Morning came too quickly for Sunset, but too slowly for Cozy. She had a lot of work ahead of herself, after all.
Much of the morning was taken up by Sunset introducing Cozy Glow to various aspects of human hygiene - which was uncomfortable for all involved - and what humans considered breakfast. The lack of hay did not go over well.
That debacle transitioned into the dull boredom of the school day ahead, and the two went their separate ways at the main doors. Less than ten feet later, the Crusaders intercepted Cozy.
"Hey!" Scootaloo was in the lead, waving wildly. "Over here!" The trio advanced as a group, swarming Cozy like locusts. They had no hesitation to hug her, either - even while Cozy felt breakfast threatening to come back up.
Sweetie Belle pulled back to give Cozy's new look a once-over. And while she lacked her sister's talents, she still nodded in approval. "So Cozy, I think you've got your first class today with Apple Bloom and me. Then one with Scoots after that."
Cozy extracted a printed sheet from the sheaf of folders in her bag and put on her biggest smile. "Yuppers! Almost all of my classes have one of you in it! Except for Mr. Cranky's in the second-last, um... slot?" She bobbled at the end, honestly unsure of the appropriate term.
"Period," Scootaloo corrected helpfully. "But even when we don't have classes together, we can stay in touch! ..Wait. You're from Equestria so you don't have a phone yet, do you?"
Fumbling, Cozy pulled the little chunk of glass and plastic out of her back. "Actually, Sunset--"
The phone was in Scootaloo's hands before Cozy could get out a third word. "Awesome! Okay, first lemme put in all of our numbers so you can text us. Then I'll-- huh." Scootaloo's fingers tapped something rapidly on the tiny screen. "You're locked out of MyStable?"
"What's MyStable?" For the second time in a row, it was an earnest question. Nobody had mentioned it to Cozy before.
All three Crusaders blinked in confusion. "Uh, it's the biggest social media site?" Apple Bloom said, and then immediately realized the problem. "Oh! Ah betcha don't have those in Equestria, do ya?" She pulled forth her own phone and pulled the site up to show Cozy. "It's sorta like a public diary. Ya can put up whatever you're thinkin', or let everybody know the places you're goin' with your friends, or anything you want to!"
Cozy's heart stopped. "And people... do that? Freely? Put all their thoughts up for anypony to read?"
"Anybody," Scootaloo corrected. "Hold on. Sweetie Belle, could you unlock Cozy's phone so we can get her account set up?"
Sweetie squinted as she took Cozy's phone in hand and got to work. "Sure, that should be easy. Rarity's always trying to lock me out of mine because she's decided I'm too--" She let out an overdramatic gasp, imitating her sister, "--fragile to see or do something."
Apple Bloom cut back in. "But yeah. Ya gotta have a MyStable account if ya wanna make friends! How else are ya gonna know what everybody's up to?" She paged through her feed, showing it to Cozy. "See like, Silver Spoon's real big into the food thing so she's got pictures of every meal she eats an' who she's eatin' it with. Rumble likes to show off all the games his brother takes him to. Stuff like that!"
Their words stabbed into Cozy as she reeled. Sunset was right. This phone was so incredibly powerful. She could just look into everypony's daily life, get their moment-to-moment thoughts and see their social connections? And they just gave that information away? This changed everything. If her first plan didn't work, this opened up so much. She would own this place in a week.
"Done!" Sweetie Belle passed the phone back to Cozy. "For a smart person, Sunset's real bad at picking her passwords. I mean, anybody who knows her would've guessed 'Equestria' almost immediately!" The Crusaders laughed as one. "Anyway, I took off the password lock and set up your MyStable account. I even already sent friend requests to all of ours to get you started! We just need to take a profile picture for you."
Under their direction, Cozy positioned carefully and took her first selfie. She didn't even have to fake the smile.
Scootaloo found Cozy crying when she arrived for last period. First aid hugs were immediately administered, but they just took the Equestrian girl from 'weeping' to 'sniffling'.
"Mr. Doodle took my phone," Cozy admitted. "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to use it during class. You said how important they were, so I thought everypony was supposed to use them all the time!" She loudly blew her runny nose. "Now Sunset's gonna be angry at me for not being responsible. She just gave me that phone, and... and I already lost it!"
Scootaloo's lips set to a firm line. She'd made a promise - she wouldn't let Sunset down. She wouldn't let her friend Cozy down. "Don't worry." Her eyes blazed with Rainbow-Dashian determination. "After class, we'll get your phone back. I promise."
The ringing of the final bell was the signal to begin the operation.
It wasn't the first time the Crusaders had engaged in their own particular brand of mischief, but this time the stakes were higher. All three were on board thanks to a quick group text - and all three had the same goal in mind. They couldn't let Sunset down. What happened last winter had hurt her so badly, and this chance to make up for it? Every Crusader agreed that this was worth the risks.
