Around Ponyville High, the entire Grade 10 class was milling about, talking excitedly with friends and meeting with others. Hugs were exchanged, hoof shakes and hoof bumps happened and the talking had all meshed together to become on giant mumble that rang in the air. Everypony looked happy and excited, eyes shining with anticipation as they waited, pegasus wings fluttering excitedly and unicorn horns glowing bright.
Away from the crowd, an earth pony mare was sitting with her back against a tree trunk, boredom in her eyes. She was deep brown and her spiky tomcolt mane was just a lighter shade of her body. Her hooves were clean and white, contrasting the rest of her body. Her eyes were the color of fresh and ripe cherries, examining the crowd with the most bored look she could physically come up with. Her cutie mark was a touch lighter than the rest of her chocolate colored coat, a grid of chocolate emblazoned proudly on her flanks.
Ding!
The sound was sharp and loud, capturing the attention of all the mares and stallions. The mare at the tree got to her hooves, showing her short height and chubby size. She trotted over to the crowd and was instantly engulfed in it as they filed into the building. Almost instantly her hooves went from soft grass to cold tile and all warmth was sucked from her body as she looked around. The place even looked boring, dull blue lockers and white walls with black tile floors. Yawn. Nothing changed from last year. Surprise, surprise.
"Well if it isn't Choconator."
Great. Choconator thought, turning her head to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon keeping pace with her, nasty grins on their mugs. "What? Come to bug me? Thought we went over this last year when I scared the hay out of your prissy little flanks." She snapped curtly, glaring ruby daggers at them. Thought I got rid of these snobs last year. Things just get better and better.
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "Please, as if you could ever scare us. Your threats are meaningless, almost as much as your special talent is useless. Eating chocolate, it's no wonder your stomach's the size of a planet." She jeered, cerulean eyes full of venom.
Choconator chuckled. "Well my talent has won me the Equestria Chocolate Eating Contest three years in a row. What has yours done for you huh? Wearing that lump of metal on your head is the only thing you're smart enough to do, so I guess your talent suits you. Shut your trap Silver Spoon whatever you say isn't gonna do anything, because using a spoon isn't much of a talent either." With that, she sped up and left the thoroughly angered mares behind her, a victorious smirk on her face.
Choconator was barely listening to the teacher at the head of the group. She kept looking in all the classrooms she'd signed up to be in, excitement on her face. Her eyes trained on the cooking classroom and the gym, now those would be two fun courses! Despite popular belief, she was fairly active and loved to do athletic activities when the opportunity sprang up. She surprised a lot of ponies with her level of strength, it was something she was proud of. What she lacked in the brain department she made up for with her muscles and ability to eat, that was for sure. Her grades proved that very well, her average was not something to brag about.
After what seemed like years to the thoroughly bored mare, they stopped and went into a classroom. She sat down next to a tall pegasus stallion and acted like she was listening, not really caring what the stallion at the front said and instead looking at her desk buddy through the corner of her eye. He was tall, really tall. His coat was pale grey and his eyes were purple. His mane was kind of poofy and was deep blue with a hint of silver. She didn't pay attention to his cutie mark, preferring not to let her eyes wander where they didn't belong.
Rumble heard somepony sit next to him and turned to look. He quickly noticed she was barely up to his shoulder and that she was rather round, but he wouldn't judge her on something like that. Her coat was deep brown and her mane was spiky and pale brown. He couldn't see her eye color, but he did like the color of her hooves, they were like pearls. His eyes strayed to her cutie mark and he could make out a grid of chocolate. That rang a bell for some reason, but he couldn't remember why...
"How about you take those pretty purple eyes of yours and direct them to the dude in the front instead of my flanks."
Her voice came out in a hissed whisper, but he jolted his head away when he realized he'd been staring and a blush spread across his muzzle. He could hear her chuckling and suddenly his ears perked up. Those colors, that cutie mark and that voice... He suddenly remembered why he remembered her. He dove into his pool of memories and pulled one very distinct memory out,
Rumble ran away from the Timberwolf, eyes wide as he cried for help. How was he supposed to know that low branch was the predator's tail? He hadn't meant to pull it so hard! His hooves hit the ground faster as he squealed desperately, feeling the putrid breath on his heels. "HELP!" Something slammed into his shoulder and he was sent flying, tumbling to the ground with something on top of him.
"Stay still, shut up."
