Cut From The Same Cloth

Chapters

Cast On
Knit
Purl
Cable
Cast Off

Cast On

"Twilight! There you are!" Starlight practically stampeded to the door as the Princess of Friendship entered her castle. "Where have you been!?"

Stopping dead in the doorway, Twilight blinked in surprise. "Um, I was taking a walk? I--I thought with Winter Wrap-Up done, a trip through Whitetail Woods might be relaxing. Spike was telling me I should get some fresh air." Her eyes darted about the foyer, looking for something on fire or on the verge of exploding. "What's wrong, Starlight?"

With a frustrated roll of her eyes, Starlight looped around behind the Princess and gave her a shove forward. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Twilight! When the map calls, we answer! You usually take this way more seriously!"

Digging her hooves in, Twilight ground both of them to a halt just as soon as she started to move. "Wait, what? Starlight, what are you talking about? The map isn't calling me." She wiggled, showing off her flank to Starlight - and her cutie mark that was pointedly not glowing.

Starlight blinked uncomprehendingly, her face almost touching Twilight's butt. "But... it is your cutie mark the map's showing." She looked between Twilight's flank and the map room door. "...Isn't it?"

Both frowned - and hesitantly inched into the throne room.

In the center of the room was the map table they knew so well - and two cutie marks hovered over it. One, Twilight recognized as the purple and red hat that signified Rarity's friend-slash-employee Coco Pommel. The other... well, it was undeniably Twilight's six-pointed star. But it was just as undeniably wrong - the image kept stuttering and twisting, glitching out as it hovered over the Castle of Friendship.

Edging closer, Twilight frowned. "I don't understand. It's never done that before - and my cutie mark isn't glowing, either!" Panic crept into her voice. "What if the map's broken? Starlight, what if it's broken!?" Twilight spun around to her companion. "It's a completely unresearched artifact of immeasurable strength tied directly to one of the most powerful natural forces in the world! Oh, ponyfeathers!" She stomped petulantly. "I knew I should have run tests on it when I had the chance! Now it's broken and we have no idea how to fix it!"

"Twilight. Twilight!" Starlight grabbed the Princess by the cheeks. "Calm down! Look, Spike already sent a letter off to Coco but she's in Manehatten. It's probably going to take her at least a day to get here. We've got time before she does to figure out what's gone wrong with the map and try to fix it. Right?"

Slowly, Twilight's panic receded. "Right! You're... you're right, Starlight. We've got time." She laughed, head shaking. "I almost went Twilinanas there, didn't I?"

"You kinda did," Starlight confirmed with a snicker.

They both laughed with each other, letting the tension ebb.

Twilight drew herself up again, eyes locking on the table. "First things first. We'll need to do a complete thaumatic analysis of the table and its underlying enchantments. That's going to take time, but we might see something obviously out of place or non-functional. It isn't much and I should have done it years ago, but it at least gives us a starting point." The Princess frowned deeply. "I don't want to have to disassemble the table, but if it comes to that I know Spike has the tools to break crystal up and between us we've got enough mending spells to--"

"Um. Girls?"

Both Twilight and Starlight twisted at the sound of a third voice. Their gazes went to the doorway from the library (well, a library, it was Twilight's castle after all) and the voice's source. In the door stood the familiar amber form of Sunset Shimmer. And beside her? A purple unicorn with thick glasses and a flashing mark on her flank.

"I'm hoping you two have an explanation for this," dryly quipped the rogue student.

Silence - like chaos - reigned throughout the room.

Eventually, the Princess settled on some workable words. "This answers so many questions and yet raises quite a few more."

"Can we please start with why I ponied up in the middle of gym class and my butt started glowing?" The nominally human Twilight, by the sound of things, was already quite done with the situation. She adorably stomped forward, getting nose to nose with the Princess. "So you know what's going on here? Maybe you could share that knowledge with the rest of us!"

Starlight quickly interposed herself between the two Twilights. "Right! I think everypony's a little on edge here. Maybe we should all take a deep breath, sit down and we can catch you two up on how the map table works."

It took nearly an hour to fully calm the situation and clarify things - and it was rough every step of the way. The human Twilight kept interrupting the explanation about how the table worked to insert her own probing questions about it. Nearly all of which embarrassed the Princess further, as she kept having to admit she never got around to researching and experimenting with the table - a point that the scientifically-minded human Twilight was loudly frustrated by.

Fortunately, Starlight eventually managed to get the basics across and by that point the human was thoroughly distracted by Spike arriving with a stack of books on magic theory. In short order, both Twilights were ensconced off to the side in a ersatz library-pile, muzzles deep in their respective books as they tried to develop theories on how the map table worked.

"Twilight is such a Twilight," Sunset snarked as she, Starlight and Spike looked on.

Spike - who had brought out tea and a snack tray - smirked. "I've got a little experience dealing with Twilight when there's a crisis. Sometimes she just needs a little time to distract herself. In an hour or two, she'll have her thoughts in order and six ways to solve everything."

Starlight added a drop of honey to her tea. "Now that we know the table isn't broken and who it's calling, we just need to figure out where. The marks were over the Castle, but I don't know why it would need those two here."

There was a momentary pause as Sunset sipped her oolong. "Actually, I don't think the Castle is where it wants them. It's just the closest place available since it can't display somewhere on the other side of the mirror."

Starlight Glimmer froze mid-sip, teacup hovering in her magic. Then - with deliberate slowness - she set the cup down. "That really changes things. And--"

"And raises a lot of questions about how the table works," Sunset completed. "Yeah, trust me, I get it. But it's the only thing that makes sense. Why else would it call for one of us? This Coco is needed for something in our world so she has to have a guide."

"The map's never called somepony just to be a guide before," Starlight countered. "But I can't fault the rest of your logic." She pursed her lips tightly, looking over at the pair of Twilights. "Twilight's always nervous when somepony else goes on a mission and it's out of her control. The fact that we're going to send a pony who's never been on one into another dimension is... she's going to be a wreck."

Sunset leaned against Starlight. "And Twilight's going to be a wreck, too. She's always been focused on meeting expectations and goals - ones set by her parents, by her school, by her own neuroses. But this one's a literal magic quest given to her by an interdimensional artifact formed from the building blocks of reality. Plus there's the whole part where she's going to be working with an Equestrian who doesn't know our world at the same time."

The two unicorns simultaneously frowned and looked to each other. And as one, they spoke the same phrase about different Twilights. "I'm going to have to keep her sane."

Spike loudly cleared his throat. Both unicorns turned. "You're both forgetting you have friends to help. Again."

Both Starlight and Sunset blushed with embarrassment.

"Oh," Sunset bashfully admitted, "Right."

Neither Twilight extracted herself from the reading before bed - both fell asleep with a book for a pillow, still paging through scholarly works into the dark hours of Luna's night.

This fully explained the next morning, when two unicorns and a dragon were confronted by the twins shambling in at the scent of coffee.

Breakfast - haycakes, at Sunset's insistence to get a rarely available taste from her childhood - was had in near silence out of respect for the pair with the knowledge-hangover. Unfortunately, that silence allowed room for discussion and neither Twilight had gotten it out of their system yet. Thus in short order...

"--So clearly the map uses a variation of Polliwog's Echo to geo-locate the subjects in question. From there it's just creating a projection for the user interface!"

The Princess scoffed. Loudly. "Somepony isn't aware that Berrycloth's Runic Dichotomization Technique is the obvious choice, since Polliwog's work was supplanted by it almost a hundred years ago! It's far more thaumatically efficient." She prodded her counterpart with a hoof. "That's basic knowledge!"

