//------------------------------// // Let's go with Chapter 1 // Story: Pinkie and the Chocolate Factory // by Quill and Brush //------------------------------// “Whoa!” the whole group breathed in unison, mouths agape, staring in awe at the giant chocolate colored building with a large logo on the front of a large CF with a black fedora sitting on top of the C. There were several monstrous smokestacks on the top of the building belching thick, black smoke. The group had taken the train from Ponyville to Fillydelphia and walked from the station to where the flyer told them the Factory was, somewhere just outside of the Fillydelphia city limits. The group slowly walked up to the giant chocolate-bar-shaped doors with a C etched in one and an F in the other. Just as they were about to get in knocking distance the doors swung inwards. Standing there in the now open doorway was a light blue pegasus mare with a stiff icy blue mane with gray stripes and a matching tail. She had bright yellow eyes and a genial smile. Her cutie mark consisted of a storm cloud producing a single large snowflake. She wore three small bangles that matched her highlights around each leg and two larger ones around her left forehoof. She stood there for a moment, as did the six ponies and single dragon. The blue mare’s smile drooped slightly as she stared at the stunned group. “Oh, oops,” she then grinned sheepishly. “Cocoa’s always telling me that I need to tone the entrances down a bit. Um, come on in.” She waved the group in, which followed the directing hoof. “My name’s Blizzard, by the way.” The giant doors closed with a resounding thud. Pinkie, recovering the quickest, bounced up to Blizzard and took her hoof, shaking it vigorously. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” Applejack quickly grabbed hold of Pinkie before she could begin a long winded spiel. “We’re here for the tour of the factory,” Twilight quickly took the lead. Blizzard slowly started to settle down after the rough hoofshake. “O-of course, of c-course, I’ll just call Cocoa. Then the t-tour can begin.” She walked over to a desk across from the doors and pressed down a button on an intercom. “Hey Cocoa?” There was a buzz from the speaker. “Yeah, we got a group here for the tour.” Another buzz. “Okay, see you in a few.” She released the button and walked back over to the group. “He’ll be down in a minute.” Twilight arched an eyebrow. “Who’s Cocoa?” “Oh, his actual name is Chocolate Factory, but I call him Cocoa. He runs the Factory.” Twilight nodded, satisfied. After a few minutes of silence, waiting for Chocolate Factory, Rarity cleared her throat and asked “And what do you do here, Blizzard?” “Oh, I’m the secretary – pony – thing. I also run the Factory’s climate.” She beamed, clearly proud of her job. Rainbow perked up at this. “How do you do that?” she asked. “Well, my special talent is working with cold weather,” she began. ”So I basically just keep the chocolate from melting after it’s been molded by cooling the air in the storage room.” She shrugged. “Fairly simple.” Rainbow nodded. “Cool. Heh. Sorry.” Just then, a door behind the desk flew open revealing a dark brown unicorn stallion. He had chocolate brown eyes framed by glasses. His muzzle was a light brown, as were his hooves. His mane was slicked back and trimmed short, matching his coat in color with a reddish brown highlight. He wore an analog wristwatch on his left forehoof. He wore a collared vest that almost reached to his triple-gear cutie mark. His glasses, vest, and watch were all the same gray as his cutie mark. His tail was short and parted in two, matching his mane in color. Finally, on top of his head, was a very distinctive black and white fedora resting against his horn. The unicorn strode calmly into the room, stopping next to Blizzard. He stood there for a moment, his face blank. Next to him, Blizzard was smiling. The group around him was staring at him, unsure how to react. Suddenly, his face brightened immensely, gaining a large, toothy grin. “Well, I’m glad somepony finally showed up! Isn’t that right, Icy?” Blizzard chuckled and playfully pushed a hoof against his shoulders. “Yeah, glad that you can vent all that energy into something productive!” “Well, howdy! My name’s Chocolate Factory, and this here’s my Chocolate Factory!” Rainbow smirked. “That’s real original, how’d you come up with that name?” Chocolate, grin still going strong, brought a hoof to his chin, his eyes betraying his thoughtfulness. “Well, it all started when I got my cutie mark-” “Cocoa,” Blizzard interrupted him. “I don’t think that’s what she meant.” “I’m sorry about her,” Twilight spoke up. “Sometimes I think her mouth and her mind aren’t on speaking terms.” “Hey!” Rainbow harrumphed. “That’s alright!” Chocolate waved a hoof dismissively. “Happens to me all the time! Well, why don’t you tell me your names, and then we can begin our little tour of our humble facility!” Twilight spoke up. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Rarity, and Fluttershy.” She pointed to each in turn. Chocolate nodded. “Good, good. Will you be joining us, Icy?” Blizzard shrugged. “Sure, it’s not like I have anything better to do around here.” Her tone was nonchalant, but her eyes glimmered playfully. Chocolate nodded. “Good. Now, if you’ll all follow me.” He turned and began to walk back to the door that he had come through earlier. “Please try to keep up, as it is easy to get lost, and difficult to get found.” The group chuckled. “He’s not kidding,” Blizzard said, completely serious. The group quickly quit laughing. They walked down a hall that gradually narrowed. “How long is this hall?” Rainbow asked. “Quite long,” Chocolate answered, his gaze never flinching. “Well are we-“ “We’re here,” Chocolate said, stopping abruptly. The hall had continued to narrow until the ponies had to crouch, single file. Chocolate carefully turned his head to look at the group trailing behind him. “What I am about to show you, you cannot speak of to anyone. Understand?” The group looked at him, confused. After a moment of silence, Twilight spoke up. “Why not?” Chocolate shook his head. “If word of my methods got out, other ponies could copy them and have chocolate of the same caliber as mine. And then where would we be?” The group looked at each other, then back to Chocolate’s completely serious face, then to Blizzard’s slightly apologetic one, then back to Chocolate and nodded. Chocolate nodded in return, and said “Well alright then. Let’s go!” And with that, his horn began to glow with a brown aura swirled with dark red and light blue, as did the door in front of him. The door slowly swung away from the group, and a bright light was let into the hallway blinding its occupants.