Cozy zipped through the castle as fast as her wings would carry her, dodging and weaving around the few ponies walking about. She arrived at Rumble's room in the castle annex after less than a minute. She had not seen him on the way here, so he must be inside. She lifted a hoof to knock, but stopped.
She set her hoof down and looked herself over. Her tail looked a little too windswept for her liking. Now that she had a special somepony she had to look the part. Cozy sat down and combed her tail quickly with her hooves. It was not much, but it made things a little bit better. Her mane got the same treatment. Only then did she feel ready. She rapped the door with her hoof and felt her heart swell in her chest, just standing there. Was she always going to feel like this around him now?
She wouldn't mind if that was the case.
He opened the door. "I almost expected you," he said. "Come on in. I'll be done in just a few minutes."
"Done with what?" Cozy asked.
"Well, I figured that when you have a special somepony… you're supposed to go on dates and stuff…" Rumble looked everywhere but at her. "So I asked Ramson for tips on restaurants and he gave me a name. I mean, if you want. We could just… do whatever you want, really, but I just figured that maybe you wanted to… I don't know, celebrate a little? It's my first relationship and I kinda want to make it special. You know."
Cozy felt so happy she might burst. She had never been on a date before. She had never even been to a real restaurant before, aside from the local fast-food joints near the orphanage or the Friendship School in Ponyville. And now she got to go with her special somepony!
"Cozy… please say something, I'm feeling like a nuisance. And I'm rambling."
"Yes! I'd love to go on a date!" she said with a squee.
Rumble exhaled. "It'll just be a second!" He went back into his room and Cozy followed. This place looked just like it always had. Wonderbolt posters decorated the walls, the bed was only haphazardly made, books and magazines laid in small piles in the corners. It was messy, but not unclean. Cozy could recognize organized chaos when she saw it.
Rumble ran a comb through his mane a few times, glanced in the mirror, and then took a pair of saddlebags. They jingled with bits.
Right. She had to get some bits of her own, so she could pay for her meal. He'd probably pay for her, but she did not want to let anypony think she couldn't fend for herself, least of all her special somepony.
"Oh, golly… If I'm going on a date, then I need to have a new pair of ribbons! I'll see you by the courtyard!" she said and galloped down the hallway before he could voice a protest.
This time she took the shortcut through her balcony, so she was back in her room after just a few seconds.
She pulled out a small box she kept under her bed. That's where she stored her allowance. Originally Twilight had intended it for her to spend on getting new toys or books, but she had just saved it as an emergency backup in case she had to skip town quickly. As time passed and it became less likely that she would need it, she had still just put her money there, mostly out of stubbornness.
She grabbed a pair of saddlebags and emptied her bits in it. She did not know how much it cost to eat at a real restaurant, but it was better to take too much than too little. Then she quickly undid her ribbons and retrieved a pair of new ones from her drawer. She did not need them, really, but this way she had not lied when she said she went to get new ribbons. She just picked up something else too.
She debated on whether or not she should tell Twilight where she went, but decided against it. Twilight shouldn't think that just because of what had happened, she was going to give up her independence. No, Cozy Glow was still Cozy Glow, and Twilight would have to accept that Cozy did what she wanted in her spare time.
Saddlebags resting comfortably on her shoulders and back, she left through the balcony again and flew to the courtyard. She saw Rumble entering from the garden path.
"Saddlebags?" Rumble tilted his head.
"Bits," Cozy said. "So I can pay."
"Come on, I pay," Rumble said. "I want to treat you tonight! My brother says that you've got to treat your special somepony on the first date."
"Well, then that goes for me too," Cozy said. "So… we treat each other? You pay for me and I pay for you?"
"Hmm…" Rumble's expression told her he would have preferred to pay for the both of them. "Can't I treat you tonight, please? You can pay the next time."
Cozy was about to protest, but for once she managed to catch herself before she said something stupid. This was clearly important to him, for some reason. Would it really hurt her so much to just give him this? Besides, he was trying to give her a gift. Since when was she turning down gifts?
