Foals are Decent Company (ScratchThat) [Dead]

[Zazzy]

Coffea Arabica stirred her mug of coffee absent mindedly with a silver spoon, watching the liquid slosh around the cup gently, lapping the cutlery with it's dark waves. She silently inhaled it's comforting aroma. The pegasus was aware that she herself had a slight scent of coffee, no wonder, as she couldn't get her hooves off the stuff. Her hooves were wrapped firmly around her cup whilst she stared into the coffee, before shaking her head as if shaking the distractions away and looked up. Coffea tssked irritably as she got up from her chair to pull down her curtains. It was only evening, but she liked her privacy. The sign on her café door already read 'closed' as she had flipped over the sign when welcoming her company into the half house, half café.

Speaking of company... Coffea's eyes flickered towards the filly that she had sat opposite her on marble kitchen table - the kitchen table she ate on, not the ones her customers used. She didn't normally have foals of Shawnie's, the filly's name, age as friends. Friends. The pegasus and the earth pony youngster were well past acquaintances now, seeing as she had been welcomed into Coffea's house, not as a customer but as a guest.

She broke the small silence that had set between the two of them, figuring as the older pony she had the right to do it. Coffea left her untouched mug of coffee on the table, instinct and selflessness taking charge; "Would you like to have anything to drink or eat, Shawnie?" She asked pleasantly, "A cup of hot chocolate and biscuits?" The pegasus ignored the fact that, actually, they had already drank some hot cocoa from a stall in the market place. She instead busied herself with breaking open a chocolate chip cookie packet, sliding it across the kitchen table to Shawnie, before then pouring out a warm mug of hot cocoa.

Coffea slid back into her seat, offering the newly made mug of cocoa to the filly. Her first priority now gone, her mind was settled on a kestrel she had reluctantly rescued. She felt no regret for helping the bird out, but she disliked animals and had already decided that she would set him free as soon as possible. He was perched on the stump of her wooden paper holder; Coffea had taken the roll of paper off, having the sense to know that almost all birds liked wood.

"Do you know how to heal broken wings?" The pegasus asked suddenly, then shut her mouth. It was preposterous - a nine year old filly knowing how to heal wings! At least Shawnie wouldn't think of her as a mare who didn't care about the kestrel, as Coffea had begin to think that she was giving off that impression. Of course she cared about the injured bird, who didn't? It was just that she didn't want to get too close, because her deep fear of animals still stood adamantly in her path.  

[ScratchThat]

Shawnie, after having come to Coffea's house, had soon decided to head home and discreetly ditch her handmade sign and other assorted items for the lemonade stand. Having arrived back only a few mere minutes ago, the filly - who was seated rather comfortably across from Coffea on the posh marble table - was already restless. This was happening quite often to Shawnie now, although it seemed she'd only just realised. Nonetheless, she sat upright and to attention, trying to appear as polite and mature as a filly of her age could muster. Which, for someone like Shawnie, wasn't the hardest thing ever.

At the mention of hot cocoa and biscuits, her ears pricked and her eyes seemed to hint at mild interest. Well, okay, more than just mild. Nodding eagerly, she hastily replied, "Cocoa and biscuits sounds great, thanks!" Almost to second this, her stomach growled quite loudly, causing Shawnie to raise a brow. Seemingly she hadn't realised how hungry she was! Thirst wasn't really an issue, as she'd drank a glass of lemonade earlier and some hot cocoa already, but she wasn't about to be impolite and turn the offer down.

Smiling widely, she took a biscuit from the packet, munching around the edges slowly. Once she was satisfied that poison wasn't an ingredient in the cookies, she practically stuffed it down her throat, swallowing a few seconds after. Now, cookies aren't the most filling things, so of course she took another quickly afterwards, but instead of eating this one immediately, she waited for her mug of hot cocoa, and instead dipped the biscuit into the drink. Licking her lips, she took a bite and more chewing noises were heard, before she swallowed once more. "This is great," she mused, dipping it in again and devouring the last of the cookie. Sure, she could still afford to eat, like, ten more, but she wasn't going to.

When the silence returned once more, Shawnie started sipping her drink, setting it down on the table after each one. Her eyes were on Coffea, as she was interested in what the pegasus may be thinking about. Following the older mare's gaze, she soon found out. Her eyes came to rest on the beautiful kestrel, who was perched just above them. He tilted his head to one side, maybe a little confused about the attention he was receiving, but all in all he looked pretty comfy up there.

Shawnie blinked when Coffea asked her question, but she didn't find it odd in the slightest, unlike Coffea herself. "Well, I'm no vet, but I'm pretty sure all broken things need a sling of some sort, right? Or a bandage? Like, I think you straighten the broken area out first, put a cast on to keep it in place, then just wait for the bones to, uh, glue back together?" The filly shrugged, before adding, "I think all that's meant to be done when he's asleep, though. I dunno or anything, but it sounds kinda painful." Shawnie had never broken a bone before, but her mother had broken her wrist when she was younger, and had told Shawnie in the past how the doctor had fixed it.

The difficulty of the task seemed to appeal to the filly, however, so she quickly spoke up. "So, what are we gonna use as a cast, then?" She asked Coffea, looking up to the older mare expectantly. Shawnie, not finding anything weird about trying to heal a broken bone with no medical education, had actually taken Coffea's question quite seriously, and her face showed this.

[Zazzy]

Coffea wrapped her hoof tightly around her mug of coffee, flinching a little as the heat rushed into her skin, but not withdrawing it so as to not appear over dramatic. She relaxed her hoof a little, though, not wanting to get a coffee burn - they were certainly common in her household - and carefully lifted the cup to her mouth, gingerly sipping the dark brown liquid. It warmed her tongue as it filled her mouth, and she set the mug down without it clattering or spilling on her marble table. Coffea knew that in her haste she had made the coffee a little too hot for her tastes, by her pulsing tongue, but she relished the heat. The sun outside was setting rapidly and she was a little concerned if Shawnie could make it home without supervision, but the temperature outside had taken a sudden chill in contrast to the burning sun that afternoon. Coffea took a look at the clock hanging on her wall - it wasn't that late, so she decided contentedly that she needn't worry about Shawnie's route home yet.

