What happens to Golly?

Chapters

Reach Out and Touch Somepony
Cozylosophy and Glowistential Crisis
Astral Says
A Mile in her Horseshoes
Feeling Groggy
Another Leaf
Cozy?
Power Play
Epilogue
Good Things Never Last

Reach Out and Touch Somepony

It was a warm, sunny day in Canterlot where Ms. Cheerilee was with her class on their annual field trip to the castle’s prison-statue garden, discussing the various inhabitants and the arbitrary meanings assigned to them. It was time for the group to move on when Astral, a curious young blank-flank unicorn, hung back and got a little too close to the infamous statue of Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow. While most ponies viewed the statue as a whole, Astral couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Cozy and her story as told by Cheerilee. There was sadness in the old mare’s voice as she discussed the statue's history. Astral was unable to see the villainy in the scared little filly at the top of the monument. She gazed into its wide, fearful, and unblinking eyes as they stared out at those who had cast her fate so many years ago.

‘This statue…’ thought the small purple filly. It was once a living being. Everything in the garden used to live, possibly love; used to feel. The longer she stared, the closer of a connection she felt. ‘She’s just as old as me.’

Astral was saddened. Her first instinct was to cry out from an indescribable pang coming from deep inside her very core. She could hear it. It was a faint voice, lost, looking for a way out. It was in her head. The longer she stared at the statue before her, the clearer she could hear it call.

Astral shook her head, blinking her eyes. It was then that she discovered she had unconsciously approached the statue and even put her hooves up on it. ‘No.’ It wasn’t in her head. It was coming from outside; from the statue itself! She could sense it. It was calling out, not to her, but to anypony who could hear and possibly even answer; anypony who would listen. Astral used her magic to spark a tiny link with the young voice she could telepathically hear crying from within the statue.

Anger, loneliness, fear, sadness. Dark. Cold. Regret, lost, confusion. One at a time, one after another, all at once… The torrent of emotions that had flooded into Astral was a shocking surprise and almost too much to take in. Feeling dizzy and momentarily dazed, Astral jumped back, breaking her link with the statue. She shook her head clear and looked up at the frozen filly's face from her newfound perspective.

"What was that?" she asked herself in a whisper. The statue didn't answer. Astral didn't notice that nopony else was around. The class had left her behind, again. The fur of her coat stood on end as a chill ran down her back. Whatever it was, she had to have more. She demanded it.

Astral stepped back in and closed her eyes, concentrating harder. Not just any unicorn could do what she could. She had only ever pulled off a deliberate telepathic connection to another pony just a few times before, and never had it been anything more than mostly an overall insight into what the pony was feeling. This was new territory for her, but she just had to know. The tip of her horn lit up and the link was made once again.

"Um, hello?" Astral’s telepathic voice was a glimmer of light in the darkness of a stone prison, a beacon of hope, far off in the distance, seemingly just out of reach.

The crying abruptly stopped with a gasp, settling into a much softer sob. "H-Hello? Is somepony out there? What's happening? Where are you? Who are you?” It was the voice of the statue. It was Cozy Glow. Astral was sure of it. “Where am I?” asked Cozy, the voice of her thoughts filled with panic.

Astral replied with her own set of questions. "Cozy Glow? Is that you? Is it true what they say about you? Did you really do all those bad things years ago? Why?"

Cozy took a moment to calm herself down and settled a little bit, but sounding angry tried to shift the blame. Her thoughts had shifted from a suspicious sad and sorrowful tone to sharp and spiteful."It's all Chrysalis and Tirek's fault. I wanted to make friends but they forced me to be bad. It was-"

Astral interrupted. "No. I can feel it when you lie to me. I see... your intentions. But you're not a bad pony, I can feel that too.” A great deal of effort had to be put into not being distracted by the fascination of such a clear connection; it was like a new drug, and Astral needed her fix. The outside world had been completely tuned out. It was just her and Cozy now, together in the infinite, cold darkness of the stone prison. There was no light, no color, and no form, just pure thought, and emotion.

The two sat in telepathic silence for a moment before Cozy’s sobbing returned, this time with a more sincere feeling of only sadness and regret.

Keep talking.

“My name’s Astral Bell, but everypony just calls me Astral. Why’d you do all those bad things?” Her mental voice remained calm and curious.

The sobbing quieted down and slowed to a stop.

"Cozy?" asked Astral.

"Because, friendship... is power," said Cozy, slowly.

"But why would you need pow-" Astral was interrupted by the feeling of a small rock striking her side and an outside voice calling to her.

"Astral? Astral! Hey Blank Flank! Are you going to pray to that statue all day? Ms. Cheerilee says it's lunchtime. C'mon, hurry up already! We’re gonna leave you behind again and I'll eat your lunch!" said a classmate.

The link was broken. Astral took one last look up at Cozy Glow before trotting off to rejoin the group. It would not be the last time she made the connection to the only pony that would willingly talk to her.

Cozy was left with Astral’s question. "Why do you need power?" she thought to herself. It echoed in her mind for days, weeks, possibly moons, or even years on the outside. In stone, the concept of time tended to fade after a while. Every moment alone became an eternity. Somepony was out there, though. It was a warm voice in the cold of the never-ending darkness of her stone prison; a kind voice. She yearned to hear it once more.

Author's Note

[special thanks to Kumi Yi for the in-story artwork, go check her out on Instagram!]

Alright, this is it, everyone. The fanfic that started it all for me, writing-wise*. It was originally a small green in the /golly/ thread ending at: "Um... Hello?"

Readers wanted more, so I gave them more, then suddenly I had an actual little story going and one thing led to another until I had something completed and later even added an epilogue.

Then came the process of de>greening it, cleaning it up and fleshing it out. Astral and Cozy's story didn't end there, though. I went on to write much more, which I am now working on finally getting posted to here on Fimfiction, one chapter at a time.

If you've already read it all before, it may be worth reading one more time as I am working hard to make one final pass at the story, bringing its contents up to par with my current standard, having taken in all the comments, complaints and suggestions received in the time since its original posting.

As always, I read and greatly appreciate anything and everything you might have to say, so please leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below.

Thanks again!
Golly4Ever

Cozylosophy and Glowistential Crisis

If your senses tell you nothing, do you really exist? It wouldn’t be the first time Cozy had asked that of herself. She was pretty sure of herself in the beginning. In later days, reality had begun to slip away from her. The only thing left that was real was her thoughts. Over time, it seemed that those would betray her as well. Nothing was concrete anymore in her stony existence. No longer did she try to make sense of her world. It didn’t matter; nothing did anymore. Just like the waves of emotions that constantly washed over her, Cozy let her thoughts run wild as well. No longer did she try to contain and organize them. Why bother? This was existence for her; rather, the lack thereof. In a place without time, it was forever. ‘At least limbo would have had form. I think. …Or do I? Am I?’

An eternity of lifetimes passed in an instant since she last heard it. The voice. A filly. It was young and curious. ‘Was it even real?’ Cozy had decided that it was. It had to be. ‘I talked to it. But you also talk to yourself, now. Of course, I do. There’s nopony else here.’ The concept of “here” was still difficult for her to grasp. It didn’t bother her anymore, though. She knew the thought would fade just as quickly as it had appeared. All she needed was a distraction. ‘Distraction in a place like this is a little hard to come by. What was I thinking about, now? Was it important? I guess nothing is, anymore. Did I think that already?’

The voice. ‘It was real. I just know it.’ A wave of excitement briefly washed over her formless existence. She struggled to hang onto it, but like all good things, it quickly slipped from her grasp. A sorrowful emptiness had become her new home. It was the one thing she knew would always be there for her. It was reliable, consistent. It was powerful.

‘Power.’

The voice had a name. ‘Astral Bell.’ She had recited the name over and over, many times. It had been a spark in the darkness; new life. It revived her, pulling her from a downward spiral of perpetual decay. She wondered from time to time how “the others”, Chrysalis and Tirek were doing. She tried not to, though. This was somehow all their fault. They wanted the power all for themselves. Nopony wanted to share and now look where it got them all. She was glad they weren’t trapped in there with her. She would be lying though if she said she didn’t miss them at least a little bit; if anything just so she wouldn’t be left to face her personal darkness alone.

‘Power.’ The topic had been on her mind a lot ever since the day Astral entered her existence. ‘Why?’ That was the question. Is that really what she wanted? Why again? It wasn’t important. It hadn’t been important for a long, long time. Suddenly it was, though. It called her entire existence into question. Without it, what was she? Without the pursuit of it, “why” was she? ‘Why can’t I just fade away along with everything else?’ Cozy pushed the thoughts out of her metaphorical head. ‘I am the only thing that is real. This is the ultimate power.’

‘Then why am I not happy? Happiness is not real. No. It must be real. Power isn’t happiness. It’s not what I want. Then what do I want? I want to sleep; wake up in a new day… to think about it later.” She’d lose her mind if she wasn’t already lost. Cozy searched desperately for a distraction.

“Cozy Glow? Hello? I'm back.” A familiar voice returned, Astral.

Cozy felt something nearly unfamiliar to her; joy, if only a little bit of it. "Golly," she replied.

***

Astral’s telepathic abilities had grown, eventually attracting the attention of Twilight Sparkle. She earned her cutie mark (a golden yellow bell, radiating lines as if it were ringing) along with placement in the Canterlot school of magic. It was quite a rare talent to have, and Twilight knew it was something to be guided and cared for delicately. Astral was happy to be in Canterlot to attend Celestia’s School of Magic. She never forgot the day she first connected with Cozy and eagerly awaited when she could talk to her again. She was older and stronger now, both mentally and magically. She was her very own pony.

Astral continued to "talk" to Cozy regularly about news, what was going on at school, the differences between good and bad, and just about anything else they could think of. At first, Cozy constantly tried to be her old self and lie and manipulate, but every time she did, Astral called her out on it. Cozy couldn’t hide her true feelings and intentions from Astral, not while frozen in stone at least. She had no choice but to behave and play nice. No longer could she continue down her deceptive path of villainy. Though Astral never threatened to abandon her, the companionship Cozy had with her had become far too important for her to risk losing. Through Astral, Cozy eventually came to accept the idea that there could be value in genuine friendship beyond manipulative power. She was, however, still somewhat reluctant to share her own past, where she came from, and her family. They did talk about her life in Ponyville, though. They shared anecdotes involving Twilight and her various "isms" about the School of Friendship and how not much had changed since she started teaching at the School of Magic. "They still call it 'Twilighting?'"

"The other statues tell stories too. Some are very different from what the textbooks say. They’re really boring, though. I’d rather talk to you!" said Astral, to Cozy. “I think some of them are just actual statutes though and ponies just say they used to be real.”

***

Classes at the School of Magic were pretty standard for what they were. There was just a little bit in the way of the core studies, but most of the other classes were specializations such as: Magic Theory, Spellcrafting and Modification, Magic Ethics, Potioncraft, etc., each with their own professor. Twilight’s class was special, though. It went beyond the textbook and explored the more unconventional concepts and applications, drawn mostly from her experiences in Ponyville and elsewhere. Nowhere was it written and detailed the process of hosting the power and energy of 3 other alicorn princesses in addition to your own. Traveling through time to chase down the next potential reformed ally and friend wasn’t something that happened every day; at least, Twilight was pretty sure of it. The dangers of pulling ponies out of Limbo, along with the associated benefits was also something that needed teaching. Twilight aimed to set the magically gifted on the right path toward the prosperity of the land.

Astral’s progress at the school had begun to stall, requiring tutoring in order to keep her grades up. One day during an after-class session with Twilight, Astral slouched over onto her desk with a sigh, displaying particularly lower energy than usual. Twilight took notice. "What's wrong? Is something on your mind?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. Really!" answered Astral. She continued to slouch, looking out of the window to her side towards the direction of the garden. The statues in the prison garden couldn’t be seen from where she was, but she knew they were there. There hadn't been anything new to talk about with Cozy lately. She couldn’t just stop visiting her, though. Cozy was likely the only reason Astral tried so hard in the first place.

"You can't fool me, Astral Bell. I don't have to be a telepath to know that one of my most promising students has something on her mind. Is it somepony perhaps?" asked Twilight.

"Maybe,” replied Astral, pausing for a moment. “Yeah. Just somepony I've been talking to for a while now. She's really sad, but I can't help her. All I can do is talk," she continued.

"I see,” said Twilight. “As a good friend, sometimes that's the only thing you can do, and sometimes it's also the best thing you can do. Who is this pony? Do I know her?" she asked, moving to stand at Astral’s side.

"Maybe,” replied Astral, pausing again for another moment to sit up straight. “Yeah."

"What's her name?" asked Twilight.

Astral directed her gaze from the window to her teacher, "Promise you won't get mad?"

Twilight smiled warmly, expressing comfort and support down at her student, "I promise," she said.

Astral hesitated to answer. "Well, um... Her name is: Co-" she began to say before being suddenly interrupted.

"Twilight!” said Spike as he bolted in through the classroom door. “Your presence is requested in the throne room right away!" he continued. The little dragon slumped forward, resting his claws on his knees as he caught his breath.

Twilight patted Astral on the back with her wing, "I'm sorry. We can talk later when you are ready. This sounds like a good subject for ‘Basics in Friendship 101’!” Whether or not it really belonged, Twilight couldn’t help but constantly be adding to the curriculum at the School of Magic whenever she saw fit. In addition to all of Equestria, she was also the princess of friendship with a tendency to operate outside the rules of the EEA, after all.

Twilight ignited her horn as a magical aural began to envelop her in a light purple glow. Spike reached out to her, “Wait! Twilight, take me with-” There was a flash of purple magic and Spike was left alone in the room with Astral. “...Never mind.” He turned and jogged out of the classroom before taking flight down the hall.

* * *

Later that night, Astral lay quietly in her soft, cozy bed, under her warm, fluffy blanket. The room was dark, her dormmate fast asleep in the upper bunk, lightly snoring away. The summer was coming to an end, leaving the nights just a little bit chillier as the days passed. The soft glow of the moon shone in through the slats of the shuttered window, leaving a horizontally striped pattern of shadows on the walls and bed. Astral looked up at it through the thin panel strips. The moon was fully visible all over Equestria, but in Canterlot, it shined the brightest alongside the carefully curated placement of the accompanying stars. While it was now Twilight’s responsibility to raise and lower the moon along with the sun, Luna was proud of her own efforts as she continuously worked to keep it presentable.

"I almost told her, you know?” said Astral, telepathically. “Princess Twilight? I wanted to, but didn't-” Astral paused for a moment before completing her sentence, “...want to." Her thoughts were fatigued and slowed. The exhaustion of a hard day of studying and learning had taken its toll.

