Innocent Until Proven Cozyby Casketbase77ChaptersDeliberationConfrontationNote to Other Self[BONUS CHAPTER] ConsolationDeliberationIt was hot in the car. Maybe ‘hot’ wasn’t the right word, but it was certainly humid and Sunset Shimmer was stir crazy enough to be sweating up a storm with or without any compounding factors. For the dozenth time she reached for her metal water bottle on the dashboard only to remember for the dozenth time she’d drained it dry half an hour ago. Sunset desperately wanted to crack the window. If not to cool off, then to inhale something other than the same staleness she had been breathing for so long. But doing that first required starting the car’s engine, which would blow her cover. Miserable, bored, and yet somehow still anxious she slumped further down in her seat than she was already and blew out two lungfuls of wet, sour air. Sunset was a go-getter, not a watcher. This stakeout had been a stupid idea. Slouching like this was already making Sunset’s neck hurt. She sat up again, staring bleakly through her windshield at the playground across the lot. Cozy Glow was still there. The schoolgirl had gone from squatting next to the sandbox to kneeling in it while still staring intensely through a magnifying glass at something in the sand that Sunset wasn’t privy to. Sunset pulled her nearly dead cell phone from the biker jacket she'd thrown on the floor ages ago and checked the time. 5:16 PM. Cozy’s barely noticeable shuffle had been the first time she changed positions in forty Celestia-forsaken minutes. Sunset wanted to scream in frustration, but instead she just snorted and popped open the passenger side glove box. Inside was her journal, a two-way written correspondence device that magically mirrored any edits made to its sister copy back in Equestria. She flipped it open to the most recently marked pages as if they were going to be any different from the countless other times she’d read them. Dear Sunset Shimmer: I’m relieved to hear things have stabilized with Vignette and agree that if anyone can keep her on the right path, it’s Rarity. Like you said, it takes a diva to tame a diva. In the meantime, I have some of my best ponies researching how to prevent another Equestrian magic leak into the human world, since this has officially become a trend. As much as I want to promise swift progress, we’re currently recovering from a scare on this end thanks to an upstart pegasus named Cozy Glow. Things play out in Equestria the same way they do where you are, it seems: another day, another troubled, ambitious no-name who thinks their ill-gotten artifact is a free pass to world domination. I won’t bore you with the details, but this one was an uncharacteristically close call. Spike tells me I’m beginning to ramble, so that will be all for now. I’ll close by saying I can tell you’re trying very hard to make sure everyone stays safe. You're a good person, Sunset. You don't get told that often enough. Your friend and confidante, Twilight Sparkle. Sunset skipped her own amicable but terse reply letter, filled with tons of empty platitudes and one urgent request for details about Cozy Glow’s appearance and actions. It was a garbage piece of hectic writing that she didn’t like looking at. Instead she went straight to Twilight’s response. Dear Sunset Shimmer: No, you aren’t overstepping your bounds at all. I glossed over mentioning Cozy not because I was being secretive, but because I didn’t expect her to interest you so much. I've enclosed a yearbook picture of Cozy Glow taken during her brief enrollment at the School of Friendship. I don’t know if the colors will come through on your side but in case they don’t, her mane is two-toned electric blue and her coat is salmon. I can’t say for certain the color of her eyes, as while the irises are orange in the photo I distinctly remember them being a deep, pronounced red when I apprehended her. Curiously, not in the ‘magically induced’ way. If I may be completely honest, the urgent tone of your last letter did cause me some concern. Cozy is rather young, but did you possibly know her before you left Equestria? If you’re feeling guilt over not being able to warn me, please don’t. Nopony was permanently injured as a result - Sunset pulled the photo of the little pegasus out of its nesting place in the journal’s folds and tossed the book on top of her jacket. Twilight was only slightly off; No, in her Equestrian days Sunset hadn’t known anypony named Cozy Glow. But she knew one here in the human world. Or rather, knew of one because that was the name of an incoming freshman at Canterlot High. Deep-focusing as best she could, Sunset held up the photo and tried to compare its equine features to the human parallels on the schoolgirl still in the sandbox. The coat and skin colors matched. The mane and hair colors matched. The names of course matched. Cozy (the human one that is) was still bent over her magnifying glass so her face wasn’t visible, but if it was odds were good that the freckles on both lined up exactly. Eyes too. A deep, pronounced red, Twilight had written. Sunset shuddered despite the soggy heat. There was only one discrepancy that kept Sunset from marching right over and giving the supposedly scheming tyke a big intimidation speech, and that was human Cozy’s hairstyle. The pony in the picture had a mane sporting layers and layers of curls like some Shirley Temple knockoff, but the human’s flat-ironed locks were pulled back and bound in a tight bun. Sunset sighed and let the arm holding the photo drop into her lap. She’d seen this type of inconsistency between pony and human counterparts only once, and fittingly enough it was with Twilight Sparkle. Not only did Sunset’s Equestrian pen pal style herself independently from her bipedal counterpart, but (and this was important) her personality was different too. Okay, not drastically different, but enough to make pen pal Twilight a one-time demon fighter and the other a one-time demon wannabe. And if those two could be such significant departures from each other… Sunset’s poor dehydrated head was pounding. She shut her throbbing eyes and pressed her forehead against the steering wheel, avoiding honking the horn by mere centimeters. “Stupid idea,” she reiterated, out loud this time. “Stupid, stupid idea.” Sunset should have been studying. Or helping Pinkie Pie plan the Fall Formal. Or literally anything else other than sitting in her sticky car creeping on a probably blameless girl three years her junior at the local park. But Sunset had a self-imposed sense of responsibility for her fellow students. That was why when she was leaving school just in time to see the doppelgänger of Equestria’s most infamous filly get up from a picnic table and start walking, a gut feeling told her to not let Cozy out of sight. Sunset got in her car and started tailing, which ultimately resulted in her being parked here for an hour, growing more and more desperate for Cozy Glow to do something incriminating enough to make Sunset feel justified in confronting her. At this point it would be a relief for Cozy to just leave so Sunset could start up the engine and drive away with some feeling of deniability. Sunset wasn’t even questioning how she’d made it this far without being noticed, given hers was the only car in the lot, Cozy was the only occupant on the playground, and both of them had arrived at the same time. Well, however it had happened, it had. And Sunset was stuck here, pulled one way by her desire to bail, another by her need to act, and trapped where she sat by the inability to commit to either. Something outside of her control needed to hurry up and occur or she was going to go absolutely breezies-in-the-brain insane cooped up in this sedan turned sauna. Around ten minutes later, Sunset got what she needed. Cozy Glow straightened up suddenly, dropped her magnifying glass, and peered into the nearby treeline. It took Sunset a few seconds to come out of the spaced out stupor she’d settled into, but when she did, it was clear what’d gotten Cozy’s attention: two other girls had just come into view, one talking excitedly and gesturing to a skateboard tucked under her arm while the other did her best to keep pace while recording the first with her phone’s camera. Sunset recognized them as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, two thirds of a trio of sophomores known around Canterlot High as class clowns. Neither seemed to have noticed Cozy yet, who had brushed the sand from her skirt, stood up, and taken a few steps toward them. Sunset leaned forward, her heart rate up. She didn’t need to review Twilight’s lengthy recounting of Cozy Glow ingratiating herself with the Elements of Harmony to remember the inciting incident had been schmoozing over the younger sisters. Though it pained her to dwell on this aspect of herself, Sunset was all too familiar with the art of emotionally conning people. Posture that’s casually dominant, smile that’s disarmingly bright, and a punchy opening remark that lands thematically somewhere between the two. That was the approach Sunset understood and the one that always worked. So naturally she was floored when Cozy Glow suddenly dropped back down to the sand and began bawling her eyes out. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle immediately took notice and after sharing some worried looks, they started moving in the distressed peer's direction. Their vlog session seemed more abandoned than Sunset was by whatever resolve she'd been gathering just now. Was this right? Was Cozy openly crying in front of her peers the behavior of a domineering chessmaster? Sunset could count on one hand the number of times she herself had cried in front of others, all of which had all been shows of submission and weakness. Sunset felt achingly out of her depth here and wished Twilight Sparkle was present to advise her. To say whether interfering would be the right decision. But Equestria was literally a world away and no one this side of reality could make the call for Sunset right now. To step in or not. To assume the worst about this pseudo-stranger, or believe in the best. Sweetie Belle had bent down and said something encouraging that made Cozy wipe her tears, force a brave smile, and look up. Cozy Glow’s irises were red. Sunset kicked the driver’s side door open, the blast of the outside breeze snatching her breath away. She planted both heels on the asphalt and got to standing position. Tingling from the sudden drop in air pressure and also due to her own nerves, Sunset Shimmer began to stagger across the parking lot towards the three figures on the playground. Confrontation“Oh hey, Sunset.” Sweetie Belle called when she saw the former closing in. “You... um… dressing casual today?” Scootaloo looked the approaching older girl up, then down, then up again. “Wow,” she commented bluntly. “You look and smell like gym class.” Sunset halted her advance several feet away, hands balled into fists at the realization of how badly the hour-long wait session in the car had worn on her. She felt her hair plastered to her forehead and tasted the dryness of her own mouth. She saw the indents on her forearms where she’d leaned on them for too long. Most of all, she yearned for her discarded jacket like a filly would an absent security blanket. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were still expecting her to say something, each wearing their own look of concern. Cozy Glow, still kneeling in the sandbox, stared up at Sunset with an unreadable expression on her still flushed face. Dominant posture and disarming smile, Sunset reminded herself. You’re in control here. Drawing herself up and swiping some stray hair out of her sweaty face, Sunset picked the coolest tone of voice she had that still had some pep to it. “Hey girls, where’s Applebloom? You three are usually joined at the hip.” “Home,” Scootaloo said gesturing with her skateboard in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “Something about early autumn being harvest season prep time. Were you jogging just now? If you were, you don’t look dressed for it.” “This,” Sweetie Belle interjected, trying politely as she could to keep the topic of conversation off Sunset’s disheveled state, “is Cozy Glow. We just met.” Sunset looked directly at Cozy for what was, as far as anyone other than Sunset knew, the first time. “Mm-hm.” She said evenly. “You look like you’ve been crying. You alright?” “Golly,” Cozy said in a bubbly, transatlantic accent that caught Sunset off guard. “I just got bit by a fire ant that was lurking in this here sand is all. Stings somethin’ awful, but here I’m seeing new friends coming from all directions to check if I’m alright.” The sandbox did indeed have a noticeable number of the red insects scurrying about. None near where Cozy was currently kneeling, but plenty around her half-buried magnifying glass in the opposite corner. Scootaloo was wrinkling her nose at the sight. “I’d step on every one of those things if I wasn’t wearing my good court shoes.” She declared. “Oh, don’t say that,” Cozy begged. “Can’t blame a little creature for doing what comes naturally.” Sunset gave a sniff of dismissal. “If what comes naturally is hurting people, I think some blame is justified.” She stared daggers at Cozy Glow, trying to discern whether the strategically placed quip touched a nerve. Had Cozy actually flinched at that remark, or did Sunset’s tired brain just imagine it? An awkward silence was yawning between the four present, accented only by Scootaloo giving a throat-clearing grunt when she shifted the skateboard from under one arm to the other. Sweetie Belle came to the rescue again. “Scoots was going to do some skate tricks off the slides and swings while I filmed it. Gonna get a ton of hits. Hopefully.” “Online or on your head? Because I don’t see you wearing a helmet.” Sunset’s query was directed at Scootaloo, who rolled her eyes before responding. “Headgear makes it hard for the camera to catch your face. If this video really does make it big, everyone who watches it needs to know it was me in it. C’mon, Sunset don’t be uncool.” “You watch your tone when you’re talking to me!” Sunset’s exclamation was probably more forceful than was needed, but this was her chance to scare the girls off the playground and therefore away from Cozy Glow. “What do you think Rainbow Dash would say if I called and told her you were endangering yourself like that?” Sunset raised her dead phone threateningly, making Scootaloo blink in surprise. Sweetie Belle was trying to say something to diffuse the sudden tension, and as much as it pained Sunset to cut her off, she had to. “And as for you. How would Rarity react when she learned her little sister was standing by as an enabler?” Seeing Sweetie bite her lip and draw up her shoulders defensively was almost enough to make Sunset break character, so she brought her affected outrage down a notch. “I don’t want to see anypo- anybody get hurt or in trouble.” (That was at least truthful). “Sorry to step on your enthusiasm Scoots, but you’re not doing any unprotected stunts as long as I’m here.” By Celestia, that was a weak and rushed declaration. Sunset had no idea what to do if the others challenged her. This empty show of bluster, poorly executed as it was, needed to work or she’d just made an ass of herself for no reason. Scootaloo was staring at the ground dejectedly and when she spoke again it was barely more than a mumble. “You’d really rat us out?” “Yes,” Sunset insisted. “Though even if I didn’t, the video would on its own when you posted it. Either go get proper protection before coming back here, or don’t come back at all.” Scootaloo gave a sigh of defeat and looked to her friend for condolence. Sweetie Belle, who still hadn’t quite recovered from being barked at earlier, managed to put on a brave face. “Okay, Sunset. You’re probably in the right, as usual. Thanks for looking out for us.” Sunset simply nodded, a lump in her throat preventing her from saying anything else. “C’mon, Scootaloo, let’s go.” To say Sunset felt awful watching them leave was an understatement. She knew they’d skip retrieving Scootaloo’s pads and just find a different, equally horseplay-friendly spot for the tomboy to endanger herself, but that was out of her hands. Sunset couldn’t guard her peers against everything, only the dangers that she was prepared for. Dangers like Cozy Glow. “Pretty good performance, Miss.” Cozy’s cherubic accent had disappeared, and a hard edge beyond her years crispened her diction. “Sent them packing just as easily as I reeled them in.” She flashed a predatory grin and stepped onto the elevated frame that surrounded the sandbox so her eye level was equal to Sunset’s. “The dykey one was right though, you do smell like you just ran a mile. Or maybe you were doing a naughtier kind of workout. Got a guy in your car back there? An hour is an awfully long time to have been going at it in a public spot. You do know children come here to play, right?” “That’s enough, you smug... that’s enough.” Sunset shouldn’t have let the little turd seize initiative like that. Time to shift from defense to offense. “Your cutie patootie schtick wasn’t convincing, and neither is your smarmy lolita one. Unless, and I gag at the thought, what I’m seeing is the real you.” Cozy’s natural blush was replaced with a pale mortified grimace in an instant. “This is not the real me!” She squawked with sudden fury. “I’m cute and lovable!” Another nerve touched. Sunset decided later was when she would feel guilt over how effortlessly she could affect her old, manipulative self. Now was the time she’d press the advantage she’d gotten from Twilight’s letters, and press it hard. “You’re a snake in the grass, Cozy Glow. You memorized where Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were going to be today and sauntered out here to meet them. Even brought a magnifying glass from daddy’s desk drawer so you could pass your wait time by burning ants like you’re some Saturday morning cartoon villain. Then when they finally show up, you get their attention with a boo-hoo gambit that’s more outdated than your fake accent. Have I got everything right so far?” “I… I… who the hell even are you?” Cozy Glow’s breathing had gotten loud, and her red eyes were darting around nervously. “And after you got your hooks in,” Sunset continued, taking an intimidating step closer. “After that…” Unfortunately, Sunset didn’t have an ending for the sentence. Her tirade had been a display of gunfire, and she’d fired off all her shots at once like a reckless amateur. Sure, Twilight’s letter had recounted what steps Equestrian Cozy took after endearing herself to the CMC, (solve a