Dazzle followed Yttrium through the crowd. More than ever, she wanted to speak with Napoleon and see how he was holding up. However, Dr. Fuse decided to take a route that skirted the edges of the crowd and into one of the hallways.
To the front of the commons, she could see Principal Bellows standing atop a desk. He cleared his throat.
First, the chatter of the crowd died down and then he began to speak: “As a precaution, there is a mandatory screening for Corrosion.”
Several grumblings such as ‘First we get hit with Corrosion and now this?’ were heard throughout.
A guard stepped aside as Yttrium led the way into the hallway. As they stepped through, Nurse Radius joined to his side. “We have everything set up.” She reported.
“Thank you.” Yttrium said. “Also, thank you for packing the ID for Dazzle by the way, it saved my rump.” He said.
“No problem.” Nurse Radius glanced at Dazzle. “Are you going to give her the low-down of the new procedure?”
“Yep.” Yttrium glanced at Dazzle also. “Sorry we are throwing you into the deep end, Dazzle. We just need as many hooves as possible.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Dazzle answered. “As you said, when Corrosion calls, we must answer.”
“Careful, Yttrium, before you know it, she’ll find the cure before you!” Nurse Radius snickered. She ran up to a door of a nearby classroom and held it open. Yttrium filed inside. Nurse Radius stepped by the door’s window and sat on her haunches.
“What is she doing?” Dazzle asked.
“Standing guard.” Yttrium levitated his flashlight and flicked it on. “The Principal is giving out instructions to go to the classrooms to get checked for any straggling Corrosion. Students and Teachers will be here soon.”
“Okay.” Dazzle said.
Dazzle trotted up to a makeshift station in the middle of the classroom. It had a tub filled with water, a couple of duffle bags set up on some desks, and several jars of neutralizing powder beside them. “I recognize some of this equipment, but not all.”
“That is for extreme cases. Just in case.” Yttrium said. “I doubt we’ll need to use it, though.”
As he said that, the first round of students started to file in.
“Just follow my lead.” He smiled and winked. He motioned for the students to make a line. In response, the teacher following them stepped aside and helped the class form a single-file line.
“They’re all yours.” Nurse Radius shouted as she stepped away from the door and into the hall.
“Thank you, Nurse Radius.” Yttrium waved goodbye.
“So, I’ll give you a low-down of the procedure.” Yttrium said as he motioned the first pony to come forward. He turned to Dazzle “If a unicorn comes up to you, inspect their forehead and their neck. Like this.” Yttrium’s flashlight hovered over the pony. Yttrium’s aura glowed green around his horn. As she was told, the shielding spell to protect him from any fizzling from Corrosion.
Which reminded her. “There is a question that has been weighing on my mind for a bit.”
“Ask away.” Yttrium said as the flashlight swiveled around and he inspected the neck of the unicorn.
“The school had a regulation that the complicated spell on your horn was placed on all unicorns who attended school here. How come it got my classmates?”
“The spell is basic protection. It’s like taking ibuprofen.” Yttrium said. He turned to the desk near him, scribbled a signature on a piece of parchment. “Name please.”
“Sky Whistle” The foal said.
He scribbled a little further and then gave it to the earth pony. “There you are.” He craned his neck up towards the line “Next!”
The next pony was a pegasus. “Okay, for pegasai, it’s quite different.” Yttrium intructed. “You need to inspect the ridges of the wings.” He shone the flashlight over the ridges of the wings. The colt’s feathers flared up.
“Don’t be embarrassed.” Yttrium said to the colt. “It’s a knee-jerk reaction.” He turned toward Dazzle. “Some feathers will be ruffled as you do this. Don’t be surprised when it shows up.”
“How will I know if there’s any Corrosion?” Dazzle asked.
“Remember when I took you into that patient’s room with the corroded horn?” Yttrium said.
“Mrs. Avocado?” Dazzle recalled.
Yttrium’s eyes hardened. “Shush! Remember you’re not allowed to disclose patient information without permission?”
Seeing Yttrium’s cold glare made Dazzle shiver. She remembered that type of expression too well. Her mother and father made that face when she acted out of line.
Yttrium’s expression softened. “Sorry for scaring you. It’s just that you can get into loads of trouble if you give out any information regarding our patients without permission.” He cleared his throat. “Anyways, the point is you’ve seen it before. Even trace amounts are hard to miss.”
