Author's Note

If preferred, the content of this chapter can be skipped till the horizontal rule (—***—).

Chapter Two: First Impressions

"How's it possible that Cozy and I are the same age?" was Flurry's first question the moment the four of them entered the Canterlot Castle's hall, just after the doors were closed behind them by the guards outside. She was looking at Twilight, who led the group towards a wide staircase at the back of the hall. She could also hear Cadance and Shining chatting among themselves, in a low voice; and their words sounded like a foreign language to her.

"I'm glad you ask, Flurry. And no, it's not due to an age spell," Twilight explained as she looked forward, confidently walking through one of the many hallways of the Castle. "She's naturally eighteen years old. Since she was released from stone containment at the age of fourteen, she's aged four years, three months..." Twilight, still walking, looked at the ceiling with her eyes moving rapidly. "And twenty-eight days, to be precise," she completed, exchanging a glance with Flurry before looking back forward.

Flurry frowned with her mouth agape, having listened to Twilight's words. She rushed her pace until they were walking side by side, and turned her head towards her. "You said four years?! Au-Auntie! If you couldn't reform her in that long, how could I even dare to try doing that myself?!" Her pupils contracted; she noticed Cadance and Shining had stopped their own conversation after she spoke.

Oh no, you've lost it again. Shame on you. The four of them had stopped on their hooves. With three pairs of eyes on her, Flurry lowered her head. "I'm sorry." Her eyes welled up. "I didn't mean to yell at you, Aunt Twilight."

Twilight turned her body to the side, placing herself in front of Flurry, and looked at her with a gentle smile. "It's okay, niece of mine." She raised a hoof and caressed her head. "I can also relate to 'losing your cool' sometimes, as I believe some stallions would call it". Smirking, she turned her head and glanced at Shining—who immediately looked away, with his white face starting to redden.

Cadance chuckled at her husband next to her. "Your aunt's right, sweetie," she said, looking back at her daughter. She walked a few steps towards Twilight and Flurry, facing the latter. "Nopony, alicorn or else, is perfect." She exchanged looks with Twilight and Shining before looking back at Flurry. "That's why we, your family, are here with you, Flurry. To support you". She raised a hoof and wiped the tear from her cheek.

Flurry rushed to her mother and hugged her tightly; wrapping both her forehooves and wings around Cadance, standing on her hindlegs. Cadance responded to the embrace by placing her forehoof—beneath one of the wings—on Flurry's shoulder. She shushed gently at Flurry's weak sobs, closing her eyes.

Selfish brat. Put yourself together. Flurry broke the hug a few seconds later. "We should hurry, right Auntie?" She sniffled, slightly stepping back from the other alicorns while looking away.

Twilight sighed, and shook her head. "You know what, Flurry? No. I think those diplomats can wait a little longer for my presence." She raised her alicorn-long foreleg and with her hoof ruffled Flurry's mane. "Besides, I believe Spike can handle them in the meantime." She turned her body and resumed walking, in a more leisurely fashion, down the Castle's hallway; being closely followed by the Crystal Family. "It's not like our little brother could trigger a war with the Griffonian Empire, right Shining?"

"Of cour- I mean, no-yes! Uh..." Shining blinked his eyes rapidly; frowning with his mouth ajar, he turned his head to the side and looked at Cadance with a help me! written on his face.

Looking at her husband, Cadance pressed her lips tightly together in a smile. "Shining means that such thing is very unlikely to happen, Twi."

Flurry giggled for a second, having listened to the conversation, but quickly shook her head. No time to act like a foal, she thought.

After a couple minutes of wordless clopping of hooves, Flurry noticed that Twilight turned towards a familiar set of stairs. "Auntie? Don't these stairs take us to the Bedrooms Floor?" She exchanged glances with her parents as well, and they turned in the same direction.

"That's correct, Flurry," Twilight said, going up the stairs. "We're going to meet Cozy Glow in one of the rooms where she's been staying."

Flurry's jaw dropped ajar. Walking next to Twilight, she looked down at the red carpeted steps, frowning. "Doesn't that make it easier for her to..." She could already feel her heartbeat racing.

