//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Unexpected Aftermath // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 10 ___________________________________________________________ “I was skeptical at first, obviously, but… after hearing them all out, it was hard not to start doubting whether this filly truly is Cozy Glow,” Cadance finishes. She’s just spent the last half hour or so explaining the situation to everyone present. During that time, Bright Mac and Pear Butter had been sticking close, making sure I was okay. Aside from being fawned over like a child, and having to wear this damn inhibitor ring, I’ve been fine. Plus, having to wear this amulet called the Truth Talisman of Tonatiuh isn’t exactly comforting either. It makes whomever is holding or wearing it tell only the truth. You literally cannot lie while in contact with this thing. So far, none of the questions asked of me have been a bad thing, but all it will take is the wrong kind of question and I can blow my cover completely, revealing this world comes from a flippin’ cartoon show. “So… this is Cozy Glow, but also isn’t?” Dash asks, looking very confused as she glances around at the gathered group and then me. “Yep,” I say, deadpan. “Brat used a spell to swap bodies with me shortly before you hit her and Tirek and Cheese Legs with the Rainbow Laser.” Star Swirl frowns skeptically at me. “How can we be sure, 100%? Cozy Glow was quite knowledgeable. It is possible she could’ve used a spell to create false memories within herself to trick herself into believing she isn’t who she is.” I keep my deadpan as I look to the grey stallion. “Okay, now you’re just grasping at straws for ideas as to how I could be her.” Cadance looks around at my allies, including the three yaks. She closes her eyes, frowning. “With all the evidence provided and the fact my daughter seems at ease around her, it does suggest this Autum is telling the truth.” “About time you all got the gist of it all,” a cheery voice says, making my eyes widen, before they narrow. There’s a mighty flash and the Lord of Chaos himself is standing by the throne, looking proud and dapper. “You knew about this the whole time?” Celestia looks to Discord, a very unamused expression on her face, one I’m sharing. Discord waves his claw. “Puh-lease. I may not have had my magic back when the spell was cast, but once I had my magic back I noticed Cozy’s energies were different.” “So, how do you explain the Cozy on the statue?” Rarity asks, cocking an eyebrow. He shrugs. “A fake. Why do you think I asked to help cast the spell on the villains to begin with?” “So… you knew I wasn’t Cozy the whole time and didn’t do anything to help me?!” I yell, glaring. He gives me a slight frown, folding his arms. “If I had just helped you out right away, you wouldn’t have been able to help the Apple parents find that baby sphinx, nor would you have known aside from second hand about Ahuizotl being a good guy, nor helped him stop that pathetic Mojo pony. You needed to forge true bonds if you were going to become the new princess of Equestria.” “Yeah? Well, I…” I pause, cocking an eyebrow in confusion. “New princess? Um, dude, I don’t wanna hang around. I wanna get back to my body as soon as possible so Cozy isn’t in it anymore.” He says, giving me a “You’re being really stupid right now, you know that?” kind of look. “Even if you did return, it would do you no good right now.” Every creature looks around at each other in confusion. “Discord, what do you mean?” Luna asks, looking worried and her being worried makes me worry and I don’t like that. Discord snaps his talons and a massive screen appears in the middle of the room. It has static on it for a few moments, before an image appears on it… and I can’t believe what I’m seeing. It’s clearly me, or rather, Cozy in my body, but she’s fishing alongside some random asiain woman I don’t recongize, though my body looks more ragged and Cozy clearly did a poor job at shaving my face. “Um, what exactly are we looking at here?” Star Swirl asks, looking very confused. Discord chuckles. “After she stole little Autum’s body here, Cozy Glow had nowhere to go. No money, no idea of the whereabouts of Autum’s family, nothing. She remained on the streets for several weeks, traveling through the city and further into the country until she found a boat bound for a country called China.” I blink. “How the flipping,” I glance at Flurry, “hay did Cozy make it all the way to China?!” “Like our Chineigh?” Spur asks, looking worried. Discord nods. “You’d be surprised by the similarities to locations here in our world,” he gives me a knowing wink. “Anyway, shall we contact her for a goodbye?” “I don’t speak much Chinese,” I say, rubbing my chin in thought. “But, as long as some of them speak a little English and I speak in small sentences, I should be able to