Manehatten. It was a city of big dreams contained in a bigger city. The doors of opportunity lined every sidewalk and corner. It was where ponies could go and find themselves, where the huddled masses could come together. At least that’s what it was in the mind of Suri Polomare. In her dream-like thoughts, the city would provide what she needed the most: escape. She quickly learned, however, that her ideations of the city were false. Nothing in the city was free unless you took it.
The naive mare that had left Ponyville so many years ago sat among the sounds of her assistant Coco sewing up the last of her designs. The young mare worked tirelessly as Suri sipped a steaming cup of coffee. The morning sun made its laborious climb along the buildings as Suri went over the past in her mind.
It had come up so suddenly, the past. Things she had long forgotten and shoved out of her mind to better herself, but like a boomerang it came hurtling back. Like darkness, Suri could feel her past engulfing her and twisting her mind. She had always been so happy except for one point in her life. It all came down to one mare who drug her down into the drowning depths of hatred. Just thinking about it made Suri tingle and turn her mind towards the reasons why she escaped the confines of Ponyville.
“Is the coffee to your liking, Miss Polomare?”
Suri looked down to the cup and shrugged.
“Does it need more cream or sugar?” Coco asked.
“It’s fine, keep working,” Suri said flatly. Coco simply nodded and continued.
Suri took another sip as she watched the streets below begin to fill up with traffic and ponies, like an equine flood. Everything out of her window looked so grim, the light of day having not yet touched them. Suri wrinkled her nose and took another sip of coffee. The aroma of coffee itself brought memories. Evenings spent all night for that perfect scarf or the best pot holder anyone had ever seen. The Knitting League were the happiest times of her life. At least until...
Another day, she thought to herself, doing all she could to not wallow in her despair. With the coffee mug set aside, Suri moved from the depressing sight and went over the dresses that hung from the rack. In her studio apartment, they were the only things that seemed to provide any amount of colour. Suri ran a hoof along the soft fabric of the blue and white dresses, a critical eye looking over every stitch and seam. Coco looked up from her work, concern in her eyes as she watched her employer. A sudden harsh sigh from Suri made Coco cringe.
“What did I tell you about these seams?” Suri snapped. She spun around on her hooves and stamped towards Coco who cowered behind the sewing machine.
“Y-You t-told me-”
“I told you not to double thread them like that!” Suri yelled.
“I-I’m sorry,” Coco pleaded, covering her head with her hooves.
“Sorry isn’t going to cut it!” Suri demanded. “Sorry isn’t going to beat the other ponies in this competition! Sorry isn’t going to beat her!”
Coco looked up from her hooves. Suri went from angrily glaring at the small mare to ripping all of the dresses off their hangers and throwing them to the ground.
“Do it again!” Suri said as Coco nodded quietly and turned her eyes downward to avoid eye contact with her boss. “You know I don’t mean to yell at you like this, right?”
Suri moved to Coco’s side and put a hoof around the young one. Coco quickly shut her eyes and bit her bottom lip, nodding as she felt Suri’s hoof running along her side in an attempt to comfort her. Suri cooed in the young mare’s ear, hatred still running off of every word. Coco, however, could still hear the message behind every word no matter how calmly it was whispered in her ear.
“You just have to learn, this city is cruel sometimes, okay? Take it from me, I’ve been here for a few years and I was just like you. You’re lucky I found you. You were like a lost little puppy.”
Coco stood as still as she could, feeling as though she were in the sights of a hunter and she were the prey. Her throat tightened as she felt the hoof move along her coat and rested upon her cheek.
“That’s why I decided to take you in,” Suri said ruffling the blue hair of her assistant. “You needed someone to teach you just how rough things could get.”
With that, Suri trotted away and stood at the window silently once again. Coco, in the meantime let out a shaky breath and got back to work. A long moment passed as Suri sipped her coffee before Coco found the courage to say anything.
“S-So, this Rarity--” she began before being cut off once more.
“Really?” Suri demanded, raising her voice. “You have so much work to do and you just wanna hear about that good for nothing mare?”
“I-I only thought that-”
“I don’t pay you to think, I pay you to sew and not talk about ponies like Rarity! Ponies that think they’re so much better than others. So concerned with how she looks and acts.”
Coco ducked her head down, trying to concentrate on her work. Suri glared at the coffee mug, eyes twitching and blood beginning to boil over. She felt as though fire was rushing through her, certain smoke would be expelled as she huffed. Her body began to shake, Rarity’s smug face filling her eyes like red before a bull.
The sound of breaking porcelain filled the air as Suri threw her coffee to the ground and broke into a run towards Coco. Pinning the terrified young mare to the wall, Suri gazed deep into the pale blue eyes of her assistant. Coco could almost feel the sound of her boss grinding her teeth. Coco froze, feeling warm breath on her neck as Suri leaned in close.
