Chapter 5: Coco Pommel
"Are you absolutely certain of this, Miss Rarity?" Equivalent Exchange asked, eyebrows raised from behind thin glasses.
"Oh, quite sure," Rarity said, pushing the bill of transfer closer to him. On it was an absurd sum of bits, enough to open two more branches of her clothing shop. "I've already gone over the terms of the contract, and my decision is final."
"I still don't understand why you allowed her to run her own side-business instead of just firing her..." Exchange shook his head disapprovingly, looking back at the contract. "Fifty thousand bits of outstanding debt in exchange for... one defunct location, and the rights to market designs for..." he levitated the contract up into the air, squinting at it. "mare's clothing and assorted costumes. If you'll allow me to be unnecessarily crude for a moment—this purchase stands no chance of paying off. You might as well melt down your bits and make them into a nice paperweight, at least they'd do you more good."
Rarity narrowed her eyes at her lawyer, her tone growing just a tad more tense. "Old friend, I... I hazard to guess I have a different understanding of doing 'good' with my bits than you do. I'm quite certain this is the right investment."
Dealing with the legal procedures of actually buying the debt, clearing away liabilities and finally claiming ownership of the property was an enormously painful process, far moreso than parting with the bits. Even having a lawyer on retainer to deal with such matters could only make so much of the pain go away. Ultimately ponies were negotiating with her, and every one of them wanted to squeeze poor Coco for every bit she was worth. Rarity paid them all, absolved every last debt, then made a single detour to a takeout shop along her way to her destination.
It was early evening by the time her cab stopped in one of the dingy parts of manehattan, where the the peace was frequently interrupted with barking dogs, loud sirens, and other such unpleasantness. "Are you, uh... are you sure you want me to stop here?" The cabby asked, looking all around the street, then back at Rarity. She was still dressed in a fine white dress and jewelry, the same one she'd worn to the negotiations with the movers and shakers of the city.
It was not the sort of clothing ponies wore around here. "It will be fine, dear." Rarity said, climbing from the cab. "But I would appreciate it if you would linger here on the street until I make it inside, just in case. Oh, and... perhaps get yourself or another pony you trust to return tomorrow morning. I'm not certain there's a working phone inside, and I 'd rather not wait out here to hail a cab." She levitated over a few extra bits, setting them down on the seat beside him. "If it isn't too much trouble."
"No trouble, miss." the cabby said. "I'll wait here, just like you said."
"Delightful," Rarity smiled another winning grin for the cabby, before turning and hurrying up the street to Coco Pommel's small retail building. The smell of steaming Quiche and fresh vegtables mixed together in the air with the far less savory odors of downtown, and she tried not to smell them too closely. True, not all the food was for her, but she was hungry. Wouldn't want to spoil her appetite.
She wasn't really worried about being attacked, and she marched straight up to the glass windows like a pony who knew they owned the city. Much to her satisfaction, the few other ponies on the street got out of her way, giving her respectful distance she doubted very much most ponies got around here. Woe betide any roughian who thinks of laying a hoof on me. Rarity wasn't the soft, vulnerable pony she'd been all those years ago, when the diamond dogs kidnapped her. She'd fought during the Changeling invasion, for Celestia's sake.
Rarity stood now in what might've been a charming little section of shops a generation ago. But as things always seemed to go in the city, the wealthy had moved away to new, trendier sections of town, taking their bits with them. Coco had been one of the few she knew who cared to try and combat the trend—building her own little shop into an old live-above shop that had once sold saddles or something else archaic. But where Rarity targeted the wealthy and famous of Equestria, custom-designing masterpieces for ponies who spent more on clothes than most spent on food, Coco had focused on the average pony.
"Most ponies are too shy to wear anything," Coco said. "They're either stuck with what comes in the catalogues, or spending more than they can afford on clothes they'll only wear a few times a year."
Rarity still remembered the shop as it had been a year ago, modest, but with a glittering window. The fashions on display had been manufactured in a factory, but the designs were Coco's own and she did custom fittings for every customer. Now that Rarity had bought all her assets, she'd seen Coco's tax records from before her life had fallen apart. Yes, the store was modest, but it had once seen more clients in an hour than Rarity saw in a week. Even a modest amount of bits could add up. But rarity hadn't bought the business because of its potential for making bits.
