Glamour was lying down on the living room couch with a book in front of her, while Coco was in her room, working on something for the theater. The Fall Fashion Fantasia had ended two days ago, and they had entered a period where they could take it easy.
Glamour had at least a few days off before her next assignment. Photo Finish had met her and Coco in the dressing room at the end of the contest. She was ecstatic with the results. Not only did she praise Glamour’s performance, but she also congratulated Coco on placing second with her amazing dress. After her usual flamboyant speech of how great she was and de magicks, Photo Finish said that they should expect a letter from her in about a week.
Although Coco was working at the moment, it was the last thing she had on her todo list. She was finishing up a quick job for the theater, and with rehearsals for their next show underway and the costumes all made, there was nothing else on Coco’s schedule except a possible costume repair or adjustment that may creep up later on.
It was a time for them to relax, or at least, it was supposed to be.
Glamour let out a sigh and rubbed her temples. She had been stuck on the same page in her book for at least fifteen minutes, and she had not read a single word. Instead, her mind kept wandering back to the events that happened during the Fall Fashion Fantasia.
The night she spied on Suri was the first time she had extensively used her changeling abilities since she adopted her unicorn form. While she did not regret utilizing them for Coco’s sake, it did bring up more qualms over her inability to tell Coco what she really was and the hole she was digging with her lies was growing deeper.
Coco had stumbled into her meeting with Suri, and Glamour had to play off her stallion disguise as somepony she used to know, adding another layer to the web of lies. Coco had not asked for more information on who the stallion was, but it was only a matter of time before Coco worked up the courage to ask about it.
Most of all, Glamour kept on replaying the declaration Coco said to her right before she went on stage.
I might make your clothes, but no matter what you wear, no matter what you look like, you will always be beautiful to me, and I will always love you.
Oh how Glamour wished she could believe in Coco’s words.
A series of loud knocks sounded from the front door and interrupted her musing.
“I’ll get it!” Glamour called out as she got up. As she trotted over, a round of heavier knocks were made on the door. Whoever it was, the pony seemed to be very impatient.
Glamour opened the door, and upon seeing who it was, she blinked several times. A few seconds of silence passed, as she and the pony stared at each other, until Glamour settled on the most appropriate response.
“Ahh! Suri!” Glamour shrieked as she jumped back.
Suri rolled her eyes. “Nice greeting.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to take Coco out.”
“What?!” With a snarl, Glamour immediately poised herself in a pouncing stance, and her horn blazed with green flames.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Suri swiftly backed up and raised her hooves defensively. “I meant take her out to lunch!”
“Oh…” Glamour slowly stood back up while the magic in her horn faded, but she still watched Suri with a cautious eye, and she noted the saddlebag she was wearing. “So, are you really here to take Coco out for lunch, or is there some ulterior motive?”
Suri huffed. “I come here in peace. Would you just hurry up and get her?”
“It’s alright, I’m here. I was just surprised to hear your voice.” Coco stepped out of her room and joined them in the foyer. “Hello, Suri.”
“Hey, Coco,” Suri replied with a quick wave. To Glamour’s surprise, there did not seem to be any hint of malice in Suri’s tone, nor did she see a scowl or even a frown.
“Would you like to come in?” Coco offered, stepping to the side and waving her to their living room.
Suri shook her head. “I don’t have too much time. I’m only here to to ask if you want to go out to lunch with me.”
A big smile appeared on Coco’s face. “So I wasn’t just hearing things. That does sound nice, Suri. Where at?”
“You know. That cafe we used to go to. Kind of like old times.”
Coco’s smile grew even wider. “I would love to have lunch with you, Suri.”
“Coco, can I talk with you in private for a minute?” Glamour asked as she grabbed Coco’s hoof and gently pulled her to the living room.
“Oh, uh, sure.”
“You’re just going to talk about how you still think I’m up to something, am I right?” Suri guessed.
Glamour let go of Coco’s hoof and nodded to Suri. “Coco might trust you, but I prefer to be more cautious.”
“Glamour…” Coco glanced at her with a small frown.
Suri chuckled. “She’s right, you know? You need to be more careful, Coco, especially since I haven’t given you two much reason to trust me.”