“Gotcha.” Dazzle nodded.
“There is a spare light in that bag over there.” Yttrium said. “Get to work.”
“Thank you.” Dazzle said. She trotted over to the bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a flashlight. Dazzle shrugged as sat down on her haunches.
“Everypony who’s still in line can make a line for Dazzle!” Yttrium announced to the crowd. “Foals only though.”
The teacher standing to the side of the room gave her students the okay to split away from the line and form a new line.
Dazzle took a deep breath as the first foal came up. Unicorn. Which reminded her, was Mrs. Paprika and her class going to be sent to this room? Didn’t seem like it though. She didn’t recognize anypony. They must’ve randomized it enough so Dazzle had little chance of running into a friend.
Doing as Yttrium demonstrated, she inspected the horn and the neck. No trace, at least she hoped.
“Does my signature count or do you need to do it?” Dazzle asked. She recalled he signed a form and gave it to the pony they inspected.
“Of course! Almost forgot! Thank you for reminding me!” Yttrium jumped. He levitated a pad of paper over to Dazzle. “Your signature is valid as well.”
Upon first look, Dazzle found a lot of fine print. She carefully read over it, just as her father taught her. It was important that you weren’t signing something you didn’t agree with. There were a lot of ‘ifs, ands, or buts’ about the world of waivers and agreements.
“Don’t worry about that, Dazzle. It’s just saying that they’ve been cleared but they can’t share the pass with their friends.” Yttrium explained.
He was right about that part. “Hold on, almost finished.” She held out a hoof. She sighed in relief. No sign of responsibility on her part other than being honest that she didn’t find any trace of Corrosion. She stuffed the pencil in her mouth and signed the form. “Name?” She asked.
“Comet Flash.” The colt answered.
She signed and gave it to him, then gestured for the next foal to come up. Unicorn filly. Dazzle spat out her pencil and picked up the flashlight.
As time passed, clamor picked up. The silence that persisted was eventually butted out with whispers. Somehow, whispers made their way to audible conversation. One thing that caught Dazzle’s attention were the conversations about her.
She didn’t hear her name, but she did hear things like ‘what is a filly doing helping a doctor?’ or ‘she’s an earth pony, what is she doing in the school?’
She wanted to answer those questions, but she kept busy with her work. There was no time to waste, the sooner she got done, the sooner everypony would be out.
The next foal came up. A Unicorn with a brown coat and dark grey mane. She immediately recognized him.
“Well, this is a little odd.” Dusty said. “First you participate in the science fair, then you are helping run checks on Corrosion.”
“Yep. This week has been a little weird.” Dazzle flicked on the flashlight and carefully examined his horn and neck. She nodded to herself and set the flashlight gently on the ground.
“My question is how’d you get to help the doctors and nurses in the first place.? Gotta be one Tartarus of an internship.” Dusty said.
“Volunteer, actually.” Yttrium said with a smile, not taking his eyes off the pegasus he was inspecting. He nodded, filled out a note, and then gave it to the pegasus. “There ya go.”
“How do you sign up?” Dusty asked.
“Actually, it is an order from Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Yttrium clarified. He looked to the front, where a Nurse was accompanying a foal.
“Geez.” Dusty said. “With all these… quirks, are you sure you aren’t a unicorn?”
“Positive.” Dazzle said.
Dazzle noticed a foal and a nurse skirting the edge of the room.
Yttrium abandoned his post, leaving the next pony waiting. It was close, since he was almost done with a class of third-graders.
Dazzle could help but gawk.
“So, Dazzle, this is an extreme case.” Yttrium pulled the cap off the neut-powder bottle and proceeded to coat the foal’s wings. Or, at least the ridges. By how he handled it, it obviously didn’t need to be precise. Other procedures in the hospital seemed to be frugal and precise, however, this dousing was quite liberal.
“When you spot Corrosion, just let me know and we’ll check how severe the case is.” Yttrium said. “You’ll know when you see it.”
“Okay.”
Dazzle turned back to Dusty. “Oh! Sorry!” She took out the pad and pencil and signed the form for Dusty.
“No worries, Dazzle.” Dusty said.
Yttrium returned to his spot and resumed his inspection of the next foal. “I think you have the low-down of everything. If there is a question you have, just ask.”
“I don’t mean to be impatient, but how much more?” Dazzle asked.
