Taking a draw from my coffee, I checked an item off the job list. For a moment, I felt I had made a little headway. The feeling vanished as I realized that the list remained one and a half pages long and still being added to. The store's bell ringing made me look up and smile. “Good morning. How did things go?”
“Good morning to you too,” said Coco. “They got everything on the train and left with no hiccups. Twilight arranged loading all the outfits and luggage perfectly.”
“I wish I had her level of organizational skill. It would save me a lot of headaches.” As we made our way to the workroom, I asked, “Would you care for some coffee?”
“No, thank you. I've had a cup this morning, and I'm jittery as it is.”
“What for?”
“Starting a new job, living in a new place, half a dozen different things.”
“Don't worry about the job. Compared to what you've been doing, the work will be easy. If you need any suggestions about where to go to shop, eat, or things to do, I'll be more than happy to help.” Stopping in front of my work table, I rubbed one foreleg over the other. “I hope that last night didn't make you feel awkward being here.”
Coco looked at me as if I had said something odd. “Why would it?”
“I was worried you might have gotten the impression I'm a creep. I described you to Berry, but not quite the way Rarity was insinuating.”
“Oh. The whole scene in the kitchen.” Coco shrugged. “I know that Rarity loves drama and romance, and will make something out of nothing to get either. She accused me of trying to pin you to the counter too, don't forget.”
“True.”
She smiled. “Just to give you fair warning, I will follow her suggestion to ask Berry what you about what you said about me. That will have to happen later. Right now we need to get to work.”
We discussed possible projects for her to tackle, and she chose to work on items for the storefront. I showed her where the patterns were kept, the particular cloth she would need was, and then returned to my worktable. The only time either of us paused in our work was when we needed to get supplies or tools. Not long before lunch, the store's bell chimed.
I turned my head towards the front of the shop. “I'll be right with you!”
Coco put down the piece of cloth she had been measuring. “Would you like me to help them? You look like you have your hooves full.”
“If you don't mind, I would appreciate it.”
Coco headed to the front, and I continued to work with careful haste.
“What can I help you with this afternoon, sir?”
“I'm sorry. I must have the wrong store.”
Recognizing Rich's voice, I turned one of my ears towards the front.
“Sir, this is,” Coco said, trailing off after the sound of the door closing.
The door opening and the bell ringing again made me pause. “Nope, this is the right place. Did Discord visit you today?” Rich's voice was louder than it needed to be, making me certain he was putting on an act.
“Discord? I can't say I've met him, sir.”
“It's worse than I thought. Pin, I hate to tell you this, but I think an ancient embodiment of chaos has turned you into a mare and altered your mind. While you make a lovely mare, I think we need to get you to Fluttershy's so she can make Discord fix this.”
“Rich, behave,” I called to the front. “I'll bring your suits out in just a moment.”
“So Discord didn't get you! That's good to know.” Rich asked Coco, “Is he treating you well?”
“He’s treating me very well.”
“That's good. He ran off the last three that tried to help him around this place.”
“Rich! That's not what happened, and you know it.” I pulled his suits from one of the store's wardrobes and went to the front of the shop.
“Did you or did you not throw them out?” Rich asked, as I stepped into the storefront.
“I asked them to leave, but-”
“See!” Rich interrupted, making a sharp gesture at me. “Don't let his nice pony act fool you. He ran off three assistants, all at once.”
This wouldn't happen to be the time that Sweetie and her friends helped you would it?” Coco asked me, a hint of a smile showing.
“It was. They were trying to get their cutie marks. In what exactly, I don't know. They offered to help me rearrange the displays. There was an incident with a ladder, and everything in the shop, the shelves included, ended up on the floor. It took a day and a half to get everything cleaned, repaired, and back where it was supposed to go.”
Rich took the suits from me. “Thanks, Pin, especially for doing this on such short notice.”
“Do you want to try them on to check the fits?”
Rich shook his head. “I trust your work. If I don't hustle, I will be late for my train.”
I presented Rich with his bill, and he paid me. As I put the bits in the register, he said to Coco, “Now I've gone and bad mouthed him, I have to say he was being kind to them by letting them try.”
“From what Rarity has told me about them, they seem quite the hoofful.”
“Most ponies won't even let them touch a project, since it usually ends up a disaster or with somepony covered in tree sap.”
“I still haven’t figured out how they manage that so regularly,” I said.
“I'm sorry; I didn't even ask your name,” Rich said to Coco.
