//------------------------------// // Devenir Populaire // Story: Filetages Fatidique et Fleurs de Soie // by Indulgence //------------------------------// ‘… and then I said: “put in on my tab!” Ha ha ha ha!’ The uncontrollable guffaws were only shared by half the party assembled around the table, a few consumed by hysteria whilst the rest only conceded to polite laughter. Fleur was one of the latter, rolling out her well-rehearsed stage laugh for the millionth time in seemingly as many minutes. So much for leaving all this crap behind! She dutifully held herself in check in spite of her thoughts, this little get together after all not being for her own benefit. However as a minor note to herself: should she ever have needed to repeat such a meeting she concluded to hold it around coffee as opposed to a meal in some attempt to minimise the boundless tedium. Her gaze panned to her left, intentionally avoiding the apparently endless hilarity being enjoyed on her right, meeting the knowing sky blue eyes of the similarly light blue earth mare sat beside her, which with the addition of their single raised eyebrow managed to convey both contempt and a silent ‘for buck’s sake!’ about the situation. Roxie was particularly good at that specific look, this not being the first time by a long way that she and Fleur had shared it, the unicorn appreciating her capacity to always be down to earth no matter what was faced. The long-time Ponyvillian added a not so subtle eye roll for good measure, hammering the point of their shared thoughts home, disguising the act from the rest of the group by conspicuously running a forehoof through the shortened spikes of her violet and lilac mane, whilst at the same time converting a small escaping giggle into a cough. Next in line on the much quieter side of the table, Twilight Sky, looking as much like the group’s token pegasus as Fleur was the token unicorn, held himself more in reserve, choosing to focus the entirety of his attention on the remnants of the drink he was nursing. Like Roxie, Sky was refreshingly grounded, particularly bearing in mind present company, but on top of this the two were remarkably similar in many more ways than the obvious physical resemblance, with him sharing both her generally pointed manestyle and eye colour. Their stories were of a muchness: both being once part of “the great” Photo Finish’s entourage (her the spa pony turned makeup artist, him the bouncer turned model), both picked up, elevated and then dumped by the same onetime employer. Neither were therefore part of the business’ normal clique, all too often steeped in a thick layer of pretention and elitism. The mare on Sky’s left, completing the survey of one full half of the assembly, matched the steely grey pegasus in her staring into the depths of her glass. Unlike him however, for Amethyst Glow this was her usual modus operandi, as opposed to concealing any direct disdain for proceedings, or at least that was how Fleur had her figured. Amethyst was not quiet though per se, the consciously electric pink expanse of her mane, buzz cut short at the back whilst left extremely long at the front, attesting to her personality’s loudness, rather she was never the first or the most forthcoming speaker. That this stemmed from her upbringing (strict Canterlot like Fleur’s own) did not seem to fit, nor did an underlying shyness, the conclusion that she was a polite social drone running against the more than vocal opinions she seemed to relish expressing, not to mention that she too was a model. In any case when she did choose to speak her words were never wasted, saved until there was actually something worth saying, a feature sadly absent from a great many ponies, including several of those now necessarily present. ‘You’re too much Hoity, simply too much!’ Speaking of whom. Corral Shine: a pink-furred Canterlot princess, quintessential spoilt aristocrat spawn, fourth of the company’s five models and more or less a total airhead. The mare was an old acquaintance, inevitable with the same hometown, same profession and associating in the same circles, and her nigh constantly bubbly demeanour was actually quite a lot of fun after a couple of drinks knocked off its sharp edge. ‘“put it on my tab!” Ha ha ha ha!’ Make that a lot of drinks. ‘Quite, anyway Fleur darling’ Hoity Toity (famed fashionista, annoyingly aware of his own eminence and centre of the mirth which had been engulfing half the group) began. ‘I’ve just realised the time and am frightfully aware that I’ve rather taken over proceedings…’ Well spotted! ‘… and we’ve not yet discussed why you’ve summoned us all here. So who is this designer I’ve never heard of?’ he asked, the physicality of the sneer held in his voice hidden beneath the rims of his ever-present sunglasses. Stuck up bast… ‘Coco Pommel, previously assistant to Suri Polomare, so I believe a couple of you already know her’ Fleur answered, turning her address to the entire table and nodding to Amethyst and Corral in turn. ‘She’s been doing the rounds on Bridleway, doing the costumes for three of the past hit shows, having been talent spotted by Rarity,’ she continued, jumping through the required hoop of name dropping, ‘now coming onto the scene with her own stuff. I’m helping her put together a small show of it, just for industry insiders as a first look, and I’m inviting you along Hoity and I’d very much appreciate it if the rest of you would be able to help out.’ ‘Well, that’s a relief’ Corral broke in, still smiling with a slight vacancy. ‘Relief?’ ‘Well yes Fleur darling, I for one have been worried sick’ the pink mare continued, putting on a real show of the sickness of worry she had obviously been debilitated with. ‘I mean you disappear from Canterlot without any explanation and the next thing we hear is that you’re in Manehattan, having effectively moved in, and are on a multiple week long bender. It’s all sounded like something akin to "Leaving Las Pegasus" so it’s good to know you’re getting back into things.’ ‘Yeah, it sounds like you’ve been giving me a run for my money’ Opulence, the group’s fifth and final model, added. You wish. Opulence was a “rebel”, or rather she liked to be seen as such, her desperation to be alternative plastering a constantly unimpressed scowl across her face as she attempted to surround herself in an uncaring air. She was the kind of pony who found the number of times she had been drunkenly arrested to be something boast-worthy, yet these and many of her other anecdotes were more the products of instinctive exaggeration than any reality. Another long-time Canterlot acquaintance, she had once been Fleur’s more or less spitting image, with the two being often mistaken for siblings (a feature played up by several photographers on shoots), but now all that remained were her pale violet irises. Not only had she stained the short cropped locks of her mane orange of all colours, but she had gone further to dye the entirety of her fur a deep blue, turning her form into a confused vomit of tones. ‘Fleur darling you know how awfully busy my schedule is’ Hoity drawled, ‘I really don’t have time to see the work of some nopony.’ If you or anypony else says ‘darling’ one more time, I’m going to bucking… ‘Oh I know Hoity, but I promise you won’t be disappointed’ Fleur said sweetly, ‘plus you ought to know that Prim Hemline’s already said she’s coming.’ ‘I see.’ Hoity’s voice turned icy and behind his shades his grey face became a stony frown. ‘Where and when?’ ‘The Manefare Hotel a week from now, I’ll go over more of the details in a moment.’ ‘I’m sure I can make some time’ Hoity decided bluntly, ‘I’ll be there.’ Ha, gotcha! Prim’s coming was true enough, although this had been achieved in a similar manner by stating that Hoity had already agreed to, the two heads of their respective cities’ fashion worlds legendary rivalry playing straight into Fleur’s hooves. ‘You can count me in’ Corral and Opulence chorused together, predictably trailing Hoity’s hoofsteps and opinion. ‘I’m available and would be very much interested to meet this Coco Pommel’ Amethyst quietly concurred. ‘A week, we’re doing this in a week?’ Roxie interjected, being the one with the most experience of the work it actually took to put on a show of any scale, even small, backed up by a similar questioning look on the part of Sky. ‘I know it’s a lot to ask, but I know we can pull it off and it would really mean a lot to me’ Fleur concluded, receiving nods from the pair of her closer friends to complete the consensus around the table. --- ‘Come on in and make yourselves at home’ Fleur smiled as she turned the key in the front door’s lock. She ducked to one side, letting her two compatriots slip by into the apartment. ‘Nice place’ Sky complemented as he trotted through the portal, Roxie just behind. ‘Thanks. The sitting room, or rather space, is just through there so feel free to grab a spot.’ She stopped mechanically at the entry hallway’s mirror, unwinding the tasselled length of her scarf whilst she made a quick check that her mane and makeup were still in order. Thankfully all was well, pushing aside the nagging worries which had beset her at intervals during the meal. ‘Drinks?’ she queried, bolstered back into her confident stride. ‘Please’ came both voices in unison, their owners each making space in the scattered piles of clothing in order to ensconce themselves on the sofas. ‘Sorry about the mess’ she continued, making for the kitchen, ‘it’s just been quite busy as you can gather. Equally sorry I’ve not had the chance to restock, so is beer alright with both of you?’ Accepting nods answered her and she levitated out three of the remaining cans, floating a pair to her guests whilst she cleared a seat of her own. A quiet briefly descended amongst them, punctuated by the cracking of a trio of ring pulls and appreciative sighs following the first drafts of the chilled beverages, until Roxie chose to be the first to speak. ‘So Fleur, one question about this show thing.’ ‘Shoot.’ ‘Why?’ the earth mare asked bluntly, eliciting a sudden splutter from the pegasus as he tried and totally failed to simultaneously laugh whilst taking a second sip from his tin. ‘Meaning?’ ‘The whole point of you coming here, in your own words, was “escape”, which this seems to be a complete reversal of. Even if you have totally done a U-turn and changed your mind, which personally I doubt, you’ve got no reason to drum up business or publicity for a return as it hasn’t been that long and there’s a queue of ponies stretching round the block who’d love to have you modelling their stuff’ Roxie persisted, pleasantly to the point as always. ‘Add to this the fact that nopony in their right mind would spend any amount of time with Hoity of their own volition and I reiterate why?’ ‘Like I told you already, I owe Coco a favour’ Fleur replied simply, ‘and her designs are seriously good.’ ‘Nope, that doesn’t fit either.’ Roxie waved away the answer as quickly as it was received. ‘The way you told it was that this mare gave you a bed for a night which you can’t remember. You’ve done far less for some you’ve owed far more.’ ‘Ouch! You make me sound like a total bitch!’ ‘Sorry, not my intention, but you know what I mean.’ ‘Isn’t it obvious’ Sky spoke up, having recovered from his semi-drowning, ‘she likes this mare. Am I wrong?’ Fleur paused a moment, caught before the two sets of blue eyes which now focused on her, before responding. ‘True she’s really cute but…’ ‘Nope’ he cut her off, shaking his head, ‘if she were just “really cute” you wouldn’t be going to all this trouble. Instead you’d just have bedded her already, not a critique by the way, and that would be that, which I don’t reckon you have.’ ‘That’s none of your business’ Fleur deflected, but immediately knew that her words had come out overly defensive. ‘So I’m right then’ Sky ended definitely, grinning. ‘Dick!’ she smiled, conceding his point. The pegasus responded with a mock show of hurt and innocence. ‘Harsh!’ ‘Just gonna say I called it’ Roxie added, wearing the self-same grin as Sky, ‘which side of the proverbial catwalk you’ve been treading has always been a sketchy thing up for debate.’ Fleur just shot a glare back. ‘Oh come on, need I remind you of how we met?’ ‘No Rox, you really don’t’ Fleur sighed before turning to giggling, which then ran around the trio becoming fully formed laughter at the embarrassments of the past. ‘Soooo’ Roxie resumed once she regained control and had swigged more from her can, ‘what’s this Coco who you’re soooo desperate to impress like?’ Fleur sent another frown the earth mare’s way, sparking another fit of laughter from both friends. ‘Well erm…’ Something other than cute. ‘Coco’s pretty much amazing’ she finally began, although her hoofing remained sketchy. Nice one! ‘On the outside she’s kinda quiet, but damn pretty with it. Loads of designers are usually prone to over doing it for the sake of attention you know. Coco in contrast is really understated and just simply beautiful. Underneath this though, past the obvious that she’s kind and funny and lovely and whatever, there’s this fire. You can see it in the stuff she creates, which is all truly fantastic by the way, this free burning passion, wonderfully fearless as well as talented. Coco’s just perfect’ Fleur finished, catching her breath and blushing, fully aware of how foalish her last words sounded. ‘Sweet Celestia it’s worse than I feared!’ Sky exclaimed, face forming into a façade of worry as he glanced over to meet Roxie’s eyes in a knowing look. ‘Fleur’s fallen for an artist. Real bad.’