Ponies can adapt to any hardship, and Cozy Glow was no exception. She'd wake up, make a tally mark for her calendar, brush her coat, wash herself and then leave for breakfast. Only rarely would she see glimpses of Twilight, but if she did not leave the room when Cozy entered, then Cozy would just go back to her own room and wait. She spent most of her days with her puzzles or the books in her room and, of course, Sweetie Belle's chessboard. It had become her most important possession. Towards the evening she would eat again, peer through her telescope towards the Hydra constellation and then settle in for the night. It was not an exciting life, but it mostly staved off her longing to fly and let her think of other things than her isolation.
But tonight it all might change. After sending small notes back and forth for a few days, Rumble had finally agreed to fly up to Luna's old balcony and talk to her. He would come when everypony had gone to bed, and Cozy would be comfortably hidden behind the drawn curtains. Then began Cozy's quest to carefully wrap him around her hoof until he was ready to help her escape. She did not know how that was going to happen, but she knew Rumble would come in handy some day.
Cozy checked her curtains again, just to be sure they were tightly shut. Rumble must not see who she really was, or everything would fall apart.
The curtains had not moved since the last time she looked, five minutes ago. Cozy returned to her puzzle but could not really concentrate. Even if she had not been excited about Rumble coming, she only had the sky around Cloudsdale left to piece together, and it was hard to work with only nuances of blue. She absently tried a couple of pieces before glancing up to the clock.
It was almost midnight, the time they had agreed to meet. Soon…
She still sat by her half finished puzzle, but she did not even look at the pieces. Her eyes were fixed on the clock. Five minutes… three… one minute… Cozy stood up from the puzzle and made her way over to the curtains again. She had to be a little careful. The telescope stood on a podium and since Twilight had poked it through the glass with the wide part on the outside, she could not remove it from the window. Therefore there was a large gap in the curtain where the telescope and podium stood. She would have to stay away from that place. She sat down by the curtain and laid down. They would have to speak through the small space between the balcony doors and the floor.
She heard the telltale "Clip-clop" of hooves landing on stone outside the doors. She gasped in excitement. Would it work? Or had Twilight taken the extra precaution and soundproofed the doors from her end?
"Hello? Rumble?" she whispered. Her heart beat fast in her chest. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I hear you Sheltered. But… why the curtains? I thought we could finally meet eye to eye?"
"I can't, Rumble." Cozy made sure to add extra sadness to her voice. "Twilight has the curtains locked in place with magic. So nopony accidentally flies by the windows and sees me."
"Oh… I really wish I could see you though. It's hard speaking to somepony you have never seen like this."
"I wish I could see you too, Rumble," Cozy said. "But… I kinda like fantasizing about how the only pony who has ever been kind to me looks too." Of course, Cozy had never once thought about that, but she had to steer the conversation away from a dangerous subject. If Rumble started thinking Cozy was hiding something, then he would be much harder to manipulate. "One day… one day I will get out though. And then I will see you."
"I'll look forward to it," Rumble said.
"Can you tell me anything more about what is happening out in Equestria? You were going to see the Wonderbolts soon, right?"
"Yeah. Everypony is talking about it. It's the first derby of the season. The Cloudsdale Courier speculates that Spitfire might retire soon, and this season will be important to determine who takes over as captain after her."
"And what do they think? Who will it be?" Cozy asked. "Fleetfoot?"
"She is a favorite, but Soarin and Rapidfire are also hot names… and then there is the new rising star, Rainbow Dash. She's from Ponyville, same as me and my brother."
Cozy resisted the impulse to gag. "She is one of Twilight's friends, I think," she said instead. "But I didn't know she was a Wonderbolt. Is she new?"
"The newest. She has only been in a few shows yet, and this will be her first derby. But I suppose I will cheer for her and Soarin."
Cozy did not really have a pony to cheer for anymore. Her favorite Wonderbolt was, in fact, not Fleetfoot like she had said, but Wind Rider. But since he had been dishonorably discharged it was practically heresy among pegasi to admit being a fan of his. "Maybe you could cheer a little for Fleetfoot too? For my sake?" Cozy said.
"Sure. I can come back here and tell you how the derby went, if you like."
"Thanks," Cozy said. "Back when Twilight and I lived in Ponyville, she had a school for a few years. Do you know anything about how that goes now?"
"The School of Friendship," Rumble said. "It's still open. She has put her student, Starlight Glimmer, in charge now. Do you know her?"
