Transparent Living

by PinoyPony

Chapter 35: Midnight Oil

Author's Note:

For those who haven't seen the blog post: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/921684/update-section-6-is-ready. This goes over the state of how the next updates will go as well as the tag warnings. Please read if you are sensitive to the warning tags mentioned.

Other than that, enjoy the next chapters of Transparent Living!

The hum of the sewing machine often calmed Coco. As she worked on the summer styles she was about to reveal in a new line, her mind was going a million miles per hour. Should I try to add this trim to add character? Should I keep it plain? Is it symmetrical?

Another thought came to mind… something completely unrelated to sewing.

It felt as if she was being watched.

After she finished a stitch, she glanced at that doorway. Finding nothing but a darkened hallway, she shrugged and resumed what she was doing. Could’ve been Dazzle sneaking around again to get a glass of water… or could just be her imagination. Either way, she needed to get this done.

Still though, she couldn’t shake the feeling. A shiver ran up her spine as she gave it more thought.

“Burning the midnight oil?” A voice asked.

Coco yipped and spun madly around looking for the source. In the doorway stood a tall mare. The moon had just shifted enough that its beams shrouded the figure in silver light. Coco could not mistake who she was.

“Princess Luna! What do I owe the honors!?” Coco leapt out of her seat and bowed.

“The honor is mine.” Luna bowed. “I’ve got important matters that I need to discuss.”

Her horn glowed; scooting Coco’s desk chair close to the bedside. “Have a seat. This meeting is going to be personal.”

Coco took her seat on the wooden chair. Luna sat her haunches down on Coco’s bed.

Coco thought of warm thoughts. She usually snuggled up in a blanket or two last time the Princess came to visit her in this state.

Through the doorway, a soft, plush, yellow quilt came floating through. Coco reached for it as soon as it sailed overhead like a foal reaching for the cookie jar. Without another reservation, she wrapped herself in it and looked at Luna.

Luna had a slight smile. If she wasn’t trying hard to keep her composure, Luna would’ve been grinning ear to ear.

“I take it you are lucid right now?” Luna asked.

“Just taking preparations. I’m sorry, but in all honesty, I haven’t practiced in a long time.” Coco brushed off some lint off the blanket.

“Well, it’s good that you’ve made yourself comfortable, we are going to start with a sensitive topic.” Luna opened the drawer next to Coco and pulled out a red envelope. She held it out in front of Coco. “Why do you still have this?”

Coco’s blood chilled. She averted her eyes.

“Uhn-Uh.” Luna shook her head. “You know better than to cower. Hasn’t Diamond Tiara taught you anything?”

“That’s old me… I’m fine now,” Coco answered hastily.

“Then why haven’t you discarded it?” Luna asked.

“Haven’t gotten around to it…” Coco said.

“I have my doubts.” Luna set the letter back on her desk. “Coco… we both know that Diamond Tiara’s arrival was divine intervention.”

Coco took the letter, opened the drawer, then tucked it back in its hiding spot at the bottom.

“Furthermore, I couldn’t have predicted Diamond Tiara coming to Mane-hattan,” Luna continued, “If I may be so bold, I have to ask why you cling to the past when the future is brighter than you can imagine?”

“You keep telling me that.” Coco closed the drawer. “I know I should, but how can I believe you when a dream of mine will never come true?”

Luna shook her head. “Dreams come true in the most unexpected ways. Be careful what you wish for.”

Luna took a look around the room, then suddenly, her expression softened. Her horn lit, and a picture slid off the wall.

Luna figured it out.

After taking a gander at the picture, she hooked it back on the wall. With a softer tone, she gently said, “Pardon my presumptions. I sensed something off, something particularly dangerous to have lingering, but I didn’t know it was about… recent events.”

“I keep asking myself whether I’m going in the right direction.” Coco pulled the blanket up closer. She felt her lungs constrict as she held back a sob. “Did I do something wrong?”

