//------------------------------//
// Four Blank-Flanks and a Chocolate Shake 
// Story: My Brother, the Storyteller 
// by gmen15 
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Chapter 4: Four Blank-Flanks and a Chocolate Shake 


Rumble and the Cutie Mark Crusaders arrived at Sugarcube corner, their stomachs empty and growling in need of some tasty satisfaction— especially Rumble who had hardly eaten any of his lunch and was now visualizing a delicious, frothy shake. His mouth began to water as his environment teased his senses. Even if it wasn’t the first time he’d been to the tiny but well-renowned, bakery, he never grew weary or unimpressed by the scents and sights inside. The air was sweet with the scent of baked goods freshly pulled from the oven. Pink segments of the wall were covered in images of candies that looked almost as delicious as the real thing. A small growl escaped the young colt’s stomach and he placed a hoof onto it and gave it a little pat. .

Pinkie Pie and Mrs. Cake were busy working behind the flour-dusted counter. Pinkie Pie was frosting a fresh batch of cupcakes— smoke still billowing from the curved tops of the pastries as if candles had been stuck on them— while Ms. Cake was standing at the register. They looked up and saw the group of colts and fillies enter their shop. Pinkie Pie hopped up and down as her hoof flailed wildly side to side like she was saying hello to an estranged family member. 

Ms. Cake was less bubbly in her greeting, but was still friendly and gave the group a genuinely warm smile. He had seen the older mare often, but never really went out of his way to talk with her. Even when he did come to the bakery with Thunderlane, he would let his older sibling do most of the talking and while standing by his side in silence.

“Hello girls,” Mrs. Cake before she took notice of Rumble, “oh and I see you brought a new friend along with you today. How’s it doing, Rumble?”

“It’s going fine, ma’am,” Rumble answered.

“Oh, well I’m happy to hear that,” Mrs. Cake said before addressing the entire group. “Now then, what brings you in today? The usual?”

“We’re gonna brainstorm some more ideas on how to get our Cutie Marks.” Scootaloo answered. 

“So it is the usual,” Ms. Cake said with a chuckle, turning to Rumble with. “Does that mean you a part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Rumble opened his mouth to answer when Scootaloo jumped in to answer. 

“Yep! He’s the first colt to join!” Scootaloo said before she realized that she interrupted Rumble. “Oops!” She turned to look at her friend, “Sorry I got a little carried away.”

Rumble smiled. He couldn’t help but notice how cute Scootaloo looked when she was apologetic. Her ears flattened ever so slightly and her mouth curled up into a shallow u-shaped smile. He knew that he could never be annoyed with her enthusiasm. 

“Don’t worry, it’s...it’s cool.” Scootaloo’s guilt seemed to leave as soon as Rumble said these words.

“Well that sounds great. The more the merrier.” Mrs. Cake said with a small laugh. “So, tell me did anything exciting happen in school today?” Those last words made Rumble cringe a bit as they reminded him of something a mother might ask.

What his mother might ask, had she still lived with him.

Apple Bloom let out a small sigh and answered Mrs. Cake’s question. “Nope. It was borin’ as usual” 

“Well you must have learned something that piqued your interest.” Mrs. Cake asked, leaning forward on the counter. “

Apple Bloom shook her head. “The stuff Miss Cheerilee is teachin’ us just doesn’t stick. It’s all pointless stuff like history and english and stupid mathematics. It’s so dull and dumb and Ah’ll hardly be usin’ any of it in mah life. It’s drivin’ me up the walls like a cat in a barrel!” The filly said with great frustration, pulling at the bow in her mane. 

“Now Apple Bloom, I’m sure that you’d find those subjects fascinating if you just gave them a chance, and many subjects can be more useful in real life than you think. Why, Mr. Cake and I started dating because we both loved poetry.”

Rumble imagined the lengthy, boring, abstract poems Miss Cheerilee had made given them to read and analyze, picking every little detail apart and trying to squeeze every ounce of potential meaning from it. It was like performing brain surgery on an ant.

If he wanted imagination, he could always go hang out with Thunderlane. He didn’t need poetry.

The language was unbearably lofty, as if the writer was a walking, talking thesaurus that wrote the poem with the sole purpose of showing off his special talent of regurgitating fancy words. But before he could become too disgusted at the thought of those dreadful pieces of literature, he noticed the girls’ reactions. Apple Bloom shuddered as if hit by a gust of cool wind, Sweetie Belle let out a small mouse-like ‘eep’, and Scootaloo stuck her tongue out and let out an obnoxious ‘blech’. 