A telepathic link from the dorm all the way to the garden required an intense amount of focus, concentration, and energy for Astral to create, but once made, was fairly easy to maintain. The fact that Cozy never moved made things somewhat easier. Even then, it wasn’t something she did often. She would never tell Cozy it was good for helping her get to sleep, though, on the nights she wasn’t feeling particularly tired or sleepy. Tonight though, she was already there. She had to be careful not to drift off mid-sentence.

"Ooh, that Twilight," said Cozy, with anger in her voice. Astral had made much progress with Cozy, but there were still a number of words and names known to trigger her. Astral understood, though, and knew they would get to working on them eventually, one at a time.

"She's not a bad pony,” said Astral. “You’re not a bad pony,” she emphasized. “I think she would understand. If only there was some way we could show her."

The idea of a joint therapy session had crossed her mind on more than one occasion. She had never tried though. She wouldn’t know where to begin. This whole experience was something relatively new and unheard of to most ponies. It would be a prime candidate for a topic to be discussed and explored in Twilight’s class, though. But then again, Astral never really considered it to be therapy. To her, it was just two only-friends, alone with each other, talking to each other. She would never realize just how much she needed it; just as much as Cozy did.

"Well I can't do anything from inside here," said Cozy, with a slight tone of sarcasm.

Talking to Astral grounded Cozy. It brought form and order to her universe. With Astral, there was an inside where Cozy existed, and an outside where Astral was. Somewhere in between was the wall that separated the two. No matter how hard Cozy tried, though, she would never be able to see or reach it. When Astral was around, “connected” to her, Cozy had an anchor to hang onto. For those brief moments in her eternity, enormous calming and welcome relief was to be had. She cherished every bit of it and waited endlessly for it to return every time. It was something to live for.

‘Please take me with you.’ Cozy wondered if Astral could hear her thoughts inside of thoughts too. She really hoped she couldn’t. Sometimes she’d imagine more private memories just to try and remember what it was like being real; eating, pooping, preening her feathers; some of it was very intimate and not something she was ready to share with a pony she had never even seen before. “Pooping…” Cozy really hoped Astral couldn’t hear or see everything.

“What?”

“What? Nothing. Nothing! I didn’t say anything just now.”

There was a brief pause while Astral lay in thought. "What if... You weren't inside there? What would you do?" she asked Cozy, curiously.

"What do you mean?"

Astral paused again to think, this time for slightly longer. "Nothing. Never mind," she said.

Cozy insisted, "What do you mean?"

"Goodnight, Cozy. Try to remember, you're not alone," said Astral. She said it all the time. She liked to think it was something Cozy really needed to keep hearing, both in real life and in her imprisoned state. She knew Cozy had never been told that before. Astral’s horn went dark. It was just her and her thoughts now. ‘What was that? Excitement? No, it was more than that.' Astral wasn’t even sure where the feeling came from, whether it was Cozy’s or her own.

Growing in her ability, one of the first things she had learned was to separate her thoughts and feelings from that of others as the powers manifested in the once very young, confused, and troubled little filly. It had been a while since she last couldn't figure it out. It was a problem for another day. She yawned and shifted to her side, closing her eyes, and drifting off as the waves of sleep carried her away.

Author's Note

These entries have come such a long way from the original >green. I am amazed and proud. I really hope all the hard work shows through and is worth the effort making a better story for you all. As always, I'd love to hear from you, what you think and any questions I might be able to answer or discuss (and possibly consider as last-minute edits to the text). Thanks for reading!

Astral Says

The days grew shorter, skies grayer and air cooler. The leaves began to turn color. It wouldn’t be long before the earth ponies in the smaller towns and villages started making their rounds causing the leaves to fall out of tradition and collect in piles and drifts all over the countryside landscape. Some had already gotten a head start. The castle and school grounds however were carefully maintained year-round to look its best regardless of the season. Groundskeepers were constantly hard at work keeping a perfectly manicured presentation of Equestria’s best form. It was an example to lead by. Paths were always kept clear and neatly swept. The trees always seemed to have just the perfect amount of leaves and branches, keeping to themselves, or at times, spreading out and contributing to the overall aesthetic of the intended look by design. It was a lot of work to make something so unnatural appear as if it had been pulled out of nature’s best offerings. It was almost too perfect. Despite their best efforts, most of it had largely gone unnoticed by the students, staff and others that frequented campus. Only visitors ever took the time to stop and admire the scenery.

Astral stood in a meadow at the edge of a small wooded area. "Come on, you can do it," she said to herself while staring at a wild bunny. Her thoughts echoed in her mind, "It puts the carrot in the basket."

The bunny looked at her blankly. She clearly had its attention, but there was very much a language barrier to overcome.

"It puts the carrot in the basket!" she strained to repeat, telepathically to the bunny. It wasn’t language that she was primarily using to influence the bunny. It was impulse; a drive. The rabbit had to want to put the carrot in the basket. At least, that’s how Astral had come to understand it. It was a very gray area, this particular brand of telepathy. Not much had been written about it, and those who were knowledgeable were hesitant to speak of it. It was another prime subject for Twilight’s class. This branch of telepathy, however, was one that Astral pursued on her own. She wasn’t sure how Twilight would react to the idea of mind controlling forest critters. There was no way she could spin it to be a purely good thing. ‘Fluttershy has her stare ability…’ But then again, Fluttershy was also an element of harmony; kindness, to be precise. Astral was not an element. Fluttershy was also a pegasus, not a unicorn. If she could do it, surely a unicorn could too, especially with the aid of brain-talking powers!

A moment of hesitation passed before the bunny finally and timidly did as commanded. It did not seem happy.

"Yes!" Astral jumped for joy, besides herself with excitement. A small amount of blood trickled down from her nose. It carried that familiar taste and smell. Astral paused, “Oops!” she said to herself. ‘I concentrated too hard.’ That didn’t bother her, though. She was too excited, and it was only a little blood, this time.

The bunny's daze was broken as it was startled, bolting off into the deep cover of the woods.

Astral continued to talk to herself. "I did it! I really did!" she approached a nearby bird that was perched up in a tree looking down at her quizzically, "You, fly!" she said out loud.

Startled by the pony jumping at it, the bird flew off. Astral giggled to herself as she fell backwards into a pile of autumn leaves. It was a good day. Astral gleamed with pride.

* * *

Later, in the early night, Astral sat in her usual hangout spot at the base of the statue, her horn softly glowing. She was bundled up in a light fleece blanket that shielded her body just enough from the brisk autumn air. Ever since she first saw it, the statue had been tucked far away in a remote corner where few ponies traveled. While an important part of Equestria’s history, it was not a particularly proud moment of which to remind everypony. Nevertheless, castle management saw to it that nopony, rather no statue, were to be left unkempt. The moon cast its light down onto Equestria brightly as it usually did. Astral had a clear view of the stars as she gazed up at the vast, inky sky. She tried to imagine a moon she had never known, one which housed a pony she had only heard and read about: Nightmare Moon. She wondered if it was a better punishment than stone. Even if it was, she wouldn’t want Cozy to have been banished there. They would have never met. It was a selfish thought, but Astral didn’t care. ‘It’s not like I’m the element of generosity.’

"Do you feel it when it's cold?" Asked Astral.

Cozy paused before replying. "It's always cold. You get used to it, almost. Is it cold out there?" Cold was the best way she could describe the feeling of not feeling. It helped her make sense of her situation.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to..." Said Astral, stopping short of completing her sentence. She knew she could be blunt if she wanted to, but something inside her insisted on being nice, polite… stepping carefully. Cozy was her very first true friend, after all. Saying the wrong thing might jeopardize all she had worked for.

"I know. It's ok," comforted Cozy.

"Yeah. It’s starting to get cold. Winter is coming," said Astral.

Astral sat in telepathic silence with Cozy. It was nice. Sometimes she just sat there, connected, with nothing said for seemingly hours. Sometimes she would bring books and read stories to Cozy. Sometimes nothing needed to be said at all. They often just felt each other’s presence, comforting each other.

Curiously, Astral asked another question. "What about when it rains? Do you feel that?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" replied Cozy. No. She doesn’t.

"What about what that one bird did last week?" continued Astral.

"What did that one bird do last week?" asked Cozy, with a sense of concern.

"Oh, nothing. Um, just came and uh, went. That's all," said Astral, hastily.

"Eww..." replied Cozy. Even though the outside world was largely irrelevant to her, she was glad to hear from Astral that the statues were regularly cleaned in the warmer seasons when nature was at its busiest.

"Nevermind that,” said Astral, changing the subject. “I've been working on something. It's a surprise! You'll see!" she said, gaining a hint of excitement.

"Oh golly yes! That sounds fun," said Cozy with less than equal excitement. She knew she wasn’t going to actually see anything. Astral had yet to learn about planting images into other ponies' heads. The thought that it was possible had never crossed her mind. Still, Cozy was happy to know that there was a pony somewhere willing to do nice things for her, even after what she had done to land her where she had been for the last eternity. It was a friendship truly worth keeping. Why stop at one, though? Cozy would later learn the name of the new feeling getting close with Astral brought: Regret. If only she knew in her freedom what she knows now, the true power of friendship, things might have turned out vastly different for her. But then again, she never would have met Astral. Was it possible to regret regret, and then turn and regret that regret? It was a paradox to study in the time until Astral's next visit; another welcome distraction.

"I'm still practicing. So don't get your hopes up yet," said Astral. A moment passed. "Cozy? I'm glad we're friends. Hopefully someday, we can be together, not just here. I want to get hayburgers with you, and ice cream," she said, sincerely. Astral thought to herself, ‘Is stone a forever sentence? Discord was set free.’

"Me too," said Cozy.

"...me too," repeated Astral.

* * *

Another season had passed. The snow was deep this year. There had been a surplus of water at the cloud factory and the snowflake technicians had been busy with overtime all season long. “It took a lot of wing power to get all this water up here, we are going to use it!” a Pegasus from the factory’s accounting department said, back at the end of autumn. The excess water had to be returned to the land one way or another. It had been universally decided in Canterlot and surrounding areas that snow was absolutely more fun than rain. Much of it was already dumped in the mountain tops. The runoff from the winter wrap-up and spring melting would find its way back into the lakes and streams, evenly distributing itself as best as nature could. That was the idea, anyway. The rest would be converted into armies of snow ponies to defend their newly built snow forts, managed by out of school foals everywhere.

"I'm getting better at it, Cozy!” said Astral, with excitement. “I only have to ask them once, and they'll do it! Well, it's not really like asking. It’s more of a suggestion," she continued. “Their noses don’t even bleed anymore! Neither does mine!” While the challenge of commanding critters had been getting easier, the challenge of finding them was starting to become difficult. Of those that weren’t hibernating, many had learned to keep an eye out for Astral, and even warn the others.

"You don't say!" replied Cozy. Astral had eventually let her in on what she had been practicing in her free time. Cozy wasn’t quite sure how it was going to play into the surprise she had for her, though. ‘She’s not going to try and force me to behave, is she? Force me to talk about home?’

"Yeah! In your face, Fluttershy!" teased Astral.

"Tee-hee," giggled Cozy.

Astral thought to herself for a moment. 'I hope Fluttershy didn’t actually hear me.' She focused her attention back to Cozy. "But no, really. I don't even have to stare or anything. It helps, but I don’t need to, usually." Astral was pretty sure her methods were not how Fluttershy did it anyway. Without a horn, the magic that Fluttershy used was more akin to earth pony magic, working with nature. At least, that’s what was taught. Magical science was not always an exact science. New things were being discovered all the time; old forgotten lessons relearned.

"Wow, you're getting good. I always had to be sneaky to get ponies to do what I wanted. But I could never talk to animals. Does anypony else know you can do this?" asked Cozy.

"No,” replied Astral. “Not yet. I wanna tell Professor Twilight just how good I'm getting. But not yet. She just thinks I'm really good at feeling feelings and stuff and talking and listening to other ponies. It’s not like I’m able to tell any pony what to do or anything, unless they already wanted to do it, or were going to do it anyway. But then I’m not really telling them, then. I don’t like to try. It feels kinda wrong.”

Honestly, Astral had tried sneaking some experiments on her dorm mate. Without a proper setting, control, and wider sample range, though, she was never really sure of her results. She does believe her dorm mate to think she’s even weirder than previously thought, now, though.

Astral liked to try to stay out of other ponies' heads if she wasn’t invited in. It was hard enough for her to socialize without being singled out as a freak. She had had enough of that growing up. The School of Magic was a fresh start for her. She was careful to try and not ruin it too much. Being “that one quiet mare” was good enough. She could feel a general sense of indifference from the ponies around her, and that was a good thing. Telepathic communication was definitely something to be used with great caution. Cozy was the exception, but only because there was no other choice. With Twilight’s help, she learned to more finely control her powers and shut out the thoughts of others more easily. It was a power she couldn’t really turn off, only focus and channel. Doing so made her feel normal, like she finally belonged with the rest of the pony population. Focusing in on her own thoughts was the closest thing to “off” that she could achieve. There was an added benefit of enhanced concentration, as long as she didn’t try too hard and give herself a headache, or cause intense nausea.

“You’ll get used to it, feeling bad about things you do,” said Cozy. "But that Twilight..." said Cozy, grudgingly.

"You really should try to let it go. I can feel your anger. She only did what she thought she had to," begged Astral. “It wasn’t even her that put you there.”

"I'll let her go, alright," continued Cozy. “She didn’t do it, but she didn’t stop it either. And I'm still here.”

"Now Cozy, that's not very nice," scolded Astral. "You attacked Canterlot, Cozy. You attacked the princesses."

"It wasn't just me," pouted Cozy.

"Right, and they're being punished, too." Even though it felt like a small step backwards, Astral had made great progress in getting Cozy to forgive those she felt had wronged her. Twilight’s friends, Discord; though that one was questionable. It was only because he had spent his fair share of time in the very condition she now shared. That and it was understood that the Lord of Chaos true motives and reasoning were far beyond anypony’s understanding. Even if Discord states his intentions, the true meanings were rarely ever known or discovered, if at all.

"...I know," replied Cozy, defeated. Cozy knew she didn’t mean her own words. She was really trying to turn around. She was working hard with Astral to be the pony she knew she could be, the pony she knew Astral would be proud of, even if no pony else ever got to see it. Astral was now the most important thing in her suspended life. She was the only thing in her life. She couldn’t afford to lose her.

An old curious thought once again popped into Astral's head. "You never told me, why did you think you needed power?" inquired Astral.

