“Are you sure you three don’t want to come get milkshakes with us later? I’m buying.” Diamond Tiara said as she, Silver Spoon, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders piled out of the schoolhouse after the rest of their classmates.
“Sorry, Diamond Tiara, but we have stuff to do at the School of Friendship today. You know, us being friendship tutors and all.” Apple Bloom replied, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Right…” The tiara clad filly said, sounding disappointed.
“But maybe we could meet up some other time, like this weekend?” Sweetie Belle added.
“I think that’s perfect.” Silver Spoon chimed in.
“Sounds good to me.” Scootaloo said; her friends nodded in agreement.
“…Sure, this weekend sounds great.” Her friend replied with a tiny smile.
“Yoo-hoo! Cutie Mark Crusaders!” A new voice called out.
The five fillies turned their heads to see a salmon colored Pegasus filly with big bright eyes and bouncy blue curls flying towards them. She was carrying an overstuffed book bag and she had an enormous smile on her face. It was Cozy Glow, the newest student at the School of Friendship and a new friend to the CMC’s.
“Howdy, Cozy!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she and her fellow Crusaders ran up to their friend.
“Hi, besties!” She greeted with a wave. “I’m ready for our lessons today. I brought my own pens and plenty of paper to show my work.” At that moment, her book bag suddenly broke, causing all of the supplies she packed into it to fall out onto the ground. “Oh no, I dropped everything! Golly, I’m so sorry!” She frowned and batted her eyes.
“No worries, Cozy.” Sweetie Belle said, using her magic to levitate everything out of the dirt.
“Thanks, Sweetie Belle!” The Pegasus said, her mood quickly changing.
“Ahem!”
They turned to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approaching with quizzical looks on their faces. They stopped a couple paces away
“Sorry to interrupt, but aren’t you girls going to introduce us?” She asked, giving a smile.
“Oh, right! You haven’t officially met.” Scootaloo said. “Cozy Glow, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, Cozy Glow.”
“Well, hello there! It’s so nice to meet you both!” Cozy said, grinning and offering her hoof.
Diamond Tiara reluctantly took her hoof and gently shook it. “Nice to meet you, too.”
Silver Spoon, noticing her friend’s awkward expression, stepped in and shook Cozy’s hoof. “Totally. So are you new around here, Cozy Glow?”
“Sure am.” Cozy replied enthusiastically. “I’ve only been here for a little while, but I love love love it here in Ponyville! And I’m already learning so much at Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship! And thanks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I’m learning even more!”
“I… see.” Diamond said, sounding unsure.
“Well… maybe the three of us could be friends too.” Silver added nervously.
“That would be great! The more the merrier!” Cozy beamed.
But that was when Diamond noticed a certain glint in the filly’s eyes; it wasn’t genuine or happy. Her smile didn’t look authentic either; it was like she was hiding something behind it, something sinister. Diamond Tiara had met a lot of ponies in her young life and she was taught to always hide behind a smile and a mask of arrogance and pride, and she could tell right away that there was something very, VERY wrong with this filly. She gently nudged Silver Spoon with her elbow, nonverbally telling her something wasn’t right. Silver nodded.
“Hey, Cozy. Could we talk for a little bit? In private, if you don’t mind?” She asked.
“Oh, sure.” Cozy replied.
“But we have friendship studies to do.” Apple Bloom said.
“Oh, that’s okay. Why don’t you three go on ahead? I’ll meet you at the School later.” The Pegasus filly said, smiling from ear to ear.
“Oh. Okay. Don’t take too long.” Sweetie Belle said.
They all waved each other goodbye before the CMC’s trotted off. The moment they were gone, Diamond Tiara took Cozy Glow by the hoof and walked off back towards the schoolhouse with Silver Spoon following close behind. They made it to the very back of the playground under a large shady oak tree, a place hardly anypony goes. And as soon as they knew nopony was watching, Diamond and Silver dropped their smiles and narrowed her eyes at the filly.
“Gee, what’s going on?” Cozy asked, cocking her head to the side.
Diamond cleared her throat, keeping her cool. “Okay, Cozy. We’re not here to hurt you, we just wanna talk.”
Cozy was suspicious, but kept on smiling. “Oh, sure thing! What do you wanna talk about? I have nothing to hide. I’m an open book, you can ask me anything.”
“Okay… What are you really doing here, and what do you want with the Crusaders?”
“Huh?”
“You heard us. Diamond and I don’t want any trouble, we just want the truth.” Silver chimed in.
“Don’t know what you mean.” The Pegasus said with a shrug. “I’m just here to learn and to make friends, what’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing at all… except when you have an ulterior motive.” Diamond bounced her eyebrows.
Cozy paused, then scoffed. “Ulterior motive? Pfft! Don’t be silly! You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
“Are we, though?” Silver asked.
‘Nothing to hide, eh?’ Diamond thought, raising an eyebrow.
‘What happened to being an open book?’ Silver asked herself.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about, I swear.” Cozy’s eyes grew wide and her lower lip quivered as she said, “You’re not trying to bully me, are you?”
Diamond tensed up and gently said, “No, no. We’re not. I…” She took a step closer and sighed. “I’m sorry; I’m still kinda new at the whole being nice thing. I know how this looks, but I mean no harm. I promise. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, or Scootaloo. They’re my friends and I want to them to be safe. You can understand that, can’t you?”
“Of course I can!” Cozy paused as the light in her eyes darkened. “…But can you? I mean, unlike some ponies, I don’t pick on foals just for being blank flanks.”
