Fluttershy sat on a comfy couch in her living room, her turquoise gaze carefully following the small animals playing games with each other around the perimeter of the room. Giggling to herself, she gently helped a tiny mouse up that'd just stumbled on accident.

"Be careful now, Mr. Mouse," Fluttershy told him just before the small creature scampered off, squeaking his thanks to the yellow pegasus.

"My, my, what a lovely day it is today!" Fluttershy observed as she trotted over to the nearest window and swept back the curtains, letting bright sunlight filter in through the window. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a short break, would it?" She glanced back at her animal friends, beginning to frown as she pondered her choices.

"I'm sure it won't," she murmured to herself after giving it a few moments of thought, turning around to inform her animals that she was going out and would be back soon. Thankfully, they didn't complain and merely nodded before racing to get her saddlebag for her.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Fluttershy smiled as she accepted her precious saddlebag, bidding her little critters goodbye one more time before leaving her cottage. It was time to pay Ponyville a little visit.

Humming a soft tune to herself, Fluttershy trotted along the path that led to Sugarcube Corner. Just as she approached the confectionary, however, an unfamiliar building caught her eye. On first glance it would have passed for a normal shop, but as Fluttershy drew nearer to it, she realized that the interior was crowded with ponies screaming a rather unfamiliar word. A green and white logo stood guard above the entrance, the words Starbucks Coffee imprinted on it.

"Hmm?" Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion, her eyes narrowing slightly as she inspected the new shop.

"Oh my goodness! I simply cannot believe this!" The melodious voice that could only belong to the one and only Rarity reached Fluttershy's ears just as the white unicorn trotted into view, her expression one of pure awe. "After such a ridiculously long wait, it is finally open!"

Fluttershy turned to Rarity, glancing at the group of ponies that'd just raced past them and into the shop. Once again, they were screaming that word, which seemed to be an ongoing trend with everypony near or inside the shop. "W-What do you m-mean?"

Rarity rolled her eyes in perhaps the most dramatic way possible. "Why, darling, Starbucks has finally opened! Haven't you heard of it before? Even though it's quite rare in this part of Equestria, it's still the most famous coffee shop ever!"

"S-Starbucks?" Fluttershy asked, completely bewildered as she took in and tried to comprehend this new information. "What's coffee? Is it like one of Pinkie Pie's cakes?"

"Darling, you simply must not be serious!" Rarity exclaimed, her tone one of utter disappointment. "How have you never heard of coffee before? Goodness, Fluttershy! I'll have you know that coffee is none other than a most splendid refreshment that keeps you awake even in your most sleepiest of times! I, for once, have tried it several times myself, and it certainly does help me finish my designs very late at night."

Fluttershy gasped in disbelief. "Oh no! I-Is it some sort of s-spell? I-I'd rather not-"

Rarity coughed delicately, interrupting Fluttershy's quiet rambling. "No, my dear! Coffee is nothing else but a delicious refreshment; the taste is so magical that you don't want to sleep even if you feel like it! How about this, Fluttershy? Follow me and I shall show you the wonders of coffee!"

Rarity used her magic to grab Fluttershy, levitating the struggling pegasus right into the fray taking place inside the coffee shop. Fluttershy gulped as she floated into the building, the tempting smell of fresh refreshments beginning to fill her nostrils. Her terrified expression, however, immediately shifted to one of amazement as she hesitantly took a deep whiff of the air. Rarity smiled, noticing her sudden change of mood, before releasing her magical grip on her and guiding the yellow pegasus to one of the cashiers.

"Now then, Fluttershy," Rarity declared dramatically as they approached a cashier. "Those words up there on the wall in front of you? Why, that's nothing else but the fabulous menu you'll end up dreaming about in your wildest dreams! You can order anything you'd like, and the best thing is that it's all fully customizable!"

Fluttershy nodded dreamily, still taking in her new surroundings. A wide variety of croissants, drinks, and snacks were on display in the display shelves surrounding the area where all the cashiers were; each cashier also manned their very own contraptions while serving their respective customers.

