~~Suri Polomare~~
Deletion
What the buck was she supposed to do now?
Things hadn't worked out like they were supposed to at all!
Everything had been going so wonderfully! She had it all! She would get her big break and be the top of the heap! The big dog in Manehatten!
Now Coco Pommel had betrayed her. Abandoned her. That little brat. She had been nothing when she found her. Another naive filly who thought that the world gave a damn what you wanted or what your hopes and dreams were!
Now Coco had thrown her coffee in her face and told her she was done, had told Prim Hemline about Suri's methods and her deceptions and now had a new job as a costume designer for the makers of Hinny In The Hills.
Why had that little traitor gotten off smelling like a rose, learning to 'do the right thing?' It made no sense! It was a dog eat dog! Those stories of pulling a thorn out of a manticore's paw and it being grateful were fairytales! Life didn't work that way! Wasn't supposed to work that way!
What the buck was she supposed to do now?
Contrary to what some her detractors thought, Suri hadn't gotten everything she had just from sponging off of others, her cutie mark wasn't a sticker after all, she did have a talent at sewing. She should have logically been better at it than Rarity after all, her special talent was for all intents and purposes mining! Yet here was Rarity, among the rest of them. Her was Rarity the one with the big contracts with Sapphire Shores and other big names!
It had been a joke among her peers growing up how 'Suri' meant 'pickpocket' in neighponese (what had her mother been thinking?), and her special talent should have been lifting things out of pockets not sewing them.
What right did Coco have to give her that long winded speech? Coco would've been chewed up and spat out by Manehatten if not for her! And the cliche 'next time somepony calls you a such-and-such, they're insulting such-and-such' had given her a headache.
Did they think she had come to the dress exposition planning to copy one of the other designers and pass it off as her own? She had her own design, Coco had simply sewn them! That filly had the gall to think she had enough creativity to make it on her own?
Suri had simply seen an opportunity and taken it. It wasn't her fault that Rarity hadn't copyrighted her material or her designs. Suri hadn't NEEDED to make more of the fabric Rarity had GIVEN her, she just needed her hoof in the door. Was it her fault Rarity had been a bit too generous for her own good?
Did they REALLY think she had no talent? She just knew the truth of the world. Equestria might have seemed like 'the land of love' but in the end, everypony had to do what they had to do to get by, and if that meant doing things that others didn't approve of, then so be it.
Manehatten had taught her that, through and through. Was she cut-throat? The fashion industry was cut-throat! Was she remorseless? Manehatten as remorseless! Was she a leech? She was a wolf! And it was be a timberwolf or be a lamb.
No one seemed to complain when Rarity and her friends did the dirty work and sentenced Discord to an eternity in stone (or so they'd thought…). They did what they'd needed to do and were rewarded for it, why should Suri be seen as a pariah for doing the same thing?
Coco had reminded her of herself in a way, so had Rarity, stars in their eyes, naive, blind to the reality that if you show generosity to others, you'll ultimately be taken advantage of. Rarity should have thanked her for showing her the reality of things.
Suri remembered her first day in Manehatten, when she had given a handful of bits to a homeless pony as dirty as a dog, the next day she saw the same pony in the same spot drinking out of a wine bottle.
She'd seen her fair share of big stuff shirt business ponies with their black suits and emotionless faces tell a pony 'you're fired' without a second thought. You weren't able to make the bits? You were gone. Simple as that.
She'd once seen a detective pony in his black trench coat tackle his target to the ground and knock him out in the middle of a restaurant, no one cared. No one say 'you're being too rough'. They all said 'you did what you needed to do' and patted him on the back!
Did Rarity really think that if you always did nice things for others that they'll always do nice things in return? It was survival of the fittest. And you passed by the best way you could anyway you could. It was everypony for herself!
She was a country pony who had learned fast, Rarity simply hadn't learned as fast enough. Seriously, Rarity should have thanked her for kicking those delusions that life was a fairytale out of her head. Maybe beating an old mare's tale had lodged it in her mind deeper than it should have.
