Run Away With Me

Chapters

One
Two
Three,
Run Away With Me

One

Flurry Heart stuck close to the ground, flapping her powerful wings harder than she had ever done before. Hedges surrounded her on both sides, adorned with flowers of all sorts of colors. Gallus was calling after her, but she wasn’t listening. He wouldn’t catch up to her. Nocreature less than a Wonderbolt could.

Part of her felt guilty. She had never run out on a bodyguard like this before, and because Gallus knew her father personally, he was probably going to be chewed out twice as hard by him. The poor griffon was going to feel pretty bad about himself afterwards.

For the first time since the night previous, Flurry began to seriously consider going back on her plan.

She turned a corner, and another corner, and another. On a normal day, she’d spend hours here, admiring each and every rose and lily that she came across, but today wasn’t normal, obviously. Today was the day she was going to prove herself as a strong, capable princess that didn’t need to be constantly coddled and fawned over. Strong, like her aunts.

First, Flurry had to get Gallus off her tail. She made a few more turns, delighting in how the Canterlot Gardens had such a wonderful labyrinth in its confines, and making a mental note to thank her Auntie Celestia for not only designing such a thing, but commissioning Auntie Twilight to add roof trusses to half of the hedges, making it difficult for Gallus to gain a high altitude and watch where Flurry was going from there.

When she had gained a considerable lead on the griffon, she landed, stuck close to one of the hedges, and channeled her magic.

The moment she turned invisible, Gallus flew right past her. Flurry waited until his frantic yelling of her name fell out of earshot, and then she dropped the spell. She then cast a new one, focusing on a single object in her mind. Divination had never been her strong point, but she was sure that she could find what she wanted if she only had the courage to chase after it. That’s what Auntie Luna had always said, anyhow.

It was a matter of minutes before Flurry came across an opening in the maze, and saw the statue she had been looking for.

It sat in the middle of the garden, under the open air, surrounded by flowing curves of white roses that circled around it like it were the centre of a floral hurricane. Flurry checked behind her, making sure that Gallus hadn’t secretly caught on, and was sneaking up on her. When she saw that he was neither in the skies nor lurking behind a corner of the hedge maze, she took to the air.

Flurry bounded across the roses, landing daintily in front of the statue, and for a moment was awed by its form.

On a pedestal stood an enraged changeling, as tall as her Uncle Thorax, but with holes in her hooves and pony-like eyes. Behind her was an emaciated centaur, cringing away from whatever was in front of them at the moment of their petrification. Above those two was—was a filly. A plain old pegasus filly, looking terrified.

Flurry was surprised. She figured that the legendary Cozy Glow would have been a little taller. Instead, she seemed to be of the same build as her: in decent shape, but with a tiny bit of foal fat still adding some pudge to their bodies.

Flurry eyed the changeling, Queen Chrysalis, and the centaur, Tirek, wearily. They were as tall as she was expecting, maybe even more than she was expecting, and they seemed…

They were scary. Flurry backed away a few steps, never failing to take her eyes off of the statue.

Flurry had to think of another plan of action. She couldn’t possibly fight them all at once.

Maybe she could defeat them one by one? That would still count, wouldn’t it? Sure, it would be a little easier, but sometimes cutting corners couldn’t be helped.

Flurry nodded. She was still going to do what she intended. Just in little bits, instead of all at once. Plans sometimes changed according to unforeseen circumstances. That was a part of ruling, and one of the key things that her Aunt Celestia had made sure to teach her.

She crouched, focusing her attention on the pegasus filly at the top of the statue. Magic built up inside of her like a winter wind through a winding gorge, channelling into her glowing horn as it grew in intensity, until she had to shut her eyes.

Then she let the spell loose, keeping Cozy Glow at the forefront of her mind. She felt her magic hit the filly, immediately threatening to spill over and affect the rest of the statue. Gritting her teeth, she pulled back on the amount of power she was putting into the spell, still thinking only of Cozy.

The magic stayed put, and the telltale splintering of rock cracked through the air, echoing through her ears until the spell had nothing left to undo.

Flurry nearly collapsed as she ceased her magic, but she willed herself to stand.

There was a peachy pink pegasus on the ground in front of her, looking around with wide eyes.

“What—whuh?” Cozy blubbered, fearfully examining her surroundings before focusing on Flurry. “Golly! An alicorn? Who are you?”

“Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire,” announced Flurry, flaring her gigantic wings; something else she learned from Celestia. Shock and awe were always a cool way to introduce yourself to somepony you were wary of.

“Flurry…” Cozy squinted as she tried to process this. “The foal?”

“I was a foal twelve years ago,” said Flurry. “Back when you were still...warm-blooded.”

“What do you want with me?” asked Cozy, glaring at her. “Has Princess Twilight finally decided that I can be ‘redeemed’?”

“No,” said Flurry, tilting her head. “I’m going to defeat you in single combat.”

“Oh,” said Cozy. “Well, I can’t fight.”

“...What?” asked Flurry.

“I can’t fight.”

Flurry furrowed her eyebrows. “But you nearly took over Equestria.”

“Oh, gosh, it’s really flattering that you think I did that with raw strength, but honestly? Most of it was trickery and deceit!” Cozy said. “Just a little bit of...of sleight of hoof, you know? Kinda like this!”

Dirt and grass pelted Flurry’s eyes. She screamed in surprise, rearing back and flapping her wings on instinct. Cozy broke out into manic, shrill laughter—laughter that was sounding like it was coming from further and further away by the second. Cozy was making a break for it.

Unfortunately for Cozy, Flurry was the first natural born alicorn since a lost age of time, set before Celestia and Luna.

With a groan of agitation, Flurry reached out with one third of her natural telekinetic field, grabbing every single flower, blade of grass, insect, fleck of dirt and villainous pegasus filly within half a mile.

She focused in on the pegasus as she rubbed at her eyes, and launched Cozy Glow towards the ground. She listened closely as Cozy’s voice turned from laughter into a shrill scream as she descended down, waiting until the last second to teleport the pegasus in front of her, cancelling her magic and letting momentum slam Cozy into the grass where she started with a pained yelp.

When Flurry opened her eyes, she saw Cozy Glow sprawled out on the ground, bruised and cut where she had grazed a few thorny rose stems, glaring at her hatefully.

Flurry’s tail swished. She had never done anything more than annoy somepony before.

“Welp. You’ve defeated me, Princess,” said Cozy sardonically. “Now what?”

Flurry began to answer, but realized that she didn’t have one. She put a hoof to her lips, thinking hard. “I don’t know. I didn’t think this far ahead.”

“What?” Cozy balked. She threw her head back, cackling. “You came to defeat me and my two teammates over there, but you never thought about what you were gonna do after that?”

“I guess I have to cut off your head?” Flurry asked.

Cozy’s eyes widened. Her laughter ceased. “What?”

“That’s what everypony in my Pegasopolis Myths book does. The hero cuts off the villain’s head and presents it to their general as proof of their triumph. So I guess I have to do that to you, right? Because you’re a pegasus? I guess I have to cut off your head and then give it to my parents.”

Flurry took a step towards Cozy.

Cozy squeaked, rolling over and quickly trying to make a break for it, but before she could get mid-air again Flurry grabbed her telekinetically, dragging her closer.

Cozy turned back, eyes wide. “Wait!”

Flurry stopped trying to teleport the contents of Canterlot Castle’s armory to the gardens. “Yes?”

“Y-You...why are you doing this?” Cozy asked. “Has Equestria really changed this much? Ponies just cut other ponies’ heads off?”

Flurry giggled. “No, that’s a totally weird thing to do normally, but I feel like with a deadly villain like you it’ll really make a statement. My parents won’t be able to do anything but take me seriously if I hand you over to them!”

“You’re…” Cozy said slowly. “You’re trying to get back at your parents?”

Flurry levitated Cozy into the air, floating her towards her. “Yes. All they do nowadays when they’re not teaching me about ruling is assign me a guard and leave me to do nothing, because my guards are always scared to death about losing me and getting fired, so I have to do what they say so their feelings don’t get hurt, and I want to show them that I don’t need any guards anymore.”

“You can do that without cutting my head off, Princess,” Cozy snapped. “Like, why don’t you just run away?”

“I did run away. For the first time. Today,” said Flurry. “And now I have to do something with the time I have left alone.”

“Why don’t you just keep running?”

“And disappoint my parents? Why would I do that?”

Cozy opened her mouth, but no words came out. She seemed to be absolutely appalled.

But that wasn’t Flurry’s problem. “Look, if you have nothing else to say I’d really rather get on with this—”

“Wait!” Cozy interjected. “Why don’t you just put me in a different position in the statue? Then they’ll know that you freed me and defeated me and then detained me as well!”