"I know," answered Cozy. ‘This again…’ If Cozy had eyes, she would roll them. She couldn’t even answer the question for herself. It hurt her too much to try, and she didn’t even know why. It was not something she wanted to get into with Astral, again.

"But why?" persisted Astral.

"Can't you see for yourself? Ms. I'm-In-Your-Head, reading your memories. Feeling your feels?" said Cozy, sarcastically, becoming irritated. Spats among friends weren’t uncommon. Cozy and Astral were no different.

There was a longer-than-usual moment of silence. Astral was speechless. They both knew that wasn't quite how her abilities worked. Friends just sometimes say things they shouldn't.

"Golly, I didn't mean to..." apologized Cozy. She let her anger get the better of her. She had tried so hard to be better, but there was just so much of it bottled up. Sometimes discussing it just wasn't enough. Her best efforts had failed her once again. Cozy suddenly feared the emptiness that surrounded her.

"I know. I gotta go," said Astral, abruptly. Astral felt they both needed some space right now. It would be the best thing for both of them.

* * *

The final school bell for the season rang. Everypony rushed out of the classroom for winter break, each heading off to their own Hearth's Warming plans with their families; only Astral stayed behind. She had a family to go home to if she wanted, but no friends that would have her. No friends except for Cozy, who was the only pony she cared about for the moment. There was no other pony that she would rather be with.

Twilight noticed that Astral had not yet left the classroom with the other ponies. "Class is over, my student. Is there something more?" she asked.

Class was over, school out. What was the appropriate title to use? "Professor Twilight? Err.. Princess? I mean, Professor Princess," said Astral, unsure of how she should address her majesty.

"As long as you are here, I will always be your teacher first," assured Twilight.

Astral could sense the sincerity in Twilight’s voice and thoughts. "Yes, Professor," she said.

"What is on your mind today?" asked Twilight. Astral seemed to be a case of constant worry. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. While concerned, Twilight learned not to obsess and focus on any one particular struggle with Astral as each day seemed to always bring something new. After-school tutoring wasn't only for her grades. Twilight had taken on the roll of Astral's counselor as well. Through all her abilities, Astral never knew it.

"Well, you know how you can't really change the past, right? If a pony did wrong, it's done?" started Astral.

"Well Technically, you can change the past, but I wouldn't recommend it." said Twilight, remembering all her past dealings with Starswirl’s spell.

"Oh, right. Well, what if everything you thought you knew about a pony was wrong? Like, they were bad once, and did bad things. Maybe even always hurt everypony, but all everypony could do was hurt her back, because neither of them knew any better, but now you do know better, and that changes everything?" asked Astral.

"That sounds like something for the school of friendship. Are you interested in attending there?" asked Twilight, thoughtfully.

"Well, um. Maybe? That's not what-" said Astral, being interrupted.

Twilight continued, "Today is also their last day before the winter break, but come Spring, we can transfer you to study there. Too much knowledge over a wide variety of subjects can never be a bad thing! And you could definitely learn a thing or two about making friends."

"Wait, what?" asked Astral, confused and mildly offended.

"No offense, but I never see you hanging out with any other ponies here. You eat your lunch in the garden by yourself. Your dorm mate says you never talk to her; she says sometimes forgets what you sound like, even."

Astral muttered to herself, "I already know what's on her mind.. she never shuts up, I don't even have to read it."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, nothing." replied Astral. A moment of awkward silence passed. "I have a friend. I talk to her almost every day," she said, defensively.

"Oh?" inquired Twilight, with interest.

"Yeah. Everypony thinks she's bad, but she's just misunderstood. But... Well, I don't know how to make everypony see what I see," said Astral. “What I feel in her.”

“I see,” said Twilight. “Does this pony know that you are in her head all the time? Remember what we talked about with privacy and boundaries, Astral Bell.”

“She knows. It’s kinda the only way we can really talk.” said Astral.

Twilight smiled, "Well, as long as you have her permission, but be careful. Once lost, trust can be a very hard thing to regain,” she warned.

“Yes, Professor Twilight,” said Astral.

“You know, my friend Pinkie Pie would have a perfect solution for showing the world who your friend really is,” said Twilight.

"what's that?" asked Astral.

"A party! You should have a party in honor of your friend and all the good things they can do and be. Show everypony! Be sure to invite your friend, of course," suggested Twilight, enthusiastically.

"Show everypony..." astral said to herself, the gears of thought beginning to turn. "But if Everypony hates her, do you really think that's a good idea?" she asked.

"If you really believe they are good, then yes. If you know your history, there is a certain changeling that would agree," said Twilight, reassuringly. “Sometimes you have to fight for your friends when they can’t fight for themselves.”

"Ok. I'll do it. Thanks, Professor. Have a happy Hearth's Warming!" said Astral as she quickly gathered her things before trotting off in a hurry, happy and excited.

A guard could be heard from outside of the classroom: “Hey! No galloping in the halls!”

Twilight was left wondering, "I wonder who it could be."

Author's Note

Yet another chapter down, several more to go. Again, so much is going into this final pass of revising, I really hope you all are enjoying it, especially if you've read the original >green and can see first hand just how much work has gone into it. Many changes, both big and small, are still to come! As always, I appreciate and literally feed off of your input! It's the drug that keeps me writing.

A Mile in her Horseshoes

It was night time. Astral had left Canterlot on a mission. After a brief stop by her home in Ponyville, she traveled deep within the Everfree forest. Beams of light from the full moon shone through gaps in the thick cover of twisted and tangled branches overhead creating a pattern of bright spots on the snow covered ground. The owls hooted while timberwolves howled in the distance.

Astral spoke out loud to herself for company as she searched around. "Come on, there's got to be one around here somewhere. Maybe it's just not the season for them." Normally, the Everfree didn't experience seasons with the rest of Equestria. It functioned with a force all its own, commanding its own system of weather, that is, until a pony-ton of snow was dumped on it thanks to the bountiful surplus available this year. It wasn't until after the fact that mild concern for the self-sustaining micro-environment was raised, and then later dismissed.

She kept her nose to the ground studying the different tracks as she came across them. "Mouse, bunny, me-- shoot, I'm going in circles!” she said as she came across her own tracks.

She stopped to look around, spotting a new direction she hadn't yet explored. "I'm almost close to the castle of the two sisters. If it weren't for the trees, I could probably see it from here. Maybe I'll find what I'm looking for there. I'll need someplace to ride the night out until the train to Canterlot runs again in the morning, anyway," she said to herself, her breath visible in the cold night air. Home was an option, but it was all the way on the other side of town. While not normally open for touring or business, the castle restoration had long since been completed. One would just have to safely and successfully navigate its enormous dangerous and foreboding front yard to see it.

The search continued late into the chill of night. Astral stood in the middle of a clearing, about ready to give up when a sudden rustling in a nearby bush attracted her attention. "Hello? is somepony there? Or... Some, creature?" she said as she cautiously moved in to investigate. 'It's right here,' she thought to herself. 'Careful, gently... Yes. There it is,' she was stiff with excitement. Careful not to startle it, she spoke to it telepathically, "Hi there, buddy..."

It turned around as she grabbed it, its eyes glowing red. It had the body of a snake with the head of a chicken. The excitement of the discovery was enough to warm her heart and body. She couldn’t even feel the cold snow under her hooves anymore. Rather, she couldn’t even feel the ground under her hooves anymore. There was only a numb static between her and the ground. That wasn’t right. Was she stiff with excitement? No. Her stiffness was far worse than she feared to acknowledge.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot!" she said to herself before concentrating a strong glare on the creature. "No you don't! Not me, not tonight! Stop it. Now!" she commanded. Her body was slowly turning to stone. Her body began to feel so very heavy as the stone slowly crept up from her hooves to her legs on up. As the petrification progressed, a different kind of cold began to seep in. 'This... This is what she must have meant,' Astral thought to herself, before returning to glare harder at the creature. "Undo this, now!" she demanded. “I’m not here to hurt you. Or eat you. I want to be your friend. Let's go somewhere warm. I have food for you,” she said, trying to comfort it and gain its trust while tightly holding onto it. “Let’s help, each, other,” she uttered with the last of her strength before turning completely to stone.

An unsettling silence hung in the air. The cockatrice was held firmly within the grasp of a freshly stoned pony. The moon slowly crept across the sky towards the horizon as the cockatrice periodically struggled to break free from Astral’s frozen grasp to no avail.

'I can’t see. I can’t feel. What happened to me?' asked Astral to herself. The cold was an all-consuming empty void of darkness. 'No. This wasn’t supposed to happen.' Astral began to panic. “Hello?!” she called out, but there was only silence. 'Get it together, Astral,' she said to herself. 'Maybe somepony will come along. In a million years. Will I crumble? No. Stay positive. What am I going to do?' "Cozy? Cozy Glow, are you there? Can you hear me? I think I’m in trouble!" 'It’s no use. I can’t use my magic from inside here. I’m stuck, forever.' Even if she did have her magic, deep down, she knew she didn't have anywhere near that kind of range; no pony she knew or ever heard of did.

Regret. Astral had felt it slowly building up in Cozy as their time together grew. She could now feel it rapidly building up within herself as well. 'This was such a stupid idea, what was I thinking? Right, I wasn't.' She was left isolated within her stone imprisonment. Time was already beginning to slip and fade. She was surprised at how fast its onset was. It was truly terrifying. So many thoughts and feelings began to overtake her all at once. She couldn't imagine how a little filly was able to handle it at all. It was overwhelming. She wanted to scream, but couldn't. She wanted to cry, but couldn't. She needed to breathe, but couldn't. Her mind begged for her body to obey and do something, but the disconnect was incomprehensible. She was without form.

“I’m sorry, Cozy. I thought I knew, what it was like; how you felt. Twilight… I won’t be able to make it back to class on time. Mom, dad? I’m so sorry. Somepony, anypony, please find me!” Astral was already beginning to mentally break. If anything, she hoped that somepony would find her and at least put her somewhere nice, perhaps in her own backyard. No. She couldn't think of that. She couldn't accept her fate. There had to be some way out of this. There wasn't, though. Cozy would have found it by now. But Cozy was a pegasus, not a unicorn. Crysalis had magical powers though, right? So did Tirek. Irrelevant; magic doesn't work in stone anyway.

There was nothing for her to see but an endless black darkness extending in all directions, if there were any directions at all. There was no light or shadow. She couldn’t even be sure if she had any kind of sight, or if it was all in her imagination. There was no sound, just figments. Figments and numbness... Was the numbness even real, though? All of her senses were shut off, leaving her consciousness to fill in the gaps a lifetime of stimuli left empty. She realized just how much she took for granted her very existence.

Astral searched the void for anything she could cling to. She began to feel a faint presence slowly emerge from within the emptiness. She had tried calling out and reaching out to anything and everything she saw floating by. Each time, she came to the sad realization that it was all a product of her mind trying to fill the void and make sense of it all. This, however, felt different. She could focus on it. She knew it was there. It grew stronger as it surrounded her. It was just as real as she was. She could ignore it, lose track of it and unlike anything else she detected, it would still be right where she left it.

'What?' asked Astral, to herself as she gained the feeling that she might not be alone. 'That’s not real. Is it real?' "Hello?” she called out. “Hello? Who are you? What are you?” she called out once again. "Are you here to take me home? Can you help me? Please, say something! I'm begging you. I can't be here all alone. I can't take it. This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm not supposed to be here!"

There was no answer, only darkness. It felt cold, wrong. But at least it was something she could feel. The longer it stayed, the more unease Astral felt creeping inside her. Still, it was better than nothing, or was it? Astral could feel fear beginning to overtake her. She couldn't quite pinpoint what the fear was. It wasn't the fear of non-existence; she was already becoming quite familiar with that as it was. This was something else. It was a mix of other, existing fears. They would briefly come into focus and then fade back into obscurity as quickly as they had surfaced. It was almost as if they were being searched. Astral was remembering things she had long since forgotten she feared. Some seemed quite silly while others were still quite terrifying and rightly suppressed.

'Color?', Astral thought to herself. She was sure she wasn't imagining it. She could see it before her. There was no turning or escape from it. A pair of menacing eyes, softly glowing and lime green and purple of dark magic in its foggy existence. Faint as it was, she could not unsee it, peering into her very soul. It was definitely there, and it terrified her more than anything else. Astral yearned to welcome the empty darkness once again.

An eternity of a moment passed before the presence faded, leaving Astral relieved, alone in isolation once more. She wished she had a breath to stop holding and catch. 'What was that?' She made a note to ask Cozy if she knew anything about it, if she ever got the chance to talk to her again. There was a lot that she was going to do if she ever had the chance to do any of it again. She would start by never ever going into the Everfree forest ever again. She would go home more often. She would study harder. She would finally get around to all the things she had been putting off.

Daylight began to creep into Astral's vision as the sun slowly made its way above the horizon. She passed it off as yet another fleeting thought. It wasn’t until she could feel the light’s warmth that she realized she wasn’t just making it up. The empty darkness began to fade away as the snow-covered Everfree came into focus. She was cold. She could feel that she was cold. Her body had weight to it. She could look down at herself. Cradled tightly in her arms, she saw a cockatrice, calm and docile. She looked at her flank and legs to see the last of the stone dissolve away back into flesh and fur. She was free! It was morning. Astral had spent the better part of the night trapped alone with her thoughts. Was this a dream? Can you even dream while stone? Does Cozy dream? She had never thought to ask. Cozy's whole existence was essentially a sleep state as far as anypony could guess.

The cold sent a chill through Astral's body. This had to be real. Even if it wasn't, she decided to believe it was. "Th- Thanks?” said Astral, to the cockatrice while petting it gently. "Friends?" She asked it. She wasn't sure of its response, so she slowly and carefully lowered it to the ground, releasing it, but ready to reach out for it again should it try to run. "Stay, please," she commanded, telepathically. She was sure to be gentle with the snakebird in fear of it turning her back to stone.

Keeping an eye on it, she telekinetically reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a snack she had brought with her, breaking it into pieces and placing it on the ground in front of the cockatrice. She watched as it happily pecked at it, eating it one piece at a time. "Friends!" she said to it. "There's plenty more where that came from. And shelter. I'll take you someplace warm!" she offered. Astral shared the rest of her snacks which the cockatrice was more than happy to finish off. “I just need you to do that one more time for me, for a friend, if you don’t mind." Astral wasn't quite sure if the snakebird was paying attention or not, but she wanted to believe that it did acknowledge her request, at least. It didn't run off, after all, even after the snacks ran out, and she wasn't made of stone anymore. That was a good start.

