“Get behind me!” Anon shouted, fearlessly shielding the four from the glowing figure.
“Anonymous, if you do not move, I will move you,” the effigy tutted. “If you assume your resilience to magic is enough to stop me, you are mistaken.”
Blazing with all the intensity of an ignited star, its horn blazed. An opalescent light surrounded the man, causing him to tremble. Whatever it was doing was clearly having some effect. Straining against some unseen force, he lifted his arms and defiantly cast them wide.
“You are not going to hurt them!” he seethed, clenching his teeth.
“A pleasing assertion, if not a typical one. The humans who once visited Equestria stood bravely by their friends, for the most part, yet I’d hoped you’d see the reason for serving the greater good,” it intoned, applying more pressure.
Sinking to one knee, railing against the energies besieging him, Anon succumbed. Every muscle about his frame tensed, desperately fighting to keep him standing, yet it was to no avail. As incomprehensible as it was, the raw, unfettered potency of the thing’s sorcery was too much for him to bear - still, he continued to struggle.
“You call this the greater good?!” Flurry screamed, stepping away from the stricken draconequus.
“Flurry Heart, you have been indoctrinated by Cozy Glow’s subterfuge. If you would -” it was cut off, as a beam of harlequin energy splashed against its face.
“Deceiver!!!” Chrysalis raged, soaring towards the being. Blinded by anger or through sheer force of will, she ignored her injured wing. “You dare call yourself some paragon of virtue?!”
A fusillade of blasts from the changeling’s gnarled horn pelted the being, although they seemed to be having little or no effect. Standing stoic, tracking the Queen with her eyes, the construct impassively blinked. Though the assault was valiant, it served little purpose other than a momentary distraction.
“While I am a bit surprised that you would attempt to fight, it makes little difference,” it austerely stated.
Without the slightest bit of warning, a tendril of energy whipped from its being. The spear of energy flew at the shapeshifter, like a bolt of arcane lightning, before vanishing in a wisp of smoke. Nonplussed, the being momentarily shifted its focus to the source of the interruption.
Cozy glanced over her shoulder, comprehending what had happened. Though weakened, Discord recalcitrantly grinned. As small as the opening was, his intervention did not go unused. A thunderous roar pierced the air, while the earth shook. Looking back, towards the Matriarch, Cozy’s eyes went wide. Gone was the rebellious shapeshifter, replaced by a hulking monstrosity.
The ground quaked, as an Ursa Major hammered one titanic paw against the parody of a Princess. Cozy had known that Chrysalis was capable of transforming into a broad array of creatures, but she had never fathomed that the changeling could metamorphose into something so immense. The tremendous beast snarled downwards, lifting its limb to deliver a second blow, although it wasn’t enough. No sooner had the crater been revealed than a pillar of light blasted to the heavens.
Nonchalantly trotting out of the impact site, wholly unconcerned, it let loose its fury. Shielding her eyes from the blinding light, and hearing a shriek of pain, Cozy’s fears were confirmed. Blinking rapidly, she cleared her vision and looked for the shapeshifter - only to see the smoking, limp form of Chrysalis tumbling from the air. With a dull thud, crashing against the thatched roof of a nearby building, the Matriarch fell still.
Unable to move, peering at her colleague’s stricken form, Cozy was left helpless. Twin volleys of arcane energies whizzed by, as Flurry and Discord doused the thing with a storm of attacks. Even though the chimera’s magic lacked its former potency, it rivaled the young Princess’. Throughout the assault, like some eldritch deity, the placid figure of Twilight turned to them.
A prismatic ray of power leapt from its form, blazing through the air to collide with the Lord of Chaos. Screaming, throwing up a clawed hand, Discord’s attempt to shield himself was for naught. His figure contorted, twisting in torment, as he was converted to stone. For the third time in his nearly infinite life, he was left impotent.
Glancing to the side, Flurry did a double take. While Cozy couldn’t speak of the nature of the Princess’ relationship to the draconequus, the pain in the mare’s eyes was unmistakable. She herself harbored no love for the chimera, yet she was all too familiar with the agony of such a sentence. Looking to the alicorn’s face, she found only pain.
Sorrow and indignation, contempt and treachery, they pushed Flurry over the edge. Arcs of power bled for her, scorching the earth. Intentionally or not, their foe had evoked the full wrath of a true-born alicorn. Without saying a word, the young Princess’ outrage took form. In a display which could easily rival anything Celestia or Luna had been capable of, shards of nacreous force rocked the pretender.
