Cozy Glow froze as Starlight eyed her expectantly. “Tell me, still planning on experiencing my rage?”
The light peach-furred pegasus mare stayed still as a statue. She knew the magic building up on Starlight’s horn would hurt, probably more than any other pain she had ever faced. Yet she didn’t care or indicate any intention of moving. From her lips came just two words. “Do it.”
Starlight held nothing back. For the past 25 years, she had kept her emotions bottled up. Refusing to let her friends or romantic interests see her breaking. It had eaten away at her mind this entire time. She had wanted to lash out, to bury everyone around her six feet beneath the loamy soil of Sweet Apple Acres. But no, she had stewed with the rage instead. And now, she held nothing back. “ARRRRRRGH!”
The feathery wings of the pegasus erupted in flames, still she stayed stock still. Her wings remained folded though the pain was immense. “YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN ME?!”
The hooves of Starlight came down again and again. “YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!
CRACK
The sounds of Cozy Glow’s bones snapping could be heard as crimson slowly began to drip down her muzzle. “I DESTROYED THE WORLD! I DEMOLISHED THE LIVES OF THOSE CLOSEST TO ME!
SNAP
The pain was immense, and still Cozy Glow stayed calm. More magical shots slammed into Cozy Glow with tremendous force, though she also managed to notice quite a few missed her as well. Cozy Glow took it with a warm smile. It hurt her, but not as much as the pain written on Starlight’s face.
CRUNCH
Starlight screamed in absolute anguish. “MY MAGIC WAS EVERYTHING TO ME! AND YOU USED IT AGAINST ME! IT WAS, IT WAS-”
Cozy Glow’s legs began to buckle from the impact. The cherished pupil of Twilight’s face changed from one of rage to one of despair; her ears lay back along her skull, and her eyes were shut tightly. Tears began to stream down her face. “It-It was-”
Saying nothing, the pegasus mare just smiled sadly. She could see it. The real Starlight emerging. “It was all I had. I had nothing else; I was abandoned, I was shattered...I started my own path, having no one to guide me. And I found a purpose. But then she showed up; the perfect princess of friendship. I lost everything against Twilight and the girls...and then I took her hoof.”
The voice of the lilac unicorn sounded hollow as if she had been going over it non-stop for the longest time. She half-heartedly stepped on Cozy Glow’s hoof, and the pegasus barely felt it as she watched the shift in Starlight’s mood. The unicorn’s eyes were wide and completely bloodshot. “She told me she understood. But how could she, I hear you asking? How indeed?”
Her tone altered in pitch while she spoke. Lowering and raising at random. Starlight had a crazed look in her eyes as she turned her head, this way and that. As she ranted hysterically, Cozy Glow watched as the crimson dripping from her jaw hit the floor of the empty void and vanished. Still Starlight continued in a deranged fashion. “After I had agreed to try her way of friendship, she took me aside and produced five scrolls. On those scrolls she had detailed each and every thing that would happen to her friends regarding me. Each was about a specific friend. It told of me stealing their cutimarks, though not how. Me capturing them, double diamonds betrayal of them...Everything was written down. The details were absent and when I asked about it…”
Stamping her hoof, Starlight laughed derisively. “She explained about while she knew what and she never knew how. She had shared these details with her friends before they ever reached my town.”
Whirling around Starlight stared mere inches from Cozy’s broken muzzle, into the pegasus’s eyes. “They had known, you know. They had known exactly what awaited them in my town. Yet they trotted in and just let it happen. Oh, I asked ‘em why and each one had the same response. “It’s not our place to manipulate your actions to open your eyes.”
But you! You are a special kind of pony, aren’t you?”
Cozy Glow froze as Starlight’s crazed expression filled her vision. She wasn’t sure what to do, though she noticed her breathing had gotten easier and she could feel her wings again. She attempted to speak. “I-”
“SHUT UP YOU! What was so bad about making me shield to give you a safety from my magic. Why am I so hurt by your betrayal...Oh, I’ll tell you why. You created a feedback loop of my own magic! Using my shield, you drew all magic to it, like a magnet; forcing me to disrupt and dispel it! But you know...that wasn’t so bad as it was clever and frankly I admire that use of cunning. No-”
Starlight smacked her with her hoof on the muzzle. “What really gets me...Is I knew you would. Just like before, her majesty, gave myself and the other five scrolls...each detailed what scummy things we could expect from...YOU.”
Stamping and snorting wildly, Starlight seemed lost in her monologue tirade. “You...You did this!”
Her horn began to glow once more and, as Cozy closed her eyes to endure another barrage, a slight popping sound was heard. Moments later, still eyes closed, Cozy heard the flutter of... Parchment? What? Cozy Glow slowly opened her eyes and was stunned to see a piece of parchment in front of her. “What is-”
“SHUT UP and read it, YOU Hazel spawn!”
