This month, the theme is coffee shops. I know this can mean a cafe or casual restaurant or some such thing, but for the following piece I went with a take on the popular sort of commercial coffeehouse as the setting.
This story is told from the point of view of my OC Arcana. I'd direct you to her profile, but I haven't applied for her quite yet. It also features an OC of mine already accepted for the RP, Dazzle Dawn. These two are the primary characters in my fanfic, My Little Pony: Darkness and Dawn.
Now then, enough introduction. Let's get started.
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Coffee Black
A heavy yawn escaped a certain mare wearing a black pointed hat as she strolled perhaps too slowly through the streets of Canterlot one night. Luna's moon shone brilliantly high above, half full. The pink pelted pony had always preferred the night time; she found she could sympathize with the night's guardian princess with relative ease. However on that particular night, Arcana was just tired. The weariness of life had caught up to her; as it were, she could barely stay standing.
Gradually her languid saunter propelled her in the direction of a local coffee shop called Star Buckers. The sign in the window proudly displayed the fact that they were "open late". Desperate for energy, Arcana gently kicked open the door with her hoof and stepped inside. She moved steadily toward the barista, an eager looking colt, and nodded.
"What are you havin' today, ma'am?" the colt started in a mild voice, smiling at her.
"Coffee," said Arcana groggily.
"Well yeah..." said the colt, laughing a little. "Generally you gotta be a little more specific at a place like this.... How exactly do you want it?"
"Just plain black," said Arcana shaking her head. "And whatever your default size is."
"Anything else with that, ma'am?" asked the colt politely, nodding toward the little cakes and snacks the shop also served.
"No. That's all," the mare said, shaking her head softly.
"Got it! Just a sec!" the colt started. He trotted back to make Arcana's coffee. In a few moments, a steaming hot cup of black coffee was placed before Arcana. The aroma was intense. "That'll be 12 bits..."
Arcana grumbled. What an exorbitant price... She really needed this caffeine though. Making the trek to another shop just wouldn't be worth the energy either. "Fine..." With some regret, she retrieved the bits from her saddlebag and handed them over. As the colt worked his register, she used her magic to grab her coffee and take it to a small table nearby.
She gave a depressed sigh as she took a sip. It was bitter. Somehow that satisfied her. It suited her. She was bitter too. Her pelt was a dark pink, but inside she was as black as this coffee. Life hadn't been kind to her, not since the nightmares started. Nopony understood. Her whole life she had been blamed and ridiculed. She had reason to be bitter. While everypony else seemed to readily have a smile available to them, all Arcana could do was frown.
The pink pony took another sip of her hot beverage as she sunk further into the darkness of her mind. This city was worst of all. Arcana wondered what went through the mind of Princess Celestia as she sat comfortably perched in her cute little castle, looking down on it all. Was she blind to those who were suffering, or was she simply apathetic? Perhaps she was neither of those things. Perhaps she was afraid. Afraid that people like Arcana, people who were dissatisfied with the system would someday acquire power and challenge her.
Arcana would do anything for that kind of power. She was a magical genius as it were, but it just wasn't enough. That's why she had come to Canterlot in the first place. The university was her place to learn more and more about magic and its applications. Yet she had grown dissatisfied with even that in time. Canterlot University had thus far taught her nothing she hadn't read somewhere in a research volume as a filly. It was all the same material, rehashed again and again until it lost all meaning. All it provided her was a downright exhausting expanse of pointless busy work to mull through until tedium each night.
That's why she was there trying to reenergize her body that night. She had a massive report due in Historical Magic Theory the next day looking her in the face, half written and mocking her. What was the point of it all? This wasn't getting her anything but further disgruntled. She was sick of it all. Black, bitter and growing colder by the second as it was slowly consumed: this coffee really did suit her.
"What a coincidence! I didn't know you were a fan of Star Buckers too, Arc!" a voice suddenly entered Arcana's ears from nearby, shaking her from her ruminations. She looked toward it even though she didn't have to. She knew this voice instantly. It was the voice of Dazzle Dawn, a green maned unicorn classmate of Arcana and the closest thing she had to a friend.
"Dazzle? What are you--!" Arcana started. She stopped when she saw the ridiculous thing the other was carrying. It was a giant glass filled with frothy cream, whipped topping, shaved chocolate, gooey chocolate syrup and who knows what else atop what looked like maybe a little coffee.
"Yeah, Arc?" Dazzle spoke as she sat at the table and began to drink her alien beverage through a thick straw.
"What is that?" Arcana asked, blinking several times in succession as she stared at the strange concoction.
"Oh, this is just how I like my coffee here," said Dazzle, smiling a cheerful smile. "It's really good this way!"
"Can you even call it coffee anymore?" Arcana started rolling her eyes.
"I don't see why not!" said Dazzle insistently. "It's just yummier."
Arcana laughed. The slightest inkling of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. Shaking her head, she spoke. "So did you finish that report we have due in class tomorrow?"
"Oh, that?" Dazzle spoke, taking a second to think about it. "Yup. I finished last week!"
"Really? That's surprises me," Arcana said, giving an amused chuckle at the other unicorn's expense.
"It's a student's duty to remain diligent in her studies, Arc! If we don't work hard we won't have time for all the fun stuff!" Dazzle brightly replied.
"You never cease to amaze me, Dazzle," said Arcana through a low sigh.
"You're the amazing one, Arc! Your grades are always so much better than mine," Dazzle started, shaking her head.
"Me, amazing? If only..." Arcana commented dryly as she began to sip some more at her coffee. Dazzle began to stare at the cup.
"Oh? So what did you order," Dazzle started as she peered closer at her friend's drink. She frowned as she looked at the deep black color. "It looks so sad..." she muttered.
"It's fine this way," said Arcana. "Black coffee suits me best."
"That's no good!" Dazzle insisted. Without warning, the cheerful unicorn then used her magic and a spoon to add some of the excess cream from her own drink into Arcana's. "You always loved sweet things when we were younger! I think this suits you much better..."
Arcana was shocked at the bold move. She watched quietly as the sweet white fluid dissolved in that pool of black, turning it to a rich yet still dark brown. Slowly she took a sip. With just that little added sweetness, the bitterness was much less pronounced.
"See! Isn't that better?" Dazzle asked, smiling.
"It's good," said Arcana simply. It was true. It was different, but it tasted good. Arcana had to say it was indeed better. That little drop of bright sweetness had gone a long way to temper and enrich the taste. Arcana began to drink the rest quickly.
Dazzle giggled as she began to continue downing her own sugary, coffee-based monstrosity. "Next time you got to order it like me!"
"One step at a time, Dazz..." Arcana said with a nervous laugh. She smiled more fully and looked down into the cup. Maybe this coffee suited her too?
Maybe...
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