“Cozy Glow gets some unexpected back-up when dealing with a bully.”
Suggested by Ember Shroud
Cozy Glow gulped as she took another step back. “Look, it’s really nothing special. Just a couple daisy sandwiches. I’m sure whatever you have is better.”
The dark yellow earth pony advanced another step. “It’s not about what the lunch is, pipsqueak. I want it, and that means you give it over.”
The pale green unicorn to Cozy’s left removed her glasses and cleaned them on her coat. “I’d do what she says, new girl. Mustard Seed’s been known to leave little fillies like you smeared in the dirt.”
Cozy Glow grimaced. She’d felt this confrontation coming all day, ever since Mustard Seed had laid eyes on her. She knew her type. She’d dealt with this kind of thing before. Just because some fillies happened to be a little taller than others, they thought they could throw their weight around. Because of her small size and innocent appearance, Cozy always looked like an easy mark.
In the past, this assumption of weakness had been easily rectified. What Cozy lacked in stature, she made up for deviousness. How many would-be bullies had found themselves suspended from school on trumped up charges? How many had suddenly found themselves facing the wrath of their parents after a sudden and unexpected raucous house party?
But that was the old Cozy Glow. New Cozy Glow couldn’t do things like that. She, like her parents, had been reformed, and that meant finding non-evil solutions to every day issues.
Still, a little evil would have been quite useful against the glaring filly that now loomed over her.
Cozy Glow sighed and handed over the bag. This wasn’t worth the fight. Besides, Chrysalis’ cooking was still so subpar, there was a very good chance that the daisies in her sandwiches would still contain dirt from the garden from which they’d been plucked. “Is that it? Can I go now?”
“What? Don’t you wanna watch me eat your lunch?”
“…Not really?”
“Tough.” Mustard Seed chuckled as she went to open the bag. She paused, the laughed again. “Y’know, on second thought, I already ate today.” And, to Cozy Glow’s surprise, she went to hand the bag back.
Before she realized the trap she’d fallen into, the bag was already on the ground. “Wait…”
Mustard Seed brought her hoof down on the bag in one smooth motion, grinding her hoof into the paper and obliterating the contents.
The green unicorn clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Don’t feel bad. We’ve all fallen for that one.”
Cozy sighed and turned to leave. Maybe if she ran, she could get home for something small before lunch was…
“Where do ya think you’re going, pipsqueak?” Mustard Seed growled as she moved to block her path.
Cozy Glow rolled her eyes and pointed at the remains of the bag. “You crushed my lunch. I’m going to grab something else.”
“Why?” Mustard Seed raised her hoof and shook the debris free in front of its original owner. “You’ve still got your lunch right here.”
“I…”
“Eat it.”
Cozy Glow blinked. “…what?”
“I said…” Mustard Seed raised herself to her full height and looked down on the filly. “Eat it.”
Cozy Glow bit the inside of her lip. “…Or what?”
The green unicorn took a step back. “Be smart, new girl.”
“Eat it, or you’ll be eating dirt.”
Cozy Glow had gone toe to toe with the most powerful magic users in Equestria. She’d been transformed into an alicorn. She’d literally wielded the power of a god. And now this simple little pony was threatening her? Cozy Glow’s red eye twitched. Reformation be damned, this filly was asking for it. “You’re gonna make me eat dirt?”
“That’s right.” Mustard Seed raised a hoof to strike. “And after that, you’ll be eatin’ through a straw.”
A familiar smirk twitched at the edges of Cozy Glow’s lips. She wanted this filly to swing. She wanted an excuse, any excuse, to show her just who she was dealing with. She forced away the smirk and put on her best fake pout. “Golly, please don’t beat me up! I’m so small and helpless!”
Mustard Seed grinned triumphantly. “Are ya gonna eat it then?”
The pout vanished like smoke. A look of smugness took its place. “Nope.”
The green unicorn’s jaw dropped. “New girl, you’ve got salt.”
