//------------------------------// // Excerpt 14 // Story: Glow in the Dark // by Shadow Spector //------------------------------// Excerpt 14: Cozy marched up and down the empty hallways. For months now, her mission had been paused to be replaced with one sole goal: survive. That, and to remain hidden so the actual owners of the castle wouldn't realize an additional resident. Times were quiet in the castle. Her life had been just a mix of hiding until nopony was home and then just hanging out when the place was empty. She wanted to continue contributing to her overall goal, but if the ways to go about conquering Equestria weren't perfect, everything she had worked so hard for would go to dust. She inevitably decided to stay safe and remain as careful as possible, especially when in the home of the pony she planned to overthrow. Eventually Cozy marched up to the window to get her daily viewing of civilization, a life she knew she could never fit into. From afar, she spotted several ponies chattering with eachother and laughing as well as fillies spending their times smiling with ponies she assumed to be their parents, causing an inevitable sigh from Cozy as she knew her life, her childhood, was slipping away into nothingness. She knew she had no choice than to continue on her path. The longing filly averted her eyes from the citizens hogging all the luck to look into the distance of the town. At the far end of the city stood the schoolhouse where everything started, causing Cozy to smile at the sight. It was that school that made her realize what she wanted. That competition that opened her eyes. That rude, pink filly that gave her purpose. So much thankfulness to a bully made her not afraid to walk by and get noticed by her if she ever was to travel by that schoolhouse again. It was worth the risk to her. Cozy finally walked away from the window sill to get her mind focused on something more in the present than in the past. She still would not give up on her goal, despite how slow things were moving for her at the time, but without the pony to send the letters to Tirek, she feared that there would be no scheduled time for her to get back on track. She wouldn't give up hope though. She just had to remind herself to last long enough for her to meet the woll-eyed pony again. The faint sound of a magic aura shocked Cozy back into the moment, and she quickly turned her head to the direction of the front door. The sight of the door becoming engulfed in a teal aura made Cozy retreat to a random room of the castle. By her experience, she quickly matched the color of the magic with that of a purple unicorn who also lived in the castle. She had been away for a couple of days with no telling of when she would return. Cozy hid inside the room quietly and gripped her bag tightly against her. After being undiscovered in the castle for so long, she felt the need to carry her bag with her at all times to make sure that nothing was ever found from it. From within the room, Cozy looked around at her new surroundings, the idea slowly dawning on her that it would be the only thing she saw for a while until she was left alone again. From one side of the room hung a calendar that the pink filly quickly became familiar with. She studied the X’s on it to figure out the day. “My 11th birthday was 2 weeks ago.” Cozy became lost in thought again, trying to figure out how long exactly it had been since she began hiding out at the castle to figure out how much time had been wasted already. After multiple failed attempts of locating the precise day she arrived, she removed the calendar from the wall to get a better look at it, but before she could find the answer, the sound of hoofsteps sounded just outside the door. Panicked, Cozy tried rehanging the calendar, but it wouldn't find the hook, resulting in the calendar falling. Cozy tried desperately again, but it wouldn't work, eventually making Cozy hide the calendar in her bag as the sound of the hoofsteps grew even louder. Cozy quickly scurried underneath the bed, remaining motionless as the hoofsteps came closer to the door. Eventually, the door opened and Cozy stared in fear at the lilac hooves that stepped in front of her face. The body of the adult mare collapsed on the bed, almost pressing down on Cozy through the metal springs. Cozy held her breath, worried any sound at all would be enough to give away her position. Throughout her time hiding out, she had never come this close to being seen. She always listened to make sure she was completely alone in the castle before she would begin to look. She could tell her luck was about to run out though. Through the bed, Cozy could hear the voice of the mare. “And to think she didn’t trust me to handle the princesses. I knew what I was doing. You can’t understand a pony’s life until you see what they go through, and that includes their job. What can’t she see about that?” Cozy’s breathing began to grow louder, but she quickly caught herself to steady it again. “Of course she would freak out,” the mare continued. “But I had everything under control. It didn't even take me that long. A day or two. Which was it? I