//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: A Rude Awakening // Story: Cozy Chronicles // by 5u0myn0n4 //------------------------------// "Hey, are you alright, kid?" Voices were coming from the outside. Slowly, the filly's eyes opened, and she saw two other pony figures overlooking her. One taller, and the other shorter. "Wake up already, kid." the filly said. "Brenda, quiet. She's just waking up. Don't yell too close to her face." said the taller of the two. "Sorry, mom." she replied. The dazed filly was very confused. Two unicorns overlooked the pegasus. One of them was a light colored unicorn filly with a yellow bow in her red colored mane. The other was a taller unicorn mare. The mood was tense. The only light in the room was the morning sun beaming through the window. Slowly, the pegasus filly regained consciousness. "What are you two talking about?" she asked. "Golly, you're more dazed than I thought." Brenda said. "Now Brenda, be nice to our guest. She's probably had a rough time." the mare said. *sigh* "Okay, mom." Brenda said. The filly looked around and took in her surroundings. "What the heck is going on?" she asked, dazed. "You're in the town hospital, dear. They found out cold in the woods." the mare explained. "I know we didn't get along so well in school, (and I was tempted to leave you) but we decided to help." Brenda said. "School? What are you talking about?" the filly asked. "Brenda, she's clearly been through some traumatic experience. She's just waking up, and is probably having trouble remembering at the moment." her mom said. "What's going on exactly?" the filly asked. The mare went ahead and explained what she knew. "The doctors don't know what exactly happened to you. They found you fainted in the woods. Whatever happened, it left a nasty scar on your head." the mare said. She touched her head, and sure enough, the filly's head was wrapped up in bandages. "Your parents never came forward to claim you, so we volunteered to help. I know you and my daughter didn't get along in school, but ironically, due to your bickering, Brenda knows you best, so we volunteered to help." she explained. "That's all well and fine, but, *brr* it sure is cold in here." the filly said. "Would you like another blanket, dear?" the mare asked. Brenda's mom wrapped their patient in a warm blanket. "Thanks, miss." the filly thanked. "Don't mention it. I heard you and my daughter had a little fallout at school, but don't worry about it. It's not healthy to hold grudges." the mare said. "Whatever are you talking about?" she asked. "Don't play dumb! You know what you did!" Brenda said. "Don't worry about it. It's neither of your guy's faults. I wish I could have been there to help. It sounds like the teacher was way too rash in her decision to expel you both on the spot." the mare said. Whatever the mare was talking about, it sounded serious. But the pegasus hadn't a clue what she was talking about. "...Who are you two again?" she asked. "Pardon me for skipping the introduction. My name's Heather. I'm Brenda's mother. And you are?" "Mmm. I'm cozy. Thanks for asking." she replied, wrapped in the warm blanket. "So your name is Cozy?" Heather asked. "¿Me llamo?" she asked. "Sí." Heather replied. "My name's not Cozy, but if you want to call me that, that doesn't sound like a bad name." she said. "Okay then, Cozy." Heather said. "So, you're Cozy now? I would've renamed you to Crazy. 'Cuz that's what you are, Crazy Glue." Brenda chuckled. "No. I don't like that name." Cozy said. "Then come up with a better one." Brenda said. "Alright. I'm not Crazy Glue. I'm Cozy... uh... Glow." she said. "That's the best name you can come up with?" Brenda asked. "Shut up. It's a temporary name." Cozy said. "I think it's a nice name, Cozy Glow." Heather said. "Thanks, miss. And you know what, it does have a nice ring to it." Cozy said. During her time in the hospital, nurses brought Cozy tea and snacks. No one else came to claim responsibility for Cozy, so Brenda and her mom Heather watched over her. "So, Cozy Glow. They found you tangled in your saddle bag's straps. Here's the bag." Brenda said. Brenda put the saddlebag on the bed. Cozy opened it and had a look inside. She found her old notebook from school. "Are you sure this belonged to me? The name's smudged, but I think this is my notebook." Cozy said. She turned the pages, and saw all that she had written. There were worrying words inside the book. There were torn pages, and harsh scribbles. "Golly, these are some interesting notes." Cozy said. "Hey, don't copy what I say." Brenda said. "It says that after school, regardless of passing or not, that I would enroll in the brand new, Twilight Sparkle's School of friendship