The human Twilight glowered at her opposite . "First, we're talking about a mysterious table powered by a crystal tree, I don't think it cares about efficient uses of energy. Second, basic knowledge since when?"

A thick book lifted in the Princess' raspberry magic. "Since forever. The history of Berrycloth's work is outlined in--"

"You've been holding out on me!" The other Twilight lunged for the book in question, grabbing clumsily with her hooves. "You can't tell me there's no other volumes on the subject and then try to disprove me using one you were hiding! That's intellectually dishonest!"

Princess Twilight batted Twilight away with a wing. "I wasn't hiding it, I was reading it!"

As the two devolved into a slap-fight, Starlight sighed happily. "Spike, have I told you lately that you're a genius in the kitchen? These hashbrowns are perfect."

"Aw, you're just saying that." The dragon blushed, scuffing his foot on the floor.

"No, really!" Starlight paid zero attention to the brawl going on directly behind her. "I never would have thought to add diced scallions and parmesan. It really elevates it." She still had added hot sauce, but the others were too polite to point out that fact.

Sunset - face still slightly sticky from the syrup - spared a glance to the academic battle going on. "You know, if you told me that putting the four most brilliant living magical minds across two dimensions into the same room would result in a slapfight over breakfast instead of solving the mysteries of the universe? I'd have called you crazy."

"Four of the five most brilliant," Starlight gently corrected.

"Who's missing?"

Forking up another pile of hashbrowns, Starlight completed her statement. "Starswirl."

Sunset froze. "Since when is Starswirl alive?"

"Three months ago." Starlight shrugged it off. "We rescued him from being trapped in the space between realities. It was a thing. Could you pass the pepper?"

The pepper was passed - though by Spike, as Sunset was too busy being shellshocked.

Fortunately for everypony involved, it was at that exact moment that the doors opened and an exhausted-looking Coco Pommel tumbled in. "I'm here! I'm here!" Her hooves skittered wildly on the crystal floor, unused to the slick smoothness. "I'm sorry I took so long! I tried to leave as soon as I got your message, but getting a pegasus chariot in Manehatten on no notice is--"

And then the designer froze, confronted with the image of two Twilight Sparkles - one of which was incongruously not a princess - wrestling over the rights to a book.

Spike held out the tea. "They're going to be a while."

Fortunately, it did not. Sunset's red magic enveloped both Twilights, pulling them apart. "Look, I've got to get to work this afternoon so if you two are done? We should probably bring Coco up to speed."

The two shame-faced Twilights didn't look at each other, but both nodded reluctantly. Soon, all seven sat themselves at the table, sharing around the remains of breakfast. After a time to settle, the Princess started. "Coco - I know that Spike's letter told you the basics of the map, but things have gotten a little more complicated since then." She glanced around at the others, letting the weight of the word 'complicated' sink into the depths. "First, I should introduce Sunset Shimmer and... Twilight Sparkle. Who's me. From another dimension."

Coco blinked at that. "What?"

"Sunset's a native Equestrian, but she lives in that dimension as well. They're here because she's the Twilight that has been summoned to go with you, not me." The Princess helplessly shrugged. "Sorry about the confusion of which Twilight was going with you."

The earth pony tilted her head in response. "That's the confusing part you're apologizing for?"

A loud snort erupted from the far side of the table as Starlight almost shot coffee from her nose.

The Princess stammered - and Sunset picked up. "I know this is all weird, and it isn't helped by the fact that you're the only one in the room who hasn't crossed the dimensional barrier before. That's why I'm here to help - I've kind of got a lot of experience with it, so I can help smooth the transition out for you."

Somehow, Coco managed to remain calm despite the madness being presented to her - her voice was even, tinged only bit a hint of worry. "Um. Does that mean I'm going to have to go to another dimension?"

Sunset and her Twilight exchanged glances - Twilight pursed her lips tightly and gave the amber unicorn a little nod. "We think so," Sunset admitted. "Actually, I suspect even more than that. The other dimension is similar to ours in a lot of ways, including that most of the people there are alternate versions of ponies here." She waved a hoof at the Twilights as an example. "Given that it gave you... the Twilight who's not a Princess, I've got a hunch that it's got something to do not just with our world but Twilight's former school, Crystal Prep."

The words meant nothing to the ponies in the room, but the human Twilight cringed a little.

"If I remember your story, Coco, you've got a connection to someone in that school - Suri Polomare."

And as Sunset said that, the light went on in Twilight's head. "Oh! Oh yes, right! I remember Suri! And..." Her eyes widened behind her glasses. "Oh. That's why you look slightly familiar. You're her assistant."

"Former assistant," Coco corrected, her even demeanor momentarily breaking through with venom.

"Former," Twilight agreed, cowed instantly.

Sunset stepped in again. "Former here. Just like there's similar individuals in each world, events tend to play out similarly too. But this world is a little bit ahead of what happens in the other - and I think that's what's going on here. Coco?" She leveled her gaze at the earth pony. "I think you might be getting called to save yourself."

Author's Note

I've been meaning to use Coco in a story for a while. She's just so dang adorable!

Knit

Twilight would insist that there is no real difference between theory and practice - any shift is because the end user is improperly applying the theory and no amount of logic can fully account for human error.

Coco Pommel would disagree, because standing on two legs was damned well harder than it sounded.

Fortunately she had Twilight Sparkle on one side of her and Sunset Shimmer on the other - both of whom were experts at being bipedal. So while it was disorienting, at least Coco didn't fall over.

"I'm so high," noted the earth pony - now a pale cream girl. She stared down at her feet and the black leather mary janes she was suddenly wearing. "Am I really tall or is this normal?"

Sunset smirked. "It's normal. You're actually a little short for a human of our age group." Gently she took hold of Coco's fist, prying it open from the Equesterian hoof-hand to something more natural to humans. "Judging by most of us who've come over, you'll get used to it in half an hour or so. Your mind's still having mixed signals and that'll pass naturally. Just walk around a bit and your legs will figure it out."

"I've got the same problem whenever we go to Equestria," Twilight chipperly noted. "Well, being a quadraped and--"

"Can we not? I'm pretty sure she gets the idea." Sunset glowered at her human companion, knowing full well the frustrations that line of conversation was heading toward. "Let's focus on our mission."

Unsteadily, Coco raised a hand. "Um. Sunset? I don't want to sound ungrateful but it's our mission, not yours. The Princess was specific about that - the map picks the ponies it needs for a reason."

On her other side, Twilight nodded. "She's right. All past instances of the map table's selections we were told about have been exclusive. Not that I don't like spending time with you or the girls, Sunset!" She rapidly backpedaled her words. "But, well..."

Pouting, Sunset made her displeasure clear. "Look, just because some magic table says you don't need my help doesn't mean--" She stopped, derailed by both of the others looking at her - one pleadingly apologetic and the other with wry frustration. "...Fine," she huffily replied. "I'll just... go hang with Wallflower or something."

She backed away - slowly at first, then turning fully away after a hesitant wave.

Once Sunset had left earshot, Twilight let out a sigh. "Sorry. Sunset wants to help but she overdoes it sometimes. And she's... kind of bad about control issues."

Coco gently nodded as the pair started away from the portal plinth, taking it slowly so she could get used to walking. "Is it a redeemed villain thing? The Princess said Sunset used to be evil."

Twilight laugh-snorted. "Pft, no! I mean, I used to be evil and I'm not like that. I think it's just a Sunset thing."