Suddenly, Rarity stopped right in her tracks, which caused Fluttershy to crash into her and therefore snapped her out of her dream-like state. Dazed, she glanced up to see that her friend was now conversing with a dark brown stallion standing behind one of the black contraptions she'd noticed earlier.

"I would like a large Pumpkin Spice Latte, please." Rarity gave the cashier one of her most charming Rarity smiles before using her magic to get Fluttershy back onto her hooves. "Take your time, Fluttershy! I want this to be one of the best experiences in your whole entire life! Don't forget, menu's up on the wall!"

Fluttershy paled as her eyes fell upon the, for lack of a better word, gigantic menu in front of her. "O-Oh m-my..." From what she could gather, the menu boasted a variety of drinks that anypony could order: frappuccinos, decafs, lattes, and so on, each one with their own mouth-watering flavors to choose from. The whole thing intimidated her to the point where she was reduced to nothing but a nervous wreck, frantically scanning the menu but still having the most difficult of times trying to decide on what she wanted to order.

After an extremely awkward silence that seemed to have lasted hours instead of minutes, she suddenly blurted out, "I'll h-have a s-small... very small... c-cup of coffee, p-please. T-That'll be a-all..."

"Coming right up, ladies!" the stallion exclaimed, rushing to another strange contraption and performing what Fluttershy interpreted as making their drinks.

"Excellent!" Rarity fluttered her eyelashes at Fluttershy. "It did take rather long for your first time, but we all have to start somewhere, don't we darling? This is progress, I must say!"

They were led to an open table nearby, which was subject to one of Rarity's infamous "dirt checks" as soon as they got there. The white unicorn only sat down after she was certain that there was not a speck of dirt to be found anywhere on that chair... well, let's just say that was the reason why her "dirt checks" always took about ten to fifteen minutes, never less.

"Take a seat," Rarity said, patting the chair next to her with a hoof. Fluttershy, seeing as there was no other choice, slowly sat down. "Now, your first order of business, Fluttershy: you simply must memorize the menu for any future visits!"

"W-Wait, wha-?"

Rarity shot out of her seat, cutting off Fluttershy's words, as she rushed over to one of the cashiers - upon closer examination, Fluttershy realized it was the one that they'd just ordered from a few minutes ago - and received a tray on which sat their drinks. She quickly made her way back to Fluttershy, setting the tray down on the table.

"This is yours, darling." Rarity smiled, placing Fluttershy's drink in front of her. "You'd usually add some milk or cream personally, but I asked that most wonderful cashier to do that for you, so go ahead and take a sip! I assure you, it'll be a most rewarding experience! Honestly, you simply just haven't lived until you've tasted coffee!"

Fluttershy stared at her drink for a long time before she finally lifted the cup up to her mouth, the logo it bore seeming to beckon to her.

Then, she sipped.

For the next few days, Fluttershy was occasionally spotted at Starbucks by Rarity, who also went there often. Each time, the white unicorn would try to strike a conversation with her friend, and each time, she'd only receive a blank stare in response.

It was the fourth day in the row that finally made Rarity break. Concerned about Fluttershy's irregular behavior, she decided on going to Twilight Sparkle - the bookworm out of all her friends - and ask for her assistance in this matter.

"Twilight, dear?" Rarity called out as she knocked firmly on Twilight's door, trying as best as she could to disguise the intense panic in her voice.

"Rarity?" The door opened as a familiar alicorn came into view, blinking rapidly at the fashionista. "Wow, you look really worn out."

Rarity sighed in response, slowly trudging into the Golden Oak Library and taking a seat on a nearby stack of books. To Twilight's surprise, she didn't even bother to check if the books were dusty or not, which was an automatic sign that whatever was bothering Rarity must have been something extremely troubling.

"Um, Rarity?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Are you okay? You aren't... acting like your normal self."

Rarity's head snapped in the direction of Twilight's voice, fixating her with a devastated stare. "I'm fine, darling. I'm afraid Fluttershy isn't, though."

