Anthology of Graybles

by Str8aura

Masked Cozy Glow (Cozy Glow, Spike; Action)

Spike wasn't sure what he expected when he was got his letter. It was simple enough- a location and advise to 'suit up'. Despite the term immediately bringing to mind the superhero comic books he had enjoyed reading most of his life, the words still didn't clear much up in the way of what exactly he was supposed to wear. The location didn't make much clearer, either- a large disc shaped plateau with a large crack running through it out in the middle of nowhere he vaguely remembered from an atlas he had perused on his very slow days.

Anonymity and Vagueness morphed mightily to form the great weapon of anxiety, but on the other hand, nothing much had happened that day. So, he decided to check it out, ignoring the advice to suit up for what he supposed was as good a reason as any; nothing fit him anymore.

---*---

Cozy Glow wasn't sure what to expect a month ago when she found herself awake, aware, and considerably more fleshy than her colleagues. But, she recognized an opportunity when she saw one, and saw to it that the best course of action was followed; hightailing it in a random direction, ending up at the largest city in the world, and deciding to lure away the weakest link of the chain that had imprisoned her in stone.

The baby had seemed like the obvious choice; lead him away under the pretense of a competitive sport, decimate him, and hold him hostage. It was the type of brilliant plan only an angry child whose brain hasn't functioned properly for some time could think up, and it was gonna work.

And it had, for the first few steps; she was already quite the fighter from skills learned in her younger days, she had acquired quite the fantastic outfit to hide her identity stylishly, and she had managed to drop the letter at the front door of her soon to be opponent's new castle playset. Where her plan fell apart, however, was the one thing she had overlooked in her delirium- it had been, in fact, quite some time since she had last seen the baby.

Spike was massive now.

---*---

Out of all the expectations amassed in his as previously mentioned vague pool, the sight of a small pink gremlin who was Very Obviously Cozy Glow dressed in a flowing, red velvet, Sombra-esque cape, cherry red boxing gloves, and a tri-horned mask made out of shiny metal in what he could only assume was an attempt to hide her identity (thwarted entirely by her unmistakable Darla Dimple cut) was not one of them.

It didn't fall out of his notice just how much he completely and utterly dwarfed her. Neither did her attempts to hide trembles as he touched down on the opposite end of the plateau, caving in a small hole with his four powerful legs and folding his wings. They proceeded to crescendo almost satisfyingly as he leaned his neck down, bringing his car-sized head to her level and snorting, annoyed.

Before he could strum a single vocal cord to inquire as to what her deal even was, she pulled a stunt he couldn't help but respect a little; socking him directly in the nose. Raising his head a little in surprise seemed to give her the needed confidence boost, and she raised her gloves, grimacing. She stared him down for an impressive amount of time as he thought over a response, before her ears dropped and she leaped away from a sudden stone-shattering blow to the ground beneath her.

I guess this is something I'm doing.

His very mysterious opponent seemed a lot less enthusiastic by this point, but saved face nonetheless and attempted to stick her tongue out before remembering that the mask covered her mouth. She was sure he got the idea.

Growling frustratedly, he reared his fist for a second blow, keeping his claws curled and throwing his punch again. It barely connected as she scrambled to dodge, but barely was evidently enough as she flew off course, spreading her wings to catch her mid-tumble and slip into an ungraceful roll down the plateau face. Upon reaching the bottom, she quickly jumped on her feet again, tripping on her cape and tearing it off in her mad squirm.

Leaping into the air, she took a glance back above her to confirm he was still giving chase, spreading her wings and trying to loop back around for another go. No longer forced to balance on a plateau like a deer on a penny, Spike shot into the air after her, opening his jaws to roar mightily and catching her perfectly. The sudden intrusion stopped him dead, and he treaded air as he frantically attempted to remove the blockage.

Cozy flailed around in the wet, humid darkness as she rolled further in, swinging at whatever soft parts she could hit, which was a lot. As she struggled to stand in the foul smelling cave, the floor rose up above her, tossing her back further and colliding her with a hanging piece of meat, which she promptly latched onto, lifted her mask, and bit into as hard as she could.

Spike finally wrapped his forked tongue around the intruder, quickly spitting her out and rearing on her as she struggled to her feet, coughing.

"This has gone on long enough. Take off the mask and-"

She cut him off with another jab at his clawed toe, and he finally gave up, electing to just grab the kid and return to the castle. Hissing like a cat, she leapt into the air as he reached for her, and much to his befuddlement, began flying off in the direction of Canterlot.

That makes it easier.

He took chase after her, making sure to keep a good distance between them while still giving the performance of someone whose life depended on catching the living Bratz doll.

Adrenaline is a powerful drug, and before too long she was zipping over the city in a panic, and Spike was beginning to let himself catch up to her. More and more dubiously likely plans hopscotched through her head as heads turned skyward below her. In her haze, she failed to notice the infamous castle coming up on her until she had nearly collided with it, aileron rolling away from one of the towers and dipping onto a balcony to hide behind the interior walls. She watched with bated breath as Spike turned the corner, looking around for her.

He eventually flew to another part of the castle, and she took a breath, removing her mask and looking around. The room seemed to belong to one of the students of Celestia's school below, filled with bookshelves and a large golden hourglass filled with sand as the centerpiece. Looking around the room, her eyes fell on the open curtains to the large window. An idea began to form in her head.

---*---

Spike dropped on the top of another tower, assuming a bipedal stance and gripping the pire to lean out and look for his target. The city was beautiful this time of day, but it didn't help much to locate Cozy. Just when he was beginning to contemplate giving up, he stiffened at the feeling of tiny hooves on his back. As he reared back and poised to strike like a snake, cloth was suddenly wrapped around his neck as Cozy quickly looped around it, tying a neat knot at the back and dropping on his head.

Cozy's adrenaline spiked again as she covered his eyes and screamed, feeling him thrash below her as he toppled off the tower. One of his claws began scrabbling at the cloth tightly constricting his neck while blindly swinging at the tiny pest with his other claw, roaring. She roared right back, untying a smaller parcel from her back and lifting it above her head; the largest book she could find, Austreaoh, and brought it down as hard as she could. It contacted just as he sliced the tie. His eyes widened for a second as he began to freely revolve in the air, hitting the ground with a groundbreaking crunch.

As crowds began to amass, Cozy Glow took a deep breath, pulling herself out from under Spike's head, climbing on top of him, looking over the faces of bystanders and taking pleasure in their shock. She barked a laugh, raising her still-gloved hooves in the air and happily hollering, eyes challenging those below her.

Author's Note:

The picture that prompted it