Mustard Seed snorted. She drew back her hoof…
“Cozy Glow! Is that filly messin’ with you?” Three heads turned at the sound of a rough Manehatten accent. They watched as a teen mare with a jet black coat floating down from above, her pink and silver accented mane done up in a very expensive haircut. She popped her gum as she landed, sizing up the situation. “Everything okay here, cuz?”
“Cuz?” Cozy Glow cocked her head in confusion. “Who are…?”
The young mare looked back at Cozy Glow and winked… revealing a familiar flash of emerald green.
“Uh… yeah. Everything’s fine, cousin…” Cozy spared a glance at the teen’s flank to check her cutie mark. “Ampersand?”
“Hey, don’t be usin’ my full name like that. You call me Amp, like all my other fans.”
“Fans?” The green unicorn peered at the new arrival over her glasses. “Are you famous?”
“Not yet, but I’m gonna be. When my band takes off, everypony’s gonna know the name Amp… and her cousin Cozy Glow of course.” She rounded on Mustard Seed and loomed over her. “Do you have any idea who you were pickin’ on just now?”
Mustard Seed lowered her hoof and looked away pointedly. “I wasn’t pickin’ on nobody.”
“Good. Because it’d be really bad if you were pickin’ on this one here.” Amp wrapped Cozy Glow in a hug and noogied her mane. “Cozy Glow was the coolest girl in her class back in Manehatten. Toughest, too. One time, a manticore attacked the school and it was my cuz here who sent it packin.’”
“Wow.” The green unicorn whispered.
“A manticore, huh?” Mustard Seed sniffed and shuffled her hooves. “That’s pretty cool, I guess.”
Amp let Cozy Glow down and looked at the smashed bag of food. “What happened here?”
“I offered to share my lunch with Mustard Seed and it fell.” Cozy Glow answered rapidly. “Then it got stepped on. No big deal.” She looked at Mustard Seed and lifted her brows. “Right?”
“Yeah. No big deal.” Mustard Seed nodded.
“Alright. Well if you three are good then I’ve gotta bounce. It was nice helpin’ you and your folks settle in, but I’ve gotta get back to the city.” She spread her wings and looked around. “Nice meeting you, Mustard Seed. And you…” She stared at the green unicorn. “Uh…”
“Lily Vine.” She answered quickly.
“Lily Vine. Nice meetin’ you.” She flapped her wings and lifted off.
“Hey, Amp; can I talk with you real quick?” Cozy Glow flapped her own wings and followed. When they were safely a few dozen feet up, Cozy Glow gave her ‘cousin’ a quick hug. “Thanks for that, mama.”
“You’re just lucky I realized that I forgot to wash those daisies before I made your lunch.” Chrysalis said in her usual voice, the vibrating tones clashing with her disguised appearance. “Speaking of…” Her currently invisible horn flashed and a small sack of bits appeared in Cozy’s outstretched hoof. “I was going to tell you to not spend all that, but…” She spared a quick glance down. “Maybe you should buy something to share with your new friends.”
“Friends?” Cozy looked down to see that Mustard Seed and Lily Vine were chatting animatedly and looking up at the floating pair.
“You just got a coolness endorsement from a band-leading Manehatten teenager. That’s all a pony like Mustard Seed needs to know that you’re alright.” She smiled. “And from what I saw, that Lily Vine was already impressed with how well you stood your ground.”
Cozy Glow looked away. “I… I almost…”
“I know.” Chrysalis reached out and turned Cozy Glow’s face back to hers. “But you didn’t. And that’s what matters.”
The two ponies hugged, and ‘Amp’ flew away with a wave. Cozy Glow watched her leave, then floated back down to the other two fillies.
“Wow, new girl.” Lily Vine looked in the direction the other mare had flown. “Your cousin is pretty cool.”
“Yeah.” Cozy Glow smiled. “She is. And my name is Cozy.” She turned to Mustard Seed and reached out a hoof. “Cozy Glow.”
Mustard Seed hesitated… then extended her own hoof and bumped it with the pink one. “Lily’s right. You’ve got some salt.”
“It runs in the family.” She jangled the bag of bits. “You girls want to get a milkshake after school?”
A chorus of affirmation followed, and the three new friends headed back into the schoolhouse for the second half of the day.