The Three Sisters: Like Fudge
Chapter 14: Coffee for six
By Wanderer D
“Rarity, you’d better not be choosing a new scarf!” Chrysalis growled.
Rarity stopped rummaging through her bags and glared right back. “For this weather? Are you insane?” She levitated three head-pieces, one with flowers, one with curly lace and one with gems. “No, I am just choosing the right mane decoration for today.” She turned around and faced Chrysalis, holding them next to her. “What do you think? I like the flowers, but maybe the gems go better with our surroundings?”
“I think we’ll be late for breakfast and meeting the queen if you spend enough time deciding to make me molt again.”
"I do not take that long!" Rarity gritted her teeth, but decided to take the gem-studded head-piece. “Fine. If you must be so insistent, we shall go now.”
“Good!” Chrysalis nodded and practically pushed Rarity out the door. “We must make a good impression and we can’t be the last ones in.” She paused. “Unless… we make it sound intentional.”
“Let’s not,” Rarity said. “I wouldn’t want Queen Apocrita to wait too long for us, the poor thing had such a hard time just getting to the table last night.”
Chrysalis snorted. “A sign of weakness. But she played it masterfully with her threat to all of us were any other queen try to murder her.” She shook her head and glanced at Rartiy. “But that gives us more trouble than you might think. Now that there’s no way to strike the queen of the hive down directly, the others will definitely start thinking of ways to get rid of us.”
“But I thought the queen wanted to make her own choice as to who would rule in her stead?”
Chrysalis nodded. “Yes, but it’s easier to choose when there’s only one choice left standing.”
Unlike dinner, breakfast was a more somber affair. All the other parties were silently glancing at each other, calculations in their eyes, and a general feeling of suspense hung over the large banquet table like a shroud.
Queen Dermestid was carefully looking at the plates in front of her, as if she expected them to explode into a changeling-eating monster. Queen Dacus’ eyes kept shifting from one side of the table to the other, either expecting something to happen, or somepony to give away any ill intentions; and finally, Queen Phoenutria simply sat rigidly in place.
Having arrived a bit later than the others, Chrysalis and Rarity took side-by-side seats directly opposite to Queen Apocrita.
“Good morning, you two,” Queen Apocrita acknowledged them, nodding briefly in their direction. “Please, join us for breakfast.”
“Thank you, your highness,” Rarity said with a smile and a short bow. “We would be delighted.” Her eyes turned to the other queens. “And good morning to you, Queens Phoenutria, Dermestid and Dacus! I hope you had a good night’s sleep?”
The replies were noncommittal grunts of acknowledgement for the most part as several changelings marched into the room, levitating plates of warm food and steaming pitchers full of coffee. Queen Phoenutria snatched one from one of the changelings and without preamble drank the whole thing down while Rarity watched in horror.
Finally, she slammed it down in front of her, closing her eyes and wincing for a second before smiling a fanged grin and looking up at the others. “I simply can’t start a day without coffee.”
“Wasn’t that really hot?” Chrysalis asked with just a hint of curiosity. “As in, boiling hot?”
“Yes,” Queen Phoenutria nodded. “Yes it was.”
“Excellent!” Chrysalis said as she and the other Queens raised their pitchers and downed the burning liquid in one long gulp as Rarity could do nothing else but stare.
When they were all done, they glanced at Rarity. “Purity dear," Queen Apocrita spoke up, steam pouring through her nostrils, “Don’t you like coffee?”
“I-I do!” Rarity stammered. “But… that’s—why did you all down a pitcher-full of boiling coffee?!”
“What do you mean?” Chrysalis asked. “Coffee is one of the main ‘exports’ we ‘acquire’ from ponies. We’ve grown to appreciate the effects it has in our bodies.”
Rarity shook her head. “But doesn’t it... burn you on the way down?”
“Well, yes,” Queen Dacus spoke up, her voice hoarse. “But that’s how the ponies drink it, and although the pain is sometimes a bit much, the results can’t be argued with.”
“B-but that’s not how ponies drink coffee!”
There was a moment of silence.
“I… beg your pardon?” Demestrid asked. “Queen Purity, you can’t possibly be implying that we have been burning our throats for no reason?”
