Coco Pommel was cleaning up Rarity's table after she had just finished eating breakfast. She didn't want Rarity to think that she was a slob and so, she cleaned. When Rarity noticed Coco about to spray down the table, she approached the mare. "Coco, darling, it's clean. I promise it's clean," Rarity placed her hoofs on Coco's withers, getting the mare to stop for a moment. She is still struggling because of Suri's behavior towards her. Rarity hated that Coco feared making even the slightest mistake but she understood Coco's fear because she had met Suri Polomare. The slightly older mare released a breath before smiling at Coco. "You're doing great, darling," Rarity tells her.
Coco smiled at her words and Rarity considered that a win in her book. She wanted Coco to be happy and safe and if that means that Rarity has to show her how to trust ponies again, then so be it. Rarity wanted Coco to learn how to safely navigate ponies that she can trust. Rarity then thought about Fluttershy. Maybe Fluttershy wouldn't mind helping out. I will ask her before I just appear. Rarity knew how Fluttershy was and she never wanted the mare to be frightened away by sudden appearances. "Coco," Rarity spoke up to get the mare's attention and when Coco turned to her, she grinned at the mare.
"How would you like to walk around Ponyville with me?" Rarity offered and she would respect Coco's decision either way; she just wanted the mare to be comfortable. However, her worries didn't seem to have mattered when Coco smiled and nodded her head at her.
"Yes, I would love to," Coco spoke softly and she joined Rarity when the mare had gotten closer to the door of her boutique, Carousel Boutique. Rarity had pet Opal before the cat had swiped at her in irritation, not liking that her nap was interrupted but she then settled down when she focused on Coco. She let out a small meow and she laid back down, getting ready to fall back asleep. After Opal had fallen asleep, Rarity opened the door and she allowed Coco to take the first step outside.
When Coco was outside of the boutique, she looked around Ponyville and she was able to suck up a lot of positive energy as she sighed in relief. The air is very calming here. Much better than Manehatten's atmosphere. Coco thought as she felt very much at peace as she slowly breathed out. "Coco?" Rarity called out to the mare and Coco then blushed, feeling very embarrassed about her actions.
"Sorry about that, Rarity. The air is just a lot more welcoming than Manehatten," she tells the mare and Rarity then smiled softly at Coco.
"That's why I'm glad you're here in Ponyville than being back there. Manehatten is a good place but the ponies there very set in their ways," Rarity knew that she didn't have to explain it to Coco. Coco had seen it first-hoof with Suri Polomare. The poor mare still gets nightmares from the things Suri had done to her, whether it be damaging her self-confidence or treating her like a maid. Coco never enjoyed it once Suri had shown the mare her true colors and she feared that she would never be able to enjoy fashion designing because of Suri ever again.
Coco wanted to enjoy fashion designing again; she just needs to take a break from it to recover from the things Suri had done to her. She was scared to get fired and because of that, fear allowed Suri to make Coco afraid of messing up. Fear allowed Coco to shy away from other ponies. Fear made Coco into a mare who never wants to see anyone even upset at her.
It was that fear that controlled Coco and Rarity wanted to help her fight her fear.
As Rarity and Coco took a walk around Ponyville, Rarity conversed with Coco to see how she enjoyed the town. To her relief, Coco enjoyed Ponyville more than she did Manehatten and that was something that made Rarity glad because she knew how Manehatten worked. Not everypony can stand Manehatten's atmosphere. She thought, sighing. Coco turned to Rarity, worried about her. "What's wrong, Rarity?" She asked and Rarity turned to Coco, not shocked that the mare had noticed her upset demeanor.
"Sorry about that darling. I was just thinking about Manehatten, that's all," Rarity was honest with Coco and it made the blue-maned mare happy that Rarity didn't mind being honest with her.
"Manehatten is definitely a place of change," Coco spoke up after a few moments of silence. In fact, I couldn't help to wonder if she was like that in general or if Manehatten really changed her? Coco thought that she had kept her thought to herself but when she looked up, she realized that Rarity was looking at her with concern in her eyes.
"You are talking about Suri, I presume?" Rarity didn't want to push but when Coco nodded her head, Rarity released a small sigh before fully turning to Coco once again.
"That depends on if you want to believe that Suri was a good mare even before my appearance in Manehatten," Rarity was honest with Coco and it caused the slightly younger mare to gaze towards the ground.
Suri wasn't a good boss towards Coco and the mare was now realizing how bad it was once again.
Coco had a response to Rarity's words. "No. Suri was a bad boss," Coco murmured and she felt cold fear wash over her. Why am I so afraid? Rarity won't hurt me. Coco released a small whimper and Rarity hugged her, making sure to tell Coco that she cared about her.
"It's alright, Coco. It's fine. You know I would always care for you, darling," she murmured to Coco and it took a few minutes for Coco to calm down but when she did, Rarity was still with her. There were no angry exclaims, no irritated huffs, and no order for Coco to fetch coffee.
Rarity wasn't like Suri Polomare and while Coco knew this, she still felt very strong fear that she was going to mess up something. "I'm afraid to make mistakes," Coco lets out after she had calmed down. Rarity felt bad for Coco because she knew what making mistakes meant to Coco.
"I know making mistakes can be bad but mistakes are normal. It proves to us that we can't do everything on our own," Rarity tells Coco and the mare shuddered as she remembered Suri saying the exact opposite. Rarity must have realized this as she took Coco's attention off of her memories of Suri with soothing words. "What Suri did to you was wrong. She hurt you and made you think this way," Rarity softly spoke as she really hated Suri Polomare. Rarity didn't like that Suri practically made Coco fear her as she noticed the flinching Coco would do around Suri. It made Rarity want to reveal that Suri didn't design her own clothes but she didn't want Coco to take the burnt of Suri's irritation as she remembered that Suri seethed after she had lost Fashion Week.
It was at that point that Coco had sought refuge from Suri's rage and Rarity allowed Coco to safely get out of Manehatten. However, Rarity knew that Coco would be deeply afraid of Suri for a long time coming because she left without telling the mare anything. It made Coco realize that Suri could ruin her reputation as a future designer but Rarity had promised her that she wouldn't let Suri do that to her. "I had left without saying anything to her," Coco tried to rationalize that she ~~did~~ didn't deserve Suri's scorn.
"What does it matter?" Rarity asked her kindly and Coco looked up at her. "What I'm saying is that Suri hurt you and so, you don't owe her anything. Yes, you left but it was out of concern for your own safety," Rarity tells Coco in order to help the mare realize that it was okay that she had left the mare. "You left because you didn't want things to get worse, right?" Rarity asked and Coco nodded her head. "That's your right, darling," Rarity tells Coco and when Coco tearfully smiled at the mare, Rarity knew that she had done something right. She is still afraid of making mistakes but that can change with time. Rarity didn't want to rush Coco because she knew that the mare would shy away from other ponies if she was rushed.
"I can take it slow, right? Baby steps?" Coco asked after she had allowed herself to cry out some of her tears. Rarity smiled softly at her.
"You can take baby steps," Rarity responded, wanting to help Coco in every way she could in order to help out the gentle mare she had befriended in Manehatten.
