> Cozy Glow: Parent-less > by spacekatherine > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Turned Away > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The small, pink foal was wailing loudly in the lavender pegasus’ arms. She was cradling the baby so tightly, afraid of her falling to the ground just hours after birth. Small tufts of sky blue hair was already growing in her tiny head, and her wings were fluffy and feathery. The Pegasus’ cream yellow mane was tangled, and large dark circles were formed under her big, watery blue eyes. Her appearance was haggard, but she cared for the foal like her own, instead of another’s child she had carried for many months. The foal was crying her unopened eyes out, big tears spilling down her small cheeks. Wiping the tears away with her hoof, the Pegasus whispered softly to the foal. “Shh, it’s alright. Your parents are coming soon.” The foal immediately stopped crying, and held back her tears as though she understood what the lavender pony said. Her big eyes slowly opened, and milky pink pupils slowly greeted her. The mare suddenly got worried. Milky eyes could only mean the foal was slightly blind. There was a big chance that her eyes would fully develop further when she grew, but what if she were going to stay blind her whole life? The mare’s worried thoughts were interrupted when a Nurse Snowheart, a young nurse with a bright yellow coat and striking cerulean mane, knocked on the door. She entered the room, and informed her, “Mrs. Candlelight and Mr. Oceanheart are here to see the foal.” She then stepped aside to reveal two ponies. Ocean Heart had a deep blue coat, and arctic blue mane in stripes, just like his foal, who had a similar mane colour. His cutie mark was of a pink jumping dolphin. Candle Light had a sunny yellow coat, with a greyish pink mane and a candle for a cutiemark. Both of the parents had scarlet eyes too. “We wish to see our daughter. Please move aside, Miss, umm... Purple Skies.” Candle Light ordered, in a posh voice. They were definitely Canterlot nobility, thought Purple Skies. After all, only those posh lords and ladies would annoy or order around a mare who just gave birth. Especially one who had gone through an extremely tough pregnancy, with her losing her appetite, and the foal kicking her viciously. Her body was tired, and here there were two nobles who dared agitate a tired mare. Sighing inwardly, she turned up the dial on her nonsense tolerance level before handing them the foal oh so carefully. The cute ball of fluff, noticing that she was being taken away from her ‘mother’, started wailing yet again. “Ugh! She is going to stain my beautiful coat! And I just went to the salon!” Candle Light complained, and threw the foal into Ocean Heart’s hooves. He too, was disgusted by the foal, and wanted to hand it back to Purple Skies quick. Then he noticed her eyes, the milky pink eyes that could not see anything, but relied on her other senses alone. Noticing her eyes too, Candle Light also was shocked. A blind mare would never make it in Canterlot upper-class society. She would make their prestigious family laughingstock of the Canterlot high class society. All the dukes and duchesses, lords and ladies eyes would be on them. If only she was a lady instead of a viscountess. The everyone would turn a blind eye from the blind foal. Taking her purse with her, Candle Light and Ocean Heart stormed out of the room, and they declared she was no longer their daughter before vanishing off to Celestia knows where. Not knowing what to do, Purple Skies looked around frantically. She had no money to support a foal, even if she and coltfriend both worked extra hard at their business. Their diner was declining rapidly in popularity, and with the critic Zesty Gourmand’s new horseshoes rating, they might as well close down or go bankrupt. She called for Nurse Snowheart, and gave her instructions as to what to do with the foal. Purple Skies, after giving one last instruction, fell into a deep sleep and never woke up again... > Bright Hearts Orphanage > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Manehatten, Bright Hearts Orphanage Bright Hearts Orphanage was a relatively small one, tucked into the middle of the bustling city of Manehatten. It was a small building, with a mismatch of different colours slapped onto it, abd squeezed in between a movie theatre and a school. It was run by a kind mare, Rose Petal, and her wife, Violet Bubble. Now, you might think that orphanages are boring places with nothing much to do, but this was quite the opposite in Bright Hearts