As a new day was dawning in Equestria things looked pretty bleak for the ponies. The source of the magic theft hadn't been discovered, and neither had any leads about who might be behind surfaced. No one dared to say it out loud but many already feared the worst, feared that the magic in Equestria would be lost forever.
And at the School of Friendship, a startling development was complicating matters further. An alarmed looking Sandbar came rushing into the headmare's office, panting heavily as his eyes appeared to have grown several sizes. "Headmare Twilight! Headmare Twilight!"
"What is it, Sandbar?" Twilight inquired of the earth pony colt.
Sandbar paused briefly to catch his breath. "Well, since your brother hasn't come back from... wherever it is he went off to, and since Counselor Starlight's still on the road, you were the first pony I could think of to talk to about this," After taking a deep breath he blurted out. "It's Flash Sentry, he's gone!"
"Gone?! What do you mean gone?! That doesn't seem like him at all." Twilight questioned.
The colt frantically explained. "I saw him last night just briefly. It looked like he was heading to the library, but when I looked again he was already gone."
"I've looked all over the school and the castle," Spike added as he came fluttering in. "When he wasn't at his post this morning I started to worry. But I thought he might have just gotten lost. Now I think something happened to him."
"Or more likely, someone got to him," A familiar voice called out. And then who should come trotting into the room but Chancellor Neighsay himself? "I'm afraid you won't find Flash Sentry anywhere. If my hunch is correct, then the one who silenced him is one of your students. None other than Cozy Glow."
Twilight rose from her desk and pounded a hoof. "Neighsay, what did I tell you about baseless accusations?! I don't know where you got the idea that Cozy Glow could have anything to do with this, but I won't stand for it!"
But Sandbar nervously shuffled his hooves. "Cozy Glow's been acting kind of weird these past few weeks, Headmare Twilight. She's been really rude to my friends and keeps hanging around the library. Every time I approach her she says she's busy with re-shelving or book stacking."
"I'm well aware of that, Sandbar. My brother told me about the horrible things she said. It is odd that she's so elusive, but that could mean anything," Twilight commented. "What would Cozy Glow possibly be up to? And more importantly, how could she possibly be behind something like this?"
Neighsay spoke up. "Please, Princess. I've been gathering intel per the orders of my superiors. Cozy's behavior has certainly attracted my attention," Then he cleared his throat. "I didn't want to tell you this, but she tried to meet with me in secret last night after you were gone. She admitted to nothing, but it was clear from our conversations that she knew more about the magic theft than should be possible. You never told her about it or where your brother galavanted off to when this all began, yet somehow she knew everything."
"So you've been scheming with her?!" Twilight glared at the chancellor. "And spying on my school even though my brother specifically warned you not to?! Give me one good reason why I should trust you after all of that. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn you over to Princess Celestia and expose you. I already have half a mind to do that just now."
The chancellor bowed his head and pleaded. "If you'll allow me, Headmare Twilight. I think there's a way to get Cozy Glow to confess, to reveal what she's been trying to hide. Despite what you may think of me, I would never betray Equestria willingly."
Twilight eyed Neighsay with suspicion. "And what exactly does your plan involve?"
"It's quite simple, actually," Neighsay began. "Though it will require you to stand aside temporarily."
Sometime later, an unaware Cozy Glow happened to trot past the headmare's office and was shocked to see Neighsay sitting at the desk that had belonged to Twilight! "No no no! He's going to ruin everything!" She growled. "I've got to stop him before my master takes over again!"
Neighsay didn't seem the least bit surprised or unnerved as Cozy Glow rushed into the office and closed the door loudly behind him. "Miss Cozy Glow, how nice to see you again. As you can probably guess from the looks of things, I am now running this school. Headmare Twilight apologizes for her absence, but owing to the state of emergency we're in and in the absence of her brother, her assistance is needed in Canterlot to prepare for the worst."
Cozy stepped back a bit and growled, her hooves shaking. "You... you can't do that, Chancellor Dunderhead! This is Headmare Twilight's school, not yours! You just want to turn it into another EEA school so you can get revenge on her for humiliating you!"
