Modern-day Canterlot seemed to operate in layers that became increasingly obvious as Cozy Glow descended from cloud level. Above the city was relatively clear, something Cozy found strange given how common pegasus air traffic used to be. What she did see, though, were the frequent large, sleek, "winged" shapes zipping through the sky with speed that could give Rainbow Dash herself a run for her money. They appeared to take land on and take off from a "port" of sorts built into the mountain peak overlooking the city. If Cozy had to hazard a guess, the emptiness of the skies was to make way for those things. Stopping on a dime if something crossed their path probably wasn't on the list of their capabilities.
Below the city's skyline, however, things became a bit more familiar. Tons of flyers flutter about here and there. Some on their own, some pulling carts, and even a few in rather official looking garb directing traffic in the busier intersections. Cozy found that she was forced to keep moving with the crowd lest she garner grumbles, glares, and the occasional rude gesture from those forced to move around her. Nothing was allowed to stop moving unless it was in the proper place. To that end, plenty of buildings even had public balconies with cafes or gardens for creatures to touch down and hang out. And that was the other thing: the creatures. You could spot just about every species with wings up here. Ponies were still a fair majority, but the added diversity was a bit unnerving to the filly. It reminded her too much of the day of her defeat.
"Sparky, why are all these creatures here?" Cozy asked as she touched down in a relatively empty garden to spectate the hustle and bustle.
"Traditional barriers to non-equine citizenship were lifted in the year 1014 CE in an unanimous decision by the Council of Friendship. Combined with generally improved diplomatic relationships across the board, emigration both to and from neighboring nations increased drastically in just a few years. In addition, Canterlot is an ideal tourist destination for-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get the idea. Of course they'd invent a whole Council of Friendship just make things more friendly." One detail stuck out, though. CE? They were still recording dates in the Celestial Era after Celestia herself stepped down? "Sparky, what's the current year?"
"It is currently the year 1409 CE."
"...Huh." Cozy stuck that bit of info in the "things to think about later" folder. It was definitely curious, but a curiosity wasn't really worth any further thought, at least not right now. Especially when complications arose as Cozy tried to fly down to the next layer. She hadn't even descended a foot beyond the balcony when Sparky lit up with a shrill ringing sound.
"Warning: traversing the Transit Layer anywhere but a designated crossing is both illegal and highly dangerous. This unit recommends continuing forward forty-six meters and descending the marked crossing there."
"What could be so dangerous about..." Cozy trailed off as she actually took the time to look at what she almost flew into. Whizzing by at high speeds were a multitude of boxy objects, like wagons or train cars, but with no wheels and nothing actually out front pulling. Much like the much faster flying objects above, staying out of their way seemed like the best way to continue living with intact bones. "Ponies fly over all of this? How is that safe?"
"Automated safety field spells activate when a living object enters the proximity of the Transit Layer, ensnaring it and halting its descent. City guards are automatically alerted to the breach and rescue or issue citations as appropriate."
"I guess that wor-" Cozy tried to remark, before being cut off by Sparky's addendum.
"This was deemed more efficient than the original layout in which the Transit Layer was situated above the Flight Layer, as the cars in transit make frequent stops and descents to the Pedestrian Layer to load and unload passengers and cargo, which disrupted citizens in the Flight Layer."
"I didn't ask for a history lesson."
"This unit determined the historical data to be relevant and useful, but can curtail such responses in the future if the user so wishes."
Cozy paused to consider the option for a moment. "No, keep doing what you're doing. Every bit of info helps. Just don't interrupt me again, got it?"
"Response parameters updated."
"That means you got it, right?"
"Affirmative."
Finding the crossing wasn't difficult. Bright white arrows marked buildings and hanging signs leading up to it and directed the split in traffic. The actual passage itself was a glass-walled spiral staircase circling an elevator, presumably for creatures who couldn't walk or climb all that well. Descending the staircase gave Cozy a much better look at the Transit Layer. Seeing the cars from the side and below revealed how oddly their bases were shaped compared to the smooth and angular upper portions. Cozy immediately recognized the design.
"Are those... clouds?"
"Affirmative. Transit cars are primarily pegasus cloud constructs, augmented with solid containment units, and animated with unicorn magic."
"Impressive." Cozy smiled. These kinds of creative innovations were exactly what she wanted to see from this future. The potential of the pony mind was truly astonishing when properly directed.
Eventually, the pegasus reached the ground level, the "Pedestrian Layer," if she recalled Sparky's mention of it correctly. This was finally something truly familiar to her. If you set aside the odd look of the shadows of the towers and layers above being offset by generously placed magical streetlamps, it could pass for a busy street in Manehattan from a more familiar time. Various grounded creatures milled about, visiting shops and stalls that lined the street. Some of the shops even seemed to incorporate or outright borrow classical Canterlot architecture as what could only be assumed to be an aesthetic choice. Sure, you'd get the occasional creature walking alongside and tending to a self-propelled cart, but that at least made sense at first glance.
