A few hours later, the second night of the show was drawing to its end.
The last designer for the evening was announcing his collection,
a Ponish designer by the name Dawid Tomaszewski. He even modeled his
final piece personally. In trixies eyes, it was really nothing special.
Slightly baggy grey trousers, a long almost coat-like shirt, seemingly made in
some thin black fabric, and a large blue scarf hanging loosely around his neck
as he walked in a straight line down the catwalk, made a slow turn, and walked back
again in an equally straight line. Rarity on the other hoof, looked at it with wide eyes,
clearly showing interest. Trixie wondered what it was Rarity saw in this simple
clothing that made it so interesting. Obviously, she must be missing something,
she thought. Trixie truly did not see the appeal of fashion shows, or fashion
in general, with the exception of her own magician’s hat and cape. Beyond those two
items, Trixie had no fashion sense at all.
Rarity turned her head toward Trixie after Dawid went off-stage, disappearing behind
the curtains.
“Did you see that?” She asked excitedly.
“Well... Trixie must admit... Still not understanding the appeal of this.
Those clothes... some of them looked just like any regular stuff you can buy in
any store in any town, and the other clothes looked like things no pony would ever
wear, except on-stage during a show like this. A couple of them, I don’t even think
qualified as ‘clothing’ at all. I mean, one model was quite literally wearing an actual
cactus in a pot mounted on her head with a string.”
“I see your point. Some designs today were rather too unique, even for my tastes.
But for most of them, it’s not really about stuff you could wear in public.
It’s more.. a form of modern art, put on display. It’s basically the same as a painting.
You’d go to watch it in a museum or art gallery, but you wouldn’t hang it in a restaurant.
Fashion design like this is just like that. These clothes are designed to be worn in shows,
and nowhere else. My clothes that I design, are made to be worn, and therefore look
more like something ponies would actually want to wear in public.”
“When put like that, I actually do see the point, and purpose of these outlandish designs.
However, Trixie still finds very little interest in the actual designs. Like I said,
I feel more at home on the stage, not in the audience. I want to BE the show,
not see it.”
Trixie stretched her legs a bit.
“In any case, Trixie needs a walk. My hoofs - no, my entire body - feels stiff from all
the not-moving-for-almost-three-hours.”
“Agreed, three hours without breaks was perhaps a bit long.” Rarity replied as they got up
from their seats. “Will you join me backstage today as well?”
“Hm, no, I also want some fresh air, so I will go outside for a moment.”
“Very well, But I doubt they will let you go in backstage alone without me,
since I’m the one with the pass.”
“Trixie has no plans on joining you in there anyway. I will wait outside.
I was planning to have a talk with that guard griffin. Maybe he has seen
something worth mentioning.”
“Good thinking. Let’s split up then, and meet again later.
Shall we meet outside here, and go together to the after party?”
“Yes, that sounds like a good plan.”
“So be it.” Rarity said, turning toward the stage. “I’ll be off to the back-stage area then.”
And with those words, the two ponies split up again. Rarity went backstage,
while Trixie went back outside via the main entrance, to find and talk to the guard.
* * *
Trixie opened the door and stepped outside, looking around. To the left of the door,
the bulky griffin stood. He noticed Trixie and looked at her.
“Evenin’, Miss. Show’s over?”
“It is, yes.”
“So what about your company? You were here with that other unicorn, Rarity, right?”
“Oh, she went backstage to meet with the designers. Trixie decided to come out here
instead, and perhaps have a small chat with you, in fact.”
“Oh really? What can I do for ya?”
“First of all, how about an introduction? I don’t even know your name, Mr...?”
“Greybeak, of the Grey family. not related to my actual beak-color, as you can see.”
he replied, with a smirk on his face.
“And I am Trixie Lullamoon, also formerly known as ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’.”
Trixie said, bowing slightly. I used to be a show mare, you see. magic show.
Illusions, parlor tricks, that sort of thing.”
“I see. Myself, been doing guard jobs and such all my adult life.
Now, what did ya wanna talk about? I assume you had something specific in mind?”
“Yes, actually. I am sure you, as a guard, are aware of the crime waves recently,
with the two sisters who swindle and rob by taking the appearance of others.”
“Well, I’ve heard rumors and read the news-paper coverage on it, but that’s about all
I know. Why?”
“It seems their next target is here, this fashion show. I would’ve thought the police
had informed you about this already, since you are the door guard.”
“Yeah, well, Nopony has told me we were targeted by those criminals.
I knew nothing about that. If I had, I would’ve been extra careful at the check-ins.
As it was now, I just checked every guest off as usual. Any of them could be the criminal,
if they can really take others’ appearances.”
“You seem to have grasped the situation very quickly. Good. Now that you do know,
Will you keep your eyes extra open? Anything that seems suspicious.”
“Of course I will. But just to be clear, I am going to the cops too, and have a talk
with whoever’s in charge of this, and make sure they know I know. Better that way.”
“Actually, I am meeting with the police tomorrow morning. I will tell them myself.
That is of course, unless we actually catch the sisters later tonight, during the
after-party, where we suspect they might show up.”
“Sure. Just make sure the police knows I’m in the loop, I don’t want any
misunderstandings or anything. I’ve already had that experience, got mixed up
with a criminal few years back. Anyway, gotta work now, the other guests
are starting to leave and I have to cross them off my list, make sure everything
adds up correctly.”
The Griffin turned around, holding the door open with his wing while crossing off
names as ponies and griffins passed him on their way out.
