Frozen Heart
Janicethelight
Flurry Heart walks with her head held high up to gaze at the statue made up of Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow. She takes a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” Flurry's horn glows with her signature yellow magic, blue swirls coursing around it.
The magic swirls around the stony form of Cozy Glow. The gray slowly melts away and Cozy Glow floats away from her stone prison, opening her eyes. She looks back at the statue before cracking a smile. “I'm free?!”
She starts giggling maniacally. “I'm free! See that? I'm out and you two are stuck. Take that!”
Cozy sticks her tongue out at Chrysalis and Tirek. “Ha ha! This is the best. I can't wait to-”
She finally realizes Flurry is standing there, her magic fading from her horn. “Make. A new friend. Hello there, princess. My, have you grown since I saw you last. How many years was I in there for?”
“Uh…a bit over ten I think.” Flurry shrugs.
“Over ten years?” Cozy murmurs, looking out into the distance. Flurry tries to see what Cozy is looking towards, but the statue still stands in the same place in the middle of a field where the battle for Equestria was won, and away from anything recognizable.
“Why did you bring me out?” Cozy asks suspiciously.
Flurry freezes. Cozy takes a step closer, smiling sweetly, “Come on, princess. I know there's a reason you let me out without the other two. You can tell me, honest!”
Cozy waits, tapping her hoof, but no answer comes. “Well?!” Cozy shouts after the silence stretches too long.
Flurry coughs. “Cozy Glow.” She starts slowly, “I have…been tasked by my Aunt Twilight…to reform you. Aunt Twilight believes that we can use your strategy and foresight for the betterment of Equestria.”
“Yeah, that checks out. So she wants us to be the new Fluttercord, huh?” Cozy murmurs before coughing for a moment and smiles at Flurry once more. “Well golly, in that case, I'm excited to meet my new, powerful friend!”
Flurry rolls her eyes before sighing. “Do you really think I haven't been told about your manipulation tactics?! Please.”
Cozy huffs. “Fine. Stupid Twilight and her stupid detailed memory.”
Cozy rushes over to Flurry, “Hmmm, how to begin a friendship? Let's start with. Oh. I know! Tell me a little bit about yourself! Last time I saw you, you were just a baby whose wings and horn were way too big for her body. Though, to be fair, that part still seems a bit true. Don't get me wrong, you are a beautiful princess for being sooo…disproportionate.”
Flurry bites her lip, looking away. “Yeah. I'm slowly growing into them. Mom says by the time I'm an adult, I should look like her or my aunts, but for now, I get to have…these” She points to her extra large horn and her huge wings. “Not much to tell about me, to be honest. Since we defeated the three of you, an era of peace has come over Equestria. We may have the occasional monster or two, but nothing nearly as frightening as getting the magic sucked out, or the love.”
Flurry shrugs. “My dad loves it. He's taken the extra time to make weekly Ogres and Oubliettes Nights with his guards. My mom…well, she's always wanting to know about my day, and if I made any new friends. I don't know if she's just really bored, or that she is having trouble with the fact that I'm getting old enough to go out without holding her hoof all the time, but she always asks to do stuff with me, like walk me to school. It's so embarrassing.”
Cozy glares at Flurry. “Embarrassing?! Are you ser-” She stops herself, breathing deeply. “What I mean is, I would think having a mom that's an alicorn, and the princess of the nation would be the opposite of embarrassing!”
“Yeah, you would think that, but then you've always been the type of pony who wants power but has never seen the problems with being powerful, or at least, that's what I've been told.”
“Problems with having power?! Hah! There are no problems with having power! With power comes respect and adoration! Give me one problem that comes with being powerful!”
Flurry winces and turns to begin walking away. “I can tell you never succeeded in any of your plans.”
Cozy flutters behind her. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”
Flurry takes Cozy to the nearest Friendship Express near Canterlot, and the two make their way to the Crystal Empire. “I'm surprised we aren't going up to Canterlot castle to show Twilight that you started on your friendship task. Are we going to see your parents first so they can get to know your new best friend?”
Flurry lets out a nervous laugh, “I don't think they're ready for that quite yet” Flurry sighs. “Let’s start small. Give you a day to stretch your legs and enjoy the Empire first.”
“Yeah, I don't see that happening, but good luck with that, Princess.” The two sit back against the seats, as the train speeds off towards their destination. not noticing as the scenery slowly transforms into a snowy landscape.
Once the station comes into view, and the train stops, the two girls make their way to the door. Throwing it open, flinching as a blast of frigid wind blasts them in the face, Cozy immediately starts shivering, “All th-th-this t-t-time and you s-st-still haven't m-m-moved the t-t-t-train tr-track-cks in-into th-the En-empire?!”
“It's not supposed to-” Flurry freezes. The Crystal Empire's once green and crystalline landscape sparkles in the snow outside, accumulating more by the moment. A fierce wind blows knocking her and Cozy off of their feet. “Wha-no. No no no no! This can't be happening. This-this is all my fault!”
“All well, guess you'll have your hooves full with figuring out this mess, so I'll just-”
Flurry stops Cozy, flying in front. “You can't go. You have to help me fix this!” Flurry begs, both her hooves up, nearly falling over as she does so.
Cozy barks out a laugh. “Why should I? It doesn't matter to me if the Crystal Empire becomes the Arctic Republic!”
Flurry bites her lip before sighing “...actually, it does.”
“What? How?!” Cozy raises her eyebrow.
Flurry looks away, sitting in the snow. “The truth is I can't control my alicorn magic yet. It's volatile. Sometimes it's too much magic, others too little. So when I went to free you, I absorbed some of the power of the Crystal Heart to help bring you out so I could make sure to do it safely.”
“Soooo?” Cozy twirls her hoof impatiently.
“So, this kind of weather only happens in the Crystal Empire when something is wrong with the Crystal Heart.” Flurry huffs.
“I still don't understand how this is my problem.” Cozy rolls her eyes, trying to walk around Flurry.
Flurry groans, frustrated before stomping into the crunchy snow-covered land. “Because, Cozy, if something happens to nullify the Crystal Heart's magic, what do you think will happen to you?!” Flurry shouts the last word before she stops short and takes a deep breath while moving her hoof to her heart, and breathing out while pointing the hoof outward slowly, “Look, I won't force you to help me, but there is every chance that the Crystal Heart's magic is what is keeping you from going back to your rock prison.”
