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 Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 4:12 pm
Candy Dandy was suffering under a bit of an order influx. Phonies were growing up, getting married, being born, and everyone was wanting baskets to give as gifts. She was lucky that she had a delivery stallion, or else she would never have gotten through them all! With visions of marshmallow birds and stacks of berries crossing her eyes, she closed her shop and stumbled into the street, rubbing her hoof across her temple.
"Oye vey, I need something to drink." she mumbled, slowly walking down the road. She still mustered the energy to wave at locals and shopkeepers until her destination came into view.
It wasn't a bar, but a coffee shop. It was fairly new, and Candy had never been there before. She pushed open the door, and found it mostly empty. Apparently the new shop fervor had worn down a bit. She found a table near the cash register, and waited for the proprietor to notice.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 4:45 pm
Latte was personally rather thankful that the new-shop buzz had died down. For days she had been constantly in front of her machines from dawn 'til dusk, serving her treats to all the phonies in Phonyland. Now the rushes mostly came with meals, and at the moment they were between peak hours.
The shop was decorated in browns, creams and the occasional pink with a large coffee and tea counter and a glass case to the side for pastries and other sweets. Small tags stood before each product, suggesting the drink that would best compliment the snack. The menu board on the wall was enormous, and it seemed as if almost everything was available in almost every way, as the multiple steamers and machines suggested.
The cream-colored phony stood behind the counter cleaning and humming to herself, looking up only when she heard a customer arrive.
"Hello! Feel free to ask if you have any questions!" To not make the customer feel rushed or crowded, she simply turned back to her cleaning.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 5:18 pm
Candy looked around, admiring the shop. It was quaint and adorable. There were some delightful snacks everywhere, and all the coffee! Yes, on first glance, this would have to be a place that this phony would visit often.
The menu was extensive, and Candy for a moment couldn't decide what she wanted. There were mochas, lattes, ciders, teas.....her brain couldn't handle it all!
When Latte spoke, Candy turned to the owner, smiling cheerfully. "Well thank you! I think I want a mocha. With extra chocolate and a LOT of whipped cream if you can!" she added, gesturing wildly.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:55 pm
"Of course!," Latte nodded. She wondered if the other phony had chosen the mocha for safety, or because she preferred them. They were, of course, a favorite herself!
"My name is 'Latte', you know!" she smiled while mixing the drink, "Of course, I'm thinking you meant the cafe mocha, rather than the mocha latte. Chocolate, right? With a cutie mark like that!" Come to think of it, Latte had probably been in the other phony's store once or twice as a filly.
Now for concentration! Whipped cream was a very serious deal, and Latte furrowed her brow and bit her tongue to concentrate. The whipped cream tower that emerged was both entirely excessive and intimidatingly formidable. The phony simply grinned and held it out. "Here you go!"
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:24 pm
Candy's blue eyes widened at the lovely drink in front of her. Such whipped cream she hadn't seen...well, ever! Her grin widened as big as her eyes, and she said "Thank you! And yeah, my cutie mark is pretty sweet." she giggled at the pun.
"It's nice to meet you Latte! I'm Candy Dandy. My cutie mark is for edible arrangements." The reminder of her busy day made her dig into the whipped cream with a little more gusto than was appropriate. With a bit on her nose that she wiped away with a hoof, she looked to Latte.
"You know, I've never been in here. Is your store new?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:35 pm
"Um, yes!" Latte nodded, her bangs doing a few flips, "I used to work at the cafe down the road, but I finally had enough to start this place up! It's doing pretty well so far."
Having no customers, the young phony leaned on the counter and grinned.
"I think I've been in your shop before, when I was a little thing. Edible arrangements aren't exactly something that anyone makes!" Really, her younger years hadn't been so long ago, and after she'd found her calling, most of her time had been spent working and studying. People she looked up to would not remember her, on occasion, but she never forgot a customer.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:12 pm
"That's great!" So this was her very own business too! Candy's business was more of an extension of her mother's. It was right next door and had originally started in Candy's own bedroom before moving into the corner of her mom's bakery.
"You probably went to my mother's shop. She owns a bakery. Sugar Delight is her name. When I was little, she gave me a corner of the store to show off what I had made." Fond memories made her smile into her mocha, which was heavenly.
"I've only just grown up enough to own my own place. It's small, but I like it! Did you move here, or were you born here?" Latte's bangs were adorable, and Candy secretly studied them so that she might try to create some bangs out of her curly mess.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:24 pm
"Oh, yes! That sounds right," Latte nodded. She felt less guilty now for having not remembered a specific location for Candy Dandy's business. Look at them, two young entrepreneurial mares! She made a mental note to visit Candy's shop when she had the time, although the poor phony looked absolutely drained.
"There's nothing wrong with small! You look a bit frazzled, though. Business is booming?" She was comfortable, so she only hoped that her new friend was as well. Hopefully she'd get to have more actual conversations with customers some time soon.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:02 pm
A sigh came from her lips, and she smiled. "Oh yes. There was a growth spurt in town, and a bunch of babbens grew up all at the same time. And on top of that Lullaby and Draft are getting married, so there are congratulatory baskets to make." The number of chocolate music notes she had made for the past week on that event alone was ridiculous!
