Probably The Only Lemonade Stall [Concluded]

[Zazzy]

Coffea had looked down at Shawnie, eyes serious. She remembered the bustle of the market place around her when she said that and how she had soaked in all the chatter and laughter, enjoying the crowded place. She had seen Shawnie's facial expression when the crowds had passed by. Her senses and instinct led to the fact that the filly earth pony did not like crowds or places with too many ponies as a rule. The pegasus had remembered her hesitation before answering; "Forgiving and forgetting is a good motto to live by and I hold no grudges or bad feelings against it, but sometimes, forgiving and forgetting is worse than holding grudges." Coffea had replied softly, with calm nonchalance.

It was something Coffea was dutifully good at; hiding feelings from those around her. It was something only the best of the best, cremè de la cremè, café or tea shop owners - such as the pegasus herself - could do. Customers could be rude, sometimes unforgivably so, and the art of not showing any sign of feelings - happiness, exasperation, frustration, angriness - was a vital need. 

In the inside, Coffea had been personally seething as she talked to Shawnie. The earth pony seemed to have a cool air around her and didn't care what others thought of her. Nothing was wrong with that. Coffea herself could relate to not caring what others thought. But what hit her hardest was how casually Shawnie had back chatted to her. Back chatting was something the pegasus hated - something she had been brought up to hate. She had never liked back chatting and never back chatted before, so it came to a shock for her when the filly so easily and smoothly retorted. Sure, she may be over reacting, but it bugged Coffea that a filly, who could be no older than eleven, was saying such things.

She had kept a cool and collected face whilst associating with the filly, but with her back to her whilst holding out her hoof for the kestrel, let that expression drop. Out of the corner of her eye, Coffea kept a careful watch on the little earth pony, noticing how fluently and easily she managed to deceive the apple store owner into accidentally dropping a few of his customers as they turned to Shawnie's stall instead. The thought of recruiting Shawnie to work at her quaint little shop struck her, but she let it drop. Once a more trusting relationship had been established, perhaps, but not at the moment.

Coffea was jolted back into the present as the animal - a kestrel, she had identified - hopped woefully onto her hoof. Her eyes widened, her ears twitched and every inch of sense in her instinct and body screamed at her to stop. Her hoof quivered and she slowly fluttered down to the ground. She hesitated. What was one to do with an injured kestrel? There was only one option. Coffea herself didn't know any vets in Ponyville. She had to look after it herself. She dragged her eyes back to the kestrel, a little bit of fear showing, but that quickly subsided. She smiled and a small understanding seemed to pass between the bird and the pegasus pony. Coffea felt the sudden urge to scream as she put her hoof on her flank, letting the kestrel hop onto it. She resisted the urge and concentrated on staying still as the owlish bird managed to nestle itself in her mane, broken wing just touching her neck. 

The pegasus looked back and saw Shawnie. So she had succeeded, apparently. Coffea couldn't help but let the smile take over her face, and she waved back, then stopped, thinking it would disturb the kestrel, but he hadn't noticed and was keeping still quietly. The pegasus bit her lip. Her fear of animals hadn't entirely gone away, but she had grown a little attached to the kestrel, despite having known him for only a few minutes. She looked back at him shook her head to clear her thoughts and trotted over to Shawnie.

She stepped back to let her deal with the first customer, and stifled a chuckle at the filly's squeal. Once the customer had been served, she smiled at Shawnie, "Good going," Coffea said, not offering any explanation to the bird on her back. "You have a lot of customers, I see," she inclined her head towards the gradually growing line in front of Shawnie's stall. 

[ScratchThat]

After serving the first customer, Shawnie tilted her head, looking along the queue to the very back, and was delighted to see that it was still gradually getting bigger. Heck, this long line of ponies was almost blocking the marketplace! Now, Shawnie'd set out to bug a few ponies, but she hadn't entirely anticipated what she'd do if a whole angry mob came at her, asking her to move her stall someplace else.