get something done.” A tutting sound makes me look to Discord. He’s shaking his head, arms folded. “What?” I ask, annoyed. “I’ve been overseas before. Sure, I’ll have more difficulty without my passport, but I know the Chinese authorities would help me if I could get in contact with my family, especially if I get to Hong Kong.” Discord pouts, looking away. “If not for the fact the real Grogar’s magic was used in the spell that switched you, you would be right.” I blink, hesitating. “Huh?” Discord looks very annoyed. “Thanks to Cozy’s unfinished spell, she unintentionally locked that world the moment you both switched bodies. The only reason we can even view it right now is it hasn’t completely been locked off yet, but the window of opportunity is closing fast. It won’t last for more than a few more hours at best. After that… that world will forever be lost.” “Then I need to go back now!” I cry, fear gripping me and I hug the Apple parents and Flurry. “I wish I could stay a little longer, honestly, I do, but if I need to go now I’m going now!” “You misunderstand,” I turn back to Discord… who worries me when I see he’s giving me an apologetic look. “You cannot go back.” I slowly let go of Flurry Heart, turning around, my voice small and weak. “What?” He rubs his arm, looking ashamed. “I’m so sorry. Had I had my magic back shortly after Cozy cast the spell, I could’ve sent you back right away. But, within seconds of the spell being cast, the link to your world she created began to close, even sealing it off. She clearly didn’t want anyone coming after her if they figured out she’d made a switch. “Once I had my magic back and sensed you, I realized the cruel irony of not getting my magic back the moment Grogar’s was taken from the other two. In fact… I got it back a second before the link was sealed too much for me to send you back.” “Wait. So… it’s my fault?” We all turn to Pinkie Pie, who has a horrified look on her face. “What does she mean?” Auhizotl asks, looking confused. “Pinkie had Discord magic for a very short time,” Twilight’s eyes widen. “In that time, Discord had to fly up, use Grogar’s Bewitching Bell to take it back out of her and then return it to himself.” “If… if I hadn’t taken Discord’s magic for those few seconds…” Pinkie’s mane deflates and she slumps to the ground. “Autum’s trapped here because of me.” Fluttershy and Somnambula fly over and start to comfort her. “Now, there’s no way I could send Autum back to her own body,” Discord looks solemnly at me. “Her family think she’s dead, since she never returned to her new home or contacted them. Her wallet was found several weeks after the switch and no one knew where she was.” “How long has it been?” Pear Butter asks, holding me as I slump, feeling numb. Discord looks down, eyes closed. “Five months.” Months? Months? Barely more than a week here and there it’s been months? Discord looks apologetically at me. “I’m sorry. Had I only taken my magic from Pinkie as soon as it started raining chocolate milk without my doing it, I might’ve been able to send you back and none of this would’ve had to happen.” I stare at the pink mare. Part of me wants to hate her. Part of me wants to lash out at Pinkie for her holding things up preventing me from returning… but how can I blame her? She had no idea Cozy had switched bodies with me. She couldn’t have realized her having it for a few seconds would lock me out. But… but if I’m locked out then… My body goes limp in Pear Butter’s hold. “I’m… stuck in this body? Forever?” Discord nods. “The link is sealed too much for me to affect anything in that world directly anymore. Even communication will soon be gone.” He sighs, looking genuinely heartbroken, his voice solemn. “I’m sorry, Autum. I wish there was more I could do.” I just stare out into space for several minutes, not sure how to process this. I’m never going to see my family ever again. I’m going to be trapped in Cozy Glow’s body for the rest of my life, which, if the theory of Alicorns being immortal is true, means all eternity. “Isn’t there somethin’ you can do?” Meadowbrook asks, looking from me to Discord. He looks to her, before looking down dejectedly. “All I can do is offer Autum the chance to say goodbye to her family. I’m afraid that’s all I can manage.” I look up to him, my eyes brimming with tears. “That’s all?” He nods, closing his eyes. “That’s all.” I feel Pear Butter hold me closer and I hug her tighter in return, tears falling down my face, soaking her coat. ___________________________________________________________ “Decent catch,” the woman said, watching as he pulled the net in. “Put away, then clean the nets.” Cozy nodded, not bothering to speak. How has her life become this? How? Five months ago she’d been an all-powerful Alicorn, on the edge of dominating all of Equestria and now look at her, or rather, him. A