The copies of the young six continued to question and pester young Cozy Glow. She flapped her uninjured wing in annoyance as she turned her attention back to the giant doors, "How do I get out of here??? I'm chained up!"
"Do not worry little pony! Yona and friends will get you out!" The yak assured as she took several steps back and scraped her hoof against the floor, ready to charge once again.
The dragon raised a claw in Yona's way, "Wait! Are you sure banging your head against it over and over is going to do much for you?" Smolder asked, concerned that her friend might just give herself a concussion.
"Maybe not for Yona..." Ocellus considered as she examined one of the holes now closing up, "But maybe for us two? Maybe you and me can get through Smolder!"
"Got to try something! Little pony is in there with fake friends!" Yona huffed as she waited for the go-ahead.
"You go first," Ocellus urged, "I'll go second! If the hole starts to close I can transform into something smaller!"
"Got it." Smolder raised her wings and turned to the door.
Ocellus hovered just behind her draconic friend, "Okay. On three. One... Two... Three!"
Yona abruptly rushed for the giant doors. Another loud BANG resonated throughout the area as she went full force into the crystal-like material. She pulled back to yank out a good chunk of debris with her horns, “Go!"
Smolder had dashed through, throwing herself into the tight opening before the roots of the tree began to close in on it. Ocellus followed after but found herself getting snagged by the Tree itself. The changeling let out a yelp and tried to transform into something smaller like a blue squirrel. Even then though, something was holding her down and keeping her firmly in place. It seems the tree didn't want her to interfere with the test. "Ah! Smolder! You're going to have to get Cozy out yourself! I can't get through..!"
The orange dragon went up to her friend and tugged at the other's small squirrel paws as hard as she could before the roots reached out and started to swipe at Smolder as well. She shouted out in surprise and let go, pulling away just before the tree could snare her too.
"Yona will help!" The yak assured as she went up to Ocellus, tore through some of the branches with her horns, and managed to pull her squirrely friend out and back into the crystal hallways outside of the test. When the two looked up the hole had been completely covered once again... well, except for a small jagged fissure.
"Should Yona try again?" The yak asked.
"No-! I don't think we should break the test more than we already have..." The squirrel squealed in Yona's hooves, "Smolder! Are you alright in there?"
As Ocellus transformed back into her changeling self, Smolder's eye peeked through the crack, "Yeah I'm fine! I'm going to get Cozy, okay? Be back in a moment!"
Ocellus looked up with a concerned expression, "Stay safe, okay?"
"If anything happens, you yell for Yona!"
Smolder briskly nodded at the door before looking back up at the large caverns that hosted Cozy Glow's test. She narrowed her eyes and jumped up into the air to fly over the many steps that took her to the top of a glowing blue platform where a group of seven students and a caged creature now sat.
As Yona and Ocellus stood outside the giant doors their attention suddenly went to the floor as little black spiders began to crawl by their hooves. Ocellus jumped up in surprise and hovered above the clustered arachnids while Yona stood there, confused by their actions.
"What little spider friends doing?" She asked, lowering a hoof so she could give Spindle a lift back onto her shoulder.
Once Spindle hopped back up, it squeaked into the yak's ear, "Your friend is not supposed to be in there."
"Smolder?" Yona questioned, "Smolder can't be in big room with little pony?"
"But why not?" Ocellus turned to Spindle, "Smolder helped me out with my test, why can't she help Cozy?"
The spider seemed to hesitate, "Not sure. The tree however does not like the pegasus. Not one bit."
"Spindle says tree does not like little pony." Yona explained.
"The tree..? So we're..." Ocellus blinked at that. Could they mean the Tree of Harmony itself?
Just as the two were considering this revelation the spiders had caught their attention again. They were suddenly crawling all over the door and making their way to the cracks that were left behind.
"Spiders helping friends?" Yona asked Spindle.
"No. Spiders stopping friend. Lying pony must go through test on her own."
The waves of black spiders began to pour their way into the Tartarus replica. Though luckily for Smolder, the process would be slow since the large cluster had to go through one at a time.
The dragon found herself landing at the top of the stairs being greeted with a laughing old centaur, a cowering Cozy, and the fake young six surrounding her with wide smiles. Smolder wasn't even sure how to help at first. What exactly was Cozy's fear that'd make up a test like this..?
"Hey hey hey! Back off!" Smolder jumped in, shoving a Sandbar and a Silverstream out of the way.
"Back off? You back off!" The other Smolder turned to her original with her fists clenched and her shoulders squared.
