//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: And The Star Shall Guide Her... // Story: An UnCozy Reformation // by AnUnCozyGlow //------------------------------// Cozy Glow zipped around her room, giggling and chuckling with Glee as she packed her things. After months of waiting she was finally going to get what she most desired. All of a sudden however a knock was heard at the door and Cozy paused giving off a short and sweet "come in!" As the door opened Cozy saw Willow enter the room. The young unicorn's hazed over eyes looking a tad more sad then usual. "Good morning Willow, how are yea!?" Cozy greeted her friend as she fluttered over her. "Oh, I suppose i'm fine" Willow sighed as she looked down at the floor causing Cozy to raise an eyebrow. "Fine huh, then why do you sound sadder then a platypus who lost her egg!?" Cozy inquired looking down at the young unicorn filly. "Well, I suppose I guess i'm just thinking about how much i'll miss you" Willow softly smiled as she began to levitate something towards the curly haired Pegasus. "I mean I know I shouldn't be sad, it's good to get out of a place like this, and my visions have told me we'll meet again someday when we're grown, but still..." Willow began to pout as her magic wrapped the small band around Cozy's arm. "I-is this a friendship bracelet?" Cozy asked in surprise. "Um, yes" Willow blushed as Cozy swooped down and hugged her. "Oh thank you willow, I love it!" Cozy squeed. "I'm glad" Willow chuckled. "Now how about I finish helping you pack those saddle bags so you'll be ready in time. Cozy Glow paced back and fourth frantically as she waited by the front entrance of the clinic. he fast and nervous steps reverberating throughout the first floor. "Calm down youngling or you'll burn a hole in the tile" Fritz joked with a chuckle as he looked over at his wife. "Now now dear Ms. Glow has been waiting quite some time for this, it makes sense she would be a bit antsy" Dula chuckled looking down at the anxious foal. "Nervous, what me..pfft. No way!" Cozy rebutted. "I mean it's not like i'm afraid Starlight's not gonna show-up because she decided I wasn't worth the hassle or anything, or that she might get eaten by a Bugbear on her way her or...." Cozy began to hyperventilate as Dr. Dula her hoof on the filly's back in an attempt to calm her down. "Now now, no need for such forlorn fantasies Ms. Glow. I am sure Starlight will be here any minute now" The Doctor Smiled giving Cozy a reassuring wink. "T-thanks i'm sure you're right" Cozy nervously chuckled as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. Just then however the automatic doors at the front opened as the usual ding went off and the three looked forward to see a very familiar sight. "Starlight!" Cozy exclaimed with excitement as she quickly flew towards the older unicorn mare and hugged her tightly burying her muzzle in Starlight's chest fur, tears of joy rolling down her cheek. "It's good to see you too cozy" The voice softly rasped. This caused Cozy to look up and see that Starlight looked rather worse for ware. A frizzled mane, bags under her eyes and her eyes a bit bloodshot. "Oh good golly, what happened to you!?" Cozy asked in a panic as she released herself from Starlight and fluttered up towards her face. "I'm fine Cozy, realy, just a little worn out from going so long without magic." Starlight chuckled as she tried to tidy her mane. "Oh, yea that....sorry" Cozy apologized as she awkwardly rubbed her hoof against her shoulder. Starlight just looked at the young foal and chuckled. "It's no big deal really now let's get whatever we need to get signed signed and get you outta here!" Starlight exclaimed as she began to trot towards the doctors. "OK!" Cozy happily exclaimed as she followed behind. On the train from Manehatten to Ponyville an eerie and unnatural silence seemed to settle throughout as the usually busy caravan was near empty save for a few older mares, a diamond dog , and a lone griffon that seemed to have fallen asleep as it was sprawled out along the entire seat. And near the back of the car set two ponies that despite being very happy to see one another again, didn't quite know what to say. "So, um....I bet you're glad to be out of there and headed back to Ponyville, right!?" Starlight nervously chuckled looking down at the young foal. "Yea, and I bet you're glad to be done with all that community service or what not." Cozy awkwardly replied back. Starlight just quickly saying "Yep" with an awkward chuckle. Eventually however the tension got to both of them and the damn broke. "I'm sorry I got you in trouble Starlight. I was so worried about you this whole time and I feel bad that I got your magic taken away from you even though you probably have it back now, I understand if you hate me now and wanna throw me right back into Tartarus!" Cozy quickly exclaimed with a deep breath afterwords surprisingly glad to have gotten her worries of her chest. Starlight just looked at the young foal and chuckled. "Cozy, I don't hate you" She laughed. "I told you I did what I did because my gut told me it was right. And hey you're better now aren't you?" Starlight noted pointing at the foal. "Plus I guess four months of hard labor really helps you appreciate the endurance of Earth Ponies. I don't know how Applejack works from dawn till dusk like she does, I got winded after just an hour!" Starlight joked. "Still though, if it weren't for me you never would've gotten in trouble in the first place" Cozy pouted. "Maybe, but if there's one thing I know to be true, friends are worth getting in trouble for" Starlight winked as she ruffled the young Pegasus's curly hair. "But enough talk of the past, I wanna look forward to the future." Starlight smiled. "I just know you're gonna love our new place!" "New Place?" Cozy asked somewhat confused. "Yea, well Celestia felt it might be a bit....dangerous for you to live in Twilight's Castle with all the rare books and magical artifacts and all so Twilight and I decided it was for the best that I get my own place." Starlight awkwardly admitted. "Oh no, now I've gotten you kicked out of the castle too!?" Cozy pouted looking even more distraught. "No, no it's not like that" Starlight tried to reassure her. "I mean maybe technically it kind of is, but honestly even I knew I couldn't live in Twilight's castle forever and the place Trixie and I rented out is pretty nice, I think you'll like