Suri stopped herself. 'I'm getting distracted. This is no good.' And all this whining wasn't going to change things either. Why was she wasting time like this? Since when did she need to justify herself to anyone? Least of all herself?
It was everypony for herself. It was everypony for herself. It was everypony for herself. It was everypony for herself. It was everypony for herself. It was everypony for herself. The business world and the fashion industry didn't have room for feelings.
Suri knew she needed to think. So why was she being dragged back into wallowing on things again and again? She was in too deep to waste time right now!
So why couldn't she think? Why was her head stuck on spin cycle?! Why was the world just not making sense?! It made more since when that sick Draconequus had turned the world upside down!
Ugh! 'Calm down Suri, you've made it this long, you can make it farther.'
So what if Rarity was now the undisputed winner?
So what if she had lost the only pony in Manehatten she truly trusted?
So what if Prim Hemline had officially disqualified her from her runner up position to boot?
So what if she had relied on Coco for so long as her seamstress it would take a while for Suri to work the rust off?
So what if her reputation was going to be a burning wreck once word spread of her plagiarism?
So what if Prim Hemline was one of the most influential ponies in the fashion world and could blacklist her with a word?
So what if there were hundreds of ponies all eager to take her spot on the next big contract who didn't have a nasty little bit of sordid history to them?
So what if Rarity had taken the lessons this city had taught Suri, turned them on their head, and then rubbed Suri's nose in it?
So what if she was now all alone?
So what if the only pony she trusted had in a few sentences destroyed her career?
So what if fashion had been her life?
So what if her life was shot to Tartarus?
So what if her life was ruined?
So what if . . . this meant . . . she had . . . single hoofedly . . . failed . . . at her . . . special talent?
So...what if her...hopes and dreams...were a pile of ashes?
So what if...her career...was...irreparably damaged?
So what if...she had no future?
She had to get out of here. She had to get home. Time to think. Time to figure something out, anything out. Coco was probably just upset! Yes! That had to be it, all the stress from the competition had been getting to her! Yes that was it!
The stress of making it big in the big city...knowing she was easily replaceable...knowing no matter how hard she worked there'd be someone better...the stress of competing with ponies just as determined and dogged to win as the two of them were, the stress of churning out good ideas one after another or being dropped by those who could keep up with the trends, yes, it had all been just stress...
Coco didn't mean any of it! She'd come back to Suri, say she didn't mean any of it! They'd hug and make up! And everything would be just fine!
She best get back home. Yes. Home. That was a good idea. Get back home. She'd go to bed. Then this would all be just a bad dream. Yes! It was a good idea! She always had good ideas!
She'd have good ideas, and Coco would sew them together, they made a good team, yes they did! Coco was so lucky to have her as a friend! Suri would always support her! Such a fragile little thing! Oh the poor dear! She needed Suri so badly, little thing wouldn't last a day without her! Little filly would crack like an egg!
She'd better get home to meet the poor dear or who knew what would happen!
...Her home...
W-where was her home?
Did she live in an apartment or a condo?
Suri tried to think. Why was it getting so hard to think?
What was wrong?
Nothing was wrong! Everything was going to turn out alright! Everything turned out alright! She made it turn out alright! She didn't take loss for an answer!
Like when, like when before . . . like when before?
She had entered last year's fashion show. Of course she had! She had won it!...She had lost it. She had had cheated there too and been shamed and thrown out of the fashion industry and told never to come back.
What the buck? That didn't make sense.
She hadn't cheated! She hadn't cheated at anything until Rarity presented her an opportunity!...She had cheated at every fashion show she had ever entered. She had cheated at every single thing in her entire life from marbles to tips to stealing her own birthday cake.
What? . . .
But that . . . never happened . . . right?
Rarity. They had never been deep friends, but they had always been on friendly terms with each other before Suri moved from Ponyville to Manehatten. She had lived in Manehatten her entire life. She had moved from Fillydelphia. UGH!
No! NO!NO!NO!
