//------------------------------// // The Chocolate Room // Story: Pure Imagination // by SYNTH4 //------------------------------// Chapter 10: The Chocolate Room The group found themselves engulfed in darkness as soon as the door closed. It didn’t scare them, but it left them confused as to what to do. There was a clapping sound, and suddenly lights blazed on from above. The group held up their legs to cover their eyes, until they were able to bring them down again. “Sorry about that,” said Pinkie. “I usually don’t have these lights on”. Apple Bloom opened her eyes and looked around. They were standing in a large room; around the size of their barn. The doors sat behind them, and a curtain covered the wall on the left. To the right hung a few pegs that looked like pony hooves. “Okay ponies, if you have any coats or scarves, hang them over there. We have so much time and so little to see,” said Pinkie. She paused a moment before saying “wait a minute, strike that, reverse it”. Pinkie hopped over to the curtain, while everypony else went over to the hooks. Button got his scarf off first and threw it up at the hook. “Weird looking coat hangers,” he said. But then, as his scarf landed on the hook, it curled up and grabbed it. “AAAHHH,” a few ponies screamed. “Little surprises around every corner BUT nothing dangerous,” said Pinkie. “Don’t be alarmed. As soon as the boring stuff is done with, we’ll begin”. The group looked at each other with uncertain faces. So far, this was turning out to be a strange tour. They turned away from the hooks and walked over to where Pinkie was standing. “Okay everypony, I need all the ticket holders to step forward,” said Pinkie. The five foals walked forward as Pinkie pulled a cord next to the curtain. I rose up, revealing a large piece of paper behind it. Apple Bloom looked over the words written on the paper. “By signing this contract, the Pinkie Corp. will not be held responsible for any and all damages/injuries that might be sustained on the tour….etc,”. “What’s this all about Pinkie?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Just a standard form of contract,” said Pinkie with a wave of her hoof. “Basically means my company won’t be held responsible if something were to happen on this tour”. Mr. Rich snorted. “Sorry Pinkie, but me and Diamond Tiara don’t sign anything without our lawyers being present”. “Then she doesn’t get to go in,” said Pinkie nonchalantly. “Those are the rules”. Diamond Tiara scowled and turned to her dad. “I want to go in! And you are not ruining this for me daddy!” “I’ll sign it,” said Button. He ran up, grabbed a quill, and began writing his name. “I did something like this in an RPG once. Had my wife sign some insurance forms, then I killed her”. “Not bad,” said Pinkie as Button stepped back into the group. “Me next,” said Diamond Tiara. She took the quill from Button and began writing her name. “My dad’s always making things difficult”. When she finished, Scootaloo ran up to sign next. “I’m not afraid of a contract. If I was, I wouldn’t have been able to go to flight school!” Rainbow Dash leaned over toward Granny Smith. “She still hasn’t; wings haven’t grown enough to attend. All she’s done is sign the papers”. When Scootaloo finished, Truffle Shuffle walked up and signed his name. Pinkie smiled before turning to Apple Bloom. “You’re next Apple Bloom. Though this is your last chance to turn back”. Apple Bloom smiled. “Not a chance. I’ve waited my whole life to come here, and I ain’t turning back now”. She ran up to the contract, grabbed the quill, and quickly wrote down her name. “Alright, everypony has signed? Yes, good, off we go!” Pinkie hopped over the group and began skipping over to the large doors they’d entered from. The group followed with some confusion, because soon Pinkie stopped right in front of them. “Okay everypony, time to head further inside”. “What are you talking about Miss Pie,” said Mr. Rich. “These are the exact same doors we came in. We go through them we’ll end up back outside!” Pinkie brought a hoof to her chin, as if she was thinking hard. “Really, that doesn’t seem right. Let me check”. Pinkie gave the door in the middle a swift kick, and it flew open. The group all gasped in amazement: behind the door was a long hallway! Apple Bloom walked forward and looked closer at space beyond the door. “It’s real,” she said, taking a step through the doorway. “Of course it’s real,” said Pinkie. She skipped through the door and turned to the others. “Didn’t I say there was?” A few ponies were looking just as confused as before. Rainbow Dash, however, frowned in annoyance. “Alright Pinkie, what gives? Is this some kind of fun house?” Pinkie smiled and tilted her head to the side. “Why, having fun?” “Not really,” said Love Tap. “So far, all we’ve seen is you pulling strangeness out of every corner of this room”. Pinkie laughed slightly, before bouncing forward along the hallway. “Well if you want the tour to start, you have to follow me”. Apple Bloom was a little confused herself; so far Pinkie did seem to be playing with their minds. Everything seemed like something out of a book….even