.
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From Twilight Sparkle's perspective, everything was dark, and she couldn't hear a thing. She was left with only her mind to think about what could have possibly happened.
"...Twilight!"
All of the sudden, a familiar voice called Twilight's name.
"Huh... what?" the dazed princess could barely hear the familiar voice.
"Twiliiiiiight!" the voice grew louder.
The voice was so loud it startled Twilight.
"AH! I'm awake!" Twilight exclaimed.
Twilight woke up, startled. She leaped up and stood on all four legs. Her blood pressure went up as she woke up panicking.
"Twilight! Oh thank goodness I was able to find you!" Spike said. "What happened here?"
"Ugh... I'm still not entirely sure..." Twilight replied, deflated.
As Twilight regained her vision, she saw they were in the middle of a field in the middle of Equestria. The view was not pleasant however. The land was quiet, but it was scared and bruised.
"Sweet me, what happened to Equestria?" Twilight exclaimed.
Twilight looked around, and saw tons of structural damage all across the land. Mountains had been thrown, and craters carved by powerful forces.
"There was a dark cloud over Equestria! I came rushing over fast as a I could! But by the time I got here, there was a flash of light, then the clouds went away, and-" Spike explained.
"Dark clouds?" Twilight asked.
"You look distressed, Twilight. What did you see?" Spike asked.
"I-I-I'm still not entirely sure. I'm just shaken by the whole thing." Twilight said.
"You look unwell, just look at yourself." Spike handed Twilight a mirror.
"Ugh... thanks Spike." Twilight said.
Twilight used her magic to carry over the mirror. Twilight looked at herself, and she appeared to be her tall alicorn self again.
"Wait, HUH?!"
*shatter*
Twilight dropped the mirror.
"What's wrong Twilight!?" Spike asked.
"I'm just, surprised to see my magic working again. I thought she stole it..." Twilight said.
"Why wouldn't you? What's going on?" Spike asked.
Twilight shook her head. Whenever she tried to remember what had happened, it was a violent blur of emotions. She couldn't comprehend it or explain it yet.
"Never mind. All the answers will unravel in due time." Twilight said. "For now, let's make sure every creature is okay."
"Affirmative." Spike said.
"Now, be on the look out, Spike. You don't know who's going to pop out of nowhere." Twilight said.
"Like her?" he asked.
Twilight turned her head around and saw.
*gasp*
It was Luster Dawn, asleep, and suspended in a magic bubble just a short distance away from them.
"Luster Dawn!" Twilight cried.
Twilight ran towards her, and lowered the bubble.
"Luster Dawn! Is that really you? Are you in there?" Twilight asked.
*pop*
She popped the bubble, and out came Luster.
"Twilight! I- *crack* AAHHHH!" Luster screamed.
As soon as Luster touched the ground and put weight on her legs, her entire body collapsed.
"What? What happened?!" Twilight asked.
"It hurts!" Luster cried.
"What hurts?" Spike asked.
"EVERYTHING!" Luster exclaimed.
"What happened, Luster?" Spike asked.
"SHE HAPPENED! OUCH!" Luster cried.
"Is your mind of your own control, Luster?" Twilight said.
"Yep. 'Fraid Luster's the only one home... OW!" Luster replied.
"But how would-" Spike asked.
"If your mind is clear, then where is Cozy Glow now?" Twilight asked.
"She- AH! She-OW!" Luster said, in pain still.
"Never mind. We'll talk about this later." Twilight said. "For now, let's get you urgent medical care at once! You look like you went through a wringer!"
"It certainly does feel that way..." Luster said.
"Looks like I got some cleanin' up to do." Spike said. "And I'm not just talking about the structural damage..."
Twilight and Luster weren't the only ponies who were misplaced after the events.
Later that day:
After a long day involving Twilight patching Luster up, and Spike gathering all of the misplaced ponies in the aftermath, it was time to gather in the throne room.
In the slightly damaged throne room, before Princess Twilight, she had the guards bring in the notorious ponies, Suri Polomare, Svengallop, and the Washouts, Lightning Dust, Short Fuse, Rolling Thunder, and Wind Rider. They were found scattered across Equestria, and due to their dodgy backgrounds, it was believed they would know something about what happened.
The six baddies were brought before Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of her friends, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Luster Dawn, and Fluttershy, with an oddly silent Discord.
Luster Dawn was beside Twilight in a full body cast, and a wheel chair. The student could not speak beyond muffled speech. Only her eyes were showing, they revealed a grumpy look on her face.
It was time for the trial to begin.