“Too easy.” Flurry rolled her eyes.

“Fine, then!” Cozy sighed. “Look, if you’re gonna kill me, would you at least let me have a last meal?”

“Where?” asked Flurry.

“Hayburger. I haven’t had a burger in—I don’t even know how long.”

Flurry narrowed her eyes. “But that’s in the city. I would have to let you fly.”

“Teleport us there.”

“No!”

“Why not?” Cozy asked, tilting her head. “Because your parents wouldn’t like it?”

“Yes!” Flurry snapped.

“Well, they’re not gonna like you doing this anyway, so what’s to lose? Maybe they’ll even see that you’re capable of hanging out on your own without you cutting my head off. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Flurry snorted. “I…”

Cozy’s voice reminded her of a chocolate cake. A way too sweet chocolate cake, but one that you just couldn’t stop eating. One word out of that voice let you into another, and another, and then Flurry realized that she was trapped. She knew that she could never go through with the decapitation, but she knew that she could eat a burger with Cozy Glow, and that could possibly be enough.

“Run away with me,” said Cozy. “It’ll be fun. I promise.”

“Fine,” Flurry scoffed. “But I’ll have to cast some disguises so nopony sees us.”

Cozy Glow let out a sigh of relief.

Flurry took another bite of her double hay burger with extra hot sauce, relishing in the tangy heat that it provided.

“This is great,” she said.

“Oh, I know,” moaned Cozy, an identical burger gripped in her wings. She took a loud, wet bite, chewing obnoxiously as she savored the intense flavors. “It’s been so long since I’ve eaten food...I totally forgot how delicious it is!”

The disguises that Flurry picked out were simple. She simply switched her own coat and mane colors with Cozy’s, and then hid her wings behind invisibility. They now appeared to be a pink and blue unicorn hanging out with her purple and white pegasus friend. Around them, nopony paid them any mind. Ponies of all ages were lining up, placing orders and retrieving them from the front. Flurry Heart and Cozy Glow had gone from two adversaries to two normal fillies hanging out at a Hayburger. Flurry had never felt more mundane.

It was exciting, in a way.

“This is definitely as good as the stuff I’ve had from the palace kitchens,” Flurry said. “Maybe I’ll ask my parents and aunt if we can open up a few chains inside of the castles—the guard probably won’t complain.”

“Oh, golly…” Cozy trailed off. “Would they really do what you want like that?”

“No,” admitted Flurry. “I don’t think I’ve ever had an idea approved by my aunt or my parents. Even Uncle Thorax never listens to me…”

“It’s because you’re so spineless!” Cozy giggled. “You need to learn how to stand up for yourself, Princess!”

“I beat you pretty easily,” Flurry countered.

“Wow, beating a pegasus filly without alicorn magic,” Cozy snarked. “So hard. I bet if I got my hands on Grogar’s bell and became one of you guys again, I’d wipe the floor with you.”

Flurry rolled her eyes. “Are you done yet?”

“Not really,” Cozy said with a smile. “You know, you could defeat anyone who stood in your way, if you wanted. Princess Flurry Heart: Queen of the World. You’re an alicorn! And you’re really, really strong! What’s stopping you?”

“Common decency,” deadpanned Flurry. “That, and I like the world the way it is.”

“No one likes the world the way it is,” said Cozy. “Everypony has something they want to change.”

Flurry had no response to that. She took another bite of her burger.

“So!” Cozy chirped. “What are you the princess of?”

“What do you mean?” asked Flurry.

“Twilight’s the Princess of Friendship. Celestia and Luna are the Princesses of the Sun and Moon...what are you the princess of?”

“I’m just a princess,” Flurry said. “I haven’t really settled on anything yet. Mom says that that’s going to come when I get older. Or something. I’m not actually sure if she’s lying or not. But I have to believe her.”

“That sounds lame,” Cozy said, putting a hoof-full of fries into her mouth. “You know, with your power and my brains, we could run this whole operation.”

“You must have not heard me earlier when I said I like the world just fine,” Flurry said.

“Oh, I did! I just figured that you were really just scared of being too stupid to rule the world, and then I was like, hey, you know who is smart enough to rule the world?”

Flurry glared at the pegasus. “Okay, I think it’s time for you to—”

The patrons of the restaurant all levitated into the air simultaneously, glowing faintly with purple hues before they were all teleported away, leaving Flurry and Cozy as the only ponies left in the Hayburger.

Flurry turned her head just in time to see her Aunt Twilight and her father strut through the front doors.

Shining Armor had a furious look on his face. Twilight simply looked disappointed. Both of their horns lit up, stripping the two fillies of their disguises.

“Oh, Twilight!” Cozy Glow laughed nervously. “My old friend! I’m so happy to—”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Cozy stopped talking, letting out a tired groan.

“You!” Shining Armor roared, feverishly trotting up to Flurry, glaring the entire time. “What. Were you. Thinking? Breaking a villain out of her prison? Running from Gallus? What’s gotten into you?”

“S-She’s really not that bad,” Flurry said quickly, earning a shocked side-eye from her companion.

Cozy grinned, wrapping a wing around Flurry. “Yeah! We were just hanging out. I wasn’t going to do anything bad. Right, Flurry?”

Shining’s eyes widened, and his horn glowed purple. “Don’t you touch my daughter!”

“Or what?” Cozy asked, tone dripping with honey. “You’ll turn me to stone again? Go ahead!”

Flurry looked between the two, biting her lip before she lifted Cozy up with her telekinesis, placing the pegasus behind her as she charged her own spell. At her own father. She was going to get in so much trouble for this.

“D-Dad, I’m telling you that she’s not bad.”

“Don’t you raise a spell at me!” Shining roared. “She’s manipulating you, Flurry. Can’t you see that?”

“Even if she is,” Flurry said. “I don’t care. We’re friends.”

Cozy giggled. “Yeah, Mr. Armor! We’re—wait, seriously?”

Flurry was trembling. “Dad, you never let me go anywhere on my own. I always have to check in with you or Mom and I can never go where I want to go. I thought that defeating Cozy, Tirek and Chrysalis would make you see that I can handle whatever comes at us, but Cozy really isn’t a bad filly! You and Auntie Twilight are just ruining our day together! You always act like I’m—I’m stupid or something!”

Shining’s expression darkened. “You’re definitely not the smartest alicorn in the celestial sphere. Put your spell down, Flurry. You’re done. We’re going home, and we’re going to have a long discussion about this.”

“I…” Flurry started to talk. But she couldn’t think of anything to say.

It was over.

She hung her head, stepping out of her chair as her father led her toward the doors, where she could see her mother standing with a worried look on her face.

“Cozy Glow,” said Twilight. “You’re going to have to be re-petrified.”

“Darn it,” groaned Cozy. “Fine. Would you let me order another burger first?”

“No.”

Cozy protested, and Flurry listened to her and Twilight squabble until she was nearly at the entrance.

Then, in a moment of inspiration, Flurry turned around.

“Cozy!” she said, turning Cozy and Twilight’s attention to her. “I’ll come back for you!”

Cozy blinked a few times, then smiled. It was a patronizing smile, one that you gave to a tiny foal vowing to make a million dollars with their lemonade stand, but Flurry knew better. She turned around exited the hayburger, head held high.

The night sky was soft and velvety, and the stars looked like sequins needled into a dress. Flurry admired them, looking for every constellation that she could identify until she accidentally stepped on a rose.

Thorns pricked her frog and she yelped, alarming her Aunt Twilight, who turned with widened eyes. “Are you okay, Flurry?”

“I’m fine,” Flurry said hastily. Her horn glowed faintly for a few seconds as she healed the minor wound. “Okay, let’s keep going.”

It had taken her a month. An entire month of hard work, and yelling at her parents, and arguing with her parents, and arguing with Aunt Twilight, and then more arguing with her parents. Yelling at the three of them over and over again, because what made Starlight Glimmer, who taught her how to cast half the spells that she knew, so special? What made Discord, who threw her last birthday party, so different?

Cozy Glow deserved better. She could be redeemed. Flurry could see it, and she had finally made Twilight see.

They walked up to the statue showcasing the Terrible Three, as the media had often called them. Since becoming petrified again, Cozy had chosen to take up a new spot on the statue, reclining leisurely on Tirek’s back with a relaxed look on her face.

“Are you ready?” Twilight asked. “Once I do this, I’m not going to put her back. You’re going to be responsible for what happens to her. What happens to you.”

“I’m ready,” said Flurry.

