Chapter 1
.
Cozy Glow was in her dorm room and getting ready for the night that lied ahead of her. An important night, one that happened only once a year: Nightmare Night. And since she didn't know for how long she would attend the friendship school – Cozy still struggled with her lessons – her first Nightmare Night in Ponyville could also be her last one. Besides, there was a certain plan of hers..... one that should not be spoken about tonight, or ever, but this too was a risk factor. If it failed, she would leave Ponyville, as quietly and unsuspectingly as she had come to the town a few months ago. It was for all of these reasons that Cozy Glow wanted to make the most of tonight. It simply might be her only chance. And there was no reason why a future friendship empress couldn't have some fun along the way, was there?
Cozy Glow licked over one hoof and brushed it over her mane. It was neither her real mane nor her real hoof. She was wearing a black rubber suit shaped like a pony on her body. A pony that looked, remarkably so, a lot like Headmare Twilight. There was her violet and pink mane, her tail and even her cutie mark. Although the latter was different, instead of the big star in the middle, there was a glowing meteor. So was her coat, it wasn't lavender, it was black. Pitch-black, from her maneline down to her hooves. The most impressive, and unsettling, detail of the costume was the fact that it had only one giant wing, on the right side. Stretched out and towering, it stuck up menacingly into the air with its black feathers. Not the most ideal design choice, Cozy knew, but it was better than the wing folding out sideways. They would be outside all the time, she wouldn't have to enter any doors, no harm about a costume that extended high into the air. But in the narrow corridors of Applejack's corn maze..... the single wing would almost certainly get her stuck if she hadn't tied it up like that. It was the best she could do for tonight. Only leaving her dorm room and the dorm building would turn as a bit of a chore, but that was the least of Cozy's worries. All that counted was the greater part of the night. And that would go swimmingly.
Cozy gave herself a long look-over in the mirror. Did her costume really look good? She deducted that it did and stepped away. Now all that was left was waiting for her three tutors. Yes, she would not spend this night alone. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle would be joining her for a trip to all the spooky town attractions. They were fools, all things considered. Expendable puppets, like everypony else in the friendship school. If it shouldn't work with them anymore someday, she would just aquire new friends among the many students. Everypony in the school liked her, even the five foreign students did, she had managed to build herself up quite the nice reputation of the always friendly, always helpful and, most importantly, always very weepy and sensitive, young filly. Her fellow students rushed to help her just as much and as eager as she rushed to help them. How could a sweet and lovely, cute, young filly, who had so many burdens and problems weighing down her little heart, possibly work on an evil masterplan, even together with one of Equestria's most notorious cut-throat villains? It was unthinkable. Nopony and nocreature would suspect anything. Cozy Glow's face had, instinctively or perhaps automatically, formed a weeping expression with a quivering lower lip and a few tears coming out of her eyes' corners while she went over those thoughts. Now her lips curled upwards, crocodile tears already gone again, and her mouth displayed a smile of sardonic satisfaction. Her cunning mind seeped out of her eyes, but she could hide it at any moment.
Cozy Glow took up position at the window of her dorm room. Outside, in the corridors, a mix of excited chatter, a few boos and hoos, long-practiced howls of terror, startled gasps, screams and relieved giggling sounded out and found its way into her room. All of these sounds repeated themselves in varying order, intensity and volume, as the students of friendship got ready to spend the night outside together. The space between the friendship school and the crystal castle, Headmare Twilight's home apparently, was not bustling yet, only a few students in their spooky costumes were already out and about, but some of the trees were already covered in toilet paper. In front of the castle, Cozy could spot a blue mare in a wizard costume, standing next to the guidance counselor (whose back seemed to have grown in size and looked deformed, her left eye appeared to be swollen shut) and casting fireworks in the shapes of horrific monsters into the air, much to the delight of the ponies who had started gathering there. Cozy Glow smiled again, this time it was a genuine smile of affection and wonder for the magical trick.
The pegasus filly with only one wing, least in this night, continued to stare in awe and trance, as a knock on the door happened, powerful and intense. Gozy Glow gasped out in sudden shock, immediately getting thrown out of her trance, she reared up, lost balance and fell onto her left side. The knock happened again, still with the same intensity. Cozy got up, checked her costume, took a deep breath and then opened the door. Outside, waiting for her, were a vampire, a green beast covered in reptilic scales and with sharp teeth growing out of a bloated mouth and the most horrible mutation ever, a pony mixed with a spider. The vampire and the beast only stared at her (but the latter emitting low growls), the spider-pony moved all eight hooves. After a second, its chelicerae began moving, as well. Then its four black eyes started blinking. Cozy Glow was fixated on the spider-pony, having no attention for the other two frightful creatures. If she had paid attention to them, she would have recognized Sweetie Belle at least, whose costume was concealing her identity much less. But Cozy did not, so she was trapped in the horror of looking at a monster that had no right to exist, mouth wide open and a shiver beginning to overtake her body. Could Nightmare Night in Ponyville really be that scary?
At the left of the little monster group, from Cozy's perspective, Scootaloo took off her mask. “Cool, isn't it?” she chirped excitedly. “The eyes blink all by themselves and I can move the chelicerae with my own mouth!” A squee left her throat and a broad, shiny, white grin followed.
Cozy Glow's heartbeat slowed down. “Golly,” was all she managed to say at first. Then, after a few seconds of careful breathing: “This is a real scary costume, Scootaloo. You startled me!” It was no acting. The costume really had scared her tremendously. Why did spiders exist?
On Scootaloo's right side, Apple Bloom now proceeded with taking off her mask. Green switched places with yellow and her usual, cute face appeared. It was all the same as Cozy knew it, except for Apple Bloom's pink bow, which turned out to be absent under the costume. “Howdy!” the farm filly greeted her. “It's me, Apple Bloom. But tonight.....” She put on her mask again. “..... ahm the Ghastly Beast from Hayseed Swamps!” She flicked her finned tail and let out an impressive roar, definitely also the result of much practice, and Cozy jumped. Yes, it would be a night full of surprises.
Only Sweetie Belle didn't need to take off a mask. Her mane was styled, so was her tail, in a rough manner; disheveled, yet with some elegance remaining still, like a noble mare from hundreds of years ago had, for some reason, not kempt her mane and tail for a couple days. Or like she had tossed and turned in her coffin for a couple of nights, before she managed to fight herself free from her grave..... The old-time dress Sweetie was wearing accentuated the impression. Sweetie Belle pulled back her upper lip and revealed sharp, white and pointy teeth. In her eyes were contact lenses, coloring her irises red. “I'm a vampire!” her voice chimed.
