A pregnant pause filled the overcrowded room, everypony looking at each other as they considered Aisle’s question.
It was the guard who spoke up first, stomping a hoof and causing several of his fellow occupants to jump as he frowned, glaring at Fencer and company. “You should turn yourselves in,” he declared. “If you give up right now, I bet Princess Cadance and Shining Armor will let this go. Tell ‘em, rookie.”
That last part was said with an expectant nod toward Funshine, who let out a groan. “Oh for crying out loud, I’m not actually a guard,” he sighed, taking off his helmet.
Across from him, the real guard’s jaw fell open at the news, eyes widening in shock. “Whaaat?!”
Slip ‘n’ Slide gave his brother a sour look. “You just had to tell him, didn’t you? We could have said we were going to give ourselves up, and that you were going to take us to the princess while that guy stayed here to protect these other ponies, and we would have been home free. But no, you couldn’t let that happen.”
Coloring at the criticism, Funshine grimaced. “I’m sorry, but I just felt bad for him! It was becoming pathetic!”
“Hey!” protested the guard, a hurt look on his face.
Ignoring the boys’ comedy skit, Granola Bar gave Aisle a look of resolve. “We’re going back to Vanhoover,” she announced. “We don’t want to hurt anypony, and we’re not trying to threaten you, but we won’t let anypony stop us.” The words were said matter-of-factly, as though it was a forgone conclusion that they’d get back there, one way or another.
Aisle couldn’t help but give her a look of incredulity in response. “You really want to go back there? After everything that happened?”
“It’s what Garden wants,” replied Hopscotch, climbing down from the bed and making her way over to the mare in question. “Right, Garden?”
But Fencer’s ears were folded back, a look of uncertainty on her face. Although she’d resolved herself to see this through before they’d started their escape, being here with the ponies she’d so grievously wronged was undermining her certitude. Maybe I should turn myself in? she thought, looking at how Cozy was clinging to Pillowcase, burying her face in her husband’s chest as he continued to stroke her mane. If I ask Princess Cadance not to punish my friends, to let me be the only one who pays for what happened, she might agree. I was able to bear all those curses that Lex gave me, and I bet the princess wouldn’t do anything nearly that harsh…
As though hearing her thoughts, Cozy glanced back at her, frowning as they made eye contact. “You should be punished,” she whimpered, sounding like she was still afraid that violence would break out at any moment. Nevertheless, she didn’t cower, sniffling as she spoke. “For what you did to Pillow, you shouldn’t just be allowed to go around doing whatever you want. You should have to pay for it.”
“She did pay for it!” Granola Bar’s words came through clenched teeth, uncharacteristic anger filling her voice. “Lex punished her for what she did and everything we did! You know that!” She took a step forward, as though preparing to throttle the crystal mare. “So how can you-”
Suddenly, Aisle was in front of her. “Back. Off.” The look on his face made it clear that if she didn’t comply, he’d make her.
Sensing the sharp rise in tension, Fencer knew she didn’t have the luxury of indulging in her self-loathing any longer. Even if she wasn’t sure what she should do, letting her friends and her former victims get into a fight simply wasn’t an option. Opening her mouth, Fencer started to call out to Granola B-
“Cozy.”
Pillowcase’s voice was tender, sounding more like a father talking to a recalcitrant daughter than a husband talking to his wife. “You don’t mean that,” he admonished gently, as though completely unaware of the combative ponies only a few feet from him. “You aren’t the sort of pony who wants to see someone else hurting.”
Cozy didn’t look up at him, keeping her face pressed to Pillow’s chest. “You don’t know what it was like,” she protested quietly. “S-seeing you like that…lying there injured and unconscious, knowing that I couldn’t save you…” She shuddered, her breath shaky. “And when you…when I lost you…knowing it was her fault…”
Cozy’s words were daggers in Fencer’s heart, hurting worse than every injury she’d taken while fighting the ghoul army, but she didn’t try to block them out. On the contrary, the pain came with a paradoxical sense of relief, as though she’d needed to hear Cozy say that. It made no sense, but it kept her rooted in place, not acknowledging the worried looks her friends were giving her as she stared at the crystal ponies.
“I don’t want her to get what she wants,” continued Cozy, still speaking in that weak voice, as though she were holding back tears. “I want her to be unhappy. I want her to be miserable. I want her to spend the rest of her life hating herself as much as I hate her.”
Aisle’s face was twisted in a grimace, as though he couldn’t bear to hear Cozy talk like that. But Pillow’s expression was one of sadness rather than pain. He was silent for a few seconds, still stroking her mane, before speaking again. “What does your faith tell you?” he asked softly.
Nopony missed how Cozy tensed at that.
“That’s not fair,” she murmured, hunching her shoulders as though trying to disappear into herself.
“I know,” he replied with a wan smile. “But what does your faith, our faith, tell us about hating somepony?”
Cozy didn’t answer immediately, and for a moment it looked like she wasn’t going to, but finally she spoke in a voice just barely above a whisper. “That we never really hate others. We hate how they make us feel about ourselves.”
“And when we hate who we are…?” prompted Pillow.
“…then we forget how to love ourselves. And if we can’t love ourselves, we can’t love anyone else.”
