Crystal Heart: After the Swarm

by Betty_Starlight

Chapter 18: And Friendship Brought Happiness

His eyes go skyward, “Oh, yes! Butter-shy or whatever her name was!”

I continue to smile and say, “Close! Uh, you never answered my question though… Exactly what do you really want…”

His eyes widen at me, “Do you really want to know?”

By this point, I must confess that I’m growing a tad annoyed as I widen my eyes, frown, and say, “Well, yes!”

<*****>

I widen my eyes, “Bungee jumping! Did not see that one coming!” as I stood there on the dam, while the small pink pegasus filly stood to my right and the aging centaur stood in front of me.

His eyes widen, “Well, if you’ll recall, when I still had power, I was an impressive bodybuilder! I liked doing extreme things like this from time to time, just because it always made me feel alive…” they go to the heavens. “I haven’t done anything like this in so long that just the thrill of the wind in my face as I’m free-falling towards the ground sounds magical to me!”

“I still think you’re insane!”

Cozy turns her head left towards me, “You know, I got wings! If something goes bad on my drop, I can just fly back up!”

I turn my neck slightly towards her, “This is true!”

She nods, “Right! And you can still shapeshift! Why not grow a pair of wings? You know, just for right now?”

I adjust my gaze to the centaur and think to myself that he would probably see that as a sign of weakness? “No, I believe I’ll be going wing-less this time…” I smile. “Since I’m going to jump anyway, I might as well make it interesting!”

Tirek finally speaks again in his raspy voice, “Are you sure?”he raises his claw, “I mean, if I turn into pizza from this, I assure you, I won’t mind in the least! But you might actually want to keep on living?” and lowers it.

I nod, “I’m positive! I want a thrill!”

Suddenly, I hear the magenta unicorn speaking from my right, “Crystal! That’s nonsense! You should transform into a pegasus now, so you’ll have wings if anything goes south!”

I turn my head towards her and widen my eyes in desperation, “But Starlight!”

She lowers her gaze and says, “I care a lot more about you than some silly thrill!”

Tirek makes a whoop-pow whipping noise right before Cozy visibly chuckles to herself silently…

I narrow my eyes at the centaur, “Fine! Let’s just get this over with! Do you wish to jump first or should I?”

<*****>

I stood there on the edge of the dam and I gaze back over my right shoulder to ask the centaur behind me, “How do I know you didn’t cut my line so I’m about to fall to my death?” before fluttering the feathered new aquamarine appendages at my sides…

Tirek logically explains while raising his right claw, “Why would I do that Crystal? What have I to gain by it?” before lowering it… “Besides! You have the wings now, remember?”

I nod, “Okay, you make a point!” before adjusting my neck to the drop in front of me on the edge of the dam… I look down and see that it’s a long fall… I gulp and stare at this giant chasm I’m about to leap into…

“Crystal! Are you going to leap?” I hear the grizzled old centaur ask from behind me…

I take a deep cleansing breath in through my nose and let it out my mouth before replying, “In good time, centaur…” before looking down again and thinking to myself that this won’t be so bad. I mean, it’s not that far, r-right?

I gulp again as I hear the filly whispering to the centaur, “_{She’s getting ready!}”

“_{I know that!}” Tirek whisper back…

I widen my eyes and snap to attention, “Going down!” I say calmly as drop from the ledge to go screaming towards the ground as the wind blows through my mane at faster and faster speeds!

I must admit, the feeling of adrenaline is incredible as I suddenly feel the line snap and pull while tied firmly around my right hind legs and I feel the tug of the line as it pulls me back up and my body and weight suddenly reverse direction to go back skyward!

I feel released and light as a feather as my equine body is thrown up in the air before I feel gravity beginning to take hold of me once more and I again begin to plummet…

And for the second time, I see the bottom of the chasm beginning to grow larger as I stared wide eyed and screamed at the sudden rush and excitement of what I was doing!

<*****>

After the stallion had unhooked me from my bungee gear, I watched the centaur fall from the balcony on the other end of the dam… I saw his quadruped form fall with the rope attached to his back right leg and I suddenly saw it suddenly grow taught and snap back up as his body once again, began to ascend from the chasm… I saw these things and I heard something I’ve never heard before… I heard Tirek screaming in amusement!

“He seems to be having fun, huh?” The pink pegasus at my left says to me from her hooves.

I turn my neck to her and look down at her, “Yes he does! Do you suppose we did a good thing here?”

She nods, “Well, golly! He’s had nothing for all this time between this, being in stone, and Tartarus earlier! And now, well, he finally has a thrill!” before looking over to where the centaur flew up and down as a raspy voice screamed in fun!

I frown at this sight, “I see… Why did we do it again?”

“Because I’m better than that now, Crystal…”

I turn my head back to the filly…

She lowers her gaze slightly, “I know he just used me and I know I should never trust him again… “she raises and widens it. “But I also know that I’m a good filly now and that I just want to make everypony happy!” before smiling her toothy grin…

“What about you Cozy? What would make you happy?”

Her eyes stop with a start as her snout goes agape, “Uh, what?”

I smile, “Yes Cozy! Let’s make you happy now! What would it take to make Cozy Glow happy?”

She stares at me blankly, “Um, I don’t know…”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

Her eyes go to the sky, “Well golly gee, mom!” and back down to me. “I never actually thought about it, you know?”

“Remember when I hugged you and gave you your stuffed bear earlier?”

She blinks, “Yes!”

“Where you happy then?”

She frowns, “I think so?”