But with success comes some failure, she supposed, as a mare who had been happily trotting along the path - her eyes shut - had bashed into a pony in the queue, who shot her an irritated glance. Now, it probably wasn't all Shawnie's fault, as that pony must've angered the mare even more, but she pouted, tipping her head back and strutted - that's right, strutted - up to the front of the queue, gazing at the little filly with a cold, icy expression. In fact, she also looked up at Coffea, seemingly believing her to be in charge of Shawnie. "Young filly," she began bitterly, her posh voice making it apparent that she hailed from somewhere fancy. Possibly Canterlot. "I'd very much appreciate you moving your stand. It's an annoyance for everypony." It seemed she deliberately said 'annoyance' loudly, trying to get the attention of a few more passing ponies, who would've otherwise simply gone round the crowd without a care in the world. But instead they nodded their heads, mumbling their agreement with the mare.

It was true, Shawnie hadn't anticipated this, otherwise she would've happily replied back to Coffea, but it seemed that'd have to wait. "You know, there's this thing called walking round the line?" Shawnie questioned, although she said it in that sensible, overly casual way. But anypony who knew Shawnie well would also be able to hear the patronising edge she put on the word 'round'.
Sadly, it seemed this mare wasn't nearly as daft as she dressed. "You know, there's this thing called moving the stall!" She cried, gesturing to the now huge queue of ponies who were waiting at Shawnie's stall, some booing the mare, but others starting to see her side of the argument.

Shawnie, usually so good at thinking up snappy replies now had a dry throat. Hey, this mare wasn't playing fair. You can't reuse the other pony's joke! "You just copied what I said! You'd think somepony from a posh place like you would have the vocabulary to make your own comments!" The filly bit back, now showing no mercy to this disturbance. Most of the crowd were mumbling about who'd win the argument, some even making bets on it, but Shawnie ignored them, her purple eyes fixed upon the mare's icy blue gaze.

[Zazzy]

Coffea sighed and rolled her eyes. She was used to Canterlot ponies - she was brought up as one, after all, but had quickly adapted to the actions and language of Ponyville. Sure, she still didn't act like a farm pony or something and still had her rather posh accent, but her loyalty laid on Ponyville's side. The pegasus sighed again and looked at the pouting pony, eyes narrowed. Her gaze started to soften a little as she noticed the pout and immediately compared the posh mare with a duck. Coffea had to suck her cheeks in to not laugh out loud and possibly offend the pony even more. She closed her eyes and sucked her cheeks in again, then looked at the mare again, twitching her mouth to stop the grin threatening to spill out.


"I'm sorry, Miss," Coffea said calmly, subsiding her laughter and putting it away in a corner of her mind to look at later, "But it was not this filly's fault that you had a little, ah, trip," She snorted and extended her wings. She raised her eyebrows a little mockingly on the word trip and tilted her head back. The pegasus struggled to contain the inappropriate words that were climbing up her mouth and shook her mane back, much to the kestrel's distress. But the mare didn't seem to want to leave without getting what she wanted, by the looks of her previous conversation with Shawnie. Coffea blew out of her nostrils and half closed her eyes for a flicker of a second to the filly - providing that she was smart enough to understand that that sign signalled that the older pegasus was tackling the problem.

She hesitated, not knowing what to say to this stubborn, posh, pony. An idea popped up into Coffea's mind - rather cruel idea to drive this glaring mare away, but a good one, no doubt. She paused, hesitating again, then shook her head a little, "Oh?" Coffea felt her ears twitch and she turned her body around; half to reveal the kestrel on her back, and half to hide her sly smile from the spoilt blue mare. "Did you know, Miss, er, whatever your name is, that kestrels are a bird of prey?" She shook her mane again and looked coldly at the offending pony, "They tend to, ah, feed on things when they're hungry or frustrated." Coffea put emphasis on her words, hinting heavily at the blue mare that she should move away before she became dinner. She kept a straight face, concealing her smile. The bird on her back was, indeed, a bird of prey, but she couldn't imagine it eating any pony, as much as she wanted it to do that to one particular mare at that one particular moment.