The front windows were dusty now, any displays that might be inside now obscured from sight. The door was completely covered in "EVICTION" and "NOTICE OF PUBLIC AUCTION" notices, each one bolder and more obtuse than the last. Rarity paused at the door, focusing a spell that would gently pry them from the wall, removing each one in turn and tucking it away in her bag. The auction had come and gone, and Coco hadn't done a thing about it. Rarity might not even have known, except that she inexplicably stopped showing up for work. Previous attempts to reach out to her had failed, and Rarity had been forced to replace her, though she hadn't stopped sending Coco her paycheck each week. But not for much longer. Only two more months, and this is all over.
In addition to all of Coco's tax records, Rarity now had the key to this building. She opened the door quietly, pushing it open. She wasn't surprised to hear it squeak a little. The door didn't move very far at first, catching on something right inside the room. She stopped, her horn glowing fiercely as she pushed. It didn't take as much force as she'd expected, and the door went banging open. Envelopes went flying through the air, a small mountain of mail. Most of it looked like bills—the creditors Rarity had paid off only a few hours before. Plenty of them were marked with the stationary of Rarity's own boutique— Coco's paychecks not even opened. In this part of town you could've paid almost everything with just your salary, Coco. What in Celestia's name were you thinking leaving it here?
The shop interior wasn't so bad as she'd thought from the outside. The shelves were mostly empty, and what clothing did remain was so ugly even the thieves hadn't considered it worth stealing. The manakins were empty, the till was missing its cash drawer, and a few mirrors had been cracked. There was also a general layer of dust covering everything, thick enough that rarity left hoofprints. As she stepped inside, she couldn't help herself—she had to pause by the door, tidying up all the mail. Rarity wasn't entirely surprised to find exactly six months worth of pay from the boutique unopened—enough to date to the month she had stopped coming to work.
Rarity locked the door to the outside, just in case, then wandered back across the shop in search of the stairwell up to where Coco lived. She passed through another set of doors first, leading into a studio not unlike the one rarity herself used. Compared to the storefront, this area looked pristine. The machines looked in good working order, without a thick layer of dust that would've gummed up their workings. Designs and patterns were pinned to drafting tables, and several different garments in various stages of completion. Some of it looked like it had been worked recently. Far more recently than anypony had visited the rest of the shop, that was for sure. There was also a back door here leading into the alley, one that didn't looked caked over with dust. I guess this explains how you've been living in here for all this time without ever leaving your shop.
There was also a set of rickety-looking stairs, free of cobwebs and with a pair of streaks running through the dust. I'm terribly storry to intrude on you, dear, but you've forced my hoof. Rarity started to climb.
The smell hit her before she was even halfway up, a smell like a steel dumpster full of truly putrescent filth left to fester for weeks in the sun. Rarity began to gag, before pausing to cast a little shield spell around her head. The spell was meant for gem-mining trips into caverns with limited air, but... it would serve her just as well now.
There was a small door at the top of the stairs, like the front of a charming flat, but any charm the little home might've had was lost in the mountain of rotting garbage. There was a thin aisle between bags of filth, not even wide enough for a pony to pass through.
"Absolutely not," rarity muttered to herself. "This ends right here." Rarity might not have the skill Twilight did with teleportation— she could never have brought a living pony very far without fear that they might suffer something unfortunate along the way. But inanimate objects were simpler. And in this case, I think I'd rather like it if they just disappeared.
Rarity had a special place in mind, the same one she used to banish all her own bad designs, about a hundred feet above Ponyville's trash dump. Her horn glowed, the bags flashed, and suddenly the ground was clear again. Well, except for the warping and stains on the floor—those were stuck forever.
The smell didn't go away either—that might take weeks. Rarity opened the windows on either side of the room so the process could begin, and only then made her way through the open door into the apartment.
Like the exterior, Coco's apartment had once been a charming little flat. Rarity had visited for tea on more than one occasion, talking shop and designs with her colleague. Coco's approach to fashion had been far more down-to earth in a way Rarity had greatly admired.
It looked almost as bad as the hall outside. There was trash everywhere, and so much junk scattered about that Rarity couldn't see the furniture. Just like the entryway, a thin aisle was kept clear through the garbage, with little enough in it for Rarity not to trip. She didn't 'step in further than the entryway, though. Even though she now owned the building, Rarity had no intention of treating her friend with anything less than the respect she deserved. "Excuse me," she said, banging on the door. It sagged a little under her hoof, oozing something under the pressure. Rarity winced, knocking on the doorframe instead. "Excuse me, Miss Pommel... we really must have a word."
