//------------------------------// // Arrival // Story: Sweetie's Manehattan Birthday // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// "Look, Sis, there she is!" Sweetie Belle stood on two hooves, pressing her face against the train window as it pulled into the Manehattan station. Rarity sat across from her, pretending to be interested in the newspaper she was using to cover her smile. "Oh, Sweetie, it's just the city. I'm sure I've seen it a thousand times before." Sweetie Belle jumped across the seats, landing on the paper and flattening it. "No. It's Coco Pommel! And I bet you told her to be here!" Rarity giggled and fluffed Sweetie’s mane. "Perhaps! I did tell you that today was going to be full of surprises, did I not?" "Well, let's go meet her!" Sweetie stared into her sister’s face. "In due time, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said as she began to gather up her luggage. "One of the rules of being a lady is not to hurry. It ruins your complexion!" Sweetie huffed and waddled over to the door, waiting for her sister. Without Spike along to act as a porter, the elder unicorn had been forced to pack light- for her. She still had three suitcases, and was in the process of dragging one out from under her seat. "Yeah, well, it also isn't very ladylike to keep your sister waiting. Especially on her birthday!" "You made that up." Rarity’s voice was muffled, as she had her head stuck under the seat. Sweetie paused. "If keeping your ladylike complexion is so important, then why are you crawling around on the ground like that? Just use your magic to drag it out! Or... Here, I'll get it!" She began to march to back to the seat, only to be pushed back by a light blue field of telekinesis. "Buh?" Rarity poked her head back out, stared straight at Sweetie Belle, and loudly whispered, "No spoilers!" A look of confusion flashed across Sweetie Belle’s face, followed by one of comprehension. "Oh? Right! Presents. I get it!" The filly giggled, and turned back toward the door. "While you do that, I'm gonna go find Miss Pommel and tell her that you’re busy being a lady. She's probably wondering why we haven't gotten off yet." With that, Sweetie Belle darted out of the car, Rarity's voice trailing behind her. "Sweetie, wait! Please don't phrase it quite like that!" The crowd around the train had already began to disperse, so it didn't take long for Sweetie Belle to spot the cream-colored figure of Coco Pommel. The mare was seated on the ground, eyes scanning the pages of a book with a black city on the cover. Sweetie paused, considering the most polite way to gain Coco's attention, not wanting to be rude so soon after running off without permission. Gotta play it cool, Sweetie Belle. You might have ticked Rarity off juuust a little by running away. Better be on your best behavior, just in case. Now, for a calm, professional, ladylike introduction... Eventually... "Ahem!" Coco’s ears twitched, and she lowered her book to see a green-eyed filly staring cutely up at her. "Hiya! I'm Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie began. "I really like your mane!" "Hi, Sweetie Belle," Coco replied. "Rarity's here too, right?" "Yep! She's right behind me. She just has some business to take care of first. You know, lady stuff." "Oh..." Coco blushed. "It's called 'unloading one's baggage', Sweetie Belle!" said an irate voice from the direction of the train. "I didn't very well bring all this so I could leave it on the train, did I?" Rarity stood there, a frown on her face and a trolley with three large bags on at her side. However, her expression softened as she laid eyes on Coco Pommel. "Coco!" Rarity pranced over to embrace her friend. "It feels like it's been absolutely forever, darling. Please, how have you been?" "I'm fine, Rarity. And it really hasn't been that long," Coco giggled, folding her book and placing it into her saddlebag. "You're in town to check up on the new boutique pretty often." "Hmmm," Rarity sighed. "I still think it's far too long. I love your new hat, by the way. Shall we get going? Come along, Sweetie Belle! And bring my bags!" Sweetie Belle, who was presently several meters away, poking at a stone on the ground, looked up and narrowed her eyebrows. "Seriously? On my birthday?" For a moment, Rarity looked as though she was about to object, before a guilty look flashed across her face, and she smiled and waved over a porter. Coco laughed, and Sweetie relaxed and came over to join the other two. Soon enough, the three mares were seated outside, in line for a taxi. Sweetie Belle had given up asking where they were headed; Rarity wanted to keep it a secret and Coco didn't know. Before they had waited too long, however, a sleek blue carriage pulled up alongside them, bypassing the line. A well-groomed stallion leaned out. "Rarity!" he shouted. "Good to see you. I was afraid we had given you far too short notice, but you made it anyway! Don't worry, we'll be strongly compensating you for the effort." "Buh?" said Sweetie and Coco Pommel. Rarity looked concerned. "You're Sapphire Shores' manager, correct? I can't say I've heard that she wanted to see me. The only reason I'm in Manehattan today is to celebrate my sister's" – she patted Sweetie’s head – "birthday. This outing is for pleasure, not business." Now it was the stallion's turn to look concerned. "That is... unfortunate. I don't suppose you can come in today