//------------------------------// // Nighttime Chat // Story: Cinematic Adventures: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory // by extremeenigma02 //------------------------------// High above the Bucket House, the moon’s light shined upon the tiny shack along the night sky. Shining through the tiny window to Charlie’s room, the seven sleeping ponies, and the little dragon, bundled together along the floor. Twilight and her friends laid sound asleep, a few of them snoring (Mostly Rainbow Dash), but otherwise in complete bliss. Of course, this blissful sleep was soon interrupted by the sounds of rustling sheets and the patter of feet hitting the floor. Twilight’s lavender eyes slowly open, turning to see Charlie wide awake. “Charlie?” Twilight yawned. Charlie himself turned to look down upon the groggy alicorn. “Oh, sorry Twilight,” Charlie apologized. “Didn’t mean to wake you.” Twilight merely shook her head, as she rubs the sleep from her eyes with her hooves. “No, it’s alright. I just thought you were still asleep.” At that moment, the commotion stirred every pony else from their sleep as they start waking up one-by-one. Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie, who had been cuddled together in their sleep, woke up with their eyes staring toward each other. For a brief moment, all they could do was silently smile as they each looked at the most pleasant sight before them. “You know, I could wake up like this all the time!” Cheese smiled. Pinkie nods her head, nuzzling up to Cheese Sandwich. Rarity and Fluttershy both stretched out, yawning as they woke before turning to Charlie. The last to wake up after Spike were Rainbow Dash and Applejack, both were still sound asleep before they slowly came to. The moment they opened their eyes, they suddenly realized just how close they were to each other, so close in face their muzzles were no more than an inch from contact. There was an awkward pause between the two, barely even blinked before they slow pushed each other as far away as possible before turning toward the boy. “What’s up Charlie?” Rainbow asked, playing it cool. “What are ya’ll doing awake at this here hour?” Applejack added. “Well, you see, I usually wake up at this hour so I can meet with Grandpa Joe in the living room while he’s awake,” Charlie explained. “This way we can just sit and talk to each other about the most strange and wonderful things.” Rarity did her best to listen but found herself trying to keep from slumping over asleep. “But why must it be so early, darling?” Rarity groaned, yawning. “There’s not really many other times of the day for me and Grandpa to just talk. What with school, my paper route, and everything I have to do to help my family, times like this are hard to come by.” Every pony nodded, smiling understandingly knowing just where Charlie is coming from. Any moment they can spend with the ones they love, no matter how busy they are, makes for precious moments. Especially amongst good friends, like what they have now. “Would you mind if we came along?” Fluttershy asked. “Well, of course you can,” Charlie smiled. Satisfied, every pony all got up and made their way out of the room… All except for Rarity. The poor unicorn found herself barely keeping her eyes from falling shut. “Aren’t you coming along, Rarity?” Twilight asked. “Sorry, Twilight darling,” Rarity spoke. “But you know I’m not my best in the morning with a soothing hot cup of coffee.” Twilight rolls her eyes, using her magic to conjure up a mug of warm coffee. She levitates it over to Rarity, as the Marshmallow unicorn guzzled it down. The scolding hot liquid courses down her throat, immediately perking her up and now we find Rarity wide awake. “Oh, thank you dear!” Rarity thanked her friend. “You know me so well; even added a small amount of hazelnut, just the way I like it.” “It’s no problem, Rarity,” Twilight replied. Rarity eventually joined the sleepy group, as Charlie led them out of his bedroom and into the living room. There, Grandpa Joe sat up in bed completely awake waiting for his grandson’s arrival. Of course, they all had to be quiet seeing as how Mrs. Bucket and the rest of Charlie’s grandparents are still asleep. Charlie sat along the edge of the bed beside Grandpa Joe, while all the ponies and Spike took their seat on the floor. “Howdy there, Grandpa Joe,” Applejack greeted, quietly. “Good morning, Grandpa Joe dear,” Rarity added, sweetly. “Sup?” Rainbow smiled. Grandpa Joe smiles at the group, wishing them all ‘good morning’ as they gather round to begin their discussion. “So, where exactly did you all come from?” Grandpa Joe asked, curiously. “Well you see, my friends and I come from a magical land called Equestria,” Twilight explained. “A place where ponies of all different sizes and talents live together in harmony, under the rule of our fair princesses of the Sun and Moon, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” Charlie and Grandpa Joe listened to the Princess of Friendship’s explanation, sharing looks of amazement and wonder. An entire world, where ponies live in peace and harmony, truly it was the most astonishing thing to imagine. “Is it always so peaceful in Equestria?” Charlie asked. “Well… Not always,” Rainbow answered. The others nod simultaneously, for once knowing Rainbow Dash made a valid point. “You see Charlie, we’ve had our share of battles against many dangerous beasts and foes almost on a daily basis,” Twilight continued. “As the Elements of Harmony, which is basically the