Coco Pommel sits in her seat aboard the 12:00 am to train, looking out the window at the dimly lit countryside. The landscape seemed to fly past as the train raced along the tracks, Coco sighed deeply, she shifted her focus from the seenery beyond the window to the glass of the window itself, as she did this the landscape outside her window became covered in a partly translucent reflection of her own face. She stared deeply into her own eyes as she thought of the events of the last couple of weeks, suddenly her eyes began to well up with tears and she felt a lump form in her through, she quickly shut her eyes tight and turned away from the window either not wanting to see herself cry or not wanting to let the world see her cry, she wasn't sure which, Coco buried her face into her hooves and sobbed silently for several minutes before she regained control of her emotions. She wiped her tears away with a hancrchife and began to reassure herself.
"It's okay I can fix this. She can help me fix this, I just need to find her" she said quietly to herself. The train began to slow as it pulled into station. The conductor yelled out
"Ponyville station, all Ponyville passengers may disembark now. " with that Coco Pommel stood up, gathered her things and exited the train. The could early morning air hit her immediately as she steeped out of the cabin onto the train station platform. Sh shivered as a could Breeze blew past chilling her to the bone. She approached the ticket booth tapping on the glass to get the attention of the pony inside. The ticket master was jerked awake by the noise, after nearly falling out of his chair the older stallion fumbled around with his spectacles before he was able to gain a good hold of them and place them on his face and straightened out his mustache, Coco couldn't restrain a slight giggle.
"Oh uh, hi there, young miss. I'm sorry I didn't see you standing there. What can I do ya for?" Coco nodded politely
"That's quite alright sir. I was just wondering if you knew how to get to the Carousel boutique," the stallion began to chuckle at the question.
"The Carousel boutique? It's a bit early to go dress shopping don't you think, young missy?" The ticket master said half serious half joking.
"Please sir, I'm here to see a friend, it's rather urgent," Coco replied, growing less patient as the icy wind continued to blow.
"Okay Okay, I hear you, youngin. Let me see I'm not one for dress shopping myself but if I remember correctly it's directly due south east of the train station clear through town. Ah here you go, missy." The older stallion said, sliding a map under his ticket window. "This will serve you better than my old brain, never was one for directions, giving or following, hehe, drives the misses crazy." The old ticket master began to ramble but he was soon cut off by Coco.
"Thank you sir, you've been very helpful and kind, oh and this is for the map," she said as she slid two bits under the ticket window.
"Oh why thank you, young miss," the kind old ticket master chuckled. Coco pulled a scarf from her bag and wrapped it tightly around her face to shield herself from the bitter early morning cold as she made her way through town.
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Coco arrived at the front door of the Carousel boutique several minutes later. She knocked on the door and she could see light break from a window above her, she heard Rarity's voice, she seemed to be talking as she approached the door,
"Now who in the wide world of Equestria could it be at this hour?" the door swung open and Rarity was both pleasantly surprised and confused to see her guest, but all that gave way to concern when she saw the utterly distraught look on the young mare's face.
"Oh my, Coco Pommel? Whatever are you doing here I thought you were still living in Manehatten. Oh do come inside dear it is frightfully could out at this hour, get comfortable and I'll put some tea on the stove for you, you must be as cold as a snow pony," Rarity said ushering the younger mare inside.
"Oh thank you, Ms.Rarity, but the tea won't really be necessary, I don't want to be a bother I'm not that cold anyway." Coco tried to sound convincing but she was shaking so violently that it was even evident when she talked.
"Oh nonsense, it's not a bother at all, darling, really," Rarity replied as she trotted out of the kitchen. "So while we wait for the water to boil, why don't you tell me what brings you to Ponyville," Coco looked at Rarity's smile, it was warm, kind, sincere, and welcoming, there was something almost motherly about this mare. Her smile melted Coco's facade and the young mare once again broke down crying, as before Coco buried her face in her hooves in a vain attempt to the hide her tears and her breathing became an uncontrollable mess of sobbing. Rarity jumped out of her seat so quickly, she nearly knocked it over as she rushed to Coco's side to comfort her
"Coco ,sweetness, there there, it can't be that bad." Rarity said in a sweet motherly tone. Coco seemed to calm down a bit but she was still sobbing quite heavily.