"Mmm… She knows about me too, but she is just as bad as Twilight," Cozy said. "I try to stay in my room whenever she comes around." Hopefully, if Cozy made all of Twilight's friends out as evil, Rumble would grow more sympathetic towards her. Twilight was in Canterlot and Starlight would be busy with her school, so if rumors spread in about them in Ponyville, it would hopefully take some time before it was discovered. Rumors and slander were powerful tools in a society where everypony trusted one another, and Rumble was a perfect way to spread them.
Cozy heard a small ruffle of wings. Perhaps Rumble was uncomfortable with talking about ponies behind their back like this? Cozy decided to assume he was; these visits had to be a good experience so he would return. She could not afford to scare him off. She just had to seed small bits of doubt every meeting and play for the long game. Slow and steady.
"I don’t want to talk about Starlight," she said. "Can't you tell me a bit about yourself instead? You are the apprentice chef, right? I know you made those quesadillas, but have you made all the other good food I have had lately too?"
"Uh… I suppose?" Cozy could practically hear his blush. Compliments from a filly was sure to make any colt happy. "Ramson helps me though… he is really amazing. I have seen him use a Zweihänder to cut up paper-thin pieces of tomato! Like… his control is just so amazing!"
"Do you mean 'Hellfire' Ramson? The master chef from Restaurant Row?" Cozy asked. "He is the castle chef?"
"Yep, he took the position after Celestia left and her old chef retired. And I am his apprentice!"
"All your food is really good!" Cozy said. That was not even a lie. "Things have really been a little better since you came around… so thanks."
"I'm glad you think so." There was another ruffle of wings. "Huh… I suppose that maybe I should bring some pet food next time. This owl has been sitting here looking at me for a while now."
Cozy Glow felt her blood run cold. "Wh-what?" she whispered.
Cozy Glow was, at heart, a filly. A coldhearted, manipulating filly, but a filly nonetheless. She could not fly fast or high, she was not strong or preserving when running or flying, and she could not use magic. If her mind games failed and a grown-up pony sought to hurt her, she could do nothing to stop it. So when confronted with a situation where her honeyed words failed her and another pony would be angry with her, her calculating mind yielded to that of a filly in distress. She had to do something!
Slowly she edged towards the gap in the curtains. Just a peek, one moment to confirm if it was that owl again. She had to know. Much like a rabbit must know where the fox is, she had to know if Twilight might learn of this meeting. If she did, then the statue was suddenly an all too real possibility again. Filled with fear, she peeked past the curtains.
”Who?” Owlowiscious said and cocked his head to the side. ”Whoho!” He pointed with the wing at her.
Cozy's wanted desperately to duck behind the curtains again, but the owl's horrible gaze seemed to stun her in fear. Twilight would know! She had been so careful, but Twilight would still learn!
”You…!”
Cozy's mind finally caught up with the situation. Still half hidden behind her curtains, her eyes wandered over the pony next to the owl. He had a grayish coat that shone like silver in the pale moonlight and a lead-gray mane and tail. He was slightly taller and bulkier than Cozy and looked like he was a year or two older. It was hard to make out his eye color in the dim light, but it looked like they might be blue or purple. He stood crouched and stabile, wings raised and a glare in his eyes. Cozy shrank back slightly by reflex. He was angry.
"So that's why you didn't want to be seen… why you spoke like that about Twilight! You tricked me, all this time! Cozy Glow…"
"No! Wait, this… it's not what it looks like!" Cozy tried, desperate for something to say. "I wasn't completely honest, but Twilight is really mean to me! She could put me back-!"
"Save your lies! You can explain to Twilight!"
"NO! Wait!" Cozy shouted. She yanked the curtains away and pressed her forelegs against the glass. Her one advantage! The one thing she had to show for her time in prison! She could not lose him; he was the only pony she had! But Rumble was already gone. Cozy slammed her forehead against the glass with a mournful sound before she slumped against the glass pane, hooves still pressed against it. "Don't leave me here..."
Sleep was an elusive peace for Rumble that night. His blood was boiling and his face was locked in a permanent sneer. How had this happened? How could he be so stupid as to just swallow the words of a filly he could not see just because she told him some completely impossible story like that? He knew Twilight was not going to hurt another pony, so how could he ever have believed something so downright brainless? Was he so starved for a filly's attention that he turned blind and deaf and dumb in their presence?
Granted, he had never met Cozy Glow before. He had not known her voice. He went by her statue prison every day when he came to work. He had no reason to suspect it was her. But still; he had swallowed the most outlandish lies and even worried about her!