Alright, I guess I asked for that one. Looking down, Cozy Glow’s eyes went wide in shock. She wasn’t kidding. It’s all here. My betrayal, trapping them in Tartarus, sealing Starlight. Even using her as a dispel against Equestria. Clearing her throat, which was strangely no longer crushed, Cozy Glow began to read out loud:
Starlight, in exactly 16 days a young pegasus filly named Cozy Glow will attempt treason. She will capture you and trap us in Tartarus. She has plans to use you to create a feedback loop using your own power against you. However, I have no idea how she plans to do this. Be on your guard. -Love, Twilight.
“She knew. We all knew. We just hoped like many other dissenters you would make the right choice. YOU...I...I knew what you would do...I KNEW! It’s your...no...No...It’s my...You Worthless...No...No, it wasn’t your..I was so...arrogant. Forgive...me. I couldn't save you.”
Cozy Glow looked up to Starlight glaring at her as tears streamed down the unicorn’s face. That’s when the pegasus mare understood. It wasn’t her Starlight was mad at. She isn’t getting revenge; she’s lashing out, she’s venting. She blames herself. She needed this meet-up to grant her closure. “Oh Applejack, Dah-ling, you were right, there they are! Yoo-hoo! Starlight Dah-ling!”
Whirling around Cozy Glow saw the five pillars of harmony standing there, grinning. However, there was something strange about their appearance. Applejack wore a holster on her left foreleg and a bandana around her neck. Rarity was wearing full on black leather, torn and stained crimson with splatter. Pinkie had on what looked like engineering goggle and had some strange devices in a saddlebag. Meanwhile, Fluttershy had a few cuts and scars scattered across her body, while Rainbow Dash wore camouflage and a sniper rifle. Aren’t those the outfits from their past lives?
“Looks like our little Sugarcube did a fair number on Cozy, there. Fluttershy, take care of those tears on her face, woulda?”
Before anypony present could so much as blink, Fluttershy had Starlight in a warm hug, causing the unicorn to stop crying in shock. “Hush now, you know better than to attack others. You and I are going to have a long DISCUSSION about your behavior, missy!”
Cozy Glow watched in stunned disbelief as Starlight stood still and lowered her muzzle to the ground as Fluttershy connected a collar and leash to the unicorn. Not knowing what was going on, Cozy Glow spoke up, defending Starlight’s reaction. “She wasn’t doing anything wrong! It’s not like she killed me! Look, it didn't even hurt me!”
Laughing as she and Rainbow shared a glance between them, Applejack nodded. “Yer right she didn’t, not that she could while here anyway."
“How...Why is Fluttershy angry? Why am I here? Am I still dead? What's going on? Why are you wearing the outfits from your past?”
“Hmm...how to answer that...Pinkie what’s yer take?”
Pinkie Pie had appeared to be talking to herself off to the side. Now however, she passed a strange flat and beeping device to show Applejack something. “We got the go ahead, AJ, Twilight says to tell her everything. Oh and also don’t bother her; she needs to and I quote ‘teach that spoiled child of mine a lesson in the dangerous reality of abusing magic.’”
Fluttershy flinched at those words and Rarity and Rainbow looked at AJ. Rainbow Dash’s sadness was apparent in her voice. “She hasn’t forgiven herself, yet, has she?”
Sighing, Applejack pulled forth her cherished revolver and stared at it for a moment, before holstering it once more. “Nah, she hasn’t. We just have to continue supporting her. Maybe one day.”
Smiling at Cozy Glow, Applejack continued. “Perhaps even sooner now. Rainbow how are her wounds, can she fly?”
Rainbow Dash had been examining Cozy Glow’s wings. “Not yet, they haven’t mended yet. I’d say five more minutes.”
As the girls sat to wait for Cozy’s wings to mend, Rarity whispered to Applejack. “Do you know why Twilight is so interested in Cozy Glow?”
Nodding slightly to where only Rarity could see. AJ responded. “She feels she’s the key to letting go, Rar.”
Together the two sat watching a very embarrassed Starlight be forced by Fluttershy, to explain the collar and leash to Cozy Glow; the pegasus listening and trying not to grin. AJ fiddled with her stetson as Rarity spoke, her critical eyes surprisingly soft."We can only hope, Dah-ling."
Placing her hat back on her head, Applejack nodded. “Time will tell.”
***
Starshine lay on her side, trying to understand her situation. An hour ago, Cozy Glow and Starshine crashed through the ceiling of a strange void after she had broken the seal. Alright, that’s why my muscles ache, but why can’t I move or even open my eyes?
Starshine had listened as Cozy Glow and Starlight went off and so now she lay unable to make her own body respond to her will. Her ears picked up the sound of heavy hoofsteps approaching. “I see you don’t listen very well, daughter of mine.”