Coffea trotted back to the stall, ignoring the mare and counted up the bits that Shawnie had currently earned. She pushed a glass of lemonade forward to a little filly who's father and mother had already payed, and bobbed her head towards them in acknowledgement. The pegasus turned back to Shawnie. "Come on, there is a rather large queue here. Serve the ones who actually need serving, right?" She shot a glare at the blue mare once again.

[ScratchThat]

Disgusted, the older mare scowled at Shawnie's rudeness, probably not being accustomed to foals who were anything less than polite and proper. Glancing harshly at Coffea, she half expected the coffee coloured mare to scold the child, but with no such luck. In fact, she was arguing for the filly! Blinking a bit in surprise and taking a hasty step backwards, the mare opened her mouth to retort something back, before her eyes fell upon the kestrel. It wasn't a very frightening sight, but the look on the mare's face was pure terror, like she'd just seen a ghost! Coughing back what one would presume would've been some sort of cry of panic, she simply stood up tall, humphed, and strutted away, still shooting angry glances back at Coffea and Shawnie, as well as the pony she'd originally collided with.

Shawnie looked pretty baffled. "What a spoilt brat! Like she couldn't of just moved out of the way." She rolled her eyes, before looking up at Coffea and nodding gratefully at the mare. "Thank you, by the way." It was quite unusual that Shawnie would thank somepony, as she usually sorted out her own problems, but she knew that if she hadn't met Coffea that morning, she wouldn't of had any of this money, customers, or been able to ward that mare off. Just to be on the safe side - as that whole speech about birds of prey feasting on you had gotten to her a bit - she smiled at the kestrel too, giving the little fellah a pat.

Now, back to business! Shawnie turned back to face the customers, offering each and every one a glass of lemonade, and watched in sheer happiness as the jar filled up. Hey, she wasn't all that bad at this! "I wonder if I could get some sort of job out of this." Shawnie commented between serving thirsty ponies! "Come down here a fair bit, I guess. It's better than the pocket money I get from mum, anyways." Whilst Shawnie enjoyed the work, she kept telling herself that it was only for spray paints. That was what she wanted to do desperately, not this. Art was still her calling... or at least she hoped so.

[Zazzy]

Coffea let out a snort as she watched the blue mare strut away. Strut. For Celestia's sake, she strutted. The pegasus turned around pointedly in disgust. "I think I am going to be sick," she mumbled, stamping her hoof on the ground. What a pony! Coffea closed her eyes and counted down in her head, calming herself down. Five...four...three...tw- The tea room owner cracked open an eye and stopped her mental count down as she heard a rather bemused sounding Shawnie speak. "Huh?" Her cautious and 'good girl' sense kicked in, "Oh. I don't know. She seemed a rather ni-" Coffea sighed. She didn't like lying, "ScratchThat that. Those stuck up Canterlot snobs always behave like that. Always. Twenty four seven."

The pegasus cut off her rant abruptly as the filly thanked her. She winced. These emotional things always came out wrong. At least they did for Coffea. Anyhow, she simply smiled and shrugged, "You're welcome." She ruffled her wings and nodded politely at a few of the ponies in line. She knew most of them - of course she did; Coffea prided herself on being a social butterfly. Her smiles and nods soon disappeared and were replaced by a frown and narrowed eyes. All the stall owners, no, literally, all the stall owners, were staring at them. Her and Shawnie. Coffea's frown deepened as she noticed their glares, and despite the wary fondness she felt for the filly, the pegasus could empathise with them. How many times had her customers been snatched away from her? 

At once, Coffea averted her eyes to what she was supposed to be looking at, guilt over whelming her. They had a problem, let them solve their own problem. She reached for the money of a filly and counted it, nodded, and passed a cup of lemonade towards her. Recounting the pile of bits, she raised an eyebrow and passed a second cup over. Smiling by default, Coffea accepted the 'thank yous' and collected the bits, watching them fall in Shawnie's money jar.

Speaking of Shawnie... Coffea turned to her and looked down at the piece of paper she had been adding up on. She needed a piece of paper - maths was not her strong point. "Let us see...you've collected thirty two bits," she raised an eyebrow, "Quite a lot from a stall in the market area, I must indeed admit."