misunderstanding she herself engineered, accumulate authority and privilege at the school, obtain the keys to the sub basement, set up some sort of doomsday artifact array on the Tree of Harmony’s leylines to short circuit the entire planet), but none of that translated to anything that a Cozy Glow on Earth could do. Sunset had spent the last hour eyeing Cozy from afar, but now was the first time she really was looking at the angry but bewildered girl up close. The understanding that this Cozy was a human tween in a human world was forming a pit of ice in Sunset’s stomach. How could someone like that, living in the circumstances she was, possibly be a menace? Conniving and attention-hungry sure, but an honest-to-Faust menace? There wasn’t any magic in this world to drain, let alone artifacts with which to do it. Even Cozy’s ‘piercing red eyes’ that Sunset wanted so much to reflect some inner depravity were of course meaningless. Rainbow Dash, boisterous, outgoing, noogie-dispensing Rainbow Dash had reddish eyes. None of the Equestrian logic applied. None of it at all. Sunset had nothing left. She’d wasted her entire misery-filled afternoon waiting around so she could bully a random kid. Stupid idea. That was the only phrase in Sunset’s head that had any weight anymore. Stupid, stupid idea. Cozy Glow, unaware of her antagonist’s private mental breakdown, was still regarding the stupefied Sunset with caution. Then, Cozy gave a slow sigh full of knowing resignation. There was only one explanation for a person she’d never seen before walking up and reciting all her sins. In a rehearsed and deliberate ritual for the benefit of no one but herself, Cozy shut her eyes tight and tensed her entire body. She knew her teeth had started grinding and that her right index finger was habitually winding that loose thread in the hem of her skirt around itself. Neither of those things mattered right now. What mattered was making the hallucination go away. “You’re not real.” Cozy’s voice sounded small and pitiful, even more than it had when she was affecting her ‘patootie’ persona. But the words she had been taught years ago by her first therapist, the ones she slowly repeated, were filled with conviction and strength. “You’re. Not. Real.” “Huh?” Sunset still felt like she’d been ideologically emptied, which meant Cozy’s bizarre accusation reverberated inside her like an echo in a canyon. “You’re not real and you’re not here.” Sunset didn’t know how to react. If this was another attempt at a trick, it sure didn’t sound like one. Sunset was good at picking up deceitfulness in others, and there wasn’t an ounce of it here. Cozy believed what she was saying. “I’m seeing you because I only took a half dose this morning. I thought a half dose would give me courage, but all it did was make you appear. I saw you following me. Watching. Like the others used to, you show up and shout me down and tell me I should hurt people. I burned all those ants, didn’t I? I burned as many as I could before you even came up and told me to, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to make you go away.” “Cozy Glow, you’re shaking.” “You’re not here.” “That’s ridiculous. I was chatting with Sweetie Belle and Scootal-“ “You’re not here and you’re not talking and trying to confuse me.” “Hey, open your eyes and look at m-“ “NO!” Cozy’s shriek had been so sudden and ear splitting that for a moment all Sunset could hear was a high-pitched ringing noise. Cozy Glow clamped her hands over her ears and began babbling. “Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t there again today. Oh how I wish he’d go away.” “Cozy, calm the hell down!” “YESTERDAY UPON THE STAIR I MET A MAN WHO WASN’T THERE. HE WASN’T THERE AGAIN TODAY. OH HOW I WISH HE’D GO AWAY.” Getting desperate, Sunset grabbed each of Cozy’s arms and tried to pry them away from her ears. Cozy strained against her and fumbled over the demented nursery rhyme. But she didn’t stop chanting nor did she open her eyes. She kept going like the world would end if she stopped. “YESTERDAY HE WASN’T THERE. HE WASN’T - MET - TODAY. HE WASN’T - WISH HE’D GO AWAY. OH HOW I WISH HE’D GO AWAY. OH HOW I WISH HE’D GO AWAY…” Leaning in to pry at Cozy’s arms had put Sunset so close that the shrill shouts were downright deafening. She let go and stepped back just to think straight. This wasn’t how the confrontation was supposed to go at all. Completely dumbfounded, she stood helpless as Cozy Glow’s voice wore itself out and the frenzied rhyming slowly deflated into an inaudible murmur. It took eons for Cozy to achieve some sort of calm, but eventually her posture relaxed and her arms dropped limply to her sides. After a few deep huffs and puffs to psych herself up, Cozy reopened her eyes. Sunset had not disappeared. Cozy Glow let loose a wail like a wounded animal and sank to her hands and knees. She wailed again, this time even louder. Then she curled up on her side and started crying. Not delicate sniffles like during her fire ant gambit, but bellowing, undignified sobs that no one could possibly fake. Snot bubbled out of her button nose and pooled in the mulch next to her blotchy, crimson face. With a feeble fist she pounded the ground, sending wood shavings bouncing up then back down where they settled until they were as unmoving and helpless as she was. With that, the fight was completely gone from her. Cozy lay ravaged by imagined demons, and there she remained until Sunset Shimmer bent down and laid a tentative hand on a shivering shoulder. Cozy Glow’s small, shaking fingers laced with Sunset’s and the realness of the older girl became the anchor keeping one sorry soul safe from stormwinds howling through an addled mind. Note to Other SelfDear Cozy Glow, Sunset says you’ll probably never read this, but over the past few days she’s described and shown to me so many wondrous things that I no longer believe in the word “never.” If a parallel world of magic, dragons, and unicorns can exist, so can a troubled little pegasus who is willing to hear herself out. Do you like making friends, Cozy? My money is on yes, because I definitely do. I love it on a level that goes deeper than any normal person. Listen, what I’m about to tell you is something that took me years of blabbing about my feelings on a couch to understand: Absolutely, positively, the number one scariest thing in this life is to be Alone. More than that, being Alone is death. But that means the opposite is true, right? That means friendship is life. Even more than life, friendship is power. When I was young (well, I’m still pretty young but you know what I mean) I didn’t have any friends. Sure I had a cute face and adults gave me attention, but I didn’t play nice with others my age. That meant that most of the time I was, you guessed it, Alone. So I invented friends. Together we talked, we played, and even argued, me and those People Who Weren’t There. My parents approved, since imaginary friends was a normal thing for kids without siblings and hey, at least it kept me happy. I don’t recall when exactly the People Who Weren’t There started telling me to do things. It feels like one day everything was fine, and the next Dad was shaking me by the shoulders, yelling that imaginary or not, friends don’t encourage friends to do the things I did to the neighbor’s cat. The meds and therapy started right after, which made the People Who Weren’t There actually not there. This was good in the long run, I guess, but at the time it meant I was back to being Alone. I don’t think I need to explain why experiencing that again after so many years turned me into a desperate, scheming person. Are there a lot of mental hospitals in Equestria? Sunset says there’s way more of them here in my world. Does that mean ponies have a lower rate of getting sick in the head than humans do? I hope so. I wouldn’t want my world’s messed up people to exist any place else. But if you, a pony like me is there, that’s at least one. And don’t take this the wrong way, but Equestria seems like too nice of a place to have a term for what we are. Well I can give you a term, because it’s stamped on an official document that my parents keep in their strongbox: psychotic. I can also give you another easier to pronounce one that I came up with myself: lost soul. You and I put on fake faces because we don’t like who we really are. You and I want as many real friends as we can get, you because you think enough of them will make the People Who Aren’t There go away, and me because I live in fear of them coming back. Draining the magic out of Equestria wouldn’t have made the voices go away, Cozy. Only meds that don’t exist in your world can do that. This is why I’m enclosing one of my pills in this letter. Sunset thinks the Canterlot School Of Alchemy can figure out what’s inside the pill that makes it work. If they can, it could lead to some peace for you and anyone else in the same boat as us. Something else I’m enclosing is a picture of myself. See, I already have a picture of you, and if you get one of me then neither of us will be Alone. Not in the way that scares us so much. Write me back if you get the chance. I’m always up for a little bit of “self help.” Your very very close friend, Another lost soul Author's Note “Evil is just a word. Under the skin, it’s simple pain.” Eleanor Lamb, Bioshock 2 [BONUS CHAPTER] ConsolationAuthor's