“Oh, golly, you certainly are!” Cozy Glow laughed dryly, but made sure to make it sound cheerful and encouraging. Sweetie Belle raised her head proudly.
“So, what are your thoughts on our costumes, Cozy?” Scootaloo took the helm of the conversation again, now not taking off her mask anymore.
This question wasn't so easy to answer for Cozy. Sweetie Belle was a vampire, as much as that was obvious even without Sweetie telling her. Cozy had even guessed it already before Sweetie Belle revealed the teeth. It was a fair choice for a Nightmare Night costume, but also boring. Every third filly dresses up as a vampire on Nightmare Night. Apple Bloom's choice also wasn't the pinnacle of creative costumes, but at least she had gone for a monster from one of the classics, a movie that today's generation of foals has never heard about. There were even young adults who didn't know that movie anymore. She deserved some credit for that. And Scootaloo just killed it with her costume, there was originality in her idea of a mutated spider-pony and the costume even had interactive gimmicks that were fun and would make a lot of ponies scream tonight. But Sweetie Belle? She had chosen the most unimaginative, boring and overused Nightmare Night costume that exists. There really weren't many nice things Cozy could say about that costume. But she had to give a positive response that would leave all of them satisfied. They might be pawns, but pawns were important.
“Oh, I sure love them all!” Cozy began, pressing down hard on the sugary-sweet lever in her mind. “Just how did you get this idea, Scootaloo? I bet you were up all night working on your costume!”
“That's totally true!” The white grin appeared on Scootaloo's face again.
Cozy Glow turned at the second filly and gave her eyes a look of awe-struck fascination. “And, Apple Bloom, wow, you really know your horror movie history!” Cozy Glow marvelled and squished her cheeks with both hooves.
Apple Bloom's response was another well-done roar.
“And you dressed up as a vampire.” Cozy Glow turned at the last of the three fillies. “Golly, that's just the best, Sweetie Belle, such a classical costume for Nightmare Night!” she turned her criticism into praise. “Golly, I think your costume is my favourite!”
Sweetie Belle gasped, starry-eyed, then reached out and crushed Cozy Glow with a tight hug.
“All of your costumes look amazing!” Cozy Glow finished the round of “obligatory hoof-kissing”, as she put it inside her head unbeknownst to the other fillies. And now it was her turn. Cozy struck a pose, for the first time really presenting her costume this night. “And what about my costume?” she asked, only her face and a small lock of her curly mane visible of her real body.
“Ah think it's–“ Apple Bloom started, but then stopped herself. She came closer and took a better look at Cozy's costume. “What is your costume, Cozy?” she asked, eyes narrowed for careful inspection. “Is that Twilight?”
“With only one wing?” Scootaloo added.
Both fillies made puzzled faces. Cozy was about to start explaining it, but Sweetie Belle took the words out of her mouth.
“Oh, I know, I know!” she burst forth. “You're the One-Winged Angel!” Sweetie pointed at Cozy's costume excitedly.
“Bingo!” Cozy confirmed. “You got it all right, Sweetie Belle, golly, I'm so glad somepony guessed my costume!” The tone in Cozy's voice switched from cheerful to insecure. “I really wasn't sure about this costume, I wanted to wear something creative that nopony else would be wearing, but I was also worried nopony would know who I am.....” Cozy touched the wing and drew circles on it with her hoof, sunken in thoughts.
“Actually, now that Sweetie pointed it out, ah recognize it, too!” Apple Bloom added further reassurance.
“Yeah, it's that character from that game!” Scootaloo remembered.
Those responses brushed away Cozy's doubts instantly and she looked up again, now carrying a cute smile on her lips. “Oh, thank you all so much! Now I don't have to worry about ponies asking me who I am anymore!” Cozy gave each of them a hug.
“Aww, don't mention it.” Apple Bloom reacted modest on the heartfelt thank you. “That's why we're friends. Although.....” She lifted a hoof to her masked face and gave the ceiling a stare. “Ah wonder what Twilight will say about it once she sees it. Ahm guessin' she probably wasn't too happy when that game got released and it turned out that the creator of the main villain chose her as inspiration for it.” Apple Bloom tapped her chin.
“I'm sure it's gonna be fine, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo responded to her thoughts, a slight, reprimanding tone in her voice. Opposite of her, Cozy eyed the floor.
“Oh. Oh, yeah, ahm sure it will be alright. Not like the creator of that villain got sent to Tartarus or turned to stone or anythin'.” Apple Bloom did a step forward and gave Cozy a pat on the back. “Come on, Cozy!” it came from under the beast mask. “Let's go out and get a good spook goin' on!”
Cozy looked up again and flashed Apple Bloom a grateful smile. Then her expression changed again as an almost forgotten fact re-entered her memory. “Let's go!” she said. “But, uh, first I need your help with something.” She pointed at the single wing and it was only then that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle noticed just how big it was.
Three Crusader heads lowered collectively, they all sighed and it was up to Sweetie Belle to pass on the frowning faces of all three of them. “Seriously?” Apple Bloom asked.
Cozy Glow held a hoof at her face, opened her mouth a little and grinned sheepishly.
Thirty minutes later, spent with wrangling the wing of Cozy's costume past two doors, they all finally stood outside the friendship school. Sweetie Belle wiped sweat off her forehead, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo removed their masks for a moment to do the same.
Cozy Glow looked embarrassedly at them. “Golly, I'm so sorry. I wish I would have found a better solution for that wing, but there just wasn't enough time to think of one.” She poked out her lower lip and let it quiver.
“Just forget about it now. Let's go and have fun!” Apple Bloom's back ached a little after the unexpected exercise, but she didn't bring it up.
“Yeah, let's trash the town!” Scootaloo agreed, more than eager to finally leave for all the spooky festivities.
Neither of them needed telling and after barely another second, the four fillies dashed off for the center of Ponyville.
With a splash that soaked close bystanders, Cozy lifted her head out of a tub full of water, carrying an apple in her mouth. She released it from her teeth and spit it into her hoof. “And that's number three!” she proudly proclaimed.
“Great job, Cozy!” Apple Bloom complimented her. She wasn't wearing her monster mask and neither was Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle had temporarily removed her vampire teeth. An autumn breeze made their wet faces chill, but neither of them budged or shivered.
