LOLO Fillydelphia

by AizakkuHorooee

Act 2

With Chrysalis off to talk to Cozy Glow, I take it upon myself to talk to the rest of the student body of Happy Foals Schoolhouse… at least whoever was available. Any of the kids will do.

Looking around, the seating area isn’t as crowded as before as the students take their turns bowling. I then close my eyes and tap the nearest child on the shoulder. Opening my eyes back up, I can see a baby dragon turn around. He has a similar coloration to Mangle - grey scales with green spines and eyes, only with a thinner version of Spike’s body shape.

“Oh, Aita! What’s up?” he greets, holding out his claw for me to shake with my hoof.

“Chrysalis and I noticed the student body was glaring at that one filly. Pegasus, has a bandana, neat curls, chess piece for a-”

I am interrupted when I hear a loud crash of pins. There’s a brief bit of wind as Cozy breezes by. Half a good thing it seems he knew who I was talking about.

“Cozy Glow? Don’t let her innocent demeanor fool you. She has no sense for others’ wellbeing,” the dragon warns, pointing his thumb to Cozy.

“That’s not true from what I noticed. Would you be bowling right now if all she was thinking about was herself?”

My question stumps the dragon, prompting one of the unicorns to come to his side. She has a blue coat, lavender mohawk and tail, and three lily pads for a cutie mark. Based on the unicorn’s voice and appearance, I can only guess that her name is Lily Trail.

“Hey! You leave Smoky alone! Cozy dragged ev’rypony here and blew the school budget just so she can bowl!”

“’Course it doesn’t hurt that Heavenly Luck is president of the school board,” Smoky - as he’s called - adds, seemingly echoing Apple Bloom from during the election between Diamond Tiara and Pip.

In direct response, I look back to Chrysalis - who Cozy Glow is hugging at the moment, then look on the floor below to see my saddlebag. I float the DS out of the bag and over to me. “Well, I think I just saw Cozy hugging Chrysalis, so talk to the DS.” During my funny order, the DS levitates up close to Smoky’s face, who guides it down to half its previous elevation. “Besides, anything Cozy’s done is nothing compared to Chrysalis’ past.”

“Okay, nymph,” the unicorn replies. “But don’t say we didn’t warn ya.”

“Yes, and Lily Trail and I will laugh once you fail to steer her straight.”

With that, Smoky and Lily Trail head off to their lanes to start bowling again, prompting me to sit at a nearby empty table to think out loud to myself.

“So, I guess that explains why the students don’t like Cozy Glow. But what did Chrysalis mean about Carve referring to Happy Foals Schoolhouse back home?”

My thought process is interrupted when I hear another loud crash of pins on Cozy’s lane. Yay! Another strike!!! I hear Cozy Glow shout, seeing her rush back to Chrysalis and hug her again. Chrysalis happily motions afterward for Cozy to go tell the chaperones.

“That’s it! That’s the connection!” I exclaim.

“What is?” I hear Pinkie Pie say from behind, startling me. She blushes with embarrassment. “Whoops. Didn’t know you were in the moment. What’d you want to talk about?”

“I’m kind of lost about higher up stance on the field trip. Chrysalis says Carve might’ve mentioned Happy Foals before we were called by the map.”

“Oh.” Pinkie inhales through her teeth. “Yeah, you’d have to ask the other chaperones.”

“That’s what I thought.”

When I see Chrysalis again, a dragon walks up to her from the snack bar. She points to our plate, prompting the dragon to pass behind the chaperones back into the snack bar.

I now look to each one of the chaperones, each one giving Cozy Glow a hoof bump from left to right, everypony at the table with a empathic beam on their face afterward as she leaves to wait her next turn.

I take off over to the four mares at the high table, Chrysalis joining me. The mares wave hello to us, and each one I point to in the same order nods as I guess their names correctly. “So, Radiance? Espresso? Air Whiff? Interpolation? Okay good. Universe A Pinkie wanted me to talk to you all.”

“Yes?” says Radiance. “What about?”

“Just so we’re sure,” Chrysalis explains. “my stand-in, Carve, mentioned something about Celestia monitoring a school to the east. Would that be yours?”

The chaperones look at each other, Interpolation nodding. “The Equestria Education Association has been lecturing school board president Heavenly Luck about the liberal use of field trips and the expense it all incurs on the school budget. But she’s insistent about paying for it out of pouch.”

“This is a wealthy area of Fillydelphia after all,” Espresso adds. “Like all the other ones, the budget will not be affected by this field trip.”

This explanation doesn’t appear to involve Cozy at all, even though I inferred she lobbied to go bowling with her friends. “Wait, so Cozy Glow isn’t responsible?”

“Not financially,” Air Whiff replies. “But she clearly likes coming here to LOLO. Who wouldn’t? And as long as all parties can accommodate, she should be fine.”

With the final answer, I can see that the school staff have the opposite problem the students have. Great, it’s one of those missions.

Sitting back at our table, I notice there are two plates for the hay fries now instead of just one. Chrysalis floats half of what’s left onto the second plate. At that point, we begin eating again while conversing.

“So Aita, what have you learned about our mission?”

