Chrysalis, Cozy, Tirek, and I all arrived at the School of Friendship. No, it wasn't Monday. It was Saturday. We were going to look around the place. When we were near the bridge to the enterance, the doors opened and Starlight walked out.
"Oh hey," she waved when she saw us. She came closer to us and we stopped. "What brings you four here?"
"We figured we would look around the place," Tirek replied. "Since only Cozy has been here."
"I've been here too," Chrysalis pointed out.
"Not as long as Cozy has," I say.
"Hmmm..." Starlight tapped her chin. "You know, I can help make it easier for you to get used to this place and bond with the students."
"How so?" I asked.
"We're holding an overnight stay at the school tonight. Anypony and creature is welcome. You play games, learn about your peers, and... you know... just have fun. That's why I was gone this morning along with Trixie and Sunburst... to set up. You four can come if you want."
"Interesting..." Chrysalis pondered. "What do you three think?"
"I think it's not a bad idea," Tirek proclaimed. "It's better to take an opportunity to figure this place out, and meet the other students before Monday. I feel like it will be easier."
"I second that," Cozy agreed.
"It doesn't sound too bad," I shrugged.
"I guess that makes four of us," said Chrysalis.
"Excellent!" Starlight chirped. "I'll inform Trixie and Sunburst right away. You won't need to sign anything. I'll be expecting you four between 5:00 and 6:00. Sounds good?"
We all agreed.
"Alright, see you then," Starlight said before going back into the building.
When the doors closed, I began to speak.
"So should we still explore or-"
The doors suddenly opened and Starlight came out yet again.
"Sorry..." she chuckled stopping in front of us again. "Forgot that I was leaving to run some errands."
Starlight trotted forward, and we parted to let her through (thank goodness the bridge was bigger than what it probably was 20 years ago).
When Starlight passed us, Chrysalis spoke.
"I know what you were going to ask, and I say, we can hold off. They might be nice enough to give us a tour."
"Alright, let's go pack," Cozy opened her wings and flew off to the castle. We followed.
...
Intro
...
We entered the building as soon as the clock struck five, each of us carrying our bags. It was convenient the doors were big enough for Tirek.
We saw Trixie at a desk, waiting for us.
"Welcome one and all, to the overnight stay at the School of Friendship," she announced to us. "Just sign your names here, and put your bags in the cafeteria. You can do whatever you want until Headmare Starlight calls all of you over."
"The cafeteria?" Cozy cocked her head.
"Don't worry, we cleaned the floors."
We all looked at each other and shrugged before we signed the sheet one by one. When the last name was signed, Trixie wished us a good stay and let us pass.
"I forgot how big and shiny this place was," Cozy admired.
We made our way to the cafeteria, which was lacking tables for obvious reasons.
"Let's go there." Chrysalis pointed to one of the largest empty spots. We all went to the spot and placed our sleeping bags (for Tirek, he placed a large sheet and blanket).
When we were done, we discussed our plans.
"So, what now?" I asked.
"I'm not sure," Chrysalis shrugged. "Our goals are to get aquainted with this place, along with it's inhabitants."
"So let's do just that," said Tirek. "We look around the place, and give friendly greetings to those we cross. Leo, you have the map?"
I took the map out of my saddlebag. "Yep."
One montage of exploring the school later...
Our four main characters have been exploring the school for a while now without any announcement. It took thirty minutes for them to explore. Their next and surprisingly last stop was the library.
Chrysalis was looking around the place. Tirek stood in the biggest area of the library. And Leo and Cozy kept on checking through shelves, though Cozy was out of sight of the others.
But when Cozy put a book away, preparing to ask if they could leave, something caught her eye.
A familiar trapdoor.
Cozy slowly approached the gate-like door. What she saw surprised her. After what she did, she expected the tunnel to be sealed off and the door to be gone. But no. She saw a tunnel under the door, just like when she last looked into the door.
"Weird... shouldn't it have been sealed off after what I did?" she questioned to herself.
She looked at her friends.
