Scrap Basket

by Macgyver644200

The Hole in the Pattern

"Well, Coco?"

Suri tried to force down a glare as Coco started sweating bullets. This was a mistake; Coco still wasn't a people pony. How she could be like this having lived in Manehattan all her life, Suri couldn't figure out. But Suri forced down her irritation. "You mentioned three toppings on your Mom's pizza," she said, in a softer tone than earlier. "Onions, red peppers, aaand..."

Coco's teeth gritted as her eyes darted around. Suri frowned, even softly. Finally, Coco looked at her and opened her mouth. Then she closed it. Then she opened it. Then she closed it. Then she opened it.

"Pineapples."

Silence. Coco winced and shut her eyes, quivering.

'...oh, that's it,' Suri thought. She smiled at Coco, who had cracked one eye open. "That sounds delicious," Suri told Coco. She turned back to the waiter. "You heard her: red peppers, onions, and pineapples."

The waiter winced, but nodded and walked off after Suri glared at him. Suri smiled as she turned back to Coco. "It's OK," Suri said. You're OK." Suri blushed. "In fact, I wanted to say I'm sorry for how I've been acting lately. I've been an absolute nightmare."

"Oh, it's OK," Coco said. "You were just stressed ou-"

"No, it's not," Suri interrupted her. "I still shouldn't have taken it out on you. You've been nothing but wonderful these past few months and you've done so well and you deserve to be treated better than I've been treating you. Here." Suri bent over, rummaging through her saddlebags. "It took me a while to make this but ooh!"

Suri recoiled, cradling one of her forelegs. "Suri?" Coco asked, moving forward.

"It's alright," Suri told her. "Probably just the cold weather. Here we go." She straightened up, lifting a piece of cloth and placing it on the table. It was a cravat, colored deep purple and a little jagged around the edges. "It's not my best work," Suri said. "I'm still not very dexterous yet. I'm getting better, though, and the therapist said I'll be back on form in two months."

Coco said nothing, merely holding the cravat. She sniffled, then looked up at Suri, a tear in her eye. "Thank you," she said. "For everything you taught me. I hope I..."

"You'll do fine," Suri said.

<<*>>

Still crooked. Not nearly as good as the others. Not nearly as good as Coco.

Suri Polomare threw the scrap of cloth aside. Then she shivered. Angrily, she tried to push herself upright, but her foreleg twinged. With a wince, she fell back onto her stomach. She gently rubbed down her leg, tracing the line of a faint scar midway down.

'You'd think with all the money I give him,' she angrily thought to herself, 'my landlord would at least spring for a decent heater.'

The pain at bay, Suri frowned at her surroundings. Her old house, while not at all ritzy, at least had everything working. This apartment, on the other hand was just plain ratty. No fridge, no lights, barely any plumbing, and musk and water damage as far as the eye could see.

Suri turned back to the middle of the floor. In that place was an open pizza box, with one slice already eaten. Suri grimaced as her stomach bubbled. Hoping it had settled enough by now, Suri gingerly picked up another slice of the greasy pizza.

There was a knock at the door. Suri dropped the pizza, but didn't move to get the door. Instead, she stayed very still, breathing quickly and praying that-

"SURI! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

Suri's winced at her landlord's voice. She forced her lungs to slow, trying to will the weight in her stomach to lighten. It didn't. She got off of the floor and trudged over to the door. The landlord pounded on the door again and Suri bit her tongue as she unbolted the door. As soon as she did, it opened, revealing a burly, green-maned pegasus scowling at her. "Yes, Mr. Skinflint?" Suri asked.

Skinflint glared at her. "It's been four days, Suri. If you want to keep living here, I need your rent."

The weight solidified, and the fire in her heart flared. "OK," she breathed. "Just, wait right there, and I'll... go get it."

Suri turned around and walked over to a cabinet. Inside was a narrow bag, which Suri extracted. It felt far too light, and Suri took her time in returning to the door to hand it over. "Here," she told Skinflint. "That should be enough for-"

Skinflint knocked the bag out of her mouth. The coins made a depressingly soft clink as they hit the ground. "That doesn't even put a dent in it. You stopped paying rent three months ago, you think that little poke's going to buy you a minute? Well it won't, and unless you find more, I've got no problems throwing your derelict plot out into the snow."

"I'm doing my best!" Suri snapped. "I've sold all my furniture for the best price I could get! That should be more than enough for a rathole like this!"

"I didn't hear you complain when you signed the lease, lady, so you still owe me two thousand by tomorrow or you can just find a cardboard box in the alley!"

"That won't be necessary."

The two ponies turned to see an earth mare standing beside them. She was a cream-colored pony, with a light blue mane. Draped over her was a lavender coat that was a little too large and accenting it was a crimson tie around her neck. As she saw them face her, she backed a mite away from them. Suri frowned.

"Hello Coco," she said.

Skinflint rounded on Coco. "You have two-thousand bits on you?"

Coco backed away from him. "Well, no. I was just thinking she could live with me."

"Not on your life!" Skinflint snapped. "That swindler owes me two-thousand bits and so help me, I'm going to get it!"

Coco jerked away and Suri felt surprised to feel a twinge of anger. She blinked a few times, but when Skinflint kept advancing on Coco, Suri scowled at him. "You want to take it to court?" she icily asked. "I'm sure the housing bureau would be very interested in the black mold in my bathroom that you promised to clean out."

Skinflint glared at her, jaws working, but nothing coming out. Suri glared him down, refusing to budge an inch. Finally, Skinflint turned away. "Fine! Just be out by tomorrow!"

"I'll do you one better!" She stomped down the hall. "C'mon, Coco, we're leaving!"

"Wait."