“How many have you done?” Yttrium asked.
“I don’t know… uhm… forty?” Dazzle estimated.
“There are six of us in the Corrosion Labs, including you. Plus another eighteen or so from quarantine.” Yttrium said. “Your school is probably a thousand foals, plus fifty staff members but due to the fair, I’d push that to a thousand two-hundred―”
“About fifty per staff? Sixty if we are being generous?” Dazzle said.
Yttrium laughed. “Yes. We are almost done.”
Dazzle should’ve never left Coco alone. While Dazzle was busy helping Yttrium, foals and parents were being released from the school.
The ponies of the elementary eventually have become accustomed to Coco’s presence. At first, Dazzle and Coco turned a few heads when they year began, but at time went on, the gawking died down. It must’ve been because of the visiting schools that many foals took the opportunity to meet their celebrity idol.
At least that’s what Dazzle heard from the chatter.
Thankfully, Montresor, Florin, and Marigold abated the crowd for her, keeping the worst of the storm at bay.
Dazzle squeezed through the crowd and approached Florin. Upon closer look, Napoleon had stuck to her side. The reason why Dazzle couldn’t see him at a distance is because the sheer amount of students swarming Coco and her group.
“Thank goodness you’ve come!” Napoleon said. “When I heard that Yttrium took you inside, I knew we would be stuck here for a while.”
“I’m just happy to see my friend made it out okay.” Dazzle said.
“How was it, by the way?” Florin asked, butting into their conversation.
“It was good.” Dazzle said. “I really wished I had my tiara, though.”
“I forgot about that!” Napoleon said. “Anyways, can you help us with keeping the crowd back? Coco is on the verge of having a panic attack.”
Dazzle looked back towards Coco. If she was about to have a panic attack, she looked oddly composed.
“Sure!” Dazzle said.
Florin turned towards Montresor and shouted “Honey, Dazzle is here, go ahead and get a taxi!”
“So, I have some news for you.” Napoleon said. “I don’t know if you care, but Principal Bellows announced that no participant of the science fair was affected whatsoever. So, the science fair will continue after the school has been thoroughly sterilized from Corrosion.”
“Is that so?” Dazzle nudged him. “That’s great news!”
“Hey Dazzle!”
Dazzle spun around. Behind her were two foals: Dusty Mantle and Pink Sprinkles. However, by the crazy and starstruck look in Pink’s eyes, accompanied with a chuckle from Dusty, Dazzle knew something was up. Her instincts were to brace herself. And she was right. Before she knew it, Pink charged to Dazzle.
“OHMYCELESTIAOHOMYCELESTIAOHMYCELESTIA”! Pink blabbered. “You mean to tell me I’ve met Dazzle Tiara? The Dazzle Tiara?”
“Oh boy, now you’ve got her started…” Dusty smiled.
Pink pulled a camera out of her saddlebags. She swiveled to Dazzle’s side, holding the camera in green aura and said “Give me hoof-sies!” She held out her hoof.
Dazzle sheepishly pounded it.
Bling chuckled. “Sorry to sick’em on you, Dazzle. It’s just after I mentioned Coco and you, Pink freaked out.”
“Pink here is my fashionista friend.” Dusty said. “If she’d had known you were related to Coco earlier, you wouldn’t have heard the end of it.”
Pink was grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, my sisters are going to be jeal-lous!”
“Indeed they are.” A mare approached Dazzle. She had the same pattern of coating as Pink, but had a different eye color- Pink’s was green. The mare’s was purple. She came up to Pink and patted her on the head. “Not to mention that they’ll be jealous to hear that we are having dinner with Coco’s group of friends.”
“Wait-what?” Dazzle asked.
“I guess you were still in the school when we were making plans.” Florin said. “Once Napoleon got out, he brought along Pink and Dusty. After a little chat, the conversation got on the topic of food.” Florin gave Napoleon an endearing look. “Somepony has worked up quite the appetite.”
Napoleon grinned, a little blush forming on his cheeks. “At first, we wanted to go to our normal hangout, Café 80s, but we’d figure because of the crowd, we’d best be doing it at my apartment.”
“Ohho! Speaking of which!” Florin pointed to Montresor, who was motioning for them to come over.
Everypony in their group filed away from the crowd, some ponies tailing them as they fled.
“Easy, Florin.” Montresor held out his hoof to help his wife up into the taxi.