Cozy Glow dropped the apple into the bag that hung around her neck, a silly pumpkin face adorning it. “So, where are we going next?” she asked. “I want to see everything that Ponyville has to offer on Nightmare Night!” Her eyes were glowing with sincere appreciation for the festivities and all the effort the ponies of Ponyville had put into making it a memorable night.
Derpy flew past the tub, wearing an oversized skeleton costume and a silly smile on her face. Behind her cantered Dinky, clad in a green ranger costume that was in perfect composition with her blonde mane, and strapped to her back was a long, shiny sword made of silver, with a blue handle. At the other side of the tub, Silverstream was enjoying herself. Her body was covered in long, brown bandages that looked dirty. Occasionally, one end of them came loose and she had to tuck it back in, but that did nothing to deter the fun of the hippogriff. She was busy kicking rolls of toilet paper, that looked much cleaner than the bandages, over the branches of a tree, assisted by a bloody monster that might or might not have been Smolder. Each kick was accompanied by a childish, cheeky laugh, the kind that was the young hippogriff's trademark.
Scootaloo watched the scene for a bit, then she wiped her face with a towel Applejack hoofed her, put her mask back on and addressed Cozy and her question. “Let's see..... We've done apple-bobbing, spider-tossing and pumpkin-catapulting,” she went over the list of activities they have had fun with over the course of the last hour. “Oh and we've been to Zecora's stage show and Nightmare Moon's statue. Huh, that's a lot for just one hour.....”
“And what else can we do?” Cozy Glow gave way to her eagerness and her curiosity before Scootaloo could continue speaking. “Maybe we can try out something real spooky now that makes my heart flutter in fear and terror!” Cozy Glow squeed. The display was quite the contrast to her usually rather timid and sensitive nature. Tonight, Cozy Glow was different.
Under her freshly re-equipped mask, a cocky, mischievous smile built on Apple Bloom's face. She slipped under the rim of the tub, snuck around it and to the other side, using the shadows as cover. The Ghastly Beast from Hayseed Swamps reappeared behind Cozy Glow and placed its clawed, scaly legs around the pink filly's neck, clutching and trapping her from behind. Cozy let out a little squeal, then giggled.
“Then it's time for the highlight of tonight,” Apple Bloom spoke into Cozy's ear. “The scariest Nightmare Night attraction in all of Ponyville, one that will give ya nightmares every year. Some ponies even say they have always been followed by something after they entered it..... for the rest of their lives.”
Cozy gulped, her pupils had shrunk to tiny beads that swam in the seas of white of her eyeballs and they were fixated on the beast that spoke without moving its mouth.
Apple Bloom lowered her voice to an unsettling, subliminal whisper, accompanied by quiet growling that she brought forth from the depths of her throat. “It's time to enter the terrifying, the dreadful, the gruesome..... Haunted Corn Maze!” Apple Bloom lifted her left hoof and let her claw grace gently over Cozy Glow's cheek, only stopping short of her eye. Something exploded in the distance, followed by the screams of a dozen foals and a few adults, adding to the effect of Apple Bloom's words.
Cozy Glow's heart rate increased significantly. “Haha..... Golly..... T-That sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, Apple Bloom.” Or maybe it would be a little too much. Cozy wasn't sure anymore.
The corn maze was at the edge of the town, right next to Sweet Apple Acres, and it required a good amount of trotting and some patience to get there. Luckily, on Nightmare Night, the trot didn't need as much patience as usual; the costumes of the ponies out and about were a source of entertainment on their own, but the spooky pranks and traps they stumbled into along the way and the decorations that covered their path made every boredom impossible. Cozy's heart calmed down again while they made their way to the farm, the occasional stop at a house to demand candy aided in her betterment. By the time they arrived at the corn maze, Cozy was fire and flame for getting creeped out of her wits again.
“We're finally here!” Cozy Glow dragged her three friends to the entrance of the corn maze, having no regard for the safety of their costumes as she held them in a tight grip, her mind filled with nothing but the scary sensations she imagined to be waiting inside the maze. Only when she could smell the corn plants around her, she let go of them. They didn't get a chance to complain about the rough treatment, as the show instantly began.
“Hold your horses, travellers!” a gnarly voice from a shadowy corner at the left side of the entrance was crawling into their ears. They heard clip-clopping on the ground, the sound not different from any ordinary pony, but when the mysterious guard of the maze had stepped into the light of the flickering lanterns, what they saw was anything but ordinary. A pony with a green coat staggered towards them, but the head was badly deformed, it possessed a nose and mouth that looked like a creature with too much raw strength had pulled at the face of a pony and stretched it to unbelievable lengths. The black eyes of the pony were small and looked dead, no expression or indication of a soul was in them.
“Aaaaaaaah!” it rang out from four filly throats and they ran past the creepy thing, into the corn maze and around a few corners, before they stopped and caught their breaths, feeling safer again. It didn't take long for Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to calm down and even less long for Apple Bloom. In a matter of seconds, their ragged breaths ceased and what had been screams earlier, now was laughter.
“Good, old, ancient horse mask.” Apple Bloom smiled. “Don't know why, but it gets me for a second every year.” Delighted, the three Crusaders giggled among themselves.
Only Cozy Glow's reaction was a little different. She needed the longest to get her breath back and until she could talk again. “Golly, do you have any idea what this was? I've never seen a pony like that before!” There was a portion of terror in her face, eyes slightly bulging out of their sockets.
“Oh, you've seen nothing, Cozy,” Apple Bloom, the swamp beast, spoke. “We've only just started to explore the maze. Trust me, it'll get worse. Much worse.” As if her words were a secret cue for whoever operated the maze, a scary music played by violins set in.
Cozy looked around and could see nothing. There was a lantern hanging on a post a few yards away, giving off an eerie, orange shine, but this part of the maze was completely dark. Light was sparse in the maze, Cozy instantly deducted. She looked around between the flickering lantern and into whatever endless, dark depths the other direction of the maze led into. It was a rather easy choice to make.
“So, l-let's go ahead and e-explore m-more!” Cozy took initiative and went ahead. But then she stepped on something, she halted in her tracks for a moment to examine it, but before she could do so, a scream sounded through the maze and echoed off the walls, followed by a terrifying, shrill laughter right out of Tartarus. Instantly, Cozy darted back and cowered behind Apple Bloom, hiding from whatever demonic entity was trying to get her. Her teeth started clattering.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged a look, then grinned under their masks and bumped their hooves together. They moved forward, Cozy trailing behind and tightly holding onto the fin on the tail of Apple Bloom's costume. Last in line was Sweetie Belle, who followed them setting up her best and most convincing, evil vampire expression.
