Carefully, Cozy makes her way through the castle, guided by Cadance. It took a lot of begging to convince the princess herself to come instead of one of the palace guards, but her cuteness won her over without much of a fight.

"And this will be your room." Cadance opens the door, revealing a bedroom that looked like it had no one in it. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable. I'll be in the throne room if you need me."

Cozy turns. "B-but...you can't stay?"

"Unfortunately, no. I have duties I must perform as a princess." Cadance kisses Cozy on the head gently. "Including your adoption papers."

This is enough for Cozy to allow her mother-to-be to leave, exchanging goodbyes with her before stepping inside and examining her new room. It doesn't look like anything fancy -- just a bed with some shelves and a window on the side wall. But it's her new room in what has become her new home since being discharged from the hospital, and she's grateful for the Mom who accepted her with open hooves.

A pulling feeling begins to form in her gut, and she exits the room. It's only been a few minutes, but she needs to see her Mom, even if she's busy with princess stuff. Surely she can make time for her, right? Moms always made time for their children.

As she walks down the hallways, Cozy's ears pick up on the sound of talking. A masculine voice, mixed in with the sound of cooing. She drifts towards it and peers around the corner to find the sources of the voices, a white-coated stallion and a light-magenta-coated baby alicorn, talking to Cadance. The baby alicorn she recognizes as Flurry Heart. The stallion...Shining Armor. Her dad.

One thing is certain: they're trying to steal Mom away from her.

She squints. Anger that has barely been seen in the final days since she entered the hospital begins to form. How dare they speak to Mom like that, when she is Cozy's Mom and only Cozy's? She should go tell them off right now! Beat them up! Protect her Mom!

Something in her, deep inside, tells her that it's a bad idea. Her dad looks powerful. So does her sister-to-be. And Mom did tell her that she was busy. But at the same time, she wants Mom all to herself, because if Mom went away...

With a huff, she sharply turns on her heels and walks back to her room. In her mind, a new mission forms, a way for her to capitalize on her second chance.

No matter the cost, it will just be her and Mom in the end.

Author's Note

Behold: one of the most last-minute contest entries I will ever write.

Not the ending I had planned for this story, and it's incredibly messy, but I left it open-ended to explore Cadance's side of the story or to explore a sequel down the line because I really enjoy this pairing and I want to write more of it one of these days.