Cozy Glow slowly woke up to another morning like any other. Or what should have been like any other morning. What made this morning different from all the others was that she was greeted to the visage of her father smiling down at her.
"Good morning, Cozy," Facade said.
Cozy immediately hid her face with her blanket, worried that she had done something to get on his bad side. He pulled the blanket away from her and gently picked her up with his magic.
"Can't a guy say hi to his daughter in the morning?" Facade asked in a joking manner "As my way of making up for keeping you and mommy awake last night, I'm gonna be taking you to school today."
Cozy looked at her dear old dad in befuddlement. Since when did he care about how much noise he made during his game nights? Or, for that matter, when did he ever care for her and her mommy? Before she could comprehend what was going on today, she was gently carried down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Feeling tired from last night, Brocade struggled to get out of bed as she slowly woke up. As she eventually got up, she looked at the clock and realized it was an hour past the time she usually fed Cozy Glow.
"Nonononono!" Brocade said to herself in a panic "I overslept!"
In a mad dash, she galloped down the stairs and sped into the kitchen. To her surprise, she saw Facade making toast for Cozy Glow. She looked at Cozy, who was just as confused as she was, then looked at her husband.
"Morning, honey," Facade said serenely.
"Uh...morning?" Brocade stammered out.
"You won't mind if I take Cozy Glow to school today, would you?" Facade asked, "I figured you needed a day off."
Brocade couldn't tell what was weirder. Facade was actually awake in the morning or that he was actually being nice to her Glowie? Given his propensity for abusing the both of them, she had difficulty trusting him with their only child. Then a thought occurred to her. Maybe the reason why Facade was acting nice today was because he knew that she wasn't going to put up with his nonsense anymore. She also realized that, if Discord could turn over a new leaf, why not her husband? She and Facade loved each other once so what would stop them from trying to rekindle that love?
"Sure," she replied hesitantly.
"Perfect," he said "Besides, if you want to write that novel, you're going to need all the time you could get."
Not even awake for five minutes and already she had developed a headache, Brocade trotted back up the stairs and into the bedroom. She lied down on the bed and tried to go back to sleep. She wondered if the morning's events should be worth mentioning to Dr Headlove next time he saw him. She also wondered if she did the right thing in trusting Facade with Glow. It appeared the questions that permeated in her head will have to be answered later on in the day.
The young filly looked up at the fearsome behemoth before her. It looked like a pony but was far bigger than what she had seen before and was covered in scars, one of which ran down a milky-white eye. It had a dark grey coat and a mane as black as the night. As the dark menace approached her, she used her little legs to scuttle back as far as they could carry her. But it was no use as she was eventually cornered by this foul beast. It scooped her up with its iron hooves and kept its grasp on her as she struggled in vain to break free. Before she could cry for help, she heard a shushing noise.
"It's okay, it's okay," the big thing holding onto her said, "I don't wanna hurt ya."
The filly realized that the menacing creature holding onto her was just a normal pony. A menacing-looking pony but a pony nonetheless. As the big pony kept shushing, he gently rocked her up and down as if he was her own mother, as strange as it was. The filly felt calmer and calmer as she ceased her struggling. She even began to feel tired. Good thing too. She needed the rest after the hectic night she had to deal with. With all the banging and the screaming that she listened to in the other room, she was glad that the first living thing she encountered was another pony and not one of the monsters. The fiends that bumped in the night. It was miraculous that she even managed to rest at all.
Facade and Cozy Glow had made their way to school. Cozy dreaded it due to how bored she was in every lesson. She never bothered listening to half of what the teacher said anyway. But in spite of her disdain for school hours, she found it a refreshing break from the regularly scheduled torture she called her home life. At least when you did something wrong, the teachers rarely yell at you and only do so when you're naughty. They were certainly a lot more tolerant of her existence than her dad ever was. That is, until today, of course. She wondered if it was some sort of opposite day but that would imply mommy would abuse her today, something she had never done in Cozy's entire life. Then again, she never hit daddy until Discord's reign of chaos.
"Have a good day, sweetie," Facade said to Cozy.
"But daddy," Cozy whined "Being in school is awful! It's boring and I don't have any friends to play with!"
"I know it is and, to be honest, I hated it as a foal," Facade said, "But if you want to be rich and successful like me, you're gonna have to buck up and deal with it."
Facade leaned in closer to whisper something into Cozy's ear.
"Besides, if you be a good little girl today, I'll teach you how to make it more exciting."