Note Deleted scene I wrote awhile back. Uploaded after all this time. [BONUS CHAPTER] Consolation “A magical talking horse,” Cozy Glow said skeptically, tapping her fingers on the side of her milkshake. “From another dimension.” Sunset nodded mutely. The two of them were sitting on the patio of Joe’s Malt Shop just outside the park grounds. Cozy wiped her hand on a napkin and reached across the table. “Can I see that photo again?” Sunset produced the picture of Cozy Glow (the other Cozy Glow, she reminded herself) from the folds of her journal and handed it over. Cozy studied the image thoughtfully. “And where you’re from, I’m a magical talking horse too?” “Not magical,” Sunset explained. “Just flying. And she’s definitely not you. I know she has your face, and name, and… probably all your issues, but she’s not you. You’re you.” “Uh huh.” Cozy set the photo on the table and slid it back towards Sunset. For a few seconds, neither spoke. Cozy’s eyes, residually puffy from her meltdown, were still narrowed at Sunset. Cozy could affect a lot of airs, but her features were just a little too soft to make her attempt at a hard-boiled detective stare convincing. “Are you suuuuure you’re not one of my hallucinations?” Sunset groaned, exasperated. “I know it sounds nuts, but I promise it’s the truth. I can’t prove it, right now at least, because all I have on me is the photo and this journal, and I already showed you both-“ “Hey,” Cozy interrupted. “Calm down, horse lady. That was a joke. I know you’re real.” Sunset blinked, unsure what to say. Cozy Glow fished a cherry out of her shake, popped it in her mouth, and continued. “The stuff you say is next-level ridiculous, and I gotta be wary cuz I am off my meds right now,” She had swallowed the cherry, but was still rolling something around on her tongue. “But that’s why I had you pay for my ice cream. I knew you were a solid, flesh and blood person after the cashier talked to you.” Cozy stuck her tongue out, presenting the cherry’s stem, successfully tied in a knot. “Plus I got a free milkshake out of it. But what I still don’t get is... even if that picture is real and everything you told me is true… why would you help me? What’s in it for you?” Sunset folded her arms apprehensively. “The truth is... the pegasus who looks like you, she... she tried to hurt a lot of ponies. I only know about her secondhand, but when Twi... when my pen pal back in Equestria explained how dangerous she was, I...” Sunset was burning with shame. “I was worried that you were dangerous too.” Cozy Glow stirred the remains of her shake, looking nervous. “And are you still worried about that?” “Honestly, I don’t know. I think you’re hurting-“ Cozy snorted at the understatement, but let Sunset continue. “-and I think maybe you really are as messed up as the other one. But to tell the truth I don’t know a thing about either of you.” Cozy downed the rest of her shake and wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. “Oh, I can promise you I’m plenty messed up, Sunset. But just cuz I’m a kid with a few screws loose doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I’m still a human being, and maybe things are different for you horse people, but us human beings don’t like being lied to.” Sunset blinked uncomprehendingly. “Lied to?” “I felt something when you touched me earlier. After you got me to pitch that shit-fit at the park.” Sunset winced at the harshness of Cozy’s choice of words. “But whatever. There I was, lying on my side, thinking I’d finally gone fully crackers, and you put your hand on my shoulder and... did something. I didn’t know what it was at the time. Hell, I wasn’t really focused on anything at the time, but I think I know now. You used your horsey magic to peek inside my head. And don’t try to deny it, because when I tied that cherry stem in a knot with my tongue earlier, you didn’t bat an eye. That’s a party trick that starts a conversation every time, except when someone’s already seen me do it. So don’t gimmie that ‘I don’t know a thing about you’ junk when you’ve obviously already leafed through my brain as if it was your journal over there.” Cozy Glow leaned back, looking rather satisfied with her sleuthing abilities. Sunset meanwhile, was sweating again. “Dangerous or not, you’ve got a special talent for playing people,” she observed. Cozy laughed darkly. “Don’t try to distract me with compliments, Miss Shimmer. If you really wanna win me over, come clean and explain what you saw in my head.” Cozy Glow snapped her fingers a few times to accentuate her demand while Sunset glanced around the malt shop’s patio. “There’s nobody else here, horse lady,” Cozy Glow continued impatiently. “I wouldn’t be openly yapping about my problems if there was.” Yet again, Sunset found herself wishing Princess Twilight was present to tell her what to do. This version of Cozy Glow seemed open to advice, (which was impressive, given how badly Sunset botched their initial confrontation), but it was entirely possible this cocky but vulnerable persona was an act. There was an old Equestrian fable that recounted a pony who saved a cockatrice from freezing in the snow, only for the ungrateful creature to immediately turn him to stone for his act of charity. It was possible the human version of Cozy Glow was a metaphorical cockatrice in the snow. Then again, Sunset herself had once been shown mercy by a stranger, being spared by Twilight and given the chance to take a better life path. Sunset felt it was her responsibility to pay that kindness forward. A cockatrice could theoretically learn thankfulness, right? “Yes, okay, I admit it. If I put my hand on someone, I get a psychic reading from them. But it’s not usually a clear picture. Just a bunch of vibes and sometimes a key memory.” “Key memory, huh?” Cozy Glow’s indignation had been replaced with amused interest. “Tell me miss psychic horse, what key memory do I have that involves my cherry stem trick?” Sunset raised her head again and met Cozy Glow’s composed glare with her own fiery one. “How about practicing the trick in the mirror for weeks before school started because you were desperate to make friends in the lunch room?” A tendon in Cozy Glow’s neck tensed noticeably. “Yeah,” she confirmed cooly. “Yeah okay, that’d be one. A key memory, I mean.” “But your vibes were what made me drive you here for ice cream,” Sunset quickly added. “I mean, I gathered by your cherry trick you liked milkshakes, but I would have taken you with me even if I hadn’t guessed that.” “Mm. Of course. My ‘vibes.’ And what did you get from those?” “I got that you’re lonely. And sick. I don’t know which of those came first, but I think both of them have been feeding into each other for a very long time, and luring in Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo with that fake-crying gambit was you finally looking to get away from both.” “Ah, there it is. Ya know, it took…”, Cozy glanced at the clock on her cell phone, “twenty minutes, but you’ve finally started to sound like my therapist.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “It means,” Cozy said icily, “that Doctor Cadence has been chipping away at me for about five years now, trying to help me figure out why I’m the way I am, and neither of us have made any progress since like, year two. So I don’t know what you expect to accomplish talking to me for just one afternoon.” Sunset tried to say something, but Cozy Glow interrupted by dropping her voice an octave, apparently doing a spiteful impression of the aforementioned ‘Doctor Cadence.’ “Good evening, Cozy. Have you been taking your anti-batshit pills? Good, good. Oh, what’s that? You say that despite your meds, you’re still feeling all the same violent urges you always do?” Cozy Glow’s speech wavered slightly on the word ‘urges’, but she recovered. “Well, as long as you aren’t acting on them, your parents will continue to pay me for your overpriced counseling sessions, so I guess everybody wins. See you next week, you adorable, rosy-cheeked time bomb.” Cozy Glow returned to her regular tone of voice, though it had far less energy than before. “She’s a nice lady, but really naive. She and my parents think love and care are the only things needed to fix me. Oh hey, and while I’m shamelessly pouring myself out here, I might as well tell you something else.” Cozy Glow leaned forward. “Last night I had this dream where a flash of light came down from the sky and started turning me into a statue. I woke up right before the petrification was complete but I started crying anyway because I knew I deserved to be turned to stone. I deserve to be locked away before I hurt somebody. Because as hard as I try to be good, someday all the terrible things I fantasize about doing to other people are gonna spill over-“ Sunset stood up, crossed the table, and wrapped her arms around the trembling tween. Cozy Glow was caught completely off guard by the affection, and could only bite her lip as she buried her face in the leather of Sunset’s biker jacket, gratefully returning the hug. The two held each other silently for a few seconds. “How legible is your handwriting?” Sunset asked without breaking the embrace. “It's fine as long as I’m not doing anything in cursive.” Cozy replied quietly. “Why?” Sunset glanced back at her Friendship Journal, sitting expectantly on the table. “A certain somepony needs to hear what you have to say.”
