//------------------------------// // The Path Continues // Story: Sweet Affection 4 // by Masterob //------------------------------// The train that just left The Crystal Empire was finally back on route to Ponyville, though this one would require a few stops, but as long as it was toward her intended destination, Cozy had no problems waiting, especially when she had a cute colt keeping her company, even if he was a little irritable at the moment. "I bet you can't wait to be back home, right Wumbly-Boo?" Cozy asked, getting a grumble from the colt. "I'm sure you have a lot of friends who want to see you." "Uh-huh..." Rumble said, maintaining his pout. Cozy knew why he seemed kind of bothered, she knew it did have to do with her actions, leaving her to feel a twinge of guilt. "Look Rumble, I get why you're upset. I know you told me not to sneak off, but I did it anyway, and the fact that we don't know where Princess Flurry Heart went, and accidentally leaving Flitter behind at-" "AAHH!" Rumble shouted, getting some unwanted attention from ponies nearby. "I didn't think of that! Oh no, Flitter's gonna be so mad at me! She's totally gonna kick my flank for this! Oh man, how do I get out of this!?" "Aren't you overreacting a bit?" Cozy said. Rumble narrowed his eyes at Cozy, "You..." He turned to face her, prepared to give her a quite the earful, then he noticed the overexaggerated sad and sorry look in her eyes. "You're not mad at me, are you Wumble?" She asked, doing a sad lip quiver. All of Rumble's words seemingly abandoned him right then and there, leaving him unable to vent his anger, "Dang it." Rumble laid back against his chair, feeling all hope lost. Suddenly he felt some weight on his lap, then looked down to see that Cozy had turned his hindlegs into a pillow. "Hellooooo!" "Ugh, Cozy!" Rumble said, not in mood for her cute shenanigans. "Aw, don't you still want to be my fwiend Wumble?" Cozy asked. "Of course I do," Rumble said. "But you really need to think about the things you do, thanks to you my foalsitter might be mad at me, she may be very affectionate but she's also just as stern, I don't want to get on her bad side." "Wow, sounds like a really tough mare," Cozy said, getting off his lap, then pulling him into a hug. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens, if she gets mad then I'll just tell her that I'm to blame and you were just trying to help me, alright Rumble?" Rumble groaned slightly, "Alright Cozy, hope your plan works." "It will, don't worry Rumble, I won't let anything happen to you," Cozy said, then leaned into his ear, speaking eerily soft. "Nothing at all..." Rumble raised his eyebrow as he glanced at the filly, "That sounded almost creepy like Cozy." Cozy giggled at his reaction, "Silly Rumble." She planted a big kiss on his cheek, weirding him out even more to the point where he slowly pushed her away, leaving her on her own seat. "What did I get myself into?" Rumble muttered. Back at the Crystal Empire, Cadance started rounding up all of the guards, wanting a sit-rep about where Cozy Glow might be. Also among them was Sunburst, who had been alerted to the situation and offered his assistance, he is Flurry's Crystaller after all. "Be sure there are guards at every perimeter of the empire, we don't want Cozy Glow sneaking away," Cadance said. "How can one filly be so much trouble?" a guard said. "Well I heard she's been working with Tirek, so she must be really bad," another guard said. "Guys, this is the filly that nearly wiped out all magic, she's much more dangerous than she sounds," Sunburst reminded. "Exactly, just be on your guard, and don't fall for her cuteness," Cadance said, getting glances of confusion from the guards. "Yeah I know that sounds weird to say but she can put on quite an act." From nearby, Flitter had flown over, getting Cadance's attention. "Princess Cadance!" Cadance had turned to Flitter's direction, "Oh it's you, you're Flitter right? Rumble's foalsitter?" "Glad you remember me," Flitter said, landing before Cadance. "Sorry to bother you, but have you seen Rumble anywhere? He might be with a little pink Pegasus, they somehow escaped my sight and now I can't seem to find them, so I've been flying-" "Hold on a moment," Cadance said. "Did you say a little pink Pegasus?" "Yeah, cute little thing too, especially those freckles and her baby talk," Flitter said. "Is her name Cozy Glow by any chance?" Sunburst asked. "Yeah, why have you seen them? I hope so, I really need