Cozy purses her lips together, a muffled groan escaping them as her eyes narrow. She grits her teeth, seething before she stops, and lets out one last long breath. “Fine, princess. You win. I will do anything if it means I’m never stone again”
The wind howls as the two girls trek through the snow, fighting to get closer to the center. As they move forward, snow picks up, flailing about and completely obscuring the Crystal Empire from view. Flurry squints her eyes, lighting her horn to help see in the dense snow. She can barely make out the silhouette of Cozy even with the help of her magic. “Just follow the light of my horn and-” a monumental roar erupts close to Flurry. “Oh come on! Please don't tell me that the pony-eating yeti has come out now of all times!”
“The what?!” Cozy demands. A massive shape bursts through the snow drifts, barely missing Flurry. “Run!” Cozy yells.
The two girls sprint into the blizzard with every ounce of speed they can muster, hearing the huffing and puffing of the gargantuan creature behind them. It jumps again, Flurry ducking a second before it would have collided with her. “It won't stop!”
Cozy watches the third jump and gasps, “Flurry, it's going after you! Quick, douse your horn!”
“But then we won't be able to see each other!” Flurry shouts back.
“It's following the light. You've got to!” Cozy explains quickly. “Unless you want to be yeti food.”
Flurry's light disappears, the stark white and howling winds swallowing her whole. Everywhere she looks is exactly the same. She hears the huffing breath of the yeti before the stamping fades into the whooshing wind. “I think it's gone. What now, Cozy.” Flurry listens but only the wind howls back at her. “Cozy!”
The only thing that answers her is the howling of the wind.
Flurry takes a few steps forward and calls out again. Nothing answers her. She turns and takes another few stepsand calls again. Another turn, another call. She’s lost now, white all around. Again and again she calls.
Nothing.
Sucking in a breath, tears freezing on her face, she raises her horn high as it flares with light, and her voice thunders out, enhanced by magic.
“COZY! COZY, WHERE ARE YOU?”
The yeti roars in the distance, causing Flurry to flinch, her horn extinguishing once more. But then she hears something else.
“Over here!”
Buckling down against the wind, Flurry presses towards the voice.
“Keep shouting, Cozy!” I’m coming.
Flurry marches through the snow as it builds up around her. It seems to be rising, getting deeper with every step.
“I can’t see you! I can’t use my magic or the yeti will come back!”
“Sculpt the snow!” Cozy shouts, “use pegasus magic to make a snowball!”
Flurry wasn't sure she heard that right, but she still tried putting some snowflakes together. “What if I can't?”
“You do not want me to answer that. Just imagine in your mind the snowflakes stick together and then push them together like your mom wants them to kiss!”
Flurry spits out a short laugh before squishing snowflake after snowflake together until she has a decent snowball. “Now what?”
“Okay, now that you know how to sculpt snow, help me sculpt a tunnel through the snow to get to you. Follow my voice and sculpt in its direction.”
Flurry nods, moving snowflakes until she sees Cozy's face. Flurry pulls Cozy to her side, shivering. Flurry sighs with relief, and shelters Cozy under her wing. The two continue to sculpt the snow, making progress inch by inch, using their wings and hooves to carve a tunnel through the wind and snow.
Only to come up to the back of the yeti.
The yeti turns around, noticing their scent, and swipes at Cozy with a roar. Cozy dodges with a frightened whimper. Flurry lets out a blast of magic at the yeti, but the shot goes wide and he disappears back into the white landscape. “He just won't give up.”
“I have a plan. Make the biggest snowball you can!” Flurry nods, packing snow with Cozy to make a huge snowball. The yeti roars, sounding close. Cozy keeps shouting Flurry on, until the snowball is bigger than a cart “Now, light your horn inside it!”
Flurry sticks her horn in the snowball, and lights it. The entire ball shines with shimmering golden light. The yeti howls, jumping out of the snow and attacking only to land in the snowball, stuck. “Cozy. That was genius!”
“I know. I'm the best. Honestly, I should be the one leading us.” Cozy shrugs.
“Okay. Fine by me.” Flurry agrees. Cozy turns, raising an eyebrow at the young princess as they walk. The yeti gives out a muffled roar, its legs thrashing. Taking that as a pointed signal, the two begin to hurry away. Before long the whiteout finally clears up enough to see the castle ahead.
“It looks like a pillar of storm clouds are coming out of the castle, so we know where we're headed.” Cozy shivers, teeth chattering. “Don't know if I'll make it before freezing into an ice block!”
The two notice an ice block with a pony trapped inside. “Sweet Celestia.” Crystal ponies stand frozen in giant chunks of ice. Flurry feels her own body quaking from the cold. “Well, can't save the Empire as a popsicle. Let me try something.”
Flurry concentrates and a magic swirls around her and Cozy both, warming them. “For once in my life I can say, ‘thank you magic!’” Cozy grins.
They trek closer to the castle, the Empire becoming more populated the closer they go. As they go between two houses, Cozy stops, fanning herself. “Is it just me, or is your spell getting a bit too warm?”
Flurry nods, wiping sweat from her forehead. “Hold on. Maybe I have the warmth too close. Maybe if I-” the heat eases up a bit and she sighs. “There, I made a dome of warmth instead. Sorry abou-”
She stops as they both hear a distinct sound like a crack. Suddenly, all of the snow that only moments ago laid on two roofs on either side of the girls falls on top of the two, trapping them. Flurry feels her heart racing with no clue which way is up. Panicked, she teleports blindly upwards, realizing as she materializes that the street she and Cozy were walking along was now buried overhead deep in snow. She sees no sign of Cozy, and swoops down onto the bank
Breathing erratically, she calls out “Cozy?! Cozy?!”
With no response and fearing she is running out of time, she begins to dig. She sends a surge of Earth Pony magic into her hooves, only to cleave a pony sized chunk of snow into a wall with extreme force. Breathe. Breathe and focus. Control your magic.
She goes back to digging. More focused now. Less panicked. Controlling the magic in her body as best she can. After a few more strokes she sees a tuft of blue curled hair. Relief flowing over her, she pulls a shaking Cozy coughing snow out of her mouth from the drift. “Are you okay?!” Flurry asks worriedly.
“That's it!” Cozy screams, going behind an ice pillar with a pony trapped inside, “I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need Twilight!”
“What? Pfft. No. There's no need to bring my Aunt into this. Plus, getting back will be just as hard as getting in!” Flurry blurts out nervously.
“Oh come on, princess. Look around. I know you have this massive failure complex, but seriously.”
“Please stop calling me princess. I have a name. Also, I don't…I mean, about failing-” Flurry looks away, rubbing her hoof on her forelegs.
