//------------------------------// // Chapter 23: Surprises // Story: Transparent Living // by PinoyPony //------------------------------// Coco had no idea why Montresor and Florin were doing this. They knew she needed some time to start her summer clothing line. Not to mention the questions from the press she needed to answer about the Hearts and Hooves day line that was released a couple days ago. All atop that, she needed to cook dinner for Dazzle. The poor thing must be starving since her lunch was hastily prepared the other day. She needed to do something to make sure Dazzle knew she was appreciated. She helped a bunch with the previous lines, even when she had all those bruises. Instead of being home, though, she was in a taxi with Montresor, Florin, Napoleon, and Dazzle, heading for a busy part of town- especially at this time of year. Maybe she should’ve put her hoof down. Why didn’t she learn the first time from Suri Polomare? Oh, she knew better than letting others, even her friends, take advantage of her. Dazzle is probably disappointed. She looked to the filly to her right, who was sitting quietly while the taxi rushed through bustling traffic. Slush and ice covered the streets. Dazzle had her head propped with her foreleg, watching as the city moved to and fro. Perhaps she was thinking about home. She found Dazzle most of the time daydreaming. When Dazzle noticed Coco staring at her, she turned to her and smiled. Coco couldn’t help but smile back. Perhaps a meal wasn’t enough. Maybe she could sew Dazzle another coat. The one she was wearing was torn from the time that mean filly and colt injured her. “Alright, this is your stop.” The taxi stallion said. “That’ll be fourteen bits.” Coco reached for her saddlebags, but Florin laid a hoof on hers. “Don’t worry sweetheart, we got it.” Montresor tossed a couple bits into the bag next to the stallion. “Thank you.” The taxi stallion tipped his hat then galloped away. Coco sighed. She stared at the flood of ponies entering and exiting the building. As she predicted, it was busier than usual. Montresor trotted towards the doors and held it open for them. Coco held her breath as she squeezed inside the doors with the crowds. It was fine. She was doing fine. The fact that she hadn’t freaked out yet meant that she was doing fine. Great. Just one more step. Florin motioned over to Coco to come with. “I’m so glad that you could spare the time to come out with us!” Florin laid a foreleg over Coco’s back. “Heh, no problem.” Coco said, trying her best to smile. In her mind, Coco reprimanded herself for not telling Florin she was uncomfortable. They slowly made their way towards the elevators. Coco noticed Dazzle hugging to her side, ducking and scooting every so often to avoid ponies. “You want to ride on my back?” Coco asked. How did she manage that? To speak for Dazzle, but not for herself. Dazzle nodded. Coco lowered her back and let Dazzle climb on. Again, there were onlookers every so often, but not as often as a month ago. The hullabaloo had died down since the tabloids stopped spreading the news and moved onto whatsoever scandal or gossip it could get its hooves on. They filed into an elevator. Posted at the doors was an attendant. Ponies would tell her which floor to go to and she would click the buttons. “View, please.” Montresor said to the attendant as he let his wife and son file in. As the elevator rushed to the top, she thought of some small talk that would make the situation less awkward. Each time, a pony or two would get off at a mid-floor. Then, came the long haul towards the top. Once the doors opened, and ponies started filing out. Coco decided now was the best time to pop the question. “So, how are your lines going, Florin?” Florin smiled. “Not bad. I’m just taking a break since Hearts and Hooves day was taxing.” Coco knew it. All of them had been stuck in separate rooms, talking about their lines to production. In any other words, it was exhausting. Period. “Where’s Marigold?” Coco asked. “She’ll be here in a minute.” Florin leaned towards her. “She still needs to get somepony.” Florin put emphasis on the last word. She bobbed her eyebrows up and down. Of course. She had to get Underdog from school. Coco had one concern though. “Are you sure? Your son and him are not a good mix in public.” The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. A rush of cold wind blew into the elevator. “I’m sure.” Florin