“Something wrong, sis?”
The little pink filly looked up at Suri. “No,” she said. “I’m OK.”
Suri frowned. “You’re sure?” she asked. “Did you want to go somewhere else?”
The filly nodded. “OK,” Suri said. “Where?”
Her sister’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Suri waited for several seconds, but her sister remained just as silent. “Look, Diamond” she said, “it’s going to rain soon. If you can’t think of anywhere-“
“Give me a moment, OK?” Diamond Tiara snapped, baring teeth.
Suri stepped back. “OK, fine.”
Diamond Tiara’s snarl vanished. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just…”
“Is this about Mom?” Suri asked.
Diamond didn’t answer, she just bit her lip. “It’ll be alright,” Suri said. “She’s getting better. You’ll see the woman I grew up with. You just have to be patient.”
“I gave her nine years,” Diamond growled. “Why wasn’t she getting better then?”
Suri frowned. “Sometimes it takes a while for ponies to even admit they have problems. That’s why it’s important you don’t tell anyone about Mom’s condition. But Mom’s admitted she has a problem, and she’s getting better.” Suri’s frown vanished. “She is getting better, isn’t she?” she asked gently.
“Yeah,” Diamond Tiara said. “She hasn’t yelled at me in a while.” She scratched at her fetlock. “Partly because I haven’t gone near her all that often.”
“Diamond?”
The two girls turned around. Spoiled Rich was standing just a little ways away from them, frowning. Diamond Tiara’s knees started knocking together. “Mom?” she asked. “Wha-what’re you doing here?”
Spoiled Rich’s frown deepened and she opened her mouth. Then she stopped herself, forced her frown away, and she sucked in a deep breath. She let it out, and she took in another. Finally, she opened her mouth again. “I’ve been to your school,” she said, “and your teacher says you’ll have to go to tutoring for English.”
“I’m so-“
“It’s alright, Diamond,” Spoiled told her. “Yes, I’m disappointed in you, but it’s not the end of the world. It’ll be OK.”
The three stood there for several awkward moments. Spoiled Rich moved towards Diamond Tiara, but Diamond took a step back. Spoiled nodded, then turned away. “Better come home soon,” she told both of them, her voice cracking slightly. “It looks like it’s going to rain.”
Suri and Diamond watched her trot off down the road until she was two blocks away. Suri turned to Diamond. Diamond stared after her mother for a moment, then looked back up at her sister. “That…” she said. “…that wasn’t what I thought it would be.”
Suri spread her forelegs out and Diamond Tiara climbed into them. “Enjoy it,” Suri said. “She’s only going to get worse from here.”
Diamond Tiara pulled away from Suri, eyes wide. “What?” she asked. “But you said she…”
Suri woke again. The clock on the wall read 11:45. Suri looked out the window into the night. “Are you doing this, your highness?” she asked the moon.
The moon just hung there in the sky.
<*>
The next morning, Suri knocked the design into a small mountain next to her desk, not even bothering to crumple it up. She looked over the brochures and books she’d spread across her desk. Then she picked up the pencil and started drawing again. Halfway through, though, she growled, balled up the paper and dropped it on the floor.
“Is something wrong?” Coco asked.
Suri didn’t look up from her desk. “See for yourself,” she said.
There was silence as Coco looked through the crumpled-up balls. Suri waited for her to say something, the hair on her back bristling as the silence continued. Finally, Coco put the last paper down. “I know this is going to seem like a dumb question,” she said, “but what’s wrong?”
Suri rolled her eyes. “Well, most of them are just flat-out tacky. The fourth draft’s Myltyl is the same cut as the current production, just recolored. Tylo’s coat in the twelfth draft had the same pattern of spots as the production five years earlier.”
“That’d be… this one,” Coco said as she uncrumpled one of the papers. “This doesn’t look bad,” Coco remarked, showing it to Suri.
“That’s practically a recolor,” Suri explained. “I need something original.”
“This is original enough,” Coco assured her. “No-one’s going to notice.”
Suri glared at her. “I don’t want to take any chances.” Groaning, she put her head in her hooves. “Ugh, I need to think!”
“Coffee?”
Suri didn’t look up as Gar walked forward with the tray of paper cups. “Sure,” she groaned. “Maybe I’ll get buzzed into inspiration.” As soon as she heard the cup get put down, Suri scooped it up and started sucking it down. After three-quarters of the cup, though, she pulled it away and stared at it. “Wow,” she noted, “this is really good coffee.”
“My mother runs a café,” Gar stated. “She enjoys trying her new blends on me. Most of them are awful, but I get the occasional tolerable one.”
Suri put the cup down, frowning at Gar. “Well, thank you for sharing,” she said.
