A Change In Fashion

by Kevinltk


Chapter 24: Questions

Loneliness and guilt was all Glamour could feel as she lay in bed, staring up at the white-blue crystal ceiling in her changeling form. She had been confined to a small guest room located somewhere inside the Crystal Empire’s castle. Her room was about the same size as her own room back in Manehattan, and it only contained the bed she was lying on, a chair, and a small dresser. With no windows, the only way out was through the locked door.

Even if the door was not locked, she knew that there was at least a guard or two outside her room, and in her current state, it would not take much to subdue her. After the huge shield spell, she had only siphoned a modest amount of love from Coco. It was enough to take away the brunt of her own ailments without risking any form of side effects on Coco. However, it did not do much to refill the exorbitant amount of magic she expended. All Glamour could muster now with the Crystal Heart’s love in the air was the most basic of spells, as well as shifting into her pony form. Escape was pretty much impossible, not that she was planning to.

Just as Glamour had feared, the disabling spell interfered with her disguise, cancelling each other out. The security team had arrested her on the spot, and to avoid a panic, they covered Glamour up in a spare uniform to escort her to the castle, away from the public eye.

As she was being escorted out of the stadium, Glamour saw the look of fear and despair on Coco’s face. Even now, after at least a few hours alone in the room, the sight was still etched into her mind, haunting her.

Coco finally found out who she was, and Glamour knew she was going to have to face the consequences of her lies and cowardice.

Glamour’s ears twitched when she heard hoofsteps from the other side of the locked door, and she quickly sat up, wondering if it was the pony she both hoped and dreaded to see.

When the door opened, she gulped, only seeing a pony she dreaded to see. “P-Princess Twilight…”

“Hello there, changeling,” Twilight greeted, closing the door behind her. Her tone was even, and her face showed no emotion.

“W-what are you doing here?” Glamour wondered if she should begin packing her bags for her one-way trip to the moon.

“I am one of the ponies in charge of Changeling Affairs in Equestria, and I have taken it upon myself to personally look into this matter.” Twilight must have noticed the look of terror that flashed across Glamour’s face because she continued with, “And no, I am not here to inflict any sort of bodily harm on you.”

“Um, so does that mean I’m being banished?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “No banishment either. Look, you are not being automatically branded as a threat. You will be able to plead your case before I decide on the appropriate actions to handle you.”

“R-really? You’re really giving me a chance? Even though—”

“Even though Shining Armor is my brother and Cadance was my foalsitter? Even though it might be possible that I still have a grudge and decided to preside over Changeling Affairs just so that I could go on a vindictive crusade against changelings?” Twilight asked with a flat stare.

Glamour blinked and slowly nodded. “Yeah, that.”

Twilight sighed. “You are actually not the first changeling I have had to deal with, nor are you the first to have the same thoughts. With how big of a concern changelings have become, the Changeling Affairs Branch was created, and we deemed it necessary for at least one princess to help manage it. Cadance could not do it because of too many emotional attachments, not to mention Shining Armor’s as well. I thought it would be the same case for me, but not only did Celestia and Luna think that I would be perfect for the job, they said I would learn something from it. Since they have other duties to keep them busy and I don’t really have any big responsibilities as a princess yet, I accepted.”

“Oh, um, good for you,” Glamour replied with a sheepish smile. “So, just curious, what happened to the changelings before me?”

Twilight shook her head. “That’s classified. Anyway, that’s enough of me answering your questions. I have questions of my own.” She took a quick look around the room. “By the way, it’s a good thing that you did not resist arrest when you were exposed. It’s not much, but this room is certainly better than the prison cells here. They’re leftovers from Sombra’s rule, and they’re not pretty.”

Glamour sighed and looked away. “There was no point in me running away. Everything that mattered to me fell apart when my disguise did.”

“I see…” After a moment’s pause, Twilight took a breath. “Well, let’s just move along, shall we? First, what is your name?”

“It’s… It’s Glamour.”