Rumble liked Scootaloo’s reaction best.

“Oh now, don’t be like that girls...and Rumble.”  Mrs. Cake continued. Rumble blushed from embarrassment from being tacked like some outsider that was just remembered at the last second. “I understand that poetry isn’t everypony’s thing, but for Carrot and me, it was our love, and our passion. Well, outside of baking, of course. I still remember our very first date. We went to a poetry reading at the Millard Pond. Or was it the Mildred Pond? Mallard? Eh, anyway the theme was Romanticism and there were so many beautiful poems all based on love and paradise. It was a great night.”

Mrs. Cake stared off with a soft smile on her face as if lost in the moment. Apple Bloom cleared her throat and Mrs.Cake shook her head and looked down at us with a blush in her cheeks. “Oh my, I’m sorry. Listen to me blather on like some old retired mare. Anyway, are you eating here?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Sweetie Belle piped up, her voice cracking slightly.

“Well then all of our booths are empty.” Mrs. Cake pointed towards the row of windows where three empty booths were situated, “Why don’t you pick one and I’ll have Pinkie Pie take your orders in a few minutes?”

After giving the female half of the Cake couple a unanimous ‘thank you’, the four Cutie Mark Crusaders trotted over to an open booth near a window, giving them a pristine view of the street and town outside. 

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom slid into the seats on one side while Scootaloo took half of the other, patting the cushion beside her to tell Rumble that there was space for him to sit. Rumble swallowed hard, both excited and nervous about being so close to the filly. Cautiously, as if he were about to get onto a roller coaster, Rumble took his place beside Scootaloo.

Pinkie Pie hopped over with a cheerful smile on her face, and handed the group the menus. Rumble knew all about Pinkie Pie. Then again, who didn’t. She was the pony that knew everypony and, in turn, everypony knew her. She was wild and excitable, and Rumble always felt an odd mix of annoyance and admiration for her. She was often over-the-top, but her cheerful demeanor was so contagious that whenever anypony was around it was nearly impossible for them to keep from smiling.

No matter what mood he was in, whether he had just gotten a bad grade or had just been bullied or had learned that his father landed back in the hospital from falling down— something that seemed to happen way too often— Rumble always felt better when he was around the pink pony.

Plus the air around her always smelled like frosting. Rumble liked that.

As Pinkie bounced away, the four ponies opened their menus and began looking for what they were planning to order. But Rumble’s attention didn’t stay on the menu for long. Instead, it slowly drifted to Scootaloo, as did his eyes. Rumble couldn’t stop himself from staring her. Ever since he and the three fillies made their way towards the bakery, he found himself focusing less and less on Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and more on Scootaloo.

He never completely ignored the other two ponies in his presence. He still spoke with them, and they were friendly and accepting enough. They were definitely fillies he hoped to hang out with more. But he couldn’t shake the apparent draw that he felt towards Scootaloo. It was like he was a trout and she a fisher’s hook, piercing his lip and dragging him towards the suffocating surface.

His stomach started to feel strange again. The butterflies that had vanished on the way to the bakery had returned in full force. He found himself blushing profusely as he discreetly peered over the side of his two-fold menu to look at Scootaloo beside him, who was so buried in the menu it looked like she was trying to dive into it. Her hoof was placed on the picture of the chocolate shake and she licked her lips as a tiny bit of drool slipped down her chin and landed on the table. Rumble could have been grossed out, but he wasn’t. 

Clearly somepony likes chocolate. Maybe I should buy her some. He started to think about how her intense staring at the menu was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. Once he became conscious of the fact that he was ogling her in a ‘lovey-dovey-goo-goo’ way, he snapped himself out of it. He sighed and gave his head a few light taps for good measure. Calm down big guy. 

“Shoot, Ah can’t decide what shake to get,” Apple Bloom said, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Everythin’ looks so darned tasty.”

“Don’t you usually get strawberry?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I’m surprised you don’t get it apple-flavored, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo laughed.

“Exactly. That’s the point. Ah want to get something different. Shake things up a little. Ya know?” 

“You mean like what we’re doing with Rumble?” Scootaloo said, turning to Rumble and giving him a little wink and nudge. 

