Glamour groaned as she was woken up from her sleep by a rapid pounding in her ears. With a yawn, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Despite feeling no pain or any discomfort, other than the usual lethargy of having to leave the comforts of bed, a throbbing head was something worth investigating. As her eyes slowly opened, she soon realized that the pounding was not in her head, but somepony actually knocking on her door.
“Glamour, are you awake yet?” Coco asked from behind the door.
After another yawn, Glamour replied, “Yeah, I’m awake.” She lit up her horn, bathing her room in a soft, green glow, and she frowned when she saw her recently-purchased alarm clock. “Coco, it’s really early. Is something wrong?”
“Sorry for waking you, but I just couldn’t wait. I’m completely done with the dress!” Coco announced, the excitement fully evident in her voice. “Come on, I want you to see it!”
Even though she was rudely awakened, Glamour could not help but chuckle at Coco’s enthusiasm. “That’s great, Coco. I’ll be out in a minute.”
The days after her first official date with Coco returned them to a familiar routine. Coco had to work on the contest dress, so she spent the majority of her time in her room. Glamour, in turn, played the role of housekeeper, as well as making sure Coco did not neglect her own needs.
The only thing that felt different was the occasional tightness Glamour felt in her chest whenever she thought about the secret she was keeping from Coco. After hearing Coco’s reaction to changelings, Glamour pushed the truth into a corner of her mind. Unfortunately, that did not stop guilt from occasionally creeping out, and she knew that she would have to try again at some point. It just was not going to be within the next few days, especially since the Fall Fashion Fantasia was almost upon them.
With Coco busy with sewing up the dress, Glamour did not get to spend much time with her marefriend. Due to her wanting to keep the dress a surprise, Coco denied Glamour entrance to her room several times, and the times she did allow Glamour in were only after she covered all of her work. Still, they managed to arrange some time every day, no matter how sparse, to sit down together.
And now, the dress was finally done. In reality, Coco had already finished the dress a day or two ago, but she kept it to make sure she got down every last detail. Glamour would not have been surprised if she found out that Coco scanned the dress with a magnifying glass. With the rehearsal for the Fall Fashion Fantasia starting tomorrow and knowing Coco’s tendency to overwork herself, Glamour was glad that her marefriend now had some time to rest.
“I’m so glad you finally got it done,” Glamour said as she went to her door and set her hoof on the doorknob. “You were spending so much time on it, I was getting worried that you were obsessing over it. It’s a good thing that…” Her smile faded when she opened the door and saw her marefriend.
Coco had a small smile on her face, but that was pretty much the only thing right about her appearance. She had slightly reddened eyes that were having trouble staying open, and small bags could be seen under them. Her mane was a bit unkempt in a few spots, and her body was swaying slowly from side to side, as though she could keel over at any moment. A yawn from her confirmed Glamour’s guess on Coco’s condition.
“Coco, did you even go to sleep last night?” Glamour asked, continuing to eye Coco up and down.
Coco raised her hoof to her mouth to cover yet another yawn. “I did… Sort of… I took an hour nap or so… I think…”
Glamour sighed and shook her head. “Coco…”
Coco took Glamour’s forehoof into her own and started pulling. “Oh, don’t worry. I don’t do it often, and I think it was time well spent to get the dress perfect for tomorrow. Now, come on, you have got to see it.”
Glamour allowed herself to be dragged to Coco’s room. Like the few times she had been admitted inside, a large, white cloth completely covering a pony mannequin was in the middle of the room.
Coco let go of Glamour’s hoof and trotted up to the covered display. “I hope you like it, Glamour.” Gripping a piece of the cloth in her teeth, she gave one mighty tug, and the cover was pulled off, revealing the prized dress.
Glamour’s jaw dropped as soon as she laid eyes on Coco’s dress. The top half consisted of a shade of pink that was very similar to her mane and various features were accented with black. The collar of the dress was black with a pink ribbon interwoven into the fabric, while the pink sleeves had a narrow, black strip sewn down the middle that then circled around the end before being tied into an elaborate ribbon.