"It's not any of my business, but Miss Polomare, you're causing a scene, I suggest you leave before made to leave."
Suri looked up to see Prim Hemline's receptionist looking at her coldly through her horned glasses. The way the light reflected off them made Suri unease for some reason.
Suri made herself scarce, but not sure where exactly she was supposed to go. What she was supposed to do.
She almost ran into a stallion in a black trenchcoat at the door as she left. He said nothing, he just watched her trot on.
She was . . . supposed to go home now. Right. That was it. She knew she was supposed to do that.
Why did she feel uneasy? Why did she feel like she was walking towards nothing? Nothing would go wrong! She had lived in this city for years! She knew it like the back of her hoof!
She knew nothing would go wrong. R-right, she still had her original dresses backstage! She had to get those! R-right. Of course she had those! It would be insane and contrived to think she enter every competition with nothing! Then copy another contestant every single time! Her cutie mark wasn't for forgery!
She had planned . . . what had she planned again? Of course she had planned! She always planned! She didn't last this long in this city without planning! Yes yes!
Just because she couldn't replicate Rarity's fabric, just because Rarity was so well known as Sapphire Shores' exclusive dress-maker and personal friends with Equestria's new princess, was a mare to know in Canterlot didn't mean she was that important! She was no longer one of Equestria's saviors, now she was just a fashion mare again!
She had fallen from grace! She wasn't anything of special note anymore!
Soon she'd just fade into the background and everypony would forget she ever existed!
And when the orders would have come in, Suri would have had no way to produce more dresses, and her not being able to deliver would have broken her reputation anyway. She . . . but she . . . but she had planned this! She wouldn't have done this blindly! She was careful! She was calculating! She wouldn't be a good thief-She wasn't a thief! No no! She wouldn't have survived in the city if she was! That's it!
She just needed to get her dresses and everything would be just fine!
Where were her dresses?! They had to be here! Why weren't they here?! This was wrong! This was all wrong!
...What did they look like again?
She felt a tap on her shoulder and found a big stallion looking at her in an unfriendly manner. "This is a restricted area miss, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"B-but, I'm just here to pick up my dresses, I was part of the competition earlier today! I'm Suri Polomare. Ask around and anypony will tell you!"
"All the dresses were already picked up by their makers earlier this afternoon. Now please leave."
Not really understanding what was going on anymore, Suri found herself outside with the doors closed behind her. What was going on? Nothing made sense.
What was going on?
Ponies ignored her. But hey, this was Manehatten, everypony was busy getting to where they needed to go. Lot's of stallions with black suits trying to get to their jobs, right? Detectives with their black trenchcoats busy looking for criminals. That's why he looked at her. You didn't exactly see ponies stopping to have nice polite chats with each other. It was about the single most normal thing she had seen all day.
Right! Back home! Get back home! Get rest! Wait for Coco to come back and apologize! Listen to her cry and say how wrong she'd been to treat her only friend that way! See her get on her knees and beg for forgiveness! If only she didn't have to be alone in this cold, heartless city! If only she wasn't pointless without her!
Her head wouldn't stop pounding. She needed some coffee. "Coco, get me some-" oh right, Coco wasn't here right now.
The headache was awful. Had she gotten burns from the coffee thrown in her face before? Stupid Rarity. Making a mockery out of her. Wasn't being savior of Equestria four times enough for her?
Where was home again? She had to get home. It was this way. No, it was that way.
Uuuugh!
"HEY! Watch where you're going lady!" A cab-stallion shouted at her as he stopped just in time to not run over her.
Suri just grunted in response and scurried off the street, almost bowling over a stallion with a black trenchcoat. She didn't apologize, he didn't respond, he just watched her without a word.
Where was a good bench when you needed one?
"Why?" Suri asked herself. Finally finding a bench and sitting down. Her head still pounding. Like her head was going to split in two. "She did everything you're not supposed to do, and she won! Nothing makes sense!"
