The Cocoa Stand

by Sketcha-Holic

Setting Up Shop

And so it was that young Silver Shill was hauling a sled with stuff piled on it through the snowy streets of his hometown, with his little sister helping him pull the rope in front while his two big sisters pushed from the back and made sure that nothing fell out. Mini stoves, mixing utensils, kettles, jugs of water and milk (the latter provided by a generous neighbor cow), and boxes of the ingredients needed were perched atop a folded table at the bottom.

All were garbed in their winter attire, ranging from Silver's simple outfit of the hat and scarf, Penny wearing the same except with an added vest, Pearl also having a hat, but wearing a thick trenchcoat and boots, and Goldie's snowsuit. Their cheeks and the tip of their muzzles had already been nipped by the cold, and their huffs and puffs manifested into clouds as they towed their sled full of supplies.

"Silver..." Pearl groused, her hooves holding one of the stoves steady. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, they can survive without hot cocoa, and in doing this, you'll be missing out on a lot of activities... not to mention you're kinda prone to anxiety..."

"D'oh, what?" Silver replied. "Come on, Pearl, you know that ponies appreciate a warm drink on a cold day! We gotta give it to 'em, yanno? I'll be fine."

Pearl raised an eyebrow. "Would you listen if I said that chocolate gives ponies cavities?"

"Not if they brush their teeth," Penny deadpanned.

Goldie giggled. "And they get to use the yummy toothpaste!"

Pearl gave Goldie an incredulous look. "Goldie, most ponies use mint toothpaste. You use bubblegum."

"I know! It's the best tasting stuff ever!"

"...please tell me you don't eat it."

Silver sighed. "Pearl, you're overreacting. It's gonna be a simple exchange of three bits for a mug. Simple as that."

They walked past many of the houses of the Halterside residents, trudging through the snow as they pulled the sled closer and closer to the town square. All the while, Goldie had urged them to sing some Hearth's Warming carols as they walked, as well as catch some snowflakes on their tongues. They all laughed when Pearl complained that the tiny crystals tasted too salty.

When they had finally arrived, they all smiled at the sight of the festival.

The town square--or rather, as many residents jokingly called it, the town circle--was a thick ring of snow, beginning and ending at the two beautifully decorated Hearth's Warming trees set up at both sides of the town hall and lined with torches for ponies to warm up by. In the middle of the ring was an ice rink, where ponies skated, both in just gliding along casually, doing fantastic tricks, or playing hockey. Some foals were outside the rink, preferring to build a snowcolt or have a snowball fight.

Along the ring were stands run by residents, who served popcorn, cotton candy, gingerbread, candy canes, and other treats. A band was playing carols under some shelter, and several ponies were singing along to the beloved tunes. Finally, there were several other activities set up, such as a puppet show, a magic show, a snow fort making contest, the carnival games of the ring toss, bean bag toss, and fishing game, and of course, an igloo where foal could meet Santa Hooves.

Goldie bounced up and down. "Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Oh, boy! What should we do first? What should we do first?!"

Penny replied in a flat tone, "Help Silver set up his stand."

Goldie visibly deflated. "Oh."

---

From the point of view of little Comedy Gold, setting up the table and stoves took forever, especially the part where they had to make sure that the stoves worked. Silver had to stand on a stool thanks to being so short, while Penny and Pearl could check the kettles without even going on tiptoes. Seeing them shake their head indicating that the liquid wasn't boiling, she didn't quite understand why the water-milk mix--or just water for ponies who were lactose intolerant like she was--didn't boil instantly in any of the kettles. As she waited for her big siblings to finish organizing the remaining supplies, ingredients, and the bucket of warm water for washing the mugs, she idly made snow angels nearby, envying the other foals playing in the fair while she was stuck here. Oh, how she wished that her siblings would hurry up.

She raised her head, and she recognized her neighbor Winter Mist, and that cousin of hers with the name that was fun to say. Shooting up to sitting position, a big grin came upon her face, and she hollered, "Coco!"

The shout made Silver jump and stumble onto the ground with a yelp, and Pearl backed up and hit her head on a particularly tall tiki torch. Penny merely blinked, and shot a glare in Goldie's direction. The tiny curly top didn't notice; she was too focused on the annoyed Winter and the confused Coco looking her way.

She waved at the pair. "Hello!"

Winter and Coco trotted over to them, the former saying, "Geez, do you really need to be such a loudmouth?"

"Somepony in my family has to be loud!" Goldie replied.

Pearl walked from the torch, holding her aching head. "None of us are particularly quiet, Goldie, but why did you need to yell?"

Silver popped up from behind the table. "Don't scare us like that! Pearl could've knocked down the tiki torch and lit herself on fire."

Coco put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh, dear, that wouldn't be good."

