Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 4:8 - Charity

Chapter 4:8 – Charity

“Hold still, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack mumbled in exasperation through the cord in her mouth as she tried to tie the Hunter’s wings to her body. “Th’ sooner I can get y’ tied up, th’ sooner we c’n leave.”

“I just don’t see why it’s necessary,” Rainbow complained. “It’s not like anypony’s going to see my wings anyway.”

“But they’ll certainly see if y’ take off flyin’ in th’ heat o’ th’ moment, an’ what’ll y’ think’ll happen then?” Applejack asked.

“Manehattanites don’t hate pegasi the same way they hate unicorns,” Rainbow Dash protested.

However, Applejack had a point. While the True Faith espoused by King Hadish and the red priests wasn’t outright hostile to pegasi, it certainly couldn’t be called friendly. Anything “un-earth pony” was an abomination, and Hadish wished to stamp it all out. Rainbow Dash had another reason to travel incognito, as they all would: just a few weeks earlier, King Hadish had issued a proclamation barring Hunters from entering the Kingdom of Manehattan. He’d always hated his reliance on them to keep monsters at bay, and now he’d decided that the force of knights he’d assembled to fill their role was ready for action. There would be no more contracts issued to Hunters in Manehattan, except by those willing to risk the wrath of Hadish the Rash. The keeps there would have to be abandoned or ready to endure sieges from the Manehattanite army.

“What if we’re found out anyway and it comes to a scrap?” Rainbow continued to bellyache. “How am I supposed to fight if I’m tied down?”

“I’m sure if y’ really have t’ then y’ll be able to break through th’ cords. They’re more of a reminder anyway,” Applejack sighed as she finally finished tying Rainbow Dash’s wings against her body (rather tighter than they needed to be in reciprocation for the endless moaning).

Rainbow Dash began to pull on fresh clothes over her wings, adjusting them as she went and feeling along the seams to make sure she could bust out if the Brave Companions got into a fight. Nearby, Fluttershy was already dressed and ready, having submitted to the binding over her own wings without any fuss. The rest of the Brave Companions were in various states of dress around the sitting room of Golden Oak’s laboratory, all similarly attired in clothes far different from what they normally wore. It wasn’t just their garb that was different; their manes and tails had been styled differently or tucked away as well, apart from Pinkamena’s, which Rarity had given up on after a determined effort to tame the untamable floof.

Soon, though, it wouldn’t be just these minor things that altered their appearance. While Spike braided her mane, Twilight Sparkle worked to enchant a set of pendants; these would alter their appearances entirely so that all six of them seemed to be earth ponies. It was necessary for them to set hoof in Manehattan that they no longer be recognized for who they were. Besides the fact that four of their members were non-earth ponies and one was a sorceress, the Brave Companions were widely established as agents of Celestia. The Manehattanites had many unpleasant names for the elder Regent of Cant’r Laht—the Devil Queen, the Old Witch, and the Perfumed Corpse to name a few—and a growing list for Twilight Sparkle as well. No, the Brave Companions would not be welcome anywhere within the Kingdom of Manehattan. However, they would still be going, with different appearances and under different names, because Rarity had sensed an opportunity.

Her business in Cant’r Laht as a tailor to its nobility had seen steady but slow growth over the past few years. Transportation of her wares from Ponieville to the Ivory City wasn’t free and Hoity Toity preferred to keep most of the profits, as well as relegate Rarity’s creations as a sideline to his own. She needed a windfall to avoid stagnation, and she’d found the chance of gaining one in perhaps the most unlikely location after Tartarus and Tyrannus: Manehattan. When she’d learned that the well-off families of Manehattan hosted a yearly Parade of Dress where they invited designers to bring their creations to be judged and chosen by the families to provide their attire for the next year, the wheels had begun to turn in her head. Even if she wouldn’t be able to permanently set up shop in Manehattan, obtaining at least one yearly contract from a Manehattanite house could set her up with enough to move herself out of Hoity Toity’s shadow. It would mean a risk, but Twilight had provided a far better solution than Rarity every could have: they would participate in the Parade magically disguised, with the others acting as Rarity’s assistants. If things got too hot, Twilight could always open a portal back to Ponieville and they’d be gone in an instant.

“Everypony ready?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she finished enchanting the last of the pendants and Spike jumped off her back.

There was a pendant for each of the six ponies, all fashioned to look like the necklaces worn by adherents to the True Faith, a cross within a circle hanging at the end of a simple cord (hopefully minimizing the chance that they’d be removed). As they draped them around their necks, their appearances transformed, a glamour coming over them to change the colors of their coats, manes, eyes, and hooves. The unicorns’ horns vanished, illusory mane filling the gap, and any hint of wings disappeared. If somepony had entered the room, they would not have seen the Brave Companions, but rather a random collection of earth ponies dressed as up-and-coming Manehattanite townsponies.

“You sure you’ll be all right, Twilight?” Spike asked (leaving off without me).

“Do not worry, Spike. I will portal us out at the first sign of trouble,” Twilight Sparkle assured her page. She then turned her attention to the crystal ball upon the lectern where she’d enchanted the pendants.

