"The bottom line, Cozy, is to be able to attend the School of Friendship, you have to make some friends," said Starlight.
The afternoon sun shone through the window into the headmare's office. Students went about their daily business out in the schoolyard as Cozy peered down at them. Starlight sat at her desk, her chair turned to face Cozy Glow at the window, "Cozy?"
"I'm listening," said Cozy into the window, her eyes following a random pair of students as they journeyed across the yard towards the dorms.
"What are we going to do?"
"I had a friend. Allen." Cozy kept her gaze out into the yard.
"Right, Cozy Glow: 'had'. As I recall, that didn't start out very well, and it ended even worse." Starlight let out a sigh as she turned back toward her desk, gently stroking a leaf on one of her plants. "His parents have finally decided to drop the whole thing, as long as you two stay away from each other. I don't know what you could have done to make everypony so upset."
Cozy turned away from the window to face Starlight. "I didn't! It was A--" She stopped short of opening up a whole other can of worms she previously thought had been dumped.
Starlight looked back at Cozy without turning in her chair, "Say again?"
"Allen. It was his fault," said Cozy as she walked around the desk, taking a seat in front of it.
"Well, either way, you need to have at least one new friend by the end of the grading period, or we might have to re-think your options here."
Cozy looked down into her lap and grumbled, "Stupid colt."
Starlight sighed, "Cozy, you're a good little pony I Just know it. I don't want this chance for you to be wasted. Please. Try harder this time. Make a real friend. One who is a student here, like you."
Cozy continued to grumble under her breath, "Nopony here ever tried to take over Equestria like me."
"I did."
Starlight's announcement certainly caught Cozy's full attention.
* * *
Cozy slowly stepped out of the office into the hallway, gently closing the door behind her. She paused for a moment to think about the conversation she just had and the new information she learned about her headmare's past. It was hard for her to imagine Starlight as being an evil pony. At the same time, she could also understand her motives and see them as not being evil at all. This brought into question her own motives, both past and present. There was a lot for her to think about as she took flight down the hall looking back at Starlight's office as she rounded a corner. "But still..."
*Smack!*
School papers went everywhere as Cozy landed flat on her back. Lightly dazed, she got up and dusted herself off. Laid out on the ground in front of her was a pegasus colt seeming about her age. "Golly. Are you alright?" She asked, lending a helping hoof.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I totally wasn't looking where I was flying," said the colt.
"You should be more careful next time!" said Cozy. 'So should I,' she thought.
The two scrambled to pick up all of the papers before they got too trampled on in the busy hall traffic.
"I'm still new here, and get kinda lost. My name's Tenderhoof." He held out a booted hoof.
"I'm Cozy Glow," said Cozy as she reached out for a hoof shake. 'boots?' she thought.
"Nice to uh, run into you, I guess. Fly, I mean. ...into, you."
"Yeah, nice too- hey, would you be my friend?" asked Cozy.
"Yeah, sure! If you'll help me find the headmare's office. I'm supposed to drop off this permission slip my parents signed before I go home today." Tenderhoof carefully flattened out a piece of paper from the many sheets he and Cozy had been collecting off of the ground.
"Perfect! You're coming with me!" she said as she grabbed him by the boot and forcefully lead him through the air, losing miscellaneous papers along the way.
* * *
Starlight looked up from her paperwork, "Come in. Oh, hi, Tenderhoof. Cozy Glow? Can I help you with som-"
Cozy was quick to interrupt, "Starlight, I made a friend! See? Here he is!"
"Already?" asked Starlight. She looked suspiciously at the two foals standing in front of her desk. She sighed. "Cozy, you can't just force ponies to be your friend. Do you remember what happened last time?"
"What, Allen? Or the time I tricked the whole school? No, I didn't force him. I asked, nicely."
Starlight turned to Tenderhoof, "Did she?"
"She did," replied Tenderhoof.
"He said yes!" exclaimed Cozy.
Starlight slid her paperwork to the side of her desk, clearing the space in front of her. "Cozy, you two just met. A real friendship takes longer than that to form. And when you rush things, well, yeah, there was Allen."
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I'm keeping Tenderhoof in the friend zone. He won't ever be in the boop zone."