“I meant your real name.”

“That is my real name.”

Twilight’s eyebrow climbed up to her tiara. “So your name is Glamour, and you happened to impersonate a pony named Glamour?”

Glamour shook her head. “There is no pony named Glamour. I created my own pony form and used my name on top of it. If you don’t believe me, you can check the records, and you’ll find no mention of me before I settled down in Manehattan.”

“That’s going to make things a bit more complicated. I’ll have to look into that and get back to you another time. We’ll just proceed to the next question in the meantime. Now, you were in a relationship with Coco Pommel. We did a thorough scan of her, and we did not uncover any spells or other outside forces influencing her actions. What were your intentions with her?”

Glamour cringed. Hearing Coco’s name made her guilt resurge, making her fall silent as her thoughts were filled with nothing but the mare she loved.

“Glamour, answer the question, please. What were your intentions with—”

“How’s Coco?”

Twilight blinked. “Excuse me?”

“How’s Coco?” Glamour repeated as she got off the bed.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because… Because she’s very important to me. She was never my target, and I had no intentions of harming her. We met simply by accident. But when we started to spend time together, we became friends… And then we spent more time together and then… And then we fell in love with each other.” Glamour’s gaze fell for a moment as she let out a heavy sigh. Looking back up with a forlorn frown, she begged, “Please, Princess Twilight, I need to know if she’s doing alright.”

Twilight simply continued to blankly stare, and Glamour wondered if she had overstepped her boundaries and was about to get an angry laser to the face as a response.

“Coco is upset, to put it mildly,” Twilight finally answered. “I was not informed about you until after the closing ceremony, but from what I heard, Coco did not attend the ceremony and spent the whole time being comforted by her friend Grace in the security office.”

Glamour felt her heart twist. She had figured Coco was going to be upset, but to actually hear about it was another story. She hung her head, knowing that she was the reason Coco was so distressed now.

“We’re moving her into the castle,” Twilight added when Glamour remained silent.

Glamour’s gaze shot back up at Twilight. “W-what?”

“It was under my recommendation that Coco, along with Grace, be moved into the castle until she feels better. Coco needs to be close to friends that will help support and take care of her during these tough times, and Grace, my friends, and I will do just that.”

Glamour was not sure why Twilight told her that extra information, but hearing that Coco was getting help made her feel just a little bit better. “Th-thank you for telling me that, Princess Twilight. And thank you for taking care of her.”

A small smile spread across Twilight’s face, but it faded away after a few seconds. “May we please continue with the questions?”

Glamour opened her mouth to agree, but she closed it as a realization came to her. She knew she should be answering Princess’s Twilight’s questions, but it did not feel right to her, at least not right now. She should be doing something much more important first. “Actually, can I please make a request?”

“What is it?”

“May I see Coco?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”

Glamour flinched from Twilight’s stern glare, but she took a deep breath and continued. “I… I need to apologize to her… for everything I did to her.”

“Considering how she is right now, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”

“Please, just ask her, Princess Twilight. She deserves to be the first to know the truth about me. After I speak with her, I promise I will answer all of your questions.”

Twilight sighed and ran a hoof through her mane, stopping when it ran into her tiara. She then resorted to pacing around the entrance, mumbling to herself and frequently turning her head in Glamour’s direction with a frown.

Glamour knew she was wearing away Twilight’s patience and treading on thin ice, but she needed to do this. Even if she did manage to be set free, what was the point if Coco refused to have anything to do with her?

After a few moments, Twilight stopped her pacing and looked back at Glamour. “I’ll do it on two conditions.”

“Name them,” Glamour replied immediately.

“The first condition is that I will be allowed to preside over your meeting with her to make sure you don’t try to do anything to her.”

Glamour nodded. “Fair enough. And the second condition?”

“I am just going to ask Coco if she wishes to see you. If she is too upset or does not wish to see you, then I will not force her.”

Glamour nodded again. “I would not want you to do that anyway.”