“You mean by having a colt in our club?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo shook her head. “No. I mean by having a wickedly awesome colt in our club.” Scootaloo said. Rumble smiled back and looked away to hide the flush in his cheeks. 

She just called me awesome! I can’t believe it! I’ve never been called awesome before! This is the greatest day of my life!

Apple Bloom looked at the menu. “Now Ah’m stuck between mint chocolate-chip and the fudge blast. On one hoof Ah like chocolate, but on the other Ah like mint.” Apple Bloom scratched her chin, “Hmm...decisions, decisions.”

“You can’t ever go wrong with chocolate!” Scootaloo suggested.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “No offence Scoots, but when it comes to chocolate yer a bit biased.” 

“Forget biased. You’re obsessed.” Sweetie Belle added. 

Scootaloo shrugged, “Hey, what can I say? I love the stuff.” Scootaloo raised a hoof to the air and placed her other hoof over her heart as if she was praising something divine. “Chocolate is Celestia’s greatest gift to ponykind.” She said in an unnecessarily dramatic manner.

“What about raising the Sun for Equestria every morning?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“The Sun is overrated. I’ll take darkness in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate, anytime.”

“I’m surprised you don’t get fudge blast.” Sweetie Belle said, looking over at her pegasus friend. “You love chocolate and it has even more chocolate than the regular chocolate shake has.”

“Meh, I’m fine sticking with plain old chocolate, fudge blast is a little too sweet for me,” Scootaloo said, licking her lips. 

You’re too sweet for me. Rumble’s eyes widened and he shook his head to clear his mind of the odd thought when Scootaloo continued. Stop it Rumble. Don’t you DARE get sappy. You’re a colt! And Scootaloo thinks you’re awesome and cool and....oh sweet Celestia her eyes....”

“Yep, chocolate is a-okay on its own.” Scootaloo turned to Rumble. “What about you? What shake are you getting?”

“Um...” Rumble said, realizing that he had spent all of his designated ‘menu’ time lost in his own thoughts and transfixed by the pretty pegasus sitting next to him. Her beautiful violet eyes gazing at him, making him even more antsy. Quickly, without a second thought, he said the first flavor that came to mind, the flavor Scootaloo ordered. “I’ll get the...um...chocolate!” Rumble slammed his hoof into the tabletop, “Yeah, bring out a chocolate shake as well!”

“I knew you were a cool cat! Chocolate is always the right choice! ” Scootaloo grinned, holding her hoof out towards Rumble for a nice hoof-bump. “Choco-buddies!”

Rumble looked down at Scootaloo’s waiting hoof. Tentatively, he gently knocked his hoof against her own and slowly nodded his head as his smile returned, “Choco-buddies.” He squeaked out with a nervous chuckle.

Now the truth was that Rumble had never had much chocolate in his life. Even when he was a colt he avoided it. He HATED chocolate. He despised the way it always left a bitter taste it left in his mouth. He loathed how it sometimes made his throat feel tingly so that he had to constantly clear it. But more than anything else, he was pained by the fact that it seemed like he was the only pony that disliked it. He never did understand the near universal infatuation all fillies and colts seemed to have for the sweet treat, just like he never understood their dislike of broccoli. It made him feel even more like an outcast than he already did.

He was about to retract his statement when Pinkie Pie stopped by their table to jot down their orders. When he looked at Scootaloo’s smiling face at that moment, he found himself unable to speak up. He hated to start their friendship on a lie, but he felt that by saying he loved chocolate, he had formed a bond with Scootaloo that would deepen their relationship to a level he never shared with anypony. 

They were choco-buddies, and he was not going to jeopardize that. 

So he placed his order for the chocolate shake. Scootaloo gave him a small wink and Rumble smiled at her, but deep down was dreading the shake he’d inevitably have to drink in order to keep up the charade. 

Choco-buddies. Choco-buddies. Over and over he repeated in his mind to convince himself that he was making the right choice. Pinkie Pie smiled at his order and let out a small chuckle, saying that she thought it was “soooooooooooo adorable” that both Rumble and Scootaloo, the two pegasi that were sitting next to each other, ordered the same flavor of shake.

Needless to say, Rumble’s blush deepened.

Pinkie Pie skipped back to the back of the shop, presumably to make the shakes.

Rumble turned to the three fillies. “So, I take it you three come here often?”

“At least three times a week,” Scootaloo nodded. “This is where we plan our crusading. Well, here and at our clubhouse.”

