“Are you sure this is the place?” Sweetie Belle asked her two friends as the trio of crusaders walked into the more dense parts of the Everfree Forest. The air was starting to feel heavier and more humid as the three fillies hurried their steps, fearful that a wild, dangerous animal would be prowling for helpless victims.
“Don’t be such a sissy!” Scootaloo snickered at her friend, but deep down she did partake in Sweetie Bell’s fears; she just wouldn’t admit it.
“Uh…are ya gals sure our sisters won’t mind?” Applebloom, arguably the most courageous pony in the crusaders asked under her breath, having second thoughts at her idea.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders unconsciously huddled together as a gust of wind ruffled their coats, sending a chill down their spines. They exchanged concerned glances, but none of the fillies voiced their concerns. They kept walking for another five minutes until they neared a clearing, spotting a large building before them. As they broke the wall of trees, the sun shone brightly through the canopy. After their eyes had adjusted, the three fillies gazed up at the eerie building in front of them.
The building seemed abandoned for quite some time; its windows were boarded up and it seemed to be barely withstanding the toll that time and the crazy weather of the Everfree imposed upon it. The grey outer walls were in a bad shape, exposing the bricks that made up the skeleton of the construction. The three fillies felt a part of her fears melting away as the midday sun shone intensely, making every detail around them seem more vivid. Scootaloo hesitated for a moment but, wanting to prove herself for her friends, walked forward, trying to peer inside from a broken window.
“Hmm... not much here...” she muttered, clasping her forehooves near her eyes, trying to better see inside the darkness. “... except for dirt, cobwebs, some weird machines... and probably a few rats.”
“Uh, thanks for the information! Can we go now?” Sweetie Belle whimpered, glancing nervously to both her sides. Applebloom hesitated little before pushing her forward.
“Do ya want yer cutie mark or not?” she asked, mimicking Scootaloo in trying to prove her courage. Sweetie Belle sighed wearily, but started walking forward when she acknowledged that Applebloom wouldn’t let her go before they had explored the complex entirely.
“Hey guys, maybe if we find a really, really old candy in here, we might become famous!” Scootaloo said, imagining herself winning a prize from Luna herself for discovering this, in her mind, important piece of historical artifact. She pushed the front door with a hoof gently, prompting it to creak loudly before colliding with the wall, making many dust specks float in the air.
“Will it still be edible?” Sweetie belle mused, thinking hard of what would a century-old candy taste like. Her chain of thought was broken when she heard Applebloom calling her from inside the building, Scootaloo already inside. The interior of the building fared no better than its exterior; the walls were peeling a thick layer of green mold which made the filly’s throats burn with each intake of the damp air. The floors had several puddles formed, probably from the many leaks in the ceiling above. Sweetie Belle heard her friends talking about something, but ignored it completely, turning and walking to an odd machine, layered with dust and cobwebs.
“Ugh!” she said while brushing off the cobwebs with a levitated hoofkerchief. The dust that was lazily accumulated on top of the machine was disturbed, now creating various clouds on the air which only added to her already sore throat. When her coughs ceased and her eyes stopped stinging, she took a good glance at the rusty contraption before her. “Scoots, Applebloom! Look at this thing!”
The two crusaders looked at each other quizzically before trotting up to her friend. Scootaloo, arriving first, whistled in awe. “Does anypony know what this is?”
“Hm, maybe there’s a title plaque or somethin’...” Applebloom said as she examined the machine, looking for something that could tell her what it was. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle kept their curious gaze upon the gizzmo, but Scootaloo began to feel bored.
“I’m gonna look for candy,” she exclaimed and walked in the other directions, trying to find any remnants of cold candy.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened when she saw something shiny on the machine. “Hey, Applebloom, look!”
Applebloom turned around for a good look at the shining object.
“What do ya think it is?”
“uh…” Sweetie Belle wiped off the dust and cobwebs, and revealed…
“A key!”
