Last Hearth’s Warming Eve, I tried to undo the curls in my hair.
I tried every possible gadget, every possible potion, sitting for hours behind my bedroom mirror. I pulled so hard with my mane brush that my scalp stung. And yet the curls still sprung back. I even tried a chemical imported from some Canterlot beauty spa that was supposed to straighten manes, guaranteed. My mane just got curlier. As if it was mad at me or something.
“How long you gonna stay in there, sugarplum?” Ma called. “Uncle Banyan’s gonna arrive any moment!”
“I’m not done yet!” I yelled back.
I didn’t say “in a minute” because I thought it’d take way more than a minute. I thought I was going to sob for a real long time, seeing myself in the mirror with those thick curls that flop up and down when I walk. But no tears came out. I ended up laughing it off.
It just seemed so silly. I had spent every single afternoon for a whole month trying to make those curls go away. And they just stayed there, as if nothing ever happened.
My mother—I call her “Ma”—has a straight mane. A thick, straight mane that she combs to her left. Sometimes to her right. Ma can choose where she wants it. Right or left. My mane does the choosing for me. And it chooses a whole bunch of directions that are neither left or right: sideways, up, loop-de-loop, you name it. My friend Biscuit has a straight mane too. My father—I call him “Pa”—doesn’t have a curly mane either. My grandmother has maybe a wavy mane. Maybe. But it’s not in natural roller curls like Spur.
The only other pony in my family with a curly mane was my little sister.
Ma always got so frustrated with our curly manes when we were little foals. While my little sister was still going to the local school here in the bayou, Ma would wake her up for school first, at six-thirty in the morning. And she’d do my little sister’s mane and tail. It must have took her a really long time for her to finish, because Ma wouldn’t wake me up to do my mane and tail until eight o’clock.
But Ma always got so frustrated when she did my mane. Sometimes she’d snap at me and yell, “GODDAMN THESE CURLS! I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!” So I’ve always thought that Ma hated my curly mane more than my little sister’s curly mane.
I heard a knock at the front door. Uncle Banyan had arrived for Hearth’s Warming. With my wings I flapped out my room. With my still curly mane.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming, brother!” Ma said, and they hugged.
All the family comes back down to the bayou for Hearth’s Warming. Sure, it’s a little warmer down here than up in, say, Ponyville or Manehattan. But we still have Hearth’s Warming with all the fixings. The tree, the stockings by the fire, and the holiday punch.
Pretty much all my family are earth ponies. Aunt Sumac and her foals are unicorns. I’m only one of four pegasi in the whole bayou. We have a little tradition where we get the clouds together and give the whole bayou a little dusting of snow. It’s really a ten-pony job, so it takes us a long time and we work up a huge sweat, and the snow melts in a few hours—but what’s Hearth’s Warming Eve without a little snow?
With snow on the ground, we have a big and fancy feast in the house. We cook up the traditional grits cake, sweet potatoes, and peach cobbler. Ma makes the best peach cobbler you ever tasted. We grow the peaches ourselves in the backyard.
Since I’m almost a full-grown pony and Ma’s getting older, Ma started sharing some of her secret recipe with me. Just some of it. The peach filling needs just a touch of blackstrap molasses plus Ma’s secret ingredient which I’m not gonna tell you.
Everypony on Hearth’s Warming Eve talks about the cobbler. Even that year when our peach harvest got ruined and we had to serve apple cobbler, everypony talked about that. “Apple? What happened to the peach cobbler?” “Where’d the apples come from? Sweet Apple Acres?” “I noticed yer peach trees outside are gone. Looks like it got struck by lightning or somethin’.”
That was the year we sent my little sister off to Ponyville.
Nopony talked about the cobbler this year. And this year we served peach cobbler. “Y’know, Spur made the filling this year,” Ma said. I blushed a little.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Pa said, since nopony had said anything for a few seconds.
“I think Spur’s definitely got the baker’s touch,” Ma added. “Must’ve learned it from me, not like…” she stopped suddenly.
Ma, Pa, and I giggled a little to try to make it less awkward. There were only three audible voices in the room. But I swore I could’ve heard a fourth.
Oh golly! What lovely peaches! Growing right in our backyard!
Ha! Just kidding! Die! Die! Die, peach tree!
