What happens to Golly?

by Golly4Ever

Cozy?

It was the first day back in class from vacation. Astral sat nervously in her seat. It was difficult for her to concentrate on her studies and assignments with the salmon-pink elephant in her room; filly, rather. Cozy had persuaded Astral not to introduce her to Twilight right away. Classes were just getting started back up again, after all.

Cozy was nervous about it too. She was pretty sure Twilight would remember her once-star student gone rogue. It wasn't the kind of thing you would so easily forget. "She trusted me. I betrayed her trust. How can I possibly earn that back?"

"You have my trust," said Astral. Cozy was sure that wasn't going to be enough, though.

Either way, this was going to have to be something to build up to. Somehow. In the meantime, Astral left Cozy alone back in her room with the cockatrice to keep each other company, along with some activity books and stuff to keep her busy throughout the day. Nopony was assigned to take her roommate's place, which fortunately worked out for both Cozy and Astral.

The bell rang and the class was putting away their things when Twilight addressed her students. “For those of you who haven't finished your Hearth's Warming Assignment, the final day to turn it in will be tomorrow!" she said as she cleared the blackboard. "Seriously, you had all vacation to do it."

"Aww, but we were on vacation!" moaned a student, on his way out.

"That's why it's called Vacation work! Anytime is the best time to study!" said Twilight, happily. “Also, one more thing, some artifacts have come up missing from their display cases throughout the school. If you happen to see or find them, please return them to me or a guard as soon as possible. They may be old, but the magic inside can be dangerous and can last for eons."

* * *

The door to the dorm room opened and Astral stepped inside, quickly closing it behind her. She was greeted with the musk of stuffy filly and snakebird. She used her magic to open a window to let in some fresh, cold air.

"Oh! Welcome back!" said Cozy. She sat in the middle of the room surrounded by Astral's books and writing materials. There were crude drawings of the two of them doing various outdoor activities.

"Thank you,” said Astral. “I hope you weren't too bored with the books I left for you. Sorry there's not much for you to do here." She sat her bookbag down on the floor next to the desk and started arranging and organizing the clutter while Cozy moved up to sit on the bed. The cockatrice nested quietly in the top bunk.

"Oh, I kept myself plenty busy while you were in Twilight's class, with Twilight and all. It was Terrific!" said Cozy. She seemed exceptionally cheery, but with the long first-day back in class, Astral paid it no mind.

"That's good. Do you think you're ready to see Twilight, today?" asked Astral.

"No!” said Cozy, abruptly. “Um, I mean, no. Not yet. Can you give me just a teeny little longer? Please?" she asked, putting on her cute face. It was a tactic that had worked on many ponies before. She had hoped it would also work on Astral.

Astral knew though. She could see right through it. She was also too exhausted to deal with anything else that day that didn't involve chillaxing. "Well, I guess so," said Astral. "Whatever it is you're up to..." she started to say as she flopped down face first onto the bed next to Cozy and closed her eyes.

"Everything's gonna be A-Okay!" commented Cozy as she patted Astral on her back.

"I'm glad we're in our final term, and School will be out soon," said Astral.

"Soon..." said Cozy.

"Soon," repeated Astral.

Another day passed and Cozy successfully postponed meeting twilight yet again. This went on for several days. Cozy would try and find any excuse not to face the music, while Astral would look for any excuse to postpone the inevitable. She didn't care how fake Cozy was being at that point. Everything else between them was real and genuine, as far as she could tell anyway.

Enough was enough, though. Astral knew she couldn't keep running from her responsibilities forever, whatever she thought they were. "Nope! We're doing this today!"

"Oh, alright. Even if I make this face?" said Cozy, pulling her curls down and pouting.

Astral rolled her eyes. "No. We have to do this." She continued getting her stuff together for the day.

"We could just run away together, you and me. I know a nice cozy spot just outside Equestria you swear it could be right next to Ponyville, but nope! Only danger, dirt and grime surrounds it."

"As nice as that sounds, no." She hoisted her saddlebags filled with textbooks onto her back. "We've already gone over the plan: You come over after class, and wait outside the classroom while I talk to Twilight, and then you will come in. Ok?" she asked.

"Oh, alright," Said Cozy, dejectedly.

"It won't be that bad. I promise! Then you won't have to be cooped up in here hiding out all day."

"I guess so."

* * *

Class had seemed to drag on forever. That was until the final bell rang. Once students gathered their things and shuffled off for the day, Astral couldn't believe just how quickly it was over already. She stayed behind to approach Twilight at the front of the class.

"Um, Professor, err-- Princess Twilight?" asked Astral.