started Wednesday and ended . . .” From above, Cozy could hear the sound of the unicorn’s weight shift. It paused for a moment before the unicorn continued talking, this time in a confused manner. “That’s strange. Didn't I have a calendar there?” The light purple hooves became visible again, hanging over the bed, and Cozy put both hooves to her mouth, watching in fear as they touched the floor once more. Before the mare could investigate further, a voice sounded from down the hall. “Starlight, come quick! I have to show you something.” The mare’s posture turned to the direction of the door before trotting out. Cozy immediately climbed out from under the bed, brushing the dust off of her as she panted from stalling her breath for so long. “She’s going to come back. I can’t be here for that.” Cozy took her last look at the room before looking back at her bag to make sure nothing had fallen out. Not her rook, or her horn as a trophy, or the food she had stolen from the castle. Looking back at the calendar made her realize how much of her life she was missing out on. All of this won’t be a waste when I become ruler. Cozy smirked before closing up her bag to fly out the window. She was thankful for her wings the entire way over the forest. Even though the flight took a little while, the constant sight of unknown creatures below occupied her by keeping her on constant alert. The thought of never finding the end of the forest settled in until she saw her saving grace. Below her, just in eye view, stood what appeared to be a partially destroyed, abandoned castle with little to no trees around it. Safety, she thought before flying over a bridge that went over a small ravine just short of the castle. She stopped at the front of it and traveled through the doorway, taking in the scenery of the old building. Before her was a long and open room that led down to a set of stairs. The stairs divided into two separate staircases leading in opposite directions with a small platform in the center of it all. Hanging from the ceiling directly above the stairs were two long tapestries, one blue with a blue alicorn on it and one yellow with a white alicorn on it. Around the room stood four tall pillars of stone, looking outdated as can be. Cozy took a deep breath. “Home.” From the constant changes in scenery she experienced, it didn't take her long to get settled in at all. She flew to the set of stairs in the back, seating herself in the center portion before removing her saddle-bag, emptying it of its contents one by one. When she got to the skull, she carefully placed it in front of her. “Hey, Troth,” Cozy said, trying not to let her voice break. “I know things have been slow lately . . . but don't worry. I'm not finished yet. Not until I become Empress with you by my side. I made a promise and nothing will keep me from it.” Cozy looked away for a brief moment before returning her gaze back to the fragment she still believed to be her friend. “I miss you . . .” Cozy closed her eyes to take a deep breath, trying to bring herself back to reality, but a mini squeak grabbed her attention. Immediately, she turned to stand guard against the intruder only to see a porcupine-like creature at the front door. Cozy loosened her stance to give a sigh of relief. “Hey there, little guy. What brings you here?” The small creature simply stared at Cozy, tilting its head in a lack of intelligence. “It's been a while since I've gotten to talk to somepo -.” Cozy stopped herself. “Someone. Would you like to be my friend?” Cozy attempted a smile, slowly advancing towards the animal. Immediately though, the creature backed up in fear. “It's okay,” Cozy said, her smile slowly becoming genuine. The creature glanced at the opening of the door behind itself to which 5 other creatures of the same species appeared next to the original, each varying in colors. Before Cozy could even get the chance to grin at the new company, the sound of vicious growls from the animals frightened the filly back deeper into the abandoned castle. “Uh,” Cozy stuttered. “N-nice hedgehog . . .” As if offended, the creatures turned their backs towards the pink pony, aiming the sharp quills on their backs at her. Cozy stared wide-eyed at the threat and watched as a rainstorm of quills began to launch towards her. Instinctively, Cozy launched herself upwards, trying her best to fly to a position above where the quills had been launched. But as soon as the first batch of quills missed their target, a whole new set of quills was already in the process of shooting the pegasus out of the sky. Cozy flinched and dove blindly to the side, rushing behind a crumbly stone pillar right as the quills reached, letting the rest of the projectiles sail past her. She opened her eyes, expecting to be impaled, but upon the miracle of not getting injured yet, she decided to take control of her mind to figure out a way safely out of the mess she had been abruptly put in. Cozy looked around the abandoned castle as yet another batch of the endless quills impaled themselves on the wall behind her. Her eyes stopped when she stared at the sky, the roof completely missing. She began