“Coco, Coco Pommel.”
“Filthy Rich.” Rich looked at me pointedly. “Not a word.”
I grinned, but did as told and remained silent.
“Nice to meet you,” said Coco.
Just as he was about to shut the door, on his way out, Rich said, “You two take care.”
After Rich shut the door, Coco laughed. “I can't believe he's Filthy Rich. I would have thought he would have been much more businesslike.”
“I think’s one reason he is so successful is he acts like everypony else, even though he has enough bits to buy most of Ponyville.” I put the store's 'out to lunch' sign in the door's window. “Have you made any plans for...” I stopped in mid-question as somepony knocked on the door. I turned to see Berry with her nose pressed against the door's glass, at the sign's edge. Only one of her eyes and a portion of her face was visible.
“Don't act like you’re not there, Pin,” Berry said, through the glass. “I saw you put this sign up, and I can see a part of you, so I know that the rest of you is there too.”
Overriding the part of me warning it would lead to nothing but trouble, I opened the door and let Berry in. “Hello, Berry. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Don't act innocent with me. I'm here to collect on that promise you made. I almost forgot that Rarity was leaving this morning and figured you would try putting off telling me about last night until she was about to get back.”
“Actually, I was planning on seeing you after closing. What's with the pizzas?”
Berry looked over her shoulder at the two pizza boxes she was carrying. “I brought them to honor the Ponyville tradition that gossip be shared with a meal.” Berry must have noticed that Coco was in the store with us. She smiled at Coco as if she had discovered a key part of a puzzle she had been working to solve. “So this is the mystery mare. I didn't think she would start so soon.”
Berry made a slow circuit around Coco. Coco followed Berry's movements with an expression that had a mixture of amusement, annoyance, and curiosity.
“I'm Berry Punch,” Berry said, stopping in front of Coco and offering a hoof.
“Coco Pommel,” said, taking Berry's hoof without hesitation.
“Nice to meet you. Did you like the wine?”
“I did.”
“I'm glad. Pin gave me enough to work with, but I was a little worried about the choice. I do my best work when I can talk to a pony face to face.”
“You did wonderfully, thank you. Rarity suggested I ask you about what he told you so you could make your suggestion.”
Berry nodded sagely. “You can tell a lot about a stallion by how he describes you. We should have this conversation over lunch, or we will break tradition.” Berry turned to me and asked, “Do you want to eat here or at my place?”
“Here's fine. Would you like me to carry those?”
“Nah, I've got them.”
I led Berry and Coco into the back, up the stairs, through my apartment's den, and into the kitchen.
“For a busy, single stallion you keep a tidy place,” Berry said, putting the pizza on the table. “There aren't any dishes in the sink, no mess on the counter, nothing.”
“Thank you. I try to keep things neat as I can.”
“In fact, it doesn't look like you've fixed anything or cleaned for a couple of days.” After putting the boxes on the counter, Berry stepped in front of me and took my face in her hooves. “You're not eating or sleeping again.”
“That's quite a logical leap.”
I tried to pull away, but she held me in place. “Answer me: yes or no?”
“Berry, what are you talking about?” Coco said.
“Pin has a tendency to forget to eat or sleep when he gets too busy. That's another reason I brought the pizza.”
“You can't do that with all the magic you're using!” Coco scolded. “You'll make yourself sick!”
“He has before, that's why I'm worried.” Berry's eyes bored into mine. “I want you to promise that you will eat regularly and get rest.”
“I can't make that promise. Things are too busy right now.” Before I knew what was happening, Berry had me in a headlock.
“While that was an honest answer, that was not the one I wanted to hear.” Berry tapped her free hoof against my head. “You will promise me you will eat and sleep right, or we will be like this all day.”
“You have a shop to run too,” I said, trying to sound like I had more conviction than I felt.
“Barrel's watching the shop.”
“Who's Barrel?” Coco said.
“My husband, Oak Barrel.” Berry rested her hoof on my head. “You're lucky he's not the one that's doing this. He would give you a noogie for being so hardheaded.”
“Knowing him, I can't really argue with you on that one. Getting back to the main point, I'm not going to make a promise I might not be able to keep.”
“Coco, would you be as so kind as to fetch my husband? Maybe he can talk sense into him or beat it into him.”
“I don't know where your shop is,” Coco said.
“I can give you directions, it's not far.”
“I shouldn't be asking this, considering my position, but if you feel I might need to be beaten into submission why aren't you doing it?'