pathetic, powerless human male who fishes for his meals. Soon as she switched with the pathetic human, she’d learned too late that he had no form of identification on him. Idiot must have lost it somewhere. He’d wandered around the strange concrete city, with no idea where the human fool lived and, judging by the many odd looks he got whenever he tried to talk to the inhabitants of this world, didn’t know anyone in the city, either. He’d spent the next few days traveling on foot, sleeping outside like some homeless bum, having to scavenge food just for a simple meal. After about a week, he’d found his way to a beach, where he eventually found a boat filled with the smell of fish. He’d never eaten fish as a pony, but, other humans did, so he’d had to as well and it tasted fine, he supposed. The smell wasn’t great when they were raw, but it was better than starving in this magicless world. Yeah. This world literally had no magic. Of all the world’s the spell could’ve randomly chosen to switch her with an inhabited of, it had to be a defective human in a world with literally no means of magic. Stowing away on the ship, it had eventually come to this country, so similar to Chineigh, it was creepy. Feeling it was better to stay hidden, he’d travelled the country for a bit, looking for anywhere that would be good to hide, when he stumbled upon this pretty much abandoned town. It was called Houtouwan. It had been mostly abandoned a long time ago, though a handful of humans still lived here. He’d been able to sweet talk his way, despite not speaking much Chinese as they called it in this world, into a place to live, even if it was an old house he had to clean tons of foliage out of first, and was a serious downgrade even from the home he used to have back in Hayseed Swamp and even a job so he could get food… but compared to what he could have had in Equestria, this was pathetic. And serves you right, you heartless bitch! Cozy started, standing up and looking around. That was her voice. But how? Yeah, I see you, Cozy. Serves you right for trying to ruin my life. Cozy looked to the sky, scowling. “It’s you, isn’t it?” Yep, his old voice said back, sounding none too amused. And your little plan didn’t work. I’m not going to pay for your crimes. Discord and my not being a bitch like you has seen to that. His eyes widened. “What?! You mean I went through creating that spell and suffering in this world all this time for absolutely nothing?!” Correct, a different voice said matter of factly. Cozy narrowed his eyes. “Discord?” Yep, the Lord of Chaos replied cheerily. Oh, but don’t mind me. I’ve just been helping your victim say goodbye to their family and letting them know they don’t have to worry about her. Just pretend I’m not here. I despise, you, Cozy Glow, the human in Cozy’s body said, sounding utterly disgusted. Or should I say, Tempo? Cozy’s eyes widened. How in the world did that worthless human learn his real name? Nopony knew it aside from the family he left behind. I’ve never hated any being as much as I do you, his filly voice went on, sounding utterly disgusted. However, I take comfort knowing you’re going to spend the rest of your retched, pathetic life in such a place while I live on in Equestria. “If you don’t like being me so much, switch back with me!” Cozy snarled at the sky. “I’m sure you’d be happier, wouldn’t you?” And let you return to Equestria without suffering any punishment for your crimes? The human laughed coldly. Not a chance. You’ve sentenced yourself to your own punishment, Cozy. Much as part of me thinks you deserve what Tirek and Cheese Legs got, I honestly think this punishment is more fitting. You’ll have to live with what you’ve done, knowing you can never come back here to Equestria, no matter how much you want to or beg any being. This is your life now. Deal with it. “So, why bother contacting me then?” Cozy narrowed his eyes. Your spell had the unintended side effect of sealing off my world, the human replied, sounding sad and angry. Within moments, the window between it and Equestria will close forever. I just wanted you to know that, so you’ll know there is literally no way for you to ever return to this realm. Cozy’s eyes widened. “WHAT?” As for your family, you know, the ones you outright left behind for just for power? The disgust in their voice became deeper. I asked if they wanted to say goodbye, but they’re too heartbroken. The idea that, despite how they were willing to give you their love unconditionally and you threw it away for power? They’re shattered by how little you cared for them. “And I’m supposed to care about those widdle babies feewings being hurt because?” he snarled. Goodbye, Tempo, the human said coldly. Live whatever you have to live for. It’s all you’ll ever have from now on. “What do you mean?” Cozy yelled up to the heavens. There was no answer.