“Then why are you here?” Glamour asked. “Why the sudden change? You’re acting all… uh, not angry?”
“I’ve been thinking about things since the end of the Fall Fashion Fantasia. In particular, some of the stuff you two went on about. I still don’t get how you two beat me but…” Her face contorted into a series of grimaces and then ended with a long, heavy sigh. “Coco, you beat me fair and square.”
Coco blushed. “Oh, th-thank you, Suri. That means a lot coming from you.”
“Yeah, well don’t get used to it… Oh, and another thing.” Suri pulled out a clasp envelope and gave it to Coco. “Your marefriend here accidentally gave me something a little extra.”
Glamour’s cheeks flooded with red when Coco opened the envelope and pulled out the pictures that they took to create memories together. She had completely forgotten to take those pictures out before confronting Suri at the contest.
Coco gave an amused look at Glamour before turning back to Suri. “Thank you. These pictures do mean a lot to us.”
“I figured after I looked through them. You two looked… happy…”
“So, uh, what did you do with your pictures?” Glamour asked.
“Burned them. No point in having them lie around when I have no use for them.”
“I see… Well, I guess if we’re doing this lunch—”
“Uhp, uhp, uhp,” Suri interrupted along with a raised hoof. “This invite is for Coco and Coco only.”
Glamour’s eyes narrowed. “What? Why can’t I come along?”
“You tried to blackmail me.”
“That’s…” Glamour opened her mouth, paused, and slowly closed it. “Reasonable… I suppose… But I still don’t like it. Where Coco goes, I go.”
“Yeah well, I owe Coco for not turning those pictures in. I can’t say the same for you. I also have some private matters I wish to discuss with her, and I'd rather not have you hanging around to eavesdrop on us.”
“It just sounds like you’re trying to get Coco alone before you do something to her.”
“Suri, could you give Glamour and I a moment?” Coco asked this time.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just make it quick. I’m pretty busy, and this lunch is the only time I’ll be free.”
Glamour followed Coco to the living room, and as soon as she thought they were out of earshot, she said in a hushed tone, “I don’t think you should go with her, Coco.”
Coco sighed and replied in an equally quiet volume, “I know you think she’s up to something, but I really think she’s being sincere.”
“What makes you say that?”
Coco slightly tilted her head in Suri’s direction. “Well, look at her, Glamour. She’s certainly acting different than all the other times you’ve seen her, right?”
Glamour slowly nodded. Even though Suri was still curt and slipped in the occasional veiled insult, she had to admit that the usually angry mare was a lot more civil right now. She had even admitted her defeat to Coco, something Glamour doubted was easy for the prideful Suri.
“It might just be an act though,” Glamour pointed out.
“It’s true that she had been friendly with a pony just to find someway to exploit them…” Coco glanced over at Suri. “But I don’t think this is the case right now. She’s different than the mare we saw two days ago. She’s kind of like the old Suri I used to know, and I think I can trust her.”
“I would feel a lot better if I could go with you. I don’t even have to sit at the same table. That way, I’ll at least be able to keep an eye on her and jump in if she tries to pull anything on you.”
“I know you would, but I can take care of myself.”
Glamour grumbled. “I still think this is a bad idea.”
Coco took Glamour’s hoof into her own and smiled. “Glamour, I know you’re just concerned about my safety, and I appreciate it. But I really want to do this. I think Suri is trying to change for the better, and this might be my only chance to help her with it. I cannot pass up this opportunity. I promise I’ll be careful, so please, let me do this.”
Glamour remained silent as she debated if it really was worth it. She was worried that Coco’s urge to reform Suri was making her blind to the potential danger, and given Suri’s previous actions, Glamour could not help but think this lunch might be a trap. On the other hoof, she knew Coco’s conviction with Suri, and even if she knew the dangers, she would go ahead with the lunch if there was a chance for her to get through to her old friend. There was only one thing Glamour could do.
Glamour sighed and nodded her head. “Alright, fine. I know how much this means to you.”
Coco hugged her. “Thank you for trusting me, Glamour.”
Walking back to the front door where Suri was waiting, Glamour asked, “So it’s just lunch?”