“The worst she can do is put me back into stone. Not great, but it's still better than dying!” Cozy paces hooves flailing as she speaks.
“But, um…then we won't-” Flurry murmurs before being cut off once more
“OH FOR SCORPAN'S SAKE! Just let it go already. So you'll disappoint Twilight. Who cares?!” Cozy yells. “You're her niece. Worst she'll give you is a lecture on what to do better. She should have given you an easier task than-”
“Twilight never gave me a task!” Flurry admits. She freezes, holding her hooves to her mouth as Cozy freezes in shock.
“What?!” Cozy manages. “Then why would you free me in the first place?”
Flurry sighs. “The truth is, I chose to free you myself.” She looks at Cozy's disbelieving glare. “It's true. You would believe me if the Empire didn't go coo coo bananas. It's why I brought you here in the first place.”
Flurry walks over to a frozen pony, hanging her head low. “My whole entire life I've been different from everypony else. Everypony expects great things out of ‘The first natural born alicorn in ages’” Flurry Heart motions the quotes before putting her hooves back down. “So, I either have ponies that want to be friends with me for the prestige of having a princess friend, or I get ridiculed when I fall short of their expectations. They say how much they love me and my family one moment and laugh about my mistakes the next! Heck, even my name is a constant reminder of my failings! Flurry Heart, the princess who almost wiped out her nation with a tantrum.”
She puts her face in her hooves. “The sad thing is I did it again. All I wanted was one pony who treated me like every pony else, but by absorbing the magic of the Crystal Heart, I left the kingdom without the power it needed to stop…this.” She points to the pony encased in ice.
“Let me get this straight. You went out without permission, took magic from the very heart that keeps your home safe just to use it to bring me out of my stone prison for your own ends?!” Cozy asks dumbfounded.
“That sums it up.” Flurry sighs.
“Huh.” Cozy smirks. “There's hope for you yet…Flurry.” Flurry looks over confused at Cozy, and she scoots closer to Flurry.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Flurry asks, wiping frozen tears from her eyes.
“It means I like your hutzpah!” Cozy grins. “I never imagined the little pink bundle would grow up to defy dear ol’ mom and dad.”
“It’s not funny.” Flurry bites back.
Cozy frowns and backs away.
“Look, I-” Cozy snarls. “Stupid emotions. I’m not making fun of you.”
Cozy is met with a disbelieving glare.
“I’m not, okay! It takes guts to take what you want, and you know what? I think you’re right! Forget all the phonies and hangers-on and disapproving, deadbeat parents out there. You took your shot, consequences be damned!”
“That’s not very comforting coming from you.” Flurry is smiling now, despite her words.
“Well, tough! It’s the truth!” Cozy sniffs. “Plus, don’t beat yourself up. Magic is stupid, anyway.”
Flurry’s newfound smile fades.
“Still made a mess of it…” She says, slowly standing up.
“Well, better get to fixing it, then. Plus,” Cozy grins, her eyes thin and conspiratorial, “Look at this way, you have me even harder over the barrel. Now if I don’t help you, I might turn to stone, or Twilight might change me back. Either way, you’ve got me in check, Flurry.”
Flurry looks over to Cozy, a smile crossing her face. She looks up to the snow covered sky. “I promise you this. No matter what happens, I won't let anypony put you back into that statue.”
“Suuuuure.” Cozy rolls her eyes.
“I promise. Once this craziness is over, you're free to do what you want.”
“You know your family won't be happy to learn that.” Cozy snorts.
“Well, maybe I’ll just have to show a little hutzpah, like you said.” Flurry giggles, although it sounds tired. She looks ahead at the frozen streets of her home. “Come on. We need to go.”
The two begin walking. Only the creaking of ice, the howling of the wind, and the terrified, frozen expressions of ponies greet them as they press on to the empty streets.
“What was that about deadbeat parents, anyway?” Flurry asks.
“W-what?” Cozy replied through chattering teeth. Neither of them want to risk the warming spell again.
“You said something about deadbeat parents. My parents aren’t deadbeat. Kind of the opposite, in fact.”
“Forget about it-t.” Cozy replied, scowling down at the frozen street.
“No. I… look, Cozy, I got you out because I was selfish, but I also want to help!”
“Tch,” Cozy snarls, gritting against the cold and her own annoyance. “Well, maybe I don’t want help! Maybe I’m perfectly fine and well adjusted!”
Flurry’s look and the silence does all the speaking she needs.
“Stupid me,” Cozy grumbles. “Fine. My mom ran off to marry a rich stallion and my dad basically abandoned me to try and chase after her.”
“Is that why you wanted to take over Equestria?”
“Duh! It’s all stupid.The titles and the magic and the princesses. Everyone has their perfect little place - except me. I got left alone at home while my dad spent himself into debt to chase fancy mares because he couldn’t get over my mother abandoning him.” She looks ahead and quietly growls. “At least Tirek told me I was clever when we started writing letters.”
“I’m sorry, Cozy.” Flurry said.
“Don’t be. It wasn’t your problem.”
“Still, it doesn’t hurt to tell friends these things.” Flurry smiles. “Or to be told that something bad that happened wasn’t your fault.”
“Ugh, you sound like Twilight!” Cozy stops and points at her open mouth, making a gagging sound. “Pass!” She starts walking again, a fiendish grin breaking across her face. “I can’t wait to see the look on her face when you tell her you broke me out and aren’t letting her put me back! That’s gonna be worth all these speeches!”
Flurry giggles. “You don’t like my aunt, do you? Is it the stone thing?”
“That’s a start!” Cozy chirps with fake cheer. Then she rolls her eyes. “It’s also her attitude. ‘Oh look at me, I’m Twilight. I have anxiety. I need to make a list of how I need to make 100 other lists. Oh, my friends have a problem that can be solved in thirty minutes. Here, let me use my overpowered cutie mark to make everything better.’ Also, just look at her element. Magic is even favored by itself! What does the element of magic even mean?! At least the others, as contrived as they are, can be taught.”
“Magic means more than just laser beams and telekinesis, Cozy. Magic is the bond ponies share!”
“It also means terrible storms that freeze entire countries when their glowy crystal thing stops working.” Cozy’s smug grin fades when she sees Flurry wince. “Ugh. Sorry. That was a low blow.”
“It’s… well, it’s not fine, but I see your point. So it wasn’t just for power; you just don’t like magic?”
“Magic is another thing that separates ponies. Puts us in our places. Makes some of us princess and others…”
“Others alone at home with their only friend being a convicted felon in Tartarus.” Flurry finishes.