"You lot are being brought before the supreme leader of Equestria to attest to your great crimes against our land!" Spike said.
"You all are our primary suspects." Twilight said. "We have reason to believe that you assisted in the most recent takeover attempt lead by the notorious Cozy Glow!"
The six grew nervous, but they held their breath, and didn't confess immediately.
"Well, who wants to spell out the truth?" Twilight asked.
The moment was getting to tense for some of them to handle. So quickly, Svengallop broke down.
"I confess!" Svengallop exclaimed. "We did it! We were cahoots with Cozy Glow, and we contributed to her plan!"
"Geez. Show a little bit of dignity." Lightning Dust said.
"Anypony else wanna add on to that?" Spike asked.
"Nope!" Suri said, defiantly.
"I ain't telling ya nothin'!" Short Fuse exclaimed.
"Me either! My lips are sealed." Rolling Thunder added.
"Why am I here?" Wind Rider asked. "I'm the Washouts' coach, sure, but I only met this Cosy Girl like once. I don't know nothing about world domination."
"No pony is going anywhere until we have the answers we're looking for!" Twilight exclaimed.
Everypony went quiet. It was unusual for Twilight to yell with such aggression. She tried to cover it up and proceed.
"Anyway, proceeding. Svegallop, step forward. You've got a lot of explaining to do." Twilight said.
Svengallop stepped forward, and approached the princess, and began talking, and explaining everything he knew to Twilight Sparkle and Spike.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gang was left to... mingle, and catch up with the rest of the mane 6.
Suri Polomare turned her attention to her old pal Rarity.
"Ah, Rarity! Long time no see..." Suri said.
"I'm sorry, but have we met before?" Rarity asked.
"So tell me. Did you ever iterate upon your hotelware fashion line? Or was it just a one and done for the sake of beating me?" Suri asked.
"Suri Polomare!" Rarity exclaimed. "Figures Cozy Glow would recruit the scheming lying likes of you by her side. Are you still jealous that I beat you?"
*pfft* "Me, jealous that I lost to a line of dresses cobbled together with leftover hotel room curtains?" Suri said, gritting her teeth. "Not in the slightest. M'kay. Besides. I couldn't care less what some snotty Manehatten judges have to say. I don't need to win an award to tell me I'm better than you."
Meanwhile, right adjacent to the fashion rivals, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but give Lightning Dust a piece of her mind.
"You don't have to confess a thing. I got you all figured out. You teamed up with Cozy Glow and used some sort of dark magic so you could beat my speed record!" Rainbow Dash said.
"That's literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Lightning Dust said. "Besides, I don't need any magical assistance to beat you, Dash."
Rolling Thunder noticed the Wonderbolts badge on Rainbow Dash's vest.
"Wow, you really climbed the ranks at the Wonderbolts." Rolling Thunder said, impressed.
Lightning Dust and Short Fuse gave her a mean look. She's not supposed to be nice to Rainbow Dash.
"I mean, whatever, who cares." Rolling Thunder.
"Well, Wind Rider. You've seen both of us fly. Who's the fastest?" Lightning Dust asked.
"Ack! I'm gettin' too old to be caught up in competitions." Wind Rider said.
"Soon as this is done, I challenge you to a race!" Lightning said.
"Not on my watch you ain't." Applejack interjected. "It's too dangerous for you to fly at top speed now. Think'a bout your blood pressure, Dash."
"Ha! You're retired, Dash? Me? I'm still in my prime!" Lightning boasted.
"Oh yeah?!" Rainbow said.
Lightning and Rainbow gave each other an intense and angry glare.
Meanwhile, Suri and Rarity were still going at it. Suri couldn't help but notice the disgrace wrapped around Rarity.
"I see your fashion designs haven't evolved one bit since we last met." Suri said. "Judging by that disgrace wrapped around you."
"You're on thin ice, Polomare." Rarity said. "Tread easy, you're on shaky ground for conspiring against Equestria."
The two's argument got more and more heated.
"You think you guys are some kind of dream team? We make our dreams happen! Through rigorous hard work, not friendship and hoof holding!" Lightning said.
"Y'all a bunch of cronies." Applejack said. "I should'a known that Svengallop, would've collaborated with the scummy lot of y'all, plus them Flim Flam Brothers apparently. Leave it to y'all to come up with-"
Svengallop overheard Applejack's comments, and turned away from Twilight, and faced Applejack.
"You know what? Hold on one second, princess." he said.
"Hey, I wasn't finished speaking to you!" Twilight exclaimed.