* * *
Just as Rarity entered the backstage area, she was met by Coco.
“Oh, hi Rarity. Did you enjoy today’s show?” she asked, smiling.
“Why yes, I did. For the most-part at least. Some of the early designs were...
How to put it.. They were not ugly or anything, just a bit too extravagant,
even for my tastes.”
“Oh, I agree, those designs were very unique, like something from a science-fiction
comic.”
“You read comics?” Rarity asked with slight surprise.
“Oh, no, not me.. But my neighbor has a 6-year-old colt who I’ve taken care of
a few times when they were gone on work trips and such, and he reads a lot of comics.
I’ve glanced through a few out of curiosity, but never really got into it.” Coco replied
with a sheepish smile on her face.
“Ah, I see. That makes sense. Sweetie Belle, my younger sister, reads comics too.
Although, she’s not into those science fiction ones, she prefers the Daring Do comics,
which as I understand it, are mostly based on the books, just in comic form.”
“Anyway.. How is the criminal thing going? Are you making progress?” Coco asked,
lowering her voice so that no one else in the room could hear her.
“A bit, but it’s a slow process... We are about to make a breakthrough though,
on one aspect of the whole thing. I can’t tell you any details. It’s not that I don’t trust you,
don’t worry about that. It’s more that, well, we want to keep the progress mostly secret,
among only us who are directly involved.. which does not include you, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, that’s okay Rarity, I understand. I’m glad you’re making progress,
even f you can’t tell me what progress you’ve made. I just hope you catch them soon,
I don’t want to worry any more about it, but as long as those two are free,
I will worry...”
“I’m so sorry.. But, we’ll have them captured soon, you’ll see!” Rarity said in a cheerful
tone, in an attempt to raise Cocos mood again. “Now then, let us change to a better suited
subject, and preferably a happier one, shall we?”
“Gladly” Coco replied and smiled.
For the next fifteen minutes, they discussed the show, and all the various designs that
had been put on display, and their own ideas they had gotten from seeing the others.
“Oh, I have so many ideas! I can’t wait to get home to Ponyville and start making them!”
Rarity said excitedly.
“Me too.” Coco said, almost as excitedly as Rarity. “We have tons of left-over fabrics
in the storage room back at the shop, And after seeing the patchwork designs tonight,
I got inspired to make my own, just like the designer actually proposed ponies to do!”
“Indeed, I believe I have quite the pile of patches and left-overs myself, and patchwork
winter clothing has always been popular.. it never seems to go out of style, at least never
entirely, so I could probably do something like that for the upcoming winter...”
“Ooh, maybe I should too, if we have any warm-enough fabrics to use for winter coats.”
“Splendid idea, darling! Now, anyway.. I should probably go find Trixie, before she
gets too bored. She went outside you see, since she’s not that much into fashion.”
“I did see her from a distance earlier, when you came here. I was going to come over
and say hi, but I was too busy with the final preparations. She wore a quite lovely dress,
I noticed.. Your work perhaps?” Coco inquired with a curious smile.
“Oh it was indeed, one of my collections from last year.” Rarity smiled.
“The dark blue matched her light blue fur very good.”
“It matches her quite well indeed.”
After a few more minutes of small talk, Rarity excused herself and left the room,
walking back out to find Greybeak doing a name check on her as she passed.
Next to him, Trixie stood, looking up at the sky. It was just after sundown,
and the sky was dark blue. A few stars were becoming visible.
“It really does look like the early starlit sky.” She said as Rarity approached her.
“Huh?”
“This dress you let Trixie borrow.” She said, smiling.
“Oh, right, that. Sorry, My mind was still in the fashion show. But yes, the dress
was specifically designed to look like the early evening. I got the idea when I was
sitting outside my boutique one time, just as the sun was setting. It looked just like this
night, just with, you know, no skyscrapers or asphalt.” She smiled.
“Did you find out anything more in there?” Trixie asked.
“No, nothing regarding the case. Nothing suspicious going on.”
“Nothing out here either. Greybeak is now informed though, and that is why he is
also taking a name check on ponies leaving, to make sure it matches the ones
who entered.”
“Good thinking, But how do you know he can be trusted?” Rarity asked,
lowering her voice to a whisper only Trixie could hear.
“I... Trust Trixie on this one. I have a feeling he is on our side. He is not a zebra.
I have been talking with him while I waited for you. That guy is most surely a guy.
Not even the best actor could copy that much macho attitude.”
“Hm? I never saw any of that in him...”
“you did not spend twenty minutes with him. In short times, the macho doesn’t show,
but after you talk to him for a while, it becomes very clear.” Trixie smirked.
“Oh, I see.. Well in any case, We should get going to the after-party. If we go now,
we can walk slowly.” Rarity nodded in the direction of the road to the party.
“Sounds like a good plan.”
The two mares started walking, slowly.
* * *
Further away, in a small alley overlooking the area, two shadows stood once again.
“I would say the time has come, Sister.” One of the shadowed figures said.
“I agree, Sister. Have you prepared the potion?”
“I have.”
“What did you use?”
“Last night, I disguised myself as a janitor as you suggested, and got into the
backstage section dressing rooms. I located the ‘target’s room, and while it was
empty, I took a few hairs from a brush.”
“Perfect. Now then, we need to move quickly if we are to succeed.
You take care of the real one, while I drink the potion and take her place.”
“Agreed.”
The two shadows once again sneaked back into the darkness...