Twilight waited for another moment, then she shot a beam of magic at the statue. Flurry watched as the purple wrapped around Cozy, and the rock shattered bit by bit until the filly was completely free.

Cozy Glow blinked, and stretched one of her legs out experimentally. Upon seeing that she could, a laugh rang out of her, and she got on her hooves, turning to look at Flurry and Twilight.

Flurry met Cozy’s disbelieving smile with a wide grin.

“I can’t believe you actually did it,” said Cozy.

“She did,” interjected Twilight, picking the pegasus up in her magical grip and floating her closer. “But there is a price to pay here, Cozy Glow. If you give anypony—anypony—a reason to believe that you’re not going to play nice, you’re coming back here and you’re not coming out for a really long time. Flurry has agreed to watch over your redemption, so you two are going to be spending a lot of time together.”

Cozy opened her mouth, clearly intending to say something smart, but her gaze drifted to Flurry, who was looking at her with sunny, hopeful eyes.

Cozy exhaled through her nose softly, and nodded at Twilight. “I think I can do that, Headmare.”

Two

The Crystal Empire thrived under a radiant sun, glistening and glittering in the light. Pride was visibly shining in each and every citizen as they went about their days, smiling and nodding politely to each other.

Princess Flurry Heart, Ruler of the Crystal Empire, watched from a table at the end of the castle balcony as her realm thrived. She loved her ponies, and they loved her, and even now, she could still feel the connection that she felt between them the week previously.

Her coronation was still fresh in everyone’s minds. The joyous energy that the magic of the Crystal Heart instilled in them was still alive, glowing like a lone fire in a forest at night.

Flurry had just finished arranging the accommodations for the Abyssinian diplomats that were due to arrive at the palace in a few hours. The Empire and Abyssinia were reaching the end of negotiations for a new stance on tariffs on gem imports and ewe wool, and tonight would be the first time she would be meeting with the country’s representatives.

For now, though, she had a few minutes to herself, and she was going to watch her ponies live their lives.

It was a cliche thing to say, but she loved them passionately. She loved her ponies. And they were her ponies. They had always been, in her heart, but until last week it hadn’t felt so...so real. Now they were her charge—her responsibility, until the end of her reign.

Hopefully it would be a long reign. She didn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps.

“Hot cocoa?” came her father’s voice from behind her, coupled with the nutty scent of a warm mug of the chocolatey beverage.

“I’d love some,” she said, turning her head to watch Shining Armor pull up a seat right next to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, draping a wing over him as she took a bright pink mug from his telekinetic field with her own magic, and she brought it to her lips to take a sip.

The hot cocoa was delicious. The perfect temperature to drink, with a nice, slightly bitter edge to the chocolate flavors that betrayed the luxurious quality of the beans. Flurry drank greedily, downing nearly half the mug before she pulled the mug away from her lips, sighing softly as warmth spread through her chest.

“Thanks, Dad.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Watching the ponies again?”

“That’s what you charged me to do at the coronation. Watch over them until the end of my days.”

“My Princess,” said her father. “I know you’ll do great things for the Empire.”

There was a moment of quiet. A last chance to retreat, because they both knew that there was a conversation coming. One that neither of them wanted to have. But neither of them left, and whether it was because it was more trouble than it was worth or because they were reasonable ponies who wanted to face problems head on, it was time.

Flurry closed her eyes, blocking out the beautiful day. In her mind’s eye, she saw an alicorn, pink and beautiful with a mane like a nostalgic sunset.

“Have you talked to her?” she asked.

“No,” her father responded. “Please don’t ask me why. I couldn’t tell you.”

Flurry’s tail swished. “Because you don’t want to?”

“Because I don’t know,” said her father.

Flurry wasn’t sure what to say to that. She took another sip of her cocoa. “Well, if you don’t want to talk to her, you could at least be there.”

Her father sighed. “She needs to be alone.”

“You don’t want to see her, either,” said Flurry.

“That’s not true.” Shining’s voice grew quiet.

A pony cleared her throat behind them. Flurry opened her eyes and turned at the same time as her father.

A topaz colored crystal pony stood perfectly poised. Her onyx mane and eyes were sleek and polished.

“Citrine,” said Flurry. “What is it?”

“Your highnesses...” Citrine bowed. “I have come to inform you that the Abyssinian entourage has been delayed by several hours. They expect to arrive in the Empire tonight, when the moon is at its highest.”

“Delayed?” asked her father. “By what?”

“A sudden storm, my prince.”

“So…” Flurry said, furrowing her brows. “That means—”

“That your day has been completely cleared,” finished Citrine. “If you would like, there is some work to be done on planning your public appearances at Equestrian events for the near future, but that can be pushed to the side for today. Your mother relished in her free time, and up until the last year it seemed to help her. I would suggest doing the same, Princess.”

Flurry Heart looked to her father, who wore a contemplative expression on his face.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“Citrine is correct,” he said. “But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, Flurry. This kind of free time won’t be a regular thing for you to be able to indulge in.”

“I know that,” Flurry huffed. “That means that I should seize the chance, right?”

“I almost wonder if you shouldn’t.”

Flurry tilted her head. “Why?”

Shining began to answer, and after testing a few ways to start his sentence, gave up and shook his head. “You’re right. You should enjoy this while you can.”

Flurry smiled, turning to Citrine. “I’ll just be one communication spell away if you need me.”

Citrine bowed her head and walked off of the balcony, into the palace. When she was out of view, Flurry threw her father a questioning look.

“Are you sure you’re fine with me taking off?” she asked.

Shining sighed. “I know that you know how big of a responsibility being ruler is, but…”

“Dad,” said Flurry, putting a hoof over his. “I’m not going to run from this.”

She nuzzled his neck lovingly, until she received a nuzzle in return.

“Okay, sweetheart,” said her father. “It’s your day. What are you going to do?”

Flurry pulled away from him, flapping her wings experimentally. “Something that you’ll approve of. I was thinking of visiting The Portal.”

“I do approve of that,” said Shining. “And are you going to be flying?”

“I like flying,” said Flurry. “It gives me time to think about things.”

She bent her legs and leapt into the air, flapping her wings hard, until she was elegantly fluttering above her father.

“Be careful,” Shining said.

“I’m a god, Dad,” Flurry teased, looking to the north, where just beyond the city was an endless landscape of white. “Nothing can hold me down.”

“I love you!” Shining called as she took off, flying toward the tundra.

“Love you too!” she called back.

Flurry loved flying in the tundra. She loved how the air weaved between her feathers like ribbons of cold silk. She loved the sound of wind rushing through her ears. She loved the soaring in her heart as she glided through the air, above the giant ocean of snow that sprawled out for miles and miles, and feeling the vague sense of fear that licked at the most primal parts of her mind. The feeling that she could get lost in this place, swallowed up like she was nothing. Like she wasn’t one of the most powerful creatures alive.

She had only been to The Portal once. Back when it first opened, her mother had taken her to it to help scan for any unstable magical properties, and any signs of danger at all. They had found none, of course, and contacted Auntie Twilight immediately. After a couple of weeks, an Equestrian science base had been built, with crystal pony academics being invited to come and contribute to the study of the anomaly, and Flurry hadn’t heard any word of it since.

The day after her coronation, everything she knew about The Portal changed. Flurry had thought that it was a harmless magical side-effect from some sort of powerful magic. During their initial tests on it, it seemed to be resistant to all attempts to send anything through. But it was glowing and shaped like a giant disc, so the name was apt.

It turned out that she was wrong. The Portal was, indeed, a portal, and nopony had any idea where it led.

At the furthest reaches of her vision, Flurry saw indigo light surrounded by a ring of silver. Her heart beat double-time. She sped up her flying. The base—named Fort Oculus by her mother—sat vigilant around the portal. With Twilight’s help, the stationed unicorn scientists were able to erect a series of metal bunkers that surrounded The Portal’s front in a crescent shape. Every bunker contained living space, storage, and one aspect of research. Around the rest of The Portal was fences lined with outposts and watchtowers, both of which were manned by a combination of Crystal Guard and Royal Equestrian Guard.

Flurry flapped her wings, gliding down until she landed where the front gates to Fort Oculus were.

The several crystal guard ponies that stood in front of the gates kneeled upon seeing her, being joined by their royal guard brethren not long after.

“Who’s in charge, here?” asked Flurry Heart, after they all had risen.

To the front came a weathered unicorn stallion that Flurry didn’t recognize, with a gray coat, a light blue mane and an easy smile. “My Princess,” he said, kneeling a second time. “I am Captain Last Stand. How can I be of service?”