[ScratchThat]

It seemed Shawnie's mind was occupied with worrying over her future professions, not actually running this stall. Ugh, somepony slap her or something! Being snapped out of her train of thought by Coffea, the filly nodded, a very knowing look about her gaze. "I've only met a number of 'em, but I have to say that I agree." She muttered, glaring after the pony, her eyes looking more disappointed than anything. "What does Canterlot do to ponies..." She sighed, shaking her head to dismiss these thoughts. Why's she thinking about all this... serious stuff all of a sudden, huh? Is something up, brain? The filly tapped herself on the head, chuckling.

However, when Shawnie finished chuckling, she warily glanced about, the stares now becoming apparent. Being the kind of pony she was, she paid it no mind, simply looking back to the stash of golden coins in the bit jar, smiling widely. They were well earnt in her eyes; even if she had to rob some stalls of their customers. I mean, they were free to go back if they wanted...

Determined to help keep up the good work, Shawnie joined her friend up at the counter, pushing cups of lemonade over to various ponies and smiling wholeheartedly, nodding to everypony in a very polite way. Well, very polite for somepony who'd just snapped at a stranger. Between all this, she glanced down at Coffea's piece of paper from time-to-time, smirking a little. It was kinda cute, really. Then again, Shawnie didn't know how she was one to judge, not being very skilled in the mathematics sector, either.

"Thirty two?" She repeated, returning to reality once more. "Awesome!" She then exclaimed, flicking a strand of hair behind her ear. Thirty two sure sounded like a lot, even if it was nothing on what a shop owner could've earnt in the same amount of time. I mean, you rarely heard those kinds of figures being called out in the market!

Amidst the filly's excitement and happiness of the success, she had to note that there was only a few customers left. And by the looks of things, not many new potential buyers were being attracted to the stall, either. "Coffea..." Shawnie whispered, glancing up at the mare. "When will we know when we're done?" Seeing as Coffea was the shop owner, she presumed that she'd have some sort of idea. Maybe it was when ponies stopped coming over? Maybe when the market shut? When you got bored? Blinking, Shawnie tried to consider whether she was bored. I mean, perhaps a little tired, but she was rather enjoying the job - and enjoying her time with Coffea. Suddenly worried about not seeing this mare again, she spun round, now facing her. "Will we see each other again after all of this? Can I know where you work? I won't bug you, I promise! I'll come and buy stuff!" The filly pleaded, her eyes now so huge that they could be compared to saucers.

[Zazzy]

"Not all of them are like that. Just the ones who have no brains." The pegasus asserted, thinking it a little unfair when she knew that a few ponies in Canterlot weren't like that. Admittedly, the ones she were speaking of were not born in Canterlot and had simply moved there.

Picking up the pencil with her mouth, Coffea began to write some addition sums, pressing on the paper hard so it gave off a bold, clear effect. Maybe she pressed on a little too hard. The pencil led snapped off sharply, rolling around the stall table. She muttered some unappreciative words under her breath, quietly, though, so Shawnie's customers and the filly herself couldn't hear her. She rolled the led into her hoof along with the pencil, whilst opening her saddle bags with her wings at the same time. Once opened, the pegasus emptied her hoof into the bags on her sides, then skilfully closed them again. She sat down despondently. Coffea could do complicated maths in her head, heck, she wasn't stupid, but she found it difficult. As a filly, she remembered asking her mother if she had dyslexia. She probably did. At least, with that, there was a reasonable explanation on why a fully grown twenty one year old found it hard, if not impossible, to do maths in her head.

Coffea looked up as Shawnie began to whisper. She frowned, pricking up her ears, missing the first part of the sentence but managing to infer from the soon following words on what she had been talking about. The pegasus hesitated. Never had she set up a stall before, thus she wasn't an expert on these kind of things. 'It's basically the same as owning a cafè or a shop, right?' She asked herself mentally.