She was a little worried about the filly, though. She wished she had her mother's phone number, house address, anything to make her satisfied, and even though Shawnie seemed an incredibly mature foal for her age, Coffea couldn't help but worry a little.

Hearing Shawnie's stomach growl in hunger, the pegasus couldn't help but smile. Being in a café, she had never been really hungry; or maybe it was the fact that she was used to not eating that much and simply couldn't ever remember being hungry. Coffea watched the filly stuff a biscuit into her mouth and raised her eyebrows but didn't do anything else. She didn't want to make Shawnie uncomfortable by commenting on her atrocious table manners, plus, she was only a nine year old and as far as Coffea could remember, nine year olds weren't really aware of their table manners. She herself had always had impeccable habits and had kept them into adult hood.

Noticing that her acquaintance had only eaten two biscuits, which Coffea took to be politeness on Shawnie's part by not devouring her biscuit packet, wrappers and whole, she nudged it forward to the filly, "Eat as much as you want. I have loads of packets in my cupboard," As an after thought, the pegasus added to make the young earth pony a little more tempted, "I don't even like them." Satisfied that she had reassured Shawnie to fill herself as much as she liked, she pointedly averted her gaze from the kestrel, suddenly thinking how disgusting it was to keep a bird, an uncleared bird, in a kitchen.

Honestly, Coffea didn't know why Shawnie wanted to draw the kestrel. She couldn't see anything in him, her eyes only on his broken limb. Or maybe it was just because she refused to bring herself to like the bird. Coffea mentally reprimanded herself for judging one because of their species, but she did it with a tone of imaginary laziness. The pegasus was an honest pony and she was also honest with herself; however much time she would spend with this new bird would make her feel more and more wary and needlessly judging of it. 

[/span]Perking her ears in poorly subdued interest, she listened carefully as Shawnie directed her with inexperienced seriousness. Coffea's face was nonchalant, but on the inside, she was secretly a little amused by the filly's interest and seriousness towards the subject. Maybe she was being a hypocrite, as the pegasus didn't have any medical experience either, but she hid her smile nevertheless so as to not make Shawnie back off from the small yet mutual building of trust they had formed, "As detailed as your explanation is, I'd probably get sued for animal abuse if I do something wrong," Coffea explained thoughtfully, rubbing her muzzle as she singled out the pros and cons of Shawnie's idea, "It would be easier to do as you say, but I think calling a vet would be better."

She scratched her chin, trying to remember if there were any local vets in Ponyville. Certainty there were - what sort of town didn't have a vet? - but as social as Coffea was, she hadn't ever met a vet before. She sighed, feeling a little put down that she knew pretty much everything about Ponyville, the days the spas opened, every nook or cranny of the place, but she didn't know where a vet lived.

[ScratchThat]

Stealing glances at the biscuit packet seemed like a more polite alternative to actually taking one, Shawnie decided. After all, if Coffea noticed, then she may just offer more! Slurping some more hot cocoa up, she left a little at the bottom on the off chance that she may get offered another cookie. A broad smile stretching across her face when her plan succeeded, she nodded her head happily and took another cookie, her ears still perked so that Coffea would have no doubt that she was still listening whilst eating. Dabbing it into the now only lukewarm drink, she munched on it, the taste of chocolate on her tongue. This time, however, she left half of the cookie, setting it down on the table beside her mug. Y'know, just in case she got hungry again. I mean, four cookies was a bit of a stretch, right?

"Thank you." Shawnie smirked a little, licking her chops in a satisfied manner. Her gaze then diverted back towards the kestrel, who attempted to spread his wings, before finding that his injured one just wouldn't cooperate with him. Looking down at it, Shawnie couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the creature, who looked so out-of-place and distressed here. All in one day - or at least she presumed one day - he'd broken his wing, been dragged out of his natural environment, and had to put up with being carried about by ponies. He could think we wanted to eat him! This thought caused an unexplained chuckle to escape the filly's lips, and it also made the kestrel turn to look at her. He regarded her with a confused look in his eyes.

Blinking suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts when Coffea spoke once more, and Shawnie gazed over at the mare, her face blank as she tried to catch on to what her friend was saying. What she heard upset her a little, but she told herself that it was for the best. Shawnie would hate to hurt the kestrel.

Sighing a little but not letting her disheartened feelings show, she nodded. "You're right, I guess." This was quite an out-of-character comment for Shawnie, but it was soon justified by what she said next. "I'd probably put the cast on the wrong wing or something, and then when I'd try and take it off, I'd break his other wing by mistake." Almost like the kestrel understood, he flapped his one good wing a couple of times, causing a small smile of amusement to break out across Shawnie's cheeks.

Right. Now, enough jokes. Time to think. "So... which vet should we go to? I think there's one in the centre of town..." Pausing for a moment, she visualised a map in her head, before then going on to explain, "Like, you go to the main square, then you turn off some side street or something..." The filly shrugged. Wasn't the best explanation ever, but she did know where a vet was! To answer any doubts Coffea might have, she added, "I'd recognise it if I saw it."

[Zazzy]

Coffea took another sip of her coffee. It's fiery temperature had died down to a withstand able warmth - perfect, in her opinion. She set it down carefully on the marble table, making sure not to spill any liquid. The pegasus yawned and stretched her wings, before settling down and replying to Shawnie's words with a simple; "You're welcome." She looked back at the kestrel with poorly suppressed interest. Despite her wariness for the creature, Coffea was honestly quite curious about the kestrel. Questions such as 'How did he break his wing?' and 'Where is he from?' were running through her head, although she didn't show it. The pegasus hadn't shared this piece of information with Shawnie, but she was pretty sure that the injured bird was definitely a male. Coffea didn't know how; she just reckoned it was one, and even though she didn't like making assumptions, was quite adamant that he was not a female.