Tenderhoof blushed, "uhh..."
"...Right," said Starlight. "Tenderhoof, do you have something for me?"
"Oh, right!" Tenderhoof was relieved the subject had been changed. He dug through his saddlebag pulling out an envelope and hoofing it over along with his carefully flattened slip from earlier, "Here you go, headmare."
"Thank you," said Starlight. "Cozy, Tenderhoof, I'm going to be keeping my eye on you two."
"Yes, headmare," the two said simultaneously.
* * *
"Cloudsdale?" asked Cozy.
School had let out and now Tenderhoof and Cozy walked together through town, both on their way home for the day.
"Yeah. We just finished moving over the weekend," replied Tenderhoof.
Cozy looked quizzically at her companion as they walked, "Why all the way down here?"
Tenderhoof kept his gaze forward. "My parents said it's what I need, to be on the ground right now, not up in the clouds. They say it'll be good for my... well, it'll be good for me."
"Grounded," commented Cozy. "Oh hey, by the way, we don't have to be friends, if you don't want to. I was just trying to get Starlight off my back."
"It's ok. We can just pretend for now. You can help show me around and stuff. And if Starlight asks, I'll still say that we are. Okay?"
"Okay."
They continued to walk down the road together. A passing cart caused Tenderhoof to step out of the way, bumping sides with Cozy. Cozy took it as a challenge and bumped back. Tenderhoof misstepped a little but quickly regained his traction. He bumped Cozy back, harder this time, pushing her to the side. Not to be out-bumped, Cozy put her weight into Tenderhoof, bumping him off the road and over onto his side in the grass. The two laughed as he got up and continued towards an intersection.
"My house is this way," said Tenderhoof as he pointed off down the road with a boot.
"Oh. I'm over here," said Cozy, pointing in the other direction down the road with her nose.
"See you tomorrow?" asked Tenderhoof.
"Yeah, sure."
They began to walk their separate ways. Tenderhoof stopped and turned, "It was nice running into you, uh... Not friend," he called out.
"Bye, Boots," replied Cozy, not stopping or turning.
Tenderhoof smiled, turned and continued down the road toward his house.
* * *
"I met a colt today," announced Cozy, at the dinner table.
"Another one?" asked Astral.
"We're not friends though. We're just going to pretend we are."
"Cozy, you need real friends. Not just me."
"I know," said Cozy, taking another mouthful of food. She chewed for a bit and swallowed. "Boots is just to keep Starlight happy. I'll make some real friends soon."
Astral raised a brow, "Boots?"
"That's what I call him. Boots. Because he wears boots. He's from Cloudsdale."
"That's not really a pony name, Cozy. He's not a cat."
"I know."
"Are you sure you're not friends with him already?"
"I'm sure. We're 'notfriends'. We even pushed each other around a little after school today," said Cozy before digging her face into her bowl again.
Astral took the opportunity to roll her eyes. "Do you want me to... look into him? Tell him to keep his distance if he knows what's best for him?"
Cozy thought for a moment as she chewed. "Maybe?"
"I was just kidding, Cozy."
"Oh! Yeah. Me too," said Cozy, sheepishly.
"Well, you be careful this time. Friends are sneaky sometimes," Astral lowered her voice, leaning in close, "One minute, you're all alone. And then you meet someone. And then suddenly, BAM! Friend."
Cozy's wings flared out as she jumped in her seat. "Oh, ha-ha, Astral. Very funny."
"It's true!" said Astral, sitting upright again. "You just be sure to tell me if Mr. Boots is too nice. I might have to have a word with him about being friendly."
Cozy looked to the side as she pouted lightly at Astral.
"It's good though."
"What is?" she asked, turning back to face her.
"That he's a pegasus, like you. If you two were actually friends, that is. Something in common. You could use that to help fool Starlight. You should see if there is anything else you have in common, get to know him, gather intelligence," suggested Astral.
"Ooh, good idea. Thanks!" Cozy was surprised that Astral was going along with her notfriend plans.
"But tell him about yourself too, so nopony else gets suspicious," she said with a wink.
Cozy formed a devilish grin, "yes, that would be perfect, I think I'll eat lunch with him tomorrow."