“I hope you never find out what it’s like out here,” Suri growled as she pushed harder into Coco who squeaked as she felt pain run through her. Suri’s eyes widened a bit, the realization of what she was doing hitting her and she quickly pulled Coco into an embrace. The two sat in silence as the sun crested a nearby building and light poured into the dim apartment.
Coco felt the grip go slack and she fell away from Suri’s body. She took a deep breath and moved away slowly. Suri looked down to the dresses scattered on the floor and put a hoof to her forehead. She trotted off to the bed and lay on it, staring up at the ceiling.
She could still feel the rage eating away at her as she blankly watched shadows crawl along the ceiling. Slowly she brought a hoof in front of her face to stare at it. Her eyes glazed over as the past coiled it’s cold fingers around her mind tightly once more. She shifted her gaze to Coco who busied herself with cleaning up the coffee from the carpet.
“I was brilliant,” Suri lamented from her bed, watching her assistants every move as a hoof went from in front of her face and began to run down her body slowly.
“You still are, Miss Polomare,” Coco offered with a weak smile.
“I will take this fashion show,” Suri said. “I will take it just like this city took from me. Oh if I could do it over again, Coco. If I’d have had someone like me when I just arrived.”
Coco silently put away the dirty, coffee stained cloth and tossed the ceramic pieces into the garbage as Suri sat from her bed and stared at her. The two locked eyes as Coco dipped her head and flattened her ears. She marched to the sewing machine. As it started back up, she felt Suri rest a hoof on her back and shut her eyes. In her ear, she felt a husky breath tease it.
“So lucky,” Suri said, making Coco whimper as her hooves desperately tried to work.
It was afternoon when Suri and Coco made their way to the street and began walking towards the studio. Coco tugged the dresses behind her as Suri walked out in front, watching ponies move to and fro. The city was loud as always, full of conversations and the cries of vendors and taxis. Coco always felt amazed when she walked along the street, so much so the spark of discovery was ever present in her eyes. Suri, however, had long since lost it and felt a twinge of anger when she saw it in her assistant.
“So, let’s go back over what we learned about the city, Coco,” Suri said.
“Oh, w-well, don’t let anyone ever push you around,” Coco said with a frown. “Um, take what you can. Make your own opportunities. And, um, let’s see…”
Suri sighed and rolled her eyes. “Never be afraid to get your hooves dirty!”
“Right!” Coco said cheerfully until she fell under the harsh gaze of Suri. She shrank back and lowered her head to the ground as they made their way to the runway.
“I’m trying to teach you how to survive out here,” Suri said with a huff. “I swear, it’s like everything I say to you goes in one ear and out the other.”
The two continued in silence, Coco still staring at the ground. It wasn’t too long before they’d arrived at the runway studio and entered. The receptionist lazily pointed them in the direction of the stage. Coco and Suri wandered in to see a few other ponies mingling with one another. Suri narrowed her eyes, darting them this way and that in search of Rarity. She clapped her front hooves together and let out a giggle.
“She isn’t here, perfect!”
“Miss Rarity?” Coco asked before Suri spun around with hate spewing from her eyes. With the clearing of her throat, she calmed herself and offered a hoof towards the back.
“See to it those dresses are in the back and kept in their protective covers,” Suri said, pointing a hoof towards the stage. “No need to wrinkle them until we’re ready.”
“Yes, Miss Polomare,” Coco said as she trotted off with the dresses.
Two o’clock was just around the corner and Suri felt an indomitable happiness welling up inside of her. She’d mingled with the competition before Prim Hemline made her introduction and lined them up. The others didn’t stand a chance. She felt she would burst with joy. It was all so perfect; she would have the judges eating out of her hooves.
Her eyes turned to the clock again, a grin plastered on her face. Her biggest hurdle wouldn’t even show up. She could see it all in her mind, the judges naming her top designer. Her name would be plastered all over the city that took so much from her. She would be showered with gifts and praise everywhere she went. Goodbye studio apartment and hello uptown-.
“Oh! I made it,” the voice came rushing in from the side of the stage. “And with seconds to spare!”
Suri slid her eyes to the side as the sight of Rarity made every muscle in her body tense up. She watched as her dreams crashed around her in spectacular flames. Memories of the Knitting League began to flood her mind as she watched the other ponies in line look to her. She did all she could to keep smiling and not look as though she were ready to pounce on the white unicorn and throttle her for all she was worth.
I’ll play this out, she thought to herself as Prim Hemline spoke to Rarity about being late. Her smile grew wider. I bet she doesn’t even remember me, Suri thought. She felt her mind switch gears. What was once devastation quickly formed into plot. She could make this work. She sneered as the other ponies dispersed after Prim gave her speech. Suri trotted towards Rarity with a smile on her face.