Pinkie herself was another kind of weird. But that didn’t matter to her; she came here for a tour of the factory. And if this was how Pinkie made all her creations amazing, then she’d have to go with it. “Come on Granny, I’m not missing out on anything,” said Apple Bloom. She began walking after Pinkie with a look of confidence. Granny looked at the others, shrugged, and began to follow the two ponies. The group stayed still for a moment, but soon they began to follow the crazy pink mare. As they walked down the hall, Apple Bloom began to notice something. The more they walked, the more the ceiling and walls seemed to close in on them. In fact, soon Pinkie was reduced to walking because the ceiling was touching her hat (which she soon had to remove too). “Hey, the hallway’s getting smaller,” she said. “No it’s not,” said Love Tap, “Pinkies’ getting bigger”. But she wasn’t; it was definitely the hallway. And soon, they reached the end of it. Now, Pinkie was crouching down in front of a small door. It was about the height of a small apple, and not even as wide. “An important room this,” said Pinkie. “After all, it is a chocolate factory”. Diamond Tiara huffed. “Then why is the door so small?” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “It’s to keep all the chocolate flavor inside, du!” She reached into her mane and pulled out a small key. She placed it into the lock and turned it until hearing a click. When she put the key back, she turned to the group. “Fillies and gentlecolts, I present to you,” she placed a hoof on the wall and pushed, “The Chocolate Room”. *** When the door opened, every pony in the group gasped. On the other side of the door was what looked like a beautiful meadow plucked from the outside. Grass covered the entire area, and weird looking plants sprouted up all around. Running through the middle of the room was a river. But instead of clear water, what was flowing through it was thick and brown. At the end of it sat a large waterfall, where the brown liquid poured down by the gallon! Pinkie placed her hat back on her head and skipped onto the large meadow. The others followed, still in awe about what they were looking at. “It….it….looks so beautiful,” said Apple Bloom, who looked close to tears. “Oh yeah,” said Pinkie. “It’s very beautiful”. After another moment of gazing, Pinkie began walking towards the river. The group quickly followed her. As they made their way along the river, Pinkie looked down at it. “Every drop of the river is hot melted chocolate of the finest quality”. Apple Bloom gasped before looking down at the river. “This is all CHOCOLATE!?” It took every ounce of willpower for Apple Bloom to not jump right into the river and have the time of her life! When she looked forward though, she found that Truffle had a similar expression on his face. “Looks like I’m not the only one”. The group made their way towards the waterfall, before which stood a bridge to the other side. Pinkie lead the others over it before stopping. “The waterfall is most important; it mixes the chocolate. Helps to make it light and frothy,” she said with a smile. “By the way; no other factory in the world mixes it chocolate by waterfall. And you can take that to the bank!” Pinkie turned around and lead the group farther along the path. But not long after everypony had cleared the bridge, they all heard a wiring sound. “Oh, it’s nearly time! Look everypony,” said Pinkie, point to something behind them. The group looked back, and saw something moving near the ceiling. It looked like a large glass tank, which was attached to something on the ceiling. Below it was a disk like machine, which had a large glass pipe attached to it. “That is one of the pipes that suck up the chocolate from the river,” said Pinkie. “And carry it away all over the factory. Thousands of gallons an hour.” “But why isn’t it in the river all the time,” asked Scootaloo. “If you have any questions regarding the use of our machines, please direct them to the complaint hotline,” said Pinkie. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash looked at each other strangely. “But now I must know; who wants to try a blade of my grass? Isn’t it so delectable and darn good looking?” “I’ll try,” said Truffle. He stuck his face down, chomped a large amount of grass, and gulped it down. But when it passed his throat, he opened his eyes wide. “It….it….IT TASTES LIKE CANDY!” The others in the group looked at the colt with shock. “Of course it is; everything in this room is made of candy. Therefore, everything in this room is eatable, even I’m eatable,” said Pinkie. “But that is called cannibalism, my little ponies, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies”. Pinkie waved her hoof around the room. “Go, and enjoy!” The ponies in the group looked at one another for a moment. But soon, they all ran off to try the different kinds of candy that were planted around the room. *** Apple Bloom and Granny Smith stuck with each other as they walked through the room. They gazed at the many different candies to try, as well as the way they were shaped to look like plants. “Golly, what should we try first