They approached the lantern and it gradually brought light into what was otherwise complete darkness. A few steps behind it was a turn in the maze. Cozy could not see what awaited her there, but she did hope for another lantern that was close by. But after they had followed the turn, there was nothing like that. Immeasurable, boundless darkness greeted them. There was not even a tiny flicker of orange to indicate a lantern behind one of the next turns. It was just pitch-black.
“Weird.....” Apple Bloom whispered to Scootaloo, so as not to let Cozy hear it. “Ah helped building the maze and we planned with dark corners, but ah know we put more lanterns in here. Somethin' ain't right.”
“Maybe the wind blew them out?” Scootaloo whispered back.
Apple Bloom tilted her head, a gesture that came across as odd with the mask on her face. “How? Those are lanterns. The candles are encased in glass.”
“Yeah..... But that's all I got for an explanation.” Her voice sounded uneasy all of a sudden.
Of course there was another explanation, multiple, in fact. They were in Scootaloo's and Apple Bloom's heads, just as they were in Cozy's and Sweetie Belle's heads. But none of them dared to speak what they were all thinking.
“Oh, well,” Apple Bloom finally said. “It's Nightmare Night, weird things happen. It's probably just a prank by ponies who came through before us.”
None of the other three fillies questioned that theory or voiced any opposition.
“Let's go ahead slow and careful,” Apple Bloom spoke the command and they started moving.
It was a dreary and long trot through this corridor of the maze, but nonetheless scary. No filly had been prepared for an expedition in complete darkness. Four hearts pounded in accord. The ground was tamped soil, but occasionally, they stepped on something that snapped under the weight of their hooves.
“What is this s-sound?” Cozy inquired in-between the clattering of her teeth.
Apple Bloom looked into the direction her voice came from. “Probably the bones of ponies who didn't make it out alive. That's what Granny Smith always says.”
“W-What?!” Cozy's voice became a thin whisper, like spoken by a pony who ran out of air to breathe. She released her grip on Apple Bloom's fish tail and jumped onto her back, where she wrapped her hooves around the bigger filly's neck and buried her face into the backside of her mask. “I want to leave now!” she whined, shivering all over her body.
“Don't worry too much,” Apple Bloom tried to calm Cozy down, seeing how her fear was getting serious. “Mah family does that every year. It's all just for show. Remember the strange-looking pony at the entrance? That was just Granny Smith in disguise. Ya knew that, right?”
“No?” Cozy responded honestly, albeit with a bit of hesitation. Now she didn't know whether she was supposed to feel scared or silly. But the information who the pony behind the creepy mask was extinguished something in her. Cozy's grip around Apple Bloom's neck eased somewhat.
The march through the darkness dragged on for what felt like an eternity and a few times, it felt like they were going around a corner, but neither of them could tell for sure. Nor hoped for that, because it would mean they were going in circles. Finally, they saw an orange shine again, warm and inviting, and they quickened their steps. Cozy Glow got down from Apple Bloom's back and trotted alone again, now at Apple Bloom's side, not behind her anymore. Her fear had ceased but, invisible for her three companions, there was also a frown on Cozy's face now.
“So, that was Granny Smith, right?” Cozy picked up the information from earlier.
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom confirmed as they got closer to the salvific lantern.
“And I guess those bones weren't really bones, right?”
“Nope! Just sticks painted white.”
Cozy didn't respond. But her frown deepened.
The four fillies took the next turn and the long-awaited lantern appeared. Everything looked normal again here. There was a lantern every two or three yards, giving off only a weak light, but enough to make the trip through the corn maze so much more bearable. Three collective sighs could be heard.
The path remained unremarkable for a while, until a mesh of branches and bent corn plants over their head blocked out the sight of the sky and they entered something like a cave. It became pitch-black again, but not for long. A green light not from this world spread out in the cave and suddenly, wires with fresh eyeballs pierced on them descended from the ceiling and cut off their escape routes. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle screamed, albeit with smiles on their faces, and made a dash for the entrance of the cave, towards more wonderful lantern light. Only Cozy Glow stayed behind a little longer. She grabbed one of the wires, pulled it towards her and gave the eyeballs a good look. “Painted grapes.....” she muttered. Then followed her friends with a morose face.
Cozy caught up with them just in time to see a secret door open in one of the maze walls. Out of it stepped a mummy and it made Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle back away. But Cozy Glow instantly saw that something was off about this undead pony. There were hardly any bandages on the body and mummys were supposed to have plenty of them, right? Cozy shook her head, slow and repeatedly. The coat of the pony wearing the poorly-made costume was red and his shape was bulky and muscular. As the stallion shuffled closer, a single word escaped his mouth. “Eeyup.”
The three other fillies still screamed, playfully pretending to be scared and running away once more.
Cozy couldn't share the same sentiment, as much as she wanted to. “You're Big Mac,” she deadpanned and crushed the pitiful rest of the illusion.
“Hehe..... Eeeeyup!” Big Mac smiled sheepishly, realizing that his cover was blown.
Cozy Glow only sighed and followed the Crusaders. It didn't come as surprise to her that, once she had caught up with them after a few more turns, they already stood at the exit of the maze. Sighing more and stronger now, Cozy trudged outside with them. Arrived outside of the spooky-but-actually-not-so-spooky corn maze, Cozy sunk to the ground and sat down. The reaction drew a raised eyebrow by Sweetie Belle, which was once again a representation of what the faces of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo did under their masks.
Apple Bloom stepped before Cozy. “Ya still scared?” it came from the lizard beast face.
Cozy Glow shut her eyes and shook her head in a sad fashion. “Um-um.” Then she opened her eyes and the look she gave them was almost teary.
Now Apple Bloom frowned and she took off her mask. “Hey, what's wrong? Ya hurt yourself or somethin'?”
“No,” Cozy Glow reassured her. “But.....” She looked away.
“But, what?”
“But.....” Cozy Glow pressed her eyes shut for a moment again, then she looked back at Apple Bloom. She took a deep breath. “Don't get me wrong,” she began “it's really fun to hang out with you on Nightmare Night. But I wish it would have been a little scarier.....”
“What?!” the three fillies in front of her said together. Now Scootaloo took off her mask, too. Three faces full of surprise looked down at Cozy Glow.
