//------------------------------// // Today, I woke up Cozyless // Story: The Last Mark // by Idyll //------------------------------// Today, I woke up Cozyless, with a note taped onto my horn. I don’t know how but she always woke up before me and would unplug my alarm clock so she could shake me awake. After I while, I didn’t bother to plug it back in. Last night, I fell asleep before she entered our bedroom, and today, she left our house by herself. Normally, I’d be scared whether she made it, but my fears over her future put those doubts into perspective; they felt silly now. The note said: “I know you’re still really upset with me, so I didn’t want to bother your sleep. Please stop stressing yourself out. It’s not healthy, and if something in your brain bursts, I don’t know how I’d live with myself. School ends late today, but I don’t know when, so please don’t pick me up. I’ll fly myself home.” —Love, Cozy Glow [Heart] As far as fate fetters go, one for calligraphy wouldn’t have been so bad. “I choose Cozy!” said ‘Poppy’ Popularity Contest, a lavender, pink-maned unicorn filly who wore a red bow and whose hair flowed over her ears. She was part of Cozy’s class, as you could’ve guessed, popular, and sat at the back despite the official seating arrangements. Her head was a pilgrimage where knowledge went to die, and if her father wasn’t a tutor to the foals of wealthy parents, she would’ve failed first grade. But Poppy wasn’t known as a bully. Her chatter had her a nuisance to teachers, sure, but Cozy didn’t listen in class either. She doodled and slept out of boredom, but still held the highest grades in the level. On the first day, teachers would try to trap her. They’d read their name list and ask, “Cozy! Do you know the name of this—” Cozy’s head would leap off her desk. “He was betrayed by his brother, Scorpan, and was sent to Tartarus forever and ever and ever, but his thirt for power was only fully realized after he witnessed the feats of Sendak the Elder, which made him want to be less like his father, King Vorak, and more like his gram-gram—” “Uhm, actually, we’re not on that chapter yet… or any chapter… Look, just, please at least pretend to pay attention… and maybe see a doctor about your snoring. It’s worryingly loud.” “…I don’t snore…” Cozy would rest her head on the table. “Mommy’s the one that snores…” Poppy had a best friend, a ‘Lily Lullaby’, a light-blue earth filly who had an indigo mane with a musical treble clef clip. It flowed predominantly towards her left shoulder and then spiraled into itself, resembling a single note. Context over. The bell rang. A stampede ensued. The teacher asked that the foals push in their chairs before leaving. Only Cozy did. She greeted her teacher goodbye by name as he turned off the lights and went towards the back of the class to meet Poppy and Lily: her new project partners. “Cozy!” Poppy said. “I’m guessing your sorted things out with Mommy?” She snickered. “I would’ve thought after yesterday, you’d be grounded for life. Thanks for doing that by the way!” “No worries,” Cozy said. “But what do you have against those two anyways?” “Me? Nothing!” Poppy said. “I don’t even want to share a class with those two dweebs. Especially not that colt those dumb glasses and stupid wings, unlike yours of course… It makes me very happy knowing he spends his weekends at the school library studying, but you take one look at our textbooks and best his grades in class.” Lily mouthed a four-letter word rhyming with ‘dove’, and Poppy cleared her throat. Poppy continued, “Anyways before we demotivate ourselves, why don’t we head to the mall to grab lunch? School’s mostly a get-together, isn’t it? None of this stuff is useful unless you become a teacher yourself. It’s a pyramid scheme!” She got on her hooves and went towards the door, notably the only one without a bag. Lily had a saddlebag, while Cozy wore a satchel because it doesn’t choke her wings, which carried only a water bottle and two silent reading books. The Hayburger joint became visible outside the mall. Once it had, Poppy shoved Cozy and told her, “You’re the flier! Go save us a spot in line.” Besides a certain granddad, causing a few abnormalities in her diet, we tended to avoid fast food. Her cheeks were as round as a cherub’s; she didn’t need to ruin herself in the symbol of Canterlot’s reign! Well, Celestia