I frown at the orange earth filly, “Oh golly gee, why didn’t she just tell me this earlier?”
Little blinks from where she’s standing, “Um, that’s actually a really good question! I’ll totally have to ask her that later!” her eyes go skyward, “Maybe she’s scared too? Or maybe she can’t? Maybe she just didn’t get the chance to earlier? All sorts of reasons!” before going back to me and blinking…
I nod as the smell of burning devil weed permeates my small wooden room and smoke rises from the ashtray at my left, “Well, right! The important thing now is…”
But before I can finish the sentence, there’s a knock on the door behind Little! She turns and I see her pigtails march back to the door before she opens it to the left with her mouth and we see an orange alicorn there! She gazes at the room with her cerulean eyes to see Little Snack and Misty before her and Jessi and I on the far side before saying, “Oh, hiya Little Snack! Having a little filly get together I see!” she smiles, “I think it’s great that you’ve made so many friends for yourself, Twinkle Shine!” and she sniffs the air. “Have you been smoking again?”
Little looks up at her, “Cozy Glow is back!”
Sunny frowns, “What are you talking about? Cozy Glow is right there!” she nods towards me. “Except she’s not Cozy Glow anymore. Now she’s Twinkle Shine!”
I shake my head and adjust my gaze, “No, Cozy Glow is in my head! Uh, I should probably start from the beginning huh?”
The alicorn keeps her gaze on me as she trots forward into the room and stops in front of me, “Probably?”
I shake my head, “Right! Well, as you know, my mind is fractured or whatever, right? Well, the old part of myself that I left behind is kinda well, she’s still in there!” I blink. “I just don’t know what to do with her now?”
Sunny frowns, “Wow! But what does this have to do with Little Snack?”
That’s when the orange filly speaks up and jitters to the right of Misty, “I’ve been talking to her!”
Sunny turns her neck back to the Little Snack, “Wait! If she’s in Twinkle’s mind, how is she talking to you?”
I then say, “We don’t know! And she says she doesn’t know either! But she can speak to Little Snack in her dreams now!”
Jessi then speaks up, “Wait a minute! Wasn’t Cozy Glow super manipulative? How do we know we can trust her?”
Little turns her body right and twists her neck back to Jessi, “I know what I saw… I believe her…”
I finally just sigh and point out, “We’ve been talking and I think she’s probably trustworthy… That said, I still don’t know why she can suddenly talk to Little Snack?”
Sunny blinks, “The Magic of Friendship!”
I turn my neck back right to her, “Say what now?”
She smiles and says, “It’s because of the special bond that you and Little Snack now share! Cozy Glow can reach her because of that!”
I frown and am silent for a moment, “You don’t actually believe that, do you?”
Little turns her head to me, “Oh, hey! Yeah! And it’s with you because we kinda already have a history together!”
I look left at her, “Yeah, except I wasn’t there! That was another Cozy Glow! Golly, interdimensional travel is weird!”
Little nods, “Yeah, but I already like you!”
I frown again, “How is that possible? You just met me!”
She smiles, “Maybe, but I’ve already seen what’s inside you Twinkle Shine! You’re both the same filly, just in different times and places!”
I grin and giggle, “Yeah, except I smoke dope and she doesn’t!”
She shakes her head and looks back at me, “Habits don’t matter, Twinks! You’re still the same good hearted filly!”
Sunny turns her neck to Little, “Wait! So you’re telling me, there’s an old part of Twinkle Shine that Little Snack talked to in her dreams?”
I turn my neck right while continuing to grin, “And that’s technically not the craziest thing that’s happened this whole time!”
She shudders, “Ugh! Don’t remind me about that, but anyway, I guess I’ll just ask it? What does Cozy Glow want?”
“Well, she feels like she lost her identity because she’s come to understand that she’s not evil… She has good in her too, just like me… “
She frowns, “Well, you’re the same filly, right?”
“Yes, and no!”
“What does that mean?”
I sigh, “Well, I left her behind when I became unfrozen from stone… She’s a part of me and always will be, but now she’s kinda just there!”
She breathes in through her nose, “Well, maybe you need to put her in her place?”
I sigh, “Don’t you think I know that? I just uh… I don’t know where?”
She smiles, “Well, she’s part of you, right? Perhaps you should learn from her?”
I grimace when I realize that I really should’ve thought of that earlier! “Uh, yes! Of course! I know this!”