"Excuse YOU?"
"Excuse ME!"
"Why I oughta-"
"Not til I oughta first!"
"Can we PLEASE do this later?" Cozy bleated from where she was, "Smolder get Gallus off! He won't let me go!"
Smolder instantly tackled the Gallus copy and both of them went flying off to the side, banging into Tirek's cage, "Run!"
She didn't have to tell the pegasus twice! Cozy instantly hobbled down the stairs in chains and all as she tried to get away from the others as fast as possible. She made it halfway down before the Ocellus clone decided to hop in front of her path, "Where are you going Cozy? Please don't leave! You have to tell us what you think!"
"What you know!" Sandbar urged.
"We want to hear what you have to say!" Silverstream chirped.
"Yona need answers! Tell Yona! Tell Yona!"
"Tell you all what??" Cozy Glow whimpered as the others circled her.
"The truth! The truth! The truth!" They began to constantly chant, "Tell us the truth!"
The orange dragon hopped off of Gallus just as Tirek made a grab for her. Instead of Smolder however, his grasp caught onto the griffin’s leg. The clone let out a screech of surprise as the possibly fake Tirek began to absorb whatever “griffin magic” the clone had. He began to grow bigger, younger-looking, and now had a nice build of muscles to compliment him. The centaur let out a hearty laugh as he began to break through his cage through brute strength alone, “Time is running out, cheaters never win, and trespassers learn their place!”
Smolder was completely shocked by what she was seeing but found herself on the move once again as the other Smolder charged at her from above. She blew fire against her double, managing to knock them right out of the sky, "The truth huh? That's it? Cozy Glow this is a cake walk! Maybe if you're honest with them they'll let you go?"
"I-I... uh..." The pegasus hesitated, her pupils shrinking as she stiffened with fear and uncertainty, "Um..."
"What's the problem Cozy? Tirek is after us, the clones are trying to kick me out, and now there’s spiders pouring in! It's not that difficult, is it?"
"No! It's not difficult at all!" SNAP! Another chain wrapped around her body, firmly holding her wings together. She nearly fell over by how much weight was now dragging her down. The little pegasus let out a cry and covered her face with her hooves.
Smolder jumped and raced down towards Cozy, grabbing a chain and attempting to pull the little filly up with her. No luck. No matter how hard she tugged she just couldn't get the pegasus airborne! The clones weren’t helping either as their smiles turned to frowns once they finally noticed Smolder. So she let go of the heavy chain and hovered above the little pony just before the Yona clone tried to make a reach for her, "It is difficult, isn't it?" She asked again, "If it weren't, you'd already be out of here by now! Is that what your fear is? Telling us the truth? I get that! I'm scared of that as well! But you can do it. If... If I can admit I like cute silly stuff to Ocellus then you can admit whatever's on your mind to me!"
Cozy looked up at Smolder with wide eyes, "S-Smolder?"
Under all the nonstop chanting Smolder's voice could still be heard, "Cozy, you can't keep lying forever! I don't know what it is you're lying about, but clearly if this is your fear then... you haven't been completely honest with us have you?"
The cluster of spiders began to make their way up the staircase. Ocellus considered them for a moment before transforming into a black spider herself. She threw herself into the middle of the crowd and began to make her way through the cracks. This effectively confused the others as they tried to stop her. With her cleverly hidden in their midst however their search ran dry as she continued with the rest making their way into Tartarus.
"It's funny, actually, you had a chance to tell the truth to all these copies earlier but now the real deals are here. I'm sorry if me being here makes it harder but-"
"Truth! Truth! Tell us the truth!" The chanting was becoming louder as they attempted to drown out Smolder.
"This is the only way out now Cozy! Time is running out, we need to leave! You need to tell us what you're thinking!"
"I can't!" Cozy hid under her hooves, "I can't tell you the truth!"
"Why not??"
"Because... Because you'll all hate me! You won't agree with me! I need everything to be perfect- I can't have you knowing what I know! What I... What I have to do!"
The loud clang of a metal bar rang out as Tirek tossed a piece of his cage to the side. His deep laugh made itself known throughout the caverns before the centaur’s attention diverted over to the Smolder clone. She was just starting to get up from the original’s attack when Tirek marched right up to her to collect more magic that a dragon could possibly hold.
"Then at least start small!" Smolder insisted, jumping back into Cozy's view by hovering behind the fake Sandbar, "Take little filly steps. Tell me one true thing that's here. Right now. Right here."
"Th- My... My biggest fear is telling the truth." Poof!The chains around her wings vanished.