“Very well then,” Twilight said as she turned to open the door. “I’ll see what I can do with Coco. I’ll be back, with or without her.”

Glamour sighed after Twilight left. She was not sure how Coco was going to react to her after everything that had happened. For all she knew, Coco had nothing but hatred for her now.

And Glamour knew she deserved it.

There was more than enough time and opportunities for her to confess the truth, but every chance she got was swallowed up by her fear. She might have started inching toward revealing to Coco her true self, but she had taken too long. Her time and luck had finally run out.

All Glamour could do was apologize for what she had done and hope for the best.

Time passed as Glamour waited for Twilight to come back, and she soon took a page out of the princess’s book and began pacing around the room. The wait to see if she either had a chance of redeeming herself or to truly lose everything was making her heart race and driving her mad.

After what seemed like forever, Glamour heard hoofsteps outside her room again, and she held her breath as the door opened.

Twilight walked into the room, but she remained at the entrance. Just when disappointment began to tread onto Glamour’s hopes, Twilight stepped to the side, revealing the pony behind her.

“Coco…” Glamour muttered under her breath. Even though it had been only a few hours since she last saw her, it was a few hours too many.

“Come in, Coco,” Twilight quietly beckoned, looking at the shy mare with a small smile. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe. I’ll be here the entire time.”

Coco nodded meekly, and she took a hesitant step forward, pausing for a bit before she actually walked into the room.

Twilight closed the door behind them with her magic. “Would you like to sit down or anything?”

“N-no, I’m fine, Princess Twilight.” Coco sneaked a peek at Glamour and took a deep breath. “I just… I just need a moment.”

“Take your time.” Twilight nodded back at Coco before trotting forward to face Glamour. “Coco has agreed to meet with you. Keep in mind that I haven’t told her the little information you have told me so far, only that you refused to speak unless you saw her. I’ll allow this meeting to continue until you or Coco declare it’s over. Is that alright with you?”

“Yes, thank you, Princess Twilight,” Glamour replied, her gaze remaining fixed on Coco.

Twilight turned her head to the pony behind her. “Are you going to be alright, Coco?”

Coco nodded, and she slowly moved to stand near the center of the room, while Twilight went to wait in front of the door.

Glamour took a deep breath and took a step toward Coco, but she stopped immediately when she saw Coco reel back in response, and a pit grew in her stomach.

Coco was afraid of her.

“H-hi, Coco…” Glamour greeted, making sure not to get any closer to Coco for the time being.

Coco winced at Glamour’s voice, and she remained silent as she bit her lip. She took several deep breaths before finally looking away and mumbling something.

“Um, sorry, did you say something?” Glamour asked.

Coco’s gaze went to Glamour’s hooves, and she mumbled again, this time a bit louder.

Glamour heard her name uttered this time, but everything else was indecipherable. “I’m sorry, Coco, but I still can’t hear you.”

Coco took another deep breath and looked Glamour straight in the eye. “Where’s Glamour?”

Glamour gulped. “I… I’m sorry, Coco. I don’t know how to tell you this, but um…” She took a deep breath and pointed a hoof at herself. “I’m Glamour. I’ve been in disguise the entire time.”

Coco was silent for a few moments before quietly uttering, “You’re not Glamour.”

The way Coco said that, almost devoid of all emotion but a hint of anger, sent chills through Glamour’s body. “Coco, I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. A-and I can prove it, if you’ll let me.” Hoping that it would help her case, she transformed into her unicorn form. “Look, Coco, I—”

“You’re not Glamour! Don’t you dare pretend to be her!” Coco screamed, suddenly pointing an accusatory hoof at Glamour.

Startled by Coco’s sudden outburst, Glamour yelped, immediately reverting back into a changeling as she backed away a few steps.

Coco’s shout must have given her confidence, because she stomped closer to Glamour with an angry glare. “You’re not Glamour! You’re just a lying changeling!”

