Help needed. SONIK HAZ GRATE XOVER APPEEL + coffee · 7:53pm Jan 22nd, 2018
fIRSt Estee kneeds hep making a Sonic xover w/MLP Go reed and wirite. 
Second, I've started the daily publishing of Her Royal Morning Coffee, but I could use somebody who *actually* knows what in heck the difference is between frappuccino and the other strange words associated with Starbucks to give it a "Practicality" look. After all, Luna cares deeply about such things, and so does Twilight...
...although I think they're more interested in the pony doing the serving. (below the break)
Image credit Luna's Lab to Muffin Explosion at DeviantArt
Twilight has a secret coltfriend who nobody knows about. Not even her.
And he’s not too sure either.
Then Luna gets involved, and it only gets weirder.
Her Royal Morning Coffee
The Best Part of Waking Up
Dry Roast had a good reason for opening Java Le Choza every morning long before the sun rose, despite the rest of Ponyville still being sound asleep. It was not a particularly large reason, or a profitable reason, but he had stumbled onto it by accident one morning when he opened the store early because of a bout of insomnia, and had made up his mind at that point to never miss that special time of the morning ever again.
On normal inky-dark mornings, he would get everything set up in the coffee shop just a few minutes after he walked through the door, with the complicated chrome machinery heating up and the cheery lights in the window declaring ‘Open’ as brightly as they could shine. It made the little shop a tiny island of light in the pitch black night filling the town and helped chase away some of the imaginary creatures which he could far too easily imagine lurking in the shadows.
Not that he was actually afraid of the night, of course. One of the best parts of his morning was the slow stroll through the quiet town streets on the way to work under the beautiful stars to guide him and the moon to light his path. The bad part was that with the Everfree Forest a mere stone’s throw outside of the town, some of the less fearful denizens of the dark woods would share his nightly commute, with the occasional bat or curious opossum passing within touching distance before continuing on their way as if he were not worth their attention.
The early hours of the morning had become a comforting, special time for Dry. Once the store was open for business and the first frozen pastries popped into the oven to cook, he would look around the empty booths and allow his mind to enjoy the peace and quiet. Most of the time when the sky was clear, he would ignore the book he brought to read while waiting for his first customers and go stand out in the doorway, gazing up into the starry night and wondering about… stuff. Important stuff, like what the moon was really made of, and if Princess Luna was as fascinating to talk with as many of the town’s residents claimed. Trivial stuff such as why exactly had he traveled to this small town to run a small coffee shop when there were so many opportunities just like it in Canterlot. Deep thoughts about the nature of physical existence and if it was really possible to make a cherry chimichanga and how many ponies (other than Pinkie Pie) would actually order one with their coffee.
Tonight, he had barely gotten the equipment warmed up and his apron on when the cheerful little bell at the front door jingled. It was a little earlier than usual, but there were many nights when she did not show at all, so he took Twilight Sparkle’s bedraggled appearance in stride and smiled at the young alicorn princess where she stood spraddle-legged in the middle of the coffee shop doorway.
She could not see the smile, of course. The Princess of Friendship’s eyes were closed, as usual, although tonight she seemed more alert than Dry Roast had seen her in months, as if she might open her eyes at any moment.
Or not.
Her mane was rumpled and frayed, just like the first time he had opened the shop early and found Twilight Sparkle sleeping with her nose pressed firmly against the door just a few minutes after he turned on the coffee machinery. Much the same as she did back then, Twilight staggered forward, making her way up to the counter in small increments and seemingly driven mostly by scent. Under that frazzled pile of tangled mane, her cute little nose wrinkled up while she sniffed and her eyes remained firmly closed against the bright lights of the shop, but she still radiated an adorable presence which made Dry Roast give a little sigh of adoration back in return.
Her Highness, Princess of the All-Nighters. Someday I really need to get introduced to her when she’s awake so I can find out what color her eyes are.
“Mid grabble fattamatud filbudget macatonit. Mit fulbadagin.” Twilight’s voice was garbled and spoken nearly into the floor, but Dry had some critical experience with Her Highness’ Ritual of Far Too Early In The Morning, and repeated her order, or at least what he had learned to interpret from her odd dialect of Equestrian.