"You were..." Coco blinked rapidly as her brain tried to reset. "But you're Twilight Sparkle. You can't be evil."

They turned, moving away from Canterlot High now - heading into town. "It wasn't my brightest moment, no. And the girls would tell me I wasn't evil." Her voice dropped, hushed by the weight of the memory. "But I wasn't good, either."

Both were quiet for a few more steps before Twilight picked back up again. "While your Princess and I are very different people, one thing I do know is that we're both human." She paused for a beat. "Well, pony." Another beat. "You know what I mean."

Coco quietly giggled.

"We make mistakes. We have emotions. I guess being the all-powerful Princess hides that." Twilight didn't hide the bitterness in her voice.

And surprisingly, Coco shook her head. "No, actually? I knew that. That's why I said it." She paused their walk, taking a moment to put her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight Sparkle can't be evil because she understands that she's like the rest of us and makes mistakes. She has the strength of character to look at what she does and find her own flaws. Then she fixes them. Maybe sometimes after a bit of freaking out, but she does. And it shows us it's alright for us to be less than perfect, too. That's why she's a Princess of the people - she sets an example we can reach for and try to live up to. We all love Princess Celestia because of what she does for our world - but we love Twilight because of what she does for us."

Twilight frowned deeper. "Yeah. She's great."

Undeterred, the former pony gave Twilight's shoulder a squeeze. "Is having somepony to look up to so bad?"

"It is when she's you," came the almond-bitter counter.

Coco wavered, losing the momentum. Instead, she changed tack. "We, um. We should probably focus on the mission."

Twilight didn't argue the change of subject. "Yeah. I think Sunset had a good point. I used to go to Crystal Prep, so I'm the only one of our friends who could be your guide there. Although..." A stray thought skittered across her brain. "Maybe we should start by talking to Rarity? I mean, the human Rarity. Since you know the pony one, maybe she knows the human you?"

The idea made Coco perk up. "Oh! Yes, that's a good idea! Since my world's Rarity helped me get away from Suri, then this one--"

Twilight frowned as they turned up a sidestreet. "Actually, no. Wait. If the human you is still Suri's assistant, then Rarity probably hasn't met you yet. Since that would mean the human you should have had a similar encounter."

A nearly identical frown came to Coco's lips. "That's a good point." She sighed heavily. "I guess I'm just reluctant. I've been avoiding my Suri ever since I left her. I know I should reach back out to her and try to help, but, well. She can get pretty mad. Trying to meet a different one is, um. It's almost as scary."

Gently, Twilight gave Coco's hand a squeeze. "It's going to be okay. This Suri doesn't have any reason to be angry with you, and even if she is you're not alone."

Coco smiled gently back. "I know. I couldn't do this if I was."

A shiver ran down Twilight's spine. She'd spoken with other Crystal Prep students and staff since she left the school - the Shadowbolts were sort-of friends to the Rainbooms and Cadance was still, well, Cadance. But since that fateful day at the Friendship Games she'd only returned to the building twice: once to collect her things and once to help Rarity's silly attempt to infiltrate the dance studio. Beyond that, Twilight had kept well away. There were far too many memories in the hallowed halls.

Now it loomed large in front of them - the tiled roof of bright blue contrasting with the building's dark brick. Between the twin spires, the central clock rang out the Westminster Chimes to mark the half-hour.

Twilight glanced at her watch to confirm. "...Still nine seconds slow," she pronounced. A look between them - and a frown. "We're going to have to be careful about this. It's a school day, so we're not really supposed to be on their campus."

"Can't we blend in? If the other me is supposed to be here, then we could just... pretend?" Coco bit her lip nervously, unsure if a sensible pony plan would also be a sensible human one.

Her companion shook her head. "Somewhere else that might work. But Crystal Prep has a very strict dress code." Twilight waved vaguely first at her own outfit - violet skirt, powder blue blouse, magenta vest - then at Coco's - red skirt, cream blouse with a purple sailor's collar, red cravat. Then she motioned towards the building and a distant Fleur De Lis in her uniform - plaid magenta skirt, maroon vest, purple tie. "We don't blend."

Coco's eyes darted between them both. "If I had a little time, I could put something together?"

Twilight again shot down the idea. "They'd probably still recognize me anyway. Let's just keep our heads down."

The pair crept forward onto the school's grounds with the utmost care and stealth. Akin to ninjas, they made their skilled infiltration past the front gate, across the lawn and into the building.

Which is where they were immediately spotted.

"Ladybug!"

Coco bumped into Twilight as the native human recoiled.

Dean Cadance swooped in, grabbing Twilight up in a hug. "Well, this is a surprise!"

"gwak," croaked Twilight from somewhere inside Cadance's grasp.

A small giggle slipped out of Coco.

Instantly, that drew Cadance's attention like a t-rex sensing motion. Without releasing Twilight, her eyes locked on to the Equestrian. "Oh, and Coco! I didn't know you two knew each other!" The joyous pink face smiled over top of the mass of violet hair. "I guess you're bringing Twilight to support you for the upcoming Art Of The Dress competition." Barely braking for breath, Cadance gasped. "Wait! You're not using her as your model, are you?" She released Twilight, pushing her out to arm's length to examine the native teen. "You are! Oh, that's wonderful! Finally, someone who recognizes just what a beauty Twilight can be!"

Coco opened her mouth to explain things - only for Twilight to cut her off with a nervous laugh. "Ahahahaha... Um. Why, um, yes! Yes that's exactly it! I'm... Coco's new model!" She put on her best, fakest smile. "You know me! So enthused to be helping out a friend." Pulling free from Cadance, she slung an arm around Coco. "But you know how it is! So much work to do and so little time, right? We really should get to the next fixing."

"Fitting," Coco gently corrected.

"Fitting! Next fitting!" Twilight's head bobbled.

For a moment, Cadance looked between the two with pursed lips. Then she gave a hesitant nod. "Yes, you're probably right. The competition's only in two days, after all." A weighty sigh escaped her lips. "Can you blame me for wanting to be around you more, though, Ladybug? Now that you're not at Crystal Prep every day, it's like I never see you!"

The unease and nervous energy in Twilight's expression softened and drained into a small but earnest smile. "We'll fix that, Cadance. I promise."

And her former babysitter smiled back. "I'll hold you to that." She stepped aside. "Go on, I'm sure you're both eager to put on your final touches. And good luck!"

The pair skittered away, leaving the waving Cadance behind them. Twilight pulled Coco along, guiding her as Coco guided the conversation in a hissed whisper. "What was that about?"

"I panicked!" Judging by the tone of her voice, Twilight was still panicking. "But now we're inside and have an excuse to be here, so that makes it easier. I'll just have to figure something out later to explain to Cadance why the other Coco doesn't know anything about me or why I'm not modeling anything. Because I'm not."

With a deep sigh, Coco let it go rather than chase further down that rabbit hole. "At least we're in."

Two more hallways passed in quiet between the pair - classes were in, so the halls remained mostly empty. Only a handful of students passed by them, most enroute to a bathroom or to their locker. Passing into the Arts department, they found one such student at their locker - and it was almost the student they wanted.

Even though it wasn't the same one she'd spent so much time toiling under, the sight of Suri Polomare made Coco freeze up. Sure, this one was human and visibly quite a lot younger - but she still had that same aura of Angry Suri energy around her. The furious slam of her locker door drove home that mood to everyone within earshot - admittedly just the pair and Suri herself, but had anyone else been present they would have gotten the hint instantly.

