//------------------------------// // 3) Sweet Celestia.... // Story: A Stitch In Time // by Short Stories //------------------------------// “You're late! Go ahead and have a seat, and we’ll get started. Now, then, I’m Suri Polomare, and I’ll be your lecturer today... okay?” “No! Nonononononononono!” Rarity whined. “I cannot possibly have a class with you as my teacher!” Twilight looked at her friend and the lecturer in confusion.  “Wait... this is Suri Polomare? The one who copied your designs after you lent her your material?” “Yes, dear, this is the backstabbing traitor I was talking about,” Rarity said, all the while staring at Suri as if she was something the cat dragged in. “Aww, it’s nice to see you too, Rarity,” Suri replied, the faintest hint of smugness in her pleasant tone.  “I see you’ve been well. I mean, you look absolutely gorgeous, but it’s no surprise. You are a pretty hot designer in this business.... okay.” “I’m sorry, Rarity, but, I can’t see how she could backstab anypony!” Twilight exclaimed. Rarity turned back toward Twilight, a slight twitch in her wide eyes.  There was an awkward pause before Rarity began gently shoving Twilight out of the room.  “Would you excuse us for just a moment?” she said to Suri not without a bit of malice.  “My friend and I need to have a word.” “Okay, Rarity, but hurry back...okay?” Suri replied, turning her attention back to the class. Rarity stopped pushing Twilight when they’d both stopped just outside the door.  “Rarity!” Twilight protested.  “Honestly, what’s going on? You can’t seriously expect me to believe you still hold a grudge, after all, this—” “Twilight! She nearly ruined me! I almost didn’t make the cut at that fashion expo! Of course, I’m still going to hold a grudge!! All she does is cheat to win, and steal fashion ideas! I do nothing of the sort, and, yet, she gets to be the teacher?! This is an outrage!” Rarity complained, shaking Twilight vigorously. “Rarity!” Twilight yelled, making Rarity’s frenzy wind down to a stop.  “Look, I know she’s made mistakes in the past. But maybe she took this lecturing job to turn over a new leaf? I mean, if Trixie can be redeemed, or even Discord, then she certainly can. Besides, she probably got the job because she’s been in Manehatten longer than you have. But this isn’t Manehatten. And you have to at least give her a chance to prove that she’s not the same mare that she was then. Okay?” Rarity huffed. “Oh, Twilight, I suppose so. . .” She paused. “But, if Suri is acting suspicious or starts being rude, I simply must put my hoof down!” Twilight heaved a heavy sigh, feeling frustration creep up on her.  Just when things were starting to look up on this trip, things were now taking a turn for the worse.  Taking another deep, calming breath, she replied, “Okay. I’ll understand if you do. But just remember to give her the benefit of the doubt. We aren’t entirely sure she doesn’t want to change. So, just... be nice. Okay?” There was a long pause. Finally, Rarity huffed again and agreed. “If you insist, Twilight.” At this, Twilight smiled and nodded, and the two mares went back inside to start the lecture.  As they went, Twilight couldn’t help but feel slightly hypocritical; she asked Rarity to give Suri a chance, and yet she herself couldn’t keep an open mind throughout this whole trip.  It made her feel somewhat ashamed, and she resolved to tell Rarity how she felt as soon as possible.  It was the only way to lift this weight of emotion off her back.  She just hoped Rarity would understand. The next day, Rarity led Twilight out of class and to the library for the second time that week.  It seemed Twilight’s words had had an effect on Rarity; she was as good as her word, and made no obvious attempts to lash out at her former rival while attending her lectures.  At the same time, Suri Polomare seemed pleasant enough, and didn’t even make references to their bad blood in Manehatten at any time.  In fact, she’d hardly said anything to Rarity at all, except to ask her for assistance in various design demonstrations and modeling.  It was as if nothing had happened between the two at all. The subjects of Suri’s lectures, however, were a different story. “I mean, really! It’s as if she’s learned nothing since we last met!” Rarity complained as the pair made their way down the open streets of Trotsboro.  “Her hemming methods are all wrong, her stitching patterns are an absolute mess, and I have never seen a mare use more suede than she does! Honestly! I’m starting to see why she would resort to stealing the ideas of others!” “Rarity…” Twilight warned her face in a tight scowl. “You said you’d be nice.” “Oh, I know, darling, I know,” Rarity replied, fretted, “but I just can’t help it. That Suri, she’s... well... she’s just so rude and self-important! I don’t know how much more of this I can stand.” Twilight instantly remembered the guilt she still bore. In truth, she didn’t know how much more of ‘Equestria’s only boot camp for beauty’ (which was repeated at least three times a day at the hotel) she could take. Again, she briefly thought of telling Rarity the truth—she’d even stayed up late with Rarity last night while the latter had worked on an assignment that had taken up most of the night, and still, Twilight could not say anything about it.  Still, she had wanted to stay in their room so she wouldn't feel as lonely; she had thought it was the least she could do. The white unicorn had been so grateful that she had promised she and Twilight would visit the Trotsboro Library immediately tomorrow if there were no assignments. Once they reached the front of the library, Twilight once again made the attempt to tell Rarity her feelings about this whole trip, but started to forget all about it as soon as they went inside.  