Cozy could only stare at the massive plate with all the food on it with her wide brown eyes… It has two large slices of French toast on the left, arranged diagonally on top of each other, and a big mass of hashbrowns with cheddar cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers on the right… Her mouth grows small, “Uh, mom! This is a lot of food!”

Trixie smiles at Cozy from the other side of the breakfast table, “Well, you earned it after all the heroic things you did last night!”

Cozy’s mouth grows smaller as she looks up at the unicorn, “Yeah uh, thanks for letting me sleep in!”

Trixie nods, “Well, of course! You were really busy being a big hero the night before and you need your rest!”

Cozy timidly replies, “Yeah um, I guess I’m not going to school today?”

Trixie smiles wider, “Take a day off my sweet hero foal!”

Cozy can only whisper to herself, “Oh golly!” as her eyes descend upon the big plate of food before her and she hopes to herself that this doesn’t last too long… She then sighs and begins to pick up a slice of French toast in her forehooves before bringing it to her mouth to begin eating the morsel as the blue unicorn watches her and smiles.

<*****>

Cozy Glow lays with her head on her pillow at the head of her bed, slightly crushing her bluish white curls behind her noggin as her two plush toys sit on the other end. Starshine stares from the floor with her blue eyes and asks, “Are you okay, Cozy?”

Cozy scrunches her mouth while staring at the blank white space of her ceiling, “You know, I really don’t remember having a mother being this nuts?”

Starshine snickers, “Well, Trixie is a character!”

Cozy turns her head left to face the unicorn, “Um, golly yeah! We’ll go with that! You know, she bought me three more Dragon-Corn books just this morning alone, before I even woke up? Yeah, she didn’t wake me this morning! I slept until about 9:30!”

“Well, you weren’t at school, and so I thought that I should at least check on you!”

Cozy giggles slightly, “Right! Friendship!”

Starshine smiles, “Yup! Uh, what do you wanna do now?”

Cozy frowns with her head still down on the pillow as she stammers out, “Well, golly gee Starshine! If I set hoof out there, she’s gonna shower me with praise and affection again and I kinda got hours of that earlier!”

Starshine scrunches her mouth, “Well, there is your window right there?”

Cozy smiles, “I’ll meet you outside?”

<*****>

Cozy grunts as she flitter-hops out of her window with her little pink wings. Once her hooves are on the ground, she flutters and fluffs them to get out excess debris. She then turns her head left to see a purple unicorn filly trotting her way from the other side of the cottage with her white-mop mane bouncing with each step., “Hiya Starshine!”

Starshine smiles as she takes the final three steps to Cozy, “Hey Cozy! Uh, what do you wanna do now?”

Cozy looks up at the sky to see it overcast and dreary with her brown eyes before affixing them back down to the unicorn, “Well, it’s not a bad day out, really? Kinda gloomy, but I still think a trip to the park could be fun?”

<*****>

The two fillies trot west towards the Ponyville Market Square as Starshine looks at Cozy on her right, “So, what’s it like being a hero?”

Cozy looks over at Starshine and sighs, “Oh golly! Its actually a lot more annoying than you’d think! I mean, the breakfast was yummy and I’m sure I’ll like my new books, but geez! I just did what I thought I should do! I didn’t think it was really that great?”

Starshine frowns, “Well, you did protect a hospital full of injured and sick ponies from a bear creature?”

Cozy starts and widens her eyes after stealing a quick glance forward as their turn is coming up, “Well, golly gee! What was I supposed to do? Let the monster attack the hospital where my friend was staying?”

Starshine scrunches her eyebrows, “So your desire to protect your friend, Little Snack was the primary impetus behind your act of heroism last night?”

Cozy’s eyes widen slightly more before she shakes her head and says back, “Well, I mean, I wouldn’t want the other sick ponies to get hurt either!”

Starshine stops trotting and Cozy reciprocates. They face each other on the market street as ponies trot back and forth behind the pink curly haired filly and Starshine asks, “Cozy, you’re my best friend and I love you… I know you wouldn’t lie to me… Would you have saved the hospital if Little Snack wasn’t there?”

Cozy swallows a gulp into her throat and stares back solemnly, “I uh, I believe I would actually? But you know, we have no way of knowing for sure!”

Starshine curves the left side of her mouth, “Well, this is also true… But Cozy…” She straightens her mouth and stares into the pegasus’s brown eyes.

Cozy starts and looks back at Starshine’s blue eyes while leaning forward slightly with expectation, “Um, yeah Starshine?”

Starshine smiles, “You should know that you’re the best filly I know!”

Cozy’s eyes widen even more, and she corrects her stance, “B-but I stole all the magic and tried to take over Equestria! I attacked the Castle of Friendship!”

Starshine nods, “Yeah, and then, you saved Ponyville from Sombra, reformed Chrysalis, got Tirek to go away, and now you’re preserving a hospital full of invalid ponies from an ursa minor!”