“is there a lock somewhere?”
the two fillies searched for a lock, while Scootaloo searched for candy.
“hm…oh!” she reached for what looked like a piece of mint.
“hm…I wonder…” Scootaloo licked the old mint, and spat.
“ugh! Tastes worse than dragon breath!”
Scootaloo returned the machine with candies stuck to her violet mane, and dirt on her orange fur.
“find something yet?”
“Me and Apple found a key, and apparently there’s this big compartment…she’s trying to figure out what it is.” Sweetie Belle explained, and a dirty Apple Bloom poked her head out of the compartment,”Looks like a bunch of old gears….and spiders!” and went back in.
“Did you bring a flashlight?” Sweetie Belle asked, and Scootaloo pulled out a red flashlight.
The two fillies slowly went into the compartment, Scootaloo carrying the flashlight, “My! It reeks!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “well, this flashlight certainly tastes better than that old piece of mint!” Scootaloo answered.
The inside of the machine was dark and rusty, littered with dirt and spiders, but the three wanted to know what it was, exactly.
“Wait! I found something!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, and Scootaloo handed her the flashlight.
“it says something!” Sweetie Belle walked over.
“um…let’s see…Patented from Doughsbury Mills, Circa 1822…but It doesn’t tell the name of this place, though…” Scootaloo answered.
“Wait…” Sweetie Belle brushed off some dirt to reveal more words, “Sweetheart Factory, the biggest and best candy in Equestria!”
“whoa! But…when was it established?” Scootaloo asked.
“hm….1826!” Apple Bloom said.
“Celestia must have been a filly back then!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“she was only 800 years old…” Sweetie Belle said.
“but what does this machine do?” asked Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo already had ventured deeper into the metal gears while the other two followed her.
“it looks like a meat grinder to me!” Sweetie Belle whimpered.
“It’s more of a processing machine, actually, maybe they made candies here?” Apple Bloom remarked.
“Possibly! Maybe soft candy, taffies, probably…” Scootaloo swung her flashlight around.
“A Taffy maker?” Apple Bloom asked.
“yeah! Look at those hinges, they look like pullers, and that hammer thing looks like a tenderizer…”
“What about the outside?” Sweetie Belle made a turn to the pathway out.
“Good idea!” Scootaloo agreed, and the three clambered out.
“Is there a button here?” Apple Bloom searched around.
“Here! I think that’s where you put in the candy and it becomes taffy.” Sweetie Belle pointed to a hole, with a floor resembling a treadmill.
“Maybe if I can find some hard taffy…” Scootaloo crouched low on the ground.
“I found the button!”
“And I have a piece of…” Scootaloo stared at the little brown object, “ancient candy?”
“I think it’s chocolate taffy…”
Scootaloo put the candy on the treadmill, Sweetie Belle looked into the compartment, but didn’t go inside, and Apple Bloom pressed the button.
Sweetie Belle looked hard, as the rusty metal hinges and gears slowly whirred, while Scootaloo looked through the hole, from a safe distance, and Apple Bloom saw through the vent on the top the small candy.
“Anything happening, Sweetie?” Apple Bloom asked.
“actually, yes! The little pullers, they’re stretching and squashing the taffy! How about you, Apple?”
“Well, I see the little bit of the pullers…looks like it’s going to the tenderizer!”
“I don’t see anything…” Scootaloo whimpered, and walked to the end of the machine.
A puff of smoke rose up from the vent, leaving Apple Bloom’s cream fur, large pink bow, and red mane covered in soot.
“oh!” she coughed.
“Oh! The taffy’s coming out!” Scootaloo picked up the rectangular, soft brown candy, and sniffed it.
“doesn’t smell like chocolate…”
“well, what do you expect from a candy that’s over a century old?!” Sweetie Belle retorted.
“I see you’ve made a piece of taffy…”
the three turned around to the voice, and heard hoofsteps coming slowly closer.