granny?” Granny Smith narrowed her eyes as she looked over the different selections. But soon, her eye landed on a tree near the river. It looked like an apple tree; just like the ones they had at the farm. “Well, why not start with that apple tree over there?” “What,” said Apple Bloom, looking over at the tree. “But Pinkie said that everything in this room was candy.” “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” said Granny. “Let’s try it before asking questions”. The two mares walked over to the tree, which Granny Smith quickly plucked two apples from. Apple Bloom took one and looked it over, seeing the shiny glazed outside reflect light off itself. Slowly, the filly bit down on the apple and swallowed. Instantly, her mouth hung open as the sweet sugary taste overwhelmed her mouth. “Wow! It tastes like an apple pie!” Granny took a bite of her apple, and soon she was smiling wider than she’d ever smilled before. “Hot diggety, this is the best apple I’ve ever tasted!” The two continued to chomp down their candy apple, right down to the core. Apple Bloom threw hers away and began to reach for another one. But before her hoof could touch it, something big jumped in front. Apple Bloom jerked back in surprise as the object grabbed the apple and fell to the ground. “Mine” it screamed. Apple Bloom looked again, and saw that Truffle Shuffle was the object. He took the apple, put the whole thing in his mouth, and swallowed it whole! “MORE” he screamed, and jumped up before running to another nearby candy plant. He tore off a large chunk before swallowing it whole too. “What in tarnation is wrong with that colt,” asked Granny? “I’m not sure,” replied Apple Bloom. “But remember, he said on the radio that he likes to eat a lot of candy. This must be a dream come true for him”. The two watched as Truffle kept running to different plants, taking large bites, and moving on to another. “Maybe we should try another area,” said Apple Bloom. “Hm, maybe you’re right dearie,” said Granny. The two turned around and began heading back to where they’d left the group. But they hadn’t gone very far before something else flew past them. Apple Bloom looked, and saw the Love Tap was running towards a large cluster of red pumpkins. Everything looked normal….until Apple Bloom saw a pair of brown legs poking out the top of one. Love Tap ran over to them, grabbed on, and pulled. Soon, a body followed, along with a head and orange mane. Every part of the body was covered in a gloopy red/while paste, and the mane looked more ruffled than a tree after a tornado. “Button,” said Love Tap worriedly. “What in Equestria were you doing?” Button, who’s mouth looked full, swallowed before addressing his mother. “What? She said enjoy!” The two Apples looked at the other, before quickly walking away. *** Across the room, Diamond Tiara and Mr. Rich were walking along the chocolate river. The young filly was licking a swirling lollipop, and Mr. Rich was tasting a piece of chocolate shaped like a flower. “Remember dear, she said enjoy. So that means you can eat as much as you want,” said Mr. Rich. “I’m not going to have much,” said Diamond Tiara. “I want to be in shape when summer comes around. As Mrs. Manie Pony always says: A bulge is not what you want, less you look like a….” “OKAY,” interrupted her father. “Just keep it inside your head”. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes; her dad never liked anything she had to say. She took another lick of her lollipop and looked up at the chocolate waterfall. The streams of chocolate that flew from the top looked so enticing you just wanted to stand under it and let it cover you from top to bottom. But as Diamond Tiara looked away from the waterfall and towards the opposite bank, she saw something that made her eyes widen in surprise. “DADDY, LOOK OVER THERE!” Mr. Rich looked across the river, and saw something on the other bank. It looked like a small pony; one that was even smaller than his little filly. It looked like a stallion, with a black mane and red pelt. He was carrying a small jackhammer on his back, and was walking to a small area near the waterfall. When he stopped, he took the jackhammer and began to use it to dig into the ground. “What is that thing,” asked Mr. Rich. As the two watched the small pony work, the rest of the group soon came rushing over. They all looked at the small pony with the look of astonishment. “....Hey, there’s two of them,” said Rainbow Dash. “There’s more than two,” said Love Tap. Indeed, a few more of the small ponies were appearing all over the opposite bank. Some were carrying gardening tools, while others were pulling carts filled with the candy vegetables from around the room. And strangely, they all looked the same: earth pony stallions with a black mane and red pelt. But what was really strange was that they had no cutie-mark! “Are they even real ponies,” asked Button Mash. “Of course they’re real ponies,” said Pinkie, who popped out of nowhere into the middle of the group. Everypony jumped in surprise; yet the mare didn’t seem to notice it. “They’re Oompa Loompas”. Mr. Rich looked at the pink mare