Separated from the top half by black furls, the bottom half was absolutely breathtaking. The dress had flared out, similar to some of the ballroom costumes Glamour saw Coco make, but not to an extent that would make it troublesome to move around in. It was made up of a thin, pink fabric that she could see through to the layer underneath that was done in a black color. Sequins were sewn and arranged into simple motifs on the top layer. There were not too many sequins to make the dress gaudy, but there were just enough to draw attention to the patterns. Looking closer and through the top layer, she could see that the same patterns were replicated onto the bottom layer, almost overlapping with the designs above it. The dress was the most intricate piece of art that Glamour had ever seen, and she could not help but swell with pride over her marefriend's magnificent work.
“Coco, this… this is fantastic,” Glamour uttered as she continued to gaze in wonder. “And the colors…”
“The idea came to me after that night we became marefriends. As soon as I put my pencil on the paper to sketch it out, everything just flowed out. I never felt so inspired in any of my works.” Coco trotted closer to Glamour, and with a smile, she gently ran her hoof through Glamour’s mane. “You’re my inspiration, Glamour. I wouldn’t have done all of this without you. This dress isn’t just for the contest, but it’s also proof of what we share.”
“Wow…” Glamour gingerly touched the soft fabric of the dress that looked even more beautiful now. “Coco… I… I don’t know what to say.”
Coco kissed Glamour on the cheek. “You don’t have to. Just keep being you.”
Glamour finally tore her gaze from the dress to smile at Coco, but a frown quickly formed when she noticed Coco’s swaying had become more pronounced. “Coco, you did an amazing job, but I really think you should get some rest. You’re barely standing on your own hooves.”
“I’m fine, Glam—” A huge yawn escaped Coco. “Okay, maybe I did overdo it a little.”
“Go to sleep, Coco. You earned it.”
“R-right, sure.” Coco nodded and closed her eyes.
“H-hey!” Glamour’s horn lit up when Coco completely tilted to one side. A green aura quickly formed around Coco and stopped her a few inches from hitting the floor.
With an amused sigh, Glamour carefully used her magic to levitate Coco toward her bed. She pulled out the blankets with her hooves before depositing her sleeping marefriend into the bed and then pulling the blankets back over her.
“Good ni—er morning, Coco,” Glamour said before turning for the door. She took one step away from the bed but stopped immediately when she felt a gentle tug on her tail. Looking back, she saw Coco had her tail in a forehoof with her eyes barely open and a small smile on her face.
“Thank you, Glamour… Love you…” Coco uttered quietly before her eyes closed again, and Glamour’s tail fell from her hoof.
Glamour sighed again, this time much heavier, as she stared at her sleeping marefriend. Coco was truly in love with her and had opened her heart to her. She hoped that she could one day do the same. For now though, one thing came to mind.
Glamour moved to Coco’s side and leaned down. She planted a soft kiss on Coco’s forehead, and she smiled when she saw Coco’s smile grow bigger. “Sweet dreams, Coco. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”
“Welcome to the Fall Fashion Fantasia, or to be more accurate, the rehearsal session for it,” Prim Hemline proclaimed as she marched across the front of the stage, eyeing everypony standing in a line. Most of the ponies were paying attention to Prim, but a few ponies were murmuring to each other, while others seemed to have their minds and gazes wandering the room.
With a huff, Prim stomped her hoof on the floor, and the deafening crack caused everypony to jump and turn to her with rapt attention. “Listen up, everypony! I am only going to say all of this once and only once!” she continued in a clear, bellowing voice.
To the side of the stage and at the edge of the curtains, Glamour let out a deep breath as she felt her heart slowly calm down from her own jump. Even when it was not directed at her, just seeing Prim Hemline’s commanding and intimidating demeanor still sent chills through her. She was glad that for once, the glowering organizer was not directing her spite at her.
Turning her attention back to the long line of designer ponies, Glamour zeroed in on Coco again. Despite Coco standing at the end of the line on the opposite side of the stage, Glamour was easily able to pick out her nervous movements. Coco would frequently fidget, and every now and then, she would steal glances back at her.
The other pony of interest was standing near the center. Suri’s face was blank, revealing little of what was going through her head, but Glamour was pretty sure she saw hints of a frown every time Suri took a quick look at her competition. If Suri was going to follow through with what she said, Glamour was going to have to keep an eye on her.