“C-Coco, I’m… I’m…” Stunned by Coco’s aggression, Glamour could not do anything but keep backing away from the normally demure mare. She had never seen Coco so angry before, not even in her dreams.

“What did you do with her?!” Coco was practically yelling, still advancing on the retreating Glamour.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Glamour kept repeating as a few tears escaped her eyes, not sure if it was despair or fear that coaxed them out. She gasped when she felt she hit something behind her, and a quick glance showed that she was up against the wall with nowhere left to run.

Coco was upon her immediately, jabbing her forehoof into Glamour’s chest. “Give her back! Give back the mare I love!”

“Coco, calm down!” Twilight suddenly appeared next to Coco in a burst of magenta magic and placed her hoof on Coco’s shoulder.

Coco turned her head to Twilight with desperation written on her face. “B-but I need to find Glamour!”

“I know you do, but scaring this changeling is not how you’re going to get the truth. Just take a deep breath.”

“I… I…” Coco stared at Twilight for a few seconds before doing as she was told. After taking several more calming breaths, she took a longer time to breathe out her last one as her head bowed. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Princess Twilight.”

“It’s alright,” Twilight replied, guiding Coco away from Glamour.

Glamour slumped against the wall, sniffling and sinking down to sit on her haunches as she briefly touched where Coco’s hoof had been. Physically, it did not hurt, but it did feel like Coco’s anger had pierced straight into her heart.

Heaving for breath, Glamour used a hoof to quickly wipe away at her eyes, and when she calmed down, she lifted her gaze, her remorseful eyes barely able to gaze upon Coco’s face. “I’m sorry… I’m so, so, so sorry, Coco… I never meant to hurt you.”

“You can make up for it by telling us where Glamour is,” Coco said, placing a hoof over her heart. “Please, I’m begging you. I’m sorry for scaring you, but the pony you impersonated is very important to me. If anything happened to her… I… I don’t know what I would do.”

“Don’t worry, she’s not in any real danger, at least, I don’t think she is.” Glamour sighed, her gaze lowering to the ground. “You really love her, don’t you?” she asked, even though she could already sense it.

“With all my heart. You don’t know how much she means to me.”

“Is it because she makes you feel safe?”

Coco blinked. “Um, yes, that’s one of the reasons.”

“How about when she encourages you when you feel that your work isn’t good enough, and how she’s always telling you that you need to be more confident in yourself?” Glamour continued, still staring at the floor. “What about all the times she makes you laugh whenever you’re feeling down, or when she’s always ready to make you a white chocolate mocha after a tiring day of work?”

Coco’s eyes slowly widened as Glamour talked. “That’s… That’s right… You’re right with all of those things… How could you have known all of that? Have you been spying on us?”

“It’s not spying if you have been living it.” Glamour glanced up from her seated position. “Coco, my name is Glamour. The pony named Glamour does not exist. There’s only me, a changeling that pretended to be a pony. This entire time, I’ve been lying to you about who I really am. How else would I know everything we did together and how we felt for each other?”

Coco stepped back, slowly shaking her head as her eyes widened. “N-no, you’re lying. You can’t possibly know everything.”

Glamour bit her lip. She could tell that her words were causing Coco pain and confusion, and it was tearing her apart to see Coco like this. But there was no way around with it. She just hoped that the both of them would be able to endure the torture.

“I remember and treasured every moment with you, Coco. I was the one who froze on stage of your first fashion show. I was the one who chose you to work beside me with Photo Finish. I was the one who you took off the streets and generously opened up your home to.”

“S-stop… Please stop…”

“I took you out to Le Fine, no wait… You’re always correcting me on it, it’s Le Foin. I listened to you talk about your friendship with Suri. You made a beautiful dress for me so that we could win second place in the Fall Fashion Fantasia. We did so many things together, Coco.”