“I’ll tell her what you thought,” Gar replied. “She might keep going this way.”
“Ah, coffee,” Agate said. He picked up a cup, but sniffed at it first. “Hey, this actually smells drinkable,” he said.
“Suri really liked it,” Gar stated.
Agate pulled the cup away from his mouth. “So do I,” he said. “Tell your mom to keep making this. Oh, Suri, I got some more stuff from the market. If you want to look over it, it’s all yours.”
Suri winced. “Thanks, Agate. Uh, how mu…”
“For you, nothing,” Agate said. “A friend of Coco’s is a friend of mine.”
“…well-”
“I’ll tell you what,” Agate said. “Do you take commissions?”
Suri looked at her paper balls on the floor for a moment before nodding. “Yeah.”
Agate smiled. “You can pay me back that way. I-”
“I GOT IT!”
Candy fluttered down through the ceiling, Lumen strapped to her back. “After a whole night’s work, I finally got the old lights working!” she sang.
Coco smiled. “That’s great,” she said. Then her eyebrow rose. “Wait, you were here all night?” she asked.
Candy blushed. “Uh, yeah,” she said. “I guess. I kind of lost track of time. Thankfully, I had plenty of diapers and stuff in my booth, so Lumen’s alright. Get the tower prop!” she exclaimed, zipping back through the ceiling.
The others looked at each other, but Agate grabbed a large wooden tower and dragged it over to the elevator. The others walked over to the spiral staircase in one corner of the workshop. As Suri came up into the audience, heading up the rear, Agate brought the tower up. “Is everything ready?” Candy yelled down.
“YES!” Agate shouted.
“OK! Three, two…”
The house lights dimmed as one. The theater was almost completely dark. Then, a ring of light appeared in what used to be the fountains. As Suri watched, it expanded inwards, moving up the stage. Finally, the light moved up the silver tower, reflecting off into the seats until it hit a crystal at the top, sending little motes of light into every corner of the theater. Suri stared at the show in wonder.
“Oh, yeah!” Candy fluttered down from the catwalks, dancing in the air. “Oh. Yeah! Have I got it or have I got it?”
“Candy!”
Candy turned around. Standing in the door was another pegasus, a stallion with a small sack on his back. “There you are,” he said. “I didn’t see you come home last night.”
Candy’s face fell. “Sorry, Fella” she said.
“It’s alright,” Fella said gently as he walked down the aisle. “Just let me know if you’re going to stay late next time.” Fella picked up the sack and passed it to her. “Here’s your lunch. I also made some sugar cookies for you, since you’re probably beat right now.”
Candy was smiling again as she took the sack in her mouth. “Thankth,” she mumbled through the sack. She turned around.
“Hold on.”
Candy stopped and let Fella kiss her on the cheek. “Now you can go,” he said.
Candy lifted off and disappeared into the catwalks again. “So you’re her husband?” Suri asked.
Fella’s smile disappeared. “Yeah,” he replied. “Name’s Falafel Ball. He turned back to Coco. “Has Candy been acting kinda’ strange lately?”
Coco shrugged. “A little,” she said. “Mostly she’s just more forgetful than normal. Is there something else you’re worried about?”
“I don’t know,” Fella told her. “There’s that, but she also keeps kicking me in her sleep. Used to be only Lumen did that.”
“Is she eating?” Suri asked.
Fella stared at her for a moment. “Yes,” he said, “just as much as she normally does. What’re you thinking?”
Suri shrank back slightly. “Nothing,” she said. “How long has this been happening?”
Fella frowned. “You think she’s-“
A talon clapped onto Fella’s shoulder. “It’ll be OK,” Grant said. “Her hormones are probably still a little unbalanced. Go ahead and see a doctor, but bear in mind it’ll probably clear itself up without a whole lot of drama.”
Fella’s face relaxed. “Ah, OK. You’re married yourself?”
Grant smiled. “Oh, yeah. Twenty years.”
“Awesome.”
“Thanks. Just wait another seventeen years, you’ll have it down as good.” Grant’s smile soured. “And then her side-husband’ll come around…”
“Dad.”
A teenaged griffon laid his talon on Grant’s shoulder. Grant looked at him, then took a deep breath. “Sorry,” he said to Fella. “Just going through a divorce at the moment.”
“Ah,” Fella noted. “Gotcha.” He turned to everyone else. “So, anybody else got some advice for the not-quite-so-recently-married?”
Coco put an eight-year-old griffoness down. “Well, my parents wrote a book about marriage,” she said.
“They wrote a book?” Fella asked. “Awesome.”