trying to find the closest means of escape, but everywhere surrounding the crumbly pillar had quills shooting out. She needed a distraction. Cozy stared at the crumbly stone pillar in front of her, the only thing keeping her safe at the moment. If what she was planning went wrong, she would lose her safe haven. But if it went right, she would escape, preferably unscathed. She began to hit at the crumbling section, trying to find the right place to get the perfect rock to sail through the air. After multiple hits, it appeared the correct stone was there. The only downside was that every attempt at removing the miniature piece made another stone section attached to it move with it. If enough pieces moved, the entire column could come down on her. She tried again, but each time she tried grabbing the rock section she needed, more began to move, worrying Cozy even more than she already was. She was beginning to run out of ideas when a quill stuck in the side of the stone pillar, just in reach of Cozy to retrieve it without much risk of getting hit by other flying needles. Cozy reached out to take the quill, noticing that the 6 creatures had moved much closer to her safe space and brought more of their friends to help finish the job. At the moment, the hardest thing she was doing was trying not to panic. She forced herself to focus, carefully taking the quill in her hooves without letting it puncture her skin. Slowly and delicately, she brought the quill against the pillar, carving it up like a marble statue. Come on, Cozy. What have you learned? Cozy chose not to acknowledge the creatures that were nearly in her line of sight now. She instead focused on taking out the stone peace carefully. Finally, she removed it, holding the average-sized rock in one hoof. It's not like I haven't done this before. With a steady breath, she wound up the stone piece in her hoof, aiming it at the far end of the castle before throwing the rock with immense force in that direction. With a leap of faith, she bolted upwards in the opposite direction of the stone, looking backwards to see the mini monsters sidetracked by the rock. She turned back to the direction she was flying, trying her best to be clear of any more danger as she flew into the open air. She began flying full speed away only to remember seconds later that all of her belongings were still in the abandoned castle as well as her friend that she had left out moments before getting attacked. “I can't leave them behind,” Cozy said. “I can’t leave her behind.” Cozy scanned herself for quill piercings but didn't find any. Finally, she looked back at the castle to notice the creatures coming back outside, turning towards the flying pegasus before priming themselves for yet another attack. With tears in her eyes, Cozy knew she had no other choice but to fly away. It didn't take as long for Cozy to get back to the big town as it initially did for her to fly away from it. She stopped by a tree at the edge of the city, scanning her surroundings to see if she could possibly find a solution to the infestation she had just encountered. At first glance, there wasn't anything that could help her. The streets were disorganized with equines, decreasing the motivation to find a solution, but Cozy persisted. She took another look around the streets, this time noticing that the ponies became more and more chunked together at an intersection, giving Cozy a short term destination. She began her movement, setting her path to the populated section by flying over the houses, but upon her vantage point over the first building, something caught her eye. In the distance was a nearly normal household except for the fact that a make-shift cupcake with three jumbo-sized candles stood proudly over the top. Naturally, Cozy would've discarded the building, but multiple wagons set up just below it made her think that it would've been her best bet. She set her new mark. Upon arrival, she was surprised at seeing so many ponies gathered around the wagons, exchanging bits for books. It was soon after that Cozy realized every single book bought by the citizens was the exact same one: a horseshoe with a small star on the cover and the same purple star printed much bigger on the back. The books were everywhere: in multiple wagons, in the hooves of multiple ponies, and even pictured on the sides of buildings to advertise them. Cozy proceeded carefully, flying to the ground as to not drag any attention to herself. If there was someone who could direct her to a solution to her problem back home, it was bound to be by one of these business ponies. She traveled by one of the wagons selling the books, gazing at what looked like an endless line of eager ponies. The pony making the transactions looked far too busy to even give Cozy a glance so the lone filly decided to move on to find another wagon. She quickly spotted two in the distance, one of which was selling a book to one stallion as two yellow unicorns waited behind, and the other which seemed to be finishing up with their current last customer. Quickly, Cozy flew to the business wagon before another pony could take her place. Upon