Frothy Brew is the barista in the Canterlot café owned by himself, his wife, and his daughter. Years of hard work had made the café a successful and modestly popular place to stop and get a drink or a snack. Nothing prepared him though for it to become a hub of interaction with the undisguised changelings that were being seen more often in the streets of Canterlot. Can he put aside his feelings for the species though after witnessing the most horrifying aspect of the invasion years ago?
This story runs concurrently with the latter part of my Change of Life story. While reading that and Prelude To Change is not necessary, they do give valuable background that is glossed over in "Conversations". Cover art and story illustrations are all done by Foxenawolf.
One chapter and I'm hooked on another of your changeling stories.
Racism is a hell of a thing.
I am totally hooked. Great interactions.
Read it, liked it, faved it.
More of this fantastic writing if you please.
Oh heck yeah.
I already love this one and its only at its first chapter
Well, I like this one. I got hooked on changeling stories and this one promise to be interesting.
Wow, racism shown as understandable rather than just a stereotypical character trait made to ensure that the character is recognized as a cheap two-dimensional villain. Kudos!
Keep it up! We need more Changeling stories.
Take my attention, you marvelous bugger. Though I am kinda hoping that Peach brings home a changeling date...but. I know would be happy with anyway you write this.
*adds to read later list*
This was in the "Popular Stories" box... Gratulations!
Very much interested to have another look at changelings through your writings. And you've gone and hooked me twice with the physical differences between the hives. I'd say my hunger for details is a curse, except that it drives me to read stories of such fine quality as this. I await the next chapter with baited breath.
I wanna hug the crap outta the pony in the cover image.
Just wanted to say that your story has caught my attention, and I have added it to my favourites. Keep up the good work! Can't wait for more!
The artwork is very nice, and the description has me very curious. I must read this!
Should've called him out on it being a weak analogy, Pegasi do not normally kill and as a result it's a fallacy that all pegasi do it at a constant rate that defines their species
As is known, Changlings feed on love and hide as ponies to take in more love, this is a common species wide trait that changlings do infact feed off love and will do what they can to gain it, including disguising themselves as others as he mentioned he did this before in the Royal Guard.
Though I'm curious to see how this continues.
It's an interesting start. Definitely worth watching.
Okay. You've gotten me interested.The idea that somebody with a phobia of Changelings apparently becoming like a hub of Changeling talk, or something like that, would be interesting in the areas of character development.
Though Frothy and Peach don't have that feel of a father/daughter relationship. It feels more like two employees who are close friends with each other.
And Sterling seems a bit too stiff in his appearances. I know he is supposed to be a Royal Guard, but he should still show some emotion when he is talking to somebody who hates his appearance. The whole time, he just felt very flat.
Though I am hoping for more development. Looking forward to new chapters.
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My impression was that Sterling's analogy was more directed towards the "committing acts of violence and mind-rape" part than the "feeding on emotions" part. Based on his earlier comments about "passive consumption" of emotions given off by ponies, it seems that changelings (at least in Goldfur's continity) normally "feed" on emotions in much the same way that plants feed on sunlight; the plants aren't actively taking anything away from the sun, they're just absorbing the light and heat that the sun gives off already. So his point is that what Chrysalis and her drones did, of forcibly draining ponies of their emotional energy in excess of what those ponies would normally radiate on their own, was a criminal act of violence, and no more acceptable to the other changeling hives than Feather Touch's act of murder was to other ponies.
... You have gained my attention, good sir.
4446797 Only the first chapter so far. Can't have everything all at once!
4447060 That's exactly what I meant.
I LIKE IT!
I have to ask, was your title inspired by "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"?
4449056 Nope. Pure coincidence.
Was the hadn't intentional?
4449146 Yes. She knows, therefore she is more forgiving of being dismissed. If she had not, she would not have let him dismiss her so readily.
4447060
If that was the case it'd probably make more sense with something more akin to cannibalism or meat eating, rather then some act of mate-backstabbing.
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An analogy does not have to have a 1:1 correspondance with the thing being analogized against to make its point.
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Actually it somewhat does, as it could be an analogy backfire afterall.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnalogyBackfire
4450105 You're over-analyzing it. Besides, he was comparing two acts of violence, not one with abhorrent food preferences.
4450193
I know, I wasn't being as serious with the last one as I had hoped the happy derpy face would show.
I'd read a dey treatise
"Okay I'm in the café and it's packed I'm going to detonate the bomb."
Upvoting simply for that smirk
Finally sat some time down to read this and... now I have to wait for the next chapter.
Can't wait can't wait have to wait. Keep up in the great work, I'm going to be over here going stir crazy.
I've checked out quite a few changeling stories here, and yours are definitely near (if not at) the top of my favorites. The building on other 'verses makes them feel, I don't know, bigger, maybe? I like the idea of different hives of changelings with different queens, tastes, and ideals.
Also the single setting doesn't hurt the story at all, if anything I think it forces the focus to be more on the characters and their interactions with each other than any interactions with the environment, which makes for a different flavor of story.
I'm enjoying this immensely. I just love your building on the changeling world, you're probably my favorite changeling author out there. I don't mind the one area, it's actually a nice change from some stories.
Someone's going to have to get a bigger cafe at this rate.
Is Frothy a single parent? I think you mentioned his wife died. He best be careful Some female changeling may take a liking to him. Or Peach may take a liking to one. That's gonna get awkward.
4471575
I've got one better. Do changelings identify with one gender in this story? It would be probably be pretty disorienting seeing a very masculine sounding guard flirting with him.
Hey, congrats on making featured!
4471595
It's possible that changelings choose gender on the fly based on transformations or that they are all sterile females like insect hives.
4471624
Oh yeah, I agree. It's just amusing to think of quirks in biology and culture that might need to be overcome or aren't immediately obvious.
"Oh yeah, those are just bug ponies. Why is that little one so cute?" "Wait, what? They have fur until they're adults?"
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If you haven't read Goldfur's other three stories, you should. They're set in (what appears to be) the same 'verse, and they explain a LOT more about how changelings work in this 'verse. (First Prelude, then Change, then Growing.)
4471612 Holy cow! That was unexpected!! I must be doing something right. Hopefully I figure it out for the next chapter.
4471575 No, Frothy's wife, Cherry Delight, is alive and bakes the cakes and pastries for the café. She has yet to make an appearance, but she will in a future chapter.
Got to say, this story is good. It quite accurately portrays things in our own lives, in particular the mistreatment of a minority (Jewish people, Muslims, blacks, Mexicans). I got some bad rep on a story I recently made, and I think it's because I added a Muslim family in, without taking into account recent events. :/
Anyway, not here so people listen to my own sob story. Good job, and I'm eager for more!
4472052
Hey, don't put all the minorities in the same basket. I mean, imagine if they let Chrysalis' changelings live in Equestria, without so much as a pledge to obey the local laws and reject her ideology of violent conquest...
i.imgur.com/poxdhHQ.jpg
I don't read many stories that have changelings in them, but this one takes the prize of best one I'v read. Can't wait for more!
4471575
Peachy has already mentioned a purple-haired changeling mare that she's friends with. She also seems just as comfortable around changelings as ponies, possibly more so!
Keep at it - it's going well so far.
4472052 I have very good friends in Indonesia that are muslims. You wouldn't know they were muslims if you didn't ask them. The fact is that your ordinary citizen of any country, religion etc is usually a perfectly reasonable person. Mrs Jones is no different to Mrs Kahn or Mrs Hussein.