Attachment

It's on Monday that Cozy is finally deemed healthy enough to go outside. Never mind the fact that she still has to wear cuffs around her hooves and can't fly; just going outside is enough of an accomplishment.

Cadance decides to relieve the nurses of their duties, taking Cozy outside herself but not going any farther than the property line that splits the hospital off from the rest of the Crystal Empire.

Instantly, Cozy feels freer. For the first time since being saved, she tries to fly, only to be told that a spell has been placed on her wings to prevent "anything bad from happening." She knows what this means, of course, but that doesn't mean she can't complain about it.

"I understand your frustration," Cadance says, watching Cozy cross her forelegs and sit on her rump and pout. "But if you continue to behave, we can take the enchantment and the cuffs off."

"Yeah? And how long is that gonna take?"

Cadance taps her chin inquisitively. "Let's say...another week or two."

Cozy's jaw drops. Her anger nearly reaching its boiling point, she begins to sputter. Has she not been good for the past five days? Does she need to try harder at being good? Is she not trying hard enough?

With a resigned sigh, she nods. "Okay. I guess I can wait that long."

"That-a-girl." Cadance plops a hoof onto Cozy's mane and ruffles it, which causes Cozy to push her away in discomfort. "Now, where do you want to go? There's a playground over there for fillies and colts to play on, if you want to go there."

Looking around, Cozy can't find much of anything else that would excite her. She can't remember the last time she played on a playground, either, let alone with other kids. She nods, and walks with Cadance over to the large structure that's just as crystalline as the rest of the things and people in the city.

"Unfortunately, it's a little too big for me to play on," Cadance explains, moving to sit on a bench nearby. "But if you need anything, I'll be here!"

"Okay!" Cozy chirps.

She begins to make her way towards the mini rock wall. Climbing it without the aid of flight is tricky, let alone with hoofcuffs on, and it takes her a couple minutes before she manages to reach the top. From there, she trots across the bridge towards a set of two slides and looks down at them curiously. They're nothing fancy, unless she counts their crystalline material as fancy, which she doesn't. Still, she can't help but briefly wonder if they're safe to slide on. Goodness forbid a shard scrapes her underside or something.

After a bit of debating over the safety of the slide, she decides to go for it, sliding down on her stomach and landing gracefully on her hooves. She turns and stares at the slide for a moment, a disappointed look settling across her features. That wasn't really fun, or at least not as fun as she thought it was going to be. Suddenly, it dawned on her that maybe coming to the playground wasn't a good idea after all.

As she turns to leave, a nearby fixture catches her eye.

A set of ten swings.

Before she knows it, she's trotting over to them and taking a seat on the furthest one to the left. Her mind pushes forth a memory, of her dad's huge hoof giving her a gentle shove, sending her soaring higher and higher, until she felt like she was going to actually go soaring. Unfortunately, no one's around to give her a shove, and having restraints around her makes her incapable of using her wings or back legs for momentum. So all she can really do is just...sit there.

To pass time, she tries to think of ways she can manipulate Cadance further. The sooner she gets out of that hospital, the sooner she can continue capitalizing on her second chance.

But...she can't think of anything. Her thoughts are filled with warmth, of that huge feathery wing wrapped around her smaller body, of that soft voice calling her "sweetie". Her brain is telling her that she wants it, that she wants more of it. But she doesn't. That mare she dared to call a mother treated her as nothing more than a pawn in the chess game of life, until she gained the upper hoof and declared checkmate.

This isn't checkmate. Cadance hasn't won. Not by a long shot.

But fuck, is she one hell of a good player.

Cozy moves off the swing and heads over to Cadance, looking up at her with disinterest. "Can you push me, please?"

Cadance obliges, though Cozy has to wonder why those words came out instead of the request to go back to her room.