“Just lunch and maybe a bit more time for some mare to mare talk.” Suri chuckled upon noticing Glamour’s unsure frown. “Don’t worry, I promise won’t hurt your precious marefriend.”
“I’ll be back soon, Glamour,” Coco said, giving her a goodbye kiss on the cheek before exiting the apartment with Suri.
As soon as Glamour closed the door behind Coco, she rushed straight for her room. Her sling pouch was swiftly stuffed with a hooffull of bits and her camera, and she quickly flipped through her photo collection of ponies from her saddlebag.
After finding a suitable picture, she took a moment to study it and then let her transformation magic flow through her. She spared a brief glance at herself in her compact mirror, barely checking to see that she was now a pegasus mare with red fur and a green mane, before putting on her sling pouch, stowing everything else away, and running out of her room. She headed straight for the outdoor balcony and jumped off.
Glamour dove straight down, and moments before she hit the pavement, she spread her wings, feeling herself suddenly rise into the air before slowly landing in front of the entrance to the building and to the surprise of the ponies that happened to be walking by.
It was a dangerous stunt, and her wings were pretty much burning with pain from the exertion, but she had to make sure she beat Coco and Suri to the entrance. Panting heavily from the adrenaline rush she just put herself through, she tucked her pouch beneath her wing and waited.
Less than a minute later, Coco and Suri emerged from the apartment building. Glamour’s eyes tracked them as they unknowingly walked past her, and once they were a few hoofsteps away, she followed right behind them.
However, she soon found out that the busy streets of Manehattan made it difficult to constantly keep Coco and Suri in her sights, and she had to literally shove her way through the crowd to keep up. Fortunately, the same issue she had also applied to her targets, and Coco and Suri were slowed down as they navigated the crowds. With all the ponies around, it also made it unsuitable for them to really talk to each other.
There was a collective sigh of relief from Glamour and the mares she was following when they emerged from the horde of ponies when they arrived at the cafe. Glamour stayed back and watched as Coco and Suri walked into the outdoor dining area.
With hardly any other customers eating at the cafe, the unicorn waitress, whom Glamour remembered was named Pink Lemonade, promptly trotted out to greet them. “Hello there, I’ll be your server today. Is there anything—”
“Two orders of vegetable puffs and two iced teas,” Suri stated.
Pink Lemonade blinked from the abrupt order. “Uh, sure. Coming right up,” she replied before heading right back inside.
Glamour grabbed a menu from the side and sat down two tables away from where Coco and Suri was seating themselves. With a clear view of them in front of her, she opened up her menu and propped it up with her hooves, allowing her to hide herself behind it.
“Vegetable puffs and iced tea. It really is like old times,” Coco commented.
“Figured you would like it.” Suri slowly turned in her seat, giving the entire cafe a thorough inspection. “This place hasn’t changed much. I haven’t been here for so long.”
“When was the last time you were here?”
“Before things got all messed up.”
“Oh, right… You came here quite a bit with uh, him… sorry.”
“Whatever,” Suri said with a dismissal wave of her hoof. “What about you? You still come here?”
Coco nodded. “At first, it wasn’t too often, but when Glamour came into town, I brought her here. Since then, we’ve been coming here more often.” A giggle escaped her. “Actually, the first time we came together, I ordered the vegetable puffs and iced tea as well. Probably because of nostalgia or something.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, what’s the deal with you and her anyway? I mean, why is she living with you? I get that you two are marefriends now, but I heard that she moved in with you long before that.”
“Oh… Um…” Coco bit her lip. “I-I’m not sure if I should talk about that. It’s kind of a sore subject with her, and she doesn’t really want other ponies to know about it. Sorry, Suri.”
Suri’s eyebrow went up, but when she did not continue to press the subject, it seemed like she accepted Coco’s decision. There was a brief moment of silence before she asked another question. “So you’re pretty attached to Glamour, aren’t you?”
Coco nodded with a smile. “To put it mildly, yes. We just hit it off really quick, and over time, we both realized how much we grew to care for each other. She’s really nice, and I absolutely admire the dedication she puts into anything she does. We have a lot of fun together, and I feel like I can share anything with her. I also feel safe with her because she does so much for me and is really protective of me.”
