//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Escaping from the Talons // Story: Cozy Chronicles // by 5u0myn0n4 //------------------------------// In the previous chapter, an unusual guard assisted in the escape of Cozy Glow from captivity. However, this did not necessarily signify the freedom of Cozy. The guard, Magnolia, told Cozy Glow of her own plan. She proposed the idea of Cozy turning herself in to Twilight Sparkle, in the hopes that she'll go easy, but Cozy turned down the idea, so Magnolia came up with a different idea. Fake Cozy's death, so that they would stop searching for her. Cozy expressed high levels of skepticism of this idea, which is where we left off. The royal guards were in hot pursuit of Cozy. They searched the woods for any lead on the filly convict. "I think they went over here!" a guard said. The guards rushed through the forest. "Keep looking! Leave no stone un-turned!" Gallus commanded. "HELP! HELP!" cried a pony. The guards rushed over to the distressed one. It was Magnolia, one of their guards, and Cozy had overtaken her. "She overcame me! Help!" Magnolia cried. "You shut your yap, guard!" Cozy exclaimed. "AHH!" The guards run up and tackled Cozy. *oof* "I could'a done without the hoofball styled tackle..." Cozy said. "Are you okay? What'd she do to you?" Gallus asked. "She took advantage of me! She overcame me when I let my guard down!" Magnolia said. "You just never learn your lesson, do you?" Gallus said. "Always looking for an opportunity to cause mischief." "You wanna teach this filly a lesson? I have an idea." Mag said. *whisper* Magnolia whispered into Gallus' ear. "Mmm. I like the sound of it." Gallus grinned. "Well, Cozy Glow, before we head to Canterlot and potentially never hear a word from you again, I think you deserve a fair sendoff." Gallus said, smirking. Later that evening: There was an entire stage set up. Cozy was restrained in a big medieval styled restraining clutches. The entire group of royal guards watched from below in the audience. "Okay, now this is excessive." Cozy said. Gallus stood besides Cozy on the stage, and gave out his speech. "I know I said we were in a rush to bring Cozy Glow to Twilight Sparkle, however, I don't see an issue with a little side event." Gallus said. The whole world's a stage. And tonight, was everyone's chance to get back at Cozy Glow. Gallus held a big heavy paddle. The whole thing was Magnolia's idea, but how this was going to help Cozy, it wasn't very clear. "With this paddle, each of you in the audience will get the chance to literally knock her silly." Gallus said. "Now, who would like to step up and smack the Cozy?" he asked. Magnolia and every guard raised their hoof high up. "You there! Step right up!" Gallus exclaimed. Gallus pointed to a different guard. Cozy expressed concern. However, Magnolia cocked her head and winked. False optimism? Or was this part of the plan? The guard walked up to Gallus. He handed them a giant wooden mallet. Cozy gulped. Gallus begun the next part of his speech. "Cozy Glow can hardly considered sane by this point. She has committed treason of the highest level, and sits among some of Equestria's most dastardly villains." Gallus said. "I consider that an accomplishment." Cozy blurted. "With this paddle, you are going to let out all your fury, and the fury of Equestria." he said. "But not too much, save some for the rest of the guards." The guard rolled back the paddle. This better work, Mag. Cozy thought. "Strike fear in her eyes." Gallus said. The pony gazed into Cozy. Cozy braced for impact. "Now strike the feather fiend!" Swing and a *BAM* The guard knocked the wind out of Gallus. The hit sent him flying to the side a good couple feet, knocking him out cold. *gasp* Everyone in the audience gasped. "Uh... oops?" they said. The pony's eyes glowed a distinct green. "Chrysalis?" Cozy said under her breath. "Hey, that's not a guard, it's the Changeling hag!" a guard exclaimed. "Changeling what?! How dare you insult me!" Chrysalis snarled. The guards pulled out their spears, and pointed at Chrysalis. "Woah. Careful where you point those things. You can poke another hole in me." Chrysalis said. "You took out our captain!" "We're not going to let you get away with this!" "If you think I can't take on a group of peons, you're gravely mistaken!" Chrysalis exclaimed. Chrysalis lit up and charged her horn. *pew* She shot beams of magic at the guards to fend them off. The guards held their spears steadfast. Chrysalis flapped her itty bitty wings and flew over. She transformed into a bugbear, and ravaged the scene. "AAH!"* a spear graced the side of Chrysalis. "Chrysali-*oof* Cozy was interrupted when some creature put their grubby talons over her mouth, and slowly whisked her away. Chrysalis returned to normal form as she was brought down by the guards. The royal guards surrounded her, and poised their spears at her. Things seemed bleak, until a dark glimmer of hope came marching through. *stomp* Chrysalis wasn't alone, she had reinforcement in the form of a certain centaur. Upon hearing him come in, Chrysalis grinned an evil grin. "You're all so screwed now." Chrysalis beamed. Tirek knocked down several trees on his way to the area, until he came crashing onto the scene. He opened his mouth, and prepared a large blast of magic. The guards gulped, and braced for the worst. *boom* The fired his blast at the two villains continued to brawl in the area. Meanwhile however, Gallus mysteriously vanished, along with the guard Magnolia. Magnolia, instead of choosing a side, noticed Gallus was gone. Her plan was to replace Cozy Glow with a battered doll to give off the implication that the paddle hit would have killed