The daytime air was crisp and still as our two ponies made their way down a long road lined with farmlands just outside Canterlot. They had no destination in particular. It was enough for them that they were able to enjoy being outside, together, and away from the school for a bit. Cozy had flown beside Astral for a little bit but later opted to stay on the ground to give her filly wings a rest.
"Are you sure it's ok to leave that bird thing alone in your room like that?" asked Cozy, as she watched her breath dissipate into the air in front of her face.
"Probably, as long as nopony goes in unexpected. I'm pretty sure." Astral was actually only about forty-five percent sure. It would be a problem to deal with later if it were to become one at all.
"What about your roommate?" asked Cozy.
"She said she was transferring out for the spring; said there was some family stuff to take care of," answered Astral.
"Oh. So where are we going?" asked Cozy.
"Does it matter? We can go anywhere!" said Astral.
"Oh right!" said Cozy.
"As long as you try to be good, you promised," reminded Astral.
Cozy nodded.
The two had the entire road to themselves, for the most part. There was hardly any traffic on account of the holiday. Most ponies were at home with their families or visiting friends in the surrounding towns. A short while later, they came across a pony whose cart was stuck in a frozen muddy trench on the side of the road.
Astral pointed. "There's your chance! Let's go help," she said.
As they made their way up to the cart, Cozy turned on the charm out of habit, "Gee, mister. You sure look like you could use some help!"
It was an older pony, pulling a large wooden cart by himself. It had a snow-covered tarp stretched atop it, securing its contents and keeping them protected from the elements. The cart had seen better days but still looked to be fairly roadworthy. "Oh, don't let it be a bother. I'll get there, eventually!" replied the pony as he fruitlessly pulled on his cart, trying to get it to budge.
"It's no trouble at all!" countered Cozy.
The two younger ponies squared up to the back of the cart and began to push.
"Just, a, little... more, and..." said Cozy, struggling with all her might and wing power.
"We got this!" encouraged Astral.
The cart creaked and groaned before finally giving way and becoming unstuck. Free of the trench, the cart rolled with surprising ease. The old pony pulled it away from the trench, towards the center of the road, looking back at the two fillies that had gone out of their way to help him.
"There you go, mister. Good as new!" said Cozy, proudly as she hovered beside Astral.
"Well, good as before you got stuck, anyway," added Astral.
"And I helped!" beamed Cozy. "I'm turning over another leaf!" Her smile had a vague bit of insincerity to it that only Astral picked up on.
Confused, the old pony replied, "I suppose so. Uh, thank you kindly!" before he parted ways and continued on down the road.
Cozy and Astral continued on together in their own direction.
"You don't have to do that, you know," said Astral.
"Do what?" Asked cozy, lightly returning to the ground to walk beside Astral.
"The fakeness," said Astral, looking over at Cozy as they walked. "It might have been fun, but I know it wasn't that fun."
"Oh. Sorry. Old habits, I guess," said Cozy, sheepishly.
"Old habits," repeated Astral, in a low voice.
"I started doing it because it got ponies to like me better. It got me what I wanted," explained Cozy. "It got me friends."
"Fake friends," countered Astral. "Is that what you wanted?"
Cozy shrugged. They walked quietly for a little bit before Cozy finally answered, quietly, "I wanted power."
They continued to walk in silence for a moment longer before Astral replied, "I know." The question was on her mind again, 'Why?'
As if Cozy could read Astral's own thoughts, she answered on her own, looking up at Astral, "Maybe I can tell you why, someday, when I'm ready."
Astral looked down at Cozy, meeting her gaze with friendly eye contact, "If you promise not to forget, I promise I won't ask you again."
Cozy smiled at Astral, "I promise." She took note of how many promises she was making lately. She recognized how unlike her it was, but it just somehow felt good. She owed so much to Astral. There was a lot she was feeling now that she had previously learned to ignore. 'Is this true friendship?' she asked herself. There was power in it, alright, but not how Cozy was expecting. Her own will was changing and being bent, not that of others. It wasn't even bending, though, but instead, reforming on its own.
As quick as Cozy's smile appeared, it had left her face, along with most of its expression. It seemed to be replaced with worry as she started to frantically look around.
"Cozy? What's wrong?" asked Astral. They had both stopped in their tracks. Astral began to look around. 'Did she hear something I didn't?' She looked down the road in the direction from which they came. "Are we being followed?"
Cozy snapped to attention, "That! I heard it again. Felt it. It's him," she said, alerted.
Astral held still, silently looking around all the corners and reaches of her vision, ears twitching to face where she looked. She closed her eyes, stretching out with her mind and feelings, her horn beginning to softly glow. Nothing. "I sense nothing."
"He's out there... Somewhere," worried Cozy.
Astral's horn glowed brightly as she called out telepathically, "Hello? Who's out there?".
"Ow!" yelled out Cozy. Astral opened her eyes to see Cozy rubbing her head. Birds in a nearby tree suddenly took flight while other small nearby creatures revealed themselves from their hiding spots and ran away.
The sudden burst of telekinetic power had left Astral lightly dazed as she staggered slightly. "Hello?" she called out into the air with her voice.
Cozy continued to rub her temples, "He's gone..." She looked up at Astral, "Are you ok? Golly! You're bleeding!!"