Diamond froze at the term “blank flanks”. Neither she nor Silver Spoon had said that since the Crusaders earned their cutie marks. But how could Cozy know that about her? It had to be a coincidence. She was a bully once, that was true, but only because her terrible mother told her it was expected of her. She didn’t want to be that awful pony ever again but thanks to the Crusaders, she was in a much better place. She was about to say something, but Silver Spoon beat her to it.
“You… know that phrase?” She asked, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder.
Cozy huffed. “Who doesn’t? Everypony starts out as a blank flank, they can’t help it. And yet, the late bloomers are always given a hard time by bullies, mostly just for the heck of it, making them think they aren’t special. You know how it is, right?”
The tiara wearing filly wrinkled her nose, realizing Cozy was playing a mind game with her and Silver. She stomped her hoof. “Okay, look. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m saying this now. I don’t trust you, even though I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. But now, not so much.”
“Excuse me?”
“Can it, curly. You can’t fool me with this innocent act; I can now see how fake you really are. You think you can fool me? Manipulate me? Well newsflash, you can’t. I don’t know what your deal is or what you’re up to, Cozy Glow, but I’m on to you. You’d better not let me catch you doing anything remotely nasty to anypony in Ponyville, especially not to the Crusaders. If you dare do anything to hurt them in any way, even in the slightest, I’ll make sure you regret it. Am I clear?”
At that moment, Cozy’s expression promptly changed; her huge, bright smile twisted into a hateful sneer and her brow furrowed. This took the pair by surprise.
“Listen up, you two.” She hissed. “I tried to be nice, but that clearly isn’t working. You may be all buddy-buddy with the CMC’s now, but I know the truth about you. I’ve heard all sorts of things about you and the bullying and abuse the girls endured from you before that. You know, constantly calling them blank flanks, laughing at them, teasing them, humiliating them, destroying their confidence; I heard it all. You bullied not just the Crusaders, but a lot of other ponies too, right? And who could forget your time as editor in chief of the Foal Free Press? And the infamous Gabby Gums incident? Publishing the secrets of other ponies, just for a good news story? Blackmailing the Crusaders to do your dirty work, and making them take the blame? That was probably the worst out of everything, right Diamond Tiara? Though I have to say, it was gold.” She snorted.
The pair froze; ponies stopped talking about Gabby Gums moons ago.
“I may or may not have mentioned it to the girls once out of curiosity and they say what happened between you is all water under the bridge… but it still stings. I can tell.”
“I-It does?” Diamond muttered.
Cozy scoffed at her. “Of course it does! Now I know what you’re thinking.” She batted her eyes in faux innocence. “‘How does she know my past? I don’t bully ponies anymore, just ask everyone at school.’” She snickered. “Just because somepony says they’re sorry doesn’t mean it makes all the hurt feelings go away. And between you and me, you don’t scare me. You may have “changed” or whatever, but even at your worst, you two are NOTHING… compared to me at least.”
“W-w-w-w-what?” The fillies stammered, finally noticing the murderous sparkle in the filly’s eyes.
“Now I can’t say much, but I’m gonna let you two in on a little secret.” She leaned in closer to them until their muzzles were practically touching. “I have something BIG planned and the last thing I need is nosy, entitled foals like you sticking your muzzles where they don’t belong. You may be rich and influential, but that doesn’t mean dirt to me. I personally don’t care what a couple of spoiled rich fillies have to say, and I’d much rather be friends with a couple of rabid badgers than with either of you. You probably want to think I want to kill the Crusaders, but that’s further from the truth than you think. I don’t kill innocent ponies… at least not without good reason. My will isn’t so boorish. You’ll understand, when the time comes. But know this. If you dare cross me like this ever again, I can promise you that neither of you will live long enough to regret it. And if you mention any of this to the Crusaders, Princess Twilight, or any of her lackeys, I will BURY you. Both of you.”
By now, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were pushed up against the trunk of the tree. They were holding each other close and practically shaking in fear, realizing how terrifying Cozy Glow actually was. She slowly backed away and turned around, her back facing them.
“You understand, don’t you girls?” Her eyes glanced back towards the pair.
They hesitantly stood up, still shaking, gulped, and reluctantly nodded their heads in unison. “…Yes.”
The Pegasus smirked. “Lovely.” She quickly turned to face them again, her demeanor instantly changed from sinister back to sweet. Only this time, the sweetness was sickening and gruesome. She grinned and condescendingly patted their heads with her hoof, as if they were dogs. “Golly, what a delightful chat. Thanks so much, girls. It’s always nice to catch up and chat with new friends.”
And with that, as if nothing happened, she happily skipped off, leaving the two fillies shocked and even more confused than before. That pony was more than just a fake, she was a total freak.
“What… Just… Happened?” Silver asked in a daze.
“I have no idea…” Diamond replied as her friend passed out.
She stared off in Cozy Glow’s direction before she disappeared from view. She knew there was something off about that pony; Cozy was hiding behind a convincing mask of innocence and niceness. She was definitely up to something diabolical, but Diamond still didn’t know what. But it was something big, that much was clear. She wanted to run off and immediately tell the Crusaders what happened, but she was also afraid of what the Pegasus would actually do to her and Silver Spoon if she did. What was that filly really hiding? What did she want? Are the CMC’s part of her plan somehow? What was she really capable of? And most importantly, is there a way to stop her?