“It really is true,” Cozy tried to wipe the surprise away. “The beginning was good, I felt scared so much there. But when the lanterns were back, I got disappointed. Big Mac's costume wasn't all that good and the eyeballs in the cave didn't look real.” Cozy observed the other three fillies and their disbelieving faces and when no answer came from them, she added “Oh, please don't hate me for saying this, please, please!”
“We..... don't,” Apple Bloom said, although not very successful at hiding a good amount of shock and, admittedly, a little disappointment on her part over that confession. She knew that the corn maze wasn't perfect, but so far, it had been a success and all ponies who had entered liked it.
“So, you really didn't like hanging out tonight, huh? It was all boring?” Scootaloo's ears drooped and she eyed the ground, that forlorn expression sticking on her face that her friends and aunts hated seeing so much.
“No, no, please don't think that!” Cozy Glow stopped slumping and stood up. “I really just imagined everything to be a little bit scarier, that's all! But I loved the games we were playing together!” As proof, she produced an apple that still showed her bite marks from her candy bag and demonstratively held it at them with her mouth. “Thee?” she asked.
The three Crusaders looked up weakly, but didn't say a word. The resolve in Cozy's eyes crumbled, then disappeared. She spat the apple into her hoof and looked down herself, now actually teary-eyed. “Oh, if only there was a place I could find really scary and be terrified about..... Now I ruined the entire night for you.....” She heaved a heavy sigh, shoulders rising and then sinking again. Then she started to move past them. “I will go back to my room and sleep. I am sorry for spoiling the fun.” Head low and not looking at them anymore, Cozy Glow creeped past them to make the long way back to the friendship school and her dorm room.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked after her with grieving faces, neither of them sure what to say. Only Sweetie Belle didn't appear to be bothered. She stood there, facing the other direction, and was rubbing a hoof over her chin while her entire face formed the impression of a filly who came up with a wonderful, but terrible, plan. Each second that passed lit up Sweetie Belle's face more, as what her brain cells were brewing became a complete puzzle in her mind. Finally, she removed her hoof from her chin and her mouth opened wide in the delight of that terrible and wonderful epiphany she just had. Sweetie Belle turned around, just early enough to catch Cozy before she disappeared out of sight.
“Wait,” she spoke, loud enough for Cozy to hear and with a tone that was both commanding and promising, a way of speaking that would make everypony curious, stop in their tracks and turn around. Which was exactly what Cozy Glow did, revealing tears that ran over her face now. “You just gave me an idea,” Sweetie continued. “Give us one more chance and we'll still wow you tonight.”
“What do you have in mind, Sweetie?” Apple Bloom inquired, giving Sweetie Belle a serious stare from partially-lidded eyes.
“The Everfree Forest?” Scootaloo filled in for Apple Bloom.
“Better.” Sweetie Belle smirked. “So, what do you say, Cozy? Still want to get spooked tonight?”
Cozy looked at Sweetie Belle with her mouth open in surprise, but no words coming out. Her tears had started drying.
Half an hour later, Cozy Glow and the Crusaders were standing at their chosen destination. The destination Sweetie Belle had chosen, that is. They were still in town, but now they looked at dark buildings, a lot of them decrepit, all of them abandoned. The wind howled around the buildings, amplified in volume by the narrow streets. Somewhere far away, the four arrivals could hear the laughter of foals, sounds from a different world that they had now left. The laughter was not out of place in this environment of empty streets, dirty back alleys, forlorn gardens (some of them with rusty playgrounds that creaked every time the wind was blowing at them) and dead ends that deserved that name more than anything. All four of them exhaled the breath they had been holding for seconds. It came out white, even though it was not a cold night. They started to shiver.
“Where are we?” Cozy Glow broke the silence first, her voice shifting in tone and volume as she spoke the simple question.
“This,” Sweetie Belle spoke reverently, “is Ponyville's old mansion district. Nopony lives here anymore.” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, flanking her, nodded. Their mouths stood slightly open and were twisted to one side. Apple Bloom was biting her lower lip while Scootaloo was absentmindedly rubbing over one of her extra spider legs. The expressions were visible without a hindrance.They weren't going to wear their masks, not here.
Cozy Glow didn't need to be told that, but there was something about how Sweetie Belle had said “lives”, an emphasis placed on that word, and it gave Cozy shudders. Maybe this was her imagination, this place aided it well, but it had sounded all too real in Sweetie Belle's voice. She tried to bring her shaking legs under control, for she might have to run, Cozy figured, but it was to no avail.
“Many years ago, a long time before we were all born, rich nobles from Canterlot liked to come to Ponyville for vacation away from the loud and bustling city and they built huge mansions here to have it comfortable during their stay,” Sweetie Belle began to detail the history of the place. “It was a trend that lasted for a couple years, Ponyville was very popular with all the noble unicorns. But one day, the interest stopped all of a sudden and they left for Canterlot again, never to return.”
“G-Golly, what happened?” The story constricted something in Cozy Glow's nerves.
“Nopony is completely sure about that. They didn't run out of money. But many say they just realized that living in a small town, even just for a few months each year, wasn't their cup of tea. Rarity told me that some of them complained about the dirtier streets here and they weren't saying nice words about the townsponies, either. And it's said that some of them were scared to live so close to the Everfree Forest.” Sweetie Belle pointed at at mansion that was about ten yards away. “Rarity knew the ponies who lived there.” The windows of this mansion were all smashed in, crude drawings were next to them and the door was hanging on only one of its hinges anymore. The wind rocked it gently when it came past the mansion, it made the door move in a way that looked like it was beckoning them to come inside.
“One after another, they were selling their mansions again. Or, at least they tried do. Most of them are just abandoned now, because nopony could afford them. There are one or two mansions here whose owners still come for summer vacation, but not every year.”
“And ah can see why,” Apple Bloom commented on Sweetie Belle's retelling of the events. “Ah wouldn't want to live here, right next to all those empty, haunted mansions, brr.” Apple Bloom wrapped her hooves around herself and looked over the old homes with dread.
“I-It is haunted here?” Cozy Glow asked, taking a step back from the scenery.
“It's hard to tell,” Sweetie Belle answered. “Some ponies say that there was a bigger reason why they all left, that something scared them away. But those are rumors. All that's sure is that the nobles and rich unicorns didn't want to spend their vacations here anymore.”
By this point, Cozy Glow was already thoroughly creeped out. So were Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, even though they knew everything about the mansion district just as well as Sweetie Belle did. But Sweetie wasn't finished.