to get back home," Flitter said. "I heard Cozy Glow doesn't even have a family to take care of her, isn't that terrible? Maybe I can take her in or something, she could use a big parent figure I'm sure, I think I'm the mare for that, wouldn't you agree?" Cadance and Sunburst realized this could be a potentially awkward situation, but first they needed to confirm something, so Cadance spoke again. "Flitter, do you know who Cozy Glow is?" "...Uh didn't we just establish that she's a cute little filly? One of Rumble's new friends," Flitter said. "But did you know she used to live in Ponyville?" Sunburst asked. "Well she mentioned going to Twilight's school so I kinda figured," Flitter answered. "And did you know she no longer attends?" Cadance asked. "Well, no she never mentioned that, did she graduate?" Flitter asked. "...No, not exactly," Sunburst said. "You see..." "I found Flurry!" Shining Armor said, using his magic to hold Flurry near him. The ponies noticed that she looked really dirty. "I found her in the garbage." "The Garbage!?" Cadance asked in sheer shock. "Huh? What was she doing in the garbage?" Flitter asked. "Mean pony!" Flurry shouted. "She keeps saying that, I don't know who she means," Shining Armor said. Flitter approached the little Princess, "Flurry, have you seen Rumble?" Flurry nodded, "Uh-huh, Wumble wif mean pony!" "Which mean pony?" Flitter asked. "To my knowledge, Rumble's only been with his new friend Cozy Glow." Shining Armor's eyes widened, "Did you just say 'Cozy Glow'? As in the same Cozy Glow that nearly destroyed Equestria!?" Flitter stared at Shining Armor like if he just lost his mind, "Uh, no, this Cozy Glow is a filly." "You're both correct," Cadance said. "Cozy Glow is a filly, and a dangerous villain." "She's the reason all of Equestria's magic started to disappear!" Shining Armor said. Flitter still didn't look like she was buying this, "Um, mind running that by again? Because it honestly sounds like you just said that Cozy Glow caused that magic shortage a while back, which I find hard to believe since, you know, she's a small filly." "You seriously haven't heard of her? You live in Ponyville!" Shining Armor shouted. "I just heard one of the students caused trouble, no way it was a little tiny filly like Cozy Glow, she's way too adorable to do anything like that," Flitter insisted. "Cozy is only a filly, but she's highly dangerous," Sunburst explained. "She was secretly working with Tirek to destroy Equestria, she's the one who had Twilight and her friends trapped in Tartarus, she's the one who trapped Starlight in a magic barrier, she's the one who nearly destroyed all magic, she tried taking over Twilight's school to be the New Princess of Friendship! It was terrible I tell you!" "She's a manipulator," Shining Armor said. "She tricked Twiley, she tricked her friends, she tricked The Cutie Mark Crusaders, she tricked all the students at that school, and now it looks like she's tricked both you and Rumble." "Wait, Rumble!" Cadance said. "He's still with Cozy Glow isn't he!?" She turned to Shining Armor, "You haven't seen Rumble have you!?" "Well last I saw him he was looking for Flurry," Shining Armor said. "He said he found her outside and then flew off." "Ok, maybe he's still-" Cadance just realized something her husband said, "What do you mean he found her outside? Did you take your eyes off Flurry again!?" "Only for second, literally a second!" Shining Armor said. "I was watching over her like a hawk! Then I heard some of the guards stumbling to get outside and when I went to go check on them, Flurry decided to sneak off!" "You know how adventurous she gets though, you really need to keep a closer eye out," Cadance said. Before this could continue, Flitter had spoken up, "Sorry to interrupt but Shining Armor, do you know which way Rumble might have gone?" "I honestly don't know, he just went looking for both Flurry and Cozy Glow," Shining Armor said. "I really find it hard to believe that such a sweet little filly could be evil!" Flitter said. "Are you sure she wasn't mind controlled or something? I mean Shining Armor got mind controlled during his wedding, so the same could have happened to Cozy!" "Gee thanks for bringing that up," Shining Armor complained. "I wish I could say it was mind control, but she was acting on her free will," Cadance said. "She willingly worked with Tirek and willingly tried to-" "Tirek!?" Flitter shouted in disbelief. "Now I know it has to have been mind control