Rumble’s ears perked at this. His interest hit a new high and a grin spread across his face. “Wait, you guys have a clubhouse?”

“Sure do,” Scootaloo answered, turning to her friends. “It’s big, sturdy, and totally super awesome. Isn’t it girls?”

Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were in the middle of whispering to each other, Sweetie Belle giggling while Apple Bloom covered her mouth and whispered into her friend’s white-furred ear. When Scootaloo addressed them, they stopped and turned towards Rumble. Sweetie Belle was still giggling, her hooves covering her mouth.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah! And bonus, it ain’t super girly so you should love it!” Apple Bloom said, both her and Sweetie Belle smiled, the unicorn still letting out tiny laughs before she stopped. Rumble smiled and shyly looked away, still too timid to look into their beaming faces for too long.  Except for Scootaloo, for some reason she was like a magnet for his eyes- no matter how awkward he felt being around her.

Eventually Pinkie Pie came out with the shakes. Vanilla for Sweetie Belle, mint chocolate chip for Apple Bloom— who felt getting fudge would be too close to chocolate, and she didn’t want to look like she was copying her friends— and two chocolate ones for the pegasi.

“Aw,” she cooed, “I still think it’s super cute that you two ordered the same kind of shake.”

“Yeah! We love sure do love our chocolate shakes. Don’t we Rumble?” Scootaloo asked, nudging the colt’s side.

“Yep, I can’t get enough of...chocolate.” He said with a nervous chuckle. Pinkie Pie smiled and trotted off, singing some song about “the cute little couple in the corner”.

Mares, Rumble mentally scoffed with a roll of his eyes. Why does everything have to be so mushy-gushy with them?

“So,” Sweetie Belle said after taking a sip of her vanilla milkshake. She turned towards Rumble. “Have you ever tried anything outrageous to get your cutie mark?”

“Not really,” he said, looking away from his drink in an attempt to pretend it wasn’t there. “I mean, I never really thought about it until you three created your club. Even then I guess I’ve always had the idea that I would get it when the time was right.”

“Well today’s yer lucky day!” Apple Bloom said excitedly, “Because ya are a Cutie Mark Crusader now. And as such, ya are guaranteed a cutie mark!”

“Oh...okay cool.” Rumble said with a weak smile, not pointing out the clear fact that their promise was not entirely valid since none of them had gotten theirs yet, so how could they promise him that he’d get his? But it didn’t matter. Rumble was just happy to be a part of the group so he just went along with everything. They could have said he was a pigeon and he would have sat there and nodded his head.

“Hey Rumble, are you gonna drink your shake?” Scootaloo asked, pointing at his untouched drink.

“Huh?” He asked, “Oh yeah...sorry.”

Apparently his taste buds had changed, because now he thought the chocolate was delicious.

He started slurping the shake, feeling the icy liquid run down his throat and into his stomach. He shivered, and the front of his head hurt in a classic case of ‘brain freeze’. But he loved the taste too much to stop fully. So after taking a second to let the headache subside, he went back to drinking the shake as though his life depended on it. Finally he hit the glass bottom and was only sucking on air. Leaning back and letting out a sigh, he looked around to see both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom staring at him. Scootaloo, meanwhile, burst out into laughter.

“Wow,” she said, wiping away a tear that had formed from her intense chuckling, “I have never seen anypony attack a shake like that, except for me. I must have really underestimated your love of chocolate.”

“Mwe twow,” Rumble said with a mouth-full of shake, wiping his mouth with the back of his hoof before swallowing the deliciousness. “That was the best shake I ever had!”

“Easy tiger, the shakes might be good here, but they’re hardly the best.” Scootaloo smiled. “That honor goes to Donut Joe’s Super Special Chocolate Culmination.”

“I thought Donut Joe’s bakery was in Canterlot.” Apple Bloom said, scratching her head.

“It is,” Scootaloo answered.

“When have ya been to Canterlot?” 

“I used to live there, remember?”.

“You lived in Canterlot?” Rumble asked in shock, finding it hard to believe that such a rough-and-tumble filly grew up in the most elegant city in Equestria.

Scootaloo nodded, “Yeah, back when I was younger. Anyway, I’ll take you up there sometime. Trust me, you haven’t had a real chocolate shake until you’ve had one made by Donut Joe.”