"Hmm?" She looked quizzically at Shawnie, wondering what her chuckle was for. Was the filly laughing at the elder pony? Or was she simply chuckling because of something she was thinking of? Coffea decided that it must be the latter, mostly coming to this rather biased conclusion out of her pride. The pegasus sighed and sipped her coffee again. She was regretting her decision of taking the kestrel home. It was a reckless risk she had taken - kestrels were bird of pray, after all, and surely, a more experienced veteran would have taken care of the matter, would they not have? He could have seriously injured them both, although that was slightly laughable due to his current state, but Coffea knew that she would have to watch out when he recovered.

Having not broken a wing before, she didn't know how long it would take to mend again without medical supervision. If she managed to get in contact with a vet, they'd take the kestrel to their job place. As much as Coffea disliked the bird, she didn't have any pony over when her café closed for the day, and she knew that although the kestrel didn't speak or necessarily interact with her, he wouldn't have been bad company. 

Her hazel eyes drifted over to her other pony - or animal, in the kestrel's case - of company. Shawnie was looking slightly upset at Coffea's words. She sighed again, sipping her mug of coffee. Maybe she had let the filly down a little too hard, but oh well. What else could she have done? Risked making the kestrel's status even worse? She had no love for the bird, but she didn't want to break his other wing. 

Hearing Shawnie's following words, her eyes widened in alarm. Were all fillies that dangerous? Coffea coughed into her hoof, secretly glad upon turning down the foal's offer, as disappointed as she had made her. Heck, the pegasus had expected either one of them to screw up, but not that badly. And how could one put a cast on the wrong limb? Was she exaggerating or...? Coffea blinked. In that one motion, she focused herself and answered, slightly peeved that the kestrel was obviously paying more attention to the conversation that she herself was doing; "Oh?" was all she said, her small smile the only sign of amusement. 

Coffea chuckled, feeling more reassured and steady as the fact that some pony else didn't know a vet was revealed. She closed her eyes, breathing in the warm aroma of her mug of coffee and feeling the warm steam settle over her face. She cracked open an eye and looked at the clock. It was way too late to go vet hunting in Ponyville. The pegasus drank the last droplets of her coffee and after finishing the liquid, set the cup down, "I think it's too late to go looking for vets, really."

The mare looked down and let the edge of her hoof skim across the marble table, tracing out the outline of some unidentifiable drawing. Coffea abruptly stopped, looking up in embarrassment and realising how foalish she was looking right then. In front of Shawnie, as well! For some reason, Shawnie made her feel a lot more immature than she actually was. Her cheeks reddened. She was sure that the filly would never be doing that, as obvious as her love for drawing and painting was.

[ScratchThat]

One of Shawnie's eyebrows raised quizzically when she noted the look of shock on Coffea's face following her joke. Surely the older mare hadn't thought she was serious? Well... Coffea certainly seemed to be saying otherwise. Glancing over at the kestrel once more, he tilted his head at the pair of ponies beneath him, still obviously confused. Her mouth slightly ajar, the slow realisation that she'd love to sketch the bird in that pose ran through her mind, but in the blink of an eye, the kestrel had straightened up once more, now not even regarding them.

Gritting her teeth, she looked down at the table, her eyes being hit by a gust of warm steam, making her blink a little and glance away. When her eyes no longer felt like active volcanoes, the filly picked up her mug and raised it to her mouth, sipping the drink gently until it was all gone. Once it was, she set it down again, this time picking up her biscuit and too finishing off that.

That was when Coffea spoke. Ears pricking, she tilted her head lightly at the mare's strange behaviour - she appeared to be drawing on the table? - but didn't give it much thought. "Too late?" The filly echoed, her head swinging round so she was facing a window. Outside, it was pretty darn dark by now. Flicking an eyelid, she turned back to Coffea. "What time is it?" She asked suddenly, feeling a little stupid after she asked. It wasn't like she wanted to go home or anything. But, even her mother - who seemingly cared about little regarding her daughter - may start wondering where the peculiar little filly was. Chuckling a little again, she thought that her mother may find it even more peculiar that all the stuff for the stall was there, but not Shawnie herself.

After some more thought, the filly said halfheartedly, "I may have to go soon." She used the word 'may' in the hopes that Coffea would say otherwise, or else come up with a really good excuse for her to stay. Once more diverting her gaze out the window, she wondered if Coffea would bother to walk her home, or if she'd be a little more like her mother, who so often had just flailed her hoof and ushered Shawnie out of the door when busy. Biting her lip, Shawnie really hoped it wouldn't be the latter. One mum was enough.

[Zazzy]

Coffea raised her eyebrows questionably as she observed Shawnie gritting her teeth, idly wondering what had made the filly so frustrated. She was also looking at the kestrel and felt a jolt of annoyance as the bird over looked them as if the duo, as strange and unideal as they were, automatically thinking that the creature was regarding itself as a higher animal than herself and Shawnie. Of course, Coffea was being a hypocrite by saying that, but she could afford to go down to such hypocritical behaviour as she actually recognised that trait.

The thought that the kestrel could be hungry suddenly struck her. It had passed her mind a few times but she had dismissed the matter by getting distracted with her new guest. But what did kestrels like to eat? Worms, insects, rats, no doubt. Coffea looked around, half expecting to find a mouse scamper across the floor, but there weren't any - of course. Mice didn't live in her house, but she vaguely remembered her father mentioning a few earth worms in her garden when he had come over on a particularly rainy day.