Take what you can.
Coco lay on the dressing room’s couch, sound asleep until the loud bang of the door slamming shut startled her. There stood Suri clutching a roll of fabric to her chest. Her brown eyes settled on her startled assistant before she quickly put the fabric next to her and walked back to the door to peer back out. Coco blinked, clearly confused by what was going on.
“So, how did it go?” Coco asked.
Suri shut the door and glared at her assistant. “She’s here.”
“Miss Rarity?”
“You should’ve seen it,” Suri hissed as she moved towards Coco slowly. Coco in the meantime took refuge on the other side of the couch, trying to get away from the mare while she had that look in her eye. “She just trotted in at the last second. She should never have been admitted. Ever. But they accepted her anyway. Then I looked at her dresses, and they were magnificent. I’d never seen such fabric.”
Suri towered over Coco, hooves sunk firmly into the plush couch.
“And she gave it to me,” Suri said as a loud laugh escaped her. “She just gave it to me. An entire roll of it just like that.”
“That was nice of her,” Coco said before crying out as Suri pounded a hoof into the couch.
“Nice!?” Suri roared. Her eyes looked as though they were consumed with hatred. Venom clung to her every word. “You think someone like that could be nice. No. She’s naive. She doesn’t know how things work in this city. This little gesture of hers, I can see through it. She knows I don’t stand a chance against her. This is her way of mocking me. She pretended not to know me. I’ll show her. I’ll make her remember me.”
Suri tore the covers off of the dresses and ripped them off the hangers, throwing them towards Coco.
“Now you get to work!” Suri demanded. “You use that fabric to make these things stunning. Keep the designs, but let’s switch things up. Let’s make these fabulous. You will follow my instructions to the letter.”
Coco gulped and nodded as Suri brought a hoof to her assistant’s face. Dragging it down, Suri grinned and brought herself close to the young mare.
“Good girl.”
The night drug on as Coco worked tirelessly on the dresses and Suri kept peering out of the doorway. She couldn’t deny the fabric Rarity had given so generously was beautiful. But somewhere in the pit of Coco’s stomach, she couldn’t help but feel this was wrong. As she stared down into the shapes shifting around on the soft cloth, she turned her eyes towards Suri and rubbed a tender hoof.
“Do you need me to get you anything, Miss Polomare?” she asked. The slamming door made her recoil.
“Yes,” Suri said. “You can get me those dresses faster.”
Coco nodded and continued working on the stitching as Suri turned back towards the door and sat next to the sewing machine. She stared at the door, as if she were trying to burrow a hole straight through it with her eyes. She leaned back into the sewing machine and rubbed her eyes.
“She never once asked for my name,” Suri said as Coco looked down to her boss. “Not a single time. We were in the League for two straight years and not a single time did she ever ask. Sitting with her own clique. I watched as she sucked them dry for attention like a vampiress.”
Suri slowly got to her hooves and moved to Coco. Her hooves went around the young mare slowly, embracing her tightly.
“I joined before her, did you know that? Everyone knew me. I joined to get away from my parents. Parents that didn’t even give me a second look either. It felt good.” Coco gasped as she felt the grip around her waist tighten. “But then there she was. All smiles and giggles. Catching the affection of them all and soaking it up. It burned me inside to watch. Burned me to the core. That’s when I moved here. Away from everyone who would pay no mind to me. And then I met you. And I vowed to myself I would never let the same thing that happened to me, happen to you.”
Coco gulped and reached out towards the fabric she’d left behind on the sewing machine.
“M-Miss Polomare, I need t-to finish,” Coco pleaded. She grunted under the strain of being squeezed as tightly as she was. Suri craned her head over to her assistant’s ear and whispered low into it.
“She wouldn’t even look me in the eye as she claimed to remember me.” Suri’s raspy whisper felt harsh in the young mare’s ear making Coco wince. Every word felt as though it were encased in ice and Suri could feel Coco tremble in her hooves. Suddenly, Suri released her assistant and trotted towards the door to look out of it once more. Coco whimpered as the sewing machine groaned to life again, eyes nervously flicking between her work and Suri.
The night continued much like that, only in silence. Every so often Coco would tense up as she felt Suri pass behind her or felt a hoof slide slowly across her back. She wasn’t sure why. Of course she wasn’t sure of a lot of things, chief among them, why her? Why did she have to bear such a burden as to be with this mare?
As her hooves strained she remembered bumping into Suri on her first day in the city. They had gone for coffee that same day and discovered they had more in common than they thought. Both of them came from small cities, and both of them had been lost their first day. When Coco had been offered the job as Suri’s assistant, she thought for sure this was going to be something big. The start of all her hopes and dreams in the fashion industry.
