Starting on a stormy Saturday night, Cozy Glow asks Sandbar for help. Starting small at first, Sandbar eventually realizes that the little filly needs a pony to look up to. Set in a universe where the events in School Raze never happened.
Sandbar has just gotten back from the bathroom after taking a shower. He would have taken a longer one, but due to a regularly scheduled thunderstorm, the showers were turned off to protect the students. Annoyed, but not overly upset, he sat at the desk in his dorm room and began to read a comic. It was a Saturday night after spring break, so he didn’t have much to do until the school week started. Sandbar looked outside his window and into the storm. He didn’t know why, but thunderstorms relaxed him.
Just as thunder rolled, he heard a knocking at his door. Confused as he wasn’t expecting any guests, he walked over to the door and opened it. To his surprise, Cozy Glow was standing outside his door, wearing footie pajamas and holding a teddy bear.
“Oh, hi Cozy,” Sandbar said. “Can I help you with something?”
Cozy blushed. “It’s kind of embarrassing for me to admit this, but I’m scared of thunderstorms,” she said bashfully. “Can I spend the night with you?”
Sandbar blinked a couple times. Sure he had chatted with Cozy a few times before, but he really didn’t know her all that well. Not to mention she was a few years younger than he was.
“Uhhh,” Sandbar muttered. “Come in and we’ll talk. How’s that sound?”
Cozy Glow opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by thunder. Eyes widening and pupils shrinking, she blurted, “Soundgoodthanks,” and rushed into the teen’s room.
Closing the door, Sandbar turned around to the filly and kneeled down. “So, you’re scared of thunderstorms?”
The filly nodded.
“Did you ask anypony your age if you could spend the night with them?” Sandbar asked sweetly.
“Yeah, but they told me to ‘grow up’ in some not-so-nice terms. Usually, my roommate lets me sleep in her bed with her, but she’s sick with the pony pox. You’re the next pony I thought of.”
“I see,” Sandbar said, trying to piece things together. “You came to me because the fillies you asked were being bit--uh, mean, and your roommate is sick?”
“Uh-huh,” replied Cozy Glow, hugging her teddy as another roll of thunder echoed outside.
Seeing the filly scared like this hurt Sandbar. He had a little brother who sometimes needed comforting as well. Even though Cozy was a good ten or so years older than his brother, his brotherly instincts wouldn’t allow him to turn her away. He smiled.
“Okay, Cozy. I’ll protect you.” He sat down and gave the filly a hug, who promptly returned it. “Some day, you’re gonna be a big, strong mare, but tonight, you just let me be the grown pony. Alright?”
Cozy didn’t verbally respond, but Sandbar could feel her nod against his chest. The earth pony slowly released his gentle hold on Cozy, as not to startle her and slowly stood up.
“Cozy,” Sandbar asked. “Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?”
“No, I don’t mind,” Cozy said, gently playing with her teddy. “Go on ahead.”
“Okay,” said Sandbar. “Just let me know if you don’t wanna answer a question. Okay?”
“Mm-hm,” Cozy nodded in response.
“How long have you been afraid of thunderstorms?” Sandbar stroked the filly with his hoof as he asked her his questions.
“Really for as long as I can remember,” Cozy said with a hint of guilt in her voice. “Sounds silly, right? I mean, a pegasus afraid of a little rain? I’m pathetic.”
Sandbar frowned and walked around the filly to look her in the face. “No, Cozy. You are not pathetic, no matter what some mean girls might say. You were actually really brave to ask for help. Got that?”
“You really mean that?” Cozy looked up to the teen who nodded in response. “I wish they told me that at the orphanage…”
Cozy’s last sentence caused his heart to sink. It was one thing to not have parents, but to not be praised by those in place of your parents must be awful. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I had no idea.”
“It’s okay,” Cozy sighed. “Nopony really knows. In fact, when the orphanage heard I wanted to go here, they wouldn’t let me until they heard it was paid for by taxes, and they had dorms here. They practically shoved me out the door then.” Cozy wanted to continue, but she couldn’t. She just broke down crying.
Sandbar laid down next to the crying filly, and put a hoof around her. “It’s okay to cry, Cozy. I’ll be here for you.” When she first appeared at his door, he would rather have been reading his comic, but now he felt content helping the little filly in his room feel safe.
“Sandbar?” Cozy whispered. “Can we do this more often?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Sandbar said sympathetically. “I’m about five years older than you, and we aren’t family. Plus, I think you should probably learn to brave thunderstorms by yourself.”
“Does that mean I have to go back to my room?” Cozy asked, voice wavering a bit.
“Only if you want to, Cozy. I’m not stopping you,” Sandbar said, moving his hoof to allow Cozy to leave. “However, I think you should know that there isn’t gonna be somepony to cuddle with every time there’s a storm.”
“Okay, Sanbar,” Cozy said yawning.
“Is somepony ready for bed?” Sandbar asked, slightly teasing, but mostly genuine. The salmon colored filly nodded in response. “Do you want me to lift you, or do you wanna get up by yourself?”
“I’m fine,” Cozy said flatly. However, after struggling to climb onto the mattress, Cozy looked backed and asked for help. “Just don’t tell anypony about this. I don’t wanna be teased forever.”
“Don’t worry, Cozy. I won’t unless you want me to.” Sandbar grabbed Cozy by the nape of her neck and hopped onto his bed. He set her down and made sure her coat was neat. He laid down around her, like a mare protecting her foal, and laid his head next to hers. Cozy fell asleep pretty quickly, but still flinched every time the thunder echoed throughout the school, and with every flinch, Sandbar nuzzled the top of the filly’s head to let her know he was still there. Eventually, he fell asleep too, with the sound of the rain tapering off being the last thing he heard.
Sandbar slowly opened his eyes as the first rays of sun hit his eyes through the window. As he came to his senses, he noticed his side was a bit warm. Slightly confused at first, he quickly remembered what happened the night before when he saw Cozy Glow leaning against him, sleeping.
Sandbar smiled, something about helping the filly gave him satisfaction, but he didn’t quite know why. He stretched in place contemplating his current situation; he wanted to get up, but at the same time he didn’t want to wake Cozy up before the sun had even finished rising. He let out an audible sigh.
“Hey sleepyhead,” he cooed, nuzzling the filly’s neck. “It’s morning.”
“Just five more minutes, Fizzy,” the pegasus muttered, half asleep. “The sun’s not even fully up yet.”
Who’s Fizzy? Sandbar wondered before replying to Cozy. “No, Cozy. It’s Sandbar. Remember?”
Cozy’s face turned bright red and her eyes started to tear up. “S-so it wasn't a dream? Oh golly, I’m gonna be a laughingstock!”
“Cozy, I’m sure it will be fine.” Sandbar said sympathetically. “Look, it’s still pretty dark outside, so not many ponies will be up. Why don’t you head to your room to get ready for the day? Like no pony will see you except maybe a janitor.”
“Can I at least have breakfast with you afterwards?”
“If you want to, then I don’t see why not. Now run along, I need to get ready for the day too, you know.”
Sandbar opened the door for Cozy, who slowly walked out and turned down the hall to where her room was. Sandbar watched the filly walk down the hall and walked down the hall in the opposite direction to the bathroom after she turned the corner.
Cozy walked into her room and shut the door. Taking off her pajamas, she grabbed a brush out of her dresser, she sat down in front of her mirror and started to brush her hair. Struggling a bit to brush through a knot, Cozy heard her door slam open followed by a malicious giggle.
“Well look girls,” a filly sneered. “The little foal is back.”
Cozy ignored her and continued to try to get the knot in her mane out.
“Did you make it through the night without crying like a little bitch?” A second filly spoke up, trying to get a reaction out of Cozy, who only huffed in response.
“Oh,” teased a third filly. “Are we making you upset? It’d be such a shame if word got out that you’re scared of thunderstorms.”
Cozy stood up. “I’m taking a shower.” She walked past the trio, shut her door, and walked down the hall to the bathroom.
“You know,” said the third filly. “She forgot to lock her door. What do you say we teach her a little lesson?”
