I don't think I need to do a disclaimer being as probably just about everybody knows that MLP belongs to Hasbro. Oh wait, I just did it...anyway, on to the short-shot fic.
Anyway, this is my first (technically my second, since I have not yet finished the first) CMC fic, and my first 'slice of life' fic. Let me know how I did so I can make improvements on it as well as improve as a writer overall.
Please enjoy.
Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Applebloom were sitting at a foal's-height table enjoying their lunch inside the Sugar Cube corner. Really, the Sugarcube corner was not the best place to try eating a healthy meal given the many sweet temptations surrounding them, but on at the moment they had a more pressing concern on their minds.
"Well, we've tried being gold prospectors, and we've tried being lumberjacks," Scootaloo stated in a serious voice, poking a sheet of paper with a pencil as she read off more failed attempts to achieve their Cutie Marks. "and we've tried being potion makers, and we've tried building a better mouse trap." She sighed and scratched the pencil's tip across the spoken ideas. "I'm fresh out of ideas!"
"We could try fishing, or chicken breeding, or maybe digging tunnels!" Applebloom suggested. "We haven't tried any of those yet!"
"But there's not really anyplace around here to try fishing, Applebloom." Sweetie Bell pointed out. "And besides, Rarity scolds me every time I come home covered in dirt. Normally I don't mind, but she's having company over this weekend and she asked me not to get dirty while they're there."
"Really?" Scootaloo asked. "Who's visiting her?"
"Oh, just some famous pony from Canterlot. I don't remember his name. She said that he'll be staying in town for a few days to see some of her work."
"Okay, so digging a tunnel is out for now. I'll just add it to the list for later, then." Scootaloo added Applebloom's three suggestions to the list, putting a little clock at the end of tunnel digging.
While she did this Mrs Cake approached the trio carrying a tray with three glasses of chocolate milk and asked them if they needed anything else as she set it on their table. Each girl took one glasses and sipped a bit from it, putting a small brown mustache below their noses which they licked off after laughing at one another.
"No thank you, Mrs Cake, we're almost full." Sweetie Bell replied politely.
"Alright then. It's not very busy right now, so let me know if you change your minds." Sweetie Bell promised that they would and then returned to their conversation as Mrs Cake trotted back behind the counter just in case another customer came in.
Halfway through their drinks Applebloom began blowing air bubbles through the straw that had come with her glass. Within seconds the brown bubbles reached up to the rim of her glass and she stopped blowing and watched as they popped themselves one after another and settled back into the growing pool of chocolatey milk at the bottom of the glass. When it had all finally settled again Scootaloo challeneged Apple Bloom to a bubble-blowing contest to see who could fill their cup first. Applebloom accepted and in seconds a ring of brown droplets surrounded their glasses from them blowing too hard. It was not long before Mrs Cake saw the two of them making a mess and told them to stop unless they wanted to clean up the growing mess themselves.
Reluctantly the pair stopped their milky mischief and returned to sipping the tasty treat.
Suddenly noticing Sweetie Bell's serious expression as she examined the contents of her glass, Applebloom and Sweetie Bell looked at one another a moment and then turned to their friend and asked what she was doing.
Sweetie Bell looked up from her glass and blinked at them. Applebloom repeated their question.
“I was just wondering where chocolate milk comes from. I mean, the only cows I've seen around here were white and black, and they only make white milk.” The other two raised an eyebrow, looked at what was left of their drinks and then once more at one another.
“You know, now that she mentions it...” Scootaloo began.
“That's a good question! Ah don't know either!” Applebloom pony-shrugged.
“Maybe they come from brown cows and Ponyville just imports it since there are no brown cows around here?”
“Hmm...” Sweetie Bell rubbed her chin with a hoof. “I know! Let's ask Mrs Cake! She just gave us some, after all!”
“Good idea!” Her two friends agreed.
Unfortunately, the moment the three stood up a rush of customers decided to try shopping all at the same time and came inside, blocking their access to Mrs Cake, who was suddenly very busy.
“One at a time please!” She said, a bit flustered. Sweetie gave her a pitying look.
“Maybe we should come back when she's not so busy?” Her friends nodded and they left the Sugarcube Corner.
“So who else can we ask?” Scootaloo asked. “I bet Rainbow Dash would know. I've seen her drink chocolate milk a few times.”
“Nah, let's ask Twilight! Even if she doesn't know herself, I'm sure one of her books could tell us!” Sweetie Bell argued.
“We could always ask mah sister!” Applebloom added. “She's worked on the farm longer than I have, and has been to several other towns. Maybe she's seen a chocolate cow or somethin'!”
