//------------------------------// // Keys of Memory // Story: Lost In the Woods // by Apple Bottoms //------------------------------// The clatter of keys on the tiled counter announced Bright Breeze’s return.  She was going through her mail when Cozy Glow galloped through the doorway into the kitchen, and quickly came to a halt when Bright Breeze’s sharp glance landed on her.  “Welcome home, Bright Breeze!” Cozy Glow announced loudly, and flinched when Bright Breeze’s eyes narrowed.  “You don’t have to scream, you’re not a baby,” Bright Breeze growled, and tossed an unopened letter into the trash. “What have you been up to today?”  “Well,” Cozy Glow began, much softer the second time, “today there is not much to report! The neighbor watered from ten to ten fifteen, and I stayed away from any windows to avoid detection, just like you said.”  “Mm-hmm,” Bright Breeze agreed absently, reading one of her letters.  “Then the mailman came by at eleven, and I stayed inside so he wouldn’t see me,” Cozy Glow continued, her eyes following Bright Breeze around the kitchen. As she read the letter, a glow surrounded Bright Breeze’s horn, and her magic pulled out jars of peanut butter and jelly from the fridge. When Cozy Glow went quiet, Bright Breeze lifted her eyes to look at her.  “And?”  “Peanut butter and jelly again? But we just had that yesterd-”  “Quit the whining. Unless you don’t want lunch?”  Cozy Glow snapped her mouth shut. “I want lunch,” she said quickly.  “I thought so. Did you study?”  Cozy Glow sighed, and watched the floating jelly as Bright Breeze magicked it open. “Yes, Mo - ma’am.”  Bright Breeze’s eyes practically glowed where they landed on Cozy Glow. She stared at her for a beat longer, then returned to her letter reading and sandwich-making, concurrently. “How many chapters?”  “I read one chapter in Friendly Ponies Go Far but -”  “Only one? I swear, I might as well send you to some empty-brained preschool if I wanted you to waste your day doing nothing. What did you do instead, play with blocks? Draw a pichur?” Bright Breeze was working herself up to a snarl, but Cozy Glow quickly interrupted her.  “No, no, I did some other research!” Cozy Glow darted into the other room and returned dragging a book almost as big as she was. “The History Of Might And Magic, I ordered it from the library! I called and asked the librarian -”  “Didn’t I tell you that the whole point is that nopony is supposed to know you’re here?” Bright Breeze growled properly this time, and she dropped the jam jar with a clatter, making Cozy Glow jump.  “Y-yes, I know, I told her my Mommy,” and here Cozy Glow flinched at the way Bright Breeze rounded on her, “my Mommy was just in the other room! I told her to deliver the book - the librarian said this was a book on the history of alicorns! I said Mommy because - because other little ponies would say that!”  Bright Breeze paused and considered Cozy Glow where she loomed over her. “That was clever of you, Cozy Glow,” Bright Breeze said after a beat, and reached down to scruff her mane, just rough enough to make Cozy Glow lose her balance. “But you should have told me first.”  “I w-wanted to surprise you,” Cozy Glow murmured, gazing up at her mother from under her ruffled curls.  “I’m not surprised yet,” Bright Breeze retorted, and her horn glowed again, lifting the bread and the knife once more. “What did you find in the book?”  “Well - that alicorns can be created from magic, and sometimes when a unicorn and a pegasus have a baby -”  Bright Breeze’s huff was sharp, and Cozy Glow flinched. “Yeah, we tried that already.” Her eyes jumped to a framed photo of herself on the wall, cropped awkwardly.  “O-oh. Well, it says - it says there’s more ways, but I didn’t get through the rest of the book yet,” Cozy Glow admitted softly, and hesitated, gazing up at Bright Breeze expectantly.  Bright Breeze finished looking through her mail. Then she finished two sandwiches, and plated them. Finally, she addressed Cozy Glow again. “Alright. Word sheet?”  Cozy Glow produced the sheet she had been holding behind her back eagerly, rising on her tippy-hooves to place it on the tiled bar. While Bright Breeze looked over the sheet of carefully written words, Cozy Glow clambered up onto a too-tall bar stool.  “This one is ‘regurgitate.’ That means to vomit. ‘Recalibrate’. ‘Foreign.’ ‘Minotaur.’” With a flash of magic, Bright Breeze added the meanings of the words on the paper. “Good list, I don’t see any repeats.”  “I double checked, just like you said,” Cozy Glow agreed, and waited for Bright Breeze to sit down. But the unicorn remained standing, and took a bite of her sandwich as she grabbed her keys in the grip of her magic.  “Good. I have to eat this at the office, today’s been crazy. Applethorpe is late getting his reports out, typical. I’ll be late coming home tonight, so don’t wait up for me, put yourself to bed at seven like usual. Keep the lights off, you know what to do.”  “But what about dinner?”  “You’re little, you won’t even be hungry until after you’re asleep,” Bright Breeze was halfway out the door already. “Remember: no lights after sundown.”  “Yes, Bright Breeze,” Cozy Glow agreed, and carefully hid her disappointment. Bright Breeze didn’t appreciate her whining. Bright Breeze closed the door with a snap, but quickly opened it again. Cozy Glow’s heart leapt into her throat.  “Forgot my coat.” And just like that, Bright Breeze was gone.  Cozy Glow sat stock-still at the bar, slowly counting to four; then, in a mad rush, she raced to the front door and pressed her nose to the window. If she went too soon, Bright Breeze would see her and lecture her about the neighbors seeing her. But if she counted to four, she could see Bright Breeze as she walked down the second half of their sidewalk, and watch her until she disappeared around the corner.  “Come back, Mommy, please come back,” Cozy Glow whispered as quietly as she could. She watched her until Bright Breeze turned the corner and vanished from sight, then waited a few beats longer. She always hoped. Eventually, she pulled away from the window and rubbed away her nose print with her elbow. Bright Breeze didn’t like it when she left smudges.