Is there anything in particular I should be looking for? Cozy wondered as she wandered the street. She didn't have any money yet, but it wouldn't hurt to build a wish-list. Unfortunately, looking up at shop signage left her unaware of the pair of creatures making an awkward diagonal across the street, forcing the more attentive amongst them to stand aside in their wake. Instead, Cozy just strolled right into them. "Oof!"
"Hey! Watch yourself!" the taller of the two, a rather slim looking wingless green dragon barked.
"I don't think she can, drag," the other half of the pair, an icy blue earth pony said. "Not without usin' those fancy Flayer skills of hers. Lookit 'er mane all done up like that. Probably the first time the poor fil's ever touched real grit."
"I... what?" Cozy almost physically recoiled at the assault of new words. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on, though. It's been a few centuries, did you honestly expect the Ponish language to remain untouched? It's just slang. I can handle slang, especially from a couple of punks like them. "Sorry, everycreature, but I'm in an awful hurry, could you please let me go?"
"Drag, what's with this fil? She talks like she's outta some old lantern show," the earth pony asked.
"I 'unno, col, probably just some dumb Flayer trend." The dragon then peered down at Cozy. "Look, just use those Twi-given flappy bits you got there and flitter up home where you belong. Leave the grit to the true Players."
Cozy Glow cracked the biggest, dumbest, most innocent smile in her arsenal. She figured she more or less had a handle on what this pair's problem was. "Oh, I'm sorry, are we playing a game?"
"You for real, fil? If there's a game, you already lost. Now scramble out before we scramble you."
"I guess you're right. I should go back upstairs. I can't wait to see you up there, though, Ms. Dragon. I bet a real Player like yourself could really shake things up for us Flayers."
"What?" The dragon now looked like she was ready to pound Cozy into the dust.
"You've got to be overdue for The Molt, now, right? Once that's all done with, you'll have some absolutely stunning wings of your own! You'll get to soar all day long with the rest of us!"
"Drag..." The earth pony turned to his friend, sounding genuinely hurt. "Is that true? Are you gonna turn into just another Flayer?"
"What? No! ...Maybe? I 'unno, I bailed on my dragon classes, col, you know that!"
"Oh, you're just going to love flying! It's got to be the most freeing experience there is! I wish everycreature could experience it!" Cozy Glow giggled as she landed the final blow, turning to walk around them and disappear into the crowd. "See you in the sky, dragonfly!" she called as the pair's argument melted away into the background noise. As expected, they didn't even glance in her direction as she left, opting to continue their little "heart-to-heart" instead. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Cozy couldn't help but smirk. Construct any sort of tribal barrier, and you may just find yourself on the wrong side of it. You just have to accept all sorts of creatures in the name of friendship and unity, right princess? The filly's ego stroking session was cut rather short, however, as a new interruption came from the door to a nearby shop.
"Psst! Hey, you! Little fil!" A low, rough voice called out. Cozy glanced around and eventually caught sight of another earth pony waving her over from the side of the street. He was a disheveled sort, with a short and messy dark blue mane and a light gray coat, darkened and splotched with soot and oil, especially around the face, where a goggle-shaped imprint of cleanliness still remained, likely from the eyeware now handing from his neck.
"Can I help you?" Cozy asked with ample suspicion as she approached the strange stallion.
"You already have! Heck, you've just helped most of us here on this street!" He gestured to the other creatures manning the shops near his, a few of which nodded and waved back. "We've been trying to figure out a way to deal with those kids for weeks now! They'd claimed this whole block as 'Player turf' and would harass and chase away any customers from up top they laid eyes on. Really bad for business, you know?"
"Uh... huh?" Cozy Glow said, taken aback a bit by the show of gratitude.
"We tried everything we could think of to get rid of them short of starting a fight, but you! You took one look at the brats and just dismantled them without even lifting a hoof! I couldn't let you walk away without giving you a little something to show our gratitude."
"Oh, thanks, Mister..."
"Oh, where are my manners! I am Oiled Gear, proprietor of Mundane Mechanics, Canterlot's premier repair shop for all things complex and un-magical!"
"Un-magical? In this city?" Cozy couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"Laugh all you'd like, but plenty of things around here, from the physical mechanisms in the auto-carts, to the clockwork in your favorite pocket watch, are all constructed on centuries old earth pony engineering principles!" Oiled Gear walked over to a nearby table display and tapped a button on a large, old-fashioned alarm clock sitting there. Its face sprung open to reveal slowly ticking metallic guts. "Magic just makes things move, dear, and there's even ways to do without that if you're clever enough."