As she felt Suri drag another hoof down her spine, Coco felt herself snap back to reality. Her hooves throbbed as she worked tirelessly on the dresses. It all seemed so distant. It was a year ago. Suri hadn’t always been like this either. She had always been brash, yes. But never like this. Never so…
Crazy, Coco thought as she felt hooves slipping around her waist and a warm, lingering breath in her ear. She shut her eyes and whimpered.
The morning came quicker than Coco had thought as the last stitch went into the dress. She let out a tired yawn and collapsed onto the machine. Suri jerked the dress out from beneath Coco and hung it up on the rack. With each dress hanging perfectly, Suri admired the work and smiled, moving towards Coco to pat her gently on the back.
“You did well,” Suri said with an air of approval.
“Oh, thank you, Miss Polomare,” Coco said giving an exhausted smile.
“We have to go, it’s time to present my work,” Suri said with a grin.
Coco pushed the dresses along as Suri lead the way. Suri had to get to the stage quicly, there was no way she would concede this competition over something as reckless as being late. They shuffled onto the stage with only seconds to spare. Frantically, Coco uncovered the dresses as Suri glared at her. Suri winced, hearing Prim clear her throat from the house seats. Prim turned her eyes down to her watch and let out a huff.
“Is it simply everyone’s idea to keep me held up for this competition?” she asked as Suri bowed her head apologetically.
“Of course not, Miss Hemline, we can get started now, in fact.”
With that, Suri moved away from the dresses and waved a hoof over them. Prim ran a hoof along her chin, seeming to lighten up at the sight of the dresses. Suri cleared her throat and with a giant smile on her face, began.
“You see before you one of my best designs to date. The fabric you see shifts and shapes itself with the light. It’s the sort of fabric that could make even a mule look like a graceful creature. It’s stretchy but not clingy, shimmery but not showy, and the entire line’s in the same adorable pattern. It works on everything from skirts, to tops, to shoes.”
Suri turned her gaze back to Prim who applauded the effort. She basked in the attention.
“Oh, bravo!” Prim exclaimed. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Suri was more than pleased. She knew this would be her victory. As she turned to leave the stage, Rarity came dashing towards her.
“You stole my fabric!” Rarity cried, stunning Suri for a moment. It was almost too perfect, the annoyed reaction she’d gotten from the unicorn. Suri would have cried in delight from the pure outrage Rarity exuded were it not for the visage she were trying to maintain.
Stay calm, she thought to herself as they made their verbal exchange. A sly grin couldn’t help but grace the corners of her lips, however. She had Rarity dead to rights. She was going to win the competition and finally get the spotlight she deserved.
“How could you possibly make all of those outfits out of it so fast?” Rarity asked desperately. Suri halted and couldn’t keep the smug grin off of her face.
“Fast? Hah, Coco Pommel here took practically forever. Nearly got me completely disqualified,” Suri said.
Introducing her assistant only made her that much more confident she’d win. As far as she knew, Rarity had no assistants to speak of. She knew she must have friends, but none of them could sew like Coco.
Coco looked to Suri, trying to think of anything she could say to make the situation better. “Well, I wanted to make sure you win, so I took the extra time to…”
“Quiet!” Suri snapped. “I pay an assistant to sew and get coffee, not talk, kay?”
“How could this happen?” Rarity asked, staring up towards the ceiling.
Suri smelled the blood in the water. The betrayal she felt from Rarity was palpable. This was the moment she would twist the knife. She calmly trotted to Rarity and settled a hoof around her shoulder.
“Aw, sweetie, don’t blame yourself,” Suri began, unable to contain the pleasure she was getting from watching the tears well up in Rarity’s eyes. “It takes some small-town fillies a while to learn that it’s every pony for herself in the big city, m’kay?”
As Rarity jerked away from her grasp, Suri shuddered as she watched the unicorn gallop out the door. It was a hair away from orgasmic, the feeling she got watching those tears crawl down those cheeks. She almost wanted to taste them for herself to know how sweet they were. With the reminder of just how lucky Coco was to have her around and an order for coffee placed, Suri walked proudly towards the back, prepared for what the next day would bring forth. She was ready to see the complete and total destruction of Rarity come to fruition.
That evening, Suri and Coco sat within the studio apartment. A beautiful meal had been laid out for the two of them. Hay and carrots arranged on a decorative plate with candles between them to top it all off. Glasses of red wine stood in front of the plates as the two of them took their seats and Suri rose her glass into the air.
“To my victory,” she said as Coco returned the toast in kind. She wrinkled her nose, tasting the sour, bitter liquid. Suri looked her over curiously as she finished half of her glass. “Not to your liking?”