"Good idea."
* * *
The lunchroom was relatively crowded, as usual. Students of all shapes and sizes occupied the tables in their own little groups. No single conversation could be easily made out, though the occasional burst of laughter would happen from time to time.
After a bit of looking around, Cozy found what she was looking for and pulled up a chair next to Tender. "Hi, Boots."
"Hi, Cozy." Tender had been sitting alone at a mostly empty table. He had brought his lunch from home, but had yet to open it.
Cozy unpacked her lunch. It was a sandwich; she peeked under the bread. "What are you having today?"
"I made a carrot and apple salad," said Tender as he began to unpack his lunch from its paper bag, and took his first bites.
"You make your own lunch? My m- fr-- guardian makes mine for me. Usually with leftovers from last night."
"Oh. My parents work at the weather factory, so they have to get up extra early, now; especially since we don't live in the clouds anymore."
"Oh," said Cozy. "Hey, I'll trade you!" She quickly swapped Tender's lunch out while he was mid-bite.
"Oh, ok." He picked up the sandwich and was about to take a bite when Allen passed by behind him, knocking the corner of his tray into his head, making him drop the sandwich open on the table, wet-side down.
"Oops!" said Allen, sarcastically before laughing and trotting off "...Weirdo boot-pony."
"Not funny, Allen!" yelled Cozy after him, but he just ignored her and sat at a table with his colt friends. She helped Tender get his sandwich back together. "I'm sorry about him. He's just a big jerk."
"It's ok. I'm... I'm used to it."
Cozy noticed that he was in fact still wearing his boots, even while eating. They were short and featureless. the material was well worn in and flexible. "Do you wear those all the time?"
"What, these? No, not all the time. I take them off to sleep. Or shower and stuff."
"Why, though?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh. Ok. You do know that's why ponies think you're weird, right?"
Tender looked up from his new sandwich, "Do you think I'm weird?"
Cozy shrugged, "Yeah. I do, but in a good way."
"I'd rather be weird with the boots than weird without them," mumbled Tender as he took a bite out of the sandwich. It was tastier than he had expected, though he knew he could do better. He missed his salad, but he was glad to see Cozy enjoying it.
They sat and chewed their food together.
"I'm not from Ponyville either," said Cozy. "I'm not even from Equestria."
"Are you... an alien?" asked Tender.
Cozy laughed, "No, silly! There's more to this planet than Equestria!" She looked around, pointing out students: "Yakyakistan, the Changling kingdom, Mount Erris... Those aren't part of Equestria."
"Oh, right."
"I remember when they were all just starting to become friendly with us ponies. The school had just opened up, and we almost went to war.
"What? how could you? That was before we were even born!"
"Oh... Well, I don't want to talk about it."
* * *
Another day, another lunch together. Another meal swapping. Cozy wasn't even asking anymore, she'd just switch out and he'd just let it happen. Another hassling from Allen and his friends, another walk home together. Cozy had everyone fooled; everycreature really thought she and Tenderhoof were actual friends, with all the sharing and caring they did. Tenderhoof was fooled, but Cozy knew better.
It was early in the evening when the final bell rang. Cozy waited out front for her notfriend to show up. 'He's late,' she thought to herself. She paced around on the front walk back and forth, humming to herself. A small group of rowdy students ran through to the far, secluded side of the school. Cozy watched as they rounded the corner. "What's going on over there?" She wandered over to investigate.
There was a gathering of students all circled around an open space in the yard on the side of the building. There was a back door, with the only windows being the small reinforced ones placed high up on the walls of the gymnasium. The students were all facing the center of their gathering shouting out and cheering in an aggressive manner. Cozy tried to push through the crowd of ponies to see what the commotion was all about. After being shoved around a bit, she gave up and decided to fly up and over them. Her airborne view gave her a shock.
Allen and his gang were in the middle. They were shoving around a pony; a pegasus. It was Tenderhoof. Cozy got her view just in time to see them push him down, landing with a thud into a cloud of dust. Cozy couldn't believe what she was seeing. The crowd was feral. They were enjoying themselves, cheering and egging on Allen and his friends as they bullied poor Tenderhoof. Two of the bigger friends held him to the ground while Allen reached down and grabbed a foreleg, pulling on his boot. The remaining bully grabbed his other foreleg and began pulling on that boot at the same time. Tender screamed and pleaded with tears in his eyes for them to stop, but they continued to pull while he held on tight with every ounce of his strength, his tail swishing about.