Pillow nodded, his smile widening just a little. “So when someone else hurts us on purpose?”
“We…” Sighing, Cozy lifted her head from his chest, giving a sniffle as she wiped her eyes. “We need to remember that they’ve forgotten how to love themselves.”
“And that’s why we need to love them, so that they can remember,” finished Pillow, before leaning down and planting a light kiss on her forehead. “I love you more than anything in the world, Comfy Cozy. I don’t want you to forget how to love me back.”
“Pillow…” Cozy met his eyes, and though the look she shared with him only lasted for a moment before she looked down again, her inner struggle was written all over her face. “I just…it’s so…”
“Loving someone is an act of courage. You taught me that too, remember?” He didn’t wait for a reply, gently lifting her chin so that she was looking at him again. “You’re the most courageous pony I know, and you have more love in your heart than anyone I’ve ever met. And the way I know that is because of this pony, here.”
Aisle almost jumped as Pillow looked over at him, feeling horribly voyeuristic all of a sudden. “H-huh?! You mean me?” He quickly rubbed his foreleg over his eyes, his composure having been compromised by the strength of the emotions radiating out from Cozy and Pillow. He wasn’t the only one; no one in the room had dry eyes at that moment.
Smiling, Pillow beckoned Aisle over, and the earth stallion hesitantly shuffled closer until he was kneeling down, level with the crystal ponies. “Aisle…” murmured Cozy softly, giving him a guilty look.
“Hey Cozy.” Aisle fumbled for the right words, now feeling boorish and crude as he tried to come up with something as soulful as what Pillow had been saying. “Just…just hang in there, okay?” He cringed inwardly as soon as the words left his mouth, biting his lip at the flippant phrasing.
But neither of the crystal ponies seemed to mind, with Pillowcase turning his attention back to Cozy. “Even when things were at their darkest, when you were alone and in so much pain, you still found someone who loved you. And, you found the courage to love them back, even after what happened to me.” A hoof came up to gently caress her cheek, looking deeply into her eyes. “So many other ponies wouldn’t have been able to do that. They would have been too stricken with grief to feel anything else or been paralyzed with fear of being hurt again, but not you. Never you. You found love again, and that’s what saved you.” He looked at Aisle then, smiling warmly even as he kept speaking to Cozy. “That’s why I’m glad that we’ll both be your husbands from now on.”
Aisle gawked. He couldn’t help it. They had spent the time that Cozy was sleeping talking about numerous things – what had happened after Pillow’s death being a prominent topic – but the crystal stallion hadn’t given any indication that he was alright with Aisle joining their marriage. “A-are you sure?” he sputtered, and then it was his turn to give Cozy a guilty look. “I mean, I know I said before that we’d all be married together but I didn’t think-, I wasn’t lying or anything, I just didn’t, you know…all of us…” he finished weakly.
But Cozy didn’t seem to be upset with him. Instead, she was giving him a heartfelt look. Slowly, she reached a hoof out, wrapping it around him, and a moment later Aisle felt himself drawn into their embrace. Still unable to believe that this was really happening, he remained tense for a moment, before slowly relaxing into the hug.
The fond moment was suddenly interrupted as the guard began to bawl loudly. “It’s so beautiful!” he wailed, tears pouring from his eyes. Whimpering, he turned to look at the escaped ponies. “I love you guys!” he declared, walking over and scooping up Slip ‘n’ Slide in a bear hug.
“Hey!” yelped Slip, struggling unsuccessfully to free himself. “Hey! You better not be looking for a husband of your own, fella!”
Dabbing at her eyes, Hopscotch was trying to keep it together, despite the tear tracks already staining her cheeks. “I wish Turbo was here to see this,” she gulped.
Granola Bar reached out and pulled the younger mare into a hug of her own. “It would’ve made him incredibly happy,” she agreed. But her eyes weren’t on the trio embracing in the middle of the room. Rather, they were on Fencer, who had been watching the three ponies with a look of wonder on her face.
Sniffling, Funshine let out a slow breath. “So, um, what do we do now?” he asked quietly.
But Granola Bar shook her head. “Just watch.”
Oblivious to the conversations going on around them, Cozy held Aisle and Pillow close, basking in the stallions’ warmth. She felt calmer now…calmer than she had in a long time. It was like waking up from a terrible dream, the way the bad feelings were suddenly receding. In their place was a wonderful sensation of peace and togetherness filling her up, lifting her spirits and making what only a minute ago had felt impossible now seem appropriate.
“Thank you,” she whispered, the words not only for Aisle and Pillow, but also for Lashtada, knowing that the love she felt for these two stallions was the goddess’s grace.
Slowly stepping back from them, everypony quieted down as Cozy turned and walked toward Fencer. There were only a few feet between them, but the distance felt much larger to her. In the few steps she took, she saw the other mare across time…the way she’d sneered and roared at her as she’d held Pillow hostage. The way she’d wept and shivered when Lex had brought her back after her plan to take his horn had failed. The way she’d openly confessed to what she’d done earlier that evening. And the way she was looking at her now…
As she stopped in front of Fencer, Cozy felt the last of the shackles that had bound her heart for so long fall away, and the words came to her lips of their own accord.
“I forgive you.”