“I’ve been curious about The Portal,” said Flurry. “I realize that any important updates will get to the castle immediately, but I think I’d like for the ponies stationed here to tell me about it themselves. As I understand it, circumstances have changed.”

Last Stand nodded, and turned to bark at his troops. “Let us inside!”

The gates to Fort Oculus opened, and as Flurry and Last Stand trotted inside, she saw The Portal up close for the first time in the last year.

It stood almost as high as the castle, coming up short by a dozen metres or so. It was indigo on the whole, but it shifted constantly, like Luna’s mane but without the stars. The night sky, devoid of sparkle. Inky purples melded into dark blues and became purple once more, and Flurry could barely keep track of which was which.

The Portal made no sound, but it looked loud and deafeningly quiet at the same time. It was unnerving and beautiful, and there was an air of mystery surrounding Fort Oculus that Flurry could feel in the air. There was something here to be solved. A journey to be undertaken. Part of her felt jealous of the scientists.

Last Stand was leading her to a series of bunkers, one of which Flurry recognized at the main research station.

“Is everypony here doing okay?” she asked, thinking of the guards at the gate. “Supplies are well stocked?”

“We’re fine, Princess,” said Last Stand. “Though some of the guards are a little put off by the new residents.”

“New residents?” Flurry asked.

“I probably should have mentioned this at the door, but I think they might have something to say that you’ll take a greater interest in than what the scientists have to say about the portal. Would you like to meet them?”

They reached the main science bunker. Flurry could hear chatter coming from inside, the clatter of machines and equipment coming underneath it.

“Lead the way,” she said. “Is their bunker nearby?”

“It was specially built for them,” said Last Stand, saying no more on the matter.

He led her past several more bunkers filled with either guards or scientists, until they were out of the main cluster altogether. Flurry looked around, looking for any remaining buildings, but couldn’t find any until she opened her mouth to ask Last Stand if he knew where he was going.

At the edge of the base, near the fence, completely alone, was a single building that was three stories tall. It scarcely had any design or aesthetic decoration built into it—it was simply rectangular, outfitted with a normal amount of windows.

“Captain?” asked Flurry. “Will you tell me who these newcomers are?”

“If it’s all the same to you, Princess, I’ve been asked not to in the case that you came by unannounced.”

“By who? Auntie Twilight?”

“You’ll see.”

Last Stand walked steadily in front of her until they were a couple of yards out. Then he stopped, bidding for her to go on with an outstretched hoof.

“You’re not coming with me?” Flurry raised an eyebrow.

“Forgive me, Your Highness,” Last Stand said, his easy smile growing slightly. “Everyone has their limits. May I be dismissed?”

“...Yes,” said Flurry. “So, they’re in there?”

“She is,” said Last Stand. “The other two went into the tundra a long time ago. They haven’t returned yet.”

Last Stand left after bowing yet another time, leaving Flurry alone in front of the strange building. It was odd. Ponies usually seemed to be eager to pair her with bodyguards who would proceed to stay as close as they physically could for the rest of the day.

Flurry stepped up to the building, knocking on the door a couple of times as loud as she could.

Nothing happened. Flurry waited, after a moment pressing her ear to the door to listen for hoofsteps.

Still nothing. Flurry grabbed the door’s handle and tested it.

It opened easily. It looked like whoever lived here had no regard for locks.

Flurry stepped inside. The inside of the building—the house— looked normal enough. It was almost like a house. There were wooden floors, heated and made softer with magic, and a kitchen and what looked like a living room, and a personal bedroom parallel to a bathroom.

Loose sketches on sturdy off-white paper littered the floor of the living room, depicting summery landscapes that made Flurry think of Saddle Arabian beaches. She walked past them, heading towards the bedroom. The rest of the house was soundless, but the bedroom contained a faint scraping sound and the quiet feminine hums of a young mare.

Flurry strode up to the door and knocked on it, then stepped away. She noticed that her wings were flared out and quickly folded them back in. It wouldn’t be very good if it looked like she was trying to intimidate whoever was behind that door.

Hoofsteps paced idly behind the door. Whoever was inside was clearly taking their time.

Flurry considered announcing herself before they had a chance to see her first. That wouldn’t be fair though, so she waited, and when the door opened she had to look over her twice before she could believe it.

Cozy Glow stood at the door, wearing an exquisitely tailored nighttime robe. Her mane, blue ringlets curling ethereally downwards, stopped at her knees. Her coat, still wet from a recent shower, looked like it may have been made of cotton candy.

Flurry’s stomach did a flip as Cozy’s topaz eyes settled on her. She stepped back again.

“Cozy?” she asked.

Princess...” Cozy purred, smiling at her with half-lidded eyes, only managing to keep the intimate guise for a second longer before she smiled wide, flitting forward to embrace Flurry with the whole of her strength.

A barrage of questions left Cozy’s mouth:

“How are you?”

“I didn’t know you were coming!”

“Are you cold? Want some cocoa?”

“How was your coronation? I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”

Flurry hugged back as best as she could until found that she could handle it no more, and gently eased Cozy off of her.

They stared at each other, at a loss for words, before they erupted into mutual grins.

“It’s been, what, four years?” asked Flurry. “I thought you were—”

“The Kirin were so so nice, but in the end they needed some time to settle into their new city,” said Cozy. “Tirek and Chrysalis figured that it was time for a change of pace! And then the best thing happened!”

“They’re here too?” asked Flurry.

“Yep!” Cozy beamed. “Ask me what the best thing was!”

Flurry stretched her wing out, leading Cozy to the couch. “What was it?”

Cozy’s own wing unfurled slightly to brush up against Flurry’s, making her giggle.

“Friendship map!” chirped Cozy. “We’re here to solve a friendship problem! Us! The map thinks that we’re worthy! Isn’t that so golly-gosh-darn-absolutely-just-so amazingly exciting?”

“A friendship problem?” asked Flurry. “What, here? In Fort Oculus?”

“No, silly! Through The Portal. About a few weeks from now, to give everypony a last chance to get some last minute research done.”

“Oh. I guess that—” Flurry’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

“It’s crazy, right?” Cozy giggled.

“So we’ve confirmed that The Portal leads somewhere, right?” Flurry asked. “But we haven’t figured out just exactly where it goes.”

“Yeah!” said Cozy. “The super nice scientists have been trying so hard to find out what’s behind it, but they haven’t cracked that code yet! It looks like me, Chryssy and Tirek are gonna be the first! Isn’t that great?”

Flurry furrowed her eyebrows. “No. That sounds dangerous.”

Cozy giggled. “Yeah. We might die.”

“Don’t joke about that!” Flurry snapped, wings flaring.

“I’m not!” Cozy said, holding her hooves up. “We really might die. The head researcher, Honeycomb, said that there’s a chance that The Portal is just something that rips up living matter into particles. But the Friendship Map has other ideas, so I’m pretty confident that we’ll be fine.”

“This is—it’s ridiculous!” Flurry hissed. “Why was I never informed about this?”

“I was going to visit you today, actually…” Cozy said, leaning in to nuzzle Flurry. “Thanks for saving me the trouble, princess.”

Flurry shivered, visibly.

Cozy scooted closer to her, looking concerned. “Flurry? Oh, geez, are you okay?”

Flurry ran her tongue across her top teeth, her heart pounding loud enough that she could hear the blood rushing around in her ears. Her massive wings folded in slowly as she looked away, to the window and the snowy expanse outside.

“Flurry?” asked Cozy, voice quieting.

Flurry swallowed. Her throat was suddenly sore. “I missed you.”

“I know,” replied Cozy, pressing her snout into Flurry’s shoulder. “I missed you too, princess. Even got Chrysalis to transform into you a couple of times so I could see your goofy face again.”

Flurry couldn’t help laughing. “You’re lying.”

“Nope! You should see Chryssy’s imitation of you. It’s uncanny.”

Flurry turned to rest her snout on top of Cozy’s, breathing out slowly as the tension she was feeling left her body. “I don’t like this.”

“Why?”

“The map hasn’t done this before. Nopony’s ever been asked to risk their lives for a friendship mission.”

“Oh, come on,” Cozy snarked. “We’ll be fine. Remember that time we almost took over the world?”

“Except you failed,” Flurry said. “Horrifically.”

Cozy rolled her eyes. “My point is, you need to calm down.”

“How can I?” Flurry sighed. “I was hoping that when you came back, you would come to the Crystal Empire, but not like this. I was hoping that you would come to the castle—or at least write me a letter. And then everything could be like...like how it used to be.”

