

"Cold tea sure is refreshing in this weather, but you'll still feel thirst after you drink it. Hot tea isn't refreshing, for somepony even gross when it's hot outside, but when you drink one cup, you won't be feeling any thirst afterward. It's your choice. Everything here is for one bit."

[Gamepad]

Game looked up at the tea pony, laughing internally with treat crumbs around his face. Watching as the two conversed, Game slowly waddled and wiggled his way under the stall and lay down, head popped out the front to see.

[FakeSmile]

The mare formed a small smile as the stallion went on about the tea. For his sake, she tried not to laugh at his attempt to communicate. The mare stood in silence for a while as she thought about what kind of tea she wanted. She didn't really like tea that much but her Doctor would always make her drink some. With the click of her tongue she said,
I don' know much 'bout tea but
somethin' cold would be nice.
Just don' do anythin' too fancy,
I'm really sensitive to strong flavors.
So just do ya' thin'.
As she finished talkin' her smile slowly fell back to her usual frown. The sun was making her uncomfortable and ruining her mood. The mare adjusted her scarf tighter as she waited for her tea.

[HowTea]

HowTea really wanted to ask why she just doesn't take the scarf down, but he didn't wanted to talk much, because he knew, how he would sound.

"O-umm, one tea coming right up" said the blue pony.

HowTea went to the cart next to his stall. He was trying to find something.

"Don't tell me I didn- Aha! Here it is!"
It was a box with little mouth-written label on it. "Plectranthus amboinicus" was on the label, but it was really hard to read since HowTea never found his talent in writing.

He opened the box. It was full of green fluffy leaves. He took a few and closed the box again. Then he took a few tea leaves.

HowTea washed both types of leaves in clean water. Then he put the fluffy leaves in one bowl, tea leaves in another and went behind his stall, where the water was boiling in a kettle over a campfire. He want back with kettle.

Everything was ready. There were three bowls, two with leaves in them, a wooden cup and the kettle.

HowTea was very experienced in making tea. He moved fastly with his hooves.

Firstly he took two tea leaves and put it in the empty bowl. Then he poured the hot water on it and started to stir for a few seconds. Then he took one fluffy leaf and put it in the same bowl. He didn't stir it this time, but he took the bowl into his hooves and tilted it for another few seconds. HowTea didn't feel the hot tempature though wooden bowl. After he was satisfied with what he did, he went back to the cart for a jar of honey, and a sugar.

He could smell the mint flavour making its' way though his stall.

HowTea came back with the honey and sugar and put it on the counter. The tea seemed to be ready. He took a small sifter and put it on the cup, then he poured the tea though it. The sifter caught the leaves. He stopped pouring the tea when the cup was half-full. He took down the sifter.

"The tea will be ready in a minute, please wait." he said as he was galloping to the nearby stall.

There was a pony that knew his father. They agreed to help each other on the festival.

The pony gave Howtea a bag full of ice cubes.
HowTea thanked and galloped back.

"I should had have this prepared" He thought.

Howtea threw a few ice cubes into the cup.

"There. You can add sugar or honey if you want. It'll be one bit, please."
As he was saying this, he cleaned up everything from the counter except the cup, the jar of honey and the sugar bowl.
The tea, as he remembered, should taste like green tea with lemon and smell after mint.

[Nuserame]

Slate Grey felt tired and overheated, yet elated. Having not just disembarked a cargo airship but also having helped unload its cargo to pay for the trip and still being laden with traveller's gear (a pair of saddlebags, various pouches, some bottles, a sadly empty canteen and a small rolled-up tent) had taken a toll on the gray-blue stallion. Not to mention the cursed heat! Slate is not good with heat.