Dazzle noticed another taxi parked behind them. Coco hopped into that one.
Once Coco noticed Dazzle approaching, she smiled. “Long time, no see!”
“Sorry about keeping you waiting.” Dazzle apologized.
“I’m joking around!” Coco waved her off. She offered a hoof. Dazzle held onto her mother’s hoof and stepped into the taxi.
“Who are we riding with?” Dazzle asked.
“Marigold, Bling, Ms. Sprinkles and her daughter.” Coco said. “Since we can fit six maximum to a taxi, it worked out perfectly.
Marigold and Bling hoisted themselves into the taxi, with Pink and her mother trailing behind.
“I assume Napoleon and his parents are going with the Mantle’s?” Dazzle asked, as she skootched to make room for Pink and Ms. Sprinkles.
“Yep!” Coco said.
“You are doing oddly fine for having a paparazzi swarming around you.” Dazzle noted.
Coco sighed― A weak, airy sigh. “I’ll tell you later.”
Dazzle sat quietly next to Napoleon and Bling. While the three of them sat in silence, Pink and Dusty excitedly traded conversations.
“Wow! We are staying for a week in Manehatten!” Pink said as she glanced at items around the room. “You have a nice place here, Napoleon!”
“Thanks.” Napoleon briefly glanced at Pink Sprinkles before returning to his book.
Dazzle had been to his place before- especially during the times they worked on their group project. Florin and Montresor’s apartment was bigger than Coco’s, and for good reason. Florin and Montresor had a colt to take care of… that was three ponies at the moment.
The apartment was standard, with the flair of Florin’s tasteful décor. A picture of the family hung on the wall. By what she could tell, it was in the countryside, away from the city. Napoleon only looked kindergarten age when the picture was taken.
Other nooks were topped with flowers, such as lilies, that gave off somewhat pungent smells, but not overpowering. The couches had been made of soft, white cotton. Matching it, the light colors of sky blue and daisy yellow furniture, such as coffee tables matched it. Again, Florin had good tastes.
“You worried about Vertigo?” Bling asked Dazzle.
“Yeah.” Dazzle said. “She’ll be fine though. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine now.” Bling said. “Thank you for talking to me in Mrs. Lagoon’s office.”
“No problem.”
“Cocoa’s ready!” Florin chirped. “Pun not intended.”
Florin and Coco came out with trays. Coco came in the direction of the foals. She set the tray down and placed a cup in front of Napoleon. Then, to Dazzle, Pink, Bling, and Dusty.
“Thank you, Ms. Pommel!” Pink cheered.
Coco almost dropped her own cup. She quickly caught it and smiled at Pink “You’re welcome, Pink.”
“Wow, this is really good!” Mr. Mantle said after he took a sip.
“Coco sure does make a mean cocoa!” Florin said. She set the tray on the counter and gingerly took a seat.
“Easy, honey.” Montresor scooted up to her as she sat down. He lent a hoof, but she brushed it away.
“Expecting?” Ms. Mantle asked.
“Shh.” Florin said with a smile. She pointed towards Dazzle and her friends. “Not too loud, I don’t want them to know.” She whispered.
“So, how’s it like in Baltimare?” Coco asked as she joined them.
“Great, we enjoy the…” Ms. Sprinkles said.
Dazzle didn’t really pay any attention to the conversation after that. Pink and Dusty kept her distracted.
Napoleon slapped his book shut, which made Dazzle yip.
“You wanna see my room?” Napoleon asked.
Pink and Dusty turned to him. “Sure!” They answered in unison.
Napoleon got up and led the way, Dusty and Pink following them. Bling and Dazzle both shrugged at each other and trotted towards the room.
Napoleon pounced onto his bed as soon as he opened the door. “Welcome to the life of an Egghead!”
“Oooh.” Pink dashed up to his desk, which was cluttered with drawings. Above the desk, hung a poster of the periodic table with sticky notes on it. Dazzle noted it was funny that he added a sticky note for the newer discovered elements, such as Flerovium and Oganneson. Egghead indeed.
She lifted up a paper in her magic. “What is this?” she asked. It was a crude inscription of a hexagon with 3 lines sticking out of the corners.
“That’s Tri-Nitro Toluene.” He explained. “Or, as we know it… TNT!”
Pink gasped. “Wow.” She pointed to his flank. “How did you get your cutie mark?”
