It was almost the end of the class period for Twilight Sparkle's course on the history of friendships throughout Equestria. Many of her students had either dozed off or were not paying attention, but she continued to lecture, talking about the Tree of Harmony. "The Tree of Harmony remains one of the most powerful sources of magic known to all of ponydom. And though it has been at the 'root' magic and friendship from the moment it was planted, its ways are mysterious. Almost as if it has a mind of its own."
Smolder snorted at such a suggestion. "Mind? Please, it's just a tree. Trees don't have minds."
But Twilight shook her head. "You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss this tree. It's a tree that bore the Elements of Harmony that once helped to defend this land. And later, it repelled an invading forest twice and even grew a castle. A castle that I just so happen to live in." She said the last part with a bit of a wink.
Silverstream shot up a paw. "Wait. Was all of this before or after Discord made chocolate rain?"
"After. Try to keep up." Cozy Glow whispered to the hippogriff.
Meanwhile, Gallus groaned and put a claw to his forehead. "I'm never gonna learn pony history! It's all so complicated!"
Sandbar tried to reassure the griffon. "Hey, don't worry. You'll learn it eventually. I know it's a lot to take in at first."
Just then, the bell rang. Twilight's class was done. But as the students got up to leave the young alicorn informed them all. "You can all show me what you've learned on tomorrow's test: 'Friendship's Effect on the Course of Equestrian History'," Several of her students groaned as she told them. "Remember! Study groups are both fun and effective! But you should try to find a method that works best for you."
Many students went on to their next class without a word, but Sandbar and his friends decided to hang out near the fountain. "Hey, Gallus, you wanna study together with us after school?" He offered. "Ocellus says she has a really great idea to make studying fun."
But Gallus only rolled his eyes. "Yeah, her idea of fun is reading the dictionary in alphabetical order. This is Equestria! If you want the real scoop, then there's only one place to go," He strolled right up to a nearby tree and pretended to plead with it. "Hello, oh maaaaagical Equestrian tree! Can you tell me everything I need to know about friendship? I'd really appreciate it." The tree gave no reply.
Sandbar let out a groan but many of the other students laughed.
"You really should give my idea a chance," Ocellus proposed. "Though I have to make sure the host is on board."
"You're not taking no for an answer, are you?" Gallus questioned, and groaned when the changeling confirmed his suspicions. "Fine, I guess it can't hurt to try. Doubt it'll be a big help, though." But while he didn't know it at the time, Gallus was wrong about Ocellus' idea. It was going to work better than even she might have expected, and would lead to a surprising outcome.
The planed study group decided to meet in the library once all classes had finished for the day. Ocellus was the last one to arrive, and she seemed nearly out of breath. "Sorry," She apologized. "It took forever to get a chance to talk to the host. He said he'll do it, but he's got some errands to run first."
"Who's 'he'?" Smolder bluntly questioned. "And what's all this about a host? Why do we need one if we're just studying?"
Ocellus gave a wink and a smile. "Well actually, I was thinking we could do something a little different besides just the usual studying. I thought we could make a game out of it, a trivia contest. I based off of the trivia trots that I hear Headmare Twilight always participates in."
Silverstream excitedly chirped! "Ooh! Sounds like fun! How does it work?"
"Well," Ocellus explained. "We form teams of two, the questions are chosen at random from different categories, and we each try to be the first to buzz in with the correct answer," She demonstrated by pressing on a small bell, making it ding. "Whoever buzzes in gets to answer the question. If they get it right they get a point, and whoever gets the most points when the contest is over wins."
Gallus only questioned. "What does the winner get?"
Ocellus blushed a bit. "I didn't think there needed to be a reward for the winner. I thought just having the most knowledge about what was on the test was reward enough.
Yona giggled. "Yona not care about reward. Yona just want to help friends do well on test."
"You still haven't told us who the host is, Ocellus," Sandbar noticed. "I take it it's somecreature we're already familiar with?"
The changeling nodded in confirmation. "You'll see when he gets here. In the meantime, though, why don't we have a little bit of a practice run?"
"Does that mean we have to pick teams now? Because I'm not sure I want to really partner up with anyone." Smolder not so subtly snorted.
"We can always change the teams for the real contest if they don't work out," Ocellus offered. "But first we need to get the actual desks for each team set up. Then we'll take turns quizzing each other and keep track of who gets the most right."
The griffon just sighed. "Makes about as much sense as anything else, but I guess I don't have much to lose."