arriving, she looked up at the seller and smiled, pretending as if all were fine with the world. “Excuse me, sir. Do you know where I can go to in order to find a pony who can deal with pests?” “No,” the stallion answered abrasively. “This line is for customers. Now either get a book or get lost.” Cozy shrank back at the lack of tact of the stallion before slowly walking away, but the sound of disappointment coming from a pony at the other wagon caught her attention. “What do you mean my brother and I can't purchase a book?” one of the two unicorns standing side by side in blue and white striped vests said. The other unicorn beside the first spoke up right after. “Isn't Princess Twilight selling these books to everypony to help better them in friendship?” “Sorry,” the mare in the wagon said. “But I'm under strict orders from the princess not to sell a journal to either one of you two.” The business pony pulled a string to her right, and a poorly drawn picture of the two unicorns with a red circle and line through it descended from the top of the wagon. “See?” Cozy slowly approached the two yellow unicorns, getting a better look at the confrontation. The two looked nearly identical with the similar looking cutiemarks of apples, except one of the unicorns had a red moustache and the other one didn't. “I am truly disheartened,” the one without a mustache said, putting on a pouty lip. “After all we've been through with her.” “I’ll say, it doesn't make any sense why she regards us this way,” the unicorn with a moustache added. The female pony sighed. “Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn't want you corrupting the journal and exploiting it for bits.” The unicorn with the moustache guffawed. “How in Equestria would we do something like that?” The pony rolled her eyes and checked the line behind the two unicorns, catching sight of Cozy. “Hey, can I help you?” The two unicorns backed away, allowing for Cozy to come up to the shop. “Hello,” Cozy said cautiously, worried about being met the same way as she had been last time. “I'd like to know about how to deal with an infestation.” The pony narrowed her eyes in thought. “What kind of infestation?” “Well, one with hedgehogs with sharp quills that shoot out.” “Hedgehogs don't shoot out quills.” “I saw them do it.” “Well, good for you. I can't help you. Now are you going to buy something?” Cozy narrowed her eyes at the sudden snappiness. “Maybe I'll buy one of the books if you help me out.” “Yeah, no. This is for selling books. Not for advice. Stop wasting my time, and come back when you want a Friendship Journal.” With that note, the business pony pulled down a metal curtain, blocking off sight to Cozy. For ponies selling journals about friendship, these ponies don't seem to be all that friendly, thought Cozy.  “Excuse me,” a voice interrupted Cozy out of her thoughts. Cozy turned to see the two unicorns staring intently down at her. “What?” “My brother and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with that pony. These ‘hedgehogs’ you spoke about, did they vary in color?” Cozy winced skeptically before nodding. “Just what we thought,” the other unicorn continued. “Those weren't hedgehogs, or even porcupines for that matter. Those were dangerous creature known as ‘pukwudgies.’ There quills are very dangerous and enough pricks of them can be fatal.” “Of course we don't have any quarrel with them,” the first unicorn said. “That's because if we ever stumble upon them, we have an easy solution.” The unicorn with the moustache reached inside his vest before pulling out an average-sized black spray can. “With this, pukwudgies won't be a problem for you anymore. They hate the smell of this, and a single spray repels them for up to 7 days. This spray can be all yours for the very simple price of: 600 bits.” Cozy widened her eyes. “No, there's no possible way I could ever pay that.” The other unicorn smirked. “Well we can make it more affordable by dropping the price to 550 bits.” “That's still too much.” “How about 575 bits?” “You're going the wrong way!” The two unicorns exchanged devious looks at Cozy before leaning in closer to her. “Very well,” the moustacheless unicorn began. “We can offer an easier deal for you.” “We will trade you the spray can,” the other one continued, “if you buy a Friendship Journal for my brother and me.” Cozy considered it for a moment until she remembered that she left her bits at the abandoned castle. “I would, but I don't have any bits.” “Oh, that's really too bad,” the first unicorn said. “And to think we were just going to let this spray can go today at such a steal of a deal.” “Or,” Cozy cut in, “you can give me the bits for me to buy the book for you.” “No can do there, little filly. My brother and I make money. We don't just give it away. I'm afraid that this repellent is going to have to go to another deserving customer. But it was nice meeting you.” Cozy was frustrated for only a second before she smirked. “Oh, that's really too bad. And to think that you almost got your hooves on one of Princess Twilight's Friendship Journals. I'm afraid you'll just have to live out the rest of your days dreaming