It was only when the two clashed, hearing a distant cry, did Cozy take stock of the situation. Looking around, she was reminded of where they were. Though there were no other ponies directly involved with the conflict, they were far from alone. She was left to presume that anyone with the slightest bit of common sense would have run for the hills, though that didn’t mean everyone had fled.
Several ponies stood openly in the streets or sheltered behind walls, watching the conflict in open awe. She had little doubt that some were enthralled by the action, while others were too shocked to run - either way, they were innocent bystanders in a potentially calamitous battle. With her attention momentarily averted from the conflict, a howl caught her ear.
Turning back to the engagement, Cozy found that things had taken a turn. Somehow, evidently having been freed from his assault, Anon entered the fray. Presumably in a bid to tackle their opponent, he charged shoulder first at the likeness of Twilight. In the blink of an eye, just before making contact, the thing winked from existence.
Skidding to a halt, the man looked around in dismay. While Flurry’s assault zipped through the vacant area, shattering parts of the cobblestone roadway to pieces, Cozy craned her neck upwards. Backlit by the sun, at a barely visible purple speck in the sky, she found what she was looking for. Raising a hoof towards her allies, her warning came all too late. A glimmering orb of mystical fire, like some disastrous comet, rocketed downwards towards the Princess.
“Flurry!” Cozy screamed.
Though the alicorn noticed the incoming attack at the very last possible moment, her defenses were found wanting. The aegis she raised for herself shattered instantaneously, sending twinkling remnants of the mystical shield flying to the wind. Despite having lessened the blow, the explosion wrought havoc to the area.
Knocked to the ground, as if it weighed nothing, Discord’s statue was upended by the detonation. While the draconequus appeared intact, the Princess had been laid low. Staring in disbelief, Cozy noticed the man sprinting over to the depression where the mare’s body rested. Awkwardly sliding down the shallow embankment, hoping to reach his friend, a flash of light appeared beside him.
Flawlessly teleporting itself by his side, facing away from him, the imposter delivered a brutal kick to the man’s side. Though the thing was a fraction of his size, the blow sent him sailing through the air; flying several dozen feet, he demolished the wall of a nearby structure. Regardless of how resistant to magic he was, there was no way he was physically durable enough to withstand the hit unscathed.
A blur of obsidian zoomed by, crashing into the doppelganger and causing Cozy to blink. Rushing over to the dent in the roadway and fearing for the worst, she witnessed Chrysalis’ battered and scorched figure sail overhead. Landing on the street behind her, with a dull thud, the changeling sat motionless. Peering over at the Matriarch’s body, the sound of footfalls caused her to turn. There, tranquilly trotting out of the rubble-strewn basin, stood the construct.
Appearing wholly intact and just as serene as ever, the effigy of Twilight smiled down upon her. The thing’s peaceful expression belied the doom she wrought, yet Cozy didn’t cower. If she was going to face her end, after all the trials and tribulations she’d suffered through, she would do as her allies had - with bravery.
“Is this what you wanted?” she spat, waving at the downed figures around her.
“Flurry Heart, a pony ignorant of friendship. Queen Chrysalis, a changeling who spurned friendship. Anon, a creature who lost friendship. Each and all are bereft of the most powerful element in existence,” it stated, systematically nodding to each of the fallen.
“They were my friends!” Cozy mourned, heedless of the tears welling up in her eyes. “They did this for me. All we had were each other, throughout all of this, and you took that from me - from us!!! You’re an atrocity, some twisted parody that could never understand what friendship is!”
Stepping forward, overcome with the loss of her friends and a righteous fury towards their tormentor, she glared up at her adversary. It was her end, squared off against the nigh invincible embodiment of a fundamental force of the cosmos, yet she didn’t care. For the first time in her life, she unflinchingly faced her demise.
Scrutinizing the bold little pegasus, the construct tilted her head. The oppressive light around her dimmed, fading to nothingness and leaving her appearing like the Princess who had once been. Nodding, seemingly speaking to itself, it uttered five words. “I have what I need.”
Cozy’s eyes darted over the figure, fruitlessly looking for an explanation. “What do you…” she trailed off, as some carefully concealed facet of the puzzle revealed itself. Shrinking back, dubious of the notion she’d happened upon, she shook her head.
“Friendship may be freely given, but only the truest friendships are earned. Forged in the fire of hardship and strengthened by trust, they elevate to a bond which is unbreakable. You and your friends, in spite your differences, have laid the foundation for something impossibly wondrous,” it remarked.