Coco certainly did. The slam made her flinch hard enough to recoil into Twilight. Her surprised grunt in turn attracted Suri's attention to them. The Crystal Prep designer's eyes narrowed. "Coco."

"Um. Hi, Suri." Coco's hands latched onto each other, tightly holding on to herself in a surprisingly human gesture. Years of fear boiled up through her gut, threatening to be vomited out and dissolve Coco into a cowering mess.

Suri scoffed right back. "Oh don't you try that act with me. It's too late, we both know that." Her eyes flickered to Twilight. "And I see you've already moved on. Going to worm your way in with Rarity through her friends?"

The accusation's slap drew another wince. "Suri, it's not like that!" Coco took a step towards the doppelganger of her original mentor.

And then she froze, stiff as a board. Because when Coco took that step forward - Suri took one backwards. She retreated from Coco.

Something about that tiny, alien movement terrified the Equestrian.

Suri did her best to mask her emotions, hanging an angry face over that literal mis-step. "Just... just go, Coco." Her expression twisted up as she wrestled her tongue into saying the next bile-filled words. "You won. Alright? You won. I've pulled out of the contest. Take your victory with at least a little grace, 'kay?" Shrugging on her backpack, Suri's mask slipped for just a moment to show her defeat - shoulders slumped and eyes unable to meet Coco's. "I suppose I taught you too well."

Then she turned - and she ran without dignity.

Coco let her go. She was too busy trembling. Twilight reached out - and as soon as her fingertips grazed the Equestrian, Coco sank to her knees.

"Oh no. What have I done?"

Author's Note

Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think Suri was going to be the villain in this one?

Purl

Finding the Home Ec workshop took a little bit of time - Twilight was no help for obvious reasons and everyone they talked to assumed Coco already knew. It took finally encountering Sugarcoat and using the word 'magic' to get proper (if sarcastic) directions.

The Home Economics department for Crystal Prep was as well-funded as the rest of it, though the relatively low prestige meant that it only covered a pair of rooms. One was the test kitchen - the other was the momentarily more important workshop. Packed with sewing machines, fabric cutters, a loom and enough mannequins to populate a baseball team, it was the finest that the school could purchase for its students.

Right now, it was the sole domain of Coco Pommel. She was in the zone - a dozen mannequins were draped with half-completed works as she whipped her shears through another bolt of cloth. It was all coming together: the colors, the textures, all of it forming into a single cohesive whole that complimented and elevated it beyond mere clothing and into Art.

Which is why she didn't notice the intruder in her sanctum until Twilight Sparkle loudly cleared her throat. The unexpected sound caused Coco's cutting to skew wildly to the side, in turn eliciting a frustrated yelp from the designer. She spun around, eyes glittering with fury - which immediately dissipated when she saw the embarrassed purple girl standing there.

"Sorry," Twilight squeaked.

A quick plastic smile rose to Coco's lips. "Oh, it's okay! You just surprised me. You're Twilight Sparkle, aren't you?"

Nodding, Twilight eased out of the doorway and into the workshop proper. "Uh huh. And you're Coco Pommel. I don't think we ever really met while I was here at Crystal Prep, but I was kind of bad about people back then."

Coco didn't respond. She simply... smiled and gave the slightest of nods.

Shifting her weight from foot to foot, Twilight smiled back with growing unease. "So, uh, you're... designing? Clothes and stuff? I design stuff too! I--I mean not clothes. More tech-y things like computers and, um..." Those smiling, gentle blue eyes continued to patiently bore into Twilight. "Well, I guess those things aren't really a lot like dresses but designing is, um, they're..." And she lost what little track she had.

After Twilight's flow of words mostly dribbled off, Coco finally spoke with the soft tone of addressing a rambling child. "Can I help you with something?"

"Er, yes! Help! Yes!" Twilight latched onto the word eagerly. "I-- wait. Coco, were you at the Friendship Games?"

The designer tensed up - just a hair. "I wasn't there, but I've heard a lot of stories."

Twilight beamed. "Oh good, then I don't have to explain nearly as much. You already know about the magic and the other world. Coco Pommel?" She stepped aside, opening the door back up. "Meet Coco Pommel."

The two Cocos looked at each other. The resemblance was predictably uncanny - aside from their outfits, the two were nearly twins. Rather than in the physical, the differences were in their expressions: the Equestrian's was hesitant and concerned; the human's was a mixture of surprise and a brief flash of fear.

"Hi," offered the Equestrian. "May I come in? I think we might have a few things to talk about."

Glancing between her counterpart and the mass of semi-complete clothes, the human Coco looked for an escape. "Sorry, but I'm a little busy right now with the--"

"The Art of the Dress competition," finished the Equestrian. "Somepony mentioned it when they mistook me for you." Coco took a step further in, letting the door close behind her. "I think that might be why I'm here."

"Why you think you're here?"

The response to the human's question was a shrug. "I was told to come here by a magic table."

For just a moment the student looked at the pair of shears still in her hand, considering defensive options in the face of madness. But she thought better of it. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure how I can help you. But I really should finish this sash." With that she turned away, unrolling the bolt of fabric further to re-cut her next piece.

But Coco wasn't so easily dissuaded. She closed the gap, coming up beside her human self.

The Crystal Prep student glowered briefly. "Tape measure, please?" She held out her hand, impatiently waiting for her double to at least be a little useful.

A moment's hesitation - and then Coco handed it to Coco. The one measured out her next cut on the fabric while the other continued to pry. "It's not about you helping me. It's about me helping you. A lot of similar things happen between the worlds, and I think that I was sent here to help you do what I did a few years ago."

"To help me win this competition?"

Coco set her hand on her native self's arm. "No. To break free from Suri."

And then the human Coco laughed. Not the quiet, cheery one Twilight had heard so far from the Equestrian - one sharp as a needle. Before either could react, Coco segued into her proper response. "You can be happy, then. I've already taken care of that problem." She smiled, turning away from the fabric to the pair of visitors. "Not only has she pulled out of the competition, but she graciously turned over her part of the workshop to me."

Twilight inched into the conversation again. "How?"

A half-shrug was her response. "I've known Suri was cheating and she let her guard down recently. A little bit of video evidence goes a long way."

The other Coco sputtered. "You blackmailed Suri?!"

"If I didn't," came the counter, "She would have ruined me as soon as I tried anything. I wouldn't have had a chance, so I needed to move first." The native Coco turned back to her cutting. "It's everyone for themselves, after all."

Swaying on her feet, the Equestrian Coco stumbled backwards. "I... I'm too late." She spun on her heel to Twilight. "We got here too late."

Of course, the local Coco was all the more confused by that reaction. "Isn't that how you got rid of her?"

"No!" Coco swung back to her native self. "Rarity showed me that Suri was wrong and I quit! I learned a better way. You just... you let her win!"

"No?" Finally the shears were set down as Coco looked to Coco quizzically. "I'm pretty sure I won." She looked around the workshop - her workshop - and the pointed lack of Polomare in it. "Really sure."

With a petulant stomp of her not-hoof, the pony Coco once more imposed herself on her double. "But you didn't learn the lesson! Without Rarity--"

The human tilted her head slightly to the side. "Who's Rarity?"

"No no no no no..." Coco turned back to Twilight, hands clutching her head. "What do I do?"

Before Twilight could answer, the human Coco stepped in, grabbing the pony by the shoulder and twisting her back around. "What's going on here? You aren't making any sense. How else was I supposed to get rid of Suri?"

Gently, Twilight interposed herself between the two Cocos. With a hand held up to each, she tried to stop the conversation before it got even more out of control. "I think maybe we've done all we can here right now. We'll let you get back to work, alright?"