“Today, nopony wants to be here anymore. Especially not at night. Not even the street sweepers set hoof in here. There are stories the ponies of Ponyville tell about this place. Some claim they have seen a filly wandering the streets here in the middle of the night, clutching a doll with no eyes in her hooves and calling for her mommy. When they went closer to ask her if she is okay, they saw that the filly had no eyes, either. Then she screamed and disappeared. And in certain nights, there are lights behind some of the windows of the permanently abandoned mansions, like there's still magicity running there. But the magic generators have long since been turned off and nopony pays the bills anymore.”
“H-Have you seen the lights?” Cozy Glow gave them frightful looks.
“Um-hm.” Sweetie nodded, her mouth a thin line and her eyes expressing a distinct fear.
“We all did,” Scootaloo added. “We can see the district from our bedroom windows. Nopony has any explanation for that.”
“Except that something haunts the mansions,” Sweetie Belle corrected. “There's no proof, but most ponies here believe that. There are many who have seen or heard something strange here.”
Cozy Glow had shrunken into a ball now, shivering and shaking.
“So, what do you think, Cozy?” Sweetie Belle asked for her opinion about the creepy place. “Stay or Nay?”
Cozy didn't quite know what to answer. She didn't want to leave, but also wanted to get out at the same time, but she also wanted to stay. It was a confusing construct in her mind. She wanted to stay, out of fear to disappoint her friends again, but she wanted to leave, out of fear to meet any ghosts. Bu this had been her wish, right? What she had asked for? “Be careful what you wish for.” it rang in Cozy's mind. She wasn't sure what to do.
“If you want to leave, we won't mind,” Sweetie Belle spoke herself and her fellow Crusaders, knowing they all agreed. “I just thought you might want to see Ponyville's real scary side.”
“No!” Cozy Glow jumped up. “I mean, yes!” She couldn't disappoint them. Cozy put up a fake grin. “Let's explore this place! Hehe, I really want to find a ghost tonight!”
“Fantastic!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
Thus, the four fillies started to roam Ponyville's most creepy neighborhood. The howling wind was spurring them on and so were their scary surroundings when their eyes flitted over details like fences with gaping holes in them and old playground slides overgrown by plants and slowly being devoured by rust. One of them was so damaged that the wind ripping at it nearly made it fall over to the side.
On one such playground, they made a stop. To catch their breaths, they said, but it was really more to calm their hearts. This one was a particularly huge playground, reminiscent of the “Foals' Paradise” playground they had seen in a mall in Manehattan once, when they visited Babs Seed there. The swings in the back part of the playground, of which there were five sets, had broken down, the seats dangling from the corroded remains of the metal chains. The framework didn't have much longer, Scootaloo figured, as she tapped it against it only lightly and the entire construction started swaying. Alarmed, she stepped away from it. Scootaloo doubted that the family who lived here had that many foals to occupy all those swings with. It was all for show, to present one's money, and the fact that the play ground was right on the front yard deepened that impression.
One of the various slides was a tube and when the wind blew into it, it was like it was playing on the world's most creepiest musical instrument. The metal made the wind sound like voices were calling for them from the other side. Then, when the undesired concert was over, they heard something else.....
The faint singing of many foal voices filled the playground with life that wasn't alive anymore. It was a haunting chant and although they couldn't understand the words that they were singing, the four fillies huddled together instantly.
“Was that enough of Ponyville's real scary side now?” Cozy asked, holding on the tightest. She had buried her face into Scootaloo's chest, not wanting to see anything.
“Uh-huh,” Sweetie Belle said, underlining her spoken agreement with a careful nod while her eyes were fixated on the imposing entrance of the mansion. The door stood wide open and one of the pillars next to it had been torn in half by wind, weather and the ages.
It was due to stop for the night. Surely there were more apples left to dive for in Ponyville. Even the corn maze in its darkest part would bring relief from this place. It was time to leave. Then a massive cracking sound, like the sky was getting torn in half happened above them, but the sky was clear and there was no thunderstorm in sight. Next, the slide that had served as the world's most creepiest musical instrument crashed to the ground with an earpiercing thud that resounded in their hearts. Dissolving their embraces, the fillies jumped away from each other. None of them checked their surroundings, instead, they all ran, through the front yard and right into the old mansion.
Inside, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo braced themselves against the wings of the massive, old oak wood door and pressed it shut. The bottom edge of the door scraped over the floor, nearly causing it to get stuck, but the frightening situation gave the two fillies more strength than they had ever possessed before. With one last creak, the door got pushed shut and what little moonlight had fallen in through it disappeared now and the four fillies found themselves in completel darkness. It was an archaic kind of darkness this time, they were surrounded by the feeling that something from olden days could creep out of a corner or maybe from under a fancy carpet any moment. They could not see each other, either.
The situation was unbearable, until a small circle of a somewhat blue light appeared on the wall to their left. Sweetie Belle was holding a flashlight in her magic aura and let it dance over the walls, examining their surroundings. From outside, they could hear the wind howl again, much quieter now. The windows here, in the entrance hall of the mighty mansion, were all intact, dusty and covered by cobwebs, but not a single hole or crack was in them. They were in a remarkably excellent shape, so much that Sweetie Belle almost felt inclined to call them “maintained”. The singing of the foals had mercifully stopped. Save for the wind blowing around the huge building, it was silent.
“Did ya have that with ya the entire time?” Apple Bloom pointed at the flashlight, still not used to the sudden darkness around them.
“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said simply.
“Why didn't ya unpack it when it went dark in the corn maze?” Apple Bloom spoke in bewilderment.
Sweetie shrugged. “Just thought it would be spookier that way.”
Apple Bloom groaned, but was secretly happy that Sweetie Belle had brought a light in the first place. And that she had been thinking of pulling it out when it became really important to have one.
“So, where now?” Sweetie Belle asked as her light danced over he walls. They stood in an entrance hall of a massive size. Right in front of them, but easily five yards away, was an impressive staircase. The stairs led up, into the direction of the hall's outer wall, then branched off to the left and right, where they ended in beautiful, spacious balustrades. The beam of Sweetie Belle's flashlight revealed brown, ornamented doors with intrinsic, complex patterns of filigrane wood carvings up there. They were astoundingly well-preserved.
“Not back to the haunted playground, that's for sure,” Scootaloo answered her friend's question. “There must be a backdoor somewhere.”