* * *

Later that day, Astral was back at the statue, pacing with excitement. She paused every now and then to look up at it as she carried on her conversation with Cozy.

"You wouldn't believe the kind of night I had, Cozy," said Astral.

"Yeah?" asked Cozy.

"Yeah! Actually, you’re probably the only pony that would believe the kind of night I had. It's part of your surprise! Not the night I had. What I went out and got, and brought back!" said Astral.

"Ooh! Tell me!" said Cozy.

"Not yet! Tonight. you'll finally be able to see," said Astral.

"How do you mean?" asked Cozy.

"You'll see! It'll be the best Hearth’s Warming Eve ever!" said Astral, sounding ever more excited. She had already forgotten all about the evil presence that had terrified her so.

"I never had my own Hearth’s Warming before," said Cozy.

"Never? That's so sad,” sympathized Astral. “What did you do while everypony else was with their friends and families?" she asked.

"Plot. Scheme. The usual," said Cozy.

"Oh. Well, we're not doing that tonight. Ok?" asked Astral.

"Ok," agreed Cozy.

"...Really? No friends? At all?" asked Astral, curiously.

"Well, I was doing real good, until I hurt them all. And that's when I went to Tartarus," said Cozy.

"Oh, right. Twilight says that's not how you really make friends, or why. I don't really have any either. You're the only pony that ever really talks to me," said Astral. “I have a roommate, but she doesn’t count. She talks to everypony.”

"Same. You're the only pony I've talked to ever since-- since I..." said Cozy, stopping abruptly.

"I know,” understood Astral. “Hopefully that will change soon.” Astral had slowed her pacing to a stop. “Hey Cozy?"

"Yeah?" asked Cozy.

"Would you do it again? If you were free, would you be bad again?" asked Astral.

"I never thought about that. I'll never be free again," said Cozy.

"But what if you could be. Would you?" persisted Astral.

"Would I?" asked Cozy. It was a question directed to herself more than to Astral.

There was a moment of silence as Cozy and Astral each considered. Astral didn’t want to go in to find out for herself, she needed Cozy to decide and tell her on her own. There was a certain commitment in outwardly expressing your own thoughts rather than just thinking them.

"I.. I don't know. What do you think?" asked Cozy.

"Whatever you think. I know you're being honest. I guess that's all I can ask for, really," said Astral. She decided to go in just a little bit.

"That's still creepy when you do that, you know," said Cozy.

It was a tingle of sorts. Astral had learned to be stealthier about it over time, but Cozy had learned to recognize it for what it was. Even then, with the right distraction, it was becoming something to easily overlook.

"Promise me," said Astral.

"Promise what?" asked Cozy.

"Promise me you won't do bad again," said Astral.

"I don't know if I can. You've taught me a lot since we've been talking. I think about it all the time. Whenever you're not here. There's nothing else to do, really. But Twilight, the others. What if they never understand? I was really mean to them, to everypony," worried Cozy. “They would never believe me again. No pony would ever trust me again. Not after what I did. Not when all the books and teachers remind everypony.”

"We'll show them. We'll make them see. Do you promise?" insisted Astral.

"I... Promise I will not do bad again, to you," said Cozy.

"To everypony, Cozy," said Astral. She knew Cozy was trying to make a promise she could get out of without breaking.

"I promise I won't hurt you on purpose," tried Cozy.

"Cozy!" said Astral, sternly.

"I promise," said Cozy, with a sigh.

That still wasn’t good enough for Astral. She had to be sure. "...Promise what?"

Why was Astral being so pushy over this suddenly? Cozy thought they were past this already. Did it really matter what she said? What difference was it going to make whether she would or not? She knew she was never going to get the chance to do anything again anyway. It was a joke, one mean, heartless joke. Cozy knew it. She spent plenty of time being heartless. This wasn't new territory to her. It was some sort of trap and she spotted it a mile away. Promises were important. Even a filly like Cozy used to do her best not to break them. She had made it her policy not to make them in the first place. Why was this so important, though? Is this what their friendship hinged on? "What does it matter? I'm going to be here forever! Forever! Fillies like me don't come back to show anypony anything. Why are you even teasing me with this? Just go away!" she said, her anger getting the best of her. It was another regret to add to the list, but it was too late. She ruined everything. Astral surely must hate her, now. Even Cozy hated herself, now. Lost was all the progress she had made. Never again was she going to have a chance at another friend like Astral. Rightly so, this is what she deserved. She wanted to cry, but even if she could, that was one thing she knew she didn't deserve.

"Cozy... I" reasoned Astral, before being interrupted.

"Leave me alone!" said Cozy, agitated.

"But Cozy, the surpr-"

"Go away! ...Just go! Go," demanded Cozy.

The telepathic link slowly dissolved. Dejected and feeling lonely, Astral made her way out of the garden, stopping once to look back before making her way back to her dorm.

'Stupid!' thought Astral to herself. 'I did it again!' She kept her head down as she moped down the pathways, and into the dormitory's front doors. There was no pony to greet her. The halls were quiet, rooms void of activity. 'I'm pushing her away! I gotta be more careful. She probably hates me, now. I'm so stupid!' She slowly worked her way up the stairs and down the hall to her room. 'I can fix this. I know I can. Tonight. I'm just tired right now. I'll get some rest, and then I can fix everything.'

Feeling Groggy

Cold, quiet. With the shade down, the dorm room was dark. Most of the building was. Only a hand full of ponies stayed during the holiday, which was good because sneaking in a cockatrice with others around would be no easy task. More statues might just appear in the garden suddenly out of nowhere while students went missing.

Alone in her room, Astral climbed into bed. The softness of her comforter and pillow reminded her of just how little real sleep she had gotten, having been up all night in the forest, being trapped in stone, dozing on the train back to Canterlot and nearly missing her stop.

She lay on her side, peering at the make-shift cage she had fashioned out of a laundry basket and some cleverly placed furniture. The last thing she needed was to wake up and find that her new "pet" she spent all night working for had gotten away. "Are you doing ok, Monty Clukersmith?" Asked Astral. The cockatrice sat quietly in its cage. "It's almost lunchtime. We’ll eat soon. I'm just going to close my eyes. For just, a little... ...bit." A well welcome wave of comfort washed over Astral in a torrent of peace. She felt as if she were dissolving away into her bedding as it enveloped her. 'This must be what pegasi feel like when they sleep on clouds', she thought to herself. The sensation of floating brought to mind her experience from the previous night. She didn't fear it though. She knew she was safe. Her thoughts began to mix and blur out of focus as she relaxed and let go of her waking reality.

***

It was the night of a new moon, dark and quiet. Astral had managed to sleep the entire day away. Fortunately, the cockatrice was a patient one. The snow crunched under Astral's hooves as she stepped up to the statue. A fresh layer of snow decorated the top of the stone monument in a pure white, contrasting the rocky form below it. "Ok, Monty. This is it. You think I should tell her? No. let's surprise her all the way!" She held the creature up in the air, facing it towards the statue. "Ok, Do your thing!"

Astral presented Mr. Cluckersmith to the statue. Nothing happened. She brought him close to whisper in his ear, "That's your cue! Ok? Let's try again." She once again presented the creature to the statue.

Nothing.

Astral was glad for a moment that the statue wasn't alive to watch her fail. She presented the snake-bird once again, this time with a little squeeze. It clucked in her grasp and lightly pecked at her hoof.

"Please?" asked Astral.

She tried again. The cockatrice finally fixed its gaze on the statue, and a moment passed. Suddenly bouncy curls burst out of the top of the stone, scattering powdery snow all around it. "It's working!" said Astral, with excitement.

The stone began to crumble down lower and lower as the snow fell from atop it. With most of her body free, Cozy gasped for air, and with a loud "Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaa--olly!" she was free, popping out of the last bit of stone containing her. She stretched mightily with a loud yawn.

It was not possible for Astral to smile any bigger. "It worked! You're not stone anymore!" she said, out loud. "We can talk, with our voices!"

"Golly Yes! We can!" exclaimed Cozy as she stretched and brushed some of the remaining dust and snow off of herself, and out of her mane. She flew forward over astral into the garden a bit, putting a spin and a twirl into her flight path. "It feels really nice to be able to move again. To feel!" she said, performing a light flip in the air with glee, her small wings fluttering about.

"This is amazing! Thanks, Monty!" said Astral as she released it to scurry off. She turned around to face Cozy. “What should we do first? I bet you're hungry!"

Cozy rubbed her belly, "Oh, I am. But I know somepony who's even hungrier than both of us," said Cozy, growing a malevolent grin.

"What? what do you mean? Cozy? You're scaring me," asked Astral, confused, as an unsourceable fear began to grow inside her.

Cozy pointed back at the statue, "Tirek! Quickly, take her magic, and let's get outta here!"

Realizing her mistake, Astral turned around to see that she really should have told the cockatrice where to stop. She turned back to Cozy and pleaded. “No. Cozy, what are you doing? I thought we were friends!"

Cozy dusted off her hooves, "Yeah, we were friends. But meet my two other friends. I'm sure you've read about them." She flew up to Tirek and Crysalis to hover in between them.

Before Astral could run, Tirek lunged forward, pinning her to the ground with his forehooves, and proceeded to inhale all but the very last of her essence. Her eyes pale, Astral had just barely enough strength to muster a question. "Cozy, How could you?"

"What can I say? I've had a lot of time to find an even better way to be bad." Said Cozy.

Tirek facepalmed at Cozy’s remark.

Chrysalis shouted, "If we are done here, let us go before we are discovered!"

The trio of villains began to laugh maniacally as Astral struggled to keep her head up.

Suddenly, a blinding light showered in from above, a booming, royal Canterlot voice shouting down at them. "Not tonight, you don’t!" The voice echoed around the garden, shaking the ground and Astral to her very core. Never before had she heard such authority.

"Princess Luna!" the trio shouted as they cowered in her light, painfully dissolving into the air.

Still weakened, Astral looked up into the light "Princess Luna..." she said.

Once the threat of the trio of villains was no more, the light faded as Luna reached down and helped Astral to her hooves.

Astral quickly bowed down to the princess of the night, taking a kneeling position. "I was only trying to, I mean, I didn't mean to," she cried, to Luna.

"It is all right, little one. You are safe now," said Luna, in a gentle calming voice as she reached down to embrace Astral with her wing, guiding her back up to her hooves.

"But, how did you know to come here? Am I, is this a dream?" asked Astral, looking at her hooves and at her surroundings.

Luna smiled warmly at Astral as everything around them swirled away into a star-filled landscape of clouds and space. "What do you think?" she asked.

Astral looked around, "um, I hope so. Yes?"

"Yes. It is still the middle of the day. You have had a very rough night, and I thought I would check in on a particular pony that had checked out much earlier than usual. You are not the only pony that can enter the minds of others so freely at will," said Luna.

"Oh, right," said Astral, sheepishly. "So, you know? about Cozy, and ..the conversations?" asked Astral.

"I have known for quite some time now. You talk to yourself in your sleep, be it in your mind only, but in your sleep, I hear it all." said Luna.

"So, am I in trouble? Why haven't you already stopped me?" asked Astral.

"It simply is not my place. It has never been my place to interfere, you see," said Luna. "It has always been my job to guide and help those in need as they slumber. What you do in the waking world, is your choice," she explained.

“Does Professor, Princess Twilight know?” asked Astral.

“Twilight Sparkle only knows what you have allowed her to know,” said Luna.

As they talked with each other, Astral and Luna walked along a path of clouds through an endless star-filled sky. It was peaceful and quiet. Visions of ponies' dreams silently floated about along the path.

"Oh. Ok. But, I thought you retired from your job with Princess Celestia," said Astral. She looked around at the different visions as they walked down the path. “Should I be allowed to see these?”

"Protecting and guiding ponies in their dreams is something I would hardly call work. Now, care to tell me about what is bothering you?" asked Luna.

"Well. It's Cozy Glow,” said Astral. “She's not a bad pony. I know it. And if I could just show everypony else, I think she would be ok."

"I see. And do you think it wise to free her?" asked Luna.

"I don't know. Maybe? She... She doesn't deserve to be made of stone forever!" exclaimed Astral.

"Perhaps," said Luna.

"I know she can be good. I feel it in her. When I talk to her, I just know it. I'm not talking to the same pony that went to Tartarus or got frozen in that statue. That Cozy Glow is gone," said Astral.

"I too sense a change in her. A stone sleep is still sleep, after all. But I do not see all that you are able to see, how can you be so sure?" asked Luna. “It is already the second time that we have had to imprison her. Foal or not, she must be held accountable for her actions.”

"Well... I guess I can't. But isn't that what friendship is too? Believing in a pony when you have no other reason to? I might not have any real friends, but I have Cozy," said Astral. “I might not know everything about what friendship is, but I know what friendship isn’t, and it’s not keeping ponies from trying to make good.”

"If only everypony knew this and thought as you do, Astral Bell, we probably would not have ended up where we are now. We would all be better off, and those that would later observe our actions as recorded into history might also agree and not argue over what has happened in the past decade or so. Regardless, if you are wrong, you will be in a lot of trouble. Even I will not be able to help or protect you," said Luna.

"What should I do?" asked Astral.

"That is something you must decide for yourself, little one. It is something not to be taken lightly. A decision that should not be made on an empty stomach," said Luna.

"Huh?" asked Astral. As if on command, her stomach began to growl. "Oh, right," she said.

"Think it over, to yourself. You will know the right thing to do," said Luna, as she started poking sharply at Astral’s face with her hoof.

"Ow! What are you... Ow! Stop that. Ow!" said Astral, trying to wave off Luna’s hoof.

Astral opened her eyes to find herself back in her bed. The cockatrice having left its cage was pecking at her. "It was a dream." she said to herself, looking around. Luna’s advice wasn’t quite what Astral was looking for. "Gee... Thanks Luna," she said, half sarcastically.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Astral sat in her usual spot at the base of the statue, eating her lunch. She was not telepathically linked to Cozy. Looking up at the statue, she thought to herself as she chewed. 'Does she know I'm here? Does she miss me? What if it's like in my dream, and they all break free? What then?' Astral took another bite, continuing to think to herself 'What if... She really is bad? No. I would have been able to tell. ...but what if?'

Astral broke a few pieces of food off and tossed it to the cockatrice, asking it out loud, "What do you think, Monty? Can you unstone just the little one up there? leave the other two?" The cockatrice pecked happily at its food on the ground. "I hope so," she said. She took another bite, continuing to think to herself. 'To free, or not to free...'

* * *

A fresh layer of snow glistened in the light of the moon as Astral stepped up to the statue. Her horn began to glow softly. "Cozy?"

Cozy did not reply.