her, but that didn't go quite to plan. Sure, it was nice that Chrysalis made a surprise appearance but it made things more complicated. She made it to the spot in the dense forest, and met a roadblock. "Stop right there, or I'll hurt Cozy!" Gallus said. Gallus held Cozy at hostage. "You wouldn't hurt a child, would you?" Magnolia asked. "I'll do what I have to in order to protect Equestria from threats like you, Chrysalis." Gallus said. Cozy and Magnolia looked at each other. Sure, let's go with that story. Let him think that you're a changeling. Cozy thought. "No! I'm done pretending. There's no Changeling that stands before you. You've got a real traitor on your talons." Magnolia said. What are you doing, Magby?! You're gonna get us killed! Cozy fumed in her head. "Magnolia?! Seriously!? One of our finest guards? Why have you chosen to side with the enemy?" Gallus asked. "I gotta say, Gallus. I can't follow you anymore. I can't follow anyone willing to capture and torture a child." Magnolia said. "The stage was your idea!" he said. "The stage was a ruse! A ploy that would set Cozy free, and give her the ending she deserves!" she said. "Cozy already got what she deserved!" he said. "She's just a filly! And not just any filly, a kid whose life was robbed from her!" she replied. "She robbed herself when she decided treason!" Gallus said. "She should be as tall and mature as me! But she was robbed of her fillyhood!" she said. "She's evil! She robbed herself when she betrayed us!" he replied. "She needs help!" she exclaimed. "Y'all need to shut up!" Cozy exclaimed. “Think about what you’re doing, Gallus. What happened to protecting friendship?” Mag asked. “I am protecting friendship, by making sure she is under custody. Cozy Glow is a threat, and Equestria is at risk every moment she’s free.” Gallus replied. “That’s a darn shame.” Magnolia drooped. Cozy’s mood dipped. Has Magnolia given up on her? "You got three seconds to drop your spear before I make you." Gallus said. "Careful, Gallus. My speed an precision with this spear is so tight, I could probably strike you before you had a chance to blink." Magnolia said. "Well you better make a decision quick. Three..." Before Gallus could down down any more, disaster would strike. "Look out!" Cozy exclaimed. "AHH!" *BOOM* There was a large explosion in front of them. The smoke soon cleared, revealing that Cozy Glow was... fine! Gallus and Magnolia, less so, but to differing degrees. Tirek had fired the blast, while Chrysalis projected a force field that protected Cozy from the blast. Magnolia was pushed back by the shock wave of the blast. Gallus however was, um, roasted by a direct hit. "Nice shot, Tirek." Cozy said. "This operation was a collaborative effort." Tirek said. "I think I'm getting a hang of these magic spells. And they sure do come in handy." Chrysalis said. Some time later: Magnolia overlooked a roasted Gallus. He wasn't dead, just fainted, and very burnt. The rest of the guards had also been dealt with. "I'm so dead for this..." she thought out loud. Meanwhile, behind her, the villains had a little reunion. "You came back for me!" Cozy said, with emotion. "...Right. Brilliant observation." Chrysalis said. "But why? You already have the completed map. You don't need me anymore." Cozy said. "Uh... well... you see..." Tirek stumbled. "We just so happened to be passing through the area when we saw the royal guards..." Chrysalis said. "And we felt like a good brawl before our next mission." Tirek said. "We happened to have ended up freeing you in the process." Chrysalis said. "Mmm hmm. I see." Cozy smirked. They love me, they just don't wanna admit it. Cozy thought. Magnolia was listening on their conversation. Huh, I guess she did find friends after all. she thought. Granted, she found it in Equestria's biggest villains, but, maybe she is changing... "The truth is we-" Tirek stumbled. "Neeeeeed me?" Cozy smiled. "It wouldn't be a satisfying revenge without you." Chrysalis admitted. "Equestria's biggest villains. Back at it. It's gonna be great." Cozy grinned. "Once the Rainbow of Darkness is ours, the three of us are gonna have so much fun bringing destruction and terror to Equestria." "Well, that does sound a mighty interesting plan of yours. I'd tell Twilight, but I guess I'm a traitor now." Magnolia interjecting, after overhearing their plan. "By betraying the bird, you're now one of us." Cozy grinned. "How about a staged double crossing?" Magnolia suggested. "You steal my magic, and I'll say you guys defeated me." "You know too much for us to simply let you go." Tirek said. "Besides, we wouldn't get much use out of you that way." Cozy said. "Who are you anyway?" Chrysalis asked. "I'm just a unicorn guard who... decided to help. For no real reason." Magnolia replied, closing her lips. "Fair enough. We'll cocoon her in a moment. But for now, let us get back to our usual program." Chrysalis said. "Right, now let's take another look at that map!" Cozy affirmed. They all looked at the map they completed previously. Cozy already marked and pinned the RoD's location, now was a matter of figuring out how to get there. "The Rainbow of Darkness sits somewhere in the middle of the west sea." Cozy said. "In the middle of the water it seems, no land on the map is drawn." Chrysalis said. "If you three are gonna cross the west sea, you're gonna need a boat." Magnolia said. "And I may just happen to have a spare." "You're an odd one Magby. We should discard you, but you've seen too much to let go. You can either spend your time in one of Chryssie's cocoons, or choose a life of treachery and help us." Cozy said. "Hmm. Alright, I choose treachery." Magnolia grinned. To be continued...