“See! Knew I liked you! Quick on the uptake!” Cozy shakes her head. “Come on. I think we’re getting close. Just a hop, skip, and jump and we can fix this mess and I get to see your aunt fume when she can’t put me back in the rock!”
“If she tries then she'll have to go through me because, to be honest, I don't think you're wrong.” Flurry shrugs
“What?!” Cozy grins.
“I wouldn't go so far as to destroy magic or anything like that, but maybe we should take a look at the effects it has on what future choices a pony has. I know better than anypony what it feels like to be put into a position you don't necessarily want to be in.” Flurry admits. “Plus, ten years is way too long of a time out.” She smirks.
Cozy stays silent, frozen slack jawed. She shakes herself out of it. “Alright, enough bonding. Let's finish this adventure first so that I can go back to doing whatever I want!”
The two press on in more amiable silence. Cozy, trying to get her blood pumping, flutters up into the air and lets out a gasp. “Flurry. Ponies! There are crystal ponies closer to the castle that aren’t frozen solid!” Cozy jumps. “And even better, grass!”
Flurry and Cozy rush off excitedly through the much smaller light blue magic barrier, to see the crystal ponies attempting to brush snow away from the slowly enclosing edge of the barrier. They stop in their tracks at seeing Flurry. An onslaught of questions rush her.
“Princess! Thank Celestia, you are safe.” “Are your parents with you?” “Do you know what is causing the snow to come?” “Is the Crystal Heart okay?” “Are you going to save the Empire?” “Do you think it would be best to find your parents since you know…what happened last time?” “How are you going to stop this?” “Can you stop this?”
“SHUT UP!” Cozy barks, alarming the crystal ponies. “Sweet Celestia, no wonder your kingdom gets attacked every other year. If you guys would rather hound a kid who is still figuring out how her magic works instead of, I don’t know, letting her go see if her parents are okay! What is WRONG with you?!”
Flurry shoots a surprised look at Cozy, as the little pegasus regains her composure and continues, “Golly, my friend Flurry needs to check out what is happening in the castle, and all of you ponies seem to be doing such a great job keeping the snow and ice at bay. Do you think you could keep it up a little longer?” The crystal ponies nod silently, “Good.” Cozy and Flurry hurry into the castle.
Flurry nods “Thanks. Let’s go to the throne room and find mom. She’ll know what to do.”
Flurry leads the way into the castle, heading straight for the throne room. The throne room houses two larger chairs and a smaller one in the middle. Flurry squeaks to a stop, sliding on the crystal floor. Right in front of her, her mother, Cadance, is frozen in place, looking like she is running. Shining Armor, her dad, is right behind her with his hoof stretched out, frozen solid. A shocked Twilight is staring straight down at the floor.
“HAH! Who’s the one stuck forever NOW, eh, Twilight?!” Cozy explodes in laughter.
Flurry breathing shortens. “What are we going to do?! We barely survived the trip here, and what if my magic makes things worse instead of better? What if I can’t stop this and the empire falls because I’m the worst princess?! I can’t do this. I can’t save the empire without them.”
“Breathe, Flurry. We've come this far! Between your raw power, and my brains we'll be fine.” Cozy puts a hoof around Flurry, keeping her own mix of worry and elation (of Twilight getting a taste of her own medicine) out of her voice.
“No. It won’t be fine. My family is frozen in front of me, my home is becoming like the rest of the frozen north. I have almost killed us twice with my inability to do anything right! Everypony is counting on me and I just keep disappointing them and now we are going to lose everything because of me!” Flurry huffs in and out. “THIS is why power isn’t always great. It sucks. I just want to make a new friend, go out, maybe have a hay burger, but the entire Empire is dying instead! And everypony looks to ME to stop it!”
Cozy blinks, eyes wide. “Wow. Okay. You want to know your problem, Flurry?!”
“...I’m a terrible princess?”
“No. Your problem is you think too much. You get lost in your own anxieties. You’re Twilighting! Yes, Twilighting. I know her friends made that a verb. Forget your wings and your horn and just…use your head. If it helps, just think. ‘What would Cozy do if she were me?!’”
Flurry slowly calmed down. “That… doesn’t make sense.”
Cozy opens her mouth to object, stops, thinks for a second, and then growls.
“Okay! Ignore all the stuff about thinking instead of thinking! Just ask yourself ‘What would Cozy do?’”
“What… would Cozy do?”
“Right.”
“Cozy would… Cozy would look at the situation, analyze it, and come up with a plan.”
“Sooo?” Cozy twirls her hoof, egging Flurry on.
Flurry’s breathing slows as she examines the scene. “Looks like Dad was running after Mom. Mom’s running out the door and Twilight is looking down. Why is she doing that?”
Realization hits Flurry. “The secret entrance! Twilight must have thought something was happening there, and mom probably went to get me!”
“There you go! See, you’re already thinking like me! In chess, it’s not just where the pieces are right now! Every piece on the board threatens somewhere, so you have to see the whole picture hidden in the spaces where things aren’t and in where they could be!.” Cozy points to her cutie mark for emphasis.
“Thanks, Cozy… I needed that.”
“Yeah yeah. I’m the best.” Cozy looks around, “Plus, if Twilight and her friends can save the whole world, I’m sure the two of us can handle whatever is going on in the empire! Now, we know someone or something used this secret entrance. Maybe there are some clues to help us figure out what to watch out for.” Cozy crouches, inspecting around the area Twilight is looking at. “Ah-HA!”
Flurry jumps into the air. “Don’t DO that!”
“Worried it was the pony-eating yeti?!” Cozy teases.
“Very funny.” Flurry playfully sticks her tongue out at Cozy before joining her. “What is it?”
Cozy points. “Right here, see? There’s scratch marks on the crystal. Whatever made these has got some sharp claws to leave marks on sheer crystal.” she shifts her hoof over a bit, “But the real mystery is this small puddle of white liquid. What is it? Hmm.” Cozy focuses on Flurry, “Go get me something that’s nonliving and one thing living. Make sure both are things you don’t really care about.”
Flurry nods, trotting off and coming back with an orange and a spoon. Cozy raises an eyebrow at her. “Sorry. I’m hungry.” Flurry blushes.
Cozy shrugs, dropping both as close to the small white puddle as she dares. The spoon immediately covers in frost. The orange becomes encased in ice. Cozy kneels down, inspecting both, “It’s a…winter elixir?!” Cozy squeaks, shocked. “But why? Okay, back up. We know two things now. Number one, this whatever has sharp claws we need to avoid and two-” She stops, eyes on Flurry.