The other two fillies smiled and laughed in agreement, the first filly pushed open the door to Cozy’s room. The three were about to step in when they were enveloped in a magic aura and heard a mare clear her throat.
“Bullying is not tolerated on school grounds. You three just earned yourselves a week of detention.” Starlight was visibly upset. “Listen, just because somepony is afraid of something that you aren’t isn’t a good enough reason to tease them about it.” She set them down. “Now, I want you three to write an apology to her, and this incident will also be going on your records. Got that?”
“Why would we care what a little scaredy-foal feels?” One of the fillies retorted. “It’s not like she has any friends in the first place.”
Starlight furrowed her eyebrows. “I think you should care that you just earned yourself another week of detention. This behavior is the reason your parents sent you girls here. There is no reason for you to be this mean. Now go before you give me anymore reasons to extend your punishments.”
The three fillies rolled their eyes and walked back to their rooms. Starlight walked over to the bathroom where Cozy Glow was crying and knocked on the door.
“Go away,” Cozy said nasally.
“They’re gone, Cozy,” Starlight said. “You can come out now.”
Starlight waited for a response. After a few seconds, she heard the sink run and Cozy splash water onto her face. After a couple minutes, Cozy came out with a weak smile.
“Feel any better?” Starlight asked the filly.
“Yes,” lied the filly, before adding on, “I’m gonna go have some breakfast now.” She started walking towards the school cafeteria.
“Cozy, wait,” Starlight said, “remember if you ever need to talk, my doors are open.”
Cozy, however did not respond.
Poor girl. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t been walking by when those girls were teasing her? Starlight thought to herself. It’s bad enough she had to brave that storm alone with all her problems, but to be teased about must be awful. Starlight headed towards her office to fill out the discipline forms on the three fillies who were bullying Cozy.
Sandbar was still waiting at the entrance to the cafeteria waiting for it to be opened when Cozy arrived, obviously trying to hold back tears. Sandbar noticed her distress and turned to comfort her.
“Hey,” he said, lifting the filly’s head with his hoof. “Is everything okay?”
“N-no…” Cozy admitted after a few seconds of contemplation.
“Do you… wanna talk about it?” Sandbar asked the filly gently.
“Maybe after breakfast,” the filly replied, “I’m hungry!”
As if on queue, the gate blocking off the cafeteria lifted, and the lights for the serving line turned on. After giving Sandbar a hug, Cozy trotted towards the serving line to get her breakfast.
After getting his breakfast, Sandbar walked into the cafeteria and looked for Cozy. After a few seconds of looking around, he noticed her standing in the doorway to the cafeteria’s side room. Confused, he made his way over. When he saw the foam puzzle piece mats on the floor and the beanbag chairs at the tables, he understood what the room was for. Admittedly, he was a little curious why Cozy Glow was in special ed, but he knew better than to ask.
Seeing that her friend was at the doorway, she walked in. However, when Sandbar tried to enter, a magic field prevented him from doing so.
“Sorry,” Cozy said, pushing a button inside the room, “I forget not everypony can access this room. You should be able to come in now.”
Testing the doorway with his hoof, Sandbar noticed the field was gone, and stepped all the way in. Cozy released the button and made her way back to the table where her breakfast was.
“So Cozy, Sandbar asked, trying to start some conversation, “what do you have for breakfast? I’m having mixed berries and granola.”
“Oatmeal with apple slices,” Cozy replied. “It’s really good!”
“I bet,” chuckled Sandbar, “sounds delicious.” After a few seconds, he asked her a question. “So, Cozy. This morning when you woke up, you mentioned someone named… Fizzy?”
“Oh yeah,” Cozy said, mouth full of oatmeal. “Berry Fizz. She’s my roommate. She helps make sure I get up on time and stuff.”
“Would you consider her your friend?”
“Yeah, she’s like my only friend here,” she replied, stirring the oatmeal with her spoon. “That’s kinda why I came here in the first place, to be able to make friends. But I suck at it.”
Sandbar dropped his spoon. “Cozy, I had no ide--”
“And why would you?!” The filly interrupted him, seemingly getting a surge of emotions out of nowhere. “I’m a failure, everypony knows that. But nopony seems to care why I’m one! Nopony cares why I can’t make friends, because I’m a loser who can’t control her own fucking emotions!”
Sandbar watched as the filly cried, both from anger and sadness. He didn’t know what to do, so he got up and walked around the table to where Cozy was sitting and began to stroke her back again.
“It’s okay to cry, Cozy. Just let it out. I’ll be here if you nee--oof!” Sandbar was cut off by the filly punching him in the chest. It didn’t hurt him, but it definitely caught him off guard.
Immediately realizing what she had done, Cozy began crying even harder and repeatedly apologized to Sandbar, despite him saying it was okay every time. Looking around the room, Sandbar noticed a rope hanging from a bell with a sign that said “ring for help” and went over to ring it. A few seconds after ringing the bell, Sandbar got startled by a pony teleporting behind him.
“Oh, Starlight,” he said, catching his breath, “it’s Cozy. We were just having a conversation, and she completely broke down.”
“I see,” said Starlight, walking over to Cozy. “And can I assume that you’re her guest here?”
“Yeah, she wanted to have breakfast with me this morning,” Sandbar explained, “so I figured I’d make her happy.”
Starlight took a deep breath. “Look, Sandbar. Cozy isn’t your typical twelve-year-old. As you can see, she has a hard time processing her emotions and--”
“She came to my room last night during the thunderstorm.” Sandbar interrupted the counselor, telling her important information. “She seemed scared.” The teenager sat down. “She said the other fillies were teasing her about it, so I allowed her to sleep in my bed with me. I know how that may see--”
“Sandbar, I know you’re not the kind of pony to take advantage of, you know…” Starlight gestured to Cozy. “She needs special attention, and you gave it to her.”
“I can hear you guys,” Cozy said, through her hooves which were covering her face. “If you have something to say about me, say it to my face.”
“Oh, Cozy, sweetie,” Starlight turned to console the filly. “Would you rather the three of us take this to my office?” The unicorn used her hoof to coerce the filly to look her in the eyes. “We care about you, Cozy. We wanna help you.”
The filly’s face twitched, emotions all over the place. Eventually, she spoke up, “I don’t know how I should feel right now.”
“It’s okay, Cozy,” Starlight said, trying to comfort the filly. “That’s why you’re here. We want to help you.”
“I wanna talk about it with you and Sandbar,” The filly spoke up after a few minutes of silence. “I think I can handle it.”
“Okay, Cozy. Why don’t you finish your breakfast and then we’ll go to my office?” Starlight gently stroked Cozy while asking, ”how does that sound?”
The filly nodded, and began to finish her now room temperature oatmeal. Sandbar spoke up.
“Listen, I need to go now. I made other plans for today.” Sandbar looked at the filly and sighed. “However, if you want me there with you, I can change them. Okay, Cozy?”
“I don’t care,” the filly mumbled between bites of her oatmeal. “Do whatever you want.”
“Okay then,” Sandbar said. Turning to Starlight he whispered, “What time?”
“Give us about thirty minutes,” she whispered back.
Nodding, Sandbar left the cafeteria, and went up to his room where his roommate was waiting.
“Hey, doofus,” Gallus asked, “you ready for some extreme hoofball?”
“Actually, something came up,” Sandbar said. “Counselor Starlight wants me to… help another student. I can’t get out of it.”
“Ah, that’s a shame,” Gallus said. “How much time do you have left?”
“About twenty minutes, why?” Sandbar looked slightly confused until the griffon raised his eyebrows. “Ohh…”
Sandbar hopped onto Gallus’s bed and embraced him. “This is nice…”
Starlight watched Cozy as she doodled on paper with some crayons. Starlight looked at the clock in her office. Ten minutes. Starlight stood up and walked around her desk to sit next to the filly.
“Are you ready to talk yet,” asked Starlight, “or do you need a few more minutes?”
“I want Sandbar,” the pegasus replied without looking up from her drawing. “Is he coming?”
“I’m not sure, Cozy.” Starlight stood up. “We do need to talk, so if he’s not here within five minutes, we’ll have to start without him.”
