Sweetie's Manehattan Birthday

by Czar_Yoshi

Laughter

Time passed. Minutes became hours, to the soft sounds of Sweetie Belle turning pages and Coco Pommel shuffling fabric, humming as she worked. At around half past three, Coco finished her work, and stepped back to gaze at the ponyquin with pride.

Sweetie's dress hung there, a rusty-colored coat with matching sleeves and professional neckline, with a bright green train and cuffs. The train had a darker stripe running down the middle, with a bright red sash trailing along the ground behind it. All in all, Coco felt the filly had done a very good job, even if she wasn't quite sure it was Rarity's style.

Coco opened her mouth to summon the filly, but suddenly stopped, an idea beginning to form in her head. A wonderful idea. Quietly, she teetered to the door, peeking out.

Sweetie Belle was there, laying on the couch with one foreleg dangling and her muzzle flat on a cushion. A book was propped just inches from her face, magically turning a page. She didn't notice Coco.

Coco Pommel retreated from view, grinning maniacally. She crouched low to the ground, before hurriedly slinking around behind Sweetie's couch, tail swishing. The filly remained oblivious, engrossed in her book.

Coco braced herself, coiled up, and erupted over the top, landing squarely on Sweetie Belle's book, thundering as she did so: "Sweeetie Belle, I am the spirit of the large yam you devoured, here to haunt you from beyond the very grave!"

"YAAA-HAA-HAUGH!" Sweetie caterwauled, toppling over backwards and rolling onto the floor. She opened her eyes, looking up to see Coco's face staring down at her from the couch, its owner in hysterics. "Uhm... Hi?" the filly blushed.

"Vengeance... has been... served!" Coco gasped, slapping a hoof against the couch.

"Oh. Uhh... I guess I probably deserved that?" Sweetie asked, a sheepish look on her face.

Coco wiped a hoof across her eyes, slowly regaining her composure. "Hehehe... sorry... yes, you did." She sat up. "But the dress is done! Would you like to see it before I box it up?"

"Sure!" Sweetie Belle rocked back and forth, rolling onto her hooves and getting up. She followed Coco back into the sewing room, making sure to straighten out the dropped book on her way.

"Well? What do you think? Does it look good?" Coco asked.

"Hmm..." Sweetie hmm'd, facing not the dress but a mirror. "Yeah, I do think I look pretty good. It's not nice to call ponies its, by the way."

Coco picked up Sweetie's hat from a chair where it lay and bonked her with it. The filly grinned back cheekily.

"For real, though, I really do like the dress." Sweetie said, looking it up and down, circling. "You should try it on!"

"I can't," Coco stated. "It's not my size. It won't fit right."

"Really?" Sweetie raised an eyebrow. "Rarity says most ponies are one-size-fits-all. And you look pretty normal to me."

"I'm not actually fully grown," Coco shrugged. "It doesn't look like it would make a difference, but it does. The coat of the dress is designed to come as close to the hind legs as possible without touching them. For me, high-collar dresses like this are loose around the chest, which makes them sag backwards and touch my legs, which chafes when I walk."

Sweetie Belle's mouth hung open.

"Although..." she put a hoof to her chin. "I guess if we don't go anywhere, I can put it on for a while." Coco moved to begin taking the dress off the ponyquin.

Sweetie closed her mouth. "Huh. So how old are you, then?"

"Oh?" Coco began, not looking away from what she was doing. "I'm seventeen. I left home two years ago to get an apprenticeship on Bridleway."

Sweetie's face scrunched. "Isn't that really early?"

"I guess it would be, compared to Ponyville," Coco answered. "Here in Manehattan, it's pretty normal."

"Wow," Sweetie said. "I guess you never had a big sister telling you to slow down and not worry about when your Cutie Mark would appear, huh?"

"Oh, I had plenty of big sisters," Coco replied, still fussing with the partially-suited ponyquin. "My mother was a pegasus, so I had a large family. You're right about my Cutie Mark, though. It's very important that you get yours as soon as possible here."

"Now that I think about it..." Sweetie began, "Me and my friends- the Crusaders- were mostly just in a hurry to get our Marks because we really wanted them. Well, that and because we were bullied for it. But it's not like they really did that much when we got them. Why does everypony here care that you get them fast?"

"So you can get a job and start supporting your family," Coco shrugged.

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. "You mean you didn't get your Cutie Mark until you were fifteen!?"