“It has some sort of potion that could freeze us with a drop…” Flurry murmurs, her own shock in her eyes.
“Bingo! So, just keep this thing from even thinking of using its claws or that potion, and we are in the clear!” Cozy nods. “Honestly, first step should be to get the elixir from them as soon as possible!”
Flurry nods, “Well, if we’re going down there, we should grab some saddle bags. Let me get some things. Hold on.” Flurry rushes off, coming back with two saddle bags, “Okay. I made a list, and grabbed a small snack, water, some paper and quills, some rope, a coat for both of us, and a few healing balms just in case. Do you think I missed anything?”
“Careful, there Flurry, your Twilight influence is showing.” Cozy shakes her head, grabbing the list and throwing into her own saddlebag for emphasis before slipping on her coat. “And just when I was starting to like you.” She looks over a bit. “And why is there a small pile of what I can only describe as gold dust?”
Flurry follows Cozy’s gaze, and explains “Oh, we were getting ready for the Crystal Fair in a few weeks. Sweetie Belle and Rarity were trying to talk mom into adding themes to the Crystal fair. This year is supposed to be ‘golden memories’. They brought that stuff to cover some crystals with.”
“Huh, wonder if it’s real gold.” Cozy scoops the gold dust into one of the packs.
“Why are you bringing gold dust?” Flurry wonders aloud.
“If I find out it’s real, it may be worth a few bits. Might as well find out.” Cozy finishes, putting the saddlebags on. She opens her mouth to ask a question, but stops, kneeling down. “So, how do you open this trap door?”
“Dark magic…I haven’t done this before so…stand back.” Cozy takes a few steps back. Flurry closes her eyes to focus. Her yellow magic turns purple and purple wisps float from her eyes. She shoots the magic onto the floor and a huge section disappears to reveal a staircase down to a door. Flurry’s eye whisps flare out more. Her breathing becomes short, terrified bursts.
“Flurry? Flurry! You’ve gotta snap out of it!”
Tears flow down Flurry’s cheeks as red begins to crawl up her horn. Cozy pivots her head around, looking for anything to help. She digs through her pack , grabbing the water canteen Flurry had packed, and splashing it in Flurry’s face. Flurry shakes her head, back to her normal self, “You okay?!”
“Yeah, didn’t love that feeling. Chalking that up to magic I never want to use again.” she breaths before walking down. “Thanks for helping me!”
“Only with the water you packed. Good thinking!” Flurry blushes at Cozy’s complement.
Cozy flies in front as the two go down the long, twisting stairs. The dark of King Sombra’s old hidden sanctum was oppressive on even bright days, but with the cold pressing in, the gloom only weighs heavier. After several minutes marching in silence, the two find themselves before a single door.
Cozy starts to fly through the door when Flurry stops her, shaking her head. Cozy watches as Flurry screws her eyes up in concentration, and fires a beam at the door – only for it to snake out of the way! Flurry shoots magic at the door three times before finally catching the gem and banishing the door.
Revealing a new set of spiraling stairs vanishing seemingly infinitely upward. Cozy groans.
Flurry giggles as Cozy starts to fly up around the stairs, only for the crystal walls to grow into the sides of the staircase, blocking her off. Flurry giggles and flies next to Cozy, who groans again, and the two set off up the ever winding staircase, stopping to rest briefly along the way and eat a snack.
“Uggggh.” Cozy groans yet again. “If I knew what a sadist Sombra was, I’d have been happier when he got fried!”
“Sadist?” Flurry asks, raising an eyebrow.
“This much calisthenics is a war crime, Flurry! If I succeeded I’d definitely add this staircase to the list of items forbidden by the Geneighva Convention!” Flurry laughs.
Finally, Flurry and Cozy get to the top. Before them is what can only be described as a blizzard tornado where the Crystal Heart had once been hidden. The snownado wisps and twirls, and the two ponies notice a definite, ghostly neigh coming from it. “Was that?! It couldn't be!” Cozy asks.
“A…windigo? Here?! But why? The Empire isn't perfect, but I don't think I've ever seen any of the crystal ponies treat any other pony terribly.” Flurry murmurs, taking a small step back.
Cozy's eyes travel up. The snownado reaches all the way to the roof. As the two study it, the snownado expands, going out the window on one side and undoubtedly covering the entire front of the castle below. Cozy keeps her eyes upward, and in the windigo’s glow she can almost make out a shadow through the ever-moving winds, but it disappears, “Hey, Flurry, is there any light in this room?” She asks.
“I'm pretty sure there's a crystal chandelier. Why?” Flurry answers.
Cozy thinks on this, seeing a lever next to the stairs. Smirking, she grabs the lever.
“Cozy, don-” Flurry cuts off as the stairs turn into a giant slide, and the girls collide and slide all the way back down. Cozy growls, stomping her hoof. “Why do you even HAVE that lever?!”
“Ask Sombra.” Flurry manages in a huff as the stairs go back to normal and they begin their climb once more.
Finally, the two exhausted ponies find their way, huffing and panting to the top of the stairs, noting the blizzard tornado once more.
“Flurry. Use your magic to open a hole in the snownado. I would bet so many bits that the Crystal Heart is in there!” Cozy points.
“What if I mess up again, and you get hurt?!” Flurry wonders.
Cozy sighs, “Okay. I am going to be nice this one time so listen carefully. You’ve got this. When I showed you how to use pegasus magic to shape the show, you shaped it like a pro. Just remember to use your head.”
“Right. Think like I'm playing chess.” Flurry nods.
“Now, do it!” Cozy nods. Flurry looks up to her horn, glowing before shooting a beam to the spot she stared at. A small clear hole opens up to her surprise. “You go Cozy. I’ll keep the portal open for you.”
“I’m not sur-” Cozy starts but Flurry cuts her off.
“I promise I won’t let you down.” Flurry winces, “Plus I don’t think I could hold this while trying to stop whatever the windigo is doing inside.” Flurry opens one eye and looks at Cozy through gritted teeth. “I trust you.” Cozy gulps, and then dives through the portal.
Cozy slips through the opening easily and once she breaks through the howling vortex, finds the eye of the storm eerily silent. Looking down, the snownadoe's clouds cover the bottom, leaving Cozy without any idea of how far up they were. ‘Might as well be an abyss.’ She thinks. The center of the platform is dominated by a hunched figure. It turns then, and Cozy sees that it’s a giant brown cat lady – an Abyssianian! – with long orange hair and green eyes. The fur on her face is sloppily highlighted in thick makeup as the long red robe held together with a golden belt hangs off her loosely. Claw marks cover the one pedestal that Cozy can see in the eye of this storm, stopping short of something far up. Cozy starts to look up, but a glint catches her eyes, and she realizes the Crystal Heart is clutched in one of her paws, its glow fading as crackling frost crawls across its surface.