"Perhaps, or perhaps I desire something greater. Something beyond your comprehension," Neighsay coldly answered. "No more games, no more excuses! You're hiding something and I want to know what it is! You can either tell me, or you can explain yourselves to the entire student body when I expose you as the traitor. I'd make up my mind quickly if I were you."
Cozy gulped and started to tremble, a nervous sweat trickled down her face. "It's... it's not what you think. I don't have a choice. I have to do what he wants me to do."
"He?" Neighsay questioned as his eyebrows arched upward. But then an awful thought struck him and a knot formed in his stomach as he thought back a nervous gulp. "You can't possibly mean..."
But the chancellor needn't have bothered guessing. Before his very eyes he witnessed a startling change in Cozy's eyes! They seemed to roll back into her head, replaced by a sickly green glow. And it seemed like something was surging through her, making her mane flow. "Sorry, Neighsay, but I'm afraid you too must be silenced. Nopony is going to get between me and what I want. Certainly not the likes of you." Cozy spoke in a deep, raspy voice that seemed to echo throughout the room.
Neighsay did his best to keep from showing any signs of visible fear. "Lord Tirek! I didn't suspect you were involved in this. But how did you manage to trick a filly into siding with you? All communication with Tartarus is strictly forbidden."
Through Cozy's body Tirek simply spoke up. "Cozy Glow is but a means to an end. She has no free will of her own. I am her master, her creator. I brought her into this world, and all I asked in return was for her to set me free. An order that it seems she intends to disobey, thus I must take matters into my own hooves."
"So that's it!" Neighsay realized. "You're the one behind Prince Shining Armor and Flash Sentry's disappearances! You're the one draining all the magic in Equestria! And to think I believed I was just dealing with a filly led astray, or that those other creatures might be involved."
Tirek's voice just cackled as Neighsay was enveloped in a series of chains courtesy of his magic. "Well that's where you were wrong. You're not dealing with the average filly. You're dealing with the high and mighty Lord Tirek, you're soon to be ruler. The comfort of friendship will be but an illusion against the reality of my hardship!"
"You won't get away with this!" Neighsay vowed even as he struggled in vain to break free of his chains. "It may be too late for me, but I know for a fact you will never get out of Tartarus! Prince Shining Armor and his friends will see to that."
But Tirek's voice only laughed and taunted. "I wouldn't be so sure, Chancellor. Surely you must know that without all six stallions present, the Elements of Harmony are useless. And that 'Rainbow Power' they used against me will be useless as well. As for Tartarus, I'll simply tell you what I told the prince: I escaped before, so how do you know I won't do it again? Especially when you still haven't figured out how I did the first time?"
Neighsay's only response was a gulp.
Tirek's voice gave off one last laugh before it replied to the captive chancellor. "Well, I've gotta go now. I have an escape to plan. But I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon. For now, enjoy your prison."
All the captive Neighsay could do was watch as the mind controlled filly who had imprisoned him walked away, and as she did he swore it was possible to see her eyes return to their usual color.
The deposed former chancellor was not alone for long. Barely a minute after Cozy Glow had left, six unlikely creatures entered the headmare's office. He recognized them at once and hung his head in shame. "Oh, it's you six. I suppose you've come here to gloat and rub my imprisonment in my face. Well you might as well go ahead and have your laugh now. Quite soon none of us will have anything to laugh about."
But the six students just stared at the stallion, and Ocellus even asked. "Why would we do that? We're here to rescue you, not make fun of you."
"Really? After I treated five of you so horribly just for being different creatures, and after I briefly suspected the six of you were behind the magic theft?" Neighsay questioned as the students crept closer.
Sandbar protested. "I'm a pony, Chancellor! Why would I want to help drain all the magic from Equestria?"
Neighsay unhappily sighed. "I assume you might be an unwilling participant or that you might have been deceived about their intentions. I see now that it was short sighted and foolish of me, and it blinded me to the real threat lurking just under our noses."
