//------------------------------// // 5) Coco Covered Info // Story: A Stitch In Time // by Short Stories //------------------------------// “Wait…” Twilight stared at the tan earth pony in shock. “You believe me? Really?” And here, she thought nopony at all would ever believe a seemingly blatant lie like what she heard. “Umm, well... yes,” Coco replied meekly, a bit reminiscent of Fluttershy from Twilight’s perspective, “but... oh, I’d be in so much trouble if Suri knew I told...” “No, no, it’s okay, I won’t tell her.” Twilight shook her head as she said this. In truth, she was eager to get the dirt on Suri from a trusted source. Plus, maybe Rarity would listen to Coco and not be upset at Twilight anymore! Overjoyed with this possible outcome, Twilight motioned for Coco to follow her outside. The two mares exited the spa, crossed the lobby at a brisk pace, and approached the nearest stairwell.  Using her magic, Twilight pushed the door open ahead of them, allowed Coco to enter first, then went in after.  With nothing but the stairs present to their words, Coco prepared to speak, but stopped, instead starting with, “Are you sure this is safe?” Twilight looked around and nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I don’t think anypony can hear us, or is in this staircase, at this moment. Would you like me to put a bubble of silence around us?” Coco nodded, and Twilight complied, generating a light with her horn that expanded to encompass them both.  The light faded and solidified into a glistening, spherical, transparent barrier that surrounded them entirely.  Any and all sound inside the barrier was muffled to a degree, but Twilight knew Coco could still be heard inside it. “Thank you,” Coco said, a bit shakily. She then took a deep breath, hesitated, and proceeded, “I... well, I figured it out about the same way you did. I was on the basement level, looking for Suri, and I was just about to knock when I heard somepony’s voice on the other side that I didn’t recognize. I know I should’ve left, but... what they were talking about... horrible things... I couldn’t understand...” “What do you mean?” Twilight asked as she sat down on one of the steps the bubble of silence covered. “That they were trying to get back at Rarity and me somehow?” “Well... I think so,” Coco mumbled, “I know Suri’s still mad about the Fashion Expo in Manehatten, but... I didn’t know she’d be this mad...” “I never met her, but, the way Rarity talks about her…” Twilight shuddered. “...It gives me chills just thinking about it.” She paused, thinking. “Did you see this pony that was talking to Suri?” “No, I’m sorry,” Coco replied sadly, “but I heard one or two things about a spell of some kind... something having to do with the fashion designs being made here... something that’s supposed to affect everypony attending...” “Spells, fashion designs, and everypony attending…” Twilight murmured. “Well...I guess that makes sense…” “At first, I didn’t think anything of it, but then Suri brought up some kind of promise. Like... whoever that pony was would help her get back at Rarity in exchange for something.” “Did she say what that ‘something’ was?” Twilight inquired. The information Coco was giving her made sense, in a way, but she didn’t have enough to put the pieces together and see the whole puzzle. Coco’s expression then showed the most intense fear Twilight had seen yet.  Her voice was a frightened, shrill squeak as she answered, and the answer made Twilight’s heart stop: “You.” “Me? Why—what would she want me for?!” Twilight screamed. “Is that pony out of her mind?!” Coco’s panic only increased from there.  “Oh! Oh, dear! Twilight, I’m so sorry! I... I just told you what I heard, I... I didn’t mean to upset you... but, please understand, I believe you, I really do—” “Coco, I know. I’m glad your’re telling the truth.” Coco smiled at this. “But, jeez, Suri wants me as a prisoner? Why would she ever need a purple princess who knows almost every spell there is?!” As she said this, her wings took her up to the top of the bubble. She paused, realizing what she just said. “Well...I mean...Why would she need me?” “I... I don’t know. Suri only said that she’d help get you if she had the chance to get revenge on Rarity. I don’t know why, or who would want you, but... th-that’s what I heard...”  