Cozy glances off to the left while squinting her eyes and narrowing her mouth, “I-I guess I’m a hero now?” She looks back at Starshine, “But you didn’t have to be so blunt about it, you know?”

Starshine widens her blue eyes and says loudly while her mop-mane shakes, “Yes! Yes, I do! Because on top of that, you’re also the most stubborn filly I know!”

Cozy narrows her eyes and giggles slightly while smiling softly, “Yeah, I guess I can be kinda hard-headed, huh?

Starshine smiles and chuckles, “Yet another reason I need to keep reminding you!” before trotting forward to embrace the pegasus in a tight warm hug!

The two fillies begin trotting west again and soon turn left down the market intersection while Starshine stops for a blue earth stallion who’s almost to the other side and Cozy stops with her. After he passes, the two fillies quicken their pace to head south towards the park.

<*****>

The two fillies trot towards the park coming up on their left while they head south, although this area of town seems more desolate this time of day. They see no ponies while trotting towards the stone picnic tables to their left when Cozy sees an orange form out the corner of her left eye.

She turns her head that direction to see the ginger body of an earth filly with a green mane set into red-ribboned pigtails bounding up and down as she attempts to shoot a red rubber ball with her nose into a hollow buckball hoop, held onto a steel pole. She scrunches her mouth and widens her brown eyes, “Golly! Is that Little Snack over there?”

Starshine looks to her side to witness the same earth filly. “Uh, actually, I think it is?” She says before scrunching her mouth.

Cozy stops trotting while Starshine does the same, before turning her body to face that direction and she lifts her head to shout, “LITTLE SNACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

The filly suddenly looks at Cozy to her right as her pigtails fly the opposite direction and she shrieks, “AAAAAAHHH!”

Cozy squats and then flutters her wings to quickly fly-hop 30 feet to get close to her as Starshine runs and bounds that direction with her streaky mane bouncing behind her.

Cozy looks at the green-eyed orange filly, “Seriously, shouldn’t you be at the hospital?”

Little Snack gulps and says, “Well uh, they let me out! Yeah!” before smiling widely with her eyes wide-open, not knowing what’s coming.

Cozy looks at the stammering earth filly, still in her hospital gown as she smiles nervously back at the pegasus, “You escaped, huh?”

“Um,” Little looks off to her right side before staring back at Cozy with shaky green eyes, “no?”

Cozy smiles and giggles, “Yeah, you escaped!”

Little stares back at the pegasus with wide shaky green eyes as she stutters out, “Well, I was really bored in there and I’m not gonna get hurt going to the park like this!”

Cozy frowns, “Probably not, but you’re taking it easy!”

Little gulps again, “Uh, yes ma’am!”

Starshine frowns, “So uh, what did you wanna do here, Little? I see you brought your ball!”

“Um…” Little frowns, “Well, I was gonna bounce it around like I used to do by myself out back at my house, but since we’re all here, m-maybe we could play catch?”

<*****>

Little bounces the ball to Cozy, currently flapping in the air to her left as she says, “So, Cozy! How you been?”

“Oh golly!” Cozy exclaims while catching the red ball in her forehooves. She cringes while saying, “My mom has been excessively nice to me, ever since the hospital incident and I kinda just escaped out my window to play with Starshine out here!” before throwing the ball to Starshine on her left.

Little smiles and giggles, “Hey, we’re all escapees now!”

Starshine looks at the ball and causes it to glow blue before it stops and swoops in the air to fly towards Little on her left, “How did you escape, anyway?”

Little bounds the ball with her forehead back to Cozy, “Well, the nurse can’t be there all the time! I just gotta wait for her to go to the bathroom or something, and then bail!”

Cozy catches the ball in her forehooves as she floats and flutters in the sky, “Well, that’s true! But you’re going right back there, when we’re done, okay?”

Little smiles up at the pink pegasus, “You got it Cozy! Uh, should Starshine be allowed to use her magic?”

Cozy tosses the ball back to Little, “Well, golly gee Little Snack! That horn looks pretty sharp?”

Little bounces the ball right to Starshine with her forehead after it flies to her, “Uh, okay right! Starshine can use her magic and you got your wings!”

Starshine magically swooshes the ball back towards Cozy, who catches it and says to Little, “Right! But you know, your body is pretty neat too!”

Little widens her eyes up at the pegasus, “It is? But I don’t have gnarly wings or a funky horn?”

Cozy smiles, “Yeah, but you’re definitely the toughest one here!”

Cozy tosses the ball at Little while Starshine looks on from her right and says, “Yeah, and you’re undeniably the bravest one here too!”

Little bounces the ball to Starshine with her forehead, “I am?”

Cozy smiles as the ball magically swooshes towards her, “I don’t know any other filly crazy enough to call an ursa minor, a jerk!” before catching the ball in her forehooves.

