The early morning air was crisp and cold, with a hint of something that made ponies look up at the sky in hopes of spotting the first flakes of snow. For most residents of Manehattan, snow was a welcome addition to the city’s festive holiday lights. Most ponies were more than willing to overlook the risky ice and the shoveling of snow in order to see their streets adorned in a blanket of white.
For Coco Pommel, the snow was one more thing to worry about. It meant cold, and cold meant a higher heating bill, even in an upper-story apartment. Being new to the fashion industry in a major city like Manehattan did not result in a surplus of bits.
Despite the worries that ran through her mind, Coco was taking the long way home. Even if she could not afford to attend the fancy soirees of the Manehattan elites, there was enough Hearth’s Warming spirit on the streets to make her hoofsteps lighter than they would be otherwise. She liked this route for one reason that outweighed the pack on her back: it went past the Clopefeller Center tree.
Everypony who visited the city knew about the tree. It was enormous, brought from somewhere deep in the mountains and installed with much ceremony after the city’s harvest parade. It would light up the buildings around it and the skating rink below until just after New Years’ Day, and the scent of pine would drift through the air as though it too was skating on the ice. Tall and stately, the immense pine always made Coco pause and reflect on how much her city loved the holidays.
Today, however, there was something different about the tree. As Coco looked up, she noticed something stuck in the branches about three quarters of the way up. She could not tell what it was, exactly, but it appeared to be made of metal and had a peculiar blue glow. It contrasted strongly against the red and pink hearthfire tree topper as well as the evergreen itself. Nearby, she could hear a police mare interviewing a witness. She could only hear a word or two, but it sounded as if the object had flown into the tree and gotten stuck. A pegasus who approached it claimed that getting too close made her dizzy.
Coco was paying so much attention to the tree that she missed a step and tripped, skidding onto the ice rink below the tree. She slid out of control across the rink, eventually coming to a stop below the tree’s sweeping branches. Carefully, she stood up, then looked around frantically in search of her bundle. After a couple of minutes, she spotted it leaning up against the tree’s trunk. Walking carefully, Coco picked up her bundle and slowly made her way back to solid ground. A few passers by who had seen her fall asked if she was okay, and she assured them she was before she continued her walk home. Now the only thing on her mind was getting something warm to drink before beginning on the evening’s repairs. Just before she reached her apartment, a question slipped into her mind: had the bundle gotten heavier?
***
Twenty minutes and a large mug of hot chocolate later, Coco settled down to work on the clothing. It was mostly repairs this time, costumes for a couple of Bridleway designers whose shows were running through the holiday season. The costumes ranged from traditional Hearth’s Warming pageant wear to more ambitious garments worn for other shows. Regardless of the performance, wear and tear happened to everyone. Her work with the Bridleway wardrobe ponies added just enough to make Hearth’s Warming a little more festive.
Then there was her work for Suri. The sour persimmon of a boss loved to send her home with little more than a stack of fabric and whatever worn out tools she deemed useless for her own projects. Scissors that needed sharpening, needles too dull for anything save the loosest of knits, and thread that didn’t match any of the fabric she had been given were common contributions. As a result, Coco ended up spending almost as much on her supplies as she was getting paid for her work. It was a cycle she wished would end, but hopefully in a worthwhile way.
An abrupt phone call shook her out of her reverie. She dreaded picking it up, but knew that only one pony knew her number. Sure enough, Suri Polomare was on the line. “Coco.” The voice, sneering, sent shivers down Coco’s spine. “That order I sent with you this morning, is it done yet?”
Coco glanced at the full bag of material she had just set down. “N-no ma’am.” She stuttered.
“Well hurry up and finish it. The client wants it for Hearth’s Warming Day. Deliver it to me by Hearth’s Warming Eve or you will find yourself looking for a new job. Don’t forget my coffee if you value it either.” The voice demanded.
Coco knew what that meant. She would do all the work and Suri would add a few touches of her own -- and her personal brand on some prominent tags -- before presenting it to the clients as her own work. Coco had no idea how many other “interns” Suri kept in her stable working their tails off, but for now, this was her only way to access the exclusive world of fashion. The only thing she could say was a weary “yes, ma’am.” Suri hung up. Coco sighed and turned to her bundle of supplies.
