Twilight knew there was only one thing to do as she looked at the statue of Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow. She spread her wings, lifted up into the sky, and hovered near the little shocked looking form of Cozy, a small frown on her face. “This isn’t where you belong. Tirek and Chrysalis had plenty of chances to be redeemed, and yes, so did you.” She put a gentle hoof to the stone filly’s cheek. “They are grown though, while you, you are still just a filly. Some might call me crazy, or foolish, but I think you deserve one last chance.”
“Are you sure this is what you want to do, Twilight?”
Twilight turned to see Princess Celestia landing behind her, her regal head held high. “Yes, Princess. I know my friends can help her. Here she sees friendship as just power. Perhaps in a world with little magic of its own, she will see the error of her thoughts.” Twilight landed next to Celestia and wrapped a hoof around her in a hug.
“Then you should gather your friends. I trust your judgement, and hope Sunset and the others can help, where we failed.” Princess Celestia placed a soft hoof around her former student and nuzzled against her affectionately.
“I know they will, otherwise it will be back to stone with the others.” Twilight sighed as she looked at the statue once more. This had to work!
Cozy groaned and rubbed a hoof against her forehead, then slowly opened her eyes. When she saw not only Twilight and her friends surrounding her, but the other Princesses as well, she scrambled to her hooves. “Wha-what happened? One moment I’m stone, then…” Her gaze turned to around them, quickly taking in the crystal bookshelves full of books and scrolls, but most prominent was a large mirror, with lots of gadgets and gizmos connected to it.
“Hello, Cozy,” Twilight said and stepped up to her. “Yes, we decided to free you from your stone prison.”
She beamed up at Twilight as her wings fluttered behind her. “You mean I can go free?”
“Well we didn’t exactly say that, sugarcube,” Applejack sighed. “Tell her, Twi.”
“Well, you see, I still believe you can be redeemed.” Twilight grinned down at the little filly.
Cozy raised one eyebrow and gave her an incredulous look. “What if I don’t want to be redeemed? I still stand by my beliefs.”
“Then, that will be your choice, but I have one last thing to try to change your mind.” Twilight raised a hoof and pointed at the weird mirror.
“You're giving me a mirror!” Cozy beamed as she looked at her reflection. Her bow was slightly crooked, so she took a moment to fix it, then turned back to Twilight. “Didn’t we learn a lesson on gifts not being a good reason to be friends with some creature?”
“I’m not giving it to you Cozy, we’re going through it.” Twilight did give the filly a small grin though. “I am glad you remembered some of your lessons at least though. Yes, you shouldn’t be some creature’s friend just because they give you nice things. Another thing-”
“Don’t you want to show Cozy all the wonderful, fantastical, mind blowing things behind the mirror today Twilight?” Pinkie interrupted as she bounced over to stand beside her.
“Right,” Twilight nodded, her cheeks flushed. She hadn’t meant to enter teacher mode there. She held a hoof out to Cozy. “This will all be quite a shock, but my friends will get you through it. If everything works out, perhaps you’ll even meet a true friend there.”
“Where’s ‘there’?” she asked, curious enough to take Twilight’s hoof.
“An alternate universe,” Twilight winked, and gently led the filly toward the mirror.
“What? You’re taking me where?” Cozy’s eyes widened as they reached the mirror and a dark pinkish swirl of magic appeared in it, replacing their reflections. Wait, she’s taking me somewhere new. Nopony will know me there. I can show them the true power of friendship! She gave a wide grin and watched as Twilight disappeared through the mirror, then let out a yelp as she was pulled inside too. They swirled around in tight circles and finally came to a sudden painful stop as she fell on top of Twilight.
“Ouch! That shouldn't hurt so- Sweet Celestia! That’s a new one.”
Cozy looked over at Twilight’s voice, her vision blurred as she held a hoof to her forehead. “Wait…” she looked down at her hoof, or where it had been. Instead she now had a long thin arm and- were those claws? No, they were different from what Gallus, Smolder, and Silver Stream had. These ended in soft little digits.
She followed the new arm down to see even more had changed. Her hooves were gone and her rear hooves too, ending in little delicate shoes like Rarity might wear. Cozy reached her new digits behind her, to find only soft cloth. “My wings, my hooves, what- what happened to me!”
“It’s okay Cozy, um… you’ve changed even more than that though.” Twilight held out one of those weird appendages to her and took her arm in it, helping her up. “Wow, I think you're even taller than me, by a little.”