"Professor, dear. Is there something I can help you with?" asked Twilight as she cleared the blackboard.

"Oh! well, I just wanted to introduce you finally, to my friend is all. The one that I’ve been talking about?" said Astral. She wanted to hide in front of the desk and disappear; just forget the idea entirely. It was too late, though. Cozy could not be put back in the box. She shouldn't. Astral knew deep in her heart that Cozy deserved another chance, and this was going to have to be it.

"Oh? Introducing new friends is always a wonderful thing," said Twilight, happily as she continued to move the eraser across the board.

"Right. Um. Well, She's not exactly new, you see," said Astral. 'Just shrink right down to the size of that apple on her desk and dive right behind it.’

"How do you mean?" asked Twilight, as she sat the eraser down and turned to face Astral.

Astral looked up at Twilight. "I know you've met her before, but I promise you, she is a good friend," said Astral, turning towards the door and speaking up. "Ok Cozy, you can come on in!"

"Co-zy?" asked Twilight, cocking an eyebrow.

Nopony entered the classroom.

Astral spoke up a little louder than before, "Cozy Glow! That's you!"

"Cozy, Glow? What is the meaning of this?" asked Twilight. Her face and voice shifted from warm and welcoming to that of a more serious tone.

'Oh, she knows. She remembers. She definitely remembers.' Astral laughed nervously as she quickly trotted to the open doorway to peak out and around the corner. The hallway was empty. "Uh. Maybe she's still back in the room?" she said, pulling her head back into the classroom to present an awkward smile to the Princess of all Equestria.

Twilight's wings began to instinctively extend to an authoritative regal pose. "There is only one Cozy Glow that I know of, and I know she's out in the garden, and definitely not running around loose in Celestia’s school!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Um well, about that..." said Astral.

Twilight spoke sternly to her student. "Astral Bell, take me to your room," she said before shouting out loudly. "Guards!"

Astral gulped, thinking to herself, 'What have I done?'

* * *

The dorm room door swiftly burst open. Two guard ponies hurriedly marched their way in, standing to the sides after a quick glancing look around. "Clear!" they shouted.

In walked Twilight, followed by Astral. Twilight reared back, "Oh dear Celestia, why does it smell like Fluttershy's cottage in here?" She quickly magic'd open the window, using her wings to circulate the air a little bit. Astral nervously looked up to the top bunk. It was clear there was no pony hiding up there, but she knew what lay beneath the bundle of covers on the end. She hoped with all her might that it would stay quiet and still.

Twilight looked around, "Nopony is here. If this is some sort of a joke, it's not very--" Twilight said, being interrupted.

"It isn't, I promise. She stays here while I'm in class. Look, these are the books I got for her to read while I was out in your class and everything!" said Astral as she picked up a book bag. Out fell an assortment of artifacts with a loud clatter, spreading out onto the floor in front of Astral, Twilight and the two guards.

Twilight looked down at Astral, "You've got some explaining to do, Astral Bell!"

"It-- It's not what it looks like. I don't know where these came from," said Astral. 'If I shrink down small enough, I can just pop out of existence.' Her breaths became short and shallow. Things were not going how she planned at all. "I'm sorry!" 'If not out of existence, I'll settle for small enough to dive in the crack in the floor, please'

"Oh? And how did they get here?" asked Twilight.

"I-- I don't know! I didn't take them, honest!" insisted Astral. "I'm so sorry!!"

Twilight motioned the guards to pick up the artifacts. "They're all here, princess. All except for two," said one of the guards.

Twilight turned to face the guards, concerned. “Which ones?” she asked.

"The bell, your highness," said the guard.

"The bell and the black crystal,” said the other.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Twilight and Astral, simultaneously. Twilight flashed a dirty look to her student. Astral felt in that moment that she actually did shrink down if only just a little bit.

"Quickly, we must get to the throne room!" said Twilight, commanding everypony.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the wait on this one!

Again, I feel like it's a little thin, but there isn't really much to say in this one. BUT, do know that it's now almost three times the length of the original writing.

I'm open to all manner of suggestions on improving this one. The overall story here seems to be a little weak to me, reading it now, but this is how it went originally. It's a major reason for the delay in getting it posted. It was the first fic I wrote so it all seemed good at the time, but not so much anymore. Yet, having gone this far, I can't figure out a better way to it but to go through it.

That said, I'm re-writing what I can come up with that is hopefully better than the sloppy rushed origins from which it came. Please hang in there! I promise the Astral/Cozy saga only gets better from this story on.

Comments

[AllenVth]

I hope that whatever Cozy is planning, is to use against the third party that's been hiding in the shadows.