coco came crashing back to the world, jerking awake in a cold sweat. The muffled panic of a yelp was bottled up in her throat, threatening to tear loose. she was shaking, terror stricken, tremors coursing throughout her.
her tear-stained eyes shot open as she was greeted by nothing but the poorly lit interior of an apartment that wasn’t her own. This only strengthened her anxieties, feeding into the fears nestled in the back of her mind. The ones which threatened to consume her whole. A rational voice would’ve calmed her but at this moment she had fallen to feral instincts, wanting nothing more than to lash out and survive.
However, she felt arms around her. Arms which held her close to a warm and familiar body.
This calmed her, just enough, that her mind was able to exert itself, reminding her where she was. This was Twilight’s apartment. They were sleeping on her sofa and Twilight was the one holding her.
coco was safe, Twilight was a friend.
she felt the raw fear begin to drain away, as warmth slowly returned to her shivering form.
Gods, she hated nightmares.
coco closed her eyes again but knew this was futile. There was no going back to bed after a nightmare like that. A nightmare that was more real than any had the right to be.
she held out for a good couple of minutes before she growled in frustration, finally admitting to herself that sleep was next to impossible.
“Stupid anxiety,” she mumbled to herself.
With the hope of sleep now fleeting, coco began to carefully ease herself out of Twilight’s grip. she carefully grabbed her wrist and began to gently move her arm to the side. Thankfully, coco’s touch was delicate and Twilight didn’t even shuffle or murmur as her appendage was moved.
As soon as that was out of the way, coco ever so carefully rolled off the sofa and landed softly upon the floor, hardly making any noise.
Now, what was she going to do to kill time until morning? Sunset and Twilight’s flat was an open studio. This meant that any light would likely illuminate the whole space and risk waking the girl sleeping on the couch.
Think creatively, coco.
her gaze fell upon the curtains that covered the apartment’s generous windows. The white light of a full moon lapped at their base.
Bingo.
coco carefully tiptoed over to the dining room table and grabbed her notebook and pencils. If nothing else, she could get a little bit of work done.
she then crept towards the window and peeled the drapes aside, inspecting what was behind them. Thankfully, there was a sizable ledge along the windowsill, with just enough space for coco to wedge herself into.
her roost wasn’t the most comfortable place she’d ever rested, but it felt snug and secure. Plus, the moonlight was a nice addition. There weren’t any neighbouring buildings that were as tall as Sunset’s apartment block, so she had a fairly unrestricted view of the night sky.
Something Twilight apparently took advantage of, because coco noticed she had a telescope upon her balcony.
her attention flicked back to her notebook.
What to doodle, what to doodle?
Maybe something for Twilight? A gift to thank her for being such a great host?
Nightmare Night was pretty close, and costume design was literally coco’s job. So, she was pretty sure she could throw together something pretty awesome for her friend.
So, that’s what she got started on.
her idea was to create a costume based on last night’s movie. After all, Twilight had mentioned that it was one of her favourites.
she made some pretty good initial progress, sketching out a frame with ease. However, things began to slow as she got to the substance of the design. her heart was in this project, but her mind was somewhere else.
It was back with her nightmare, caught up in it like a fly within a spider’s web of bad memories and terrible times.
coco sighed and shook her head.
she hadn’t even thought about bringing her dream journal, so she flipped to the next page in her notebook. That would have to do for now.
It’d been a while since she’d written one of these. she thought that being with Rarity had put her nightmare days behind her.
First things first.
Why do you think you’re having these nightmares?
Stress from work, paired with homesickness and missing Rarity.
Gods that sounded kind of pathetic. It’d been what, three days since Rarity left? And coco was already acting like an abandoned puppy.
Still, she let the answer remain. After all, it was the truth.
Who/What was the antagonist?
Suri…
There was the sound of movement coming from the living room, followed immediately by a tired grumble. “coco? Are you there?”
coco quickly closed her book and peeled back the curtain. “i’m sorry. Did i wake you up?”
“No, no, I was…” Twilight sat up and stretched, causing multiple joints to pop. “Nnnnn. I was just about to use the washroom.”
coco nodded and watched Twilight get up and walk across her apartment.
