Ages beyond Equestria: ponies out of time and place

It's five o'clock on a Thursday, and the city is shutting down from it's regular activities. This is usually a quiet day here in Manehatten,  but that's not saying much for the largest and busiest city in all of Equestria. All of the shops and stores are closing for the day, as the nightclubs, theaters and restaurants of the city's night life come alive.

The ponies are coming home from their jobs, and start making their way towards this evening's activities.  I can see several ponies (And a few other creatures) walking back and forth on the street outside. As the suns begins to set, my regular crowd starts trotting into the cafe for the evening. All of the ususals greet me as they shuffle past the bar.

"Hey Vanilla! How's it going?"

"Yo, Mocha! What's up? Hope you have the decaf on tap tonight!"

"Hey, girlfriend! Like, how's it going? It was, like, a sooo totally a terrible, horrible day!"

They all love coming to my little shop, a sweet little cafe in the basement of an old Manehatten warehouse. The upstairs has been re-purposed into an art studio by my sister Chocolate, so she lets me rent out the basement as a coffee shop. I do quite a decent business in here, attracting the ponies who just want to rest and relax for awhile, instead of getting themselves smashed on hard cider at one of the local bars.

Many of the crowd order their drinks and head to their tables, but a few I know really well have their coffees and lattes at the bar. Take this beige coated earth pony mare over at the end of the table, the one who just ordered a cinnamon coffee. She might always seem to be smiling, but I think those grey eyes hide more sadness than she's letting on.

"Hey Lorelei, enjoying your drink?" I ask her, refilling her streaming cup. "You seem to be all alone over here by yourself."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine, Mocha." She sighs, shoving her grey and blue steel mane out of her face. "I just... need to be alone and think for awhile, ya know?"

Poor Lore-Lei, she's been hiding her unhappiness for as long as I've known her. Lore emigrated here from some place called Bissful island, and has been living in an old abandoned horsemasterist temple on the edge of the city. She's a very unnerving figure, a sad little pony with a black flower petal and book cutie mark. But I personally think she looks more sad than creepy.

Besides, she's really really good at listening to other pony's problems... even better than me! I think she'd make a good waitress if I ever expanded to daytime hours... if she ever wanted a job, that is!

"Yeah, leave her alone, Vanilla! She, like totally want's to be alone!" Rose Petal declared, down a chocolate milk I had given her. "You should, like. come over here and talk to the rest of us!"

"What, did your alicorn senses tell you that?" I ask the pink unicorn with the purple mane sarcastically.

"Oh no.. It just, like,  totally came to me!" She giggled with an air headed smile.

Rose Petal... a bubbly headed bimbo, who loves to cosplay as a alicorn. This airhead with a butterfly cutie mark actually believes she is an alicorn princess (I personally think she got dropped on her head as a foal), and she'll burst into song at random, and play with fuzzy animals to the point of being sickeningly cute. Sure, she's eternally positive and happy, and she can lift a depressed pony's spirits. But I don't know how anybody puts up with this girl's sugary sweet personality, including Petal herself.

"Must you be so annoyingly positive?" A dark charcoal-colored mare called out from the other end of the bar, glaring at  the alicorn princess. "I swear, if you were any more sugary sweet, you'd give everyone in this place diabetes!"

"Ugh, like, you need to totally drop the negative vibes, girl!" Petal Snorted. "You're spreading around a whole lot of really bad karma! Why don't you try and lighten up a bit?"

The black Pegasus with the attitude and raven cutie mark is Nevermore. She's our resident pessimist, and counterpoint to Petal's blind optimism. From what I gather, she grew up in the everfree forest alone as a filly, shunned because of her weird red glowing eyes. Such an upbringing has made her a bit of a loner, and she only opens her mouth to yell at other ponies who annoy her. Having both her and Petal in the same place at the same time can lead to a bickering session, but I feel it kind of balances a room out.

"Would you to shut yer yappers, and please stop arguing? I can't think with all that noise!" a gruff voice called out from the back of the coffee shop, coming through the back door of my shop, and carrying two boxes of creamer. "Hey boss, the newest shipment of coffee condiments just came in!"

"Thanks Gorri! Just put them behind the bar!" I yell back to the oversized Minotaur, before looking back to my customers. "Pay him no mind, girls. Gorri can just be a bit grumpy sometimes."

Boy, that's an understatement I just made there. That big lug is the building maintenance my sister Chocolate hired, and he helps both her and I out with our businesses.  Sure, he can be a bit of a grouch sometimes, but the oversized red mook is very helpful when you need a large load lifted.  He doesn't bother customers that often, so he's really helpful to have around. Being a Minotaur in a pony society, he kinds of fits in with the rest of us outcasts around here.

So yeah, that's my coffee business in a nutshell, and the kind of thing I deal with on a nightly basis. Not the best crowd one could find in this city, but not the worst either. But the moment all of our lives changed forever.... that crazy medallion my sister bought from a traveling wizard, how it changed our lives forever... now, that is a story you really, really, gotta hear!

My name is Vanilla Mocha, and this is my tale...