cornerstone of friendship and light in Equestria, it’s our duty to combine our powers to ensure our home’s safety.” “So essentially, you’re all superheroes?” Grandpa Joe asked. “Aww yeah, when you put it that way that sounds awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, cockily. “We kick all kinds of bad guy butt, we’re practically unstoppable!” “Though let met tell you, darling, it’s certainly not an easy task!” Rarity points out. “She’s right,” Applejack added. “There’s come a might big responsibility bein’ a hero; it ain’t all fun and games like lots ah folks make it out tah be.” “Like this one time, I helped the Crystal Empire fend off a changeling uprising from destroying all of Equestria!” Spike bragged. Twilight rolled her eyes, especially hearing her little assistant brag again. It was one thing for Rainbow Dash to brag, that’s to be expected. But every time Spike would go off about being the hero of the empire, it’s difficult to get him to stop but she let him have this moment. “Yes Spike, and we all thank you for that,” Twilight replies, patting the little dragon’s head. “How did you all end up here in our world?” Charlie asked. “Well, this one day, I was off gathering ingredients for a friend of mine for a potion she was working on,” Twilight answered. “Along the way, I stumbled upon a television set.” “Kind of like this?” Charlie points, toward the old television they have. “Sort of, but it was kind of bigger. Anyway, I brought the television back to my castle hoping to do some research. Next thing we know, it released this portal that sucked us into another world different from our own. It was there we’ve had to help some new friends of ours tackle a very dangerous journey.” “Oh yes, we’ve been on a few fun journeys so far!” Pinkie rambled. “From the mountains of Oz, to the caves of Spooky Island! We’ve met Dorothy, Shaggy, Scooby, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Lion, Scrappy…” “Okay, okay, okay Pinkie!” Rainbow interrupts. “We met a lot of people.” Charlie and Grandpa Joe couldn’t help but look at each other in surprise, due to how unbelievable this whole story seemed. “Of course today, we only ended up here because Pinkie here needs a little help back home,” Rainbow continues, gesturing to Pinkie. “Why?” Grandpa Joe asked. “What’s going on?” “Well, you see I live with Mr. and Mrs. Cake and their twin foals, no relations,” Pinkie rambled. “We work in a bakery back home, but lately we haven’t had customers in over a week. We’re worried if business doesn’t pick up anytime soon, we might end up out of work!” This seemed to bring everyone’s mood down drastically, sharing looks of sadness upon their faces, even Charlie and Grandpa Joe. Charlie reached out a hand, giving Pinkie a comforting pat on the back. “I’m really sorry to hear that, Pinkie Pie,” Charlie apologized. “That must be terrible!” “Thank you, Charlie,” Pinkie smiled, then frowned. “If only we could come up with some kind of new recipe or even a new supplier, then maybe things would be alright.” “But you know, even since we got here, we’ve been hearing a lot about this Willy Wonka guy and his chocolate factory,” Cheese Sandwich spoke up. “No doubt he must have very big ideas to have very popular candy.” “Oh yes, that reminds me!” Charlie realizes, turning to Grandpa Joe. “After we finished with my paper route today, we were all in front of Wonka’s. And there was a strange man there, I think he was a tinker. He was standing right behind us looking up at the factory.” “That man was trifle odd and very spooky,” Rarity added. “He said, ‘Nobody ever goes in and nobody ever comes out’.” Grandpa Joe smiled a little, as he was about to explain to them why that is. “Ah yes, and right he was, not since the tragic day that Willy Wonka locked the factory up.” “Wait a minute, he locked up his own factory?” Fluttershy asked. “Why would he do that?” “To answer that, I’d have to start from the beginning,” Grandpa Joe answered. “About twenty years ago…” Grandpa Joe paused when suddenly all the ponies and the little dragon, including Charlie, all turned toward him making themselves as comfortable as they could. “Alright right then,” Grandpa Joe spoke, clearing his throat. “Twenty years ago, before you were born Charlie, I saw Willy Wonka with my own two eyes. In fact, I used to work for the man himself.” “You did?” Spike asked. “Yes, I sure did. Of course, I was a much younger man in those days. In the beginning, Willy Wonka began with a single store on Cherry Street. Since the day I was hired, I knew that man was a genius. Why, he invented a new way of making chocolate ice cream so that it stays cold for hours without a freezer.” “An ice cream that could be left lying in the sun and never going runny?” Pinkie thought. “That is genius!” “Sounds impossible!” Rainbow remarked. “Ah, but Willy Wonka did just that,” Grandpa Joe answered. “The only problem was: The whole world wanted his candy and one store alone was not enough. So before long, he decided to build a proper chocolate factory, fifty times as big as any other. The largest chocolate factory in history!” “Sounds like something that would rival that laugh factory back home, huh Cheesy?” Pinkie asked, smiling. “Oh, cheese and silly string!” Cheese teased, making Pinkie giggled. “But he sounds like a pretty awesome guy to me.” “If you think that’s amazing, I’ve yet to tell you about the time he collaborated with the Indian prince,” Grandpa Joe spoke. “Oh do tell, darling,” Rarity spoke, leaning. “Well, there was this