“O-Oh, I um, just don’t drink much wine, Miss Polomare,” Coco said.
Suri looked her over before she lowered her head to her plate and begin eating. The sounds of chewing filled the room as they ate in peace. As the clock on the wall ticked away, Coco soon felt awkward just eating, especially when she caught Suri’s eyes glaring at her from across the table every so often.
“S-So, um, Miss Polomare,” Coco said.
“Yes?” Suri asked a bit too quickly, as though she had been anticipating conversation.
“Well, if I may, um, Miss Rarity didn’t seem all that bad,” Coco blurted out and shut her eyes, feeling like she had just opened the floodgates to crazytown.
Suri stared at her assistant. She made no sudden motions, there were no movements, even along her face. The silence drug on, leaving Coco to dip her head behind the candles in hopes she could break the knife-like gaze of Suri. No such luck came to her as Suri let out an unsteady sigh which only added to the tension.
“Do you know what it is like to be forgotten, Coco?” Suri asked. Before the young mare could answer, Suri continued. “Of course you don’t. When you came to this city you were a whimpering child. You still are. You still have the mentality that someone will just be so kind to you and expect nothing in return. Everyone wants something, Coco. I’ve done all that I can to teach you that lesson.”
Suri stood up and moved to Coco’s side. Coco felt a chill run down her spine as Suri neared her and stood next to her. Those scathing brown eyes fixed, staring down at the mare who sat at the table. Slowly, Suri’s head craned down, bringing her face to face with Coco.
“Have you ever known the sting of being all on your own in a dark place wanting nothing more than to go home, but knowing you can’t because you’d be just as alone there too? Do you have any idea what that could possibly be like? How cold it can be? As though the Frozen North was darkening your door?”
“P-Please understand me,” Coco pleaded. “M-Miss Rarity gave you that cloth out of generosity, I’m sure of it. She could have been wanting to make up for all that time. Y-you once told me you came here to be better a-and this doesn’t make us better. It makes us thieves.”
Suri’s hoof came crashing onto the table, shattering the plate and spilling the rest of the food in front of Coco onto the floor. Coco gasped, her hooves going to her mouth as she watched blood begin to pour out of Suri’s foreleg. Suri, however, seemed unfazed by her sudden injury as she pointed straight at Coco, the blood trickling down into a small puddle on the floor.
“We are not thieves,” Suri said as calmly as she could as her mind burned with pain and betrayal. “We are doing what is pure and justified. She took away everything from me. And now I’m returning the favor. The last thing I need is an assistant that is going to back down on me.”
Suri moved closer to Coco, those eyes so full of fury turning sad. Coco, however, could still feel the hate burning off of Suri.
“N-No, of course not,” Coco said as she felt the bloody hoof go around her. She winced as the ceramic stuck in Suri’s hoof scratched her skin.
“Good. Because I would hate to have to...replace you before the show,” Suri said darkly.
Suri moved away from Coco who finally remembered to breathe. She ran her hooves along her face and turned to watch Suri soak her arm in the sink. She knew she had to do something. This was going on for far too long but as bad as Suri had gotten, Coco knew she wasn’t always like this. She had to do something to help her friend and mentor. Something to help her save her from herself.
The fashion show had gone off without a hitch. From where Suri stood, the judges were in absolute awe over her dresses. She turned her gaze to Rarity who stuck her head out the other side of the stage. She could only imagine just how much this was tearing her up inside. To see her own creations in the hands of someone else.
The display had soon come to an end as Suri went to take her bow to the crowd. She made extra sure to bow towards the gracious judges who clapped wildly for the brilliant dresses. She waved a hoof towards them before trotting off stage and being joined by Coco. She made certain to head towards Rarity, a grin spreading across her face.
“Well look who’s here,” she said with a scoff. “Gonna show off your copycat collection?”
As she walked towards the back, she had wanted to say so much more. She had wanted to rub her victory in her face but now wasn’t the time. She knew that she would have all the time in the world for that later. The bigger the wound, the more effective the salt, after all. She moved to the side of the stage she had been watching from before and poked her head out. The announcement was being made for Rarity and Suri beamed. Was she actually going to go through with it?
As the curtain unfurled and the first model hit the runway, Suri felt her jaw hit the floor. How!? She screamed in her mind. How did she manage!? Suri felt a vessel in her head prepared to burst as she watched the display. Her dream was fading once again, she could feel it slipping past her hooves with every dress modeled. Even she had to admit they were brilliant and the raucous cheering from the judges only made it more obvious. With every model that made their way down and up the runway, Suri could feel feel the audience slipping out of her hooves.