"I see..." In the end, Cozy knew Gear was right. This was the kind of pony that would have thrived in and perhaps even relished the world without magic she once sought to create. Perhaps if she had succeeded, then the simple mechanisms on display here might have evolved into something much grander by this point. But that was neither here nor there. As it stood, these gizmos were of little use to her. "Look, Mister Gear, your stuff's great and all, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for."
"Oh, and what might that be?"
The question gave Cozy Glow pause. She quickly realized that she was thinking in too grand of terms, though. Obviously he meant in the "here and now" sense. In the "practical." Just focus on that, and leave the existentialism for later. "I'm... new in town, and just taking a look around. I guess I'm not looking for much of anything at the moment."
"Ah, you must be one of those new transfer students to Celestia's School of Magic! Ever since the princess announced that she was opening it up to anycreature that wanted to attend last year, all sorts have been pouring in these last few days for the new semester. You're the first I've talked to exploring down here, though. Most of them tend to be hoity-toity types who prefer sticking to the towers to ever setting hoof or claw down here in the grit. Hold on a tick! I've got just the thing for you!" The stallion darted back into his shop and began noisily rummaging through drawers behind the counter.
What? Everycreature? But how- Cozy couldn't even finish the bewildered thought before Oiled Gear returned, something hanging from his hoof.
"Here, I want you to have this, on the house! You'll probably have to adjust it a bit so it doesn't bang into your other jewelry, but that should be easy enough." Gear slipped yet another pendant over the filly's neck, this one holding a small, circular, plain brass locket.
"What is it?"
"The clasp's spring-loaded, easy enough to open with one hoof. Go ahead and look inside!"
Sure enough, Cozy just had to tap upwards on the clasp for the locket to pop open, revealing a spinning needle behind glass with numerous painted notches around it. "A compass?"
"So you've seen one before, eh? Most creatures just use magical equivalents nowadays, but I've always found magnetism to be more reliable than spells. More accurate, too! Just remember that the castle is to the north, the mountain and airport are to the south, and your school is to the east. Even a simple point of reference will make your navigation much easier!"
"Wow, Mister Gear, thanks!" Gozy Glow said, hiding disappointment behind enthusiasm. She was pretty sure that Sparky could do everything a compass could do, and more. No point in souring the interaction with unnecessary information, though.
"It's the least I could do for your help today. Consider it a token of goodwill and friendship."
Cozy whinged at the word. She had no need for friendship with somepony she simply didn't care if she saw again. Still, as she said her goodbyes and began to walk away, a small pang of guilt prompted her to say one last thing. "By the way, I'm Cozy Glow! Just to let you put a name to the face. I looking to be pretty big around here someday."
"Well, good luck with that, little fil. I hope you make it! Equestria can always use more smart cookies like you around."
At least we agree on something! Cozy started to hum a little tune as she trotted away. Learning all about the city, putting a couple of losers in their place, and impressing the simple folk in the process. Not bad for her first day awake! "Now Sparky, about that school..."
Twilight Sparkle sighed as she slumped onto the bed in her private quarters. Nothing really ached. She'd hardly had to move or even say much of anything since beginning her day's appointments, after all. Just smile and nod, sign the occasional document and dole out the occasional line of pithy advice. She was used to it, really. What she wasn't used to was cramming so many hours of work into an afternoon with no breaks. This usually only ever happened in the case of a crisis of some kind, and always left her mind in a dull fog afterwards. She'd learned over the years to lean on her skills in meticulous planning to give herself enough alone time to stay sane.
Why couldn't I have just waited and planned out her release day a bit better? she thought, scolding herself. She knew exactly why, though. She'd been mulling over this decision in private for ages. She knew all the ways it could go horribly wrong, which of course had her try to plan for every eventuality, even rehearsing conversations and points of logic to use. She still couldn't go through with it, though. It felt like she was betraying the trust of the former princesses. Like she was disrespecting their judgement and feelings. She couldn't just ask them, either. The very thought sent anxious chills down her spine and made her heart race. Even after all this time, she still felt subordinate to them, like she was just housesitting for the sisters as they took a much needed break. In the end, it was the anniversary of her coronation that pushed her to make the call. The Quadricentennial. The date she tended to keep buried in the history books just so she wouldn't have to look at it. But she always remembered, and this year the weight of the time that had passed and the guilt that had accumulated ended up being too much, and, well...
"Princess Twilight Sparkle," a somewhat distorted voice called from the softly glowing purple gem embedded in her regalia. "This is a reminder that this month's scheduled Council of Friendship meeting is set to begin in one hour."
"Yes, of course." She smiled at the sound of the enchantment's voice. She had more or less sculpted it from memory, and its young and cheerful sound always left her feeling nostalgic for the simpler days. In any case, it was about time to call Cozy Glow back to the castle. This meeting would be important for her to attend. "Auto Spell Zero-One, take a letter."