"Cozy, I know you're there," said Astral.

Cozy still did not reply.

"Look Cozy, I'm sorry I tried to make you promise me. You don't have to promise not to be bad. Ok?" said Astral, as she began to worry.

There was another brief moment of silence before Cozy finally responded. “Do you promise?”

Astral smiled. "I promise. But only if you promise me you will try to be good," she said.

"Yeah, I promise," said Cozy. Before Astral had a chance to clarify, Cozy beat her to the punch, “I promise I will try to be good.”

"Good! Because I still have that surprise for you! Are you ready? Here goes!" said Astral, getting excited.

Astral held the cockatrice up to the statue as high as she could. "Ok, Monty, just like we practiced. Only the little one. Got that? Good," she said to it.

The stone around Cozy began to glow and crack before slowly crumbling away. Cozy gasped for air before curling up and collapsing to the ground.

"Oh Cozy, we did it! You're free! You're... are you ok?" she asked out loud, rushing up to the curled-up pink filly on the ground. She quickly looked up at the rest of the statue to make sure that it remained solidly stone. To her relief, it did. "Um... There's no book on this. Let's get you up to my room. Come on," said Astral. She reached down to pull Cozy onto her back with the help of her own magic and carried her back to her room, the cockatrice following closely behind.

The trip back to her room was thankfully uneventful. Astral set Cozy up in her bed, watching over her closely throughout the night. 'Such an adorable little pegasus,' she thought to herself. 'So young and fragile...' She tried but couldn't imagine the stories of her past being true at all. The little filly in front of her, capable of such misdeeds? No. Impossible. That wasn't the Cozy Glow she had come to know. But she did. It's how she ended up in the garden in the first place.

Astral began to have second thoughts about what she did. She considered Luna's words. "No," she said softly to herself. "I did the right thing." She gently stroked the sleeping pony's mane and wings, straightening some feathers, "You're a good pony, Cozy. I know it, and soon, everypony else will too."

* * *

Morning. Sunlight warmly shone in through the window. The cockatrice had nested comfortably in the top bunk in the dorm room. Cozy began to stir from a deep sleep in Astral’s bed in the bottom bunk. She was wrapped up in a thick, warm blanket while Astral sat on the floor across from her, eating breakfast.

"Good morning!" exclaimed Astral, out loud.

Feeling groggy, Cozy Glow slowly opened her eyes "Wha... Where am I? Is this real? Wait, I know that voice."

"Yep! You've been asleep for quite a while now. Three days sure seems like forever, huh?” said Astral.

Cozy sat up, "Golly! It's you! It's really you! But how did you, and the stone... But I was..." said Cozy, being interrupted by her stomach rumbling very loudly.

"I thought you'd be hungry. Here, I made some for you too," said Astral, as she offered Cozy a plate of breakfast.

Cozy wasted no time in devouring her meal.

Astral continued to talk, "It's me. The one you've been talking to all this time. Do you like your surprise? I did it! You're free!! Now we can get ice cream, and hayburgers, and I can show everypony what a great pony you are!" she said, talking very fast with excitement.

"Wait, slow down," said Cozy, her mouth full of food.

"Oh, I get it. This must all be very overwhelming. Please, take your time. More breakfast?" said Astral as she put more food on Cozy's plate. "You must have a million questions. Oh, what am I saying, I know you have a million questions!"

"Um... Yeah. I--" said Cozy, being cut off by Astral.

"Just take your time, and let's talk! With our voices! Out loud!" said Astral, throwing her hooves in the air.

"Calm down, Astral," said Cozy.

"Oh, right," said Astral, struggling to sit still in her excitement.

Cozy continued to stuff food in her face, speaking crumbs at Astral, "So, where are we?"

"That's an easy one. You're in my room, at Celestia's School of Magic!" said Astral with a great smile.

Cozy nearly choked, spraying half of her food out at the same time, "Celestia's School of Magic!?! In Canterlot!!?" Filled with panic, Cozy flew up out of her bedding, frantically looking around, her plate nearly falling off the bed before Astral caught it in her magic, setting it down on a more stable surface. "I can't be here, what if they catch me? They'll send me right back, ...or worse," she said, shivering at the thought.

"Hey, it's ok,” assured Astral, “Everypony is gone right now for the holiday. Well, most of them. It's Hearth's Warming! Besides us, this floor is empty."

Cozy calmed down and looked out of the window, rubbing her eyes in the bright morning light, her wings keeping her hovered in the air. "It really is real. I'm free. Golly," she said, softly.

Cozy turned to face Astral, "And you. You're the one who's been talking to me?" she asked.

"Uh-huh! It's me!" said Astral.

"Where is the other one? The one that just watches and listens?" asked Cozy.

"What do you mean? Oh, Luna? Does she talk to you too?" asked Astral.

"No. Not Princess Luna, no. The other one. All he does is watch, and listen. Always. Even when you weren’t there. You don't know him?" asked Cozy.

"Um. Cozy, what are you talking about?" said Astral, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"He was there. Before you. He was always there,” said Cozy as she looked out of the window again."

"Tirek?" asked Astral.

Cozy shook her head, "No."

"I don't know what you're talking about. ...Is he here? Now?" asked Astral, looking around nervously.

"I... I don't think so. But everything out here feels different than in there. I can't tell. I’m not used to how being real again feels," said Cozy.

Astral hit her forehead repeatedly as she scolded herself "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course, I'm not the only pony with this magical ability. Who else has been listening? What do they want?"

"Um, is everything ok?" asked Cozy, turning from the window to face Astral.

"Sure! Yeah," said Astral, unconvincingly nervous. "You don't need to worry about a thing. Muffin?" Astral nervously levitated a muffin from her plate into the air with her magic, nearly throwing it at Cozy.

"Um, no thanks. I'm stuffed," said Cozy, sitting back down on the bed. "So, what now?" she asked.

"Well, I thought that maybe, I can, throw a party, for, ...you," said Astral, beginning to sound more and more unsure of herself as she continued to talk "--And show everypony, how... good, you are. Now." She looked down at the floor, "Oh, who am I kidding, I'm no good at this."

"It's ok, Cozy will help you. Just like you helped me! But um, I can't say I'm too comfortable being here in this school so close to Twilight and the royal guard. Can we go somewhere less um... Royaltylee?" asked Cozy.

"Ok! That's a good idea. We should get you a disguise first. No, wait. Nopony would recognize you now, right? How long has it been? What do you think?" asked Astral.

"...I think we'll be ok. Just don't let Twilight or the others see me," said Cozy.

"Ok. Then let's get some fresh air," said Astral, rising to her hooves.

Author's Note

Merry Christmas! (and for all the non-Christians, Happy Saturday! [and for any ponies out there (you know who you are), Happy Hearth's Warming!])

Ok, so... I'm not quite too happy with this chapter as written. I've gone over it a few times and it still seems a little thin. If any of you have any input, I'll gladly listen and consider it. I may go back and touch it up a bit adding whatever might be missing so it doesn't seem so rushed. I'll be sure to edit this author's note as well.

Thanks again for reading! For now, I got some Christmas dinner to finish making, and then eat!

Another Leaf

The daytime air was crisp and still as our two ponies made their way down a long road lined with farmlands just outside Canterlot. They had no destination in particular. It was enough for them that they were able to enjoy being outside, together, and away from the school for a bit. Cozy had flown beside Astral for a little bit but later opted to stay on the ground to give her filly wings a rest.

"Are you sure it's ok to leave that bird thing alone in your room like that?" asked Cozy, as she watched her breath dissipate into the air in front of her face.

"Probably, as long as nopony goes in unexpected. I'm pretty sure." Astral was actually only about forty-five percent sure. It would be a problem to deal with later if it were to become one at all.

"What about your roommate?" asked Cozy.

"She said she was transferring out for the spring; said there was some family stuff to take care of," answered Astral.

"Oh. So where are we going?" asked Cozy.

"Does it matter? We can go anywhere!" said Astral.

"Oh right!" said Cozy.

"As long as you try to be good, you promised," reminded Astral.

Cozy nodded.

The two had the entire road to themselves, for the most part. There was hardly any traffic on account of the holiday. Most ponies were at home with their families or visiting friends in the surrounding towns. A short while later, they came across a pony whose cart was stuck in a frozen muddy trench on the side of the road.

Astral pointed. "There's your chance! Let's go help," she said.

As they made their way up to the cart, Cozy turned on the charm out of habit, "Gee, mister. You sure look like you could use some help!"

It was an older pony, pulling a large wooden cart by himself. It had a snow-covered tarp stretched atop it, securing its contents and keeping them protected from the elements. The cart had seen better days but still looked to be fairly roadworthy. "Oh, don't let it be a bother. I'll get there, eventually!" replied the pony as he fruitlessly pulled on his cart, trying to get it to budge.

"It's no trouble at all!" countered Cozy.

The two younger ponies squared up to the back of the cart and began to push.

"Just, a, little... more, and..." said Cozy, struggling with all her might and wing power.

"We got this!" encouraged Astral.

The cart creaked and groaned before finally giving way and becoming unstuck. Free of the trench, the cart rolled with surprising ease. The old pony pulled it away from the trench, towards the center of the road, looking back at the two fillies that had gone out of their way to help him.

"There you go, mister. Good as new!" said Cozy, proudly as she hovered beside Astral.

"Well, good as before you got stuck, anyway," added Astral.

"And I helped!" beamed Cozy. "I'm turning over another leaf!" Her smile had a vague bit of insincerity to it that only Astral picked up on.

Confused, the old pony replied, "I suppose so. Uh, thank you kindly!" before he parted ways and continued on down the road.

Cozy and Astral continued on together in their own direction.

"You don't have to do that, you know," said Astral.

"Do what?" Asked cozy, lightly returning to the ground to walk beside Astral.

"The fakeness," said Astral, looking over at Cozy as they walked. "It might have been fun, but I know it wasn't that fun."

"Oh. Sorry. Old habits, I guess," said Cozy, sheepishly.

"Old habits," repeated Astral, in a low voice.

"I started doing it because it got ponies to like me better. It got me what I wanted," explained Cozy. "It got me friends."

"Fake friends," countered Astral. "Is that what you wanted?"

Cozy shrugged. They walked quietly for a little bit before Cozy finally answered, quietly, "I wanted power."

They continued to walk in silence for a moment longer before Astral replied, "I know." The question was on her mind again, 'Why?'

As if Cozy could read Astral's own thoughts, she answered on her own, looking up at Astral, "Maybe I can tell you why, someday, when I'm ready."

Astral looked down at Cozy, meeting her gaze with friendly eye contact, "If you promise not to forget, I promise I won't ask you again."

Cozy smiled at Astral, "I promise." She took note of how many promises she was making lately. She recognized how unlike her it was, but it just somehow felt good. She owed so much to Astral. There was a lot she was feeling now that she had previously learned to ignore. 'Is this true friendship?' she asked herself. There was power in it, alright, but not how Cozy was expecting. Her own will was changing and being bent, not that of others. It wasn't even bending, though, but instead, reforming on its own.

As quick as Cozy's smile appeared, it had left her face, along with most of its expression. It seemed to be replaced with worry as she started to frantically look around.

"Cozy? What's wrong?" asked Astral. They had both stopped in their tracks. Astral began to look around. 'Did she hear something I didn't?' She looked down the road in the direction from which they came. "Are we being followed?"

Cozy snapped to attention, "That! I heard it again. Felt it. It's him," she said, alerted.

Astral held still, silently looking around all the corners and reaches of her vision, ears twitching to face where she looked. She closed her eyes, stretching out with her mind and feelings, her horn beginning to softly glow. Nothing. "I sense nothing."

"He's out there... Somewhere," worried Cozy.

Astral's horn glowed brightly as she called out telepathically, "Hello? Who's out there?".

"Ow!" yelled out Cozy. Astral opened her eyes to see Cozy rubbing her head. Birds in a nearby tree suddenly took flight while other small nearby creatures revealed themselves from their hiding spots and ran away.

The sudden burst of telekinetic power had left Astral lightly dazed as she staggered slightly. "Hello?" she called out into the air with her voice.

Cozy continued to rub her temples, "He's gone..." She looked up at Astral, "Are you ok? Golly! You're bleeding!!"

Astral shook her head clear, "Huh?" She rubbed her nose with a hoof, looking down to see the smeared blood. It was a bit more than she had seen in a while. She looked over to Cozy and saw just how worried she was becoming. "It's ok. I'm ok. I just... I tried too hard." Astral used the snow to clean up her hoof and face. They were both glad the bleeding had stopped fairly quickly.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that again," suggested Cozy.

"Yeah, you're right. I think we should keep moving. Something's not right," said Astral, worriedly.

Cozy nodded and they then turned to begin heading on down the road. They casually traveled aimlessly for most of the day.

The sun was low in the sky when Astral found a shallow cave in which to spend the night. "This looks like a good spot. Just enough space, a fire to keep us warm, yup," said Astral. She unpacked her saddlebags, laying out bedding for the two of them. "We can head back in the morning,” she said.

"Back... to the School?" asks Cozy, nervously. She watched as Astral set up the miniature campsite.

Astral talked as she continued her work. "We're not that far away, and classes will be starting back up in a couple of days. Sooner or later, ponies will find out about you. Just let me talk to Twilight. It'll be ok. You'll see. Now, help me get this fire going."

Through the remainder of the daylight, they collected kindling and branches and stones together, talking with each other along the way. Once the fire was going and a small meal was cooked and shared, they settled in for the night. Each was tightly bundled up in their own sleeping bag situated around the fire.

* * *

The night had grown long and cold. Countless stars were visible throughout the inky backdrop of the clear sky. Periodically, Astral would wake to maintain the fire and keep the warmth. Being a unicorn had its advantages: She never had to so much as open up her sleeping bag or let any of the cold air in; just look and use her magic to float things around as needed. Astral opened her eyes once more to fix the fire again and noticed a mumbling sound that could be heard coming from just outside the cave.

"Cozy, is that you?" Astral reached over to pat the bedding next to her. It was empty and cold. She sat up, the sudden inrush of cold air to her bedding gave her a small shiver. "Cozy, who are you talking to?" she asked, groggily. She listened, but could not hear Cozy answer if she did. She quietly got up, rubbing her eyes, and made her way out of the cave "Coz--"

Just outside the cave, Cozy was pacing back and forth, seemingly arguing with nopony a one-sided conversation, her words sharp. "But I don't have to be bad. My friend said so. She showed me. She knows. She is the best friend a pony could ever have." She seemingly sent her words into the darkness of the night. With only a partial moon that night, the stars and flicker of the fire did little to illuminate the landscape around them.