So the six students set up three tables in a corner of the library and placed a small bell on each. A fourth table was set up for the still unknown host alongside a bowl that contained slips of paper. And on each of the remaining tables was a tally sheet to indicate the score.
The teams for the practice run consisted of Sandbar and Ocellus, Gallus and Smolder, and Yona and Silverstream.
But Sandbar and Ocellus seemed to dominate the practice run, the other teams seemed to get every question that was asked of them wrong.
"So, the Elements of Harmony grew the Tree of Harmony?" Gallus uncertainly asked after getting yet another question wrong (he had yet to get a single one right).
Sandbar and Ocellus both groaned as Sandbar tried to explain! "No! The Pillars of Legend grew the tree."
"Then the tree grew the elements," Ocellus added. "And then later the box with the six locks."
And Sandbar chimed in. "But our professors found the six keys and unlocked the chest, which is how Headmare Twilight got her castle. The map came a little later."
Gallus just put a claw to his forehead. "I'm so confused and so gonna fail. I swear I'll never understand any of this, it gets more and more confusing the more I try to understand it."
Smolder ribbed Gallus hard. "Hey, that's the kind of talk I don't wanna hear! I'm not doing much better than you are now, but at least I'm trying to make an effort," Then she looked to the other tables, noticing an absence at table three. "Hey, where's SIlverstream?"
Silverstream had flown away to pick up a book that had caught her attention. "Hey, you guys!" She excitedly called as she returned with the book in her claws. "Check this out! This library has everything!"
Gallus eyed the book and immediately groaned. "That's not going to help us, it's just a plumbing diagram about how to fix a sink."
"What do sinks have to do with Equestrian history?" Sandbar questioned even though he needn't have asked.
The hippogriff gave the obvious answer! "Nothing! I just can't believe that's how sinks work! Indoor plumbing is so fascinating, I wish we had it back on Mount Aris!" Then she asked. "Hey, where's Yona?"
"Still at the table where you left her." Ocellus pointed out.
And the yak was indeed there, but she had put her head down on the desk and was snoring away quite loudly.
Smolder chuckled at the sight. "Well apparently, yaks no love study groups!" She spoke in her best Yona impression.
Meanwhile, Gallus got a rather mischievous idea. He shushed his friends so they wouldn't wake up Yona. Then he not so subtly ran his claws over the top of her hair.
Yona woke with a start! "Ah! Spiders! No! Get away from yak!" It took her a moment to realize where she was, and she blushed so hard that even her thick yak fur couldn't hide it.
"Okay, now if there are no more 'interruptions'," Ocellus glared at her friends. "Let's get back to the practice run. Maybe we should swap the teams around a little to make it more interesting."
But just then there came a giggle from an unexpected source. A familiar pegasus filly with a pinkish gray coat. Her moderate scarlet eyes appeared to be watching the unfolding 'chaos' below and it appeared to have amused her. She herself was high above on a ladder.
"Cozy Glow?" Sandbar was surprised to see the filly. "What are you doing here? And what's so funny?"
"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just enjoying the show," Cozy commented while giggling into a hoof. "Headmare Twilight gave me book stacking duty because I'm such a model student," Then she asked the six. "So, how are things with you? Experts on Equestrian history yet?"
Gallus could only groan. "Not even close. At this point I think I'd be better off studying that plumbing book. Might as well make something out of my time here."
But Ocellus transformed into Twilight and began to mimic the alicorn's mannerisms. "Oh, come on, Gallus! With good friends and solid study habits, anything is possible! Just look at me, I went from friendship student to friendship teacher!"
"Hey, if you can turn into Headmare Twilight then why not just tell us what's on tomorrow's test?" Smolder suggested.
Ocellus transformed back to normal. "I couldn't do that even if I wanted to, that would be cheating. Besides, I could read the wrong thoughts, or Headmare Twilight could change the test. Let's just give my trivia contest another shot, the host should be here soon."
But Cozy Glow flew down and shoved Ocellus aside. "I wouldn't waste my time with that silly little contest if I were you. None of you are actually going to pass. Though it's so inspiring how relaxed you all are about studying friendship, considering your disadvantage." She delivered the last line with a noticeable hint of malice.
Yona narrowed her eyes. "What cute pony? Yaks not disadvantaged!"
"Oh, you are, you just don't know it," Cozy protested while pacing back and forth. "Just consider where you all came from. If Sandbar hadn't sacrificed so much of his time to get you all up to speed, why who knows how behind you'd all be?"