As she picked up the first garment, she froze. There was a rustling sound coming from the bag. It was accompanied by a trilling snore. Coco put down the clothing and carefully opened the bundle. Atop the mound of damaged clothing was one of the most peculiar creatures she had ever seen.
It was covered in thick fur that looked like fine wool. The creature’s face was equine, but it had tufted ears and its mane seemed to be indistinguishable from its fur. It had a thick catlike tail that was wrapped around its paws, but its overall shape could be considered round. Had she not seen the creature’s face, she would have assumed it was a powder puff the size of a large cat. Most striking of all was that as the creature slept, its fur seemed to change colors as it dreamed. As Coco watched, it began as a pale blue, then darkened to a midnight purple before fading into a pale pink, then a warm gold. Then the creature flashed white.
The creature opened its eyes to find itself staring at the pony. The pony stared back. They both unleashed identical screams of surprise.
***
It took several minutes for both Coco and the creature to catch their breaths. The pair of astonished beings stared at one another for a moment. Cautiously, Coco reached for the clothing she needed to repair again and, keeping one eye on her visitor, began to slowly sew a torn seam. It was a simple straight stitch not requiring much of her attention, but the task was made more difficult as she felt the creature’s eyes on her. By the time she finished the first repair, the creature had stood up, stretched like a cat, and ambled closer to see what she was doing.
It took a seat on the table next to Coco’s sewing machine, an old one she had discovered at a pawn shop, and sat with its tail curled around its feet. It seemed more curious than anything else as Coco continued to make her way through the bag of damaged clothing. She worked from the simplest to the most complex, the creature seeming to become more and more interested as she worked. By the time Coco had reached the bottom of the bag, the creature was purring again.
The repair work had calmed Coco enough to make her feel brave enough to talk to the creature. “Hello. I’m sorry if I seemed rude, but I was not expecting a visitor tonight.”
“That okay. Not expecting to find self in warm living space tonight.” Coco was startled to hear a voice from the creature, a mellow alto with a hint of a purr.
“What… what were you expecting?”
The creature shrugged. “Night in tree. Saw pretty lights when flying. Got too close. Crunch! Ship stuck up tree. Cold and slippery, so lucky when land in something soft and warm when fall out.”
Coco glanced at the now empty bag of costumes. The creature must have landed in or on her bag when she slid on the ice below the Clopefeller tree. It did not seem worse for the wear.
“Your ship? Is that what was at the top of the tree?”
The creature nodded.
“Where did you come from? I haven’t ever seen someone like you before.”
The creature jumped down and trotted to the window leading to the balcony. Coco followed and the creature gestured upwards. “Look at moon. Then look two stars over. Home at second star to right. Mama and Papa visiting friends on moon.” The creature suddenly looked scared. “Mama and Papa going to be very unhappy.”
“Why?” Coco asked.
“Not have permission to borrow ship. Wanted to see pretty lights in big pony city.”
“But you got too close.”
The creature nodded sadly. “Now can’t get home to Mama and Papa until tree comes down. You know when that happen?”
“Not until after New Year’s Day.” Coco said. The creature looked confused so she amended. “In about seven days.”
The creature shuddered. “That too long.”
“I’m sorry. You can stay here if you’d like.”
“Okay. Thank you, pony.”
“Please, call me Coco. What is your name.”
“Mama and Papa call me” The creature let out a trilling purr that Coco was not sure she could even attempt. She tried, but the creature shook its head.
“Is it okay if I give you a pony name instead? I don’t want to say your name wrong.”
The creature thought for a moment then nodded.
“How about Chroma? It means color, and you are very colorful when you sleep.”
“Chrooomaaaa.” The creature murmured as though tasting the name. “Is good. Chroma like pony name. What pony working on?”
Coco sighed. “I was fixing some clothing for somepony, but now I need to make some otherwise my boss will not be happy.”