Usually, other students weren’t allowed to be a part of student-counselor conversations, but Starlight learned pretty quickly that unless she had a friend with her, Cozy rarely talked about what was bothering her. It was sad, really. The poor filly had hardly any friends, and her closest friend was sick. Just as Starlight was about to pour herself a mug of cocoa, there was a knock on the door.
“Counselor Starlight,” asked Sandbar, “can I come in?”
Starlight sighed. “Come in, Sandbar. Just make sure to close the door behind you.”
Sandbar did so and sat down in an empty chair in the office. Looking up from her drawing, Cozy noticed her new friend and said she was ready to talk.
“So Cozy,” Starlight asked sweetly, “can you tell me what happened starting with last night?”
“I was scared of the thunderstorm, so I went to see if I could sleep with Sandbar.”
“Is that it?” Starlight mouthed to Sandbar, who shook his head in return.
“Can you give her more details, Cozy?” Sandbar encouraged the pegasus.
“Oh yeah, those girls from this morning told me I was a ‘foal’ who needed to ‘grow the fuck up’ when I asked if I could spend the night with them.” Cozy started to get angry. “I should have punched them right then and the--”
“No, Cozy,” Starlight scolded. “We talked about this before, violence is not the answer to dealing with bullies. They want to get a reaction. If you hit them, you’re letting them win. Now, what did you do after they harassed you?” Starlight scribbled something in her notebook.
“I went to Sandbar,” Cozy said, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. “He’s the next pony I thought of.”
“I see,” said Starlight, leaning forward. “How come you didn’t ask any more ponies your age?”
Cozy’s eyes began to tear up. “I was scared. I was scared they were gonna say ‘no’ to me, just like everypony in the orphanage did. Nopony cared for me there!” The filly completely broke again and became a blubbering mess.
“The orphanage,” Starlight muttered, “what did this orphanage do to her? We don’t know anything about it.”
Hearing this, Sandbar got up from his chair and knelt down in front of Cozy. Reaching into his saddle bag, he pulled out Cozy’s teddy. “Hey, you forgot this in my room this morning.”
The filly looked up at Sandbar with teary eyes and mumbled, “Thank you,” before grabbing her teddy and hugging it tightly.
Sandbar smiled, and stroked Cozy’s mane to get her attention. When she looked up he spoke to her sweetly. “Cozy, I know this is difficult for you, is there anything else you can tell Counselor Starlight about the orphanage? Anything? Even if it’s just a small detail?”
“N-no,” Cozy said, voice shaking, “sorry.”
“Well, if you do, make sure to tell Counselor Starlight, okay?” Sandbar stroked her head as he spoke.
“I will,” the filly replied.
“Good,” Sandbar said, nuzzling the filly.
“Why are you being so kind to me?” Cozy Glow asked.
This question caught him off guard. The filly barely knew him, but yet looked up to him like that one filly looked up to Professor Dash. What was her name again? It didn’t matter.
“Of course, Cozy. I’d love to be your friend,” Sandbar said, pulling her in for a hug, which she promptly returned.
“Hey Cozy,” Starlight said, “I’m proud that you made a new friend, but I need to talk to Sandbar for a bit. Why don’t you go to your classroom and do some crafts?”
“Okay,” Cozy said, getting up and opening the door. “See ya, Sandbar!”
“Bye, Cozy,” Sandbar said as the filly left the room and closed the door.
“Listen Sandbar,” Starlight said when the teen turned back to her, “Cozy is a very fragile filly, and she needs a lot of attention. I’m not sure if she told you this, but she doesn’t have many friends. In fact, other than you, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and her roommate, I’m not aware of any other friends she might have.”
“That few, huh?” Sandbar pawed at the ground. “I feel sorry for her, coming here to make friends, but not being able to make many. She’s lucky the orphanage even let her come in the first place.
“She told you about the orphanage?” Starlight sat down at her desk and levitated a pen. “What’d she say?”
“She said that nopony told her that she was brave, and originally they weren’t gonna allow her to come here because they thought they’d have to pay tuition. It was only when they heard it was free and there were dorms that they let her come. She said they practically kicked her to the curb then.”
Starlight wrote down what Sandbar had said in Cozy’s file and took a breath. “Thanks, Sandbar. Will you tell us if she says anything more about her orphanage? We’re already aware of the abuse that occurred there, against all the kids. We just need Cozy’s story for the case, and also to help her recover.”
“Are you sure you should be telling me all this, Counselor?” Sandbar asked Starlight, slightly concerned.
“Normally we don’t discuss a student’s file with other students, but in Cozy’s case we decided it’d be in her best interest to tell her friends what we think they should know. I trust you know not to tell anypony else?”
“Yes Counselor,” Sandbar responded, “I do.”
“Excellent,” replied Starlight. “Now, is there anything else you need?”
“Not that I can think of,” Sandbar replied after thinking for a second.
“Good,” Starlight smiled. “But, if you do, my doors are always open!”
Sandbar acknowledged her as he stood up and left the office. Seeing that he was gone, Starlight looked at the clock, then at her schedule. Igniting her horn, the mare pulled out a mug and poured herself from cocoa.
Cozy walked down the hallway of the school to get to her classroom. When she arrived, she put her hoof on the handle to open the door. Locked.
Dammit Starlight, she thought, why couldn’t you remember most of the school is closed on Sundays?! She took a deep breath to calm herself down. This is just a small issue, no need to lose your cool.
She turned around and started walking down the hallway aimlessly. Usually her roommate would give her suggestions on what to do, but of course she had to get sick. Aaauuuhhhgg! Cozy caught herself getting mad at the fact that her best friend was sick, something that neither of them could control.
Cozy took another deep breath to try and calm herself down. It didn’t help. Another breath. No help. Another. Nope. One more?
Just as Cozy was about to take another breath, a filly’s voice caught her off guard. “Hey Cozy?” It was the girl who had called her a foal last night as well as this morning.
“What do you want, huh?!” Cozy snapped at the filly.
The filly flinched. “I just wanted to apologize for last night and this morning. It was wrong of me to call you a foal over something you have no contr--”
“I accept your apology,” Cozy said suddenly, cutting off the filly. “Now go, before I lose my temper.”
The filly took a step back “I said I was sor--”
“And I said I accepted your apology,” Cozy interrupted the filly again. “I have a lot of crap going on in my head right now, and it’s too much for me—Aaauuuhhhgg!!”
Cozy curled up into a fetal position, whimpering, hooves squeezing her head, and rocking side to side. Concerned, the filly ignited her horn and produced a pinging sound to alert somepony for help.
Starlight was in her office going through some paperwork when she heard a pinging coming from somewhere within the school. Immediately, she got up and started running towards the sound.
When she arrived, she found a nervous unicorn filly staring at Cozy Glow with her horn ignited and pinging. The filly glanced over at Starlight and extinguished her horn. When asked what happened, the filly explained everything.
“Am I in trouble?” The filly asked. “All I did was apologize to her.”
“No, Aurora,” Starlight said to the filly, “not for this. You still have a week of detention, however.”
“Thank you,” Aurora said, “I need it.”
Starlight turned her attention to Cozy, feeling sorry for the filly. Stroking the pegasus’ back, Starlight illuminated her horn and put it to the crying filly’s temple. After a few seconds, Cozy stopped shaking and Starlight released the spell, still hugging the distraught Cozy Glow.
Aurora stepped closer and spoke up. “Is she okay, Counselor?”
“There’s not really a simple answer to that question,” replied Starlight.
“I had no idea…” Aurora said.
“It’s okay, “responded Starlight, “now run along so I can take care of this.”
Aurora nodded and ran off to go out into town while Starlight sat there, stroking Cozy until she was calm enough to get up.
“Hey Cozy,” cooed Starlight, “what’s wrong?”
“I miss Fizzy,” Cozy sniffed, “why’d she have to get sick?”
“Ponies get sick sometimes, Cozy,” Starlight said. “It’s natural. There’s nothing we can do except let it run its course.”
“But you’ll let her out of the closet when she’s better, right?”