Sandbar pleaded with his friends. "Don't listen to her, she's just jealous."
"Sure, I'm jealous of a bunch of nicompoops like you!" Cozy stuck out her tongue. "Don't make me laugh! Compared to me you're all nothing, I'm a model student!"
"Says you!" Sandbar growled back at the filly. "I know for a fact that you had to have the Cutie Mark Crusaders help you. If it weren't for them you would've flunked out."
Cozy nodded her as she lifted it upward. "Yeah, and since then I haven't needed anyone's help. Having to depend on those Crusaders was unfortunate and it made me realize I need to take matters into my own hooves when it comes to grades, something none of you could ever do. But who could blame you after all you've been through?" She started rambling on, listing off what she considered to be the problem for each of the students. "Silverstream, having to grow up underwater to get away from the nasty Storm King, it's no surprise you'd be wary of trusting anycreature. Gallus, you come from a broken life and griffons just never want to be around anycreature, not even themselves. Smolder, a fierce dragon like you probably can't wait to get away from all of us cute and innocent ponies. Yona," She giggled. "Well, do I even need to say it? Everyone knows that 'Yaks think yaks are best!' Making friends with any other creature must seem like a step down. And you, Ocellus, growing up as a love starved changeling has made you feel like you have to work hard just to keep everycreature from looking at you and thinking badly of you. Honestly, I don't know what Sandbar saw in all of you. It's just so impressive how you keep trying to understand friendship, even though it isn't in your nature."
Sandbar did his best not to notice the looks his friends were all giving him. "None of what she just said is true. You're more than where you all come from," He turned to Ocellus. "Let's get back to the trivia contest. And when we pass the test tomorrow, Cozy won't have anything to be bragging about."
"I'm still here, you know!" Cozy grumbled. "But I've wasted enough time talking to you, I'm done with the book stacking. I'm going to go study for the test even though I know for a fact I'm going to ace it! We'll just see if any of you come close!" She fluttered down and trotted away, turning her back to the six students.
A rather nervous Silverstream then declared with a gulp. "We... should... get back to studying. Who wants to switch partners with me?"
The teams for the second practice run consisted of Sandbar and Gallus, Ocellus and Silverstream, and Smolder and Yona.
This time, Yona, Smolder, and even Silverstream were able to buzz in with a few correct answers. But Gallus still couldn't get a single one right. Even when he thought for sure he had the right answer his friends would tell him it was incorrect.
It didn't take long for the griffon to grow frustrated. And in this frustrated state any kind of noise began to feel like a distraction to him. In this case, the noise that was bothering him was the sound of Silverstream tapping her paws on her desk. "Could you stop that clicking?!" He shouted at Silverstream! "I'm trying to focus!"
"What do you mean, I'm not clicking," Silverstream replied as she ceased tapping on the desk. "Come on, Gallus, stop being so grouchy."
"Yeah, dude," Sandbar added. "We're still in this practice run."
"All thanks to you," Gallus growled and groaned. "We're still in last place. I'm sorry if I don't know every little detail about every single adventure the professors went on like you do. Not all of us idolized them or grew up hearing about their exploits."
Ocellus intervened to break up the arguing. "Well, that's why we're all studying together like this."
"Yeah, to help us 'disadvantaged' creatures, right?" Smolder questioned with a quirked brow.
"Exny on the disadvantagey," Sandbar whispered. "That's not why we're doing this. Stop worrying about what Cozy Glow said. We'll show her when we pass that test with flying colors!"
Then Yona commented. "Yona confused. "Why we all upset?"
"We're not, Yona," Ocellus protested. "But I wish I knew why our host is taking so long to get here."
It was only a few minutes later that the second practice run drew to an end, and the host Ocellus had been talking about finally showed up. The host turned out to be none other than Spike. "Sorry I'm late," He apologized to Ocellus and the others. "Twilight really needed my help to get those tests ready for her class tomorrow."
"No problem, we've already gotten all set up without you and did some practice runs." Ocellus smiled.
Spike strolled over, taking his place at the host table. "Good, then you already know what to expect."
But before the contest could officially get under way, Yona proposed. "Yona think we should switch teams again! Yona want new teammate!"
"I was kind of thinking the same thing," Silverstream commented. "No offense, Ocellus, but it felt like you were doing all the work. You deserve a better partner."
Spike got an idea. "How about we do it according to the magic scavenger hunt Twilight set up a few weeks back? You all remember the pairings she gave you, right?" The students all nodded. "Good, then pair up accordingly."