Silver's eyes landed on Coco, and he sputtered, "Oh, i-it's you, that filly we met the other day, eh... what's your name again?"

Goldie jumped and shouted, "Coco! It's easy to remember! Gosh, Silver, you're so forgetful!"

Coco cleared her throat and said, "Yes, it is Coco. Coco Pommel."

Silver laughed and said, "What a coincidence! You share a name with the thing I'm a-selling here!" He presented the stand and the stoves with a cheesy grin. "Of course, you're not made of chocolate--heh, or even look like chocolate! I mean, good thing you don't look like chocolatey deliciousness, because somepony might eat ya!"

As her cousin facehoofed beside her, Coco tilted her head in confusion. "Uh... thanks?"

His face red, Silver mumbled, "You're pretty, anyway."

Pearl stepped forward. "You'll have to excuse our brother, he's awkward." She ignored the glare that Silver was giving her and held out a hoof. "So... I'm Pearly Whites."

Penny leaned on the table beside Silver. "My name is Platinum Pen."

Silver's face once again erupted into a corny, nervous grin. "I-I-I'm Silver Shill."

Goldie leapt into the air with an audible sproing. "Comedy Gold!"

Winter Mist rolled her eyes, and stated, "Yeah, they're my neighbors. They've always been a bunch of weirdos." She narrowed her eyes at Goldie. "Especially the youngest one. I swear, she must be the biggest weirdo in Equestria." She shuddered. "She scares me."

Goldie stuck her tongue out at her.

"Oh, I've seen some strange ponies back home, she can't be that bad compared to them," Coco said, walking forward and stroking the tuft of curly strawberry-blonde hair poking out of Goldie's hood. "She's actually really cute."

Goldie grinned at her. "I like you! Where ya from?"

"Manehattan."

Silver blinked. "You mean you're from the big city? Well, a big city, because there's lotsa big cities in Equestria... Canterlot... Los Pegasus... Vanhoover... you know, stuff like that."

Coco giggled. "That's right. My family's just visiting this town because we didn't want to put up with the fast pace of Manehattan during the holidays this year."

"Yeah, you might slip and fall... on ice."

The silence as the girls stared at him was only broken by a cough from Pearl. He stood there, on the stool, holding his sheepish grin as long as he could, thinking that if he held it, he wouldn't embarrass himself even further than he had already done. Great was his relief when he heard one of the kettles whistle, and Penny was gracious enough to take it off the stove and put it on a heat pad on the table.

"Say, uh, why don't I show you girls my hot cocoa magic? It's my Pop's special recipe!"

Winter scoffed, while Coco looked on with fascination.

Silver started with grabbing a mug from under the green tablecloth, and then some measurements of some ingredients. He put some cocoa powder in the mug, followed by creamer, some chocolate chips, a little bit of caramel, a spoonful of sugar and a couple of marshmallows.

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to put the marshmallows after the cocoa's mixed?"

"Not the way Pop does it!" Silver said, adding a few drops of vanilla. Finally, he started to stir the mix within together. "So, you want peppermint or no?"

Coco shook her head. "Oh, no, it doesn't agree with my stomach."

"Same here! Besides, we didn't get any candy canes yet," Silver said. He stopped stirring, poured the hot water-milk mix in the mug, and then resumed his stirring. He continued to stir for a good thirty seconds, watching as the liquid became browner and browner, and the chocolate aroma begun to waft up to his nostrils. He looked at Coco, who still watching with fascination, then to Winter rolling her eyes, and then to a smug looking Goldie. Why she was so smug, he had no idea.

He finished the stirring, dropped three marshmallows in the drink, and pushed it to Coco. "Go on, give it a try!"

Coco took the mug with a smile, and then looked at it. With a deep breath, she took a quick sip. Her face turned red as the heat got to her, and she staggered back. "Oh, dear, it's hot!"

Goldie was suddenly on her hind legs, her front hooves holding a giant snowball above her head. "Let's add some snow to cool it down!"

"Goldie, no! You might knock her out!" Silver shouted. "Besides, adding snow would ruin it..."

Coco took another sip, and she was more visibly relaxed. "Okay... okay, I might have overreacted a little..."

"No worries, it's hot! As long as you don't have to go to the doctor for burns, it's just fine."

Pearl snickered. "Like you did when you burned your nose on the cocoa when you were eight?"

Penny glanced at her. "Pearl, no, don't embarrass him."

Pearl snickered some more, and then frowned when she noticed Silver pouting at her. "Oh, don't pout like that! Mom said you'd get an underbite if you kept up that pouting!"

Coco finished her drink, and sighed happily. She put the mug back on the table. "Wow... that was delicious! I'm happy I had it! You're a good cocoa maker, Silver Shill."