"Easier for her to escape, you mean?" Twilight completed. She turned her head to the side and glanced at Cadance, who was behind her, then looked at her niece. "Well, Flurry the answer is that she's magically restrained from doing so. For the same reason the three of you couldn't teleport directly inside the Castle." Twilight reached the end of the stairs first and stopped her pace; followed by Flurry, and then Shining and Cadance. She turned her body towards them and looked at Shining. "Brother, do you remember how you improved the Castle's magical defenses?"

Shining nodded once, closing his eyes with a cheeky smile. "Not to brag about it, but I gave the idea to Star Swirl, may he rest in peace, about recycling Chrysalis's throne-shards; which to this day, they protect the building's perimeter with an anti-magic field." He opened his eyes after his side was softly nudged by Cadance, and he cleared his throat. "That basically means, nopony can enter or leave this Castle by magical means," he finished, exchanging glances with both Twilight and Flurry.

"But Cozy's a Pegasus..." Flurry frowned, looking at the long hallway ahead; which was illuminated by the sunlight coming through the windows on one of the walls. She squinted her eyes and saw, near the end of the corridor, a couple of Royal Guards standing at one of the many doors, on the opposite side of the windows. "Couldn't she just fly away through one of the many windows?" she asked, turning her head back towards the purple alicorn.

Twilight, looking at her niece with half-lidded eyes and a gentle smile, inhaled. "No, Flurry, because Cozy Glow cannot fly while wearing her Flight-Restrictor necklace," she responded, taking a couple of steps back from the group. "Allow me to elaborate on what that is".

"I understand. And auntie... you really shouldn't bother," Flurry said weakly, raising a forehoof but quickly dropping it back.

Standing still, Twilight closed her eyes and her horn illuminated. Then, a bright cerise-color hologram appeared before the group:

Represented to scale, it showed what it seemed to be a wide chair; with sharp edges, long spikes and dozens of holes on its back. The three-dimensional image was slowly rotating, exhibiting all of its details. "This was Queen Chrysalis's throne before she was overthrown," Twilight indicated, opening her eyes. She raised a hoof to point at the hologram. "The moment she was, it shattered violently."—And so did the magic projection, exploding into pieces—"You already know what we did with its shards." With a gesture of Twilight's hoof, most of the virtual debris vanished from existence—except for a tiny bright dot. "However, we kept a few samples to study them further." The floating dot was zoomed in; amplified to the size of a pebble, it was only different from one by being flat and serrated. Twilight moved it horizontally and closer to Flurry, illuminating her face. "This is what nullifies Cozy's ability to fly; which is, in essence, a magical action done by the Pegasi," she finished, with the light of her horn fading away, along with the hologram.

Flurry's brain was feeling numb, having listened to Twilight's explanation. She lowered her head and raised a hoof to massage her forehead. "No more questions for now, auntie."

Finally in that morning, having thought the time would never come since she was told the previous night, Flurry was a few steps before the only barrier left between her and the infamous Cozy Glow: a wooden door of a bedroom in the Canterlot Castle. Her heart was pounding in her chest; and the thoughts flooded her mind:

Worst mistake in your life was accepting this task.

Your aunt, the Princess of Friendship, was deceived by Cozy.

And you're not better than Twi.

In fact, not even equal; probably ten times more naive.

You're going to mess it up somehow, putting all of Equestria in danger.

Why are you still here?

Can't you see you're a mistake of nature itself?

You useless, naive, antisocial, piece of...

Flurry flinched, having felt a hoof placed on her withers. She turned her head to the left, wide-eyed, and saw her mother. She looked at her with dot-like pupils, soon with them slowly dilating back to normal. Then, she did a mental effort to not lower head or let out a sigh: At least don't act weak in front of the guards.

"May I have your saddlebags before you go in, sweetie?" Cadance asked, lowering her hoof from Flurry's back. After her daughter nodded once, Cadance's horn illuminated and a bright cyan aura enveloped the two bags on Flurry's back and lifted them.

Flurry breathed deeply, feeling the weight leave her back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Twilight walking until she was on her right side.

"I'm coming in with you, briefly," Twilight said. Then she stepped forward, towards the door. "Current status?" She inquired, stopping between the two guards at the door, and casting glances at them.