The crystal ball had been a gift from the Saddle Arabians, and though it tended to distort images, it was far easier to carry around for scrying than a basin of water. Twilight cast her mind’s eye far afield, across the White and Blue Mountains, to the northernmost of the Three Sisters. The red brick city of Manehattan smoldered in the oppressive summer heat, only made worse by the fires blazing at every temple of the True Faith. Outside the city, Twilight found a spot near the road with no ponies in sight where they could emerge and not be immediately pursued by witch hunters.

Once she’d settled on their destination, the Brave Companions trotted out of Golden Oak’s laboratory to a cart filled with Rarity’s creations, instruments, and supplies. While Applejack hitched herself up to it, Ream and Baldavin worked to clear away the crowd that always gathered whenever the Brave Companions got together at the laboratory. (After all, it wasn’t like the citizens didn’t have anything better to do.) The crowd was naturally surprised to see the appearances of the Brave Companions so changed, but before they could make too much of a ruckus, Twilight had opened a portal ahead of the group. In an instant, they trotted through and into the Kingdom of Manehattan.

Manehattan was a name that belonged to many places. There was the Kingdom of Manehattan; within it, the Isle of Manehattan that the Brave Companions now stood upon; and the city of Manehattan built on that isle. It was a rather big island, much larger than the Fiery Isle out in the harbor, and had once contained multiple realms until King Hadish’s ancestors had unified the isle under the Duke of the Isle of Manehattan. Over the subsequent centuries, the Duchy had invaded the mainland and grown, dukes becoming grand princes and eventually kings, and “isle” had been dropped from their titles. This was the heart of Manehattan, the seat of Hadish, and the origin point of the True Faith. All of these were hostile to the Brave Companions, and they were heading straight into them.

They’d emerged among the trees, just in case anypony slipped Twilight’s sorcerous gaze, but they had nothing to worry about other than Applejack navigating the trees to get down to the road. They saw nopony at first as they trotted down the dirt and wood track to the city, but activity picked up as they neared the dusty red walls. Villages grew larger and appeared more frequently, until they all merged outside Manehattan. There were old and new signs of destruction among the wooden buildings, either deliberately from pogroms or from the problems that inevitably arose from having fire near so much tightly packed flammable material. Most of the homes were deserted at this time as their residents were out working the fields, but there were a few around performing housework. They watched the Brave Companions with scrutiny, though it was with the suspicion of strangers rather than disdain for witches or servants of the greatest witch of all, Celestia. Their disguises were flawless, so long as nopony touched their wings or horns.

Most of the actual city of Manehattan was built upon another island within the flow of a river, requiring the Brave Companions to cross a bridge to reach it. Before that, however, there was a gate manned by a trio of guards who waved the group off to the side before they could enter. One of them trotted over, the mail under his tabard clinking noticeably. Sweat soaked his mane and face beneath his peaked helmet and he looked unwell, but Hadish probably had a rule with severe penalties requiring guards to be battle ready at all times. This meant the helmet stayed on, even in the dizzying heat.

“What’s your business in Manehattan?” he asked, his voice squeaking a little. “What goods are you carrying?”

“Hello, I am Shining Shore of Colton,” Rarity introduced herself using the alias they’d established. The guard seemed unfazed. “I’m here for the Parade of Design. My assistants are with me to—well—assist. Our cart is carrying some of my finished works, my equipment, and material.”

“I’ll have to take a look,” the guard said without enthusiasm, glancing up at the blazing sun overhead and immediately regretting his decision.

Meticulously, he picked through the contents, with the Brave Companions unloading chests and bundles so that he could look through them, before repacking each one and loading them back on. While he went about his search, Twilight noticed another pair of ponies standing just past the gates, probably the reason the guards were compelled to carry out their jobs to the letter. The duo was dressed in attire also at odds with the day’s heat: long leather coats and tall, dark hats. Bandoliers wrapped around their bodies were stuffed with vials, pouches, and stakes. Some of those stakes, along with many of the studs and buckles on their outfits, were the silvery blue of dimeritium, the magic-killing metal. While they had no official uniform and weren’t technically an official organization answering to the king or the True Faith, they were unmistakably witch hunters. Twilight Sparkle was fairly certain that her concealment spells would hold up against the paltry amount of dimeritium that was visible, but there was no telling what was concealed in their saddlebags. Keeping their distance would be the best move, though it would be difficult without appearing suspicious.

The guard at last finished his inspection and looked around in surprise at seeing that Rarity was missing. He looked ready to sound an alarm before she reappeared with a sopping wet scarf. While he’d searched through their cart, she’d slipped away to a nearby well and soaked the scarf in the groundwater. The guard looked surprised as she offered it to him, before wrapping it around his neck to cool himself off.

“Thank you ever so much,” Rarity said, surprising the guard even more. “I know it must be an uncomfortable job you have, but ever so important, I’m sure.”

“Well … yes,” the guard said, at a loss for words, before clearing his throat. “You can pass into Manehattan.”

