Twilight and Spike had been observing Layda for some time. The one calling herself Cosmos was definately Nightmare Moon. She had the appearance, the energy, even her aura reflected the same, ominous feeling as that evil mare. Yet, several things didn't add up. First, how she was calling herself. It could just be a way to use the cliched "amnesia" story with no real reason to it. Then, there's her personality. Even if she was faking it, she should be showing signs, like face twitching and so forth. Many who perform the opposite of what they are do it wth a great dis-taste, and this one showed absolutely none. She even seemed to be enjoying...somewhat, her lessons of flying paired up with Fluttershy. Even if. Even if she had amnesia, flying comes natural to pegasi, and so did magic with unicorns. Granted, training was required for everything to be perfect, but it still came naturally. Cosmos seemed to not only have no control over her magic, as demonstrated earlier, but she even had no knowledge on flight. How? While Luna and Nightmare Moon were supposed to be one and the same, did the elements of harmony separate them completely afterwards? Did they become two different entities altogether with the mare in the moon having her personality reset? What was it that seemed to be latching onto this creature that felt orange?
That didn't seem right. Orange? How could something FEEL a color? There was something else within this creature. A...another being? Impossible. That would suggest a possible posession, but that is completely illogical. Even if, the creature would have had to accept this of their own will, and the mare in the moon would have easily taken over they're,ahem,THEIR mind and body like with Princess Luna. Yet, there was this..."orange" thing that kept blocking her from going further into analysis. It was like a comfortable, sweet barrier proteting its bitter middle. What was it?
"KAMIKAZE!" yelled a voice that caught Twilight by surprise.
"What was-TWILIGHT! Watch out!" Spike screamed as he pointed at a gigantic black object coming towards them at incredible speeds.
It was too fast, so Twilight didn't have time to avoid it, and simply clutched her head, until she felt a massive gust of wind blow by her face and giggling. She looked up to see Cosmos laughing at her.
"Do you like it? Rainbow taught that to me."
"W-what?!" Twilight stuttered
"Scared you didn't I?" Cosmos laughed.
"Are you crazy?! You could've hurt me and Spike!"
"Spike?"
"Right here." a purple dragon said in great fear.
"..."
Cosmos was pretty much surprised to see that little thing in front of her. What was it? Was it an iguana? A lizard? A komodo dragon or however that's spelled.
"What are you supposed to be?" Cosmos asked, unaware of her scary look.
"I-I-I-I'm a dr-dr-dragon." he stuttered as he began to shrink away into nothing.
"A dragon? COOOOL! Can you breath fire?"
Spike looked at the alicorn questioningly and with great confusion."Uh. Yeah. I can."
"How much? Like, a huge tower of fire or a big explosion or-"
"I'm still a young dragon. So I can't really breathe much. Just a little bit." the dragon gestured with his fingers to indicate a small size. Cosmos' mood dropped immediately.
"Awww. Oh well. It's okay. Eventually you'll be able to blow out great towers of fire. Imagine. A gigantic, invincible dragon that can burn everything in seconds." Layda said while gesturing towards the air, showing wideness.
"Yeahhh. That'd be pretty co-" Spike found himself pushed aside by a certain lavender unicorn.
"That's enough of that. No need to rile him up." Twilight crushed her teeth in anger."We already had enough trouble last time."
"I...What? No. No. I'm not doing that." Cosmos crossed her forelegs and looked upwards towards her forehead.. "So what? He's a little dragon. I thought you were a nice person...pony...whatever."
Twilight and Spike looked at eachother in confusion and fear. Spike twirled a claw around the side of his head.
"Who are you talking to?" Spike asked.
"Oh. Sorry. I just like to think out loud is all. Sorry if it makes me look crazy."
"Riiiight. So...why did you come towards us like that? You just wanted to scare us?"
"No. I finished my lessons with Rainbow, for now, and I was hoping you could teach me how to control magic."
"W-what? You don't know how?"
"No. It's a bit hard to explain."
"Well...I'm not sure. I don't really trust you."
"Why? Is it because I 'talk to myself'? Just ask Bon-Bon. I haven't done anything. Come to think of it, where could they be?"
"That's not important right now. I'm still not going to train you."
"Hmm. She seems like the type who loves to learn. Perhaps you could present yourself as a student?" the true Cosmos proposed.
"That's a great idea! Hey, Twilight. Think of me as a type of student of yours. Wouldn't that work?"
Twilight tried to say something, but she immediately closed her mouth and smiled widely. Her eyes literally started to sparkle, scaring both Cosmos and Spike.
"Oh no. Why did you have to say that?" Spike moaned as he put a hand to his face.
"That's a great idea! I'll teach you everything I know in magic control. There are several types, so we'll see what you are best in."
The two started to walk away while Spike moaned in annoyance.
"Great. One more to deal with."
Meanwhile, the true Cosmos had found ways to stock Lunar rays. She used one of Layda's soul trees and converted it into a gigantic mastodonte with branches arching and twisting everywhere and glowing a bright white. The leaves were many and think, and had the various shapes a moon would take during its orbit. The Cosmos from before never truly had a proper form, per-se. It was actually a manipulation of Layda Hitcher's mind that gave her a previous shape. This was also why she didn't have her cutie mark. Layda was in another body, but it was still her's technically, meaning that the mark was not transferred as it is linked to the soul. No. This Cosmos still had an appearance similar to the little blot of stellar paint that entered the woman's body. There were only bits and pieces, such as the left eye and patches of the body, that had regained a somewhat solid appearance.
Even if, the lunar tree would be used once everything was at max capacity, and when the energy reaches its "apogée", then the true Cosmos would begin her plan. For now, the stellar entity walking within Layda's mind turned its head and grinned while twisting its right fore-leg.
"OW!" Cosmos yelled as she fell down.
"What happened?" Twilight asked, lowering a book.
"I...I don't know. My leg suddenly twisted. It hurts. Alot."
"Let me see that...How?"
"What?"
"It looks like you broke it. But how? You were just standing here. " Twilight looked at Spike, who threw his hands up in defence.
"I didn't see her do anything. She really was waiting for you to get the book down."
"Weird. Hmm. It doesn't seem too bad. I think I can fix this."
"Thanks." Cosmos smiled as the purple unicorn envelopped her leg with healing magic.
The true Cosmos watched the scene and silently laughed before turning back around to stare at her lunar construct.