Frothy did not usually buy a newspaper because the vast majority of news was readily spread by word of mouth of the multitude of customers that came through his doors every day. This morning he made an exception to that practice. After all, it was not often that you were part of the lead story. The Canterlot Chronicle’s banner headline read:
PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE ATTACKED!
It was a bit sensationalist, and Frothy had to shake his head over the slightly misleading headline, but he had been convinced by the others that a shock story had more impact. He continued to read the article that had a picture of a rather disheveled Twilight accompanying it. The carefully posed photo highlighted the cuts she had received, the blood on her fur not yet cleaned off.
The article read:
“Last night, Princess Twilight Sparkle and several citizens meeting with her at the True Brew Café, were the victims of an unprovoked attack by an unknown perpetrator(s). Injuries ranging from life-threatening to bloody gashes were inflicted on most of those present for informal discussion of changeling-pony relations and community awareness.”
Frothy had to admire the way the writer had implied that Twilight had been more seriously injured than she had been, while still sticking to the truth. Hopefully whoever had done the deed would be shocked by what he or she had actually done. At the very least, ponies would think twice about taking violent action against changelings and their supporters. When innocent bystanders such as their beloved princesses were victims, community outrage would be sure to turn against them. Or at least he hoped that would be the case. Frothy had to admit that he had been very pigheaded in his own prejudice until recently. He continued reading:
“Recent tensions in the Canterlot community came to a head when a sizable piece of masonry from an adjacent construction site was hurled through the window of the café, sending shards of glass flying into the midst of the gathering. The stone had been inscribed with the words - ‘NO MORE CHANGELINGS’ - an obvious reference to the growing popularity of the café as a haven for Canterlot’s changeling citizens who have been facing much discrimination from many other merchants.”
“Hmm, the writer was quick to point out that as citizens, changelings have been getting short-changed lately,” Frothy mused aloud. “I wonder if that will prick any consciences?”
He was about to read more when a familiar voice spoke up behind him.
“My goodness, Frothy, what happened to your shop?”
Frothy turned to face Fancy Cuts, the local mane stylist. She had an odd expression on her face - somewhat concerned, but hardly as shocked as he thought she should be. “We had a nasty bit of vandalism by some racist pony last night, and there were several people injured.”
“Oh dear, I hope they weren’t hurt too badly?” Fancy Cuts said.
“Judge for yourself,” Frothy replied. “It’s front page news.”
Frothy held up the newspaper for her to see. Fancy’s eyes widened at seeing Twilight’s picture and she blanched after reading the headline and first paragraphs.
“Th-this is t-terrible!” she stuttered. “I… I have to go… um… t-tell the others. Th-the other shop k-keepers.”
Fancy Cuts hastened away, while Frothy cast a suspicious eye on her. Fancy Cuts’ stutter only manifested when she was nervous. A guilty conscience perhaps?
Frothy continued walking back to the café, but paused at the neighboring shop to have a look at the progress of the renovations.
“Morning, Frothy!” boomed the voice of the forepony, a sturdy earth pony whom Frothy knew to actually be a Red Changeling. The strongly built Reds did not all choose to serve in the Guard, and a strong physique was useful in the building trade.
“Good morning, Sharp Angle. Have you heard the news?”
“If yer talkin’ about last night’s unscheduled remodelin’ of yer shopfront, yeah, we all have. Mighty bad stuff brewin’, I reckon. No pun intended.”
“You haven’t happened to overhear anything suspicious lately?” Frothy asked.
“Who, me? A simple earth pony like me don’t hear nothin,” he loudly replied, then he lowered his voice and added conspiratorially, “But my comrades have been hearing rumors of a campaign being organised against us.”
Frothy nodded and said, “Well, if you hear anything more definite, let Peach know, please.”
“Miss Peach? Why not you?” Sharp Angle replied with surprise on his face.
“I’m just a simple café owner, Sharp. Last night’s events made me realize that while I am sympathetic to the changeling cause, I’m not an activist. My daughter, on the other hoof, is very much the gung-ho type, ready to commit herself heart and soul to whatever it takes to champion changeling rights. Despite the threat made last night though, I’ll continue to host any meetings they want to hold. I can’t see it making any difference at this point because I reckon I’ve been indelibly marked as a sympathizer, and I won’t be a hypocrite and start turning away changelings.”