This isn’t happening, Suri thought to herself. She can’t take this away from me! Suri desperately looked around for anything she could do, anything to stop this obscene display and ruin her opponent's chances. Machinations of setting fire to the stage or even charging the stage herself and knocking down one of the models filled her mind. She chewed on her lower lip, sweat beading on her brow and the feeling of hopelessness filling her mind. That was when it happened, however, the bright spot in the darkness she’d been hoping for all along. Without warning Rarity leapt onto the runway and galloped for the doors leading to the lobby.
Suri couldn’t believe what she’d seen as she felt the corners of her mouth slide up into a grin. She was certain her heart was going to give out when Rarity’s show had begun, but this was perfect. There was no way the judges could let someone like that win such a prestigious competition. Wringing her hooves, she watched Prim move to the end of the runway and clear her throat.
“Well, that was interesting,” she said. “Either way, that was Rarity with her brand new line up. If the judges would meet me backstage so that we can go ahead and reach a decision.”
Suri slithered around the curtain, keeping her eyes on Prim at all times. Her mind began to pick at her, curious thoughts of what could be beginning to seep in. She had to be the winner, she was certain of that. Doubt tugged at her as she clung to the shadows tightly. Prim opened the door to her backstage room and ushered in Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores and Photo Finish. As the door closed behind them, Suri pressed herself against the wall and set an ear against the door, straining to hear the conversation inside.
“Do we know what happened to her?” came the sing-song voice of Sapphire Shores.
“No, but there’s no doubt who won, right?” Suri listened on, recognizing the snobby voice of Hoity Toity anywhere.
“No, zere iz no doubt, zere was only one true winner,” the harsh voice of Photo Finish stated.
“I suppose we’re all in agreement, but she ran off,” Prim said. Suri grit her teeth. She felt rage stirring inside like a tempest.
“Then we have to make sure she hears about it somehow,” Sapphire said.
Suri tore herself away from the door and stamped off down the hallway. She threw the door of her dressing room open and glared at her assistant who was packaging the dresses. Tension filled the air and Coco was sure she saw Suri breathing smoke from her flared nostrils. The door slammed and Suri charged forward like a raging bull and threw a nearby table into a mirror across the room. Incomprehensible words spewed out of her maw as her eyes scanned the room for anything else to destroy.
Coco backed away from her, trying to remove herself from the path of pure, unbridled hatred. Suri gripped the dress covers and tore them off before setting to work on destroying the dresses stitch by stitch. Swirling, purple tatters filled the air as Coco watched her boss dismantle her hard work and throw it to the ground.
“How!?” Suri cried into the room, tears streaming down her cheeks. “How could they ruin me like this?”
Suri let out another guttural scream as she grasped the metal rack of dresses and launched it across the room. Coco opened her eyes again to see Suri charging towards her. She felt her body lifted up by Suri’s front hooves and was pinned against the wall. Coco cried in pain, trying not to be as frightened as she was. Suri in the meantime bore a hole into the young mare with her eyes. As everything settled down, Suri collapsed, letting Coco back to her hooves.
“Everything has been taken away again,” Suri managed between gasps for air and her own incoherent lamentations. “Why is it always me? All I ever wanted was to be somepony! It’s all I ever wanted!”
Coco stood slack-jawed, staring down at the crumpled form of Suri before her. She looked about at the devastation caused by the outburst and bit her bottom lip. Nervously, she placed a hoof on Suri’s back, trying to pat her and soothe her.
“I-I’m sure you’ll have your chance Miss Polomare,” Coco said before Suri slapped her hoof away and weakly flung herself over to bash the top of a nearby table. With every beat of her hooves against the table she let out a pathetic grunt. She felt like she was running out of steam despite so much rage inside of her. Pain began to settle in from the overexertion and her hooves soon curled around her head. Suri’s body trembled as she continued to cry, tears running along her forelegs and soaking the wood of the table.
“Why did it have to be her?” Suri asked, her voice shrill with agony. “I’ll destroy her if it’s the last thing I do!”
“Miss Polomare, please, let’s just go home,” Coco pleaded. “I’ll make you some coffee, we’ll sit down and talk about it.”
“No!” Suri yelled, sitting up. The tears had gone from her eyes and only the hatred remained as she wiped her cheeks. “She hasn’t won, Coco. She has not won yet. I will take what she took from me if it’s the last thing I do!”
Suri exploded out of the dressing room with Coco close behind, trying to figure out what to do. She felt she needed to stop Suri before this got even more out of hand. All she had to do was grab her tail or her scarf, nothing more. But she couldn’t. She felt fear welling up inside the more she thought of stopping her. Coco wondered how much more she could take. She cared for Suri. She was the first pony Coco met in Manehatten and she helped her out, after all.
Coco collapsed into Suri as she stopped and peered around the corner of a building. Suri snapped her eyes to Coco and put a hoof against her lips to silence her assistant. Her lips curled into a grin as she looked around the building again.
