Cozy's Deja Blues

by kleia

Deja Blues

Our story begins in Ponyville, at the School of Friendship. Cozy Glow's day had just begun, early to rise and start her day. It was nothing short of her average, usual, everyday life. Cozy drew a yawn from deep within her, stretching before hobbling out of her bed in her school dorm. She brushed her mane and put it in her usual do, getting ready for her day. She strapped on her saddle bags and took a look at her calendar.

That's right! Tonight is the opening night of the School Play! They were doing a rendition of Manespray, and any creature in it, be it actors and tech alike, had a pass from class to help wrap up preparations. Wait... hadn't they? Already done prep? Cozy scrunched her face in a confused look. Then it hit her. She had seen every last millisecond of this moment before. She would swear up and down she's done this before. What if she... She smacked a pencil off the desk. Nope, still Deja Vu. She snorted in frustration as the moment ended, and carried on with her day, heading out of her dorm and closing the door behind her.

As she walked to the theater, she figured she'd hit the food court on campus for a quick bite to eat - something she could eat while walking. She opened the doors and looked out at the creatures around her, inhaling the scent of cafeteria food. Most students knew that the budget didn't go towards the food, but today smelled different. Wait. She knew exactly where every creature was, and who they were too. Again?! She had seen every last detail of this moment before. She knew she had. Cozy gritted her teeth together. Maybe this time it would work? She kicked a trashcan near her. Nope. More Deja Vu. She inhaled slowly, then exhaled, to contain her rage as the moment passed again.

She made her way to the line and picked up a fritter, and something to drink. She put the drink in her saddlebag and made her way to the theater, running into a few others who were in the play too. They walked and talked together. "Is anycreature else having wild Deja Vu today?" the dragon at her side said. Cozy nodded instantly. "I have! Twice now!" she replied quickly, almost shouting. The dragon eyed her, but nodded. "And no matter what you do to break it, it's like you've done that too!" the dragon replied. Cozy nodded vigorously.

When they arrived at the theater, there was a wild hustle and bustle. Every creature was frantic, working on this or that, practicing lines and songs. It was loud. Very loud. But the noise was what Cozy was used to from the theater department. She didn't audition for this play, she just wanted to be part of the tech: building sets, sound design, and so on. She liked being in them, but it was also fun doing the tech work.

Cozy spotted a few of her fellow techies on the stage, and placed her saddlebags in one of the seats, before heading onto the stage and joining them. She grabbed a few tools and started getting to work. "This is for the giant mane spray bottle, yes?" she asked, working at the wood. "Sure is," said a griffon, who was also hard at work. "Our lead is gonna come out of this," he continued. "So we need to make sure she has the space to fit inside," he finished. Cozy nodded. "Got it!" she said, looking up at the rounded shape. Wait... what?

No no no... not again! Not again! She remembered every least inch of the cylinder manespray can they were building. Make it stop! She wanted this cursed moment to end. In a fit of rage, she threw the hammer she held, and it hit and impaled the wall nearby with a loud thunk. "Woah! Watch it!" said the griffon who was working with her. "You almost hit me! Sheesh!" he flapped off with a huff.

Cozy looked at the hole she made in the wall, back to the cylinder; wall, cylinder, wall, cylinder. Hyperventilating. Wall, cylinder, wall cylinder. Why wasn't the deja vu ending? Wall, cylinder, wall cylinder. Make it stop! Make it stop! Hyperventilating, wall, cylinder, wall cylinder. Stop! Stop! Stop! STOP! Wall, coffin, "Cozy!" , wall, coffin. Hyperventilate, coffin, wall. "Cozy!"

"COZY!" A mare had shouted. Cozy Glow blinked, looking at the mare who had shouted her name. "Are you okay?" she had asked. "I've been trying to get your attention. You're bleeding!" she said. What? Bleeding? From what? She looked back at the cylinder, to her hoof. A chunk of wood was left in her foreleg, and a piece was missing from the manespray can she had been working on. The griffon was still working, as if he hadn't flapped off angrily at all. What was happening?

The deja vu hadn't gone away yet either. Cozy knew every last piece of wood that shot pain up her leg. "We need to get you to the nurse! Come on!" said the mare. Cozy simply nodded in a daze, her mind elsewhere. She limped behind the mare as they made their way to the nurses office.

Make it stop! She knew every creature in the halls as they made their way, every spec of dust, every last beam of sunlight that was let in through the school's windows. She knew all of it. She had seen all of it. Stop! Stop! Stop! "Cozy? We're here," said the mare.

Cozy shook her head and smiled wearily. "Thank you," she said, limping into the office.

"Oh my!" said the nurse. "Let's get that nasty wood out of there. Come sit down on this bed over here," the nurse said hurriedly. Cozy sat, still knowing every word the nurse was saying, knowing the texture of the bed, the sting and adrenaline as the nurse pulled out the piece of wood.

Again, Cozy spiraled. She looked from the wood in a sanitary tray, to the wall, the door. Back and forth. Wall, door, wood. Wall, door, wood. Make it stop! Stop! Please! Wall, door, bone. Wall, door, bone. Stop, please! Wall, door, "Cozy!", bone. Wall door, bone -

"Cozy!" the mare had shouted again. "You've got to stop spacing out like that. Come on, you're all set and bandaged. I'm gonna take you back to your dorm, okay?" she asked. Cozy met the mare's eyes. They were hollow, and she was nothing but skin and bones. She blinked, and the mare had returned to her original state.

