A very cozy Hearth's Warming Eve
I cracked an eye open just enough to see I was back at home, in bed. It took a moment for me to remember what I'd just been through, and another to imagine how I must have gotten here. Then I closed my eye and smiled.
I get it, now.
I took a deep breath, feeling the energy return to me, and slowly lifted my sore neck up off of the bed.
"Cozy!"
Luna's voice was swiftly followed by her physical presence, wrapping me in a tight hug. I leaned in to her and hummed in appreciation.
This mare gives good hugs, no question.
"Cozy, what were you thinking taking on Grogar by yourself like that?!"
I groggily leaned back a bit. "Nuh-uh."
I cracked my eyes open just enough to see her perplexed expression. It made me giggle.
"What?"
I leaned back into her and closed my eyes. It took me a minute to work out a response, which came out a bit slurred.
"You're not 'llowed to be angry at me. I beat the badguy. Hero... stuff."
I yawned loudly, scratching behind one of my ears. Luna scoffed.
"I know you did, but that doesn't mean it wasn't incredibly reckless!"
I groaned, and smiled despite myself at her concern, and how silly she was acting.
"Reckless, heroic, whatever. It was a..."
I waved my hoof as I tried to remember what the word was.
"... calculated risk. I'd studied Grogar."
Luna sounded incredulous. "Studied him? How?"
"Mph. Back when I thought Discord was him, I studied how to backstab him properly. Then, when I got books on combat magic, some of them were theoretical ways to combat—" I was cut off by another strong yawn, "—to combat his magic. Seems like some of the old wizards were really into his whole legend."
"Well of course they were, he was the greatest villain this land faced for millenia... but Cozy, none of that makes what you did safe, or sensible. Why didn't you wait for us? Why didn't you tell all of us what you were doing?!"
I shrugged into her. "I didn't know it would be Grogar. I thought we were up against some two-bit mage or another pony with a weird artifact like Neighsay. Once I realized who it was, I knew I had to stop him. But you're right, I should have told you, and I have been reckless."
I leaned into her and looked up at the ceiling as I gathered my thoughts.
"I guess I've just been trying extra-hard not to get other ponies wrapped up in what I'm doing because... I want to prove I'm good at it, on my own. That I have value."
Luna pulled tighter around me. "Cozy, of course you have value—"
"I don't mean to you."
That stunned her into silence. Honestly, I hadn't meant to say it out loud. I sighed.
"I needed to prove it to myself. Between... realizing how awful, and dumb I was before, and the fact that I was defeated by a bunch of students... knowing ponies will always see me as 'the crazy foal'..." I sighed. "Can we just put off talking more about this for now? I don't want to get that deep in my own head."
Luna nodded, which surprised me. "Of course. I was just... very concerned for you. I am glad you emerged triumphant, that you're back safe with me, and this whole nightmare is over. And I'm glad you've awoken in time for the celebration!"
I blinked in confusion, and then realized no light was streaming through the window. "Wait, it's night time? It was early morning when I fought Grogar! I missed Hearth's Warming Eve?!"
I was equal parts happy and crushed by that realization, but Luna just snickered.
"Nay, not at all! You've awoken just in time for the best part!"
One quick shower and some cleaning up later, and we were on our way to a huge Ponyville celebration. I was more than a little nervous about how ponies would react to me there, but Luna's presence kept me grounded.
So you can imagine my surprise when cheers erupted from everypony when I walked into the Ponyville castle foyer. Dash was in my face before I could even blink.
"Cozy! Is it true you took Grogar down by yourself?! You're like the next Gusty the Great!"
I chuckled nervously, eyes darting around the room, but I was surprised to see no hostile faces there. "Er, well, Sunset helped. Not only did she help me track him down, she got me out of the way of his first attack. If that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have been able to beat him at all."
I spotted Sunset striding up from the side, and she just scoffed and waved a hoof dismissively.
"You're being way too modest, Cozy. You're the one who went back and went toe-to-toe with him. So what happened, exactly? All we found were the fragments of his bell and a giant crater; Discord had to check the aether to confirm he was imprisoned again!"
I opened my mouth to respond, only to realize the entire crowd had gone silent, listening intently.
This calls for some proper exposition.
I cleared my throat, and began weaving the epic tale of Dashing Savior's triumph over Grogar to my rapt audience. Part of me liked having the ponies wrapped around my hoof like that, and I didn't worry about that.
Some days later, Luna and I had that talk, and I told her that I had realized I didn't have to worry about being good or evil. At some point in the fight with Grogar, I'd realized it, subconsciously; I have habits, I have tendencies, I have thought processes that aren't very nice...
But what defines us is the decisions we make. It's what I do with my thoughts and skills that define what sort of pony I am. It's been a few months since the Shattering of the Bell, and I haven't struggled with my own thoughts since then.
I've become a lot more comfortable with the pony I am. Starlight's even suggested I come back to her school next semester, and I might just take her up on it. One way or the other, there's one thing that's definitely true, as Grogar could attest:
If anycreature tries causing trouble in Equestria, they're going to have to get through me, and my friends!
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- SoloBrony · 138k words · 138 9 · 2.5k views
- SoloBrony · 19k words · 363 8 · 5.3k views
- SoloBrony · 17k words · 187 9 · 3k views
- Silvermyr · 87k words · 292 14 · 6.6k views
- Betty_Starlight · 85k words · 32 5 · 2.4k views
- Silvermyr · 74k words · 110 4 · 2.2k views
- Haoryu Changer · 35k words · 97 7 · 4.3k views
- Zizi Tachyon · 51k words · 79 5 · 3.3k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.191 seconds
Total duration
1,022 users online
1,914,519 hits today, 2,707,512 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
The WHAM when that line hits is audible.