Starlight was confused by this. “What do you mean, Cozy?”
“Isn’t that what happens to sick ponies? Lock them up until they get better?”
I swear, if this is another stunt her orphanage did, Starlight thought before asking the filly a very important question. “Is that what your orphanage did, Cozy? Did they lock you up when you got sick?”
The filly could only respond with a feeble, “Uh-huh.”
“Well, what they did was very wrong, and not to mention illegal,” Starlight said matter-of-factly. “But, no. We don’t lock ponies up for being sick. We send them home until they’re better. Speaking of Fizzy being sick, I have some good news for you.”
“She’s better?” Cozy looked up at Starlight.
“That’s right!” Starlight helped Cozy get back to her hooves. “She should be getting back any minute, so why don’t you go up to your room and welcome her back?”
Cozy hugged Starlight before running off to the dorms to welcome her friend back from being sick. Walking the halls, the filly thought of what she’d talk about after doing so. When she got to her room, she found a pink unicorn filly with a soda can cutie mark and curly two-tone purple mane and tail making sure her stuff was in order.
It was her roommate, Berry Fizz. Or as Cozy liked to call her, “Fizzy!” Cozy ran in to give her friend a hug, who swiftly returned it. “I missed you, Fizzy. I missed you so much!”
Berry Fizz giggled, “I missed you too, Cozy,” and released the hug. “So, how was your break?”
“Oh, it was fine,” Cozy replied, walking by the door to sit in the beanbag by the foot of her bed. “Up until the thunderstorm, that is.”
“Oh, I didn’t know there was a thunderstorm,” Berry said, walking over to Cozy. “I slept a lot the past week. Fighting off pony pox really takes a toll on your energy.”
“Yeah, I guess,” muttered Cozy.
“Well, did you manage to brave through the night?” Berry asked her friend hopefully.
Cozy slightly blushed and looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact.
“Cozy,” the unicorn used her magic to gently turn Cozy to look at her. “Can you tell me, or do I need to ask Starlight?”
“No, Fizzy. I didn’t.” The threat of her friend asking Starlight was enough to make her talk. “I asked some girls our age if I could sleep with them, but they called me a foal. So, I asked the next pony I could think of.”
Berry Fizz sighed. “Cozy, I thought we were working on getting you to not need somepony to last through thunderstorms?”
“We were, but you don’t understand!” Cozy started to pout.
“What don’t I understand, Cozy?”
“Before, you were in the room with me. If I needed to, I could have you protect me.” Cozy’s eyes started to tear up. “But last night you weren’t there, I was scared! Scared it might take me like it tookmy parents and my brother!” Cozy lost it for the fourth time that day.
Berry shed a tear for her friend, but quickly wiped it away. She had to be strong when her friend couldn’t. Lighting up her horn, Berry cast a spell that Starlight taught her to cast if she needed help. Seconds later, there was a knock on the door. Upon opening the door, Berry saw Starlight.
“Starlight, I think I know why Cozy is afraid of thunderstorms.”
After several minutes of hysterics, Cozy Glow finally had calmed down enough to stand up. Wiping her eyes with her hoof, she walked over to her roommate. Starlight watched from the doorway.
“Fizzy,” Cozy asked her, “why do you put up with me?”
Taken aback by her friend’s seemingly sudden question, Berry lifted Cozy’s hair with her hoof and asked her, “What do you mean by that Cozy?”
“I think you know what I mean,” Cozy said accusingly. “I’m twelve, Fizzy. I should be into sports or something. But here I am, with the emotions of a foal half my age. I had four tantrums today. Four! It isn’t even lunch yet! I came here to learn how to ma--”
“I put up with you because I love you, Cozy.” Berry put her hoof over the pegasus’s mouth to give her a moment to speak. “You’re like a sister to me, and I wanna help you. I don’t think any less of you because of how you act, you can’t help it. So don’t beat yourself up over it, embrace who you are.”
“Do… you really feel that way?” Cozy asked, genuinely curious.
“Cozy, if I didn’t, I would have requested a new roommate way back in the beginning of school. I didn’t do that, did I? I made myself a promise to help you as much as I could, and I intend to keep that promise. In fact… Starlight? Can you tell her?”
“Tell me what?” Cozy looked between the two unicorns, confused.
Starlight walked in and sat down near the pegasus. Sighing, Starlight began, “You’re very lucky to have Fizzy as a friend, Cozy. You see, back in the beginning of the school year, we didn’t know what you had gone through at the orphanage. We just thought you were acting out for attention, we didn’t think that it was from psychological trauma. We thought you were a bad pony, Cozy, so we… we treated you like one. Those detentions and in-school suspensions, we thought we were teaching you, when in fact we were making things worse.”
Starlight took a deep breath to calm herself down. “We were going to expel you, Cozy. We thought that you had come here to cause trouble, and not to make friends. We didn’t want the kind of pony we thought you were in our school, so we thought it would be best if you didn’t go here. But, we were wrong, and your friend helped us see that. We were so close to kicking you out of school when Berry came in and told us that you were hurting inside. I’ll still remember those words she said to me the day before we were gonna send you back. She said, ‘Counselor Starlight, I don’t think Cozy is being bad on purpose. I think she’s hurting. I think the orphanage hurt her.’ Part of me wanted to ignore her, that you had somehow convinced her to say that just so you could stay here.”
Starlight saw Cozy’s blank expression and pulled her for a hug. She continued her story. “However, as a guidance counselor, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I had ignored her, so I took you out of ISS and asked you if it was true. When you said yes and cried, I was so happy. Happy that we didn’t need to expel you, happy that we could continue to teach you friendship, happy that we could save you. Most importantly, we were happy that you made a friend who was willing to face punishment by vouching for you. You are a very lucky pony, Cozy. Not many ponies have friends who care for each other that much. Hold onto this friendship, Cozy. Hold onto it.”
Bleary-eyed, Cozy asked with a quivering voice, “So that’s why you changed your mind about expelling me?”
“Yes, Cozy,” replied Starlight, stroking Cozy’s back. “I will never forgive myself for that. I should have known something was wrong. I should have known twelve-year-olds don’t act like that unless there’s something wrong. But that’s the past, and I’ve corrected my mistakes. Those special classes help you, don’t they?”
“Yeah, *sniff* they do,” whimpered Cozy. “But why help me?”
“Well, why not,” asked Starlight compassionately, “isn’t that part of what friendship is? Helping ponies through tough times regardless whether it helps you?”
“Yeah, but why me?”
“Oh…” Starlight realized what Cozy was getting at. “You’re not the only student I help, Cozy. I help many others with problems they have. It’s a lot of work, so the work needs to be spread across multiple ponies. That’s why you may have seen a few other counselors throughout the school.”
“Why do you spend so much time helping me though?”
“Because we almost failed you once,” Starlight said with a hint of guilt. “We don’t want to fail you again, Cozy. We want to help you to grow up and be a successful member of society. We want everypony to.”
“Besides, you have a friend to look after you when Starlight can’t,” Berry Fizz spoke up. “Did I ever tell you what I sacrificed just so could make sure you were okay during lunch?”
“No,” Cozy asked, standing up, “what did you sacrifice?”
“My advanced placement,” Berry said, sighing. “I had the opportunity to take lessons typically meant for ponies older than me. If I had gone for that, I wouldn’t have been able to eat lunch during the same period as you during the week. I wasn’t sure if you could handle it, Cozy. So I declined to AP offer and went with regular classes for my age, just so you wouldn’t be alone.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Cozy said, pawing at the ground. “So why did you?”
“Because it was the right thing to do. Sure, my parents were ticked when they heard I turned down the opportunity. But, when I told them I did it for you, they immediately turned around and praised me. I gave up a big opportunity for you, and I’m not looking for anything in return.”
“Why not?”
Berry put her hoof on Cozy shoulder and said, “Because you’re my friend, Cozy. I didn’t do it for extra credit or because somepony told me to. And if I did it for personal gain, I wouldn’t be a very good friend. Cozy, you a very special pony, and I’m glad we’re friends.