“Now, as you should all know, the Fall Fashion Fantasia is one of the most prestigious fashion events in Manehattan,” Prim Hemline addressed to the designers. “I see many fine competitors here, both new and old, and I’m sure you will all do your best. Keep in mind that you will not only be judged by your creations, but by your behavior as well. A show like this demands professionalism, and I expect all of you to act with the highest decorum. Failure to do so will be met with consequences.”
Glamour shivered when Prim’s gaze wandered to her, and she quickly stepped back to hide herself behind the edge of the stage curtain.
“Today, we shall be going over what you can expect tomorrow, as well as making sure everypony here is ready and able for tomorrow,” Prim explained. “After that, we will be convening in the nearby studio so that I can check all of your creations to make sure that they are following regulations and that they are actually up to the standards of the Fall Fashion Fantasia.
“After I review your design, you have the option of leaving your work with me. They will be stored in a safe and secure location on the premises overnight, and you may pick them up before the contest starts tomorrow.”
Prim took out a clipboard and looked down at it. “Alright now, please pay attention, when I call your name, say that you are here so that I can assign you a number. That number will tell you the order in which you will all appear in the show.”
As Prim started calling name after name, she listened for Coco and Suri’s names, as well as the name of one more pony that might be here. After a while, it seemed like everypony was called except the ponies she were interested in. Finally, near the end, Suri was called, and she responded with a curt “Hi” and a nod. Then with a stroke of either good or bad luck, Coco’s name was called right after. Glamour huffed when she saw Suri’s glare as her marefriend stepped forward to say she was present.
After a few more names, Prim finally announced that everypony was assigned and started going going over the process of the show.
Each contestant would be allotted a few minutes to feature their design, and they would be able to give their models special stage instructions, as long as they were reasonable. Prim also explained that the judges would not know who was assigned each number until the end of the contest. In other words, names and reputation would not affect the decisions of the judges. The only factor would be which design looked the best.
“And that is it for here,” Prim announced at the end of her explanation. “Oh, and before we move to the studio, I must inform you that tomorrow, you must all be here and ready an hour before show time. I do not tolerate tardiness and any late arrivals can and will be disqualified. Understood?”
A chorus of agreements and nods immediately followed.
“Good, please exit the stage and line up with your designs in front of Studio B. I’ll be along shortly.”
Glamour stepped to the side as the line of ponies walked off the stage. When Suri passed by her, she was met with a glare, which she returned with one of her own. Their standoff only lasted a moment before Suri scoffed and walked away with her chin pointed upwards. Glamour rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Coco who was talking up to her.
“Oh my, that was a bit nerve wracking standing up on stage like that, even with only Prim in the audience,” Coco said. “I can see why you had trouble back when we first met. Will you be alright walking tomorrow?”
Glamour nodded. “After Photo Finish’s show, I think I got a lot better, and I should be able to do it with a minimal amount of trouble.” She took a look around and saw that they were the only ones standing around. “Aren’t you going to line up for Prim?”
Coco smiled. “I was going to be last anyway. Why wait in line the whole time when I can spend some of it with you first?”
Glamour chuckled. “I suppose that does sound better then. By the way, since you’re here, I wanted to ask you about something. Is your friend, Rarity, coming? I didn’t hear her name get called. Since she did so well during Fashion Week, I figured she would’ve made an appearance.”
“I didn’t tell you? Oh I’m sorry, Glamour. I guess with everything going on, it slipped my mind. Rarity mentioned in a letter some time ago that she was not planning on entering this contest. She said that Fashion Week was enough to last her for a while. She did want to come cheer us on, but she had to cancel. She was given a huge job to make costumes for Sapphire Shores and her whole crew.”
“Um, two questions. First, who is Sapphire Shores?”
“She’s a famous pop singer that really loves to dress up for her shows. From what I heard, Rarity has become one of her favorite designers.”
“Okay, and the second question… Us? She knows about me?”
“Well, of course. With all that has happened between us, it’s pretty much unavoidable.” Coco’s gaze shifted to her hooves. “Um, you don’t mind that I told her about you and how we’re marefriends, right?”
