Chapter 264 - A New Beginning of the End
It was time…
You were staring at the mirror in your room. You were looking at yourself, right in the eyes. You were wearing your saddle bag. You were cycling through the advice, the information, and Cozy Glow’s mannerisms in your head. It wasn’t likely, there was no chance. But this Winter Krumb, who could he possibly be?
You went through your portal door after wrapping your scarf around your neck.
Ponyville, the clouds above were thick, but it wasn’t snowing. Things seemed gloomy, and almost ominous. Things would have been downright worrisome if it wasn’t for the townsponies galavanting around town, preparing for that momentous day. Twilight was even holding some sort of event at the castle to help set up any remaining decorations, as the castle would be open to anyone during Hearthwarming eve and day. At least, that's what Discord had told you last night.
You headed for the school. it’d be empty today. Cozy was going to prep her room for the welcoming party. You assumed you both would head to the train station after meeting up. You were sure the guy wouldn’t try anything right out the gate, and you could use your first charge of the day to scan him to see if he was using a disguise or was a demonic-like presence.
When you reached her door, you looked around the empty halls, and took a breath to compose yourself. “Here we go” You whispered to yourself.
You knocked...
The door opened, and you were immediately greeted by a cheery Cozy Glow, whose wings were already flittering in excitement. “Anon! You made it! Yay!” Cozy immediately stepped aside and beckoned you to enter. “I’m just about ready! I have the blueberry muffins made, the drinks, ballooooonys!” Cozy said with a giggle before pointing to the party sign saying ‘Welcome Winter Krumb!’. “What do you think? Think he’ll feel super welcomed?”
Hm, everything seemed alright. Her room was lit up with colored lights, balloons everywhere, and a table with three seats. You notice a tea pot, three tea cups, and a bottle of soda next to some muffins. “Yeah, it looks pretty okay. Sure he’s not gonna feel persnickety about it being so festive though?” You ask as you step inside, only making that remark due to how supposedly old this guy was.
“Oh, trust me, Anon. This is gonna be the biggest big big day of his life!” Cozy said as she went to grab a muffin and hold it towards you. “Come on, I haven’t gotten a chance to taste the muffins yet, and I thought we could try it together. If we both like it, that means he will, right?”
Biggest day of his life? Christ, almost seemed like it was a trap more for him than for you. And geez, she’s being really eager. But, she did offer to try it together. Hmmm… “Man, it looks delicious. But why don’t you take the first bite? You did make it, after all.”
“Hm? Okay!” Without even questioning it, she just takes a bite of half the muffin, then holds it towards you again as she chews and swallows. “Your turn? Or did you want one of your own? We don’t have to share if you don’t want to.”
You began to calm down a little. Maybe you were too tense for your own good. You sigh, give her a smirk, and take a bite, leaving only a little of the muffin. Hm, not bad. “Nah, we gotta leave as many as Winter is willing to eat.”
Cozy gives you a beaming grin as she makes squeamish little noises of approval. “That’s really thoughtful of you. But that’s why you’re the professor!” She cheered before hovering over to the table and lifting the top of the tea pot, giving the contents of it a look. It made you wonder about the soda, actually.
“Hey Cozy, If you have tea ready, why do you have a soda bottle set up?” You asked.
“Well, you don’t really like tea that much, right? See? I paid attention to that, and bought a bottle of soda, just for you!” Cozy said, looking as if she was waiting for your approval. “I hope that was okay. I didn’t know what flavor you liked, so I got cherry soda, since I thought it’d be as sweet as you!”
…D-d’awww. “Well, thank you.” You took a stretch and looked back at the door as you began to feel more relaxed. “So, are we gonna go pick him up at the train station? Do you know when he’ll arrive?”
“We don’t have to meet him at the station. He’ll be here soon.” Cozy said in a more plain voice as she began to pour a cup of tea for herself. “Golly, I hope my special ingredient helps the tea taste good.”
…Not meeting him at the train station? “Uh, really? Then how will he get here? He’s never been in Ponyville before, right?”
“He actually said he had, but a long time ago.” Cozy said as she sipped at her tea.
…Wut?
“Like, before or after Twilight showed up here?” You asked.
Cozy put her cup down and gave you a stare for a moment, before smiling happily. “I don’t know. Oh, would you like to hear some of the music I brought for the party? I-I hope you don’t find them bad, I just picked up some classical sounding ones since it might make him happy.”