She nods, “Right! And in the meantime, the Magic of Friendship and that special bond you two share has given Little Snack a new dream buddy!”
I blink, “Apparently! Golly yes!” and think to myself that that fruity stuff I was smoking is kinda strong! I then stare at the alicorn blankly when I realize that I can’t take it anymore and just have to know… “Uh, excuse me! I need to visit the little filly’s room!” and smile up at her…
<*****>
I stare into the mirror, “Alright, I know you’re in there! Come out already!”
Suddenly the mane in my reflection begins to reshape into a neatly arranged set of bluish-white curls and the filly there smiles, “Oh, well hello! Nice talking to myself again!”
“Why didn’t you tell me these things? Why don’t you feel like you belong?”
She sighs and stares off to the right, “You have friends, and a life, and happiness… What would you know about what it’s like to be me?”
“Well, why don’t you tell me?”
She stares deeply at me with her two brown pupils, “I… I’m all alone… I don’t have anypony…”
“Well, you got me! And Little Snack too now, apparently!”
“Sometimes…”
I frown, “But usually?”
She blinks, “Usually, it’s just me in that one place in your mind, Twinkle Shine… It’s always cloudy and stormy and I don’t know why… Sometimes, I go deep into that cave and sometimes, I’ll just wander the field outside, and other times when I feel really brave, I might actually fly and look around from the sky above, but it’s always the same Twinkle. It’s always the same gray sky and the same grassy fields and that same cave. I can’t leave!”
“So, you want new friends?”
She sighs, “Yes, and since you're probably already wondering, I can call Jessi and even Misty now too. I just haven’t done that yet… I don’t know why it suddenly changed, but it did!”
I frown when I realize that she’s probably telling the truth, “Okay… I believe you…”
She gazes at me carefully, “Golly, you act like you weren’t for a moment there?”
I chuckle, “I guess if we’re friends and getting along now, I really should start, huh?”
She raises her left eyebrow, “Gee! Took you long enough!”
I stare at this grinning filly carefully… “You know, I don’t think we were done when we hugged earlier?”
She widens her eyes and frowns, “Um, I think you’re right?”
I blink, “So uh, should we hug again and do it often or?”
“I don’t know? Probably? But we definitely communicate better! That’s for sure!”
I smile and giggle, “Oh golly gee yeah, we definitely need to do that, anyway!” I stare at her carefully. “Cozy Glow, you’re part of me and I need to make sure you’re okay! What’s up?”
She eyes me carefully, “Tell me Twinkle Shine, do you know what it’s like to not have an identity?”
I gaze at her carefully, “As a matter of fact, I do! So, you lost evil when you realized you actually do care! And so what does that leave you?”
She blinks, “Exactly! I mean, on one hoof, I don’t want to let down these ponies that I apparently care about, but on the other, I know caring about them makes me less of the filly I am and I don’t like it!”
“Why don’t you like that, Cozy Glow?”
Her brow furrows, “Because I’m a bad filly, okay? I’m the evil pony who tried to take over Equestria, and now, I don’t think I could do that anymore? I can't do it now because well… Because I care about many Equestrians and I know they wouldn’t want that… And it sickens me!”
“Why?”
She sighs, “Oh, what would you know about being evil?”
I scoff, “Oh, please! You just act like a greedy selfish jerk! Not hard!”
She slowly exhales through her nose before finally saying to me, “I don’t know who I am anymore, Twinkle Shine…”
I smile, “Well, we can always figure that out, you know?”
Her eyes widen, “Say what now?”
I chuckle slightly, “Yeah, Cozy Glow! I’m your friend! But you know, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me?”
She eyes me carefully… “How?”
“Well, you can talk to me in my dreams, right? And now, you can reach the others in the crew, yes? You know what that means?”
Her eyes widen, “Oh, golly!” she shakes her head. “Uh, you know what, Twinkle? I think I have a better idea?”
I gaze at her, “What’s that?”
She frowns and is silent for a moment… “I think I’m done now, Twinkle Shine?”
“W-what?”
She nods, “My time is over with… I think I belong in that field now… Goodbye Twinkle Shine…” her body grows clear and begins to fade from my view…
“Wait!” I yell at the mirror! “Don’t go! Cozy Glow! COZY GLOW!”
But it was too late… She had disappeared completely…
<*****>
I leaned towards the curly maned blue unicorn filly at my right, “All she can say is, she’s gone and she just sits there now, occasionally smoking a joint… I don’t know what else I can do?”