"Good! Good, what else?"
"We're in a replica Tartarus." The chain on one of her hind legs? Gone.
Smolder pushed the fake Sandbar out of the way, "You're doing great! Keep going!"
"I don't actually look up to you as a role model but right now- I'm glad you're here." Cozy Glow found herself saying to her own surprise and watched as another chain that wrapped around her hoof soon disappeared.
"Eh, I'm not really the best dragon to look up to anyways." Smolder shrugged, "Okay what's next?"
"The caged creature is a powerful magic-absorbing being named Tirek." Surprisingly nothing happened until Cozy turned her head and spotted a growing Tirek several steps away, “Oh no... the now free powerful magic-absorbing creature is named Tirek, and he’s getting stronger!” Bam! Another chain on her front leg gone.
"Oh no- quick! Think up some more true stuff! We need to leave!” Smolder urged but was soon interrupted by one of the fakes.
"Oh oh oh! How does Tirek know about you?" The Silverstream questioned.
"The fake him, right? In this test? Um. He just did." Cozy Glow answered, but nothing happened. "I guess this test just... makes them know?" She tried again, attempting to be more specific. Again, nothing happened... but at least she wasn't being chained up. Maybe because she was talking about the fake one, not the real one.
"Uh oh. Looks like small pony is keeping more to herself!"
"Can you all NOT crowd her?" Smolder attempted to push the group of clones away again but to no avail. They were staying and they were intensely staring at the little pegasus with plans to continue their rapid interrogation.
Tirek's horns began to curl as he absorbed the fake Smolder's magic. He laughed as he dropped the orange dragon to the ground before flexing his muscles with vigor. Then, after he had a good look at his now amazing physique, he turned his attention to the staircase where the rest of the fake six, the real Smolder, and Cozy now sat. Right smack in the middle of him and the charging army of spiders.
"... You're- you're going to hate me." Cozy whimpered with a lowered head.
"But it's the only way out!" Smolder urged, now looking back and forth between the incoming forces.
"If... If it's the only way out then..." The pegasus shook her head and continued, "Tirek and me are... pen pals. I talked to him through letters. He knows me through that."
Another chain receded, disappearing out of sight from her left front hoof. Just one more to go. The chain around her neck.
"You what-" Smolder blinked in surprise. This little filly is talking to Tirek???
"It's a long story, I'm sorry!"
"Listen, I don't hate you for it right now. I'm just surprised and confused." Smolder assured, "And freaking out right now because every bad possible thing is getting closer!!"
"I'll tell you more if you keep helping me- but only to you!" Cozy insisted with a raised hoof.
"Okay. Fine. Now we need one more truth and- What the?!" Smolder abruptly jumped up in surprise, narrowly avoiding a crowd of black spiders that began to surround her. They chirped and squeaked as they tried to make their way to the dragon through webbing and sticky snares.
Ocellus transformed back into her changeling self and fluttered above the rest of the arachnids. She made her way over to Cozy, "The spiders are trying to catch us with their webs!"
"Then we'll have to avoid them! Just get that last chain off, Cozy! You need to tell a truth!" Smolder hollered before dashing into position, using her flames to scare off the spiders that tried to get too close to Ocellus and herself.
"A truth... Right. A truth." She looked down at her last chain as she contemplated what else she could say.
"Oh! Oh! What do you think about me?" The fake Ocellus asked, making the real Ocellus jump in surprise.
"What can you tell us about magic?"
"Yona curious if small pony have more planned for professors."
"How do you feel about friendship?"
"Or how about me?" The Tirek chuckled as he made his presence known. His hooves heavily fell on each step he climbed down as he made his way to the group, now reaching for another of the fake six.
"The moment I get strong enough, I'll be the most powerful being in Equestria! And you... You will have nothing!"
As Cozy struggled with what to say in the midst of the chaos, Ocellus jumped in so she was the only thing the little pegasus could see, "Hey... It's okay. Your secrets are safe with us, okay? We won't tell any creature. Promise."
"... I- I don't actually think Silverstream is smart."
Boom! The last chain down! Cozy was relieved to find the weight of the chains now gone and happily hopped on her hooves. "Yes!! Now lets get out of here!"
Ocellus was taken aback by that truth Cozy had told her but did not hesitate to pluck up the little pegasus and carry her off just as Tirek slammed his hand down next to them.
"Oh Cozy! You really are playing with fire! Whose to say when I come back... I come back with you left in the dust?" The evil copy cackled before attempting to blast Smolder out of the sky with a beam of orange and black colors.