in order to control-" Cozy started, but was interrupted. "How convenient, because thanks to you, both of us were expel-" Brenda was interrupted when her mother nudged her to stop speaking. "Is that what you want, little one? To enroll into Twilight's school of friendship?" Heather asked. "I think so. It says here that my time in EEA school districts was a waste of time, and that I have much more to gain from Twilight Sparkle's new non-EEA approved School of Friendship." Cozy said. "Well, okay. If that's what you want, we'll help you find your bearings, and try to enroll you into Twilight's school." Heather said. With that, Cozy Glow was under the care of Heather and Brenda. Whoever Brenda was, she seemed to hold some kind of grudge against Cozy. She didn't have any memory of anything before waking up, but Brenda kept insisting that they were in some sort of fight. Thus, Brenda acted biter, and not very welcoming to Cozy. Heather wasn't much better. She had her moments, but mostly just gave Cozy the essentials. She didn't seem very interested in watching over her, and Cozy got the impression that they would part ways once she was healed enough. She only seemed to do it because no one stepped forward to claim Cozy (which itself was odd and mysterious). That said, Heather had her moments of tender care. A few days after awakening, the doctors said it was okay to remove the bandages from Cozy's head. "Alright, Cozy, the doctors say it's okay to remove your bandages." she said. Heather used her unicorn magic to undo the bandages on Cozy's head. Her straight hair drooped and flowed down, covering her face. "Oh this will never do." Heather said. "You're due for a makeover." Heather used her magic to untie the yellow bow from Brenda's mane, and put it up to Cozy's mane. "You'll get used to it. My mum's a freak when it comes to hair styling." Brenda said. Heather went to town styling Cozy's mane. She had an idea to make Cozy's mane more distinct. "Instead of having your mane flow freely, I think curling it all together will suit you greatly." Heather said. When she was done, Cozy had a very orderly hair style. Rather than straight hair and a flowing mane, pieces of it swirled into neatly ordered curls. The big yellow bow completed the now familiar look. "There. Now that's a look that screams Cozy Glow. You look diabolically adorable." Heather said. "Thanks, I... what did you say?" Cozy asked. "I said, you look downright adorable." she replied. "Have a look." Cozy looked into the mirror, and blushed. "Golly, I am just adorable." she said. "Why, you're cute and lovable." Brenda said, sarcastically. "Dang right I am." Cozy said. "Keeping in line with good news, earlier I got done sending a letter of recommendation to Twilight's school. With any luck, we'll hear back from her soon." Heather said. "Well, what am I to do in the meantime?" Cozy asked. Now that Cozy had recovered somewhat, she spent most of her time in a day care/recovery center while she waited for the ultimate a-okay on her health, or for an acceptance letter from Twilight Sparkle. She would sometimes go almost the whole day without seeing Heather or Brenda. There were a few other foals in daycare with her, but she didn't care for any of them. She felt that compared to herself, they were mindless children, most of which were younger than her. Rather than playing with the children, Cozy would continue to read her notes, and add to them, while daydreaming about what it'd be like at Twilight Sparkle's School of Friendship. "It says here that after I finish my old school, to enroll in Twilight's school, and make my Pappy proud by becoming the most powerful pony in Equestria, just like he always wanted me to be. But what does that mean? Who's Pappy? What did he want? How do I become powerful? What makes Twilight so special? Why does she go from unicorn to alicorn? Why can't I do that?" Cozy thought aloud to herself. Cozy watched a group of younger fillies building a tower out of blocks. A little pegasus placed one last block at the top, and the entire structure came crashing down. "Hmm. What if instead of elevating myself, what if I knocked those princesses down a few pegs?" she thought. Cozy saw the foals fight over the blocks. She noticed the unicorns hoarded all the blocks with their magic. "Unicorns think they're so entitled. Without their magic, then they're no better off than earth ponies." she said aloud. Cozy wrote all of her new thoughts down for... future consideration. About a week later, Heather returned with good news. "Good news, Cozy Glow. We just received a letter. It's your acceptance letter to Twilight Sparkle's School!" Heather said. "That's fantastic, miss. Let's hear it." Cozy said. "It reads: Dearest, Cozy Glow. The only requirement for Twilight's School of Friendship is a will learn about friendship. Our school is a place where any creature can congregate and learn the meaning of friendship. It would be an honor to welcome a young pegasus from your far away town. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to our school. We hope to see you soon. -Twilight Sparkle." "Golly! Let's not waste a single moment!" Cozy exclaimed. "But, aren't I still hurt?" "The doctor says you've basically made a full recovery. If you're ready, then let's dive right in." Heather said. While Heather and Brenda helped to pack Cozy some bags, Cozy took one last look at her notes. "This is perfect. Twilight Sparkle thinks she's welcoming an ignorant little pegasus. But little will she know that I have my own ideas about how to use the magic of friendship." Cozy grinned. "What was that, Cozy?" Heather asked. "Uh, I said, I can't wait to learn about the magic of friendship." Cozy replied. Brenda raised an eyebrow, but it wasn't her place to argue. "I don't know what past me went through, but I like where her mind was. I would like to be powerful, and Twilight's school is where dreams come true." Cozy thought. At the train station, Cozy had her saddle bag, and luggage bags with her. The train was steaming, almost about ready to depart for Ponyville. Brenda and Heather were there to say goodbye. "Looks like you've got all your luggage. We packed only the essentials. It can get cold in Ponyville during the Winter so we packed you a snow coat and beanie." Heather said. "Thanks, miss. It's a shame I have to leave so soon, feels like I barely got to know you two, but classes are about to start, and I don't wanna miss them!" Cozy said. "Are you sure you're ready, Cozy? It's a long train ride to Ponyville, and you'll be on your own when you get there. You did just recover recently." Heather said. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Cozy said. "It's Twilight who should be worried." "Pardon me?" Brenda asked. "I'll master friendship alright. I'll surpass her in fact. I'll be the most powerful friendship user in the land!" Cozy beamed. "That's the spirit! Aim high!" Heather encouraged. "All aboard!" the conductor cried. "Guess it's time for me to go." Cozy said. Cozy walked over the platform and stepped inside the train. "Good luck at Twilight School of Friendship!" Heather said. "I won't need luck where I'm going. Friendship is power! And when I'm done, I'll be the supreme ruler of-" *slam* The train door closed, cutting off Cozy's speech. "Should we be worried about her?" Heather asked. "Worried about sending a filly to a far away town unsupervised? Nah." Brenda said. "Are we sure she's going to school for the right reason?" Heather wondered. "What's the worst she could do?" Brenda replied. *choo choo* The train left the station and headed to Ponyville. "Now, that she's finally gone, and since you were also expelled from the EEA elementary school, it's time we find a path for you. I think this is an excellent opportunity for you to explore exciting new careers." Heather said. On the train to Ponyville, Cozy read her notes. Both the notes she took while in daycare, and the ones she doesn't remember writing. "It says here that I'm supposed to misconstrue the magic of friendship, and make it serve me. That seems a little extreme." *sniff* "Bleh! What's that putrid smell?" There was a large yak sitting right next to her. Cozy didn't like this. "Yaks smell like dirt pile." Cozy said and mocked aloud. "Who say that?!" the yak asked. Cozy pointed to somepony next to her. "Yak not take disrespect sitting down! Yak smash!" the yak exclaimed. "Wait, what? No! I didn't-" they exclaimed. *SMASH* Cozy giggled. "Lying to others to manipulate their actions sure is easy." Cozy smirked. "I think I'll get by in Twilight's school just fine." Cozy laughed internally. I am diabolical. she thought. Cozy Glow had arrived at the school of friendship, started taking classes, yada yada yada. Cozy Glow's time at Twilight's school started off slow. She made very little impression, so much so that most of the students barely noticed her first day. To most of them, she just seemed to appear as part of the crowd. She didn't really stick out, but she was determined to change that. Cozy needed to gain the attention of Twilight Sparkle, but whenever Twilight was actually at the school, the line to her office was always dreadfully long. Same story with Starlight Glimmer. *sigh* I'm never going to get to them at this rate. Cozy thought. "Thanks, Twilight!" Apple Bloom said. Cozy saw the cutie mark crusaders leave Twilight's office. "Hmm, I think I know just the ponies who are going to get