Glamour could not help but grin from behind her menu.
“No kidding about the protective part,” Suri dryly replied. “I’m surprised she hasn’t zapped me with her magic yet.”
“Don’t worry, she knows how to control herself. Well, except with sweets.”
There was a lull in their conversation when Glamour heard Pink Lemonade deliver their drinks. When she did not hear them resume talking, she slowly sat up to peek over the top of her menu. All she saw was pink.
“Hi there!” Pink Lemonade greeted her from right in front of the menu.
Glamour yelped and almost fell backwards off her seat.
“Oh, uh, sorry for startling you, miss.”
“Th-that’s alright,” Glamour replied while she settled back into her chair.
“What can I get for you today?”
Glamour looked at Coco and Suri’s table and saw that the both of them were merely sipping their drinks. While they were not talking at the moment, she wanted to make sure she did not miss anything. With her eyes still on the others, she said, “I’ll have the um… uh… the special. Yeah, the special.”
“Uh, which special?” Pink Lemonade asked. “We have several, such as the vegetable stew with—”
“Whatever. They all sound good,” Glamour idly replied, not even listening to Pink Lemonade.
“Wait, do you mean—”
“Yes, yes, I know what I said. Could you go now?”
“Okay…”
Glamour felt Pink Lemonade trying to take her menu, so she quickly pulled it close to her and gave the waitress a sheepish smile. “Uh, could I keep this for now?”
Pink Lemonade sighed and nodded before making her way back to the kitchen, leaving Glamour to continue stalking in peace.
“So, what are you going to do now that the Fall Fashion Fantasia is over?” Coco asked, finally breaking the silence.
“I’m going to… Actually, this is one of the main reasons I wanted to see you.” Suri took a deep breath. “I’m leaving Manehattan after tomorrow.”
Glamour’s menu dropped from her shocked hooves.
“Y-you’re leaving?” Coco’s jaw had nearly hit the table, and she was staring wide-eyed at Suri. “W-why?”
“Relax, it’s not a permanent thing. After everything that happened at the contest, I started thinking and looking back at everything that I had done.” Suri glanced away. “I also thought about some of the stuff you and your marefriend said to me. Perhaps you two were right. I was getting a little too stressed about everything and need to dial things back.”
Just a little? Glamour silently quipped with an eye twitch.
“So does this mean you’re also going to stop cheating?” Coco asked, sitting up in her seat with a growing smile on her face.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Oh…” Coco slumped back into her chair with a frown. “So you’re going to keep doing it then…”
“I didn’t say that either.”
“I… I’m not sure I’m following what you’re saying.”
Suri sighed. “To be honest, I don’t really know what I’m going to do. I do know that I need a break, hence this vacation thing. Cheating is hard work. I need to clear my head and get my priorities straight. Once I do that, I’ll come back and figure out what to do from there.”
“How long are you going to be gone?”
Suri shrugged. “However long it takes. It could be a few weeks or a few months.”
“Where do you plan on going?”
Suri shrugged again. “Not sure. I just need to get out of Manehattan. Although, I might visit Ponyville. I did grow up there, after all, but at the same time, I really don’t want to chance seeing Rarity.”
“Why not?”
“Uh, Fashion Week? Remember? I’m not exactly thrilled that she beat me, and I’m pretty sure she did not appreciate what I did to her.”
“Maybe you could try apologizing to her?”
Suri let out a single, sharp laugh. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“Well, she forgave me right away.”
“But I don’t have a first place trophy to help smooth things over.”
“Uh, right. Still, she’s a really nice pony, once you get to know her. I’m sure she’ll understand if you explain that you’re trying to change your ways. At least think about it if you do decide to visit Ponyville.”
Suri merely grumbled. It was unclear if she was agreeing or dismissing the notion.
Coco smiled. “Suri, I’m so happy that you’re doing this. It sounds like you’re really making an effort to be a better pony.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m still aiming to be on top, so you better watch out when I get back.”
