Chronicles of the Reformed

by The_Darker_Fonts

Chapter 8: Help!

The clock chimed two in the morning, the final straw for Starlight as she paced restlessly in Cozy Glow’s room. Her heart pounded as she desperately glanced out the window one last time, hoping that she would spot the little pink filly emerge from between the trees at any moment. The darkness of the night, however, didn’t release any little fillies and the seconds ticked by quickly. Panting, knowing she was having a panic attack, her brain raced. She needed to tell somepony she had really messed up, but if Twilight knew she had willingly let Cozy go, it would be game over for both of them.

Running a hoof through her mane, her thoughts dashed to the only other pony she could trust entirely to be there for her and help her without judging. Summoning her magic, she carefully envisioned her room in the School of Friendship and flashed herself to that spot. Blinking at her dark surroundings, feeling herself hyperventilating, she glanced over to what had been her bed a few weeks ago. There, Sunburst lay sleeping deeply. Having taken over the role of principal for her during the summer and fall while she was trying to help Cozy Glow, this was technically his room now, though nothing had really changed.

“Sunburst, Sunburst, wake up, I need your help,” she cried, shaking him through the blankets.

“Gah, what the hay,” he exclaimed, shooting upright and hitting his snout on hers. Both of them yelped in pain, Starlight jumping backwards to rub her stinging nose. Squinting through the dark, levitating his glasses to his face, Sunburst’s eyes went wide as he exclaimed, “Starlight, you’re here!”

Without warning, he lurched forward and gave her a hug, almost falling out of the bed to reach her. She gasped in surprise before smiling a little, returning the hug. He was the first pony other than Cozy she’d seen all week, and after how draining dealing with the chafing remarks and indifference of the filly had been, being greeted with a hug was nice. Her heartbeat slowed, and for a moment she didn’t think about her worries, just grateful that this was how she was welcomed by Sunburst, no matter the hour. Unfortunately, as he pulled away and looked her up and down with a sideways smile, she realized just how strange the situation looked.

She had broken into his room in the middle of the night looking like a colorful stack of hay and had shook him awake. While it would’ve been weirder if she had kept him asleep, the position was nonetheless suspicious and rightly questionable. With a blush, she also realized probably the only reason she was even having thoughts about it being something different were all those buried, unspoken things. Feeling a heat between her legs, she flushed and took a step back, smiling awkwardly as she Sunburst grinned.

“It’s great to see you again, Starlight,” he said, adjusting his glasses slightly, “but it’s the middle of the night. What’re you doing here?”

“I need your help with a problem,” she quickly explained before mentally slapping her face with a hoof at how that sounded.

“It’s the middle of the night,” the stallion repeated, frowning. “Is Twilight having you do some more special research or something on a tight deadline that’s keeping you up?”

“No, not really, but at the same time, kinda,” Starlight tried with a sigh. “Look, I’m about to tell you a whole lot and you’re just gonna need to follow along and listen before asking questions. And if there’s anything particularly shocking, try not to shout about it. We don’t need the School of Friendship to know about… well, this.”

She gestured at him and her while she said it, before once again realizing how terribly insinuating it was. Physically smacking a hoof against her forehead as Sunburst blushed, she quickly amended, “I mean about what I’m gonna tell you, not me being in your room in the middle of the night to tell you it. Sweet Celestia, why am I so bad at talking?”

“You’re not bad at talking, just unclear,” Sunburst offered with a geeky smile. “Please, what’s troubling you, Starlight?”

“Well,” Starlight began, sitting down and trying to ignore the lingering redness in her cheeks, “it started a couple months back, whe Twilight and I were reflecting on what happened to Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow. We knew that what we had done in unifying all of Equestria against them and ensuring their defeat was right, and that the three deserved punishment, but the manner in which the three were contained we disagreed with. Actually, we mostly disagreed with Cozy Glow being trapped in stone for the rest of eternity. Now given, she was an evil little filly who has almost conquered Equestria twice, but the key word there is filly.

“You see, we don’t know anything about Cozy Glow except that she was a villain who misconstrued Twilight’s teaching to mean she could use friendship for control. Before that, though, she had to be a normal filly, a filly who lived somewhere in Equestria and had a mother and father. Now we never expected the parents to willingly give their identities away, because Celestia forbid my daughter ever attempts to take over Equestria, I wouldn't want ponies to judge me either. However, they had to be out there somewhere, and Cozy Glow is far too young to be encased in stone for eternity. While her mistakes are big, the punishment was much too severe. So, using the Elements, we brought her back and now I’m taking care of her, or was.”

“Hold up, you plan on having a daughter,” Sunburst questioned, rubbing his head with a hoof.

“I just told you that Twilight, the Elements, and I brought back Cozy Glow and you’re hung up about me saying I want a daughter,” Starlight deadpanned. When the stallion nodded sheepishly, she exclaimed, “Yes, I want a daughter, but that’s not the point! The point is that I had Cozy Glow in my care and I let her run off never to be seen again!”

“You what,” Sunburst shouted, startling Starlight.