Twilight's expression changed in a flash. "What happened? Is she alright?"

Rarity, taking in a deep and dramatic breath, told Twilight the whole story of what'd happened, not leaving out a single part. As soon as she finished her tale, she could tell that Twilight was utterly speechless, her jaw silently working up and down.

"So Fluttershy is addicted to Starbucks coffee?" Twilight finally said after a rather awkward silence.

Rarity nodded.

"Is it dark magic?" Twilight persisted, already starting to adopt a frantic expression on her face.

"I honestly don't know myself, Twilight. What I do know, though, is that it's not normal for somepony to get that addicted to coffee."

Twilight's right eye twitched. "This is bad," she muttered, beginning to pace around the room mindlessly. "This is very, very, very, VERY bad. Who could have done this? Discord? No, he's at Canterlot with the Royal Sisters. But who else besides him?"

Twilight continued to drone on and on, which alarmed Rarity. She knew the signs that indicated whenever her friend lost herself to her paranoia and go absolutely crazy, but she'd believed in the theory that since Twilight was now an official princess, her habit would eventually be a thing of the past. Of course, it seemed that it wasn't the case. "Twilight, darling?"

The alicorn spun around, both of her eyes twitching uncontrollably. "Yes, Rarity?" she asked, her tone dark.

Rarity shivered, certain that none of her friends had witnessed Twilight's paranoia to the degree she was now. "Perhaps you should calm down. A simple coffee addiction is not the work of dark magic, I assure you."

Twilight's eyes narrowed dangerously, finally ceasing their twitching. "Simple?" she yelled, shoving her face in Rarity's. "You call something like this simple?"

Rarity recoiled instinctively, shocked to the core by Twilight's aggressive behavior.

"I thought you knew better, Rarity!" Twilight continued, her tone growing more and more hostile with each word. "I thought that you'd actually try to help me instead of lying to me! Well, guess what, Rarity? I don't need your help! I'll solve this problem by myself!"

And with that, Twilight's horn was bathed in its trademark violet glow for just a brief second before she disappeared, having already teleported to another place.

Rarity stared after her, mouth agape.

Twilight, shouldering aside a bunch of ponies, forced her way into Starbucks. As soon as she got in, her paranoid gaze searched the interior, trying to single out a familiar yellow pegasus.

Spotting her at a nearby table, casually sipping at some coffee, she immediately stormed over to her. "Fluttershy!" she growled, her tone menacing. "You are going to tell me exactly why you are seen here every day by Rari-" Twilight caught herself with a scowl as she remembered the traitorous fashionista.

"Why you are seen here every day," she corrected quickly, eyeing the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy, shocked by the sudden appearance of a very furious Twilight Sparkle, nearly spilled her coffee. "W-What do y-you mean, T-Twilight?"

"Tell me exactly why you are seen here every day," Twilight repeated, eyes narrowed.

"D-Drinking c-coffee?" Fluttershy offered weakly.

"Drinking coffee every single day?" Twilight's eyes began twitching rapidly again, her mane becoming disheveled. "You must be under some sort of dark magic! Fluttershy, tell me, who did this to you? They'll regret doing this!"

Fluttershy stared at the lavender alicorn for a long moment before she finally burst into small giggles. "Oh, Twilight! I'm not under any sort of spell! It's just that the coffee here is, well, very enjoyable!"

Twilight froze. "You're... not being influenced by dark magic?"

"Not at all," Fluttershy confirmed, a warm smile on her face.

Twilight's expression immediately shifted to that of remorse, all signs of her former paranoia now gone. "Oh, no! If that's so... I need to go apologize to Rarity right now!"

Her horn lit up with magic as she disappeared once again, leaving behind a confused Fluttershy who simply went back to drinking her coffee.

Author's Note

Just a random idea that popped into my mind one day during a visit to Starbucks.

I left you all on a huge cliffhanger deliberately because I'd like you to have the freedom of shaping your own ending to be however you like. It's just more interesting, in my opinion, then writing a solid ending.