She hadn't gone out to her back garden all that much from that day.

Kestrels ate earth worms, Coffea knew that much. Why they ate worms was a mystery to her, but she knew that if the bird was hungry, it was her place as the temporary owner to give it food or she would be marked as a pony who enjoy red abusing animals. But then, on the other hoof, Coffea had no idea on which part of the garden earth worms lived, how to draw them out and how to even pick them up. She didn't venture towards Shawnie for some help, seeing no reason why the filly should know more than herself, and brooded on the subject, completely missing her guest's question about the time.

"Mmm," was all the pegasus said upon hearing the filly's voice. Coffea, realising how rude she was sounding, swiftly shook her mane and sat up straighter. All that Shawnie was doing was chuckling then, whether she was laughing at herself or Coffea was unknown, and the latter pony decided not to press the subject and instead focused on her mistake. Her social mistake, "Pardon me?" She said sheepishly, hoping her apologetic tone would help the two words come off as an actual apology and not an excuse.

Relieved to be able to catch the filly's words this time, Coffea stretched her wings and looked at the clock on the wall above the sink again, "I'll come with you, then," she said casually, knowing that leaving a filly to walk in the darkness was not a good idea. Ponyville was a good place with hardly any 'bad' ponies walking around, but she wanted to go just in case. Besides, Coffea would have to get Shawnie's mother's details, if her daughter wanted to come around to hers again.

Coffea looked at the biscuit packet. She could tell that Shawnie wanted to devour the whole packet and that only politeness was holding her back. With a hoof, she pushed it towards the filly. Honestly, Coffea didn't even like the biscuits. She was happy to see them go, "No, seriously, eat them all." The pegasus withdrew her hoof, observing Shawnie. If the filly were to come over again, she wanted to know what she liked to eat and how much she liked to eat. There was no good getting her guest, or any guest for that matter, some food, but they ended up not liking it, right? Coffea studied the table abruptly, realising that staring so intently was a little...rude. Her eyes only flickered up to Shawnie a few times, but she did it do inconspicuously she doubted the filly would be able to spot it. 

[ScratchThat]

Coffea was certainly being rather unresponsive right now. Tilting her head quizzically, Shawnie gazed over at Coffea, following the mare's gaze as her eyes went from the kestrel to the garden. Perhaps she was considering how to get rid of the bird when the time came? But, surely the vet would handle that? Deciding not to get so caught up in thought, the filly abruptly came to the conclusion that she'd been spending more time thinking about the bird that about her new friend. Smiling sheepishly now, she blinked when Coffea spoke once more, her head spinning round to face the mare.

Rather confused by now, this clearly showed on the filly's face as Coffea tried to get Shawnie to repeat herself. Has she gone mental or something?, the filly thought to herself, finding it odd that the seemingly attentive Coffea was missing what she was saying. "Guess that's what happens when ponies get older..." Shawnie mumbled quietly under her breath, although she totally didn't mean to say it aloud, and the realisation struck her quickly afterwards. Oops! Coughing suddenly in an effort to cover it up, she really hoped Coffea hadn't heard her assumption, as it was a fairly rude thing to say to somepony's face.

Stopping when Coffea spoke again, Shawnie began to protest, figuring before the words had even escaped Coffea's lips that she was about to send her home alone. "Can't I stay a little lo--" The filly cut herself off, her eyes growing wide when she actually heard what Coffea had said. "You'll come!" She exclaimed, before her expression changed completely. This one looked a little more awkward. "I mean, thanks." She said casually, the words slurring slightly, hinting at the filly's tiredness.

About to get up, this motion quickly changed into one of desperately trying to sit back down again when the older mare mentioned biscuits. Biscuits. A wide smile spread across the filly's cheeks as she bowed her head slightly in thanks. "Thanks again, Coffea," she proclaimed happily, reaching over and taking out three cookies.

However mature Shawnie Spence may seem, when it came to devouring food, she was especially childish. One could have a lot of fun with a whole packet of cookies, and she certainly wasn't going to waste this chance to feel younger than she usually felt. Munching around one of the cookies and making it into a smaller circle, she placed it atop another. They were cookies no longer. Now, they were a working spaceship! A UFO! With aliens! And alien-type stuff! Smiling deviously, she set the remaining cookie on top of the packet, balancing it perfectly on its side. This cookie was no spaceship; but it was a planet! Grinning, she shuffled the packet over and outstretched her hooves, so that the planet was in the way of her aliens means of transport. Making some rather odd sounding alien squeals and engine noises, the spaceship thusly crashed into the planet, knocking it square into the filly's mouth. Many crunching and munching sounds ensued. "Mhmm!" Shawnie hummed, clearly satisfied, before then shoving the UFO into her mouth, too. Those aliens had it coming anyway for trying to get domination over the entire galaxy. I mean, c'mon, talk about unrealistic.

When this strange display of fillyish behaviour was over, she pushed the packet back over to Coffea, swallowing the cookies. "They're good, but I'm not so hungry anymore." The filly was now completely mature and casual sounding once more, her lips not even forming a smile. Her tail was wagging like a dog, however, so I suppose one could believe she was happy? Who knows! Slumping down in her seat, she didn't seem so fussed about leaving anymore. Gah. She felt stuffed. You can't move when you're stuffed!

[Zazzy]

Coffea looked up, a little bemused upon hearing Shawnie exclaim. She was walking her home - how was that so exciting? Wouldn't all sensible ponies walk a tired filly back home in the night? It was nearly pitch black. Only ponies with either no common sense at all or serious problems wouldn't do that. Surely, Shawnie's mother walked with her daughter to places in the night? Coffea had found it a little odd that Shawnie had gone out and set up a Lemonade Stall by herself with no assistance, adult or otherwise, but she had passed it off with only a raised eyebrow, thinking that this had happened because of Shawnie's obviously independent nature. The pegasus shuffled her wings, feeling a little uncomfortable about having such dark thoughts about a pony who had given birth to one of her friends. Yes, friends. Shawnie might have been a young filly, not even having reached her double digits yet, but she was a friend nonetheless.