Cozy flattened her ears and dove from the air into Allen, knocking him back and causing him to let go. "What are you doing? Stop it! You're hurting him!"
"Hey look everypony! It's the marefriend, Crazy Glue!" shouted Allen, looking around. He pushed Cozy down to the ground and grabbed Tender's boot again and pulled.
Cozy coughed in the dust. She looked over to Tenderhoof. He looked back with pleading eyes, "Help me..." he said to her, weakly.
"I... I can't. I can't get in a fight. I'm... I'm sorry." She flew up, out of reach over the crowd, shouting at them to stop.
A boot came off. Allen held his trophy high up in the air. Tenderhoof cried out.
A second boot came off and it was quickly tossed into the crowd.
An eruption of following cheers was quickly being hushed as Cozy and everyone looked onto Tenderhoof.
He was curled up, trying to hide, trying to cry silently, trying not to cry at all.
'noodles?' thought Cozy. What was he holding? 'Brushes?'
The silence that fell on the crowd was quickly replaced by whisperings of the sight that lay before them.
A dirt rock pegged Tenderhoof in the face. It crumbled on impact leaving a cloud of dust as he coughed and choaked on it. The rock came from somewhere in the crowd. One by one, students took their cue and started pelting him with hoof-fulls of what could be picked up or dug from the ground.
"No." said Cozy. "Stop it!" she yelled out, but nopony would listen to her.
Tenderhoof covered his face with stringy hooves, crying out, "Cozy... Help me, please!"
With tears in her eyes and a frown, Cozy could only shake her head, and flew off, away from everypony.
Tenderhoof curled up tighter, waiting for it to all to finally end. He kept his face covered, his wings spread over his body as he lay curled on the ground. He was being covered in dirt clumps and mud. He couldn't believe what was happening. This wasn't supposed to be something that happened at the School of Friendship. Pegasi were never this cruel to their own. One clump of dirt knocked his head pretty hard, leaving him slightly dazed; not dirt, it was a rock. Another glanced off his back, weltingly hard. What the actual buck? He was now sure he was going to die there. With his humiliation, pain and suffering, he almost welcomed it.
A ball of light flashed around him, as two ponies appeared by his side. Starlight put up her shield, to cover herself, Tenderhoof and Cozy Glow who had returned with Starlight, but not fast enough as a larger rock made it through, landing right on her face. She rubbed her face while all the students suddenly stopped and gasped, backing away quickly. They turned to run, but the exits were blocked by professors running in to contain them.
"Enough! Everypony, stop!" shouted Starlight as she dropped her shield. "Sit down!"
The students were quick to obey.
Cozy brushed the dirt off of Tenderhoof. "I got help as fast as I could. I'm sorry I couldn't help more."
Tenderhoof struggled to his hooves, limping on the two unbooted ones. In his shame, he pushed Cozy away, spread his wings and took to the sky, off as fast as he could.
"Boots, ...wait," said Cozy, but he was already well out of earshot.
Starlight ordered everypony into the gym, the professors saw to it that it was an orderly march. She looked around for Cozy, but she wasn't there. It didn't matter, Cozy didn't need the lecture and punishment the native half of the school was about to receive.
Tenderhoof landed in a park far from the school under the shade of a tree. He sat on his haunches bending forward and cried in his unbooted hooves. Nopony was around, so he let it all out. It started as a whimper but grew stronger until he was wailing at the top of his lungs. It almost felt good if it were not for the causing circumstance. With his eyes shut tight, he squeezed out every last tear he had.
When he finally began to settle, he heard a small thud on the grass in front of him, then a second. Then a small voice from above spoke out to him. "Golly, you sure are noisy for such a little pony. I thought colts never cried."
Tenderhoof sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes, slowly opening them, they were bloodshot red. In front of him were his two missing boots. He looked up to see Cozy above him, laying on a branch, looking down at him. "What do you want? Go away!" he ordered.
