I feel the soft infirmary mattress underneath me and move the covers a bit forward with my forehooves before finally asking the big purple alicorn the burning question that’s been on my mind all day, “Who is Hyacinth Hoofdrops?”
Twilight widens her eyes, “Cadance’s foal? How would you know about her?”
“Cadance? I thought her foal was Flurry Heart!”
“No, Flurry Heart is grown now and is the ambassador to Yakyakistan!”
“Oh, golly! But Shining Armor and Cadance had a new foal, huh?”
Twilight frowns and stares at me for a moment… “Shining Armor died thirty years ago in a battle with King Sombra!”
I widen my eyes, “Oh, golly!” and normalize them. “I uh, did not know that! This is new information... Uh, who’s the new husband?”
“Cadance married a unicorn bookseller named Gregory Ironhoof…”
I suppress a smirk on my muzzle and compose myself before stating the obvious, “Wait! Cadance’s new husband is named Greg?”
Twilight is silent for a moment, “Uh, yes!”
I chuckle slightly…
Twilight frowns and asks, “But how do you know about Hyacinth?”
I gaze at the alicorn and consider my words, “Well, you remember when I had to meet you in the courtyard at the castle?”
Her eyes widen while the white unicorn stares onward with blue eyes, “Yes?”
“I kinda well, ran into her on my way there, completely by accident!”
“Oh? Where did you meet her?”
“In her room, at your castle!”
She raises her eyebrow, “That doesn’t sound like an accident?”
“I didn’t know what was in there!”
Her eyes widen, “So, why did you enter?”
I sigh in frustration, “I don’t know how your castle is laid out and I was looking for the courtyard! Now look! That’s not important right now!”
Her eyes widen, “So what is, Cozy?”
At this point, I slowly form a frown on my muzzle and I can’t believe the words I just say… “I kinda well, promised her a play date or whatever later and um, I didn’t want to let her down!” I say before smiling at her demurely.
Twilight frowns, “Wait! You care about this other foal’s feelings?”
Maybe I do? I don’t know? “Uh, maybe?” I say as I’m not sure what the safest answer is here?Maybe I just really want a friend right now? Yeah, that’s gotta be it!
She stares at me carefully before Rarity raises her head to speak between us, “I believe a play date with Hyacinth would be good for Cozy!”
I stare at the wrinkled old unicorn, “It would?”
She smiles somberly at me, “Yes, Cozy! It’s imperative that you have interactions with foals your own age and Hyacinth would be a good choice for you!”
Twilight turns her neck right to the unicorn, “Are you sure about that Rarity? I mean, Hyacinth is kinda reserved and out there, and I don’t know if she’d be the ideal first friend for Cozy here?”
I pipe up now, “Bring em on! I can make friends with anypony! No problem!” and smile at Twilight… Okay, lets give reformation and being nice a real chance here? Uh, maybe?
Rarity turns to me and smiles, “See? Cozy is already enthusiastic!”
I keep my wide grin in the alicorn’s direction, when she stares back at me carefully, “I think I know how you can begin?”
My eyes widen as I’m not sure where this is going? “Doing what?”
“Hmm…” Her eyes go skyward as she’s clearly deep in thought…
<*****>
Twilight smiles from her throne and I can smell the faint hint of vodka on her breath as she says, “And so, as Princess of Friendship, I have decided that you and Hyacinth Hoofdrops here should be friends!”
I stare at her from my hooves in front of the throne and to the left of Hyacinth, “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that?”
Hyacinth gazes at the large purple alicorn from my side, “I don’t think it works like that either?”
Twilight smiles and daintily replies, “Well, how would you know it can’t work unless you two give it an honest try! I am the rightful Princess of Friendship, after all!”
I was gonna be an empress, but whatever! I stare at the princess carefully and note the color of her cheeks… “You’re drunk right now, huh?”
I can’t help but notice Hyacinth sniffing the air in my periphery as Twilight stares at me with a sort of daze in her eyes and says, “N-no! Uh, I need some water!”
“Oh, golly! You want more vodka now!”
Her eyes widen, “What? Uh, l-look Cozy Glow! You and Hyacinth are to return to her room this instant for the beginning of your play date!” and she smiles. “I’ll be up to check on you in two hours!”
<*****>
I’m staring at the alicorn foal on the other side of the red carpet as I stood there on my hooves, “You know she just wanted to get rid of us, right?”
Her pinkish eyes gaze at me from underneath that same peculiar two-toned mane of hers, with the part just to the left as she smiles and says, “Yeah, so what? At least we got each other now!”
I frown, “You’re pretty sure we’ll hit it off?”
She stares back at me and her white muzzle grins wider, “Oh, I know we will!”
“Why don’t they have any guards here? I mean, we’re all alone! Aren’t they worried about me, since I’m, you know, a dangerous criminal or whatever?”