Coco chuckled. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Pink Lemonade came around to their table with a large tray ladened with food floating beside her in her magic. She dropped off Coco and Suri’s vegetable puffs before passing by Glamour’s table as well. She set down a plate of food, but Glamour barely noticed as she kept her focus on the two mares.
As they ate their meal, Suri asked, “By the way, what do you know about Glamour before she moved to Manehattan?”
“She traveled around for a while.”
“And?”
“Um, that’s pretty much it.”
“Seriously? That’s all you know about her?”
“Well, she did say she used to live in a town called Gallopville.”
“Okay, but what did she do during her travels? What was she doing before that? Do you know anything else about her?”
Coco bit her lip and slowly shook her head. “Not really. I do know that she had a rough life before she came to Manehattan, and I don’t want to press her too much on her past. It’s pretty clear that she gets uncomfortable whenever she talks about it.”
Suri groaned. “Guess I would be a bit of a hypocrite to say that you need to get her to talk to you more. Still… ” She withdrew a folder from her saddlebag and slid it across the table to Coco. “This is the real reason I did not want your marefriend to come along.”
Glamour tried to move her seat closer to Coco and Suri’s table, but the deafening screech her chair made as it slid against the floor was louder than the wailing of a husband who had done his wife wrong. She gave a sheepish smile when everypony, including Coco and Suri, looked up at her, and she hid behind her menu, this time with a red face.
“So, uh, what’s this?” Coco asked when they returned their attention to the folder.
“Just open it,” Suri replied.
Glamour peeked from the top of her menu to see that the folder only contained a single piece of paper.
“Name, Glamour. Species, unicorn pony. Occupation, fashion model. Home address…” Coco looked up from reading the paper. “Suri, what is this?”
“After I saw that you and Glamour were going to be working together, I started digging up information on her. I assumed that your success was entirely reliant on her, so I thought that if I could find something about her…”
“You were trying to blackmail her?!” Coco cried out.
Suri quickly shushed Coco. “Keep it down! Yes, I was trying to do something like that or at least put a black mark on her reputation, but you don’t have to worry. I’m not aiming to do that anymore. I just figured that you might want to know what I found out about her.”
Glamour quickly placed her menu flat on the table, and she tried to lean closer to see what else was on the paper. She felt her chest tighten, and breathing became a little bit difficult as she wondered if Suri somehow managed to uncover her secrets.
“But all of this is information we already know about her,” Coco said to Glamour’s immense relief. She flipped the paper over to reveal a blank side. “There’s nothing here.”
“And that’s the problem.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“I could not find anything on her. You know this is not my first time doing something like this, and I always managed to find something juicy on a pony I targeted. But not with Glamour.”
Coco smiled with a hint of smugness in it. “Well, she’s such a sweet pony. I’m not surprised to hear that you could not find anything wrong with—”
“No, you don’t understand. I meant I could not find anything on her. No records, no leads, nothing! There’s like literally no information on her before she came to Manehattan. It’s like she suddenly appeared out of thin air.”
Glamour was starting to have trouble breathing again.
Coco gulped. “M-maybe it’s because of all the traveling she did?”
“There should still be something about her before she did all that, such as where she was born. You telling me she lived in Gallopville is news to me.”
“But how…” Coco whimpered and brought a hoof to her head. “N-no, this is an invasion of her privacy. I don’t know if I should be digging into this.”
“Yeah, well too bad I don’t share the same sentiments,” Suri said with a stern glance as though she was giving a lecture. “I’m going to give it to you straight, Coco. Your marefriend is hiding something, and it’s not something small like some pretty pictures of me. I suggest you get her to fess up more, or you might end up getting hurt later.”
Coco quickly got up from her seat and slammed her hooves onto the table. “Glamour would never hurt me!” she yelled at Suri with a glare.
“Whoa, settle down there, Coco,” a wide-eyed Suri said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Slowly, Coco sat down back in her seat and took a deep breath. Her eyes caught the sight of a few nearby ponies, including a red pegasus mare sitting nearby, all looking at her with their mouths agape. With a sheepish smile and wave, she apologized, “Um, sorry, everypony.”
“Sheesh, you really have changed,” Suri remarked with an amused smile. “Never thought I would get the honor to see angry Coco.”