“When I was talking to the student body, I sure was proven right about the students taking this gift for granted. They all think this was just for Cozy, not to mention Lily Trail thinking this came from the budget.”

“But now we both know the latter at least isn’t true,” Chrysalis states, rubbing my back. “I noticed after both her strikes, Cozy went straight to me. I thought she would start with one of the chaperones. Why is that?”

“Well, with her first strike, she obviously wanted to see you impressed.”

“But that’s the thing, Aita. I was impressed. I just didn’t let adrenaline overshadow my thought process is all.”

I look at our plates, and just past Chrysalis’ are bits of the seasoning that come with the hay fries. I fly over the other side of the table and see a little bit on the floor too. “But you still rewarded her for those strikes, right?”

“Of course I did… well the first one anyway. But what made you-” Chrysalis realizes exactly what’s going on and smiles when she sees me across from her. “Very good, young Aita. I knew I can always count on you. So what did I do differently than the other mares?”

“I think I know… all the school staff were babying Cozy, but you were assertive with her. And the student body was biased against her, but I was impartial. I think we should start solving the problem by revealing the truth.”

As Chrysalis and I finish our hay fries, we hear Cozy Glow cheering. Turning around, I can see her score is finalized at one twenty five, as portrayed by a projection above her lane. She quickly approaches me and Chrysalis, excited about the score.

“That was my personal best! No gutters!” shouts Cozy.

No gutters? I could never do that at such a young age. That is pretty impressive. “That’s amazing, Cozy!” I say with enthusiasm, hoof bumping with her. “That’s usually something only the grownups could accomplish!”

“Golly! Was I really that impressive?” Cozy laughs. “That’s so sweet, Aita! I really wish others our relative age responded the way you and the chaperones have.”

“Actually Cozy, there is something about your school Aita and I need to tell you before you go on to game two. Accompany us at the main entrance.”

So, Cozy and I follow Chrysalis as she heads to the front, taking the right, then the left to the main entrance. Once we’re outside, Cozy Glow looks a little scared of Chrysalis, pupils shrunken under a stiff standing posture.

Chrysalis immediately notices and lies down on her belly. “Cozy, it’s okay. This has nothing to do with you, influences aside.”

“What?” Cozy shakily says.

“When Chrysalis and I were called here, we discovered you were in an unsuitable school environment.”

“Your prejudicial student body and lackadaisical staff led to how you managed to convince Heavenly Luck to personally fund the field trips you go on. Are we right?”

Cozy confirms Chrysalis’ guess by nodding. “I had been so used to getting what I liked. I felt on top of the world, living in the developmental community. It’s the richest area in Fillydelphia. But then I heard what happened to Canterlot City Spitfire…”

Chrysalis sees Cozy starting to tear up and turn away from her, so she walks over to Cozy and drapes her wing over her. “I remember that too. Seeing Aita broken up like that certainly wasn’t easy.”

“The way you and the Princess of Friendship went to CHS to defend Aita helped me see it’s not just about me. But when I started planning field trips with the school board, my classmates put two and two together and just started… well…”

“Denouncing you?” I finish, Cozy nodding yes and burying her face in Chrysalis’ side.

Chrysalis looks to Cozy, and closes her eyes. “I know what it’s like, losing the trust of everyone around you who realized what you did. But you’re just a child. Nopony your age should be going through that, even among their peers. And the way those chaperones have been treating you has to stop too.” When Chrysalis opens her eyes back up, Cozy looks up at her. “A field trip wasn’t what you needed… it was a friend, wasn’t it?”

Cozy tearfully gives us a silent yes at Chrysalis’ final guess, prompting me to walk closer to her. “Well, you have two right here, Cozy Glow.”

“...Thank you, Aita, Chrysalis. Both of you,” Cozy says, hugging me and Chrysalis, accepting our hooves in friendship. “Without you, I wouldn’t have realized just how lost I felt.”

“Any time, Cozy,” Chrysalis says. “If you’d like, you could visit Ponyville or the hive during the weekends.”

“Or… what if I moved to Ponyville? That way I can see Aita every day, and you whenever we visit each other.”

Hmm… I don’t see Chrysalis’ crown glowing, so we aren’t quite done with Cozy yet. “Maybe give this school one more shot before we think about moving. We aren’t quite done with the problem after all.”

So, after that emotional scene, Chrysalis, Cozy and I walk back into LOLO, but before we talk to the crowd, we go through the pub to reach the snack bar and see Universe A Pinkie again as we pass. She apparently had some lunch while Chrysalis and I were busy, but her plate still has some potato chips left.

Nearing the crowd, I see most of the projections hanging from the ceiling are full now, only a few dragons going up to bowl the last frame or two of their first game.

The rest of the kids stop and turn their heads when one of them spots Cozy Glow next to us and points. Of course, because I haven’t talked to any of them again since I shoved my DS in Smoky’s face, they still look bitter at Cozy from getting dragged here to bowl when they probably could’ve spent that time getting school work done. Not going to lie. I can at least see how someone dedicated to school may find it annoying, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Cozy looks to both of us, wondering who should be defending her. Both Chrysalis and I pat her on the back, letting her know we’ll do it, but also encouraging her to forward.