Chapter 1
Past and Present
Carcass Bay was a small town located near Equestria's border. It was one that had proven to be quite popular with changelings in recent times, especially among those seeking to be closer to ponies. Twilight found the coastal town quite nice as she glided over it: It had the same charm as some of the smaller villages around Equestria, while still sporting a bustling core near the ocean.
Flapping her wings a few more times she scanned the southern edge of town for the house she was looking for. Her last visit had been quite a while ago now, had it been four years or five? She shook her head, princesses didn't get enough time off she reasoned. Having located the home in question, Twilight came in for a landing. Ponies might find it unusual that she was travelling out and about herself without an escort, but in this case it would do more harm than good. Plus, it wasn't as if she needed protection.
The house had wooden walls painted a bright red with black tiles serving as roof. It was two stories tall but was otherwise quite modest and unremarkable. The door was painted orange and on it hung a red heart with the bright text "Welcome". Twilight almost had to laugh at how picturesque it all looked, especially with the tulips planted on both sides of the door. She remembered how run down the building had looked the last time she had been here, it was quite a difference when she juxtaposed the mental images with what she saw.
Twilight knocked the door and waited, a smile on her lips. She could hear hooves against wood before eventually, the door opened. Red eyes met her own as she took in the pony in front of her; she had pink coat and a cyan mane made up in long curls. If it weren't for the fact that Twilight herself had grown a bit in the last few years then they would have been on eye level with one and another.
"Oh, it's you," the mare let out, sounding almost disappointed.
Twilight could just smile. "It's nice seeing you too Cozy."
Cozy Glow turned her face around to yell. "Mo- Chrysi, the book princess is here!"
"I told you not to call me that!" A voice yelled back from further within the home, followed by more hoof steps.
Cozy turned back to face Twilight and gestured for her to come in. "Whatever, it's not as if you'd fool her anyway," she said while rolling her eyes.
A light blue pegasus mare rounded the corner, their yellow mane tied up in a bun. "That's not the point, and you know it," she said while lightly nudging Cozy with her hoof.
Twilight had to suppress a chuckle as she entered and closed the door behind her. "I see you two are still getting along:"
"Hah, as well as we can be," the mysterious pegasus let out before Cozy could get a word in.
The three of them moved to the living room, a place that looked as normal as any other home. On shelves were pictures of the family as well as a light assortment of books and other personal affects. In the center was a round table surrounded by a couch, a big chair, as well as a comically oversized chair. The two pegasi settled down on the couch next to each other while Twilight took the chair, levitating down her bags down to the floor next to it.
"Would you like tea or anything?" The older of the two pegasi questioned.
Twilight nodded. "That'd be nice, but no need to hurry; this might end up taking a while anyway."
The two of them frowned and exchanged glances before Cozy eventually spoke. "It's something serious then?"
"Well, I wouldn't say serious, but it might take a while to go through," Twilight replied while gesturing towards her saddle bags.
The relief was clear on their faces as they slumped further down into the coach. "What's this about then?" The older once again asked.
Twilight took a moment to gather her thoughts, as if to best figure out how to tackle the subject. "It's about Cozy Glow, but also about her old room at the School of Friendship."
The light blue mare raised her eyebrow while Cozy tried to make herself as small as possible. "That was a long time ago Twilight, I figured that would have been sorted by now," she spoke, Cozy electing to remain silent.
"While that is true, I sent a few letters to Cozy to remind her to come over and clear out her old room; she never did."
This caused the older pegasus to turn and glare at Cozy. "I... I did write back, I told you that you could just dump everything in there," Cozy let out.
Twilight could just shake her head. "You did, and as I recall from my answer back I said that it would be a shame to just throw it all away, I'm sure there must be something in there that you might want to keep."
Cozy could just sigh and turn her gaze away. "Not really."
The older mare started rubbing Cozy's back, her gaze having evened out. "Cozy, why don't you go make tea for us?"
Cozy turned and faced them before sighing again. "Sure, same as usual when we have guests?"
The older mare nodded and Cozy hopped off the couch and headed off towards the kitchen.
The silence reigned for a few moments before Twilight elected to speak up. "So, what do you want me to call you anyway? I didn't want to be rude."
The mare chuckled. "I go by Fleeting Heart these days, but you can call me Chrysalis if you prefer."
Twilight smiled. "Fleeting Heart it is then, I'd like to call you by what you'd prefer."