Coco hung her head. “Sorry, it’s just that when you implied Glamour might do something bad to me…”
“You’re really head over hooves for her, huh?”
Coco nodded.
“I get it. You feel like you’re on top of the world. Makes it all the more harder when you hear something that might bring all of that come toppling down. Unfortunately, it’s going to be even harder if something does end up happening.”
Coco glanced up at Suri. “This isn’t some ploy to try and drive Glamour and I apart, is it?”
Suri sighed. “No, Coco, it isn’t. I don’t blame you for doubting me though. I’m not exactly the picture of trustworthiness. But all of the things I’m telling you is true and backed by personal experience. There’s something really fishy about your marefriend.”
“This… this just doesn’t feel right…” Coco uttered quietly with an unfocused, lost gaze in her eyes.
“Well, better to be cautious rather than getting your heart broken. I should know.”
“Why are you telling me all of this, Suri? Are you trying to be my friend again?”
Suri frowned and looked down to play with the last remains of her food. “Sorry, but I’m still not keen on the idea of getting too close to anypony, even you. This lunch and talk is pretty much a little something to say thanks for not ruining me and a little makeup for what I put you through.”
“Oh…”
“For what it’s worth though, I see that you are definitely not my enemy. I’m… sorry… for taking so long to realize that.”
That got a little smile from Coco. “I’m just glad you’re finally getting better. You had been hurting for a long time.”
“Guess that’s why I feel like helping you with this. I kind of want you to avoid the same thing. Look, Glamour might not be aiming to hurt you, but that doesn’t mean whatever she’s hiding can’t affect you. Understand?”
Coco slowly nodded. “Yes… I guess…”
“Good enough.” Suri finished the last of her meal, plopped down some bits on the table, and got out of her seat. “I need to go now. I still have things to do before I leave Manehattan. Remember, if Glamour can’t talk about her past with you, you’re probably going to have to do some investigating on your own. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Wait,” Coco called out before Suri walked away. “Um, could I maybe see you off before you leave on your vacation?”
Suri silently stared at Coco until her mouth formed into a small smile. “I suppose that would be fine. I’ll swing by your place on the way to the train station. See ya, Coco.”
Coco waved back. “Bye, Suri.”
After Suri left, Coco sighed and idly picked at her food. Her gaze was focused on the folder that Suri left behind, and it was clear that she had all sorts of thoughts swimming in her mind. When she finally finished her meal, Coco took the folder and slowly walked away.
When Coco was out of sight, Glamour groaned and brought her hoof to her face. Even though Suri was changing herself for the better, she was still causing problems for her and Coco. With everything that she had heard, Glamour really need to figure out what she was going to do.
“Um, excuse me, miss?”
Glamour blinked and turned her head to see Pink Lemonade. “Yes?”
“Is everything alright? You haven’t touched your food at all.”
“Oh, uh, sorry, I was just preoccupied with something. I’ll go ahead and…” Glamour trailed off when she looked down on the table and saw that there was not one but four plates ladened with food on her table. “Uh, did I really order this much?”
“You did say all the specials sounded good. You actually have two more plates waiting for you in the kitchen because there’s no room for them on your table.”
“Right… I’m going to need some takeout boxes then.”
Pink Lemonade rolled her eyes and turned back for the kitchen.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Glamour called out before Pink Lemonade walked away. Rubbing the back of her neck, she said, “I’m sorry if I was rude earlier. It’s just been a stressful day.”
Pink Lemonade offered a smile. “It’s alright, miss. We all have those kind of days. I’ll be right back with the boxes.”
After Pink Lemonade left her, Glamour went back to brooding over her situation. She was afraid that this was going to happen. Coco’s caring nature and love for her had kept the questions at bay, but now that Suri had unearthed some of the disturbing truth, there was no doubt in Glamour’s mind that Coco would soon start asking about her past.
As much as Glamour wanted to blame Suri, she knew that it was her own fault for not being able to confess who she really was. Now, she needed to figure out what she was going to do when the questions come. Would she finally be able to tell the truth, or would she once again falter? Whatever was going to happen, Glamour was not looking forward to it.
At least, she had dinner taken care of.