Desperation flashed through the Equestrian Coco's eyes - then her shoulders slumped. "You're right, Twilight. I'll... we'll talk to you later, Coco. I'm sure you're busy."

"I am," confirmed the human. "Try coming back after the competition. We can compare notes on that tacky fool, Suri!" Beaming, she patted her double on the shoulder - and gave a very unsubtle push towards the door.

The point taken, both Coco and Twilight retreated from the room.

Outside the workshop, Coco slumped against the wall and buried her face in her hands. "This is a disaster."

Twilight knelt in front of her, setting a comforting hand on the Equestrian's shoulder. "It isn't the best start, but I don't think we've lost yet."

Coco raised her plaintive eyes to Twilight's smile. "But... I'm-- she's evil now!"

"From what the Princess told me," Twilight noted, "The map never calls anyone to an impossible task. Which means if we were called, there's still hope."

The designer took a deep, shuddering breath. "Right. I'm sure you're right. I have to have faith in the Map and the Princesses."

Putting her back to the wall, Twilight shifted to sit beside her partner in harmony. "Maybe we should do a little research. Tell me again - when you had your experience in Equestria, what made you change your mind?"

Coco closed her eyes, thinking back to those fateful two days in Manehatten. "Rarity competed against Suri in Fashion Week - one of the big contests. Suri stole Rarity's designs, forcing her and her friends to redo everything in one night. She won, but Suri lied to her in the hope that she wouldn't claim the prize and Suri would get it instead. But instead of being sad she lost, Rarity, well, she didn't care. Her friends mattered more to her than a trophy. Seeing how they treated each other showed me Suri was wrong about how it was everypony for themselves."

Nodding along slowly, Twilight considered the story. "Well, we've got a competition. Maybe this is about what happened to you, and we just have to help Rarity win?"

"Well..." Coco tried not to smile too much at the suggestion. "I do want to meet Rarity on this side of the mirror. And I don't mind helping her. So why not!" Clambering to her still unfamiliar feet, Coco rose to the challenge. "Let's go see Rarity and help her win!"

"I'm afraid not, darlings."

"What."

Rarity gave Twilight an apologetic shrug. "I'm not taking part in the Art of the Dress competition, so you can't help me. I do appreciate the offer, of course, but you can hardly assist me to win a contest I'm not entered in." She twirled back to her drawing table, sending a paper-ruffling gust off her skirt. "Though I am working on a piece for a potential client!"

For a moment, the mission fell by the wayside for Coco as the sketch in front of Rarity sparkled temptingly. But only for a moment. "Um, I'd love to help Rarity, but we should probably save the other me from being evil first."

Rarity sighed in her normal way - which is to say with an amount of drama normally reserved for entire stage companies. "I suppose you are correct, although I'm not certain how. I sympathize, of course, having two friends who've gone evil before and my own brush with temptation. But I simply cannot enter." Turning about again - and again disturbing her own sketches with a gust of skirt - Rarity motioned towards a shelf along the wall of her workroom and one of the trophies there in particular. "I won the competition last year, and as such I am forbidden by the rules from entering a second time. They're quite insistent that it's to showcase new talent, and I'm afraid that this trophy - this damnable trophy!" She gasped with a half-sob. "This trophy brands me forever more as yesterday's news!"

Twilight applauded politely.

Rarity gave a small curtsy. "Thank you, darling. Drama aside, the facts remain." Momentary despair soured the other pair's expressions before the designer made her counter-offer. "Why don't you simply enter, Coco? Under an assumed name, of course. You sound to be quite talented in your own right."

It was a crucial lifeline and Coco grabbed on as tight as she could. "I... I could! I made an entire line for Suri in a single night once - completing just one dress shouldn't be too hard. And..." Her breath and words quickened with excitement. "And then I could beat myself and get her back on track! Plus with your help, Rarity--"

And immediately a pale white hand came up to stop Coco. "Which is something I cannot do, darling. I can allow you use of my work space and materials, but if the judges so much as sniff my aid in your piece? Why, you'd be disqualified in a heartbeat."

Coco's face fell - but only for a moment before she resteeled herself. "I understand." She turned to Twilight, eyes alight with determination. "I'll need your help, Twilight. But we can do this. We have to do this." A sliver of doubt crept in, and Coco wavered. "Right?"

And Twilight was there to boost her up again with a firm nod. "Right."

Author's Note

One of the dangers of writing a ponidox: forgetting which character is in which form, and giving humans hooves that you don't notice until the last second of editing.

Cable

A day passed. Coco's greatest advantage was that unlike her counterpart, she wasn't actually a high school student. No classes meant hours of additional work time, even if it was without a model.

Unfortunately, she also had disadvantages.

Twilight held up the chaotic mass of fabric. "This... doesn't look like a dress."

"It's not," Coco chirruped. "I spent three hours using that to practice stitching." Her face fell. "Fingers are hard."

Rarity craned her neck over Twilight's shoulder to get a better look at the practice-cloth. "It's... you're making excellent progress, Coco." That was as far as her generosity could manage.

Coco knew it and sighed heavily. "It's nowhere near good enough. And my ideas are..." She trailed away, instead presenting her evidence visually by holding out the paper.

This time, Rarity bit her lip and stayed silent. It was obvious at a glance of the sketchpad that Coco was used to designing for quadrapeds - the designs would have been beautiful if not for the fact that they were shaped entirely wrong for anything but a pony. "While they do give me some ideas, I'm afraid that they're not quite..."

"Human?" Coco slumped in her chair, head banging against the drawing table. "I'm good at what I do. I know that. But I don't think I can do this."

Twilight edged closer to the despairing designer. "Is there another problem, maybe? I know that when Starlight came here, she got used to hands pretty quickly."

This time, Rarity interceded with a soft touch to Twilight's shoulder. "Darling, there's quite a lot of difference between being able to hold an ice cream cone and doing professional-caliber stitchwork. That's far beyond the basics and it's no surprise poor Coco's having trouble. Barely more than a day's worth of time is certainly not enough to master fine motor skills."

"And we've only got twenty-three hours left before they expect Coco Pommel to present at the competition," bemoaned the pony.

"Actually," Twilight unhelpfully corrected, "I had to register you under a different name so they're expecting, um." She hesitated. "Popo Commel."

Coco's head thumped against the table again.

"Really, darling?" Rarity pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I panicked!" Twilight confessed as she started to panic again.

Silence rocked the room as all three of them got tangled in their own emotions - Twilight in panic, Coco in despair and Rarity in helpless frustration.

But even as they descended, one exploded.

"Friends!"

Coco and Rarity swung violently towards Twilight.

"Friends," she repeated. "Coco, do you remember at the castle? What Spike said?" Then Twilight's logic ground to a halt. "Oh, wait, no. You wouldn't, he said it the night before you arrived."

Confused, Coco squinted at Twilight. "While you were arguing with the Princess?"

Twilight dismissed that part with a wave. "While we were researching, actually. I've been training myself to listen while I do other things. Missed one too many instances of Spike warning me about a problem or something being on fire because I was concentrating elsewhere, so it's been a side project to learn better multitasking but that's not the point." She forcefully tapped the inhuman designs. "You can't do this on your own, Coco. But while I was reading, Spike reminded Sunset and Starlight that they didn't have to do everything themselves because they were forgetting they had friends."

Coco didn't seem to get it - but Rarity did. "Haven't you already tried that? I can't be of any more assistance without disqualifying you from the contest and as much as I love our other friends, I'm afraid that Applejack or Pinkie Pie would be less than helpful with this."