about what it would be like to actually physically have one.” “Nonsense,” the second unicorn laughed. “If we can't get it from you, we’ll just get it from another pony.” The unicorn turned to a random earth pony trotting in the streets holding one of the journals. “Excuse me sir, but could we buy that book off of you for twice the amount of bits that you paid for it?” The pony regarded the unicorns uncomfortably. “Um, the pony who sold the book to me said not to give it to you two.” The pony without the moustache gave a panicked laugh. “What? No. Err, the princess doesn't have to know that you gave me the book.” “I - I don't want to risk anything.” The pony hugged the book close before galloping away. The two unicorns exchanged nervous laughter as Cozy smirked at them. “No worries,” the first unicorn said. “That was just a fluke. We’ll find a braver-.” He was cut off by the sound of a giant tarp getting rolled down the side of a building with a picture of the two unicorns and the words “don’t give a Friendship Journal to these two ponies - Princess Twilight Sparkle” on the bottom. The two stallions’ jaws dropped to the floor, but Cozy was quick to fly in front of them, raising her head higher than their horns. “Golly, that doesn't look too promising, does it?” “No - no worries,” the first stallion stuttered. “We’ll just find another way to get our hooves on the Friendship Journal.” “Well, with the princess taking every measure to make sure that doesn't happen, I'm sure that it's going to be a very long time before you can get one. But I'll wish you goodluck on your failed attempts!” “Wait,” the first stallion said in a defeated tone. “We’ll pay for it.” Cozy gave a cheeky smirk to the unicorns as they each pulled out the bits to give to the filly. She took it gleefully before she flew over to the wagon and banged her hoof on the side. The curtains rolled upwards to reveal the snappy business pony. “Have you finally decided to buy something?” Cozy returned her facial expression to that of innocence. “I'm sorry I wasted your time earlier. Could I please buy one of the books? I've often been told I'm bad at friendship.” “Yeah, whatever. Just give me the bits.” The business pony snatched the bits up before plopping a brand new book on the counter. “Take it. I'm going back on break.” Cozy held the journal in her hooves as the metal curtains came down again. The filly couldn't help but let out a laugh at what had just happened. “And I'm also sorry that all of your efforts to stop these two from getting a journal have been wasted as well.” Cozy returned to the two unicorns with the journal. “First, the repellent.” The yellow unicorns exchanged annoyed looks, but eventually they handed Cozy the black spray bottle. Cozy beamed at the item before thinking to herself. “Thank you,” Cozy said. “But I could also use something to help protect me from the quills shooting out at me.” The unicorns both gasped in anger before the first one spoke up. “That wasn't our deal. Our deal was the spray bottle for the book.” “Yeah,” Cozy agreed, “but your deal just expired. Now if you can give me something I can hold in my hooves to shield me from the shooting quills, then the book’s all yours. For real, this time.” The first unicorn glared at Cozy before his horn lit up in a green aura. Immediately, the book also lit up in the same aura and started to levitate out of Cozy hooves. Immediately, Cozy grabbed back onto it, holding it tight. “No, stop! If you don't let go, I'm going to the princess and telling her that you have found a copy of the book!” The unicorn stopped his magic. “Why would she believe you?” “If she has been trying so hard for you not to get a book, then I'm sure she'll believe anything that suggests she’s failed.” The unicorns growled in anger before the moustacheless unicorn scanned the surroundings. His eyes locked onto something in the distance outside of a building and his horn glowed green once more. In a matter of seconds, the lid to a metal trash can levitated over, dropping right next to Cozy with a clatter. “There, you happy?” he said before immediately glowing his horn once more to take the book. Cozy released her grip of the journal to pick up the metal lid by the handle on the center of the surface. “Nice doing business with you.” Cozy turned to proudly march off with her weapon and shield in her hooves. From behind, she overheard the Suckers. “We did it,” the first unicorn said. “Now how exactly can we exploit this?” “It's best not to rush this gold mine,” the second unicorn replied. “We’ll wait until we can know for sure how to best use this.” Cozy softly chuckled to herself before taking off in the air back over the forest, ready to take back her home. This time, the flight over was the fastest. She gripped her shield in her left hoof and held the repellent in her right hoof. Determination filled her eyes as she once again saw the castle, stopping at the bridge before preparing herself for what was to come. Her head was down as she slowly marched over the bridge, hearing the snarls from the pukwudgies in the distance ahead of her. Before, she had been terrified, but now only anger filled her mind. It was when she reached the end of the bridge that she heard the first quill get launched in her direction. As if on instinct, she hefted up her shield, hearing the needle clang against it before falling to the ground. As if on cue, the sound of multiple quills launched at her, but they weren't enough to stop the filly from getting closer.  