Slowly, the four fillies began to make their way through the hall, Sweetie Belle taking the lead. Tiny, circular clouds of dust rose from the carpet as their hooves touched it. It was rotten and smelly, they had already smelled its stench from the entrance, but now it suffused their noses in an intensity that made them almost retch.
They didn't bother to trot up the stairs. All they wanted now was getting out, hopefully at a safer spot on the mansion's lot, and the backdoor would, naturally, not be on the second floor. There were only two doors on the first floor, however. That made it easier to choose, but it also limited their choices and would likely prolong their stay in the mansion by an unnecessary amount of time. The four fillies took note of this circumstance unwillingly, but with silent, concentrated grace.
Sweetie Belle chose the door on the right side. “Right-hoof door for right-hooved fillies, it might bring us some luck,” she mused. The other three didn't comment that.
As they were close to the door, a jolt went through the hall. In front of them, the wall started to vibrate and a large crack buried its way through the masonry. Their eyes widened in horror. “Please don't tell me this place is falling apart,” Scootaloo begged. Behind her, Cozy Glow whimpered.
“It probably is,” Sweetie Belle confirmed. “But we need to stay cool and keep being focused. It's an old building, but it stood here for years and it probably won't fall apart all at once. We should have some time, so let's just focus on finding the fastest way out of here.”
Undeterred by the crack in the wall, Sweetie Belle opened the door with her magic and they all proceeded to step through it. Cozy Glow was stopping in front of the doorframe, however. Sweetie Belle noticed and turned around. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
Teeth clattering, Cozy Glow pointed upwards and remained otherwise silent. Sweetie Belle followed her hoof and her eyes fell onto the wing of Cozy's costume. It went far beyond the door in height and the end of it disappeared somewhere in the darkness. “Oh, right!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Your wing!” It hadn't been a problem before, the entrance portal of the mansion was huge, but this door was much smaller and now Cozy was stuck.
“Do we really have time for this?” Apple Bloom groaned. “That entire mansion could collapse on us any moment! Cozy, why don't ya just rip off that darn wing?”
“Don't yell at her.” Sweetie Belle shot a stern frown at Apple Bloom. “It was my idea to come here. Besides, Cozy has put a lot of effort into her costume.”
Sweetie Belle trotted over to Cozy, whose eyes had formed some tears in their corners now. “Don't worry, we'll fix this, Cozy.” She gave Cozy's cheek a reassuring nudge with her hoof. Then she performed a levitation spell and used it to fold Cozy's towering wing together, as gentle as she could. When it was all in place, she cast a different spell and a green thread made of magic appeared in the air. Using levitation once more, Sweetie Belle wrapped it around Cozy's wing, made a knot and tied up the wing.
“There, now it's all done!” She smirked at Apple Bloom. “Only took a minute. Now let's go!” Cozy Glow wiped the tears out of her eyes and gave Sweetie Belle a grateful smile, face slightly blushing, as they all went through the door together.
At the other side, they started coughing and their eyes began to water. Dust was drifting through the air, an unusually high amount of it even for an abandoned building like that. They needed a few minutes to adjust, while the dust particles danced in Sweetie Belle's searching flashlight. As they finally moved through the narrow corridor that presented themselves to them here, they felt like the floor was swaying. The boards creaked and moaned under their hooves. They could see holes in them, perfectly circular and framed by tiny mountains of wood dust.
Around the next corner, their luck ended. Old furniture was piling up in front of them, reaching from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. It was wet and moldy and the chairs, sofas and tables were stacked together in intriguing patterns, creating nooks and crannies. The structure reminded them of weird, modern art, also seen in Manehattan, in an art exhibit that they had quickly left again after checking out only a few “masterpieces”.
“So, where do we go now?” Apple Bloom asked into the darkness of the corridor, to nopony in particular. The answer was being given to her before Sweetie Belle could respond. The pile of furniture moved a little, inching a bit to the left, then to the right, like something was trying to wriggle free from it. Then black, tube-like shapes peeled themselves out of the darkness. They could only see them because Sweetie Belle held her shaking flashlight right at them and because their dark bodies contrasted the grey dust flying around them. They wriggled free from the moldy furniture, then swirled above it for a couple seconds, before their form became more solid. The black, smoke-like tubes turned green, skin appeared and it wasn't long until the four fillies, now frozen in shock, stared at four huge, fleshy snakes with red eyes, their mouths featuring long teeth that dripped yellow poison and that made Sweetie Belle's vampire teeth look cute in comparison. The manifested beasts lunged at them and the Crusaders and Cozy Glow screamed.
Stumbling backwards, they fell onto the dusty, unsteady floor, but instantly picked themselves up again. They turned on their hooves and ran for their lives, chased by the beasts that were gliding through the air even though they had no wings. Hissing from behind found its way into their ears as they fled back around the corner. Neither of them thinking anything, they collectively crashed into the next available door on the left side of the corridor, hurried into the room and slammed it shut from the other side. The door bent inwards a little as the snakes bumped against it on the other side, but it held. Breathing a sigh of relief the fillies slunk down on their haunches, Cozy Glow leaning her back against Scootaloo's and Apple Bloom leaning hers against Sweetie Belle's. Their hearts raced and hurt.
The breathing spell didn't last long, however, and they weren't allowed any peace. A red light without a source went on at the ceiling and, simultaneously, Sweetie Belle's flashlight went out with a burst. Instinctively, their eyes got drawn to the only light source left in the room, but they wished they hadn't looked there. In the red light, the body of a stallion was suspended in air. They could clearly see a sturdy rope around his neck, his legs dangled limply and there was a fallen chair right under this back hooves. The neck of the stallion was awfully long, stretched out muscles, and his head, when he was swaying slightly for some undetermined reason, was rolling back and forth. Dead eyes, widely opened, looked down at them and the stallion presented them with the last look look of teror in his face from right before he died. Blood dripped down his back hooves and formed a puddle next to the chair.
The eyes of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Cozy Glow took all of these details in, terror striking their hearts, and yet, they were unable to move. And when they thought it couldn't get worse anymore, the stallion's head stopped its uncontrolled rolling around, it straightened and he looked right at them. An open wound in his chest, the most gruesome detail that became apparent to them only now, showed his heart and in that moment, it began beating again. And the stallion spoke to them. “My heart is still beating, as you can see, but it won't be for long anymore. Can I have one of yours?”
It broke the paralaysis of the four fillies. Screaming and shrieking, they got up and began madly dashing around in the small room.
