A Cold, Cozy Nightmare Night
Equestria was finally at peace. Three potentially dangerous villains had been defeated and every single creature, from ponies to dragons, could celebrate the calm after the storm. They had no idea about Discord managing to impersonate the legendary Father of Monsters, and it was best to not let them know any of that.
Although Twilight was aware of her upcoming coronation, she also knew Nightmare Night was around the corner, so she decided it could be nice to have some fun with her friends at least for one more time before the grand day. Princesses Celestia and Luna, along with the rest of creatures, agreed with it. So, when the spooky scary night got to make its presence known to Ponyville's inhabitants and some visitors, Twilight tried not to think about the coronation. The less she thought about herself occupying the place the former princesses had, the better.
As she trotted around Ponyville, she felt happy as ponies and other races participated together in the different activities. It felt curious to see griffons also joining them, with only a few of them wearing disguises - including Gallus, who attempted to make his own imitation of a stone gargoyle, much to Dr Whooves' dismay.
Twilight also noticed some students from the School of Friendship being around. Ocellus was disguised as Cozy Glow, although her shyness was not compatible with the Pegasus' crazyness, but she felt good anyways.
"Twilight! Twilight! Come with me, now!"
Just when Twilight realized it was Pinkie, she felt herself being suddenly dragged away. However, it had been so long since she learnt not to question the party mare, so it felt almost like everyday. She waited a few seconds until Pinkie released her beside her friends, who also looked confused.
"Pinkie Pie, darling," Rarity said, "whatever made you drag us all here?"
"Well, I was exploring Ponyville's outskirts while giving some scary scares at other ponies - I also tried to scare Prince Rutherford, but he got a bit angry at me, so I apologized and trotted away, as I continued to explore. Only a minute later, I found some place, and I just stared at it in surprise, cause I hadn't seen anything like that before, and-"
"Pinkie! If you don't mind, tell us what that place is!" Rainbow exclaimed, getting annoyed.
Pinkie grabbed a lot of air and yelled, "IT'S A HAUNTED MANSION!!".
Fortunately, she got the desired effect, cause her friends looked at each other while murmuring in approval.
"Well, I haven't seen any abandoned places at Ponyville's outskirts, so having an attraction of that kind sounds good," Twilight said with a smile.
"Trust me: I don't think anythin' can be better than our corn maze," Applejack replied with a dash of pride.
"Pinkie, is that mansion... um... big?" Fluttershy asked.
"It sure is! Meaning we'll probably have a lot of places to see and things scaring us!" Pinkie answered cheerfully.
"Oh dear..." Fluttershy muttered.
"Can you show us the place, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"Sure! Gather together!" Pinkie replied. When they were about to ask why, she poked Twilight's horn, and they teleported somewhere else, making them question themselves about how she had done that. But then, their eyes were focused on the same thing.
The biggest mansion they had ever seen loomed menacingly over them. For being an attraction, like Pinkie thought, it looked rather empty, in a state of decay.
"Huh... Are you sure this is an attraction, and not an abandoned house?" Twilight asked, finding the situation strange.
"But Twilight, you said there's not a single place like this around Ponyville! That can mean only one thing!" Pinkie replied, as they kept staring at the building, waiting for anything to come out. But that moment never came.
"Hey, if nothing comes out, we'll come in! Who's with me?" Rainbow said. Obviously, Pinkie joined her. The others looked at Twilight, expecting an answer.
"Whether it's a real house or not, we should investigate a bit. But be careful - this place looks dangerous," she said, and the others nodded in agreement.
Approaching the entrance, and only after they entered inside the building, the double doors closed. There was no way back.
It didn't take them too much time to confirm it: that building was empty. Not any pony or creature trying to scare them - and not a single bit of decoration either.
Ignoring the main hall's staircase, Rarity focused on the tapestry pieces scattered on the floor, "Hmmm... This mansion could have been a beautiful place to live. Many years ago, at least."
Rainbow groaned, "I don't get it! If it's that old, how did it get here now? Is this another one of Discord's pranks?"
"Why is it that everytime something like this happens you blame it on Discord?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow would have answered, but her friend was staring right at her eyes, making her sweat a bit.
"Granny Smith told us about a family living here, a long time ago. Not sure which family though, but they lived far away from Ponyville," Applejack explained.
"Don't worry, girls - the night is still young. We have more than enough time to inspect this place," Twilight said.
They agreed to separate, each of them going for a different place inside the mansion, as a few small bits of the ceiling fell down.
During their improvised tour around the mansion, Twilight came across a pair of bedrooms. Those places could probably have clues about the building's owners, she thought, so she entered the bigger one.
A double bed presided the zone, half-buried under a big chunk of the ceiling. The only window in the room was broken in shards, and the carpet looked rugged. However, only one thing caught Twilight's attention the most: a big, dull-colored picture of two ponies, a stallion and a mare, smiling.
Remembering there was another bedroom, Twilight moved there. That one looked smaller, and it still had a feminine touch despite the house's general damage.
"And who was the daughter?" Twilight asked, out of curiosity. Avoiding a few pieces of a wall as they fell down, she stared at the picture of a filly, not believing what she was seeing...
Meanwhile, Pinkie had found the kitchen. Big and full of cooking tools, the kitchen's beauty was lost under some layers of dust.
Pinkie looked around, opening the different drawers she saw, until she discovered an old piece of paper with some words written on it.
"Ooooh! It's a family recipe!" she exclaimed, reading the ingredients for a cake, "and a little bit of... a little bit of what?"
Unfortunately, the last ingredient was missing. Pinkie protested loudly, annoyed at the thought of not being able to recreate the cake that recipe announced. While trying to come up with any ideas, her tail started twitching, and she ran away as some cracks appeared on the walls.