The Brave Companions set off again as the grateful guard escorted them to the gate and rejoined his compatriots. Twilight held her breath as the cart trundled past the witch hunters, but Applejack’s glamour remained intact. The same held true as the rest trotted past the dark pair, but they had sufficient dimeritium that the sorceress faltered in her steps as they walked past. Fortunately, the two witch hunters were too preoccupied with watching traffic on the river in the other direction to notice, and her friends helped her carry on.

They made it across the bridge to the city proper, surrounded by its high wall of red brick. More guards in their peaked helmets were visible patrolling the top of it, able to receive some measure of relief from the heat through the high winds. As tall as Manehattan’s wall was, there were still structures that could be seen over it, among them the burning peak of the Temple of the Divine Cleansing Flame, the spires of St. Cassius’s Basilica, and the imposing Kings’ Redoubt, which was set high atop a craggy isle upriver of the main city.

Once the Brave Companions passed through the other gate awaiting them at the end of the bridge, they could only see the towering sights of the city in passing. Homes and businesses were tightly packed here within the walls, looming over the streets. Ponies moved beneath them hurriedly in the shadows cast by the buildings, trying to avoid the scorching sunrays. Nosebags seemed to be the fashion here, the reason for which was abundantly obvious; the filth running down the center of the street stank fiercely in the vicious summer heat, despite the frantic efforts of city servants attempting to wash it away into the drains that would funnel it to the river.

Every so often between the wood and brick buildings, there would be a space cleared for a pagoda of fresh-cut stone with a blazing brazier burning at its center, adding to the oppressive warmth. These braziers were usually accompanied by red-robed priests ranting about the evil of monsters, witches, and non-earth ponies. A particular target at the moment seemed to be goats and the necessity of driving them out so that the king or the temple (depending on the priest) could seize the banks they administered and protect the wealth of Manehattan from being turned to devious ends. Most of the priests had a few ponies gathered around them, though usually at a distance from the blazing fire behind them, and many of the crowds were small. These ponies had heard the priests preach thousands of times.

The crowds of adherents to the True Faith grew larger as the Brave Companions approached and passed the Temple of the Divine Cleansing Flame. Here, too, the priests were preaching fiery tirades against the goats of the city, taking a break from directing bile at their more immediate neighbors. Nearby was St. Cassius’s Basilica, the last holdout of the Church of One in Manehattan. Applejack longed to visit the massive church again and speak once more with Cardinal Iessus and the basilica guard, but to visit the basilica would provoke suspicion. The Brave Companions didn’t need any unfriendly attention if they were to maintain their charade.

“I was here b’fore as a filly,” Applejack said, her voice low to avoid attracting attention to her accent, as the Brave Companions escaped the narrow streets into an open plaza. “There was a palace here then.”

They were standing where the Court of Dragons had once been, the former palace of the Vasa-Elutria kings of Manehattan. For generations, the gaudy palace had been the residence of the King of Manehattan, hosting lavish feasts, games, and other amusements. It was here that King Wexel the Wide had gorged himself and given generously of his wealth, and his subjects had loved him for it. His son and heir, however, had always despised the Court of Dragons and all it stood for. When his father had died and he’d been crowned king, one of Hadish’s first acts had been to relocate his household to the neglected Kings’ Redoubt and have the Court of Dragons demolished. In its place an open brick square had been laid out, known as the Burning Plaza. Hadish hadn’t done so for the purpose of providing space for his subjects to gather or conduct business (though there were some market stalls set up along the periphery), but to serve his fiery faith. At even intervals around the plaza, tall posts had been driven into the ground, ready to be turned into pyres at a moment’s notice to burn witches, unicorns, and anyone else that the True Faith (and King Hadish) deemed undesirable. There were no poor souls strapped to the large poles currently, but the burn marks that surrounded them told the tale of frequent and repeated usage.

The Manehattanites made their way through the square completely unfazed by the symbols of death looming over them, and the Brave Companions resumed their path so as not to stand out. Even the citizens were avoiding the far end of the plaza, though, which was empty of market stalls. Recently, more buildings had been pulled down in a line to provide space bordering the plaza for new construction. One of the new buildings was already done, a structure mostly of wood with steep roofs and sharp angles at one corner of the square. Outside milled a group of witch hunters who’d decided to abandon their stuffy headquarters for the moment and stand beneath the blazing sun instead.

At the other corner of the plaza a fortress was underway, workers stacking stones to construct the walls. While it was far from livable yet, a few of its future residents stood nearby. They were knights in shining, polished armor with red caparisons draped over them. Their helms all came to a point past their muzzles, giving them the appearance of birds, and tall plumes of various colors sprouted from their crests. Officially, they were the Scarlet Chapter of Demon Slayers, though most ponies called them just the Scarlet Chapter, slayers, or demon hunters (to match the witch hunters); and they were Hadish’s intended replacement for Hunters. They didn’t look very impressive in Rainbow Dash’s eyes. Their plate armor would provide some protection, but all experienced Hunters knew that when facing monsters, it was better to be quick than armored. These knights could take blows, certainly, but only so many; then, they would be swarmed in an instant and overwhelmed with no way to escape.