“No worries, Frothy. We appreciate what ya do. The guys’ll have the damage fixed soon – no charge.”
“That’s generous of you. Thanks!”
“Don’t mention it. Gotta do somethin’ for all them free coffees ya give us,” the forepony replied with a broad wink.
Frothy grinned, taking the hint and heading off to the shop to start brewing.
* * *
Seeing Princess Twilight Sparkle again so soon came as a big surprise to Frothy, but there she was walking through the front door like any regular customer. She was sporting a lot of bandages, and she drew gasps of dismay from the various customers that were there at that time. Twilight ignored them all though, and she approached the counter, greeting Frothy with a smile.
“Good morning, Frothy. I’d like a cappuccino and an apple danish, please.”
“Coming right up, Your Highness!” Then in a much quieter voice, he asked, “What happened? I thought you weren’t that badly injured?”
Twilight gave him a surreptitious wink and replied softly, “I had the doctor bandage every trivial cut just to make things look worse than they are. It’s an extension of what we did for the newspaper.”
“So that’s why you’re out here in public – so everypony can get an eyeful?”
“Exactly! I want ponies to think twice about the consequences of violent action. Dealing with the prejudice and bigotry will be hard enough without adding that to the mixture.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Frothy replied, and then in his normal voice added, “I hope you enjoy your coffee, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Mister Brew.”
Twilight took her cappuccino and danish to a free table, and started drinking. It was not long though before a customer came over and politely asked to talk to her. Then a second joined them, quickly followed by a third. Before long, the princess was basically holding court in her corner of the café. Frothy knew that before long, everything that was said there would soon be disseminating throughout the neighborhood, and not long after that, through the rest of Canterlot. Gossip was certainly a powerful tool to fill in the gaps that newspapers could not reach, or did not satisfy.
Frothy mused that if Twilight continued to use the café like this, he might just have to ask for royal endorsement. He chuckled to himself as he pictured the words: “By Appointment to Their Highnesses” lettered over the café’s sign.
* * *
“I’ll be leaving as soon as Archer turns up, Dad,” Peach reminded him.
Frothy nodded. The aborted meeting was being continued tonight, but was being held at the palace instead. As Frothy had told Sharp Angle, he had no intention of being part of that meeting, but Peach was certainly fired up. “Ask him to see me before you go, please.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
Twenty minutes later, the Red Changeling arrived in his unicorn guise, and was promptly sent over to see Frothy.
“Did you want to talk to me, Frothy?” Archer asked.
“Yes, Archer. I’ve been giving you a hard time still about taking out my daughter, but you realize that I haven’t really been serious lately?”
“Yeah, I figured that out.”
“Well, let me be perfectly serious right now. Peach has chosen to get involved in championing changeling rights, but that has already proved to be potentially dangerous. You’re closest to her away from the family, and I’m relying on you to keep her safe.” Frothy poked Archer in the chest with one fore hoof. “So nothing better happen to her while she’s with you; got it?”
“Got it,” Archer replied with a nervous smile. He walked over to where Peach was waiting for him and said to her, “Your dad can be downright scary sometimes, y’know?”
Peach grinned. “What? The big, bad Royal Guard is scared of a café barista?” she teased.
“Tartarus, yeah! That’s one pony I don’t ever intend to cross. There’s nothing more dangerous than a loving parent with the courage of his convictions.”
“That’s one reason why I love him. Now come on! We don’t want to be late for the meeting.”
Frothy watched them leave, not without a twinge of concern, but convinced that they were the hope for a better future, with ponies and changelings living and working together in harmony. In a world of magic, there was none greater than that of Harmony, and those two exemplified it. He was sure that the future was in safe hooves with them.
Meanwhile though, he had a café to run, and customers to satisfy. Let his daughter fight the big battles if that was what she wished. He was content to make his small corner of the world better one latté or cappuccino at a time.
* * * * * * * * *
Shouldn't Celestia send a squad of guards to keep an eye on things with all of the bigotry going on? I mean, I know that the military forces of Equestria are pretty pathetic, but it would show that she isn't tolerating the anti-changeling attitudes and was willing to take action to stop it... Okay, yeah, Celestia isn't the greatest ruler in the worlds of fiction, but when her freaking apprentice is attacked, the apprentice who she is willing to gamble with other ponies' lives in order to ensure she becomes a princess, you'd think she'd do something.
