The Next Chapter

by Some Leech


Chapter 5

“I still can’t believe they actually attacked me,” Flurry bleated.

“Us. They attacked us,” Cozy corrected, squinting over at the flustered alicorn. “And keep your voice down, we don’t need anyone to hear us…”

“I don’t think we’ll have much to worry about there. Nobody really comes here - at least, I’ve never heard of anyone hanging around this place,” Anon murmured, looking between the two ponies.

Sheltered in the overgrown and severely dilapidated remains of what used to be Fluttershy’s Animal Sanctuary, the trio had finally found solitude. According to Anon and Flurry, the place had fallen into disrepair ages ago. Once Twilight had opened a significantly larger animal refuge and veterinary school outside of Canterlot, the land had been abandoned.

The windows were all shuttered and the front door hung lazily on one hinge, yet the place almost looked like a time capsule - albeit an extremely time worn one. Furniture still dotted the rooms, as did several books and creature comforts, giving the house a surreal air. As disquieting as it was, its undisturbed nature was a testament that few, if any, ever frequented the locale.

Whether it was due to veneration for the Element of Kindness, reluctance to repurpose the estate, or just sheer coincidence, nobody had laid a hoof on the property. The only one who’d made use of it had been Mother Nature herself. Most of the structures were gone, either collapsed or buried in weeds, and the land had slowly been reclaimed by the wildlife the former owner so deeply cherished.

It was strangely peaceful, in a beautiful and poetic sense. Though Cozy never really had many dealings with the demure, soft-spoken pegasus, she had to assume Fluttershy would have approved. Birds, rabbits, and all manner of small game had stayed and thrived, even without their erstwhile protector. It was lush, overgrown, and would serve the three as a temporary safe harbor while they planned their next move.

Their flight from Anon’s house had been a bit arduous, but Cozy had insisted on the complexity of their escape. Navigating through the woods, avoiding trails, doubling back at points, and even traversing upstream for a leg of the journey, she’d done everything she could to ensure they couldn’t be tracked. Were it not for the human’s inability to fly, it would have taken them a fraction of the time - however, that was not the case.

The extra precautions may not have been completely necessary, yet Cozy didn’t need to risk being discovered. After arriving at the sanctuary, they’d holed up in the ruins of Fluttershy’s old home. The structure was nearly invisible, hidden beneath a thick growth of kudzu and blackberry brambles, even if it did prove challenging to enter. They had bought themselves some time, even if it was finite.

“Do we have any allies? Anyone without ties to Twilight or the royal guard?” Cozy asked.

“Besides a few ponies I see in town, no, not really. Even if we could go walking around freely, I’m not sure they’d take my word on any of this - I mean, I’m pretty sure most of them don’t believe half of my stories anyways,” Anon grumbled.

“To be sure, you know somepony who could help?” Cozy sighed, shifting her attention to the Princess.

“I...I...I don’t really get out much. Well, I do get out, but it’s almost all formal events or gatherings,” Flurry whispered.

“So you’re telling me that a Princess doesn’t have any friends. Great, this is just peachy,” Cozy hissed, kicking a pebble across the floor. “What about your Mom? Cadance would…” she cut herself off, as the alicorn dropped her gaze.

While she couldn’t be sure of exactly what caused it, she’d seen the look before. It was obvious that the mare was having a hard time coping with the recent maelstrom of events and she was not about to risk making it worse by touching on some emotional subject. Shaking her head, she peered over at the human. She could always readdress the subject of Flurry’s mother later - for now, there were other matters that needed tending to.

“We’re going to need food, if only for the night,” she muttered. The man beside her said something under his breath, although she didn’t quite catch it. “We can find you a cape or something later. Just consider yourself lucky that those blasts didn’t do more damage than they did,” she commented, looking over to him.

Though his shirt had been destroyed, left as little more than rags, his body was intact. His skin was reddened in places, and it looked like he had a few bruises starting to appear, yet there was no way anycreature should have been able to walk away from what he endured with so little damage. Peering past his swollen cheek, he gazed down at her.

“It doesn’t work on me, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he noted. Touching his torso, on the left side of his rib cage, he inhaled sharply. “Well, it almost doesn’t work on me anymore.”