Deciding that taking assumptions wasn't the best way to go about it, Coffea straightened her body posture and raised her eyebrows inquisitively, "Of course. Why wouldn't I?" she looked at the filly sitting opposite her curiously, hoping that her rather blunt words hadn't put up the defensive mood that she had seen previously when Shawnie and her had had a discussion at the lemonade stall.

Coffea yawned and stretched her wings. She had noted Shawnie's slurred words but hadn't commented on them, although she was personally concerned about keeping up a filly at such a late night. It wasn't a school night, thank goodness, so the pegasus didn't have to worry about getting any scoldings or dirty looks from Shawnie's mother. If Shawnie's mother even cared. Coffea shook those disturbing thoughts out of her head, feeling a little relieved that she hadn't said them out aloud. She didn't know how protective and loyal Shawnie was to those close to her, and she didn't particularly want to know, either, but the older mare didn't want to take any chances.

"Of course. Help your..." The creamy pegasus trailed off as she looked at Shawnie, who was making rather strange noises. What was she thinking of? Why would you even--? Coffea struggled to keep her mouth shut as she watched the filly carry on her weird noises, this time taking her cookie and pushing it around in the air, maneuvering it around so it looked like a flying biscuit. It maybe was a flying cookie, at least in Shawnie's eye. Coffea's left eye twitched. She didn't like bad table manners, and neither did she like it when fillies started randomly pretending their food could fly. She certainly hadn't done that as a youngster! What Shawnie was doing fit into both of those categories; her table manners were atrocious compared to Coffea's ones. Her eyes focused on the biscuit, carefully watching for any falling crumbs falling from it. As the food was pushed into Shawnie's mouth, the pegasus cringed, closing her eyes and trying to block out the horrible...chewing and scrunching sounds that were seeping into her ears. Where were they coming from? Shawnie's mouth, of course.

She cracked open an eye as the noises faded away, and Coffea knew she could relax once more. "...self." The mare finished, habit causing her to finish off her interrupted sentence, even though the space between the first part of it and the said one was quite long. Now that the rather...interesting display had been finished and ended with a messy flourish, Coffea could actually get her brain and mind to work properly again. It was darker than before. She'd have to get Shawnie home by now. Hopefully, she hadn't kept the filly's mother waiting too long.

Coffea stood up, unfolding and folding her wings to get the feathers of her wings facing the correct direction. She tucked in her chair without it scraping the spotless, tarnished floor, and trotted over to the door, stopping to wait for Shawnie. She saw the filly slumped in her chair, and raised an eyebrow, "Those chocolate chip cookies were so filling?" She commented, smiling and holding the door open, "Come on, you should go home, now. Your mother must be worried sick." Coffea shook her mane back and looked out of the kitchen window. It was getting darker every second. Hopefully, Shawnie would be able to remember the way home and they wouldn't be stuck out there for too long. She prayed to Celestia that they wouldn't get lost, but the pegasus figured that Shawnie was mature and intelligent enough to figure out the best route to take to her own home.

[ScratchThat]

Shawnie was visibly exhausted by now, the day's events clearing taking its toll on the young filly. Although her fur was a light grey hue, the bags under her eyes were still very much visible, and she yawned when trying to speak. "I dunno," she answered Coffea's first question rather bluntly, shrugging her shoulders; which was seemingly the only form of movement she could muster in her condition. "Ponies don't usually walk me anywhere, so I guess I was just a little surprised, is all." This obviously needed some explaining to go along with it, but it seemed that Shawnie wasn't going to give anything away.

Her eyes trailing back down towards the biscuit packet, Shawnie grimaced. Just looking at it now was making her feel sick, and her stomach gurgled noisily, voicing how full it was. The bad manners which she'd displayed earlier didn't mean anything to her, so she didn't comment on Coffea's delayed end to her sentence, and instead opted to look away from the food entirely, so as to keep the lightheaded feeling at bay.

As a silence ensued, Shawnie glanced out the window, her eyes growing wide for a moment in surprise by how dark it was. That'd all happened quite quickly, hadn't it? The filly was certain that only a few minutes prior she'd been staring out the window, able to make out almost everything in the garden! Now she could hardly see the outline of the nearest bush, however hard she squinted her dark purple eyes. And boy, did she try. Maybe now might be a good time to head home... However much this fact irritated Shawnie, she knew she couldn't keep her mother waiting much longer. Not because her mum would worry or anything. Nah, it was more that Shawnie's new friend and where she'd been that afternoon would take a decent amount of time to explain, and she was already growing tired. To prove this point, her eyelids started sliding downwards, concealing what was underneath. Fluttering them open once more, she turned to face Coffea, who was now starting to stand up.

Just for a moment, Shawnie's eyes locked onto Coffea's wings, eyeing them up. Man, having wings sure looked like fun. Twisting her neck to try and catch a glimpse of her own back proved difficult, but as she gazed blankly at her grey coat, she suddenly imagined feathery grey wings poking out of her back, tinted at the tops with pink and green, just like her mane. The thought almost made the filly hopeful, but she simply sighed, too getting up to access the situation.

"I guess they were quite filling." The filly commented, wiping the remaining crumbs away from her mouth with a hoof. Afterwards, she merely chuckled about the comment regarding her mother. "Worried sick?" She spat, an almost angered look rising to the filly's eyes, but the rest of her facial features didn't quite agree with this change. "Nah," she said blankly, the edge in her expression slowly fading away to one of disappointment. "But I guess you're right. I should get going now." Shawnie replied decisively, hopping off her chair and over to Coffea. "I know the route." She also added, tail swishing as she waited about for her friend to go to the door. Shawnie couldn't help but look slightly excited. They were venturing outside at night! What's not to be excited about?