In truth, Glamour was a bit worried about Rarity appearing for the contest. She had finally remembered that Rarity was also an Element of Harmony, and as one of the biggest threats to changelings, Glamour would have preferred to stay under her radar. Still, like Coco said, the news that they were together was inevitably going to spread. At least it was a relief to find out that Rarity was too busy to come visit and traumatize her.
“No, I don’t mind,” Glamour replied, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “Just that since she’s an Element of Harmony and all…”
Coco giggled. “I assure you, Glamour, that Rarity is actually quite humble about that part of her. She much rather talk about her success as a designer. I’m kind of disappointed that she could not come, but I was thinking that after all of this is over, maybe we could visit her in Ponyville? She mentioned several times I was always welcome to visit.”
Glamour forgot how to breathe for a moment. “Uh, when you say visit her, do you mean Rarity?”
“That’s who we’re talking about. Don’t worry, Glamour. There’s no need to be afraid of her. She really is a sweet, generous pony. I also hear that Ponyville is a pretty peaceful place, and after all our work, I think it would be a great place to relax for a few days.”
“Well, if you really want to…” Glamour had to strain a smile onto her face. “Then sure…”
Glamour was still not fond of meeting an Element of Harmony, but she knew Coco really looked up to Rarity. Denying her marefriend the opportunity would be mean, and as long as she was careful, she probably would be fine. Besides, it was just one Element. It was not like she was going to meet the others at the same time.
“Well, I think I should go line up now,” Coco said as she went to retrieve her dress from a nearby clothes rack. She had covered the whole thing in a white, plastic sheet that prevented anypony from seeing what was inside.
Glamour nodded, and they walked off the stage to the hallway area. They quickly found Studio B, due to the line of ponies standing outside it, and from the looks of it, over half the other designers had already left, including Suri, during their talk. She got in line with Coco, keeping her company and exchanging small talk. When Coco’s turn finally came, Glamour opened the door for her marefriend, and Coco gave her a smile before proceeding inside by herself.
With nopony else but her standing in the hallway, Glamour took a deep breath. Today was almost over, but she was already starting to feel the anxiety and excitement of tomorrow’s big event. After a bit, she resorted to pacing up and down the hallway to help pass the time and bleed a bit of the nervous energy out of her.
“Miss Glamour.”
Glamour entire body froze when she heard the voice from the studio door behind her. She slowly turned to the pony, and with a gulp, she replied, “H-hi, Miss Hemline.”
Prim was standing at the door staring at her with a stern eye. Coco was by her side, and she was glancing back and forth between the two of them with a small, worried frown.
“Please come to my office in five minutes,” Prim ordered. “Understood?”
“Y-yes, Miss Hemline.”
With a nod, Prim walked past Glamour, no doubt to set up her office for the dreaded meeting.
As soon as she was sure Prim was out of earshot, Glamour began to hyperventilate. “Prim Hemline wants to see me. Prim Hemline wants to see me! What am I going to do?!”
“Glamour, calm down,” Coco quickly said, placing a hoof on Glamour’s shoulder. “She asked me if you were around, and it doesn’t seem like she’s angry or anything like that. You’ll be fine.”
“But it’s still going to be me and her in a small room,” Glamour said, her body twitching nervously. “She wasn’t exactly happy when Photo Finish hired me. I know she doesn’t like me, and most of all, she’s scary!”
Coco sighed. “Yes, Prim Hemline might be intimidating, but she is also a professional. She would not ask you to come if it was not for a good reason. Relax, it’s probably not going to be as bad as you think.”
Glamour looked at Coco, and she saw a comforting smile on her marefriend’s face. She could feel herself starting to calm down, so she closed her eyes for a moment to take a deep breath. “R-right, maybe I am just overreacting. And I should be safe since Photo Finish still wants to work with me… I am going to be safe, right?”
Coco hugged Glamour, and the nervous changeling felt more of her nerves ease. “You’ll be fine, Glamour. She probably wants to check up on you before the big show. But no matter what happens, I’ll be here for you.” She let go of Glamour. “But um, you should probably get going now. Prim Hemline doesn’t like tardiness.”
Glamour’s eyes shot wide open, and she dashed off towards the office. “I’ll see you later, Coco!” she shouted back.
“I’ll wait for you at the front desk with Grace!” Coco called back before Glamour rounded the corner and hurried up the steps.