4860575
I too am surprised, but then again, Twilight probably wants to handle it herself and not have it look like she needs Celestia to hold her hoof.
And, Frothy? Where's my grande soy vanilla latte with extra foam? Chop chop.
I bet what isn't mentioned bu happening in the chapter is more visable patrols. And you can bet the attack has already back fired with news of Twilight being hurt in the attack
4860744 A fair point, I suppose. Still, I kind of wish that Celestia or Luna (heck, at this point I'd take friggin' Cadance), come in and handle things personally. Ponies/people aren't especially brave when they're not main characters; if an immortal princess who literally controls the sun, the princess who brings daytime and allows your crops to grow and your economy to function, says to cut the crap, you do it if you know what's good for you - unless Celestia isn't willing to intervene for some reason. I mean, it's entirely possible.
4861032
Exactly my point. You can't have the other princesses come in. To do so makes it look like Twilight isn't their equal. This is her project.
Attacking her should be a big enough deal.
4861032 Luna still wants to squish all the cherngelerngs because they're icky bugs. She likes bats better. Cuz they eat bugs.
4861262 Don't think the writer ever said that...
4861185 I guess so. Still, Twilight really is sort of a minor princess, or at least in the show. She only just got a castle in the show, and she hasn't really done anything with that sort of authority. Heck, you could argue that Luna is a lesser princess, too. I mean, she does have the smaller throne that's to the side...
Eh, whatever.
4861032 The only problem is you can't force people to change their minds. Even if Celestia got directly involved, ponies can lie to her face. Plus, she can't watch every corner of Equestria to see who's doing what, when and why. And let's not forget Celestia's other duties as the lead princess of Equestria. Luna's usually asleep all day. And Cadence has her own empire to run.
I want to say that this seems to be handled perfectly by the princesses. Celestia would already know the extent of Twilights injuries as well as her magic power. I'm sure if Celestia felt felt Twilight was in any danger she'd take steps to mitagate it. But Celestia can't be everywhere at once. She pretty much has to take the seat of ruling the nation and make movements to show where her support lies and trust that her example will sway enough ponies over to her side to pressure the rest of socitey (for example having guards that are changlings, and she probably has changling amabassodors). Considering that it is now Cannon that Twilight is indeed the princess of friendship (not magic) she is the one who should be the most hooves on with trying to deal with the prejudice.
Though considering how special Twilight is to Celestia and Cadance (maybe Luna as well for saving her and helping her on Nightmare Night) if attacks escalate and/or Twilight finds herself a target there will be hell to pay. Also its not like the offenders can run to the griffon kingdom, since we know the griffons support the changlings, if only because they want support as residents as well.
4861841 True. But remember, they're in Canterlot at the time. In the show, we see that the Canterlot ponies are very, very influenced by popular ponies, like Fancy Pants. I'd imagine that Princess Celestia's presence would earn some support, at least from the parasitic leeches that she surrounds herself with.
4861926 True. She definitely has a large influence in Canterlot. But how big is that influence when it comes to changelings? Especially in the city of the attack.
4861939 Once again, true enough. And once again again, she raises the sun, brings the day, and allows their crops to grow. She also has legions of soldiers who are loyal to her and her competition is a bunch of disgruntled citizens. Whilst she certainly wouldn't want to impose her will on others, if her former student and fellow princess had been wounded by an assault, it would be an excellent time to make a stand and show that you mean business and that any further transgression will be harshly dealt with. If Celestia does care about the changelings and has accepted them into her kingdom, then she is essentially taking them in as her own subjects, the same subjects she gave up her magic for, banished her sister for, and took on an uber-charged changeling queen for. There is really no good reason for her not to get involved, unless she's taking this opportunity to gamble with the lives of the changelings' and teach Twilight a lesson about princesshood so that one pony can get ahead of the world, regardless of what might happen to the others.
And as for the "ponies can lie" thing, I'm pretty sure Luna can walk inside dreams and dig around for proof. She'd just need a search warrant or something.