“Anymore?” Cozy repeated, focusing on the area below his chest.

“When I first got here, I was immune to magic. Teleportation, shielding, levitation, you name it -  just kind of Poof,” he chuckled slightly, before wincing.

“I’m guessing they didn’t just put you on a range and have unicorns take pot-shots at you?” Cozy inquired. Though a brief, mental image of the man scrambling to avoid a hale-fire of arcane bolts and detonations was amusing, she kept a straight face.

“Not at first, no, but we did try increasingly potent stuff. Like I said, nothing ever worked. It was only after I’d been here for a year or so did anything have even the slightest effect,” he explained.

“Twilight thinks that it has something to do with where he came from,” Flurry interjected, trotting over to sit by the man. “There’s no magic where he came from, so that’s probably part of it and -”

“The longer he’s here, the more it permeates through him - like he’s steeping in it,” Cozy postulated, unintentionally cutting the Princess off.

“That seems to be the popular theory, yeah. Maybe when I’m an old man I’ll finally be able to visit Cloudsdale,” Anon grunted. “Anyways, do we have a plan? Not that chatting with you guys isn’t fun but I’m pretty sure that, for whatever reason, I’m a wanted man now...The wanted man,” he chuckled, somehow finding levity in the statement.

“After we get some sleep and, if we’re lucky, find some food, we can recon Ponyville tomorrow. It would be next to impossible, even if we had disguises, although Flurry could cast an invisibility spell on herself to do it. We could sneak around, listen for any gossip, maybe steal some provisions for ourselves,” Cozy thoughtfully hummed.

“I can’t steal from anypony!” Flurry scoffed, taken aback by the notion.

“It’d be temporary!” Cozy groaned, face hoofing. “When we get this sorted out, if we get this sorted out, you can pay them back. The bottom line is that we don’t have enough information yet and we need to be cautious. The guards who’d come for me clearly weren’t afraid to use force or stand up to either of you, which means only one thing - if Twilight really did send them, something is wrong.”

“It doesn’t add up. Why would she give her blessing to free you if she turned around and had you arrested again?” Anon asked.

“Speaking of which, how did you free me?” she countered, raising an eyebrow.

“She did it herself,” he exhaled, his shoulders sagging slightly.

“Wait...Twilight came and released me herself?” Cozy balked.

“Yeah. After you were un-petrified, you collapsed unconscious. She nodded to me and then disappeared,” Anon explained.

“And you didn’t mention this sooner because…?” she let the question hang.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal. I figured it would come up in conversation at some point; it’s not like I knew things would end up going sideways,” he muttered, lowering his tone, “or that my house would get set ablaze.”

“I’ll make sure any damages get repaired and that any of your belongings are replaced,” Flurry softly stated. Reaching over, she comfortingly patted his thigh.

“Thanks,” Anon sighed, smiling weakly over at her. “Anyways, we should probably look for something to eat and maybe get some water. I think I saw some potato and carrot plants as we were making our way onto the property.”

Peering out the window, Cozy nodded. They only had an hour or two of daylight left and, like it or not, they’d have to hunker down for the night. Though it was a small silver lining, the season was in their favor. It wasn’t cold enough to require a fire for warmth and they should be able to rummage up something edible - after all, at one point, Fluttershy did have a small garden near her home.

“Alright, just be on the lookout for anything fishy and try to stay within line of sight of each other,” Cozy noted, trotting to the vine-draped entrance of the building. With Anon and the Princess following her, she snuck outside into the afternoon sun.

Thankfully, their excursion outdoors went without incident. After rinsing themselves off in a stream cutting through the reserve, the trio combed the grounds for anything of use. Not only were they able to locate an intact pot to tote some water from the nearby brook, but they procured a good bit of wild edibles as well. Secreting themselves back into their hideaway, they did what they could to prepare a meal.

Mixed berries, unseasoned baked potatoes, and roasted carrots may not sound like much, but on an empty stomach after a long day of unanticipated excitement, the meager meal was a banquet. Without Flurry and her magic, they would have ended up chewing on the uncooked tubers; thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Eating in silence, as the sun disappeared over the horizon, the three made themselves comfortable for the night.