"No," she casually said.
"Now you know my secret. Are you happy now? Look! Take a picture already!" he held up his hoof to her. "I'm just a freak!"
"No," she said again, casually as she hopped off the branch and fluttered down to the ground in front of him.
"Then why are you here?" he asked, sniffling and wiping away more tears.
"To bring you your boots back. Duh!" She reached out to grab his hoof but he retracted quickly, though not all the way. She reached out further grabbing hold and pulling it towards her. She looked closely at it for a moment. He looked away, ashamed, but turned back when he felt his boot being fitted over it. Cozy carefully fitted his other boot onto his other hoof. "It looks like those hurt without these, huh."
Tenderhoof adjusted the fit of his boots. "It's my condition. Why we moved out of the clouds," he said softly.
Cozy nodded.
"I'm sorry," said Cozy, equally softly.
"It's ok. It's just something I have to deal with."
"No. I mean... I'm sorry I couldn't help more."
"Oh."
Cozy scooted closer to Tenderhoof, keeping her voice low, looking down at their hooves together. "I've been to Tartarus." She paused for a moment. "Then... I got turned into stone. I'm a bad pony, trying to be good. That's why... why I couldn't fight for you."
"Wait. You're THAT Cozy? The one from the schoolbooks?!"
Cozy slowly looked up from the ground to Tenderhoof. "That's still in the books?"
"The old ones... Wow! That's... That's-" Tenderhoof was at a loss for words.
Cozy frowned.
"I mean... You're not a bad pony, Cozy," he said.
"No!" shouted Cozy. "Not from you. Everypony else, I don't need it from you too--" she said, annoyed and frustrated.
"No, listen to me. You're not a bad pony. You're... You're a badass pony. Cozy Glow. THE Cozy Glow... And I'm frien-- I'm notfriends with her too!" He finally smiled for the first time that afternoon.
Cozy blinked, then turned up a slight smirk. "Yeah... Notfriends." she pat him on the shoulder.
They got up and walked through the park, talking the afternoon away.
"Every pony is born with them, you know. You had them once too."
"Really?" She paused to look at the soft froggy centers of her hooves.
"Yeah. They're supposed to come off when you start walking except... I didn't really start walking so they stayed on. My parents said I would scream and cry whenever I did try walking or standing, so they just carried me, or I flew instead. I grew a little, and they stuck. The clouds were too soft to make them come off, I guess, but they started to hurt more. So my parents got me boots. The doctor said I needed to spend more time on the actual ground or else they might have to do surgery, and that's why we moved down here."
"Oh," said Cozy as she listened intently.
"My parents wanted to give me a fresh start too. Because of the bullies up there. But the ones down here are meaner."
"I wish I could help you more. But I can't get in trouble or I might... go back or... worse."
"It's ok."
They continued to walk and talk until late in the evening before eventually splitting off and heading home.
* * *
Cozy sat alone on the bench outside of Starlight's office. She could Distinctly hear three voices arguing inside. It wasn't a heated debate, though she could tell that nopony was very happy. She swung her rear hooves as they dangled freely from the seat, waiting. Time always seemed to slow down while sitting on that particular bench. She's spent more time on it than she'd care to admit. The voices finished, and the door opened. Cozy quickly sat up straight, looking up to see who would be coming out first.
Neighsay. What was he doing here? he stepped out and silently glared at Cozy and he made his way into the hall before turning and leaving down it. Cozy gulped.
Princess Twilight was next to come out. Cozy looked down in shame, but Twilight gently lifted her chin with a hoof and a warm smile. Cozy could tell it was only a smile on her behalf but she knew they both wanted it to be real. They nodded lightly to each other. Twilight turned, walking partially down the hall before teleporting out in a bright purple poof of princess magic.
"Cozy? You may come in now," called Starlight from her desk.
Cozy got up off the bench and went inside.
Pleasantries were quick, but there was still much ice to be broken as she took a seat in front of Starlight's desk.
"How is he?" asked Starlight.
Cozy shrugged, looking down at the floor.
"He won't talk to counselor Trixie." Cozy didn't respond. "He talks to you, though."
Cozy continued to sit quietly.