“U-uhm…” Napoleon scratched his foreleg.
“He got it by an explosion.” Dazzle answered for him. She figured it no harm since Vertigo and Bling already knew the story. “Did you notice how the hardwood in the other room was newer than the one in kitchen?”
“That slightly bugged me.” Dusty grimaced. “What did you react?”
“Hydrogen,” Napoleon smiled nervously.
“How’d you get your hooves on that?” Dusty asked.
“I read a book about spells that alter atom’s electrical and magnetic properties.” Napoleon said. “Surprisingly, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen isn’t such a complicated spell, cost less focus than I previously thought.”
“That’s so awesome! You blew something up and got your cutie mark!” Pink said. “I got mine when I was helping my mom bake for a competition!” She presented her flank, a picture of various sprinkles- all pink. Some stars, some circles, as well as other shapes.
“I got mine when I cleaned my dad’s javelin he has up above the fireplace.” Dusty presented his flank, showing a javelin resting on ornate wooden hooks. He pointed to Bling. “You! Quiet one! How did you get yours?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Bling smiled “I was trying on jewelry with my mom. When I found the perfect earrings for her, it appeared right then and there in the shop. The shopkeeper congratulated me and decided to let my mom have it for free.”
“That’s cool.” Dusty said. “What about you?” He pointed towards Dazzle.
“Uhm…” Dazzle said. “Fairly same as Bling’s, but I got it when I picked out a tiara.”
Dusty nodded. “Cool.”
Dazzle felt a burn in her chest. She lied. The whole story, even if it was mundane, was a big fat lie.
“Want to hear a chemistry fun fact?” Napoleon asked.
“I’m more of a physics guy myself, but sure, shoot.” Dusty said.
“Wood only conducts electricity when it is alive or is soaked in a solution with baking soda.” Napoleon said. “It also makes cool grooves in the wood.”
Suddenly, the door swung open. “Hey Dazzle, we need to head home.” Coco said. “Besides, Ms. Sprinkles wants to see a dress that I mentioned.”
Dazzle sighed. She masked it as a sigh of discontent, but it truly was one of relief. She always felt uncomfortable when somepony asked her how she got her cutie mark. Gah… why was she good at being dishonest?
“Am I coming too?” Pink asked.
“Your mother is coming, so I assume so…” Coco said.
“See ya, Dazzle!” Napoleon waved as Dazzle exited the room.
“See ya!” Dazzle called back.
The sun was going down. The last caramel colors of sunset glowed and shimmered on the nearby windows of the city skyscrapers. Even though they couldn’t directly see it, the reflection of day’s last hours bathed the room in golden light.
“I can’t believe I’m actually in Coco Pommel’s house!” Pink said. She sipped from the Styrofoam cup she held in her hooves. The cocoa inside was still steaming. Obviously, Pink Sprinkles kept it as a keepsake, taking in every little swig she had with delight.
“Apartment, actually.” Coco corrected.
Ms. Sprinkles had a brand-new dress draped over her lap. Coco had been fashioning it for ages… at least that what Dazzle saw. Whilst she was doing homework, Coco would be working feverishly on her projects. But, this particular dress was special. In the background, Coco often rethought her process, even going so far as going back to square one, removing every little stitch she slaved countless nights for.
“Nonsense! From what Princess Twilight learned, in order to make a place home, you just need to invite some friends!” the Ms. Sprinkles said. “I’m honored to be your guest.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Coco smiled. “Thank you for indulging me in my handiwork.”
Ms. Sprinkles brushed the dress gently. “I can see why you are known for what you do. My question is, how long did it take you with the concept?”
“Not very long.” Coco said. “I’m just glad somepony likes it.”
Ms. Sprinkles smiled.
Pink yawned.
“Sleepy?” Coco asked.
Pink nodded.
“I agree, it’s been a long day.” Coco’s smiled dropped to a slight look of concern. “None of your foals got caught in the incident, did they?”
“Oh no!” Ms. Sprinkles waved her off. “Pink here is our only elementary student. She just happened to get dragged along by her project partner. What was his name again?”
“Dusty.” Pink said, setting her cup down carefully on the coffee table.
“That’s right! Dusty!” Ms. Sprinkles tapped her temple. “Pink here is just here for the ride, to see the sights. It’s Dusty that is chasing after that CSGU scholarship.”