[Zazzy]

Checking the time worriedly, Coffea shifted from hoof to hoof anxiously, wanting to get Shawnie home as soon as possible. She didn't like keeping such a young filly in a stranger's house - well, they weren't exactly strangers to each other, but the older pegasus and Shawnie's mother certainly were - and felt a little guilty, especially when she noticed Shawnie yawning. At that thought, Coffea herself had to lift a hoof up to stifle a yawn without grabbing too much attention; that was a trick that she had been taught as a young filly, for her family were extremely posh when it came to manners, even though they weren't particularly rich. That said, they weren't really poor either.

She threw a look out of the window again. Yes, it was quite dark, and probably quite cold as well. Coffea would have to serve her customers tomorrow; she didn't want to catch a cold and start sneezing germs all over their faces now, would she? The pegasus let go of the door - it was built in such a way that it would stay open unless there was a great gust of wind forcing it back or if some pony deliberately closed it - and walked out of the dining area where her customers sat and came into the corridor area. Coffea opened a barely concealed door and rummaged around until she found her scarf - a beautifully stitched checkered white and black one. She had initially bought it because it matched her tartan picnic blanket, but now she wore it whenever she could simply because it was pretty.

Trotting back into the kitchen with her black and white scarf held daintily in her mouth, Coffea once again took her position by the door, waiting for Shawnie. It was quite obvious that the filly was tired and full up, so there journey would most likely be slow and sluggish, much to her distaste, but Shawnie was her guest and Coffea had no right to decide on the way they walked. Whilst she waited for the younger pony, she threw on her scarf with her head lifted up high, and twisted her neck so it fell around it. Coffea tied the scarf with a simple knot so it lay at the top of her neck, just below her head, protecting her from the worst of getting a cold.

Because Shawnie was wearing both a leg warmer and a neckerchief, she had assumed that the filly wouldn't need a scarf, but Coffea knew how to treat guests; it was common courtsey. Besides, she was tired of assuming. All her assumptions had turned out to be wrong, so she knew that it wasn't right to make sure. Not only might she get a lecture from Shawnie's mother - however much the said foal claimed her to not do - but she'd also get berated for giving her daughter a cold! "Do you want a scarf? I have plenty that you could keep. It looks cold out there." Coffea fluttered her wings and adjusted her checkered scarf to emphasise her point. Fact aside that she could possibly get scolded, she didn't want her friend to get ill, even if she was just a filly and they barely knew each other. Besides, who would want another to get sick? Coffea herself had never done such, but she was too professional and, more importantly, busy to think about such things.

She flinched upon seeing the anger rise on Shawnie's face. She had always shied away from getting scolded, berated or shouted at. But, to Coffea's relief, that expression quickly dispersed. She made a note in her head to not venture out too far on the subject of the filly's mother. Their relationship was either distant or rocky, perhaps both, but she didn't know which. Coffea momentarily tried to guess which it was, but then made herself stop; what was happening between Shawnie and her mother was their business, not hers. She had no right to poke her nose into it, even if she was Shawnie's friend.

Smiling a little as she watched the young filly trot past, Coffea followed her to the front door. She was more nervous than excited, in contrast to Shawnie, as although she wasn't scared of it, she wasn't too big a fan of the dark. Especially ever since 'bad' things had been happening in Ponyville, but now that their was a new Princess that was residing in the area, Coffea doubted that nothing that serious would be happening.

The pegasus turned the key in the lock and, after hearing it click, opened the door and was hit full blast by a gust of cold wind. She shivered but withstood her position, getting used to the sudden change of temperature, when she turned around to Shawnie. "Ready to go?" Coffea asked, shivering uncontrollably, her teeth chattering. To think that with such a fine morning that day, it could get so cold! Hopefully, Shawnie's house wasn't too far away, and she could make it there without getting hypothermia. Maybe even get a hot drink before bidding her friend good bye and flying back to her house. Yes, flying; flying was altogether easier, well, at least it was for Coffea. She would be higher in the sky so she'd be a lot colder than she would be on the ground, but at least she could travel faster; plus, she didn't have a filly with her to slow down her progress even more. That was a worthy price to pay, and anyway, she could easily fly down to the ground for a little before venturing up again to pick up a little more warmth. 

[ScratchThat]

The excitement was short lived, as when Coffea trotted back into the room with a checkered scarf on, Shawnie presumed the obvious - it was cold outside. Darn. This assumption was furthered still when the older mare offered her a scarf, but the grey filly merely looked down at her neckerchief and ruffled her mane, shaking her head. "I think I'll be fine." She replied, trotting passed Coffea and into the hallway. It was true that the neckerchief and leg warmer weren't designed to keep someone warm, but they were well made nonetheless. To remind her of this, the plush fabric pressed against her fur, and she swished her tail, her excitement slowly starting to return.

But along with this excitement, she was also wary. Shawnie's mother wouldn't care about where her daughter'd been - that was for sure - but Shawnie'd never returned at night before, and this made her slightly worried. Especially because her mother - knowing her daughter's sarcasm - would probably think that this was all some huge joke. I mean, c'mon, she'd left all her things back at the house before sundown, but had then suddenly disappeared again? Although her mother wasn't particularly strict, sundown was usually when Shawnie was back by, and so her mother had proclaimed that it was when she should be home by. But this time, because the young filly hadn't thought her actions through, she couldn't come up with some clever excuse for not being home on time. Shaking her head quickly, she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Being Shawnie Spence, she never usually worried about things for too long. Everything would be okay in the end!