But all this will be worth it! For while it wasn't Slate's first time in the capital, it was the first time it was during a festival all about food and drink. And Slate is good with food and drink. The consuming part that is, not so much the preparing. This will be a glorious spree of eating and drinking and that minor issue of being low on bits shouldn't be that much of a problem!
"First order of business: A drink. Any drink. After that... uuh, well planning is overrated." Slate softly murmured to himself as he walked down the street leading into the town centre, spooking some of the infamously snooty locals with his appearance.

Eventually he caught sight of a somewhat off-kilter stand. The salespony was somewhat serving a red mare with sunglasses and a scarf, there was a pet wolf sitting under the draping at the bottom and most of all the price wasn't extortionate.
"Hmm might be a local farmer. Too honest to sweet-talk his customer too so his wares should alright. Guess I'll stock up on dried tea while I'm at it" Slate thought as he walked up on the stand.
"Good day there! Excuse me if this seems picky, but can you make Saddle Arabian Mine Tea too? Been a while since I have had that."

[FakeSmile]

The mare raised an eyebrow as the stallion did his tea magic. To her, it was already note complicated than it had to be. But she never made tea before so what does she know? The smell of mint filled her nose which made her eyes water a bit. She decided to breath out of her mouth till he was done. The mare turned her head to check on her cart. The oak cart was still there but a few fillies were hanging around it. The mare pulled down her shades and shot the ponies an evil glare. As she pushed her shades back up the fillies ran away in fear. Once she turned back to the tea stall her tea was ready. She stood there in silence as she stared at the tea. After a moment of silence she said,
Dis smells pretty.... Strong.
But I guess all teas smell strong.
The mare slowly took the cup and took a sip of the tea. Her eyes lit up as the flavour filled her mouth. She swished it around in her mouth to taste all the flavours. Once she swallowed the drink she nodded in approval. She set the cup back down and started to dig through her saddle bag for a bit. As she continued her search for a bit she said,
What's ya' name? Da tea...
The mare stop mid sentence as the stranger approached the stand. She finally fished out an old bit. It was dirty and chipped but it was stipl a bit. As she dropped it on his counter she said,
Stop by my stall later. I'll charge ya'
half off a readin'
The mare took the cup and chugged the rest of the tea. As she set the cup back down she took a deep breath. She glanced at the stranger and then turned back to go back to her cart. As she hooked her self back on the cart, she slowly started to walk away.

[HowTea]

"Hmm, strange, but hey, I take it." said the tea pony.

"Hello there, traveler!" said the tea pone.

It was a really strange request. HowTea faltered. He wasn't sure about this "Saddle Arabian Mine Tea".

"Just a second, please"

HowTea went to the cart, trying to find a small notebook.
"A, B, C, D, no, not here, E, F, G, A, H, C, oh, there is it."

Saddle Arabian Mine Tea

Ingredients:

Gunpowder tea, mint leaves

"Oh hay no, I've got some mint leaves, but no gunpowder tea. What do I do, what do I do?" he thought.
HowTea started sweating.
"Calm down, maybe I can use something else than gunpowder tea, what have I got?
Camomile, apple peels, cinnamon, melissa, dead nettle, plantain, mint. No no no, those are for herbal teas. Can't make a tea without tea with no-tea.
What kind of tea have I got? Green tea, black tea, white tea didn't go well this year... Wait, I have got green tea? There's a chance I have got gunpowder tea too! I just need to..."
HowTea realized that he was talking out loud the whole time. He blushed and galloped to the cart, pulled out the box with green tea. There were more, smaller boxes inside of that box. Finally he found what he was looking for. Gunpowder tea box.

HowTea wiped the bowls a put them on the counter again. He put gunpowder tea in one bowl and mint leaves in another. Some of the hot water was still in the kettle.

He washed the sifter he used before and put it on the cup. Then he put the Gunpowder tea into the sifter and poured the hot water on it. He poured so much water that even the sifter with the tea was under water. Just like he wanted.

The tea was brewing peacefully. HowTea, meanwhile, was washing the mint leaves in clean water.

It didn't take long. HowTea removed the sifter and put few mint leaves in the cup.