"Subject hasn't been allowed to be out of the bedroom since you ordered, Princess," confirmed one of the Royal Guards, standing still with a straight face.

Twilight nodded once. She turned her head to look behind, at Flurry. "Are you ready, niece?"

Flurry swallowed, staring at the door. When she was lifting her heavy hooves to walk, her ears perked up to the familiar sound of a stallion's voice, behind her:

"You got this, my filly," cheered Shining, approaching his daughter, who had stopped on her hooves, until he was to her side. He exchanged looks with her, and raised a hoof to softly pat her shoulder twice. "I'll be right outside, in case of anything."

Flurry nodded, giving him a half-smile. Then she looked forward, at her aunt and the door. "I'm ready, aunt Twilight," she confirmed, walking forward.

C...R...E...A...K...

The door was opened by one of the guards, who had taken the star medallion from his chest-armor and pressed it against the doorknob. The creaking noise of the wood was followed by the distinct sound of magic being casted, and then by the noise of drawing curtains. After that, Flurry noticed the magic on Twilight's horn faded.

The dark bedroom became illuminated by the late-morning light; although only partially visible to Flurry, who was standing behind Twilight on the threshold. From that angle, she assumed that the plenty of sunlight inside the room was coming from a window on the perpendicular wall to the one of the door. Looking down, the chess floor tiles were the same as the ones of the hallway, reflecting everything on them: a tall closet on one side of the room; a desk with books spread over and a chessboard; a wooden short stool before the desk; and a few water bottles scattered around.

Scanning every detail Flurry could, her eyes stopped at the reflection of a figure on the other side of the room: Somepony was sitting on the queen size bed, rubbing their eyes, just before jumping out of it.

"Well, golly, I hadn't seen so many princesses together in a while," Cozy Glow said in a hoarse voice, which was followed by a yawn as she took a few steps away from the bed. Then she stopped her hooves and stretched her body: first by raising her hips while lowering her upper body; and then by doing the opposite. She cleared her throat. "Hm, this looks serious... Am I in trouble?" she asked, standing in the middle of the room, facing the doorway.

"No," replied Twilight, and strode into the room. "Cozy Glow, I'd like you to meet my niece, Princess Flurry Heart."

When Flurry heard her own name, she blinked twice, standing on the threshold. She was still looking at Cozy's reflection on the floor. She walked into the room, slowly, and her eyes rose; first meeting the warm, light pink hooves connected to a set of forelegs; and these to a slim chest and narrow shoulders. At that point, Flurry could already tell Cozy was not only a lot shorter than her, but significantly so than the average adult mare.

Then, Flurry's gaze paused on Cozy's neck: A tiny, dark teal-color stone shard hung from it, on a thin black string. Tell me that's her Flight-Restrictor, she hoped mentally. Then, perhaps as a nervous response, she bit her lower lip for a couple of seconds.

"My eyes are up here, Princess Flurry," Cozy said, raising a hoof to gesture up.

Flurry swallowed, blinking her eyes rapidly as she approached Twilight, who snorted in response to Cozy's words. She stopped on her hooves close to Twilight's side. Her eyes hadn't left Cozy's body, and she inhaled before finally looking at her face. She met a pair of intense, orange-red eyes, getting caught in a mutual stare. Below Cozy's eyes, Flurry noticed a tight-lipped smile.

Cozy was somewhat different than what Flurry remembered from the pictures she had seen in her History of Equestria class: Besides the fair increase in body height; her curly pastle-blue mane had grown to her shoulders, with no bow to be seen anywhere on her head.

"Hi! I'm Cozy Glow and... I mean, is this really necessary?" Cozy broke eye contact with Flurry, turning her head towards Twilight. "Everypony here already knows who I am", she finished, raising a hoof to point towards the open door:

Shining and Cadance were standing just beyond the threshold with serious faces—their eyes followed every move Cozy was making.

Twilight inhaled deeply. "Cozy Glow, let's start over, okay?" Her horn illuminated and, out of thin air, two large cushions enveloped in magic poofed into the room. "I'd like you and my niece to sit down, on these. Then I'll explain to you what the purpose of this meeting is." She placed the cushions in the middle of the room, on the floor; closer to each other than Flurry would have wished.