me to Twilight." she smirked. "Hmm, I'm going to have to create a scene and grab her attention." Later that afternoon, Cozy Glow found herself outside the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. "Focus Cozy. Remember the act, you're a struggling student and these pathetic assignments are giving me too much trouble. You really got to make this convincing and sell this one." Cozy took some deep breaths, and got ready for her act. She pulled out a pair of tweezers, and plucked one of her nose hairs, in order to start shedding tears. "3, 2, 1. Wahhhh!" Cozy cried. She went as far to shed fake tears to make her act convincing. "Y'all hear somethin'" Apple Bloom asked. Cut to after the events of Marks for Effort. "You're pretty neat, Cozy Glow." Apple Bloom said. "Thanks. You three have helped me out so much. I'm sorry I failed my test on purpose. I didn't think Twilight would blame you guys." Cozy said. "It's okay. Sometimes we don't always understand the full extent of our actions." Scootaloo said. "One time I tried to prank my sister Rarity by sabotaging her dress, but I stopped myself because I was worried the humiliation would've spiraled her life out of control." Sweetie Belle said. "Well, golly. I hope nothing I do affects your life that badly. No hard feelings?" she asked. "No hard feelings." the crusaders said simultaneously. These fools are so easy to manipulate. she thought. The Cutie Mark Crusaders all lifted Cozy up again. "Hahahaha!" Cozy laughed aloud. However, one of them slipped, and dropped Cozy. "Whoops!" "AH!" *BONK* "AH!" Cozy woke up abruptly, and was back in the present time. *heavy breathing* Her surroundings changed completely when she woke up. For the first few moments, her mind lapsed, recounting the dream she just had. "No, it can't be. I-I-I remember them!" she exclaimed. "But how? I haven't thought about them in years." "Oh good. You're awake now." "AH! Don't sneak up on me, Magby." Cozy said, startled. "I've been sitting here this whole time though." Magnolia said. "I gotta admit. I was getting worried, you've been near motionless for a while, but recently you started tossing and turning in your sleep." *hic* "I think I'm gonna hurl..." Cozy said. Cozy grabbed a bucket. She looked queasy. Cozy puked into the bucket. Magnolia looked away because it was absolutely disgusting. Finally, she stopped, and looked at her surroundings. "How long was I out?" Cozy asked. "A good week I would say." Magnolia replied. "It sounds like you woke up from one heck of a dream." "It was a weird dream. You were there (I think), and you were there, and you were there too." Cozy said. Magnolia looked around the room, but the two of them were alone. "Uh... I'm the only other one in the room." she said. "Speaking of, where am I now?" Cozy asked. "You're home, Cozy. You're back in your village of TCGC." Magnolia said. "Right now we're in one of the bedrooms of the main castle." Cozy looked outside the window, and saw her village bustling with activity. "It's so different now." she said. "Yeah, your citizens have done pretty well. They've developed the place into a bustling community while you three were gone adventuring." Mag explained. "How did we get back here?" Cozy asked. "Tirek, Chrysalis, and I arrived here a few days ago. You've been out since you guys found the Rainbow of Darkness." Magnolia answered. "Oh right. We did it? We succeed in our long time mission to find it?" "Yep." Magnolia replied. "Heh, well, there was never any doubt that we wouldn't succeed." Cozy said. "Have we conquered the world yet?" "Not yet, they haven't even activated the thing. They've been waiting for you to awaken before they do." Mag explained. "Well if that's the case, then I've got lots of catching up to do." Cozy climbed out of bed. "What are you doing? You're sick!" Magnolia exclaimed. "I feel fine." "You literally puked into a bucket." Mag said. "And now I feel better, now that I got it out of my system." Cozy said. "No you aren't fine! Take a look!" Magnolia pointed to a mirror. Cozy saw herself in the mirror. She had wrinkly dry skin. "Ugh. When I wanted to grow up, this isn't what I had a mind..." Cozy said. Cozy put on a big dark robe to hide her withering body. "Do you want the good news or bad news?" Magnolia asked. "Just give me news!" Cozy snapped. Magnolia began to explain the grim situation. "You're sick. You were hit by a poison dart at that dark temple. We don't know exactly what it's made of, but it's definitely affecting you negatively. Fortunately, have a sample of the poison, and we've been studying it. Chrysalis was kind enough to kidnap a doctor to assist us, so he's been helping us make a cure." "Well, that's just dandy. The last thing I