Suri tried to remember her home address, but nothing came, she tried to remember what the inside of her home looked like, but nothing came, she tried to remember what her original dresses looked like, but nothing came. She couldn't think of what to do next. But nothing came. Why? Suri whimpered. She grunted. Manehatten ate the weak and the naive, and she was neither! Not anymore!
The world seemed to have gone dark. All the sounds of the busy city were now nothing but muffled background noise to her pounding head. Like reality was rejecting her just like everything else had today. Like Coco had. Like Prim had.
"Now how did you get this far away? You should have faded away on your own by now."
Suri looked up at a stallion in a black trench-coat and hat.
"W-who are you?"
"It doesn't matter. Because telling you will change nothing."
"Look, can you . . . can you help me? I . . . I can seem to remember where I live, and . . . I think I . . . might . . . need . . . some . . ." She croacked out the last word. "Help."
Suri suddenly couldn't hear the background noise. She couldn't feel the breeze. She couldn't smell the garbage she'd passed on the way here. She could only hear the stallion's voice and her own. Was her heart beating? She couldn't hear it.
"You can't go home because you never had a home. You didn't need one. You have no past to remember. And you have no future to plan for. Your plan was incomplete because it was never mean to reach completion to begin with. Your personality, traits, and memories, were placed only to provide an externalization of Rarity's own flaws and vices for her to face and grow beyond. "
Why should she be surprised she was Rarity's shadow? She'd done enough living in it.
"You were placed in this world only as an obstacle for Rarity to overcome on her road to fulfill her destiny, and now you've been overcome. You no longer have a purpose. You have no future."
Suri wondered if she should run. Try to escape this stallion that suddenly seemed to scare her.
"Don't run. If you do, I'll catch you before you can leave the park. No one can escape me. I'll do what I have to do to ensure that."
Suri didn't run. Why should she? Why should a mare with no future try to do anything?
His hoof touched her forehead, she couldn't move. His touch felt so cold, like a void. "Fade away back into the nothingness you were made from."
The world was turning even blacker, even emptier, she was falling, the darkness closed in. Her thoughts fled her, her body became numb and refused to respond, it was getting hard to breath. Like there was a weight on her chest. She was suffocating. Please . . . let her-
~~"Breathe!"~~
Air pushed into her lungs. The blackness was pushed away a little bit.
"Don't try to fight it," said the stallion in the trenchcoat. "You'll only prolong your suffering."
~~"One, two, three!"~~
She felt like there was a hammer on her chest. It hurt.
The blackness was pushed back farther.
"I told you it'd hurt more," said the stallion, glaring. "Stop fighting. It won't be so bad, it'll be peaceful. No worries, no pain. Isn't that the best future you can hope for?"
~~"Can you hear me? We're going to help you! I promise!"~~
The stallion's form seemed to distort, like a shadow being stretched by the light. "Stop fighting. You have no future to fight for. Just let yourself fade, and find peace in oblivion now that you've done your part."
~~"Everything's going to be okay. Suri? Suri Polomare!"~~
'My name . . . my name is . . . Suri.'
~~"Stay with us Suri!"~~
The stallion continued stretching, seamlessly merging with her shadow like a puzzle piece going back where it belonged.
'I'm being lifted up, and up and up . . . '
Suri opened her eyes. What was that annoying beeping? Where was she again? And what was this thing stuck up her nose?
Her head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. Blech.
The light coming from the ceiling lights was blinding for a few seconds before her eyes readjusted.
What in Celestia's name was she wearing? This green gown was so gaudy!
And these white walls and ceiling were so bland. At least she had a nice view of the city from the window. Where was this? This wasn't her apartment or the studio.
As far as hotel rooms went this was rather bare minimum. She had to complain to management about the decor.
AGH! And what was that THING sticking into her front leg?! Why did her chest hurt?!
"Is this her room?"
That voice?
"Yes, I'll check to see if she's awake,"
A maid came in...no, not a maid. Maids didn't have red crosses on their hats, did they?
"Oh, thank goodness, Miss Polomare, you're awake."
"Awake?"
Yes, awake. She must've slept in. That's it...it was all a dream, right?