Starlight sighed. "Almost half the school is suspended, you may have noticed. ...The pony half. Some are even expelled. Allen is."
Cozy finally broke her silence without looking up from the desk,"Sorry..."
Starlight sighed again. "No cozy. I'm glad. I mean, I'm not glad things turned out this way, but... you did the right thing, getting a grownup, and not fighting. You're not in trouble, Cozy."
"...Ok," said Cozy, softly.
Starlight got up from the desk, pulling the empty seat next to Cozy to sit directly across from her. "Cozy? How are you doing?"
"His hooves... Why he wears the boots. He-"
I know about that, Cozy. ever since he started here. What I didn't know, Cozy was how everypony was treating him when we weren't looking. You should have let us know."
"Sorry."
"No, don't be. Just remember, we can't do anything about it if we don't know about it," said Starlight, reaching forward and patting Cozy on the back. Starlight paused. A thought occurred to her. She got up, turning her back to Cozy as she fiddled with some items on a shelf, "You know, ponies like Allen need to be taught a lesson sometimes. ...A, 'friendship' lesson. One that we can't teach on school grounds."
Cozy finally looked up at Starlight with interest.
"If something were to happen to a pony like Allen, and it didn't happen here, ...and I don't know anything about it. ...There's absolutely nothing I could do. You know?"
"You want me to--"
"You know?" asked Starlight again, turning to face her.
Cozy thought for a moment before nodding slowly, "Yes. I know."
* * *
Earlier.
Starlight was sitting at her desk as she watered her plants and tidied up some. She had already sent for Cozy to stop by after the morning classes. A flash of purple magic and a very angry-looking Twilight appeared in the middle of her office.
"Starlight! What the buck are you doing to my school?!?" shouted Twilight.
Starlight shouted back as she quickly stood up from her chair, "Your school? You may have started it, but I'm finishing it!" She jumped up onto her desk in a defensive stance.
Twilight gasped. "How dare you!" Her horn warmed up, sparkling furiously at the tip.
Starlight jumped down to mere inches from Twilight, lighting up her own horn, and crossing it with Twilight's.
They growled at each other for a moment, Noses pressed. The magic died down as they stared into each other's eyes, building up another kind of magic. They slowly opened their mouths, turning their heads, to slowly go in for a passionate kiss. Closer, closer still...
Twilight was the first to break with laughter, "Ha! You actually would, wouldn't you?"
Starlight smirked a grin as she went back around to her side of the desk, sitting down. "I guess we'll never know if you keep losing now, will we?"
Twilight plopped herself down in the seat in front of the desk, draping herself over as if she had just melted. "What a mess..." she sighed.
"You read my report, huh."
"Is it obvious?" asked Twilight.
"So I take it that's what brings you here today?"
"Neighsay's on his way. I thought you could use some backup."
"Thanks, Twilight. Something tells me I'm gonna need it."
Twilight stretched and sat up straight. "You know, Starlight? Sometimes I wonder... if we're doing the right thing."
"With Cozy?"
"With the school."
There was a knock on the door. Twilight stretched one last time and stood up, making sure her appearance was princess perfect. "Well, here we go," She said.
"Come in," said Starlight.
The door opened, and Neighsay stepped inside.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the encounter dragged on. It was as unpleasant as it was seemingly pointless.
"...Once again, I must state that this never would have happened at an E.E.A. school," Neighsay finally finished his rant. He stood at the desk in front of Twilight as he spoke to Starlight who was sitting and listening patiently.
Starlight looked up at the clock on the wall." Yes, well this is still not an E.E.A. school, and you still have no jurisdiction here."
"Yes, unfortunately, that is the case," said Neighsay. Twilight mouthed his words mockingly behind his back while Starlight struggled to keep from bursting into laughter. "...And I feel I must also warn you about that Cozy Glow. She is nothing but trouble! She would never be admitted to one of my schools, that's for sure."
"Your schools?" asked Twilight, an eyebrow raised.
"Well, the princess and I are both glad that she is attending here, where she is welcome. You, on the other hoof, must have some other matters to attend to if I'm not mistaken," said Starlight.
"Oh, yes," said Twilight. "Very important matters indeed. You should get right on them, now," as she led him to the door.
