//------------------------------// // 12 - And The Sound That We Hear In Our Hearts // Story: Glow In The Dark, Shine In The Sun // by TCC56 //------------------------------// A zephyr of warmth blew over the two Equestrians as they walked down the familiar path. Just as they had six months before, they stopped at a little wooden bridge over a creek. This time it was Princess Twilight who leaned on the railing and looked out over the water. "Vice-Principal Luna said to say hello, by the way. She's due to come back from Equestria tomorrow." Sunset laughed and shook her head. "Yeah Twi, I know. When someone says they're taking a week's vacation it usually lasts a week." She leaned beside Twilight, facing the other way. Twilight coughed into her fist with embarrassment and blushed a little. "Well, you never know for sure. Ever since the two Lunas started communicating about the Tantabus, they've been getting closer. I think Princess Luna enjoys talking with somepony who has a perspective so similar to her own." "Speaking of the Tantabus," Sunset ventured, "Any change?" There, Twilight shook her head. "No change. It's still hiding in the recesses of the Vice-Principal's mind, slowly dwindling as the two work through her issues. The last idea they tried was for Princess Luna to feel as bad as possible about it being inside Vice-Principal Luna to lure it out, but it seems it's smarter than that." Sunset nodded and shifted, hugging her friend from behind. "I'd think your guilt would be bigger bait right now." They both laughed - uneasily. "It wasn't your fault, Twilight. You couldn't possibly have known it was still there, let alone that it would jump between Lunas to escape." "I should have," insisted the Princess. "And now because of my oversight a second Luna is dealing with the pains of the first." Another squeeze, and then Sunset released her. "Vice-Principal Luna is stronger than you think, just like Princess Luna is. Plus without this the two of them wouldn't have had the chance to meet and form the weirdest support group ever." The displaced Equestrian paused for a moment. "Speaking of, how are you and your counterpart getting along?" For a moment, Twilight was silent. Only for a moment, though, for fear Sunset would press. Instead it was time to obviously change the subject. "What about our other project? How is she doing?" "Uuuuuuuuugh." Twilight giggled. "That good, huh." "It's a process," Sunset said for the seventy-third time that week and for the first time where she wasn't trying to convince herself. The two stepped away from the bridge and started to walk up the path again. Fresh green tulip shoots just a few steps off the trail promised that flowers would soon be in bloom with spring - the shape of the little garden and the red and yellow of the few petals that peeked out hinted at a very familiar symbol. Sunset winked with a grin. "Wallflower's way of saying thank you for everything. Or maybe sorry - she's still feeling guilty. The whole Tantabus thing dredged up a lot of bad memories for people." They walked on a bit further, pausing again at a turn in the path. "Cozy's been hanging around with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon lately," Sunset noted as she picked up the conversation thread again. "Which, I mean, awesome that she's making new friends. But it's got some issues." Twilight raised a questioning eyebrow. "On one hand, she voluntarily chose a few weeks ago to start going with Silver Spoon and help out at the food pantry. On the other, Diamond Tiara's been teaching her about politics and that might mean we're doomed." Sunset tried to sound ominous, but the barely restrained snickering refused to let it work. Tongue firmly in cheek, Twilight pressed. "Any evil cackling? Or did she start salivating at the prospect of running for office?" The snickering stopped being restrained. "No, no, it's probably fine. I mean," Sunset amended, "Cozy Glow's still a pain in the butt. I understand that it's a--" "It's a process," Twilight parroted. Sunset glared and pouted at the Princess. "...That it's a process, but there's days I wonder if Cozy is psychologically compelled to create over-complicated plans and schemes. The good side is that lately she's been manipulating people into positive things, like tricking Bulk Biceps into finally asking Ditzy out. That got her points with Rarity, who's been trying for months to get those two together. Of course she also had a group project in biology and manipulated the teams to give herself the strongest possible partners and saddle the others with dead weight so she could have an advantage." Twilight tried very hard to stay serious and not laugh. "Sounds like Cozy Glow. So you're saying she's still evil." "Oh, absolutely." Sunset shook her head - then cracked a grin. "But she's on the right path. Cozy's not quite as easy to sway as Starlight or me. I'm proud of her, though." "Proud?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. Before she could answer, Sunset's phone dinged. She held up a finger to hold back Twilight's questions as she looked at it, scrolled, and smiled. "I'm proud," she finally answered, "Because Cozy fell further than I did but she's staying strong all the way back up. I made my redemption look easy. That she's still sticking with it and making progress is a big deal." She waved her phone at Twilight. "Which is why I arranged a little reward." Cozy Glow took a deep breath. Sunset had assured her this would work and all the instruction she'd received made sense. But after months of getting used to her human body and forgetting how her pony one had worked? This seemed more than a little insane. Like so much else in life, though, the risk was worth it. Ignoring the sweat of her palms, Cozy tightened her grip on the aluminum bar. The straps on her body were tight, the mechanisms were in place and the wind was right. A deep breath. Cozy Glow ran full speed towards the edge of the cliff. Just as the ground fell away, the fabric of the glider she was strapped into caught an updraft. For a moment her feet dangled over nothingness before she tucked them into place. Behind her, Sunset Shimmer positioned her hang glider to be the next one to take off and the Crusaders lined up behind her. But that didn't matter to Cozy Glow. In the bright noon sun of late spring, she felt the wind on her face again. For the first time since Equestria... She flew.