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The sun rose over Canterlot with the stars fading away while shops opened up along the streets. One of the few making their way outside was Acanthus, his body heavy from staying up all night reading in the castle library. His movements were slow, but his goal clear: coffee and a snack at the Canterlot Donut Shop. He entered the bakery, the bell above the door tinkling as he stepped through and towards the counter, where Donut Joe stood with a smile that the changeling had never seen fade.

“G’morning, Acanthus! What can I get for you today?”

Acanthus paused, looking at the assortment of freshly baked goods in the display cases, and decided he wanted to try something new today. He didn’t bother responding in kind to Joe’s cheery response, needing a bit of fuel before chatting with anyone.

“Two strawberry glaze donuts. And coffee, you know to keep it coming.” Acanthus turned away to claim one of the tables in the corner of the room, stopping momentarily to realize he had forgotten his manners. “Please.”

Donut Joe seemed to take no offense to the reserved stallion, nodding his head once before getting to work. Within moments, Acanthus’ order had been levitated to his table while he stared through the tall windows, watching the rest of Canterlot wake up and greet the day. Other ponies wandered into the shop, grabbing a quick breakfast or a cup of coffee before heading out the door, leaving Acanthus in a fairly empty shop. It wasn’t long before one of his donuts was devoured and his coffee cup left empty, to which he lifted the mug with his magic, his gaze moving from the windows to the counter as he waited to be served. It didn’t take Joe more than a few seconds to notice that his customer had been left alone too long, but he was too busy cleaning the shop (as he did a ridiculous amount of times every day) to hurry on over to Acanthus. So instead, he called towards the back of the bakery, hoping the other pony working could hear him.

“Pedha, darling? Can you bring out another pot of coffee for our guest? He’s needing a refill!”

There was a momentary pause, Joe giving Acanthus a smile while he continued to levitate his empty coffee cup, looking rather bored with it all. But after a moment, one of the tallest mares Acanthus had ever seen pushed through the doors that lead from the kitchens to the shop, turning towards her father.

“Did you say something, Baba? I couldn’t hear you in the back.”

Joe simply smiled in response, looking proud of his daughter even though she hadn’t done anything to warrant praise, and repeated himself. “Would you mind getting some more coffee for Acanthus? I’m just about covered in floor cleaner.”

Pedha moved her gaze to the stallion, who was still holding up his mug to be filled. He had no idea how she could possibly see him through all that hair, but he shrugged it off and even levitated the cup a bit closer to the mare, mentally begging for more coffee even when his expression remained stoic. Her horn lit up with magic as she hovered a full pot from the back wall and walked it over to Acanthus’ table, head turning down to him again as she slowly filled up the mug.

“So, do you actually talk? Or just stare ‘til someone helps you?” Pedha clearly did not mince words, even to ponies she was serving. But to Acanthus, it didn’t seem like a mean-spirited question, or even harsh. Instead, she just sounded so matter-of-fact that the changeling couldn’t help but admire her straight-forward behavior. Once Acanthus took a sip of the fresh coffee, he sighed and shrugged.

“I don’t usually make conversation with ponies until I’ve had at least 3 cups of coffee. Not much of a morning creature.” The shop’s bell tinkled quietly as a pony entered, but Pedha kept her attention on the customer in front of her while he all but chugged his drink.

“And you don’t…like cream or sugar with your coffee? You’re one of those tough ponies who like bitter bean water with nothing sweet in it, aren’t you?” This time Pedha was judging and her expression was enough to prove it, even as she refilled his mug again. Acanthus couldn’t help himself from chuckling under his breath, dunking what was left of his donuts into the full coffee cup.

“The donuts are sweet. I don’t need to get a sugar high from my drink, too.” He took a moment, taking another bite before resuming his thought. “My compliments to your father, by the way. These strawberry donuts might become my new favorite.”

Without missing a beat, Pedha raised a brow, even though no one could see it under all that hair. “I made those.”

Acanthus stopped taking a sip of his coffee halfway through, freezing as he saw the mare staring down at him (or at least he assumed so, through that frizzy mane). Of course she was the one who made them, what else did he think she was doing in the back of the shop? He flushed around his cheeks and nose, the color of blush looking rather sallow in color compared to his green complexion. “Well then, my compliments to your baking. I’m not usually one for fruity flavors, but I thought I’d try something different today—”

Before he could finish his sentence, something pulled at both of their attentions, halting the conversation. A cup had fallen onto the counter and a pony was starting to harass Donut Joe, his smug tone making Pedha’s blood boil.

“You could have burned me with that latte, you oaf! Do you even know how expensive this sweater is?! I could run down your entire shop and it still wouldn’t pay for the cost of my dry cleaning! But what should I expect from some ill-bred unicorn? I’m surprised you can even hover my order at all!” His grating laugh filled the shop, making Donut Joe flush in embarrassment as he hurried to clean the spilled drink.


Pedha saw red, her ears flicking back defensively as she started to levitate the broom from the corner of the shop. Without much warning, she charged full-speed at the snooty stallion, letting out an exasperated yell as she chased the unsuspecting pony around the bakery.

“I’ll give you something to complain about! Get out of this shop right now!”
Acanthus sat at his table, frozen in place as he watched the mare herd the rude customer out of the building, unable to look away. Once he had been shoved out onto the street, Pedha let out a sharp huff and put the broom away while her father tried to tell her she shouldn’t chase ponies out. He quickly gave up, shaking his head with a chuckle at his daughter’s indifference while she turned back to Acanthus.

“Need more coffee?” The pot levitated again, already topping off his mug.

Acanthus, on the other hoof, couldn’t do anything but stare at her as a small smile crept onto his muzzle.

'What a mare…'
~
This is my first time writing like this for my Sugarverse, please be gentle with me XD

I've been wanting to write for my verse for a long time, but it's been so long since I've written at all that I put it off and procrastinated til I realized how much better I could make Sugarverse with some scene-building and dialogue. What do y'all think, would you like to see more scenes with writing like this?

And absolute huge HUGE thank you to my great friend PokemonTrainerMax for their help with their editing and brainstorming session. You're the best, Max Hug

Upvotes at import: 18 | Stars at import: 6
Posted previously at: 2020-09-08T16:16:38 | Posted previously by: Mildgyth