Cozy frowned. “I’m sorry, princess. I was really just planning to surprise you. I had this plan to bring you a tub of our favorite ice cream—the place down the road from the castle still makes honeycomb lavender, right? Then I would break into your bedroom and we’d talk. For three whole hours. Then I’d ask you to come with me.”

“To Fort Oculus?” Flurry asked. “Why?”

“Not just to Fort Oculus,” Cozy said, smiling.

Flurry blinked, searching her mind for all the possibilities for a moment. Tirek and Chrysalis were welcome at the castle, so it wouldn’t be to meet them. The three former villains didn’t seem to be close to anyone in the other bunkers, so that option was out.

Then it clicked.

Flurry blanched, pulling away from the pegasus to stand up. “Cozy, I was coronated literally last week!”

“So?” Cozy asked, keeping her smile. “Who cares? You could get your dad to take over things for a while! Two weeks is enough time to get everything in order.”

“I couldn’t do that to him! I wouldn’t even know when I was returning!”

“You’re worried about me being unsafe, right? Well, why not come with me to make sure that I am?”

“Why?” Flurry asked, panic rising in her voice. “Why would I do that?”

Cozy’s smile dropped, and Flurry felt her heart tear itself apart. The pegasus stood up and began walking towards her, and Flurry wanted to back away too, but she couldn’t. She was frozen. It was like she was watching a movie. She could see what was happening from behind her eyes, but wasn’t in control of her actions.

She watched as Cozy approached her, walking not unlike a cocky tomcat until their noses bumped into each other softly.

“So you could be with me,” whispered Cozy, her breath smelling like birthday cake with extra sprinkles.

Flurry’s horn lit up. She didn’t realize she was teleporting until Cozy was gone, and she was knee-deep in snow, and there was a cabin five yards in front of her.

Flurry remembered the cabin from her childhood. Her parents had commissioned it around the same time that she met Cozy.

Getting them to come around on her was a long, arduous journey, but eventually it did happen, and when Cozy became a proper part of their family, the cabin became their designated vacation spot.

The cabin stood, snow caked on the roof, strong and warm and rigid. The wood had always reminded Flurry of dark chocolate. Dark chocolate that, in the snow, was dipped in fondue. The sight of the cabin made her hungry, warm, and comfortable at the same time.

Smoke billowed out of the chimney.

Flurry walked up the cabin’s front steps, her heart racing, and she opened the door.

A sight similar to Cozy Glow’s current residence greeted her, sans the drawings on the floor. The cabin had wooden floor and walls, and blankets strewn over couches and loveseats. It smelled like hot cocoa. It also smelled like her mother.

And, right on time, her mother walked into the room, a vacant smile on her face and a mug of cocoa in her magic. It took her a moment to see Flurry, but when she did, it was like the muscles on her face were slapped awake.

“Sweetie?” called Princess Cadance. “This is a surprise.”

“You’re here,” said Flurry, taking in the sight of her mother for the first time in days. Part of her wondered if this was a dream. “You’ve been here the whole time.”

Cadance’s lips twitched. “You’ve found me.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Flurry said. “I didn’t mean to teleport here.”

“Stress teleporting?” asked her mother, taking a seat on the couch. “You should see the arcanologist.”

“I don’t need him. Cozy Glow’s back.”

“Cozy’s—” Cadance raised an eyebrow. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Auntie Twilight’s stupid map wants her to go through The Portal.”

“Oh. Well, the map usually knows what’s best,” said Cadance, taking a peaceful sip of cocoa. “How was your day today, sweetie?”

“You…” Flurry said, but couldn’t continue. You’re talking to me like you haven’t left my life. You’re acting like nothing’s wrong. Why are you here? Why didn’t you tell me where to find you? Do you not care? Do you care about anything anymore?

Cadance caught the look in her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t at the coronation.”

Flurry walked to the couch and lay beside her mother.

“Want some cocoa?” asked Cadance.

“No.” Flurry turned her gaze to the floor. “I should go. There’s—there’s a lot of work to do. I have to plan my appearances in Equestria for the next bit.”

“Okay,” said Cadance warmly. “See you later, sweetie.”

“Why did you abdicate? No.” Flurry shook her head. “Did you know what you were doing?”

“I still don’t know what I was doing,” said Cadance.

Flurry turned and looked at her mother—really looked at her.

Cadance’s eyes looked tired, but they didn’t look torn. They looked bright, in fact. Brighter than they had looked in recent years. Cadance looked young and old at the same time, and she didn’t look like a princess.

Cadance did not look like a princess. She looked like a normal pony. Somepony who had a good life, with a husband and a child and a job that she cared about, and it was funny, because Cadance had none of those things, but more than that, Cadance looked happy.

Happy without her daughter. Her husband. Her job that she cared about.

“You’re crying,” said Cadance, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Why did you leave?” asked Flurry.

Cadance didn’t even try to answer. She simply shook her head.

“You should have been there,” said Flurry. “I didn’t know what to do. I stuttered throughout my entire speech. But they all cheered anyway, and that should have made me happy. I should have felt like everything was going to be okay. But instead I just wondered where you were, and what you were doing, and why you weren’t watching the moment that my entire life’s been building up to.”

Cadance went to answer that, but Flurry was already halfway through her teleportation spell.

The cabin and her mother disappeared in a flash, and in their place was Flurry’s throne.

The sight of it made her knees weak.

Three,

A landscape pervaded Flurry’s dreaming mind, filled with snow and crystal trees. A canopy of pink and blue fire blazed above, warming the snow, threatening to melt it, but the snow was too cold, and the trees were too strong to be burned. No pony bounded through the valley, but there were birds, and the birds were screaming.

Flurry opened her eyes.

She was in her bedroom. Her father wanted to trade rooms with her now that she was the ruler and he was only taking up the space of one pony, but she refused. She loved her room, her walls covered in maps of the various regions of the continent and her plush bed that could fit three.

She had a lot of things to do tomorrow. She had to have breakfast with the Abyssinians, making sure that their dining accommodations were adequate the whole time, and then she was due to get her mane trimmed. All of that would happen before lunch, which she would also spend with the Abyssinians, and that was where the discussion on tariffs and trade would begin. She wouldn’t be able to be too blunt about it—they would be eating, after all, and they would surely love to know about how she was adjusting to her new station, and she would have to tell them that she was loving it and imply that she was good at her job, lest they get the slightest idea of missing her mother’s rule.

Sleeping would be a very good idea, but Flurry could not sleep. This was the third time she had awoken from a dream that wasn’t bad enough to become a nightmare, but not good enough to keep her in its clutches. She had to do something else. Anything else.

Flurry got up from her bed and eyed her window. It was a beautiful night, and she loved the way that her Auntie Luna made the stars twinkle.

She walked up to the window and undid its latch, shivering in delight at the burst of cold air that came through when she did. Flurry was never really one for night flying. She was aware of the concept, and thought that it sounded nice, but never truly got around to ever trying it for herself, but maybe now was the time to do so.

So she backed up a few steps, unfurling her wings halfway, and jumped out of her window.

She fell gracefully, descending down the palace until she was close enough to the ground, and then pulled up, shooting towards her Auntie’s sky.

But before she could really take off and fly towards—towards wherever she was going, she noticed a slight displacement in the air.

Somepony was following her.

Flurry turned around to see a pink pegasus flying wearily in her wake.

“Cozy?” she called.

“H-Hey,” Cozy called back, catching up to the hovering alicorn. “Golly, I’ve forgotten just how fast you can be when you want to be.”

“What are you doing here?” asked Flurry.

“I can’t visit my best friend in the whole wide world?”

“One of three,” Flurry corrected.

“Chryssy and Tirek are great, and I love them so much,” Cozy said, flying closer. “But you’re different. You know that.”

Flurry’s breath hitched for a moment. “Were you planning on hanging out back in my bedroom? Because I would...rather not be there right now.”

Cozy smiled, turning to show off her saddlebags. “I brought some hot cocoa! Which we can have anywhere.”

Flurry nodded gratefully. “Follow me.”

They trailed back to the very centre of town, flying just a little beyond that until they reached a clearing in the buildings and homes, where a pristine statue of a baby dragon stood, proudly holding up a copy of the Crystal Heart.

Flurry landed at Spike’s side and sat against his left leg, waiting for Cozy to land beside her so she could cast a bubble spell that surrounded the statue, blocking out the cold and naturally heating the air around them.

Cozy snuggled up next to her, pulling a mug and two red ceramic cups out of her saddlebags before she deftly poured the both of them some cocoa.

Flurry took her drink and swallowed nearly half of it in a single swig, panting in relief when she pulled away.

“Thirsty?’ Cozy teased.

“My brain needs the sugar,” said Flurry.