needed was impending demise..." Cozy said. Cozy got up headed to the doorway. "You need rest, Cozy." Magnolia said. "I'm the leader of this town! I call the shots!" Cozy exclaimed. "Fine, kid." Magnolia said. "You haven't changed one bit." Cozy walked downstairs. I know exactly who you really are Magby. And now that I do, I don't trust you. Why are you trying so hard to help me now? You hate me. she thought. In the castle foyer, she saw Chrysalis and Tirek sitting and discussing something. "Cozy! You're awake!" they exclaimed. "Hey guys..." she said softly. "Are you okay?" Tirek asked. "I'm fine. *cough* I've had a few rough nights and odd dreams/flashbacks." Cozy replied. "But, I'm awake now." Cozy noticed something. Magnolia said they had the Rainbow of Darkness, and indeed it appeared that her contemporaries hadn't used it yet. "You haven't used the Rainbow of Darkness yet?" Cozy asked. "Nope." Tirek said. "We've been waiting for you to wake up." Chrysalis said. "You're the best of us three. We're not going to use its power until all three of us are in prime condition!" Tirek said. "You're the brains. We expect you to come up with a crafty plan, to best use the powerful item." Chrysalis said. "Alright. I will do my best to come up with a plan for how to use the Rainbow of Darkness most effectively." Cozy said. "But first, I'd like to see how much my town has grown since I've been away." "But, wouldn't you like to discuss matters concerning our new dark energy source?" Chrysalis asked. "Tell you guys what, I'll be thinking long about our next course of action during my walk today." Cozy affirmed. Cozy walked past the villains, and to the exit. Cozy walked outside the castle, and saw her village now bustling with ponies. It was such a beautiful sight. Almost made her cry, that was until her stomach started to hurt. *ugh* "It's going to be a long week..." Cozy said to herself. Cozy met with Svengallop. He had his own office building where he conducted business. "Svengallop!" Cozy busted the door open. "Ah, Cozy Glow. Nice of you to stop by again." Svengallop said. "Right... What do you mean again?" she asked. "You were here just the other day." he replied. "Right, whatever. Anyway, I'm here to relieve you of your mayor duties." Cozy said. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? I've helped turn what was an underdeveloped community into a bustling epicenter of trade!" Svengallop said. "Suri's crops are on fire! Well, not literally, but they are selling very well. Cotton production has proven to be a most lucrative venture. We have bits in the thousands in the bank! The Washouts are as popular as ever, and Flim & Flam-" "That's all very wonderful. However, I am the founder of this town, so I am demoting you to assistant mayor." "But, Ms. Glow. I have done everything I can for the benefit of your town!" Svengallop said. "Very well. You may resume your duties of trade, and whatever. However, all executive power goes back to me." Cozy said, sitting in the mayor chair. "Now fetch me a copy of Relics of Equestria Through Time! Along with a pen and paper! I have some research I need to conduct." Cozy demanded. "Yes, your lordship." Svengallop said. *zip* *zoom* Svengallop returned swiftly. "Everything you asked for, Cozy. Plus some additional books we just recently acquired that I believe are relevant to the topic." he said. "You have done well Svengallop. Now leave me alone I need to concentrate." Cozy requested. "But this is my office." he said. "Out!" she demanded. Svengallop hightailed it out of the building. Cozy sat at the desk, and began reading up on the Rainbow of Darkness. It felt silly reading about something that was already in their possession, but there were a lot of unanswered questions regarding what it could do. Out of curiosity, Cozy would also read up on Grogar's bell. The more she read, the more she read about additional abilities she wished she knew about when she had the bell herself. Golly, if we had just done a little more research, we could've won. We could have absorbed Celestia and Luna's alicorn magic without taking in Discord's chaos magic. We won't be so shortsighted next time. Grogar's bell was a powerful, but finite source of magic. But the Rainbow of Darkness is a near limitless source of dark power. Concentrating on world domination was hard, when personal matters were troubling her. That was a nice blast from the past earlier this morning. But I still can't for the life of me remember anything preceding waking up in that hospital. Why can't I remember that fight Brenda and I had? Where did we go to school together? Who were my parents? What happened to me to cause me to lose my memory? she wondered. To be continued...