is more of a cake person, but I’m sure some Princess adores that deep-fried oil. Poppy apologized for her rudeness came when, after Cozy ordered a classic burger and an ice cream flurry sprinkled with bits of heart-shaped gummies, Poppy realized Cozy had no bits. “Oh yeah,” Poppy said. “I forgot your family’s broke.” “Remember when you ate that glowing candy in Cozy’s bag you teleported to her house?” Lily asked with a giggle. “Ugh. Don’t remind me,” Poppy responded. “It felt as if my brain was being tucked inside out.” She paid for their meals whilst Cozy brought their tray to a U-shaped cushion booth. “I never noticed how beautiful your bow looks, Cozy,” Lily said. “So many beautiful patterns.” “My mom’s number?” Cozy chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not all that impressive,” said arriving Poppy. “I have a bow too, you know, with a color.” Lily and Poppy sat at the sides with Cozy sandwiched in between since she could fly. Her wings, however, were useless for holding things. They were currently too short to touch her ears, according to the weekly markings we make on the wall to track her growth. So, Cozy ate earth pony style. Poppy sipped from her sweaty cup of soft drink and asked, “So Cozy, how does it feel to have a cutie mark? Lily’s jealous.” Lily swore, “I’m not!” Cozy swallowed, shrugged, and responded, “I’m the same pony as I always was, but I wasn’t sure who that pony was until now. Some things never made sense to me, and now I know why. With that in mind, I feel free, and daring!” “Free?” Poppy asked, head tilted. “Yep!” Cozy replied. “Free to ask about what we’re doing for our assignment!” Lily patted her muzzle with tissues. “Isn’t that two weeks away?” She asked. “A bit early, don’t you think? “Nope! Better to get it all over and done with,” replied Cozy. “And besides, with me on your team, it’ll be a total cakewalk. All we have to do is write a report on a cute and cuddly little critter!” “Why a critter?” Lily asked. “Aren’t we allowed to choose any creature in Equestria?” “Well, a critter is simple. Don’t take it the wrong way, but I’m not sure you fillies could handle anything more extreme, that’s all.” Cozy’s eyes drifted away, and she counted down from three with her feathers. “What?” Poppy had ceased fidgeting with her straw and deadpanned at Cozy. “Well, you two seemed more of… school library goers than adventurers. And besides, it’s not as if have a camera to capture a photo of a creature anyways.” “I so do!” Poppy said as she levitated out Lily’s flip phone from the latter’s bag, featuring a one-eighty rotatable screen and a number pad with a trackball. “You can afford one of those new gizmo things?!” Cozy said. “Yep!” Poppy said to a roll of Lily’s eyes. “And it takes pictures.” She showcased to Cozy a gallery of compressed mosaics and a video. If Cozy had that she’d record the theme song to that sitcom to torture Mommy with! “Golly… Well, either way, where would we go? I mean, the Zoo is basically a living library: inadequate, expensive, cruel, and otherwise Manehattan isn’t exactly renowned for its local wildlife.” “But there are a lot of cool animals out in the forests outside of Manehattan,” said Poppy. Cozy gasped. “No!” You can’t be serious! All the way out there?” “Yeah…” Lily said. “You aren’t serious, right Poppy?” Poppy looked at the table. “Well…” “As I thought,” Cozy said. “Poppy doesn’t know enough spells to keep us safe enough to travel through those woods. Plus, I’m the only one with a cutie mark. I’d be carrying you two.” Lily looked a bit insulted, but Poppy’s eyes couldn’t be wider. The latter got off her seat and stomped her hoof. “Well—maybe I’ll get my cutie mark when we go there, now! And it’ll probably be a lot cooler than some… nerdy chess piece!” Cozy flew to Poppy’s side. “Oh my! Welp, what sort of a friend would I be if I left you two all alone? I’ll float along to make sure we win over that A-plus-ward-winning picture.” The two went towards the exit. Poppy asked, “What about you Lily?” “I… don’t know.” Cozy said, “You don’t trust your best friend’s ability to catch a monster mid-air with magic? I’m sure if she’s this brave to go to the woods, she’s real rescuer material!” She laid a hoof on Poppy’s mane, which the unicorn swiped off. Lily sighed. “Fine.” The three caught the next bus, going over the bridge, to the edge of the city.