“Chroma understand. Happy leader make happy followers. Okay if Chroma watch?”
“Go ahead.” Coco turned to the pile of pieces she needed to work on. The fabric itself was of a high quality, with ornate patterns and soft material that seemed to whisper as she spread it out on the table. She had already cut out and done the basic assembly of most of the incomplete pieces, but only a few garments were complete enough for Suri’s satisfaction. Coco bent over her sewing machine and began to do what machine work she could, adding pieces of lace and other trimmings as best she could. Unfortunately most of the remaining work would have to be done by hoof.
She finished using the machine and moved to a chair by a lamp to work on the more intense hoofwork. Chroma followed, still fascinated by the pony’s project. The alien took a keen interest, changing color to match whatever material Coco was working with at the time. She seemed to enjoy the challenge, particularly when the pattern was full of contrasting shades.
Coco was almost done with an elaborate gown when she found herself almost out of thread. Her eyes went wide and she frantically put the dress aside to search through her box of thread for a matching spool of the right color. She pulled out three different shades, but not one of them matched the thread she had been using. She slumped. Because of the location on the dress, it would be obvious if she changed thread colors. There was little doubt in her mind that Suri had planned this and set her up to fail. Coco looked down in despair.
Chroma was at her hooves in an instant, rubbing up against her ankles like an affectionate cat. She purred.
“Oh Chroma, what am I going to do? I can’t finish this without the right color and my… leader will be very unhappy with me.”
Chroma jumped into Coco’s chair and examined the unfinished clothing closely. She hummed to herself for a few seconds then changed color to match the thread. As Coco watched in astonishment, Chroma used her hooves to begin twisting part of her tail into what appeared to be a coarse yarn. The tail seemed to unravel from the end and wound its way upward, pulling in other hairs as the alien continued to hum to herself. She grabbed the empty spool and began to spin the yarn as though using a spinning wheel, using the spool as a spindle and her paws to refine the yarn into a finer thread. By the time the spool was full, Chroma’s tail was as empty of hair as that of an opossum.
“This enough?” Chroma asked, hopefully.
Coco shook herself as she recovered. “Yes! Oh yes, thank you Chroma. But won’t you be cold with your tail like that?”
Chroma looked back and shrugged. “Croma need to grow in winter coat anyway. Summer coat might as well be useful.”
If this was the alien’s summer coat, Coco did not want to know what the season was like on Chroma’s home world. What she called her summer coat would be plenty warm enough for winter here in Equestria.
“Well thank you, so much!” Chroma purred in pleasure as Coco settled down in the light to finish the gown. The action was repeated several times over the course of the night, with Chroma seeming to find joy in the challenge of matching Coco’s thread colors and making her the exact amount of thread she needed to finish each article of clothing. By the time the last stitch had been made and the last knot tied, only the thick fluff around the alien’s head remained, making her look like a shaved lion.
Chroma shivered a little bit and Coco brought her into her bedroom and wrapped her in some spare blankets. Then she took a couple of bricks from where she had warmed them in her stove and placed them beneath the blankets both around Chroma and in her own bed. The pair ate a small meal and fell asleep just as the clocks struck twelve.
***
The next morning, Coco was tired, but certain that her encounter the night before had been a dream and that she would find a stack of clothing she had been unable to complete piled in her living room. She pulled herself out of bed and walked into the kitchen in pursuit of coffee. She was well into her first cup before she dared look into her living room.
To her surprise, there was Chroma, carefully folding and hanging the clothing she had finished the night before. Judging by the trail of blankets, the alien had looked at Coco’s closet and figured out how each kind of clothing needed to be treated for the trip to Suri’s office. A thick notebook of “employee guidelines” that Coco had forgotten she had was open on the table with diagrams on proper folding techniques for a pair of stallions’ trousers that Chroma was fumbling with. The alien looked up at Coco and smiled. “Chroma help. Coco leader not angry with Coco?”
“I… don’t think she will be.” Coco looked over what Chroma had done. Everything looked to be up to Suri’s standards; every crease was tight, every collar was straight, and every bow was neatly tied. All Coco would need to do was bag the garments and deliver them to Suri. She turned to Chroma.
