Cozy Hearts

by Princess Starflight


Chapter 4 - Ponyville

"Is that who I think it is?"

"Why is SHE there?"

"I've never seen that pony before, and I know everypony in Ponyville!"

"Who is that?"

"OH MY CELESTIA! Is that - mmph!"

Cozy glared at everypony with angry, red eyes. She wanted to give somepony a piece of her mind, but instead she decided to act hurt and innocent. Her act had fooled ponies before. Why wouldn't it work now?

"Oh, golly! I'm just a poor, sad pony with no friends. But I guess that doesn't matter to anypony! Oh, boo-hoo-hoo!" Cozy sniffed and blinked back fake tears.

Flurry nudged her.

"Speech."

"Uh, you know that doesn't really scare me, right? I was putting on an act last night."

"Wait, really?"

"Obviously. Oh, golly! I can't believe you actually fell for it!" Cozy cackled.

Don't act intimidated. Keep your cool, Flurry. Just act like it doesn't matter to you, Flurry thought.

"I didn't fall for anything. I knew it all along. I was testing you to see when you would admit it," Flurry said.

"Okay, have it your way!" Cozy said in a cheerful, playful tone.

"I can still take away your wings!" Flurry said.

Cozy changed the subject. "Who are you taking me to meet, anyway?"

"Well, obviously the Cutie Mark Crusaders are my friends, but they're busy today. They're helping a filly named Mint Chip get her cutie mark. So today we'll be meeting my other friend, Rumble. He's a pegasus like you," Flurry told her.

"Oh. Golly, I can't wait!" Cozy giggled.

Flurry wished it were true.


Rumble stared intently at his brother. He tried to read Thunderlane's expression, but his face stayed blank. He chewed and made a thoughtful noise.

"What do you think? Is it good?" Rumble couldn't hold it in anymore. He zoomed around Thunderlane in circles. "Is it good? Is it good enough for the princess?"

"Calm down, bro! It's amazing," Thunderlane said.

Rumble stopped flying and crashed into a bush. He poked his head out and said, "Really? You think so?"

"Yep. Can I have more?"

Rumble sighed in relief. "Sure," he said.

The brothers didn't know this, but they were being watched by two pairs of eyes. Cozy Glow and Flurry Heart were hiding in a bush nearby and saw everything that was going on.

"I still don't know why you can't just make us invisible," Cozy hissed to Flurry.

"I told you; I can't do that yet. I never learned," Flurry whispered back.

"You can teleport your dad from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire. Why can't you do this?"

Flurry sighed. "You wouldn't understand, 'cause you don't have magic..."

Cozy turned away and Flurry immediately regretted saying that. "Sorry. I forgot..."

"It doesn't matter."

Flurry changed the subject. "When are we going to get out of this bush? Are you that shy?"

"We have to make sure your little friend is prepared to meet the pony who almost destroyed Equestria," Cozy said, with a hint of pride.

"There's no right way to prepare anypony for that."

"There is. Also, why is his muzzle like that?"

"What?" Flurry asked.

"His muzzle. It looks like a mare's, and he's not."

"I...never thought about that before," Flurry admitted. "I don't know why. Maybe you should ask Auntie Twilight."

A disgusted expression came over Cozy's face. "I would never."

"Hey! Who are you?"

Cozy and Flurry slowly looked up. Rumble had discovered them hiding in the bush.

"Oh, hi Flurry! Who's your friend?"

Flurry stood up. She brushed a few leaves and twigs off her fur and tried her best to look regal and beautiful and princess-like. "Uh...I think you've met before. Once."

"When? I don't remember."

"The Battle of the Bell."

Rumble looked confused. Then he looked surprised.

"Are you telling me that's Cozy Glow?"

"Yes."

Everypony was still and silent for a few moments. Then Rumble backed away slowly. "Oh! I just remembered that I have something to do with my brother, Thunderlane. I gotta go! SeeyoulaterFlurryyy!" He jumped up and ran for his life.

"Wait!" Flurry ran after him, and Cozy Glow was left alone.

At first, she could only stare in shock in the direction that Flurry and Rumble had disappeared. Did those idiots really just leave me alone here, just like that? she wondered. It simply didn’t seem possible. But then she remembered how dumb Flurry was, and an evil smirk slowly crept over the pegasus's face. She rubbed her hooves together.

"Oh, golly, finally! Now it's time to get to work."

She looked around.

"Hmm, where should I go first?"

Then she had an idea. "Of course! I'm going to go to Celestia's castle. The stupid old nag will never turn another cute, lovable, innocent pony to stone again after I MAKE HER PAY FOR WHAT SHE DID!"

A few seconds later, she calmed down from her outburst. There was no time to waste, so she jumped into the air and flew in the direction of Canterlot. Luckily, her wings were properly working.

Then she remembered Canterlot was a long distance away. She would have to travel by train. But no train would let her catch a ride. Unless...

Five minutes later Cozy came out of a shop wearing sunglasses, a giant hat, a fancy dress, and high heels. I'm just borrowing these for a while. Besides, sharing is caring! she thought.

