Starlight stood at Twilight's door, and listened to the faint voices coming from the other side. She simply couldn't believe what she had done. "What was I thinking?" Starlight thought before proceeding. "How was I going to put her back the way she was? So of course somepony would've eventually figured out what I had done, but then, the statue goes and..."
Starlight thought back to seeing Cozy's salty tears, and shivered. "No, she has to be trying something."
She sighed, and grabbed the door with her magic. "But, then again," she said while waiting before opening the door. "We could use magic to figure that one out... Still, I have to tell Twilight about what's happening with the statue all of the sudden."
She entered the room, and said, "Twilight? We need to..."
It was now in the middle of the day, and Twilight was right in the middle of tending to Spike's wings. This was yet another problem left behind from the most recent catastrophe. His wings had been stretched too far out, and Spike was still recuperating. All things considered, Starlight was at a loss for words upon seeing this.
"Starlight," Twilight said merrily.
"Ouch," Spike said sharply as Twilight gave some pressure to his back. "Oh, hey Starlight."
"Come help me with this," Twilight said.
Starlight giggled sheepishly, and said, "Actually, I thought I'd speak to you in private, Twilight."
Twilight gave Starlight a curious look while holding on tightly to Spike's left wing. "What could be more important than making sure Spike's wings don't twist together?"
Starlight's muzzle scrunched, and she looked around the room nervously before finally letting it out. "Well, uh... Twilight? You know how Cozy Glow's a brat?"
Twilight rolled her eyes, and said, "Ugh, don't remind me." She then realized what Starlight was asking her. "Wait, why are you asking me this?"
Starlight sighed, and said, "I might've... released her..."
Twilight gasped, and asked, "You what?"
"And... then she began acting as if she had lost her memory completely."
With more stress in her voice, Twilight asked, "What?!"
"So," Starlight pressed on. "I decided to turn her back to stone, but then, something bizarre happened." Twilight and Spike's eyes became wider as Starlight told them, "Cozy Glow's statue began to cry... They were real tears."
The room had gone extremely quiet after those words. Twilight just sat there, still loosely holding onto Spike's wing. "What?!" Spike asked with shock.
Twilight seemed completely at a loss as to an explanation, but then, she shook her head, and said, "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute... The statue... was crying? As in... water was coming out of the statue's eyes?"
Starlight simply nodded with a guilty expression. "I think you should just come and see her for yourself." She gulped while looking away, and Twilight got up. As she approached Starlight, she heard her start saying while walking along, "I'm not... really sure if this is one of her tricks or not."
Twilight smiled despite what Starlight had done, and said, "We have a lie detecting spell for that."
Starlight managed to smile for a bit, too, and said, "My thoughts exactly."
Twilight looked back at Spike, and said, "I'll have to tend to your wings another time, Spike. This obviously turned out to be more important than I had anticipated."
Spike kindly waved to her while saying, "It's fine, actually. My wings are feeling better already!" He tried to stand up, but the left wing cramped up, and down he went again. "Ah! Hah," he wheezed in pain before sitting back down. "J-just... hurry back, okay Twilight?"
Twilight nodded at Spike before closing the door, and while they trotted down the halls of Canterlot, Starlight began to think that she had gotten away with her little stunt when Twilight questioned her, "So, are you going to tell me why you freed Cozy Glow in the first place?"
Starlight giggled sheepishly again, and gesturing with a hoof, said, "We don't really have to get into that."
Twilight laughed along, and then said, "Oh, yes... we do, actually."
Trotting through the grass, Twilight checked the sun, and said to Starlight, "Not bad, huh?"
Starlight looked up, and then back at the road they were on. "The sun's position today is perfect, Twilight... Look, I'm sorry for what I've done."
Twilight nodded while frowning, and said, "I know you're sorry. You've said it twenty times already. Just... Starlight? You need to learn how to control your emotions. I know how mad you must've felt at the time, but Cozy Glow is still a filly. Besides, if she really has lost her memories, and if we really do have a chance at reforming her from the ground up, then the last thing you want to do is ruin that first impression."
Starlight sulked, "That's probably already ruined, then."
Sighing, Twilight offered, "Let's just go see her."
The rest of the walk there was mostly silent. When the statue finally came into view, Twilight and Starlight hastened their trot. As Twilight got closer and closer, she'd see that Starlight wasn't lying. The filly made of stone was sobbing, and the grass below was completely drenched.
Again, silence overtook the clearing. All that could be heard was dripping water. Twilight looked at Starlight, and Starlight shrugged. Then, Twilight broke the silence by asking, "What should we do?"
Starlight gave Twilight a confused look, and said, "How in Equestria am I supposed to know?" She then looked at the statue, and said, "I figured that we'd just free her, and use the spell on her, but..."
Twilight looked at Starlight, and asked, "What is it?"
"You think we should call upon... Discord?"
Twilight breathed somewhat nervously, but that proposal didn't seem too bad of a suggestion. However, she shook her head, and said to the statue in particular, "No... It doesn't matter how charismatic Cozy Glow may be. Nopony can get by my lie detector spell." She looked at Starlight, and said, "Discord can explain all of this to us later, but that's only if Cozy Glow really has lost her memory."
While Twilight began using her magic on Cozy, Starlight asked her, "You don't actually think she's telling the truth, do you?"
Twilight looked at Starlight seriously, and asked, "How can you be so sure that something hasn't happened to her?" Starlight didn't answer, and instead, backed away so that Twilight could focus. That's when Twilight said, "I know it's risky, and we're taking a chance by releasing Cozy Glow, but the spell will tell us if she's trying to trick us. I'll even keep using it on her until I feel completely comfortable with whatever she has to say."