“I can’t thank you enough for all this, Chroma. How can I repay you?”
Chroma shrugged. “Coco already pay Chroma. Keep Chroma warm in house. Feed Chroma and give Chroma place to sleep. Give Chroma fun challenge with pretty pony fabric colors. We not so colorful at home, so Chroma want to share new colors with family.” The face on the catlike creature fell. “Chroma miss family.”
Coco straightened. “Then I will do what I can to get you back to your family.”
Chroma brightened. “Coco help?”
Coco smiled. “Coco help.”
Twenty minutes later, the two of them headed outside. Coco carried the garment bags of clothing for Suri while a heavily-dressed Chroma followed behind with a smaller bag full of accessories. The pair made only one stop, at a busy coffee shop for Coco to pick up Suri’s precise coffee order before walking into the fancy office where her boss ruled as a malevolent tyrant.
Suri Polomare glared at her assistant as Coco walked in. “About time you got here. Is this everything then?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Coco said, placing Suri’s coffee order in the exact location on her desk she expected.
“Hang them up over there, properly. I will look them over to make sure they were done right when I have time.” She turned ostentatiously to her desk and the pile of paperwork that was probably more for show than anything else.
Coco walked over to the empty rack and one by one hung the garment bags, being sure to place them in the order she had been given on the order form with appropriate accessories on the shelf nearby. Chroma wordlessly passed her whatever she needed, realizing that catching Suri’s attention by making a sound would not be a good idea.
A few minutes later, Coco turned to her boss. “Is that everything you needed from me, ma’am?”
“Yes, yes, that will do for now. Oh, and I almost forgot, here is your Hearth’s Warming bonus.” Suri lifted something out of a drawer. Coco did her best not to flinch as Suri passed her a box containing spools of all the thread colors she had needed the night before. Suri gave Coco a cruel smile. “Happy Hearth’s Warming. Oh and Coco?”
“Yes ma’am?” Coco asked as she turned to leave.
“Don’t bring any of your ragamuffin friends with you next time. This is a respectable place of business.” Suri sneered.
Coco nodded, her shoulders slumping. Chroma looked like she wanted to attack Suri, but Coco put a hoof over the alien’s shoulder and guided her away. “It won’t happen again, ma’am.” She murmured and closed the door behind them.
The pair was silent as they walked down the hall and into the elevator. Once they were away from the building completely, Chroma turned to Coco. “That not good leader.”
“I know, but she is the only pony who would hire me.”
“Not good.” Chroma repeated.
“No, not good.” Coco sighed. Then she brightened. With Suri as content as she could be expected to be, the rest of the day was hers. Not even Suri Polomare would keep her business open on Hearth’s Warming. Most likely she would do whatever it was that she did with the order Coco had finished, then head off to some fancy party to show off with other luminaries. Coco shook her head to get thoughts of her boss out of it. “Come on, Chroma. Let’s see what we can do about getting you home.”
“Must wait until dark. Chroma need to see stars and moon.” The alien said.
“That’s fine. We’ll enjoy the decorations and sights until then, if that’s alright with you.” Chroma nodded and Coco was pretty sure she smiled under the scarf she had tucked around her face.
The pair stopped at Coco’s apartment to retrieve the clothing she had repaired for the Bridleway shows, then returned to the streets to deliver them. The pair visited a half dozen different theaters along the famous street. To Coco’s surprise, she was greeted with a warm familiarity at each theater. Unlike Suri, the various wardrobe ponies were grateful for what she did for them, and she ended up with more bits than she originally expected. Coco was puzzled until one elderly mare explained it to her. “None of us knew you had a young’un to keep too. This here city’s cruel on a single mother. No need for us to keep things to ourselves when you needs it more.”
Coco was too surprised to speak, but Chroma said, “thank you. Chroma just staying for holidays, but Coco will have warmer winter anyway.”