Cozy wobbled on these two new legs, and looked down on Twilight. She was right, this new creature that looked so much like Twilight and sounded like her, dressed in a frilly little dress and boots, was a few inches shorter than her. Upon her own form was a simple white dress about knee high, with a tan collar and ribbon around her waist. The shoes were white flats with little straps around her ankles. At least her cutie mark was still there, kind of, on the skirt of the dress.
She looked down at Twilight and scowled at her. “Okay, you are going to explain what the hay happened! Now! Please?” She gave Twilight her best puppy dog eyes and fluttered her eyelashes at her.
“Of course, Cozy. My friends are meeting us at the Sweet Shoppe. I’ll explain on the way there.”
“But aren’t they-” Cozy pointed a finger back towards where they had come, but then shook her head. “Nevermind.”
“So pretty much, it seems like the portal decided to age you up, which it has never done before, and so I guess you are our age now and here we are!” Twilight smiled wide as she led Cozy toward a soft pink colored shop with a roof that looked like a frosted chocolate cake and led the way inside.
It was a lot to take in, this new place, the new body, not being a filly anymore, and actually wearing clothes besides her bow? She swore everyone here she saw looked similar to ponies she had seen back in Equestria. Guess that is the alternate world part. I wonder if there is another me here? She shrugged the thought off as she heard Twilight speaking to her friends. They hugged and laughed and… were strangely not paying attention to her.
Cozy grinned, slowly backed out the door, and closed it slowly so as not to ring the bell. She let out a giggle and raced around the corner of the building only to let out a yelp as she ran into someone and knocked them both tumbling to the ground. “Oooh that hurt! Watch where you are going!”
“Sorry,” a soft voice mumbled from beneath her. As Cozy disentangled from them, she noticed it was a mare- girl, around her own new age. It wasn’t surprising she hadn’t noticed the girl, with how she seemed to pull into herself. She was probably around as tall as she, thin with long aquamarine hair, greenish-grey skin, and wearing a worn striped dark-and-light-tan sweater and blue jeans. “I’m Wallflower Blush,” she said and held out a hand to help Cozy up.
Cozy took the hand and stood as she smiled at her. “I’m Cozy Glow, and kind of new here.” Her cheeks blushed slightly. “I’m so sorry I yelled at you! I’m not mean, honest!” This girl was perfect to help with her slowly forming plans! Twilight thought she would learn true friendship or something silly like that, but no. She would accomplish what she had tried in Equestria! “Nice to meet you, Wallflower.”
“Y-you really think so?” Wallflower asked and brought her arms in front of her as she smiled. “Most just ignore me, well except Sunset’s friends,” she paused in her thoughts and pointed at the shop. “You uh… want to get some shakes? I’ll pay.”
“Of course I mean so!” Cozy nodded with a cheesy grin. Her right eye twitched at the mention of going back in. “Oh uh… no I’m lactose intolerant! Can’t go near the stuff! Is there another good place for treats?”
“Well there is always the movie theater, if you're more of a salty snacks fan, but that is a few blocks away.”
“Movie theater?” Cozy looked at her with a blank face for a moment, before she shook it away and nodded. “Yeah sure that sounds great! Let’s go, lead the way!” Cozy jumped up and down and pulled on the other girl's arm.
“Great, there is a new Daring Do movie that just came out, was thinking of asking Sunset and her friends but you look like you need a friend,” she chuckled softly and turned around to lead Cozy the way she had come from.
“Oh yes! I love Daring Do!” she beamed, as her heart pounded. How had Twilight and the others not realized she was gone yet? What would they do to her when they found her? Hopefully not return her to stone! She gripped Wallflower’s arm a little tighter and walked faster, eager to get a good amount of distance between them.
“You must really love Daring Do to be this excited to get there,” Wallflower chuckled. This girl was interesting, and must have guts to have such a cute, curly hairdo at their age. She couldn’t imagine her with anything else though, the look fit her perfectly, even the blue bow.
“Oh, yes I do!” Cozy beamed as she nodded. It was as they turned the next corner her eyes grew wide at the sight before her.
“I’m guessing malls are not this big back home?” Wallflower asked as she grinned at the stupefied Cozy.
“Nowhere near,” Cozy murmured as she watched these humans file in and out of the two story building, made of what looked like mostly glass walls.
“Well then, stay close.to me. I wouldn’t want to lose my new friend.” Wallflower took Cozy’s hand in hers and led her inside.
Cozy looked down at their clasped hands, a little surprised at the girl’s boldness. Perhaps she really would be of good use. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about Twilight finding her here. With how crowded it was, she would get lost without Wallflower! She kept her gaze on the girl beside her, trying to just ignore the goings on around them. Otherwise there was just too much to take in at once. After all, she might be full grown here, but that didn’t mean her mind felt that way.