The wind blew her mane while she closed her eyes, and as if it were the passing of nature itself, Twilight's mane began to shimmer lightly. She rose from the ground, and unlike Starlight's spell, her's was like a brilliantly white orb of warmth encompassing the entire surrounding. Only Cozy Glow came apart from the rocks that bound the three, and as she stood up while still crying, she looked all around.
Twilight opened her eyes, but her mane stayed glowing for some reason. She hadn't noticed it yet, and Starlight didn't say a word, so Twilight asked the filly while her horn glowed brightly, "Cozy Glow? Do you remember me at all?"
The filly stared with tears trickling from her chin. "I, uh... don't, actually." She huffed nervously after recognizing Starlight, and said, "Please, whatever I've done, I don't mean it!" While Twilight gave Starlight a dissatisfied look, Cozy mentioned, "I don't even know what's going on!"
Twilight looked back at the filly with raised eyebrows. She didn't say anything a first, so Starlight asked the filly, "Do you remember last night?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Then what about anything from before that point? There has to be something you remember other than your name!"
She confessed, "I know... that I'm in Equestria, b-but... that's all! I promise!"
Twilight said sadly, "Starlight..."
"But," Starlight persisted. "You-"
"Starlight," Twilight said forwardly. The fellow unicorn looked back at the Princess, but didn't say anything. Twilight's surprised expression said it all.
Starlight stuttered, "S-she's telling the truth?" After a pause, and with a blink, she asked Twilight, "Are you sure?"
Twilight glanced down at the grass, and said, "That's all she remembers." They three ponies sat together mostly in silence after that. Cozy Glow looked from the Princess to Starlight, and said, "What... did I do exactly?"
Twilight and Starlight didn't answer. Instead, Twilight shut her eyes tightly while gradually getting louder with her call, "Discord!"
Only a moment later, they would see him plummeting to the ground below, striking the dirt head on, and after the impact, Twilight waited for the chaotic being to get himself dug out from the newly formed crater. "Honestly," he commented while yanking his leg free. "I wish Celestia and Luna had come up with a better way for you to summon me. This just feels like they did it because they knew it would irritate me!"
He gave Twilight a polite bow, and waved at Starlight, but then, he saw Cozy Glow. "Oh, yes, and hello... Cozy Glow?!"
"Eh... hehe..." Twilight tried to smile, but her lips turned back into a frown. "You'd better take a seat for this, Discord."
Snapping his fingers, and laying out a sun chair for him to rest upon, he hovered some nice, buttery popcorn to his side, and said darkly, "Oh, this should be good."
They explained the situation to him while every once in a while, Discord would give Cozy Glow a wayward, unsure glance. When finished, all the draconequus would have to say is, "Twilight? Your mane is looking absolutely divine today! Have you dome something different to it recently?"
Twilight gave Discord a confused look, and said, "Huh?"
Starlight also looked at Twilight, and gasped. "H-he's right! Twilight, your mane. It's... shimmering!"
"Or, perhaps," Discord continued to say, "You've done something." His voice seemed sincere. "Something very good."
Twilight huffed, and said, "Something good? Discord, I just took the biggest chance of a lifetime by bringing Cozy back! How is that remotely good?!"
Laughing, Discord explained, "Because you did it for friendship. Don't you see? The statue was crying because they were real, actual tears. Celestia's and Luna's mane don't shine like that because they make it that way!" He latched onto some of Twilight's mane with his furry paw before speaking again. "It's a reflection of their good deeds, and it looks like you've done something grand, Twilight."
He let her go, and Twilight couldn't help but to feel content with herself. "But, that still doesn't explain what happened to Cozy Glow's memories!"
He looked at the filly, stroking his thin beard in deep thought. "She, uh..." He then turned back around to face Starlight and Twilight, and confessed, "I don't actually know!"
At the same time, they both asked Discord stressfully, "WHAT?!"
He giggled, and said, "Well, what I mean to say is... it might be because this spell isn't like the one that's been used on myself. Thanks to my personal touch to the spell, they can't see or hear anything from the outside, and they can't communicate with one another either, but I'm fairly certain that I didn't wipe their minds! That is... memories."
Twilight suggested, "I guess that means we'd have to release one of the others so that we can find out if they're like Cozy."
Discord shook his head, and said, "Mmh, no, actually. See, I can hear them, but they can't hear me. Right now for example, Chrysalis is cursing herself for putting her trust into Tirek and Cozy, and she's still plotting her revenge aimed at you, Twilight, for when she gets out."
Twilight and Starlight blinked at Discord several times, and then, Twilight asked, "So... you don't know how Cozy Glow lost her memory?"
Frowning, he said, "It's just as much of a mystery for me as it is for you. There's an ever so slight chance that my chaotic and unpredictable magic is to blame for this, but that's only if it was left unchecked." He allowed a few sparks of electricity to escape his claw, and stated mostly to Cozy Glow, "That's very unlikely."
Naturally, the filly was barely following along, and asked, "I was turned to stone?" She slowly looked behind her, and saw the statue of Tirek while he cringed downwards at her. Cozy bounded back, and bumped into Twilight while screaming in fear. Burying her muzzle, and hugging Twilight's two front hooves, she told them all, "I don't wanna be turned back to stone! That's the worst thing in the world! Please, you have to believe me! I don't know what any of you are talking about!"
Laying a hoof on the filly's wings, Twilight assured her, "We're not going to turn you back to stone, Cozy Glow. If you don't remember what you did, it just wouldn't be right to still try and punish you for it." With Cozy Glow's mane somewhat undone, she looked up at Twilight while the Princess offered her, "Do you want some ice cream to help cheer you up?"
As they headed for the front gate, even Discord would be surprised to hear Cozy Glow ask, "Ummm... What's ice cream?"