She heard something from far into the apartment, a voice muffled by at least one closed door.
"I'm sorry dear, you really must speak up. I'm coming in!" she did, stepping over the threshold and into the kitchen. Another casting of her banishment spell and the kitchen was clear of trash, though she wasn't sure how much more she could use the spell without risking she might accidentally take away something Coco wanted to keep. Coco wasn't a hoarder, or at least, she hadn't been before this all started, but there was no telling how rational a pony would be in her situation.
"I brought dinner!" she called, just as loudly as before. "You really must enjoy it while it's still warm. The Egglectic Cafe is to die for when it's..." she trailed off, sighing. "Well, it's quite good!" She levitated the contents of the table off and onto Coco's already packed sofa, setting down the food she'd brought and beginning to open everything up. Thank Celestia she'd asked for paper plates, she wasn't sure she'd trust eating off any surface in Coco's home just now.
She heard the voice a few more times from the back, too weakly to hear. "I'm sorry dear, I couldn't make that out. Why don't you join me in the kitchen?" She continued on like that as she unpacked, and eventually her persistence paid off.
Coco emerged from the back of the apartment looking like a pony who'd been run over by a manure cart (and not smelling much better). Her mane was a mess, her coat hadn't seen a brush in ages, and her eyes looked bloodshot. She wore a ratty-looking robe that looked like it might'be been quite comfortable once, until it had a dozen different things spilled on it and was left out to dry. "Hello." she said, slumping into the chair across the table, and not looking up at Rarity. She didn't seem to see much of anything—not the food, not the table, not the changes to her home Rarity had made.
Rarity almost always greeted old friends with a hug, but she skipped the exercise this time. She also dropped her air-shield, which would've made their conversation more than a little awkward. The smell hit her again, and it took everything she could do not to wretch. I would've happily paid a hundred thousand bits not to smell any of this. Unfortunately, generosity was more than money. It also meant giving up her time, doing the things that nopony else could do. And she has so little of that left...
"You should try the food." Rarity said, levitating a plate over. Steam still rose from it, the aroma momentarily more powerful than the filth of the apartment all around them. "It’s Egglectic Cafe, your favorite."
"Yeah," Coco said, without emotion. "I guess it was." She looked down at the food, considering it for a long moment. Then she started eating. Rarity tried not to watch, tried very hard not to stare, but she couldn't help herself. Coco had always been a bit on the heavier side, but she wasn't anymore. Beneath the robe was a pony who had let themselves wither away—not lithe and fit, as the fashion models were. But bony, unhealthy, wizened.
Rarity distracted herself with her own plate, but she wasn't really hungry anymore. The entryway had done that. "Well, uh... you may've heard, dear. There was a bit of a bother about some... financial matters." she waved a hoof through the air, dismissively. "About your estate, and all."
Coco grunted in response, if that. She didn't stop eating, or even look up. She wasn't scarfing down the food, like a pony who felt as hungry as she looked. It seemed, rather, to be a methodical process. She was eating because that's what Rarity expected of her.
"Well, I... I took the liberty of stepping in on your behalf. I know we haven't been in touch much over the last few months, but..." she lifted something out from her bag and set it on the table next to Coco. The deed to the building, freshly signed, and passed it toward her. "Here, you take it. I've also paid forward all of your bills for the next three months, and established a trust in your name to deal with the incidentals."
That finally got Coco's attention. She looked up from her food, glancing between the deed and Rarity, and her eyes started to water. "I-I thought... when you came in... I-I thought you were the police... f-finally come to take me away. Didn't... wouldn't much matter... die in a cell, die in my apartment... what's the difference?"
Rarity took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm. This might be the first time she'd ever dealt with a pony as badly off as Coco was now, but she'd known this pony before. It wasn't her fault her life had been ruined. "Twilight is... still working on it." she eventually said. "She hasn't given up, and neither should you."
The other mare shrugged. "She hasn't admitted it, but she gave up. I can tell. A doctor doesn't tell a pony who's going to make it that they should say goodbye to their family. But I don't have any family, Rarity. Only my brother, and we're not even on speaking terms anymore. When I'm gone, how will anypony even know I was here?"