CRACKLE-KABOOM!
Die!
Die!
“Erm.” I could hear Ma clear her throat. “Well.”
All the chairs at the table were filled, except for next to me, there was one empty chair. That’s where I heard the fourth voice come from.
This was the first Hearth’s Warming Eve without my little sister.
I could’ve brought my pet Bloofy and had him sit at the empty chair. But Bloofy’s awful scared of crowds, even if it’s just family. He’d probably go into full destruction mode and tear apart the whole house. Not to mention ruin Ma’s peach cobbler. And my filling.
But honestly, Bloofy at the dinner table would be a lot like my little sister when she was sitting at the dinner table. It wouldn’t be that different, really. I’ve seen my sister go into full destruction mode a few times.
More than a few times.
The whole dinner table was still dead silent. Ma’s started talking a little awkwardly. “Erm…don’t…don’t y’all bother with manners, now, just…just…everypony grab a slice, help yourselves!”
The sound of chewing was louder than the sound of voices at the table. There was warm peach cobbler smell all throughout the room. I used to love that sweet smell.
It smelt sour this year. Not sour like sour cream on a baked potato. Sour like sour faces. And cold. It was so dang cold. I turned to the empty chair.
It’s ‘cause I’m not here by your side, sis.
I kept you warm.
Golly, didn’t you ever realize that, sister?
Well now you shall freeze.
Now that I’m gone.
I started regretting doing the snowfall over the bayou.
My relatives sitting at the table were staring at Ma and Pa and me. At Ma and Pa with concern. At me with…curiosity.
“So you’re an only child now. That’s no fair, now you don’t have to share your toys with anypony,” my 4-year-old cousin, who doesn’t know any better, said that to me.
It got quiet again, but I saw my cousin’s mother nudged him and whispered to him not say that kind of thing anymore.
“When’s the statue comin’ in?” Uncle Banyan asked.
“The appeal failed,” Ma said. “Princess Twilight said it’d be too risky to bring her home, in case she were to be freed by some renegade magic in the future. So, they…they took a hammer and a gravel-making machine and they…erm…well…she’s scattered across the Everfree Forest now.”
“Oh, I see. Just as well,” Uncle Banyan said.
“We shouldn’t say such things while they’re in mourning,” Aunt Sumac scolded her husband. She turned to Ma and Pa and me. “I’m…I’m sorry for your loss,” she said. “She was…”
Ma started sobbing over her slice of peach cobbler. I know it wasn’t the case, but I kept thinking that it was my filling that was the problem. Did I add too much sugar? Did I burn it?
“We’re not in denial, you know,” Pa said. “Our daughter was an evil villain who nearly destroyed all of Equestria. Twice. Our daughter deserved her punishment.”
When Pa said “our daughter” I flinched a little. It took me ten seconds to figure out he wasn’t actually talking about me.
“But doesn’t mean we loved her any less,” Ma said. “We…we just wish we could’ve helped her.”
“You don’t help her by sending her away,” Aunt Sumac said, with a look of contempt.
“Didn’t you see the early signs?” Uncle Willow chimed in.
“I call it neglect,” Uncle Banyan said. “Neglect and a lack of care for that little foal.”
“Villains are created, not born, that’s what I always say.”
“I disagree. And in any case, I’m sure they tried their hardest to set things right.”
“Maybe they didn’t intend to neglect her.”
“But they still neglected her.”
“DON’T YOU TELL US HOW TO RAISE OUR FOALS!” Pa suddenly shouted. Pa’s a stallion of few words. Except when he’s angry. Or when he’s horny. Ma told me the latter part recently now that I’m old enough to understand.
Everypony was silent from shock. Except for me. I was giggling to myself. I was thinking about the “or when he’s horny” joke.
Uncle Banyan glanced at me briefly. Maybe he was looking at my curly mane. And noticing how much it looks like my sister’s.
“Do you think your sister was neglected, Spur?” Uncle Banyan asked me.
“Don’t you be talking to my daughter like that!”
“I’m already fourteen, Ma!” I said. “I’m almost a grown pony! I have my own opinions!”
Ma got surprisingly quiet after that. I guess I must’ve been real mad ‘cause Ma implied I wasn’t a grown pony. And cause of that, I looked mad at Ma. And she got scared of me.
