//------------------------------// // Interlude Part I: A Heart To Heart // Story: The Real Nightmare Knights // by Bigwig6666 //------------------------------// “Walk with me, Cozy.” Cozy started on the spot, looking up in a fleeting panic. Tempest’s tone was short and to the point, but her words, and more importantly her eyes, were laced with kindness, relaxing her ever so slightly. “Uh, s-sure, Tempest,” she mumbled, rising up from her chair. While Tirek and Chrysalis were both currently occupied, the former asleep and the latter seemingly frozen, her face fixed into a near permanent grimace of hate since Luna’s startling confession, Tempest saw now as the ideal time to address the elephant in the room, and something that had been gnawing at the back of her mind ever since her encounter in the cave. She closed the door behind her gently as they left the room. “Wh-Where are we going?” Cozy asked hesitantly. “Well I don’t know about you, but I’m famished.” Tempest cast a glance down and laughed when she saw her small compatriot’s eyes widen. “So I was hoping we’d find a kitchen on this flying tub.” Cozy’s stomach let out an audible groan. Her ears twitched and she nodded slowly. “Thought you might be hungry as well. C’mon, I’ll make you a sandwich. You like peanut butter?” “Ew, no.” “Me neither. Let’s hope they have something better.” The airship Luna had procured to take them home was considerably smaller than the Grace of Dawn, and had an odious scent to it, but it suited the Knights’ needs well enough. Not to mention, the Arabians did comfort better than any Equestrian, regardless of ship or status. As they travelled down the carpeted corridor, the commander imagined for a moment how easy their life would be if they could airship everywhere instead of getting the train or walking, and was of half a mind to claim it for their own on company expenses. After a few minutes of an awkward and loud silence, they eventually came across a small kitchen, and Tempest was pleased to find that despite being masters of the culinary arts, Saddle Arabians stocked rather ordinary Equestrian items as well. She quickly made them both up some tomato and lettuce sandwiches, and together they sat down at the small table nearby. As they ate only the sounds of the crunch of vegetables accompanied them. Tempest swallowed what she was currently chewing and hesitated before taking another bite, contemplating on how to broach the subject. “Cozy,” she finally began. “I-” “This is about my family. Isn’t it?” the filly interrupted, as deceptively perceptive as ever as she took to licking tomato juice off of her hoof. Her sandwich was gone now, her plate wiped clean by a ravenous beast and the bread replaced only by crumbs. She burped quietly and wiped her mouth, looking downcast and slightly afraid, if anything. Tempest felt the corners of her mouth twitch into a sad smile. “Yeah,” she nodded. “I was hoping you could tell me a little bit about them, Cozy.” Cozy flinched. Tempest knew she had to be careful. From what little she had gathered about Cozy’s family, they were not a pleasant bunch, and a very sore spot for the filly. She didn’t want to see the youngest of their number upset in any way shape or form, looking at her very much like an elder sibling would. “Bray said-” “I know what Bray said,” Cozy suddenly snapped, making the commander fall silent. She pressed her hooves into the table and looked up with a grimace. Her curly mane and little ribbon bobbed up and down as she jerked her head upwards. The pink stripe of her uniform shimmered as it caught the sun. She let out a shuddering sigh and tapped her hooves together. “Sorry. It was weird... I was asleep but also kinda awake? I... Heard him mention my mom. About how we’re related to Gusty the Gre-eat.” The commander’s nose twitched when she heard the young Knight’s voice catch in her throat. “That’s right.” She reached out and placed her hoof over the trembling filly’s. “But we don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to,” she stated. “We don’t-” “It’s fine.” A shadow darkened Cozy’s eyes as she murmured softly yet loudly enough to cut the commander off. Tempest couldn’t help but admire her as she rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly several times. She was far braver than she looked at times, and deserved full recognition for it. Her hoof stopped trembling under Tempest’s, and eventually she let out a heavy, heartfelt sigh. “Alright, so... According to my family tree, Gusty is like my great, great--about five hundred more greats--grandmother.” She paused. The ship creaked as it lulled gently from side to side, drifting calmly through the skies. “My family practically worships the ground she walked on--I’m pretty sure my uncle sleeps with this rusty old shoe that was allegedly hers,” she added with a snort. “Weirdo.” Tempest nodded in agreement. “That is weird,” she murmured with a smile that vanished almost instantly when she saw the tears brimming her young friend’s eyes. “My dad’s a unicorn. So's my mom,” Cozy mumbled. “So's my brother and my and sisters. So is my uncle. They all are, just like Gusty was. Every single one of them... And after I was born they made sure I was aware of that fact... Every. Single. Day.” Her voice grew louder and bolder as she spoke. She looked up with a scowl and the corners of her mouth turned downwards. Her wings unfurled behind her and stretched as far as they could. “Just because I had these, they put me on the branch of the family tree farthest away from all of them. And I hated them for it.” The commander didn’t say anything, choosing instead to just watch her closely. She knew a thing or two about being different. All the Knights did at this point, but even so, she couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Cozy growing up. “I hated her the most, Tempest,” Cozy whispered, her boldness and her temper rising. “I hated Gusty the most for starting it all. If she hadn’t been so much of a hero, then maybe, maybe, I could have had a family that weren’t complete jerks.” She slammed her hoof into the table, clattering the plates while Tempest remained silent, letting her vent uninterrupted. “Do you have any idea what it’s like? Just wanting to belong with your family? Suffering insult after insult just because you were born a different pony?” Tears welled up in her eyes as she slammed her hoof again, albeit far weaker this time. “What