replied. “Why don’t you go take a look at the view with Dazzle? I’d bet she hasn’t seen this before.” Coco nodded and trotted towards the glass panes. From there, Dazzle hopped off and took a look at the view. “Wow! I feel like a bird up here!” Dazzle spoke with airy tone of wonder. “Just a piece of how a Pegasus feels.” Coco made note of her surroundings and pointed to the location of a familiar building “Look! That’s our apartment complex!” Dazzle looked out to the building. She hopped up and down. “Oh yeah!” Coco couldn’t help but smile at Dazzle. Still a little filly. How could’ve she’d have been so blind? What Dazzle needed was some time to enjoy her stay here in Mane-hattan. See the sights, eat at restaurants, enjoy time together. Of course, Montresor and Florin knew just the thing. Why did she do so much to resist a good deed? Coco felt a tear roll down her cheek. She rushed up to the reflective surface of the binocular stand, checking to see if any of her makeup washed out. Luckily, there was no sign of it. Gosh, why did she have to be this way? To worry about every little detail? “Hey Coco, are you okay?” She heard Dazzle say. Coco wiped the tear away. “Yeah, just got a little makeup in my eye.” She lied. Dazzle tilted her head and looked at the device Coco was using the reflective surface of. “Can I have a try at that?” Coco nodded and reached into her bag. She pulled out a bit and inserted it into the stand. She looked through, and saw the waves on the distant horizon. It kinda made her a bit dizzy. She motioned over for Dazzle to have a look. Dazzle leaned up on her tippy-hooves. Once her eyes met the binoculars, she gasped. “Wow! You can see even further now!” “May I have a try?” She heard nearby. She swiveled about, finding Napoleon nearby Dazzle. “Sure.” Dazzle responded as she stepped away. Napoleon brushed away any dirt on the lenses and followed Dazzle’s stance. “You can sure have a good look at Filly Liberty.” Napoleon oriented the binoculars eastward. Coco jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned to see who it was, her cheeks burned. “W-what are you doing here?” She asked, trying to cover up any stuttering. Usually she was more composed. Yttrium chuckled. “Marigold came and kidnapped me from work. I was in the middle of a sample.” In the distance, she saw Marigold toting around a very stubborn Bling-Bling. She was talking with Florin, and by the looks of it, she was having a great time. Sometimes a smile -maybe an eye roll or two here and there- came across during the conversation. “Hey Yttrium!” Dazzle said as she hug-tackled Yttrium’s leg. “So good to see you! What are you doing here?” “Marigold came to the hospital and picked me up for the occasion.” Yttrium explained. Napoleon came right by Dazzle’s side. “She tells me that she goes to the hospital to volunteer.” Napoleon started. “Is that true?” Yttrium nodded. “She’s a huge help.” “Wow!” Napoleon gasped. “Say, Mr. Fuse, do you know any great projects I can do at the science fair?” Napoleon asked. “Oh, still trying for CSGU?” Yttrium smiled. “I suggest you look into the book ‘Introductory Meadowbrookian Magic’. I used it when I was your age.” Napoleon smiled as he giddily raced over back to his mom and dad. Although that colt became more social as a result of Dazzle, he still kept his nerdy interests. Dazzle tugged on Coco’s saddlebags. Coco turned towards the filly. “I’m going with Napoleon.” Dazzle said. “Go for it.” Coco giggled. She wondered if her presumptions were correct. Was Dazzle crushing on Napoleon? Once Dazzle came to Napoleon’s side, Coco found it safe to talk to Yttrium. “So, Florin and Monty pull another one on us?” “Yep.” Yttrium chuckled. “So, how are things going at the hospital?” Coco asked. “Got any better prospects?” She teased. Hopefully he was going to pick up what she was hinting at. “Nope.” Yttrium said. “Too busy trying to find a cure.” He sighed. “Progress is slow. But, Dazzle suggested the other day that I overload the system with Corrosion to force the equilibrium towards the cure side.” Coco only understood a portion of his words. She decided to take the common ground. “Is Dazzle causing trouble?” “You’d bet!” Yttrium answered. “She is a ferocious filly that is threatening our top volunteer’s pace. I think she is a little too excited to get into the lab.” “How long has she got before she is allowed in?” “Two weeks.” Yttrium stated. He looked over to