And the whole story gets wrapped up in a nice little bow.
This was nice. It wasn't what I was expecting as follow up, or, hell, I wasn't expecting to get a follow up at all. It diverges from the tone of the first fic a fair bit but it also gets into meatier problems. I was surprised at how briskly it ended, especially given it happened in narration, but the ending basically ties everything up in, as mentioned, a neat bow.
Also, the fight with Grogar was pretty amazing. Still hype about that.
So yeah, I enjoyed this one.
10011379
It's a super hero story! I can't just lounge on the anticlimax for too long :P
A sweet end to a sadly short fic and short series, I certainly would love to see cozy in the school again, though I think she will be very bored XD, she is very brilliant, don't think the school of friendship would teach her much, anyway, I enjoyed this, so thanks for the story, about time a good redemption story about cozy appears :D.
10011413
Glad you enjoyed it ^.^
I actually have a premise for another sequel, but I think I'll let this settle a bit and focus on my other stuff before diving back into this.
Good sequel, I liked how Cozy finally made up with and accepted her evil self as a part of who she is and the ending was nice as well. I wonder how she'd fare in school.
That's a sweet sequel, Cozy is such a smart filly.
MOOOOOOOOOAR
Nice. :)
Fantastic story, with gripping characters and well written interactions. Loved it just as much as I loved the first one. Here's hoping we get to see her again!
10024591
Aww, thanks! I've been considering a sequel. Pop over to my blog and tell me what you'd like to see me work on next, I have a post for it.
I have enjoyed reading this sequel and I like where Cozy Glow has ended up. Learning that it's one's actions rather than their thoughts that define her was important for her, so she would no longer attribute certain thoughts and feelings to "Old Cozy" and wage this internal war on multiple occasions. It's also nice to see that she's thinking of going back to the Friendship School. Honestly not sure where things would go from here if a sequel is done, but if it is, you can expect to see me there.
10025853
Check out my other story, The Mirror. And I'm really glad you enjoyed this, I hope it brightened your day ^.^
10025859
Ah yes. Forgot to mention that but I have The Mirror saved in a library and will be reading that in the near future.
Magnificent work, especially the ending epiphany. Sunset would approve.
Though I have to wonder, did Cozy ever ask what Sunset's deal was?
10034145
Nope. She deliberately avoided that whole hot mess like it was the plague. Prying into other ponies' bad history is for losers!
Thanks for reading. I'm really glad you enjoyed it all. Be sure to check out The Mirror if you want to continue my insane Cozy series.
10041957
"Anyone who wants to go skateboarding raise your hands!"
"...Wait shit."
10041991
Well played.
If you plan another sequel... May I suggest the old cliche of confronting the past as Cozy is forced to talk with the young 6?
10042415
Read The Mirror, it's connected to this (in an odd way). Sequel coming on the 22nd.
That's touched on, but the sequel deals with all sorts of shenanigans.
10053005
Yes.
No.
...Yes.
N. O. NO.
Y. E. S. YES.
Let’s settle for maybe.
10053153
i.ytimg.com/vi/Ek-rcvyY2JA/maxresdefault.jpg
animetree.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/jjba-stardust-crusaders-yes-yes-yes.jpg?w=350
A decidedly honest response.
You bet it does. BRING ON THE HEROIC MONOLOGUE!
Well, this wasn’t as excellent as the first story. Still good, mind you, and I enjoyed going along with Cozy all this way, though with all the jumping around in PoV there was a bit of a disconnect with her. This was still a fun story with a great heart too it, and I’m still on board for what comes next.
-GM, master of onward.
That said, in the end, there didn’t really seem to be that much about Hearth’s Warming…
10053795
Thanks for the honest feedback. Cozy Hearth's Warming has a different tone from the first, though that wasn't entirely intentional. It was all very emergent as I went along. I realize it was paced very abruptly, a lot of which owes to Quillon-Cozy's tendency to not overthink things. It seems like this story was a lot more hit-or-miss than the others.
I was hoping she’d go to Canterlot High.
And a very fine and satisfying end to this one. Congratulations, SoloBrony. You did Cozy Glow about a Tredecillion times better than the show.
Cozy
10158236
I love this community... So very knowledgeable.
10158296
We love you too ^.^
10158323
No need to lie, I know you all have a deep, burning indifference towards me.
10158499
Motherfucker, you've written stories. You should know by now how an author feels about regular commenters. Don'tcha pretend you don't.
But in all seriousness, I've never felt as at-peace in a community as I have among the Brony fandom. Sure, you get the occasional jerk, but by and large I love this fandom, my commenters, and the many, many friends I've made here. Just how it is.
10158505
Yeah... But still, I’m not that good. However, I am very interested in reading more of your stories. I’m sure everyone would prefer yours to mine. Can’t beat a Cozy Glow redemption story, now can we?
One of my favorites.
Great story.
Though I'm rather sad that it had to end. I was really getting to love your Cozy Glow and all her brain damaged shenanigans, not to mention of my favorite bacon hair pony. Loved it!
10294331
There are sequels.
>Bacon-haired
>Internal screaming
10382790
She never was chased by flock of dragon whelps
Also doesn't shout her name
10377438
Not sure if you're familiar with this performer or not...
10503000
That's beautifully wise. Is that actually a folklore tale or something artist come up with?
There was also one this statement about games we play:
"The assumptions we make, things we ignore, and things we change make us what we become.”
Pratchett. Dodger.
You could say that all that is food for those wolves.
Still an 8/q0. Great job wrapping things up.
Great story! I can only hope we get another sequel some day.
11810752
…Huh. I haven’t heard anything about this story since 2020.
Strange how that works out.
11810941
Right?