She stared on at the same pink filly there, standing on three hooves, and using her right forehoof to hold a smoking joint in front of her bed… “Any idea why?”
“Well, maybe if she said more than those two words, I might know? Problem is, she won’t!”
“Gosh… Makes me wonder what happened?”
“Well, we both heard the words ‘Cozy Glow’ yelled before we went to see what was up in the bathroom! We both saw her slowly trot back here to her room. We know something is obviously up because she can only say those two words, smoke devil weed, and stare blankly into space… The only question is, why? What happened? It obviously involves Cozy Glow somehow, because that was the name we heard screamed! But…” I blink before repeating the words, “she’s gone… I think Cozy Glow disappeared? Uh, why though and where would she go?”
Misty stares onward at the catatonic filly before finally saying, “Oh, dang it Jessi! I’m going in!” before turning her body and trotting towards Twinkle Shine, who continued to smoke her joint and stare at her wall blankly… She clears her throat, “Ahem, Twinkle Shine? We understand that something happened with Cozy Glow and we really want to help, but we can’t do that unless you speak about it?” and smiles widely at the pink filly.
Twinkle continues to stare at the wall to our right as she says mechanically, “Have you ever lost a part of yourself?”
“What do you mean?” Misty asks the pegasus as she takes another drag from her joint…
Twinkle exhales smoke and says, “Cozy Glow left, Misty… She said that her time was over and that she belonged in that field… I feel like a section of myself just golly disappeared, Misty… I don’t feel complete anymore and it’s very scary…” before taking another drag of her cigarette.
Misty furrows her brow and lowers her head when she says at a louder volume in her feminine voice, “Now, you listen here, Twinkle Shine! You’re still Twinks, with or without that other filly and you need to understand that!” she blinks, “But we’re here for you, regardless, so you don’t have to get all sullen, you know?” she smiles, “You have friends now!” and trots over to embrace the smoking pegasus in a tight warm hug!
I stare at the two other fillies as Misty releases Twinkle and the pink filly moves her joint to her lips for another drag as ash falls onto the floor from the end, I finally say what’s been on my mind this whole time, “So, how do we get her back?”
<*****>
I stared at the screen of my smartphone as I held it in my golden magick in front of my face and see that it’s Little Snack! I got her number earlier, but I don’t think we’ve ever talked on the phone? I move the phone to my right ear and answer, “Hello?”
The squeaky excited voice on the other end says, “Hey, Sunny! You’re all about togetherness and ponies getting along and working together right?”
I blink, “Um, yeah!”
“Uh, right! But hey! Would you believe there’s actually a sport that involves ponies of all different races working together?”
My eyes widen and I’m silent for a moment before saying, “I’m listening?”
<*****>
I stare up at the darkened ceiling there in the pale moonlight, coming from the window of my bedroom as the blue unicorn filly breathes on my left and the green alicorn filly on my right explains, “Right! So, now that you’re good and snug, we can all go to sleep together and you can feel safe and secure when you face Cozy Glow in the field again, later!”
I ask the obvious question, “Why do I have to be the meat in the sandwich again?”
Jessi continues, “Because you need to feel that extra layer of security during your meeting! Also, because we might meet in the dream? I mean, who knows! That’s still possible! But regardless, it’s imperative that you feel secure now!”
I say, “Imperative? What in the name of a pony are you babbling about?”
Jessi giggles, “I’m saying that if you feel good while talking to her, you’re more likely to be successful! Also, we might meet in the dream…”
I finally just say what’s been on my mind this whole time, “Jessi, you just want to snuggle with me, don’t you?”
Jessi chuckles again, “You act like that’s a bad thing?”
Misty adds, “I like snuggles!”
I move my head left towards the blue filly, “Yeah, but you were neglected, so that makes sense! Jessi here is just a lunatic!”
Jessi says, “You know, you’re kinda cute when you deny liking snuggles!”
Misty speaks up in a more girly voice, “She really is, yeah!”
By this point, I’m growing flustered as I grimace and say, “Oh, golly! You know what? Never mind! You did lock the door to keep out Pipp this time, right? We don’t want her to get in here!”
Jessi replies, “Sure did!”
“Good! Now let’s just get some sleep!” As I bring the covers closer to my face and hear the giggling alicorn on my right while feeling the anxious cuddles coming from the filly on my left…
(To be continued… )