the group of ponies gathered near the doors. Coco took a look with him. Napoleon and Dazzle seemed to be laughing and talking. What was odd is that Bling-Bling was nearby, normally aloof from the conversation, but for some strange reason, he seemed to have a good time trading conversation with Napoleon and Dazzle. “Never I thought that Bling-Bling would be mildly interested in what Napoleon was talking about.” Coco observed. “Dazzle has a heckuva charisma.” Yttrium said. “Sharp too. She can extract information from others around her. She was in my office the other day and…” His cheeks started to grow a darker red than his coat “What are you thinking about?” Coco asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile. “It’s nothing.” He waved off. “How are you two doing?” Coco heard Florin say as she approached. Right by her side, Montresor and Napoleon followed. “Great.” Yttrium smiled. “That’s good.” Montresor nodded. “I think we’ll start to head downstairs. Filly and colts starting to get hungry and you know what that means.” Coco nodded as she followed Florin and Montresor towards the doors. “Ah, it’s so good to be back up here, honey.” Florin spoke in an awestruck tone. It sounded like a yawn, yet was as gentle as a ‘goodnight’. Coco knew what she was hinting about. Talk about subtlety. When she and Montresor were dating for the umpteenth time, Montresor decided to seal the deal. He proposed to Florin on this very rooftop. …Now they were trying to coax Yttrium to do the same. As they trotted for the doors, she heard another familiar voice. “Coco? Dearie, is that you?” Coco shook off her shock and turned toward her former employer. Her legs started to quiver. “Hi, Suri.” Suri Polomare smirked. “Fancy meeting you up here.” “Quite.” Coco said in a low tone. “Pardon?” Suri cupped a hoof to her ear. “I can’t hear you when you are mumbling.” “Quite.” Coco said a little louder. Coco started scooting towards the doors. “I recently saw your Hearts and Hooves day line.” Suri continued. “Quite Original.” Coco knew that as a jab. She knew that Suri was still furious about how Rarity exposed her later on about stealing her work. “Thank you.” That statement took all the grace Coco could muster. Her stomach started to churn and cold sweat started running down her back. “I gotta- err- got to go join my friends.” She inched her way towards the door. She could see Florin, Yttrium, and Montresor, obviously with their hooves full rounding up the foals. “Oh! But you haven’t met my coltfriend yet!” Suri took advantage of the opening. She held her hoof out. A face that Coco recognized only from magazines came into her hoof. A white coated stallion with pink hair. “I believe you’re familiar with Sven Hooves?” “Yes.” Coco gazed at the floor. She didn’t want to make eye contact now. Too painful. “After he was recently booted out of Ponyville…” Suri made a hacking sound, like a cat throwing up a hairball to illustrate her thought of the subject. “He came here to take up another project.” “It’s a wonder how we’ve met.” Sven added. “We have so much in common.” They rubbed noses and kissed briefly. “Hey Coco, who are you talking to? The others are wait-” Yttrium came up and stopped in his tracks. “Oh hey, Mr. Fuse- good to see you.” Suri greeted. “Have you met my new coltfriend?” Yttrium wrinkled his nose. Coco could see it in his eyes- the same tension she was feeling. He looked to Coco and in a serious tone said, “We need to go, Coco.” “Oh Coco...” Suri shook her head. “Why didn’t you tell me you really needed to go?” Coco wanted to cry, but she stood, frozen in place. Paralyzed. Petrified. Suri was right. Coco just let things slide too often. That’s what got Suri and her in trouble with Rarity. Luckily, Celestia’s mercy looked at her out of the corner of it’s eye. If only that could happen again… Dazzle came up to Coco and took her hoof. “Come on, Coco. I’ll help you to the elevator.” Coco smiled, thankful that Dazzle was giving her just the slightest opening to get out of a terrible situation. She accepted and turned around. As she took a couple deep breaths, she slowly came out of that feeling- but somehow- it still felt robotic. “Go on! Run away like you did before!” Suri said, finally delivering the blow. Coco knew that is how she worked. Test the waters with passive-aggressiveness, then when the moment was right, go for the jugular. Suddenly, Coco felt Dazzle’s hoof leave hers. She spun