Suri stopped, then turned back around. She thought she saw Coco frowning for a moment, but it vanished. "What about your furniture?" Coco asked.

"I don't have any," Suri replied.

"AT LEAST CLEAN THE ROOM UP!" Skinflint shouted.

<<*>>

After concluding that the apartment was unsalvageable, the two left the building. As the two trudged through the snowstorm over the course of fifteen minutes, Coco looked over at Suri. Suri shivered, lacking a wrap, but stubbornly faced forward. Coco looked away. "So," Coco said, "you been up to anything?"

Nothing. Coco felt an electrical charge in the air between her and Suri. "You in good health?" Coco asked.

Still nothing. Coco opened her mouth again, but Suri hissed. Coco turned her head. Suri had stopped and was bent forward and hissing a shuddering breath through her teeth. Tears started falling as Suri started moaning under her breath.

Coco quickly looked around. Several buildings were dark, and the others didn't look like places that would let somepony in unless they spent more than Coco had on her. Then she noticed a familiar building. "Suri," she said. "Suri, look over there."

Suri glared at Coco, but was bent over too much to be intimidating. She looked where Coco's hoof pointed, then back to Coco. Slowly, she lifted her foreleg and inched it forward. Then she inched the other one forward.

"That's it," Coco told her. "You can make it. Just a little further."

Suri didn't look up, she just kept walking. Coco kept in front of her, walking backwards and encouraging her. Finally, the two reached a door. Coco pushed it open and then guided Suri into the building.

"Welcome to Taste of Neighples..."

The mare behind the podium stared at Coco and Suri as they entered. "Parmesian, do you remember what we used to get?" Coco asked.

It took a moment, but Parmesian nodded. "Just take a seat, I'll be right with you."

As Parmesian walked to the kitchen, Coco guided Suri to a booth. Suri lifted her hoof to the table, but had only lifted it halfway before she set it back down again. Coco moved to help Suri up, but Suri crawled onto the seat. As Coco settled onto the bench opposite her, Suri lurched herself upright, placing her forelegs on the table to steady herself. Coco started to congratulate her, but Suri glared at her and Coco shut up.

Parmesian brought two cups of coffee to the table. Coco thanked her and drank while Suri wrapped her legs around the cup. The two sat in almost total silence as Parmesian brought out a pizza with pineapple, onion, and red pepper on it. The two ate in silence, careful not to touch each other. Finally, the empty plate was taken away and more coffee brought. Coco poured over the menu. "You want dessert?" she asked Suri. "I'm pretty sure we liked the-"

"Why did you find me?"

Coco looked up. Suri wasn't glaring, per se, but there was a tired and grumpy expression on her face. Coco closed the menu. "Well," Coco said, "it had been a while, and I was wondering-"

"It's been a year and a half," Suri told her. "That's more than a while."

"Well... true," Coco admitted.

"It's obviously not a social visit," Suri continued, "so you need me for something. Since you've seen I still can't sew, that means you must be out of ideas."

Coco frowned. "No. I was thinking, since you need a job..." she forced herself to continue, "maybe you could be my assistant."

Suri glared at her. Coco looked back at her. Suri tilted her head, moved it around, and scrutinized Coco. Finally, she asked "what's the catch?"

Coco's frown deepened. "There isn't a catch. I just-"

"Riiight," Suri said. "You can keep spouting that drivel, but I know this business doesn't work that way, no matter how much you and your new friend want it to. It's survival of the fittest: you take what you can-"

"-get caught, and spend the rest of your life in a mold-infested dung heap!"

Suri jumped back. Coco was glaring at her, even baring teeth. Suri wanted to make a joke, but the sight was too wrong to let one out. Soon, though, Coco put her face in her hoof and took a deep breath, swallowed, and looked back up.

"Suri," she said, voice straining, "I want to help you. I don't regret turning you in, but I do want you to get back on your hooves. That's why I chose you. But if you're going to be the same pony who terrorized me, then I'm not going to bother." Coco stopped. "I guess that's your catch: show me that the pony who took me here still exists. Otherwise, you're on your own again. Deal?"

As Suri's shock faded, her face hardened. Her gaze swept over Coco's face, which lost its snarl, then her forelegs, which moved to cross in front of Coco. But Coco's body language only barely changed. Suri stared into Coco's eyes. Coco stared back.

"...alright," she said. "I'll give it a shot."

Coco sighed. "I guess that's all I can hope for."

Author's Note:

And thus begins another story. Yes, my EOP exams are over. I have two more classes before I graduate, and I hope to also make some progress on my professional writing. While working at my new job. And on A Blueblood for Everyone. So, yeah, this could take a while to update. I make no promises, but I hope that each chapter is as pleasing as my others have been. As always, comments are more than welcome.

Comments

[FoalanshewolfGold]

I'm am interested in how this will turn out. Keep up to good work.

[Macgyver644200]

6504007 Thank you! I'll do my best.

[Alex Warlorn]

" "I'm sure the housing bureau would be very interested in the black mold in my bathroom that you promised to clean out.""

Is she implying the place is a health hazard?

[Alex Warlorn]

"I'll can do better!"
"I can do better!"

[Alex Warlorn]

What happened to Suri's hoof that it messed up her sewing?

[Alex Warlorn]

"It's been a year and a half," Suri told her. "That's more than a while."

Wouldn't the pizza of rotted by then?

[Macgyver644200]

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6504100
6504101
6504109 Thanks for catching my grammar. Yes, the place is a bit of a health hazard. I get the feeling from your comment that I've overplayed it, though. Suri bought the pizza that night, I'm sorry if that was another grammatical error. And regarding why Suri can't sew anymore... well, you'll just have to wait and see.