Thankfully, she got a ticket for a train heading for Canterlot. But she would have to wait half an hour before it went.

Cozy's stomach rumbled. She decided to go eat something. It would test her disguise, too. So she went into the nearest shop. It was called Sugarcube Corner.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie. Wait, I've never seen you before!" The pink party pony gasped for a full three seconds. "That means we have to arrange a welcome party for you! Hmm, it's gotta be fancy and include everypony in Ponyville! I'm gonna start planning right now!" She got a piece of paper, quill, and a small bottle of ink out of her mane. She also pulled a cupcake out of her mane and munched on it while she quickly wrote down a few things.

"No, really, that's not necessary," Cozy said with a fake accent. She hoped she was looking calm on the outside, because on the inside she was freaking out. It was Professor Pinkie Pie! After all these years she was still working at this lousy excuse for a bakery?! What if she recognized Cozy? She would call Twilight, of course, and notify the princesses. Then Flurry would get into this. It would all be on the news. And the worst part? Cozy would be turned into stone again.

All these thoughts raced through her head in a second. She shook her head clear of them and cleared her throat. "I'm only stopping by from...Canterlot. My cousin lives in Ponyville. I was visiting for a few days. I'm heading back to Canterlot in a while and just thought I'd order something here. What do you recommend?"

Pinkie all but ignored Cozy. "You're stopping by from Canterlot? Rarity might know you! Do you know Rarity? 'Cause she's a fashionista! Actually, I saw Rarity a few days ago. She was designing this outfit and it looked just like yours! I guess she gave it to somepony to sell and you bought it. She's so generous! Oh, I've gotta tell Twilight about this!"

"Nonono! It's okay, you don't have to tell Princess Twilight about this. You know, I don't think I'm hungry anymore. See 'ya!" Cozy raced out the door and hoped Pinkie wouldn't follow.

"Bye! See ya next time, silly filly!" Pinkie yelled. Cozy could literally hear her voice through the glass like she was right next to her, yelling in her ear.

"Phew. Golly, that was a close call..." Cozy said to herself.

She asked somepony what time it was and realized she had twenty more minutes left before the train went to Canterlot. I guess I better get going, she thought.

She took off to the train station.


"We've looked everywhere, Flurry. And the Ponyville police have set the alarm. Don't you think we should stop now?" Cadence asked her daughter.

"No, Mom. I have to find Cozy before she gets herself into trouble...or causes trouble for other ponies!" Flurry said determinedly.

Cozy was gone. She was not in the place where Flurry had left her when chasing Rumble. Being the kind pony he was, Rumble had helped search for the missing pony, but after an hour he had to go eat lunch. Flurry and her parents were still searching. The young princess was hungry, but she would not eat (or sleep) until Cozy was found.

Cadence sighed. "Alright, Flurry, you may keep on searching. Do you think you'll be okay here by yourself? Your father and I are going to have some lunch."

"I'll be fine, Mom."

Cadence left. Flurry then searched every corner of Ponyville three more times to no avail. She sighed. I guess I'm not a very responsible pony after all. How did I let Cozy escape so easily?

Suddenly, Flurry had a weird sensation. There was something in the air, so thick she could taste it. And she knew what it was - magic.

Less than a second later, a pony appeared right in front of Flurry. She shrieked.

The pony chuckled. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

"Auntie Twilight?" Flurry gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Twilight's smile became smaller and smaller until it disappeared. "Well, I heard about a certain little pony who freed..."

Flurry groaned. She should've known her secret would get out eventually. Somepony must've notified Auntie Twilight when they saw Cozy Glow. She should have given them some disguises when they went to Ponyville.

"Okay, I admit that it wasn't the best idea. But you gotta give it a chance! Pleeease? Cozy tries to manipulate me, but I know her ways. She can't fool me. Please don't turn her back to stone again-!" Flurry begged.

Twilight smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Flurry. While I'm not 100 percent sure about this idea, I will trust you on this. I won't interfere in your matters."

"Oh, thank you, Auntie Twilight!" Flurry said in relief.

"You're welcome. Now, should we go find Cozy Glow?"

"Wait, how do you-"

"It's a long story. Maybe I can explain later."

"O...kay. Let's go!" Flurry went speeding off, but then she stopped suddenly and blushed. "Oopsie. Maybe you should lead the way..."

Twilight laughed. "Alright, then. The train to Canterlot already went a few hours ago, so we'll have to teleport there. I can do the teleporting..."

"Canterlot...? But why would Cozy..." Then Flurry realized. She gulped. "She wasn't planning on attacking the princesses, was she?"

"I'm afraid she was. Luckily, as soon as I realized, I teleported here."

Flurry sighed in relief. She loved her aunt dearly and didn't want anything to happen to her. "I'm glad you did. Should we go now?"

"Yes, let's go. We don't want to waste any time."

Flurry went right next to Twilight and made sure they were touching. She didn't want to get left behind! Twilight put one giant wing over Flurry, almost protectively. Flurry could feel the magic building up around her. It was a pleasant sensation, gently tickling her fur. She closed her eyes as she felt herself being pulled away by the magic...