There was an empty space between the two new buildings, but the Brave Companions had no more time to ponder what kind of hunters Hadish might want to see placed there before they left the Burning Plaza and entered another overshadowed and stinking street. Though it had been fifteen years since Applejack had spent extended time in Manehattan, she was still surprisingly familiar with its layout, and she unerringly led them through the twisting streets and crowds of ponies to their destination. Or, at least, where it had been when she’d visited it as a filly, only to find it wasn’t there.

“It’s s’posed t’ be right here!” Applejack said, dumbfounded, as they came to a halt in a busy intersection.

The Parade of Dress was hosted at the Sphere Theatre, and Rarity hadn’t heard anything to indicate the locale had changed; disturbingly, the Sphere had seemingly vanished. When Applejack had attended a play here with her Aunt and Uncle Orange, it stood against the city wall so that the guards atop it could look down on the theatre and watch the plays themselves (or sell spots to ponies who hadn’t been able to gain admittance to the theatre itself). Now, however, in its place stood a guardhouse. The bells of St. Cassius’s Basilica chimed distantly to mark the hour, followed shortly thereafter by the bell in the steeple of the witch hunters’ house. The Parade of Dresses didn’t begin until the following day, but Rarity still needed to register so that she could participate, and she didn’t have much remaining time to do so.

“Hey!” a voice barked sharply from behind the Brave Companions, and they turned to see the guard from the gate approaching through the packed street.

He had removed his helmet, revealing a sweat-soaked, unruly brown mop of a mane, and was apparently off-duty.

“Shouldn’t you be at the Sphere Theatre?” he asked with concern, not accusation.

“Yes, though it appears it’s not where it was when … I was here last time,” Rarity said.

“They moved the Sphere two years ago down to Cutter’s Point,” the guard explained. “Took it to pieces and carried it. It was really quite a sight.”

“Thank you ever so much,” Rarity said before looking to Applejack. “How long will it take to get to Cutter’s Point?”

“We won’t reach it in time,” Applejack said as she looked at the packed street.

“Oh dear,” Rarity said in disappointment before composing herself. “We can still try. If we don’t reach it in time for me to register for the Parade of Dress, then I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

“Well,” the guard said hesitantly as he looked down at the scarf still draped around his neck, “I suppose I could give you an escort. The cart won’t make it, but the two of us should be able to get to Cutter’s Point much more quickly.”

“Oh, thank you a million times over,” Rarity said, delighted to see her charity to the suffering guard coming back to reward her. “The rest of you should find an inn to stay at. Send somepony to find me when you do.”

After the others promised they’d do just that, Rarity looked expectantly to the guard. With resolve, he strapped his helmet back on and cleared his throat.

“Make way! Make way!” he shouted at the ponies in the street, and upon spotting him they scrambled to followed his orders.

Together, Rarity and the guard cut through the crowd and were soon out of sight of the rest of the Brave Companions.

***

With the help of the guard, Rarity was able to make it to the Sphere Theatre’s new location on time. After showering him with thanks, Rarity trotted into the building.

“I’m here for the Parade of Dress,” Rarity blurted out to the first pony she saw, a mare in the small room attached to the main theatre where ponies paid for admission. “Did I make it on time?”

“Only just,” the mare replied sardonically, and she pulled an inkwell across the desk toward her. “Name?”

“Shining Shore,” Rarity replied, and the mare scratched it down while squinting at the parchment in front of her.

“Lady Prim Hemline is within, addressing the other candidates,” the mare said when she was done, motioning toward the door to the theatre. “You’d better scurry along.”

Bobbing her head in thanks, Rarity stepped through the curtain and emerged among the theatre’s seats. Several other designers—all earth ponies, of course—were assembled on the stage in a line. Rarity hurried to join them, arriving just as a severe-looking mare in a high-collared dress emerged from backstage.

“Punctuality,” she said with acidity as she directed a glare at Rarity, “Is a virtue. I pray all of you can follow instructions and arrive on time, with more than moments to spare, in the future.”

The line of ponies gave various responses that all equated to yes. None of them were very forceful, intimidated as they were by Prim Hemline’s icy gaze that searched for even the most miniscule fault.

“I’ve been appointed by his majesty King Hadish the Righteous to oversee all important cultural events in Manehattan,” Prim lectured as she walked down the line, examining the candidates. “This year’s Parade of Dress will be a proper, upright, pious affair. Even the slightest whiff of impropriety will see you thrown out immediately. Do I make myself clear?”

Again, the candidates replied weakly in the affirmative.

“Over the next two days, you will exhibit a selection of your works, all in a matching set, to some of the most prestigious and powerful families of Manehattan. You will need to impress if you wish them to pursue you, and that does not mean exhibiting something vulgar just to be eye-catching and draw their attention. Your attire should speak for itself and be realistic as something to be worn to court. Am I understood?”

The candidates replied “yes” again, some who were now on the end where Prim was no longer standing growing bolder in their response before receiving a glare.