Coco nodded. “And then my mom saw my dad with another mare and threw them both out a window,” she sheepishly admitted, “but up to that point it was really nice. I’ll send you the book.”
Fella’s smile vanished. “Thanks.” He turned to Suri. “What about you?”
“Three years separated,” she said. “At least, that’s how they were last year.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Gar mumbled.
Fella’s face sank. “Right. OK. Right.”
“Actually, I’m engaged,” Agate said.
Fella turned to face him. “Oh?” He smiled. “Awesome! You set a date yet?”
“Next June,” Agate told him. “We’re just pinning things down. Catering, flowers, I think we just tied up the dress.”
Suri suddenly struggled to breathe.
“Awesome! Well, I’ve got to get to work, but it was nice to meet you.” He turned and walked out the door. “Bye!”
Everyone waved goodbye to him. “If it helps,” Agate told the others, “my parents were killed by a rampaging Isolationist before I moved here. That was actually why I moved here.”
“How is that helpful?” Gar asked.
“Wait, let me get this right,” Suri breathed. “You want me… to design your fiancée’s wedding dress?”
Agate frowned. “If that’s a problem, I can-“
“No!” Suri exclaimed. “I can do it. I was just a little…”
Suri trailed off as her eyes unfocused. She smiled for a moment before it vanished. A few seconds later, she swallowed and looked back at Agate. “I can do it,” she asserted.
Agate smiled. “Thank you.”
“Coco,” Grant asked, “are you free for that bookkeeping lesson?”
“Yeah,” she said.
The two of them walked out into the foyer, Grant’s daughter on Coco’s head and Grant’s son close behind. Suri looked after them, a small frown growing on her face.
“They’re not seeing each other,” Gar told her.
Suri looked at him. “He started teaching her that while he was married,” Gar explained, “and Grant’s not the kind of guy to do what his wife did.”
Suri’s frown stayed in place.
<*>
Suri pounded on the desk, screaming, before tearing another page off of her sketchpad and throwing it onto the floor. She reached for her cup of coffee, but it was gone. Thus, she pounded on the desk again before putting her head down and groaning into the paper.
“Are you alright?”
“FINE! JU-“ Suri lifted her head and rubbed her eyes. “Fine, Candy. I’m just a little stressed out.”
“Ah, OK. Well, I was just about to head out the door. Just heard you and wanted to see if you were alright.”
Suri turned around and looked up. Candy was hovering in the air, weighed down by several pastel-colored bags. “Taking your work home?” Suri asked.
“Baby stuff,” Candy replied. “I forgot I’d left these here and Grant asked me to clean up. Have you seen my reading glasses?”
“They’re on your head.”
Candy whipped her head back a little and the glasses nestled on her nose. “Oh, there they are.” She smiled at Suri. “Thanks. See ya’ tomorrow.”
She ascended through the elevator hole and flew off. Suri stared after her for a moment before turning back to her pad. She picked up her pencil, but just held it against the paper.
“It’s about time for us to be heading home, too.”
Suri looked up to see Coco. “You don’t have to get it perfect,” Coco said.
Suri pushed herself out of the chair. “It’s not your career on the line,” she growled.
“They’ll understand,” Coco said. “If you’re nervous, just show Grant all your sketches. He likes options.”
The two started up the stairs. “So how’d you two meet?” Suri asked.
“When my job ended, the manager recommended I apply to work for Grant. He was looking for a costume maker and he was friends with the manager, so I got the job.”
“And his kids?” Suri asked as they exited the stairwell.
Coco frowned at her. “They come to work every so often. All the staff know them.”
“Do they climb around on all the staff?”
Coco stopped. ”Grant and I are friends,” Coco growled. “Nothing else.”
Suri stared into Coco’s eyes, brow furled. Coco scowled back in reply. Finally, Suri looked away. “OK,” she said. “OK. If that’s what you say happened-“
“I AM NOT SLEEPING WITH GRANT!” Coco snapped.
“I wasn’t implying you were!” Suri snapped. “I just wanted to make sure you were OK!”
”Really? Since when? Since you stopped undermining my career or just since you stopped working me like a salt miner?”
Suri gawped at her. “Hey, I may’ve screwed you over, but I never made you screw me!”
Coco rolled her eyes. “Right. Yeah. You never forced me to sleep with you. Truly, you’re Princess Celestia, mark II.”
Suri opened her mouth to try and come up with a retort, but none came to her mind. Then every thought emptied out of it in an instant. She saw Coco’s mouth drop open and her eyes widen at the same time as her own did. The two sprinted into the theater. Suri’s heart stopped as she looked up to see Lumen fluttering between the catwalks.
“LUMEN!” Coco shouted.
Coco spun around, but Suri stopped her. “I’ll get him!” Suri exclaimed. “You go find something soft!”