“I do say, both sides had their tempers raised, but nothing too damaging.” Luna said as a spark of light arced away from her horn. “Yttrium has his reasons.”

The light burst into a window of light, showing like a painting… a moving painting. In the image, Yttrium was sitting at a desk, but not his. Across the desk was a stallion. Coco recognized him immediately. The head of Mane-hattan North Hospital. His boss. By the looks of it, his boss wasn’t happy.

“What is this?” Coco asked.

“Possible future, but for now, this a glimpse of the nightmares Yttrium is having.” Luna explained. “Dreams have an uncanny ability to become reality.”

“Are you saying that this a glimpse of the future?” Coco asked.

Luna shook her head “No… or more accurately… very unlikely. In this one, he loses his medical license because of a faulty counter-curse.”

“Faulty counter-curse?” Coco asked.

“Are you familiar with the outbreak at Diamond’s school?” Luna asked.

“Hard to forget,” Coco answered while trying to stop her hiccups in between sobs. “Yes.”

“Well, the outbreak had several repercussions.” Luna explained. “One of those is the increased demand on finding the cure. Are you familiar with the amount of stress he is under?”

“Dazzle mentions it to me sometimes. She says that the progress in the labs is going faster and faster,” Coco said, thinking for a moment, starting to wrap her head around what Luna was trying to convey.

“This is just one of the many factors that went into the unpleasant situation a couple days ago.” Luna’s horn flickered. “Let’s start with what we know. Why were you upset?”

Coco’s jaw hung open. This was sudden… she was put on the spot. “I ―I don’t think that will be necessary now.”

“First step of making sense of a situation is to tell yourself what you saw and heard. What you were feeling.” Luna said. “Then, we can make sense of it.”

Coco sighed. “I was upset because it seemed that he was neglecting me. Then, when I finally got some time with him…” Coco stopped, then drew a breath. “I blew up.”

Luna motioned the painting.

The image shifted to Yttrium. He briskly trotted towards the waiting room. Following to his sides were his colleagues. He saying something, but Coco couldn’t hear. However, from the expression on his face, she could tell he was frazzled. He thundered through the doors and started speaking to a pony across the room.

It was her.

“Coco, now’s not a good time! I have a lot on my plate!” Yttrium shouted at her.

“Yttrium, it’s been weeks since you’ve had a break. Don’t you think you could spare some time for me?” Coco asked.

Coco winced. She remembered she mustered up all her strength and assertiveness to stand her ground and counter the common excuse.

“Coco! You need to get out! I need to find this cure before I lose my mind!” Yttrium said.

…Only to have it go a complete different direction.

Luna’s horn flickered and the painting froze. “After that, a couple hurtful words were said. Of course, he tried to be civil, but once you called him ‘Selfish’ ‘Arrogant’ ‘Self-Important’, he just left the room.”

“I was just angry that he was making his career more important than me. I didn’t mean most of that stuff.” Coco wiped away tears from her eyes. “I had no idea that he was stressed.”

“It doesn’t end there.” Luna’s horn glowed. A newspaper materialized and flopped on Coco’s lap.

Coco brushed her wet hooves on the blanket before picking it up and read it aloud. “Doctor Yttrium Fuse and Designer Coco Pommel― Quid Pro Quo.”

“This is what Yttrium successfully managed to prevent, Luckily.” Luna explained. She motioned to the painting again. It repeated the same memory, but this time it followed his colleagues as they rushed off. As the approached the end of the hall, several ponies with cameras and notepads swarmed them.

“This batch of reporters have had several sources say to them a random theory: Diamond had been spotted entering the hospital. Mare-ison Bergeron had been spotted through the windows of the hospital’s fourth floor. However, this didn’t seem to have any grounds since most of them were blurry. Some tabloids have some theories. But the most popular theory suggests that you are Mare-ison and spend time on the fourth-floor trading ―” Luna cleared her throat. “ehm― favors so Diamond can be credited as a part of the team when the cure is found.”