anyway? We're in a very big bind, here." "What kind of bind?" "The short of it is that Sapphire Shores and her team were hired to perform at a fundraiser tonight. The ponies who hired them were somewhat specific about what the costumes needed to do, but didn't give us exact specifications or details. So, we brought in our in-house designer to draw up something that would hopefully work. "Unfortunately, when we ran the new costumes past PR, it turns out that they resemble... I-I don't really know, but it's considered offensive to a certain cultural group of ponies. So we went back to the designer and asked them to redo it so that this wasn't an issue, but they said they couldn't do it and still meet the original specifications without compromising their 'artistic integrity'. "Sapphire Shores thinks that's a load of... something I can't say in front of a kid. There's nothing wrong with the original request, mind you. Basically, we need somepony who can fix this and either modify the current costumes so they're not offensive, or come up with some new ones that work on their own. By tonight, of course." Rarity stared with pinprick pupils. Then her ears folded back. Then she whined. Coco spoke up. "You really want Rarity to cut off a family vacation, with zero notice, to make an entire line of dresses in one day? I know a thing or two about bad bosses, but that seems sort of extreme." "Err... no!" the stallion waved his forelegs. "We have all the resources to make the costumes, all we need is a designer. And they're not full dresses, so it shouldn’t be as much work. All we really need is a design for Sapphire and one for her backups." Rarity was still frozen, twitching slightly. "How did this even become an issue in the first place?" Coco asked. "Sapphire Shores has a very large audience. Shouldn't somepony have caught this before it got this far, if it's really that big of a deal?" "Look, miss, bureaucracies are complicated, and these things happen. The fact that she has a large audience is exactly why fixing this is so important!" He turned back to Rarity. "Rarity, if you can't, we'll... we'll understand. We can find somepony else." Rarity sighed a long, long sigh, during which her eyes were closed. Eventually, she looked up. "I'll do it." "What!?" Sweetie yelped. "But what about me?" "I know," Rarity began, "It's not fair. And I shall do my best to make sure it never happens again. However, it's not fair to Sapphire Shores either. And I can't stand the idea of leaving one of my friends- who trust me to come through for them when they need it- hanging without so much as lifting a hoof to help." "I thought I was your friend!" Rarity sighed again. "You’re more than my friend, Sweetie Belle. And I promise this won’t take all day. Besides, it's not like the whole trip is ruined! You and Coco will have plenty of fun without me, and when I'm done, we can all meet for dinner at... at... the Tasty Treat! How does that sound, hmm?" "Fine." Sweetie scowled, then folded her ears back, eyes pleading. "But you better keep your word!" Rarity said nothing, simply giving her a hug before looking back to the very relieved stallion in the coach. He nodded, and opened the door, allowing her to hop in, along with her luggage. "I'll see you two at the Tasty Treat, no later than five o'clock. And that's a promise!" she shouted back as the carriage sped away. As Rarity's ride vanished around a corner, the sounds of the city seemed to grow much louder. Coco Pommel gazed around, taking in a rush of pedestrians crossing the street, a doorway seeping loud music, and the endless cawing of nearby seagulls. "Mrmmmff." Sweetie planted her face on the ground like a fuzzy white ostrich, snapping Coco back to reality. She glanced around, then put a foreleg on Sweetie's shoulder, prompting the filly to look up. "So... what should we do?" Coco stepped back, then hoofed at the ground. "I was just going to come along with whatever Rarity wanted. You're her sister, I figured she would know best." "And now she ditched us," Sweetie Belle complained as a Pegasus soared overhead. "She didn't tell you what her plans were, did she?" "Aside from the Tasty Treat?" Coco shook her head. "I'm not sure I've even heard of that. And no, Rarity really didn't tell me what she had in mind. I do have a few places I like to go to hang out, but I doubt any of them would be very interesting for a birthday party." "Well, that's just fantastic," Sweetie said with drooping ears. "We're all alone, with nothing to do." She glanced to the side. "And I'm hungry, too. I bet Rarity was going to take us to lunch. Do you know any good restaurants here? That don't serve nothing but air?" In the distance, a shout rang out from an absent-minded stallion who had collided with something. Neither one spared it a glance. "Actually, I don't have much money on me," Coco admitted. "I was figuring Rarity would cover everything, since it was her invitation. I've got plenty of food at my apartment, though, if you want to go there? It's on the other side of the city, so it'll be quite a walk." "Hmm." Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin as a panicked mare galloped past. "Well, it's not like we've got anything better to do. Let's go!" She began trotting off, so Coco joined her, swiftly taking the lead and pointing in a general direction. Soon, they too vanished amid a swirling sea of carts, equines, and flashing signs.