"Well... that depends," she had to be very careful here. Equivalent Exchange might've thought Rarity made this purchase to get her hooves on Coco's designs, but she couldn't let Coco believe that. She wasn't some vulture, here to snap up the corpse of a dying business and squeeze out what bits she could. Rarity loathed such ponies.
"When I'm gone, I hope I'll live on in my fashion. Not... well, we both know how fast this industry moves. Trends change from year to year. How many designers from a century ago are ponies still wearing? But all the same—I think about all the lives of ponies I've made better. All the ponies who had the perfect night. Maybe a romance flowered because a special somepony looked and felt like their best selves. Maybe I helped a nervous pony feel confident enough to go out into the world and live the way she wanted. I'm not sure, but... that's what I want."
"I might've been like that," Coco said, slumping onto the table. Her face went halfway into the half-eaten food, and she didn't even seem to notice. "Until this curse. I was going to be like you, Rarity. I had a plan... ponies knew my name. But now no matter what I do... it just won't matter. It's like I was never even born, and all because somepony I never even heard of hated you."
Rarity winced, but she didn't look away. It was every bit as unfair as Coco suggested. "We both agree it's unfair you're involved. We both agree I should be the one cursed. But..." she took a deep breath. "I see you've kept on designing. Everything else has... well, to be frank dear, it's fallen apart. But your workshop looks exactly how I remember. There are dozens of notebooks down there."
"All full," Coco moaned. "All the ideas I'll never get to try. I never thought I'd change the lives of wealthy ponies— they already have plenty. Maybe my ideas weren't as beautiful as yours, weren't as unique as yours... but the auto loom can actually make them, and even a dock worker can buy one for his special somepony, so shouldn't she get to feel special too?"
"Yes," Rarity said. "They should."
"And they won't, because Dirge wants some ponies he didn't even know to die, and we will, and even Celestia can't stop it."
Rarity waited a moment, to see if Coco had anything more to say. Only when she was sure she didn't did she continue. "I... well, I don't think it's fair either. And... I'd be willing to help. It's a less than ideal solution to be sure, but it's a solution nonetheless. I have... well, I already have distribution channels throughout Equestria. If... if you'd like an avenue for your designs to live on... I could arrange it. Not with the personal touch you gave to your customers, but..."
Coco looked up from her plate again, taking a moment to brush away the remains of the meal. "Y-you... you would?"
"Of course!" She didn't hesitate. "And I could arrange to have your profits directed to... whatever cause you desired. This brother of yours, perhaps, or..."
She rolled her eyes. "I don't care about the bits, Rarity." she waved one hoof at the apartment all around her. "Just look."
"Yes, well..." Rarity cleared her throat. "I don't mean to bring up something so crass. I only... I wanted you to know it would be your endeavor, even if you weren't around to lead it. I would follow whatever instructions you left for me, and make best use of your designs for as long as possible. I would never want my own product mass produced and sold in stores all over Equestria... but what I want for my work wouldn't matter here. Your wishes would be respected."
"Y-you mean it?"
Rarity nodded. "I do. I insist, actually." She levitated the other sheet of paper out of her bag. It was another promissory note, just like the one she'd used at auction. The amount on it was nearly as large. "Two months isn't much time, but it should be enough to set a foundation in place for me to follow. Why don't you come with me tomorrow, and we can get started?"
Coco stared down at the banknote, her eyes wet with tears. Then, hoof shaking, she took it.
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I was honestly expecting it to be Sweetie Belle. At least this Dirge guy as some standards.
I was also expecting something a lot darker once Rarity got up to Coco's apartment...
I'm honestly starting to think that these ponies will end up killing themselves.
since this seems to be moving forward by two months each chapter... pinkie cant react well for her turn, thats going to be depressing without a last minute miracle
Hmm. I was leaning towards maybe one of Rarity's parents (or Sweetie, which I was really dreading), but Coco was my distant next thought.
...Rarity is just awesome.
8237128
I had been expecting Sweetie Belle as well. Dirge has one more chance to be excessively cruel. We still have Pinkie Pie left. Given the trend, it will likely be a pony from her family, like Maud. But if he really wanted to not just cross the Moral Event Horizon but go megaparsecs beyond it, he could pick one of the Cake twins.
Not helping, Rarity!
This situation is dead-serious!
I wouldn't kill you to show a bit more empathy.
Sorry, but didn't notice anything amiss...