"It's nice, and hopefully everyone will hold their horses for just a moment after this is all done and I can get some rest!" she laughed, lowering her mug as she finished the mocha.
"I bet you've been pretty busy as well, what with the new store hubbub and all."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:16 pm
"It's finally calming down," Latte nodded, smiling, "I thought for a while there I was going to need to hire staff! Luckily, that's not the case."
It wasn't that she didn't like other phonies, but the thought of having someone else brew her drinks and potentially messing them up... horrible! She knew that some day her opinion may change, but for now she was content to be the lone barista!
"After you get that rest, I could advertise with a couple of your arrangements in the shop, if you'd like! Hopefully there'll be a lag in babben growths! They must be tired from all that searching, no? Was it easy to find your cutie mark? She liked this mare, although she couldn't entirely put words to why. Perhaps it was because they were in such similar situations and were both fairly young. Certainly Candy had seen some opposition as well, although apparently not from her parents!
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:18 am
Candy knew just how she felt, though their thoughts remained silent. She couldn't imagine hiring anyphony to actually do the basket arranging. It was hard enough to hire somephony to deliver them! She missed seeing the joy on people's faces when they received the baskets, and dearly would like to ask them for their feedback. But busy times called for extra measures, so she skipped the deliveries and focused on the creation. Which really was he most important part. The idea of advertisement perked her ears up. "Oh that would be lovely!" she said "I could make a couple baskets just for your shop! Oh they would have to be coffee themed of course." Her brain started whirling, and she had to force herself to slow down. She still had other orders to think about first! "You would think they would be." she said with a laugh. "But once their friends and siblings start growing, they want to grow too! I expect another growth spurt here soon." "As for my cutie mark search, it was pretty difficult actually." she said, twirling her cup. "I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be a baker like my mom because I didn't start out being very good in the kitchen. But I certainly can't sing like my sister Boho, and I didn't like dress up like TART, so I really wasn't sure what I was supposed to do."
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:27 pm
Latte grinned and nodded enthusiastically in response to Candy's interest in advertisement. It was always good to share the love with one phony or another, and if their businesses became linked, certainly they would see different groups of customers emerging!
"Oh? That's the story I hear the most. It was pretty easy for me, I didn't really have to go looking. I always felt like the odd one out, working to grow and already having it! I even got teased in school a little, isn't that odd? My father is a detective, and my mother was a stay-at-home Momma, so I was around coffee all the time." As she spoke, she had begun to make herself a drink to battle the summer warmth, frozen and chai-y and came out from behind the counter.
"I'm sorry to keep you standing! Please, sit down. We can chat a while. So you thought you might be a baker, hm?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:35 pm
"I wondered for a long time whether I would find my cutie mark at all!" she said, remembering her quote unquote 'angst'. Looking back, it was really just childhood impatience, but it felt like something more. The two mares took a seat at a table across from each other. Candy was glad that there weren't any other customers at the moment. "I actually didn't know what my talent was until I met a foal by the name of Ikebana. He makes flower arrangements, and I though that it would be fun so I tried it out. But I didn't have any flowers, only cookies." She smiled fondly. "And then I realized how much fun I had making them!" "You were quite lucky to find yours right away!" She said, indicated the dollop of whipped cream on Latte's flank. "Then you had more time to practice!"
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:00 pm
"Oh, teasing aside I definitely consider myself lucky," Latte nodded. "You'd be surprised how much practicing I needed to do! Especially espresso art... ugh, that's rough! I've been able to study and create since I was a little filly, though. Dad and Mom always tried what I made, and I feel so sorry for them when I was first starting. I know now that my proportions were all off, but they drank it anyway! Dad was always better for feedback." She nodded and sipped her frozen tea.
"I didn't even notice when it happened, though. I was still half asleep! I'd gotten up early to surprise my parents with a new brew, and there they were, staring! My best friend didn't speak to me for a week!"
She was only talking about herself, though, and that was not polite at all! Besides, she really did want to know more about this mare. "So what are your arrangements made of? Just cookies, or is there something else?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:19 pm
"I had no idea how difficult making espresso can be." Candy said thoughtfully, staring down at her almost empty cup. How much effort goes into her choice of beverage? "My parents were the unfortunate testers of my first attempts at baking." she said cheerfully, chuckling at Latte's story. "I remember once I tried to mix nutmeg and pineapple into a pie. Dad said it was delicious, but he wouldn't swallow." Candy appreciated Latte's cutie mark story. It was nice to know that not everyphony got their cutie mark really easily, but neither did many simply obtain with without self reflection. She also found herself drawn to the mare across the table. They were both businessmares, and starting one at that! They could learn from eachother! "My arrangements are a mix of cookies, small cakes, and fruit. Chocolate too." she added. "Thanks to another phony, I am pretty good at making chocolate shapes. What are your specialties? Any drinks that you are really good at?"
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