young man, Prince Pondicherry, who wrote a letter to Mr. Wonka requesting him to come all the way to India and build him a colossal palace entirely of chocolate. It was an ambitious project, but he vowed to build a palace with 100 rooms, with everything made of either dark or light chocolate. And true to his word, the bricks were chocolate, as was the cement holding them together. All the walls and the ceilings were made of chocolate, so were the carpets, the pictures, even the furniture!” “Oooh…” Pinkie’s mouth watered. “It sounds so perfect in every way.” “Yeah, if I had a palace like that, I wouldn’t dream of eating it,” Cheese Sandwich added. “I’d want to live in it!” “Oh yes, but all things don’t last long,” Grandpa Joe points out. “Shortly afterward, there came a very hot day with a boiling sun and melted the entire palace until there was nothing but globs of chocolate covering the landscape.” “Oh my!” Fluttershy gasped. “Whoa!” Spike said. “The prince sent an urgent telegram requesting a new palace, but unfortunately Willy Wonka was facing problems of his own.” “Oh yes…” Twilight nodded. “The day the factory closed.” “Now why would any pony, that is any ‘body’, want tah give ‘em problems?” Applejack asked. “Because, all the other chocolate makers were sending in spies, dressed as workers, to steal Mr. Wonka’s secret recipes.” Grandpa Joe answered. “No!” Spike spoke, quietly. “Yes!” Grandpa Joe nodded. “Fickelgruber started making an ice cream that would never melt; Prodnose came out with a chewing gum that never lost its flavor. And Slugworth… Oh, that Slugworth, he was the worst! He began making candy balloons that a child could blow up to incredible sizes!” “Oh, the poor man!” Fluttershy gasped. “I can’t even imagine what he must have been thinking.” “That is horrible,” Cheese stated. “I mean, I know I don’t run the laugh factory in Equestria anymore, but I couldn’t begin to imagine if some pony started taking all my funny ideas I sent there only to pass them off as their own!” Every pony remembered the laugh factory, mostly since Pinkie first brought it up. Pinkie Pie went there after hearing Cheese Sandwich owned and operated the factory only to discover being the owner made him depressed and unhappy. So she spent the entire day helping him to realize his life’s purpose was to be out in Equestria making ponies laugh rather than sitting behind a desk. “What did Mr. Wonka do next?” Twilight asked. “The thievery got so bad, that one day, without warning, he finally shouted, ‘I shall be ruined!’ and told every single one of his workers to go home,” Grandpa Joe explained. “He announced that he was closing his chocolate factory forever and that’s just what he did. He locked the gates and vanished completely.” “That can’t be good fur business,” Applejack spoke up. “If my family and I stopped harvestin’ apples at Sweet Apple Acres, we’d lose our farm!” “No doubt he probably would have gone out of business before too long. However, about three years later, the most amazing thing happened. The factory started working again full blast and more delicious candies were coming out than ever before. But the gates stayed locked so that no one, not even Mr. Slugworth, could steal them.” “You mean… You never got your job back?” Twilight asked. “No,” Grandpa Joe shook. “No one did. Nobody even sees Mr. Wonka anymore; he hardly ever comes out. All that comes out of that place is the candy, already packed and addressed.” “Well, I certainly don’t blame the man for being cautious,” Twilight spoke, understandingly. “But there must be someone helping him run the factory. No offense to him or anything, but I’m sure he couldn’t run an entire factory by himself. “You’re absolutely right, Twilight,” Grandpa Joe agreed. “Thousands must be helping him.” “But who?” Charlie asked. “Who are they?” “Now that is the biggest mystery of them all,” Grandpa Joe responds. The gang pondered all this information from Grandpa Joe’s story, anything they could learn about this Willy Wonka. To think that poor man felt the need to lock himself in his own factory, hiding himself from the whole world just to keep his candy recipes away from sneaky thieves. And yet they wondered: If not a single person has been seen going into that factory, much less coming out of it, and if the gates are always closed, who could possibly be running all the machines? But eventually, every pony started feeling tired and started yawning. “Well, this was a pleasant evening chat,” Twilight replied. “But I think it’s time to head back to bed. “Yeah, this was really fun,” Rainbow added, yawning. “But I think it’s time to hit the hay.” Every pony else agreed, as they said their good nights to Grandpa Joe. Soon the whole group, along with Charlie, made their way back to the boy’s room making themselves as comfortable as possible. “Too bad about that Wonka guy,” Cheese replied. “That factory sure sounded pretty amazing.” “Yeah, I’d give anything in the world just to go in there,” Pinkie sighed. “Just to see what that amazing factory could offer, even for just one day.” “Don’t worry Pinkie,” Twilight assured. “We’ll figure something out. I promise you, when we’re through, you’ll never have to worry about going anywhere.” “Thanks Twilight,” Pinkie smiled. It wasn’t long before all the ponies, the little dragon, and their new friend, Charlie, drifted off to dream land of chocolate rivers and gingerbread houses with gumdrop rooftops. Searching for something, anything, that would help make their dreams and wishes come true.