with confusion. “What, Oompa Loompas?” “Of course,” said Pinkie. “They’re imported direct from Loompa Land”. “There’s no such place,” said Love Tap. Pinkie turned to the mare, looking very annoyed/confused. “Uh, what do you mean?” Love Tap smiled smugly. “Well, I did happen to major in Geography during my time in college Miss Pie. And I can tell you…” “That you know all about it and know what a terrible island it is,” interrupted Pinkie. “Nothing but desolate wastes and fierce beasts. And the poor little Oompa Loompas were so small and helpless, they would get gobbled up right and left. A Wangdoodle would eat ten of them for breakfast and think nothing of it. I went to Loompa Land looking for exotic new flavors for candy. But instead, I found the Oompa Loompas. And when I saw what was happening to them, I knew and I had to do something. And so, I said, ‘Come and live with me in peace and safety in my factory; away from all the Wangdoodles and Hornswogglers and Snozzwangers and rotten Vermicious Knids.’" Mr. Rich snorted. “Snozzwangers? Vermicious Knids? What kind of rubbish is that?” “I'm sorry, but all questions must be submitted in writing,” said Pinkie. “And so, in the greatest of secrecy I transported the entire population of Oompa Loompas to my factory.” “That’s amazing!” said Diamond Tiara. “Daddy, I want an Oompa Loompa! I want an Oompa Loompa right away!” Mr. Rich sadly smiled. “Okay dear, we’ll get you an Oompa Loompa such as soon as I can”. “But I want an Oompa Loompa NOW!” screamed the filly. Scootaloo’s face became scrunched in anger, and she pushed it right in front of Diamond’s. “Can it you brat!” The two fillies soon found themselves in a tense staring contest. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and turned her head; she didn’t want to see two fillies getting in needless arguments. But as she looked along the chocolate river, she noticed something. Truffle Shuffle as down at the river bank, putting his hooves in the chocolate river. Then he put them in his mouth and cleaned them in seconds. “Hey granny, look at Tuffle,” she said. Granny and the rest of the group looked over at the chubby stallion. Everyone didn’t seem to bothered by it….except for Pinkie. She gasped loudly and her mouth literally dropped to the ground. “TRUFFLE” she screamed. “STOP! MY CHOCOLATE MUST NOT BE TOUCHED BY PONY HOOVES!” But the stallion didn’t stop; he only continued to dunk his hooves in the chocolate river. “Oh, this stuff is terrific!” “I’M SERIOUS TRUFFLE! YOU’RE CONTAMINATING MY ENTIRE RIVER!” Truffle didn’t respond; he only continued eating the liquid chocolate. He reached down and was ready to pull them out….but then it happened. He leaned over too far, and his weight pulled him over the bank. Truffle was only able to let out a small scream before he plunged into the chocolate river. The group on the other side all gasped in surprise….except Pinkie; she just sighed sadly. A second later, Truffle broke the surface. He was covered in chocolate and gasping for air. He flared his hooves in an attempt to swim, but it only just kept him above the surface. “He can’t swim,” said Mrs. Truffle. “Somepony help him, he’ll drown!” But while everypony was looking at the frailing colt, Pinkie’s mind was elsewhere. She looked up at the ceiling, and saw the pipe from before moving towards the area near where Truffle had fallen. But instead of saying anything, Pinkie simply stayed quiet and watched the struggling colt. The pipe moved over Truffle before stopping a few feet away. Slowly, the pipe slid down and into the river. It sank a few feet before stopping….and soon chocolate began to fly upwards towards the large tank above. A small whirlpool began to form around the pipe, causing more suction in the river. Truffle, who was still sprawling nearby, began to drift towards the whirlpool. “HELP!” he screamed. “I’ve got him,” said Rainbow Dash. She spread her wings and dashed over towards Truffle. “Grab my hooves!” she screamed. Truffle Shuffle reached out towards the mare, ready to grab on. But just as Dash reached the colt, he was swept up in the whirlpool and thrown around. “Woah,” said Dash. “He’s moving too fast for me to zero in on him”.   “It’s too late now,” called Pinkie. “The suctions got him”. Rainbow Dash watched the struggling colt, and with a sigh, flew back towards the group. And just as she landed, Truffle let out a small cry before he once again was sucked under the surface. A second later, something shot into the pipe before stopping a few feet in. All the chocolate above it continued to rise, but the rest was stuck under the object, creating a blockage. After some of the chocolate moved away, everypony saw that the object was Truffle! He looked around quickly; not knowing what was going on. But he didn’t have time to get a good look. A second later, he started shooting up at the pipe at a quick pace. “There he goes,” said Scootaloo. “Wow,” said Rainbow Dash. “It’s a wonder how that pipe is big enough”. “....Wait look, it isn’t big enough. He’s slowing down!” said Apple Bloom. Sure enough, Truffle was moving slower and slower inside the pipe. Then, when he was two thirds of the way up, he stopped altogether. “He’s stuck,” said Button. “Indeed; he’s blocked the whole pipe,” said Mr. Rich. Mrs. Shuffle looked helplessly at her son, before turning to Pinkie with a look of confusion. “Well, aren’t you going to do something Miss Pie?” Pinkie looked back at the mare with a blank expression. Then, she put a piece of chocolate in her mouth and said “uh….help….police….murder” as nonchalantly as she could. Apple Bloom gasped in shock. She thought Pinkie would be more worried that a….