“Of course, dear.” The costume mare said. Then she turned back to Coco. “Oh, I almost forgot, they’re doing a special dress rehearsal at the Bridleway Theater for all the volunteers who helped us out this year. You’ll be the first audience to see the show! Here.” She passed Coco two tickets. “My hubby and will be seeing the show tonight with the grandfoals, so you two can use my tickets. No need to dress up, since it’s technically a rehearsal. If Winston at the door asks, just tell him Miz Threadneedle sent you and he’ll let you in. Off with you now! You don’t want to miss it” The mare made shooing motions with her hooves and Coco and Chroma hurried out of the building.
“Well, thanks to Ms. Threadneedle we have a show to get to. Since these things are a few hours long, we should get out in time to get dinner and then it should be dark enough to see the stars. Is that okay?” Coco asked.
Chroma nodded eagerly. She tugged on Coco’s coat in the direction the costumer had gestured. “Chroma want to see where pretty costumes go.”
The pair walked to the Bridleway Theater and after a brief conversation with the stallion at the door found a place in the audience. It was a performance of the Hearth’s Warming pageant like those being held all across Equestria. Worried that the alien would not understand the story, Coco snuck several glances at Chroma, but Chroma seemed to be enjoying herself immensely. She purred and hummed in appreciation at the performance and Coco allowed herself to relax and likewise enjoy herself.
After the show, the pair stopped at a deli a few blocks from the Clopefeller Center for dinner before going back out onto the gaily lit streets. The pair took a roundabout route so that Chroma could see the lights and colors. They admired the elaborate window displays at Neighsie’s and the festive decorations that adorned other shops.
Eventually the pair made it to Clopefeller Center. The huge tree was glowing with hundreds of lights. The ice rink had been closed and somehow a fire brigade had managed to bring what had to be Chroma’s ship to the ground. It was cordoned off by said fire brigade and a dozen police ponies. Nonetheless a crowd of curious ponies surrounded the ship. Chroma purred appreciatively and ran towards it. The alien dodged and weaved through the crowd and slipped under the cordon to jump up to the ship.
Every eye in the plaza turned towards the heavily-bundled figure. Coco watched as Chroma let out a series of hums in various tones. The ship lit up in response and hummed back a reply. Chroma let out a trilling purr and began shedding the clothing she had borrowed from Coco. By the time the last scarf had fluttered to the ice, Chroma was as naked as she had been in Coco’s apartment. The alien gave the crowd a very feline smirk and seemed to blow into a claw as though inflating a balloon. With a hefty “FWOOF”, Chroma was once again in full fluffy glory.
Humming to herself again, a tune that Coco recognized as being from the Hearth’s Warming pageant, Chroma gathered the last of the fur that had been around her head and spun it in her claws around a wooden spool. She ignored the crowd below as only a cat can and changed colors as she worked. Coco recognized the colors of the fabrics she had worked with and of the many costumes at the theater. There was the rich red of a Santa Hooves’ coat and the rich green of the enormous tree above them. There was the deep, deep blue of the night sky and the warm gold of a candle flame.
When she was finished, Chroma gave the crowd a smile and bowed like the actors on the Bridleway stage. Then she opened the door of the spaceship and slid inside. It lit up with a glow of its own then lifted off the ground. The ponies watched in shock as Chroma’s ship rose and circled the tree a few times before hovering above Coco. Chroma gave a trill and a wave to her before dropping a small box at her hooves. Then the ship rose and was soon lost among the stars above.
Coco looked down and found herself holding a beautiful wrapped box. She opened it to find, nestled inside, the spool of thread that Chroma had been spinning. It glistened with every color of the rainbow. Coco smiled and closed the box. As she held it close, she whispered, “thank you, Chroma.” There was a spring in her step as she made her way back to her apartment.
***
Several months later, Coco sat in her apartment thinking about what she had seen at Fashion Week. Certainly all the clothing had been beautiful and it had been satisfying seeing the way the judges had responded to what she had sewn for Suri, but her gut still twinged at what her boss had done to Miss Rarity. Coco could tell that the other designer’s friends had pulled off a miracle to complete her contribution to the show and she was reminded of another miracle that had happened on Hearth’s Warming Eve.