or a trick! Or maybe he manipulated her! Such a small filly, she probably believed every single word he said about Friendship! That girl really needs a good mother figure, when we find Cozy, that's what I'm going to be, I'll set her straight and she'll never make a bad mistake again!" "Yeah, something tells me that kid's already a lost cause, I say we just find her so we can send her back to Tartarus," Shining Armor said. Flitter's eyes widened, "She, has been staying, IN TARTARUS!? She's a little filly!? Who's stupid idea waa it to send her to Tartarus!?" "Excuse me but that was Princess Celestia's idea!" Shining Armor shouted. "Well shame on her then," Flitter said, much to the surprise and mild ire of the others, namely Shining Armor. "You can't cast shame on Princess Celestia! She's the Princess!" Shining Armor shouted. "Well I am, because what type of Princess banishes a little filly?" Flitter asked. "A Princess who wants to keep her Kingdom safe from villains!" Shining Armor argued. "Enough!" Cadance interjected. "We'll discuss this later, for now we need to find Rumble and Cozy Glow." "Excuse me Princess, did you say Cozy Glow?" The stallion with the messey mustache asked. He had just been walking and spotted The Princess, her husband and the guards. "Yes, yes I did," Cadance answered. "Why, have you seen her? Or a young gray Pegasus boy?" "Oh yes, they were making their way towards a train just a little while ago, first that young filly and then the little Pegasus colt," the stallion answered. "The train just left a few minutes ago, looks like they're about to do a little traveling." "They did WHAT?!?" Flitter shouted in disbelief. "That Rumble! I can't believe he would just run off like that! Ooh when I get my hooves on him-" "Easy Flitter, I'm sure he didn't mean to board a train and leave," Cadance said. "But I am concerned about this, we need to go find them and fast." "I'll send some guards to stop the train," Shining Armor said. "That's what my Kingdom's guards already did," they heard. They turned to see Terramar making his way over to the group. "Oh, Terramar, what brings you here?" Flitter asked. "Wait who's he?" Shining Armor asked. "I'm a friend of the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Terramar answered. "And the younger brother of one of Princess Twilight's students, not sure if you heard but my sister Silverstream is one of the six students that helped save Equestria." "Oh right, one of them was a Hippogriff," Shining Armor said. "Wait so your kingdom sent these guys here?" "Yeah, I asked my dad to sent some Hippogriffs to the Crystal Empire and make sure there there was no trouble," Terramar said. "Something about Cozy Glow seemed familiar, or sounded familiar, looks I was right to be worried, that filly is going to try and take over Equestria again." "Mean pony!" Flurry shouted again. "Huh, I've never seen Flurry this mad," Sunburst commented. "We gotta go after the train before it gets too far away," Shining Armor said. "Get all the Pegasus ponies and the Hippogriffs a head start, we'll round up all the others and try to stop that train!" "What about the snow?" Flitter asked. "It's gonna be hard going past a snowstorm." "Don't worry, our troops can handle it, plus Cadance has a spell for the rest of us, we can't destroy the snow clouds but we can shield against it," Shining Armor said. "Alright, sounds like a plan to me," Flitter said. "Now let's hurry." "Right, I'll send the flyers out, Flitter you can come with me, Cadance and Sunburst. Oh and you too Terramar," Shining Armor said. "Sure thing Prince Shining Armor," Terramar said. "Right, let's spread out!" Shining Armor ordered, each pony doing their task to help save Rumble and stop Cozy Glow. Back in Ponyville, Sweetie Belle was putting some final touches on Tender Taps. He had the suit, the adjusted hair, and some slight make up to bring out his features. She couldn't help but admire her own work, she was turning this colt into quite the looker, she was gonna keep going until no mare or filly could resist him. "We're almost done, soon we're gonna send you on a test run," Sweetie Belle said. "Huh? A Test run? What does that mean?" Tender Taps asked. "We're gonna show you around Ponyville and see how all the mares and fillies will react to seeing you, if they thought you were cute before, they haven't seen anything yet," Sweetie Belle said. "Um, wasn't this to get Twilight's attention?" Tender Taps asked. "Yes but it's good to gauge the