Sandbar trotted over to join Yona at table three. "Works for me. Yona and I will do great."
"Fine, guess I'll go with Ocellus," Smolder commented as she went to join Ocellus at table two. "At least maybe I'll learn something watching her get all the right answers."
And Silverstream flew to table one to join Gallus. "Ooh! This is gonna be so much fun! Now we're doing it for realzies!"
Gallus didn't share his new partner's optimism. "Don't expect much from me, seriously."
Silverstream just ribbed Gallus. "Oh come on, you big silly goose! Remember, the two of us won the scavenger hunt, we make a great team!"
"Why do you always call me a big silly goose? It's getting on my nerves." Gallus groaned.
The hippogriff only smiled. "Well you kind of are a goose, just like I'm part bird. And you know what they say about birds of a feather."
The blue feathered griffon just sighed. "Whatever. You saw how bad I was during the practice runs. There's no way I'm gonna do good in the actual contest."
"Come on now, there's no need to be so glum!" Silverstream declared. "You're smarter than you think and you know it," Then she declared. "We're ready! Let's start the contest!"
Spike soon read aloud the first question. "Starswirl the Bearded perfected many spells over the years. But what is the spell he is considered the father of, and thus most famously known for?"
"Ooh! I know this one!" Silverstream commented to Gallus and reached for the bell!
"Team One, your answer?" Spike asked when he heard the bell ding.
But Silverstream suddenly froze up on the spot. "Oh, shoot! I had it! It was on the tip of my tongue! It's the... um... the... the whatchmacallit! The one with the funny name!"
The light purple scaled dragon shook his head. "I'm sorry, that's incorrect," He heard another bell ding and turned to the source of it. "Team Two?" He asked.
With a smile on her face Ocellus announced. "The amnimorphic spell! And he created well over 200 spells before his disappearance!"
"Correct!" Spike declared. "First point of the games goes to Team Two: Ocellus and Smolder!"
Silverstream tried hard not to pay too much attention to the harsh look Gallus gave her as the point was tallied. "Sorry, Gallus, I was so sure I had it. I just couldn't remember the name. Amnimorphic is so hard to pronounce."
"Hey, at least you had an idea of the answer. I was completely stumped," Gallus replied. "Like I said, don't expect much. We're so going to lose!"
"W-well, Sandbar and Yona don't have a point yet either!" Silverstream protested. "There's still hope for us."
Spike then cleared his throat. "Alright, that's enough chit chat. It's time for question number two," He reached down into the bowl and pulled out another scrap of paper. "This magical artifact may look like an ordinary seashell, but legend says that if you blow into it you'll call a dragon. What is the name of it?"
Sandbar almost immediately realized what it was, and hit the bell as fast as he could! "It's The Shell of Knuckerbocker!" He proudly declared! "And there's a sweet poem that goes: 'Climb to the height with dragon flight'!"
Yona blinked in amazement. "Sandbar know poetry?"
The colt nodded. "Yeah! It's really awesome! I'll have to teach it to you sometime, Yona."
"Okay," Spike announced as the score was tallied. "That's one point for Team Three, Team One is the only team that hasn't gotten on the board yet. But maybe they will with the next question, and here it is:" He read aloud from a slip of paper. "Once mistakenly believed to be a unicorn, this legendary healer wore a mask that hid her face so she wouldn't get sick while treating her many patients. What is her name?"
Gallus was surprised when he felt Silverstream take one of his claws and make him press the bell. He was even more surprised when he was called on. "Gallus?"
The griffon gulped and swallowed hard. He knew this, he swore he knew this! But try as he might to rack his brain he couldn't get an answer to come out!
"Times up!" Spike declared. "Do you have an answer or not?"
Gallus sorrowfully sighed and hung his head. "No, I have no clue what her name is." And he could only listen as Ocellus rang in with the correct answer: Mage Meadowbrook. It was just as he feared, he knew nothing. Any knowledge he thought he might have had had left him.
"Okay, here's the score after the first round," Spike announced sometime later. "Team Two: Ocellus and Smolder, you're in the lead with six points. Team Three: Sandbar and Yona, you're following behind with three points. And Team One: Gallus and Silverstream, you are in last place with only one point."
Silverstream tried to sound cheerful. "See, Gallus? I definitely redeemed myself with that last question! Now we're on the board and we're back in the game!"