“Hey, I know! Why don't we split up and ask each of them and then meet back here later? I'm sure that at least somepony in town knows, and even if Dash, Twilight, or Applejack don't know we can ask more ponies in a shorter time!”
“Great idea, but when should we meet up again?” Scootaloo scratched her head.
“How about when the sun starts going down? We can meet back at the clubhouse!”
“Okay!” The girls turned their backs on one another and ran off in three different directions, each heading to the most likely place they thought their informational targets would be.
* *
Applebloom found her sister hard at work moving some new plowing equipment across the barnyard to outfit it on Big Macintosh, who was absently chewing on a stalk of wheat while he carried several bales of hay stored in the barn into the back of a wagon they'd use the following day to deliver it to a restaurant in town.
Appleblom trotted up to her sister and greeted her.
“Hey Applebloom. What brings you back home so early?”
“Ah had a question that I thought you might be able to answer.”
“Really?” She grunted in response to one of the plow's wheels becoming stuck on a rock and pulled harder until it rolled up over it. “And what would that be?”
“Where does chocolate milk come from?” Applejack smiled down at her.
“That's all? That's simple! The grocery store!” Applebloom face-hoofed.
“No, not that! Ah mean what does it comes from? Ah know that milk is normally white, and that it comes from the udders of a cow or a goat or somethin' like that, but ah've never seen a chocolate cow before, so what would you have to milk to get chocolate milk?”
“Well, sugar cube, that would depend on who you ask.” Applejack ducked out of the harness of the plow and began attaching it to Big Mac, who had turned his head to listen to the conversation. “If you ask Pinkie Pie, she'd prolly just say that it did indeed come from a chocolate cow or goat or some other animal with a set of udders on it. If you'd ask Twilight, she'd most likely start by pulling several cookbooks off of her shelves and then insist you help her look for the information so that you'd” Applejack made a weak imitation of Twilight's voice. “learn it through the search rather than just find out from being told!” The three of them laughed a little, and then she continued. “Mahself, ah doubt that there's an actual critter that needs to be milked in order to her chocolate milk. Mos' likely yeh just take powdered chocolate, and regular ol' milk, and mix it together!”
Applebloom thought about this a moment, tapping a hoof against her chin, then smiled brightly.
“Thanks, sis!” Like a shot she was racing back towards Ponyville once again to see if she could test out what her sister said back at the Sugarcube Corner. Given Pinkie Pie's liking for sweet things, she'd probably want some the moment Applebloom mentioned it.
**
“Oof!” Sweetie Bell said as Twilight added a fourth book to the stack that Sweetie Bell held and balanced precariously on her head. As Twilight turned back to Spike once more to tell him to look for another poor Sweetie Bell's legs gave out and both she and the stack of books fell to the ground. Twilight turned back again quickly and blushed. She had gotten so caught up in the 'quest for knowledge' that she'd forgotten that foals were quite limited in how much weight they could hold.
“Oops! Heh heh! Sorry, Sweetie Bell!” Twilight lifted the books that had scattered around the younger pony and once more made them into a neat stack whilst helping her to her hooves again. Sweetie Bell shook her head rapidly to clear the cobwebs from her mind and told Twilight not to worry about it, and claimed she was fine. “I just got a little carried away...”
“Really, it's fine, but you seem like such a smart pony; why didn't you just tell me?”
“Because you get more from a learning experience if you find out the information yourself!” Twilight replied, her eyes twinkling like the often too-eager student she was.
“Oh, okay. So what kind of books are these, anyway?”
“Cookbooks! If any book would know, it would have to be one of these!”
Two hours and four cookbooks later, the pair of Unicorns sighed and closed the final cover, their efforts fruitless.
“I can't believe that none of those had instructions on how to make a simple glass of chocolate milk!!” Twilight frowned at the books and asked Spike if they had anything else they could look through. After a few minutes (per shelf) of him skimming through the library's contents, he shook his head.
“Sorry, Twilight, but that's it.”
“Well then we'll just have to go out and buy some more then!” She declared, her eyes shining with determination.
“Oh, it's alright, Twilight, you don't have to go through all this just to answer my question. I'm sure that Applebloom or Scootaloo have found out how it's made by now. I can just ask them when I see them later.”
“You're all trying to find this out? What brought it up in the first place?”
Sweetie Bell explained that the question had come up during lunch at the Sugarcube Corner and Spike snapped his clawed fingers
“That's it!” The two ponies turned their heads and looked at the baby Dragon.
“What's it, Spike?”
“Sugarcube Corner! If there's anypony that would know the answer, it'd be Pinkie Pie! We all know how much she loves sweets, after all!” Twilight nodded and thoughtfully stroked her chin.