Her horn suddenly glows purple and my body is suddenly encased in a purple bubble that levitates me a couple of feet from the floor!
“Hey! What gives?”
She smiles up at me, “Why would they worry about me when you’re practically powerless in my presence?”
I glare down at her smiling face as I’m helplessly encased in a blue forcefield and being levitated off the ground, “Oh, golly! You don’t say?”
“Mhm!” The smiling filly nods.
She stands there smiling at me for another moment before I finally break the silence, “Uh, Hyacinth?”
“Yes Cozy?”
“Are you gonna set me down?”
“Eventually… I’m just savoring the moment… “
“The moment?”
Her eyes widen, “Do you have any idea what it’s like being a princess in Equestria?”
“How would I know?”
She stares forward blankly, “Oh! Right!” before adjusting her gaze back up to me. “I NEVER have any power!”
I’m silent for a moment, “But now you have power over me?”
“Yup!” She nods, “And no worries Cozy! You won’t be hurt, as long as you cooperate!”
I raise an eyebrow, “Cooperate?”
“Yup!” The smiling alicorn nods again.
I’m silent again and staring blankly into the abyss,before finally saying, “What could I do that you would possibly want?”
Her eyes widen as her head gets closer to me, “I want you to be my friend!”
I gaze into her eyes and respond, “You know, we were already heading that direction, right? You didn’t really need to force me!”
She smiles and giggles, “Perhaps?”
“So uh, you could just set me down and we could um, continue in that direction, right?”
Her eyes widen, “Well, we could, yes?”
I’m silent for a moment… “You don’t want to set me down, do you?”
And then she sits down and says something I didn’t think I’d hear, “Not until you’ve heard me sing!”
I stare at her wide eyed, “What?”
And then, something else peculiar happened… Hyacinth opened her mouth and belted out what was perhaps the most lovely melody I’ve ever heard!
The truly odd thing was, it didn’t sound like any language I knew. I know Ponish and I know several dialects south of Equestria, but this didn’t sound like anything familiar to me…
She stopped singing abruptly and stood there smiling at me, while I remained trapped inside the forcefield with my muzzle wide open… “Uh, Hyacinth. What language was that?”
She smiles, “Oh, I made up my own language!”
I’m silent for a moment for the umpteenth time… Then I repeat myself, “What?”
She giggles, “Yeah, I don’t want to be just, Princess Hyacinth Hoofdrops of the Crystal Empire and so I made a new language that doesn’t exist anywhere else in Equestria!”
I’m quiet again before eventually saying, “You just hate being a princess, don’t you?”
She frowns suddenly, “That obvious?”
“Um, kinda? I mean, it was pretty! Uh, maybe you could teach it to me later?”
Her eyes widen, “Oh, yeah! We could have our own secret language that nopony else knows about!”
My own view enlarges, “Sure! It’ll be great! Um, do I have to be a prisoner here or are you gonna let me go?”
She affixes her gaze to me, “You know something, you sure are whiny!”
My eyes go skyward when suddenly, the forcefield disappears and I hear the clack of my hooves hitting the carpet…. I stare at her, “So, this is your room?”
Suddenly, the door swings open and I see a violet alicorn there with a blue mane say to me, “Are you okay Cozy? She’s not torturing you, is she?”
I turn my head right towards her and raise my eyebrow, “If you thought she might torture me, why in Equestria did you leave me alone with her? I thought you didn’t wanna hurt me?”
Twilight widens her eyes, “Well uh, I didn’t think Hyacinth would hurt you, per se, no… I just want to make sure you’re safe, Cozy!” and smiles…
I look at her and finally say what’s been on my mind since I spoke to her earlier this afternoon… “Twilight, are you an alcoholic?”
She moves her neck back and says, “What? Me have a drinking problem? No! Never!” before casually swinging her hoof in the air…
“You know, I didn’t ask if you had a drinking problem. I think you hit the sauce a lot more than you should!”
Hyacinth has her gaze on Twilight as well and says what’s on my mind, “Twilight Sparkle is a drunk!”
“Totally!” I say and nod my head.
She sighs and says, “Look! I just like to drink sometimes, okay? It uh, it helps… “her blue eyes go to the floor… “It’s just that it’s uh, it’s kinda rough when your friends keep dying… “
I frown as I stare at the somber alicorn and it suddenly occurs to me who she is and all she’s done… I suddenly realized then and there what a curse she must have being an alicorn, and it dawned on me that I’m still fairly young, since I was you know, preserved in stone! I say the one thing that surprised even myself… I widen my eyes, “Twilight, I’ll be your friend… “
“Cozy?” Hyacinth suddenly says…
I turn my neck right towards her, “Yeah Hyacinth?”
She smiles, “Can I be your friend, too?”
I return the grin with one of my own when I think about how 20 minutes ago, this filly was going to force me to be her friend! “Sure Hyacinth! I’d like that!”
(To be continued… )