“Work hard, and you will receive your just reward. You will exhibit your works in the order you arrived, half tomorrow and half the day following, but I strongly encourage you to attend both days to see the works of your competitors and ensure there is an adequate variety available for the nobility to choose from. Works deemed by myself to be too similar will not be exhibited. Understood?”

The yeses came again, and Rarity began to wonder how long Lady Hemline planned to keep them here, lecturing and asking for affirmation as if they were simpletons.

“We must maintain a certain quality, so present a sample of the fabrics you intend to use to my assistant, Janine, on your way out. You are dismissed,” Prim Hemline said coldly before turning on her hoof and vanishing back behind the stage.

The designers started to make their way back to the theatre’s entrance to present their fabrics to Janine, but one hung back with Rarity. The pink-coated mare seemed less self-assured and haughty than the others did, now that Prim Hemline had departed.

“I don’t think we’ve met before,” the mare said as she approached Rarity. “Are you Seam Idyll?”

“Goodness me, no,” Rarity laughed, despite having no idea who Seam Idyll was. “I’m Shining Shore of Colton.”

“New to Manehattan? So am I,” the other pony said, “I’m Suri Polomare. Is this your first Parade of Dress, too?”

“Yes, it is,” Rarity said as they stepped down from the stage and made their way to the entryway. “I must admit, I’m not sure what to think of Mistress Hemline.”

“Lady Hemline,” Suri corrected her. “King Hadish has gone and ennobled her.”

“Of course,” Rarity said. “She seems a bit strict.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Suri said was a chuckle, “But she has to be, doesn’t she? What’s her purpose otherwise, and what reason does the king have to keep her around?”

“I suppose so,” Rarity said as the last other designer moved off and she stepped up to Janine. “I just hope my work lives up to her standards.”

“So do I,” Suri said, her eyes lighting up as Rarity produced a bolt of fabric from her saddlebags and presented it to Janine for her inspection. “Although, if that’s what you’re working with, I think I have a lot more to worry about than you do.”

“Oh, that’s still quite good,” Rarity said appreciatively as Suri presented her own fabric to Janine and got approval.

“It will work, but I need something to set it off well,” Suri said as they trotted out of the theatre together, “What you’ve got there would do beautifully. I don’t suppose I could borrow a bit of it?”

“Here, take the bolt,” Rarity said after deliberating internally a bit, and Suri looked at her in shock.

“Really?” the stupefied mare asked. “Don’t you need this?”

“I have plenty more; I wasn’t sure exactly how much we needed to bring or if we would be getting it back,” Rarity said. “Please, I want you to have it.”

“Well, thank you very much,” Suri said as she accepted the fabric. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow. May the best mare win the most contracts.”

***

Rarity waited around the Sphere Theatre until Pinkamena came to fetch her in the guise of a green-coated, brown-maned pony. The others had managed to find an inn nearby, and Pinkemena led her to it with only a little diversion as she momentarily lost her way. Though it had cost a dear price, they’d managed to rent a pair of large adjoining rooms to provide plenty of space. Even so, Rarity preferred to put the finishing touches on her work in the inn’s courtyard, where Applejack had left the cart with her supplies and equipment. It was a bit like working in the smithing yard of her home back in Ponieville, and she didn’t mind. Besides, despite all the efforts of the opened windows on every floor of the inn, it was still less stuffy outside, especially once the courtyard became cast in shadow.

The following morning, the Brave Companions made their way together to the Sphere Theatre to watch the first day of the Parade of Dress with Rarity, and to make sure they could escape should things go wrong. If anything had happened to Rarity during their separation the day before, the others would never have forgiven themselves. The Brave Companions were not the only ponies at the Parade who were not part of a noble house putting on the event. Witch hunters also sat in the cheap seats at ground level, and the friends made sure to pick a spot distant from them. Even brushing against the hunters could be disastrous, should dimeritium come into contact with their coats or manes and dispel the glamour around them.

As the Parade of Dress was almost about to begin, a stallion in fine clothing stepped onto the stage and drew the attention of the assembled ponies. Behind him, back by the curtain, stood Prim Hemline, and if looks could kill then the back of the stallion’s head would be inundated with daggers.

“Attention, everypony!” the stallion called out, oblivious to the death glare behind him. “I bring an edict from King Hadish the Righteous! This is the last year the Parade of Dress will be held in this or any theatre. His Majesty has decreed that after this event has concluded, all theatres within the Kingdom of Manehattan are to be used only for their intended purpose: the showing of plays.”

In Manehattan, the choices one had when showing a play were severely limited. Every performance had to be approved either by the king or by the priests of the True Faith, which meant the only performances allowed to be shown were either morality plays or dreary histories about the rise of the Vasa-Elutria dynasty. Prim Hemline had been put in charge of enforcing this, so she should have been overjoyed. However, it seemed that any pleasure she might have felt was overshadowed by her anger at this messenger for interrupting the start of her event and usurping her right to make such an announcement.

“Thank you, everypony. On with the show,” the messenger said before turning and nearly stumbling off the stage upon seeing Prim’s face.