"Golly… I suppose since you said please and everything…" Cozy smiled. "Okay. You can treat me tonight."
"Great!" Rumble brightened. "Let's go!"
He did not take to the air, like Cozy had expected. Instead he started out through the main gate and into the street. Cozy followed.
The congregation had dispersed by now, but there were still plenty of ponies out and about. Not that it was late yet, even if the sun was starting to color the sky in gold and indigo. As fall progressed, dusk came earlier and earlier every day. The expensive magitechnological lamps that the capitol had invested in were lit, showering the city in a bright, piercing type of light. It was not the same homely light as from firefly lanterns, but it was certainly impressive, giving the feeling of luxury and extravagance to the ponies walking under them. No other light was similar to this.
"Where are we going?" Cozy asked. Not that the answer would mean anything to a pony who knew nothing about restaurants, but she wanted to talk.
"The Tasty Treat," Rumble said. "It's specialized in foreign food, so it'll be interesting. Ramson was there the evening it opened, and described the food as 'halfway decent'. That's like… the best thing I've heard him say!"
"Sounds… good," Cozy said. "You'll help me with ordering, right? I don't know anything about exotic foods."
"Sure! If you like anything especially much, I'll even ask for the recipe!"
They proceeded in silence for a little while. "Isn't it a bit chilly?" Rumble asked suddenly. One could hear the shyness in his voice.
"Golly, you're right," Cozy said. She moved a little closer, heart beating fast and hard in her chest.
He put a wing over her back. She leaned closer into the embrace. The faint scent of his shampoo tickled her nose. She had never felt this close to another pony before. For the first time in… forever, she felt entirely at peace.
Of course, she knew that feeling would not remain. She was too ambitious. Too certain of her own destiny to ever stop trying to push herself higher, become even greater. But for just this evening, the world-spanning machinations could wait.
For just this evening she could be content with being a lovestruck filly on her first ever date with her very own coltfriend.
It looked like the crowd of ponies had cleared up from the castle grounds, at least from what Twilight could see when she looked out the window. But she could also see a few ponies still standing around. Probably journalists aiming to be the first to ambush poor Flurry the moment she went outside for the first exclusive interview with the newly cutie-marked princess.
They'd be disappointed. Flurry was going to stay in the castle tonight at least, and then they'd see tomorrow if she wanted to leave in the evening. Like many other newly-marked ponies, Flurry had wanted to be alone after getting her mark. Twilight knew what it felt like. The joy of taking your first step to becoming a big pony, the wonder of your mark on your coat, the anxiety for what it means for you, and what you will do now…
It was a lot of emotions for a young pony to process, princess or no.
Twilight had left her in peace to work on the many letters that needed to go out in light of Flurry's mark. She had already conveyed for her council of governors to meet her in the morning. Suddenly every other issue on her plate had been postponed. Once the evening press hit the stands, all of Equestria was going to know about Flurry's new mark, and Twilight wanted to be prepared for when letters from every major politician in Equestria trickled in. If she knew them right, they'd all demanded the same thing: A princess' mark was a historical event. It had to mean a celebration of some sort. In fact, the letters from the nearby towns had already begun to arrive. Mayor Mare's had been one of the first.
Suffice to say, it was not a decision she could make without consulting her advisors.
But Flurry would not need to concern herself, Twilight had decided. This was stressful enough for her as it was. This should be a happy time for the little filly, not one of endless responsibilities.
She finished signing one of the letters, put it away and started on the next one. The process repeated many times, the pile of unanswered letters getting smaller. When she signed a response to Manehattan's mayor, she heard a sound of small hoofsteps. When she looked up, she saw a certain alicorn filly meekly approaching Twilight's desk. "Yes, Flurry?"
"I was just wondering where I would sleep tonight," Flurry said. "Do you have an extra bed somewhere?"
"I could put you in one of the guest rooms, but they are a while away, in the other end of the castle. Or, if you want to sleep here, I could send for blankets and pillows, and we'll just move a cloud down for you. You will have to be on the floor, but…"
"It'll be like a sleepover!" Flurry chirped. "I'll sleep in here then."
