Sunlight Blade stared at the monstrous beverage before him, blinking. The thing looked like a swimming pool for foals, not a drink. The barista raised an eyebrow at him.
“You asked for a drink that’d get you through a triple shift after your first shift. This will do it. Now pay up.”
Sunny pouted at the pony’s tone, but after a moment, shrugged and smiled brightly, “You’re the expert Miss! I’ll trust your judgement!” And he began counting out the bits, giving her sixty, “And The extra six is your tip! Thank you miss Decaf, I’ll be sure to savour it!”
Even as he took it, he noted that even his magic needed a bit of effort to carry the monstrosity of a caffeine delivery system, and once he was out of line, he took a moment to take a sip and...
He could feel his pupils dilate. He could feel the individual bloodcells moving in his veins, the sound of each millilitre of coffee coming up the straw, clutched between his lips. The slow beating of his heart steadily going faster. He blinked and... the moment was gone. He paused, shook his head, and kept walking, already feeling a bit jittery. This was...
“Well, I’ll definitely be awake for the night,” He said lightly, “She was right, it’ll work well.”
Still sipping, he made his way through the coffee shop. Just before he left, he took another deep slurp of coffee and stepped outside. The world slowed down around him again, everything running in slow motion. As his gaze swept the world in slow motion, he smiled. A wind blew through his mane, and he felt every motion of the individual strands of mane. He watched a butterfly’s wings in slow motion, each beat taking several seconds, or so it seemed. A shaft of light breaking through a cloud to illuminate a patch of grass. A sound caught his attention however, and as he turned to see what it was, he saw a face. A pretty face of brown and nose of a darker brown, framed in green. Shouting. It took a moment, but Sunny eventually realised that the pretty face was aiming for his coffee, and he yanked it out of the way, watching in slow motion horror as she, as yes, it was a pegasus mare, missed his coffee by inches.
“Hey! That’s mine!” He complained as the world returned to its normal timescale, “I paid for it!”
“That’s a premium!” The pony replied angrily, “I’ve never actually seen one, and it will be MINE!”
Another lunge, and Sunny yanked his drink out of her way again, turning on his heels to watch his new opponent. Clearly, however, she’d been trained by some sort of military, as she spun in mid-air, landing her hooves on the outer wall of the shop and ricocheting off of it, pouncing back towards her prey. He ducked under her once again, watching in horror once more as her tongue reached out in a vain attempt to snag the straw, missing by a hair’s breadth. She landed, spinning to face him at the same time he did the same, staring her down. The face off lasted what felt like years to Sunlight. The stare down he never thought he’d have. The little pegasus before him, his biggest threat. All until, spitefully, he lifted the straw to his lips. Her warning glare only spurred him on, and he took a long, loud, slurp.
“Noooo!” She screamed and pouched, wings flared. On instinct, even as the world slowed down once again, he held the drink up between himself and his enemy, like he would a shield. Unfortunately for him, that was precisely what she was after, and he had to watch in slow motion despair as she yanked the coffee out of his magical grasp with a triumphant crowing. She ducked by him, and held the drink up, cackling madly.
“Finally! Sixty shots of pure espresso!” She crowed, which made Sunlight’s eyes go wide just before...
She slammed her face into the cup. Her whole face. Sunlight felt his face contort into one of both shock and mild disgust. Then, looking around nervously, decided it was better off for him to just not have to deal with a caffeine demon any further, and turned to leave.
He was several steps away and about to turn the corner when he heard the door open, and the sound of the Barista start screaming at the coffee thief, and he took off.
“I’ll just ask for compensation next time!” He muttered to himself, “I already feel like I’ll be awake for a week now anyway!”
His only regret? Not checking to see if the thief had needed help to not drown in the coffee. But, from what he’d seen of her face apparently absorbing the beverage? Perhaps she’d be just fine.