it" Starlight softly smiled. "Trixie?" Cozy asked uncertain if she remembered the name. "Yea, she's one of my best friends. You remember, the blue unicorn with the silver hair from that time I had to hire substitutes when Discord tricked Twilight and the others into going on that fake friendship mission." Starlight explained. "Oh, you mean that loud magician with the annoying kinda scratchy voice!?" Cozy replied. "Hehe, yep the one and only" Starlight exclaimed. "But don't worry, she's not that bad." Starlight teased. Cozy quickly pranced along behind Starlight as the two continued walking through the town. Admittingly being back in Ponyville made Cozy nervous, she was afraid any second now that she'd run into one of her old classmates or some pony or creature that recognized her and be part of some big awful scene that she did NOT feel like dealing with right now. "Calm down" Starlight stated as she looked down at the anxious and nervously shaking filly. "I know you're nervous, I was when I first moved to Ponyville too" Starlight explained. "But trust me when I say the ponies here aren't the kind to hold grudges, and hey if anyone does want to mess with you, they'll have to get through me first!" Starlight exclaimed giving Cozy a confident wink. The girl just nervously smiling and shaking her head in agreement. "Now c'mon we're almost there!" Starlight happily exclaimed as she began to prance faster. At the most western edge of town the two mare finally reached there destination. Cozy looked up and saw a typical two story pony home, a thatched hay roof and wooden beams on the side, it looked like near every other house in the slowly growing town, save for the fact it was painted part blue and part purple with Starlight and what she was guessing her friend Trixie's cutie mark symbols near the top instead of the usual heart shape most other houses had. All of a sudden Cozy heard a rustling in the bushes in the nearby woods as she and Starlight looked over to see a familiar blue unicorn mare angrily trotting out of the woods spitting leaves out of her mouth. "Stupid woods, it's fall there should be pine cones everywhere!" She grunted. "Trixie, what happened to you!?" Starlight asked doing her best to hold back her laughter. "Ugg" Trixie huffed. "Trixie was looking in the woods for pine cones to put in our centerpiece for the living room but all the good ones are already gone!" "I didn't know pine cones just dissipated like that" Starlight teased. "They don't" Trixie huffed once more "But obviously the shopkeeps in this po-dunk town already came and took all the good ones to make their own overpriced decorations with!" Trixie began to rant before noticing Cozy fluttering nearby. "Oh, is that her?" Trixie asked pointing to Cozy, Starlight just shaking her head. "Well then, The Great and Powerful Trixie welcomes you to her, er our humble abode Ms. Glow" Trixie exclaimed as she quickly opened the door. "TA DA!!" Cozy slowly fluttered in and looked around. In the living room she saw a bookshelf on the left most wall and in front of it a small table with the decorative centerpiece Trixie had been talking about, a small burgundy rug underneath. Next to it was a medium sized couch and behind it a red chair. The wooden floors looked old but sturdy and near the back of the room a long dining table with exquisite silver ware placement, to the right side a small kitchen area with a fridge an island a sink and of course cabinets hanging above for storage. back to the left there was a large oval opening that Cozy imagined led into a study and in the back right stairs that most likely led to the second floor. "Well c'mon in and lets take the grand tour!" Starlight happily exclaimed as she began to trot towards the stairs. And this is the bathroom" Starlight stated as she opened the door to a rather small but homely looking room with blue tile a medium sized tub, a toilet a sink and a mirror that seemed to open and have a small bit of storage inside as Starlight noted putting Cozy's medication inside before trotting out and continuing along her way to the very end of the hall. "And this is the master bedroom where Trixie and I will be staying" Starlight stated as Cozy looked in the room, wooden floors a queen sized bed and a dresser with a mirror on top to the left, two small night stands on each side. "So, you too are sleeping together in the same bed....did you get married or something?" Cozy bluntly asked causing the two mares to blush. "Pfft, no...I mean, we could, someday...maybe...not that we would, or not that we wouldn't" Starlight began to fumble her words as she attempted to nervously explain. "It was simply much cheaper to buy one bed then two is all" Trixie bluntly stated looking down at the inquisitive little foal. "But i'm sure we could find a way to make it for more then just sleeping" Trixie teased the already flustered Starlight. "OK, LET'S GO SHOW COZY HER ROOM!!" Starlight loudly exclaimed as she trotted back towards the front of the upstairs hall. Trixie and Cozy just chuckling at the unicorn mare's flustered state. Cozy looked around in awe at the room that Starlight had prepared for her, a nice comfy twin sized bed with a blue covers and a star print on it. A bookshelf full of classical literature a closet pre-filled with some of the most adorable outfits the filly had ever seen, courtesy of Rarity apparently, a beginners magic kit sitting in the corner, from Trixie no doubt and for some reason a bunch of kites pinned up on the wall. "Do you like it?" Starlight asked. "I love it!" Cozy exclaimed. "but, what's with all the kites?" She curiously inquired. "Oh, well ahh...they're mine, you see, I ah..." Starlight blushed agian. "She really likes kites" Trixie finished with a chuckle. "I mean if you think this is alot you should see the attic, its filled with boxes of em!" Trixie teased. "Yea yea we can talk about my kite addiction later, right now let's focus on the task at hand." Starlight stated. "And what task is that?" Trixie asked. "Why playing the traditional housewarming game of Dragon Pit!" Starlight happily exclaimed as she made her favorite board-game magically appear in front of Trixie. "I don't think that's a real tradition" Trixie huffed. "Well it is now!" Starlight smiled. "Now c'mon, let the games begin!" Starlight cheered. Cozy and Trixie just rolling their eyes and chuckling as they set down next to Starlight as she set up the game board.