~Three Months Earlier~
The market bustled at noon every day. Pretty ponies hurried through stalls and stores, looking to score the next deal. Coco Pommel did the same, but her quarry wasn’t food or toys, instead threads and supplies for her burgeoning business.
It had been a scant few weeks since she’d opened her first dress shop. Rarity had helped, her old friend doing the advertising and bounced ideas off her for designs. But Rarity had gone back to Canterlot now, and it was just Coco and her assistant Moondancer. Oddly enough, she wouldn’t have it any other way, despite the way the world loomed large above her, despite how busy she could be. This was, simply put, perfect.
And speaking of perfect, she spotted the brightest blue thread she’d ever seen, the greatest choice for her new ocean inspired regalia. For a fair price too! Oh yes, Coco lived a busy life, one always occupied with the next thought, the next adventure, a quick purchase here, a pickup of gemstones there, and off to her shop she’d go.
Stalliongrad was known for its harsh, brutal winters. Going outside during the six months of it was practically an expedition in and of itself, so cold, so icy, that just getting down the street had its own challenge.
What Stalliongrad was lesser known for, however, was its gorgeous springs and bright summers. The sun shone above lighting the streets, all the normally reclusive ponies roamed out and about, flowers bloomed on window sills, and for a few, precious months, the city seemed alive. These were the best times for Coco, the happiest times, and her spirit stayed just as full as the saddlebags on her flanks.
Nothing made her more exuberant than seeing the face of her store. The windows, beautifully set up with dresses made to perfection, each of them accessorized and ready to make some pony ever so happy. The wonderful little entrance walkway with the awning and flowers on each side, all of it together made her heart sway. *Designs by Coco Pommel* proudly proclaimed the banner above it, along with the name of the store: *The Gilded Lily*.
Truth be told it was rather small, barely three hundred square feet, and the pony had to use every inch of it to perfection or it just wouldn’t work. Not to mention the need for dressing rooms. But they’d managed, her and Rarity both working the weekend and then some to get all of her designs set in their own space.
In she’d go, opening the door up wide and letting the bell tinkle lightly above as she did. Like always, it smelled every so slightly of cinnamon, her favorite flavor in the whole world. Her assistant had a book open at the counter, leafing through the thing while furiously scribbling into another notepad at her side. That was fine, of course, especially since there were currently no customers looking through her stands. Damn.
“Good afternoon, Moondancer,” she whispered out in her quiet, careful voice. Coco Pommel had not gotten over her shyness yet, despite running a store and having won quite a few awards for her designs. Luckily, Moondancer had something of the same problem.
“Good evening, ma’am,” Moondancer cooed out. She had the sweetest voice, something that Coco always loved to hear. Truth be told, she had something of a crush on the mare, even if she had to ignore it.
That was simply the nature of things. You couldn’t date the pony who worked for you, and that being said, she doubted that Moondancer felt that way in return. The mare always studied and worked, never looking at her or anypony really. So there really wasn’t a reason to bother the poor thing, not when she seemed so engrossed in… what was it today anyways?
“So what are you reading?” Coco asked, coming around the counter and letting the bags droop beside her. She peered over Moondancer’s shoulder, seeing a whole bunch of words that she did not understand. So rarely did she actually understand any of it, Moondancer was working on a Ph.D in a magical field that Coco didn’t even understand the name of, while she just made dresses.
Very nice dresses, mind, but still dresses.
The slightly disheveled pony looked up from her book, blinking big, lovely eyes from behind square rimmed glasses. It didn’t do well for the image of the shop to have a nerd running the front, but Coco thought it adorable. “Oh. Hi Coco, sorry I didn’t hear you come in. I was engrossed in Haycartes third theorem, it states that…” Moondancer went on for a little more, but Coco could do little more than give nods here or there to indicate she listened. It wasn’t her fault, it was just so far over her head!
Eventually, Moondancer noticed and stopped herself with a chuckle. “Sorry, sorry. I just got really caught up in it and we hadn’t opened yet and- Oh! You have more supplies, are you going to make something new today?” The scholar mare asked, getting up to her hooves quite eagerly.
And that’s why Coco had hired her. Underneath all the nerdishness was someone who secretly liked fashion, or at least the creative outlet of it. Coco gave a nod, a small blush appearing across her face. “Mhm!” she answered. “I think I have this fun idea with the spring melt, you know when the snow is just getting off the top of the mountains?” It was a hell of a color around there, all greens of new growth mixed with the white of the last vestiges of snow.
Moondancer nodded, that being one of Coco’s favorite things about her. No matter how abstract the concept, her friend usually got it and could connect the dots on what she meant. “So then the top would be these white gems trailing to the…?”