“Sisters’ going be jealous when they find out about this.” Pink smirked.
Ms. Sprinkles chuckled. “Oh yes, they will!”
Coco chuckled nervously. “I’m not that much of a fashionista, just doing my job.”
“Oh, quit being so modest!” Ms. Sprinkles waved Coco off. “Everypony knows who you are! You’ve talked with Ms. Rarity, even having the guts to stand up to Suri Polomare.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Coco said a little louder than usual. She squeaked and covered her mouth. “Oops, sorry, that came off a little too terse.”
Ms. Sprinkles shook her head. “You’re fine, Coco.”
Coco took a look out the window. The city was growing darker as the lights on the streets came on as well as the light of nearby offices and apartments came onto scattered portions of buildings.
“At least this long winter is coming to an end…” Dazzle said. “It means I can stay up longer!”
“Oh no you don’t!” Coco said. “Even though it’s still light out, we need to go to bed by seven!”
“Agreed. Pink here needs to get some rest. We have a big week ahead of us.” Ms. Sprinkles patted her daughter on the back.
“Aww man, I wanted to hang out with Dazzle!” Pink whined.
“Maybe tomorrow.” Dazzle said.
“So, Coco, are there any blankets we can use?” Ms. Sprinkles said. “Pink and I can take the sofa.”
“Oh nonono. You take my bed.” Coco said. “And Dazzle says that Pink can take hers.”
“Oh, you are awful kind, Ms. Pommel. But, where will you sleep?”
“Dazzle and I will sleep on the couches here.” Coco said. Before their guest could protest, Coco added, “Don’t worry about us. We’ve done this plenty of nights when homework was hefty and the last of the lines needed to be done.”
As they headed off, Coco went to a nearby closet and pulled out two blankets.
Dazzle hopped up onto the smaller couch. Coco took one of the blankets, unfolded it, and then draped it over Dazzle.
“I hope you were fine with me volunteering your bed.” Coco said. “I’m just trying to be a little more assertive.”
“You’re fine.” Dazzle let Coco tuck the blankets underneath her. Dazzle curled up once she was comfortable.
Coco trotted over to the other couch and draped the other blanket- a quilt that matched the one Dazzle was wrapped in. It had patchwork shapes with various designs. Dazzle often wondered how Coco was so talented to put the quilt together, even as a filly. Even though Coco complained about the flaws of it, she still kept it for times like these.
“You okay? Comfy?” Coco asked from the other couch.
“Yes.” Dazzle yawned.
“Good…” Coco said.
After a couple minutes, Dazzle could hear Coco snoring softly.
Dazzle couldn’t sleep. Something about her friend worried her. The Aviary Strain was curable, but then again, there was still a chance that she could… die. Dazzle ran the statistics in her head, trying to find comfort in the low odds that Vertigo would pass away. Though, she still could shake the feeling.
She had enough wrestling with emotions. She hopped off the couch and tapped on Coco gently.
“Hmm?” Coco’s eyes opened slightly.
“Coco, I can’t sleep.” Dazzle said. “I’m awful worried for Vertigo.”
“She’ll be alright.” Coco closed her eyes. “Go back to sleep.”
“I had a nightmare.” Dazzle said.
Coco opened her eyes. “I think I know just the cure for that.” she said. She extended a hoof from under her blanket. The blanket drooping over her foreleg like a robe. “You want to sleep by me, Dazzle?”
Dazzle shifted from side to side. “Well… I don’t kn―”
Coco shook her head. She reached out and embraced Dazzle. She helped Dazzle right by her side and positioned herself to curl up next to her. “No need to hesitate. We’re mother and daughter now, aren’t we?” She skootched over to her. “My, you are cold. No wonder you weren’t able to sleep.”
“You don’t mind?” Dazzle asked. “I hate to be burdensome.”
“You’re never burdensome, sweetie.” Coco said in a yawn-like manner. “Now, get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”
Before long, Coco was back to snoring soundly.
Dazzle couldn’t help but feel warm next to her mother. She’d never had this before- sleeping next to her parent. Each time she got near her biological dad and mom, they would tell her that they had a busy day tomorrow and that her stirring would keep them up.
Somehow, in this place, no matter how busy Coco was, she would always make time for Dazzle.
Dazzle closed her eyes, and listened to the rhythm of her mother’s heart.
…And at last, she had a good dream.