It was a feminine voice, that much was obvious. He felt the weight lift from his back and looked up to see a filly his age charging right at the wolf. She was deep brown with a spiky mane, but pretty short and... Chubby. He could see a grid of chocolate as her cutie mark and he covered his eyes, expecting her to be torn to shreds. The next thing to hit his ears was a pained howl and his eyes popped open to see her standing over the Timberwolf, red eyes blazing as she slammed her hoof down its chest. "GO AWAY!" She hollered. The thing quickly complied, running with its tail between its legs.
Rumble stared in awe as she walked back up to him. "H-How did you do that?" He asked incredulously.
"Stronger than I look. Name's Choconator, you?" She asked, holding out her hoof, which he took as she helped him up.
"R-Rumble."
Choconator smiled. "Nice to meet ya. Well I better get going, try not to pull anymore Timberwolf tails while I'm gone. I don't have Spider Stallion senses." She chuckled.
Rumble's eyes widened and he blushed. "You saw that?" He asked.
"How else could I have saved you?"
Rumble's blush spread and deepened in color, which only made the mare beside him laugh more. Don't make eye contact... I think she smells fear... He turned his head away, ears drooping as she finally stopped chuckling and left him to wallow in his embarrassment. This was not a good start to his first day at Ponyville High.
Choconator didn't recognize Rumble at all, but she was getting a real kick out of this. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all, if there were more ponies like this to mess with. She leaned back in her chair and put her forelegs behind her head, pretending to listen to the stallion up front. Whatever he was talking about, unless it had to do with chocolate, was boring. She just wanted to go to her cooking class, now that would be fun. She'd heard that on the first day they got to make chocolate chip cookies and boy, did she love chocolate chip cookies!
Now all she had to do was get through the boring stuff.
~~~~~
Book bags tasted horrible.
Mr. Dictionary is such a bore... just like a dictionary. Stupid books, this is friggin' heavy! She cursed inside her head, mouth full of the horrible tasting bag that contained all her books. Most of the books were for her English class, but some were Prench, Science, Social Studies, Math and the others were for Drama. Her neck was aching, but the next course was cooking and then she could go listen to some gym stuff before she left for her little apartment. She struggled to get the bag to stop dragging on the floor, but she didn't watch where she was going and collided with something. Hard. Her books spilled onto the floor and she just gaped before glaring up at the pony, opening her mouth to snap at them before she stopped.
It was the pegasus she'd sat with.
Rumble was thinking about Choconator when felt something collide with him and he sprang into the air in surprise, wings fanning out. He looked down and saw the look of anger on Choconator's face melt into one of awe as he touched down, just staring into each other's eyes. After a moment he realized she'd dropped her books and he quickly stooped down in time with her and they ended up banging their heads together.
"Ow!"
He rubbed his forehead with a front hoof, grimacing before looking at her and seeing she was doing the same. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! Are you ok?" He asked worriedly, afraid he'd hurt her.
Choconator rubbed her head before looking back up at him. "I'm fine. Oh hey, you're the stallion who was sitting next to me! I saw your eyes wandering where they didn't belong." She teased, sticking her tongue out at him. She laughed at his blush before holding out one white hoof. "Name's Choconator, you?" She asked.
Rumble gulped and looked down. "I-I know who you are. I'm R-Rumble, you saved me from a Timberwolf last year..." He answered nervously, wishing he would just disappear right now. "I wasn't staring where I shouldn't though, I was just looking at your cutie mark. I thought you looked a bit familiar, I-I was just making sure. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable..." He apologized.
Choconator chuckled. "I remember you now! Pulled any more Timberwolf tails?" She teased, nudging him lightly with a hoof. "For real though, you're funny Rumble! Wanna be friends? I haven't seen you around here before, did you just move here?" She asked, holding her hoof out to him.
Rumble smiled a bit and nodded shaking her hoof. "I just moved here from Cloudsdale with my brother Thunderlane." He answered, leaning down and helping her pick up her books. When they were all back in the bag, the earth pony stood up and smiled at him.
"Say, how about after my next class you join me to go to my club? I founded it last year, the Chocoholic Club! You in?" She asked through a mouthful of book bag. "We got a big shipment of chocolate icing, chocolate chips and chocolate bars! I thought we'd make cookies today, since we might get new members from the Grade 9 class. It's for all Grades, so even the Grade 12 ponies can join!" She exclaimed, eyes lighting up.
Rumble thought about this for a moment. He did love chocolate, who didn't? "Sounds great! I have cooking for this class and I hear we're making chocolate chip cookies, so maybe I can bring my extras?" He asked.