Fluttershy had noticed a garden, uncared for a long time, although it still seemed to have certain charm. Something made her call for any animals hiding there, but the garden was empty except for her.
"Well, I guess it makes sense. This place looks nice though," she thought, admiring the kinds of trees the garden had.
However, she heard some strange noises, and looked just as two trees fell down. She yelled in terror before running back inside the mansion, as it continued to shake.
Twilight reunited with her friends back at the main hall, as the mansion kept breaking down slowly.
"I opened the doors to a library, and the next thing I know, the books were all coming down!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"It's almost like this mansion never wanted us to be here in the first place!" Applejack replied.
Twilight told them a bit about the bedrooms, "I already know something you won't believe: this place is-
"...my home." They looked for the source of that voice, noticing a filly Pegasus on top of the staircase. She looked a bit darker and her eyes were two red orbs in black eye sockets, but Twilight recognized her: it was Cozy Glow.
"What... What are you doing here? Last time, you got defeated and trapped!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Yeah, like Tirek and Chrysalis. But I've also managed to stay here for some time," Cozy replied. Her voice sounded like she was feeling sad.
"Now, how did you exactly get here? Applejack demanded to know. Her answer came fast, as Cozy flew from the staircase's top to it's bottom for joining the others, although she didn't move her wings at all.
"Oh, I get it! I get it! She must be some kind of ghost or anything!" Pinkie said, receiving an applause from Cozy.
"Congratulations, you nailed it," Cozy replied, still serious. That's when Twilight, after calming down, decided to try and have some conversation with the ghostly filly.
"Cozy Glow, I noticed a picture somewhere in the mansion. Were those your parents?" she asked.
"It's a long story, but I guess I can always tell you," Cozy said, closing her red eyes for a few seconds before talking again. "Turns out I was the complete opposite to my family. Where my parents had been working to get a fortune, I got to make anything else. While they brought a good ambience and made friends, I felt like the black sheep within the flock."
They heard a few noises, but Cozy ignored them, "One day, I just couldn't stand that anymore, so my parents and I had an argument. Things escalated quickly until I... well, I don't exactly remember what I did, but it was enough for them to banish me from here. That was the last time I knew from them."
With that last sentence, Cozy stared at the floor, knowing she would have been crying a bit if she could. "Some time later, I met Tirek. And you all know the rest of the story."
Twilight and the others didn't know what to say. That was the very first time Cozy Glow had opened her heart to them. Besides, would she lie now that she was nothing but a ghost?
"I am deeply sorry to hear about all of that, darling. Tell me, is there anything we can do for you?" Rarity asked, sympathizing with the filly.
"Only one thing, if it doesn't matter for you: I would like to be released from that stone prison," Cozy demanded. It was a confusing request, and they were not sure about doing that. However, the mansion seemed to be even more damaged as time kept advancing. But Cozy wasn't finished, "When this place turns into a huge mountain of debris, I guess my remaining place to be will be that statue."
As they wondered about the current situation, they felt surprised when the main doors opened all in a sudden.
"Oh! Does that mean we can go away? Does it mean we're free?" Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow and avoiding a big piece of debris.
"You were always free to go, since the time you crossed the doors. Whether you decide to help me or not, it won't matter in a while," Cozy said sadly, as the ceiling kept breaking in pieces, with a few of them falling down.
A wave of nervousness filled Twilight's mind as she looked between the mansion's entrance and Cozy. And then, she teleported her friends and her to the gardens of Canterlot, right in front of the statue of the villain trio.
"Okay, it's now or never, girls. We're doing this," Twilight said, staring at Cozy's statue.
"You sure it's the right thing to do, Twilight? Cause I don't want that filly comin' back to her old ways," Applejack said.
"That's not going to happen. I know that. So, are you all ready?" Twilight asked. When her friends nodded at her, they stared at the same statue, closing their eyes and focusing their energy.
Inside the decaying mansion, Cozy could only stay there as the walls started to collapse.
"Mom... Dad... Wherever you are, I'm sorry for everything. I made many horrible things, and I think it may be too late for me to regret everything, but I'm doing it anyways. I miss you two so much... I miss you..."
As if on cue, a light started filling the area, and Cozy smiled, having understood what that meant. The light shone throughout the room, covering everything, including the filly.
Just as the stone Cozy Glow shattered in pieces, they felt the world shaking a bit.
"Gee! Was that an earthquake or something!?" Pinkie asked, freaking out.
"I don't think so... Maybe it came from the mansion!" Fluttershy replied.
"Then, we're going back in!" Twilight added, teleporting herself and her friends back.
The mansion looked worse than earlier, but at least it had stopped breaking down, so they took the chance to move around and look for Cozy. They didn't find anything until Fluttershy called for them.
"Here! Take a look at that picture!" she said.
In the big bedroom, Twilight stared at the picture. It looked different because, this time, the stallion and the mare were even happier, having a fun time with Cozy Glow. Below the picture, on the frame, a message could be read:
"Thank you all so much"
A few tears came to Twilight's eyes as she smiled, "We did it. We helped Cozy Glow."
"Where is she? That place looks nice!" Pinkie said, looking at the picture.
"Wherever she is, there's one thing clear: right now, she's one of the happiest ponies ever," Twilight replied, and her friends approved it, "Anyways, it's time to go! We'll spend the rest of this Nightmare Night having some fun!"
"What about the mansion? Should we do something with it?" Applejack asked.
"Well, I'll talk with princesses Celestia and Luna to see what we can do," Twilight answered.
After that, they finally left the mansion with a sweet sensation, cause Cozy Glow wasn't going to be a villain anymore.
The End