Rumble grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”

He was relieved. Not only that the shake was so good, but because he didn’t have to confess to Scootaloo that he didn’t like the same flavored shake that she loved so much. Now he could honestly say that he did, in fact, like the chocolate shake. 

And bonus, now he had an excuse to go on a small outing with Scootaloo, who was now not only pretty and kind, but also extremely fascinating. With the simple revelation that she lived in Canterlot, Scootaloo opened a whole box of possibilities about her past, and Rumble wanted to know all about it. 

Who is this filly? He thought, picturing her as the daughter of one of the wealthy ponies that lived in the five-story mansions in the Hamilton District of Canterlot— the place that the richest ponies in Equestria called home. Perhaps she had some royal blood running in her veins? 

“So back to talking about our club,” Sweetie Belle cleared her throat to speak. “We basically go around trying to find different ways to get our cutie marks.” Rumble nodded, absent-mindedly scratching the back of his hoof like he had a rash.

“Yeah, like this one time,” Scootaloo snickered, “we all thought it would be a good idea to try snorkeling and, well, everything was going okay until this gigantic squid came out of nowhere and started chasing us.”

“No!” Rumble exclaimed. A slight tickle crept up his throat, but he was too invested in the conversation to truly notice.

“It’s true,” Scootaloo continued, “we thought he was gonna ink us, but fortunately we ditched him by hiding behind some coral.”

“Oh that’s nice,” Rumble muttered, clearing his throat a little as the fuzziness increased. Normally when he ate chocolate, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for his throat to get a little fuzzy. For what reason he wasn’t sure. Regardless it was starting to get intolerable. He started clearing his throat almost every three seconds, causing the three fillies’ excited expressions to fall and be replaced by ones of concern.

“Erm Rumble, are you alright?” Apple Bloom asked, “Ya sure are clearin’ yer throat an awful lot.”

“Yeah I’m...I’m...”Rumble said, just then noticing that he was scratching his foreleg and chest like crazy. Looking down, he found out why. The skin under his fur was completely red and swollen. Panic suddenly overtook him as he tried to figure out what was happening. “Jeez, what the hay is going on? Why am I so itchy all of a sudden?” His voice cracked as it felt like his throat was both scratchy and constricting. 

“Um...Rumble...” Sweetie Belle said.

Rumble cleared his throat. “What’s up Sweetie Belle?” The colt asked in a slightly hoarse voice. 

He looked up at the Sweetie Belle, who looked concerned. She pointed directly at the Rumble’s face, “Your face...it’s...” she grimaced as if the next word was especially hard to say, “swelling.”

“Swelling?” Rumble asked, running a hoof along his cheek, pressing in to notice that his face was, indeed puffing out. But that wasn’t all, it was itching. So much so that he felt the need to start scratching it. His chest and forelegs also began to itch as well. He soon was using his hoof to scratch most of his upper body, trying to relieve the nuisance of the spreading rash.

“Oh no...Ah’ve seen that before. Yer havin’ an allergic reaction!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Just like Big Macintosh had that one time he drank a glass of grape juice!”

Sweetie Belle nodded, “Or when Rarity ate a coconut.”

Rumble froze and stared at the yellow filly as panic overtook him, “W-what!?! What does this...mean.” Rumble’s voice was now just above a whisper as his throat started to itch increasingly worse.

“We need to get ya to a doctor!” Apple Bloom shouted in a panic, turning towards the counter. 

“This is ridiculous. How can I be having an allergic reaction? I’m not...” Rumble stopped, looking down at the shake in front of him- or where the shake had once been, now replaced with an empty glass. It was then that he realized what had caused the allergic reaction. 

It was the bitter dark ‘goodness’ that had left him with a scratchy throat and fuzzy tongue when he was younger. The food he avoided for the past few years because of its bitter aftertaste that everypony else seemed to be immune to. Now it appeared that in that gap of time Rumble had developed a full-fledged allergy to it. Of course he couldn’t find out in the privacy of his own home. No, it had to happen at the worst possible time— the day he finally had the chance to make actual friends and, consequently, get to hang out with them. 

But what stung him even more than that was how his face was currently bloating in front of the one pony he wanted to make a good impression on. 

Scootaloo placed her hoof onto Rumble’s back and looked down at him her violet eyes filled with worry. He knew he should have felt grateful for her concern, but being in that position just made him feel pathetic. 

So much for choco-buddies