"Because the question was about the Storm King, and you're an expert on him because he once tried to down your species," Gallus unhappily replied. "It's hopeless, Ocellus and Smolder are way far ahead of us! We'll never catch up to them even if we get a few more questions right. There's no way to outsmart Ocellus."
The hippogriff protested. "There totally is! Come on, Gallus! I'm not giving up! We're not beaten yet! I know we can still win this!"
Gallus wasn't convinced. "Every time I thought I had the answer I completely forgot, and Ocellus stole the point away from us. Heck, one time I choked and Smolder got the point for her team. Just face it, I should've partnered up with Ocellus and let her teach me. Maybe I'd learn a thing or two."
"So, I messed up too!" Silverstream argued in protest. "Gallus, this is just like last Hearth's Warming when you wouldn't open up to me or to any of our friends about the goo powder. You don't have to keep being so hard on yourself all the time."
The griffon just shook his head. "I'm just being realistic. This isn't for fun and games, this is to help us study. I can't even get a question right then what hope is there for me on the actual test? There's not a single question out there that I know, and even if it did exist Ocellus would just beat me to it. I should quit now and tell Headmare Twilight I'm going to flunk out, might as well save her the trouble of making a test for a student who won't learn anything."
But Silverstream refused to let him! "No, Gallus! I know you know things, you know you know things! So stop worrying so much and relax," She told him. "What matters most is that we learn what's right and what's wrong. And so maybe you don't past one test, it's not the end of the world."
"It is when I'm the only one who flunks. I have to get good grades to prove I still deserve to be here!" Gallus stubbornly protested. "If I get so much as one bad grade it's all over. Not all of us are here on the good will of our elders. When I have to go back to Griffonstone I want to have something to show for it."
"And you don't think having friends is something worth showing off?" The hippogriff questioned him. "Friends who would organize something like this just to help each other study?"
Gallus began to nervously stutter. "I... I..."
"Okay, break time's over!" Spike called out! "Time for round two! And don't worry, even if you're in last place this is still anycreature's game."
"We're ready!" Silverstream called in reply even though poor Gallus wasn't so sure he was. But it was too late to back out now.
"Ooh, here's a doozy of a question!" The light purple scaled dragon told the teams as he then read. "Who came to Equestria long ago with the intent of stealing Equestrian magic?"
Ocellus was quick to ding in! "Lord Tirek, of course!"
But Spike shook his head. "I'm afraid that's incomplete, Ocellus."
A chorus of gasps echoed among the other students! Ocellus had gotten a question wrong, something that was unthinkable!
Ocellus herself could hardly believe it! "What?! But... but it's true!"
Suddenly, Gallus knew the answer and slammed his claw down on the bell. When Spike turned to him he briefly stuttered. "Uh... w-who is... er I mean who are.... er I mean, they were Lord Tirek and Scorpan."
Spike nodded his head. "That is correct! Point for team one!" And the tally was adjusted to include the point.
Smolder immediately questioned Ocellus over her mistake. "Ocellus, what was up with that? How could you make such an obvious mistake?"
The changeling whimpered a bit. "Sorry. It's just... Scorpan ultimately befriended the ponies and turned his brother in. Tirek got sent to Tartarus."
"So, they were together when they came to Equestria," Smolder pointed out. "Spike didn't ask what happened to them or who reformed and who didn't. Maybe I should take over."
Ocellus nodded. "Sure, go ahead. This is a team effort after all."
Spike soon read aloud the next question. "The map in Twilight's castle has called her and her friends to many locations since it showed up. But where did the map first call ponies to on a friendship mission?"
Smolder soon rang in! "Griffonstone! Ha, tough break, Gallus!"
But Spike again shook his head. "No, that's not correct," Another ringing bell soon reached his ears and he turned to the source of it. "Gallus?"
Gallus proudly announced. "Starlight's old village, also known as our town and Cutie Markless Village!"
"Right again!" Spike proudly replied! "And that's another point for Team One!"
Silverstream's excitement soon returned full forced as she hugged Gallus! "Ooh, I knew we could do it! And you didn't think you were smart, Gallus!"
Gallus brushed off the hug as best he could. "Okay, settle down, Silverstream. We're still tied for last place. Ocellus and Smolder are still way ahead of us."
"So? We can still catch up! We just need a few more right answers!" Silverstream chirped! "So get ready for the next question and be ready with the bell!"
The next question came only a few seconds later as Spike read. "Before Twilight Sparkle and her friends reached out to them, how long had it been since the yaks had opened their borders to anyone?"