Glamour quickly trotted up to Prim’s door and then stopped. She took a few deep breaths to compose herself and then raised her hoof to the barrier between her and potential doom. She stood there for a few moments, her hoof hanging in the air. Finally, with another gulp, her hoof knocked on the wooden surface.
“Come in,” Prim’s voice immediately beckoned.
Praying for a quick and painless encounter, Glamour opened the door. “Hello, Miss Hemline. Y-you wanted to see me?” she asked as she walked inside.
“Close the door, Miss Glamour,” Prim ordered, her gaze immediately locking onto Glamour.
Despite her worry that closing the door would allow no witnesses in case of her untimely demise, Glamour did as she was ordered and then stood at attention in front of Prim’s desk. She waited for Prim to continue, but the scowling mare seemed content at just glaring at her. Glamour wanted to know what was going on, but she dared not speak out of turn, so she waited patiently and tried to ignore Prim’s attempts at burning a hole in her head with her eyes.
“Do you know why I called you here, Miss Glamour?” Prim asked as she propped up her forehooves on her desk and rested her head on it.
“Um, no, Miss Hemline.”
“You are here to make sure I did not make the wrong decision to let you walk in tomorrow’s show.”
“Oh… Um, so how do I go about doing that?”
“Tell me anything you think that would appease me.”
“Okay, um…” Glamour took a moment to think and then took a deep breath. “Miss Hemline, I assure you that I will not have a repeat of my first show.”
“And why would I believe that?”
“Um, well you were there at my second show with Photo Finish. I know my performance wasn’t perfect, but it was a big improvement over the last one, right?”
Prim slowly nodded. “Yes, I must admit that I found your performance… passable. But the Fall Fashion Fantasia is not some little show. There will be far more ponies and media coverage than your little walk in the spotlight. Do you really think you can handle tomorrow’s show? Don’t answer right away. I want you to really think about it.”
Glamour did as she was told. While it was true that she had improved, one other thing that kept her going quickly came to mind.
“I can do it,” Glamour answered a moment later.
Prim leaned forward. “And what makes you so sure?”
Glamour stood up straight. “Because I will be modeling for Coco Pommel, and she is very dear to me. She has worked hard to get to where she is now, and I refuse to let all of it go to waste because I messed something up.”
To Glamour’s surprise, one of Prim’s eyebrows went up as her scowl softened. “I see… I knew that you and Coco were working together, but I didn’t realize you two had become such good friends.” She took a deep breath. “You are definitely a much different pony than the bumbling idiot that first stepped hoof in here. You have more confidence, and you’re not tripping over your own hooves as much. Most of all, I heard the conviction in you when you spoke for your friend.”
Did Prim Hemline really praise me? Glamour had to resist the urge to pinch herself to check if she was dreaming.
“I was skeptical when Photo Finish wanted to enter you and Coco to the Fall Fashion Fantasia,” Prim admitted. “But the both of you have proven to have quite a bit of potential, not to mention your popularity as Photo Finish’s project. Please keep up the good work. I am curious to see how the both of you will turn out.”
Prim’s stern glare returned. “But I will be watching you closely, Glamour. Mess up tomorrow’s show, and I will make you regret it. Understood?”
“U-understood.”
Prim waved her hoof to the door and turned her attention to work on some papers on her desk. “Good, then you are free to go. I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Glamour.”
Glamour did a little bow before making a quick exit. She let out a huge sigh of relief as she walked down the hall to the stairs. Like Coco said, her meeting was not as bad as she thought. She was quite pleased that she even received some praise from Prim. Granted, the praise was sandwiched in between threats and criticisms, but it was a step up from just pure hatred.
She trotted down the stairs to find Coco in the lobby, but she stopped at the last step when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Down the hall, on the opposite side of the lobby entrance, she saw a distinctively familiar tail right before it disappeared behind the corner.
Glamour stood at the bottom step for a few moments, still staring at the spot where the tail was. She probably should not keep Coco waiting. Despite her earlier reassurances, Glamour was sure that Coco would worry if she took too long. But Glamour’s instinct was telling her something was going on, and she had to investigate.