Without further ado, Lady Hemline got things moving again. The designers who’d preceded Rarity trotted out their collections for the nobles in the boxes to view, hoping to catch their attention. Rarity’s confidence grew as she watched. The others were all very good, perhaps some of the best in Manehattan, but she was on par with them. She had a very good chance to win at least one contract from a Manehattanite noble house, and just one would be all she needed.

During the show, Twilight Sparkle kept a wary eye on the witch hunters as they moved around the seats. It wasn’t safe for them to be here, but they couldn’t abandon Rarity or convince her to leave. She was enthralled by the Parade of Dress, loving every minute of it—right up until Suri Polomore trotted onstage.

The clothes that Suri exhibited were nearly identical to those that Rarity had waiting back at their lodgings. With the bolt of fabric Rarity had given her, she’d made duplicates of everything Rarity intended to show the following day. The nobles in the boxes overhead made appreciative and interested noises, but Rarity could barely hear them. The charity that Rarity had shown to the gate guard had been rewarded, as it often was. She knew enough not to expect such a repayment for kindness every time, but this was going beyond that. Suri had not only scorned her charity but also exploited it in the worst way possible. Rarity couldn’t possibly show her line now; all that time and expense was wasted, and Suri had to know that.

As soon as Suri was offstage, Rarity rushed to the back entrance, leaving her friends in their seats calling after her. The next designer was preparing to bring their works out, but Suri was still there with her copycat line, looking quite pleased with herself.

“How could you?” Rarity exclaimed as she ran up to accuse her. “You stole my entire line!”

“I didn’t steal anything,” Suri said calmly as she pushed Rarity back. “You gave the fabric away, and if you didn’t want your designs to be seen, then you shouldn’t have had them out in the open.”

Suddenly all the open windows surrounding Rarity as she’d worked the day before seemed sinister.

“But, I gave you that fabric just for accents,” Rarity protested. “How did you even manage to make all these garments so quickly?”

“Quickly?” Suri scoffed. “They were barely ready to exhibit, all thanks to Coco Pommel here.”

Suri indicated the pony picking up and packing away her copycat dresses, a cream-coated mare with a wilting red flower in her teal mane.

“Well, you wanted everything to be exactly to the design, and I didn’t have much fabric to work with, so I had to be clever and efficient with how I cut things and that took—” Coco said softly.

“Quiet!” Suri demanded, cowing Coco. “Did I ask you a question? Only speak when spoken to, remember.”

“If I go to Lady Prim—” Rarity said, simmering.

“You’ll be thrown out,” Suri said assuredly. “Whose word do you think Prim will take? You’ll look like you’re trying to copy me if you show your collection now. It would be best for you just to pack up and head back to Colton.”

“I …” Rarity said, at a loss for words.

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Suri said patronizingly. “At least you’ve learned this lesson now. It’s dog-eat-dog in Manehattan, and the only way to survive is to look out for yourself and nopony else. We’re both new here—I never lied to you about that—but I guess I’m just a faster learner than you.”

In tears, Rarity left a very satisfied-looking Suri and an uncertain Coco Pommel.

***

“It’s despicable what Suri did, but is there anything we can do about it?” Fluttershy consoled Rarity later once the Brave Companions had returned to their rooms at the inn.

“Nothing!” Rarity sobbed. “Accusing her wouldn’t accomplish anything, and I can’t show what I’ve already prepared, else I’ll be accused of copying her! I’ve always tried to be charitable to everypony, but now my charity has ruined me.”

“Is that it, then? Do we return home now?” Rainbow Dash asked the room. “If we were able to get some more fabric, could you start again?”

“That is right,” Twilight Sparkle said. “What do you need, Rarity? Maybe we can still salvage this.”

Rarity sniffed and looked up from her curled-up position on the bed. Her friends were all willing to do whatever she asked. A steely determination filled her; perhaps she could still accomplish this and crush Suri after all.

The part-time smith, part-time clothier set to work designing a whole new set of clothes for the following day’s exhibition. Once she began to have an idea of what she would need, she sent her friends off to retrieve it. However, there were complications, and Rarity was less than pleased about that. Witch hunters seemed to be everywhere, blocking off everywhere they wanted to go. The red priests’ sermons had been whipping them into a frenzy during the past couple days, and they stood guard at the port, the market, and the smithing district. Homes were broken into at a moment’s notice and ponies dragged out before being subjected to a test by dimeritium. The Flaming Plaza was packed, and pyres burned constantly as goats and alleged rebels and witches were dragged in to be burned. What’s more, some of the witch hunters had acquired devices capable of detecting sorcery, and there were several close calls that the Brave Companions barely managed to escape while the witch hunters accused somepony else.

Rarity would have none of it, however. Now that she’d set her mind to continuing her participation in the Parade of Dress, no risk was too great. She seemed to have taken Suri’s words to heart; she had to look out for herself first, and if others were willing to give, then she would take. Her tirades compelled the others to venture back out into the dangerous streets to find the materials Rarity needed. Then, when some of them returned without what they’d been told to acquire because they didn’t have enough coin, they got another earful. Less than legal means were used to acquire everything Rarity requested, and even then, it didn’t stop.