“You know, that's not a bad idea! What better place to find out a fact than the source?” Twilight looked down at Sweetie Bell. “What do you say we head on back to Sugarcube corner and ask Pinkie together? You've got me interested now!” Sweetie Bell nodded and waited for Spike to hop up onto Twilight's back. Once he was situated and Twilight had packed a quill, some ink and some parchment to take notes on Pinkie's answer they headed out the door.
**
“Hey!” Scootaloo yelled up to a small low-floating cloud that a prismatic tail hung down from. “Hey Rainbow Dash! I need to ask you something!” A snort and some half-muttered words was the only answer she got in reply. Rainbow Dash's tail twisted over itself and the cloud shifted a little, so Scootaloo assumed she'd rolled over and resettled. “Rainbow Dash!!!” She yelled again, this time also bucking a rock up at the cloud. The rock zipped through the fluffy cluster of fluff and hit her idol's back.
“Ow! Woah!” Rainbow Dash sat up too quickly from the sudden sting of the stone striking her and her momentum carried her body over the edge of the cloud. Still half-asleep, she fell the short distance between the cloud the the dirt and thudded into the ground. Afraid she might have hurt her role model, Scootaloo galloped forward to her side and asked if she was alright.
“I'm fine, squirt. What happened?”
“Well, I was yelling to get your attention, and you weren't waking up, so I kicked a small stone at you and yelled again. You woke up too fast and fell off of the cloud.”
“Oh, alright I guess. But why did you want to wake me up?”
“Well me and the girls are trying to find out where chocolate milk comes from, and I've seen you drinking it from time to time, so I thought maybe you'd know!”
“That depends on where you go. If you go to Canterlot, Pony Joe makes it by mixing powdered chocolate and some cow's milk together. If you go to Cloudsdale, we make it there by blending water, sugar, and the juice of Cocoa Clouds together. It's a little stronger than I like, but not bad.”
“What about here in Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to reply, and then shook her head.
“Sorry Scoots, but I can't tell you that. I promised Pinkie that I wouldn't. Her recipe is a secret.”
But you know what it is, so it's not really a secret, is it? Come on, I promise I won't tell anypony!”
“No can do, kiddo. I gave my word that I wouldn't say anything. I even Pinkie-Promised with an actual cupcake to my eye.” She grimaced. “Though that bit was an accident.”
Okay, so you can't tell me what it's made with, how about why you know about how she does it?”
“Oh that bit's easy! It's because I helped her do it! I owed Pinkie Pie a favor and a few months back I helped her with capturing a-” Rainbow Dash stopped and licked her lips and shifted her eyes about. Scoot's eyes widened and she leaned forward. “Know what? Never mind. I can't tell you that either!”
Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took off, leaving Scootaloo alone on the ground, who frowned up at her, now wondering if it had been a good idea to drink the chocolate milk after all. If Pinkie Pie felt the need to make Rainbow Dash promise to keep Pinkie's milk mixing methods a mysterious myth, then perhaps she put something in it that wasn't healthy.
Deciding to get to the bottom of this mystery, Scootaloo, like her friends, set out for Sugarcube Corner.
**
Scootaloo was the first too arrive on scene, and the shop was still very busy. Taking advantage of this to observe the orders made, she waited patiently for somepony to order chocolate milk as she and her friends had, and then waited to see if it was Pinky Pie that delivered the order. It was. She came bouncing out of the kitchen with a tray held in her teeth, somehow keeping the glasses level on the tray, and the drinks and food on the tray.
While Pinkie Pie served the food and drinks to the appropriate ponies Scootaloo sneaked through the crowd waiting around the counter for their non-store eats and into the kitchen, where she hid behind a barrel and waited for Pinkie Pie to walk(or bounce, whichever she did) by again. When she did Scootaloo poked her head out from behind the barrel and watched Pinkie Pie go from one station in the kitchen to another, somehow baking, mixing, and pouring several things at the same time. Eventually another order would be complete, and she'd place or plop it down on another tray and would then carry it to the cash register counter where the pony waiting for it would pay and then leave with their tasty treat.
Scootaloo bided her time, waiting for Pinkie Pie to actually leave the kitchen again, and then headed for the rear of the kitchen, which was where she's seen Pinkie Pie come from with the chocolatey drink. She looked once over her shoulder, and then darted into an open door that led down into a cellar. It was larger than she expected, and like most rooms she'd been in that were underground, found it to be creepy, though she had no idea why and knew that there was no reason for her to feel that way. There were several standing shelves with various dried ingredients, measuring cups, and a number of bowls were on every shelf, but there was little of interest save for two doors at the other end of the room. One of them had peeling paint and looked like it had not been opened in years. This one was at the top of a set of stairs and likely led outside behind the store. A small chain held it shut. The other door was set along the floor like an ordinary door, and was partially open with a weak light shining through the gap between the door and the door's frame. A smile appeared on her face and she trotted to the door, pushing it open enough for her to squeeze through it, then she shut the door behind her and turned around again to see-
A frowning Pinkie Pie? How did she get in here so fast?!