All Cozy could utter was a quiet "What...?" "I'm taking you back to your dorm, Cozy." the mare repeated. No, no, she knew that. But why was she? What in the hell was going on?

Cozy lifted herself off the table with a flap, and flew behind the mare, saying nothing, lost in thought. What was happening? Why was everything she saw, heard, and felt something she knew? Nothing she did to try and break the Deja Vu worked! Perhaps after the play tonight, she'd try and figure it out.

"We're here, rest up. The nurse said that that wood piece wasn't too deep, and you can still do some theater tech if you're up for it." the mare said. Cozy nodded and quietly went into her dorm, shutting the door behind her with a brief thank you to the mare. She stepped up into bed and fell fast asleep.

---

"Good morning Baltimare!
And someday when I take to the floor!
The world's gonna wake up and seeee~!
Baltimare and me!"

The edges of Cozy's vision was blurred, wavy, distorted. Somewhere, as if being sung in another room, she could hear one of the songs of the show being sung. But when she looked around, she found herself deep within the Everfree forest. Where was she? What was happening?

Cozy followed the sound to a stage, placed in a clearing. Since when did they move the stage? Why the forest? She could still hear the singing. On the stage was the manespray prop they were working on earlier. She could hear the voice coming from inside. When she blinked, it changed shape into a coffin, and the closer she got, the more distressed the singing sounded. Eventually, the singing turned into quite crying, which devolved into sobs, then screaming.

With the screaming then came banging, the lid to the coffin shaking. Cozy Glow was frozen with fear. Each bang brought the coffin closer and closer, until it flew open, and crashed down on Cozy.

---

Cozy shot awake, the pain in her leg rearing its head. She yelped as she sat up, breathing heavily. What a horrible nightmare. She checked the time. Shoot! She was almost late for the play, and flew at top speeds to the theater, ignoring the pain in her leg. She flew into the tech booth, and landed quietly. "There you are!" said another student.

"Sorry, I overslept." she said, wincing as her leg met with the ground. The student took notice of her leg and went back to his work.

The theater was full, opening night had sold out. Cozy sat at the lighting controls and got to work, lowering the theater lights. No. No no no no no. Anything but more deja vu! Why more?! She gritted her teeth and bore it. She remembered every little lighting change she had to make, observing the show and remembering every opening night mishap.

Wait... Why was the lead? Dressed as Cozy Glow? She looked around. The theater was suddenly empty. Then she looked at the set. She didn't build any of that! It was a scene of her in her dorm, putting on her saddlebags and checking her calendar as she had done when she first got up.

Cozy watched in shock as the lead went to the theater, injured her leg and went to the nurse. Then she rested, and the play caught up to Cozy's current, in time moment. The lead did every movement she did. The deja vu felt stronger and stronger. Cozy glow had started to hyperventilate again. She looked between her own hooves, the lead dressed as her, the lighting controls.

Hooves, the lead, the controls. Hooves, lead, controls. Hooves, skeleton pony, controls. Hooves, skeleton lead pony, controls. Rotting hooves, skeleton lead, controls. Rotting hooves, skeleton lead growing closer, a six foot deep hole in the ground.

The skeleton lead stopped in front of the hole. Cozy's breath hitched in her throat. The skeleton simply pointed to the hole. Then it hit her.

Cozy Glow was dead.

Author's Note:

Happy Spooky Season! I love writing this evil little brat so much, and got a general, horror based idea to place her in. Anyway, thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please leave a comment, a like, and if you want to see more from me, please consider following!

If you have any critique, I am totally open to it, so long as it's constructive! Being rude for the sake of being rude will be ignored/ blocked.

Thank you Schwabauer for pre-reading.

Comments

[Schwabauer]

Good story! I enjoyed reading it.

[Wild Stallion]

I love writing this evil little brat so much, and got a general, horror based idea to place her in.

She's such a cutie!

If you have any critique, I am totally open to it, so long as it's constructive!

Less of a critique and more of a observation.

There's something missing in the twist which takes the impact out of it.

I honestly don't know what it is, either the characterzation, or the way the situation is presented, but something about it feels too dream like to be very impactful.

Might just be me though.

Either way, thanks for the story.

[kleia]

11387282
That was actually somewhat the vibe I was going for! She doesn't realize she's dead so she's reliving a happier moment, hence the dream like feeling and constant deja vu.

[Wild Stallion]

11387386
Fair enough.

And it works well enough as a dream segment.

The problem is that when it's time to deliver on those tags, we expect a certain emotional kick.

This doesn't really do it.

Again it's not terrible, as works like this do have merit in certain narrative circles.

It just doesn't really work for what people might expect out of a traditional horror or dark story.

[kleia]

11387452
I've never been one to write to "traditional" as you put it - though I'm also out of practice when it comes to horror and dark themes. I'm better at displaying horror and dark themes through other means, such as dystopias, vs just full on like ... horror movie horror, but I do get what you're saying! This piece was good practice in the horror field at least, and if you have any ways I can improve on this type of horror, please let me know.