Just like she got scared of my little sister.
I cleared my throat. “Erm…well, Uncle Banyan…I will always remember Cozy Glow as my little sister. I wasn’t there when she did those horrible things that got her sent to Tartarus, and then turned to…” I paused. “I love my sister, and I know my sister loved me, but I don’t know if she loved Ma and Pa. But I don’t know if Ma and Pa could’ve done anything more than what they already did to make my sister love them.”
“You love your sister? Even though she’s got an evil mind?”
“She wasn’t evil to me.”
“Selfish of you to say,” Uncle Banyan said. “What about all the other creatures your sister hurt? Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“Watch it!” Ma admonished her brother.
I started tearing up. I moved away from the peach cobbler so that my filling wouldn’t be ruined. “I don’t like to think my sister’s got an evil mind.”
“Why not?” Uncle Banyan asked.
“Cause it makes me scared that my mind’s just as evil like hers!” The tears were flowing out. Big time.
Uncle Banyan was quiet. He just nodded a little. I noticed he hadn’t eaten more than a few bites of my peach cobbler. Of course I’m almost a grown pony and I can think logically, but that childish part of me was still thinking that he hated me, so he refused to eat my peach cobbler filling.
I should’ve added a little more sugar. Did I remember to add the secret ingredient? I think I forgot that. My little sister forgot that too when she made the cobbler. She forgot a lot of things.
Oh, golly! I think I burned the filling!
Oh, you mean the stove shouldn’t be at high? Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Ma. I’m soooo sorry! Boo-hoo boo-hoo!
Golly, is that smoke?
Golly! Is that fire!?
C’mon sis, I guess we better leave and let the grown ups deal with the flames.
If they can get out, that is.
I couldn’t sleep that night. I excused myself early from dinner, even though Ma said I’m old enough to stay up late and join the grownups for cards and eggnog after dinner. In any case, nopony was in the mood for cards and eggnog after the argument that transpired at dinner.
Even with my bedroom door shut and the lights out, I couldn’t get to sleep. I couldn’t stop staring at my bedroom mirror. My mane. It was so dang obvious that I could see it even in the dim moonlight. Those curls. They made me nervous. They made me nervous, but it was like one of those things where it was so frightening that I was too scared to even look away from it.
Oh golly, you’re just the best sister! I like you a lot!
Wanna be friends, sis?
Wanna be friends?
Finally, I got the courage to lie down in my bed and shut my eyes. It wasn’t much better. You know, I see the image of my little sister when close my eyes. Even if I close them for a second, to blink. It’s been like that ever since she got sent away to Ponyville. So, every night, for about two years.
That’s why can I never get to sleep. I see her face. I see her face with fire all around it. The fire’s so hot, it melts her face turns it to liquid, and she flows away into the abyss below. It’s like a nightmare.
But a few minutes later, she’s gone. And I breathe a sigh of relief.
Except now when I close my eyes, I see stone. I see her face, turned to stone. And her face doesn’t melt away because stone doesn’t melt in fire. She just…stays there. Smiling at me.
She does look like me. Sometimes I think I’m the one that got turned to stone.
Ma had to wake me up in the morning, so I guess I must’ve slept a good few hours that night. When Ma walked into my room, she thought I had swamp fever. I guess I looked pretty terrible, even though I had slept.
“You don’t look yourself at all dear,” she said.
I was still half asleep. “Really?” I paused. “I don’t look like myself? Is my mane still curly?”
Ma looked puzzled. “Of course dear.”
“And my tail?”
“Of course, my little mint chocolate.” And she kissed me on the cheek. I’m mint chocolate, and my sister was swiss roll.
I sank my face into the pillow and wrapped myself real tight under the blankets and I refused to let myself free.
“Spur…do you love me?” Ma asked. She didn’t look like she slept much either.
“Well…of course I do, Ma.”
“Did I…give you all the love and care and attention that a foal deserves?” Sounds like something Uncle Banyan would say.
“Of course, Ma.”
“What about your sister?”
Come on Spur. We’re gonna kill Ma, aren’t we, sis? We’re gonna kill Ma and all the earth ponies. Aren’t we, sis?
“Like I said last night at dinner. I…I don’t know,” I said.
“Spur…did you miss your sister?”
“When?”