Coco stared at her for a moment, but nodded, spun around, and dashed down the stairs. “LADDER’S RIGHT ABOVE YOU!” she shouted back.
Suri looked up and sure enough, there was the ladder. Suri leapt up and grabbed it in her teeth, not even letting it get all the way down before she put her hooves on the rungs and climbed. Before a minute had passed, Suri was trotting down the catwalk. Lumen had already left that catwalk behind and was drifting over to another one. “Lumen!” Suri called.
Lumen stopped and turned around. As soon as he saw Suri, his face brightened and he let out a happy coo. “Yeah, Lumen!” Suri called. “Yeah, I’m over here! Come and get me!”
Lumen started drifting over. Suri kept shouting encouragement, at one point yelping as Lumen performed a barrel roll. But Lumen kept coming. Suri looked down. Coco was dragging a small box with a ripcord up the aisle. Suri looked back up. “Alright, Lumen,” she said, “almost there!”
Lumen bumped his nose into hers and Suri grabbed him. “Good job, Lumen,” she told him. She brought him up to her face. “Let’s not do that agai-wait NO!”
As soon as her grip lessened, Lumen wrenched out of it. Quick as lightning, Suri’s teeth grabbed him by his (thankfully clean) diaper. Lumen frowned, squealed, and started thrashing around. Suri pulled back, but the diaper came loose. Suri lunged forward and caught him by the tail, but overbalanced. Instinctively, she pulled him to her and curled around him.
WHAM!
Suri suddenly flew sideways before landing gently on the stage. “Lumen?” Candy asked wildly. Suri let go and Candy ripped her son out of Suri’s hooves. “Lumen!” she blubbered. “Lumen, I’m so sorry! I, I…”
Candy let Lumen down dazedly as she stared into nowhere. Suri saw tears running down her face just before she started to weep. Suri heard Coco walk up to the stage, but she stopped at the top of the steps. Suri hesitated, but eventually, she moved forward and gently laid a hoof on Candy’s shoulder.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I didn’t mean to forget him,” Candy said. “It’s just, it’s been so hard to focus these last few weeks, to get up and go. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since before Lumen was born. And I got so focused on the bags that I forgot about…” Candy sniffled. “What kind of mother am I?”
Suri patted Candy’s shoulder. “The kind who comes back.”
“I forgot my own son!” she sobbed. “I almost killed him.”
“You did not,” Suri told her. “You were tired, you forgot. Take it from me: that happens to the best of mothers. My mom once left me at a grocery store when I was five because she’d worked all night and forgot I was with her. In the five minutes she was gone, I could’ve been kidnapped by a stranger or I could’ve gotten lost. But she ran back as soon as she realized what had happened and made sure I was OK. Accidents happen.”
Candy just sniffled. “Candy,” Suri continued, “have you mentioned your lack of drive to a doctor?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t think it was important.” She looked up. “You don’t think-“
“It’s alright,” Coco told her. “Pregnancy screws with your hormones. You’re just having a tougher time bouncing back, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Doctors can help you. Just don’t give up on yourself.”
Candy said nothing, just looked between Suri and Coco, for several minutes. Suri in turn said nothing, only keeping her hoof on her shoulder. Coco came forward and re-diapered Lumen, then held onto him. Finally, Candy sniffled one last time, took Lumen from Coco, and strapped her son into his harness. “Thanks,” she said.
“If you want, you can walk with us,” Coco offered.
Candy was silent for a moment, but nodded. “Thanks,” she said. “I’d like that.”
The three left the theater. At first, the walk was almost completely silent. A few attempts at talking were made, but they died after a few sentences. Finally, though, Coco managed to strike up a conversation, and Candy managed to smile. After thirty minutes, the three stopped in front of an apartment.
“You gonna’ to be alright?” Suri asked.
Candy frowned. “I don’t know,” she said. She sighed. “But I think I’m feeling better now.” She smiled at them. “Thanks again, both of you. I’ll see you… I think the day after tomorrow. I’m overdue for a doctor’s appointment.”
With that, she waved goodbye, turned and walked into the building. “Well, let’s get moving,” Suri said as soon as Candy was out of sight.
“Suri, wait.”
Suri stopped. “I just want to say I’m sorry for shouting at you earlier,” Coco said.
“Don’t,” Suri said. “You were right.”
“But you were still trying to be nice to me,” Coco said, “and I’m still sorry I shouted at you like that.”
Suri nodded. “Alright.”
“Y’know, I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned your mother,” Coco hinted.
Suri turned away. “I’d rather not,” she replied.
“OK,” Coco said.
With that, the two set off for their own apartment.