"Cozy Glow?" whispered Astral, quietly, having gone unnoticed. She tried to tune in telepathically but was met with a blinding flash of pain right through the middle of her head. Something was blocking her. She recoiled and shut her eyes tightly.

The pegasus continued to pace and rant, "Cozy is a good pony. Cozy is best pony. Go away!" She was clearly agitated. "I won’t! You can't make me. You--" She stopped, gazing out over the edge into the dark landscape as her eyes flashed an unnatural color of lime green. "No. You wouldn't." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Golly no. No!" begged Cozy as she began to shake and lose her composure.

Astral worked the pain out of her head and opened up her eyes, before running up to Cozy, "Cozy? Cozy! Shake it off. Come on," she said as she shook Cozy by the withers.

Cozy did not respond. She had gone rigid with a blank stare, only putting effort into not falling over as Astral shook her.

Astral called out to her louder and louder as she tried to snap Cozy out of whatever stupor she was in. "Get ahold of yourself, I'm here. Come on, you can do it. Do it for me. Come back," she pleaded, sounding increasingly worried.

Cozy shook her head, turning to face Astral, her eyes returning to normal as they filled with tears before she lunged into a quivering embrace with Astral, sobbing. She looked out into the dark, empty distance over Astral’s back, "Ok. I will," she said, in between sobs.

"There, there. I know you could. Just relax and come back to bed. It's still very late," comforted Astral.

Cozy hugged tighter to Astral as she continued to gaze over her shoulder, "I'll do it..." She wiped the tears from her face as she let go and Astral released her. She looked up at Astral with a deeply sorrowful face mixed with fear, "I'm so scared, Astral. Please don't leave me."

"It's ok. You can join me in my bag and I will protect you. Whatever it is, it will be ok," said Astral. She hugged onto Cozy again. Cozy spread her wings over Astral as much as she could to try and be as close as she could physically get.

Back inside the cave, in the warmth of the campfire, they snuggled up together inside the cover of a single sleeping bag. Astral lay behind Cozy while Cozy slept in Astral’s warm embrace. Periodically, Cozy’s wings would twitch while her hooves kicked, only to have Astral hold her tighter. Cozy’s curly mane smelled sweet of cotton candy, while her feathers almost tickled Astral’s soft belly. The fire had begun to die as morning approached ever so slowly, but their combined body heat prevailed and warmed them both as their breathing and heartbeats began to synchronize. There was nothing more pure than the love between the mare and her filly friend. Cozy was at peace while Astral for once felt like she truly had a purpose if only to play the role of protector. It was a moment they both could live in forever. Astral hummed softly as the tensions of Cozy's encounter melted away. It was a slow, soothing melody she had learned to use for coping with the stresses of her particular fillyhood. She had learned it from her mother, who would embrace her in a very similar way. The song, now passed down a generation, lost no potency in its ability to soothe and calm. To Astral's delight, it seemed to work just as well on little pegasi as it did on little unicorns. Astral repeated the song several times until she herself drifted off while cuddling the world's best pillow. Daylight for them would come too soon.

Author's Note

[thanks again to Kumi Yi for the in-story artwork, go check her out on Instagram!]

Happy new year and all that! I meant to finish posting the story by the end of December, but plans had other things in mind.

This was one of the smaller chapters in the original writing, but I managed to fill it out to almost twice its original size with much more detail and (I hope) immersion. Quite a bit of dialog and action has been re-written too, for a better flow and narrative that I also hope makes more sense. There are two, maybe 3 more chapters/posts/updates and an epilogue left to go! I hope I'm doing well to hold your interest.

Cozy?

It was the first day back in class from vacation. Astral sat nervously in her seat. It was difficult for her to concentrate on her studies and assignments with the salmon-pink elephant in her room; filly, rather. Cozy had persuaded Astral not to introduce her to Twilight right away. Classes were just getting started back up again, after all.

Cozy was nervous about it too. She was pretty sure Twilight would remember her once-star student gone rogue. It wasn't the kind of thing you would so easily forget. "She trusted me. I betrayed her trust. How can I possibly earn that back?"

"You have my trust," said Astral. Cozy was sure that wasn't going to be enough, though.

Either way, this was going to have to be something to build up to. Somehow. In the meantime, Astral left Cozy alone back in her room with the cockatrice to keep each other company, along with some activity books and stuff to keep her busy throughout the day. Nopony was assigned to take her roommate's place, which fortunately worked out for both Cozy and Astral.

The bell rang and the class was putting away their things when Twilight addressed her students. “For those of you who haven't finished your Hearth's Warming Assignment, the final day to turn it in will be tomorrow!" she said as she cleared the blackboard. "Seriously, you had all vacation to do it."

"Aww, but we were on vacation!" moaned a student, on his way out.

"That's why it's called Vacation work! Anytime is the best time to study!" said Twilight, happily. “Also, one more thing, some artifacts have come up missing from their display cases throughout the school. If you happen to see or find them, please return them to me or a guard as soon as possible. They may be old, but the magic inside can be dangerous and can last for eons."

* * *

The door to the dorm room opened and Astral stepped inside, quickly closing it behind her. She was greeted with the musk of stuffy filly and snakebird. She used her magic to open a window to let in some fresh, cold air.

"Oh! Welcome back!" said Cozy. She sat in the middle of the room surrounded by Astral's books and writing materials. There were crude drawings of the two of them doing various outdoor activities.

"Thank you,” said Astral. “I hope you weren't too bored with the books I left for you. Sorry there's not much for you to do here." She sat her bookbag down on the floor next to the desk and started arranging and organizing the clutter while Cozy moved up to sit on the bed. The cockatrice nested quietly in the top bunk.

"Oh, I kept myself plenty busy while you were in Twilight's class, with Twilight and all. It was Terrific!" said Cozy. She seemed exceptionally cheery, but with the long first-day back in class, Astral paid it no mind.

"That's good. Do you think you're ready to see Twilight, today?" asked Astral.

"No!” said Cozy, abruptly. “Um, I mean, no. Not yet. Can you give me just a teeny little longer? Please?" she asked, putting on her cute face. It was a tactic that had worked on many ponies before. She had hoped it would also work on Astral.

Astral knew though. She could see right through it. She was also too exhausted to deal with anything else that day that didn't involve chillaxing. "Well, I guess so," said Astral. "Whatever it is you're up to..." she started to say as she flopped down face first onto the bed next to Cozy and closed her eyes.

"Everything's gonna be A-Okay!" commented Cozy as she patted Astral on her back.

"I'm glad we're in our final term, and School will be out soon," said Astral.

"Soon..." said Cozy.

"Soon," repeated Astral.

Another day passed and Cozy successfully postponed meeting twilight yet again. This went on for several days. Cozy would try and find any excuse not to face the music, while Astral would look for any excuse to postpone the inevitable. She didn't care how fake Cozy was being at that point. Everything else between them was real and genuine, as far as she could tell anyway.

Enough was enough, though. Astral knew she couldn't keep running from her responsibilities forever, whatever she thought they were. "Nope! We're doing this today!"

"Oh, alright. Even if I make this face?" said Cozy, pulling her curls down and pouting.

Astral rolled her eyes. "No. We have to do this." She continued getting her stuff together for the day.

"We could just run away together, you and me. I know a nice cozy spot just outside Equestria you swear it could be right next to Ponyville, but nope! Only danger, dirt and grime surrounds it."

"As nice as that sounds, no." She hoisted her saddlebags filled with textbooks onto her back. "We've already gone over the plan: You come over after class, and wait outside the classroom while I talk to Twilight, and then you will come in. Ok?" she asked.

"Oh, alright," Said Cozy, dejectedly.

"It won't be that bad. I promise! Then you won't have to be cooped up in here hiding out all day."

"I guess so."

* * *

Class had seemed to drag on forever. That was until the final bell rang. Once students gathered their things and shuffled off for the day, Astral couldn't believe just how quickly it was over already. She stayed behind to approach Twilight at the front of the class.

"Um, Professor, err-- Princess Twilight?" asked Astral.

"Professor, dear. Is there something I can help you with?" asked Twilight as she cleared the blackboard.

"Oh! well, I just wanted to introduce you finally, to my friend is all. The one that I’ve been talking about?" said Astral. She wanted to hide in front of the desk and disappear; just forget the idea entirely. It was too late, though. Cozy could not be put back in the box. She shouldn't. Astral knew deep in her heart that Cozy deserved another chance, and this was going to have to be it.

"Oh? Introducing new friends is always a wonderful thing," said Twilight, happily as she continued to move the eraser across the board.

"Right. Um. Well, She's not exactly new, you see," said Astral. 'Just shrink right down to the size of that apple on her desk and dive right behind it.’

"How do you mean?" asked Twilight, as she sat the eraser down and turned to face Astral.

Astral looked up at Twilight. "I know you've met her before, but I promise you, she is a good friend," said Astral, turning towards the door and speaking up. "Ok Cozy, you can come on in!"

"Co-zy?" asked Twilight, cocking an eyebrow.

Nopony entered the classroom.

Astral spoke up a little louder than before, "Cozy Glow! That's you!"

"Cozy, Glow? What is the meaning of this?" asked Twilight. Her face and voice shifted from warm and welcoming to that of a more serious tone.

'Oh, she knows. She remembers. She definitely remembers.' Astral laughed nervously as she quickly trotted to the open doorway to peak out and around the corner. The hallway was empty. "Uh. Maybe she's still back in the room?" she said, pulling her head back into the classroom to present an awkward smile to the Princess of all Equestria.

Twilight's wings began to instinctively extend to an authoritative regal pose. "There is only one Cozy Glow that I know of, and I know she's out in the garden, and definitely not running around loose in Celestia’s school!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Um well, about that..." said Astral.

Twilight spoke sternly to her student. "Astral Bell, take me to your room," she said before shouting out loudly. "Guards!"

Astral gulped, thinking to herself, 'What have I done?'

* * *

The dorm room door swiftly burst open. Two guard ponies hurriedly marched their way in, standing to the sides after a quick glancing look around. "Clear!" they shouted.

In walked Twilight, followed by Astral. Twilight reared back, "Oh dear Celestia, why does it smell like Fluttershy's cottage in here?" She quickly magic'd open the window, using her wings to circulate the air a little bit. Astral nervously looked up to the top bunk. It was clear there was no pony hiding up there, but she knew what lay beneath the bundle of covers on the end. She hoped with all her might that it would stay quiet and still.

Twilight looked around, "Nopony is here. If this is some sort of a joke, it's not very--" Twilight said, being interrupted.

"It isn't, I promise. She stays here while I'm in class. Look, these are the books I got for her to read while I was out in your class and everything!" said Astral as she picked up a book bag. Out fell an assortment of artifacts with a loud clatter, spreading out onto the floor in front of Astral, Twilight and the two guards.

Twilight looked down at Astral, "You've got some explaining to do, Astral Bell!"

"It-- It's not what it looks like. I don't know where these came from," said Astral. 'If I shrink down small enough, I can just pop out of existence.' Her breaths became short and shallow. Things were not going how she planned at all. "I'm sorry!" 'If not out of existence, I'll settle for small enough to dive in the crack in the floor, please'

"Oh? And how did they get here?" asked Twilight.

"I-- I don't know! I didn't take them, honest!" insisted Astral. "I'm so sorry!!"

Twilight motioned the guards to pick up the artifacts. "They're all here, princess. All except for two," said one of the guards.

Twilight turned to face the guards, concerned. “Which ones?” she asked.

"The bell, your highness," said the guard.

"The bell and the black crystal,” said the other.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Twilight and Astral, simultaneously. Twilight flashed a dirty look to her student. Astral felt in that moment that she actually did shrink down if only just a little bit.

"Quickly, we must get to the throne room!" said Twilight, commanding everypony.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait on this one!

Again, I feel like it's a little thin, but there isn't really much to say in this one. BUT, do know that it's now almost three times the length of the original writing.

I'm open to all manner of suggestions on improving this one. The overall story here seems to be a little weak to me, reading it now, but this is how it went originally. It's a major reason for the delay in getting it posted. It was the first fic I wrote so it all seemed good at the time, but not so much anymore. Yet, having gone this far, I can't figure out a better way to it but to go through it.

That said, I'm re-writing what I can come up with that is hopefully better than the sloppy rushed origins from which it came. Please hang in there! I promise the Astral/Cozy saga only gets better from this story on.

Power Play

"Professor?" Asked Astral, in between breaths. Who would have known the princess could run so fast? "Why aren't we..." Astral hadn't realized just how out of shape she was. It was a growing problem for the modern Canterlot unicorn, using their magic for almost everything. "...teleporting? You could just..." Twilight flashed a dirty look back at Astral as they ran, the two royal guards in the lead. "Nevermind."

A flurry of hooves and moments later, they arrived at the halls of the castle leading to the throne room. It was eerily quiet. None of the expected guards were at their posts. The throne room doors were closed. Twilight tried the doors with her magic. They were locked or perhaps barricaded. She ordered the two guards that had accompanied her and Astral to buck them open.

*Slam!*

The doors shook but otherwise didn't budge. Twilight turned to face Astral. "Just what were you thinking? Do you know what you very well may have done? How did you even... All of Equestria may be at risk!"

'All of Equestria.' For a moment, Astral feared the wrath of her professor, her princess. 'No.'

*Slam!*

"No," said Astral, defiantly. All of Equestria could burn for all she cared. It wasn't worth trading Cozy Glow for. In the time that she had gotten to know the sweet little filly, she had decided that the price of the safety and security of her home nation was not worth the cost of denying the living experience of just one pony, a foal, regardless of their crime.

"No?" Twilight was shocked. Whatever Astral had to say, it had better be good. This was such an unexpected turn of events and behavior from her. Recovering from the shock, Twilight backed off and softened her posture just a bit to give Astral room to explain herself.

"No, professor, Princess." That was just about all she had at the moment. She was speechless. She didn't think this was how the day was going to turn out. She especially didn't think she would have to confront Twilight like this nor be given the chance to defend herself and her actions and Cozy Glow. The whole thing went so much smoother in her head.

*Slam!*

"I'm listening." Twilight waited expectantly while the guards continued their work on the oversized doors.

"I uh..." Astral needed a moment to think. There was no time. This wasn't an essay assigned as homework that she could write up and revise and perfect. 'Looks like we're doing it live.' "Cozy is a good pony."

"You don't know that, Astral. She might seem soft and sweet on the outside, but for all you know, she could be playing you just like she played me, my friends and an entire school." It appeared to Astral that Twilight had stopped listening.

