//------------------------------// // Leaves // Story: The Last Mark // by Idyll //------------------------------// “It’s Cozy’s mom,” Poppy whispered to Lily. “What?!” Lily whispered back. “How can a mage live in a house you called ‘a dump’?” “H-hey. Your help arrived, Lily.” Cozy awkwardly smiled, wiping off a layer of sweat off her forehead. I glared. “It’s been one day, and you’ve already decided to turn rebellious, huh?” “W-what?” Cozy hovered back. “No—I wouldn’t… turn rebellious against you!” I looked back. There were three monsters, not two, trapped in the confines of my magic. They’ve escaped the cave and I tossed them into the air, eliciting a “Wow,” from both Lily and Poppy. “So, lightning just so happened to strike the entrance of the cave your ‘friend’ was struck in?” I asked the pegasus filly. Cozy wouldn’t look back at the others. “Equestria’s so old, everything is bound to happen at least once, right?” Lily and Poppy might’ve caught on, but I couldn’t tell because they were too focused on my mystique. I held them both and Cozy in a bubble of magic and teleported us away. We hopped to the front of the school, and caught Ms. Spectacle leaving at the perfect time for me to hoof over the two nauseous fillies, and leave without explanation; I was too mad to talk. Cozy felt none of the symptoms of magical transmission sickness. One buff of many owed to the mental fortitude of that sinful insignia. She had only one question: “How did you know?” I showed her the ribbon I snatched from Lily’s mane, and she was right about one thing: I wouldn’t have given it to this filly. “Maybe a slight invasion of privacy, I admit, but innocent fillies have nothing to hide from a telepathic charm, especially not from their own mothers.” “I’m so sorry,” Cozy said. “It’s just… Lily never invited me to her birthday party, so I thought I’d scare her a bit.” That was a level of petty I sadly could believe, as expected now from this new Cozy. She’s testing the waters, I’m sure. Refining her tactics to work on some plan big. It would be immoral not to stop her. “I, uhm…” Cozy murmured. She went to the floor to pull out the bunny from her bag. “I won this for you. Seriously! I would’ve given it to Poppy or Lily if I hadn’t.” It glowed blue—along with the rest of the dark room—as I grabbed, inspected it, and sighed. “I know there’s still good in you, dear.” “T-thanks,” Cozy said. “So, I think I’ll call it a—” I held her in my aura’s grip. “—day. Mom, what are doing?” She displayed a cadence of panic. “It’s not your fault, dear,” I assured. “It’s that disgusting graft from Discord rotting on your flank! It needs to be removed.” “R-removed?! But that’s impossible!” “It was impossible, and maybe it would’ve stayed impossible if you had a bit more self-control.” The room turned white as I rotated my daughter and aimed my horn towards the root of her issues. I’ve never tried this spell on a pony before, so I cast a sound barrier. Just in case. There’s no pleasure in this for me, but if I don’t intervene with an appropriate measure, I know where my daughter will end up. This is for the greater good. I knocked her asleep with another spell and gently closed her eyes. “Just relax, sweetie. You’ll wake up tomorrow as if none of this ever happened. The same as yesterday.” Cozy didn’t snore that night.