“Thanks, Fizzy!” Cozy embraced her friend in a hug and allowed herself to cry. Starlight smiled and left the room, thinking about how she could eventually get Cozy to talk about what happened so that she could testify against the orphanage.
Dear Mommy and Daddy, and also Cloudy Horizons, I miss you big bro
It’s been about six years since I saw you for the very last time, and I miss you everyday. I know you aren’t gonna ever get this letter, but Counselor Starlight says it will help me with you being dead, and what happened in the orphanage. So, I’m going to this school to help me make friends. You know I have trouble making them from kindergarten. It’s really fun here. There’s a lot of nice ponies and other creatures. Did you know that hippogriffs and seaponies are the same? I didn’t! I don’t have many friends other than Fizzy and the CMC. Fizzy helps me during the day, and the CMC helped me study for my test. Oh yeah, I made a new friend today. His name is Sandbar, he’s really kind and protected me from the storm last night. We’re both safe and not hurt. Anyways, I’ll write to you later.
Love, Cozy
“…love, Cozy.” Cozy finished dictating her letter for Starlight to write for her.
“Are you done, Cozy?” Starlight looked at the filly sitting across from her desk who was holding her teddy.
“Uh-huh,” she nodded. “Can I go now?”
“Not yet, just one more thing.” Starlight levitated a journal over to Cozy. “I want you to start writing ‘letters’ to your family, Cozy.”
Cozy looked at Starlight and asked, “Didn’t I just write one?”
“Technically, I did,” said Starlight. “It will work better if you write them yourself.”
“How often should I write to them?” Cozy asked.
“Let’s start with once a week,” replied Starlight, “then we’ll see how you feel in about a month. Okay?”
Cozy nodded, still fidgeting with her teddy.
“Alright,” Starlight said, opening the door with her magic, “if you don’t have anything else, you’re free to go.”
“Thanks,” Cozy said, getting up to leave. Before she left, however, she turned back and asked, “Starlight?”
The mare looked up and sweetly asked, “Yes, what is it Cozy?”
“Thanks for giving me a second chance,” the filly said. “This school has helped me quite a lot.”
Starlight smiled and said, “You’re welcome, Co…zy…,” trailing off, realizing that the filly had already left.
Cozy made her way to the cafeteria. She had spent a few hours playing kickball with Berry Fizz before visiting Starlight’s office, and she was hungry. On her way there, she heard two ponies laughing; she recognized one of the voices, but she didn’t recognize the other one. As they got closer, she started to make out what they were saying.
“I’m telling you,” said the unfamiliar voice, “she was deadass convinced she was in her old form. She did have a pretty good laugh when I showed her a mirror.”
“Gallus, are you sure Ocellus thinks of you as a friend?” Cozy immediately recognized the second voice as Sandbar’s. She smiled, did a little hop, and turned around to say hi to her new friend.
“Hey, Sandbar,” Cozy said in a cheery voice, “who’s your friend?”
“I’m Gallus,” said the griffon, extending his claw to shake Cozy’s hoof. “I’m Sandbar’s boyfriend. And who might you be?”
“I’m Cozy Glow,” the filly said shaking Gallus’ claw. “I was heading to lunch when I overheard you two. Do you wanna joi-- Wait, did you say boyfriend? But... aren’t you both guys?” Cozy looked genuinely confused.
“Uh, yeah,” Gallus responded. “Why?”
Cozy cocked her head and asked, “Well, isn’t it like… not normal?”
“No, Cozy. Being gay is perfectly normal.” Sandbar kneeled down and put his hoof on the filly’s shoulder.
“Um, what’s ‘gay’ mean?” Cozy asked, taking the two boys by surprise.
“Being gay is when you like someone who’s the same gender as you, ” Sandbar explained, standing up. “Some ponies like guys, some like girls. It’s perfectly natural for ponies to be gay, Cozy. Some ponies, including me, like both guys and girls.”
“Do you like me?” Cozy asked curiously.
“Yes, Cozy. But not in that way,” Sandbar explained. “I like Gallus romantically, but I like you just as a friend. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” pondered Cozy. “So you guys like each other just like a mare and stallion would? Wait, just like Lyra and Bon Bon, it makes sense now!”
“That’s right,” chimed Gallus, “you catch on pretty quick, Cozy.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Cozy responded.
“Hey, Gallus,” Sandbar whispered, “Can you come over here for a second?” Gallus nodded and followed Sandbar a few feet away.
“Listen, Gallus,” Sandbar explained, still whispering. “Cozy has had a… erm… troubled past. Her orphanage abused her, which is why she sometimes has a hard time controlling her emotions. Just letting you know in case she… you know, breaks down.”
Gallus nodded, and the two boys walked back over to Cozy, who was waiting patiently for them. On their way to the cafeteria, Cozy spoke up.
“Hey Sandbar, Gallus? Can I ask you a question?”
“Uhh… sure,” Gallus responded, “go ahead.”
“How do I tell if I’m gay?”
Gallus stuttered and scratched his, not having expected such a direct question. “Uh, wow. Getting straight to the point are we?”
“Allow me,” said Sandbar before turning his attention to the little filly. “Listen, Cozy. It’s just one of those things you have to figure out for yourself. Have you ever had a crush on anyone before?”
“I think I have one now,” Cozy said after thinking about it. “But, I’m not sure if she feels the same way about me…”
“Is that why you asked, Cozy?” Gallus looked to the pegasus. “Do you think you might be gay?”
“I’m not sure, I think I like colts too, but I never really thought about it until now.” Looking up at the boys she asked, “She is my best friend, so is it possible I grew a crush on her and just didn’t notice it?”
“Yes, Cozy. That’s entirely possible,” Sandbar said with a smile, “but that’s for you to figure out, and we’re not you.”
“Plus you’re just a filly,” Gallus added. “It’s okay to be unsure of your sexuality at your age. Heck, I didn’t know I was bi until I met Sandbar. But if you like her, there’s no harm in telling her. You said she’s your best friend? The worst thing she can say is that she just sees you as a friend.”
“Thanks guys,” Cozy said before running off in the opposite direction towards the dormitory.
“Where are going, Cozy?” Sandbar asked, looking back.
“To go ask Fizzy out to lunch!” Cozy yelled back before turning the corner, into the dorm.
Berry Fizz was sitting in her bed reading Daring Do when she heard the door unlock and saw Cozy enter their room out of the corner of her eye. Having just finished a chapter, she put a bookmark in the book and levitated it to the table next to her bed.
“Hey Cozy,” she said with a cheery voice. “What’s up?”
“Fizzy,” the pegasus replied, “we’re friends, right?”
Confused, the unicorn hopped down and said, “Of course, why do you ask?”
“And you like me, right?” Cozy pawed at the ground.
“Of course I do, Cozy,” Berry replied. “You’re my best friend, nothing will ever change that. Why do you ask, do you not like me anymore?”
Cozy’s face turned slightly pink. “No, I mean yes. I mean, I like you. Just, like, not as a friend, but like, like… um…”
Berry smiled, she was fairly sure she knew where this was going. She smiled and asked, “Are you trying to say you have a crush on me?”
Cozy’s light pink blush instantly turned into a deep crimson. Stuttering, she responded, “H-how d-d-did you kn-know?”
Berry chuckled and said, “It was kinda obvious, Cozy. The look in your eyes, you wanting to spend time with me the past few months, and also Starlight when told me about your breakdown about missing me this morning, that just confirmed it even more. You may not have known, but I did.”
“That doesn’t change how you feel about me,” Cozy asked, her blush fading, “knowing that I have a crush on another filly?”
“No, Cozy. It doesn’t,” the pink filly responded. “I don’t care if you like fillies, colts, or both, you’re my best friend. Like I said, nothing you do will change the way I feel about you.”
“Then, um… maybe you’d like to… you know,” Cozy was having a hard time finding her words, “go out for lunch?”
Berry cocked her head. “Like… on a date or something, are you asking me out?”