Cozy blinks. “Who the hay are you?”
“Ah, a new subject!” Catrina laughs, drunkenly. “I am Catrina, and you will all be my slaves.” She finishes by raising a flask of potion to her lips. Her body glows blue as she shivers, ghostly wisps flowing around her. Then she blows up at a chandelier above her. The Chandelier shakes violently, and Cozy catches a glimpse of a glowing page stuck in its crystal panes. The page flutters, frost forming on its surface. Catrina immediately stops.
“Yeah…never heard of you, but let me guess, that page has some sort of magical properties that will-what, make you a giant snow cat forever? Am I getting warm?!” Cozy rolls her eyes.
“Close, my little pony. The page can change anything. I already found this elixir to gain more power than witchweed potion ever granted me. The ponies will either be doing my bidding or be frozen in place! Don’t you see? Despite being forgotten, my reign is almost complete! Once I take that page, I will be the most powerful being in every reality! The entire cosmos will bow down to Catrina, or freeze.” Catrina's eyes glow an ethereal blue, her voice momentarily changing to a gruff, ghostly whisper on the word ‘freeze’.
Cozy shouts to get her voice over the howling wind. “Golly, seems to me like using this elixir is controlling you instead of the other way around.”
“What would a little filly know?!” Catrina barks, claws shaking as she takes another sloppy chug from the flask, a little more than halfway empty. She tops up the bottle just after with care.
“Well, I may be a little filly, but I have nearly conquered this world once, taken power for myself twice, and tried to rid the world of all magic in my quest to be the most powerful pony in all of Equestria.” Cozy shrugs.
Catrina's mouth falls to the floor, but quickly it settles into a loose grin. Her eyes are plainly clouded and unfocused. “Then join me, tiny filly! Help me get that page, and we can rule the world together! Every single creature will love us and we will control them all!”
Cozy looks over to Flurry. Flurry flaps her oversized wings hard against the bitter winds, her eyes closed from the exertion and concentration of keeping an escape route open for Cozy, unable to hear any of the conversation. Cozy turns back to Catrina. “Wow. You would really share power with a tiny pony like me?!”
“Of course. All you need to do is fly up to grab that golden paper. See it? It will give us the power to do anything we want!” Catrina smiles.
“A powerful kitty like you can't get it on their own?” Cozy asks, sweetly.
“It's stuck in the chandelier tight! No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to blow it down” Catrina sighs.
Cozy bites her lip, looking up. The wind should knock down a stuck price of paper easily with time, so why ask her? There was a piece Cozy was missing. Still, a powerful artifact, and the ability to rule…
“Well…” Cozy takes one last glance at the struggling Flurry before she nods, “okay.” She flies up, grasping the page caught tight between the panes of a crystal chandelier. Slowly, carefully, she pulls on the page.
After a few minutes, she flies down to Catrina, holding a golden page in front of her. “See. I helped. It's what friends do. Now, I'll give you this very page in my hooves if you let me try a little of that elixir you have.” Cozy gives an innocent grin.
“What? I…suppose…” Catrina takes the vial, and Cozy the page. The two slowly reach for the other, both grabbing what the other has and racing to opposite ends of the eye of the storm. Catrina laughs. “You fool. This page is more powerful than any elixir!” Her entire body glows with eerie blue light, as if possessed. “And now that I have this, the world will become a land of ice, wind and snow.”
“Yeahhh…about that…you might want to take a closer look!” Cozy motions to the page.
Catrina looks close, pulling one paw away to reveal a normal piece of paper covered in gold dust. “’Snack’? ‘Coats’-You tricked me!”
“Some advice, Never try to manipulate me. I'm the princess of manipulation.”
“Give me back my elixir. The deal is off!” Catrina growls.
“Oh. The elixir. The elixir to give you powers. The elixir that's specifically made to grant you powers over storms and snow. Your elixir…that elixir?” Cozy asks, her smile growing.
“YES!” Catrina hisses.
“I miiiiiight have accidentally dropped it into the abyss the moment you turned your back. Whoopsies.” Cozy's smile splits into something predatory
“No. I'm nothing without it!” Catrina howls. Cozy opens her mouth to gloat. About how obvious it was. About how easy Catrina was to play. She has no time, though. Catrina jumps into the void.
For a brief moment, Cozy is stunned, watching Catrina jump in slow motion, still clutching the heart. Her brain goes into overdrive, one move coming to her. The moment Catrina's jump turns into freefall, Cozy projects her voice as loud as she can, and yells, “FLURRY!”
Flurry opens her eyes just in time to see Catrina before she falls out of sight. Without a second thought, Flurry zooms into the hole she made with magic, swooping down into the void after Catrina as the hole closes behind her.
“Come on Flurry, faster!” Flurry murmurs to herself, wind rushing in her ears as wingbeat by wingbeat she inches closer and closer.
Aside from the wind shear, it’s almost eerily silent above the still dead empire, cloud above her, and only Catrina and knowing that the rapidly growing ground is below.
Flurry closes her eyes, taking a deep, calming breath, and clearing her mind. ‘What would Cozy do?’ Flurry's eyes snap open and, bringing every ounce of focus she has to bear, she catches Catrina in her telekinetic aura. Carefully, ever so carefully, she slows her own descent, and Catrina’s relative to her’s, braking them both gently in the air as easily as she can.
“What were you thinking?!” Flurry gasps.
“I need my elixir. I need it! It’s my power, all of my power!” Catrina struggles to get out of the magic, her eyes wildly sweeping the distant ground below.
“Why do you care about power?! You lost! Let it go!!”
“It's all I have now!” Catrina sobs. “I've lost everything else. My beauty, my subjects, my fans. Even my own husband, Rep, was about to let me fall to my doom. Power is the only thing left!”
“Woah, woah, woah….what?!” Flurry gasps.
“Yeah, that's messed up, and that's coming from me!” Cozy flutters down to the others.
“I gotta know why he would do that.” Flurry demands.
“Because I threw a baby pony to her doom first.” Catrina notices the matching disgusted looks on the girl’s faces, and rolls her eyes after shivering, “What?! Rep caught her. She was fine.”