“I can’t believe we missed Rarity’s show!” a voice came from the sidewalk.
“I know,” another came. “Even if she treated us poorly, I still feel bad we couldn’t be there.”
Suri grinned and turned her eyes back to Coco. They were hungry eyes. Vengeful eyes. Coco felt terrified by them as Suri slithered around the corner and presented herself to the group of ponies. They stopped and stared at Suri who smoothed out her hair.
“Hi, Suri Polomare, you are Rarity’s friends, correct?” Suri asked. She took them in for a moment. An alicorn, two pegasi and two earth ponies? What interesting company Rarity kept. Suri focused on the purple alicorn with a grin on her face, giving her a very practiced calm gaze.
“Oh, yes we are,” the purple one said.
“I was one of the contestants,” Suri said.
“Oh yeah? How’d ol’ Rarity do?” the orange one said.
“Oh, you didn’t hear? Oh, no. She got disqualified after running out. Something made her leave so she totally lost, m’kay?”
The group gasped and looked to one another before the alicorn jumped to the front of the group and waved a hoof forward.
“Come on everypony! Rarity needs us!” she said and the group was off down the street in the wrong direction.
Tourists, Suri thought with a scoff. She spun on her hooves and galloped back towards the studio with Coco trying to follow behind.
“But, Miss Polomare, didn’t you say Miss Rarity won?” Coco asked as she caught up.
“What she doesn’t know, won’t hurt her,” Suri said with a wide grin. “And will make me famous.”
The gallop back to the studio had been short as Suri marched through the doors and spotted Rarity. She flashed a grin, hearing her say she needed to speak to Prim. Suri’s mind worked quickly, formulating her response, thinking of the perfect lie.
“Ah, ah, best steer clear of Prim for a while, she’s pretty furious,” Suri said as she turned her eyes to Coco. “Isn’t that right?”
“Um, yes,” Coco said as Suri grinned, clearly pleased that her assistant took her side.
The door behind them burst open and the ponies from earlier came flowing in. Suri sat back and watched the exchange. It took every ounce of will in her body to not roll her eyes with all the talk of friendship. But there was one thing that struck a chord with her. Something that unsettled her.
It was Rarity’s reaction to losing. Suri was sure it would have destroyed her. She was so certain Rarity would have been completely devastated, knowing her work was tossed aside. She could feel it picking at the back of her mind. She remained stock still, however, as the ponies hugged one another. Suri would have been sick had they not made their exit.
She and Coco peered down the street as the group made their way down the sidewalk giggling incessantly before it faded into the rest of Manehatten’s noises. Suri puffed her chest out and felt pride welling up inside of her. It was finally over for her, she had won.
“And that is how it’s done,” Suri said, her voice prideful and every word dripping with smugness. “Pretty clever how I convinced her to stay away from Prim wasn’t it? Wouldn’t have wanted her to find out the truth, now would we?”
Her eyes turned to Coco as the young mare shrank. Suri put her nose to the sky and pranced right back into the studio with Coco in tow. As they walked into the dressing room, Suri looked about the destruction and scoffed.
“With this money I’m going to be making, I’ll get the chance to trash a lot better rooms than this one,” she said with a laugh. Coco in the meantime was sulking, looking down at the tattered dresses she’d work so hard for. Suri laughed again and moved towards the mare, settling a hoof onto her back and running it along her spine. “And of course, I’ll have my assistant with me. We wouldn’t want to forget you, because you played the biggest part in convincing that no-talent pony she was a loser.”
Coco shifted uncomfortably. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“You really have come a long way,” Suri said moving around to Coco’s front and tipping the mare’s head up with a hoof. Suri felt a smile creep along her face as she stared down into Coco’s eyes.
“I don’t like this, Miss Polomare, we hurt her feelings,” Coco said.
She felt pressure suddenly as Suri gripped her head in her front hooves as all the loving tenderness turned to bitter rage.
“What did you say?” Suri asked, her voice sounding shaky despite Suri attempting to keep calm. “She didn’t even care. You saw her. I set out to destroy her and she didn’t even care. And you know what? I’m fine with that.” Suri slipped away and stared at herself in a nearby broken mirror. She looked at her face cascaded over the spiders web of reflections and smiled wickedly. “I know that every time she looks inside a fashion magazine I’m going to be there. Every time she travels, I’m going to be there. Every single time she even thinks about fashion she’s going to see my face and realize who it was that broke her spirit.”
What followed came to a complete shock to Suri. It was a sound she’d never heard before coming deep from within her assistant’s throat. It rocked her to the core to hear such powerful words, so much so that she was stunned with mouth hanging open. What came from Coco was nothing more than three little words. But the assertion behind them was far greater than perhaps even Coco planned. “It was wrong.”