After checking to see no ponies were around, Glamour quietly walked down the hall and then pressed her body against the wall right before the corner. She slowly peeked around the corner and saw another hallway. The walls were lined with doors, but her attention was drawn to the door at the end of the hall. It was the tiniest bit ajar, and when she strained her ears, she could hear the faintest hint of somepony talking.
Glamour carefully made her way to the suspicious door, wishing she could use her wings to quickly and quietly close the gap. Thankfully, a lifetime of sneaking taught her how to silence her hoofsteps, and she soon made it to the door. The noise from within grew louder, and Glamour could make out the voices of a stallion talking to a very familiar mare.
“Now, why do you need to be here so late?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“Yeah… I might just be a janitor here, but I’m not risking my job for nothing.”
The sound of many bits clinking with each other rang in Glamour’s ears.
“So when would you like to be let in, and would you like a red carpet entrance?”
“Midnight.”
“Midnight? But that’s the end of my shift.”
“I know.”
A few moments of silence passed, and Glamour took the opportunity to gently tap the door. The door opened an inch, allowing her to peek into the room. Inside was some sort of meeting room with a long table in the middle and surrounded by chairs. To the side was a stallion in a blue jumpsuit standing next to a mop sticking out of a bucket. He was eyeing two pouches that were being dangled in front of his face by the mare across from him.
“Suri…” Glamour muttered under her breath as she narrowed her eyes. “What are you up to?”
“Come on, all you have to do is open the door for me before you leave, and you get a nice reward,” Suri enticed. She shook the two pouches, and the room was filled with the sounds of jingling bits again. “Nopony has to know.”
The janitor stared at the offered money for a moment before letting out a sigh. He reached for the bits, but Suri quickly pulled them back.
“Wait, are you sure that nopony else will be here?” Suri asked.
“Besides me and the other janitors, Prim Hemline is the only one who sometimes stays late, but not as late as midnight. And since I’m the only one in tonight’s shift, you’ll be all by yourself.”
“Good.” Suri tossed one pouch to the janitor. “You’ll get the other half when you open the door for me tonight. Remember, midnight, back entrance. And don’t speak a word about this to anypony.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” the janitor mumbled while he pocketed his bribe. “Are we done here?”
“For now. Just make sure you keep your end of the bargain.”
Glamour quickly backed off when she saw both ponies turned to the door. She turned to run down the hallway, but stopped immediately when she realized that she would be seen or heard if she tried to run for it. Jumping on the first thing that came to mind, Glamour opened a random door to the side and literally dove in, her magic quickly shutting the door right behind her.
Trapped inside the room, Glamour hoped that her hasty escape went unnoticed. With only a tiny bit of light coming in through the bottom of the door and not wanting to risk using her magic to draw attention, she was pretty much in the dark. She did not even dare to get back up from her dive.
A few seconds later, she heard a door squeak open, followed by the sounds of Suri and the janitor’s mutterings and hoofsteps. Time seemed to drag as she listened to the two ponies move on the other side of the door, and it almost completely stopped when they actually paused in front of the door.
Glamour tried to crawl backwards, away from the door, but because of the dark, she did not see where she was going, and her hoof knocked over something metal. A soft clatter sounded through the air. It was barely noticeable, but to Glamour, it might as well be the wails of a thousand foals who had been denied candy.
“Did you hear something?” Suri’s voice asked.
Glamour almost gasped, but she literally shoved her hoof into her mouth before it could happen.
“It’s just the pipes or something like that,” the janitor replied. “This part of the building makes weird noises from time to time.”
The mutterings continued, but eventually, to Glamour’s immense relief, the hoofsteps resumed again. The hoofsteps grew fainter and fainter, until they were too far away to hear anymore. Slowly, her hoof retracted from her mouth, but she kept her ears pricked up, alert for any sounds of Suri or the janitor’s return.
When she was sure that nopony was coming back, Glamour let out a long sigh and got back on her hooves. She headed for the door, but after a few steps, her right forehoof stepped into some sort of metal hole and tripped her. She tried to regain her balance, but with her hoof stuck inside the metal object, she slid to the side and bumped against the wall on her way down.
Glamour groaned from her fall, but she quickly shook it off and stood up, only for her head to hit something wooden. A yelp escaped her, and as she stepped backwards from the pain, her right hind leg found its way into another metal object. Caught off guard, she ended up slipping again and fell over backwards. Her forehooves flailed around, trying to grab onto something, but in the dark, they only bumped into a few things before she hit the floor again.