"What is your name?" The maid got in her face. What was this 20 questions?
"Suri Polomare."
"Who rules Equestria?"
"Princess Celestia during the day and Princess Luna at night. Princess Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor the Crystal Empire."
"How many hooves am I holding up?"
"Two."
"What are you?"
"An earth pony?"
"Alright, that'll do for now, I'll tell the doctors you're awake. Please don't strain yourself. We're happy to have you still with us." The maid left.
'With them? How long had I been staying at this hotel?'
Suri cringed as she took too deep breath and brought her free leg to her ribs at a sharp pain in them. Ugh! What had she done last night? She never got drunk. Coco didn't either.
"Coco! Where is my coffee? I had a horrible nightmare! We have a competition to get ready for. Did you finish those dresses or were you goofing off again? I can't believe this hotel."
" . . . I'm sorry Suri, I quit remember?"
In retrospect, Coco would wonder if telling Suri that in her condition had really been the intelligent thing to do.
"Y-You . . . " And reality came crashing down around her. She tried to move and tower over the mare like she'd done in the past but was stopped by the pain in her chest again. She flopped back into the hospital bed. She could hardly breathe. She felt dizzy.
"Suri, calm down. You're lucky to-"
"What are you doing here-" Suri was interrupted by her own painful breathing, having to take short breaths to avoid jolts of blinding pain in her ribs. "-traitor?"
"Doing what Miss Rarity taught me, being generous."
"She really poisoned your mind with that fiction?" Suri said, genuine disappoint in her voice.
"...If it were fiction, you'd be dead right now."
Suri blinked, her mind wandering back to the park.
". . . What happened?"
Suri was surprised when Coco looked her in the eyes. She was afraid...but not afraid of her former boss.
"Prim Hemline and the others said after I left you, you started acting strangely. Like you weren't all there. Then after you left, ponies said you were walking in a daze, then you collapsed in the park. The paramedic ponies said they were lucky they got there when they did."
"...Did...did you find me?"
Coco shook her head. "No, I was seeing Rarity and her friends off at the time. I didn't even know until I got back to the hotel to...change my room...The bellhop told me."
"Then...who...how did I get here?"
There was a knock on the door. It opened and a grey furred pony in a black business suit openned it slowly. He blinked, looking at the scene. "They told me you were awake, sorry if I'm-"
Suri looked him over closely, working her foggy brain. "Do I know you?"
"No...My name is Stock Exchange," the stallion rubbed his head. "Sorry, Miss...I was just taking a morning jog before work and saw you collapse...I called the paramedics as soon as I could."
Suri's heart skipped a beat. "You...you saved me?"
Stock Exchange nodded.
"Why?"
"...Why not?"
"What did you get out of it?"
"Nothing...I actually lost a day's pay being here, but I had to make sure you were alright."
"I suppose you want me to pay you back?"
Stock raised an eyebrow. "Uh...no. I'm good. I really just wanted to make sure you'd be alright before I left."
"Why?"
"Because you almost died, isn't that reason enough?"
" . . . Psh." Suri turned her head at the window. "You should have let me."
"How can you say that?"
Coco looked in surprise.
"Because I've got nothing. My life is over, why not just let it end?"
"Look, Miss…"
"Polomare."
"Miss Polomare...I'm a pony. I don't think there's a pony around who'd see somepony dying and not do something. In fact I think two or three were running over and I got to you first."
"...We'll see how long you all last here…"
"Uh...I'm a successful stockbroker with a penthouse…"
Suri growled. "Good for you. Some of us just had their life destroyed by a single backstab."
"Suri," Coco intervene. "I...I'm not going to apologize for what I did. I'm not going to say Rarity didn't deserve first place...But I think what Stock Exchange means is...you don't need to throw your heart away to make it in this town…"
"You've just been lucky. Some of us don't have that kind of luck."
"...I just met Princess Twilight Sparkle, and she's one of the kindest mares I've ever met. They all are, all of Rarity's friends…"
"So?"