Yona rang in lightning fast, it was a miracle her furious pressing didn't break the bell! "A thousand years, which is how long ponies and yaks agree to be friends for!" She happily declared! "Yona there when it happen, Yona and other yaks learn all about it in Yakyakistan!"
"That's correct! Team Three breaks the tie for last and pulls ahead with another point!" Spike announced. "Now it truly is anyone's game!"
But Ocellus managed to score a point for her team with the answer to the next question. "Thorax, or King Thorax as we now call him!" She answered and then beamed when the resulting point was added.
Point tallies started increasingly rapidly after that as Spike shot off question after question after question! The teams would alternate back and forth on who would answer, but Gallus seemed to be getting more and more questions right with each ringing in.
It seemed like hours had passed by as Spike announced. "Now this is what I call a game! Glad to see you've all learned so much," Then he told the teams. "This is it, the final question. You each have ten points, so whoever gets this question right wins the whole thing! Best of luck to you all!"
"Come on, Gallus!" Gallus thought to himself! "You can do it! Don't choke!"
Ocellus, meanwhile, was giving herself a mental pep talk. "You've come so far, Ocellus! Victory's almost in your grasp! One more right answer!"
Spike pulled out the slip of paper and examined the question very carefully. He squinted to make sure he was reading it just right. It seemed that he was as he cleared his throat and the dragon read it aloud: "Equestria was founded by six ponies, including three leaders and their most loyal supporters. In alphabetical order, what are the names of these six founders?"
All three teams blinked in surprise and hesitated. The names of the founders were still hard to remember even for Ocellus. Listing them in alphabetical order sounded impossible.
Still, none of them wanted to lose and so each had a member reach for their team's bell as fast as they could!
A ring reached Spike's ears! He turned to its source slowly. "Team Three?" He asked, surprised to find out they had been the first to reach their bell, Yona must've moved really fast!
But Sandbar was the one who answered, and he answered very slowly. He seemed almost unsure of himself as he nervously commented. "Um... let's see... Pr... no, wait! Chancellor Puddinghead, Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, Princess Platinum, Private Pansy, and... um... Smart Cookie, I think."
Spike processed the answer slowly, thinking it over in his head to make sure he knew its result right. Then he turned to the colt and told him. "You are... correct! Congratulations, Sandbar! You've given your team a point and the game!"
Yona immediately pulled Sandbar in for a tight hug! "Hooray for Sandbar! Sandbar carry Yona to victory!"
Sandbar squeaked. "Y-Yona, not so tight!" He protested, not one to really enjoy the yak's killer hugs for long.
Yona reluctantly released her hold on Sandbar, blushing a bit. It was still hard for her to control her own strength.
"Thanks again for agreeing to our host, Spike." Ocellus told the dragon afterward as he helped the students take down the tables.
Spike smiled. "It was my pleasure, Ocellus. You guys did a great job!" Then he suggested. "You should think about joining the next Trivia Trot night at The Hayburger! I think you'd be really good at it."
Gallus shook his head. "If I make it through this test I think I'm going to give the trivia a break. That's way more knowledge than I was expecting to take in."
"Yeah, but we totally proved that you know your stuff!" Smolder ribbed him. "So as long as you remember that when you're studying tonight, you'll do just fine on the test tomorrow! We all will!"
Sandbar happily nodded. "That'll show that Cozy Glow that she was wrong about us. Maybe then we'll have to tutor her. Wouldn't that be nice?"
Gallus shuddered briefly. "No thank you. That Cozy Glow gives me the creeps. " Then he and the other students all giggled.
But unknown to the six, Cozy Glow was watching them from afar. They didn't know her true identity, but it still frustrated her to know that they were doing so much better after planting the seeds of doubt in their minds. "Curses! Those six are tougher than I gave them credit for! Especially that accursed Ocellus!" She thought to herself! "But even they don't know what I know! I won't let anything stand in my way!" And she began to make a plan.
Spike left the library a short time later, and then the students all decided to call it a night. They'd been told a good night's sleep was essential to doing well on a test or quiz.
Only when Cozy was certain that the cost was clear did she trot into the library. She made her way over to a grate near the rear of said library, a grate that no one seemed to know about but her. She looked down at with a smile as her eyes glowed a sickly green. "That's right. Sleep, you fools," She whispered, shedding her disguise and revealing herself as Queen Chrysalis. "I'm right under your noses and you don't know it. Go ahead, ace your little test for all the good it will do you. I've got much bigger plans in store!"