DeliberationIt was hot in the car. Maybe ‘hot’ wasn’t the right word, but it was certainly humid and Sunset Shimmer was stir crazy enough to be sweating up a storm with or without any compounding factors. For the dozenth time she reached for her metal water bottle on the dashboard only to remember for the dozenth time she’d drained it dry half an hour ago. Sunset desperately wanted to crack the window. If not to cool off, then to inhale something other than the same staleness she had been breathing for so long. But doing that first required starting the car’s engine, which would blow her cover. Miserable, bored, and yet somehow still anxious she slumped further down in her seat than she was already and blew out two lungfuls of wet, sour air. Sunset was a go-getter, not a watcher. This stakeout had been a stupid idea. Slouching like this was already making Sunset’s neck hurt. She sat up again, staring bleakly through her windshield at the playground across the lot. Cozy Glow was still there. The schoolgirl had gone from squatting next to the sandbox to kneeling in it while still staring intensely through a magnifying glass at something in the sand that Sunset wasn’t privy to. Sunset pulled her nearly dead cell phone from the biker jacket she'd thrown on the floor ages ago and checked the time. 5:16 PM. Cozy’s barely noticeable shuffle had been the first time she changed positions in forty Celestia-forsaken minutes. Sunset wanted to scream in frustration, but instead she just snorted and popped open the passenger side glove box. Inside was her journal, a two-way written correspondence device that magically mirrored any edits made to its sister copy back in Equestria. She flipped it open to the most recently marked pages as if they were going to be any different from the countless other times she’d read them. Dear Sunset Shimmer: I’m relieved to hear things have stabilized with Vignette and agree that if anyone can keep her on the right path, it’s Rarity. Like you said, it takes a diva to tame a diva. In the meantime, I have some of my best ponies researching how to prevent another Equestrian magic leak into the human world, since this has officially become a trend. As much as I want to promise swift progress, we’re currently recovering from a scare on this end thanks to an upstart pegasus named Cozy Glow. Things play out in Equestria the same way they do where you are, it seems: another day, another troubled, ambitious no-name who thinks their ill-gotten artifact is a free pass to world domination. I won’t bore you with the details, but this one was an uncharacteristically close call. Spike tells me I’m beginning to ramble, so that will be all for now. I’ll close by saying I can tell you’re trying very hard to make sure everyone stays safe. You're a good person, Sunset. You don't get told that often enough. Your friend and confidante, Twilight Sparkle. Sunset skipped her own amicable but terse reply letter, filled with tons of empty platitudes and one urgent request for details about Cozy Glow’s appearance and actions. It was a garbage piece of hectic writing that she didn’t like looking at. Instead she went straight to Twilight’s response. Dear Sunset Shimmer: No, you aren’t overstepping your bounds at all. I glossed over mentioning Cozy not because I was being secretive, but because I didn’t expect her to interest you so much. I've enclosed a yearbook picture of Cozy Glow taken during her brief enrollment at the School of Friendship. I don’t know if the colors will come through on your side but in case they don’t, her mane is two-toned electric blue and her coat is salmon. I can’t say for certain the color of her eyes, as while the irises are orange in the photo I distinctly remember them being a deep, pronounced red when I apprehended her. Curiously, not in the ‘magically induced’ way. If I may be completely honest, the urgent tone of your last letter did cause me some concern. Cozy is rather young, but did you possibly know her before you left Equestria? If you’re feeling guilt over not being able to warn me, please don’t. Nopony was permanently injured as a result - Sunset pulled the photo of the little pegasus out of its nesting place in the journal’s folds and tossed the book on top of her jacket. Twilight was only slightly off; No, in her Equestrian days Sunset hadn’t known anypony named Cozy Glow. But she knew one here in the human world. Or rather, knew of one because that was the name of an incoming freshman at Canterlot High. Deep-focusing as best she could, Sunset held up the photo and tried to compare its equine features to the human parallels on the schoolgirl still in the sandbox. The coat and skin colors matched. The mane and hair colors matched. The names of course matched. Cozy (the human one that is) was still bent over her magnifying glass so her face wasn’t visible, but if it was odds were good that the freckles on both lined up exactly. Eyes too. A deep, pronounced red, Twilight had written. Sunset shuddered despite the soggy heat. There was only one discrepancy that kept Sunset from marching right over and giving the supposedly scheming tyke a big intimidation speech, and that was human Cozy’s hairstyle. The pony in the picture had a mane sporting layers and layers of curls like some Shirley Temple knockoff, but the human’s flat-ironed locks were pulled back and bound in a tight bun. Sunset sighed and let the arm holding the photo drop into her lap. She’d seen this type of inconsistency between pony and human counterparts only once, and fittingly enough it was with Twilight Sparkle. Not only did Sunset’s Equestrian pen pal style herself independently from her bipedal counterpart, but (and this was important) her personality was different too. Okay, not drastically different, but enough to make pen pal Twilight a one-time demon fighter and the other a one-time demon wannabe. And if those two could be such significant departures from each other… Sunset’s poor dehydrated head was pounding. She shut her throbbing eyes and pressed her forehead against the steering wheel, avoiding honking the horn by mere centimeters. “Stupid idea,” she reiterated, out loud this time. “Stupid, stupid idea.” Sunset should have been studying. Or helping Pinkie Pie plan the Fall Formal. Or literally anything else other than sitting in her sticky car creeping on a probably blameless girl three years her junior at the local park. But Sunset had a self-imposed sense of responsibility for her fellow students. That was why when she was leaving school just in time to see the doppelgänger of Equestria’s most infamous filly get up from a picnic table and start walking, a gut feeling told her to not let Cozy out of sight. Sunset got in her car and started tailing, which ultimately resulted in her being parked here for an hour, growing more and more desperate for Cozy Glow to do something incriminating enough to make Sunset feel justified in confronting her. At this point it would be a relief for Cozy to just leave so Sunset could start up the engine and drive away with some feeling of deniability. Sunset wasn’t even questioning how she’d made it this far without being noticed, given hers was the only car in the lot, Cozy was the only occupant on the playground, and both of them had arrived at the same time. Well, however it had happened, it had. And Sunset was stuck here, pulled one way by her desire to bail, another by her need to act, and trapped where she sat by the inability to commit to either. Something outside of her control needed to hurry up and occur or she was going to go absolutely breezies-in-the-brain insane cooped up in this sedan turned sauna. Around ten minutes later, Sunset got what she needed. Cozy Glow straightened up suddenly, dropped her magnifying glass, and peered into the nearby treeline. It took Sunset a few seconds to come out of the spaced out stupor she’d settled into, but when she did, it was clear what’d gotten Cozy’s attention: two other girls had just come into view, one talking excitedly and gesturing to a skateboard tucked under her arm while the other did her best to keep pace while recording the first with her phone’s camera. Sunset recognized them as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, two thirds of a trio of sophomores known around Canterlot High as class clowns. Neither seemed to have noticed Cozy yet, who had brushed the sand from her skirt, stood up, and taken a few steps toward them. Sunset leaned forward, her heart rate up. She didn’t need to review Twilight’s lengthy recounting of Cozy Glow ingratiating herself with the Elements of Harmony to remember the inciting incident had been schmoozing over the younger sisters. Though it pained her to dwell on this aspect of herself, Sunset was all too familiar with the art of emotionally conning people. Posture that’s casually dominant, smile that’s disarmingly bright, and a punchy opening remark that lands thematically somewhere between the two. That was the approach Sunset understood and the one that always worked. So naturally she was floored when Cozy Glow suddenly dropped back down to the sand and began bawling her eyes out. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle immediately took notice and after sharing some worried looks, they started moving in the distressed peer's direction. Their vlog session seemed more abandoned than Sunset was by whatever resolve she'd been gathering just now. Was this right? Was Cozy openly crying in front of her peers the behavior of a domineering chessmaster? Sunset could count on one hand the number of times she herself had cried in front of others, all of which had all been shows of submission and weakness. Sunset felt achingly out of her depth here and wished Twilight Sparkle was present to advise her. To say whether interfering would be the right decision. But Equestria was literally a world away and no one this side of reality could make the call for Sunset right now. To step in or not. To assume the worst about this pseudo-stranger, or believe in the best. Sweetie Belle had bent down and said something encouraging that made Cozy wipe her tears, force a brave smile, and look up. Cozy Glow’s irises were red. Sunset kicked the driver’s side door open, the blast of the outside breeze snatching her breath away. She planted both heels on the asphalt and got to standing position. Tingling from the sudden drop in air pressure and also due to her own nerves, Sunset Shimmer began to stagger across the parking lot towards the three figures on the playground.