A moment of quiet came over both of them as they enjoyed their drinks, leaning against each other and Spike’s calf, savoring the warmth and the sweet, nectarous liquid in their cups. Spike’s statue had been a favorite haunt of theirs ever since they were kids. It wasn’t too far from the castle, which meant that they could sneak out to it late at night and not have to worry too much about the process of returning home.

“Are you okay?” asked Cozy. “You’re frowning.”

“I’m fine,” Flurry said quietly. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“My mom.”

“I wasn’t gonna ask,” Cozy said.

“I know. You’ve probably talked to the guards at Fort Oculus about it anyway.”

Cozy shrugged. “Could you blame me?”

Flurry shook her head and took another sip.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Cozy whispered.

“At least you had an excuse to be,” Flurry replied. “I’m sorry for teleporting away from you earlier today. It was an accident. Kind of. I really wanted to get away from there, and I lost control of my magic. Remember when we were kids and we were hanging out here?”

“You sneezed and accidentally turned Spike’s crystal heart into a giant, beating one gushing blood.”

“Then I fainted.”

“Then you fainted,” Cozy giggled. “Your parents were so mad.”

“Less mad over the vandalism of priceless public art and more mad at the fact that we snuck out,” said Flurry. “I thought I was going to be grounded forever. And then you took the fall for it.”

“You know, that’s when your parents started liking me.” Cozy looked down at her cocoa. “They were touched at the fact that I would use my past to try and convince them that I convinced you to destroy Spike’s statue for fun. They could have sent me back to Canterlot, but they didn’t. Which means that my gamble worked, and that I predicted their behaviour perfectly. I’m amazing, aren’t I?”

Cozy erupted into a faux-villainous laugh that made Flurry smile.

“I wish you could stay,” Flurry said. “I wish that—I don’t even know...”

She breathed out hard, and fell silent. What more could cocoa do to soothe her fears? How much could she be comforted by warmth before she had to venture into the cold again?

“How do I make you stay?” Flurry asked.

Suddenly, Cozy put a wing around Flurry, making the alicorn gasp softly in surprise. She wasn’t usually the one receiving the wing hugs from anyone, on account of her massive wingspan.

“We’re gonna spend as much time as we can together,” Cozy cooed into her ear. “It’s gonna be just like old times. Don’t think about me leaving until the day actually comes.”

“I wish I could go with you,” Flurry whimpered.

“I know,” whispered Cozy. “But you can’t. I understand. And I’m the best friend in the world. Even better than your big purple aunt. So I’m okay with that.”

“...I should go to bed now,” said Flurry.

“Lunch tomorrow?” Cozy suggested.

“I have to—” Flurry stopped. “I’ll sort something out.”

“You’d better,” Cozy purred.

And then she kissed Flurry on the cheek.

The three immaculately white abyssinians dressed in fine silk leaned into each other and away from Flurry for the third time in the last hour. She tried her best not to frown or to sweat, but every so often there would be a wisp of a whisper in the air, and her ears would twitch and she would wonder if she was doing the right thing.

She took another bite of the strawberry cheesecake in front of her, wishing for a healthy drizzle of hot chocolate syrup over the surface, but she didn’t want to trouble the waiters. They had had a hard enough time arranging for a griffon to cook tuna for the diplomats, and all of them looked tired and overworked.

Flurry had moved her second meal of the day (which was to be spent with the abyssinians) an hour earlier, which meant that the entirety of the palace staff had to play a twisted game of catchup.

Fortunately, the earlier hour worked for the abyssinians, who loved to eat lunch closer to the time that they ate breakfast anyway.

Everything had worked out, so Flurry didn’t understand why they had to whisper so conspiratorially to each other so often, even occasionally side eyeing her before the muffled discussions became more and more heated.

She waited and watched the trio of abyssinians until they broke their semi circle.

The middle one, Willow, and Flurry knew it was Willow because she had golden eyes, smiled and nodded. “Princess, we were...worried, initially. You are young and you are new, but a life of watching royalty has certainly helped you learn how to charm and compliment as well as your mother. We three are pleased to know that such a kind, competent ruler has taken over the Crystal Empire.”

“T-Thank you,” said Flurry. “Did you enjoy your meal?”

The three abyssinians looked down at their empty plates before Willow gave her a smirk. “You tell us.”

Flurry smiled. “I look forward to our meeting later.”

“As are we,” said Willow, standing up in tandem with her companions. “We’ll be seeing you.”

Flurry watched them leave, one after the other, until the room was empty.

She let out a sigh of relief.

“Don’t get cocky yet,” said her father’s voice.

Flurry turned to find Shining sitting on the chair directly beside her. “You were here the whole time?”

“I got worried,” said Shining with a bashful grin. “It was your first meeting with foreign creatures as the official ruler. Could you blame me?”

Flurry laughed, shaking her head. “How do you think I did?”

“Perfectly,” praised Shining, reaching out to take his daughter’s hoof. “But there’s something off about you today. Don’t make that face. The abyssinians didn’t notice. I’m your father, though, and nothing can get past me.”

Flurry squeezed Shining’s hoof. “Did you know that Cozy came back?”

She laughed ruefully inside of her mind. Did you know that she wants me to leave?

“Last Stand informed me this morning,” said Shining. “Why hasn’t she visited yet?”

“Well, we’re due to have lunch in a bit. She’ll probably want to see you before that.”

Shining blinked, and removed his hoof from hers, a frown growing on his face. “That’s why you moved the lunch an hour earlier? I thought it was because you’ve been doing extra research on the abyssinians. I was so proud of you.”

“You mean you’re not proud of me for handling that meeting so well?” Flurry asked.

“Now that I know you’ve been irresponsible with your power?” Shining growled. “Absolutely not. How could you do that, Flurry? You’re a princess! You can’t just move your responsibilities around whenever you want!”

“It worked out fine, Dad!”

“What if it didn’t?” Shining snapped. “What if they thought that you didn’t think they were worth your time? Your mother—”

“Don’t you dare bring mom up right now,” Flurry breathed, wings flaring. “Don’t even think about her. This is the first time you talk about her unprompted in days? To yell at me for something that doesn’t matter? How dare you? Do you even care about her? Do you love her anymore?”

Shining Armor fell silent.

Flurry waited, waiting for his retort, but it never came. He didn’t say anything.

The sheer weight of the lack of words began to press down on her back. She slowly hunched over, feeling like something was trying to shove her to the ground. There was a thickness to the air that made it hard to breathe.

Something. Anything. A single sound! Say anything!

Shining Armor stayed silent. Flurry had stopped looking at him since her outburst.

She turned and she leapt out of her chair, flying out of the room.

The rose turned blue as Flurry’s magic consumed it, turning each particle inside of the flower into water, and then freezing it. Once the rose was completely made of ice, she picked it apart, ripping every petal out of the stem and fanning them out around it, like a tiny galaxy. She made the petals drift slowly around the stem, circling it until she lost track of which petal was which.

When the sun warmed the frozen limbs of the rose enough, and a single drop of water fell from the stem, Flurry closed her eyes and turned it all to water, throwing it at the grass.

She had taken refuge in the castle’s garden. It was a new edition. A birthday gift from Auntie Applejack and Apple Bloom. A patch of blissful green covered in beautiful flowers, placed in a newly constructed part of the castle that had an open roof and positioned so everything could get the perfect amount of sun.

“Boo!” squealed a voice in her ear.

Flurry stumbled away from it, nearly tripping over herself as Cozy was launched into hysterical laughter.

“The look on your face!” cackled Cozy.

“Not funny,” mumbled Flurry, walking to another rosebush that she hadn’t plucked yet.

“Yes it is,” Cozy chirped.

“No it’s not!” Flurry snapped, rounding on the pegasus. “How did you find me here anyway?”

Cozy didn’t back away, like Flurry was expecting her to. Instead, she raised an eyebrow. “I asked the guards. What’s up with you today?”

“Nothing,” Flurry lied. “I just...do you wanna go to a cloud or something?”

“As long as we can get food afterwards,” teased Cozy. “I’m starving!”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then stepped forward to nuzzle Flurry.

Flurry nuzzled her back, clandestinely sniffing at Cozy’s raspberry vanilla shampoo and sugary sweet breath. Her head felt like she was underwater.

She stepped away, nodded to Cozy, and took off into the air.

They lazily drifted upwards until their altitude was high enough, and then they flew to a nice fluffy cloud. The day was just getting started for the crystal ponies below, and the sounds of laughter and good will floated up into the sky as the local businesses went about their routines.

Flurry watched her ponies for a few moments as Cozy crept closer to her, draping a wing over her back.