"No, Ms.Rarity, it is," Coco managed to answer through heavy sobs "I'm ruined, my dreams are ruined."
"Oh hush dear surely it's not as bad as all that, tell me exactly what happened," Rarity said in her calm nurturing tone
"Yes it can...and it is....I've been banned from the fashion industry in Manehatten."
Author's Note
http://aurek-skyclimber.deviantart.com/art/Map-of-Ponyville-Plain-v3-2-215925446?offset=10 map of Ponyville.
Rarity and Coco sat on the couch in the foyer of the Carousel Boutique, in between sips on hot tea Coco retold the events that brought her to Ponyville.
"After I made the dresses you designed for Hinny of the hills, the head of the props department was so impressed with my work that he gave me a job making the costumes for seven more plays, the job lasted a few months, until I decided to head off on my own and try to launch my own fashion carrier. I used the bits I earned from my job at the theater to purchase a small studio apartment, I started simple to begin with, hats and scarfs, those sold well enough for me to be able to support my self but just barely." She paused briefly to take a sip of her tea.
"So I decided to move on to dresses, I'd sewn lots of dresses, I'm a rather skilled seamstress, but I found it hard to get inspiration for original designs, I've always just followed a pattern that some other pony put in front of me. My early designers were plain, they sold but the critics weren't kind, they said my work was bland, and uninspired, clothes for the commoners, but they sold well enough and I was able to make a meager living. But that wasn't enough, I wanted to make it big, I was living in Manehattan after all. If you don't want to go to the top that's not really the place for you. So I tried fancier, more ambitious designs, the fabric was more expensive so I had to take out loans to afford the fabric, thinking I would just make the money back but...." She stopped and sat silently staring down at the cup of tea.
"The dresses didn't sell did they dear?" Rarity asked, leaning over and placing a gentle hoof on Coco's leg. Tears began to well up in Coco's eyes, she shut her eyes tight and turned her head, wiping away her tears with her hoof. Rarity offered her a handkerchief. She wiped away the remainder of her tears before continuing.
"No they didn't, the critics were relentless, it also didn't help that many were either friends with or payed off
by established designers. I fell into debt, the sales I did make were only enough to cover my living costs, the interest on the loans kept piling up. Then one day I heard a knock on my door, it was Suri, she said she forgave me for going against her orders, and she wanted to help me, she gave me some designs and said I could use them, I didn't know whether to trust her or not, but I didn't have a choice, I was in debt and my usual designs didn't sell for enough to cover my payments and my usual costs. So I made the dresses, and they were a big hit. They sold so well I was able to pay off my loans, and was actually looking into buying a penthouse. But as quickly as everything took a turn for the better, it all fell apart right on top of me."
"Let me guess, Suri" Rarity replied, a note of utter disgust permeated her voice. Coco nodded,
"I never should have trusted her. She presented designs identical to the ones she had given me and claimed I stole them." Coco was shaking with anger, as she struggled to keep her voice at an appropriate volume.
"Calm down dear, tell me exactly what happened," Rarity said, trying to get the young mare to focus on something other than her anger toward Suri.
"I was summoned to meet with the Manehattan fashion guild council, they asked me where I got the designs for my clothes from, so of course I told them Suri came to my apartment and gave them to me. I remember one of the guild board members saying to me, so you admit the designs are Suri's, a few days later I received word from the guild that my license as a seamstress had been repealed on the grounds of dishonest business practices. Without that license I can't legally work as a seamstress in Manehatten." Coco began to cry again as she placed her face between her hooves, "I never should have trusted her."
Rarity was fuming after hearing this, "WHY, THAT NO GOOD, MANIPULATING, EVIL LITTLE, I SWEAR IF I EVER GET MY HOOVES ON THAT SURI POLOMARE." Rarity paused briefly to compose herself before continuing. "We are going to fix this dear, I don't know how, but we will make this right, I promise we won't let Suri get away with this. " Coco looked up at Rarity, smiling as she wiped her eyes. "In the meantime you're more than welcome to stay here." Coco's face brightened up a little at hearing this.
"Great, maybe I could learn some things about dress design from you, I still feel like I may need a mentor, just not Suri." Rarity nodded smiling.
"That's just what I was thinking, Dear."