"...Rainbow Dash, the blue pegasus...she's a Wonderbolts hopeful and set to try out for the Equestria Games…"
"Lucky…"
"...Applejack's family owns the number one supplier of Apples in Equestria. Fluttershy...I remember seeing her in modelling and she bowed out gracefully on her terms...Pinkie Pie...I...Well, she's happy with her life."
"See? Told you they can't all be lucky."
"No...I just don't think I can understand what she said, actually, I think it involved cupcakes...and party cannons or...something..."
"Good for them."
"...I'm not going to come work for you…"
"Good, because I've got nowhere for you to work…"
"...But I could use another set of hooves making costumes. Or just another set of eyes to look things over to make sure everything looks alright."
"YOU expect ME to-" Suri was stopped dead in her tracks by the pain again.
"Suri!"
"Keep away! What the buck do you care? You already stepped on me to get ahead!"
" . . . I didn't 'step on you' Suri because I thought Rarity would do me any favors. I did it because she showed me that this city might be tough, but it's not the jungle you see it as."
"I thought I finally got all that naivety out of you."
"If it's a pony-eat-pony world Suri . . . why are you so upset at me for telling Miss Rarity and Miss Hemline the truth?"
" . . . " Suri clenched her teeth. "I took you under my wing, and that's all it came down to?"
"You mean the sleepless nights, or the put downs?"
"When you get your own assistant you can do what you like to them."
"No I won't. Because they're still a pony. And you're still a pony. A pony in need right now."
"A pony with nothing left! All thanks to you!"
"Would we be having this conversation if it was Rarity whose life was ruined? Like you could have done?"
"Of course not, we'd be out celebrating."
"...And if it was mine?"
"What does that have to do with anything? Why was it so important you betray me Coco?!"
" . . . It was never about hurting you Suri. It was about helping Rarity."
"Why? WHY?" Suri coughed. "I . . . "
"Because when it came between her career and her friends, she STILL chose her friends. Suri . . . wake up. Rarity cared in her friends, and they cared about her, and they still won. She showed a lot more courage and confidence than you've ever shown me."
"You want to give the 'you're an insult to lent' speech again, go right ahead."
" . . . No. And I meant what I said before Suri, you said you have nothing left to live for. You said your life is over. It doesn't have to be."
"You tell me I'm filth and THEN you offer me a job, maybe you learned a bit from me after all."
"...No, I just learned after that, that everypony deserves a second chance. Rarity didn't have to forgive me for helping you, for not saying a word when you stole her material...she didn't...When I asked, Fluttershy told me that...she said she had a friend who showed her even the worst hearts have good in them."
"You expect me to just work for you? To be you little assistant to lord over? For me to be left at the bottom while I'm banned from ever submitting a design at any company ever again?"
"No, I expect you to work with me...and maybe earn the right to do that back."
"You're so naive…"
"No, I'm forgiving...and so are ponies."
"Um…" Stock Exchange said, having politely stood by. "She...has a point...one of our Princesses was kind of Nightmare Moon…"
"I was so close to the stars . . . now it's all gone."
"...Suri...would it have really been worth it? You used to care."
"I also used to believe that magic mirrors where were foals came from. I grew up. You keep saying ponies care. But it's not-"
"I didn't mean care about others, I meant care about your work."
Suri blinked. "What?"
"You used to make such beautiful designs. Yes, I sewed them...but you designed them...and you kept passing more and more of it to me...at first I thought you were trying to help me grow...but you never gave me credit, you took it...then you took Rarity's fabric and passed it off as yours, and my designs as yours…nothing that went on that stage was yours, Suri...when did you stop caring about your work?"
"I . . . I . . . " Suri shuddered.
"If you're so confident about your own work Suri, why did you have to steal Rarity's?"
"It was just, an opportunity . . . just an open door . . ."
"...Would you have been happy? Knowing you'd won with something that wasn't yours at all? You say your life is over...when's the last time you actually lived it?"