reactions of other girls," Sweetie Belle said. "Plus it can be a real confidence booster." "Um, alright if you say so," Tender Taps said, slightly worried about this outing. He is slightly worried about the opinions that others may have on him. "What if something goes wrong though? What if they think I don't look all that great?" "I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't confident," Sweetie Belle said. "Besides the mares and fillies in Ponyville are nice, even if there's a slight flaw they'll be cool about it. Now don't be such a worrier Tap-Tap, let's go show them the slightly new you!" Sweetie Belle took Tender Taps by the hoof and led him outside, still uncertain about this. What would ponies say about his look, especially his clothes. The two walked through Ponyville, Tender Taps shying away from any gazes that came his way. As they walked Sweetie Belle noticed her two best friends and fellow Crusaders, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They seemed to be making their way toward where the train station was. "Oh, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, perfect! Let's see what they have to say!" Sweetie Belle said, dragging Tender Taps to her friends. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had arrived at the station, where there waited Dinky and The Young Six of Twilight's school of Friendship, that being Sandbar, Silverstream, Gallus, Ocellus, Smolder and Yona. "How long before this friend of yours comes again?" Schmolder asked, looking a little impatient. "Feels like we've been waiting here a while." "Soon, I just want to be here the moment he steps off that train," Dinky said. "I've really missed him these last several months and I want him to know that from the moment he steps out of the train." "Wait, this Rumble dude, was he your coltfriend?" Sandbar asked. "No, he's Sweetie Belle's coltfriend, but before that he was and still is my best friend, so my superiority status take priority here," Dinky said. "Heh, somepony's high on themselves," Apple Bloom joked, getting an annoyed eye roll from Dinky. "We get yer close with Rumble but this is a whole different level." "Surprised it took you this long to get here Apple Bloom, figured you'd be here sooner," Dinky said. "Well ah had apple picking to do," Apple Bloom explained. "I met with her at the farm, even lent her a helping hoof, because that's the kind of friend I am," Scootaloo said. "But the real question is, where is Sweetie Belle?" "Yeah, if anypony should be here it's her," Apple Bloom said. "She missed Rumble more than any of us." "Excuse me?" Dinky said. "Best friend here, I missed Rumble just as much as she did. In fact I can now say I missed him even more since I came here early to greet him!" "Yer really taking this seriously ain't ya?" Apple Bloom said. "Times like this I'm convinced you regret not making Rumble yer coltfriend before Sweetie Belle." "Ooh! Are you secretly jealous that Rumble liked Sweetie Belle and not you?" Silverstream asked. Dinky narrowed her eyes at the eager Hippogriff, "First of all, Rumble liked me just as much as he liked Sweetie Belle, we just choose to remain friends because neither of us wanted to give that up, we cared about each other too much to let romance potentially ruin it. Second I was happy he got together with Sweetie Belle, I even helped him win her over while some fillies," she narrowly glanced her eyes at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, "Tried doing the opposite of that." "Hey it was worth a shot to get Rumble to like me," Scootaloo admitted. "Plus things can change, and when they do, I'll be ready." "Yeah good luck with that," Dinky muttered. "Seriously though, I'm just as surprised Sweetie Belle's not here, even if she's not the first she should still be one of them firsts," Apple Bloom said. "You mentioned me?" they heard Sweetie Belle's voice say. The group turned to see the young filly making her way over alongside a somewhat nervous Tender Taps. "Here I am." "Hi Sweetie Belle, hi Tender Taps," Apple Bloom greeted. "H-hi everypo-every creature," Tender Taps said, remembering the diversity of the group. "You all saw it for yourself, I was here long before Sweetie Belle was," Dinky said. "Yeah, yeah, you're Rumble's eternal best friend, nopony can ever get in the middle of that," Sweetie Belle said. "I hate to see how you'd act at our wedding." "Little early to be planning that isn't it?" Apple Bloom asked. "Hey, me and Rumble have been together