"I'll find you a nice cloud," Twilight said and stood up. No matter how important those letters were, Flurry's smile was more important. Twilight magicked away a couple of hundred books that she had inadvertently let pile up high enough to completely block her balcony door. She really needed more shelving space.
She put the books down by the bed instead. "Do you want to come with and select your cloud?"
Before Flurry could answer, the door to her private wing was thrown open, and two ponies rushed through, one pink and the other white. "Flurry!"
A shock from the sudden intrusion quickly disappeared when Flurry recognized them. "Mom!" She ran out of the room to greet her mother. For it was indeed Cadance and Shining Armor who had barged into her wing, both of them panting like they had been running all the way from the train station. Cadance leaned down for a filly-sized hug, with both of her forelegs, nuzzles and her magnificent wings. Flurry eagerly returned the hug.
"How did you get here?!" Twilight asked. "Did you even know about her cutie mark?! It does not make sense; my letter can't have reached you yet! How did you even get here so fast?"
"Everypony knows about this, Twilight," Shining Armor said without looking at her. He was completely absorbed by looking at his daughter, the wide smile of a proud father decorating his face. "We both felt the burst of her magic. The train company was very helpful to make some urgent rescheduling at Cadance's request."
"Did it reach all the way to the Crystal Empire? Then it was much stronger than I thought…" Twilight mumbled. She also realized that if Cadance and Shining Armor knew, then every other pony did too.
"Oh, Flurry, we are so happy for you! So very proud of you! Now you need to tell mommy everything! How did you get your mark?"
"Thanks to Cozy! I redemptioned her!" Flurry answered proudly.
"Why don't you settle into the common room and talk?" Twilight interrupted. "I'll be right with you. Also, hello, Cadance. Remember me? Twilight Sparkle? Your sister-in-law?" she asked with a smirk.
Cadance smiled sheepishly at Twilight. "Hello Twilight… sorry about that."
Twilight flashed her a smile. "Like I said, I'll just need a moment."
"Right," Cadance said, already inkling towards the common room.
Twilight left the family there and went out on the balcony. Only when she was airborne and well away from any windows, did she let her smile fall.
It wasn't that she didn't want to see her brother and favorite foalsitter again. She absolutely did, but she couldn't help but to be a bit worried about what they were going to say about how Flurry got her mark. Cozy had not been kind to their daughter, and a simple "I'm sorry and I won't do it again" might not soothe their worries. Even if Twilight assured them it was taken care of, would that be enough?
Normally, yes, it would. But this was about Flurry Heart, and they were protective of her. Would they want to talk with Cozy on their own? Reprimand her for bullying their daughter?
If so, what would Twilight do?
She stood by her own reasoning. Only Flurry and Rumble should have any say in any punishment of Cozy, and they had already pardoned her. As far as Twilight was concerned, that was the end of the discussion. Flurry, Cozy, Rumble and Twilight had worked things out so everypony was satisfied, and after what the three foals had gone through, Twilight was not going to risk upsetting anypony just to please Shining Armor and Cadance. If they had any grievances, they would have to take them up with Twilight alone.
But how do you get Flurry's parents to see things like that?
Lost in thought, Twilight nearly flew face first into the clouds she had set out to gather. She shook her head to clear away the wet vapor and started gathering and compressing the fine mist into a more dense, fluffy type of cloud.
When she began flying back, she couldn't help but to feel uncomfortable. She didn't want to argue with her family, but if it came to it, then she knew what she had to say.
For that matter, where even was Cozy right now? Twilight had not seen her since she went to find Rumble some hours ago.
Hopefully she had not picked these few minutes to return. Things would be easier if she kept out of the way until Twilight had said her piece. She bundled up the cloud in a roll, grabbed it between her hooves and flew back down. She put the cloud roll on her own bed. She could deal with that later.