Sighing, Coffea flattened her ears, "Well, normally, my cafè has set times to open and close, but that's because I work in it every day, aside from the weekends," the creamy pegasus explained patiently, figuring that being honest and saying what she did was a must. Shawnie, in her personal opinion, was a skeptical filly and could easily decipher lies, so she automatically went with the truth anyhow. Coffea didn't like lying either. Who did? Shaking her head to come out of the little doze she and taken, the pegasus rubbed her mane by habit and looked around for some sort of clue to what stall owners normally do. "But because you have a stall, I guess you stop when you've run out or when you think it's enough for a days end." 

Coffea stifled an upcoming yawn and looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes with a hoof from the scintillating rays of the sun.  It was nearing evening time, at a rough guess. "Maybe..." She said vaguely. Her eyebrows raised quizzically, "Please forgive me if I am being too curious for my own good, but why?" Coffea shook her mane back and scratched her neck. "As for where I live, we would have to walk there. It's a pretty well hidden place. I normally fly to my cafè and take a different route, but I think I know the walking path as well."

[ScratchThat]

Jumping a little, just as Shawnie had said 'brain' in her head, Coffea had seemingly said it out loud! It was weird when stuff like that happened. Huh. Maybe Coffea was a mind reader? Woah, okay. She'd have to be careful with her thoughts, then. Real careful. Sighing and shaking her head quickly, she realised that she'd missed some of what the pegasus had said, and so now made more of an effort to listen in.

Ah, she was talking about when would be best to finish. "At the day's end sounds like a good idea. Or maybe a little before sundown?" She shrugged. One of those times would be appropriate. And it was definitely not because she wanted or needed to get home, in case that's what you were wondering. Nah. Shawnie would be fine not going home until midnight or something, and she knew her mother probably wouldn't care either. She never did.

Pony-watching once again, she gave ponies questioning looks as they walked by, indicating to the two cups of lemonade left, but it seemed that no pony was interested. They all gave Shawnie a mild smile, but obviously had no idea what she wanted of them, or they simply weren't interested. Sighing, she flicked her ears, perking them when Coffea started rambling once more. She wasn't gonna miss a word this time!

Raising a brow, Shawnie almost couldn't believe why Coffea had asked why. Wasn't it obvious? "Oh, please tell me! I don't want to never see you again." The filly said the last part a little more quietly, although she didn't know why. It was a rare phenomenon when Shawnie met somepony who she actually clicked with, and who understand her well. Coffea may just be a new friend right now, but she certainly understood the filly. Not only that, but Shawnie also understood her!

Rubbing her chin after her little passionate cries, Shawnie scooped one of the remaining lemonades up and gave it to Coffea, before taking the last one for herself. "This is on the house, yeah?" She shrugged, before adding, "A toast to my new lemonade and business buddy, Lemonea!" Without a word or even any acknowledgement of the joke she just made, she poured the drink into her mouth, gulping it all done in seconds before slamming the cup down on the counter. That'd worked out rather nicely. Sure, they were out of lemonade, but the sun was almost down. Thirty two bits was enough for four spray cans, although she knew she'd have to give some of the money to Coffea, which didn't bother her in the slightest. But today's best achievement must've been making a new friend. Or at least a pony who'd put up with you!

[Zazzy]

- 

Coffea put a hoof to her chin, pondering what Shawnie had just said. She could feel it getting cooler; the sun was no longer boiling hot. That was a problem. Most ponies only drank lemonade when it was really hot outside - drinking lemonade on a cold night would be like eating ice cream in the North Pole. She tactically decided to not tell the grey filly this. As honest as the pegasus was,  she really didn't want to let Shawnie down, "Maybe before sun down," Coffea said distractedly, "Lots of couples come here at that time." 

She was watching some ponies who were selling apple juice swap the liquid with some hot chocolate / hot cocoa. Her mouth watered. She had enough bits in her bag to buy a mug or two, but she didn't want to offend Shawnie by abandoning her for the cocoa stall. A few ponies lined up in front of those particular ponies.