“I… like classical music, erm, dunno about, um.” You really had no idea what classical pony music sounded like. But that stop, the fact she didn’t answer immediately. It made you feel uneasy. “Look, are you sure he’s been here before?”
Cozy nodded. “Mhmm, at least that’s what he said. Um, do you think he’d have trouble finding the school?”
…Yes? “Well, I mean, he had to have not been here for a while. The school is very recent, remember? That’s why I was suggesting we go pick him up. That way he doesn’t get lost.”
“But he won’t get lost. Anon, are you feeling okay?” Cozy Glow asked, showing concern for you.
She had to just be ignorant due to her age. There’s no way this guy knows where the school is, and you didn’t want to be in this room with him until you got a good scan on the guy. “Look, Cozy, honestly? I just want to meet the guy. Seriously, I really do. But I also want to make sure he gets here okay. Who knows the kind of culture shock the guy might feel if he takes a wrong turn.”
“Oh! That makes sense!” Cozy said with a gasp. “I wouldn’t want him to feel lost and confused. Oh no no, that would be bad. But, Anon, before we go, do you want to try the soda? I want to make sure you like it.”
Hmnn… You look over the bottle. It still looked sealed on the top, it hadn’t been opened. “Sure?”
“Okay! Let me j-Oh! I haven’t even opened it yet, silly me. I was gonna add my super special ingredient to really bring out the cherry taste! Do you mind waiting here? I hid the ingredient, that’s super duper secret, in my bathroom so nopony could find it. Be right back!” Cozy said with excitement as she grabbed the bottle and rushed to her bathroom door.
“Wai-!” But before you could say anything, she had already closed the door. Secret ingredient? She was adding it now? Why? You would have been fine with the soda as is, you didn’t want it to taste too cherryey.
You stand there and wait for a moment. You could hear her going through cabinets and drawers, looking for it. You decide to walk over to her dresser. Nothing unusual, some toys and dolls, a few knick knacks, and… A letter?
You look over at the bathroom door, and listen in, she was still looking for it. You stare at the letter, and wonder if you should take a look at it. What could it hurt? It could give you some insight on this Winter Krumb guy. “Let’s see…” You take the letter and give it a read. “Dear Cozy…” You whispered to yourself. “Thank you for the compass. I’m not usually one for thank yous, but it had the parts I needed to forge a skeleton key to make my way out of my forced home. Will be meeting you soon, and I’ll be interested in this little showcase you promised. I want to see if what you’ve told me holds true. And do not worry, I can easily bring the package once I’ve had a bite to eat.” What in the? The compass? The compass you gave her? Why would she send it to this guy? Why did he need a key? Package? Why did the letter seem so fucking scary? But the words, they could have been deceptively deceptive. It didn’t mean the guy was evil, it could just mean the place he was in was abusive.
You look down to see what he signed as his name. But instead of his name, he wrote it in runes, the same runes he sent her for sending the bench. They still looked like rearranged letters to you. You take a look at the bathroom door one more time, and you could hear that she found what she was looking for. You only had a few moments.
You put the horn on your head, and you aim it at the letter. You were just going to cast a spell to cheat the riddle, and find out what the runes mean. You cast your magic, and instead of his name appearing, or an address, the runes start to rearrange themselves. They really were letters, and they were slowly forming words. “I… Am… Lord… T-T-T”
…W-what?! He was Winter Krumb?! Of everyone that exists, him?!
Your core, your very soul, suddenly began to quake in panic.
How?! D-did Cozy know? Did she know who she was talking to?!
“Anon?” Said a worried voice.
You looked back at the bathroom door, Cozy was standing in front of it, holding the bottle of soda. “Are you okay? W-what’s wrong? You look like you saw a scawy ghost.”
…The soda “Erm, I…” The horn had already plopped off your head, and the letter had fallen back on the dresser after you let it go. Could it be true? Was this real? “I was just, erm, uh, heh. You know how it is, I don’t do mornings well. Almost fell asleep and hit my head on your dresser.”
Cozy pouted as she flew over to the table with the bottle. “Oh no! Golly, that’s not good at all! Well, luckily for you, soda has lots of caffeine! And with my secret ingredient, you’ll loosen right up!” Cozy said as she hurriedly poured you a cup and brought it over to you. “Here! Drink up!”