around in horror as Dazzle marched up to Suri and shouted. “BACK OFF!” “Mind your own business! You don’t know us- we have history!” Suri barked back. Coco’s heart was beating out of her chest. Her breathing raced, and her vision started to shake. “History or not, you have no right to treat Coco that way!” Dazzle shouted back. “Oh, you think you can just march in her because you are wrapped around Coco’s hoof?” Suri shouted, her. “The Mane-hattan Gazette was all over your ‘courtroom incident’! I know how you act!” “Oh yeah?” Dazzle said. “You don’t give one bit about how others feel!” “You don’t either! You came from Ponyville after spending your father’s fortune! You ran away from your problems, just like your new ‘mom’ over there!” She pointed a hoof at Coco. Coco felt the atmosphere shift towards her as looks of disgust or uncertainty converged on her. “You got that right!” Dazzle strung out. Coco hadn’t heard that amount of sarcasm since her teenage years. “I did run away from home! I did spend my father’s fortune! But, you know what? I did what was right even with abusive, negligent parents! I did what I thought was justice!” Dazzle twisted her frown into a smile. “I didn’t know whether what I did was right for a while- I still have questions from time to time. But, how I know I did something right is that I changed- changed to own up to the consequences when I usually wanted to blame somepony else!” Dazzle sneered at her “Unlike you.” “HOW DARE YOU!” Suri’s eyes widened. The shift in attention towards the rooftop was towards Dazzle and Suri now. Coco didn’t believe it. Suri was just shown up. Suddenly, Yttrium took Coco by the hoof and waded through the crowds, taking the opportunity while the crowd was distracted. Everypony was standing still, in shock of what had occurred. Nopony dared move or talk. They just watched. While weaving through in a scene frozen in time, Coco could hear Dazzle’s voice continue. “I know you are going to attack Coco and me again. But do me a favor next time, when you want to say something, be direct.” He met up with Montresor. After whispering into his ear, he nodded at his wife and then started towards Dazzle. Coco and Yttrium filed into the elevator. “I’m going to be direct right now, Ms. Polomare.” Dazzle said in a firm tone. “I do not play victim. That is one of the things I was taught not to do. I know there are others out there who are paying worse from me because of the consequences of my actions. I’m doing all I can to repair them. But, if there is any pony that is least deserving of your actions, it is Coco Pommel.” She listened to the last words as the doors closed. “MARK MY WORDS. DO NOT attack Coco again.” Silence enveloped the Elevator. A cough or two came out, but for the most part, everypony averted their eyes. “You okay Coco?” Yttrium asked. “Yeah. I’m fine.” Coco replied. “Thank you for helping me. I couldn’t have done it without you or Dazzle.” “Dazzle is one magical filly.” Florin said. “You have a great daughter.” Coco smiled. She pondered on that statement for a little while. Even if she wasn’t biological, she felt warm and tender when having Dazzle around. She was learning many different things. Sweet Celestia. She was lucky. Fate kicked in when she needed it most, and all she could do was stand and take the blows while her friend stood up her. …While her daughter stood up for her. “Is she going to be okay up there?” Coco asked. “Don’t worry about it, Montresor has a fair share of breaking up fights between Napoleon and Bling.” Florin said. “We just got to take care of you. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” As they descended in the elevator, Coco wanted to let out tears. Why was she like this? Why did she always take the hits instead of standing up for herself? She locked eye contact with Yttrium, who silently put a hoof over her shoulders. In that moment, Coco realized something. She had friends all around who knew of what struggles she had, that were willing to support her when the going got very tough. Suddenly, a phrase from before stuck in her mind as she thought about what Dazzle said. ‘I do not play victim.’ Then, Coco made a promise. A promise to herself that she wanted to keep with all of her heart. A promise to stand up for her friends and herself when the opportunity arose. She promised to help them in time of need. Cross her heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in her eye.