Once the bathroom door closed, she went back to her book.
Suri…
Suri…
Suri…
What was there to write about that hadn’t already occupied a hundred entries before?
coco scribbled out the name and tried again.
i was back with Suri.
A painful but effective start.
Across the apartment a toilet flushed, and a moment later, Twilight lumbered back into the room.
“So, why are you up?” she asked.
coco shook her head. “Bad dream.”
Twilight quickly walked over and pulled back the drapes. When coco looked up, she saw just how concerned Twilight seemed.
A pang of guilt hit coco at having caused that expression.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Twilight asked.
coco slowly closed her book. “Sure.”
Twilight gestured to the ledge. “Mind if I…”
coco slid over and patted the spot beside her.
Twilight then sat down and gently draped an arm over coco’s shoulder, using it to hold her close. “So… uh… what happened in it?”
“I was back with Suri…” coco said.
“Suri?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side.
coco nearly laughed. she forgot that some people had not heard of her infamous ex.
“She was my, uh… my girlfriend before i met Rarity.”
Twilight squeezed her a little bit tighter. It wasn’t quite the same as if Rarity did it, but it was a perfectly acceptable substitution.
“I see,” Twilight said. “Was she…?”
Abusive.
The words didn’t need to be said aloud.
“Yes,” coco sniffled.
she could feel tears in her eyes, one of them drawing a hot streak across her complexion.
All these years later and Suri was still making her cry. she felt stupid for letting that happen. Suri shouldn’t have been worth that reaction. Suri shouldn’t still hold that much power over her.
Suri was dirt. She was swine.
coco gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. A second tear drew a darkened streak across her cheek. However, these two were enough to open the floodgates. Now there was nothing to stem the flow of tears.
Twilight embraced her a little tighter, gently kissing her on the cheek.
“Everything’s going to be ok, hun,” Twilight whispered. “I won’t ever let her hurt you again.”
coco trusted those words, and with them, she was able to slowly claw back control of herself. her sobs slowly weakened, transitioning into a series of shaky, hiccupping breaths. It took a few moments, but once she felt back in control of her emotions, she opened her eyes and dabbed at them with the palm of her hand.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, coco,” Twilight said.
“I-it’s not your fault.”
Twilight kissed her again, softly peppering her face with a bunch of soft little kisses. Her grip never waned as she held coco close.
coco felt… secure in her grip, safe. It was comforting to have her there.
A few more minutes passed with nothing said between them. coco merely stared out the window as Twilight continued to gently caress and kiss her.
“Do you want to see something cool?” Twilight finally asked.
coco nodded slowly. “Sure, what is it?”
Twilight pulled away as she stood up. “Come on, it’s out on the balcony.”
coco’s gaze quickly flicked to the telescope as she followed after Twilight.
Together the two of them went outside.
It was a little chilly this morning, as the last vestiges of summer seemed on the horizon. However, coco didn’t mind the chill in the air, nor the dampness of the morning dew in the first crisp breath she took.
As predicted, Twilight walked over to the telescope. “What do you know about stargazing?”
coco chuckled softly. “What do you know about dressmaking?”
Twilight smiled and let out a single note of amusement. “Fair enough. I’ve always had a bit of a thing for it. I’d try and get out every couple of days to check out some of the regular things. Even if the city isn’t super great for it.”
“What’s wrong with the city?” coco asked.
Twilight gestured towards the downtown core, which was a bright beacon of neon and various lights. “Light pollution.” When coco didn’t respond, Twilight went on. “Pretty much the glow from the city makes it really hard to see some of the dimmer stars, even if you have a telescope. But that’s not going to be a problem for what we have planned tonight.”
“And what are we doing?”
“You’re in for a treat,” Twilight said. “Jupiter is at its brightest this time of year.”
coco could only imagine that was good, judging by Twilight’s excitable reaction.
Twilight leaned into her telescope and began to carefully move it a fraction of an inch at a time. When she landed upon the spot she wanted, her smile widened and she began to fiddle with some dials, turning them half a degree every once in a while.
She stuck out her tongue in concentration and coco wouldn’t so much as dare disturb her.