Suri bowed her head sadly, seeming upset at a perceived failure. Twilight sighed, realizing she was only upsetting Coco further, and she slowly descended back down. She should be freaking out in her room or somewhere away from the timid earth pony, not causing a scene and making her feel bad! If anything, she should be grateful that Coco was telling her this, and wasn’t going to tell anypony what they were talking about. She stopped herself, hovering in mid-air. Wait. “Coco, you’re not going to tell anypony about this conversation, right?” Coco gasped in response.  “Oh, no! I would never do that, Princess! I’m in enough trouble just saying it out loud, where somepony might hear—oh, n-not that I think your magic bubble isn’t working, I’m just... I’m just so... I’m so scared....”  Her words ended in a whimper, and she cringed, fighting tears. Twilight landed gracefully and went over to put a hoof on Coco’s shoulder. “Coco, it’s fine.” She soothed. “Don’t worry. I still have my bubble of silence up, nopony can hear us except you and me. And I definitely won’t tell anypony at all about this horrible plan, okay?” Coco looked up at Twilight through her tears, and blinked them back, smiling and slowly nodding.  “I’m... I’m so glad you trust me, Princess...” Twilight nodded, but in her own mind, she was far less composed than she looked.  Coco’s trust in her and attempt to speak out against this conspiracy in spite of the danger meant that nothing could be put before this.  Suri was dealing behind a curtain with some mysterious mastermind with a grudge, and that only made the situation that much worse.  Wherever Rarity had gone, that’s where Twilight had to be.  She needed to know about this, immediately. And once she knew for certain what kind of place this was, they had to work together to find out Suri’s plan and stop her. “Coco, of course, I would trust you. You are a friend of Rarity, after all.” She removed her hoof from Coco’s shoulder, sensing she had calmed down—not fully—but a tiny bit. “Could you tell me what you did afterward?” “The only thing I could think to do. I ran. I went back to my room and hid for the rest of the night. I didn’t even sleep that night...”  Coco took a breath and let it out shakily.  “I should have warned you. I should have kept you from coming, but I didn’t know who else to turn to...” “Coco, don’t worry so much about it. What you told me now is great-” “Wait!” Coco interrupted Twilight, and suddenly, her face showed sudden horror.  “We need to find Rarity!!” A great wave of confusion washed over Twilight. “Find her? Why? She went up to her room, remember?” “But Suri wants to get back at her, remember? So, if we leave her alone, who knows what could happen! We have to find her and warn her, now!” This lit a fire that spread quickly throughout Twilight’s nerves.  If it was true, and there really was a conspiracy against them at this academy, then under no circumstances could they stay alone for any length of time? “You’re right, Coco,” Twilight proclaimed. “We should go find and warn Rari-wait…” Twilight paused, uncertain. “What’s wrong?” Coco asked, coming forward to comfort Twilight, in case she started panicking as well. Twilight thought back to her argument with Rarity in the spa.  She seemed upset by Twilight’s outburst and confused by her accusations.  Even if Twilight was correct (which she was sure she was), Rarity would need time to get herself together, and decide whether she believed her or not.  On the other hand, if Rarity was in danger, then at this point, she would be at her most vulnerable, and whoever was working with Suri would find this the best time to strike, while Rarity was helpless, confused and emotionally unstable. “Oh, well, I just—nevermind. Let’s go find her and make sure she’s OK. We can tell her about the danger here...after she’s cooled down.” Coco shot her a confused look. “I kinda had a small fight with her in the spa,” Twilight explained for her. “It’s okay,” Coco replied softly, “I heard. I just hope Rarity won’t still be upset with you. Without all of this going on, you two are still friends, after all.” “I hope she’s not still upset, too.” Twilight stared off into space, remembering how much she didn’t want to come here in the first place. She shook her head, clearing the bad memory, and destroyed the bubble of silence with a pop. The two mares made their way quickly up the stairwell to the floor Twilight and Rarity’s room was on.  Passing by several ponies on the way made them rethink how fast they should go, and how urgent they appeared to be—they knew they couldn’t appear too rushed, or else would appear conspicuous.  Within minutes, they reached Twilight’s room, pushed through the door, and inspected the place.  It only took a few seconds of searching for them to realize they had a problem. “She’s not here!”