Fleeting just nodded, the room turning silent as the two of them sat there staring at one and another.
"What's this really about Twilight?" Fleeting eventually let out, a sigh soon following.
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, I can't imagine the ruler of Equestria dropping everything to go track down an ex-student just to bother her about her old room."
Twilight considered letting it all spill, the real reason she was there; but it was a bit too soon. "You're right, there is more to it than that; but it is still the main reason. The fact that I get a day off for vacation is just a bonus," she winked at Fleeting.
Fleeting chuckled. "Ruling taking that much out of you? You know you could just let me take over if you don't feel like it," she was wiggling her eyes as she spoke.
If Twilight hadn't been expecting something like this sooner or later she would have been caught off-guard, instead she just returned a smirk. "I think you'd have better luck pestering Thorax about that, you know. I hear he's quite overworked these days."
The mirth immediately disappeared from Fleeting's face. "Can we not talk about that ingra- doofus?"
Twilight frowned. "You two still haven't talked to one another?"
"Of course not, and I'd rather keep it that way; I'm sure he feels the same."
"I... I think he'd like to make up with you; make things right."
Fleeting just sighed. "Can we not do this?"
Twilight stared at the changeling for a few seconds before eventually sighing. "Fine."
She supposed it wasn't really her place to butt in on the two changelings troubled relation to one and another. She was pretty confident that Thorax wanted them to at least be on speaking terms though. Even so, there was a lot of baggage there, and it was likely the reason why Fleeting still opted to pose as a pony; despite the fact that a third or more of the town's population consisted of changelings.
"Where's Tirek anyway?" Twilight asked, having just considered the lack of the aforementioned centaur.
"He's off at work, someone has to bring in the bits in this house," a smile grazing Fleeting's lips.
"Ah," Twilight replied, changing position in the chair to get more comfortable. "You don't work?"
Fleeting let out a small sigh before smiling. "I do, I work down at the daycare. This just happens to be one of my days off."
Twilight felt a bit flabbergasted. "You," she said while gesturing at the pegasus. "Work with foals?"
Fleeting could just chuckle. "I had a lot of experience taking care of the young, you know. Plus, it's a good source of food."
Twilight could just stare in shock. It made a lot of sense, she could see the reasoning; yet she never would have pictured Fleeting of all changelings to want to work with foals.
"Most of my co-workers are changelings these days you know. So it's not as if others didn't pick up on how lucrative the job is."
"I could see that...."
"Hey Chrysi, do you want a cup or no?" Cozy yelled from the other side of the house.
"I'll take one," Fleeting yelled back.
Twilight could only chuckle, at moments like these they seemed like any normal family. But then, she supposed they were.
"What?" Fleeting said.
"Nothing, nothing," Twilight replied, her smile brightening while Fleeting just huffed.
It was only a few moments later that Cozy trotted into the room, balancing a tray on her back. She put it down on the table and started setting out the cups for everyone, followed by pouring tea into them.
"Thank you," Twilight said with a smile, levitating her cup to herself.
Cozy nodded and took her own seat next to Fleeting. "So?" She asked the changeling.
"Nothing too serious I don't think. Besides, if she does anything stupid I'll bite her," Fleeting said while flashing her teeth.
Twilight awkwardly chuckled.
Cozy sighed. "Well, let's get on with it then," she said while gesturing towards Twilight.
"Right," Twilight nodded and put down her cup, but not before taking a sip.
She levitated her bags forwards in front of herself and opened them up. "Starlight figured you'd not end up showing up after all, so she asked me what we should do. She kind of need the room what with how the school gets more popular by the season."
Twilight levitated up a few pieces of clothing and placed them on the edge of the table. "I didn't feel like we should just throw everything in the trash so... you'll have to excuse me but I went through your things to see what might be worth bringing," Twilight said as she floated up more and more items, placing them on the table.
Most of items were pieces of clothing, all of them likely too small for the grown mare. But among the mounting pile there were also framed photos of Cozy, a small hair iron, and the occasional puppet painted in familiar colours.
"I'm not sure if you actually want most of these things, but I figured you could decided that yourself, you know?" Twilight smiled.
"That might take a while," Cozy sighed and lifted the dress that was on top with her hoof. "Plus, I'm pretty sure these clothes are too small for me now."