I smile, “And you needed no power or control to get that way, now did you?”

She smiles back, “No, I did not mommy! Just snuggling my friend and eating my chocolate was good enough!”

I nod, now sure that I’ve reformed the filly! “Right! So what do you want to do now? We can do anything you want, Cozy?”

Her eyes widen as a frown forms on her snout, “Anything, huh?”

<*****>

Cozy stares at the Crusaders in out living room, “So, anyway, I thought that since we’re starting over or whatever, that we should do it proper and begin by us just hanging out together and doing activities and stuff!”

The burnt orange pegasus on the left nods her head as her purple mane goes up and down, “That makes sense!”

The yellow redheaded filly with the pink bow on the back of her head in the center nods as well, “Well, gosh Cozy! That’s what were tryin’ ta do this whole time!”

The white unicorn filly with the split mane on the right interjects, “Yeah, Cozy! Lets do it!”

Cozy smiles, “Right! And I’m sure that’s why my new mommy will oh so generously give us a party with cake and games and stuff!”

Scootaloo widens her violet eyes, “Oh, really? You think so?”

Cozy finally turns her neck right towards me, where I’m standing on my hooves in the living room and visibly and cutely pouts with a the most sullen look ever on her face, “Well, I’d like to believe she would, but…”

I narrow my eyes, “I see what you’re trying to do here!”

“Well, golly mom! I just wanted to have some fun with my new friends!”

Scootaloo adds, “Who happen to be your old friends!”

Apple Bloom whispers to her, “Shut up Scootaloo!”

“How about it mommy? PLEEEEEAAAASSSEEE?????” She says while pouting cutely…

<*****>

“So wait, what do I do?” The frowning pink pegasus asked with the white blindfold neatly wrapped over her eyes…

Scootaloo says from her right with her raspy voice, “Well, you gotta pin the tail on the pony with your mouth!”

“Oh, golly! But I can’t see anything with this thing over my eyes!”

“That’s the point Cozy! Now just trust me, okay?”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever trusted anypony like this? Well, not since my parents died!”

“That’s fine Cozy! Uh, you ready?”

“Oh, golly!”

Scootaloo uses her mouth to pass the fluffy blue pin to Cozy’s snout, which promptly bites down onto it before she runs slightly right and goes trotting slowly towards the wall with the big brown pony poster on the wall, missing the tail…

Scootaloo yells at Cozy, “Lefter Cozy! You want more to the left!”

Sweetie Belle finally pipes up from behind the orange pegasus, “Further forward Cozy!”

From Sweetie’s right, but still behind Scootaloo, Apple Bloom yells, “Go forward Cozy! You’re not at the wall yet!”

“Oh, golly!” My foal curses between her teeth as she stumbles towards the wall and almost bumps into it.

Apple Bloom excitedly shouts, “Stop Cozy!”

Scootaloo chimes in, “To the left!”

Sweetie Belle adds, “Just a little! Not a whole lot!”

Cozy finally just rears her neck back a few inches before moving her snout to the wall to pin the tail on it… She uses her right forehoof to remove the blindfold from her eyes that soon widen at what they see! “Golly! I was only about half an inch too low! I was almost there!”

Scootaloo adds, “And just a hair to the left! Pretty good shot I’d say!”

Sweetie Belle adds, “That’s probably the best we’ll have all day?”

Apple Bloom cranes her neck left to the white unicorn, “Well, do you suppose I should play?”

Sweetie Belle smiles, “I think that would be okay?”

Cozy finally just blurts out, “Stop rhyming!”

Sweetie Belle sees this and turns her head back right to the apple filly, “Do you suppose we should?”

She replies, “If only we could?”

Scootaloo finally turns around and adds, “Honestly, I just hope we’re understood?”

By this point, the pink filly can’t contain her chuckles… “Oh, golly! That’s enough! Just knock it off already!”

<*****>

The pink filly collects her fork with her right forehoof and sinks it into the big slice of chocolate cake on the little plate in front of her before staring at the other three fillies at the table. She soon brings the morsel to her lips with the silverware and closes her muzzle onto it to bite and begin chewing shortly after removing the fork…

I look down at my foal from the right, “So, you got friends now!”

She finishes chewing and stares up at me, “Well, yeah! But I mean, really?” she blinks. “F-friends? After well, everything I did?”

I smile, “Of course Cozy! This is a fresh start!”

Scootaloo pipes up from Cozy’s right and grins, “A clean slate!”

Sweetie Belle looks at Cozy from across the table and smiles, “A new beginning!”

Apple Bloom looks at Cozy and smiles herself, “A brand-new chapter!”

The pink filly stares forward blankly, “And golly gee, wouldn’t you know? I’m hearing everything in triple now!”

I nod and suppress giggles, “So, how was pinata time?”

She swallows her bite and stares up at me, “Well, I wasn’t able to break it at first!”

I nod, “Right! And that’s when Apple Bloom had her turn!”

The apple filly smiles up at me from the left, “Didn’t stand a chance!”

Cozy looks at her, “Golly! I couldn’t break it, but you did, huh?”

Apple Bloom stares at Cozy, “Well, that’s what friendship and teamwork are all about, Cozy! I mean, you broke it part of tha’ way, but then I came in and finished tha’ job!”

“Am I gonna be learning about this now?”

I smile down at the filly, “What do you think you’ve been doing all day?”

Cozy frowns up at me and is silent for a moment before finally muttering shyly, “So um, did I do good mom?”

(To be continued…)