“Here we are!” Wallflower yelled to be heard over the crowd. “Thankfully it’s a Wednesday, so it shouldn’t be overcrowded. You okay?” She turned around to see Cozy shaking against her. Wallflower patted her on the shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not much for large crowds either. Let’s hurry inside where it is quieter eh?”
Cozy nodded, not even looking at this ‘movie theater’ as they walked up to it until they were inside with the doors closed behind them. She breathed a sigh of relief at the quiet. Well that was weird. I don’t usually get scared in crowds. What’s wrong with me? She shook her head and held a hand up to it, before she took a deep breath and looked around.
The building was nice. It had a fuzzy purple carpet with some weird circular design on it, which was repeated along the walls, and a large cardboard poster of what Cozy assumed must be this world's version of Daring Do surrounded by snakes and long hanging vines. Daring held a large red gem shaped like a skull in her hands, and an inscription below the picture read Daring Do and the Kingdom of the Ruby Skull.
“Two to Daring Do, please,” Wallflower said softly, and Cozy looked up to see a young man in a red suit and a weird, flat, square hat hand them two ticket stubs. “Thanks!”
“So, this movie, um…” Cozy began, unsure how to phrase the question and not sound stupid.
“The worst of the series? That is what I’ve heard, something about a bunch of giant scorpions that drag one of the characters into their nest,” she shudders. “At least it is not as scary as some of the older ones though.”
“Giant scorpions?” What kind of thing was this Wallflower dragging her to?
“Not a fan of scorpions?” Wallflower asked, and Cozy shook her head. “Well, we could see something else instead. Like.. there is that new one about the horse superhero with his mountain lion sidekick and a hamster. Colt? I think it was called?”
“No, I’ll be fine, you already got the tickets to Daring Do anyway right?” She could handle a few scorpions. Long as they didn’t get close to her.
“Okay,” Wallflower nodded and led Cozy to a small line of people. Delicious smells of buttered popcorn and soft pretzels wafted toward them as both girls stomachs growled. “Hungry, I take it?” Wallflower teased and blushed as her own stomach gave another growl. “I’ll get us the jumbo popcorn then.” Cozy nodded and followed her up to the front counter.
A few minutes later, Cozy blinked in confusion as they walked into a dimly lit room filled with plush chairs that faced a large white screen. “So… where are those scorpions? Or are they being brought out later?” she asked as they found a seat to the far right side of the screen, about halfway down.
“Brought out? Wait- have you never been to a movie theater Cozy?”
Cozy Glow shook her head and blushed as she grabbed a handful of popcorn. “I guess you can say I was super sheltered as a kid?” She rolled one of her curls around a finger.
“Well, we shall have to change that, won’t we?” Wallflower elbowed her in the side and turned to the front as the lights dimmed further and the screen lit up. “Oooh it’s starting!”
Cozy sat back in her chair and munched on the popcorn as she watched the screen. Daring was pulled out of the trunk of one of those things Twilight had called a ‘car’ and thrown to the ground, surrounded by a bunch of official looking men and a lady with a weird haircut and strong accent. In truth, she had never actually read the Daring Do books, so she had no idea what was going on for Daring as the movie continued.
When the giant scorpions did finally come on screen, she couldn’t hold back a bark of laughter at how fake they looked. How could she be scared of those things? Sure that one guy who had been helping Daring got pulled away into the scorpion's lair, but she didn’t like him anyway. As they came near the end and it was revealed the skull Daring had been looking for was the skull of some ancient alien race, she stuffed handful after handful of popcorn in her mouth in excitement, surprised when she felt her fingers reach the bottom of the bucket.
“Wow, that was weird,” Cozy laughed as they walked out of the theater, tossing the empty popcorn bucket into a trash bin.
“More than weird, it was cheesy!” Wallflower giggled, glad someone finally agreed with her about the films. “I mean, I like the franchise and the books, don’t get me wrong, but they need to do better with their special effects.”
Cozy nodded. “Scorpions usually scare me, a little, but those ones just made me laugh. Oh!” She jumped as a loud clap of thunder rumbled above them.
“Looks like a storm is coming. How far away is your house?” Wallflower asked as they headed toward the front doors of the mall.
“Way too far to get there before it starts to rain,” Cozy sighed. “How about you?”
“Not too far, follow me!” Wallflower took Cozy’s hand in hers again as they exited the mall and hurried down the sidewalk. They both jumped as another clap of thunder growled and lightning flashed above them. Then came the rain, cold and falling in thick sheets as people yelled out in surprise around them.