Lying on a threadbare throw rug, Cozy looked over at her unexpected companions. It was odd - if somepony had told her that she’d be traveling with a bipedal, interdimensional alien and an alicorn, she would have laughed in their face. Shaking her head, she pulled the makeshift blanket over herself. All things considered, despite how bizarre the last day had been, she considered herself fortunate.

Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, as the sound of the soft breeze outside soothingly drifted to her ears. She’d gotten rest under worse conditions, including her time in Tartarus, and this was no different. Regardless of what obstacles awaited her, worrying herself into a stupor would serve no beneficial purpose. Before she realized it, concealed within the former Element of Kindness’ home, she fell into a deep slumber.

“Cozy,” someone whispered distantly. Her body rocked gently, jarring her awake. “Cozy,” the voice repeated, a touch more urgently.

Cracking one eye open, she wearily peeked upward. Anon was squatted down over her, his hand on her shoulder, while looking towards the doorway. It only took her a second to figure out something was wrong. Scanning the room, she noticed that the alicorn was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Flurry?” she asked, getting to her hooves.

“I don’t know. I woke up and she was missing. There’s a chance she went out to use the bathroom but I haven’t seen her in the fifteen minutes or so that I’ve been up,” he quietly responded.

Tracking his gaze, she looked to the exit. It was still dark out, with the sun only just starting to rise, but that wasn’t what held her attention. As her mind fought to fully wake itself, she considered the options. There was a chance that Flurry had seen herself out, to use the little filly’s room, yet there was a nagging sense that something was amiss. It was only when she listened intently did she notice it, the deathly silence.

“Anon, get ready to defend -” she was cut off, when the world exploded around her.

A large earth pony guard charged through the door, plowing through the brambles and vines as if they hadn’t existed. A deafening crack from overhead caused her to instinctively fly backwards, just as a pair of armored bipeds crashed to the floor. Although she only got a split second to see them, though the dimly lit room, she recognized their shape.

Diamond dogs were unmistakable creatures. Walking on two legs, often well muscled and shockingly strong, the canids were known for their exceptional sense of smell and boorishness. Ponies would on rare occasion hire them to sniff out precious gems or for tracking, yet she’d never heard of the royal guard employing their skills.

“Come here, little pony,” one of the brutish creatures darkly chuckled, stomping towards her.

“Anon, the banister!” she shouted, darting between his outstretched paws. 

Unlike the pony soldiers they’d encountered, the diamond dogs’ armor was crudely hewn and heavy. Whizzing above her pursuer, she kicked the left horn of his helm. His headgear spun around, blinding him and throwing him off balance. Hovering near the ceiling, she watched Anon shove the other canine away and run to the stairway. The man grabbed the hoofrail and wrenched a length of wood free, but was tackled into the wall by the large pony.

“Run!” Anon yelled, flailing under the stallion’s weight. Rearing his arm back to swing his makeshift cudgel, one of the diamond dogs seized the weapon.

Glancing to the exit and seeing at least one figure lurking outside, Cozy’s mind began to race. Leaving the man and Flurry would mean giving up on two of the only creatures in Equestria she had any modicum of trust in. Gritting her teeth, flying in the face of better judgement, she rocketed towards the stallion struggling with Anon.

Gaining as much speed as she could, given the close quarters, she dove. She waited until the last second before extending her legs beneath her and smashing her hooves against the pony’s temple. Given her weight, or lack thereof, the blow only staggered the stallion, but that was enough. The guard flinched, leaving Anon to seize the moment.

Kicking the pony’s hind legs out from under him, the man rolled atop the stallion and gained the upper hand - at least, for an instant. Realizing what had happened, the two diamond dogs threw themselves onto the man and dragged him off of the embattled guard. With his arms pinned behind his back, they wrestled him to the floor. The pony quickly followed suit, throwing his significant weight onto Anon’s legs.

Run!” Anon repeated.

The conviction in his voice and the look of pleading on his face caused her to hesitate - and she paid a heavy toll for it. A sudden weight wrenched her to the floor, as a soft aura of mingled turquoise and periwinkle light surrounded her. Flapping her wings, fighting against the magical force hauling her downward, Cozy’s efforts were found lacking.