Coco lifted a small box off her shelf and stared at its contents. The rainbow thread was as bright and cheerful as it had been that night at Clopefeller Plaza. Not good leader. The phrase seemed to echo in her mind. “No,” Coco said to herself, “not good.” She squared her shoulders and grabbed the phone. Her hooves shook a little as she dialed the number for Prim Hemline. It took a little convincing but she finally got the judge on the phone. Coco explained everything, from Suri receiving the gift from Rarity to all the work she had stolen from Coco over the years. “And so, if it’s possible, I’d like to see if this is enough to disqualify Suri. It isn’t her work. None of it is.”
“Indeed. I shall see what I can do, Miss Pommel. Also, do you know where we might find Miss Rarity? She has not returned to the venue to collect her prize.” Prim Hemline paused. “And Miss Polomare is agitating for her absence to disqualify her.”
“I… think I know. She was going to treat her friends to a Bridleway show and I know the area pretty well. I could stop by and deliver the award to her.”
“Very well. Oh, and I shan’t let Miss Polomare know we had this conversation. Be warned, she is not in a very forgiving mood.”
“I understand, thank you Ma’am.”
“Call me Prim, Miss Pommel. I hope to see more of your work on this runway in the future. The quality is most excellent.” The judge hung up and Coco made her way out of her workroom and over to the venue. Sure enough, Suri Polomare was arguing and berating the judges as she walked in.
Suri whirled on her assistant. “There you are. I hope you brought me my coffee. These fools refuse to see sense.” The mare rolled her eyes. The judges behind her looked on impassively. Prim Hemline gave Coco a wink. That wink gave the shy mare the boost she needed. “No.”
“What?” Suri glared. “What did you just say to me?”
“I said ‘no’. I do not have your coffee and I am never bringing you coffee again. I quit.”
“What? Why? How can you do this? Don’t you want a job in the fashion industry? You know only I can make that happen for you.”
“No. I won’t work for you any more. Even if it means I have to work at something else for a while, I’m not going to come crawling back to you.”
“After everything I’ve done for you, you ungrateful…”
“No. You stole my designs, worked me harder than a diamond dog, and took all the credit. I. Am. Done.” Coco strode past Suri with her shoulders squared and turned to the judges. Despite Suri fuming in the background, she turned to Prim Hemline and the others. “Miss Rarity said she was treating her friends to Hinny of the Hills. That’s showing at the Bridleway Theater. I know the costume mistress there, so I can deliver this for her if you’d let me.”
"Of course, Miss Pommel. If she isn’t there, please return it and we’ll have it sent to her boutique in Ponyville.” Prim Hemline nodded and hoofed the trophy over to Coco. Behind her, Suri screeched and made as though to grab the cream-colored mare, but at the judges’ nod a burly security pony stepped in and allowed Coco to slip past.
Coco walked out onto the streets and trotted over to the theater. She nodded a greeting to the stallion at the box office. “Private showing today, miss. Sorry.”
“That’s okay, I’m actually looking for Rarity. I have something to deliver for her.”
“I can’t let anypony in who’s not on the list.” The stallion said.
“Yes you can. She’s one of mine. Come ahead dearie.” Behind the stallion stood the stooped wardrobe mistress whose repair needs had kept food on Coco’s table several times over the past few months. The stallion stammered an apology and waved Coco into the theater.
Coco could hear the last chords of the show dying out as she approached Rarity and her friends in the front row. As she spoke to the other designer, she thought about how generous the unicorn had been to her and how such generosity could be repaid. “I… brought you something so I could say ‘thank you.” She reached into her bag and pulled out the small box, now wrapped in a simple white ribbon. Rarity seemed surprised, but quickly recovered. To Coco’s astonishment, Rarity answered with an offer of her own: to help design the costumes -- not just make repairs -- for the Bridleway Theater!
As Coco walked Rarity and her friends to the train station, she glanced up at the sky. For a second, she swore she saw a metallic glint of a familiar looking aircraft hovering above Clopefeller Center.