A Special Place for Skimmers part 1
Manehattan leaves its hoofprint on everypony who ventures into it. Indeed the concrete jungle of Manehattan can certainly wrap it wild vines around a pony. Breezy Trotsworth would get to know this all too well.
Modeling school seemed like such a worthless adventure for the unicorn Breezy. She already had the moves to be a runway model naturally. It was just that no agency in Manehattan would hire a pony without that overpriced degree. Breezy easily gained admittance to the prestigious Star Talent and Modeling Power Institute aka STAMP.
The photogenic Canterlot native had the right stuff from the beginning. At filly school she was almost always a pageant winner. Her parents knew she wouldn’t have to work hard for a living due to her beauty and pizzazz. They were proud. Breezy had a mild attitude to speak of but not a crude one… it would be put to the test in the crudeness of Manehattan.
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The minute she got off the train in Manehattan a quick passerby nearly knocked her over. “Watch your flank there!” the rude transient shouted. “What the buck? That was your fault.” Breezy thought. It was quite an impression. It wasn’t enough to make Breezy a metropolitan type with an attitude.
Breezy arrived at her apartment building with a relatively small contingent of luggage. A couple of younger male fillies blasting their boombox zipped by just then. Breezy could hear lyrics about “busting a cap in ‘yo flank” emanating from the speakers. “Such culture!” she thought cynically.
At least the inside of her apartment was cozy. She had the ingredients for a nice oat soup in one of her suitcases. Too bad those weren’t her suitcases. “What is this?” she wondered going through it. Luxurious goods that weren’t hers filled the case. The most notable thing inside was a small elegant pouch. Inside were gems. As in really precious gems which came from parts unknown.
“Princess of the Sun! This is some serious treasure!” she exclaimed. “The train… there must have been a mix up.”
Breezy looked for some kind of identification on the goods but couldn’t find anything. Except on one of the velvet bags had the initials SP embroidered on. “There’s gotta be a thousand ponies with those initials in this town alone.” Breezy sighed.
Breezy was seriously hungry and decided to get some lunch before trying any further research about the mystery luggage. It was a wise thing that she kept her bits in her main saddle bag. She set off to find an agreeable restaurant, and couldn’t keep the mystery luggage out of her thoughts.
At the Galloping Gourmet Breezy found herself finally enjoying that coveted oat soup with some cinnamon sprinkled hay. It was magnificent, but again while dining she kept thinking about the switched luggage. “Do I go to the Manehattan PD with this? But where did the switch take place? It could have been at the station in Canterlot just as well. I would like to get my own actual luggage back.” Breezy continued with her thoughts.
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On her way back to the apartment Breezy just continued thinking about the stuff. Once she returned it was a crazy moment. Somepony had been in there and had rummaged through the luggage. The valuable stuff was gone save for a single gem that was somehow overlooked at the bottom of the suitcase. “Oh this is great, just great.” Breezy thought. There was also a letter. It read:
“We’ve been watching the movement of the loot Suri Polomare. Don’t try anything like it again. There’s a special place for skimmers.”
It was quite interesting. “Suri Polomare? SP?” Breezy thought. “The guy in the letter sounds like a criminal, thinks I’m this Suri Polomare pony, isn’t happy with her, and forgot one of the gems. Oh my.”
Breezy really wanted to go to the Manehattan PD now. The problem was that the pony in the letter knew where the illicit luggage had been taken and could just as easily be watching the vicinity now. It certainly seemed like a dangerous predicament. Breezy could just live out her life naturally now that the hot goods were now back in hot hoofs. Actually there was still that one gem though. This was becoming a nightmare for the pony who only meant to become a runway model in the big city.
With so many factors considered Breezy just decided to hide the gem in a cookie jar and continue on with life as usual, albeit a paranoid life as usual. That night she tried to sleep but was understandably restless. She heard sirens of emergency and police wagons characteristic of the big city. In one night there was more of the sound than in several years back in Canterlot. “Oh why didn’t I just stay in Canterlot?” she thought. During her brief sleep she actually dreamt of Canterlot. Her parents, sister, friends, teacher, and all the greatness of it crossed her mind. Ambition sure can cause a pony to give up the best things.
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The next day a drowsy Breezy headed off to STAMP for the inaugural day of modeling school. Thoughts relevant to the recent situation still crossed her mind and she looked at ponies around her with suspicion and analysis. She hailed a taxi at an appropriate spot after waiting in line for several minutes. It was about time. The gruff Manehattanite smiled. “Whereya wanna go dawl?” Breezy didn’t think too highly of this pony but she instructed him to take her to the STAMP institute she was set to attend. At the end of the ride she tossed him a few bits and thought to herself “Smell ya later.”
Breezy continued to her classes. Given her history as unmistakable modeling material she fully expected it all to be a walk in the park. That was a good thing since her mind was elsewhere for the most part. In the modeling institute Breezy checked with the receptionist. “Just get in line ovah they-uh.” She told Breezy. Breezy managed to chuckle to herself about the odd accents most Manehattanites had.
At introductory a roll call was done. Breezy waited for her name to be called. “Trotsworth?” “Here.”
The most startling thing occurred when the list of designers contributing to the institution was distributed. Breezy saw the unmistakable Suri Polomare among the listed names. This was the name behind the anxiety that was gripping her.
“I have to contact this pony. She can deal with the thug and his missing gem.” Breezy thought.
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After class it was unmistakable what Breezy would do next. Suri Polomare’s fabrication shop was actually between STAMP and the apartment. Thank Celestia it wouldn't look too suspicious to the criminal potentially watching her. She hailed a gruff cabbie once again when the opportunity arose and booked it to the spot.
Upon arriving at the destination Breezy saw that the place looked lonely. She thought intensely about how to approach this Suri Polomare. Just tell the truth seemed to be the best tactic. “Suri Polomare? I have, uh, something that may be of interest to you.”
Polomare immediately went off the intended topic. “Ok yeah. You are an applicant to be my new assistant? You look sharp yeah. That no good Rarity caused my former assistant Coco to quit and that’s too bad. She was a jewel ya know? I think you’ll be just as good. No, better.”
“Uh, no.” Breezy continued. “I believe you lost some things on the train between this city and Canterlot. Some luggage. Somehow they were switched with mine. Now it has been stolen.”
Polomare turned pale like she’d seen a ghost. “Who are you? I… I.. don’t remember losing anything. Are you a cop ‘cause I didn’t do anything wrong ‘k.”
“No, no.” Breezy countered. “I just got to Manehattan. I’m a student at STAMP.”
“G’bye ‘k?” Polomare started to close the door just as Breezy interjected “There’s still a gem left.” The door immediately reopened.