Finally, Twilight let out a pleased little note of contentment. “And there we go.”
She drew back and gestured for coco to come over.
coco stepped closer and bent over the telescope, pressing her eye against the eyepiece.
her breath was instantly taken away.
What she saw was an orb constructed from various bands of vibrant orange. The bright material swirled together upon the planet’s surface to create a beautiful mosaic. Amongst the southern half of this masterpiece was a bright red dot which looked like an angry, yet gorgeous blemish.
coco knew of that dot, as even she’d heard of the Great Red Spot of Jupiter before. However, to see it in person was something else entirely.
she noticed two specks of black hovering over the surface, making her brow furrow as she attempted to focus her gaze upon them.
“What are those?” coco asked absentmindedly, mostly talking to herself.
“What is what?” Twilight responded.
“There’s two black dots,” coco said. “Is there something wrong with your telescope?” She froze, feeling her blood instantly chill. “D-did i break it?”
Twilight chuckled. “No, no, you didn’t break it. Those are probably just Ganymede and Europa, if I had to take a guess.”
“What are those?”
“Moons of Jupiter,” Twilight said, setting a hand on coco’s shoulder.
“Huh.”
coco brightened as she realized something. “Wait a second. Jupiter was in that movie we watched last night, wasn’t it?”
Twilight nodded. “That’s where Discovery One was heading.”
“It’s so beautiful.”
“I thought you might like it.”
coco watched Jupiter for a few more moments, however it failed to alter at all during her investigation. So, she drew back and looked up at Twilight.
“That was amazing,” she said.
Twilight grinned. “Glad you liked it.”
“Is… is there anything else we can check out?”
Twilight turned her gaze towards the night sky, studying it. “Hmmm.”
coco frowned. “There isn’t, is there?”
Twilight chuckled and shook her head. “No, no, no, there’s plenty. I’m just trying to think of what the best thing to show off is.” She snapped her fingers. “I got it! How about we check out Mars next?”
Twilight cracked open the tab on her energy drink, taking a nice long pull from it. It might’ve been a placebo effect but the second the overwhelmingly sweet drink touched her tongue, she felt revitalized.
It turned out that spending the night watching the sky wasn’t exactly the best thing someone could do for their sleep schedule. She’d pay for it tonight, but for now she was going to rely upon a potent mixture of coffee and Rockstar to get her through the day.
With her mind now cleared and buzzing with caffeine, she turned her attention back to the task at hand, trying to figure out a way to get through to Rarity’s panel.
Let’s see, let’s see. Was the panel being livestreamed?
She searched the event’s website and discovered that it was not being livestreamed, though all panels would be recorded and uploaded to Youtube in six month’s time.
Twilight grinned.
This was a way in.
In the background, bacon sizzled, filling the apartment with the rich scent of breakfast. It made her mouth water.
Twilight momentarily looked away from her screen and towards coco, who was busy in the kitchen.
“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked.
coco looked over and offered a tired smile. “Exhausted.”
Twilight chuckled. “Well, you were up pretty late past your bedtime last night.”
“i-” coco paused as her lips parted in a long, drawn-out yawn. “i know.”
she gestured towards Twilight with her spatula. “Have you found out how to watch Miss Rarity’s panel yet?”
Twilight grinned as she opened Tor. “Yeah, but it’s going to take a bit of finagling.”
“What do you mean?”
There was a glare reflected off of Twilight’s glasses as she adjusted them. “I’m going to hack the camera in the conference room and broadcast it for us.”
“That sounds… illegal.”
“It’s only illegal if you get caught.”
“That sounds very un-Twilight of you,” coco muttered.
Twilight chuckled. “My doppelganger is Little Miss Law Abiding Citizen. I’m less lawful good, and more neutral good.”
coco cocked a brow before turning away and shaking her head. “Wouldn’t it just be easier if we got Sunset to record it on her phone while we’re in a call or something?”
“Yeah, but this will be way better quality.”
Twilight took another sip of caffeine to shore up her fingers before she got to work. First things first, she used a backchannel VPN to get the hotel’s IP address, then she used that in conjunction with a trojan to attempt a breakthrough…
The screen flashed red as Twilight jerked back.