a really long time now, I think it's safe to say we're steady," Sweetie Belle said. "You sure about that?" Smolder asked. "What if he found a new girl to fall in love with at this fancy flight school of his?" "He wouldn't do something like that, we have a special connection that can never be broken," Sweetie Belle said. "Yeah Rumble's way too decent of a pony to do something like that," Apple Bloom said. "I really can't wait to meet him, he sounds so amazing!" Silversteam said, hopping excitedly. "He is, but speaking of amazing, notice something different about our friend here?" Sweetie Belle said, gesturing to Tender Taps. "Wait who's that?" Silverstream asked. "...Tender Taps, the friend of ours that dances," Sweetie Belle said. "You've seen him before around Ponyville," Apple Bloom said. "Oh, that was a different pony? I thought it was Scootaloo with a different hairstyle," Silversteam said, to the surprise of both Tender Taps and Scootaloo. "Wait, are you saying Tender Taps looks like a filly, or that Scootaloo looks like a colt?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Yeah don't answer that, neither of us would be happy," Scootaloo said, somewhat bitterly. "Also I don't look like Tender Taps!" "Yeah, he's way prettier," Sweetie Belle said, getting a glare from Scootaloo. "You saying I don't look pretty!?" Scootaloo angrily asked. "Because I can be pretty when I want to be! I will put you to shame Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie Belle stared for a second, before putting on a fake laugh. "Oh Scootaloo..." She then muttered, "Good luck with that." Sweetie Bell cleared her throat before speaking again. "Back to my previous question, do any of you notice anything different about Tender Taps?" "Sort of," Scootaloo said. "I mean he's wearing some neat clothes, but that's it." "Well his hair looks styled a bit differently," Apple Bloom said. Dinky moved in close, trying to see if she spotted any difference, though one other thing caught her attention, "Huh, I don't know why, but your eyes look really pretty today." Silversteam leaned in, "Yeah, they do look pretty!" She turned to her other friends, "Don't they look pretty?" "Hey I don't want any part in this," Gallus said. "Same, he does look kind of rad, but that's probably the most I can say about him," Sandbar said. "Um, he looks nice I guess," Ocellus said, shying away a little. "He looks too fancy, it's kind of lame," Smolder bluntly stated. "Yes, looks too frail, needs toughness!" Yona said. Sweetie Belle wasn't too thrilled about the mixed response, while she didn't care what Gallus or Sandbar really thought, she did hope the girls would see Tender Taps in a proper light. Silverstream looks sold, Ocellus also seemed interested, though with her shyness it was hard to tell if she was genuine or just going along with it. Smolder is as stubborn as usual and Yona is Yona, those two would have been harder to show Tender Taps to. "So, who's the filly he wants to charm?" Dinky asked. "Huh? What makes you think I want to charm somepony?" Tender Taps asked "I can see that you have some make-up, really brings out a shine in your mane," Dinky said. Silverstream looked closer, "Yeah there is a definite shine to your mane, and your eyes, it's so pretty." "So who is he trying to charm?" Sandbar asked. "Ah got a good guess," Apple Bloom said in a teasing tone. "Is it Twilight?" "Why does everypony say that?" Tender Taps asked. "Because you make it obvious," Scootaloo pointed out. "Yeah, even when you and I were dating ah could tell you liked Twilight more," Apple Bloom said. "You are always hanging around Twilight, you blush a lot when you're near her," Dinky said. "Aw, you like Princess Twilight, that's so adorable!" Silvestream said. "Isn't she a lot older than you are?" Smolder asked. "Not by that much," Tender Taps insisted. "I'm gonna help him win her over, I'll personally groom him for that day, when we're done she's gonna be madly in love with him, or at least willing to wait til he's older, I mean look at how cute he is," Sweetie Belle said, gently caressing his mane. "He's got the eyes, the mane and the sweet tone of his voice, he's like, the perfect boy for a girl to fall for." Tender Taps nervously laughed while a huge blush formed on his face, "Th-thanks Sweetie Belle." "Mmhmh, don't mention it Tap-Tap," Sweetie Belle said in an almost flirty voice. None of the other foals or students knew what to make of this, Sweetie Belle seemed awfully friendly