Cozy had somehow managed to squeeze her real wings out from under her rubber costume and she flew in panic from one corner of the room to another, without guidance or a goal in mind. Her fit of panic subsided as she flew face-first into another door. The impact turned her mind clear again. Cozy threw open the door in mid-air, flew through it, slammed it shut and made her way towards the next room. Creepy dolls stared at her, but she paid no attention to them. Yet another door was her destination and she threw open that one, as well, a colder breeze of air greeted her, then moonlight spread out on her face. She had found the exit! Her mind had switched to survival mode and Cozy was focused on saving herself, gone were the concerns for her three friends who were still trapped with the undead stallion. She slammed the backdoor shut, as well, and immediately flew away from the mansion and up a tree. Sitting down on a thick branch, Cozy held a hoof at her chest and tried to calm her thumping heart with slow, controlled breaths.
It was over. Her friends were lost, but she was safe. And Cozy was fine with that. It was the most important thing. They were expendable, she reminded herself on her own words from early in the evening and soon, the story of how she narrowly escaped a haunted house in Ponyville's old mansion district, after having to watch helplessly how her friends got slain by an undead stalion would make the rounds in the friendship school. And then she would make new friends. She was out and they were in and had made her escape possible, buying her the time she needed. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had served their purpose, much more so than they had in her imagination.
Cozy Glow stood up as her heart rate had returned to a healthy speed. She looked at the mansion and listened. It was silent now. That meant her friends were over, done for. But she was alive and could still follow her plan, a fact that Cozy acknowledged by curling up her lips and forming a smile. It only stung a little, good memories were hard to let go, but in the end they were pawns, she reminded herself. And she would make many more good memories once everypony was her friend.
Cozy got ready to jump down from the tree, when a tug at her costume held her back. She looked behind and saw that the wing of her costume had come loose again a little. It was still mostly held in place by Sweetie Belle's magical thread, though. That view and the memory of Sweetie Belle's kindness it brought forth in her mind stung a little more. Her costume for tonight hadn't been chosen at random, Cozy's thoughts went into a different direction. She had played that game and the main villain, the One-Winged Angel, had resonated with her soul. She was like her, kind of. Treacherous and deceiving, she related a great deal to that mare. And so, the choice had been easy. Her video game idol became the costume for her first Nightmare Night in Ponyville. It had been the perfect decision. Although, now..... a shadow of doubt crept into Cozy's mind.
Was the really like that mare? Like that villain in the game? She had left her friends behind, used them to save herself..... Now they were probably dead, with one of their hearts serving as the new heart for the stallion hanging at the ceiling, prolonging his undead existence..... And this was her fault. She hadn't burnt down a village, but she had killed regardless, and her best friends nonetheless, by leaving them in the center of danger.
Cozy's eyes drifted to the backdoor that had brought her freedom and her heart got heavier. And could she really be sure of anything? She had already contacted one of Equestria's biggest enemies and was working together with him. To banish the magic of Equestria away into another realm, so that nopony could stop her anymore while she used her intelligent mind to make everypony depend on her until she was worshipped so much that she would ascend the throne of Equestria as its sole empress. Could she really be sure she would be stopping at anything to bring that plan to fruition if something should get in the way of it? Her heart gave the answer and when the full realization dawned on Cozy Glow, she broke out in tears and weeped. Nopony else was there, but if there had been another pony coming to the old mansions to get a special thrill on Nightmare Night, that pony would hear weeping coming from a tree and would think there was a ghost and flee, while in reality, it was a little pegasus filly who had just seen the path she had chosen for her life and who had become devastated and disgusted of herself as a result.
Crying relentlessly, Cozy pushed and pulled at her costume, until it was off and her real body was freed. She clasped it tightly between her hooves, wiped the tears out of her eyes and gave the backdoor a stern stare, before she flew towards it and kicked it open.
Inside the mansion, the chaos was still perfect. Screaming at the top of their lungs, the Crusaders were running around in the almost pure darkness of the room, not able to find a way out and bumping into objects or each other, while the wicked, undead stallion observed each of their movements and was laughing sinister. When they felt that the strength in their legs was finally used up and they knew they had to stop, sealing their fates, a door at the end of the room suddenly opened and Cozy Glow appeared in the frame.
“Come out, quick, I found the exit!” she shouted at them with a desperate, frightened and, for some reason, broken voice. Before they knew what happened, they saw something black getting tossed into the face of the undead stallion, momentarily surprising him. Come out!” Cozy shouted again.
Encouraged by their friend's voice and with their last, remaining energy, the Crusaders ran for her and out of the room. Doors slamming shut once more, the four fillies escaped the mansion together before the undead stallion could recover and start chasing them.
Unnoticed by them, as they ran off into the distance, the silhouette of a unicorn appeared at a window on the second floor and looked after them. “Too bad”, the stallion in fine clothes spoke to himself in the darkness of the room. “This was starting to become fun, I wish they would have stayed longer. Oh, well. There will be new visitors tonight.” And, indeed, his eyes fell on a small group of costumed ponies entering the mansion district in the distance. The stallion smiled and pressed a button next to him. The chanting and singing of creepy, ghostly foals filled the air. He pressed another button and down in the entrance hall, the crack in the wall disappeared. The night had only just begun.
A fair bit away from the mansion, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Cozy Glow stopped their running and stood still. Once more, they slumped to the ground, backs on backs, but this time they were in safety.
“I'm so sorry for leaving you behind!” Cozy apologized to her three friends as she had regained her breath and she broke out in tears again.
“W-What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked her between two sharp breaths. “You saved us.”
“Y-Yeah. Ya a hero, Cozy.”
“But at first I was just running. I left you behind in there! You could be dead now and it's all because of me!”
“Don't sweat it,” Scootaloo brushed off her concern and regrets. “You were just scared, but you came back and that's what counts, Cozy!”
Before Cozy could argue further, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gave her a tight hug and squeezed themselves against her, drowning out all opposition with the love they felt for their friend.
And it was in this moment that Cozy understood. From now on, her path would be a different one. She didn't need any nefarious pen pals and she didn't need pawns. All she needed was friends. And now, they would be true friends to her.
Grateful for a burden that was now off her chest, Cozy Glow snuggled deeply into the embrace of the other three fillies. There was warmth now and she knew she was cared for. And for the first time in her life, the brilliant, young pegasus filly felt that cozy glowing in her heart that had inspired her name.
Her soul had become whole tonight.
.