“When we sent her off to the School of Friendship in Ponyville.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, I didn’t miss her,” I said. “Cozy Glow was always there.” She still is.
“Where?” Ma asked.
I closed my eyes and buried my face in the pillow again.
Oh golly, sis! You’re just like me, you know that? You’re just like me.
Whether you like or not.
“Do you think I look like my sister, Ma?”
She paused for a second. “I think you’re beautiful just the way you are.”
“So I do look like my sister?”
“Your sister had an ugly heart. It didn’t matter whether she was beautiful or not.”
I was shocked. “So you think my sister was more pretty than me!?”
Ma’s eyes went all lovey-dovey. “Of…of course not, sweetie! I…” Ma hugged me tight. “Of course you’re more beautiful honey. Of course you are.”
“Nopony will wanna be my friend,” I said with my cheek pressed against Ma’s fur. “School’s gonna start soon, Ma, and they’re just gonna look at me, and they’re gonna see a monster!”
It was bad enough when the news got out that my sister got sent to Tartarus. My classmates would all sit a desk away from me. Whenever I smiled at them to say hi, they got so frightened. I wonder if it’s cause my smile looks like the smile they saw in the photo in the news. I’d bump into my classmates by accident and they’d give me their lunch money even though I didn’t want it. I tried to chase them down to give it back, but I couldn’t. They’d say, “Take it! Take it! Just go away and stop chasing us!”
“That’s their problem,” Ma said. “Not yours. They think you’re like your sister, but you’re nothing like her. You aren’t, sweetie.”
It got quiet for a while.
“Even if you are,” Ma added, “You have the power to make your own decisions. C’mon sweetie, your cousins are waiting for you so they can open their presents. I made ya pancakes.”
That perked me up. I flapped my wings and flew off my bed and almost touching the ceiling. I just love Ma’s pancakes. I hope she’ll teach me the recipe for the batter someday.
“You’re gonna be just fine, sweetie,” Ma said as we were going down the hallway.
“I just hope I don’t become like my little sister,” I repeated.
“So do I,” I heard Ma mutter to herself.
Glad I'm not the only one to foresee this scenario. Though, I am disappointed that I was beat to the punch.
Dreadnought
Well, it didn't take long for someone to find a way to make that ending even more cruel, did it? I'll have to warn more sensitive Cozy fans off!
(As for the fic, it's a neat idea.)
Please add the dark tag to this.
Is he going to start a Cult of Cozy or something?
Ouch.
I loved that opening scene. I could tell right away where it was going, and that made such a good way to introduce the main character and her struggles. And I like how bleakly understated the reveal of Cozy's eventual fate was, too.
I'm really hoping more of this gets written
Im tracking this story, cant wait to see what happens next
9886377
Yeah, I agree. Just fixed it.
9886443
I'm glad you liked it! Thank you!
9886397
Not sure what you mean.
9886535
He gets a group of ponies to resurrect Cozy. Presumably cloaked cultists like Harry Potter's Voldemort revival.
9886362
Not sure if it's neat exactly.
It's capital punishment, presumably of all three villains, one of which was a minor.
How strange the actions of the heroes in the final season were have been discussed at length though, so no point reiterating it here.
What it is, though, is very illogical. I don't see why they would bother with the petrification spell in the first place if in the end they simply planned on executing the trio. Discord and the Princesses combined would have had the power to simply vaporize them in an instant as opposed to taking the extra steps and presumably hiring others to grind down the bodies.
Just seems even more strange and out of character than the final already had things.
9886592
Sorry, my mistake - it was the concept of the fic I was reffering to, not that idea.
Furthermore, for some reason that rainbow - which was the power of 19 characters together - didn't destroy them like it did the Windigos, where it only took the power of six to destroy Sombra. Not sure why, even for Cozy Glow coz they clearly think of her as the irredeemable and dangerous villain she is first. Like, she had a sadistic grin on her face while planning to murder Fluttershy. She's a miniature female pegasus Sombra.
As much as I'd like to think of them being turned to gravel (more for Chrysalis than anything), I think it more likely they were placed in the deepest section of Tartarus to prevent anypony from ever releasing them. (I have been tempted to write one where they're in the statue garden and Silverstream accidentally smashes them with her tail and their pieces get sent to the rock farm, but I didn't feel it necessary) Anyone who wants them dead, while they technically aren't, they're as good as if they're never awakened from their possibly dreamless stone slumber.