Sprawled on her back, Glamour let out another groan, but she was quickly silenced as some sort of long, wooden rod smacked her in the face. That was soon followed by a number of objects landing on her stomach, some soft and some not so soft.
Yet another groan escaped Glamour as she laid on the floor, numerous parts of her body throbbing with pain.
And then the door opened, and the lights came on with a click of the light switch.
“What are you doing in here?”
Glamour’s eyes bulged open, and she slowly raised her head to see the janitor was looking down at her with an annoyed look. “Um, I fell…”
The janitor rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can see that, but why in Equestria are you in the supply closet?”
“Supply closet?” Glamour repeated, and she took a look around. The room was small and narrow, and the walls were lined with shelves full of bathroom supplies and cleaners, except for the section that was now burying her chest. Her right hooves were stuck inside metal buckets, and a mop was resting on her.
“Well?” The janitor snapped, giving Glamour an unhappy glare.
“I was looking for the bathroom?” Glamour ventured, showing off a sheepish smile.
“The bathroom…” The janitor rolled his eyes again and buried his face into his forehoof. “Whatever, just get out.”
“R-right, sorry,” Glamour apologized as she slowly got up. She winced as the mop and the rest of the supplies fell off her and clattered to the floor in a messy pile. “Uh, do you want me to help clean up?”
The janitor sighed and shook his head. “No, that’s alright. I rather not deal with another kooky mare today.”
Glamour probably would have felt insulted if she did not know who the other mare was. “Okay, then uh, bye and sorry again.”
Glamour quickly walked past the janitor, out of the supply closet, and proceeded down the hall. She peeked around the corner to make sure Suri was not around, and when she saw no sign of the sneaky mare, she continued on to the lobby to find Coco talking to Grace.
Coco quickly noticed her coming and waved. “Glamour, there you are! You were taking so long I was getting worried about you. Did everything with Prim Hemline go alright?”
Glamour nodded. “More or less. She wanted to make sure that I won’t have a repeat of my first show. When I convinced her that wouldn’t happen, she went on to say that I’ve changed since I first came to Manehattan. She’s also looking forward to see what we do in the future.”
Grace made a long whistle. “Prim actually said that? You two must have really caught her eye. Praise by her doesn’t come around much. Props to the both of you.”
“Was there anything else that happened, Glamour?” Coco asked. For some reason, her gaze seemed to be looking at something a bit above Glamour’s face.
Glamour shrugged. “Just a promise that I will regret it if I mess up. You know, the usual.”
“Uh huh…” Grace’s eye brow rose. “That doesn’t really explain why you took so long, nor does it explain why you have a sponge stuck in your mane.”
“I what?” Glamour ran a hoof through her mane, and true to Grace’s words, her hoof bumped into something soft, and a sponge plopped onto the ground, likely a souvenir from the supply closet. “Oh, well about that, you see…”
Glamour was about to explain what she investigated, but she held her tongue. Suri was up to something, no doubt involved with some form of cheating. If she told Coco and Grace, they would have no choice but to tell Prim. They might be able to get the janitor to confess and get Suri disqualified, but that would definitely infuriate Suri, and the fragile link between her and Coco would have no chance of ever getting mended. As much as she wanted to put Suri in her place, Glamour did not think she could crush the thing Coco had been chasing for years.
“Uh, I was in the bathroom.”
Coco and Grace both blinked.
“What?” uttered Grace. “That doesn’t make sense unless our bathroom is suddenly giving out sponge baths.”
“Well, I kind of made a mess. A big mess. All sorts of things got on me, and I think the janitor is still cleaning up what I left behind because there was stuff every—”
“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Grace cried out, waving her hooves in front of her. “Too much information!”
Glamour struggled to keep herself from smirking over her crude, yet effective diversion.
“Well, um… Glamour and I should probably get going,” Coco suggested. “We have to rest up for tomorrow.”
“Yeah, no problem. Just make sure you throw your marefriend into the shower when you get home.” Grace eyed Glamour up and down. “On second thought, you probably should hose her down before you let her inside.”