You just stared at the cup, then at her, then at the cup. It seemed to unnerve her.
“Anon?” Cozy asked, seemingly worried. ”Aren’t you going to take a drink?”
…You knew what this scenario was. If, somehow, the Storm King was right that long ago, then you knew what this was. “Erm, I’m not thirsty.”
“But you have to at least taste it! For me? Pweeeeease.” Cozy said, giving you the biggest and cutest eyes.
You were tense. You were not expecting to deal with a situation like this. It was becoming more suspicious as time went on. One thing for sure, you had to make sure not to take a drink of that soda. For all you knew, that secret ingredient came from him. “Okay, Cozy. give it to me.” You say, holding out your hoof.
“Okey dokey!” She said with a cheer as she placed the cup on the frog of your hoof.
“Alr-OH GOD! IS THAT A BRAIN-EATING MONSTER?!” You yelled, pointing behind her.
“EEEEK!” She shrieked as she jumped into the bathroom. “Anon! Help!”
….Wut? She didn’t even stay in the same room. Either she was trying to convince you really hard that everything was okay, or she really was being used by… Him. You look at the cup of soda.
You stare at it really hard…
You did want to taste it…
…
…
You open your saddle bag and throw the cup into it, soda and all. “It’s gone, Cozy! I got rid of it! And I tasted the soda! Yum!” You called out to her.
“R-really? I-it’s gone?” Cozy said, shaking as she stepped out of the door. “G-golly, I didn’t even see it come in. I-I hope nothing else bad happens.”
“It should be fine…” That letter. It was him, it had to be, and you only had two charges left. He was coming. You don’t know why he’s coming for you, and not for Twilight, but he was coming. You had to ask her, you had to find out what she knew. “Cozy, I have a question for you.”
“Y-yes? Anon?” Cozy asked, still looking around for the supposed monster.
“Winter Krumb. Who is he, really? Do you know who he is? What he looks like?” You asked her.
She looked at you, and her ears folded as she seemed to have noticed how serious you suddenly became. “I, um, why? Why are you asking that? Don’t you want to meet him?”
“I don’t think I ever had a choice in that, Cozy. Why does he want to meet me? Why did you give him the compass?” You asked her.
“Y-you know about that?” Cozy asked, feeling more fearful as she backed up onto the wall. “A-Anon? Wh-why are you asking these things? Y-you don’t think I did something bad, do you?”
“I don’t know, Cozy. I do know you’ve been helping him a lot.” There was something confusing about that. What was the bench for? It wasn’t in that letter. Did he just need a place to sit while he tinkered with the compass? “Do you really know where he lives? What has he told you?”
“Anon… Y-you don’t think Winter Krumb is a big m-meanie bad guy, d-do you? Why are you acting like you hate him? He didn’t do anything wrong. He needs our help! He needs yours!” Cozy whimpered towards you.
Ngh, did she really not know? You almost prepared to use your second charge to force her to tell you what you need to know. You could use the last charge on him when he arrived. But those tears, the hurt in her voice. She really didn’t know, did she? “Cozy… Winter Krumb. I know who he really is, he’s-” But suddenly, there’s a blast from the wall behind Cozy. The room fills with clouds of dust and rubble as you cough and cover your face. Suddenly, you hear a high pitched scream. “ANOOON!”
You coughed again, and put your horn on your head to use your basic shield spell outwards to send the dust away from you. “Cozy?” When you looked over to where she was, she wasn’t there, she was taken through the wall. “Cozy!”
He was here…
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11500323
Yep it begins.
11466084
I think the tree is just annoyed because he tends to get into danger and if you're with him you're at risk too. Though I hope his ex friends learn that you shouldn't be taking gossip as the gospel truth.
...mates!
Now for potential errors:
Lowercase ‘i’ should be uppercase.
Missing period.
Uppercase ‘i’ should be lowercase.
Missing comma before ‘Cozy’. (?)
classical-sounding
knick-knacks (?)
thing's (?)
Lowercase ‘g’ should be uppercase.
high-pitched
11500323
Couldn't have said it better myself.
suspicious as fuck
EVEN MORE SUS!
If Anon is not suspicious enough to not drink this drink he is insanely dumb
Cozy is really good at playing victim.