“Not this time…” a familiar voice called out, causing her to look towards the door.

Striding into the room came Emblem, flanked by Sigil and one of the unnamed unicorns from the siege at Anon’s home. The horned ponies’ sorcery held her firmly to the ground, as the officer strutted over to her. Conserving her energy, she scowled up at him.

“You thought you were so clever,” Emblem chuckled, lowering his face towards her. “I’ll just add destruction of property to your ever-growing list of offenses.”

“She didn’t - Gah - do anything!” Anon growled, as a pair of heavy shackles were secured around his wrists.

“Brainwashing a Princess and escaping imprisonment - with your help, might I add. No, I think she’d done plenty already,” the officer snarled, glowering at the man. “If you were half as smart as you pretend to be, you’d keep your mouth shut.”

“I didn’t brainwash anyone! Twilight let me out, I stayed at Anon’s house that night, then Flurry came by and met me yesterday! Just ask her yourself!” Cozy squawked. Watching one of the diamond dogs produce a second, much smaller pair of cuffs.

“Oh really now? Then tell me why Twilight told us Princess Flurry had been missing for days. Help me understand how your trickery wasn’t to blame for the young alicorn vehemently defending one of the most nefarious villains in history…” he mockingly chided, stooping down and plucking her from the floor.

The magic around her slowly dissipated, as the cold iron bands closed around her wings and forelegs. She’d been framed, captured, and left to some unknowably abysmal fate, but that didn’t mean she was totally helpless. Anger welled within her, while she was brought steadily closer to the smug guard’s face. Out of sheer spite, she leaned in and bit his nose.

“You little -” his words were lost, as she found herself hurled across the room.

Everything spun madly, while she tumbled through the air, before she hit the wall. She gasped and fell to the floor, with the wind driven out of her. Rolling to her side, trying desperately to fill her lungs with air, a dull ache radiated from her back.

Lying there, struggling to breathe, bits of fabric drifted down around her. Her eyes drifted up to the wall where she’d impacted. Ragged and worn, the remnants of a painting she had apparently struck floated to the floor. She could almost make out what the image was - what it used to be.

Muted though they were, the pastel hues of what was a portrait of rainbow and butterflies lie scattered around her. It was ironic - there she was, defeated and injured, in the former home of the embodiment of kindness, with little hope of getting away. Even if she wasn’t hurt, she was vastly outnumbered and her chances of making an escape were laughably small.

“You know, I don’t know what Twilight is going to do to you,” Emblem laughed, nonchalantly trotting over to her limp form, “but I will personally see to it that you don’t get loose again. I don’t care if you are thrown in Tartarus or petrified again, you’ll never -”

“She’s just a kid, leave her alone, you bully!” Anon barked.

Quiet!” the officer demanded. Stamping his hoof, he nodded towards the pair of unicorns behind him. One of the two produced a gag and stifled the man, leaving him to thrash about in his bonds. Turning back to the small pegasus, a cruel smile played across his face. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you never see any of your friends again.”

His words hung in the air, sending a chill up Cozy’s spine. She was powerless, Anon was in chains, and she had no idea what they’d done with Flurry. As sad as it was, the only two creatures who cared anything for her were going to be ripped away, even though she’d only just started to get to know them. Helpless and in pain, all she could feel was cold dread welling up within her.

Curling into a ball, she squeezed her eyes closed - that was, until a thought occurred. Forcing herself to peer up at the guard looming over her, she stared him straight in the eye. Even if there was no hope for her, that didn’t mean she couldn’t save the human and alicorn from some terrible fate. “I confess, alright. Anon and Flurry didn’t have anything to do with it. Just let them go and do whatever you want with me.”

The stallion’s eyes narrowed and he leaned in, yet the twisted smirk he bore did not leave his face. “No…” Emblem whispered. 

Her pupils shrank to pinpricks and, though she tried to squirm away, a hoof bore down against her back. Looking up at him, she noticed something strange. He looked frozen, completely and utterly still, with that smug grin of his. Something was wrong, but it took her a second to wrap her head around it.

Scanning the room, she found that the officer wasn’t the only one paralyzed. Everycreature was petrified, seemingly locked in place, as though time itself had stopped flowing. Glancing to the window, seeing the leaves outside shift in the gentle breeze, her confusion mounted. Whatever had happened, it only seemed to have a selective effect.