“I'm a lady. Ladies don't rough up ponies over intellectual debates.”
“What you said has so many problems with it I don't even know where to start.”
“Are you implying that I'm not a lady?” Berry said, with an icy bite to her voice.
Coco let out a short, nervous laugh. “Berry, I don't think this is the right way to do this.”
I could not see Berry's expression, but something told me she was smiling. “You're right. I have a better idea. Would you come here for a moment?”
Coco moved so that that she stood in front of us. Not knowing what Berry had in mind, and not liking where things were going, I tried to squirm out of Berry's hold.
“I move barrels and cases of wine all over town every day,” Berry said, tightening her hold. “Do you really think you can get away?”
“Berry, don't hurt him.”
“I'm not planning on it. I need you look to at him.”
Coco came close and leaned down so her eyes were level with mine.
“Look into those blue eyes you described so well the other day and promise you'll eat right and take care of yourself,” Berry prompted me.
Avoiding Coco's eyes, I said, “I'll do better. I promise.”
Berry gave me a light shake. “That's not good enough.”
“Pin, look at me.”
I looked up to Coco's worried face.
“I've seen what working too hard without food and sleep does to ponies, especially when they use a lot of magic, and I don't want that happening to you.”
“It's not that I don't want to eat or sleep, but there are only so many hours in a day. I have to get every pony's orders ready on time. If that means I have to tough it out, I'll do it.”
“I'm here so you don't have to do anything like that. Remember?”
I found myself unable to reply.
“Promise.”
“If you'll let me buy your lunches.”
Coco blinked. “What?”
I felt Berry's laugh, through her ribs, before she let it out. “I think he's saying that he'll promise to take care of himself if you'll eat lunch with him.”
“You don't have to eat with me, but I want to pay for your lunches when you're here. I still think I'm not paying you enough and it would help me feel better about that.”
“Only if you make a full promise in return.”
I met her eyes and held them. “I promise that I will eat and sleep properly.”
Berry shifted slightly and moved me so I was nearly touching Coco. “Now, kiss him on the nose and seal the deal.”
“Berry!” Coco laughed and moved away. “I think he's been traumatized enough.”
“I doubt he would consider a smooch on nose traumatic. In fact, I bet he'd like it.”
“Berry, you can let me go now.”
“Not yet. You're going to tell her what you told me about her. Hurry, the pizza is getting cold.”
I sighed and felt my ears droop. “I told Berry that you were a fashion designer in Manehatten that was between jobs, acted the part of historical Canterlot elite well, had blue eyes, a blue mane with a lighter streak in the middle, a cream coat, and a nice voice.”
“What he is leaving out, is that he described your cutie mark perfectly, which means he inspected your rear,” Berry said.
I remained silent.
Berry looked down at me. “Not going to say anything in your defense?”
“When faced with a situation like this, a wise stallion would keep his mouth shut.”
“You do not qualify as a wise stallion, and I have you at my mercy, so you will say something to her.” Berry gave me another shake. “Go on.”
“I looked at your cutie mark long enough to remember it.” My confession was met by a slight blush from Coco.
Berry patted me on the head. “It's okay. I'm sure she'll forgive you. We mares know you stallions can't help yourselves sometimes.”
“His is of a safety pin with a heart on it,” Coco said. “So we're even.”
“You made him blush! That's so cute!”
“Just so you know, Berry, I can get out of this.”
“I doubt that. You're in good shape, but you don't have a chance of wrestling your way out of this. You can't teleport and your telekinesis isn't strong enough to pry me off of you, so magic won't do you any good either.”
“Barrel told me your weakness, so I won't have to overpower you at all.”
“How are chocolate covered baked oats going to help you?”
“While I'll keep the oats in mind for another occasion, that is not the secret he told me.” I tilted my head and grinned up at Berry. “He told me you were ticklish.” Using my magic, I attacked her ribs with feather soft touches.
“That's not fair!” she protested, laughing and letting go of me.
“You two act like brother and sister,” Coco said, laughing.
“We've known each other since we were little more than foals. Berry and I would play together whenever I was here.”
“So you two were sporadic friends too?” Coco asked.
“We were good friends and still are,” I said getting out plates and putting them on the table.
“What's this 'sporadic friends' stuff?” said Berry.
“He told me he and Rarity were 'sporadic friends' last night.”
Berry paused in her divvying up the pizza and gave me a look. “I bet she didn't take that well.”