The sugar and honey was still on the counter. HowTea quickly poured the remainings of the bowls back to the boxes and put bowls in the water.

"Here you go, if you want more mint leaves, just tell me. The price won't get higher. Sugar and honey are also in the price. One bit please." said the blue pony.

"Anyway, I heard there's a food competition. You coming there, traveler? Also, my name's HowTea."

[Nuserame]

Slate takes a sip from the piping hot tea, savouring the taste "Mmmm, quite good! The fancy cafés around here just give me funny looks if I ask for anything like this!" he said while hoofing over a bit.
"Though it did kinda undermine my trick of trading a recipe for a free drink, hahah! The name's Slate Grey, pleased to meet you."
"And yes I will very much be joining the competition, though I don't expect to win. I mostly join for the fun of it. How about you then, surely you can leave the stall for long enough to compete?"

[Gamepad]

Game watched as the ponies drank, wanting to go explore and eat more food. The waddling wolf, attempted to crawl out through the wheel off the cart-stall, only found the space increasingly tight, getting eventually stuck at his stomach, at it bunched up around the wheel.

Whining lightly, the wolf hoped more little treat things would be thrown his way.

(Can`t have a story about food or Game without him getting stuck.)

[FakeSmile]

(( I don't believe I ever said this
but, Game Paw is too adorable for
me to handle, OhMyGosh. ))

After what felt like a marathon of walking, the scarf mare made it to her spot. Other large stalls and tents surrounded her as she walked down her designated spot. Her eyes swished side to side as she examined her neighboring stalls. A small smile formed as she walked past each stall. Though the sun was souring her, even she couldn't help but enjoy the festival. As she finally made it to her spot she let out a loud sigh. The mare slowly backed up her cart in her spot before unhooking herself. She then scanned the area for any unicorns who could help set up her tent. A smile formed on her face as she saw two unicorns walking past her. She whistle to get their attention and offered to pay them a few bits if they help. The unicorns agreed happily and within minutes her stall was ready for business. The tent was dark purple with dark green ivy patterns all over it. It was only big enough to fit her and another costumer; which was the intention. She kindly thanked the unicorns for their help and paid them. Her smile then widen as she slowly entered the tent. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her stall. There was a rectangle table covered with a dark navy table cloth. The room had many candles that smelled like cinnamon. As she took a deep breath of the air, she exhaled with a happy sigh. Since she was no longer out in the sun it was time to take off the stupid scarf and shades. As she took off her shades her light blue eyes sparkled from the candle lit room. Her braid slowly fell down as she unraveled the scarf around her head. She then tied the scarf back around her head as a headband. Now she was officially ready for some costumers. The mare slowly walked behind the navy table as she prepared for her drinkable fortune telling.

[HowTea]

HowTea heard Games' whining. He looked at his cart and facehooved.

"I don't feel like joining, I will watch the competition however." he said as he was walking to his cart. He was trying to figure out how to get Game out of there.

There were some wooden boxes on the cart. He got an idea.

HowTea took three boxes and put them next to the cart. He tried to lift the cart, but failed. It was too heavy for him.

"Slate, little help, please?"

[Gamepad]

Game, watched as the tea pony tried to lift boxes, clearly tea is not good for muscle building. Opening his maw and wagging, he was hoping for a treat.

[Nuserame]

Slate Grey blinked, having not noticed the corpulence of blue wolf earlier.

"Lemme try and help you there, big fellow." he said as he fired up his horn and used the infamous zero friction spell on the stuck wolf and pulled him out, putting him back on his feet.

As Slate took to opening up a saddlebag to rummage through he however failed to notice he had not removed the zero friction spell, causing the wolf to slowly slide over the ground as though he was standing on ice.

[Gamepad]

Game yelped as he fell onto his plush stomach and slowly began to slide away, unable to stand back up. He whined loudly as he wanted to stop.