“uh…” Apple Bloom quivered.
“Don’t be scared, young ones…”
Out from the dusty, cobweb-laden, and dark room was a seafoam-green mare.
“oh…hi?” Sweetie Belle whispered.
“That machine is very old, be very gentle with it.”
The mare raised her head, long locks of her pink mane resembled the swirls on a mint.
“Hello to you too, young marshmallows.”
“I’m not a marshmallow, and neither is my sister!”
the mare simply chuckled, “ no, dear, a marshmallow is what we candymakers call our little candymaking fillies.”
“Hi! My name’s Scootaloo, these are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo walked in front of the candymaker.
“Whoa! You’re a candymaker?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“don’t tell anybody, all right? Yes. I am a candymaker.” The candymaker smiled.
“I thought they all died out from the Green Death!” Sweetie Belle said.
“I’m not lucky, though.” The candymaker revealed a white mask covering her eyes, “I was cursed.”
The fillies gasped, “but, how did you see us?” Apple Bloom asked.
“All candymakers have a sixth sense, I can’t tell you what it is.”
“wait, you live here?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yes, I have a room. Come.” The candymaker led the fillies into a large room, most of it old fashioned, and littered with vintage photographs.
“This, is where I keep my memories alive.” The candymaker sighed.
Apple Bloom turned to the old bed, a faded pink and blue quilted mattress,two old pillows, and a teddy bear sat in the middle. “Whoa…it feels like I’ve traveled into the past!” Apple Bloom carefully picked up the worn-out plush,and asked “Can I sleep with this?”
“sure you can, her name’s Cherry Lollipop.” The candymaker smiled.
Sweetie Belle looked at the old pictures, one of them was of a family, and the filly in the middle looked familiar, “is that you?” she asked.
“Yes, it is, Sweetie. Before I had my eyes removed…” The candymaker walked closer to Sweetie Belle.
“My family was quite stern, but they were kind. They’d forgive me for a mistake, but still punish me, for instance, I had to sleep without Cherry for a whole two months!”
an another picture was of her again, with a familiar looking filly.
“That’s me, and Cotton Candy.” The candymaker said.
“Cotton Candy?”
the candymaker nodded, “my very best friend, look at the note she wrote to me, before I moved.”
Sweetie Belle read a crinkly, old note that was attached to the picture, it read
Dear Minty, my very very very best friend!
I’m so sad you’re moving! So I attached a picture of us, to keep our memory of fun!
Please, PLEASE don’t ever forget me! And maybe mail me some candy while you’re at it!
Hope we meet again,
Pinkie AKA Cotton Candy!
“Wait, your name’s Minty?”
Minty smiled, and nodded, “And I’m sure you know Pinkie already.”
“but—but…” Sweetie Belle was at a loss of words, the exuberant, hyper, and sweet Pinkie Pie was friends with a candymaker? Sure, it did seem plausible, but she had never mentioned Minty.
“why hasn’t she said anything about it?”
“She thought…after the Green Death…you know.”
Scootaloo walked up to the candymaker.
“wait, are you, like old?”
“I’ve been living here since…twenty years ago. It is true that the candymakers have been around for much, much longer, but we were the last of the line.”
“that wasn’t nice, Scoot!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“No need to argue, my mother always said that arguing is as bad as a rotten tooth.”
“Minty! Is there anything else here?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“hm, I do have a collection of socks.” Minty walked over to a wooden closet, and opened it to reveal a large array of socks.
“why do you have such a big collection?” Apple Bloom asked.
“it started as a joke between me and Cotton Candy, but later on, I started to really like them, maybe give them to the poor.”
“Who’s Cotton Candy?” Scootaloo asked.
“that’s Pinkie Pie’s nickname!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Pinkie was your friend?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“yes, she was. Now, little girls, go to sleep, you must be awfully tired.”
((Thanks to Lucefudu for the edits :D))