Liar!” Coco desperately shouted. “You’re lying… You just have to be…”

Glamour winced at the shout. “I’m sorry, Coco, but it’s true. I’ve been a changeling in disguise this entire time. Doesn’t it make sense when you think about it? That stallion that took Suri’s picture? That was actually me. I even followed you as somepony else when you went to lunch with Suri. Are you still wondering why there is so little information about me before I moved to Manehattan? Or how about how I’m always reluctant to tell you about my past? Well, that’s because Glamour the pony never existed.”

Glamour bowed her head in shame. “There… There was only me… Glamour the changeling… I was afraid of telling you because I didn’t want to lose you. I did try to tell you, honest. I tried several times in fact, but I always failed… because I’m a coward. I know it was wrong of me, but I was so afraid of losing you.”

Coco sank to her haunches, her eyes lost in a glazed, empty gaze. “But… But… It can’t be… And yet… All those memories… All those missing pieces… It all makes sense…” Wrapping her hooves around her own trembling body, Coco whimpered. “It’s you… I can’t believe it, but it really is you…”

In a whisper that was laced with defeat and pain, Coco uttered her realization. “I… I was in love with a changeling.”

Silence fell over the room as Glamour stared at Coco’s hunched form, unsure of what she should do.

“S-so, it really is you?” Coco asked softly. “All this time you’ve been lying to me?”

“I was, but now I’m telling you the truth.” Glamour paused, and then she sighed and closed her eyes. “And that means telling you everything. There’s one more thing that I kept from you… Something that I really regret doing…”

“What? What else could you possible say to make this any worse?” Coco asked with a shudder.

Glamour gulped. “The first time we met… it wasn’t in your first show where I froze up. It was before that, during the rehearsal. You just don’t know that because I… I was somepony else…”

“Somepony else?” Coco slowly looked up. She stared at Glamour until her eyes widened with realization, and she gasped, covering her mouth with her hoof. “N-no… It can’t be…”

Glamour's breath hitched by the remembrance of how much worry and sorrow she caused by her carelessness. It was yet another sin that she wrongfully inflicted on Coco. Ashamed, she looked away and rubbed her leg with a hoof. “Yeah, Nutmeg… That friend you met at the rehearsal, who disappeared on you despite the kindness you showed, was also me.”

“So you… You were always…” Coco’s eyes began to shrink into pinpricks as her gaze lost focus. “Do you know how awful I felt? I thought that it was my fault that I lost a friend! Why… Why would you do this to me? What did I ever do to you?” Coco clutched her head in her hooves and began to sob. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Coco, you didn’t do anything to deserve this,” Glamour replied. She walked forward with her hoof stretched out to comfort Coco, but she stopped, looked at her changeling hoof, and dropped it back down to the floor with a sigh. “I wasn't trying to hurt you or anything. I was just stupid and careless. I wanted to become a model to feed off the adoration of the audience. When Nutmeg failed her model interview, I tried again with the form you know so well. I was so focused on becoming a model, I made mistakes… mistakes that dragged you into my mess. And I feel horrible for doing that to you.”

“So what was I to you?” Coco quietly asked, her hooves slowly dropping from her face so that she could get up and look at Glamour with a tear-stricken face. Her voice grew louder and louder with each question as more rage was injected into each word. “Was I some sort of free meal for you? Did you seduce me just so that I could feed you?! A-and if that wasn’t enough for you, you had to play with your food?! You strung me along, manipulating me and dragging me through you sick, twisted games! You… you… you monster!”

Coco's final words echoed through the room as her tears now freely flowed from her eyes. Loud sobs racked her entire body, and she collapsed to the floor.