“Here!” Wallflower yelled over the sound of the pouring rain. She held out an open umbrella to Cozy.
“Thanks,” she beamed. Sure she was already pretty soaked, but was nice to not be getting pummeled with the cold rainwater.
The two raced down the sidewalk, dodging other people as they did so, both laughing at the excitement of it all. Wallflower turned on a flashlight as the storm blocked out most of the light, and led Cozy up to a small blue house with a well-kept lawn and hurried up the steps. She handed the flashlight over to Cozy as she fumbled with her keys, finally getting them into the lock and leading the way inside.
“That storm came out of nowhere!” she shivered as she closed the door behind them. Another flash of lightning lit up the windows, followed by an even louder boom of thunder that shook the building. “Looks like it's not going to stop anytime soon either.”
“I’m fine with that,” Cozy grinned and looked around the darkened room. “Means I get to spend more time with you, my good friend.” Careful on the sugar there, don’t lay it on too thick, girl. “If that is okay with you?”
Wallflower blushed and rubbed her left arm with her right hand. “You want to stay with me longer? Wow, not even Sunset and her friends usually hang with me this long.”
“Well that’s because we are going to be best friends, while they are just friends,” Cozy waved the thought away, then let out a sneeze and shivered.
“Oh, sorry! Um, let me find you some dry clothes. I think you are about my size.” Wallflower mumbled. “Feel free to look around until I get back.” With that she turned on the lights in the room they were in, and hurried off.
“I think this will work well,” Cozy chuckled and rubbed her hands together. She looked around the room, a living room with a simple couch and coffee table with some strange contraption with a dull black screen- a mini theater perhaps?
She looked up as Wallflower returned with two towels and a bundle of clothes. “These should fit you. There is a bathroom on the first door on your left, you can change in there.” She handed Cozy the clothes and towel and ran the second towel through her hair. “I’ll quickly change too and make some tomato soup. Almond milk okay?”
“Almond milk?”Cozy asked. She had walked halfway to the bathroom door before turning around.
“You said you were allergic to dairy, is almond milk okay?”
“Oh! Right! Yeah sure that is fine.” She gave the girl a cheesy grin. Almost forgot about that.
“Great, then I will make that to help warm us up.”
Cozy nodded, walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She slowly peeled off her wet clothes and hung them over the shower curtain rod to dry, then looked down at the ones Wallflower had provided for her. They were a little worn, but looked comfy: a pair of dark blue sweats, a pale green t-shirt, and a grey sweater. She pulled them on and then took a moment to look in the mirror. The rain had killed her perfect curls, they now draped around her face barely curly at all anymore. Her bow had also come untied and lay crookedly around what was left of the curls. “Well, not much I can do about that here.” She took the bow out of her hair and slipped it into the pocket of the sweats, and stepped back out barefoot.
Almost instantly the warm aroma of tomato soup hit her nostrils, along with the crisp, buttery scent of grilled cheese sandwiches. “Mmm… that smells great!”
“Thanks,” Wallflower said softly. “My brother is also lactose intolerant, so I had some vegan dairy free cheese in the fridge to make some grilled cheese sandwiches as well.” Cozy noticed Wallflower had also changed while she was in the bathroom, wearing grey sweats and a light blue sweatshirt. “It’s not much, but should help us warm up.”
“Works for me,” Cozy nodded and walked into the small kitchen. She sat down at a small wooden table and watched as Wallflower finished up the meal. She rubbed her hands together as the sandwich and a bowl of soup were placed before her. “This looks delicious!”
“Thanks, it’s um… actually one of my comfort foods,” Wallflower admitted before sitting down to a bowl and sandwich of her own. “I haven’t always been this bold.”
Cozy nodded, tore off a piece of her sandwich, and dunked it in the soup, then popped it into her mouth. “Yeah you do seem a little shy and awkward?”
“I really was before… well before Sunset and her friends helped me.” Wallflower twirled her spoon around in her soup bowl and stared into it. “You see, before our senior year, I was very much my name, a wallflower. No one ever noticed me, it was like I was invisible to them.”
Cozy paused her spoon before it entered her mouth. “I can understand that.” She popped the spoon into her mouth and sipped up the soup on it, before she returned it to the bowl. “It wasn’t much different for me where I came from. Or well, at least when I was still a young filly.”
“Filly? Was that your mascot in elementary school?”
“What? Oh! Yes, yes it was! Heh kind of silly, isn’t it?” Cozy giggled. How many over here know Twilight’s secret? Better be careful, I don’t want her to think I’m crazy! Cozy took another piece of her sandwich and dunked it into the soup again. “Anyway, you were saying?”