“Mother of god…”
That wasn’t a firewall, it was a fire-fortress.
coco looked over, looking more than a little concerned. “Why is your screen flashing red?”
Twilight chuckled nervously. “Uh, nothing, got this absolutely one hundred percent under control.”
Another sip of Rockstar preceded a rapid series of commands. Her trojan attempted to venture in and deposit her packets but every time it was isolated and wiped out by the defensive programming.
Why the hell did this conference have such a good firewall.
As the obviousness of it hit, Twilight slapped her forehead.
You idiot, this is a queer conference. It’s crawling with trans coders. This wasn’t the juniors, Sparkle.
Twilight gritted her teeth as she abandoned the subtle approach. Her stealthy trojan was replaced by a jackhammer as she attempted to brute force the Berlin Wall of code that was denying her.
However, by the time any meaningful damage was done, the program would quickly repair itself, shoring up its defences. All the while her computer was clocking in at a CPU usage in the high-90s, making her keyboard hot and GPU even hotter.
She couldn’t keep this up for long.
coco walked over and peered over Twilight’s shoulder. “That doesn’t look good.”
Twilight rapidly nodded as she realized that this was a trap. The conference’s defensive programs were now outflanking her and pushing into her own computer. These bots were vicious, tearing through her own firewall like it was papier-mâché
This was bad. This was bad. This was bad.
She attempted, what Rainbow Dash would call in her baseball terms, a Hail Mary.
Her CPU, GPU, RAM, and even her sound card, were pushed to their max as she attempted to pile through.
Her arrow of code zoomed through cyberspace and impacted the firewall with the digital equivalent of a small thermonuclear bomb. However, as the virtual dust settled, it was revealed that it had merely bounced off, like a stone against a steel shield.
Twilight’s screen then darkened, as a single line of text was displayed.
“0w0, what is this? A hacker?”
Then her computer shut off.
Twilight blinked once, twice, then closed her eyes.
“Sooooo…” coco began, placing her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Should i call Sunset and ask her to record it on her phone?”
Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’d probably be the best option.”
coco nodded and rushed back to the kitchen. “I’ll do that right after breakfast.”
coco cuddled up to Twilight, resting her tired head against her shoulder.
Together, the two of them watched TV, as she had hooked it up to watch Sunset’s livestream
It was a bit rough to watch, as Twilight had predicted. The quality was poor, the sound a little choppy, and Sunset had this annoying habit of jostling her phone every couple of seconds. But still, it was a perfectly functional stream.
Currently, the stage within the conference hall was empty. However, the panel seemed to attract quite a bit of an audience. If coco had to guess, she’d say that somewhere between fifty and eighty people were in that room.
Many of them trans, most of them were woman, and all were queer. This meant that it was a good crowd.
The murmur of the room died down as Miss Rarity took the stage. And by the gods, she had dressed for the occasion.
She stood before the room wearing one of the flagship pieces of her soon to be revealed fall lineup. The bottom half was a pair of skinny jeans which she had designed using inspirations from Gait. Then her upper body was adorned in a white tight-fitted blouse, coloured with tie-dyed streaks of pink and blue, dressing her up in what was effectively a very fashionable trans flag.
Along with her outfit, she had also gone the full nine yards in terms of jewellery, accessories, and make-up. Her skin glowed, her necklace sparkled, her earrings twinkled, and her hair didn’t have so much as a single strand out of place. It must’ve taken her hours to get it all right, but in the end, there wasn’t a single flaw upon Miss Rarity’s body. Not one.
The room seemed to agree, as they were left absolutely speechless. Twilight and coco joined them in their silence, both of their jaws nearly upon the floor in awe.
Miss Rarity smirked at the room as she walked back and forth across the stage, treating it like it was her own personal catwalk.
Once she finished flaunting her design, she made her way over to the podium and stood behind it.
“You may now pick your jaws up off the floor,” she said, offering a coy smile.
The room chuckled and Miss Rarity went on. “My name is Rarity, and I am a fashion designer from Canterlot who recently graduated from the University of Canterlot’s school of business. I currently own a small boutique within the city and specialize in designing women’s clothing.”