"I do know! I know her more than anypony else!" It was hard for Astral not to raise her voice, but she firmly believed the words she was saying in Cozy's defense. "If you would just let me show you, please!"

*Slam!*

The doors began to crack as they budged more and more with each slam of the combined efforts of the two guard ponies. Twilight looked over at the door, then back at Astral. "I fear we won't even get the chance. Celestia knows what's waiting for us on the other side of that door."

'She does?'

With a final slam, the doors burst open and the guards rushed inside. Twilight turned and immediately followed them. From outside the room, Astral could hear an eerie sound of the ring of an ancient bell as it filled the cavernous space of the throne room. She ran up to the doorway just in time to see Cozy Glow, seated high up in Twilight's throne, aiming the artifact at the three intruders as its magical aura encapsulated and drained them of all but the smallest bit of life essence.

"Cozy Glow!" exclaimed Twilight, as her magic was painfully drained away. "How dare you drain my magic for yourself!"

"It's not for me," said Cozy.

"Excuses!" said Twilight, now slumped on the ground along with her guards, severely weakened.

Astral cautiously entered the Throne room, first checking up on the Princess, then taking a quick glance around the room. The weakened bodies of the castle guards littered the room in separate piles, alive, but too weak for action. "Cozy, No! Why are you doing this?" she asked. "You are a good pony, you promised you’d be!”

"I'm not, Astral. I tried to warn you. He won't let me be good," said Cozy. Her voice was sad, almost heartbreaking were it not for her actions.

"Who, Cozy? Who won't let you?"

Cozy raised a black crystal into the air with her free hoof, tossing it to the ground in between them. "He won't," she said as she aimed the bell at it, giving it a ring.

In the glow of the bell's aural, the crystal bubbled and grew, sprouting more black bubbling crystals, followed by an ominous malevolent laugh. A dark cloud of smoke swirled around it and expanded, spreading and filling the room.

"Spike!" called out Twilight, weakly. "Send a scroll, warn the others!"

"Oh, I don't think he can hear you," the ominous voice said, emanating from the cloud as it took form and materialized into a dark unicorn with a jet-black flowing mane, King Sombra. "He's been sent on a quest beyond the borders of Yakyakistan. Nopony will be hearing from him for quite some time." Sombra laughed gleefully.

As he climbed the steps up to the throne, Cozy quickly left the chair to hop down and kneel before him. "At.. At your service, K... K... King Sombra," she said, nervously. Sombra casually kicked her aside on his way up the steps to the throne.

"Cozy no!" called out Astral.

"Silence!" commanded Sombra, as he materialized a steel-framed muzzle onto Astral’s face.

Astral called out to the stallion telepathically, as loud as she possibly could, "You will never get away with this!" Dust fell from the ceiling while the other ponies winced. A light trickle of blood ran down from her ear as she leaned onto twilight, nearly fainting.

"Oh, but it seems that I already have. I have the castle and the ruler of all Equestria. Or shall I say, the *previous* ruler of all Equestria? Soon, I will drain the magic of all of those that would oppose me and all will bow down to me!" said Sombra as he picked up the bell, holding it high in the air.

Cozy hopped back up from the floor to kneel on the steps in front of the throne, "Y-Your highness, why go through all that trouble when.. you can have a minion do the work for you?"

Sombra sat comfortably in his chair. "Go on..." he inquired.

"I- I- I know what it’s like to be trapped and imprisoned for such a very long time. You needn’t stress yourself with manual labor. In- In- Instead, you can just sit right there, l- looking gorgeous, by the way, and- and- and I will bring their power to you. No pony would suspect little ol' me. It will be easy! My king. J- ju- just take it easy and get some rest. Cozy can take care of everything!" said Cozy.

"Yes, I see. You may go," said Sombra as he waved Cozy off with a hoof, "But be quick about it."

"As you wish!" said Cozy, rising to her hoves, using her wings to lift herself off of the ground. "...just one more thing," she added.

Sombra rolled his eyes. "Yes? what is it, now?" he asked, becoming annoyed.

"It's just that, well, the ends of Equestria are such a very, very long way to travel, and these little wings sure do get tired awfully easy," said Cozy as she crossed her hooves low in front of her, making a sad face. “If I could have even just a teeny little bit of unicorn magic, I could use it to serve you even better.”

Astral furrowed her brow thinking to Cozy with her telepathic powers, "What are you up to?"

"Very well. But do not fail, or attempt to betray me, or your wings will not be the last thing to carry you off," threatened Sombra. He used the bell to grant Cozy a unicorn horn in a dazzling flash of light and magical radiance before floating the bell over to her. "Now, be gone! and do not delay your return, or else," he said, waving her off a second time.

Cozy bowed to Sombra from the air as she thought to herself, '...Getting More Power.' She wouldn't know if Astral could hear her or not. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered to her right now was more power. With a flash of salmon pink light, Cozy was gone.

"Now," Said Sombra, leaning back on the throne. "Where were we?"

"You will never get away with this!" exclaimed Twilight, staggering to her hooves. Astral helped her to get up and steady herself.

"Oh, I AM getting away with this. While we wait, why don’t we change things up around here?" Sombra imprisoned Astral, Twilight and the two guards in a cage of crystals. He then closed the doors to the room and began blasting several areas around the throne with magic from his horn. Massive black crystals formed and shot out into place. Dark crystal cages provided no escape for any of the other ponies and guards that occupied the room, as they lay drained of their power. "That's more like it."

* * *

It was now later in the day. The dust had settled and Sombra now sat in a crystallized throne, relaxed, picking at his hoof. The room was uncomfortably silent with the slightest noise echoing off of the many-faceted surfaces with heavy reverberation.

A guard cleared his throat lightly.

The ponies just stood there, eyeing Sombra who sat. No sounds or signs of any activity could be heard from out in the hall. Astral shifted her weight from one side to the other as she continued to glare at Sombra. Twilight scratched her shoulder for a moment.

Suddenly, a small piece of dark crystal dislodged and fell onto the floor with a small "Clink!" Sombra and company jumped.

Sombra looked up, "What was that? It was nothing," he said as he went back to idly picking at his hoof.

Twilight shifted her weight from one side to the other. Sombra stretched, adjusting his posture on the throne to try and get more comfortable. Astral continued to glare at Sombra. The guards, powerless to act, also maintained their fixed focus on Sombra. For a moment, a bird could be heard chirping outside as it flew by the window; then it was gone. Light shone in through the stained glass onto the dark crystals that now covered the majority of the room. Astral flipped some of her mane out of her face, the chains on her muzzle jingling and echoing throughout the room.

Evening came. Twilight, Astral and the guards continued to glare at Sombra, who just sat.

Astral closed her eyes, her horn glowing softy, "Cozy. Cozy, why?" she called out, telepathically. Tears of disappointment and betrayal welled in her eyes.

Twilight noticed, and pressed against her, stretching out a wing over her back. 'Perhaps I came on too strong. Maybe I'm mistaken. I've been wrong before. Judgment and punishment are not what she needs right now.' "I'm pretty sure you had the best intentions, but sometimes a pony just doesn't want to be saved, no matter how hard you try. A forced friendship will always fail." She kept her voice low and soft, barely audible as she murmured into Astral's ear.

"Not Cozy," replied Astral, telepathically. "I would never give up. I've seen through her, too much that tells me she is every bit worth saving, even if it means risking all of Equestria and more. She just... she's, lost right now. Sombra kept me out when I tried to be there for her, when she needed me the most, but she has to know, I will always try to reach her."

"Then I'm certainly sure you had the best intentions of being the best friend a pony can ask for," assured Twilight.

"Thank you, Twilight," said Astral before shifting her mental focus. "Cozy, why are you doing this? You once said friendship is power. You have a friend right here, what more do you need? Cozy!" Astral ignored the fact that Cozy was probably well out of range for her to be heard. She looked up to Twilight, "What if I've made a terrible mistake. Please forgive me, princess."

* * *

More time had passed. The light shining down onto the floor from a large stained glass window had made its way across the room while Sombra began to nod off when a flash of light illuminated the room and Cozy appeared, bell in hoof. Everypony was startled. "Here I am!" announced Cozy.

"So you are. And did you bring me the power of the alicorns?" asked Sombra.

"No I didn’t, your majesty. But I did bring you something else," said Cozy, as she headed for the doors to the room.

"Oh?" asked Sombra, raising an eyebrow, curiously.

Cozy opened the doors to reveal a familiar set of figures: a white one, a pink one, an orange one, a yellow one, and a blue rainbow one.

Sombra was agitated and alarmed as he rose out of the chair to his hooves. "What? What have you done? What is this!?"

With no delay, the ponies quickly sprang into action, spreading out.

Cozy flew to the crystal prison aiming the bell at Twilight and her guards, giving it a ring. "This is.." she started.

"The power.." Pinkie continued as she sprung up, holding a crystal shard just in time to block a blast from Sombra aimed at Cozy with it.

“Of Friendship!” said Rainbow Dash, as she zoomed by Sombra, knocking him off his hooves from the top of the steps.

“Oh, This place is just horrid! It simply won’t do at all!” Said Rarity, as she broke a large column of black crystal with her magic, causing it to fall onto Sombra.

“Oh my,” said Fluttershy.

Applejack ran up and bucked Sombra in the head, “You’re more pesterin’ than a hungry hog at feeding time!”

The bell finished returning power to the guards, and all of the rest of its stored power into Twilight.

Revived, Twilight burst the crystal prison into shattered dust before magically removing the muzzle from Astral’s face.

“Cozy,” said Astral, I thought you-”

“Were the best friend a pony could ask for. Right?” interrupted Cozy. “Just let Cozy take care of everything!”

* * *

Earlier that day:

It was a pretty normal day in Ponyville. The streets were quiet. Business proceeded as usual. Pinkie Pie was busy baking away at Sugar Cube Corner. She hummed to herself as she mixed ingredients and worked the ovens.

*Poof!*

"Cozy Glow!" she exclaimed.

Cozy blinked in a slight daze as she got her bearings. While wielding magic wasn't completely foreign to her, it did take some getting used to, again. "Uh... Hi, Pinkie. you're not surprised?" she asked.

"Yes, I AM surprised. And I love surprises! Unless they're baaad surprises. Are you a baaad surprise?" Asked Pinkie. She quickly turned back to her work as if nothing was wrong.

"No? I hope not," said Cozy.

"Oki-dokie!” said Pinkie, as she carefully opened the oven to pull out a tray of fresh muffins.

Cozy was taken aback. She thought to herself, 'well that was easy.'

Pinkie noticed what Cozy was holding. “Grogar's Bell? Are we going to party hard?" asked Pinkie, getting excited.

"No, Pinkie. I need your help! Twilight's in trouble! King Sombra's back and--"

Pinkie drew in a long gasp, "King Sombra!?! Say no more! But first, to the party planning slash operation rescue Twilight from King Sombra and save the day planning party planning cave!" She exclaimed.

Pinky pushed a button and a trap door on the other end of the room opened up. “Oh, right. I moved it.” She giggled and bounced into the open door on the floor. Cozy shrugged and glided down in.

Balloons, filing cabinets and party favors were everywhere. Cozy stood at a party planning table while Pinkie went into a filing cabinet and pulled out some large rolls of paper. She spread them out over the table using party favors to hold them down.

Cozy looked down at what Pinkie was setting up. “Blueprints of the Canterlot castle throne room? Is this really necessary?” she asked.

“Oh, it is! But what is even more necessary for a perfect party is ponies!” said Pinkie, looking up expectantly at Cozy Glow.

“I know just who to invite!” said Cozy, catching on and growing a big smile of her own.

* * *

Elsewhere:

It was a cold lazy day in the winter sky. There were not many clouds to be seen, but the biggest, softest ones were occupied by even lazier pegasi who napped on them, quiet and relaxed.

*Poof!*

"What?!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, startled as she turned around.

"Now, I know what you're going to say, but--" started Cozy.

"Cozy Glow? I thought you were Dead!” exclaimed Dash.

Cozy crossed her forelegs, pouting. “Hmph!”

“I mean… I thought you were frozen in stone!" corrected Dash.

"About that..." said Cozy.

Rainbow looked and noticed what Cozy was holding. "Grogar's Bell? Oh no. You're not getting me!" said Dash as she jetted off, causing a sudden rainboom.

"No, wait!" called out Cozy, but it was too late. "...Golly." She turned around looking for Pinkie, "Oh, right." Cozy tilted her horn forward spawning a flash of light as Pinkie appeared. Somehow Pinkie knew to bring a bundle of balloons with which to carry herself as she floated in the sky in front of Cozy.

"Did she say yes?" asked Pinkie.

"No. She didn't. She took off instead. That way," pointed Cozy.

"No problem. I'll get her! You can go invite the others!"

* * *

Applejack hummed to herself as she pulled a cart of apples through town before spotting a familiar curly-maned pink filly approaching her. “What in tarnation? Cozy Glow? Ah reckon you were turned to stone. What in the hay are y'all doing here?” she asked.

“My best friend Astral, Twilight’s student, freed me. And now we need your help,” said Cozy.

“Twilight’s Student, you say? How do I know I can trust you?” asked Applejack, narrowing her eyes at the filly.

“Um, well, you don’t. But Astral said friendship is trusting a pony, even when you don’t have a reason to,” explained Cozy.

“She said that? Well, that just sounds like mighty fine friendship advice, if you ask me, sugarcube. Twilight would be proud,” said Applejack. “Now what can ah do ya for?” she asked. "Ah can't rightly say ah trust you yet, but ah'll at least hear y'all out."

It would have to do. There just wasn't time for an elaborate show of faith and whatnot. Not with Astral, Twilight and the rest of Equestria at stake. “King Sombra is back. He has the throne room and Princess Twilight has been taken prisoner. And… to be honest, I kinda helped with that,” said Cozy, sadly. Astral had taught her that honesty was the best policy. If that were true, there was no better pony to apply that to than Applejack. Who knows? Maybe Applejack had the ability to tell when a pony was telling the truth. Normally Cozy would have hoped that wasn't the case, but it was something she thought she could really use right then.

“Now why would y'all go and do a thing like that?” asked Applejack.

“Sombra made me. He showed me my worst fears and promised that he would make every bit of it come true if I didn’t help him capture Twilight. I’m supposed to be collecting all the alicorn magic right now, but I wanted to collect all of you instead, so we can beat him, together. Like I said before, friendship is power, and I really need all the friends I can get right now. I don’t care what happens to me, but we need to save Twilight and Astral! Will you help me?”

“Well shoot. ah sure as shit can! What’s the plan?” asked Applejack as she unhitched herself from her cart of apples.