“That’s preposterous!” Coco said, slamming the newspaper onto the hardwood.

“I agree. However, after Diamond was reported to be helping out Doctor Fuse check for any straggling Corrosion during the Mane-hattan Elementary outbreak, more and more ponies have bought into the false theory.” Luna shook her head and sighed. “It’s funny, they expect Doctor Fuse to be careful, yet the press is not careful, trying to prove one paranoid theory as fact, and dismissing all logic.”

“So, you say this is not possible anymore?” Coco said. “I mean, how does it escalate to that in the first place?”

“Your old enemies― Suri Polomare is the tip of the iceberg― will stop at nothing to perpetuate a rumor and assign it as truth,” Luna said. “The more supporting evidence, like seeing you and Yttrium in the same room could be taken the wrong way.”

“So, we dodged an arrow?” Coco asked.

“The fact that you weren’t bothered by news reporters should be a sign enough.” Luna nodded. “You should be fine as long as you stay away from that hospital until things cool down.”

Coco wrapped her blanket around her forehooves. “All this thinking that he was trying to avoid me, when in reality, he protected my reputation and his. I feel awful now.”

“Don’t worry, it is just a misunderstanding.” Luna said.

Coco paused and thought about it a little bit. “Can the damage be repaired? What can I do to apologize?”

“It’s not as big of a deal as you are making it out to be. Write a letter… and this time make it a good one! Give it to Dazzle before she goes to volunteer so you can make sure he gets it. From there, you can continue your conversations in private,” Luna suggested. “Your secret is safe with me. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Coco snickered. The Moon Princess using a Pinkie Swear. She’d seen everything.

“For what it is worth, I’ve never met two ponies that are as hard-working as you two. Right now, as we speak, he has taken an unexpected sleep while running a sample.” Luna said.

Suddenly, the painting flickered and burst into tiny sparks.

“Oh! Speaking of which, one of his colleagues has woken him up!” Luna said.

“That poor stallion.” Coco observed. “Sleep deprivation is the worst.”

“As is you. Guess what?” Luna said with a slight smile. “You are sleeping right now on your sewing table. Fortunately, there is nopony in the house except for Diamond who is fast asleep.”

Coco saw flashes of light, a blink of visions and pieces, like flipping through a magazine real fast. She caught onto a couple images- Dazzle, with some other foals… a tree… a dark chasm, a jar being smashed on the ground.

“Pardon me, Coco Pommel, the dream next door bled into this one.” Luna said as she caught her breath. “Something has changed dramatically. You know what? Hold onto the letter for a little while longer. You will need it shortly.”

“What is going on?” Coco asked. “I saw you and Dazzle… what is ever occurring in her dream of hers over there?”

“Forget you saw anything. I underestimated the strength and vividness of her dreams as of late. You weren’t supposed to see that.” Luna shook her head.

“Please, Luna.” Coco clasped her hooves together. “She woke up screaming the other night. I want to know what is going on.”

“You have your troubles, she has hers. A filly’s nightmare versus a mare’s nightmares. Not a good mix.” Luna said.

“I’m her mother! I have a right to know.” Coco flinched after she said that sentence. Maybe this assertiveness thing wasn’t the best thing to be trying right now.

Luna paused. Coco froze in place. She’d done it now… yelled at one of the Princesses… she braced herself.

“You two have really bonded, haven’t you?” Luna smiled. Wider than last, notably.

“Let’s just call our relationship ‘divine intervention’.” Coco waved her hooves in the air in quotations. She snuck in her sigh of relief, and stood up straight in front of the Princess.

“Okay, I will only show you the important parts. You must promise not to intervene unless I tell you to.” Luna instructed.

“Cross my heart…” Coco mimed through the actions

Luna bowed. “Ready to merge?”

Coco nodded.