With Coco Pommel being a friendly presence here, and Rarity having a good time and learning a lot (aside from her somewhat pedantic complaints about Suri Polomare), Twilight felt that her feelings weren’t as important anymore.  Even she herself was enjoying the trip a bit, more than she’d originally envisioned (she even jokingly thought that, because of Suri annoying Rarity, she might ironically be having less fun than Twilight).  Overall, it was enough of a reason not to speak up on the matter, and Twilight took a relaxing sigh as she began scouring shelves for the “Magical History” section. As soon as her last class let out for the day, Suri hesitated. She could either stall as long as possible and risk getting fired yet again or get her flank down there as quick as possible. Sure that risking her new boss’ ire was a bad idea, Suri left her podium and trotted quickly out of the room, down a hall, and to the nearest stairwell.  Each trip was harder than the last (and a bit scarier), but Suri couldn’t risk losing this job.  Since she was revealed as a cheater and a thief at the Manehatten Fashion Expo, she had been blacklisted by every fashion designer, modeling agency and clothing store from here to Las Pegasus.  She’d had trouble holding jobs since then—she couldn’t even keep her job as a sales representative for KC Jenny’s.  It had been misery since she’d been outed, and she’d hated that day more and more as time went on. But more so, she hated Rarity. She was only being nice to her since her boss had instructed her to, which didn’t exactly make sense. Every chance her boss got, she would always complain about Rarity and her friends, and it had Suri at a loss why she couldn't complain about her.  She had been tempted to ask several times, and finally did ask once.  She’d gotten no reply, and had been ordered once again to keep her feelings in check.  Why, she hadn’t been told, and it was starting to drive her crazy. Wherever this plan was going to go, Suri knew it had better get there quickly. Suri finally reached the basement level, exited the stairwell, and slipped down a darkened hallway, hurrying her pace a bit—this new boss of hers did not like to be kept waiting.  She reached the end of the hall, stopped in front of a large office door, and slowly pushed it open.  “Uhh... hello?” she called into the seemingly empty office, “. . . you’re still here, right?” “Good, you’re here,” a voice suddenly spoke up from the far side of the dark office, making Suri jump.  Across the dark room was a desk and a rotating chair, which spun around to show (at least partially, due to the shadows) the face of the speaker. “I trust everything’s going as planned?” “Yeah, yeah, they don’t suspect a thing,” Suri replied lazily, then her laziness turned quickly into irritability.  “Look, I’ve been planning this thing for you for the last three moons. Rarity and Twilight are both here, like we both wanted. I have Coco keeping an eye on them to make sure they don’t get too nosy, and the clothing designs are almost fully bewitched...” she wound down with a slow inhale before adding, “okay?” “Don’t bore me with your insecurities, Polomare!” the voice shouted, even more irritable.  “It was my plan to put this all together, and you took care of inviting both Twilight and Rarity. Their meddling friends won’t be the wiser as long as they aren’t around, so as long as you keep those two in check, everything will go smoothly!” “All right, jeez...” Suri moaned with a scowl.  This was unbearable, but she knew she had to make sure of one more thing.  “Now, you promised, remember?” she asked warily.  “You discredit Rarity for me if I bring you Twilight—” “You think I’d back out of the deal?! You honestly think, after all, you’ve been through, that you can afford to run the risk of questioning my integrity?!” Suri backed up a step in surprise, but tried to cover up her nervousness with annoyance, “I hate it when you bring that up...” “Then stop being an idiot. You just make sure Coco does her job and doesn’t get too close to the operation. You were able to keep Twilight Sparkle’s obnoxious friends busy, so I know you are competent enough to get this done. Don’t prove me wrong!” Again, Suri fought back a wave of panic.  She hated feeling like this.  That feeling of insecurity, of weakness, of being lost... she’d always vowed never to let anypony make her feel this way again.  It had started with Rarity, but now, if she had any kind of chance at getting her life back, she had to endure it from this forced benefactor spending all her time sneaking around in the shadows. “I’m holding up my end of the bargain,” Suri reminded, “now I just need to see you hold up yours.... okay?” “Stop that. That’s getting annoying. You’ll know when my end will be upheld, Polomare. And if you knew better, you wouldn’t question me. Now, keep Coco under your thumb, and keep Twilight from figuring us out!” “And Rarity, right?” The voice sighed in frustration before replying to Suri’s question, “Yes. And Rarity. Now, go.” Suri nodded and turned to leave, but just before she touched the door, she faintly heard somepony running away.  Panicking, Suri opened the door to go after them, rounding the corner from where she was to catch up.  Turning the corner, however, she saw that nopony was there. Befuddled, Suri sighed and proceeded back down the hall to the stairwell.  She resolved to keep a closer eye on Coco from now on; she was sure it had been her.  She was getting too close, and her usefulness would run out quickly if that happened.  Quickly, Suri set her mind to work on what to do with her.