Glamour felt her heart being torn asunder, not because Coco called her a monster, but because she was sickened by the destruction she caused. “N-no! I never had any intentions to get you involved with anything! Things… Things just happened… I tried to not become too attached to you, but I couldn't help it. I was drawn by your generosity and kindness, so I wanted to help you. Then you helped me and took me in and then we became good friends and then… And then we fell in love…” She bit her lip. “Coco, I know that I’ve been nothing but a liar to you, but please, you have to believe me… All the love and care I felt and showed you… That was all real… Coco, I love you…”

“I just… I…” Coco stammered between sobs. “I opened my heart to you… I trusted you…”

Glamour could feel her own tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Coco… Please forgive me… Remember all of the things I did for you? I did whatever I could to help you with your career. I did my best to reunite you with Suri. I risked my life for you today. And I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I know that cannot compare to all the pain I caused you, but I promise, if you give me a second chance… I will do anything I can do make it up to you. I love you, Coco…”

Coco slowly looked up to Glamour.

Glamour took a deep breath and shifted into her unicorn form. When she did not get any protest from Coco, she gave a small but comforting smile as she offered her hoof to help her up. “Please, I just want to make things right with you.”

“Glamour… I… I…” Coco stared at Glamour’s smile, her eyes still dripping with tears and her lips quivering. Suddenly, she got back up on her hooves and ran straight for the door. “I can’t do this!”

“Coco!” Glamour and Twilight cried out as Coco brushed past Twilight and rushed out of the room.

Glamour moved to give chase, but Twilight quickly stepped in front of the door with a hoof raised to stop her.

“I’m sorry, Glamour, but the meeting is over,” Twilight said. “I’m afraid you’re still confined to this room. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Coco.”

Before Glamour could respond, Twilight quickly exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Glamour stood where she was, staring at the door. When Coco fled the room, it felt like Glamour’s hopes went along with her. Sighing heavily, Glamour dropped her unicorn form and flopped back into bed.

She had finally told the truth, but was it too much for Coco? Was it too late? She dearly hoped that Coco’s sudden retreat was just a result of her needing time to process everything. If it was because she could not stand being in Glamour’s presence anymore…

Glamour whimpered as a tear escaped her.

After brooding in her bed for a while, Glamour heard somepony coming once again. She was upright before the door finished opening to reveal that Twilight was back.

“How’s Coco?” Glamour asked before Twilight could say anything.

“She’s right now in Rarity’s room with everypony. When I left her, she had calmed down a bit as she talked about what went on in here.”

“Did she, um… Did she say anything about what she might want to do with me?”

Twilight frowned and shook her head. “Sorry, that’s classified.”

“Oh…” Glamour sighed before her head shot up. “W-wait, she’s telling everypony? Does this mean everypony is going to know who I really am?”

“These matters always have to be handled with discretion. For now, only the rest of the Elements and Grace know about this. Cadance and Shining Armor were also informed, but they agreed to stay out of it, and they instructed the security team that detained you and the few guards that have seen you to also not say a word about this.”

Glamour slowly nodded. It was a small drop of relief in the cesspool of sorrow that she was still drowning in. “So, um… I guess now that the meeting with Coco is over, you’re going to question me some more?”

To Glamour’s surprise, Twilight shook her head again. “That’s alright. I got more than enough from your meeting with Coco. We’re done for today.”

“Then what’s going to happen to me?”

“That is yet to be determined. I will need time to figure out what to do with you, but I can tell you that my decision will be influenced by Coco, since she is the victim of… well, you.”

“I see…” Glamour found it fitting that Coco would be able to decide her fate.

“I suggest you get some rest. I know that you had a very tiring day, and I will be spending most of tomorrow trying to come to a decision. In the meantime, you’re going to have to stay in here. I did tell the guards to bring you anything you might need, within reason, of course.”

“Thank you, Princess Twilight,” Glamour quietly replied as she let herself flop back into the bed.

“Is there anything I can get you before I leave?”

Glamour closed her eyes. “The only thing I want is something only Coco can give me.”

Twilight was silent for a few moments until Glamour heard the door open. “Good night, Glamour.”

With a click of the door closing, Glamour was alone again. She turned to her side, reaching out with her hooves at the pony she loved that was not there. With a whimper, tears began dripping onto her pillow, and it would be a long time before her weariness would finally overcome her. Right before sleep claimed her, she muttered one last apology.

“I’m sorry, Coco.”