The first job was getting Mr. Doodle out of his classroom. That would be the hard one - but there they had a secret weapon. Mr. Doodle ran Driver's Ed at CHS, so he had the keys to the student car. Outside, Scootaloo was in position with a lacrosse stick. Once the majority of the students had left and cleared the halls inside, she hurled the ball at the car - it struck the rear passenger side, leaving a dent in the panel and setting off the alarm.
About a minute later, the announcement came over the intercom:
"Would Mr. Cranky Doodle please report to the parking lot with the Driver's Education keys?"
He rose with a sour grumble, stomping out the door.
And that was the chance. Seconds later, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom slipped into his classroom.
"Ah'll get the desk, you keep watch." Nods were exchanged, and Apple Bloom got to work. The first three drawers were easy, but empty. The last... locked. It had to have the phone. And no silly little thing like a lock was going to stop an Apple.
Tense seconds ticked by.
Then a minute.
Then nearly three.
Sweetie Belle glanced back from the doorway. "Apple Bloom!," she hissed. "What are you doing?! We don't have much time!"
The youngest Apple didn't look away. With two bent paperclips as makeshift lockpicks, she worked feverishly at the locked drawer. All that slipped out was her determination - "A Crusader don't give up that easy."
The halls were almost entirely empty, save for the sound of Scootaloo's voice as she loudly talked to the teacher. "It was an accident! Really, Mr. Doodle!" She'd been caught, but she was still trying to help and alert the others of the approaching danger.
Sweetie turned again. "He's coming!" Again, no response. Sweetie Belle broke from the door and grabbed her friend's arm. "We gotta go now!"
Too late. The door opened again - and Cranky Doodle had Scootaloo by the arm. They were caught red-handed. "Trying to steal test answers? I'm very disappointed in you girls."
"What? No! We're not!" Sweetie Belle stepped between Cranky and Apple Bloom. "We're trying to help Cozy Glow! She just wants her phone back, that's all."
Mr. Doodle snorted. "Not likely, since she's the one that told me what you were doing in the first place. And I didn't take her phone, either." He stepped to the side and pointed. "You're all coming with me to the Principal's office. Now."
As he paraded the three Crusaders away, Cozy Glow glanced around the far corner of the hall and smiled. Perfect.
Luna could hear Celestia through her office door. Words were muddled, but she had that tone of hers that was yelling but not yelling. The one where she tried to pretend she was your friend while being Disappointed.
It bothered Luna. Discipline was her bailiwick, not Celestia's. She should be the one out there, not her sister. Instead, Luna was hiding in her office, working a fidget cube in her fingers.
She tried to focus on the little chunk of plastic. It had seemed silly when Celestia got it for her last Hearth's Warming, but Luna couldn't deny it helped. It gave her something to put her mind to when it spiraled out of control. It wasn't the only tool she had for that, of course. A book of sudoku puzzles, a phone full of music - anything that would help push down the bad and bring her mind back on track.
That and the bottle of clozapine in the desk drawer.
There were times when none of it helped, of course. Everyone had bad days. This was just one of them.
The yelling-not-yelling had stopped outside. Luna knew what that meant - Celestia would be coming through the door shortly. Moving from one problem to another. Trading off, just like she always did. Taking everything on her shoulders.
Luna caught herself and re-focused her attention on the cube. Her thumb rolled the tiny ball bearing around, the metal slowly warming up at her touch. She had to focus. Focus.
The door opened, letting light stream into the shadowy office. As predicted, it heralded Celestia's entrance. She at least had the decency to close the door behind her and let Luna's office go dark again.
"Luna? How are you doing?" Celestia knelt beside Luna, placing a soft hand on her knee. "I know you said you were having some problems earlier..."
Defensive walls went up by instinct. Luna shook her head. "I just need rest, sister. Sleep eluded me last night." A little something tickled the back of her head - that was a lie, in part. Did she think she could hide? If she really trusted her sister, why was she afraid?
True to form and to the voice, Celestia saw through the lie of omission. "It isn't just that, Luna, is it." She didn't trust Luna. Why would she?
Luna's thumb worked the bearing faster.
A faint frown crossed Celestia's lips. She pushed it away as she always did, trying to not be a burden. "One bad night's sleep wouldn't rattle you this much, Luna. You're stronger than that."
She couldn't stop the derisive snort. "If I were, we would not be in this situation." Luna fought that sarcasm down again. She had to stay focused. She had to stay on keel. "I have not missed my meds. But I feel like my control is weak, sister. As if I was ..." Luna tried to focus again and put words to things that hated words. "I feel as if I am a house built on the shore, with the tide eating at my foundations. And I fear whispers becoming shouts."
Leaning closer, Celestia put her arms around her sister in the best hug she could. "We'll get through this. Together. Let's call the doctor and get another appointment set up, alright?"
Luna nodded. She felt weak, but she also knew her past sins. The solution wasn't to stand alone. Luna believed in Celestia, and they could handle this together.