"I was just . . . just trying to be true to my cutie mark . . . I wanted to live it to the full . . . Be strong, be cunning, be a survivor, always be in a spot where I could use it." Suri sounded like even she didn't believe that one.
" . . . your cutie mark isn't stealing, Suri, and it isn't bullying others, and it isn't using an old friendship to betray somepony. And I ask again. When did you stop caring about your own work? When did you lose so much confidence in yourself that you didn't trust your work to stand on its own?"
" . . . . . . I can't remember. It's been so long."
"I...I don't know the details here," Stock Exchange added. "And...I admit, I'm probably the one who least belongs here...I just meant to save somepony in need, not be drawn into drama...but...Miss Polomare...how is it surviving if you're just living a life you stole from somepony else?...It sounds to me like Suri Polomare was already dying before Miss..."
"Pommel."
"Pommel ever did anything."
" . . . All I cared about anymore was winning. I didn't care if it was by hook or by crook, I wanted to win, I tried my hardest, I worked my hardest, why should it all go to waste because of some producer or judge's whim? If I could use Rarity to win, if I could use you to win, then I won."
Coco frowned. "...But is it really winning if all you did was take credit? You wouldn't have won, Suri...me and Rarity would've, you would have just taken the trophy."
"And all the contracts that came with it."
"And how long do you think you'd have kept those contracts if you couldn't deliver? I was the one who handled that fabric, Suri...I don't know how Rarity made it. What materials she used. I think the only pony that could make more of Rarity's fabric...was Rarity. And...considering what you did to her, I'd be surprised if she'd ever speak to you again…"
"She...she was naive…"
"No...she was your friend...She'd fought manipulators before...you...you remember what Discord was like…"
Suri shuddered. Manehatten had gotten its visit…
"She and her friends stopped him...you're no Discord, Suri. If she didn't think you were a friend, or at least somepony she could make friends with...she'd never have trusted you like she did."
"I thought I was clever."
"There's nothing clever about betraying a friend."
" . . . I . . . "
Coco carefully hugged Suri, being gentle so as not to aggravate her injuries. She didn't say anything for a minute. Then whispered in her ear. "Your designs really were beautiful Suri. I know you're not lazy. I'm sad, but I guess a little flattered that you thought mine were always better than yours. And I'm sorry, that you just gave up. And I'm sorry I didn't stand up to you before this all happened. I'm sorry I didn't save you from yourself before. I always loved your designs, and I was sad to see you slowly stop making so many. PLEASE Suri, this doesn't HAVE TO be the end. You worked your way up before by yourself. This time you'll have a friend."
"Friend?"
" . . . I . . . won't say I'd trust you in a room full of unreleased designs but . . . I WANT YOU to have another chance, another shot. I want to give you another shot. PLEASE?"
Suri felt her eyes mist over. This filly had seen her real face. She made her intentions and attitudes clear to Suri, and she still wanted to be friends? If she was hallucinating again, maybe she didn't want it to stop.
"...Miss Polomare…" said Stock Exchange. "...I know I'm a stranger but...she's right, no pony should have to go it alone...I'm not a friend yet, but-" Coco shushed at him.
"I just can't believe . . . my reputation, my connections, with a scandal like this . . . all just gone. Like I was never there. Like I was never a part of any of them. Like I never existed."
"You do exist Suri. Suri, there's always a choice. That's what Rarity showed me. And that's what I want to show you. So please, don't you want to be known for your own work?"
"I . . . I give up. I just can't win. I tried one way, and got stepped on, I tried their way, and all I did was fall. Maybe I'm just meant to lose."
"No you aren't. I told you already. Your designs were always great. And I don't believe you've lost your touch. And I promise Suri . . . give it a chance, and I promise that maybe the straight and narrow isn't such a bad road to follow. You can start again. You'll have to earn it all back. But you aren't that old. And you'll have me, not as an assistant, but as a friend."
"A friend? Heh. Haven't had one of those in a long while."
"Then maybe it's about time you started."
"Well . . . I don't have anywhere to go but up."
~ Fin