“Double-double espresso latte with seven pumps of chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and low foam, right?”
“Mfgkerswhutlse?”
“Eight pumps it is. Coming up.” Dry Roast got out the largest foam coffee container from behind the counter and proceeded to violate all the known dietary restrictions for caffeine density and chocolate in ways that would have appalled his former alchemy instructor at the university. He foamed and poured, measuring only vaguely and proceeding mostly by feel as the massive insulated container of not-quite-coffee filled up to the top and he clipped the lid on it. Behind him, he could hear the distinctive jingle of bits on the counter which always worked out to exact change plus a twenty percent tip.
“Here you go, Your Highness,” said Dry Roast as he moved back over to the counter, the massive container of coffee wobbling in his magic field until he put it down next to the pile of bits. “Will there be anything else? Bon Bon just brought in a bunch of chocolate-covered coffee bea—”
“lovya,” muttered Twilight Sparkle, taking a deep, deep breath of the steam rising from the top of her coffee, then moving in an almost unstoppable motion upwards until her hot lips pressed against Dry Roast. She kissed him just as hard as any stallion had ever been kissed before in the history of kissing, leaving a blaze of fire which turned Dry Roast’s face a crimson red and left his tail sticking straight out behind him. “Wanahaveyourfoals,” she murmured when coming up for air before resuming the passionate kiss, then, “righthererightnow,” before a third kiss of Royal intensity.
Just as Dry Roast’s knees were about to give out, Twilight Sparkle abruptly stopped the kiss and took a step back. The massive container of coffee levitated up in front of her lips, she took a deep, deep drink with just as much passion as she had put into the kiss moments before, then turned and stumbled toward the door.
“Merglipmuph,” murmured Dry Roast, still trying to get control over his scrambled brains.
“Neglimpth,” muttered Twilight between gulps of coffee. Then she was gone, and the coffee shop was again empty except for the bubbling of the coffee machine and the hammering of Dry Roast’s heart.
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--Sweetie Belle
The only good Sonic crossovers are Order From Chaos and the one I write next year.
4779463
I want to be angry at you so hard.
But oh gosh I love this to death and I want this game now.
I enjoy and respect Estee too much to subject her to hedgehog-flavored full-life consequences.
As for translating coffee language, this may help.
Oh, my!! I' got to read this and see where it leads.
What the? That picture. Wasn't that pretty much the machine Luna had in a couple of chapters of the Monster in Twilight??
4779898 Yep. Muffin Explosion is sooo cool.
4779480 hey, Estee asked for it.
First of all, I am not a coffee expert. But my brother spent some time as a barista, so I’ve picked a little up over the years.
In America, coffee tends to mean a pot of brewed filter coffee. Most of the rest of the world thinks of coffee as espresso. When it comes to espresso, there is a lot of snobbery involved. Much like wine snobbery, at the end of the day it’s pretty much meaningless.
Espresso is made by forcing pressurised steam through coffee grounds. You wind up with a shot-glass sized drink. It is then modified to taste. This infographic is a pretty good representation of the most common types of espresso orders.
coffeenate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/espresso_field_guide-819x1024.jpg
For a far more detailed explanation of espresso terminology this site is pretty comprehensive.
Anything listed as a frappe is blended with ice and milk to produce a coffee slushy.
Starbucks is its own world. While they do use a lot of traditional espresso terminology, a lot of it is their own trademarked names. In order to get to what most Americans think of as an acceptable size of drink, they add so much extra to an espresso just to make up the volume. It’s like taking a shot of whiskey and adding stuff to it until it’s the same volume as a pint of beer. Espresso snobs laugh and deride Starbucks. Meanwhile Starbucks regulars wonder why foreign coffee houses serve such tiny drinks...
Is it strange that the thing I like most about that Muffin Explosion picture is the signature? It's kind of adorable.
Out West coffee is small-batch roasted to maximize flavor: Loring Smart Roasters are the most efficient roasting equipment in the industry. The coffee roasting process used is 80% more efficient and generates 80% less toxic emissions than traditional roasters.
Regards
pure coffee out west coffee