Suri gathered herself and felt her brow knitting in anger. She hovered over the mare and looked down her nose at Coco. She had to give the young mare credit, she was standing her ground. Suri lowered her head and stared deep into Coco’s eyes.
“What has brought this on?” Suri asked, eye twitching. “Are you actually saying you agree with that monster? I was the one that took you in. I saved you from a city that would never love you! I gave you everything you could ever want in this city and this is how you betray me?” Suri spun around, her voice growing louder. “Well go ahead! Stab me right in the back! Go on! Do it!”
Coco turned her eyes downward and shook her head. “You’re wrong, Miss Polomare. That’s who you used to be. But look at this room and the dresses. Look at those and tell me you aren’t the real monster.”
Suri choked back her rage and looked around the battered room. The dresses that had once been whole in tatters, the mirrored glass that littered the floor showing her that fury burning in her eyes; it all came to her as she turned to look at Coco. This isn’t happening, she thought to herself.
“You have no idea what you’re doing, Coco,” Suri growled. “You don’t know how it feels to have your life stolen like that. To live in that shadow. You have no idea how it feels!”
“I lived with you, Miss Polomare,” Coco said flatly.
Suri paused again and felt her body quiver in anger. “How dare you?”
Coco turned to leave the room as Suri leapt forward and tried to grab at her. An animalistic cry left Suri’s mouth as Coco broke into a gallop to get away. The cry of anger soon turned to a cry of pain as Suri landed onto the corner of a table. There was a sickening thud as Suri’s body rolled from the table and onto the ground. Her forelegs wrapped around her body as she gasped for air. She rolled onto her back and watched as Coco came to her side. But it wasn’t in comfort. Suri knew that look all too well. It was the same look she had practiced herself. It was that look of pity. This was far from the false pretense Suri always gave, however. No, this was real.
“I’m sorry, Miss Polomare,” Coco said, her voice faltering a little. “I’m leaving your service. I don’t expect I’ll be back. I’m going to set everything right also. Miss Rarity has to know she won.”
Suri mouthed the word ‘no’ trying her best to get up.
“Good bye, Miss Polomare,” Coco said and disappeared from Suri’s sight. She heard the door close behind her as Suri stared up at the ceiling. She turned her eyes to the side, staring at the ruins of her dressing room. Instead of furniture, however, she saw her dreams scattered and broken on the floor.
A tear rolled out of the corner of her eye as the realization struck her that all of her hard work had been for naught. She curled up into a ball and shut her eyes tight. Emotion swelled up inside of her as she took in a shaky gasp for air. She wanted to cry, just let go right there on the floor of the dressing room. That’s what the old Suri would have done. She would have collapsed and cried.
This Suri, however, was the Manehatten Suri. The one who’d become toughened by hard city life. No matter how much she wanted to cry, she couldn’t. She could only lay on her side, emotionless eyes staring at the broken items within her dead silent room.
Somewhere in her mind the old her drifted away once more, leaving the shell of a pony behind to take control. Suri stood and moved to the door to walk out, turning off the lights behind her. This was the city, after all. She had learned long ago that opportunity was in every door and on every corner.
She knew those corners all too well, as well as some of the doors. She began to feel as though she were having an out of body experience, as though her mind were trying to preserve itself. She could see herself wandering down the sidewalk and to her apartment building. Suri wondered where it all had gone so terribly wrong for her. She felt another bit of emotion begin to tug at her mind as she entered her studio apartment. A tear ran down her cheek as she closed the door behind her.
Wistfully, she turned her eyes to the sewing machine Coco had sat behind only a day ago. She felt her emotions begin to creep away, leaving her to avert her eyes and continue into her apartment. She found herself sitting behind a make-up stand, staring at her reflection. She found herself again looking into the past.
Eyeliner and eyeshadow were pulled from their drawers along with brushes set up on clamps to help line her eyes. She had done this so many times before; more than she cared to recount. Blush soon decorated her cheeks as she felt her stomach churn. She was becoming unrecognizable in the mirror, as though a different pony was staring back at her. A pony she despised enough to wish death upon. As she drug lipstick along her mouth, painting it that perfect, eye-catching shade, her mind turned to her assistant once more. She wondered if Coco would darken those same doors and corners she’d been trying to keep her from after all.
With the make-up finished, Suri stared at herself. She blinked back her tears and shook her head. It wouldn’t do to cry, she would simply have to do her make-up again if she did that. She took a deep breath and looked at herself again. With a final look over, Suri swallowed the last of her emotion and moved to the door of her apartment. She looked back one last time, watching the shadows crawling along the walls from the setting sun’s reflection off the building across from her.
Almost poetic, Suri thought as she turned out the lights and shut the door.