“Coffee is supposed to be drank hot, after all.” Phoenutria’s comment made everyone at the table nod sagely, except for a single Queen.
Rarity rubbed her temple gently with a hoof. “You… I believe you might have misunderstood. And before we go anywhere, ponies do drink coffee cold sometimes, it just requires a bit more flair for the taste to be good.”
“Cold coffee?” Phoenutria gasped. “What will those ponies think of next?”
“In any case.” Rarity took a deep breath and glanced at one of the servant changelings. “Dear, would you mind bringing me a cup, some sugar or honey and cream?” When the changeling nodded and left, Rarity sighed. “I remember explaining this to Bon-Bon once… I just didn’t realize it was a cultural misunderstanding. I just thought she was different.”
Later on, all Queens and their entourages were following Queen Apocrita through a long, crystal tunnel. “I’m afraid duty calls so I won’t be able to escort you myself for too long. Once we reach the inner city, you may all go your own ways to explore the Hive. I will assign guides to each of your parties so that any questions you might want answered are resolved in the most satisfactory manner possible.” She gave them all a look. “Some areas are off-limits, and if you really want to go into them, you’ll need to ask me for access.”
The Queens all nodded their understanding as they finally reached the gates that granted access to the city. When they opened, Rarity could barely keep a gasp of delight. The city itself was vastly different from her own Hive, or even Canterlot or Manehattan. The whole cavern appeared to have been carved out of a single titanic crystal, and the structures of the city were all made of the same material, worked with so much detail that it almost put to shame the Crystal Empire.
Windows were made of string-thin crystal webbing; the buildings although made of thick crystal, had been worked on the outside with inlaid designs that created rainbows if the light hit them just right.
“Oh, my.” Rarity approached on the of the buildings and slowly slid her hoof down the delicate designs. “The work that went into this is… it’s magnificent!” Nearby, a changeling that had been observing the queens with some trepidation seemed to swell with pride.
“Hm,” Queen Phoenutria looked around. “The buildings look pretty, but this whole place would crumble in an instant if there was a fight.”
The changeling's puffed chest deflated and it stuck its head inside it's dwelling with a mutter.
Queen Apocrita looked at the group and nodded as four changelings stepped forth. "These are Aculea, Tere, Cera and Chalci," she said, introducing each changeling as they bowed. "Although they usually work at the palace, they know the city and all of my domain well. Each of them will accompany one of your groups and answer any questions you might have." She motioned with her head and the four changelings went to their respective parties.
Rarity smiled at Cera while Chrysalis looked at her with an arched eyebrow. The reactions from the others were a bit different each. Queen Dermestid gave an approving glance at Tere, while Phoenutria sighed and did her best to ignore Aculea and Queen Dacus seemed slightly amused by Chalci.
"Very well," Queen Apocrita said after the parties were set. "Enjoy my hive for the day. I shall see you tonight."
The queens bowed slightly until she had left, and set off immediately without acknowledging each other.
Rarity stood there blinking for a moment, before she turned to her sister and Cera. "Well then! I say we take a look at the city!"
Chrysalis tilted her head. "Shouldn't you look at the lands or the army?"
Rarity giggled. "All in due time, sister. For now, let's take a look around, shall we? I want to see what kind of products they sell! How does their craftsmanship compare to the Crystal Empire's? Do they have SPAs?"
Chrysalis shook her head as she followed her almost-skipping sister deeper into the Hive with a slightly bemused Cera following behind.
Neat it's back
Hopefully none of the other Queens tries to attack Rarity. You know, for a race of shapeshifters that impersonate ponies, changelings don't really understand pony culture very well, do they? Seriously, they drank boiling coffee by the pitcher for how long? I have a feeling Rarity would be right at home at this Hive.
5577248 Well, pretty much all the intel about ponies come second-hand through infiltrators who themselves have to glean the information from their surroundings.
I think the phrase "A piping hot cup of coffee" was taken a bit too literally.
5577248 A feeling? This hive pretty much says 'It is your destiny to be our queen'. Just like the Crystal Empire and Cadence. Or the Giant Rock (Tom Senior?), but with less dragging.
mlkshk.com/r/71NC.gif
Setup chapter indeed, but charming all the same.