“Little fillies shouldn’t be snooping in other pony's houses!” She said, making a scary grin at her and standing up on her hind legs, her front hooves reaching for the small filly. Scootaloo cringed against the door and quickly whirled, pulling at the handle, but Pinkie was too fast.
Scootaloo screamed.
* *
Sweetie Bell, Twilight, Applebloom, and Rainbow Dash arrived sometime later, one after the other. Business had died down over the last few hours and once again it was nearly dead again in terms of customers.
“Hello girls!” Mrs. Cake greeted them cheerfully. “What brings you here today?”
“Curiosity.” Twilight replied. “We're looking for Pinkie Pie, have you seen her?” Mrs. Cake nodded.
“She should be either in her bedroom, or in the cellar. She seems to spend most of her free time in one of those two places when she's here.”
Twilight and Sweetie Bell checked the bedroom while Rainbow Dash and Applebloom went to the cellar. In the cellar the girls found nothing out of the ordinary other than there being a door at the other end of the room, which Rainbow Dash said was locked.
Upstairs Twilight and Sweetie Bell heard Pinkie Pie laughing maniacally, and after giving one another a concerned look Twilight knocked on the door with a hoof. Instantly the laughter cut off and there was the muffled sound of somepony else in the room as well. Now wondering what the heck she was doing in there, Twilight stated who was at her door and asked if they could come in.
“Just a minute!” Pinkie Pie said. True to her word, a minute later Pinkie Pie opened the door a bit and poked her head out, grinning at them.
“Hey there Twilight! Hello, Sweetie Bell! What brings you here?” The muffled sounds continued. Twilight tried to look around Pinkie's body, but Pinkie Pie shifted her position to block Twilight's sight. Now she was concerned.
“Pinkie Pie, who else is in your room?”
“Nopony!” More muffled noises. “Well, somepony, but nopony you need to worry about! She's perfectly safe with me!”
Recalling several incidents in which being around Pinkie Pie could be hazardous to your health, Twilight pushed past Pinkie Pie and blinked in surprise at the sight of Scootaloo tied to a chair with a gag of common cloth in her mouth. Her cheeks were tear-stained, and Twilight whirled on Pinkie, who grinned innocently and hid something behind her back. Putting her face in Pinkie's Twilight demanded to know what Pinkie was hiding behind her back, and what she'd done to Scootaloo. In the meantime Sweetie Bell galloped to her friend and undid the gag and bindings.
Pinkie Pie reluctantly brought her hooves out in front of her, revealing a large bird feather.
“She was tickling me!” Scootaloo said, gasping for breath. “I said I was sorry for being nosy, but she didn't stop until you knocked!”
“Why was she tickling you?”
“She was being nosy!”
At that moment Rainbow Dash and Applebloom joined the others and were brought up to speed on what had transpired.
“Don't you think that's a bit harsh, Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked. “She was only curious.”
“I was only tickling her, Dashie!”
“Curious? Sweetie Bell said they wanted to know how chocolate milk was made. What does that have to do with her going into your cellar?” Pinkie looked at Rainbow Dash, who looked back at her. Pinkie frowned and said that she'd only show it to Twilight and the others if they swore to keep it secret and to not eat it. They each performed the sacred Pinkie Swear, and then followed her down to the cellar, where Pinkie Pie unlocked the door that Scootaloo had entered and pulled it all the way open. Inside was something that all of them had seen before, but only the Elements and Celestia knew its origin.
“It's...a big pink cloud?” The CMC tilted their heads to one side in confusion.
“Yup!” Pinkie said. “Show 'em, Dashie!” Rainbow Dash fluttered up to the top of the cloud and jumped on it, causing drops of liquid chocolate to drip down like a small rainstorm into a wooden tub below it. Pinkie scooped some out of the tub using a measuring cup and pulled a glass of milk out of nowhere. Pinkie poured the contents of the measuring cup into the milk and stirred it with a spoon taken from the same nowhere she'd taken the milk from. When she finished she passed the cup to Twilight, who hesitantly took it and sampled it. Twilight passed it back to Pinkie, who gulped down the rest and licked hear lips from one side to the other.
“You see Twilight, a little chaos can be sweet!”