Confrontation“Oh hey, Sunset.” Sweetie Belle called when she saw the former closing in. “You... um… dressing casual today?” Scootaloo looked the approaching older girl up, then down, then up again. “Wow,” she commented bluntly. “You look and smell like gym class.” Sunset halted her advance several feet away, hands balled into fists at the realization of how badly the hour-long wait session in the car had worn on her. She felt her hair plastered to her forehead and tasted the dryness of her own mouth. She saw the indents on her forearms where she’d leaned on them for too long. Most of all, she yearned for her discarded jacket like a filly would an absent security blanket. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were still expecting her to say something, each wearing their own look of concern. Cozy Glow, still kneeling in the sandbox, stared up at Sunset with an unreadable expression on her still flushed face. Dominant posture and disarming smile, Sunset reminded herself. You’re in control here. Drawing herself up and swiping some stray hair out of her sweaty face, Sunset picked the coolest tone of voice she had that still had some pep to it. “Hey girls, where’s Applebloom? You three are usually joined at the hip.” “Home,” Scootaloo said gesturing with her skateboard in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “Something about early autumn being harvest season prep time. Were you jogging just now? If you were, you don’t look dressed for it.” “This,” Sweetie Belle interjected, trying politely as she could to keep the topic of conversation off Sunset’s disheveled state, “is Cozy Glow. We just met.” Sunset looked directly at Cozy for what was, as far as anyone other than Sunset knew, the first time. “Mm-hm.” She said evenly. “You look like you’ve been crying. You alright?” “Golly,” Cozy said in a bubbly, transatlantic accent that caught Sunset off guard. “I just got bit by a fire ant that was lurking in this here sand is all. Stings somethin’ awful, but here I’m seeing new friends coming from all directions to check if I’m alright.” The sandbox did indeed have a noticeable number of the red insects scurrying about. None near where Cozy was currently kneeling, but plenty around her half-buried magnifying glass in the opposite corner. Scootaloo was wrinkling her nose at the sight. “I’d step on every one of those things if I wasn’t wearing my good court shoes.” She declared. “Oh, don’t say that,” Cozy begged. “Can’t blame a little creature for doing what comes naturally.” Sunset gave a sniff of dismissal. “If what comes naturally is hurting people, I think some blame is justified.” She stared daggers at Cozy Glow, trying to discern whether the strategically placed quip touched a nerve. Had Cozy actually flinched at that remark, or did Sunset’s tired brain just imagine it? An awkward silence was yawning between the four present, accented only by Scootaloo giving a throat-clearing grunt when she shifted the skateboard from under one arm to the other. Sweetie Belle came to the rescue again. “Scoots was going to do some skate tricks off the slides and swings while I filmed it. Gonna get a ton of hits. Hopefully.” “Online or on your head? Because I don’t see you wearing a helmet.” Sunset’s query was directed at Scootaloo, who rolled her eyes before responding. “Headgear makes it hard for the camera to catch your face. If this video really does make it big, everyone who watches it needs to know it was me in it. C’mon, Sunset don’t be uncool.” “You watch your tone when you’re talking to me!” Sunset’s exclamation was probably more forceful than was needed, but this was her chance to scare the girls off the playground and therefore away from Cozy Glow. “What do you think Rainbow Dash would say if I called and told her you were endangering yourself like that?” Sunset raised her dead phone threateningly, making Scootaloo blink in surprise. Sweetie Belle was trying to say something to diffuse the sudden tension, and as much as it pained Sunset to cut her off, she had to. “And as for you. How would Rarity react when she learned her little sister was standing by as an enabler?” Seeing Sweetie bite her lip and draw up her shoulders defensively was almost enough to make Sunset break character, so she brought her affected outrage down a notch. “I don’t want to see anypo- anybody get hurt or in trouble.” (That was at least truthful). “Sorry to step on your enthusiasm Scoots, but you’re not doing any unprotected stunts as long as I’m here.” By Celestia, that was a weak and rushed declaration. Sunset had no idea what to do if the others challenged her. This empty show of bluster, poorly executed as it was, needed to work or she’d just made an ass of herself for no reason. Scootaloo was staring at the ground dejectedly and when she spoke again it was barely more than a mumble. “You’d really rat us out?” “Yes,” Sunset insisted. “Though even if I didn’t, the video would on its own when you posted it. Either go get proper protection before coming back here, or don’t come back at all.” Scootaloo gave a sigh of defeat and looked to her friend for condolence. Sweetie Belle, who still hadn’t quite recovered from being barked at earlier, managed to put on a brave face. “Okay, Sunset. You’re probably in the right, as usual. Thanks for looking out for us.” Sunset simply nodded, a lump in her throat preventing her from saying anything else. “C’mon, Scootaloo, let’s go.” To say Sunset felt awful watching them leave was an understatement. She knew they’d skip retrieving Scootaloo’s pads and just find a different, equally horseplay-friendly spot for the tomboy to endanger herself, but that was out of her hands. Sunset couldn’t guard her peers against everything, only the dangers that she was prepared for. Dangers like Cozy Glow. “Pretty good performance, Miss.” Cozy’s cherubic accent had disappeared, and a hard edge beyond her years crispened her diction. “Sent them packing just as easily as I reeled them in.” She flashed a predatory grin and stepped onto the elevated frame that surrounded the sandbox so her eye level was equal to Sunset’s. “The dykey one was right though, you do smell like you just ran a mile. Or maybe you were doing a naughtier kind of workout. Got a guy in your car back there? An hour is an awfully long time to have been going at it in a public spot. You do know children come here to play, right?” “That’s enough, you smug... that’s enough.” Sunset shouldn’t have let the little turd seize initiative like that. Time to shift from defense to offense. “Your cutie patootie schtick wasn’t convincing, and neither is your smarmy lolita one. Unless, and I gag at the thought, what I’m seeing is the real you.” Cozy’s natural blush was replaced with a pale mortified grimace in an instant. “This is not the real me!” She squawked with sudden fury. “I’m cute and lovable!” Another nerve touched. Sunset decided later was when she would feel guilt over how effortlessly she could affect her old, manipulative self. Now was the time she’d press the advantage she’d gotten from Twilight’s letters, and press it hard. “You’re a snake in the grass, Cozy Glow. You memorized where Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were going to be today and sauntered out here to meet them. Even brought a magnifying glass from daddy’s desk drawer so you could pass your wait time by burning ants like you’re some Saturday morning cartoon villain. Then when they finally show up, you get their attention with a boo-hoo gambit that’s more outdated than your fake accent. Have I got everything right so far?” “I… I… who the hell even are you?” Cozy Glow’s breathing had gotten loud, and her red eyes were darting around nervously. “And after you got your hooks in,” Sunset continued, taking an intimidating step closer. “After that…” Unfortunately, Sunset didn’t have an ending for the sentence. Her tirade had been a display of gunfire, and she’d fired off all her shots at once like a reckless amateur. Sure, Twilight’s letter had recounted what steps Equestrian Cozy took after endearing herself to the CMC, (solve a misunderstanding she herself engineered, accumulate authority