Realising that she had zoned out for a little while, Coffea blinked. She had heard Shawnie speaking, but hadn't realised she was talking to her. The pegasus rolled her eyes at herself, annoyed. Of course she would be talking to her! Who else was there to talk to apart from Coffea?

"Uh," Coffea inserted sheepishly, rubbing her neck. Her face heated up as she scanned her surroundings for a distraction, something to avert Shawnie's attention. The pegasus really didn't want to get berated at by a nine or ten year old filly. She tentatively accepted the cup of lemonade Shawnie offered her, and took a sip of it. Lemonade was okay, in Coffea's opinion - not as great as coffee, but it was okay. She rubbed her mane as she drained the cup and set it quietly on the table. "As for where I live..." Coffea hesitated. She seldom offered other ponies the address of her house. She had one, of course, seeing as she lived above the place. But the pegasus enjoyed the privacy and tranquility of her house. "Are your parents okay with you going to my house?"

She slung her saddle bags over her rump and tossed her piece of paper in a near by bin. Coffea turned around, catching the strap of her bags and pulling them accordingly until they were tight and snug against her flanks. They were black and made out of a thick leather material - she had bought them last year, and still they looked new. The pegasus turned around to Shawnie expectantly. 

[ScratchThat]

Shawnie had already begun to notice the absence of ponies in the marketplace, and the sun was indeed lowering in the sky. It then dawned on her just how long she must've been in the market. She'd been here since early-ish this morning, and now it was almost evening! And Coffea had been with her almost just as long! Looking up at the pegasus curiously, she noticed her staring at the hot cocoa stand - it was painfully obvious - and grinned, patting her lightly on the back, but not hard enough to disturb the kestrel, who appeared to be sleeping. "Here," Shawnie said, reaching into the jar of bits and taking out a golden coin; the stand said one mug was one bit! Thinking for a moment, she also reached in and grabbed another, asking, "Get us two while I destroy the stand?" She uttered this in such a serious manner that it was almost impossible to tell whether she was joking or not, but somepony who knew her sense of humour would easily be able to hear it.

Blinking when the mare continued talking, she cursed mentally. It seemed she always talked over ponies by mistake! I mean, Shawnie wasn't the most polite filly around, but the least she could do for a friend was listen. So she did. "My mum really wouldn't mind. She's probably not even worrying about where I am." Shawnie smirked. "She's awesome like that," she quickly added, not wanting Coffea to presume that this bothered the earth pony.

Still expecting Coffea to go fetch some hot cocoas, she turned back to the stand, cracking her hooves together. "Okay, this shouldn't take too long." She nodded to Coffea, waving towards the cocoa stand to give the mare some more encouragement. Trotting over to the stall, she hastily took the bit jar off of the table and lowered it into a bag. She was straining her muscles a little, as the darned thing was pretty heavy by now! Ruffling her mane, she then tackled the sign, carefully unhooking it from the front of the table and laying it out flat on the floor. She'd have to carry that. After this, she stared at the table, tilting her head to one side in what looked like an extremely awkward position. What was she gonna do with this? Drop it home? But then her mum might make her stay! Shrugging, she decided that she'd just leave it there. After all, somepony may want to use it tomorrow. If they were unprepared and hadn't brought their own table, of course.

[Zazzy]

"Uh," Coffea said a little awkwardly. She didn't want to betray Shawnie by buying some cocoa, but neither did she want  to not buy any cocoa. The mare hesitated, then nodded slowly, accepting the bits, "Well...if you're sure." She walked slowly to the cocoa stall.

She coughed into her hoof upon reaching the stall - the owners had apparently dozed off. One of the ponies, a sea green earth pony, woke up abruptly after hearing the cough nudged her friend, an orange unicorn. They nodded serenely at Coffea, a sheepish expression on their face. Instead of commenting on it, the pegasus simply smiled as if she had never seen them fall asleep, "How much are two mugs?" She questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Two bits," the orange unicorn answered immediately,  brushing her mane out of her face. Coffea nodded and unfolded her wings, going through the swift process of unzipping her saddle bags. She took out one of her own bits alone with Shawnie's, and handed them over to the unicorn. The mare looked at Coffea questionably. 

