A True Princess

by bahatumay

A Second Chance

Being turned into stone was a thankfully rare experience. Very few ponies had had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of that spell.

Flurry Heart took a deep breath as she looked upon one of those unlucky few.

She seemed innocent enough, especially compared to the centaur and the snarling insectoid mare beside her. Her hooves were clasped around her cheeks, a look of horror frozen on her face.

They’d said she was crazy. Unrepentant. Defiant. A complete psychopath.

But right now, she was her best bet.

Taking a steadying breath, Flurry lit her horn and focused the spell. She started at her hind legs, and the stone slowly gave way, revealing a filly with a pink coat and curly blue ringlets in her mane.

As the last of the stone vanished, the filly collapsed forward and let out a gasp as the sensation of feeling returned. She sat up and groaned, rubbing her head.

“Cozy Glow,” Flurry said, trying to sound confident without startling her.

Cozy’s eyes snapped up, her eyes wide, her ears pinned.

Flurry winced. Nailed it. She tried to soften her voice as she continued. “I am Flurry Heart, and I have a proposition for you.”

“Who, me?” she asked, pointing innocently at herself. She giggled cutely, and held out both hooves and shook them. “No, no, I’m not Cozy Glow.” She pointed over to her left. “She is.”

Flurry instinctively turned to look.

A flurry of wingbeats made her spin back around. Cozy had taken off in a desperate bid to escape.

But being turned to stone tended to take a toll on a pony, and her flight ability was somewhat hampered. Even though she was only running on the ground and not flying, Flurry caught up easily, and tackled her to the ground. “Cozy!”

“Let me go!” Cozy squealed, struggling to escape.

“Quit-! I’m not-!” She was a squirmer! “Would you-?

Cozy got in a lucky shot to her stomach with a hind leg, and Flurry was stunned enough that Cozy could wriggle her way free. She took off, her little wings buzzing furiously.

Oh, mom’s gonna flip, Flurry thought urgently. She lit her horn and spawned a shield around the little pegasus, a modification of her dad’s spell.

Cozy hit it, rebounding off, then buzzed around like a bee against a window, hooves tapping, desperately looking for any weakness in the spell, but of course she found nothing. She let out a distressed squeak.

And for the first time, it really dawned on Flurry that despite everything she had done, she was still just a young filly, and right now, she was scared out of her mind. She tried again, even softer this time. “Cozy, my name is Flurry Heart, and I’m here to help you.”

“Help me?” Cozy repeated dubiously. She slowed her wings and dropped to the bottom of the shield, turning hesitantly to face her.

Flurry inhaled. Progress. “That’s right. I’m here to offer you a chance for redemption, to be a part of pony society again.”

“No more stoning?” Cozy asked hopefully, her head tilting slightly to one side.

“No more stoning,” Flurry confirmed.

Cozy gave her a sideways glance. “What’s in it for you?”

“Nothing,” Flurry Heart said, hoping it didn’t come out too fast. “Just… giving a pony another chance, that’s all.”

It could have just been a shadow, or a trick of the light reflecting across the spell; but for the briefest moment, Flurry thought she saw a scowl flitter across Cozy’s face. But then it was gone, leaving only the large eyes and confused little smile of a filly. Maybe she’d just imagined it.

Either way, Cozy didn’t seem fully convinced, so Flurry pushed onwards. “Believe me, I’m your best shot at getting back to a normal life. Nopony else wanted to give you a chance.”

Cozy considered this. “So basically, my options are say no, and go back to being a statue; or say yes, and possibly be a statue?”

Flurry inhaled, ready to correct her, and then realized that yes, that’s basically what it boiled down to. “Yes?” she wheedled. Not a particularly strong argument when she put it like that.

So it was a bit of a surprise when Cozy smiled brightly. “Well, golly. It’d be pretty silly of me to turn down an opportunity like this. I’m in,” she said cheerfully, pressing a hoof against the shield as if for bumping. “I promise, you won’t regret it.”

Flurry sighed with relief. That was easier than she’d expected. “Alright,” she said, canceling the spell and bumping Cozy’s hoof. “We’re going to the Crystal Empire, so let’s get flying.”

Cozy winced. “Gee. That sounds really far away.” She extended her wings, and they sagged like they were wet. She gave them a half-hearted shake. “Getting turned to stone really takes it out of a pony. Can you give me a ride?” she asked hopefully.

Flurry shook her head.

Cozy’s eyes widened further, her ears dropped back, pulling out all her cuteness stops.

Flurry shook her head.

---

Flurry Heart sighed as she flew, with the little pegasus clinging tightly on her back. Her resistance hadn’t lasted long. That probably wasn’t a good thing.

But she had to admit it was adorable how she snuggled on tighter as the air grew colder.

Finally, the spires of the Crystal Empire came into view. She landed lightly and ruffled her wings. “We’re here,” she said. “You can walk the rest of the way.”

Cozy alighted and stretched, extending her forelegs and wings and pawing at the ground as she yawned. She shivered and fluffed her wings to give herself a little more warmth. “It’s pretty chilly up here,” she observed.

It was strange just how normal this conversation was. This was the little filly that had almost destroyed Equestria twice? She shook her head.

The walk up to the castle seemed to take a lot longer than it normally did, that crystalline path seeming to stretch out for miles. The crystal ponies didn’t seem to recognize Cozy, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that somepony was about to scream and darken a few shades and set off a crystal pony stampede, and then everything would really be a mess.

Cozy seemed to notice. She gave her a gentle bump with her hips. “You alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Flurry said, trying to sound unconcerned.

“If you say so. Something tells me you didn’t exactly get permission to bring me back to the land of the living,” Cozy said.

Right in one, though Flurry didn’t want to tell her that. “This plan was signed off on by an alicorn princess,” she said tactfully.

Cozy giggled knowingly. “I was an alicorn, once,” she offered.

“Let’s… not start with that,” Flurry suggested as they climbed the steps to the castle.

They entered the throne room, Flurry looking straight ahead, and Cozy admiring everything from the decorations to the windows.

“Mom, Dad?” Flurry started.

Cadence looked up. “Oh, hi, Flurry. And…”

The pen she was holding fell to the ground.

Cozy gave her a hopeful smile.

It was not reciprocated. “Cozy Glow?” Cadence whispered, horrified.

“That’s me!” she said cheerfully. She looked over at Shining Armor, who was glaring and had already dropped into a defensive position, his horn already lit. “Golly, what a strong and mighty stallion you are!” She turned back to Cadence. “And you, Your Crystallness, you’re obviously her mother. It’s clear to see where her good looks come from.”

Cadence looked at Flurry. “Flurry Heart,” she said, her voice clipped. “My chambers. Now.”

Flurry’s heart dropped into her hooves. She slowly followed her parents, tail lowered, into the other room. She glanced back over her shoulder.

Cozy gave her an encouraging smile, but then she disappeared from view as the door shut behind her with a loud sense of finality.