Choco's eyes widened and she laughed. "Well it looks we're sharing a couple classes Rumble! Cooking is my next class, wanna walk with me?" She asked as he stood up. She had to look up to see his face, Celestia he was tall.
Rumble nodded and smiled at her. On his first day he'd made a friend, maybe the rumors that high school was like burning in the pits of Tartarus weren't true after all! He'd done Grade 9 in Cloudsdale and it wasn't very... pleasant, but here it seemed much friendlier. He walked with his new friend to the Cooking classroom and when they got there they sat down together.
Choconator was pretty much bouncing with anticipation. Not only did they get to make chocolate chip cookies, but she knew the cooking teacher, Miss Pepper, quite well after last year and she knew that Miss Pepper wouldn't mind if one bag of chocolate chips was found empty and the chocolate chips had mysteriously vanished. Nopony messed with Choconator's cravings.
Nopony.
Miss Pepper was a nice mare. She wasn't exactly young, but she was really cool. She was a black unicorn with a grey and brown mane and orange rimmed reading glasses that she always wore over her olive colored eyes. Her cutie mark was a salt shaker and a pepper shaker.
Instructions were passed out, ingredients taken and a bag of chocolate chips swiped from the supplies cabinet by a pair of white hooves. Soon the room was filled with the tantalizing scent of cooking dough and chocolate, making a certain mare's eyes gleam and tongue dangle out as she breathed in her favorite scent.
Miss Pepper looked around and spotted what she was looking for. With a chuckle she levitated the empty bag of chocolate chips in her green aura, noticing how the other groups had barely put a dent in it. Choconator was concentrating on her cookies, but there was chocolate smeared around her mouth as usual. She'd "accidentally" spilt chocolate on the counter or even in her mouth many times, but the teacher never interfered. She'd seen what had happened when a brave Silver Spoon had swatted the bag away and yelled at her.
Nopony underestimated how strong Choconator was after that. It took some strength to pin another earth pony to the floor with one hoof.
Beep!
Rumble opened their oven with a wing and blew some of the steam away with the other wing, coughing a bit. Choconator instantly moved towards the oven with surprising speed and took the pan out, the cooking fabric in her mouth. She placed it on the cooling rack and closed the oven, mouth watering as she looked at the cookies. They were golden brown and the chocolate chips had melted and were creamy and soft. She'd already eaten the rest of the bag, but it barely put a dent in her hunger. She could eat a lot of chocolate and a bag of chocolate chips was nothing compared to when she went for the Equestria Chocolate Eating Championship.
Rumble chuckled and carefully manoeuvred the cookies onto a plate in a nice pile, placing them on their table. Steam wafted from them and his mouth started watering.
"Alright class, dig in!"
Without hesitation, the brown mare dove right into the pile, not even noticing when she sent Rumble skidding away.
~~~~~
"I only got two cookies. Out of the dozen that we made."
"You're lucky you got any."
Rumble had a playful pout on his face as Choconator led him to the club. She stopped when she saw her Vice President and a stranger walk in, leaving the door open. "Looks like we've got a new member." She murmured to herself and trotted over to the door. Attached to the door was a piece of paper that read CHOCOLATE CLUB. "Alright Rumble, you go in and get comfy. I've gotta talk to Carra, I saw her with somepony new walk in." She told him.
Rumble nodded and trotted inside, passing by two mares with antlers. He looked away, not wanting to stare and looked around curiously. The room was large and completely brown, full of ovens, cabinets and the smell of chocolate. Almost like the Cooking classroom, but warmer and more chocolate.
Meanwhile, the two mares with antlers walked over to the hangers. One of them was completely pale brown from mane to hoof. She had large moose antlers that jutted proudly from her head and she flashed a smile. She grabbed a sash full of badges and put it on, striking a pose. She turned to her companion and looked at her many badges, smiling. "This one was for cooking a three layer chocolate cake," She pointed at one, "This one was for coming second in a chocolate eating contest!" She smiled proudly, pointing at the shiniest one. She took pride in that one, especially considering who her competition had been. "Doesn't it look awesome Buttercup?"
Buttercup had brown coat and a blonde mane with smaller deer antlers. She looked at her friend in awe. "Who came in first Carra?" She asked curiously.
Carra smiled. "That would be Choconator. Choconator was the founder of the club! She's a chocolate champion. She's real lovely if you're nice to her, but if you get on her bad side...well then." A shudder went through her body at the last sentence, she'd rather not say what would happen if you made Choco mad. "Suffice to say, Choco and Diamond Tiara don't get along!" She added, giggling.