kind of pegasus can’t fly?” she said in a nasally voice. “What kind of pegasus is afraid of heights? It’s just like-” “A unicorn that can’t do magic.” Cozy’s eyes widened and her jaw lulled open as she realised what was said. She stared up at the commander, completely aghast, and turned as white as their usual quarry. Tempest sighed bitterly and leaned back in her chair, scratching her chin. A pregnant silence hung in the air between them for a few moments. The pegasus’s jaw opened and closed slowly as she struggled to form words. “Tempest, I’m... I’m sorry, I didn’t...” The commander smiled sadly at her and waved her hoof. “Don’t worry about it, Cozy. Let’s just say I know what being different feels like,” she said. The colour slowly returned to Cozy’s face when she saw Tempest wasn’t upset with her. Once again, her jaw began to open and close as she directed her eyes to the mare’s forehead. “How did it... Happen?” she murmured quietly. Tempest cracked a smile and raised a hoof to her forehead. “What this old thing?” She realised that none of the Knights had ever commented on it before, nor had she ever spoken about it with any of them. She was glad, and proud in a way to finally have the chance to talk about it with somepony. She just never expected that somepony to be Cozy Glow, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, when I was just a filly--about the same age as you are now,” she started, “my friends and I were playing with a ball. We were bouncing it back and forwards with our magic and doing neat tricks with it, balancing it on our horns, then our hooves... It was fun. Until my friend Glitter Drops bounced it over my head and it rolled into a cave. I thought it was my fault for not catching it, so, being young and foolish, I went after it.” Tempest shrugged noncommittally. “Only what I didn’t know was that that particular cave was home to an ursa major.” The filly made an ‘o’ shape with her mouth. “That must have been scary,” she murmured. Tempest nodded and traced a hoof over her scar. “It was. And it hurt. These... Souvenirs it gave me were nothing compared to what came after, though.” The hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end and she felt a slight chill travel down her spine as a wave of unwanted memories came flooding back to her. “The other kids wouldn’t play with me after that. I became ‘that dark and scary filly whose magic burned everything’. They were frightened of me, just because I was different. They pushed me away and shunned me, even called me br...” She inhaled through her nostrils and grit her teeth. “Breakhorn.” The ship creaked again as she finished. Their plates clinked gently as the subtle movement knocked them together. She looked out the window at some clouds passing by with a far off look in her eye. “So I ran away from home,” she went on. “Found myself somewhere where nopony would tease me, and told myself I would never have friends that could betray me again. I joined up with the Storm King and... Well look where that got me.” She laughed joylessly and tapped her hooves on the table. “And that’s that, I suppose.” An uncomfortable silence descended on them as they looked at one another, until Cozy coughed and pushed her plate around with an idle hoof. “You know what?” she murmured, cracking a smile for the first time in a while. “I’ll be your friend, Tempest.” A lopsided and goofy smile spread across the commander’s face at the sincerity of her words, and felt the end of her nose twitch--a tell-tale sign of some waterworks on their way. “Thanks Cozy,” she said, and leaned forwards to tousle her mane. “I’d be happy to be your friend too. We can look out for each other, yeah?” Cozy giggled and rubbed her nose. “Sure thing, Tempy. Oh!” She suddenly clapped a hoof to her head, startling the dark mare somewhat. “Geez I almost forgot. My family collected a lot of her stuff. Gusty’s, I mean. A lot of artifacts from that time period. There could be something there that...” She trailed off and twirled her hoof in the air in a grimace. “I don’t know... Could help with... Stuff?” One of Tempest’s eyebrow cocked upwards. “Do you think they might have something related to Grogar?” she asked. “Maybe?” Cozy rubbed the back of her head and sighed half-heartedly. “There must be something we could use. It’s just...” She turned her hooves outwards and shivered. “I don’t... Want to see them just yet. I’m not... Ready.” Tempest nodded, completely in understanding. “When we get home I could ask the director to look into it for us?” she offered. “Or even Twilight herself? I’m sure she’d give them a stern talking to about being mean. And you wouldn’t have to see them at all.” She nudged the filly and smiled. “How does that sound?” Cozy smiled back and nodded eagerly. Her large eyes shone with life, a far cry from her previous, broken and hollow expression. “Yeah. Throw Starlight to the wolves. That way Chrysalis doesn’t have to deal with her.” Tempest snort laughed and quickly covered up her mouth. “That’s our boss you know,” she chuckled. “Eh, yeah, but she’s only a temp, right?” “True. Very true.” The Knights shared a grin and some quiet laughter as the distant chime of bells signalled their approach to Canterlot, and a muffled voice of one of the crewponies on deck called out. “Port ahoy!” Cozy’s ear twitched as she yawned and stretched. “Oh I can’t wait to get home,” she murmured. “More importantly to my nice, warm bed in that rickety old castle.” “You and me both,” Tempest agreed, thinking of her own comfortable cot. “I’d imagine Jack’ll be pleased to see Tirek again too,” she added with a coy grin. The filly rounded on her, quickly looking over her shoulder and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, so we’re friends now, right? Can I tell you a secret?” Tempest leaned in curiously with her ears pricked forwards. The grin that had begun to spread across her face widened up to her eyes as Cozy whispered her secrets into her ear. “Really?” she whispered back. “Really!” Cozy nodded enthusiastically. “Well I’ll be...” the commander chortled and chuckled quietly. The Knights walked side by side as they made towards the door and their remaining compatriots. “C’mon,” she said. “Let’s go home.” Cozy trotted happily along the ground, her wings folded neatly at her sides. Her smile was as wide as a mile, and not just because she was in her homeland of sugary treats and pastry delights.