"Very well, but you both have been warned."
"Yes, warned. We'll take it under advisement," said Starlight, waving bye to him.
Neighsay turned and headed out of the door. Twilight took the opportunity to show a middle feather to the back of his head. Starlight covered a smile with her hoof.
"Starlight," said Twilight. "It was nice seeing you again. Please keep me informed as always. See you at the next Counsel of Friendship? It will be a slumber party!"
"Of course, Twilight. Wouldn't miss it for the world!"
Twilight headed out.
"Cozy? You may come in now."
* * *
Cozy walked down the hall, almost in a daze as she headed to the cafeteria. 'Did she really tell me to... I mean, did she really give me permission to...' she thought to herself. She shook her head and her stomach rumbled. "Nevermind that for now," she said to herself. "Must have food." She stepped into the cafeteria and scanned the crowd for her notfriend. "There you are!"
She pulled up a seat and sat next to him as usual. "Hi, Boots."
"Hi Crazy." he said, as he slid his lunch over.
Cozy pushed the food back, "No, you can keep it today."
Tender pushed it back, "No. You take it. I made it especially for you this time. I uh... I've been watching you eat my lunch, and remembered the parts that you really liked, and the parts that you didn't like. So... you should really like this one all the way through."
"Oh. Thanks?"
Tender smiled, "You're welcome."
A changeling several tables down got up on the table, "Hey look everycreature! Guess who I am!" he said as he transformed into a larger-than-life plate of spaghetti with two meatballs on top. The surrounding students turned and looked at Tenderhoof before bursting into laughter.
Tenderhoof saw and clammed up, frowning, looking down into his lap.
Cozy saw and a fire ignited inside her. Tartarus hath no fury... She slammed down Tender's lunch in front of her, climbed up over the table and marched toward the changeling's direction. She grabbed a utensil off of a tray from a student that stopped in his tracks to make way for her as she stormed through. She pushed him down as she passed anyway. Halfway to the changeling she took to the air at speed. "Hey shapeshifter!" she yelled out as she dove in.
He turned just in time for Cozy to land right on top of the pile of spaghetti.
"Stick a bucking spork in it!" she yelled out, jamming the utensil into one of the meatballs on top.
The changeling cried out as he transformed back into a skittle-colored bug. The spork was nowhere to be seen, but the student was doubled over on his side on top of the table as he kept a very tight cover of his groin, reaching down with his front legs.
Cozy stood rigid, as she stood on the table in front of the downed changeling. Her mane could actually be on fire, she was so hot with rage.
"Cozy?" said Tenderhoof.
Cozy picked up a plastic knife and stared down at the students that had previously laughed, "Who wants seconds?!?" she growled out, wings flared out.
"Cozy!" said Tenderhoof, clopping his boot on the table in front of her.
She shook her head and turned to Tenderhoof. She was still sitting at the table next to her notfriend. She looked over to the changeling's table. A lunchroom monitor had rushed in to scold them.
"Cozy, are you ok?" asked Tenderhoof.
Her wings were up. She looked back to him. "Uh. Yeah... Let's eat outside today, by the tree." She slowly folded her wings back.
Things were much more peaceful outside. They ate quietly together.
Tender turned to Cozy, "...So?"
Cozy said with a mouthful, "Somepony needs to teach that changeling a lesson."
"What? No. My-- Your lunch. How is it?"
Cozy swallowed. "Oh. It's... really good," she said with a smile. "Your best one so far."
"Thank you!" he replied, with an equally large smile.
"Listen, Boots... I'm sorry about Allen."
"Hey, I said it's ok. He's gone now."
"No! It's not. He's just going to be a jerk somewhere else until somepony teaches him a lesson. I'll get him back for you. I promise."
"Cozy... I don't want you getting in trouble just for me. I told you, I'm used to it. It's ok, really."
Cozy just shook her head as she finished the last bite. "I'll get him back. For me too. I got a knife."
* * *
The chase through the neighborhood was a short one. Allen had been caught trying to put the moves on another filly his age, who was clearly not interested. He foalishly cornered himself in an alley. Cozy's shadow loomed large over him as she approached, knife gripped tightly in her teeth as the light glinted off of it.