In the sweltering, stuffy rooms of the inn, they worked endlessly to bring Rarity’s designs to life. Terrified of having her designs stolen again, Rarity had closed and shuttered all the windows and they worked by lamplight under an unmerciful overseer. Resentment began to grow in them toward their friend, and yet Rarity didn’t seem to care. Any complaints were met with hostility and accusations, and the mood grew incredibly stale. The work lasted the rest of the day and all through the night, but Rarity’s new collection of clothing was ready by the time the second day of the Parade of Dress was to start. With only a perfunctory word of thanks that carried no genuine gratitude, Rarity left on her own for the Sphere Theatre.

***

It was agony as she waited throughout the day until all the rest of the designers had presented their work to the crowd of nobles above and curious onlookers below. When it was time for her clothing to go out, she watched nervously from the stage door. The response was positive, far more so than she could have hoped for. It seemed every noble box had at least one pony straining forward in interest to see what she’d brought. One by one, the nobles in charge called over ushers to ask about the new designer who’d brought these creations. It was all Rarity had ever wished for; she’d surely outshone Suri Polomare and her stolen dresses besides.

“Oh, this is brilliant. It’s a success, and all thanks to …” Rarity whispered, but paused in her reverie as she saw no familiar faces out in the crowd, “… my friends.”

They hadn’t come, and looking back with a sudden clarity, she couldn’t blame them. She’d succeeded, but at what cost? Suri had taken advantage of her generosity, and then Rarity had turned around and done the same thing to her friends. Except, her sin had been far greater in that she’d taken advantage of her friends’ love and care for her. She’d gotten away with so much, putting them in danger, asking too much, mistreating them—all because she’d been jaded by a single uncharitable act. She thought she’d gotten away with her callous act, since her friends hadn’t abandoned her … until now. If this is what it took to win, it wasn’t worth it. She looked out over the audience, and just for a moment, a shimmer of light seemed to pass over the dimeritium buckles and icons on the witch hunters seated where she and her friends had been the previous day. She made up her mind what had to be done.

“Mistress Shore!” Prim Hemline was calling behind Rarity, in a tone that implied she’d been calling it for some time now. “It is time for you to go out and introduce yourself to those who might want to make a contract with you.”

“I … I have to go,” Rarity said as she galloped backstage and out the rear of the theatre while Lady Hemline shouted after her to come back.

Rarity galloped back to the inn, but when she arrived, there was no sign of her friends. Surely things hadn’t gone so wrong that they’d returned to Ponieville and left her here in Manehattan on her own. However, Rarity had no other ideas where they could have gone, so she wandered around the city looking for them. She hadn’t ventured out much the day before and had been in such a hurry that morning that she had no idea how bad the streets truly had gotten. Plumes of smoke rose into the air across the city as homes were burned down. Taking care to avoid witch hunters (Rarity now heeding Twilight’s warnings about their sorcery detectors), she eventually found her path looping back around to the inn. It was there that she found her friends standing with, of all ponies, Suri Polomare and Coco Pommel.

“There you all are!” she cried as she rushed to the rest of the Brave Companions, but Suri was in the way.

“I’d avoid returning to the Sphere anytime soon,” she advised. “Lady Hemline’s on the warpath after you abandoned the Parade of Dress the way you did. All props to you, it looked like you were going to scoop up every contract until that blunder. Now you’ll be lucky to ever get a contract with any of those noble houses.”

“Um, yes,” Coco Pommel said timidly as Suri looked at her.

“Well, I suspected, but I suppose knowing it will make it easier to sleep at night. None of that matters anymore,” Rarity said as she moved past Suri, stunning her.

“We are sorry we were not able to make it to the Parade to be there for you,” Twilight Sparkle apologized. “After working through the night, I am afraid we all slept too long to make it in time.”

“I’m the one who should be apologizing to you,” Rarity said as she prostrated herself in the street in front of her friends, eliciting a small gasp from Coco Pommel. “I was absolutely dreadful to all of you. I thought my charity had failed me, and so I took advantage of our friendship to take far more than you should have had to give. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course we can,” Twilight Sparkle said as she raised Rarity up, and even though she appeared nothing like her true self visually, Rarity could clearly see the nobility and grace of Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Yesterday, you were not at your best, but we would never let just one bad day change our relationship.”

As they took turns embracing each other, the duo outside of their circle departed, though not, as they failed to realize in the moment, in the same direction. Their relationship mended and its durability to weather storms reinforced, the Brave Companions returned to their rooms in the inn. The remains of the previous day and night of work remained strewn around the chambers, but they pushed them to the side.

“Sorry things didn’t work out, Rarity, but I guess we’re t’ return home now,” Applejack said as they sat around the room.

“Getting out of Manehattan may be harder than getting in,” Rarity said thoughtfully as she remembered the condition the streets were in. “Twilight, could you open a portal here?”