“Okay, I'll bite.” Cozy sighs. “Why did you throw a baby to her doom?!”
“The ponies refused to be my slaves and make my witchweed potion.” Catrina explains. Simultaneously, both girls slap their hooves to their foreheads.
“Wow…just…wow.” Flurry sighs. “Would you want to be a slave and make potions?”
“Of course not, but it gave me my power… until my traitor of a husband knocked me full force into the potion hole, I slipped into this portal, and I ended up in a weird crystal cavern.” Catrina shivers more, her breath coming out in bursts of steam. “That's where I ended up finding that elixir, hidden in a secret room. It made me stronger than I ever dreamed. It's far more powerful than my witchweed potion!”
Flurry's mouth hangs open as she gestures with both hooves to Catrina. Cozy purses her lips, looking over to the shocked alicorn, and sighs. “You're going to make me do this, aren’t you?” She asks flatly.
“I don't even know where to begin!” Flurry admits.
Cozy gives a long groan, “Fine, but I swear, if you utter a word to Twilight, I will do the worst thing you can imagine!”
Flurry smirks, crossing her hooves, “Oh yeah, like what?!”
Cozy thinks for a moment, both girls too distracted from Catrina to notice her bottom paws turning pale blue. A sinister smirk crosses Cozy's face, “I'll switch bodies with you, and ask dear mom and dad if they will take me to school like we used to!”
Flurry glares, “You. Wouldn't. Dare.”
Cozy snickers, putting on her best Flurry impression, “Mom, dad. Will you bring me to school like when I was a little filly? I'll even let you both kiss me in front of all of my classmates, and call me all of your favorite nicknames and-”
“I get it. I won't tell. Promise!” Flurry lets out a breath of appreciation. “You are evil!”
“I do my best!” Cozy shrugs. “Now, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it my way!”
She flutters over to Catrina. Flurry leans over, excited to hear what amazing wisdom Cozy has to share with the Abyssianian. Cozy takes Catrina up close, holding her by her robe. “I want you to listen to me very carefully.” She states before immediately slapping Catrina across the face for each word. “You. Have. A. Problem!” The last slap resounds louder than the others. “For Scorpan's sake! Look at yourself! You were willing to jump off a building for your elixir! Did you stop for one second to think of what would happen to you if my friend didn't save your life?!”
Catrina looks downward for a moment. The ground is obscured by swirling clouds. Realization slowly dawns in her eyes.
“Look, I get it. I crave power too, but that elixir…the witchy potion thing…they aren't power. They're bandages!” Cozy takes a breath, “I mean, I have no idea what you were like before you took that witchy potion, but I can guess that, at the very least, you weren't the type of creature that would toss a literal baby to their doom! I don't even think Sombra sank that low, and he made that staircase! Have you walked those stairs?! Because I have! TWICE!”
Cozy realizes she's getting off the subject, shaking her head to clear her mind. “I told you already that the elixir is controlling you-”
“Cozy-” Flurry murmurs, her magic waning from her horn.
“And if you lost most of that stuff after you took it, maybe, just maybe, the potions are the problem, not your lack of power! I swear, you’re worse than Berry Punch during Cider seas-” Cozy continues, ignoring Flurry.
“Cozy!” Flurry interrupts urgently, struggling to keep her magic from fading. “Something’s wrong!”
Cozy looks back at Flurry's horn, slowly flashing in and out. A loud whinny erupts all around them. To their astonishment, the flask twirls up the snownado, into Catrina's claws. Catrina’s whole body convulses. “You have…NO idea what drove me to find something—anything—that I could control myself…and I am NOT about to let two baby ponies take it away from me! I can quit anytime I want!” With that, Catrina chugs the rest of the potion down quickly.
“Did…not see that coming.” Cozy murmurs. “Isn’t this whole friendship speech always supposed to work?!”
“According to Aunty, yeah.” Flurry nods.
Cozy huffs, “Typical.”
Catrina looks up, her eyes an ethereal light blue. For a moment, the ethereal head of a windigo struggles out of her, whinnying before being pulled back in. Her entire body turns blue and white, and every breath comes out in icy bursts.
“What in the-?!” Flurry blinks.
“Pretty sure that ‘elixir’ was some kind of windigo essence.” Cozy shrugs. “Kinda why I let go of it in the first place.”
“That would have been nice to know earlier!” Flurry exclaims.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t really have time to clue you in while she was jumping with the Heart!” Cozy stops. “THE HEART!”
Both girls look over to the heart, growing in ice before Catrina lets go, the heart freezing in a pillar of ice, somehow muted in color. Cozy blinks. “I don’t feel so well…” she moans as her legs and tail turn into granite.Catrina focuses on Cozy, extending her claws. “PAGE!” she half yells, half growls.
“COZY!” Flurry bolts over, knocking Catrina back into the swirling storm. “Are you ok-”
Catrina sails out on an ever growing icicle, trying again. Flurry pushes Cozy up at the last second, and seethes. She looks over to Catrina whose grin spreads from cat ear to cat ear, holding Flurry’s leg tight. Scratch marks etch the leg, and suddenly, ice climbs up her legs and tail. Fear grips Flurry. She breathes erratically, searching frantically for help until her eyes find Cozy Glow.
Cozy closes her eyes, breathing in and out slowly, her eyes moving below her eyelids despite being already halfway covered in stone, slowly becoming heavier by the second as she slowly lowers to the ground.
She looks back at the maddened cat, already trying to swipe at Cozy as she slowly descends. “Cozy! I’m about to use a shock tactic!”
Cozy opens her eyes, nodding. Flurry closes her eyes, a huge ball of power erupting from her horn, and hitting Cozy straight in the chest. The Cutie Mark on Flurry's flank disappears. Flurry gives an exhausted gasp as a magical horn forms on Cozy’s head, the stone disappearing from her legs and tail immediately. “You…gave me your alicorn magic?!” Cozy gasps.
“I trust that you're smart enough to know what to do with it!” Flurry nods, ice climbing her body rapidly, “Besides, it won't help if both of us are frozen solid. Now, go before it-” her sentence cuts off and her icy form falls straight into the abyss of storms just before Cozy flies over to catch it, flying far faster than she is used to.
Cozy holds onto Flurry tight, setting her carefully onto the floor at the top of the tower. Below, Catrina rises on an icy pillar, catching up, anger like icy daggers in her eyes. “PAGE!”