“Right! Well, you see… I was never good at making friends as a kid,” Wallflower began. “Eventually, I kind of gave up as things just didn’t go the right way. I was a klutz, a stutterer, and it seemed every time I tried to stand out even a little, it always went horribly for me.” Wallflower turned to her bowl of soup and sipped at it slowly. “I joined clubs, like the yearbook committee, to try to make friends and not look so stupid, but even though I was right there in the room with everyone, it was like I didn’t exist!” She slammed a fist into the table.
Cozy lifted one of her hands and patted the girls fist. “Hey, it’s okay. You got me now!” She gave her a wink.
“Yeah,” Wallflower said softly, a small smile on her lips. The two went back to their meal, the only sounds from the spoons as they clinked against the bowls with each reentry, and the occasional boom of thunder outside.
Cozy sat back and sighed happily as she finished the last bite of her sandwich. “That was so good!”
“Thanks,” Wallflower mumbled and put the dishes in the dishwasher. She lifted the curtains of a window by the sink and looked outside. The rain was still falling outside, though not quite in the sheets it had been earlier, though the thunder rumbled every few minutes. “Looks like the storm is still pretty bad.” Her gaze fell to the clock on the stovetop. “Oh my, and it’s almost 9pm already. Do you have anyone waiting for you at home?”
Cozy cringed a little at the words. Sweet Celestia had it been a long time since she worried about anyone at home. She supposed Twilight and her friends might be worried, but she wasn’t in any hurry to get back to them. “Nope, I’d be alone tonight.”
“Want to stay the night here? I have plenty of pillows and blankets to share. We could have a sleepover! Gosh, are we too old as seniors to have those?”
Cozy giggled and gave Wallflower a sweet grin. “Nah, we’re not too old! It’s been ages since I had a sleepover. Sure, I’ll stay. I want to learn more about you.” She clapped her hands together and wiggled in excitement.
“Oh, well I want to learn more about you too. I’ve told you a little, but you’ve barrely told me anything.”
Sweet Celestia! What do I say? Cozy panicked for a moment, then nodded. She would think of something to tell her. “Sure, we are going to be best friends after all.”
“Great! Let’s get you settled in my room, then we can chat. Maybe even watch some old Daring Do movies on my computer.”
“Sure!” Cozy nodded and followed after Wallflower as she led the way down the hall, past the bathroom, and into a spacious bedroom. In the far corner was a full size bed with forest green blankets and mint colored pillows, a dark brown wooden desk was next to it, with some strange device similar to the one downstairs, only smaller and it had something similar to a typewriter keyboard in front of it. A small lamp and alarm clock finished the contents of the desk, and to the far side a closet full of mostly greys, blacks, browns and greens clothing. “Nice room,” she grinned and sat on the edge of the bed.
“It’s nothing special,” Wallflower mumbled and pressed a button on the screen, a small smile on her face as it lit up. “I’ll pull up one of those movies for us.” She turned around to look at Cozy again. “Now, um… do you want the bed, or um a blow up mattress? I am fine with either, after all, you are my guest.”
“Well if we are such good friends we can share the bed?” Cozy grinned, then giggled when Wallflower turned bright pink. “It’s big enough we shouldn’t have any problems?”
“Oh um… sure!” Wallflower mumbled, then jumped as a loud boom of thunder rumbled. A moment later the lights flickered out and the screen went dark on her ‘mini-theater’. “Well, there goes the power. Stay here, I’ll go grab a lantern.” She took out the flashlight from before and left the room.
Cozy shivered in the dark, her gaze at the window as lightning flashed and thunder boomed once more. Her eyes grew wide as she curled up on the bed. What is wrong with me today? Ugh, it must be the stress of a new place? Yes, that is it. She cringed as thunder shook the entire house. Is… is this what Daddy felt like before his boat- She blinked up as a bright light filled her vision.
“Sorry,” Wallflower set the lantern she carried on the desk. It looked similar to one Cozy’s father used to have, though the light didn’t flicker as much. “You okay?” Wallflower asked as she sat down beside her. “You look terrified.”
“Um, I-I just don’t like thunderstorms,” Cozy mumbled as she wished she had her wings to wrap around herself. “Too many bad memories.”
“Want me to make some hot coco? That always makes me feel better during a storm. Or, maybe I should stay here, I think you need me more.”
“H-hot coco would be nice,” Cozy nodded and sat up. “I-I’ll be okay for a bit. Just um… leave the lantern here?”
“Sure,” Wallflower nodded and grabbed her flashlight once more instead. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.” With that she was gone once more.
