Chronicles of the Reformed

by The_Darker_Fonts

Chapter 14: There

Dinner that night was awkward, to say the least. Cozy wanted to celebrate, unable to stop smiling at herself for being able to stay with Star, and to a lesser extent, his parents. It wasn’t until they too had stood up for her that she was finally able to accept that they were almost as kindly and forgiving as their son. She didn’t quite trust them, and the feeling was clearly mutual, but she was willing to give them a chance. Unlike everypony else, they seemed to also uphold themselves as archetypes of Equestrian peace and friendship without any semblance of the scorn and deceit Cozy had come to expect from such ponies.

The simple meal of noodles with a tangy, watery sauce with sauteed tomatoes had been whipped up specifically for how late dinner had been pushed by the unexpected visitors of the day. While the visit still left something of a bitter taste, the end result was more than satisfactory compared to what she expected to happen. For reasons beyond her, she couldn’t keep that image of Star jumping to her defense in front of everypony else from flashing through her mind over and over again. He was such a perfect colt and a better friend than she could have ever hoped for.

Cozy was the first to finish her meal, not particularly hungry to start with, and for a few long moments sat staring awkwardly at her plate. She didn’t want to break the uncomfortable silence, but she also didn’t want to rudely get up and leave her plate after everything Star and his parents had done for her today. Finally, she shyly smiled and asked, “Um, Aspen, where do I put the dishes?”

“Oh, there’s a sink in the kitchen,” she answered with a polite smile, though it faded as she muttered, “I guess you didn’t see that earlier…”

“Nope, I did not,” Cozy agreed, somehow even more uncomfortable with the half-hearted small talk than with utter silence. She struggled to keep herself from running right into the kitchen to flee from her embarrassment, but in due time, she made it to the kitchen without a hitch, all while feeling the entire family’s eyes on her. Stepping inside, she rinsed the plate clean and set it in the sink before promptly stepping out.

Star was the only one who was still watching by the time she was finished, giving her a quick smile before also finishing his plate and standing up to put it away. As he walked past her, he whispered softly, “You should say something.”

She wasn’t able to reply before he had moved on, and having paused to listen to the colt, the adults’ attention was once again back on her. They seemed to stare expectantly, though to her relief she saw the same hesitation in their eyes that she felt. Emboldened, the filly bowed her head briefly as she said, “Thank you so much for allowing me to stay. You have no idea how grateful I am that somepony is giving me a chance.”

“Well, you’ve demonstrated that you certainly aren’t a lost cause,” Oak replied, chuckling awkwardly before falling into silence, realizing how uncomfortable of a statement he had made. “Uh, not that you… were before or anything like that…”

“We’re happy that your friendship with our son is tangible and genuine,” Aspen jumped in for her husband. “But it is all still rather shocking. I mean, your name is one of the most well-known in all of Equestria! It’s just… strange for us, having heard so much compared to what we’ve seen ourselves.”

“I’m… well I’m not sorry I lied to you, because I’m afraid you might have kicked me out if you had known who I actually was,” Cozy admitted with a sheepish smile. “I am sorry I was so hostile to you the first night I was here though. I was scared that you’d find out and didn’t know what was up with Star being so kind to me. I’ve never met somepony so unconditionally kind, and it really threw me off.”

“Speaking of which,” Oak said, his eyes on the room behind her. “Star, did you know about Cozy Glow’s real identity?”

“Yeah…” the colt admitted sheepishly from within the kitchen. Cozy turned just in time to catch him slowly emerge from the kitchen, looking slightly ashamed about keeping the truth from his parents. For a fleeting moment, she felt a tinge of fear that he might be punished for his actions, and apparently so did he.

“I was worried that, if you knew who Cozy was, you wouldn’t give her a chance,” he meekly explained. Cozy looked back over to the parents, surprised to find them both listening intently, as he continued, “I found her out there and was worried about what might happen if I just left her in the woods. She was different from the manipulative filly that the stories all described her as from the start, too. She was rude, but that’s because she was scared. She was mistrusting, but I did kinda just appear out of nowhere. Most importantly, she listened to me, but didn’t seem like she wanted to. The Cozy all the stories described would’ve hopped onto the opportunity I had given her instead of stubbornly pressing on. I knew something wasn’t right about the narrative we were being told. Maybe something changed, or maybe it was wrong from the start, but I wanted to find out who this filly was.”

“You did the right thing,” Oak endeared with a proud nod. “I’m ashamed to say that you’re probably right. If we had known this filly was the same one who had threatened Equestria four months ago, I don’t think we would have allowed her to stay.”

“But I do have to ask, Cozy, did something change,” Aspen questioned, her eyes big and concerned, but not for herself. They were worried about her. Aspen, Oak, and especially Star. They were on her side, and she owed it to them to trust them, at least enough to tell them what they should know.

