"Okay, get accepted into Princess Twilight's school? Check. Create incident that gets me accepted as a filly with good intentions? Double check. Pull strings to stay friends with the fillies I screwed over to make myself look good? Triple check!" Cozy smirked, rubbing her hooves together as she stood in the shadows of one corridor of the school. "So, I'm in. Now to work." She peeked around the corner, seeing nopony and nocreature in sight. "Twilight and her friends have that 'magic of friendship' thing going on if they find out what I'm doing. I've got to keep things slow for now." She giggled. "If Tirek's right, they'll never know what hit them. Well, not until it's too late anyway!" She laughed a bit louder at that one, and just in time for a pair of ponies to suddenly walk around the corner, looking to her with confusion. Clearing her throat, Cozy put on her more innocent face. "Oh, I was just thinking of a joke Professor Pinkie told me earlier. Hilarious!" They both smiled to that before walking off, leaving Cozy behind to wave them off, after which she exhaled. "Phew! Close one!"
Walking down the hallway, and making doubly sure she was alone, the filly started talking a bit quieter this time. "Okay, I need to get in good with the Princess. I've already made a good impression to get in here, but now I need to do more. I need connections. A good word put in about me. But...how to do it?" She paused, tapping her chin. "Be the best in class? No, she'll just give me some tacky award or something. Maybe save a life? Nah! They'd probably just throw me a party. I need to get closer." Thinking on that, a smile crept onto her lips. "Maybe...get in with one of her other friends first? Yeah, that might work. A stepping stone kind of thing." Then, out of nowhere, she started hearing a humming sound of some kind, causing her to freeze, worried she was discovered again. Instead, she turned to see that it was none other than Spike, merrily walking down the hall with his claws filled with a pile of school paperwork. Looking to him for a few moments, Cozy started to develop a rather wicked grin. "Aaaaaand bingo!"
Spike, oblivious to the fact that he had an audience, continued humming his happy tune, making his way to Twilight's office. All of a sudden, he walked right past Cozy, looking to her as she smiled sweetly to him. "Oh! Hey there Cozy! You doing okay?"
Cozy giggled. "Oh, I'm doing very well, Mr Spike. Thanks for asking."
Spike chuckled. "It's just Spike. We're both kids here after all."
Another laugh from Cozy, and she took a step forward. "It must be hard doing all that work by yourself. Want some help?"
Without even waiting for a response, she fluttered up, taking about half of the papers and lightening Spike's burden, much to his delight. "Hey, thanks!" Spike replied.
"No problem. We're trying to learn how to be friends here, right?" Cozy answered back.
Spike reached over, patting her on the shoulder. "Right you are! Twilight will be happy to learn her newest student is already helping out!"
Cozy looked to the side, keeping her voice low. "Oh, I'll bet she will!" Then she again put on her false smile for Spike, and as the two started walking down the hallway together, she made sure to fly a little bit closer to him every few steps. "You know, I've never met a dragon before."
Spike chortled. "Well, I won't be the first you'll see here. There's a dragoness too. Her name's Smolder."
Cozy, who was clearly uninterested in this as-yet unmet dragon, still put on a façade of eagerness. "I look forward to meeting her. But you know, I'm also pretty happy to get to know you!"
Spike looked to her with mild confusion. "Oh?"
Cozy nodded. "Yep! I mean, who wouldn't want the chance to get to know the hero of the Crystal Empire?"
Instantly, Spike's chest puffed out in that obvious way one did when they were young and easily given to bouts of bravado. "Oh yeah? You heard about that? Well, it was nothing really. I mean, sure, I totally was an awesome hero, but I try not to brag about it."
To her credit, Cozy rolled her eyes just as much as Spike's other friends would have after a boast like that, but she kept up appearances after he looked back to her. "Wow, I'll bet you've got lots of ponies who wanna be your friend!"
A smug nod from Spike followed. "Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but yeah, pretty much."
Cozy inched a little bit closer. "You're such an amazing dragon, Spike. You're brave, you're friendly, and your certainly quite handsome." She was absolutely putting on the charm here, and fully expected him to suddenly start blushing or blubbering in his response. Perhaps he'd be so taken by her flirtations that he might spill some personal secret, which would have helped her to no end.
Unfortunately, the best laid plans never went right, and Cozy watched as Spike simply took the comment in stride, chuckling again. "Well, I try to keep up a good look. Gotta put in the effort if you're trying to impress a mare as wonderful as Rarity after all."
And just like that, Cozy's smile faltered. Shoot, she thought to herself. He already has a crush? That would make things difficult, especially if it was a famous beauty like Rarity she was up against in this scenario. But it wasn't impossible, at least in her mind. Silently, she decided to up her game, and moved alongside him so closely that her wing-tips accidentally brushed against his shoulder. Forcing a blush, the young filly giggled with "embarrassment" over the not-at-all-intended contact. "Oh dear! I'm sorry, Spike. It's just hard not to want to get close to a cute dragon like you."
Spike, as was the norm at this point, just was not picking up on it, and simply smiled obliviously to her. "Hey that's alright. Accidents happen all the time. Don't worry about it."
When he wasn't looking at her, Cozy frowned, then resumed her fake smile and leaned in closer. "Oh, you're so nice to me. Maybe after we deliver these papers to Head-Mare Twilight, we can spend some time together after class? Maybe get a milkshake together? Maybe learn more about each other and learn how to be friends? Or closer than that maybe?"
The signals she was giving out right now were so obvious that one could be forgiven for mistaking her for an air traffic controller. Alas, the poor filly simply found her words falling on deaf ears, as Spike just continued smiling to her as if he was with a trusted pal. "That sounds great! Oh! Maybe we can invite Smolder too? I said I'd join her for lunch later, so maybe we can hang together?"
Cozy had to use all her willpower to avoid screaming over this, and through her smile she answered with gritted teeth. "Yyyyyyyyyyes. That sounds...lovely."
Spike continued smiling, then stopped as he reached a large door at the end of the hallway. "Well, this is my stop." He reached over, taking the half of the paper pile that Cozy had been carrying this whole way. "Thanks again, Cozy. Trust me, you'll do well here."
Cozy giggled, but if Spike could read minds he'd have known she was screaming quite a bit on the inside right now. "Oh, you're...very welcome!" Nodding back to her, the young dragon entered Twilight's office, and then closed the door behind him. As soon as she was alone, Cozy glanced around, making sure nopony was around to see, then flew off as far as her wings would carry her. She raced past door after door, until she finally came across an unlocked dorm room. Entering, she grabbed the nearest pillow off the first bed she could find, then buried her face into it and unleashed an almost primal bellow. After a time, she removed herself from it, taking a few calming breaths, then again talked to herself. "Okay...new plan...just act ridiculously cute around everycreature else." Glancing behind her, even she couldn't help but let out a dry laugh. "Rarity, good luck, because that cutie does not read signs well!"