Cozy grabbed the lantern and held it on the bed next to her, her gaze on the light inside as she tried to ignore the chaos outside. She took in deep breaths, ashamed of her fear. “Come on Cozy, you took on Twilight and her friends, you took on the Princesses, and Discord! You shouldn’t be afraid of a silly storm!” she grumbled to herself. “You were comrades with the two biggest baddies in Equestria! I mean come on, Chrysalis could get very scary when upset, and Lord Tirek with his big muscles could make me into pony pudding if he wanted to.” She grabbed one of the pillows from the head of the bed and smashed it against her face with a groan.
“I’m back! How are you doing?” Wallflower asked, two steaming cups held in her hands. She held one out to Cozy, who sat back up and took it.
“Been better, but, I’m glad to have you here,” she said sincerely as she took a sip of the drink and sighed at its warmth and chocolatey taste against her tongue.
“Would it be too much to ask why thunderstorms scare you so much?” Wallflower asked and sat down on a chair close to Cozy.
“No, I think I’d be okay telling you,” she murmured and held on tight to her cup. “When I was a little girl, my dad had his own merchant ships. He did well, and we were quite wealthy. Well, one day he had a very important shipment going out, something about improving trades with… people… across the seas.” Who knew if the Absynnians were in this world too, or if they were, if they were still ‘catlike’, so better not mention that.
“Oh no,” Wallflower gasped and put a hand to her mouth. “Did he..?”
“I never found out exactly what happened,” Cozy admitted, “might have been pirates, or a bad storm, I was never told. A child’s overactive imagination will do tricks to the mind though.” She paused as she took another sip of her drink. “Father was the best, I’m still not over losing him, not entirely. That is why I- I did some things that were not the best.”
Wallflower nodded. “A child’s imagination is a vast thing, both good and terrible at times.” She blinked in surprise at the confession. “Yeah, I can’t blame you there, I’ve done some bad things as well. With Sunset and her friends' help though, I was able to see the error of my ways, and make some real friends.”
“What did you do?” Cozy asked. Surely it couldn’t be as bad as what she had done.
“Well,” Wallflower took in a deep breath and let it out in a big sigh. “I grew jealous of the attention Sunset was getting. Our sophomore year, she stole some magic crown from Twilight Sparkle and tried to make us all her zombie slaves.”
“What? Twilight’s crown can do that?” Cozy gasped, eyes wide.
“Well yes, but Twilight stopped her and the crown vanished, but that’s not the point. Twilight and her friends forgave Sunset, yet I felt she didn’t deserve forgiveness. So, I used this magic stone I found in my garden to erase her new friends' good memories of her so she would be as lonely as I was again.” She turned away, cheeks flushed with shame.
“Where is this stone now?” Cozy asked, before she quickly wiped a line of drool from her chin. Such a weapon, I could go back to Equestria with that!
“Oh, it was destroyed, and their memories brought back. Which is fine, after that they became my friends, so I didn’t feel invisible anymore, and I learned that Sunset had gone through her own hell to earn their respect. Why?”
“Oh, just wondering, sounds like a cool stone!” Cozy mumbled around her coco as she brought it up to her lips.
“How about you?”
Cozy coughed, spilling a little coco on her sweater, before she took a deep breath. “M-Me?”
“Yeah, I told you my misdeeds. Surely yours can’t be as bad as erasing everyone's memories. I mean, I think magic is only found close to here? Well, and in the Everfree forest but I think that is all?” Wallflower grinned over at her.
“Well… oh what the heck I’m stoned once Twilight finds me again,” she snorted and put aside her half full cup of cocoa.
“Stoned?” Wallflower asked but then shook her head and nodded for Cozy to continue.
“I’m not really from this… universe. I come from a land of talking pastel magical ponies and strong magic and evil villains that would make any of yours seem like child’s play. Twilight is from there too, and maybe others here, I don’t know.”
Wallflower set her cup down as well and nodded. “Yeah I kind of figured something like that was real. Magic didn’t really start here until Sunset arrived, and then with the arrival of Twilight it was an explosion of the stuff. Go on.”
Cozy sat stupefied, “you know? Of course, magical rock, friends with Twilight and her friends, yeah.” She took a deep breath through her nostrils and continued. “Well, two things actually, two BIG things.” She grabs her cup of coco again and takes a sip. “First, I became pen pals with a centaur by the name of Lord Tirek. He kind of owed me after a certain filly beat him at Chess and got her cutie mark for it,” she beamed. “He taught me how to cast a spell that would gather up all the magic in the world and send it to another dimension.”
Wallflower spit out her drink and gasped in shock. “He was going to get you to take away all the magic in a magical world? Wouldn’t that severely injure or even kill some of the magical creatures there?”