“Yeah, that’s the appropriate response,” she grimaced, bowing her head in embarrassment. “I thought I was doing the right thing, showing her that I was willing to trust her and that she wasn’t a prisoner. She left, but I thought for certain she would return!”

“Why would you think that, Starlight,” Sunburst loudly asked, his eyes wide. “She’s Cozy Glow for Celestia’s sake! I’m not even sure if I really agree with you letting her out in the first place, let alone you being the one to take care of her. Why would you believe she would just return of her own accord?”

“Because it’s what I did, back when Twilight was trying to reform me,” she answered with a shrug.

“Thanks Celestia, but Cozy Glow isn’t you, and you aren’t Cozy Glow,” the stallion pointed out, calming down slightly. “Look, I think I understand where you’re coming from though with her returning, it’s just way too early to give her that amount of freedom this early on. She’s probably gonna go run off now and begin scheming a way to get back at Equestria for trapping her in the first place. Sweet Celestia, this really is panic-worthy…”

“Unless you help me find her,” Starlight suggested sheepishly, feeling bad for pulling him into this mess. “I… I know it’s not really my place to ask you with help for my mistake-”

“No, I’ll help you for certain,” Sunburst quickly told her with a smile. His grin dropped as he became more studious, tapping a hoof on his chin as stared at the ground. “It’s catching the filly that we really have to be worried about. I mean, she’s a pegasus, so that’ll mean she’s probably already miles away from wherever you had her. If we’re lucky, she’ll have stopped for the night at some point, giving us a little time to figure this out. Now, where were you keeping Cozy? We may just be able to stop her before she comes across anypony.”

“Wait, you’re helping me, just like that,” Starlight asked, stunned temporarily. “No explanations, no begging, no toeing the line?”

“Well, I am pretty uncertain of what I’m getting myself into, but what the hay,” Sunburst shrugged. “We’ve got one of Equestria’s most dangerous threats on the loose. You can explain everything to me once we have her contained again. Besides, it’s been more than a year since anything exciting’s happened. Might as well get back into the swing of things with a wild filly chase without Princess Twilight’s knowledge!”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug. “You’re the best, Sunburst!”

“Th-thank you,” he chuckled nervously before escaping her grasp. “Though flattery won’t get us anywhere. So where did you keep Cozy Glow before she got away from you?”

“At my grandmother’s old mansion outside of Sire’s Hollow,” Starlight winced, rubbing her shoulder with a hoof in mild embarrassment. “It was the most out-of-the-way, large space I knew where nopony would bother us while trying to work things out. It also just so happens to be on the crossroads of Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and Canterlot.”

“Ah, so it’s imperative we move with haste then,” Sunburst muttered, looking a little down from the news. “At least nopony around Sire’s Hollow itself will know what she looks like… except for my mom. Maybe, even if she is spotted, it won’t incite a riot.”

“That’s probably asking too much of our luck,” Starlight replied with a sigh. “We’ll be lucky if she hasn’t been spotted, let alone hopped a train to somewhere she could easily be recognized. Ooooh, Twilight’s never gonna trust me again after this mess.”

“If you told her what’s going on, maybe she’d be more lenient and we’d be able to find Cozy quicker,” Sunburst gently suggested.

“I know, it’s just that this… problem,” Starlight began, before finding she didn’t have the words to describe what she was feeling. After several more seconds of stammering, she blushed and looked away, grumbling, “Nevermind, it’s stupid.”

“No it’s not,” the unicorn replied with a knowing smile. “I think I understand, and when this is all over, we’re gonna need to have a real talk about your self-confidence.”

“You’re one to talk,” Starlight giggled, giving him a playful punch.

“Hey, you know it’s much easier to help with other pony’s problems than face your own,” he replied defensively, grinning as the two laughed softly. After a moment, his smile faded slightly as he stared at her. It returned suddenly, as her’s began to fade in concern. Before she could ask what was going on, he told her, “You’ve got a pretty smile. I didn’t notice that before.”

“M-m-must be the moonlight,” she tightly mumbled, glancing away as she blushed.

“Well, I may be socially awkward, but I’m smart enough not to rescind a compliment to a mare,” Sunburst shrugged, turning over his shoulder. “I’lll pack a few things we might need for hunting down this escaped filly of ours. You just sit tight.”

“Yeah,” Starlight agreed absently, watching the stallion move to get his satchel and levitating a few books. Unable to deny the fluttering of her heart and the heat between her legs, she grumbled to herself, “Sweet Celestia, I’m down bad…”

Author's Note:

Questions, comments, and concerns always welcome and wanted!

Comments

[Wild Stallion]

Daww! Starlight's bounding! And she wants a filly. And Cozy's still out there somewhere Hmm. I wonder.... Nah! Probably not.

[Ryebuck Coppercap]

I just love how awkward Starlight is in this chapter :p

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11609280
Probably what? You've got my attention!

[Wild Stallion]

11609587
Was Starlight Glimmer going to adopt Cozy Glow?

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11610237
Well, far too early to tell, but it is the story of redemption for two. In all seriousness, I can't confirm or deny that, as it's obviously potential plot material given the way the story started. However, it all depends on chapters not quite written and development not yet seen.