Blinking her eyes, she returned to the present, and shivered as the cool night air flowed steadily through the now open door. If Coffea kept it open any longer, the house would soon be freezing, and Shawnie didn't really want to be held responsible. "Yeah," she began. "Let's go!" The young earth pony said this quite optimistically, and happily cantered off through the door, disappearing as the shadows consumed her. Ah, at night Ponyville was much more peaceful, and although Shawnie was usually reassured by the presence of other ponies, the quietness meant that no pony was around who could judge you. Not that it bugged her too much, though, but it certainly meant that she had less idiots to deal with.

Realising that she was getting a little ahead of herself, she stopped in her tracks, hoping that Coffea would be able to make her out in the low light. Or the no light. Whichever. "Over here." She whispered, just loud enough that if her friend had decent hearing, she'd of heard. No reason to disturb the peace. No need.

Now, Shawnie totally knew her way around Ponyville, having lived in the place her whole life, but due to her mother's rule, she'd never ventured around too much at night, so she already knew that finding her way home was gonna be a task. Coffea's house was quite isolated, but she had the common sense to head down the round towards the lights, which signalled where Ponyville was. The filly was trotting along at a quick pace considering that she was tired, but being an earth pony, she had quite a lot of strength, both physically and mentally, so she had no problem powering down the gravel path, her hooves tapping on the ground.

Once she reached the end of the path, however, she waited for Coffea to catch up. If worst came to worst and Shawnie did get lost, it wouldn't help her situation if she'd also lost her friend, who could've directed her back to her own house. "It's quite dark, but I should be able to find my way back." She called out towards Coffea, sounding quite reassuring, even if what she was actually saying wasn't. Gasping suddenly, she recalled that she hadn't said goodbye to the kestrel, but then simply shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't like she was never gonna see him again.

[Zazzy]

As Coffea stepped out of the door, she suddenly remembered the kestrel. Would he be fine on his own? As swiftly as the question had appeared in her mind, it disappeared. Of course he'd be fine. He was a fully grown kestrel, a bird of prey, wasn't he? If Shawnie could look after herself with such ease, the kestrel could too. The kestrel. Coffea was a little tired of referring to the bird as 'the kestrel' now, but she knew giving him a name wasn't the right thing to do. 

All thoughts were ripped from her head as she saw Shawnie canter out of her vision. Panic immediately overwhelmed her, driven on by the responsibility as an adult to look after such a young filly, and, after hurriedly locking the door of her house - dear Celestia, even if there was a tornado, Coffea would never forget to lock the door - turned around to survey her surroundings. Or rather, try to survey her surroundings. She couldn't see anything in the pitch black darkness, to her utmost horror. 

Of course, that meant that Shawnie couldn't see that well either. Well, unless she was a bat or something, which she wasn't. Naturally. Coffea spun around on her hooves and trotted down the path that she had seen the filly go down. Shawnie couldn't have gone too far, right? The pegasus looked on expressionlessly, trying to keep herself calm. Halting near a lamp post, Coffea opened her mouth to call out to the filly, but stopped upon hearing a noise. Could that be-? Straining her ears, the pegasus furrowed her brow in concentration, and managed to pick up the noises - which, after all, turned out to be whispering. Shawnie's whispering, to be precise.

Which direction had the speech come from? Coffea hesitated and observed her surroundings, before coming to the sensible conclusion that Shawnie was somewhere in front of her. If she had accidentally trotted past, the filly would have had the common sense to appear, wouldn't she? The pegasus walked ahead, eyes scanning her surroundings, until she found Shawnie, who seemed to be trotting on ahead. Relief poured off her shoulders like a waterfall, and, with her face clear of any emotion, trotted after the filly, quickening her pace and slowing down accordingly once they were pretty close. Well, close enough so that Coffea wouldn't lose Shawnie again.

"I should have brought a flash light with me," She mused in answer to Shawnie's words. She looked up at the lamp posts, blowing a strand of her hair out of her face. They provided light, but they really weren't that useful. Instead, they seemed to give Ponyville an eerie feel, a word you wouldn't normally describe the city as. Shadows were jumping every where. Coffea looked at the moon. Previously, it was something she disliked, but now that the younger Princess had had a change of heart, she was no longer as wary of the night. Still, she preferred the day, but...

Coffea sighed and brought herself back to earth. What was she doing, day dreaming like that? She turned to Shawnie, having already unpicked out the fake reassurance in her words. Of course, the filly didn't know her way home. Not that Coffea couldn't blame her. She doubted that Shawnie had been out that often in the dark and was unsure of Ponyville when it wasn't so...lit up. The creamy coloured pony shuddered as a sudden gust of wind hit her, and she pulled her checkered scarf closer to her neck. She hated the cold. Why couldn't it be a nice sunny night? But then, it wouldn't exactly be night time if it were to be sunny.

She ran through a list of options of what they could do. Coffea fiddled with the ends of her scarf uncomfortably as she spoke, a little unsure of her decision. Hopefully, Shawnie had a better idea, but fillies rarely had better ideas than adults, "How about we make our way back to where your lemonade stall was?" Coffea suggested hesitantly, a little apprehensive of what comeback Shawnie would have to her idea. Her wings shifted slightly and she pulled them out to shield herself from another gust of wind, "That way, you should find it easier to get to your house," Coffea's voice was muffled, due to the fact that her muzzle was buried inside her scarf. Her teeth were chattering; she felt like an icicle! She didn't really know how Shawnie would be able to make her way home with naut but a leg warmer and neckerchief without being transformed into a pony - ice-cube hybrid, but she couldn't exactly force the filly to be wrapped up warm. Well, she could, but Coffea doubted that Shawnie would appreciate it, let alone even allow such to be done.