The pink pegasus abruptly jumped off of the changeling and lunged towards Smolder to ram straight into the orange dragon and push the other out of harm's way. Hah... Why did she do that? The dragon clutched Cozy close to her and looked up at Tirek in surprise then at their exit. It was completely covered with spiders and webs! How in the world were they going to get out of here??
Tirek chuckled and reached over to the real Ocellus, attempting to pluck her right out of the sky. That was when Cozy had enough, "Stop it Tirek!" She yelled out.
"Excuse me? What did you say little pony?" The beast questioned as he turned his attention back to Cozy and Smolder.
"I. Said. Stop it! Leave them alone! I'm your target here! I'm the one this test is for! Why do you keep going after the others?"
There was a significant pause, "Because unlike you Cozy they are too good to be in my presence. While yes, you're weak... You could also prove useful out there. You're a villain. Just. Like. Me. Is that right? Or am I wrong?"
"I-" Cozy hesitated, looking between Ocellus and Smolder, "I..."
The centaur laughed out, "You can't even give me a proper response! I will let you decide then. Do you want to leave or not?" He questioned before reaching for Ocellus once again.
"Cozy listen to me," Smolder began, "I don't know the history between you and him but you already show that you're concerned about us. He isn't. Whatever it is you have to say, we understand that you had to say it. It's part of the test... we won't hate you for it, okay?"
"Yes you will..." Cozy muttered out before raising her voice as loud as possible for Tirek to now hear, "Because you're right Tirek! I'm a bad pony!"
The creature paused, now turning its attention over to Cozy once again.
"I lied to and I manipulated every pony and creature around me! I caused disputes. I caused fights. I caused arguments. I did that all on purpose to make things go my way! I look up to you, Tirek, because I want power just like you! You're my teacher... and I'm your prodigy..." The little pegasus spilled out, her exhaustion making itself more known as she did... but a strange weight also lifted off of her shoulders. One she didn't notice before.
Tirek seemed to perk up in alarm as he began to shrink, "What? NO!"
The trio blinked at one another before Cozy decided to continue, "I wrote to you out of curiosity! When you responded I kept writing! We're pen pals, Tirek! You taught me everything there is to know about power-absorbing magic! You answered my hundreds and hundreds of questions I had!"
"Stop! You're a lying filly! That's all you'll ever be!"
"Well what if for once I wanted to tell the truth?!" The pegasus shouted, causing Tirek- now frail and old- to fall over in surprise. He looked to the fake six and charged for them, attempting to steal their magic away as well, but instead was thrown back by an invisible force and tossed back into his cage where he belongs. The fake Smolder and Gallus got it up with smiles on their faces before disappearing in a flash of light. Soon, the rest of the fake six followed suit. Disappearing as well as they made their leave.
A loud noise was then produced from the door. It sounded like grinding stone and invisible gears. The process was slow but they could already spot Yona on the other side in the crystal-like hallways outside of the test.
"Spider friends! Join Yona back in hallway, other friends will be out soon!" She assured, convincing the rest of the black spiders to make their way back outside the test with their webs slowly falling apart behind them.
The trio sat in the air for a silent moment with their gaze to the door before finally looking at one another.
"Wow, you don't think Silverstream is smart? That's very rude!" Smolder commented but couldn't help a small smirk, "Sorry- I'm not saying I agree with Cozy I just think it's hilarious that you struggled so much just to tell us that! I think that shows just how much you care about our feelings at least."
"That's still a lot to unpack though..." Ocellus muttered out, "You... You teamed up with Tirek? You're his student?"
"... Yes. I am." The pegasus averted her eyes elsewhere, "I was just curious at first. I didn't think he'd actually respond... but when he did, I kept writing. Kept learning more. I... I wanted to be as powerful as he was."
"So you went power hungry, huh?" Smolder asked with a raised brow, "Well we're going to have to put a stop to that! No little filly villains in this school on my watch no thank you!" The dragon playfully noogied the villain-to-be, causing a few surprised noises from the pegasus.
"You have to stop writing to Tirek." Ocellus considered seriously, "And... And we really need to talk about this-"
"Friends!!" Yona yelled out from the doorway.
"-Later..." The changeling sighed before making her way to the giant double doors, "We're running out of time. We need to leave."
"Agreed! Come on Cozy. And don't worry- we won't tell the others yet. We'll talk to the professors first and when you're ready... then you can tell every creature else, okay?" Smolder assured.
"... Okay."