Once she discreetly went inside the common room, Flurry was still explaining, hopping up and down in excitement and turning to look at her mark every other second. "-and then I thought I'd be an olive farmer, but Twilight said olives actually means redemption, so that's my cutie mark. And it's a 'laurel' because a pegasus once had to fight a Windigo to get one, and that was really important, and he was almost like a princess, so that's why I have a laurel!"
"M-my little filly's… all grown up!" Shining Armor sniffled, just barely able to keep himself from breaking down crying with emotions.
"She really is," Cadance said tenderly. "My big filly."
Flurry all but crooned in pleasure and nuzzled her mother.
"She shows great promise in her lessons too," Twilight chipped in, speaking a bit louder to catch their attention. Both Cadance and Shining Armor were practically transfixed by their daughter. "Her raw power has only grown since she was little, and with her cutie mark it's sure to become even more potent."
"I'm not surprised she gained her mark when studying with you, little sis!" Shining Armor said, his voice still a little thick. "I knew you'd be a wonderful teacher for her, and we can all see how right it turned out to be."
"I have gotten better at magic too!" Flurry said. "Twilight has helped me learn how to aim and throw stuff!"
"That's great!" Shining Armor said ecstatically. "Can you show me? When your magic is developed enough, perhaps I'll even teach you some basic combat magic!"
"Yes! I want to be a hero princess!" Furry declared. "Come on! I will show you how good my magic is now! I'll be able to defend the innocent and fight evil kings in no time!" She hopped down from the sofa and tried to bodily push Shining Armor out the door. He chuckled and went with her.
Cadance rolled her eyes. "Colts will be colts…" she mumbled. "But he's right. We both suspected she might get her cutie mark under your tutelage… even if I always hoped I'd be there when it happened."
"Thanks," Twilight said. "For your trust in me, that is." She took a calming breath and continued. "but it wasn't me who helped her get the mark in the end… it was Cozy."
"Flurry told us," Cadance said. Her face did not reveal anything about what she thought or what, exactly Flurry had told her. "Actually, if you have the time, I wanted to ask you a few things about that."
"Okay… sure," Twilight said.
"From what I understood, there have been some problems with Flurry and Cozy. Is that right?"
Twilight nodded. "They have… had their differences."
"Is that something I should know more about?"
"No," Twilight said. "It's resolved. The less it's brought up the better."
Cadance looked quizzically at Twilight. Her brow was minimally furrowed. "That… doesn't really fill me with confidence," she said.
"Trust me on this," Twilight said. "For Cozy's sake."
The two of them held each others' stares for a few seconds. Cadance looked away first. "Okay. I trust you. Flurry clearly is happy with whatever transpired between them… even if I can't say I trust Cozy Glow, after what she did to you."
Twilight was about to protest, but stopped herself. She couldn't really blame Cadance for that, could she? It was only after many misadventures, tears and trials that she herself learned to trust Cozy. She could not ask somepony else to do it, just like that.
That trust was simply something Cozy would have to gain for herself. But with Flurry as her friend, Twilight suspected Cadance would not be very hard to win over.
Twilight nodded. "So… do you have any ideas for her cute-ceañera?"
"No… I haven't given it any thought," Cadance said. "Why?"
Twilight sighed. "Come with me into my office. All of Equestria will be clamoring for it to be a massive event, and I don't know how to make them happy while also keeping Flurry herself out of the spotlight."
Cadance nodded. "I agree, she wouldn't like something like that…"
"But how do I tell everypony that their princess doesn't want them to celebrate with her?" Twilight groaned.
Cadance chuckled lightly. "Let me look at it. I like to think I know how to handle bureaucrats at this point… and I'd like to see anypony trying to argue with me about my daughter's cute-ceañera.”
Twilight brightened. "If you do that, then maybe I can send a letter to Pinkie Pie? I'm sure she could plan something for Flurry, to make her feel comfortable."
Cadance nodded. "That'd be lovely. If anypony can give her a cute-ceañera to remember, it's Pinkie."