Cozy flies back up to the page stuck in the chandelier. She closes her eyes, and magically tries to pluck the page from the chandelier. The page pops out. “See? Magic always makes everything-” the page immediately continues forward. “Wait no!” Cozy dashes after it, hearing Catrina's furious screams get ever closer as the page magically pulls in that direction. Cozy grabs it from the sky with a breath of relief, and looks at the page in her hooves.
Visions come through Cozy's mind. She sees a world with no magic. Earth ponies are the only ponies of the land, working together and listening to each other based on merit. Cozy Glow sees herself as the one and only alicorn of the land, leading the ponies to a world of her creation.
An evil smile creeps over her face as the page's glow casts terrifying shadows on the usually cute face as she pulls a quill from her pack.
Catrina jumps off of her ice pedestal, reaching out to the young filly and barely missing. Cozy laughs as she watches the cat woman fall, barely missing Cozy's tail. Cozy stops when she sees Catrina take a deep breath, her eyes right on the frozen Flurry. The icy wind she produces slides Flurry's icy form teetering off the edge.
Holding onto the page, Cozy readies her magic horn to attack only to stop, seeing Catrina put her back paws on Flurry, crouched down with her long claws dangerously close to the frozen princess. “Give!” the raspy whisper demands.
Cozy looks between Flurry and Catrina, her brain working overtime. With the windigo at the helm, talking her way out of the situation was not going to happen. Could she use her new alicorn magic in time for saving Flurry and keeping the page to herself? ‘No. They're too close together, and Flurry would end up hurt. If I had more time, maybe, but I can tell this frost bitten kitty is already out of patience!’ Even with all of this power, Flurry would be lost forever… Why did she care? What? Just because Flurry still wanted to stick by Cozy after seeing her worst side, or agreed with how magic makes an unfair advantage?! So what if Flurry was the first pony to see her for her brain?! No. She was using this page! It was hers! She got it fair and square.
“I trust that you’re smart enough to know what to do with it.”
“Fine. Fine. You win, but I am not going anywhere near you. You’ll just freeze me solid like my friend there. So, you tell me what you want, and I’ll write it.” Cozy shrugs.
Catrina-go thinks on this and murmurs, “No.” With one scratch, the ice begins to break down on Flurry. “GIVE”
Cozy looks over to Flurry, ice shattering. She sees the chessboard of her mind with her king in check, and no good moves.
“Fi-” Flurry’s ice bursts apart and Flurry raises up, the same glow in her eyes as Catrina. Cozy looks between the two, blinking, “F-Flurry?!”
“GIVE!” both shout, and Cozy finds herself close to the wall of the snownado. Finally, an opening. Risky, but-
“You know, we learned a lot about windigos in school! One thing we know, Windigos, much like dark magic, feed on negative emotions! Hatred, fear, etc. I also couldn’t help but notice that you aren’t attacking me now that I have this pretty piece of paper just like when you stopped your wind the moment the page started to frost. Which means…it can be destroyed! So, stay back, and listen up, because if you don’t, I’ll destroy it! I don’t care anymore. I’m a pony on the edge! Okay, one, Cat lady…Catrina. I don’t know you, but I do know what it’s like to lose…Do you REALLY want the rest of your life to be a puppet pulled by the strings of a glorified ghost?! And Flurry…” she stops, looking at the ethereal blue eyes of the disproportionate alicorn princess. “I hate you, you know that? I was happy just getting through on manipulation tactics, but noooo, you had to take me out of my stone prison! You had to take me on the worst possible adventure in Equestrian history. You had to make me do a stupid friendship speech twice, and yet…how can you have done all of that and still think so little of yourself?! Come on. You know what to do! You may not have your magic, but there is one thing you do have. You trusted me…now…now I’m going to trust that you can fight this, not with magic, but with your head!” She slowly relinquishes the page to Flurry, who snatches the page and quill from Cozy.
Catrina raises her claws up, readying for an attack while wind-Flurry writes feverishly. Cozy squeezes her eyes shut, but no pain comes. She lifts one eye open to see the page glowing, a smirk on Flurry’s face.
An orange glow surrounds the entire Crystal Empire, thawing every pony, chasing away snow and ice. Windigoes are blasted away. Catrina kneels on paw and knee in front of them both. Cozy grins. “I knew you could do it!”
“Only because I focused on the friendship you showed me.” Flurry smiled.
“Oh, gag! I think I liked you better as a windigo.”
Catrina shakes. “I’m so sorry…I completely lost control…” she murmurs.
“Really? You don’t say!” Cozy gasps.
“Cozy, be nice.” Flurry sighs, holding a hoof out for Catrina, “But, yeah, we kind of figured that out. No worries, I wrote that everyone in the Crystal Empire would be back to normal, so that elixir should be out of your system. Now we just need to find a way for you to get home.”
Catrina shakes her head. “I think I’ll stay here…I think…” She looks to Cozy. “I think I have a problem, and going back to the place where witchweed potion is won’t help. I’ll stick around here a little longer…if that’s okay.”
Both girls shrug. “Sure, why not.” Moments later, Cadance, Shining Armor, and Twilight rush up the steps.
“COZY GLOW?!” Twilight steps back, shock etched onto her face, “What are YOU doing out of the statue?!”
“Well, Golly, princess, I only wanted to stretch my legs a little.” Cozy smirks. “And Flurry was happy to help me.”
“How did you manipulate our daughter from the stone prison?” Shining asks.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re putting her back.” Cadance nods, readying her horn.
“Cozy is my FRIEND!” Flurry stomps, planting herself firmly between Cozy and her family. “I gave her my word that she would be free from that statue. Plus, she helped save the entire Empire from becoming Arctic City, so you owe her!”
“Your…what?!” Twilight and Cadance gasp in unison.
“You heard me! Cozy Glow is my friend, so let this be my first official friendship lesson. Sometimes, all a pony needs is a second chance. There. Now, my friend needs help catching up on ten years of stuff, and I am going to help her! Bye!” Flurry waves momentarily before flying off and murmuring. “I can not believe I just did that.”
“Did you hear that, Shining Armor, Cadance…Twilight?! Flurry and I are going to hang out and be best friends FOREVER!” Cozy waves back at the monarchs.
Flurry glances back to see her parents and her aunt stuck in horrified shock as Cozy laughs. Flurry has to put a hoof over her mouth to cover her own snicker as she turns back, “You just said that to unsettle them, didn’t you?” She asks, half smiling.
“No, I said that because it’s true. The fact that it disturbs them is a bonus!” Cozy smirks, pulling Flurry in for a hug, “Now, let’s go grab some food. I haven’t eaten a decent meal in over ten years, and I am starving!”
The End