‘small’ colt had gotten sucked into one of her machines. Instead, she acted like she didn’t even care; not even a little bit. “Hey, look, the Oompa Loompas!” Apple Bloom and the rest of the group looked over at the opposite bank. Indeed, the Oompa Loompas were acting differently. They were all humming, and moving in rhythm with the tune. “What are they doing,” asked Diamond Tiara. Pinkie looked over at them and smiled. “I think they’re going to treat us to a little song. It is quite a special occasion after all; they haven’t had a fresh audience in many moons”. The Oompa Loompas put down their tools and began running towards the pipe and group. They circled around them, forming three straight lines. The humming soon stopped, and they began to sing: Truffle Shuffle! Truffle Shuffle! Big and round, just like a bubble! Truffle Shuffle! So big and vile So greedy, foul, and infantile 'Come on!' we cried, 'The time is right, To send him shooting up the pipe! But don't, you ponies, be alarmed; Truffle Shuffle will not be harmed, Truffle Shuffle will not be harmed Although, of course, we must admit He will be altered quite a bit. Slowly, wheels go round and round, The cogs begin to grind and pound; Let boil for a minute more, Until we're absolutely sure Then out he comes! And now! By grace! A miracle has taken place! A miracle has taken place! This greedy brute, this louse's ear, Is loved by ponies everywhere! For who could hate or bear a grudge Against a luscious bit of fudge? As the Oompa Loompas sang the last verse, the group heard a deep groaning noise. They all looked over at the pipe, which was beginning to shake. Chocolate began to burst out of a few leaks, meaning it was close to critical buildup. But then, after one final shake, Truffle Shuffle went flying! He shot up the pipe with such speed that he almost left the chocolate in his wake. He shot through the disk panel and into the large tank above. He only had a second to react before the chocolate began to rise and bring the colt along with it. The group watched as the tank filled to the top before the pipe shut off. It rose out of the river, and soon began to move away from the group. Speaking of which; everypony in the group was left in complete shock as to what had just happened. That is except for Pinkie; who was clapping and smiling like the whole thing was just a big show. “Bravo! Well done,” she screamed happily. “Wasn’t that the best music you’ve ever heard! My Oompa Loompas sure do know how to sing!” “Yes,” said Mr. Rich. “But they did seem rather rehearsed”. “Yeah, like they knew what was going to happen,” said Button. Pinkie waved her hoof and blew a raspberry. “Oh please; nopony can predict the future. And trust me, I’ve tried”. “Forget about that,” said Mrs. Shuffle. “Where is my son! Where does that pipe go to?!?!” Pinkie looked up at the pipe, then back at Mrs. Shuffle. “Oh, yeah. You see, that pipe just happens to go to the fudge room; more specifically the one where I make my famous Strawberry Flavored Chocolate Coated Fudge". She paused for a moment, giving an uncomfortable look. "And that's not the worst part. When it arrives at the room, it gets poured directly into our main boiler before processing”. “YOU’RE GOING TO BOIL MY SON!” “No, of course not,” said Pinkie. “I would never allow it; the taste would be terrible! Could you imagine Truffle Flavored Chocolate Coated Gloop? Ewh, nopony would buy it!” Mrs. Shuffle looked like she was ready to punch the candy maker in the face. But Pinkie must have sensed this, because she quickly pulled a whistle from her mane. She gave it a quick blow, sending out a sound that could be heard from across the room. She put the whistle back in her mane, then turned towards the waterfall. A second later, an Oompa Loompa showed up and gave a small salute. Pinkie gave one back before leaning down closer to it. “I need you to take Mrs. Shuffle down to the Fudge Room so she can find her son. He may get poured into the boiler, so take a strand of fencing and attach it to the outlet tube. Something should catch onto it eventually. Got it?” The Oompa Loompa nodded, then motioned for Mrs. Shuffle to follow him. She gave the group one last look before following the small pony towards the passage to the fudge room. Pinkie sighed before turning back to the rest of the group. “Alright everypony, let’s get moving. We still have so much to see, and we mustn’t get behind schedule”. She turned on her hooves and began bouncing towards a lower bank farther down the river. Everypony in the room remained still for a second. But soon, they all started to follow the crazy mare.