"You know… Flurry will probably have to make some sort of appearance, however short," Twilight pointed out. "It's her celebration, ponies will expect it."
Cadance ruffled her wings irritably. "We'll see."
By the time they had eaten and paid it was already dark outside. They went out together, and Rumble realized he had forgotten to bring his scarf with him. It was cold enough that he fluffed up his wings to keep warm. Most ponies still out and about had both scarves and earmuffs.
"Chilly," Cozy said for him.
"Yeah," He said. "I heard the weather office had scheduled for the first snow sometime next week. Just a thin layer of powder snow, to get everypony accustomed to it before they get the large shipment from Cloudsdale."
"Is Canterlot nice in winter?" Cozy asked. "I've never seen it."
"It's really pretty," Rumble said. He and Thunderlane had gone to the Hearth's Warming pageant several times, so he knew how it looked. "A thick layer of snow all over the city, with lights and garlands over every street."
"Any… mistletoes?" Cozy asked, bashfully.
He nuzzled her, carefully. He still did not know if she wanted him to show her affection in public, or even how she liked him to show his affection. "Sure, there's plenty of mistletoes by Hearth's Warming."
"What do you want for Hearth's Warming?" Cozy suddenly asked.
That was not a question he liked. Especially not since there were at least two moons left. Hearth's Warming was something he usually prepared one week before the holiday, not two moons. Also, he had no clue what he wanted. "I don't know… haven't thought about it." That's not a good answer… he had to come up with something! "Maybe a cookbook with exotic recipes? Could be fun to try out a bit more."
"It was really tasty! That noodle soup was spicy, but it worked really well with… everything else!"
"Thukpa," Rumble corrected. "Yeah. I hope Ramson knows how to prepare it… I've never worked with half of the ingredients before. But I'm sure I'll get the hang of it once I get to practice a bit."
"I'm sure you will!" Cozy said. "And if you ever make it for Twilight and me, then you will accidentally make Twilight's serving really, really spicy for me, right?"
Rumble rolled his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be reformed now?"
"Pah, I'm still Cozy Glow! And I still haven't forgotten what she did to me," Cozy said, sharp enough for Rumble to decide not to pursue that line of questioning.
"Okay, if you say so… but no, I'll not spike Twilight's food. Haven't we already been over this?"
"Nuh-uh," Cozy shook her head, but there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. Rumble found himself smiling. There truly never was a dull moment with her…
The two of them arrived at the castle gates. A guard pony glanced at them but made no further move. Rumble had learnt that was as close to "You may enter" as one got with those ponies. They came to the courtyard and stopped underneath a firefly lamp. Twilight claimed they were better to read by than the magitechnical lamps, so the castle still used fireflies. "Well, I guess it's about time to hit the hay for me. It's been a pretty long day."
Cozy nodded. She kept her eyes downcast, but what little he could see of her face was flushed red. "I really enjoyed myself," she said quietly, gently, even. "Golly… nopony has ever taken me on a date before. Or… even liked me before."
"Hey, Cozy?" Rumble said. His legs felt like rubber. His wings felt strangely twitchy on his back, and his mouth felt like he had just eaten a pound of sand.
She looked up. The firefly lamp made her eyes glitter, and framed her blushing face and sky-blue locks in a golden aura. She looked… well, beautiful.
Rumble took a step forward and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. He didn't dare to go for anything bigger, if nothing else because he had no clue how to actually kiss a filly. He'd probably mess up and then he'd have ruined the moment.
No, better to play it cool.
He hoped.
In fact… Cozy didn't look too thrilled. She looked about like she had just woken up. She lifted a hoof carefully and touched the cheek where he had kissed her. She looked back at her hoof, then up to him, as if to confirm what had just happened.
He managed an awkward, goofy smile, for a whole one second before she flew straight into him and caught him in a hug as hard as she could manage.
"I… I love you. I really, really do," she said. He felt her struggle with the words. "I don't… Golly, I haven't..." he put a hoof over her lips.
"Me too, Cozy. I love you too."
The night didn't feel that chilly anymore.