“Are you scared of going into The Portal?” Flurry asked. “I know you’ve said that you aren’t, but tell me the truth.”

“Are you okay?” Cozy asked, putting her head on top of Flurry’s.

Flurry closed her eyes, settling into the extra weight and the way that it made her feel secure. Safe. “Promise me you’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be fine as long as I have somepony to come back to,” Cozy purred. “Somepony I can think about whenever I do feel scared.”

Flurry’s tail swished back and forth. “Do you remember when one of the first nights that you stayed here, when we snuck down to the kitchens for a snack and you found the pizza vault for the first time?”

“I...don’t. I mean, I remember the pizza vault—I still can’t believe your mom had that thing.” Cozy laughed.

Flurry didn’t join her. Beneath her closed eyes, she could feel the heat of tears forming. “You were gorging yourself on pineapple pizza and we were playing truth or dare, but it kind of just turned into you asking me if I could do certain things, and then asking me to prove that I could. And I could do most of it by that age. I turned the entire floor into ice for a second. I turned half the margherita pizzas into pineapple pizzas.

“But then you asked me about some of the more forbidden forms of magic. I told you that nopony had ever brought another creature back from the dead in one piece. I couldn’t time travel.

“And then you asked me if I could make gold. I was confused at first. I could transmutate metal into gold, but that was the same sort of magic that turned one type of pizza into another pizza—just harder. I could teleport bits in from my the royal vault, but you already knew I could do that. And then I realized that you had asked me to make gold. Out of thin air.

“I had no idea if I could. So I tried, but I couldn’t. But that didn’t matter to me, because it wasn’t about actually doing it. It was the fact that I had never thought of it in the first place. That seemed weird to me. How had I never even tried before?

“That’s what I love about you, Cozy. You challenge me. You make me think and want things that I never could have conceived of in the first place.”

Flurry was crying softly. A stream of tears steadily flowed over her cheeks and fell off of her chin, dropping into the cloud below.

Then Cozy was kissing her. On her cheeks. Below her eyelid. Behind her ear.

“The hardest things are the most worth doing, princess,” Cozy said into her ear.

Flurry wiped her eyes, sniffing hard.

“Here,” Cozy said again. Flurry heard a soft grunt of pain, and something that sounded like a needle being plucked from a pincushion.

Flurry opened her eyes as Cozy placed a feather behind her ear, smiling, and it was like the sun had shone down on the both of them for the first time.

Cozy inched towards her, so that their noses bumped together.

They gazed into each other’s eyes, half-lidded, keeping quiet as they exchanged breath. Flurry breathing out as Cozy breathed in, and vice-versa.

“I have something to tell you,” said Cozy.

The tone of her words made Flurry stiffen up. No. Please. No.

“When I got back to Fort Oculus last night, the mages and scientists were in the living room. The told me that they found something. Evidence that The Portal is—I don’t remember. It’s breaking down.”

This can’t be happening, thought Flurry.

“We have to leave tomorrow morning. Somepony beyond the portal needs us enough to trigger the friendship map.”

No. Flurry shook her head slowly, getting to her hooves. No. No.

This can’t possibly be real.

“When the sun first rises is when Equestria is at its magical peak. That’s our best chance to go through while The Portal’s still stable,” explained Cozy, rising to take Flurry’s hoof.

Flurry opened her mouth. Words refused to leave her throat, but a sob did.

“I know,” Cozy said.

“Y-You could only be gone for a week,” Flurry warbled. “Another portal could open up, right?”

“Or maybe I’ll be gone a few years,” Cozy replied. “Or a little longer than that. Or a lot longer than that. Or we might not come back. But you have all the time in the world, princess. You’re going to be fine. I’m going to miss you so much, but we’ll be fine in the end. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stay for longer.”

Flurry’s heart was breaking. It was falling down, shattering bit by bit, and she was standing there and doing nothing. Because she could do nothing. She was a god, blessed with some of the most powerful magic that existed, and she was powerless against destiny.

Cozy’s lips pressed against hers, and Flurry leaned into the kiss, and it barely lasted for ten seconds when Cozy pulled away, her own eyes wet.

“I love you,” said Cozy. “I’m sorry I had to tell you like this. I have to go. Tell your dad I’m sorry I couldn’t visit. Tell your mom, too, if you know where she is. I’m sorry, princess.”

Flurry said nothing as Cozy step back, tried to smile, and failed.

Cozy took to the air. Flurry turned her head slightly, watching the pink pegasus turn into a speck in her vision, and then disappear from it altogether.

Run Away With Me

It was six in the morning, and the fifth hour that Flurry had spent staring at her bedroom ceiling. She had gotten through the meeting with the abyssinians well enough. She had even managed to smile and laugh once or twice. She was good at that—at being a princess.

Why not come with me?

You could be with me.

I love you.

Cozy’s voice drifted through her mind. In an hour, Cozy would be gone.

Flurry ran to her window, throwing it open—

She stuck her head out of the window and took in the cold air, relishing in the way that it nipped at her face.

Her mane curled around her head, and her ears swiveled back as she started to cry.

Something left her head. A pink feather. Cozy’s feather. It fell from behind her ear and began to drift on the air, spanning almost whimsically through a stray breeze.

Flurry grabbed the feather with her magic and brought it back to her, and she wiped her eyes.

She turned and left her room, zig-zagging through the halls, paying no mind to the staff or the guards. Tunnel vision clouded her sight. She was in front of the throne room in what felt like a few seconds, and she threw open the doors with her magic before the guards flanking them could let her in. She locked the doors when they closed, and walked to her throne.

Flurry stared at the throne. Countless times she had found herself looking at her mother sitting there, holding court, welcoming ambassadors, teasing the guards about their love lives…

Countless times she had thought about what she would do when she was the one sitting on the throne.

Flurry lifted a hoof and removed her shoe. Then she removed the other.

The rest of her regalia followed. She placed it all in a neat pile on the seat of the throne, and then teleported.

The nostalgic sight of her family’s cabin entered her vision.

Flurry grabbed the door and turned it into sand, stepping through the cabin to find her mother reading on the floor, by the fireplace.

“Flurry?” Cadance asked, glancing to her, and then the door. “What’s—”

“Don’t!” Flurry barked, horn lighting up, snuffing out the fire. “Tell me why you abdicated.”

Cadance blinked, and shook her head. “Flurry, I told you that I don’t know why.”

“You said that you didn’t know if you knew what you were doing. Not that you didn’t know why. Those are two different things, Mom. Tell me,” Flurry demanded. “Tell me right now! I need to know, Mom!”

Cadance stood, but instead of being scared, like Flurry hoped she would be, she simply looked concerned. “Sweetheart? What’s wrong?”

“I need to know why,” Flurry said shakily. “Please.”

“I didn’t feel like a princess anymore,” said Cadance. “Come and sit down. Put the door back.”

Flurry conjured the sand into wood, and the wood into a door, and she walked to her mother and dropped to her stomach. Her mother laid beside her.

“What do you mean, you didn’t feel like a princess anymore?” asked Flurry. “You’re the best princess that ever ruled.”

“Before I answer that, tell me why you’re asking.”

“Because…” Flurry began. She swallowed hard before continuing. “Because I want to leave. Because Cozy asked me to come with her through The Portal and I want to, Mom! I want to leave so bad. I missed her so much. I—I love her. You probably already knew that, didn’t you? Well, now I do, and I can’t do anything about it. I can’t be with her. Becoming the Ruler of the Crystal Empire should have made me the happiest mare in the world, but I—

“I love my ponies. Our ponies,” said Flurry. “But I can’t stay on that throne and know that Cozy’s in another world, and not be with her, and not even know if she’ll ever come back.”

They fell into quiet for a moment, gathering their thoughts.

Cadance spoke up eventually, sighing. “I stopped loving your father, and your father stopped loving me. It took me a long time to admit to myself that we stopped being happy. That that was possible. Then I realized that anything was possible, and that everything was possible and that I was going to see everything. I used to be excited for all of those possibilities. But I realized just how much...bad I was going to see. And I started just—just watching. Watching my meetings and my conversations with you and the guards, and your father as he dressed himself for the day before he left our bedroom each morning, never saying more than a few words to me. I was watching my life go by but I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

“How was this love? How could I sit on that throne and look at our crystal ponies in the eye and declare that I was their rightful ruler, and that I was the embodiment of love? What kind of pony could endure that shame?

“So I started looking in the mirror every chance that I could get. I would stare at my crown, and my crown was beginning to look like it wasn’t mine. I looked like an imposter. So I left my crown behind and I came here, and I’ve been trying to live with myself.