Cozy shrugged. “Might have, I don’t know for sure, all I knew was it would give me the power I craved! Of course, it didn't work. I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those meddling other creatures!” she shook a fist at the air, then chuckled as she blushed softly.
“Wow, yeah that is a lot worse than just trying to steal memories. Why did you want so much power? You know with great power comes great responsibility.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that plenty of times,” she shook her head and sighed. “Learned it well too, the second time.” She pulled a loose curl behind her ear. “After I was defeated, I was locked away in Tartarus.”
“The Tartarus? The one with all the demons and dark gods and such?” Wallflower gasped.
“Well, no dark gods, Lord Tirek was probably the closest thing to that, and he was just a centaur, nor demons really, just creatures most called monsters. Anyway, we weren’t there for long. We were released and put together with Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra as a group of best baddies.”
“You mean Coach Tirek and Professor Sombra and um… sex ed. teacher Chrysalis?”
“Wait, all three of them teach at your school?”
Wallflower nodded. “You’ll probably meet them if you stick around. Anyway, go on, I want to know what happened next!”
Cozy stared at her for a moment, amazed that her fellow villains were teachers in this world then shook her head. “You don’t mind all this evil I’ve done?”
“Well, after Sunset’s evil deeds and Twilight turning into this Midnight Sparkle thing and nearly destroying our world to get to yours, and everything else we’ve been through the last few years? We at Canterlot High are a pretty forgiving bunch.”
“Wait, Twilight went bad? Goody four-hooves Twilight??”
“Well, our world’s Twilight, not yours. I know, it gets confusing.” Wallflower took another sip of her drink. “Go on, please?”
“Okay,” Cozy nodded. So she explained how Sombra got full of himself and thought he could take things on his own, only to be defeated again, how the three of them that were left found Grogar’s bell together and kept it hidden until the time was right, spreading dissention around them to get the three tribes fighting each other as they did so. Then, they finally figured out how to use the bell, and made themselves super powerful with all the magic in it. “Once again, we were so close! We had defeated pretty much everyone important. The only one who got away was Twilight, well and her brother and family,” she grumbled. “Then her friends escaped and brought a cavalry against us. There was no way we could defeat so many. The three of us were then defeated and turned to stone.”
“Wow! Okay yeah I see what you mean by bad,” Wallflower nodded and set her now empty cup to the side. “So, how did you get here?”
“Twilight brought me here thinking I could be redeemed still.” She lifted her own cup and drained the last few gulps of it.
“Is it working?” Wallflower grinned and elbowed her in the side. “Sure we both have done evil deeds in the past, but we can both get over that, right?”
Cozy sighed, rolled her eyes and placed her empty cup on the table. “I don’t know, it’s too soon to tell. I’m still angry at Twilight and her friends and so many more ponies and creatures!” she growled and punched the pillow she had been holding earlier.
“We can work on that, if you are willing?”
Cozy folded her arms and looked away with a grumble, before she turned back around and nodded. “I suppose we can try, but I’m not promising anything! Not like I can get back to Equestria anyway. Even if I went through the portal, it leads to Twilight’s castle. I’d be captured and returned to stone before I even stepped hoof outside.”
“That’s the spirit!” Wallflower winked at her, and received a light glare in return. “Believe me, it is not going to be easy. It’s been a few months since my… problems happened and even I still get upset at Sunset, but not as badly as I used to. Probably going to take longer for you, but I believe in you. I won’t leave your side, I will stay your friend and help you through this.”
Cozy leaned against the headboard of the bed and sighed. “You’re not going to give up on this idea, are you?”
“Nope!” Wallflower jumped onto the bed and rested her head on the headboard beside Cozy. “I’ll get you redeemed yet!” She looked out her window next to the bed, to see the rain had stopped and the moon was now shining brightly out. “Looks like the storm stopped. We should get some sleep.”
“Oh sure change the subject,” Cozy snorted, but a small yawn fell from her own lips as well. “Yeah, sleep sounds… nice.”
The next morning Cozy woke to find her head nestled against Wallflower’s neck. She jerked up in surprise and tumbled off the other side of the bed with a grunt of pain.
“Mmm, you okay?” Wallflower mumbled as she looked down at her and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
“Yeah, I’m just peachy,” she grumbled and crawled back up on the bed. “Sorry about um…”
“Snuggling with me while you slept?” Wallflower teased and ruffled a hand through Cozy’s bedraggled hair.”It’s okay, I figured you needed some comfort.” She turned to look at the alarm clock and let out a gasp. “Crap, it’s already almost seven!” Wallflower whipped the blankets off of her and stumbled to her feet as she raced to the closet.