Cozy advanced towards the beasts, holding the trash can lid out in front of her like Captain Equestria. By the time the sound of the quills launching became less than a quarter-second apart from the sound of them hitting the trash can lid, Cozy looked up, seeing the army of countless creatures guarding the gates of her residence. Three pukwudgies charged Cozy immediately, trying to get a different angle to shoot at her, but as soon as they got close enough, Cozy bunted the shield forcefully against the group, knocking them aside. Countless growls overtook the area as more creatures rushed the pony, but instead of backing away, Cozy welcomed them with a sly grin before rushing towards them as well. Just before getting to the first bunch of beasts, she jumped into the air, sailing over the creatures with her shield just below to protect her from threats beneath her. The monsters in front of her glared their intimidating looks, but just before they could launch more of their quills, Cozy readied the repellent in her hooves, aiming it at the batch to spray without remorse. The hisses from the invaders filled Cozy’s heart with glee, and she watched as her shield came down at the group she dove into, toppling them. She quickly got to her hooves again, scanning the area for the pukwudgies that were most a threat. She quickly found them baring their backs towards her to fire at her again, but she immediately held her shield up, spraying the repellent behind her to cover her back side. It wasn’t long after that she caught sight of the first set of beasts running away, causing a smirk to come to her face. “Cowards,” she muttered before directing her attention back to the swarm in front of her. She traveled closer to the army of attackers, holding her shield firmly as more and more quills clanged off of them. She concentrated her efforts into a repeated pattern of blocking and spraying, scaring off more and more pukwudgies in the process. She tried to hold her ground, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of groups of creatures going to her left and right to shoot from all three sides, she darted upwards, trying her best to dodge the projectiles. The beasts quickly adapted, aiming up at her section in the sky and causing the filly to rush back over the castle. She dropped down to her haven right as a quill launched itself through her curls. Cozy yelped in fear, fully aware for the first time since her arrival that she was in mortal danger. She rushed to the doors of the castle to hold them shut, trembling at the thought of not being able to leave without getting hurt. The pegasus steadied her breathing. “No. You're going to finish this.” With one final breath, she backed away from the doorway, gripping the bottle and shield in her hooves. Immediately, the doors exploded in a wave of pukwudgies, rushing to kill off an invader. Although the growls of the creatures overtook the room, the sound of Cozy’s heartbeat was louder. She took out her shield, backing farther away from them as she listened for more and more of them to enter. Cozy peeked her head over her shield to watch as the room filled with pukwudgies, and she eyed the doorway to wait for the last ones to enter in. She continued to back away, hearing the hopping of the monsters come closer and closer to her. Eventually, she hit the stairs and found that there was no place left to go. Cozy took one last look at the front door to notice an end to the amount of animals entering in the castle, and she gazed at the sea of infinite pukwudgies staring her down. Come on, Cozy thought. Give me the best you got. The pukwudgies turned to fire their deadly rain of needles. Perfect, Cozy smirked. With one last ditch effort, she launched the spray bottle in the air over the army of animals, pulling her shield over her as she heard hundreds of pukwudgies at once fire their quills into the air. Immediately, the sound of pressure exploded and Cozy watched as the beast repellent spray bottle opened up into the crowd of creatures, splattering them with its contents. The overwhelming shriek of the pukwudgies filled the room as they all rushed for the exit at once, piling out of the castle in hoards. Eventually, Cozy watched from the stairs as the last of the remaining beasts exited, leaving Cozy in safety. Cozy finally caught her breath before smiling. She flew up the stairs to her bag where her friend was still set out, watching the whole thing. Cozy gave a smile to her before digging inside her bag to find the picture Troth had taken of her, setting it out on the top of the stairs. She gave a sigh of relief, turning to her friend and picking her up in a massive hug. Finally, she turned to relax on the staircase, staring out at the empty room. She had never felt so happy to be alone.