An image came up on the screen behind Rarity, showing off the familiar sight of a little hole-in-the-wall shop located in a trendy neighbourhood.
“Now, if my shirt didn’t make it painfully obvious, I am a trans woman and have been on HRT since I was sixteen. I am also very bisexual and extremely polyamorous. In fact, one of my partners, Sunset Shimmer…”
She gestured to Sunset, causing her to wave the phone, sending coco and Twilight through a bout of vertigo.
“…is here with us today. I also believe that my darling girlfriend, and fellow designer, coco pommel is watching at home along with my close friend and metamour, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight chuckled. “That’s us.”
coco nodded.
“Yeah they are,” Sunset said. “Twilight actually tried to hack the convention to see this.”
Twilight flushed and covered her face with coco’s hair. “Nooooooo.”
“Wait, your metamour tried that?!” someone from behind Sunset shouted.
Sunset turned to face a rather peeved looking woman behind a bank of computers. She had cream coloured skin, pink hair, and a pair of glasses which made her golden glare all the more intense.
Sunset chuckled nervously. “Yeah, heh… heh…”
The phone rapidly turned back to the stage.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Anyways, for this panel I would just like to talk about my experience with trans health care, why I got into fashion, my journey as a trans woman in the fashion industry, how I attempt to design my fashion to be trans-inclusive, and if time allows, maybe do a Q and A where I can give some tips and tricks to people who are perhaps struggling a little bit to get their look perfected.”
Twilight groaned from behind coco’s hair. “They’re all going to think I’m a dork.”
coco gently nuzzled Twilight’s cheek. “Oh Twilight…” she coyly smirked. “At least it’ll save them the google search?”
“Et tu, pommel?”
Twilight came out of the bathroom, waltzing across the apartment in her finest ensemble.
Tonight’s design was a classy little burgundy cocktail dress. The thin cotton of the hem fluttered around her knees with each purposeful stride she took.
She rested one hand upon her hip as the other motioned back and forth with each step.
A beautiful silver necklace hung from around her neck with a fiery pearl of glass in the middle. A design of orange, red, and yellow formed within the bead, giving off the impression of a fiery sun.
To those with no previous knowledge of her or Sunset, it looked like a beautiful piece of costume jewelry. To those with a bit more knowledge, they’d know it as Sunset’s cutie mark, a beautiful tribute to the woman Twilight promised herself to. Finally, there were her closest friends, those who really knew what this was.
It was a collar. A really beautiful and stealthy collar, but one nonetheless. This was a symbol of commitment, loyalty, ownership, power, love, and all manner of lesser concepts rolled into a single piece of coloured glass that was scarcely larger than a thumbprint. Most importantly, however, it was a mark of Sunset Shimmer which was affixed to Twilight’s body.
Wasn’t symbolism just the best!
Beyond her dress and collar, Twilight also wore a pair of short heels which matched the rich colour of her dress nicely. Her strides in them were a bit wobbly but she didn’t seem in any danger of keeling over.
She had come a long way since her klutzy days in grade twelve, that was for sure.
Meanwhile, her usual ponytail had been abandoned, replaced by a tight little bun held in place by a jeweled hairband. The various midnight blue gemstones sparkled, even in the apartment’s less than stellar lighting.
As Twilight stepped into the centre of the room, a thunderous applause greeted her. This was all the more impressive, considering that coco was the only other person present.
“You look awesome, Twi,” she said.
Twilight warmed at the comment, grinning nervously. “you really think so?”
coco nodded. “That dress, those heels, the little bit of colour from your collar. It all blends together really nicely. i’m sure even Miss Rarity would be jealous.”
“Is there anything extra you think I could add to make it look even better?”
“Well, what are you wearing it for?” coco asked, tilting her head to the side, sizing her up from a different angle.
Twilight rocked back and forth. “I’m hoping to surprise Sunset for our anniversary.”
“Anniversary for just you two, or all three of you?”
“Just the two of us. It’s going to be our… gosh… fourth year together in November?”
coco beamed. “That’s so awesome.” she then steeled her expression. “Well if that’s the case, we should focus on accenting your attire with gifts she’s gotten for you over the years. You’re already off to a great start with your collar but… do you have any rings or bracelets?”