"You know what, I've had it up to my hoof with you, Applejack!" Svengallop exclaimed.
Svengallop inched forward and raised his hooves.
"I did not bust my flank off making Coloratura an international superstar, for some simple life farm girl to come along, and ruin everything!" he exclaimed.
"If by ruin, you me free her! Then yes! I did!" Applejack exclaimed. "And who you callin' simple?!"
"You take that back! No. YOU take that back!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Pinkie Pie? Who are you talking to?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"No one. *giggle* I was just getting a little envious that you all have rivals to talk to, but I apparently don't! I'm just too likable to have any enemies!"
"If I may have your attention once again Sven..." Twilight said, but the arguments raged on.
The princess tried to gain their attention, but their quarrel continued.
"Hey!"
"Stop that!
"No hittin'!"
"Quit shoving!"
"Argue argue argue!" Pinkie exclaimed at no one in particular, just adding to the commotion.
"STOOOOP!" Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs.
Every creature in the room went silent.
"Can I just say-" Svengallop tried to say.
*smack* Suri slapped Svengallop on the hoof.
"No! No more bickering! No arguing, or fighting either! I don't care who tells me, but all I want to know, is where is Cozy Glow!?"
*SLAM*
In that moment, the doors to the throne from flew wide open, and a very particular unicorn entered.
"She's right here!" she exclaimed.
*bam*
The unicorn, decked in royal guard armor, brought forth what appeared to be a stone statue of a distressed Cozy Glow.
"Cozy Glow?!" everypony exclaimed.
"Twilight Sparkle! How dare you freeze Cozy Glow back in stone after she single handedly saved each and every one of you!" Magnolia asked.
"Wha- No I didn't! I thought- But- -But she- Ah-" Twilight couldn't even get more than a few words out before other thoughts conflicted.
"I thought she was just sick!" Svengallop said.
"I thought she was in Luster Dawn!" Discord said.
"She was in Luster Dawn?" Rainbow asked.
"I thought we mortally injured her in battle!" Starlight said.
"M mmmght mme mms mmmd" Luster said, muffled by the bandages wrapped around her head.
"Hey! Just what is going on here?!" Rarity asked.
"I'll just show you." Magnolia said, reaching for something behind her. "Behold! The Rainbow of Darkness!" she exclaimed.
"Wait, no!" Starlight exclaimed.
"AHH!" Pinkie screamed.
*EEEK!* "Not again!" Svegallop shrieked in fear.
Magnolia held out the sack which held the darkness, and pointed it at the princess. She opened it wide. The mane 6 stood in fighting poses, but there was no need, for nothing came out of the sack. It was completely empty.
*plomf*
Magnolia dropped the empty sack to the ground.
"Nothing. What once held the Rainbow of Darkness, is now an empty sack. It's all gone." Magnolia said.
"Fascinating." Discord said, holding the sack. "I've never seen this item so close, and devoid of any power."
"But where did all the dark magic go?" Fluttershy asked.
"We have Cozy Glow to thank for that." Magnolia replied. "The Rainbow of Darkness would've consumed all of Equestria if Cozy hadn't put a stop to it."
"Cozy Glow did that?" Twilight asked.
"Mmm hmm." Magby affirmed.
"Huh, strange. She spent so much time and money too awaken the Rainbow of Darkness, then all of the sudden she got rid of it?" Svengallop said aloud.
*gasp* Every creature gasped at the shocking news.
"She what?!" Applejack exclaimed.
"All this destruction was her doing?!" Rarity asked.
"...Oops." Svengallop said.
The mood in the room went from bewilderment, back to anger towards Cozy.
"Well, which is it? Did Cozy Glow to unleash the darkness, or seal it away?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don't know! Why don't we unfreeze her from this statue, and ask her ourselves!" Magnolia said.
"Or, we can bask in the light while we have it, and forget'a 'bout Cozy Glow! She's nothin' but trouble!" Applejack said.
"Wow, and I thought Rainbow Dash was supposed to be the element of honesty." Magnolia said.
"Wha-I AM the element of honesty. She's the element of loyalty!" Applejack corrected.
"Really, huh? I've had it backwards my whole life..." Magnolia said under her breath.
"Could you speak up, traitor?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Anyway! What do you ponies want? What you feel is best for Equestria? Or what's best for Cozy?" Magnolia asked.
"Hmm..."
"That sounded more uplifting in my head." Magnolia said to herself.
Everypony in the room went into deep thinking mode. Although, the mane 6 didn't seem convinced.