"What are you going to do to me?" asked Allen in a panic.
"I would take your feathers, except you're not a pegasus. She looked him over with craziness in her eyes. She was uncomfortably close, nearly on top of him, "You're not a unicorn, so no horn. I guess I'm just going to have to cut something else off," she said as she loomed over the cowering colt, his filly-like screams echoed down the alley, but nopony was around to hear him.
* * *
Dinner was quiet. Cozy sat at the table, eating away happily. Astral barely touched her food and just watched Cozy.
"So... How was school?" asked Astral.
"Good," replied Cozy as she continued eating, not stopping to talk.
"...Did anything happen today?"
"I saw Princess Twilight." Cozy had not a care in the world.
"Yeah?"
"She didn't say anything to me, though. She just smiled and then left."
Astral was getting nowhere. Her curious suspicion got the better of her, and she took a peek into Cozy's thoughts.
'Who's a pink pony? I'm a pink pony! Pony, pony, boney baloney. Stoney pony eats macaroni, ain't no phony lecture's droney pony pony mates and moany...'
She quickly tuned out, shaking her head. "Cozy?"
"Yeah?" She kept on eating.
"Cozy... Stop. Look at me."
Cozy put the bowl down. "...What's wrong, Astral?"
"There's something you're not telling me, Cozy," said Astral, sternly.
"Like what?" Cozy tried to play it off with a smile.
Astral rubbed the spot in between her eyes for a moment before sharply asking while pointing to Sandra, "Like WHO's TAIL IS THAT OVER THERE?!?", sounding much more demanding than she wanted to. The stress was getting to her.
"Oh, that's mine."
"No, Cozy! Where did it come from?"
"Allen gave it to me."
Astral rubbed the sides of her head, "Cozy... Why in Equestria would he do that?"
"Because he didn't have any feathers."
Astral's voice began to sound strained, "Cozy? Cozy... Cozy, do I even want to know?"
Cozy shrugged, "Starlight doesn't."
"Cozy... You don't just take a pony's tail."
"It'll grow back. I left the nub thing on."
"Dock."
"yeah, that. It looks really funny, now."
"Oh, Cozy. What am I going to do with you?" Astral was thoroughly defeated.
"Oh! Counselor Trixie's putting on a show this weekend in the park! I was thinking I could go and be a volunteer, and you can use your power to help me mess with her act! In a fun way, not mess it up or anything," said Cozy, excitedly.
Astral sighed, "As fun as that sounds, that's not what I meant."
"Oh. But can we still do that, though?"
"Yes, of course, we will. But Cozy, you need to be careful. I worry about you, a lot. Let the grownups handle the justice."
"I'm older than you, you know."
"Yeah? But only one of us is still ticklish," said Astral as she got out of her seat, taking a menacing step towards the cowering filly.
* * *
"Starlight... My first-period professor thinks I dropped her class because I'm always in here during it. The hall monitor thinks I'm your aid," said Cozy.
"I'll write you a note and talk to them. Cozy... Some strange bit of news came across my desk this morning. Something happened to Allen on his way home yesterday. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
Cozy tensed up some, feeling hot under her own fur. "I uh... Well, I--"
"Because if you didn't, I'd have to just drop it and forget about the whole thing. He's not a student here anymore, after all," said Starlight, casually.
"...Well, I don't think I really know what you're talking about, then, headmare," said Cozy.
"Well, that's that, then. If anypony asks me, it looks like I have nothing to say about it."
Cozy nodded silently.
"He's some other school's problem, he's Neighsay's problem now. Whatever might have happened to him, he's probably learned his lesson. Don't you think?"
"Well... Astral says that Twilight said you could always learn more. 'Any time is a good time to study.'," said Cozy, imitating Twilight's excited teaching voice.
Starlight raised a brow. "Well, Cozy, I know you take your lessons seriously, but a pony like Allen can only learn so much, don't you think? After a while, you're just beating a dead horse, and I don't think anypony wants that."
"Some ponies might." There was a hint of excitement in her voice.
"No, Cozy. I think he's been taught his lesson now."
"Does he need a pop quiz or final exam?"
"Cozy!"
Cozy sounded defeated, "Yes, headmare."