The Way Your Cookie Crumbles

by Flutterbutters


3 Days

The day started off as usual. Vanilla Shake leaped it of her toasty bed and threw on her winter coat. It was chilly after all. Though Winter hasn't quite begun, the wind was just as cold. Vanilla headed down her creaky stairs. She tried to remember the first day she moved in. She had to only take one look at the old house before she said it was disgusting. There were cobwebs around every corner and animals hid everywhere. They dug holes in the floor, made nests in the fire place, and even slept in the shower. The only reason she decided to move in was the bedroom. It was beautiful; with fine jewelry boxes the owner left behind, fantastic designs cut into the bed post, and marvelous wallpaper to decorate the room. She hired a company to remove the critters the day she moved in, and they made a wreck. There were holes drilled into the walls, and dust and debris lied everywhere. After the company took the animals out, she then had to hire another company to clean up the horrid mess left behind. But in the end, it was all worth it. She loved her room. She could imagine all of her friends crowding around, gazing and envying her. That is, if she had any friends.

Vanilla's childhood was very dull; her parents insisted on homeschooling her instead of sending her to regular school with all the other earth ponies. She did eventually go to school after 3 years if homeschooling, after she convinced her parents that she needed friends. She could remember her first day like it was yesterday. The pain didn't go away after all. When she first arrives, everything seemed nice and peaceful, and she thought she was going to enjoy it. She was enjoying it actually, that is until lunch break arrived. Vanilla's parents had always known her for being outgoing and not shy at all. When she was younger, they would take her places and she would talk with everypony, even the ones she didn't know. Vanilla grabbed her pink lunch bag from her knapsack, and sat with a group of fillys. She could still remember the stinging words they said to her.
"Oh, it's you." Said one of the ponies. Vanilla didn't know what this meant, as she was socially awkward.
"Yep! It's me alright! My name is Vanilla Shake! Nice to meet you!" She said with a huge smile, and grabbed the pony's hoof and violently shook it. The pony yanked her hoof away in disgust. Everypony then stared at Vanilla and gave nasty faces. Although Vanilla was new to being social, she knew what this meant. "What's the matter?" She said with a sad face.
"I'll tell you what's the matter you freak," Vanillas heart felt like it exploded. "Nopony likes you, so take your stupid lunch bag and leave." Said the pony. Vanilla felt like crying, but that would make her look weak. She grabbed her bag and began to walk away. Just as she entered the doorway, a rotten apple core flew in her direction. Luckily, they pony who threw it had bad aim, and it missed. As soon as she left their sight, she burst into tears.

Vanilla hasn't realized she was crying. She had been daydreaming about her fillyhood and lost track of time, so she grabbed a banana and bolted out he door. She was in such a hurry she bumped into a pony, knocking the bag of of his hand.
"I am SO sorry sir!" She said while helping pick up she contents of the bag, which scattered everywhere after the collision. After everything was picked up, she took a second to look up. Then, she saw the Stallion. He looked, strong determined, and most of all, handsome. She hasn't seen anypony like him in her lifetime. He gave a slight nod as a thanks, and walked away. She headed back to her shop, still thinking about him. She was in so much of a daze that she walked straight into a wall. She didn't care about the pain. Eventually, when she decided that somepony as amazing as him was already taken, she stopped fantasizing. She went to grab the key from her bag, then realized she forget it. Oh no, not again, she though to herself. His was the third time this week she forgot it, and now going back to get it would be a huge waste of time. She leaned on he door to sulk, and suddenly it swung open. For a second, she thought this could have been because she forgot to lock it, but ruled this out because the door swings outwards. She was stumped, but then realized it was probably the janitor. She decided to just move forwards in her day and walked in. She sat on the heart shaped chair her father bought for her, and waited for customers to visit her Milk Shake Shop.

You must be wondering what Vanilla Shakes Cutie Mark could be. No, it's not a milkshake. It's a lovely white flower, which represented peace. She could remember the first day she got it. In fact, it wasn't much longer after she had the incident with those mean girls. She was sitting on a park bench alone picking the petals of a flower. A group of containing two of the girls from earlier and a couple she had never seen approached her. She wasn't usually easily intimidated. But after what happened earlier, she was terrified. They didn't say anything, and simply knocked the flower from her hoof. She felt anger rise through her, but didn't do anything. Instead, she simply picked another flower and repeated her process. They repeated this until they finally gave up and left. That's when the lovely white flower appeared. To this day, she has stuck by this day, she has stuck by her motto; Never get in a fight, and walk out alright.". Since she couldn't think of a job that worked around peace, she simply took over the small business he father owned. Making milkshakes.

Vanilla woke up to see a mare standing at the counter. She hadn't known how long she had been there, but it must've had been long, or the mare would've awoken her. While she regained herself, she thought of how many customers could've been here, and left because they didn't want to wake her.
"M-mam I am SO sorry, I was just taking a snoo-"
"You seem to say that a lot, don't you?" She said, cutting Vanilla off. Vanilla wasn't sure what to make of this; was this mare a stalker, or just some really smart fortune teller? She didn't reply to the mare, but instead gave an awkward stare. "Are you going to take my order, or just stare blankly at me?" Vanilla felt embarrassed, she shouldn't treat customers like this, despite them being a creepy old mare.
"I'm sorry, what would you like to today?"
"To tell you something "Vanilla". You have three days to live. Three days." And with that awful reply, she took off without another word.