"Oh, no," Coco said. "No, I got mine a year or two before I left to become a professional. It still was later than most ponies from the country get theirs, though. That's also a city thing. It's another reason why we're hurried to find our special talents."

Sweetie scowled. "Sounds to me like everyone's talents are appearing later because they're being pushed so much."

"Maybe. But it's not so bad!" Coco finished removing the dress, and it slumped over her back. "I... guess I did get apprenticed to a horrible boss. Maybe that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been in such a hurry to make something of myself. I'm fine now, though! I have a good job, some good connections, a stable home..."

"Good food, too." Sweetie licked her lips. Coco stared at her. Sweetie giggled.

"Ahem! But but but," Sweetie continued, "You can do what you want now, right?"

"Mostly," Coco said, trying to fit one of her forelegs into a sleeve in the dress without wrinkling or damaging it. "I have a job, but I'm not rich. And I am underage." She glared at the dress, where her hoof was caught on a cuff. "Also, putting on clothes without a horn is hard. Most aristocrats you see are unicorns for a reason. The others know that standing out just... isn't... worth it!" Her hoof popped out of the end of the sleeve.

Sweetie giggled again. "Well... hey! I guess you have been going fast for your whole life, but me and the Crusaders did that on our own, and we had a ton of fun. So don't convince yourself it's bad to have fun, okay?"

Now it was Coco's turn to giggle. "Having fun? Like when I pounced on you earlier?"

"Err..."

"Anyway!" Coco cut her off, left foreleg flailing unsuccessfully to find its sleeve. "I'm not getting anywhere with this. Do you mind just looking from the side I've got on? Trying to put this on is getting embarrassing."

"Eh, it's okay," Sweetie said with a wave of her hoof. "You can box it up."

Coco let the dress slide off, catching it so it wouldn't wrinkle. She carried it over to a box sitting on a counter, placed her forehooves on the box, and let out a sigh of relief.

Sweetie Belle paced up behind her. "Part of the reason you did this with me was because you wanted to thank my sis, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Coco replied. "It was. Though I very much enjoyed making it with you, and I wasn't lying about it being a tradition. I just... Rarity's done so much for me. Saving the theater revival... getting me away from Suri... setting me up for a job, then hiring me herself... So yes, this is partly a thank-you from me to her as well. It's mainly thanks to her example that I feel like I've become a well-adjusted mare."

"Sounds like you like her!" called Sweetie Belle, causing Coco to sputter. The filly, who had briefly left the room, was now standing in the doorway, holding the book she had been reading earlier.

"So..." she continued, "I don't suppose I could borrow this? It's really good."

Coco took the book, and read the cover. "Shadows of Fillydelphia: a noir tail?"

"Nothing wrong with being well-adjusted!" Sweetie giggled.

Coco blushed. "Hmm..."

"Think of it as a present!" Sweetie chirped. "I did your tradition! You should do mine."

"I already gave you a hat." Coco pointed to the article, which was still on Sweetie Belle's fuzzy head. "And you did devour my large yam earlier."

"Aww, come on!" Sweetie cried. "I thought we were even now!"

Coco rubbed her chin deviously. "Well... I suppose you could borrow it... But only if you say 'please book' twenty-seven times first."

Sweetie Belle wasted no time in complying. "Please book?" Her eyes were round.

Coco clapped her hooves together, smiling. "Exactly! More!"

"Please book? Please book? Please book?" Sweetie's tail was straight, and her ears pointed perfectly forward. "Please book?"

---

This continued for some time, until Sweetie Belle broke off. "Please book? There! I said it. Now can I have the book?"

Coco waved it away. "Nope! That was twenty-eight times!"

"Aww! C'mon!" Sweetie pouted louder, lower lip stuck out.

"Sorry!" Coco replied, smirking. "You'll have to say it again, from scratch."

Sweetie looked around, eyes settling on something in the background. "Please clock?"

"Buh?" Coco looked around, eyeing the nearest timepiece. "Duahh! We're supposed to meet Rarity in ten minutes, and I still don't know where to go! Never mind how long it takes to walk across town! Keep the book, Sweetie. We need to go, we're late!"

Panicked, Coco placed the dress into its box- still taking care not to get it wrinkled or messy- and raced the box out to the foyer, where she slung it into her saddlebag and that onto her back. Sweetie Belle tromped along behind her, stuffing the book under her hat for safekeeping as Coco opened the door. Together, they exited Coco's apartment, climbing down the stairs and re-entering the flow of rush-hour traffic below.

Comments

[OmniFox]

Does Coco have a Rarity Shrine?