“Yeah uh, you know, we haven’t kissed in awhile?” Little says before Cozy tosses the ball at her, and she bounces it at Starshine on her right.

Cozy frowns while fluttering in the air, “Yeah, I know!” she frowns, “It’s like, I just don’t want to?”

Little nods, “Yeah, me neither! I just uh, well you didn’t seem comfortable the last time and it seems like I don’t really need to do it anyway?”* Little looks down, “I just read about kissing in romance novels and really wanted to try it out!”

Cozy tosses the ball towards the unicorn, “Well golly gee, I guess we can do it again later? Well, when we both feel up to it?”

The ball glows and magically swoops towards Cozy as Little looks up at her and smiles, “Yeah! Later!”

Cozy catches the glowing ball, which promptly stops shimmering blue in her hooves, “Yeah… I guess what we have is purer than just kissing, huh? I love you Little Snack!”

Little smiles up at Cozy, “I love you too, filly friend!” before Cozy tosses her the ball.

Little bounces it to Starshine with her forehead before the purple unicorn catches it in the air with her magic, causing it to glow. Starshine looks over at Cozy, “Yeah, but the sun is going down. You know, Trixie is gonna get you for dinner soon. You should probably go now?”

Cozy widens her eyes and stares westward to see the setting sun, “Oh golly! Uh, you’re right Starshine!” before swooping down to land near Little Snack and trotting to her to embrace the earth filly in a tight warm hug. She whispers, “I love you, filly friend!” in Little’s ear.

<*****>

Cozy stealthily crawls in through her open window. Her hooves all make a slight tapping noise as they each land on the floor, below the pane, when suddenly, she hears a familiar feminine voice say from her right, “Well, about time you decided to show back up!”

Cozy’s brown eyes widen as she freezes on her hooves and slowly brings her little pink wings to her sides and turns her head right to see a blue unicorn laying on her left side on the bed and staring back at the pink pegasus with her head on the pillow, at the head.

Trixie smiles and says, “Why did you leave, precious daughter?”

Cozy gulps, “Oh golly! Well, I mean, the affection and admiration is nice! Don’t get me wrong but uh…” She stares at the ceiling before turning her body to face Trixie, “I just got tired of it and wanted to get away for a few minutes! I uh, I mean, I came back, didn’t I?” and then timidly smiles back at the unicorn with wide-open eyes, expecting damage.

Trixie lowers her body from the bed and gets to her hooves on the side, before turning to Cozy and trotting to her to embrace her in a big warm hug, “Yes daughter! But if I’m ever being overbearing, you need to be honest with me about it, okay?”

Cozy gasps, “Golly!” before tentatively returning the hug with her own forehooves. Trixie let’s the filly go, and once back on her hooves, Cozy looks up at her and says, “Well, it’s been awhile since I had a mom, you know?”

Trixie shakes her head and smirks down at the filly. “Anyway, you weren’t here to talk about dinner with me, and so I ordered us Ponese take-out!” She frowns and looks lower at the filly, “I hope you like veggie pone mein with fried rice?”

<*****>

Cozy emerges in a fog. This time, she awakens on her haunches with her forehooves over her hind legs as she stares forward with her wings behind her in a big open field, surrounded by fog. She can’t help but smile at the peaceful serenity, when a soft feminine voice says from behind her, “So, what did you learn, filly?”

Cozy’s eyes widen, “Uh, I was learning stuff?”

She hears the voice snicker as she gets to her hooves and turns her body behind her to face Princess Luna, standing there 10 feet from her in front of a forest treeline. The alicorn smiles down at the filly, “You’re not sure if your act of heroism was really that great, since you believe Little Snack was the only reason you did it, correct?”

Cozy gulps before she looks down, “Y-yeah…”

“Cozy!” Luna says louder before the filly looks back up at her, “The why is never as important as the result! And” the alicorn continues, “friendship can cause us to do great and amazing things!”

“Golly!” Cozy gives a wide-eyed exclamation while leaning towards the princess, “So uh, I did that, huh? I protected a hospital?”

Luna smiles, “You certainly did little filly! And you should be proud of that!”

Cozy corrects her eyes and posture, before frowning, “Still, I just did what I thought I should do! I didn’t really think it was all that great?”

Luna lowers her gaze at the filly as she says, “And that’s exactly what makes you a hero!”

(To be continued…)

Author's Note

*While Little Snack has led a very lonely life, this has also left her mostly untainted by the world at large. Starshine has done research and Cozy Glow has a sordid past, whereas Little has mostly kept to herself. As such, she has a childlike goodness about her and is probably one of the purest hearted fillies in all Equestria. She is genuinely a good filly! What she feels towards Cozy is what the ancient Greeks called “agape.” It is pure love. It is not sexual, nor is it conditional. Little Snack truly believes Cozy is the most amazing filly ever and she admires her for it.