Twilight nodded. “She bought me a really cute bracelet on our first date. It’s this cheap little plastic thing that’s coloured like the bi-flag. I know it sounds kind of silly but I used to wear that thing pretty much every day.”
coco smirked. “Nothing that gives you a good memory is cheap.”
“Did Rarity say that?”
coco shook her head. “i stole that one from a character in my play.”
“So, you think I should wear it?”
“Totally, she’ll notice it in a heartbeat and be really touched.”
“Anything else?”
“Well, you can always do quite a bit of accessorizing with a handbag. Tell me, do you own any…”
“I don’t own any purses,” Twilight interrupted.
coco balked. “Not even one?”
Twilight nervously rubbed her arm. “I kinda just shove everything into my computer satchel and haul that around with me.”
“Well then, we need to buy you a purse. Tell me, what’s your opinion on cashmere?”
Twilight frowned. “It sounds expensive.”
“Hmmm… fair enough.” coco suddenly beamed, snapping her fingers. “Though i’m sure we can find something for you.”
Twilight chuckled nervously. “How about we save that for some other time? It’s like eight at night and our anniversary isn’t until November anyways.”
coco’s smile downturned ever so slightly. “Fair enough.”
Twilight stepped over to the couch and plopped down beside her guest, draping an arm over her shoulder.
“So, that was really awesome seeing Rarity do that panel,” she said.
coco nodded eagerly “She was incredible. i don’t think i’ve ever seen her so in the zone before. It was like that was her natural environment or something.”
Twilight smirked. “Talking about herself or fashion?”
coco chuckled. “Both, i guess?”
“It was interesting.” Twilight looked down at her own outfit and hummed to herself. “Think I took her advice to heart?”
coco nodded. “Cute hairstyle, a simple dress which is fitted to your body type, a matching pair of shoes with a reasonable heel length, and jewelry which accents the dress nicely? Yeah, i think Rarity would give you a passing grade.”
Twilight’s gaze narrowed. “Only a passing grade?”
“Okay fine, i’m sure you’re in the B+ range.”
coco now bore a shit-eating grin.
“I am so ratting you out to Rarity,” Twilight teased.
coco stuck out her tongue. “What? i’m not breaking any rules!”
“Oh?” Twilight adopted her own mischievous grin. “And do you think she’d be impressed with your attitude as a house guest?”
“You love it!”
Twilight was silent for a moment, pouting out her lower lip.
“Fair enough,” she grumbled.
coco smiled softly and leaned against Twilight, resting her head upon her shoulder. she then reached over, placing a hand on top of Twilight’s own and giving it a little squeeze.
Twilight froze, looking at coco’s hand. She pondered its presence for only a moment before smiling softly and carefully lacing her fingers between coco’s own.
The two of them remained silent for a few moments, gently holding onto one another.
“I was thinking…” Twilight said, finally breaking the silence.
“About what?”
“you and I… We’ve never actually been on a date before, have we?”
coco nodded. “And?”
“I mean… we’ve slept together and we’ve… done a lot more than sleep together.”
Twilight could feel coco warm at the comment.
“And…” Twilight paused for a moment. “And I think that maybe it’s about time that we had, like, an actual date? Like nothing serious. Maybe just get some lunch or something?”
coco nodded. “i’d like that a lot. Maybe we could go to the Exchange, grab a quick bite, and then do some shopping afterwards.”
“When would you like to do that?”
“Maybe we could do it tomorrow?” coco asked, squeezing Twilight’s hand. “i mean, unless you’re busy.”
Twilight chuckled. “Well… I have been dealing with someone crashing at my place.”
“she sounds absolutely dreadful,” coco teased, sticking out her tongue.
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Oh?”
Twilight smirked. “Yeah, she has some redeeming qualities.”
coco grinned. “Like what?”
“she cooks, she makes for some good conversations, helps me accessorize, and…”
coco kissed her on the cheek. “And?”
Twilight grinned from ear to ear before whispering into coco’s ear. “she eats me out like a fucking champ.”
coco quickly shot back, covering her burning face. “Oh my gods! You’re as bad as Sunset!”