Stunned, Cozy was at a loss for words. Without awaiting a response from the little mare, it continued. “Courage,” it began, pointing to the building it had slung Anon through. “Hope...Innocence,” it continued, waving to Chrysalis and Flurry. Finally, after leveling a hoof at the pegasus, its eyes went alight. “Prudence.”
“What does that mean?” Cozy sniffed, as the crushing force of some unknowable truth settled upon her.
“The Elements of Friendship were shattered, in the conflict with King Sombra, although friendship itself is everlasting. With the Elements themselves gone, new embodiments of their ilk had to be crafted,” the Tree explained. “While they are yet to be completed, their formation will give you time to find the others.”
“Why? Why would you do this?” Cozy demanded, stamping a hoof. “Do the means justify the end.”
Cooley looking around, scanning the surrounding destruction, it nodded. “No civilian casualties. Anon, Flurry, and Chrysalis, while injured, are in stable condition and will recover. The petrification on Discord is a lesser version of the original spellwork - Flurry, once recuperated, will undoubtedly be able to liberate him. As for why…” it drew silent, peering up into the cloudless sky. “Friendship can only be valued and held by living creatures.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you, after everything you’ve said and done?” Cozy protested.
Impassively gazing over at the pegasus, unblinking, the figure stood resolute. “What other choice do you have?”
The deceptively simple declaration hung in the air, yet it was all the proof Cozy needed. As baffling as the past few days had been, they’d all been part of an artfully laid plan that was decades or possibly centuries in the making. The awareness of that fact was eclipsed by one other epiphany, one which she’d only just given voice to - her friends.
In the face of unrelenting adversity, against astronomical odds, she found herself concerned for her friends. Anon, Flurry, and Chrysalis. They’d worked as a team and, though their time together had been rather brief, they’d enjoyed one another’s company - at least, she knew she had. What had begun as a tenuous connection born of necessity had blossomed into something all the more genuine.
The prospect that she had been chosen as some harbinger for Equestria was beyond mystifying, yet the Tree’s veracity had been undeniable - devious, yes, but truthful nonetheless. Looking up to the construct, with uncertainty in her eyes, she cleared her throat.
“How?” she asked, hesitant to bear the burden she’d been shouldered with.
Reaching out and caressing her cheek, it closed its eyes. “You will find a way. Only the worthy are ever chosen, of this I am certain…”
Stepping away, a faint shimmer shrouded the Tree’s avatar. Twinkling in the sun, as though formed from a mist of diamonds, it faded into nothingness - gone, as if it had never existed in the first place. Staring at the spot upon which it had stood, blinking incredulously, Cozy’s ear swiveled towards a dull groan.
Shifting in place, seeing Chrysalis roll to her side, she did the first and only thing that came to mind. “Help!” she bleated, hopelessly calling someone - anyone to come to their aid. Scampering over to the changeling, glancing around in anguish, she did what she could to comfort her friend. “Please! Somepony! Help us!”
And help, as fate would have it, came. From houses and businesses, townsfolk emerged. While a small hooffull unquestioningly rushed to the injured, the majority cautiously made their approach. One pony in particular, a stallion bearing a caduceus cutie mark, ran to her side and knelt by the Matriarch.
Seemingly unconcerned with the diminutive pegasus - if he even knew who she really was - he gingerly depressed his hoof to her neck. Glaring at a trio of onlookers, a griffon and two kirin, he scowled. “Get me three stretchers or wagons and volunteers to haul them!” he barked.
Stepping back, Cozy gave him room to work. The scene became a whirlwind of activity, as creatures of various sizes and shapes lend a helping hoof, claw, or paw. It was a maddening blur, nearly impossible to keep tabs of, but she did her best to determine that her friends were, in fact, not injured too severely. Watching them gently load Anon onto a vacated apple cart, she failed to notice someone trotting up behind her.
Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned and found herself facing a grizzled old figure. Shrouded in a timeworn sapphire cape, with only a fraction of his bearded muzzle visible, his arctic blue eyes bored into her. Opening her mouth, intent to ask him if she could help, he nodded in to his left.
“Clinic is that way. Do the right thing,” he somberly uttered.
Glancing off in the direction he’d indicated, Cozy went to thank him but found him missing. Setting to the skies, without a second thought, she hurried off to make sure her friends were alright. She was determined not to abandon them, regardless of how long it took or whatever ill will anypony bore towards her, just as they’d steadfastly refused to abandon her…