Astral shook her head clear, "Huh?" She rubbed her nose with a hoof, looking down to see the smeared blood. It was a bit more than she had seen in a while. She looked over to Cozy and saw just how worried she was becoming. "It's ok. I'm ok. I just... I tried too hard." Astral used the snow to clean up her hoof and face. They were both glad the bleeding had stopped fairly quickly.
"Maybe you shouldn't do that again," suggested Cozy.
"Yeah, you're right. I think we should keep moving. Something's not right," said Astral, worriedly.
Cozy nodded and they then turned to begin heading on down the road. They casually traveled aimlessly for most of the day.
The sun was low in the sky when Astral found a shallow cave in which to spend the night. "This looks like a good spot. Just enough space, a fire to keep us warm, yup," said Astral. She unpacked her saddlebags, laying out bedding for the two of them. "We can head back in the morning,” she said.
"Back... to the School?" asks Cozy, nervously. She watched as Astral set up the miniature campsite.
Astral talked as she continued her work. "We're not that far away, and classes will be starting back up in a couple of days. Sooner or later, ponies will find out about you. Just let me talk to Twilight. It'll be ok. You'll see. Now, help me get this fire going."
Through the remainder of the daylight, they collected kindling and branches and stones together, talking with each other along the way. Once the fire was going and a small meal was cooked and shared, they settled in for the night. Each was tightly bundled up in their own sleeping bag situated around the fire.
* * *
The night had grown long and cold. Countless stars were visible throughout the inky backdrop of the clear sky. Periodically, Astral would wake to maintain the fire and keep the warmth. Being a unicorn had its advantages: She never had to so much as open up her sleeping bag or let any of the cold air in; just look and use her magic to float things around as needed. Astral opened her eyes once more to fix the fire again and noticed a mumbling sound that could be heard coming from just outside the cave.
"Cozy, is that you?" Astral reached over to pat the bedding next to her. It was empty and cold. She sat up, the sudden inrush of cold air to her bedding gave her a small shiver. "Cozy, who are you talking to?" she asked, groggily. She listened, but could not hear Cozy answer if she did. She quietly got up, rubbing her eyes, and made her way out of the cave "Coz--"
Just outside the cave, Cozy was pacing back and forth, seemingly arguing with nopony a one-sided conversation, her words sharp. "But I don't have to be bad. My friend said so. She showed me. She knows. She is the best friend a pony could ever have." She seemingly sent her words into the darkness of the night. With only a partial moon that night, the stars and flicker of the fire did little to illuminate the landscape around them.
"Cozy Glow?" whispered Astral, quietly, having gone unnoticed. She tried to tune in telepathically but was met with a blinding flash of pain right through the middle of her head. Something was blocking her. She recoiled and shut her eyes tightly.
The pegasus continued to pace and rant, "Cozy is a good pony. Cozy is best pony. Go away!" She was clearly agitated. "I won’t! You can't make me. You--" She stopped, gazing out over the edge into the dark landscape as her eyes flashed an unnatural color of lime green. "No. You wouldn't." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Golly no. No!" begged Cozy as she began to shake and lose her composure.
Astral worked the pain out of her head and opened up her eyes, before running up to Cozy, "Cozy? Cozy! Shake it off. Come on," she said as she shook Cozy by the withers.
Cozy did not respond. She had gone rigid with a blank stare, only putting effort into not falling over as Astral shook her.
Astral called out to her louder and louder as she tried to snap Cozy out of whatever stupor she was in. "Get ahold of yourself, I'm here. Come on, you can do it. Do it for me. Come back," she pleaded, sounding increasingly worried.
Cozy shook her head, turning to face Astral, her eyes returning to normal as they filled with tears before she lunged into a quivering embrace with Astral, sobbing. She looked out into the dark, empty distance over Astral’s back, "Ok. I will," she said, in between sobs.
"There, there. I know you could. Just relax and come back to bed. It's still very late," comforted Astral.
Cozy hugged tighter to Astral as she continued to gaze over her shoulder, "I'll do it..." She wiped the tears from her face as she let go and Astral released her. She looked up at Astral with a deeply sorrowful face mixed with fear, "I'm so scared, Astral. Please don't leave me."
"It's ok. You can join me in my bag and I will protect you. Whatever it is, it will be ok," said Astral. She hugged onto Cozy again. Cozy spread her wings over Astral as much as she could to try and be as close as she could physically get.
Back inside the cave, in the warmth of the campfire, they snuggled up together inside the cover of a single sleeping bag. Astral lay behind Cozy while Cozy slept in Astral’s warm embrace. Periodically, Cozy’s wings would twitch while her hooves kicked, only to have Astral hold her tighter. Cozy’s curly mane smelled sweet of cotton candy, while her feathers almost tickled Astral’s soft belly. The fire had begun to die as morning approached ever so slowly, but their combined body heat prevailed and warmed them both as their breathing and heartbeats began to synchronize. There was nothing more pure than the love between the mare and her filly friend. Cozy was at peace while Astral for once felt like she truly had a purpose if only to play the role of protector. It was a moment they both could live in forever. Astral hummed softly as the tensions of Cozy's encounter melted away. It was a slow, soothing melody she had learned to use for coping with the stresses of her particular fillyhood. She had learned it from her mother, who would embrace her in a very similar way. The song, now passed down a generation, lost no potency in its ability to soothe and calm. To Astral's delight, it seemed to work just as well on little pegasi as it did on little unicorns. Astral repeated the song several times until she herself drifted off while cuddling the world's best pillow. Daylight for them would come too soon.