"I figured as much, but I know some mares like to keep their filly clothing just for the memories."
Cozy put the dress down and grimaced. "Sure... the memories."
Fleeting let out a sigh. "You could stand to be a bit happier you know, lest you give me food poisoning."
Cozy tuned her head to glare at Fleeting. "Why do you think I didn't go, or tell you about it in the first place for that matter?"
Twilight lifted her cup and returned to drinking her tea. It was quickly starting to seem like she really, really, shouldn't be here right now what with how the two of them looked at one and another.
"It's just clothes," Fleeting said with a flat expression and tone.
Cozy growled. "Of course it is to you, you don't even wear clothes most of the time!"
"Whatever," Fleeting huffed, looking the other way.
Twilight hummed, maybe she shouldn't overstay her welcome. She licked her lips while pondering how to best tackle the topic she really came here for, it was likely sensitive.
"There was... something else," Twilight began, getting the attention of the others.
Lifting the object wrapped in newspaper from her bag, she carefully placed it on the table. Taking a moment she started unwrapping it, revealing a framed photo of two pegasi.
"I figured this might be important..." Twilight trailed off.
Cozy carefully picked up the frame, a blank expression spreading on her face. Fleeting narrowed her eyes and glared between the photo and Twilight.
"I..." Cozy began, dropping the frame on the floor and staring ahead with empty eyes. "You shouldn't- I- No," tears gathered up in her eyes.
Twilight swallowed. "She was important to you, right?"
"No..." Cozy whined.
Fleeting scooted closer to Cozy and wrapped her hoof around her, pulling the pegasus close.
"You should be really glad right now princess," Fleeting spoke, the seething in her voice clear. "Because if you could feel what I do then you'd be emptying your stomach."
Cozy was whimpering as she sat there, it was disheartening to see. Whatever reaction Twilight had expected, this sure wasn't it, not even close.
Fleeting huffed after a moment and got up from her seat. A green glow surrounded Cozy, lifting her and carefully placing the mare on Fleeting's back. The two swiftly departed the room, the sound of heavy hoof steps going up the stairs could be heard.
The discarded photo showcased two pegasi, one was a much younger Cozy Glow who was beaming to the camera, the other a dark blue mare with cyan mane. Both were wearing party hats and one could barely make out a tray of cupcakes on a table to the side.
Twilight gazed out the window, sipping some of the tea that had long since gone cold. The sunny skies had shifted to a light overcast, in a way it reflected her own mood. She considered apologizing to Fleeting again, but she knew the changeling didn't hold any ill will.
It had been hours now since Fleeting had supposedly tucked the pegasus in. The changeling had only come back downstairs after her adopted daughter had fallen asleep; having cried herself dry according to her account.
"Do you know who she is?" A voice broke the silence.
Twilight turned away from the window and glanced at Fleeting, she was studying the framed photo; holding it up in her magic grip. It was a bit unnerving to see a pegasus lifting things as if a unicorn, but of course; it was a disguise.
Twilight let out a sigh. "I have a guess as to who they are, but I don't know for sure."
Fleeting hummed. "It's rare that I taste such a wide range of emotions at once, would be that they were happy ones," she shook her head before turning to face Twilight. "They weren't."
Twilight wasn't sure what to say. You'd think being the primary authority on friendship would mean that she always had all the answers; but that wasn't even close to the truth.
Fleeting huffed and rolled her eyes. "You really don't need to feel so down Princess, I know you didn't come here with the intent of hurting her."
"I know, but that still does not mean I like the outcome. If I had known dragging up old settled matters like this would bring so much hurt, maybe I would have refrained."
"Maybe," Fleeting agreed.
Twilight glanced out the window again, she hadn't expected to stay so long. But at this point she felt like she couldn't just leave; not without making sure Cozy was alright. Spike could handle things just fine, he was more than capable of performing most of her daily duties if she was being honest.
"Care to enlighten me to what you do know princess?"
Twilight brought her cup to her lips, taking a slow sip. It was all guesswork, based on what limited paper work existed for students that had joined her school. Still, was it even her place to say?
"Her name is Evening Glow," a voice came from the doorway.
Twilight turned, she hadn't even heard Cozy walk downstairs. The young mare refused to meet the eyes of either Twilight or Fleeting though, instead rubbing one of her front legs against the other.
"She was..." Cozy stopped, struggling for words before eventually sighing. "My mother."