Have an upvote, though.
I think Spur needs a friend, and a therapist. She is clearly going to have issues and some therapy alongside someone besides her Mother and father to help.
I am thinking a new kid comes in and isn’t scared of her, maybe they eventually manage to get her to a therapist and help her.
9886650
If they never get freed, then yes, it is in a way like death, assuming they aren't conscious while in the stone. Though, this is only if the stone spell lasts literally until the end of time or destruction of that world, which seems unlikely.
One thing Twilight had a point on is the uncertainty of the spell's continued existence, as not even the Elements turning Discord to stone lasted forever.
It's actually an idea for a story, if I had it in me to write, that somewhere down the line, the magic binding the trio in stone finally breaks. Presumably because the casters have all died, those being Discord, Celestia, and Luna. Of course, such an occurrence would be the result of something quite major, and the trio awaken to a very different world.
I was thinking something akin to Dark Souls, in that the world is actually in its final decades, with life and magic being sparse, small pockets of civilization living in the ruins of ancient times.
This is an interesting take on post series finale events. Will be watching this one closely.
9886704
I personally think a therapist would be a bad idea. Though that's mostly because of my own experience with them. If the ones I've seen and heard about are the norm then Spur would only be worse off in the end.
9886887
Ok, looks like this story may be depressing but I do hope spur does get friend who doesn’t judge her, perhaps something like a griffon or something who just isn’t so badly affected by the equestrian attitude against the villains
9886895
I can agree with that. Though the species doesn't really matter to me.
Loving this!!! Can’t wait for the next chapter
9886811
I say go and try writing it. I'm also planning to start a story myself today.
I'm getting some EQG Twilight vibes from poor Spur here, in that she fears the monster she could become. I've always been a fan of self-vs-self conflict, and this is a well written example.
9886346
As was I! Well done, Micah!
9887154
Thanks!
9886650
How could Silverstream destory them? You mean like accidently knock the statue over?
I actually think the statue treatment is way better than Tartarus. A slumber seems way better for your mental health than pacing around in a cage for years. Even if you do interpret the three of them as being somehow awake and aware while petrified (which I really don't see), then it's STILL a better prison. Because unlike Tartarus, the palace garden actually has GUARDS that will actually notice if they ever escape.
9886811
I never saw Aang or Captain America as being dead when slept for 100 and 70 years respectively, so it really didn't bother me.
Before even getting into this story, right off the gate I see a lot of resemblance of this and what we saw of Jerome and Jeremiah from the TV show, Gotham.
9887304
Yeah, like accidentally knock them over. (More for a meaningful tail play with her than anything since she got none in the show) But I think an eternal dreamless stone sleep and being placed in the deepest section of Tartarus is sufficient. Jim Miller said they're in suspended animation which means they're probably asleep as statues like Twilight was, so they're not suffering at least. IF they're ever released, to them it'll be the instant after they were turned to stone.
9886811
They're probably not conscious like Discord was based on Jim Miller's word and the name of the stone SLEEP spell. So if they stay that way forever or until the end of time, it's about the closest you can get to death without truly dying. Discord probably only got free without the releasing spell because he's the most powerful creature in Equestria, and even with Celestia and Luna losing connection to the Elements, it took the CMC fighting in front of him to empower him to escape. I think those three could only get free through a releasing spell. I don't know if regular stone sleep spells die with the caster. Both times with Sombra everything he did was undone by the same wave of magic that destroyed him.
Hey congrats on getting the story featured! Really enjoyed the first chapter and looking forward to more!
Well I'm interested in this interesting story also I believe I'm not the only Naval ship in this comment section.
...You know "of the most" is repeated, right? You've written it twice, for some reason.
9887940
...
...
Ooh shitshitshitshitshitshit...
I'll fix it.
9887720
Thank you! I have some more chapters in the works but I'm not sure in what order I want them.
9887959
Take your time and do what you want to do with it. I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next chapter!
It's reads like a villain backstory.
Reminds me somewhat of Joker movie.
Good job on the story, though.
9888093
That may *cough* or may not *cough* have been intentional.
