//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 - Into The Woods // Story: A Cozy Tale // by Leondude //------------------------------// Cozy and her father travelled deep within the Everfree Forest. They were carrying the bloodied remains of her mother, neatly wrapped in a big plastic bag. She had never been to the forest before, only heard stories about how terrible beasts like the Ursa Major lived there. She half-expected a wicked witch or a big bad wolf to appear out of the trees at some point. As she flew with her mother's head in her hooves, her blank lifeless eyes staring at her, she wondered why she didn't feel anything. While she was scared of what Facade would do to her without her mother to protect her, she wasn't particularly sad about her gruesome demise. If anything, she saw it coming. Didn't need much convincing to help Facade bury her. He just dropped the corpse in front of her and told her to help him out. "How much longer do we have to go, dad?" Cozy asked, "I got school in the morning." "Would you keep it down?" Facade snapped at her, "You don't know who else might be here! And besides, you're not going to school tomorrow." Cozy smiled excitedly at what her dad said. It almost made her forget she was helping him carrying her mother's dead body. Almost. Then she felt dread again. With mommy dead, who was going to protect her from Facade? Is the reason she's not going to school was so he could beat her mercilessly? She didn't want to think too much about it. She and Facade kept moving forward until he suddenly stopped. "This will do nicely," Facade whispered. He dropped the corpse onto the floor with Cozy following suit. He whistled loudly. Cozy heard growls within the woods and, out of instinct, hid behind her dad. She knew that he would be the last person who would try to protect her but she needed a pony shield. She saw small but bright green glowing eyes lurking within the shadows of the trees. And out from the trees crawled a pack of Timberwolves. They sniffed the air and started to circle the snack Facade left for them. Without a moment's hesitation, all of them dived in and began tearing at the flesh of their food until their teeth were coated with blood. Even though Cozy could see them tearing what was once her mother into pieces, she felt a sense of relief that it wasn't her. Although, knowing her dad, it wouldn't be out of the question that she would be next. As the wolves tucked into their meal, Facade turned around and trotted away, with Cozy fluttering right behind him. Without warning, he grabbed her with both of his hooves and slammed her into a tree. "Listen and listen good," he snarled, "Tell anypony else about this and you will be joining her. Got it?" Cozy nodded fearfully. "Good," Facade said, "The only reason you're still alive is because it would look suspicious for both my wife and child to disappear on the same night." Facade released Cozy from his grasp and continued trotting out of the forest. Cozy, meanwhile, looked back at the pack of timberwolves that had just finished with their dinner. "Someday," she whispered quietly to herself. "What was that?" Facade asked. "Nothing," Cozy lied. "Oh. Thought you said something." Dear Tirek Golly, I had quite an eventful day today. My mommy died and I had to go bury her. Would say I was sad but, to be honest with you, I thought she was boring. Too much of a push-over. Was it any wonder that she bit the big one, considering how much of a meanie-pants my daddy was to her. Anyway, what about you? Surely, you must have had a plan to overthrow your dad. Maybe you can help a pal out and give me some pointers. Not that I would even think about it but it would also help to give me some ideas on how to overthrow our beloved princess, Celestia. Sincerely, Cozy Glow Cozy lied down in her bed. Facade had gone out drinking and had left her in her lonesome. Good. Last thing she wanted was to deal with him and his poker buddies again. Annoyingly, it started raining so even with her dad gone, she still had trouble sleeping. The pattering of the rain did nothing to distract her from the worry that Facade might pick her up while she was sleeping and beat her half to death just for the fun of it. Why not? Before her mommy finally caught Facade trying to drown her, Facade would use any kind of excuse to beat Cozy into a pulp. Vomiting on his new rug. Peeing on the seat. Even simply asking for a snack. Now with mommy gone and Discord no longer allowed to visit the house because of that restraining order, there was nothing to stop Facade from breaking every bone in Cozy's body if the mood struck him. He even said to her face that the only reason he hadn't killed her already was because everypony would know what he did. But there was one thought that comforted her. The Timberwolves. She closed her eyes and fantasised about them turning on dear old daddy and ripping him to shreds. She giggled at the thought of hearing him scream before gargling his own blood as the wolves tore at his throat. It gave her hope that, one day, she will be rid of him once and for all. Now all she needed to do was to get a response from Tirek.