The pegasus smiled and ruffled her wings, "A tip." She answered the unspoken question daintily. The two mares glanced at each other and pushed the toe remaining mugs towards Coffea, their smiles small but obvious. She felt a rush of happiness run through her - she loved it when other ponies smiled as she purchased their items or food. But the pegasus didn't let that show, instead just nodding her head in acknowledgement and hoofed up the mugs, walking back over to Shawnie, who was struggling with the stall.

"Thanks!" Coffea heard the earth pony call behind her. She rolled her eyes, a little miffed. How long did that take? She set Shawnie's mug on the stall and sipped her own, satisfied with the warmth of the drink.

[ScratchThat]

Shawnie simply batted a hoof, gesturing once more over to the stall in a 'just go for it' kinda fashion. Or at least that's what it was meant to look like, but it actually appeared that she might be swatting away some sort of bug. Meanwhile, Shawnie grabbed the container that'd once been filled with lemonade and opened up the lid, tipping it up into her mouth so she could catch the last few drops and not get the bag wet. Satisfied, she licked her lips of all the remnants and slipped the container into the bag, alongside the bit jar. She then grabbed the two remaining plastic cups, deciding that she could always use them some other time, and hastily shoved them in as well, the bag now becoming somewhat heavy. There was no way that she was going to physically be able to carry all this by herself without collapsing, so she glanced over at Coffea, wondering if she'd be able to take the sign. I mean, she could always throw it away, but she was pretty pleased with her lemon drawing, and if she'd be doing this again... nah. It was too cool to throw away! It was a memory.

Just at that moment, Coffea returned with the drinks, and Shawnie plopped the bag on the ground by the stand, reaching for her cocoa... before yelping loudly. Ouch! Thing's hot! Licking her hoof where it'd be scolded, she laughed lightly, looking slightly embarrassed if anything. "I'm fine," she muttered gingerly, taking hold of the mug once more, but this time more carefully. Before sipping, she blew on it, not wanting to burn her tongue too, and then took a long slurp, licking her chops afterwards. "Ah, nice cocoa, huh?" She asked, for once partaking in some sort of small talk, wanting to know Coffea's opinion on the drinks.

Deciding to ask about the sign now rather than later, she set her mug down on the counter again and gestured towards the bag, which was packed full. "I've got to carry that, but the sign won't fit in, and I don't think I can carry them both." She explained, glancing up at the older mare and trying to catch her gaze. "Would you help me? It's okay if you don't, seeing as you have the kestrel to take care of, but..." The filly shrugged, biting her lip. Maybe she could just throw away the sign, as asking Coffea for things was starting to make her feel rather guilty.

[Zazzy]

Coffea choked on her hot cocoa, trying not to laugh. She took a deep breath, inhaling the warm steam emerging from the ridiculously scorching hot chocolate, then started to laugh again. She wiped her forehead and struggled to hold back a smile, "You okay there?" The pegasus fluttered her wings and took another sip before answering Shawnie's following question, "Y-yeah, it's pretty good," She said, muzzle refusing to stop smiling, despite how much her brain was scolding it. On her part, Coffea sipped the cocoa in large contrast to the filly, who was currently slurping her own mug down. "Not as good as coffee, though." She added as a rather late after thought. She took a quick glance upwards at the sun, being as inconspicuous as she could. Swiftly, the mare began to use some arithmetic techniques to guess the time. 

Her mental mathematics were cut abruptly as Shawnie gestured to her bag. Coffea stopped trying to decipher the time and looked intently at the filly, head tilted slightly to the side. "Does that mean you'll be putting up the lemonade stall again?" She asked innocently, hoping Shawnie wouldn't notice she was being a little too curious that she normally was. The pegasus ruffled her wings and shook her mane back, realising she was swiftly getting off the current subject, "I can take this," Coffea assured her, "If I fly and hold it in my hooves, then there won't be any problems, will there?" The mare frowned and assessed the situation. She figured that no, there wouldn't be any problems. The kestrel didn't look like the grumpy selfish sort, anyway.