and privilege at the school, obtain the keys to the sub basement, set up some sort of doomsday artifact array on the Tree of Harmony’s leylines to short circuit the entire planet), but none of that translated to anything that a Cozy Glow on Earth could do. Sunset had spent the last hour eyeing Cozy from afar, but now was the first time she really was looking at the angry but bewildered girl up close. The understanding that this Cozy was a human tween in a human world was forming a pit of ice in Sunset’s stomach. How could someone like that, living in the circumstances she was, possibly be a menace? Conniving and attention-hungry sure, but an honest-to-Faust menace? There wasn’t any magic in this world to drain, let alone artifacts with which to do it. Even Cozy’s ‘piercing red eyes’ that Sunset wanted so much to reflect some inner depravity were of course meaningless. Rainbow Dash, boisterous, outgoing, noogie-dispensing Rainbow Dash had reddish eyes. None of the Equestrian logic applied. None of it at all. Sunset had nothing left. She’d wasted her entire misery-filled afternoon waiting around so she could bully a random kid. Stupid idea. That was the only phrase in Sunset’s head that had any weight anymore. Stupid, stupid idea. Cozy Glow, unaware of her antagonist’s private mental breakdown, was still regarding the stupefied Sunset with caution. Then, Cozy gave a slow sigh full of knowing resignation. There was only one explanation for a person she’d never seen before walking up and reciting all her sins. In a rehearsed and deliberate ritual for the benefit of no one but herself, Cozy shut her eyes tight and tensed her entire body. She knew her teeth had started grinding and that her right index finger was habitually winding that loose thread in the hem of her skirt around itself. Neither of those things mattered right now. What mattered was making the hallucination go away. “You’re not real.” Cozy’s voice sounded small and pitiful, even more than it had when she was affecting her ‘patootie’ persona. But the words she had been taught years ago by her first therapist, the ones she slowly repeated, were filled with conviction and strength. “You’re. Not. Real.” “Huh?” Sunset still felt like she’d been ideologically emptied, which meant Cozy’s bizarre accusation reverberated inside her like an echo in a canyon. “You’re not real and you’re not here.” Sunset didn’t know how to react. If this was another attempt at a trick, it sure didn’t sound like one. Sunset was good at picking up deceitfulness in others, and there wasn’t an ounce of it here. Cozy believed what she was saying. “I’m seeing you because I only took a half dose this morning. I thought a half dose would give me courage, but all it did was make you appear. I saw you following me. Watching. Like the others used to, you show up and shout me down and tell me I should hurt people. I burned all those ants, didn’t I? I burned as many as I could before you even came up and told me to, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to make you go away.” “Cozy Glow, you’re shaking.” “You’re not here.” “That’s ridiculous. I was chatting with Sweetie Belle and Scootal-“ “You’re not here and you’re not talking and trying to confuse me.” “Hey, open your eyes and look at m-“ “NO!” Cozy’s shriek had been so sudden and ear splitting that for a moment all Sunset could hear was a high-pitched ringing noise. Cozy Glow clamped her hands over her ears and began babbling. “Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t there again today. Oh how I wish he’d go away.” “Cozy, calm the hell down!” “YESTERDAY UPON THE STAIR I MET A MAN WHO WASN’T THERE. HE WASN’T THERE AGAIN TODAY. OH HOW I WISH HE’D GO AWAY.” Getting desperate, Sunset grabbed each of Cozy’s arms and tried to pry them away from her ears. Cozy strained against her and fumbled over the demented nursery rhyme. But she didn’t stop chanting nor did she open her eyes. She kept going like the world would end if she stopped. “YESTERDAY HE WASN’T THERE. HE WASN’T - MET - TODAY. HE WASN’T - WISH HE’D GO AWAY. OH HOW I WISH HE’D GO AWAY. OH HOW I WISH HE’D GO AWAY…” Leaning in to pry at Cozy’s arms had put Sunset so close that the shrill shouts were downright deafening. She let go and stepped back just to think straight. This wasn’t how the confrontation was supposed to go at all. Completely dumbfounded, she stood helpless as Cozy Glow’s voice wore itself out and the frenzied rhyming slowly deflated into an inaudible murmur. It took eons for Cozy to achieve some sort of calm, but eventually her posture relaxed and her arms dropped limply to her sides. After a few deep huffs and puffs to psych herself up, Cozy reopened her eyes. Sunset had not disappeared. Cozy Glow let loose a wail like a wounded animal and sank to her hands and knees. She wailed again, this time even louder. Then she curled up on her side and started crying. Not delicate sniffles like during her fire ant gambit, but bellowing, undignified sobs that no one could possibly fake. Snot bubbled out of her button nose and pooled in the mulch next to her blotchy, crimson face. With a feeble fist she pounded the ground, sending wood shavings bouncing up then back down where they settled until they were as unmoving and helpless as she was. With that, the fight was completely gone from her. Cozy lay ravaged by imagined demons, and there she remained until Sunset Shimmer bent down and laid a tentative hand on a shivering shoulder. Cozy Glow’s small, shaking fingers laced with Sunset’s and the realness of the older girl became the anchor keeping one sorry soul safe from stormwinds howling through an addled mind.
Note to Other SelfDear Cozy Glow, Sunset says you’ll probably never read this, but over the past few days she’s described and shown to me so many wondrous things that I no longer believe in the word “never.” If a parallel world of magic, dragons, and unicorns can exist, so can a troubled little pegasus who is willing to hear herself out. Do you like making friends, Cozy? My money is on yes, because I definitely do. I love it on a level that goes deeper than any normal person. Listen, what I’m about to tell you is something that took me years of blabbing about my feelings on a couch to understand: Absolutely, positively, the number one scariest thing in this life is to be Alone. More than that, being Alone is death. But that means the opposite is true, right? That means friendship is life. Even more than life, friendship is power. When I was young (well, I’m still pretty young but you know what I mean) I didn’t have any friends. Sure I had a cute face and adults gave me attention, but I didn’t play nice with others my age. That meant that most of the time I was, you guessed it, Alone. So I invented friends. Together we talked, we played, and even argued, me and those People Who Weren’t There. My parents approved, since imaginary friends was a normal thing for kids without siblings and hey, at least it kept me happy. I don’t recall when exactly the People Who Weren’t There started telling me to do things. It feels like one day everything was fine, and the next Dad was shaking me by the shoulders, yelling that imaginary or not, friends don’t encourage friends to do the things I did to the neighbor’s cat. The meds and therapy started right after, which made the People Who Weren’t There actually not there. This was good in the long run, I guess, but at the time it meant I was back to being Alone. I don’t think I need to explain why experiencing that again after so many years turned me into a desperate, scheming person. Are there a lot of mental hospitals in Equestria? Sunset says there’s way more of them here in my world. Does that mean ponies have a lower rate of getting sick in the head than humans do? I hope so. I wouldn’t want my world’s messed up people to exist any place else. But if you, a pony like me is there, that’s at least one. And don’t take this the wrong way, but Equestria seems like too nice of a place to have a term for what we are. Well I can give you a term, because it’s stamped on an official document that my parents keep in their strongbox: psychotic. I can also give you another easier to pronounce one that I came up with myself: lost soul. You and I put on fake faces because we don’t like who we really are. You and I want as many real friends as we can get, you because you think enough of them will make the People Who Aren’t There go away, and me because I live in fear of them coming back. Draining the magic out of Equestria wouldn’t have made the voices go away, Cozy. Only meds that don’t exist in your world can do that. This is why I’m enclosing one of my pills in this letter. Sunset thinks the Canterlot School Of Alchemy can figure out what’s inside the pill that makes it work. If they can, it could lead to some peace for you and anyone else in the same boat as us. Something else I’m enclosing is a picture of myself. See, I already have a picture of you, and if you get one of me then neither of us will be Alone. Not in the way that scares us so much. Write me back if you get the chance. I’m always up for a little bit of “self help.” Your very very close friend, Another lost soul Author's Note “Evil is just a word. Under the skin, it’s simple pain.” Eleanor Lamb, Bioshock 2