"Hey," Cozy peeked her head around the shelf, catching sight of Chrysalis and Leo. "Instead of going back when we're done, Could we stay here longer until roll call or when I'm done? I kind of want to stay here longer."
Chrysalis and Leo shared looks.
"I guess," Chrysalis said to Cozy. "We could leave when we're all done."
"Or one of us could stay behind until Cozy is done," Leo suggested. "I mean, they have graphic novels here. I could stay and you and Tirek could go back to your area."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Alright," Chrysalis shrugged. "You two better be back at 5:00. I don't want you two running late."
"I got you," I promised.
"Ok then. I'll tell Tirek."
Chrysalis turned and left.
"Ok kid..." I began to say to Cozy. "You need me to watch you?"
"No thanks..." Cozy replied.
"Are you sure? You're kind of young..."
"I'm fine," Cozy proclaimed. "I'll come and get you."
"Alright.. if you insist."
Cozy turned her head back from the corner and brought her gaze back to the door. She went back to the door and opened it with her magic. Cozy remembered the words that she once said in those same exact tunnels. The things that she did.
Cozy didn't know why she was going to do what she was about to do. Curiosity, maybe.
Cozy took a deep breath before she entered the trapdoor.
...
...
It's been a while since Cozy Glow last explored the caverns underneath the castle, so she forgot that there were some "forks in the road" in the caverns underneath. Not really caring much about where she was going, she would just shrug and enter a random tunnel.
Leo...
Minutes passed since I last heard from Cozy. So I eventually decided to go and check on her again. I didn't find any graphic novels or comics in the library so far, anyway.
"Dang... since I last saw Cozy I've been going to different shelves... that weren't numbered... and there are many spots that look the same..."
I sighed.
"I'm going for it. It stinks that I can't yell out her name because it's a library, but what are you going to do?"
So I decided to search for Cozy, or at least some trace of where she went. If I couldn't find her, I would report her missing, or hidden, or something like that.
I just hope she's nearby...
Cozy...
The tunnel Cozy was in eventually came to an end. It wasn't a complete dead-end, though. It was more like a room. Not with too much reason, she just decided to look around, and at one point, she peered into her reflection in one of the crystals lining the wall.
She turned to leave, but then what she heard stopped her.
She heard talking. A conversation, of course. The voices she heard were all too familiar to her, belonging to a few of many ponies and creatures she once deceived.
She turned back around.
And she saw a dragon, a yak, a changeling, a griffon, a hippogriff, and another pony enter the room, all laughing as they talked. And all six of them were familiar.
When the six of them laid eyes on her, their smiles faded, their facial expressions now matching Cozy's.
Cozy and the Student Six have met again.
Leo...
For minutes, I was searching for Cozy, but I didn't even find a single trace of her.
But when I turned a corner, I noticed an open door.
And I had the feeling I saw this door before.
"She didn't go in there... did she?" I whispered. "Only one way to find out..."
Cozy...
Cozy and the Student Six just stared. Cozy remembered when Gallus, the griffon, brought her, Chrysalis, and Tirek to the Ponyville castle on the day they reformed. It felt slightly awkward, but not like this. It was probably the fact that all six of them were there that gave Cozy butterflies a bit more than usual.
"Well..." the pony named Sandbar began to say. "This is awkward..."
"Y-yeah..." Cozy stuttered.
"We, um... saw the door open and decided to see what was going on," the dragon known as Smolder explained.
"I must have been a slow walker... or you were just fast..." Cozy chuckled. She then cleared her throat. "So... *ahem*... what's new? I know Gallus is a guard, but what about you guys?"
"Oh you know..." Silverstream (the Hippogriff of the group) scratched the back of her head. "Some of us teach... while some of us goes about with other jobs."
"Cool. Cool..."
"What Cozy pony do these days?" the large yak (Yona) asked in her broken grammar.
"Stuff. I hang out with my friends."
"Oh! Isn't one of them that alicorn stallion?" the changeling (Ocellus) brought up.
"Yeah. Word's spread like weeds, don't they?" Cozy replied.