Cozy let out a little grumble at the hand as it ruffled through her mane, but then cocked her head to the side in confusion. “So? What happens at seven?”
“School starts at 730,” Wallflower replied as she tossed some fresh clothes on the bed. “Your dress should be dry by now, so hurry and go get changed so we can make it on time.”
“I’m not signed up for this school though,” Cozy replied, though still complied and headed toward the door.
“Twilight’s probably taken care of that.Hurry, or you won’t have time to brush your hair!” Cozy nodded and hurried toward the bathroom.
They arrived at the front doors of the school with ten minutes to spare and leaned against the pillars to catch their breath. It had been too late to curl her hair, so Wallflower lent her a hair tie and she put it all up in a small ponytail.
“There she is!” A high voice chirped.
Cozy cringed at the sound, recognizing it as Pinkie Pie. Her eyes grew wide and she hurried behind the pillar, to at least put some space in between herself and the seven walking toward her. “Please, don’t turn me back to stone,” she gulped.
“Who said anythin’ bout’ turning you to stone?” Applejack drawled as they stopped a few feet away. “We were jus’ worried about ya.”
“That storm was reeaaallly bad last night!” Pinkie giggled and grinned. Her grin grew wider when Wallflower stepped in front of Cozy Glow. “It seems I was right too! See Twilight, the Pinkie Sense never fails!”
“I have to admit, it does look that way Pinkie,” Twilight nodded and took a step forward. “Wallflower, why are you protecting her?”
“Well, we became friends, Twilight,” Wallflower blushed and rubbed her left arm with her right hand. “Look, she told me what she has done, and I know she ran away from you, but please don’t punish her for doing so?”
“Don’t worry, we don’t plan on it.” Sunset stepped up next to Twilight. “Actually, this was all planned.”
“Wait, what? Planned?” Cozy yelled and peered over Wallflower’s shoulder. “You wanted me to run away?”
“Well, not exactly,” Twilight admitted and smiled sheepishly.
“When we noticed you had left, I was all for racing after you and dragging you back, no matter what!” Rainbow said and punched the air with her fists twice.
“I suggested violence wasn’t the answer though,” Fluttershy whispered.
“That’s when my right ear itched, my left leg fell asleep, and my eyes got all wobbly!” Pinkie demonstrated said conditions, then let out a giggle.
“What… does that mean? When that happens?’ Cozy asked.
“It means someone is about to make a new best friend!” She beamed and rolled around the pillar and Wallflower and tackled Cozy in a hug. “I figured since you had run away, it had to be you!”
“Oh, okay?” Cozy mumbled and pulled away from Pinkie’s hug.
“That’s when I convinced everyone to let you go and find out what would happen. Now look, you return, and with a friend!” She tried to hug Cozy again but she stepped to the side just in time.
“Isn’t it wonderful, darling? Now you won’t feel so alone.” Rarity smiled softly at Cozy and moved a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Wow, that is just… wow.” Wallflower gazed at the seven ponies before them.
“I know, right! Too old baddies getting together and becoming friends and sharing the feels of their dark pasts!”
“Sometimes I really wonder how you know these things, Pinkie,” Rainbow sighed and put a hand to her head. The nine of them then looked up as the warning bell rang.
“Well, I guess that is my cue,” Twilight said and held a hand out to Cozy. “Do you think you’ll be okay here?”
“And not cause anymore chaos and murder attempts?” Rainbow said with a chuckle.
Cozy took a deep breath and grasped Twilight’s hand. “I won’t promise anything yet, I’m still really angry at your friends for stopping us,” she snorted. “Though, trying to be good does beat being stuck in stone. We’ll play this by hoof and see how it goes.”
“That’s all I ask,” Twilight nodded. “I’ll be checking up on you when I can, and Sunset will keep me informed on how you are doing. Until then, enjoy your new school, and new friend.” She nodded to Wallflower and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. “Take good care of her, okay?”
“Of course Twilight,” Wallflower nodded. “I’ll show her everything you guys have taught me. You won’t be disappointed.”
With that Twilight gave each of them one last quick hug, reluctantly accepted by Cozy, and walked over to the large stone slab they had entered the world by, and with a flash of white stepped into it and disappeared.
“Well, shall we get inside and start your new life, Cozy?” Wallflower asked.
“Sure, let’s do this. I was the best at Twilight’s school. I’m sure this school will be easy peasy.” She looked down as Wallflower took her hand in hers, and together, the eight of them stepped through the doors, which closed with a pleasant click behind them.
THE END?