The trio made their way through the large opening and threw themselves onto Yona. Ocellus and Smolder hugged her while Cozy hesitated. However, as she glanced back at the fake Tartarus behind her she couldn't help but take notice of how different she felt. With something new now in mind she decided to join in on the hug as well.
After their quick embrace Smolder urged them to continue, "Okay! Lets get out of here! Hopefully the others will be there by now!"
"Right!" Ocellus set Cozy on top of Yona's back and the four headed off together through the tunnels underneath their school.
"Did you just tell our professors you were DISAPPOINTED IN THEM?" Silverstream questioned Sandbar after Gallus and her had managed to find him together.
"Something tells me those weren't actually our professors," The green earth pony smiled, glad to have gotten through his frankly tiring test. The two apparitions of Rarity and Rainbow Dash made him run through the hallways all night!
"Besides! They tried to get between me and my friends! Hey, where are the others by the way?"
"Not sure. Maybe Smolder found them by now. Lets see if we can meet them back up at the grate." Gallus offered before running off through the halls again with Silverstream and Sandbar by his side.
After Gallus had helped Silverstream fight off the Storm King through the power of words they had gone to the grate to wait for the others. After several minutes of nothing however the two decided to go out and see if they would happen to run into any one else during their test. Luckily for them they ran into Sandbar who had just completed his by fighting off the professors in order to go look for his friends once again.
After some backtracking it wasn't long before the three made their way back. Sandbar spotted the closing grate and ran atop the branches that grew up to it. He pushed against the growing roots and attempted to drive them apart, "It's closing!!"
At that moment the other half of the group appeared, "There you all are!" Silverstream jumped up besides Ocellus and threw her arms around the other, hugging the changeling close to her.
"What's with the spider army??" Gallus questioned, looking down at Yona and her new friends.
"Yona face fears and make new friends!" She held up a black spider, "This is Spindle!"
"That's great and all- but the grate's about to be sealed off!" Smolder piped up before attempting to help Sandbar dig through the roots as well.
Cozy let out a gasp and pointed upwards as the glowing, sparkling apparition of their headmare appeared once again, "Look!"
Sandbar turned and was the first to address her, "You! You're not headmare Twilight are you?" He stomped his hoof down onto the branch.
The little pink pegasus felt that it was obvious by now but consciously noticed she was calling Sandbar stupid. For some reason, this emerging thought almost made her feel... guilty. She tried to ignore it as her eyes stayed glued on to the glowing Twilight who responded with a shake of her head and a simple smile plastered on her face.
"You're the Tree of Harmony!" Ocellus blurted out.
The luminous figure nodded.
"The Tree of Harmony turned into a sparkly version of our headmare to talk to us..?" Silverstream questioned with a baffled expression, "Did I miss a chapter in class?"
"Like all living things... I change as I grow. As I have grown, so have my abilities. As you have grown, so have your thoughts on one another." The apparition went on to say.
"I'm a bit rusty on pony history..." Gallus began in a calm tone at first, "But SINCE WHEN does the Tree of Harmony trap creatures in a cave with their biggest fears??"
"You chose what you saw in my roots... Not me." The apparition pointed out to Gallus before turning its head over to the rest of the group, "Though these tests were difficult for a reason. To test your friendship and the truth. You were more concerned with each other's well-being than your own. You were strong when your friends were weak. You let each other in and showed that you would be there for each other no matter what. Friendship is in your nature."
A flash of light then brightened the caverns and surrounded the group. Magic danced across their eyes as a loud noise was heard just behind them. When they all looked up they would see the roots of the tree uncovering the grate to allow the group their exit...
However, the gleaming apparition of Twilight was still there. She gently made her way to the cavern floor where her hooves clicked against the gleaming stone cold ground.
"There is still one thing I wish to share before you leave." The illusion continued in her robotic voice, "A concern that needs to be known."
Cozy stiffened and tried to hide behind Yona's mane.
"What is it?" Sandbar wanted nothing more but to leave and go to bed. The way the Tree of Harmony spoke however made the situation sound more dire and serious. Something he and the others should definitely take into consideration.
"I'm afraid that one of you from this group, if she decides to continue down a path, is an endangerment to friendship." The Twilight turned her blank gaze to Cozy Glow.
The little pegasus gulped but kept quiet.
Smolder perked up at this and looked over at Ocellus who gave her a worried glance as well.
"I can not allow something as evident to go unchecked. Your mind is troubled with conquest and control little filly. Why?"