"Well, we knew. Though we didn't swarm the castle like the rest of the town," Sandbar explained.
"Oh... is there anything else that's new?"
Smolder shook her head. "Not really. You?"
"Nope. Just... living life, as I said."
Silence once again overtook the room.
"Well, it's nice to see you all again," said Cozy, wanting to end the awkwardness as soon as possible. "But I better get going. My friend is probably looking for me."
"Well, if we meet again, let's just hope it's less awkward... right?" Silverstream replied.
"Yeah... see you."
But when Cozy turned around and placed her hoof on the ground, it accidentally landed on a pointy crystal.
"OUCH!" Cozy shrieked, accidentally slipping. When she landed on her barrel, a large ruby blast shot out her horn, and struck near the top of the cavern wall. Luckily, the Young Six dodged the blast, so none of them got hurt. The only true damage left behind was the massive set of cracks on the wall.
"Cozy Glow! Are you ok?" Ocellus asked.
"I'm fine," Cozy looked at her hoof.
"Wow. Cozy pony strong," Yona admired.
A sudden sound then brought the attention of all seven inhabitants of the room. The crack started to spread in all directions.
"There is no way I could have done that so easily," Cozy gawked.
"I'm starting to wonder why we didn't just allow Twilight and Starlight to seal this place off..." Smolder muttered.
"We'll need to get out of here!" Gallus proclaimed. "If we stay here any longer, there's a chance the whole place could-"
CRASH!!!
-*Leo...-*
I was so close to the end of the tunnel. I found it odd that there was a second tunnel under the school, even though it was obvious there was only one tunnel. But I kept going anyway to see if Cozy was around.
But finally, the end of the tunnel came into sight. But for only a brief moment. I could have sworn I saw a pony that looked very much like Cozy Glow, even though I couldn't see her face. There were also six others in there, and I could have sworn they were familiar as well.
And once I laid my eyes on them, the whole room suddenly collapsed over the familiar characters.
I gasped and I stopped in my tracks.
If Cozy was really in there... did she just get crushed?
"Oh jeez..." I muttered. "I need to get Chrysalis, Tirek, and Starlight!"
And I turned and hightailed it away from the sight I just saw.
...
...
For the Young Six, it seemed to be over. The six friends huddled together, preparing for the worst.
But nothing happened. Other than Yona feeling a slight brush on the hair on her back, there was nothing.
They opened their eyes, and they saw Cozy, horn lit, and straining slightly. above them was a transparent red forcefield, that held up the large chunks of crystal and rock.
"Cozy?" Silverstream blinked.
"Cozy pony save us!" Yona exclaimed.
"I don't know how long I can hold this," Cozy explained, her voice lacking strain. "But I guess we'll have to stay here until something good or bad happens."
The Young Six shared glances.
"I know... me saving you for a genuine reason... looks weird, doesn't it?" Cozy muttered.
"Eh. We've seen weirder," Smolder shrugged. "The six of us once fought a rhino-like creature."
"Well I would like to hear about it... if we get out of this alive and the awkward feeling fades."
Leo...
I dashed out of the trapdoor and through the library. It took a minute before I finally left the library, and another few minutes before I reached Chrysalis and Tirek in the cafeteria, out of breath.
"Leo?" Tirek immediatly showed concern. "What's wrong?!"
"Cozy... trapdoor... cave... rocks... fall on... her and six others..."
Chrysalis and Tirek shot alarmed looks.
"We need to get Starlight!" Chrysalis proclaimed.
Underground... minutes later...
Cozy Glow's magic began to weaken, and everycreature could tell because of two things: Cozy's increasing strain, and the shield beginning to crack.
"I don't think we're gonna get out of this in time..." Sandbar muttered.
"If we're lucky, my friend is getting Chrysalis and Tirek... right now," Cozy strained. "I just need to hold this a little bit longer..."
The shield cracked more.