“She called it an 'inelegant' description, but she didn't argue.”
Coco said, with leeriness in her voice, “I thought you and Rarity were good friends.”
“We are, but our friendship has hit rough spots. At one point, she wanted to use me as a way to get into the Canterlot circles. When I refused, things between us got a little tense.”
Berry sighed and passed our pizza slices to us. “I can't argue that she might have been trying to use you, to a degree. But I think you're selling yourself short.”
“Either way, I wouldn't have been able to get her into the inner circles. While I'm still somewhat active in Canterlot, due to my professional activities, I'm not considered a true Canterlot pony.”
Berry paused and looked around the kitchen. “You've been here so long by yourself; I almost forgot this used to be your grandparent's. I don't know if I could live in my parents' or grandparents' place. It would bring back too many memories.”
“Now and then I'll turn up something that brings back a memory that makes me miss them, but mostly it's like they're gone on one of their trips.” I looked to Coco. “I could tell you about the place now, if you would like.”
“I'd love to hear about it, but isn't it a long story? We need to get back to work before too much longer.”
“It would be a long story, if I told it the way Rarity would like.” I grinned and dramatically put the back of a hoof to my forehead. Pitching my voice into a falsetto, I did my best impersonation of Rarity. “It would be a tale of lovers challenging society's norms. Of a father pitted against his son. Of a third generation dragged into the conflict before they were old enough to even understand the forces causing the rift in their family.”
Berry snorted. “You've got her love of drama down. The voice could stand some work, though.”
I put my hoof down and returned to my regular voice. “Rarity would have me recite every he said she said, which would take hours. We'll skip all that and keep it simple. My grandmother and grandfather had my dad when they were young. About the time my dad got his cutie mark, my grandmother passed unexpectedly from some kind of illness. What exactly it was, I don't know. Neither dad nor grandfather would talk about it much. About the time that my dad went off to school, my grandfather met my grandmother. My dad and grandfather ended up getting married to the mares they loved two years later.”
“Here's where the trouble starts,” Berry said.
“It wasn't all that big of a deal.” Seeing the look Berry gave me, I added, “At first.”
“You're being too kind to a pair of ponies that don't deserve it.”
“Berry, my folks are good ponies. They're too into the Canterlot lifestyle is all.”
“From what little I know of Canterlot, that doesn't sound good,” Coco said.
“My grandfather ruffled a few feathers literally and figuratively by marrying a pegasus, which was not common back then. It was overlooked, to an extent, since their relationship a business merger too. My grandfather was a tailor in Canterlot and she was a cloth dealer who settled in to Ponyville not too long after its founding. They met at a trade function and hit it off. Grandfather moved here to be with her and to get away from the snobs in Canterlot. A little time passed and my dad and mom had my sister. Things were steady for years, and then I came along as an unexpected blessing. My dad and mom didn't know quite what to do with me. They loved me, but I didn't fit into their plans.”
Berry slapped her hoof on the table. “He's being way too forgiving. Let me give you a more realistic picture of what happened. His parents were too busy to look after him and shoved him into a military style boarding school as soon as they could.”
“Berry, it wasn't as nasty as you're making it sound. There's a waiting list for enrollment at that academy that is often years long. With me being a surprise, they had to pull strings just so I could go there. It also wasn't cheap. While my parents may not have been involved with me growing up that much, they loved me and made sure I was prepared for life. I learned disciple and got a great education at that academy.”
“I could never send Pinch away, even if I were double my age when I had her.” Using a less acidic tone, Berry told Coco, “When he wasn't at the academy, his grandfather and grandmother took care of him.”
“In most ways, I was more my grandparent's child than my parents. I went to school in Canterlot, lived here when I wasn't taking classes, and learned to be a tailor. After my grandfather and grandmother passed, I took over the shop. Sis took over the family business, as she and they wanted, and everypony is happy.” I shrugged. “That's the whole story more or less.”
“He's still far too kind in his description.” Berry said, grabbing another slice of pizza. “His parents never warmed up to his grandmother, even though she was one of the sweetest ponies you could ever meet. They gave his grandfather fits about not staying in Canterlot and tried their best to keep Pin from 'involving himself with the wrong ponies' even though they were miles away. To them, the 'wrong ponies' meant any pony that wasn't a Canterlot unicorn.”
“My parents have mellowed out since then.”
“I have to admit, their last couple of visits were almost pleasant.” Berry gestured towards me as if putting me on display. “However, notice he hasn't talked about his sister much and he hasn't defended her like he has his parents.”