Instead of agreeing - as Rarity was right - Twilight shook her head. "Not our friends." And she looked at Coco. "Yours."

"But... I don't have any friends here," Coco observed with confusion. "And if I brought anypony from Equestria, they'd have the same problems I already do."

"Well, okay, not yours-yours. I mean other-yours."

Coco's breath hitched as Twilight's meaning hit home. "I'm pretty sure we're not friends," she noted gravely.

"She's as close as the other you seems to have," Twilight pointed out, voice grim. "I know Suri's not really your friend-friend, but, well. We know she's allowed to compete, since she was entered before. She's more than capable enough to do the work. And you've worked with her before. Sort of." She wavered, but pushed on to finish strong. "We have to try, Coco. What other choice do we have?"

Uneasily, Coco bit her lip. "I... I don't think we have one," she admitted.

Finding Suri was not a small task - fortunately, Twilight's lack of knowledge about her former schoolmates was made up for by her ability to guess Cadance's passwords to the Crystal Prep computer network.

Which turned out to be useless, as Suri wasn't home.

A quick burst of text messages to the Shadowbolts, however, pointed Twilight and Coco to a nearby strip mall.

Suri wasn't supposed to be there - and she certainly wasn't supposed to have that bottle concealed in a brown paper bag.

"Merlot," Coco confirmed, needing no more than a glance across the parking lot. "Suri always drank coffee when she was working and wine after she lost."

Twilight frowned. "But she's underage."

Coco shivered with unease. "We should probably wait. Maybe find her tomorrow? Suri gets meaner than usual when she's like this."

"Tomorrow we're out of time." Twilight glanced between Suri and Coco, watching the Equestrian shift from foot to foot. "Does she really frighten you that much?"

Hesitation - then a nod. "Y--yeah. When we worked together, it was bad. Worse if she was having a moment like... like this. And after I left Suri, we never spoke again. I kept telling myself I should but I just... I couldn't. There were too many bad memories."

Twilight pursed her lips. "And she still scares you."

"And she still scares me," came the quiet confession.

Slipping beside Coco, Twilight took her by the shoulders and pointed her towards Suri. "Coco, look at her. Is that someone to be afraid of?"

A haggard and sleep-deprived Suri skulked her way out of the strip mall, failing at not looking suspicious with her ill-gotten contraband. While Coco wasn't as familiar with human body language, the hunched shoulders and downcast eyes were close enough to pony movements for her to guess.

"...No. I feel..." Coco wrestled with her own ghosts for a moment. "I feel sorry for her. She just had her life destroyed. By me. Or sort of me."

Twilight nodded, and gave Coco a light nudge forward. "Let's catch her before she does something dumb."

Catching, it turned out, was easy. The second her nervous eyes caught sight of Coco Pommel striding across the parking lot at her, Suri froze like a deer. And when the pair reached a car-length's away from her, Suri moved to bolt.

"Wait!" Coco thrust out her hand helplessly.

Twilight grabbed Suri around the waist with a purple band of magic, jerking her to a halt in the same motion that she started to run with. Thrashing in panic, Suri futilely twisted this way and that to try and escape.

Coco - far more familiar with how unicorn magic worked - didn't bat an eye. "Suri, please! I'm not who you think I am!"

The bottle of Merlot missed Coco by inches, smashing against the blacktop. "I know you're a backstabbing jerk!"

The insult made the Equestrian flinch more than the bottle. "I'm not Coco Pommel! I'm--" She took a deep breath. "I'm the pony!"

Suri froze at the sheer incongruity of the statement, a spasm running up her body as her brain rebooted itself.

"You were at the Games! She's from the other world!" Twilight held her magic tight around Suri, giving her not even an inch to move. "She's not the Coco you know and she's trying to help!"

A glob of spit splattered on Coco's shoe. "I've had plenty of help from Coco," Suri snarled.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond - but Coco stepped between them. "No, Suri. She means I need your help. Please?"

All three went quiet as Suri glared at Coco. She didn't refute or refuse her immediately, but the tension still fogged the air.

Eventually, Suri found words through clenched teeth. "I'm listening. I don't have a choice, but I'm listening."

Coco nodded to Twilight - who released her magical grip - before stepping closer. Suri took a half-step backwards, but didn't move fast enough to keep Coco from grabbing her hands. "I've been sent here from Equestria, and I think it's to stop the Coco you know from going down the path she is. But I'm failing, Suri. I can't stop her without help, and you're the only one who has the skills to do it."

A heartening hesitation. "Why should I help you or her." Suri's narrowed eyes bored into Coco.

But the Equestrian was ready - her heart knew the way. "Because I hope that deep down, you care. Her betrayal wouldn't have hurt so much if you didn't."

"That is stupidly cliche," Suri snidely observed without actually contradicting.

And Coco riposted with a simple smile.

Before Suri could respond, Coco's voice lept to disembodied life. Behind the Coco who was present, Twilight was holding up her phone as it played a voicemail on speaker.

The distant voice of Coco Pommel sneered. "Twilight Sparkle? I heard you entered the competition under a fake name with the pretend me. I don't know what you're trying to do, but you really should think about finding something else to occupy your time. Maybe stick to your own kind of designs instead? Leave fashion to people like me or that friend of yours." She paused for dramatic effect. "I'm sure Rarity wouldn't want to be pulled into this. I can't let you ruin this for me, Twilight. Not after I finally have my chance." Her voice chilled. "Withdraw." Then she laughed. "It's not like the other me could claim the prize, anyway!"

Twilight thumbed the disconnect button, shutting out Coco's jagged humor. The Equestrian looked to her, questions in her eyes and on her lips. Twilight cut to the point. "She called me earlier. I don't answer unknown numbers and never anything during class, so I didn't hear it until after school. And then I saw how bad a time you were having and didn't want to make things worse for you."

To that, Coco didn't have an answer. She just frowned and sagged.

Silence hung for half a minute more. Then, grudgingly, Suri looked between the two girls and the smashed bottle on the ground beside them. "What kind of help were you thinking."

Coco let out a sigh of joyful relief - she stepped forward to embrace Suri, only to be batted back. "Right, right, um, too soon. You still-- Okay. You probably guessed, but I need your help to win the Art of the Dress."

Suri loudly snorted.

Holding up her hand, Coco wiggled the alien appendages. "I don't get fingers. And all my designs are for, well, ponies."

"The presentation is in less than twenty-four hours," Suri observed with her best Soursweet voice. "You're mostly useless, I don't have any materials, Coco stole all my designs--" She clenched her fists, shaking with frustration. "Do you even have a model?"

Coco hesitated, because she knew she didn't.

And then Twilight raised a hesitant hand. "Me?"

Suri froze.

"Cadance assumed I was when we ran into her yesterday, and I, um, didn't really tell her otherwise," Twilight explained. "Coco can't and you can't, so I guess I'm the only choice."

Suri's eyes flickered back and forth. A spark ignited in them - one Twilight and Coco both recognized from seeing Rarity in her moments of inspiration. Suri's mouth started to move, forming words before her voice could catch up. "Yes. Yes, I see! Oh, wait and if--" A tape measure came out of Suri's pocket, checking the length of Twilight's arm. "I could..." And she trailed off as the inspiration died in the crib. "It doesn't matter," she sighed. "It's still so little time, and Coco has all my materials and work space."