"You know... I wanted to tell you six later... but I might as well tell you six now since we might not get out of this." Cozy took a deep breath before a small tear rolled down her eye. "I'm so sorry. For everything. For lying to you. Manipulating you. And nearly bringing an end to the world you all have grown accustomed to."
"It's all in the past now," Ocellus assured, giving Cozy a warm smile.
"You taught that 'Grogar' ram who was boss, and you're trying your hardest to make sure we get out of this alive," Smolder said.
"And I've seen you reformed earlier," Gallus reminded her. "And if the Princess forgives you, then I forgive you."
"Yak forgive Cozy pony, and accept her as friend," said Yona.
Cozy smiled. She suddenly felt the awkward tone around her fade as chunks of the shield fell and disappeared before they landed.
CRACK!!!
Everyone turned their heads and noticed tiny beams of dim light entering the confined space. Seconds after, two blue glow, and a hazel glow covered the entire entrance of the dome. Large rocks and crystals moved away, with some of them being held up to block the others. Cozy and the Young Six smiled at the realization that they were rescued. Though Cozy smiled for another reason... her friends were there.
"I knew you were in there," Leo said. "Come on! Get out! Hurry!"
Cozy was the first to go, dashing out of her shield while holding it up. A small exit hole opened for her.
Then came Sandbar. Then Gallus, Ocellus, Smolder, Silverstream, and then Yona. Even though Cozy opened a hole big enough for Yona, the poor yak was slightly stuck, but all it took was for Silverstream and Smolder to pull her hooves with all their might, before Yona was free.
Cozy put down the shield, and the blocked off pile of rocks and crystal crashed to the ground. Chrysalis, Starlight, and Leo all put down their debris before they rushed over. Both Chrysalis and Leo embraced Cozy while Starlight checked on the Young Six.
"You were lucky I decided to check if you were in here," Leo scolded. "What were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry!" Cozy apologized. "But I was curious, and I wanted to see if the tunnels were still here and-"
"You're safe!" Chrysalis cut her off. "That's all that matters."
Leo released his embrace on Cozy and went over to the Young Six. They all came over to him as well.
"So..." Smolder began. "You're that pony the town went crazy about earlier."
"And you six are the creatures that played their part in saving Equestria twice..." Leo replied. "Twilight's students."
"Did the Princess tell you about us?" Silverstream chirped.
"Not exactly..."
"What does green pony mean?" Yona questioned.
"It's a long story."
"We better go back to the surface," Starlight said. "It's nearly 6:00 and I need to do roll call with you all in the room."
"You three can go," Cozy told them. "We'll catch up."
"Well, even though you nearly got yourself crushed, I trust you since you're already with trusted adults," Leo replied. "Let's go."
And Leo ran off. Chrysalis and Starlight looked at Cozy.
"Are you sure?" Starlight asked.
"We'll be quick," Cozy promised.
Chrysalis and Starlight shared gazes before they left as well.
"So..." Cozy began. "Any chance the seven of us could reconcile some time tonight?"
"Why not after roll call?" Sandbar suggested. "We're here all night, after all."
"I don't see why not. I just have one more question... how is Yona able to fit in here?"
"We have another entrance," Gallus pointed to what was meant to be the other hallway, only it was blocked off by the debris. "Well... had another entrance."
"So how we get yak out?" Yona asked.
"Well..." Cozy then lit her horn. "We could risk causing a little bit of damage to the building."
They all laughed. Cozy included. But Cozy was also the first to stop laughing.
"I'm serious."
The Young Six all stopped laughing upon hearing that.
"Eh," Smolder shrugged. "If I were her, I'd do it anyway."
The Next Day...
"Are you sure you don't want us to pay for the library damage?" Chrysalis asked Starlight.
"No... it's fine. They had no other way out for Yona anyway," Starlight replied.
Meanwhile, Leo and Cozy were having their own conversation.
"Well, I think that aside from that whole cavern situation, everything played out alright," Leo said. "What do you think?"
Cozy turned her gaze to the five creatures and one pony that stood nearby.
"I think we fufilled our goals," Cozy smiled. "We explored the place and got aquainted with our peers..."