OMFG!!!! I JUST SAW PONIES IN A SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
That was fun. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
I get the feeling the coffee thing is going to get referenced later. Also, that was hilariously funny.
New headcanon for why changeling voices sound the way they do- Their tongues, mouths, and throats are perpetually scalded from gulping down boiling-hot coffee every morning.
Commence read.
Glad to see the story moving on and getting to see the Hive.
SPAs made me think of something like an acronym.
Plus that coffee chug. Ow.
Yay update!
Seeing this update in my box was just a treat. I always love reading about the exploits of these... characters, for lack of a better word.
I DEMAND MORE! I NEED MORE! THIS IS AWESOME! PURITY SHALL WIN! I WILL CONSTANTLY REVISIT TO REMIND YOU TO UPDATE!
Dang it, couldn't you have shown us the Queens' reaction to Rarity's different method of drinking Coffee??? And have drones who have observed Ponies drinking Coffee spent the last few years silently laughing at the Queen chugging scalding hot pitchers of Coffee????
Now Purity wants this hive and she's gonna get it.
5578173 There's a commando unit called S.P.A.S. It's from USA, I think...
Hot yes, boiling no...
But I wouldn't know. I don't even drink coffee. Absolutely hate the flavor.
However... The feeling of warm coffee is really enjoyable. But I rather get that effect from a warm cup of tea or cocoa (Which in my oppinion doesn't taste atrociously like coffee do).
P.S: I hav't tested different types of coffee like capuchino, espresso, or mocha. But I am open to try everything once.
5577248
5577390
Actually...
Given how much networking, and how much information she's been volunteering (to seemingly quite a bit of good-will, I might add), I'm starting to wonder if we aren't seeing Purity's Equestrian values rubbing off on the others, and the first trembling hours of the unification of the hives.
You know, a smaller slice each, but of a much larger cake by working together?
Now that would be an interesting twist.
Great chapter!
I wanted to correct this a long time ago. If you are going by the Greek word for "female murderer" then you got the word wrong. It's Phonisa (Fonisa-Φόνισα).
5579127 that's not exactly what I'm going for, the origin is indeed Greek but that is a name onto itself just google it
5579159 phoneutria the spider I guess? Though if you read the name in greek it does sound like a derivative of "Murder-ess" like skewed female version. lel.
5579167 That's probably where they got it from, don't you think?
5579249 Possible. Though i guess thats not the scientific name right? I mean there are all kinds of weird names for animals. E.g. I am Greek and I know of a bird thats called 18oura basically meaning 18 bird because the sound it makes resembles the way we Greeks say 18.
5579345 Awesome! I think you're the first Greek MLP fan I've met. I have a female Greek friend I haven't seen in ages (her being in Greece). In any case, I'll probably use Phonisa to name another character at some point XD
5578541 Glad you're enjoying the series so much! Thanks for dropping comments along the way!
5579345 Oh! I know that bird, isn't it supposed to be some woman who wouldn't lower her prices when the soldier wanted water for christ? and if she ever says 17 she'll be human again but if she says 19 the world will end? *Is a sucker for myths*
5579428 Well I don't exactly remember the myth but I know of a few that could be related to changelings.
5579357 *nerdgasmXDsenpaihasnoticedme* LOL Anyways there aren't many of us out there I think. I must have met only one other brony outside facebook and deviantart that is Greek.
I try to use my Greek influences origins where I can. For example an ancient changeling King I have in my headcanon is named Proteus. Proteus is the Greek god of Elusive sea change. The adjective Protean means versatile, mutable, adaptable, capable of assuming many forms. He had the ability to be able to change into every material available including water,fire, e.t.c. And I think this might have included some animals too.
Another Greek influence is when I named another ancient changeling Queen Metis. Metis is the first spouse of Zeus and Titaness of cunning and wisdom. Her name connoted magical cunning and metis was a word the Atheneans used to describe someone who was cunningly wise. She too could shapeshift and was actually swallowed by Zeus while she transformed into a fly to prevent a prophecy that her second child would beat Zeus. She's the father of Athena and her being swallowed by Zeus led him to becoming wise. In any case I managed to convince someone to name their changeling Twilight Metis. http://askchrysalis.tumblr.com/post/62679985343/rariling-such-fabulous-individuality-should-be-a
Anyways there are lots others but let's just say that if you ever see a changeling with a toga, a blindfold, and a laurel then I'm to blame XD.