“Only if there are no witch hunters around. I do not want to attract attention,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “Would it not raise suspicion if we were all to suddenly disappear, though?”

“I don’t care anymore,” Rarity said wearily. “It was a dream to get work in Manehattan as somepony else, but now that I’ve failed, I don’t think the identity of Shining Shore of Colton needs to be protected.”

“That is true,” Twilight admitted.

“Finally, we can take these off,” Rainbow Dash said with relief as she pulled the enchanted pendant from around her neck and reverted to her usual appearance. “Nothing against your sorcery, Twilight, but that felt like being wrapped in a cocoon.”

One by one, the others all removed their pendants as well, changing back to their real selves. Twilight needed a minute to prepare before she could open a portal, but they would be in Ponieville shortly; all looked forward to returning home. While the sorceress was still getting the spell ready, the door opened without warning. In the doorway stood Coco Pommel, looking justifiably shocked. They’d all been caught in their true appearances: unicorns, pegasi, and alicorns all, and the enemies of Manehattan. Twilight Sparkle released the portal and began to conjure something more useful for the situation, and Rainbow Dash reached for her missing sword.

“Oh …” Coco Pommel said softly, eyes wide, before trotting into the room and pulling the door shut, “I thought there was something special about you!”

“You’re not going to tell the witch hunters about us, are you?” Fluttershy asked fearfully.

“No, of course not,” Coco Pommel said. “I know what King Hadish and the True Faith say about you, that you’re devils and witches and monsters and spies for Celestia, but all you did here was make gorgeous attire for the Parade of Dress. I’ve heard other tales, of course, those that haven’t gone through Hadish’s censors, and after seeing how you came together, I think those are the truer ones. When I saw how charitable your assistants—Companions, I guess—were with you and how you longed to be the same to them, it made me think that Suri had been wrong all along. Here, this is for you.”

Coco Pommel took a parchment from her saddlebags and presented it to Rarity.

“This is … a contract for a year’s wardrobe,” Rarity said in disbelief as she read the parchment.

“Not everything Suri told you was a lie—she’s good at that,” Coco said. “You really were set to take all the contracts, and your sudden departure did lose most of them for you. Despite Prim Hemline’s strong recommendations, however, House Geddrick insisted that they wanted you and nopony else. They left this contract at the theatre, should you ever return. Suri thought she could take it for herself, but when I saw what you did for each other, I ran back to the theatre to get this for you. I’m sure this will end my apprenticeship with Suri, but I don’t mind. Working for her is like drinking poison.”

“That does put you in a tough place, and not at the best time,” Rarity said. “How would you like to be my assistant?”

“In Ponieville?” Coco asked in surprise.

“No, I was thinking you could be my contact in Manehattan and manage my affairs here,” Rarity said, “I can’t do it myself for obvious reasons, but if you were my face in the city—”

“I’ll do it!” Coco said enthusiastically.

***

The Brave Companions had to postpone their departure from the city so Rarity could meet with Baron Haltor Geddrick to take his orders and introduce him to Coco Pommel, but things thankfully began to cool down within a few days. They were soon able to leave Manehattan peacefully and take a portal outside the city back to Ponieville. Before they’d left, Twilight Sparkle had taught Coco Pommel a means of contacting her so that she and Rarity could communicate without exposing their relationship. Rarity hoped Coco would be careful and not risk being caught performing witchcraft, but she was always glad to hear from her. In her first real message, Rarity received both a letter and a gift from Coco thanking her for everything. The gift was a spool of the finest-quality thread in an iridescent color that had come all the way from the Zebrikaanian Empire. Rarity wrote back to thank Coco for the gift and, before bringing the letter to Twilight Sparkle to send, placed the spool in a prominent place in her workroom as a reminder. As she left, the thread seemed, just for a moment, to shimmer with an unnatural light, not something Rarity noticed or remembered. The same couldn’t be said about the pony who’d gifted it to her, or the lesson in Charity she’d learned.

Comments

[TasermonsPartner]

I must admit, I thought that this story was dead. But I'm very glad I was mistaken.

It's a unique take on the episode of Rarity's meeting with Coco. I think that it was stretching it abit to have Rarity put the lives of all the others in danger to even go to Manehatten, much less go out unnecessarily for supplies, but then again, I guess all the Brave Companions have taken their quirks to extremes sometimes (glances at Twilight who nearly the world over missing a report sent to Celestia).

Still, I'm glad to see you're back, as I've missed your world-building, attention to detail, and riveting storylines. Hope for more chapters soon!

[Xanderfox]

Rarity is really the only pony to collect proper followers isn't she? Coco, Sassy and later Yona. She actually means to collect them as followers, she doesn't sort of back into it like Twilight does.

[Agent of Chaos]

The Music I heard while reading this

I think it fits very well for Manehattan

[FireOfTheNorth]

11539923
Thanks. Yeah, I'm trying to be more consistent with my publishing of chapters and get one out a month (though I will be jumping between stories). I still have lots of plans for this world, and I haven't given up on any of them yet.

[FireOfTheNorth]

11554549
Nice.