Cozy Glow learns a lesson

Cake woke up early. Only after checking the castle for anything out of the ordinary and doing a jog around town to keep up with the basic fitness regiment, while cooking breakfast, did she finally notice the taped note she had stuck to the back of her mane.

I meant to tell you this last night but I couldn't find the right moment. I'm sorry for everything, I promise to never do any of it again. I never meant for things to get this bad.

Her scowl washed over her face as she read it before folding it and placing it onto the counter.
It was so damn predictable of her to do something like this. Pretend to want to move on, try to reconcile, and then send everything down the shitter as soon as she was given the opportunity. Cake turned off the stove and walked down the hallway before barging into her room, expecting her to be gone or something. But instead Cozy was still asleep on her bed, softly snoring.

Cake didn't buy it, she began to move quickly to the dresser and check every drawer. No sharp objects or anything inside any of them, just a lone brush and old photograph of her with the Crusaders, all smiling after she had used them to gain the school’s trust and seal her innocence. Nothing else she could do now, unless she wanted to throw the sleeping girl off the bed and check under it, which she did consider for a moment, before finally electing to just leave and-

“Hmm… good morning, Cake,” Cozy said, rubbing her eyes.

“Um, good morning Cozy, breakfast is almost ready,” Cake said quickly before leaving the room.

Cake returned to the stove while Cozy Glow followed behind her and picked out a stool to sit on. A few moments later Twilight and Spike had come in and sat down as well. Twilight raised an eyebrow at Cozy as the filly dodged her gaze and pretended to stare at the toaster on the other side of the kitchen.

“I dont get why we have such a huge castle but such a tiny kitchen,” Cake said, trying to change the awkward mood.

“I like it, plenty of space to get everything you need!” Twilight replied.

“Just wish that the cabinets weren't so high up,” Spike chimed in.

Cake turned off the stove and began to pass out plates, over easy eggs for Twilight and Spike and scrambled for hers and Cozy’s. Then she dumped a bottle of ketchup over her plate and began to eat with her magic.

“Oh come on Cake, have some manners and use a fork…” Twilight said with a smile as she rolled her eyes.

“Fine, fine,” replied Cake, levitating one out from a drawer. “But only because I'm feeling nice today.”

The room was unusually calm, things were going too smoothly and Cake knew it. She watched Cozy out of the corner of her eye, waiting for her to try to hide her fork in her tail or plant something, but she just ate her food in peace. If any-creature was up to anything it would be Spike and Twilight who were constantly giggling to each other, distracting Cake as she-

Cake looked back and noticed she had the ketchup covered fork prodded into the side of her cheek, smearing it all over her face like a toddler. Quickly she grabbed a paper towel to wipe it off.

“Wow Cake, did you forget how to use silverware?” Twilight joked.

“Yeah, yeah… very funny.” Cake sighed, embarrassed, until she noticed Cozy hiding a small giggle behind her hoof. Even though she was being laughed at, some part of her felt good hearing the filly laugh. Soon Cake started being herself just to see the filly glow, by licking her plate clean, telling terrible jokes, and genuinely being an idiot. But the other half of her told her to keep her eyes on the devil, she had done this before.

“You seem in a good mood today Cake, guess a full night's sleep helped?” asked Spike.

“Yeah, I'd say it did! I certainly don't feel nearly as miserable as I did yesterday,” Cake replied. “I slept through most of yesterday, did I miss anything?”

“Nothing but Applejack and Rainbow Dash coming in for a friendship mission,” Spike replied.

“Off to the dragon lands! I hope they at least read a page of that safety book I gave them,” Twilight said a bit sad.

“Next time just make AJ give you her word.” Cake shrugged.

“O- or you could always just promise to Dash one of those wonderbolt figurines,” Cozy nervously chimed in.

The group turned and stared at her for a brief second until a smile formed over Twilight’s face. “That's not a bad idea! Come to think of it Dash would probably read all my safety guides for one of those!” In a flash a note book and quill appeared and Twilight had already written it down.

A smile formed over Cake’s face next as she gave Cozy a nod of approval. “Yeah, I think Dash would be down for something like that.” Cake cleared her throat and made eye contact with Spike as the duo stared at each other and realized now was the time. “Cozy… do you think it's time you apologized to the Crusaders?”

Cozy’s head dropped but after a moment she nodded and everything seemed on track. The road she would have to walk ahead of her would be the hardest, but the most rewarding. And for Cake, she had avoided becoming the very monster she had sworn to fight against. Things went how they usually go in Equestria, old habits died out and new ones took their place, friendships were rebuilt, and many saw Cozy just as they did in the weeks prior to her scheme.