Silver blushed in response to that. "Oh, you know, my Pop's got a way of teaching..." He sighed and looked away for a moment, wondering what his father would think. Probably pat him on the head and call him "champ" for how smoothly things were going so far. After all, he was talking to a girl! That wasn't his mother... or any of his sisters... or Grandma.

Winter Mist stared at him with a dull look. "So, are we supposed to pay for the cocoa, or what?"

Silver's face broke into a frown, and in a panic, he grabbed the mug, thrust it in Coco's face, and said, "Throw it back up! You were supposed to pay three bits first!"

Penny, Pearl, and Winter all facehoofed, Goldie burst into laughter, and Coco just stared at the mug in confusion. Silver's already pink face flushed to red, and he wanted to buck himself in the face for saying something so stupid. He briefly glanced at the guffawing Goldie rolling around in the snow, and he looked up at other ponies who were now staring.

With a groan, Winter Mist shoved a hoof into her coat pocket, and set three bits on the table. "She already drank it, so I might as well pay for it. I gotta be a gracious host to her after all."

Silver silently dragged the bits across the table, pulling out the money box from under the table like a drawer and pushing the coins in. "Thank you."

Winter Mist shook her head, and then turned around. She grabbed Coco, and said, "Let's go, we've got other things to do."

Coco smiled back at Silver and waved goodbye to him.

Silver waved back with a forced grin. Once out of sight, he pulled his hat over his face, and muttered, "That was embarrassing. I can't believe I just told her to puke."

Goldie hopped back up, still laughing. "Yeah! Hee hee, what if she had done it?"

Pearl cringed. "That'd be disgusting!"

"If we did have peppermint, she might as well have thrown up," Penny stated. She walked out of the space, took Goldie's hoof, and said, "Now, I'm going to take Pearl and Goldie around so that they can do some activities. Can you handle the stand on your own?"

Silver took his hat off, and then fit it back onto his head. Waving a hoof, he said, "Easy peasy lemon squeezy!"

Goldie raised an eyebrow. "You're selling cocoa, not lemonade."

Pearl sighed as she walked to Goldie's other side. "It's an expression, Goldie."

Penny gave her a stare of slight annoyance. Then she looked down at Goldie and said with a ghost of a smile, "So, are you ready to have some festival fun?"

Goldie bounced up and down. "Yes, yes, yes! I've been waiting forever!"

"Then let's go." And with that, Penny started to lead her sisters to the puppet show.

Goldie turned and waved to Silver. "Bye-bye, Silver! We'll bring you some candy canes to mix in some cocoa!"

Silver waved back, and then slumped in his seat with a sigh. Here he was, all alone at this stand, watching all the other ponies have their winter fun. It was just him, some heating water and milk, and a bunch of ingredients under the table. And those three bits he already earned. Yep, the stallion of the house was selling hot cocoa at the festival, while the rest of the family was going around and having some fun.

Indeed, it was the stallion of the house. But instead of the strong and proud Noble Metal, it was his short and awkward son Silver Shill.

It didn't feel right for him to be sitting here. His Pop had been the big and friendly one, bearing lots of personality and wit, and making ponies laugh with a good joke. He was a stallion clearly proud to call his wife beautiful in all her roundness; all of his daughters sweet, even when they were clearly deadpan, fussy, and loud respectively; and his only son to him was a champ. Even though Silver was clearly a loser at school.

He wished his Pop was here, helping him ease into this cocoa stand thing he was doing. If he was, then Silver wouldn't have just asked that pretty filly to vomit out her recently drank hot cocoa, all because he forgot to have her pay first. Noble wouldn't have made that mistake.

He took a deep breath, and looked ahead at the festival. A couple of ponies were heading his way, and there was no turning back. They clearly wanted some cocoa, and he's going to give it to them. It was his family's tradition, after all.

Who knows, maybe he wouldn't be nervous enough to mess up this time.

Comments

[Drifting Heart]

I love your OCs they have heart and good characterization.

[Jordan179]

I've said things as awkward to girls I liked, when I was that young.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Poor Silver. Cuteness-induced logorrhea is a terrible affliction.

I'm loving this so far. Definitely looking forward to more.

[BlueSkies1989]

Cannot wait to read this soon!

[Princess rosa]

Aww silver is so shy that is so cute.

[howard035]

Great adorable awkward interaction between Silver and Coco. I like that it seems like Winter is not a total jerk, and seems to be warming up to Silver and his family. The responsible older siblings are also written well.

[PumpkinPie59]

Coco shook her head. "Oh, no, it doesn't agree with my stomach."

Trivia: Peppermint is the last thing that could harm your stomach. It has special properties that actually helps your stomach, digestive or otherwise. It’s saved my life three times since I started having stomach cramps due to digestion issues.

[Sketcha-Holic]

9122192
I did not know that.

Still, even if rare, peppermint allergies do exist.

[Godslittleprincess]

Needs more CocoShill, but let's see what the next chapter's got.