“M-mayyybe…?” Cozy could feel her blush returning. “I mean i-if you want to…”
Berry smiled before slightly frowning. She didn’t want to do this, but knew that she had to. Putting a hoof in Cozy’s shoulder, she said, “Listen Cozy, you know you’re my best friend, and I would give up the world for you. I like you a lot, I really do. But, not in that way. I’m not gay, Cozy; I like colts. I hope you understand.”
Cozy’s tear ducts swelled up. She put on her best smile and said, “Yeah, I do. I understand.”
It hurt Berry to see her friend like this, but she knew it would have been worse to lie to her. She levitated a tissue from its box and dabbed underneath Cozy’s eyes. After pondering for a second, Berry had an idea.
“How about this, Cozy?” Berry asked her friend. “How about we go out to lunch as friends, and it’ll be on me. How does that sound?”
Cozy smiled weakly and mustered up the strength to reply, “Yeah, I guess that sounds alright.”
“Come on,” Berry said, “we’d better get going if we wanna beat the lunch crowd.”
Cozy licked her hooves, cleaning the juices from her hayburger from her frogs and shetlocks. As Cozy took a sip from her soda, Berry shifted uncontrollably in the seat across from her.
“Cozy, are you okay,” she asked, “you haven’t spoken a word since we left the school.”
“Yeah, of course I’m fine,” Cozy snapped. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You seem to have taken me telling you I wasn’t gay a little hard,” Berry responded. “It kinda seems like you took it personally.”
“Well, how else should I have taken it?” Cozy retorted, raising her voice, causing a few patrons to look at the two fillies.
“I don’t know,” Fizzy replied calmly. “Maybe accept it or at least try to?”
Cozy took a breath, “You think I haven’t tried that? I don't know how; you’re the first pony I’ve ever been able to work up the courage to ask out.”
“Listen Cozy, I don’t know how to explain how you can accept it, but I can tell you this; it’s not your fault I’m not gay. I can’t control it either. It’s one of those things that just happens.”
“Fizzy,” Cozy asked, voice shaking a bit, “are we still friends?”
“Of course we are Cozy,” Berry said, still maintaining a calm voice. “Just because I don’t ‘like’ like you doesn’t mean I don’t care for you. You’re an amazing friend, Cozy. I just want you to understand that it isn’t personal.”
“Yeah, I understand,” said Cozy with a hint of doubt in her voice.
“Good,” the unicorn said, not noticing Cozy’s tone, “I just need to pay the bill and then we can go.”
After Berry paid the bill, the two fillies left the restaurant and started walking back to the school. Cozy was very quiet despite her friend’s attempts at starting conversation. When they got to their room, Cozy didn’t say a word, but instead flopped onto her bed and didn’t say a word. Deciding it would be best to give her friend some time alone, Berry grabbed her Daring Do book and started walking to the library.
What’s gotten into her, Fizzy thought to herself, was it me telling her I’m not gay, or something else?
When she finally reached the library, she flopped down in a bean bag and started reading. She read for hours, only stopping when a mare came up to her and tapped her shoulder.
“Excuse me dear,” said the mare in a friendly tone, “the library is closing soon, and might I suggest you consider eating dinner? It’s six forty-five.”
“Oh, gee. I was so caught up in my book, I lost track of the time. Thanks miss,” Berry said as she picked up her book and started galloping towards the cafeteria.
Upon returning to her room after eating, Berry noticed Cozy crying into her pillow. Although muffled by the pillow, Cozy’s sobs were still quite loud. Concerned for her friend, she walked over to Cozy and put a hoof on her back.
“What do you want?” Cozy yelled into her pillow.
“I’m just really worried that you’re taking me being straight personally,” the unicorn replied. “I want you to understand that it isn’t your fault, or mine. You can’t force somepony to have a different sexuality, Cozy.”
“Oh, I understand alright,” Cozy said rolling onto her back. “You just don’t wanna be known as the girl who’s dating the special needs student. You don’t wanna date me because I’m fucked in the head.”
“Cozy,” Berry said, offended. “You know damn well that isn’t true. I don’t wanna date you because I don’t have romantic feelings for you.”
“You can quit the bullshit, Fizzy,” Cozy said accusingly. “You don’t wanna date me because you’re embarrassed of me.”
“Cozy,” Berry said, stroking her friend’s back, “I’m not embarrassed of you, not in the sli--”
“Leave me alone!” Cozy yelled, slapping her friend across the face on the last word.
“Cozy…” Berry said, rubbing the part of her face that got slapped.
Realizing what she had done, Cozy began crying into her pillow.
“That hurt,” Berry added, before starting to cry as well.
Neither of them spoke that evening as they both cried themselves to sleep.
Cozy sat alone, in the middle of the room in suspension. She didn’t know how or why she was here, given the last thing she remembered was crying herself to sleep after she had gotten into a fight with Fizzy, but here she was. She looked around the empty room, only to find an annoyed stallion sitting at the teacher’s desk in the front of the room. When her eyes met his, he cleared his throat.
“Eyes on your class work, Miss Glow.”
Whimpering softly, Cozy shifted her attention to her desk, eyeing the stack of papers on it. Something wasn’t right, these papers were too advanced for the classes she was taking, but somehow she recognized them. As Cozy nervously chewed on her pencil, Twilight entered the room, looking rather unimpressed.
“Cozy Glow,” she ordered sternly, “my office. Now.”
The walk to Twilight’s office seemed to take forever, despite it not being that far away from the classroom she was just in. When she entered the office, she sat down on a hard wooden chair, a stark contrast from the soft bean bags in Starlight’s office. After sitting in her chair, Twilight tapped her hoof on her desk to get the filly’s attention.
“Cozy Glow, do you know why you’re here?”
“Y-yes, Twilight,” Cozy responded with a quivering voice, “I think I do.”
“That’s Headmare Sparkle to you, young filly,” Twilight ordered. “Now, tell me why you think you’re here.”
“Yes, Headmare Sparkle. I accidentally hit Fizzy during one of my episodes,” Cozy replied. “But, I would never attack anypony on purpose! I wasn’t thinking, and I was gonna tell her I’m sorry!”
“It was an ‘accident’? An ‘episode’? You’re ‘sorry’?!” Twilight snorted. “Please, we both know you came here just to start shit like you did at the previous two schools you were expelled from. We gave you a chance by letting you in because we thought you could change, but we were wrong. You’re a bad pony, Cozy. You’re no longer welcome at this school. I have no other choice but to expel you. You have two hours to pack your things before one of the guardians from your orphanage arrives to pick you up. Dismissed.”
Cozy glumly got out of the chair and left Twilight’s office. Her vision blurred on her way to her dorm room as her tear ducts flooded her eyes. She had no idea what she had done. Had she actually gotten into a fight with her best friend? She honestly had no clue. When she got to her room, she was too upset to pack, so she flopped on her bed and bawled her eyes out. When she calmed down, she realized she wasn’t in her room anymore, but in a sky carriage taking up to Cloudsdale. She sighed, knowing she was in for a flank beating when she got back to the orphanage. However, the carriage missed the turn towards the orphanage and continued heading further into town.
Eventually, the carriage pulled up to a building she recognized, the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. This confused her, she had just gotten expelled from school, and they were taking her on a tour of the factory? Before she could make sense of what was going on, she felt a pressure on her wings and heard a slicing sound. They had clipped her feathers. She was then hoofcuffed and led into the building. Cozy tried to speak up, but when she opened her mouth, no words came out. Her eyes started to water again, she had no idea what was going on and she was scared.
“Stop crying, bitch,” the pony escorting her snapped. He kicked her side, causing her to yelp. “We’re here, get in.” He uncuffed her, pushed her into a closet and shut the door.
Cozy looked around the closet to see about two dozen other pegasi her age, equally as scared as she was. She walked around the limited space that was in the closet, and laid down on an empty portion of the floor near a corner and cried. How could Twilight do this? She knew the orphanage abused her, and yet she allowed them to take her back after expelling her without even telling her why. She only stopped crying when she felt somepony tapping her back.
“So, what’d you do,” a colt asked her, “flunk outta school, or worse? Must’ve been pretty bad for your parents to send you here.”
“I-I don’t have parents,” Cozy replied. “And I was expelled from the School of Friendship, but I don’t think they followed the proce-- … Also, where is ‘here’, exactly?”