Orphanage. This was, after all, Manehatten. Home to sparkling lamps that functioned even after midnight, and a bustling night scene only comparable to Las Pegasus. Nevertheless, it was a very lovely place to stay in, and if the children were behaving well, Violet Bubble would take them to the movie theatre to watch their favourite action flicks. When Cozy Glow was sent away by Purple Skies for her safety, she was sent to Bright Hearts Orphanage. The cute and lovable ball of fluff instantly warmed the cockles of Rose Petal and Violet Bubble’s hearts. She was a hit with the older children too, who delighted in helping feed her, and the braver ones occasionally changed her nappies too. Yes, from birth, she was fawned upon greatly. Her milky eyes soon became clear after a month, and she could babble a little bit already. Too bad for her parents who shunned her away for her milky eyes, if they could see her bright scarlet eyes, they would surely rush to take her back. One autumn, hardly a year after her birth, Violet Bubble was cradling her in her hooves as she crooned lullabies to the foal. Her name was Cozy Glow, as requested by Purple Skies before her unfortunate death. Her arctic blue mane was striped too, like her father, though nopony would know. Her pink coat was strangely all her own. It was a stunning light pink, and was as soft as the finest fur of the cats of faraway lands. Her blue mane was already taking on a bouncy curl to it, and as she joyfully babbled nonsense to Violet, her scarlet eyes sparkled with laughter. Cozy Glow was the precious jewel of the orphanage, and the orphanage itself was the locked treasure chest. If she was a jewel, the other children were golden bits, and Violet and Rose the curses placed upon those who dared touch the treasure. Cozy Glow grew up into a fine young filly, and as fillies do, she often got into humongous trouble. A week after she could walk and talk and had her own conscious mind, Bale Straw’s stuffed rabbit suddenly ended up hanging from the rafters. A single hour after that, Medal Winner’s first ever karate championship trophy shattered to pieces because Cozy Glow was practicing flying. But quite unlike other fillies, she somehow manipulated her way out of getting punished. Violet often tried to ban her from eating dessert for a week after an incident, and each time, Cozy Glow would bat her big scarlet eyes in sadness and suddenly she was forgiven. After that, she became emotionless again, not caring for others feeling unless it would reach her own personal goals. One day, on the Summer Solstice, when the whole orphanage got to go to the festival to celebrate, Cozy Glow went missing. Gone. She had been so seemingly excited for the festival, like other fillies. In fact, the whole orphanage was buzzing about the festival. It was rumoured to have the best cotton candy maker, Floss Cloud, coming to town with his many flavours of cotton candy for all creatures. Then there was the games, where if luck struck on you, you would have a chance to come home with an enchanted teddy bear, spelled by the best charm mages of Equestria! So much more was going to be at the Solstice. And the most exciting thingof all: The Sun Princess Celestia herself, in all her glory. She would be making a magical and grand appearance, and a chance to see her up close was exciting and occupies most of the orphans thoughts that day. Then, Violet and Rose let the children wander around the food stalls, with the condition to gather back at the popcorn stall at eleven bells in time for the viewing of the raising of the sun. Soon, eleven bells rang, and all the children gathered round Violet and Rose. Trying to keep their eyes on a rowdy crowd of orphans, they did not notice Cozy Glow, barely three years of age at that time, was missing. Throughout the whole festival, they did not notice the absence of their beloved Cozy Glow. Not until they arrived back at the orphanage, that is. “Hey, where is Cozy?” Rose Petal asked. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized Cozy Glow had been lost and she might have followed another family home. At the School of Friendship, one week after the Summer Sun Solstice A small filly wandered to the gates of the tranquil school. She noticed Princess Twilight heading out the gates as the sun set behind her. the streaks of yellow blending in with the purple in the sky. Noticing a small filly, Twilight trotted over to her. “Hey, do you need help? Where are your parents?” The filly turned around with big, watery scarlet eyes, and whispered softly, “Hey Princess Twilight. I’m Cozy Glow.”