At that moment, Choconator walked in with a smile on her face. "Hey, Carra, whose the pony beside ya?" She asked. She could feel Buttercup looking at her and turned to take a glance at her. Another pony with antlers, this one looks like a deer. Pretty cool. She thought before looking back at her Vice President.
"New member, Choconator!" Carra exclaimed.
Choco held her hoof out and after a moment the deer-pony shook it. "I-I'm Buttercup." She introduced herself shyly, blushing a bit. After a moment she remembered something and went into her bag, pulling out a MagicHoof Chocolate Bar. I want to make a good impression on Choconator. She thought, breaking it in half and giving Carra and Choconator each a piece.
While Carra thanked Buttercup and took hers and nibbled on it quietly, Choconator stared at hers in awe. Her eyes went wide and started sparkling and her tongue hung out of her mouth. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!" She exclamied before taking it and scarfing it down in one chomp.
Soon the room filled with more members and Choconator stood up in a kitchen, more specifically on the counter. "Alright Chocoholics listen up! Time for our anthem! Today we're making chocolate cookies with new members Buttercup and Rumble, so sing it proud everypony!" A loud cheer answered her and she stood up on her back legs, holding up her front hooves. "Ready? 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4!"
"Chocolate, Chocolate
Tasty and sweet!
Chocolate, Chocolate
Can't be beat!
The league of Chocoholics
REUNITE!"
A loud cheer went up before Choconator divided everypony into groups. She put Rumble with a mare named Twist and put Buttercup and Carra together. She didn't do the baking, no she had the best part; taste testing. She turned to look at Carra's kitchen and saw her Vice President squirt chocolate icing on Buttercup. "Whoops! Bad aim!" Sounded like Carra alright. She chuckled as Buttercup started sprinkling flour on Carra and soon the two of them were having a full on flour fight.
Time to have some fun.
Putting on her best angry face, Choconator stormed over. "Hey! You can't just throw flour about!" She snapped, glaring down at them. Inside she was laughing so hard when Buttercup started shaking in fear, while Carra looked at her with wide eyes. A devious grin replaced her scowl. "Not without me of course!" She grabbed some flower from the bag and whipped it at Buttercup, laughing as it spread across her back. Soon the three of them were hurling flour at each other, getting caked with the powdery substance before the timer for the cookies went off.
Choconator grabbed some towels and walked back with them, handing the two of them one each. They cleaned themselves off before Choco walked up to Buttercup. "You're pretty fun, Buttercup." She said with a smile.
Buttercup blushed a deep pink. "T-Thank you." She replied quietly.
Choconator smiled before looking at the over groups. They were taking their cookies out of the oven and soon the smell of chocolate icing, chocolate chips and everything chocolate filled the room. Her mouth watered and she jumped onto the counter again, looking down at her little Chocoholics. "Alright everypony! Each of you bring one cookie over here and let the taste testing begin! This week's prize is two bars of chocolate from the Whinny Wonka Factory!" She declared.
Ponies each offered her one of their cookies and she ate each one. After all the groups had passed, she stood up again and flashed a grin. "Alright my little Chocoholics, the winner of this contest and the chocolate bars is... Apple Bloom and Babs Seed!" She exclaimed, grabbing the chocolate and handing it to the ecstatic cousins. She leaned in as they placed their prizes in their bags, a devious grin on her muzzle. "Don't let it out of your sight, I might just raid your saddlebags." She joked, laughing.
The entire club started laughing as Choco jumped down. She trotted over to Carra and the two of them started discussing next week's chocolate import. "Whinny Wonka Chocolate is really hard to get, so I think next week we should do something less... Expensive." She suggested.
Carra nodded. "How about we do something with white chocolate? We only did it once last year and I'm sure everypony would love it. How about we bring back the white chocolate marshmallow idea? We never did get around to that one." She reminded, eyes pleading.
Choconator laughed and ruffled her second-in-command's mane, right between her moose antlers. "And that is why you're my Vice President. Alright, we'll do the white chocolate marshmallows Miss Moose." She agreed, using her nickname for Carra.
"I thought I was Vice President because I came in second for that chocolate eating contest?"
Choco laughed again. "That too, but that's also why I'm President and you aren't." She added with a wink.
The two friends shared a laugh as they walked out of the room, followed by Rumble and Buttercup. First day and I have two new friends... Maybe this won't be so bad after all. Choconator thought, a smile on her face. She'd made friend this quickly, another year wouldn't be so bad if she had them.
How wrong she was.