Coco swooped in to rescue. "Rarity offered to donate hers already." She put a soft hand on Suri's forearm. "We don't have time, but we have Rarity's materials and space, your inspiration and my experience. We can do this, Suri," she assured. "If you're even half the designer the other you is, I know you can do it."

It took no time to think about it. Suri snorted. "Half? As if. I'm not going to let myself get shown up by a horse, m'kay?"

Author's Note

Cast Off

Coffee was the order of the evening. Even the most conservative guess told them they'd be working until dawn, and every second would count.

Suri was a whirlwind of action - once they'd arrived at Rarity's, she'd immediately grabbed the drawing table and set to work. At seemingly random points, the sketching would stop to wrestle Twilight into place to re-measure something before diving back into her little world of charcoal and paper.

Now four hours later, Suri seemed to finally be reaching the point of satisfaction.

Coco had spent the entire time hovering around - contributing what she could to the design from her greater experience, checking supplies and bustling around the workshop to keep things on track. It came naturally. She'd been assistant to a Suri for years, after all.

And Suri was used to having a Coco by her side. The difference in worlds didn't matter - they fit together like hand and glove with barely a hesitation.

But even they couldn't stay laser-focused forever - which is why Suri had asked the inevitable question. "So, what's this other me like, hm?"

And that had led Coco to telling the whole story. The Equestrian had spared no details, going back into how she had met her Suri and their time together up until the fateful Fashion Week finale. The last time Coco had interacted with her Suri.

When the tale finally ended, Suri was silent. She'd even stopped moving - frozen at the sewing machine with fabric in hand.

Coco exchanged a concerned look with Twilight before hesitantly venturing out. "S-Suri?"

"So that's who I would have been."

Both of the others recoiled at the raw, bitter ash in the Crystal Prepper's voice. It was Twilight who asked next, once she rallied herself. "Suri? What do you mean would have been?"

"Who I would have been," Suri elaborated, "Without the Games."

Twilight - wide-eyed - could only mouth the word 'oh'.

"I still hear it, you know. Your scream. At three am when I can't sleep and I'm just staring at the walls." Suri's hands balled up, grabbing fistfuls of the violet fabric. "And I remember realizing that we'd killed you."

Models weren't supposed to move, particularly not during a fitting. But Twilight still stepped down from the pedestal and hugged Suri from behind. "You didn't."

But Suri shrugged her shoulders, nudging away Twilight's embrace. "We did. At least, it should have killed you. You turning into that... thing and nearly destroying the world was lucky, because at least someone could fix that." She turned around in her chair to face the other two. "It was a wake-up call, Twilight. You know how it is at Crystal Prep - winning is all that matters and consequences are things that happen to other people." Her voice dropped to a murmur. "I think it was the first time any of us got to see what the cost in 'win at any cost' was."

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault - any of your faults. Cinch was--"

Twilight's mollifying words were cut away by Suri like shears through fabric. "We knew what we were doing. We just didn't care." Taking a deep breath, her eyes drifted half-closed. "Afterwards, all of us on the team got together to talk about it. We agreed that it was time to change who we were and to change what Crystal Prep stood for. Dean Cadance taking over for Cinch was a start, but the school wouldn't be better if we weren't better."

From the side, Coco spoke up quietly. "...And she let her guard down recently." The others turned to Coco's sharp frown. "The other me said that she'd managed to blackmail you because you let your guard down, Suri."

The designer nodded slowly. "Since the Games, I've been trying to turn myself around. I wanted to start with Coco - if I could get her on board, then the rest would be easier." Suri laughed sharply. "I needed my assistant."

Coco hadn't forgotten the rest of her other self's earlier statement, however. "She also said you were cheating."

A grimace, and Suri hung her head. "Habits are hard to break. Trying to be better doesn't mean always being better, m'kay?"

Twilight looked scandalized; Coco merely put on a wry smile.

"And now?" ventured the Equestrian.

Taking a long, deep breath, Suri drew herself back up. "Half of why I'm doing this is because you're right. I care what happens to Coco, and hearing you tell me about your Suri just makes me more sure. I don't want that to be either of our futures. The other me sounds miserable."

Twilight perked up, smiling at that admission. "And the other half?"

A wide, sharkish grin overtook Suri's features. "Because I already knew exactly what you're going to wear before I started sketching. We can get this done in one night and win because you, Twilight, come pre-made with an outfit that's going to destroy the competition. You're going to hate it, but I am going to make you a goddess."

Another bolt of violet cloth wrapped around Twilight's chest as she blushed miserably.

Fleur de Lis walked back off the stage, the presentation of Coco Pommel's dress to the judges complete. The glimmering light purple fabric of her sleek sheath dress had visibly wowed the panel - the technical aspects as well as the unique choice in material made Coco an obvious favorite. And with only one competitor left, it was all but over.

Fleur exited stage right, opposite where the remaining designers were gathered. Coco Pommel - the pony - bit her lip as the tension rose. Her fellow Coco slid up beside her in the quiet, her nerves far calmer.

"I saw you came with Suri. I guess instead of pulling out you decided to get help from a failure."

The Equestrian didn't look at her double. "She's not a failure. And I'm not giving up."

The local Coco snorted. "I don't even know what you're trying to do."

"Show you that it isn't everypony for themselves. That Generosity is important. That you're stronger--"

Coco cut her Equestrian double off. "But it is everyone for themselves. That's how Crystal Prep is, and that's how life is." She sighed. "Maybe it's different in your magic horse world, but not here."

Anything further was cut as the announcing judge leaned to the microphone. "Final contestant, miss Popo Commel."

Both Cocos were silent, looking to the far side of the stage. Just behind the curtain there was the sound of a brief spat - they could recognize the tones of both Suri and Twilight, even if the words were muffled and indecipherable. It was brief but enough for the judges to notice with a collective frown.

Then Twilight Sparkle emerged on to the runway, shoved into the limelight. She stumbled - but the mis-step was covered by the sound of Fleur de Lis loudly gasping. After all, she was only one of three people in attendance who had seen Twilight's outfit before.

The look was unmistakable to those few who knew it - the deep violet and magenta that Twilight had worn during her darkest moment. Suri had done a stunning job to recreate her vision of Midnight Sparkle, shifting Twilight from quiet nerd to smoldering she-devil. There were small adjustments of course - her glasses merely had been molded to suggest iridescent flames instead of being made of them; the great raven wings of Midnight were constructed rather than real; and the glowing horn in the middle of Twilight's forehead was missing. Beyond that, however? Midnight Sparkle had returned.

The judges knew none of this, of course. Nor did either Coco. Only Fleur, Suri and Twilight herself had been present for the event. But everyone around the stage could recognize the power being expressed. This was a form Twilight had long shied away from - something she dreaded the memory of. But now, forced into it again?

Twilight could feel the Midnight within her.

The confidence. The danger. The power.

She could feel it and as much as she didn't want to use it? That was the hand fate (and Suri, damn her) had dealt her.

Each strutted step down the runway whittled away a little more of her unease. Every tiny movement drove home to Twilight that she was in control and that she had Midnight's power at her disposal. It came to a peak as she reached the end of the runway.

Twilight twisted; paused; looked back to give a burning wink over her shoulder at the judges. A cant of the hip to strike a pose and show off the tall thigh-high boots she had on - and then she flowed back up the runway with a sway of her hips. She was in control and every bit the demon-goddess Suri had created.

As soon as she was off the stage, Twilight bent over, hugged herself tightly and started shivering as she tried to shove her anxiety back down again.

Neither Coco could quite hear what was said as Fleur came to Twilight's side, holding the distraught student and whispering quietly in her ear.