with Tender Taps for a moment, possibly just proud of her work or just getting too lost in the moment. Their train of thought was interrupted by an oncoming train, Dinky getting particularly excited. "Sweet! The Train's here!" "Hope Rumble's on it," Apple Bloom said. As the train came to a halt, the ponies and creatures waited patiently for Rumble to step out of one of the cars. Unfortunately all the ponies had left and there was no sign of Rumble. "Aw...maybe the next one then," Silverstream said, hoping to cheer up a saddened Dinky. "Yeah, he'll be here soon, we just need to be patient," Apple Bloom said. Dinky sighed in disappointment, "I guess you're right." Dinky looked off to the distance, "Come home soon Rumble..." Elsewhere on a different train, Rumble and Cozy are sitting and waiting until their stop in Ponyville. Rumble still looked pouty and annoyed while Cozy hummed quietly to herself. It didn't take long for things to start going south again as a bunch and Pegasus and Hippogriff guards came rushing in landing on top of the train, creating a slight thud that got everypony's attention. "What now?" Rumble asked. He looked outside to see if he found anything, then noticed a Hippogriff Guard outside the window, making his way onto the train. "More guards?" That snapped Cozy out of her humming and she too looked outside to see oncoming guards, "Dang it." She quickly got off her seat while Rumble was still looking outside, very confused about why more guards are coming, there can't be anyway that whatever they were looking for in The Crystal Empire is now on their train. "Cozy does this seem weird to you? Since leaving Mount Aris-" He looked next to him to see nopony there. "Cozy!?" He turned around and saw her leaving through the door that connects to the other carts. Rumble's face contorted into a very angry expression. "Come on! Again!?" He quickly flew over to the door and saw that Flurry was flying off into the distance. He wasn't gonna let her get away that easy this time, so he quickly flew after her. Cozy approached a wooded area, hoping to have flown away from the guards in time. "These dummies keep making me change plans, this is getting annoying." "Well maybe if you hadn't blown your cover so easily this wouldn't have happened," Adagio said through the necklace. "You just love bringing that up, just remember when I break you out of your cells, you're gonna so owe me big time!" Cozy Glow said. "Well don't forget what happens if you fail!" Adagio warned. "Yeah, yeah, Miss I'm so Tough that I can overpower a foal," Cozy mocked. "Look maybe you should-" Suddenly Cozy was tackled from mid-air, rolling along the ground until she landed against a tree. She looked up and saw a furious looking Rumble standing over her. "Stop, ditching, ME!" Rumble shouted. "I've asked you to stay near me countless times Cozy! You can't keep running off at the first sign of danger!" "Sowwy Rumble," Cozy said, looking up with cute eyes. "That's not gonna work this time," Rumble said, backing up. "Now stand up." Cozy did as instructed, not wanting to make Rumble any more agitated. Rumble grabbed a nearby vine, stretched it a little to test it's sturdiness and then tied one end of it around Cozy's tail, much to her confusion. "What are you doing?" Cozy asked. Rumble then tied the other end around his tail, "This will keep us from getting separated, it's sturdy enough to handle some pulling, so you'll have to try really hard to break it if you want to fly off but I'll know way before it will even start to strain. Now thanks to you we have no train and I don't know where we are, thankfully one thing they taught us in Flight School is how to navigate when we're lost, now fly up with me." "Uh, ok," Cozy again did as instructed, the two flying upward as Rumble began to scout the area. "There are no towns immediately nearby, we'll have to keep flying. But we had to travel south to get to Ponyville, and South..." Rumble checked the wind and where the sun was before making his decision. "That direction." He turned to Cozy, "Come on let's fly." "You're the boss," Cozy said as she and Rumble flew down, hoping to reach their intended destination soon. So far this has been a long day for Rumble, especially since meeting Cozy Glow. He didn't want to admit it, but something about her seemed a bit suspicious, despite her claims it still feels like she's hiding something. One thing he knows for sure, is that this filly is definitely a lot of trouble to be around.