Rumble wanted to punch something. If not for that owl she would just have played him like a fiddle until he actually committed a crime! He had been on the verge of helping the most despised pony his tribe had ever produced! He grimaced in disgust and angrily shoved his head into the pillow. At least he could get some measure of revenge by telling Twilight Sparkle on her tomorrow.
See how she likes that… she should be rotting in Tartarus if Rumble had anything to do with it…
He remained wide awake and scowling all night and rose already at five o'clock. He now had three hours to walk from the castle staff quarters to the castle kitchen, something that normally took him three minutes. He grumbled and went to the statuary garden instead. He had to check something.
Sure enough, the statue was still there, and Cozy was still part of it. If not for the fact that he had been wide awake all night he would probably have thought he had dreamt the whole thing. But he knew he had not; he was definitely tired enough for not having slept at all.
Rumble rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes and made his way to the kitchen. If he could not sleep, he might as well be productive, or as productive as possible. The kitchen was deserted, of course, so he decided he might as well use it to make himself some breakfast. He picked out eggs, flour, milk, salt and sugar. Pancakes made everything better. He mixed up the batter and started to bake them. It was peaceful, just standing in the dim half-light and baking pancakes. It helped him relax just a little bit.
Twilight usually came down to order breakfast just before eight, so he still had plenty of time to kill even after his pancakes were done. He tried to think about how to broach the subject with the princess. This would not quite be like her coming down to tell him what she wanted to eat. This concerned one of the greatest criminals in recent history.
How did he, Rumble, nobody of nobodies, background pony extraordinaire, get roped into this? In fact, since he had sort of helped Cozy already, was he incriminated too? But maybe Twilight would be lenient if he approached her about it. Yes, of course she would; she was a kind Princess, he knew that. But come to think of it, maybe Twilight did not even know about Cozy? It sounded incredible, but if there was one thing Cozy was good at, it was fooling ponies. Perhaps he would even be rewarded for his help?
He gradually felt his thoughts slip away into a fuzzy daze. Now that he had some distractions from his anger, the lack of sleep made itself known. He put his head on the kitchen counter and closed his eyes. He never quite fell asleep, but he was not entirely awake either. More like in a stupor where the rest of the world seemed to slow down.
"Rumble?"
He jolted from his fitful rest and came eye to eye with the Princess he had hoped to meet. "Since when do you sleep in here? Is there something wrong?"
"No. Or… yes, but it's not… that is… uh…?" Rumble stammered, suddenly at a loss for words. He still did not know how to broach the subject, but judging by Twilight’s slack jaw and torpid silence at this particular opening, he felt increasingly certain it was one of the worst options. He shook his head. "Can… we just start over?"
Twilight smiled. "Sure. Good morning, Rumble."
"Good morning, Princess. Do you want breakfast?"
"Yes please. Surprise me," Twilight said. She nodded encouragingly to him.
"Right, I'll get you something," Rumble said. "Maybe I could have a word with you quickly after? It won’t have to take long, but I have some information I think you should know."
Twilight looked curiously at him. "Information? About what?"
"Uh… about another pony who lives with you in your private wing," Rumble said, shifting on his hooves. "You know who?"
Twilight's mild look sharpened. "Yes, I know. Might I ask how you know?"
"Let me just get you your food first, okay? I'll come up and… we can talk."
Twilight nodded. "Right."
Rumble made porridge of oats and apples, complete with honey, sugar and cinnamon as toppings. His brother Thunderlane was not that good of a cook, but his porridge was wonderful and one of the recipes that first had inspired Rumble to start cooking for himself. Hopefully that recipe would prove to be fit for a Princess. He balanced the bowl on his head as he flew up to Twilight's private wing.
The door was open, so he entered.
"Second door on the left, Rumble," Twilight called. Rumble followed suit and found Twilight by a table in what seemed to be a library of some sort. "I'll just keep that warm with magic. I think we should do the talking first. Please, sit down." She indicated a stool across from her. Rumble sat down.
"I guess you want to know how I found out about… Cozy Glow, right?" he said.
Twilight nodded. "I had hoped to keep her a secret until I was sure she was no longer a threat. Seems I did not quite manage."
"Nopony else knows though," Rumble quickly clarified. "I haven't told a single pony. Honest."
"I believe you, Rumble." She looked at him, waiting for him to start explaining.
"So… I was up by your room a few days ago or so, but you were not there. I tried to call out to you, but she answered instead. She said you were out… and we started to talk."