"Can I just take a moment to be reasonable?" Discord asked.
"Discord? Reasonable?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Cozy had the opportunity to change her ways if she wanted." Discord said. "First Twilight did release her from stone and put her under the supervision of Luster Dawn, but then Cozy went ahead and escaped."
"Well-" Magnolia said, but was swiftly interrupted.
"I'm not done. Then when I finally caught up to her, and found she was sick, I generously offered to help save her, but then she went ahead and abused my favor and tried to take over Equestria again. So is this really a good idea?"
"Discord." Magnolia growled.
"I'm not here to say yes or no, I'm just presenting what I've observed. Whenever Cozy Glow is given an opportunity, she always takes advantage of it. So how do we know this is going to be any different?" Discord asked.
"Maybe because this time, she actually did something good, by destroying the darkness." Suri said.
"Well, okay. That's 1 good deed. And do we really even have proof that-" Discord said.
Magnolia was sick of arguing. She'd had enough of the selfishness floating in Twilight's court. She inturpted Discord, and gave her conjecture.
"Look, if you ponies would rather Cozy Glow suffer for the guaranteed sanctity of Equestria, then you all have truly learned nothing since you first sealed her away. Wanna know something?" Magby said, removing her helmet. "Cozy and I were born in the same month of the same year. We're the same age, but look at her compared to me. I'm a full grown mare, but she isn't. She spent many years in stone, frozen in time, and never got to experience what it was like to grow up. She was robbed of her fillyhood. Now you might say she did that to herself when she chose to do bad things. But how much of her actions were her doing, or was it a result of how she was raised? Perhaps she never received the help she needed. But for you all to look at a member of your own kin, and being okay with letting her continue to suffer, that truly breaks my heart. You guys messed up the moment you decided to put her in Tartarus without trying to find out what motivated her to do that spell." she was starting to get teary eyed. "Lock her up, and ask questions never! Even still, after she saved your lives, you give her no sympathy. And that makes me ashamed to be a member of your royal guard." Magnolia set her helmet to the floor. "Which is why I quit."
*clap clap* Rolling Thunder started clapping, but no other pony joined in. It was so awkward, she stopped her clap.
"What? Nopony else was moved by her passionate speech?" Rolling Thunder asked.
*sigh* "Forget it. Since you've clearly made up your mind, so I'll just be on my way." Magnolia said.
She picked up the Cozy statue, and was about to walk out, but Twilight couldn't let her just walk away.
"Magnolia?" Twilight said.
The mare halted in place, and turned around.
"Let's do it." Twilight said.
*gasp*
"You can't be serious." Rainbow Dash said.
"Are you sure about this?" Spike asked.
"We're going to release her, and talk to her, as well as ask her a lot of questions, under tight supervision, and an extremely controlled environment. We'll give her no window to escape this time." Twilight said. "We're going to find out once and for all what Cozy wants."
Twilight cocked her head at Discord.
"What are you looking at me for?" Discord asked.
"You are kind of the expert on petrifying spells." Fluttershy said.
"I see. So that's my everlasting legacy?" Discord asked.
"Discord." Fluttershy said.
"Oh alright." he said.
Discord and Twilight stood in front of the statue, and charged their magic.
*ZAP* *MAGIC*
They both fired their spells, and the statue started to thaw from the top down.
The filly was free, and she immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
.
.
.
"Cozy Glow?"
The filly laid on the ground, looking up. From the filly's perspective, every creature in the room surrounded her, and was looking down on her. She looked up.
"Cozy Glow. I... look. I've heard from detractors that if I had just listened to you on the day of the eve of my coronation, that maybe you would've changed your mind. But we didn't listen to you. We sealed you away in stone for a long time, without giving you a chance to speak. But I'm listening this time. I'm not going to put you away, I'm not going to hand you off to somepony else. I'm here, and I'm listening! So, Cozy Glow. Put away the act, and be honest with me. Do you want to change?"
"...My name's not Cozy Glow..." she said.
"It's not her?" Twilight asked.
"We got the wrong filly?" Starlight asked.
Every creature suddenly became very confused. This wasn't Cozy Glow?
"She's lying. This is probably all another one of her tricks." Rainbow Dash said.
"Pah. Cozy doesn't like you, and simply doesn't wanna talk to you. We'll have better luck if she talks to me." Svengallop said.
Svengallop leaned in closer to the filly.
"Boss, it's me, Svengallop! Your right hoof colt!" he said.
"I've never seen you before." the filly said.
"So then you really aren't her then..." Rolling Thunder said.