“Oh damn, sorry,” the colt apologized, “I didn’t know. Also, we’re in the Rainbow Factory; I think our group is next.”
“It’s okay, there’s no way you coul--WHAT?! I thought the Rainbow Factory was just a story adults told foals to make them behave?”
“I did too, but I guess not,” the colt knelt down and inspected Cozy’s wings. “Ah, fiddlesticks. They cut everypony’s wings. Guess that makes sense though.”
Just as the colt stood up, the closet door opened, revealing two mares wearing lab coats sobered in what the foals could only assume was blood.
“Alright shitstains,” one of the mares barked, “it’s your turn to become rainbows.”
The other mare began chaining the kids together to make sure none of them could try to make a break for it. When she got to Cozy, she noticed how scared the filly was. She smiled.
“Hey, Sarge,” the mare shouted to her superior. “I think we found our first volunteer. She’s just a widdle bitch.”
“Good, Private,” the sergeant chuckled, “chain her up in the front.”
Cozy wanted to protest, say that she wasn’t technically a volunteer, but she knew it would only lead to more trouble so she kept her mouth shut.
The hallway seemed to go on forever, much longer than it should given the size of the building on the outside. Cozy chalked it up to the fact that she was about to be murdered by an industrial sized pony grinder. Seemingly hours later, the chain of foals were eventually told to stop and wait while the two mares went inside a room. In the distance, the kids could hear a pulsing klaxon and frantic screaming. All Cozy could do was gulp.
After a few minutes which seemed like hours, the two mares emerged from the room, grabbed the chains connected to the foals and began walking towards the end of the hall where Cozy assumed where the grinder was. Again, the walk seemed to take much longer than it should have given the building was only so big. When they finally reached the end of the hallway, a loud hydraulic hiss was heard as a blast door opened, revealing a room that proved the story of the Rainbow Factory to be true.
Cozy tried to move forward, but she couldn’t. She only started moving when the colt behind her had enough and just started pushing her. Once all the kids were in the room, the blast doors closed, locking them inside.
A few seconds after the doors completely shut, a pony entered through a door leading to a catwalk several yards up. He began speaking, telling the young pegasi that they were no good lowlifes, pieces of shit, basically demeaning them in any way possible. After he was done emotionally abusing them, he went on to say that the story of the Rainbow Factory was in fact true and that they were the next ponies to become rainbows.
“Sargeant, Private,” the stallion ordered, “bring the first sacrifice.”
The two mares quickly unchained the salmon colored filly and told her to get moving. When she didn’t move, the attached a leash and collar to her neck and began dragging her by the neck to the lift adjacent to the pony grinder. When Cozy was in the lift, the two mares flew away leaving the shaking filly alone in the lift as it began ascending to the top of the grinder.
When the lift reached the top of the grinder, Cozy felt herself being moved. Looking down, she realized that she was on a conveyor belt. The belt stopped when she was in front of the stallion.
“Any last words, you little shit?” The stallion’s breath smelled horrible and made Cozy gag. “No? Are you sure? Well too bad! Into a rainbow you go!”
The belt started up again, causing Cozy to lose balance. She fell forward, landing on her chin. Her flank kept going, causing her to flip over and land on her backside. She tried to scream for help, but her lungs wouldn’t let her, she tried to move, but her muscles wouldn’t let her. Just as her tail was about to reach the gears, the conveyor belt stopped and she felt herself being levitated.
“Fear not, Cozy Glow,” a familiar voice said, “for I am here to protect you from your nightmare.”
“Nightmare?” Cozy asked. “Princess Luna?”
“Yes, dear,” the Princess responded. “I came as fast as I could. I was busy helping your friend with her nightmare. You really hurt her feelings.”
“I know,” the filly said glumly. “I was emotional and acted in the moment, but that’s no excuse for what I did.”
“I’m glad you learned your lesson, Cozy Glow,” Luna said sweetly. “I’m sorry that your mind put you through all that. Now, I’m going to release you, and you should find that your feathers have grown back.”
Cozy felt Luna’s magical hold on her release and started to fall. Instinctively, she started flapping her wings and found that her feathers had indeed grown back. She flew over to the Princess and gave her a hug.
“Thank you, Princess Luna,” she cried. “Thank you so much!”
As Cozy cried, she felt Luna slowly fade out of existence as her surroundings started to fade away into nothingness. The next thing she knew, she was in her room at the School of Friendship with Starlight looking over her, quite concerned. Cozy did the only thing she could think of.
Sandbar took a bite of his apple. He thought about Cozy and how excited she was to ask her friend out. Did she say yes? Did it work out for her? Sandbar thought as he ate a spoonful of oatmeal, savoring the taste. He looked over to the entrance of the cafeteria and saw Cozy sulk through the serving line. Her mane was a mess, her once perfect curls all frazzled and matted down in areas, and bows nowhere to be seen. The teen watched the filly make her way to a corner of the cafeteria and sit on the floor, not even bothering to eat in the special eating room. Sandbar took his tray of food and walked over to where Cozy was eating and sat down next to her.
“I thought you could use some company,” he smiled, not knowing the hell Cozy had gone through the afternoon and night before.
“Why? So you could laugh at me?” Cozy sighed glumly, poking at her oatmeal with the spoon.
Sandbar blinked a couple times. “Cozy, is everything okay?”
“What do you think?” Cozy asked sarcastically.
Sandbar sighed and put a hoof on Cozy’s shoulder. “Well as your friend, I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
Cozy looked up to Sandbar and cracked a smile. She was about to open her mouth when Berry Fizz walked by, giving Cozy a dirty glare, her face still bruised from the confrontation the night before. Cozy noticed and hid her face in the corner as Sandbar looked between the two fillies.
“I assume you’re Fizzy?” Sandbar asked the pink unicorn.
“How did you know?” Fizzy asked defensively.
“Well Cozy told me about her roommate, and your cutie mark happens to be a soda can.”
The filly narrowed her eyes and walked away slowly to eat with her other friends. Sandbar turned back to Cozy and tapped her on her shoulder. Cozy turned around to reveal she was crying again. Without thinking, Sandbar pulled her into a hug and told her to just let it out.
Cozy flinched at first, but eventually started crying, telling Sandbar all about the fight, how sorry she was about it, and that she just wanted her friend back. As Cozy cried, Sandbar listened and stroked her back.
“Cozy,” Sandbar said in a friendly voice, “it’s okay. Friends have fights. Just give it a few days and talk to her again.”
“I don’t wanna wait a few days,” the filly whimpered, rubbing her eyes.
“I know the feeling Cozy,” Sandbar consoled. “It’s a pain to wait, but well worth it in the end. Now, eat up so you have enough energy for the day.”
Cozy smiled and went back to her breakfast, eating the oatmeal at a somewhat slow pace. Sandbar ate some granola, keeping an eye on his younger friend as she ate.
Berry kept on looking over at the two, not sure what to do. She still had feelings for Cozy but wasn’t sure if she still considered her a friend after what happened. The unicorn filly picked up her now empty tray and took it to the tray return before walking to her roommate.
“Hey Cozy?” Berry asked.
“Hm?” Cozy asked looking up to her friend with uncertain eyes.
“I want to say that I accept your apology. And I also want to say that I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“Well,” Berry said, pawing at the ground a bit. “That I’m sorry for being a bitch about this whole thing.”
Cozy’s ears flickered at Berry’s use of profanity but looked up and smiled. “I accept your apology, I wasn’t exactly fair after our fight either.”
Sandbar smiled, watching the two fillies making up and healing their abraded friendship. Fizzy walked over and hugged Cozy, and Sandbar. The earth pony hugged both fillies as they cried into each other’s hooves. After a couple minutes, Berry let go and turned to Sandbar.
“Thanks for keeping an eye on her. I can tell she likes you.” Berry smiled and looked to Cozy.
“It’s the least I could do. Seems like what she needs, at least for now, is a sort of brotherly figure in her life.” Sandbar stroked Cozy’s back as he said this. His attention turned to Cozy’s mess mane. “Now, I think she needs a little help with her mane. Think you can handle that before school starts, Fizzy?”