"It must have happened when I was with Rarity," Twilight silently, mostly to herself.
"She said she was your daughter… that you kept her locked up and was really mean to her," Rumble said. He felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment. How could he ever have believed that? "I should have realized there was something fishy… of course you wouldn't do something like that."
"It doesn't matter," Twilight said. "Please, continue."
"Well, I met her again the day after, and we just talked a bit more about pegasus stuff. The upcoming Wonderbolt derby and things like that… That was when I met you in the stairs that one time, you remember? You were brining a lot of books up to your wing."
Twilight nodded. "I remember. I even thought I heard you talk to somepony, but I presumed you were just talking to yourself."
"You remember the quesadillas I made that day?"
Twilight seemed to stiffen and cast a worried glance over her shoulder. "Yes, I do." Her voice sounded a little off, somehow. "All too well."
"Well… Ramson said you hated quesadillas, so I made them to smuggle a note in to Cozy. We… decided to meet by her window this last night."
"That’s a really clever way to get messages in for her," Twilight said. "I did not think of that one. Did she come up with it?"
"No, I did," Rumble admitted. "But I never wanted to help Cozy! I still thought she was your captive daughter."
Twilight nodded. "Proceed."
"We talked again but she hid behind the curtains. But then when I commented on an owl next to me, she suddenly pulled away the curtains, so I saw who she was. Then I left… and I came here as soon as I could."
Twilight smiled faintly. "Good old Owlowiscious. This is the second time he has stopped Cozy." She focused on Rumble again. "Is there anything else you want to say?"
"I really had no idea it was her," Rumble said. "Or I would never have helped her. You have to believe that; I hate her as much as anypony."
Twilight cocked her head to the side in surprise. "You hate her? Why?"
Rumble blinked in surprise. "Of course I do. Everypony does, don't they?"
"Not me," Twilight said.
"But she betrayed you too," Rumble objected. "Didn't she try to lock you and your friends into Tartarus?"
"She did, and she also kidnapped my other friend, Starlight Glimmer, and almost ruined my School of Friendship," Twilight said. "So yes, I dare say she has done more to hurt me than you. No offense."
"None taken," Rumble said. "But then… how can you not hate her? After all she did to you?"
"Because I did her wrong too," Twilight said. "Hate breeds only more hate. As Princess and pony, I do what I can to end that cycle. It's better for everypony that way." Twilight looked at him with a heavy, powerful look that seemed to belong on a pony much older than her. "Cozy Glow does not need more enemies. If she is ever going to change, then she will need friends by her side to help her stay on the right path. From what you have done for her, you have proven that you have the qualities of an excellent friend. You could be a source of good influence on her."
"I could? But… she didn't want to be my friend. She just wanted to use me."
"And you?" Twilight said. "Could you see yourself being her friend?"
"Isn't that the same thing?" Rumble asked. He suddenly felt like he understood the purpose of Twilight's school in a whole new way. Who knew friendship could be this tricky to understand?
Twilight smiled wistfully. "You know, when I first came to Ponyville, I did not want to become friends with anypony either. It just… sorta happened, because they refused to leave me alone. I think that turned out pretty well. I know it's not quite the same, but I think that if you show her you care about her, then you will see another pony than the Cozy you know now. So, could you see yourself being her friend?”
Rumble bit the inside of his mouth and thought.
Cozy had almost certainly planned to use him. She did not care about him any more than she would a hammer and nails; he was a tool to her.
But she had still been fun to hang around. It was good to have another pony his age to talk to, especially a pegasus. And if Princess Twilight asked him… could he really refuse an alicorn? What if she was right? What if Cozy just needed a small push in the right direction. He could not refuse to help her if she needed help, right?
"I'll think about it," he said. He needed to consider this more... and probably ask his brother for advice. Thunderlane always had Rumble's back; he'd give honest advice.
"I can't ask for more than that," Twilight said. "Thank you for coming to tell me this, and and for keeping it a secret. Cozy is going through a lot now, and I don't want the rest of Equestria to harass her, or me, for giving her a second chance."
"Your secret is safe with me," Rumble said. He understood that was the end of the discussion and hopped down from his stool. He had much to think about, but he still had his work to do first.
"Rumble? One last thing."
"Hmm?" Rumble looked back.
"Do you think she likes the Wonderbolts for real, or did she just say that to get on your good side?"
"Every pegasus likes the Wonderbolts," Rumble answered. That he was sure of. "She said Fleetfoot was her favorite."
"Good," Twilight said and turned away.