The house was deathly silent, so quiet that she could hear a pin drop - at least it was until something stirred on the second floor. Soft footfalls from above drew her attention upwards. It, whatever it was, was moving at a leisurely pace towards the stairs. Tracking the noise, seeing a single foot appear at the top of the stairwell, she swallowed hard.

With each unhurried stride, more of it came into view. Click - a cloven hoof stepped closer. Thump - a draconic foot bore weight on a groaning stair. An impossibly long and serpent-like body came into view, leaving little room for doubt of whom had intervened. As the glowing, crimson pupils of his brilliant golden eyes settled upon her, she felt her heart skip a beat.

The draconequus walked over to her, heedless to or ignoring the tumultuous scene around him, and came to rest just beside her. Without saying a word, he reached down, toppled Emblem to his side, and lifted a finger. Cozy levitated upward, the chains about her hooves and wings transmuting to a string of harmless bubbles, before finding herself before his face.

Discord was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful beings in the known world. A literal avatar of chaos, the raw might of his abilities were as unfathomable as they were incomprehensible. So far as she knew, he’d only ever been humbled on a scant few occasions and, even then, his defeat had only been assured by trickery or mystical artifice.

As wholly terrifying as such a being was, her prior history with him left her exceptionally uneasy. Lazily spinning in a circle, as he studied her like a small curiosity, she did her best to read his face. Though he appeared unchanged, from the centuries which had passed since their last encounter, there was something off about him. Normally animated to a fault, he seemed almost impassive about all the goings on.

The feeling of impotence from minutes ago was absolutely eclipsed by facing the demigod. Regardless of why he’d intervened, he’d at least stalled being dragged away by the soldiers and their diamond dog rabble. As she completed her second mid-air revolution, she met his eyes.

“Thanks…” she exhaled, realizing she’d been holding her breath.

Hmmm?” he hummed disinterestedly, raising the paw of his right arm slightly. Pressing two digits together, he snapped; the room instantaneously reverted back to its untouched and decrepit state, albeit with one exception - the soldiers and diamond dogs were simply gone, yet Anon stayed immobilized on the floor below.

“Thanks,” she repeated, smiling timidly. “You know, it’s that thing you say when friends help you.”

The corners of Discord’s snaggletoothed mouth turned down, his brow creased, and he squinted at her. “Don’t thank me. I’m certainly not your friend and any help is a mere coincidence.”

Sharp and to the point, his response wasn’t all that surprising. She, Tirek, and Chrysalis had stolen power, back when they’d almost toppled the Equestrian empire, and the centaur had even duped him and drained him of his strength once before that. They weren’t, nor had they ever been, on good terms and both of them knew it.

“If you’re not helping, what are you doing?” she asked, her languid rotation drawing to a halt.

“Tidying up, that’s all,” he glibly replied, before eyeing the human’s frozen form, “even if that is making it difficult.”

“Still, thanks anyway,” Cozy whispered, holding on to hope that she’d be freed.

Stop that,” Discord hissed. His lip curled over one comically oversized fang, his muscles tensed, and an ominous light shone from within his eyes. “I am not your friend…”

“Look,” Cozy sighed, coming to terms with the situation, “I can’t stop you, Anon can’t stop you, and Flurry couldn’t stop you - even if she was somewhere around. I’ll tell you the same thing I told the guards, just leave Anon and Flurry out of this.”

“That’s cute,” he snickered, though there was no trace of mirth on his countenance. “You think you can play me like a little fiddle, like you did with Twilight and -”

“I’m not lying,” she snapped, her temper flaring. “I don’t have anything to lose, but they do. Now what are you going to do with me?”

The draconequus paused and his eyes widened slightly, at the outburst. A moment of tense silence hung in the air, like some horrible weight threatening to crush the small pegasus. There were few, if any, who were bold or foolish enough to hold their ground against a cosmic force of Discord’s caliber, yet she’d been truthful - she had precious little to lose.

Locking eyes with her, leaning in so close that she could feel his breath against her snout, he breathed. “I haven’t decided yet…