“We’re planning down in the basement of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie and me. She’s getting Rainbow Dash right now, but we should go and get Rarity and Fluttershy, then meet up there,” said Cozy.

* * *

Soft music played in the background as Rarity adjusted the window display at her boutique. “Oh, this is just simply divine!” She pulled a sign from the inside of the windows to reveal Cozy and Applejack standing on the outside, peering in. “Oh, this is a surprise! Come on in!” said Rarity as she motioned the ponies to enter the shop. “What is the occasion?” asked Rarity. “...And what is -SHE- doing here?” Rarity pointed at Cozy Glow.

Applejack stepped up, “Now y'all just relax and hold yer horses, Rarity. She’s on our side, and we need yer help tah save Twilight.”

“Save Twilight? What ever could be the problem?” Asked Rarity.

“King Sombra is back, and is holding her prisoner in the throne room!” said Cozy.

“Oh, that’s just terrible! What ever shall we do?” Said Rarity, as she pulled over a fancy couch on which to faint.

Applejack rolled her eyes, “We’re gatherin' up the gang together just like ole times, and we’re gonna show King Sombra who’s boss!” she said, pulling Rarity off of the couch and onto her hooves.

Rarity thought for a moment. “Well, it IS almost that time of the month again. Yes. we shall have our get-together early. It will be simply splendid.”

“Now that’s the spirit!” said Applejack.

“Now all we need is Fluttershy,” said Cozy.

* * *

The animal sanctuary on the edge of town was quiet today. It had been a good season with few visits from sick and injured animals. It helped that most of them were hibernating for the season. Fluttershy finally had time to relax in her cottage for once. “More tea, Discord?” She asked.

“Why certainly!” said Discord, holding his teacup over for Fluttershy to pour into.

There was a knock at the door. “I wonder who that could be,” said Fluttershy as she stood up. She went over to the door and answered it.

“Oh hello Rarity, Applejack, ...Cozy Glow!?!” said Fluttershy. “Oh, dear.” She quickly shut the door and flew back to Discord, hiding behind him.

Discord sat his cup of tea down, then morphed his body around to embrace Fluttershy in a calming hug, "Visitors, or just sales ponies? Shall I dispose of them proper?"

Still quivering, Fluttershy shook her head, "No. Maybe. Just one of them. Maybe."

There was another knock at the door. "Fluttershy? Y'all come on out and open the door, please! Everything's ok, honest!"

"That sounds like Applejack," said Discord. "It can't be that bad. How about I accompany you back to the door and we answer it together?"

"I would like that," said Fluttershy.

Discord carried Fluttershy with him to the door before setting her down and opening it. Cozy looked up to see who it was and instinctively took a nervous step back to hide behind the other ponies. “Oh how lovely to see you all here. What is the occasion?” he asked. “Mmm Let me guess. Princess Twilight’s newest favorite student set Cozy Glow free, who then set King Sombra free and imprisoned Princess Twilight and convinced King Sombra to let her go out to collect all of the most powerful magic in Equestria so that he can rule unopposed, but it’s really a plan to gather up the ponies of harmony to get together and beat him. Does that sound about right?”

"Have you been hanging around Pinkie too much, lately?" asked Rarity.

Stunned, from behind the shielding shelter of Applejack, Cozy blinked. “...Yes, that's right.”

“Now how did y’all know all that?” asked Applejack. “You know what? Don’t answer that question.”

“Fluttershy, Darling. We would be ever so grateful if you were to join us on this little adventure,” said Rarity.

Discord slithered around to stand with Rarity, Applejack and Cozy Glow to talk to Fluttershy. “You were just talking about wanting to go on some kind of adventure the other day, weren’t you?”

Cozy quickly moved to put Applejack in between her and Discord.

“Um, I did say that, Didn’t I?” asked Fluttershy. “But I just don’t know. It sounds dangerous, and scary.”

Discord rubbed Fluttershy’s cheek with his paw, “Oh not at all! It’s only King Sombra. You've helped beat him before, you’ve got this!”

“We’ve got this!” encouraged Rarity.

“Together!” added Applejack.

“G- Golly... yes!” said Cozy.

“Um. Well. Ok. I’ll come with you,” said Fluttershy.

“W- Will you join us, Discord?” asked Cozy.

“Oh, I don’t think that would be such a good idea, considering the last time we were all together. Like Rarity said, you’ve got this. I will just sit this one out, on the sidelines,” replied Discord, drawing lines in the air to the side on which to sit. “I think you have all the power you need.”

Touched, Cozy relaxed a bit and smiled warmly at Discord.

Epilogue

Trixie’s Office at the School of Friendship was cluttered with magical props, kits of illusion and teacups. She leaned back in her chair, her hooves propped up on her desk. "Yup, uh-huh. That sounds about right." She idly listened as she magically floated several smoke bombs around in the air, making different patterns. "Well I wouldn't blame anypony. This school is obviously greater and more powerfuler than Twilight's silly school of magic," she said as she fumbled, nearly dropping the smoke bombs onto her desk.

Astral replied, "No, It's not like that. Twilight just said I'm more than ready to start studying here, is all, and that my first year review here was perfect, and the next few were really good too. I do have a lot more friends now,” she added.

"She said that?" asked Trixie.

"She said that magic is important, but friendship is magic too," replied Astral.

"Well, Twilight knows best!" said Trixie, before speaking under her breath "...sometimes."

"Um, Trixie?"

"Yes?"

"When you were evil..." Astral hesitated to continue for a moment to make sure she had the right words so as to not upset the counselor. "I mean, not good, and then you decided to be good. How did you know?"

Trixie stopped to think for a minute. "The great and powerful Trixie likes to think of it as I was always good, and everypony else just got a little more bad."

Astral scratched her head. "Um... Ok."

There was a knock on the door, and a student aid peeked in, "Ms. Trixie, Astral? They're ready for you."

* * *

Starlight’s office was clean and organized. Kites of all shapes and sizes hung from the ceiling while potted plants decorated the sides of her desk. Starlight sat behind her desk, Sunburst standing next to her.

"We've gone over everything Princess Twilight has presented to us, as well as thoroughly reviewed your file. You've accomplished a lot since you've enrolled here, Astral Bell," said Starlight, happily.

"We will all be very proud to see you at the next graduation coming up," said Sunburst.

"Thank you," replied Astral.

Starlight continued, "Having said that, we agree with Princess Twilight to move forward with this plan. Are you ready for it?"

"Oh, yes. I am. I won't let you down!" said Astral, eagerly.

"Alright then. Trixie, if you can get the paperwork in order, we should be able to start right away."

"Ugh... Paperwork," groaned Trixie as she picked up a stack of papers in her magic and floated it with her out of the room.

"And you," said Starlight. “Are you ready to start your first day here, ...again?"

"Oh Golly Gee Yes!" exclaimed Cozy.

"Then under the care and guidance of Astral Bell, let me be the first to re-welcome you to Twilight's School of Friendship!"

Author's Note

Here to end it on a good note... The story originally ended at the garden party, but those that were in the /Golly/ thread wanted a happier ending, thus the epilogue you see here. From that came all the follow-up stories I'll be posting here, eventually.

Thanks again for taking the time to read it! As always, if you have any comments and/or questions please don't hesitate to let me read them. I write this stuff for you guys!

Good Things Never Last

The Throne room reverberated with rumblings and crashes as the battle continued. Rarity moved to drop another column of crystal onto Sombra, but not before Sombra was able to put up a force field to repel it. Sombra counterattacked with a blast of dark magic from his horn at Rarity, but Twilight intercepted it with her own magic. Rainbow flew in for another attack, but was deflected by a crystal column quickly conjured up by Sombra. Fluttershy moved in to catch Rainbow Dash, and was then quickly imprisoned together with Dash in a crystal cage. Applejack ran up and started bucking at it to break them free.

Twilight fired a blast of magic at Sombra, knocking him to the ground, “It’s over, Sombra,” she said as she approached him.

Sombra quickly fired a blast to a cluster of large crystals on the ceiling above twilight, causing it to come crashing down on top of her, knocking her to the floor under the rubble.

Astral called out, “Princess Twilight!” She ran in to try and dig Twilight out, both with her magic and her hooves. “Cozy, you’ve got to do something,” she called out.

“I have a plan,” replied Cozy as she darted around the room, sending her share of magical blasts to Sombra who dodged them deftly.

Applejack broke through the crystals holding Dash and Fluttershy. "We're ready!" she called out as they all took position.

Cozy quickly flew into position before calling out. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Now!” She aimed the bell at Sombra, concentrating as she lit her horn.

Sombra reacted and quickly conjured up a crystal column to block it, but Dash slammed into it with all of her might while Applejack bucked at it to break it free and move it out of the way just as the bell in Cozy's hooves rang.

Twilight, with Astral’s help, levitated the debris off of her and used her magic to blast new crystals as Sombra grew them in his efforts to block the bell from taking his power.

Surrounded and outnumbered, Sombra couldn't act fast enough and was eventually caught in the cone of the bell's aura. “NOOOooo…” he shouted as his essence was drained away, mane falling flat.

As he slumped to the floor, Cozy zoomed in and flipped up over Sombra, landing on his back. Gripping the bell tightly in her teeth, Cozy grabbed Sombra’s horn pulling back as hard as she could. “Now, Pinkie!” she said as she struggled to keep hold.

Pinkie popped up in front of Sombra with a box nicely wrapped with a bow on top. She tugged at the ribbon, and out popped Monty, eyes glowing red. It was over for Sombra.

The evil king struggled and fought, but ultimately succumbed to the stone spell of the cockatrice.

“Astral,” called out Cozy through gritted teeth as she struggled to hold Sombra's head back by his horn. “When it’s all over, and the bell is stone… Destroy it, even if it breaks me too!”

“What?” asked Astral, as she turned from Twilight to look.

Cozy was being taken by the cockatrice’s stoning spell as well.

Dash flew up, “Wait, this wasn’t part of the plan!”

Cozy replied, “This is the only plan,” she said, her body already turning solid and gray.

“No! You can’t!” cried Astral. “You’re a good pony, you don’t deserve to be stone!”

“I will be best pony,” said Cozy, as the stone crept up her neck. Cozy maintained a strong look of determination on her face, tinged with a touch of sadness. “Remember me,” she said, as she stopped moving, frozen in time.

The room grew quiet. Everypony was still and speechless. Broken pieces of crystal fell to the floor, breaking the silence.

* * *

Castle staff were busy breaking crystals, and sweeping. The statue of Sombra and Cozy had been moved temporarily to the middle of the room while a new throne has already replaced the old one.

Astral stood at the statue, her head down, eyes closed, motionless and horn a soft glow.

"She's been standing there for a long time," said Fluttershy, cradling Monty, petting her softly.

"She’s talking to her," replied Twilight.

“It was awfully kind of Cozy to sacrifice herself for all of us like that,” said Fluttershy.

Applejack spoke up, "Cozy actually told the honest truth for once. Are you going to free her?"

Twilight looked over at the new statue, "I don't think that's for me to decide, though I don't think she's the same pony that we put away all those years ago. She's changed."

“She sacrificed herself for her friend. That’s loyaltee if I ever saw it,” said Rainbow Dash.

"Not only loyal but generous too, making sure Sombra would never be a threat again,” said Rarity.

“She sure knows how to throw the best parties!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Yes. She certainly has learned the magic of friendship,” said Twilight, turning back to face the others.

"What do you think they're talking about?" asked Fluttershy.

"I'm sure we'll know soon enough," answered Twilight.

Astral’s horn stopped glowing. She opened her eyes to look up at Cozy, who was once again frozen in stone, a single solid tear on the side of Cozy’s face. Astral exhaled slowly before making her way toward Twilight and the others.

"Will she be joining us for dinner?" asked Twilight.

Astral shook her head. "She said she doesn't think she deserves to. That with all the bad that she’s done, she thinks this is the only way she can make sure she is always doing good. That it’s the only way to show ponies how good she can be, and be remembered for doing good as the last thing she did."

"I see," said Twilight.

"I tried to tell her, she is a good pony. She is. You have to believe me now. But she won't fully believe it herself, that she doesn’t have to be stone. She's not ready to believe."

"I think she just needs you to keep telling her. Every day. Some day, I hope you will be able to properly introduce her, your friend, to me."

Pinkie popped up, "I think we should throw a party, for our new friend, Cozy Glow!"

The others cheered in agreement.

* * *

The evening sun had begun to set, bathing the castle garden that had been festively decorated in a warm amber light. It was golden hour. Octavia and company played music on one side of a stage while a podium had been set up on the other. The stage had been set up next to the statue of Cozy which had been situated nicely on display as a garden centerpiece. All traces of King Sombra had been chipped away and removed, leaving only Cozy Glow to stand on her own. Careful use of sculpting magic and stone generation was used to bring a more dignifying form to the filly, displaying victory over all that might trouble her. Unlike the prison statue garden, this one was reserved for memorials and monuments to honor those that had served the land well. Cozy, however, was the only statue to have been made from real live pony. Regardless, Twilight saw fit to have her placed among the memories of other such great ponies of history.

The ponies that filled the garden quieted down as Twilight stepped up onto the stage taking her place behind the podium, and clearing her throat. “Friendship can come in all shapes and sizes, and also from the most unexpected of places and ponies. Cozy Glow is one such instance having once been a pony thought to be a lost cause. With the help of my best student, Astral Bell, we all know today that not only is Cozy a good pony, but she is also a great friend, a best friend. Her sacrifice to ensure the peace and harmony of all Equiresta shall go down in history as the single greatest display of Friendship a pony could ever see. We will all eagerly wait for the day that we can all tell her ourselves, what a great friend she truly is. Cozy, you have all the friends in all Equestria now. May their power be your guiding light. Thank you.”

Twilight lifted a glass of sparkling cider. “Cheers to Cozy Glow.”

"Cheers, to Cozy Glow!" everypony said, lifting their glasses.

The reception continued on, while stories of Cozy’s adventures and exploits were told. Astral did not join them, however. She instead opted to sit comfortably, eating hayburgers and ice cream next to her best friend as music and memories played into the night.

Author's Note

And that my friends, is my story of Cozy's reformation. Her redemption, at least how she sees it for herself, is yet to come in the next several stories of my Golly Saga. Many adventures await!

Special thanks to Kumi Yi for her artwork shown above. I think she did a great job at capturing the final moment of the story.

Apologies for taking 5 months to complete the story! Life happens, plans change and a bountiful share of procrastination can at many times get the better of me. To that, I hope it was worth the wait, and I'll hope you all will stick around to follow Cozy and Astral and see what happens next!