"..." Cozy averted her gaze from the rest of the young six. They were staring and The Tree of Harmony was not letting up! It wanted her to speak!
"Cozy Glow???" A puzzled Silverstream flew up to the little pony, "This one?? But she's so nice! And kind and caring!"
"But she is not honest." The apparition continued, "And she craves my power."
"I don't believe that!" Silverstream crossed her arms as she stood firmly next to Yona and Cozy.
"I... I don't think you're very smart, Silverstream." Cozy Glow suddenly found herself saying as she pulled herself off of Yona's back.
The hippogriff blinked at this, "What?!"
"Earlier in my own test... I lied to a copy of you and said I thought you were really smart. I got punished for it. So I had to tell the truth, and I'm telling it to you now. I'm sorry. But what I actually think of you all isn't... what I show." Cozy Glow's ears fell back as she looked down at the ground.
"There's more than just that though, and you know this Cozy." The Twilight walked up to the little pegasus and raised the filly's chin with its hoof, "Some of them know what you know now. So it's up to you on how you want to go about this. Will you be honest with them? Or will you continue as a liar? Will you let them be your friend? Will you let them help?"
Cozy hesitated, unsure how to respond... "I... I don't know."
"Ah. You are exhausted." The figure decided, "Then you will have time to decide. However..."
Smolder and Ocellus perked up as the Tree's attention went up to them instead.
"All I ask of you now is to help. Help the little filly and let her in as a friend."
Then just like that, the vision of their Twilight vanished in a spark of blinding light.
Everyone stood there staring down at Cozy Glow. There seemed to be a tense few moment before Sandbar let out a sigh and gestured for everyone to follow him up out of the grate.
As they left, Gallus shook his head in tired disbelief, "I can't believe that all just happened."
The group finally found themselves back in the library. They sighed, relieved... but Silverstream looked troubled and upset. Cozy saw this and walked up to the hippogriff,
"Um... Silverstream? I'm- I'm sorry about that. I wish I never said that but... I'm not as good as you think I am. I'm not as innocent either. I just wanted to prove that to you. I'm not sure why I wanted to I just... I just did. But I still shouldn't have said that. I didn't want to say it because-"
"Because you didn't want to hurt my feelings?" Silverstream asked with a small smile, "It's okay. I get it. Still hurts but I understand some of us need to keep some things to ourselves sometimes. Like... how I think your hair looks like a bunch of cinnamon rolls glued together with cotton candy..!"
"Wha-? That's just mean!" Cozy argued with a hurt glare but then gave off a cheerfully genuine giggle, "But uh- I guess I deserved that."
"So... Should we tell somepony about the giant magical hole in the library?" Ocellus asked just before a root closed the gate behind them.
"Yeah, we have to tell our professors about this!" Sandbar insisted, "They won't believe what-
Cozy Glow suddenly felt the urge to interrupt, "You can't!"
"Why not?" Yona turned to the little pegasus.
"Because... Because-" Cozy hesitated as she spotted Smolder's stare, "I... I don't want them to know. Not only might I get suspended or expelled but..."
Smolder crossed her arms, "We're telling them." The dragon insisted.
"But..."
"Nope. You heard the tree. It's time to start being honest. So, we're going to the professors and-" Yawn... "We're going to tell them everything, okay? After we talk, too... if that makes you feel better..."
"We can talk to them later..." Ocellus muttered on wobbly legs, "I'm too tired right now..."
"Yeah me too... but we can't go to sleep now, we'll miss the test!" Sandbar groaned in realization.
Gasp! "The test! I almost forgot!" Gallus flapped his wings in surprise before slowly lowering himself onto the ground, exhausted.
The changeling let out a tired yawn, "We're all going to fail..."
Slowly but surely each member of the young six found themselves curling up next to one another on the library floor as they collapsed in exhaustion. Cozy Glow wanted to say more but found herself too burned out as well. Her body was sore from the heavy chains.
She shook her head and found herself joining Ocellus and Smolder in a cuddle pile with Yona, "Maybe we can get an extension..." The little pegasus murmured as her eyes drooped close, "I'm sure life-threatening friendship-learning harmony stuff counts as a good excuse for... for missing a test..."
"Yeah- that'd make sense... That'd be nice..." Sandbar drowsed as he dropped down besides Gallus and Silverstream.
"I'm... I'm sorry..." Cozy muttered out before dozing off, falling asleep alongside the rest of the young six.
As the group peacefully slept through the morning, the glow within the grate would gleam with a soft blue glimmer. Hopefully they'll all find new harmony after today.