"Where are you taking these, anyway?" Coffea asked, cocking a brow. She decided to stop asking questions. It was making her look like...like whatever asked a lot of questions. She wrapped her hoof around Shawnie's mug and stacked her one on top, going into 'café mode.' The pegasus trotted over hastily to the hot chocolate stand - they were packing up and she didn't want to take another burden home. They nodded at Coffea as she left the mugs on the stall table and walked back to Shawnie, ears pricked attentively. 

[ScratchThat]

Shawnie bobbed her head in way of a quick reply, as her mouth was still filled to the brim with hot cocoa. Swallowing it down, she responded, "You're bound to say that, though - you own a coffee shop!" Nonetheless, the filly said this good naturedly, chuckling a little along with it. Taking another long slurp of the hot beverage, she finished it within a few seconds, placing the mug onto the tabletop, staring at it softly. Man, she'd love some more. Cocoa was a really addictive drink. Shaking her head some, she continued listening.

Surprised by the sudden question, the filly shrugged, raising a brow at Coffea's odd behaviour. Was something wrong? Nah. Nothing wrong with asking questions. "Maybe," she mused, before adding, "I did kinda like the picture of the lemon. Drew it myself." Not dwelling on that for too much longer, she nodded, somewhat grateful that Coffea was so kind. "Thanks! But, uh, I hope I can keep up with you flying." She laughed lightly, her teeth glinting when the sun's rays hit them, but only just. Sundown was coming.

"I'm going to take them home eventually, but I thought we were going to your house first?" The earth pony raised a brow, her unusual tail flicking. Watching Coffea trot away to give the mugs back, Shawnie turned back towards the bag, swinging it over her back and fastening it round her waist nice and tightly. Well, maybe a little too tightly. Catching her breath sharply and debating whether she'd stopped the blood flow around her middle, she loosened the strap, stumbling slightly under the bag's weight. In an effort not to look helpless, she stood up nice and tall, managing to keep her balance once Coffea returned.

Smiling broadly at the mare, she gazed up at the sky, which was now darkening at a rapid pace. "We should get going," the filly commented. "We want to be able to see where we're heading, after all." She concluded, starting to trot off in a random direction, before turning on her heels rather awkwardly and stomping back. "Uh, so... which way?" She questioned, chuckling a little and scratching her neck. Where were you even going? Shawnie asked herself mentally, rolling her eyes at her own silliness.

[Zazzy]

Coffea nodded thoughtfully. She wondered that if the were named, for example, Tea Cosy, would she have liked tea and hated coffee, where as in the present under the name Coffea Arabics she loved Coffea and hated tea? The pegasus shook that thought away. That was a silly idea. Besides, she really didn't want to have a name that was like 'Tea Cosy.' As much as she hated 'Arabica' it was better than the example name, and Coffea was quite content to go under the name her parents had given her, thank you very much.

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Drawing was something the pegasus wasn't particularly very experienced, or good, at. Neither did the mare have the knowledge of what fillies at Shawnie's age liked to draw, so she stayed silent, her brow raise the only sign of acknowledgement. But at the filly's following statement, Coffea gave out a short but sincere laugh, "Oh, I'm pretty slow. Even a snail can keep up with me." She smiled, obviously meaning it as a joke. The pegasus's pride was larger than Equestria and truthfully owning up that she wasn't good at flying - which would be a lie in itself, anyhow, since Coffea was certainly very skilled at the sport - would be brilliantly difficult for her.

"Sure," Coffea agreed. With a few quick flaps of her wings, she was hovering in the air, the wind whistling through her light, creamy wings, "Okay then, let us continue yon- Uh, Shawnie?" The pegasus cut off with a start, noticing that Shawnie was trotting away. She stared at the filly, waiting for her to come to her sense, then chuckled when Shawnie turned around awkwardly and looked at her. Coffea fluttered over to the stall sign and grunted, lifting it with two hooves and praying she wouldn't get a splinter. "My house, and café, lie this way," the mare pointed in the opposite direction to the Everfree Forest.