//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 - A world turned upside-down 
// Story: A Cozy Tale 
// by Leondude 
//------------------------------//

Brocade woke up to another sunny morning in Equestria, ready to take Cozy Glow to school. She felt a bit groggy due to a stranger entering her home and ogling her at every opportunity presented to him. Even more so due to her arguing with Facade again last night after the stranger left. She only put up with the stranger's attitude because Facade told her he was a customer. Why Facade decided to invite a random customer into her home, she will never know. Nevertheless, she made her way to the kitchen to prepare toast for Cozy Glow. She opened up a white cupboard with a bag of bread slices inside, opened up the bag, lifted out a slice with her magic and placed it in the toaster. While waiting for the toast to be toasted, she decided to give the kitchen a good clean. While it was already clean to begin with, she cleaned it anyway so the cleanliness would last longer and so she could bask in the scent of lemon-scented wetwipes. When the toast was done, she got the butter out of the fridge, lifted up a butterknife, and lathered the toast with a nice spread of butter. With Cozy Glow's breakfast all prepared, Brocade trotted up into Cozy Glow's bedroom. In the centre of the turquoise bedroom littered with pink teddy bears and stickers of anthropomorphic rainbows was Cozy Glow, sound asleep in her little wooden crib. Brocade trotted up to Cozy and gave her a little nudge.

"Wakey wakey," Brocade whispered, "Time to go to school."

Cozy Glow groaned.

"Do I have to?" Cozy mumbled.

"Yes," Brocade replied, "How else is your brain going to grow?"

"Maybe you unicorns have a spell for it," Cozy said as she turned over.

It always hurt Brocade when Cozy Glow said things like 'you unicorns', mainly because she felt that Cozy didn't think of herself as part of the family. Lucky for her though, she had a way of mending both her and Cozy Glow's spirits.

"If you go to school today, I promise to get you ice cream."

Cozy's eyes shot wide open at that statement and she sped out of her crib into the kitchen. While Brocade was worried that coddling Cozy Glow might turn her into a brat, she wouldn't deny that it was better than yelling at her. Besides, Facade bribed people all the time. what difference does it make when she does it?





Brocade trotted near the school with Cozy Glow firmly placed on her back. While it seemed like another sunny day in Equestria, Brocade noticed something different about the clouds. Some of them appeared pink in colour, as if they were made of cotton candy. As if confectionary clouds weren't a weird enough addition for the day, it started to rain. Brocade found it unusual since there were no weather reports indicating a rainy day. As if spontaneous rain wasn't enough, the rain in question was brown and it felt warm, like it was made of hot chocolate. Cozy opened her mouth wide, hoping to get every drop of chocolate rain that she could. While Cozy Glow was enjoying the tasty weather, Brocade was confused and a little concerned. While there was a nagging suspicion at the back of her mind as to why this was happening, Brocade thought it was unlikely.

Must be a fluke Brocade thought to herself It's not like he's real and he's back or anything. It's just a silly story my grandma used to tell me.





It was an early afternoon as Cozy Glow sat at her desk in the classroom, tired from being kept awake from another night of her parents arguing. While it only lasted for an hour, it was still enough to make sleeping difficult. She wondered why her parents were almost always at each other's throats. If they loved each other so much, why are they always fighting? Isn't that something you're supposed to do to somepony you don't like? Or somepony that was causing trouble? She ought to know, her dad once gave her a black eye for vomiting on his favourite rug. If hurting the ponies you love is supposed to be normal, it certainly didn't feel right. She wished the school could actually teach her about feelings. Maybe if she knew how to feel, the world might make a bit more sense. While she is capable of being happy and scared, she felt bored for most of her waking hours. And when she wasn't bored, she was empty. She used to feel sad whenever her mother felt sad but, after a while, she got used to the sight. She couldn't even remember the last time she felt sad. But on the bright side, she did enjoy the morning confectionaries.

Losing the urge to stay awake, Cozy tried drifting off. It did not take long for her to close her eyes and place her head onto the desk, using her notebook as a makeshift pillow. When she woke up, she noticed the entire classroom had changed. The desks were floating everywhere, wherever the other pupils were sitting on them or not. The teacher was also nowhere to be found. Cozy flew near an open window to get a good view of what's going on outside. Everything was literally upside down, with floating buildings, bent trees, the roads were checkered and covered in soap, and it was still raining chocolate. She rubbed her eyes and bit at her leg to check if she's dreaming. Unsurprisingly, it did not turn everything back to normal.

"Well, what do ya know?" Cozy said to herself "Mommy's bedtime stories were true."

Cozy sat back at her desk and smiled. While she was surprised by the sudden turn of events, she was glad that there was at least something to break the monotony of her usual school day. She found it a bit odd that her mother described Discord's reign as a time of unhappiness but if there was one she did know, it's that history was written by the winners. She still felt tired though but, because of the day's events, she knows the perfect remedy for it.

Cotton candy clouds.