[ScratchThat]

Contrasting to Coffea's blind panic, Shawnie seemed completely at ease just making her way along the road in the dark - that and she had no idea that Coffea was panicking in the first place. Continuing to trot onwards once more when the older mare caught up, the filly noted that everything looked very, very different in the dark. For example, what she could pick out in the shadows were oddly - hey, maybe even eerily - coloured, and everything looked like it was either covered in mould or some sort of thick dust. Coffea especially, although Shawnie had the wits not to mention it. The usually cream coloured coat that adorned the mare - which Shawnie had grown to like - was now replaced by a mouldy green sort of shade, and it made the filly gag just looking at it. Well, at the very least, it wasn't blue. Blinking her purple eyes - which now looked almost black, fittingly - the filly wondered in horror whether she looked blue or not. Grey could easily turn that shade in the dark, right? And to double all that, it was probably a mouldy looking, mutant-like blue! That was nothing like the peaceful, light blue sky of the daytime; the only blue Shawnie could actually stand.

Resisting the urge to chuck up right there and then, the young earth pony flattened her ears to her head to keep them warm, shivering a little. Whilst this provided warmth for some time, when Coffea started speaking, Shawnie knew she couldn't listen in her current state, and so pricked them upwards again. Grunting a little in way of response to Coffea's comment about the flash light, the filly gripped her neckerchief, a little calmer now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but she was still cold. This was shown by some oddly timed shudders and shivers, but she desperately tried not to let this show. After all, her house was on the same side of town as Coffea's was, so she wouldn't need to be out here too much longer.

Although it was clear that she wasn't in the most talkative mood - would she even be able to get a word out? - when Coffea voiced a good idea, her eyes lit up in the darkness, and she nodded her head quickly. "G-good idea!" Shawnie praised it, however her voice was a little juttery. "My house is directly on route, so i-if we go there, we'll arrive at my house before we even reach the market place!" Shawnie happily announced, ready to charge off into the shadows once more, before stopping herself. Coffea might worry about her, and she wasn't a fan of the idea of leaving her new friend behind. After all, Shawnie didn't want to explain where she'd been to her mother alone.

Despite her wanting to stay close to Coffea, she decided to ask something anyway. "Can we g-go a little faster, though?" It'd been so nice during the day! Why was it suddenly freezing? "I mean, it's kinda cold, and I'm not a big fan of freezing. Could be your sort of thing, though." The filly said this undoubtably sarcastically, and a small smile appeared on her face in the low light. Darn, she never even meant to crack jokes. Shaking her head a little, her smile was quickly and seamlessly replaced by a determined look, and she clenched her teeth, starting to power forward at a quicker pace. Coffea would know to follow her lead this time, right?

[Zazzy]

Noticing the tremor in Shawnie's voice, Coffea mentally amended herself for not going faster. She didn't know if the trembling speech coming from the filly's voice was coming from fear or just because she was just cold, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn't something to be happy about. Not only that, but Coffea herself could feel herself getting colder as the temperature dipped, and she trotted on the spot, making a feeble attempt at getting warmth back into her body. Realising that it really wasn't doing anything except make her legs more tired, the creamy coloured pegasus tightened her scarf and patted her mane down with a hoof, feeling extremely thankful that she had long hair to protect herself. Shawnie, on the other hand, didn't have the leisure of having such long hair, but that, Coffea thought to herself, wasn't her fault, or even problem.

Either way, by just standing there, they were both going to freeze, so she reluctantly decided to pull out her muzzle - which was buried deep in her scarf - to talk to Shawnie, but before she could even open her mouth, the filly had started to talk to her. Coffea waited her out patiently, before replying with a simple, "Sure."

She didn't blame Shawnie for wanting to go faster, but the pegasus didn't really want to trot that fast, let alone canter. But she had to, right? If she didn't, Shawnie might think she was either fat or lazy - both of which she wasn't, or hoped she wasn't. Coffee didn't put on too much weight. Besides, she always ended up offering her food to others instead of eating it herself, so what was there to be self conscious of? Shawnie knew that for a fact; that previously shown food fiasco was simple enough proof. 

Deciding that she would rather trot than be labeled as fat anyway, Coffea unwillingly dragged her legs from the spot where they had been prised together to provide more warmth, and began to trot, swishing her tail slightly to signal to her companion to follow. Out of the corner of her eye, the pegasus could see Shawnie catching up, or, at least attempting to, and slowed down so she wouldn't waste up too much energy and get a side stitch. Side stitches weren't that painful for Coffea, her having done her research on relieving them, but she wasn't too sure about Shawnie, who additionally seemed to be giving it her all.

Coffea trotted forward with obvious determination, wanting to reach their destination as soon as possible. She hoped that Shawnie's mother was nice enough to offer her a few minutes indoors to warm up her body and feathers - her wings were positively freezing! The pegasus moved them with exaggerated stiffness, feeling them rubbing up and down her fur in a way that made her shiver as the cold limbs dug into her body. 

Gasping for for air as she ran, Coffea let herself slow down as she noticed a block of houses just on the edge of the horizon. She looked at them enviously, at the bright yellow lights in their windows and the warm furniture that she could spot through their curtains. The pegasus briefly considered knocking on one of their doors, but immediately shook it out of her head; what an uncouth thing to do! Only beggars did that, and Coffea certainly wasn't one.

Figuring that Shawnie was most probably exhausted, she halted completely this time, to get her breath back as well as the grey filly's. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, breathing out with cold puffs of air. It was seriously cold, maybe unusually so, but then, Coffea hadn't been outside in the night since ages, so she wasn't the right one to judge by the temperature. 

After letting her breath catch up with her, the pegasus straightened and looked back at Shawnie - yes, back; she figured that being the elder one it was more than appropriate to lead a filly down to a place, especially when they didn't know where they were going, "Do you have any idea how far away your house is?" Coffea looked longingly around, hoping that maybe Shawnie's house was maybe one in the block of accommodations that were just ahead of her. It was rather doubtful that the filly lived there without saying so, and Coffea prepared herself for a fall, but, hey, a mare could dream right?