Cozy Hearts

by Princess Starflight

Chapter 11 - Flight

Cozy plunged into the forest, barely able to hold it in. She let out a cry of anguish and ran faster. Tears blurred her vision, and she didn't know where she was going. She didn't care.

Unlike other ponies, Cozy Glow wasn't afraid of the Everfree Forest. She found it rather comforting, actually. When she was still a little filly running away from her abusive parents (only to return home after a few hours), she always went to her own special place deep in the Everfree Forest. It was her safe place, where she could ignore her worries and just calm down.

Without knowing it, that was exactly where she ended up when she at last could not run any longer and rested, panting and sweating.

She took a moment to realize that. Then she frowned in disapproval, despite the feeling of tranquility that was now settling over her. Why'd she run here? Yes, this little area did make her feel better, but only fillies cried and ran away like two-year-old babies when they were scared of something.

"I'm not scared of anything," Cozy said to herself.

The wind howled, as if laughing at her for trying to believe that.

Cozy grunted in response, deep in thought.

Her mom had always said, when confronted with a bad situation, cowards take flight and strong ponies fight. And Cozy had, quite literally, taken flight. Did that make her a coward? Well, golly, this was bad.

Then she got mad at herself for even caring about what her stupid mom thought. She's probably dead, anyway. Why do I care what she thinks?

Cozy sighed. This was all too confusing. She needed a moment to think. She decided to swim in that little pond near her place. She'd even drank some of its water before, and nothing had happened to her, so it must be clean. Probably.

It dawned on her that she hadn't bathed in, like, ten years. Ewww. Why didn't she bathe at the Crystal Castle? Or at the CMCs' house?

Cozy started walking. Within a few minutes, the pond came in sight. Without a second thought, Cozy dove in.

The water was colder than she expected, but she would get used to it soon. Besides, it was a sunny day. Cozy dunked her head a few times and swam further out. It was a small pond, but Cozy liked it.

The water was refreshing and cleared her mind a bit. It was time to think.

Were the Crusaders actually telling the truth? Well, I think they were. Apple Bloom kind of is a horrible liar. Why didn't they tell me earlier? Eh, probably too stupid to remember. Did I actually kill Snowlight and Galaxy? Am I a murderer? And as a filly, even! Okay, but why do I feel so bad? I'm supposed to be evil. This is weird...

On second thought, maybe Cozy shouldn't think. Too confusing. Her intelligent brain felt like it was going to explode.

Cozy sighed. She was perplexed. Why was she suddenly feeling so un-evil? Why didn't she hate the ponies as much as she should? Why did she feel bad for Snowlight and Galaxy? Why was everything so confusing?

And a million other questions.

Cozy suddenly realized she was getting a little cold, so she dunked her head one more time and trudged out of the pond.

"Cozy! Where are you?"

Cozy's eyes went wide. She turned her head left and right. Nopony was there. Then she heard the sound of flapping, and looked up.

Princess Flurry Heart was hovering in the air above her. Cozy tried to hide in the pond, but it was too late. The alicorn had seen her.

"Cozy!" Flurry said, landing next to the sopping wet pegasus. "Where were you? What happened?"

Cozy sighed. "I was right here the whole time. And nothing happened, I just wanted to, y'know, take a dip."

Flurry raised an eyebrow, about to ask more. Then she noticed the pond behind Cozy, and gasped audibly. "Cozy, that's the Good Pond!"

"What do you mean?"

"The Good Pond," Flurry said, instantly going into Twilight mode. "The Good Pond is a small yet legendary pond rumored to be in the Everfree Forest. Folks say that just being near it makes you feel better, which is what gave it its name. Um, and it said that only ponies with a pure heart can find it, and then only at times when they really need it. Not sure what that means..." Flurry looked at Cozy awkwardly. Both of them knew exactly what that meant, but Flurry continued. "Well, anyway, it said, um, if that pony with a pure heart finds it, then his or her friend can find it, too...if they're really true friends of that pony..."

Golly, this was getting more awkward by the second.

The idiot princess kept on going, though. "I thought it was just an old mare's tale. But...you found it!" She smiled. "That's amazing!"

Cozy shrugged. "It probably still is an old mare's tale. I mean, I found this old thing when I was four and a half."

Flurry actually teleported a few feet in surprise. "WHAT! You're kidding!"

"Am not."

"That is AWESOME!"

"No it's not. It's just an old pond."

Flurry shook her head. "Don't question the magic and power of the Good Pond. It's so powerful...that...um..."

"What?" Cozy asked.

"If you drink the water of the Good Pond...well, it's not really meant to be drank, and..."

Oh, no. "And what?"

"It'll turn you evil." Flurry shuddered. "Well, if the pony who drinks it accepts the evil, of course. But they wouldn't have a pure heart if they accepted it, right? But sometimes the pond allows a few ponies to find it, just because it feels bad for them, not because they have a pure heart, though they might. And that is how sometimes ponies can turn evil because of the Good Pond. At least, that's what the story said."

"It is not a real story," Cozy said, growing more scared by the moment.

"It is!" Flurry shouted.

"Is not!" Cozy insisted.

"Why isn't it?" Flurry challenged.

"Um, because..."

"It is a real story. See, the pond's glowing with magic. Like the story said." And this time, Cozy didn't even try to deny it. She knew that Flurry spoke the truth. And that bucking terrified her.

If I actually drank the water when I was four, which I did, and if that old mare's tale is actually true, which it is...

...am I actually evil at all?

For a second, Cozy thought it was a beautiful idea, a wonderful dream. Then she caught herself.

Of course I'm evil! I don't have a pure heart at all. I was just so pathetic that the pond let me find it, and then I, thankfully, drank some water from it, and accepted the evil. And that was very bad, and very evil of me to do that. Phew! Of course I'm evil. Yes, that must be it. Obviously.

But Cozy still wasn't convinced. She needed to do some research. But how could she come up with an excuse so Flurry wouldn't grow suspicious?

Then Cozy had a brilliant idea. She would ask Flurry in the name of Twilight! She knew Twilight would definitely approve of her going to the library. Twilight was a huge nerd. And she knew Flurry loved her aunt so much she would do anything that she said.

But somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she wouldn't find anything more than what Flurry had told her. The feeling grew and gnawed at her so much that she decided to just call off the whole trip to the library. Besides, she didn't want the librarian to freak out over her and have a heart attack. Wait, when did she care about other ponies having heart attacks? Oh, whatever.

Cozy asked Flurry, "Okay, this is totally hypothetical. Say that I drank some of the water, and then drank more later. Would that affect me? Totally hypothetical. Just curious."

Flurry looked suspicious, but she answered. "Nope. The story says so."

"Oh, okay." Cozy almost sighed with relief. Then she became confused. Why was she relieved? She should be disappointed. Didn't she want to be more evil?

Honestly, she didn't really know what she wanted anymore.

"Well...we should be getting back," Flurry pointed out. "After we tell the Cutie Mark Crusaders what happened, we can..."

"Please, Flurry. I'm begging you as a potential friend, please don't tell the Crusaders!" Cozy blurted out, rather suddenly.

Flurry looked at her. "Um, okay. I guess, if you want to keep it between us two."

Huh. That was easy. "Golly, thank you so much, you don't know how much I-"

"That's enough," Flurry cut her off. "Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. After we, um, tell the Cutie Mark Crusaders what happened, excluding the Good Pond incident, we can go back to the Crystal Empire. Sound good?"

"Okay, but...can we get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Sure. When we're at the castle."

Cozy groaned and moaned like a zombie. "I'm hungry...feed me..."

Flurry laughed. "Shut up."