“Well, yes, something did change…” Cozy began, trailing off as shameful hesitation overtook her. Her eyes flitted away from the mare for a moment, a deep, humiliating shame at what she was about to admit burning in her chest. Taking in a long breath, she said, “I was a blind filly. I wanted revenge, and I didn’t think much about it. The first time they caught me, it only inflamed my anger and ambition. I wanted to prove that… that I wasn’t a filly who could be wronged twice without punishment! But then, the Princesses put me in stone and… I…”

Once again, she trailed off, a tightness in her chest constricting her as panic beset her, the thought of that terrible stone imprisonment overwhelming her senses. She began panting, trying to draw enough air into her lungs, but they were squeezed too tight. She couldn’t breathe! The grayness, the dark, freedom completely taken from her and the terrible pain of liberty almost worse than imprisonment. It was too much, and before she could even think about controlling herself, tears were already spilling from her eyes. Just as they began to roll down her cheeks, she felt a hoof on her right shoulder, pulling her in.

She looked up, expecting to see Star there, instead finding Aspen there, a look on her face Cozy was able to immediately recognize in spite of how long it had been since she’d seen one like it. The mare’s gentle, understanding smile and soothing eyes dispersed the awful memories and fear, and her soft, warm hug freed her from her own panic. Her breathing slowed and deepened, and while tears still fell, Cozy didn’t feel the fear and panic from before. The look Aspen was giving her, her soothing embrace… they were something Cozy hadn’t felt in years. The loving care of a mare taking care of her foal.

Sobbing, Cozy wrapped her hooves around the tan mare, practically throwing herself at Aspen in both relief and disbelief. How could this mare, who she had deceived and hidden herself from, be so accepting of Cozy? Why was she able to look at her and see her struggles first and her mistakes last? She couldn’t understand what went on in a pony’s mind that made them act in such a way, what made them trusting and accepting, but she was thankful that Aspen, Star, and Oak were truthfully giving her a chance and more. They weren’t just tolerating her, but caring about her beyond what she could have expected.

She didn’t deserve this.

Another pony joined, resting his against hers from the side as he wrapped a hoof around her as well. She knew it was Star this time, feeling the familiar warmth and tightness of his embrace. It made her aching heart flutter, being sandwiched between the two loving ponies. Letting out a shuddering sigh, she finally stopped crying, a smile emerging from her rapid, indecipherable emotions. She would think about those later; right now, she just wanted to enjoy the love they were showing her. How did she ever think friendship could be controlled? Stupid filly. All it took to learn was imprisonment and three kind, accepting, forgiving ponies, and suddenly she was having epiphany after epiphany.

After a long while, she felt Star pull away and took it as her cue to let go of Aspen, sniffling slightly and wiping her eyes. Glancing around at the three ponies, she blushed, her eyes going to the ground in embarrassment. She’d never reacted to anything in such a manner before. It was uncharacteristic, and the old her would’ve been appalled. Her fur was now a mess, her mane was losing its curl, and the most egregious of all, she had let them see her vulnerable. She had acted exactly like the tiny, weak filly she was supposed to be and had lost control. If that was bad, though, why had it felt so… alleviating?

“Sorry ‘bout that,” she demurely apologized, giving Aspen a timid look. Sweet Celestia, she’d cried all over her nape.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart, it’s good to have a cry,” Aspen replied, smiling brightly. “If you need a minute, it’s all right.”

“No, no, I’m good,” Cozy assured her, wiping her eyes once again before taking a step back and forcing herself to smile. Taking a breath to stifle her heaving, she muttered, “Just not… used to this.”

“Used to what,” Star questioned, his hoof resting reassuringly on her shoulder.

Looking around at the three ponies in the room, all concerned but ready to help her, she answered, “To having somepony there for me.”

Author's Note:

Happy times for Cozy! As always, questions, comments, and concerns welcome and wanted!

Comments

[Wild Stallion]

Aww! This is really lovely!

Nice to see you still working on this story.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of this families adventures with Cozy.

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11845746
Yeah, the delay was me trying to do too much last month and neglecting this story. And don't worry, adventures they will be...

[Wild Stallion]

11846456
Well, I don't mind waiting. I always love more heart warming Cozy Glow stories.

[Communist_Egor]

A new chapter is out, yay! Thank you for this story: seeing a fic where Cozy finds a family and it's not Chrysalis and Tirek is very interesting. I saw a similar idea only in one of the best fanfictions about Cozy Glow from a compatriot (fanfiction “The Extinguished Candle”: https://ficbook.net/readfic/9945762
So far only in Russian, but the author is already working on the translation).
Looking forward to the continuation!

[RainbowSwift271]

Thank you for the update! This just keeps getting better and better