“But I can’t,” Cadance said. “I just realize that I can’t do this anymore. I can’t run from my problems forever. I’m the reason your heart is broken. Flurry—my own daughter—I did this to you. And I’m sorry. I’ll fix everything.”

Flurry laughed harshly. “How could you do that?”

“I’ll take my throne back.”

Flurry turned to her mother, whose expression was stern. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am, sweetie,” Cadance said. “Your love is so pure. I wish you could feel it. It’s so amazing, Flurry. I wish you could sense what I do. You deserve to embrace this. You’re going to embrace this.”

Flurry didn’t know what to say. She stepped forward, and after a moment’s pause, wrapped her legs around her mother, squeezing her tight.

“There’s no point to living forever if you’re going to do it alone,” said Cadance. “Go to her.”

“I love you,” said Flurry, trembling hard.

“And I love you,” Cadance cooed. She pressed her lips hard to the top of Flurry’s head, just in front of her horn, and then pushed the alicorn away.

“Go,” said Cadance, readying a teleport spell. “I’ll handle everything.”

Flurry’s heart was racing. She nodded, her eyes wet, and when her mother disappeared, she left the cabin and flew into the sky.

Flurry’s arcane reserves were exhausted. It would take a few more minutes before she could simply teleport to Fort Oculus.

She flew over the frozen tundra, admiring how the early morning sky still looked so much like night. The burning white snow was still tinted a calming indigo. She saw nopony or creature save for a couple of wolves. She didn’t expect to. That’s why when she was struck with a purple stun spell, right in her ribs, she was caught completely off guard.

Flurry fell hard, the wind knocked out of her lungs, until she realized what was happening and forced her mind to focus on flying. She spun a few times, flaring her wings out completely until she regained control of her flight and was able to glide down to the snow.

Once she landed, she looked around for whatever attacked her. It was unicorn magic. Strangely familiar. Perfectly aimed.

Another beam of magic shot towards her, but she was ready. Flurry ducked, avoiding it just barely, before—

Yet another beam of magic struck her in her side, pushing her off of her hooves. Flurry rolled in the snow, grunting in pain.

Her father appeared in a flash of light, a black scarf wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Cadance told me what was going on,” he said.

Flurry eased her pain with a quick healing spell and stood, brushing the snow off of herself. “You deserved to know first, Dad. There was just no time to say anything.”

“Do you know why you’re flying to Fort Oculus?”

“Because my arcane reserves—”

“Restored themselves three minutes after your last spell, whatever spell it was, no matter the power, no matter the distance. Nothing short of rendering you unconscious is something that you can’t recover immediately from. You can lie to yourself, Flurry, but I was your arcanologist for the first seventeen years of your life. I know you,” Shining said as he crouched, readying another spell. “You want somepony to stop you. That’s why you’re flying. Something in your mind is trying to give me the chance to save you from this.”

“Dad,” Flurry said. “You know how this is going to end.”

Shining closed his eyes. “I have to try.”

He cast his spell, but Flurry had been ready since she lifted her head off the ground. The beam came towards her. It was a trivial thing to cast a spell in the seconds before it hit her chest, taking it apart like a tower made of popsicle sticks and repurposing the energy for her own reserves.

She sent a wave of telekinetic energy at him, intending to throw him back a few yards.

He flew half a mile away before crashing into the ground, skidding hard to a halt until his body had firmly dug its own trench in the snow.

Flurry teleported next to him. Shining attempted to cast a spell, but she slapped his horn firmly before the magic could fully form, and he recoiled, grunting in pain.

She didn’t let up on him, stepping on his side. “Yield.”

“No.”

“Yield, Captain Armor!” Flurry commanded, channeling the Royal Canterlot Voice as full volume, right into his face.

“I watched as you were born,” said Shining, coughing a little. “I changed your diapers. Saw you take your first steps. I was there when you cast your first spell, had your first crush...you’re my daughter, Flurry. You can’t pull rank on me.”

Flurry’s legs quavered. She felt like crying, but held the tears back. “I’m an adult now, Dad. You can’t just pull me out of whatever your want. You need to let me make my own decisions.”

Shining’s mind rolled around his skull for a few moments, but eventually he was able to pick himself up. “Flurry, y-you need to think of what you’re doing hard. You need to make sure that this is the right thing. Because I’m not sure if it is.”

“I am,” said Flurry, smiling down at him. “You know what, Dad? You were right. I was hoping that you would come for me. Maybe I would have gone with you in another world. But it was easy to defy you for once. That’s how I know this is the right thing to do. So I’m going, Dad. I’m sorry. But I. Am. Going.”

Shining lifted a hoof.

He put it on hers.

“I never could have stopped you anyway,” said Shining, grinning at her bashfully. “My little girl.”

“I’m a god,” Flurry bragged, smiling wider. “Nothing can hold me down.”

“I love you, Flurry.”

Flurry took him into her telekinesis and floated his head to hers, crossing horns with him briefly before she kissed him on the snout. “You too.”

She floated him higher. “Dad?”

“Yes?” said Shining.

“I’m glad you came for me. I’ll come back for you.”

Flurry took one last look at her father. She whisked him away with a thought, teleporting him back to the castle.

The sun began to rise.

The Portal had shrunk to half its height in the last few hours. It no longer towered over the bunkers of Fort Oculus as much as it imposed its presence on them. Its color changed, too. The shifting indigos, like pieces ripped out of the night sky, had burned away, replaced by a uniform teal that blazed brighter than the sun.

Cozy Glow stood in front of the portal, staring into it, daring it to try and collapse early.

The sun was rising. The night was melting away as the snow turned from dark blue to orange.

It was time.

Chrysalis, with her teal chitin and colorful wings, fluttered down from above, landing beside her with a cocky smile on her face. “Are you ready, whelp?”

“As ready as I can be, Chryssy,” replied Cozy.

“You stink of heartbreak, Cozy. Do not presume to lie to a queen.”

Cozy sighed. “I don’t want to go.”

Chrysalis, who was still learning how to console a friend, simply put a hoof on Cozy’s shoulder.

It helped, but only marginally.

Tirek strolled out of one of the nearby bunkers, all three of their saddlebags and supplies weighing heavy on his broad back.

“Are we all ready?” he asked.

Cozy and Chrysalis glanced at one another before nodding.

“Good,” said Tirek, “because it’s time.”

The next few minutes were a blur of researchers and mages and guards, talking to them endlessly about safety precautions and procedures that they had memorized over the last week. Cozy didn’t listen to any of them—if she needed something later on, Chrysalis or Tirek would help her out.

Soon they stood side by side in front of The Portal, flaring bright in a moment of teal colored ecstasy. They had to leave now, before it fully burned out.

The first step towards it exhausted Cozy like she had taken a thousand, but she continued to walk. Flurry Heart pervaded her mind’s eye. The way that the look on her face constantly played between amused and confused and delighted. The way that her coat felt, and the softness of her lips.

Flurry’s face was the first face Cozy had seen in her return to civilization, and it was the face that she thought of as she stepped towards The Portal—the end of the world that she knew.

There was a bright yellow gleam of light, thrashing against the teal. When it passed, Flurry Heart stood in front of Cozy.

Cozy struggled for words. “Flurry? What—you came to see me off.”

“I came to do more than that,” said Flurry, striding up to the pegasus.

They kissed, lips melding together passionately. Flurry felt Cozy’s disbelieving breathing tickle her nose, and reached out with a leg to draw her in closer. Cozy found herself embraced with grand, gigantic wings, and she melted under Flurry’s will. They pulled apart, but only for a second, to catch their breath, before they kissed again, and again and again.

The sun rose, and the ground turned into a battle between orange and teal, and Flurry loved Cozy and Cozy loved her.

Finally, Flurry pulled away, done for now, and smiled. “Run away with me?”

Cozy stroked the alicorn’s face. “Well—”

“The Portal’s about to close, idiots,” Chrysalis interjected. “Can you continue this on the other side?”

“Right,” said Flurry. She pulled Cozy to their hooves, and the four of them faced The Portal. “Everyone ready?”

Chrysalis and Tirek didn’t answer with words. They simply grinned at the two ponies before walking through.

Cozy and Flurry watched them disappear from Equestria, and neither could suppress the shiver that come over them.

But then Flurry draped a wing over Cozy, and Cozy wrapped a leg around Flurry’s, and they leaned into each other. It was time. The sun was rising. They were ready to go.

Flurry wanted to say something, but all it took was one look from Cozy to know that she knew anything that Flurry could possibly say, so she went forward, and the two lovers stepped through the portal together.