Sandbar grinned. "You're talking about Cozy Glow, aren't you? Well your hunch was correct, she was the culprit. And if it's any consolation, she had us all fooled. Even I didn't think she was that evil."
"She is but a front for an even greater threat, not that it matters," The former chancellor glumly admitted. "And it still doesn't explain why you six are helping me now. You owe me nothing."
Yona answered with a hearty laugh. "Neighsay nasty pony, but now that he meet even nastier pony in Cozy Glow maybe Neighsay learn not to be nasty all the time?"
"Besides, Headmare Twilight believes everyone deserves a second chance. And as Dragon Lady Ember's always fond of saying 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'," Smolder answered as she waved a claw and then flew close to the stallion. "I think I can get those chains off you. Just hold still."
"How are you going to remove them? I doubt your claws are strong enough to break solid metal." The stallion questioned Smolder.
Smolder snorted. "Fire breathing dragon, hello? Now stop wiggling, I don't wanna accidentally torch you." She took a deep breath and concentrated her fire breath on the lock and chains that bound Neighsay captive.
But after about a moment of trying Smolder had to stop and catch her breath. The chains hadn't melted completely and the lock still held Neighsay in place. "Wow! Whatever Cozy Glow tied you up with, it's really strong stuff."
Gallus just grinned as he walked forward. "Well I think you weakened them enough for me to break 'em. You all might wanna step back a bit." He raised up his claws and brought them down hard on the weakened and partially melted chains! The impact was more than enough to shatter them! Neighsay was free once again!
"Thank you, all of you. I know nothing I say can begin to make up for our past misunderstanding, but I hope you'll at least hear me out," Neighsay told the students as he stood up. "Cozy Glow isn't who she seems. You need help."
"What do you mean? She's just a filly. We can totally take her!" Gallus insisted as he put his claws together. "Just give us five minutes with her and we'll make her stop."
Neighsay shook his head. "You don't understand. Cozy Glow is but an extension of Tirek, a puppet with little free will of her own. Her entire purpose was to drain all the magic from Equestria so that Tirek could escape from Tartarus and take over. As we speak the centaur is already hatching a plan to do just that."
Ocellus gulped and began to shudder. "S-so what are we supposed to do?"
Sandbar just grinned. "There's no need to fret, guys! I'm sure Prince Shining Armor and his friends are already on top of it like they always are. They defeated Tirek once and I'm sure they can do it again!"
But Neighsay ominously replied. "I'm afraid that won't be the case this time. It's time you were told the truth. The reason behind the prince's absence..." He paused considerably, as though hesitant to bring himself to say what came next. "...Is because he was tricked into going to Tartarus, and now he's stuck there."
"What?!" The six students all collectively gasped at the same time!
The stallion nodded his head very slowly. "Without the prince the Elements of Harmony are useless. Even if the magic drain can be stopped, it would take an army to stop Tirek from getting what he wants. An army that the princesses will need to recruit."
"But they're in Canterlot! It could take a whole day just to get there on hoof!" Sandbar realized.
However, Neighsay looked down at his robe, more specifically at the medallion that was still around the collar of his outfit. "There is still a way to get word to the princesses in time. I've been using this medallion's powers to keep an eye on the school per Princess Celestia's orders. It was either that or be terminated from my post," He brought a hoof up to the medallion. "Hopefully there should still be enough magic left for one last trip. A trip to warn the princesses and get help."
"And what are we supposed to do?" Gallus questioned.
"I'm afraid I can't help you six with that. You and your headmare, along with your professors and their friends will have to figure out what you'll do without Prince Shining Armor," Neighsay explained. "Even if I can quickly make my case, it will still take a day to bring the army here. By then it may be too late. I'm not sure what you'll do, but you must find a way to at least stall for time." And with that, he conjured up a portal surrounded by a flaming blue aura and disappeared through it as it slammed shut behind him.
Sandbar quickly settled on a course of action. "We've gotta tell Headmare Twilight about this! She's our next best option."