They couldn't hear the judges either - all three were gathered tightly at the table, Prim Hemline center to their deliberations.

Coco looked to Coco, lip bit in nervous anticipation.

Coco looked back at herself with a sharp frown.

"Good luck," softly offered the Equestrian.

"Shouldn't need it," came the human's less than confident reply.

Minutes ticked by and the two stood in awkward silence. Halfway through the wait, Suri emerged on the far side of the stage to kneel beside Fleur and the slowly recovering Twilight. Neither Coco moved.

Finally, Prim Hemline tapped her microphone to pull in the attention of the designers and models. "While the full slate of rankings will be released, I know all of you are quite eager to find out the competition's ultimate victor. Some of you, I'm certain, will not sleep tonight without being sure." She let that hang for half a minute, allowing tension to build. "The winner of this year's Art of the Dress is... Popo Commel, which I presume is one of you being cheeky with an alias."

One Coco dropped to her knees, letting out a breath she'd been holding far too long. The other closed her eyes and grit her teeth as Suri Polomare gave Twilight a hug before swanning out onto the stage. It had to be her, after all. Explaining a second Coco would never work.

Prim Hemline met Suri in the center of the runway, holding out the victor's spoils - a simple gold trophy of a woman in an elegant dress, mounted on a polished wood base. Small, hardly sizable, but carrying with it the might of victory.

"I can recover." The Equestrian looked to the muttering human. "I can recover," the Crystal Prep Coco repeated to herself. "Twilight will go back to her own school, the other me will go back to her world, and I can handle Suri. I've still got the video. Once she's alone--"

"I decline."

Coco's head swung upwards as those words pierced her quiet ranting.

Suri held the trophy back out to Prim, hand trembling with tight nerves and stilted formality in her voice. "Thank you for the recognition, but I have to withdraw. I accidentally violated the rules of the contest." Judges, designers and models around the room rumbled with surprise. "I failed to read them as carefully as I should have and got help from a previous winner. Rarity did not help my design, but I used her equipment and materials. While the judges may feel I didn't violate the spirit of the rule, it is a violation and I so am relinquishing my win."

Prim Hemline looked at Suri, then down at the trophy in her hands. "I... see. Well, as this sounds to be an honest mistake and you've been forthcoming, I believe the panel will levy no other penalties for your error. And I suppose that means the victory will go to the runner-up - Coco Pommel."

The still-confused human was shoved out onto the stage by her double, staggering almost directly into Suri.

Without hesitation, Suri hugged Coco tightly. "Congratulations," she whispered.

Reeling from the stunning shift, Coco looked at Suri with an utter lack of understanding. "Why?"

"Maybe I could've beat you on my own," Suri explained quietly. "But working with the other you, I blew you away. And that's kind of the thing, hm? I couldn't do this without Coco Pommel. So it's not right to take it from you, even if it's a different you."

Their quiet talk was interrupted as Prim Hemline presented the trophy to Coco - she took it with a fake smile plastered over her doubts. Waving to the crowd, she whispered through her teeth to her companion. "I don't understand what you're doing, Suri. You won."

"I was wrong," Suri quietly repeated as she stood beside and just behind Coco. An inch out of the limelight - for the moment. "And I'm trying to show you that."

The applause for Coco's win faded away as everyone in the auditorium slowly broke to begin packing up. Twilight, Fleur and the Equestrian Coco stood a respectful distance off, watching as the two designers continued to talk.

Suri gave no ground, taking hold of Coco's forearms and meeting her face to face. "After the Games, all of us who were there decided we wanted to be better people. And I'm trying to be but I know the truth. We're better together, Coco, and today proved that. I can't get to where I need to be without you. I don't want to get there without you." She bit her lip, eyes watery. "For a long time I didn't appreciate what you did for me. That's going to change. I want to be a better person and I want my friend there with me."

Coco gave no response. Not for a painfully long minute. The most she was able to do was meet Suri's earnest eyes for a moment before looking down and away again.

"That's you, 'kay?" Suri managed a little wink and a thin, wry smile.

It was enough to make Coco laugh - this one fresh-laundry warm. "I guess since I won this year, I at least owe you help to win next year."

"And get me disqualified again?" Suri burst out laughing - Coco joined her a moment later.

As they did, Coco pulled Suri into a hug. "Partners?"

Suri nodded, head pressed against Coco's. "Partners."

Neither noticed the flash of light and gasp of surprise from upstage as Twilight and the other Coco sprouted pony ears.

Twilight groaned in frustration, rubbing her hips with annoyance as the cutie mark hidden under her dress pulsed. "Not again. This feels so weird."

Coco simply smiled and basked in it.

Pinkie Pie was prepared and somehow knew the right moment despite never being told any part of what was going on. Nopony questioned how. They just accepted that when she unfurled a banner across the portal room that read WELCOME HOME COCO POMMEL that the dimension-hopping designer would be returning in the next hour or so.

They were right, and the cream-colored mare emerged from the mirror portal twenty-six minutes later.

Instantly, Rarity grappled her into a tight hug. "Darling! So good to see you back from that beastly place!"

Coco returned the embrace in kind. "I didn't think it was that bad."

"Pft!" Rarity sputtered her disdain for the human world. "They're barbarians! Their shame of their own hides means they've reduced the art of fashion to mundane workaday cloth-slop that they take entirely for granted. Why, I expect you had them eating out of your frog with how fabulous you were to them!"

The blush of truth colored Coco's cheeks. "Not... as such. I-- Oh!" She broke the hug so she could pull a bulky spiral-bound sketchpad out of her saddlebag. "The other Rarity asked me to bring this to you."

Rarity's cornflower blue aura snatched it from Coco's hoof with a squeal. "She remembered! I know I asked for some of her sample sketches, but I was afraid she wouldn't--" Her glee collapsed as she flipped to the first page and looked at it. "...That's what humans look like?"

A snickering Twilight nudged Rarity aside. "I think she'll be a minute. Welcome back, Coco. Did everything go alright?"

Leaving her mentor to rant about how awkward bipedal forms were, Coco smiled gently to the Princess. "It was a little bumpy along the way, but it all worked in the end."

"So the other you..."

The earth pony's smile widened. "She's on a better track." Coco paused. "In fact, better than I am."

Twilight tilted her head, curious but not voicing her question.

"She gave me a lot to think about," Coco mused in a half-answer. "Particularly that there's somepony I should talk to. I've been afraid for a long time, but I should at least give her a chance."

Twilight rather obviously didn't get it, but she also didn't argue. "Well, we can work on that afterwards. Unless you mean you wanted to talk to them right now."

Laughing, Coco shook her head. "No, no. Not this instant, Princess, thank you. I can see Pinkie Pie peeking through the door over there and I wouldn't want to miss one of her parties."

That, in turn, made Twilight smile. "You really don't. Plus Applejack's been waiting for you! There's a friend of hers she wants to introduce you to - a new up and coming playwright who's..." The Princess barely suppressed a snicker. "Really on fire."

Coco rather obviously didn't get it, but she still smiled back. "I'd love to." She bowed her head. "Care to lead the way, Princess?"

Author's Note

That fateful moment when you realize that you need to describe a stunning piece of fashion and you have absolutely no idea how high fashion works or even what most of the words to describe things are. (Seriously, what do you even call that weird thing going on with the waist of Midnight's outfit?)

As a side note, I did want to spend more time on Twilight wrestling with the Midnight aspect but just couldn't find a place to slot it in without utterly disrupting the flow of the story. Which is a shame - it's always fun to torture a character with their dark past.