4862109 I do agree. But I have to wonder how much of an influence she can have without overstepping the boundaries that she sets for herself. She doesn't want to completely dictate the lives of her ponies. She wants them to have thee freedom of choice and all. Luna walking in their dreams is already an invasion of privacy, but she helps those that need it. If she starts using what she learned against ponies then they'd be more than disgruntled.
Also, she's probably in on the media's plan to play up the injuries. Granted, it would help out the plan if she reacted, but I also think that she knows that Twilight is the better face for this campaign since she relates to the civilian population, and she was directly involved in stopping the changeling threat.
4862284 Yokay, if you say so.
4862284 Although, I honestly think this solution seems a little rushed. I hope the author has something good planned.
I love how everyone's talking about whether or not Celestia should intervene, and nothing else at all.
All I wanted to say was that one other shopkeeper who was obviously guilty... I wonder what she and the 'others' are going to do now that they know things aren't going their way?
while i do like that your stories have pictures. yes im childish like that. you gotta do what gotta do man.
Two words:
Shock and Awe.
That is basically the path that they're taking now. Twilight making her injuries look more severe, putting an exaggerated story in the newspaper, then walking around Canterlot is the first step. What's next? Who knows!
Before I start reading?
Goddamn that is one handsome stallion in that cover art
4861790 (Luna gallops around with a giant flyswatter, squishing Cherngelerngs while shouting at the top of her Canterlot Voice-enchanced lungs, ""ICKY GIANT BUGS!!! EWWWWW!!! GOTTA SQUISH EM ALL!")
4864996 Geez, never knew Luna was anti-semantic. Now she is worst princess.
4861790
Alondro's just being his usual half-wit self, trying to get a rise out of people with nonsensical comments. Ignore the silly bugger.
4865940 I figured. It was mildly amusing, though. Mildly.
Yay new chapter. My one little squirmish is... this.
Frothy turned to face Fancy Cuts, the local mane stylist. She had an odd expression on her face - somewhat concerned, but hardly as shocked as he thought she should be. “We had a nasty bit of vandalism by some racist pony last night, and there were several people injured.”
Ponies aren't people lol
4867074
Not all the injured were ponies. There were several changelings and a griffon present as well, remember?
4867639 Yes but the word people directly refers to more than one human. There are no humans in this story.
4869313
In this context, "people" is a collective noun for a group of sapient beings, a usage which has a long and well-established history in fantasy and sci-fi stories in general.
4865352 Luna is very prejudiced of semantics, yes.
Luna cries out in rage, "A POX UPON THE STUDY OF LANGUAGES!! I NEED NO COMPETENCE IN THE INTERPRETATION OF LINGUISTIC STRUCTURE!!"
4868922 Weighty Words is female - I will check my text and edit where necessary.
I see Celestia as more the chess master, her moves will be more subtle than a squad of troopers.
Luna on the other hand is the battle mare of the two, her response would be more in the line of kicking in doors and hauling off perps.
Supporting EquesTRON's statement and using Andre Norton’s characters as examples, the Salariki ( cat) descended, Faltharian (bird), Zacathan (reptile, and the Keplian (horse) are all people while only those born or descended from those of Earth would be human. Ignoring genetic drift and mutations.
At the rate we are finding extrasolar planets the difference is going to hit us in the face sooner or later. Most likely a lot sooner that many humans would like.
I have one thing to say: WELCOME TO THE U.S.!
I get the feeling this will turn into a full scale race war soon.
*pokes*
Rite more.
Hey, everyone. Poke the author.
Make him rite moar
*poke**poke**POOOKE*
I think we somehow missed September's installment...I see only the one from August... hehe
Nah...all jokes aside. I loved the story (just like the other ones you made), and I'm looking forward to future chapters of these as well as any chakaverse stories you might make for us
Coffee: making the world a more tolerable place since over two hundred years ago!
Riiight. The other "shop keepers"
Pfff. She's laying it on rather thick, isn't she?
Looks like their newspaper article had the right effect, anyway, lol. Fancy Cuts seemed pretty mortified.
Remarks and corrections:
> “I’ll be leaving as soon as Archer turns up Dad,”
Needs a comma before "Dad"
"I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my favorite shop in Canterlot."
5109656 oh, that reminds me of a silly story:
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/314187/awful-lot-of-coffee-in-equestria