[BONUS CHAPTER] ConsolationAuthor's Note Deleted scene I wrote awhile back. Uploaded after all this time. [BONUS CHAPTER] Consolation “A magical talking horse,” Cozy Glow said skeptically, tapping her fingers on the side of her milkshake. “From another dimension.” Sunset nodded mutely. The two of them were sitting on the patio of Joe’s Malt Shop just outside the park grounds. Cozy wiped her hand on a napkin and reached across the table. “Can I see that photo again?” Sunset produced the picture of Cozy Glow (the other Cozy Glow, she reminded herself) from the folds of her journal and handed it over. Cozy studied the image thoughtfully. “And where you’re from, I’m a magical talking horse too?” “Not magical,” Sunset explained. “Just flying. And she’s definitely not you. I know she has your face, and name, and… probably all your issues, but she’s not you. You’re you.” “Uh huh.” Cozy set the photo on the table and slid it back towards Sunset. For a few seconds, neither spoke. Cozy’s eyes, residually puffy from her meltdown, were still narrowed at Sunset. Cozy could affect a lot of airs, but her features were just a little too soft to make her attempt at a hard-boiled detective stare convincing. “Are you suuuuure you’re not one of my hallucinations?” Sunset groaned, exasperated. “I know it sounds nuts, but I promise it’s the truth. I can’t prove it, right now at least, because all I have on me is the photo and this journal, and I already showed you both-“ “Hey,” Cozy interrupted. “Calm down, horse lady. That was a joke. I know you’re real.” Sunset blinked, unsure what to say. Cozy Glow fished a cherry out of her shake, popped it in her mouth, and continued. “The stuff you say is next-level ridiculous, and I gotta be wary cuz I am off my meds right now,” She had swallowed the cherry, but was still rolling something around on her tongue. “But that’s why I had you pay for my ice cream. I knew you were a solid, flesh and blood person after the cashier talked to you.” Cozy stuck her tongue out, presenting the cherry’s stem, successfully tied in a knot. “Plus I got a free milkshake out of it. But what I still don’t get is... even if that picture is real and everything you told me is true… why would you help me? What’s in it for you?” Sunset folded her arms apprehensively. “The truth is... the pegasus who looks like you, she... she tried to hurt a lot of ponies. I only know about her secondhand, but when Twi... when my pen pal back in Equestria explained how dangerous she was, I...” Sunset was burning with shame. “I was worried that you were dangerous too.” Cozy Glow stirred the remains of her shake, looking nervous. “And are you still worried about that?” “Honestly, I don’t know. I think you’re hurting-“ Cozy snorted at the understatement, but let Sunset continue. “-and I think maybe you really are as messed up as the other one. But to tell the truth I don’t know a thing about either of you.” Cozy downed the rest of her shake and wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. “Oh, I can promise you I’m plenty messed up, Sunset. But just cuz I’m a kid with a few screws loose doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I’m still a human being, and maybe things are different for you horse people, but us human beings don’t like being lied to.” Sunset blinked uncomprehendingly. “Lied to?” “I felt something when you touched me earlier. After you got me to pitch that shit-fit at the park.” Sunset winced at the harshness of Cozy’s choice of words. “But whatever. There I was, lying on my side, thinking I’d finally gone fully crackers, and you put your hand on my shoulder and... did something. I didn’t know what it was at the time. Hell, I wasn’t really focused on anything at the time, but I think I know now. You used your horsey magic to peek inside my head. And don’t try to deny it, because when I tied that cherry stem in a knot with my tongue earlier, you didn’t bat an eye. That’s a party trick that starts a conversation every time, except when someone’s already seen me do it. So don’t gimmie that ‘I don’t know a thing about you’ junk when you’ve obviously already leafed through my brain as if it was your journal over there.” Cozy Glow leaned back, looking rather satisfied with her sleuthing abilities. Sunset meanwhile, was sweating again. “Dangerous or not, you’ve got a special talent for playing people,” she observed. Cozy laughed darkly. “Don’t try to distract me with compliments, Miss Shimmer. If you really wanna win me over, come clean and explain what you saw in my head.” Cozy Glow snapped her fingers a few times to accentuate her demand while Sunset glanced around the malt shop’s patio. “There’s nobody else here, horse lady,” Cozy Glow continued impatiently. “I wouldn’t be openly yapping about my problems if there was.” Yet again, Sunset found herself wishing Princess Twilight was present to tell her what to do. This version of Cozy Glow seemed open to advice, (which was impressive, given how badly Sunset botched their initial confrontation), but it was entirely possible this cocky but vulnerable persona was an act. There was an old Equestrian fable that recounted a pony who saved a cockatrice from freezing in the snow, only for the ungrateful creature to immediately turn him to stone for his act of charity. It was possible the human version of Cozy Glow was a metaphorical cockatrice in the snow. Then again, Sunset herself had once been shown mercy by a stranger, being spared by Twilight and given the chance to take a better life path. Sunset felt it was her responsibility to pay that kindness forward. A cockatrice could theoretically learn thankfulness, right? “Yes, okay, I admit it. If I put my hand on someone, I get a psychic reading from them. But it’s not usually a clear picture. Just a bunch of vibes and sometimes a key memory.” “Key memory, huh?” Cozy Glow’s indignation had been replaced with amused interest. “Tell me miss psychic horse, what key memory do I have that involves my cherry stem trick?” Sunset raised her head again and met Cozy Glow’s composed glare with her own fiery one. “How about practicing the trick in the mirror for weeks before school started because you were desperate to make friends in the lunch room?” A tendon in Cozy Glow’s neck tensed noticeably. “Yeah,” she confirmed cooly. “Yeah okay, that’d be one. A key memory, I mean.” “But your vibes were what made me drive you here for ice cream,” Sunset quickly added. “I mean, I gathered by your cherry trick you liked milkshakes, but I would have taken you with me even if I hadn’t guessed that.” “Mm. Of course. My ‘vibes.’ And what did you get from those?” “I got that you’re lonely. And sick. I don’t know which of those came first, but I think both of them have been feeding into each other for a very long time, and luring in Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo with that fake-crying gambit was you finally looking to get away from both.” “Ah, there it is. Ya know, it took…”, Cozy glanced at the clock on her cell phone, “twenty minutes, but you’ve finally started to sound like my therapist.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “It means,” Cozy said icily, “that Doctor Cadence has been chipping away at me for about five years now, trying to help me figure out why I’m the way I am, and neither of us have made any progress since like, year two. So I don’t know what you expect to accomplish talking to me for just one afternoon.” Sunset tried to say something, but Cozy Glow interrupted by dropping her voice an octave, apparently doing a spiteful impression of the aforementioned ‘Doctor Cadence.’ “Good evening, Cozy. Have you been taking your anti-batshit pills? Good, good. Oh, what’s that? You say that despite your meds, you’re still feeling all the same violent urges you always do?” Cozy Glow’s speech wavered slightly on the word ‘urges’, but she recovered. “Well, as long as you aren’t acting on them, your parents will continue to pay me for your overpriced counseling sessions, so I guess everybody wins. See you next week, you adorable, rosy-cheeked time bomb.” Cozy Glow returned to her regular tone of voice, though it had far less energy than before. “She’s a nice lady, but really naive. She and my parents think love and care are the only things needed to fix me. Oh hey, and while I’m shamelessly pouring myself out here, I might as well tell you something else.” Cozy Glow leaned forward. “Last night I had this dream where a flash of light came down from the sky and started turning me into a statue. I woke up right before the petrification was complete but I started crying anyway because I knew I deserved to be turned to stone. I deserve to be locked away before I hurt somebody. Because as hard as I try to be good, someday all the terrible things I fantasize about doing to other people are gonna spill over-“ Sunset stood up, crossed the table, and wrapped her arms around the trembling tween. Cozy Glow was caught completely off guard by the affection, and could only bite her lip as she buried her face in the leather of Sunset’s biker jacket, gratefully returning the hug. The two held each other silently for a few seconds. “How legible is your handwriting?” Sunset asked without breaking the embrace. “It's fine as long as I’m not doing anything in cursive.” Cozy replied quietly. “Why?” Sunset glanced back at her Friendship Journal, sitting expectantly on the table. “A certain somepony needs to hear what you have to say.”