“Aww, it’s not so bad,” Glamour replied with a smirk.
“Tell that to my lunch trying to claw its way out of my stomach. I’ll see you two tomorrow. Oh, and I better not smell you tomorrow, Glamour!”
Glamour chuckled before leaving the building with Coco. As they walked back to the apartment, Glamour’s thinking shifted back to what she was going to do with Suri. She knew where and when Suri would be later, but the question was what the sneaky mare was going to do. If Glamour could find out, then she could form some sort of plan to either prevent it or even turn it into some sort of advantage for her and Coco.
After walking a few blocks, Glamour asked, “Hey, Coco, do you think Suri will try to cheat for this contest?”
“I…” Coco bit her lip. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she did…”
“Would you do something about it if you knew she was?”
“I would definitely ask her to stop.”
“And?” Glamour queried when no further details came forth.
Coco sighed. “I know the right thing to do would be to turn her in, but I don’t know if I could do that.”
“Even if she might harm other ponies?”
Coco stopped walking and hung her head. “I… I just don’t know… If she got caught, it would really hurt her reputation, maybe even end her career. Regardless of how she sees me, I don’t know if I have the heart to do that to her.”
Glamour sighed. She was expecting Coco’s answer to be somewhere along those lines. As much as she loved Coco’s generosity and kindness, sometimes it was not enough. She did not want to ruin Suri’s career, but they could not allow Suri to run rampant with her cheating either. She wished there was a way for her to stop Suri without turning her in.
“Are you asking these questions because you’re worried that Suri is planning something?” Coco asked.
“Pretty much. Between the Fall Fashion Fantasia being a huge thing for her and what she said the last time we met her, she’s definitely planning something.”
“Do you think we can do something about it?”
“Well, what are some of the things she had done before?” Glamour asked. “Maybe we can get some ideas to prepare ourselves.”
“Um, let’s see…” Coco brought a hoof to her chin. “I’m afraid I don’t know much because she would usually stick me with the mundane work while she went off. I might have a few ideas from what I’ve seen though. Oh, I know one thing she sometimes does. Like what she did with Golden Thread, she somehow gets her hooves on some other pony’s information and use that to blackmail ponies to drop out of contests. It’s a good thing neither of us have anything bad to reveal.”
Glamour chuckled nervously “R-right, nothing bad…” She quickly cleared her throat. “Um, what about stealing somepony’s design like she did with Rarity?”
Coco shook her head. “There’s a lot more ponies in this contest, so it would barely do anything for her.”
“Oh.” Glamour frowned as she tried to think of any other ideas. “Anything else you can think of?”
“Um… She had sometimes misled ponies with false information, but I don’t think that will happen after Prim made it loud and clear when and where everything was. I suppose she could try sabotage, but that won’t work.”
Glamour perked up. “Wait, sabotage?”
“In some of her past contests, some contestants would lose because something was wrong with their work. Uneven cuts, loose accessories, and rips to name a few. They were small things, but if a judge sees an error, a contestant could easily lose a lot of points.”
Glamour frowned. “How does Suri pull that off, and why do you think it won’t work?”
“I don’t know how she does it since she always does that kind of stuff by herself. I suppose that she would sneak around sometime before the contest. It won’t work for this contest though because Grace told me that they’re locking up everypony’s designs in the dressing room, and they lock up the whole building after they all go home. Suri won’t be able to get in.”
Unless she gets somepony to open the door for her, Glamour thought. That must be her plan. With everypony’s clothes stashed into one room, she would have easy access to perform whatever nefarious deed she was planning.
Glamour gritted her teeth. After all the work Coco put into her dress, there was no way she was going to allow Suri to lay a hoof on the beautiful work.
“You know, Coco, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Suri,” Glamour said later as a plan started to form in her mind. “If she tries anything on you, I’ll stop her.”
Coco smiled a little. “Thanks, Glamour. But please don’t go overboard. I rather not see you or Suri get hurt.”
Glamour bit her lip and nodded slowly. “I’ll… I’ll try.”
By the time they got home, Glamour was working out the final parts of her plan to stop Suri. It was going to be dangerous, and Coco likely would not approve of it, but it was something that had to be done. After tonight, she was going to make sure Suri would not bother them anymore.