“The spring green, yes, but it’ll be a bit finicky,” Coco noted, with a sigh. “And if I do too much of it, it’ll just look gaudy. I know that may be all the rage in Canterlot-” perhaps that was a bit of shade that she didn’t need to throw, “but up here, things are a lot more muted.” Coco finished, with a nod of her head. That’s how it was at the end of the day - in the bigger cities, you could get away with a lot in the name of fashion. Out in the frontier towns, fashion tended towards more nature inspired, more relaxed.
And that wasn’t to say that Coco didn’t love Rarity too. Her fashion designs were absolutely lovely most of the time, but even she fell victim to the Canterlot syndrome too. Regardless, the image in her mind would look great when it came to life! “It should only take me a couple of days to get the first of the line out,” she finally finished, with a dreamy expression on her face.
Moondancer gave a few nods, a mirthful expression on her face. Coco often forgot the mare had come from Canterlot, she didn’t look it, didn’t have the same sort of fashion, nothing like the rest of them. “Well, you aren’t wrong about that,” Moondancer answered, with another hearty chuckle. “I’m really excited to see what you make and, um, hopefully, the premiere will go well!”
The two of them may have been the most awkward shop on the strip. Moondancer the scholar, Coco the former assistant, now the lead, how weird. But it worked, and despite being a young store, it felt right. They hadn’t made much money yet, in fact, they had cut into Coco’s savings quite heavily, but it would turn around soon.
She hoped.
“Oh yes! There’s a fashion show coming to town you know,” Coco reminded her, disappearing into the back part of the store for a moment to drop off her goods. Luckily, it was still pretty easy to talk, the place small enough that one could yell across it and easily hear the other person. “Not one of Hoity Toity’s, but a lesser known one, something about finding all the fashion across Equestria, no matter how small?”
Coco snorted as she came back out, shaking her head. “I think the way they’re talking about it is kind of pretentious! As if other places don’t have the same ‘civility’ that Canterlot and Las Pegasus has, you know, places like that.” Out Coco came again, looking over her goods now that she was nice and unburdened. Celestia, she’d put a lot of work into this place!
There on the left, her favorite line, a winter inspired one, full of blues and lace, emulating snowflakes, so perfect. Six in total, not a single one sold. Perhaps it simply wasn’t the right season for those colors anymore. They’d been set up on a few pedestals, erected specifically for them, decorated with fake snow and presents and everything that made Hearth’s Warming great.
On the right, another line, a night inspired one with dark colors and hanging satin, moon and star shapes, they were perfect! Why didn’t anypony buy them?
Her sadness showed on her face, weakness in her limbs. This should have been easier, Rarity didn’t have this problem, why did she have to have it?
Coco didn’t even notice Moondancer coming up behind her, didn’t notice until the foreleg closed around her neck and pulled her close. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “They’re going to sell, your dresses are brilliant.”
Perhaps Coco didn’t hide her concerns as well as she thought she did, but that was pretty much true for anyone. Still, she let herself be comforted, pulled in against the body as little droplets of tears started to flow. She was fragile, a little weak, but Moondancer was there for her and that meant the world to her.
A little nuzzle back and then they’d separate once more. “Thanks, Moondancer. It’s going to be okay, I have enough savings to keep this place going for a while and the fashion show should really help,” she reassured, mostly saying the words to herself rather than her friend.
Moondancer smiled right back, as sweet as could be, and Coco felt that little pulse through her heart, the one that told her how much her crush had grown. “Thanks. Really,” she repeated. “I should really get back to work and let you get back to studying, I didn’t mean to have myself a whole thing here in the middle of the store!” she laughed, with a shake of her head.
A wave of the hoof answered her as Moondancer trotted back to the front desk. “It’s no big deal, I don’t have an exam until the end of this week and I know how stressful this whole thing has been for you. If you need to, you don’t need to pay me for a little while,” she offered.
But no, there was no way that Coco could do that. She shook her head, one hoof going over her muzzle. “Absolutely not!” she countered, just as fast as she could. “You will get paid your wage and I don’t wanna hear another word about it! I do have to get started on this line so it can be ready in time, but I don’t want to hear anything else about you not getting paid, okay?”
“Okay!” Monndancer answered, with a laugh. “Fine, fine. You go on, get back there.” She shooed, even making the movement with her hooves and all that.
Without another word, Coco retreated, back into her workroom, the little space behind her shop. It was a mess, quite honestly. A sewing machine on one side, plenty of dress forms on another, scraps of fabric and full blown rolls stacked up against a wall. Organized chaos, that’s what it was, because she knew where absolutely everything was.
Coco looked over her domain, taking it in before taking a deep breath too. Without any further ado, she got to work.