“That bad?” said Coco.
“I'll admit, Satin can be a pill.”
“That's not the word I would use,” Berry muttered, chewing on a bite of crust. “During her last visit, Satin made her views about Ponyville, and all the ponies living here, well known and made Pin's life miserable for a week.”
I sighed. “I can't argue with any of that.”
“She's overdue for a visit too.”
“I doubt she'll come back. She and I had sharp words before she left. We haven't even written each other in over a year.”
“Bad bits have a way of turning up at the worst time.”
Coco gave me a sympathetic smile. “I hate that you don't get along with her. I can't imagine how having a sibling like that could be. I have always gotten along with my brother.” She giggled. “He didn't even complain when I used to make him part of my tea parties.”
“You didn't dress him up, did you?”
“Once or twice.”
“Ouch. His poor pride.”
“He was adorable.”
“Please, tell me you didn't take pictures.”
“I didn't. Mom did. Dad wouldn't let me play with the camera, so Mom volunteered to take the photos.”
“I don't know if that's better or worse. What do your mom and dad do?”
“Dad's runs an advertising service. Mom is a theater manager. They met when my dad was doing a promotional shoot for a play she was billing. She used to be an actress, but she tired of all the traveling that went with it and chose a job that allowed her to still be in the theater world without all the running around.”
“He must have found her very photogenic,” Berry said.
“That sums it up.”
“Your mom's job explains why you like the theater so much. What got you to into fashion?”
Coco lit up. “Designing costumes! The different eras, different cultures, the different looks; it was amazing to me that you could make a pony into somepony entirely different by changing what they wear.”
I smiled at her infectious enthusiasm. “As well as you acted the other day, I'm kind of surprised that you don't get onstage yourself.”
“I've been in little community plays. Nothing big, though. When I was little, I thought I would grow up to be an actress like Mom. I found out I liked working on costumes a lot more than being onstage myself.” She smiled and looked towards her cutie mark. “I was helping mend a tear in a costume, during a break between scenes, when I got my mark.”
“I think I understand why you like making costumes. There is something about making clothing for somepony to bring out the best in them, isn't there?”
Coco nodded. “There is.”
Berry giggled.
“What's so funny?” I asked.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “I was just thinking you two are literal clothes horses.”
I groaned. “That was horrible.”
“Speaking of clothes, you two will need to get started again soon.” Berry took her plate, rinsed it off, and put it in the sink. “I need to get back to the shop too.”
“Thank you for the pizza,” I said.
“Yes, thank you very much.” Coco closed the box of the remaining pizza. “Would you like to take this last bit home?”
“Nah. You two can have it. Don't move, either of you. I'll put it in the fridge.” Berry took the box from the table and went to place the box in the refrigerator. She paused, before shutting the door back. “You drank both bottles of the wine?”
“We had one,” Coco said. “He left the other at Rarity's for me to have later.”
Berry grinned and slowly closed the refrigerator door. “He did, did he?”
One of Coco's ears folded down, and she tilted her head in an adorable way. “He did. Is there something wrong with that?”
“Nothing wrong, that was nice of him, is all.” Berry gave us a wave as she left the kitchen. “Behave you two and don't work too hard.”
“At least let me get up so I pay you for the pizzas,” I said.
“Sit. Stay. We'll settle up some other time,” She called up the staircase. “I expect my payment in gossip material.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I called back. After waiting for Berry's hoof steps to finish going down the stairs and her leave out the back door, I turned to Coco. “You have now met the loveable madness that is Berry Punch.”
“I like her. She is very honest and lets you know where you stand.”
“She can be a little rough, but she has a heart of gold.” I took Coco's plate and mine to the sink. “She looks out for all of her customers, both in and out of the shop.”
“Just how many customers of hers does she deliver pizza to?”
“I may be the only one.” I paused in my scrubbing of the plates. “She, Barrel, and I helped each other through some rough times and keep an eye on each other. They are the closest friends I have in Ponyville.”
“But not the only ones, I hope.”
I put the plates back in the cabinet. “I am very lucky to have a number of friends here.”
“What about Canterlot?”
“Not so much. I have many acquaintances and business contacts there, but not ponies I could call friends.”
“Sounds like Manehatten, I think I have more friends here than back home.” She started towards the staircase.
I followed. “I hope that I can be added to that list, eventually.”
She paused, looked over her shoulder at me, and smiled. “You're already on it.”