...While I am proud that Twilight has learned from Celestia's mistakes...HOLY BALLS, that seems ruthless for her, and that's taking into account that she participated in exploding Sombra 2 1/2 times.
Here's your reminder that what Discord did was literally entrapment, the fact that the embodiment-of-virtue Elements only depowered the Legion of Doom and not stoned them, makes their stoning, and this case - grinding into gravel on top of it - extra-judicial and arbitrary, and despite the fact that each villain had clear issues that made them reject nominal friendship despite unwittingly becoming friends with the other villains, no one ever actually bothered to give them a chance for redemption.
This really managed to make me feel bad for Spur, and the family in general, and I can't wait to see where you go with this.
So I wasn't the only one who had similar theories... Seems interesting so far, but I'm a bit concerned by the use of the Romance tag...
Hoo boy. Luna? I do hope you're still keeping an eye on dreams, because do we have a doozy of a case here...
Definitely looking forward to seeing where you go with this. Spur opened up some very interesting avenues for Cozy Glow's backstory and her own struggles as a pariah.
Oh my god they murdered a filly. Also Spur's family are a bunch of hypocritical dicks. You can't be able to talk about early signs of someone being evil without either being there to experience it or at least hearing about it from someone else. Everyone who was able to talk about neglect was able to at least attempt to nip it in the bud before sending Cozy to Ponyville. The relatives knew about the signs and yet did nothing. They're all at fault! In my eyes, there are few things worse then someone who complains about something not being done, but makes no effort to fix or help fix it themselves, and then gets mad when their complaining doesn't achieve anything and have the gall to berate the one who they wanted to take care of the problem without they help. The fact that they were verbally abusing the greaving mother, father and daughter is honestly sickening to me.
Edit:
This is just what I’m getting from the first chapter, I’m well aware that I might be wrong in assuming they did nothing.
9889140
Funny you should talk about dreams. Cozy Glow snores in her sleep as noted by Tirek in “Frenemies”. When you snore, you don’t dream.
The premise has got me hooked!
I love the writing style you chose for this fic. Really somber, moody, and very much reveals how Spur feels. I also really enjoyed the quips by “Cozy Glow”.
I’m so excited to see the continuation! Will Spur overcome her fears, or will “Cozy Glow” drive her insane? Can’t wait!
An awkward family get-together where nobody knows the right things to say or how to react to how much of a sociopath one of their family was, nor the right way to react. Some want an excuse or a place to blame without realizing just what that excuse or name would mean. They just need something to direct their feelings towards.
Now Spur, it would seem that they feel the most guilt about Cozy, yet not because of what she did or the end result. It seems she feels guilty because she shares the mindset, with the exception that they know that mindset is neither good nor natural. They feel more upset about how this will effect her, but feel that isn’t how she should feel because that isn’t how anyone else she knows reacts.
Very fascinating. Just be careful that this doesn’t turn into an angst fest where every person she comes across hates he no matter what. Those stories usually don’t go anywhere.
"So, they…they took a hammer and a gravel-making machine and they…erm…well…she’s scattered across the Everfree Forest now.”
Oh... yikes that is dark... Did not see that comming.
I'm currently in an optimistic mood so I want to hope for the best despite the tags.
Well the awkward family get together is a thing to build on but i am not really convinced about the way equestria handled cozy there, its one thing if a villain gets slain in battle but killing a helpless foe after they neutralized them , that seems to go against everything the new equestrian culture stands for and especially against everything that Twilight and her friends learned and try to teach.
Something must have gone fundamentally wrong in this au.
I was afraid no one noticed how similar they were!
9888093
I was thinking the same thing.
Smile. Though your heart is achin'
I was going to quit reading and downvote the story at that point, but I decided that maybe this could be misdirection and kept reading. After finishing the story, I downvoted the story. In the nine years that MLPFM has existed the staff for the show have been slowly replaced by people that don't understand that the show is about friendship. Friendship is about understanding and forgiveness. Writing and animating a child who is sent to Tartarus (known better as hell in English) was unforgivable. Continuing that story by turning her to stone is only slightly better because it implies there is a chance for her redemption in the future, however considering the show ended, they clearly don't care about that.
Sending her to hell, turning her to stone, then killing her by smashing that stone? If that is actually what you think the ponies would do, then you have no meaningful understanding of friendship, and you need to work on that.