5579371 THANK YOU for writing this series!
5579507 actually, in ancient greek it's ἡ φονεύτρια. ἑλληνἰζω • ἀλλὰ μόνως ἀρχαῖᾳ ἐλλήνικῃ • οὐ νέᾳ ἐλλήνικῃ. Latina mea est melior graeca mea, nam ea loquor, non modo scire.
5581218 Oh. Well I was going through modern Greek actually that's why. Oh well.
Good on Rarity for not drinking the boiling coffee in a painful effort to fit in.
5581222 I get you, at this point the languages have become so different in places that you look at them side by side and just say "what happened?" haha
5581701 How would you do it?
I'll just put this here.
5581806 Well a whole era of Byzantines hating almost everything ancient greek not wanting to be associated with "those pagans". 400 years of Turkish occupation, and naturally evolving languages... We seriously had a dispute on the language used not being "user friendly" to the common Greek so it was simplified.
5582670 I get that, it's similar with english language history. Foreign conquest resulting in the assimilation of french, about 3 other languages for other reasons, plus constantly using those languages rather than the original to form new words results in a language made more of foreign words than its roots.
5582691 Well evolution as you can see XD
I'm going to have to take notes for the ultimate Changeling buffet dinner: So far, I've got fruit bats (but not vampire fruit bats), ancient preserved eggs, coconut frogs, ruby honey, olive beetles stuffed with various items, and boiling coffee served by the pitcher.
...And with love, of course.
The hive fits Purity quite well. Reading about Spike and his illogic is painful though. Good stuff, I just wish there were more.
needs an "e" and one less "the"
5606413 CHOCOLATE MAFIA FOR THE WIN!
5578828 there are way more types of coffee than you have listed. I suggest trying the ones that smell good to you.
The taste also varies depending on how it is made.
And I agree, coffee scene was "ow". And I like how Rarity is portrayed.
5752071 Dude, all coffee smells good in a way. But every type I've tried (regular black mostly) tastes bad to me. They smell really refreshing though.
PS: I was only listing examples from the top of my head, not making an entire encyclopedic list.
5753363 Every sort of coffee has it's own smell in it's basic modification and should be used with fitting components. Like, some coffee gets very tasty with milk while other sort just becomes a gross mess with same milk.
For example, a really watery coffee may taste slightly bland and bitter, but some people like such taste. Making it more concentrated makes it even more bitter, but richer flavour. I have tried about 5-7 sorts of coffee and while one kind was sweet with no sugar added, other was just plain bitter. The way the grain is fried and how many times. You can also mix two milled types of coffee and get a different taste depending on proportion.
Plus, maybe I have a bit different way of smelling things because some coffee doesn't smell good for me and I wouldn't drink it (I tried one and didn't like the taste).
5753496 Yeah... My sense of smell is kinda horrible, but my sense of taste is superb. I am one among many (about 1-2 in 10) people with whats called "Super Taste" an I am able to taste and differentiate very subtle taste variations and have the ability to taste something using only a fraction of what non super tasters need to. I need only about a 50th the amount for the same taste.
But you're right, I think I may just hate coffee because I hate bitter.
PS: fun fact: I can literary taste a difference between soda from a Aluminium can, plastic bottle and a glass bottle even when blindfolded, and be able to tell you the soda origin.
5753616
But... Um. They DO taste different! Plastic bottle coca-cola is less active than aluminium can cola. For me it's a little towards "bland", if the term is applicable,
I remember drinking glass bottle coca-cola a year or so ago and way less times than can or plastic, so can't really compare (memory to blurry).
I thought feeling such differences is normal.
P.S. My English writing skill needs improvement. Lots of it.
Hey mister. Keep updating mister. Do eeeet!
reminds me of a very silly story where Changelings thought that ponies ATE HOUSES! talk about dumb...
?? Who'd na what'na what'now?
one of the