//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Fizzy // Story: Big Brother Sandbar // by HenBasket //------------------------------// Cozy walked down the hallway of the school to get to her classroom. When she arrived, she put her hoof on the handle to open the door. Locked. Dammit Starlight, she thought, why couldn’t you remember most of the school is closed on Sundays?! She took a deep breath to calm herself down. This is just a small issue, no need to lose your cool. She turned around and started walking down the hallway aimlessly. Usually her roommate would give her suggestions on what to do, but of course she had to get sick. Aaauuuhhhgg! Cozy caught herself getting mad at the fact that her best friend was sick, something that neither of them could control. Cozy took another deep breath to try and calm herself down. It didn’t help. Another breath. No help. Another. Nope. One more? Just as Cozy was about to take another breath, a filly’s voice caught her off guard. “Hey Cozy?” It was the girl who had called her a foal last night as well as this morning. “What do you want, huh?!” Cozy snapped at the filly. The filly flinched. “I just wanted to apologize for last night and this morning. It was wrong of me to call you a foal over something you have no contr--” “I accept your apology,” Cozy said suddenly, cutting off the filly. “Now go, before I lose my temper.” The filly took a step back “I said I was sor--” “And I said I accepted your apology,” Cozy interrupted the filly again. “I have a lot of crap going on in my head right now, and it’s too much for me—Aaauuuhhhgg!!” Cozy curled up into a fetal position, whimpering, hooves squeezing her head, and rocking side to side. Concerned, the filly ignited her horn and produced a pinging sound to alert somepony for help. Starlight was in her office going through some paperwork when she heard a pinging coming from somewhere within the school. Immediately, she got up and started running towards the sound. When she arrived, she found a nervous unicorn filly staring at Cozy Glow with her horn ignited and pinging. The filly glanced over at Starlight and extinguished her horn. When asked what happened, the filly explained everything. “Am I in trouble?” The filly asked. “All I did was apologize to her.” “No, Aurora,” Starlight said to the filly, “not for this. You still have a week of detention, however.” “Thank you,” Aurora said, “I need it.” Starlight turned her attention to Cozy, feeling sorry for the filly. Stroking the pegasus’ back, Starlight illuminated her horn and put it to the crying filly’s temple. After a few seconds, Cozy stopped shaking and Starlight released the spell, still hugging the distraught Cozy Glow. Aurora stepped closer and spoke up. “Is she okay, Counselor?” “There’s not really a simple answer to that question,” replied Starlight. “I had no idea…” Aurora said. “It’s okay, “responded Starlight, “now run along so I can take care of this.” Aurora nodded and ran off to go out into town while Starlight sat there, stroking Cozy until she was calm enough to get up. “Hey Cozy,” cooed Starlight, “what’s wrong?” “I miss Fizzy,” Cozy sniffed, “why’d she have to get sick?” “Ponies get sick sometimes, Cozy,” Starlight said. “It’s natural. There’s nothing we can do except let it run its course.” “But you’ll let her out of the closet when she’s better, right?” Starlight was confused by this. “What do you mean, Cozy?” “Isn’t that what happens to sick ponies? Lock them up until they get better?” I swear, if this is another stunt her orphanage did, Starlight thought before asking the filly a very important question. “Is that what your orphanage did, Cozy? Did they lock you up when you got sick?” The filly could only respond with a feeble, “Uh-huh.” “Well, what they did was very wrong, and not to mention illegal,” Starlight said matter-of-factly. “But, no. We don’t lock ponies up for being sick. We send them home until they’re better. Speaking of Fizzy being sick, I have some good news for you.” “She’s better?” Cozy looked up at Starlight. “That’s right!” Starlight helped Cozy get back to her hooves. “She should be getting back any minute, so why don’t you go up to your room and welcome her back?” Cozy hugged Starlight before running off to the dorms to welcome her friend back from being sick. Walking the halls, the filly thought of what she’d talk about after doing so. When she got to her room, she found a pink unicorn filly with a soda can cutie mark and curly two-tone purple mane and tail making sure her stuff was in order. It was her roommate, Berry Fizz. Or as Cozy liked to call her, “Fizzy!” Cozy ran in to give her friend a hug, who swiftly returned it. “I missed you, Fizzy. I missed you so much!” Berry Fizz giggled, “I missed you too, Cozy,” and released the hug. “So, how was your break?” “Oh, it was fine,” Cozy replied, walking by the door to sit in the beanbag by the foot of her bed. “Up until the thunderstorm, that is.” “Oh, I didn’t know there was a thunderstorm,” Berry said, walking over to Cozy. “I slept a lot the past week. Fighting off pony pox really takes a toll on your energy.” “Yeah, I guess,” muttered Cozy. “Well, did you manage to brave through the night?” Berry asked her friend hopefully. Cozy slightly blushed and looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact. “Cozy,” the unicorn used her magic to gently turn Cozy to look at her. “Can you tell me, or do I need to ask Starlight?” “No, Fizzy. I didn’t.” The threat of her friend asking Starlight was enough to make her talk. “I asked some girls our age if I could sleep with them, but they called me a foal. So, I asked the next pony I could think of.” Berry Fizz sighed. “Cozy, I thought we were working on getting you to not need somepony to last through thunderstorms?” “We were, but you don’t understand!” Cozy started to pout. “What don’t I understand, Cozy?” “Before, you were in the room with me. If I needed to, I could have you protect me.” Cozy’s eyes started to tear up. “But last night you weren’t there, I was scared! Scared it might take me like it took my parents and my brother!” Cozy lost it for the fourth time that day. Berry shed a tear for her friend, but quickly wiped it away. She had to be strong when her friend couldn’t. Lighting up her horn, Berry cast a spell that Starlight taught her to cast if she needed help. Seconds later, there was a knock on the door. Upon opening the door, Berry saw Starlight. “Starlight, I think I know why Cozy is afraid of thunderstorms.”