The pink filly smiled as if she was born ready and picked up Cozy with her magic, running to their room.
“Come on, Cozy! Let’s fix those curls of yours!”
Cozy’s only response was a surprised squeak followed by a small giggle.
Sandbar shook his head as he went back to his breakfast. Fillies… he thought to himself. But a part of him kept bothering him for some reason he couldn’t quite explain. He finished his breakfast and took his and Cozy’s empty trays to the proper place before heading back to his room.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I know this probably is a strange letter for someone my age to send his parents, but I feel like it’s necessary. I made a new friend a couple days ago, but she isn’t like my other friends. The best way I can think of to describe it is how that orange filly looks up Professor Dash. She’s hurting inside and I can see it. I feel like I have to be there for her, almost like a big brother. This isn’t weird is it? A seventeen year old hanging out with a vulnerable twelve year old to protect her? It feels weird writing that but in action, being there for her feels right. What do you think I should do?
Love, Sandbar
Sandbar took the letter and put it in an envelope, addressing it to his home and applying the postage. He didn’t get up though, he just sat in his desk chair contemplating.
“Thinking ‘bout your little sister, there?” Gallus teased.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Sandbar replied, much to his boyfriend’s surprise. “I honestly think she sees me as a brother.”
“Look dude, if you feel you need to look out for Cozy, you do that. Who am I to stop you from doing the right thing?”
“You’re not jealous?”
“Jealous?” Gallus scoffed. “Why would I be? I may be your boyfriend, but I’m not so clingy that I’d get upset over you helping a friend. If you feel being there for her is what you need to do, go ahead.”
“Thanks, Gallus.”
“No problem Sandbar. Now, let’s head to class before we earn ourselves detention.”
Berry smiled as she worked on her friend’s mane and tail, getting them to the pristine curls the pegasus loved to have. Cozy smiled too as she talked about what she was looking forward to doing. Berry listened to Cozy as she tied the ribbons in her mane and tail, giving her a hug as she finished.
“Thanks Fizzy,” Cozy smiled, returning the hug with a squee. “You’re a good friend and I wouldn’t give you up for all the magic in Equestria.”
The pink unicorn giggled at Cozy’s statement, giving her forehead a rub. “Have a good day in class, Cozy. See you at lunch?”
“See you at lunch,” Cozy said, grabbing her saddlebag and walking down the hall towards the school.
Cozy opened the door to her classroom and walked inside. The bright colors of the room and furniture welcomed her as she took her saddlebag to her cubby and hung it up. She took out her notebook and walked to her desk and sat down, opening it. The filly pulled out her favorite pencil and smiled as she opened her notebook to where she left off and wrote the date. Looking at the clock, Cozy saw she had about ten minutes before class so she got up from her seat and grabbed a Daring Do book from her bag. She walked over to a beanbag in the corner of the classroom and flopped into it, opening her book and reading it.
Cozy’s teacher walked over to her and smiled. “Good morning, Cozy. How are you today?”
“Good morning Miss Sunshine, I’m doing good.” Cozy replied, looking up from her book.
The yellow earth pony slightly frowned and sat down next to Cozy. “I heard you got into a fight with Fizzy last night?” Her voice was gentle but firm, enough to pressure the filly into answering.
“Yeah, I did… But, we made up.” Cozy said, smiling a bit.
“Oh, I didn’t hear that,” Miss Sunshine smiled. “Was it this morning?”
Cozy nodded, closing her book. “Yeah, during breakfast.”
“Who’d you eat with?”
“With Sandbar.” Cozy said, fidgeting with her hooves.
“Cozy,” her teacher pressed, noticing Cozy’s nervous habit. “What happened during breakfast?”
“Nothing, I just ate with Sandbar and made up with Fizzy”
“Cozy, I can tell you’re hiding something,” Miss Sunshine sighed.
Throughout the many months of Cozy’s enrollment in her class, Miss Sunshine had been able to pick up many non-verbal cues the pegasus had. Cozy was a difficult case, yes there were other students Miss Sunshine had, but Cozy had deep underlying problems caused by her parents and brother dying in a severe thunderstorm and the abuse she endured at the orphanage that caused her to be emotionally unstable and to not always make the right choices. It was a difficult job, but Miss Sunshine enjoyed it, like Cheerilee her talent was helping and teaching younger ponies so that they could become a functioning part of society.
“Please don’t make me ask Starlight, Cozy,” the teacher asked with her gentle but firm voice.
Cozy looked up and muttered. “I ate on the floor.”
“Cozy, we talked about this. When you don’t eat at the tables, it makes ponies think less of you. Yes it’s wrong, and maybe they’re not doing it intentionally, but it puts a target on your back and makes it harder to make friends. I know you want to get better at making friends, but it’s a continuous effort.”
“I know, I just wasn’t thinking…” Cozy sighed, with a slight frown.
Smiling, Miss Sunshine lifted Cozy’s chin with her hoof. “That’s a start. But even for ponies who make friends as easily as Professor Pinkie, it’s easier said than done. You’re not a bad pony for having difficulty making friends, and it’s not your fault either. Now, almost everypony’s here and it’s just about nine o’clock. Why don’t you put your book away and take your seat?”
Cozy nodded getting up from the beanbag and walked over to her cubby, put her book away and made her way to her seat. She was one of eight students in her class, not that it mattered to her, the class was more her speed and helped her make friends — even if only a few.
“Good morning class,” Miss Sunshine smiled , walking to the front of the classroom. “How was everyone’s break?”
The class gave a positive response.
“That’s excellent! Now, to start off today, I want you all to write about something you did with a friend over break and share it with the class. Okay?”
Cozy immediately got to work writing, knowing exactly what she wanted to write about.She was going to write about how she became friends with Sandbar. While writing about the morning after the storm, she felt Miss Sunshine looking over her shoulder reading what she had written so far. Cozy looked up to her teacher.
“That’s sweet,” Miss Sunshine said, ruffling the filly’s mane. “I’m really proud of you for making a new friend, Cozy. Especially one that cares about you. Now go on, finish up.”
Cozy nodded and went back to writing about Sandbar comforting her through her breakdown at breakfast. She wasn’t even thinking at this point, she was just writing what came to mind and didn’t even notice that she called him a brother a couple times. Eventually, she noticed that she was the only one left writing. Blushing, she quickly finished up and set her pencil down, looking to the front of the classroom to show that she was done writing and ready to share with the class.
“Is everybody finished?” Miss Sunshine asked, seeing Cozy look up. The students nodded, prompting their teacher to then ask, “Okay, so who would like to go first?”
Cozy wanted to go first, but remembering she had gone first many times before, she decided to let someone else go first. Looking around, she saw nobody else was volunteering. Eventually, Miss Sunshine started calling on students herself, knowing by the look in Cozy’s eyes that she was letting others go first.
Eventually, it was Cozy’s turn to read what she wrote for the class. Standing up, she took her notebook to the front of the classroom and began reading about how Sandbar had helped her through the thunderstorm and been there for her during her meltdown at breakfast both days. She finished off stating that she was happy to have him as a friend and that he made her feel safe.
“Thanks for sharing that with us, Cozy,” Miss Sunshine smiled. “Okay class, it’s 10:30. You know what that means, it’s snack time!”
Cozy made her way back to her seat and put her notebook back in her desk, making room for the snacks as Miss Sunshine passed around graham crackers and juice boxes. Sipping on her juice box Cozy thought about Sandbar and Fizzy, the two ponies she considered to be her closest friends.
Miss Sunshine smiled, she was proud of Cozy for putting herself out there and making a new friend, one who cared for her at that. The earth pony opened a notebook and wrote in it about Cozy’s progress. Looking at the filly eating her snack, Miss Sunshine knew Cozy was always going to have trouble making friends but was definitely better at it than she was at the beginning of the school year when she failed her test on purpose just to try and help the Cutie Mark Crusaders get into the school. Helping Cozy was a group effort, but they couldn’t have done it without the filly putting in as much work as she did as well.