"That doesn't prove anything! Svengallop is like the most forgettable character there is." Applejack said. said.
"I heard you say that. And it hurt..." he said.
Short Fuse walked up to the filly.
"Come on, boss. Show us your awesome flying skills!" Short Fuse said.
"B-but, I don't have wings." the filly said.
"Oh wow, no kidding." Lightning said.
"Strange. You resemble her so much..." Suri said.
And it was true. She was a unicorn, with no wings, but she looked so much like Cozy Glow. The pegasus looked around the room, and noticed Luster Dawn.
"Sister? Is that you?" she asked.
"Her?" Starlight asked.
Twilight nodded no. "I'm afraid not. This is my student, Luster Dawn. She's an only child. And uh... your sister isn't with Luster right now..."
"B-but she... I..." *cough* the filly coughed.
"What is your name, little one?" Magnolia asked.
"I'm A-A-Am...ber." she replied softly.
"Your name's Amber?" Twilight asked.
The filly nodded.
Amber lived up to her name when it came to her eyes. Unlike Cozy's scarlet eyes, Amber's looked just like prettified tree sap. Their mane, and fur colors were near identical however. Amber's messy mane was the same light blue as Cozy's. But as mentioned earlier, Amber was a unicorn, not a pegasus, which made her resemblance to Cozy more perplexing.
"You're the filly from earlier." Starlight said. "You're the filly who teamed up with Cozy Glow, and who got hurt in the action."
Amber nodded once more.
"Where is Cozy Glow?" Amber asked softly.
"That's what we want to know." Starlight said.
"I wish I could say, but we don't know." Twilight replied.
Amber shed a tear when she heard that Cozy was missing.
"What a strange case." Discord said.
"She's just as cute as da boss, but it ain't her." Short Fuse said.
"Cozy Glow was a pegasus by nature, but this filly's a unicorn." Rarity said.
"Do you know what's going on, Discord?" Fluttershy asked.
"I know you rely on me for my immense catalog of knowledge, but I haven't the faintest clue what's going on. She's definitely a different pony. That much I can assure." Discord said.
Twilight was still going through withdrawal, so she was still processing what she saw before being put away, and wasn't ready to explain what she saw first hand yet.
Things only seemed to get stranger the deeper the ponies looked. Instead of uncovering Cozy Glow, they encountered somepony entirely new to them.
"Well, now what?" Applejack asked.
"If this isn't her, then where is she?" Twilight asked.
Everyone in the room did some thinking, but Magnolia had a hunch.
"If you're looking for Cozy Glow, I might know where she really is." Magnolia said.
Every character in the throne room was now in front of the school of friendship... or what used to be the school of friendship. They were all shocked at the damage, but Twilight most of all.
"My school!" Twilight cried. "It's in ruins!"
"The entire thing's collapsed!" Starlight exclaimed.
The sight of all the debris was unpleasant. The thought of Cozy Glow being beneath all the rubble was... unsettling.
"What makes you think Cozy Glow is... there?" Spike asked.
"This was definitely the epicenter of some great magical disturbance. Cozy's gotta be... *gulp* nearby." Magnolia replied.
They looked at the wreck with pleasing discontent. Someponies, for different reasons than others.
"Ugh. This is going to take us all day to clean up." Rainbow Dash moaned.
"Well then." *snap* Discord conjured, and thew a bunch of shovels at the group. "Let's get shoveling!"
"Can I opt out of shoveling?" Lightning asked.
"I don't know about you, but I enjoy meticulous tasks." Suri said, eager to dig into the debris.
"I'll have you know I have a doctor's appointment that prevents me from partaking in laborious tasks." Wind Rider said.
Fortunately, they would all receive a little extra help.
"Need some extra help to move those rocks?" someone asked.
Everyone turned around and saw-
*gasp* they all gasped.
"Ocellus?" Twilight asked.
"That's Queen Ocellus. But, you guys can just keep calling me Ocellus if Queen is too formal." she said, kicking her hoof, trying to stay humble.
Ocellus was... taller than usual. Almost like Celestia or Chrysalis stature. She was bright and radiant, not the loving sucking changeling form at all.
"What happened to you?" Fluttershy asked.
"Uh... change in diet. But enough about me." Ocellus said.
Behind her was Sandbar, Yona, Smolder, Silverstream, and substituting for Gallus, was Gabby. As well as nearly the entire hive of good changelings. Each and every one of them were all holding shovels.
"I heard you guys needed some extra help. So, without further ado... Let's find Cozy Glow!" Ocellus said.
To be continued...